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For many decades, with the largest oil reserves and a majority of global oil spigots, and acting as a mostly cohesive cartel, the dominant player has, obviously, been OPEC (the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries).The rest of the world, as countless complainers have moaned, has been held hostage to their price whims with resultant impacts on national economies. However, the sands are shifting as recent Doha days have exemplified. OPEC is neither as cohesive nor as powerful as they were back in the day. Consequently, its time to refocus our attention on U.S. energy independence and heed a line from an old Eagles song: All this whinin' and cryin' and pitchin' a fitGet over it, get over it! Lets get over OPEC. The BaselineThe U.S., Saudi Arabia and Russia are the top oil producers, each with roughly 11-13% of production. Global demand for oil is roughly 93 million barrels per day, yet the world currently produces around 94 million barrels. Supply has exceeded stagnant demand for two years as oil containers around the planet are teeming to the tops, including tankers of liquid storage on the high seas. The oversupply has, naturally, reduced prices. Just over two months ago, on February 17th, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) oil bottomed out at $26 a barrelits lowest price point since 2003. The day before, Saudi Arabia and Russia agreed to freeze output at current levels. Their objective: freeze production, reduce supply, raise oil prices and profits. Importantly, they also signaled a desire to encourage other oil producing nations to follow suit. That signal moved markets, buoying prices to around $40 a barrel for the past two months. Doha DaysTo follow through on the Saudi-Russia strategy, after a few fits and starts at setting up meetings, oil ministers from the two nations along with OPEC members, met this past weekend in Doha, Qatar to strike a deal. The problemo, however, is that OPEC member Iran didnt attend. United Nation sanctions on Iran, in place from 2012-2015, due to their nuclear development program had the impact of reducing Iranian oil production from a high of roughly 4 million barrels a day (about 5% of global production) to 500,000 barrels per day. After sanctions were lifted, Iran sought toand they haveramped up production. The nation has let it be unequivocally known that they have zippity desire to freeze production at anything other than the robust levels achieved during their glory days. That being unacceptable to the Saudis, they, ironically, ended up killing any Doha deal. With no agreement, its apparent the OPEC clique is currently cracked. The next opportunity for such discussions and potentially coalescing cohesion will be at the June 2nd OPEC meeting in Vienna. Story continues Reduced InfluenceOPEC, which in the past had produced over 60% of the global oil, currently produces around 40%. The group, which includes many member countries outside of the Middle East (namely Venezuelaat 5% of productionand others in South America, plus some in Africa), doesnt have the historic influential impact they had before. In the days of yore, the 1973 oil embargo, OPEC actions resulted in enormous economic damage to the United States and several other nations. The reduced OPEC global production percentage is due, in large part, to production increases elsewhere, indulging the U.S. and Russiaplus China, Canada and Mexico with about 4.5%, 4%, and 3% of global production, respectively. Bottom Line TimeWhile OPEC is still a significant and serious contributor to prices, their cohesion and influence has been reduced. Rather than wringing our hands at what they may or may not do, going nuts over every nuance, we should focus on what we in the U.S. do best: allow our free market flag to fly and flourish. Focus on ensuring prices will continue to be discovered fairly and fundamentally-based upon supply and demand. Focus on being able to continue to develop greater energy independenceeven as low prices make that a rougher and tougher task. And, importantly, we should appreciate that energy costs impact real people, many with honest businesses outside of the energy sector which have benefitted from lower energy costs. Last year alone, U.S. drivers saved $1 billion$550 per driverdue to reduced oil prices. We have a lot to do. Lets focus on the future. Get to work, and get over OPEC. (About the Author: Commissioner Bart Chilton served at the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission from 2007-2014 and is currently a Senior Policy Advisor at the global law firm DLA Piper LLP (US). He is the author of Ponzimonium: How Scam Artists Are Ripping Off America and can be reached at bartchilton@bartchilton.com.) Related Articles Boston Beer Co. Inc. SAM began 2016 on a dismal note reporting weaker-than-expected results for the first quarter, which was largely impacted by lower depletion trends, high costs and intense competition from other craft brewers. Shares of the company slumped nearly 10% in the after-market trading session yesterday following the drab results and subdued outlook for 2016. Q1 Highlights Boston Beers first-quarter earnings per share of 53 cents came in way below the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 96 cents and plunged 47% year over year, mainly on account of a revenue decline, elevated general and administrative costs, and soft gross margin. Net revenue fell 5.4% year over year to $188.8 million and missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $196 million. The decline in the top line resulted from a 6% drop in core shipments, somewhat compensated by higher prices. Total revenue was also impacted by a 5% fall in depletions due to the soft depletion trend at Samuel Adams and Angry Orchard brands, somewhat offset by growth at the Coney Island and Twisted Tea brands. The company attributed the weakness at Samuel Adams and Angry Orchard to the intense competition in the craft beer category and weakness in the cider class. Though the company introduced new beers in the first quarter including Samuel Adams Nitro White Ale, Samuel Adams Nitro IPA, Samuel Adams Nitro Coffee Stout and Samuel Adams Rebel Grapefruit IPA, it was a slow start. The company expects to build momentum and battle the stiff competition over time, through its superior quality products, solid innovations and financial strength. Costs & Margins Gross profit tanked 8.1% year over year to $91.5 million while gross margin shriveled 150 basis points to 48.5% in the quarter. The contraction can be attributed to unfavorable product mix coupled with higher brewery processing expenses per barrel, partly offset by improved prices. Advertising, promotional and selling expenses dipped 1.7% to $59.2 million due to lower freight to distributors stemming from lower volumes and freight rates, somewhat offset by increased points of sale, coupled with higher salaries and benefits. General and administrative expenses surged 22.1% to nearly $21 million owing to hikes in salaries, benefits, stock compensation and facilities expenses. Financials As of Mar 26, 2016, Boston Beer had cash and cash equivalents of $51.1 million. Debt and capital lease obligations, excluding current portion, were at $4.1 million, while stockholders equity was $435.3 million. During the first quarter, the company generated approximately $6.3 million of cash from operating activities, while it deployed nearly $13 million toward capital expenditure, primarily to be invested in breweries. In the first quarter and the period from Mar 26, 2016 through Apr 15, the company bought back nearly 415,000 shares for $75.7 million. As of Apr 15, Boston Beer had roughly $53.2 million remaining under its standing share repurchase authorization of $575 million. Growth Plan Going forward, management intends to focus on aggressively aligning its cost structure with volumes, to achieve efficiencies and generate cost savings for the company. The company plans to utilize these cost savings in making strategic investments, apart from developing its brands. The company maintains its commitment to innovate within the Samuel Adams brand, promote and advertise all its brands, and increase distribution of its core styles within each brand. Also, the company plans to step-up investments in new beer and cider development capabilities in order to keep up with the innovations, and utilize any growth opportunity that might arise. While the company expects the weakness in the cider category to persist in the short term, as new cideries enter the market, it also remains encouraged as the Angry Orchard brand retained its market share. Also, management remains confident about the long-term growth potential of this category. Though management is prepared for not so impressive bottom-line results in the short-term, it remains on track to boost long-term profitability. Guidance Taking all aforementioned factors into consideration, management lowered its earnings outlook for 2016. Earnings per share are now projected in the range of $6.50$7.30, compared with $7.60$7.80 guided earlier. The current Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2016 is pegged at $7.84 per share, which is likely to witness a revision. Also, the company stated that 2016 will include 53 weeks as against 52 weeks last year. Other assumptions for earnings include depletions and shipments changes to range from -4% to 2%, compared with mid-single digit growth expected earlier. Further, the company expects price increases of 12%, while gross margin is now expected to range from 5153%, down from 52%54% projected earlier. Advertising, promotional and selling expenses are now envisioned to range between zero and $10 million, compared with $10 million$20 million anticipated earlier. Effective tax rate for 2016 is anticipated to be 37%. Also, capital expenditure guidance for the year has been lowered to a range of $50$70 million from $60$80 million. Zacks Rank Boston Beer currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Some better-ranked stocks in the same industry include Constellation Brands Inc. STZ and Molson Coors Brewing Company TAP, each with a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). Another well-ranked stock in the related industry is Primo Water Corporation PRMW, with a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). 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 MOLSON COORS-B (TAP): Free Stock Analysis Report BOSTON BEER INC (SAM): Free Stock Analysis Report PRIMO WATER CP (PRMW): Free Stock Analysis Report CONSTELLATN BRD (STZ): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research By Allison Lampert MONTREAL, April 21 (Reuters) - A $1 billion Canadian government aid package for Bombardier Inc should not be delayed over fears that the plane-and-train maker could outsource jobs to Mexico or China, the head of Canada's largest private sector union said on Thursday. Unifor President Jerry Dias said in a telephone interview that he opposes any outsourcing of aerospace jobs, but that Canada's Liberal government should nevertheless "plow ahead" with aid for the company's CSeries jet even without guarantees that Bombardier will keep producing Q400 turboprop cockpit and wings in Toronto. Executives with Montreal-based Bombardier have talked about their desire to outsource production of parts of the turboprop in an effort to lower costs and better compete with rivals ATR, co-owned by Airbus Group and Italy's Finmeccanica. On Wednesday, Canada's Innovation Minister Navdeep Bains, who is in control of the negotiations, told reporters the government has linked any aid for Bombardier with research and development investment in Canada, the location of the company's Montreal head office and "good-quality jobs." "I understand the government's sensitivity. And I understand clearly that the optics for our government look terrible," said Dias. "But I also understand also that this is a company that needs help ... I have to look at the bigger picture." Dias said the union would lead a separate battle to keep the 200 Q400 jobs in Toronto and had language in its contract that would help protect them. "I believe there is a made-in-Canada solution," he said. Bombardier's 18,000-strong workforce in the province of Quebec is largely aerospace-focused and its presence helps support many smaller part vendors and suppliers in the region. Bombardier wants Ottawa to match the province of Quebec's $1 billion investment in the CSeries, which is years behind schedule and billions of dollars over budget. (Reporting by Allison Lampert; Editing by Sandra Maler) Steve Warren The spokesman for the US military operation against ISIS made a comment in a Wednesday press briefing in Baghdad that helps justify Russia's continued attacks on Syria's largest city in the midst of a truce. US Army Col. Steve Warren, the spokesman for Operation Inherent Resolve in Iraq, was asked whether Russian airstrikes on Aleppo, the current epicenter of the war, meant that Moscow was preparing to end the cessation of hostilities (CoH) agreement between government forces and the opposition signed on February 29. Warren responded that it was "complicated" because al-Nusra "holds Aleppo" and is not party to the agreement. Warren said of Russia: I'm not going to predict what their intentions are. What I do know is that we have seen, you know, regime forces with some Russian support as well begin to mass and concentrate combat power around Aleppo. ... That said, it's primarily al-Nusra who holds Aleppo, and of course, al-Nusra is not part of the cessation of hostilities. So it's complicated. As Middle East analyst Kyle Orton noted on Twitter, Warren came "pretty close" to saying that the coalition supports Russia's airstrikes in the city. Those strikes, however, are aimed at degrading any and all opposition to Bashar Assad the embattled Syrian president who the Obama administration has repeatedly insisted "has to go." aleppo rubble assad regime air strike Warren, moreover, was effectively echoing Russia's own military spokesman, Lt. Gen. Sergei Rudskoy. He said earlier this month that 8,000 Nusra militants were amassing around Aleppo and preparing to cut off the city's main road to Syria's capital, Damascus. Story continues Emile Hokayem, an expert on Syria and a Middle East analyst at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, seemed surprised by Warren's comments. "Does the US military really believe that Nusra 'holds Aleppo'?" Hokayem tweeted on Friday. "Did Warren misspeak?" While Nusra has indeed been building up its presence in Aleppo since February, the city is also occupied by civilians and armed opposition groups associated with the US-backed Free Syrian Army that agreed to abide by the fragile agreement. Civil defence members look for survivors after an airstrike on the rebel-held Old Aleppo, Syria April 16, 2016. REUTERS/Abdalrhman Ismail The CoH was brokered by US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Geneva in February. Lavrov indicated that Russia would continue supporting the Assad regime's attempts to "liberate" Aleppo, which he said had been "captured by illegal insurgent groups." But for one of the US's top military leaders to stop short of condemning Russia's airstrikes on the city sends mixed signals about Washington's commitment to upholding the truce. Warren's comments came two days after US President Barack Obama urged Russian President Vladimir Putin to "use his influence with the Assad regime to live up to the commitments that they've made in the context of the cessation of hostilities," said Josh Earnest, the White House press secretary. He added: "Unfortunately, we've seen that the cessation of hostilities continues to be fragile and increasingly threatened due to continued violations by the regime." 'The worst day in Syria for over a year' Syria's civil defense, a neutral organization of nearly 3,000 volunteers that respond to bombings against civilian communities in Syria, said that warplanes attacked Aleppo at least 20 times on Friday in what was "the worst day in Syria for over a year." At least 14 people were killed in the attack and dozens more wounded. Tracking attacks in Aleppo, Idlib, Homs and Damascus. Furious intensity. Teams report streets littered with bodies. pic.twitter.com/oBByKD0RAN The White Helmets (@SyriaCivilDef) April 22, 2016 In Idlib, meanwhile, the White Helmets recorded even more attacks than in Aleppo on Friday. Nusra took over bases and seized US-supplied weapons from the Free Syrian Army's 13th Division in Idlib last month, giving Assad another bargaining chip to argue that he is the best option for preventing the spread of terrorism in Syria. Significantly, Nusra's takeover of rebel-held areas around Syria has been met with fierce backlash by activists and the more moderate rebel groups battling Assad's forces. Opposition groups realize that "the more territory al-Nusra controls, the more the 'us or them' narrative grows stronger and, ironically, the less support moderates get from the coalition," Abu Faisal, a Syrian aid worker who goes by a pseudonym, told Business Insider's Pamela Engel last month. Syria map But Nusra's presence in Idlib and Aleppo and, now, Warren's hint that the US might not be wholly opposed to a Russian offensive there has given Moscow an excuse to revamp its military presence inside Syria just over one month after announcing it planned to withdraw from the conflict. The Wall Street Journal reported earlier this week that Russia is moving heavy artillery back into the northeast, likely in preparation for a major escalation there. John Kerry confirmed the Russian buildup near Aleppo in a meeting with The New York Times editorial board on Friday. He told the Times that while Russia might be targeting Nusra in Aleppo, it has "proven harder to separate" the militant group from the more moderate opposition groups "than we thought." "And there's a Russian impatience and a regime impatience with the terrorists who are behaving like terrorists and laying siege to places on their side and killing people," Kerry said, according to The Times. Experts are skeptical, however, that Russia's singular intention is to target Nusra alone. "If Russia is signaling an offensive against Nusra, you can be sure other rebel groups will be targeted," Nadav Pollak, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute, tweeted last week. And as Jeff White, a military analyst at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, told Business Insider in an email, the Russians are likely taking advantage of the crumbling cessation of hostilities by blaming violations on Nusra and everyone else who opposes Assad. "Even if they don't participate in a 'pitched battle' for Aleppo," White said, "the Russians can still help the regime complete the isolation of the city." NOW WATCH: A German orchestra traveled to Jordan to teach Syrian refugee kids how to play instruments More From Business Insider By Jim Finkle and Heather Somerville (Reuters) - The lackluster market debut of SecureWorks Corp, the cyber unit of Dell Inc, failed to rally the battered technology U.S. IPO market on Friday, a reminder that Wall Street does not welcome cash-burning companies without profits. "I don't think it encourages anybody to hop on the bandwagon and go public," said Robert Thomas, CEO of San Francisco-based security startup CloudPassage. SecureWorks priced below its indicated range and opened the day even lower; it also cut the number of shares it was offering from 9 million to 8 million. The shares closed Friday at $14, slightly up from their opening price of $13.89. In the first U.S. technology IPO this year, ending the longest drought in seven years, many investors and cyber security entrepreneurs hoped SecureWorks would reinvigorate the market and instill confidence in cyber firms. Stock market volatility last year and early this year may have scared off some listings. Cyber security companies that have put IPO plans on hold include Carbon Black, Veracode, Blue Coat and Zscaler, according to venture capitalists. The recipient of billions of dollars of venture capital, both private and public cyber security companies have come under heightened scrutiny. Share of cyber firm FireEye, Barracuda Networks, and Rapid7, the most recent high-profile cyber security IPO, are all down by at least half. "It's pretty tough sledding out there," said Matthew Prince, CEO of CloudFlare, who has rejected weekly solicitations from investment bankers encouraging him to take his company public. By this time last year, six technology companies had priced IPOs, raising a total of $1.6 billion, according to Thomson Reuters data. In the first half of 2014, 23 technology IPOs had raised $3.7 billion, according to market intelligence firm Ipreo. Demand for SecureWorks shares was hurt by factors unique to the company - growing losses and an "overhang" of unsold shares from its parent Dell, which is not publicly traded. Story continues SecureWorks' operating loss nearly doubled to $72.4 million in fiscal 2015 as revenue climbed 30 percent $339.5 million, SecureWorks said in a U.S. regulatory filing. Investors have an appetite for cyber security IPOs but are looking to buy into companies that are more profitable than SecureWorks, said Enrique Salem, managing director of Bain Capital Ventures. SecureWorks President and CEO Mike Cote said the mounting losses are the result of investing heavily over the last two years, and the company would begin to see gains from that spending this year. Hope for a popping SecureWorks IPO dimmed late Thursday, when the company priced shares at $14, below their indicated range of $15.50-$17.50. "It's a busted IPO," said Tim Ghriskey, who helps manage $1.5 billion as chief investment officer with Solaris Asset Management. At its closing share price, SecureWorks was valued at more than $1 billion, a bit more than half the valuation it eyed when it filed for an IPO in December, but still well above what Dell paid for the company in 2011. Still, "this doesn't mean that there wont be more tech IPOs, or they will all be weak, " Ghriskey said. Indeed, SecureWorks has little in common with other tech IPO contenders. The company is not backed by venture capitalists; it is based in Atlanta, rather than Silicon Valley; and it was founded nearly two decades ago. Also, the IPO was to some extent forced by Dell's expensive merger with EMC. Dell, however, won't have access to the proceeds from the IPO. "SecureWorks was an anomaly with the pricing and with the timing and why they went out when they did," said Sean Cunningham, managing director of Trident Capital Cybersecurity. (Reporting by Jim Finkle in Boston, Heather Somerville in San Francisco and Sruthi Shankar in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D'Souza and Nick Zieminski) Republican U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump reacts as he arrives at a campaign event in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, U.S., April 21, 2016. REUTERS/Carlos Barria Donald Trump secured a massive victory during this week's New York primary, picking up almost all of the delegates up for grabs. But come Tuesday, Trump is going to have his sights set on an even bigger prize. And it will be one that should be easily attainable. On that day, 118 bound delegates will be at stake, in addition to 54 unbound delegates from Pennsylvania. Along with Pennsylvania, voters in Connecticut, Delaware, Rhode Island, and Maryland go to the polls. The Northeastern and mid-Atlantic primary day encapsulates an area that has been dominated by Trump. And, as polls show, he's poised for a lot more winning. In Pennsylvania, where 17 bound delegates will be awarded to the statewide winner, Trump holds an almost 20-point lead over Ted Cruz, the Texas senator. Cruz was mathematically eliminated last week from obtaining the needed 1,237 delegates to clinch the Republican nomination before the party's July convention. The unbound delegates from the state are elected by congressional district, and with Trump leading in polls statewide, Trump supporters should have an advantage when it comes to selecting pro-Trump delegates at the ballot. Another winner-take-all state is Delaware, where 16 delegates are up for grabs. Polling in the state has been sparse, but one survey released on Friday showed Trump with a commanding 37-point lead over John Kasich, the Ohio governor. And though Connecticut is not a winner-take-all state, Trump can claim all 28 delegates at stake if he wins each of the state's five congressional districts and finishes above 50% statewide. Currently, polling has Trump at a 49% average in the state, ahead of Kasich by 27 points. Trump will have a slightly tougher time pulling out the full slate of delegates in Rhode Island and Maryland, but he should still find plenty of success. Rhode Island holds a proportional primary and awards 19 delegates. In a Brown University poll from late February, Trump held an 18-point lead. He's also pulled out a huge victory in bordering Massachusetts last month, and is currently leading big in Connecticut. Story continues Maryland, where he holds a nearly 15-point lead over Kasich, hands the winner of each of its eight congressional districts three delegates. The remaining 14 delegates will go to the statewide winner, which looks increasingly likely to be Trump. Donald Trump As MSNBC's Steve Kornacki projected ahead of the New York primary, Trump will need to pull out at least 100 of the 118 bound delegates for the day to be considered a success. That looks to be easily within his reach. Nate Silver, the renowned statistician from the data-journalism website FiveThirtyEight, projected that Trump would need to win 103 delegates on Tuesday to stay on path for the needed 1,237 before he won New York. That doesn't take into consideration, however, how many pro-Trump unbound delegates are elected in Pennsylvania. NOW WATCH: The badass artist behind the nude Trump portrait that went viral created it to promote body positivity More From Business Insider NEW ORLEANS, LA--(Marketwired - April 22, 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 June 20, 2016 to file lead plaintiff applications in a securities class action lawsuit against Freshpet, Inc. (FRPT), if they purchased the Company's securities between April 1, 2015 and November 11, 2015, inclusive (the "Class Period"). This action is pending in the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey. What You May Do If you purchased shares of Freshpet 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 June 20, 2016. About the Lawsuit Freshpet and certain of its executives are charged with failing to disclose material information during the Class Period, violating federal securities laws. The alleged false statements and omissions include, but are not limited to, that: (i) one of Freshpet's main customers, Target Corp., was undergoing a corporate reorganization resulting in a delay of the installation of Freshpet Fridges; (ii) two of Freshpet's supermarket customers were experiencing financial hardships, making it likely that any Freshpet Fridges in their respective stores would have to be removed; and, therefore, (iii) Freshpet was not growing its overall number of installed Freshpet Fridges at the levels communicated to investors and was tracking well below internal forecasts for placements. 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. A Shinto priest leads Japanese lawmakers to the altar of Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo on April 22, 2016 (AFP Photo/) Dozens of Japanese lawmakers including a Cabinet minister visited a Tokyo war shrine on Friday in a ritual angering China and South Korea, where memories of Japan's military and colonial record remain raw. The capital's Yasukuni Shrine honours millions of Japanese dead, including several senior military and political figures convicted of war crimes after World War II. The leafy central Tokyo shrine to Japan's Shinto religion has for decades been a lightning rod for criticism by countries that suffered under Japan's colonialism and aggression in the first half of the 20th century. Visits to the shrine by senior Japanese politicians, including occasionally prime ministers, drew angry reactions from China and South Korea, which see it as a symbol of Tokyo's militaristic past. "We hope that political figures in Japan would develop a correct understanding of history and do more to promote reconciliation and mutual trust between Japan and its Asian neighbours," Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said at a regular briefing in Beijing. South Korea also blasted the visit, with foreign ministry spokesman Cho June-Hyuck saying in a statement that the shrine "beautifies the colonial past and war of aggression, and enshrines war criminals". Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and other nationalists say the shrine is merely a place to remember fallen soldiers and compare it to burial grounds such as Arlington National Cemetery in the United States. At least 92 lawmakers visited Yasukuni for its annual spring festival, of whom 79 were from Abe's ruling Liberal Democratic Party, according to an official working for upper house of parliament member Toshiei Mizuochi. - 'Private visit' - Internal Affairs Minister Sanae Takaichi visited the shrine, though separately from the other lawmakers, according to footage shown on public broadcaster NHK. Takaichi's visit was "private" in nature, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, the government's top spokesman, told a news conference. Story continues "A visit by a private person concerns the individual's freedom of religion and the government should not intervene." The figure this time compares with the more than 100 lawmakers and three ministers who visited during last year's spring event. For the shrine's autumn festival six months ago 73 lawmakers and two ministers attended. And on August 15, 2015 -- the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II -- two Cabinet ministers went to the shrine along with about 60 lawmakers. Abe's wife, Akie, also visited Yasukuni in December. Friday's visit by the lawmakers came a day after Abe made a ritual offering to the shrine. Abe went in December 2013 to mark his first year in power, a pilgrimage that sparked fury in Beijing and Seoul and earned him a diplomatic rebuke from the United States, which said it was "disappointed" by the action. He has since refrained from going and reactions by China and South Korea to Yasukuni visits, while remaining critical, have become less intense as Japan has taken steps over the past 18 months to improve relations with both countries and Abe has held summit meetings with their leaders. By Ahmed Hagagy KUWAIT (Reuters) - Kuwait reduced its crude oil output and refining production on Sunday as part of an emergency plan to help the OPEC member deal with the largest petroleum workers' strike in years. Thousands of Kuwaiti oil and gas workers are striking to protest against a government plan for public sector pay reforms, although non-Kuwaiti workers in the industry are not on strike. Unions have not said how long the walkout will last. Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) spokesman Saad Al-Azmi said in a posting on KOC's Twitter account that the company had cut crude output to 1.1 million barrels per day (bpd) from its normal production level of about 3 million bpd. State refiner Kuwait National Petroleum Company (KNPC) has also reduced production, to some 520,000 bpd from 930,000 before the stoppage started on Sunday, Kuwait's state-owned news agency KUNA reported. It quoted KNPC chief executive Mohammed Ghazi Al Mutairi affirming its "success ... in implementing the emergency plan and operating the company's three refineries". Khaled al-Asousi, a spokesman for KNPC, said without elaborating that there was an increase in fuel supply to the local market and to the ministry of electricity. Export ports were operational and tankers were loading, he said. Oil sector spokesman Sheikh Talal al-Khaled al-Sabah said in remarks carried by KUNA that oil exports had not been affected by the strike and that Kuwait was capable of fulfilling the demands of its customers. In a later statement on Twitter, al-Khaled said production rates were gradually improving and that normal levels were "not far off". Kuwait's cabinet said in a statement carried by KUNA that the strike would hamper work in the vital sector and that it had authorised state oil companies to take all necessary steps to find labour and ensure production was not affected. The cabinet also said it would take legal measures against any unacceptable practices. Sheikh Mohammad al-Mubarak al-Sabah, minister for cabinet affairs, told Reuters the strike was illegal as union members had refused to negotiate ahead of the stoppage. Story continues "The members of the union were contacted by the committee headed by the manpower bureau. The members of the union refused to talk with them and went on strike. So they are in breach of Kuwaiti law. They can't strike without this (attempt at discussion)," he said. "With the oil price being what it is, and the fact that oil income is a huge part of the (national) income, it is very difficult if not impossible for the government to provide new financial incentives." (Additional reporting by Sylvia Westall and Maha el Dahan; Editing by Catherine Evans) SAN DIEGO, CA--(Marketwired - April 22, 2016) - One person can make a difference. Unifying the voices of families and patients in need of non-psychoactive cannabidiol (CBD) hemp oil access in Mexico is dedicated and loving father of Grace: Raul Elizalde. On Thursday, April 21, Elizalde joined Mexico's President Enrique Pena Nieto at a conference recapping the findings of the National Debate on Marijuana Use. The discussion took place in Mexico City outside the offices of the Ministry of Public Health. There, Elizalde recounted his arduous battle to allow his daughter, Grace, access to cannabis oil. Elizalde's story inspired other families to fight for the right to import cannabis oil, such as the family of 11 Year-Old Alina Maldonado Montes de Oca whose father, Abelardo Maldonado Constantino, battled in court and eventually won the first-ever federal government import permit for Medical Marijuana, Inc. (OTC PINK: MJNA)'s Real Scientific Hemp Oil-X (RSHO-X). Major coverage of Abelardo's winning of that first-ever import permit included: - Reuters - Azteca News - CNN Expansion Families in Mexico are now able to import Real Scientific Hemp Oil-X (RSHO-X) from Medical Marijuana, Inc. (OTC PINK: MJNA) with a government-issued permit. Their efforts have paved the way for all others seeking CBD hemp oil in Mexico to do the same. Medical Marijuana, Inc.'s HempMeds sponsored and participated with Elizalde and the Por Grace Foundation in multiple public forums including the National Debates on Marijuana Use advocating for medical cannabis access in Mexico. The forums took place from January through April of this year including a cross-border discussion with representatives from the U.S. government. There, Elizalde and the Por Grace Foundation dedicated their time and efforts to explaining why so many families would benefit from both medical marijuana and hemp CBD oil access. "We are extremely grateful to the Elizalde family and their time and understanding of the need for hemp CBD oil as well as full-spectrum cannabis for healthcare options," states Dr. Stuart Titus, Chief Executive Officer of Medical Marijuana, Inc. "Raul speaks from his heart and is passionate about providing the best possible quality of life for his daughter, Grace, and others throughout Mexico. The Elizalde family's tireless efforts to access cannabis for medical purposes has clearly resonated with President Nieto and impacted his decision to begin the process of medical marijuana legalization in Mexico." Story continues Earlier in the week, on Tuesday, April 19, Mexico's President Nieto addressed the United Nations at UNGASS. There he is quoted as saying, "I give voice to those who have expressed the need to update the regulatory framework to authorize the use of marijuana for medical and scientific ends." President Nieto will sign and send to Congress an initiative to reform laws allowing marijuana use for medical and scientific purposes. Titus concludes, "From a historic perspective, there simply is no denying the fact that cannabis was been used as long ago as 2737 B.C. by Emperor Shen Neng of China as a tea for the treatment of gout, rheumatism, malaria and, even memory. As the saying goes, `History repeats itself.' We sincerely appreciate the tireless efforts of Raul, the Por Grace Foundation, and applaud President Nieto and residents of Mexico for coming to the beneficial and life-changing conclusion to allow full-spectrum medical cannabis (marijuana and hemp) access for all of Mexico." Medical Marijuana, Inc. is a "Company of Firsts" that took nearly a decade and millions of dollars of infrastructure to establish and streamline a standardized commercial system to support the world's first and largest CBD hemp oil pipeline. MJNA recognizes and appreciates the dedication of its investors who believed in the vision of hemp CBD oil access worldwide. Medical Marijuana, Inc. is currently exporting its hemp CBD oil brands into more than forty countries. For more information on MJNA, visit the Company's website at www.medicalmarijuanainc.com. FORWARD-LOOKING DISCLAIMER This press release may contain certain forward-looking statements and information, as defined within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and is subject to the Safe Harbor created by those sections. This material contains statements about expected future events and/or financial results that are forward-looking in nature and subject to risks and uncertainties. Such forward-looking statements by definition involve risks, uncertainties and other factors, which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of Medical Marijuana, Inc. to be materially different from the statements made herein. FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION (FDA) DISCLOSURE These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA and are not intended to diagnose, treat or cure any disease. LEGAL DISCLOSURE Medical Marijuana Inc. does not sell or distribute any products that are in violation of the United States Controlled Substances Act (US.CSA). These companies do grow, sell, and distribute hemp-based products and are involved with the federally legal distribution of medical marijuana-based products within certain international markets. Cannabidiol is a natural constituent of hemp oil. About Medical Marijuana Inc. Our mission is to be the premier cannabis and hemp industry innovators, leveraging our team of professionals to source, evaluate and purchase value-added companies and products, while allowing them to keep their integrity and entrepreneurial spirit. We strive to create awareness within our industry, develop environmentally-friendly, economically sustainable businesses, while increasing shareholder value. For details on Medical Marijuana, Inc.'s portfolio and investment companies, visit www.medicalmarijuanainc.com. The Company is committed to consistently providing the highest-quality CBD hemp oil products on the market. To see Medical Marijuana, Inc.'s video statement, click here. Shareholders are also encouraged to visit the Medical Marijuana, Inc. Shop for discounted products. The following files are available for download: Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella Microsoft and Google are formally withdrawing all regulatory complaints against each other, the company confirmed to Business Insider, after Re/Code's Ina Fried first reported on the mutual change of heart. "Microsoft has agreed to withdraw its regulatory complaints against Google, reflecting our changing legal priorities," the company said in an official statement. "We will continue to focus on competing vigorously for business and for customers. The timing of this announcement is interesting, as Europe is preparing to hit Google with anti-trust charges over Android. Microsoft's former CEO, Steve Ballmer, had been pressuring regulators to clamp down on Google for years. In 2013, Ballmer said, "I believe that Google's practices are worthy of discussion with competition authority. And we have certainly discuss them with competition authorities." Instead, just as the ax looks likely to fall, Microsoft is dropping the pressure and withdrawing its membership from FairSearch and ICOMP, two groups pushing for antitrust actions over Googles search business, Fried reports. A source close to the company tells Business Insider that this retreat from regulatory fights is a "natural" extension of an action taken in September, where the two companies agreed to drop all patent litigation. And while this person stopped short of crediting CEO Satya Nadella directly for the cease fire with Google, the person did say the regulatory detente was a result of Nadella's leadership. Nadella has been moving Microsoft away from its historic hard-driving combative culture and into being kinder and more collaborative. Nadella and Google CEO Sundar Pichai are said to have a warmer relationship than previous CEOs of those two companies did. Nadella has demonstrated this with a partnership with one-time bitter rival Salesforce along with a lot of proclamations of love for the Linux operating system and its embrace of Android and iOS apps. Story continues NOW WATCH: A psychologist reveals a trick to stop being lazy More From Business Insider oil fire excess gas drill Stop me if you've heard this one before: The oil industry is in some serious trouble. Prices have plummeted because of a global oversupply, and many companies are facing mountains of debt, loads of expenses, and cratering profits. If you're looking for some good news on the industry, you should look elsewhere. Schlumberger CEO Paal Kibsgaard laid out a disastrous forecast for the sector in the company's quarterly-earnings call. "Activity fell sharply in the first quarter, as the industry displayed clear signs of facing a full-scale cash crisis," he said. "We experienced activity reductions worldwide, with the rate of disruption reaching unprecedented levels." While oil prices have increased, they are still low by historical standards, so many companies are curtailing production activity. This is especially bad news for Schlumberger, since the company provides services and equipment to support drillers. Thus, as the number of rigs in the US continues to hit new lows, there is little need for the support services. Here's Kibsgaard again (emphasis added): The start of a new year and a new budget cycle represented a further fall in customer E&P spend, and we expect continued weakening in the second quarter given the magnitude and erratic nature of the ongoing activity disruptions. This outlook is backed by the latest 2016 E&P spending surveys, which indicate sharper falls than earlier figures. Global spending reductions in 2016 are now approaching 25%, corresponding to a fall of 40% to 50% in North America and around 20% in the international markets. This is bad news for Schlumberger, but it could be a glimmer of hope for the rest of the industry. With demand growing only incrementally, the best way to get prices back into profitable territory is to decrease supply. Theoretically, this means decreasing rig counts and hurting Schlumberger. Story continues The problem is that oil inventories, the amount actually being pumped, are still insanely elevated. New technology is also making old wells more efficient, so even as companies decrease the number of wells, they can still pump more. Screen Shot 2016 04 22 at 3.35.49 PM Another solution for the supply glut would be some companies simply going bankrupt, thus shuttering drilling sites. No so fast, said Mark Durbiano, senior portfolio manager of high-yield debt at Federated Investors. "While you will continue to see more bankruptcies in the energy space, oil prices should remain low and the industry is going to remain under pressure," Durbiano, who oversees $51.1 billion in fixed-income assets, told Business Insider. He continued: "But even if a company is bankrupt, that doesn't mean the company is going away, or the drills are going away. If anything, those companies are going to have more incentive to drill more in order to generate enough cash to pay their debtors." So even if these companies go belly up or close to it, there will be desperation drilling to cover as much of the debt as they can. For his part, Durbiano doesn't see oil getting anywhere close to its old prices. He expects it to settle around $55 to $60 a barrel. Outside of the US, OPEC and other producers were unable to come to a production freeze agreement in Doha on Sunday. And going forward, producers such as Iran and Libya have had pumping decrease in recent months, but could come back to full strength soon. All of this adds up to Kibsgaard's pessimism, and an "unprecedented" outlook for the oil industry. NOW WATCH: This defunct oil rig in the middle of the ocean is now a cool hotel for divers More From Business Insider Panamanian President Juan Carlos Varela (L) speaks with his Economy and Finance Minister Dulcidio de la Guardia during an investment seminar in Tokyo on April 19, 2016 (AFP Photo/Toshifumi Kitamura) Panamanian President Juan Carlos Varela on Wednesday pledged that his country will stand at the forefront of a global push for greater financial transparency in the wake of the "Panama Papers" scandal. Panama is scrambling to avert redesignation as a tax haven that assists money laundering after the disclosure of the offshore dealings of many of the world's wealthy, famous and infamous. They came to light when millions of documents -- the so-called Panama Papers -- covering nearly 40 years of business were leaked from the archives of the Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca. The revelations have had far-reaching political consequences, already bringing down the Icelandic prime minister and Spain's industry minister, while forcing others to explain their financial dealings. "Our goal is to cooperate actively and to lead the efforts of the international community on the topic of the global problem," Varela said during a joint press conference with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Varela, who arrived in Japan on Sunday, also said that Panama has agreed "to advance discussions for negotiating a bilateral taxation scheme with the Japanese government" under Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development standards. At an investment seminar on Tuesday, he said that Panama is willing to cooperate with an OECD initiative to share tax information. Varela also defended his country while in Japan, saying in an interview with Jiji Press on Tuesday that Panama has been "wrongly" labelled a tax haven. "Panama is a country respectful of laws," he said. Varela also told Jiji that Panama will establish a high-level commission, to be composed of six to eight internal and external members, within six months in order to improve transparency of its financial system. The members are slated to include Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz, Jiji reported. The Panamanian president's visit to Japan comes after the world's leading economies took a step last week toward denying tax evaders and money launderers the ability to hide behind anonymous shell companies. Acting in the wake of the scandal, finance chiefs of the Group of 20 meeting in Washington on Friday supported proposals requiring authorities to share the identities of shell companies' real owners. They also backed creating a blacklist of international tax havens that do not cooperate with information-sharing programmes. NEW ORLEANS, LA--(Marketwired - April 22, 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 June 14, 2016 to file lead plaintiff applications in a securities class action lawsuit against PJT Partners Inc. (PJT), if they purchased the Company's securities between November 12, 2015 and March 28, 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 PJT 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 June 14, 2016. About the Lawsuit PJT and certain of its executives are charged with failing to disclose material information during the Class Period, violating federal securities laws. On March 28, 2016, it was revealed that PJT's managing director, Andrew Caspersen, was arrested and charged with scheming to defraud investors of more than $95 million. Mr. Caspersen allegedly diverted money from investors' accounts into phony private equity investments in which he lost millions through aggressive options trading with his own account. Later that same day, PJT said in a statement that it has started an internal investigation and is working with federal prosecutors. PJT also stated that it terminated Mr. Caspersen for cause. On this news, the price of PJT's shares plummeted. 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. The Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca has had to close many of its 45 international offices following the Panama Papers scandal (AFP Photo/AARON TAM) (AFP/File) Panama City (AFP) - Panamanian authorities launched a new raid on an address linked to the law firm at the heart of the Panama Papers scandal, local media reported. Prosecutors focused on organized crime "carried out a raid on a storage property belonging to the firm Mossack Fonseca," La Prensa newspaper said, publishing a photo of people putting documents into a vehicle. Prosecutors confirmed to AFP that a raid "is under way" but did not provide further details. After the raid, Mossack Fonseca said it was "ready to cooperate with investigations under way" and that the contents of the storage area was "information" prosecutors already had from an earlier inspection. The firm stressed in the statement that it was shredded paper awaiting recycling. It was the second raid in as many weeks on Mossack Fonseca in Panama. On April 12, the same prosecutorial unit swooped on the firm's main offices for a search that lasted 27 hours. Officials said after that first raid that no evidence was uncovered to support charges. They added that the firm kept its records on more than 100 servers located at different addresses. Mossack Fonseca is a discreet law firm based in Panama and founded by two local, well-connected lawyers specialized in creating and fronting offshore companies for the world's wealthy. Forty years of its digital archives were handed to a pair of German journalists who organized a worldwide media investigation of the documents they contained. That has led to numerous scandals as the names of sovereigns, politicians, sporting stars, celebrities and some criminals have come to light, and as the breadth of tax evasion has emerged. Mossack Fonseca insists it did nothing illegal and says its servers were hacked from abroad, making it a victim of cybertheft. But authorities in Panama are promising to adopt global standards on sharing tax information, which would impact the way Mossack Fonseca has done business. Screenshot John Lilly Greylock Mozilla A few years ago, Silicon Valley thought that Microsoft was toast. Comments like this one from entrepreneur and professor Steve Blank were typical: "Microsoft is the living dead. Microsoft is a standing joke now in the technology business." There were many more conversations like that in private. How times have changed. These days, people often mention how impressed they are with new technologies like HoloLens, give grudging respect to Azure (Microsoft's cloud competitor to Amazon Web Services), and joke about how "Microsoft" and "innovation" would never have been heard in the same sentence a few years ago. John Lilly, a venture capitalist at Greylock, crystallized the reason for this change in an interview with Vanity Fair: But Microsoft, especially under Satya Nadella, has been an interesting company to watch. For 20 or 25 years they had a massive distribution advantage, but now they don't....And under the old regime they would have said, "Well, we're going to pretend like we still have a distribution advantage, and we're not going to release Office on iPad or Office on iPhone." But one of the first things that Satya did when he got there was he released Office on iPhones and iPad. That's the first step toward them trying to act like a company that doesn't have privileged distribution. The old Microsoft could afford to be arrogant. When you own the only end-user computing platform that matters, you don't have to cooperate with anybody you don't want to cooperate with. You call the shots, and everybody has to work with you. But now that smartphones have broken that monopoly, you see Microsoft playing nice with all of its former rivals: Linux, Salesforce, Apple. Today, Microsoft even made a tentative peace with Google, which has been one of its fiercest rivals for more than a decade, as the two companies agreed not to complain to the government about each other but compete only in the marketplace. Story continues That kind of power can also make you a little bit lazy. Lilly worked at Mozilla, makers of the Firefox browser, in the early 2000s, and as he points out later in the interview, the only reason Firefox was able to crack the Microsoft monopoly on browsers was because the company didn't really pay attention: Microsoft didn't understand what we were up to at Mozilla until Firefox had 8 or 10 percent of the browser market, and by the time they recognized we were doing something that mattered, we were off to the races. Make no mistake: Microsoft didn't change because Nadella is some kind of gentle genius compared to his predecessor. Microsoft changed because it realized it had to. As Lilly concludes: "I find the whole thing fascinating, and I don't know how it's going to turn out. Twenty-five years of privileged distribution is a lot to unlearn." NOW WATCH: 6 cool things the Microsoft Surface pen can do More From Business Insider 2000 - 2022 24 .- . focus-news.net, () . 24 . 24 . . 24 . We value your privacy. Focus Taiwan (CNA) uses tracking technologies to provide better reading experiences, but it also respects readers' privacy. Click here to find out more about Focus Taiwan's privacy policy. When you close this window, it means you agree with this policy. Backlash after Barack Obama EU referendum intervention EU referendum: In depth BBC News23 April 2016US President Barack Obama has been accused of doing Downing Street's bidding - after he said the UK would be at "the back of the queue" for American trade deals if it left the EU.Mr Obama was criticised by pro-Brexit campaigners after he warned of the consequences of the UK leaving the EU.UKIP's Nigel Farage said Mr Obama was "talking down Britain", while Tory Liam Fox said his views were "irrelevant".Mr Obama, on a three-day UK visit, will meet Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn later.His intervention came on his first full day in the UK and comes just weeks ahead of the 23 June in-out referendum.Speaking at a joint news conference with Prime Minister David Cameron on Friday, Mr Obama said the US "wants Britain's influence to grow - including within Europe"."The UK is at its best when it's helping to lead a strong European Union. It leverages UK power to be part of the EU."I don't think the EU moderates British influence in the world, it magnifies it."BBC political correspondent Iain Watson said Mr Obama's message on trade was "very blunt" and "really upped the ante" in the referendum debate.Leave campaigner Mr Farage drew attention to the US president's terminology, saying his use of the phrase "back of the queue" rather than the more common American vernacular "back of the line" suggested Mr Obama was doing the prime minister's "bidding"."I think that's shameful," he added.Mr Fox said Mr Obama would be leaving the White House soon, and therefore his comments were "largely irrelevant".Conservative MP Dominic Raab labelled Mr Obama a "lame-duck American president doing an old British friend a political favour".Downing Street rejected suggestions that any lines had been fed to Mr Obama, saying the US president spoke for himself.Sir Andrew Cahn, a former chief executive of UK Trade & Investment, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that Britain would "miss out on something very important and valuable" if it left the EU and was not part of a proposed trade deal between the bloc and the US.Former foreign secretary Lord Owen said "Britain needs to create new markets away from the EU".Meanwhile, another prominent Leave campaigner - former cabinet minister Iain Duncan Smith - has tried to move the referendum debate on to immigration. In an article in the Daily Mail, he says the introduction of a national living wage - a move he supported while in government - will "surely lead to another stampede to our borders".He adds: "To make the Living Wage work for British people, we need to be able to control the number of people coming in."On his second full day in London, Mr Obama is visiting the Globe Theatre, where celebrations marking the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare's death are taking place.Later, he will hold talks with Labour leader Mr Corbyn. Barack Obama visits Globe on Shakespeare anniversary Shakespeare: England's greatest storyteller Born in 1564, and the earliest record of his writing dates from 1592 Wrote around 38 full plays including Romeo and Juliet, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Hamlet, King Lear and Macbeth Words including "assassination", "addiction", "generous" and "bedroom" had their first recorded uses in his plays Introduced phrases like "elbow room", "heart of gold" and "tower of strength" to the English language Acted as well as wrote, and owned a share in the original Globe theatre Died on 23 April 1616, aged 52 Born in 1564, and the earliest record of his writing dates from 1592Wrote around 38 full plays including Romeo and Juliet, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Hamlet, King Lear and MacbethWords including "assassination", "addiction", "generous" and "bedroom" had their first recorded uses in his playsIntroduced phrases like "elbow room", "heart of gold" and "tower of strength" to the English languageActed as well as wrote, and owned a share in the original Globe theatreDied on 23 April 1616, aged 52 BBC News23 April 2016US President Barack Obama has begun his final day in London by touring a theatre dedicated to the work of William Shakespeare.Saturday marks the 400th anniversary of the playwright's death and he is being celebrated throughout the UK.The Globe theatre is a replica of the circular, open-air playhouse that Shakespeare designed in 1599.Mr Obama watched a brief performance of a portion of Hamlet, including the famous "To be or not to be" soliloquy.The scenes were performed by actors from a company of 16, who embarked on a two-year world tour in 2014 playing to more than 100,000 people in 197 countries - every country on Earth except North Korea and Iran.Obama described the performance as "wonderful".During the scenes, Mr Obama stood in the open-air theatre watching intently and was seen swaying back and forth on his feet to the music.As the US President toured the theatre, he spent several minutes looking at the structure and asking questions about the seating and performances.Celebrations are taking place across the UK over the course of the weekend to mark the anniversary.David Tennant will host a BBC celebration on Saturday night live from the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon.The event will be attended by Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall.Performers at Shakespeare Live - which begins on BBC Two at 20:30 BST - will include Dame Judi Dench, Sir Ian McKellen, Dame Helen Mirren and Benedict Cumberbatch.Other names on the bill include Rory Kinnear, Meera Syal, Joseph Fiennes, David Suchet, Simon Russell Beale, Roger Allam, Sanjeev Bhaskar, Harriet Walter, John Lithgow, Anne-Marie Duff and the cast of Horrible Histories.As well as theatrical performances, the show will feature hip-hop, blues, jazz, opera and classical music that has been inspired by Shakespeare's plays.Throughout the day on Saturday, Shakespeare's Globe will be screening short films of every one of Shakespeare's 37 plays on giant screens along the banks of the Thames, between Tower Bridge and Westminster.The films feature actors delivering their lines in the locations where the plays are set - such as Cleopatra in Egypt, Julius Caesar in the Roman Forum and Hamlet at Elsinore.Among the star names involved in the project, entitled The Complete Walk, are Gemma Arterton, Dominic West, Ruth Wilson, James Norton, Zawe Ashton and current Doctor Who Peter Capaldi.Dominic Dromgoole, the Globe's artistic director, who will stand down on Sunday, revealed on Friday that the short films had just all been given a "U" classification apart from one film, Pericles, which is a PG."That astonished us, we thought some of the others might be closer to the margins, so we'll have to put up signs around that saying it needs parental guidance," Mr Dromgoole said.The weekend will also see the return of the Globe's worldwide tour of Hamlet, which has spent the last two years travelling to almost every country in the world.On Saturday afternoon, the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall will be in Stratford-upon-Avon, where the playwright was born.They will visit the site of the playwright's adult home for 19 years - now being transformed into a tourist attraction called Shakespeare's New Place, and due to open to the public in July. They will also go to see his grave, situated at Holy Trinity Church.And in the evening the royal couple will attend Shakespeare Live, which is being broadcast from Stratford-upon-Avon.BBC Radio 3 will also be broadcasting a weekend of Shakespeare-inspired music and performance live from the Bard's hometown.And some of Shakespeare's best known characters - including Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet and King Lear - will be featuring along a stretch of the River Thames in London.Elsewhere, leading arts organisations across the UK will make available performances, analysis and talks.All material will be streamed on Shakespeare Day Live , a digital pop-up channel which kicks off Shakespeare Lives, a six month online festival. He's certainly receiving criticism here in the UK whilst he'd being wined and dined by Her Majesty. Last night he made a speech in which he said that Britain should remain in the EU and that if it left the EU it would be at the "back of the queue" when it comes to lining up a trade deal with the US. Political pundits on TV have said that "queue" is a British word and that the Americans don't use it - they'd say "back of the line" - and it seems as though Downing Street, maybe even Cameron himself, has been telling Obama what to say. So the Remainers have made a mistake getting him to use the word "queue". And there were a lot of angry people phoning in on Stephen Nolan on BBC Radio Five Live last night condemning Obama coming over here and telling us what to do and saying that America has started lots of wars, some illegal, in recent years and has dragged Britain into them and that they will not be doing what the US President tells them to do by voting Remain. I think this stunt by the Remain camp to drag Obama into the campaign to try and persuade the British people to vote to remain in the EU is going to backfire on them spectacularly. I can't wait to look at the polls over the next few days. A Hobby Lobby location is coming to Fremont at the end of this September, a customer service representative from the businesses corporate office confirmed Friday afternoon. Customer service representative Rebecca Foster confirmed that the store will open at 2660 E. 23rd St., formerly Walmart and more recently, Menards, prior to its moving to 3600 E. 24th St. Hobby Lobby is headquartered in Oklahoma City, Okla., operating more than 600 stores across the United States that average 55,000 square feet. Hobby Lobby is an industry leading retailer offering more than 70,000 arts, crafts, hobbies, home decor, holiday and seasonal products, information from the companys website says. Hobby Lobby is included in Forbes annual list of Americas largest private companies. Bob Miller, Hobby Lobby communications coordinator, said that the store is expecting to hire between 35 and 50 employees, with full-time wages starting at $15.35 per hour and part-time wages starting at $10.23 per hour. Miller, through an email conversation, told the Tribune that Fremont will be a great fit for one of the 50 stores the company expects to open this year. Hobby Lobby is looking for locations to better serve our customers, and this location in Fremont fits the bill, he said. MASON CITY Members of the Holy Transfiguration Greek Orthodox Church in Mason City, along with Eastern Orthodox Christians throughout the world, will celebrate their Easter Sunday on May 1. Although most American Christians celebrated Easter in late March this year, Eastern Orthodox Christians follow a different method to calculate the date for the holiday. The Holy Week liturgical schedule at Holy Transfiguration is as follows: April 23: Lazarus Saturday Liturgy, 10 a.m., with breakfast to follow. April 24: Blessing of Palms, 9:50 a.m.; Liturgy, 10 a.m. with Philoptochos fish luncheon to follow; 6 p.m., Orthros of the Bridegroom. April 25: Holy Monday. 6 p.m., Orthros of the Bridegroom. April 26: Holy Tuesday. 6 p.m., Orthros of the Bridegroom. April 27: Holy Wednesday. 6 p.m., Mystery of the Holy Anointing. April 28: Holy Thursday. 10 a.m., Liturgy of St. Basil; 6 p.m., the Holy Passion and Procession with the Great Cross. April 29: Holy Friday. 3 p.m., Vespers of the Removal of Christ from the Cross; 6 p.m., the Great Lamentations at the Tomb of Christ. April 30: Holy Saturday. 10 a.m., Mystical Liturgy of St. Basil with the sprinkling of the petals.; 10:30 p.m., Holy Office, Holy Light and Procession, the Orthros Canon and the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, with a parish lamb dinner to follow. May 1: Holy Pascha (Easter). AMSON CITY | Midge Gaylor will lead the first of a three-part discussion of the book "Just Mercy" by Bryon Stevenson during the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of North Central Iowa Sunday. The book is the Unitarian common read for 2016. Stevenson, founder of the Equal Justice Initiative, has dedicated his legal career to defending the poor, people of color, children, and others. The Fellowship meets Sundays at the Community Kitchen, 606 N. Monroe Ave., Mason City. There will be coffee, tea and socializing at 10:15 a.m. Programs begin at 10:30 a.m. LISLE, Ill., April 23, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Armour, the makers of great and convenient products including frozen meatballs, pepperoni and portable meal kits honored an unsung hero Saturday during the Houston Childrens Festival, in conjunction with their Great Moms campaign. Armour took the stage to recognize and honor Joy Siebenman, an extraordinary mom and a role model for mothers of children with disabilities. A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/4a0d9797-9646-4fbc-b177-4ee57667fbc3 Siebenman is the mother of two children. Her daughter Sara is 13-years-old and her son Richard (Ibby) is 10-years-old. Ibby has Down Syndrome, leading Joy to become a leading disability advocate in the Houston community. Joy is a strong believer that children with disabilities have value, belong and should be included in schools and communities. Joy works closely with the Down Syndrome Association of Houston and serves on the board of the Family to Family Network, which helps families of children with disabilities navigate the complex disability systems. She also works closely with her childrens schools and shares her parent perspective at the district level and with the Texas Council of Administrators of Special Education. Finally, Joy is the fun-loving neighborhood mother who always has children at her home. Siebenman was celebrated onstage at the McDonalds Houston Childrens Festival benefitting Child Advocates. Armour partnered with H-E-B to present Siebenman with $2,500 in free groceries to reward and celebrate her for being such a great mom, both at home and in her community. Joy Siebenmans commitment to serving her family and others exemplifies the spirit of the Armour Great Moms campaign, said Chuck Gitkin, Senior Vice President, Marketing, Smithfield Foods. Joy dedicates her life to speaking up for others by serving as an advocate for individuals with disabilities and shes a great mom to her own two children. Today we were honored to recognize her selfless acts and celebrate her accomplishments by rewarding her with $2,500 in free groceries at H-E-B. Armour is a brand of Smithfield Foods. Armour was pleased to recognize Siebenman as part of their Great Moms campaign. The campaign celebrates Great Moms, our everyday unsung heroes. They are the ones who do it all and do it all for us, without asking for any recognition. Great Moms often go without praise and Armour is helping to change that by showing its appreciation for these everyday champions. The campaign includes monthly events through November to surprise and celebrate unexpected great moms across the country. Im a little shocked and surprised, said Siebenman. I just enjoy being a mother. I have a sister with a disability, and when my son was born, I knew he needed a support system too. Its part of being a mother that I love. I think its great that people like Armour and H-E-B are stepping up and doing this for mothers. Im really honored. Armour With America's favorite frozen meatballs, LunchMakers portable meal kits, and pepperoni products, Armour is proud to be a trusted brand that provides convenient, delicious and affordable meal options for smart, sensible families since 1867. About Smithfield Foods Smithfield Foods is a $14 billion global food company and the world's largest pork processor and hog producer. In the United States, the company is also the leader in numerous packaged meats categories with popular brands including Smithfield, Eckrich, Farmland, Armour, Cook's, John Morrell, Gwaltney, Nathan's Famous, Kretschmar, Margherita, Curly's, Carando and Healthy Ones. Smithfield Foods is committed to providing good food in a responsible way and maintains robust animal care, community involvement, employee safety, environmental and food safety and quality programs. For more information, visit www.smithfieldfoods.com. EMPOWERgmatRichC VeritasPrepKarishma chetan2u carcass results.png [ 13.26 KiB | Viewed 5613 times ] https://vantagepointmba.com/ Proven Results. Uncompromising Quality. Request an initial consultation! Vantage Point MBA Admissions ConsultingProven Results. Uncompromising Quality.Request an initial consultation! Signature Read More Hi there,Thanks for sharing your profile! I have a couple of thoughts and questions based on the information you provided. My initial reaction is to advise you to wait another year or two before applying. And I make that recommendation for a couple of reasons. With only 1 year of work experience, Im not sure if you would be able to really demonstrate a track record of success and leadership at work - important things that the adcom looks for. You may get some credit for your entrepreneurship experience in college but since it didnt work out in the end, its probably marginal. You dont mention what your post-MBA goals are but as a younger applicant, you would need to present a very strong case for why now is the right time to pursue an MBA. Lastly, youre applying in a very competitive category Indian male, engineer, who went to IIT with estimated acceptance rates of up to 20-25% lower than average. So applying at the right time is super important since re-applying can be an uphill battle.Can you tell me a bit more about your experience at TATA Steel? Is Manager an entry level position or have you already been promoted and/or given increasing levels of responsibility over the last year? Some more clarification on this could help build your case for applying this year.Your stats are strong, ECs solid, with a career off to a strong start, so with a bit more clarification on your background or another year of work experience under your belt, you will be in a good place to apply to the business schools you listed. We have actually worked with clients up to one year out from applying, just to get started on defining the best application strategy and any steps that you can take now to help strengthen your profile. This is particularly useful for early career applicants that need to make every moment count. If this is something you might be interested in, Im happy to chat further about specifics. We also wrote a great blog post recently with some insights and advice for younger applicants that might be helpful for you check it out on our website!I hope this was helpful! Wishing you the best!-Melody_________________ Its been a little over twenty-four hours since Princes unexpected death on Thursday afternoon and the shock still hasnt worn off. Last night, monuments around the world lit up purple in memoriam, the casts of Hamilton and The Color Purple led tributes in his honor, and Spike Lee threw an impromptu block party, where an estimated 500-800 attendees danced and sang in remembrance of The Purple One. For those of us who need more time to grieve, there are numerous opportunities to honor his memory by dancing, drinking, and eating. It's what he would want: TONIGHT VINNIES PIZZA in Williamsburg will have Prince-inspired specials all day including When Doves Fry, Purple Romaine, and Little Bread Corvette. Theyll also be giving out free Foot Prince stickers at both locations until supplies run out. Williamsburg: 148 Bedford Ave., between N 8th and N 9th Streets, Brooklyn Greenpoint: 253 Nassau Ave. at Kingsland Ave., Brooklyn MERIDIAN 23's Prince tribute begins earlier than most, at 5:00 p.m. today. The free five-hour-long event will include purple drinks and allow mourners to remember, reminisce, and most of all listen to the music of a legend until 10 p.m. 161 W. 23rd St., at 7th Ave. SIGNAL GALLERY is hosting a launch party for literary magazine n+1s 25th issue, which features work centered around the concept slow burn. Although the event wasnt originally planned as a tribute, a Prince dance party is guaranteed by DJ Gene Jnr. Beer will be provided by Brooklyn Brewery, and the event, which begins at 8 p.m., is free for current subscribers or $10 at the door. 260 Johnson Ave., Brooklyn. CORNER SOCIALs weekly Flashback Friday event will be a grief therapy session for mourners, where singing, dancing, and crying are all allowed. DJ Jon Quick will be playing tracks both sung and produced by Prince from 10 p.m. to 3 a.m., but the venue will charge for admission once its near capacitywhich will probably be early, because Prince. Dress code: purple. 321 Malcolm X Blvd., at 126th St. (Getty) SATURDAY, APRIL 23 LITTLEFIELDs weekly Party Like Its 1999 event will be dedicated to the man who wrote the party series eponymous song. DJ Steve Reynolds will be playing all of Princes hits, plus B-sides, music from his proteges, songs he wrote for other artists and everything else that made him a legend, while clips from his music videos, films, and live performances are projected throughout the venue. Show up at 11 p.m. dressed in purple, paisley, or both, and remember theres a $6 cover. 622 Degraw St., at Hoyt St., Brooklyn. SUNDAY, APRIL 24 THE ROSEMONT, a cocktail lounge and jazz bar, will be hosting a happy hour listening and viewing party from 3:30 - 8 p.m, where Princes videos will be projected on a screen as jazz musicians play his work live. The bar will be serving up in memoriam drinks including purple rain shots and a specialty cocktail called The Purple One. 60 Montrose Ave., between Lorimer and Leonard, Brooklyn. MONDAY, APRIL 25 HAPPYFUN HIDEAWAYs Prince DJ Night moves the mourning/dancing into next week for those who need a little more time to grieve. The free event starts at 8 p.m. and boasts a rotating list of DJs including Knifesex, Frankie Teardrop, and Cherry Magdalene. 1211 Myrtle Ave., at Charles Pl., Brooklyn TUESDAY, APRIL 26 HOUSE OF YES will host an immersive screening of Princes semi-autographical film Purple Rain, which won the 1985 Oscar for Best Music (duh). The dress code is, of course, Prince Purple. Doors are at 7 p.m., the screening begins at 8 p.m., and the night will wrap up with an after party at 10:30 p.m.. The film will be screened for free at the restaurant, but purchasing tickets grants you entry to accompanying live performances. 2 Wyckoff Ave., at Jefferson St., Brooklyn. STRUT! AT ACME is throwing a Prince-themed party beginning at 10 p.m., featuring music by DJs Greg Dyer and Robi D Light and a late-night vogue contest. 9 Great Jones St., between Broadway and Lafayette. WEDNESDAY, APRIL 27 THE LIVING ROOMs midweek tribute begins at 9 p.m. and will include specialty cocktails like Extra Touch, Purple Rain, and 1999. Princes best hits will be playing all night. W - New York Times Square at 1567 Broadway at 47th Street on the 7th Floor This week's Saturday Night Live will be a special show devoted to Prince. The episode, dubbed "Goodnight, Sweet Prince," was announced on SNL's website. The iconoclastic star first performed on the program in 1981. Charlene Tilton was the host and Todd Rundgren was the musical guest, but then-producer Jean Doumanian wanted to book Prince, so he ended up going on at the end. In 2014, she told the Washington Post that she "remember[ed] getting a tape from Princes agent. He was just 22, hot off opening for Rick James but still more than a year away from releasing his breakthrough, '1999.'" She said, " was blown away. He was just the most original act I had seen in a long time." He performed "Partyup"this Japanese site has video of the segment. Rundgren recalled the show, "My most interesting experience with Prince was on Saturday Night Live. I was wearing a slightly racy costume in which my, er, package was prominently displayed. And there were some complaints. Then Prince came on for his first national TV appearance and he wore a pair of tidy-whitey underpants and a big cape. So no matter what anyone had to say about my costume, it became all about Prince in his underwear." Then Prince returned in 2006, when Steve Martin hosted, singing and playing "Fury" (video) and "Beautiful, Loved and Blessed." In 2014, when Chris Rock returned to host, Prince appeared with 3rdeyegirl, playing a medley of "Clouds", "Marz" and "Another Love." He also performed at the 1989 SNL 15th anniversary special and played the after-party at the 40th anniversary. Of course, one of cast member Fred Armisen's most popular recurring characters was Prince: Saturday Night Live airs at 11:30 p.m. on NBC. There's been a lot of drama in the morning television talk show world, what with Michael Strahan bailing on Live! With Kelly and Michael for Good Morning America and Kelly Ripa not taking it...well. Ripa's been hiding out since ABC announced Strahan would be making the move, but it appears both co-hosts will be back on Tuesday. That should be interesting. The drama all started last Tuesday, when ABC announced Strahan, who has been a GMA correspondent for two years, would be moving to the show full-time. Ripa said she was "blindsided" and "betrayed" by Strahan's move (and how it was handled by the station) and didn't come into work the next day. She's reportedly been in Turks & Caicos for her anniversary for the last few days, and there was concern she might not returnbut officials say both she and Strahan will be back on Tuesday. In an email to staffers, Ripa wrote: Sorry for this late Friday night email. I wanted to thank you all for giving me the time to process this new information. Your kindness, support, and love has overwhelmed me. We are a family and I look forward to seeing you all on Tuesday morning. Love, Kelly. It's not clear how Tuesday will goearlier this week, People reported that ABC didn't think Strahan and Ripa would ever be able to work together again, with a source pointing out that " Practically, it's a different dynamic now." Officials are also apparently worried that Ripa might "do an Ann Curry" and go rogue on air on Tuesday, but at least that'll make daytime television interesting. Police are searching for three men who were involved in a shooting that caused a woman to be hit by a stray bullet on Thursday night. Larisa Lyubina, 57, was at the corner of Mermaid Avenue and West 33rd street at about 7:30 p.m. when she heard gunfire. She felt pain in her left cheek, and realized she'd been shot, the NYPD said. The police's preliminary investigation showed that two men had jumped out of a silver Mercedes Benz at the intersection, and one of them had shot at another man who'd just exited a blue suburban. Lyubina is not to believed to have been the target. Lyubina called her husband before calling 911, according to ABC. "The guys stopped the car, and started to shoot one another," her husband, Sergei Lyubin, told Eyewitness News. "She said, 'Somebody shot me and I have damage in my face. I don't want to die.'" She was taken to Lutheran Medical Center in stable condition, but will reportedly have to have surgery to remove the bullet, which broke a bone above her chin and is lodged in her face. "It could have been much worse," her husband told the Daily News. "It could have been the spine." No arrests have been made yet, but police obtained surveillance video of the two vehicles involved from an MTA bus that was parked near the shooting, and are asking for the public's help in identifying either the vehicles or their operators. If you have information about this incident, you can call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). You can also submit tips by logging onto the Crime Stoppers website or by texting tips to 274637 (CRIMES) and entering TIP577. The Department of Justice announced last night that it had successfully unlocked the iPhone of a suspected meth dealer in Brooklyn and that it would no longer require Apple's cooperation in gaining access to the phone. This comes less than a month after the feds accessed the data on San Bernardino shooter Syed Farook's iPhone without help from Apple, which has argued in favor of the need for encryption and said that complying with the government's demands in these cases would set a dangerous precedent for government surveillance. In a letter to a federal judge in the Eastern District of New York, a U.S. attorney said that on Thursday night, someone provided the passcode to the iPhone of Jun Feng, the suspected drug dealer at the heart of the Brooklyn case, and as such, the government no longer requires Apple's assistance in unlocking the phone. The government had previously been asking for a court order mandating that Apple bypass the lock screen of Feng's iPhone 5. This Brooklyn case has been considerably lower profile than that involving the San Bernardino shooter: the latter sparked a nationwide debate over privacy and encryption, and prompted officials here in New York to reiterate their stances against phone encryption. When Apple announced that it would be resisting the government's request in the San Bernardino case, NYPD Commissioner Bratton argued that "terrorist threats and criminal threats threaten [Apple's] customers much more" than a tool that could unlock encrypted iPhones, and the Manhattan District Attorney said that Apple and Google had become the "sheriffs" of the "wild west of technology." But the Brooklyn case actually laid the groundwork for Apple's headline-making fight against the feds in California. In both cases, the government relied on the All Writs Act, a 1789 statute that gives courts the broad power to issue orders when alternate judicial tools aren't available. Last fall, however, a Brooklyn judge said that it was not clear the All Writs Act applied at all in the case of Feng's iPhone. Apple's lawyers argued that "the situation would be no different than if the government sought to use the All Writs Act to force a safe manufacturer to travel around the country unlocking safes that the government wants to access, or to make a lock manufacturer pick locks for the government." If ordered to unlock the San Bernardino shooter's iPhone, Apple would have had to build a tool that would disable the feature that causes a phone to erase its data after 10 failed password attempts. According to the New York Times, in the Brooklyn case, Feng's phone was running an older operating system, so unlocking it wouldn't have required quite as much technical innovation. Earlier this week, it was revealed that the FBI may have paid hackers upwards of $1.3 million to unlock Farook's phone. Though the government's demands in these two cases are now moot, the debate over encryption and customer privacy is ongoing: Apple is fighting a court order to unlock a phone in a gang-related case in Boston, and has objected in dozens of other similar instances. Bridges continues with estate program Bridges, a community outreach program of the Helena United Methodist Ministries in Partnership with AARP Montana, welcomes Marsha Geotting -- Montana State University Extension -- on Thursday, April 28, at 6:30 p.m. Goetting returns to present the second chapter of her family estate planning presentation. Her multimedia presentation Wildflower Reflections will help attendees learn about healthcare and financial powers of attorney, personal representatives, probate and orders for life sustaining treatment and trusts. This event is free and held at fully-accessible Covenant United Methodist Church, 2330 E. Broadway, across the street from St. Peters Emergency Room entrance. To reserve a seat, along with refreshments, call AARP at 877-296-8300 no later than Tuesday, April 26. For information, call Fran Waddell at 438-2162 or email fwwaddell@bresnan.net. Church to honor Holocaust victims Covenant United Methodist Church, 2330 E. Broadway, will have a special worship service on Sunday, May 1, at 10 a.m., open to everyone, and will feature stories from two members whose families were directly involved in the Holocaust in Holland. The service will remember victims of the Holocaust and those suffering oppression and genocide throughout the world today. Prayers and video of faces of the Holocaust and special hymns will be included. Following the service during Fellowship Hour, there will be refreshments and Q&A with speakers, as well as sharing of pictures and articles about the Holocaust in Holland. National Day of Prayer May 5 The upcoming 66th Annual Observance of the National Day of Prayer is Thursday, May 5. The 12th Annual Helena Prayer Breakfast will be hosted at the Neighborhood Assembly of God Church, 725 Granite Ave. Breakfast is at 7 a.m. and costs $10. The program will follow the breakfast. For more information, contact Rev. Richard Summerlin, 406-410-0458. At noon, on the Capitol steps, a community-based coalition of leaders will hold an hour-long event that focuses on prayer. There will be music -- a prelude by musicians from Helena Nazarene as well as The Star Spangled Banner and The Battle Hymn of the Republic. Attorney General Tim Fox will lead the Pledge of Allegiance. Lt. Gov. Mike Cooney will read the governors proclamation. Gilda Clancy, senior veterans liaison, will read a letter by U.S. Sen. Steve Daines. Bob Veroulis, state director, Fellowship of Christian Athletes, will also speak. Prayer will be our primary focus. Leaders will pray for seven areas of influence, and after each of these prayers, people who have gathered will be invited to pray -- in small groups -- for these areas of influence: Education -- Dr. Tom Evans Government -- Bruce Nautcheim Church -- Rev. Gabriel Morrow Military -- Col. Daniel Thompson, chaplain Family -- Barb Hamlin Media -- Roger Lonnquist Business -- Wayne OBrien It was a rough time. Twelve years ago, our church family lost a 21-year-old soldier to an IED in Iraq. An overflow crowd came to his funeral to support his grieving family. Afterwards, the father of a young woman -- she was a peer of that soldier -- came to me. With pain in his eyes he said: I expect the next funeral to be our daughters. He feared she would lose the war -- with anorexia. Then, the six-year-old daughter of one of our leaders, the youngest of five children, was suddenly diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor and given less than six months to live. And then our youth pastor was arrested. It was a rough time. That roughness is expressed in a 1980 poem, In This Fog, by Billy Grahams wife, Ruth: Sunk in this gray / depression / I cannot pray. / How can I give / expression / with no words to say? / This mass of vague / foreboding /of aching care, /love with its / overloading /short-circuits prayer. / Then in this fog of tiredness, / this nothingness, I find/a quiet, certain, knowing / that He is kind. I asked, 'God of severity and mercy, what is your purpose in weaving all this together?' The mother who had lost her soldier son helped with an answer. When I went to the Christian bookstore, I saw row after row after row of books on Christian Living. I finally had to ask where to find anything about Christian dying. A very compassionate clerk led me to a minuscule section. We got two books -- 25 percent of what they had.' Scripture As a church, how could we help those who mourn? I looked at Scripture. The Scriptures tell us the truth about the sorrows we broken people have living in a broken world. No sentimental haze obscures that reality -- about two-fifths of the Gospels are devoted to depicting the passion (literally, the suffering) of our Savior. And his passion steeps into the lives of his followers -- we each take up our cross daily (Luke 9:23). Although I thought about preaching about our sorrows from Jesus, Paul, David and other Psalmists, I settled on the weeping prophet, Jeremiah. Not his large book, but his book of crafted alphabetical poems, Lamentations. This poignant lament gives words to the horrors of a two-year siege followed, in 587 B.C., by the Babylonians near obliteration of Jerusalem. The worst things that could happen in this world happened there. Why not profit from an entire book the Holy Spirit devoted to grief?! Laments complain, shout, and protest. In vulnerability and honesty, they cling obstinately to God and demand for God to see, hear, act (Lamentations and the Tears of the World, Kathleen OConnor). Songs As I preached from Lamentations, I needed songs. The mother of the soldier told me that coming to church could be difficult -- particularly that music could be too happy-clappy. The Psalter helped. The Psalmist helped us sing: My God, my God why have you forsaken me? and How long, O Lord, how long? I found few laments in our contemporary hymnals. Older hymnals -- like Gadsbys, first published in 1814 -- had some. No. 307 by Hart gives us these words to sing: And must it, LORD, be so? / And must Your children bear / Such various kinds of woe, / Such soul-perplexing fear? / Are these the blessings we expect? / Is this the lot of Gods elect? / Howeer grievous the way, / Dear Savior, still lead on, / Nor leave us til we say, / Father, Your will be done. / At most we do but taste the cup / For You alone did drink it up. Creeds -- and our historic community of faith Of course, we needed to keep coming back to Jesus. Reading the creeds together gave us another way to get to him. Heidelberg 1: Question. What is your only comfort in life and in death? Answer. That I am not my own, but belong body and soul, in life and in death to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ. He has fully paid for all my sins with his precious blood, and has set me free from the tyranny of the devil. He also watches over me in such a way that not a hair can fall from my head without the will of my Father in heaven; in fact, all things must work together for my salvation. Because I belong to him, Christ, by his Holy Spirit, assures me of eternal life and makes me wholeheartedly willing and ready from now on to live for him. It was during that rough time, I learned these profound words were written in 1576 by Dutch men in their early forties. To be alive at forty meant they had avoided decimating plagues and war. Spain waged war against Hollands Protestants off and on for 82 years, from 1566-1648. Such was the setting for the Heidelberg Catechism. Lets listen to our tested Christian forbearers. What about Montana -- and us? What about Montana? Perhaps youve heard that our state is so patriotic that during WW1 and WW2 a great many of our men went to war. Compared to other states, a disproportionate number did not come home. And that has brought sustained economic implications, and other challenges too. On average, we still send more military away than other states -- about one in ten. Montana has its own Lamentations. In your rough times, so do you. Do you have a Savior who knows your suffering? Does he help you bear your cross? Do you have a church family that points you to Jesus as they help you bear your burdens? Look in the Scripture; look for songs for your soul; look in the creeds; look for a community of faith. And pray. Ask God to give substantial answers to deep questions your soul asks during a rough time. Earlier this year, at the urging of tribal health directors and under the order of Gov. Steve Bullock, Montana became possibly the first state in the country to create an Office of American Indian Health, although a handful of others have created small programs as part of larger minority-health initiatives. At stake is a stark fact: American Indians in Montana on average live 20 years fewer than their white neighbors. Mary Lynne Billy-Old Coyote started as the offices director April 11, spending her first week at a conference hosted by the Centers for Disease Control. IR State Bureau reporter Jayme Fraser sat down with Billy-Old Coyote on Thursday to discuss her background and goals. The interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity. Q: Tell me a little bit about yourself and why you decided to become the states first Director of American Indian Health. A: Part of the reason I even started to consider this position, which was quite intriguing, was because of my background and because of my commitment to Indian Country and Indian health, particularly in Montana. I am from Montana. I am a member of the Chippewa Cree tribe. My dad is full-blooded Cree, so I grew up on Rocky Boy, I grew up on a reservation, and I grew up experiencing the health care. Its unfortunate that the health care I experienced as a child is almost a mirror image of the health care that exists now. Im 50 years old, so when you look at health care that has not changed in that time frame, thats of great of concern. I can see we have a complex problem that certainly will not be solved easily. But through my background, my true personal commitment to this, I think that well make some strides not quickly, this is a complex problem but I think we need to shift the conversation from health disparities to health equity, and Im hoping thats what I can do. Q: How did you get your start in health care? A: I started my career early on in consulting and was part of a consulting practice with Native Americans at KPMG. I had the opportunity to start one of the first Native American practices in the United States, and one of our first initial efforts was the second tribal health care plan developed in the U.S. It was one of the most innovative efforts at the time. We were developing a practice and a plan for this particular tribe that was across 41 states and four countries. I reached a crossroads. You cant get much luckier than that, when your personal and professional interests come together. Q: What are some of the challenges to improving health outcomes in Indian Country? A: Access to health care for example, transportation. Let me share a personal story. My dad had to be transported in an ambulance not too many months ago. I was in the ambulance with him, and through that experience I could see we had an ambulance that was extremely dated. The care that these truly caring professionals were trying to administer was dated, because the access to the tools and equipment wasnt what youd expect to see in a mainstream population. This is 35 miles, part of it down a dirt road, going 85 mph at 8 oclock on a Friday night when theres a lot of traffic. Its real. Health care is real. Not only to me personally, but to every American Indian. Q: What are your initial priorities and first steps? A: First, Im going to look to collaborate with the tribal health directors, the coalition, which was instrumental, in addition to the governor, in putting this office together and having it stand up. This opportunity is such a monumental step in addressing some of the things we need to have conversations about. We made this step forward with the coalition, and those early conversations are going to be formative in terms of what we do next. Id also like to get to know the Department of Public Health and Human Services, all their offices and what they're involved in. Cancer screenings, mammography all those things really needed in Indian Country today. Id also like to set some short-term objectives that are quick wins. What are the quick wins? Im starting to formulate that now. I dont yet have that plan in place, given this is my second day in the office (here in Helena). Q: Talk about the growing national focus on minority health and what that means for your efforts here. A: The conversation is shifting from health disparities to health equity and the opportunities to create health equity. Often times people misinterpret that health care or health, lets say health is only about the clinical setting. In Indian Country, its not. Certainly clinical is the core of it health care, dental care but social determinants are a piece of that, particularly in Indian Country. So were talking about access to transportation, education, basic community programs to help children learn and grow. Law enforcement. How do we make safe and healthy communities so people can engage in community activities and feel safe doing it? All of those aspects are changing the national agenda from disparities to equity. Were all as Montanans trying to come to a place of well being and health. Q: And part of your job is making sure the resources the state already has are available to the tribes, right? A: Absolutely. And also building upon those resources, building a collaborative bridge. There really have been some monumental steps taken before me, the creation of this office being one of them. From there you start to build bridges and more bridges. Tribes are very, very much (wanting) to engage the state. Q: Is there anything youd like to add? A: This certainly is a complex problem. As I mentioned before, its personal, its professional for me. I know that its something experienced by every tribal member, every American Indian in the state every day, every hour. I know it. Ive experienced it. I feel it. Our first order of business is to make sure we get the access to care, we get information sharing, and we do it authentically, and those are really critical things from the start. Soon-to-be college graduates who are lining up job interviews and weighing offers should check out employer benefit packages for a new perk student loan repayment plans. To make it easier for employees to pay off college loans quicker and to recruit and retain recent grads, more companies are adding repayment plans to their package of benefits that include health care and retirement accounts. The plans vary, with some employers providing as much as $5,000 to $6,000 a year, while others offer loan repayment funds instead of signing bonuses, according to the Society for Human Resource Management. Some employers even allow employees to tap this benefit for student loans theyve taken out for their children. Typically, the funds are paid directly to the workers loan servicing company. Workers can take advantage of the employer contributions and still make payments of their own. Perhaps the biggest drawback, however, is that the employer contributions are considered taxable income for the purposes of income and payroll taxes. But legislation pending in Congress could change that. While a 2015 survey by the human resources organization found that only 3 percent of employers offered workers a hand on their student loans, more are expected to be doing so soon or are thinking about it. Student loan repayment benefits help with recruiting, retention, engaging employees and driving loyalty in ways that other programs do not, said Chris Duchesne, vice president at EdAssist, a Massachusetts-based education benefits company, said in a Society for Human Resource report earlier this year. Indeed, the programs appear to have significant appeal to droves of college graduates with thousands upon thousands of dollars of student loan debt. In a survey last fall by Iontuition of current and former college students with loans, 55 percent of the respondents said they would rather see the amount they are paying for health care go toward their student loan balance. Nearly 50 percent said they would prefer student loan payment contributions from their employer rather than 401(k) matching funds for a retirement account. The college loan assistance plans have caught on mainly in the corporate world rather than with nonprofit employers, and financial services companies and technology firms have been in the forefront. The accounting firm of PricewaterhouseCoopers announced it will offer up to $1,200 a year for up to six years as part of its student loan paydown plan for associates and senior associates. Kronos, the workforce management services company, plans to offer $500 a year to employees for student loan repayment. While Im for most anything that will put a dent in college debt, its well worth crunching the numbers (or get a tax expert to do it for you) to see how much of a benefit youre truly getting after taxes. And if the perk comes with a smaller salary than a job offer from another company that doesnt provide the benefit, you might be better off taking the higher pay. In addition, ask if there are any caps on the total benefits, and whether there are requirements to reimburse the employer if you leave at some point after receiving the incentive. The tax issue will likely be key to the perks popularity. Earlier this year, U.S. Sen. Mark Warner, a Democrat from Virginia, introduced a bill that would allow employers to put up to $5,250 a year in pre-tax dollars toward payment of a workers federal or private student loans. The legislation even has some bipartisan support. NORMAL Local officials hope attending a European trade show will open new doors to find a new tenant for the Mitsubishi Motors North America plant. Normal Mayor Chris Koos and Kyle Ham, CEO of the Bloomington-Normal Economic Development Council, will go to Hannover, Germany, next week for the 2016 Hannover Messe a five-day annual event billed "the world's biggest industrial fair," with 6,500 exhibitors and 250,000 visitors. Our goals are fairly simple: one is to sell McLean County, Bloomington and Normal, talking to companies about the properties and assets we have," Ham said. "The second part focuses particularly on the Mitsubishi property." State and local officials have been trying for nine months to find a buyer for the plant that ceased production in November and will permanently close late next month. Ham said interest hasn't waned, but the trip offers a "very pointed opportunity. A consultant has married us up with businesses looking to expand in the United States and in our region, he said. Its hard to put a price tag on that. Ham estimated the trip will cost $12,000 to $15,000. The EDC will pay his share, and Koos said his share will be paid from a town fund that covers mayor and city council expenditures. Obviously were going to be talking about Mitsubishi, but there will be smaller companies were meeting with who have expressed an interest in locating in Illinois, Koos said. We'll talk about facilities and try to convince them Bloomington-Normal is the place to be. Ham said the process of finding a user for the plant won't change after it closes. Whether people are working out there doesnt really change our process, he said. This is going to take a long view because anybody who buys this will need to put money into it. ... It will take anywhere from 12 to 18 months to get it where they need it from production purposes. Koos said finding a tenant is a matter of connecting with the right people at the right time. He said previously that officials hoped to find a new auto user, but haven't ruled out other users. There continues to be interest," Koos said. "Every time we think its gone dry, somebody pops up and wants to talk about it. DECATUR Located just north of the Decatur Airport control tower, Gaitros Aviation might escape the notice of many airport visitors. Air Choice One fliers and Main Hangar restaurant diners head for the main terminal, but the Gaitros facility is the front door to Decatur for pilots and passengers of corporate and private planes. First impressions are important, Will and Jessica Gaitros know, and they do their best to make a good one. The fixed-base operator provides refueling, maintenance and mechanical services as well as a lounge for pilots and passengers. They'll even pick up food from various restaurants in town for jet pilots who have requested it on their planes. The couple opened the business in June 2010, filling a gap in services at the airport. Decatur Park District employees had provided fueling and line service, but Will Gaitros was the first aircraft mechanic at the airport since Decatur Aviation closed in 2005. Airport traffic gets a boost from the additional amenities, said airport director Tim Wright. People will bring their planes from other airports and even other states to receive Gaitros' expertise. Over the years, Will and Jessica have built the business on honesty and hard work, Wright said. The honesty and the hard work shows by the amount of transient aircraft that come to Decatur Airport to get their airplanes or their aircraft worked on. Originally from Cerro Gordo, Will Gaitros graduated from Spartan College of Aeronautics in Tulsa, Okla., with an airframe and powerplant certificate and an associate degree in aviation maintenance. He received a bachelor's degree in aviation technology from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. Before coming to Decatur, he worked for AVMATS in Mascoutah, where he learned sheetmetal fabrication, installation and repair on Navy and corporate aircraft, in addition to practicing his mechanical skills. He also helped with the opening of a new fixed-base operator in the St. Louis area. Gaitros has also attained inspection authorization from the Federal Aviation Administration, meaning he can perform required annual inspections on aircraft. The designation isn't granted to just anyone; mechanics must have worked a minimum of three years in the field before they are eligible to take the test. There's not much in the way of mechanical services that Gaitros can't offer for single- and twin-engine aircraft. He can change oil, tires and engines. People who want to customize their planes adding a new radio system or lights, for example can receive those services, too. Gaitros Aviation is also one of three repair centers in the state for Rotax, a specialty type of aircraft engine. It's just a different type of engine than most people are used to, so there's some specialized training on it, Will Gaitros said. We have that training, so we can do just about anything on a Rotax engine. Jessica Gaitros, who has a bachelor's degree in finance, manages the business functions of the office, including payroll, taxes and invoicing. It's a family affair, as sons Jackson, 5, and Bennett, 2, have grown up around the airport. It's really neat when someone lands and my 5-year-old says, 'I like your (Cessna) Citation,' Will Gaitros said. He knows the airplanes. The business also has five employees who have all received safety certifications through the National Air Transportation Association. The couple solidified their future plans in 2013 by purchasing the buildings and trucks they use from the park district. They recently expanded marketing efforts to appeal to pilots within a 50-mile radius, people who might be unfamiliar with what Gaitros can offer. It's been a steady journey to reclaim business lost in the five years the airport was without a mechanic. Some probably went to neighboring cities, some probably went someplace else and then we took it over, Will Gaitros said. Eventually people are coming back, but once you build a relationship with someone you know, it's going to take a while to get that back. Gaitros Aviation is open from 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday to Friday, and 5 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturday. The business offers after-hours and holiday call-out, so services are available 24/7. Many pilots have Will Gaitros' cellphone number, which is on his business card. He has even made house calls. People respond well to the high level of service. A majority of reviews on airnav.com, billed as a informational website for pilots, include a five-star rating. One pilot, Jeffrey Meyer, wrote in 2014 that he stopped overnight in Decatur while flying from Florida to Wisconsin, only to discover that his plane needed a new alternator. He rented a car and drove home, then returned the following week to retrieve the plane. I was a little nervous about a different mechanic working on the plane, but they did a great job, he wrote. It runs great, and all the paperwork was very detailed and in order. These guys are the best. DECATUR Former Decatur Police Chief Brad Sweeney filed a new version of his lawsuit against the city of Decatur on Friday, 10 days after a judge dismissed the original complaint. The amended version drops City Manager Tim Gleason as a defendant. Macon County Circuit Judge A.G. Webber IV suggested doing so during an April 12 hearing on legal issues related to the case. While some wording has changed, allegations contained in the lawsuit are substantially the same: that Gleason fired Sweeney Feb. 4 in retaliation for Sweeney's refusal to speak in favor of a local gas tax, and because Sweeney objected to Gleason's use of a police car and driver to reach the St. Louis airport for a personal trip. Exhibits attached to the complaint reveal one new piece of information. A letter from the Illinois Department of Employment Security, dated March 14, says Sweeney was not fired for misconduct at work. The claimant was fired by the city manager due to a personal conflict between the two of them, says the letter, which relates to Sweeney's eligibility for unemployment benefits. The city has indicated that the dispute was personal and not related to the claimant's employment. Central to the case is the May 7 trip to St. Louis, where Gleason caught a flight to California for an event related to his son's service in the Army. He had changed his travel plans to attend the Greater Decatur Chamber of Commerce State of the City breakfast event that day. During a deposition taken by Sweeney's attorney, Jon Robinson, Gleason said former Mayor Mike McElroy told him to take a police car and driver to accommodate the new travel plans. The 153-page deposition and related exhibits were filed April 12 by Ed Flynn and Jerry Stocks, the attorneys representing the city. Gleason kept his original return flight to Peoria with a friend who was accompanying him on the trip, he said. The flight out of St. Louis worked out best, considering his plans to meet up with the friend, while also allowing Gleason to attend the breakfast. However, his vehicle would have been stranded in St. Louis if he had driven himself. Upon further questioning by Robinson, Gleason said he did not reimburse the city for the cost of the travel. He cited other instances in which he, as a former police officer in Pekin, had driven people to the airport, or when Sweeney was driven to the airport to attend FBI Academy training. These are, in my consideration, an extension of the duties that we hold, he said. Sweeney's lawsuit alleges that he objected to Gleason's use of the police car, saying later that it was inappropriate and would not happen again. Their relationship was difficult afterward, the lawsuit says. But in earlier filings and again in his deposition, Gleason maintained that Sweeney did not object to the use of the police car, and that he had several other reasons to fire Sweeney. Reasons that Gleason has cited include: A shoplifting incident involving Sweeney's wife, which occurred in April 2015, was not reported to Gleason, who learned about it in January. Sweeney reportedly objected to subsequent investigation of how the incident was handled by the police department. That Sweeney was not truthful about having had a conversation with a third party regarding the city's dispatch center. In his deposition, Gleason said the third party was businessman and philanthropist Howard Buffett, and the lie was confirmed during a conversation with Macon County Sheriff Thomas Schneider. The former police chief allowed personal animus between himself and a contractor used by the landlord for police headquarters to negatively affect the city's relationship with the landlord, local developer Tony Romano. He failed to follow requirements governing asset forfeiture fund purchases. Sweeney suggested he intended to retaliate against an officer for following Sweeney's daughter's Instagram account. The same officer was involved in news of the shoplifting incident ultimately reaching Gleason. Starting Jan. 21, Sweeney exhibited increased insubordinate behavior at meetings that continued until he was fired. In his deposition, Gleason also said he had contacted the Illinois State Police to investigate a case of eavesdropping and official misconduct involving Sweeney. The investigation began after Sweeney was fired. Attorneys for both parties declined to comment. Flynn and Stocks previously told Webber that they would prepare to file a response to the amended complaint within 14 days of its filing. SPRINGFIELD In a rare showing of bipartisan cooperation amid Illinois nearly yearlong budget impasse, the General Assembly voted overwhelmingly Friday to approve $600 million in stopgap funding for higher education. The House voted 106-2 and the Senate voted 55-0 to approve the measure, which includes money for public universities, community colleges and grants to low-income students through the Monetary Award Program, all which have been deprived of funding since the budget year began July 1. Republican Gov. Bruce Rauners administration lauded the agreement and promised his signature. With Chicago State University on the brink of closing at months end, lawmakers were under pressure to come up with a plan to get money to the predominantly black South Side school and other financially beleaguered institutions, including Eastern Illinois, Western Illinois and Northeastern Illinois universities. What we did today was a very good thing, said state Rep. Rita Mayfield, D-Waukegan, chairwoman of the House Black Caucus and a sponsor of the funding package. We actually did save CSU. She added that Eastern Illinois and Western Illinois, along with many community colleges, are also struggling. Chicago State will get 60 percent the funding it received in fiscal year 2015, and the states eight other university systems will get 31 percent. That amounts to $12.5 million for Eastern Illinois, $20.9 million for Illinois State University and $57.5 million for Southern Illinois University. The bill also includes $74.1 million for community colleges 27 percent of annual funding and $167.6 million for about a semesters worth of MAP grants. Unlike previous bills Rauner has vetoed or threatened to veto, this measure draws its money from a specific source: the education assistance fund, which receives dedicated revenue from state income taxes and other sources. Mayfield was quick to point out that this is not the end of the conversation on higher education funding for the current fiscal year. This right here is an emergency stopgap funding (bill) in order to provide a means for our universities, our community colleges to keep their doors open and the lights on, she said. State Rep. Dan Brady, R-Bloomington, who represents Illinois State and was heavily involved in discussions with Democrats, said hell continue negotiating and is committed to work within a budget frame that we can afford. I dont have the crystal ball of what happens from here in budget negotiations, Brady said. But I do know that the stopgap measure is critical to the universities right now, and thats what we did in a bipartisan fashion. Southern Illinois President Randy Dunn said hes thankful for the funding thats been approved but will continue pushing for the remaining $140 million the university has requested from the state. We heard from both sides of the aisle, from both Republicans and Democrats, that theres a pledge to continue working, Dunn said, adding, We will hold those officials to that pledge. However, House Minority Leader Jim Durkin, R-Western Springs, said the funding approved Friday could end up being all that universities receive for the current fiscal year. Im not quite sure we can get anything else done on higher ed, Durkin said. Although the Senate approved the measure unanimously, not everyone was entirely pleased with it. State Sen. Dale Righter, R-Mattoon, said there should be some relief that we have actually been able to come together to provide some drink of water to some people who have been crawling in the fiscal desert for some time. But Righter said he was disappointed the bill didnt do more to help Eastern Illinois, which is in his district and has had to lay off hundreds of employees to keep its doors open. With at least a short-term solution in place for higher education, social services remain the last major piece of the state budget not being funded. The Senate approved a separate measure Friday, also on a 55-0 vote, that includes identical funding for higher education and $441 million for social services from another dedicated fund. That measure would fund many social service programs at 35 percent of what they received in fiscal year 2015. The governors office said that proposal doesnt have his support yet. We look forward to working with the (General Assembly) to build on todays bipartisan momentum to ensure social services, public safety and public health are funded in the weeks ahead as we negotiate a balanced budget with reform for Fiscal Years 2016 and 2017, spokeswoman Catherine Kelly said. The Artsakh Ministry of Defense reports that while Azerbaijan violated the cessation of hostilities declaration 65 times last night, firing a variety of small caliber weapons, the military situation on the ground remains the same. The ministry adds that Artsakh Defense Army frontline units responded in kind and quashed Azerbaijani offensive moves. 20 year-old Vladimir Melkonyan had three months of army service left. He never made it home. Melkonyan, the youngest son in the Gyumri family, was killed on April 1 in the recent round of fighting in Artsakh. Vladimirs father, a volunteer who participated in the 1990s Artsakh War, died from diabetes in 1998. Svetlana, Vladimirs mother, said her husbands illness was a result of the war. The Melkonyans live in a section of a two-story building in the railroad part of Gyumri. Vladimirs older brother Samvel got out of the army last year after serving in Idjevan, in Armenia, along the border with Azerbaijan. The two brothers hadnt seen one another in three years. After getting discharged, Samvel went abroad to find work. He wanted to make some money to welcome home Vladimir in style. He had been away for two months. But when he heard the news, Samvel rushed back, said Svetlana. We didnt want Vladimir to go to the front but he wanted to serve in Karabakh. The government has allowed the family to add an adjacent unused room to the two rooms they now have. The twenty square meter space is in need of repair. So is the entire apartment. The family doesnt have the resources to renovate the apartment. Svetlana, 45, doesnt work. The family gets by on the pensions received by the grandparents. The regional government allocated the family 60,000 AMD ($125) in a one-time assistance payment. The regional government has also promised to assist Samvel in taking extension courses at the Gyumri branch of the Yerevan Engineering Institute. On April 17, the family received $500 that had been raised by the Armenian community in Belgium. The money was transferred to the family by Mher Margaryan, a Yerevan surgeon, and Anoush Kocharyan. Margaryan says he and his colleagues will help the family if they have any medical needs. Margaryan and Kocharyan traveled to Artsakh that same day and visited the wife and family of Lieutenant Colonel Aleksandr Arakelyan, who was killed in the fighting. They gave the family $500 that had been raised by the Belgian-Armenian community. Donald Tusk, President, European Council Federica Mogherini, Vice-President of the European Commission, High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Jean-Claude Juncker, President, European Commission Johannes Hahn, European Commissioner for Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations Martin Schulz, President, European Parliament Ministers of Foreign Affairs, EU Member States Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Eastern Partnership countries 20 April 2016 The Steering Committee of the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum commemorates and condemns the Genocide of the Armenian people on the eve of its 101st Anniversary on 24 April 2016. The Armenian Genocide, which was perpetrated by the Ottoman Empire government, resulted not only in the death of 1,5 million and dispossession of more than half of million human beings but also in the decimation of the Armenian patrimony, its ways of life, and its foundational contributions to Western culture. The genocide also extended to the Pontic Greeks, Assyrians, and Yazidi peoples. By not condemning the first genocide of 20th century and not punishing its organizers and performers, mankind subsequently faced the continuation of the practice of genocide during Holodomor and elsewhere. Number of countries, including from Europe, joined the Armenian Genocide recognition and condemnation. Last year Pope Francis described it as the first genocide of the 20th century and one of the three gravest crimes of the century. European Parliament not once has unanimously recognized and condemned it. Turkey is a member state of the Council of Europe and is subject to a full undertaking of all commitments thereto. Taking this into account, the Steering Committee invites Turkey to take the necessary measures pursuant to its international commitments and the European identity to which it aspires and to work for reconciliation through truth. We also call on the government of Turkey to respect and realize fully the legal obligations which it has undertaken including those provisions, which relate to the protection of cultural heritage and, in particular, to conduct in good faith an integrated inventory of Armenian and other cultural heritage destroyed or ruined during the past century. The Steering Committee invites the European Union and its Commission, Council and Parliament, as well as the Council of Europe, to assess the honouring of commitments and obligations undertaken by Turkey. The EaP CSF Steering Committee also invites the Eastern Partnership countries to consider recognizing the Armenian Genocide. Members of the Steering Committee of the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum Against: Avaz Hasanov, Azerbaijan Country Facilitator Abstained: Lasha Tugushi, Georgia Country Facilitator Share your opinion on this topic by sending a letter to the editor to tctvoice@madison.com. Include your full name, hometown and phone number. Your name and town will be published. The phone number is for verification purposes only. Please keep your letter to 250 words or less. You have permission to edit this article. Edit Close MADISON - Margaret Ann "Peggy" Benjamin died Wednesday, April 20, 2016, at her residence in Oakwood Village, Madison, after a long and grueling battle with complications from lupus. She was 68 years old. Peggy, who spent her childhood in Tomah and moved with her family to Madison when she was 14, was a 1966 graduate of Robert M. LaFollette High School. She attended the University of Wisconsin at Stevens Point and graduated from UW-Madison in 1970 with a Bachelor's Degree in Sociology. Peggy had a long and productive career, first as an administrative assistant at UW-Madison, later as a legal administrator at law firms both in Madison and Milwaukee. She was chief legal administrator at the prominent Milwaukee firm of Borgelt, Powell, Peterson and Frauen, and held several leadership positions with the Association of Legal Administrators. Peggy's last career step was at Borders, Inc., where she worked as a human resources specialist at the company's headquarters in Ann Arbor, Mich. After leaving Borders, she returned to Madison, where she has lived for the past decade. Peggy was an avid and adventurous traveler, including a visit to China and Japan with the People to People exchange program in the early 1990s. Peg has also made visits to Russia, Switzerland, Ireland, Peru, the Amazon basin, the Galapagos Islands, and throughout the United States. She toured Paris, the Loire Valley and Brittany with her brother, David, and sister-in-law, Junko Yoshida. Because of her failing health, including a kidney transplant in 2009, Peggy retired early and has lived for most of her residence in Madison at the Loraine condominiums on West Washington Avenue. She was active as a volunteer poll worker on election days, she loved "downtown life" and was devoted to the Wednesday Night Concerts on the Square program every summer. Besides her brother and sister-in-law of Madison, Peggy is survived by a younger brother, William of Tomah; by three stepsisters, Sherry Tolle and Ruth Blow of Tomah, and Connie Steele of Roseville, Calif.; by a stepbrother, Tom Church of Tomah; by three aunts and by many cousins. A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, April 26, 2016, at ST. THOMAS AQUINAS CATHOLIC CHURCH, 602 Everglade Drive, Madison, with Father Bart Timmerman presiding. A visitation will be held from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Monday, April 25, 2016, at JOYCE-RYAN FUNERAL HOME, 5701 Odana Road, Madison, and again from 10 a.m. until the time of Mass at Church on Tuesday. In lieu of flowers, please contribute to the National Kidney Foundation in Peggy's name. To view and sign this guestbook, please visit www.ryanfuneralservice.com. Although the floor debate on the constitutional amendment sponsored by State Rep. David McSweeney (R-Barrington) started out surprisingly contentious, it settled down as Breen offered the reasons for his opposition to McSweeney's effort. SPRINGFIELD - There are good reasons for Illinois to remain among the 45 states that have lieutenant governors to assist and succeed elected governors, State Rep. Peter Breen (R-Lombard) argued on the Illinois House floor Friday afternoon. Among the duties the lieutenant governor offers, Breen said, are: Representing the state of Illinois at funerals Meeting with foreign heads of state of behalf of the governor's office Representing the governor when he's out of the state Serving in the case of a governor's temporary absence due to ailments - and in that case, the attorney general would have to perform double duties - as state's executive and its legal counsel at the same time. "It is short-sighted and really small of us to think [in a case of temporary ailments] we can trade parties back and forth, that well, you may elect a conservative Republican attorney general and a liberal Democrat as your governor," Breen said. "If the governor's not available, the people don't necessarily want the attorney general to step in." Breen, an attorney that argues constitutional issues, also wondered whether if in the case of impeaching the governor, if the successor were to be from a competing party, whether the impeachment process were to move as quickly if the person to assume the office were from an opposing party. "Whether a Democrat or Republican, I believe there's a need for the office," Breen said. "I don't believe we will save any money eliminating the office, but instead we will reduce the constitutional officers available to our people to do the job here. And for that reason I would respectfully urge a 'No' vote. Rep. McSweeney introduced the legislation for the purpose of saving $1.6 million in the state budget allocated for the lieutenant governor's $137,000 a year salary and her office staff. While a similar proposal was soundly defeated in the Illinois Senate, the Illinois House passed HJRCA 5 with an overwhelming 95 to 10 vote. Before going into effect, the amendment would need to go before Illinois voters. My birthmother was 14, there was no mother in her home, there were four younger half-siblings, and she had been a ward of the court. In my mind, I had imagined all sorts of romantic scenarios, but as I grew older and considered the circumstances, I wondered if my mother had been the victim of rape or incest. There was never a day that didnt know I was adopted. My wonderful parents had always been very open with me, assuring me that I was Gods gift to them, giving me what little non-identifying information they had from Crittenton Home in Peoria, Illinois. When the State of Illinois allowed adoptees to have their original birth certificates, I ordered mine but was very disappointed to learn that my birthmothers name had been omitted from the record, something I later learned was very common when births occurred at private maternity homes during the 1950s. The only new information the certificate revealed was that my birthmother had been born in Illinois and that I had been given the last name of Gilmore. Jokingly, I announced to my family, Well, it looks like all we know is that Im a Gilmore Girl! A couple years went by and I had not pursued any search. My mom was suffering from dementia and living in our home so I didnt really feel the freedom to initiate any adoption search. A few months after she passed away, another adoptee shared with me that I could use the US Census records from 1940 to find more information if I was interested and she showed me how to access it online. Amazingly, only a few days later, I had enough information to identify my birthmother, who had already passed away. I was able to contact her family, most who didnt even know I existed! Among those who knew was one who held the long-suspected secret. I had, indeed, been conceived in both rape and incest, my birthmothers 55 year old step-father being my biological father. The family shared pictures with me, ones of both my birthparents looking remarkably like my own children and grandchildren! Staring at pictures of my birthmother is like staring into my own eyes! Many people have asked me how I have been able to accept the truth about my conception and my response is that I can so clearly see Gods amazing plan for my own life through it all. You see, my birthmother went on to marry and had three more children. The first two had cystic fibrosis and died in early childhood; the third had drowned in a horrible boating accident when only seven. But God, in His sovereignty, chose to preserve my life and give me Christian parents, a wonderful husband, six children, and 15 grandchildren. What another had meant for evil, God meant for good! Just recently, I was allowed to peek inside the cedar chest my birthmother had kept under the eaves in her attic. It was full of so many treasures: baby clothes worn by my siblings, their tiny hospital bracelets, a few toys, pictures taken on past Christmases, and baptismal certificates. At the bottom of the trunk in an old yellowed envelope was a single picture of a young girl, her round tummy just beginning to show a pregnancy, the date on the back matching the day my birthmother was taken to Crittenton Home. It was her only picture of me! After nearly five decades, the debate over abortion continues in this country and yet many people havent grasped the truth that all human beings are created in the image of God. That is reason enough to protect all unborn children, no matter what the circumstances were surrounding their conception. I am so very thankful that abortion was not legal when I was conceived in 1953 because surely so many, including those who call themselves pro-life with exception would have called for my execution. Please look into my face and into the faces of my family and say that is right. I dont think you can! Karen Campbell is a resident of Canton Illinois, author of "The Joy of Relationship Homeschooling," and blogs at www.thatmom.com Leslie Munger, the Illinois State Comptroller was the keynote speaker at Republican Women of Park Ridge Annual Meeting. They are a grassroots organization advocating for a conservative agenda while promoting candidates, discussing issues, stressing good public policy, and getting out the vote. Recently they hosted a showing of the film 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi. It's about the tragic events on 9-11-2012 when Hillary Clinton was Secretary of State. Clinton grew up about four blocks from the Pickwick Theater in Park Ridge where the film was shown. The Republican Women hosted Heidi Cruz, the wife of Presidential Candidate Ted Cruz last month at a meet and greet. Later that night, many in the organization attended the Northwest Suburban Lincoln Day Dinner where Senator Ted Cruz was the keynote speaker. At the most recent event, Munger gave the audience an update on the budget situation in Springfield. She said, "Illinois does not have a revenue problem, Illinois has a spending problem." She spoke of numerous actions her and Governor Bruce Rauner are doing for his Turn Around Agenda. Illinois leaders have made many failed public policy decisions over the past 35 years that need to be fixed as people continue to leave the state, with the remainder being overtaxed and underserved. The Republican Women of Park Ridge met this last Thursday night in Centennial Activity Center in Park Ridge partly to elect officers, as they do yearly. Sworn in as officers were Susan Sweeney for President, Char Foss-Eggemann for VP, Christie Depkon and Donna Adam. Leslie Munger had the honor of swearing in the new officers. Longtime member and former President Penny Pullen announced that she and her sister Pam will soon be moving to Grand Rapids to be near relatives. They will be sorely missed. Other notables in the room included Cook County Review Commissioner Dan Patlak and candidate for Cook County Clerk Diane Shapiro. Watch for exciting news and future events from this organization. More information can be found on their website and Facebook page: http://www.republicanwomenofparkridge.com and https://m.facebook.com/republicanwomenofparkridge/ The admit cards for SET (Symbiosis Entrance Test) Law 2016 have been released today by Symbiosis International University (SIU). By India Today Web Desk: The admit cards for SET (Symbiosis Entrance Test) Law 2016 have been released today by Symbiosis International University (SIU). All those candidates, who have registered for the same, can download it from their official website. The exam is scheduled to be conducted on May 7 for admissions to undergraduate law programmes. The admit card will contain all the details such as roll number, examination centre, exam duration and other important details. It is mandatory for the candidates to carry the same at the examination centre without which he/she will not be allowed to appear for the exam. No hard copy of the same will be send. advertisement Steps to download the admit card Log on to the official website, www.set-test.org Click on 'Download admit card' Enter your SET ID and password and click on login Your admit card will be displayed on the screen Download the same and take a print out for future reference Qualifying this test serves as a ticket to admission to the following three schools: Symbiosis Law School (SLS), Pune Symbiosis Law School (SLS), Noida Symbiosis Law School (SLS), Hyderabad Paper pattern The duration for SET is 150 minutes. It is an objective test. Each question presents four options as answers. There is no negative marking for wrong answers. Division of sections Logical reasoning: 30 questions (30 marks) Legal reasoning: 30 questions (30 marks) Analytical reasoning: 30 questions (30 marks) Reading comprehension: 30 questions (30 marks) General knowledge: 30 questions (30 marks) Total marks: 150 The candidates are required to preserve their original admit cards for further selection processes at individual institutes. Duplicate admit card will not be issued in case original is lost by the candidate. Important dates SET Law will be conducted on May 7. The results will be announced on May 20. Read: UPSC IAS/IFS 2016: Official notification release delayed For information on more upcoming entrance exams, click here. --- ENDS --- The deceased members of Rohden family that included seven adults and a juvenile were killed in 'execution-style' in Pike County, a rural community about 80 miles east of Cincinnati. By India Today Web Desk: At least seven eight members of the family were shot dead while three children, including a 4-day-old newborn survived, in three different locations in Ohio. The deceased members of Rohden family that included seven adults and a juvenile were killed in 'execution-style' in Pike County, a rural community about 80 miles east of Cincinnati, Reuters reported. advertisement While an infant, a 6-month-old and a 3-year-old survived the shootings, some of the victims appeared to have been murdered in bed, including the mother of the infant who survived. They were found in three different homes. 30 people have been questioned but no clear suspect has emerged so far, the statement from Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine and Pike County Sheriff Charles Reader said. Pastor Phil Fulton of Union Hill Church told CNN affiliate WLWT the situation was "very out of character" for the community. "It's a tragedy," he said. The Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation is leading the investigation. It sent more than a dozen agents to assist the Pike County Sheriff's Office after the request for help came in at 8.21 a.m. --- ENDS --- By PTI: Jammu, Apr 23 (PTI) A Kashmiri Pandit organisation today said actor Anupam Kher is an ambassador of the community and has been actively highlighting their pain following their exodus triggered by terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir. Condemning reports that Kher has "not done anything" for the community, Roots in Kashmir (RIK) said the actor had also exposed the separatists of Kashmir at the national and international forum. advertisement "Kher, who is an ambassador of the community, has brought to fore the pain of the community due to exodus trigger by terrorism in Kashmir, and exposed the separatists of Kashmir at the national and international level," RIK said in a release. President of Kashmiri Pandit Sangharsh Samiti was quoted as saying in a report that Kher does not deserve it (Rajya Sabha seat) at all. "What has he done for the community? There are several other stalwarts who have worked hard for the cause of Kashmiri Pandit community". Terming the news report as "malicious", RIK said "the very fact that no prominent Kashmiri Pandit leader or organisation was contacted but a few fringe elements who have absolutely no say or have done no work for the community have been quoted in the news report proves that it was a fake news report". PTI AB SMJ ZMN SMJ --- ENDS --- Arvind Swami, who returns to Bollywood after 16 year hiatus, hopes to direct film in a year or so. By India Today Web Desk: Roja famed, versatile actor Arvind Swami, who ruled the South film industry in late 90s, says that he hopes to direct a film soon. ALSO READ: Bogan - Arvind Swami plays sage in Jayam Ravi's film ALSO READ: Dear Dad teaser out - Arvind Swami is back and has something to say advertisement Arvind Swami will be returning to Bollywood almost after 16 year hiatus with debutant director Tanuj Bhramar's upcoming film Dear Dad. His last venture was Raja Ko Rani Se Pyar Ho Gaya (2000) opposite Manisha Koirala. Since then he has done a handful number of films. During his break from films, Arvind concentrated on his business. Now, the actor is back in form and he wishes to direct films. "I have plans to get into direction. Yes, I have written two scripts that I will be directing soon in a year or so. I am not sure whether it will be in Hindi or Tamil," Arvind told IANS. Arvind feels that over the time, audience has evolved and they are more receptive to new ideas. "I was not working for a while, but now I wanted to come back and enjoy my work. These days audiences have also changed... They are more receptive to new ideas. I didn't want to do the regular films. Now, it's my time to choose films with so many options that I have," he said. Dear Dad is a bitter-sweet coming-of-age story involving a father-son duo, 14-year-old Shivam and his 45-year-old father Nitin Swaminathan. --- ENDS --- The Delhi government has now lodged an FIR with regard to fire at the Bhalswa landfill in northwest Delhi. Acting on a complaint by Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC), police have registered a case against unknown persons. Mail Today was the first to report about the fire at Bhalswa landfill site which threatens to offset Odd-Even 2.0 gains. By Mail Today: The Delhi government has now lodged an FIR with regard to fire at the Bhalswa landfill in northwest Delhi. Acting on a complaint by Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC), police have registered a case against unknown persons. The raging fire from putrid garbage has become a major source of pollution in the area, already known as an unhygienic Delhi outskirt slum. advertisement The FIR has been registered at Bhalswa Dairy police station and an inquiry initiated into the cause of fire, police said. The case has been registered under IPC Section 270 (malignant act likely to spread infection of disease dangerous to life) by the police. MAIL TODAY had reported on April 19 how at least 50 spots were ablaze on the trash mountain for a week. Apart from negating any positive benefits from the fortnight-long car rationing scheme in the Capital, it is causing an array of respiratory diseases, skin and eye allergies in the adjoining area. AAP had alleged on Thursday that rival BJP had deliberately set fire to Bhalswa, since BJP is at the helm of Delhi'three municipal corporations. Delhi Environment Minister, Imran Hussain, also convened a meeting on the issue on Friday, attended by representatives from MCD North, SDM and SHO concerned, officers from Delhi Fire Services, Environment Department and DPCC. He asked North MCD officials to take corrective measures to prevent fires at Bhalswa, also directing Delhi fire services to depute regular fire tenders on the spot. A public address system to make announcements to prevent illegal entry and activity at Bhalswa landfill site, has been planned. Further, Hussain has asked MCD representative to take measures to extract methane gas from Bhalswa as is being done by GAIL at Ghazipur. Also Read: Bhalswa landfill fire: AAP accuses BJP of hatching a conspiracy --- ENDS --- China has said that he is a "terrorist" and it expects countries to "bring him to justice". Dolkun Isa is an exiled Uyghur and is labelled as a terrorist by China. Dolkun Isa, an exiled Uyghur deemed a 'terrorist' by China, said he is planning to visit India next week despite Beijing's opposition but added that he had to be "careful" about travelling overseas because of an Interpol red corner notice in his name. "I am planning to go, so I have got the electronic visa for India," Isa told Mail Today in an email interview. advertisement The invitation to him, to attend an April 28 to May 1 conference in Dharamsala, triggered a fresh spat between India and China amid strains over the blocking of listing Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar at the United Nations. "China's government accused me [to] Interpol and my name is [on] red notice; due to this I faced troubles in few countries with immigration," Isa said, adding that he "was detained at the border of some countries". "I have to be careful for travelling except [in the] European Union," Isa said. In 2009, Isa was stopped in South Korea because of the red corner notice. As Mail Today first reported on Friday, China said that he is a "terrorist" and it expects countries to "bring him to justice". While the Foreign Ministry said it was "not aware of the situation" of his travel to India, it added, "Dolkun Isa is a terrorist on red notice of Interpol and the Chinese police. Bringing him to justice is a due obligation of relevant countries". China has linked Isa to bombings in Xinjiang in the 1990s and has frequently pointed the finger at his organisation, the exiled World Uyghur Congress (WUC), for fomenting violence in Xinjiang, labelling it a separatist organisation. The WUC accuses China of repressing the rights of the Uyghurs. In his comments to Mail Today, Isa referred to Xinjiang by the old name of 'East Turkestan', the use of which is banned in China. He said he had never been to India and it is "one of my dream countries to want to visit". "East Turkestan [as he referred to Xinjiang] and India had a long and very good relationship in history. Uyghurs love Indians. India is the largest democratic nation and the second biggest population after China. But China is still under totalitarian rule. India should have a responsibility to teach democracy to China and be concerned about the suffering of peoples like Uyghurs and Tibetans." Beijing is likely to be further aggrieved by the subject of the April 28 meeting in Dharamsala, which will bring together exiled Chinese dissidents, Uyghurs and Tibetans to discuss bringing democracy to China, and is being organised by a US-based group whose president was involved in the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests. advertisement Also Read: China fumes as India issues visa to Uyghur separatist --- ENDS --- A clinical bowling performance at the death overs and perfect execution of plans proved decisive in Delhi Daredevils' 10-run victory over Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League (IPL), batsman Jean Paul Duminy said in New Delhi on Saturday. By Indo-Asian News Service: A clinical bowling performance at the death overs and perfect execution of plans proved decisive in Delhi Daredevils' 10-run victory over Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League (IPL), batsman Jean Paul Duminy said here on Saturday. (Delhi beat Mumbai by 10 runs, jump to second in IPL table) Delhi posted a fighting 164/4 buoyed by Sanju Samson's 60 and Duminy's 49 not out. Mumbai were seemingly coasting while chasing but some collective tight bowling by Delhi halted them at 154/7. advertisement Leg-spinner Amit Mishra (2/24) was the most shining bowler for Delhi at the Ferozeshah Kotla. "Exceptional death bowling and execution of plans helped us win. The bowlers are working hard at training to improve. Good to see them pull them off today," Duminy said after the match. "Our bowling probably at the last five overs was the turning point of the match. Especially in this ground and with a batting line-up they have, Mumbai were always the more fancied side. "But most teams are winning while chasing, so it feels good to defend a score. The middle period was very important too. Amit Mishra and Imran Tahir bowled well. The pacers backed up their good work at the end, "he added. It was Delhi's third win on a trot in the tournament that lifted them to second in the standings. Skipper Zaheer Khan identified they put up a good score and then bowled at the "right areas". "Plan was to bowl in the right areas and use variations on this track. We are sticking to a process and following it diligently. We have a young team and the energy is growing in matches," the captain said. Zaheer also praised the Samson-Duminy's 71-run fourth wicket partnership that shaped their innings. "Sanju and Duminy both played brilliantly. They needed to stay at the wicket. They struck a crucial partnership and batted really well," he added. Mumbai all-rounder Krunal Pandya said the team was confident of chasing 165 but credited their opponents for stopping them. "We have a good batting line-up but Delhi bowled well. The wicket was good. But the ball was coming to the bat a bit slow," he said. Asked if they could have shown greater urgency while chasing Pandya said their stroke-filled batters were very capable but Delhi's superlative death bowling was decisive. "Rohit Sharma, Kieron Pollard are match winners. They were going well. But their death bowling especially the last two overs were crucial." --- ENDS --- Bollywood actress Sonakshi Sinha spilled the beans on lesser-known facts about her career in the two-hour special episode of Comedy Nights Live and Comedy Nights Bachao. By India Today Web Desk: Sonakshi Sinha is one of those Bollywood actors who are known to provide their support to various charitable causes. Although Sonakshi has been proving herself to be a good samaritan since the time she started her career in Bollywood, the actress reaffirmed the same in the upcoming two-hour special episode of Comedy Nights Bachao and Comedy Nights Live on Colors TV. advertisement In the Sunday telecast of the popular comedy show, Chintu aka Bharti Singh will be seen revealing the fact that the actress donated a certain amount of money to Being Human Foundation, which she had received on signing her first movie, Dabangg. Commenting on this, Sonakshi said, "Like any other parents would think, my parents also had a wish that their daughter should spend her first salary for a good reason. So to fulfil their wish I decided to give my first cheque to the Being Human Foundation." This left the entire cast along with the audience in complete admiration for her. --- ENDS --- Opposition Congress on Friday joined National Conference in condemning the move accusing the PDP of being petrified to face people. By Naseer Ganai: After the Election Commission announced postponement of by-election in Anantnag constituency of south Kashmir, entertaining J&K government's request that the law and order situation in south Kashmir was "not conducive" in the region, opposition Congress on Friday joined National Conference in condemning the move accusing the PDP of being petrified to face people. "The decision to postpone bypolls has raised questions over credibility of state government," said State Congress president GA Mir here. advertisement He said elections were held after massive protests in 2008 and even in 2014, elections were also held after devastating floods. "I am from south Kashmir myself. I don't see any law and order problem there in holding elections," Mir said, adding that PDP-BJP government is playing a dangerous game of eroding democratic institutions in the state. Already Omar Abdullah described the postponing of by-election as an admission by CM Mehbooba Mufti of how bad things have become under her. Also Read: Mehbooba petrified of facing people: Omar --- ENDS --- Congress to galvanise support from the regional parties who too have federal issues with the Centre and may want to keep an aggressive BJP under check. Congress leader Anand Sharma has moved a notice for passing of a resolution, criticising the BJP for imposing presidentas rule in Uttarakhand. By Amit Agnihotri: Barely 24 hours after the Nainital high court quashed the presidential proclamation restoring Harish Rawat as Uttarakhand chief minister, the Congress was in fix with the Supreme Court staying the HC order till April 27. Congress sources said they were hopeful that the SC would redress their grievance and they would get a chance to prove the majority on the floor of the house as directed by the HC on April 29. advertisement "Yesterday (Thursday) I was reinstated by HC, before that I was dismissed as CM, now I am a former CM. It is an interim order," Rawat said after the SC directive left him a former CM twice over the past month. However, the bitterness over the political crisis in the hill state has left the Congress in a foul mood, which may reflect when the second half of the budget session convenes on April 25. Congress leader in the Rajya Sabha Anand Sharma has already moved a notice for passing of a resolution, criticising the BJP for imposing president's rule in the hill state. Protests would also be staged across states to highlight the Centre's misuse of power, said sources. Sources said the Congress would also galvanise support from the regional parties who too have federal issues with the Centre and may want to keep an aggressive BJP under check. Congress sources are closely watching the case filed by nine of its dissenting lawmakers in which the HC order is expected on Saturday. Sources said if the HC backs the disqualification of the 9 Congress rebels as ordered by the speaker, they are comfortable. Sources said Congress managers were also relieved over the fact that the Supreme Court obtained a submission from the central government that it won't revoke the president's rule till April 27 which effectively blocks any claims by the BJP to form a government in Uttarakhand. The BJP, meanwhile, kept an aggressive posture saying Rawat was heading a minority government and therefore had no right to be in office. Also Read: Congress to raise Uttarakhand heat in Parliament session starting Monday --- ENDS --- Congress deputy leader in Rajya Sabha Anand Sharma has given a notice to bring a censure motion against the central government in the Upper House where the Opposition is in majority. By Javed M. Ansari : The Congress party has begun behind the scene parleys with like minded Opposition in an effort to haul the government over the coals in parliament. It is using the central governments misadventure in Uttarakhand to rally the rest of the Opposition parties against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the Parliament. Congress deputy leader in Rajya Sabha Anand Sharma has given a notice to bring a censure motion against the central government in the Upper House where the Opposition is in majority. advertisement Anand Sharma's resolution wants the Rajya Sabha to condemn the Union Government for destabilising the Uttarakhand government and record its "disapproval of the unjustified imposition of President's rule in the state". The resolution reads "this House deplores the destabilisation of the democratically elected government in Uttarakhand and disapproves the unjustified imposition of President's rule there under Article 356 of the Constitution." The Congress intends to project the imposition of President's rule in Uttarakhand and earlier in Arunachal Pradesh as an attack on the Federal structure of the Constitution, in the hope of rallying around other like minded Opposition parties like the JD(U), NCP, RJD, Left parties, DMK and the TMC. Its efforts appear to be bearing fruit with both the Left and the JD(U) voicing its support. The CPI(M) and the CPI have 9 MPs in the Upper House, while the Nitish Kumar-led JD(U) has 13. This is nothing but a brazen attempt to destabilise a democratically elected government and must be opposed tooth and nail "says JD(U) MP KC Tyagi. The Left parties too have been unsparing in their criticism of the government's decision. "Combative federalism has replaced cooperative federalism. We will work together with the rest of the Opposition to censure the government," said D Raja of the CPI. The Opposition wants to leverage its superiority in numbers in the 245 member Rajya Sabha to censure the Narendra Modi government. The numbers in the Upper House are tilted in favour of the Opposition. The NDA has only 67 MP's compared to 78 of the UPA, in addition to the 9 MP's of the Left. The UPA is also likely to get the support of smaller parties like the DMK, TMC, BSP and the SP, all of whom have taken a principled position against imposition of President's rule in the past. Assault on the Federal structure used to be a rallying cry for the BJP in enlisting the support of the Opposition parties against the Congress party when the latter was in power. Now, this is a stick that is being used to beat the BJP with. ALSO READ Uttarakhand crisis: Congress in foul mood over political crisis, pins hope on floor test Shiv Sena slams Modi govt for imposing President's Rule in Uttarakhand --- ENDS --- The two-year-old son of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge Prince William and Kate Middleton warmly shook hands with the US president and his wife Michelle Obama and later boarded his rocking horse, a gift from Obamas when he was born. Two-year-old Prince George met US President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama on Friday. ( Photo: Reuters) By India Today Web Desk: United States President Barack Obama received one of the warmest welcome yesterday by two-year-old Prince George in his pyjamas and dressing gown at Kensington Palace. The two-year-old son of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, Prince William and Kate Middleton, warmly shook hands with the US president and his wife Michelle Obama and later boarded his rocking horse, a gift to him from Obamas when he was born. advertisement While Prince George was given 15-minutes extension on his bedtime to meet Obamas, Princess Charlotte slept by the time they turned up for the dinner with British royal family. Obama flew to Queen Elizabeth's castle on Friday to extend his greeting on her 90th birthday. Obama confessed that world's oldest monarch is one his favourite people. .@BarackObama and @MichelleObama arrive at Kensington Palace for dinner with The Duke, Duchess and Prince Harry pic.twitter.com/ZdXMj24pCL; Kensington Palace (@KensingtonRoyal) April 22, 2016 --- ENDS --- The actor is followed by actor Suriya, and Vijay and Ajith have taken the third and fourth place respectively. Last year, Ajith topped the list and Dhanush took the third position. By India Today Web Desk: It is not Ilayathalapathy Vijay nor the George Clooney of Kollywood Ajith Kumar, it is the Kolaveri Boy Dhanush who has turned the Most Desirable Man of 2015. Watch: Gautham Menon shakes a leg at the sets of Dhanush's Enai Nokki Paayum Thotta According to an online survey conducted by Chennai Times, Dhanush has won the title for 2015 year taking down all the leading celebrities of Tamil film industry. advertisement Dhanush took to Twitter to thank his fans for their unflinching support. A big thank you to all my well wishers,fans &friends for voting me as #ChennaiTimes #MostDesirable Man. Love you all pic.twitter.com/3cJFBFulZ2 Dhanush (@dhanushkraja) April 23, 2016 Talking to Chennai Times, Dhanush said it might be because of his modesty people has voted for him. When asked about his looks, the actor, after a bit of hesitation admitted that he is proud of his nose. "Since you insist...I am proud of my nose. My nose gives me a good profile," the Maari actor said. The actor is followed by actor Suriya, and Vijay and Ajith have taken the third and fourth place respectively. Last year, Ajith topped the list and Dhanush took the third position. Dhanush is currently working with Gautham Vasudev Menon for the film Enai Noki Paayum Thotta. Nayanthara is elected as the Most Desirable Woman in a similar survey conducted by Chennai Times. She is followed by Kamal Haasan's daughter Shruti Haasan and Enthiran lead lady Amy Jackson. --- ENDS --- The billionaire from New York said that he called up his credit card company to find out whether their customer support is based in the US or overseas. U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump holds up the front page of the New York Post as he signs autographs at a rally with supporters in Harrington, Delaware, U.S. April 22, 2016. Photo: Reuters By India Today Web Desk: US presidential hopeful Donald Trump added another wrinkle to his election unusual campaign as he used a fake Indian accent and mocked call center representatives but then said that India is a great place. The billionaire from New York said that he called up his credit card company to find out whether their customer support is based in the US or overseas. advertisement "Guess what, you're talking to a person from India. How the hell does that work?" he told his supporters in Delaware. "So I called up, under the guise I'm checking on my card, I said, 'Where are you from?'" Trump said and then he copied the response from the call center in a fake Indian accent. "We are from India," Trump impersonated the response. "Oh great, that's wonderful," he said as he pretended to hang up the phone. "India is great place. I am not upset with other leaders. I am upset with our leaders for being so stupid," he said. "I am not angry with China. I am not angry at Japan. I am not angry with Vietnam, India...all these countries." Trump mentioned the fake call to India during his remarks on what he described as "crooked banking." Delaware, is a hub for the America's banking and credit- card industry. Topping the list include Bank of America, Citibank Delaware, M&T Bank and PNC Financial Services Group. "They are making a lot of money," he said. "You can't allow policies that allows China, Mexico, Japan, Vietnam, India. You can't allow policies that allows business to be ripped out of the United States like candy from a baby," Trump said in his address. "The manufacturing jobs are being stolen. Our jobs are being taken. We are losing at every front. There is nothing good. Our country does not win anymore. The jobs are being stripped. Factories are closing. We are not going to let this happen anymore," he added. Trump said he has as many as 378 companies registered in Delaware, where the Republican presidential primaries is scheduled on April 26 along with several other states. He was also critical of Indian-American South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, who did not endorse him during the primary. Also read: Donald Trump doesn't want to bore people by becoming 'too presidential' Donald Trump blames India again for taking US jobs --- ENDS --- Delhi schedule of 2.0 was wrapped up on Friday. After a brief break, the team will leave to Bolivia where a couple of songs and few scenes will be shot. By Indo-Asian News Service: The makers of superstar Rajinikanth-starrer Tamil actioner 2.0 have successfully completed their Delhi schedule and will next head to Bolivia. ALSO READ: Ram Gopal Varma on Rajinikanth - Nowhere in the world can a man who looks like this be a superstar ALSO READ: Rajinikanth fans will kill me if I work with him, says RGV advertisement "The long and exhausting Delhi schedule was wrapped up on Friday. After a brief break, the team will leave to Bolivia where a couple of songs and few scenes will be shot," a source from the film's unit told IANS. In the interim, Rajinikanth will complete dubbing for Pa Ranjith's Kabali, which is slated to release in June. A sequel to Enthiran, filmmaker Shankar is directing 2.0, and it also stars Amy Jackson, Sudhanshu Pandey and Akshay Kumar. Tipped to be made on a budget of Rs.350 crore, the film is produced by Lyca Productions and has music by AR Rahman. --- ENDS --- By PTI: Thiruvananthapuram, Apr 23 (PTI) Fireworks contractors and dealers today alleged that the two lakh member-strong industry was facing unprecedented crisis due to frequent police raids and legal action against them in the wake of the Puttingal temple tragedy which claimed 108 lives early this month. Even the authorised fireworks licensees and dealers, who have the legal right to keep and deliver the prescribed amount of raw materials to manufature fireworks, were not being spared by police, they said. advertisement "After the temple tragedy, even the fireworks manufactures and dealers, who possess authorised licenses and pay sales tax regularly, are being penalised," Kerala Fire Works Licensees and Dealers Labour Union state general secretary Naushad Kaipadi told a press meet here. "Frequent police raids and legal actions have affected our business largely," he said. Quoting the 1996 order of the Deputy Chief Controller of Explosives, Kaipadi said as many as 23 chemicals including aluminium powder, aluminium nitrate, dry calcium, sodium nitrate, coper sulphate and so on, which are used as ingredients in the manufacturing of fireworks, are not explosives by itself. "So, its possession, storage, use and transport do not attract the provision of Explosives Rules 1983. But, what is happening in the state now is that even the licensees and authorised dealers who keep and deliver these ingrediants under the permissible level are penalised," he said. The latest developments had created a crisis-like situation in the fireworks manufacturing industry, in which two lakh unskilled workers besides licensees and dealers are working. However, the union leader said potassium chlorate, which was allegedly used in the Puttingal fireworks display, was not permitted in the manufacturing of fireworks. "If it was used in the fireworks display at the festival, it should be inquired. It was wrong," he said. Police launched intensive raids across the state to seize fireworks and its ingredients, illegally stored, soon after the Puttingal temple disaster in the early hours on April 10. The mishap occurred as sparks from fireworks fell on the storeroom Kambapura and the crackers, kept there, exploded. The blaze spread quickly trapping devotees within the complex. PTI LGK UD BN KIS --- ENDS --- By PTI: Thiruvananthapuram, Apr 23 (PTI) Fireworks contractors and dealers today alleged that the two lakh member-strong industry was facing unprecedented crisis due to frequent police raids and legal action against them in the wake of the Puttingal temple tragedy which claimed 108 lives early this month. Even the authorised fireworks licensees and dealers, who have the legal right to keep and deliver the prescribed amount of raw materials to manufature fireworks, were not being spared by police, they said. advertisement "After the temple tragedy, even the fireworks manufactures and dealers, who possess authorised licenses and pay sales tax regularly, are being penalised," Kerala Fire Works Licensees and Dealers Labour Union state general secretary Naushad Kaipadi told a press meet here. "Frequent police raids and legal actions have affected our business largely," he said. Quoting the 1996 order of the Deputy Chief Controller of Explosives, Kaipadi said as many as 23 chemicals including aluminium powder, aluminium nitrate, dry calcium, sodium nitrate, coper sulphate and so on, which are used as ingredients in the manufacturing of fireworks, are not explosives by itself. "So, its possession, storage, use and transport do not attract the provision of Explosives Rules 1983. But, what is happening in the state now is that even the licensees and authorised dealers who keep and deliver these ingrediants under the permissible level are penalised," he said. The latest developments had created a crisis-like situation in the fireworks manufacturing industry, in which two lakh unskilled workers besides licensees and dealers are working. However, the union leader said potassium chlorate, which was allegedly used in the Puttingal fireworks display, was not permitted in the manufacturing of fireworks. "If it was used in the fireworks display at the festival, it should be inquired. It was wrong," he said. Police launched intensive raids across the state to seize fireworks and its ingredients, illegally stored, soon after the Puttingal temple disaster in the early hours on April 10. The mishap occurred as sparks from fireworks fell on the storeroom Kambapura and the crackers, kept there, exploded. The blaze spread quickly trapping devotees within the complex. PTI LGK UD BN KIS TRK --- ENDS --- The apex court restored the presidential proclamation and virtually asked the CM to stay away from reigns till Wednesday. By Harish V Nair: Embattled Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat's return to office lasted exactly 24 hours. Giving a fresh twist to the political drama in the hill state, the Supreme Court after a 70-minute high-voltage hearing of the Centre's appeal on Friday stayed till April 27 the judgment of the Uttarakhand HC that quashed the imposition of President's rule. The apex court restored the presidential proclamation and virtually asked the CM to stay away from reigns till Wednesday. advertisement The HC judgment had resulted in Rawat resuming office and calling cabinet meetings where several decisions were taken. A bench headed by justice Dipak Misra primarily stayed the operation of the high court order on the ground that HC's typed and signed copy is not yet out for the benefit of the parties in the appeal. The Bench felt that a "balance has to be maintained to protect the interest of all parties" till the HC order is made available. The hearing at 3.30pm started with Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi, who appeared for the Centre, attacking Rawat assuming the office and chairing a cabinet meeting when the copy of the judgement was not made available to parties. "How can the judgement be implemented unless you have the copy of it. It can't deny a party to file an appeal. I see on TV that Rawat says he has been resurrected as the Chief Minister and late in the night calls for cabinet meeting. How can you say that the government has been resurrected ? In the absence of the copy of the judgement the other party cannot go to appeal. The idea is not that you steal a march, Rohatgi said seeking a stay of the HC judgment." "How one party can be put at advantage and assume the office of Chief Minister when the other party is pushed to disadvantage in the absence of the judgment. Senior advocates Abhishek Manu Singhvi and Kapil Sibal, appearing for Rawat and the Assembly Speaker, argued hard against the passing of any interim order saying "you will be allowing the appeal by giving the stay". The primary argument of the Centre was that the HC has limited power of judicial review and it could not hear appeal against the President's decision. Before passing a brief order, the court recorded an undertaking given by Rohatgi that the Centre shall not revoke the presidential proclamation and try to install a BJP government till the next date of hearing. The SC bench also observed as a matter of propriety the HC should have signed the verdict so that it would be appropriate for it to go into the appeal. The SC issued notice to Rawat on the appeal filed by the Centre. Quashing the President's Rule, the HC ordered that a floor test be held in the Uttarakhand Assembly on April 29, 2016, where Rawat's claim of having majority support could be put to test. advertisement Also Read: Centre should allow state governments to function, says Harish Rawat --- ENDS --- After Deepika Padukone and Priyanka Chopra, Dedh Ishqiya actor Huma Qureshi is all set to make her Hollywood debut. The 29-year-old actor has auditioned for the third instalment of The Mummy franchise featuring Hollywood A-listers Tom Cruise and Sophia Boutella, her official spokersperson has confirmed. By Indo-Asian News Service: Huma Qureshi has auditioned for the third instalment of The Mummy franchise featuring Hollywood A-listers Tom Cruise and Sophia Boutella, her official spokersperson has confirmed. ALSO READ: Tom Cruise and his crush Sofia Boutella together in The Mummy reboot. We're not joking! ALSO READ: Top Gun 2 on the cards? At least Tom Cruise is suggesting so advertisement "Huma has recently auditioned for the third part of the successful franchise starring Hollywood star Tom Cruise and Sofia Boutella playing the lead antagonist," Huma's spokesperson said in a statement. If sources are to be believed, Huma has auditioned for the main lead opposite Cruise. Huma is currently busy shooting for the Hindi remake of the Hollywood film Oculus. The film also stars her brother and actor Saqib Saleem in a pivotal role. --- ENDS --- By PTI: New Delhi, Apr 19 (PTI) India and Mauritius have signed an agreement for cooperation in the field of traditional medicine and homeopathy, a move which will help both the nations to conduct joint research and exchange experts in these fields. The MoU, signed during the recent visit of Minister of State for AYUSH Shripad Yesso Naik to Mauritius, will promote cooperation in the field of traditional system of health and medicine between the two countries which already share these traditions due to their "unique historical and cultural ties". advertisement The agreement envisages exchange of experts, supply of traditional medicinal substances, joint research and development and recognition of the traditional systems of health and medicine in both countries, the ministry said in a statement. "It also aims at promotion and popularisation of the various Indian traditional systems which fall under AYUSH," it said. Terming the agreement to be of "immense importance" to both countries, the ministry said that as a part of its mandate to propagate Indian systems of medicine globally, AYUSH has also entered into MoUs with China, Malaysia, Trinidad and Tobago, Hungary, Bangladesh and Nepal. "The financial resources necessary to conduct research, training courses, meetings and deputations of experts will be met from the existing allocated budget and existing plan schemes of AYUSH. "Both India and Mauritius share several cultural, historical, linguistic and literary similarities, traditional medicine including medicinal plants are promising areas which need to be further explored and can prove to be mutually beneficial to the people of the two countries," the statement said. It said that Mauritius also has a long history of traditional medicine and both countries share a common culture with respect to the ayurvedic system of medicine. "Moreover, there are a large number of medicinal plants, particularly those found in the tropical region and are common to the two countries given similar geo-climatic factors," it added. PTI TDS PMS SC PMS --- ENDS --- By PTI: Pune, Apr 22 (PTI) The organisers who have invited JNU student leader Kanhaiya Kumar for a public meeting here on April 24 today said they have changed the venue in view of the preconditions imposed by the police. It would be now held at the Bal Gandharva auditorium, said the Progressive Students Youth Action Committee, the organiser. advertisement The mother and brother of the Dalit research scholar Rohith Vemula will also attend the meeting. The rally was earlier slated to take place at the premises of Rashtra Seva Dal, but the police asked the organisers to carry out a fire and structural safety audit of the venue and imposed certain other pre-conditions for giving permission. "Since fulfilling the preconditions was impossible and it was clear that the police were using pressurising tactics, we decided to change the venue," said Girish Phonde, a Committee member. "At Bal Gandharva, there is no need of fire or structural audit as the auditorium belongs to the municipal corporation. We have now applied afresh for polices permission," he said. PTI SPK KRK PRM BAS --- ENDS --- The Thazhathangady Juma mosque is said to be almost thousand years old but one that was visited only by men. The women in the community were never allowed to take a look at the inside of the mosque. At a time when there is controversy over whether women can enter certain temples, a mosque in Kerala's Kottayam district has opened its doors to women. All women believers of the community can enter the Thazhathangady Juma mosque on April 24 and May 8, a first in its history. The Thazhathangady Juma mosque is said to be almost thousand years old but one that was visited only by men. The women in the community were never allowed to take a look at the inside of the mosque. advertisement The mosque committee has now decided to let women inside. "Muslim women in the right attire can enter the mosque only on the two days as decided by the committee," said Moulauddeen Sirajjuddeen Hasni, the Chief Imam. The right to enter however does not mean right to pray. The temple committee had to convince the men that the timing of their entry will not clash with the namaz timings on the two days. "There are several people who are not happy with the decision. For now, outsiders cannot enter. Only Muslim women can and about women praying inside, we will discuss in future," said MP Nawab, president, mosque committee. One of the oldest mosques in India, Thazhathangady Juma mosque is a tourist attraction famous for its architecture. But Haseena Kunjimon who lives close to the mosque, just 2 kms from Kottayam town has never been able to have a glimpse of the wonder. She is pleased that she now can. "My friends from other religion ask me if I have ever seen the mosque because tourists come to see it often. Kids have seen the inside. Now I can see too," says Haseena. Also Read: Trupti Desai will be hit with slippers if she enters Haji Ali Dargah: Shiv Sena leader --- ENDS --- India Today TV has accessed the court of enquiry papers issued to Lt Colonel Shrikant Prasad Purohit. The documents which were earlier denied to Purohit were released on the orders of Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar. By India Today Web Desk: India Today TV has accessed the court of enquiry papers issued to Lt Colonel Shrikant Prasad Purohit, who has been in jail for eight years in connection with the Malegaon blasts of September 2008, by Ministry of Defence which can help him to prove his innocence. The papers validate Purohit's claims that he had always kept the senior officials in the loop while carrying out intelligence activities that included infiltration of groups like SIMI, Indian Mujahideen and Naxals. advertisement "These papers are in respect of the registration of the sources. And it proves that Purohit had kept the senior army officials in the loop about his intelligence activities," said Neela Gokhale, Purohit's lawyer. The documents also has a letter from the Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS), which arrested Purohit in connection with Malegaon blasts that claimed 68 lives, appreciating Purohit for training ATS officers in infiltration skills The development comes after Purohit wrote a letter to Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar demanding release of documents to prove his innocence. In the letter dated April 4, Purohit stated that he has been punished for serving his nation and has been denied of honour. "I have been robbed of honour, dignity and rank and punished for serving the nation," the letter said. Also in the recent spin of events, Maharashtra ATS has apologised for naming Purohit in the Samjhauta case and accusing him of providing RDX. However, it is to be seen if NIA, that is yet to file a chargesheet, will take these documents into consideration. -With inputs from Gaurav Sawant --- ENDS --- Manoj Bajpayee will be honoured with Dadasaheb Phalke Foundation Award in the Best Actor category (Critics' Choice) for his performance in Hansal Mehta's biographical drama, Aligarh. The film is based on the real life incident of Dr. Srinivas Ramchandra Siras, who was suspended from his job because of his sexual orientation. By India Today Web Desk: Manoj Bajpayee will be honoured with Dadasaheb Phalke Foundation Award in the Best Actor category (Critics' Choice) for his performance in Hansal Mehta's biographical drama, Aligarh. Mehta took to Twitter to mention about the award and wrote, "Dadasaheb Phalke Award in the Best Actor (Critics' Choice) to Manoj Bajpayee for his portrayal of Professor Ramchandra Siras in Aligarh (sic)." advertisement Dadasaheb Phalke Award in the Best Actor (Critics' Choice) to @BajpayeeManoj for his portrayal of Professor Ramchandra Siras in #Aligarh. Hansal Mehta (@mehtahansal) April 22, 2016 Aligarh is a film based on the real life incident of Dr. Srinivas Ramchandra Siras, who was suspended from his job because of his sexual orientation. Manoj played the character of a gay professor in Hansal Mehta's film. He was appreciated by both the fans and critics for his performance in the film. The Tevar actor also took to Twitter to thank everyone for their love and appreciation. Thank you for your tremendous appreciation and love. Feeling extremely honoured https://t.co/LZAER1W0OD Manoj Bajpayee (@BajpayeeManoj) April 22, 2016 In an interview with Hindustan Times, the Shool actor said, "I am honoured to be the recipient of this award; it's a wonderful feeling. I would like to dedicate it to Siras, for the struggle he faced in his journey to show to the world the true meaning of love. I want to thank our director, Hansal Mehta, for his courage to present this story. I also want to thank my co-star, Raj Kummar Rao, and the entire team of Aligarh. I am thankful to my audience and the critics for their tremendous appreciation and love." The award ceremony will take place on April 24 in New Delhi. Manoj Bajpayee has also earlier won won two National Awards for Satya (1998) and Pinjar (2003). On the work front, the actor will next be seen as a traffic constable in the upcoming film Traffic. --- ENDS --- By PTI: other atrocities New Delhi, Apr 23 (PTI) Women belonging to SCs/STs who are victims of rape and gang rape will now get relief of up to Rs 5 lakh and Rs 8.25 lakh, a separate provision introduced for the first time, and those suffering other atrocities of grievous nature will get relief on conclusion of trial even if it does not end in conviction. advertisement The new Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Amendment Rules, 2016, notified by government, include the words rape and gang rape specifically in the definition of atrocities against SC/ST women to enable them to get relief under the Act. The new rules also make provision of increased relief to victims ranging from Rs 85,000 to Rs 8.25 lakh now, against the earlier amount ranging from Rs 75,000 to Rs 7.5 lakh. The new rules also mandate that investigation and filing of charge sheet in cases of atrocities against SC/ST women will now have to be completed within 60 days of committing the offence. Earlier, there was no such time limit for filing of charge sheet, but the investigations in cases were earlier mandated to be completed within a 30 day period. The new rules also seek to delink requirement of medical examination for getting relief amount for non-invasive kind of offences against women like sexual harassment, gestures or acts intended to insult the modesty of women, assault or use of criminal force with intent to disrobe, voyeurism, stalking. "Provision of admissible relief amount to SC/ST women for offences of grievous nature, on conclusion of trial, even though not ending in conviction," an official release said. The rules envisage that for "victims of gang rape [Section 376D of the Indian Penal Code (45 of 1860)], Rs eight lakh and twenty-five thousand rupees to the victim be made payment with 50 per cent after medical examination and confirmatory medical report; 25 per cent when the charge sheet is sent to the court; and 25 per cent. on conclusion of trial by the lower court." In the case of rape [Section 375 of the Indian Penal Code (45 of 1860)], "a provision of Rs five lakh rupees payment is to be made - 50 per cent after medical examination and confirmatory medical report; 25 per cent when the charge sheet is sent to the court; and 25 per cent on conclusion of trial by the lower court." advertisement The new rules also make provision of admissible relief in cash or in kind or both within seven days to the victims of atrocity, their family members and dependents, according to the time frames set in rules notified by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment. "The District Magistrate or the Sub- Divisional Magistrate or any other Executive Magistrate shall make necessary administrative and other arrangements and provide relief in cash or in kind or both within seven days to the victims of atrocity, their family members and dependents according to the scale provided... and such immediate relief shall also include food, water, clothing, shelter, medical aid, transport facilities and other essential items," the rules envisage. For immediate withdrawal of money from the treasury so as to timely provide the relief amount, the concerned state government or Union territory administration may provide necessary authorisation and powers to the District Magistrate. "The Special Court or the Exclusive Special Court may also order socio-economic rehabilitation during investigation, inquiry and trial...," they said. advertisement "The rules are an important step forward in our journey towards achieving Babasaheb Ambedkars vision of a more equal and just society," the government said in a press release. (MORE) PTI SKC RT --- ENDS --- North Korea has fired a slew of missiles and artillery shells into the sea in an apparent protest against ongoing annual military drills between the US and South Korea. By AP: South Korea says North Korea has fired what appeared to be a ballistic missile from a submarine off its northeast coast. Seoul's Defense Ministry couldn't immediately confirm where the projectile landed after Saturday's launch. North Korea has fired a slew of missiles and artillery shells into the sea in an apparent protest against ongoing annual military drills between the US and South Korea and toughened international sanctions against Pyongyang over its recent nuclear test and long-range rocket launch. advertisement The North has been seen as developing technologies for launching ballistic missiles from underwater. Security experts say that North Korea acquiring the ability to launch missiles from submarines would be an alarming development because missiles fired from submerged vessels are harder to detect before launch than land-based ones. ALSO READ: South Korea says North Korea has fired what appeared to be a ballistic missile from a submarine off its northeast coast. --- ENDS --- By PTI: Thiruvananthapuram, Apr 23 (PTI) Union Minister Ananth Kumar today said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had rushed to Kollam to take stock of the situation hours after the Puttingal Devi Temple fire tragedy, as "it was his duty as PM to do so". Modi had rushed to the state within hours of the tragedy (on April 10) to review the situation as it was his "duty as the Prime Minister of India", Kumar said. advertisement The remarks are significant in the light of comments made by some political parties and Kerala Director General of Police that VVIP visits should be "avoided" during such major mishaps. Taking a dig at former prime minister Manmohan Singh, he alleged that the Congress had provided a prime minister who never acted during the UPAs tenure at the Centre. In the last two years, India has the luxury of a Prime Minister who is "dynamic and pro-active", he said. BJPs state unit had earlier alleged that the ruling Congress-led UDF cadre, who were "upset" over the Prime Ministers visit, was "encouraging" officials to make "unnecessary statements". However, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy had said Modis visit was a "big relief" for the people of Kerala. The minister praised Modi for nominating Malayalam actor Suresh Gopi to the Rajya Sabha and said this was in recognition of the creativity and talent of South India. The April 10 tragedy which occurred during an unauthorised display of fireworks at the 100-year-old temple, had killed 108 persons and injured more than 300. PTI UD BN DIP --- ENDS --- Rajshahi University professor AFM Rezaul Karim Siddiquee (58) was murdered within 50 metres of his residence in the country's northwestern city of Rajshahi, police said. By PTI: A professor was hacked to death by unidentified attackers near his home in northwest Bangladesh today, the latest in a series of brutal attacks on bloggers, intellectuals and activists in the Muslim majority country. Rajshahi University professor AFM Rezaul Karim Siddiquee (58) was murdered within 50 metres of his residence in the country's northwestern city of Rajshahi, police said. advertisement "The miscreants attacked him from behind with machetes as he walked to the university campus from his home around 7.30 AM, local police station in-charge Shahdat Hossain told PTI. He said the Professor of English literature died instantly and the assailants fled the scene after his death. Rajshahis police commissioner Mohammad Shamsuddin told reporters at the scene that the "technique of the murder suggested it could be an act of Islamist terrorists." The professors neck was hacked at least three times and was 70-80 per cent slit, he said, adding that the nature of the attack shows it was carried out by extremist groups. The motive behind the murder is not immediately known. No groups claimed responsibility for the attack so far and police are investigating. Meanwhile, angry students and teachers of the university rallied in the campus demanding immediate arrest of culprits. Karims colleagues said he was involved in cultural activities in the campus and used to play flute and setar. "He was not known for affiliation for any political party...He had a progressive outlook that might have earned him the wrath of reactionary (Islamist) forces," professor of mass communication department of the university Dulal Chandra Biswas told PTI. Biswas said he believed the Islamists murdered Karim to prove their existence in view of a massive anti-militant security clampdown in the region. Two years ago, another Rajshahi University teacher AKM Shafiul Islam was similarly murdered. Though his murder was initially claimed by radical group Ansaral Islam, police later ruled out that possibility. Police said he was murdered as a sequel to personal rivalry. But some years ago, two more professors of the Rajshahi University had been killed. There have been systematic assaults in Bangladesh in recent months specially targeting minorities, secular bloggers, intellectuals and foreigners. Last year, four prominent secular bloggers were killed with machetes, one inside his own home. Also read: ISIS claims murder of top Hindu priest in Bangladesh --- ENDS --- The Belgian Malinois is the same breed that was part of the operation by US forces to hunt down Osama bin Laden. By Abhishek Bhalla : A ferocious Belgian Malinois could receive a gallantry award soon. The honour will come his way for being part of the elite National Security Guard (NSG) commando team that took on terrorists holed up inside the Pathankot Air Force base. During the operation, the dog displayed remarkable courage that resulted in the one of the terrorists being gunned down. advertisement Three-year-old 'Rocket' was quick to pounce on an armed terrorist within seconds of being let loose. As the commandos saw one of the terrorists changing his position constantly, they let out Rocket. Rocket's sudden attack took the terrorist by surprise and he lost control, making it easy for the commandos to launch the final assault. "We have recommended Rocket for a sena medal as he played an important role in the terrorist getting killed," said a NSG officer. Sources said the terrorist had taken a vantage position and the commandos were finding it difficult to pin him down. "Rocket showed great alacrity and did not shy away from taking on the armed terrorist," the officer added. There were six dogs from the canine (K 9) squad of the NSG who, along with their handlers, played a stellar role in the operation in Pathankot, officials said. Currently, NSG has nearly 20 dogs in its dog squad that are trained for anti-terror operations to assist the force. Sources say the dogs can play a big role in hostage situations as they can be used for reconnaissance. At the same time, they are effective in assault situations like in Pathankot Seven security personnel were killed and several others wounded when suspected Pakistani terrorists, owing allegiance to Pakistan-based Jaishe-Mohammad, stormed the Pathankot air base after infiltrating on January 1. Indian investigators have given evidence to Pakistan indicating that the attack was the handiwork of JeM chief Maulana Masood Azhar. Azhar had to be let off in exchange for passengers on board an Indian Airlines flight that was hijacked to Kandahar in Afghanistan in 1999 after taking off from Kathmandu. The Belgian Malinois is the same breed that was part of the operation by US forces to hunt down Osama bin Laden. The canines are now becoming popular with the security forces in India. They are not restricted to sniffing out explosives, the forces are using them for assaults, infantry and reconnaissance patrols and with new training techniques they are also able to sense an ambush ensuring that troops are alerted in advance These dogs are an integral part of the forces in conflict zones and are being trained for multiple skills. The breed has made a big impact in operations in the red zone against Maoists. Realising the importance of these dogs in operations in tough terrains, the force goes out of its way to keep them healthy and fit. Belgain Malinois can walk long distances making them useful for infantry patrols. They can also withstand intense heat. advertisement "These dogs have played a major role in thwarting Maoist strategy by giving early warnings about the presence of an ambush. Many surrendered rebels have revealed in interrogation that if they see dogs in a patrol they are doubly careful. Often they have had to retreat since the forces were alerted about a trap laid by Maoists by these dogs," said an official. Also Read: This Republic Day, Rajpath goes to the dogs! --- ENDS --- Randeep Hooda and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan's film Sarbjit has been in news for quite some now. The filmmakers have now released a new song Dard, which will show you the soul-wrenching journey of Sarabjit Singh. By India Today Web Desk: Randeep Hooda and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan's film Sarbjit has been in news for quite some now. The filmmakers have now released a new song Dard, which will show you the soul-wrenching journey of Sarabjit Singh. This song will leave you with moist eyes and emotional. The filmmakers took to micro-blogging site Twitter to share the song. advertisement The song has been sung by Sonu Nigam and everybody who has lost a loved one will be able to relate to this song. The lyrics are penned by Jaani and Rashmi Virag. The music has been composed by Jeet Gannguli. While Aishwarya Rai Bachchan plays the role of Dalbir Kaur, Randeep Hooda is seen as Sarabjit Singh in Omung Kumar's directorial. Not just the song, but the trailer of the film has also left their fans praising about their performance in the film. Apart from Randeep Hooda and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, the film also stars Richa Chadda as Sarabjit's wife. The film is based on Sarabjit Singh, an Indian farmer who was convicted of terrorism and spying in Pakistan and was sentenced to death. He was attacked by inmates at a prison in Lahore in April 2013 and died a few days later. Directed by Omung Kumar, the film is slated to release on May 20 this year. Here's the trailer: --- ENDS --- By India Today Web Desk: Saif Ali Khan and Shahid Kapoor will be seen together in Vishal Bhardwaj's Rangoon. Earlier, there were reports that the two share cold vibes on the film sets. But Kareena Kapoor Khan has laughed off all such reports of Saif and Shahid having issues. In fact, the Bajrangi Bhaijaan actor feels that the two are bonding quite well and Saif also likes Shahid. advertisement ALSO READ: Mira Rajput is pregnant, and Shahid Kapoor's ex Kareena Kapoor Khan was the first to know it In an interview with DNA, "Really? In fact, I think they are getting along too well! I haven't gone to the sets because I haven't had the time. I have been travelling and they have been having very hectic schedules at night. Saif comes and tells me what fun they have been having on the sets. He quite enjoys chatting with Shahid and finds him a really nice guy. I don't know why they shouldn't be getting along." She further said, "Saif is such a chilled out person, and he and Shahid have been part of the industry for so many years. And I don't understand why everyone is talking about them, on the sets of Rangoon as if it is their first interaction? Saif and Shahid met way before and used to go the same gym. So this cold vibes story is far from the truth! Saif is the last person to give anybody cold vibes. In fact, if anybody does that he will go and ask him, 'Hey man, are you giving me cold vibes? Why? Let's just relax and chat.' (laughs) Saif gets along with everybody." But contrary to all such reports, Shahid Kapoor and Saif Ali Khan seem to be creating a great bond on the sets. Reportedly, Shahid had also informed Saif Ali Khan about his wife Mira Rajput's pregnancy. And the Haider actor is also excited to work with him in Rangoon. When Shahid was earlier asked aboutr his experience of working with Saif, he had said, "I am happy Saif is doing this film. We shot for one and half days together. He is very professional. I don't think anyone else could have played his role better than him. He is a great cast for the film." Apart from Shahid and Saif, the film also stars Kangana Ranaut in the lead role. Directed by Vishal Bharadwaj, Rangoon is a love triangle set against the backdrop of the Second World War. --- ENDS --- Governor KP Iqbal Zafar Jhagra, Special Assistant to KP Mushtaq Ghani and Provincial Ministers Shahram Tarakai have condemned the killing of Singh. By India Today Web Desk: A Pakistani Sikh politician was on Friday shot dead by identified assailants near his home in the country's restive northwest. No one has claimed responsibility for the killing. Sardar Sooran Singh, the Special Assistant to Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa(KP) on Minority Affairs, was assassinated in Pir Baba area of Buner district in the province while he was returning home after a routine walk. Police said that Singh had no guard at the time of attack. advertisement Singh was rushed to a nearby hospital where he was declared dead. Initial postmortem report has revealed that he received only one bullet in his head. Governor KP Iqbal Zafar Jhagra, Special Assistant to KP Mushtaq Ghani and Provincial Ministers Shahram Tarakai have condemned the killing of Singh. Singh was a doctor, TV anchor and politician. Before joining Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf in 2011, Singh was a member of Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan for nine years. He was also member of Tehsil council, Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee and Evacuee Trust Property Board. Singh also hosted programme Za Hum Pakistani Yam for three and a half years with Khyber News. --- ENDS --- By PTI: From Gurdip Singh Singapore, Apr 23 (PTI) A 23-year-old editor of a website in Singapore has been sentenced to 10 months in prison for publishing "seditious articles" intended to "provoke unwarranted hatred against foreigners". Ai Takagi, who is 12-weeks pregnant, is the Chief Editor of socio-political website The Real Singapore (TRS). She surrendered herself at the State Courts yesterday to begin the jail term, The Straits Times reported today. advertisement She was convicted of sedition last month after she pleaded guilty to publishing "seditious articles" on the TRS website. Her sentence was deferred till yesterday. The court had found that the articles published by TRS were intended to "provoke unwarranted hatred against foreigners in Singapore" and jailed her for 10 months. Takagi, an Australian of Japanese descent, told the court that she set up TRS in 2012 to let Singaporeans express their views without fear. But the prosecution said the website was in fact a revenue-generating business. The court found that Takagi was a "a shrewd businesswoman who was driven by financial gains". Takagi had also apologised in open court to the people of Singapore for the harm the published articles had caused. Admitting she was not fully aware of the level of sensitivity needed when dealing with racial and religious issues here, Takagi claimed that she "loves" Singapore and hopes to call it her home permanently. "I now know that the harmony which Singapore enjoys today requires careful and continuous efforts on the part of everyone, citizens and visitors alike, to maintain," she said. One article was entitled "Why Some Singaporeans Feel Annoyed With Pinoys (a short name for Filipinos) In Singapore" and published in June 2014. The article quoted a Singaporean who allegedly quit his job claiming Filipinos in his company gave preferential treatment to their countrymen. It described them as "two- faced" and "relentless back-stabbers". Takags Singaporean husband Yang Kaiheng, 27, is on trial for allegedly helping her run the site. He is expected back in court on June 22 when the case resumes. PTI GS CPS --- ENDS --- Following a complaint by the chief air hostess over the inappropriate language used by the pilot, SpiceJet launched a probe into the case. By India Today Web Desk: SpiceJet airline on Thursday sacked one of its pilots for allegedly asking the chief air hostess to sit with him in the cockpit of a Boeing 737 flight. The incident took place onboard Kolkata-Bangkok flight on February 28 when the pilot asked his co-pilot to leave the cockpit and locked himself inside with the air hostess. He made the air hostess sit on his seat on both legs of the international flight. advertisement Following a complaint by the chief air hostess over the inappropriate language used by the pilot, SpiceJet launched a probe into the case. After recording the statement of all concerned parties, the airline sacked the pilot. The airline issued a statement and said, "We wish to inform you that we have an internal complaint committee in place which is mandated by The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (prevention, prohibition and redressal) Act, 2013. We have initiated an inquiry process as per the guidelines laid in the said Act. The inquiry process has been concluded and subsequently, the services of the alleged pilot has been terminated." "The case has been informed to the DGCA by our Flight Safety department and their inquiry is also on," it added. --- ENDS --- Creatas/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) -- A quandary over scallop rules has two groups of fishermen in Maine at odds over the increasingly lucrative shellfish. Kristan Porter, 46, is an independent fisherman who catches lobsters for most of the year with his boat "Brandon Jay." But for additional income, for five months each year, he and the two other men on his boat have begun collecting scallops. But a larger than usual harvest of scallops this year in the northern Gulf of Maine and the competitive price that they demand has brought a larger number of boats than usual. Porter's boat and others are limited to collect 200 pounds of scallops each trip until the boats reach 70,000 pounds. But other boats that have permits distributed in the 1990s are allowed to haul up to 40 million pounds within the 34 days they are permitted in the area. The problem is exacerbated as the demand for scallops has evolved from just another mollusk to a delicacy in fine dining. "Basically, we are seeing scallops start to return to the Northern Gulf of Maine for the first time in over two decades," said Togue Brawn, an advocate for the fisherman in Maine with Maine Dayboat Scallops/Downeast Dayboat. "We would like to have a small, sustainable fishery, and there are rules in place that should help that happen, but they won't work if the class of vessels with the largest fishing power is able to just ignore them." On Wednesday, the New England Fishery Management Council voted on multiple actions, including to work toward federal sea scallop regulation that would prohibit the vessels with permits from collecting more than 50 bushels of in-shell scallops in a demarcated area next year. The potential rule needs approval by the National Marine Fisheries Service to become a regulation. Porter and Brawn said they worry that regulatory approval will move slowly and it may be too late before the scallops are gone from over-harvesting. "Every time we get a little glimmer of hope, like this bed of scallops that showed up, it's gone," Porter said. "We want to resolve this situation so this doesn't keep happening." It takes scallop beds several years to rebuild once they are heavily fished, or over-fished. A spokesman for the New England Fishery Management Council said the group is working toward a "longer-term, more comprehensive action for the area." "These guys take part in a small fishery, they don't have paid lobbyists and attending Council meetings means taking a lot of time off from fishing," Brawn said. Eric Hansen, of New Bedford, Massachusetts, is one of the permit holders that aren't bound by the same quota that Porter and others follow. Hansen, who typically fishes south of Maine, returned to the Gulf of Maine this year for the first time in decades. His family business obtained one of the permits back in 1994 for free that now could be sold for millions of dollars. "My livelihood has always been dedicated to scallops," said Hansen, 54. "I started when I was 16 years old. Ive been fishing all my life. My family has been fishing for over 100 years on Georges Bank since my great grandfather." The increasing price has led to some crowding in the industry, which has contributed to the debate over developing new rules. "When I started fishing, we were getting $2 a pound and now were getting $18," Hansen said, adding that he hopes the proposed actions will solve the tension between boats like his and those that are bound by scallop quotas. "I think it will solve the whole problem if the regulations are consistent throughout the range of the fishery," Hansen said. Copyright 2016, ABC Radio. All rights reserved. Celebrities from different walks of life wish the TV star good luck for the premiere of his long-awaited show. By India Today Web Desk: It seemed like a long wait. But finally, Indian television's favourite comedian is back with his show. The long-awaited The Kapil Sharma Show will premiere tonight on Sony TV and we just can't wait to see the new characters portrayed by Kapil and his adorable gang. Also read: The Kapil Sharma Show premieres tonight; all you want to know about the show advertisement Needless to say, it's not just the regular audience that is eager to see this show hitting the TV screens tonight. Celebrities from all walks of life are also counting down the hours. Some of them even expressed their excitement on Twitter. It all began with Shah Rukh Khan's tweet a couple of days back: Best of luck for your show bro." Picture courtesy: Twitter/@iamsrk In fact, as the promotions have revealed till now, the superstar will be seen in the first episode of the show tonight. Shah Rukh Khan's tweet was just the beginning. Others who took to Twitter to express their joy and wish the comedian-actor good luck for the show included various celebrities -- actor Anupam Kher, chef Sanjeev Kapoor, cricketer Suryakumar Yadav, and Navjot Singh Siddhu. Actor Anupam Kher tweeted, "@KapilSharmaK9 Good luck for your new show my friend. I am sure it will be Fantastic.:)" Picture courtesy: Twitter/@AnupamPkher Picture courtesy: Twitter/@AnupamPkher Chef Sanjeev Kapoor tweeted, "Congratulations on your new show @KapilSharmaK9. Wish you all the success with #TheKapilSharmaShow @sumona24" Picture courtesy: Twitter/@SanjeevKapoor Cricketer Suryakumar Yadav tweeted, "The way I play a Game. D way I wait for any GAME on TV 2 WATCH. Same excitement level for tonight. Can't wait for @KapilSharmaK9 SHOW #class" Picture courtesy: Twitter/@surya_14kumar Navjot Singh Siddhu tweeted, "The first blow is half the battle folks, it's a @iamsrk explosion; well begun is half done. #TheKapilSharmaShow" Picture courtesy: Twitter/@sherryontopp The show premieres tonight on Sony TV at 9pm. --- ENDS --- The Muslim-majority nation of 160 million has seen a surge in violent attacks over the past year in which liberal activists. By Reuters: Suspected Islamist militants brutally murdered a university professor on Saturday in northwestern Bangladesh, a police official told reporters, the latest in a spate of attacks on liberal activists. Two or three assailants rode up on a motorcycle and attacked Rezaul Karim Siddiquee, an English professor at Rajshahi University, slitting his throat and hacking him to death, said police official Golam Sackline. advertisement "We are investigating the killing," Sackline said. The pattern of the murder was similar to other recent attacks by Islamist militants, he said. The Muslim-majority nation of 160 million has seen a surge in violent attacks over the past year in which liberal activists, members of minority Muslim sects and other religious groups have been targeted. --- ENDS --- By India Today Web Desk: With the Tamil Nadu Assembly elections nearing by Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) chief Karunanidhi and chief minister Jayalalithaa are already at loggerheads. Addressing a election rally in Chennai today Karunanidhi attacked the ruling All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) governmnet over corruption issue. He said, "You need to prepare yourself to end these five years of a corrupt government," Karunanidhi said. advertisement DMK chief said, "AIADMK is a party to serve its own interest and is not there for public service." He also said that the ruling party only works for a selected section of people." Bringing up the Chennai floods, which ravaged the state last December, Karunanidhi said that Jayalalithaa not just ignored the distressed people but also grabbed the limelight for her own publicity. "During floods, she didn't care about people but only focused on her publicity," Karunanidhi said. Though DMK is all geared up to give a tough competition to the rulling AIADMK, its chief Karunanidhi is facing a severe criticism for being the chief minister candidate at 92. Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam (DMDK) chief Vijayakanth earlier said, "See, he (Karunanidhi) wants to be Chief Minister for the sixth time even at this age (92), see his desire." Tamil Nadu is schedule to go for the Assembly election on May 16, 2016 for the 234 seats. Also read: Tamil Nadu polls: Why Jayalalithaa is the Chennai Super Queen --- ENDS --- "I can tell you that if I go too presidential, people are going to be very bored," U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump holds up the front page of the New York Post as he signs autographs at a rally with supporters in Harrington, Delaware, U.S. April 22, 2016. Photo: Reuters By Reuters: Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump attacked his top Democratic rival Hillary Clinton on Friday, calling her "crooked," and promised his supporters that he would not bore them by becoming overly presidential. The comments undercut what his aides had said would be an attempt by the notoriously blunt-speaking Trump to project a more serious image after his win in New York's nominating contest this week, including by rolling out more policy details. advertisement "I can tell you that if I go too presidential, people are going to be very bored," the New York real estate baron told Fox News in an interview that will air on Saturday. He added that he worried his supporters would "fall asleep." He went on to say that Clinton "is a person who's got many, many flaws" and that she's "the worst possible representative a woman can have," as he shifted his focus away from Republican rivals and toward the Nov. 8 presidential election. "The only thing she's got going is the women card," Trump said in the excerpts released by the network on Friday. "We call her 'Crooked Hillary' because she's a crooked person. She's always been a crooked person." Clinton said at a campaign event in Pennsylvania she would not respond to Trump's comments about her. Donna Hoffman, the head of the political science department at the University of Iowa, said Trump's fiery personality had put him in a bind at this stage of the race. "The impetus to become more presidential is coming from some of the elite organs of the GOP, but he got to where he is today because of his persona," she said. "To continue this way will keep him alienated from the party, but to change means his supporters will question his authenticity." In a strong signal that his persona matters, a January survey showed that among Trump's supporters about 43 percent said they liked him because he "speaks his mind," while only 8 percent cited his policies. The survey was conducted by the Working America arm of labor organization AFL-CIO. Trump's win in his home state of New York on Tuesday bolstered his chances for the Republican presidential nomination, prompting a more serious study of his prospects in the general election. Trump will give a foreign policy speech on Wednesday at the National Press Club, part of an expanded policy roll-out the campaign is planning, his aides told Republican leaders and lawmakers this week. The speech will come the day after a round of primary contests in Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island, in which polls show him likely to do well. advertisement REPUBLICANS GATHER IN FLORIDA But Trump's rivals have said he lacks foreign policy expertise, and several foreign leaders have said they are concerned about the idea of Trump in the White House. "The mantra that somehow Donald Trump has become the presumptive nominee after New York is ridiculous," Chad Sweet, campaign chairman for Texas Senator Ted Cruz, said on CNN on Friday. Nationally, Trump has support from nearly half of all Republicans, compared with 28 percent for Cruz and 17 percent for Ohio Governor John Kasich, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll. "Now there's no path to victory for Cruz so he should get out. They should both get out," Trump told supporters in Harrington, Delaware. "And when they get out ..., we will start on Hillary Clinton like nobody's ever seen." Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus said on Friday the party was prepared for numerous scenarios, including a contested convention if no Republican has earned the 1,237 delegates needed to secure the nomination. Republican National Committee officials gathered in Hollywood, Florida to take stock of the race for the White House and prepare for the possibility of a contested convention in July in Cleveland. advertisement Mexico's new ambassador to the United States, Carlos Sada, vowed on Thursday to combat negative publicity in the U.S. campaign after Trump accused Mexico of sending drug traffickers and rapists into the United States and vowed to build a wall at the border. Japanese firms said in a Reuters poll released on Wednesday that a Trump presidency would harm security partnerships. --- ENDS --- Haji Arafat Shaikh, who joined the Shiv Sena after leaving Maharashtra Navnirman Sena in 2014, also said that Desai's attempt to enter the dargah was a conspiracy to disturb the peaceful environment in Mumbai. By India Today Web Desk: A Muslim leader of the Shiv Sena today said that activist Trupti Desai would be hit with slippers if she tried to enter the Haji Ali Dargah next week. "Trupti Desai says she will enter and touch Mazaar at Haji Ali, we strongly condemn this. If she makes an attempt then she would be welcomed with 'prasad' of chappals," Haji Arafat Shaikh said. advertisement "I will become the voice of my religion and won't let her touch the mazaar. Many Muslim women are also opposing her," he added. Haji Arafat Shaikh, who joined the Shiv Sena after leaving Maharashtra Navnirman Sena in 2014, also said that Desai's attempt to enter the dargah was a conspiracy to disturb the peaceful environment in Mumbai. The Muslim leader's remark came days after the Bhoomata Ranragini Brigade chief announced that she along with other women would offer prayers at the Dargah. However, unperturbed by the Shiv Sena's comments, Desai said that she would continue with the cause. The Shiv Sena, however, distanced itself from the comment. Shortly after his remarks created a furore in various circles, party spokesperson and legislator Neelam Gorhe rejected Shaikh's statement and even warned of action against him. "This is purely his personal view on the issue. It is not the Shiv Sena stand, which is clear and we respect the Bombay High Court decision," Gorhe sai. "Our group will be going to Haji Ali Dargah on April 28, Shiv Sena's threats won't work," said Desai, who earlier successfully led the movement for women's entry to the Trimbakeshwar temple in Nashik and Shani Shingnapur temple in Ahmednagar. Earlier, Desai along with several other women, NGOs and social groups, had also launched a forum 'Haji Ali For All' to campaign for women's entry to the shrine. Meanwhile, the Bombay High Court will hear the petition challenging the Haji Ali Trust's decision to ban the entry of women into the sanctum of the shrine. In February, the Maharashtra government had supported the entry of women to the Haji Ali Dargah. However, the Haji Ali Dargah Trust justified its stand on the ground that allowing women to the shrine would be against the religion. Also read: Trupti Desai offers prayers at Trimbakeshwar temple, likely to meet PM Modi next month --- ENDS --- Cancer drug that treated former US president Jimmy Carter who was suffering from melanoma, a deadly form of skin cancer, might be hitting the Indian market by September 2016. By Astha Saxena: The cancer drug that treated former US president Jimmy Carter who was suffering from melanoma, a deadly form of skin cancer, might be hitting the Indian market by September 2016. Carter was being treated with a cancer drug called Keytruda that uses the immune system to fight off cancerous cells. Various medical experts said the drug which has been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will increase the curability rate by 20 per cent and prolong the life of the cancer patients. advertisement Currently, the hospitals are importing the drug from foreign country. Another drug, Opdivo, will also be made available at the same time. Opdivo is also used to treat melanoma. "These are the new class of drugs which will chance the entire concept of cancer treatment in the country. Initial attempts have been successful in India. The approval is on its way and we are waiting for the final decision. We are importing the drug from foreign country," Dr Amit Agarwal, director and head of department, medical oncology, BLK Super Speciality Hospital. Keytruda, made by pharmaceutical company Merck, was originally approved by the FDA in September 2014 to treat melanoma, a deadly form of skin cancer that can also show up in other organs of the body, as it did in Carter's case. The drug, which got approved to treat a form of lung cancer in October, is also being explored to treat a number of other cancers, including head, neck, breast, bladder and Hodgkin Lymphoma. "These are one of the best drugs which have been approved as am first line drug by the US FDA for melanoma and lung cancer and second line drugs for liver and kidney cancer. It might come up in every cancer soon. The initial trials have shown that the drugs will prolong the lives of the patients," said Dr Bharat Ashok Vaswani, medical director, Oncology, Yashoda hospital, Hyderabad. Sources say one of the major roadblocks in the approval of these drugs is its cost. The drug will cost around Rs 4-7 lakhs and the entire cancer treatment through this drug will go above Rs 1 crore. "These drugs might not be helpful for the general public. They are too expensive and not every patient can afford it. The talks are going on and the final decision is yet to come out," a senior government official told Mail Today. Few hospitals in the country have used the drug on some of the patients and have so far received a good response. "We have started using the drug. They have been approved by the FDA. So far, the response on the patients is very good. Around four-five patients have been treated with the drug in our hospital. These drugs have to be used on the patients for the first three months after which the final call is taken whether the drugs have to be continued or not," said Dr Sachin Almel, consultant oncologist with PD Hinduja Hospital, Mumbai. advertisement Also Read: SPF30 sunscreens may delay onset of skin --- ENDS --- A Nepalese artist with his first solo show, and an Indian artist from the Modernist lot are set to please the art lovers of Delhi. By Adila Matra: From junkyards to galleries Two years ago Nepalese artist Uma Shankar Shah was passing by a railway junkyard and saw the broken, torn down pieces of steam trains. Cut to the present, trains of the bygone era, Hindu deities and popular Bollywood posters - all come together on Shah's canvases in his first solo show in New Delhi, titled 'Roti-Beti', presented by Gallerie Ganesha. An untitled, oil on board, work by Avinash Chandra. Picture courtesy: Mail Today advertisement "When I was about 9-10 years old, the railway line between Jainagar and Janakpur in Nepal was a source of great curiosity for me. We would just go to the railway station hoping to touch the train," he says. Shah continues, "I slowly saw a lot of transformation in the Nepalese way of life because of these trains. Due to this rail link, they started coming into India, and marriages between India and Nepal flourished. Also, India was undergoing industrialisation as Nepal was still a rural economy, so people used to buy things like cycles, petromax gas stove, steel utensils from India and carry these back home in the train. When I saw the junk, all these images and memories came back to me in a flash. It was as if these trains were speaking to me, narrating the tale of their importance, and hence, I decided to paint them." The 51-year-old artist's paintings are replete with nostalgia - women dressed in colourful clothes and ornaments, old movie posters, cycles stacked on top of the trains, crowded platforms, balloons and tractors. Speaking of his title work 'Roti-Beti', Shah says that the work depicts the twin inspiration for this show. One that trains gave people their economic livelihood (Roti), and second, the fact that many Indian women after marriage migrated to Nepal (Beti). One can also see the strong presence of Buddha and prayer wheels in his paintings. "I have been painting Buddha and prayer wheels since 2006. I first exhibited some of these in 2006 as a response to the bloodshed in Nepal. I use the imagery of the prayer wheel to make an appeal for peace. The iconic Tibetan prayer wheel is reworked with Mithila folk characters to portray a tragic reality - the land where the Buddha was born is in a state of unrest. This is relevant even today," says Shah who is a Fine Arts Lecturer at Tribhuwan University. 'Roti-Beti' is on at Visual Arts Gallery, IHC, till April 24; 10am to 8pm. In remembrance of the forgotten Modernist Avinash Chandra - an Indian artist from the Modernist lot - is not known much among art lovers in India. At least, as much as his contemporaries. His first exhibition was at Delhi Silpi Chakra in 1953 and the second one was in 1983 at the Lalit Kala Akademi. He passed away from a long illness in 1991 and 25 years later, Delhi Art Gallery (DAG) has acquired his estate in London and created the perfect retrospective for the artist. advertisement The exhibition starts from the 1950s, just before Chandra left for London, where oil on canvas landscapes with bold brush strokes were his signature. "He left for London when he was really young - 25 or so," says Kishore Singh, founder of DAG. "Unlike others of his time, like SH Raza and FN Souza who also left India but kept coming back to the country, Chandra tried developing a camaraderie among people there. They remember him very fondly still." Later works of Chandra saw landscapes either fade into human forms, mostly nudes, or human forms interspersed in landscapes. He was very much influenced by the hippie movement that was sweeping over London during the 1960s and his canvases also had a touch of pop. Subsequently, he moved to New York. "People in New York began seeing him more as a guru and less as an artist. For some time, he found it exciting but after that phase began to wear off, he returned to London to take care of his ailing wife who died after some time," explains Singh. advertisement Avinash Chandra had a sharp eye for colours and the human form. Almost every painting of his is filled with body parts, that is sometimes discernible in the first look and at others, not. In 1962, he painted what many would later call his masterpiece, 'Stars Above, Stars Below'. "It is very significant of the change that came over Chandra as an artist. It is a landscape that is almost entirely made of body parts. It is the most expensive piece in the exhibition and is priced at `2 crore," Singh says. Also eye-catching are his works from the 1970s, after he married Valerie Murray, who was from Jamaica. He fell in love with the country and began switching to foliage - greens, blues and reds. There were also human figures amidst the foliage. Singh says there has been great interest in Chandra's work, especially the ones in the 1950s and 1960s. "I think the early works of Modernists are the ones that catch the attention of the buyers. You need to mature as a collector to be able to fall in love with the works that come later on," he says. advertisement The show is on display at Delhi Art Gallery, Hauz Khas Village, till May 31. --- ENDS --- By PTI: New York, Apr 23 (PTI) The International Solar Alliance (ISA) and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) have joined hands to promote solar energy globally. On occasion of a side event on ISA at UN Headquarters in New York yesterday, the Interim Administrative Cell of ISA and UNDP evinced their interest to promote solar energy globally, the New and Renewable Energy Ministry said today. advertisement The joint declaration was exchanged in the presence of Power, Coal and New and Renewable Energy Minister Piyush Goyal and Ministers and Ministerial representatives from around 25 ISA countries. Ministry of New and Renewable Energy Secretary Upendra Tripathy and the Chairperson of ISA Interim Administrative Cell exchanged the declaration with UN representative, it added. The major areas identified for working jointly include development of synergies with ongoing UNDP programmes and projects on solar energy in and across ISA member countries and creation of complementary linkages with ongoing global and regional efforts in the field of solar energy. They will also look for strategic cooperation in programmatic and technical expertise and facilitating the participation of the wider UN system towards the creation of innovation hubs in and technology transfers between ISA member countries. Support for the establishment of knowledge management systems as well as electronic networks and/or e-portals for the sharing, creation and management of knowledge on solar energy has also been identified. ISA and UNDP will also work on strengthening development of ISAs institutional structure and enhancing its capacity development efforts through the support of training programmes, the Ministry said. PTI NKD RNK MKJ --- ENDS --- TMC spokesperson Derek O'brien had shown 6 photographs, one of which showed Rajnath Singh feeding CPM politburo member Prakash Karat ladoos. It then turned out, that the photo was actually an old one of Rajnath Singh feeding ladoos to PM Modi at BJP office Home Minister Rajnath Singh can be seen feeding a ladoo to PM Modi in the real photo (L), while PM Modi's face can be seen morphed with that of Prakash Karat in the fake photo (R). Just hours after the Trinamool Congress (TMC) press conference hitting out at the Congress-Left alliance terming it opportunistic, the party landed itself in a soup. This after one of the photographs shown by the TMC in its presser was found to be morphed! Party spokesperson Derek O'brien had shown 6 photographs, one of which showed Rajnath Singh feeding CPM politburo member Prakash Karat ladoos. advertisement This in an apparent attempt to prove how CPM sways its allegiance to the Congress and the BJP depending on political needs. TMC spokesperson Derek O'brien showing the morphed photo during the press conference. However, soon after the TMC showed the photo in the presser, both the BJP and the Left claimed it to be photoshopped. It then turned out, that the photo was actually an old one of Rajnath Singh feeding ladoos to PM Modi at the BJP office. But in the photo released by the TMC, Modi had been replaced by Prakash Karat! The TMC, however, has now issued a statement accepting the mistake. Two videos & 6 pics were shown at our press conference. We removed one pic immediately when our research team learnt it was photoshopped The BJP and the CPM have both slammed the TMC and threatened to take matter to the Election Commission. Will surely take legal action. @quizderek should rename his handle as @morphderek. He is following lying & deceitful nature of his leader.Md Salim (@salimdotcomrade) April 23, 2016 Seems TMC can do no right. Even quizmaster(@quizderek) asking fraudulent questions. People will give befitting answer. #MorphDerekMd Salim (@salimdotcomrade) April 23, 2016 Meanwhile, while addressing an election campaign rally in Howrah today, Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi today accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of "resorting to falsehood and bluffing the people". He said they had promised lakhs of jobs but "not a single person got employment". "Mamata ji and Modi ji are making false promises. Mamata ji talked of providing jobs to 70 lakh people, while Modi ji had said two crore jobs will be given by his government. But not a single person has got employment," Gandhi said. Watch full press conference here --- ENDS --- In the CCTV footage, the Dalit woman is seen struggling and shouting for help but no one stopped to help her. By India Today Web Desk: A 25-year-old man, who abducted and raped a woman in Muktsar district of Punjab, surrendered before a district court on Friday. The accused has been remanded to police custody for three days. Gurjinder Singh, who was caught abducting the woman on a CCTV camera installed in a nearby shop in Malout in Muktsar, surrendered a day after the victim and her father met officials of the National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC) to seek justice. The NCSC had summoned some of the top police officers and demanded an explanation over the delay in arresting the accused, who reportedly belongs to the same village as the woman. advertisement The incident took place on March 25 when the young man forcibly dragged the woman out of her office in broad daylight. In the video, the Dalit woman is seen struggling and shouting for help but no one stopped to help her. The woman claimed that the accused took her to Tapa Khera village where he raped her in a farmhouse. A case has been registered against the accused under various provisions of the law including for abduction and rape. Meanwhile, the car in which the accused had abducted the victim was yet to be recovered. --- ENDS --- In many ways the iPhone has been the leader, providing a direction to the whole industry. By India Today Web Desk: It's true that in the last few years, the iPhone has copied some of the features from Android. But at the same time, it is also easy to see that in many ways the iPhone has been the leader, providing a direction to the whole industry. A number of times we have seen features that have either been introduced first on the iPhone or have been popularised by Apple's device to an extent that other smartphone makers have then rushed to include them into their phones. advertisement Also Read: 5 reasons why the iPhone SE is the best iPhone In particular these are the 5 features that others copied from the iPhone. The metal and glass design, which is so popular nowadays, was first seen in an iPhone. With the iPhone 4, apple introduced the iconic design that had the glass back cover. It looked totally premium and slick. So much so that soon other phones, including Xperia phones, and then later even the Galaxy S phones followed it. With the iPhone 5S, Apple introduced the dual-tone flash in camera. This flash -- consisting of two types of LEDs to provide the right mix of warm and cool light for perfect white balance -- was later introduced on other phones. Nowadays, the dual-LED flash is common on all high-end Android phones. With the iPhone 5S, Apple also introduced a feature called Motion Co-processor. This was a dedicated chip that controlled sensors. This allowed Apple to offer features like real-time, always on footstep tracking without much hit on the battery life. The feature was later introduced by a number of other phone makers, including by Google and LG in their Nexus 5. With the iPhone 6S, Apple introduced 3D touch. And while a Chinese company beat Apple to the finish-line by offering it in one of its phones a few weeks before the launch of the iPhone 6S, the feature is gaining some traction and may even be a part of Google's upcoming Android N because it has been made popular by the fruity phone. Chamfered edges look great. They also made their first appearance on the iPhone. But once Apple showed how shiny and classy these expertly cut edges look on the phones, everyone followed the move. Now almost all phones worth Rs 15,000 or more come with a design that has chamfered edges. Also Read: Apple's iOS sucks and finally iPhone fans are talking about it --- ENDS --- This web site speculates that this contradiction may indicate that the plan fell afoul of domestic Iranian politics before being implemented. This leaves some doubt as to whether implementation will go forward after all. But if it does it is possible that it could provide the world community with an opportunity to do business in Iran without further exacerbating American lawmakers concerns about the prospect of the Obama administration granting Iran access to the US financial system. This has remained a topic of great controversy in the US Congress, where Republican legislators and some Democratic supporters argue that a change in rules regarding Iranian transactions in US banks would effectively give away the last bits of leverage remaining after a nuclear deal that many of those same legislators regard as a giveaway to Tehran. One of the strongest voices of opposition to the Iran nuclear deal has been that of Arkansas Republican Senator Tom Cotton; and this has naturally extended to issue of dollarizing Irans foreign payments. Cotton believes that despite assurances to the contrary, the Obama administration is planning to allow this procedure and to provide broader Iranian access to US banking institutions. In response, he recently moved to block Obamas appointment of Adam Szubin to the position of Undersecretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Crime, according to the Weekly Standard. This move serves not as a commentary on Szubins fitness for the job, but rather to call attention to Treasury policies and urge congressional action to forestall Iranian access to the US financial system. Interestingly, the New York Times reported on Thursday that Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif had denied that Tehran is even pursuing this access. His remarks to this effect could, however, be regarded as self-contradictory insofar as he simultaneously emphasized the regimes insistence that the United States expand upon implementation of the July 14 nuclear agreement by encouraging international banks and European businesses to openly do business with the Islamic Republic. Such encouragement appears to be a difficult proposition if it does not involve some sort of meaningful linkage of the Iranian and American financial systems. Currently, US sanctions remain in place on Iran related to its human rights violations and support for terrorism. These prevent banks from carrying out transactions with Iran that involve the US dollar. It is understood that most international banks have been reluctant to resume any business with Iran for fear of opening themselves up to enforcement of these sanctions. This has been the subject of recurring talking points by Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in recent weeks. He has accused the US of violating the spirit of the nuclear agreement that traded relief from economic sanctions for constraints on Irans nuclear program. However, Khamenei has simultaneously spearheaded policies that many in the West similarly regard as violations of the spirit of the deal. These include accelerating the Iranian ballistic missile program and testing missiles that are capable of carrying a nuclear warhead. A UN Security Council resolution that accompanied the implementation of the nuclear deal called upon the Islamic Republic to avoid testing or other work on such missiles. Khameneis rhetoric regarding global banking transactions and his rhetoric regarding Iranian missiles seem at odds in the sense that the former demands support for the nuclear agreement whereas the latter appears to deliberately undermine it. However, the two positions seem much more consistent if one assumes that the supreme leaders focus is not on supporting or weakening the agreement, but rather on promoting tensions between the US and Iran. Since the Islamic Revolution and the hostage crisis at the American embassy in Tehran, the Iranian regime has consistently portrayed itself as a bulwark against Western influence in the Middle East, and a global leader of political Islam. Many analysts have observed the Khamenei and other hardliners likely regard the nuclear agreement as a necessary step toward economic recovery, but also as something that weakens the regimes closely held image. Many of the same analysts have observed that Khamenei appears to have taken a number of steps to counteract this latter effect, for instance by ordering his officials to not negotiate with the West over anything other than the nuclear deal after it was concluded. These policies have been accompanied by references to economic, political, and cultural infiltration of the Islamic Republic. Such warnings reflect the domestic politics that the International Campaign believes may be interfering with the Paymentwall plan to open up the Iranian market to more foreign transactions. It points out that in the event that the plan goes forward, various domestic entities, many of them affiliated with the government, will be forced to deal with a new form of competition that could wipe them out. Within this context, Zarifs contradictory claims may be sincere, indicating that regime officials and their affiliates in the private sector do not want free exchanges between the Iranian and American financial systems, but do want the economic effects of such exchanges. On one hand, Paymentwall may contribute to such a situation by presenting an alternative to the traditional international banking system. But on the other hand, it may allow Iranian citizens and independent businesses to undertake transactions with Western entities while bypassing the monopolies and government-affiliated businesses that would otherwise remain as the only commercial options. At least three such shipments were already intercepted in a recent two-month period, and more coordinated, multi-party patrols may make it easier to uncover more of the same. For its part, Iran denies that it is supplying arms to the Houthi rebels who are fighting against the government of Yemeni President Abed Rabu Mansour Hadi, who is an ally of Saudi Arabia and the United States. These denials do not seem to be taken seriously. Indeed, some observers maintain that Iranian forces have had a direct presence in Yemen for some time, or that they are effectively controlling the Houthi war effort. The extent of Irans influence in that conflict has helped to spur Saudi Arabia and some of its GCC allies to become directly involved in the conflict on Hadis side, in spite of efforts by the Obama administration to discourage a proxy war and promote reconciliation along the lines of what the administration has personally pursued with Iran. The apparent warming of relations between Iran and the US has only stoked Arab anxiety, however, and has contributed to a situation in which the Saudis and their allies are taking autonomous action to push back against Iran, thereby deepening the overall conflict. Relations between Sunni Saudi Arabia and Shiite Iran grew particular fraught after the Saudis executed a Shiite dissident cleric and the Iranians instigated a mob to sack and burn the Saudi embassy. Tentative hopes for reconciliation were dashed over the weekend when Iran declined to attend a summit regarding the possibility of an OPEC-led freeze on global oil production. Irans refusal to cooperate helped to justify Saudi efforts to scuttle the deal, thus pointing the way to even more conflict. Although Obamas discussions with the GCC continued to push for diplomatic solutions to regional difficulties, they also seemed to acknowledge the virtual inevitability of ongoing conflict. In fact, the administration has evidently responded to this by helping to further bolster the Arab states security capabilities. Iran has done its share to demonstrate the importance of such safeguards. Last Sunday the Iranian regime celebrated Army Day, during which military officers boasted of ongoing weapons development and readiness for war. Officials also expressed support for the Iranian ballistic missile program, developments to which defy a UN Security Council resolution governing the implementation of the Iran nuclear agreement. In March, Iran courted international scorn when it tested three such missiles, two of which bore the words Israel must be wiped out. Fox News reported on Thursday that Iran had further contributed to its defiance on this issue by firing a rocket that was intended to take a satellite into orbit. However, it fell short of its goal, arguably indicating the exaggeration that characterizes many Iranian military claims. Two candidates each are vying for the 68 remaining seats, and the AP indicates that 58 of those candidates are considered to be part of the reformist faction. The international media widely declared that this faction, affiliated with current President Hassan Rouhani and former President Ali Akbar Rafsanjani, had achieved a major victory in the national elections. But members of this faction have reportedly said that they still need 40 additional seats in order to have the upper hand over conservatives and principalists in the forthcoming legislative session. The National Council of Resistance of Iran and other staunch critics of the Iranian political and governmental systems dispute both of these points, claiming that Rouhani/Rafsanjani faction is reformist in name only and that even if it were not, the hardline Supreme Leader and Guardian Council would never allow reformist legislation to move forward anyway. Even in the midst of reports about widespread reformist victories, international media outlets acknowledged that the Guardian Council had used its vetting process to bar the vast majority of truly reformist candidates from even standing for election. In at least one case after the February elections, the council announced that it was nullifying the electoral victory of one female reformist parliamentary candidate. Nevertheless, some commentators, mainly located in the West, have maintained hope that the wide-ranging victories for this list could give Rouhani the political clout that he needs to implement the reforms that have eluded the Iranian population during his first three years in office. Others, however, especially the Iranian resistance, doubt that the implementation of genuine reform was ever on Rouhanis agenda, given his longstanding career as a regime insider. To the credit of his reformist image, Rouhani has placed himself at odds with Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and other hardliners in a variety of public statements. Tehrans chief of police recently announced that 7,000 undercover operatives would be looking for instances of improper veiling and other violations of supposed Islamic law and moral standards, and would report those violations to official morality police units. Asked about the plan by Iranian state media, Rouhani suggested that such monitoring disrespects the peoples dignity and personality, and that he would stand by promises to safeguard civic freedoms. The trouble with such remarks, for Rouhanis reformist detractors and his erstwhile supporters, is that they have not been backed up with action. Many pro-reform political groups, international human rights organizations, and other observers have repeatedly pointed out that with the exception of concluding nuclear negotiations with the West, Rouhani has failed to take recognizable, concrete steps to move forward with any of his liberal promises. Consequently, stories of human rights violations continue to emerge from the Islamic Republic on a regular basis, necessitating last months renewal of the mandate for the United Nations special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran. In addition to the UN Human Rights Council, various other international organizations are noticeably striving to keep focus on Irans human rights record under the Rouhani administration, which has presided over a 25-year high in the rate of executions, totaling to nearly 1,000 hangings in 2015 alone. Political imprisonment and the repression of dissent also remain as a prevalent focus of these international groups. Prominent among them is Amnesty International, which recently issued a statement decrying the Iranian regime once again for its treatment of imprisoned artist and human rights activist Atena Farghadani. After Farghadani was charged with a series of vague political crimes including gathering and colluding against national security, insulting members of parliament, and spreading propaganda, the judiciary threatened to separately charge her with non-adultery illegitimate relations because she had shaken hands with her male lawyer. Her initial arrest was based upon a single drawing which she posted to Facebook, depicting Iranian officials as animals as a protest against policies that restricted womens rights and access to birth control. She has been sentenced to 13 years in prison and has thus become one of several examples of the ongoing and arguably escalating repression under Rouhanis supposedly reformist government. Farghadanis case also illustrates that some of the clearest examples of this repression are directed against reformist political attitudes, through channels such as the Revolutionary Guard and the judiciary, which are independent of the elected government. With our billions in debt, Illinois is in trouble. Previous years have had troubles. This year the troubles have reached a heavier drama. Such troubles bring some to blame the governor, others the speaker of the house. It is seldom if ever we look at the problem as a constitutional, an accountability problem. The governor is accountable to all the voters of Illinois. Because his actions have statewide consequences, all of Illinois' voters should be able to hold him accountable, as we do. We have noticed that the House Speaker and the Senate President also have powers with statewide consequences. However, their accountability to Illinois voters is not statewide, only to a single district. This is a failure, a constitutional failure of accountability. What is needed is a constitutional provision to make their positions accountable to all the voters of Illinois, not just the voters in their districts. How would the needed amendment read? Every two years the voters of all of Illinois should grant or withhold permission for the incumbents' eligibility to retain the offices of Speaker and Senate President. Failure to receive voter permission should require them to resign from their district offices and to lose eligibility as lobbyists. After four years as Speaker and Senate President, a three fifths majority should be required for retaining office. Because these arrangements are lacking, Illinois voters are under-represented at the ballot box. Illinois does not have a representative republic. It is a victim of machine politics, a dictatorship masquerading as a representative republic. 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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 The following is a rundown of family activities for the week of April 22-28. Friday Earth Day Party -- 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Lincoln Children's Zoo. Regular admission. Lincoln Earth Day Celebration -- 10 a.m.-2 p.m., Union Plaza Park, 20th and P streets. Activities for children feature Curious George and live music. Food trucks, farmers market vendors and much more. Free. Earth Day pajama storytime -- with Corduroy the Bear, 7 p.m., Barnes & Noble, 5150 O St. Wear your pj's and bring camera for pictures. Saturday Bilingual English-Spanish storytime -- 10-11 a.m., Indigo Bridge Books, 701 P St. Super Saturday -- 10 a.m., Lincoln Children's Museum. Creature Feature: Nebraska Wildlife Rehab Inc. (presented by Runza). Regular admission. Lincoln Earth Day events -- 10 a.m.-2 p.m., Union Plaza, Jayne Snyder Trails Center, 21st and P streets; 2:30-5 p.m., First Presbyterian Church, east parking lot, 840 S. 17th St. Slam Poetry Writer's Workshop -- 10:30 a.m.-4 p.m., Eiseley Branch Library, 1530 Superior St. For ages 8-15. Morning session features performers from Doane College Speech Team, High School Slam Poets and offers four workshop sessions from the performers. Lunch will be provided. No registration required. Free. Where's the Party? storytime -- 11 a.m., SouthPointe Barnes & Noble Booksellers and Barnes & Noble, 5150 O St. Sunday Steam Sundays -- with American Institute of Chemical Engineers, 2-4 p.m., Lincoln Children's Museum, 1420 P St. Free with regular admission. "Peter and the Wolf" -- all-new production debut with the Omaha Symphony, 2 p.m., Holland Performing Arts Center, 1200 Douglas St., Omaha. New costumes and larger-than-life set pieces. Pre-concert activities at 1:15 p.m., include instrument petting zoo, make-and-take "Peter and the Wolf" crafts. $12/person. 402-345-0606 or omahasymphony.org. Monday Library storytimes -- Baby: 10 a.m., Gere; 10:35 a.m., Eiseley. Toddler: 10:30 a.m., Anderson. Library Family Storytime -- 4-5 p.m. Williams Branch: 6:30-7:30 p.m. South Branch. Evening children's storytime -- 6:30-7 p.m., Indigo Bridge Books, 701 P St. Free. Tuesday Play & Connect -- (formerly Tuesday Mom's Club), 9:30-11 a.m. Tuesdays during school year, Lincoln Children's Museum, 1420 P St. For parents and caregivers with children ages 5 and younger. Morning children's storytime -- 10-11 a.m., Indigo Bridge Books, 701 P St. Free. Library storytimes -- Toddler: 10:30 a.m., Bethany, Walt; 10 and 10:35 a.m., 6:30 p.m., Gere. Preschool: 10:30 a.m., Anderson, Gere, Walt; 7 p.m., Eiseley. Stand Up for Kids carnival -- 4-7 p.m., Child Advocacy Center, 5025 Garland St. Schedule: 4 p.m. free hot dog dinner, outdoor games, sexual abuse prevention and awareness sessions; 4:15 p.m. bom-circo! juggling; 4:45 p.m. Greater Lincoln Obedience Club agility dog show; 5:15 p.m. Academy of Rock; 6 p.m. speaker Jenna Quinn, prevention advocate; 6:50 p.m. prize drawings for kids/adults; 7 p.m. tour of Center. April is National Child Abuse Month. American Girl event -- featuring Grace, 6 p.m., Barnes & Noble, 5150 O St. For ages 8-12. Games, learn French phrases, led by special guest Miss Nebraskaearth Kaylee Carlberg. Free. Reservations required, 402-466-7122. Wednesday Library storytimes -- Baby: 10 a.m., Gere; Toddler: 10:30 a.m., Walt; 10:35 a.m., Eiseley, Gere. Preschool: 10:30 a.m., Anderson, Eiseley, South and Walt; 2 p.m., South. Thursday Library storytimes -- Baby: 10:30 a.m., Walt; 6:30 p.m., Gere. Toddler: 10 a.m., Gere; 10:35 a.m., Eiseley, Gere, South. Preschool: 10:30 a.m., Bennett Martin, Bethany, Eiseley, Gere. Shows and exhibits Planetarium astronomy shows -- "Big Bird's Adventure: One World One Sky," 11 a.m. Saturdays, 2 p.m. Sundays; "Firefall," noon Saturdays, 3 p.m. Sundays. Shows run through May 29. University of Nebraska State Museum of Natural History, Mueller Planetarium, Morrill Hall, south of 14th and Vine streets. 402-472-2641. Hyde Observatory shows -- 8-11 p.m. Saturdays, Hyde Observatory, Holmes Lake. Free. Reservations available for Monday-Thursday nights. 402-441-7094. Coming up Annual University Place Arts Festival -- for entire family, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. April 30, St. Paul Avenue, between 47th and 48th streets. Includes children's art activities, live music and dance. Free. Food available for purchase. Wild Adventure Day -- 10 a.m.-1 p.m. April 30, Pioneers Park Nature Center. Special presentations, crafts, games and more for all ages. Free. Healthy Kids Day -- 11 a.m.-2 p.m. April 30, Cooper YMCA, 6767 s. 14th St. Games, fishing, bounce house, obstacle course, safety demonstrations, healthy treats and more. One-mile Fun Run/Walk at 11:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. Free. Nebraska Renaissance Faire and Midlands Pirate Festival -- 11 a.m.-8 p.m. April 30; 10:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. May 1, River City Star/Miller's Landing, north of Lewis & Clark Visitors Center, 151 Freedom Park Road, Omaha. (new location). $12/adults ($18/two-day pass); $5/ages 7-15 and ages 6 and younger are free. Free parking. Activities information at nebfaire.com and site directions at RiverCityStar.com. Camp Sonshine Open House -- 2-6 p.m. April 30, 13440 S. 25th St., Roca. CampSonShineMemories.org or 402-423-8746. Youth Actors Academy of Lincoln day -- April 30, 5 p.m. cookie decorating stations with YAAL volunteers; 5:30 p.m. youth actors perform selections from upcoming show "Willy Wonka Jr.", SouthPointe Barnes & Noble. Register/tickets "Elephant & Piggie's We Are In a Play" -- 7 p.m. April 22; 2, 5 p.m. April 23; 2 p.m. April 24; 7 p.m. April 29; 2, 5 p.m. April 30; 2 p.m. May 1; 7 p.m. May 6; 2, 5 p.m. May 7; 2 p.m. May 8, Rose Theater, 2001 Farnam St. 402-345-4849. "Sesame Street Live: Make a New Friend" -- 6:30 p.m. April 26; 10:30 a.m., 6:30 p.m. April 27, Pinnacle Bank Arena. 402-904-4444, 800-515-2171 or arenalincoln.com. "Mary Poppins" -- Lincoln Southeast Performing Arts, 7:30 p.m. April 28-30; 2 p.m. May 1, Jennifer L. Dorsey-Howley Performing Arts Center, Lincoln Southeast High School, 2930 S. 37th St. All seats reserved. 402-436-1304. "Villain School" -- Acting Up youth production, 7:30 p.m. April 29-30; 2 p.m. May 1, Community Players Theatre, 412 Ella St., Beatrice. 402-228-1801. The Legislature adjourned for the year on Wednesday, following a 60-day session in which Gov. Pete Ricketts got his way on property taxes and the budget but lost a veto battle on letting the children of illegal workers get professional licenses. In all, the Legislature passed 216 bills, and another 66 by attaching amendments to those measures. A total of 446 bills were introduced during the session. Here's a look at how some major pieces of legislation fared: Passed and signed Highway funding Completion of Nebraska's planned 600-mile expressway system should accelerate following creation of a $450 million transportation infrastructure bank funded with gas tax revenue and money from the state's rainy day fund. LB960, sponsored by Sen. Jim Smith of Papillion, also allows the Roads Department to use different bidding processes and project management arrangements. Property tax Gov. Pete Ricketts got his wish: a package of bills that takes steps to address property taxation and local government spending. LB958 and LB959, sponsored by Revenue Committee Chairman Mike Gloor and Education Committee Chairwoman Kate Sullivan, boost property tax credits for farmers and ranchers by $20 million next year and increase state aid for some rural school districts. Budget Adjustments to the $8.7 billion budget sailed through the voting process once the heavy lifting was done by the governor's office and the Appropriations Committee. It addressed a $124 million shortfall and included a 3.5 percent growth in spending, an expansion of prison beds in Lincoln and levee protections for Offutt Air Force Base. Grand juries LB1055, introduced by Sen. Ernie Chambers, will bring more transparency to grand jury procedures called to investigate the death of any person while being apprehended or in custody. Civil forfeiture LB1106, introduced by Sen. Tommy Garrett, effectively will eliminate the process of civil forfeiture taking a person's cash or other belongings without proving a crime was involved in state-level courts, and make it more difficult for local agencies to use federal courts for forfeiture if a person isn't formally accused of wrongdoing. Wind energy Private wind energy developers won't have to apply with the Nebraska Power Review Board, which regulates the state's publicly owned utility industry, under LB824, sponsored by Sen. John McCollister. Supporters said the requirement hampered wind development in the state. Hog ownership Meatpacking companies can own their own hogs under LB176, sponsored by Sen. Ken Schilz. Supporters said the change will make Nebraska's pork industry more competitive, but opponents argued it will force smaller pig farmers out of business. Problem solving courts LB919, sponsored by Sen. Matt Williams, will expand the use of courts including specialty courts for veterans, people with mental illness, people arrested for drunk driving and others. The programs would use interventions, including assisting treatment with medications. Passed over governor's veto Young immigrants' worker licenses LB947 will allow youth who have been granted lawful presence in the United States by the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals to get licenses to work in the state. Senators overrode a Ricketts veto, 31-13. Back to drawing board Medicaid expansion The annual effort to acquire federal Medicaid dollars available under the Affordable Care Act with a new health care reform proposal (LB1032) that would provide coverage for the working poor and other Nebraskans with unmet needs was shelved at the first stage of floor consideration. Workplace discrimination LB586 would have prohibited an employer, employment agency or labor organization from discriminating against a person based on sexual orientation or gender identity. Said Lincoln Sen. Adam Morfeld, who introduced the bill: This conversation will not go away. In fact, its just begun." Food stamps LB910 would have allowed food stamps for certain felons convicted of drug crimes. Sponsor Morfeld rebuffed attempts to require drug treatment or testing. He said the disallowance of food stamps is a problem he will address next year and the year after if need be. Winner-take-all LB10 would have restored allocation of all five Nebraska presidential electoral votes to candidate who wins statewide. Sen. Beau McCoy, who introduced the bill but will be gone next session because of term limits, said the proposal is not going to go away. Medical cannabis The allowance of medical cannabis for certain conditions and illnesses could come back in the form of a bill or could end up going to a vote of the people after an initiative petition drive by supporters. Sen. Tommy Garrett's LB643 died this session because of a filibuster. Motorcycle helmets Although the sponsor of LB900 Sen. Dave Bloomfield will not be back next session because of term limits, this bill to repeal the requirement for riders to wear motorcycle helmets seems to always find a willing supporter. And Bloomfield has said he might show up at the Capitol to personally lobby for it. Killed Redistricting reform LB580would have created an independent citizens commission to draw proposed maps defining a number of governing districts, including politically charged congressional and legislative districts. It was vetoed and Sen. John Murante decided not to ask senators to override the veto. Vaccine Meningitis vaccine would have been required for Nebraska students. LB18, sponsored by Sen. Bob Krist, was killed as the result of a filibuster. Police chase Liability for police chase injuries of passengers would have been lessened for cities and counties. Sen. Dan Watermeier's LB188 was killed as the result of a filibuster. Limit cities' firearms restrictions Sen. Laura Ebke's LB289 would have eliminated cities' abilities to restrict firearms beyond state law. A filibuster killed the bill. Poker Sen. Tyson Larson attempted to define poker as a game of skill and license it. LB619 died because of a filibuster. Medicaid recovery An attempt to thwart the practice of shifting real estate to heirs, then using Medicaid for long-term care, was killed after a filibuster. LB1103 was sponsored by Sen. Paul Schumacher. 18-year-olds The majority of senators appeared not to like Sen. Tyson Larson's idea to allow the people to change the Nebraska Constitution to permit 18-year-olds to be candidates for governor and run for other public office and killed LR26CA by filibuster. Cigarette taxes Sen. Mike Gloor will leave the Legislature without accomplishing his goal of raising cigarette taxes. His latest attempt, LB1013, failed in committee despite targeting most of its $120 million in estimated revenue at cutting people's property tax bills. Longtime Nebraska pro-life leader Greg Schleppenbach is the new associate director of the Secretariat of Pro-Life Activities to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in Washington, D.C. Schleppenbach, 52, will replace Richard Doerflinger, who is retiring after 36 years with the USCCB. Schleppenbach, executive director of the Nebraska Catholic Conference, was selected following a nationwide search. He has served the Nebraska Catholic Conference for more than 25 years -- 23 as the pro-life director, and the past two as executive director. As the state conferences pro-life director, he engaged in extensive speaking, writing and lobbying on a wide range of matters, especially abortion, stem cell research and end-of-life issues. As executive director he was in charge of the overall operation of the Nebraska Catholic Conference, overseeing public policy lobbying activities and educating Catholics on public policy matters in relation to church teaching. Greg Schleppenbach has been a respected friend and colleague for many years, Doerflinger said. He thoroughly understands the churchs pro-life witness, and has always found new ways to bring people together in support of life. I will keep working on these issues in retirement, but am delighted to leave this particular job in very capable hands. Schleppenbachs appointment was praised by Nebraskas Catholic bishops. Greg is a friend, a wise collaborator, and a trusted adviser, said Bishop James Conley of the Lincoln diocese. In Nebraska, hes supported the unborn child, the poor, the family, the immigrant, the prisoner, and the forgotten. He is a man of the Gospel, and I know hell serve the church in the United States with integrity, courage, and mercy." Archbishop George Lucas of Omaha said: Greg Schleppenbach has done so much to proclaim the gospel of life and to build up the common good here in Nebraska. He will be a great asset to the work of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. We wish him well, even as we will miss his leadership and collaboration. Born and raised in Pierce, Schleppenbach grew up working on pro-life causes. He was just 9 years old when the U.S. Supreme Court legalized abortion in 1973. His mom immediately got involved in the pro-life movement and started the pro-life chapter in Pierce County. I grew up with the pro-life cause in my house, and a passionate advocate with my mom, Schleppenbach said. As a student at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, he was active with Students for Life. In 1991, he applied for and received the brand new full-time position of director of pro-life with the Nebraska Catholic Conference. Through his work, he has visited Washington, D.C., numerous times, and in fact, that's where he met his wife, Jacqueline. The couple married two years ago, and have been very involved pro-life work and service to the church. Schleppenbach begins his full-time post at the USCCB on May 16. He admits he will have big shoes to fill. Doerflinger joined the USCCB in 1980 and has served as legislative assistant, assistant director, associate director for policy development, and, since 2008, as overall associate director of the Pro-Life Activities. He coordinated the U.S. bishops efforts on health care conscience rights, physician-assisted suicide, human cloning, stem cell research and other challenges in bioethics. In 2011, he was appointed to the Vaticans Pontifical Academy for Life. He also serves as a public policy fellow at the University of Notre Dame's Center for Ethics and Culture and at the National Catholic Bioethics Center. Its humbling to succeed a pro-life giant like Richard Doerflinger, Schleppenbach said. But I come to this position with confidence in Gods amazing grace and a heart filled with passion for His precious gift of human life. I am grateful for the honor of serving the bishops of Nebraska for so many years and am equally grateful for this opportunity to now serve the bishops of the United States. A 22-year-old Virginia man will serve four years of probation and 12 weekends in jail for his part in a $1 million cocaine bust in 2014. Freddy Hernandez Jr., of Danville, was on a cross-country trip with his aunt when she was stopped for speeding on Interstate 80 north of Pleasant Dale by the Nebraska State Patrol on June 21, 2014. Hernandez denied knowing about the 58.6 pounds of cocaine found in duct-taped packages hidden in the Ford Expedition's rear quarter panels and under the carpet in the backseat. He said he was in total shock when he was arrested and the reality only hit him when he was in jail and someone pointed to a mugshot of him on the news. Assistant U.S. Attorney Bruce Gillan stopped short of saying Hernandez knew exactly what was going on, but U.S. District Judge John Gerrard said Friday that the evidence suggested that "at a minimum, you knew something fishy was going on." Federal Public Defender Jessica Milburn said there were a lot of things Hernandez should have questioned along the way, but he didn't because he trusted his aunt, who, he said, talked him into going along on the trip. Milburn argued for the judge to vary from the prison sentence the prosecutor was seeking, in part because Hernandez has excelled in treatment and never had been in trouble before this. Hernandez pleaded guilty to misprision of a felony, or knowing a crime was taking place and attempting to conceal it. He'll serve the 12 weekends in jail consecutively. His aunt, Sonia Hernandez, 41, of Norwalk, California, is awaiting trial. Students at Nebraska Wesleyan University have solved dozens of crimes staged in a small house on Huntington Avenue. While the school's Crime Scene House used by hundreds of NWU forensic science students since 2001 will remain a training site for law enforcement, the courses offered to students at the liberal arts college will be put on hold. NWU will pause its Master of Forensic Science program when all of its current students -- about 55 remain -- graduate within the next two years. Provost Judy Muyskens said while the program remains popular, and while NWU will continue to offer it as a minor, forensic science as an area of study has evolved from the behavioral to physical sciences. From criminal profiling to DNA analysis, where evidence that is analyzed in the lab carries more weight than what a psychological profile says about a suspected criminal. With that evolution, the Forensic Science Education Programs Accreditation Commission, or FEPAC, organized in 2010 to align instruction at the college level to what was taking place in forensic science labs across the country. NWU held a spot on that list until 2015, when a FEPAC review of the program determined that its physical science track was not meeting the commission's ever-rising standards. The flavor of our program did not match the direction FEPAC was going, said associate professor Jodi Ryter, the forensic science programs director. You needed to be a bigger institution with a deeper pocket to be able to cultivate that kind of culture on campus. For example, the instruments used by forensic scientists to amplify DNA sequences or detect the presence of drugs, and other multi-million dollar pieces of equipment -- things that just arent in Wesleyans budget. Nancy Jackson, the director of development and accreditation for FEPAC, said it can be difficult for smaller liberal arts colleges to keep up. Not only will you need the faculty and curriculum, youll also need the laboratory space and equipment, Jackson said. That can be a problem for institutions not fully in support of this program. That isnt to say all small liberal arts colleges are doing away with their forensic science programs. Cedar Crest College, which enrolls 1,300 students in Allentown, Pennsylvania, offers one of the top fully accredited forensic science programs in the country. They have university support -- thats critical, Jackson said. Few universities across the country offer forensic science programs, to boot. Jackson said FEPAC reviews 48 undergraduate and graduate programs across the country, including an undergraduate program at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. In moving away from its graduate program, NWU sees a different future for its forensic science education. Once its forensic science masters programs are shuttered, NWU plans to shift resources into an undergraduate certificate program for students in chemistry or biology, with a goal of exposing students to forensic science, both in the classroom and at the Crime Scene House. That would help students differentiate whats real from whats on television, Ryter said, and give them an idea if its a career they wish to pursue. There is no timeline for when the new program might begin, but Ryter said the proposal has the support of NWUs chemistry faculty as well as the administration. The choice to pause the masters program has put some students in a difficult situation, however. Emily Andera, who chose NWU over 13 other schools because of its accelerated program granting qualified students early entry into the masters program, said she was disheartened to learn she will not be able to finish her degree in Lincoln. Only those already in the master's program will be able to complete their degree. Ive spent the last three years building my education, but now Ill leave without finishing what I came here for, said Andera, a junior biology major from Chandler, Arizona. Students like Andera, who wants to work in evidence collection for the FBI, have been directed to work with their academic advisers to find other opportunities to pursue -- either at NWU or at other institutions. Muyskens said NWUs shift toward a certificate will fall more in line with the universitys mission. We are a liberal arts institution and that will always be our core, Muyskens said. There are fields that evolve and change and move with the times. We want to be the best at what we do, thats what it comes down to. Librarian Jane Holt didnt hire Helen Cooper to decorate the library display windows at East High and had absolutely no idea what she could do with a needle, thread and a couple of old books. She hired the library technician for her wide range of experience, which extends from editing copy for tabloids in the Big Apple to teaching Bronx high school students in the countrys poorest school district. The display case thing was a bonus, and the creation that appeared there this month -- an ode to prom and spring and end-of-the-school-year landmarks -- was the icing on top. That was a hidden talent that emerged quickly, said Holt, who said her own creativity doesnt extend to display cases but that she recognizes talent when she sees it. I know enough to get out of the way. So she did, and Cooper started making library magic. A Lincoln High graduate who left for New York City after earning English and history degrees from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Cooper spent her first years out of college feeding a love of celebrity gossip as a copy editor for tabloids including OK! Other publications were smaller, which meant Cooper was also a fact-checker and graphic designer. Eventually, she turned to teaching, getting certification through a program in New York similar to federal programs that certify college graduates to teach in high-poverty areas. There are only so many Kim Kardashian pregnancy stories you can do until you start thinking, How much good am I putting into the world?' Cooper said. So she taught high school in the Bronx and she loved it, but it was all-consuming, days filled not just with teaching and grading papers and planning projects, but picking up students to make sure they got to school and hours of texting and emailing and talking to parents. When she and her husband started thinking of having a child, she knew she couldnt keep up the pace. They moved to California, where he worked in film. After Ruby was born, they came home. Cooper started work in the East High library this fall, and in addition to staffing the desk, writing a newsletter and working with students, she turned her attention to the display case. She had an affinity for the work, that graphic design experience bubbling to the surface along with a talent for figuring out how to use the small glassed-in space to capture the imagination of students walking the halls -- not just the library regulars. Black construction paper covered the glass during banned book week, with signs saying, Dont look! Dont look! and peep holes that enticed students to do it anyway. When they did, they saw a space filled with colorful banned book covers. A display of stories from around the world featured a giant map and stickers for students to show where they were born or the place they most want to visit, a visual representation of East Highs story. Another, featuring gift-wrapped books with clues one might see on a dating site -- Love mystery! History buff and nature lover -- was accompanied by a Buzz Feed quiz to help students pick their blind dates. Libraries are for everyone, Cooper said. (The displays) are an attempt to get everyone in school to participate. Fun stuff like that pulls in a larger audience. So, when Holt suggested she come up with something to sum up the end of the year, Coopers mind landed on prom and conjured images of prom dresses. And images of prom dresses reminded her of gowns shed seen online made out of book pages. I thought to myself, maybe I could try to do that, she said. She went to the shelf where books go when they havent been checked out in ages. She found a small one on John Jacques Rousseau and the French Revolution and a larger one about Shakespeares world. She took them, at Holts suggestion, down the hall to Jeff McCabes woodworking class and asked if theyd be willing to use their cool woodworking saws to cut the spines off the tired old books. Then she took 200-some pages with nice, smooth edges back to the library and started folding. She folded pages into fans that would become a skirt and train, and small geometric shapes to frame the bodice. She found an old bolt of fabric in a back room and made a skirt and a bodice and sewed every one of those pages onto that fabric. A teacher gave her a mannequin that once modeled Victoria's Secret clothes and slipped her into a designer gown adorned with the written word. Several students, mostly the teaching assistants working in the library, helped her fold. Others asked about the buckets full of folded paper and watched as Cooper transformed them into a fashion statement. Now, some want to wear it to prom. That probably wont happen, but Cooper likes that the dress can draw students in, and that those old books have new purpose. They have a second life, she said. Abbey Parodi recalls being asked the question that confounds all second-graders: What do you want to be when you grow up? I would always tell them The winner of Project Runway, she said. Now, more than a decade later, Parodi is taking a step toward her dream. A senior textiles, merchandising and fashion design major at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Parodi was one of 15 students to showcase clothing designs during the 2016 Biennial Student Runway Show Friday at the Nebraska Union. Molly McPherson, show director, said the show is the Department of Textiles Merchandising and Fashion Designs biggest event of the year. This years theme was Elements. Students were instructed to create pieces inspired by earth, air, fire and water, and some needed to be crafted from recycled materials. McPherson said the students spent the academic year making garments before submitting them to a jury. This year, she said, 120 garments were selected for the show. We really want to give students the opportunity to show their work, she said. And its really an experience to work collaboratively. To replicate major runways such as those in New York and Los Angeles, fashion design students worked with students in the Department of Nutrition and Health Sciences, the Johnny Carson School of Theater, Glenn Korff School of Music and Department of Agronomy and Horticulture, to improve lighting and stage management, music, flower arrangements and food for the reception. Parodi was one of seven students to feature a three-piece collection in the show. Although each collection had a different theme, Parodi said, they were woven together to tell one story. Some pieces were soft and elegant, while others were daring and dramatic, she said. Its nice being able to tell a story thats more than just saying, Oh, its a pretty dress, she said. Parodis collection was evening wear inspired by an "evil queen character." Theyre versatile pieces you can mix and match, but theyre also something dark, edgy and different, she said. Theyre a little bit on the costume side. Other collections, such as Megan Foutchs 1930s lingerie theme, used historical elements. A fan of history, Foutch said 30s fashion doesnt often receive the credit it deserves. Its (during the) Great Depression, and people think its not really huge for fashion, but if you look closely, it was, she said. Its a lot of lace, a lot of see-thru and very romantic. It features a light pink flowery print and a lot of ruffles. My models have an all-white face, a nude lip and they all have blond hair thats slicked back into a ponytail -- but a messy ponytail to give that lingerie look. McPherson said while the Student Runway Show provides students with real-world experience, its also effective tool to recruit new fashion design students. Nobody expects us (Nebraskans) to produce such high-quality work, she said. Theres a lot of creativity here that you might not see in New York or LA because its so competitive. She said students will walk away from the show exceptionally prepared for their future in the fashion industry. Some already have a head start. Foutch will move to California after she graduates to take an assistant designer position. But, she said, eventually having her own line of clothing is the dream. It would be cool to be famous, but I just want to be successful with myself and have my clothes be on people, she said. I want to see people purchase them and love them and know that they were my designs. "It's very close to my heart because I was down there, and I watched our police and our firemen down at 7-Eleven, down at the World Trade Center right after it came down, and I saw the greatest people I've ever seen in action." -- Donald Trump, April 18 May 1, 2017 Remarks by the President The White House President Trump: I want to welcome all of my Cabinet secretaries here for this meeting. We have completed our first 100 days in office and already we have made America Great Again. Amazing! The best! I know everybody took a Big Gulp when I changed 9/11 to 7-Eleven last year. They thought I was a stupid person. A loser! Erin Gloria Ryan of Vocativ said I would start talking about the Japanese bombing of Pearl Jam and the Native Americans' Trail of Sears. Other terrible people -- the worst! -- thought I would refer to the eBay of Pigs, the Normandy landing on DQ Day, the Dodge Challenger disaster, Black & Decker Tuesday of 1929, the 1906 San FranCisco Systems Fire and the 1814 burning of the White Castle by the British. Wrong! Turning 9/11 into 7-Eleven was the beginning of something huge. Phenomenal! The people at 7-Eleven -- great retailer, decent coffee, convenient! -- loved it. Loved it! They said to me: Mr. Trump, if you could mention us and other corporations more often at unexpected moments, we think it would really help to Make America Great Again. And I said: We will do even better. We will Make America Great Again by selling some of our greatest assets to you and to America's other great corporations. We are meeting here in the MapQuest Room of the Trump National White House because our new Crate & Barrel Cabinet Room is being refurnished. Next we'll have a drink in the Johnnie Walker Blue Room, and we'll eat in the Allstate Dining Room. Look out the window there and you'll see amazing billboards going up on the Washington Mutual Monument, across the reflecting pool from the Lincoln Financial Group Memorial. In the distance you'll see the white dome of Capital One, the Tide Basin and Boeing National Airport. Huge! Jeff Sessions, our phenomenal secretary of Homeland Depot Security -- great guy! -- tells me Mexico has already paid for the wall. It's now the Aeromexico Wall -- "because the only way around it is over it!" Great slogan! We are making only the best deals, throughout the Federal Express government and across the entire United States of American Eagle Outfitters. They said I couldn't unify the Republican Party. But then I renamed the Navy the Ted Cruz Line. They said I couldn't hold on to the evangelical Christians. But then I renamed the Liberty University Bell and Niagara Falwells. Most of all, they said I couldn't get rid of the entire federal debt -- $19 trillion! -- in one year. They said I was stupid -- a loser! But I traveled this land, from the Redwood Inn forest to the Gulfstream G650, and knew that everybody wanted to buy American! So I sold the Treasury Department to Citigroup, the Pentagon to Lockheed Martin, the Food and Drug Administration to Pfizer, HHS to CVS, the EPA to Waste Management, the FBI to Apple, the NSA to Google and the Grand Canyon to GMC. Great deals! China gave up all $1.3 trillion of our debt -- and all I had to give them was the Walt Disney Company. Phenomenal deal! Now we are placing corporations' names in amazing places -- the greatest -- and we are winning, winning, winning, and we are making a lot of money. A lot. We are bringing out the best in America, the fast and convenient spirit of 7-Eleven, and I say: Oh, thank heaven. We are Making America Great Again. [APPLAUSE] Gov. Pete Ricketts veto on Monday of a landmark redistricting reform plan was a cynical display of raw partisanship and a perfect illustration of why so many people, here in Nebraska and across the country, have given up on our political system. LB 580 was a carefully-crafted, bipartisan effort to do one of democracys vital but unglamorous jobs in a sensible way. At the beginning of each decade, it would have created a nine-member, bipartisan commission to propose adjustments to the boundaries between congressional and state legislative districts and several other governmental units. The bill passed with 29 votes, 17 from Republicans and 12 from Democrats. It would have brought an obscure process into the open, with public hearings on the commissions proposed maps, extensive reporting of the commissions activities, and public disclosure of the commissioners financial interests. It would have barred commission membership by elected officials, the people with the most at stake in the redistricting process, and would have required the commission to draw districts without regard to how they might help or hurt a particular party or candidate. The idea was to squeeze out at least a bit of the partisanship that has always infected redistricting and with the advent of modern vote tracking software has allowed the majority party in each state to draw almost invulnerable districts. This 21st Century gerrymandering has helped incumbents hold their seats at record high levels, even as public respect for Congress and state legislatures drops to record lows. Gov. Ricketts overlooked or distorted almost every feature of LB 580 in a two-page letter to members of the Unicameral explaining his veto. None of his objections come close to surviving even minimal scrutiny. The governor said the commission could be hyper-partisan and would likely be composed of former political party activists and former elected officials. In fact, LB 580 expressly ordered the commission do to its work without regard to its partisan impact, and instead to draw fair and impartial maps. The governor argued that with five members from the majority party and four from the minority, the commission would be outside the sprit and tradition of our non-partisan Unicameral Legislature. But if the 2011 redistricting process is any guide, this is perhaps the legislatures most partisan work. And that fact wasnt overlooked during debate; Senators Campell, Krist, and Murante all addressed the toxicity of in-house redistricting to the Unicamerals non-partisan status. LB 580 would decrease the partisanship, not increase it. The governor said LB 580 would give the commission nearly all of the actual aspects of redistricting authority. In fact, the commission would hold power only to propose district lines; the legislature would be free to accept or reject its recommendations. Through the Executive Board, the Unicameral would also establish substantive and procedural guidelines for the commissions work. The governor complained that the commissions recommendations would not be subject to a formal public hearing by a legislative committee. LB 580 actually requires the commission to conduct at least four public hearings on its draft maps, with testimony from those hearings being reported back to the legislature. Finally, the governor said LB 580 would give the commission power that is solely conferred upon the Legislature by the Constitution. Again, the commission would be able only to make proposals; the Unicameral would retain exclusive power to alter district lines. The ultimate authority on the constitutionality of such plans, the U.S. Supreme Court, ruled in an Arizona case last year that states can transfer actual responsibility for redistricting not just advisory power -- to independent panels. The inescapable conclusion in all this is that Gov. Ricketts is determined to protect the status quo on redistricting, a scheme that may serve his interests but stifles political competition that could make elected officials in both parties more representative of the people theyre sworn to serve. Sen. John Murante of Gretna, a Republican who bucked political self-interest by working across party lines to draft LB 580 and round up critical votes in the Unicameral, should bring it back in 2017. Those who regularly used S. 56th Street from Old Cheney to Shadow Pines know that the street has needed major improvements for some time. We were all glad to see construction begin a year ago, and we are all looking forward to its completion. We appreciate the publics patience as we make important improvements to our infrastructure City-wide. As another construction season begins, its important for us to make sure the public has the facts on all our construction projects. The following are significant features of the S. 56th Street project you should know. The work on S. 56th Street to upgrade it to from basically a rural road is not a simple street project. In addition to widening the street from two to four lanes, it includes the construction of a new bridge; upgraded water, sewer and stormwater infrastructure; additional soil work to provide a stable pavement base; multiple retaining walls; a noise wall; additional turn lanes; and a new sidewalk and trail. These items were coordinated into phases to enable water service and vehicle access during construction. Because winter construction is severely limited in Nebraska, a project of this size and scope normally takes two construction seasons to complete. Completion was always projected to be in June 2016. We are currently on pace to open one lane in each direction by mid-May. Additional work would be completed by the end of June. The original plan was to have the bridge completed by mid-November 2015, allowing one lane to be opened in each direction. Construction that crosses waterways, however, is very dependent on the weather. Unfortunately, significant and frequent rains delayed the project by almost two months last year. Bridge construction requires the creation of an entirely separate water channel to divert the stream and keep the work area under the bridge dry. Rains overtopped the diversion channel multiple times, leaving the work site flooded with up to 15 feet of water about 12 times last year. This explanation is fact not suspect as stated in a recent Journal Star article. As soon as it became apparent that we could not open the lanes in November, we met with area business and residents to explain the delay. While construction is an understandable inconvenience to nearby businesses and homes, our engineers and private contractors made sure access to and from those locations would be open at all times. A separate rehabilitation project on Old Cheney in 2017 will require the closure of the 56th and Old Cheney intersection for no more than 20 days. This project can be compared to the closure of 27th and O streets last summer, a project that took just 18 days. The fact is that working on this project at night would not allow for lanes to be open during the day, because the new concrete needs time to cure before it traffic can drive on it. Working at night is also inefficient for the contractors and would lengthen the completion time. Again, access to all businesses and residences in the area will remain open from both Old Cheney and 56th via a temporary break in the median north of Old Cheney. We must continually improve our streets to support Lincolns growth, and that means repair and construction across the community. Its a team effort. City engineers and planners develop designs and schedules that accomplish the goal with a minimum of disruption. Private contractors work hard to complete high-quality construction on time. Drivers assist by slowing down in work zones and using detours. Residents and businesses tell us their needs and exercise patience. The result is infrastructure that improves everyones lives and livelihoods. With your help, we are proud to fulfill our mission: getting you and your family where you need to go safely and conveniently. In ways both big and small, the machinery of the federal government is slowly rusting shut. Take, for starters, the judicial system. The most glaring example is the refusal of the Republican majority in the Senate, including Sens. Deb Fischer and Ben Sasse, to have a hearing or vote on President Barrack Obamas appointment of federal Judge Merrick Garland to the U.S. Supreme Court. But the rust goes a lot deeper into the system. Obamas appointment of Omaha attorney Robert Rossiter to Nebraskas federal District Court has been pending since June. Its not just the fault of the Republicans. Fischer and then-Sen. Mike Johanns recommended Rossiter back in August 2014. It took that long for Obama to finally nominate him. The Nebraska vacancy, created when U.S. District Judge Joseph Bataillon of Omaha announced his retirement, qualifies as a judicial emergency. According to the definition used by the federal court system, an emergency exists whenever a judgeship has gone unfilled for more than 18 months in a district with a high caseload. There are almost a hundred judicial vacancies on lower federal courts. The Senate has confirmed only six federal judges this year. Theres nothing controversial about Rossiters appointment. Its just that Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, chair of the Senates Judiciary Committee and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell will not allow the Senate to act. Grassley pointed out that the Senate confirmed only 326 of President George W. Bushs nominees. It has confirmed 324 of President Obamas nominees. Thats symptomatic of the problem. The two major political parties have gradually ratcheted up the dysfunction until the system operates only sporadically. In an open letter to Sens. Ben Sasse and Deb Fischer published in the Journal Star last week 25 members of the Law College at the University of Nebraska urged confirmation hearings and a vote on Judge Garland, noting that Republican senators in past years have cited Judge Garland as an example of a nominee they could support. If the Senate refuses to act, the Court would likely operate with only eight justices for at least a year and quite possibly much longer, the professors wrote. They noted that operating with only eight justices means the court will leave important issues unsettled. The same scenario applies to Rossiter. If the Senate fails to act on his nomination during the current system of Congress, the whole process would restart next year when there is a new president in the White House. Earlier this year U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts said that that confirmation process is not functioning very well, noting that votes to confirm the last three members of the high court were along party lines. That suggests to me that the process is being used for something other than ensuring the qualifications of the nominees, Robert said. Every year the rust works deeper. Every year gets harder to start the machinery. The April 20 Journal Star article " March set a heat record -- the 11th month in a row " started out by saying,"The Earth is warming so fast that it's surprising even the climate scientists who predicted this was coming." The article goes on to spell out other aspects of the unprecedented warming. Gavin Schmidt, director of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies, has already predicted that 2016 will set a new annual record. If these scientists are startled by the temperature findings, why should we feel any different? Do we then respond, "Oh well, I can't do anything about it? That would be a huge mistake. Citizens Climate Lobby writes to our members of Congress and Senate encouraging a political atmosphere of positive climate action. We specifically advocate for a steadily increasing tax on carbon with the funds rebated to the public. We all need to work for a pleasantly habitable world. SCOTTSBLUFF Police say they suspect foul play in the death of a western Nebraska man and that the man's brother has been arrested. Scottsbluff Police Chief Kevin Spencer said officers were called to a home late Friday afternoon, where they found Christopher Reed dead. Spencer says the man's brother has been arrested, but did not say what the suspected charges against the brother are. Police have not said how Spencer died, but Spencer says investigators believe his death was a homicide. Police did release other details about the death or arrest. ___ GRAND ISLAND Authorities say one person has been killed and two people have been treated at a hospital after a fire at a plumbing company bu Editors note: In addition to operating the Duncan Family Trust, Connie Duncan serves on the following boards: Lincoln Public Schools Board of Education, Boys and Girls Club Board of Advisors, Foundation for Lincoln Public Schools, Lincoln Community Foundation, Nebraska Children and Families, Lutheran Family Services, United Way Board of Directors (this year she and husband Todd are chairing the United Way Campaign) and the Nebraska Association of School Boards. Who has inspired you? I watched my mother be a teacher my entire life, and it inspired me to devote my life to children. All summer, she would prepare for the next school year. She would make the most elaborate bulletin boards, and we would all cut out things for her creation. She would read books and make up lesson plans that were amazing. She would write plays, make art lessons and create her own worksheets. Our entire house was one lesson plan after another. She loved being a teacher and inspiring all of her students. Her dedication to teaching and affection for her students was so inspiring. I used to copy her when I was in elementary school and have my sisters sit in desks, and I would be their teacher. I would make worksheets for them and give them recess. Whom do you hope to inspire? I hope to inspire all children in our community to want to follow their dreams and be whom they want to be. A job should not be just a job. You should love what you do every day and be proud of what you do. Everyone has great potential. With self-confidence and a little effort, anything can happen. What does leadership mean to you? To lead, you must lead by example. Leaders must have compassion and not think of themselves, but most important, those around them. Leaders must lead with their actions. They must be engaged, have a good work ethic, be focused, positive and willing to change. What is your favorite quote or motto? Be the change you wish to see in the world. Gandhi This has always been my favorite quote. When my son went away to college, I walked into his dorm room and he had a poster with the same quote. It melted my heart! How would you describe a great day at work? I wear so many hats during a day. The best way to start my day is with a visit to one of our public schools. You can learn so much by just watching and listening. I like to spend the rest of the day volunteering in the community. I meet with many non-profits to talk about their needs, and then to see if our company can help them with volunteers from our Soar to Serve group, or perhaps we can support a program for children. Around 4 p.m., I like to spend time at the Boys and Girls Club. The excitement and energy of the students just makes me want to do more. The best part of my day is making dinner for my family. I am an old-fashioned wife. I enjoy cooking a good meal and having Todd and the boys at the table just talking about life. Whats the best advice youve ever received, and who gave it to you? My mother gave me some advice the day I got married. You are going to have the most amazing life. You should be proud of being Todds wife, but be more and give more. Great advice. These are the words that convinced me to become a special education teacher and a volunteer in our community. Whats the highlight of your career (so far)? I worked at Southeast Community College on the Learn to Dream Scholarship for five years. This is a scholarship for students on free and reduced lunch that can attend SCC free for 45 credits. Because of this scholarship, I had many students that have been able to change their lives as well as their families lives. A student called me a few months ago and said, Hey Duncan, I had an interview today at a great company in town and I got the job. I would be a part of their engineering team. I asked him what company. He said, The best one in town, Duncan Aviation. I, of course, cried, and said, You should have told me or used me as a reference. He replied, I wanted to do it on my own. This student was the first in his family to have more than a sixth-grade education. When a student of mine has changed their life and their families lives, it is the best day of my career. How have you changed over the course of your career? I started my career as a special education teacher for Lincoln Public Schools. I taught for LPS for 17 years and then worked for SCC for its Learn to Dream Scholarship. I loved every minute of working with students. One day, the smartest man I know, my husband, posed a question. He asked, What could you do that would affect more children? Together, we realized that running for school board would be the next step. Now, as a member of the LPS Board of Education, I am helping to make policy that affects 40,000 children. My career has not changed its focus of helping children, but it has broadened its reach. I also run our familys and companys foundation. Our mission is very much devoted to children. I have always believed in giving back and supporting our community. I spend a great deal of time meeting with nonprofits and taking tours so I can really understand their mission and how it affects our community. It is very important to our family and company that we take care of our community. For a store observing its 83rd anniversary, Leons Gourmet Grocer certainly doesnt act its age. If the vision of a store thats been around since 1933 conjures up thoughts of a 20th century business plan and a predictable inventory thats limited to the staples, youve never been to the neighborhood store at 2200 Winthrop Road. If you find yourself immersed in a conversation with foodies who are raving about the latest taste sensations like Rufus Teague BBQ Sauce and Divino Gelato (a handcrafted, fruit-filled gelato imported from Italy), chances are youre talking with loyal customers of Leons Gourmet Grocer. Thanks to the stores passion for providing the very latest in gourmet goodies before most stores have even heard about them, Leons customers have the inside track on whats cookin' on the culinary scene. Partners go to shows The folks at Leons love great food just as much as you do, so their store partners frequently go to food shows in search of the next big discovery, hoping that what pleases their palate at the food shows will also please yours. Store partner Chad Winters and store manager/partner Topher Vorhies attend five food shows each year. They sample a variety of foods and select those they feel may have widespread appeal among their fellow foodies who shop at Leons. Beyond the food buyers shows held throughout the country, we attend what they call the Fancy Food Show, usually held in New York City, said Vorhies. Its the innovation show for small companies it allows us to buy directly from the supplier, until they get a bigger distributor that we can go through, said Vorhies, whose 17-year career at Leons began in high school. With the store partners discovering the delicacies at the food shows, Leons shoppers have been able to experience the latest trends -- at the same time their friends are merely reading about them in food magazines. For example, we were carrying gelato long before it became big everywhere else, Vorhies noted. Attending food shows has also given us ideas on how to most effectively display the products we sample. Samplefest Thats a perfect segue to one of the stores biggest annual promotions: Samplefest, with over 15 booths featuring some of the top products to burst on the scene, is 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday (April 23). KFOR Radio will stop by for a live broadcast from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Its not surprising that a locally-owned store like Leons is big on supporting local enterprises like Crazy Gringa Hot Sauce from Omaha and a variety of hot beverages from Lincolns own The Mill. Samplefest products will even spill over into the Beer Cave, where the home-grown Empyrean Brewing Co. will celebrate its 25th year with samples of some of their latest craft beer, said Vorhies, an accomplished home brewmaster in his own right. Leons now carries a number of craft beers sampled at breweries tasting rooms. Try it before you buy it Whether its food or beverages, the big appeal of Samplefest is allowing shoppers to try it before they buy it, Vorhies noted. Of course, no mention of Leons would be complete without a shout-out to two departments that have put the store on the map as much as any: the aged-to-perfection Meat Dept., and the fresh, made-from-scratch Deli Dept. And while youre at Samplefest, sign up for a half-dozen prize drawings, and register daily for a chance to win $83 in groceries. A new winner is named each day through April 25. Workshops & Programs END OF LIFE PLANNING IS TOPIC RACINE A free presentation on end of life planning will be held at 12:15 p.m. Sunday, May 1, at Olympia Brown Universalist Church, 625 College Ave. Many people already have do-not-resuscitate declarations, power-of-attorney documentation and other advanced directives. The program was focus on end of life decisions and planning. The main presenter will be Dr. Bruce Wilson, a board certified cardiologist who now practices more in the hospice setting. This free presentation is being offered by www.compassionandchoices.org, a nationwide nonprofit organization which advocates for end-of-life education and legislation. For more information, call 262-366-5658 or email ccwi_mail@yahoo.com. AARP SMART DRIVER COURSE PLANNED BURLINGTON An AARP Smart Driver course will be held from noon to 4 p.m. Friday, May 6, at Aurora Wellness Center, 300 McCanna Parkway. Participants will refresh their driving skills, learn the new rules of the road and research-based driving strategies to help drivers stay safe behind the wheel. There are no tests to pass. The cost is $20 or $15 for AARP members. To register, go to ahc.aurorahealthcare.org/events/index.asp. ART CLASSES OFFERED AT WUSTUM MUSEUM RACINE These adult workshops will be offered at Wustum Museum, a campus of the Racine Art Museum at 2519 Northwestern Ave.: Silk Scarf Painting, 9:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Saturday, May 7. Participants will create a silk scarf and learn basic dye application techniques, including resist, salt application and tie-dye. Fees: $56 RAM members, $70 others. Introduction to Chinese Ink Painting, 1-4 p.m. Saturday, May 14. Fees: $108 RAM members, $135 others. Try it Thursdays! Craft a Cocktail Book, 6-8 p.m. Thursday, April 28. Participants may bring wine and make an art project. Fees: $24 RAM members, $30 others. Online registration closes three days before class begins. For more information or to register, go to www.ramart.org. FLOAT BUILDING WORKSHOP SCHEDULED RACINE Fourth Fest of Greater Racine will hold a free float building workshop at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 18, at Racine Masonic Center, 1012 Main St. The 2016 them is Celebrating 80 Years of the Greatest Parade on Earth! Families, schools, groups and businesses are encouraged to embrace this years theme as they plan parade entries. There is no cost to attend but registration is required by calling 262-989-6681. Parade applications are due by Tuesday, May 31. For an application, go to www.racine4thfest.org or stop at Hugs N Kisses, 3215 Douglas Ave.; Sew N Save, 3701 Durand Ave.; or the Volunteer Center, 6216 Washington Ave. INTRODUCTION TO BIRDING IS TOPIC CALEDONIA Rick Fare and the Hoy Audubon Society will offer an introduction to birding workshop from 9 to 11 a.m. Saturday, April 30, at the Eco-Justice Center, 7133 Michna Road. The workshop will cover identification tips, morphology, bird behavior, binocular basics and birding resource recommendations. The class will conclude with a walk around the Eco-Justice Center and Cliffside Park to put newly-learned skills to use. The cost is $5. The registration deadline is April 26. To register or for more information, go to www.ecojusticecenter.org or call 262-681-8527. PROGRAMS OFFERED AT BONG BRIGHTON These programs will be held at Bong State Recreation Area, 26313 Burlington Road: All programs meet at the visitor center, unless otherwise listed. Adopt-a-Highway, 5:30-7 p.m. Tuesday, May 3. Participants ages 12 and older will clean up the highway in front of the park. All equipment will be provided. Work, Play, Earth Day! 9-11 a.m. Saturday, May 7. Celebrate Earth Day by helping nature and the park by panting trees or cleaning up. Projects may change depending on weather. Registration is required. A Colorful Picnic! 4-5 p.m. Saturday, May 7. Participants should bring an adult, coloring books and a picnic to celebrate spring. Meet at Shelter No. 3 by the beach. Knee-high Naturalist, 10-11:30 a.m. Tuesday, May 12. For nature lovers ages 3-5, this months theme is Smells Like Spring. Registration is required. Bird Migration Hike, 7-9 a.m. Saturday, May 14. Participants should bring binoculars as the group looks and listens for newly-arrived birds, especially warblers. Meet at the Vista Picnic Area. Spring Wildflower Walk, 1-2:30 p.m. Saturday, May 21. Hike and identify what spring has to offer. Discover Wisconsin Explorer, 11-11:30 a.m. Saturday, May 28. For children ages 3 and older and an adult, participants will learn how to earn a colorful patch. Meet at the Amphitheater. Meet the Ranger, 11-11:30 a.m. Saturday, May 28. Participants will visit with a park ranger, discover what their job is, what equipment they use and visit a squad car. Meet at the Amphitheater. Concert in the Park, 7:30-8:30 p.m. Saturday, May 28. Musician Brett Hall will perform John Denver hits. Meet at the Amphitheater. In case of bad weather, meet at the Visitor Center. Recycled Plant Stakes, 9:30-11 a.m. Sunday, May 29. Drop in between 9:30 and 10:30 a.m. to make plant stakes using natural and recycled items. Appropriate for all ages. Whose Ribbit is it? 8-9 p.m. Sunday, May 29. Participants will learn about Wisconsins frogs and toads and how to identify them by voice, and then hike to the pond to listen for frogs. Bongs entrance is on Highway 142, one mile west of Highway 75. A Wisconsin State Park Admission Sticker is required for each vehicle. For Wisconsin vehicles the fees are $8 a day or $28 a year, or $13 and $3 for seniors. The annual sticker is good in all Wisconsin state parks. The sticker may be purchased at time of arrival. More information can be obtained by calling Bong at 262-878-5601. RACINE After about a year of lawyers in Racine County asking whether anyone would run against District Attorney Rich Chiapete, they have their answer. There were attorneys in town looking for people to run against attorney Chiapete. I threw my name in the hat and here I am, Racine lawyer Eugene B. Loftin told The Journal Times on Friday. The legal community has kind of been abuzz for the last year we need somebody to do this. Loftin owns Loftin Legal, 209 Eighth St., where his practice includes criminal defense and civil law, estate planning and business and tax work. Loftin also is an adjunct faculty member in the criminal justice program at Carthage College in Kenosha. Im passionate about criminal justice and criminal justice reform, said Loftin, 34. The time is right to have a fresh look at how we can apply prosecutorial discretion to have safe streets. Loftin has worked in Racine since 2009, he said. Wisconsin Bar records show Loftin graduated from Marquette University Law School in 2008 and was admitted to the bar in 2009. He is a member in good standing, bar records show. He graduated in 2006 from Trinity International University in Lake County, Ill., with a bachelors in psychology, which he said is beneficial in his law practice. The partisan election is Nov. 8. Loftin said he will run as a Democrat in the race. If a primary is necessary, that will take place Aug. 9. Chiapete was appointed by Gov. Scott Walker in March 2012. Chiapete was appointed to fill the remainder of former District Attorney Mike Nieskes term after Nieskes became a Racine County circuit judge. Chiapete won the election in November 2012. In an email on Friday afternoon, Chiapete, a Republican, stated he was planning on a press conference to discuss my plans at 1 p.m. Tuesday. He stated Wisconsin Attorney General Brad Schimel is coming down and law enforcement will be present. Chiapete began working for the District Attorneys Office in December 1998. He was promoted to deputy district attorney in 2005. Reasons for running Loftin said he was motivated to run because of turnover issues, which have resulted in assistant district attorneys leaving the office for other jobs. He said he also wants to make the District Attorneys Office more accountable. It seems like there needs to be more internal mentoring (for younger prosecutors), Loftin said, explaining there seems to be an older style of handing prosecutors their files and having them just go to it. I think the office could use some structure right now. Loftin said if elected, he hopes to add some predictability to (plea) offers that are made and work toward achieving more consistency out of our sentences. Instead, Loftin said he would try to have prosecutors know what they could prove in a trial before the person is charged, and then only charge defendants with crimes that prosecutors know they can prove. By not spending as many resources on cases that have been overcharged, Loftin said prosecutors could concentrate more efforts into addressing heroin use and violence in the county, which he said are epidemics. We can spend more resources on it if were not prosecuting addicts, he explained. Loftin and his wife, who have been married for 14 years, live in Mount Pleasant. They have a 6-year-old son and 4-year-old daughter. Loftin said he is an active member of Calvary Memorial Church, 4001 Washington Ave., Racine. 319,912 households real beneficiaries The National Reconstruction Authority (NRA) is preparing to sign aid agreements with over 50 percent of the total quake-affected households that were identified by the Post Disaster Need Assessment conducted last year after the April 25 earthquake. Art and the earthquake Where does art come in during a natural disaster when there are so many other needs to meet? Backlash after Barack Obama EU referendum intervention US President Barack Obama has been accused of doing Downing Street's bidding - after he said the UK would be at "the back of the queue" for American trade deals if it left the EU. CIAA detains Sajha Chair Kanak Dixit The Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) on Friday took Sajha Yatayat Chairman Kanak Mani Dixit into custody for his alleged involvement in corruption. Conor McGregor: UFC 200 fight with Nate Diaz is off - president Dana White UFC 200 organisers have confirmed they are looking to replace Conor McGregor after giving the Irishman "every opportunity in the world" to fight. Dwayne Johnson to produce 'Jumanji' remake Actor Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson has confirmed he and his company Seven Bucks Productions will produce the upcoming "Jumanji" movie. Editors, media personalities call for Dixits release Over thirty editors and media personalities along with intellectuals and scholars from South Asia, UK, Australia and United States of have called for the release of Sajha Yatayat Chairman Kanak Mani Dixit, who was taken into custody by the Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) for his alleged involvement in corruption. Govt to revive card system for LPG sales The government announced on Friday that it would be making another bid to implement a card system for the distribution of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) after the first two attempts ended in fiasco. Gulmi villages parched as water sources dry up With several drinking water sources dry because of drought, people in many parts of Gulmi district are relying on water transported on tractors from Gaurikhutta. They have been paying up to Rs 2,100 for transporting 1,000 litres of water. Kanak Mani Dixit hospitalised Journalist Kanak Mani Dixit, who had been taken into custody by the Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA), was rushed to a hospital on Saturday after complaints of heart ailment. Doctors at Bir Hospital have admitted him to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). Labour shortage hits Malaysia after ban on new foreign workers Malaysian industry is facing a severe shortage of manpower two months after implementing a decision to suspend the recruitment of new foreign workers. Madhesi-Janajati alliance unveils stir programme Sanghiya Gathabandhan, an alliance of Madhesi and Janajati forces, has unveiled a low-key programme of renewed protests against the new constitution. Mid-day meals draws children to school Of the total number of students in Chitwan only 0.82 percent are outside of the school, District Education Office (DEO), Chitwan said. Migrant crisis: Merkel and EU officials visit Turkey to promote deal German Chancellor Angela Merkel and top EU officials are due to visit the Turkish-Syrian border to promote a controversial month-old migrant deal. Ministry says meeting with diplomats violates code The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Friday said that the meeting on Thursday between the Sanghiya Gathabandhan, an alliance of Madhesi and Janajati forces, and some members of the Kathmandu-based diplomatic corps is not compatible with the letter and spirit of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, established diplomatic practices and code of conduct. Nations ink historic Paris climate deal Amid hope and hype, delegates have finished signing the Paris climate agreement at UN headquarters in New York. NC general Secy Koirala in New York Nepali Congress General Secretary Shashank Koirala arrived here on Saturday morning on a private visit. Nepal among 175 nations to adopt Paris Agreement More than 175 nations including Nepal formally adopt the Paris Agreement on climate change that aims to limit the global warming below 2 degree Celsius , in New York on Friday. Nepal earthquake: How is country faring one year on? As Nepal marks the first anniversary of its devastating earthquake, the BBC assesses how the country has been coping. No signs of trauma or suicide in Prince's death: police Police found no signs of suicide or obvious trauma in the death of U.S. music superstar Prince, but it could take weeks before autopsy results reveal how the groundbreaking performer died, authorities said on Friday. Novoair okayed to operate Dhaka-Kathmandu flights The government has granted operation authorization to Dhaka-based Novoair to operate flights between the Bangladeshi capital and Kathmandu, less than a month after another Bangladeshi carrier US-Bangla Airlines received s similar permit. Prepare for local bodies' election: leader Nepal leader and former Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal has urged the party leaders and cadres to be prepared for local elections. Probe launched into donations at Lumbini The government has begun a probe into the alleged mismanagement by the Lumbini Development Trust of the cash offered by foreign and domestic pilgrims at the birthplace of the Buddha which is an international pilgrimage destination. Quake survivors take loans to build homes As the distribution of reconstruction aid has been delayed in several affected districts, many earthquake survivors in Nuwakot have started rebuilding houses on their own. SC issues show cause on ambassador nominations The Supreme Court on Friday issued a show cause notice to government on 21 ambassadorial recommendations. The wrestler The wrestling tournament held at Rangsala is just a circus act andI guess Oli really identified with it as well UK assures continued help for reconstruction The United Kingdom has reassured that it will continue to help Nepal in its reconstruction process. Walking on Air, Against best Judgement Verses are rooted to the ground. Yet, what happens when that very earth buckles under the feet? Former Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) presidential candidate Dr. Kiiza Besigye has urged Ugandans to develop the spirit of solving their own problems instead of consistently lamenting to government. Dr.Besigye was among the hundreds of Ugandans that have participated in a Car Wash Fundraiser meant aimed at saving Carol Atuhairwe who is battling two types of cancer. Meanwhile former presidential candidate Dr. Abed Bwanika says such gestures of kindness must not stop with Carol but be extended to the hundreds of the cancer patients languishing without treatment. Earlier, local musician Robert Kyagulanyi also known as Bobi Wine called for increased awareness about this deadly disease. Other local musicians that took part in the exercise included Khalifa Aganaga, Irene Ntale and Nince Henry. Carol has battled throat and lung cancer for 6 years and she has undergone all sorts of cancer treatment including chemotherapy which has eaten away her flesh and her back bone is exposed. She has an operation for her lungs scheduled very soon but she needs at least Sh 270m for the surgery. It is against this background that Ugandans have come together this afternoon to lend a helping hand. According to the chairman organizing committee Muhereza Kyamutetera over 140m shs has been collected. Story By Damalie Mukhaye Hundreds of mourners have thronged St Luke Church Ntinda to pay their last respects to the fallen General Court Martial chairman Maj Gen Levi Karuhanga. Representing the president, defence state minister Jeje Odong challenged mourners to rather celebrate because the late Karuhanga had left something to be remembered for. Government contributed Sh10 million towards burial arrangements. Meanwhile, Justice and Constitutional Affairs minister Kahinda Otafiire noted that the late never pushed for material gains which set him apart as a committed officer. The late Karuhanga who served the military for 37 years died on Thursday on arrival at Nakasero hospital after feeling weak while at his home in Ntinda, a Kampala suburb. Karuhanga who was also the Commander of the Reserve Force and Chairman of the General Court Martial last reported on duty on April 1st before he broke off to seek medical attention. The body of the deceased has been transported to his ancestral home in Kigooma village in Bushenyi district for burial slated for tomorrow. Story By Gistin Angarukiremu Kendallville, IN (46755) Today Partly cloudy skies in the morning will give way to cloudy skies during the afternoon. High near 75F. Winds SSE at 10 to 15 mph.. Tonight Cloudy. Low 56F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph. Ray Bock of Viroqua has been a woodworker for well over 20 years, but this is his first time heading to Washington, D.C., to exhibit at the Smithsonian Craft Show. I dont have a bucket list, but now Ive got to create one and put this on it, said Bock, 63. Its probably the best show in the country. Ive managed to get into all the other ones, but this is the last one. Most of the shows have a couple of hundred exhibitors, and they pull from a pool of a thousand-plus applicants, said Bock, who said being selected by the Smithsonian jury was humbling. The Smithsonian show has only 120 exhibitors, so that narrows it down even further. Bock specializes in elliptical- shaped bowls and architecture-inspired tabletop boxes. Each jewelry-type box is made with fine woods and unusual shapes, such as his pyramid Wedding Cake Box. Bocks bowls are cut by router and band saw, rather than on a lathe, and are wrapped in a veneer that contrasts with the solid wood. Although I traditionally use a lot of solid woods, Im moving more and more to veneer, he said. Some of it is tropical wood, and veneers are a very efficient way to use that wood. Veneers are very, very thin, and so much can be gotten out of a log. And theyre just so beautiful. Bock, who grew up in the Chicago area, attended design school in the architectural college at the Illinois Institute of Technology. He majored in photography, and worked in that field until 1992. In college I also did a lot of time in the shop, he said. They had a fully equipped architectural design model shop, and I just loved being there. In 1992, he and his wife moved to Viroqua and Bock made the switch to woodworking. We just stumbled on it, Bock said of his hobby farm in southwestern Wisconsin. We loved the area, and the piece of property we picked happened to be in Viroqua. In retrospect, it was dumb luck. We were very fortunate to wind up here, because its a really nice little community. Bock has his shop in an old barn hes refurbished. He favors pieces he can turn around and sell at shows and in galleries, at prices from $95 to $950, rather than the custom furniture he used to make. I used to spend a couple of months building a piece of furniture. It didnt leave me a lot of options to experiment and do different things, he said. The small pieces allow me to experiment with other ideas. Pete Souza/Official White House Photo(LONDON) -- Adorable: that's the best way to describe President Obama and the first lady's meeting with Prince George, the 2-year-old son of Prince William and Duchess Kate. The president thought so himself. "I guess you all know why I came this week," he said Saturday during a town hall in London. "It's no secret. Nothing was going to stop me from wishing happy birthday to her majesty, or meeting George, who was adorable." The Obamas met the young prince before having dinner with the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry at Kensington Palace on Friday. When they arrived, they found Prince George standing near the foyer and dressed for bed. The president has been visiting Britain after talks in Saudi Arabia with Persian Gulf allies. Copyright 2016, ABC Radio. All rights reserved. In one way, there is nothing new in Pope Francis latest document, The Joy of Loving. Let me explain. In July 1968, I was in a masters of religious education program at Catholic University in Washington, D.C. There were many young priests in my classes, as well as more than 100 hundred sisters and lay people. The priests were generally expecting that the pope was going to permit some forms of artificial contraception that were not abortive. This was based on leaks from the papal commission that was asked to study the birth control issue. On July 25, the document, Humanae Vitae (of human life), was promulgated. It banned all forms of birth control that were not based on a womans menstrual cycle. Consequently, these priests were faced with two realities when they went home: One, they had many faithful parents who had loving reasons to not have more children at this time; and two, for myriad reasons they were unable to successful use natural family planning. How were these priests going to respond to parents who came to them with this moral dilemma? Fortunately, one of our assignments was to study carefully the recently released documents of Vatican II. Clearly they said the final arbiter of moral decisions is not law, but a well-formed conscience. Well-formed does not mean what I feel like, but what I prayerfully decide after studying the law in the context of my own situation. For example, Jesus and his hungry disciples had well-formed consciences when they picked grain on the Sabbath even though it was against the law. Or a husband who breaks the speeding law to rush his pregnant wife to the hospital because he believes the law does not apply in his particular situation. The solution to this moral dilemma for these young priests was to go back home and help people understand how to properly form their consciences. Once they formed their consciences, parents were to prayerfully trust God with their decision. These priests also came to this same process to help divorced and remarried Catholics decide to what degree they could participate in the church, including the possibility of going to Communion. In the popes The Joy of Loving, he essentially explains this process. So, in one way, this is not new. In another, there is much new in The Joy of Loving. This is the first time a pope has ever explained and validated this good faith solution of forming consciences regarding sexual matters. This is now clearly a part of the ordinary teaching of the Catholic Church. This document brings out of the shadows a pastoral theology that has been much maligned in recent decades. Some bishops are not happy with the document. Cardinal Raymond Burke, former bishop of the La Crosse Diocese, tries to minimize its importance. He says the document is not an act of the magisterium. It is a personal document, simply a reflection of the Holy Father. This is not totally accurate. It is far more than personal. Over a two-year period, a synod of bishops from all over the world studied family life. Chicago Archbishop Blase Cupich calls what the pope published an authoritative teaching document that is faithful to what the bishops of the synod had approved with a two-thirds majority vote. There are other ways this document is new. It is the most extensive treatment of the importance of conscience. It begins by quoting the Second Vatican Council that conscience is the most secret core and sanctuary of a person. There each one is alone with God, whose voice echoes in the depths of the heart. The popes document goes on to say that church leadership has been called to form consciences, not to replace them. The document is surprisingly humble. It calls for a heathy dose of self-criticism in the church. It states: At times we have also proposed a far too abstract and almost artificial theological ideal of marriage, far removed from the concrete situations and practical possibilities of real families. The document is very pastoral. It no longer talks of people living in sin. We are not to judge others by using moral laws as stones to throw at a persons life. It calls us to offer understanding, comfort and acceptance to people in non-traditional families. There is a long-held tradition that on her wedding day, a bride carries something old and something new. Something old represents continuity; something new offers optimism. An image of the church is the bride of Christ. In The Joy of Loving, Pope Francis gives the church, the bride of Christ, something old and something new. MADISON When Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker dropped another strong hint this week that hes planning to seek re-election in 2018, the state Democratic Party wasted no time. The party sent not one, but two fundraising solicitations, urging supporters to donate in order to stop Scott Walker before he wins a third term. But beating Walker in Wisconsin is easier said than done. And it hasnt been done in a very long time. In an interview with the conservative website TownHall, Walker was asked if he is inclined to run for a third term. Yeah, Walker replied. I am, without a doubt. I love what I do. Walker has indicated several times since ending his presidential campaign that hed like to run for governor again, but has said he wont announce an official decision until after the November presidential election. With all signs pointing to a Walker re-election bid, Democrats are already mounting their fight against the governor who won three statewide elections in four years. I think we point out how working class people all over the state of Wisconsin have been harmed by the policies of the Republican Party, said state party chairwoman Martha Laning when asked how the party intends to stop Walker. Gov. Walker came in and made a lot of promises. Ten thousand new companies were going to be here. We were going to add 250,000 jobs. All of his promises have failed. Laning also cited the more than 10,000 layoff notices issued in 2015, the highest number since 2010, and well-documented troubles with Walkers flagship jobs agency, as arguments for new leadership. Walker, when hit with those criticisms, has touted the states labor participation rate, which reached a 20-year high in January 2015. He also frequently mentions Wisconsins unemployment rate, which is lower than the national average. Its like an alcoholic. To get over your alcoholism, you have to recognize the problem. And instead of recognizing the problem, he just spins the issue, said Assembly Minority Leader Peter Barca, D-Kenosha. Since Walker returned to Wisconsin from his short-lived presidential bid, his approval ratings have lagged. Among registered voters, 43 percent approve of the governors job performance, according to a Marquette University Law School poll released late last month. That was the first time since the end of his presidential campaign that the number topped 40 percent. In the middle of (Walkers signature legislation) Act 10 they were very low, but they went back up then a couple months later, Barca said. This has been a sustained period ever since he was in the middle of his presidential run and ended it. I think people really noticed the fact that hes not for us, that hes in it for himself, when he ran for president. But subsequent to that, I think ... the statistics about the performance of our state vis-a-vis other states is just abysmal. Laning said shes not worried about the two years Walker has to regain ground in the polls. His presidential campaign, she said, showed Walker is all talk he cant deliver. If Walkers poll numbers dont rebound, Barca said, a Democrat might be better positioned to run against the incumbent governor than another Republican candidate. In February the last time the Marquette Poll asked this question 61 percent of registered voters said they dont want the governor to seek another term. But even then, Walker was unfazed. He argued that despite widespread backlash to his 2011 battle with labor unions, public opinion swung back in his favor by the time voters went to the polls in 2012 and 2014. We just persevere going forward, Walker said in February. For us, I think what weve found when we ultimately prevailed in the 2012 recall election is because people, despite what they were seeing on TV ads and maybe they were hearing about some of the stories out there, eventually they saw the reforms were working. Laning said she thinks predictions of a tough state budget in 2017 will make it difficult for Walker to recover in time for the 2018 election. She declined to name names, but said the party has a lot of really great candidates who are thinking about running for governor. Both Laning and Barca dismissed suggestions that Wisconsin Democrats lack the deep bench cultivated by their Republican counterparts. A Democratic source listed a handful of names that have already been floated for this election and in years past: Dane County Executive Joe Parisi, Exact Sciences CEO Kevin Conroy, U.S. Rep. Ron Kind and state Senate Minority Leader Jennifer Shilling. Rather than recruiting candidates, Laning said her job is to offer support, information and resources to anyone who is considering a run. Democrats need a candidate with the skills to bring people together, Laning said. I grew up in a Wisconsin that everybody cared about each other. Republicans and Democrats could sit down at a table and work together. Scott Walker is the epitome of the person who has destroyed that, Laning said. Hes pitted neighbor against neighbor. I think people really want to come back to where we all work together and we work to make sure everybody has an opportunity to succeed and have an economy that works for everyone. Barca suggested hes still not convinced Walker is really going to run in 2018, noting that Walker has presidential campaign debt to pay off and can generally accomplish more if hes not perceived as a lame duck. But now that Walker is a two-term incumbent, Barca said, its harder for him to blame any of the states issues on previous administrations. Ive never seen a person that doesnt even allow the buck to slow down, much less to stop in his office, Barca said. At some point, people start saying, Wait a second here, pal, youve been in office for a significant period of time, and youre the one responsible for the performance of the state, and all major indicators, they just do not look rosy at all. ST. PAUL, Minn. Iowa and Minnesota lawmakers are exploring a system to allow Iowa residents to buy medical marijuana oil from their northern neighbor, lawmakers from both states have told The Associated Press. As Iowas Legislature barrels toward adjournment, legislative leaders are still struggling to expand a 2014 law that legalized marijuana oil for certain patients suffering seizures but left them nowhere to buy it. Iowa House Speaker Linda Upmeyer said Friday theyre now considering an agreement with Minnesota as one option. I dont know if anything will get the support it requires to actually move forward, but were going to keep working on it, said Upmeyer, a Republican from Clear Lake. Piggybacking on Minnesotas new medical marijuana program would be a novel setup. It could give Iowa patients an outlet to buy medication while also sending more business to the manufacturers who have struggled with low patient enrollment in Minnesota. But it would also raise concerns from the federal government about Schedule I drugs moving across state lines. Iowa patients would face long drives to get medicine the closest dispensary is three hours northeast from Des Moines and advocacy groups argue that Iowa should set up its own system to produce and sell medical marijuana. Officials are discussing how to assuage the federal government, as well as the registration details of who could buy the marijuana pills, oils and vapors. Minnesota also restricts sales to patients with nine serious conditions like cancer, multiple sclerosis or seizure disorders. The idea of leaning on Minnesota originated in Des Moines but legislative leaders in St. Paul have been receptive, though they stress Minnesotas tightly-controlled program would not be expanded. Minnesota would need to clarify that residents from neighboring states can purchase the medication and make some technical fixes to the law passed in 2014. Rep. Nick Zerwas, an Elk River Republican leading the charge in Minnesota, said that may need to wait until next year. Its doing the right thing for patients that need medicine. If my neighbor needs help and I can help them, we oughta do that, Zerwas said. Launched just last summer, Minnesotas medical marijuana program has struggled to pick up business. Just 1,275 patients were registered as of Friday and only three of the eight dispensaries authorized by law in Minneapolis, Eagan and Rochester have opened. The Rochester site, about 40 miles from Iowas northern border, would be closest to Iowa customers if the partnership comes together. A representative from Minnesota Medical Solutions, one of two manufacturers and the company that runs the dispensary, did not immediately return a request for comment. That loss of business doesnt sit well with Threase Harms, whos leading the lobbying effort for the advocacy group known as Iowans 4 Medical Cannabis, a staple at the Capitol this year. She expressed concern about who would have authority over Iowas patients, who would be able to buy the medication and the potential costs. Im not sure Iowa legislators want to give economic development opportunities and potential state revenue away to the state of Minnesota, she said. Thats probably a big red flag. A bill that would create a system for manufacturing, dispensing and possessing cannabis oil in Iowa and expand the number of conditions that qualify has stalled in the Republican-controlled House this session. Sen. Joe Bolkcom, a Democrat from Iowa City has pushed for that kind of broader plan. He was skeptical of the Minnesota option, saying that Senate Democrats werent consulted and calling potential issues with the federal government a significant hurdle. Its rather bizarre that Speaker Upmeyer is trying to cut a deal with (Minnesota) ... and shes not able to walk across the rotunda and work with other Iowans, Bolkcom said. Robert Lewy Lewis, 63-year-old activist from central Iowa who suffers from intractable pain caused by several medical conditions, criticized the idea of using Minnesotas existing network. Why dont we just do it the right way and make it happen here? he said. Its not a slippery slope. Its doing the right thing for patients that need medicine. If my neighbor needs help and I can help them, we oughta do that. Rep. Nick Zerwas, R-Elk River Canada's slapstick handy-man will be back in La Crosse on Tuesday as part of his third North American tour. Steve Smith, more famously known as Red Green, will bring his "I'm Not Old, I'm Ripe!" tour to Viterbo University's Fine Arts Center. Focusing on the story of Red's life, stopping only for a couple of detours, Smith's show expands on more than 20 years of Red Green on television from the infamous Possum Lodge as the handyman who believes that anything is possible if you use enough duct tape. His new tour is the first time Red Green tells his life story, Smith told the Tribune, and the show recounts how Red grew up in a rural area of Canada and the oddball characters he encountered. Red is in a retrospective mood because he is on the verge of celebrating his 50th wedding anniversary, Smith said, and focuses on how he has realized that the world moves a lot faster than we sometimes want it to. Along with the new material about Red's past, a number of segments familiar to fans of the "Red Green Show" will be present, including Handyman Corner scenes. "We've shot a lot of new stuff for the tour," Smith said of the 90-minute show. "It is pretty ambitious." Smith created Red Green for his sketch comedy show "Smith and Smith," which ran in the 1970s and '80s. The character got his own show airing in Canada and on PBS from 1991 until Smith decided to end it in 2006. "It was supposed to just be a summer job in the '90s," Smith said. "But the show hit a nerve." After the show ended, Smith had the opportunity to write a book about the Red Green character. Smith said playing Red has been some of the best fun he had in the comedy business. Red Green is very personal to Smith, and he said they share similar personality traits, including an odd way of looking at the world. Smith grew up in Toronto before moving out of the big city, and like Red, he grew up fixing his own car and working with his hands. Being on tour is great, Smith said, as a lot of fans have relatives who are like Red. They project that onto the performance, which Smith said is like walking up to a bunch of close friends. After more than 20 years, Smith still enjoys playing the character. Every time he gets on stage he finds new favorite moments, he said, as he really enjoys connecting with the audience, some who drive for hours just to see a performance. "When I am onstage and I can make people laugh, it makes me feel good," Smith said. "I'm having a really good time. I am looking forward to seeing my friends in La Crosse." When contemplating the possibility of replacing some of the historical figures depicted on U.S. currency, Treasury Secretary Jack Lew said last year said, Americas currency makes a statement about who we are and what we stand for as a nation. On any given day, I open my wallet and, assuming I actually find cash inside, Im greeted by the stoic faces of Abraham Lincoln, George Washington and, if Im lucky, Andrew Jackson presidents, generals and leaders. They are men who despite their flaws are indispensable to the American story. But to many, they no longer represent Americas story in its fullness. U.S. currency has always shown the faces of privileged Anglo males who, in their defense, were largely responsible for the founding and defense of the United States during its formative years. The complaint has long been that this practice leaves women and minority Americans, who have also played a profound role in the nations evolution, grossly underrepresented. Its hard to disagree with that. But last years decision by the Treasury Department to show the face of a woman, without specifying which one, on the $10 bill and to demote the man who currently resides there was ill-advised. The almost yearlong campaign by a diverse group of people to retain Alexander Hamilton on the bill is proof of that. Fortunately, Wednesdays announcement that anti-slavery heroine Harriet Tubman will appear on the bill, and the decision to reverse course on which bill she will occupy (she will replace Andrew Jackson on the $20), is the appropriate remedy. It is also in keeping with Lews own statement that our currency should reflect the best of who we are as a nation. While Hamilton was white and male, he had less in common with many of his contemporaries than most of us realize. He was not the son of a privileged colonial family, the heir to great fortune or military or political dynasty. To put it bluntly, Hamilton was a fatherless child, raised in poverty by a single mother in what would become the Virgin Islands. An immigrant, he made his way to the United States as a teenager and, using his vast intellect and characteristic determination, he quickly became an influential writer and patriot in the fledgling revolution. What could possibly be more American than that? Eventually, he became a top wartime aide to Gen. Washington and followed him to the White House as a presidential adviser. We mustnt forget that in addition to his writings that helped establish our federalist system of government, Hamilton was essentially the inventor of American money. The first secretary of the Treasury, Hamilton established the U.S. Mint and steered the young American nation through tumultuous financial times. As writer Ben Domenech opined: Alexander Hamilton was a bastard, but he was a righteous bastard. He loved his country. And he has more than earned his place on its currency. Like Hamilton, Harriet Tubman was a patriot, a woman who loved America and its people enough to risk her life daily for its unity and success. Born a slave, Tubman escaped to freedom as a young woman using the Underground Railroad network to reach the North. But she wasnt satisfied with her own liberty. Deeply moved by the plight of her fellow man, she quickly became one of the most famous conductors on the Underground Railroad, returning to the South dozens of times to rescue hundreds of others and leading them to safety and freedom. She was so indispensable to the abolitionist movement that in 1856 her capture carried a $40,000 reward in the South. During the Civil War, she served the Union army as a cook, a nurse, a scout and a spy. Tubman was also a devout Christian, a woman whose faith guided her every perilous journey into slave territory. She was, indeed, a legend in her own time called Black Moses by those she saved from bondage. Tubman will not only be the first woman to appear on U.S. currency, but she will also be the first black American. If the Treasury Department wants U.S. currency to reflect the best of America, Hamilton and Tubman fit the bill. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development awarded the city of Viroqua money to upgrade and improve the citys wastewater treatment facility, in observance of Earth Day 2016, Friday. In addition, USDA Rural Development has selected the city of Viroqua as a 2016 National Earth Day Project Community. USDA Rural Development joined city leaders and other officials in Viroqua, Friday, to formally announce that the agency has awarded the city of Viroqua more than $7 million in a federal grant and loan combination to upgrade and rehabilitate the current wastewater treatment facility. The purpose of Earth Day is to raise awareness of our responsible for protecting and preserving the natural environment and in particular those resources critical to the sustenance of life on this planet, said Stan Gruszynski, Wisconsin Director of USDA Rural Development. Todays celebration acknowledges the initiative and leadership of the city of Viroqua for ensuring a safer, healthier, and sustainable future for people living in this area while improving protections for the Mississippi watershed. Not to mention, these sorts of investments create jobs, expand business opportunities, inspire a greater sense of community, and are both practical and sensible, Grusynski continued. USDA Rural Development is proud to partner with the citizens of Viroqua, and on behalf of President Obama and Secretary Vilsack, I commend your initiative and leadership. The announcement included an award presentation by Gruszynski to Mayor Larry Fanta. The Award recognizes the citys initiative and leadership toward improving the services for area residents and preventing contamination to the Mississippi watershed. The city of Viroqua gratefully accepts the award of over $7 million of federal grant and loan funding for major upgrades to our wastewater treatment plant, said Fanta. We are also honored to be selected as a 2016 National Earth Day Project Community. Municipal wastewater treatment continually becomes more important and complex as we move forward. The city of Viroqua is committed to providing effective and efficient wastewater services that address the needs of the community and protect the environment. Through this project, the city of Viroqua will improve and upgrade the existing wastewater treatment plant. The project will provide for the rehabilitation of processes and other modifications to improve operations; including a new pump station and forcemain for discharge. The project also includes replacement of sanitary sewer lines along Rusk Avenue. Upon completion of the upgrades, the city will be better able to meet the more stringent Phosphorus removal and discharge requirements. In addition, the Mississippi River watershed will be guarded from contaminants entering the system, groundwater will be protected from leakage, and the environment will be cleaner for the residents of Viroqua and the surrounding area. Additional funds for the $10.1 million project include a $2,509,460 Clean Water Fund loan and $650,000 in Clean Water Fund Principal Forgiveness from WI DNR. USDA Rural Development approved a $4.996 million loan and a $2,024,270 grant toward the project through USDA Rural Developments Water and Environmental Programs. The Water and Environmental Program provides loans and grants to ensure that necessary investments are made in water and wastewater infrastructure to ensure safe drinking water and protect the environment in rural areas. Earth Day is observed annually on April 22 to raise awareness about the role citizens, businesses and communities can play in protecting the environment. Since the first Earth Day celebration in 1970, the event has expanded to include participation by citizens and governments in more than in 175 countries. In all, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced that USDA is helping to fund 60 water and wastewater projects in 33 states across the nation, totaling more than $183 million, in observance of Earth Day. During the past year, USDA Rural Development invested nearly $577 million throughout rural Wisconsin and helped a record number of residents receive funding for economic development projects and quality of life improvements. The agencys investment in Wisconsin helped create or retain more than 1,560 jobs; aided 3,000 families in buying their own homes; and assisted more than 80 communities in improving community facilities and upgrading local infrastructure. For more information on USDA Rural Development programs visit USDAs web site at www.rd.usda.gov/wi. More will be available on this story in the April 28 edition of the Broadcaster. WINONA, Minn. U.S. Rep. Tim Walz will give Midtown Foods customers a chance to air their concerns while they get their groceries next week. Walz will be hosting one of his Congress on Your Corner stops from noon to 1:30 p.m. Monday at Midtown Foods as part of a several stop tour. The five-term representative said in a press release that the tour helps gauge what issues people care about. Hearing the thoughts and ideas of southern Minnesotans is the cornerstone of our representative democracy, Walz said in the release. I am looking forward to the opportunity to hear from folks. The stop doesnt have a set issue or focus. Sara Severs, Walzs deputy chief of staff, said the topics theyve heard about at several past stops including Rochester are varied and individual, but its just a matter of hearing from folks whats on their mind. Severs said it is not a stop for campaigning purposes and the campaign staff is a separate entity from the official office. This is entirely on the official side with his duties as a member of the House, Severs said. Walz is running for reelection against his previous opponent, Jim Hagedorn. Walz won 54 percent of the vote to Hagedorns 46 percent in 2014, and raised significantly more funds in his campaign. Walz has had the advantage of the incumbent, and the Democrat has also become known nationally for his ability to raise money in a politically moderate district that has long leaned Republican. The fundraising differences appear to be repeating themselves again in this years campaign. Walzs first-quarter 2016 reports, which the campaigns released April 15, show hes raised just over $250,000 since January, has almost $400,000 on hand, and has no debt. Walz has raised over $900,000 so far in the election cycle. Hagedorns report for the same period show his campaign has raised $27,670 in the first quarter, has $19,156 on hand and owes $26,547. The Friends of Hagedorn have raised $120,639 overall this cycle. The title of this post is the title of this recent lengthy American Lawyer article which in part explains why I think my novel marijuana law and policy law-school class may not be all that novel in the coming years. Here is how the piece gets started: On April 20, which each year marks the unofficial 420 holiday for marijuana enthusiasts worldwide, lawyers at big firms across the country spoke with The Am Law Daily about their work in the burgeoning field of semi-legal weed. Though still not allowed under federal law, rapidly changing state regulations have created a relatively new industry worth roughly $5.7 billion. Clients looking to get involved in funding, growing or selling cannabis are calling upon lawyers to handle venture capital, finance, intellectual property, real estate, employment and regulatory work. Am Law 200 firms have approached this industry with varying degrees of discretion. T hompson Coburn has a blog, Tracking Cannabis, Seyfarth Shaw has one too in The Blunt Truth and Dykema Gossett will also have one soon. Fox Rothschild managing partner Mark Silow praised the cannabis work of the four-partner group his firm hired in Chicago from Nixon Peabody when the team was brought on last year. I dont think the firms ever been shy to put it out there that were entrepreneurial, said Fox Rothschild partner Joshua Horn. The co-chair of his firms securities industry practice, Philadelphia-based Horn is also a member of the National Cannabis Bar Association, which was formed last year. On Sunday, Pennsylvania became the 24th U.S. state to legalize medicinal marijuana, so, as opposed to his partners in Illinois, Horn said he hasnt put in much cannabis work near home. The Pennsylvania Bar Association has yet to officially authorize an ethics rule change that would protect lawyers working in this industry, as noted this week by sibling publication The Legal Intelligencer. But Horn said he is increasingly helping clients in other states raise capital to finance their cannabis ventures. Baker & Hostetler corporate partner Randolf Katz is also doing marijuana finance work in California, where voters could approve the recreational use of marijuana in November. Katz said his clients are increasingly drawn to pot startups. One fund was pretty heavily in it, he said, referring to a client. Another fund, in the past year, has sent over probably six to eight different potential investments for us to take a look at that are marijuana-related companies. NBC News has this new extended article, the first of a two-part series, taking a close look at the considerable difficulties that flow from medical marijuana reform efforts that only legalize CBD oils. This piece is headlined "'No-Buzz' Medical Pot Laws Prove Problematic for Patients, Lawmakers," and here is how it gets started: The idea was intoxicating to lawmakers in more than a dozen states where medical marijuana was a political nonstarter: Give patients with certain severe medical problems access to a type of pot that might provide relief without producing the "high" usually associated with the plant. But two years after 17 Midwestern and Southern states began passing a series of what are known as "CBD-only" medical marijuana laws, many people they were intended to help are rising up in protest. The laws, they say, help few patients, exclude others who could benefit and force residents to commit criminal acts in order to get relief for themselves or their loved ones. "There is no amount of tweaking to a CBD decriminalization law that will make it work," said Maria La France of Des Moines, Iowa, who gives her 14-year-old son, Quincy Hostager, an oil derived from marijuana to treat his Dravet syndrome, an intractable form of childhood epilepsy. "I don't want to break the law, but I have to." The CBD-only laws allow residents with specified medical conditions to legally use marijuana-derived products that contain cannabidiol (CBD) but are low in tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), which produces marijuana's "high." (Both CBD and THC are among the scores of active chemical compounds known as cannabinoids that are present in the marijuana plant.) For medical purposes, that usually means orally ingesting an oil derived from marijuana or hemp, though there also are numerous other products like body oils containing CBD for topical uses. Supporters involved in passing the laws portrayed them as compassionate measures that would let patients avail themselves of the potentially therapeutic or pain-relieving properties of pot without risking the possibility of creating a new generation of drug addicts. But political opposition often led by some of the families the laws were intended to help has emerged in many of the states that passed the legislation. "We're not lawbreakers and this shouldn't even be an issue," said Jennifer Conforti of Fayetteville, Georgia, who gives her 5-year-old autistic daughter, Abby, marijuana-derived oil with higher-than-allowed levels of THC to control dangerous biting episodes. "It should be a medicine that doctors go to when they need it." Conforti and others who want to expand the state's CBD-only law to cover additional medical conditions, allow for higher levels of THC and provide for in-state cultivation and distribution of CBD products have mounted a "civil disobedience" campaign to raise public awareness about the issue. In Utah, proponents of expanded access to whole-plant medical marijuana say they will conduct a campaign to unseat legislators who opposed a bill to expand the state's current CBD-only law. Even some involved in crafting CBD-only laws acknowledge that lawmakers have ventured onto thin ice by intervening in matters that may best be left to patients and their doctors. "Is this what we're going to do? Are we going to vote on the next blood pressure medication or chemo treatment because of anecdotal evidence?" said Pat Bird, an executive for a Utah substance abuse prevention program who was involved in the failed effort this year to update the state's CBD-only law. The laws also have been harshly criticized by both medical marijuana advocates and prominent members of the medical establishment, albeit for very different reasons. Do you like learning about the theory and practice of government? Would a career in political science, public administration or national security pique your interest? If so, read on to discover what a degree in government studies can do for you. Are Government Studies for Me? A degree program in government studies provides you with an understanding of the theory and practice of government, the nature of politics, policy making and public administration, as well as foreign policy and government security. A degree in this field may open doors to a number of career opportunities in government agencies, non-profit and non-governmental organizations or consulting firms, as well as in a college or university setting. You may find work as a political scientist, social scientist, reporter, international trade specialist, research analyst, political consultant or professor. As a political scientist, you could study political systems and the operations of government structures, conduct research, assess the effects of government policies and predict political trends. You can decide to enroll in a program with a concentration in security studies, which allows you to learn about national security, foreign policy, terrorism and government intelligence. These types of courses could lead to a job in the fast-growing security field. Income levels for this field vary according to your specific job, degree level and experience. For instance, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported in May 2010 that political scientists earned a median annual wage of $107,420 (www.bls.gov). In the same reporting year, it was noted that postsecondary political science teachers had a median annual wage of $70,540. The employment outlook for political scientists was predicted to be faster than average for all occupations from 2008-2018. Reporters and correspondents had an annual median wage of $34,530 in May 2010, with a predicted decline in employment of six percent between 2008 and 2018. How Can I Work in Government Studies? According to the BLS, entry-level positions for political scientists are available with a bachelor's degree. However, most positions require an advanced degree. If your passion is teaching at the college level, you need to earn a doctoral degree. An undergraduate degree in government could prepare you for a job as a journalist or correspondent, especially since many employers prefer candidates with a subject-matter specialty. An undergraduate degree may also prepare you for a number of entry-level jobs in homeland security, such as a border patrol agent. In an undergraduate program, you usually take classes in political theory and philosophy, American politics, comparative politics, and international relations. These classes will provide a foundational understanding of political processes in the U.S. and other nations and lay the groundwork for either an entry-level job or an advanced degree. A master's degree program will give you an in-depth look at the global political economy, public policy, law, policy-making and national security. You can learn about military and foreign policy in relation to global terrorism, as well as delving into the intricacies of the Constitution of the U.S. Doctoral degree programs in the field typically focus on a particular area of government studies, such as public policy, economics or international law. These programs are usually research-heavy, and you often need to prepare and defend a dissertation to graduate. A disease called Panama is threatening supplies of the worlds most popular fruit banana. Two years ago, the United Nations warned that the Panama disease could destroy much of the worlds banana crop. Since then, things have not gotten better. A new outbreak was discovered last year in Australia. The disease started in Asia in the 1990s, and later spread to Africa and the Middle East. World health officials worry the disease could travel to Latin America, one of the top banana producers in the world. All this is a big concern because bananas are an important source of income and nutrients for millions of people. They are grown in 135 tropical nations. The United Nations lists bananas as one of the most important foods, along with rice, wheat and corn. In 2011, farmers produced 107 metric tons, the UN said. The website ultimatesuperfoods.org says bananas also contain serotonin, which it says makes people feel happy. No matter who you are, youll enjoy the calming effects and positive vibes, the website says of the banana. Concern in the banana industry Randy Ploetz is a professor at the Tropical Research & Educational Center at the University of Florida. Many consider him as Americas top banana expert, or, top banana. As he explained, Panama disease affects the Cavendish banana. The Cavendish is one of more than 500 kinds of bananas. But it is the most popular. The industry is waking up to the problem, Ploetz said. They are pretty scared. He was speaking Thursday by telephone from Miami, Florida, where he is among 1,000 people attending the International Banana Congress. The meeting was supposed to take place in Costa Rica, but was moved at the last minute. There were concerns banana growers could spread Panama disease from dirt collected on their shoes, Ploetz said. Ploetz said reports Cavendish banana production could end are not correct. But if the disease spreads to Latin America, it could hurt the worlds economy along with food supplies for millions of people. Still, he said there is reason for hope. Scientists in Australia are working on a genetically engineered banana that might not be at risk of getting Panama disease. But Ploetz wondered if people are ready to accept genetically engineered bananas. Robert Bertram is chief scientist for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). He said bananas are important to many millions of people all over the world. In Africa, Asia and tropical America, bananas and plantains are an important food source for more than 100 million people, he told VOA. As a cash crop, bananas are sold in local, regional and international markets, Bertram said. Banana exports provide jobs and foreign money that producing countries need, he said. Bertram said USAID is organizing a worldwide effort to stop the growth of Panama disease. A fungus, known as TR4, causes the Panama disease. Before 2013, Bertram said, it was limited to Asia China, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Taiwan. Since then, it spread to the Middle East Jordan, Lebanon, Oman and Pakistan and to Africa, in Mozambique. In the 1960s, the same fungus wiped out the Gros Michel banana crop, which at the time was the worlds most popular. The Cavendish replaced it. John McQuaid, author of Tasty: The Art and Science of What We Eat said some people think the Gros Michels tasted better. At Wageningen University in the Netherlands, researchers are looking for Cavendish replacements. Their work is difficult. Researchers said a replacement will have to resist Panama disease, and survive the shipping time needed to get bananas to stores thousands of miles away from banana fields. And, yes, they will have to taste good. Bruce Alpert reported on this story for VOA Learning English. Hai Do was the editor. We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section or share your views on our Facebook Page. And do let us know if you like bananas and why. ___________________________________________________________ Words in This Story banana n. a long curved fruit with a thick peel that is yellow when it is ripe outbreak n. a sudden start or increase of a disease serotonin -- n. a compound present in blood vibes n. feelings top banana n. the top person in a field plantains n. a greenish fruit that comes from a kind of banana plant and is eaten after it has been cooked fungus n. any one of a group of related plants, such as molds, mushrooms, or yeasts, that live on dead or decaying things replacement n. the act of replacing something Fewer than 5 percent of the students who applied to Stanford University in California were accepted this year. About 6 percent of the applicants to Yale University in Connecticut were admitted. But one writer says if you did not get into a school like Stanford, Yale or Harvard University, do not despair. Jillian Berman writes for MarketWatch.com. She says students shouldnt panic if they dont get a spot. It is still possible to be successful. Stacy Dale and Alan Krueger wrote a paper in 2011 that says students who apply to universities like Stanford and Harvard -- but do not get in -- are likely to do well anywhere. The researchers say that confidence and ambition may predict success better than other factors. Those other factors include good grades, high SAT scores and activities out of school. The researchers say people who apply to these selective schools do well even if they are not accepted to schools like Princeton University or Dartmouth College. Berman wrote a story last year saying a study by the Brookings Institution might be more valuable than other lists: it ranks schools based on how much value they provide their students. The Brookings list shows how much more money students would earn graduating from one school over another. The list includes small colleges and technical schools that focus on agriculture, engineering, nursing and medical jobs. The idea about ambition and confidence does not always apply to minority students. The Dale and Krueger study says minority students should reach for these selective schools. That is because they can make social connections that may be useful for advancing their careers in the future. The list created by Brookings fits with another story posted on the website 538.com. The story is called Shut Up About Harvard. The writer is Ben Casselman. He says television and newspaper stories about universities fail to reflect real and honest college experience. Very few people attend a university lined with trees and brick buildings. These days, college is often a part-time or two-year experience. Students live at home and commute to classes. Movies that take place on a college campus, he says, are more fiction than truth. More truthful is a picture of an American university student who attends class part time while working and raising children. The most popular courses are no longer literature and philosophy. The most popular are business and health care. It is exciting to read about a student who is accepted by eight Ivy League schools. But these writers say those students will be successful anywhere. They say that students who need help getting to class and completing a degree are a greater concern. A professor from the University of Wisconsin spoke with Casselman. She says most of the stories about higher education in the U.S. skip the most important issue: People cant afford to spend enough time in college to actually finish their darn degrees. But if they do, Casselman writes, the degree remains the most likely path to a decent-paying job. That is why students can be successful even if they do not get into a school like Harvard. Im Dan Friedell. Dan Friedell adapted this story for Learning English based on reporting by Marketwatch.com and 538.com. Kathleen Struck was the editor. What do you think about the auto makers trying to sell larger vehicles in the U.S.? Write to us in the Comments Section or on our Facebook page. __________________________________________________________________ Words in This Story campus n. the area and buildings around a university, college, school, etc. fiction n. something that is not true shut up phrasal verb - to stop talking, laughing, etc. decent adj. adequate or acceptable rank v. to place (someone or something) in a particular position among a group of people or things that are being judged according to quality, ability, size, etc. selective adj. careful to choose only the best people or things confidence n. a feeling or belief that you can do something well or succeed at something ambition n. a desire to be successful, powerful, or famous panic n. a state or feeling of extreme fear that makes someone unable to act or think normally darn adj. used as a more polite form of damn reach v. to succeed in achieving (something) after making an effort over a period of time The number of Mexican migrants blocked from crossing the U.S. border in 2015 was at its lowest level in nearly 50 years. The information comes from reports by the Pew Research Center and the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agency. The border agency and the Obama administration give two reasons for the low numbers: Better border security and an improved economy in Mexico. The nations long-term investment in border security has produced significant and positive results, said the border agency in a statement. It points to more border agents, and increased use of airplanes, including drones. That makes crossing the border illegally much more difficult, the agency said. A new Pew Research Center report said the U.S. public is divided on immigration. It said 78 percent of Democrats and Democratic-leaning voters believe immigrants make the United States better. But only 35 percent of Republicans share this view of immigration, Pew researchers said. Overall, Pew said that 59 percent of Americans believe immigration is good for the United States. On Monday, the Supreme Court heard arguments over a lawsuit that seeks to block an Obama administration order allowing about 4 million undocumented immigrants to stay in the U.S. and get work permits. President Barack Obama said the U.S. government cannot deport all 11 million undocumented immigrants. He said his policy keeps people with family ties in the United States, while allowing them to work legally and support their families. But Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy said during arguments Monday that such a decision should be made by Congress, not the president acting alone. The court may be divided 4-4 on the case. If the court is divided, it would let stand a lower court ruling saying the Obama administration does not have the power to keep 4 million people free from deportation. Numbers Blocked at Mexican Border Down According to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agency, 188,122 apprehensions of Mexican migrants were made in 2015. That is 18 percent fewer than in the year before. And, it is the lowest number since 1969. An apprehension takes place each time people are stopped from crossing the border and entering the United States. Apprehensions from other countries decreased by an even larger percentage in 2015. They were down 68 percent, according to the border control agency. Candidates have put forward their positions on immigration Immigration is an important issue in the U.S. presidential race. The three Republican candidates for president said enforcement is not nearly tough enough. Businessman Donald Trump said he would build a wall along the U.S. border with Mexico and have Mexico pay for it. He also said he would remove all 11 million undocumented immigrants in the U.S. Republican Senator Ted Cruz of Texas has not joined Trump in calling for deporting all illegal immigrants. Instead, he has proposed filing criminal charges against people who stay past their visa deadlines and allow U.S. state governments to enforce immigration laws. Ohio Governor John Kasich, another Republican candidate, has called for better enforcement. However, he supports a program that would permit the millions of people in the United States illegally to gain legal status so they can work. Democratic candidates, former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont support a different policy. They have said they would like a path toward U.S. citizenship for undocumented immigrants. I'm Mario Ritter. Bruce Alpert reported on this story for VOA Learning English. Mario Ritter was the editor. We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section or share your views on our Facebook Page. ____________________________________________________________ Words in This Story migrant n. a person who goes from one place to another especially to find work significant adj. large enough to be noticed or have an effect positive adj. good or useful drones n. unmanned aircraft undocumented adj. not having official documents deadline n. a date or time when something must be finished Ancient language. Modern technology. Wherever you are in the world, eTeacher brings the world of Hebrew to you. Our classes are conducted via live video conferencing, so you can participate in lessons, tutorials and student discussions from the comfort of your own home, according to your schedule. Editor's note: What's more fun than passing off stalking celebrities on social media as work? Very little, right? And so, we scanned the Instagram and Twitter accounts of celebs from India and abroad, to bring to you weekly updates from the interwebz. Who tweeted to whom? Who reposted last night's party pics? Who went on a rant about-... well, whatever it is Kanye West rants about. Whatever it is, don't worry, we've got you covered. We stalk, you read. Deal? What can be a better birthday gift than finding out on your birthday that you have won the Dadasaheb Phalke Award? Manoj Bajpayee is surely a lucky birthday boy! This week, apart from Bajpayee's triumph, we have a budding friendship between Alia and Kareena, Britney Spears being an embarassing mom (who'd have thunk?) and Varun Dhawan's Captain America like behaviour. Read on, and we'll stalk on! Bffs are the new black Favourite!!! #UdtaPunjab #drugsdimadi A photo posted by Alia (@aliaabhatt) on Apr 17, 2016 at 2:15am PDT Call it wishful thinking, or sheer obsession, but ever since we heard Alia Bhatt and Kareena Kapoor Khan were going to star in a movie together (Udta Punjab) we were hopping new reports of the two "hitting it off like a house of fire" would emerge. Not only did the two share an adorable camaraderie at the trailer launch, often whispering and giggling with each other, Alia just confirmed what we all think about Bebo: that she's our favourite. Best birthday gift, ever Dadasaheb Phalke Award in the Best Actor (Critics Choice) to @BajpayeeManoj for his portrayal of Professor Ramchandra Siras in #Aligarh. Hansal Mehta (@mehtahansal) April 22, 2016 Given the fact that we recently learnt that many mainstream actors turned down Fawad Khan's part in this year's Kapoor & Sons, assuming because it a homosexual character, the conversation of hindi film actors playing gay characters has become dinner table conversation. Giving everyone a run for their money in this regard is Manoj Bajpayee, who played Professor Siras in Hansal Mehta's Aligarh. Oh, and he also found out, on his birthday, that he'll be given the Dadasaheb Phalke Award for his performance. Win! It's Britney, b*tch (and she sings MJ too) At it again... Having more fun than my kids lol A video posted by Britney Spears (@britneyspears) on Apr 19, 2016 at 7:56pm PDT Britney Spears love jamming to Michael Jackson, but clearly her two sons don't. In a highly adorable video, Britney sings along an MJ song, with the requisite pouts and all, and as she turns to her sons for some support (or even a thumbs up, guys), they are quick to ask her to "stop". Teenagers these days.. Varun Dhawan - tera superhero Was great meeting all the little captains thank u @marvel #captainamerica A photo posted by Varun Dhawan (@varundvn) on Apr 21, 2016 at 5:26am PDT Looks like Varun Dhawan is taking his hero-giri quite seriously. We feel this way because he is now the voice for Captain America in Hindi and this naturally means loads of promotions around the Marvel movie. Looking like a dapper superhero himself, Dhawan recently clicked a picture with children at a promotional event, each of them holding their own shields. Awww, right? When are you getting your own superhero movie, Varun? This week's Kanye-isms (because why not) Theres a scene in The Huntsman: Winters War where the titular character played by Chris Hemsworth lies on the ground, looking beat, chuckling this is the worst idea ever. For the audience watching the film its not hard to grasp the meta irony of that line. Why theres a sequel to Snow White and the Huntsman, a movie that didnt do too well both critically and commercially, is beyond comprehension. Like the Lord, sometimes Hollywood works in mysterious ways, so its best to go with the flow. The previous movie had some fairly interesting visual effects, so one would expect at least a visual spectacle in The Huntsman: Winter's War, especially since its directed by Cedric Nicolas Troyan who was responsible for the first films CGI. Unfortunately this film is a snoozy mess that wastes the resources of its huge star cast. Winter's War plays out as the prequel of the first film, and keeping in line with the Star Wars and Hobbit movies, the decision to go the prequel route hurts the film in the worst possible manner. This time were introduced to Princess Freya (Emily Blunt) who is having an affair with the Duke of Blackwood (Colin Morgan) and is also carrying a child. Her sister Ravenna (Charlize Theron) gets jealous when her Magic Mirror tells her that Freyas child would eventually become more beautiful than her. Ravenna murders the child and turns Freya into a monster who emits ice, lives alone in an ice castle and has a general hatred for everyone much like Elsa in Frozen. A crazed Freya also kidnaps kids and turns them into warriors, but two of the warriors Eric the Huntsman (Hemsworth) and Sara (Jessica Chastain) fall in love and plan to escape and revolt. The problem isnt that the film liberally borrows elements from Frozen, Game of Thrones and Lord of the Rings, but that it does so without making even a little bit of an effort to keep the audience engaged. The first films fault was the storytelling and the second film had to amp up the story, and not the visuals. Winters War predictably spends more time in rendering bigger scale CGI and making the background score louder, and the story department remains defunct. It becomes tiresome to see actors of this caliber awkwardly walking in the green screen chambers, mouthing terrible dialogue and often hamming it up. The other problem is that the only people who would see this film are those who saw the earlier film. And since the fates of The Huntsman, his lover, Ravenna, and her sister are all already known to the audience, it becomes quite stupid for this film to try and endanger the characters. So every time the hero comes close to danger theres no reason to react you know he lived to appear in the next film and hung out with Snow White. In the face of predictability some humor is generally beneficial but unfortunately the film plays out in an off-puttingly serious tone, and when Hemsworth makes the occasional joke it feels like he knows hes doing a terrible movie for the sake of contractual obligation. The only entertaining bit about this whole franchise still remains the tabloid expose of Kristen Stewart having an affair with the impeached director of the previous movie. And even she has cleverly moved on from this boring sequel to starring in critically films of Oliver Assayas. If there was one policy that this government was being deservedly praised for, it was the attempt to trim the subsidy bill, especially through better targeting of subsidies to the deserving. The biggest success here has been on the cooking gas front, with the direct benefit transfer of the subsidy amount into bank accounts (the PAHAL scheme) and the giveitup campaign, where people voluntarily and formally relinquished their subsidy and agreed to pay the market rate for their LPG refills. It is also experimenting with cash transfers in lieu of food and is set to launch similar experiments in kerosene and fertilisers. But now the government is taking two steps backward on this path. Petroleum minister Dharmendra Pradhan has been widely quoted in the media as saying (ironically at an event to announce that 11 million had signed up for giveitup) that those who had surrendered their LPG subsidy can reclaim it after a year. The various reports are a bit confusing about whether the minister said that the relinquishing was only for a year and there will be no auto-renewal of the surrender (The Times of India) or whether a surrender will be considered permanent unless a person expressly applies for a subsidised connection again (The Hindu). But the broad point is this - people who feel the pinch when the price of LPG rises (when global oil prices go up) can once again seek a subsidised cylinder. This just does not make sense. The impression given, when giveitup was introduced, was that this was one way to get the better off sections out of the subsidy regime, since they could afford to pay non-subsidised rates. How does that rationale change? More importantly, why should it change? Why should the government protect better off sections against price increases? What next bring the middle classes into the National Food Security Act ambit when prices of rice and wheat start to skyrocket? Pradhans stand flies in the face of statements made by senior functionaries of the finance ministry as well as the Prime Minister that government welfare and subsidies should be targeted towards the economically vulnerable sections. That is the right approach. The LPG subsidy rationalisation was a good start, why are the gains being reversed? During the United Progressive Alliance government, petroleum minister Jaipal Reddy had launched a transparency portal which showed that top industrialists and government functionaries had two or more subsidised LPG connections. This brought out the ridiculousness of the subsidy regime and prompted the search for solutions to keep the well-off out of the subsidy regime. The first step was the plan to cap the number of subsidised cylinders (later rolled back), then the DBT, which this government continued. This government went one step further in launching the giveitup campaign. Late last year, it also announced that people with more than Rs 10 lakh annual income would not be given subsidised LPG cylinders. But this too was based on self declaration. And The Hindu report quotes Pradhan as admitting that they have not used income tax data to enforce this. To repeat a point this writer has been making for long, subsidy rationalisation cannot rely on voluntarism alone and the resounding success of giveitup that the government has been tom-tomming could peter out when global oil prices rise. Pradhans assurance that people could opt back into the subsidy regime encourages this trend and sends out a wrong message. It is the people's belief in the PM that holds the key to the success of 'Give it Up'," Pradhan has been quoted as saying. It is possible that many people who may have given up their subsidised LPG connections in response to the Prime Ministers emotional pitch may not be from rich families and would not be able to afford to pay non-subsidised rates when prices do go up. It is also possible that someone who has an income of Rs 10 lakh today may find income getting halved after retirement and would feel the pinch of non-subsidised cooking gas. But the answer is not to have a revolving-door subsidy policy where people opt out and opt in again. Restoring the cap on subsidised cylinders is the best and most fair way of addressing this issue. The Economic Survey 2015-16 has pointed out that even the richest 10 percent urban households generally used only 10 LPG cylinders a year, while the poorest 10 percent in both rural and urban areas used only four. What, then, is the logic in retaining the number of subsidised cylinders a year at 12? Bringing the cap down to even eight will not affect the poor they will still have a cushion of four subsidised cylinders. The middle classes and the rich will have to pay non-subsidised rates for consuming more than the quota, which they can well afford to. This system will also take care of targeting issues. Using income tax data to deny subsidy is unfair to the salaried who cannot hide their income even as those who earn much, much more but are below the taxmans radar continue to enjoy the subsidy. Now everybody will get only a certain number of subsidised cylinders. A cap on subsidised cylinders will also encourage less wasteful usage. The principle underlying any subsidy regime should simply be this the well-off should not get government doles and support; that should be reserved for the economically vulnerable sections. That should be the principle for LPG, kerosene, food, fertiliser, in fact, for any government welfare scheme. The LPG subsidy rationalisation was a big step; it should not be reversed or diluted under any circumstances. It needs to be extended to other areas. New Delhi: It is the foreign brands like Google and Facebook that rank on top in terms of their influence, while domestic ones are placed lower, as per the new list of ten most influential brands in the country. According to the study by global research firm Ipsos, Google ranks on the top and is followed by Facebook, Gmail, Microsoft and Samsung in the top five -- all of which are foreign brands. While another foreign brand WhatsApp is sixth on the India's top 10 most influential brands, Flipkart is the top ranked Indian brand at seventh place. The other two Indian brands on the list - SBI and Airtel- are ninth and tenth, US based Amazon is placed at number eight. "Brands are more than just corporate logos. They have meaning, personality, even attitude. The role brands play in our lives and the world at large is becoming more important. "From improving our personal well-being to transforming the communities and societies we live in, many brands today are driven to make a dent in the universe," Ipsos, India Managing Director Amit Adarkar said. The Most Influential Brands study that ranks brands according to their influence in 21 countries including Australia, Belgium, Brazil, China, the US and UK, was conducted in December 2015. Ipsos study has measured the biggest, most well-known and/ or highest spending brands only. As a result, the study did not look at the entire market. "The Ipsos Most Influential Brand Study evaluates over 100 brands across 21 countries and involved 36,600 interviews. In India, where the study was conducted for the first time, we canvassed the country to ask more than 1,000 Indians online to assess more than 100 brands," Ipsos said. DHAKA A university professor was hacked to death on Saturday in northwestern Bangladesh, police said, with Islamic State claiming responsibility for the latest in a series of attacks on liberal activists. Two assailants on a motorcycle attacked Rezaul Karim Siddiquee, 58, an English professor at Rajshahi University, slitting his throat and hacking him to death, Rajshahi city police chief Mohammad Shamsuddin told reporters, quoting witnesses. He was found lying in a pool of blood near his home, where he was apparently waiting for a bus to the university campus about 200 kilometres (125 miles) northwest of Dhaka when he was attacked. Islamic State claimed responsibility for the killing of the professor for "calling to atheism", the U.S.-based SITE monitoring service said quoting the militant group's Amaq Agency. Police said the murder was similar to other recent attacks on secular bloggers by Islamist militants. But fellow university teachers said Siddiquee, while active in cultural events, never spoke or wrote anything about religion or Islam. "Professor Rezaul was killed in a similar fashion as the killings of bloggers," Shamsuddin said, adding he was a peaceful person and had no enemies. The Muslim-majority nation of 160 million has seen a surge in violent attacks over the past few months in which members of minority Muslim sects and other religious groups have also been targeted. Five secular bloggers and a publisher have been hacked to death in Bangladesh since February last year. A group affiliated with al Qaeda claimed responsibility for the killing of a liberal Bangladeshi blogger earlier this month, the SITE has said. Bangladesh authorities said the homegrown militant group Ansarullah Bangla Team is behind the attacks on online critics of religious extremism. The gruesome killing on Saturday triggered a protest by teachers and students of the Rajshahi University, blocking a major road and demanding immediate arrest of the killers. Three teachers at the university have been killed in recent years. Islamic State has also claimed responsibility for the killings of two foreigners, and attacks on mosques and Christian priests in Bangladesh since September, but police said local militant group Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen was behind those attacks. The government has denied that the Islamic State or al Qaeda groups have a presence in Bangladesh. At least five militants have been killed in shootouts since November as security forces have stepped up a crackdown on Islamist militants looking to establish a sharia-based Muslim state. (Reporting by Ruma Paul; Editing by Clelia Oziel) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. LONDON/STRATFORD-UPON-AVON, England U.S. President Barack Obama marked the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare's death on Saturday by visiting the Globe theatre in London for a performance of a scene from Hamlet, where the Danish prince poses the question: "To be or not to be". Celebrations were also underway in Stratford-upon-Avon where England's greatest playwright was born in 1564 and died in 1616. Thousands of people lined the streets of half-timbered Tudor buildings in the Warwickshire market town, 100 miles northwest of London, and donned Shakespeare masks to watch a procession of characters from the playwright's comedies and tragedies. On the banks of the Thames, actors at The Globe, London's monument to the Bard, treated Obama to a preview of a special touring production of his tragedy Hamlet, which was due to be performed there later on Saturday. As the sun illuminated the theatre's wooden stage through the open roof, Obama was entertained for 10 minutes by a troupe of actors playing violins, mandolins, an accordion and penny whistles. "That was wonderful. I don't want it to stop," Obama said. The visit was something of a pilgrimage for the 44th President of the United States who has named Shakespeare's tragedies as among the top three books that have inspired him. With its white-washed curved walls, the Globe opened in 1997 and is a replica of a theatre where Shakespeare performed, situated a few hundred yards from today's version, which burned to the ground in 1613. Performances of Hamlet and the Bard's other plays were also on the agenda in Stratford, where street artists in Elizabethan costumes erupted into verse, including a group who had travelled from Kentucky, in the United States, to set up stage outside the house where Shakespeare was born. Britain's Prince Charles and his wife Camilla are set to join the celebrations later on Saturday when they attend a performance in the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford. For the actors watched by Obama in Hamlet, the celebrations of the Bard's life started two-years ago, when they embarked on a tour which has performed in 189 countries. As well as the home-coming of the Hamlet tour, the anniversary was also marked in London by a series of screens along the River Thames which showed short films of each of Shakespeare's 37 plays. British Prime Minister David Cameron said Shakespeare's genius had captivated and changed the world. "His words about this nation 'this precious stone set in the silver sea' remain as potent as the day he wrote them," Cameron said, quoting from Richard II. Ian Waterhouse, in Stratford to take part in the parade, agreed with the Prime Minister. "Science and technology moves on. Nature moves on and morphs. We don't. We actually have all the angst, the love and the fear - everything that goes with Shakespeare and what came out of that time is still relevant to every single person alive and here today," he said. (Reporting by Roberta Rampton, Alex Fraser and Mia Reakes, Writing by Sarah Young; editing by Guy Faulconbridge, Susan Fenton and David Evans) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. LONDON U.S. President Barack Obama marked the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare's death on Saturday by visiting the Globe theatre for a 10-minute performance of a scene from Hamlet, where the Danish prince poses the question: "To be or not to be". The Globe, with its timbered, white-washed curved-walls, is London's best-loved monument to the Bard, famous for its open-air performances of the works of England's greatest playwright. With the sun illuminating the theatre's wooden stage through the open roof, Obama was treated to a short private performance and entertained by a troupe of actors playing violins, mandolins, an accordion and penny whistles. "That was wonderful. I don't want it to stop," Obama said of the tale of the melancholy prince before shaking hands with the actors. The visit was something of a pilgrimage for the 44th President of the United States who has named Shakespeare's tragedies as among the top three books that have inspired him. According to a 2008 interview he gave to Rolling Stone, the other two works were Toni Morrison's "Song of Solomon" and Ernest Hemingway's "For Whom the Bell Tolls". In 2011, he quoted from one of those Shakespeare tragedies, Richard II, as he toasted Queen Elizabeth II: "To this blessed plot, this Earth, this realm, this England." The Globe, the only building in London with permission to have a thatched roof, opened in 1997 and is a replica of the original theatre which was situated a few hundred yards from today's Globe. That theatre, partly-owned by Shakespeare, burned to the ground in 1613. The president might have caught a glimpse of some of the other 400th anniversary celebrations as he arrived at the Globe, which has been surrounded by screens along the river that are showing short films of each of Shakespeare's 37 plays. The celebrations of the Bard's life will culminate in the full performance of Hamlet at the Globe later on Saturday, played by actors who return to London after a two-year tour that has taken in 189 countries. "Shakespeares genius captivated and changed the world and men and women across England continue to do that today," Prime Minister David Cameron said. "His words about this nation 'this precious stone set in the silver sea' remain as potent as the day he wrote them," Cameron said, quoting from Richard II. (Writing by Sarah Young; editing by Guy Faulconbridge and Susan Fenton) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. Jammu: The students of National Institute Of Technology (NIT), Srinagar on Saturday took out a protest march in Jammu and demanded permanent deployment of the CRPF in the campus and reshuffling of college administration and immediate formation of Student's Council. Over 300 students including NIT students on Saturday took out a protest march from Press Club to Science College in support of their demands. The students said they will continue with their protest till their demands are not met and will boycott the regular classes starting from Monday. NSUI leaders joined the protesting students and said that they will continue supporting the protesting students till demands are met. The MHRD and the college administration have turned a "complete deaf ear" to the primary demands of the students, one of the protesting students said. They demanded permanent deployment of the CRPF with powers in the campus (not under state administration). Besides this they also demanded reshuffling of college administration immediately and restructuring of NIT Srinagar administration by introducing cadre system. Administration (both Teaching and Non-teaching staff) should consist of 50 per cent quota of J&K state personnel and 50 per cent quota from other states of India, the NIT students said. The NIT students also demanded immediate formation of Student's Council on the lines of top NITs, IITs. They also demanded an online Special Grievance Redressal Mechanism (SGRM) exclusively for NIT Srinagar directly monitored by the MHRD. They also demanded action against JK Police and administration involved in the incident and action against those faculty members who are harassing students academically and hoisting of of tiranga (national flag) in institute campus. Mumbai: A local Shiv Sena leader on Saturday stoked controversy by saying that Bhumata Brigade chief Trupti Desai would be hit with "slippers" if she tried to enter the Haji Ali Dargah but the gender equality campaigner said that she will go ahead with the plan on 28 April. Shiv Sena leadership, however, distanced themselves from the comment of Arafat Shaik saying "be it a man or a woman, all have equal rights to enter any religious place." "If she (Desai) speaks about entering the Haji Ali Dargah, she will be welcomed with a 'prasad' of chappals. She cannot be allowed to enter the mazar at any cost," Shaik told reporters in Mumbai. "Shaik's comments of hitting Tupti Desai with chappals were made in his personal capacity. This is not the official stand of the party. Our stand is that whether it is a temple or a dargah men and women have equal rights to pray in them," Sena spokesperson Neelam Gorhe said. "Also, once the High Court has given a decision it has to be implemented by the government and the police. Thus, it will be wrong to obstruct a woman's entry into any religious institution," she said. Taking Shaikh's threat lightly, Desai said no threats will work against her plan and she will stick to it. "No one can issue threats in a democracy. He has insulted women by threatening us against entering the dargah. We will go ahead with our plan on 28 April and not let their threats work with us," she said. Shaikh's comments evoked a sharp response from the Opposition parties, which said that Sena, through its Muslim leaders is putting forth its "real agenda." "This game of the Sena is well known. First make one of its leaders a scapegoat and put forth its stand through them and then conveniently distance itself. People have understood their real agenda," Congress spokesperson Al-Nasser Zakaria said. NCP leader Nawab Malik said Shaik is no community leader and "ridiculous" statements are being made by him to grab media attention. "He is not the leader of Muslims. He is making these ridiculous comments only to garner media attention. People know he belongs to a party infamous for making anti Muslim comments," he said. New Delhi: Budget passenger carrier SpiceJet on Saturday said that it has sacked a commander-level pilot on charges of sexual harassment. The pilot was sacked after an internal complaint committee found him to be guilty of misconduct and sexually harassing an air hostess. The incident occurred during the airline's February 28 Kolkata-Bangkok flight when the commander allegedly asked the air hostess to sit with him in the cockpit. According to sources, the pilot allegedly asked his co-pilot to leave the cockpit for a substantial period of time, leaving the commander and the air hostess alone. The commander repeated the act on the return leg of the journey. The pilot also used "unparliamentary language" with the Cabin Crew In Charge (CCI). Further, on complaint of the air hostess an internal committee was set up to look into the matter and found the commander guilty. "The incident would not have come to light if the pilot had not used abusive language with the cabin crew in charge. The very next day a complaint was received and the committee was setup to look into the matter," sources said. "The committee after recording the statement of all the parties found the pilot guilty. The airline's Chairman Ajay Singh was keen to take the strictest action possible against the pilot." After the inquiry the airline sacked the commander and informed the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) about the incident. In a statement the airline said that it is an equal opportunity employer. "With respect to the present case, we wish to inform that we have internal complaint committee in place which is mandated by The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (prevention, prohibition and redressal) Act, 2013," the statement said. "We initiated inquiry process as per the guidelines laid in the said Act." As per the airline, the services of the alleged pilot has been terminated and the case has been informed to DGCA by flight safety department. Apart from the sexual harassment charges, the DGCA is said to have taken note of the flight safety breach caused by the incident. The absence of the co-pilot from the cockpit for a substantial period of time is considered to be a major safety breach and violation of operational procedures. If found guilty of safety breach the flying license of the pilot may be suspended. Spirituality, mysticism, festivity, adventure and cultural extravaganza meet on the banks of River Kshipra at Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh, with the beginning of the month-long Maha Kumbh Mela Simhastha on 22 April. With the sunrise, the first holy dip in the river Kshipra (Shahi Snan) on Friday by nearly one million (10 lakh) devotees from various parts of the world, including 1.25 lakh sadhus (seers), marked the beginning of the Simhastha the largest congregation of Hindus in the world. Amidst the sound of conches and traditional musical instruments such as Dhol (drum) and Nagada, a large group of Naga sadhus belonging to Juna Akhada jumped into the river for a holy bath followed by others. Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan along with his wife took a holy dip during Shahi Snan on the first day. Massive arrangements have been made for the grand event, which attracts many foreign tourists. Today, we have made arrangements for 400 buses and 100 vans to take pilgrims from their destinations to bathing ghats. Besides this, we have full-fledged medical arrangement to take care of the devotees, a Simhastha administration official said. In a first, eunuchs and transgenders have participated in this Maha Kumbh under the umbrella of Kinnar Akhara. This is the first time we are participating in Maha Kumbh and will be a part of various rituals. We also have our programmes to showcase during the Mela, said Rishi Ajay Das, in-charge of the Kinnar Akhara. About Simhastha (Kumbh) Mela - From 22 April to 21 May at Ujjain. - Its called Simhastha due to celestial configuration. The Simhastha Maha Kumbh in Ujjain occurs when the Sun (Surya) is in zodiac sign Aries (Mesh) and Jupiter (Guru) in Leo (Simha). - The Kumbh Mela township is spread across more than 3,000 hectares and is divided into six zones and 22 sectors. - Budget earmarked of Rs 3,500 crore but likely to touch around Rs 5,000 crore; this is an increase of more than 10 times in the budget allocation for Simastha 2004. - 14 bridges and roads worth Rs 362 crore have been built; and a permanent 450-bed hospital has been built. - An ambulance with 14 stretchers has been created to carry patients from the Mela site to nearby hospital. - Digital display will tell a person from 30 km distance about parking facility and position. - Water from the Narmada river has been brought to the Kshipra. - According to MP government an estimated 5 crore pilgrims will visit Kumbh Mela from across the world. All you wanted to know about the Simhastha: - Akharas: There are 13 akharas (group/ school/institution of sadhus) like Juna, Nimrohi, Digambar, Nirvani, etc who have got approval from all the sects of Hindu religion and are participating. Of the 13 akharas, seven follow Shavism, three are Panchayati and three Vaishnavite. - Types of sadhus at Simhastha: 1. Naga sadhus: Naked sadhus who smear their bodies with ash and have long matted hair. Constant exposure to the weather makes them resistant to temperature extremes. Their eyes are bloodshot from constantly smoking charas (marijuana), which they believe aids enlightenment. 2. Shirshasinse: The ones who remain standing, sleep with their heads resting on a vertical pole, and meditate standing on their heads. 3. Kalpvasis: Those who remain by the river banks and devote their time to meditating, performing rituals, and bathing numerous times a day. 4. Urdhwavahurs: They have emaciated bodies from rigid spiritual practices. 5. Parivajakas: These are the ones who have taken a vow of silence. - Kinnar Akhara: For the first time in the history, Kinnar Akhara or Pari Akhara a group of about 1000 eunuchs and transgenders from across the country has participated and they will have procession in the city, host Bhagawath Kathas, Ram Katha, the yagya and the holy bath. - Shahi Snan (Holy royal bath/dip): There are 10 auspicious days for bathing including three for the Shahi Snan (April 22, May 9 and May 21). - Ghats for bathing: Ram Ghat (ancient and holiest ghat), Triveni Ghat (at the confluence of rivers Kshipra, Khan and the invisible Saraswati), Ganga Ghat, Mangalnath Ghat, Gau Ghat, Kabir Ghat, Siddhwat Ghat, etc. - Rituals: In the camps of various Akharas, one gets to see and experience rituals of different kinds from yogic to tantric practices. Pilgrims and tourists visit Simhastha to experience the unlocking of the mysticism in Hindu rituals. - Facility for cashless transaction: All the shops at Kumbh Mela will accept cards. Besides, 70 ATMs and 300 executives from various banks have been deployed. Legend behind Kumbh Mela Kumbh means pot or pitcher. Mela means festival or fair. Hence, the Kumbh Mela means festival of the pot. According to Hindu mythology, the churning of the ocean (Samudra Manthan) threw up Amrit or the nectar of immortality. Both gods and demons were part of the churning process and it was decided that nectar would be shared equally between the two groups. However, a fight broke between the two and during the battle celestial bird Garuda flew away with the pot (kumbh) of nectar. Its believed that wherever the drops of nectar fell Prayag in Allahabad, Haridwar, Nashik and Ujjain the auspicious Kumbh Mela is celebrated in a rotational basis. In each location, its held after every 12 years. The exact time and place of the festival depends on astrological and religious considerations. In between, in the sixth year, the Ardh Kumbh Mela (half mela) takes place. Ujjains historical legacy Ujjain, the ancient city situated on the eastern banks of river Kshipra was the most prominent city on the Malwa plateau and as the capital of the ancient Avanti kingdom, it emerged as the political centre of Central India around 600 BCE. Ujjain remained an important centre of political, commercial and cultural activities until the 19th century, when the British decided to develop Indore as an alternative centre for commercial activities. Its an important pilgrimage site for various sects among Hindus. Historical stalwarts like poet Kalidas, legendary emperor Vikramaditya and king Bindusar, father of Emperor Ashoka were associated with this city. Patna: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Saturday was officially coronated as the national president of the Janata Dal-United (JDU). JD-U general secretary KC Tyagi told the media that Nitish Kumar was formally endorsed by the party leaders and workers from across the country at the JD-U national council meeting in Patna. "Nitish Kumar's election as national president was endorsed by the party at its national council meeting," Tyagi said. Nitish Kumar was elected party president, replacing Sharad Yadav on 10 April at the party's national executive meeting held in New Delhi. JD-U Bihar unit president Vashisht Narain Singh said that party leaders from 28 states attended the national council meeting. "With Nitish Kumar as JD-U president, the party will play a more active role in national politics in the coming days," Singh said. United Nations: Pledging the India's commitment to fight global warming, Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar signed the historic Paris climate change agreement Friday calling it "the triumph of collective wisdom" in the global race to save the planet. The key element of the agreement that UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called "the covenant with the future" is a global effort to keep the rise in global temperatures below 2 degrees centigrade compared to the pre-industrial era level. After a parade of 175 leaders - presidents, prime ministers, princes, ministers and ambassadors - signed the agreement, the largest number of nations ever to sign such a pact at one time, Ban declared, "When I look out at the horizon, I see, more clearly than ever, the outlines of a new and better world." Speaking at the signing ceremony, Javadekar made a plea for "sustainable lifestyles and sustainable consumption" and for climate justice, both of which are in the agreement's preamble. "We must chalk up our action plans to implement the Paris Agreement based on these two features," he said. "If we continue with unsustainable consumption patterns, we will require three planets," he warned. "But we don't have three, we have only one planet, which people call mother earth. We must, therefore, take care of this one mother earth." Earlier in an interview he had attributed sustainable lifestyles and climate justice finding a place in the preamble to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's forceful advocacy. Javadekar solemnly reiterated India's commitment to reduce its emissions intensity - the amount of carbon output per unit of gross domestic product (GDP) - by 35 percent, to build up the non-fossil fuel power generation capacity to 40 percent, and to undertake a massive afforestation effort that will absorb 2.5 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Javadekar reminded the developed countries of their responsibilities. "Developed world must take enhanced targets for the pre-2020 period," which are required for the agreement to proceed, he said. "There cannot be an action holiday of five years." He also raised the issue of barriers being placed by developed nations in the way of adoption and proliferation of technologies for renewable energies. "Competitiveness concerns should not over shadow our common resolve to build a sustainable future," he said adding that he did not want to name any countries because of the solemnity of the occasion. The US took successful action against India before the World Trade Organisation over the requirements that certain parts for use in the Indian solar programmed should be made in India. New Delhi is challenging the ruling. The opening of the signing ceremony bestowed an honor for an Indian, Mahindra Group CEO Anand Mahindra, who was chosen to speak on behalf of the world's private sector. It was also a recognition of the active role the Indian private sector had taken on for limiting climate change. Mahindra said the agreement gave "business a chance to redeem itself from the trust deficit." He likened the process of arriving at the agreement to the manthan or churning in the Hindu scriptures that brought forth amrit or nectar of everlasting life, in this case the pact to "safeguard the world as we know it." The opening ceremony had a touch of glamour and drama amid a display of international power by political potentates. Actor Leonardo DiCaprio was one of the main speakers at the event and he said, "Now think about the shame that each of us will carry when our children and grandchildren look back and realise that we had the means of stopping this devastation, but simply lacked the political will to do so." Children representing 197 countries wearing shirts that read, "Your promise, our future," made their generation's case for the environment. US Secretary of State John Kerry held his two-year-old granddaughter Isabelle Dobbs-Higginson on his lap as he signed the agreement to emphasize the inter-generational responsibilities. Kolkata: Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi on Saturday launched a scathing attack on the Mamata Banerjee government in West Bengal, saying it has "snatched people's money and savings through the Saradha chit fund scam". "A government's job is to provide you with health, education and jobs; this government did not do that. But this government snatched all your money, all your savings through the Saradha chit fund scam," Gandhi said at an election rally in Howrah district. He said the government had failed in bringing jobs to the state. "Earlier, people used to come to Bengal in search of jobs but now they go to other states because everyone has realised that the Mamata government can not bring jobs in the state," Gandhi said. He also took pot-shots at Prime Minister Narendra Modi and said: "Here, Mamata ji does fake promises, there (in Delhi) Modi ji does the same." He told the gathering that if voted to power, the Congress' top focus would be to provide jobs to the youth of the state. Election Commission has run into Hydra, the nine-headed serpent in Greek mythology, while trying to tackle poll violence in West Bengal. When the EC announced polls over six phases in the state, more than a few eyebrows were raised. Spreading elections over a month and a half is a logistical nightmare. Apart from deployment of central armed forces who are not conversant with the local language in distant locations, it also involves realigning the state's own punitive machinery which temporarily comes under the EC's supervision. But what seemed a paranoid measure was actually a prudent tactic given West Bengal's history of bloodshed. Mindful of the gory statistics which date back to decades and repeated complaints from the opposition (especially in light of last year's civic body polls), the EC put in place an apparently foolproof strategy. Consider the arrangements for the recently concluded third phase of Assembly Polls. On Thursday, when polling was held in 62 seats across Kolkata north, Murshidabad, Nadia and Burdwan, the EC fielded a ring involving one lakh security forces. It included 714 companies of central paramilitary personnel in election-bound areas and a contingent of 25000-strong state police force to assist them in tackling the language barrier. There were police observers in each district (three for sensitive Murshidabad). The forces were asked to do routine flag-marches to instill confidence among voters. The thrust of the effort was to prevent and tackle violence on the polling day. It has to be admitted that so far, the EC has been largely successful in limiting the spilling of blood during the time that ballots were cast starting 4 April. But what about the time in between? In addition to the security forces, the media also play a crucial role in bringing incidents of violence and rigging to light. On polling days, teams of reporters, TV journalists swarm every far-flung booth with their OB vans and paraphernalia. So effective has the media been in their vigilance that in many cases, the EC has acted on the basis of reports which have emerged on TV channels. But the media, too, remain centred on polling activity. What happens after the last ballot is cast, lights are switched off, wires recoiled and scribes return home? A factoid may put things in perspective. While one person, CPIM's Tahidul Islam, has died so far in violence during the time of polling, the death toll since the announcement of election since 4 March stands at 12. Though the EC has said it takes incidences of post-poll violence "seriously", no sooner did polling ended for the third phase on Thursday there were renewed clashes between the ruling Trinamool Congress and alliance partners CPIM and Congress, resulting in the deaths of three party workers, two from CPIM and one Congress. Lodhna village in Khandaghosh constituency in Bengal's Burdwan strict witnessed two gruesome killings. CPIM's Sheikh Fazal Ali, 58, was hacked to death with sharp weapons while 57-year-old Dukhiram Dal's veins were cut as he bled to death right before the eyes of his son Sisir, who hid behind a wall to save his life. In a report carried by The Telegraph, Sisir, who assists his dad in selling vegetables, recalled how alleged TMC workers attacked them with bombs and hatchets after voting ended on Thursday. "As bombs exploded all around, I hid behind a wall and saw my father being chased. He tripped and several TMC men, armed with cleavers and hatchets, pounced on him. One of them told the others how to cut the veins in my father's legs. I shall never forget the scene," Sisir was quoted, as saying. Ali, CPIM's polling agent for booth No 108, also met his death in a similar fashion though his son Sajal, who hid in a nearby bush, was spared the ordeal of watching his dad being killed. The men lay bleeding and gasping till 9 pm when the cops arrived and eventually took them to the Burdwan Medical College and hospital where they died a few hours later, according to Burdwan SP Gaurav Sharma. In Burdwan's Raina, Congress worker Khandekar Ali was killed in the Mathnurpur area when alleged TMC workers, who had got into a spat with him over casting of votes, hit him with a rod. In each of these cases, the ruling party has denied involvement, blaming it on either intra-party skirmish between alliance partners or family feud. Elsewhere on Friday, TMC leader Chanchal Debnath was beaten up by alleged CPIM activists in Nadia district's Haringhata area. In return, a group of TMC workers allegedly ransacked the house of former MLA Nani Gopal Malakar and beat up former CPIM minister Bankim Ghosh. In his complaint, Ghosh, who is now admitted with injuries and respiratory problems, said 12 TMC miscreants were involved in the attack and the "mayhem went on for about 20 minutes." "The TMC men also took away money and valuables and escaped through the back door when police came," Dipti, Nani Malakar's wife, was quoted as saying by news agency PTI. "In the day of polling, police, central forces and media keep strict vigil. So the TMC strategy is now to indulge in violence immediately after the polls or to intimidate voters before the day of voting. Villager are being told they will face dire consequences if they so much as go near the booth," CPIM MP and politburo member Mohammad Salim told Firstpost. "Law and order is a state subject. It is the responsibility of the administration and the Election Commission to prevent such incidents from happening. The killings are a sign of TMC's insecurity. Facing defeat, Mamata Banerjee has increased her rhetoric," he added. "The killings are a desperate step to instill a sense of fear among voters who have so far refused to be cowed down by such tactics and are answering TMC's reign of terror by casting their ballots," added the CPIM MP. Surjya Kanta Mishra, state CPIM leader and the alliance partner's CM candidate, repeated the charge on Twitter. Frustrated TMC unleashes post poll terror in diff parts of d state!!!More fierce your attacks; mightier the Peoples resistance!! Oust TMC!!! Surjya Kanta Mishra (@SurjyaKMishra) April 22, 2016 Amid the rhetoric and counter-rhetoric, the EC's job is cut out in West Bengal. Three phases are still left. SYDNEY Australian police are investigating how confidential information about the outcome of a tender process for Australia's next submarine fleet was leaked to the media, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported on Saturday. It is the second leak from within the military acquisition project which has come down to a race between bids from French, German and Japanese companies for an A$50 billion contract to build 12 submarines. Australia's Federal Police confirmed in a statement to the ABC that they had been asked to investigate, the broadcaster said. Police spokesmen were not available for comment. The investigation follows an ABC report earlier in the week that said the Japanese bid had been "all but eliminated" from the tender process. No official announcement on the outcome of the tender has been made. A final decision had been expected at the end of the year but Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull's recent gamble on a July 2 election has sped up the process and a winner is now expected to be announced by the end of the month. The contract is politically sensitive as it will likely have an impact on thousands of jobs in the shipbuilding industry in South Australia state. Retaining votes in key electorates in that state will be critical for the government. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Kawasaki Heavy Industries are offering to build a variant of Japan's Soryu submarine. Germany's ThyssenKrupp AG's is proposing to scale up its 2,000-tonne Type 214 class submarine. France's state-controlled naval contractor DCNS has proposed a diesel-electric version of its 5,000-tonne Barracuda nuclear-powered submarine. America's Raytheon Co, which built the system for Australia's current Collins-class boats, is vying for a separate contract for a combat system for the submarine with Lockheed Martin Corp, which supplies combat systems to the U.S. Navy's submarine fleet. (Reporting by Tom Westbrook; Editing by Robert Birsel) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. Dhaka: Unidentified attackers hacked to death a university professor in Bangladesh on Saturday, police said, adding that the assault bore the hallmarks of previous killings by Islamist militants of secular and atheist activists. Police said English professor Rezaul Karim Siddique, 58, was hacked from behind with machetes as he walked to the bus station from his home in the country's northwestern city of Rajshahi, where he taught at the city's public university. "His neck was hacked at least three times and was 70-80 percent slit. By examining the nature of the attack, we suspect that it was carried out by extremist groups," Rajshahi Metropolitan Police commissioner Mohammad Shamsuddin told AFP. Shamsuddin said police had not yet named any suspects but added that the pattern of the attack fitted with previous killings by Islamist militants. Nahidul Islam, a deputy commissioner of police, told AFP Siddique was involved in cultural programmes, including music, and set up a music school at Bagmara, a former bastion of an outlawed Islamist group, Jamayetul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB). "The attack is similar to the ones carried out on (atheist) bloggers in the recent past," Islam said. Homegrown Islamist militants have been blamed for a number of murders of secular bloggers and online activists since 2013, the most recent being in the capital Dhaka early this month. Police said that in each of the attacks unidentified assailants hacked the victim to death with machetes or cleavers. Eight members of banned Islamist group Ansarullah Bangla Team, including a top cleric who is said to have founded the group, were convicted late last year for the murder of atheist blogger Ahmed Rajib Haider in February 2013. 'Wrote poems, short stories' Sakhawat Hossain, a fellow English professor from the university and a friend, said the slain teacher played the Tanpura, a musical instrument popular in South Asia, and wrote poems and short stories. "He used to lead a cultural group called Komol Gandhar and edit a bi-annual literary magazine with the same name. But he never wrote or spoke against religion in public," Hossain told AFP. Police said Siddique was the fourth professor from Rajshahi University to have been murdered. In February, a court handed down life sentences to two Islamist militants for the murder of another professor, Mohammad Yunus. The recent killings have sparked outrage at home and abroad, with international rights groups demanding that the secular government protect freedom of speech in the Muslim-majority country. Ansar al-Islam, a Bangladesh branch of Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent, this month claimed responsibility for the murder of 26-year-old Nazimuddin Samad, a law student who was killed on the streets of Dhaka, according to US monitoring group SITE. Police, however, blamed the Ansarullah for the murder. Bangladesh authorities have consistently denied that international Islamist networks such as Al-Qaeda or the Islamic State group, which recently claimed responsibility for the murders of minorities and foreigners, are active in the country. A long-running political crisis in the majority Sunni Muslim but officially secular country has radicalised opponents of the government and analysts say Islamist extremists pose a growing danger. NEW YORK Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff denounced her impeachment as a "coup" to an international audience on Friday, and said she would appeal to the Mercosur bloc of South American nations for Brazil to be suspended if democratic process is broken. "I would appeal to the democracy clause if there were, from now on, a rupture of what I consider democratic process," she told reporters in New York. Mercosur has a democratic clause that can be triggered when an elected government is overthrown in any of its member states, as happened in Paraguay in 2012. A breach results in suspension from meetings and can lead to the country losing its trade benefits. Rousseff's comments were the strongest signal yet that she could continue fighting her ouster if the Senate removes her from office. The impeachment process has "all the characteristics of a coup" as it has no legal basis, she said, in an attempt to rally international support for her political narrative. Rousseff could be removed from office within weeks by the Senate in an impeachment process that has paralysed her government and thrown Brazil into its deepest political crisis since its return to civilian rule in 1985. The president denied her cabinet is hobbled by impeachment proceedings but said the country currently lacked the political stability to balance its fiscal accounts. Rousseff suffered a crushing defeat on Sunday when the lower house of Congress voted to impeach her, almost guaranteeing the leftist leader will be forced from office in a Senate trial just months before the nation hosts the Olympics. The impeachment has polarized the country, with her supporters regarding the attempt to oust her for breaking budget laws as a "coup without weapons," while opponents say the process follows the law and the constitution. Rousseff adopted a softer tone earlier on Friday in a speech to the United Nations during the signing of the Paris Agreement on climate change, in which she avoided the word "coup." "I cannot conclude my remarks without mentioning the grave moment Brazil is currently undergoing," she said. "I have no doubt our people will be capable of preventing any setbacks." Rousseff said foreign leaders had expressed solidarity.s Her last-minute decision to go to the United Nations brought the Brazilian crisis to the streets of New York. Outside the U.N. headquarters, some 100 Rousseff backers chanted in support of the beleaguered leftist president, while about 50 opponents chanted back at them. "There won't be any setbacks. The impeachment will go ahead," said opposition Congressman Jose Carlos Aleluia, who was sent to observe Rousseff's speech at the U.N. by her nemesis, lower house Speaker Eduardo Cunha. "The accusations against the President are very serious. Her actions led to economic chaos, besides violating the Constitution," Cunha's office said in a statement. Rousseff is being impeached for manipulating public accounts, a charge that she denies. TEMER: READY TO GOVERN If Rousseff is impeached by the Senate in a vote expected in mid-May, Rousseff will be suspended pending a trial and replaced by Vice President Michel Temer. Temer has denied Rousseff's accusations that he has openly plotted against her and rejects the notion that a "coup" is underway. In comments to reporters on Friday, Temer said Rousseff's speech was "adequate" but asked for an end to attacks on him that hurt Brazil's standing. In interviews with two U.S. newspapers published on Friday, Temer criticized Rousseff's trip and said he was ready to govern Brazil if she is unseated, though he denied he was already forming a shadow cabinet. Temer told the Wall Street Journal that Rousseff was damaging Brazil's image at a time when it needed to attract foreign investment to pull the country out of the worst recession since the 1930s. To the New York Times, he said: "I'm very worried about the president's intention to say Brazil is some minor republic where coups are carried out." Justice Dias Toffoli, who was appointed to the Supreme Court by Rousseff, also criticized the president for tarnishing Brazil's democratic credentials abroad, joining two other judges of the 11-member court to rebuke her publicly this week. "To allege that a coup is under way is an offence to Brazil's institutions... because it gives Brazil a bad image," Toffoli told TV Globo. (Additional reporting by Leonardo Goy in Brasilia; Writing by Anthony Boadle; Editing by Diane Craft and Mary Milliken) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. New Delhi: An invitation to a leading Chinese dissident to participate in a conference in Dharamshala next week could develop into another irritant between India and China. Dolkun Isa, a leader of World Uyghur Congress (WUC) who lives in Germany, has been invited to the conference being organised by the US-based 'Initiatives for China'. Uyghurs and many other Chinese dissidents in exile are expected to attend and discuss democratic transformation in China. China's unhappiness about reports that Dolkun has been given the visa was reflected in Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hua Chunying saying, "What I want to point out is that Dolkun is a terrorist in red notice of the Interpol and Chinese police. Bringing him to justice is due obligation of relevant countries." When asked about the issue, External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Vikas Swarup today said,"We have seen the media reports and External Affairs Ministry is trying to ascertain the facts." India's decision to permit WUC leaders whom China regards as backers of terrorism in its volatile Muslim-dominated Xinjiang province was reported to be in response to Beijing blocking Indian bid to get Jaish-e-Muhammad chief Masood Azhar banned by the UN. Meanwhile, Dolkun has been quoted by media as saying that he had already been granted visa by the Indian government for the conference but he would take a final call only after assessing his security in India, as China got a Red Corner Notice issued against him by Interpol. GAZIANTEP, Turkey Germany is seeking the creation of "safe zones" to shelter refugees in Syria, Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Saturday, an idea Turkey has long championed in the face of U.N. caution. Keeping refugees on the Syrian side of the border would help Brussels and Ankara, which hosts 2.7 million Syrian refugees, stem the flow of migrants to European shores. The U.N. has warned against the plan unless there was a way to guarantee the refugees' safety in the war-torn state. Aid workers have opposed it. The cessation of hostilities in Syria which began at the end of February and was sponsored by Russia and the United States to allow for peace talks, has since faltered. The opposition, which walked out of negotiations in Geneva said the truce, which excluded powerful jihadist groups such as Islamic State and the Nusra Front, al Qaeda's branch in Syria, was no longer in place. At a news conference in the Turkish city of Gaziantep, Merkel called for "zones where the ceasefire is particularly enforced and where a significant level of security can be guaranteed." As tens of thousands of refugees fleeing the fighting in Syria are unable to cross into Turkey, and instead are camped near the Azaz border crossing where local agencies offer humanitarian support, some have accused Turkey of stealthily forming such a zone. The EU-Turkey agreement to send back thousands of migrants from the Greek islands to Turkey has also been fiercely criticised by United Nations refugee and human rights agencies, as immoral and a violation of international humanitarian law. Rights groups say Turkey is not a country where returnees can be guaranteed proper protection. The agreement, coupled with border closures in Europe that meant smugglers could not secure passage to northern Europe, initially slowed the numbers of new arrivals to Greece. But boats have been arriving with about 150 people a day, indicating the "hermetic sealing" of the route appears to be over, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said. TURKEY "BEST EXAMPLE" One side of the bargain, used to sell the migrant deal to the Turkish public, was Turks winning quicker visa-free travel to Europe, a pledge that now could go unfulfilled, at least by the June deadline Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu had wanted. On Saturday Davutoglu said there would be no more readmissions if visa liberalisation was not enacted, but that he believed the EU would take the necessary steps. "We have said that Turkey naturally must fulfil the conditions, these are 72 projects that must be implemented," Merkel said. "My aim is that we stick to those understandings. Provided that Turkey delivers the relevant results." Davutoglu, Merkel, EU Council President Donald Tusk and Vice-President of the European Commission Frans Timmermans visited a refugee camp in Nizip and the inauguration of a child protection centre in Gaziantep. Following comments from a Turkish officials that there were problems in releasing the 3 billion euros ($3.37 billion)promised to Turkey to look after refugees, Tusk said access to the funds was being accelerated. Hundreds of thousands of Syrian children in Turkey have no access to education. Davutoglu said Turkey had met all its responsibilities, including giving refugees the right to work. But a work permit scheme for refugees designed to protect them from exploitation has been slow to gain traction, with many Syrians unable to apply without the support of their bosses. Yet Tusk on Saturday praised Turkey as a refugee host. "Today Turkey is the best example in the entire world of how to treat refugees. I am proud that we are partners. There is no other way," he said. Amnesty International has said Syrians are being shot at trying to enter Turkey while others are being deported to Syria against their will, a claim Davutoglu refuted on Saturday. "While Turkey and Europe haggle over long standing political battles like visa free travel, refugees continue to suffer with little chance of protection in Europe and serious violations against them in Turkey," said Gauri van Gulik, deputy Europe director at Amnesty International. "All states have a duty to protect refugees that can't be traded away for political expediency." ($1 = 0.8909 euros) (Writing by Dasha Afanasieva; Additional reporting by Joseph Nasr; Editing by Tom Heneghan and David Evans) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. Kathmandu: Veteran Nepalese journalist Kanak Mani Dixit, who was arrested by an anti-graft body for allegedly misappropriating a huge amount of money by misusing his public post, was on Saturday admitted to the ICU of a hospital in Kathmandu after he complained of high blood pressure. Dixit, the publisher of Himal and Nepali Times magazines who is considered well-disposed towards India and also writes for leading India media outlets, was admitted to the ICU in Bir Hospital to check uncontrolled blood pressure and heart conditions, his family sources said. Dixit, who is also a rights activist and the Chairman of Sajha Yatayat, the public transportation bus system in Nepal which serves Kathmandu Valley, was arrested from his Patan residence near Kathmandu on Friday by a team of around 20 police personnel deployed by the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA). Dixit was kept in the custody of Metropolitan Police Circle, Gaushala. The anti-graft body has been probing the property details of Dixit on suspicion of amassing property disproportionate to his known source of income. Dixit, 60, had been ignoring summons by the constitutional anti-graft body and was "on the run", according to the CIAA. In a statement, the watchdog had said that Dixit was arrested on the basis of complaints received against him that he misused his public position as the chairman of Sajha Yatayat to accumulate property illegally. Meanwhile, Federation of Nepalese Journalists condemned the arrest, and demanded full investigation into the matter. "We condemn this action taken by the CIAA against a journalist, a pro-democracy and human rights activist. He is being detained in inhuman conditions, and we demand an immediate end to his physical and psychological arassment. Dixit should be released unconditionally forthwith," FNJ said in a statement. "We need to know whether there was misuse of power or prejudice involved in the process of arresting journalist Dixit by CIAA, which need to be made clear," said FNJ president Mahendra Bishta. "We are constantly monitoring the process of action being taken against Dixit by the commission," he added. The body expressed hope that the CIAA will investigate into all the aspects related to Dixit before arriving at any conclusion in the matter. "We are also keenly watching the process of investigation in this regard," he added. Dixit is accused of selling the organisational property as own inheritance and investing the income in other corporations. He has also been alleged to have procured a house and land in his name in the US. The total amount of alleged embezzlement was not known. The civil society leader, however, told local media after the arrest that the move was following an undemocratic decision of CIAA chief Lokman Singh Karki. BEIRUT Regional Kurdish security forces and pro-Syrian government forces have declared a ceasefire in northeastern Syria, the Kurdish side said, calming a three-day outbreak of violence which killed more than 26 people. The Kurdish Asayish forces said in a statement that the accord took effect at 3:30 p.m. (1230 GMT) on Friday and a Reuters witness said the truce was holding on Saturday. The witness and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based group tracking the five-year-old war in Syria, said it did not appear that Asayish forces had withdrawn since the start of the truce from any recently-gained territory. During the fighting, Asayish forces seized control of a number of government-controlled positions in the city of Qamishli, in Hasaka province, as well as its main prison. A Syrian Kurdish official has said this was the second biggest outbreak of fighting between President Bashar al-Assad's government and regional Kurdish forces since Syria's civil war began in 2011. Qamishli, near the Turkish border, is mostly controlled by Kurdish security forces, though pro-Assad forces still hold a few areas in the city centre, and its airport. Syrian Kurdish forces now dominate wide areas of northern Syria and set up their own government there. Syria has become a patchwork of areas controlled by the government, an array of rebel groups, Islamic State militants, and Kurdish militia. Mediators have struggled to get Syria's combatants to honour a Feb. 27 cessation of hostilities deal to enable peace talks to proceed. On Friday, the U.N. special envoy for Syria vowed to take the talks into next week despite a walkout by the main armed opposition with both sides gearing up to escalate the war. (Reporting by Lisa Barrington in Beirut and Rodi Said in Hasaka, Syria; Editing by Mark Heinrich) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. Prosecutors in Phoenix on Friday filed court papers to withdraw criminal charges against a man who was arrested last year and accused in a string of Arizona freeway shootings, a spokesman for prosecutors said. The move by the Maricopa County Attorney's Office came after a judge on Tuesday reduced the bail of 21-year-old Leslie Allen Merritt Jr to nothing from $150,000, clearing the way for his release later that day. "We have a professional and ethical duty to act in the interest of justice and not merely seek a conviction and this is a textbook example of doing that," said Jerry Cobb, a spokesman for the Maricopa County Attorney's Office. A ballistics expert has called into question the methodology used early on in the investigation that tied Merritt, a landscaper, to the shootings, Cobb said. A judge is expected to rule to formally dismiss the case against Merritt as early as Monday. Merritt was arrested last Sept. 18 and charged with 15 criminal counts, including drive-by-shooting and aggravated assault, for four of 11 shooting incidents along a stretch of Interstate 10 that passes through Phoenix. The shootings, which occurred in late August and early September, struck fear among motorists in the area. No other suspect has been arrested in connection with the attacks. The court filing on Friday by prosecutors left open the possibility that they could charge Merritt again in connection with the case, and they are continuing to work with police on the investigation, Cobb said. Police last year said they were able to "forensically link" four of the shootings to Merritt's handgun, which was found by investigators at a local pawn store. At the court hearing on Tuesday where Maricopa County Judge Warren Granville reduced Merritt's bail however, Merritt's attorney cited findings by the prosecution's expert witness and said a ballistics match "does not exist." One person suffered a minor injury during the shootings. Arizona Governor Doug Ducey announced Merritt's arrest with an emphatic "We got him!" message on Twitter, which led critics to say Ducey was unfairly suggesting from the outset of the case that Merritt was guilty. (Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis in Los Angeles; Editing by Curtis Skinner) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. BEIRUT Syrian warplanes bombed the rebel-held town of Douma near Damascus on Saturday, killing 13 people, while aerial bombings of insurgent-controlled parts of Aleppo in the north killed or wounded at least 17, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. Mediators have struggled to get combatants in Syria's five-year-old war to honour a Feb. 27 cessation of hostilities deal to enable peace talks in Geneva to proceed. Each side accuses the other of violating the truce. The Britain-based Observatory, which monitors the Syrian war through a network of contacts, said the death toll in Douma, northeast of the capital, was expected to rise because more than 22 others were injured, some critically. There was also fighting near Bala southeast of Damascus between rebel groups and government forces with deaths occurring on both sides, the Observatory said. In Aleppo, at least 17 people were injured or killed, including a child, by bombs dropped from planes in an eastern neighbourhood of what was Syria's commercial hub before the civil war began in 2011. The number of those killed remained unclear, the Observatory's director said. On Friday, the U.N. special envoy for Syria vowed to take the talks into next week despite a walkout by the main armed opposition with both sides gearing up to escalate the war. (Reporting by Lisa Barrington; Editing by Mark Heinrich) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. BEIRUT Syrian warplanes bombed the rebel-held town of Douma near Damascus and parts of Aleppo in the north on Saturday, killing 23 people, with the death toll likely to rise, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. Mediators have struggled to get combatants in Syria's five-year-old war to honour a Feb. 27 cessation of hostilities deal to enable peace talks in Geneva to proceed. Each side accuses the other of violating the truce. Fighting has escalated around Aleppo, Idlib, Latakia, Damascus and other areas over the past week and the main opposition group walked out of Geneva peace talks this week in protest at government attacks. The Geneva talks aim to end a war that has killed more than 250,000 people, created the world's worst refugee crisis, allowed for the rise of the Islamic State group and drawn in regional and major powers. Russia's intervention in the conflict beginning late last year has swayed the war in President Bashar al-Assad's favour. The Britain-based Observatory, which monitors the Syrian war through a network of contacts, said the death toll in Douma, northeast of the capital, was expected to rise from 13 because more than 22 others were injured, some critically. In a government-controlled camp near Douma, shelling killed a woman and child, and injured others, the Observatory said. There was also fighting near Bala in the southeast of Damascus between rebel groups and government forces with deaths occurring on both sides. In Aleppo, at least ten people were killed, including a child, by bombs dropped from planes in an insurgent-controlled eastern neighbourhood of what was Syria's commercial hub before the civil war began in 2011. This is the second day of heavy bombardment on Aleppo. Nineteen people were killed on Friday in similar air attacks. In a government-held area of northwest Aleppo, Syrian state television said six people were injured in rebel shelling. On Friday a Syrian warplane crashed southeast of Damascus. The Syrian military said it crashed because of a technical fault, but Islamic State said it shot the plane down and had taken its pilot captive. In a statement on Saturday the hardline militant group said this was the third Syrian warplane it had shot down in two weeks, in addition to a Russian drone. On Friday, the U.N. special envoy for Syria vowed to take the talks into next week despite the opposition suspending their involvement. (Reporting by Lisa Barrington; Editing by Clelia Oziel) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. London: After some royal socializing and attention to the affairs of state, President Barack Obama is moving on to Shakespeare. Obama was spending part of Saturday, his final day in London, learning more about playwright William Shakespeare. Obama was to tour Shakespeare's Globe, a replica of the circular, open-air playhouse that the author of such tragedies as Hamlet, Macbeth and Romeo and Juliet designed in 1599. Obama also planned to answer questions from British young people at a town hall-style meeting and hold private talks with Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn. The president was capping the night at a dinner with Prime Minister David Cameron and US Ambassador Matthew Barzun at the envoy's government residence. A day earlier, Obama brushed off biting criticism that he's meddling in British affairs and spoke out strongly in support of Cameron's desire for his country to retain membership in the European Union, a continental alliance of 28 nations. Voters will have the final say in a June 23 referendum, but Obama stressed his view that EU membership only enhances British influence. "The nations that make their presence felt on the world stage aren't the nations that go it alone but the nations that team up to aggregate their power and multiply their influence," Obama said alongside Cameron at a news conference Friday. "And precisely because Britain's values and institutions are so strong and so sound, we want to make sure that that influence is heard, that it's felt, that it influences how other countries think about critical issues." "We have confidence that when the UK is involved in a problem that they're going to help solve it in the right way. That's why the United States cares about this," he said. Obama was likely to be questioned about Britain's possible exit from the EU, dubbed Brexit, during Saturday's town hall. The president, accompanied by his wife, Michelle, bookended his Friday with a pair of royal engagements during what is likely his final visit to England as president: a birthday lunch at Windsor Castle with Queen Elizabeth II, who turned 90 this week, followed by dinner with her grandsons, Princes William and Harry, and William's wife, Kate, at Kensington Palace. A bonus for Obama was the chance to meet Prince George, William's nearly 3-year-old son. The palace released several photos showing the Obamas and the royals chatting in the drawing room of William's apartment home, and of Obama kneeling in front of George, who appeared ready for bed in pajamas and a robe. A skittish Sydney has an eye on his fortunes. For a week, McGrath Ltd shares have traded at about half their $2.10 float price, finishing at $1.10 on Friday after a trading halt the week before and a crash to 85 on Monday. The company, valued at $215 million, downgraded its projected revenue by $4 million the same day. Float brokers JPMorgan and Bell Potter then slashed their share price outlooks by 23 to 28 per cent. Housing affordability fears, tighter bank borrowing rules, slowing Chinese demand, increased apartment supply, election-year uncertainty and bad press have all been blamed for the share slump. As a full-page McGrath advertisement said on Wednesday: "The difference between a good price and a great price isn't one thing, it's everything." Ideas man McGrath himself has kept quiet this week, refusing interview requests. "I imagine he must be finding it very challenging and very disappointing," said entrepreneur Wendy McCarthy, a founding chair of McGrath Operations who left in June. "You've got people telling you everything is going to be fabulous and the float is oversubscribed and you believe it." McCarthy, who praised McGrath's imagination and generosity, said he had dreamt of floating for at least 15 years. "I think it's a sort of validation." McGrath was pleased with his school leaving score of 95 before he discovered it was out of 500. Having wanted to become a rugby league player, he suffered two collapsed lungs and went into real estate instead in 1988. "He took the industry to another level," Debbie Donnelley, a former employee, said. "He was an ideas man." McGrath produced marketing materials of unprecedented quality and expanded to become a force in Sydney's inner and eastern suburbs as well as south-east Queensland. At his side for more than two decades was business partner James Dack, who concentrated on sales management before leaving in 2014. Dack, who reportedly had not spoken to McGrath in the six years before his departure, did not return calls. A competitor who said he was on friendly terms with McGrath described him as an early-to-bed, early-to-rise "control freak" who planned his outfits a week in advance. But the competitor said McGrath's ego was no bigger than any other salesperson's. If he craved attention, why say no to a second season of the entrepreneur TV program Shark Tank? Legacy "Legacy" is a word people use when discussing McGrath's decision to float. He is 52, unmarried and childless. Racehorses can take up only so much time. A public listing was considered the best way to expand and the new company immediately bought out a north-west Sydney franchise network, Smollen Group, for $52 million. McGrath now blames this foray for the profit downgrade; Smollen sales fell 25 to 30 per cent in the first two months of the year. "What we have seen play out is a level of reduction in listings in certain areas that was far greater than any softening we expected," chief operating officer Geoff Lucas said this week. Not all McGrath's rivals in the area claim to have experienced such declines. But Alison Mifsud of Epping First National said while her agency's sales numbers had remained steady, inquiries had dropped 30 per cent on last year and clearance rates were below 70 per cent. "McGrath probably just got out in time," Mifsud said, referring to the money he earned in the float. That view remains popular, even though McGrath retained two thirds of his stake and has bought more shares since. Some investors might have wondered why they should buy just as Mr Real Estate stepped back. Predictions for house prices and loans for 2016 Downturn? The median price for a Sydney home has now fallen below $1 million. But JPMorgan analyst Russell Gill said it was too cynical to think McGrath had been simply shoring up cash and hedging risk before a downturn. "There's nothing worse for him and his brand and his name than to have a share price that keeps getting lower," Gill said. One bright spot for McGrath is its dominance of the government's $500 million public housing sale at Millers Point. Rival agencies expect McGrath to win the next tranche of 153 terraces in Millers Point on top of the 48 it has already sold. The float brokers also point to the cycles of large US real estate companies to suggest a McGrath comeback later in the year. But they admit overseas comparisons are far from perfect. McGrath, Australia's only listed real estate agent, continues to forge its own path. Loading "The journey must be the reward," McGrath writes in his self-help book. It is well understood that Islamic State is a new kind of enemy, but the head of the Australian forces at Iraq's Camp Taji, north of Baghdad, describes a new kind of war - albeit one with echoes to the past. "The enemy is laying IEDs here on an industrial scale," says Colonel Gavin Keating, who is leading 300 Australians and 100 New Zealanders on a mission to refine the warfare skills of the Iraqi Security Forces. In Afghanistan, the Taliban-led insurgency used improved explosive devices on a pervasive but sporadic scale, burying them in roads and ditches. Daesh are protecting their strongholds with minefields such as those last seen in Vietnam and Cambodia, Colonel Keating said. A rapist using online dating to find victims was caught out after multiple young women reported his assaults to an anonymous sexual assault reporting website. Police had already received several complaints about the man, who would meet women he found online, drug their drinks and take them home to rape them. However, they had not been able to pursue them. An increasing number of victims of sexual abuse are turning to the internet in their search for justice. Credit:Penny Stephens But social workers at the SARA (Sexual Assault Report Anonymously) website run by the South Eastern Centre Against Sexual Assault in Victoria were also receiving reports about the online predator and they persuaded one woman to make a formal statement to police. "They picked him up for it," centre manager Carolyn Worth said. Ali Elamine speaks to journalists after dropping charges against his estranged wife and the 60 Minutes crew. Credit:Bilal Hussein The hit to his pride and honour in family-oriented Lebanon would have been immense compounded by the fact that within 10 months after Ali's departure, Faulkner and her new partner welcomed a baby. But it would be her desperation to see her first two children, over whom the Australian courts had granted her custody, that would consume Faulkner's new life and lead to her making her biggest mistake, for which she now looks likely to pay over her lifetime. Ibtisam Berri with a picture of her granddaughter Lahala Elamine, at her home in the southern suburbs of Beirut. Credit:AP She began contacting child abduction companies and came across Adam Whittington, a dual British-Australian ex-soldier and former Scotland Yard detective who has been exposed as falsely claiming successful child retrievals. For his services, Faulkner needed money which she did not have, but she knew her story would be ratings dynamite. Channel Nine no stranger to chequebook journalism obliged. They paid $69,000 into Whittington's offshore bank account in January to pay for a "missing child investigation". They will claim they were buying the Australian mother's story and they had no idea the overseas bank account she gave them was Whittington's. Reporter Tara Brown, centre, sound recordist David Ballment, left, and Sally Faulkner, right, after being released from a Beirut jail. Credit:Nine Network Whittington proved to be an amateur cowboy at best; a fraud selling pipe dreams to desperate parents at worst. He left a trail everywhere he went from the moment he arrived in Beirut and organised for the abduction to take place in Hadath, a Hezbollah-controlled suburb where Elamine has tight contacts. The raid was carried out in broad daylight, on a busy shopping strip covered by CCTV. While Elamine had long ago cut off communications, Faulkner's email account was still accessible on the children's iPad, enabling him to monitor in real-time her contact with child abduction agencies. Sally Faulker with her children, Lahela and Noah. In the days before the operation, Mohamad Hamza, at the request of his brother in Sweden, an acquaintance of Whittington's, conducted reconnaissance trial runs of Elamine and his children. Elamine boasted he knew of Faulkner's plans every step of the way, but said he didn't do more to stop the operation because he never thought she would go through with them. When his children were snatched off the street and his elderly mother was knocked to the ground, he knew who to call. Faulkner's reply to assure him that the children were safe with her and not with some unknown abductors would be her final undoing. Within hours police had arrested the Nine crew, two Lebanese fixers, Whittington and his British associate, Craig Michael, a Cyprus-based part-time tattooist. Paying Whittington was not the only way Nine got too close. The 60 Minutes crew filmed the kidnapping from a second car and instead of waiting to document the reunion on a yacht en route to Cyprus they accompanied Faulkner in Lebanon. Elamine has demanded the footage never see the light of day. Nine agreed and after reportedly paying half a million dollars, by Wednesday night its crew were boarding Emirates business class, bound for home. Faulkner, still in Beirut but out of jail, emerged from a custodial hearing on Thursday before Judge Rami Abdullah a broken and defeated woman. With sad eyes and a soft voice she kept repeating to Fairfax Media, "I just want to see my kids, I love my children." She saw her children briefly later that day, but her future relationship with them is irrevocably changed. The moment she set foot onto Elamine's home soil she walked into a self-made trap. Elamine was quick to strike, insisting she relinquish her most valuable chip. "It was intense, I told her this was all over and you have to drop your custody charges," he said. She became upset with the reality of what his demand meant. He did not comfort her. He denies it was payback, but in revealing comments suggested it was her new relationship that made her unfit to look after their children. "Where she's at I don't think it's the right place for them to be at ... she's moved on, she has a family," he said. "Obviously that's not the issue," he added but complained "I want [the kids] to be around me ... because the mum wants to move on, because the court system favours the mother over the father. It's not fair for the father to miss out on stuff." Victoria Comrie Cullen took out an AVO against her husband two months before he killed her. Scratch marks found on the inside of the car boot provided a horrific insight into Mrs Cullen's final struggle. Her husband was sentenced to a maximum of 30 years in jail last year after being found guilty of murder. Mrs Cullen is an example of the one in three intimate homicide victims killed by their partners either current or former in NSW when an AVO is in place. A recent NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (BOCSAR) study into intimate partner homicides suggested a majority of the victims and offenders didn't come to the attention of police for domestic violence before the murder. Christopher Cullen was found guilty of murdering his wife in January, 2014. However, some do. Leila Alavi. 26, took out an AVO against her estranged husband, Mokhtar Hosseiniamraei, who recently pleaded guilty to murder, before he stabbed her with a pair of scissors in an Auburn car park in 2014. Auburn stabbing murder victim Leila Alavi. If found guilty, others may join this category. Sharon Michelutti had years of AVOs protecting her from her partner, Gavin Debeyer, before he allegedly stabbed her at their Riverwood home in February. Linda Locke on her wedding day. The 51-year-old was a victim of domestic violence from Quakers Hill. Jamie Christopher Walker had AVO restrictions preventing him from going within one kilometre of his partner Linda Locke's Quakers Hill home, before he allegedly killed her in April, 2015. In 2012, police took out an AVO protecting Tamworth woman Johann Morgan from Troy Jason Ruttley. In December, Ruttley an ex-partner was charged with her alleged murder. Victoria Comrie Cullen, 39, was murdered by her husband at Taren Point in January, 2014. In an overwhelming majority of cases, experts say, AVOs are very effective. However, with 32.5 per cent of intimate partner homicide victims over the past 10 years killed on a background of AVOs, does more need to be done to strengthen the AVO system? In the case of Irish-born Mrs Cullen, who had little money or support network in Australia, she was often rebuffed from shelters and told because she had a job or hadn't been recently assaulted, her case wasn't urgent enough. Mrs Cullen, with only the clothes on her back and a garbage bag full of her possessions, left her husband in late 2013. After her boss and confidant Mrs Arciuli-Collins co-signed a lease on a Sutherland apartment for Mrs Cullen to move into, she saw Mr Cullen's alarming behaviour escalate. Some people urged Mrs Arciuli-Collins to stay out of Mrs Cullen's business, a reflection of a slowly changing societal view that keeps domestic violence behind closed doors. "I thought 'I can do what's right or I can take the easy road'," Mrs Arciuli-Collins, from Sydney's north shore, said. "And I couldn't take the easy road. This woman needed help." After Mr Cullen's relentless phone calls and posting of degrading signs outside his estranged wife's workplace, an AVO was put in place. It is at this point in the system, Mrs Arciuli-Collins believes, counselling intervention should occur. "This behaviour left untreated, the only way it is going to end is death," Mrs Arciuli-Collins said. "AVOs need to have stronger protection ... if there has been substantial proof that this woman is in danger, there needs to be intervention of some sort that takes [the man] away and gets them help.'' It is a sentiment solicitor Ian Ross, who acted for Mrs Cullen before her death, echoes. "It seems to me what we could be thinking about doing, for men in particular, is the court has the power to force you to do some counselling courses," he said. BOCSAR director Don Weatherburn says while there are distressing cases where an AVO does not stop a perpetrator, it doesn't underline the value of an order. Dr Weatherburn said in the past researchers found an overwhelming majority of women who reported a domestic assault to police had an AVO. It was then a bit surprising to see a smaller proportion for homicide victims, which underscored the difficulty of predicting a homicidal attack, he commented. The state's top crime statistician also threw weight behind a greater focus on perpetrator programs as a way of addressing domestic violence. "I think we have paid [an] enormous amount of attention to victims and making sure they can escape and making sure they have somewhere they can go but we haven't done near as much to try and change the behaviours of men, other than lock them up," he said. If you needed a reason to stay up past bedtime, meeting the President of the United States would be it. Prince George, the son of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, Prince William and Kate Middleton, was granted that exception on Friday during a rare meeting at Kensington Palace in London. Smartly dressed in a white dressing gown and slippers, two-year-old George played on his rocking horse, a gift from the palace's distinguished guests, after meeting Barack and Michelle Obama. A photograph was released of the group chatting in a drawing room before dinner with reports the young prince was allowed to stay up 15 minutes later than usual to meet the Obamas. Eight family members were shot "execution-style" in southern Ohio some while they were still sleeping in their beds authorities said, warning that their killer is probably still on the loose The victims seven adults and one 16-year-old boy were killed in four different homes. When deputies arrived at one crime scene, they found two babies and a toddler alive, officials said. The youngest of the three children a four-day-old baby was still in bed with her mother when her mother was shot and killed, investigators said. The two other child survivors were six months old and three years old. Authorities said earlier on Friday that the situation did not involve an active shooter. But Friday afternoon, Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine and Pike County Sheriff Charles S. Reader said there is a strong possibility that the shooter or shooters were not among the deceased and are still on the loose and are armed and dangerous. NEW ORLEANS Last month, officials here held a special meeting for contractors interested in taking on a city job estimated at $170,000. Thats not typical. Neither were the concerns of the unidentified attendees: Could they work at night or in the early morning, when they were least likely to draw protesters? Did they have to post signage with their company name while they worked? Would the city provide security if necessary? The job was to haul off, by order of the City Council, three Confederate monuments standing on public land. The fate of the massive statues has been a topic of increasing debate civil and uncivil in the courts and on streets here for almost a year. The businesses currently considering the job to remove them are understandably wary: In January, the company originally retained to do the work withdrew after the owner, his family and his employees said they had received death threats. Less than a week later, the owners 2014 Lamborghini Huracan, valued at $200,000, was found aflame in a company parking lot in Baton Rouge. Its still unclear whether the events are related. No arrests have been made. Then in February, the city removed a list of potential replacement contractors from its website after some reported receiving phone calls or emails that promised financial repercussions if they took the job. The city reported the threats to the FBI. While those who want to preserve the monuments continue to press their legal options in federal courts and a recently introduced bill in the state Legislature seeks to block the removal, New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu is confident that the prominent statues of Confederate Gens. Robert E. Lee and P.G.T. Beauregard and Confederate States of America President Jefferson Davis will soon be removed from public view. If were going to have monuments on public spaces, they should represent who we are or who we want to be. ... Thats as important as who weve been, said Landrieu, noting that the city will celebrate its 300th anniversary in 2018. As we try to build a 21st-century, knowledge-based city that can compete in an international economy, Im clear that the future does not belong to small, sleepy Southern cities that revere the Confederacy. Preservation is not synonymous with reverence, says Jim Logan, a lawyer from New Orleans who is on the board of the Louisiana Landmarks Society, one of four plaintiffs in a federal suit to block the citys plan. These monuments have been up there for 100 to 150 years. Theyre historic artifacts. I think few people would say they espouse the beliefs of the citizens of New Orleans today, he said. Its trite to say that we need to remember history so we dont repeat it, but its perfectly correct. He points to Manzanar National Historic Site in California, the site of a former war relocation center that held 110,000 Japanese-Americans during World War II. And when people complained that it was wrong to honor U.S. Calvary General George Custer by putting his name on the Montana battlefield where his troops killed Native Americans and later died themselves, the park was renamed Little Bighorn National Monument. Nobodys saying today we agree with what happened (at Manzanar). Were giving people the opportunity to learn about it and to have a better sense of history, he said. You dont bulldoze Custers last stand. You put up interpretive markers and give a broader treatment of what the historic event there had been. NEW SCRUTINY The symbols of American historys darkest chapter have been getting sharper scrutiny since last June, when nine black parishioners were gunned down during Bible study in their church in Charleston, S.C. The white man charged in those slayings, who confessed to police that he wanted to start a race war, arrayed himself with Confederate symbols in photos he posted online. South Carolina took down the Confederate flag from its statehouse grounds several weeks later, and a heated debate has spread across the country about whether emblems and monuments honor a proud past, bear witness to violence and cruelty or glorify institutionalized slavery. Last summer, an Alabama bill seeking to change the name of the Edmund Pettus Bridge the site in Selma of a bloody confrontation between civil rights protesters and police in 1965 died in the state Legislature. The proposal was to replace the former Confederate general and Ku Klux Klan leaders name with Journey to Freedom signage. One African-American congresswoman, Democrat Terri Sewell, argued against the change, saying that it would change the course of history and compromise the historical integrity of the voting rights movement. In Baltimore, a mayoral task force has recommended removing two Confederate monuments from public parks. One depicts Confederate Gens. Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson. The other is a massive sculpture of Roger B. Taney, the fifth chief justice of the Supreme Court, who wrote the 1857 Dred Scott majority opinion that persons of African descent, free or enslaved, could never become citizens. In Alexandria, Va., the City Council has asked an advisory group for recommendations on what to do about the nearly 50 streets named after Confederate generals and military leaders, as well as a statue of a Confederate soldier smack in the middle of Washington Street, a major thoroughfare through the historic citys downtown. In Austin, the University of Texas removed a 1933 statue of Jefferson Davis from its prominent spot outside the Austin campus clock tower in August, after withstanding a legal challenge from the Southern Legal Resource Center, which says its mission includes advocating for the Confederate community. In New Orleans, which has gone the furthest in removing the monuments, the fight is particularly nasty. The first contractor began the project and pulled out on the same day, according to the letter the companys attorney sent to the city after receiving telephone calls, unkindly name-calling and public outrage ... as well as other area businesses threatening to cancel existing contracts. Last week, the words Take em down appeared on two other monuments in New Orleans. Opponents say taking them down is not what New Orleanians really want. They point to an October 2015 statewide phone poll on the issue sponsored by two New Orleans media outlets, WWL-TV and the Advocate newspaper. Of 800 registered voters, 68 percent said they opposed the renaming or removal of the monuments. Less than 20 percent supported removal. The rest were undecided. Most people drive by these monuments every day, and theyre clueless about them. They dont care. This was just meant to be political fodder, said Pierre McGraw, founder and president of Monumental Task Force, a nonprofit group that has maintained the citys statues for 26 years and has collected more than 30,000 signatures on a petition to keep the monuments. Maybe a few people had some issues, but during Carnival, I noticed all these people around Lee Circle and they were screaming but they were screaming for throws from the parade. EARLY CONCERNS Landrieu is the son of former New Orleans mayor Moon Landrieu, known for his role in desegregating local government as the citys leader. Mitch Landrieu said it was also his father who, as a city councilman in the late 1960s, persuaded his fellow elected officials to remove the Confederate flag from the councils chambers. The mayor said hed actually begun meeting with small groups of citizens more than a year before the Charleston massacre, prompted by a conversation with childhood friend Wynton Marsalis. The jazz trumpeter asked: Have you ever wondered how these monuments reflect upon the city? The Rev. Shawn Anglim, who leads the diverse First Grace United Methodist Church on the corner of Canal Street and Jefferson Davis Parkway, said he was unaware there was a monument to the Confederate president across the street from his church until 2012, when vandals spray-painted it after Trayvon Martin was shot and killed in Florida. Now, Anglim is a member of Clergy for a United City, a group of more than 175 spiritual leaders who want the monuments to come down. These symbols are hurtful. They continue to divide people as they were intended to do, and they will keep doing it in subtle and profound ways, he said. In town squares, we gather to unite, not to make some people feel unworthy. Richard Marksbury, the dean of the School of Continuing Studies at Tulane University, said he didnt believe removing the monuments would make a difference. The swastika is not allowed in Germany he said. Does that mean theres no anti-Semitism in Germany today? No. The movement goes underground. People will just pick up some new symbol. If the Confederate monuments are removed, Marksbury asks, which statues and monuments will fall next? One of the citys best known squares is named for President Andrew Jackson, a hero in the Battle of New Orleans in the War of 1812. He was also a slave owner who implemented the Native American removal policy known as the Trail of Tears. Whats the criteria for whats offensive? Marksbury asked. If we just get a tractor and start pulling everything down, where does it end? North Korea confirmed Sunday that it had conducted a submarine-launched ballistic missile test supervised by leader Kim Jong Un. The North Korean state news agency KCNA declared Saturday's test a "great success," even as the official news agency in rival South Korea claimed just the opposite. South Korean military officials told the Yonhap news agency that the missile flew for about 30 kilometers and that the test did not appear to have been success. South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said a projectile had been fired from a submarine toward the sea. A South Korean military spokesman said Seoul was keeping close tabs on the North Korean military and maintaining a full defense posture. North Korea has sent a barrage of missiles and artillery shells into the sea amid ongoing annual military drills between the United States and South Korea. Pyongyang says the drills are a preparation for an invasion of the North. The U.S. State Department noted that ballistic missile launches by North Korea violate multiple U.N. Security Council resolutions. "We call on North Korea to refrain from actions that further destabilize the region and focus instead on taking concrete steps toward fulfilling its commitments and international obligations," said State Department spokesman John Kirby, as quoted by The Associated Press. A halt to tests? North Korea's foreign minister told the AP in an interview later Saturday that his country was ready to halt its nuclear tests if the United States suspended the annual exercises. Foreign Minister Ri Su Yong, in his first interview with a Western news organization, reiterated Pyongyang's long-standing position that the U.S. drove his country to develop nuclear weapons as a deterrent. "Stop the nuclear war exercises in the Korean Peninsula, then we should also cease our nuclear tests," he said. North Korea has floated similar proposals to Washington in the past, but the U.S. has insisted the North give up its nuclear weapons program first before any negotiations. The result has been a stalemate between the two countries and continued belligerence from the reclusive state. Hours earlier, the North Korean newspaper Rodong Sinmun published a statement saying South Korean President Park Geun-hye should make her "funeral shroud." Pyongyang has been working to acquire submarine-launched ballistic missile capability. Saturday's test-firing came as North Korea has been preparing for a rare ruling party congress in May, the first since 1980. The United Nations recently imposed new, stronger sanctions on North Korea in response to Pyongyang's fourth nuclear test in January and a ballistic missile test the following month. South Sudanese rebel leader Riek Machar's anticipated return to the capital, Juba, planned for Saturday, was delayed after President Salva Kiirs government demanded its team inspect weapons that Machar would bring along. The governments demand came shortly after a Cabinet meeting on Friday. The Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (JMEC) had earlier announced the government in Juba had accepted plans to allow the plane carrying Machar, the designated first vice president, to land. Weapons verification In a statement issued by Information Minister Michael Makuei, the government said it will send a team to ascertain the types of weapons before Machar would be allowed to return to Juba. The Sudan Tribune website quoted Makuei as saying, "All these [weapons] will have to be verified and for them to be verified CTSAMM, which is the verification body, will send a team of verifiers to Gambella to go and verify the 195 soldiers who are coming plus their individual and plus these 20 PKMs and [20] RPGs If the team leaves today [Friday] then definitely the team will be there to do the verification and probably by Monday we expect him in Juba. Machars arrival in Juba is a key part of the peace process to form a transitional unity government following an accord signed last year between Machar and President Kiir to end South Sudans conflict. Peace accord at risk James Gatdet Dak, the official spokesman for Machar, says the latest surprise demand by the government is an indication that Kiirs government lacks commitment to carry out the full implementation of the peace accord. He says it was regrettable that the government would pull a surprise demand after all their initial concerns were resolved to enable the smooth arrival of Machar. Dak says the new demand negatively impacts the schedule for Machars return. This is a very unfortunate development as the first vice president designate prepared to travel to Juba today, we have just received a new demand from President Salva Kiirs government saying that they will send a team to go and verify the weapons that our forces are going to carry along, those who are going to accompany the first vice president to Juba, said Dak. We are surprised that the government has come up with this new demand today they want to verify these weapons when the Ethiopian government, which is now in charge of the weapons at the airport, has already verified and has communicated it. So it has implications on the schedule of the first vice president The demand has caused the delay and they are several hours behind schedule and I am not very sure they are going to make it to Juba today. Latest delay Dak says Kiirs government is to blame for the latest delay in Machars return. Machar delayed his arrival following disagreements over his plans to come along with weapons. He was initially scheduled to arrive in Juba last Monday to take up his post as the new first vice president after which the transitional unity government would be formed.Dak says the rebel group has registered its protest to the JMEC following the governments demand. Supporters of the government say there is a need for verification to ascertain whether the weapons being brought into the country by the rebels are indeed what they claim to be. Dak disagreed. It will cause further delay of the transitional government of national unity which is needed for the implementation of the peace agreement. So if the verification will further delay the travel of the first vice president designate, this means that the formation of the transitional government of national unity will also be delayed, said Dak. I think it is not necessary because the number and the specifics of the weapons have been declared. The list has been provided to the government and to JMEC," he said. "They know how many AK47s are going to be brought in by the forces. They know how many forces are coming which is 195. They agreed that the number of PKM weapons is going to be 20, the number of RPGs is going to be 20. So this information has been provided and it has been agreed, and the Ethiopian government in Gambella airport has also verified the number of weapons and the types. And they have locked them in boxes and even our forces at the airport have no access to these weapons. The next major test in the U.S. presidential campaign comes Tuesday when five eastern states hold primaries Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island. The two presidential front-runners Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton appear well-positioned to pick up more delegates then, solidifying their status as the top contenders. Trump and Clinton are coming off wins in their home state primary, New York, which could prove significant down the line. Trump has increased the chances that he will accumulate the necessary 1,237 delegates needed to claim the Republican nomination outright before the national nominating convention in Cleveland in July. In the case of Clinton, her defeat of rival Bernie Sanders in New York makes it difficult, if not impossible, for Sanders to overtake her in the pledged delegate count between now and the Democratic convention in Philadelphia in late July. So far, Sanders is not giving any signs that he is about to end his presidential quest. Transforming Trump In the wake of New York, Trump campaign officials were busy at a meeting of the Republican National Committee in Hollywood, Florida, trying to convince the party elite that Trump will be a viable general election candidate despite the various groups he has antagonized during the primary campaign. Trump campaign chief Paul Manafort, a veteran Republican operative brought in to bolster the billionaires campaign, told those at a private meeting that Trump realizes he will need to change his image if he becomes his party's nominee. Manafort was secretly taped by someone in the audience and the tape was later made its way to news outlets including The New York Times. Manafort told the Republican activists that fixing personality negatives is a lot easier than fixing character negatives, adding that you can change the way somebody presents themselves. Make-over risks There are questions about the apparent Trump make-over from primary contender to nominee-in-waiting. Will Trump be able to undo the damage hes wrought with women voters and minorities, many of whom took offense to various comments he made in the heat of the primary battles? And even as Trump moves to re-fashion his national image for the general election, will conservative Republicans begin to doubt his authenticity if he moves away from conservative positions he voiced during the primary campaign? Trump still has a way to go before he rests easy in the nomination fight. Polls show him well-positioned for the five states holding primaries on Tuesday; but, the Indiana primary looms May 3, perhaps rival Ted Cruzs last chance to derail Trump enough to force a contested convention in Cleveland. Trump continues to exude confidence on the campaign trail including at a rally in Indiana where he urged cheering supporters to imagine that he had already been elected president. When I cast that vote for Donald Trump to be president of the United States and when he won, shortly thereafter our country became great again, he told the crowd. We started to win again and, believe me, we are going to win, win, win. Remember, make America great again! GOP delegate battle continues Neither Cruz nor Ohio Governor John Kasich is giving up, though. Cruz says if Trump fails to win the nomination on the first ballot in Cleveland, he is better positioned to pick up delegates who will switch away from Trump on subsequent ballots and make him the nominee. We are going to arrive in Cleveland with me having a ton of delegates and Donald having a ton of delegates, Cruz told reporters at a news conference in Florida this week. And at that point ,it is going to be a battle to see who can earn the support of a majority of the delegates elected by the people. Most analysts believe Trump remains the favorite for the nomination.; but, they also warn that he must continue to win delegates to avoid a battle at the convention with an uncertain outcome. There are some states coming up that are favorable to him, but hes still not guaranteed the nomination, said John Fortier of the Bipartisan Policy Center in Washington. No one else can get it outright. Ted Cruz cannot get the mathematical number. John Kasich cannot, but Donald Trump might be the clear nominee or he might fall short and well have to decide that at a convention. Clinton's growing advantage The situation on the Democratic side may have a little more clarity in terms of the nomination math. Hillary Clintons victory in New York made rival Bernie Sanders' path to overtaking her a long shot at best, and Clinton is trying to focus on both party and national unity in her campaign appearances. In a democracy, we dont think anybody has all the truth. You know, were not a dictatorship. Were not an authoritarian regime. Were not a theocracy; were a democracy and we got to talk and listen again, Clinton told supporters at a rally in Philadelphia ahead of Tuesdays Pennsylvania primary. Despite the drubbing in New York, Sanders has vowed to fight on even as some Democrats urge him to temper his attacks on Clinton and work toward party unity. Sanders remains focused on expanding his political movement, driven by progressive Democrats, independents and young people. No president can solve or address effectively the real problems facing the middle class and working families in this country, the elderly, the children and the poor, unless we have a political revolution, Sanders told a rally at Penn State University in State College, Pennsylvania. Hopes for party unity With Sanders' hopes for the nomination dimming, many Democrats want both contenders to focus on bringing the party together and prepare to take on the Republicans in the general election campaign. Healing the party after a divisive primary is possible but will take time, according to John Fortier. I think the Bernie Sanders supporters will come home to Hillary Clinton," he said. "It may take a month after the convention when they say, what's the alternative Hillary Clinton or a Republican that is much further from our views? Polls show Clinton in a strong position for Tuesdays five primary contests. More Clinton victories will likely increase the pressure on Sanders to consider how to gracefully bow out of the Democratic race after the primary season and help unify the party behind Clinton as the expected nominee. Virginia's governor signed an executive order Friday that restores voting rights to more than 200,000 convicted felons. Virginia, like most other U.S. states, has passed laws that restrict the rights of people convicted of committing felony offenses. But instead of pushing legislators to change the Civil War-era law, Governor Terry McAuliffe claims he has the executive authority to overturn it on his own, and Friday restored voting rights to both violent and non-violent offenders. The order is effective immediately and applies to "any felon who has completed any term of incarceration and completed any period of supervised release, probation or parole, for any and all felony convictions." He and his supporters say the action eliminates a measure that was originally aimed at disenfranchising African-Americans. His opponents point to the fact that the action will boost the rolls of likely Democratic voters for this November's presidential election, and say his motives are purely political. "The singular purpose of Terry McAuliffe's governorship is to elect Hillary Clinton president of the United States," Virginia's Republican House Speaker William J. Howell said in a statement. Remedying injustice? Others took aim at a measure they criticized as overly broad. Gov. McAuliffe could easily have excluded those who have committed heinous acts of violence from this order, yet he chose not to," said Republican Party of Virginia chairman John Whitbeck. "His decision to issue a blanket restoration, without regard to the nature of the crimes committed, doesn't speak of mercy." McAuliffe, however, calls the executive action a way to remedy voting rights injustices to African-Americans. Felons who are covered must still register to vote, and voting rights advocates are expected to begin visiting communities to start registering people. Tram Nguyen, executive director of the New Virginia Majority, told the New York Times that the order was a "huge deal." "We talk about needing to raise up your voice so that we can impact policymakers, and these people are saying to us, We don't have a voice, no one is going to listen to us, we don't even have our right to vote,'" Nguyen said. The governor said he wants people who have served prison time and served probation "back in society." "I want you feeling good about yourself. I want you voting, getting a job, paying taxes. I'm not giving people their gun rights back and other things like that. I'm merely allowing you to feel good about yourself again, to feel like you are a member of society," McAuliffe said. Politics is usually thought of as separate from religion and spirituality, but it deals with moral and ethical issues that are the concern of all faiths. We of many faith traditions have a responsibility to keep an eye on our lawmakers and political leaders, to affirm just and compassionate behavior, to condemn its opposite. Unfortunately, the Idaho Legislature has this year transgressed basic moral principles espoused by most faiths. The Legislature has acted and failed to act, in ways that are morally bankrupt and fly in the face of the human, spiritual responsibility to take care of each other, especially the least among us. There are two major issues that fell to the floor this session, apparently less important than guaranteeing that felons and mentally-ill people can carry concealed weapons anywhere, or forbidding towns to raise the minimum wage in their own boundaries, or criticizing a fine Attorney General for offering opinions based on law. One issue is the Add the Words legislation, which would add sexual orientation and gender identity to Idahos existing Human Rights Act. Currently, a person may be fired or refused housing because of sexual orientation or gender identity. This ought to be a no-brainer. What sense does it make to discriminate in this way? I applaud Utahs religious and civic leaders: the Mormon Church and secular leaders have worked to add the words to Utahs Human Rights Act. Those words are now added, that particular discrimination now illegal. Why on earth can our legislators not do the same, and work with the many, many clergy and lay people who want to see justice done? The other issue is health care. Our legislature chose not to pass legislation that would bring health care to 78,000 of our neediest citizens, including a lot of children. Religious people from many traditions worked hard and long to persuade legislators of the importance of this issue, upon which the lives of some people literally depend. On behalf of the Inter-faith Alliance, religious leaders delivered a letter signed by more than 80 faith leaders, to the governor and to Senate and House heads. This letter urged our lawmakers to do the right thing, to act with equity, justice and compassion and put people before politics. They did not act. It can be depressing, angering and bewildering, that our Legislature refuses actions that improve the lives of its citizens, particularly those who have been neglected and oppressed. I plan to get more deeply involved in speaking and working for justice and compassion, before and during the next legislative session. I am hoping to be joined by more and more people concerned about the unfairness perpetrated by Idaho lawmakers. I have seen our state move in compassionate, fair directions in the past, and I have faith that compassion and fairness can be brought forward through passage of Add the Words and access to health care for our poorest citizens if we work to persuade and convince our lawmakers. These are not partisan issues, mingling church and state inappropriately. These are issues of human lives, human dignitytruly religious issues, and also deeply fundamental to government. Let us not give up hope. Let us continue to live our faiths, by reaching out in the name of justice, equity and compassion. HAILEY The Bannock Indian War of 1879 was scarcely over when the first Jewish settlers began making their mark on the Wood River Valley. Simon Moses Friedman brought sheep into the valley in 1881, settling in the new town of Hailey where he purchased the Hailey Mercantile Company and joined the first board of Trustees of the newly incorporated city. His second cousin Samuel J. Friedman, whose children donated the land for Friedman Memorial Airport, opened a general store on Main Street in a 20-by-40-tent where he began selling dry goods, clothing, books and shoes. And he became Haileys first mayor just weeks after the town was platted. But it wasnt until the days of eight-track tapes and go-go boots that the Jewish residents of the valley began to mark their faith and heritage with public Passover and Hanukkah festivals. Passover which commemorates the story of the Israelites departure from ancient Egypt starts Saturday and ends April 30. Jews observe this week-long event with Passover meals known as Seders, the removal of leavened products from their home, the substitution of matzo for bread and the retelling of the exodus tale. It was Helen Goldberg who poured the foundation for what is now a thriving community of Jewish people. Goldberg, who moved to the valley in 1957, busied herself making sure that anyone who came to her house for Friday night would enjoy a Seder dinner, complete with Kaddish and Challah bread baked at Atkinsons Market. She freely shared her extensive personal library of books on Judaism. Her family was killed in the Holocaust so she thought it was important to maintain her Jewish heritage, her son Rick Goldberg said. And she thought that anyone who was Jewish should know about their heritage, as well. It was lonely trying to be a Jew in a valley that had no Jewish community. The Goldbergs spent high holy days at the reform synagogue in Boise one year and the conservative synagogue the next. Rick attended Hebrew school in Chicago and observed his bar mitzvah in Salt Lake City the closest city with a rabbi. By then, Helen had become known as Blaine Countys Jewish mama. One day there was a knock at the door, Rick said. The woman standing there said, Im not Jewish and I dont know anything about Judaism, but I married a Jew and I want to learn. As the years passed, Helen became more insistent that her Jewish neighbors join together in community. In 1968, she, Carlyn Ring and Naomi Sloan gathered together in Helens living room thumbing through phone books trying to guess who was Jewish. Helen and Naomi opened up their homes at Passover, each taking 40 celebrants into their homes. They got Elevation 486 owner Tom Nickel, who owned a restaurant in Warm Springs at the time, to cook traditional dishes for 90 people. They rented out the Tram, which sat across the street from what is now the Warfield Distillery, expecting 10 people to show up for Seder services. They got 70. They pressed Trail Creek Cabin into service for High Holy Days and held Hanukkah parties at Elkhorn. And they began holding regular services at the Presbyterian Church of the Big Wood. The first service we had, I said, I dont think that many people are going to come. Fifty people showed up. People kept saying, Youre a Jew?! I didnt know you were Jewish! Naomi said. People came from Kimberly, Twin Falls and even Boise. In 1989, the community received one of 1,564 Torah scrolls that had belonged to Jewish communities in Bohemia and Moravia that were wiped out in the Holocaust. The Nazis collected these scrolls and ceremonial objects, intending to burn them. They had been taken to the Westminster Synagogue in London where they were refurbished and loaned to synagogues throughout the world to be read and studied by a new generation of Jews as a symbol of Jewish survival and rebirth. The 150-year-old scroll Helen requested was written in Strasnic, a town near Prague. It is housed at St. Thomas Episcopal Church where the Jewish community now worships on Friday nights. The Wood River Jewish Community had a most unbelievably beautiful ceremony to celebrate its arrival, Ring said. In 1998, Adam Kofflers family donated an ark crafted by a Ketchum artist in honor of a sons bar mitzvah. And he helped the community figure out how to raise the money to open an office in downtown Ketchum and hire a rabbi. In 2002, Nobel Laureate and Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel asked a standing room only crowd of 830 people in Sun Valley Inns Limelight Room whether were worthy of our humanity if we allow suffering. That same year, the community selected Rabbi Martin Levy as its first full-time spiritual leader, and the gold-medal ice skater hosted weekend Skate with the Rabbi for the children of the community. Rabbi James Mirel from Temple Bnai Torah in Bellevue, Wash., joined the community last year as a permanent part-time rabbi. Our community has become family because many of us dont have family close, Ring said. The ceremony will be across from the Twin Falls Public Library. The date marks the deportation of Armenian intellectuals from Constantinople (now Istanbul) by the Ottoman Turkish authorities on April 24, 1915. It also marks the start of massacres, deportations and other atrocities committed by the Ottoman government during and immediately after World War I, in the course of which possibly 1.5 million Armenian Christians were killed or died. BOISE (AP) | The success of Boise's refugee resettlement program has attracted international attention. German professionals, public officials and volunteers kicked off a two-day visit to Boise on Friday to learn about how the city welcomes and integrates refugees. Germany is among the many European countries that has seen dramatic increases in refugees due to a growing international migration crisis. In 2015, Germany saw around a million refugees cross into their country. "We have a lot of hate," said Petra Verhees, who lives in a small town in eastern Germany. "This is a new problem for us. We have 3,000 residents and we received 300 refugees. It's very important to find programs to integrate migrants from day one." Verhees said it's difficult to even address basic services like transportation or education for refugees while also keeping the backlash at a minimum. Her town doesn't have a bus system and children have to either walk or take a taxi to get to school, while the city council is largely opposed to any refugee resettlement efforts. Not every city has had negative experiences though. In Mannheim, with around 300,000 people, a flood of 15,000 refugees went fairly smoothly with little resistance from the rest of the community, said Jutta Breitner, who works for the city. "It's not all bright and shiny," she said. "Many people fear they will lose something. We are doing our best, but it's not always easy." Meanwhile, in Idaho, opposition to refugee resettlement has grown over the past year as part of the national debate over the vetting of refugees fleeing war-torn Syria and particularly following deadly terrorist attacks in San Bernardino, California, and Paris. The two-day tour is part of a recently launched exchange program called the Welcoming Communities Transatlantic Exchange that helps educate officials in various countries strategize best practices for refugee resettlement. Four cities in the United States were selected to participate in the program: Boise, St. Louis, Atlanta and Columbus, Ohio. In September, refugee officials from those cities will travel to Germany. Boise's tour highlighted efforts to work with the refugee community as part of its city planning, as well as looking at how public schools integrate incoming refugee children and learning how resettlement offices work with companies to quickly find jobs for refugees. Idaho has been resettling refugees since the 1970s. The effort originally focused on people fleeing Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos following the end of the Vietnam War, and then expanded to those escaping Soviet regimes in eastern Europe. As the amount of refugees needing help increased, so did Idaho's resettlement programs. The Twin Falls center opened five years after the Boise center was founded. "For most of our history, refugee resettlement was not concern. But it has become more of a political issue," said Diana Lachiondo, who works in Boise Mayor David Bieter's office. "Boise is a little bit of an island." A Boeing 777-300ER of China Eastern Airlines Co Ltd lands at the Hongqiao Airport in Shanghai.[Photo/China Daily] Delta Air Lines Inc said on Monday it is acquiring a 3.55 percent stake in China Eastern Airlines Co Ltd for $450 million, as part of the efforts by the two carriers to further consolidate their relationship. This is the first time that the US carrier is becoming a shareholder in one of the big three carriers in China, although the deal still needs to be approved by the boards of the two companies and the Chinese authorities. Delta agreed to subscribe for nearly 466 million shares of China Eastern at the price of HK$7.49 ($0.97) per share, according to the statement from China Eastern. "The carrier intends to utilize the net proceeds for working capital and other general corporate purposes," said the statement. China Eastern had earlier said its net profit during the first six months would be 3.5 billion yuan to 3.7 billion yuan ($596 million) and indicated that it was on the lookout for a strategic partner, rather than just an investor. The strategic partnership with Delta is an important step by China Eastern to optimize its shareholding structure and promote international development, said Liu Shaoyong, chairman of China Eastern. The two airlines will cooperate on networks, slots, marketing, distribution channels and consumer resources based on the agreement. China Eastern also expects its US shareholder to "improve its international brand recognition", the carrier said in its statement. According to the agreement, Delta shall be entitled to nominate an observer on the board of China Eastern, who will be allowed to participate in all meetings of the board, but without voting rights. It is not the first time that China Eastern has looked for a foreign shareholder, after an earlier investment plan with Singapore Airlines fell through in 2008. However, news of the investment failed to have an impact on the company's share prices. China Eastern shares closed at 11.54 yuan per share in Shanghai trading, a 3.75 percent drop from when the shares were last traded on Thursday. Some analysts attributed the price decline to the share market correction, as the Shanghai Composite Index plunged 8.5 percent on Monday and continued to drop 1.68 percent on Tuesday. The booming Sino-US air traffic market and importance of the Shanghai hub are possible reasons for the strategic partnership, industry experts said. Statistics from the Civil Aviation Administration of China show that the air passenger number between China and the US was 6.13 million person-trips in 2014 and the number will grow by 15 percent every year subsequently. Boeing Co also forecast that by 2021, passenger flows on the Sino-US routes will be triple that of the number seen in 2014. BURLEY Allegations that two men grabbed attempted to kidnap girls from a Burley elementary school have parents on edge. If the allegations against Melvin Dwayne Simpson and Vadian Eugene Dougal are true, it is a parents worst nightmare, Judge Mick Hodges said Friday at a hearing for the men. Simpson, 40, and Dougal, 50, are accused of attempting to abduct White Pine Intermediate School students April 11. Several girls told police a man grabbed them and and tried to lure them from the school. One girl said a man tried to pull her across the street but she hit his arm and ran away. At the Cassia County Magistrate Court on Friday, Hodges granted the prosecutions request to delay the companion preliminary hearings to Tuesday and denied requests to reduce their bonds from $250,000 to $10,000. I see a community thats horrified by the allegations that have been made, he said. Simpson is charged with two counts of misdemeanor battery and two counts of felony second degree kidnapping. Dougal is charged with misdemeanor battery, felony second degree kidnapping and enticing of children, a misdemeanor. In court, Hodges granted Cassia County Prosecutor Doug Abenroths request to move the two hearings to allow both sides more time to prepare their arguments. Several police officers and detectives from Cassia County are working on the case and case discovery is ongoing, he said. Neither Timothy Schneider, the attorney for Dougal, nor Clayne Zollinger, the attorney for Simpson, objected to the request but did ask for bonds to be reduced. These are simply allegations at this point, Schneider said. We understand the gravity of the allegations but Mr. Dougal is a long-term resident of the city of Burley. Theres no indication hes going to do anything besides come to court. Hodges said his concern is the community and that hes erring on the side of safety. This is a tremendously complex case very much in the communitys concern, he said. If the facts are proven, its a parents worst nightmare. Simpson and Dougal remain on $250,000 bond at the Mini-Cassia Criminal Justice Center. They will be back in the magistrate court for preliminary hearings at 1:30 p.m. April 26. Cassia County Felony sentencings Jorge Torres Ochoa; felony possession of a controlled substance, guilty, $285.50 costs, $471.28 restitution, 36 months probation, two years determinate time, two years indeterminate time, ten days credited; misdemeanor possession of a controlled substance, dismissed on motion of prosecutor; misdemeanor use or possession with intent to use drug paraphernalia, dismissed on motion of prosecutor. Chad Curtis Clarke; felony burglary, guilty, $495.50 costs, 48 months probation, two years determinate time, five years indeterminate time, 46 days credited; misdemeanor petit theft, dismissed on motion of prosecutor. Felony dismissal Ronnie Gene Kincaid III; felony accessory - willfully withholds or conceals knowledge of a felony from a peace officer, judge or jury, dismissed on motion of prosecutor; felony destruction, alteration or concealment of evidence, dismissed on motion of prosecutor. Driving under the influence sentencings Jesus A. Grijalva Martinez; misdemeanor driving under the influence, guilty, $300 fine, $202.50 costs, $202.50 costs, 90 days driver's license suspended, 12 months probation, 90 days jail, 88 days suspended, one day credited, two days community service in lieu of jail. Michael Scott Ward; misdemeanor driving under the influence (second offense in ten years), guilty, 365 days driver's license suspended, 24 months probation, 365 days jail, 355 days suspended, five days credited, ten days community service by 8/1/2016. Driving under the influence dismissals Michael A. Winrow; misdemeanor driving under the influence, dismissed on motion of prosecutor; misdemeanor possession of a controlled substance, guilty, $200 fine, $200.50 costs, 12 months probation, 90 days jail, 88 days suspended, two days credited, 104 hours community service complete by 9/01/2016. Wendy A. Iwakiri; misdemeanor driving under the influence, guilty, $300 fine, $202.50 costs, 90 days driver's license suspended, 12 months probation, 90 days jail, 88 days suspended, two days credited. TWIN FALLS The College of Southern Idahos graduation speaker will be Tom Ashenbrener, owner of Rudys A Cooks Paradise, the college announced Friday. CSIs 50th annual commencement starts at 7 p.m. May 13 in the CSI gymnasium. More than 1,000 students have applied for graduation so far, although about 400 typically participate in the ceremony. After graduating from the University of Oregon in 1978, Ashenbrener returned to Twin Falls to work with his father, Rudy, at Price Hardware. In 2002, he turned the hardware store into Rudys a Cooks Paradise. He has been the president of the Twin Falls Rotary Club and CSI Foundation, board chairman for St. Lukes Magic Valley Medical Center, has served on the Twin Falls Chamber of Commerce board and is a past recipient of the Curtis T. Eaton Small Businessperson of the Year award. Ashenbrener is a current member of the First Federal Savings Bank board and president of First Federals charitable foundation. He says his objective at graduation will be to ignite students desire to stay or to return to the Magic Valley because the region is bursting with possibilities. On graduation day, early arrival is the only way to ensure seating. Friends and family members of CSI graduates are advised that overflow seating will be available in two venues of the CSI Evergreen building next door to the gymnasium. The entire program will also be streamed from a link on CSIs homepage, csi.edu. A reception with refreshments catered by Sodexo will be available to everyone, free of charge, in the Taylor Building cafeteria immediately following the commencement program, which is expected to conclude between 8:30 and 9 p.m. TWIN FALLS After a serious car crash sent Anna Kolster to the hospital at 19, she emerged with eight staples in her head and a pile of medical bills. She needed money, fast and because she was unable to work, the easiest way she could think of was to start selling her old stuff. Kolster started up a group on Facebook called Magic Valley Classifieds. Four years later, the online sales group has picked up more than 15,000 members with 1,500 more waiting for approval. Online groups are competing with yard sales in popularity, but both are drawing crowds of bargain-hunters in the Magic Valley. I never knew it would grow to be so big, and honestly important to people, Kolster said. Kolster hoped the group would help out others in similar situations. But when it reached 5,000 members, she knew she needed more administrators for the group to help handle the volume of requests. Magic Valley Classifieds is a closed group on Facebook, so only members can make and view posts. Kolster said typically about 100 member requests come in per day. The only requirement: you must be living in Idaho, preferably in the Magic Valley and surrounding communities, to join. The benefits of posting your stuff on Facebook is that it extends the yard sale season and doesnt cost anything, she said. Theres never a day that theres not a post, Kolster said. Unlike sites such as Craigslist or eBay, Facebook displays a sellers real name and profile picture, which Kolster finds gives potential buyers an extra measure of safety. Theres so much exposure online through Facebook, said Michelle Rowland, founder of Twin Falls Online Yard Sale. Rowland started her online group about five years ago, and decided to open it to the public to prevent a backup of requests. Any member can add new members, she said. Facebook sales happen faster than other websites because of the social aspect, Rowland said. There tends to be more interaction between users, and an item may be sold within minutes or even seconds. Kolster said the use of Facebook groups for buying and selling has exploded in the last couple of years. A number of category-specific groups have also gotten going. Of course, some people prefer the traditional method of yard sale and Kolster said a lot of them promote their events on Facebook. Traditional Yard Sales On Friday morning, a steady stream of cars filtered in and out of Valencia Street, where a group of eight friends gathered to sell their used items to bargain-hunters. The ladies met through the Magic Valley Neighbors group, which hosts monthly luncheons and activities. We all had bits and pieces but nobody had a whole houseful, said Susan McCann, who hosted the sale in her garage and driveway. Her husband, John McCann said the sale took about two days to set up, and was promoted through the Times-News, Facebook and word-of-mouth. There probably were about 20 people here within two hours, he said. At the intersection of Hoops Street and 11th Avenue East, there was a similar situation. No matter what time you put them at, people come a half-hour early at least, said Linda Wilcox, who was selling her stuff at a friends house in preparation for downsizing. Susan McCann said customers at one yard sale will often go check out the other ones, too. I think the actual yard sale works better for our age group, especially, she said. Margie Hernandez, who lives down the street, said she likes to attend the sales to look for bargains. She said she doesnt use the computer much, and didnt want to create a Facebook account to access the various online groups. Both McCann and Wilcox planned to continue their yard sales Saturday until 3 p.m., weather permitting. Tips for Sellers If you are planning a yard sale or garage sale, the Times-News offers a package to run a classified ad. For $31, you can advertise your sale, up to eight lines long, for three days in print and online typically Thursday, Friday and Saturday. The deadline is Wednesday. The price also gets you a garage sale kit with signs and price stickers, and a coupon for a free three-day ad that can be used to sell any unsold items after the sale. A one-day classified ad costs $16. On the day of the sale, it helps to have items organized by category. McCann said it is important to price things to sell. I go by what Id be willing to pay for it, she said. If you choose to advertise on Facebook or elsewhere online, Rowland said, the key is to be specific about what youre selling. Include information such as how old it is, the price, and the size, if applicable. Pictures are also recommended. Otherwise youre going to get those comments that people want a picture, she said. The seller should also state how he or she prefers to be contacted. Kolster recommends that buyers and sellers meet in a public place, but its ultimately their choice. I try to suggest not to go alone, she said. KIMBERLY | A Kimberly native and U.S. Air Force colonel has been named to head of Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. Col. Bradley McDonald, who graduated from Kimberly High School in 1990 and from the United States Air Force Academy in 1994, will take the reins from current commander John Devillier on June 21, officials with the base just east of Dayton, Ohio, said in a news release. Wright-Patterson is home to the 88th Air Base Wing. Currently, McDonald is vice commander of the 10th Air Base Wing, United States Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, Colo. "Becoming a wing commander is an extremely high honor and Im humbled and excited to be given the opportunity to lead the great Airmen of the 88th Air Base Wing, McDonald said. "My family and I look forward to returning to the Miami Valley and serving all of Wright Patt as well as a community known throughout the Air Force for its strong support of the military. We cannot wait to build upon the wings tradition of excellence that has continued to flourish under Colonel Devilliers leadership." McDonald spent his first few years with the Air Force at Mountain Home Air Force Base, and has been assigned to air force bases around the country since then, rising through the ranks and holding a number of positions, many related to financial or budget analysis. His experiences include serving as speechwriter to the commander of Pacific Air Forces in 2004 and 2005, as a Capitol Hill military fellow to the U.S. Senate Majority Whip Richard Durbin in 2007 and 2008, and as an Air Force Institute of Technology graduate student at Wright-Patterson in 1997 and 1998. TWIN FALLS The animal shelter has seen a recent increase in the number of cases of canine parvovirus and plans to vaccinate incoming dogs for the disease. Its deadly if not caught in time, said Debbie Blackwood, director of the Twin Falls Animal Shelter. If you think your dog has parvo, you need to get it to the vet for treatment right away. The viral disease is highly contagious. It affects the gastrointestinal track, causing severe dehydration and death in untreated dogs. The virus also attacks the hearts of young puppies. The virus can live in the soil, Blackwood said, so dog owners should be suspicious of any place dogs congregate. We usually see the first cases come in right after Western Days (in late May), said Dr. Connie Rippel, with Magic Valley Veterinarian Hospital in Twin Falls. It breaks my heart to see all those little puppies running around exposed at the parade. The Twin Falls shelter is now taking all precautions to stop the virus at the door. People should know its still safe to adopt an animal, Blackwood said. Other facilities and animal rescues in the valley are spreading awareness about the deadly virus. People need to be more aware of it, said Mary Holley, with Anythings Pawsable animal rescue. Holley, who is building an animal shelter in Wendell, knows how easily the virus travels. It can come into a facility on your shoes, she said. The first sign of parvo is loss of appetite. Puppies are usually exuberant, Blackwood said. If your puppy walks up to its food bowl, just sniffs at it and lays down, thats a bad sign. Over the next day or two, vomiting and diarrhea will follow. If you see bloody diarrhea, your dog is in peril, she said. Dont wait for day three. The key to prevention is a series of vaccinations. Dont just get the first vaccine and stop, Blackwood said. Dogs need two or three boosters to build up resistance. Some breeds, such as Rottweilers, pit bull terriers and Doberman Pinschers, are more susceptible than others to the virus, Rippel said. I hear its a bad year for parvo, said Heather Kimble, shelter coordinator in Jerome. So far knock on wood the Jerome shelter hasnt seen any cases yet. Were watching the dogs real close, and using bleach pads on the floor. But the problem starts with people who dont vaccinate their dogs, she said. And that puts other dogs at risk. Dont just get the first vaccine and stop. Dogs need two or three boosters to build up resistance. Debbie Blackwood, Twin Falls Animal Shelter director The U.S. Treasurys decision to portray the great anti-slavery warrior Harriet Tubman on the face of the $20 bill is symbolic on many levels. The fact that shell replace Andrew Jackson the countrys seventh president, and a man who owned more than 100 slaves is especially sweet. Whats even more remarkable, though, is how significant the $20 denomination would be for Tubman throughout her life. Thats the precise amount Harriets elderly father, Ben Ross, a timber harvester, paid his employer Eliza Brodess in 1855, to buy his wife, Rit, her freedom. Eliza was the widow of Edward Brodess, the owner of a small plantation in Dorchester County, on Marylands Eastern Shore. The Brodesses used to hire out Harriet to neighboring farms, where she was brutally flogged as a child. After she ran away to Philadelphia in 1849, afraid of being sold like her sisters, Eliza was the one who offered a reward for her return. Two years later, a desperate Harriet would demand $20 of abolitionists at the Anti-Slavery Office in New York to fund a mission to bring her septuagenarian parents from Maryland to Canada. Though Ben and Rit were legally free, Ben, who was active on the Underground Railroad, was in danger of being arrested for assisting other slaves to escape. When the office said they didnt have the money, Tubman simply staged a sit-in. At the end of the day, when she awoke from a doze into which shed fallen, she was pleased to discover that visitors to the office had learned of her plight and had contributed three times that amount. In 1860, Tubman would beg the anti-slavery activist Wendell Phillips to give her another $20, to free her sister Rachel and Rachels two children, Angerine and Ben, the last of her family left on the Brodess plantation. Harriet needed a total of $100 to pay for the journey (she had to buy food and bribe helpers along the way), but was short by $20. Tubman had been trying for a decade to liberate her sister. Determined to make one last attempt, she reached Dorchester County in November, only to learn that Rachel had been dead for several months. Even worse, a lack of money and logistical confusion forced Harriet to return without her orphaned niece and nephew. Though she successfully shepherded another slave family to safety, the emotional heartbreak of leaving the children behind, and physical hardship of the journey through swamps and icy winds, was too much for Tubman to bear. It would be her last raid. Twenty dollars per month was the grand total of Tubmans pension. The amount was just about enough for the wheelchair-bound Tubman to employ a nurse at the old age home she had set up the Harriet Tubman Home for Aged and Infirm Negroes in Auburn, New York where she died penniless in 1913 at the age of 91. The paltriness of her pension was a source of much dismay and several of her influential friends campaigned for a more just settlement, pointing to her extraordinary courage in shepherding over 70 slaves to freedom in the course of more than a dozen raids. In fact, initially Tubman was granted only her $8 widows pension. It was only after a sympathetic New York congressman, Sereno E. Payne, introduced a bill asking that she be paid a pension in her own right for her work as a Civil War nurse, cook and spy, that she got the additional $12. By that point, she was almost 80 years old; she would die a little over a decade later. Given the role $20 played in Harriet Tubmans long, daring and impoverished life, its both poignant and wonderful that this piece of currency will soon bear her image. No other could be more fitting. Cheer A pitch to find more areas in the city of Twin Falls for off-leash animals looked like it was going to the dogs, but city leaders have agreed to keep discussing the issue. Councilman Don Hall asked the city park board to consider allowing dogs off leash in parts of Auger Falls and the Dierkes Lake trails. But board members balked over concerns about safety and liability. Those are legitimate concerns. But so is the need to find more pet-friendly areas in Twin Falls, especially as the city continues to attract new residents expecting amenities like off-leash areas common in larger cities. Auger Falls and Dierkes Lake trails might not be the best locations, but we hope city leaders continue to discuss other options. Parks and Recreation was asked to come back to the park board with more information on call legalities and options for locations. Have some suggestions? Call the city Parks and Recreation Department at 208-736-2265. Jeer Its not just the uninsured stuck a with the tab when they cant afford to pay their medical bills. County taxpayers share the burden. As we showed in our investigation Wednesday into county indigent funds, Magic Valley counties have some of the consistently highest rates of uninsured of any counties in Idaho. Thanks to the Affordable Care Act, more Idahoans are signing up for insurance. Still, far too many people dont have insurance. Jerome and Minidoka counties have the third- and fourth-highest rates of uninsured in the state, at 17 percent and 16 percent of all residents, respectively. Hispanic men aged 18 to 34 have the highest uninsured rates 26 percent of them lacked health insurance in Idaho in 2015. Every county in the Magic Valley except for Blaine, where 10 percent of residents were uninsured, has an uninsured rate higher than the state average 16 percent in Gooding and Lincoln counties, 15 percent in Twin Falls and Cassia counties and 14 percent in Camas County. And the more people who are uninsured, the more taxpayers have to pitch in for covering indigent care. Of course, the Legislature could have eased this burden by expanding Medicaid to 78,000 of Idahos uninsured in its most recent session or it could have created an Idaho program. Instead, it opted to do nothing. Cheer The city of Twin Falls is investing $3 million in a new water-booster station that it hopes will kick-start development on the citys south side. For years, the city has scuttled plans for south side subdivisions because it didnt have the capacity to meet water needs. This new water station on Washington Street South will allow developers to pursue proposals pitched before the recession stalled plans for housing on the south side. Thanks for Supporting Yearbook I would like to extend a thankful shout-out to the local businesses of Twin Falls who supported the Magic Valley High School yearbook. As we are a small school sometimes we are overlooked, but when it came to the fact that we were short on the funds required to print our yearbook the great people of Twin Falls helped us. At Magic Valley Im in a class that works hard for three weeks to put together the yearbook in that short amount of time. This year, we went out to businesses to see if they would help support our yearbook. We went to many businesses to seek some help, from the most known to the unknown businesses of Twin falls. Some of our search was dispiriting and some was optimistic, and we even had some help from a wonderful radio host that sent our message out into Twin Falls (Thanks, Dr. Nick!). From there the locals of Twin Falls have helped us raise the amount needed to print the yearbook and more, now we c! an even print some pages in color or even switch the yearbook to a bounded version instead ringlets or the extra money could be used to support other needs. Thank you to Wills Toyota, The Brick House, Heart and Dagger Tattoo, Washington Street Pawn, Churchmans, Sav-Mor Drug, Jeffs Graphics, The Barber Shop, Warm Art Tattoo, Cash Now Auto Sales, Canyon Pawn, Steven Peterson, and Brad Ferrenburg! The people of Twin Falls have truly put forward the hospitality this place has been known for, and hopefully when next year comes they will still be willing to help our school once again. Nellie Moreno Twin Falls Grateful for Library Help Many thanks to the Twin Falls Public Library for hosting the noon talk for my husband, Harald Gerber, architect. The room was filled with people interested in hearing about his work and community service. Research Librarian Jennifer spent many hours sorting through pictures and other information to make this presentation. She did a wonderful job! My children and I are also grateful for Tom Gilbertson. Tom has spent the last several month organizing, sorting and transferring Haralds plans, photos, and architectural items of interest to the Historical Museum where they will see on display for the public to enjoy. Thank you, Jennifer and Tom! Phyllis Gerber Twin Falls 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. By Michael Sallah and @jayhweaver Just after sunset, Commissioner Luis Santiago pulled up to the gates of the sprawling storage lot in Opa-locka and motioned for Frank Zambrana to step inside the black, city-leased Ford Expedition. The two had met privately before, but this time it was different. With a handgun on the console, Santiago reached over to his passenger and frisked him for any recording devices. He told me that he was not going to take any chances, Zambrana said. With no one else in sight, Zambrana said he took out $500, counted it, then passed it to the 55-year-old politician in yet another secret payment to ensure Zambrana would get a license to open his heavy equipment business in 2013. It wasnt the last payment he would have to make for a license that cost just $150. In the past three years, the father of five paid tens of thousands of dollars to Santiago and a host of other prominent city officials in what exposed an organized network that turned the levers of government into a cash generator for themselves and others, the Miami Herald has learned. After months of making under-the-table payments for a business license, Zambrana turned to the FBI. In one of the most compelling public corruption cases in Miami-Dade in years, Zambrana taped secret meetings while he paid cash bribes to public officials in City Hall, at remote parking lots and even in a popular night spot, according to confidential sources. Zambrana is among the lead figures in a grand jury investigation that could result in the indictment of at least a dozen people, including Santiago and City Manager David Chiverton, on racketeering charges, according to sources who spoke to the Herald on the condition of anonymity. I knew it was bad, but I didnt know it was that bad, said Steven Barrett, a former vice mayor who once sued the city over questionable billing practices for water and sewer services. This city is run like the mob. More here. @NewsbySmiley Keon Hardemon, the Miami City Commission's most eligible bachelor, is getting hitched. Hardemon, 32, plans to wed sweetheart Adia Kamaria McKenzie Saturday following a whirlwind romance. McKenzie, who grew up in Miramar, is a 34-year-old book author and Florida International University graduate. The two started dating in March of 2015, and Hardemon proposed last month while the two were traveling in Paris. Hardemon got down on one knee in front of the Eiffel Tower. Weeks after a Department of Corrections inspector privately told members of a state Senate committee about what he suspected was cover-up and abuse at the state prison agency last year, he was hit with six internal investigations in a single day, all aimed at discrediting him or forcing him out. The unprecedented number of investigations gave grounds for the agency to reassign the investigator, Doug Glisson, move his office to what agency staff calls a former broom closet, take away access to his past emails and work files, and then conduct an investigation that lasted months without interviewing alleged witnesses or verifying many facts. When Glisson, a supervisor who has a 20-year career in law enforcement, protested in a six-page letter to his supervisors, he was subjected to a verbal tirade from Inspector Brian Falstrom so loud and filled with invective that it scared the other office staff who overhead it all. It was very scary for me, said Stephanie Land, who worked in the office next to Glisson in the agency's Office of Internal Audits. He yelled a lot. When asked in court if she was in fear of being retaliated against because of her testimony, she responded: A little, yeah. The extent of the Department of Corrections alleged retaliation against one of five whistle-blowers has come to light in detailed transcripts and documents filed as part of an ongoing legal fight in a Tallahassee court. Glisson is suing the agency, seeking a formal review process in which he alleges his rights have been violated. Story here. Photo: Department of Corrections Inspector Doug Glisson testified March 9, 2015 before Senate Criminal Justice Committee, by Mary Ellen Klas, Miami Herald via @learyreports TOWSON, Maryland -- As the American Legion hall filled in, the crowd buzzed over the unusual spectacle they were about to witness: A Republican presidential candidate campaigning in this deeply Democratic state. We count this year. Its amazing. We count this year! said Dave Walcher, an insurance agent from Towson, near Baltimore, who wore a black T-shirt showing Ronald Reagan dressed like a biker. Tuesdays primary is the first Walcher, 49, can remember mattering. Just as remarkable is the man responsible for Marylands competitive status: Ted Cruz. He has prevented Donald Trump from wrapping up the nomination and stands, improbably, as the last hope of a GOP establishment that openly loathes the brash, theatrical Texan. If the right people dont like you, then youre probably the right guy, said Steven Brosey, 54, who attended the Cruz rally Monday. Ted Cruz understands the Constitution and has taken unpopular stands. I like that. Cruz, 45, was the first Republican candidate to get in the race and has done a lot of things very well, not least of which is to outlast 14 rivals. He has stuck to his conservative message while avoiding gaffes. Early on he conspicuously avoiding tangling with Trump. His debate performances have been solid. Hes raised a surprising amount of money and poured that into a team that has used voter data to target people with tailored messages. The result: Key victories, including Iowa, that have stymied Trumps path to the 1,237 delegates needed for the nomination. Distrustful of Trumps ideological conviction, his outlandish style and potential effect on crucial down-ballot races, Republicans are slowly coming around to Cruz. Im getting more comfortable with him, said St. Petersburg developer Mel Sembler, a major GOP fundraiser and party insider who had supported Jeb Bush. Last Monday, Cruz called Sembler to ask for help. Sembler sent him a $5,400 check and offered to put the campaign in contact with other Florida donors. Hes still a certified loony, said Al Hoffman, another top Florida fundraiser and Bush supporter, referring to some of Cruzs positions, including abolishing the IRS and mass deportations. But hes probably the only hope we have. Anybody but Trump. Lets hope he learns how to be a president if he can win. In my view its a less than 50-50 chance he would even win. More here. Photo credit: Matt Slocum, Associated Press During a stop in Tampa on Friday, U.S. Senate candidate Ron DeSantis left no doubt that he is angling to present himself as the strongest candidate in the GOP field on foreign policy. DeSantis, a Republican Congressman from Ponte Vedra Beach, hosted an hour and a half long event he called "Defeat the Jihad" in which he talked to about 50 people about how President Barack Obama's policies have made defeating ISIS in Iraq more difficult. He also spoke out against the U.S. releasing enemy combatants at Guantanamo Bay and warned against the U.S. accepting Syrian refugees into the nation without proper vetting. DeSantis said what sets him apart from his four Republican opponents is his U.S. Navy service and continuing service in the reserves. DeSantis said his knowledge of Iraq and Guantanamo Bay is not just an academic exercise. "I have direct service in those theaters," said DeSantis, who has been in the Navy for more than a decade. In addition, DeSantis, is a member of the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee. During his event at a hotel conference room near the Tampa International Airport, DeSantis said one of President Obama's biggest mistakes has been negotiating with Iran over its nuclear program. In Iraq that is sending a message to Sunni Arabs that the U.S. is tilting its policies in favor of the Shia. That has Sunni Arabs more receptive to the message from the Sunni-dominated ISIS and could make them less trusting of U.S. efforts, making it even harder to eject ISIS from Iraq. DeSantis also warned that the U.S. would be naive to release the remaining "hardcore terrorists" being held at Guantanamo Bay. He said no matter what nation they are released to they will be a threat to American interests. "They are going to find their way back to the fight," DeSantis said. On Syrian refugees, DeSantis said the U.S. has to be reluctant in taking them because the FBI has told Congress they cannot properly background all that are trying to come to the U.S. now. He said there are reports that ISIS is trying to use the refugee flow to get terrorists to western nations. "If they can't be vetted, we can't bring them in," DeSantis said.DeSantis was not the only Republican trying to make headway in Tampa on Friday. Just a few miles away, Florida Lt. Gov. Carlos Lopez-Cantera, a Republican from Miami, was touring the J.C. Newman Cigar Co. He used the tour to highlight how government regulations are threatening the cigar company. Also running in the Aug. 30 GOP primary are U.S. Rep. David Jolly, R-Indian Shores; Orlando businessman Todd Wilcox; and Manatee County homebuilder Carlos Beruff. The subject of Old Monk usually gets soaked with sentimentality. The rakish dark rum, the alcoholic equivalent of Govinda (you love it, but cant admit it because its too cheap), has a rich, dark history. Whats usually well known is that in 1855, an entrepreneurial Scotsman named Edward Dyer, quick to spot demand for cheap beer among the British, set up a brewery in Kasauli, Himachal Pradesh. A brewery that would in a few years change hands, become a distillery by the name of Mohan Meakin Pvt. Ltd and go on to produce one of Indias best-known liquor brands. Whats less known is a slightly unsavoury piece of trivia: Dyer, the man who sowed the seeds of socialist Indias most loved brand of alcohol, was the father of Colonel Reginald Edward Dyer, the British Indian Army officer who oversaw the massacre of almost 500 people at Jallianwala Bagh in Amritsar on 13 April 1919. But then, the story in 2016 is not about Old Monks legacy; its about the brands decay. A perfect Make-in-India prototype, with infinite potential, it has been pushed to the brink because of management inertia and dense government policies. A depressing saga that may drive loyal fans to the bottle, save for the fact that they would not be able to get one in many cities and towns. Fall of the legend Old Monk was the undisputed single brand leader till 2002, not just among rum labels, but the entire branded spirits market in India, well ahead of its closest competitor, the United Spirits Ltd-produced whisky Bagpiper. According to International Wine and Spirit Research data, Old Monks soon-to-be bete noire, McDowells Celebration Rum, was selling less than half the volume. By 2005, Celebration had taken over Old Monk. But the difference was marginal: of less than 1.5 million cases. It could well have been an aberration, one bad year. Except that it wasnt. By 2011, it was abundantly clear that Celebration Rum was here to stayand dislodge Old Monk. In 2010-11, the former sold over 11 million cases; Old Monk, barely 3 million cases, according to data from global market research firm Euromonitor International. Typically, it should have rung alarms bells, got the company to reinvent the wheel, and indulge in some serious self-introspection. But corrective measures were half-baked at best, say people acquainted with the affairs of the company, both within Mohan Meakin and outside. The numbers definitely suggest so. Whatever measures the company took didnt help arrest the decline.In 2013-14, Celebration sold more than seven times the volume of Old Monk, around 15 million cases versus just over 2 million cases. For Old Monk, that was a decline of almost 50% in less than 10 years. Perhaps, at the time, Mohan Meakins management led by Brigadier (retd) Kapil Mohan had good reasons to be confident about Old Monks invincibility. For it wasnt just India that Old Monks trademark squat bottle was ruling, the brand was practically the only Indian one you could see on the shelves of bars in foreign countries. It was sometime in the early 1990s. I was in Germany and the euro was yet to come. To my surprise, I found Old Monk. But what was the bigger surprise? Old Monk was being sold at 2 marks and Bacardi at 1 mark and the bartender told me people were actually drinking more Old Monk," recollects Pramod Krishna, chairman of the Confederation of Indian Alcoholic Beverages, and a long-time industry observer. For Mohan Meankin, profit after taxes dropped from Rs2.5 crore in fiscal year 2005 to just Rs30 lakh in fiscal 2006. There was a brief recoverybut things tanked soon. In fiscal 2010, the companys balance sheet showed a post-tax loss of Rs3.35 crorewhich amounted to almost double the past four years combined profit. The next year, though, the company bounced back with a profit of Rs7.67 crore. Or so it seemed. A closer inspection of the balance sheet, however, tells the truth about the profit on the books: sale of fixed assets, land. Mohan Meakin plummeted further the following year with a loss of Rs7.44 crore, but the worst was yet to come. In fiscal 2014, it registered losses worth almost Rs20 crore. What happened at the turn of the decade? Why did things go so horribly wrong that people stopped drinking their favourite brand of rum? Crash and burn After liberalization in the early 1990s, foreign liquor brands such as Bacardi started coming in. The hitherto-closed market, with only a few players such as Mohan Meakin, Shaw Wallace and United Spirits, suddenly became competitive. Domestic brands like USL and Radico Khaitan realized they had to up their game and they did so by aggressively promoting and marketing the product. Mohan Meakin didnt think it was necessary to reinvent," says Krishna, while nursing a single malt at a genteel bar in a New Delhi five-star hotel, which does not stock Old Monk at all. In 2009, Ponty Chadha, owing to what many consider an act of extreme political generosity of the then Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati, gained near complete monopoly over the liquor business with his Wave Distilleries and Breweries in the state. The two eventsOld Monks free fall and Chadhas meteoric risehad a direct cause-and-effect relationship. One of the first casualties of Chadhas monopoly was Mohan Meakins Lucknow distillery, which shut down almost immediately. Also to suffer heavily was the beer Meakin 10,000a direct competitor of Chadhas Wave beerwhich was completely wiped out of the market. Meakin 10,000 was the highest selling beer across Dehradun to Meerut, but after 2009, we almost stopped getting any orders at all. What were we supposed to do?" laments S.C. Sahay, Mohan Meakins sales manager. Wave Distilleries and Breweries didnt respond to an email query by Mint on Sunday seeking comments on whether the company getting exclusive wholesale distribution rights was in violation of the spirit of a free and fair market, as alleged by Sahay. According to a former Mohan Meakin shareholder, who didnt want to be named, ad hoc state excise policies are not to blame for Old Monks lacklustre performance. For a company as old as them, they have always been on the wrong side of the governmentand if you are in this business, you cant let ego dictate your business decisions," says the person, who recently sold his shares. In Tamil Nadu, after the state took over liquor procurement and sales, Old Monk completely disappeared from the shelves till recentlya setback that hurt the brand worse than Chadhas monopoly in Uttar Pradesh. Tamil Nadu, as Sanjeev Raikar, research analyst at Euromonitor International, pointed out, is one of the largest rum markets in the country (along with Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal). By 2008, Old Monk also lost the distinction of being the Indian Armys most-loved drink. A Right to Information query filed in the year revealed that Radico Khaitans Contessa had overtaken Old Monk as the top-selling brand at army canteens According to an Economic Times report, Contessa, by 2013, had a market share of 25% in the armys Canteen Stores Department. This year, Mohan Meakin lost yet another battle with the government, and was forced to part with some of its land at the Mohan Nagar industrial estate for a Delhi Metro rail project. To make matters worse, industry analysts say that Indians are drinking less rum. Apart from distribution woes, Old Monk, according to Raikar, has been the victim of changing consumer preferences". A large consumer base is now embracing premium whiskies," Raikar said in an email. Another analyst, Ranjana Sundaresan of market research firm Mintel India, agreed. The Indian middle class is now shifting to more premium brands. They are drinking less, but drinking good stuff," Sundaresan said in a telephone interview. Since 2011, the overall volume of rum sold in India has gone down. The decrease, though, at less than 1.5% annually, is not even a patch on Old Monks fall in sales. As the market saw a shift towards premium (read: more expensive) brands in the mid-2000s, McDowells raised the price of Celebration Rum. It was rather tactically priced at around 20% in excess of Old Monk. It was a great move that helped the company tap the new shift towards premium brands, according to industry analysts. Old Monk did nothing to give the brand a new lease of life. (Only in the past year or two has Mohan Meakin come up with some premium varieties that are priced as high as Rs1,200 for a 750ml bottle.) Instead, it outsourced distribution to a third party in many markets. It was a disastrous move. In the alcohol business, a strong distribution machinery is considered as important as the product. Just look at the board once," says an employee, on condition of anonymity, explaining why innovation has never been the companys strength. It is full of old people who are past their prime. Im sure they were great managers in their time, but you need professionals up to speed with market realities to be able to deal with the onslaught of foreign companies." Really old monks At Mohan Meakin, the standing joke is that there is no retirement age. Group chairman Kapil Mohan is almost bedriddenand has limited mobility. One member in the board of directors, Swaraj Suri, is past 80. P.D. Goswami, the former financial director of the company, retired at the age of 86 in 2012. The groups reluctance to let go of the status quo has also led to the complete lack of any strategic partnerships. Many international companies such as Budweiser and Carlsberg have approached the company. In fact, SABMiller, Indias second largest beer company by sales, almost took over Mohan Meakin. However, the deal, according to a person with knowledge of the matter, was called off at the last moment as Mohan insisted that he would lease out the company only for 10 yearsa condition that didnt cut ice with SABMiller. The company confirmed to Mint on Sunday that it was indeed in talks with SABMiller and was quite close to coming to an agreement. Another event in the mid-2000s, according to insiders, that adversely affected the company was the exit of the flamboyant Rocky Mohan, one of Mohans nephews. While his final exit was without acrimony, several employees, current and former, say events leading up to the exit werent quite smooth. He just couldnt get along with the Brigadier," says an employee whos been on Mohan Meakins rolls since 1971. I retired from the company. I dont want get into the why of it, but I continue to play an ambassadorial role," Rocky Mohan told Mint on Sunday. Does he think the brand could be doing much better? Yes, it could be doing much better. Most certainly we have had problems, but the numbers are not as bad as they are being projected to be." Rocky, when asked if he thought the company could have been run in a much better fashion, refused to comment. One thing I can say on record is that the company will be back to its old glory soon. A lot of positive steps are being taken." In 2014-15, Mohan Meakin did show a semblance of a fightback, with a profit of Rs3 crore. The opposite effect Vinay Mohan, Rockys cousin and Kapils nephew, director at Mohan Meakin, who agreed to meet me at the companys Mohan Nagar officean administrative building that has the air of a government office in dire need of a makeover (and a stricter no-smoking rule inside the building)after much persuasion, doesnt think there is a problem. The numbers are highly exaggerated; I dont know where you have got them from," says Vinay. We are growing everywhere. Yes, there was a problem due to political reasons in Tamil Nadu, which has now been sorted. In Bengal, we are growing by 30% annually, in Maharashtra, 20%," he claims. What about the almost continuous losses the company has suffered in the past few years? That has nothing to do with Old Monk. There were some loss-making entities in the group like the glass factory that we have shut down. We let go of around 400 people during the rejig. Anyway, we suffered losses only for a year or two," he says. We dont believe in doing anything that is not permitted by the law of the land, thats why we dont do any surrogate advertising. But we have launched new premium varieties in the market. We are selective with our products because we want them to justify the Old Monk label," he says. Old Monk, Vinay insists, continues to be most-sold drink even in duty-free shops across airports in India. It sells so much that other companies have had to request duty-free shop owners not to display Old Monk prominently because their products were suffering." Vinay appeared to be right about people asking for Old Monk at duty-free shops. Just one problem though: Mohan Meakin doesnt have the wherewithal to match the demand. The company has huge distribution issues. Supply is completely distorted," says a person who operates several duty-free retail stores in various cities, on the condition of anonymity. The situation is not vastly different in duty-paid shops in airports either. There is no supply," was the rather direct response from Amit Arora, chairman of Buddy Retail Pvt. Ltd, which runs Liquor World, a chain of duty-paid liquor stores in the Delhi, Goa and Mumbai airports. So, has sale volume not been affected at all? I told you; marginally for a few years because of a few markets," insists Vinay, instructing Sahay to share the companys own historical sales data. The numbers never came, despite multiple reminders over the course of a month. But then, things are hardly known to move fast at Mohan Meakin. Comments are welcome at feedback@livemint.com Topics Philip Spratt (1902-1971) was an intellectual and writer. In 1926, he arrived in India from Britain at the age of 24 to spread communism and was one of the architects and founding members of the Communist Party of India. Subsequently, he renounced communism and moved towards liberalism, and was one of the lone voices against the leftist tendencies that became prevalent after independence. A frequent contributor to Freedom First, he was associated with C. Rajagopalachari and served as an editor for Swarajya. In this piece, published in the December 1952 issue of Freedom First, Spratt talks of what he perceives to be the merits and failings of major political ideologiesliberalism, Marxism and Gandhism. The piece is representative of his thinking at that time, before he had fully embraced liberalism. *** Should a political party have an ideology? Of course. What sort of ideology should it be? That is the question. Political bodies can be arranged in a series according to the significance of their ideology. At one end stand the parties in the fullest sense, the organised expressions of great historical movements; at the other merely ad hoc associations, coalitions or blocs. The most temporary bloc has at least one point of common policy, but unless its constituent parties agree on more than the immediate purpose, people are apt to denounce it as unholy"unprincipledand its working is apt to be uneasy. Any more permanent organisation is inevitably more united than such a bloc, and to that extent it has an ideology. A party which aspires to rule a country must have something which can be called an aim in view, even if it is only to keep things as they are; and it must have some idea how it hopes to get there, or stay there. An ideology is nothing else but an aim and a method of getting to it; the rest is frills, quite likely unnecessary, and often dangerous. Consider some well-known ideologies. The Liberal theory proclaimed a vision-of men, free and equal, going about unrestrained by States, sufficiently rational to see that the interest of all in the maintenance of ordered freedom is the interest of each individually, and sufficiently self-controlled and benevolent to behave accordingly. The aim is abstract enough to be called ethical rather than political. The liberal political method, democracy, change by agreement, etc. follow from these generalities. Liberalism also had a specifically economic element: that concerning the rights of property, free trade, and so forth. The liberal economic policy purported to follow logically from a universally valid theory, and this theory was the most interesting intellectual and ideological" part of liberalism; but we all know now that it was hardly more than a disguised appeal to self-interest. In the early days both the ethical and the economic, the altruistic and the selfish, elements were needed to inspire a movement with real drive. But the economic policy proved inappropriate, soon in some countries, eventually in all. Their obstinacy in clinging to their economic dogma doomed the liberal parties to extinction, but the ethical vision of liberalism retains its validity. Consider Marxism. It also proclaims an ideal vision, of men equal, freed from economic subservience, from poverty and from national narrowness and religious obscurantism, freely cooperating in economic and cultural construction. It also has an economic political or sociological theory, all about the concentration of capital, crises, class struggle, etc., so delightful to the ideologist that he entirely forgets the ideal. Marxism frankly avowed that the attraction of the ideal was not enough to inspire a strong party, and appealed to the self-interest of labour, but we now know that no less important was the disguised appeal to the self-interest of the intellectuals contained in that fascinating theory. Of Marxism it is also true that its ideal or ethical element largely retains its validity, and indeed is not so very different from the liberal ideal; while the sociological element has become out of date. Communists would deny this, but it is quite clear to the outsider that their movement is not now guided by Lenins classical formulation of revolutionary Marxism. Social-Democrats would also deny it, but at least it was strongly borne in upon me when I read Sternbergs Capitalism and Socialism on Trial recently that the Social-Democratic version of Marxism has failed to grapple theoretically with events since about the first world war. Gandhism similarly puts forward an ideal, in which the main features are equality, free cooperation, local self-sufficiency, decentralisation, a rural, anti-industrial bias, demand limited by self-restraint, and a strong religious inspiration. Its political element, the method of truth and non-violence, is less theoretical than in Marxism, and is related to the ideal in the same sort of way as political democracy is related to the ideal of liberalism. Where liberalism and Marxism appealed to self-interest, Gandhism appealed to the sentiment in favour of national freedom, and proved to be so closely bound up with this, that on its attainment the Gandhian movement quickly declined almost to insignificance. But again the ideal element in both object and method retains its appeal. In these instances of great movements the principle is perhaps unusually clear, but probably the ideas of any party can be analysed in the same way into ideals, including ideally valid methods; appeals, open or disguised, to self-interest; and economic, political or sociological theory, which guides political practice, but is controversial and gets out of date, and contains hidden appeals to sectional interests. From the party point of view the most important function of theory in ideology is this function-of disguising appeals to self-interest, and thus maintaining the appearance of consistency in what the party says. In liberalism this is perfectly clear, though of course the pure theory of capital has independent interest. In Marxism the open appeal to the self-interest of the workers was always felt to be a blot, and many Marxists apologised for it, inconsistently, by referring to the liberal principle of majority rule and postulating that the workers were a majority. The accusation that the Marxian theory is a disguised appeal to the self-interest of the intellectuals (first advanced 50 years ago by Machajski) has always been felt to be an intolerable insult and if true a final refutation. There is another popular method of acquiring appeal. That is to go in for what is called practical politics: to forget or neglect theory, and to angle for the support not of one big group but of many small groups one after another. In countries where democratic politics is a familiar institution and people are bored with it, this works very well, though it is apt to produce disasters like Coolidge and Neville Chamberlain. The Congress party is tending towards a policy of this kind, but the Indian public are not yet sufficiently bored, and one wonders uneasily what sort of disaster it will lead to here. National temperaments differ considerably. All Englishmen, Gladstone said, hate two things: the Pope and a general proposition. Most Continentals have what Englishmen regard as an inordinate respect for general propositions. Aside from temperament, countries which have long enjoyed stability will tend to take abstract principles for granted. India, newly starting a free political existence, needs to make her abstract principles explicit. If I can judge her peoples temperament, I should say that her educated class are more interested in theory than Englishmen, but less intoxicated by it than Germans or Russians, while the uneducated are of course indifferent to it. All, however, educated and uneducated, are strongly attracted by high ideals, and still more by men who live up to them. (But it is not unfair to say that they are not much worried by a political practice which departs widely from the ideal.) It follows, if this is true, that an Indian political party which wants to get anywhere must stress the abstract, ethical or utopian element in its ideology. (And if it can get an authentic saint for a leader, its fortune is made.) It should give second place to theory, political, economic or sociological, but it should take care that any theory it does profess is not too difficult to reconcile with its professed ideals. Will it not then fail of popular appeal? Has not Gandhism collapsed for lack of open or covert appeal to self-interest? It is not certain. It may be that Gandhism has collapsed since Independence rather because its ideal is not wholly acceptable. The way for an Indian party may be to proclaim an ideal which is worthy, and yet is free from elements which are merely idiosyncratic and out of date, and for the rest to stand not on theory but on truth: the truth that progress towards any ideal must be slow, and must involve hard work, hard thinking, and honest administration; and to promise that effort and honesty (relying upon the Indian publics merciful indulgence towards normal lapses from the ideal) would be rewarded. The stress on theory in political ideologies is dubious both morally and intellectually. Priority for the ideal aim is logically sounder, and would raise Indian politics to a higher moral level. Whether it could appeal to the electorate can only be found out by trying it. This piece has been selected for publication by IndianLiberals.in, an initiative of Centre for Civil Society. It is an online library of all Indian liberal writings, lectures and other materials in English and Indian regional languages, with an aim to preserve an often unknown but very rich Indian liberal tradition. Source: December 1952 issue of Freedom First. Comments are welcome at feedback@livemint.com Topics The decision of the Tata group to divest its steel business in the UK has reignited an old debate on the impact of globalization on manufacturing jobs in advanced economies. While intuition may suggest that advanced economies are at risk of losing manufacturing business and employment to the developing world, economic research over the past three decades suggests that may not be the case. In a 1993 National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) paper, Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman, then at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Robert Z. Lawrence of Harvard University questioned the wisdom that rising trade deficit, a loss in international competitiveness and a surge in imports from less developed countries were to blame for Americas economic problems due to their adverse impact on domestic manufacturing. Krugman and Lawrence argued that the increase in the USs trade deficit in manufacturing could only be used to explain a small part of the loss of manufacturing activity. According to their estimates, even if the US had maintained balanced trade in manufacturing between 1970 and 1990, it would still have suffered 86% of the decline in share of manufacturing in gross domestic product (GDP). The erosion in manufacturings base, argued Krugman and Lawrence, had happened due to a shift of consumer expenditure away from manufacturing towards services. This, they said, was a result of the decline in prices of manufactured products, which had happened due to a large improvement in productivity. That paper provided another piece of evidence to argue against the notion that international trade was the reason behind the predicament of blue-collar workers in the US. Krugman and Lawrence argued that evidence from the US economy belied the predictions of the factor price equalization theory of trade. Factor price equalization theory suggests that if a country abundant in skilled labour (e.g., the US) trades with a country abundant in unskilled labour (any developing country), then the former would specialize in the export of skill-intensive products. This would lead to an increase in demand for skilled labour and hence a rise in their relative wages. The rise in wages in turn would lead to a decline in the relative share of skilled labour in other sectors, thereby leading to a situation where the ratio of skilled to unskilled labour declines in all industries. The authors argued that data for the US economy between 1979 and 1989 did not conform to this trend. Despite there being a rise in the relative wages of skilled labour, all industries were employing more of it. The paper concluded that it was incorrect to blame international trade for the difficulties being faced by US manufacturing and the US economy, and the reasons were rooted in the domestic economy itself. In a 1999 International Monetary Fund (IMF) Staff Paper, Cambridge University economist Robert Rowthorn and the IMFs Ramana Ramaswamy argued on more or less similar lines. The authors looked at data from 18 industrial countries over 1963-1994 and concluded that deindustrialization there since the 1970s had primarily been due to domestic issues, even though globalization played a role in accentuating the process. According to their findings, between half to two-thirds of the relative decline in manufacturing employment was to be explained by changing preference patterns, differential productivity growth and associated price changes. A falling investment-to-GDP ratio was another important cause for fall in demand for manufactured goods in these economies, which according to the authors accounted for one-sixth of the deindustrialization in these economies. This, the paper argued was almost equal to the effect of north-south trade on the manufacturing sector of these countries. A 2009 American Sociological Review paper by Christopher Kollmeyer of the University of Aberdeen, which examined deindustrialization in 18 OECD countries during 1970-2003 also arrived at similar conclusions. Kollmeyer, however, accorded greater weight to the role of north-south trade in driving deindustrialization than Rawthorn and Ramaswamy did. He also pointed out that some of the apparent loss in manufacturing employment might simply reflect a change in nomenclature as factory services (such as design or cleaning) began to be outsourced and factory workers" were no longer being employed to perform them. A recent NBER paper examined the patterns of manufacturing employment in Denmark to find that a significant portion of the decline" in manufacturing employment between 1993 and 2007 can be explained by switching from manufacturing to services. The authors argue that a non-negligible portion of what is construed as a decline in manufacturing employment and number of firms has been happening because of erstwhile manufacturing firms switching over to non-manufacturing activities. These activities could constitute assuming the role of a wholesaler given the existing knowledge of producers and consumers in the given sector, or moving to activities such as design or research and development. The paper gives an example of an 18th century firm, Iver C. Weilbach & Co., which sold magnetic compasses to sailors in its first hundred years, then moved to providing on-board checks and now offers both printed (outsourced from others) and electronic (produced in-house) navigation maps and support on a 24x7 basis. The authors use these findings to argue that the traditional focus on reviving manufacturing in advanced countries might have missed this phenomenon and hence runs the risk of preserving less efficient manufacturing activity against the modern switchers which are more research oriented and display much higher levels of productivity. The paper argues that it is in these activities that advanced economies still enjoy a comparative advantage, unlike in assembly and production activities, where the advantage may have shifted to developing countries. Such research, however, is of little consolation to the distressed workforce in advanced economies that have been facing deflationary economic conditions and joblessness since the onset of the Great Recession. The political economy implications of these conditions are already visible. The US, the biggest capitalist country in the world, is aggressively pursuing mega-regional trade agreements it claims will bring back jobs to the domestic economy by promoting exports. Donald Trump, who has sharply polarized the country in the run-up to the next presidential elections, has threatened to impose duties on imports coming into the US from China if elected to power. The situation is not very different in developing countries as well, most of which are experiencing headwinds to growth given tepid global demand. Where does the solution lie? A return to mercantilism? Or should we go back to nationalization of industries, which is purportedly being considered in Britain right now? Answers to such questions are inextricably linked to issues of what should be an appropriate industrial policy as well as overall growth strategy. Just as many other forms of government intervention, once considered beyond the pale, are gaining currency, it is likely that the coming months and years will witness growing calls for governments to step in and frame industrial policies. Maybe the 21st century will require a new kind of industrial policy, as Harvard University economist Dani Rodrik outlined in a 2004 research paper. Rodrik argued that industrial policy should be seen as a part of the process of economic self-discovery, in which the state and private firms work jointly to identify and address bottlenecks to productivity and growth. A central argument of this paper is that the task of industrial policy is as much about eliciting information from the private sector on significant externalities and their remedies as it is about implementing appropriate policies," wrote Rodrik. The right model for industrial policy is not that of an autonomous government applying Pigovian taxes or subsidies, but of strategic collaboration between the private sector and the government with the aim of uncovering where the most significant obstacles to restructuring lie and what types of intervention are most likely to remove them." Economics Express runs weekly, and features interesting reads from the world of economics and finance. Comments are welcome at feedback@livemint.com Topics New business Access Storage, owned by Carl Christofferson, has signed on as a U-Haul neighborhood dealer. Access Storage, at 7648 Thornton Drive, will offer U-Haul trucks, trailers, towing equipment, support rental items and in-store pickup for boxes. Hours are 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday and 8 a.m.-noon Saturday. Call 552-0445 or visit uhaul.com/Locations/Self-Storage-near-Missoula-MT-59808/049134. New associates Becky Pederson has joined Stockman Bank, 1243 Burlington Ave., as a real estate loan assistant. Her primary responsibilities include developing and servicing real estate loans for the Missoula market and surrounding area. Pederson brings 10 years of banking experience to the position in the areas of loan processing and customer service. Call 258-1437. Edward Knowlton is director of customer experience at Education Logistics. Knowlton has more than 25 years in the contact center industry working with companies in the United States and Philippines. He is a Six Sigma Black Belt with more than 2,000 completed projects in service delivery and development and is COPC-Management certified. He has worked with Fortune 100 companies including, General Electric, Accenture and IBM. Mike Keene, PE, is a client resources engineer at Great West Engineering. Keene has a B.S. degree in civil engineering from the University of Denver, and a M.S. degree in civil engineering with an emphasis in water resources from Montana State University. He is a member of the Montana Society of Engineers, the National Society of Professional Engineers, and the Montana Water Resources Association. Territorial Landworks Inc. has added the following to its staff. Ben Rickman joined earned his degree in civil engineering from Montana State University. He has past experience working for the United States Forest Service in Bozeman, performing property boundary surveys as well as site surveys for multiple engineering projects. Sarah Bowman is the executive assistant to the CEO and works with the COO on recruitment. She graduated with honors from the University of Montana with a bachelor's degree in Social Work. For the past five years, Bowman has worked in real estate and mortgage lending. Matt Suek graduated from North Dakota State University in December 2015 and returned to TLI as an engineering technician after interning during the summer of 2015. Suek graduated with a bachelor's degree in civil engineering with Magna Cum Laude honors. Jeremie Marrow has joined the staff of Missoula Aging Services as a Resource Specialist, providing information, assistance and referrals to older adults, people with disabilities and their families. Marrow has served as a court-appointed special advocate volunteer, and has experience with contract legal work, teaching at the college level, and working as an accreditation coordinator for medical professionals. He has earned degrees in French and law from University of Montana. Marilyn Smith has joined Missoula Job Service as a human resource assistant. She worked a short time in administrative support at the Masonry Center, previous to the eight years at DirecTV as a technical customer service representative. She brings with her a combination of over nine years of customer service and technical support skills. Dr. Robin Hape, M.D., FACS, has joined Providence St. Joseph Medical Center in Polson as the only full-time general surgeon on staff for Lake County and the Mission Valley. Hape, a fellow of the American College of Surgeons, attended Montana State University in Bozeman where he received a B.S. in electrical engineering and computer science. He went on to receive his medical education and training at the University of North Dakota School of Medicine and Health Sciences in Grand Forks, North Dakota, where he graduated in 2002. The board-certified general surgeon comes from the Altru Hospital in Grand Forks, where he was a surgeon for eight years. In 2007, Hape also became part of the faculty at UND as an associate clinical professor of surgery. He performs a variety of surgical procedures including gall bladder, appendix, colonoscopy, hernia repair and cancer surgery including breast, colon and skin cancer. Rob Lubke has joined the staff of Childrens Museum Missoula and Families First as outreach and development manager. Lubke has experience in marketing, communications and fundraising. He holds a masters degree in journalism from the University of Montana. Promotions Randi Hoff with Stockman Bank, 1243 Burlington Ave., was promoted to operations manager for the Missoula market. She will manage and oversee operations and customer service for the downtown and Burlington branches. She will also coordinate system support and delivery of eBiz/Cash Management services. Hoff has been with Stockman Bank since 2008, most recently serving as teller supervisor for the Missoula market. Call 258-1431. Relocation Montana Ace Hardware has relocated its Montana Ace Power Pros Outdoor Power Equipment Showroom and Service Center to a newly remodeled facility at 1023 Kensington Ave. The new operation provides factory authorized sales and service of Stihl, Toro, Craftsman, Kohler Generators, Pimco Sprayers and accessories as well as many other brands and related accessories. Montana Ace Power Pros is owed by Meg and Stew Weis. Recognition ERA Lambros agents Tory Dailey and Jack Wade were named one of Real Trends Americas Best Real Estate Agents in 2015 for the state of Montana. REAL Trends is a consulting and communications company for the residential real estate industry. Jerry Hogan of Real Living Real Estate was awarded the Real Living 360 Service Agent diamond recognition. Sentinel Kiwanis announced the recipients of the Lyle R. Heath Community Service Award for 2016. David Watt, Adult Award. Watt retired from the Navy in 2003 and has been an active volunteer and mentor in senior organizations RSVP and Foster Grandparent Program in the schools first in Cascade County and since 2007 in Missoula County. Jessica Beers, Youth Award. Beers, 17, has served the Muscular Dystrophy Association for the last ten years, spending two years as the MDA Montana State Ambassador educating people around the state on the importance of muscular dystrophy camp. She has served three years with National Coalition Building Institute and has participated in camp and co-led school anti-oppression training sessions. Runners Up were Minkie Medoar, Adult Award Runner-up. Nikolas (Niko) Medeiros, Youth Award Runner-up. Dr. Janet P. Wollersheim, Ph.D., clinical psychologist, was awarded the Charles E. Kelly Memorial Award by the Montana Psychological Association. The award was given to her as "a distinguished psychologist for her outstanding professional contributions to Montana psychology." Wollersheim has received prior awards and citations including the University of Montana's Distinguished Scholar Award and recognition by the American Psychological Association. Call 543-6946. Passover is a translation of the Hebrew word, pesach. Yes, pesach means skip or pass over, but the 12th century Book of Radiance, the Zohar, also hears it as a combination of two other Hebrew words, pe, mouth, and sach, tells. So, pesach also means the mouth that tells. How fitting for a holiday whose central ritual is the Passover seder, when we read the Haggadah, a telling of the Exodus of the Israelites from Egypt. On Passover, our goal is to experience liberation from slavery as a personal, immediate event. Words have the power to bring us into the ancient story, to make us feel as if we are standing on the shore of the Sea of Reeds, celebrating the end of our oppression, expressing wonder and gratitude for the Divine gift of freedom. The Kabbalists tell us that when we left Egypt, we were in a sorry state. On a spiritual scale, we hit bottom. Slavery had weakened us, and we needed a long, cleansing walk in the desert to become ready to receive Torah at Mount Sinai. Today, we can name many causes of spiritual deficit: love of possessions over people, disinterest in learning, lack of caring for others in need, and speaking ill of others. Of these, the last has a special place in Jewish tradition. Speaking ill of others is so important in Judaism that it has a special name, lashon hara, which literally means evil speech. According to the sages, talking behind each others backs in an unkind way, even if factual, is worse than murder. When we demonize others, we harm them, and we also diminish our own spiritual state. In fact, our negative words affect the entire community of which we are a part, extending to all of humankind. Talk about power of words! Words may have the power to harm, but they also have the power to heal. To experience freedom on Passover, we can adopt a practice: observe ourselves as we go through the day. How are we speaking? Are we saying bad things about anyone? Do we do it often? Can we go through a single day without criticizing someone? Rabbi Joseph Telushkin writes that if we asked someone to give up drinking or smoking for a day and they respond, Impossible, we would call them an addict. If we find it impossible to go a day without speaking ill of others, are we addicted to evil speech? If we are addicted, how do we begin to heal from out own lashon hara? First, you have to want it! You have to feel that your speech is an important part of the spiritual ecology of the world and you are responsible to change it. Next, Rabbi Jack Reimer urges that we practice Four Phrases: Thank you. I love you. How are you? What do you need? Thank you helps us practice gratitude toward God and people. When we are grateful, we raise ourselves up. I love you is direct acknowledgement, a deep way to show gratitude and create joy. How are you? channels our love and gratitude into caring. What do you need? gives caring a path of action. When we realize that words have power and use our words to heal the world, we are free people. *** Laurie Franklin is the spiritual leader of Har Shalom, 3035 S. Russell St., Missoula. She can be reached at laurief@har-shalom.org. A 36-year-old Missoula man who distributed methamphetamine in the surrounding area has been sentenced to five years in federal prison. Federal prosecutors originally charged Richard Wayne Stroh in November with conspiracy to distribute meth and possession with intent to distribute meth. In January, Stroh accepted a plea agreement under which he pleaded guilty to the conspiracy charge. He was sentenced Thursday in U.S. District Court in Missoula by Judge Dana Christensen, and will serve his prison term at a Bureau of Prisons facility in Oxford, Wisconsin. In an offer of proof submitted in Strohs case, prosecutors said Stroh was part of a group that distributed methamphetamine around Missoula from August 2014 to September 2015. He received his drugs from Hungry Horse, Idaho and Washington, according to the court filing, and in total distributed around 7.5 pounds of meth. Multiple sources in the case told federal investigators that while he was making drug deals, Stroh often carried a sawed-off shotgun with him. As part of the plea agreement and his sentencing, Stroh must forfeit a 12-gauge Gaucha-Iga shotgun used as part of his crime. After Stroh is released from prison, he will be under supervision for another three years. He also must pay a $100 special assessment fee. Private ownership is unlikely to provide stability so said the district court judge in her order giving the city of Missoula the right to buy Mountain Water Co. The order made multiple statements that could be deemed adverse to any private company, said Montana Supreme Court Justice James Rice. However, he said the law should not predispose condemnation as necessary in every case. "So how can we deal with those very, very broad statements? ... Can we excise them? Are they harmless error or are they so riddled through the opinion that it creates reversible error?" Rice said. In response, lawyer Harry Schneider said the broad statements were linked to specific evidence presented in 11 days of trial in Missoula County District Court in the city's eminent domain case against Mountain Water Co. Schneider represented the city of Missoula. "They're based on the evidence that was before Judge (Karen) Townsend," said Schneider, of Perkins Coie. "And it was based on hard evidence." Friday, the Montana Supreme Court justices heard oral arguments in City of Missoula v. Mountain Water Co. and The Carlyle Group. The Alexander Blewett III School of Law at the University of Montana hosted the hearing, and assistant professor Martha Williams introduced the case as well as the reason for holding arguments in Missoula. The Montana Constitution ensures people get the chance to participate in government, and it protects the public's right to know, she said. The room posted with a capacity for 1,000 was mostly full. "So it's in the spirit of accessibility that the Montana Supreme Court takes the time to hold an oral argument here in Missoula, where those affected by its decision get to attend," Williams said. She estimated the court would issue an order by this summer; it usually releases decisions two to eight months after hearing arguments, and eminent domain cases are supposed to be treated expeditiously. *** In his argument for the defense, lawyer Brad Luck of Garlington, Lohn and Robinson, said the judge's order showed a predisposition for the philosophy of public ownership, and he alleged the outcome in favor of the city was political. "There is no basis in the constitution or the laws of the state of Montana to create a preference for municipalization," Luck said. But he said the city set a low bar for the "frightening power of condemnation," a quote from the 1980s he referenced multiple times. Then, the city lost in the state high court, and Justice John Sheehy said statutes "do not grant to a city council or commission the frightening power to take by itself conclusive action in condemning the property of another," as quoted in a defendant's brief. However, at the end of the arguments, Chief Justice Mike McGrath replied: "That was part of a dissent, right?" Despite some laughs, McGrath said he asked the question seriously, and Luck agreed and responded: "Wisdom is ageless." Both Justices Patricia Cotter and Beth Baker asked questions about private property protections versus the power of eminent domain. In another state Supreme Court order the parties cited, justices said the court guarantees property protection, but it doesn't ignore another right. "We have to be equally impressed ... that the good of the whole is the very foundation of the constitution," Baker said. So she asked if the constitution favored one right over the other. Luck said he didn't believe it could, but in the context of this case as well as the court's previous decisions, he argued the justices should reverse the district court's order. *** Justice Laurie McKinnon quizzed Schneider on a variety of issues, including the city's lack of complaints about the water system before it sought condemnation. She said no one from the city had alerted Mountain Water or the Montana Public Service Commission to problems. Schneider, though, said state statute requires certain steps before seeking to condemn property, and the city satisfied each requirement. Justice Baker asked him if the public would have the same recourse against the municipality as it does against a private company with Montana Public Service Commission oversight if the utility makes a serious mistake. Schneider said it has at least the equivalent and possibly better. He again mentioned that Missoula is the only city in Montana that doesn't control its own water, which raised another question from Baker. "But the fact that it's more common among the cities in Montana does not mean it's more necessary, does it?" Baker said. To condemn private property, governments in Montana have to show their use is "more necessary" than the current use. Baker wanted to know the people's recourse if something goes awry. In response, Schneider said if something goes wrong, the owner must fix it, whether it's a private owner or the city. If the private owner fixes it, the ratepayer pays the cost plus the 9.8 percent return the PSC allows, he said; the city pays only cost. In court, he said, even defense witness Arthur Laffer, an economist and Reaganomics architect, agreed the most rational economic decision is to replace at cost. "And that is how any problems will be fixed" under city ownership, Schneider said. *** The justices and lawyers also discussed the cost of the system at length, and how it should play into the first phase of the eminent domain hearing. In the first phase, the court determines if the taking is necessary, and if the answer is yes, a second phase determines the value. But Luck said much of the city's argument was based on its purported ability to operate the system at a cheaper cost. Yet he said the judge admitted a possible error in allowing financial evidence at trial, and the city's cost assumptions were wrong. "The minimal profit allowed is going to be dwarfed by the interest and principle the city pays," Luck said. In fact, he said, the city's assumption it could hold down rates for five years is out the window given other costs linked to the case, which he estimated could push the total up to $125 million. Justice Baker wanted to know how the court could determine whether municipal ownership would bring a savings if the debt service wasn't on the table yet. Schneider said the city doesn't have the amount pegged in dollars and cents, but the bonding capacity exists. In response to another question from Baker, he said at the purchase price of $88.6 million, set in the valuation court proceeding, the city would not have to pay bondholders more than the return the PSC allows. "Those assumptions were tested in this trial," Schneider said. Its not the schools place to tell us what to wear, thats between students and their parents, Washington Middle School eighth-grader Maggie Gibbons said. On Friday, around 20 students at the school took part in what Gibbons called a peaceful protest of Washingtons dress code, saying in part that the restrictions unfairly target girls. In particular, the group is taking umbrage with provisions in the dress code that ban spaghetti straps and state that shorts and skirts must be of a modest length, defined as being at least to a student's fingertips when they are standing. I think its unfair and extremely sexist, said eighth-grader Maya Heffernan. It targets women and womens fashion tastes and it doesnt reflect what we consider modest. Heffernan and Gibbons said in their minds, the policies suggest that male students' education is disrupted by seeing girls dressed in the type of clothing they want to be allowed to wear to school. The girls who took part in the demonstration wore T-shirts with a handwritten message of I am more than a distraction on them, while the boys' shirts read "I am not distracted." The girls said they think some parts of the dress code are appropriate, including a prohibition on clothing that advertises drugs or alcohol, but want to see Washington amend the sections that pertain to the type and style of clothing students can wear. Both Gibbons and Heffernan said their parents are supportive of them taking issue with the schools dress code. My moms all for it. She thinks I should stand up for my rights, Heffernan said. Gibbons said during the school day they also met with assistant principal Kacie Laslovich as well as a school counselor. Washington principal Craig Henkel said the group has been invited to attend a meeting of the schools Montana Behavioral Initiative committee to speak and present the potential changes they want to see adopted. Henkel said that while the wording of dress codes differs slightly across Missoula schools, the district has a relatively standard dress code policy, but said he encourages students to share their disagreements with policy in ways that dont disrupt the school day. HAMILTON Saying her opponent misrepresented her voting record, Rep. Theresa Manzella, R-Darby, said this week she will file a complaint with the Montana Commissioner of Political Practices. Manzella claims her opponent, A. Jo Young, a Democrat, violated state law by making statements about her voting record in the Ravalli Republic newspaper without providing proper references. Ms. Youngs representations about my voting record are deceptive and give the voters in my district a false view of my stand on very important issues, Manzella said in her complaint. Manzellas complaint focuses on a candidate profile written by Young written by Young that appeared in the April 14 edition of the newspaper. All legislative and county candidates have written similar profiles for the newspaper, including Manzella. In her profile, Young took Manzella to task for her alleged votes on the sale of federal lands, to slash pollution standards for Montana streams, and opposition to implementing a veterans home loan program as well as funding a veterans home in Butte. Manzella said Young was wrong in each case. Manzella said there was no bill that came before the 2015 Legislature to sell public lands. She said she supported a bill by Sen. Fielder, SB 274, which would have prevented the federal government from selling public lands in Montana. Likewise, Manzella said there wasnt a bill in the 2015 session that would have slashed pollution standards for Montana streams. Manzella said she voted for legislation that established stricter standards and monitoring for mine reclamation. Manzella said the claim that she voted against funding a veterans home in Butte was a distortion of the truth. The bill that came before the legislature was an attempt to have state taxpayers pay a portion of the funding promised by the federal government, she said. Manzella said the most egregious claim was that she voted against implementing a veterans home loan program. The Veterans Home Loan program already exists. The bill in question would have added student home loans to the existing law, her complaint said. She voted against that. I have a long and proud history of support for our veterans and my opponents statement was a blatant distortion of the bill and my vote, Manzellas complaint said. In her profile, Young said this is her first time running for political office. On Wednesday, Young said the information that she based her statements on was compiled by the Montana Democratic Party. She emailed the Ravalli Republic a copy of the information that she received that included the language she used in her profile. She said advisors have told her that Manzella is misinterpreting the law and that she had not broken any laws. I have my right to free speech, Young said. Its my interpretation that her votes werent good for Montana. I have the right to say that. I think its important for people to see her actual voting record and then make a decision for themselves, Young said. Manzellas complaint has not yet been filed on the Montana Commissioner of Political Practices website. The commissioner was out of the office Wednesday. Earlier this year, at the urging of tribal health directors and under the order of Gov. Steve Bullock, Montana became possibly the first state in the country to create an Office of American Indian Health, although a handful of others have created small programs as part of larger minority-health initiatives. At stake is a stark fact: American Indians in Montana on average live 20 years fewer than their white neighbors. Mary Lynne Billy-Old Coyote started as the offices director April 11, spending her first week at a conference hosted by the Centers for Disease Control. Missoulian State Bureau reporter Jayme Fraser sat down with Billy-Old Coyote on Thursday to discuss her background and goals. The interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity. Q: Tell me a little bit about yourself and why you decided to become the states first Director of American Indian Health. A: Part of the reason I even started to consider this position, which was quite intriguing, was because of my background and because of my commitment to Indian Country and Indian health, particularly in Montana. I am from Montana. I am a member of the Chippewa Cree tribe. My dad is full-blooded Cree, so I grew up on Rocky Boy, I grew up on a reservation, and I grew up experiencing the health care. Its unfortunate that the health care I experienced as a child is almost a mirror image of the health care that exists now. Im 50 years old, so when you look at health care that has not changed in that time frame, thats of great of concern. I can see we have a complex problem that certainly will not be solved easily. But through my background, my true personal commitment to this, I think that well make some strides not quickly, this is a complex problem but I think we need to shift the conversation from health disparities to health equity, and Im hoping thats what I can do. Q: How did you get your start in health care? A: I started my career early on in consulting and was part of a consulting practice with Native Americans at KPMG. I had the opportunity to start one of the first Native American practices in the United States, and one of our first initial efforts was the second tribal health care plan developed in the U.S. It was one of the most innovative efforts at the time. We were developing a practice and a plan for this particular tribe that was across 41 states and four countries. I reached a crossroads. You cant get much luckier than that, when your personal and professional interests come together. Q: What are some of the challenges to improving health outcomes in Indian Country? A: Access to health care for example, transportation. Let me share a personal story. My dad had to be transported in an ambulance not too many months ago. I was in the ambulance with him, and through that experience I could see we had an ambulance that was extremely dated. The care that these truly caring professionals were trying to administer was dated, because the access to the tools and equipment wasnt what youd expect to see in a mainstream population. This is 35 miles, part of it down a dirt road, going 85 mph at 8 oclock on a Friday night when theres a lot of traffic. Its real. Health care is real. Not only to me personally, but to every American Indian. Q: What are your initial priorities and first steps? A: First, Im going to look to collaborate with the tribal health directors, the coalition, which was instrumental, in addition to the governor, in putting this office together and having it stand up. This opportunity is such a monumental step in addressing some of the things we need to have conversations about. We made this step forward with the coalition, and those early conversations are going to be formative in terms of what we do next. Id also like to get to know the Department of Public Health and Human Services, all their offices and what they're involved in. Cancer screenings, mammography all those things really needed in Indian Country today. Id also like to set some short-term objectives that are quick wins. What are the quick wins? Im starting to formulate that now. I dont yet have that plan in place, given this is my second day in the office (here in Helena). Q: Talk about the growing national focus on minority health and what that means for your efforts here. A: The conversation is shifting from health disparities to health equity and the opportunities to create health equity. Often times people misinterpret that health care or health, lets say health is only about the clinical setting. In Indian Country, its not. Certainly clinical is the core of it health care, dental care but social determinants are a piece of that, particularly in Indian Country. So were talking about access to transportation, education, basic community programs to help children learn and grow. Law enforcement. How do we make safe and healthy communities so people can engage in community activities and feel safe doing it? All of those aspects are changing the national agenda from disparities to equity. Were all as Montanans trying to come to a place of well being and health. Q: And part of your job is making sure the resources the state already has are available to the tribes, right? A: Absolutely. And also building upon those resources, building a collaborative bridge. There really have been some monumental steps taken before me, the creation of this office being one of them. From there you start to build bridges and more bridges. Tribes are very, very much (wanting) to engage the state. Q: Is there anything youd like to add? A: This certainly is a complex problem. As I mentioned before, its personal, its professional for me. I know that its something experienced by every tribal member, every American Indian in the state every day, every hour. I know it. Ive experienced it. I feel it. Our first order of business is to make sure we get the access to care, we get information sharing, and we do it authentically, and those are really critical things from the start. A 51-year-old man shot and killed five people in the unincorporated East Georgia community of Appling on Friday night, officials said, before fatally turning a gun on himself in his garage. Capt. Andy Shedd of the Columbia County Sheriffs Office said the suspect, Wayne Hawes, lived in the neighborhood, about 25 miles west of Augusta, where he carried out the shootings at two houses, killing three adults in one of them and two in the other. Relatives said one of the victims, Reba Dent, was Mr. Hawess mother-in-law, and Vernon Collins, the Columbia County coroner, said Mr. Hawess wife was in protective custody on Friday night. The shootings occurred about 35 minutes apart, Capt. Shedd said. The captain said the police were called to 3162 Johnson Drive about a shooting at 7:54 p.m. He said two victims were declared dead at the scene; a third died at a hospital. One man and two women were killed, he said. BAMAKO, Mali Officials in Mali said on Friday that they had arrested a member of a group linked to Al Qaeda that has claimed responsibility for attacks that killed dozens in Mali, Burkina Faso and Ivory Coast. The suspect, Fawaz Ould Ahmed, was captured by members of the security and intelligence services in Bamako, the capital of Mali, on Thursday as he was preparing to carry out an attack, said a Security Ministry spokesman, Amadou Sangho. We found him with grenades and a small suitcase containing weapons, Mr. Sangho said. He said Mr. Ould Ahmed was behind attacks on three hotels and a restaurant in Mali. Mr. Sangho said Mr. Ould Ahmed was a member of Al Mourabitoun, a militant group allied with Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb. But for many Mexicans, the case represents something far greater than 43 people: It is a window onto the tens of thousands of others who have also disappeared during the nations decade-long drug war, and the anguish visited on their families. Caught between cartel violence and a government either unwilling or unable to help, they are victims twice. The arrival of the international experts inspired hope and a shot at closure, if only vicariously, for those who suffer their losses quietly on the margins of Mexican society. In an exceptional gesture, Mexico was granting foreigners permission to conduct a true investigation. Now their departure is a bitter one. This is something that will probably haunt us for a long time, said Francisco Cox, a Chilean human rights lawyer and another member of the group of experts. But it didnt make sense to stay here, because in a certain way its giving legitimacy to something deep inside you know isnt right. Though the groups final report will be issued on Sunday morning, the case is far from solved. The remains of only one of the 43 has been found and identified; the rest are all still missing. Another question is how high the collusion between the drug gangs and the government goes. Although the governments own investigation focused on the complicity of the local authorities, the expert panel uncovered evidence that state and federal officials and even military personnel were present on the night of the students disappearance. It was clear in the governments investigation and the official account that there was an intention to keep this case at a municipal level, in terms of responsibility, said Carlos Beristain, another expert in the investigation. But we revealed the presence of state and federal agents at the crime scenes, and furthermore that their participation implied responsibility. Two male suspects are being sought in connection with a meat locker heist at the Butte Country Club early Friday. General Manager Tod Fitterer said the thieves got away with $3,500 in beef, French fries, broccoli and pastries. More than 10 large pieces of prime rib are missing, each weighing about 20 pounds and valued at $200. Butte-Silver Bow police believe the break-in and theft were premeditated due to the suspects behavior seen on video surveillance and their judicious plan to transport the stolen goods. It wasnt a random act. They came there with a specific purpose to get into the meat locker and steal the product located in the locker itself, said Undersheriff George Skuletich. Fitterer said the culprits could possibly be former employees who worked at the club, adding that their execution of the theft was a little uncanny. Police officers responded to an alarm at 2:49 a.m. at the club, 3400 Elizabeth Warren Ave., and found an exterior freezer door was open. With a managers help, police determined that meat products including roasts, baron of beef and prime rib were taken after a padlock was cut. Skuletich said the suspects entered the freezer near the clubs kitchen and loaded two plastic bins with meat. The bins, which were already in the freezer, were then placed on a 7-foot, two-wheel trailer attached to a four-wheeler. The suspects made a concerted effort to keep their heads down and their faces covered with either a ball cap or some sort of mask in an apparent attempt to dodge being identified by an exterior security camera, police said. A heavyset male was seen on video surveillance wielding bolt cutters and wearing a camouflage ball cap and a hooded sweatshirt with a Fox Racing logo. A second suspect was wearing a heavy-duty jacket, gloves, and a watch cap or stocking cap. Police say the men may attempt to sell the meat via social media or online and the public should be aware and notify authorities immediately. Skuletich said the suspects may each face felony charges of burglary and theft. Anyone with information on the whereabouts of the suspects is asked to call the Butte-Silver Bow Law Enforcement Department at 406-497-1120 or Crimestoppers at 406-782-7336. A Butte district court judge on Thursday sentenced a 25-year-old man with a criminal history of shoplifting to the Montana State Prison for 10 years. Judge Kurt Krueger issued a recommendation that Aaron Robin Hunt be placed at the Treasure State Correctional Training Center in Deer Lodge, a boot camp that emphasizes responsibility and accountability. Hunt admitted filling a backpack with stolen merchandise while at Walmart in December 2014 as part of a plea agreement with Butte-Silver Bow County prosecutors in September 2015. A store employee reported to police that Hunt had twice threatened to stab him when he and a loss prevention officer attempted to retrieve the stolen goods, according to court documents. Hunt, the employee stated, did not brandish a weapon and fled the store shortly after the verbal altercation. Hunt, who was homeless at the time, was initially charged with felony robbery; however prosecutors amended the charge to felony burglary last year, court filings state. Sheriff Ed Lester said Friday that Hunt had been arrested 14 times since 2012 on a variety of offenses including theft, criminal trespass, and partner or family member assault. Its not the schools place to tell us what to wear; thats between students and their parents, Washington Middle School eighth-grader Maggie Gibbons said. On Friday, around 20 students at the school took part in what Gibbons called a peaceful protest of Washingtons dress code, saying in part that the restrictions unfairly target girls. In particular, the group is taking umbrage with provisions in the dress code that ban spaghetti straps and state that shorts and skirts must be of a modest length, defined as being at least to a student's fingertips when they are standing. I think its unfair and extremely sexist, said eighth-grader Maya Heffernan. It targets women and womens fashion tastes, and it doesnt reflect what we consider modest. Heffernan and Gibbons said in their minds, the policies suggest that male students' education is disrupted by seeing girls dressed in the type of clothing they want to be allowed to wear to school. The girls who took part in the demonstration wore T-shirts with a handwritten message of I am more than a distraction on them while the boys' shirts read "I am not distracted." The girls said they think some parts of the dress code are appropriate, including a prohibition on clothing that advertises drugs or alcohol, but want to see Washington amend the sections that pertain to the type and style of clothing students can wear. Both Gibbons and Heffernan said their parents are supportive of them taking issue with the schools dress code. My moms all for it. She thinks I should stand up for my rights, Heffernan said. Gibbons said during the school day they also met with assistant principal Kacie Laslovich as well as a school counselor. Washington principal Craig Henkel said the group has been invited to attend a meeting of the schools Montana Behavioral Initiative committee to speak and present the potential changes they want to see adopted. Henkel said that while the wording of dress codes differs slightly across Missoula schools, the district has a relatively standard dress code policy but said he encourages students to share their disagreements with policy in ways that dont disrupt the school day. One of the things that we wanted to do is provide an opportunity for students, if they have concerns about, in this case, our dress code, is give them an avenue to be heard, he said. Im excited that the kids are excited they get to do that. HELENA At the urging of tribal health directors and under the order of Gov. Steve Bullock earlier this year, Montana became possibly the first state in the country to create an Office of American Indian Health, although a handful of others have created small programs as part of larger minority-health initiatives. At stake is a stark fact: American Indians in Montana on average live 20 years fewer than their white neighbors. Mary Lynne Billy-Old Coyote started as the offices director April 11, spending her first week at a conference hosted by the Centers for Disease Control. State Bureau reporter Jayme Fraser sat down with Billy-Old Coyote on Thursday to discuss her background and goals. The interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity. Q: Tell me a little bit about yourself and why you decided to become the states first Director of American Indian Health. A: Part of the reason I even started to consider this position, which was quite intriguing, was because of my background and because of my commitment to Indian Country and Indian health, particularly in Montana. I am from Montana. I am a member of the Chippewa Cree tribe. My dad is full-blooded Cree, so I grew up on Rocky Boy, I grew up on a reservation, and I grew up experiencing the health care. Its unfortunate that the health care I experienced as a child is almost a mirror image of the health care that exists now. Im 50 years old, so when you look at health care that has not changed in that time frame, thats of great of concern. I can see we have a complex problem that certainly will not be solved easily. But through my background, my true personal commitment to this, I think that well make some strides not quickly; this is a complex problem but I think we need to shift the conversation from health disparities to health equity, and Im hoping thats what I can do. Q: How did you get your start in health care? A: I started my career early on in consulting and was part of a consulting practice with Native Americans at KPMG. I had the opportunity to start one of the first Native American practices in the United States, and one of our first initial efforts was the second tribal health care plan developed in the US. It was one of the most innovative efforts at the time. We were developing a practice and a plan for this particular tribe that was across 41 states and four countries. I reached a crossroads. You cant get much luckier than that, when your personal and professional interests come together. Q: What are some of the challenges to improving health outcomes in Indian Country? A: Access to health care for example, transportation. Let me share a personal story. My dad had to be transported in an ambulance not too many months ago. I was in the ambulance with him, and through that experience I could see we had an ambulance that was extremely dated. The care that these truly caring professionals were trying to administer was dated, because the access to the tools and equipment wasnt what youd expect to see in a mainstream population. This is 35 miles, part of it down a dirt road, going 85 mph at 8 oclock on a Friday night when theres a lot of traffic. Its real. Health care is real. Not only to me personally, but to every American Indian. Q: What are your initial priorities and first steps? A: First, Im going to look to collaborate with the tribal health directors, the coalition, which was instrumental, in addition to the governor, in putting this office together and having it stand up. This opportunity is such a monumental step in addressing some of the things we need to have conversations about. We made this step forward with the coalition, and those early conversations are going to be formative in terms of what we do next. Id also like to get to know the Department of Public Health and Human Services, all their offices and what they're involved in. Cancer screenings, mammography all those things really needed in Indian Country today. Id also like to set some short-term objectives that are quick wins. What are the quick wins? Im starting to formulate that now. I dont yet have that plan in place, given this is my second day in the office (here in Helena). Q: Talk about the growing national focus on minority health and what that means for your efforts here. A: The conversation is shifting from health disparities to health equity and the opportunities to create health equity. Often times people misinterpret that health care or health, lets say health is only about the clinical setting. In Indian Country, its not. Certainly clinical is the core of it health care, dental care but social determinants are a piece of that, particularly in Indian Country. So were talking about access to transportation, education, basic community programs to help children learn and grow. Law enforcement. How do we make safe and healthy communities so people can engage in community activities and feel safe doing it? All of those aspects are changing the national agenda from disparities to equity. Were all as Montanans trying to come to a place of well being and health. Q: And part of your job is making sure the resources the state already has are available to the tribes, right? A: Absolutely. And also building upon those resources, building a collaborative bridge. There really have been some monumental steps taken before me, the creation of this office being one of them. From there you start to build bridges and more bridges. Tribes are very, very much (wanting) to engage the state. Q: Is there anything youd like to add? A: This certainly is a complex problem. As I mentioned before, its personal, its professional for me. I know that its something experienced by every tribal member, every American Indian in the state every day, every hour. I know it. Ive experienced it. I feel it. Our first order of business is to make sure we get the access to care, we get information sharing, and we do it authentically, and those are really critical things from the start. Mr. and Mrs. Dean Phelps of Nichols will celebrate their 50th anniversary with a family dinner on April 30, 2016, hosted by their children. Marianne Barnhart and Dean Phelps were married April 22, 1966, at the Nichols Methodist Church in Nichols. Their children are Doug Phelps and his wife, Pam, of Pella; Mike Phelps, of Iowa City; and Marla Matlock and her husband Aaron, of Eldridge. They have four grandchildren: Tanner, Payton, Drew, and Ethan. In the years after they were married, they lived in Puerto Rico and Corpus Christi, Texas, while Dean served in the Navy. They returned to Nichols where they farmed for many years, and Marianne worked as an insurance agent. In 1986 Dean began a business with Mississippi Valley Farm Business Association. The Day of Silence (dayofsilence.org/resources) is a student-led national event that brings attention to anti-LGBT name-calling, bullying, and harassment in schools. Students from middle school to college take a vow of silence in an effort to encourage schools and classmates to address the problem of anti-LGBT behavior by illustrating the silencing effect of bullying and harassment on LGBT students and those perceived to be LGBT. In 1996, students at the University of Virginia organized the first Day of Silence in response to a class assignment on non-violent protests with over 150 students participating. In 1997, organizers took their effort national and nearly 100 colleges and universities participated. It is a way to show support, especially for our young LGBT community, so that they will know that there are allies to support them no matter their sexual orientation. At MCC, students and staff faculty gathered for a moment of silence at noon on April 15 to support the goal of DOS: to make schools safer for all students, regardless of sexual orientation and gender identity/expression. MUSCATINE, Iowa At the Muscatine City Council meeting Thursday, Councilman Tom Spread proposed that the city attorney draft changes to the city code. The agenda item stated only: "Request from City Council Member to Engage City Attorney to Prepare Draft Amendments to the City Code. At this time discussion will take place concerning proposed draft amendments to the City Code." The agenda packet had no supporting documentation, including the prepared motion that Spread read, but quickly received a second and unanimous vote without discussion. Spread read a full proposal aloud during the meeting, however, Mayor Diana Broderson and Councilman Scott Natvig stated after the meeting that they did not possess copies prior to the meeting. The proposed draft amendments included changing the appointing authority for all the boards and commissions to the city council, and changing the appointment and removal authority for the fire chief and police chief to the city administrator, subject to the approval of the city council. Also included was the ability for the city council to hold an organizational meeting in January to discuss council and mayoral representation on boards and commissions. Broderson stated in an interview with the Journal that she believes the council wishes to remove the ability of the mayor to make board and commissions due to her recent attempts to make appointments and the council's choice to block several of them. "One way I thought would be a good way to make sure that people's voice is heard, is when I would make appointments to boards and commissions in our community, I would make sure to put people from all walks of life in those positions, so that every group in our community had a voice, however, that's been met with a great deal of pushback," Broderson said. The most recent form of pushback, the mayor said, was the proposed draft change to city code. "It would effectively nullify the people's vote for me as mayor," she said. Spread stated in an interview with the Journal that this proposal has been developing since January, when he sent an email to council members and the mayor with some thoughts, which he said no one responded to at the time. "This is really a conversation that I started in January, and I had just finished my first term on the council and was thinking about what we had done well and what we could do better, and that we needed more information to make better decisions," he explained. While Spread said that he did have concerns about recent appointments, however, that did not drive the initiative. He said he felt this change would lead to a more collaborative approach, and that the next step would be for the council to bring the proposal before the public. "The whole point was that we have something to discuss, otherwise, in my experience, nothing would get accomplished. We will discuss it in public, and at that point we will decide what, if anything, we will change, and public hearings will be held," he said. The Journal attempted Thursday night and Friday to contact council members Philip Firzgerald, Michael Rehwaldt, Bob Bynum, and Allen Harvey, none of whom returned phone calls by press time Friday. Council members Scott Natvig and Santos Saucedo refused to comment. In one fell swoop, without discussion, the city council added to its next bill from the city attorney. And it appears to be for short-term vindication, rather than considering long-term future ramifications. In Thursdays regular business meeting, Councilman Tom Spread made a motion which he read from a written, prepared statement to direct the city attorney to draft changes to the city code that would strip the mayor of some of her power. There are several issues at hand here. Proposed changes What the council has set in motion is to have the city administrator make recommendations to the council for appointments filling vacancies at the police chief and fire chief positions and for the city council to appoint citizens to fill vacancies on boards and commissions. Currently, the mayor makes a recommendation and the council can approve or deny those appointments by a vote. You may recall the controversy surrounding this in the March 19 edition of the Journal. In an email discussion, some council members were disgruntled that the mayor did not recommend whom they wanted and some were upset that the mayor didnt consult with the city administrator. This is something the previous mayor had done as a courtesy. While Mayor Diana Broderson broke this tradition, she did so only by following the city code to the letter. What the council is suggesting is not unheard of, but not necessarily the norm. In Mason City, Burlington, Fort Dodge and Clinton just to name a few cities in Iowa the process is similar to Muscatine: the mayor appoints members to boards and commissions, subject to council approval. Its not unlike the president nominating a supreme court justice and the senate getting final say. The city code for Iowa City states that its council makes appointments to boards and commission, like Spread suggests. It also sounds like Spread is suggesting the council elect a mayor among its members in January each year, rather than the mayor elected specifically by the voters. This is not unheard of as Iowa City, Burlington and Fort Dodge have this form of government, while Clinton and Mason City have a government set up like Muscatine. Wrong method The councils decision to have the city attorney draft changes based on this one motion with no discussion is not the most appropriate way to make the city code change. For one, it involves the least amount of input. It was one council members suggestion, rather than having a meaningful discussion to provide a focused direction that all council members weighed in on. When its time to review the proposed changes, with the city attorney present, there could potentially be a lengthy discussion and revisions to the proposed revisions. Thats more hours the city has to pay its attorney. It doesnt seem like best use of taxpayer money. It also doesnt seem like the best method to benefit their constituents. The mayor has already taken a proactive step in the right directions. She recently announced a task force to look at the current form of government and learn about varying structures and functions so that if any changes need to be made it goes to the council for review from citizen input before heading to the city attorney. Those interested in joining that task force are invited to attend Coffee with the Mayor at 9 a.m. Saturday, April 30, at Happy Joes, 203 Lake Park Blvd. Just wrong Now lets really get down to the nitty gritty: Something smells fishy here. A month after a dust up about the mayors recommended board and commission appointments and after being pointed out the mayor was following the letter of the law the council wants to change it. Several members accused her of playing party politics. Now the council wants to strip her of those powers. This seems petty and vindictive. And thats pretty shortsighted since the mayor serves just a two-year term and our city administrator is the finalist for another job. The changes the council makes now should not be about the council today, but about future councils and administrators. They dont know who will be sitting in those chairs in two years, four years or 10 years down the road. The city code and charter was recently revised for the changes to take effect July 1, 2015. If this was a real issue, not an act of revenge, why was it not addressed then? And getting to this point is suspect. Anytime there is a unanimous vote with no discussion and no depth of materials in the agenda packet prior to the meeting, we have to wonder how seven people can so quickly and quietly come to agreement on something. We dont have any proof of the council breaking quorum electronically or in person but it seems odd that no one wanted to stop to ask what this is specifically about. At least one member of the council said he hadnt seen the proposal prior to the meeting and couldnt produce a copy of the written motion made. We dont think its too much to ask each council member to explain why they voted for this, but most did not return the Journal's calls. Were asking on behalf of the citizens. We think each council member owes at least that much to their constituents. Its clear this council is not operating with the transparency that government is supposed to. The Journal urges the council to be more transparent and the citizens to demand answers. Muscatine Journal Les emplois a Rennes sont abondants et varies. Il y a quelque chose pour tout le monde. Que vous soyez a la recherche dun emploi [] Les blattes ou cafards (Blatta orientalis) sont des insectes qui appartiennent a la famille des Blattoptera. Ils se caracterisent par leur forme allongee, leurs ailes [] Algerian hacker and developer of malicious SpyEye malware Hamza Bendelladj has been sentenced by a US court to 15 years in prison and three years of supervised release on charges related to his role in developing and distributing the virus. Bendelladj, 27, had pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring to commit wire and bank fraud, 10 counts of wire fraud, one count of conspiring to commit computer fraud and abuse, and 11 counts of computer fraud and abuse. He had faced 60 years prison and $24m fine. Bendelladjs attorney Jay Strongwater of Atlanta told Al Jazeera that his client cooperated with the government and pleaded guilty on all counts hoping to get a reduced sentence for his collaboration. His crimes are estimated to have cost at least $100m. Bendelladj and codefendant Russian Aleksandr Andreevich Panin formed a computer hacking crime ring that set out to steal money from bank accounts of individuals and institutions by infecting millions of computers in the US. Panin had also pleaded guilty to the charges against him and was sentenced on Wednesday to nine years and six months in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release. US attorney for the northern district of Georgia, John A Horn, said in a press statement that it is difficult to overstate the significance of this case, not only in terms of bringing two prolific computer hackers to justice, but also in disrupting and preventing immeasurable financial losses to individuals and the financial industry around the world. Bendelladj was travelling from Malaysia to Algeria when he arrested in transit in Thailand in 2013 and later extradited to the US. The Justice Department statement quoted Horn as saying: Until dismantled by the FBI, SpyEye was the preeminent malware banking Trojan from 2010-2012, used by a global syndicate of cybercriminals to infect over 50 million computers, causing close to $1bn in financial harm to individuals and financial institutions around the globe. Al Jazeera More on security The biggest security mistakes you make when shopping online Tshwane launches city-wide crime safety app KAPOLEI, Hawaii A solar plane on an around-the-world journey has reached the point of no return over the Pacific Ocean after departing Hawaii, and now it's California or bust. The plane was cruising over the cold northern Pacific early Friday Earth Day an occasion the team planned to mark with a live call between pilot Bertrand Piccard and Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, according to the website that's documenting the journey of Solar Impulse 2. After some uncertainty about winds, the plane took off from Hawaii Thursday morning and was on course to land in Mountain View, California, over the weekend. The crew that helped it take off was clearing out of its Hawaiian hangar and headed for the mainland for the weekend arrival. "We have passed the point of no return," the team wrote on the website. "From this point onwards, Bertrand Piccard will only be moving forward with Si2." At one point passengers on a Hawaiian Air jet caught a glimpse of the Solar Impulse 2 before the powerful airliner sped past the slow-moving aircraft. The Solar Impulse 2 landed in Hawaii in July and was forced to stay in the islands after the plane's battery system sustained heat damage on its trip from Japan. The aircraft started its around-the-world journey in March 2015 from Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, and made stops in Oman, Myanmar, China and Japan. It's on the ninth leg of its circumnavigation. Piccard, said the idea of crossing the ocean in a solar-powered plane a few years ago stressed him out, but Thursday he was confident things would go according to plan. Piccard also said the destination in the heart of Silicon Valley is fitting, as the plane will land "in the middle of the pioneering spirit." Piccard's co-pilot Andre Borschberg, who flew the leg from Japan to Hawaii, told Piccard he greatly admires his dedication and strength. He said the plane "represents what we could do on the ground in our communities." The team was delayed in Asia, as well. When first attempting to fly from Nanjing, China, to Hawaii, the crew had to divert to Japan because of unfavorable weather and a damaged wing. A month later, when weather conditions were right, the plane departed from Nagoya in central Japan for Hawaii. The trans-Pacific leg is the riskiest part of the plane's global travels due to the lack of emergency landing sites. The plane's ideal flight speed is about 28 mph, though that can double during the day when the sun's rays are strongest. The carbon-fiber aircraft weighs more than 5,000 pounds, or about as much as a midsize truck. The wings of Solar Impulse 2, which stretch wider than those of a Boeing 747, are equipped with 17,000 solar cells that power propellers and charge batteries. The plane runs on stored energy at night. SAN FRANCISCO A San Francisco man convicted of sexually trafficking two underage girls threatened one of the victims in court before a judge sentenced him to 97 years to life in state prison. Deputies removed 29-year-old Jamar Geeter from the courtroom Thursday after he claimed he had hired someone to kill the 16-year-old victim, who was present in court, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. The outburst occurred while an advocate with the district attorneys office read a statement from the girl. The girl said she suffered from depression and flashbacks after she returned home. The only time I felt safe walking was when I had a Taser with me, or Mace, she said in her statement. I used to walk carelessly, out with my friends, but now I feel like I lost my childhood because I live protecting myself day by day. A jury convicted Geeter in March of 16 counts of sex trafficking, pimping, pandering and rape following an eight-week trial. The first victim was 14 when she met Geeter in July 2014. The second was 16 and met Geeter on New Years Eve that year. Both girls said he forced them to have sex with him and threatened them into having sex with other men for money. The 16-year-old began crying when Geeter threatened her, but didnt leave the courtroom, the Chronicle said. Assistant District Attorney Rani Singh said the judges determination that Geeter did not have the money to pay the victims restitution was proof that his death threat was empty. To make that type of ridiculous statement was just another attempt to garner power over a victim who he has no more power over, she said. Bergin Glass Impressions views the countys airport industrial area as the ideal place to fire up its furnace to 1,180 degrees Fahrenheit and create paperless wine bottle labels. The company is located in a 40,000 square-foot building in Napa Valley Corporate Commons south of Kennedy Park. Now it wants to hop to other side of Highway 29 and the grape crusher statue and build a facility twice the size on 5.5 acres at 451 Technology Way. Last week, the company won unanimous and enthusiastic approval from the Napa County Planning Commission to make this two-mile leap. We just started our 27th year in business, Bergin Glass Impressions President Michael Bergin said after the meeting. This will take us to the next 25 or 30 years. He said the new building could be ready in fall 2017. The airport industrial area south of Napacalled Napa Valley Business Parkhas become a hub of wine-related endeavors. It is home to such businesses as wine storage facilities, a mobile bottling company, wineries, wine product manufacturers and wine equipment rentals. Commissioner Anne Cottrell called Bergin Glass Impressions the right use in the right place. Other commissioners agreed. I see nothing negative about this particular project, and it will serve a significant need within the wine industry in Napa Valley, Commissioner Terry Scott said. Bergin Glass Impressions creates labels using a method called screen processing that involves applying ceramic paint to bottles and firing them in a furnace. It also hand-etches and hand-paints labels onto wine bottles. A bigger facility in the airport industrial area will allow the company to add a third screen processing production line, Bergin said. The 82,000 square-foot, tilt-up concrete building is to include a manufacturing area, warehouse and offices. The business is to have more than 40 employees. Strategies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions include energy-conserving lighting and a design to optimize natural heating and cooling. The roof is to have infrastructure for future solar arrays and the property is to have infrastructure for future electric vehicle charging stations. Cottrell praised these steps, noting that the developing county climate action plan finds that building energy use is a major source of greenhouse gas emissions. The county will try to meet California emission reduction targets. Buildings like this help us get closer to our goal, Cottrell said. The site previously was targeted in for a different type of development a 37,500 square-foot indoor shooting range. The Planning Commission approved this project in 2003, but it never came to fruition. The proposed Soscol Junction flyover at Highway 29 and Highway 221 southeast of the grape crusher statue might become the proposed Soscol Junction roundabouts instead. Its only an idea. A $40 million flyover joining southbound Highway 221 to southbound Highway 29 remains the preferred option to unsnarl the rush-hour backups caused by traffic signal red lights at this key intersection. But Caltrans will allow the Napa Valley Transportation Authority and city of Napa to spend a few month exploring whether a double-roundabout design could handle the traffic. Once we do that analysis, were going to sit down with Caltrans and theyre going to take a look at it and see if thats even a viable alternative, Napa Deputy Public Works Director Eric Whan said. The two roundabouts wouldnt be on Highway 29. Highway 29 would simply pass through this area with no traffic signals to slow down vehicles, unlike today. Rather, the roundabouts would be on either side of Highway 29 and serve as the onramps and offramps. They would also allow traffic to take a road passing under or above Highway 29 as a link between Highway 221 and Soscol Ferry Road. For example, morning rush hour traffic pours from southbound Highway 221 onto southbound Highway 29 to head toward Fairfield, American Canyon and Vallejo. Vehicles make the transition using a left-turn lane and traffic signal. The roundabouts solution would have no traffic signal. Highway 221 traffic would go through half of one roundabout, go under Highway 29, go through three-quarters of another roundabout and merge onto Highway 29. A similar double-roundabouts design already exists in some California locations. Among them is a Truckee roundabout that opened at Interstate 80 and Highway 89 in late 2005. Some critics of the flyover proposal say this towering traffic structure would be an unworthy gateway feature to the Napa Valley. Others say a flyover would be difficult for cyclists to use and would cut off the connection between Highway 221 and Soscol Ferry Road. Such complaints helped spark the roundabouts idea. We think we will be able to reduce the number of concerns the community has if we have a proposal like this, NVTA Executive Director Kate Miller told her board on Wednesday. Napa County Bicycle Coalition Executive Director Patrick Band said the flyover would be unsafe for cyclists. Cyclists would be in an emergency lane prone to having glass, pebbles and other debris with speeding traffic to one side and a concrete barrier to the other. Then theres the roundabouts proposal. Vehicles in roundabouts drive more slowly than at intersections, and thats safer for cyclists, Band said. But cyclists in a roundabout must deal with the vehicles that are entering and leaving. Its really a mixed bag and its so context-specific, its hard to say anything in general, Band said. Cyclists today traveling between Napa and American Canyon face challenges, he said. Many view the Highway 221-to-Highway 29 route as being dangerous and the alternate route along Devlin Road lacks shoulders in sections. Its certainly not traveled significantly right now, and a large part of that is its not perceived as safe, Band said. NTVA will spend about $40,000 studying the roundabouts option, with the city of Napa providing the engineering work. Napa is also looking at building roundabouts at California Drive and First Street, California and Second Street and at the five-way intersection at Silverado Trail and Third Street. NVTA Planning Manager Danielle Schmitz said one factor to consider with the roundabout option is how to build it while still keeping traffic running on Highway 29 and the adjacent roads. Whan said Caltrans developed the flyover proposal several years ago at a time when it didnt always look at roundabouts as an option. But times have changed. Caltrans in 2013 issued a directive that includes considering roundabouts as a way to control traffic at intersections on state highways. Once Caltrans settles on a design for Soscol Junction, a big barrier must still be overcome before the project begins construction. The money must be found to build it. President Barack Obama's visit to Saudi Arabia this week will have little impact on the mounting American hostility toward the Saudis. Now that the United States is no longer dependent on Riyadh for oil, U.S. officials feel free to vent the pent-up anger that has been building for years. The most recent example is the bill in Congress that would allow Americans to sue the Saudi government if it was found to have played a role in the Sept. 11 attacks -- 15 of 19 hijackers were Saudis. Meantime, Obama may finally release 28 redacted pages of a 2002 congressional report on the attacks that may or may not implicate some Saudi officials. Mind you, the 9/11 Commission found no evidence that the Saudi government or senior Saudi officials funded the attack. And if U.S. law were changed to permit bringing suit against a country, other nations would do the same to us. Yet the congressional bill reflects a growing frustration at the hard-line Saudi version of Islam that has contributed in one way or another to the growth of jihadi terrorism. The legislation is a symptom of our failure to address the real Saudi problem, which no U.S. leader has figured out how to resolve. The problem is bigger than the fact that Saudi charities and sheikhs have helped finance Islamists. The desert monarchy has curbed such support in recent years, and other Gulf countries are also conduits of funds. The existential threat revolves around the Saudis' determination, over the past three decades, to spread their harsh Wahhabi variant of Islam around the world. Wahhabism is a product of a long-ago deal between the tribal founders of Saudi Arabia and the 18th-century Sunni preacher, Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab. This religious strain scorns other faiths, detests Shiite Muslims and praises jihad. Saudi schools teach intolerance, and the monarchy permits hard-line imams to export their poison on the Internet. Since the 1980s, Saudi Arabia has spent a fortune building mosques and religious schools in other Muslim countries, while sending Saudi imams to promote fundamentalist thinking. I have seen the negative impact: on the West Bank in the 1980s; in Central Asia, Bosnia, and Iraqi Kurdistan in the 1990s; and in Pakistan, where for three decades Saudi-funded madrassas have trained generations of Taliban. The Saudis defend themselves by claiming they are the targets of al-Qaida and the Islamic State. But their religious ideology has laid the theological groundwork for such violent jihadis. The main difference between them is that those groups consider current Arab regimes to be insufficiently faithful to these puritan precepts and deserving of destruction. Obama recognizes the Saudi problem. Last year, according to a much-discussed article in the Atlantic Monthly, the president complained that Saudi funding of religious schools and seminaries in Indonesia had moved that country from a more tolerant Islam to the more extreme Saudi version. "Aren't the Saudis your friends?" the president was asked. "It's complicated," Obama supposedly replied. True. But that doesn't explain why presidents from both parties have gone along with Saudi proselytizing for decades. The answer, of course, is that, in the past, the Saudis provided things that U.S. presidents wanted. Of course there was oil, and -- with some spectacular exceptions -- the Saudis kept prices stable and supplies flowing. And there was money: the Saudis helped Ronald Reagan finance the Afghan war against the Soviets (even though they funneled the funds to the worst Afghan fundamentalist groups). The Saudis also paid for most of the first Gulf War. They make huge purchases of U.S. weapons. End even today -- at a time when Americans want Mideast rulers to take greater responsibility for stabilizing their region -- presidential candidates from both U.S. political parties are urging the Saudis to do more to fight the Islamic State. Never mind that what the Saudis have done already has only made the civil war in Syria -- and Yemen -- worse. So how do you solve a problem like Saudi Arabia? I wish I had an answer. But for starters, it's time to get the problem out into the public sphere. Obama should release the 28 redacted pages, so the public can finally see if there is any smoke. Even the Saudis have been asking for years to have the pages declassified. Beyond that, this White House and the next must get realistic about what to expect from Saudi Arabia. It would be lovely to imagine that Saudi rulers could "find an effective way to share the neighborhood and institute some sort of cold peace (with Iran)," as Obama urged in the Atlantic Monthly. But this ain't going to happen anytime soon, not just because the Sunni Saudis fear and loathe Iran's Shiite ayatollahs, but because the feeling is mutual. Rather than hope for miracles, the next president should assume that a larger regional role for the Saudis will only increase the level of sectarian conflict -- until Riyadh and Tehran finally tire of this folly. U.S. policy will have to accept this hard truth. If that happy day comes when both sides are ready for a truce, the Saudis should be pressured to help finance the reconstruction of Syria and Yemen. But long before that, the next president should promote an intensified debate within both Western and Muslim countries on how to prevent Saudi proselytizing from poisoning the minds of innumerable young Muslims. "There is a violent, radical, fanatical, nihilistic interpretation of Islam by a faction -- a tiny faction -- within the Muslim community that is our enemy, and that has to be defeated," Obama told the Atlantic. The Saudis must be discouraged from helping that faction to grow. Trudy Rubin is a columnist and editorial-board member for the Philadelphia Inquirer. 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? 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The first Global Forum Against the Crime of Genocide provided with an opportunity to the world to discuss anew genocide as the gravest crime committed by human beings (PHOTOS). President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan on Saturday stated the aforesaid in his opening address at the second Global Forum Against the Crime of Genocide, which has kicked off in capital city Yerevan. 2015 was an important milestone for us to grasp anew the one hundred year-long struggle of our nation for its right to exist and restoration of historical justice, the President noted. The Armenian Genocide Centennial was marked not by mourning but the messages of gratitude and revival that we sent out to the world, as well as determination to make the Republic of Armenia one of the pioneering forces to lead the struggle against that crime. Our vision is crystal crisp: it is necessary to instill consciousness of the absolute inadmissibility of genocide in order to prevent such catastrophes unfolding. 2015 was important in that context since a number of Heads of States, Parliaments, international structures, religious organizations, prominent individuals expressed their solidarity to our joint struggle against genocide by recognizing and condemning the Armenian Genocide. The current logics of the global development unambiguously registers that we are all interdependent, and that interdependence transforms a failure of one into a failure of all, and that is also true for a success or suffering. Today it is difficult to imagine a security challenge that threatens only one nation. Therefore, none of us can consider oneself ensured against the horrors that our ancestors went through in the 20th century, that our contemporaries are surviving in the 21st century unless we decide that we should state never again regardless of the price that every one of us should pay. The President added that the survivors of the Armenian Genocide are here to register that genocide perpetrators have not won. Today, unfortunately, the humankind still lacks humanness. It is demonstrated by the wave of denial by the genocide perpetrators and their successors, Sargsyan added. Denial imposes constant feeling of fear unto the survivors and their successors since those who deny or justify what had happened do not directly exclude the possibility of recurrence of that very same crime should there be appropriate conditions for that. It is critical to understand how to define a special legal status for survivors of genocide and other crimes against humanity through the improvement of the existing legal mechanisms or introduction of new legal norms; otherwise, perhaps, it would be impossible to comprehensively approach this issue. Any reasonable adjudication of a crime requires also recognition of the rights of the victims concerning their losses and suffering. Certainly, it is also true for the survivors of genocide and other crimes against humanity. Necessary mechanisms should be installed, which will allow both recognizing that right and implementing it. What kind of responsibility should bear a State, a subject of international law, for condoning and carrying out similar crimes? What would you say of a country, a fully-fledged subject of international law, a member of the UN, Council of Europe and various other structures, a signatory of the humanitarian conventions, whose script is not much different from that of the Islamic State? Just a few weeks ago, during the large-scale offensive unleashed by Azerbaijan against Nagorno Karabakh, Azeri soldiers were not content with just shooting their arms: they mutilated elderly people, Armenian soldiers, decapitated them and cut off their ears and presented those actions in the social networks as a manifestation of national heroism. It was all evidently encouraged by the Azerbaijani authorities. Is not it bizarre that a country that pursues such barbaric policy and violates all the norms of civilized conduct, these days is going to host a conference under the rubric of Alliance of Civilizations? We as the international community must swiftly and resolutely eradicate all such instances of genocidal conduct wherever they should occur. The second Global Forum Against the Crime of Genocide has brought together representatives from governments and parliaments, major international and human rights organizations, renowned experts of international law, members of the media, and numerous other interested persons. The attendees include renowned actor, filmmaker and philanthropist George Clooney; The Washington Post editor and reviewer David Ignatius; and co-founder of 100 LIVES and the Aurora Prize and president of the Carnegie Corporation of New York, businessmen and prominent philanthropists Vartan Gregorian. The US President Barack Obama has finished his main purpose of the visit to London, a private dinner with the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge , William and Kate, as well as Prince Harry . He also talked to two years old heir to the British throne Prince George , who came to meet him in his pajamas . On one of the photos published by the Kensington Palace press service Barack and Michelle Obama talk with their host Duke and Duchess of Cambridge , and Prince Harry in the living room of the palace . On the other all of them pose for the journalists at the entrance of the residence . However, much attention received pictures of little Prince George - the elder son of William and Kate. He came to talk to the US President and his wife and children in his pajamas and a white robe, since it was pretty late, and he was getting ready for bed. His parents allowed him to go to bed a little later to show how he was riding on a wooden horse , gifted to him by the US presidential couple when he was just born , and to thank them , reported RIA Novosti. LOS ANGELES, CA - The Armenian Assembly of America (Assembly) on Wednesday hosted a successful book presentation of An Inconvenient Genocide: Who Now Remembers the Armenians? written by United Kingdom's leading human rights attorney and author Geoffrey Robertson QC in Universal City, CA. The event sold out, reaching over capacity. "The Armenian Assembly of America was proud to feature a giant in the field of international human rights to speak to us about his findings while researching the history that led to the indisputable Armenian Genocide," Assembly Board of Trustees Co-Chair Anthony Barsamian said. "The Armenian Assembly is eager to keep this momentum going as the Assembly's Western Region office continues to do similar substantive work. Mihran Toumajan and Aline Maksoudian went above and beyond to ensure this event was a success." During the event, Barsamian discussed the Assembly's work in Washington, D.C., the Nagorno Karabakh Republic's right to self-determination, and Turkey's irresponsible actions in the region, with a direct message to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. "Mr. Erdogan, stop killing your own people. Stop killing your Kurdish population. Stop killing Christians in the region, and stop promoting violence against Karabakh Armenians," Barsamian stated during his speech. The Assembly Co-Chair introduced Robertson, who spoke about the latest edition of his book. An Inconvenient Genocide: Who Know Remembers the Armenians was originally published in 2014, and then released for a second printing in 2015 to reflect the Armenian community's achievements and developments as a result of the centennial year commemorations of the Armenian Genocide. He applauded the Armenian American community's tireless efforts to incorporate the Armenian Genocide in school education. "Unless we learn from the Armenian Genocide, we will not understand the Holocaust and genocides that follow," Robertson explained. Robertson also spoke about the rights of the citizens of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic and believes "independence is possible." "Armenians, the world over, are grateful for [Mr. Robertson] for bravely speaking the truth in the face of systematic denials and obfuscation of historical facts by Turkey and Azerbaijan not only on the veracity of the Armenian Genocide and the Armenian nation's rightful case for restitutive justice, but also as a champion for the self-determination and inviolability of the basic human rights of the heroic and proud Armenians of Artsakh," Assembly Western Region Director Mihran Toumajan said. "It was an honor to host Mr. Robertson and to not only hear his presentation about his book but also his thoughts and feelings regarding the current conflict in Nagorno Karabakh, which so many in our community are concerned about," Western Region Manager and Community Relations Coordinator Aline Maksoudian added. Special guests in attendance include well-known designer Michael Aram, the Honorable Deputy Consul General of the Republic of Armenia in Los Angeles Valery Mkrtoumian, Facing History and Ourselves Los Angeles Office Director Liz Vogel and Advisory Board Member Charlene Achki-Repko, and Congressman Adam Schiff's (D-CA) District Representative Pamela Marcello. The Armenian Council of America (ACA) was informed by its membership that Turkish denialist have targeted the Little Armenia neighborhood in Los Angeles California. The denialists were gluing posters on various walls in the neighborhood promoting Fact Check Armenia which denies that the genocide of Armenians by the Ottoman Empire took place, contrary to the consensus of most historians. As an ACA member attempted to remove posters adjacent to Congressman Adam Schiffs disctrict office, she was confronted by three individuals in a van, who claimed to be working with the Armenian Government promoting peace between the two nations by putting up the posters. Yet the two men and one woman could not address simple questions about Armenians or even the Armenian government, nor would they provide contact information regarding their initiative. Elected officials representing Little Armenia vehemently condemn such actions of the denialist when they were informed by ACA of what was transpiring. "It's offensive to see Genocide denial propaganda on the same streets where this weekend tens of thousands will march to remember the Armenian Genocide, said Congressman Adam Schiff (D-CA 28th District). So long as we raise our voices to speak the truth, the campaign of denial by Turkey and its allies will never succeed," added Congressman Schiff. Posting these absurd signs promoting the denial of the Armenian Genocide is inaccurate and distasteful, said Assemblyman Mike Gatto (D-Los Angeles). There is no room in my district or in California for individuals to wrongfully distort the Armenian Genocide. The City of Los Angeles has unequivocally voiced its recognition of the Armenian Genocide committed by the Ottoman Empire in 1915, and its support of the Armenian-American community's efforts for justice and recognition by our Federal government. said Los Angeles City Councilmember Mitch O'Farrell. This campaign of denial does not change historical truths and is detrimental for the creation of peace and mutual understanding between Armenia and Turkey. As a resident of Little Armenia, I am appalled and deeply disturbed by the actions of this Turkish group who has the audacity to post anti Armenian Genocide propaganda in the heart of the very district which was declared last year as the Armenian Genocide Memorial Square by Councilmember Mitch OFarrell, said ACA Board Member, Ms. Maria Yepremian. It appears that the latest campaign denying the Armenian Genocide has been well-coordinated and funded. That is why it is imperative that Armenian American communities throughout the nation take a united stand against such blatant attempts to revise history. Earlier this month, Fact Check Armenia paid for a billboard with a similar ad to be placed near Bostons Armenian Heritage Park, and different parts of the country including New York and San Francisco. A new political party 'Tamil Nadu Mahatma Gandhi Makkal Katchi' has come into being in the State ahead of the May 16 Assembly polls with the objective of providing a corruption-free governance. Talking to reporters here today, Party Founder C Thankappan said his party would contest in all the 234 constituencies in thestate with the promise of providing a transparent, honest and corruption free governance. He said he would contest from Madurai Central after seekingthe blessings of Goddess Meenakshi Amman in the temple city. Mr Thankappan, who also released his party's election manifesto, promised five days job a week under the Mahatma Gandhi Employment Guarantee scheme with weekly wages ranging from Rs 200 to Rs 500 per person depending upon the nature of work, if his party won the election. He also promised Rs 10,000 loans to small and retail traders, setting up of home guards in each and every Corporations, municipalities and town panchayats across the state, streamlining distribution of electricity to all sectors, setting of two PDS shops, government fair price shops, medical shops and canteens in each wards of the state, scrapping of entrance test for engineering and medical admissions, conducting marriage of girls from poor families at a cost of Rs three lakh by the government. Apart from setting up of industries in all districts, addressing the grievances of the farmers, taking steps to make former Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse stand trial in the International court of justice for killing scores of innocent tamils during the final phase of the ethnic war and finding a permanent solution to the problems of fishermen were the other promised made by the new party.UNI GV 1200 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0414-697054.Xml Assistant Commissioner Revenue (ACR), Handwara, appointed as Inquiry Officer (IO) has initiated probe into the killing of two youths and a woman in Army firing on April 12 when massive protests broke out following allegation that a soldier molested a girl. Later, two more youths were killed in security force action on demonstrators at Dragmulla and Nutnusa in the north Kashmir district Kupwara. Meanwhile, two more teachers were suspended for allegedly involved in instigating violence at Handwara. With this, a total of seven government employees have been put under suspension for their alleged role in instigating protests. Following massive protests across the Kupwara and general strike in the Kashmir valley against these killing, government ordered a magisterial inquiry though it was rejected by separatists and mainstream parties demanding impartial probe. In view of the contradictory positions taken by police and Army over the killings, the IO has asked them besides health department to explain their position on the incident. I O Muzaffar Ahmad Shah said letters were written to Commanding Officer of 21 Rashitriya Rifles (RR), Superintendent of Police and Health department asking them to submit their reports over the killings. He said health authorities have been asked to ascertain whether the procedures were followed in the case. Mr Shah said so far no statement has been recorded from anybody, including eyewitnesses. However, the statements of family members of deceased persons could be recorded today. The trouble in Handwara started on April 12 when people took to the streets alleging that a soldier molested a girl. Later, protests spread to other major towns in the valley, forcing authorities to impose curfew restrictions. However, normalcy finally returned after nine days after authorities removed three Army bunkers, including in the main chowk, the main demand of the residents. Though the girl denied the molestation charge by soldier, her mother and Jammu Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society (JKCCS), who alleged that she was forced to give clean chit to Army under detention. Jammu and Kashmir High Court has fixed April 26 next date for hearing a petition filed by the mother of minor girl and Bar Association. The petition alleged that minor girl and her father were arrested while police said she has sought police protection after the Handwara violence. However, her mother approached Station Women's Commission (SWC) for the safety of the girl. The SWC has yesterday directed the Police not to enter the house where the girl is residing at present and that she be allowed to meet with her family, friends and the legal team complying with the High Court directions.Chairperson of the SWC Nayeema Mejhoor has assured the family of the minor girl that the Commission would take all necessary steps for protecting the rights of the minor girl.UNI BAS MYK SV RAI1433 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0153-696992.Xml The fund-raising is a part of the company's plan to mop up Rs4,400 crore through issuance of NCDs for the tenures period of 2 to10 years in one or more tranches on a private placement basis. TML is desirous of issuing the first series of its rated, listed,unsecured, redeemable, NCDs aggregating up to Rs 300 crore and inthis regard is holding a meeting of its duly constituted committeeof Senior Executives and Directors on April 27, company said infiling with BSE. In May last year, Tata Motors had proposed to issue NCDs on aprivate placement basis aggregating up to Rs. 4,400 crore, in one ormore series/tranches during the 12 months with an intention tosubstitute the short term liabilities/borrowings and for financing,part of the ongoing capital expenditure during the next 12 months asalso for general corporate purposes,'' In continuation of its efforts to strengthen the capitalstructure, the company intends to augment the long-term resources bysubstituting part of the short-term liabilities with medium to longterm resources, it had said.UNI JS NV AW1600 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0169-697435.Xml The Tripura government has given nod to export of another 100 MW power to neighbouring Bangladesh from thermal power project of the state Manarchak in Sonamura in Western border. Manarchak is a long due plant of Northeastern Electric Power Corporation Ltd (NEEPCO) but was not made operational because of inadequate supply of gas by the Indian exploration giant ONGC. The project had got stuck for a few days after it began generation. According to NEEPCO, ONGC had finally agreed to supply the required gas from next month and Manarchak is all set to start full commercial generation of power of 101 MW immediately after securing the gas. As per agreement, the Tripura government has to buy the full power at the rate fixed by the central power regulatory commission. With the delay in commissioning of the plant, project cost has become six times more, which increased the price of per unit power. "Since Tripura does not require another 101 MW power for domestic use, as there is no industrial demand, the state had proposed to the Centre to sell the power to Bangladesh considering its repeated demand and central government agreed to the proposal," said a senior official of Tripura State Electricity Corporation Limited (TSECL). However, state Power Minister Manik Dey said here today that the Ministry of Power had sought the view of state government in regard to the proposal to export 100 MW power to Bangladesh and state agreed to it. He said the NEEPCO will sell the power to Tripura and transmit to Suryamaninagar grid from where the state government will supply it to Bangladesh. At present, Tripura is exporting 100 MW power daily to Bangladesh from gas based combine cycle project Palatana in south Tripura. According to Mr Dey, 726 MW generation capacity ONGC's project is not able to generate it's full potential that has been affecting the power supply. Despite being a power surplus state, Tripura is presently facing shortage of 125 MW power daily against it's own generation and share comes from neighbouring states. "Since we are committed to supplying 100 MW power to Bangladesh, TSECL has been continuing supply from state share and sometimes managing from other sources that resulted in some unusual load shedding in the state," Mr Dey stated. He further pointed out that Tripura's second biggest gas based combine cycle clean energy project was started rolling from December 2015, 13 years after laying of the foundation of Rs 1000 crore by erstwhile union power minister Suresh Prabhu. This is the third biggest gas based-power project in Northeast being operated by NEEPCO.In past two years there were several predicaments over the future of the project after commissioning of ONGC's own funded 726 MW capacity gas based combine cycle power project at Palatana, about 80 km away from Manarchak. UNI BB PL ADG RK1445 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0211-697125.Xml Ahead of the 4th round polling, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi today called upon the people to oust the"syndicate" tainted Mamata Banerjee government by electing Congress-Left alliance candidates in West Bengal. "Before coming to power Mamata didi had assured the people and us of toending corruption. But ironically, the ruling Trinamool Congress leaders have been tainted by scandals of Saradha and Naroda, " Mr Gandhi told a Congress election rally at Shampur in Howrah district.West Bengal goes to 4th round poll for 49 Assembly seats inHowrah and North 24 Parganas on Monday." Mamataji had given contract of the collapsed flyover (Vivekananda) in Kolkata to a AITC leader. There is syndicate raj in West Bengal," Mr Gandhi said and urged the people to end the "syndicated government" in the state."What happened after the collapse of the flyover where 27 people died? Nothing happened to the AITC leaders for whose fault and misdeedmisery was brought upon the people," the Gandhi scion said. Mr Gandhi said at the Centre, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and in West Bengal, Ms Banerjee have been doing the same thing by indulging in anti-people policies. He said ''the poor people invested money in Saradha chit fund. But money was swindled by AITC leaders. Lately ruling party leaders were seen taking money as bribein the Narada sting operation." It is indeed a crime, he added and assured to try to return the money to the investors once they came to the power in the state after May 19. The bridge collapsed due to poor quality of cement used but still the AITC leaders who supplied the materials did not repent, he pointed out. Mr Gandhi called upon the people to bring an end to the corrupt government and assured good governance once the Left and Congress alliance comes to power. "Mamata didi had promised to fight corruption but now her party is involved in corruption,' Mr Gandhi said. This was Mr Gandhi's third electioneering for Left and Congress alliance. He would now go to Basirhat in North 24 Parganas for another campaign before coming back here to address a rally before flying to Delhi.UNI PC PL RSA RAI1533 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0211-697222.Xml Jammu and Kashmir Democratic Freedom Party (DPF) Chairman hardline Hurriyat Conference general secretary Shabir Shah was today put under house arrest after his release from police station following more than a month of detention. There was also no relief for chairmen of both the factions of the Hurriyat--Syed Ali Shah Geelani and Mirwaiz Moulve Omar Farooq who also remained under house arrest. A spokesman for Hurriyat said that Shabir was released from police station Raj Bagh after remaining detained for more than a month. However, he was later put under house arrest, he said. He said Mr Geelani has been remaining under house arrest since April 6 when he returned from New Delhi after staying there for two months because of ill health. There is no change in the situation as a large number of security force and state police personnel remained deployed outside his Hyderpora residence and he was not being allowed to move out. ''I was also put under house arrest since Wednesday night'',the spokesman said, adding that he was not being allowed to move out his Malaroo Shalteang house. He said senior leaders, including Nayeem Khan, Mohammad Ashraf Sehrayee, Peer Saifullah, Mohammad Ashraf Laya, Raja Mehrajuddin and Altaf Raja, are also under house arrest. A spokesperson for the moderate Hurriyat said Mr Farooq remained under house arrest since April 11 evening. Mirwaiz not allowed to offer Friday prayers in historic Jamia masjid for the second consecutive Fridays. He said security force and state police personnel remained deployed outside the Nigeen house of the Mirwaiz, who was not being allowed to move out. UNI BAS QAB SW RSA BL1725 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0153-697443.Xml Amid the controversy over Union Minister Giriraj Singh's two-child norms remarks, the government today expressed disapproval of the habit of giving ''unsolicited'' suggestions. ''Mr Giriraj goes on giving his suggestions. Some people would find it irresistible to hold themselves. Take or reject as you like it,'' Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said in an interaction with UNI journalists at the agency's headquarters here. "There are some people who go on giving suggestions without anybody asking for it. What can youdo about it,'' Mr Naqvi said when asked whether statements from some elements of the ruling party would harm the party's image. Mr Singh, who is an MP from Bihar, had recently said "people of all religion should follow two-child norm to get our(Hindu) daughters safe, otherwise like Pakistan, we will have to keep them under veil.'' The Union Minister, in the run-up to the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, had said that "all those who are opposing Mr Modi should be sent to Pakistan". Other ministers and MPs of the BJP, including Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti and Yogi Adityanath, had also been drawing condemnation for their intemperate remarks.UNI NAZ-MK SW RSA 1842 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0091-697732.Xml A uniformed Maoist, carrying a reward of Rs 1 lakh, was gunned down during an encounter between the Naxals and Special Task Force and the District Reserve Group in a forest in Kristaram today."The joint force went out for a search operation, about three km from the police station where the ultras ambushed and opened fire on the force which also retaliated. The encounter lasted for an hour and after which the insurgents fled into the dense forest," Superintendent of Police Santosh Singh said. After the encounter, the body of a Naxal was seized. He was identified as 'Jan Militia' Commander Sodhi Pandu. Besides, a 12 bore loaded gun and other daily using things were also found in the area.UNI XC-BDG RSA SB1816 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0044-697689.Xml Rejecting the recent allegation by opposition parties that the ruling coalition was afraid of holding by-election in the Anantnag Assembly segment, the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) today said the party was ready for polls. " The PDP is ready for byelections whenever a decision to this effect is taken by the Election Commission of India", the PDP said. A spokesman of the PDP said here this afternoon that newly nominated office bearers of the party held a meeting at the office headquarters chaired by senior General Secretary Mohammad Sartaj Madni. The meeting was attended by all senior leaders and expressed confidence that the youth was attracted to the PDP and were providing adequate strength to the party. Party general secretary Nizamudin Bhat in his inaugural address threw light on party functioning and objectives set by the party president Mehbooba Mufti. He said the PDP has been a movement with an explicit ideology and the party will tirelessly work to have those ideas implemented which have been set by the visionary leadership of Mufti Mohammad Sayeed and which alone can sustain the reputation of PDP as a viable and effective political platform in J&K state. Mr Madni in his maiden meeting took stock of party affairs and the political situation here. The district presidents, including two MPs, as many MLCs and MLA, gave necessary inputs on functioning of the party. The party office bearers were told to complete membership drive at the earliest and reach out to masses through registered card holders in tune with the people friendly tradition of the party. It was also decided that any decisions taken by the government in respect of development, peace and political resolution of issues should be endorsed and supported by the basic cadre through possible awareness. The meeting also decided to make the party as well as the government accountable to dispassionate public judgement and ensure that fairness becomes a visible trait of both the PDP as well as the PDP led government. The meeting took satisfaction in the fact that the government headed by Ms Mehbooba at the outset has made an effective beginning being seen as a good omen for the state by masses in general. The leaders also appreciated the government for its bold decisions about ration and women development. The recent reshuffle in the administration was also seen as an evidence of transparency in respect of merit and performance.UNI BAS QAB RSA BL1817 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0153-697607.Xml Laying a firm emphasis on improving tourism in the border areas of Jammu and Kashmir, Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti on Saturday gave a clarion call for peace between New Delhi and Islamabad, asserting that if US could mend ties with Iran then why can't India take a similar step. During her visit to villages near Suchetgarh border to promote tourism, she said that violence at the border and incidents of bullets being fired immediately makes headlines, but the news of border folks sharing land and water seldom grabs attention. "Now Iran and US have become friends. It is said that Muslims oppose US, but Muslim nations are friends of US. If Iran and US can become friends after so many years, then why can't India and Pakistan be friends. A message of friendship should go from Jammu and Kashmir and not of violence," she told media persons here. "Our aim is to promote tourism in Jammu, especially the border tourism. Mufti sahib wanted that our two nations should live in peace," she added. Further asserting that facilities, like road and infrastructure, for people residing in the border areas should be improved, she said that steady flow of tourists would also enhance employment opportunities. (ANI) Gauhati High Court Judge Justice LS Jamir has underlined the need for seriously taking up the issue of setting up a separate High Court in the state. Speaking at the inaugural programme of the two-day "Orientation and Training of Panel Lawyers for Advancing Lawyering Skills," organised by the Nagaland State Legal Services Authority (NSLSA) at the Directorate of State Institute of Rural Development at Kohima yesterday, Justice LS Jamir said that having a separate High Court in the state can solve the hurdles and obstacles in dispensing law and justice, adding that it would also open up many new avenues and opportunities for the people. Justice Jamir urged the lawyers to adhere to ethics and maintain professionalism, while dealing with clients. Maintaining that every day was a learning process, Justice Jamir asked the lawyers to understand topic of their case through experience. He also encouraged the participants to grasp the opportunity in learning and developing better skills so they could deliver better service to the people. Nagaland Secretary for Justice and Law, Kharinla T Koza told the lawyers working under Legal services Authority that their profession demands sacrifices, commitments and excess work. However, she added that the service rendered by them was noble. MS Koza lauded NSLSA and panel lawyers of various district legal authorities for their selfless contribution towards the welfare of the society. She said the training and orientation would help the panel lawyers in achieving the goals of legal service authority. Giving an introduction a bout the training, NSLSA master trainer Tongpang L Jamir pointed out that for long Legal Services, the Authority has been battling the accusation and perception that the services lawyers provided to the poor and the marginalised litigants were incompetent and insincere.With regard to this, he said that panel advocates needed to be suitably trained, not only to sensitise about the demands of their duties as Legal Aid Counsels, but also make them proficient in discharging such duties. UNI AS KK RJ GC2243 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0212-697885.Xml Authorities in Minnesota were due to conduct an autopsy today on the body of US music superstar Prince, a day after the influential and genre-busting performer was found dead in his home at the age of 57.The death of the eccentric and intensely private artist, whose hits included "Purple Rain," "When Doves Cry" and "Kiss," shocked fans around the world, prompting outpourings of grief from devotees and glowing tributes by fellow musicians.Prince, born Prince Rogers Nelson, was found unresponsive yesterday morning in an elevator at the Paisley Park Studios complex where he lived in the Minneapolis suburb of Chanhassen, according to the Carver County Sheriff's Office.The sheriff's office said it was investigating the circumstances of his death, and the local medical examiner's office scheduled a post-mortem examination to begin today morning."As part of a complete exam, relevant information regarding Mr Nelson's medical and social history will be gathered," the Midwest Medical Examiner's Office said in a statement."Anything which could be relevant to the investigation will be taken into consideration."Prince's music blended styles including rock, jazz, funk, disco and R&B, and it won him seven Grammy Awards as well as an Oscar. He had been on a US tour as recently as last week.But he was briefly hospitalized a week ago after his plane made an emergency landing in Moline, Illinois, suffering from what his representative told celebrity news website TMZ was flu.Nevertheless, the star hosted a party at Paisley Park last Saturday night at which one attendee said Prince played two tunes on a piano, and then introduced fans to his doctor.After news of his death, up to a thousand of his fans danced the night away at the packed First Avenue club where "Purple Rain" was filmed in downtown Minneapolis.Prince first found fame in the late 1970s before becoming one of the most inventive forces in American pop music.As well as singing and songwriting, he played multiple instruments including guitar, keyboards and drums. A Jehovah's Witness and a strict vegan, he sold more than 100 million records and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2004.During his life, he was known as fiercely determined to protect his intellectual property. How well others might profit from his legacy hinges on how astute he was about arranging for control of his music after death. Twice divorced with no surviving children, he apparently lacked any immediately identifiable heirs.News of his death sparked an immediate bump in online sales of his music, with nine of the top 10-selling albums on iTunes belonging to Prince. REUTERS DS BD1942 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0177-696552.Xml Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff denounced her impeachment as a "coup" to an international audience on Friday, and said she would appeal to the Mercosur bloc of South American nations for Brazil to be suspended if democratic process is broken."I would appeal to the democracy clause if there were, from now on, a rupture of what I consider democratic process," she told reporters in New York.Mercosur has a democratic clause that can be triggered when an elected government is overthrown in any of its member states, as happened in Paraguay in 2012. A breach results in suspension from meetings and can lead to the country losing its trade benefits.Rousseff's comments were the strongest signal yet that she could continue fighting her ouster if the Senate removes her from office.The impeachment process has "all the characteristics of a coup" as it has no legal basis, she said, in an attempt to rally international support for her political narrative.Rousseff could be removed from office within weeks by the Senate in an impeachment process that has paralyzed her government and thrown Brazil into its deepest political crisis since its return to civilian rule in 1985.The president denied her cabinet is hobbled by impeachment proceedings but said the country currently lacked the political stability to balance its fiscal accounts.Rousseff suffered a crushing defeat on Sunday when the lower house of Congress voted to impeach her, almost guaranteeing the leftist leader will be forced from office in a Senate trial just months before the nation hosts the Olympics.The impeachment has polarized the country, with her supporters regarding the attempt to oust her for breaking budget laws as a "coup without weapons," while opponents say the process follows the law and the constitution.Rousseff adopted a softer tone earlier yesterday in a speech to the United Nations during the signing of the Paris Agreement on climate change, in which she avoided the word "coup.""I cannot conclude my remarks without mentioning the grave moment Brazil is currently undergoing," she said. "I have no doubt our people will be capable of preventing any setbacks."Rousseff said foreign leaders had expressed solidarity.sHer last-minute decision to go to the United Nations brought the Brazilian crisis to the streets of New York. Outside the UN headquarters, some 100 Rousseff backers chanted in support of the beleaguered leftist president, while about 50 opponents chanted back at them."There won't be any setbacks. The impeachment will go ahead," said opposition Congressman Jose Carlos Aleluia, who was sent to observe Rousseff's speech at the UN by her nemesis, lower house Speaker Eduardo Cunha."The accusations against the President are very serious. Her actions led to economic chaos, besides violating the Constitution," Cunha's office said in a statement.Rousseff is being impeached for manipulating public accounts, a charge that she denies.TEMER: READY TO GOVERNIf Rousseff is impeached by the Senate in a vote expected in mid-May, Rousseff will be suspended pending a trial and replaced by Vice President Michel Temer.Temer has denied Rousseff's accusations that he has openly plotted against her and rejects the notion that a "coup" is underway.In comments to reporters yesterday, Temer said Rousseff's speech was "adequate" but asked for an end to attacks on him that hurt Brazil's standing.In interviews with two US newspapers published yesterday, Temer criticized Rousseff's trip and said he was ready to govern Brazil if she is unseated, though he denied he was already forming a shadow cabinet.Temer told the Wall Street Journal that Rousseff was damaging Brazil's image at a time when it needed to attract foreign investment to pull the country out of the worst recession since the 1930s.To the New York Times, he said: "I'm very worried about the president's intention to say Brazil is some minor republic where coups are carried out."Justice Dias Toffoli, who was appointed to the Supreme Court by Rousseff, also criticized the president for tarnishing Brazil's democratic credentials abroad, joining two other judges of the 11-member court to rebuke her publicly this week."To allege that a coup is under way is an offense to Brazil's institutions... because it gives Brazil a bad image," Toffoli told TV Globo.REUTERS JW PM0658 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0364-696909.Xml Amid the controversy surrounding the offshore assets owned by Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's family, opposition parties here have stepped up pressure on the former and suggested various investigation options. Khursheed Shah, an opposition Leader in the National Assembly spoke to Jamaat-i-Islami chief Sirajul Haq and Tehreek-i-Insaf's Shah Mehmood Qureshi to discuss about the several options to investigate the scandal involving the offshore accounts of the Sharif family and other Pakistanis, reports Dawn. The Jamaat chief suggested that while the government was writing a letter to the Supreme Court chief justice to set up an inquiry commission, the opposition parties should also send a similar request urging the Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) not to turn down the former's request. The leaders also discussed the fact that the chief justice should not just be requested to probe the Panama leaks scandal, but also help bring back the looted money from abroad and announce punishment for those responsible for the offence. The Pakistan Peoples Party also had a word with Tehreek-i-Insaf's Qureshi and said that the party would take the decision after going through contents of the proposed letter. The Opposition Leader in the Punjab Assembly, Mian Mahmoodur Rashid also visited PML-Q leader Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi apparently in a move to mount more pressure on the government. Both leaders demanded that instead of repeatedly addressing the nation, the Prime Minister should resign before setting up the proposed commission. Succumbing to growing political pressure for a wide inquiry, Sharif yesterday presented himself and his family up for accountability after requesting the Supreme Court to form a commission to investigate the Panama Papers scandal. A massive leak of 11.5 million tax documents on April 3 revealed secret offshore dealings of world leaders and celebrities, including three of his children for owning London real estate through offshore companies.(ANI) The 40-member Sri Lankan Buddhist delegation arrived in Pakistan for a week-long visit on Friday. The visit is part of an initiative aimed at introducing the people of Sri Lanka to Pakistan's rich Buddhist history and reviving the heritage of Pakistan's 'Gandhara Trail', the cultural and commercial hub of which was located at the present day town of Taxila, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, reports the Colombo Page website. During the visit, the delegation also offered their religious rituals and prayed at the Taxila Museum. Pakistan's Deputy High Commissioner to Sri Lanka Dr Sarfraz Ahmed Khan was also present on this occasion. The delegation members thanked the Pakistan government for the warm welcome and hospitality extended to them. The delegation will be visiting different sites of Buddhist spiritual & religious significance in Mardan, Takht-i-Bahi and Swat, besides visiting Lahore, Taxila and Peshawar Museums, which are home to some of the rarest historical Buddhist holy relics.(ANI) The Daily Star reported that Professor Rezaul Karim Siddiquee, 58, was waiting for university transport at the Battola intersection at 7.40 a.m. when he was attacked from the rear by his assailants. The daily quoted Sushanta Chandra Roy, Assistant Commissioner of Rajshahi Metropolitan Police, as saying that several persons swooped down on Professor Siddiquee from behind with sharp weapons, leaving him dead on the spot. Protesting the killing, RU students blocked Dhaka-Rajshahi highway for 45 minutes, blocking movement of traffic. The students also staged demonstration in front of the RU main gate on the highway at Binodpur in the city. The police rushed there and cordoned off the crime scene. The law enforcers have yet to identify any of the killers. They could not say anything immediately about the motive of the murder. Siddiquee joined the Rajshahi University English department in 1983.(ANI) An air strike from a drone killed two men south of the Yemeni city of Marib today suspected of belonging to al Qaeda, local residents said by phone."A drone fired two missiles at a car that had two men in it in al-Manain district south of Marib city, and the car was totally destroyed and the men were killed instantly," one of them said.The United States has used drone strikes in Yemen to target leaders of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), the group's local wing, which has plotted to place bombs on international airliners and has encouraged attacks in Western countries.Since Yemen's civil war began last year, AQAP has gained control over swathes of eastern Yemen, creating a local government there and introducing services.The war is between the Houthi movement and forces loyal to a former president on one side, and forces backed by President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi and supported by an Arab coalition led by Saudi Arabia on the other.Both sides in Yemen's civil war say they regard AQAP as a threat, and the group has previously attacked both Hadi's government and the Houthis.Since March, air strikes targeting Islamist militants have increased in Yemen, including a March 27 attack that killed 14 suspected AQAP members in Abyan province in the country's south.Yemen's warring parties began direct peace talks in Kuwait yesterday and will continue to meet despite failing to agree on an agenda, participants said.Officials travelling to Saudi Arabia with US President Barack Obama this week said they hoped moves towards a peace deal in Yemen would allow a renewed focus on challenging AQAP.REUTERS DS RAI1542 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0177-697389.Xml Dozens of fighters loyal to al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) were killed in clashes in southern Yemen today, residents and a military source said, while a drone strike killed two others further north.The clashes at al-Koud near Zinjibar in the southern Abyan Province were between AQAP and army forces of Yemen's internationally recognised government backed by local militias, referred to locally as the Popular Resistance.Since Yemen's civil war began last year, AQAP has gained control over swathes of southern and eastern Yemen, creating a local government there and introducing services.The war is between the Houthi movement and forces loyal to a former president on one side, against forces such as the Popular Resistance, backed by President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi and supported by a Saudi-led Arab coalition, on the other.Both sides in Yemen's civil war, in which a tentative truce has been in place for weeks pending the result of peace talks under way in Kuwait, say they regard AQAP as a threat. The group has previously attacked both Hadi's government and the Houthis.In recent weeks Hadi's forces, backed by coalition air strikes, have pushed towards Zinjibar along the beach road from Aden. Al-Koud lies on that road only 5 km from Zinjibar, long considered an AQAP stronghold along with the town of Jaar about 15 km to the north.A group of around 15 AQAP fighters escaped, the military source said, adding that two army soldiers were also killed.Also on Saturday, an air strike from a drone killed two men south of the Yemeni city of Marib suspected of belonging to al Qaeda, local residents said by phone."A drone fired two missiles at a car that had two men in it in al-Manain district south of Marib city, and the car was totally destroyed and the men were killed instantly," one of them said.The United States has used drone strikes in Yemen to target AQAP leaders, the global jihadist group's local wing, which has plotted to place bombs on international airliners and has encouraged attacks in Western countries.Since March, air strikes targeting Islamist militants have increased in Yemen, including a March 27 attack that killed 14 suspected AQAP members in Abyan province in the country's south.Yemen's warring parties began direct peace talks in Kuwait on Friday and will continue to meet despite failing to agree on an agenda, participants said.Officials travelling to Saudi Arabia with US President Barack Obama this week said they hoped moves towards a peace deal in Yemen would allow a renewed focus on challenging AQAP. REUTERS SHS BL2050 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0329-698113.Xml A large majority of French people want Britain to remain in the European Union, an opinion poll showed today, with 60 per cent of them expecting negative consequences for the British if they leave.Some 58 percent of those polled by the BVA institute for Orange and iTele said Britain should stay in the EU, up two points from a previous poll in February. Some 40 per cent of them want Britain to leave, down two points.A Brexit would have negative consequences for the EU, according to 54 percent of those polled. Only 43 per cent of the French thought it could have a negative impact on France, with 21 per cent seeing a positive impact and 35 per cent none at all.Seven French out of 10 have "a good image" of Britain and 58 percent think their neighbour across the Channel is an asset for the EU.Britain will hold a referendum in June over whether it wants to remain part of the 28-member European Union.REUTERS SHS GC2327 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0329-698187.Xml YEREVAN, APRIL 23, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister of Canada Justin Trudeau made a statement to the Armenian community of Canada on the occasion of the 101th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. Armenpress presents the full statement. On this day, we mark the 101st commemoration of the tragic loss of life of the Armenian population during the waning days of the Ottoman Empire in 1915. Both the Senate of Canada and the House of Commons have adopted resolutions referring to these events as genocide. We preserve the memory of those who lost their lives, and those who suffered during this genocide and pay our deepest respects to their descendants, including those who now call Canada home. In solemnly acknowledging this event, let us use this moment as an opportunity to look forward and strengthen our collective resolve to ensure such acts are never again repeated. While we must never forget the lessons of history, we must also be reminded that past injustices do not serve our communities if they divide us. Canadians of all backgrounds and faiths stand together in reaffirming our collective commitment to the values of pluralism, human rights, and diversity. On this anniversary, please join me in my hope for a peaceful future based on tolerance, respect, and reconciliation. YEREVAN, APRIL 23, ARMENPRESS. The Press Service of the NKR Defense Army informed Armenpress about intensive ceasefire violations by Azerbaijan towards Martakert direction. The NKR Defense Army announcement reads: The situation in the Nagorno Karabakh-Azerbaijan line of contact remained unchanged overnight April 22-23. Along the entire line of contact Azerbaijan violated the ceasefire agreement more than 65 times by firing various caliber weapons. The Azerbaijani forces fired 60mm mortars (2 shells), RPG-7 (2 grenades) and AGS-17 (13 grenades) grenade launchers and ZU-23-2 (15 rounds) antiaircraft weapon system in the direction of Martakert. The Azerbaijani attack was suppressed by the countermeasures of NKR Armed Forces. YEREVAN, APRIL 23, ARMENPRESS. Associate Professor of the Holocaust & Genocide Studies of the New Jersey Stockton University Elisa von Joeden-Forgey arrived in Yerevan to take part in the upcoming 2nd Against the Crime of Genocide Global Forum. Armenpress had an interview with Joeden-Forgey. -More than a century later after Armenian Genocide the Turkish state continues to refuse the historic truth. How would you comment this official position of Turkish Republic? -It is in the interest of the Turkish state to recognize the Armenian Genocide, as well as the genocide of Assyrians, Greeks and other minority populations during WWI. Such recognition would allow it to come to terms with its own past and join the global community in recognition of this massive crime. Recognition would also allow Turkey to examine its own political traditions with a fresh perspective, perhaps leading to a greater toleration of national differences within its borders as well as more productive approaches to diversity. - Taking into account the fact that while adopting the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide of 9 December 1948 the United Nations emphasized the necessity of international cooperation in the struggle against that crime, don't You think that the international recognition and condemnation of the Armenian Genocide will be a significant step for the prevention of genocides in future? -Yes, I agree. International recognition of the Armenian Genocide will aid genocide prevention in several ways. It will show that the international community requires states that have committed genocide in the past to take measures to account for and repair that damage in the present. It will bring attention to patterns of genocide that are not as well-known as the Holocaust but that we see repeated time and time again, especially by Isis now against religious and national minorities in Iraq: the direct massacre of men and older boys alongside the rape and enslavement of women, girls and younger boys (who may or may not be killed later on). It will put pressure on Turkey in particular not to repeat the patterns of the past in eastern Turkey, where it is now using high levels of violence against Kurdish populations. It will serve the cause of religious freedom and toleration, and contribute to reaffirming our commitments to diversity and multiculturalism. -Today Turkey arms the terrorist groups that are committing crimes against humanity in Middle East. Dont you think that this kind of activities of Turkey comes from the impunity for the Genocide committed in the beginning of 20th century? -One thing that research in genocide prevention has taught us is that the states and societies most vulnerable to committing genocide and mass atrocity in the present are those that have committed genocide in the past without taking responsibility for it. Impunity is a breeding ground for genocide. -What steps are needed towards the recognition of Armenian Genocide? How important, in your opinion, are the claims and compensations? -As someone who is part German, I can say I understand how hard it is for a society to face its past. However, Turkey has the possibility of demonstrating global leadership by recognizing the genocide committed within its borders during World War I. I believe the security and stability of Germany after 1945 comes from the fact that Germany was forced to face its past and that this project was adopted by young Germans in the 1960s. National identity will survive a recognition of past genocide, indeed, one could argue that it is strengthened as it then becomes invested in the truth and in the moral authority that comes from taking responsibility for the truth. Recognition can help states avoid repeats of the past every time there is a crisis involving religious or national differences. Recognition in itself is not enough, however. Repair is also necessary, because communities that have been destroyed by genocide suffer in the long-term--over centuries, as we see from the Armenian Genocide. Repair can come in many forms. The processes set in motion by recognition can also set the stage for deliberations about repair and what that might entail--land concessions and other forms of restitution, security and trade agreements, legal protections for survivor families still in residence in Turkey, and so forth. Issues of restitution and repair are still being raised related to the Holocaust, so it is a long process once it gets started. But the genuine engagement of the Turkish state with the Armenians around this issue would be an enormous show of goodwill and a model for moral governance that the rest of the world could follow. Interview by Araks Kasyan YEREVAN, APRIL 23, ARMENPRESS. The Azerbaijani armed forces have violated the ceasefire on the Armenia-Azerbaijan state border overnight April 22-23. Eight ceasefire violations occurred; Armenpress was informed by the department of Information and Public Relations of the Defense Ministry. The Defense Ministry announcement reads: Eight incidents of ceasefire violations were registered overnight April 22-23 in the northeastern direction of the Armenia-Azerbaijan state border. The Azerbaijani side opened irregular fire at Armenian positions by using various caliber weapons and sniper rifles. Azerbaijan also fired 60 mm (2 shells) mortar. In a display of restraint, the Armenian Armed Forces took countermeasure only in case of strict necessity. The Armenian Armed Forces are confidently monitoring the border situation. According to the NKR Defense Army, the situation in the Nagorno Karabakh-Azerbaijan line of contact remained unchanged overnight April 22-23. Along the entire line of contact Azerbaijan violated the ceasefire agreement more than 65 times by firing various caliber weapons. The Azerbaijani forces fired 60mm mortars (2 shells), RPG-7 (2 grenades) and AGS-17 (13 grenades) grenade launchers and ZU-23-2 (15 rounds) antiaircraft weapon system in the direction of Martakert. The Azerbaijani attack was suppressed by the countermeasures of NKR Armed Forces. YEREVAN, APRIL 23, ARMENPRESS. Against the crime of genocide second Global forum kicked off in Yerevan. It will be mainly focused on the issues of Genocide living survivors and refugees. Armenpress reports, the Global forum will consist of 4 main sections. The official opening of the forum will be conducted by the President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan, then high-ranking dialogue will take place. After that, sessions will be hold which will be followed by question/answer session during which the participants can ask their issues of concern to speakers. Participants will make a speech at the closing section. More than 70 foreign media accredited to release the Global forum. YEREVAN, APRIL 23, ARMENPRESS. Famous actor George Clooney, being in Yerevan a few hours, is very impressed and likes the Armenian cuisine, the actor said this to journalists during the opening ceremony of Against the crime of genocide Global forum. I fell very well, I arrived in Armenia tonight, the Armenian cuisine is very delicious and I am very impressed with it, Armenpress reports, Clooney said. The actor informed that he will stay in Yerevan until April 24. Clooney arrived in Yerevan on April 22 to participate in the Aurora Prize ceremony. YEREVAN, APRIL 23, ARMENPRESS. Armenia will be one of the pioneers in the fight against genocides. Serzh Sargsyan stated this during the opening of the 2nd Against the Crime of Genocide Global Forum. 2015 was a milestone when we rethought the right of existence of our people and the 100-year fight for historic justice. We have sent messages of gratitude and rebirth to the world, we said that Armenia will be the pioneer in the fight against genocides. The unacceptability of genocides should be acknowledged to avoid such crimes, Armenpress reports the President saying. According to the President, logic of the current world lets us say that no one can be insured from the kind of horrors, which were experienced by the Armenians in the 20th century, and which people continue experiencing in the 21st century. Genocide must be perceived as the entire international communitys failure, and the prevention of genocide must be perceived as the responsibility of the entire humanity, Serzh Sargsyan said. President Sargsyan added that one year ago he had the honor to open the 1st Forum, by believing in its mission and success. The mission was to bring up issues of genocide prevention, process methods of resolving the issues, unite the humanitys potential to achieve victory over crimes against humanity in the 21st century. I can say that it was achieved. It was a success not only among experts, but also among thousands not only in Armenia but also abroad. It made people speak about the great evil. This was the basis of the decision to establish a platform in Yerevan for those people who are dedicated to bringing their contribution to this struggle, Sargsyan said. The 2nd Against the Crime of Genocide Global Forum has kicked off in Yerevan. The forum is being covered by more than 70 foreign media. Castagne: Good corp governance prevents conflicts Castagne, who is also Chairman of Daily News Limited, parent company of Newsday, was responding to media queries on the role he played as a member of the CL Financial Board in relation to M&M Insurance Services Limited which he headed for several years and which provided brokerage services to CL and also regarding the purchase by a family-owned company of apartments at 1 Woodbrook Place in Port-of-Spain, which was also one of CL properties. Castagne said he has in fact received a number of questions from at least one particular investigative journalist on these issues and intends to deal with the matters. But he told Newsday that in respect of brokerage services provided by to subsidiaries of CL Financial, M&M has been appointed broker for the entire group since 1995, but he joined the CL Financial board in June 2009. He explained that he was offered the CL Financial board position at the request of the companys shareholders and he accepted because he thought it was in the interest of the country as well as that of M&M that the companies survive their difficulties. Castagne added that he declared his interest at the first board meeting of every company on which he was asked to serve and never became involved in any insurance matter unless he was instructed to do so by the Chairman of CL Financial because it was thought to be in the best interest of the particular company. BOARD GOT SOLID ADVICE He further stated that there were more than 200 companies in the CL Financial Group and no one person could know the details of the business of all those companies. He added that between the time M&M was appointed the brokers for CL Financial and when he joined the CL Financial board in 2009, several companies were started or bought or closed and sold. He said while M&M would have been the broker on the record of all these companies, in practice it was not. In addition, Castagne said that even some of the overseas subsidiaries of CL Financial were using M&Ms brokerage services because they found them more cost effective than the rates they were paying. Should some of the insurances change without tender, I would not have known because I am not an executive in either company, Castagne said. But the executives who make those decisions can explain their reason if they so did. However, on the basis of queries made of him, Castagne said the inquiries he made of both M&M and the companies in the group to which he still has access, all indicate (that) there were no changes made without explicit instruction from the Group Chief Executive Officer. Castagne added that the board included a Senior Counsel and had solid advice at all times. MY FAMILY DID NOT BENEFIT Questions were also raised about the purchase of several apartments in which some members of his family are involved at the exclusive One Woodbrook Place Development in Woodbrook. This is a project of Home Construction Limited (HCL), a subsidiary of CL Financial, and on the basis of the queries made of him, there was the suggestion that the apartments were bought while he served as a director on the board of the parent company. Again, Castagne said the agreement to buy most of the apartments was made several years before he joined the CL Financial board; that the family company purchased only three apartments and that they were purchased at the selling price at the time. He stressed that the company in which some of his relatives were involved, did not benefit from any discounts or any concessions on the location, view, storage and parking spaces allocated to the apartments. Castagne said in selecting and selling units at One Woodbrook Place, location, view, storage and parking are critical. He said not one (of the apartments) purchased has a location advantage, not one has a view advantage (and) not one got any storage or parking concession. Castagne said that his family continues to invest in apartments at one Woodbrook Place and elsewhere. He said he was pleased to be a part of teams that practised such tight corporate governance with a most competent, compliant officer. Good corporate governance prevents conflict from occurring, Castagne said. He re-emphasised that while serving on the board of C.L. Financial, he never used his position to his advantage, going so far as using public parking areas when he attended meetings, although there were reserved parking spaces for directors John John man shot dead in Morvant According to reports, Andell Farrells body was discovered behind a house at Alexis Street. Police reports revealed that residents were alerted to gunshots at about midnight on Thursday and a report was made to the Besson Street Police. When officers made a check, they did not find anything in the area of the shooting but returned at about 6 am and discovered Farrell clad in a black three-quarter pants and red and white striped jersey lying motionless behind a house. The body was viewed by a District Medical Officer and ordered removed to the Forensic Science Centre. Investigations are continuing. Meanwhile, the body of an unidentified man was found early yesterday morning in San Juan. According to reports, officers of the San Juan Police Station responded to reports of the body on Ramkissoon Trace. When they arrived on the scene at about 4.30 am, police saw the man on the side of the roadway between two cars. He is said to be of African descent. The body was taken to the Forensic Science Centre, St James for an autopsy pending identification. Shot in the back during alleged police shootout The autopsy performed by Dr Eslyn McDonald-Burris yesterday said that Rocke suffered internal injuries and haemorrhaging due to gunshot wounds to the back of his body. Police reports previously stated that officers were on foot patrol along Calvary Hill, Laventille at about 5.40 am on Wednesday when they came across Rocke with a firearm in his hand. Police said Rocke fired on them, and when they returned fire he was hit multiple times. He died soon after at hospital. But relatives believe that he was shot in cold blood by police officers. It was revealed on a prime-time show on local television that Rocke had a chequered past. He had several runins with the police, and as a result had a police record with charges ranging from possession of marijuana to using obscene language. Relatives said they never tried to hide his past. They also added that his past does not give police officers the right to shoot a man in cold blood. What is this person trying to say? That as long as you have a criminal record, police could shoot you anywhere and kill you, and you dont have any rights? Rockes nephew asked. I do not think that is right. My uncle had a chequered past but he had long since changed his life for the better, and he was still having trouble with the police. I believe that they killed my uncle in cold blood, and when they realised that he dint have anything on him, they gave him a gun and said there was a shoot-out. The relatives say that they are seeking legal advice first, but they have expressed their intention to complain to the Professional Standards Bureau or the Police Complaints Authority. CGWTU general secretary pleads not guilty to cursing Following her arrest at the SFCCs compound and appearance before a Justice of the Peace on Thursday afternoon, De Bique-Meade was granted $20,000 bail to reappear before a magistrate yesterday to answer the charges. The 57-year-old woman was arrested at the meeting which was called to discuss Tuesdays dismissal of over 300 casual workers from the SFCC due to a lack of funding. It is alleged that De Bique-Meade used obscene language, resisted the arrest of a police officer and assaulted another one. Yesterday, as she made her way to the courthouse, she was followed by several members of the union, led by its president Aynsley Matthews. Magistrate Ava Vandenburg-Bailey read the charges that De Bique-Meade used obscene language to the annoyance of persons. It is also alleged that on the same day, she resisted Corporal Gerard Griffith, in the execution of his duties. The third charge read by the magistrate alleged that De Bique-Meade assaulted WPC Joneal Coomansingh. She pleaded not guilty. Attorney Leel Bain represented her. Vandenburg- Bailey adjourned the matters to May 30. BANDIT TORTURE He said that many Chinese businessmen are being tortured by bandits all over the country. Too much guns, said Chao Yong Ke, 42, owner of Chao Yong Supermarket in Naparima Mayaro Road, St Clements, San Fernando. In broken English, Chao said he was shocked at the gun culture which for years has seen bandits reign supreme over law-abiding citizens and businesspersons. I dont know how it can have so much guns in this country. Here is the wild, wild west...everybody has a gun, he said. I think Trinidad has alot of people who dont want to work and their lifestyle...the jewelry, ladies, cocaine is what have them in crime, he added. Chao has been living in Trinidad for the past six years and since opening business three years ago, he has been robbed six times. He said bandits stole his cash but left him with many scars as a reminder of his ordeal. He recalled an armed robbery last August when bandits stormed his supermarket and in an effort to get more cash, took him to a room where he was tortured with a cigarette lighter. Look what they did, Chao said as he displayed burn scars about his hands, back and nose. They took a plastic spoon, took out a lighter and burnt it. When it got soft and melty they put it to my flesh. Chao said he lost $200,000 last year alone as a result of robberies at his supermarket. He said that other Chinese businessmen have also fallen victim to crime, with some losing not only their money or jewelry, but also their lives. In April of last year, Chinese national Hi Hong Huang, proprietor of Happiness Supermarket of Southern Main Road, Curepe was shot and killed during a robbery. The bandits escaped with an undisclosed sum of cash. In February, Chinese national Xing Xia, 30, was shot in the right eye during an attempted robbery at the family owned supermarket in New Grant, Princes Town. Chao said his fellow nationals are often tied up and beaten. I have seen a video where one woman was beaten with a hammer. He said it feels almost as if bandits get a particular delight in using extreme violence against the Chinese community. Only on Wednesday night, he said, another Chinese supermarket Rejoice of Edward Street in Princes Town was held up and robbed. The recent murder of his personal friend PC Anson Benjamin, inside Chaos supermarket, continues to hurt him. Chao has pledged to assist PC Benjamins widow and family. On April 5, PC Benjamin responded to a report of a robbery at the supermarket but was ambushed while inside the institution and shot in the head. He succumbed three days later at the Intensive Care Unit of the San Fernando General Hospital. Officer Benjamin was my friend. He was a friend of the Chinese community and supported us. And his death has hurt me deeply, Chao said. He added that on Wednesday he led a group of concerned Chinese businessmen, visited PC Benjamins family and told them the Chinese Embassy is partnering with them (the businessmen) in an effort to ensure Benjamins familys needs are met, where possible. Chao says he wants to make shopping as comfortable as possible for his customers and this is why he has not installed burglar proofing in his supermarket. He believes whether there is burglar proof or not, bandits will come with their guns and their hate. Chao said his his friend was shot dead, he has beefed-up security at the supermarket. He said that bandits and killers walk around in this country safe in the knowledge that they will not be called to answer for their crimes, pointing to the extremely low detection rate in TT. He said in his native China, the law is swift and those who commit crimes know they are playing with their very lives in doing so. They are put away quickly, he said. He said that despite the lawlessness, he has grown to love this country which he calls home. Committee member of the Chinese Association Joe Chan said the Chinese Embassy has information available on a website and has put out a CD highlighting how the local Chinese community can protect themselves. It tells them how to deal with the crime in country. All this information is available with a CD showing them what they have to do, what not to do. It is for them to follow, Chan told Newsday. He believes Chinese proprietors become targets for criminals because their businesses bring in a lot of cash and they do a lot of cash transactions. Chan confirmed that many Chinese nationals are planning to return home as apart from criminals many have difficulty obtaining working permits and foreign exchange. They just can no longer get any US currency to send back home to their families, Chan said. YEREVAN, APRIL 23, ARMENPRESS. President Serzh Sargsyan participated in the opening ceremony of "Against the Crime of Genocide" second Global forum at the K. Demirjian Sport and Concert Compound which was conducted under the subtitle "Living Witnesses of Genocide". As "Armenpress" was informed by the Department of the Public Relations and Information of the Presidential Administration, the President of Armenia made a statement at the Forum. *** Statement by the President of Armenia at the opening of the Second Global Forum Against the Crime of Genocide Distinguished guests, Distinguished participants of the Global Forum, One year ago, on the eve of the Armenian Genocide Centennial, I had the honor to declare the launching of the work of this Global Forum, with a strong belief in its mission and success. That mission was to identify the issues related to the prevention of genocide, develop the avenues for their resolution and consolidate the whole potential of the civilized humankind in order to register a decisive victory over the crimes against humanity in the 21st century. Today, as one year has passed since then, I can state with the outmost certainty that we have achieved those objectives: the first forum found extensive response both with the expert community and thousands of people both in Armenia and way beyond its borders. It provided with an opportunity to the world to discuss anew genocide as the gravest crime committed by human beings. That was a reason good enough for us to make this conference a permanent platform for those individuals, genocide survivors, their successors and, of course, States and international structures that are determind and consentaneous to make their contribution to this universal struggle. I warmly welcome you all, and I am very glad that we are united. Ladies and gentlemen, 2015 was an important milestone for us to grasp anew the one hundred year-long struggle of our nation for its right to exist and restoration of historical justice. The Armenian Genocide Centennial was marked not by mourning but the messages of gratitude and revival that we sent out to the world, as well as determination to make the Republic of Armenia one of the pioneering forces to lead the struggle against that crime. Our vision is crystal crisp: it is necessary to instill consciousness of the absolute inadmissability of genocide in order to prevent such catastrophes unfolding. 2015 was important in that context since a number of Heads of States, Parliaments, international structures, religious organizations, prominent individuals expressed their solidarity to our joint struggle against genocide by recognizing and condemning the Armenian Genocide. The current logics of the global development unambiguously registers that we are all interdependent, and that interdependence transforms a failure of one into a failure of all, and that is also true for a success or suffering. Today it is difficult to imagine a security challenge that threatens only one nation. Therefore, none of us can consider oneself ensured against the horrors that our ancestors went through in the 20th century, that our contemporaries are surviving in the 21st century unless we decide that we should state never again regardless of the price that every one of us should pay. That same logics also reminds us that a genocide committed at any corner of the world should be viewed as a failure for the international community as a whole, and the prevention of it is the duty of every single one of us individually and of the humankind collectively. Hence, it is natural that those, who underwent and survived genocide and their generations shall be continuously looking at the international community and pressing for justice. Distinguished participants, The general heading for this years conference is Living Witnesses of Genocide that allows us to uncover the issues of outmost importance related both to addressing the consequences of genocide and its prevention. Today there are here with us living witnesses that survived genocide. People, who felt on their own skin the indescribable and unutterable horrors of genocide, irremidiable pain of loss, yearn, homeland dispossession, and at the time they should have bade farewell to their own past and future. For every single one of them it was hard to be optimistic, but they are here to register that genocide perpetrators have not won. I strongly believe that they all have gone through a valorous path and throughout that path they met people, who extended helping hand, assisted in their recovery and inspired their hopes People, who revolted against the scourge of their time and did not bear with indifference, who neglected their very own interests since they could have not beared with injustice, who risked themselves in order to save one more human life. Today, unfortunately, the humankind still lacks humanness. It is demostrated by the wave of denial by the genocide perpetrators and their successors. It was rightly noted by the Nobel Prize winner and Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel that to deny would be akin to killing victims a second time. In some instances denial is expressed through violation of the right to remembrance and awareness. Denial imposes constant feeling of fear unto the survivors and their successors since those who deny or justify what had happened do not directly exclude the possibility of ruccurence of that very same crime should there be aproppriate conditions for that. Meanwhile, I believe that the international legal documents related to the crime of genocide do not pay due attention to the international legal regulation of the issues related to the genocide survivors. The same is also true for the international legal regime related to the refugees. It is critical to understand how to define a special legal status for survivors of genocide and other crimes against humanity through the improvement of the existing legal mechanisms or introduction of new legal norms; otherwise, perhaps, it would be impossible to comprehensively approach this issue. Any reasonable adjudication of a crime requires also recognition of the rights of the victims concerning their losses and suffering. Certainly, it is also true for the survivors of genocide and other crimes against humanity. Necessary mechanisms should be installed, which will allow both recognizing that right and implementing it. Distinguished colleagues, As recent crises in the Middle East have demonstrated, nowadays the issue of genocide prevention remains urgent and topical. Lately, the world has been watching with repulsion how the terrorists of the Islamic State have been torturing, beheading and mutilating innocent people, including women, children, and elderly people. The world is shocked with the barbarities that are carried out by a gang of thugs, who can hardly be called to justice and can be fought against barely with missiles. Nevertheless, if the thugs that carry out atrocities are fought with missiles, a question comes up: what kind of responsibility should bear a State, a subject of international law, for condoning and carrying out similar crimes? What would you say of a country, a fully-fledged subject of international law, a member of the UN, Council of Europe and various other structures, a signatory of the humanitarian conventions, whose script is not much different from that of the Islamic State? Just a few weeks ago, during the large-scale offensive unleashed by Azerbaijan against Nagorno Karabakh, Azeri soldiers were not content with just shooting their arms: they mutilated elderly people, Armenian soldiers, decapitated them and cut off their ears and presented those actions in the social networks as a manifestation of national heroism. It was all evidently encouraged by the Azerbaijani authorities. Is not it bizarre that a country that pursues such barbaric policy and violates all the norms of civilized conduct, these days is going to host a conference under the rubric of Alliance of Civilizations? Is this an approach to be tolerated? We must get to the point, when a display of such hatred shall not be tolerated, when any government shall refrain from such conduct mindful that it may be hold responsible for it. We as the international community must swiftly and resolutely eradicate all such instances of genocidal conduct wherever they should occur, as it was done some days ago by the leadership and public of Sweden with regard to the hate speech directed against Armenians by the Turkish nationalist Barbaros Leylani. This requires our concerted effort, perhaps even subordination of geopolitical interests, ability to voice strict and targeted condemnation. Unless we are able to nip such conduct in the bud, we will have to deal with the elimination of their various and unpredictable consequences; we will continue to face various crimes nourished by hatred crimes, among which are the terrorist activities that gain new range and scale on our continent. Ladies and gentlemen, On the Armenian Genocide Centennial the Armenian nation sent out a message of gratitude to the entire world. The Hundred Lives initiative and the Aurora Prize were launched on behalf of the survivors and as a token of appreciation to those who in the direst times came to the Armenian peoples rescue. I congratulate and express my admiration to the nominees of the Prize. All your stories are very touching; at the same time, those are inspiring and encouraging. I thank the founders of this project Vartan Gregorian, Noubar Afeyan, and Ruben Vardanian, organizers of the award ceremony, as well as all those who have contributed to the implementation of this momentous initiative. I wish all of us productive work. I also wish that future generations learn about crimes against humanity only from books. Laid off man hangs self According to Francis grieving wife Chandroutie Nandlal, 55, she discovered her husbands body hanging from a length of rope from the rafter at their home. She said that her 51-year-old husband never gave any indication that he was depressed over losing his job after 28 years. I am in a deep state of shock right now, she cried. I dont care what anybody say but me and my husband lived real good, it dont have a thing that I want that he never used to give me. He was a good helpful person, anything that I want, he always tried his best to give it to me, she said adding, I will miss him very, very much. Asked how he coped since his lay-off as a plant operator, she said, he never made it a problem, he had things going. He used to do work part-time...a little pj. This morning we were supposed to go in the market. Last week Sunday we went on a cruise and we had a really good time, she added. Steel Workers Union (SWUTT) Centrin branch president Ricky Ramdoolar, said Francis did not exhibit any sign of depression and his death had shocked the unions membership. We are home since December 18 without no pay from Centrin, no vacation pay, nothing. So it has taken a toll on ex-employees of that company, having no financial relief to make it. He said Francis had been visiting the union on an almost daily basis regarding monies at the UTC which he and other workers were was not able to access. So it was some financial distress he was in through, he said adding, financial institutions have been calling on ex-workers because everybody owing loans, TTMF, the credit unions, the banks and for four months being without a job and no financial relief....it is difficult to pay these loans and this may have gotten to him mentally. He kept it inside and bottled it up, Ramdoolar said. It have some people who could take the pressure and who just cannot cope, he added. SWUTT second vice president Ramkumar Narinesingh, blamed government for not heeding the unions warnings regarding the social fallout as a result of mass retrenchment of Centrin and Arcelor Mittal workers. I blame Government for this. This is a direct result of the Government being inactive. The working class is in dire straits and requires urgent intervention. We demand the Government stand up to companies who are abusing the process and not paying workers their just dues. This is exactly what the union has been warning about for the last couple months, we have been begging the government to assist, we have been begging that they step in and pay these employees what is owed to them for their services, he said. Narinesingh said the union had contacted Labour Minister Jennifer Baptiste-Primus about Francis death and she extended condolences to his family and requested a telephone contact for the family. Efforts to contact Baptiste-Primus were unsuccessful. On Sunday last, retrenched Arcelor Mittal workers staged a protest outside the Prime Ministers Official Residence in St Anns demanding that Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley meet with them. To date no such meeting has materialised. Funeral arrangements for Francis are ongoing. Deyalsingh: Zika not about abortion We are exactly where we were two weeks ago, two years ago. I have an oath of office and that implies every law of the land. I have made it crystal clear that that issue is already covered by the code of ethics of Trinidad and Tobago, Deysalsingh said during a weekly news conference, yesterday, at the Health Ministry, Park Street, Port-of-Spain. The subject of abortion was again brought up since the Zika virus has been linked to babies being born with microcephaly. Microcephaly causes the foetus to be born with small heads and underdeveloped brains in certain circumstances. Deyalsingh had made it clear that abortion is illegal in the country, but said it was up to a womans physician to determine whether the womans health and well being were being threatened by her pregnancy. Zika is a mosquito- borne virus carried by the Aedes Egypti mosquito, which also carries dengue, Chikungunya and the West Nile virus. If the conversation of Zika is only about abortion then we we will be doing TT a disservice because the conversation was never about abortion, but about source reduction, Deyalsingh said. The minister again pleaded with the citizenry to keep their surroundings clean to avoid mosquitoes from breeding. I dont deny that this is a convenient topic to sell news, but we are doing the country a disservice by only focussing on that when the focus should be squarely on source reduction. Let us keep our eyes on the prize. The prize is not to get bitten, clean your surroundings, pregnant women should wear long, light-coloured clothing. Let us work on this particular issue and not be sidetracked by this issue. I am very clear that my responsibility as Minister of Health is two-fold source reduction and applying the laws of the land, Deyalsingh said. When asked about women having to treat with babies who were affected with microcephaly because of Zika, Deyalsingh said there were agencies to help families deal with this, including the Autistic Society of TT and the Downs Syndrome Society. Following your logic, would you go to all those parents who love their children and tell them that they should have aborted their children because it is a challenge for them whether poor, rich, middle class or indifferent? the minister responded to a question posed by a reporter. I am ending this discussion of abortion. We are putting protocols in place to treat with babies who may be born with microcephaly. The same protocols that we use with our learnings with autism, cerebral palsy and everything else, Deyalsingh said. He said the media had a wider responsibility to carry all sides of the story pertaining to the Zika viru Moses backs climate deal Trinidad and Tobago joined 194 countries at the COP21 in Paris, France on December 12 2015, in agreeing to the landmark Paris Agreement to guide global action to reverse the unsustainable trajectory of Climate Change and global temperature increase in the post-2020 period. In the absence of Moses, Minister of National Security Edmund Dillon, will act as Minister of Foreign Affairs. Garcia: One clerk handles 2,000 files Garcia yesterday told the Lower House that the Ministry employs 13,225 teachers across 455 primary and 125 secondary schools. Over the past year, 11,098 increments were due, out of which 3,835 were paid. Other reasons for the delay given by Garcia were issues of sickleave, late submission of staff reports, disciplinary matters, and action taken under Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) provisions leading to a five-hour work-day by the relevant staff of his Ministry. In a separate question, Ramdial asked about delayed pension payments to retired teachers. Garcia had cited similar reasons for these delays, while offering hope by announcing that in three months time his Ministry will move to the Education Tower at Campus Plaza, Port-of-Spain. Former education minister, Dr Tim Gopeesingh, recalled the former government boosting the Ministry of Educations Pensions Department staff by an extra 17 employees, to which Garcia said that despite this increase, the situation continues. Gopeesingh asked if Garcia will now talk to Finance Minister, Colm Imbert, about the backlog, but Speaker, Bridgid Annisette- George, stepped in to rule him out of order. Millions in taxes lost annually from illegal immigrants In a statement to the media yesterday, former Minister of National Security, Gary Griffith, posited that there are now over 20,000 illegal Jamaican immigrants in the country who have been able to gain entrance through their abuse of the Caricom Single Market and Economy (CSME), and have ended up as burdens on the States resources. Griffith said, It is indeed alarming, that the Jamaican Opposition, would question the legitimate actions by our Immigration officers, as they attempt daily to do their jobs, after being abused constantly by a few Jamaican nationals who attempt to enter our country without the appropriate requirements, and documentation. It is because of this, that there are over 20,000 Jamaican Nationals who have done just that, by using the CSME angle to enter for six months, but then refuse to leave after that six-month period. They remain unemployed and become a burden to the State; if unemployed, at times some turn to a life of crime, inclusive of gang activity; If they do work, many are abused by their employers because they are here illegally and paid below the minimum wage; be employed illegally, and hence taking a job away from a bona fide TT citizen who is unemployed. Griffith noted that despite their illegal status, they still have full access to State resources such as education, medical care and other social services, and this is costing the state over $500 million per year in loss of State revenue. It is thus, according to Griffith, not a question of Trinidad and Tobago mistreating or targeting Jamaicans, but a question of Trinidad and Tobago safeguarding its national security and economy. He stressed that the country has always had a policy of welcoming non-nationals, and disallows them solely on the grounds of them being a national security threat or burden to the State purse. He continued that the situation would not have reached to this extreme had Trinidad and Tobago been stringent with its laws to begin with. In effect, he affirmed that it was this relaxed attitude which resulted in certain Caricom nationals abusing the CSME programme. To the Jamaican Opposition, if they are not aware, several Jamaican nationals verbally abuse our Immigration officers on entry, and below are just a few examples that would confirm that such individuals should definitely be debarred entry if they attempt to enter our country, and no CSME clause can override this. What you need to know about the Octagon Art Festival on Sunday in Ames news YEREVAN, APRIL 23, ARMENPRESS. President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan expressed admiration to the Aurora Awards nominees during the Against the Crime of Genocide Global Forum. On the Armenian Genocide Centennial the Armenian nation sent out a message of gratitude to the entire world. The Hundred Lives initiative and the Aurora Prize were launched on behalf of the survivors and as a token of appreciation to those who in the direst times came to the Armenian peoples rescue. I congratulate and express my admiration to the nominees of the Prize. All your stories are very touching; at the same time, those are inspiring and encouraging. I thank the founders of this project Vartan Gregorian, Noubar Afeyan, and Ruben Vardanian, organizers of the award ceremony, as well as all those who have contributed to the implementation of this momentous initiative. I wish all of us productive work. I also wish that future generations learn about crimes against humanity only from books, Armenpress reports the President saying. The 2nd Against the Crime of Genocide Global Forum kicked off in Yerevan. The forum will mainly focus on issues of genocide refugees and living survivors. Sessions are scheduled to take place, followed by Q&As. Participants will deliver speeches. More than 70 foreign media are covering the forum. The Aurora Prize for Awakening Humanity is the humanitarian initiative of the 100 LIVES founders Vardan Gregoria, Noubar Afeyan and Ruben Vardanyan. 100 LIVES is an initiative of the IDeA Foundation (Initiatives for Development of Armenia), a charitable foundation committed to promoting socioeconomic development in Armenia through investments in long-term, non-profit projects. Recipients will be recognized for the exceptional impact their actions have made on preserving human life and advancing humanitarian causes. On behalf of the survivors of the Armenian Genocide and in gratitude to their saviors, an Aurora Prize Laureate will be honored each year with a US$100,000 grant as well as the unique opportunity to continue the cycle of giving by nominating organizations that inspired their work for a US$1,000,000 award. The Aurora Prize Selection Committee includes Nobel Laureates Elie Wiesel, Oscar Arias, Shirin Ebadi and Leymah Gbowee; former President of Ireland Mary Robinson; human rights activist Hina Jilani; former Australian Foreign Minister and President Emeritus of the International Crisis Group Gareth Evans; President of the Carnegie Corporation of New York Vartan Gregorian; and Academy Award-winning actor and humanitarian George Clooney. The Aurora Prize will be awarded on April 24 in Yerevan, Armenia. On April 24, Co-Chairman of the Committee, famous Hollywood actor George Clooney will present the Aurora Award to the winner in Yerevan. Share The Next Generation Communications Community this past week was dominated by news and insights from community host Nokia (News - Alert). Note that all of the content this week truly emphasized next generation. News On the news front, Nokia events of note included: Announcement of a deepening of the relationship between Accenture (News - Alert) and Nokia that originated with the former Alcatel-Lucent organization. Named, the Nokia Accenture Business Group (NABG), the goal is to help service providers and enterprises upgrade infrastructures. - Alert) and Nokia that originated with the former Alcatel-Lucent organization. Named, the Nokia Accenture Business Group (NABG), the goal is to help service providers and enterprises upgrade infrastructures. In an interesting test with significant ramifications for large venues, China Mobile (News - Alert) and Nokia provided thousands of auto racing fans a highly immersive, low-latency video of various angles of the race. - Alert) and Nokia provided thousands of auto racing fans a highly immersive, low-latency video of various angles of the race. A major glimpse at the technology and benefits 5G will bring was on display and under discussion at third annual Brooklyn 5G Summit. Features In the features area there are two multi-part series that I am creating that just as aside I can relate are drawing intense interest. The first one of note is the start of a series on Community Broadband which is based on what Nokia is describing as Playbooks. The initial posting has to do with the first of the playbooks which makes the case for communities taking it upon themselves to accelerate making ultra-broadband, affordable access universally available to their citizens. Next up will be a look at the technology recommendations In what is almost a companion series to the one just mentioned, this week saw a deeper dive on policy recommendation #2 , Public Investment in Access Pays Big Dividends, of the five highlighted in the white paper done for Nokia by Diffraction Analysis, "Government broadband plan: 5 key policy measures that proved to make a difference. The next featured item covered the availability of Bell Labs (News - Alert) Fellow, Eric Bauers new book, Lean Computing for the Cloud. It explains how lean manufacturing principles can to the cloud service delivery chain. And, dont skip over the last feature on the successful completion of the testing of asymmetrical delay control (ADC) for IP-based teleprotection. Weekend Reading As frequent visitors are aware, in this section I like to reiterate that the community home page, with constantly up-dated news, whitepapers, videos, podcasts and case studies, is the place to go if you have time over the weekend to get caught up on industry buzz and insights. This week saw plenty of new content added to our resources for you viewer pleasure including the following articles from TechZine: Cloud interconnect where network and cloud meet Digital home opportunity for service providers In addition, check out the 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. YEREVAN, APRIL 23, ARMENPRESS. The Armenian community of Uruguay held a protest on the occasion of the 101th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide in capital Montevideo on April 22, Armenpress reports citing prensaarmenia.com.ar website. During the rally calls were voiced on Nagorno Karabakh issue. "Our struggle is the struggle against the denial and the current lie. They are not things of the past. We have to stop perceiving the Armenian Genocide as something distant, as a fact that only remember tearfully. That way only leads to oblivion. If the stories are not counted, they die. Silence is the triumph of genocide", Armenian youth from Uruguay stated in their speech. After the rally hundreds of Armenian youth went along the main avenue of the city, from Independence Square to the esplanade of the Municipality of Montevideo. The protestors of the rally raised the issue of Azerbaijani recent aggression against the Nagorno Karabakh. Armenians of Uruguay condemned Azerbaijani actions and expressed their solidarity to Nagorno Karabakh people who strives to reach the peaceful resolution of the conflict based on the right to self-determination. At the same time, we condemn the shameful support that the current Turkish government Erdogan gives to Azerbaijan, in what we consider the continuation of what the Ottoman Empire began 101 years ago, the protest participants stated. On April 25 similar protests will be held in the Argentine cities of Cordoba and Buenos Aires. The Fires Battle Lab at Fort Sill is now experimenting with new weapons technology that could potentially replace the howitzers and air defense missile systems of today. Two laser systems and a railgun were demonstrated for the media at Thompson Hill Range Complex on Thursday. The lasers are silent, invisible and deadly. On just a coffee cups worth of diesel, they can pinpoint a drone and use auto-tracking to dog its path. Their photon beams can bring down an unmanned aerial system (UAS) by heating up one of the parts that controls its flight, such as a camera or a rotor, until it melts. Fires Battle Lab Director John Haithcock explained how three radar systems (Sentinel, the new counter-battle Q-53 that can detect air and ground threats simultaneously and two Q-50s) and a modified Avenger weapon system with an infrared sight all come into play. He also pointed out a multi-purpose vehicle equipped with a command and control application, an electronic warfare circuit system and some enhanced sights. There are also dismounted versions of what the vehicle has that provide counter-UAS and joint forcible entry capabilities. Many entities are involved in the experiments. The Space and Missile Defense Command Technical Center at Huntsville, Ala., brought a High Energy Laser Mobile Test Truck (HELMTT) mounted with a 10-kilowatt laser, according to Adam Aberle, who oversees the centers directed energy technology development and demonstrations. The command also made arrangements with General Dynamics and Boeing to bring a 2-kilowatt laser mounted on a Stryker vehicle. The latter is called the Stryker MEHEL, which stands for Mobile Expeditionary High Energy Laser. Robert Taylor, left, and Gary Hopper of General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems (GA-EMS) get ready to explain the railgun at left and the mobile pulsar that powers it, housed in the vertical box behind it. Fort Sill is also the site where hypersonic projectiles are being tested using Electromagnetic Railgun technology. The railgun delivers muzzle velocities greater than twice those of conventional guns. One of those technologies being explored is whether drones can be knocked out of the battlefield skies with lasers. Think of it [2-10 kilowatt combat lasers] like a welding torch being put on a target, but from many hundreds of meters away, Isaac Neal, a Boeing engineer, said in a video about the new weapons system that was posted on the defense contractors website. In tests the lasers were able to locate, aim and fire at a small drone flying. The laser gun acts quickly (it took just 15 seconds for it to shoot the test drone out of the sky) and discreetly, according to Neal. Speedy reaction times can be important in battles when every second counts. 30 kilowatt ground based lasers should be tested in 2017 The Ground-Based Air Defense On-the-Move is a vehicle-based, mobile, high-energy laser that is a cost-effective defense against asymmetric threats like UAVs. GBADs evolution has mirrored that of other directed-energy programs sponsored by ONR, including the Laser Weapon System (LaWS). A three vehicle laser system should be demoed with on the move downing of drones using a 30 kilowatt laser in 2017. * one vehicle has the 30 kw laser * one has 360 radar and tracking * one has command and control and communication The volumetric search RADAR locates unmanned aerial system (UAS) targets of interest and passes the information to the C3 platform. The C3 platform performs an analysis of the threat and passes the radar information to the laser platform, which then locates and begins tracking the UAS utilizing a day/night capable sensor system. This then allows the C3 platform to perform visual confirmation and aim point selection. If a kill decision is made, the threat is lased until destruction. GBAD will demonstrate the capability of a rugged, expeditionary HEL system that can be cued by a radar capable of detecting low radar cross-section threats. It will be able to perform hard kills of UASs to prevent reconnaissance, surveillance, targeting and acquisition of expeditionary forces. It also will demonstrate a C2 interface that is optimized for operational use. Significant laser and vehicle modeling and simulation, coupled with a detailed trade-off analysis, led to a sophisticated design strategy. This led to the selection of a palletized laser weapon system design using a planar wave guide laser for 30 kW nominal power; a lightweight reflective beam director; on-board vehicle power enhancements; lithium Ion batteries for power storage; and phase-change material cooling systems that conform to the size, weight and power constraints of using a tactical vehicle platform. This five-year development effort includes three key demonstrations of increased capabilities and culminating in an on the move end-to-end engagement of UASs in FY17. FY15: Completely stationary end-to-end engagement FY16: Demonstrate an at-the-halt single engagement, with mobile cueing / tracking FY17: Demonstrate full mobility between multiple engagements The Ground Based Air Defense (GBAD) Directed Energy On-the-Move Future Naval Capabilities program calls for a field demonstration of a Humvee-mounted short-range laser weapon system with a minimum power output of 25kW. The Raytheon-built laser will be packaged to meet the U.S. Marine Corps demanding size, weight and power requirements. Illustration: Raytheon BAE Systems officials said the rail gun would have to be scaled down if it were to be mounted on top of the turret of a Future Fighting Vehicle. However, the officials on the AUSA show floor were confident it was possible. * mach 7 kinetic energy round (twice the muzzle velocity and four times the kinetic energy) * cheaper round that has no explosives in it so it is safer to store * the Navy gun is 30 feet (10 meters long) which is the same as the M1 tank gun. It is the power and other systems that need to be fitted to a ground vehicle * more ammo for deeper magazine * General Atomic has a larger (almost no miniturization work needed) mobile land based railgun system proposed that would be multiple mission and focused on destroying missiles and other targets Railgun on the back of flatbed of a truck during testing. Firing through concrete and metal. This if from the General Atomics video Image of the navy railgun to be deployed in sea trials in 2016. This gun would be reduced in size for a tank killing railgun for a new ground Vehicle General Atomics has a vision of a mobile ground based railgun system that involves three heavy trucks. BAE would have to reduce the size and weight of a fighting vehicle gun by about ten times. BAE Systems presented a host of possible technologies at the Association of the U.S. Armys annual conference last week. Among those was a model of the electromagnetic rail gun the company is developing for the Navy. The rail gun, which can hit ranges of 100 miles or more, uses electricity stored on the ship to generate a high-speed electromagnetic pulse sufficient to propel a kinetic energy warhead. The result is an inexpensive, high-impact and long-range offensive weapon, service officials said. General Atomics Video General Atomic vision of a mobile land based railgun system on three bigger and heavier trucks SOURCES- Navy, Youtube, swoknews, Army, BAE Systems Elizabeth Parrish, CEO of Bioviva USA Inc. has become the first human being to be successfully rejuvenated by gene therapy, after her own companys experimental therapies reversed 20 years of normal telomere shortening. Telomere score is calculated according to telomere length of white blood cells (T-lymphocytes). This result is based on the average T-lymphocyte telomere length compared to the American population at the same age range. The higher the telomere score, the younger the cells. In September 2015, then 44 year- old CEO of BioViva USA Inc. Elizabeth Parrish received two of her own companys experimental gene therapies: one to protect against loss of muscle mass with age, another to battle stem cell depletion responsible for diverse age-related diseases and infirmities. The treatment was originally intended to demonstrate the safety of the latest generation of the therapies. But if early data is accurate, it is already the worlds first successful example of telomere lengthening via gene therapy in a human individual. Gene therapy has been used to lengthen telomeres before in cultured cells and in mice , but never in a human patient. Telomeres are short segments of DNA which cap the ends of every chromosome, acting as buffers against wear and tear. They shorten with every cell division, eventually getting too short to protect the chromosome, causing the cell to malfunction and the body to age. Telomeres Liz Parrish of Bioviva In September 2015, telomere data taken from Parrishs white blood cells by SpectraCells specialised clinical testing laboratory in Houston, Texas, immediately before therapies were administered, revealed that Parrishs telomeres were unusually short for her age, leaving her vulnerable to age-associated diseases earlier in life. In March 2016, the same tests were taken again by SpectraCell revealed that her telomeres had lengthened by approximately 20 years, from 6.71kb to 7.33kb. This implies that Parrishs white blood cells (leukocytes) have become biologically younger. These findings were independently verified by the Brussels-based non-profit HEALES (HEalthy Life Extension Company), and the Biogerontology Research Foundation, a UK-based charity committed to combating age-related diseases. Parrishs reaction:. Current therapeutics offer only marginal benefits for people suffering from diseases of aging Additionally, lifestyle modification has limited impact for treating these diseases Advances in biotechnology is the best solution, and if these results are anywhere near accurate, weve. made history , Parrish said. Bioviva will continue to monitor Parrishs blood for months and years to come. Meanwhile, BioViva will be testing new gene therapies and combination gene therapies to restore age related damage. It remains to be seen whether the success in leukocytes can expanded to other tissues and organs , and repeated in future patients. For now all the answers lie in the cells of Elizabeth Parrish, patient zero of restorative gene therapy. Since her first gene therapy injections BioViva has received global interest from both the scientific and investment communities. Earlier this month BioViva became a portfolio company of Deep Knowledge Life Sciences (DKLS), a London-based investment fund which aims to accelerate the development of biotechnologies for healthy longevity. Dmitry Kaminskiy, founding partner of DKLS, said BioViva has the potential to create breakthroughs in human gene therapy research, while leapfrogging companies in the biotech market. BioViva USA, Inc. is a to -clinic gene therapeutics company incorporated in Delaware BioViva utilizes intramural and extramural peer-reviewed research in order to create marketable therapies for treating age-related diseases and infirmities -. Including Parkinsons, Alzheimers, heart-disease ., Cancer, Kidney failure and sarcopenia SOURCE Bioviva Russias 3M22 Zircon hypersonic cruise missile is expected to enter into production in 2018. The new weapon-which is capable of speeds of around Mach 5.0-Mach 6.0 is currently in testing The hypersonic missile-which is a component of the 3K22 Zircon system-will be incorporated into the nuclear-powered Project 11442 Orlan -class battle cruiser Pyotr Veliky When it completes its overhaul in late 2022. Sister ship Admiral Nakhimov -which is currently being modernized-will likely be the first Russian warship equipped with the new missile When it returns to service in 2018. The new missiles would replace the two battle cruisers 390-mile range P-700 Granit supersonic anti-ship missile armament. Zircon while the range will likely be shorter-about 250 miles-its sheer speed will make it extremely kettle to intercept with current missile defense technology. Moscow plans to refit the two giant warships with at 3S-14 vertical launch systems-each-which carries or eight rounds. The Addition of the 3S-14 would enable each ship to carry eighty cruise missiles onboard. The ships would carry a mix of Zircon and long-range cruise missiles Cal. Zircon will be built in air and submarine-launched versions. It will be used onboard Russias next-generation Husky -class nuclear attack submarines. But theres no reason the same weapons could not be used onboard Russias existing fleet of conventional and nuclear submarines like the Project 855m Yasen- class or older Project 971 Shchuka-B -class submarines. The Russians are expected to use hypersonic missiles onboard the both the new production Tupolev Tu-160M2 Blackjack and the developmental Tupolev PAK DA stealth bomber. The combination of a long-range bomber and hypersonic cruise missiles would be a dangerous threat to the US and its allies SOURCE National Interest Blaming the media, the statement said, "The government of India wishes to put on record that certain news items appearing in the press regarding the Koh-i-Noor diamond are not based on facts". The problem is that he was only eight years old at the time, paving the way for future decades of controversy over the diamond's rightful heirs. He stated that the Koh-i-noor is special for the Sikh community, not because of its materialistic value, but because it is a symbol of honor for the Sikhs. On the other hand, it said, whoever owned the "Mountain of Light" would also "own the world". "Only God, or a woman, can wear it with impunity", is what the Hindi script bearing the curse translated into. He came into possession of the diamond as a gift from Sultan Ibrahim Lodi. The name is said to have been given to it in 1739 by the Shah of Iran. Also read: Koh-i-noor was gifted to British, not forcibly taken. Kumar narrated a brief history of the Koh-i-Noor from the time it was found in the Kollur mines till now. Officials hold news conference on Prince's death He would not take questions about what may have been in Prince's system, nor what was taken or not taken from the home. The last time Prince was seen alive was around 8pm on Wednesday, when he was dropped off at Paisley Park, Olson said. In a statement, Badal said the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) would file a caveat in India's Supreme Court (SC) so that the community was heard when the court decided on a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by an NGO, All India Human Rights and Social Justice Front, demanding the return of the diamond to India from the UK. The British parliamentarian was referring to the 19th-century Sikh King Ranjit Singh, who gave the stone to the British, Lord Desai was of the view that since Singh's seat was in Lahore, the diamond should be given to Pakistan. An ill-advised decision of the Queen, to get it polished and re-cut under the guidance of a renowned jeweller from Amsterdam, named Vorsanger, resulted in the stone being diminished from its original 186 carats to 106 carats. Amazon Prime goes monthly in new challenge to Netflix Amazon is out to intensify the competition in the world of video streaming services, by tweaking the pricing model for its offers. An annual subscription to Amazon's standalone video service is available, too: It'll set a customer back $108. For one who hoped the November 2015 visit of Prime Minister Nadrendra Modi would be an occasion to seek the diamond's return, Vaz said when reports of the court submission describing it as a "gift" reached London: "The Indian government has made its decision and we should respect and support it". The diamond was taken to London and presented to Queen Victoria in 1850. Successive British governments have flatly refused their demands. India, too, has laid its claim to the diamond, but it still remains a part of "The Crown Jewels". "The award in drama goes to a playwright but production of the play as well as script are taken into account". Much of the theater industry considers the show's sweep of the Tony Awards as a fait accompli. "The honor was announced April 18 during the Pulitzer Prizes" 100th award ceremony. The prize for non-fiction was won by Joby Warrick for his book "Black Flags: The Rise of ISIS" and its assessment of the "flawed rationale" of the Iraq war and the rise of the ISIS extremist group, the committee said. Hackworth also assisted in news coverage, pressing the state for release of records and reporting on secret grand jury testimony. "Fatal Force" created a database detailing the 990 people who were shot dead by police in 2015. More than 50 of the officers had killed someone before. Music: "In for a Penny, In for a Pound", by Henry Threadgill. New Zika virus infections confirmed in Miami-Dade The authors write that the data "support the hypothesis of sexual transmission (either oral or vaginal)" of the Zika virus . It said that governments have been urged to expand their health services to care for children in the long term. Sarasota Herald-Tribune investigations editor Michael Braga shared the Pulitzer Prize for investigative reporting with Anthony Cormier and Leonora LaPeter Anton of the Tampa Bay Times. This year, Harris Jr. said, a leading candidate for the medal is a Tampa Bay Times series called "Failure Factories", looking at the "re-segregating of schools in Florida's Pinellas County, leading to plunging student test results and other deterioration in some schools". Also among the journalism winners were the New Yorker and the Sacramento Bee. The innovative drama by Nuyorican playwright and composer Lin-Manuel Miranda, son of a NY political consultant, combines rap, hip hop, rhythm and blues, as well as more classic Broadway show tunes to give U.S. history a different beat. "Hamilton" had previously won several major awards this year, including a Grammy for Best Theatre Recording. Miranda was recognized as a finalist for the coveted award in 2009 for his debut musical, In The Heights. The musical tells the story of how an orphan emigrant from the Caribbean rose to the highest ranks of American society, as told by a young African-American and Latino cast. United eye FA Cup solace The match has been presented as make or break for Martinez, with Everton fans calling for his head in increasing numbers. "For Hamilton to now be in the same company as Of Thee I Sing, South Pacific, Fiorello!". Musicals that win the Pulitzer are often politically provocative-presenting a serious issue with a tune behind it. The magazine's other honoree, television critic Emily Nussbaum, won the prize for criticism. Esther Htusan, Margie Mason, Robin McDowell and Martha Mendoza pictured at an earlier awards ceremony. The prizes, named for the pioneering newspaper publisher Joseph Pulitzer, were established by Columbia University in 1917. Public health officials have been concerned about the possibility of a surge in the rare birth defect, seen in worrisome numbers in Brazil, as the mosquito-borne virus spreads rapidly in Latin America and the Caribbean. Gay and bisexual men can contract the Zika virus through unprotected sex, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. "It is now clear... that Zika does cause microcephaly", CDC Director Dr. Tom Frieden stated via NBC News. The CDC said in a statement that it reached the conclusion after careful review of the existing evidence, saying it also causes other severe fetal brain defects. They also advised men who went to any of the Zika virus-infected areas to abstain having intercourse with their pregnant wife because Zika virus can be sexually transmitted. Questions Arise Following Bus Bombing in Jerusalem The Israeli government regularly closes off access to Israel for Palestinians during major Jewish religious festivals. Israeli forces have intensified raids in East Jerusalem in the past several days since Monday's attack. As seasonal warm weather returns to all areas of the USA, so will mosquitoes, and health officials are anxious that the US will experience more Zika virus cases. Never before have researchers seen a link from a single bite from a mosquito leading to such a devastating birth defect. And although Zika is a cause of microcephaly and birth defects, the CDC stressed that not all women who get infected with Zika while pregnant will have babies with these problems. There have been 346 confirmed cases of Zika in the continental United States, according to the CDC, all associated with travel. After a week, his partner then developed the same symptoms, which were later confirmed by lab reports to be from the Zika virus. Before you or your male partner travel, talk to your doctor about your plans to become pregnant and the risk of zika virus infection. Willett's win overshadowed by Spieth's collapse Casey didn't win the Masters, but he might be able to use the momentum from Augusta to his benefit at Harbour Town. What happened on the back nine is easy to explain: "I went bogey, bogey, quad". The disease usually results in mild symptoms including fever, rash and fatigue. Additionally, the CDC has emphasised the need for couples - regardless of gender - to take all necessary precautions during sexual activity following yesterday's confirmation of the first passing of the virus from one male to another. There is now no vaccine or medicine available for Zika virus. 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. Wendy Williams (2011) Rollingstone (2015) Interview Keeping Up With the Kardashians (2013) I want my son to look like this! http://twitpic.com/3slu0f Kim Kardashian West (@KimKardashian) January 23, 2011 Mom- want any coffee? Me- yes please Mom- how do u take it? Me- half coffee half milk. Just make it the color of what my kid would be Kim Kardashian West (@KimKardashian) September 27, 2012 : "I think so." Khloe blows off Omarion's romantic gesture on Kourtney & Khloe Take Miami. When Khloe asks Kim for advice on what to do to make it up to him, Kim says: Here Kim is making her infamous soul food. When it comes to cooking, Kim has only ever shown the world her struggle soul food creations. Enjoy. Khloe Kardashian accuses comedian of racism after he asks why her family only "date black dudes" https://t.co/R956Kn3WXO News, Views, People. (@NewsViewsPeople) March 30, 2016 Take a seat, grab a glass of wine, a cup of coffee, some popcorn, whatever you would like. This is going to be a long post. Sit back and enjoy.: This post features many headache inducing quotes and videos. If you have a very low tolerance for the Kardashians as well as a low tolerance for the hypersexualization of black bodies you may want to take precaution before entering this post. But, if you've been eager for a post exposing this Klan's sick fetishism of black men by all means come on in. Here we go, a compilation of some of the most racist, outlandish comments made by the Kardashians/Jenners regarding Black men over the years.@8:37 Look at that side eye Kourtney gives Kim.Howard Stern": Yeah: "Well Lamar's probably...he is two feet taller.": "I guess so.": "I would say my dad had issues with it and then after the you know the whole OJ thing I think he was like 'this could happen to you guys'. He got really overprotective... Then he realized it was going to be the way it was."Keeping Up With the KardashiansBack in 2011, Kim appears on an alleged scripted reality television show where she is confronted by a black woman.Kourtney and Kim Take Miami(Thx to for the tip .)Khloe: "You go all the way across."Andy: "Are you putting darker makeup on me?"Khloe: "Darker. The darker..."Andy: "Don't put me in blackface or anything like that, that would be in very poor taste."Khloe: "I'm not going to put you in blackface, but then, I mean, I might like you a little more."Interview @0.40@1:00Keeping Up With the KardashiansInterview: "I'm only black guys, once you go black you just never go back." - Khloe: [Laughs] "Just for fun? Yeah.": "My father raised us like we were not allowed to see people in any sort of colors [...] My dad went to Dorsey High in Inglewood. We come from a very mixed family. Were a bunch of different races, my family. So its very normal for us. I dont know why were accepted. Are all of us accepted or just me?: "Well him and Malika [Haqq] will talk and theyll just say something and theyre like, we think of you as being Black.": Being fat really saved me from being a whore in life though, you guys. Being fat and then being marriedlike I respect Lamar because he still liked me fat, which is like I appreciate that.Khloe: "I didn't think [Chelsea Handler] liked black guys."Chelsea: "I dated black guys in highschool."Khloe: "How did you go back? Once you go black you never go back."Chelsea: "No, once you go black you go running back."Keeping Up With the KardashiansLamar Odom: You should really see Jamaica, Avenue its the hood rodeo driveKhloe to Kim : We could like turn you into Boug-Ghetto - Khloe"Honey I don't look half black to you? What! Don't insult me now, I know I'm pale but.." - KhloeOn an episode of now cancelled Kocktails with Khloe, Comedian Pauly Shore asks Khloe what it is with her family and black men.Shore: "All you guys date black dudes.Khloe: Not all of us.Shore: Pretty much. Why are you laughing?Khloe: But not all ok but not all of us.Shore: Don't start with the whole black going back bulls***, but what is it?"Khloe: "That is a racist question."Trey Songz: What is about the black guys Khloe that you love?Khloe: But to me that is such a racist question, because if I were to date .Shore: "Most of America is curious, [but] not in a bad way at all.Khloe: Oh I agree.Shore: "A lot of guys want to have sex with you and they're like, 'F***, I'm not black. I can't hook up with her."Khloe: No, I agree.Keeping Up With the KardashiansSeason 1 of KUWTK, Kris invites over some black men from the neighborhood for a drink and she proceeds to behave like a fool.Fun fact: The entire family but Kourtney and Caitlyn are currently or allegedly in interracial relationships with black men/women. (Kylie and Tyga, Kendall and Jordan Clarkson (allegedly), Khloe and Brandon Jennings (allegedly), Rob and Blac Chyna, Kris and Corey Gamble, Kim and Kanye.)So what do you say ONTD, are the Kardashians still harmless? hahaha omg @ the death tag op Reply Thread Link serious answer: i really hope this isn't because they're making another iron man or avengers or whatever else we don't need Reply Parent Thread Link Maybe the Inhumans aren't selling well? I know lots of fans were pissed at them screwing over mutants because of the whole X-Men film rights still been with Sony. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Nooo sis we replacing it with YOUNG AVENGERS Reply Parent Thread Link well, i hope it still happens tbh :) Reply Thread Link That won't happen until/if marvel gets the rights back. Best case scenerio is that the yet another Spiderman film makes boatloads of cash and Fox decides to aim for a similar deal. Reply Parent Thread Link Sony only made that deal because the last Spider-Man flopped, the X-Men movies always do better than the one before so unless Apocalypse flops spectacularly marvel won't be getting them back anytime soon Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Marvel dont deserve the rights to the x men anymore tbh, there treatment of the characters, fans and franchise has been gross tbqh Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Whhaaaatttt???? They switched them to Inhumans too?? NOOOOO MARVEL STAHP Reply Parent Thread Link That probably won't happen until Marvel gets the X-Men movie rights back. I actually think SW being in the movies is gonna prolong it too. But it's gone back and forth so many times that you know, eventually, they'll be Magneto's kids again. Reply Parent Thread Link AoS can have the scraps lol Reply Thread Link lmaooooo my fave Reply Parent Thread Link lmao Reply Parent Thread Link LMAO Reply Parent Thread Link nothing ever works out for AoS Reply Thread Link Wait, i'm not familiar with the mcu / aos...why is this good? Reply Thread Link coz no1curr about Inhumans or AoS's flop ass. Reply Parent Thread Link The Inhumans fucking suck Reply Parent Thread Link Because contrary to popular opinion, Marvel fans are not sucking up everything Marvel wants to make happen ;) Reply Parent Thread Link Part of the problem is that the inhuman culture as portrayed since their creation has been fucking vile. I mean this is a culture who until recently as in within the last five to ten years practiced slavery. Still practices eugenics to the point where a father constantly exposing his daughter to a mutating chemical was seen as just and right in an attempt to make her fall out of love with a mutant former slave. Classism is rampant to the point where if you don't have a good looking or useful mutation you are scene as worth nothing and your former friends will never speak to you again and pretend you died. Also the royal family was headed up by a man belonging to the asshole club I mean illuminati who intentionally exposed the entire world to a chemical weapon to make more of his race and now is responsible for yet another mutant genocide. Even the least irritating members of the royal family still see everyone of inhuman descent as automatically their subject and under their authority. Plus they are using a inhuman with the power to influence folks to hold negotiations with world leaders. I mean when they were supporting characters as the strange off shoot of humanity that isolation had turned into something strange and alien they were bearable but the editorial push has just been obnoxious. Frankly since Marvel needed a new source for new heroes they should have just borrowed the White Event from the new u niverse. Mysterious thing happens and suddenly folks start showing up with powers at random. Like the inhumans it predates the deal so Fox couldn't call Marvel on what they were actually doing and we wouldn't have new characters tied to this horrid society. Reply Parent Thread Link They sound like better overarching villains tbh Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Frankly since Marvel needed a new source for new heroes they should have just borrowed the White Event from the new u niverse. Mysterious thing happens and suddenly folks start showing up with powers at random. The Starbrand and Nightmask book is so good and would have been an excellent launching point for that if Marvel had ever actually cared about this series and pushed it the way it does the Inhumans. But Marvel never paid it any attention so it sold poorly and now is canceled after only 6 issues. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Guess it's karma for Marvel. Screwing over the mutants in favour of the Inhumans in the comics was a dick move. Reply Thread Link they did it on purpose though because they dont want any more storylines or characters to be used by FOX in the movie franchise Reply Parent Thread Link Oop Reply Thread Link Ooh what is this, where is this from? Reply Parent Thread Link agents of shield Reply Parent Thread Link AoS Reply Parent Thread Link A Hydra rock to get them to other planet could turn into dark liquid and captured one of the Agents of SHIELD. Reply Parent Thread Link Trash. For real this time. Thank gawd they're running from these bores. Reply Thread Link Well AoS is all about inhumans since last season, so maybe they left them for tv and MCU will use that release date for one of the "new" heroes that will sure have a sequel (dr. Strange, Spiderman and Ms. Marvel) But I'll cross my finger for them to be in negotiations for the Fantastic Four with Fox, something like Spiderman and Sony, and that's why they clear the schedule Reply Thread Link This is what i'm thinking. It wouldn't surprise me that they're gonna make the movie storyline happen on Agents of SHIELD, since they've been featuring Inhumans for over 2 years now. Reply Parent Thread Link YEREVAN, APRIL 23, ARMENPRESS. The Turkish MFA has responded to Obamas statement on the Armenian Genocide anniversary. As Armenpress reports, the Turkish MFA has called Obamas statement as One sided interpretation of history. In particular Turkey is concerned that Obama used the Mets Yeghern expression. President Barack Obamas statement reads: Today we solemnly reflect on the first mass atrocity of the 20th centurythe Armenian Meds Yeghernwhen one and a half million Armenian people were deported, massacred, and marched to their deaths in the final days of the Ottoman empire. As we honor the memory of those who suffered during the dark days beginning in 1915and commit to learn from this tragedy so it may never be repeatedwe also pay tribute to those who sought to come to their aid. One such individual was U.S. Ambassador Henry Morgenthau, Sr., who voiced alarm both within the U.S. government and with Ottoman leaders in an attempt to halt the violence. Voices like Morgenthaus continue to be essential to the mission of atrocity prevention, and his legacy shaped the later work of human rights champions such as Raphael Lemkin, who helped bring about the first United Nations human rights treaty. This is also a moment to acknowledge the remarkable resiliency of the Armenian people and their tremendous contributions both to the international community as well as to American society. We recall the thousands of Armenian refugees who decades ago began new lives in the United States, forming a community that has enormously advanced the vitality of this nation and risen to prominence and distinction across a wide range of endeavors. At a moment of regional turmoil to Armenias south, we also thank the people of Armenia for opening their arms to Syrian refugees, welcoming nearly 17,000 into their country. As we look from the past to the future, we continue to underscore the importance of historical remembrance as a tool of prevention, as we call for a full, frank, and just acknowledgment of the facts, which would serve the interests of all concerned. I have consistently stated my own view of what occurred in 1915, and my view has not changed. I have also seen that peoples and nations grow stronger, and build a foundation for a more just and tolerant future, by acknowledging and reckoning with painful elements of the past. We continue to welcome the expression of views by those who have sought to shed new light into the darkness of the past, from Turkish and Armenian historians to Pope Francis. Today we stand with the Armenian people throughout the world in recalling the horror of the Meds Yeghern and reaffirm our ongoing commitment to a democratic, peaceful, and prosperous Armenia. Macbeth will always have a special place in my heart. I also love The Tempest, Hamlet, and A Midsummer Night's Dream. Sometimes I like Merchant, too, lol. Reply Thread Link Hamlet was always the most interesting one to me. And I do like Romeo and Juliet as a tale of what NOT to do. Reply Thread Link You icon is rad. Reply Parent Thread Link The Lion King Reply Thread Link Underrated comment Reply Parent Thread Link 10 things i hate about you Reply Parent Thread Link mte such an underrated play, full of drama and emotion Reply Parent Thread Link Macbeth and Midsummer probably. Reply Thread Link Those are probably my favorites too, though there are things l like about a lot of them. Oh and Much Ado About Nothing, I remember going to see the Kenneth Branagh film version and just LOVING it, in the end it's so joyful. Edited at 2016-04-23 07:31 pm (UTC) Reply Parent Thread Link I really like Emilia's monologue from Othello: Yes, a dozen, and as many to the vantage as would store the world they played for. But I do think it is our husbands fault if wives should fall. Say they slack their duties and pour our treasures into foreign laps... It goes on, but I'm a fan of that monologue. Reply Thread Link antony and cleopatra Reply Thread Link Very good choice Reply Parent Thread Link ugh i hate that one Reply Parent Thread Link Always loved Macbeth since I played Lady Macbeth in a school when I was like eight. Throne of Blood is a pretty cool retelling of it. Not a huge Romeo and Juliet fan but I did love Romeo + Juliet Reply Thread Link They put on Macbeth in elementary school? Reply Parent Thread Link Yeah. I even wore a crown of thorns which is...not in Macbeth. Not quite sure what they were going for Reply Parent Thread Expand Link I also dont really care for Romeo & Juliet, it's probably my least favorite. The Leo movie was good but I still didnt like the story, lol. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link wow, that's impressive! we didn't even study any plays in elementary school. Reply Parent Thread Link hamlet and macbeth are the only ones that have really stuck with me. i also appreciate titus andronicus for its OTTness and julie taymor's film version Reply Thread Link it's really good!! it's long as fuck but it definitely keeps you entertained and anthony hopkins and jessica lange are in it Reply Parent Thread Link I love Julie Taymor's Titus too! I feel like that's one of the best film adaptations of his plays. Reply Parent Thread Link Much Ado About Nothing was my gateway Shakespeare, and I will watch any production of it. But Twelfth Night and Macbeth are my general favourites, as well as the History plays. Richard II to Henry V and Richard III are particularly great. Edited at 2016-04-23 03:28 pm (UTC) Reply Thread Link It was my first too and still totally my favourite. I just love the sparring between Beatrice and Benedict. Reply Parent Thread Link That one with Amanda bynes Reply Thread Link yesss she's the man! i honestly think a few of the teen versions of shakespeare are better than the film versions of the actual material lol. 10 things i hate about you, O, etc. Reply Parent Thread Link lol I was trying to figure out if I had ever read Othello or I had just seen O. Reply Parent Thread Link yesss that was such a fun adaptation of Twelfth Night. Reply Parent Thread Link What's your favorite Shakespeare play? none! none! Reply Thread Link Lol this, they're all super intolerable. I remember having to read all those plays in HS and having to suffer trying to translate wtf they were saying. Reply Parent Thread Link mfte Reply Parent Thread Link Totally biting my thumb at you right now Reply Parent Thread Expand Link same. absolute torture Reply Parent Thread Link this. i was like, am i the only person who doesn't like shakespeare? i remember back in school one of my teachers being like, "shakespeare plays were the soap operas of his day" and being like lol no wonder i don't like him. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Othello. I love all the drama that Iago stirs up. Reply Thread Link Iago only succeeds because Othello is highly stupid. Nothing justifies murdering your wife but at least catch her in the act! Reply Parent Thread Link Lmao, Othello was such a dumbass - I think the play takes course over three days? Like in three days you go from loving your wife to murdering her because she's supposedly cheating on you? And you never even ASK her about it or sit down and talk to her about it? I just could not with him. Reply Parent Thread Link I don't actually like Romeo & Juliet, but I get REALLY defensive of Romeo. And I'm a man hating feminist too. Seriously though, poor kid just gets shit on by everyone. First he's pining over a girl who doesn't want him, and he's told he needs to move the fuck on. So he does. He starts liking a girl who does like him back. He gets shit for THAT. Then he gets shit on for NOT wanting to kill someone. Then he gets shit on for honoring his best friend who got murdered. Why shouldn't a guy move on from a girl who doesn't like him back to one who does? Why shouldn't he refrain from fighting if possible? Why should Juliet settle for an old creepy dude rather than marry the guy she's actually interested in having sex with? Everyone shits on the title characters, but it's their families who did all the stupid stuff that DROVE the kids to do stupid (but still developmentally appropriate) things. ETA: Actually, both families aren't equally at fault, AFAICT. It's the Capulets who do the most, specifically Tybalt. Paris was creepy for wanting to marry a girl who wasn't quite 14, but initially Lord Capulet wasn't here for it. But then he got super patriarchal. Lady Capulet ain't shit for throwing Juliet under the bus, and Nurse disappointed me when she said to Juliet that she should just settle for Paris. Edited at 2016-04-23 03:31 pm (UTC) Reply Thread Link This is all so on point. I teach R&J to freshmen and they always think, yeah the teens are stupid but the adults in the play are awful. Teenagers are supposed to be stupid but I think Shakespeare definitely makes the point that the adults, who should know better, make everything worse. Reply Parent Thread Link Tumblr likes to shit on the kids. I guess they think it's edgy or something. Remember that meme about R & J? Another pet peeve of mine is everyone being SO. EFFING. SURE. That Romeo Montague is 17. Literally nowhere in the text does it specify his age, but I always put him at 15. Also, the only death that's actually Romeo's fault is Paris', but Mercutio frankly brought it upon himself, egging on Tybalt and I was really not here for "A plague o' both your houses." It's just way too much like people nowadays being like, "Both sides are bickering too much" when it comes to partisan politics or whatever. Well, actually, one side is doing the most. It isn't pro-choicers who bomb crisis pregnancy centers, after all. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link How about because he was a drama queen who went from meeting a girl to drastic suicide in 3 days? Reply Parent Thread Link Honestly, the priest really failed them. He married them, should have shuffled them off church property to quickly consummate the marriage, and then shuffle them right back in the church to declare sanctuary. Once the marriage was consummated it couldn't be annulled and both the Capulets and Montagues would be stuck with it and the Prince would be like, "LET THIS BE AN END TO YOUR FEUD ASSHOLES" Reply Parent Thread Link lol mte, the families are fucking awful Reply Parent Thread Link it's totally the families causing all this shit. but lbr it's the priest who fails them all. like the plan totally could've worked. why the fuck does he take THAT long to get the message through? Reply Parent Thread Link tbf to the families it was pretty normal those days for people to get married super young, Lady Capulet herself says she was married and a mother before she was Juliet's age (almost 14) but yes, they were way extra. And I don't have a problem with shit happening in three days, Shakespeare timelines p much run by that anyway. Reply Parent Thread Link You're not ugly, Williams, just plain. It's what's most people are, and if you would have been male you would have gotten all the Ugly Dude with Hot Wife parts. Missing info on which laptop she got though, I don't think she's an Apple person for some reason. Reply Thread Link i think she's pretty, not plain. Reply Parent Thread Link me too Reply Parent Thread Link I think she's striking, which to me can verge both ways. She's like...wonky-pretty if that makes sense. Reply Parent Thread Link shes cute. lovely smile Reply Parent Thread Link She's like female Paul Rudd Reply Parent Thread Link I actually think she's quite the opposite- really unique looking. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link I don't even think she's plain. She has a pretty face and unique features. Reply Parent Thread Link Lol fail Reply Parent Thread Link yeah, i think she's just an average-looking person, which is kind of refreshing because very few actresses are. and arya is not supposed to be very striking-looking, so it works. i don't really get all the people saying she has unique features--maybe she looks unique because she's styled that way but she looks like a million people you see every day on the street--just completely normal and average-looking Reply Parent Thread Link lol bless her, that would've been one of my concerns at that age too. also she's pretty! and has very cute features, people need to stop making her think she's "weird looking" bc she's not. She might be stuck playing a teenager until she's 30 but a lot of actors are. Reply Thread Link it's good she's confident in the way she looks but something about the wording of her sentence makes me sad - "i'm not a classically beautiful leading lady". it must be tough for her being compared to all the other women on got. i remember when i was super into the show and tons of neckbeards were calling her ugly and boyish even though that was what arya's character was supposed to be. i can understand how it got to her Reply Thread Link they still call her those things. and during seasons 2 to 3, they kept calling her "fat" Reply Parent Thread Link lmao i'm not surprised. with d&d's constant pandering to those guys with the tits and sex, a female character that isn't sexualized isn't important to them. smh Reply Parent Thread Link If someone as fucking ugly and horrible to my vision as adam driver can become a leading man then i dont see why this chick can't be a leading lady. get roles bish. I fucking loved The Falling Reply Thread Link the falling was a trip and sadly she may be pretty face to face but tv and film are so shitty with their beauty standards. almost every lady in media looks like a model, almost. Reply Parent Thread Link It's such a beautiful film omg. When i found out Anges Godard was the cinematographer I was like THAT MAKES SENSE the visuals are so exquisite. and the acting is so good. underrated gem of a movie tbh. Reply Parent Thread Link LOL geez @ that title; that makes it sound like a Money, Dear Boy situation. Reply Thread Link I think she's gorgeous tbh Reply Thread Link Sad how she feels the need to say that about herself when she's clearly very pretty and attractive enough to be on TV. What about the rest of us?? Reply Thread Link I know how hard being a teen is so I don't believe she believes it 100% but it's a great attitude and I hope she keeps it up. Reply Thread Link I'M SO MAD ABOUT EPISODE 1 the only thing i find interesting is melisandre i better get a cleganebowl episode tbh Reply Parent Thread Link tell me about arya pls Reply Parent Thread Link PLEASE I AM SO DESPERATE FOR ARYA SCENES LOL Reply Parent Thread Link wait they got rid of siddig/doran?? he was the only good part! i cannot stand the writing or the acting for sand snakes! who thinks they are a good idea? Reply Parent Thread Link Sand snakes? why? fans hated them and they can't act. I didn't even like them in the books and found them all to be flops, they should've skipped their storylines and pretended last season never happened. I was hoping to be done with Dorne this season, god I hate D&D. Reply Parent Thread Link The way Maisie talks about her looks makes me sad. She's really cute imo and it must suck for her to have had people shitting on her looks for so long when she's so young. I wish more people would realize that attractiveness is so subjective and a lot of it has more to do with confidence and attitude than looks. Reply Thread Link ia, the fact that she mentions it so often in interviews is really depressing. it's almost as if she's like 'fyi i know i'm not super pretty' because she needs to justify herself or something. it's sad. Reply Parent Thread Link It's kinda sad reading that, I hope she gets therapy and does not go to Hollywood. Reply Thread Link "I might not be a classically beautiful leading lady, but that means I'll play a different sort of leading lady." some women are grown ass adults and still haven't formed that kind of self confidence (me) lmao @ everyone else saying this quote is "sad"...i must be really down in the dumps Edited at 2016-04-23 05:39 pm (UTC) Reply Thread Link lmao same Reply Parent Thread Link same...for me accepting the idea that I'm plain or not classically beautiful is like my worst nightmare and I never understand how people can do it and not feel like shit. But i hope to one day have her attitude Reply Parent Thread Link They probably feel like shit, at least in the beginning. But once you realize, that there are other worthy things about you, it gets easier. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link ugh mte. Reply Parent Thread Link Yeah, I didn't think it sounded sad, it sounded quite confident to me. Reply Parent Thread Link Mte. I thought this showed a lot of maturity and grace. Not everyone is a Victoria's Secret model, and that's a good thing. And it's not like she's ugly! She actually really has a pleasant face; she looks great on screen and can act! That's all that should matter! Reply Parent Thread Expand Link On Tuesday, Sinopec, one of Chinas top energy companies, received the first LNG cargo at its new import terminal in Beihai. The company is now moving full speed ahead with plans for three more terminals across the country in a major shift from coal to gas. The LNG will be re-gasified at the new terminal and then supplied to household consumers in the regions of Guangdong and Guangxi, in southern China. The facility has an annual processing capacity of three million tons of LNG. The first cargo, from Australia-Pacific LNG, was 160,000 cubic meters. Related: $91 Billion In Capex Cuts, A Serious Hangover For Oil Beihai is the second LNG import terminal of a total of five terminals Sinopec plans to build across the country. The first started operations last year, at the port on Qingdao, and the other three will be built at Tianjin, Jiangsu and Zhejiang. China is currently in the process of shifting its economic model from a focus on manufacturing and heavy industries to services and local consumption as the drivers of growth. This shift involves a switch from coal, which currently accounts for more than 60 percent of the countrys energy mix, to more environmentally friendly types of fuel, including natural gas as an obvious alternative. Related: Low Oil Price Thwarts Wider LNG Adoption in ShippingFor Now Beijing is also expending significant effort towards stimulating the consumption of gas. Last year, the government reduced gas prices twice in order to encourage users to make the switch. At the moment, according to Chinese consumption data, there is healthy demand for gas, supported by continuing government measures, such as incentives for gas-fueled power plants and price cuts. Local energy leaders seem to share the opinion that LNG will be a growing part of Chinas energy mix. Just recently, the vice president of CNOOC said LNG was irreplaceable in view of the governments determination to cut carbon emissions. Chinese forecasts suggest natural gas will represent 10 percent of the energy mix in four years, which translates into between 300 and 360 billion cubic meters a year, according to Platts. Its worth noting, however, that not all of this will be imported LNG: China gets a lot of its gas from Russia and Central Asia via pipelines. Related: What A Recovery For Oilfield Services Might Look Like More optimism can be found in a report from the Australian Department of Industry, Innovation, and Science. The report, by chief economist mark Cully, suggests that LNG demand in the Asian nation may rise by 38 percent by 2030. The keyword here, unfortunately, is may. Whether or not this demand growth will be achieved depends on the governments long-term dedication to carbon emission reduction as well as on the progress of the economic shift, among other, unforeseeable factors. Right now, there is worry among some analysts that the shift away from manufacturing is affecting demand for gas in a substantial way. The effect is only naturala consequence of moving from a focus on energy-intensive industries to industries that dont consume as muchand should be temporary. How temporary exactly is the question that counts, but its answer lies in the future. By Irina Slav of Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Reprinted from Campaign For America's Future 40,000 workers at Verizon and Verizon Wireless are still on strike, fighting for their future and the future of middle class wages in our economy. Despite making $131.6 billion in annual revenue, Verizon refuses to sign a contract with its workers. The workers want job stability, acceptable working conditions and respect as human beings. The company wants the "flexibility" to be able to change workers days and hours at will, do even more outsourcing, make workers do more to make up for their desire to employ fewer people, and generally treat human beings as commodities. Verizon CEO Lowell C. McAdam will receive more than $18 million in compensation just this year. Verizon executives are paid up to $20,000 an hour. Yet they argue that base pay of $13.48 an hour is enough for Verizon's workers to support a family. This is not right for Verizon's workers or for our economy. Sign your name to add to the pressure on Verizon to agree to a contract. Bigger Than Just Verizon This is a bigger fight than just Verizon's workers being asked to take less by an enormous and enormously profitable corporation. There is a larger fight between most of us and our corporate-dominated economy that looks only at what benefits corporations, their executives and shareholders and not the rest of the stakeholders in our economy. Work hours, pay, stability, benefits, even product quality and support, all are sacrificed to further corporate profits and "flexibility." If you are not a wealthy executive or major shareholder, your life just gets harder and harder, and you have fewer and fewer rights and options. Candidates On The Verizon Strike When the strike began, Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders joined a picket line and addressed a rally. This week he sent a message to supporters that reads in part: "Sisters and Brothers, "The CEO of Verizon makes almost $20 million a year in compensation. He leads one of the most profitable companies in the country. "Yet Verizon wants to take away employees' health benefits. Verizon wants to outsource decent-paying jobs. Verizon wants to avoid paying federal income tax. And right now, Verizon is refusing to sit down and negotiate a fair contract with its employees. ... "I'm asking you today to stand up and tell the CEO of Verizon that you think Verizon employees deserve a fair contract that protects health benefits, guarantees fair pay, and stops outsourcing. Click here to add your name in support of Verizon employees." Last week Hillary Clinton visited strikers outside a Manhattan Verizon store and Bill Clinton joined a Verizon picket line in Buffalo, N.Y. Reuters reports: "'This has been going on for months,' she said of the deadlocked contract talks, adding that the employees needed all the support they could get." Her campaign issued a statement that says in part, Reprinted from Ramzy Baroud Website "We won't act like them, we will not use violence or force, we are peaceful, we believe in peace, in peaceful popular resistance." This was part of a message issued by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in October, only days after a few incidents took place in which Palestinian youth were accused of attacking Israeli soldiers and settlers with knives. The message would have carried some weight were it not laden with contradictions. On one hand, Abbas' supposed "peace" quest has only entrenched the Israeli Occupation of the West Bank, and all but completely isolated illegally occupied and annexed East Jerusalem. Moreover, what "peaceful popular resistance" is Abbas, 80, referring to? What war of "peaceful" national liberation has he been leading? And how could a leader, ever so unpopular, be leading a "popular resistance" anyway? Just two weeks before Abbas made that statement in which he referred to some illusory "popular resistance" under his command, a poll conducted by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research in Ramallah revealed that a majority of Palestinians, 65% of respondents, want him to resign. Of course, while Abbas continues to prophesize about some non-existent peace -- as he has done for most of his lucrative career -- Israel continues to wreak havoc on Palestinians, using every means of violence at its disposal. Granted, Israel's propensity to maintain its violent occupation cannot be blamed on Abbas. It is Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and his right wing coalition that should be blamed squarely for the Occupation, the mistreatment and humiliation of Palestinians on a daily basis. However, such truth should not detract from Abbas' terrible legacy and ongoing misconduct. In fact, some urgent questions must be asked in that regard: If Abbas is such a peacenik, why is his military budget so disproportionately large? According to information published by Visualizing Palestine, 31% of the PA budget is spent on the military and policing of the West Bank. Compare this to 18% on education, 13% on health and only 1% on agriculture. The latter percentage is particularly troubling, considering that Palestinian land, orchards and olive groves are the main target for Israel, which usurps the land in order to expand its military zones and illegal settlements. The huge discrepancy between funds allocated to Palestinian security forces -- which never confront Israel's military occupation, only Palestinian Resistance -- and those spent to assist farmers in their "sumoud" (steadfastness) while their land is being targeted and confiscated daily, is a testament to the mixed priorities of Abbas and his Authority. Even Israel, which is obsessed with its security, and manages several fronts of war and military occupation spends only 22% of its total budget on the military, which is still quite high by average standards. Abbas' "peace" is, of course, quite selective. He rules over Occupied Palestinians with an iron fist, rarely tolerates dissent within his party, Fatah's, ranks, and has done his utmost to isolate Gaza and sustain a state of conflict with his enemies in the Hamas movement. More recently, and due to mere criticism levelled at him by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a prominent Palestinian faction and PLO member, Abbas decided to choke them of funds. In Abbas' "peaceful" world, there is zero room for tolerance. The PFLP criticism was a response to statements he made on Israeli television. In a recent interview, he insisted that security coordination with Israel is a top priority for him. Without such coordination, the PA will find itself "on the brink of collapse," he told Israel Channel 2 on March 31. Bernie Sanders We're going ALL THE WAY (Image by Tony Webster) Details DMCA Bernie Sanders says he's taking the Democratic presidential nomination contest all the way to the party's national convention in Philadelphia at the end of July. Believe it. With increasing intensity after each primary or caucus he loses -- and for that matter after each primary or caucus he wins -- party big-wigs call on him to concede the race and get out of Hillary Clinton's way. Politico's informal April survey of anonymous Democratic "insiders" has nearly 90% wanting Sanders out no later than the DC primary in mid-June and only 10% urging him to hold out to the bitter end. Why isn't he listening to the 90%? As a Florida Democrat told Politico, "[t]here is no path, and there is no math." Actually there are at least four paths. Path #1: Clinton's health fails in a very big and very public way. She's had multiple public fainting spells since 2005, including one resulting in a broken elbow in 2009. In 2012, she suffered a concussion and was hospitalized with cerebral venous thrombosis, a life-threatening blood clot condition. Her campaign health statement acknowledges these problems and throws in hypothyroidism to boot, although characterizing the 67-year-old as enjoying "excellent" health. Path #2: Clinton is indicted in, or otherwise dragged down over, the "Servergate" affair, in which she appears to have illegally mishandled classified information while Secretary of State. Path #3: Clinton comes to big legal or political grief over apparent connections between large donations to her family's foundation on one hand and her actions as Secretary of State on the other. For example, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia donated $10 million to the Clinton Foundation and Boeing donated $900,000. Later, Secretary Clinton cleared a $29 billion arms deal involving the two parties. You can see how that kind of thing looks. There may be some "there" there. Path #4: The texts of Clinton's Wall Street speeches, for which she received millions of dollars in honoraria, are leaked. Clinton's refusal to release those texts tells us that their release would be politically damaging. Everything comes to light sooner or later. If it's sooner -- that is, before July -- we may find out how just how damaging. Any of these four scenarios might result in Hillary Clinton's ignominious withdrawal from the presidential race and release of her delegates, followed by the party's scramble for an alternative nominee. If Bernie Sanders doesn't quit, he becomes the odds-on favorite for the job. So he won't quit. And now you know why. Russian Akula class submarine The headline in Wednesday's the New York Times read, "Russia Bolsters Its Submarine Fleet and Tensions With U.S. Rise." [1] As writer Eric Schmitt put it, "Russian attack submarines, the most in two decades, are prowling the coastlines of Scandinavia and Scotland, the Mediterranean Sea and the North Atlantic in what Western military officials say is a significantly increased presence aimed at contesting American and NATO undersea dominance." "The patrols are the most visible sign of a renewed interest in submarine warfare by President Vladimir V. Putin, whose government has spent billions of dollars for new classes of diesel and nuclear-powered submarines that are quieter, better armed and operated by more proficient crews than in the past." Reading those paragraphs one could easily come away with the distinct impression Putin and Russia's "prowling" in those waters is a clear provocation against the US and NATO. The only problem Putin's so called "prowling" is just a response to US and NATO's prowling right to the edge of Russia's borders. Maybe a little synopsis review of history, since 1989 and two years later, with the demise of the Soviet Union is in order here. There was an agreement in 1989 between former Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev and the Bush I administration that NATO would not move "one inch closer" eastward if the two Germany's were allowed to re-unite. This agreement was subsequently betrayed first by the Clinton administration then Bush II with the Baltic countries of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia and the former Warsaw Pact countries Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Albania, Romania, Poland joining NATO. Prior to the Georgian war in 2008 over the two breakaway provinces South Ossetia and Abkhazia NATO promised Georgia would "eventually" become a member. Ukraine was also promised inclusion "eventually". The new cold war with Russia began and was provoked by US State Department officials working behind the scenes initiating the coup in Kiev of Ukraine President Viktor Yanukovych in February 2014 and subsequently Russia agreeing to annex Crimea-following a popular referendum by the people voting to join the Russian Federation-this because of the distinct Russian fear its naval base in Sevastopol would fall under the post coup regime in Kiev. Then with the assault into Eastern Ukraine by the Ukrainian army together with their neo-Nazi militia's attacking the ethnic Russian speaking people, with Putin openly supporting them, he has since been demonized in the western media as the aggressor and the new "Hitler" characterized as such by none other than Hillary Clinton. Today with US neo-cons within and without the Obama administration continually pushing for "regime change" and Putin remaining in their sights, the question begs, what choice has Putin and Russia other than to defend itself from US and NATO aggression? So Schmitt's article is a mischaracterization of Russian aerial and submarine presence in the aforementioned areas including ominous pictures of two nuclear powered submarines, two nuclear powered cruise missile submarines, a diesel-electric attack submarine, a map of revealing the locations of the four Russian fleets in the Barents Sea, Baltic Sea, Black Sea and the Mediterranean Sea while one US attack submarine is pictured sitting idly on some picturesque river in Scotland. Soon after Sen. Bernie Sanders was declared the loser in the New York Democratic presidential primary on Tuesday night, his campaign manager, Jeff Weaver, was on MSNBC explaining the path ahead for the independent socialist from Vermont. Weaver contended, optimistically, that Sanders could potentially win all the remaining contests. When pressed on what the campaign would do should Sanders end up second to Hillary Clinton in the delegate hunt, Weaver said the campaign would spend the weeks between the final primary in early June and the Democratic convention in late July trying to flip the superdelegates who have declared their loyalty to Clinton. To some, this might seem fanciful. Would Democratic officials throw Clinton to the curb in favor of the second-place guy who has never been a member of the Democratic Party? And would Sanders, the champion of small-d democracy and the scourge of machine politics, really turn to the equivalent of party bosses to secure the nomination after losing the popular vote? Reprinted from Gush Shalom He was caught by my female neighbors and arrested. It appeared he had no political motives -- he was upset because I had planted listening devices in his head. While in the hospital, I got a call from London. It was from the representative of the PLO, who conveyed to me the best wishes of Yasser Arafat. A few minutes later I had a visitor: General Rehavam Ze'evi, known by his nickname Gandhi, an extreme rightist, came to see me. The hospital staff were flabbergasted. "What gun do you carry?" he asked. I told him it was a Webley, a British service revolver. "Very bad," he judged. "The hammer is too exposed. Where do you carry it?" I told him that I generally carried it in my belt. "Even worse," he remarked. "Before you can draw it, you are dead." He showed me his own gun. It was a special revolver produced for bodyguards -- a Colt with a hammer which did not protrude from its body, so you could carry it cocked without the danger of it going off unexpectedly. "You must carry it in your hand at all times, he admonished me. And so I did. For 15 years I had the revolver in my hand all the time except in my home and office. I developed a special way of hiding it while holding my finger on the trigger. No one ever suspected. After 15 years, when my magazine, Haolam Hazeh, shut down, I went to the police and gave them my two handguns as a present. I REMEMBERED this story this week, when a TV program aired an investigation into Ze'evi, disclosing that he was a murderer of prisoners, a serial rapist, an associate of prominent underworld figures and more. That is very embarrassing, because some years ago the Knesset passed a special law to "eternalize" the "heritage" of Ze'evi. Why, for God's sake? Well, he was a man of the far-far Right. When Yitzhak Rabin, a man of the moderate Left, was assassinated by a Jew, such a law was passed for him. The Right wanted to have a martyr, too. They chose Ze'evi, who was assassinated 15 years ago by Arabs. The TV program causes a headache. What to do now? Continue to "eternalize" a murderer of prisoners and, on top of that a rapist? To annul the law? Nobody knows, and there we are. ACTUALLY, THERE was little that was new for me in the TV revelations. My relations with the man were always on several different levels. Politically, we were polar opposites. Personally, we belonged to the same group, the fighters of the 1948 war. The relations between us started in 1953, when a group of youngsters attacked me after midnight in the street in front of my office. I had just got into my covered Jeep when they attacked me with heavy sticks. They did not succeed in dragging me out of the car, but broke the fingers of both my hands. YEREVAN, APRIL 23, ARMENPRESS. During the session breaks of the Against the Crime of Genocide Global Forum in Yerevan, President Serzh Sargsyan talked with the delegates of the forum, chatted with various participants and presented the Armenian position on a number of issues. Regarding the geographical difficulties of Armenia the President in particular said:Yes, 2 of the 4 Armenian neighbors are conducting hostile policy against our country. Despite this, since the independence we adopted multidirectional policies and tried to develop relations with all our neighbors. Even with Turkey, we were the initiator of trying to restore relations without prerequisites, as a result the world saw what is the real reason of the Armenia-Turkey border being closed and who is demanding prerequisites and what kind of a real factor the Turkish-Azerbaijani one nation-two states resolution is. Who has not perceived the real nature of this policy has missed something important in his calculations. We are a peaceful nation, we do not hate anyone and we do not build relations with anyone based on hatred or animosity. Our people do not like to fight, our people fight only when they are forced to. And they are forced to do so, only because they wish to live on their own land and build their own future in freedom. As Armenpress was informed by the Department of Public Relations and Mass Media of the Presidential Administration, the President also spoke about the Russian role in the NKR conflict settlement process. Serzh Sargsyan said that he presented the consequences of the Azerbaijani attacks and the Armenian position on this issue to Russian FM Lavrov in their meeting yesterday. Russia, as a co-chairing country of OSCE Minsk Group, is actively involved in the peaceful settlement process of the NKR conflict. For many years we have been a responsible participant of this process, we tried to achieve mutually acceptable decisions and be constructive. It is obvious, that that by harshly ignoring the 1994 ceasefire agreement Azerbaijan greatly damaged the process. We are convinced that this issue can be settled exclusively by mutual compromises, peacefully. But today we have a different situation. The ceasefire agreement has been ignored, the 5 announcements of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-chairs have been ignored, terrifying war crimes have been committed: And now we say to everyone point out the aggressor, point out in order to learn lessons and move forward, Serzh Sargsyan said. Oregon House Republicans Child Welfare System Did Not Meet National Standards In Any Of 14 Areas Assessed Salem, Ore. On Wednesday, April 20, 2016, Oregon Department of Human Services Director Clyde Saiki informed members of the Legislature of Oregons performance on the 2016 Federal Child Welfare Review (CFSR). The review, which states receive approximately every six years, seeks to assess the overall ability of the child welfare system to serve and protect vulnerable children. The results from Oregons most recent report were very poor, with the state failing to meet national standards in 14 out of 14 assessed areas. According to the Department of Human Services, the general areas of the assessment included: Safety Permanency Well-Being Statewide Information System Service Array Case Review System Staff Training Quality Assurance System Agency Responsiveness to the Community Foster & Adoptive Parent Licensing, Recruitment & Retention This new report is a sobering reminder of how broken our states child welfare system is, said Representative Duane Stark (R-Grants Pass), who serves as Vice Chair of the Human Services and Housing Committee in the Oregon House. I trust that Director Saiki will take seriously this performance review and move as quickly as possible to ensure that the most vulnerable children in our communities are safe, protected and provided adequate care. Its time to fix our child welfare system once and for all and make the well-being of children a priority for our state again. Results of an additional phase of the performance review are expected by the end of 2016. DHS officials expect that Oregon will fail to meet national standards in the final report as well. The heartbreak that accompanies this kind of report is matched only by the anger in knowing that so much of our state resources are being spent by an agency that struggles to carry out its most basic responsibilities, said Representative Greg Smith (R-Heppner), who chairs the House Republican Budget Committee. The failures of our state government are resulting in chronically poor care for our children. That is simply unacceptable. We must take action to demand accountability from our child welfare system and ensure that Oregonians tax dollars are being handled prudently, and in a way that maximizes positive outcomes for children in our child welfare system. In his announcement to legislators, Director Saiki specifically praised the legislature for its passage of House Bill 4080 and Senate Bill 1515 during the 2016 session. Rep. Stark played a key role in helping secure passage of both measures, which seek to reform Oregons foster care system. The full Child and Family Services Review can be accessed here. YEREVAN, APRIL 23, ARMENPRESS. We often refer to the 20th century as a century of extreme violence. Researcher at the Swiss national science foundation Francesca Piana spoke of this during Against the Crime of Genocide second global forum. The violence took different shapes, from uprooting to population, engineering genocides, denationalization, protracted asylum, and collective expropriation. The history of post-genocide Armenian refugees allows us to add knowledge to these historical processes. It is also a lens through which highlighting the specific circumstances at the intersection of total war, peace, imperialism, nationalism, internationalism, and globalization where Armenian refugees were under threat and were historically constructed as a threat to the peace in interwar Europe, Piana concluded. Against the crime of genocide second Global forum kicked off in Yerevan. It will be mainly focused on the issues of Genocide living survivors and refugees. The Global forum will consist of 4 main sections. The official opening of the forum will be conducted by the President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan. After that, sessions will be held which will be followed by question/answer session during which the participants can ask questions to the speakers. Over 70 foreign media are accredited to illustrate the Global forum. Nawaz Sharif to write a letter to the chief justice 23 April, 2016 Related News Imran Khan distributed loan cheques under Kamyab Jawan Programme PTI govt to face all challenges coming its way: Imran khan More on this View All Tips for Taking Incredible iPhone Travel Photos Top 2021 Accessories We Know You Will Love Types of Casino Payment Methods Best Poker Hands ever played on a Casino Are Slot Developers Important for players? Hand Wash and Toiletries in Pakistan And the Role of DUPAS in Reshaping the Industry Woke Bingo ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said on Friday that he would write a letter to the chief justice of the Supreme Court to form a commission to investigate the Panama Papers reports about the offshore companies owned by his family. I have decided to write a letter to the honourable chief justice of the Supreme Court to constitute a commission to probe this matter (allegations of Panama Papers), the prime minister said in his address to the nation on radio and television. He said that he would wholeheartedly accept the recommendations of the commission. If the allegations levelled against him proved wrong then those accusing him would have to face the nation and apologise, he added. The prime minister referred to his earlier address to the nation and said that he had announced setting up a commission at a time when there was no such public demand. He regretted that his political opponents were pressurising the judges not to be a part of the inquiry commission. Sharif said he was not afraid of anyone, but Allah Almighty. I have full faith in Him and the people of Pakistan, who will respond to these baseless allegations. Rejecting what, he said, was a fascist attitude to destroy and bring instability to the country, the prime minister said the day allegations against him were proved, he would not wait for a moment and go home. He said the current crisis, made up by his opponents, was nothing but eyewash aimed at getting power, by creating instability in the country. The prime minister said immediately after the Panama Papers issue came to the fore, he took the nation into confidence, despite the fact that there was no allegation against him. He said he announced a commission to probe the matter and clear the allegations levelled against him by his political opponents once and for all. These are all 22-year old allegations, the prime minister said and added that all these cases have been probed several times. He said former president Pervez Musharraf thoroughly investigated, but failed to find misappropriation of even a penny. I once again present myself and my family for accountability, the prime minister said and added that details of his assets as declared through his income tax returns, were available. We have been paying taxes since the time people even did not know what tax was, he said and added it was his government that for the first time published the tax directory. He dismissed the allegations that he paid a little tax as nothing but blatant lies and said the people of Pakistan were well aware of the facts. The prime minister said the people of Pakistan had in the past rejected such allegations and expressed solidarity with him by reposing confidence in him and voting for him in the general election. He said his life was like an open book as he was born and bred in Pakistan and his children also grew up here. He said he was proud of having his family associated with Pakistan and would die in his homeland. Sharif said that exile was the worst time for him in his political career spanning three decades. Only he or his family knew how they endured it, he added. He said all the details of his assets had already been declared in the form of income tax returns. He said the Pakistani media was freer than the media in the developed countries. He said the commission had yet to be formed and proceedings had yet to start, but some people had already given their verdict. Will they desire such a justice for them? he questioned. Sharif said he had been responding to the very questions in the past and was willing to answer them today. He said that people had the right to question and the leaders were bound to answer their questions. Sharif recalled that a judicial commission constituted in 2014 with national consensus to probe the allegations of rigging in the 2013 general election had rejected the accusations as a pack of lies. He regretted that those who were making the allegations of rigging and were using foul language from the top of a container did not have the moral courage to apologise to the nation after the commission acquitted his party of vote rigging. The prime minister said his family had been held accountable for every penny and referred to the loss of billions of rupees his family had suffered due to nationalisation in 1972. Who will be held accountable for those losses? he asked. Sharif said he was even ready to stand accountable for the salary he never received as a prime minister. But who will hold those accountable who travel in private planes, he asked. The prime minister said that people were set to benefit from his governments ongoing development agenda and his power-hungry opponents were foreseeing their defeat in the next general election. He said he was not concerned about the allegations against his family, but he was concerned about the losses suffered by the country. He said it was an unforgivable crime and asked the people to hold those accountable who were making Pakistan suffer. These people want me to waste my energies responding to such baseless allegations instead of focussing on the progress and development of the country, he said. The prime minister said his vision was progress, prosperity and a bright Pakistan. We too have some questions and need answers, he said. Those asking questions about our factories in Saudi Arabia should tell us who sent us in exile and why? Those proclaiming for rule of law should tell under which law an elected prime minister was handcuffed and put behind the bars? Why someone did not dare to wake up the Supreme Court when we were exiled? Those claiming to be the embodiment of virtue today also kept a mum except a very few people when our businesses and private residence were locked. Those teaching us morality should tell us where was their moral courage at that time? Those trying to teach us the definition of democracy should also tell as who for the sake of prime ministers office was supporting the dictator who had plunged the country into terrorism? Those referring to the law and morality should tell us under which legal clause and article of the Constitution they had pledged allegiance to the dictator? he asked. 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. YEREVAN, APRIL 23, ARMENPRESS. Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian met with the genocide survivors who are participating in the Against the Crime of Genocide 2nd global forum in Yerevan. Armenian FM met with Youk Chhang from Cambodia, Kabanda Aloys from Rwanda, and Nadia Murad from Iraq: Armenpress was informed by the Department of Press, Information and Public Relations of the MFA. By thanking for their participation in the forum, Nalbandian stressed the importance of the presence of political and public figures, distinguished scientists, artists and in particular genocide survivors at the forum. The Minister said the joint efforts of the international community for genocide prevention are highly important. He also noted that the 2nd Global Forum in Yerevan had become an important international platform for the prevention of genocides and crimes against humanity. The participants highly appraised the Armenian efforts in the international arena for the prevention of genocides. Nalbandian presented Armenian initiatives and efforts in this direction. For full functionality of this site it is necessary to enable JavaScript. Here are the instructions how to enable JavaScript in your web browser YEREVAN, APRIL 23, ARMENPRESS. Artsakh should become a negotiating party in the peaceful settlement of Nagorno Karabakh conflict, the Director of the International Secretariat of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation Bureau Giro Manoyan said this in an interview with journalists. Artsakh must become a negotiating party from the very start of negotiations rather than after several issues will be agreed, Armenpress reports, Giro Manoyan mentions. Referring to the Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrovs visit to Yerevan Manoyan stressed the importance that Lavrov clearly stated that the 1994 ceasefire trilateral agreement is termless and continues to be in force. Azerbaijan tries to present that Armenia started the war in early April and canceled the 1994 ceasefire, but for them ceasefire regime is the oral agreement which has been reached in Moscow on April 5 with participation of the Chiefs of General Staff of Armed Forces of Armenia and Azerbaijan. In this case the difference is that 1994 ceasefire agreement is trilateral, which means that this agreement has been signed also by Artsakh, but the last oral agreement of ceasefire has been reached between Armenia and Azerbaijan. In this context the statement by Sergey Lavrov is very important, Manoyan added. Giro Manoyan noted that the visit of Russian Foreign Minister showed that before his visit Russian media releases, which said that Sergey Lavrov is going to present to the Armenian side a new document about the conflict settlement, do not match with the reality. The visit of Russian Foreign Minister showed that these releases do not match with the reality. I dont know what these publications were for. Maybe they were trying to exert pressure on the Armenian side or just someone wanted to show Azerbaijanis that they try to pressure Armenia, however, we got convinced that there is no such a new document, Manoyan concluded. YEREVAN, APRIL 23, ARMENPRESS. International Court of Justice Judge Joe Verhoeven said he finds the Turkey-EU agreement on jointly managing the refugee crisis not much of a glorious decision, for which however Europe doesnt have an alternative today. According to him, this is one of the EUs initiatives which is aimed at settling the issue. This was announced by Verhoeven during the Against the Crime of Genocide forum. After multiple discussions the EU reached an agreement that Turkey will become a subcontractor in the refugee crisis settlement issue. This action is not so glorious, but in any case we told Turkey to commit to their obligations to have compensation, Armenpress reports him saying. According to him, by contributing to the management of the migration waves Turkey gets hope that it will join the EU. He said that in 2015, 627 thousand people moved to Europe to ask for temporary asylum via the UN refugee agencies. However, according to him, the migration waves harm the economies of the European countries, for which those countries are not ready for. YEREVAN, APRIL 23, ARMENPRESS. Many Syrian refugees have integrated in Armenia and our Government has extended a helping hand to them. This was stated by the Chief of Staff of the Presidential Administration Vigen Sargsyan during the Aurora Dialogues discussions. People who moved to Armenia from Syria, Iraq, are children of those people, who went through the Armenian Genocide. Syrian refugees have integrated in Armenia. The Government has extended a helping hand and supported them, and provided all documents and responded to their every need, Armenpress reports Sargsyan saying. The Aurora Dialogues discussions began on April 23 in Yerevan. The discussions are initiated by the 100 LIVES and Aurora Awards. As Armenpress reports, the discussions are being held in the Matenadaran Institute of Ancient Manuscripts of Yerevan. Scientists, philanthropists, media experts, humanitarians and others are participating in the event. The discussions are dedicated to urgent humanitarian issues and challenges throughout the world. Through its discussions and Q&As, Aurora Dialogues aims to launch public discussions, which will contribute to forming a better future and learning from the past. Humanitarian issues and refugee crisis will be discussed. SOUTH GLENS FALLS Megan Pliscofsky had to watch Saturday while the race she started ran without her. Pliscofsky, who started the Fox Trot for Parkinsons Research to raise money for a cure, just had a hip replaced six weeks ago. Her running days are over. Im 37, so I need it to last. I cant do high-impact, she said. Ive got to get a bike so I can do bike events. But in the chilly, 47-degree weather, about 440 people gathered to run for her at Betar Byway. They raised well over $15,000, all of which will go to the Michael J. Fox Foundation, which uses 100 percent of the funds for research. In addition to the race, Pliscofsky now wants to start support groups for patients and caregivers. There isnt anything north of Albany, she said. Team Fox started with just Pliscofsky and a few friends, raising money and running for Parkinsons research. Then they organized the 5K/10K race in South Glens Falls to raise even more money. In four years, including three years of the South Glens Falls race, theyve raised more than $100,000. Its personal for Pliscofsky. Her mother Donna has Parkinsons. Its such a terrible disease. Its so debilitating, Pliscofsky said. But by organizing the South Glens Falls race, she has met dozens of others who are coping with the disease. Runners have shared tips for tricking a family members body into movement Parkinsons can freeze a body mid-step and for other solutions to common problems with the disease. One friend told her to put a spoon on the floor when her mother is frozen. Seeing the spoon can trigger the feet to step over it. In a support group, she said, tips like that could be shared. A few walkers from Vermont said a support group can make all the difference. Peggy-Sue and Donald Van Nostrand walked the route with their 3- and 4-year-old daughters. Donalds father, who lives in Mayfield, has Parkinsons and just joined a support group, which the family said seems to help. Just getting the diagnosis helped too, because he found immediate relief in medications. He seems better than when I first met him, said Peggy-Sue Van Nostrand. Its hard to support him from five hours away, her husband added. We just try to support as much as possible and do things like this, he said. The race also made quite an impression on their 4-year-old daughter Aryanna. She wasnt expecting a life-sized fox, which was waving and cheering on all the participants. Im happy. I like the fox, she said. But Morgan, 3, insisted on being carried after tripping at the start of the race. As Donald carried her, he said this was his first 5K. Theyd considered using a wagon for the girls, but decided it would be too much of a bother to pull it. Were probably going to regret that now, he said as Morgan cuddled into his shoulder and seemed quite content to be carried for the next three miles. They only got her to walk with the enticement of having her photo taken by a Post-Star reporter. A family from Argyle also ran the race because of a loved one. My mom has Parkinsons. So thats why were here, said Amy Aubrey. Her husband and their two daughters, ages 15 and 11, also ran the race. Her mother, Ellen Abrahamson, lives in the Fort Hudson Nursing Home. Its hard. It is a difficult thing, watching your parent not be able to control my mother had the tremors and she was so active. She raised six kids! Aubrey said. But even as the disease progresses, theres always hope, she said. Her mother recently began doing better. Shes learning to walk again, she said. We dont believe anything Thurman Supervisor Evelyn Wood or other Town Board members could have done would have avoided the alienation of Michael Eddy from the rest of the board. His actions since he took office leaving every meeting just after the roll is called, racking up legal expenses without consulting the rest of the board show a deep and intransigent disregard for proper procedure and disrespect for his fellow board members. But Eddy did have justification, in the first place, for objecting to the way Gail Seaman was appointed to the board. Seaman herself cast the deciding vote in her own appointment, and that was an unethical way for her to get on the current board. Regardless of whether Seamans vote can be justified legally, as the towns lawyer says it can, it was improper for her to vote on her own appointment. Its true, the board was facing a confounding situation at the end of last year, following the resignation of one member and a tie vote between Seaman and her election opponent, Joan Harris. But they could have found a more elegant and ethical solution than having Seaman vote herself in. What happened was, first, Seaman and Harris tied, which, according to state law, equals a failure to elect. Then, in December, board member Dan Smith resigned. That meant, in January, the board would have had only three members Wood, Eddy and John Youngblood. You cant run a five-member board with three members, because for any vote to count, it would have to be unanimous. A 2-1 vote wouldnt count, because three votes are needed for a majority. Its hard enough to get things done in small towns like Thurman; requiring unanimity is asking too much. Seaman continued to serve on a held-over term until her seat was filled, as state law mandates. At that point, with four members, the board should have appointed someone other than Seaman to fill her seat. Then Seaman could have stepped down and the remaining four (Wood, Eddy and Youngblood, plus the new member) could have appointed a fifth member. That way, Seaman would not have helped appoint herself. She also would no longer have been on the board. But if she still had a yen for public service, she could have run again in a future election. That way, although we doubt Eddy would have become a cooperative member of the board, he would have had no grounds for boycotting the meetings. Now, although we dont support his refusal to do his job, we have to admit he has a point. It is time, however, to move on. Ms. Seaman should not have voted on her own appointment. But any objections to that procedure can be sorted out in the next election. Meanwhile, Mr. Eddys refusal to participate in town government strikes us as a dereliction of duty. He was elected to the board, and he should serve on it. What he shouldnt do is run up public bills without proper authorization. His recent consultation with the town attorney, undertaken without the consent of the board, was irresponsible. Eddy asked lawyer Mark Schachner to investigate the legality of Seamans appointment. Schachner responded that it was legally defensible not a ringing endorsement, but sufficient for the Town Board to move ahead and conduct its business. Schachner has billed the board $1,282 for the work he did to answer Eddys question. But since the board never authorized the expense and the town didnt allocate money to cover it, Supervisor Wood has, understandably, told Eddy he should pay the bill. The last four months have been an exercise by Mr. Eddy in overplaying a hand. He had a legitimate complaint, but he took it too far by boycotting his own board. He went beyond the pale when he ran up a large legal bill without board authorization. Supervisor Wood isnt blameless in this conflict, but she has kept working to keep the town running and get things done for the people of Thurman. Mr. Eddy should follow her example. He could cast every vote against her, if he chooses, but he should at least show up to cast those votes. Local editorials represent the opinion of The Post-Stars editorial board, which consists of Publisher Terry Coomes, Editor Ken Tingley, Projects Editor Will Doolittle, Controller/Operations Director Brian Corcoran and citizen representative Tom Portuese. YEREVAN, APRIL 23, ARMENPRESS. It is the shame of the international community that after 100 years the Armenian Genocide is still denied: Genocide-that claimed lives of 1.5 million and hundreds of thousands suffered the consequences of the genocide in their future lives. Executive Director and management board member of the US-based Yazda NGO Murad Ismail told Armenpress in an interview conducted in the sidelines of Against the Crime of Genocide second global forum. Referring to the denialism policy of Turkey, Murad Ismail says that the Turkish government must accept the reality and face the historical truth. This happened 100 years ago but the recognition is important for Armenians and others even today as a demonstration of human tragedy. We believe that the position of Turkey must be embracing the reality that it committed genocide against Armenians and other minorities, as Yazidis were also massacred during the Armenian Genocide in early 20th century, the Yazidi public activist added. Referring to the issue of awareness of the Yazidi genocide among the Armenian public, Murad Ismail noted that the official circles are quite well informed, which they witnessed during meetings with them. But we think that the Armenian people are not well aware of the Yazidi genocide. And this forum is a good opportunity to speak about it and tell that 3-4 thousand Yazidis, including elderly, children, women, and disabled who were unable to flee, were killed in one day in Iraq, Murad Ismail stated. He expressed satisfaction over the fact that Nadia, a Yazidi survival of ISIL atrocities, will have a chance to speak at the global forum in Yerevan about the sufferings of the Yazidis.She will tell here that we share the grief of Armenians, but will also state that our wounds are fresh and we need you to stand with our people to alleviate our sufferings, Murad Ismail added. Nadia Murad Basee Taha is a Yazidi human rights advocate. She was abducted by the ISIL together with thousands of other girls and women after the mainly Yazidi-populated Shingal city was overrun by ISIL. She managed to escape captivity and travel all over the world to shed light on the atrocities of the ISIL committed against the religious minority of Yazidis. YEREVAN, APRIL 23, ARMENPRESS. French Secretary of State for European Affairs Harlem Desir will participate in the commemoration ceremony of the 101th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide in Paris, in an interview with Armenpress Co-chairman of the Coordination Council of Armenian Organizations of France Murad Papazian said this. The commemoration ceremony will take place near the monument of Komitas. The French Secretary of State for European Affairs, French MPs and representatives of Paris Municipality will take part in the ceremony. We will lay flowers in the monument paying tribute to the memory of the 1915 innocent victims. This year we have decided to speak not only about Turkey, the Armenian Genocide issue in our speech, but also to put an emphasis on Nagorno Karabakh issue. Our major topic is still the unresolved conflict of Nagorno Karabakh, Murad Papazian said. After the official ceremony, the participants with demanding march will move to the Turkish official representation in France. Except from calls such as recognition of the Armenian Genocide, repatriation, there will also be calls on Nagorno Karabakh issue. In particular, we will speak about the issue of selling weapons to Azerbaijan. Eventually, the weapon sellers should understand that Azerbaijan is in war with Armenia and will use these weapons against Armenia. Besides, we demand to conduct respective actions in the line of contact to check who firstly violates ceasefire regime, and also to respect the right to self-determination of Artsakh people, Murad Papazian added. YEREVAN, APRIL 23, ARMENPRESS. Specialist in International law, professor emeritus at Stockholm University and at Swedish National Defense College Ove Bring urges Turkey to enter into dialogue with Armenians over the tragedy of 1915. Modern Turkey is responsible for the incidents if 1915, as it is the same state, the successor of the Ottoman Turkey, Armenpress reports the professor at Stockholm University announced this during Against the Crime of Genocide second global forum. Ove Bring mentioned that according to international law, economic losses resulted by genocide must be recovered and compensated over time. If there are some people who lost right to property, members of their families in Turkey can prove that their family had an economic lawsuit. They can apply to the European Court of Human Rights trying to prove that the mentioned lawsuit was never annulled, it continues to exist, Bring said. He added that it is a difficult path, as many things need evidences, but theoretically it is possible that can be brought into life. YEREVAN, APRIL 23, ARMENPRESS. The sole dream of a Yazidi woman Nadia Murad, survival of ISIL captivity, is that no one else should experience what she felt during the captivity. In the sidelines of Against the Crime of Genocide second global forum the Yazidi human rights advocate told Armenpress that she managed to escape captivity thank to good people, by hiding her face. After a finding myself in a camp I managed to move to Germany, where I currently reside. The militants of the Islamic State killed my 6 brothers, and my mother and cousin who tried to flee exploded on a mine. My two sisters and three brothers survived. They are currently in a camp, Nadia Murad told the horrible story of her family. In her words, 10 thousand Yazidis were captivated and killed by the terrorists. And those who were not killed died from scorching sun. They sold our women and children in the black markets of Syria and Iraq, raped and passed from one man to another, the young woman said hardly able to restrain tears. Nadia Murad feels pain for the fact that they passed through all that and continue to pass at the moment in front of the eyes of the entire world. It is over 1.5 years our nation suffers, but nothing is undertaken to help them. Do not turn a blind eye on human tragedy, help people, innocent people should not suffer, she said. Referring to the Armenian Genocide, she noted that if it had been recognized all the genocides coming next would not happen. Nadia Murad believes recognition and condemnation of genocides can prevent the reoccurrence of other genocides. The curfew, which came into force in February 2016, span from 6am to 6:00am and was reviewed again to 8:00pm to 4:00am following complaint from residents that the curfew is distracting economic activities. We expect business to pick up. We also pray that the clashes do not happen again, a trader who spoke to Citi FM said. Another trader said he was excited about the lifting of the ban. According to him, the ban was gravely affecting business in the town. Pharmaceutical shops, drinking bars and food vendors and restaurants were the worst affected businesses. They complained of poor night sales. And wondering when the curfew would be lifted, some of them contemplated transferring their businesses to neigbouring communities. Kofi Yeboah, who operated a community pharmacy, told Ghanalive that the pharmacy operated 5pm and 9pm but because of the curfew, he could not operate within climax times. In a statement issued in Accra, the Commission said the small scale mining license acquisition process is guided by the Minerals and Mining Act and the Minerals and Mining (Licensing) Regulations. The Commission explained that the process started with an applicant identifying an area of interest and contacting the District Officer of the Commission responsible for the area to initiate the application process in line with the Commission's policy to decentralise the application process. It said at the District Office of the Commission, the area is checked to find out whether it is free or encumbered, and an official search report is then issued to the applicant in that respect. "If the search report shows the area is unencumbered, the applicant may go ahead to complete an application form and prepare a site plan for submission to the District Office of the Minerals Commission," it said. On receipt of the application, the Commission would then process the application, including inspecting the site to verify the accuracy of the site plan and forward- the application to the relevant District Assembly for a 21-day publication. The District Assembly is required to return the results of the publication to the Minerals Commission, signed by the District Chief Executive. "It said if there is no objection to the application and the applicant's proposals for carrying out the mining operations are determined to be satisfactory, the Commission would make a recommendation to the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources for the grant of a small scale mining license," the statement explained. These applications would be dealt with on a first come first considered basis, which means that, no application would be considered until the first in time goes through the process and is rejected. The statement emphasised that the licensing procedure is neutral and based on merit. "In line with the Commission's continuous efforts to further deepen the transparency in the license acquisition process, a Minerals Cadastre Administration System, a computer-based online cadaster is being introduced, which will show the entire licensing procedure online, including details of applicants and the areas granted." It said whilst the law permits the transfer of mineral rights to Ghanaians subject to the approval of the Minister, any information relating to specific illegal transfer of mineral licenses should be brought to the attention of the Commission for redress. Also, periodically the Minister creates designated areas or blocked-out areas for small-scale mining under Section 89 of Act 703. "Typically, these areas are created from areas surrendered by some mining or exploration companies." The areas found to be suitable for small-scale mining would be mapped and demarcated in accordance with the number of blocks prescribed for small scale mining licenses, and made available to interested Ghanaians in the relevant districts. If an applicant followed the procedure summarised above and meets the requirements for operating a mine, the Commission would make a recommendation to the Minister for the grant of the licence. It would also be inaccurate to suggest that non-miners are ineligible to apply for small-scale mining license or any mineral rights for that matter. The statement said under section 83 of Act 703, the key qualifications for a small scale mining license are Ghanaian citizenship and age (minimum of 18 years). Therefore, an owner of a mine would not require being miner; so long as he or she could show that competent persons would be employed to work on the concession. President Mahama made the appeal when he inaugurated an ultra-modern learning systems laboratory of the Faculty of Engineering at the Ho Technical University. The laboratory would help train the students in electronics, manufacturing, energy renewal, technology, and innovations among other technical and vocational skill programmes. President Mahama said government would continue to provide facilities that would enable the schools to achieve their goals of producing the manpower needs of industry and make the students entrepreneurial. He gave the assurance that government would construct a 23-bedroom unit for the staff of the Ho Technical University and plans were advanced for the construction of more hostel facilities to accommodate more students on campus. Professor E.K Sakyi, the Rector of the Polytechnic, commended President Mahama for fulfilling his promise of converting the polytechnics into technical universities adding that it would spur them on to train more middle level manpower for Ghana in the coming years. He said apart from that, the Government had, over the years, re-tooled the polytechnics adequately to carry out their mandate which would create a congenial atmosphere for them to perform. Professor Sakyi said the conversion would subsequently require a new direction and commitment from the management and staff of the polytechnics and pledged to play their roles meaningfully to achieve their desired goals. He gave the assurance that they would continue to design programmes to fit into the conversion and upgrade their facilities as high standard ones to serve Ghana and her neighbours. Professor Naana Jane Opoku-Agyeman, the Minister of Education, gave the assurance that the ministry would make investments on infrastructure to enable them to function as universities. She promised to also carry out courses that would help upgrade the lecturers to take up their new task and responsibilities as university lecturers. The maiden International Conference on Advanced Trends in Information and Communication Technology and Management (ICAITM) that will be held from 28th - 29th April 2016 at International Conference Centre, Accra, is a unique platform to sharpen expertise, and introduce new frontiers for ICT stakeholders. The theme of the conference is "Cloud computing for sustainable development in Africa", and seeks to bring together participants from across Africa and other parts of the world, to meet each other, discuss the matters of common interest and benefit from quality continuing education on topics relating to the sustainable development of Africa. READ MORE: Find out the Speakers for the conference This conference will create awareness about the advantages of using Cloud Computing in various fields for economic and social development leading to a prosperous, sustainable and equitable African future. It will also ensure that the fear of security in embracing cloud computing will be addressed. YEREVAN, APRIL 23, ARMENPRESS. President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan has signed a decree on releasing Mihran Poghosyan from the post of Chief Compulsory Enforcement Officer of the Republic of Armenia. As Armenpress was informed from the Department of Public Relations and Mass Media of Republic of Armenia Presidents Office, the decree reads as follows, Guided by the 1st part of Article 11 of Republic of Armenia law on ensuring the service of compulsory enforcement of judicial acts, I deicide to release Mihran POGHOSYAN from the post of Chief Compulsory Enforcement Officer of the Republic of Armenia. Sung in English her native language, she uses the medium to inspire and motivate herself and her fans and also anyone following her music. This single comes off Baroes anticipated EP entitled My Journey. Baroe teamed up with one of Ghanas finest sound engineers, BeatMonsta on this follow up single titled Get Away. Baroe has proven on this one that she is ready to compete with mainstream acts in Africa and the world. According to BeatMonsta who also produced her entire EP, My Journey is a physical musical experience of a divine reality which we hope will make an impact on our generation and beyond. The suspects are Joe Asiedu aka Kotoro, 42; Isaac Amu Frimpong aka Prince, 38 and Charles Djandor, 37. Their modus operandi is posting the picture of the supposed vehicle on tonaton.com website with their telephone numbers. The price of the vehicle is often very low thus, enticing prospective buyers to contact them for inspection of the car. Three victims individually told the police that they contacted the numbers and suspect Kotoro, who responded, asked that they meet at Opeibea to inspect the vehicle. After the inspection was over and the bargaining done, Kotoro in the company of Prince, allegedly told them that the real owner was on admission at the 37 Military Hospital and so they should go there to make the payment. Suspect Djandor, the supposed owner on admission, met the victims at the hospital yard and collected the money. He purportedly gave the victims fake vehicle documents and then ordered Kotoro and Prince to release the vehicle to them. Kotoro then handed over a fake car key to the victims and also asked Prince to lead them to where the car was parked. On the way, Prince reportedly vanished into thin air and by the time the victims got to where the vehicle was believed to have been parked, he was nowhere to be found. The three victims, who reported the case to the Airport police, said they made their payments to the suspects individually at the 37 Military Hospital yard. They paid various amounts of money GHC32,000; GHC22,000 and GHC26,000 to the suspects. The vehicle being referred to is an unregistered Toyota Corolla. Briefing DAILY GUIDE on how the suspects were arrested, Superintendent Yao Tetega, District Police Commander, said the police first arrested Charles Djandor on April 6, 2016 when he attempted to use the same modus to defraud another victim. Upon seeing the police, Charles sped off with the vehicle and got involved in an accident, the police officer disclosed. He was then arrested and brought to the Airport Police Station for questioning. The other two, being accomplices of Djandor, were later apprehended at their various hideouts at Pokuase on April 20, 2016 for interrogation. He said the victims identified the suspects as those who had defrauded them. The assembly members and unit committee members were tasked to support their evidence with burial certificates, funeral invitations and obituary of the deceased persons, but with deceased Muslims, a Muslim cleric could testify. The Western Regional Director of the EC, Mr Stephen Opoku-Mensah, said the Commission has always relied on individual Ghanaians to volunteer information on deceased persons in their communities, to enable the EC to expunge them from the voters register, but many have failed to do so. He said the Commission has decided to rely on the assembly and unit committee members through the various metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies (MMDAs), to support the EC to delete names of the deceased. Often, people complain that the voter register is bloated but they dont come forward to volunteer information on deceased persons, therefore, this is one way of deleting names of the deceased. He said the Commission, after receiving the names of the deceased persons, would also undertake due diligence before deciding to expunge them, saying the collection of the names would be done between now until the end of the voter exhibition exercise. According to him, persons scrutinizing the Presidents comments through partisan lenses are doing a great disservice to the people of Ghana. Contributing to a panel discussion on the matter on Accra-based Citi FM, the Minister said no President will go round putting money directly in peoples pockets. Presidents create opportunities for people to make money and he [Mahama] says he is laying the social and economic structures in this country; my [Mahama] first term of office was dedicated to laying down the social and economic infrastructure and that is in tandem with development paradigms everywhere, he explained. President John Mahama on Thursday during the inauguration of a one of the Community Day Senior High Schools at Kwaobaah Nyanoa in the Eastern Region asked Ghanaians to retain him as President and he will have money in their pockets. However, he has been widely criticized for his comments but in response, he explained saying, if you say feeling it in your pocket it doesnt mean the President will come from place to place and count money and give to everybody to put in his pocket. The economy will provide the opportunities but it is for the people to take advantage of it. You cant be sitting with his hands crossed and saying that if the economy is growing why I am not feeling it. You need to take advantage of the opportunities that the economy is creating and that is how money comes into your pocket. Alhaji Inusah Fuseini said both Germany and the Unite States are prosperous nations because they concentrated on developing their social and economic infrastructure. This, he said is what the NDC government is doing which will ultimately put money in our pockets. The Minister noted that the construction of roads will ensure the easy transportation of food crops from the rural communities to the urban centers which will in turn create value for money for farmers. He said it will also result in cheap pricing of food products which will save Ghanaians money. Again, he explained that the construction of hospitals, clinics and potable water will guarantee a healthy workforce for the country. Chairperson of the Taskforce, DCOP Nathan Kofi Boakye, at a meeting with political party representatives in the region, said the police will deal ruthlessly with persons who would be found culpable, adding that all divisional commanders have been mandated to act accordingly. However, representatives of the various political parties have expressed mixed feelings about the directive by the taskforce. The Ashanti Regional Deputy Secretary of the National Democratic Congress, Kwame Zu has described the task force's plan as a step in the right direction urging all political parties to play by the rules. But the Ashanti Regional Chairman of the Peoples National Conventions Abraham Kabah thinks otherwise. According to him, he does not see anything wrong with bussing people for registration, but was quick to add that, what should be done by the political parties is to allow participants locate their bearing to the polling station to register. The Limited Voters Registration exercise slated for April 28,2016 will afford Ghanaians who attain 18 years to exercise their franchise during the 2016 elections and beyond. Mr. Osei Yeboah who has declared his intention to contest the November polls as an independent candidate argued that a single political party cannot effectively govern the nation. Once I see two, three, four political parties coming together, I will join that coalition. I just believe that no single parties like the NDC or the NPP can actually help our nation, he said during an interview on Radio Ghana. The founder and leader of the Progressive Peoples Party (PPP), Dr. Papa Kwesi Nduom announced in February that he was scouting for political parties to help him form a coalition to win the 2016 elections. But he bemoaned the posturing of the political parties he had approached to join forces with him. Mr. Osei Yeboah, blamed his failure to perform creditably in the 2012 elections to the machinations of the NDC and the NPP. According to him, politics in Ghana now hinges on personal interests and people have a lot of interests which is why you will see a member of a political party speaking in favour of another political party because they serve his interest. He stated that among his reasons for contesting in November polls is that all governments under the fourth republic have abused the rule of law; a situation which must be corrected to seek the well-being of every citizen. There is no respect for the law and it is always applied to the weakGhana has become a country of the survival of the fittest, he complained. According to him, the APC is prepared to manage and run the affairs of Ghana by winning the November polls. The Electoral Commission (EC) on Friday presented a final certificate of operations to the APC which was formed in February 2016. Mr. Ayariga, the 2012 presidential candidate of the Peoples National Convention (PNC) defected after losing the bid to represent the party in the 2016 elections. In an interview with Accra-based Joy FM, the APC leader said Ghana needs change because the NDC has failed, the NPP has failed we need a new face and the new face is the APC. He urged Ghanaians to support the APC saying, Ghanaians should take us serious because we are serious ourselves. We have demonstrated to the world that we are not just talking like other political parties. This, he said, will prevent some political parties from prosecuting an agenda to disrupt the electoral process. In an interview on Accra-based OKAY FM, Mr. Mornah accused the New Patriotic Party (NPP) of constantly misrepresenting issues discussed at IPAC meeting to the media. At the last IPAC meeting, representatives from the Canadian and other foreign missions and the Coalition of Domestic Election Observers (CODEO). Mr. Mornah thus indicated that if foreign missions are allowed to sit in IPAC meetings, then it is time for the media to be allowed to do same. In view of this sad development where NPP consistently misrepresents facts to prosecute an agenda to discredit the EC, I will formally request that the media is allowed to participate in IPAC meetings, so that they can report what really happened. If we can allow the Canadians, the French to participate, the media should be allowed, he said. He argued that allowing the media to participate in IPAC meetings will ensure that attempts by the NPP to discredit the Electoral Commission (EC) will cease. According to him, since the outcome of the 2012 elections did not go in favour of the NPP, the countrys largest opposition party has been making persistent efforts to present the EC as an ineffective institution by demanding a new voters register, and now the call for validation. The project dubbed: 'Strengthening Community-led Initiatives for Peaceful and Credible Elections' (SCOPE) is being implemented in 78 selected polling stations in Tamale Metropolis, West Mamprusi, Tolon and Central Gonja Districts of the Northern Region. SCOPE is supported by STAR Ghana, a multi-donor pooled funding agency, and members of the CSOs Platform on Good Governance. The implementing CSOs include NORSAAC as lead implementing CSO, and Ghana Developing Communities Association, Institute of Local Government Studies, Tamale, and Northern Region office of the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE). Head of Programme and Policy of NORSAAC, Hafsatu Sey Sumani, who spoke at an inception meeting on the project in Tamale said the project would also help to reduce violence that characterised elections at the selected polling stations. The idea of the project was conceived as a result of disagreements over whether or not ballot papers should be rejected for not being properly thumb-printed. The meeting was attended by members with the objective to strategise for effective implementation of the project from April to December. Madam Sumani said community facilitators in the implementing districts would be trained to undertake targeted voter education while inter-households mock thumb printing clinics would be held before the elections to ensure that people know how to vote well to reduce the incidence of rejected ballots. Northern Regional Director of NCCE, Alhaji Abdul Razak Saani, said the high number of rejected ballots recorded during elections in the country could make changes to the results in some constituencies hence the need to educate voters to vote well. Alhaji Saani said the project would ensure quality, freeness and fairness of the polls as it would improve the elections, reduce tension and violence making people to accept the results. 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! YEREVAN, APRIL 23, ARMENPRESS. President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan and Secretary-General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon had a phone conversation on April 23. The conversation took place at the initiative of the UN Secretary-General. As Armenpress was informed from the Department of Public Relations and Mass Media of republic of Armenia Presidents Office, during the conversation Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon expressed regret for the suspension of his visit to Armenia due to unforeseen circumstances. The Secretary-General, highlighting the peace process of Nagorno Karabakh issue, expressed his full support for the activities of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-chairs. President Sargsyan, mentioning that the Armenian public has long been looking forward to the visit of the Secretary-General, hoped that it will be possible to rearrange his visit in the near future. She sparked a scandal last year, when she launched a legal challenge against the estate, with her lawyers claiming that her divorce from the former President was fraudulently obtained. Mandelas lawyer Advocate George Bizos, who is also recuperating in hospital after falling this week, said the will which was completed in 2014 cannot be executed because of the legal tangle. Bizos, who represented the world statesman at his famous Treason Trial in the 1960s, confirmed that Madikizela-Mandela has filed a notice of an application to appeal the ruling, which, according to him, will be opposed by him and his team. He added that once that matter is resolved, the will then be dealt with. The will which was first written in 2004 and last amended in 2008 excluded Madikizela-Mandela. He left an estate worth about 3 million dollars to his children and grandchildren, staff and the African National Congress (ANC). Winnie and Mandela's divorce was finalised in 1996. Mandela afterwards remarried former Mozambican First Lady Graca Machel on his 80th birthday, and excluded Madikizela-Mandela from his will. The Chairman, Maternal and Neonatal Child Health Coalition (MNCH) Gombe, Malam Alhasan Yaya, disclosed this in an interview with newsmen in Gombe on Saturday during the meeting with stakeholders working on nutrition. He said that the aim of the meeting was to find a lasting solution to the challenge of malnutrition facing the state. "We are all aware that the issue of malnutrition among children is on the increase and bad across Gombe. We want to bring it down to the barest minimum," he said. He commented Gov. Ibrahim Dankwambo, for the timely release of fund to increase nutrition among children in the state. "He has jacked the budget from N50 to N120 million, his effort is commendable. ``The governor also promised to extend the nutrition centres from three to 11, he said. Also speaking, Dr David Karatu, the States epidemiologist, described the issue of malnutrition among children as alarming. "Malnutrition accounts for the death of half of Nigerian children. We are here as coalition to fight the scourge. He made the pledge in Yenagoa during an operational visit to the headquarters of the Joint Military Force in Niger Delta christened Operation Pulo Sheld. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Olanisakin was accompanied by Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ette Ibas, and conducted round by Commander of Operation Pulo Shield, Maj.-Gen. Alani Okunlola. Olanisakin said that the visit followed the strategic directive of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, President Muhammad Buhari to deal with identified security threats in the Niger Delta region. He added that ``I am in Yenagoa on operational visit to Operation Pulo Shield as well as the Boat House vessel we have in Akassa. ``It is such that we can understand the challenges they are facing here and address these challenges to enhance their operational effectiveness and efficiency. ``In doing that, we have listened to all that they have said concerning the challenges, we shall go back and address some of these challenges so that they can do their jobs better than they had done in the past.'' On the security challenges in the Niger Delta region, Olanisakin said that following the directive of the president, defence chiefs had identified 10 security threats to the country at the Niger Delta region. ``The President had given a strategic direction, and we must ensure that these directives are carried out; I have come in company of the Chief of Naval Staff to also address some of these issues. ``The issue here is that we have a lot of security threats in this area, they are about 10 to be precise, and we have identified all these areas from illegal oil bunkering to oil theft ``Also, pipeline vandalism, kidnapping and cultism and all the other oil and gas related criminalities. ``We have looked into that and are ensuring that these issues are properly addressed and we have zero tolerance to militancy and other oil and gas criminalities in the region. Mr Asuquo Antai, the Operations Controller of DPR in Bayelsa, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Saturday in Yenagoa that public support wouldcomplement the efforts of DPR staff. He said ``we have increased field surveillance activities and have two teams in the field, but our staff cannot be permanently stationed at the stations on a 24 hour basis but the public can reach us and report on our complaints line. ``Members of the public are always at the stations and they should feel free to make reports on the following telephone lines and we pledge to respond promptly, 08020816961, 0811395 2167 and 08070690617.'' Meanwhile, petroleum product marketers in Bayelsa received a total of 962,950 litres of petrol on Wednesday and Thursday in 15 trucks says, the Department said. He explained that the DPR had intensified surveillance on marketers to ensure that products were not diverted or sold above approved prices. According to him, the products are distributed to marketers located at strategic locations in the state to cushion the effects of the scarcity currently being experienced in the state. He said efforts had also been intensified to get more products from the Pipeline and Petroleum Products Marketing Company (PPMC) in Port Harcourt, noting that ``between Wednesday and Thursday, products supply to Bayelsa increased significantly, even though we are yet to meet the demands of the public but there is an improvement. ``We got 15 trucks so far and the state received some 962,950 litres of PMS in two days allocated across the state and we want to emphasise that these products sourced from PPMC should not be sold above approved pump price. ``On Wednesday, we got 10 trucks allocated to Bayelsa, five trucks went to NNPC Mega Station along Sani Abacha Expressway, Kenia and OGOFA, NNPC franchise stations located in Yenagoa one truck each. ``For the outskirts, Kimiwei located at Kaima got one truck while NNPC floating stations in Nembe and Oporoma each got one truck to take care of coastal communities in the state.'' This is contained in a statement signed by the Acting Director, Army Public Relations, Col. Sani Usman, in Maiduguri. ``Troops of 7 Division Garrison, Forward Operation Base (FOB), on Saturday averted yet another suicide bombing catastrophe on Ummarari community by suspected Boko Haram terrorist at about 7 a.m. ``The suicide bomber was intercepted by the vigilant troops and the Civilian JTF while attempting to enter the village to detonate his dangerous cargo on innocent persons in the community,'' the statement said. ``The suicide bomber detonated the strapped Improvised Explosive Device (IED) vest on his body, thus killing himself instantly when he was forced to halt, based on suspicion that he was carrying suicide bombing material. ``Thankfully, there was no any other casualty other than the suspected suicide bomber. ``Troops and the Civilian JTF at the village, are now combing the surrounding area to forestall further attacks and clear the environment of likely remnants of Boko Haram terrorists hibernating,'' it said. Ntekume made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) after his inauguration as chairman on Friday in Agbarho, Ughelli North. He said ``I want to appeal to NASS not to remove the HOSTCOM fund from the new Petroleum Industry Governance Bill because it iscapable of truncating the peace we are enjoying in the region today and consequently affect the economy.'' Ntekume promised to sustain and improve on the existing good relationship between the people and oil companies operating in the area. He also promised to maintain cordial relationship with the royal fathers and security agencies operating under his jurisdiction. This is contained in a statement signed by Mr Francis Enobore, the Nigerian Prisons Service (NPS) Spokesperson, made available on Saturday in Abuja. There was an alleged report that security operatives attached to the convoy of the CG on Wednesday slapped and bashed the car of the lawmaker for attempting to overtake his 20-car convoy. Following the incident, the House of Representatives on Thursday summoned the CG and the Minister of Interior, Abdulraman Dambazau to appear before it. The statement noted that it was true that the Controller-General was at the National Assembly on the invitation of a Committee to attend to some official issues. ``However, neither the pilot car in front of him nor his official car had any confrontation with anyone. He also went there with four cars and not 20 as alleged, the statement added. It stressed that it was advisable to establish what actually transpired from the security personnel who were on duty at the National Assembly where the incident took place. ``However, since it was alleged that the assault took place within the precinct of the National Assembly, precisely at the security post of the outer gate with hordes of security personnel, it was advisable to establish what actually transpired from these security officers. ``Also, there were various security agencies there, including that of the National Assembly on duty. The matter is currently being investigated by the police. ``The Controller-General is a peace loving and law abiding citizen who has never been involved in any act of bravado, impunity or hooliganism. YEREVAN, APRIL 23, ARMENPRESS. Lawyer, human rights activist Anna Astvatsaturian Turcotte, who lived the first ten years of her life in the capital of Azerbaijan, Baku, currently living in the USA, urges to take concrete measures to struggle against genocides that have become a cancer for the humanity. The ideology of genocides is still vivid. Genocides and ethnic cleanings are a huge problem for populations and economies. Various international treaties are not powerful enough to prevent genocides that still take place in different parts of the world. Genocidal elements are really present in Artsakh, where civilians were recently massacred on the occasion of which the great powers of the world merely expressed concern, Armenpress reports Anna Astvatsaturian told about this during the second global forum Against the Crime of Genocide. The Armenian lawyer and writer, quoting Hemingway as saying Never mistake motion for action, noted that the joint and good intentions of some circles are not enough for preventing the crime of genocide. Those intentions must turn into actions. Lets make this century the century of genocide prevention, which will be called Never again, Anna Astvatsaturian said. She spoke about the Armenian massacres in Baku, Sumgait and Kirovabad, in the context of the history that ruined the lives of her grandfather, family and particularly her childhood. The speaker mentioned that thank to the russification of the surname Astvatsaturyan into Astvatsatur by her grandfather, their family avoided the massacres and brutal killings of 1988. Bu she still recalls the questions that rose in her mind during the days of the massacres. I used to ask my parents why I had to hide my real surname and tell that I am a Greek when I am asked about it at school. I often asked why people dressed in black and green shouted death to Armenians near our house. Finally, I ceased to ask those questions when my parents managed to flee months later. I was able to catch the horror of ethnic violence as a child, the speaker said, adding that she found her conform in keeping a diary, which was published in 2010. I published my diary as a history of the past, but it is also our present. The conflict that ruined my childhood still goes on. A few hundred km away from here 150 thousands of Armenians live in Karabakh, who are a daily target for the Azerbaijani side for their ethnic belonging, Anna Astvatsaturian concluded. Islamic State has a base in the Libyan city of Sirte and has launched frequent attacks against oil facilities and ports, including major export terminals that are closed but controlled by Jathran's PFG brigades. The PFG is one semi-official armed group that is backing a new unity government in Libya, where two rival administrations and their loose alliances of former rebels have been battling for control after the 2011 fall of Muammar Gaddafi. "The four wounded included the commander of PFG, Ibrahim Jathran," the PFG source said. The new U.N.-backed unity government is trying to establish its authority over Libya, where a self-declared Tripoli government and a rival in the east and various armed factions have been vying for power and a share of the country's oil wealth for two years. Fawaz Ould Ahmed was captured by security and intelligence services in Bamako on Thursday as he was preparing to carry out another attack, said security ministry spokesman Amadou Sangho. "We found him with grenades and a small suitcase containing weapons. He was behind the attacks on the Radisson, the Hotel Nord Sud, the La Terrasse restaurant and the Hotel Byblos," he said. Beginning with an attack on La Terrasse in Bamako in March last year that killed five people, the two groups have teamed up to target civilians at locations frequented by westerners. Seventeen people died in the attack on the Hotel Byblos in the town of Sevare in August and 20 in the November raid on the luxury Radisson Blu in the capital. Attacks on a restaurant in neighbouring Burkina Faso's capital Ouagadougou and a beach resort town in Ivory Coast in January and March of this year left dozens more dead. There were no casualties in last month's attack on Bamako's Hotel Nord Sud, which serves as the headquarters of the European Union's military training mission in Mali. Al Mourabitoun and AQIM claimed responsibility for all the attacks, but Sangho only linked Ould Ahmed to attacks inside Mali. Islamist violence is on the rise across West Africa despite a 2013 French-led military intervention that sought to drive militants out of northern Mali, which they had seized a year earlier. Before Ould Ahmed's capture, Malian officials had claimed to have arrested a number of suspected militants over the past month, who they say organised or carried out the assaults. "(Ould Ahmed) could have even carried out an operation this Friday. So it's a big win for the DGSE (intelligence service) which has arrested five terrorist bosses in less than four weeks," an intelligence officer said, asking not to be named. A final report by France's BEA agency, presented in Mali and Paris, focused on the way pilots responded to problems initially caused by the icing of vital probes, partly echoing the crash of an Air France airliner over the Atlantic in 2009. However, it confirmed earlier findings that an anti-icing system had been left switched off as the plane flew from Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso's capital, to Algiers at night, before crashing in the remote desert of eastern Mali on July 24. "The plane tried to avoid a storm area," Malian Transport minister Mamadou Achim Koumare said, presenting the report in a news conference in Bamako. "There was some icing in the aircraft's engine ... and it's at that time that the plane made a left turn and plunged." Of the victims, 54 were French citizens, and the BEA helped Mali investigate the crash of the McDonnell Douglas MD-83 jet. The 170-page report is the latest response to a series of accidents in which a combination of factors led to a high-altitude stall or loss of lift, prompting calls for better training for pilots in the air and in simulators. The BEA said the crew may have been distracted by the storm as well as problems in communicating with air traffic control. It found no sign that they responded to subsequent warning signs that the aircraft was losing lift, which include tell-tale wing vibrations and deliberate alarms inside the cockpit such as the automatic shaking of the control column. Pilots are meant to push the stick forwards and lower the nose to pick up speed in order to correct a stall, but the BEA said it had discovered a "lack of appropriate inputs on the flight controls to recover from a stall situation". It also suggested cockpit stall warnings woke up "belatedly" because of the logic that governs the way they are triggered. It recommended U.S. planemaker Boeing, which now owns the company that built the 18-year-old jet, should look at installing a permanent anti-icing system and changing the logic of some systems. It also called for improvements in the way simulators are designed for the aircraft, which is no longer in production. On Wednesday, the two sides said a deal had been reached on Machar's delayed return to form a unity government. However, government negotiator Michael Makuei now says the government cannot allow the rebels to bring some of the weapons proposed including rocket-propelled grenade launchers. The chairman of the Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (JMEC), Festus Mogae, said after a hastily convened meeting aimed at resolving the dispute that a proposal had been presented to the government and SPLM-IO. "The SPLM-IO accepted the proposal but the government gave their reservation," he said. JMEC, which includes Western powers, African representatives and others, had proposed allowing Machar to bring 195 members of his forces, part of a quota agreed in a peace deal, and a limited amount of arms. The two South Sudan rivals have strained the patience of international mediators, frustrated by continued wrangling after the peace deal was signed in August to end more than two years of fighting in a nation that gained independence in 2011. Machar, who will be First Vice President in a transitional government with President Salva Kiir, was due to fly back early this week. But his return was postponed, the latest in a series of such delays, in a dispute over how many soldiers and weapons he could bring. Mogae said there would be further talks on Friday and, if there was no breakthrough, the matter would be sent to the U.N. Security Council and African Union peace and security council for "an appropriate response". The United States and U.N. Security Council have voiced concern over the latest delay to Machar's return after a conflict in which thousands have been killed and more than two million forced to flee their homes. Kiir's sacking of Machar as his deputy in 2013 precipitated the crisis that led to a conflict in December 2013. Fighting has often run along ethnic lines, pitting Kiir's dominant Dinka ethnic group against Machar's Nuer. The conflict has hammered the economy and left swathes of the 11 million population without enough food. To members of the Nye County Sheriffs Office, and many member of the community, April 26 is a day for reflection and remembrance for a fallen colleague. To members of the Nye County Sheriffs Office, and many member of the community, April 26 is a day for reflection and remembrance for a fallen colleague. Six years ago this Tuesday, Ian Michael Deutch was shot and killed as he and another deputy responded to a domestic violence call at Lakeside Casino. Deutch, a graduate of the Southern Desert Regional Police Academy in Henderson, was on his second day back on duty after returning from a deployment to Afghanistan as a member of the Nevada Army National Guard. He had served for six years with the Nye County Sheriffs Office. Joe Forte, executive director for the police academy, said officials there wanted to honor Deutchs life and untimely death. We have recently placed a memorial plaque in the main hallway outside the academy classroom, he said. Ian will always be remembered. Ian was a recruit from Nye County back in 2005, and thats when we got to know him as a member of that particular academy. Though Forte didnt have extensive contact with Deutch, he did oversee instruction, where he got to know him. I didnt have a ton of contacts with Ian, but I did teach several classes out here and thats how I got to know Ian. Additionally, Forte said he could sense Deutch would make an ideal sheriffs deputy, judging from his performance at the academy, which he described as an intense 22 weeks. Among the course of instruction were classes on criminal law, use of force, defensive techniques, including range qualifications and emergency vehicle operations. Forte also spoke of what is described as a grueling physical training regimen. Ian performed very well at the academy and he was an excellent recruit, he recalled. He attended the academy back in 2005, and you could tell that he was going to be an exceptional police officer and a great representative for the Pahrump community in Nye County, once he got through the academy. Its all about being mentally, physically and emotionally prepared, in order to handle this profession. As the academys executive director, Forte, the former North Las Vegas Police chief has more than 30 years of experience in law enforcement. He noted that domestic violence calls are among the most dangerous assignments any police officer encounters while on duty. We can never stress enough with our young recruits, how dangerous those particular incidences are and how quickly they can evolve from a situation that appears to be under control, but can become deadly. We take domestic violence calls extremely seriously and we stress the importance to our recruits during those types of incidents. Forte also noted the poignancy of Deutchs death just days after returning from a war zone in Afghanistan. His initial reaction to news of Deutchs passing was that of shock and sadness. His death was shocking and almost like disbelief because he just gotten back from his tour in the Middle East and had just gone back on the streets, he said. It was just disbelief that this young man comes back from a war zone in the Middle East and is killed in the line of duty while responding to a domestic violence call in Pahrump. I was still the chief of police in North Las Vegas when he died and I made sure that we attended his service. From time to time, Forte said he reflects on what the future had in store for Deutch, had he not died. I would venture to say that this young man would have had a very successful career and he would have advanced through the Nye County agency, he said. Ian was a very motivated young man, very self-disciplined and really loved the idea that he was going to be working in this profession. Forte said one of the many disciplines taught during academy training is recruits are brothers and sisters both in life and death. Knowing that Ian was the only recruit that has come through this academy who has been killed in the line of duty, we asked how could we not have something here to honor him, he said. This dedication plaque has been in the works for quite some time and I am so grateful that we are able to do this in the memory of Ian Deutch. Myself and several other staff members made an effort to get something placed here in Ians memory so that other recruits that come through know who Ian was, what he stood for, and know what he died for. He will always be remembered here for generations to come. Ian Michael Deutch is survived by his wife, two children, his parents, two brothers, and two sisters. Contact reporter Selwyn Harris at sharris@pvtimes.com. On Twitter: @pvtimes Can we get a little help here? We're having enough trouble getting around. Disputes over the proper merging method is becoming the least of our traffic troubles. The mixed signals we're getting from Iowa and Illinois departments of transportation are making things worse. Example: We've had three crashes within a month at Grant and 14th streets the second lighted intersection off the Interstate 74 bridge in Bettendorf. Because the State Street on-ramp is closed, the Grant Street access is the only downtown option for getting across the Mississippi River. "It can be confusing in that area," Bettendorf Police Chief Phil Redington agreed last week. The problem at the intersection is there are two turn lanes, marked with two turn arrows. And the far-left turn lane has vehicles backed up to State Street during busy times. Lots of motorists drop into that lane, thinking it is the only proper place to turn onto Grant and enter the ramp. But motorists also are using the neighboring lane, which also has a lighted arrow. I came upon an incident last week in which a vehicle in the far-left lane turned onto Grant, then attempted to cross two lanes to get to the ramp. The driver evidently didn't expect the vehicle in the next lane to also turn onto Grant. Crash! The Iowa DOT has placed signs on 14th Street, advising motorists to, "Stay In Your Lane." But there is no signage to instruct motorists that only one turn lane is intended for access to the ramp. Hopefully, the fix is in. "I was just talking to one of my inspectors about this very thing," Mark Brandl said Friday. "Maybe you spotted something we didn't notice. There shouldn't be two turn lanes there." Brandl, the Iowa DOT's resident construction engineer for Davenport, called back Friday afternoon and left a message. "I looked at some pictures, and there really are not two arrows out there," he said. "One is an auxiliary signal head. It's not in a lane. It's on a pole." Ahhhh. So, that clarifies nothing. When motorists see lighted arrows over two lanes, many assume there are two turn lanes. Brandl said they'll sort it out. We'll make sure they do. Meanwhile, the only warning that the State Street ramp is closed is a sign that is placed about 200 feet from the ramp. People who don't know it's closed and obviously wish to get on the bridge have to race across three lanes of traffic at the last minute, so they can instead risk their lives at Grant Street. "I will talk to our operations people first thing Monday morning about that," John Wegmeyer assured Friday afternoon. The project implementation engineer for the Illinois DOT said he was not aware of a signage shortfall on State Street. Another question for Wegmeyer was why those expensive sign boards are sitting dark on I-74 in Moline, just a couple of miles from the lane closure. The signs have been used in recent weeks to help coax motorists into embracing the zipper merge. His explanation made sense: The signs really aren't needed at all times. Their messages are lit up during rush-hour periods, three times a day. The signs advise, "Use Both Lanes" and "Merge at Taper." And that reminds me: Why do they have to be so coy? Instead of "Merge at Taper," why not, "Take Turns at Taper?" Or, how about, "Do Not Block Empty Lane?" Or, "Zippering Works?" Wait! I know! How about, "Good Luck at Grant Street?" Closing the Rock Island Arsenal Museum is a definite possibility, with a decision to be made around Oct. 1, Col. Elmer Speights, garrison commander, confirmed Friday. Rumors about possible closure began circulating in January after staff was cut to one person and weekend hours were eliminated. Then word spread that about 25 percent of the museum's collection of 13,000 artifacts was being moved to a storage facility in Anniston, Ala. But in a meeting at the museum with the Quad-City Times editorial board, Speights said he thinks the chances ultimately are good that the museum will remain open, at least in some capacity, and that he will do all he can to see that it does. "This is a 110-year-old museum, the last remaining arsenal museum in the Army," he said, sitting in a chair in the middle of the museum floor. "They should keep us as a regular Army museum. Everything sitting in here is history. We want the museum to stay. Because of our background, I think we're far from closure." He also explained that the recent reduction in staff and hours and the transfer of artifacts all relate to overall Army budget cuts and a decision to put all 57 Army museums under the direction of the Center of Military History, headquartered in Washington, D.C. As part of this reorganization, the future of each museum will be evaluated, with decisions expected around October, the beginning of the government's new fiscal year, Speights said. "We're going to be neck-deep in politics," he said. "This is a much bigger thing than the Rock Island Arsenal." In addition to the two extremes of remaining open as a museum or closing, there are several downgraded levels of operations that can be considered, including use as a historical collection (a museum open to researchers but not the public) or a heritage display (static displays with no authentic artifacts). Speights has scheduled a public town hall meeting for 5:30-7 p.m. Wednesday at the museum in which he will lay out the Army's position and answer questions. "I really, really want to be as transparent as possible," he said. The decision on the future of the 57 museums ultimately will be made by Charles Bowery, executive director of the Center of Military History. "It all comes down to his call," Speights said. The day before the meeting, Bowery will be in the Quad-Cities to talk with various stakeholders, including representatives of the Putnam and Figge Art museums and the Quad-Cities Chamber of Commerce, Speights said. Speights said he made the recent staff and hours cut as a "drastic measure to keep this thing going." And then because 13,000 artifacts cannot be managed by one person, a decision was made to reduce the inventory, he said. "The original recommendation was 50 percent," he said. "I didn't want to do that, so we bargained 25 percent." He deferred to Kris Leinike, museum director, to make the decision of what artifacts could go. Because she did not have time to evaluate individual items in regard to the depth of their association with the Arsenal and the Quad-Cities, she simply selected artifacts all weapons that already were in storage in the museum basement, she said. Speights pledged he would do what he can, "trying to lobby key people" to keep the museum open. He said he has heard from members of the Quad-Cities' congressional delegation and already has dropped the name of Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., into the conversation. Speights said he has been surprised at the outcry of protests from the community but is happy there is such an interest in the museum. Regardless of the ultimate decision, he said that between now and October, he will try to figure out a way to get some weekend hours back at the museum. A roundup of legislative and Capitol news items of interest for Friday: DROUGHT-FREE IOWA: The National Drought Monitor reports that all of Iowa remains drought free and the average stream flows for the state have returned to near normal levels. Iowa averaged 3.97 inches of precipitation during the first quarter of 2016, which officials say was slightly drier than the 30-year normal but was significantly wetter than in 2014 or 2015. Precipitation amounts generally were above normal across the northern one-third of the state and well below normal over east central, southeast, and southwest Iowa. January was the driest of the three months over most of Iowa, while March accounted for 61 percent of the first quarter precipitation. The water summary report is prepared by officials in the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship and the U.S. Geological Survey in collaboration with The Iowa Homeland Security and Emergency Management Department and the National Weather Service. ART GRANTS AVAILABLE: Artists, organizations, schools, communities, government entities, tribal councils and others have until May 2 to submit applications for arts and culture grant funding programs. Officials with the Iowa Arts Council say the grant information and guidelines are available online at www.iowaculture.gov and applications must be submitted at www.iowaartscouncil.slideroom.com by next months deadline. The Art Project Grant program offers grants from $1,000 to $10,000 to invest in projects that positively impact the vitality of the arts in the state. The Iowa Arts Council Fellowship program provides $10,000 grants to support the creation of new art work, as well as year-long professional development, networking and promotional resources. Cultural Trust Stability Grants help Iowa cultural organizations make measureable progress toward goals of fiscal stability and best practices in organizational strategic planning and management. Applicants may apply for up to $2,500 and are required to provide $1 of matching funds for every dollar requested. QUOTE OF THE DAY: This is not a fun year for budgets. Sen. Tom Courtney, D-Burlington, in discussing a $748.3 million justice-systems budget Friday that boosts fiscal 2017 spending by about $5.2 million. Times Bureau The Rock Island-Milan School District is hosting kindergarten round-up for the 2016-2017 school year for nine elementary schools on Wednesday, April 27. Visit www.rockislandschools.org for individual school locations and times. Children must be five years of age on or before Thursday, Sept. 1. If parents do not know their home school boundary area, visit www.rockislandschools.org to view a map and school addresses, or call 309-793-5900. A list of health and student physical requirements is also on the website. Students who are already enrolled at the Rock Island Center for Math and Science are eligible to attend the kindergarten round-up. For more information, call 309-793-5995. YEREVAN, APRIL 23, ARMENPRESS. The consistent efforts for the international recognition of the Armenian Genocide stop neither before the anniversary of the Genocide, nor during it, and nor after. Foreign Minister of Armenia Edward Nalbandian told about this during the second global forum Against the Crime of Genocide. It is evidenced by the fact that we hold the second global forum Against the Crime of Genocide. This forum grows into a key format for the prevention of genocides. Now we can record that thank to the consolidated efforts of the Armenian people, as well as the international support the Armenian Genocide has become globally known, Armenpress reports Nalbandian mentioning. The Minister reminded the participants of the forum the words of President Sargsyan during the opening speech, that any genocide in the world must be viewed as a consequence of the failure of international community and its prevention as the responsibility of the entire humanity. Minister Nalbandian touched upon the issue of Hrant Dink, the 1.5 million and 1st victim of the Genocide. He stated that many Turks rose for justice in Turkey, but the Turkish authorities continue their denialist policy, which is a continuation of the crime. Passover Seder meal is planned in RI The Seder meal at Passover, celebrating the Exodus of the Jewish people from Egypt, is planned at 6 p.m. Saturday with Congregation Beth Israel, Rock Island. The meal will feature professionally catered beef brisket dinner served at the Tri-City Jewish Center, 2715 30th St., Rock Island. Cost for adults is $18, children ages 5-12 years old, $5. Non-members are charged $27, and the children of non-members, $10. Evangelists bring message to Q-C The Rev. Bill and Ida Ford from Clinton, Ark., will minister Sunday through Wednesday at Living Hope Community Church, Davenport. Sunday services are at 9 a.m. and 10:30 a.m., while the remaining events begin at 6 p.m. at the church, located at 216 W. Hayes St. A special prayer for the sick will be offered. Child care and deaf interpretation are available at the 10:30 a.m. Sunday services. For more information check the church website at LivingHopeqc.com. Davenport church unveils new website Sovereign Grace Orthodox Presbyterian Church has launched its new website at the same address: sovgraceopc.org According to the Rev. Ken Golden, organizing pastor, the refreshed site has new information including audio and video files. Feedback is welcome, he added. Holocaust survivor to speak May 1 in RI Felix Weil, a survivor of the "Kindertransport Holocaust," will be the keynote speaker at the annual Yom Hashoah Holocaust Remembrance program. It is 7 p.m. May 1 at the Tri-City Jewish Center, 2715 30th St., Rock Island. The event is free and open to the public. The Kindertransport was held in 1938-40 when unaccompanied, mainly Jewish children were transported from Nazi Germany as World War II began. The children arrived in Great Britain; an estimated 10,000 youths were saved by the humanitarian effort, according to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum online (ushmm.org). Who needs algebra? Personally, I dont need algebra to write a column. In fact, I cant think of a single thing that I need algebra for. But there are those who say that without algebra, I wouldnt be able to find my way home. In school, I was lousy at all forms of math. Even fractions threw me a curve in intermediate school so I stayed away from algebra. I was afraid of it. I didnt feel alone by not studying it in high school. Only the bright kids could breeze through algebra and geometry. I'm sure it's the same today. Andrew Hacker, a professor emeritus at Queens College in New York and author, challenged the need for studying algebra in a New York Times op-ed piece. He wrote: A typical American school day finds some six million high school students and two million college freshmen struggling with algebra. In both high school and college, all too many students are expected to fail. Why do we subject American students to this ordeal? NOW, I'M ALL FOR practical math. It's useful for personal finance, balancing your checkbook and paying the mortgage. But, Hacker says, by flunking kids for being lousy at algebra, we are depleting young, precious resources capable of success in social studies, business, the arts, history and mechanics. I never was a precious resource, and, regretfully, did not get a college degree because I feared algebra and all required math. I dipped my toes in studies at Augustana College, but pulled out after a semester and turned to a newsroom typewriter only because of my fear of advanced courses like algebra and trigonometry, which I would certainly have failed. Anti-algebra is a current buzz. The Associated Press reports that algebra is supposed to prepare us for problem solving, yet failure rates in these required classes in high school and college are significant and often an obstacle to graduation. Hacker, co-author of the book How Colleges Are Wasting Our Money And Failing Our Kids, says, Most of the educators Ive talked with cite algebra as the major obstacle for dropping out or failing. Hacker, according to a piece in the Sarasota (Fla.) Herald Tribune, says that academically, algebra is out of sync with career reality. The mention of career reality prompted me to ask Scott Sandeman, a Bettendorf veterinarian, if he had ever used algebra to treat a sick dog. Algebra was one of his required subjects in college. He was hard-pressed to answer if he has ever used algebra in his care of pets. Day-to-day life does not require algebra. Hacker reports, for example, that Toyota recently decide to locate a plant in a remote Mississippi county even though its schools are far from stellar and without algebra. Toyota works with a nearby community college, which has tailored classes in machine tool mathematics. I FOUND SKEPTICS have plenty to say. Peter Braunfeld of the University of Illinois tells his students, Our civilization would collapse without mathematics. I can agree with that, when it comes time for my income taxes to be filed. We need math whizzes to figure out airline ticket prices and smart butchers behind the meat counter to calculate the price difference between prime sirloin and ground beef for burgers. But is that algebra? Lisa Heinen, a math teacher at Davenport Central High, defends algebra as "absolutely important" and "pure logic." She says with emphasis, Algebra teaches HOW to think, not just WHAT to think. It helps build brain power. Betsy Devillbiss, a 40-year teaching veteran and head of the math department at Davenport Central, was equally adamant when asked if algebra was important in our everyday lives. Its very important. Algebra is a way of reasoning; it is a pattern for the way we live. It helps solve the problems of life. It teaches reasoning skills. Now that we've tangled through this, I wish I would have caught on to algebra way back when. I may then have been able to write a column with algebraic algorithms. But Im doing OK having made it through long division and fractions. MONTICELLO, Iowa Pressed again by Pat Murphy on her past support for Republican candidates and organizations, Monica Vernon told her rival for the Democratic nomination in Iowas U.S. House 1st District its time to quit looking in the rearview mirror. In their second debate, Murphy said its important that voters in the June 7 Democratic primary election know that while he was leading efforts as Iowa House speaker to expand access to education and health care, expand family planning services and civil rights for the LGBT community, Vernon was writing checks to GOP candidates and organizations. She wasnt supporting Barack Obama, she wasnt supporting Tom Harkin, she wasnt supporting the rest of the ticket, Murphy said Saturday at a debate sponsored by the Jones County Democratic Party and the Journal-Eureka newspaper. While its true she hasnt always been a Democrat, Vernon responded that Im a very, very proud Democrat today. So its time for Murphy to stop lecturing all of the rest of us about what it means to be a progressive Democrat, Vernon said. Im a lifetime progressive, she told about 45 people at the Monticello City Hall. This is what Ive been doing all of my life: Not looking in rearview mirror at what life used to be like but looking at what it can be for all of us if we work together. Vernon, a former small business owner from Cedar Rapids, and Murphy, a 26-year Dubuque legislator, also sparred over the minimum wage and Social Security during the hourlong debate. The winner of the primary will face first-term Republican Rep. Rod Blum of Dubuque. Murphy favors a $15-an-hour minimum wage while Vernon has supported an increase from $7.25 to $12. Addressing Social Security, Murphy called for eliminating the $118,000 cap on payroll taxes to extend the retirement programs solvency to about 2067. The current cap means Donald Trump stops paying into Social Security taxes Jan. 1." Vernon agreed lifting the cap would extend the life of Social Security, but rather than eliminate it, she would raise the cap for people making more than $250,000 so they are paying their fair share. How many in here make over $118,000 a year? Murphy asked. Everyone should be paying into it. We all benefit by this program. The candidates found more agreement when asked who should be paying to make sure Iowas water is clean. Vernons philosophy is if you make the mess, you clean up the mess. I dont think those who profit by dirtying up water should be pushing that cleanup job on the rest of us, she said. If you pollute the water to create a profit, then you need to solve that problem. If youre making money off the land, Murphy agreed, you need to be a good steward of the land, you need to make sure you protect your environment as well as the environment of the people downstream of you. He disagreed with Vernon about creating jobs by building the infrastructure to treat water and wastewater. She noted about 300 Iowa communities lack the facilities to treat their water and wastewater adequately. Bottom line is that this isnt about putting people to work, he said. Its not the responsibility for the rest of us to put people to work to clean that water. Vernon and Murphy will debate again April 29, the night before the 1st District Democratic convention. The forum will be at 7 p.m. at the Iowa Braille School Auditorium, 1002 G Ave., Vinton. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. A fourth debate is planned May 13 at the Tama Ballroom. The downturn in the energy production industry could lead to layoffs for a uranium mining operation in northwestern Nebraska. Cameco announced this week that it will be reducing its American staff by 85 positions, some of which are based in Crawford at the Crow Butte uranium mining facility. The layoffs, which include severance packages, were announced this week and will be completed on a rolling basis before the end of May, said Ken Vaughan, a spokesman for Cameco. Exactly how many positions will be eliminated at Crawford is not yet available; the facility now employs 42 people. Cameco has 255 employees at its U.S. sites and plans to retain a staff of approximately 170 after the reductions. The reductions will be in both employees and long-term contractors. The cuts come in the face of a 5-year downturn in the uranium market, Vaughan said. Long-term the company remains optimistic that the market will rebound but must make adjustments in the meantime. We will be continuing our environmental restoration and reclamation programs, and we will be continuing our ongoing licensing and permitting efforts, Vaughan said. That will allow the company to resume operations if and when the market resumes. The Atomic Safety and Licensing Board is currently reviewing Crow Butte's operational license for final renewal, and the mine has three expansion permits pending before the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. A press release from Cameco said U.S. production this year is expected to be 1.1 million pounds, down from 1.4 million in light of the operational changes. The company is also slashing 500 positions at its Rabbit Lake facility in Canada and will evaluate its corporate office in an effort to reduce general and administrative expenses. YEREVAN, APRIL 23, ARMENPRESS. On the eve of the 101th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide the traditional torchlight procession from the Freedom Square of Yerevan to Tsitsernakaberd memorial complex kicked off. At the beginning, the thousands of the participants of the procession observed a minute of silence to pay tribute to the memory of the 1.5 million victims of the Armenian Genocide. Member of ARF youth organization Hayk Igityan, turning to the participants of the procession, stated that today again the world witnesses atrocities and crimes committed against civilian population resembling Turkish handwriting, pointing out the crimes perpetrated by aggressor Azerbaijan in early April in Nagorno Karabakh, particularly in Talish, Martakert, Martuni and Mataghis. Violance was conducted against 12-year old child and elderly people; therefore, our struggle goes on. Today again we, the youth, have gathered here to struggle together and demand. As long as Turkey and Azerbaijan are not brought to responsibility, our torches will light and our struggle will continue, Armenpress reports Igityan saying. Afterwards, the present burnt the flags of Turkey and Azerbaijan and moved to Tsitsernakaberd. The procession aimed at raising the Armenian voice and dedicated to the commemoration of the memory of the victims of the Armenian Genocide, as in the previous years, will terminate by laying flowers on the memorial of the innocent victims of the Genocide. Live broadcast by 1in.am The dream of building an Ag Center for Stevensville FFA members is starting to come true and community donations can help. After sharing a vision and gaining approval and permits, Stevensville High School seniors completed cleaning the land recently thats located just east of the school to create a space for FFA members to raise animals and have storage. FFA members Casey Cook and Austin Potton tackled this for their senior project after an inspiring visit to the Deer Lodge FFA Ag Center in 2014. They decided Stevensville needed an Ag Center to provide a place for kids to raise animals and give a boost to high school agricultural classes. Cook and Potton were juniors when they decided they could create the center providing opportunities for students who live in town. I didnt have the opportunities a lot of kids in FFA had to show animals, Cook said. Raising livestock instills so many values like respect and carrying for an animal that needs your care. It something you put a lot of pride in to create the best you can make of it. The duo found 4.8 acres of unused school land with easy access for the district, students and animal caretakers. The duo sought permission from Josette Hackett, FFA advisor and Vo-Ag teacher, Principal Brian Gum and the school board. Then they presented their idea to the Stevensville town council. The town council meeting was hard because if we didnt get a variance we could only keep three animals on the land, Cook said. They created a new ordinance that exempts Stevensville public schools from the number portion, but the rest of the animal chapter still applies. The final step was to receive permission from Montana Rail Link to allow the students to cross the railroad tracks and access the property. This process included a meeting with the real estate development members at the site. The duo received a final issuance of the permit in March. With permissions and permits in place, Cook and Potton have begun working on the land. We had a work day with FFA volunteers, Cook said. Intermountain Industrial donated a shed and Selway Corporation brought a fork lift to lift it onto the land. Well use the shed for tack and feed. There is still plenty of work to do before the land is ready for animals. Right now were trying to get it set up and other students can continue to work on it, Cook said. We found a water service entrance and so were in contact with the town to see if we can get water to the land through that. It just depends on how far Austin and I get to whether or not it will be able to get open this year. Cook and Potton are asking for $3,500 in donations to help with materials such as fencing, feed barrels, water tanks, solar lights and other tack items. They want to get the land fenced and build shelters for the animals. They have created a GoFundMe site: gofundme.com/s4yqgcqg - or send donations to FFA at Stevensville High School. Josette Hackett, FFA advisor and Vo-Ag teacher, said the property would provide agriculture students with educational opportunities. Austin and Casey have had to go through multiple processes to get permissions and now they are cleaning, fencing and designing facilities for future generations of agricultural education students to have a chance to expand their opportunities, Hackett said. Senior projects at Stevensville High School provide students with an opportunity to impact the community with a positive project along with a growth in learning new skills. Cook and Potton created a senior project that benefits the community and enhances opportunities for Stevensville youth interested in agriculture. Valley Solar program participants began accumulating credit toward their electricity bills last week when the second 88 panel array in Ravalli Electric Co-ops community solar program was connected to the grid. JKL Electric wrapped up construction on the 50KW system on April 12. So far the panels have generated nearly 3,000 kWh of electricity enough to power an average home for two months. Its really exciting to see the finished product, said REC Communications Specialist, Alyssa Barnes. The next step is studying the data to see how well the panels operate here in the valley. Each panel is expected to produce approximately 350 kWh per year, or the equivalent of what a modern energy-efficient refrigerator would use in a year. Valley Solar installer, Jeff Laursen, of JKL Electric in Victor is optimistic about the panels potential performance. The data used for these initial projections was based on Missoula weather. Panels down here in the Bitterroot Valley tend to perform better due to fewer inversions and other weather related factors, he said. The 176 panels installed at Valley Solar were manufactured by SolarWorld in Oregon and the racking system they are mounted on was manufactured by MT Solar in Ronan. Generation data for the two solar arrays will be available on the Ravalli Electric Co-op website within the next couple of weeks. About 75 percent of the total panel output available has been sold to date. Ravalli Electric Co-op members who are interested in participating in the Valley Solar program may visit ravallielectric.com/valley-solar to learn more, or call the office at 961-3001. A grand opening and ribbon cutting is scheduled at the Valley Solar site, next to the Woodside Substation, at 10 a.m. on May 26. Fifer's 77-minute documentary focuses on the struggle to stop the eviction of 3,000 people from a decades-old squatter community to make way for an Australian-backed property development that is promising a hotel, marina and exhibition centre. It is the proposed venue for the 2018 APEC leaders' summit. On Friday, the NSW Supreme Court granted an injunction preventing the screening of parts of the film The Opposition by young filmmaker Hollie Fifer at Canada's Hot Docs, the largest documentary festival in North America. REVERED former Papua New Guinea politician Dame Carol Kidu has won an injunction restraining the Australian makers of a documentary from screening footage about her role in a controversial land development premiering at a prestigious film festival next week. Dame Carol, the former PNG opposition leader, publicly protested against the development. However, after retiring from politics in July 2012, she established a private company, which was later engaged by the project's developers to advise and champion its resettlement scheme. On the day of her retirement, 3 July 2012, Dame Carol emailed Fifer saying: "Many conversations you heard were off the record and must not appear in any way in the documentary - forget about corruption etc. I have to find work after politics to support the many people that I support and thus I must be friends to all and enemies to none at this stage". But in the weeks and months later, Dame Carol confirmed she had no reservations about the documentary. Justice Michael Slattery ruled any footage of Dame Carol filmed by Fifer was not to be broadcast at least until a final hearing takes place in the future, although the rest of the documentary can be screened. The material comprises about 20 minutes of the film and lawyers for Fifer had argued the cuts were the "central scenes" and the "heart of the documentary". Fifer (pictured) and the two production companies behind the film, Media Stockdale and Beacon Films, said if the film footage of Dame Carol could not be used, there was no more time and no more funding to delete the footage and re-edit before Thursday's premiere in Toronto. However, Justice Slattery granted the injunction on the grounds there was a serious question to be tried of whether Fifer breached a purported contract between herself and Dame Carol and if the latter could prove she was the victim of deceptive and unconscionable conduct. Excluded from the injunction is about two minutes of footage of Dame Carol protesting as bulldozers demolished homes at Paga Hill, a prominent headland on Port Moresby's Fairfax Harbour, in May 2012. Dame Carol is seen vigorously protesting against the destruction of the settlement and being taken away by police. This footage was excluded because it was uploaded by Dame Carol's daughter Dobi to YouTube at the time and is still available on the internet. Australian-born Dame Carol, who moved to PNG at the age of 19 and married Sir Buri Kidu, the man who would become the country's first indigenous Chief Justice, says she believed Fifer was filming her as part of a "school project" and not for a film that would become a commercial release. Her barrister Bruce McClintock, SC, said in 2012 that Dame Carol permitted Ms Fifer to film her on the understanding it was to be an assignment for her graduate diploma at the Australian Film, Television and Radio School and would be about her last months in politics before retiring. However, Fifer claims it became clear the documentary was evolving into a commercial enterprise, in part because she secured various funding grants from the ABC, Screen Australia and Screen NSW worth $95,000. The film was eventually pitched as a "David-and-Goliath battle over land in Papua New Guinea". The Opposition cost about $375,000 to produce and an order preventing its screening in Toronto would rob Fifer of the opportunity to secure wider distribution agreements with a resultant loss of at least $150,000, the court heard. Justice Slattery ordered Dame Carol to provide security of $250,000 as a condition of the grant of the injunction. He said: "This case will potentially be very costly for the losing party." Outside the court The Opposition's producer Rebecca Barry said the film "is at risk of not being screened" because of the injunction. "The filmmakers believe that the story is too important not to be told or censored and are working on all options to ensure its release at Hot Docs," she said. The matter will return to court on Tuesday. PEN INTERNATIONAL Bangladesh: University professor hacked to death 23 April 2016 a The tragic and brutal murder of university professor Rezaul Karim Siddique this morning in the northern Bangladesh district of Rajshahi, must be investigated immediately and thoroughly all perpetrators brought to justice, PEN International said today. The killing is the latest in a series of lethal attacks on intellectuals and activists in the country. Police said unknown assailants with machetes attacked English professor Rezaul Karim Siddique, 58, as he walked to the bus station from his home, on his way to the cityas public university where he taught. aOnce again, machete-wielding extremists have killed an academic in Bangladesh. Rezaul Karim Siddique was a poet and writer who played music, edited a journal and kept his religious beliefs a he had none a to himself. The authorities admit there is a pattern to the killings of free thinkers in Bangladesh, and the toll keeps rising. The government response has been shocking a at a speech to mark the Bangla New Year, while calling for tolerance, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wajed chose to criticise the vulnerable bloggers, saying it was not acceptable to write against religion, instead of warning the emboldened killers, who continue to act with impunity.The Government should live up to its basic obligations of protecting people from physical harm and respect the right to speak, and not give credibility, nor rationalise those who seek to intimidate. The government must, as a priority, investigate all the killings and prosecute those responsible for the crimes.a Said Salil Tripathi, Chair of PEN International Writers in Prison Committee. There has been a rise in murders of secular bloggers and thinkers in Bangladesh in the last year. Earlier this month Nazimuddin Samad, a Bangladeshi law student who had expressed secular views online, died when he was hacked with machetes and then shot in the capital, Dhaka. In 2015, four prominent secular bloggers were killed with machetes. PEN International calls on Bangladeshi authorities to do everything in their power to protect secular, bloggers, writers, thinkers and others. For more information please contact: Sahar.halaimzai[at]pen-international.org | t. +44 (0)20 7405 0338 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 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. If you are currently a print subscriber but don't have an online account, select this option. You will need to use your 7 digit subscriber account number (with leading zeros) and your last name (in UPPERCASE). You'll still have no trouble locating an apothecary for all your weed needs on Market Street in the Castro only now it will be half a block up Market, at 2029, not 2095 Market Street. While they're losing their current lease on the corner of Church Street, The Apothecarium has been granted the right to relocate by the SF planning commission, a fact we're told by the Bay Area Reporter. The move follows on plans laid out in September. They are nothing but a model business in the neighborhood, Andrea Aiello, the Castro/Upper Market Street Community Benefit District Executive Director, said in support of the Apothecarium. One aspect of the business' good neighborliness? The Apothecarium has given more than $300,000 to local groups in the past five years. Within the marijuana community, the business is also well respected: On the Yelp of weed websitem Weedmaps, the spot scores 4 stars. Reviewers remarked that they "loved the open atmosphere" and that "just for the bud quality" it " kills it." The new home for the dispensary, the former Mecca/Shanghai space, is much larger: An expansion of 1,000 square feet to 5,000 square feet. Inside, a fairly significant remodel is expected, complete with a large education area. The space has been unoccupied since January, 2013, according to SF Gay History's entry on the address. After San Francisco Zoning Administrator Scott F. Sanchez ruled the space could be used for a medical marijuana dispensary, an investment group snatched it up with plans to rent it. There, the Apothecarium has signed a 10-year-lease. At the previous Apothecarium location, zoning is still in place for a dispensary, so perhaps the block will see a bit of competition. Both are located near Whole Foods, which has drawn plenty of foot traffic to the area. Related: Pot Boom: Two Local Dispensaries, SPARC And Apothecarium, Plot Expansions Darryl McGrath, author of "Flight Paths: A Field Journal of Hope, Heartbreak and Miracles with New York's Bird People," will give a talk at 2 p.m. Saturday, May 14, at the Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center, 3395 Routes 5 and 20, Seneca Falls. This week we heard about a new beer bar called Buffalo Theory headed to Polk Street, found out that Mission Beach Cafe's new spot will be called Mission Beach Valencia, and explored SF's finest in stoner fare. Now here's what else is happening in food news. After just six months in business at the somewhat difficult location of 100 Brannan (at Embarcadero), Caputo is throwing in the towel despite getting a decent write-up from Bauer back in December. Apparently business was slow, and partners Shah Bahreyni and Sam Ramadan will instead focus on their existing Marin restaurants, Boca Pizzeria and Boca Tavern. In healthy fast-casual chain news, DC-based salad spot Sweetgreen has just opened their first Bay Area location in Berkeley, taking over the former Oscar's space at 1890 Shattuck, as Eater reports. The sustainability-focused chain has been called "the next Chipotle," and they're also getting set to open another location in Palo Alto. North Beach has a new ramen spot, Kan Ramen (229 Columbus Avenue), which is currently in the soft-opening phase according to Hoodline. It's open for lunch and dinner, and specializes in tonkotsu (pork broth) ramen. Also in North Beach, Barbary Coast Gastropub has just opened in the former Bocce Cafe space at Green and Grant, as Tablehopper tells us. Expect a full bar, a nice patio, and an easy-going dinner menu anchored by wings and pizza. And down the street there is some drama happening between the owners of Gino & Carlo (548 Green Street) and Pete Mrabe, the owner of Don Pisto's and Chubby Noodle and the recently opened gastropub Pete's On Green (570 Green Street). As Inside Scoop reports, Gino & Carlo Inc. has filed a restraining order against Mrabe claiming he stormed into the bar shirtless on February 27 "screaming profanities" and physically assaulted owner Frank Rossi. Mrabe had, apparently, already been banned from the bar. For the second time outside of North Beach (the first being at the ballpark), you can now get Tony's pizza on Mid-Market as Tony Gemignani's Slice House opens inside the Market on Market, at the Twitter building. It softly opened this week, but as Inside Scoop tells us, the full menu rolls out on Monday, April 25. Noe Valley's Little Chihuahua (4123 23rd Street) is back open after a two-month renovation, as Hoodline reports. Look for the same sustainably sourced Mexican menu but now with a new modern look. Fans of Little Nepal in Bernal Heights will be excited to know that owner Prem Tamang is opening a second restaurant in the neighborhood, in the tiny space at 3486 Mission Street that was home to Chans Chinese restaurant. As Eater tells us, it will be called Cuisine of Nepal, it opens May 14, and it will feature dishes specific to Tamang's home village in the district of Kavrepalanchok. And last but not least, next Wednesday, April 27, look for Hawaiian brunch pop-up 'aina to open its Dogpatch brick-and-mortar to the public at 900 22nd Street. As Eater reports, you'll now be able to get Spam musubi and malasadas five days a week, with brunch served 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Wednesday to Friday, and 9 a.m. to 3 Saturday and Sunday. This Week In Reviews Michael Bauer returns, a year and a half in, to see how things have improved at Chris Cosentino's Cockscomb in SoMa, and he finds, indeed, that they have. Upgrading the restaurant to three stars, he says it is taking "head-to-tail cooking to a new level" and "Cosentino has a consistent, unwavering vision." For his Sunday special, Bauer visits the newly reopened Original Joe's Westlake (nee Joe's of Westlake) in Daly City, which got a loving, vintage renovation at the hands of Original Joe's owners, the Duggan family. "The interior of the restaurant feels like a midcentury masterpiece with its terrazzo floors, checkerboard slat wood ceiling and fireplaces in the lounge," Bauer writes, and he adds that it's already again hugely popular with the Westlake neighborhood, with some people waiting two hours at prime time for a table despite there being 300 seats. You stick with the classics here on a huge and varied menu, with things like spinach-artichoke dip and meatballs always a safe bet, and you can always opt for chicken Parmigiano and not be disappointed. The verdict: three big ones. And at the Weekly, Pete Kane visits Ju-Ni and compares it favorably to the equally tiny, Michelin-starred Omakase, saying that, "The best thing about Ju-Ni over Omakase was the light touch that the former's chef had with the torch." He loves the "dizzying" omakase experience here too, but was put off by the boorishness of one fellow diner who, in such a small space, insisted on talking loudly to everyone in the room, and the staff seemed helpless to stop her. 4 Ways to Work Out (Not Skip Out) Over the Holidays Open nearly any design magazine or shop in any furniture retail store and you are bound to notice that decor pieces are seldom displayed by themselves. Indeed, you are more likely to see items displayed in groupings, typically either two identical items side by side or three in a row. The power of the pair and using three identical items in a series has long been a trick of prop stylists, and the technique can be easily translated into your own home. WHY GROUPINGS? In general, many items look barren or isolated when displayed by themselves. Instead of having the single lonely item that may get lost or hidden in a space, creating individual groupings of decor items is a powerful design tool. WHERE TO BEGIN? Groupings are different or similar items that may or may not have any relationship to each other, but look cohesive and attractive together. Begin by incorporating your favorite decor items or those that inspire you. Be sure to use items purposefully. Too many items can be just as unattractive as too few items. PAIRS AND THREES Pairs and threes are the secret weapon of the styling world. A visual impact occurs when items are displayed as a pair or in threes that doesn't occur with a single item or when you group large amounts of items together. Placing two identical items together often creates a look of simplicity and elegance. Three identical items such as artwork placed in a series can actually trick the eye. Looking for a large piece of art to display on a wall? Simply place two or three identical pieces of art side by side and it will appear as if the art pieces are part of a series. Similar techniques can be used when displaying flowers or general decor items. Cathy Hobbs, based in New York City, is an Emmy Award-winning television host and a nationally known interior design and home staging expert with offices in New York City, Boston and Washington, D.C. Contact her at info@cathyhobbs.com or visit her website at www.cathyhobbs.com . Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. SIOUX CITY | Last month, Jeremy and Lisa Cotter created representations of their faith before and after the death of their infant daughter, Elizabeth, out of Duplo blocks. Lisa built the Catholic school at which she works, her home and her church. Before Elizabeth's death, the church was the smallest of the buildings. After, it was bigger, as was her home. Jeremy built a box. "Before all this happened, I was open. I talked about my faith openly. I talked about my beliefs openly. I talked to whoever wanted to talk to me," he said. "After we lost Elizabeth, I became more closed off, so I closed off my box." Stacey Gerhart, manager of chaplaincy at UnityPoint Health-St. Luke's, said the exercise, which the Cotters completed during a group meeting of the HEARTS Program, is a way for the couple to represent how they've changed as a result of their loss. The HEARTS (Helping Empty Arms Recover Through Sharing) Program is for parents who've lost an infant due to miscarriage, stillbirth or early death. Last fall, the support group began meeting the first Tuesday of each month at 7 p.m. at St. Luke's. Gerhart said parents discuss different aspects of grief and they learn how they can create a legacy for a child with whom they spent just a short time. She said participants are at different stages of the grieving process. After receiving a letter from St. Luke's about the HEARTS Program, the Cotters, of Sioux City, decided to attend a group meeting. Lisa found comfort talking to other parents about Elizabeth. She said doing activities with her hands helps her talk more freely. Gerhart said she has seen too many people with unresolved grief, which she said can manifest itself as physical symptoms. "As a society, we don't talk a lot about grief. We just expect people to move on," she said. "It's important that we have an opportunity to talk about our grief, so we can process it and be able to put our energies into other things too. That's not possible until we actually recognize it and acknowledge it." REMEMBERING ELIZABETH During an ultrasound on Feb. 23, 2015, the Cotters learned Elizabeth's heart wasn't beating. She and her twin, Evelynne, were 34 weeks, 5 days gestation. Lisa was rushed to St. Luke's, where she underwent an emergency C-section to save Evelynne. The umbilical cord was wrapped around her neck three times and she wasn't breathing when she was delivered. "That is what had happened to Elizabeth as well," Jeremy said. "We probably could've lost both girls." Evelynne weighed 4 pounds at birth. She spent a month in the hospital's neonatal intensive care unit. Today, she's 14 months old. Although she's tiny for her age, Jeremy said she's happy and thriving. "She's strong. She's walking. She's smart," he said of his daughter, who pats her mouth when she's hungry. "She's very devious at times. You turn your head for a second and she goes straight to the stairs or she tries to do a flip. She's very independent." Lisa's voice quaked and her eyes filled with tears as she talked about celebrating Evelynne's milestones while remembering Elizabeth. Jeremy said he and his wife will never get over the loss of their daughter, but he said they are at a point in the grieving process where they can help others coping with the death of a child. "It's nice to have at least one time a month where we can openly talk about (Elizabeth) and do different activities with Stacey," Lisa said. "She's great at coming up with different activities to show your grief." The Cotters have taken several family photos in the last year. Evelynne poses with sister Teyla, 5, and brother Brody, 3, along with a teddy bear specially made to remember Elizabeth. Her initials are embroidered in pink on the bear, which weighs as much as she did. "She's not here, but she's very much a part of our family," Jeremy said. PHILADELPHIA | Next time your cat shreds a couch cushion, lunges at your legs or barfs, blame the overly generous pour you made into his or her food bowl and the lack of any hunting opportunities for that pet as a prerequisite to eating. Animal behaviorists, supported by extensive feline environmental-enrichment research, have been speaking of the link for at least 20 years without influencing much change in household cat-feeding practices. Veterinarian Liz Bales is out to change that and make a few bucks for herself and her partners at FEED Co. in South Philadelphia. If FEED, or Feline Environmental Enrichment Design Co., gains a substantial following and the explosive Kickstarter debut of its NoBowl Feeding System earlier this month suggests it could in-home cat dining is likely to become more akin to how nature intended it. This isnt an invention, its a movement, Bales, 43, FEEDs CEO, a self-described catvocate and mother of two from Chestnut Hill, said recently at the companys headquarters. It shares space with several other tenants at 1241 Carpenter Studios + Artspace, a former factory that is now the creative haven of artists and craftspeople. The embodiment of FEEDs movement is a patent-pending hollow, plastic, oval-shaped vessel measuring 4 inches by 2 1/2 inches. Its capable of holding 1.6 tablespoons of food and is covered with a fabric skin designed to resemble a mouse, minus a nose and eyes to minimize choking hazards. A kit includes five NoBowls, to be filled each day and positioned throughout the house for a total daily feeding portion of 1/2 cup, the recommended amount for a healthy feline lifestyle, Bales said. By rolling the NoBowl, a cat can release the food. The skin gives the animal something to grip so it can play with its catch before eating just like it would do in the wild with, say, a real mouse or bird. Last month, the company launched its Kickstarter campaign to raise $36,000 to fund the making of a production mold and to get NoBowl to market. The goal was reached in an astonishing four days, with the kits offered at $50 each. They also include a training vessel and a portion scoop. By the campaigns end April 10, it had raised $136,186 from 1,959 backers. I actually could cry, Bales said. Its just been unbelievable. For Bales, its the validation of an idea that occurred when she was driving home from the 2014 Atlantic Coast Veterinary Conference in Atlantic City, where she had listened to several lectures on animal behavior and the causes of it. It reinforced what she knew from her schooling and practice about unfriendly, aggressive, lethargic cat conduct resulting from overeating. A cats stomach can hold one to two tablespoons. The theory behind it is very solid, said Carlo Siracusa, a veterinary behaviorist at the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine who has no connection to NoBowl. He said cats with outside access eat nine to 12 small prey during the day, which amounts to a lot of environmental stimulation absent in a house. That void leads to acting out and girth. The physiology of a cat is set for this type of feeding, Siracusa said of NoBowl. Transitioning to it should be possible for cats of any age, he said. Just days after the conference that inspired her, Bales was at a neighbors birthday party, also attended by inventor Steve Krupnick, 66, of Philadelphia. Although medical devices have dominated much of his 45-year career, Krupnicks creations also included the Flippy Flyer Frisbee, popular among people and dogs alike. What she was saying makes sense, Krupnick said of why he thought FEED was worth joining. I get that if you take something that has a natural instinct to do [something] and you deprive them of that, its going to manifest in some way. Cats hunt and yet we deprive them of it. FEEDs other partners are Krupnicks son David and Sue Lohr, who has a background in medical education and strategy for big pharmaceutical companies, both of whom are from Philadelphia, and Phebe Kearney, an expert in product development and manufacturing from Washington Township. They plan to have NoBowl available for purchase in the summer, with an August rollout at SuperZoo in Las Vegas, the national show for pet retailers. SIOUX CITY | Woodbury County has too few foster homes to care for a steady population of Native American children, a state panel heard Friday. There are just five licensed foster homes with Native American parents, Shane Frisch, a state social work supervisor, told the Iowa Commission on Native American Affairs, which gathered in Sioux City Friday. "There still continues to be a need," Frisch said during the commission's quarterly meeting at the Four Directions Community Center. The commission listened to local Native American concerns for more than three hours. Sioux City Councilman Dan Moore, who attended the meeting, said the city should do more to help the Native community. "Sioux City is a great community, but we can do better," Moore told the commission. "And we need to do better." Native American foster placement in Woodbury County and the state are up about 30 percent, according to 2015 data from the Iowa Department of Human Services. In February 2015, the government made changes to the Indian Child Welfare Act. The legislation, first drafted in 1978, outlines the roles of child welfare agencies, state courts and other agencies in placement of Native children. ICWA allows tribes to intervene with the judicial system to prevent family breakups and calls for child placement preference to be with people of their own tribe. The new guidelines are aimed at full compliance with the law. Native American activist Frank LaMere, of South Sioux City, said DHS has made strides toward helping Native children. "Historically, there has always been a need for Native foster families," said LaMere, who serves as executive director of Four Directions. "DHS has resolved to get Native kids in Native homes, and that is hard to do with a limited amount of Native foster homes." Moore agreed. "Frank LaMere says we have issues. Yes, we do," Moore said. "You can always improve on what you're doing." SIOUX CITY | Just one of the 15 candidates running for elected office in Woodbury County government this year is a woman. One of eight candidates for the three open seats on the Dakota County Commission is female. The 100th anniversary of women getting the right to vote in America is four years away. At the same time, there remains a scarcity of Siouxland women who have been elected to county, state and federal office. Nearly 51 percent of the 325 million Americans are women. Yet women are only roughly 20 percent of tri-state lawmakers who pass bills that involve public policy on education, health care, social services and defense. "It is time. If 50 percent of our people aren't part of the government, aren't we missing 50 percent of the solutions? ...You need everybody to be part of it, to have all the options in front of you," said Theresa Weaver-Basye, of Sioux City, who works with an Iowa group aiming to boost the number of elected women. Jackie Smith, a two-term Woodbury County supervisor, is the only woman on the June 7 primary ballot for a county office. She is only the second woman to serve on the county board in its history. The first, Rita Kline Loeb, served from 1975-78. Rhonda Capron is the only woman on the five-member Sioux City Council. Capron is the fifth councilwoman in city history, following Marie White first joining men on the council in the 1950s, then Margaret Prahl (1974-78), Joanne Grueskin (1986-94) and Karen (Forneris) Van De Steeg (2001-05). Smith doesn't like the paucity of women in local politics. "I continue to be disheartened by it," Smith said. Rep. Megan Jones, R-Sioux Rapids, is the only woman representing a House or Senate district in the Journal's circulation area. "There is still a stigma about parenting and women not being able to be away from home four days a week. It's hard, I'll be the first to admit it. But it's just as hard for me as it is for my male colleagues," Jones said. "I am often asked, 'So does your baby go to Des Moines with you?' and inevitably the next question is, 'Well who takes care of him while you are gone?" These questions are asked innocently enough, but my husband takes care of our child while I am in Des Moines," she said. When Smith won her first term as a Woodbury County supervisor in 2008, she was 52 and ready for public service, after advancing in her educational career and raising her children. Like other women, Smith said she wasn't focused on making connections with power networks when she was raising children and working in education. That's one reason she said women aren't prepped to run for office. "They don't have the networking that men have. So it takes extra encouragement to get women to run," she said. Smith said women possess high energy and are educated on issues, which makes them versed to become sound lawmakers. But Smith contended the political infighting that plays out among lawmakers and aspiring candidates in media reports is a turnoff to women. "The discourse at the national level is terrible, it is spiteful," Smith said. LEGISLATURES SITTING NEAR 20 PERCENT Compared to the 1960s, women have made gains, but it is a male-dominated world in Des Moines, Pierre and Lincoln. The tri-state legislatures in 2016 continue to hold near 20 percent women, as has been the case for some time. Overall, there are 34 women among the 150 Iowa lawmakers, for 22.7 percent. The South Dakota numbers are 22 of 105, for 21 percent, and in Nebraska it is 11 of 49, for 22.4 percent. Those numbers have barely budged since 2009. In the South Dakota Legislature that year, 21 of 105 members were women, 10 of 49 senators were women in the Nebraska Unicameral and there were 34 women among the 150 Iowa legislators. There have been few Iowa female legislators from Siouxland in the last dozen years. In 2004, there was Marcella Frevert, D-Emmetsburg, and Mary Lou Freeman, R-Alta. That was when there were 32 women in the Iowa Legislature, two less than today. Only two women have served in an Iowa House district that extended into Sioux City. Hallie Sargisson, a Democrat, was elected to one term in the early 1970s and later served multiple terms as Woodbury County treasurer. Isabel Elliott was appointed to fill out the term of her husband's term in the Iowa House after he died. No women from Sioux City districts have served in the Iowa Senate. There was one notable advance for women in the Iowa Legislature this year. Linda Upmeyer, a Republican from Clear Lake, made history when she was sworn in as the first female speaker of the Iowa House. Another bright spot came in 2014, when U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst became the first woman elected to the Senate from Iowa. Nonetheless, sociological factors die hard. Many women will raise children before running for office, and most of the younger women serving in the Iowa Legislature come from central Iowa, where they have shorter commutes back home. GROUPS PUSH FOR MORE WOMEN Weaver-Basye is a board member on the 50-50 In 2020 group, a bipartisan, issue-neutral organization with the goal that by 2020 -- the 100th anniversary of the year women acquired the right to vote -- half of Iowas Legislature and congressional delegation will be female and the state will have a female governor. The group was launched by former legislators Maggie Tinsman, a Republican, and Jean Lloyd Jones, a Democrat. "They were frustrated that it was still staying on that number (20 percent)," Weaver-Basye said. Weaver-Basye conceded that goal won't be met within four years, and said she didn't want to guess when the 50/50 split could be met. She said reaching the 30 percent threshold will be the important tipping point. "When we reach 30 percent, it will change the conversation. I look forward to reaching 30 percent and then seeing things change after that," Weaver-Basye said. Weaver-Basye spoke about the 50-50 In 2020 goal at the April meeting of Leadership Siouxland group, and said she was pleased when many people got enthused about the goals of the group. 50-50 In 2020 does two pieces of training, the Blueprint For Winning Academy and the See Yourself Here program. That's where women go to the Legislature and informally watch how lawmakers work, to "pull the veil aside and see these are normal people, this is something women can do," Weaver-Basye said. See Yourself Here this year was held April 5-6 and 20 women took part. One of those was Perla Alarcon-Flory, a Democrat from Sioux City, who is running for the House District 6 seat against Republicans Jim Carlin and Jacob Bossman. "The problem is still recruitment. Recruiting women is difficult for both parties," Weaver-Basye said. She said studies have shown, "those who actually run have to be asked several times before they say yes." Smith said she spoke with a woman in the quest to get her to run for county office this year, but after some initial interest, the woman declined to run. Jones was not recruited to run for the Legislature, but made the decision on her own. Jones said she would be offended if she was only supported because of her gender. She criticized House Democrats, contending they make a concerted effort to only recruit women for certain districts. NORTH SIOUX CITY | A woman suffered minor injuries Friday night after her car hit a mattress lying in the middle of the southbound lane of Interstate 29, then spun into a pickup truck parked on the shoulder of the roadway. Trooper Brandon Hansen with South Dakota State Patrol said the woman had been traveling south on I-29 near the Dakota Dunes exit when her vehicle struck the mattress, which caused her vehicle to spin into the pickup and come to rest near the right shoulder, facing north. Hansen said the pickup had been unoccupied at the time of impact. Its occupants had parked on the side of the road and were out of the vehicle to pick up the mattress. Several local law enforcement and rescue agencies responded to the accident shortly before 9 p.m., closing off a portion of the southbound lane. The woman, whose name has not been released, was transported to Mercy Medical Center -- Sioux City with minor injuries, Hansen said. Hansen said no citations have been issued yet, and the owner of the mattress is still unknown. The Alzheimers Association estimates there are more than five million Americans living with Alzheimers disease and more than 15 million Alzheimers caregivers. As an Alzheimers advocate and ambassador, I was honored to participate with 1,200 others from across the country in the 28th annual Alzheimers Association Advocacy Forum in Washington, D.C., earlier this month, where we appealed to Congress for action on Alzheimers disease. Our family, like many others in Siouxland, has been touched by Alzheimers disease. Not only have we watched the devastating effect on loved ones, but also on parishioners in churches I have served. In addition to the human toll, Alzheimers is the most expensive condition in the nation, costing $236 billion a year. Nearly one in every five Medicare dollars is spent on people with Alzheimers or another dementia. It is the sixth leading cause of death in the U.S. and the only cause of death among the top 10 without a way to prevent, stop or even slow its progression. Thank you to Sen. Joni Ernst, Sen. Charles Grassley and to the staff of Congressman Steve King for meeting with our delegation to discuss the Alzheimers crisis. I hope we can count on our elected officials to offer continued support. It is only through adequate funding and a strong implementation of the National Plan to Address Alzheimers Disease that we will meet its goal of preventing and effectively treating Alzheimers by 2025. - Rev. Richard J. Moore, Evangelical Covenant Church, Sloan, Iowa Making sales is essential for any business, no matter what it is you sell. There are several different paths you can take to increase sales. Members of our small business community shared some of their top tips for doing just that in the list below. Overcome the Unique Sales Challenges Small Businesses Face Todays economy presents some unique challenges for small business owners trying to increase sales. In this Accelerate! podcast episode, Andy Paul talks with Small Business Trends own Anita Campbell about those challenges and what kind of impact they can have on sales. Drive Sales to Your Business Using Snapchat Youve probably heard of Snapchat at this point. But can you actually use it to drive sales to your business? Neil Patel thinks its possible. And he shares some tips for doing just that in this post. Write Engaging Transactional Emails If you want to make sales, you need to learn how to communicate effectively and that includes email. This Litmus post by John Bonini includes an interview with Beth Dunn about how to write engaging transactional emails. And the BizSugar community chimed in with some thoughts. Eliminate Friction in the Buying Process When customers are going through the buying process, friction points can really slow them down or even stop them from making a purchase altogether. To cut down on that friction or even eliminate it from parts of your process as much as possible, check out this post by Jeremy Smith on the Jeremy Said blog. Increase Your Content Marketing ROI with Precise Planning Content marketing is an essential part of any marketing plan. But if you really want to use it to increase sales and get real results, you need to use precise planning to increase your ROI, as William Sarto discusses in this RightMix Marketing post. Use the 10x Email Strategy Increasing sales through email marketing isnt as easy as just sending a quick note out to your list. In this post on the Content Direction Agency blog, Breanne Dyck shares a strategy shes used that she calls the 10x email. You can also see commentary on the post over on BizSugar. Make Your Facebook Posts and Ads Stand Out Facebook can be an incredibly powerful tool for reaching out to customers and convincing them to buy from you. But you need to find a way to make your Facebook posts and ads stand out if you really want to increase sales. Here, Mari Smith shares some tips in a Social Media Examiner post. Decide on the Marketing Strategies That Work for Your Business There are so many different types of marketing strategies out there. So it can be easy to get confused or overwhelmed with all of them. But this post by Lyndsay Phillips includes some popular marketing strategies explained simply so that you can decide which ones are best for your business. Create a Total Online Presence for Your eCommerce Business When youre trying to make sales as an ecommerce business, you need to be able to reach customers where they already are. That means you need to create a total online presence, as Nikki Purvy outlines in this Lidyr Creative post. BizSugar members also shared their thoughts on the post here. Transition Your Business From Good to Great What separates good businesses from great businesses? No business is perfect, but there are some things you can do to really increase productivity and set your business apart from all the other good ones out there. Tara Miller shares some tips in this Noobpreneur post. 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. 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 About 70 addicts have been connected with treatment facilities by the Broome County District Attorney's Office Operation SAFE program, which kicked off in early February. We've heard great ideas from other leaders across this region. The latest discussion of the problem was earlier this month, when state Sen. Fred Akshar hosted a session of the Senate's task force on addiction to take testimony in Broome County. Much discussion at this session focused on the problem and what can't be done or what should be done. Little was heard about what will be done. We don't want to see addiction turn into those easy topics embraced by politicians everywhere. Name one politician who favors drunken driving, child abuse or inferior school results. They trip over each other to let us know what a tragedy these things are and how something must be done. Then they never do anything. The heroin and opioid crisis is so severe that any politician or government leader jumping on the "woe is me" bandwagon should be voted out of office if he or she doesn't become part of the solution. Who has said it better than Lisa Bailey? Bailey, from Waverly, has dealt with addiction in her family for years and founded Valley Addiction and Drug Education. She testified the other night and couldn't have made it much clearer. "You can't just listen to people speak," she told the group. "You have to do something, and doing something is better than doing nothing." Well said, Lisa. Let's together keep our eyes on our leaders. The Press and Sun Bulletin, Binghamton Nearly everyone agrees censorship and banning books (or, rather, eliminating access to books) are wrong ... except for that one book he or she disagrees with or that makes him or her uncomfortable. Every year the Office for Intellectual Freedom for the American Library Association issues its list of the most "challenged" books in the country. These are the books Americans object to most, in public schools and libraries. One such book is continually targeted for sexual and violent content, and the legal questions it raises, particularly in a public school setting: the Holy Bible. Yes, the Bible garners the same kinds of objections from allegedly concerned citizens as do "Fifty Shades of Grey," ''Two Boys Kissing" and "Nasreen's Secret School: A True Story From Afghanistan." American Library Association officials try to suggest gently that, of course, the Bible belongs in libraries as do the Quran, Bhagavad Gita, Book of Mormon, and any other religious text a library can obtain. But the truth is banning books does more harm than any good objectors are pretending to do. And, practically speaking, limiting access is the fastest way to increase interest in a book. Library officials say the number of formal requests to pull books from library shelves was down last year, but still an absurd 275. Meanwhile, complaints about material assigned in English classes are on the rise. "We see the danger of censorship moving from the school library into the English classroom," said Office of Intellectual Freedom Director James LaRue. Censorship and banning books are dangerous and wrong. They are the tools of small minds bent on controlling others by limiting their access to information. Such behavior is ridiculous and sad in a country where freedom is valued more than in any other. The Post-Journal, Jamestown So did you have fun filling out your tax returns recently? Millions of Americans just made the April 18 deadline after poring over deductions, expenses and a host of other financial matters that make their eyes glaze over. In stark contrast, though, Congress has gotten nowhere by refusing to accept the notion that the tax code needs a massive overhaul. It needs to be simplified. And federal officials have to do more much more to stop corporations from using all sorts of loopholes to evade paying their fair share. For instance, calling it "one of the most insidious tax loopholes out there," President Barack Obama has rightly clamped down on "corporate inversion." This outrageous technique has allowed U.S.-based corporations to reconfigure overseas to shirk their U.S. tax burden. The business either merges with or is acquired by a foreign company in a country with a lower tax rate, but the companies still can keep control of their operations, even their headquarters, in the U.S. Fortunately, the U.S. Treasury Department is starting to do something about it. The department was able to scuttle pharmaceutical giant Pfizer's $160 billion tax-inversion deal with a company headquartered in Ireland by denying some of the potential tax benefits. But even the Treasury Department and many others have said the best way to address the problem is through tax-reform legislation, which has stalled for years in Congress. And many experts have argued that marginal tax rates could be lower for individuals and businesses if some of the deductions were eliminated, loopholes were closed, and laws aggressively enforced. The tax code is more than 70,000 pages, and there have been 15,000 changes in tax laws since the last major rewrite in 1986. Talk about making your eyes glaze over. It's impossible to make the case that such complexity is good for the system, that it somehow fosters compliance. Actually, the exact opposite has happened, especially for big businesses and international corporations that have the resources to use every trick in the book to mask or hide income and use shelters to their advantage. The answer is not to create another layer to the convoluted system but, rather to simplify it greatly. The Poughkeepsie Journal American Red Cross volunteer Brad Barnett gets up at 6 a.m. and travels three hours in one direction to provide assistance to a survivor of a home fire. He strives to make life a little easier for the client and their family, making sure to bring stuffed animals for the children, comfort kits, blankets when available, socks, caps and whatever else is available in the office. His willingness to help and serve goes above and beyond the call of duty. On April 20, the American Red Cross Northern Arizona Chapter recognized Barnett as the Disaster Volunteer of the Year. He was one of three volunteers recognized at the High Country Conference Center in Flagstaff. Barnett, 67, is a good example to other volunteers because of his willingness to travel and stop what he is doing to go and assist those who have been affected by disaster. It is not unusual for him to go on a call at the Navajo Nation spending six hours just in travel time to assist, said Lesly Livingston, a Red Cross volunteer who nominated Barnett for the award. Barnett also is a client case manager. He assists with smoke alarm installations, parades and special events. He recruits new volunteers and works with veterans on the VHP project. The retired police officer became a Red Cross volunteer eight years ago as a way to give back to the community and do something useful at the same time. He encourages others to volunteer. For more information about volunteering, call 779-5494 or visit RedCross.org/Arizona. Flagstaff's Jewel Honga (Hualapai and Navajo) will be among the 24 contestants in the upcoming Miss Indian World competition. The current 2015-16 Miss Hualapai said she is excited for the opportunity to compete for the prestigious title of Miss Indian World. Win or lose, I am going to walk away with the friendships of my pageant sisters, new experiences, new networks, and something I can learn from, Honga said. If selected for the title, she will strive to inspire all of the people she meets as she travels the United States and Canada representing the beauty and diversity of Native American, Aboriginal and Indigenous cultures and the Gathering of Nations, Ltd. Powwow. Miss Indian World, shes your sister, shes your daughter, shes identifiable by people and she is one of us, she said. You look to her for guidance, for advice, for inspiration and thats what I think I can do for people. I think I can inspire girls, women, and people of all ages in my role as Miss Indian World. In June 2015, Honga was chosen to represent her tribe as Miss Hualapai. She uses her public figure to educate and talk to the young girls in the Peach Springs community, where the Hualapai Tribe is based, about issues they encounter. We talk about things that affect our community such as suicide, self-esteem issues, reputation and credibility, and the transition into high school, Honga said. In Peach Springs you either go to border-town high schools, or you go out of state to Indian boarding schools. Many of the girls dont know what to expect." Honga meets with the young women of her community on a weekly basis and wants to develop a strong bond and relationship. She said there had been a recent suicide in her community and that it would most likely be a topic of discussion in their next meeting. Education is another topic she is passionate about. She hopes to instill the value of education in the Native youth as her parents Charlotte and Waylon instilled in her. This past December, she earned two Bachelor of Science in Business Administration degrees in Management and Marketing, and a certificate in Promotions and Marketing Communications from The W.A. Franke College of Business of Northern Arizona University. During her time at NAU, she was very involved in the Native community. She held leadership roles in the Native American Business Organization and was the 2014 Miss Indian NAU, where she worked to promote cultural preservation and bring awareness of economic development through higher education. She was also able to teach Native youth to manage their money responsibly, especially those youth who receive or will receive per-capita payments from their tribe. That was my platform, Honga said. During my internship/part-time job, I worked with the Center for American Indian Economic Development. They developed a financial literacy game and we went to different tribal communities, middle schools, high schools, and some colleges. Currently, she works in Peach Springs at the tribally owned Grand Canyon Resort Corporation. She plans to return to school and become only the third member of her community to earn an MBA. She wants to continue to work for her tribe to improve the business model which capitalizes on Grand Canyon tourism. The Miss Indian World Pageant will be Hongas fourth pageant. The competition will be held during the week of April 26-30, in Albuquerque, N.M. Sechrist Elementary School kindergarten students got a chance to help provide food for children their own age by packaging food for Feeding Northern Arizonas Future. Their teacher, Stefani Whitcomb, became involved in Feeding Northern Arizonas Future in August of 2014, and said she wanted her students to experience giving back to the community at a young age. Feeding Northern Arizonas Future organizers brought nonperishable food to the school, where students worked to package the food for students in the community who might not be able to afford meals to take home over the weekend. Each pack needed to include two breakfasts, lunches and dinners and a few snacks. The food gets donated to 80 children attending three different schools, and teachers discreetly put the packs in students backpacks on Fridays. I was a kid who would have benefitted from these meals when I was younger, Whitcomb said. After working with kids so much, I cant imagine a kid being hungry. Whitcomb said the students got excited about packaging certain foods they enjoy, like animal crackers and certain cereals, because they were excited for other kids to try their favorite snacks. In half an hour, Whitcomb said the 26 kids packaged 2,800 meals of nonperishable foods, and said she hopes to spread the event school-wide next year. The kindergarten class packaged food twice this school year, and she hopes to have the whole school participate in both events next year. She said she hopes the experience makes students think a little bit about kids who might come from different economic backgrounds, and realize there are children in their community who might not have the security of a full refrigerator. I want them to realize they should never take the things they have for granted, she said. The whole concept of empathy is something we work on all year long. Whitcomb said she discusses empathy and kindness with her class regularly, and talks to them about what their service actions mean in the community. I always tell them they are helping people like Mrs. Whitcomb, she said. Some of the students and families have started volunteering outside of school as well, and Whitcomb said she is happy to see young students enjoying giving back to the community. It really warms my heart, she said. I see theyre so open and willing to help others and thats so important, even at such a young age. They see theres help that is needed and theyre stepping up. The Coconino County Sheriffs Office worked all night to rescue a lost hiker on Humphreys Peak. According to the Sheriffs Office, the Search and Rescue unit learned that a 59-year-old man was lost on the mountain at about 8:30 p.m. Thursday. Rescuers determined he was off the trail in an area known as Temptation Gully at an elevation of about 11,700 feet. The hiker was cold, tired and disoriented, and he had underlying medical conditions. Search and Rescue personnel hiked into the area and located the hiker shortly before 1 a.m. Friday. They decided to help him hike to the Humphreys Saddle for evacuation. Meanwhile, a second search team waited at Humphreys Saddle with warm drinks, food and dry clothing. The searchers asked for an Arizona Department of Public Safety Air Rescue helicopter from Phoenix to airlift the hiker, who was showing signs of fatigue and acute mountain sickness. It arrived at about 3:30 a.m. but was unable to land due to high winds. The hiker and his rescuers camped just off the Humphreys Saddle until sunrise. A third search team also hiked to the saddle with a litter and ropes at about 4:15 a.m. and prepared to help the ill man in the event he was unable to hike out on his own. That ended up not being necessary. Searchers escorted the hiker down the Humphreys Trail at about 6 a.m. An Arizona Snowbowl snowcat vehicle met him at the base of the Pluto ski run and transported him to the Agassiz Lodge, where a family member was waiting for him. Search and Rescue personnel hiked down the mountain and completed the mission by 11:30 a.m. In light of the rescue, the Sheriffs Office is reminding hikers to prepare for winter-like conditions on the San Francisco Peaks even in the spring and be ready to turn around if conditions become too dangerous. It is also asking hikers to come personally and physically prepared for the hike. That includes bringing the appropriate equipment and clothing and leaving a detailed trip plan with a trusted person. MOSCOW (Sputnik) The Islamic State (ISIL or Daesh) terrorists on Saturday attacked the security personnel of an oil company in the Libyan northern port, killing one person and injuring seven others, the Libyan Lana news agency reported, citing a military source. The attack reportedly took place to the south of Al-Buraika seaport in the morning. The terrorists who staged the assault, arrived at the site on 60 cars, the source specified, adding that the oil companys security guard chief is among the injured. Ceuta is a Spanish autonomous city located on the northern coast of Africa, on the border with Morocco. In mid-1990s, Spain erected a 20-foot fence on the border between Ceuta and Morocco to stop illegal border crossings and smuggling. Morocco objected the construction as it does not recognize Spanish sovereignty in Ceuta. A week ago the rumor of the Doha meeting sent the futures market for oil up to 50. What can you conclude about lack of agreements by the big producers except they don't trust each other to keep commitments? he asked. Friedman said that oil prices could accelerate upwards faster than most pundits were currently predicting. What could happen in the future? First, traditional buyers of hedges against increases may back off, such as airlines and power producers, and taking the risk that when prices rise they won't rise too fast. They may be unpleasantly surprised, he warned. Ohio Northern University Associate History Professor Robert Waters told Sputnik that rising oil prices, while good for energy-producing nations around the world, would not be welcomed by the US government because the economic economy under President Barack Obama remained very fragile. Today, falling oil prices is good for US foreign policy because it hurts US opponents in Iran, Russia, Venezuela and, many would argue, Saudi Arabia. Lower oil revenue for these countries means less support for Syria's [President Bashar] Assad, and Cuba, he maintained. Lower oil prices also aided US consumers and remaining American manufacturers, Waters added. In the United States, the combination of fracking and the lower oil prices it has brought the world is all that has kept the Obama economy afloat and is saving the US economy from falling off the cliff as we instead slide gradually back into recession, he stated. Analysts say a stable $45 per barrel is the crucial price to make widespread fracking operations commercially viable across the United States, but many fracking wells have closed over the winter because of prices dropping as low as the mid-to-upper $20s per barrel. MOSCOW (Sputnik) Bertrand Piccard, the pilot of the sun-powered, zero-fuel Solar Impulse 2 (SI-2) plane which is conducting a round-the-world flight spoke with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon from the planes cockpit. "I am inspired by your pioneering spirit," Ban Ki-moon, who was speaking from the UN headquarters in New York where the Paris Agreement on climate change was signed on Friday, told Piccard, as seen in the video posted on the official Solar Impulse blog page. Piccard said the signing of the Paris climate deal "is about more than protecting the environment. It is the launch of the clean technology revolution." Once inside, the inspectors found over 60 cats crammed into just 320 square feet of space. The cafe had reportedly only applied for permits to keep 10 cats, but the unneutered animals bred. Over 40 of the cats appeared to be ill. "There were more cats than cages," added Iwamoto. "The cages they did have were not properly controlled so they just multiplied." The cafe licence has been revoked for 30 days. As of 2015, there were reportedly 58 registered cat cafes across Tokyo. The shrine was founded by Emperor Meiji in 1869. It lists about two and half million civilians and government officials who died in wars between 1867 and 1951, as well as about 1,000 war criminals, 14 of which are considered to be A-Class, or those internationally acknowledged to have participated in a joint conspiracy to start and wage war. Visits to the controversial shrine by Japanese politicians spark protests from the country's neighbors in connection with the memories of Japanese occupation and colonialism before and during World War II. BAKU (Sputnik) Azerbaijan will give Iran a credit for $500 million to boost the construction of the North-South transport corridor, Iranian Minister of Communication Mahmoud Vaezi said. "The construction of the Rasht-Astara railway requires about a billion dollars of investment, $500 million of which will be allocated in the form of a loan by Azerbaijan. Azerbaijans credit will significantly accelerate the implementation of the North-South project," Vaezi said Friday, as quoted by the Azerbaijani Trend news agency. MEXICO CITY (Sputnik) Nine people were killed and over 12,000 were evacuated in Uruguay in the past week amid floods caused by heavy rainstorms and a tornado, El Nacional reports. Most of the victims were killed by a tornado that swept through the suburbs of Dolores, a city in Uruguays western Soriano Department, at the end of last week. Uruguay's Meteorological Institute (INUMET) has downgraded the orange alert to yellow in some areas of the country, saying it does not expect any more tornadoes in the coming days. The EU is due to reassess its anti-Russian sanctions at its next summit in June. While some members are keen to end them, there remains the threat that the US will take unilateral action to stop EU businesses from trading with Russia, German newspaper Wirtschafts Woche reported. According to a survey of German enterprises conducted by the German-Russian Chamber of Commerce, 60 percent of businesses want an immediate end to sanctions, and 28 percent are in favor of their gradual removal. The newspaper refers to statements by German Chancellor Angela Merkel that anti-Russian sanctions will be lifted only in accordance with the Minsk Agreements that were signed by the Trilateral Contact Group, comprising Ukraine, Russia and the OSCE in February 2015 which Russia has abided by. BRUSSELS (Sputnik) After arriving in the district notorious for being home to several perpetrators of the November attacks in Paris, the 20-year old Frenchman asked a random passer-by to take him to a mosque, the Belgian Derniere Heure newspaper said Friday. The detainee confided in his interlocutor that he "wanted to fight for the cause in Syria" and that he came to Molenbeek to "find people who can take me there," the media outlet added. The passer-by took him to the nearest mosque, but later informed local police of the jihadist tourist, according to the newspaper. Moscow hosted the conference of the speakers of the Eurasian states' parliaments on April 18-20, focusing on inter-parliamentary cooperation for joint prosperity of Eurasia. Lawmakers from 19 states attended the event. "I am sure that sooner or later the world will come to this to the great Eurasia from Lisbon to Vladivostok on the west-east axis, and from Oslo, from Murmansk to Delhi, Shanghai and Hanoi on the the north-south axis where Europe is part of this big, powerful continent," he told Russia's Vesti v Subbotu weekly news program answering whether the Eurasian dialogue is an alternative to the Russia-EU dialogue format. MOSCOW (Sputnik) French police have arrested 12 people during violent protests against labor reforms in Paris, local media reported, citing the polices statement. On Friday night, the local law enforcement had to use tear gas to disperse an aggressive crowd of some 100 protesters in central Paris, who were trying to break through police lines, the RFI broadcaster said. Twelve arrested after clashes at Paris youth protest https://t.co/Wtc5XAZZXQ pic.twitter.com/jyF7y62SaT FRANCE 24 (@FRANCE24) 23 2016 . As a result of clashes, 12 people were detained for taking part in an illegal gathering and throwing projectiles, which set a police car on fire, according to the media outlet. MOSCOW (Sputnik) Massive demonstration against the ratification of the the EU-US Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) and Canada-EU Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) is underway in Germany's Hanover ahead of US President Barack Obama visit to the city on Sunday. The protesters are carrying banners "Please, stop TTIP/CETA" and "We stand for fair world trade" among others, according to online translation by RT broadcaster. One of the NGOs organizing the protest, Mehr Demokratie, in a statement estimates the number of rally's participants at some 90,000 people. Anti #ttipdemo starts in Hannover. Main concern: it could lower standards that Germans have long fought for pic.twitter.com/5kRdG2mZGM Thomas Sparrow (@Thomas_Sparrow) 23 2016 . Both trade pacts sparked controversy and concern in the European Union over the extra secrecy surrounding the negotiations, and the power they would give to international corporations at the expense of small and medium-sized businesses. German Chancellor Angela Merkel admitted on Friday that she made a mistake in her handling of the Jan Bohmermann affair, when she referred to the satirist's poem about Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as "deliberately hurtful." On March 31 German satirist Jan Bohmermann broadcast a sexually explicit satirical poem about President Erdogan during his comedy show on German public broadcaster ZDF, called "Defamatory Poem." Following the broadcast the Turkish President pressed charges against Bohmermann for insulting him as a foreign head of state, which is possible according to section 103 of Germany's criminal code. NEW YORK -- Early in his career in Congress, Democrat Tony Hall of Ohio had his politics worked out, but he wasn't sure how to combine them with the convictions of his Christian faith. Then he took an official research trip to Ethiopia during the great famines of the early 1980s, and these two powerful forces in his life came crashing together. "I saw 25 children die one morning. As I walked among these people, mothers were handing me their dead children, thinking that I was a doctor and that I could actually fix them, take care of them. I was stunned," said Hall. "I came home from that experience -- seeing death. I had seen so many people die. I thought, this is a way that I can bring God into my workplace and not have to preach." About that time, Hall formed a friendship -- one rooted in decades of weekly "prayer partner" meetings -- with another member of Congress who was equally committed to defending human rights. Together, Hall and Republican Frank Wolf of Virginia excelled as a bipartisan team focusing on poverty, hunger and religious freedom. They're still working together, even though Wolf left the House of Representatives in 2014. He currently holds the Wilson Chair in Religious Freedom at Baylor University. Hall left Congress in 2002, when President George W. Bush asked him to serve for several years as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations on food and agriculture issues. Hall has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize three times. Both men agreed that it would be harder for this kind of bipartisan, faith-centered friendship to flourish today, in an era in which the anger and distrust on display in Washington, D.C. have reached toxic levels. To make matters worse, said Wolf, it has become harder to defend basic human rights when they are linked to faith, because "religious liberty" has turned into a dangerous term in public life -- one consistently framed in quotation marks in mainstream news reports, implying that it has become tainted. "Talking about religious liberty has become something that divides people, rather than bringing us together," said Wolf, after a forum on global religious freedom issues at The King's College in lower Manhattan (where I am a senior fellow). At this point, Wolf added, it's "like religious liberty is something that only old white men believe in. I think we are going to have to switch to using language about freedom of conscience, because no one is listening to what we are saying." Another key element of this problem, said Hall, is that debates about religious liberty have become linked to another linguistic landmine in the public square -- the vague word "evangelical." At this moment in American politics, he said, media professionals and other opinion shapers see "evangelicals as judgmental and negative," as "fire-breathing people who have no love or mercy in their lives. ... Christians, and especially evangelicals, are people that you are supposed to be afraid of. "So when you start talking about religious liberty, the first thing people say is that this is an 'evangelical' issue and then that's that. ... What's happening in our politics here in America is actually making it harder to help suffering and persecuted Christians around the world, and that's tragic." In all, Hall added, there are currently 40 armed conflicts in the world and many of them are linked to conflicts rooted in religion and, in particular, the oppression of religious minorities. During visits to Iraq, Hall and Wolf learned that Iraq was home to 150,000 Jews as recently as 2003, but now there are fewer than a dozen. In this same time frame, the number of Christians in Iraq has fallen from 1.5 million to 250,000. During visits to refugee camps in the region, Wolf said, they heard Christians ask one question over and over: "Does the West care about us?" But that wasn't the most haunting question, he said. "The most powerful question was, 'Does the church in the West care about us?' ... The church has been relatively silent and we are seeing the end of Christianity in the cradle of Christianity. ... "We used to care. We used to care dramatically." The key difference between the terrorists of decades and centuries past, and those of the present, the analyst added, is that "contemporary terror is waging a war not only against Europe," or any one country in particular, "but against the whole of Western civilization. And often the countries that find themselves under attack are not those which, from the terrorists' view, are the most to blame, but those that are most defenseless," Belgium being a prime example. "This," Bordachev noted, "is the main new development of modern terrorism. For the Western world, the situation is, of course, a huge challenge, because the European elites will now have to make some very difficult decisions about changes in the socio-political systems in their countries." "When riots broke out ten years ago in the suburbs of Paris populated by immigrants from the Middle East and North Africa, they had mostly social causes. These disturbances showed the inability of the French state to effectively solve the problem of migrant adaptation, and their integration into society. Now the situation is fundamentally different we see that the present outbreak of political terrorism in Europe bears not a social, but an ideological character." MINSK (Sputnik) Belarus will host a meeting of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE PA) in 2017, the chairman of the lower house of Belarusian parliament said on Saturday. "A week ago, a meeting of the Bureau of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly was held, and the members decided to hold a meeting of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly in Belarus on July 5-9, 2017," Vladimir Andreichenko was quoted by state news agency Belta as saying. VILNIUS (Sputnik) Poland is due to host Anakonda-16 joint, multinational exercise on June 7-17. The drills will involve over 25,000 military staff from most of the NATO and partner nations. "The equipment will be transferred to Poland on Sunday and Monday as well," the ministry stated in a statement, adding the equipment is expected to be transferred back to Lithuania in mid-summer. The US military will transfer Abrams tanks and Bradley infantry fighting vehicles from the Lithuanian Armed Forces transport depot located in the Siauliai district municipality. The allies equipment will be transported by railway. The Lithuanian military police will provide its safety. WASHINGTON/LONDON (Sputnik) US President Barack Obama and UK Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn during Saturday meeting agreed that the United Kingdom should stay in the European Union, the White House said. "The two leaders discussed the impact of globalization on labor and working people, and the need to take steps to reduce inequality around the world. They agreed that the UK should remain a member of the EU," the White House said in a statement issued after the politicians meeting. The US president also congratulated Corbyn on his election as the Labour Partys head, the statement added. YEREVAN (Sputnik) UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon supported the activity of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Minsk Group on the Karabakh conflict settlement during Saturdays telephone conversation with Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan, the presidential press service said. The OSCE Minsk Group, co-chaired by the United States, Russia and France, has been mediating the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement since 1992. "In the course of the telephone conversation with Sargsyan initiated by Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary-general voiced his full support for the activity of the OSCE Minsk Group on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict," the press service said in a statement. YEREVAN (Sputnik) The Second Global Forum against the genocide, taking place on Saturday in Yerevan, called on all states to unite against the crime of genocide, according to the final statement by the forum members. Earlier in the day, the forum kicked off in the Armenian capital, bringing together representatives of governments, parliaments, major international and human rights organizations, experts of international law, representatives of the leading media, and other stakeholders. All the states should unite their efforts in a spirit of "commitment to combat the scourge of genocide and other crimes against humanity," the Final Document of the forum read. MEXICO CITY (Sputnik) Panama authorities have conducted another raid at the offices of Mossack Fonseca, a Panama-based law firm accused of being linked to offshore schemes. "Given the amount of documentation, we proceeded to secure the evidence. We are leaving this building in the custody of the National Police," organized crime investigator Javier Caraballo who was in charge of the raid told reporters on Friday, as quoted by La Prensa. According to the newspaper, police officers left the Mossack Fonseca building carrying plastic bags with shredded paper. MEXICO CITY (Sputnik) The World Bank is allocating $150 million to Ecuador to help the country deal with the consequences of the powerful 7.8-magnitude earthquake that struck the country last week. "The funding provided by the World Bank will serve to support emergency recovery and forms part of the multi-lateral loan package that Ecuador has activated to assist those populations that most need it," Francisco Borja Cevallos, Ambassador of Ecuador in Washington, said as quoted in a Friday World Bank release. Vice President of the World Bank for the Latin America and the Caribbean Region Jorge Familiar, alongside the Ambassador of Ecuador in Washington, signed an agreement on the $150 million loan to Ecuador on Friday. "We are engaged not only in reconciliation, but we also provide humanitarian aid from Russia. At the moment, we have chosen three schools in the Hama region hosting refugees from Aleppo, Idlib and eastern outskirts of Hama, Col. Sergei Ivanov told reporters adding that besides food deliveries, the Russian military deployed a mobile medical station for the refugees. He added that the Russian reconciliation center is providing support to those affected by the Syrian crisis in close cooperation with the local authorities. A 12-year-old Yazidi girl and her 17-yearold aunt managed to escape from Daesh terrorists who had kept them captive in a house in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul for four months, by spiking their tea with sleeping tablets, Bas News reported Iraqi MP Vian Dakhil, who is Iraq's only Yazidi parliamentary representative, told Bas News that the girls had asked the Daesh jihadis who were guarding them for sleeping tablets, since they were having problems sleeping. "Then, they put the medicine in militants tea and secured their escape after they fell asleep," Dakhil said. On May 9, Mercury and Earth will partner with the Sun in a celestial swing dance that only happens about a dozen times per century. The resulting transit of Mercury, as astronomers call this interaction, is similar to the more familiar and common solar eclipse. Nearly every year, the moon passes in front of the Sun, partially or completely blocking it from view. In 2017, for instance, a total solar eclipse on August 21 will be visible from a path that stretches across the United States. The moon, however, isnt the only celestial object that passes in front of the Sun. The positioning of Mercury and Venus between Earth and the Sun means these bodies also occasionally move in front of, or transit, the Suns face, as seen from Earth. Compared to solar eclipses, these planetary transits are rare. Transits of Venus, for instance, generally happen a little less than twice per century. The last one is still fresh in many of our minds, materializing in the northern Arizona sky just four years ago. The next one wont come around until 2117. Partly because Mercury is closer to the Sun than Venus and thus orbits the Sun more rapidly and frequently, Mercury transits are more common than those of Venus, occurring 13 or 14 times per century. The last one was in 2006 and after the May 9 display, the next Mercury transit will show itself in 2019. German mathematician and astronomer Johannes Kepler was the first person to predict the occurrence of Mercury and Venus transits but never observed one, dying a year before a Mercury event in 1631. Thanks to Keplers calculations, however, Frenchman Pierre Gassendi will forever serve as a footnote in the study of transits. A priest and scientist, Gassendi also taught philosophy courses and purportedly one of his students was Cyrano de Bergerac, the real-life author on which Edmond Rostands 1897 play was based. Gassendi used Keplers predictions to observe the 1631 Mercury transit, becoming the first person to document a planetary transit of the sun. In later years, scientists made some fundamental astronomical measurements while observing transits. Most significantly, in the 1700s English astronomer Edmund Halley proposed using transits to measure the Suns distance from Earth. His method was first applied during a Venus transit in 1761 but the resulting estimate, which gave a range of 78,000,000 to 96,000,000 miles, was not very accurate, largely due to inclement weather on Earth that clouded out many observations. The estimate nevertheless served as a reasonable starting point and scientists observing subsequent transits were able to narrow down this number (the actual distance to the Sun averages a little less than 93 million miles). Modern-day astronomers have applied the study of planetary transits to search for planets around other stars. Using sensitive light detectors, they study the brightness of select stars. In some instances, the astronomers observe a temporary but repeated drop in the brightness of the star. This suggests the presence of a planet that is orbiting that star and blocking a small portion of the starlight. Astronomers have discovered more than 200 exoplanets (planets around stars other than the Sun) using this method of detection. In the May 6 View from Mars Hill column, well discuss how to view the May 9 Mercury transit and what features are of special interest. MOSCOW (Sputnik) Morsi and 10 co-defendants are accused of leaking classified documents to Qatari intelligence in order to undermine so-called Egyptian unity. The sentence that may be announced next month would become the third for the former Egyptian leader after last year he was given a life sentence on charges of spying for foreign intelligence and sentenced to death over a mass jailbreak incident in 2011 during political demonstrations that contributed to the resignation of then-president Hosni Mubarak. Morsi, now 64, won the presidential election in Egypt in 2012 to become the first democratically elected president of the country. The following year, he was ousted by the Egyptian military after large anti-government protests. DAMASCUS (Sputnik) A child was killed and a woman was injured in a terrorist mortar attack on central Damascus and a refugee camp in the suburbs of the Syrian capital, local police said Saturday. "The terrorists launched mortar shells that exploded on the 29th May Street and in Al-Adawi area inflicting property damage. Besides, the Uafidin camp located in the suburbs was shelled, where a child was killed and a woman was injured," the police told RIA Novosti. To avert calamity, the prince cut the budget by 25 percent, reinstated strict spending controls, tapped the debt markets, and began to develop the VAT and other levies. The burn rate on Saudi Arabias cash reserves $30 billion a month through the first half of 2015 began to fall. On April 25 the prince is scheduled to unveil his Vision for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, a historic plan encompassing broad economic and social changes. It apparently includes the creation of the worlds largest sovereign wealth fund, which will eventually hold more than $2 trillion in assets enough to buy all of Apple, Google, Microsoft, and Berkshire Hathaway, the worlds four largest public companies. The prince plans an IPO that could sell off less than 5 percent of Saudi Aramco, the national oil producer, which will be turned into the worlds biggest industrial conglomerate. The fund will diversify into nonpetroleum assets, hedging the kingdoms nearly total dependence on oil for revenue. The tectonic moves will technically make investments the source of Saudi government revenue, not oil, Bloomberg quotes the prince as saying in his interview. So within 20 years, we will be an economy or state that doesnt depend mainly on oil. MOSCOW (Sputnik) A group of some 80 militants from the al-Nusra Front terror group has crossed into Syrias northern Idlib province from Turkey, the Russian Defense Ministry said Saturday in its weekly bulletin. "According to the information from civilians, [a] unit of Jabhat al-Nusra terrorist grouping (more than 80 militants) has arrived in Idlib province from the territory of Turkey," the Russian military said. Alongside the Islamic State (Daesh) group, al-Nusra Front is not part of the ongoing ceasefire in Syria, which was mediated by the United States and Russia in February. MOSCOW (Sputnik) A ceasefire has been agreed between the government and a militant group in Syria's western Quneitra province, which includes the Israel-occupied Golan Heights, the Russian military said Saturday. "In the al-Quneitra province, ceasefire agreement with a field commander of an armed formation (more than 30 men) has been achieved," the Russian reconciliation center said in a weekly bulletin. Fighting continued on Saturday in the western Latakia province and in Aleppo on the border with Turkey, the statement said. It accused al-Nusra Front militants of shelling civilians and government troops. According to Norman Gobbi, security director for the Swiss canton of Ticino, the Swiss government expects a dramatic increase in migrant flow this summer. "If Austria now closes off the Brenner Pass, Switzerland will become the only gateway to Northern Europe. Before that, we have to protect ourselves," he said. Austria has fallen under criticism from the EU earlier this month for constructing a 250-meter anti-refugee barrier on its border with Italy at Brenner Pass. To increase security, the Swiss Army will deploy up to 2,000 soldiers to national border crossings for maximum period of three weeks. Should circumstances call for this period to be extended, a special decision by the Parliament will be required. A scenario involving the mobilization of the army is considered to be worst-case. In this scenario, over 30,000 migrants would arrive in a span of few days. The lightest scenario projects no more than 10,000 migrants over 30 days. "I began by writing a book on Omar Khadr and I wrote countless articles," said Shephard. "When he was returned to Canada, where he was going to serve out the remainder of his sentence, I was approached by a production house in Canada, White Pine Pictures, and they asked if I wanted to do a documentary." "Even though I am passionate about writing, this was a story that the world needed to see, they needed to hear from him, and needed to see that he was not the monster that he was created in the publics eye by politicians, he became a pawn and a caricature both on the far-right and the far-left, and I felt that people really needed to know the facts and see it for themselves," said Shephard. The story of the adolescent Guantanamo detainee. Omar Khadr was 15 years old when he was shot and captured. Shephard recalled that Khadr was first held and brutally interrogated at the notorious Bagram Air Force base detention site from July until October 2002, when he was transferred to Guantanamo. "At that point, Omar Khadr had just turned 16," said Shephard. After eight years in detention, Khadrs case was supposed to go to trial in 2010, but the Pentagon offered him a plea deal. "His was an uncomfortable case for the administration and they didnt really want him there," said Shephard, explaining that the Obama administration received strong negative international press for detaining an adolescent at a torture site. "So just think of that, in the context of the prime contract process with the United States government, that can take a decade." According to business observers, these appropriations methods cause Silicon Valley companies to sell their state-of-the-art products to European, African and Asian countries instead. Another, more troubling, obstacle for companies is the Pentagon demand for proprietary information. "They want you to go into the kind of detail that would make a patent officer blush," states Charvat. According to her, the information is typically revealed to third party groups, in an effort to create artificial competition. "What they also want to do is show this to all these other companies and see if they can do it too," she says. A program, seen by many as a personal initiative by US Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter, called DIUx (Defense Innovation Unit Experimental), aims to address these concerns. If the program succeeds, it could close the gap between the DoD and Silicon Valley contractors. However, according to the House Armed Services Committee, "that outreach is proceeding without sufficient attention being paid to breaking down the barriers that have traditionally prevented nontraditional contractors from supporting defense needs, like lengthy contracting processes and the inability to transition technologies," which, in simple English, means the US DoD is having difficulty doing business with the brightest kids in the room. The mayor did not stop there, however. In an attempt to let his constituents know that hell be suffering through public transportation along with the rest of New Yorkers, he said he will try to "go car-free as much as possible" and that he will take public transit and walk "whenever feasible." Fortunately, de Blasios noncommittal attempt at car-free empathy was not lost on the citys Twitter users who thoroughly mocked his suggestion. MOSCOW (Sputnik) US President Barack Obama stressed ahead of his meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel that a united Europe is in the national interests of the United States. "Its not my place to tell Europe how to manage Europe. What I will say is the United States has an enduring national interest in a strong, united, democratic Europe. Weve learned through painful experience that threats to Europe ultimately become threats to the United States. And when Europe is more prosperous, it helps fuel prosperity in America. We rise and fall together," Obama said in an interview with Germanys Bild newspaper. Obama pointed out that the future of a united European Union has been questioned amid the migrant crisis and the upcoming referendum in the United Kingdom. MOSCOW (Sputnik) US President Barack Obama called on the British youngsters to reject isolationism as future development route during his Saturday speech at a town hall event in London. 'Don't pull back from the world' Obama tells town hall in London #ObamaInUK #ObamaTownHal pic.twitter.com/NlMR0G6scF Liam Young (@liamyoung) 23 April 2016 The challenges of our time economic inequality, the climate change, terrorism, migration all these things are real, and in the age of instant information where TV and Twitter can feed us a steady stream of bad news, I know that it could sometime seem like the order that weve created is fragile, maybe even crumbling, maybe the center cannot hold, and we see new calls for isolationism or xenophobia, we see those who would call for rolling back the rights of people, Obama said. Obama tours London theater, watches "to be or not to be" soliloquy: https://t.co/f2p6PvT9FP pic.twitter.com/IurJMJZZSC The Hill (@thehill) 23 April 2016 Those impulses, I think we can understand, they are reactions to changing time and uncertainty, but when I speak to young people I implore them and I implore you to reject those calls to pull back. I'm here to ask you to reject the notion that we are gripped by forces that we can't control and I want you to take a longer and more optimistic view on history and the part that you can play in it, he added. Russia is here to stay, the British politician writes in his article for British political and cultural magazine New Statesman. The scale of Russian influence means the country simply could not be ignored. As the largest country by area, the sixth largest economy, the ninth largest population, and a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council, there is simply no denying the power and influence of Europes eastern neighbor, he explains. "Ash, who is characteristically no veteran and for whom war is an abstraction that must be supported by counting and piling up sufficient beans, thinks that more is always better when it comes to having fancy new toys to play with," notes Philip Giraldi, a former CIA Case Officer and Army Intelligence Officer who spent twenty years overseas in Europe and the Middle East working terrorism cases. "Ash justified all the needless spending by telling the Senators that there are five 'security challenges' confronting the United States terrorism, North Korea, China, Russia and Iran before lapsing into Pentagon-speak about why more money is always better than less money," Giraldi continues in his article for the Unz Review. However, although terrorism remains a transnational security issue it cannot do serious damage to the US, Giraldi notes, adding that in fact the United States would be less endangered by Daesh and al-Qaeda if the Pentagon and NATO had not destabilized the situation in the Middle East, North Africa and Central Asia, creating power vacuums in the region. North Korea also does not threaten the United States, "even in a worst case scenario," he notes. At the same time, "Ash favors a 'strong and balanced approach to deter Russian aggression' while also citing a China that is 'behaving aggressively.' And there is always Iran, which is demonstrating 'reckless and destabilizing behavior' manifesting as aggression, as well as 'malign' influence and threatening Washington's upholding its 'ironclad commitments' to Israel," Giraldi continues. According to the CIA veteran such an approach is ridiculous. What Carter depicted as an "aggressive" posture is in fact a reaction to Washington's assertive foreign policy. "In reality Russia reacted to American interference in Ukraine, China is involved in regional disputes that have been playing out since the end of the Vietnam War and a non-nuclear Iran is surrounded by enemies," Giraldi writes. "None of them threatens the US," he stresses. MOSCOW (Sputnik) Earlier, Kerry said that Washington hoped to agree with Moscow on a new system for monitoring the cessation of hostilities in Syria in the coming days. "If the US side has ideas on the ways of strengthening the cessation of hostilities, including through monitoring, we, of course, will consider them," the source told RIA Novosti. The unwillingness of the US to declassify the infamous 28-page report related to the 9/11 attacks as well as Saudi Arabia's panic over the possibility to be held responsible for the tragedy prompt justified suspicions. The US Senate bill S.2040 entitled 'Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act' was introduced on September 16, 2015. If passed by the Congress, the legislation would deprive Saudi Arabia royals of the so-called "sovereign immunity" in the 9/11 case and make public the 28-page joint congressional inquiry. In response, the Saudis claimed that they would sell an estimated $750 billion in assets under the pretext that Washington may freeze them if the legislation became law. The move would have dealt a significant blow to the US economy. North Korean foreign minister said that the country would halt nuclear tests if the United States stops military manoeuvres with South Korea, Associated Press reported. "Stop the nuclear war exercises in the Korean Peninsula, then we should also cease our nuclear tests," Ri Su Yong told the Associated Press in an interview. Earlier, South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff said that the North fired a ballistic missile from a submarine off the country's east coast. The US Strategic Command also reported that the US military have detected the possible missile launch from the North Korean submarine. MOSCOW (Sputnik) France called on the European Union on Saturday to adopt new unilateral sanctions against North Korea after it apparently tested a ballistic missile off the eastern coast. "France urges, in particular, that the European Union adopt additional autonomous sanctions," the French Foreign Ministry said in a statement. The South Korean military said earlier it detected a North Korean submarine fire a ballistic missile off the eastern shore, in what would be the most recent violation of UN and EU restrictions on Pyongyang. MOSCOW (Sputnik)More than 4,000 servicemen participated in the Russian Eastern Military District's motorized infantry drills, the Defense Ministry said in a statement issued on Saturday. "Motorized infantry units from the Trans-Baikal region engaged in the battle with the superior forces of the advancing enemy, simulated by a tank unit from Buryatia," the statement attributed to the district's spokesman Col. Alexander Gordeev reads. Gordeev added that the drill held at the Tsugol military range involved over 400 pieces of military hardware including the Sukhoi Su-25 Grach jets, the Mil Mi-8AMTSh and Mi-24 military helicopters, self-propelled guns and multiple rocket launchers. On Thursday, the Russian leader wished Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a happy Passover during their talks in Moscow. Passover, which started on Friday night, marks the historical events that laid the foundations of Israelites as a free nation and their Exodus from Egypt. The religion of Judaism is based on the memories of the Exodus and the ensuing search for the Promised Land and the formation of an independent Jewish state. The Russian Tu-214R is a state-of-the art plane based on the Tu-214 commercial transport aircraft which was modified under the codename 'Project 141' to replace the Ilyushin IL20M ELINT. The flight tracking website flightradar24.com reported that the aircraft could be tracked as it followed the eastern corridor from Russia, to the Caspian Sea and then to Syria via the Iranian and Iraqi airspaces. While it was still under development, the same Tu-214R aircraft flew what appeared to be an operative mission on Jun. 18, 2015, when it flew from the city of Kazan (the aircraft is built by KAPO,Kazan Aircraft Production Association) to Crimea and back, closely following the border between Russia and Ukraine, most probably testing some of its sensors against real targets. Previously, the aircraft was spotted flying near Crimea. While over the Caspian Sea, approaching the Iranian airspace, the Tu-214R performed a couple of 360 turns at 33,000 feet (10,000meters). While it is natural for countries and militaries to keep evolving their technologies, Russia is investing quite a lot of capital to rapidly modernize its military forces, equipping its army to fight in tomorrows battlefields, Patterson concludes. The US has been too focused on counter-insurgency doctrine, bogged down in conflicts from Iraq to Afghanistan, and the result has been a neglect of Americas own SIGINT and EW capabilities for a conventional war with a power like Russia or China, she adds. As evident with Russias display of its new capabilities, the United States will have a lot of work on its hands to counter these developments if it wants to keep superiority in this emerging domain, she finally states. MOSCOW (Sputnik) A member of the Russian tankers crew died in a fire accident at the Caspian Sea, a source in the emergency services said Saturday. "According to preliminary data, one of 11 crew members of the tanker died," the source told RIA Novosti. He added that the remaining 10 crew members of the tanker had already been evacuated on board a nearby vessel. "Sir, I believe that should be known, yes," Scaparotti said, according to Business Insider. Referencing the Baltic Sea incident, Indiana Senator Joe Donnelly then asked if Russia should be warned that "next time it doesnt end well for you." Scaparotti agreed. "We should engage them and make clear whats acceptable. Once we make that known, we have to enforce it," he said. "I think theyre pushing the envelope in terms of our resolve. Its absolutely reckless, its unjustified and its dangerous." If confirmed as NATO commander, Scaparotti stated his first course of action would be to review Americas rules of engagement for the region. WASHINGTON (Sputnik)The Obama administration plans to unveil several new actions aimed at making progress to reform the US criminal justice system, including releasing details about how the administration plans to ensure that applicants with a criminal history can compete for a federal job, US President Barack Obama announced in a video address on Saturday. "My Administration will announce new actions that will build on the progress weve already made," Obama said. "Well release more details about how we are taking steps to ensure that applicants with a criminal history have a fair shot to compete for a federal job." The US president explained that the reason why there are so many people in prison in the United States "than any other developed country is not because we have more criminals," but "because we have criminal justice policies, including unfair sentencing laws, that need to be reformed." A civil lawsuit alleges that two CIA contract psychologists devised torture methods against three former detainees at secret prisons in the early 2000s. The alleged victims are now claiming damages. In a ruling from the bench at federal district court in Spokane, Washington, Senior Judge Justin L. Quackenbush said he would deny a motion to dismiss the lawsuit against James E. Mitchell and Bruce Jessen. Both men are accused of creating programs that executed waterboarding, sleep deprivation, confinement in small boxes, rectal feeding and beatings against detainees, according to a 2014 Senate Intelligence Committee Report. Just over six months are left in the run up to the presidential elections in November. The Democratic Party has primaries remaining in 19 states, the Republicans in 15. A number of key states (including New York, Florida, Texas, and Massachusetts), have already voted. Key remaining states include Pennsylvania, California and Indiana, results from which will help to determine who among the two viable candidates on each side will represent their respective party in November. So far, polls suggest, former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton remains the clear frontrunner, leading against Democratic rival Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, but also against Republican frontrunner Donald Trump. According to Fox News polling from earlier this month, 49% of Americans would be ready to vote for Clinton, versus 39% for Trump. And Clinton, RBC notes, "also has a strong lead in fundraising." In early April, data compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics, as well as candidates' filings to the Federal Election commission, calculated that $222 million of the total funds raised went to the Clinton campaign. The Sanders campaign, for its part, raised $139.8 million. MOSCOW (Sputnik) Guatemalas President Jimmy Morales said as cited by The Guardian on Friday that the Wednesday shooting was a "cowardly and excessive attack," and summoned his ambassador urging Belize to bring those responsible for the death of the 13-year-old boy to justice. Belize accused Guatemala of amassing troops in the border areas and escalating tensions. According to Belizes government, its security forces were investigating illegal activities in the border areas when they came under fire and shot back in self-defense. Guatemala claims that 13-year-old Julio Rene Alvarado Ruano, his father and his 11-year-old brother were attacked on Wednesday as they were planting crops in the border community. MOSCOW (Sputnik)On Friday, the agreement reached in Paris last December was signed by 175 nations, including Australia, at the United Nations headquarters, with French President Francois Hollande being the first to sign the 31-page document. "Australia joins the rest of the world in signing the Paris Agreement. We will begin our process to ratify the Agreement immediately and will seek to ratify this year," Hunt said during the signing ceremony, as quoted by the Australian SBS broadcaster on Saturday. He added that the country was on track to meet its 2030 target of reducing emissions by 26-28 percent below 2005 levels. The sanctions Moscow introduced against Ankara after a Turkish F-16 shot down a Russian bomber engaged in anti-terrorist operations in Syria last year was a boon to faraway Morocco. The nation became the main beneficiary of these restrictive measures in terms of fruit exports, the Russian news network RBK reported. A total of 17 categories of Turkish products have been banned in Russia since January 1, 2016, including tomatoes, tangerines, grapes, apricots, strawberries, peaches and nectarines. In this vein, Morocco has become Russia's top supplier of substitute products from these categories, according to RBK, which cited China and Pakistan as two other key beneficiaries. BAKU (Sputnik)Armenia violated the ceasefire deal on the frontline in the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region 110 times in the past 24 hours, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry's press service said Saturday in a statement. "Despite the previously reached agreement on the ceasefire regime along the contact line in Karabakh, the Armenian side violated the regime along the line 110 times in 24 hours," the press service said. The Azerbaijani forces fired back for a total of 120 times on the Armenian positions, according to the statement. Brussels should bolster ties with Moscow in a bid to maintain the security of the EU's member countries, RIA Novosti quoted Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras as saying on Friday. The statement came after the Greek Prime Minister's meeting with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in Athens earlier that day. "All communications channels between the EU and Russia should be opened," Tsipras said. MOSCOW (Sputnik) The United States and a group of its vassals are trying to introduce new fashion of dialogue blocking into the international relations, Russian lower house speaker Sergei Naryshkin said Saturday. "Well, you can see for yourself that the United States and a group of the obedient countries, you can call them vassals, they are trying to introduce fashion to block dialogue," Naryshkin told Russia's Vesti v Subbotu weekly news program on the Rossiya television channel. Apart from Russia, China and the United States are also developing hypersonic missiles, including gliders and "jet-powered vehicles that travel at extreme speeds." While China successfully conducted six tests of its DF-ZF hypersonic glider, "a US Army hypersonic missile blew up shortly after launch in August 2014," according to the Washington Free Beacon. "Hypersonic missiles are being developed to defeat increasingly sophisticated missile defenses. The weapons are designed for use in rapid, long-range strikes," the website said. It also cited Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitri Rogozin as saying that hypersonic weapons are of paramount importance and that "whoever is first to achieve" more progress in their development would "overturn the principles" of how wars are waged. Russian Navy Zircon hypersonic missile likely to go into production as early as 2018 https://t.co/PxeXQBrKp0 pic.twitter.com/JsE7Y2WZns RT (@RT_com) 20 2016 . Additionally, the Washington Free Beacon referred to Rep. Mike Rogers, Chairman of the Subcommittee on Strategic Forces, who voiced concern about the matter. "I'm troubled that Russia and China continue to outpace the US in the development of these prompt global strike capabilities," he said. He was echoed by former Pentagon strategic forces policymaker Mark Schneider, who said that the US hypersonic weapons program compares poorly to the Russian one in terms of scale and technological characteristics. "US programs involving hypersonic vehicles are modest by comparison. I would be surprised if we actually deploy one. If we do, it will likely be conventional. Russian hypersonic vehicles will likely either be nuclear armed or nuclear capable," he pointed out. MOSCOW (Sputnik)According to the official, quoted by Lebanon's Al Mayadeen broadcaster, the offer was extended by Qasem Soleimani, the commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards' foreign operations wing. Assad reportedly motivated his refusal to flee the state saying that his family is no different from any Syrian family and they will remain in Damascus. Syria has been in a state of civil war since 2011, with forces loyal to Assad fighting several opposition factions and extremist groups. Unlike the West, supporting the so-called Syrian moderate opposition, Tehran and Moscow maintain that the Syrian president is the legitimate authority in the country. The deal, known as Ashgabat Agreement , was signed in 2011 by Oman, Iran, Turkmenistan, Qatar and Uzbekistan. Qatar withdrew from the project in 2013, while Kazakhstan joined the international transit and transport corridor project in February 2015. "The document aims to create a reliable transport corridor for smooth transportation and transit of goods between the countries of Central Asia and the ports of Persian Gulf and Oman Sea," Uzbekistans Foreign Ministry in a statement. MOSCOW (Sputnik) A Pakistan International Airlines aircraft en route from the UK city of Manchester to New York City carried out an emergency landing at Irelands Shannon Airport on Saturday, the facilitys operations director said. Earlier in the day, tracking website Air Live said reports of smoke in a lavatory was behind the decision to divert the plane. "A Pakistani International Airlines Boeing 777 from Manchester to JFK has diverted to Shannon Airport having declared an emergency en-route," Niall Maloney was quoted as saying by the Independent newspaper. LONDON (Sputnik) The United Kingdom is set to pursue a firm multilateral response to North Koreas ballistic missile test through the United Nations and the European Union, UK Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said Saturday. Earlier in the day, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said as quoted by local media that the North fired a ballistic missile from a submarine off the country's east coast. "This latest provocation, yet another violation of UN Security Council Resolutions, underlines the threat that North Korea presents to regional and international security. In conducting this test, North Korea has again shown its blatant disregard for its international obligations and the UK will be working on a strong multilateral response through the UN and EU," Hammond said in a statement. MOSCOW (Sputnik) German Chancellor Angela Merkel, as well as other top EU officials, arrived in Turkey on Saturday and visited a migrant camp on the Turkish-Syrian border, media reported. Merkel, along with EU Council President Donald Tusk and First Vice-President of the European Commission Frans Timmermans visited the Nizip refugee camp, accompanied by Turkey's Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, the German Frankfurter Allgemeine newspaper said. The European delegation was warmly welcomed and "sincerely applauded" by the Syrian refugees dressed in national costumes and met by dancing children. Many refugees expressed willingness to take pictures with the European guests. WASHINGTON (Sputnik) The US military have detected the possible missile launch from the North Korean submarine, the US Strategic Command said Saturday. Earlier in the day, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said as quoted by local media that the North fired a ballistic missile from a submarine off the country's east coast. "US Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM) systems detected and tracked what we assess was a North Korean submarine missile launch from the Sea of Japan at 4:29 a.m. CDT [09:29 GMT]," one of the US Defense Departments commands said in a press release. The ongoing trial of four Turkish academics, whose only transgression was signing a petition denouncing the military operations conducted by Ankara in the southeastern regions of the country, serves as a sad proof of Erdogans desperate attempts to abolish the freedom of speech, German news magazine Stern reports "Recep Tayyip Erdogan is afraid: afraid of criticism, of losing power, of the truth. Therefore, the Turkish president relentlessly pursues anyone who dares question his policies or even his personal qualities," the magazine remarks. According to Stern, Erdogan treated the academics' petition as a personal insult, and decided to put them on trial to show 'whos in charge.' The Turkish president accused them of treason and aiding terrorists, even though his real motives the fear that this petition might prompt other 'malcontents' to stand up against his policies were pretty transparent, the author of the article argues. It wasnt the nicest morning but The Meadowlands was bustling with training early and a full slate of qualifying races featuring familiar faces, stakes winners and divisional champions from 2015. A light rain fell throughout with temps in the low 60s and no wind to speak of. Track was off a second or so at the start, got a bit worse in the middle then began to dry as the rain subsided for the last four or five races. The headliner matched a pair of million dollar-winning sophomore trotters from 2015, Crazy Wow and Pinkman, with Crazy Wow getting the decision in 1:55. Honor And Serve (now in the Ake Svanstedt barn) cut the mile and led into the stretch when Crazy Wow trotted up to his outside while Pinkman ducked to the inside as the three finished in a line across the track. Tim Tetrick drove the winner for the Ron Burke stable and owners Horse Cents, J&T Silva and Deo Volente Farms. Sunset Glider opened the day a winner in a repeat of last weeks card. This time she took a pocket behind Silvia, overtook that one quickly at the three-quarters then won off by herself in 1:56.2. Silvia was an urged second. Dave Miller drove her again for Jimmy Takter and owners Brittany Farms, Marvin Katz and Al Libfeld. Race two contained several of last seasons top trotting fillies. Celebrity Eventsy made a good appearance in her first outing, leaving sharply from post nine to the front , yielding to Kathy Parker through middle splits then went by that rival in the stretch under no urging from John Campbell in 1:57.1. Kathy Parker and a closing Caprice Hill hit the wire together behind the winner, with Haughty a willing fourth. The unbeaten NYSS champ Non Stick also went along nicely in this one. Staffan Lind trains the winner for Celebrity Farms. Trond Smedshammer put the lightly-raced Tyson on the front early and won easily over Desert Runner in 1:57.2. Trond trains and shares ownership with Purple Haze Stable, Anderson Farms and Marc Goldberg. Jimmy William is the latest from the great broodmare Solveig and although he didnt do much at two he is showing signs of talent this year. In his second appearance this season he left for position, sat third then went by willingly in 1:58.1 for Brett Miller. Southern Cross was a well meant second and Nebraska Jack third. Solveigs Racing Partners owns and Takter trains the winner. PA Sire Stakes Final winner Lagerfeld won the fifth race for Takter and Yannick Gingras. He sat in as first Gleaming Memory and Hollywood Highway took turns on the lead through slow numbers then went by on his own when shown a clear lane in the stretch, closing the 1:57.3 mile with a :28.3 quarter. Hollywood Highway held second and Metatron third. Hes another Takter trainee owned by Christina Takter, Jim & John Fielding and Herb Liverman. Older trotters took the track after a break and Donatomite got up in the last step on Canepa Hanover in 1:54.4 for Smedshammer. The two took turns on the lead with Canepa Hanover taking over past the half and leading through a 27.3 third quarter then Donatomite wearing him down in the :29 flat close. The winner is a Michael Andrew homebred trained by Trond. Pacing fillies came up in the eighth today and Cut And Paste got up from far back in 1:53.2 for Jimmy Marohn, Jr. Heels On The Beach set the early numbers then two or three waves of fillies overtook the early leaders as they neared the wire. Penpal was second and Shezarealdeal an up-the-inside third. Linda Toscano trains the winner and owns part as Cameo Stable with Stake Your Claim and Fred Wallace. Pure Country was powerful this morning, drawing away from some good fillies in 1:53.1 for Brett Miller. Slowly taking the lead from post seven through a :28.3 opener, Miller yielded to No Clouds Blue Chip past that station, sat for a half then tipped Pure Country passing the three-quarter mark and she took off. Yankee Moonshine and Pure Ivy followed the winner in. Diamond Creek Farms owns the winner and she is trained in the Jimmy Takter stable. Pretty Boy Hill (listed at 30-1 in the Trot 2016 Pepsi North America Cup Spring Book) prevailed after a stretch-long battle with Selvin in 1:56.1. Tetrick drove for trainer Tony Alagna and owner Tom Hill. Older pacers wrapped the morning session, with Artistic Major a winner from well back in 1:53.4 for driver Brett Miller and trainer Steve Elliott. Post time for the live card tonight is 7:15 p.m. To view the full charts from Saturday morning's qualifiers, click the following link: Saturday Qualifiers - Meadowlands Racetrack. (with files from The Meadowlands) By Diana Hovhannisyan World-known actor, director and producer George Clooney has arrived in Armenia on Friday, April 22. He welcomed here by the famous entrepreneur Ruben Vardanyan. Artist and businessman first visited Tumo Center for Creative Technologies and Yerevan Brandy Company, where the guests were hosted by the chief operating officer of the company Igor Arakelyan. During the second day of his visit Ocean's Trilogy star was in UWC Dilijan College (United World College Dilijan) and get introduced with educational opportunities and offered programs. Besides, Clooney spoke and took selfies with lectures and pupils, waiting for him. Earlier 54-year-old star had a dinner in Dolmama restaurant in Dilijan and tried some wonderful dishes. The manager of the restaurant told NEWS.am STYLE that the actor really liked Armenian cuisine and even thanked the chefs in Armenian. The actor ordered dolma, khashlama, our Dilidjani mushroom fries, pakhlava, and gata among other dishes. Clooney liked the dishes so much that he thanked our chefs in Armenian. He was extremely pleasant and polite. It was our pleasure to welcome him at our place. He was approaching our employees and was talking to them. We only had him for an hour, and we did our best to make him feel good here. George Clooney had a dinner in the open air, manager said. Follow NEWS.am STYLE on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram Kevin Hunter of Longview is challenging Republican Dennis Weber for a seat on the Cowlitz County commission, saying he can do a better at creating jobs for the area. Hunter has announced that hes running for a seat in District 2, which includes most of Longview. He is running as an independent because I believe politics has no role in county government, he said in a news release. Hunter, 50, was born and raised here and moved back from the Midwest two years ago. He has a background in construction and promoting companies on social media. He is the host of The Business Forum Show (www.thebusinessforumshow.com). In a YouTube video, Hunter calls Weber a career politician who has no clue about job creation. Hunter said Weber hasnt been effective at creating jobs, either as a Longview city councilman or county commissioner. Hunter said his business background would give him an advantage in creating jobs over Weber, who is a retired teacher. Asked for a response, Weber said Friday night: People who live here know that job creation has been an important goal throughout my career. Weber noted that job creation requires growth in the private sector and what government has to do is provide the infrastructure (to accommodate business) and make sure that the rules are not onerous. That is what we have been working on. Hunter said he would donate his commissioners salary of around $75,000 annually to help businesses grow through social media and video marketing. Hunter said the county building department must be overhauled to become more efficient. He also says the county hasnt respected property rights, citing the recent controversy over whether the county should compile a database on septic systems. He says he wont accept any endorsements from local organizations or politicians. Commissionchairman Mike Karnofski said Friday that he plans to run for re-election in District 1, with a formal announcement coming next week. Curtis Hart of Kelso said he plans to run against Karnofski. tech2 News Staff Apple has denied reports which state that there is a hike in iPhone prices in India by 29 percent to 'make up' for SE's poor response. The company said original prices for the iPhones are available on the official website. A recent report by Times of India stated that Apple had recently held a meeting with top executives and key distributors in India, especially in view of the launch of SE. "The stock of SE was in any case kept at a low level," a source said. "A strategy is being worked out to pitch the device more effectively." It was believed that post price hike, the iPhone 6 would cost Rs 40,000 and iPhone 6S would be priced at Rs 48,000. In addition, the iPhone 5S was reportedly made costlier by 22 percent which would bring the price to nearly Rs 22,000 against Rs 18,000 at present. A previous report stated that Apple is reportedly not planning to produce a large volume of the iPhone SE that it released to offset the slump of its flagship series. Slow sales of the flagship iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus have forced Apple to lower production for the January-March quarter by about 30 percent from the year-earlier period. tech2 News Staff Apple announced a new rule for developers, which will permit them to only build apps that have the ability to access the internet over WiFi and not just a local iPhone. Apple said in a blog post, "Starting June 1, 2016, all new watchOS apps submitted to theApp Store must be native apps built with the watchOS 2 SDK or later." Apple's June 1 deadline for native apps surfaces online roughly two weeks before the company's Worldwide Developers Conference, where it is expected to unveil new versions of iOS, OS X, watchOS, and tvOS. Apple introduced support for native apps with watchOS 2. With native app support, developers can build apps that are able to run on the Apple Watch, allowing apps to open more quickly and work more smoothly as well. The 27th annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) is all set to take place from June 13 to 17 in San Francisco. The keynote address will be at Bill Graham Civic Auditorium, followed by the rest of the weeks conference sessions at Moscone West. Developers looking to attend can apply for tickets via developer.apple.com/wwdc/register/. The tickets will be issued via random selection process or lottery and applicants will be notified by April 25. hidden As the world celebrated Earth Day on Friday, a team led by an Indian-origin researcher has found a way to use artificial intelligence (AI) to protect the Earth's endangered animals and forests by outwitting poachers with technology. With support from the US National Science Foundation (NSF) and the US Army Research Office, researchers are using AI and game theory to solve poaching, illegal logging and other problems worldwide, in collaboration with researchers and conservationists in the US, Singapore, the Netherlands and Malaysia. "This research is a step in demonstrating that AI can have a really significant positive impact on society and allow us to assist humanity in solving some of the major challenges we face," said Milind Tambe, professor of computer science and industrial and systems engineering at the University of Southern California (USC). "In most parks, ranger patrols are poorly planned, reactive rather than pro-active and habitual," said Fei Fang, PhD candidate from the University of Southern California (USC). Fang is part of an NSF-funded team at USC led by Tambe who is also director of the Teamcore Research Group on Agents and Multiagent Systems. The team's research idea - a game theory - uses mathematical and computer models of conflict and cooperation between rational decision-makers to predict the behaviour of adversaries and plan optimal approaches for containment. "This research is a step in demonstrating that AI can have a really significant positive impact on society and allow us to assist humanity in solving some of the major challenges we face," Tambe noted. The researchers first created an AI-driven application called PAWS (Protection Assistant for Wildlife Security) in 2013 and tested the application in Uganda and Malaysia in 2014. PAWS used data on past patrols and evidence of poaching. Now, as PAWS receives more data, the system "learns" and improves its patrol planning. Already, the system has led to more observations of poacher activities per kilometre. The system can also take into account the natural transit paths that have the most animal traffic - and thus the most poaching - creating a "street map" for patrols. The application also randomises patrols to avoid falling into predictable patterns. The team recently combined PAWS with a new tool called CAPTURE (Comprehensive Anti-Poaching Tool with Temporal and Observation Uncertainty Reasoning) that predicts attacking probability even more accurately. The researchers presented the findings at the "AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence" in Arizona recently. IANS hidden Bangladesh's central bank was vulnerable to hackers because it did not have a firewall and used second-hand, $10 switches to network computers connected to the SWIFT global payment network, an investigator into one of the world's biggest cyber heists said. The shortcomings made it easier for hackers to break into the Bangladesh Bank system earlier this year and attempt to siphon off nearly $1 billion using the bank's SWIFT credentials, said Mohammad Shah Alam, head of the Forensic Training Institute of the Bangladesh police's criminal investigation department. "It could be difficult to hack if there was a firewall," Alam said in an interview. The lack of sophisticated switches, which can cost several hundred dollars or more, also means it is difficult for investigators to figure out what the hackers did and where they might have been based, he added. Experts in bank security said that the findings described by Alam were disturbing. "You are talking about an organization that has access to billions of dollars and they are not taking even the most basic security precautions," said Jeff Wichman, a consultant with cyber firm Optiv. Tom Kellermann, a former member of the World Bank security team, said that the security shortcomings described by Alam were "egregious," and that he believed there were "a handful" of central banks in developing countries that were equally insecure. Kellermann, now chief executive of investment firm Strategic Cyber Ventures LLC, said that some banks fail to adequately protect their networks because they focus security budgets on physically defending their facilities. POLICE BLAME BANK, SWIFT Cyber criminals broke into Bangladesh Bank's system and in early February tried to make fraudulent transfers totaling $951 million from its account at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Most of the payments were blocked, but $81 million was routed to accounts in the Philippines and diverted to casinos there. Most of those funds remain missing. The police believe that both the bank and SWIFT should take the blame for the oversight, Alam said in an interview. "It was their responsibility to point it out but we haven't found any evidence that they advised before the heist," he said, referring to SWIFT. A spokeswoman for Brussels-based SWIFT declined comment. SWIFT has previously said the attack was related to an internal operational issue at Bangladesh Bank and that SWIFT's core messaging services were not compromised. A spokesman for Bangladesh Bank said SWIFT officials advised the bank to upgrade the switches only when their system engineers from Malaysia visited after the heist. "There might have been a deficiency in the system in the SWIFT room," said the spokesman, Subhankar Saha, confirming that the switch was old and needed to be upgraded. "Two (SWIFT) engineers came and visited the bank after the heist and suggested to upgrade the system," Saha said. GLOBAL WHODUNIT The heist's masterminds have yet to be identified. Bangladesh police said earlier this week they had identified 20 foreigners involved in the heist but they appear to be people who received some of the payments, rather than those who initially stole the money. Bangladesh Bank has about 5,000 computers used by officials in different departments, Alam said. The SWIFT room is roughly 12 feet by 8 feet, a window-less office located on the eight floor of the bank's annex building in Dhaka. There are four servers and four monitors in the room. All transactions from the previous day are automatically printed on a printer in the room. The SWIFT facility should have been walled off from the rest of the network. That could have been done if the bank had used the more expensive, "managed" switches, which allow engineers to create separate networks, said Alam, whose institute includes a cyber-crime division. Moreover, considering the importance of the room, the bank should have deployed staff to monitor activity round the clock, including weekends and holidays, he said. Reuters hidden The Centre is hopeful of achieving the complete roll-out of broadband network across 2.5 lakh village panchayats in the country by 2018, telecom secretary J S Deepak Thursday said. Speaking on Bharat Net programme, which aims to provide broadband connectivity to all panchayats in the country, Deepak said all panchayats will have an ecosystem that will further boost the connectivity and bridge the digital divide in the country. All village panchayats in the country will be connected through fibre optic network by 2018, he added. The government had earlier set deadline of December 2016 to roll out optical fibre network across all panchayats. He was speaking at Global Exhibition on Services in Greater Noida. Deepak said the pace of digitisation is accelerating and impressive but a lot still needs to be done. The Telecom Secretary highlighted three areas that needed focus to bridge this divide - connectivity, language and digital illiteracy, and said the government and industry must work together to address the same. On challenges in terms of language, Deepak said that at present most of the mobile communications are taking place in English but by January 1, 2017 mobile devices will be enabled for English, Hindi and one vernacular language. hidden Search engine giant Google paid homage on Friday to William Shakespeare with a doodle to mark his 400th death anniversary. The doodle features the Bard of Avon in the middle with symbolic illustrations of his famous works like Hamlet, Julius Ceaser, Romeo and Juliet, The Tempest, King Lear, Macbeth and A Midsummer Night's Dream. Shakespeare died on April 23, 1616 at the age of 52. Not just a playwright, Shakespeare was a poet, dramatist and actor as well. Known for his tragedies with catastrophic ends like Macbeth, Hamlet and King Lear, Shakespeare also wrote romantic plays Romeo and Juliet and satirical plays like Twelfth Night. The day is celebrated across the United Kingdom as well as in other countries remembering his great works. IANS UN envoy estimates 400,000 killed in Syria civil war Syria has been rocked by fighting in recent weeks, particularly around the city of Aleppo. Agencies, Genrva :Staffan de Mistura's estimate, which far exceeds those given by UN in the past, is not an official number.The envoy said he planned to continue peace talks next week, despite the "worrisome trends on the ground", adding that he would seek clarity from government negotiators about their interpretation of political transition.The government, which says the future of President Bashar al-Assad is not up for discussion in Geneva, says that political transition will come in the shape of a national unity government including current officials, opposition and independent figures."Is this going to be cosmetic, is this going to be real, and if it is real what does it mean for the opposition and so on?" he said.Opposition negotiators have rejected any proposal which leaves Assad in power. They have also accused the government of violating a February "cessation of hostilities" agreement, pointing to air strikes on rebel-held areas which have killed dozens of people this week.Meanwhile, Syria's fragile ceasefire is in grave peril, US President Barack Obama and the UN's special envoy warned, as violence surged in the war-ravaged country's second city Aleppo.The truce "is still in effect, but it is in great trouble if we don't act quickly", the United Nations' top envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, told reporters in Geneva, where he is mediating faltering peace talks.Obama voiced alarm at the situation, telling a press conference in London: "I am deeply concerned about the cessation of hostilities fraying and whether it's sustainable."A landmark partial ceasefire-not including the Islamic state group-which was negotiated by the United States and Russia and took effect on February 27, had dramatically curtailed violence across much of Syria and raised hopes that a lasting deal could be struck in Geneva to end the bloodshed.But the country has been rocked by fighting in recent weeks, particularly around the city of Aleppo, where at least 25 civilians were killed and 40 wounded in air strikes on rebel-held neighbourhoods on Friday alone, emergency workers said.De Mistura said Friday's violence in Aleppo was "very worrisome".Frustrated by the surging violence, the lack of access for desperately needed aid and the failure to secure the release of detainees, Syria's main opposition High Negotiations Committee (HNC) halted its formal participation this week in the Geneva talks.But de Mistura said Friday that members of his team had continued to hold "very, very productive" meetings at a technical level with remaining HNC members at their Geneva hotel.And he said he intended to push ahead with the ongoing round of talks, which began on April 13, until Wednesday."We need to try until Wednesday to get as deep as possible... and we can do that both formally, informally, technically, practically," he said.He hailed all sides finally engaging in discussions on the thorny issue of political transition, but acknowledged that the understanding of what that would entail still differed widely.The fate of President Bashar al-Assad remains a major sticking point in the indirect talks, with the opposition insisting any peace deal must include his departure, while Damascus insists his future is non-negotiable.The HNC, an umbrella group comprising the main Syrian opposition and rebel factions that came together in Riyadh in December, said in a statement Friday that it was continuing "to work hard for progress on political transition, for relief from sieges and air strikes"."And we have had a meeting here today on the detainee issue," it said, stressing that it considered the ceasefire to be "in trouble".HNC spokesman Salem al-Meslet told AFP that if the group sees "major and serious steps on the ground... in the next couple of days, there will be nothing stopping the members who left Geneva from returning".De Mistura called for a new high-level meeting of the 17-country International Syria Support Group, which is co-chaired by the United States and Russia."We do need certainly a new ISSG at the ministerial level, because the level of danger... (means that such a meeting) is urgently required," he said.Obama meanwhile lashed out at Moscow for supporting "a murderous regime", but vowed to keep working with the Russian government to strengthen the ceasefire and support the peace talks.He said he had spoken to Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday "asking him to put more pressure on (Syrian President Bashar al) Assad, indicating to him that we would continue to try to get the moderate opposition to stay at the negotiating table in Geneva"."If in fact the cessation falls apart, we will try to put it back together again even as we continue to go after ISIL," he said, referring to IS, which along with other jihadists is not included in the truce deal.The group said it had captured a Syrian pilot alive on Friday after shooting down his plane east of Damascus.Since Syria's conflict erupted in March 2011, more than 270,000 people have died, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which is considered to have the most reliable count.The UN no longer provides casualty figures for Syria, since it considers them too difficult to verify, but de Mistura said Friday he believed the actual toll had to be far higher, likely around 400,000.The Pentagon meanwhile said 20 civilians had been killed in US airstrikes on IS targets in Syria and Iraq over a five-month period, although observers warned the toll is likely much higher. 51 cargo vessels remain idle in outer berth of Ctg Port At least 51 cargo vessels stranded at the outer berth of Chittagong Port following the ongoing strike of water transport workers in Chittgong. Beside the strike of water transports, the activities of the fishing trawlers remained also idle. Port sources said , the loading unloading activities in the 15 inner berths of the port continuing without any obstructions but the activities in the outer berths remained stranded. In this situation of the strike of water transport workers in 16 river ghats(landing points) , the business community will have to face severe financial loss due to halting of the vessels in outer berths and embarkation of vessels from port to foreign destinations timely. Most of the cargo vessels stranded at outer berths containing bulk cargos of wheat, sugar, cement clinkers, coal and urea fertilizers, sources said. Vice chairman of Bangladesh Shipping Agents association Ahsanul Hoque Chowdhury told that shipping business not satisfactory due to global recession and at the same time water transport workers strike will also hamper the sector to the maximum extents. Central General Secretary of Bangladesh Ligherage Sramik Union Md. Shahdat Hossain told that considering the miseries of the common people and HSC examinees, the strike of passenger vessel suspended till 10 May next. He said in the ongoing meeting with the Shipping Minister, the problem may be resolved hoped. Bangladesh Water Transport Workers Federation called strike from Wednesday night, 16 river ghats of Karnaphuli River remained stranded . The lighter vessels are taking berth in river channel with cargos from mother vessels but due to workers strike, the unloading remained stalled . Mentiona;ble that in the last meeting with the shipping Minsiter on January 26 last, a committee was formed which was supposed to resolve the crisis of the workers but after passing of 69 days, the committee could not find any solutions towards their demands. Lastly the federation leaders held meeting with the shipping minister for about 10 hours on Wednesday last b ut the matter not solved, sources said. As such, the water transport workers enforced s trike from midnight of Wednesday , sources said. A federation sources said present lowest salary of lighter vessel workers is Tk.3000 only and they demanded minimum wages at Tk.7000 . Sources said about 25 thousand lighter vessel workers are employed in this profession across the country except crews of different categories. Research a must at all varsities: Nahid Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid along with other distinguished persons at the United Group Research Award Ceremony-2016 organised by United Group in the auditorium of United International University in the city on Friday. Staff Reporter : Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid on Friday said, research is a must for all public and private universities in the country for creating new knowledge so that it can contribute to nation-building activities. "Research creates new knowledge and enlightens the society. It also helps build a knowledge based society," he said. The minister said this as the chief guest at United Group Research Award Ceremony 2016 held in the United International University (UIU) Auditorium organised by United Group. He congratulated the United Group for taking up the noble initiative in promoting research and development activities in Bangladesh by recognising the researchers in the fields of science and technology. United Group Chairman Hasan Mahmood Raja delivered the welcome speech at the ceremony, while Chairman of Paper Award Evaluation Committee Professor M Muhibur Rahman and UIU Vice-Chancellor Professor M Rezwan Khan addressed the programme, among others. Hasan Mahmood Raja said, United Group wants to create a research friendly platform where potential researchers will be provided all kinds of supports in pursuance of their research works. This year 21 papers, published in 2013, have been selected for the award in the field of Science and Engineering, Medical and Life Science, and Agriculture. United Group is committed to continue this Award to 40 researchers each year in future the days to come. An amount of Tk. 100,000 and a certificate have been handed for each paper. Directors of United Group, High Officials and Pro-Vice Chancellor of UIU, Lead Researchers, and the invited guests were also present at the programme. Kerber faces Kvitova in semifinals in Stuttgart AP, Germany : Defending champion Angelique Kerber faces Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic in the Porsche Grand Prix semifinals, and top-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska plays qualifier Laura Siegemund. The second-seeded Kerber easily overcame seventh-seeded Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain 6-2, 6-4 in Friday's quarterfinals, with the German needing just 29 minutes to win the first set and 72 minutes overall at the indoor clay-court tournament. "I gathered a lot of self-confidence through winning the Australian Open (in January) and the other successes," said Kerber, who lost to Suarez Navarro in the quarterfinals in Stuttgart two years ago. "I really wanted revenge today." Fifth-seeded Kvitova had a tougher task defeating third-seeded Garbine Muguruza of Spain 6-1, 3-6, 6-0. Siegemund upset sixth-seeded Roberta Vinci 6-1, 6-4 in 76 minutes to improve on her previous best of a quarterfinal place in Charleston this month. The 28-year-old German had already upset fourth-seeded Simona Halep on Thursday and is set to improve on her career-high No. 71 ranking. "I was pretty tired in the second set but you carried me through," Siegemund told her hometown crowd. Siegemund next faces top-seeded Radwanska, who defeated Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic 6-2, 7-6 (8) in the last quarterfinal. Obama visits Globe on Shakespeare anniversary President Barack Obama, 2nd left, greets actors on stage after watching them perform Shakespeare\'s Hamlet at the Globe Theatre in London on Saturday. US President Barack Obama has begun his final day in London by touring a theatre dedicated to the work of William Shakespeare. Saturday marks the 400th anniversary of the playwright's death and he is being celebrated throughout the UK. The Globe theatre is a replica of the circular, open-air playhouse that Shakespeare designed in 1599. Mr Obama watched a brief performance of a portion of Hamlet, including the famous "To be or not to be" soliloquy. The scenes were performed by actors from a company of 16, who embarked on a two-year world tour in 2014 playing to more than 100,000 people in 197 countries. Obama described the performance as "wonderful". During the scenes, Mr Obama stood in the open-air theatre watching intently and was seen swaying back and forth on his feet to the music. As the US President toured the theatre, he spent several minutes looking at the structure and asking questions about the seating and performances. Dominic Dromgoole, artistic director of Shakespeare's Globe, said: "At the end of an extraordinary journey all around the world, it is great to return home to the Globe, and to be able to perform a few scenes and to be welcomed back by President Barack Obama. "The spirit of 'Yes we can' has informed the entire tour, and it's an honour to meet the man who coined the phrase, and who exemplifies its spirit." The US President made the trip before a visit to London's Royal Horticultural Halls where he made a speech and took questions from the audience. Mr Obama urged young people to "reject pessimism and cynicism" and "know that progress is possible and problems can be solved". David Tennant will host a BBC celebration on Saturday night live from the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon. The event will be attended by Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall. Performers at Shakespeare Live - which begins on BBC Two at 20:30 BST - will include Dame Judi Dench, Sir Ian McKellen, Dame Helen Mirren and Benedict Cumberbatch. Other names on the bill include Rory Kinnear, Meera Syal, Joseph Fiennes, David Suchet, Simon Russell Beale, Roger Allam, Sanjeev Bhaskar, Harriet Walter, John Lithgow, Anne-Marie Duff and the cast of Horrible Histories. As well as theatrical performances, the show will feature hip-hop, blues, jazz, opera and classical music that has been inspired by Shakespeare's plays. Throughout the day on Saturday, Shakespeare's Globe will be screening short films of every one of Shakespeare's 37 plays on giant screens along the banks of the Thames, between Tower Bridge and Westminster. The films feature actors delivering their lines in the locations where the plays are set - such as Cleopatra in Egypt, Julius Caesar in the Roman Forum and Hamlet at Elsinore. Among the star names involved in the project, entitled The Complete Walk, are Gemma Arterton, Dominic West, Ruth Wilson, James Norton, Zawe Ashton and Peter Capaldi. Dominic Dromgoole, the Globe's artistic director, who will stand down on Sunday, revealed on Friday that the short films had just all been given a "U" classification apart from one film, Pericles, which is a PG. "That astonished us, we thought some of the others might be closer to the margins, so we'll have to put up signs around that saying it needs parental guidance," Mr Dromgoole said. The weekend will also see the return of the Globe's worldwide tour of Hamlet, which has spent the last two years travelling to almost every country in the world. On Saturday afternoon, the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall will be in Stratford-upon-Avon, where the playwright was born. They will visit the site of the playwright's adult home for 19 years - now being transformed into a tourist attraction called Shakespeare's New Place, and due to open to the public in July. They will also go to see his grave, situated at Holy Trinity Church. And in the evening the royal couple will attend Shakespeare Live, which is being broadcast from Stratford-upon-Avon. BBC Radio 3 will also be broadcasting a weekend of Shakespeare-inspired music and performance live from the Bard's hometown. And some of Shakespeare's best known characters - including Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet and King Lear - will be featuring along a stretch of the River Thames in London. Elsewhere, leading arts organisations across the UK will make available performances, analysis and talks. All material will be streamed on Shakespeare Day Live, a digital pop-up channel which kicks off Shakespeare Lives, a six month online festival. Shafik held based on Joy`s FB status: Fakhrul Staff Reporter :BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir on Saturday alleged that journalist Shafik Rehman had been arrested only based on the facebook status of Prime Minister's son and ICT Advisor Sajeeb Wazed Joy.``The US court declined to recognise Joy as a victim of any plot to abduct and kill him. Based only on his (Joy's) facebook status, and at the directive of the Police Headquarters in Dhaka, an FIR (First Information Report) was registered, secret probe was conducted, a case was filed and "an old, gentleman -- Shafik Rehman -- was arrested and taken on remand," said Mirza Fakhrul while addressing a press conference at BNP Chairperson's office in Gulshan in the capital on the day. "The so-called plot of abduction and killing Joy was not true and it has been proved by the US authorities," Fakhrul claimed.The BNP Secretary General criticised the Cabinet Ministers and ruling party leaders of different levels for their propaganda that there was a plot to abduct and kill Joy although the court dismissed such claim. Fakhrul demanded immediate exchange for information on his (Joy's) location. He also said the sentence under the US law for 'what Shafik did' is life in prison there.Magazine editor Shafik Rehman was arrested last Saturday in a case that charges him with conspiracy to harm Joy, who also advises the prime minister on ICT affairs. Referring to US court records, Joy says the convicted FBI agent had written in text messages that Rizve Ahmed Caesar, son of a Washington-based BNP leader, wanted to "off" Joy."This (off) is slang in the US for killing someone," Joy wrote. "So (Caesar) had told his co-conspirator that he wanted to kill me, well before he was arrested," the Facebook post read. "After his arrest," according to Joy, "he told the agents interrogating him the same thing." Joy said Caesar pleaded guilty to a lesser crime, "which is something guilty people usually do to avoid losing at trial and getting a longer prison sentence for a more serious crime". "He was facing a very long prison sentence for attempted murder, but got a shorter sentence by taking the plea," Joy wrote. "Finally, Shafik Rehman as a non-US citizen had obtained secret FBI files through bribery. "In the US this is espionage and the sentence for that is life in a maximum security US prison," he said at the end of his post. A court has granted police five more days to grill Shafik Rehman in custody.Police said, the former BBC staffer had admitted to meeting those convicted for plotting to abduct and kill Joy.Police also claimed to have obtained sensitive FBI files in a raid on his house. Missing CU student's body recovered from Halda river CU Correspondent :The body of a Chittagong University student, who went missing on Friday in the Halda River at Nangalmore of Hathazari Upazila, was recovered on Saturday morning. Identified as Noman Chowdhury, son of Omar Chowdhury from Sarakkata village in Rangunia Upazila and a second year student of International Relations Department, went to Nangolmore along with his five friends to attend the wedding ceremony of his elder brother. All of them went to the Halda River on Friday for taking bath. All on a sudden, Noman drowned in the river while trying to cross the river.Police, eyewitness and Fire Service sources said, the body of Noman was recovered around 12.00 pm on Saturday after 24 hours of his drowning. The rescue team could not trace his body on Friday.Saiful Islam, Chief of Fire Rescue team told this correspondent that the body was finally traced at midday.Noman was residing at Chandgaon area in a rented house with his family members. His father Omar Chowdhury said, Noman along with five of his friends went to Hathazari to attend a marriage ceremony, adding that he drowned while they were taking a bath in the river in the morning. On information, a team of police and divers of Fire Service rushed to spot and started a rescue operation, said Sub-Inspector Mizanur Rahman of Hathazari Police Station.The body of Noman was seen distorted after recovery, said his father, adding the burial would be held at his Rangunia's family graveyard. Shafik had direct contact with convicted FBI agent: Joy Sajeeb Ahmed Wazed Joy says Shafik Rehman can be tried in the United States as well since he was 'involved in criminal activity' by conspiring to abduct and kill him. The prime minister's son wrote on his Facebook wall on Friday night that the journalist had direct contact with FBI agent Robert Lustyk, who is serving five years in a US jail for taking bribe in release of Shafik Rehman. The BNP leader called the allegations of 'complicity' against Shafik Rehman, Amar Desh Acting Editor Mahmudur Rahman and some BNP leaders abroad since the arrest of Shafik Rehman imaginary. Mirza Fakhrul also questioned the government's silence about transaction of 300 million US dollar as mentioned in US court documents of the case involving Sajeeb Wazed Joy. "Why is the government so silent about the 300 million dollar involving the name of Sajeeb Wazed Joy as specified in the documents submitted to the US court?" asked Mirza Fakhrul. ``The people of Bangladesh want to know the source of illicit transactions of the 300 million dollar fund. Who is the owner of that money -- a special individual or the people?" the BNP Secretary General asked. He was insisting on fair and effective investigation into the matter. BNP Standing Committee member Dr. Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain, Barrister Jamir Uddin Sirkar, Nazrul Islam Khan, Vice-Chairman Abdullah Al Noman, Selima Rahman, Chairperson's Advisor Dr. Osman Faruk and Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury, among others, were also present at the press conference. BD signs historic Paris climate deal Bangladesh signed the historic Paris Climate Agreement at the UN headquarters in New York on Friday, aiming to take multiple measures to save the world from disastrous consequences of climate change.Environment and Forests Minister Anwar Hossain Manju signed the deal on behalf of Bangladesh. Some 175 countries, including China and the US, signed the deal. The signing day coincided with 'International Mother Earth Day'. The signing ceremony turned out to be an event closely resembling the annual UN General Assembly sessions, featuring around 60 heads of state and government, according to a message received here.The opening session was addressed, among others, by the Presidents of France, Peru, Brazil, Bolivia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Prime Ministers of Canada, Italy and Tuvalu, Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation, Special Envoy of the President of China, US Secretary of State and UN Secretary General.The Bangladesh statement at the event highlighted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's personal commitment to combating climate change, and reaffirmed her government's readiness to continue to work towards mobilising greater international efforts in support of comprehensively implementing the Paris deal."Collective wisdom and commitments are essential to implement the Paris Climate Agreement... We all must consider the urgency of acting now," the statement reads. Bangladesh also flagged the various initiatives taken by the government to adapt to climate change in a pro-active manner through its own resources and international cooperation. It was particularly mentioned that a roadmap for implementing Bangladesh's Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC) was currently in the making. "All countries need to be united in our collective journey, keeping in mind that one's non-compliance may threaten the existence of all. However, developed countries have to take lead in this case," the Bangladesh statement urged all Following the deal signing, Minister Manju exchanged greetings with the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and the UNFCCC Executive Secretary Cristiana Figueres. He also had a bilateral meeting with Fatma Gulmedet Sari, Minister for Environment and Urbanization of Turkey. The two ministers agreed to work together during the lead-up to UNFCCC COP22 in Morocco in November 2016 to promote the issues of common interests, with focus on climate vulnerable LDCs. Tripura agrees to export 100mw power more to BD Staff Reporter : India's north-eastern state Tripura has agreed to export another 100 megawatts of power to Bangladesh. This is in addition to the 100MW the state is already exporting to the neighboring country. Tripura Power Minister Manik Dey informed reporters in Agartala on Saturday that Bangladesh government had recently requested India for extra 100MW power. The Tripura government readily gave the consent when the request was forwarded to it, he said. "We have informed the union government that we are willing to export another 100MW power to neighboring Bangladesh from the NEEPCO's power station at Monarchak, which will start commercial production very soon. "This will be in addition to the 100MW that we are exporting to Bangladesh from the Palatana power station," Deb said. The 100MW power station on bordering Monarchak is very close to Comilla district of Bangladesh. It has completed its trial generation and will start commercial production soon after the flow of gas becomes stable. The supply of power from Tripura is in accordance with the decision of the 7th Joint Steering Committee/Joint Working Group on Power held in Dhaka in 2014 to explore the possibility of supply of 100MW power from Tripura. Bangladesh allowed the transport of over-dimensional cargo through its territory during the construction of the Palatana power plant in Tripura in 2011. Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar immediately promised he would ensure supply of minimum 100MW power from Tripura's share to Bangladesh following New Delhi's approval. Bangladesh and India's power grids have earlier been connected with the supplying of 500MW power to Bangladesh through the Bahrampur-Bheramara transmission cable. The supply of another 500 megawatts through the same interconnection was also announced during Modi's Dhaka visit last year. Bangladesh and Tripura maintain a special relationship as the north-eastern state of India had given millions of Bangladeshis shelter during 1971 Liberation War. Tonu killers still untraced Left students call half-day hartal for Monday M M Jasim :The law enforcing agencies are yet to unearth the clue and motive behind the murder of Tonu although the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of Police claimed that they have huge information. Since the murder of Tonu on March 20, the protest demanding to arrest and award exemplary punishment to the killers continues. In continuation of the protest, two platforms of some left leaning student organisations (the Progressive Students' Alliance and Anti-Imperialist Students' Union) on Saturday called countrywide hartal for Monday. They will bring out a torch procession today in favour of the countrywide hartal. The announcement came at a joint press conference held at Modhu's Canteen on the Dhaka University campus on Saturday afternoon. Faisal Mahmud, Convener of Anti-Imperialist Students' Union, said the torch procession will portray the symbol of fight and protest against repression and abuse on women everywhere in Bangladesh. "There is a culture of impunity in our country. Killers, rapists and wrongdoers are pardoned. This practice must be stopped. Our movement is against such bad practice," he said. They will also campaign through Dhaka city and elsewhere to make the hartal a success.According to information detailed in the press conference, 11 student organisations of the two alliances and about 13 other political parties will be in the field "to make the hartal successful".They said also to have spoken to transport leaders urging them to restrain from plying vehicles in the city and urged all to participate in the "hartal for justice" spontaneously.Sohagi Jahan Tonu, a second year history student of Comilla Victoria College and a cultural activist, was murdered near the Comilla Cantonment area on the night of March 20. Though a month has elapsed, apparently there has been no significant progress to identify the killers.Entire country went on an outrage as comments and opinions flooded the social media condemning the murder. Several protest programmes and demonstrations have been held. The two major alliances of left-leaning student organisations called for a hartal on April 7 and they were barred from besieging the home ministry over the same demand.The case of Tonu murder was handed over to CID of Police on March 29. But no headway is yet to be seen after 26 days. The CID officials are also optimistic of unearthing the clue and motive behind Tonu murder. The CID officials questioned as many as 56 people, including Tonu's family members, in 23 days and gathered sufficient information'. CID Special Superintendent of Police Abdul Kahar Akanda said, they are still verifying the information." We hope to reach a conclusion very soon," he said. SSP Kahar Akanda was the investigation officer in many sensational cases including the Bangabandhu murder, the August 21 grenade attack and the BDR mutiny.Now he is heading the team of investigators, who are assisting the main panel probing the murder case, which was handed over to CID on March 29. Yet another polls drama One killed: Presiding officer, 3 cops among many bullet hit by AL men's attack: Ballot stuffing, false vote, centre occupying, ballot boxes snatching, sporadic clashes mar election: CEC says violence fewer than previous two phases: Voting in 24 centres cancelled Two on duty policemen were bullet wounds by the miscreants at Sundara Govt Primary School Polling Centre at Ichhapur Union of Ramganj Upazila of Luxmipur on Saturday. This photo was taken from Health Complex. Sagar Biswas : The Saturday's third-phase voting to elect 'chairman' and 'member' candidates in the country's 614 union parishads was held amid sporadic chases and counter-chases between the supporters of candidates and massive vote rigging in different centres. One person was killed and several others were injured in a tripartite clash among the supporters of two 'chairman' candidates and police centering the vote counting at Bahadurpur Govt Primary School centre of Mathurapur union at Chatmohar upazila in Pabna yesterday evening. The victim was shot dead when police opened fire to tackle the situation. Details of the incident could not be known immediately. Apart from it, around 100 persons were injured in clashes in different unions during election time. Earlier, the vote casting started at 8:00am and it continued till 4:00pm. Significantly, the voters started showing less interest in casting their votes after the noon, though the queues of the voters were long enough in the polling booths earlier in the morning. The unruly activists and supporters of some ruling Awami League-backed candidates were allegedly engaged in ballot stuffing and false voting defying restriction of party high command. They also forcibly occupied several centres in different unions ousting the agents of opponent candidates. In particular, the situation was extremely deteriorating at Ijjatpur High School centre under Sreepur upazila in Gazipur district where the presiding officer in fear of attack by ruling party men took shelter in other room along with polling agents. The ruling party men sealed ballot papers in favour of their candidates without any interruption for about 30 minutes. Later, BGB and police charged baton to disperse the law breakers. At least ten persons, including a presiding officer and three police personnel, received bullet injuries when supporters of Awami League-backed candidate Md Shahnewaz attempted to snatch away ballot boxes at Ekkhulia Primary School centre of Sundarpur union under Fatikchhari upazila in Chittagong district at about 2:00pm. Elections to 24 polling centres in 48 districts have been cancelled. The situation was also serious at AC Academy High School of Chunata union under Sarail upazial in Brahmman Baria district where ruling party activists sealed on ballot papers free-style at least in five centres. A reporter and a cameraperson of a private television channel were beaten severely when they tried to take footage of the incident. Following the occurrence, voting was stopped from 9:20am to 10:40am. In fact, the scenario was all the same in several centres of different districts, including Manikganj, Noakhali, Chandpur, Laxmipur, Comilla, Jamalpur, Sherpur and Natore where ruling party men apparently unleashed a reign of terror to grab votes in favour of their selected candidates. In this backdrop, raising allegation of massive vote rigging and electoral misconduct by the ruling party activists, candidates of Bangladesh Nationalist Party [BNP] announced to boycott the polls in several unions. About 28 candidates of BNP and other parties have withdrawn themselves from the race at that time. The Election Commission [EC] also expressed severe dissatisfaction over the unlawful activities of ruling party men, especially about the ballot stuffing, although the incidents of violence were relatively comparatively fewer yesterday. The Commission openly criticised the role of the ruling party activists when the complaints of vote rigging, ballot stuffing and other misconduct started coming to EC just within two/three hours of the vote casting. The EC also reportedly expressed surprise while the directive of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was ignored by her party men. Chief Election Commissioner [CEC] Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmed came to his Sher-e-Bangla Nagar office within a few minutes after the vote began. Four Commissioners and Secretary also reached there after some time. Later, they sat in a meeting at the room of CEC. Requesting not to be named, an Election Commissioner said that they hoped the electoral scenario in the third phase would be "much better" than first and second phases after PM's instruction. "After getting assurance from ruling party high-ups, we had expected that the incidents of ballot stuffing, ballot snatching and clashes will be less in the third phase. We also hoped that the ruling party leaders and activists will not take part in unlawful activities. But the real scenario is seen reversed. They are making continuous trouble," the Commission said. Expressing satisfaction, the CEC Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmed, however, told the media that the overall polls was "peaceful" than the previous two phases. According to EC, about 1,487 candidates of 14 political parties and 1,185 independent candidates took part in the third phase UP polls yesterday. Of them, the number of Awami League-backed candidates was 617, BNP 536, Jatiya Party 167, JASAD 26, Workers Party 12, Islamic Andolan Bangladesh 92, Jamiyate Ulamaye Islam 10, Bangladesh Communist Party five, Islami Front Bangladesh three, JP three, Khelafat Majlish two, Bikolpa Dhara three, BASAD one and others four. Meanwhile, the BNP yesterday alleged that a 'secret deal' has been inked between the EC and government about holing the UP election. Prosecution not being independent is fatal for criminal justice Our Constitution requires the prosecution to be independent like the judiciary as part of the judiciary. The process of justice has to be saved from political abuse of criminal proceedings. How bad the situation has become for the judiciary should be clear from the fact that criminal cases are freely used for political ends. The enforcement of law for initiating court cases has to be impartial and not amenable to manipulation from outside.The constitutional legitimacy of the independence of the judiciary is beyond question. The same cannot be claimed by the government. It is legitimate for the Supreme Court to insist on independent prosecution. Criminal cases are lodged by the state and conducted on behalf of the state, not the government. But in our case it is in every way a government matter. Our non-government human rights organisations, including our own official Human Rights Commission do not concern themselves with the need of the rule of law or independence of the judiciary for securing human rights. They often talk about human rights violations after the event. But they do not care to make the constitutional system functional for safeguarding the human rights. Independence of the judiciary not considered an issue. They will not demand prosecution of criminal cases to be free from government's control. The result is: human rights are easily violated and our human rights bodies also raise protest regularly for the record. The victims suffer unheeded. The whole criminal prosecution system is controlled by the government. The police is government police. The lawyers are also government lawyers, changeable with the change of the government. The Anti-Corruption Commission has their own lawyers independent of the government control. But this same example is not followed for having an independent prosecution dealing with much larger number of criminal cases. Constitutionally, the government itself being very much under the rule of law it cannot be in charge of the prosecuting process. This is the reason why the men in government are sure of being above the law as long as they remain in power. So loosing power is unthinkable. Under the rule of law this is not permissible that the government will exclusively decide who should be prosecuted and who should not be. They have to satisfy the independent prosecution. No system can work in part.The fundamental rights are most needed when one faces criminal proceedings. An accused can be taken into police custody for questioning. On insistence of the prosecution he can even be locked up without bail. Thus all his fundamental rights may prove to be of no help. All his family members may lose their bread earner, before one is found guilty of the offence alleged. Our justice system must not be part of the ruthless power struggle we have. The rights guaranteed under the Constitution are not to be interfered with by the government. In our present politics it has become easy to dictate cases politically. Politicians should deal with opposition politicians politically. Reliance on police power for facing political opponents is a reflection of weak and undemocratic political leadership.The authority of the government to apply administrative laws for administration is not denied. It is altogether a different cup of tea when law is applied for lodging a criminal case against one. The problem of our politics in the midst of leadership crisis is that our leaders do not understand the need of good governance. They understand their own need of remaining in power. All the institutions of good governance are degenerating for being neglected. Bad governance is bad for the government also. No badly managed government can rely on fear of police power too long. The breakdown of law and order is horror for everybody. The fatal defect of the criminal justice system is that criminal prosecution is in the hands of the government. So the fear is that the criminals can escape punishment because the prosecution is not independent. If a criminal can avoid arrest, no court can punish him. It is a fatal weakness of our judiciary that the prosecution is fully under the grip of the government. When the judiciary enjoys the Constitution's full trust for ensuring justice under law, but in reality, justice is often hindered by absence of independent prosecution. The judiciary, as guardian of the Constitution, must tell what the government can and what cannot do for running a constitutional government.If the people are allowed to enjoy their fundamental rights and are thus saved from abuse of power, that itself will be a big hope for the people to look forward. As the Constitution mandates, let the independent prosecution handle the criminal cases on behalf of the state and not as desired by the government. The system building role is played by knowledgeable sections of the people everywhere. To be hypocritical is not to be responsible. Pre-purchase property inspection is a relatively new thing in the United Kingdom. Its not something that most people have heard about, but it has become increasingly popular over the last few years with the rise in property prices and increased demand for high quality homes. What are the benefits of pre-purchase building inspection? What can you expect to find out when you pay someone else to inspect your home before you buy it? And what should you look for during an inspection? Many people want to know if theyre buying a house thats been well maintained or if its had any serious problems. If youve found a place on the market that seems attractive, but then discover some issues after moving in, you may not be as excited about buying it as you thought you were. Its important to do your due diligence when looking at properties. A lot goes into making a property appealing to potential buyers, from the landscaping to the flooring to the kitchen appliances. The same applies when inspecting a property there are many things that need checking over to make sure everything is running smoothly. Here are some of the benefits of performing a pre-purchase inspection: You get to see exactly what will happen to your money When you go shopping for a new car, youll probably be shown several different models. You might even be shown one that looks like a great value, but doesnt fit around all of the extra features that you want. When it comes time to actually buy the vehicle, however, you wont have seen how your money will be spent on it once you drive it off the showroom floor. Likewise, when you shop for a new home, you dont really know what youre getting yourself into until you move in. In order to get a feel for whether the home youre considering is what you want, you normally have to spend quite a bit of time inside it. This allows you to learn more about everything that youre going to be spending your hard-earned cash on. A pre-purchase building inspection gives you much the same kind of experience without having to spend thousands of dollars. Since youre paying for the service, you can expect to see exactly what youre paying for, instead of just seeing a vague idea of what you might end up with. You find out about potential major repairs Some buildings are very expensive to maintain, which means that owners often neglect them for the sake of saving money. While youre paying for a building inspection, youre also paying for a professional who knows how to spot signs of trouble and repair work that needs doing. If you notice that a particular area of your new home needs fixing right away, you can call in an expert to take care of it quickly. If you find that theres something wrong with your boiler, you wont have to wait weeks for a plumber to come over and fix it. Instead, youll have access to a solution immediately. You can save hundreds of pounds by finding out about potential problems early on One of the biggest expenses when you first buy a home is the cost of moving in. Many people dont realize this until its too late. Buying a home involves not only paying for the actual house, but also for moving costs, furniture, and other items that have to be moved along with the home. Having a good idea ahead of time of what youre likely to encounter can help you avoid these kinds of costs. If you know youll need to replace the plumbing system, for example, youll be able to put together a budget for the expense and plan accordingly. You can protect your investment by finding out if the homes been well cared for While there are plenty of people who think that houses always look better when theyre newly built, youd be surprised at how well maintained older residences can still look nice. Sometimes, though, those homes need some additional maintenance to keep them looking their best. This could involve repairs that arent so noticeable or small improvements that you wouldnt consider otherwise. Even worse, some houses have fallen into disrepair without anyone noticing. This is why having a professional perform a building inspection prior to purchasing a home is such a big benefit. Not only will it give you insight into the state of the property, but it will also give you peace of mind knowing youre not getting taken advantage of. As long as youre aware of the potential pitfalls, youll have less reason to worry about the state of your new home. You can use information gathered during a building inspection to negotiate a lower price If youre worried about buying a home because you suspect that it may need extensive renovation work, you may already have a rough idea of how much work youll need to do to bring it up to scratch. That knowledge can come in handy if you decide to buy the home. You can use all of the details that you gather during a building inspection to present a realistic picture of what the home is worth to prospective buyers. If a potential buyer thinks that the home is worth more than what you paid for it, you can try negotiating a lower price. You can sell your home faster and for more money If you decide to list your home on the market soon after buying it, youll need to price it accurately in order to attract buyers. But if youve already done a thorough building inspection, youll know exactly what work is needed and what the current market conditions are. In other words, youll be able to make a more accurate estimate of the amount of money youve invested in the home and how much its worth. If you find that youre selling your house for close to its full market value, you can use this information to convince the potential buyer that your home is worth the asking price. Even if youre planning to stay in the home for a while before you decide to sell, the fact that you did a thorough building inspection will give you more confidence when listing it. Prospective buyers will know exactly what theyre paying for. Your home will hold its value longer As mentioned earlier, the value of a home depends heavily upon the condition of the building itself. If your home is in bad shape, potential buyers wont be interested in buying it. On the other hand, if youve performed a thorough building inspection and know what sort of repairs are necessary, you can offer your prospective buyer a compelling reason to invest in your property. When you buy a home, youre essentially agreeing to have it inspected periodically to ensure that it stays in top shape. Not only does this allow you to avoid expensive repairs down the road, but it can also increase the value of your home. You can make smart decisions about property investments Buying real estate isnt as simple as just driving a couple of minutes to pick up a house. There are lots of considerations involved, ranging from location to cost. The same is true when youre investing in property. If you find a house that meets all of your requirements, youll want to make sure that you have a solid understanding of where it stands with regards to the rest of the market. If you havent spent enough time researching the area, you could inadvertently end up with a bad deal. There are lots of resources available online that can help you determine the overall level of competition in your area. They can also help you figure out if there are any properties that meet your requirements that you didnt know about. If you own rental property, you can use the information to identify tenants who might cause damage If you own rental property and youve noticed that certain tenants consistently cause damage, you can use the results of a building inspection to identify them. You can then contact them directly to let them know that youre watching them closely and that you dont appreciate the problem theyre causing. They might start taking better care of their homes, which would be good news for everyone. It could also be the case that youll find out that theyre responsible for previous damages that werent caught during a previous visit. You can make smarter decisions about hiring contractors If youve hired contractors to build or repair your home, you might want to ask them for references. However, unless you perform a thorough building inspection, you might not know exactly what to look for. For instance, maybe you only checked the roof for leaks or the walls for cracks. You might not have looked underneath the foundation for anything that could cause a future issue. By performing a building inspection, you can ensure that you hire reputable contractors who will be trustworthy with your money. You can avoid purchasing a home thats in poor condition Of course, the main benefit of structural inspections perth is that it helps you avoid purchasing a home thats in poor condition. Before you make the decision to buy a home, you should do whatever you can to find out about the state of the building. You can also ask your realtor about what sorts of inspections are typically recommended. Some agents say that its standard practice to check the heating system, the roof, the electrical wiring, and the floors. Others will tell you that they recommend that you check the entire structure. Either way, if you choose to hire an inspector, youll find out exactly what needs to be fixed and how much it will cost to do so. As a result, it can be concluded that a pre-purchase building inspection is highly important for the buyers because it provides transparency regarding the current conditions of the structure. Additionally, the building owner is made aware of any upgrades or repairs that are required, which could lead to a fair deal throughout the purchasing and selling process. The sextoy market is growing quite rapidly in India right now. Although it is not a big trend, it is a hot topic on the internet as it is secretly expanding its market. In this article, we will focus on sextoy and introduce recommended sextoy for Indian beginners of sextoy by gender. India, the birthplace of the Kama Sutra, is very strict about sex. Also, premarital sex is basically not allowed. Therefore, there are many people who are sexually restricted. But what happens when you continue to be sexually restricted? Frustration may build up and you may end up taking your sexual stress out on your partner. If you are able to adopt sextoy in a timely manner, you can get rid of those problems. I want to have more exciting sex than Im having now. I want more variation in masturbation I want to get even stronger pleasure than I do on my own. If you have any of these problems, please stay with me until the end. What is sex toys for Indian? Sextoy, as the name implies, is a toy used during sex and masturbation. It is a generic term for vibrators, Egg-vibrators, Electric massagers, dildo, handcuffs and condoms. They are used to make regular sex more exciting or to make masturbation more pleasurable. Because sextoy is very stimulating, it can help you to get rid of the problems and frustrations of being in a rut of sex with your partner for a long time, or if you are unhappy with the lack of pleasure in sex with your partner. The ability to satisfy your desires with movement, texture, and size, which cannot be done by a normal human being, can help you to be satisfied with sex and, as a result, improve your relationship with your partner. It is also said to help improve sexual dysfunction (inability to get an erection or ejaculate) and difficulty in feeling during sex (insensitivity), which is attracting more attention than in the past. In recent years, the demand for sextoy has increased due to the spread of smartphones and the Internet and the increasing number of people using online shopping. Even those who are concerned about the appearance of sextoy (and find it difficult to purchase) can now easily obtain it by using mail order. In the case of online shopping, most of the stores have taken steps to ensure that the contents of the products delivered to you are not revealed, so you can purchase them without your family members knowing. Until a while ago, you had to go to the store where the adult goods were sold to buy them, so it was quite a hurdle to overcome. Also, many people may have an image that sextoy is somehow embarrassing to own. But nowadays, some of them are so stylish and cute that you cant believe they are sextoy at a glance. More and more people are using them for travel and outdoor use because they are not too bulky and are suitable for carrying around. Sextoy situation in India Before introducing the recommended sextoy for Indians, lets talk about one of the sextoy situations in India in recent years. In India, due to the high concentration of population, the following six cities have particularly high sales of sextoy in India. Mumbai Kolkata Bangalore Delhi Chennai Hyderabad These cities account for roughly 70 percent of sextoy sales in India. In the future, the percentage of sextoy use will gradually increase in other cities in India as well. If you never talk about sextoy publicly, that girl in your neighborhood might be a sextoy user too. If you are interested in sextoy, you dont have to suppress your desire for it. What are Sextoys for beginner? Among all sextoys, sextoy for beginners are vibrators, dildo, masturbators, Sex Lubricants, and condoms. Sex Lubricants and condoms, which are familiar to people who have had sex, are also a great beginners sextoy. I will explain the details of each toy later, but there are many sextoy products that are painful to use and can only be used after some anal expansion. I assume that the Indian readers of this article are people who have not had much experience with sextoy. If such people use professional sextoy suddenly, they are at risk of injury or trauma. Therefore, to introduce sextoy, you need to start with a beginners version and gradually become familiar with it. Advantages of using sextoy for Indians There are three advantages of using sextoy for Indians You can masturbate in a wide variety of ways. Can have stimulating sex Can develop new sexual zones If you try to masturbate with your own fingers or hands, it tends to be a pattern. However, with sextoy, you can easily masturbate in a variety of ways. You will definitely be fascinated by the attraction of new stimulation. Also, your daily sex life will be more exciting than ever. There are many things in sextoy that are visually stimulating and give you a strong and intense feeling of pleasure. This allows you to see your partners promiscuity in a way that you wouldnt normally see it. When you are in a relationship, sex with your partner may become a pattern, but it can also eliminate these problems. It can also lead to the development of new sexual zones (which is the training of sexual stimulation to allow you to feel orgasms). For more information on the development of new sexual zones, see the following articles [Women's Erogenous Zone]How to find and develop, 7 hidden sexual zones !![In India] In this issue, we will dissect the female erogenous zone! ..." Many of you may be like that. Men, in particular, shou... Thus, the use of sextoy can only be a good thing for the men and women of India. Sextoy for beginner men in India So, lets continue with the recommended goods for Indian sextoy beginners. For ease of understanding, we will introduce them by gender. Lets start with the men! The following five goods are recommended for novice Indian sextoy men Masturbator Cock rings Love Doll Sex Lubricants Toys for the prostate Lets check each one in detail. Masturbator The masturbator is a sextoy for men that elaborately reproduces a womans vagina, mouth, and anus, and is one of the most popular sextoy products. It is used by men to masturbate, and it is popular because it provides stronger stimulation and pleasure more easily than using hands. Most are made of good quality silicone, and their softness is something that cannot be achieved with ones own hands. They can provide stronger pleasure than a real womans vagina, so be careful not to overuse them. (You wont be able to have an orgasm in a womans vagina anymore.) Again Male masturbators are a wonderful toy. I do not need any favourite timing, bothersome bargaining. You do not have to worry too much. Revolutionize your masturbation time! ! ! Made in Japan is a wonderful kinky toy.#sextoysindia #SexToyIndia #Japanhttps://t.co/4k70QGzoTP pic.twitter.com/tRVdxTKPpa SEXToys India PR (@SextoysIndia) November 12, 2018 Some of them are disposable, while others can be washed and used over and over again, so its fun to buy a few to use depending on your mood. If you want to know more about masturbator, please click here Really pleasant male masturbation and how to do it Are you in a rut with your daily masturbation routine? I'm going to show you five ways men masturbate that you might ... [For Beginners] How to choose and use a male masturbator without fail Gentlemen.Have you ever used a masturbator? The person who sees this article is probably the one who has not experien... Cock Ring A cock ring is literally a ring-shaped sextoy that is worn on a mans penis. It maintains an erection by binding the penis with a ring of rubber and blocking blood flow. It is sometimes used as an accessory to be worn on the penis, and may be made of metal or plastic as well as rubber. In some cases, cock rings have parts or vibrators attached to them that stimulate the vagina, so they kill two birds with one stone, giving a woman pleasure while maintaining an erection. Cock rings are also sometimes used to treat erectile dysfunction. It can help with erectile dysfunction, where the penis doesnt get hard when you get an erection or doesnt last long when you try to insert it. Men who are prone to breakage or who are unsure of the hardness and size of their erections can use a cock ring to increase the size of their penis and maintain an erection for a longer period of time. Cock rings vary in price from around RS700 to over RS2000 with a vibrator function. Some of them do not fit your penis, so you should check the size of the cock ring before you buy. You should know the size of your partners or your own penis when it is erect. [Penis enlargement] What is a cock ring? Types and usage Cock rings can make your penis bigger and harder. It also makes sex with women more fulfilling and increases your sat... Love Doll Love dolls, also known as Dutchwives, are dolls with the appearance of a woman who can experience simulated sex. There are dolls that look like a woman, but they have no face and only have their breasts and lower torso cut off, and some dolls are so realistic that they can actually be mistaken for real women. Some expensive dolls can cost more than 1 million yen, and the quality of the doll is easily influenced by the price. The higher the price, the higher the quality of the doll will be, the closer it will be to the real woman, and the cheaper the doll will be, the less elaborate it will be, making it look like a real doll! Something is wrong! That is also true. You cant go wrong if you choose a balance between price and taste. There are stores that allow you to make custom-made love dolls, so you can create a girl of your choice. You can make a girl of your choice. You can start with inexpensive love dolls at first, and once you get used to it, you can try custom-made love dolls. If you want to know more about Love doll, please click here Thorough explanation of the charm of sex dolls! Have you ever heard of sex dolls that are used primarily for pseudo-sex purposes? It is a doll that is quite close to... Sex lubricants Sex lubricants are used as a substitute for lubricating fluid during sex or as a lubricant for men to use masturbator rules. It is not uncommon for women to have difficulty getting wet, depending on their physical condition, or to have difficulty getting wet due to their constitution. Forcing the penis into the vagina at such times can cause painful intercourse. There are various types of Sex Lubricants, some with a warming effect, some with a cooling effect, and some with a scent. Changing the Sex Lubricant used during play is recommended as a good sex accent. If you want to learn more about Sex Lubricants, click here. What is sex lubricant?Explain the difference and usage of each ingredient The word "sex toy" may seem like a hurdle to overcome, but lotion is actually one of the most familiar sex toys. Many... Toys for the Prostate Another sextoy for men is prostate toys. The most famous prostate toys include Enemagra, which was originally a prostate massager developed by an American urologist to treat an enlarged prostate line. Modern prostate toys are imitations of Enemagra that have spread as sextoy for men. Many people think of prostate toys as being used by gay men, but in fact they are often used by straight men. What is the prostate? The prostate is an organ found only in men. It is a walnut-sized organ located deep in the pelvis, just below the bladder, and its primary role is to protect and nourish sperm. You cannot touch the prostate gland from outside the body, but you can touch it by inserting a finger or sextoy through the anus. By inserting a finger or sextoy through the anus and touching the prostate and developing it, you can feel intense orgasms. Orgasms felt in the prostate are mainly dry orgasms, which are orgasms that do not involve ejaculation. (You can also feel orgasms with ejaculation through prostate stimulation.) The prostate is called the male G-spot, and dry orgasms can be much more intense than ejaculation. Therefore, men who are able to develop a prostate can become addicted to the pleasure. sextoy for beinner women in India The following are the recommended goods for Indian women who are new to sextoy. The following three are recommended for use by women who are new to sextoy. Vibrator. Dildo Electric Masserger Lets check out what each one is in detail. If you want to check out womens toys, click here. [BEST25]Sex Toys for Women in IndiaThat Can Help You Have an Orgasm There are many women who pretend to feel orgasm during sex. But don't worry, you don't have to pretend to feel orgasm... Vibrators A vibrator is a sextoy that vibrates with an Egg-Vibrator to provide stimulation and is often referred to simply as a vibrator. Some vibrate as well as rotate, and there are many variations of sextoy. It is quite a popular sextoy, and is well recognized by people who do not know much about sextoy. Its usage is similar to that of a massager, but it is more compact and easier to carry than a massager, and many of them look as cute as a lipstick or a macaroon, so they are popular among women. For a while, a famous influencer on twitter said, This is good! You may have heard of the topic of this article by introducing the recommended vibrators. Vibrators are great for women to use on their own, but they are also recommended for men who have difficulty satisfying women with sex. Since it is powered by electricity, it is far less tiring than moving your hands by yourself. This makes it easier to satisfy a woman with sex because you can caress her for longer than usual. Vibrators are mainly used on the female side, but they can also be used on men. When used on men, they are used to attack the nipples and glans, and in both cases it is recommended to wear a condom for hygiene reasons. Introducing how to use the vibrator, its purpose, and how to choose it! Vibrator uses the vibrations caused by the rotation of the motor to provide stimulation. It is one or two of the most... Dildo A dildo is a model sextoy made to mimic a male penis. It can be made of silicone, elastomer (think of it as a material similar to PVC), metal or glass. A dildo can be used by a man for his female partner during sex, or by a woman for masturbation to get pleasure from it. They are mainly inserted into women, but some can be used in the male anus as well. It is sometimes used synonymously with vibrators, but the vibrator is not the same thing as a vibrating device. A model of a penis that does not vibrate is a dildo. Some of them have suction cups that can be attached to the floor or wall so that you can enjoy realistic masturbation without using your hands. For fun, there is a dildo made in the shape of your partners penis. This one is also popular as a gift, and if youve been together for a long time and are having trouble finding a gift for your partner, you might want to pick one. To learn more about dildo, please click here. What is Dildo: Orgasms with Dildos for Men and Women A dildo is a model of a male organ that is used by women for masturbation and by men to stimulate the prostate gland. Th... Electric Masserger A Electric Masserger is a hand-held electric massager, also known as a handheld massager, and can usually be purchased at electronics stores. It was originally designed to relieve stiff shoulders and back pain, so the hurdle of buying one in a physical store is quite low. Many people may have seen or used it in some form or another, as it is often installed in leisure hotels. Such a massager is highly recommended for beginners because it is easy for women to get pleasure from it when they use it during masturbation. It is larger than Egg-Vibrator and vibrations are stronger than those of Egg-Vibrators and vibrators, so even just hitting the clitoris can give you a great deal of pleasure. For those women who have never had an orgasm during sex with their man, the massager may be a good way to get a feel for what it feels like to have an orgasm. It looks and feels like an electric massager, so you wont have to feel awkward if your roommate finds out. If you are in a rut of having sex with your partner, if you want to feel an orgasm through masturbation, or if you are thinking of using a sextoy, why dont you try it from a simple massager? To learn more about Electric Masserger, click here. What is a massager? Introducing types, selection methods, and usage Originally, the Magic-wand vibrator and the massage machine were sold as a home massage machine used for the back and th... How to choose a sextoy for Indian Now that weve covered the different types of sextoy, heres how to choose one. Especially if you are trying sextoy for the first time, pay attention to the following three points: Does the size fit you (the partner)? Does the size fit you (your partner)? Is the environment able to produce sound without problems? Price range First of all, the choice of size is quite important. Most sextoy are used against or inserted into the genitals, but the genitals are very delicate organs for both men and women. For this reason, using an inappropriate size may cause damage. Secondly, the environment should be able to produce sound without problems. Some sextoys not only wear, but also rotate and vibrate. Its easier to get pleasure from something that moves than something that doesnt, but the fact that it moves means that the internal rotors make some noise. If you live in a house with thin walls or if you have roommates, you may not be able to concentrate because of the noise, so it is best to choose one that is silent or has a low noise level. Especially in India, where many people live with their families, it is very important that you dont have to worry about sound when you use it. Finally, there is the price range. The price range of sextoy ranges widely, from around RS500 at the cheapest to RS10,000 or more at the highest. Its good to consider how much money you can afford and how much you want to buy. Do you want your family to not find out about sextoy? I live with my family and want to use sextoy without them finding out! If you are a man, you should buy a camouflage sextoy that does not look like a sextoy at first glance. For men, there are many masturbators that do not look like a sextoy, and for women, there are vibrators that only look like cosmetics. If you choose such a type, youll be safe in case your family members find out. How to buy sextoys in India The best way to purchase sextoy is through online shopping. For more information on how to purchase sextoy, please see the article below. Sextoy is one of them. Therefore, you can easily get sextoy in India by using online shopping. SexToysINDIA is a long established and stable sextoy store and you can have sextoy delivered to any place in India. They also offer cash on delivery, so those who are worried about shopping with a credit card do not have to worry. Of course, the latest security is in place, so your information will not be taken out when you use your credit card. To begin with, many people may be concerned about whether they are legally allowed to purchase sextoy. ikmAs it turns out, its not illegal. Right now, it is not open to the public because the Indian adult market is still in the development stage, but it will gradually spread from now on. Take advantage of sextoy and open the door to new pleasures and culture. Cautions for Indians using sextoy When using sextoy, keep the following three things in mind Keep sex toys clean Watch out for electrical leakage Beware of the heat generated by the body while using a sex toy As I mentioned earlier, many sextoy products are used for the delicate zone. Therefore, it is most important to keep the sextoy itself clean. It is very important to keep the sextoy itself clean, because if a slight scratch is created by friction, bacteria can enter and breed there. It is safe to wear a condom when using the masturbator, just in case. In addition, many sextoy devices are powered by a power source, so if they are not waterproof, there is a possibility of electric shock or malfunction due to wetness. Some may even develop heat during continuous use. If the fever becomes too much, you may get burned, so be careful. If you get a fever during use, stop driving the sextoy immediately and refrain from using it. You will enjoy sex more if you keep it safe and use it correctly. Summary What did you think? In this article, we have introduced the recommended sextoy for the beginners of sextoy in India. The sextoy market is growing rapidly in India and it will continue to grow steadily in the future. As India is a rather closed-minded country, it can be difficult to be open about ones sexual habits and values. However, being faithful to ones desires by properly dissolving ones sexual desire is very effective for ones physical and mental health. If this is your first time to learn about sextoy, or if you are interested in using sextoy, why not give it a try? Indian Sextoys for ur best! will introduce you to sextoy and other trivia about sextoy, sexuality, and sexuality for men and women. I want to read more! If you think its a great idea, please bookmark it. A 39-year-old Vance man must serve 90 days in prison for a marijuana charge. On Wednesday, Reggie Anderson of 113 Rowees Road pleaded guilty to distribution of marijuana. Circuit Judge Howard King sentenced Anderson to prison for three years, but suspended the sentence to 90 days plus two years of probation. Anderson must also pay a fine of $3,000. He may serve his prison sentence on weekends. Also during Orangeburg County Circuit Court: Shari Crandal, 55, of 11332 Old Number Six Highway, Eutawville, pleaded guilty to breach of trust with fraudulent intent of a value of more than $1,000 but less than $5,000. The judge sentenced her to prison for five years, but suspended the sentence to two years of probation. Crandal must also pay $1,469.87 in restitution. This case is from 2001, according to Crandals indictment. Kishon Chappelle Govan, 37, of 2448 Russell St., Orangeburg, pleaded guilty to unlawful carrying of a handgun. King sentenced him to one year in prison or to pay a fine of $250. If Govan doesnt pay the fine within 60 days, the court will issue a bench warrant for his arrest. Victor Piernas, 35, of 941 Rastville Road, Cordova, pleaded guilty to possessing/making implements capable of being used in a crime. The judge sentenced him to prison for one year, suspended to six months of probation. Piernas must also obtain his GED. According to his arrest indictment, Piernas had a pair of gloves and a crowbar in his possession on Dec. 19, 2015. Amber Michele Bynum, 24, of 312 Sandspur Road, Pelion, pleaded guilty to possession of narcotics, first offense. King sentenced her under the Youthful Offender Act not to exceed three years. The court also ordered her to testify truthfully against her co-defendant. Teon Quentin Holman, 33, of 2135 Camden Road, Holly Hill, pleaded guilty to possession of cocaine. The judge sentenced him to prison for three years, but suspended the term to 18 months of probation. Hes also ordered to undergo random drug/alcohol testing and pay a fine of $3,000. Ronnie Livingston, 48, of 7784 Neeses Hwy., Springfield, pleaded guilty to six counts of financial transaction card forgery. King sentenced him to prison for five years, but suspended the term to two years of probation and to pay restitution of $772.85. According to his indictment, Livingston faced eight additional counts of financial transaction card forgery, but prosecutors nolle prossed them. Brysen Storm Rhodarmer, 17, of 333 Sue Craig Road, Six Mile, pleaded guilty to forgery valued at $10,000 or less and possession of cocaine, first offense. King sentenced him to two concurrent terms of prison under the Youthful Offender Act not to exceed five years, suspending the sentence to two years of probation. The judge ordered that Rhodarmers probation could end after one year if he obtains his GED. Travis ONeal Dixon, 35, of 148 Wesley Grove, Cordova, pleaded guilty to possession of cocaine, first offense. King sentenced him to prison for one year or to pay a fine of $500. The fine must be paid within 90 days or a bench warrant will be issued for his arrest. Keith Lampkin, 23, of 742 Peake St., Holly Hill, pleaded guilty to third-degree domestic violence. The judge sentenced him to prison for 90 days, suspending the sentence to one year of probation. Lampkin must also complete 100 hours of public service employment, successfully complete anger management and undergo random drug/alcohol screenings. Jaqueri Geiger, 21, of 111 Red Cedar Road, Orangeburg, pleaded guilty to second-degree domestic violence. King sentenced him to a maximum of three years in prison under the Youthful Offender Act, suspended to two years of probation. Jermaine Lamont Stokes, 39, 595 Resort St., Santee, pleaded guilty to failure to stop for a blue light, first offense and second-degree assault and battery. The judge sentenced him to two concurrent terms of 90 days in prison, suspended to probation for two years. Hes given credit for having served 54 days at the Orangeburg County Detention Center. Karen Adams Moody, 49, of 112 Oswald Farm Lane, St. Matthews, pleaded guilty to second-degree domestic violence. King sentenced him to prison for two years, suspended to 18 months of probation. He ordered Moody not to have any contact with the victim. Moody was originally charged with attempted murder for firing five shots at the victim. Jonathan Lowain Brown, 23, of 1293 Tansy St., Manning, pleaded guilty to possession of a controlled substance. The judge sentenced him under the Youthful Offender Act not to exceed six months. He must undergo random drug/alcohol testing. Justin Tyler Hubbard, 20, of 1160 College Ave., Orangeburg, pleaded guilty to breaking into a motor vehicle. King sentenced him to prison for one year and revoked his parole under the Youthful Offender Act. The Cortland American Legion and Legion Auxiliary have announced their delegates to Cornhusker Boys State and Girls State at UNL. The post is sending two boys and one girl. Garrett Engelhard is the son of John and Regina Engelhard. He attends Norris School, where he participates in band and trap. He is also involved with the Boy Scouts, Cortland Explorers, and Church youth group. Aaron Deunk is currently a Junior at Norris High school. His interests and activities include Cross Country, president of the Norris FFA, Gold Show Choir Crew, and he maintains a 3.98 GPA. Outside school, Aaron attends Christ Lutheran Church rural Pickrell, is involved in their Luther League and assists in many community service projects. He also volunteers with the the Sons of the American Legion fundraising activities. During the summer he is involved with Esprit deCorp thru Lincoln Berean Church, traveling out of state ministering to many kids and adults through their music. He is also active with his family farming operation, restoring JD tractors and a partner in D&D Custom Applications LLC. Aaron is the son of Randy & Ruby Deunk of Cortland. Ashlynn Englehard is representing the Cortland American Legion Auxiliary at Cornhusker Girls State. Ashlynn is the daughter of John and Regina Engelhard. She attends Norris School, where she participates in band, Spanish club, and math club. She is also involved with 4-H, is part of Nebraska Leadership Seminar, which is a group that builds leadership skills, and she participates in a junior fire department group in Cortland called the Explorers. 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. Iran has accelerated the work to commission the Khudaferin hydroelectric plant and has almost completed the construction of the Khudaferin dam over the Araz River on the border with Azerbaijan in the last two months, Mahmoud Vaezi, Iran's minister of communications and information technology, said in an exclusive interview with Trend on April 22. An agreement was signed between Azerbaijan and Iran in February 2016 for cooperation in the use of water resources, and continuation of construction and operation of the Khudaferin and Giz Galasi hydroelectric facilities on the Araz River. Vaezi said the implementation of the Khudaferin project has faced delays for many years due to technical and political problems. He added that Iran accelerated the work in this direction after Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev's visit to Tehran and signing an agreement. "Currently, there are no obstacles for the project's implementation," he added. "Iran will implement the project and after that Azerbaijan will make its share of the required investments." The profit from the sale of electricity will be equally divided between Azerbaijan and Iran. The agreement proclaims the principles of respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity of Azerbaijan and Iran, and equal rights for water and energy resources of Khudaferin and Giz Galasi hydroelectric complexes. The agreement also highlights the need to restore the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan in accordance with the UN resolutions. Construction of wind farms on the platforms in the Caspian Sea will save about 200,000 cubic meters of gas per year, Akim Badalov, head of the State Agency for Alternative and Renewable Energy Sources, told reporters Apr. 22 in Baku. This project, as the offshore Oil Rocks field, will be the first in the world, said Badalov. "Earlier, we planned to build a power plant in the sea without using platforms," he noted adding that then the project's cost would exceed one billion Azerbaijani manats. Badalov said that the construction of wind farms on the platforms will save about 500-550 million manats, therefore, several Chinese companies are interested in this project. The wind farm will be built on the platforms in the Caspian Sea between the islands of Pirallahi and Chilov and its capacity will be 200 megawatts. "Currently, our main task is to attract to the project the leading US companies - General Electric and others, because they can help us in the issues of high technology and management," said Badalov. The power plant's construction will contribute to the development of infrastructures in Pirallahi and Chilov islands and other fields, according to him. "A bridge will be built between the two islands under the project," he said adding that the project envisages the development of ecological tourism in this territory. Wind energy's excess will also be used for water desalination in Pirallahi district that will allow providing this territory with fresh water, noted Badalov. Currently, the capacity of Azerbaijan's energy system is 7,200 megawatts. The total potential of Azerbaijan's alternative and renewable energy sources exceeds 12,000 megawatts. The major part of the country's capacity in this field accounts for the solar energy and this potential is estimated at 5,000 megawatts. About 4,500 megawatts account for wind energy, 1,500 megawatts - for biomass, 800 megawatts - for geothermal energy, while the remaining 350 megawatts - for the potential of small hydro power plants (HPP). /By Azernews/ By Laman Ismayilova Azerbaijan State Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre in Baku will host the "Carmen" opera by George Bizet, Trend Life reports. This brilliant work of art is valuable contribution to the treasury of world opera. Andrey Romanenko, the soloist of the National Opera of Ukraine, laureates of international competitions, the People's Artist of Ukraine will perform in the role of Don Jose. Carmen will be performed by young talented vocalist Chinara Shirin. The play will bring together the leading soloists of Azerbaijan State Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre- people's artist Ali Asgarov (Zuniga), honored artists Inara Babayeva (Micaelli), Gulnaz Ismayilova (Frascati) and Anton Verstand (Escamilio). The performance will be conducted by People's artist of Azerbaijan, Professor Javanshir Jafarov. "Carmen" is an opera in four acts by French composer Georges Bizet, based on a novella of the same title by Prosper Merimee. The opera is written in the genre of opera comique. "Carmen"has since become one of the best-loved operas, performed in the classical canon. Synopsis: Carmen was a fiery gypsy girl who worked in a cigar factory. An army officer, Don Jose, was called to the factory because a fight broke out. He arrested Carmen because she hit another woman. However, he became enchanted with the exotic Carmen, and let her escape. Don Jose deserted the army and followed Carmen into the mountains. But the beautiful gypsy soon tired of the steadfast Don Jose, and she fell in love with Escamillo, a dashing bullfighter. Devastated, Don Jose confronted Carmen outside the bullring. As the crowd cheered Escamillo in the background, Don Jose stabbed Carmen to death. Positive decisions will be made at the 7th Global Forum of the UN Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) in Baku, Latvia's ambassador to Azerbaijan Juris Maklakovs told Trend Apr. 22. "The UN is an authoritative international organization," the ambassador said. "The [Forum's] agenda includes the most pressing issues." "The topic of the 7th UNAOC Global Forum - Living Together In Inclusive Societies: A Challenge and A Goal - coincides with multiculturalism, which is Azerbaijan's priority chosen this year," the ambassador added. He said these forums provide an opportunity for participants from different countries to find a more appropriate solution to a particular issue. The ambassador added that Latvia will be represented at the forum by Zanda Kalnina-Lukashevich, the parliamentary secretary to the foreign ministry. "Latvia is interested in looking for the best solutions on the topic of the forum," the diplomat added. The 7th UNAOC Global Forum will be held in Baku Apr. 25-27. It is planned to hold a meeting with participation of high-ranking officials and about 30 sessions during the Forum. The Baku Declaration is expected to be adopted during the high-level meeting of the UNAOC Global Forum. Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev signed a decree on July 24, 2015 to create an organizing committee for holding the 7th UNAOC Global Forum in Baku. France's Secretary of State for European Affairs Harlem Desir will attend the 7th Global Forum of the UN Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) in Baku, the French embassy in Baku told Trend Apr. 22. The 7th UNAOC Global Forum will be held Apr. 25-27 in Baku. Desir is expected to hold a number of bilateral meetings at the highest level, according to the embassy. It is planned to hold a meeting with participation of high-ranking officials and about 30 sessions during the Forum. The Baku Declaration is expected to be adopted during the high-level meeting of the UNAOC Global Forum. Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev signed a decree on July 24, 2015 to create an organizing committee for holding the 7th UNAOC Global Forum in Baku. The preparation for the main meetings of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) as part of Uzbekistan's chairmanship was discussed at a meeting of the Council of National Coordinators of the SCO member-states in Beijing, the Uzbek foreign ministry said April 22. "The two sides exchanged views on the draft agenda, the outcome documents of the upcoming meetings of the Council of Heads of SCO member-states, the council of foreign ministers, the meetings of culture ministers, the meetings of board of the Business Council, the Council of Interbank Association, planned to be held in Tashkent," the statement said. During the meeting, the Uzbek side informed the participants of the meeting about the results of the 11th meeting of Secretaries of Security Councils of the SCO member-states on April 13-14. The SCO members are China, Kazakhstan, Russia, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Afghanistan, Iran, Mongolia and Belarus are the SCO observer-countries, while Turkey, Sri Lanka, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Cambodia and Nepal are dialogue partners. A procedure was launched at the SCO summit in Ufa in July 2015 for admission of India and Pakistan to the organization. Uzbekistan overtook from Russia the SCO chairmanship at the organization's summit in Ufa. By Amina Nazarli Spring, a season for outdoor activities, sometimes is a time when some animals and insects become more active. When outside temperatures increase in the spring, snakes become more active in search of food. They also bask in sunny areas and move to find mates or give birth. April and May in Azerbaijan are usually dangerous months which makes it a whole lot more likely you will encounter a snake. During this period snakes are prone to attack a person, even at a distance of 500 meters. Since the beginning of spring, Azerbaijan has reported two cases of snake bite. Chief toxicologist of the Health Ministry Azer Magsudov said that many appeals have been made to the hospital because of snake bites with coming the warm weather. Recently, we have hospitalized a 27-year-old woman bitten by snake. Her condition is assessed as moderate. The second patient has been in hospital for 12 days. His health condition is serious. He miraculously survived after the dangerous encounter. The snake bit him in the leg. The patient suffer from intoxication. Currently, he is on the mend, despite the fact that the first 4-5 days were very critical, he said. Azerbaijan is the country inhabited by 23 species of snakes. Some four of venomous and the others are non venomous. Another type of venomous snake -- horned viper, has been found only once in Azerbaijans Ganja region in 1845. But after that no one saw them across the country. The Transcaucasian viper, steppe viper, copperhead snake, and Asia Minor viper [which is listed in the Red Book of rare Azerbaijani animals and insects], are among the most poisonous snakes that are found in the country. Remember never try to cut or squeeze the bite, or suck the poison out with your mouth. The snake venom left on skin or clothes is not dangerous. It is dangerous when the poison gets into the blood. Be careful while exploring and enjoying the nature! Stay away from fallen trees and areas of high grass. Carefully examine rocks before sitting on them. Know how to distinguish poisonous snakes from non-toxic ones. Dangerous snakes usually tend to be shiny and colorful. Severe venomous snake bites can cause serious symptoms, such as muscle paralysis and anaphylaxis, rapid heartbeat and may be fatal. Every one must have certain skills in the event of a snake bite. So, first of all it is necessary to tie up the wound with a sterile bandage. Otherwise injury can quickly become infected. In case of bite, one should obligatory visit the nearest emergency department, according to Magsudov, where serum is introduced for free. Middle East Computer Services (Mecos), a division of Al Safar Group, is set to showcase its innovative home automation solutions for real estate developers at the upcoming Gulf Property Show 2016 in Bahrain. The boutique showcase for real estate and property developments in the region, Gulf Property Show is being organised by Hilal Conferences and Exhibitions (HCE) from April 26 to 28 at the Bahrain International Exhibition Centre under the patronage of HRH Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa, Prime Minister of Bahrain. Mecos is a key provider of home and commercial automation systems and security solutions that depend on connecting all electrical devices and appliances to a central control unit, thus providing users the accessibility to control lighting, air-conditioning, TVs and other devices remotely, which may result in saving energy. At the upcoming expo, the Bahrain-based company will be rolling out its portfolio of home automation solutions to update the real estate developers and visitors with the latest technologies in this growing industry, and the benefits it may provide to offices and homes at reasonable prices. Al Safar Group chairman Adel Al Safar said: "We are pleased to take part in the Gulf Property Show which is witnessing an increasing number of real estate developers and visitors every year. It provides an ideal opportunity to highlight the latest technologies in home and commercial automation." The event, which offers a specialised platform to showcase real estate development projects, is expected to attract over 7,000 visitors from Bahrain and the GCC, of which 20 per cent will be from Saudi Arabia. "Mecos is offering various solutions to businesses and homes that enable them to remotely control the environment inside the office or home as well as providing more security," noted Al Safar. "The company aims to provide the latest advanced technologies in home and office automation and to spread awareness regarding the benefits of using technology in saving energy, living conveniently and securely," he added. Mecos is one of the leading companies in Bahrain in homeautomation systems and security solutions. It also provides network video solutions and expertise in digital, IP and network video and analogue CCTV.-TradeArabia News Service Leading high-end international interior brands will be at this year's gulfInteriors expo in Bahrain to not only promote their innovative showcase but also offer exclusive discounts on a wide range of products and services. The largest annual showcase in interior design takes place under the patronage of HRH Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Bahrain, from April 26 to 28 at the Bahrain International Exhibition and Convention Centre. Organised by Bahrain-based Hilal Conferences and Exhibitions (HCE), the gulfInteriors http://www.gulfinteriorsexhibition.com is dedicated to connecting the top architects, designers, real estate developers, manufacturers, agents, distributors, dealers and investors in the GCC region. Exhibitors will be offering discounts on their products directly on orders and purchases made at the show or by providing discount vouchers for redemption after the event. These discount vouchers can only be obtained exclusively at their stands at the exhibition, remarked exhibition director, Ahmed Suleiman. This year's gulfInteriors will feature a festival of high-end international brands such as Armani Casa, luxury interior furniture designed by Giorgio Armani, home furnishings from Mulberry Home and blinds from Hunter Douglas. Visitors will be able to buy exquisite wallpapers curtain prints, fabrics, cotton prints, linen, embroideries for upholstery and soft furnishings from Harlequin, Zoffany, GP & J Baker, Sanderson, Houles Paris, Scion, Morris & Co, Colefax & Fowler and Tassinari & Chatel - all available by Bahrain agent Archinteriors. This years event experiences a wave of exhibitors specialising in paints and protective coatings. This includes the gulfInteriors sponsor Hempel paints; and other household names in the industry such as Berger Paints which will be launching its Weathercoat Ultra brand of hi-tech innovated coating systems; National Paints, Aseeb Paints Factory and Al Jazeera Paints, said the organisers. Creative Closets will feature its range of high-end custom-made storage systems manufactured in Germany and Italy that will also be on display with special offers of up to 35 per cent for visitors at the expo. The show will also be promoting Designed in Bahrain brands led by Mobilia Uno, which is offering up to 15 per cent discount on exclusive items as will be Viola Decor Contracting and Titolo featuring their own designs of modern furniture and accessories. The gulfInteriors brands showcase also extends to office furniture with Babini and Poltrona Frau from Italy, Germanys Wagner and Topstar as well as North American brands LE-AL Executive Office Furniture, Hermann Miller, Steelcase, Kimball and Humanscale - all made available by their agent and show sponsors, Kuwait Management Company. The event is strategically supported by KMC Building Materials and Equipment and Hempel Paints. It takes place alongside two other major exhibitions - gulfBID and Gulf Property Show - thus ensuring the continued success of the biggest integrated business-to-business showcase for the construction, interiors and property sectors ever to be staged in the Northern Gulf.-TradeArabia News Service A delegation from Hamriyah Free Zone Authority (HFZA) yesterday (April 18) kicked off its three-city tour of Italy from the industrial city Bologna, aimed at promoting the business opportunities provided by the free zone. The team, led by Saud Salim Al Mazrouei, director of Hamriyah Free Zone (HFZA) and Sharjah Airport International Free Zone (SAIF Zone) first visited Italys industrial city Bologna and organised a seminar in association with Unindustria Bologna and CNA Bologna, said a statement from free zone. Al Mazrouei said: We are here to familiarise the local business community with the facilities of the free zone. During our seminar and interaction with entrepreneurs, we found that many of the attendees are interested in exploring the Middle East market. The delegation also toured IMA packaging factory, world leader in the design and manufacture of automatic machines for the processing and packaging of pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, food, tea and coffee, it added. The team, which consisted of Hamad Al Shamsi and Abdul Azeez Dawood, will also visit Verona, Brindisi to organise seminars and business-to-business (B2B) meetings, it said. While addressing the seminar in Bologna, Al Mazrouei said: HFZA is the Middle Easts fastest growing free zone where you can start a business within two hours. Almost any business activity is permitted in HFZA as long as the activity is environmentally friendly and in accordance with local rules and regulations. Currently, we have over 6500 companies and 56 of which are Italian, he said. We offer the best infrastructure and quality services to welcome foreign investments in various domains including industrial, commercial and services, he added. Al Mazrouei said: "When we recognised the pivotal role of SMEs in the overall business development a few years back, we began to build a strong SME sector. Our commitment to this goal has resulted in huge success with the development of Hamriyah SME Zone, MB Zone and the E-office. Now, one can start a business in the free zone with just $8000. Pre-built warehouses and offices of various sizes are available for investors to operate their businesses in, and for those who require tailor-made facilities, there are industrial plots available for lease, he concluded. TradeArabia News Service Syrian warplanes bombed the rebel-held town of Douma near Damascus on Saturday, killing 13 people, while aerial bombings of insurgent-controlled parts of Aleppo in the north killed or wounded at least 17, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. Mediators have struggled to get combatants in Syria's five-year-old war to honour a Feb. 27 cessation of hostilities deal to enable peace talks in Geneva to proceed. Each side accuses the other of violating the truce. The Britain-based Observatory, which monitors the Syrian war through a network of contacts, said the death toll in Douma, northeast of the capital, was expected to rise because more than 22 others were injured, some critically. There was also fighting near Bala southeast of Damascus between rebel groups and government forces with deaths occurring on both sides, the Observatory said. In Aleppo, at least 17 people were injured or killed, including a child, by bombs dropped from planes in an eastern neighbourhood of what was Syria's commercial hub before the civil war began in 2011. The number of those killed remained unclear, the Observatory's director said. On Friday, the U.N. special envoy for Syria vowed to take the talks into next week despite a walkout by the main armed opposition with both sides gearing up to escalate the war.-Reuters Virgin Mobile said its regional unit has been named the most successful mobile virtual network operator in the Middle East & Africa (MEA) region at its global conference in Amsterdam. The company has been awarded the Most Successful MVNO globally award at the MVNO World Congress of 2016 held in Amsterdam. The prestigious annual conference and competition is held every year to recognise the industry's achievements around the world. Virgin Mobile's regional unit won top honours at this years ceremony for its unparalleled success breaking into and innovating in the MEA regions mobile telecom markets. It has emerged as the fastest growing MVNO in the Middle East and Africa achieving more than 2.5 million customers across all of its markets. It has had particular success in Oman where it currently has over 10 per cent of the market share, which is among the highest of any MVNO globally, as well as in Saudi Arabia where a customer base of over one million was reached within a year of becoming the first fully licensed MVNO to launch in the kingdom. At the award ceremony, Mikkel Vinter, the CEO and founder of Virgin Mobile MEA, said: "This global award recognises the success of our team's hard work. Since 2006 we have pioneered the MVNO concept across the region, championing products and services that appeal to the young and the young-at-heart. To be recognized with the main award by our global MVNO peers is a gratifying accomplishment." At the event, Virgin Mobile MEA met several key industry members to discuss the future of the telecom industry and the opportunities that are available for growth. Additionally discussions on the global MVNO strategies were also pivotal questions for an industry whose value is forecast to reach $73.2 billion by 2020 according to Grand View Research, a market research company. "Virgin Mobile MEA offers a unique value proposition," remarked Vinter. "As a group we are committed to developing unique, flexible and mobile-first experiences to our customers. This award encourages our continued focus to drive greater digital innovation and competitive customer experiences, not only within the company, but in the Middle East and Africa telecom industry at-large," he added.-TradeArabia News Service Royal Dutch Shell launched its Stem initiative at Think Science 2016, an educational fair being held at the Dubai World Trade Centre from April 17-19. The oil conglomerate called for the increased adoption of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (Stem) educational degrees for careers that will foster sustainable ideas for the future of the Emirates. In his keynote presentation to the Think Science students, Ali Al Janabi, vice president and country chair for Shell Abu Dhabi, highlighted the value of science education and its far-reaching impact on the economic development in the UAE. At Shell we understand that investing in the youth is critical to sustainability and to boosting competitiveness. We are proud of our partnership with the Emirates Foundation and its Think Science Programme which provides a platform to become actively involved in the community and contribute to youth development, he said. According to a press statement, Think Science is one of the biggest events of its kind in the region, attracting thousands of regional school and university students, parents, academics and even investors and private sector representatives. Think Science is a platform for UAE youth to further develop their curiosity and knowledge in the field of Science and Technology potentially leading to investigating solutions that tackle real world problems. Shells stand at the Think Science Fair provides an opportunity and a platform to connect with students and educate them about world Class Technology at Shell, the statement added. TradeArabia News Service The United States will buy heavy water from Iran's nuclear program and expects it to be delivered within weeks, US officials said on Friday, a move that Republican lawmakers quickly criticised. The US Department of Energy (DOE), will buy 32 metric tonnes of heavy water from Iran worth $8.6 million, a department spokeswoman said. Heavy water is a component of making nuclear weapons and nuclear energy, that is not radioactive. Under last year's landmark nuclear deal between Iran, the US and five other world powers, Tehran is responsible for reducing its stock of heavy water, which it can sell, dilute or dispose of, under conditions. Iran is permitted to keep up to 130 tonnes of heavy water at present and up to 90 tonnes once its redesigned and rebuilt Arak nuclear research reactor is commissioned. "The US will not be Iran's customer forever," the DOE spokeswoman said. US officials hope the purchase will pave the way for other countries to buy the heavy water, which can be used in the development of semiconductors and nuclear magnetic resonance imaging. Iran's top nuclear negotiator, Abbas Araqchi, who discussed the sale with US officials in Vienna on Friday, told reporters that the 32 tonnes have been sold to an American company. Araqchi estimated Iran has about 70 tonnes in excess of what it needs and said further sales are being negotiated with another company that is not based in the United States. Iran, which is still under US sanctions, has long had to go through third-country financial institutions for authorized transactions for items including medicine and food. A US Treasury Department official would not discuss details of the payment for the heavy water until after the purchase is complete, but said it would be completed under the same method. "Regardless of whether or not this is in US dollars, this licensed transaction is limited in scope," the Treasury official said on condition of anonymity. Iran's compliance with the nuclear deal means that the heavy water was already removed from Iran, ensuring that it would not be used to support the development of a nuclear weapon, State Department spokesman John Kirby said. "Our purchase of the heavy water means that it will instead be used for critically important research and non-nuclear industrial requirements," Kirby added. The purchase, first reported by the Wall Street Journal, was slammed by Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, a Republican. Ryan said in a statement it appeared to be part of the Democratic administration's efforts to sweeten the nuclear deal with Iran and would "directly subsidize Iran's nuclear program." The DOE expects to resell the purchased heavy water to domestic commercial and research buyers, including a national lab.-Reuters Saudi-based Al Tayyar Travel Group said it has launched the fast-growing full-scale platform to help achieve its ambitious plan to hit $1-billion sales through its electronic platform and application. Exceeding its projected sales targets by 30 per cent in the first four months of operation, tajawal - the Middle Easts most advanced home-grown online travel platform for airline tickets and hotels booking - has announced plans to rapidly expand over the next three to five years, said a company statement. This is in line with Al Tayyar's plans to make a strong, multi-hundred-million US-dollar investment push into the online space. Having held a leadership position in the regional tourism and travel market for nearly four decades, the ambitious investment move turns the Group into one of the largest online players in the region. The announcement will be made at Arabian Travel Market (ATM) 2016, following the success of tajawals beta-testing phase during which the start-up crossed the $1-million sales figure in only six weeks, said a top official. Driven by a strategic vision to redefine the online airline tickets and hotel booking experience in the Middle East, tajawal is already exceeding all business expectations and the digital booking engine is confident of hitting sales of a billion dollars in less than five years, with a double-digit month-on-month growth. Operated and developed by a team that has quickly grown from five experts at the time of inception, to 80 seasoned online and travel experts, tajawal has also surpassed its originally planned sales figures by 30 per cent, while keeping its spend 40 per cent lower than budgeted. Within only four months, the online travel platform has firmly secured its position among the top three players in the regional online airline booking space, with a strong foothold in Saudi Arabia, said the company in its statement. While the beta-testing phase focused on launching their flight product, tajawal is set to launch its hotel booking engine next month, it added. "As a group, we have decided to massively push into the eCommerce place and have started to deploy a multi-hundred-million US-Dollar amount to back our ambitions. In addition to our investments in existing online players in various segments, we have established tajawal to become our online and mobile focused technology hub," said Abdullah Bin Nasser Aldawood, the Group CEO at Al Tayyar Travel Group. "Not only do we regard tajawal as an additional line of business contributing to our top as well as bottom line results, we also aim to shape the future of the home-grown travel industry in the Middle East, especially considering that online travel bookings will account for over 35 per cent of regional travel and tourism sales by end of 2017," he added. Muhammad Chbib, the founder and CEO of tajawal, pointed out that the online travel market offers a multi-billion dollar opportunity that is largely untapped in the region. "We aim to fill this gap by creating a travel platform for mobile and web, based on an understanding of localized requirements. We firmly believe that in order to become Menas first choice for travel bookings, you need to be deeply rooted in the region. In addition, we very much benefit from our international online and technology experience, which will enable us to innovate in areas such as Halal Travel and Islamic Tourism in addition to personal and corporate travel management," stated Chbib. Currently, 75 per cent of tajawals sales is generated from the website, while 25 per cent comes from its free mobile applications, available for IOS and Android operating systems in English and Arabic. Saudi Arabian customers account for 65 per cent of the bookings, while the remaining 35 per cent originate mostly in the UAE, said the top official. With the upcoming launch of its localised hotel booking services and other travel products, tajawal users can look forward to enjoying a number of features, including round-the-clock customer service in Arabic and English, the most competitive and personalized deals on air travel, hotel bookings, and much more, he added.-TradeArabia News Service Russian troops abandoned a key Ukrainian city so rapidly that they left the bodies of their comrades in the streets. The scene offered more evidence Tuesday of Moscows latest military defeat as it struggles to hang on to four regions of Ukraine that it illegally annexed last week. Russias upper house of parliament rubber-stamped the annexations Tuesday after referendums that Ukraine and its Western allies dismissed as fraudulent. Responding to the move, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy formally ruled out talks with Russia. Meanwhile, the U.S. announced it would provide an additional $625 million in military aid to Ukraine, including more of the advanced rocket systems credited with helping Ukraine's military momentum. 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. Book Sale & Auction The Friends of the Library will hold a book sale on Sunday from 1 to 4 p.m. In addition, the Friends will hold a silent auction on Sunday, April 24, from 1 to 4 p.m. in the Crawford Room. Featured auction items include a number of autographed books, first edition volumes, local interest literary works and other antique, rare and collectible items. The sale includes used books at great prices, in all genres and for all age groups. Other items for sale include movies, music, puzzles and magazines. The Friends accept cash, local checks and PayPal as well as credit and debit cards. To Kill a Mockingbird ends at CTC Casper Theater Company will present To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee at 735 CY Ave. The performance is at 2 p.m. Tickets are available at Charlie Ts, 112 E. Second St., Greater Wyoming Credit Union, 155 W. Collins, and Casper Senior Center,1841 E. Fourth St. The play is considered a Southern Gothic with intense subject matter involving loss of innocence, 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 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 or email us at caspertheatercompany@gmail.com or call 267-7243. LGBTQs & suicide prevention The LGBTQ community (Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender and Questioning persons) continue to be at risk for suicide. Recent suicides in Gillette and Cheyenne have reinforced the need to provide targeted interventions to these populations. The Casper chapter of PFLAG (Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays) is holding a suicide prevention training for the LGBTQ community, families, friends and allies. This workshop will be held in conjunction with our monthly pot luck dinner on Sunday from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the UCC Church on the corner of 15th and Melrose. The workshop will be facilitated by Reverend Dee Lundberg and Rob Johnston. Please bring some food to share. Dinner will begin at 5:30 p.m. This training is a collaboration between the Natrona County Suicide Prevention Task Force and the Prevention Management Organization of Natrona County. If you have any questions, please call Rob at 259-5026 or Dee at (406) 930-1099. Stage III auditions Stage III will hold auditions for Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike from 1 to 3 p.m. on Sunday. Callbacks are 6 to 9 p.m. on Tuesday, April 26. Performance dates are June 10-11, 17-29, and 23-25. This is a comedy about middle-aged sisters, their movie star sister and her hot young boyfriend. Wildlife researchers have long struggled to connect their work and the public. Projects are often expensive and time consuming. Results are rarely available right away. And the end result of the work is usually a lengthy paper with complex mathematical equations and scientific jargon thats useful to other scientists and managers but relatively inaccessible to the casual reader. Some researchers have tried to change that recently. The Wyoming Migration Initiative with the Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit at the University of Wyoming uses Twitter and Facebook to keep the interested public updated on their progress. And now one Wyoming wildlife project is going even further by allowing people to adopt a deer. No, the southwest Wyoming deer wont actually be yours. But for a price, someone can pay for a tracking collar and some of the costs of research that go along with that deer. A webpage will then be created for the specific animal, said Kevin Monteith, a UW assistant professor and lead researcher on the project. They will have their own page and profile like an athletes playing card, Monteith said. It will say how old it is, how fat it was compared to the rest of the population, when we caught it and have a map that displays the area she lives in and allows us to acknowledge the animals sponsor. The concept of adopting an animal is not entirely new Wyomings Trout Unlimited has run an adopt-a-trout program since 2007 but it is a growing trend in an attempt to further connect wildlife work to the public. For those who choose to be a part of it, they are inevitably going to be more engaged with what is going on with the project, Monteith said. It gives us the ability to unravel things and produce information as we go rather than out of sight, out of mind, here is a project report. n n n Monteith has studied deer herds across Wyoming for years, but one south of Rock Springs has always puzzled him. What was once a prized herd with big bucks and even bigger numbers keeps dwindling. We dont know why theyre struggling to grow, and nobody knows where they go, he said. Many think they migrate as early as September before hunting season. Essentially its like they disappear. At the same time, the elk population in the area continues to increase. To come up with some answers, Monteith began a project with the Muley Fanatic Foundation and Wyoming Game and Fish Department. The five-year project looks at things like fat levels and locations. Researchers will also analyze the effects of predators and competition with elk. But that work takes money. The entire project will likely cost about $1.4 million, Monteith said in October. To help pay for portions, Monteith came up with the adopt-a-deer concept. For $5,000, someone can adopt one of the 50 does that will be central to the projects success, and for $500, they can adopt one of the does fawns. Were using her information to understand the population. A lot of the work I do is very individual-based, he said. Each individual gives us the information to understand whats going on in a population. So instead of waiting until a final paper comes out years after the first collar is fastened around a deers neck, the public can follow along with the deer herds story as it progresses. n n n Trout Unlimiteds Wyoming Adopt-a-Trout program started a little differently, not as a way to raise money, but as an educational classroom tool. Some states allow the group to raise trout in the classroom and release them, giving students the chance to learn about life cycles. Releasing fish in the Cowboy State by anyone but the Wyoming Game and Fish Department is illegal. Trout Unlimited pairs with Game and Fish to find streams lacking information one with small diversion dams that could be barriers to fish passage, for example and then finds a nearby science teacher who is also interested, said Nick Walrath, Green River project manager for Trout Unlimited. The gaggle of students, researchers and volunteers then catch fish in a certain area, implant tracking devices and let the creatures go. Students can follow along throughout the project as they watch their fish move up and down rivers, Walrath said. The program also allows researchers to come into the classroom and talk about healthy streams. It gets them excited about their resource, he said. In the end if they dont care, they will have the problems next. About four years ago, a classroom at Evanston Middle School helped tag about 20 Bonneville cutthroat trout on the Bear River. Some of those fish were recorded traveling more than 40 miles in a few weeks, he said. Others were stuck during high water behind a 4-foot concrete diversion dam no longer used by the city of Evanston. Because researchers then knew the fish struggled to pass the dam, they worked with the city to install a fish ladder. It brings the real world of science into the classroom and gives them a reason to look at that data and want to know what it is saying, Walrath said. They want to figure out what is happening to their fish. In a little less than a decade, the program has worked with almost 2,000 students on 28 projects in 15 school districts. But like the deer study, connecting it to the general public has also helped achieve projects that otherwise might go unfunded, he said. The Bear River study would have been really tough to fund without this, Walrath said. To do a study like this would be really, really hard or just take a lot longer to find the funds and go out and do the project. The aspect where you bring in the kids, it diversifies your funders. Oftentimes a great story leads to great photos. Sometimes a great story makes for not-so-great visuals. Last month I worked with reporter Brendan Meyer on a story of Yufna Soldier Wolfs attempts to bring the remains of her great-grandfathers youngest son, Little Chief, back to their family cemetery on the Wind River Reservation. He is currently buried miles away in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, where he died while attending a school that aimed to assimilate Native Americans. The story touches on the tragic mistakes of Americas past, and Native Americans generations-long struggle to overcome those mistakes. This makes for a great read. Unfortunately for me, not great for visuals. Brendan and I made two trips to Riverton to spend time with Yufna as she worked in her office at the Northern Arapaho Tribal Historic Preservation Office, and followed her to the post office downtown to send her stacks of documents to the proper government agencies. By the end of our second trip, I had plenty of shots of Yufna at her computer, shuffling papers, showing us things as she talked to Brendan, etc. I had nothing visually that did this story any justice. As a complete afterthought, Yufna asked if wed like to see the family cemetery on the reservation. Brendan and I glanced at each other in that way journalists often do when something good is about to unfold. We followed Yufna onto the reservation, eventually turning onto a dirt road and yielding onto smaller roads. Any bit of rain or snow wouldve made it impossible for me and my ridiculously low sedan to continue forward, but luck was on our side. We ended up at a modest plot of land inside a weathered wood and wire fence that held the sacred remains of the Sharp Nose family, relatives of Yufna. I got my lede photo for the article as Yufna become emotional as she kneeled in front of her great-grandfathers grave. That day I also brought along a Holga loaded with B&W film. A handmade cross at the front of the cemetery caught my eye and I made two shots with the camera, which you see here. Our job is only made possible by the people who let us into their lives, no matter how briefly. They are gifts, and its something I never forget. A federal judge has sentenced a Cheyenne woman to prison for conspiring to launder money as part of a methamphetamine distribution scheme, according to court filings. U.S. District Judge Nancy D. Freudenthal last week sentenced Gwenellyn Jackson to two and a half years in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release, according to the U.S. District Court of Wyoming. Jackson, 57, also faced a charge of conspiracy to deliver methamphetamine as part of a federal indictment in September. She pleaded guilty in February to conspiracy to launder money as part of a plea agreement with prosecutors and the meth charged was dismissed. According to the indictment, Jacksons roommate in Cheyenne would sell meth to customers who came to the house. Those customers would sometimes pay for the drug by sending a money transfer to Jackson. The case resulted from an ongoing Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces investigation conducted by the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation, the Internal Revenue Service and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. The mission of the program is to identify, disrupt and dismantle the most serious drug trafficking, weapons trafficking and money laundering organizations, and those primarily responsible for the nations illegal drug supply. Gov. Matt Mead is asking state agencies to cut their budgets after a report released Friday showed earlier revenue forecasts likely wont be met. Revenue projections released in January could ultimately fall short of expectations by anywhere from $110 to $130 million, the states Consensus Revenue Estimating Group concluded. I appreciate the CREGs work to keep us apprised of the revenue situation, Gov. Mead said in a Friday afternoon press release. Declining revenues are not unexpected and look to continue in the near future. I have asked state agencies to reduce general fund spending in budgets by 8 percent in preparing for the 2017 supplemental budgets. Lower oil and gas prices, coupled with decreased coal production, could continue to hurt the states severance tax and federal mineral royalties collections. At this point, the state is behind about $25 million combined in its general fund and budget reserve accounts. Those two sources make up the bulk of Wyomings traditional state revenues. Large declines in the states sales and use tax collections played a large part in the deficit. Mead has asked the state agencies to make the cuts by July 1, said David Bush, the governors spokesman. He said the 8 percent cuts are what the governor is asking for now, but he was unsure Friday if Mead may ask the agencies for more cuts further down the line. The reports authors note that if oil and gas prices slide further, or coal production takes another hit, the projected shortfall could become more severe. Mead met with the agency heads recently to announce the reduction, according to the governors office. The cuts are expected to be across the board. Hes hoping to have it sooner rather than later I would think, Bush said. Most of them are looking at being able to have that information pretty quickly. The Wyoming Legislature passed a $3 billion, two-year budget at the end of its session earlier this year. The session was dominated by budget and program cuts to help the state grapple with an estimated $477 million revenue decline over the next two years. Leaders of the Legislatures Joint Appropriations Committee did not immediately respond to messages left Friday seeking comment. Fridays report only reflects mineral taxes from July 2015 through January. It doesnt take into account poor showings for oil, natural gas prices and coal production in February and March. Unemployment in the state is rising, reaching 5.2 percent in March, according to state figures. Its expected to rise again in next months report, which will factor in the 460 workers laid off at the Black Thunder and North Antelope Rochelle coal mines. Wyomings unemployment rate in March 2015 was 3.9 percent. 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. Editor: Wyoming is an extremely giving and charitable state. It shows in all aspects of our communities. To be neighborly and help others in need is the cowboy way, right? April is National Donor Awareness month and I wanted to share with you some of the great things Wyoming citizens and families do for others. First of all, local residents of any donation of organ and tissues are considered first. Neighbors helping neighbors. If a match isnt made locally, then the organ tissue folks search for matching recipients farther and farther away. In 2015, most of our 80-plus Wyoming eye tissue donations stayed in the Wyoming and Colorado area. But we also had eye tissue donations go to recipients across the globe! Eye donations went to help visually impaired and blind individuals from California to Cairo, Egypt; from Ireland to Honduras; and from the the Carolinas to Japan. Wyoming citizens gave the previous gifts of sight and new lives to people across our planet. Thank you, Wyoming! Last year, Wyoming Medical Center also had 18 major organs (heart, lungs, kidney, liver, etc.) donated and over 3,000 recipients received allografts (bone, skin and other tissue grafts) from Wyoming citizens who decided to register and give a true gift of life to others. We on the Wyoming Medical Centers Organ Tissue Donor Team are humbled by the generosity of our patients, their families and our community. Thank you for your impact upon our world. To bring more awareness to this great cause, a 5K Donor Dash is being held on April 30 at the Tate Pump House. Registration begins at 7:30am. Sign up online at www.runsignup.com. RICHMOND, Va. (AP) More than 200,000 convicted felons will be able to cast ballots in the swing state of Virginia in November under a sweeping executive order Gov. Terry McAuliffe announced Friday. The Democrat said restoring the rights of former felons to vote and run for office will help undo the state's long history of trying to prevent African-Americans from fully participating in our democracy. "This is the essence of our democracy and any effort to dilute that fundamental principle diminishes it, folks, for all of us," McAuliffe said on the steps of Virginia's Capitol, before a crowd of more than 100 people that included many ex-felons. Left-leaning advocacy groups were there as well, handing out voter registration forms. Republicans called the order a bald-faced political move by McAuliffe a close friend of Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton to help his party hold onto the White House. "I am stunned yet not at all surprised by the governor's action," House Speaker William J. Howell said in a statement. "This office has always been a stepping stone to a job in Hillary Clinton's cabinet." Republicans said ex-offenders who committed violent crimes, like murder, should not be allowed to vote or have other civil rights restored. "Terry McAuliffe wants to ensure that convicted pedophiles, rapists, and domestic abusers can vote for Hillary Clinton," said Senate Republican Caucus Chairman Ryan T. McDougle. Kimberly Carter, 45, filled out a voter registration card shortly after watching the governor's speech. Now working as a customer service representative, she said she's been prevented from voting her entire adult life after a drug arrest in her late teens. "You make a mistake, 20 years later you're still paying for it," she said. Nationwide, nearly 6 million Americans are barred from voting because of laws disenfranchising former felons, according to The Washington-based Sentencing Project. Virginia, Iowa, Kentucky and Florida are the only states that still remove voting rights for felons for life unless a state official restores them. Such policies make black Americans of voting age four times more likely to lose their voting rights than the rest of the adult population, disenfranchising one of every 13 African-American adults nationwide, but Virginia is even more punishing. It's among three states where more than one in five black adults have lost their voting rights, according to a recent Sentencing Project report. Howell said Republicans are reviewing whether McAuliffe overstepped his legal authority. Republicans pointed to a letter written by a lawyer for Democratic Gov. Tim Kaine in 2010 rejecting the idea that the governor had the ability to grant blanket restoration of rights. McAuliffe said he is certain he has such authority after consulting with legal and constitutional experts, including Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring. Constitutional scholar A.E. Dick Howard, who presided over the most recent rewrite of the Virginia Constitution 45 years ago, said McAuliffe has broad discretion in restoring civil rights, and has now ended one of the last remaining legacies of an earlier constitutional convention that was "committed to white supremacy." "The last ghost of the 1902 convention was buried today," Howard said. The governor's order enables every Virginia felon to vote, run for public office, serve on a jury and become a notary public if they have completed their sentence and finished any supervised release, parole or probation requirements as of April 22. The administration estimates this population to include about 206,000 people. Thereafter, the governor will act month by month to restore the rights of felons who complete all these requirements. Previous governors in other states have granted broad restoration of voting rights in the past decade, but McAuliffe's action is the largest to date, according to the Sentencing Project. There were 5.3 million registered voters in Virginia as of April 1, according to the Virginia State Board of Elections. McAuliffe, who won election in 2013 by slightly more than 50,000 votes out of more than 2.2 million cast, brushed aside suggestions about political motivations, citing his longtime advocacy for restoring rights. "This is something that's in the marrow of bones, this is something I feel very deeply about," McAuliffe said. Before Friday's order, McAuliffe's administration had restored the rights of more than 18,000 felons more, they said, than the past seven governors combined. Former Gov. Bob McDonnell, McAuliffe's immediate predecessor, was also a strong advocate for restoring rights. NAACP President and CEO Cornell William Brooks said he hopes more states follow the lead of Virginia's governor. "History shows when people are denied the right to vote, the loss of representation weakens our neighborhoods and communities, and furthers systemic inequality," Brooks said in a statement. ___ Associated Press reporter Alanna Durkin Richer contributed to this report. The states relationship with Mexico, how it can improve and ways to move forward on shared economic growth are the main topics of discussion at the 108th Arizona Town Hall. The four-day event, which starts Sunday, April 24, brings together about 150 Arizonans from various walks of life and across the political spectrum to learn about the issues and reach a consensus opinion to be published as part of a larger report. Arizona and Mexico, especially Sonora, have a shared culture, a shared economy and shared interests, but that is often overshadowed by negative news coming out of the region, said Tara Jackson, president of Arizona Town Hall. There are stories that paint Arizona as racist and not welcoming to Mexicans, she said, while others have Mexicans bringing in drugs and crime or taking over jobs. As opposed to the stories that we are large trading partners, that the economy of Arizona benefits tremendously from Mexican tourists and exports to Mexico, about our shared manufacturing, Jackson said. Arizona exports to Mexico last year topped $9 billion, part of more than $16 billion in bilateral trade, and Mexican tourists annually spend about $2.5 billion in the state. Mexicos economy is the 15th largest in the world and is projected to be the sixth largest by 2050. These numbers and more are part of a report produced for the town hall that is required reading for participants. The goal of the report is to shed light on the different ways we are connected with Mexico. Everything is data based, its fact based. No one is pushing a particular perspective, said Sapna Gupta, senior policy analyst at Arizona State Universitys Morrison Institute for Public Policy. The report also hopes to bring peoples knowledge about Mexico up to date, she said. People think of Mexico as still a developing country, and yes, there are states within Mexico that are less developed than others, but Mexico is a developed country. Its birth rate is the same as that of the U.S. and its still dropping, Gupta said. Mexico also produces a large number of engineers and is moving toward advanced manufacturing, which makes the region attractive not only nationally but for international companies, she said, giving them access to the U.S. market and to a less expensive Mexican workforce. Mexicos growth is good for Arizona and Arizonas growth is good for Mexico, Gupta said. The key thing is how do we maximize our economic relationship and how do we also get politicians, legislators and Arizonans to understand that. Starting a conversation For more than 50 years, Arizona Town Hall has brought people together to solve difficult problems, said Jackson, who has led the nonprofit for the past decade. We put them through a process where our goal is to have them experience not only an education, from the materials we provide and from each other, but also experience what its like to solve problems in a way that diverse opinions are important and are used to find solutions, she said. Town hall participants include elected officials, students, working professionals and community leaders people who usually have no problem expressing their opinions, Jackson said, so discussion is spirited but civil. We create an environment where you can disagree with someones policies or ideas but you cannot be disrespectful towards the person, she said. The way the questions are presented, it is not designed to have a debate where someone wins or loses. The best way to make social and political change is through conversation, Jackson said. Imagine if every Arizona community or our Legislature knew how to solve problems using this kind of method. It builds stronger communities, a stronger state, she said. Ideally, the consensus reached at the town hall on building the relationship between Mexico and Arizona will not only have an impact throughout the state, but also nationally, participants say. SB 1070, passed in 2010 and considered one of the toughest immigration laws in the country, showed that Arizona can have an impact on the national conversation, although in that case not the most positive, Jackson said. A group supporting Davis-Monthan Air Force Base has hired a consulting firm headed by a retired Air Force general to help protect the base from future closure. The move came as D-M reported Friday that the base pumped an estimated $991 million into the Tucson-area economy in fiscal 2015, up about 2 percent from the previous year. The DM Joint Steering Committee has hired Tucson-based Srelli Consulting to develop a strategy to advocate for the base, said Brian Harpel, president of the DM50. Srelli is led by retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Gene Santarelli, who is partnering on the project with Fred Pease, a former deputy assistant secretary of the Air Force for installations and environmental policy. Santarellis more than 30-year career in the Air Force included a stint as D-Ms commander, and he has worked as a consultant with local officials during previous base-closing rounds. The DM Joint Steering Committee includes the DM50, the Southern Arizona Defense Alliance, the city of Tucson, Pima County and others. The DM50, Tucson and Pima County each has pledged $180,000 for the three-year advocacy effort. Harpel said the initial consulting contract is for less than three years but is renewable. He declined to disclose the value of the contract. We need a long-term, sustainable campaign, and I think the first step is developing a strategy with experts, and thats what these guys bring to the table, said Harpel, a commercial real-estate broker. In its annual economic-impact report, D-M said that with the effect of local military retirees, the bases overall impact was more than $1.5 billion in fiscal 2015. D-M reported that direct effects included payroll of more than $597 million and $199 million in local spending on goods and services. The base also created an estimated 4,600 indirect jobs valued at about $196 million, D-M said. Of the 6,800 active duty military service members assigned to D-M last year, 74 percent lived off-base. Local military retirees who often stay in Tucson or move here to take advantage of base amenities are counted because they receive their retirement pay and benefits here. D-M counted nearly 19,500 local military retirees, including more than 9,400 retired Air Force personnel, with a payroll of about $522 million. Military supporters, including the business-backed DM50, cite the bases importance to the local economy as they advocate for new missions for D-M, which opened for military operations as a bomber training base in 1940. The Air Force had been trying to retire the A-10 Thunderbolt II close air-support jet D-Ms biggest flying mission by 2019 to save money. Those efforts were largely stymied by Congress, though nine A-10s at D-M were put in backup status last year. Earlier this year, the Air Force said it would put off the A-10 fleets retirement date to 2022, with some cuts starting in 2018. Local supporters and members of the states congressional delegation worry that loss of the A-10 mission would make D-M vulnerable to future closure. Supporters including Sen. John McCain, R-Phoenix, and Rep. Martha McSally, R-Tucson have been advocating for new missions to keep the base viable into the future. Earlier this month, the Air Force named D-M among four bases that could be a future base for the next-generation F-35 Lightning II stealth fighter. But members of Tucson Forward, a group that opposes bringing the F-35 here for noise and safety reasons, has said the bases economic impact is overstated and that basing the jets at D-M would hurt local tourism and quality of life. For Tucson and Southern Arizona, the road to recovery from the Great Recession has been a long slog, but there are signs that the economy and jobs growth will be on the upswing in 2017. The labored rebound is evident in the Star 200 survey, as most of the regions biggest employers showed little or no growth in their payrolls in 2015. The areas biggest private employer, Raytheon Missile Systems, and major government employers like Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Fort Huachuca and Pima County reported flat or slightly higher employee counts compared with the prior year. Others reported mostly small gains or losses, with the biggest losses coming at copper miners Freeport-McMoRan and Asarco. But its not all gloom and doom. Economists are optimistic that the Tucson-area economy, which has lagged behind Phoenix and the state, will break out of its malaise and start growing jobs at a somewhat faster clip in 2017. For statistical purposes, the Tucson Metropolitan Statistical Area is all of Pima County. A state economist recently forecast that the job growth in the Tucson area would accelerate to a rate of nearly 2 percent in the next two years, up from about one-half of 1 percent in 2014 and 2015. State economist Doug Walls said he expects Pima County will add another 14,393 jobs in the coming two years for a 1.9 percent growth rate, citing an uptick in both construction activity and hiring in the financial sector. And on an unadjusted basis, state data show, Tucson-area non-farm employment in February grew 2.9 percent over the year on a seasonally unadjusted basis, faster than the U.S. annual rate of 1.9 percent, though still lagging behind Phoenix. University of Arizona economist George Hammond said that although Tucsons economic rebound is still lagging, he also foresees an uptick in hiring. Hammond said he may well revise his jobs forecast upward, from a projected 0.9 percent in non-farm jobs, when the Economic and Business Research Center presents its next forecast update June 1. But Hammond says hes not sure he trusts the unadjusted state data, because figures from the second half of 2015 and the first part of 2016 show such a dramatic upward trend. It doesnt look much like what came before, Hammond said. Im a little worried that we may see some of that job growth get revised away. Hammond looks for so-called fiscal drag lower government spending to ease, perhaps boosting employment at the states universities and government agencies. On the federal level, a more stable budget may buttress local employment in government as well as government-dependent industries like defense, Hammond said. RAYTHEON WEATHERS CUTS Amid a turbulent few years for the U.S. defense budget, Tucson-based Raytheon Missile Systems hung in there in 2015. The areas biggest private employer has offered the same employment figure for the past two years, 9,600 full-time equivalent workers. Raytheon announced no major new job initiatives, but the local division hasnt announced mass layoffs since what it described as a small reduction in 2013. The flat employment at Raytheon is the result of constant adjustment of its large workforce as it responds to changing contracts and needs. As the contracts change we make adjustments, and were always looking for efficiencies for the customer, Raytheon spokesman John Patterson said. We make little adjustments all the time its a balancing act, getting that right. To boost production efficiency, Patterson said, Raytheon also has added automation for things like product handling. While its showing no net growth, Missile Systems had more than 300 job listings mostly for engineers and other professionals posted on its employment website as of early April. Other major defense contractors have announced significant layoffs in recent years, and major program cuts can and do have an effect on Raytheons payroll. In 2010, Raytheon laid off about 225 local salaried workers, citing program cancellations. But analysts and company executives say Raytheon is less vulnerable to defense budget cuts than some of its peers because it makes munitions used on a variety of platforms, such as ships, rather than the pricey platforms themselves. Indeed, some of Missile Systems products are in high demand as conflict rages in the Middle East, and foreign allies buy many of Raytheons weapon systems. We feel were in a better position than our peer group, Patterson said. Many of our products are must-haves, like AMRAAM (the Advanced Medium-Range Air to Air Missile), which 36 nations now use. While Tucson has not seen major cuts at Raytheon in recent years, it also missed out on about 300 jobs in 2010 when the company decided to locate a new missile plant in Alabama partly because the Tucson plant lacked the necessary buffer space for expansion. Local officials have since rerouted a major roadway and set aside land south of Raytheons campus at Tucson International Airport to provide a greater buffer, while planning an aerospace and defense corridor further south. Elsewhere among Southern Arizona defense contractors, Northrop Grumman and General Dynamics each reported cuts last year at their sites at Fort Huachuca in Sierra Vista. SMALL GAINS AT THE TOP The regions biggest employer, the University of Arizona, posted a small gain in 2015 as state budget cuts were offset by other funding sources (see story, Page 13), while the state of Arizona itself reported a small increase after shedding hundreds of jobs in the wake of the recession. But the city of Tucson shed more workers last year, cutting its staffing to the lowest level since the 1990s (see story, Page 13). Most school districts also lost jobs, led by Tucson Unified the regions sixth-largest employer which said it cut 364 full-time positions, partly by moving some employees into part-time jobs. Among other job losers in the top 20 of the Star 200 were copper producers Freeport-McMoRan and Asarco, which shed hundreds of jobs in 2015 in response to sagging copper prices (see story, Page 17). The Tucson Jewish Community Center has grown over the past year, expanding the size of its fitness area, renovating its early childhood facility and increasing its programing options. About 200 families became new members in 2015, said Todd Rockoff, president and CEO. The centers program for young adults with special needs grew by 30 percent and the early childhood program has also seen more demand. This increase has led to more positions being open at the J, as the center is called. Employment grew from 200 to 250 full-time-equivalent workers in 2015, according to the Star 200 survey, which ranks Southern Arizonas largest employers. The 2016 update of the annual survey was published in the Arizona Daily Star on Sunday, April 24, and is posted online at Tucson.com . Any time you have programs that are ratio-based, when theres a positive uptick in activity theres a positive uptick in employment as well, Rockoff said. The center grew with the intention of serving more people, and he is proud of being able to expand the special needs program, which is focused on socialization, inclusion and community outreach. Certainly, with our special needs program, we knew there was an unmet need, we knew there was capacity that if we could grow, we could begin to address, he said. The J also offers preschool, after-school programs, an expanded fitness facility with more than 100 weekly classes, and a variety of summer camps including sports, STEM, cooking, and arts and culture. More than 5,000 members and 1,600 Silver Sneakers participants take advantage of what the center has to offer, said Sue DeBenedette, director of communications. More than 250,000 people visit its facilities or participate in one of its events, including the Tucson Family Triathlon, the Family Wellness Festival and the Tucson International Jewish Film Festival. But the center is much more than just the programs it offers or events it puts on, Rockoff said. I consider the J to be a living and breathing entity, that once youre here youre really a part of something very special, he said. Regardless of the reason that you come, what you find is a sense of belonging and community. Although the center will not expand its physical facility this year, Rockoff said, it will keep growing its services and looking for new ideas and innovative programs. We really want to be seen as a thought leader in the wellness industry, he said. What we dont want to be is a status quo organization. We want to have aspirations to think about whats new in all areas and be willing to take a chance. Hoping to lure a large tenant into Tucsons tallest building, owners of One South Church are offering naming rights on the tower. With about 80,000 square feet of space available to lease, owners would like to get a tenant into at least 25,000 square feet with the right to place their name on the tower in lights, said Zachary Fenton, one of the owners who bought the tower last year for $32 million. It is the first time the 30-year-old tower is in the hands of local owners. It is in the background of pretty much every Tucson image, Fenton said of the building that is visible from Interstate 10. It would be a very prestigious branding opportunity. Fenton said he got the idea when he heard the owners of the Monroe Building in downtown Phoenix adding naming rights to a tenant that occupied at least 27,000 square feet in the 19-story building. Weve had a ton of interest, Fenton said. Its a matter of timing. Michael Keith, CEO of Downtown Tucson Partnership, said it could be a real marketing boon for a tenant. It would be a virtual billboard theyd have to themselves, he said. It would be significant to have the only place with your name on it. As activity continues to bustle downtown, with many projects in varying degrees of construction, Keith thinks its a good time to snag the towers naming rights. Were so close to busting this place open, he said of downtown investment. Everything is in place for it. Fenton said he would love to see a local name on the tower. Its cool to hear the mentality changing, he said of companies with which he has met. Five years ago they would never consider moving downtown. Fenton and his partners have been remodeling some of the buildings suites. Ceiling panels and walls have been removed in some offices to expose pipes and open up the space. Other changes considered such as getting rid of the 1980s-inspired gold touches in the lobby were scrapped after meetings with existing tenants. Many love it as is, Fenton said. Its a throwback. One South Church was first known as the United Bank Tower, then Citibank Tower, Norwest Tower and UniSource Energy Tower. Built in 1986, it has been known by its address since 2011. The 23-story building has 240,811 square feet of space. East Carolina University has been named one of the top 100 schools in the nation for military spouses.ECU is the only university in North Carolina to receive Victory Media's Military Spouse Friendly School designation.As such, ECU demonstratesaccording to Victory Media, which measured universities on 10 criteria from academic and military family support to offering programs leading to portable career opportunities.Earning the designation brings great pride, said Rondall Rice, chair of ECU's Academic Military Affairs Committee, which completed the surveys and compiled information for the designations.Rice said.This is the fifth military friendly-related designation this academic year, Rice said, which is a testament to ECU's campus-wide efforts to make it a welcoming and beneficial place for military students, veterans and their families.Rice said.In the fall, the Military Times ranked ECU 28th in its Best for Vets: Colleges 2016 the highest ranked in North Carolina. ECU also was named a Military Friendly School, which recognizes the top 20 percent of trade schools, colleges and universities that are doing the most to embrace service members, veterans and their families. The other two designations given to ECU are the Military Times' Best for Vets: Business Schools and Victory Media's Top 50 Military Friendly Schools for jobs in the pharmaceutical and health care industry.ECU offers participation in the Veterans Administration Yellow Ribbon Program, which extends GI Bill benefits to cover out-of-state tuition. ECU also has one of only 79 VA-funded Veterans Support on Campus representatives across the nation and the only one in North Carolina.Other support groups on campus include the student-led Pirate Veterans and the ECU Student Veteran Services office which offers Green Zone training for faculty and staff to increase understanding of military and veteran students and issues they may face in college. ECU also has programs to award academic credit for military training using American Council on Education recommendations. And ECU's Military Advisory Committee helps raise scholarship money for ROTC and military students and coordinates veterans recognition and military appreciation events.Victory Media's Military Friendly Guide is the premier resource used by military personnel and their families when choosing an institution of higher learning. The publication is distributed to all base education centers worldwide and offered to every military member at retirement or transition from service to civilian life. More information about the new designation can be found at https://militaryfriendly.com/militaryspouseschools/ WHAT: When important sales of Judaica (Jewish religious or cultural artifacts) are compared, the Steinhardt sale at Sothebys in April 2013 trumps all. Amounting to a whopping $8.5 million, the event remains the most valuable sale of Judaica, ever. One lot, the Mishneh Torah circa mid-1400s, sold pre-auction to the Israel Museum in Jerusalem and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. A lavishly decorated Esther scroll with an accompanying blessing sheet brought $653,000, and an Arts & Crafts Rookwood pottery vase decorated with the image of an Old World rabbi fetched $1,875. MORE: With goods ranging from Jewish antiquity to the 20th century, the sale consisted of nearly 400 lots amassed during 30-plus years of collecting. SMART COLLECTORS KNOW: Dedicated high-quality collections built by knowledgeable collectors are catnip to institutions and serious collectors. Methodically gathered with input from experts, collecting at this level is for those with deep pockets. HOT TIP: Long ago, a wise collector at this level told us: Buy only what you like and know, and buy the very best you can afford. Border officials trekked journalists, humanitarians and officials from Mexico, El Salvador and Guatemala across the desert southwest of Tucson Friday to raise awareness about the danger migrants face crossing the border. The annual event also allows the Border Patrol to highlight its efforts and methods it uses to rescue border crossers lost in the desert. With Baboquivari Peak in the background, this years focus was on the Missing Migrant Team established in June 2015. It works with medical examiners, humanitarian organizations from both sides of the border and foreign consulates to find missing migrants and identify those who have died. The only thing I can compare it to is a puzzle, said Gene Hernandez, an investigator with Pima Countys medical examiners office. Getting bodies back to loved ones is a priority, but it can be difficult to identify remains. The collaboration with Border Patrol, consulates and humanitarian organizations helps. Meeting everybody in our office once a week holds us all accountable, Hernandez said. The Border Patrol says it helped identify more than 100 migrants who died in the desert since June. They have also received more than 765 requests from consulates to locate migrants reported missing during that time. It might not be good news, but they are able to send the bodies back to their loved ones so they can have the proper closure, said Cristina Ruiz, a spokeswoman for the Border Patrols Tucson Sector. However, preventing deaths remains a priority. One death is one too many, said Felix Chavez, the sectors deputy chief. As part of the Border Safety Initiative in Brown Canyon near the Baboquivaris, a Black Hawk helicopter swooped overhead. It dropped agents at the site of a mock emergency, demonstrating how the Border Patrols Search, Trauma and Rescue Team (BORSTAR) would respond to a lost migrant. Border Patrol agents respond to calls for help at at least one of the 32 rescue beacons in the Tucson Sector every day, said Scott Good, the patrol agent in charge of the Ajo station. In 2015, there were nearly 800 rescues in the sector. The Border Security Initiative, which started in 1998, was designed to bring a variety of groups involved in border issues together to prevent deaths and make the border safer for agents, border residents and migrants, Chavez said. We are flooded with pleas for help on a daily basis, said Jose Genis Gonzalez, vice president of the Aguilas del Desierto, a humanitarian group that searches for migrants in the desert. Communication with Border Patrol has allowed them to save time and resources, and reunite families, he said. He praised the Border Patrols efforts in addressing this crisis in the desert, but added another message, switching from English to Spanish. The Border Patrol is not the only, or last hope, he said, addressing migrants families. There are many organizations dedicated to helping families. One man was shot multiple times Friday near Park Place Mall and police were searching for the shooter. The shooting occurred in the 5900 block of East Broadway across the street from the mall near a jewelry store, said Sgt. Pete Dugan, a Tucson Police Department spokesman. The mall is on the south side of Broadway, west of South Wilmot Road. Detectives were expected to interview the wounded man Friday night at a hospital where he was taken by a woman before police arrived at the scene, Dugan said. Shortly after 4 p.m., police received numerous 911 calls about the incident and officers interviewed witnesses at the scene. Detectives learned that the man who was shot was driven to the hospital in his own vehicle by the woman who was with him. Before the shooting, the victim was driving his vehicle on Broadway and stopped at a red traffic light in front of the mall. When he was getting ready to turn into the mall, he began arguing with another man who was standing near the crosswalk, Dugan said. The victim climbed out of his car and continued arguing with the man. They both walked north across from the mall into the parking lot of a business complex. The men walked behind a jewelry store and continued arguing when multiple shots were fired, said Dugan. Meanwhile, the woman who remained in the victim's car drove the vehicle and picked up the wounded man and took him to the hospital. Detectives are asking that anyone with information about the shooting call 911 or 88-CRIME. Little fundraising in CD3 When it comes to raising campaign money, things are generally quiet in the Congressional District 3 race. Rep. Raul Grijalva's re-election campaign committee, A Whole Lot of People for Grijalva, has raised $67,222 in the first three months of 2016 and has nearly $110,000 cash on hand, according to Federal Election Commission records. Democrat James Villarreal raised $10,633 for his exploratory committee and has $5,451 remaining. His only declared rival, a local teacher, author and artist named Edna San Miguel, a Republican, did not list any expenses with the FEC. A ban on texting-while-driving in Oro Valley has been put on hold while more research is done. Oro Valley councilmembers backed off a plan to move forward this week, giving the town manager time to complete more research on why, and how, a potential texting-while-driving ban would work. Vice Mayor Lou Waters proposed the research of a potential ban and Councilmember Mary Snider seconded it during a council meeting this week. Councilman Mike Zinkin said he had questions the town manager must answer before he feels comfortable supporting the proposal. Zinkin worries if Oro Valley passes a law contrary to what the state already has, it could affect its state-shared revenue. Gary Verburg, Oro Valley town attorney, said he would evaluate the specifics of state law so the council can address the issue later. Arizona is one of two states that doesnt have a statewide specific texting-while-driving ban. That means cities and towns are tasked with creating their own. Tucson has an ordinance that says drivers cannot text while driving, but it is difficult to enforce, police have said. I think these cities and towns that are now instituting their own bans is an effort to push the state of Arizona to do something definitive about it, Waters said. Universities love high rankings.Whether it's Princeton Review, which grades schools based on students' evaluations, or U.S News and World Report, where rankings rely heavily on graduation and retention rates, schools celebrate a high position as an indication of a quality education.But these rankings tell a prospective student almost nothing about the most important aspect of a higher education: Will he or she actually learn anything?This is because universities dragged their feet for nearly a decade to avoid the standardization of college learning assessments. The University of North Carolina system is no different.The Pope Center has followed the sluggish attempts to institute student learning measures for years. The process started in 2007-2008 when the UNC General Administration funded each university to participate in the Voluntary System of Accountability pilot program. Four years later some schools reported results, but it appears the program was pushed aside to make room for new pilot pro grams spurred by the General Administration's new strategic plan , which called for strengthening the use of student learning outcome data to improve instructional effectiveness.What started as a promising step towards a coordinated system of assessment at all 16 UNC campuses now appears to be another lackluster attempt to appease all stakeholders, while avoiding concrete data that could spur serious and necessary reform at the campus level.The latest report by the UNC General Education Council, which is composed of faculty and administrators and is tasked with evaluating assessment pilot programs, shows again that no consensus has been reached on a universal assessment tool. This latest development came after an evaluation of several multi-year pilot programs that used highly regarded assessment tools, which apparently failed to woo council members.The UNC report (linked below) highlighted three pilot programs tested at different campuses: e-Portfolios, The Collegiate Learning Assessment (CLA), and the newly developed ETS HEIghten test. Each program attempts to test both written communication and critical thinking skills. The council found strengths and weaknesses in all three testing methods, but ultimately failed to recommend a unified method of testing.E-Portfolios are a relatively new qualitative approach to student learning assessment that use student writing to evaluate communication and critical thinking skills. While the report found e-Portfolios useful in "identifying and correcting gaps in the curriculum," the council was concerned about the reliability of evaluation rubrics and the substantial costs associated with such a program.The primary issue with e-Portfolios and other qualitative measures is that they provide little more than introspective reflections for students, based on the perceived benefits of such programs. Although students and faculty who participated in the pilot programs were "enthusiastic" about the opportunity for self-reflection, this method doesn't actually measure learning outcomes in a way that is comparable across institutions.The second pilot, the CLA test, uses essay-based and multiple-choice questions to evaluate both entering and graduating students on core competencies. This method is often cited as the most trusted assessment tool currently in use nation-wide, but the council found weaknesses in the reliability of test scores and the influence of student motivation on the results.Unlike the e-Portfolios, the CLA test results are quantifiable, and they don't reveal the best situation for the piloted schools. As shown in table 1, UNC-Asheville ranked high among those that tested the program, achieving a 96th percentile ranking among all institutions that currently use the CLA test, with an overall 93 percent of seniors having scored as proficient or advanced. Fayetteville State University scored near the bottom, in the 5th percentile among all institutions that use the CLA test, with only 20 percent of seniors achieving proficiency.Furthermore two of the universities-Eastern Carolina University and Fayetteville State University-ranked at a basic mastery level. This means the majority of students were only able to "demonstrate that they at least read the documents, made a reasonable attempt at an analysis of the details, and are able to communicate in a manner that is understandable to the reader." No university achieved an advanced mastery status.The CLA scores reported here shouldn't shock anyone, since they showed every university that was tested performed statistically near what was expected.Instead of using the results of the CLA test to improve general education, faculty and administrators often criticize the test as an ineffective measure of student learning. However a report from the Council for Aid to Education (CAE), which designed the CLA, offers compelling evidence that the CLA test is a reliable assessment of learning outcomes at the institutional level, achieving reliability with face validity and test-retest measurments.The third pilot, the ETS HEIghten test, is a new assessment piloted at all 16 UNC universities in spring of 2015, but the test will not be operational until after the spring 2016 semester. The UNC report did not include initial results. Although not yet available, the findings are likely to be met with the same criticism as the CLA test, due to its attempt to quantify learning outcomes.We don't lack an adequate assessment system because the tools don't exist; It's because the data most often points to a failure by universities to ensure students learn the most basic skills. While this is a fact that colleges might deny, the truth is obvious. As a recent Pope Center article by writing professor John Maguire argued, college graduates lack basic writing skills, and employers are catching on.The UNC system is in a unique situation to recommit to meaningful assessment measures under the leadership of new President Margaret Spellings. The Commission on the Future of Higher Education, more commonly known as the Spellings Commission, carried out the first national push for assessment in higher education. At the time Spellings vigorously supported increased accountability at colleges and universities by endorsing standardized assessments of student learning. While it's not clear she will be as outspoken in her new role, she certainly could push the institutionalization of system-wide assessment measures.The UNC General Education Council is likely to continue its languid support for a system-wide assessment method, but after years of stalling, it's time to apply more pressure. A transparent assessment system allow students to make more informed choices about their education. It also offers faculty and administrators an unparalleled opportunity to improve curricula to close gaps between expectations and outcomes.It's not unreasonable to expect universities to provide data that shows students learn the things universities claim to teach. Help India! By TwoCircles.net staff reporter Patna: On Monday, famous Urdu poet Shad Azimabadi[1846-1927] who lived in Patna was remembered in a special function organized by the Urdu Directorate of the Bihar Secretariat. Support TwoCircles Director of Khuda Bakhsh Oriental Library Dr. Imtiaz Ahmad presided over the function. He thanked the Urdu Directorate for honoring Shad Azimabadi. In his address he said that Shad Azimabadi himself complained that people of this state did not recognize his work. This is an attempt in the direction of proper recognition of Shad. Explaining the importance of Shads poetry Dr. Ahmad explained that he is considered one of the great Urdu poets of all time. Dr. Ahmad said that Azimabadi also contributed to the field of history. He was the first one to write history of Bihar securing his position as one of the finest historian of North India in Urdu. In 1876, during the arrival of Prince of Wales to India he was entrusted with the responsibility of writing history of Bihar. He wrote the history in three volumes but unfortunately only two volumes have been published and that too in 1924 with much effort of Sir Fakhruddin Khan Bahadur. Prof. Suraiya Jabin addressing the dignitaries said Shad Azaimabadis poetry was a different style. Seriousness of his poems left a lasting impression on readers. Shad can be considered the last classical poet in Urdu. Mr. Mohd. Aslam Ansari, director of the Urdu Directorate talked about Shad Azimabadis life and work. Recently Railways Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav announced that Gulzaribagh railway station near Patna will be renamed Azimabad to honour Shad Azimabadi. A ghazal of Shad Azimabadi: tamannaoN meN uljhaya gaya hooN khilone deke bahlaya gaya hooN hooN is kuche meN har zarre se aagah idhar se mudattoN aayga gaya hooN dil-e-muztar se puchh ai raunaq-e-bazm main khud aaya nahiN laya gaya hooN savera hai bahut ai shor-e-mahashar abhi bekaar uthaya gaya hooN lahad meN khuN na jaooN mooNh chhupaye bhari mehfil se uthaya gaya hooN kuja main aur kuja ai shaad duniya kahaaN se kis jagah laya gaya hooN Link: http://dsal.uchicago.edu/books/annualofurdustudies/pager.html?volume=2&objectid=PK2151.A6152_2_107.gif : Rubaiyaat of Shad Azimabadi Help India! By Pervez Bari, TwoCircles.net, Bhopal: Preparations are afoot on a war footing for the convention of Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind, (JUH), Mahmood Madani faction, to be held here at the historic Iqbal Maidan on April 10. The walled city is plastered with banners, hoardings and posters declaring the hosting of the convention and exhorting people to attend it in large numbers. Support TwoCircles Addressing a Press conference here the moving spirit Haji Mohammad Haroon, who is the general secretary JUHs Madhya Pradesh unit, said India can never become a developed state until and unless the Muslim community, which is an integral part of the nation, is brought into the mainstream so that it also enjoys the fruits of progress of the country. Haji Haroon said the purpose of the convention is to discuss the burning issues confronting the Muslim community and its redressal. The problems of terrorism targeting Muslims, especially the youth, Reservation for Muslims in education and employment as per Jagannath Mishra Commission recommendations, quota within Women Reservation Bill for Muslim and marginalized women etc. would be raised at the convention. JUH president (Mahmood faction) Maulana Qari Syed Mohammad Usman will preside over the convention. While its leader and MP Maulana Mahmood Madani would be the chief guest on the occasion. Clerics from all over the country would address the convention, Haji Haroon said. Haji Haroon informed that JUHs Working Committee meeting will be held on April 8 wherein 40 top Ulema of the country would participate. The Working Committee would deliberate over the burning Muslim problems and take appropriate decisions. While on April 9 and 10 a training camp would be organized for the JUH activists of Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, he revealed. JUH national general secretary Maulana Mohammad Hakimuddin Qasmi was present amongst others at the Press conference. ([email protected]) On July 27, Rijiju said in the Lok Sabha that the BJPs ideology on the uniform civil code should be taken as the country's ideology on the same. Basil Islam | TwoCircles.net NEW DELHI Union Minister Kiren Rijijus recent remarks on implementing the uniform civil code have re-ignited the debate on the viability of a uniform civil code and its possible... Help India! By TCN News, Gaya: Outgoing Lok Sabha Speaker, Meira Kumar laid the foundation stone of 300 acres campus of Central University of Bihar (CUB) amidst great enthusiasm and fervour at Panchanpur in Gaya district of Bihar. Support TwoCircles P. K. Shahi, Education Minister of Bihar was present as distinguished guest on the occasion along with Sushil Kumar Singh, Member of Parliament, Aurangabad, Hari Manjhi, Member of Parliament, Gaya and Dr. Anil Kumar, Member of the Legislative Assembly, Tikari were also present in the foundation stone laying ceremony of CUB. Meira Kumar Prof. Janak Pandey, Vice-Chancellor was present on the occasion along with members of the Executive Council, Pro-Vice Chancellor Prof. Debdas Banerjee, Registrar Prof. Mohammad Nehal, Finance Officer Shri Binod Kumar Pandey, Controller of Examination Smt. C. L. Prabhavati, faculty, staff and students of the Central University of Bihar. Along with university fraternity, a large number of people from the neighbouring areas and other parts of Bihar gathered at the CUBs upcoming campus to witness the grand celebration. Dr. M.M. Pallam Raju who was the guest of honour of the day couldnt attend the foundation laying ceremony due to protocol issue. The representatives from five major religions namely Hinduism, Islam, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism attended the mega ceremony and recited verses from their respective religions. Smt. Meira Kumar appreciated the concept of bringing together the representatives of different religions at one platform on the land of CUB. She said that this would end the religious differences and make CUB an excellent place of higher education for all without any religious difference. Meira Kumar, who is Chancellor of the university, started her speech by praising CUB Prof. Janak Pandey the founder vice chancellor for his continuous efforts in last five years to bring the university on the path of prosperity. She expressed her happiness after laying down the foundation stone. She said, today is a remarkable day for the people of Bihar as the university is certainly going to bring a wave of change in the field of education. She insisted upon the need of collective approach to make Central University of Bihar a prosperous educational institution of higher studies in the country. Smt. Kumar urged to people of the region to come forward and helping out the university at their best to make it a bigger and bigger. During her speech, Smt. Kumar also praised the Bihar government for its continuous support to the university since its inception. Smt. Kumar also said that the university has been set up with a vision to make the region well-educated by reaching out to people. She has insisted that the surrounding villages would be benefitted with basic to higher studies offered in the university premises. Education Minister of Bihar, Shri P. K. Shahi spoke about the role of CM Shri Nitish Kumar and his government for providing all possible support to the university. Shri Shahi urged the Lok Sabha speaker to start the infrastructure development work at CUB site immediately. He appreciated CUB Vice Chancellors effort to make a good institution of higher studies despite its limitation in short period of time. He assured all help to the university from his ministry and government. Other distinguished guests Shri Sushil Kumar Singh, Member of Parliament, Aurangabad, Shri Hari Manjhi, Member of Parliament, Gaya and Dr. Anil Kumar, Member of Legislative Assembly, Tikari have also given speeches and shared their views about the establishment of CUB at Gaya. Earlier in his welcome speech, CUB Vice Chancellor Prof. Janak Pandey expressed his gratitude to the chief guest Smt. Meira Kumar for being generous and supportive to the university. He also thanked the Loksabha speaker for laying down the foundation stone of the university. Prof. Pandey especially mentioned about the efforts of the guest of honour Dr. M.M. Pallam Raju who missed the occasion. Along with Bihar Education Minister P. K. Shahi and distinguished guests, he thanked Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and his government for support and assistance to Central University of Bihar. Prof. Pandey thanked the Ministry of Defence, Government of India for providing the land to the university. He has especially thanked Shri A. K. Antony, Honble Union Minister of Defence and Shri Kapil Sibal, Honble Union Minister of Communications & Information Technology for their support and being kind to the university. He hoped that the state government would continue to provide essential support in infrastructure development of the centre. The foundation stone laying ceremony commemorated with vote of thanks of Prof. Mohammad Nehal , Registrar Central University of Bihar. The Central University of Bihar (CUB) is one among the sixteen newly established Central Universities by the Government of India under the Central Universities Act, 2009 (Section 25 of 2009). Currently CUB is offering 20 programmes of study including Integrated M.Phil. and PhD and 16 post graduate and 4 under graduate levels. Along with offering various programmes at BIT campus building in Patna, the university has started to offer few courses in a rented building at Gaya campus in 2013. In pursuance of its objectives and considering the emerging needs of the society, the University evolved through different Programmes ever since its inception in 2009. It made a modest beginning by establishing the Centre for Development Studies under the School of Social Sciences and Policy and launched a two year Master of Arts in Development Studies in the academic year 2009-2010. In the following Academic Year 2010-11, University launched five more Masters Programmes in Biotechnology, Computer Science, Environmental Science, Mathematics and Statistics. Three more Masters Programmes namely Bioinformatics, Communication & Media Studies and Psychology were added in Academic Year 2011-12. In the Academic Year i.e. 2012-13, seven new Masters Programmes namely Life Science, Economics, English, Hindi, Political Science & International Relations, Sociology and M.Tech. in Computer Science were started. In 2013-14 the university has introduced courses like Integrated M.Phil / PhD, Integrated B.A / B.Sc (LL.B) and Integrated B.A / B.Sc B.Ed. Help India! By TwoCircles.net staff reporter Buldhana (Maharashtra): Police did not act impartially during the riots and provided opportunity to saffron forces to run their rage against Muslims, the Jalgaon unit of Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind alleged today. Support TwoCircles On April 17, Jamod village in Buldhana district of Maharashtra came under communal tension when members of two communities clashed after one community objected to raising of slogans on Ram Navmi celebration in an area that was observing funeral proceedings. The incident had forced police to fire shots in the air and curfew was imposed in some areas till Tuesday. Jamiat had sent a delegation to the town to take hold of the situation and to meet local police authority. The delegation was led by Mufti Haroon Nadvi, President of Jamita Ulama-e-Hind Jalgaon district who after visiting the affected areas told TwoCircles.net, Polices complicity in handling the situation is quite clear. Police not only were biased against Muslims during the riots but they maintained same attitude after the riots by arresting many Muslims. However, peace and calm has returned to the town and curfew is totally lifted but Nadvi alleges police could have been more effectively handled the situation if they were impartial. Many innocent people are beaten brutally by police and several Muslim youths have been arrested. Polices role in handling the situation was apparent, Nadvi told after meeting with the victims. Nadvi who is also Maharashtra Minority chief of Samajwadi Party and a close aid of Abu Asim Azmi also told that police restricted his delegation from taking photographs of the damages that were done to Muslims which could be an attempt to cover up their unfairness towards Muslims. Innocent people who were beaten by police fear to file complaint and have taken a back seat. They are now planning to leave the town. Many families are leaving the town as they dont trust police anymore, he added. Police complicity is evident from the fact that a mosque is torched in the area and police did not stop angry mob, he further added. Earlier local media reported that worship places of both communities were damaged by the angry mobs. It is also reported that elders of both the community undertook a peace rally on Tuesday denouncing the communal act and displaying commitment to maintaining communal harmony. Meanwhile, Jamiat is providing help to the victims by collecting ration and other necessary items from neighboring towns. An appeal to the effect was made after Friday prayer in many mosques to donate for the cause. Related: Curfew imposed in Jamod, Maharashtra due to communal tension In New Orleans, two groups are using Jazz Fest to bring attention to the probable extinction of elephants in the wild in the next twenty years.AWE hosted an event on April 21st, the eve of both Earth Day and New Orleans Jazz Fest. The event wasdesigned to show support for the Elephant Protection Summit being held on April 29-30th in Nairobi, Kenya. At the end of the Summit, 120 tons of Illegal Ivory will be burned. Elephant poaching to produce Ivory has been linked to several terrorist groups with revenues exceeding 700million per year. The US House of Representatives took a major step in 2015 by passing HR-2494, the Global Anti-Poaching Act. A corresponding bill has sat in the US Senate since January 2015. The Great Tuskers of AWE are a New Orleans based group which marched in the five mile long Mardi Gras parades handing out colouring cards with fact sheets on the dwindling numbers of elephants. It is estimated that less than 30 Great Tuskers exist today i.e., elephants with tusks over 60" long. EarthFest was also an opportunity for Wildlife and Water conservations to network. Joining the Tuskers was Artist Alex Beard, who spokeon his plans to supervise construction of a paper mache elephant during Jazz Fest. Thirty-Five thousand sheets of paper will be used representing the number of elephants poached annually. The project is being lead bya twelve year old fromNewman School in New Orleans. Hernan Caro presented his "Baby Ella" sculpture. He built a 16' tall Elephant Sculpture forKenner, LA tobring attention to Save Vanishing Species, and baby Ella is a scale model of Ella. AWE has been contacted to supply other cities with outdoor Vanishing Species Art. The roster of presenters included the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation, which restored the water quality in Lake Pontchartrain. The Foundation is currently working to bring 17,000 tons of sand to re-open Pontchartrain Beach, while at the same time monitoring oxygen levels changing from the opening of the Mississippi River spillway into the brackish lake.Nitrogen and phosphorous fertilizer run-off into coastal waters has created or expanded more than 400 Dead Zones worldwide. A specialtreat was the ability to taste new Off-Bottom raised oysters. Louisiana State University opened a 2million hatchery in Grand Isle's Canimada Bay in 2015. Dozens of Premium Oysters from sustainableharvesting were available for tasting. The oysters are raised by Caminada Bay Premium Oysters, delivered by P&J Oysters, and served by event host, Mellow Mushroom, at their Metairie location. The concept was first developed in Canada. AWE alsodisplayed the Animal Cracker line of Mignon Faget Jewelry. The line contains several endangered species. WLAE-TV, which airs Awesome Wildlife Effort (a show thatrecognizes individuals and groups working toeducate and care for endangered species) was present. Derrick and Beverly Joubert have made more than twenty films on African Wildlife and suppliedfilms whichfollow episodes of Awesome Wildlife Effort. AWE offers trips to the Joubert lodges in Botswana. Botswana was listed by Lonely Planet as a top destination for 2016. Broadcast journalist Alhagie Ceesay has safely arrived in the Senegalese capital, Dakar after a daring escape from his hospital bed, media sources confirmed. The Gambias government on Friday said Ceesay escaped from the intensive care unit of the Edward Francis Small Teaching Hospital in Banjul where he was receiving treatment. The journalist who had spent over 200 days in detention was admitted at the hospital on several occasions. He was reportedly tortured and suffering from a kidney disease that requires specialist attention. Ceesay was facing seditious charges after state prosecutors accused of false publication and sending a picture of President Yahya Jammeh with a gun pointed at him. It remains a mystery how Ceesay, who was guarded round the clock by security personnel in the hospital successfully executed an escape plan. Eyewitnesses said he was too sick to attempt an escape.While in detention, the broadcast journalist had been tortured routinely. This was brought to the notice of the court but largely ignored. The fact that Alhagie was regularly tortured was public knowledge. His lawyer was aware and had tried to submit the fact in the court records but was overruled by Justice Simeon Abi who dispenses justice according to the whims of the Gambia dictator, said Sidi Sanneh. The security officer has not been charged or arrested yet but the escape of Ceesay has left many asking questions about the countrys national security. It is still up in the air if Ceesay's escape was a coordinated help effort. Senegal is home to many dissidents The Gambia has a very porous border with Senegal, which is often not secured and crossed without much trouble. Many who have fallen apart with the countrys autocratic regime have made it to Senegal including many journalists. The Gambia has since accused Senegal of harboring dissidents, which it says are enemies of the state. Former military chief Ndure Cham and many others who unsuccessfully attempted to overthrow President Yahya Jammehs regime have taken refuge there but at least two of them, including Mahawa Cham have been abducted making it unsafe. Zainab Koneh and Fatou Drammeh, the key prosecution witnesses left Banjul last year and told reporters from their hideout in Dakar, Senegal that they were forced by authorities to become witnesses and lie against Ceesay, who runs the only independent broadcast station left in the country, Teranga FM. The United States (including two senior senators) and rights groups including Amnesty International, International Federation of Journalists and Media Foundation for West Africa have asked for his release. Journalist Chief Ebrima Manneh has gone missing since 2006 and veteran journalist Deyda Hydara was shot and killed next to the head office of the countrys paramilitary unit. A powerful knowledge system can spread values Updated: 2016-04-23 07:43 By Zheng Yongnian(China Daily) In the West, many scholars tend to compare the Communist Party of China with the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. But one should view the Party in the context of China's thousands of years of civilization and history, rather than its recent history, say, from the First Opium War in 1840 onward. The development of Chinese civilization in general can be divided into four stages: From 13th century BC to 2nd century AD, when thoughts and thinkers flourished in China; from 3rd century to 10th century, when the introduction of Buddhism influenced the Chinese civilization; from 11th century to 19th century, when neo-Confucianism became mainstream thought; and from the late 19th century to the present, when Western thoughts and cultures flowed into and influenced China. The Chinese civilization is open, inclusive and adaptive. It has become stronger, not by rejecting foreign influence, but by absorbing it. Unlike religious civilizations, which are monotheistic in nature, the Chinese civilization welcomes the co-existence of different religions. China is pursuing national rejuvenation. In this pursuit, it should be confident of its own civilization and values, treating Western thoughts as supplementary elements. Universal values are part of every civilization. But most Western scholars regard China as an "Oriental totalitarian state", as opposed to Western states that trace their philosophical and political origins to ancient Greece. Former Singapore leader Lee Kuan Yew first propagated Asian values in the 1980s, saying it had been besieged and attacked by the West. Japan's rise before and after World War II has not contributed to Asian values, as its development owes much to its Westernization. Still, it is not easy for China to claim the supremacy of the "China model", which the West fears the most, for it is not yet infallible. Also, China needs to fully explain the term "Chinese characteristics", which is widely used in official discourse. It is, therefore, better to discuss the "China model" against the background of Asian values. I think the "China model" is part of the East Asian model, which thrives on Confucianism in China, Japan and on the Korean Peninsula, and in Vietnam and some other Southeast Asian countries. The success East Asian countries have achieved in national development comes from their inclusiveness. Western theories and systems can be used as tools for economic success and social development. But Asian values should always be the ballast for social and economic transformation, because blindly or completely embracing Westernization will lead to mistakes. China, like any other civilization, believes in and honors many universal values, a fact which it should widely publicize. China's core values come from its own as well as universal values, and have been influenced by its civilization, history down the ages and its fast economic growth since the late 1970s. Therefore, Chinese intellectuals should help build a knowledge system, which can better explain the Asian values and the "China model" not only to the outside world but also to the people at home. The Western media's strong discourse power and communication network and capability are the result of their advanced information technology and efficient management, and more importantly their knowledge system. What they spread is fundamentally the knowledge system and the value it represents. In this sense, international communication is of vital importance to the spread of the "China model" and Asian values. But we still lack a powerful modern knowledge system. China already has the knowledge; the problem is it has not been built into a powerful system. And China's rise cannot be complete until such a knowledge system is in place. The author is a researcher in politics at the National University of Singapore. This is an abridged version of a speech he delivered in Beijing on April 8 at the launching ceremony of his two new books on Asian values and China's ideology. (China Daily 04/23/2016 page5) 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. The traditional craft of pig iron casting in Thanh Phu Commune (previously Binh Thanh Village, Phuoc Vinh Ha canton) was founded by Dao Van Nam who was considered the crafts ancestor and it has been handed down from generation to generation. Every year on February 2 of the lunar calendar, craftsmen in the commune gather in the ancestral worshiping hall to commemorate their craft ancestor and recall the crafts development history. With only simple tools, such as two bellows, a blast furnace, some clay moulds, and charcoal for iron-casting, the craft ancestor made the first cast iron products. Some of these included ploughshares, spade blades and pig-iron pots. Since then, the craft has been done by the locals and is now done in neighbouring areas such as Tan Phong, Binh Thanh, Binh Loi and Binh Y with hundreds of blast furnaces, bringing the main income to the majority of the locals. Iron scraps for making pig-iron. Making a cast mould, an important stage in making pig-iron. Making the mould. Placing the mould. Pouring melted cast iron into the mould. Putting melted cast iron into the furnace. Testing the quality of a product. Thanh Phu cast iron products are of a high quality. A finished product. The village has many skilled craftsmen who are whole heartedly devoted to the craft. The villages products are sold in both domestic and foreign markets. The furnaces which are always burning show the vitality of the craft in Thanh Phu. Investors, start-up founders and experts gathered in Singapore for a two-day Tech in Asia 2016 conference. Viet Nam News talked with some of them to discover why Viet Nam is becoming a hot-spot for start-ups. By Thu Huong Le SINGAPORE When Singaporean Alvin Koh was running his coffee shop in Ha Noi s Tay Ho District a few years ago, he noticed that it was nearly impossible to track the number of customers who came back to the shop, in essence, their loyalty to the place. Most of the coffee shops run their loyalty programme using paper cards, which Koh thought was inconvenient for customers because they had to carry too many cards. It was also inconvenient for merchants who could not track the frequency of the coffee-goers. I dont really know how often customers come, whether they come during the weekend or weekdays, or how much they spend, Koh said. Sometimes the ladies carry too many bags and they dont know where their coffee cards are. Sometimes the paper cards go bad because of the rain. Inspired partially by the Starbucks Loyalty Programme, which enables Starbucks customers to scan their smartphones at the store to gain reward points, Koh and his 10-member team are looking at launching Peko Peko, a mobile platform that allows users to accumulate reward points at coffee shops. It would also allow coffee merchants to track such users and monitor the loyalty programmes the merchants run. The launch is scheduled to be in Ha Noi next month, with the vision of expanding it to other major cities in Viet Nam. So far, they have 10 coffee merchants signed up, and hope to hit 50 by next month. Koh believes Viet Nam is among the most attractive emerging markets for start-ups in Southeast Asia because of the young population and the many still untapped needs in the market. Everyone knows Singapore is a place to start, but its not really a place to make money because the market is very small. The population size of Ha Noi is like Singapore, and then you still have HCM City and a Nang, he said. Koh was among hundreds of start-up founders attending the two-day Tech in Asia 2016 in Singapore this past week, pitching their start-up ideas to potential investors who have the same vision to tap into Southeast Asias emerging markets. On Tuesday, the news also broke about Alibabas expansion into Southeast Asia with the US$1 billion deal to acquire Lazada, which sells products in Singapore, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia and Viet Nam. This further validates Southeast Asias attractiveness for start-ups and investors alike, with a 600-million mobile-driven consumer market. Speaking at the conference, Facebook co-founder and Founding Partner of B Capital Group, Eduardo Saverin, noted Southeast Asias lack of infrastructure in many markets in the region as an opportunity to force entrepreneurs to innovate and think outside-the-box. Besides, the region is a truly mobile-first environment where cheap mobile devices are making it much easier for people to access services and products, according to Saverin. Soon a young girl in rural Indonesia will have more information at her fingertips than I had when I started at Harvard, Saverin said. A report released last year by Ericsson suggested that almost two-thirds of mobile phone subscriptions in Southeast Asia and Oceania would be smartphones by 2020, reaching a staggering number of about 800 million people. In Viet Nam, the number of smartphone users is around 22 million, according to some reports, and predicted to reach 26 million in 2016. The greater availability and affordability of smartphones has paved the way for strong download growth of mobile applications in the region, said Danielle Levitas, senior vice president for research and marcom at App Annie, a California-based business intelligence company and analyst firm. App Annie considers Viet Nam among the frontier markets for mobile application growth, with download growth of mobile applications having risen nearly 60 percent year-on-year in Viet Nam (2014-15). Notably, mobile games are undoubtedly a big part of Viet Nams culture, accounting for nearly half of downloads on both Google Play and iOS in 2015. The mobile-first environment and densely populated cities in Southeast Asia also make services such as ridesharing or other services in the so-called sharing economy continue to thrive, Levitas emphasised. For Facebook co-founder Saverin, who has continued stepping up his investments in Southeast Asian start-ups, Southeast Asia is also a less crowded market for investors, and governments across the region are rolling out initiatives to support entrepreneurship. The Vietnamese government has also stepped up efforts to support start-ups and cultivate the spirit of entrepreneurship in the country. A new set of rules are being drafted by the Ministry of Planning and Investment, aimed towards easing up procedures for local and foreign venture capital funds to operate in Viet Nam. The government is ambitious about turning the country into a start-up nation with 5,000 tech firms by 2020. Last month, Deputy Prime Minister Vu uc am called for a renewal in thinking in terms of supporting start-up initiatives to catch up with the rest of the world. Topica Founder Institute, which offers training courses for start-up founders in Viet Nam, estimated that at least 67 tech start-ups in Viet Nam received funding last year, with 48 percent of angle/seed deals coming from overseas investors. Many start-ups in Singapore are also looking at Viet Nam for users. Rinita Vanjre, co-founder and CEO of BonAppetour, is among those. The Singapore-based start-up is about food sharing, connecting home cooks with travellers and foodies, for a unique local dining experience. A local host can post his or her offering on the site, prepare the meal, and then travellers can come to the hosts place to dine. The concept of dining with strangers, Vanjre admitted, might be harder to take off in Viet Nam due to language barriers and the fact that street foods are technically available for most of the day. However, there are already people who have expressed an interest in becoming a host on the site, she said. So we are very excited about that. VNS Statistics from the General Department of Vietnam Customs showed Thailand was followed by South Korea with 3,560 units and China with 2,260 units, a year-on-year decline of 41 per cent and 58 per cent, respectively. Photo congly.vn Viet Nam News -HA NOI Thailand has become Viet Nams leading automobile exporter in the first quarter of this year, with a volume of more than 7,800 units, a 64.5 per cent increase compared with the same period last year. Statistics from the General Department of Vietnam Customs showed Thailand was followed by South Korea with 3,560 units and China with 2,260 units, a year-on-year decline of 41 per cent and 58 per cent, respectively. Preferential import tax policies caused the sharp increase of cars imported from Thailand, under Viet Nams commitments to the ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement. Under the agreement, the import tax on automobiles from ASEAN members Myanmar, the Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, Laos, Indonesia, Cambodia, Brunei and Viet Nam would fall from 50 per cent to 40 per cent by 2016, to 30 per cent by 2017 and zero per cent by 2018. With preferential policies on taxes, Thailand has attracted many well-known auto brand names to build production plants in the country, including Ford, Toyota, Honda and Nissan. In car manufacturing, Thailand has reached a locally manufactured rate of between 80 per cent and 90 per cent. Meanwhile, the rate in Viet Nam is between 20 and 40 per cent. Thats why Thailands vehicles are priced lower than Viet Nams. According to research on the prices of vehicles in Thailand, Viet Nam and Indonesia issued by the Industry and Trade Ministrys Institute for Industry Policy and Strategy last year, Yaris of Toyota was the model with the largest difference. The vehicle was US$29,281 in Viet Nam, but it was $13,082 in Thailand and $16,153 in Indonesia. Meanwhile, the Honda model City CVT was $26,878 in Viet Nam, 48 per cent and 26 per cent higher than in Thailand and Indonesia, respectively. The price of the Fiesta Ford in Viet Nam was also 63 per cent and 54 per cent higher than those in Thailand and Indonesia, respectively. Of the cost for production of vehicles in Viet Nam, taxes and fees occupied 40-50 per cent of the value. The remainder was cost for vehicle production. However, the cost was 20 per cent higher than that of other regional countries because Viet Nam had depended on 80 per cent of auto parts imported from foreign countries. Thailand has more than 2,000 auto part manufacturers. This has not only helped the country increase its local supply rate, but also helped it become the biggest hub for auto and part exports in the Southeast Asian region. The statistics from the General Department of Vietnam Customs showed that the country imported more than 19,700 units in the first quarter of this year, a year-on-year drop of 16.8 per cent. The reduction occurred in nearly all kinds of vehicles, aside from trucks. Of the figure, there were 9,860 trucks imported, an increase of 16 per cent. Meanwhile, the remainders were nearly 6,900 nine-seat cars and lower, and more than 3,000 other vehicles, a reduction of 37.6 and 45.6 per cent, respectively. VNS The Nhon Hoi oil refinery and petrochemical complex will use 660,000 barrels of crude oil per day, equivalent to 30 million tonnes per year. Photo vietstock.vn Viet Nam News -HA NOI The long-awaited multi-billion US dollar refinery project is facing an uncertain future after nearly three years of registration for investment. In 2009, the project of PTT Public Company Limited (Thailand) had attracted public attention right from its initial days. Under the original plan, this giant project was to be licensed in June 2015, but that has not happened yet. The undertaking was initially estimated to cost $28.7 billion but was revised down to nearly $22 billion in the feasibility study. Thai oil and gas company PTT had partnered with Saudi Aramco for a proposed $22bn refinery and petrochemical complex in Viet Nam. The Nhon Hoi oil refinery and petrochemical complex will use 660,000 barrels of crude oil per day, equivalent to 30 million tonnes per year. The project will be located in the Nhon Hoi Economic Zone in Binh inh Province, designed to be Viet Nams first petrochemical refinery complex. The provincial government is preparing 2,000 hectares of land to make room for construction of the oil refinery and petrochemical complex, which is to be developed in two phases. Work on the project is expected to commence in early 2017 with plans to commission the complex in 2022. Chairman of Binh inh Peoples Committee Ho Quoc Dung was quoted by Nguoi Lao ong newspaper as saying that the PTT (Thailand) and its partner Saudi Aramco sent their new plan to change the project scale and lower planned capacity and reschedule project construction. After numerous adjustments, in September 2014, the Binh inh Peoples Committee, PTT and Saudi Aramco submitted a specific report on the project to the Ministry of Industry and Trade for appraisal and submitted it to the government for approval. In 2014, the Government gave the nod for implementation of the oil refinery complex and agreed to add it to the master plan for development of the oil and gas industry in Viet Nam. Reason for slow progress Nguyen Ngoc Toan, deputy director of the Nhon Hoi Economic Zone attributed the slow progress to the global oil prices which are continuing to fall. Until now, the investor has not applied for an investment licence. Thailands PTT Plc and Saudi Arabias Aramco would inform local authority of their decision this June, he added. Chairman of Binh inh Peoples Committee Ho Quoc Dung said that in the near future the province would work with PTT to confirm the project, and if the investor really wanted to continue. The province would also work with relevant ministries to consider more incentives for the investor amidst the current difficult economic situation. In case the investor did not wish to continue the project, the province would offer the land to other investors who wanted to use this land fund for industry and tourism purposes, according to the Provincial Department of Planning and Investment. According to Ho Sy Thoang, former chairman of PetroVietnam the oil refinery industry was now facing a hard time. An oil refinery needed at least 20 years for investment capital depreciation. Currently, profit for the global oil refinery industry was very low at around 5 per cent to 6 per cent. Only a completed project can survive. Projects such as the Nhon Hoi oil refinery were not feasible due to very low profits. According to Thoang, the development of the project should be reconsidered. ang inh ao former head of Economic Research and Development Institute said that amid the difficult situation with regard to global oil prices, investors reconsidered and restructured their project. That was understandable as oil prices would have a major effect on their project. The global oil crash had also affected several oil refineries. In Viet Nam, the government should be cautious in developing oil refineries as their finished products cannot compete and it was unreasonable. VNS Viet Nam News -HA NOI The Festival of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) will be organised in Ha Noi on May 14-15, it was announced at a press conference in the capital city on Wednesday. The festival, part of the activities to celebrate Vietnam Science and Technology Day (May 18), is aimed at bringing science and technology closer to the public and highlighting its role in socio-economic development, said Le Xuan inh, director of the National Agency for Science and Technology Information. Themed Time Machine, the festival comprising experiments and practical activities will take students on a journey from the past into future with corresponding scientific events from human history, said inh, who is also head of the festivals organising board. The lessons are designed to apply knowledge and skills in line with STEM education standards in solving practical problems. The festival is expected to be multiplied in other provinces and cities, with the aim of spreading STEM education and helping nurture and inspire a passion for science and technology among students nationwide. - VNS HA NOI Petrolimex Insurance Company (PJICO), code PGI, will issue 20 per cent of its shares to investors to raise its charter capital to VN1 trillion (US$44.7 million), it was announced at the annual shareholders meeting on Thursday. Without revealing the names of the investors, general director of PJICO ao Nam Hai said the firm was working with two foreign investors who paid attention to the stake, which would account for 17.7 million shares. After raising the capital, the dominant shares in Petrolimex will be reduced from over 51 per cent to 42.5 per cent. Ha Noi-based PJICO, serving the vehicle and asset insurance industry, reported VN2.2 trillion in revenue last year, an increase of 5 per cent over 2014. It seeks another five per cent increase in revenues this year. On Thursday, each share rose 0.6 per cent to close at VN15,500 on the HCM Stock Exchange. VNS HA NOI Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has applauded the Viet Nam National Oil and Gas Group (PetroVietnam) for its noted contributions to ensuring national energy security. At a working session with PetroVietnams leaders yesterday, the PM said in recent years, the group had significantly contributed to national industrialisation and modernisation, State budget collection and the countrys socioeconomic development. He asked the group to actualise the Politburos resolution on a development strategy for the oil and gas industry through 2025 with a vision towards 2035. The resolution charts major tasks for the sector, including oil and gas exploration, exploitation and processing; product reserving and distribution; and oil and gas services, particularly high-quality technical ones. PetroVietnams leaders and staff were also urged to do their utmost to overcome shortcomings and limitations to ensure the groups stable development. PetroVietnam should join hands with ministries and agencies to review regulations and rules in order to improve the efficiency of State management and business administration, increase the application of scientific and technological advances and propose comprehensive solutions to fulfil tasks assigned by the Party, State and people. PM Phuc said that with its achievements, the group would make bigger strides in the future. As one of the countrys important economic and technological groups, PetroVietnam is focusing on five key areas of operation: oil and gas exploration and production; refinery and petrochemicals; the gas industry; power generation; and high-quality petroleum technical services. Reportedly, the group exploited a total of 4.56 million tonnes of crude oil and 2.78 billion cubic metres of gas in the first three months of this year, 7.2 per cent and 11.7 per cent more than its quarterly targets, respectively. It also provided 5.21 billion kWh of electricity for the national power grid and contributed more than VN18.3 trillion (US$824 million) to State coffers. However, the group has encountered a range of challenges, especially in oil and gas exploration, exploitation and services. Given this, its leaders have created specific and far-reaching solutions to cope with the fluctuating oil price. In a parallel effort, PetroVietnam has increased the application of cutting-edge technologies in order to cut production costs and raise its competitive edge while seeking new markets, especially those outside the sector and abroad. Lai Chau visit On the same day, PM Phuc visited the northern mountainous province of Lai Chau, working with provincial authorities on the provinces socio-economic development and national defence. He said Lai Chaus location made it particularly important to national defence and security and it is inhabited by many ethnic minority groups. Authorities and people of Lai Chau have recorded many achievements in socio-economic development; gradually increasing per capita income to VN18.2 million ($816) per year. The province has developed effective methods in agricultural and forestry development and building new rural areas. It has promoted the development of some industrial trees such as tea and rubber. Provincial authorities proposed the Prime Minister to ask relevant ministries and agencies to speed up the implementation of the highway project linking Ha Noi-Lao Cai expressway with Lai Chau and to develop a number of infrastructure projects. Phuc instructed the Ministries of Transport and Planning and Investment to speed up the progress of the highway project and asked relevant ministries and agencies to create conditions for the province to develop infrastructure. Lai Chau is one among poorest localities in the country with half of its population from poor households. VNS A student who is disabled had to stay at a centre for such children. A kind person who worked at the centre would give him lifts to school. Now Pham Ngoc Thuong has been kind to other people at his school and started a library. He has worked hard asking people over the Internet to give books to the school to build up the library. By Thu Anh Poor children living in Phu Tho Provinces Thanh Ba District believe that only books can open a door to the world. Unfortunately, not many books, particularly history and art productions, are sold in the area. To improve the situation, a disabled student at the Thanh Ba 1 Secondary School works hard every day on his computer to encourage people to donate books to Thanh Ba students. Pham Ngoc Thuong, 14, has had poliomyelitis since he was two months old. His grandparents sent him to live in Thanh Ba Centre for Disabled Children because his father died while his mother left home to take a job. The centres guard gives him a ride to school. Thuong decided to place a bookshelf in his classroom to help his friends improve their reading. He has used social media websites to encourage youngsters around the country to donate and send books to his school. Many students in Ha Noi and other provinces have delivered their books to help us build our own library, said Thuong. Every book delivers love and sharing from donors to us. Thuong and his classmates spent more than seven months saving to buy a small bookshelf to store the charity books. They locked the shelf with a key, which was kept by their class manager. They called it Our Library. To borrow a book from the library, you have to sign a paper to guarantee your return. We wanted to keep and deliver the books to our younger friends after we leave school, Thuong said. Thuong said he liked reading history books and he dreamt of becoming a historian. Reading can improve your soul and will. All of the stories I have gained from good books offer me opportunities to change my destiny, he said. VNS GLOSSARY To improve the situation, a disabled student at the Thanh Ba 1 Secondary School works hard every day on his computer to encourage people to donate books to Thanh Ba students. To improve something means to make it better. Somebody who is disabled is not able to do things normally because of a problem with a part of their body. To encourage people means to give them a good feeling about being able to do something and therefore make them want to do it. To donate means to give. Pham Ngoc Thuong, 14, has had poliomyelitis since he was two months old. Poliomyelitis is also known as polio. It is a disease that can cause people to become disabled as a result of their muscles becoming weaker. He has used social media websites to encourage youngsters around the country to donate and send books to his school. The social media is made up of websites such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram on which friends can share information among one another as well as with many other people. Every book delivers love and sharing from donors to us. Donors are givers. Thuong and his classmates spent more than seven months saving to buy a small bookshelf to store the charity books. Charity books are books that have been given to the library by people who want to give something to others less lucky than themselves. To borrow a book from the library, you have to sign a paper to guarantee your return. To borrow means to take something from someone else with their permission and with the idea of giving it back after using it. Thuong said he liked reading history books and he dreamt of becoming a historian. An historian is someone who studies and knows a lot about history. Reading can improve your soul and will. Your soul is the spiritual part of you. Having the will to do something means to want to do it. All of the stories I have gained from good books offer me opportunities to change my destiny, he said. Gained means got. Opportunities are chances in life. Your destiny is what will happen to you in the future. WORKSHEET Find words that mean the following in the Word Search: Your parents parents The shortened name for a disease that can make people disabled. Something the class manager would keep. Pham Ngoc Thuongs age. A room in which books are kept. i g r c e n t u k y t i g r a n d p a r e n t s l a f g h a n i y t a n y i r a e t s r o p r i i f b w n r h t a o v d f o u r t e e n e g c b p a k i a t a n p r i r n a d a o r r r n k s a c r i p p l y d t n l t a x h q e k p o l i o y ANSWERS: Duncan Guy/Learn the News/ Viet Nam News 2016 1. Grandparents; 2. Polio; 3. Key; 4. Fourteen; 5. Library. CAN THO The worst drought ever recorded in Viet Nam has prompted the government and the public to brainstorm strategies on using water sources intelligently for food security and poverty reduction. The historic drought and saline intrusion in the Mekong Delta caused by upstream hydropower dams and climate change has brought fears of a reduction in rice output and threatens food security. Even though China has agreed to release water to support Viet Nam to fight drought and desalinate downstream Mekong River, the lifeblood of the region, the water flow to Viet Nam is still insufficient. Saltwater intrusion in the Delta has destroyed at least 159,000 hectares of paddy rice, and a further 500,000 hectares are at risk before the onset of the summer monsoon. Recently, the government approved US$23.3 million in emergency funds to compensate hard-hit farmers and provide water tanks and other critical provisions. Viet Nam has increased rice production fivefold from 4.5 million metric tonnes in 1975 to 25.5 million metric tonnes last year, which represents 17 per cent of the world rice market. Viet Nam is the worlds second-largest exporter of rice. During the past five years, the world rice market was at about 40 to 42 million metric tonnes of milled rice per year while demand for rice is predicted to increase. Professor Vo Tong Xuan, a leading Vietnamese agricultural expert, said that saline intrusion affected agricultural production in the lower Mekong River basin, putting paddy production at risk. Xuan spoke during a conference titled Sustainable Uses of Mekong Water Resources organised at Can Tho University yesterday. However, he said the challenges should be turned into opportunities by restructuring agriculture in the country, thereby improving farmers incomes. Paddy farmersper capita income in the country, which exports seven million tonnes of rice annually, is only about US$500. Drought and saline intrusion could be seen a silver lining in the dark cloud, pushing the country to reorganise its irrigation system. The government needs to restructure its agricultural and food production in the Mekong Delta to make good use of limited fresh water and opportunities with marine water, said Xuan. We have been successful in building irrigation systems bringing fresh water to paddy production for decades. Now, the government should have a comprehensive plan for farmers using saline water in shrimp cultivation, Xuan said. He said that if farmers were forced to continue with paddy on saline farmland, they would continue to face poverty. Areas not affected by marine water such as An Giang, ong Thap and others should be arranged for paddy cultivation with advanced technology, meeting requirements of food security. He said the government should also develop irrigation systems for shrimp cultivation. Areas affected by drought and saline intrusion should also plant paddy crops during the rainy season. As soon as rice is harvested at the end of rainy season, with the fields still wet containing fresh water from rains in the surrounding ditches, saline water would be allowed to enter and shrimp post-larvae would grow in the ditches, he said. If we see marine water as the enemy, it will be our true failure, Xuan added. Kenichi Yamamoto, deputy chief representative of JICA Viet Nam, who helped establish the Centre of Excellence in Can Tho University, where information related to the Mekong River is exchanged between related countries, said that drought and saline intrusion not only affected food production in Viet Nam, but other riparian countries along the Mekong River. Helping the deltas farmers realise the adaptation plan, the World Bank announced that it would provide a concessionary loan of US$300 million in mid-2016 to Viet Nam for the Mekong Delta Climate Resiliency and Sustainable Livelihoods Project. Iain Menzies, senior water specialist of World Bank, who attended the conference, said that the World Banks financial and technical assistance to the Mekong basin countries could be effectively used if there was a strong civil society which openly, and in good faith, debated development alternatives and helped guide governments to make well-informed decisions based on sound science. The project enhances the capacity to manage and adapt to climate change by improving planning, promoting resilient rural livelihoods, and constructing climate smart infrastructure in selected provinces in the Mekong Delta. Nguyen Huu Thien, who has more than 20 years of experience working on issues of climate change and natural resource management, said Viet Nam had received almost no benefits from hydropower dams. But it has had to suffer huge consequences from the construction of such dams. Besides threatening the livelihoods of millions, climate change is also threatening the shape of the Mekong Delta, which may disappear in the future, according to the researcher. VNS HA NOI It is an abnormal phenomenon, Hoang Duong Tung, deputy head of the Viet Nam Environment Administration, said yesterday regarding a mass fish kill discovered earlier this month along the countrys central coast, causing concern among local people. The situation was unusual because both farmed fish and natural fish died at the same time, Tung said. The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and other agencies are working hard to determine the cause. While the cause has not yet been determined, scientists have recommended solutions to quickly identify the source of the problem. o Thanh Bai, head of the Center of Environmental Engineering and Chemical Safety under the Viet Nam Institute of Industrial Chemistry, suggested that agencies take samples of wastewater discharged by industrial parks into the central Ha Tinh Provinces Vung Ang waterway in order to conduct tests. Wastewater samples from that area are important because it was the first place where dead fish were discovered, he added. Samples of dead fish from Thua Thien Hue Province and a Nang should also be taken instead of only taking fish samples from Ha Tinh Province, he said. Associate Professor Nguyen Chu Hoi, former deputy head of the Viet Nam Administration of Seas and Islands, said the environmental police should get involved to speed up the investigation. Taking action The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development yesterday sent an urgent note to the peoples committees of coastal provinces warning residents not to eat the fish that died last week. Provinces from Ha Tinh to Thua Thien-Hue were warned about the mass fish deaths. The Ha Tinh, Quang Binh and Quang Tri provinces saw heavy fish deaths along their beaches over the past week. While an inspection was conducted to determine the cause, the agriculture ministry banned the use of the dead fish in food processing, and asked relevant agencies to collect the dead fish and destroy them in accordance with the law. Local provincial bodies have also been asked to inform residents about the ban and instruct them not to sell the dead fish at the market. Fish breeders were instructed to stop taking water from the sea to their coastal breeding ponds until the cause of the fish kill is identified. In another move, the Ministry of Public Security on Thursday night sent more environmental police to central provinces to investigate the cause. Major General Nguyen Xuan Ly, head of the Environmental Crime Prevention and Fighting Police Department (C49), told the Lao ong (Labour) online newspaper yesterday that the department had dispatched an inspection team to assess the situation immediately after hearing about the case. On Wednesday, Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Tran Hong Ha asked units to inspect the cause and provide solutions to fix the situation. VNS Police and customs officers yesterday recovered two suitcases containing elephant tusks and ivories at Noi Bai International Airport in Ha Noi. VNA/VNS Photo HA NOI Police and customs officers yesterday recovered two suitcases containing elephant tusks and ivories at Noi Bai International Airport in Ha Noi. Weighing approximately 97.8kg, the confiscated items were transported into Viet Nam on flight TK 6562 of Turkish Airlines. The plane arrived at the Noi Bai airport on April 6, according to the airports customs department. The customs officers opened the suitcases yesterday to check the contents and discovered the elephant tusks. They sent the tusks to the Institute of Ecology and Biological Resources to learn about them. The case is under investigation. Viet Nam has banned trade in ivory since 1992. VNS HA NOI The Vietnam Writers Association and family members of late poet Ngan Giang recently celebrated the anniversary of her 100th birthday. Attending the event, many renowned Vietnamese writers and poets agreed that poet Ngan Giang was a unique phenomenon in Viet Nams poetry scene. She started writing poems at a young age and had her first work published in a newspaper at the age of nine. Her first collection of poems, Giot Le Xuan (Spring Teardrop), was released when she was 16. According to literary scholar Nguyen Thi Bich Hong, Giang was both a beautiful and talented Hanoian woman, but her life had many ups and downs. She also added that her poem collection Tieng Vong Song Ngan (The Echo of the Galaxy) was a remarkable milestone in her career, making her one of the most popular contemporary poets. Giang led a special and wonderful life, always preserving the national spirit through any condition and difficulty, said writer Phung Van Khai. Her writing and revolutionary career set an example for writers and poets when the country was at risk of invasion. The heart of the poet was indescribable in words. However, it could be partially comprehended through her works. Ngan Giang was born as o Thi Que on March 20, 1916, into a Confucian family on Hang Trong Street, Ha Noi. She was honoured as the Queen of Viet Nams Tang poetry in the 20th century. In her 80-year writing career, she composed 4,000 poems, in addition to nine collections of poems, which have significantly contributed to the countrys poetry. She was honoured with a poem by late President Ho Chi Minh in 1946. Poet Ngan Giang died in 2002 at the age of 86. -- VNS QUANG NGAI Residents of the An Vinh Commune on the island of Ly Son in central Quang Ngai Province held a festival to honour fallen sailors. The sailors who were the island natives gave their lives to safeguard the countrys maritime sovereignty over the Hoang Sa (Paracel) and Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelagos. Locals said that back in the old days under the Nguyen Lords mandate, every year 70 of the islands best seafarers formed the Hoang Sa Flotila to safeguard their homelands maritime rights and explore the East Sea. The festival, with origins dating back to the 16th century according to experts, comprised two main activities: a feast for sailors who were about to leave on missions and a commemoration ceremony for sailors who never returned from such missions. It has since been given the name Hoang Sa (Paracel) Soldier Feast and Commemoration Festival. The sailors missions often required them to remain at sea for nearly six months of the year. Over many generations, thousands of sailors never made it back to the shore of their homeland, and the festival was created to honour them. To this day, many empty graves can still be found on the island belonging to the islands brave sailors. On the island the festival has long become more than just a tradition. Locals consider the festival as part of their heritage and identity, as most of them have ancestors among the fallen sailors. Our ancestors diligently protected the countrys sovereignty over the Hoang Sa (Paracel) and Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelagos for hundreds of years. The festival is held to remind us and younger generations of the tremendous sacrifices they made, said Nguyen Tinh, a local of the island. Local fisherman Vo Biec told Vietnam News Agencys News newspaper that his crew made it back to shore just the day before the festival. He said the annual festival reminds the islands fishermen of their ancestors glory and inspires them with courage to carry on with their way of life and help protect the sovereignty of the countrys islands. During the festival, locals release boats carrying tributes filled with rice, wine and papier-mache with the names of lost sailors written on them into the sea, a practice which is said to help their spirits ascend to the Heaven. The festival was officially recognised as a national intangible cultural heritage and the An Vinh communal temple on the island, where the festival is held annually, became a national historical site in 2013. VNS HCM CITY Talented designer Nguyen Cong Tris latest collection, called Lua (Rice), will open Viet Nam International Week 2016 at the Gem Centre in HCM City tonight. His collection features 41 designs in Lanh My A, a rare traditional silk made by artisans living in the southern province of An Giang. Tri, a member of the Asian Couture Federation (ACF), left a strong impression on audiences after showing Lua at the Tokyo Fashion Week 2016 last month. The opening event will also feature Victoria Secrets fashion model Sessille Lopez in a show of Harpers Bazaar by Cory Couture. The three-day Viet Nam International Fashion Week 2016 highlights the latest collections by both Vietnamese and foreign designers, such as Le Thanh Hoa, Thuy Nguyen, Hoang Minh Ha, Nina Naustda of the UK and Dresscamp of Japan. Vietnamese fashion brand names such as Luala, IVYmoda and Canifa will also be featured. The fashion week aims to help Vietnamese designers introduce themselves to the worlds fashion industry. VNS The Vietnamese Journalism Association should pay more attention to the improvement of its members political and professional skills since the social and media environments have become complex. VNA/VNS Illustrative Photo HCM CITY The Vietnamese Journalism Association should pay more attention to the improvement of its members political and professional skills since the social and media environments have become complex, the head of the Central Publicity and Education Commission, Vo Van Thuong, told a journalists meeting yesterday. There are plots to take advantage of the freedom and democracy in the country and organise activities that go against the values and goals targeted by revolutionary journalism, he told the meeting held to review last years performance of the Vietnamese Journalists Association in HCM City on Friday. Journalists inexperience and ideological and political degradation are among the main reasons for this, he said. Many journalists judge and criticise others instead of spending some time to assess themselves to improve their own standards, ethics and lifestyles, he said. inh La Thang, Secretary of HCM City Party Committee, said: The media must not only provide information and publicise [State policies] but also act as a social forum where people interact with authorities, express their opinions and aspirations and show their rights as masters. To make people from all walks of life join hands whole-heartedly and responsibly and to realise programmes launched by the city and the Government, the medias support is needed, he said. He hoped that journalists across the country would help HCM City acquire information about all areas like production, business, social security, food hygiene and safety, and security and social order, he said. Assessing the activities of the association in the past few years, Thuong said the media had developed well but not the association itself. The association should reconsider the ways in which it plays the co-ordinating role in the polity and raise its voice to protect journalists who face the threat of assault. He also criticised some journalists for taking advantage of their position to commit bad deeds, some of which resulted in regretful consequences. VNS MYTH BREAKER KIRAN MAZUMDAR-SHAW AND THE STORY OF INDIAN BIOTECH Author: Seema Singh Publisher: HarperCollins Pages: 336 Price: Rs 599 When Unilever bought the Biocon Group [in 1989], it perhaps did not do enough 'due diligence' on the Indian operation. Initially, Bengaluru's activities seemed minor and the minority holding was a lame asset for a company where many saw the Biocon Group acquisition itself as an unwelcome and unnecessary complication. Apart from Ireland, India, Peru and to some extent the Philippines were important locations for the Biocon Group. It took little time for Unilever's seasoned executives to map the opportunity and the company began to manoeuvre and take control of the Indian business. Every few weeks, some senior executive would descend on Bengaluru. 'It would start off well but would often end with - "What would you want from Unilever?"' says Ajay Bharadwaj [former president-marketing at Biocon]. Unilever was beginning to understand that Kiran [Mazumdar-Shaw] had scant intention of ceding control. On her part, she knew that as long as they were a minority partner, she could call the shots. After almost eighteen months of trying to convince Kiran to dilute her stakes, a large delegation, which included the global head of R&D at Unilever and his team, came to Bengaluru. In the opening meeting, Kiran gave a presentation, and her first slide, memorable to many, declared that there were three types of companies: which make things happen which watch things happen which wonder what happened Biocon India, she said, was the first type of company and Unilever was the third type. That in-your-face presentation left everyone stunned. 'We didn't know where to look. There were board members, some senior managers and the head of Hindustan Unilever. Those days we did not have [smart] phones to fiddle with, we just went red in the face,' recalls Bharadwaj. If egos were bruised, nobody showed it. Back in Europe, Biocon as a group was having a hard time assimilating itself within the Quest and Unilever family. It was seen as a 'mafia' or a 'Band of Brothers and Sisters' by many. When Kiran visited Naarden, she would often go first, informally, to Mike Powell's office [Powell was a vice-president of finance at Unilever who retired in 2000] in order to 'check the temperature' at senior Food and Corporate levels. 'Mutual trust is a very strong force in business, as in all walks of life,' notes Powell. With each passing year, the relationship soured some more. In the meetings, in early years, Unilever members would extend 'warm, loving attention' which increasingly became antagonistic. As a former Biocon Group manager recalls, it would often be like, '"We've had enough of this. We know what's best. You little company, you start obeying our rules." It would get rather nasty.' Mazumdar-Shaw at the Biocon Campus construction site in 1982 Process hygiene was a big deal in Unilever. Hygienic design principles were also critical for people's safety because enzymes can cause allergies and had been a recurring problem earlier at Biocon Ireland. After Unilever improved the processes, allergic reactions stopped. Roland Cocker, who had earlier worked in global companies like Glaxo, said the scientific design principles of Unilever were very special worldwide; even Glaxo was no match for it. Unilever designed manufacturing and other processes in a way that they did not get dirty easily - the type of material and design used had the least number of crevices and couplings - and if they got dirty they would get cleaned, drained and sterilized quickly, using minimum water, energy and chemicals, at minimum environmental cost. It's an almost Zen-like approach to design, based on experimental results from science and it was new to the Biocon Group. 'If you take a lot of biotech plants from big pharma companies, you'll find they use couplings and valves which are very common; they wouldn't pass the process cleanability test,' says Cocker, who now runs Cocker Consulting, which specializes in hygiene design principles and does food safety and quality audits for the National Sanitary Foundation in the US. Mazumdar-Shaw (second from right) at work during Biocons early days Around that time, Unilever had asked its businesses to qualify for the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) certification. For all her fiercely guarded independence, Kiran was ready to 'toe the line' when it came to conforming to their processes to benchmark her company against global standards. Biocon India grabbed the opportunity and became the first business within the Unilever Group, and only the third company in India (the two others being Bosch-Mico and Widia, both mechanical engineering companies), to get ISO 9001 certification from the German authority RWTUV. 'I was passionate about building credibility for an Indian company. I wanted the Made-in-India label to be of high quality,' she remembers, even though it meant writing their own quality manuals and fumbling along the way. In 1994, when Biocon India wanted to expand its export-oriented BioChemizyme capacity fourfold, Unilever wanted a 50 per cent share. So they decided to set up a new plant called Biocon-Quest. By then, the Indian market was opening up, following the economic reforms of 1991. There was an attractive Export Promotion Capital Goods (EPCG) scheme which let companies pay a reduced import duty of a mere 5 per cent and sell their products wherever they wanted on the condition that they would have to export seven times the worth of goods they imported. The investment in Biocon-Quest amounted to Rs 12 crore, of which the two partners would pay Rs 2 crore each and the rest would come from Deutsche Bank, an old lender for Unilever. Since the amount was over the authorized limit of Quest management, the proposal had to go to a special committee for approval within the Unilever Group. It could take six months or more, Bengaluru was told. 'I was ready to start, like, tomorrow. I couldn't wait. I was short on capacity because pectinases were doing very well. I wanted to complete the plant in one year, so I didn't wait for their approval. I put in my money and the borrowing, and I started,' says Kiran. On the day of the plant inauguration in 1995, Victor Rensing, chief executive of Quest, gave her the cheque and complimented her for 'fast execution', but it came packaged with some flak 'for violating the norms of a multinational'. (For a while, there was an internal joke at Biocon about who Con-Quested whom.) Mazumdar-Shaw with Nobel laureate James Watson during his visit to Biocon in 1999 When Kiran, avoiding getting caught in bureaucracy and certainly with no intention of forfeiting her freedom, kept ignoring those messages, Keki Dadiseth [former HUL chief executive] said she was sending the 'wrong signals'. At one point, Kiran told him, 'You keep telling me I'm sending wrong signals, but what assurance are you giving that you will stay invested in biotechnology? Can you ensure 1 per cent will translate into a guarantee that you will not sell the biotech [division]?' 'If anything,' she added in half jest, 'I'd like to buy back your share.'Dadiseth hushed it: 'Don't even say such things.' After that visit, he proposed to Kiran that they forge a research partnership. She suggested fungal pharmaceuticals; he recommended statins, a class of small molecules that lower the cholesterol level in blood by reducing cholesterol production in the liver. Lovastatin was a rage those days. Even though the drug was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration in 1987, a landmark study had been published in 1994. It dismissed the ambiguities surrounding lovastatin's beneficial effects in reducing LDL (low-density lipoprotein) cholesterol which significantly reduced recurrence of heart attacks. Pharmaceutical company Merck had commercialized the product, but its patent was expiring in 2001. Biocon's willingness to develop lovastatin was instinctive. It was a fermentation product, one which was first discovered by enzyme researcher Akira Endo at Sankyo Corporation in Japan, a country where the earliest record of the Koji enzyme technology can be traced back to the third century ad. In the late 1970s, Endo had identified compounds, later named compactin or mevastatin, from the mould that infected the Japanese orange. But Sankyo dropped the project after some initial toxicity results. A few years later, Merck took it up and did larger studies to understand the mechanism of reported toxicity, and finally brought it to the clinics. Kiran promised Singh that Biocon would develop high-yielding micro-organism strains, and the two companies' R&D teams got on to it with their respective strengths - Biocon using solid state fermentation, Ranbaxy using submerged fermentation. 'We saw it as an opportunity to get into manufacturing - we would have created two technologies; in any case, they were into marketing,' Kiran recalls. By the mid-1990s, under its own strategic shift, Biocon sniffed the opportunities in pharmaceuticals and started research for lovastatin under the new company Helix, away from Unilever's scrutiny and interference. 'I had said if Ranbaxy gave us the strains, we could adapt and improve the strain for solid state fermentation,' Shri says. 'Sure enough, we did it. But it surprised the hell out of everybody when Ranbaxy, which was struggling to scale up its own laboratory work, changed its mind and decided to do it alone.' Before the statin collaboration, Ranbaxy and Biocon had contemplated a business association when the former needed enzymes for its flagship product, penicillin, for which the starting raw material was a fermented product, 6-amino penicillin acid. Biocon was one of the leading enzyme producers those days, but, for a lack of capacity, most of which was already committed to the brewing industry, it could not produce enzymes for Ranbaxy. On its part, Ranbaxy never intended to get directly into fermentation, primarily because it was a chemistry-driven company and wished to remain so. No less importantly, Singh was married into the Radhaswamy Satsang family whose guru was his father-in-law. 'So the question of Singh getting involved in manufacturing something that had anything to do with alcohol or intoxication was not possible,' said Bimal Raizada, a long-term Ranbaxy executive who handled different responsibilities at different times, at one point even running the non-pharmaceutical businesses of the family. Singh was basically proposing that Biocon set up the production unit and Ranbaxy would consume the enzymes. The deal did not work out and Ranbaxy ended up making an investment in a small unit near Kangra in Himachal Pradesh. Gist-Brocadis helped transfer the technology to Max India to make the enzyme. The Singh family had a clear understanding that Ranbaxy and Max were separate companies and that the latter would do biotechnology. However, a director on Ranbaxy's board, D.D. Chopra, was a good friend of Kiran and he, to an extent, 'influenced Ranbaxy in building a bond with Biocon'. By the early 1990s, it was clear to Singh, who had until then focused largely on anti-infectives, that major diseases in India would be related to hypertension and heart attack. 'We did take on a few blood-pressure-related products but we were unsuccessful. For cardiac cases, we had identified a range of statins and that's how Dr Singh wanted to collaborate with Kiran,' said Raizada, who passed away in March 2015. To avoid getting into fermentation, which was becoming integral to many drugs it was producing, Ranbaxy signed a collaborative agreement with Hoechst - before it merged with the French company Rhone-Poulenc to become Aventis - to buy the state-owned Hindustan Antibiotics Limited (HAL) in Pune. There was going to be a three-member partnership which would form the biologics arm of Ranbaxy. But the government could not make up its mind on spinning off HAL, which had good manufacturing facilities for certain fermented products, including penicillin. A major producer of penicillin in Europe, Hoechst was meant to provide new strains to HAL. While all this planning was going on in Singh's mind, in early 1999, he invited Kiran and John Shaw [her husband] to Delhi. At Ranbaxy House in Nehru Place, after a lavish lunch, Singh asked the others to leave and had a private conversation with Kiran and Shaw. 'Kiran, I want to make a proposal to you. I'm very keen to see if Biocon can become part of the Ranbaxy family. You are doing a tremendous job,' Kiran recalls him saying. He offered Ranbaxy shares, a board position in his company and the right to run Biocon. 'I told him,' says Kiran, 'it's a great honour to be asked by you but I am not ready to even consider such a proposal. He understood and said, "If you ever reconsider, let me know."' Singh was thinking of biotechnology, but the rest of the company wasn't. 'If you ask me what the reaction was at that lunch meeting, people were saying: "You are doing well in biotech, I wish you luck; but I am good and doing well in chemistry",' said Raizada. That inherent aloofness, if not outright aversion, to biotech would come back to haunt Ranbaxy a few years later. All plans fell apart later in 1999 - Hoechst merged with Rhone-Poulenc; the Indian government could not come to a decision on hiving off Hindustan Antibiotics; and Singh, fifty-six years old, tragically succumbed to cancer in July. Excerpted with permission from HarperCollins from Mythbreaker: Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw and the Story of Indian Biotech by Seema Singh President voiced confidence that Brazil's people will "be able to prevent any setbacks" to democracy as she battles a bid to impeach her. "Brazil is a great country endowed with a society that was able to overcome authoritarianism in the past," Rousseff said at the United Nations during a ceremony for the signing of the Paris climate deal. "Ours is a hard-working people. We have great esteem for freedom. I have no doubt that our people will be able to prevent any setbacks," she said. Rousseff is fighting for her political survival at home following allegations that she used illegal accounting maneuvers to mask budget deficits during the 2014 election year. The leader has denied the charges and spoke of a "grave, serious moment" in Brazil at the end of her remarks devoted mostly to climate change. The president thanked "all the leaders who have expressed their solidarity to me." After leaving the UN, Rousseff raised the tone when speaking with Brazilian media, repeating her claim of a "coup" attempt against her, and calling for regional bodies Mercosur and UNASUR to oversee the process. "I am a victim of a totally unfounded process," she said. "You cannot cover the sun with a finger." While in New York, Rousseff left Vice President Michel Temer in charge even though she has accused him of conspiring to oust her. The Brazilian Senate is due to vote on opening a trial next month, a move that would force Rousseff to step aside for 180 days and put Temer back in the executive office. After that, a two-thirds majority vote would be enough to oust her permanently, leaving Temer to serve out her term, which ends in late 2018. Sydney soaked by wettest October ever recorded A Sky News Australia meteorologist has predicted how much rain Sydneysiders can expect for the rest of 2022 as two weather systems lash almost every inch of New South Wales. Jurors in rape trial make request amid ongoing deliberations The 12-member jury of the Bruce Lehrmann rape trial have requested extra time to come to a unanimous decision on whether the former Liberal staffer sexually assaulted Brittany Higgins. Lambie prays for Netball Australia after sponsorship mess Senator Jacqui Lambie has thrown her support behind Gina Rinehart as she slammed Netball Australia for losing a major sponsor while local sports clubs struggle to stay alive. Labor move to derecognise West Jerusalem a slap in the face to a loyal ally Just as the two countries gear up for close cooperation in high-tech areas of food security and missile defence, Canberra has put a major dent in its relations with Israel. WATERLOO Shotgun pellets pierced the front of a Waterloo home early Friday. It was one of about three shots fired calls police responded to Friday and Saturday. Police were called to 211 Newell St. at about 2:10 a.m. for shots fired. Investigators on the scene found pellets, likely from a shotgun, had damaged the front of the home. No one was injured in the incident. Police responded to a call of shots fired later on Friday evening at about 6:42 p.m. in the same neighborhood. Police recovered shell casings around Linn and Newell streets but found nothing had been hit. There were no injuries in the incident. Separately, police were called to the 1100 block of West Fifth Street early Saturday at about 2:56 a.m. for one shot heard. Police located and arrested Dante Echols, 27, Waterloo, for being a felon in possession of a firearm, carrying weapons, interference, possession of marijuana and fifth-degree theft. No one was injured in the incident, and police did not find any property damaged by the shot. CEDAR FALLS Iowa teachers are split on how to educate students about climate change despite strong scientific evidence supporting the existence of human-caused climate change, an IowaWatch study with the Cedar Falls High School Tiger Hi-Line newspaper shows. Moreover, their students also have mixed opinions on the subject, the survey shows. Results of the survey of 133 science teachers from 54 public and private schools and one Area Education Agency in Iowa are anecdotal because the sample was not large enough to demonstrate a trend with certainty. But they offered a snapshot from Iowa into how differently educators teach the subject, a result that is similar to the results of a National Center for Science Education study the journal Science published earlier this year. Sixty-three of the teachers answering the survey 48 percent, or almost one-half of those responding reported climate change should be taught as theory without concluding whether or not it is right or wrong. Forty-three teachers, or 33 percent in the survey, said climate change should be taught as scientific fact, but teachers should acknowledge those who question whether or not it exists. Only 26 of the 133 surveyed, or 20 percent, said climate change should be taught as a fact. Earths climate has constantly changed since its formation, one teacher wrote in the comment box when the survey asked for the teachers personal opinion about climate change. While human activities likely have affected it, our current climate models are insufficient to predict how much and what kind of effect humans have on the climate long term. But another teacher in the survey wrote: It doesnt make sense to ask for an opinion on a fact. Climate change is not about believing. Its about evidence, said Kamyar Enshayan, director of the University of Northern Iowas Center for Energy and Environmental Education. Enshayan said high school students need to be educated about climate change before graduation. They need to know that climate instability, just like other forms of environmental degradation, are totally a human, cultural, social, economic problem. Its not a physics thing, he said. In the national study reported in Science, 30 percent of the middle and high school science teachers responding said they taught their students global warming likely is due to natural causes. Twelve percent said they did not emphasize human causes during class and half of that group did not speak about causes at all. The 1,500 teachers, from all 50 states, who responded to the national survey said they are educating students on climate change one to two hours on average over an academic year. The national studys authors said many of the teachers did not have a grasp on the topic and were giving their students misinformation about climate change. They reported almost one-third of the teachers surveyed nationally are conveying messages that are contradictory, emphasizing the scientific consensus on human causation and the idea that many scientists believe the changes have natural causes. Making connection The IowaWatch/Tiger Hi-Line survey also was answered by 245 students in six Iowa high schools and one middle school. Some of those interviewed said they feel a sense of urgency about climate change. Were getting close to, or were already past the tipping points, like the points of no return, Cedar Falls High School senior Sarah Gao said in an interview. She is among the 64 percent of Americans who said in a March Gallup Poll they are worried a great deal or fair amount about global warming. The deadline now is really, really pressing ... people really need to get together before its too late. Fifty-six students, or 40 percent, of the students responding to the Iowa survey said climate change should be taught as scientific fact while acknowledging those who question whether or not it exists. Another 47 students, or 33 percent, said climate change should be taught as theory but students should be told about the variety of thought that exists without conclusions on which theory is right or wrong. Answers to the survey were collected from Feb. 24 through March 3 and in a follow-up round March 22. Close to one of three teachers in the Iowa survey, or 32 percent, said human activity is the primary cause for global warming and climate change and should be included in lessons. Two of three, 67 percent, said they recognized human causes but teachers should make it clear there are competing theories. You have to be careful in that youre talking about theories of climate change and not facts, because everything is still a theory, Lynn Griffin, head of the Cedar Falls High School science department, said. Theres correlations, yes, but there are not direct results yet. More than 95 percent of scientists agree the dominant reason for climate change is human activity, according to a study published April 13 by Environmental Research Letters. The national study in Science showed 30 percent of middle school teachers and 45 percent of high school teachers correctly identified the percentage of scientists agreeing on climate change reasons. Cedar Falls High Schools advanced placement environmental science course carries a heavy focus on global warming. Teacher Meghan Reynolds said she frequently shows evidence of climate change within her lectures in her AP classes. I think the data is fairly overwhelming. Even if there was natural warming occurring, the rate at which its increased and the correlation with increasing human activity is just a really strong cause-and effect, Reynolds said. Student perspective But some students interviewed by Tiger Hi-Line reporters in a spring project with IowaWatch, a nonprofit news organization that trains young journalists, said they are skeptics of climate change evidence. Cedar Falls junior Ashton Cross said global warming is part of longterm climate phases the Earth goes through. Back before we had technology, the Earth went through hot flashes and cold flashes in a way, Cross said. Melting-and-freezing has always been a big problem with the climate. Fellow junior Brennan Kohls said, To me, it just seems like another one of those crazy apocalypse theories. If you look back in the 80s, everyone thought we were going to die from global warming. Kohls is enrolled in the Cedar Falls High Schools environmental science course, making the topic of climate change almost impossible to avoid. I try not to get offended, Kohls said about what he hears in class. I just suck it up and I listen to it anyway. If thats their opinion, its their opinion. Ill stick to my opinion. Lyle Muller of IowaWatch contributed to this story. This story was produced by the Iowa Center for Public Affairs Journalism-IowaWatch.org, a non-profit, online news Website that collaborates with Iowa news organizations to produce explanatory and investigative reporting. ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) Iowa and Minnesota lawmakers are exploring a system to allow Iowa residents to buy medical marijuana oil from their northern neighbor, lawmakers from both states have told The Associated Press. As Iowa's Legislature barrels toward adjournment, legislative leaders are still struggling to expand a 2014 law that legalized marijuana oil for certain patients suffering seizures but left them nowhere to buy it. Iowa House Speaker Linda Upmeyer said Friday they're now considering an agreement with Minnesota as one option. "I don't know if anything will get the support it requires to actually move forward, but we're going to keep working on it," said Upmeyer, a Republican from Clear Lake. Piggybacking on Minnesota's new medical marijuana program would be a novel setup. It could give Iowa patients an outlet to buy medication while also sending more business to the manufacturers who have struggled with low patient enrollment in Minnesota. But it would also raise concerns from the federal government about Schedule I drugs moving across state lines. Iowa patients would face long drives to get medicine the closest dispensary is three hours northeast from Des Moines and advocacy groups argue that Iowa should set up its own system to produce and sell medical marijuana. Officials are discussing how to assuage the federal government, as well as the registration details of who could buy the marijuana pills, oils and vapors. Minnesota also restricts sales to patients with nine serious conditions like cancer, multiple sclerosis or seizure disorders. The idea of leaning on Minnesota originated in Des Moines but legislative leaders in St. Paul have been receptive, though they stress Minnesota's tightly-controlled program would not be expanded. Minnesota would need to clarify that residents from neighboring states can purchase the medication and make some technical fixes to the law passed in 2014. Rep. Nick Zerwas, an Elk River Republican leading the charge in Minnesota, said that may need to wait until next year. "It's doing the right thing for patients that need medicine. If my neighbor needs help and I can help them, we oughta do that," Zerwas said. Launched just last summer, Minnesota's medical marijuana program has struggled to pick up business. Just 1,275 patients were registered as of Friday and only three of the eight dispensaries authorized by law in Minneapolis, Eagan and Rochester have opened. The Rochester site, about 40 miles from Iowa's northern border, would be closest to Iowa customers if the partnership comes together. A representative from Minnesota Medical Solutions, one of two manufacturers and the company that runs the dispensary, did not immediately return a request for comment. That loss of business doesn't sit well with Threase Harms, who's leading the lobbying effort for the advocacy group known as Iowans 4 Medical Cannabis, a staple at the Capitol this year. She expressed concern about who would have authority over Iowa's patients, who would be able to buy the medication and the potential costs. "I'm not sure Iowa legislators want to give economic development opportunities and potential state revenue away to the state of Minnesota," she said. "That's probably a big red flag." A bill that would create a system for manufacturing, dispensing and possessing cannabis oil in Iowa and expand the number of conditions that qualify has stalled in the Republican-controlled House this session. Sen. Joe Bolkcom, a Democrat from Iowa City has pushed for that kind of broader plan. He was skeptical of the Minnesota option, saying that Senate Democrats weren't consulted and calling potential issues with the federal government a significant hurdle. "It's rather bizarre that Speaker Upmeyer is trying to cut a deal with (Minnesota) ... and she's not able to walk across the rotunda and work with other Iowans," Bolkcom said. Robert "Lewy" Lewis, 63-year-old activist from central Iowa who suffers from intractable pain caused by several medical conditions, criticized the idea of using Minnesota's existing network. "Why don't we just do it the right way and make it happen here?" he said. "It's not a slippery slope." ___ Rodriguez reported from Des Moines MONTICELLO Pressed again by Pat Murphy on her past support for Republican candidates and organizations, Monica Vernon told her rival for the Democratic nomination in Iowas U.S. House 1st District its time to quit looking in the rearview mirror. In their second debate, Murphy said its important voters in the June 7 Democratic primary election know while he was leading efforts as Iowa House speaker to expand access to education and health care, expand family planning services and civil rights for the LGBT community, Vernon was writing checks to GOP candidates and organizations. She wasnt supporting Barack Obama, she wasnt supporting Tom Harkin, she wasnt supporting the rest of the ticket, Murphy said Saturday at a debate sponsored by the Jones County Democratic Party and the Journal-Eureka newspaper. While its true she hasnt always been a Democrat, Vernon responded, Im a very, very proud Democrat today. So its time for Murphy to stop lecturing all of the rest of us about what it means to be a progressive Democrat, Vernon said. Im a lifetime progressive, she told about 45 people at the Monticello City Hall. This is what Ive been doing all of my life: Not looking in rearview mirror at what life used to be like, but looking at what it can be for all of us if we work together. Vernon, a former small business owner from Cedar Rapids, and Murphy, a 26-year Dubuque legislator, also sparred over the minimum wage and Social Security during the hourlong debate. The winner of the primary will face first-term Republican Rep. Rod Blum of Dubuque. Murphy favors a $15-an-hour minimum wage while Vernon has supported an increase from $7.25 to $12. Addressing Social Security, Murphy called for eliminating the $118,000 cap on payroll taxes to extend the retirement programs solvency to about 2067. The current cap means Donald Trump stops paying into Social Security taxes Jan. 1." Vernon agreed lifting the cap would extend the life of Social Security, but rather than eliminate it, she would raise the cap for people making more than $250,000 so they are paying their fair share. How many in here make over $118,000 a year? Murphy asked. Everyone should be paying into it. We all benefit by this program. The candidates found more agreement when asked who should be paying to make sure Iowas water is clean. Vernons philosophy is if you make the mess you clean up the mess. I dont think those who profit by dirtying up water should be pushing that cleanup job on the rest of us, the former Cedar Rapids City Council member said. If you pollute the water to create a profit, then you need to solve that problem. If youre making money off the land, Murphy agreed, you need to be a good steward of the land, you need to make sure you protect your environment as well as the environment of the people downstream of you. However, he disagreed with Vernon about creating jobs by building the infrastructure to treat water and wastewater. She noted about 300 Iowa communities lack the facilities to adequately treat water and wastewater. Bottom line is that this isnt about putting people to work, he said. Its not the responsibility for the rest of us to put people to work to clean that water. Vernon and Murphy will debate again Friday, the night before the 1st District Democratic convention. The forum will be at 7 p.m. at the Iowa Braille School Auditorium, 1002 G Ave., Vinton. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. A fourth debate is planned May 13 at the Tama Ballroom. A roundup of legislative and Capitol news items of interest for Friday, April 22, 2016. The National Drought Monitor reports that all of Iowa remains drought free and the average stream flows for the state have returned to near normal levels. Iowa averaged 3.97 inches of precipitation during the first quarter of 2016, which officials say was slightly drier than the 30-year normal but was significantly wetter than in 2014 or 2015. Precipitation amounts generally were above normal across the northern one-third of the state and well below normal over east central, southeast, and southwest Iowa. January was the driest of the three months over most of Iowa, while March accounted for 61 percent of the first quarter precipitation. The water summary report is prepared by officials in the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship and the U.S. Geological Survey in collaboration with The Iowa Homeland Security and Emergency Management Department and the National Weather Service. Art grants available Artists, organizations, schools, communities, government entities, tribal councils and others have until May 2 to submit applications for arts and culture grant funding programs. Officials with the Iowa Arts Council say the grant information and guidelines are available online at www.iowaculture.gov and applications must be submitted at www.iowaartscouncil.slideroom.com by next months deadline. The Art Project Grant program offers grants from $1,000 to $10,000 to invest in projects that positively impact the vitality of the arts in the state. The Iowa Arts Council Fellowship program provides $10,000 grants to support the creation of new art work, as well as year-long professional development, networking and promotional resources. Cultural Trust Stability Grants help Iowa cultural organizations make measureable progress toward goals of fiscal stability and best practices in organizational strategic planning and management. Applicants may apply for up to $2,500 and are required to provide $1 of matching funds for every dollar requested. CEDAR FALLS Kathleen Kennedy Townsend cant imagine life outside the public eye. Townsend the daughter of late U.S. Sen Robert F. Kennedy and niece of President John F. Kennedy said the Kennedy children have rarely been protected from public scrutiny. No, there was no protection except when we were threatened, Townsend told a crowd of about 150 at the United Ways Womens Philanthropy Connection luncheon Friday. We were supposed to take risks. We were supposed to challenge the world. Go out and do things. Townsend spent an hour as keynote speaker at the biannual luncheon talking about the lessons shed learned from her family and in politics, and what both experiences taught her about women in leadership roles. Townsend, who would later become Marylands first woman lieutenant governor, said despite her political family, she was not raised to become a politician. It was something the men in her family did, not the women, she said. But as Townsend grew up she came to realize her grandmother, Rose Kennedy, harbored ambitions she could never make a reality. Townsend took from that a desire to learn, to be curious and to strive toward goals. One quirk Townsend said her grandmother had was to pin famous quotes to her shirt on mile-long walks to recite them during lulls in conversation. With that came the advice, Youll never know when youre going to be asked to give a speech, and youll have to say something appropriate. When asked what advice shed pin to her clothing to relay to her own grandchildren, Townsend did not disappoint the audience. She started with, Some see things as they are and ask why. And others see things that never were and ask why not, a favorite George Bernard Shaw quote of her late father. It was repeated at his June 1968 funeral at St. Patricks Cathedral in New York in the memorable eulogy delivered by her uncle, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy. But she also offered a personal piece of advice, Stop being a perfectionist. Just do something. Youre going to fail. Big deal. Try something else. Women, Ive learned, want to be perfectionists. Screw it. When Townsend decided to run for office, it wasnt family history that inspired her but rather the womens movement. The lesson there? You can come from the most wonderful family, but what the society says around you can shape what you think. She credited the local United Ways efforts with a mentoring program that partners younger women with more experienced ones, because it creates expectations for what women can achieve. Townsend said thats also becoming the case in politics, where more women are getting elected. But she made the audience made mostly up of women realize how far things have yet to come. She asked the audience to imagine someone in power. Even after Townsend explained her speech would be about women in power, about 80 percent of the audience still imagined a male figure. Its changing. Were going to get on the $20 bill, Townsend said to applause. But its going to be a ways. Its just, its in our nature. Its in our history, and its very hard to change it. It will change as we see more women in power, but its tough. There was a time in America and it wasnt even so long ago that liberals cared a lot about working-class people. They may have been misguided in many of their policy solutions e.g., raising the minimum wage but at least their hearts were in the right place. Then a strange thing happened about a decade ago. Radical environmentalists took control of the Democratic Party. These leftists care more about the supposed rise of the oceans than the financial survival of the middle class. The industrial unions made a catastrophic decision to get in bed with these radicals, and now they and all of us are paying a heavy price. The latest evidence came last week when another coal giant in America, Peabody Energy Corp., filed for bankruptcy. This is the same fate suffered by Arch Coal Inc., Alpha Natural Resources Inc. and other coal producers that have filed for Chapter 11 protection from creditors. This isnt a result of free-market creative destruction. This was a policy strategy by the White House and green groups. They wanted this to happen. This was what Clean Power Plant rules from the Environmental Protection Agency were all about. The EPA set standards that by design were impossible to meet and even flouted the law that says the regulations should be commercially achievable. This was a key component of the climate change fanaticism that pervades this White House. Ideas have consequences. Obama has succeeded in decimating whole towns dependent on coal in Wyoming, Virginia, Pennsylvania and Illinois. Hillary Clinton recently vowed to put all of coal out of business. This is how you win a Democratic primary these days. What kind of political party dedicates itself to destroying an entire domestic industry? No one in the progressive Democratic Party seems to care an estimated 31,000 coal miners, truckers, engineers, construction workers and others have lost their jobs since 2009 as a result of this fanaticism. Another 5,000 or so could be given pink slips at Peabody. To the left, the families whose lives are ruined are collateral damage to achieve their utopian dream of saving the planet. The people who now run the Democratic Party believe the ends justify the ruthless means. Investors have gotten crushed, too, as a result of coals demise. The coal industry has lost more than $30 billion in stock value since 2009, with many of these losses showing up in union pension funds and private 401(k) plans. What is maddening about all of this is coal is much cleaner than ever before. EPA statistics show emissions of sulfur, lead, carbon monoxide and smog from coal plants have been reduced by 50 percent to 90 percent in the past 40 years. The air we breathe is cleaner than ever. Carbon dioxide, by the way, is not pollution: It doesnt make you sick. Clean coal is a reality, but that fact never slowed the greens down. The Natural Resources Defense Council now wants the EPA to slap $700 million in environmental fines on Peabody. These people just never stop. Global warming advocates should ask themselves what they are accomplishing. For every coal plant we shut down, China and India build another 10 or so. Donald Trump is right: The rest of the world really is laughing behind our backs at our economic suicide pact. Our coal is much cleaner, and our environmental laws much stricter, than Chinas and Indias, so this shift of output and jobs from the U.S. to our rivals succeeds in making us poorer and the planet dirtier. America is the Saudi Arabia of coal; we have an estimated 500 years supply. So for economic and ecological reasons, we should want American coal to dominate the world market. But the environmentalists rallying cry is: Keep it in the ground. Do liberals care the demise of coal could lead to major disruptions in Americas electric power supply? Coal still supplies more than one-third of our electricity, because it is cheap and highly reliable much more so than wind and solar energy. America was built on coal. Kathleen Hartnett-White, an energy expert at the Texas Public Policy Foundation, notes the Industrial Revolution was made possible because of coal and other fossil fuels that replaced green energy like windmills. Perhaps the millennials will realize their mistake when they wont be able to power up their PlayStations, iPhones and laptops. Republicans in Congress arent blameless here. They have controlled the House for five years and both chambers since 2015, but they have sat by while the EPA destroys an iconic American industry. Why has Congress not overruled EPA rules on carbon which, again, is not a pollutant? Every poll shows Americans care most about jobs and the economy and only about 3 percent care most about climate change. Yet, they refuse to stand up to Obama and take the side of the American worker. 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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) Let me see America is no longer the number one wheat exporter. Hmm.Seems Russia is the number one exporter of wheat now. How did that happen? I know and have talked about it Cool Obama went to Britain and Blackmailed them and talked down his nose and trashy to them and pissed their peasant asses off.Obama is such an international star these days, as he talks down to allies and kisses the ass of the Saudies Obama said do as I say or elseNow as I have said before, Obama is a jerk! Alright Seems Israel is playing around illegally in Syria. Now Israel is crying that Russia shot at their jets, illegally flying around deep inside Syria.Sorry Israel, but you are lucky that Russia gives warning shots, now stay out of SyriaEven if it is not true and Russia says it is not, now we know that Israel is playing in Syria and Israel admits it Now that was worth it Remember the cracking the iPhone stupidity? Well that went well, crack them all and raise GDP of some country somewhere.but our own Ouch War Zone USA! Ohio and Georgia, in the land of the free to shoot each other at your desire.Are keeping the country motto alive. Kill Or Be Killed! But Life is Perfect in America? http://www.cbsnews.com/news/us-suicide-rates-climb-higher/ But I thought all was perfect in the Land of the Free! Something is amiss Is the USA the Biggest Troll? I think so and the rest of the world sees what I see and so does some internal people.Trolls suck Russians are still terrible drivers and drive offensively, not defensively.Even the people on foot are not able to walk at times without causing a wreck With that goodbye and see you later WtR 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. Apr 22, 2016 | By Kira A group of lock-picking hackers based in Melbourne, Australia, has cracked open the controversy surrounding 3D printing and personal security. Using images from publicly available patent websites, the hackers managed to replicate so-called restricted keys that could be used to open businesses, government buildings or secure data centers. The problem of 3D printed keys first came to public attention nearly one year ago, when leaked images of TSA master luggage keys allowed an individual to 3D print working replicas using only a commercially available 3D printer. In this most recent story, unveiled at the BSides Canberra Security Conference in Melbourne, the hackers used a similar 3D printing techniquehowever rather than peeking into vacationers luggage, they could potentially break into a secure data center. Typically, restricted keys are considered to be safeguarded because only expensive specialist locksmiths with licenses and specific machinery can produce them. They are used mainly to protect sensitive areas where standard and easily copied keys will not suffice. In order to further ensure that un-authorized individuals will not copy a restricted key, they often have the words do not duplicate on them to warn locksmiths. Unfortunately, as Topy, a Loop Technology security consultant explains, those words mean very little to determined lock-pickers. "The restricted keys have 'do not copy' stamped on them, but unfortunately it doesn't really mean anything," he said. In Melbourne you can't get restricted keys from locksmiths no matter how nicely you ask them so we decided to make them ourselves. To circumvent the fact that they couldnt copy the keys using traditional, physical methods, Topy and his team went digital. Knowing that the shapes of the keys are patented, they simply went online to public patent sites, where they were able to download very high quality images. To make things even easier, the key blanks are often available as scalable vector images with precise measurementsmore than enough information for a CAD modeler to create an accurate 3D file. The 3D printed key is made from a durable plastic that can be used multiple times without breaking. As The Register explains, with such a key, lock-pickers can obtain the cylinder from a vulnerable lock, learn the master key pattern, and then apply it to the 3D printed blank key. The system doesnt require the lock to be broken, meaning users can get in and out undetected. Luckilyin this instance, at leastthe lock picking was done for legitimate reasons: to understand how high-security locks can be compromised using 3D printing and other digital technology, and to develop measures to further protect them. This isnt the first time 3D printing and personal security has come to light in recent months. In addition to the TSA Master Key scandal mentioned above, Eric Wustrow recently discussed three common attack models used to create 3D printed keys, and in related 3D printing security news, the University of California, Irvine, has discovered that 3D files can be stolen and re-created based on nothing more than the sounds emitted from a 3D printer. Posted in 3D Printing Application Maybe you also like: The original site was designed by S. Abbas Raza in 2004 but soon completely redesigned by Mikko Hypponen and deployed by Henrik Rydberg. It was later upgraded extensively by Dan Balis in 2006. The next major revision was designed by S. Abbas Raza, building upon the earlier look, and coded by Dumky de Wilde in 2013. And this current version 5.0 has been designed and deployed by Dumky de Wilde in collaboration with S. Abbas Raza. Patrick Blanchfield in n+1: AMERICA ALREADY HAS GUN CONTROLall kinds of gun control. Start with the guns themselves: sawed-off shotguns are legal for general public ownership in Indiana; take one into Ohio and youre looking at a felony charge. A pistol magazine that holds eleven rounds is a matter of indifference to Rhode Island; carry it into Connecticut and youve committed a crime. Even the definition of what makes a gun loaded differs from state to state. Or consider the laws governing concealed carry, which dozens of states have dramatically liberalized since the 1990s. In many states you dont need to take a written test, sit through a safety video, or even prove you know how to fire a gun, let alone reliably hit a target, to be licensed to carry a concealed weapon. In other localities, you must do all of the aboveand still you might be denied, because the criteria are black-box, subject to the discretion of the issuing authorities. In still other states you need no license at all: if you can buy a gun, you can carry it concealed. Complicating things further is a baroque network of reciprocity laws whereby some states recognize permits issued by others and issue permits to nonresidents. This landscape changes so rapidly that gun carriers who travel across state borders often rely on smartphone apps to alert them to local regulations. Against this complex backdrop, the temptation to focus obsessively on particular interest groups and pieces of legislationnamely, the National Rifle Association (NRA) and the Second Amendmentis understandable. Despite the endless talk about both, the history and role of each may be somewhat different than you think. For nearly a century, the NRA focused on hunting and the cultivation of marksmanship in patriotic rapprochement with the US military and supported firearms registration laws and gun bans. The NRAs emphasis on guns as tools for self-defense only really arose during the turbulent political and demographic upheavals of the 1960s and 70sas did its vehement rhetorical focus on the Second Amendment. As for the Amendment itself, things are also more complicated: whatever the status of the individual right to bear arms in the nations Constitution, an overwhelming number of state constitutions guarantee it in no uncertain terms. If the Second Amendment were to disappear tomorrow, the on-the-ground legal reality in forty-four states would remain the same. The fiery debates over guns that regularly suck the air out of American public discourse rarely acknowledge these realities. This is in part because reckoning with an endlessly complicated mess of technical particularities, local oddities, and regional differences makes for poor national political theater. More here. Northern football player donates hair to Wigs for Kids Zach Bohnenkamp has been growing his hair out since he arrived at Northern. Thursday he had 12 inches of hair cut and donated to Wigs for Kids. Our weekly roundup of tax-related investment strategies and news your clients may be thinking about. Deducting investment management fees: Clients are entitled to deduct investment management fees charged by their financial advisors, according to The Monterey Herald. However, these fees cannot be deducted if investors are subject to the Alternative Minimum Tax. Retirement savers are advised to pay these fees outside their retirement plans to make the fees tax-deductible, while those who are already retired should pay these fees inside the account so the payment will be excluded from their taxable income. -- The Monterey Herald How Roth IRAs lower your client's tax bill: Although a Roth IRA does not offer upfront tax deductions for contributions like a traditional IRA, Roth investors will enjoy many tax benefits, such as tax-free growth and withdrawals in retirement, according to StreetAuthority.com. Investors are likely to end up with $3 for every $1 contributed to Roth, or possibly even higher for younger investors. Also, a Roth IRA offers broader investment options and is not subject to required minimum distributions unlike a traditional IRA and 401(k) plan. Municipal bonds offer a compelling counterbalance to equity risk: Municipal bonds are a good investment option for clients who want to keep their capital intact and get tax-free income at the same time, according to Yahoo Finance. Tax-exempt muni bonds are not subject to federal taxes, and they also are taxed in some states. Including muni bonds in their portfolio is an effective way to counterbalance equity risk, as these bonds perform well amidst market volatility and offer higher returns than regular bonds. -- Yahoo Finance Are delayed annuities a good buy? Although delayed annuities offer tax-deferred growth on the principal, the earnings are subject to ordinary income tax upon withdrawal, according to Florida Today. This investment option is not recommended if there are no riders to guarantee an income or a death benefit. Clients are advised to invest within an IRA, which offers the same benefits as delayed annuities without the hefty fees and internal costs. -- Florida Today A roundup of recent hires, promotions, awards and other personnel news from firms across the country. ILLINOIS Jeffrey Strauss has joined Baker Tilly Virchow Krause LLP, Chicago, as a director in the firms health care consulting practice. INDIANA William Sharkey received the College Mentors for Kids' 2016 College Mentor of the Year in the Accounting, Legal & Finance category. (See the story here.) KANSAS Michael Wherry has joined Boomer Consulting Inc., Manhattan, as a senior consultant and Lean Six Sigma black belt, while Heather Robinson has joined the firm as a marketing manager. KENTUCKY Paula Hanson, director of tax services at Dean Dorton Allen Ford PLLC, has won the Martha Layne Collins Leadership Award for 2016. (See the story here.) MINNESOTA Steve Behrns will assume the position of managing partner of Boulay PLLP, Minneapolis, on June 1, succeeding Mark DeNucci, who has served as MP since 2007. Behrns has been with the firm for 34 years, and was named a partner in 1995. NEW JERSEY Jodi A. Cirignano has joined Lassus Wherley, New Providence, as a senior financial planner. Previously, she was a wealth advisor with JPMorgan Private Bank. NEW YORK Dan Danai has been appointed general manager of the joint U.S.-Israel desk of BDO USA LLP and BDO Ziv Haft. He will lead the cross-border business development efforts of both firms, and will be based in New York. William H. McAvoy has joined Freed Maxick, Buffalo, as a senior advisor in its health care practice. Previously, he was a consultant at Hancock Estabrook LLP. UNITED KINGDOM Howard Wetston and Tom Seidenstein have been appointed to the Board of Trustees of the International Valuation Standards Council. Wetston was formerly chair and CEO of the Ontario Securities Commission, Canadas largest securities regulator, and currently serves as counsel at law firm Goodmans LLP, one of Canadas leading business law firms. Seidenstein is currently vice president for financial markets and policy research in the Economic and Strategic Research Group at Fannie Mae. WISCONSIN Michael Vaccarella has joined Wipfli LLP, Milwaukee, as managing director of the Transaction Services Group. Send your personnel announcements to AcToday@SourceMedia.com. By Derrick Broze The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and Explosives has claimed ownership of a mysterious box that was removed from a utility pole in Phoenix, Arizona. Phoenix resident Brian Clegg was concerned about a box he witnessed being installed on a power pole. Clegg said the box was facing his house and he believed it may have had cameras inside. The pole was owned by Arizonas largest power provider, SRP, who claimed no one had permission to put the box on their pole. Brian Clegg says shortly afterwards SRP sent a crew to remove the box. Shortly after ABC15 investigated the matter, the bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and Explosives(ATF), a branch of the U.S. Department of Justice, acknowledged installing the box as part of an ongoing investigation. Officials with the ATF would not provide details about their alleged investigation and would not confirm if they were conducting surveillance in the area. I dont feel safer, said Brian Clegg. I feel that my privacy has been violated. SRP told ABC15 they were unaware the box had been installed and that the ATF has to notify them if they are going install something on their property. The ATF told ABC15 they can put security measures in place without asking for permission. Obviously the federal government feels comfortable doing whatever it wants to do, whenever it wants to, law be damned. One other interesting aspect of Cleggs story is the fact that he claims the crew who installed the box came in a truck marked Field Pros. The thought of undercover government agents installing surveillance equipment while masquerading as utility workers is highly disturbing and sounds like a scene right out of a Hollywood film. Unfortunately, Phoenix is not the only city to have surveillance equipment installed by an agency of the federal government. In November 2013, Seattle residents pushed back against the installation of several mesh network nodes attached to utility poles around the downtown area. The nodes were purchased by the Seattle Police Department via a $2.7 million grant from the Department of Homeland Security. The American Civil Liberties Union of Washington and privacy advocates were immediately concerned about the ability of the nodes to gather user information via the Wi-Fi connection. How accurately can it geo-locate and track the movements of your phone, laptop, or any other wireless device by its MAC address? Can the network send that information to a database, allowing the SPD to reconstruct who was where at any given time, on any given day, without a warrant? Can the network see you now? asked Seattle newspaper The Stranger. Initially the Seattle PD was reluctant to speak about the network. However, the police ultimately yielded to public opinion and decided, the wireless mesh network will be deactivated until city council approves a draft policy and until theres an opportunity for vigorous public debate. Although the situation in Seattle played out in favor of the people, we must recognize that there is a growing partnership between the surveillance agencies of the federal government and the increasingly militarized local police forces in the United States. As Activist Post previously reported, a new policy from the Obama administration will make it easier for the NSA to share information between law enforcement agencies with very little oversight. According to the New York Times: The Obama administration is on the verge of permitting the National Security Agency to share more of the private communications it intercepts with other American intelligence agencies without first applying any privacy protections to them, according to officials familiar with the deliberations. The new rule changes would allow federal agencies such as the FBI to access streams of information gathered by the spy agency, including emails, phone calls and location data. These federal agencies would then have the ability to pass the data to state and local law enforcement. As the Times points out, all of this can happen without any congressional or judicial oversight under a Reagan era executive order known as EO 12333. The rule change by the Obama administration is only one of several tools that both local police and federal agencies have at their disposal. From drones to stingrays, gunshot detectors and automatic license plate readers the State has an arsenal of spy equipment. How can the free hearts and minds of the world live free, happy, and abundant lives with the ever-present eyes and ears of Big Brother? We must educate ourselves about the tools used for surveillance and oppression and begin working to redirect the technology at the tyrants. We must persevere, be courageous, and shine a light on the darkness. Derrick Broze is an investigative journalist and liberty activist. He is the Lead Investigative Reporter for ActivistPost.com and the founder of the TheConsciousResistance.com. Follow him on Twitter. Derrick is available for interviews. This article may be freely reposted in part or in full with author attribution and source link. The top court has been petitioned by an organisation named the All India Human Rights and Social Justice Front which wants the Koh-i-Noor and other famous antiques including the ring and sword of Tipu Sultan to be returned to India by the United Kingdom. In a Supreme Court hearing last week, the government said a 43-year-old law does not allow it to bring back antiques moved out of the country before Independence. India should not try to reclaim the famous Kohinoor diamond as it was neither stolen nor forcibly taken, Indian government said. That stand, the Supreme Court has warned, could mean You will face a problem in the future for making any legitimate claim to the 105-carat diamond. Government told the court, that The Kohinoor, which means Mountain of Light, was acquired from an Afghan king by Maharaja Ranjit Singh, the 19th century ruler of Punjab. He willed it to a temple in Odisha, but Dilip Singh, his successor, a minor, handed it over in 1849 to the East India company. The diamonds was set in a crown for Queen Victoria and is on display in the Tower of London. For years, politicians and others, here and in the UK, have said the whopper of a diamond was seized after Punjab was annexed to British India and must be returned. In 2013, during a trip to India, UK Prime Minister David Cameron ruled out sending the diamond back to India. If Kate Middleton, the wife of Prince William, who is second in line to the throne, eventually becomes queen consort, she will don the crown holding the diamond on official occasions. The Koh-i-Noors origins and early history have not been categorically established. By some accounts it was a royal treasure as far back as 3000 BC. It is widely believed to have come from the Kollur Mine in the Guntur District of the present-day Andhra Pradesh, India, during the reign of the Hindu Kakatiya dynasty in the 13th century. In the early 14th century, Alauddin Khilji, second ruler of the Turkic Khilji dynasty of the Delhi Sultanate, and his army began looting the kingdoms of southern India. Malik Kafur, Khiljis general, made a successful raid on Warangal in 1310, when he possibly acquired the diamond. It remained in the Khilji dynasty and later passed to the succeeding dynasties of the Delhi Sultanate, until it came into the possession of Babur, a Turco-Mongol warlord, who invaded India and established the Mughal Empire in 1526. He called the stone the Diamond of Babur at the time, although it had been called by other names before it came into his possession. Both Babur and his son and successor, Humayun, mentioned the origins of this diamond in their memoirs, thought by many historians to be the earliest reliable reference to the Koh-i-Noor. Shah Jahan, the fifth Mughal emperor, had the stone placed into his ornate Peacock Throne. In 1658, his son and successor, Aurangazeb, confined the ailing emperor at nearby Agra Fort. While in the possession of Aurangazeb, it was cut by Hortenso Borgia, a Venetian lapidary, so clumsy that he reduced the weight of the stone from 793 carats (158.6 g) to 186 carats (37.2 g). For this carelessness, Borgia was reprimanded and fined 10,000 rupees. Nader Shah during the sacking of Delhi in the aftermath of his victory at the Battle of Karnal, 1739, following the 1739 invasion of Delhi by Nader Shah, the Shah of Persia, and the treasury of the Mughal Empire was looted by his army in an organised and thorough acquisition of the Mughal nobilitys wealth. Along with a host of valuable items, including the Daria-i-Noor, as well as the Peacock Throne, the Shah also carried away the Koh-i-Noor. He allegedly exclaimed Koh-i-Noor! When he finally managed to obtain the famous stone and that is how the stone got its name. The first valuation of the Koh-i-Noor is given in the legend that one of Nader Shahs consorts apparently said, If a strong man were to throw four stones, one north, one south, one east, one west, and a fifth stone up into the air, and if the space between them were to be filled with gold, all would not equal the value of the Koh-i-Noor. It is estimated that the total worth of the treasures plundered came to 700 million rupees. This was roughly equivalent to 87.5 million sterling at the time,[18] or approximately 12.6 billion in 2015s money. The riches gained by the Persian Empire from the Indian campaign were so monumental that Nader Shah made a proclamation alleviating all subjects of the Empire from taxes for a total of three years. (Any suggestions, comments or dispute with regards to this article send us on feedback@afternoonvoice.com) Kennedy Jr., Robert F.: A Letter to Liberals: Censorship and COVID: An Attack on Science and American Ideals (Childrens Health Defense) A Letter to Liberals is Robert F. Kennedy Jr.s, challenge to lockdown liberalisms embrace of policies that are an affront to once cherished precepts. Click to purchase. (*****) April 22, 2016 GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip Hamas was the product of Palestinian youth efforts in the 1980s, and those young men have grown up and become todays leaders. Now that Hamas has been ruling the Gaza Strip since 2006, is the role of youth in the movement confined to fighting and media roles, and restricted from leadership? Why is there no leader in Hamas under 40? The movements youngest leader is 40-year-old Mushir al-Masri, a Palestinian Legislative Council member from the Change and Reform Bloc. A 2014 study by the Institute for Development Studies, Mapping Youth Political Participation in Palestine, revealed that the participation rate of Hamas youths between 18 and 35 in the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and abroad, is 0% in senior positions, 7% in lower leading committees and 4% in Hamas elected committees. These low rates coincide with mounting criticism among the Islamic party's young members. One young Hamas member told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity that the party is now highly preoccupied with political interests and social influence. He said, The partys leadership is strange to the young people who dedicated their life to this cause. Today, theyre in their 30s with no achievements in their records. He added, When the movement was more important than interests, we used to understand the meaning of belonging, as we were revered by the poor more than anyone else. However, a social shift occurred within Hamas after coming into power, giving rise to social disparities. He explained that many of the party youths are now concerned with social justice, particularly with Hamas public servants salaries unpaid and financial allocations to others cut off. The young man expressed skepticism about any changes in the near future. With a group of other young Islamists, he has considered launching a nonpartisan national initiative. He said, As members of the '80s and '90s generations, we have come to the conclusion that our ideological education cannot provide solutions to our current problems. Ibrahim al-Madhoun, a writer with ties to Hamas, said he considers asking Hamas to go back to what it used to be in the 1980s as illogical. He argued, Hamas used to focus on charity work while playing a more minimal role with very few members. But now Hamas is keen on expansion and openness, assuming a central role in the Palestinian cause. It is unfair to compare todays Hamas to that of the 1980s. With 50,000 employees, Hamas now has an extended political leadership and is assuming a regional role. The nature of the current situation dictates combining armed revolution, as embodied by the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, with social services, which is government work. The criticism voiced by the young Hamas member has become commonplace on social media. Bilal Abu Shanab is among the young Islamists who dares to speak up, while other Hamas members have taken issue with his views in comments on his posts. On Feb. 11, Rami Rayan, a young man working in Gazas Interior Ministry, criticized the decision to buy 36 new cars for commanders while public servants were working without pay. In reaction, the Hamas police force arrested him. Rayans arrest prompted Abu Shanab to take to Facebook and post on Feb. 23, At first, the security services mission was to protect Hamas from any breach, then their job shifted to fighting delinquency, and after that, they were tasked with protecting Ford cars from vandalism or criticism by pursuing those who dont like the cars #FreeRamiRayan #We'veHadEnough. According to Madhoun, the mounting criticism among the partys younger generations signals its evolution. He said, Hamas has reached a point where it can take public criticism from the inside. Madhoun added, The voices criticizing Hamas behavior are a sign of power. Hamas is no longer a resistance movement but one that holds the reins of government. He pointed out, The youths are satisfied with Hamas revolutionary stance and religious commitment. The criticism is aimed at its government performance, which directly affects their lives. Another young Hamas member, writer Ahmad Abu Ratima, opposes Madhouns views. On Feb. 25, he posted on Facebook, Everyone welcomed the new climate of freedom of expression that allowed members and supporters to address criticism to their party. But will all this criticism change anything? What good can come out of the freedom of expression if its not going to modify behavior? In an interview with Al-Monitor, Abu Ratima said, Criticism is a sign of vitality and a positive indicator that we are not blindly led on. It shows that we care about Hamas enough to push it to adopt the principles of justice we were raised on. I believe that the partys future relies directly on such criticism. A member of Hamas since childhood and throughout his youth, Abu Ratima added, Honesty dictates that we come clean, for courtesy and appeasement indicate false belonging. He highlighted Hamas struggle with government crises amid trying circumstances such as the blockade and unpaid salaries. This is why our criticism is necessary especially since our raison d'etre as an organization is that we are better than our predecessors. Speaking to Al-Monitor, Hamas spokesperson Sami Abu Zahri argued that the party listens to the youths' issues at youth cadres and summer camps that host thousands of participants. He said, The Hamas leadership is generally young, along with the majority of area commands. Addressing the criticism, Abu Zahri said, Some young people are poorly informed about the main issues due to their peripheral involvement. The party should not be held accountable for the criticism it receives from those who take issue with it simply because they seek influence on social media. He added, The way things work within Hamas are evolving as a result of expansion. This is why it has been keen to promote nationalism and Islam without entrenching partisanship. As criticism from the party's own members mounts, some go as far as leaving it altogether. Others turn to religious radicalism, while some other few find a balance between belonging and criticism. April 22, 2016 Jerusalem's Christian leaders are jointly asking President Barack Obama not to veto a possible Palestine resolution at the United Nations following a historic summit with their American counterparts. Leaders of 24 US and Palestinian churches gathered in Atlanta this week for a two-day summit at the Carter Center to chart a path forward for Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. Separately, the Holy Land church leaders wrote to Obama urging him not to use his veto if the UN Security Council takes up a two-state resolution later this year against Israel's wishes. "As Holy Land church leaders, we approach you, Mr. President, to stress to you the gravity of the situation in the region. The hopes and aspirations of many of the faithful in the Holy Land for a two-state solution on the basis of the 1967 borders are quickly fading," the patriarchs and heads of local churches in Jerusalem wrote in an April 20 letter obtained by Al-Monitor. "We plead to you, during the remainder of your term, to invest in a just peace and to refrain from exercising the US veto rights in the United Nations Security Council in order to deliver new hopes for a just peace in the region and an end to extremism, terrorism, death and destruction in the entire Middle East." The letter is signed by Greek Orthodox Patriarch Theophilos III, Armenian Patriarch Nourhan Manogian, Latin (Catholic) Patriarch Fuad Twal, Anglican Archbishop Suheil Dawani, Evangelical Lutheran Church Bishop Munib Younan and (Franciscan) Custos Pierbattista Pizzaballa. "I'm not representing an Israeli or Palestinian point of view," Younan told Al-Monitor following an April 22 meeting with State Department officials in Washington. "It is high time to find a solution. And the Palestinians and Israelis among themselves cannot do it. They need the international community because the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is not only a regional conflict; it's an international conflict." Time is running out for Christians in the Holy Land and the greater Middle East, Younan said, as the open sore of the unresolved Israeli-Palestinian conflict fuels extremism across the region. "It is high time that politicians have an initiative in order to create momentum," Younan said. "Because I tell you, if there is no solution for the Palestinian-Israeli conflict soon, we are afraid that extremism will grow." The push comes as France has announced an international meeting in Paris on May 30 to restart negotiations. The Palestinians had threatened to bring up a resolution condemning continued Israeli settlement expansion but are reportedly under pressure to shelve the idea while France pursues its initiative. This week's meeting with the US churches was organized by former President Jimmy Carter's center in Atlanta in tandem with the Palestinian government's presidential committee for church affairs. Summit participants put out a four-page document summarizing their peacemaking strategies including plans to "develop a more effective advocacy in the USA" and urging the executive branch and Congress to "adopt balanced and just positions that would pave the way for, and meaningfully accompany the necessary steps toward, a just and enduring solution of the conflict and a lasting peace." The document also calls for finding "appropriate ways to exert economic leverage on commercial and governmental actors to end unfair and unjust practices and policies which violate international laws and conventions." It stops short of endorsing the international Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign against Israel, which is opposed by both the Obama administration and Congress. The churches "want to maintain the mosaic of Jerusalem," Issa Kassissieh, the Palestinian ambassador to the Vatican, told Al-Monitor. "The presence of Christians is threatened because of the current situation. And they want to stress and pass the message to the American administration that time is running out and they are concerned about the two-state solution. Because the alternative to the two-state solution is much worse for everybody." Kassissieh said the Palestinians feel like they're not getting a fair shake from US policymakers, particularly in Congress. He hopes that dual activism with US religious leaders could change that. "If they combine their voice together as heads of churches in the [United] States and in Jerusalem, I'm sure that they will create a different dynamic and they will play a positive role toward solving the problems of the region," he said. "Congress is deaf about the grievances and the concerns and the suffering of the people, but at least the church is raising this voice and of course together we will have more influence on the American administration." In addition to meetings with White House and State Department officials, including US Special Representative for Religion and Global Affairs Shaun Casey, the Jerusalem church leaders also held a closed briefing for lawmakers on Capitol Hill on April 21. Only one lawmaker, Rep. Chris Stewart, R-Utah, and two staffers showed up. "These are extraordinary men and women who come from a very troubled part of the world, a part of the world that many of us have an intense interest in," Stewart told Al-Monitor. "And they are committed to bringing peace and a solution, not just to the Palestinian question, but to the region as a whole." Stewart defended the sparse attendance, saying he and his colleagues were given scant notice. He welcomed the opportunity to hear firsthand from the religious figures but predicted that lawmakers' near-unanimous opposition to international efforts to pressure Israel back to the negotiating table would likely remain unchanged. "Although all of us want to see a peaceful solution as quickly as possible, there are obviously differences of opinion on how to do that," Stewart said. "I'm not very persuaded. As I said to them, the first thing we have to start with is security. You've got to have all of the parties feel like not only their national interests but [also] the safety of their citizens is being assured. And that's very difficult to do right now." One doesn't expect to find the presence of God in a strip club dressing room, but Leann Boatright and Cherrie Verhoff swear He was there, at least once, with them. It was when the two women brought their ministry inside a club in north Alabama. For the past year, they, as part of their CO3 ministry, have taken the message of the Gospel to strippers in clubs in Alabama. A dancer asked for prayer. A few seconds later, another dancer wanted in. Then another. Then another. Soon a circle of prayer formed in the dressing room. "The bouncer had to come and shut the door to the dressing room, because our prayer was beginning to drown out the music," Verhoff said. "That's what we tell them - that Jesus meets us right where we are. You could feel His presence so strongly there." "You don't have to clean up to come to Him," Boatright said. Cherrie Verhoff Boatright, 38, and Verhoff, 47, have both lived in north central Alabama their whole lives and been involved in ministries of one form or another. Boatright and Verhoff, the child of a pastor, worked with women and youth. But they felt themselves called to work outside the church. "Church women want to look like they have it all together, like we all do," Boatright said. "You smile, and you've got your 'plastic fantastic' on, and you don't want to let anyone know there's a need." But adult workers, strippers and sex trafficking wasn't something they had in mind, until they independently had the idea suggested to them by three different people. The women felt called to see what kind of ministries there were out there. It turns out there are several, but the two women decided to start their own homegrown one, working clubs in Alabama. CO3 stands for "Chord of Three," which comes from Ecclesiastes' admonition that a chord of three strands is not easily broken. Women who minister in clubs are commonly known to the dancers as "church ladies." Neither Boatright nor Verhoff had ever been in a club, and had to learn how to minister at establishments in Kentucky with another ministry. The atmosphere, they said, was a challenge. "They said, just look at the feet of the woman in front of you," Boatright said. "And we had to walk through the club, past the stages to get to the dressing rooms." They filed past lap dances and screens showing naked women to arrive at a room full of dancers in various stages of undress. The women of CO3 usually enter with baskets and bags of hand lotion, soap, "girly stuff" and chocolate. They offer to pray with the women, or to just listen to their stories. The dancers respond with a grateful hug, even if they're not wearing anything at that moment. "So many of them just want someone to hear what they've been through," Verhoff said. "You can't do it without prayer beforehand, and you have to prepare, because you're going into the enemy's camp." There are an estimated 400,000 strippers working in clubs in the United States, according to professional organization statistics, with dancers making an average of between $70,000 to $100,000 a year. The clubs themselves rake in about $4 billion a year nationally. The ladies of CO3 support the ministry through selling of their own jewelry. The dancers Boatright and Verhoff encounter are women from all walks of life - educated women trying to pay debts or get through school, women with children and no other means of support and victims of sexual abuse. Many have backgrounds in church, but either drifted away or became disillusioned. Others are there because they feel they have no job skills. They almost always give their stage names at first meeting, rather than their real ones. "They can spot who's being honest with them very quickly," Verhoff said. "They see so much that is fake. They have real issues trusting anybody." Trust isn't the only issue dancers deal with, as what seems like easy money often comes with many complications that can last a lifetime. A 2011 white paper found that women in the sex industry experience post-traumatic stress disorder at rates equivalent to combat veterans. They also have a higher rate of drug addiction, STDs, violent assaults and mental health problems than the general population. One study found that as many as 60 percent of strippers have major depressive episodes, and as many as 40 percent may be substance abusers. Another survey found about 89 percent of women in the sex industry say they want to escape, but have no other means of survival. But perhaps the most surprising thing, Verhoff said, is that club owners often want "church ladies" inside the clubs, even at the risk of losing dancers. That's because there are always more dancers out there. "They say it gives the clubs a sense of balance," Verhoff said. "What that means, I'm not sure. It's a way for the dancers to pull back from the edge. Their lives have been flipped upside down." What brings the dancers to the clubs? Some are only trying to make money, like the woman who works full time in a highly technical profession but also has to support several children after her husband left. Still others find themselves intoxicated by attention, Verhoff said. "Their life feels out of control, and the only place they can get attention is there," Boatright said. "They can be somebody different there. They get a stage name, and they completely transform themselves. Some of them need drugs to numb themselves to it, but others know they are really good at what they do." Some will drive hours to their jobs to avoid having family or friends see what they do for a living. Some are angry. The dressing rooms are competitive, and not always the friendliest place, they said. "Most of them are respectful though," Verhoff said. "They ask you, 'Why would you ever come here?' And it's because this is where Jesus would be. He wanted to hear people's stories. He wanted to heal them." Wanting to listen means the women sometimes get text messages at 3 a.m. asking for help. The dancers have family issues, or simple questions about what to do in life. They suffer from torn ligaments doing dance routines. They deal with the toll on their bodies knowing that time will take away their looks. To pay for the ministry, the women sell handmade jewelry on Facebook with a message that women are valued by God. Boatright said they would like to eventually offer transitional housing for the women, as well as job training. But mainly, they try to introduce the women to the Gospel and remind them of the possibility of life outside the clubs. "It's one step at a time," Verhoff said. "One thing the Bible tells us is that love can cover a multitude of sins." Two police officers were injured Saturday morning in an "ambush" shooting inside an Arizona Wal-Mart. The suspected shooter, later identified as Mitchell Oakley, 24, was shot and killed by police in Chandler, the Arizona Republic reported. The incident occurred at 6:20 a.m. at the Chandler Wal-Mart located at 1175 S. Arizona Ave. Police described Oakley as a transient who had family in the area. Officers were initially called to the store by a Wal-Mart employee who recognized Oakley as a trespasser. "When the first officer walked into the store, the suspect began firing at the officer immediately," Chandler police Detective Seth Tyler told the newspaper. "You can call it what you want. It sounds like an ambush to me." At this time, it is unclear how many shots were fired. Tyler said the first officer was struck in the head. The second officer shot and killed the suspect. Both officers are said to be in stable condition. The store remained closed Saturday afternoon. Cynthia Ayala told the newspaper she was inside the Wal-Mart when the gunshots started. "I didn't think it was real, honestly," she said. "I thought that they were pallets falling or something like that." Realizing what was happening, Ayala hid on the other side of the store and waited for two hours until she could get out of the store. Oakley was released from jail in March 2015 for a 2013 conviction for destruction of a public jail, according to the report. He was convicted in 2011 of aggravated assault, for which he served a year in prison. He was also convicted in 2012 for unlawful use of means of transportation, for which he served a 11/2-year sentence. Authorities confirm five people were shot and killed Friday night in Appling, Georgia, a community in Columbia County. The sole suspect in all five killings was found dead several hours later. Wayne Anthony Hawes (Columbia County Sheriff's Office) A spokesman for the Columbia County Sheriff's Office said the victims were found at two separate scenes. Deputies first responded to a shooting call at a home in the 3000 block of Johnson Drive shortly before 8 p.m. There they found the first three victims. Two were pronounced dead at the scene. The sheriff's office identified them as Roosevelt Burns, 75, and Rheba Mae Dent, 85. Kelia Clark, 31, was pronounced dead at an Augusta hospital shortly after. Capt. Andy Shedd said they received another shooting call while they were still investigating this scene. The second call came in just after 8:30 p.m. from the 5000 block of Washington Road, which is close to the Johnson Road scene. Two more shooting victims were found dead there. The sheriff's office identified them as Lizzy Williams, 59, and Shelly Williams, 62. Shedd said they confirmed all five were killed by Wayne Anthony Hawes, 50. He said witness accounts led them to believe the two shootings were related. Deputies believe the shootings stemmed from a domestic situation and some of the victims were related to Hawes' wife. Shedd said they were able to conduct surveillance at Hawes home on Rosemont Road early in the investigation. They decided to enter the home shortly after midnight. The Columbia County Sheriff's Office Special Response Team made entry and found Hawes dead of what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. Shedd said there was also evidence he unsuccessfully tried to set fire to the house. The Columbia County Sheriff's Office is still investigating to find out what led to the shootings. This was the country's second massacre on Friday. Eight people were shot and killed in Pike County, Ohio Friday morning. Like the Georgia shootings, that one involved multiple shooting scenes and victims who were related. At least eight counter protesters at a "white power" rally Saturday at Georgia's Stone Mountain were arrested as they clashed with police while trying to get inside the park. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported the protesters were dressed in black and chanting, "Hey hey, ho ho, the KKK has got to go." Hundreds are involved in the counter protest, WSB-TV reported, and police in riot gear continue to work to keep the peace. AJC reported the counter-protesters were arrested after refusing to take off their masks. It is illegal to protest in Georgia while wearing a mask. One protester was seen spraying a Georgia State Patrol officer with pepper spray. Others tussled with police. The rally, dubbed a "Pro White March up Stone Mountain," according to the group's Facebook page, was expected to attract as many as 2,000 white extremists on the Confederate Memorial Day weekend. The rally was to be followed by a "Pro White concert." One of the rally attendees, Kim Beasley, of Birmingham was wearing a T-shirt that read, "Heritage Not Hate." She told the AJC that she isn't "politically correct," and she isn't a white supremacist. "We don't believe in carrying these flags for racist reasons," she said. "We don't believe the Civil War was over racism. It was over tyranny." A heavy police presence at the rally worked to keep the event contained to a parking lot away from the main part of the Stone Mountain Park, according to reports. Some roads were closed to keep the rally away from other guests and the counter protesters. Police are blocking the route to white power protest. pic.twitter.com/BIh7sdp7NX Chris Joyner (@cjoyner) April 23, 2016 Just saw puff of smoke and bang from line of officers keeping counter protesters away at Stn Mnt pic.twitter.com/TL0olwcdrV Steve Gehlbach (@SteveGWSB) April 23, 2016 A Decatur man has pleaded guilty to charges from a fatal wreck in Limestone County almost five years ago. Patrick Alan Turlington Patrick Alan Turlington, 25, pleaded guilty to three counts of reckless murder and one count of first-degree assault. The charges stem from a June 1, 2011 wreck on Alabama 20 in Limestone County that killed three people and critically injured another. Prosecutors say Turlinton was driving at a high rate of speed when he struck another vehicle containing all four victims. Two were adults and two were children. Michelle Colley, 48, and Mary Jane Mills, 22, were pronounced dead at the scene. Shyanne Michelle Elder, 4, died at Huntsville Hospital. Another child in the car, Kendal Jay Mills, 2, was seriously injured but survived. Turlington was also injured in the wreck. He was indicted on Nov. 17, 2011. Friday's plea was made in the Limestone County Circuit Court. Judge Robert M. Baker sentenced Turlington to an aggregate sentence of 60 years, which was split to serve four in the Alabama Department of Corrections. Upon his release, Turlington will be on five years of supervised probation. A restitution hearing has been set for April 24, 2020. "I am pleased that we could bring this case to a successful conclusion. After multiple discussions with the family prior to the plea, I think this plea and the corresponding sentence will give the victims the justice that they sought in this case," said Limestone County District Attorney Brian Jones. Nearly three decades ago, Aida Abu Sitta began to collect old dresses from Palestinian refugee camps, and redesigned them with a blend of contemporary and traditional elements. One of the models at Abu Sittas latest fashion show told Al Jazeera that the goal was to preserve the Palestinian heritage that Israel has tried to destroy. The dresses are meant to represent the identity of the person wearing them, Abu Sitta said. Demand for her dresses has been growing among both old and young women in recent years, said Abu Sitta, who recently displayed her wares at a fashion show at the Roots hotel in Gaza City. Hundreds of people on Monday started boarding boats back to Turkey from Greece as part of an EU agreement with Ankara aimed at stopping the flow of refugees to Europe. As part of the deal, for every Syrian refugee returned from Greece to Turkey, another Syrian refugee is to be resettled from Turkey to the EU, with the numbers capped at 72,000. The deal to send people back across the Aegean Sea has been fiercely criticised by rights groups. Nablus, occupied West Bank Had he not been blindfolded and shackled to a chair in a Palestinian Authority (PA) prison cell, Awni Mazen al-Shakhshir might have spent the first evening of Ramadan last year breaking the days fast with his family in Nablus. Shakhshir said that throughout the first week of his 41-day detention, PA interrogators in Bethlehem forced him into stress positions, punched and kicked him, and deprived him of sleep. By day, Shakhshir was blindfolded and shackled to a chair, he said. At night, after the guards had eaten and slept for much of the afternoon, the violent interrogations would begin. They saved the beating till night, Shakhshir said, because it was Ramadan. At no point during his detention was Shakhshir provided a lawyer or presented with formal charges, he said. However, he says that interrogators, who questioned him about his role within a Hamas-aligned student group, repeatedly told him: People like you should be punished. Shakhshir is not alone in his accusations. Earlier this month, the Palestinian prisoner support association Addameer accused Palestinian security forces of subjecting five Palestinian detainees to varying forms of ill treatment, including being held in stress positions, sleep deprivation and beatings. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said publicly that three of the men were planning to carry out a terror attack against Israel, while the leftist Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine condemned their detention, noting: The Front called again to hold the PA president accountable for these absurd and harmful statements and actions, which serve to give a veneer of legitimacy to the crimes of the occupation and its attacks against the Palestinian people. Meanwhile, in a report published in February by Israeli rights groups BTselem and HaMoked, 14 Palestinian detainees who described being mistreated or tortured in an Israeli detention centre said they were first tortured under interrogation by Palestinian security forces just some of the latest in a stream of long-standing allegations, reiterated by Palestinian rights groups, that PA security forces in the occupied West Bank and Hamas in Gaza torture Palestinian detainees. You might be able to rationalise torture at the hands of your enemy, but you can't justify torture perpetrated by your own people. by Mahmud Sehwail, psychiatrist Jamal Dajani, the director of strategic communications and media in the PA prime ministers office, previously told Al Jazeera that he had no information where I can confirm these allegations. In a subsequent public interview last month, Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah said certain things happen, torture happens, but it is not the PAs policy. The Independent Commission for Human Rights (ICHR) recorded 1,274 complaints of torture and ill treatment of Palestinian detainees by PA forces in 2014 alone. Though comprehensive figures for 2015 have yet to be released, available figures show that at least 323 complaints have been registered by the organisation in the occupied West Bank and Gaza in the past seven months. Palestinian rights group al-Haq has identified 30 cases of Palestinian torture at the hands of the PA, as defined by the United Nations Convention Against Torture, since this time last year. Each case was politically motivated, according to the victims, al-Haq legal consultant Issam Abdeen told Al Jazeera. Shakhshir said the line of questioning by interrogators left him with little doubt that his own arrest was politically motivated. Security officials questioned him about his role in a Hamas-aligned student group at an-Najah University, where he is studying physical education. Shakhshir, who told Al Jazeera he was a secretary of a sub-committee at the time of his arrest, said his role was legal and a matter of public record. According to Abdeen, al-Haq has anecdotally seen an overall increase in the number of testimonies that allege torture since the PA became a signatory to the UN anti-torture convention in April 2014, as part of Palestines accession to observer status at the UN. The ICHR has similarly found that little progress has been made since the PA signed the convention. We have witnessed an increased interest in human rights within PA security forces since the signing of the human rights treaties and conventions, [but] very little has changed since the signing of [the convention] in terms of practice, said the ICHRs West Bank programme director, Musa Abu Dheim. READ MORE: Palestinians forever changed by Israeli torture Mahmud Sehwail, a psychiatrist who has treated victims of torture since 1983, founded the Treatment and Rehabilitation Centre (TRC) in Ramallah in 1997. TRC clients who experience torture are treated for post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety and trauma, but Palestinians tortured by PA security forces struggle with the additional burden of having been abused by their own people, he said. You might be able to rationalise torture at the hands of your enemy, but you cant justify torture perpetrated by your own people, Dr Sehwail told Al Jazeera at his Ramallah office. Shakhshir, who has family members who work for the government, said Palestinians could expect torture at the hands of the Israelis, but when its your neighbour, or your relative, its very painful. Palestinians tortured by the PA often stay silent for fear of reprisals, the TRC has found. Of 54 documented cases of Palestinian torture, only three committed to treatment. Some declined to follow up due to fear of re-arrest, retaliation and social stigmas that may have repercussions for their families or jobs, according to the TRC. If a prisoner is released, sometimes their community throws a reception or a party, which is very likely to happen if you are arrested by the Israelis, Shakhshir said. But if youre being released from PA prison, you cant, because you could endanger yourself, or put other people in danger. Since 1997, the TRC has run mental health and human rights training for PA security forces. Two decades on, however, allegations of torture persist. Dr Sehwail says the TRCs efforts are a long-term intervention. Shakhshir, who does not believe the individuals who tortured him will be brought to justice, also does not hold them personally accountable. The person who holds the most responsibility, Shakhshir said, leaning forward in his chair, is the president. He is responsible for the policies of the state. READ MORE: Meet Israels youngest Palestinian prisoner Abu Dheim says there are a number of obvious steps that could be taken to reduce reports of torture in Palestinian prisons, including holding PA security officials accountable and offering victims financial compensation. Engineering student Ahmad al-Deeq, 23, from the West Bank city of Salfit, is suing the PA for $1m in damages after he says he was tortured on and off for five days in a PA detention centre in the northern West Bank. His criminal case against the PA is the first of its kind. Majed Arouri, the founder of the Civil Commission for the Independence of Judiciary and Rule of Law, a Ramallah-based legal centre whose lawyers are representing Deeq, told Al Jazeera that a final ruling may be years away, but the decision to seek damages has already begun to change societal attitudes towards torture. A handful of individuals who also allegedly experienced mistreatment and torture in PA detention have already come forward to ask us for legal representation, Arouri told Al Jazeera. The intelligence services understand that there may be legal repercussions for their actions, and the courts are beginning to show increased interest, he added. However, the most important aspect of this case will be the judges ruling. Follow Jonathan Brown on Twitter: @jonathaneebrown Region in western Maharashtra state reels under worst drought in decades as wells dry up and heatwave worsens. Around 330 million people in India are affected by drought, according to the government. The Marathwada region in Indias western Maharashtra state is badly affected, reeling under the worst drought in decades. Around 400km from Mumbai, the region has been getting insufficient rains for the past three years. Temperatures are in the low 40Cs in some areas, with others only cooling to 38C at night. It is worse for the poor in rural areas, who are forced to drink whatever water they can. In 2015, the region received only 49 percent of what is considered a normal amount of rainfall. Some parts received even less: a meagre 35 percent of normal rainfall. Trains loaded with water are being moved across the country, but farmers wells are drying up and drinking water is being rationed. Arriving almost daily, each train brings millions of litres of water to this drought-stricken area. But even this is not enough. Its not helped much because we only got it once before in the past 15 days, a village resident told Al Jazeera. Were only getting 50 litres per house every eight days, while others are getting 200 every day. This years heatwave is making things worse. Temperatures in many parts of India are well above average, with some places reporting temperatures more than 5C higher than would be expected at this time of the year. The heat is now being blamed for the death of more than 100 people and fears are rising that this could turn into a major catastrophe. Globally heat waves are one of the largest causes of weather-related deaths. IN PICTURES: Drought, suicide and Indias water train The situation is particularly hazardous if the temperatures do not drop during the night, because this would normally be when the body would recover from the heat. The situation in India is exacerbated because many people do not have access to air-conditioning. Electric fans can only provide relief if temperatures are below 35C, and they have also been shown to accelerate dehydration. Last year 2,500 people died in a heatwave which gripped the country in May. For now, the farmers await the monsoon downpours that are forecast for June. With additional reporting from Faiz Jamil South African opposition politician warns of severe consequences if the government continues to use force on protesters. South African politician Julius Malema says the opposition will run out of patience very soon and we will remove this government through the barrel of a gun if the ruling African National Congress (ANC) continues to respond violently to peaceful protests. Malema is the commander-in-chief of the Economic Freedom Fighters, an opposition party he founded in 2013 after being expelled from the ANC, where he had served as president of the Youth League. The exchange, in Sundays episode of Talk To Al Jazeera, began when Jonah Hull asked Malema how far he was willing to go in his war against President Jacob Zuma and reminded him of his 2014 threat to make the entire Gauteng province ungovernable. We have the capability to mobilise our people and fight physically, said Malema. Thats not befitting of a government in waiting, is it? Hull asked. We know for a fact that Gauteng ANC rigged elections here, replied Malema. We know for a fact that they lost Johannesburg and they lost Gauteng. But we still accepted it. But they must know that we are not going to do that this year. We are not going to accept. Part of the revolutionary duty is to fight and we are not ashamed if the need arises for us to take up arms and fight. We will fight. This regime must respond peacefully to our demands and must respond constitutionally to our demands. And if they are going to respond violently like they did in the township of Alexandra, just outside Johannesburg, when people said these results do not reflect the outcome of our votes, they sent the army to go and intimidate our people. We are not going to stand back. Zuma is not going to use the army to intimidate us. We are not scared of the army. We are not scared to fight. We will fight. Hull asked Malema to clarify this: When you say you are willing to take up arms, thats what you mean? Literally, Malema said. Against the government? Hull asked. Yeah, literally. I mean it literally. We are not scared. We are not going to have a government that disrespects us, Malema said. READ MORE: Young South Africans Voting for a different future We are a very peaceful organisation and we fight our battles through peaceful means, through the courts, through parliament, through mass moblisation. We do that peacefully. But at times, government gets tempted to respond to such with violence. They beat us up in parliament and they send soliders to places like Alexandra where people are protesting. We will run out of patience very soon and we will remove this government through the barrel of a gun. Earlier, Malema had denied that Zuma was his primary concern. We are not waged in a war against Zuma and the ANC. We are waging a war against white monopoly capital. Zuma is not our enemy. The ANC is not our enemy. They are standing in our way to crushing white monopoly capital, which has stolen our land, which controls the wealth of our country. As we are in the process of crushing the white monopoly capital, there will be some of those irritations that we have to deal with. Zuma represents such an irritation; the ANC represents such an irritation. South Africa is holding municipal elections in August. The 28-minute interview premieres on Al Jazeera English this Sunday, 24 April 2016 at 1930 GMT / 2130 CAT, with a second screening on Monday, 25 April 2016 at 1430 GMT / 1630 CAT. Talk to Al Jazeeras interview with Mmusi Maimane, the leader of South Africas opposition Democratic Alliance party, premiered on Saturday and is available to view here. Government will not allow Riek Machar back until international monitors verify number of weapons troops are bringing. South Sudan rebel chief Riek Machar will miss an international deadline on Saturday to return to the capital to take up the post of vice president, the government and rebels have said, with his arrival now expected next week. There is no coming today, Minister of Information Michael Makuei said, adding that the government will issue flight clearance for Machar to arrive by plane from Ethiopia only after international monitors have verified the number of weapons carried by the rebels accompanying him. The rebels, who were at an airport in Ethiopia, said they were ready to fly but needed permission to do so. South Sudan rebel leaders return repeatedly delayed An AFP reporter at the airport in Gambela said there was growing frustration among the rebel troops, who have now been there for several days, waiting to leave. UN chief Ban Ki-moon has urged Machar to return to Juba without delay, while the United States, Britain and Norway key international backers of peace efforts demanded he return by Saturday. Machar was due to return to the capital Juba on April 18 to take up the post of first vice president alongside his archrival President Salva Kiir. His failure to arrive has thrown an August 2015 peace agreement to end over two years of intense civil war into jeopardy. Under intense international pressure, the two sides reached agreement on Friday on the number of troops protecting Machar and the exact number of weapons they can carry. INTERVIEW: Riek Machar on South Sudans future Machar can bring with him 195 men, carrying AK-47 assault rifles as well as 20 machineguns and 20 rocket-propelled grenades. Rebel spokesman James Gadet, however, said the weapons had already been checked by Ethiopian officials, and could also be verified upon their arrival in Juba. The forces are ready, Gadet said. In a statement released earlier this week, Festus Mogae, JMEC chairman, said: No further delay is tolerable. Since December 2013, the government and opposition have been engaged in a brutal conflict that has killed more than 50,000 and displaced more than two million people. Both sides of the conflict have been accused of committing war crimes. Staffan de Misturas estimate, which far exceeds those given by UN in the past, is not an official number. The UN special envoy for Syria has estimated that 400,000 people have been killed throughout the past five years of civil war, urging major and regional powers to help to salvage a crumbling ceasefire. Explaining that the death toll was based on his own estimate, Staffan de Mistura said on Friday that it was not an official UN statistic. We had 250,000 as a figure two years ago, he said. Well, two years ago was two years ago. The UN no longer keeps track of the death toll due to the inaccessibility of many areas and the complications of navigating conflicting statistics put forward by the Syrian government and armed opposition groups. In the latest violence, at least 30 civilians were killed on Saturday in regime and rebel bombardment of areas across Syria. Twelve people were killed in an air strike on the northern city of Aleppo, a local civil defence official said. State news agency SANA said that three civilians were killed and 17 wounded in the rebel shelling of government-held areas of Aleppo. The Syrian Human Rights Observatory said 13 others died in shelling of the rebel-held town of Douma, east of Damascus, while two men were killed in regime air strikes on Talbiseh in central Homs province. OPINION: Syrian Civil War Negotiating in bad faith De Mistura also appealed to all involved parties to help revamp negotiations between the government of President Bashar al-Assad and opposition groups. Yes we certainly do need a new ISSG at ministerial level, the envoy said, referring to the International Syria Support Group which includes the United States, Russia, the EU, Iran, Turkey and Arab states. De Mistura compared the apparently stalled political talks on Syrias future, the unravelling ceasefire agreement and the still limited humanitarian relief deliveries to the three legs of a table. The level of danger to the table made of three legs and a table of three legs is always fragile by definition [means that help] is urgently required, he said. When one of them is in difficulty we can make it. When all three of them are finding some difficulty, its time to call the ISSG. He gave no date or venue for the high-level ISSG. OPINION: US should not arm rebels The envoy said he planned to continue peace talks next week, despite the worrisome trends on the ground, adding that he would seek clarity from government negotiators about their interpretation of political transition. The government, which says the future of President Bashar al-Assad is not up for discussion in Geneva, says that political transition will come in the shape of a national unity government including current officials, opposition and independent figures. Is this going to be cosmetic, is this going to be real, and if it is real what does it mean for the opposition and so on? he said. Opposition negotiators have rejected any proposal which leaves Assad in power. They have also accused the government of violating a February cessation of hostilities agreement, pointing to air strikes on rebel-held areas which have killed dozens of people this week. Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed says firming up an April 11 ceasefire essential to success of negotiations in Kuwait. The United Nations envoy for Yemen has hailed a constructive first full day of peace talks but called for a halt to air strikes by a Saudi-led coalition and missile fire by Houthi rebels. Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed said firming up an April 11 ceasefire was essential to the success of the negotiations in Kuwait. The envoy, who spent months getting the warring sides to the negotiating table, said Fridays talks had been very constructive. There was a consensus on strengthening the ceasefire and the two sides were committed to the need to achieve peace and that this is the last opportunity, he said. The United Nations hopes that the negotiations will end fighting across Yemen that has killed more than 6,800 people and driven more than 2.5 million from their homes since March last year. The Houthis have held Yemens capital, Sanaa, since September 2014 and their advance triggered a Saudi-led air campaign in support of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadis government. As the talks got under way, military sources told the AFP news agency that the ceasefire was largely holding on the ground, although clashes were continuing around the flashpoint city of Taiz, where pro-government forces have been under rebel siege for months, and in Jawf province on the Saudi border. READ MORE: Yemen revolution Our dream was sold Ould Cheikh Ahmed said the rebels complained of continuing air strikes by the Saudi-led coalition while the government side complained of continued ceasefire violations by the rebels. He said he had contacted Saudi Arabia about the coalition air strikes and they had said the raids were ordered only in response to ceasefire violations by the rebels. The ceasefire is respected between 70 percent to 80 percent all over Yemen, Ould Cheikh Ahmed said. The talks are based on UN Security Council resolution 2216 which calls for the Houthi fighters to withdraw from areas they seized since 2014 and hand heavy weapons back to the government, the UN envoy said. Al Jazeeras Hashem Ahelbarra, reporting from the talks, said a major hurdle in the negotiations was a huge trust deficit between the warring sides. The UN envoy along with the different factions are trying to work on confidence-building measures and start a political process with the aim of forming a national unity government, he said. For the United Nations this is a very critical moment. They have to seize the opportunity or there is not going to be peace any time soon. The war has taken on regional implications, as Sunni-ruled Saudi Arabia accuses regional Shia rival Iran of arming and training the Houthis. Iran says it only provides the rebels with political support, though the US Navy says its sailors and allies have seized weapons heading for Yemen from Iran. China says it wants merchant ships to use this alternative route that has been opened up by climate change. Global warming may be the reason behind rising sea levels, extreme weather conditions and the deaths of Arctic animals. But while the environment suffers, the shipping industry has seen a massive new opportunity. The melting ice is opening up a new trade route through the Arctic Ocean, which China and other countries are planning to benefit from. The newly navigable Northwest Passage connects the Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic, and shipping industry leaders in China say the route shortens the journey by 30 percent. But what claim does China and others have on this region? Presenter: Sami Zeidan Guests: Kamrul Hossain Professor of International Law at the University of Laplands Arctic Center. Fred Weir Russia Correspondent for The Christian Science Monitor. Victor Gao Director of the China National Association of International Studies. The South African opposition leader says the EFF would fight if the ANC responded violently to peaceful protests. Julius Malema is never far from the spotlight. In 2012, his aggressive and divisive brand of rhetoric led to expulsion from South Africas ruling African National Congress (ANC). As head of the influential ANC youth league he had earlier helped Jacob Zuma become South Africas president. If they respond violently.... We will run out of patience very soon and we will remove this government through the barrel of a gun. by Julius Malema, EFF leader Many observers wrote him off, but he re-emerged quickly as head of a new party, the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), becoming a member of parliament in 2014. Their fight, Malema says, is against white-held capital, and the irritant, as he now describes Jacob Zuma. His economic policies, including nationalisation of industry and expropriation without compensation, play well on the streets and badly in company boardrooms. We are not to wage any war against Zuma and the ANC, Malema says. We are waging a war against the white monopoly capital. Zuma is not our enemy, the ANC is not our enemy, they are standing in our way to crashing white monopoly capital which has stolen our land, which controls the wealth of our country, and as we are in the process of crashing the white monopoly capital, there will be some of those irritations that we have to deal with and Zuma represents such an irritation, the ANC represents such an irritation. A controversial and often contradictory figure, Malema is a confirmed capitalist himself, known for his expensive taste, while much less is known about the source of his wealth. He has been accused of corruption, convicted of hate speech, yet to his supporters he is a revolutionary, proceeding where the ANC has failed to reduce inequality, redistribute wealth and even, if necessary, to defend their rights by force. He says that he is willing to take up arms against Zumas government and remove the government through the barrel of a gun if they push them to do so. We know for a fact that Gauteng ANC rigged the elections here. We know for a fact that they lost in Johannesburg and they lost Gauteng. We still accepted it but they must know that we are not going to do that this year, Malema says. We are not going to accept. Part of the revolutionary duty is to fight and we are not at shame if the need arises for us to take up arms and fight. We will fight. This regime must respond peacefully to our demands, must respond constitutionally to our demands. And if they are going to respond violently like they did in the township of Alexandra just outside Johannesburg, when people said these results do not reflect the outcome of our vote, they sent the army to go and intimidate our people. We are not going to stand there. Zuma is not going to use the army to intimidate us. We are not scared of the army. We are not scared to fight. We will fight. Julius Malema talks to Al Jazeera about the ANC and Zuma, his South African revolution and his vision for the future of the country. You can talk to Al Jazeera too. Join our Twitter conversation as we talk to world leaders and alternative voices shaping our times. You can also share your views and keep up to date with our latest interviews on Facebook. He rose quickly from political obscurity, emerging first as a mayoral candidate in Johannesburg and soon after becoming leader of South Africas main opposition party, the Democratic Alliance (DA), in 2015. Mmusi Maimane thinks he has got the answers to South Africas problems. At a time of economic and political turmoil, the ruling African National Congress (ANC), he says, is focused less on the needs of the people, and more on the enrichment of its ruling elite. We must never forget the fact that the ANC is logically incoherent. In one sense the ANC talks left but walks right. by Mmusi Maimane, DA leader When he called for a vote in parliament recently to impeach President Jacob Zuma for breaching the constitution, Maimane struck a heavy blow in an opposition campaign to overtake the party that he accuses of betraying the ideals of Nelson Mandela. But the vote failed and the ANC is fighting back, using the rhetoric of race to discredit Maimane. They call him a sellout, a puppet of the rich, the black face of a white party. The true test was whether or not the ANC would defend the constitution or defend Jacob Zuma, says Maimane. I found that as the leader of the opposition it was important to put that test before them. When they took the test and made the decision to defend Jacob Zuma it made us realise, and it made South Africans realise, that project Zuma is not an anomaly to the ANC, it is the ANC itself. The politician believes that one of the things the ANC has departed from is the basic freedom that is the freedom of association. They fail to recognise the fact that it is possible that black South Africans can join any party that they so choose, they have departed from that. The second thing the ANC has departed from is what I believe the generation of 1956 that was led by President Nelson Mandela said: that they were fighting a system, not a race. And if you are fighting a system you recognise the fact that black and white can join together to fight a system that oppresses black people. Even though the same white people were benefiting they can join arms with black people and fight against it. I am not building a party that is black. I am building a party for all South Africans regardless of race who recognise the fact that their fundamental job is to fight for the marginalised, who in this instance are black. Maimane points to his partys successful record in governing the western Cape province, with Cape Town, the jewel, at its heart. With local elections due next year, he believes the Democratic Alliance will make its mark in the countrys other big cities as well. But in the townships outside Cape Town the poor are getting poorer, much as they are everywhere else in South Africa. What does Mmusi Maimane have to offer them? Talk to Al Jazeera spoke to him in Cape Town about the ANC, Jacob Zuma, and his vision for the country. You can talk to Al Jazeera too. Join our Twitter conversation as we talk to world leaders and alternative voices shaping our times. You can also share your views and keep up to date with our latest interviews on Facebook. AR's Editor Joe Shea Talks About Elections On Iranian TV Bear Stearns Saved By Fed As Lehman Bros. Falters; Major Bank Failure Looms Over Wall Street, Sends Markets Into 200-Pt. Dive Lie Upon Lie Five Years Into the Iraq War The Administration Still Churns Out Lies by Randolph Holhut A Small Tragedy Even at 90, As Friends Turn Cool She Knows the Show Must Go On by Joyce Marcel I'll Take Me Imagine John Wayne or Arnold In Heels, Silk and a Girdle by Elizabeth Andrews Sen. Nelson Calls For New Fla. Primary; Gov Crist Backs 'Do-Over' Who'll Win? Ask Spock Spock.com Engine Predicts Winners By Site Searches; It Can be Wrong by Jay Bhatti Chatting Up The Cat God Gave Me Dominion Over Him But I Think He's a Non-Believer by Constance Daley Death of a Thug The Life and Horrors of Suharto by Andreas Harsono ___________________________ This Just In Sierra Club: McCain Ducked All 15 Key Votes On Green Laws (AR) A Work By AR's T.S. Kerrigan Is Chosen As 'Best Poem' By Wordpress Site Murder At Mile 63 The Deadly Assault and Bush Administration Cover-Up by S. Eben Kirkesby and Andreas Harsono 5427 14th St. West, Bradenton, FL 34207 $6.99 Fish Fridays! Manatee Co.'s Only 24-Hr. FREE Wi-Fi Paid Advertisement On Native Ground AFTER 5 YEARS, WE'RE STILL LIED TO ABOUT IRAQ by Randolph T. Holhut DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- Next week is the fifth anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq. And it is likely that sometime in the next couple of weeks, the 4,000th American soldier will die in Iraq. [MORE] Momentum OFF TO SEE THE WIZARD by Joyce Marcel DUMMERSTON, Vt. - It's 1931, and a 14-year-old girl is standing alone on a stage. She's small and lively with dark curly hair, widespread hazel eyes, slender wrists and an open, eager face filled with the wonder of performing. Her name is Rose, and one day she will be my mother. But now she is performing an Eugene O'Neill monologue called "Before Breakfast" for a ladies' club in a wealthy suburb of Long Island. [MORE] One Woman's World COMFORTABLE WITH MYSELF by Elizabeth T. Andrews CARTERSVILLE, Ga. -- I'm not sure but I think I may be socially incorrect. [MORE] On Native Ground ENOUGH FOR A WAR, NOT FOR A PEOPLE by Randolph T. Holhut DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- Last week, the National Governors Assn. met in Washington, D.C. One of the tasks the NGA had on its agenda was to ask President Bush to increase federal spending on roads, bridges and other public works projects as a way to stimulate the economy. He rejected their pleas out of hand, claiming that infrastructure projects wouldn't offer any short-term economic boost. [MORE] Brasch Words BEWARE THE SELF-REVERENTIAL PRESS by Walter Brasch BLOOMSBURG, Pa. -- Shortly before the primary votes this past week, Newsweek's Jonathan Alter called Sen. Barack Obama's surge to the Democratic nomination "inevitable." It also called for Hillary Clinton to "start her campaign for Senate majority leader." [MORE] Constance A CONVERSATION WITH MY CAT Constance Daley ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. -- Normally, when the cat starts his evening rant of meowing continuously until he makes his point, I just take it as long as I can, pick him up, and put him in the garage for the night. He doesn't want to go, but the meowing stops and I don't care if he likes it or not. [MORE] Momentum OUT OF STRUGGLE, ART by Joyce Marcel DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- Here we are again at the crossroads of art and social change, having the opportunity to watch good and great films about the lives of women in support of the Women's Crisis Center. [MORE] Campaign 2008 HOW TO PREDICT SUPER TUESDAY II WINNERS? ONLINE SEARCH by Jay Bhatti NEW YORK, March 4, 2008, 7:00PM ET -- With the outcomes of the Texas, Vermont, Ohio and Rhode Island primaries to be decided tonight, how possible is it that online searching can predict who will win tonight's primaries? [MORE] One Woman's World DON'T VOTE; IT ENCOURAGES THEM by Elizabeth T. Andrews CARTERSVILLE, Ga. -- Call me angry and disgusted but don't call me un-American because I won't be voting come November. [MORE] On Native Ground BUSH AND THE KEYBOARD COMMANDOS by Randolph T. Holhut DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- As the days tick down toward the eventual departure of President George W. Bush from the White House, it's a hopeful sign that most Americans are no longer moved by his Administration's constant exploitation of terrorism for political gain. [MORE] Momentum WHICH AMERICA DO YOU LIVE IN? by Joyce Marcel DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- It's a little confusing. [MORE] Make My Dat THE LAWYER THAT ATE NEW YORK by Erik Deckers INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- I used to know a guy who, quite literally, didn't get hyperbole. He didn't understand exaggeration. As a result, he missed most jokes that came his way. [MORE] On Native Ground FIDEL RETIRES: NOW THE COLD WAR IS REALLY OVER by Randolph T. Holhut DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- Maybe now, we can finally say the Cold War is over. [MORE] Make My Dat THE LAWYER THAT ATE NEW YORK by Erik Deckers INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- I used to know a guy who, quite literally, didn't get hyperbole. He didn't understand exaggeration. As a result, he missed most jokes that came his way. [MORE] One Woman's World POLITICS IS NO PARTY by Elizabeth T. Andrews CARTERSVILLE, Ga. -- Are you having a hard time focusing your eyes? Do you have faint red spots all over your body? Is there a ringing in your ears and do you see wavy lines when you look at your television set? Do your hands shake when you try to hold a cup of coffee? And have you recently been forgetting what day of the week it is - or what year? [MORE] Make My Day FOR BETTER OR WORSE ... A LOT WORSE by Erik Deckers INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- "Marriage: It's Only Going to Get Worse." [MORE] Constance YOU CALL THESE RIGHTS? by Constance Daley ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. -- When you express an opinion you hope to persuade others to your point of view. It doesn't always happen but still, opinion writers try. [MORE] Momentum THE BRIDGE WOMAN by Joyce Marcel DUMMERSTON, Vt. - Out there in America - yes, still - is a generation of women who were born in the 1940s, raised in the 1950s, and who came to radical consciousness in the late 1960s and early 1970s. I am one of them. Hillary Clinton is one of them. [MORE] On Native Ground OBAMA AND MY GENERATION by Randolph T. Holhut DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- I originally planned on voting for Dennis Kucinich in the Vermont Primary on March 4. [MORE] The Willies: WARNING: THIS MEDICATION MAY MURDER YOUR FRIENDS by Joe Shea BRADENTON, Fla. -- You've heard the warnings, haven't you? Stop Prozac and you may take a shotgun, an Uzi or an AK-47 and mow down your family and friends, or even a whole classroom full of your fellow students. You didn't? Well, that warning is not on the bottle, but like countless mass-murder incidents before it, Friday's shootings at Northern Illinois University, as well as the Virginia Tech shootings that killed 32 last year, was probably precipitated by the effect of stopping medications that suppress anger and other powerful emotions but do not relieve the underlying cause. Isn't it time we started warning people - or stopped prescribing these medicines? [MORE] One Woman's World DON'T KNOCK ON MY DOOR by Elizabeth T. Andrews CARTERSVILLE, Ga. -- I wish I could feel delight in my poet's mansion being like Grand Central Station all the time, but I can't. And I wish my place was such a place that someone would one day write: "Her door was always open and she always made you feel all fuzzy and warm in her presence. She could make a cup of coffee seem like a banquet." [MORE] Reporting: Panama PANAMA'S VIOLENT LABOR UNREST INTENSIFIES Mark Scheinbaum PANAMA CITY, Panama, Feb, 15, 2008 -- After just one day of relative calm, wildcat construction strikes by some members of Panama's largest union flared up again Friday morning, four days after a police sniper shot one worker. More than 140 demonstrators have been injured and at least 500 arrested, authorities say. [MORE] Brasch Words TO STIMULATE ECONOMY, BUY A CHINESE-MADE U.S. FLAG by Walter Brasch BLOOMSBURG, Pa. -- Walking down Main Street, pushing a grocery cart loaded with clothes, toys, and appliances was Marshbaum. Fastened to the right front corner of the cart was an American flag tied onto a three-foot ruler. [MORE] Make My Day THE TOOTH, AND NOTHING BUT THE TOOTH by Erik Deckers INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- To commemorate the death of noted shark exploder Roy Scheider, and the "Jaws" movies that resulted in Erik never setting foot in the ocean again, we are reprinting this column from 2003. Shark Experts 0, Sharks 1 [MORE] Momentum THE WINTER OF MY DISCONTENT by Joyce Marcel DUMMERSTON, Vt. - As I write this, it's raining ice. Maybe a half a foot of snow and ice has already landed up here in the woods of Dummerston. Our cars are encased in it, and the door to the house is blocked. The satellite dish that brings in our Internet service quit about 20 minutes ago - frozen solid. [MORE] The Willies AMERICA TO HILLARY: GET OUT! by Joe Shea BRADENTON, Fla., Feb. 13, 2008 -- Sen. Hillary Clinton has adopted the Rudy Giuliani strategy, and it's working - for Sen. Barack Obama. It turns out to be the strategy all Democrats are seeking - an exit strategy. But it's not for Iraq. It's for her exit from the race for the 2008 Democratic Presidential nomination. [MORE] Constance CONFESSIONS OF A DISAPPOINTED VOTER by Constance Daley ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. -- A week ago at just about this time, I completed an article and was about to submit it as scheduled to The American Reporter. I was feeling rather elated, ready to show up on Super Tuesday morning, firmly touch the X next to Rudy Giuliani's name and get on with my day. He was my choice; he would get my vote. [MORE] Reporting: Florida SIERRA CLUB SET TO SUSPEND FLA. CHAPTER by Joe Shea BRADENTON, Fla., Feb. 10, 2008 -- The national Sierra Club is set to suspend its Florida chapter after years of divisive infighting, the president of the national club told Florida members in a letter delivered to some this weekend. It is the first time in its 116-year history that such a step has been considered by the club, according to news reports. [MORE] One Woman's World PLANT A NEW WORLD THIS SPRING by Elizabeth T. Andrews CARTERSVILLE, Ga. -- For a little while, the men will just have to toss and turn in their fear-free-women beds. For a small space of time Hillary Clinton will just have to trudge on toward the White House without my faint applause in the background. [MORE] On Native Ground VERMONT AND THE 5 STAGES OF CONSERVATIVE GRIEF by Randolph T. Holhut DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- First, Vermont tried to convince the nation to impeach President Bush and Vice President Cheney. [MORE] Make My Day REBEL WITHOUT A TONGUE by Erik Deckers INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- Kids' brains work in amazing ways. At times, they can grasp complex concepts and make impressive discoveries. Other times, you have to wonder how we ever survived as a species. [MORE] The Willies FOR DEMOCRATS, NOW IT'S ABOUT RACE, INCOME AND GENDER by Joe Shea BRADENTON, Feb. 6, 2008 -- It's not a good time to be a Democrat. As the Super Tuesday results demonstrated, the presidential race between Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton has divided the partly along clear racial, income and gender lines - the very distinctions the party has sought to erase in principle but has emphasized in its pursuit of diversity. [MORE] Momentum SUPER TUESDAY BLUES by Joyce Marcel DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- Super Tuesday has come and gone and I still can't get excited about the upcoming presidential elections. [MORE] The Willies ON THE BRINK OF HISTORY, YOUR PUSH IS NEEDED by Joe Shea BRADENTON, Fla., Feb. 5. 2008 -- I'm expecting a sea change tonight. I believe that for the first time in this nation's history we will once and forever banish racism as the deciding factor in the destiny of African-Americans, and indeed adopt diversity as our path to the future. [MORE] Campaign 2008 AT 88, EVERY VOTE REALLY COUNTS by Ted Manna DENVER, Feb. 5, 2008 -- Pearl Turner will caucus for Mitt Romney tonight in Denver. [MORE] One Woman's World STAND BY YOUR WOMAN by Elizabeth T. Andrews CARTERSVILLE, Ga. -- The black vote. The gay vote. The fundamentalist vote. The Hispanic vote. [MORE] An AR Special SUSPECTS IN BENAZIR ASSASSINATION HAVE TIES TO MUSHARRAF by Ahmar Mustikhan WASHINGTON, D.C. -- When Gordon Brown this past Monday feted coup-leader-turned-President Pervez Musharraf at 10 Downing Street, Britain's new prime minister probably didn't ask the Pakistani dictator a question that is now on many minds: Did you order the murder of Benazir Bhutto? [MORE] Momentum TO THE VERMONT DELEGATION: WHAT HAVE YOU DONE FOR US LATELY? by Joyce Marcel DUMMERSTON, Vt. Back when President George W. Bush and Dick Vice President Dick Cheney were building up to their loathsome war in Iraq, very few people were brave enough to call the bullies' bluff. [MORE] On Native Ground IF BUSH HAS HIS WAY, WE'LL NEVER LEAVE IRAQ by Randolph T. Holhut DUMMERSTON, Vt. - In his final State of the Union address on Jan. 28, President Bush cautioned against accelerating U.S. troop withdrawals from Iraq, saying that it would endanger the process that has been made over the past year. [MORE] Campaign 2008 CLASH OF COMMENTS AND PROTESTORS AT CLINTON, OBAMA RALLIES IN DENVER by Ted Manna DENVER, Feb. 1, 2008 -- At least four presidential campaigns of both partiers rolled into in Denver this week ahead of the Feb. 5 "Super Tuesday" primaries in 22 states, but it was the Democratic presidential contenders who drew the big crowds and duked it out Wednesday. If sheer numbers are any indication, Sen. Barack Obama - preceded by a buoyant and beautiful Caroline Kennedy - won the round handily. He is the overwhelming favorite to win the Colorado primary next Tuesday. [MORE] The Willies WHY THE FLORIDA PRIMARY STINKS by Joe Shea BRADENTON, Fla., Jan. 30, 2008 -- I was with my wife and daughter driving the back way from Miami home to Bradenton when we stopped at a McDonald's in Clewiston, the only big town along the vast shore of Lake Okeechobee, the state's precious freshwater reservoir. The McDonald's had three televisions at a central seating area, each tuned to a different network, and our table was in front of CNN as the very first election results started to pour in around 7:30PM. With them, almost as counterpoint, suddenly came such an overwhelming odor of cow plop that my wife started to throw up as we all ran to the parking lot. [MORE] Passings: Suharto DEATH OF A KEMUSU THUG by Andreas Harsono JAKARTA - A few minutes after hearing that former president Suharto had died in his hospital bed, Marco, a militia leader in downtown Jakarta, raced to Suhartos house, wearing his jungle camouflage and began guarding the Suhartos residence on Cendana Street. [MORE] Constance I REMEMBER YOU by Constance Daley ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga.. -- It seems to be more often lately that the sentiment is spoken but it's always been out there: "You never get over the death of your child." This is true. But the heartfelt expressions come from some who cannot fathom the notion of losing a child; their own child is who is in their mind, not another mother's child. [MORE] ATLANTA It was a fintech conference, but a decidedly different one. Nearly everyone was wearing a jacket, there were no "master senseis," and only one person mentioned APIs by name. Yet what it lacked in stereotypes, it made up for in practical advice about how community bankers could use fintech to reshape their business. For instance, small banks may have an easier time persuading regulators to OK partnerships with fintech companies because those under $10 billion in assets are not directly supervised by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. (Of course, the CFPB could still weigh in at some point given the agency's broad powers.) The name of the conference, Crossroads: Banking and Fintech, was especially apt for community banks given the juncture many of them have reached. The operating environment has stressed their ability to make money. Technology could strip out some of the costs, but some thrifty, and perhaps shortsighted, bankers are unwilling to make investments. Also, retail customers are judging their banks by their digital products, and larger banks have at least the perceived advantage there. But community banks should not give up too soon, several bankers said. "Technology, I believe, is a great equalizer for community banks," Chris Nichols, the chief strategy officer of the $4 billion-asset CenterState Banks in Davenport, Fla., said in an interview. "I'm bullish on the ability for us to leverage it to be more competitive." "Community banks often think only big banks can innovate," he continued, "but they are often huge animals with wasted resources and legacy systems. I can move on a dime." Nichols was also one of the speakers at the conference, which was hosted by the boutique investment bank Banks Street Partners, the law firm Bryan Cave and the venture fund TTV Capital. It was designed as a beginner's course on fintech, given that community banks might be overwhelmed by the size of the growing industry. "I don't know that many bank CEOs have had a chance to pause and figure out what might be a complement to their business and what their vulnerabilities could be on a path toward obsolescence," said Lee Burrows, chief executive of Banks Street. The firm is a staple in advising community banks particularly in the South on acquisitions, but Burrows said the Atlanta-based company is increasingly working with fintech companies, either as they pursue capital or potential acquisitions by banks. "My guess is that some of the banks will meet with some of the presenting companies to discuss how they can form an alliance or if they can't, banks will then think, 'Well, who else might be a good fit for me?' " For all the potential, however, there are still several hurdles for community banks to overcome. One of them, not surprisingly, is regulation. Following the financial crisis, community bankers have tended to stay in their respective lanes for fear of inviting scrutiny from regulators. In the world of bank M&A, deals are vetted with regulators in their early stages. Banks were advised to take the same approach when considering partnerships with online lenders or other tech-focused moves. But bankers like Bryan Cohen, the chief executive of Quantum National Bank in Suwanee, Ga., say that banks should not assume that regulators will stifle innovation. "If you can prove that it is strategically viable, I've found the regulators to be receptive," Cohen said during a panel discussion. Another challenge is finding the right technology. There is a natural disconnect between fintech, which has tended to skew toward consumer offerings, and community banks, which have found their niche in commercial banking. Several banks have struck partnerships with marketplace lenders to improve loan growth, but not all bankers want to do that. "I don't need technology that is going to help me make more loans," said William Easterlin 3rd, president and CEO of Queensborough National Bank & Trust Co. in Louisville, Ga. "I need something that is going to help me make the loans I'm already making more efficiently." Easterlin might be soon find what he is looking for increasingly, fintech is expanding from consumer-focused products to ones that seek to streamline business-banking processes. Being commercially focused presents other challenges, too. Some business customers are just not all that interested in technology. That presents a conundrum for community banks. Is it worth investing in a channel that its current customers may not want but the bank needs in order to stay viable? Easterlin says it is something he has to grapple with continually. "We have online banking and mobile banking. We just started offering Apple Pay, but our customers aren't asking for it," Easterlin said. "We do it because I'm afraid if we don't we'll be left two or three generations behind in technology." Nichols said that sometimes banks need to work on teaching their customers the technology in order to juice usage. Still, he said, that the focus on the customers of tomorrow is crucial. "Often these products are not a runaway success, and the knee-jerk reaction is that our customers don't want this," Nichols said. "If you take a step back, sometimes [adoption problems] are a training issue. Too often we introduce something and move on. But our focus shouldn't be on who are customers are today, but who they will be tomorrow." WASHINGTON Senate appropriators approved $13 million in new funding to update the Federal Housing Administration's "outdated and unautomated" information technology systems, but rejected President Obama's proposed way of paying for it. The Department of Housing and Urban Development has been seeking additional funding to modernize its own and the FHA's IT systems for several years. But the Senate subcommittee again rejected the Obama administration's proposal to pay for the update by levying a 4-basis-point fee on lenders. This fee would cost a lender $40 on a $100,000 loan. "The subcommittee bill rejects the administration's proposal to fund the IT modernization by way of a lender fee," said Chip Unruh, a spokesman for the Senate Transportation, Housing and Urban Development subcommittee. Overall, the fiscal year 2017 appropriations bill approved by the subcommittee includes $273 million for HUD's IT systems $23 million above the fiscal 2016 level, with $13 million of the increase going to FHA. "This funding will ensure FHA is able to retire some of its current IT systems to effectively adapt to changes in the housing industry, economic trends, and post-housing-crisis legislation," according to a summary of the bill. Is it a case of ordained fate we cannot escape or is it that "We the People" are too dense to learn from our mistakes? Paging through humanity's history, time and again we find numerous instances of costly historical errors where people ignore facts and reason by entrusting their lives to a "savior." And time and again, we have ended up paying the price for our folly. If we are not genetically doomed to make these ruinous mistakes --which I am certain we are not -- then do we commit them out of wishful thinking, laziness, desperation, or some combination of the three? History has warned us of three kinds of people: charlatans, demagogues, and politicians. And more often than not, someone will rise up who is all three of these characters wrapped into one. Our liberty is our most precious possession. Many will aim to rob us of it and, by so doing, add to their own power, while trying to force us to become robots. Desperate situations spawn desperate measures. Not having learned the lessons of history, many people will turn to charlatans, demagogues, and politicians with dire consequences. Just a few old and recent cases of this tragic misstep should warn us not to be victimized in the future by frauds. From the primitive land of the Arabian Peninsula of over 14 centuries ago arose Muhammad, an illiterate hired hand of a rich widow Khadija, claiming that he was the bearer of a perfect life prescription from God -- the Quran. He claimed humanity could do no better than to follow its precepts as well as to emulate Muhammads own life example for a guarantee of bliss and salvation. In exchange for this, people must embrace Islam -- surrender -- by surrendering their liberty to Muhammad. To this day, in places where Islam rules, many books are banned, newspapers and magazines are systematically either censored or shut down, and other non-print media are methodically blocked. Liberty, deeply cherished by democracies, is replaced by submission -- unquestioning obedience and adherence to the dictates and precepts of the all-knowing and all-wise Allah. In no time at all, the savages of Arabia, won over by the allure of the win-win promise of Muhammad -- you kill and you get the booty from your victims in this world; you get killed and your abode will be the unimaginably glorious sensuous paradise of Allah -- sword-in-hand, sallied forth to lands near and far. From the civilized land of Germany arose a syphilitic lout who called on the German people to surrender their liberty to him in exchange for a surefire solution to all their economic and social ills. He successfully portrayed the Jews as the main cause of the nations suffering. Before long, the masses of gullible easy-solution seekers formed long lines in towns and villages of the land, tripping over each other in their eagerness to surrender their liberty to the savior Fuhrer. The German people blindly subscribed to the Nazi promises of economic revival, restoration of German pride, and the establishment of supremacy for the Aryan race. In a blink, hordes of rabid Brownshirts fanned the length and the breadth of the land, hunting the Jews. The fire of anti-Jew mania quickly expanded to devour Gypsies, non-Christians in general, the physically or mentally handicapped, homosexuals and more. The genocidal Hitler found it expedient to overlook some of the despicable Semitic people -- the Arabs -- by affording the Grand Mufti of Palestine, Haj Amin al-Husseini, a fellow Jew-hater, a most effusive welcome to Germany. To fool a majority of the people for a considerable period might be fatal. Hitler needed only a few years to ruin Germany. There is hardly a need to document the horrors of the Nazi episode here, where a charlatan managed to hoodwink a nation, rob the people of their liberty and cause so much death and destruction. It is unthinkable that an ancient nation -- Iran -- with a distinguished history, allowed a high order demagogue, Ayatollah Khomeini, to rally the people against the Shah with promises of rule for the people and justice for all. The long-suffering Iranians of all strata readily surrendered their liberty to the turbaned bigot and his gang of murdering sycophants. In Iran, wishful thinking people saw the holy man of Allah as an answer to their prayers. The fanatic Muslims perceived him as the one who would revive the flagging fortunes of the faith of Muhammad and pave the way for the much-anticipated advent of the Saheb-ul-Zaman (the Lord of the Age.) Gullibility was not limited to the Iranians who swelled the ranks of the fraud. On the other side of the world, the President of the United States of America -- Jimmy lust in my heart Carter -- saw Khomeini as a saint and a savior. Carter provided the crucial support to the man whose greatest claim to the rank of the Grand Ayatollah was his lengthy dissertation on matters concerning sexual intercourse with animals. No sooner had this fraud of Allah ascended to power than the Iranians of all strata began to pay the price -- tens of thousands with their own lives -- for the folly of letting the three-in-one Ayatollah make decisions for them, the three-in-one that we had been warned about. For over thirty-eight years, the Iranian people have been paying for the tragedy that has befallen them. And thats not where it ends. Khomeinism is the fire that is spreading beyond the borders of Iran. Khomeinism is a recent violent version of Islams Shiism. Islam means surrender. Surrender to the will and dictates of Allah as revealed by Mohammad. In the land of the free and home of the brave, a Prince Charming rose up in the person of Barrack Hussein Obama, promising A Change We Can Believe In. Waves of the populace sang the song with him, Yes We Can. The skill to arouse the public to frenzy does not make one a worthy leader, nor should one automatically assume that his policies will equal prosperity or liberty. In the year 2007, in a climate of insanity, the people of the land called America, having been deceived by a deceptive Marxisant that would exalt himself as their protector and provider, chose a charismatic, soft speaking prophet" as their savior, and some people even called him The Messiah. He emerged from the fog with a message that had no meaning, yet he was able to spellbind people by telling them he was sent to save us from ourselves with hope and change. Many Americans forgot that anyone who claims special privileges and status for himself, makes outlandish promises and threats, pits one people against another, fill the bill of three-in-one. The most dangerous person of all is anyone who persuades you to give up your liberty in exchange for your security. And we all have heard the cliche those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary security deserve neither liberty nor security. In the year 2016, a billionaire businessman, Donald Trump, a sudden convert to the Republican Party, is undergoing a meteoric rise in his battle to capture the party's nomination for the Presidency of the United States, a truly mystifying accomplishment for him and has promised, he will Make America Great Again, if you elect him as an undisputed leader. Many Americans who felt deceived by the Washington cartel, lobbyists and establishment Republicans, joined the waves of loyal and dedicated devotees and sang his songs without paying any attention to his dark past. Trump unjustifiably has lashed out at a number of people with harsh and often extremely odd personal attacks. Trump endlessly touts himself as brilliant. He keeps repeating that he went to the Wharton School of Business, he has noted several times. "I'm, like, a really smart person. Apparently teaching spelling was not part of the Wharton curriculum. Despite Trumps repeated mention of Wharton, his own classmates barely remember him, and he even portrays the schools high-flung reputation as overwrought in his 1986 book, Trump: The Art of the Deal. Now that he has tasted success in getting his way in the financial world, he wants the ultimate prize: the presidency of the greatest country in the world. He is brash enough to see it just as another deal-making venture. Hence, he is using the same old strategy that has made him a financial juggernaut to attain his goal: say and do anything. And it is working. Intellectually authentic and stern people do not reason or behave in this way. Do we really want to put all Americans, and even the whole world, in great peril by giving an egotistic and unstable man the code to our nuclear devices? America is the stronghold of freedom. The peace of our universe hangs on the power of America, and its fragility renders into the success of terrorism and success of rogue nations. America is at a crucial moment in its history. We cannot think of any tragedy greater than putting a man with a compulsive behavior disorder in control of the worlds most powerful military machine. Let us learn from our past mistakes. The change you can believe in, trumpeted by another savior, has turned out to be the change we need to change. And we have the opportunity to do so, at the RNC convention and on November 8th. Let's face it: few men would get upset if a woman walked into the men's bathroom. After all, women really can't rape men they're usually too small/weak to hurt us, and at least some men would think a strange, ugly woman wanting to stare at them was a compliment. On the other hand, men do rape women, men are often big enough to hurt women, and few women want to be ogled in the bathroom by some pervert. For men, letting a woman who thinks science is wrong and that she's a man into the men's room is not that big of a deal, but letting a man who simply claims he feels he's a woman into women's bathrooms is dramatically increasing the danger in women's lives. No real feminist would support that. Further, simply ignoring the ancient beliefs of women that strange men shouldn't get to see them naked is something no real feminist would do. After all, aren't feminists all about women's right to privacy? Hence, it's clear that the support for letting men use women's bathrooms comes from the oppressive patriarchal elements of society who want to enable heterosexual sex criminals like Roman Polanski. It's time for all real men who support women's right to privacy to take a stand and just say no to anatomical males using women's restrooms/locker rooms. Think about it: even if this guy says he feels he's a girl, why would anyone believe him if he's still walking around with a male sex organ? A real woman who woke up one morning with a man's reproductive organ would be screaming to get it fixed. But these supposed "transgendered" folk go for years without being bothered? Not credible. The fact that the people who support men in women's bathroom don't even require a doctors note shows that the objective is not helping those few folks who fail to understand that if you've got a male sex organ, you're a male. Rather, it's to help men who are perverts. If you believe a study of Social Security data, there are roughly 30,000 transgendered people in America today. That's 0.01% of the population. If you believe ABC, which doesn't cite a source, then it's 700,000. That's 0.2% of the population. To put that into perspective, we're told by liberals that the 3.3 million Muslims in America are no problem. There are roughly 747,000 registered sex offenders in the U.S. Every year, there are over 100,000 arrests for sex offenses. Given that many, if not most, sex crimes are not reported and that the arrest rate for sex crimes is unlikely to be higher than that for any other serious crime, it's clear that even if we use the LGBT community's 700,000 number, the reality is that there are many more perverts who would love free access to women's bathrooms than there are "transgendered" people. The statistics further prove that evil patriarchal men are behind this push to open up women's restrooms to men. For example, women are six times as likely to be victims of sexual assaults than men. Even worse, the victims tend to be young women, with 67% being under the age of 18 and more than 50% under the age of 12. It's no wonder, then, that sane people who don't want to empower patriarchal privilege and thereby violate women's privacy stand against allowing men, with male sexual organs, from sharing a bathroom with 10-year-old girls. Unsurprisingly, these patriarchalists discriminate against women in other ways. For example, while Hollywood stars are boycotting states that want to protect women's right to privacy, women in Hollywood are paid much less than men for the same job. The mainstream media and the arts actively oppress women, as can be seen in pay differentials and a lack of positions of authority. Finally, hardcore liberals like Obama and Hillary Clinton demonstrate their commitment to patriarchy by paying women less than men. It's time for all real men to take a stand to protect women, and little girls, from the predatory sexual practices endorsed by the rabidly patriarchal elements of society like Hollywood, the mainstream media, and liberals. You can read more of Tom's rants at his blog, Conversations about the obvious, and feel free to follow him on Twitter. Even President Barack Obama recently lamented the declining state of affairs on Americas college campuses. Essentially, a doctrinaire sense of victimology has descended upon campuses such that free speech, critical thinking, and debate are all but abolished in favor of Safe spaces. The complaints are extensive and well-founded. Allan Blooms concern in the 1980s about the Closing of the American Mind is profound, real, and upon us at todays university campuses. What is not often discussed is what should be done to reverse this crisis and to begin anew the opening of the American mind. What exactly is wrong? Since the 1960s, an Alinsky-styled, Jacobin fueled movement that recognizes that power truly emanates from those centers that disseminate knowledge, has worked to gain control of places like American universities. Professors like Bill Ayers in Chicago -- who wipes his feet on an American flag before a photo op selfie for a magazine -- follows in the lineage of self-styled academic radicals such as Ward Churchill and Noam Chomsky. In their essential view, there is one profound evil in the world -- the conventional America. All of our traditions, all of our economic and cultural practices, and religious faiths, are code words for direct suppression and oppression of minorities they define and manipulate through the terminologies of academia. It is difficult to complete sentences in front of these academic radicals who have made a profession of taking offense. This years college policy debate topic is illustrative. Students were asked to debate whether: the United States should significantly reduce its military presence, in various parts of the world. For the most part, in watching these debates I observed the literal ideological decline of America. Both the affirmative and negative teams in debates tended to agree that America is sinister. She is committed to imperialism, colonialism, racism, and all manner of human injustice. Presumably, the negative side would have necessitated the rebuttal to that premise -- but that was largely untrue. As I told many debaters this year: don't take this personally -- but you could reasonably be employed writing propaganda for the government of North Korea. In my oral critiques of another debate, I explained that I found it shocking that four college students could talk for two hours about withdrawing our troops from South Korea without once mentioning human rights abuses in North Korea. I explained that before you leave this room today, I want you to know that on April 30, 2015 the commander of North Korean Armed Forces was executed in public with an anti-aircraft gun designed to take down aircraft at 27,000 feet. The commander was shot at a range of 100 feet for the spectacular effect that dictatorships like Kim Jong Un seek to communicate in his deaths as text to the oppressed public of his nation. Unfortunately, debaters effectively parrot the lines of a radicalized intellectual culture that believes the world would be better with less America. In fact, at the final round of the National Debate Tournament, after Harvard affirmed the resolution by rejecting the neo-conservative narratives that construct Iran as a threat, the University of Kansas responded: this affirmative case is anti-black. Noted professor Dr. Frank Wilderson argues that anti-blackness is such a pervasive reality of American life that we must not refrain from endorsing the most grave of all actions: burn it all down. In one national debate I judged in Kansas City, a debater told me, I know you are not going to like this, Dr. Voth but we are asking you to vote to burn it all down. And so I did -- because the negative team options were even more dire in their prescriptions for America. The fault is not with the debaters, who with skill repeat the lines scripted to them by academia. The public poorly understands how dire the communication culture is on college campuses -- especially in election years like this one. We must seek dramatic reforms to prevent the painful reality check that must await the students of Coddle University. Here are the steps that should be taken: State legislatures should convene hearings to examine the tax-exempt statuses of universities. Professors like to talk about revoking the tax-exempt statuses of churches that they perceive to be overinvolved with bad politics. Examining the partisan character of university life would allow brave professors to put their partisan ideologies on public display and potentially bring significant revenue to state budgets as universities could admit that serving narrow political interests are more important than the First Amendment and its essential civil rights. With dozens of universities that now have billion-dollar endowments, now is the time to think about the legal meaning of tax-exempt status for non-profit schools. 15% of student fee moneys should be spent on student activities that encourage open dialogue and debate: debate teams, public debates, mock trial, and similar student advocacy activities. Most universities raise between $250,000 and $500,000 a year in student fees. In Ohio, I worked at a school where fees went to clubs such as: the masturbation club, the X-box club (they bought gaming consoles), and the California appreciation club. Fashion shows and expensive partisan speaker fees trade off with critical thinking activities like debate and mock trial that are hard pressed to get adequate funding across the nation. Bring back ROTC and the United States military recruiting activity to college campuses. In the 1960s activists began their ideological revolt by demonizing the U.S. military and having them kicked off campus in far too many cases. In the 1990s, academics demonized the military for policies of dont ask don't tell. There is no justification for military recruitment to not be a basic part of higher education. If this is not possible, then it is equally impossible for federal funding in the form of grants to go to such schools and the faculty who utilizes those taxpayer grants. At issue here are our paramount civil rights found in the First Amendment. Colleges and universities are creating intellectually stifling environments comparable to Jim Crow America. Freedom of religion, speech, press, assembly and petition must flow from the citadels of critical thinking that should be American colleges and universities. The reactionary ideology against individual rights that corrodes the minds of our young people since the 1960s must be confronted and reversed. Now is the time for action. Ben Voth is the director of debate and associate professor of Corporate Communication and Public Affairs at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. On June 23, the United Kingdom is voting in a referendum on Brexit the proposal for Britain to exit the European Union. The first thing we need to do is to examine the reasons for staying in the EU as outlined by the Prime Minister. He argues that we would be stronger in Europe; that we would have access to the top table; that we could reform the EU from within; that we would be more secure from a military point of view; that it would be economically catastrophic if we leave. Do any of these arguments hold water? The fact is that our voice at the top table is diminished with every new state that joins, and the record shows that Great Britain is constantly outvoted. So our record with the Council of Ministers and within the Parliaments at Strasbourg and Brussels is constant failure. Are we stronger militarily? Absolutely not our military strength lies with NATO and the United States, not with the EU. Would exit be catastrophic from an economic point of view? Would tariffs be raised against us? The argument most often advanced is that the EU trades with us more than we trade with them. The French wont want to lose their wine and cheese exports to us, nor the Germans their washing machines and Volkswagen. However that is not the most convincing argument for me. The fact is that many ountries trade with the EU from South Africa to Mexico, from Algeria to Hong Kong. That is to leave aside China, Japan and the United States, none of whom are remotely in the EU. So the question is: How are they able to sell to the EU without belonging to the club and paying as we do, some 55 million a day to belong? The answer is simple enough because they have the right goods at a competitive price. Now the Remainders will argue that we do not pay 55 million a day or some 20 billion a year, since we get some of it back. OK, that is true enough, but as the Right Honourable John Redwood points out, we still pay over some 10 billion net in one year. Clearly that would make a huge difference to our competitive position. Nobody need lose out in terms of the grants they presently receive from the EU if Britain replaced them, yet the Nation would be 10 billion better off per annum. Think what such a figure could do for the National Health Service? In fact there is no sense whatsoever in belonging to this club, since our trade with the EU is not in doubt and our trade with the rest of the World would be more open. In fact it is madness to remain in this club of manifold and endless regulations. What has happened in the last 20 Years? Where we joined a Common Market, which seemed a good idea, we did not join a Federation, which in fact meant rule by the biggest power, Germany. This is precisely what has happened. Economically there is only one country that has prospered and that is Germany. So this is a result that is not wished for by the Greeks, or by the Italians, or even by the French and curiously enough, even many Germans are dissatisfied with having to prop up other economies and the time will come when they have had enough. Or the Greeks might default, leaving the German Bankers with a bloody nose. Since joining, our fishing fleets have almost disappeared. Take Grimsby as an example, where they had a fleet of over 200 trawlers, now reduced to barely a dozen, as recounted on BBC2 Sunday morning. EU regulations have allowed French and Spanish trawlers into our waters and yet prohibited our own fishing fleets with their regulations. So our fishing fleets have all but disappeared, our aluminium industry is gone and our steel industry is on its last legs, all because of some regulations from the EU. How is it that the price of electricity in the UK is twice that on the Continent and twice that in the USA? To be more precise our costs are 9.5p per kilowatt-hour compared to 5.3p in Europe and 4.6pin the United States. It is amazing with these figures that we have any industries left at all. The fact is that we play ball as a Nation to some absurd ideas composed by some scientific illiterates. Even this week a shipload of natural gas has arrived from the United States, when we have abundance right beneath our feet. EU regulations everywhere have militated against the success of our industries, and we are in danger of being completely submerged within a Federation not of our making. Furthermore we are subject to the Courts of Human Justice, which can and do overrule our Courts. Our Courts are based on habeas corpus by which everyman is presumed innocent until proven guilty. Precisely the opposite pertains with these Courts of Human Injustice. Anyone want to end up in a Turkish jail on a trumped up charge and take years to prove your innocence? Lastly I will come to the British Constitution. Ok, it is unwritten, but it is there nevertheless by history and by precedent. The Laws of this land are created by Parliament at Westminster and are promulgated only after they have received the Royal Assent. A lot of people do not realise that. Although Charles 1st was beheaded for believing in the Divine right of Kings to rule, as we all know this was changed by Cromwell and his Ironsides who became Protector, but a de facto King. Since this time, Parliament has made the laws and is the legislature and the executive, with the truly British accommodation that the laws must receive the Royal Assent. That means that from a purely Constitutional point of view all EU Regulations are illegal. No Parliament has the right to give away this inalienable right to a foreign power. So that in voting to leave the EU we are voting to leave an entity which in truth should never have existed. We are voting to reclaim the supremacy of Parliament; the supremacy of our Courts of Law. We are voting to reclaim all agricultural and fishing rights. We are voting to reclaim control of the boundaries and borders of this realm. The Daily Caller dug through their green archives and, in honor of Earth Day, found 7 predictions made by supposedly intelligent and accomplished scientists that, when read today, were hilariously wrong. Earth Day just isn't what it used to be. Back in the 70's, we were lectured by activists about how we were destroying the planet - mostly because there were too many people. In fact, the guru of overpopulation, Paul Erlich, is prominently featured on this list. Here are a few excerpts. You should read them all to get a sense of the hysteria that used to be generated in the old days: 1: Civilization Will End Within 15 Or 30 Years Harvard biologist Dr. George Wald warned shortly before the first Earth Day in 1970 that civilization would soon end unless immediate action is taken against problems facing mankind. Three years before his projection, Wald was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine. Ooops. 2: 100-200 Million People Per Year Will Be Starving To Death During The Next Ten Years Stanford professor Dr. Paul Ehrlich declared in April 1970 that mass starvation was imminent. His dire predictions failed to materialize as the number of people living in poverty has significantly declined and the amount of food per person has steadily increased, despite population growth. The worlds Gross Domestic Product per person has immeasurably grown despite increases in population. And Erlich again: 3: Population Will Inevitably And Completely Outstrip Whatever Small Increases In Food Supplies We Make Paul Ehrlich also made the above claim in 1970, shortly before an agricultural revolution that caused the worlds food supply to rapidly increase. Ehrlich has consistently failed to revise his predictions when confronted with the fact that they did not occur, stating in 2009 that perhaps the most serious flaw in The Bomb was that it was much too optimistic about the future. The agricultural revolution that swept the world shortly after Erlich's predictions were made allowed both India and China to become self-sufficient. There is still famine today, but they are all the result of governments withholding food from restive populations. 5: In A Decade, Urban Dwellers Will Have To Wear Gas Masks To Survive Air Pollution Life magazine stated in January 1970 that scientist had solid experimental and theoretical evidence to believe that in a decade, urban dwellers will have to wear gas masks to survive air pollutionby 1985 air pollution will have reduced the amount of sunlight reaching Earth by one half. It didn't happen in a decade, but there are many cities in China where the air is so foul on some days that you can't beathe without a mask.For the rest of civilization, not so much. 7: By The Year 2000 There Wont Be Any More Crude Oil On Earth Day in 1970 ecologist Kenneth Watt famously predicted that the world would run out of oil saying, Youll drive up to the pump and say, Fill er up, buddy, and hell say, I am very sorry, there isnt any. We've been warned about running out of fossil fuels since the 1950's. The advent of hydraulic fracturing (fracking) has made the US the #1 producer in the world - the first time that's been so since the 1970's. These are the very same scientists who are now warning about climate change. If there was justice in the world, all of these charlatans would have lost their jobs and been forgotten by history. But now, we must listen to their blathering regarding catastrophic global warming. In 50 years, we can have another laugh about their predictions today. Every election, were told, is pivotal. This time theyre right because Calvin Coolidges cherished maxim that The business of America is business is under as much threat as Andrew Jacksons portrait on the $20 bill. The Democrat candidates incite their mobs with self-righteous indignation towards the wealthy who pay for their handouts. Sanderss automatons are beguiled by his simplistic denunciations of inequalities, and are probably unaware of his inherent contradictions. On the one hand he supports a higher minimum wage, but on the other hes generally against free trade, which, at least when fair, helps the majority Americas workers. CEOs are overpaid is a simplistic recantation requiring minimal consciousness amongst the gangs progressive throngs. Some probably are, but many, especially company founders, may actually be underpaid. According to the Forbes list of Billionaires, the top 400 created or controlled more than 10 million jobs across the country. The top 100 founded companies employed, on average, 40,000 workers. Business leaders who create or control hundreds or potentially thousands of jobs are probably worth their pay, but only a small portion is base salary; the majority is made up of performance-based compensation like stock options. Socialists dont appreciate meritocracy, but if a company does well, business leaders will deservedly profit; consumers will have more choices; government will get revenues; and innumerable retirement accounts will gain. If the company does badly, activist investors and enhanced corporate governance will hold them accountable. Unfortunately, the Democrats-cum-socialists dont respect that most rich Americans generate societal wealth that far exceeds their compensation. According to the National Bureau of Economic Research they realize just 3 percent of the value they create, while consumers reap the rest. The Wealth-X and UBS Ultra Wealth Report 2014 (multimedia content) corroborates this, showing that the top 10 American male entrepreneurs main businesses employ over 865,000 people. In common parlance: no poor person ever gave me a job. The socialist gang deride competition for fear of alienating their trance-induced followers, but not much ever got better without it. Herere a contemporary example: Chick-Fil-A is prospering while KFC languishes, but KFC has decided to fight back. KFC announced last week it is publicly recommitting to the quality of its products, with employee retraining and a new satisfaction guarantee. The company is calling the process "Re-Colonelization." If they pull off a turnaround, as Dominos Pizza did a few years ago, then an iconic American company will continue to thrive. The market, that agglomeration of consumers who know best, will decide how much the turnaround artists should be rewarded. More studies indicate that a high proportion of rich people -- about two thirds -- are self-made, producing new products, new markets, new jobs, and new wealth. The top five on Forbes billionaires list all made their own fortunes -- and plenty of new jobs. Facebooks Zuckerberg was a big mover on the list, and I suspect the Democrats wont be telling him hes already made enough as he splurges on their campaigns. Even if we take an expansive view of wealth creation and admit that government plays a role in facilitating commerce, the private sector is much more efficient in allocating resources than bloated bureaucrats. Our founders scorned a system that taxes and redistributes wealth according to arbitrary political interests. Jefferson exhorted that a wise and frugal government would leave men free to pursue industry, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned. The great Alexander Hamilton, our first Treasury Secretary (who will be staying on the $10 bill) said: True liberty, by protecting the exertions of talent and industry, tends more powerfully than any other cause to augment the mass of national wealth. For the first time in history, our founders elevated the pursuit of happiness to first-level human values on par with liberty. Much happiness is derived from the fruits of ones labor. Inequality between the industrious self-made and the indolent self-entitled should be celebrated, all else being equal. As Chairman of the Republican National Committee, Reince Priebus has no intention of presiding over the destruction of the Republican party - something that has a good chance of happening if Donald Trump is denied the nomination at this point. So Priebus played the good soldier and issued a plea for unity and indirectly called upon the anti-Trump crowd to unite behind whoever is the nominee. The Hill: This goes for everyone, whether youre a county party chairman, an RNC member, or a presidential candidate. Politics is a team sport, and we cant win unless we rally around whoever becomes our nominee, he added, drawing applause from the audience. Theyre trying out for our team. No one is forcing them to wear our jersey. We expect our candidates to support our party and our eventual nominee. The comments seemed pointed at the growing movement of conservatives who insist they wont back Donald Trump if hes the GOP nominee. Priebus also promised that the nominating process at July's Republican National Convention in Cleveland would be fair, democratic and transparent, and that the GOP would not give the nomination to anyone who does not secure a majority of delegates. As our nomination process goes on, we are preparing for all possible scenarios. We might have a nominee by July. Or we might have a nominee through the balloting process at the convention, he said. The rules say you have to have 1,237 delegates to be the nominee. We arent going to hand the nomination to anyone with a plurality, no matter how close they are to 1,237. You need a majority. Almost only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades. The comments were an apparent shot at Trump, who has decried the delegate system as rigged against him by establishment forces. Trump leads the GOP field in delegates, but he may fall short of the 1,237 required to clinch the nomination before the convention. The front-runner has said that he should be the nominee even if he only receives a plurality of delegates. We shouldn't envy Priebus his position. He's caught between two warring factions - one of which will be bitterly disappointed following the convention. His call for unity is falling on deaf ears at this point, and picking up the pieces after the convention and putting the party back together may be beyond anyone's ability. But as chairman of the party, he has to put on a brave face. Trying to maintain some kind of impartiality is next to impossible when every move he makes is questioned by both sides. Rules changes or no rules changes. More nominations allowed or not. He's aiming for the middle road but is being pushed to the curb by one faction or another. Both candidates don't care for him and are unlikely to keep him in his present position after the convention. Then, someone else will have the unenviable task of presiding over a party that is almost certainly headed for an historic defeat in November. Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe has signed an executive order adding about 200,000 new voters likely to vote Democrat by huge margins to the Old Dominions electorate. The Democratic Party has followed a long term, highly successful strategy of changing the composition of the voting public in ways that add voters likely to favor them. Large scale legal and illegal immigration from poor countries with a socialistic bent, aggressive naturalization programs, lowering the voting age to 18, and voter registration drives for those who are not much interested in civic life but instructed that they have should casually choose a candidate and vote in advance by mail are all part of this strategy. Sari Horowitz and Jenna Portnoy of the Washington Post report: Gov. Terry McAuliffe will allow more than 200,000 ex-cons in Virginia to register to vote in the upcoming presidential election, one of the biggest actions taken by a state to instantly restore voting rights. The change applies to all felons who have completed their sentences and been released from supervised probation or parole. The Democratic governors decision particularly affects black residents of Virginia: 1 in 4 African Americans in the state has been permanently banned from voting because of laws restricting the rights of those with convictions. Once you have served your time and youve finished up your supervised parole. . .I want you back as a full citizen of the commonwealth, McAuliffe said. I want you to have a job. I want you paying taxes, and you cant be a second-class citizen. The governor called the instant restoration of rights to these Virginians the natural next step to his incremental streamlining of a process that has already given 18,000 nonviolent felons their rights back. With the signing of Fridays executive order, McAuliffe eliminated the need for an application for violent felons who had completed their sentences up to that moment. It is unclear to me how McAuliffe has the power to do this. The WaPo article skirts the question: A blanket order restoring the voting rights of everyone would be a rewrite of the law rather than a contemplated use of the executive clemency powers. And, the notion that the Constitution of the Commonwealth could be rewritten via executive order is troubling, Mark Rubin wrote in a letter at the time. But the article also reports: McAuliffe will have to sign an identical executive order every month for the remaining two years of his term to cover violent felons who get out of prison each month. The next governor could easily reverse the designation for future felons by ending the practice that McAuliffe began Friday. Virginia governors serve one four-year term and theres an election in 2017. So, evidently McAuliffe is using the pardon or clemency powers of the governor to add newly released felons to the voting rolls. If this is the legal mechanism, it somewhat resembles President Obamas circumvention of immigration law via DACA and DAPA, policies which use executive powers to prioritize the use of government resources and thereby suspend enforcement of immigration law regarding favored classes of illegal immigrations (children and parents) illegally in the United States. Most progressives will portray McAuliffes action as a matter of racial justice, since blacks disproportionately commit felonies and lose voting rights in some states. This disproportion is particularly shocking in Virginia: 1 in 4 African Americans in the state has been permanently banned from voting because of laws restricting the rights of those with convictions. The underlying question which deserves consideration is whether or not someone who has violated the most basic aspect of the social compact by committing a serious crime or crimes should be part of the body that governs others. The right to vote was not selected by the framers of the Constitution as a fundamental right. Participating in the governance of others is a serious responsibility, in my view. I do not measure the success of our system by high voter turnout, if that means selecting the candidate with the best hair or the candidate youd most enjoy having a beer with. But obviously I am in the minority. With McAuliffes action, it is likely Virginia will become a sold blue state, for the Democrats are the party of felons. (via the Annals of the American Academy of Political Science): Buddhist monasteries are usually located in remote places far from the hub-bub of cities and towns. It takes more than a mild determination to reach them, but some of these are decidedly inaccessible. The idea is to keep all but only the most dedicated followers from reaching these holy places, while they also make the monks feel like they were closer to God in a place of peace and solitude. Today, however, most of these monasteries are tourist attractions and in favor of the tourists, several accessible methods like ropeways and stairs have been added. They still look formidable and requires hundreds of meters of vertical trekking. You better have a good pair of legs if you plan on visiting one of these. Monasteries of Meteora, Greece The Meteora (Greek for suspended in the air" or "in the heavens above") is a group of six monasteries and one of the largest and most important complexes of Eastern Orthodox monasteries in Greece. The six monasteries, built on natural sandstone rock pillars, are one of the most powerful examples of the architectural transformation of a site into a place of retreat, meditation and prayer. Photo credit The monasteries are built on rock pinnacles of deltaic origin, known as Meteora, which rise starkly over 400 m above the Peneas valley and the small town of Kalambaka on the Thessalian plain. During the fearsome time of political instability in 14th century the monasteries were systematically built on top of the inaccessible peaks so that by the end of the 15th century there were 24 of them. They continued to flourish until the 17th century. Today, only four monasteries - Aghios Stephanos, Aghia Trias, Varlaam and Meteoron - still house religious communities. Access to the monasteries was originally and deliberately difficult, requiring either long ladders lashed together or large nets used to haul up both goods and people. This required quite a leap of faith the ropes were replaced, so the story goes, only "when the Lord let them break". In the 1920s there was an improvement in the arrangements. Steps were cut into the rock, making the complex accessible via a bridge from the nearby plateau. Photo credit Photo credit Photo credit Photo credit Taung Kalat Monastery, Burma The monastery of Taung Kalat is located on a top of a volcanic plug that rises 737 meters from the surrounding in central Burma (Myanmar) about 50 km southeast of Bagan, and near the extinct volcano Mount Popa. The monastery can be accessed by exactly 777 steps and those who reach the top are rewarded by a spectacular view. To the north-west opens a view to distant temples of Bagan, and to the east is towering the forested Taung Ma-gyi summit. There is a big caldera, 610 metres wide and 914 metres in depth so that from different directions the mountain takes different forms with more than one peak. Many Macaque monkeys live here that have become a tourist attraction on Taung Kalat Photo credit Photo credit Taktsang Palphug Monastery, Bhutan Taktshang monastery, also known as The Tiger's Nest, is located on a precipitous cliff about 900 metres above the Paro valley, in Bhutan. The rock slopes are very steep - almost vertical - and the monastery buildings are built into the rock face. Though it looks formidable, the monastery complex has access from several directions, such as the northwest path through the forest, from the south along the path used by devotees, and from the north. A mule track leading to it passes through pine forest that is colourfully festooned with moss and prayer flags. On many days, clouds shroud the monastery and give an eerie feeling of remoteness. Photo credit Photo credit Photo credit Sumela Monastery The Sumela Monastery is built into the rock cliffs of the Altmdere Valley in Turkey. At an altitude of about 1,200 metres it is a major tourist attraction of Altndere National Park. The monastery was founded in 386 AD during the reign of the Emperor Theodosius I (375 - 395). Legend has it that two priests undertook its creation after discovering a miraculous icon of the Virgin Mary in a cave on the mountain. During its long history, the monastery fell into ruin several times and was restored by various emperors. It reached its present form in the 13th century after gaining prominence during the reign of Alexios III. The monastery was abandoned after World War I and the start of the population exchanges between Greece and Turkey that forced some 2 million ethnic Greeks and Turks to leave their long-established communities in Turkey or Greece and return to their ethnic homelands. It lay empty for decades before being partially restored and returned to life as a museum. Photo credit Photo credit Photo credit Hanging Monastery, China The Hanging Monastery or Hanging Temple is located in a canyon at the foot of the Mountain Heng in the province of Shanxi, China. The temple is built into the cliff side about 75 meter above the ground, and stands propped up by hidden rocks corridor and wooden beams inserted into the mountain. Over 40 halls, cabinets and pavilions within an area of 152.5 square meters are connected each other by corridors, bridges and boardwalks. They are evenly distributed and well balanced in height. Inside the temple are more than 80 bronze cast statues, iron cast statues, and clay sculptured statues and stone carvings banded down from different dynasties. The temple was build to avoid the terrible flood, and use the mountain as protection from rain, snow and sunshine. Today, it is one of the main tourist attractions and historical sites in the Datong area. Photo credit Photo credit Most computers out there these days and in days past use Windows. Microsofts titan of an operating system has been bundled on new computers and downloaded onto decommissioned old rigs for over two decades, leading to an insanely huge user base. Naturally, most of that user base has capable enough hardware to run Microsofts latest creation, Windows 10. Hailed as a return to form after the coldly-received Windows 8, Windows 10 found quick popularity by being offered as a free upgrade to computers running Windows 7 and Windows 8, even those that had shipped with a different OS and bought Windows 7 or 8 later, or even pirated the operating system. Between giving pirates a chance at a legitimate copy and giving users of older systems a clear and easy upgrade, its no surprise to learn that Windows 10, less than two years after release, has already garnered over twenty percent of the total Windows PC market, despite being less popular than Windows 7. One of the bigger changes in Windows 10 is the search bar. In Windows 7 and 8, it was mostly used for searching content on your own computer. In Windows 10, however, it can be linked up to web search, which defaults to Bing, as well as Microsofts Cortana digital assistant, which also uses Bing for web results. It should come as no surprise, then, that traffic on Bing has jumped up and begun cannibalizing Google searches. According to Microsoft, about 35 percent of their traffic on Bing was from devices running Windows 10. Rather than firing up a browser to search, users could simply click the search bar on their desktop or even just verbalize their wish to Cortana. This would result in a window popping open in the default browser, which defaults to Microsoft Edge, with the Bing result for their query. Advertisement While this could be changed to use Google, it was a somewhat intensive process that most didnt bother with they had the results they wanted in front of them, no need to mess around with things and change over to Google. Bing Maps and a number of other Bing services are baked into various parts of Windows 10 in similar fashion. Add this to the fact that Microsoft has been paying third parties to have them help drive traffic to Bing and it becomes quite clear just how Microsoft has managed to creep a foot into Googles search empire. Its not all gloom and doom for Google, of course; despite all of this business with Windows 10, Google still dominates the mobile space and has a large crop of desktop users, as well as baking their services into Chrome OS. This has translated to a jump in total advertising revenue for them of 18 percent year on year. As devices get cheaper and internet connections reach further, the web is a more accessible place than ever. A brand-new, low-end Windows 10 laptop can run as little as $199, or even dip into the $50 territory for an older tablet or a micro form factor PC that can hook into a monitor or HDMI-capable TV. With Chromebooks, its about the same story. And, of course, you can net yourself an Android smartphone for dirt cheap these days, even as low as $10. Lets not forget that chatbots, A.I. and all-in-one platforms like Facebook Messenger are on the rise. Convergence with internet traffic, bringing all of a given subset of users traffic through one gateway source, is slowly becoming the norm. For the most part, Google and Microsoft have been relying on their operating systems rather than addressing this directly. The issue with that approach, however, is that Android and Windows are being used to host things like apps, browsers and other convergence services that Google and Microsoft, for the most part, dont get anything from. While these platforms are mostly being used in emerging markets, that alone is a huge amount of traffic to assess and deal with, and the spread of these platforms is largely inevitable. After a while, it may not be entirely unheard of to see people using these platforms as if theyre an operating system in themselves. And, of course, despite an announcement to the contrary, another Facebook phone could always swoop in to cannibalize more traffic from Android and the struggling Windows Phone, as well as iOS, which defaults to Google for search. Advertisement Google, Microsoft and Facebook, as well as tons of smaller entities, are making moves to bring internet connectivity to places that have never had it before, such as third world countries and the most rural reaches of India and Europe. This means that billions of users are on the internet more than ever before and just about everybody involved will be feeling the love. While Google and Microsoft may be fighting it out in search, theyre mostly fighting over new territory. Still, Microsoft has thrown Google a real curveball with Windows 10, both on the homefront and with new installs, as well as an interesting recent push to drive Android users toward Cortana and Bing. Its going to be quite interesting to see how Google copes with this as the market grows and the next billion new internet users are tapped. Should Google decide to try to win back their turf, it will also be interesting to see how they plan to do that. NVIDIA is a company that is firmly rooted in the gaming community and industry, having been producing products for gaming PCs for quite some time and beginning to manufacture Android products within the last five years. While most people might be focused on NVIDIAs SHIELD TV console, NVIDIAs chips are in more than just their own products, like this retro gaming tablet that has yet to launch called the JXD S192, which is a gaming tablet that was initially announced last October. At the time, it was priced at $299 USD, but it hasnt yet launched here in the states. That may soon be changing as the device is now showing as being up for pre-order status in the UK from online retailer Funstock Retro. In the UK the device is listed at 219.99 and is slated to be launched in the region on May 6th. Its possible, however, that the launch could be held back as there doesnt seem to have been any confirmation from JXD on the exact release dates. Having said that, if it launches in the UK on May 6th then it could end up making its way to the U.S. soon after if not at the exact same time. Advertisement The JXD S192 retro gaming tablet comes powered by NVIDIAs Tegra K1 chip, and it comes with 2GB of LPDDR3 RAM. The screen is 7-inches in size and is Full HD resolution so games shouldnt look too bad on it at all. Its also equipped with dual speakers, supports Bluetooth 4.0, and features Full Metal HiFi Bass. It also has a 10,000mAh battery on the inside which should be plenty for what this device is meant for. It features a 5MP camera on the front and a 13MP camera on the back, although people arent likely to be taking many pictures with a device like this. For what youre getting the price seems to be right on par. The only strange thing is that the tablet comes running on Android 4.2.2 according to the listing, which is rather old even at the time of its original announcement towards the end of last year, making the decision to use this version of Android rather curious. If this seems like a device youll be interested in and you live in the UK, you can pre-order the device now. (ANSA) - Rome, April 20 - The exhibition "The Nile in Pompeii", the second phase of a project that began in March at the Egyptian Museum of Turin, opened on Tuesday in Pompeii's Palestra Grande. It tells the story of the spread of Egypt and its cults in the Mediterranean, and in particular within the city of Pompeii. The show puts a wide range of objects on display, from trinkets dedicated to the cults of Isis and Osiris, to furnishings and frescos from the most beautiful residences of the time. The show's focal point is a group of eight statues from the 15th to the 14th century B.C., on special loan from the Turin museum, seven of which depict the solar deity Sekhmet and one which depicts the pharoah Thutmose I. The exhibition includes a nine-minute video on the history of the cult of Isis, including the discovery of the temple in Pompeii dedicated to her, which has reopened to the public for the occasion, after having undergone six months of restoration. The frescos in the Temple of Isis at Pompeii, one of the best-preserved of its kind, are said to have inspired Mozart's staging of The Magic Flute. The tour is enhanced with special loans from the Naples Archeological Museum, including frescoes and copies of statues, as well as multimedia features. "We wanted to recreate the same atmosphere that the archaeologists saw when they discovered it in the mid-17th century," said Pompeii Superintendent Massimo Osanna. One of the videos in the exhibition stars Italian actor Toni Servillo in the role of priest, and is projected in a multimedia room set up behind the temple. There is also a new attraction open, the House of the Pygmies, restored after years of abandoment. It includes a fresco of the Nile Valley that dates to the first half of the 1st century A.D., with pygmies shown on the shores of the river. The project's third phase will open June 28 at the Naples Archeological Museum with a focus on the cults and Eastern religions that Egypt brought to the region of Campania. Le CBD, cette molecule active du cannabis a aujourdhui le vent en poupe. Et cela est en grande partie du au fait quil permet... The facility has 52 children from the Philippines, Sudan, Eritrea, India and Sri Lanka, including two with autism, and one with Down. The multi-faceted project is not profit oriented, manager says. For one parent, children get children everything they need. Tel Aviv (AsiaNews) The pastoral outreach for migrants of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem runs facilities that are open to refugee children. For Fr David Nehaus, who is in charge of pastoral outreach for migrants of the Latin patriarchate of Jerusalem, such a facility is like a family, with a spirituality that is inspired by the Holy Family. Indeed, The little baby Jesus was Himself a migrant, and understood exactly what it meant to be under threat. This centre of mercy is essential. Although Israel allows refugee children in state schools, it offers nothing for those under three. For locals, this gap has led to private pre-kindergarten, inside crowded and inauspicious places, where scores of children held in unsanitary conditions, without the possibility of playing and interacting with one other. Last year, five children died in a private facility, dubbed the "children's garage," innocent victims of neglect and poor conditions. In view of the situation, the Coordinating Committee for the Pastoral Care of Migrants sought a solution, albeit partial, to the problem. The first step was setting up a kindergarten in Jerusalem, which now has 22 children. This was followed by another facility, called the Creche, in Tel Aviv, which opened thanks to the local Church, the Vicariate of St James and UNITAF, a local NGO dedicated to children. "Israel provides an excellent assistance to people aged 3 to 18, Fr Nehaus told the Christian Media Center (CMC), but there is no assistance for children under the age of 3. Everything is private and very expensive, therefore immigrant women have to work very hard and they are not able to stay home with their children. If it were not for the Creche, these families would have nothing to eat. They would not have a place to live, Fr Nehaus explained. Although there are hundreds of children, we are not doing this because we want to take care of all the kids . . . This is a multi-faceted project. We have a fantastic team that collaborates with Israeli organizations and with our benefactors, with our local community, as well as with our parishioners who support us all . . . all together: this is a real blessing." Every day and with great affection, patience and devotion, simple mothers or fathers, religious and nonreligious, follow the model of the family. For the clergyman, We are very close to the Holy Family. Our spirituality is inspired by the Holy Family. Today, the Tel Aviv facility is home to 52 children whose parents are immigrants or asylum seekers with difficult family situations. Although not yet completed, the pre-kindergarten provides children with a pleasant and safe environment whilst their parents are at work. It opens at 7 am until 6 pm. One teacher is in charge for at least six children. Most of the children come from Eritrea, but some are also from the Philippines, Sudan, India and Sri Lanka. Some of them are autistic and one has Down syndrome. Over the coming months, more accommodations are planned for a dozen more children. This way migrant parents can find work and earn some money to get a decent place to live and a safe refugee for their children. "These children need special care since their parents are not always with them because they work. They need care, love and guidance, said Sr Dinesha. From Sri Lanka, the nun runs the pre-kindergarten. She is helped by Catherine, a social worker employed by the pastoral outreach for migrants who helps out in running the facility. Kiflom, from Eritrea, is a father of two, a boy and a girl. He likes the centre a lot. His wife works there, in charge of six children. In his view, "To understand the difference with other places, one has to look at the conditions in which our children are usually held: groups of 40 or even 50, in the same room. Here one person cares for six children. It the same room.ix children. to provide children with aplasate of Jerusalem., tomorrow.y insuffient. is very different, because here they are not working for profit, but to give children everything they need." by Melani Manel Perera The Paris climate agreement was signed yesterday in New York. More than 150 heads of state and government have pledged to keep the increase in global temperature "well below 2 degrees", and limit the increase to 1.5 degrees. Despite this, islands are likely to face rising sea levels. In Sri Lanka, coal plants continue to pollute. Colombo (AsiaNews) The historic Paris agreement on climate change was signed yesterday in New York. The Centre for Environmental Justice/Friends of the Earth Sri Lanka (CEJ/FoE Sri Lanka) released a statement about the agreement and Sri Lankas shortsighted policies on the environment. Simply signing the Paris agreement without any substance on implementation and ambition is irresponsibly insufficient, the CEJ/FoE said. We cannot count on such an agreement alone to achieve social justice. The CEJ/FoE is especially upset at an underlying contradiction in the island nations attitude. On the one hand, the Sri Lankan representative signed the UN agreement to contain the rising temperature; on the other, the Sri Lankan government still allows coal-powered plants to continue to pollute. "In the case of Sri Lanka, pushing ahead with the Sampur Coal Power plant is completely incompatible with trying to stop climate change, said Hemantha Withanage, CEJ/FoE Sri Lanka executive director. We demand a stop to coal power in Sri Lanka, he added. We demand the Sri Lankan government do its fair share to fight the climate crisis, in line with equity and historical responsibility. What is more, Sri Lankan authorities should not allow Chinese and Indian polluting Industries to establish in Sri Lanka in the name of foreign investment. Already in December, after 150 heads of state and government agreed to the historic deal, the CEJ/FoE Sri Lanka executive director expressed strong doubts about it. The agreement that was signed yesterday by world leaders includes a commitment to keep the increase in global temperature "well below 2 degrees", and implement actions to limit that increase to 1.5 degrees. Yet, developing countries have raised doubts about the non-binding commitments by polluting nations, especially the "voluntary" provision to pay for damage caused earlier. For islands, like Sri Lanka, a 1.5% ceiling will not be enough to limit rising sea level. For Sara Shaw, Climate Justice and Energy Coordinator of Friends of the Earth International, what is needed is to build peoples' power at the local, national and international levels, to stop dirty energy on the ground. The goal is to focus on good energy solutions, to dismantle the power of polluting corporations and to hold our governments responsible to our citizens instead." by Kamran Chaudhry Two men on motorbikes gunned down their victim. At the start of his mandate as minister, he had asked a bishop for his blessing. Muslims liked him for his welfare work. For one observer, the incident highlights the governments failure to protect minorities. Lahore (AsiaNews) Leaders of Pakistans minorities, including the countrys Christians, have condemned the murder of Minority Affairs Minister Sardar Soran Singh, the first Sikh in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Provincial Assembly. Singh, 46, was killed yesterday in front of his home in Bacha Killay village in the provinces mountainous Buner District. Gunmen riding on two motorbikes came in front of the car and fired at the minister, killing him instantly. Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan claimed responsibility for the murder. Hundreds of Sikhs attended the minister's funeral. AsiaNews had interviewed Singh a few weeks ago, on the occasion of the reopening of an ancient Sikh temple in Peshawar, capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Rev Humphrey S. Peters, bishop of the Anglican Church of Pakistan, condemned the killing. I feel like someone has snatched away a very benevolent friend. He used to call me guru (spiritual teacher), Bishop Peters said. Singh came for a blessing the day after he took office in 2013, the prelate remembers. He was very supportive of Christians. Soon we became family friends. He used to visit my home twice a month. Three days before his death, he called me and shared his plans to open an old people home. For the bishop, Singh's murder highlights the governments failure. Guru Nanak Mission Gee president Dr Mimpal Singh called on the authorities to arrest immediately the culprits. "He was a true patriot, he noted. Even the Muslim community liked him for his welfare works. We are shocked by his loss." Terrorists are targeting everyone, the Sikh leader added. We shall not hold street protests but we shall call on the government for protection. The Singh murder comes at a time when Pakistans Armed Forces are in the last phase of an operation against Taliban militants near the border with Afghanistan. According to police, at least eight members of the Sikh community have been killed in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa since 2013. by Sumon Corraya Rezaul Karim Siddique taught at Rajshahi University. Known and liked by the local community, he participated in local cultural activities. His wife said he had no enemies. For anonymous journalist, undoubtedly "He was killed for his poems." The attacks modus operandi is the same used in killing other bloggers and liberal thinkers. Rajshahi (AsiaNews) Early this morning, unknown attackers killed Rezaul Karim Siddique, a professor of English at Rajshahi University, as he made his way to work to give a lecture. Prof Siddique was attacked around 7.40 am (local time) with machetes as he walked towards the main road, in Shalbagan. Eyewitnesses said that the victim was surrounded by men who had driven up to him on a motorbike. After hacking him to death, they fled with leaving a trace. Police said that the incident follows the same pattern as a number of recent deadly attacks against bloggers and free thinkers. The academic was well liked in his community, where he gave music courses. He was also known for his poetry, and for playing the flute. The professor also worked with the Sundoram cultural association. We are shocked by his murder, the groups director, Raja Hasan, told AsiaNews. "He was killed for his poetry and for his cultural activities place, a local journalist said, unhesitatingly. The victims wife, Hosne Ara, is still in shock. She told police that he had no enemies. Even his colleagues told local papers that he was peaceful man, that he never talked about politics, or even engaged in university gossip. Police suspect Islamic extremists, who have been targeting freethinkers and democracy activists in the recent past. Their first victim was Ahmed Rajib Haider, a blogger who was killed in 2013. Since the start of 2015, four other bloggers have lost their lives: Avijt Roy in February, Oyasiqur Rahman in late March, Ananta Bijoy Das in May, and Niloy Chakrabarti in August, who was killed in front his mother and sister. On 31 October, Faisal Dipan Arefin, a publisher who printed works by progressive authors, was hacked to death. Earlier this month, Nazimuddin Samad was killed for criticising the countrys drift towards extremism, and writing "I have no religion" on Facebook. Speaking about the anniversary of the genocide, Garo Paylan calls for an investigation into the killing of Armenian MPs in 1915 whose photos he displayed. In Turkey, talking about the Armenian genocide" can mean three years in prison. Ankara (AsiaNews) Garo Paylan (see 1st Photo), a Turkish-Armenian MP for the People's Democratic Party (HDP*), which is pro-Kurdish, two days ago began his address to Turkeys Grand National Assembly in Ankara with an Armenian greeting, Parev tsez (Hello), a way to remind everyone about the Armenian genocide, which began in 1915, 101 years ago, and whose remembrance falls tomorrow, 24 April. The genocide led to the almost total annihilation of the Armenian population, whose few human leftovers of the sword were deported to the deserts of Syria and Iraq. Thanks to the end of the First World War and the defeat of the Ottoman Empire, the few survivors rebuilt their life, constituting the worlds Armenian diaspora. The grandchildren and great-grandchildren of the survivors orphans, widows, all skin and bones, almost without a human form today struggle in Turkey against falsification of history and state negationism. In fact, the Turkish government refuses to acknowledge the genocide against the Armenians, which is one of sources of tensions between the European Union and Turkey, as well as the Holy See. Turkish courts have sentenced people to three years in prison just for mentioning the Armenian Genocide in public. Turkish Armenians, Diaspora Armenians, as well as others want Ankara to acknowledge the "Great Evil", the extermination, and ask for forgiveness. In his address to parliament, Garo Paylan called on the government to form a commission to investigate the killings of Armenian lawmakers in the Ottoman parliament in 1915 despite their parliamentary immunity. Stressing that one in two citizens was either Armenian or partly Armenian, he said, You continue to justify what happened with the excuse of the war. Let us says that there really was a war between Armenians and Turks," Paylan said. Let us say that some Armenians sided with the Russians. Why blame the entire population? Why exterminate children, women, the elderly, thousands of kilometres from the Turkish-Russian front? "I'm here, Paylan noted, because a Turkish neighbour house saved my grandfather, who was a child, hiding him in his house in Malatya. During the Christian MPs six-minute address, some Turkish nationalist MPs tried to shout him down. Undaunted, Paylan showed the pictures of the Armenian MPs killed during the 1915 genocide (see 2nd photo) with their names and places they represented: Krikor Zohrab (Istanbul), Bedros Haladjian (Istanbul), Nazaret Daghavarian (Sivas), Garabed Pashaian (Sivas), Ohannes Seringiulian (Erzurum), Onnik Tersekian (Van), Hampartsum Boyadjian (Kozan), Vahan Papazian, Hagop Babikian (Tekirdag), Karekin Pastermadjian (Erzurum), Kegham Der Garabedian (Mush), Hagop Boyadjian (Tekirdag), and Artin Boshgezenian (Aleppo). He also briefly detailed the tragic fate of each during the genocide. In addition to condemning the murder of lawmakers, the Armenian MP slammed the fact that many streets, squares, schools and hospitals are named after the perpetrators of the Genocide. In fact, some of the perpetrators have their mausoleums on a hill in Istanbul, after being buried as heroes. Can you imagine going to Germany and walking on avenues named after Hitler? he said. As an applause from Kurdish MPs covered the jeers of Turkish nationalist MPs, Paylan brought his speech to an end, as he started it, in Armenian: Astvats irents hogin lusavori May God illuminate their souls. (PB) * Peoples Democratic Party Turkish: Halklarn Demokratik Partisi (HDP), Kurdish: Partiya Demokratik a Gelan (PDG). Whats a religion? The question is fundamental to the legal analysis of religious freedom, yet courts avoid addressing it. The Supreme Court has never given a concrete answer. The result: Courts dont claim to be able to define religion, but think they know it when they see it. The consequences can be surprising. Ten days ago I wrote about a case in which an appeals court expressed skepticism about whether a religion based on the use of traditional Native American hallucinatory substances was really a religion. And just last week a federal district court rejected a prisoners religious-liberty claim on the ground that his faith, Pastafarianism, is a parody of religion rather than religion itself. The facts of the parody case are entertaining -- but theyre also important. As it turns out, the adherents of the parody religion are engaging an important set of claims about religion. Their claims are both theological and constitutional. And they may press the courts to create new law on the topic of religious liberty. The case arose under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000, the legal little sister of the better-known Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993. Stephen Cavanaugh, a prisoner in the Nebraska State Penitentiary, says that he is a member of the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, and sought religious accommodations in association with what he described as his faith. A federal district court in Nebraska rejected his claim. Free newsletter Subscribe to our FREE newsletter service and well keep you up-to-date with the latest breaking news, cutting edge opinion, and expert analysis affecting both your business and the industry as whole. Please enter your email address below and click on Sign Up for daily newsletters from Australasian Lawyer. JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding. Hi every one , I am Business analyst , I have got my ACS assessment positive yesterday and employment after April 2008 is considered, I have 6.5 IELTS band over all with (L-6, R-6.5, W-6.5, S-6.5 | Overall - 6.5), i have 55+5(state nomination)=60 points. Please let me know if i am eligible to apply for EOI and which state- Thanks in advance Regards Most, if not all of these episodes, such as the drag race against a heavily tuned E39 BMW M5 or the softroading session came from the Dutchbugs Veyrons - this is the name of a supercar crew that owns three units of the velocity machine.However, we are now back on the topic to show you a different Veyron that puts on a sideways show. The piece of footage at the bottom of the page shows a Veyron going for a drifting session in an empty parking lot. With the all-wheel-drive handling balance of the car favoring grip, you can hear the tires expressing their feelings and emotions in an overly loud fashion.The area is admittedly large, allowing the driver to manhandle the octane behemoth rather smoothly. Unlike the time when we saw a Veyron owner saying goodbye to his tires by performing all-wheel-drive donuts , the man behind the wheel of this Bugatti knew that wide "circles" that demonstrate car control are considerably more entertaining that spinning in one place.Judging by the background of the video, the shenanigan took place somewhere in the Middle East. We're expecting this to be a rented Veyron, with various supercar rental companies in the United Arab Emirates including the Veyron on their list for years now.As for the financial side of the stunt, renting a Veyron in that part of the world usually costs around EUR10,000 (that's $11,222 at the current exchange rates) per day, with the companies that offer such a service obviously being open to negotiation for longer rental periods.Nevertheless, going slip angle hunting in one of these Bugattis will be more expensive than that and it all has to do with the hypercar's tires. For one thing, a set of Veyron tires is said to cost anywhere between $20,000 and $40,000.P.S.: Since this drifting episode might raise Veyron handling questions, we've added a second video below, which shows Tiff Needell fully dipping into the sideways potential of the Bug. As we predicted last week , the fact that Japanese suppliers of automotive components have been forced to cease production until they assess the damages caused by the unfortunate event will affect other car makers as well.Beginning April 25, 2016, General Motors will temporarily stop production at its factories in Spring Hill (Tennessee), Oshawa Flex Assembly in Canada, Lordstown factory in Ohio, and the Fairfax unit in Kansas.General Motors has already specified that the temporary adjustment is not expected to have a material impact on its full-year production plans in North America.Furthermore, the company does not expect a material impact on its second-quarter results or full-year financial results for North America.The factories mentioned above will temporarily stop building several models for the Detroit giant. We are talking about the Buick LaCrosse and Regal, the Cadillac XTS and XT5, Chevrolet Cruze, Impala, Malibu, Equinox, and GMC Acadia.Three of these models have been recently redesigned, and the company began shipping the first units to dealers in recent weeks. The two-week hiatus in production might be recovered shortly after Japanese suppliers resume manufacturing.General Motors did not specify what kind of components it sources from Japanese suppliers. It is impossible to determine what common parts might be shared by the models mentioned above,but they can be obtained from the multitude of Japanese automotive suppliers.After all, both Japan and the USA have massive automotive facilities, and each of them has a long chain of providers, but it is hard to find out what kind of common element links the two.In the case of Toyota, Nissan, and Mitsubishi, three automakers that halted production last week, along with the assessment of damages to their facilities, key suppliers have stopped manufacturing.Considering that a supplier of sunroofs and a manufacturer of microchips interrupted their activities last week, our best guess is that they are the most probable links between the shutdowns in production for both Japanese and American facilities. Untrustworthiness towards the Mitsubishi scandal escalates as one of its facilities was raided due to falsification of data. The U.S. auto safety authorities currently investigate the misleading fuel economy data of the company's 600,000 vehicles. Given the massive numbers of cars that have been given falsified records has led Japan regulators barking on Mitsubishi Motors doorstep, BBC News reported. The findings resulted in anticipated consequences for the company and the call and urge for Mitsubishi to make things right rises. According to the U.S regulators, changes must be made before the set deadline, which is before April 27 as well as render the crucial information that linked them to inaccurate testing and misleading records. In addition, the actions rendered by the Japanese government and authorities are indicators that the Mitsubishi scandal not taken lightly. "Based on [the findings from] the raid, and a report from the company, we would like to reveal the extent of the inaccuracies as soon as possible," Japan's chief cabinet secretary, Yoshihide Suga said. Mitsubishi's integrity is at risk and the high possibility of losing its revenues looms on the horizon because of the Mitsubishi scandal, Reuters reported. The report added on to note that the stocks and shares of Mitsubishi have attained low digits. Besides dealing with the low returns, Mitsubishi Motors need to address the hurdle of financially dealing with possible compensation and fines expenses that might arise due to the deception and fabrication of data. The affected cars under scrutiny are the model Mitsubishi's eK mini-wagons. The cars have undergone inaccurate tests that totalled to 157,000. The Mitsubishi scandal is not only affecting the Japanese markets but it has sparked awareness for the US regulators and the US markets as well. The Mitsubishi Motors' current false data issue will continue to resonate through time if the company fails to provide crucial strategies to save its legacy and ensure the market that it will implement the needed modifications set for the regulators. U.S. actor and director George Clooney arrived in Armenia on Friday to announce, together with other world-famous persons, the winner of a new humanitarian award created in memory of the 1915 Armenian genocide in Ottoman Turkey. The international award, known as the Aurora Prize for Awakening Humanity, was established last year by three prominent Diaspora Armenians: philanthropists Ruben Vardanyan and Noubar Afeyan and Vartan Gregorian, the president of the Carnegie Corporation of New York. It is meant to honor individuals around the world who have saved many lives in wars, ethnic conflicts and other man-made disasters. The prize is named after Aurora Mardiganian, an Armenian genocide survivor who witnessed the massacre of relatives and told her story in a book and film. An international selection committee will award the prize on Sunday at a ceremony in Yerevan timed to coincide with commemorations in Armenia and its worldwide Diaspora of the 101st anniversary of the genocide. The committee is co-chaired by Clooney and Elie Wiesel, a Holocaust survivor and Nobel prize laureate. Another Nobel laureate, Liberian peace activist Leymah Gbowee, and Australias former Foreign Minister Gareth Evans are also among its members. Clooney was greeted at the Yerevan airport by Vardanyan as he began his first-ever trip to Armenia. The film star could be heard asking the Russian-Armenian businessman how to say hello in Armenian. The committee selected four finalists for the first Aurora Prize from among about 200 persons last month. The finalists are Marguerite Barankitse, the founder of an orphanage in Burundi, Tom Catena, a U.S. doctor who has single-handedly treated thousands of people in Sudan, Syeda Ghulam Fatima, a Pakistani advocate of destitute workers, and Rev. Bernard Kinvi, a Catholic priest who has saved many Muslims in the Central African Republic. The winner will receive $100,000 and designate an organization that inspired his or her work. The latter will be awarded $1 million. 23 April 2016 12:20 (UTC+04:00) United Nations Alliance of Civilizations 7th Global Forum hosted by Baku on April 25-27 is important based on Azerbaijan's experience of multiculturalism, said Hikmet Hajiyev, spokesman for Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry. Hajiyev noted that Baku UN Alliance of Civilizations is very topical event and it contributes to the goals identified by the UN including its new sustainable development goals. Hajiyev made the remarks participating in a discussion platform of Baku Network think tank. The participants of the event hosted by Elkhan Alasgarov, Ph.D., head of the Baku Network expert council were: Hikmet Hajiyev, Azerbaijan's Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Sevil Mikayilova, editor-in-chief of Azernews newspaper and Amina Nazarli, columnist for the newspaper. "We see that at the international level, in many societies there are certain groups that are marginalized. And with this marginalization also comes radicalization. Therefore Baku Forum is an important process based on the experience of Azerbaijani people and their rich culture of tolerance and understanding. It demonstrates that within the inclusive society you can build the patters of a successful dialogue, where different communities, confessions and religions can live side by side," Hajiyev said. He noted that Azerbaijan contributes to the international process of building bridges of dialogue and civilization and within this process Azerbaijan hosted Baku Humanitarian Forum, Baku European Games, now is going to host United Nations Alliance of Civilizations 7th Global Forum, and then will host the Baku Formula One event in June and Islamic Solidarity Games in 2017. The United Nations Alliance of Civilizations 7th Global Forum is like a symbolic bridge between two major events, bringing two civilizations together - Baku Games in 2015 from one side and the Islamic Solidarity Game which will be held in Baku next year on the other side, Hajiyev said. "Baku plays an important role as a diplomatic capital, brings different people together... All of these processes are complimenting one another, it is a positive contribution of Azerbaijan to the regional and global peace and security," Hajiyev said. He noted that regarding the subject it is possible to see real difference between Armenia and Azerbaijan. "What Armenia brings to the region and what Azerbaijan brings to the region? Azerbaijan brings regional cooperation, development, prosperity, understanding and cooperation, including Dialogue of Civilizations. And Azerbaijan's contribution goes beyond regional dimension. And it is also a continuation of the process what we are seeing since the Baku Games and all of these processes complementing one another. But what we see in the case of Armenia - it is war, distraction and also undermining entire regional security structure," Hajiyev said. He noted that it is time for Armenia to change its mind and come to join to the processes in a constructive manner. Touching upon the recent escalation over the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Hajiyev said that it is obvious that the Armenian armed forces launched an intensive attack on Azerbaijani civilian population over the entire contact line of Armenian-Azerbaijani forces on April 2. Hajiyev said the Armenian armed forces used artillery and other heavy weapons, and targeted defense positions of Azerbaijani armed forces. He went on to add that in order to provide and guarantee the security of civilian population, Azerbaijan's armed forces were obliged to respond, and as a result several Azerbaijani strategic heights occupied by Armenia, were liberated. Hajiyev also noted that the liberated strategic heights were used by Armenia to particularly target the civilian population of Azerbaijan living near the contact line area. "As a result of such military provocation by Armenia, six civilians were killed from Azerbaijani side, and twenty more have been seriously injured," Hajiyev said, adding that these provocations from Armenia inflicted serious damage to public and private property. The official went on to add that in sign of good will, Azerbaijan declared declared unilateral truce on April 3, but Armenian armed forces and political leadership of Armenia ignored it and continued military actions until April. Since April 5, as a result of meeting of Armenian and Azerbaijani General Chiefs of Staff, the decision was made to guarantee the cease of fire, said. "But unfortunately, the provocations of Armenia still continue. The situation is relatively stable, but is still tense," he said. Hajiyev said that Azerbaijan, on numerous occasions, declared its position, saying that illegal presence of Armenian armed forces on Azerbaijani lands is a major source of a threat to the regional peace and security. It undermines the wider structure of regional peace, he said. He added that the international community should demand Armenia to fulfill the resolutions of the United Nations' Security Council on unconditional withdrawal of Armenian armed forces from the occupied territories of Azerbaijan. "The presence Armenian armed forces on the occupied territories of Azerbaijan continues to pose a threat, and we have witnessed once again, starting from April 2, that such kind of presence could cause further escalation of the situation on the contact line," Hajiyev said. He also stressed that Nagorno-Karabakh conflict cannot be considered a frozen conflict. "This conflict is alive," Hajiyev said. He stressed that Azerbaijan demonstrated that the country is ready to start comprehensive and result-oriented political process towards the resolution of the conflict on the basis of the current proposals within the OSCE Minsk Group process. "Unfortunately we don't see still such kind of reaction from the Armenian side," he said. 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. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 23 April 2016 11:47 (UTC+04:00) The relations between Azerbaijan and the Council of Europe (CE) are being developed in a constructive way, Samad Seyidov, head of the Azerbaijani delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), told Trend on April 22. Seyidov was commenting on the significance of the PACE spring session for Azerbaijan. Seyidov, who is also the chairman of the international and interparliamentary relations committee at the parliament of Azerbaijan, said that Azerbaijan was supported by many countries and organizations during the session. "I would like to stress the appeals related to the main problem of Azerbaijan - Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, the support for the country's territorial integrity," he said. "I also would like to emphasize the speeches made by the guests, including Turkish prime minister, representatives of the CE Committee of Ministers, officials of other countries," he said. "They also spoke about the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan." Seyidov said that the appeals for the peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict should be also stressed. Seyidov positively assessed the Azerbaijani delegation's activity as part of the session. "I positively assess the activity, speeches and reports of the Azerbaijani delegation's members," he said. "I think that the relations between Azerbaijan and the CE are being developed in a constructive way." 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 23 April 2016 10:47 (UTC+04:00) Azerbaijan`s capital city of Baku will host the 7th Global Forum of the UN Alliance of Civilizations on April 25 bringing together nearly 2000 participants, Azertag reported. The 3-day Forum, themed Living Together in Inclusive Societies: A Challenge and A Goal, will be attended by heads of states and governments of the UN member countries, political leaders, partner organizations, representatives of international and regional organizations, media and academies, donor organizations and foundations. According to Azerbaijan`s Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the squad of ministers of foreign countries will include Turkmenistan`s deputy Premier and minister of foreign affairs Rasit Meredow, foreign minister of Brunei Darussalam Lim Jock Seng, Moroccan minister of religious endowments and Islamic affairs Ahmed Toufiq, UAE minister of state for tolerance Sheikha Lubna Al Qasimi and minister of foreign affairs Jassim-Al-Ali, Swedish minister of education Gustav Fridolin, minister for shura council and house of representatives affairs of Bahrain Ghanim Bin Fadhel Albuainain, French minister of state for European affairs Harlem Desir and Sierra Leonean minister of foreign affairs and international cooperation Mohamed Sesay. The opening ceremony will be held at the Baku Congress Center. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 23 April 2016 14:55 (UTC+04:00) Stability in the South Caucasus is of strategic significance for Germany, said Florian Hahn, member of the German Bundestag from the Christian Socialist Union (CSU), as he commented on escalation on the contact line of the troops of Armenia and Azerbaijan, Azertag reported. The recent re-inflammation of the military conflict in the region of Nagorno-Karabakh with many casualties should urge the international community that a peaceful solution has to be found. No military confrontation can bring about a sustainable solution and both conflict sides have to comply by the ceasefire. Moreover, the Minsk group is called for more than ever, in order to achieve an ending of the conflict by respecting the relevant UN resolutions and the international mediation regulations, he added. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 23 April 2016 10:00 (UTC+04:00) By Aynur Karimova Azerbaijan has entered the top 3 suppliers of agricultural products to Russia among the CIS countries. The country increased the supply of agrarian goods to Russia by four times after Moscow imposed anti-Turkish sanctions, Russian media reported on April 22. The relations between Russia and Turkey have deteriorated consdierably last November over the Su-24 incident, which took a life of a Russian soldier. Following the jet crisis in December 2015, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on measures to ensure national security and on special economic measures with regard to Turkey. The sanctions include a ban on Russian firms importing a range of Turkish foodstuffs, as well as canceling a visa-free regime and restricting Turkish companies from working in certain business sectors in Russia, including tourism. Since January 1, 2016, Russia banned the import of definite types of fruits and vegetables from Turkey, including citrus fruits, grapes, apples, pears, apricots, peaches, as well asnectarines, plums and sloes, wild strawberries and strawberries, tomatoes, onions and shallots, cauliflower, broccoli, cucumbers and gherkins. The carcass and offal of chickens and turkeys, salt and cloves are also under embargo. Thus, since the beginning of the year, some 17 categories of Turkish products have fallen under a ban for import to Russia. After Russia imposed economic sanctions against Turkey, the CIS countries have significantly increased their export of agricultural products to Russia. For instance, the supplies from Uzbekistan have boosted by 11 times. "The growth of imports from the CIS countries is related to the fact that prior to the imposition of sanctions, these countries have developed a program for the development of vegetable production in the open and closed ground, which were planned to be exported to Russia," the General Director of the Institute of Agricultural Marketing, Elena Turina believes. Economists believe that this is a great chance for Azerbaijan, which considers the agrarian sector as of significant importance. Azerbaijan, being engaged in increasing export potential, is keen to reduce its dependence on petrodollars. In this regard, the country considers the agricultural sector as a tool to diversify the national economy. The state focus on the agrarian sector was recently voiced by President Aliyev, who chaired the meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers on the results of socio-economic development in the first quarter of 2016 and the future tasks. Speaking at the meeting, the head of state pointed to the necessity of developing the agricultural sector. "The development of agriculture has always been a priority for us, and its value has increased even more in the current conditions. We must further accelerate the export of agricultural products," he said. "Food security has always been a priority for us, and remains a priority today. This allows us to provide ourselves with our own products, high quality and clean products, to reduce dependence on imports." He stressed that Azerbaijan should achieve rapid development in cotton breeding, sericulture, tobacco cultivation and tea growing, as well as viticulture. With its advantageous geographic location, Azerbaijan has all possibilities to increase export of high quality agro products, which are in great demand in neighboring countries. Experts believe that with the further development of production of high quality agricultural goods, Azerbaijan will be able not only increase the supply to neighboring countries, but also enter markets in Eastern Europe. -- Aynur Karimova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter @Aynur_Karimova Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 23 April 2016 11:16 (UTC+04:00) Azerbaijan and Iran should deepen relations between their financial institutions, Iran's Minister of Communications and Information Technology Mahmoud Vaezi said on April 22, adding that this will expand trade and economic relations between the two countries. Vaezi was addressing a meeting with Chairman of the Board of Directors of Azerbaijan's Financial Market Supervisory Body Rufat Aslanli, according to a message from the Supervisory Body. He also expressed interest in taking joint measures to support the development of non-oil sectors of Iran and Azerbaijan. In turn, Aslanli highlighted the dynamic development of relations between Azerbaijan and Iran, and noted that there are favorable opportunities for cooperation of the two countries in the financial sector. As of late 2015, Iran's investments in the fixed assets of Azerbaijan reached $760 million, while investments in the non-oil sector of Azerbaijan totaled $145 million. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 23 April 2016 17:26 (UTC+04:00) The efforts of Tehran and Baku in funding and speeding up the construction of the North-South corridor will strengthen the two countries' economies, says Iranian Ambassador to Azerbaijan Mohsen Pak Ayeen. This week's bricklaying of the Astara-Rasht railway marked a turning point in regional and international transportation, the ambassador wrote on his personal weblog April 23. The groundbreaking ceremony for the railroad bridge over the Astara River on the Azerbaijani-Iranian border was held on Apr.20. The railroad bridge over the Astara River is a strategically important facility that will connect the railways of Azerbaijan and Iran. The bridge's construction is planned to be completed by late 2016. The ambassador wrote that the construction of the railroad is a timely response to oil and gas exporting countries' efforts to diversify their incomes by resorting to transportation services. The North-South corridor will turn into a connecting line for a lot of nations from India to Helsinki along 2,500 kilometers of railroad, he stressed. The corridor is estimated to transfer 3 million tons of goods and 200,000 people in the first year after construction, and then to be able to facilitate the transfer of 4 million tons of goods and 500,000 people annually. The diplomat also said that part of the railroad that stretches from Iran's Rasht to Astara will nevertheless help as part of the East-West Corridor to transfer goods and people from Shanghai to Europe. "Right now, millions of tons of goods are being transferred from India and European countries to Caucasus in 60 days. But once the North-South corridor is operational, the time will shrink to 14 or even 10 days," he said. The ambassador underlined that Azerbaijan will complete the remaining eight kilometers of railroad to the Astara River by the year's end. "Also, a rail bridge will connect Iran and Azerbaijan over the river. Azerbaijan and Iran, as well as third countries have provided the budget needed to stretch another 165 kilometers of rail from Rasht to Astara," he added. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 23 April 2016 15:00 (UTC+04:00) Tehran signed a deal with an American company to export its excess heavy water supplies to US, Head of Iran's Foreign Ministry Headquarters to Monitor Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) Abbas Araqchi said on Friday, according to Irna. Araqchi, who is in Vienna to attend talks with the EU on formula for the third Iran-G5+1 joint commission meeting, said the Iranian delegation had signed the deal with a US company on Friday. It was three months that Iran was negotiating a commercial contract and finally today, the Iranian delegation singed a deal to sell as much as 32 tons of Iran's excess heavy water supplies to a US company, he underlined. Araqchi added that some other countries have voiced interest to buy heavy water from Iran. Iran is negotiating with some other sides for export of heavy water, the deputy foreign minister noted. Export of heavy water supplies to the US is a major step for Iran which is expected to take the country toward commercialization of its nuclear energy program. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 23 April 2016 17:50 (UTC+04:00) The agreement on creating an international transportation corridor which will connect the Central Asian countries to the Persian Gulf ports has entered into force, Uzbekistan's Foreign Ministry said Apr.23. "The agreement signed on Apr.25, 2011 by Iran, Oman, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan on creating an international transportation and transit corridor (Ashgabat agreement) entered into force on Apr.23, 2016," said the ministry. The Uzbekistan-Turkmenistan-Iran-Oman transportation corridor project was initiated by Uzbekistan's President Islam Karimov in October of 2010 in Ashgabat. Foreign ministers of Iran, Oman, Qatar, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan signed a corresponding agreement in April of 2011. Later, Qatar withdrew from the agreement. During the meeting of the coordinating council in February of 2015, the project participants approved Kazakhstan's joining the Uzbekistan-Turkmenistan-Iran-Oman corridor. This corridor will make it possible to significantly intensify the cargo transportation and stimulate the trade turnover between the Central Asian and Persian Gulf countries. Russia and China can also join this transportation corridor. --- 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. Houston stands out in the U.S. News & World Reports annual list of the nations best high schools. Seven Houston-area schools placed inside the top 100 nationwide, led by Carnegie Vanguard High School. The HISD school for gifted students placed 10th overall in the U.S., thanks to a perfect graduation rate, diverse student body, strong academic performances and demonstrations of college readiness. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate AUSTIN, Texas (AP) An off-duty Central Texas police officer gave a teenage runaway a ride to Austin about 10 days before the youth was charged in the killing of a college student. Georgetown police said Thursday that the officer broke no policies by helping 17-year-old Meechaiel Criner. Criner remained in custody Friday facing a murder charge in the death of University of Texas student Haruka Weiser, 18, who was from Oregon. Her body was found April 5 near the alumni center. Police say the officer, whose name wasn't released, stopped at a Georgetown-area store on March 23 where Criner with blisters on his feet had been hanging around for several hours. The officer, when off-duty, returned with his personal vehicle and drove Criner to a hospital near campus. "He didn't engage any police resources, any taxpayer money," said Cory Tchida, Georgetown assistant police chief. "It's almost like the fact that he is a police officer is incidental. He was trying to be decent and help somebody out." Tchida said the officer learned Criner's first name, but didn't ask for any identification or check his name against available criminal record or missing person databases. Tchida said he was under no obligation to do so because he wasn't responding to a complaint of possible criminal activity. Tchida said the officer is haunted by the case. "To say he is upset about what happened is an understatement," Tchida said. "But you don't know what's going to happen two weeks down the road." Attorney Ariel Payan said Criner's defense team is still in the early stages of its own investigation and is having Criner undergo psychological evaluations to determine whether he is competent to stand trial. Three gastroenterologists discuss best practices for infection control at their endoscopy centers and hospitals, and how they're able to stay at the forefront of providing quality patient care. Q: How do you ensure infection control at your GI practice? Pankaj Vashi, MD, Medical Director, Gastroenterology/Nutrition and Metabolic Support at Cancer Treatment Centers of America (CTCA) at Midwestern Regional Medical Center: Cancer Treatment Centers of America (CTCA) at Midwestern Regional Medical Center (Midwestern) takes hospital acquired conditions very seriously. As an organization, we treat patients with the most advanced and complex cancers who are often immunocompromised and more susceptible to infections. We incorporate many levels of protective steps to address hospital-acquired conditions within our facility placing patient safety at the top of our priority list. CDC and Joint Commission-recommended evidence based practices are in place, and our team of highly trained quality professionals regularly reviews our processes, procedures and outcomes, continuously looking for areas to improve. This commitment to quality is demonstrated by our continued achievement of a Five-Star quality summary score for patient experience the highest possible rating by Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). Rahul Pannala, MD, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn.: There are several infection control measures that we undertake in gastroenterology at our institution. After each procedure, the endoscope is placed on a cinch pad in its own bin so that cross contamination between endoscopes is prevented. In addition, enzymatic cleaning is performed at the bedside immediately after use and then endoscopes are subjected to manual cleaning and high-level disinfection as per manufacturer recommendations. For duodenoscopes, we undertake additional measures given the recent concerns with CRE. All patients undergoing procedures where a duodenoscope is used are tested for CRE and the duodenoscope is sequestered until a result is available. Duodenoscopes used in patients who are colonized with CRE are chemically sterilized using ethylene oxide after standard reprocessing. All other duodenoscopes are processed through two cycles of manual cleaning plus two cycles of high level disinfection. In addition, with a grant from the American Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ASGE), we are evaluating the role of point of care testing using a rapid Carba-R (Cepheid Inc) test which gives a rapid assessment of CRE colonization status of the patient. We are also evaluating the utility of this assay in testing duodenoscopes. We believe that this would lead to a more efficient strategy of identifying endoscopes that may need chemical sterilization as opposed to high level disinfection. Q: What infection control measures do you follow? Brett Bernstein, MD, AGAF, FASGE, Director of Clinical Integration for Gastroenterology and Endoscopy, Mount Sinai Health System; Clinical Associate Professor, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai: The process of ensuring infection control is a complex one that involves multiple stakeholders. First and foremost is the establishment and maintenance of a culture of safety, mindfulness and hyper vigilance. Infections need to be considered a zero tolerance event by all staff. Our endoscopy program is responsible for the oversight of over 80,000 procedures annually across four ambulatory surgery centers and seven hospital campuses. Standardization of process with special attention to the precleaning and cleaning of equipment prior to high level disinfection is ensured by continually examining, reviewing and amending our infection control policies in real-time as information continues to change almost monthly. Performing competency assessments at more frequent intervals for our technical staff (i.e. every three months) ensures that they utilize the most up-to-date protocols. PV: For the safety of our patients requiring GI support, it is very important to have strict infection control measures for all procedures and the equipment we use i.e., endoscopes. We adhere to the following protocols: Use approved sterilizing processor, which needs to be tested frequently for contamination. Have separate dirty and clean scope rooms. Employ well-trained scope cleaner technicians who undergo regular in services for quality assurance. Take random cultures from scopes every month. This is especially important with ERCP scopes, which are most susceptible to contamination. Undergo routine checks by infectious control department. Led by a strong leadership team that understands the importance of safety and owns the quality measures. CTCA at Midwestern was recently awarded Leapfrog's Top Hospital recognition, which is widely acknowledged as one of the most prestigious distinctions any hospital can achieve in the United States. According to The Leapfrog Group, "Top Hospitals have lower infection rates, better outcomes, decreased length of stay and fewer readmissions. By achieving Top Hospital status, CTCA at Midwestern has proven it prioritizes the safety of its patients, is committed to transparency and provides exemplary care for patients and their families. Further, it is helpful to understand that CTCA at Midwestern is licensed as an acute care facility, although we are a cancer specialty hospital. A number of cancer hospitals are exempt from any program reporting, mandatory or voluntary. We are very proud of not only our commitment to transparency and focus upon continuous measurement and improvement, but also seeking those accreditations and certifications with standards that focus upon the unique needs of the oncology patient. In addition to The Joint Commission accreditation, CTCA at Midwestern has achieved such strenuous certifications as those by the American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer and the American Society for Clinical Oncology Quality Oncology Practice Initiative. Q: What new technologies are you using to stay on top of infection control? BB: We have gone beyond the basic requirements through implementing a commercial bioburden assay (3M Cleantrace) that utilizes bioluminescent testing of scopes after manual cleaning to ensure adequacy prior to high level disinfection. In addition we are excited to begin launching a remote video auditing program at Eastside Endoscopy, one of our ambulatory centers. We have engaged Arrowsight, a company that has been instrumental in improving food safety in the meat and poultry industry to install cameras in our scope processing areas where technicians will be monitored for accuracy and completeness of the cleaning process based on OEM and FDA recommendations. Any break in protocol would lead to our lead technician, nurse manager and myself receiving a text and email alerting us to this and allow the scope to be taken out of service and technician given appropriate in servicing. We believe this is potentially groundbreaking as simple competency testing cannot accomplish what real-time auditing such as this can. More articles on gastroenterology: 6 GI physicians in the news Dr. Matthew Gaeta joins Mercy Clinic Gastroenterology 5 statistics on gastroenterologist net worth From a physician charged with unlawful surveillance for allegedly putting cameras in a New York hospital's bathroom to the U.S. Supreme Court hearing a case that could expand False Claims Act liability for hospitals, here are the latest healthcare industry lawsuits and settlements making headlines. 1. Los Angeles hospital will pay $450k to settle patient dumping allegations Good Samaritan Hospital in Los Angeles agreed to pay $450,000 to resolve allegations that it left a homeless patient on the streets without a plan for recuperative care after he was treated for an injury. 2. Teen accused of posing as physician offered plea deal Prosecutors offered a Florida teenager accused of masquerading as a physician and stealing from an 86-year-old "patient" a plea deal that calls for three years in state prison. 3. Court imposes $2.2M fine on NewYork-Presbyterian for allowing filming without patient consent NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital agreed to pay a $2.2 million fine, update its privacy policies and improve staff training after it allowed television crews to film patients without their consent. 4. Ex-hospital CFO's grand theft trial delayed as lawyers work to resolve case Standpoint, Idaho-based Bonner General Health's former CFO Norilina Harvel was scheduled to be tried on a felony charge of grand theft in May, but plea negotiations are delaying the trial. 5. Physician fired after hiding cameras in NY hospital's bathroom A physician was charged with one count of unlawful surveillance for hiding two "spy pens" in a unisex bathroom in Syracuse, N.Y.-based Crouse Hospital's intensive care unit. 6. The Supreme Court case that could expand false claims liability for hospitals: 10 things to know The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral argument in Universal Health Services v. Escobar, a case that focuses on the implied certification theory of False Claims Act liability. 7. Bon Secours, oncologist to pay $400k over improper billing Marriottsville, Md.-based Bon Secours Health System and one of its surgical oncologists, Eugene Y. Chang, MD, agreed to a $400,000 settlement to resolve fraud allegations. 8. Epic awarded $940M in trade secrets lawsuit, Tata to appeal decision A Wisconsin jury ruled in favor of Verona, Wis.-based Epic in a lawsuit alleging Mumbai, India-based Tata Consultancy Services stole trade secrets and confidential information to support its competing healthcare software product. 9. Clinic CEO, physician convicted in massive drug trafficking scheme in Kentucky A federal jury convicted the president and CEO of a Hazard, Ky.-based medical clinic and her physician husband of more than 150 charges, including illegal distribution of drugs and healthcare fraud. 10. Physician sentenced to 9 years for role in $30M fraud scheme Henry Lora, MD, former director of a Miami-area medical clinic, was sentenced to nine years in prison for his role in a Medicare fraud scheme that caused approximately $30 million in losses. 11. Express Scripts denies claims, countersues Anthem Express Scripts, the nation's largest prescription drug benefits manager, countersued health insurer Anthem and denied allegations that it overcharged Anthem for prescription medications. 12. Cass County Health System CEO arrested for felony forgery Todd Hudspeth, CEO of Atlantic, Iowa-based Cass County Health System, was arrested on felony forgery charges after he surrendered himself to police April 15. 13. California physician gets 3 years for role in fraud scheme Neil Van Dyck, DPM, of Roseville, Calif., was sentenced to three years in prison and fined $10,000 for his role in a healthcare fraud scheme. 14. DOJ files antitrust lawsuit against CAMC, St. Mary's Medical Center The U.S. Department of Justice sued Charleston (W.Va.) Area Medical Center and St. Mary's Medical Center, a Huntington, W.Va.-based teaching hospital, for agreeing to allocate territories in which to market their competing services. More articles on health law: Zubik v. Burwell case remains divided: 5 things to know 9 legislative developments affecting healthcare Boston Medical Center to pay $1.1M over billing errors Prosecutors have offered a Florida teenager accused of masquerading as a physician and stealing from an 86-year-old "patient" a plea deal that calls for three years in state prison, according to the Sun Sentinel. Malachi Love-Robinson, 18, was arrested in February for practicing medicine without a license. He allegedly performed physical exams and gave medical advice to people including an undercover officer at an illegal medical office he ran in West Palm Beach, Fla. He also allegedly stole more than $37,000 from an 86-year-old "patient" by using checks he stole during house calls. Mr. Love-Robinson is charged with two counts of practicing medicine without a license, two counts of practicing naturopathy without a license, three counts of forgery, two counts of grand theft from a person 65 or older and three counts of fraudulent use of personal identification information. If he rejects the plea offer and the case goes to trial, Mr. Love-Robinson could face up to 70 years in prison, according to the report. On Wednesday, neither Mr. Love-Robinson nor his lawyer said if they would accept the deal offered by prosecutors. More articles on healthcare industry lawsuits: Ex-hospital CFO's grand theft trial delayed as lawyers work to resolve case Physician fired after hiding cameras in NY hospital's bathroom The Supreme Court case that could expand false claims liability for hospitals: 10 things to know To continue following the latest news and information for Bedfordshire and surrounding areas, simply enter your full postcode below Clooney said: "Fame has an interesting element to it but if you tend to be followed round by a camera then you can feel suffocated at times." Thousands of demonstrators demanding recognition for the Armenian genocide have marched in the country's capital. Around 15,000 protesters gathered in an all-night protest in at the genocide memorial in Yerevan on the same day that actor George Clooney visited the city calling for the world to recognise the events of 1915 as genocide. Armenians say the Ottoman Empire killed 1.5 million of its people, beginning 101 years ago on April 24 1915. Modern day Turkey strongly dispute claims that the events were a genocide and the figures stated. Just a handful of countries officially recognise the events of 1915 as genocide, including France and Russia. Those attending the event laid flowers, lit torches and a small crowd burnt Turkish and Azerbaijani flags. Armenia has a fraught relationship with neighbours Azerbaijan over the conflicted Nagorno-Karabakh region, where around 75 soldiers were killed earlier this month after an outbreak of fighting. Earlier in the day Clooney called on politicians to recognise the Armenian genocide at a global forum in Yerevan on the topic. He said: "When someone is trying to annihilate a whole human race, culture, people, that's genocide, there can be no other version of it." "What we are doing today has two objectives. First, we have to look back into the past and remember that it's not the pain of a particular country or people, it's part of world history. Second, we need to move forward." During his visit Clooney will attend a flower laying event at the Armenian genocide memorial in Yerevan with the country's president. The Oscar-award winning actor will also hand out a one million US dollar (700,000) award on Sunday at a humanitarian conference held to recognise those who put themselves at risk to save the lives of others. Clooney has long taken an interest in humanitarian issues and co-founded the international relief charity Not On Our Watch with fellow Hollywood stars Matt Damon and Brad Pitt. On Saturday Clooney said the "suffocation" caused by his fame forced him to use the attention to focus on those "who couldn't get any cameras on them at all", after reading about atrocities being committed in Sudan's Darfur region in the early 2000s. Clooney said: "Fame has an interesting element to it but if you tend to be followed round by a camera then you can feel suffocated at times." "I thought it might be effective if I went to those places and got those cameras to follow me and try and amplify these stories of NGOs who were doing such hard work, such dangerous work." Her art is driven by homesickness. Anne Marie McCaughey now lives in Western Australia and copes with the sense of estrangement from Ireland by painting landscapes of the country from sketches she makes on her visits here. And these don't cover the dramatic horizons of Donegal, or west Clare, but of the "ordinary" terrain of Tyrone and the Lagan Towpath. Her pictures have rain and mist in them, perhaps not the image of the country that tourism chiefs would like to promote, but achingly familiar. I come from Tyrone, a very ordinary, bushy bit of the country," she says. "It's not spectacular. It's not the Cliffs of Moher, Co Down or the Glens. It's very ordinary and I love the ordinary. I don't respond to landscape per se; I only respond to the landscape of the home, the heartland." She is not the kind of artist who gasps at the fall of sunlight on the edge of Errigal, or who wants drama in her pictures. The natural forces are not so much battling each other in storms as melding together. Not only are the scenes she depicts "ordinary", but they are wintry, for it is only in winter that she gets to return to Ireland. She pines for the place and walks out into the countryside that she loves on freezing days with her camera and sketch pad, usually in the early morning, or at sunset when the sun is low and the light is sharp. And she takes these sketches and photographs back to Fremantle and paints her canvasses there. Her new exhibition, Of Mist and Memories, opening in Gormley's, 471 Lisburn Road at 2pm today, features these wintry landscapes. She says: "There are a fair few of the Lagan in winter actually, because it was that coming across always at winter time, so I don't see summer or autumn. Maybe a bit of spring." She refutes any suggestion that the pictures are bleak. "That suggests unwelcoming, but I love those colours and am drawn to them. I found them warm." There are few of us who feel the chill eased out of our bones by the sight of natural winter colours. "My whole experience for the last 10 years has been seeing these colours, coming back at this time of year." And what she likes about the wintry light is how the colours seem to dissolve into each other. The pictures are often misty and the divide between land and sky is vague. "My work has always been about merging colour, knitting it all together. My early influences would have been the Impressionists, but I would like to think I have moved on from that." She adds: "The latest works are technically quite different from my older work, because they are all oils on canvass. It's a combined print-making, mark-making system alongside painting with glazes." Anne Marie's fixation with Irish landscape is, she says, "spiritual". What does she mean by that? "An essence of us, of creativity, creator, creators. I'm a pantheist." For her, spirit is expressed through nature and the creator is female, though she says that her Catholic upbringing informs her spirituality, too. "That sense of being brought up an Irish Catholic has never left me alone. That, I still think, comes across in all the work. I still like the idea of the mother of creativity. The goddess, mother earth, Eiru." Would she expect an objective person to see that in the work? "I would expect an objective person to see that these are pale misty colours, probably communicative of a time and place. They are a little sad. Elegiac? There's a nice word." But how are people to ascertain the nature of her spirituality from the pictures? "They're not. Art has to be for people to make up their own minds and see what they want to see. "If it is too prescriptive, then you are writing an essay for the people, not leaving gaps for them to fill in what they want it to be. And that's why I like titles that aren't awfully specific." She studied art at Brighton in the early-1980s. That was when she had her first experience of homesickness prompting her to paint the Irish landscape. "I'd gone to Brighton to study and that is where I started painting Irish landscape, because I missed home. And I studied Seamus Heaney and I did my dissertation on the relationship between his poetry and landscape imagery." She doesn't paint Australian landscapes, though she lives there. She never feels really homesick in the same way for Fremantle. She doesn't have the same hankering for Australian terrain and sky. "I was too old when I left this country. I didn't settle. Australia is not a place where I intend to die," she says. She has had a recent touring exhibition of paintings of a plastic laundry basket; not an obvious subject for an artist's interest. One of the pictures in the basket series shows a towel, or sheet, hanging over the basket, like a piece of common laundry, something equally ordinary. "That's the Shroud of Turin," she says, shockingly, whereas you might have thought it was a nightie. The Shroud of Turin bears the imprint of a crucified man and is widely revered as the actual shroud in which Christ was buried. She did that painting for a competition on religious art. And she doesn't mind if people don't recognise the shroud at first, though she'd like them to look closer. "If it hits you in the face, it is no good. You have to work a wee bit on this." When she goes back to Australia she will also open a show of tiny portraits called Glimpses. Friends have compared these to the massive portraits done by Colin Davidson, the Belfast artist who exhibited portraits of Troubles victims in the Ulster Museum recently, who has also done writers, including Sinead Morrissey, Michael Longley and Seamus Heaney. But Ann McCaughey's portraits are tiny and they focus closely on the face so that it fills the frame and loses part of itself, the top of the head or the back. And she will paint more images of the Lagan towpath and County Tyrone to stave off her hankering for home when she gets back to Australia. There, she makes her living partly from her art and partly from teaching. Her husband, Dan Thomas, is an engineer. And she looks like an artist, with her cascading waves of red hair and her bright eyes. The Aussies might wonder if she is Queen Medbh. She isn't. She is just an ordinary Tyrone girl who misses the country and paints it to remind herself of home. If the Northern Ireland restaurant sector had an end-of-term school report, it would read: 'Good, but could do better.' We're good, but we're not great, according to online, news and general media reviews. Top marks go to the food producers, large and small, who churn out quality dairy products, meats, vegetables and seafoods and win armfuls of UK Great Taste awards every year. But a question mark hangs over our restaurant skills. While the sector received a shot in the arm following the award of Michelin stars to two worthy winners, Ox and Eipic in Belfast, and most of us agree that the top 20 restaurants in the north are as good as anything you'll find anywhere else, there are still flaws and weaknesses in service and creativity, which indicates a yawning chasm between our offer and that of cities like Dublin and London. It's worth aiming high like that, rather than comparing ourselves to the likes of Manchester, or Glasgow, because we need more ambition. One source of ambition and a place where the pursuit of excellence in the culinary sector begins is Ulster University. In the heart of the UU Belfast campus on York Street is the training restaurant, The Academy. Here, young students start their long climb up the ladder, learning how to cook, serve and manage. It's a great place to enjoy lunch and dinner and the good news is it's open to the public. Last week, The Academy hosted a wine dinner, five courses with matching whites and reds for 45 to mark the Northern Ireland Year of Food and Drink. It may have looked like a cheap night out, but as soon as the canapes came around in the pre-dinner reception, we quickly realised the intention was to impress, entertain and flatter. And to generate return business. I would have loved to tell you about wobbly silver service, rattling cutlery and youthful sweaty nerves, but instead we were faced with a steady hand and some elegance. In the kitchen was youthful prodigy and chef Matt Logan, who looks like he might not be old enough to order a pint in a bar. The front of house team looked even younger. The Academy dining room has a natural, hushed calm. All those acres of white linen and crystal glasses mean the acoustics allow you to shout your face off and not be heard at the next table. Not that our table would have caused any disturbance, you understand. This was remarkable considering the volumes of wine offered to us. My co-pilot on this mission was from Kent, a man who has spent years abroad either building, or living, in five-star operations. For him, quality is a matter of success or failure, of life or death for a business. He was immediately impressed. The smiling confidence, the genuine sense of hospitality, the polish and the concentration were clearly evident in the student servers we spoke to. They brought with the wine, food, water and whatever else, knowledge of their subject, just the right amount of chat and a sense of occasion. They were from Newry, Enniskillen, Coleraine and other parts. I was never so proud! They were like my own children doing their turn in front of the visitor. A first course of McCartney's corned beef came with beetroot, wild garlic and Broighter Gold rapeseed oil from Limavady. The corned beef has become legendary among meat-lovers and this matched its reputation. Roast monkfish was perfect and generous, firm, moist and not overcooked. The roast lamb rump, pink, tender and deep in flavour, came with salsify and confit potatoes. It could have been destroyed by a Madeira jus, which is invariably too sweet, but this one turned out to be well balanced and welcome. The standout dish - and I hope chef Logan won't mind - was a starkly simple sorbet of lovage. The leafy herb plant much loved in central Europe, has a weirdly citrus-like, aromatic quality, which when transformed into a sorbet like this is as exciting as it is refreshing. The wines were better than decent. The rounded white from the Jurancon in France and a stout little German pinot noir from Villa Wolf were the stars of the list. Take a look at The Academy next time you're considering lunch in the city centre, especially if it's for business. The place is quiet, but not stuffy; private, but not exclusive and it's bright. The biggest reason for going there is the people who will be serving you. They want to be there and they'll be glad to see you. The bill Five-course wine dinner (x2) 90.00 The UUP has accused outgoing Sinn Fein Education Minister John ODowd of leaving behind a budgetary mess. The party made the claim after school leaders issued a statement saying an unprecedented cash crisis could lead to shorter school days and a smaller subject pool. The Department of Education is facing a reduction of 72m in its resource budget in 2016/17, and in March Mr ODowd announced the Aggregated Schools Budget would be cut by 0.8%. On top of absorbing this, schools must also fund a 3.4% rise in employer National Insurance contributions an average 70,000 increase per school as well as a 4.1% rise in employer superannuation contributions and cost of living pay rises for staff of between 1% and 2.2%. The UUPs Sandra Overend said the situation was not good enough. In his time as minister, there has been a yearly crisis surrounding the Aggregated Schools Budget the money that goes directly to frontline teaching services in schools, she added. Previously, he always found extra money from behind the departmental sofa, but this time he is leaving the problem for someone else to sort out. The UUP has consistently said that under Sinn Fein, the education budget has been a mess, with yearly crises. The easy line the minister trots out about blaming Westminster austerity has been worn out. SDLP MLA Dolores Kelly also criticised Mr ODowds performance as minister. She accused him of failing to take action to address financial pressures on education budgets and claimed the funding crisis has been barrelling down the line for months with no intervention from the department. Its right that school leaders have taken a stand against the onslaught of austerity that they have been strong-armed into, the MLA added. I raised this issue with the Education Minister over a month ago, and his spin simply doesnt stand up to scrutiny. The Department continues to claim the Aggregated Schools Budget has been cut by 0.8%. But the problem is 10 times worse than that. The Irish National Teachers Organisation (INTO) Northern Secretary Gerry Murphy said there was effectively a 5.8% reduction in the schools budget. Speaking yesterday after INTOs Principals Consultative Conference in Cookstown Mr Murphy added: A major concern raised was, of course, the 0.8% budget cuts by the Department of Education and the 5% increase in National Insurance contributions for employers, which effectively means a 5.8% reduction in the budget. A spokeswoman for the Department of Education said that in setting the 2016-17 Education Resource Budget, the Education Minister has focused, as he has done consistently, on protecting the Aggregated Schools Budget as far as possible, promoting equality and raising education standards. Mr Obama described it as a "story of perseverance" and said "folks are working these issues through" US president Barack Obama has hailed Northern Ireland and its peace process as a "story of perseverance" and urged future leaders to forge a "new identity". On the second full day of his visit to the UK, Mr Obama addressed young people in Westminster and was asked about the role America has played in the peace process and how this will continue. The President said it is about deciding the country as a whole is "more important than any particular faction or any particular flag". Mr Obama described the peace process as a "story of perseverance" and said "folks are working these issues through". He added: "What's interesting is the degree to which the example of peacemaking in Northern Ireland is now inspiring others. "So in Colombia and Latin America right now they're trying to undergo a peace process and they've actually brought people from Northern Ireland to come and describe how you overcome years of enmity and hatred and intolerance, and try to shape a country that is unified." Mr Obama said integrated education is "one of the most encouraging" developments in Northern Ireland. He said: "One of the things that you've seen in Northern Ireland that's most important is the very simple act of recognising the humanity of those on the other side of the argument. "Having empathy and a sense of connection with people who are not like you." He said it requires "forging a new identity that is about being from Northern Ireland as opposed to being Unionist or Sinn Fein". Mr Obama added: "This is a challenging time to do that because there is so much uncertainty in the world right now, because things are changing so fast, there's a temptation to forge identities, tribal identities, that give you a sense of certainty, a buffer against change. "And that's something, our young people, they have to fight against, whether you're talking about Africa, or the Middle East, or Northern Ireland, or Burma. "The forces that lead to the most violence and the most injustice typically spring out of people saying 'I want to feel important by dividing the world into us and them. And them threatens me, and so I've got to make sure that my tribe strikes out first'. "And fighting that mentality and that impulse requires us to begin very young with our kids. "One of the most encouraging things in Northern Ireland is children starting to go to school together and having a sense that we're all in this together, as opposed to it's us against them." Mr Obama added it is "going to take some time" and will depend on the leaders of the future. The question was put forward by 21-year-old Cliona McCarney from the Ormeau Road in Belfast who described what the President said as "groundbreaking". She told the Press Association: "I don't know when he will maybe speak about Northern Ireland again, if he will at all, so I feel very proud that I managed to, I suppose, put Northern Ireland on the agenda at an event like that, because it would very often be largely focused on England." Reflecting on Mr Obama's answer, Ms McCarney, a member of Young Leaders UK, said: "In a lot of ways it was very groundbreaking whereby it set a real sort of challenge to young people in Northern Ireland that we can no longer demand and expect a better future. We have to build it ourselves." She added: "What he said about integrated education as well was very, very interesting and another thing I really agree with. So I think that he seemed to really speak from the heart." Ms McCarney said he showed "a real genuine interest" in Northern Ireland. Some of the special Royal exhibits on display Some of the special Royal exhibits on display Curator of the Museum of Orange Heritage Dr Jonathan Mattison with a Lambeg drum which was one of a number which serenaded the Queen and Prince Philip during a visit to Northern Ireland in 1953 The Museum of Orange Heritage is hosting a special celebration of the Queen, with a display of photographs recalling her visits to Northern Ireland. Images specially selected from Belfast Telegraph archives in a "Happy and Glorious" exhibition include photographs from the Queen's first official visit in 1945. The then Princess Elizabeth reviewed the Girl Guides in Lisburn on that occasion. The exhibition comes after events across the UK this week celebrated the Queen's 90th birthday. It also includes photographs from the monarch's regular visits to our shores during the 64 years of her reign, and the celebrations for her Coronation and the Golden Jubilee. Continuing the royal theme, cream teas will also be available to the public every Wednesday at the museum's Piccolo cafe throughout the duration of the display, which runs until the end of June. Museum curator Dr Jonathan Mattison said the exhibition brought history to life through the presence of a shell of one of the original Lambeg drums that were played for the Royal couple in 1953. "We are grateful to Hillsborough District for the loan of this significant musical item," he added. "We are also indebted to the Belfast Telegraph for their cooperation and assistance in the provision of photographs for this special exhibition." The Museum of Orange Heritage on the Cregagh Road, in south east Belfast, is open to the public from Tuesday to Saturday, 10am to 5pm, and until 8pm every Thursday. Gerry Adams hit out at his political rivals during his ard fheis address Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams has launched a withering attack on opposition rivals claiming they are not acting in the national interest. At his party's ard fheis in Dublin Mr Adams took a swipe at Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin comparing his post election attacks to those of unionists in Northern Ireland. He also challenged him to keep his commitments to postpone water charges and scrap Irish Water as negotiations on supporting a Fine Gael minority government reach a crucial stage. "After the election Sinn Fein said that in the interests of delivering change we were willing to talk to Fine Gael and Fianna Fail," Mr Adams said. "They refused to talk to us. "In nasty little soundbites, which would make the DUP blush, the Fianna Fail leader in particular, proclaimed that this party, that the people in this Convention Centre, and more importantly those citizens who vote for Sinn Fein, were not fit for government." Mr Adams hit out at independent TDs involved in government talks over the last two months claiming people elected them in the hope of finding an alternative in politics. But he reserved his harshest words for Mr Martin who he claimed had gone back on a pledge not to put Enda Kenny into government. Mr Adams said the Fianna Fail leader was acting out of fear over the growth of Sinn Fein after the party took 23 seats in the election. "That's not in the national interest," he said. "Fianna Fail voters did not vote to give Fine Gael another term. Micheal Martin knows that Enda Kenny will not resolve the homelessness crisis, the health crisis or the crisis in living which many families are enduring. "He knows the Fine Gael leadership have little interest in Irish unity. "But he would prefer to put them back in government as part of his effort to counter the growth of Sinn Fein." Mr Adams detailed a number of commitments at the top of his party's agenda including campaigning to repeal the ban on abortion and bringing in gay marriage in Northern Ireland. He also challenged the British government to introduce laws they committed to which would clear the way for a united Ireland if a majority in Northern Ireland wanted it. Mr Adams said his party was campaigning for the UK to remain in the EU in the June referendum. "While Sinn Fein believes in a different European Union - a social EU based on equality and citizens' rights - we will be campaigning for a strong vote against Brexit," he said. "The imposition of border controls and economic barriers are not in the interest of the people of this island. Our goal is to break them down and end partition." The Sinn Fein ard fheis took place on the eve of the 100th anniversary of the 1916 Rising. Mr Adams said the Proclamation should be lived and claimed that no republic worthy of its name would tolerate partition, mass emigration, poverty, health service scandals and homelessness. He said neutrality should not be "violated" by the US military's use of Shannon. Mr Adams also attacked the outgoing Fine Gael-Labour government for failing to extend the boundaries of the national monument on the Moore Street terrace. "It is an absolute disgrace that in this centenary year the relatives of the 1916 leaders were forced to take the government to the High Court," Mr Adams said. "This Fine Gael and Labour government wanted to demolish it. "They backed the property developer. "They wanted to demolish the national monument." The poll of more than 1,100 medical students found 82 per cent did not want to pursue a career in England because of the imposition of new contracts More than 125,000 operations and appointments have been cancelled due to next week's junior doctors' strike, as NHS England warned ambulance trusts may need to put on temporary treatment centres. As the NHS prepares for the first full walk-out in the history of the health service, patients are being told to expect delays during a time of "heightened risk". Thousands of junior doctors across England will go on strike for two days starting at 8am on Tuesday. They will not provide emergency care as in previous strikes. NHS England has told hospitals they must focus on "essential services" such as A&E, maternity, resuscitation, major incident plans and mental health crisis intervention. According to new data from NHS trusts, 12,711 planned operations have been cancelled as a result of the action, including 4,187 inpatient operations and 8,524 day case procedures, all originally set for April 18 to May 2. Some 112,856 outpatient appointments have also been cancelled over the same period and will need to be rearranged. This is on top of almost 25,000 procedures and thousands more appointments that have been cancelled as a result of previous strikes. NHS England said the health service was "pulling out all the stops" to minimise the risks during the walk-outs, which will run from 8am to 5pm on Tuesday and Wednesday. All trusts have reported that they have plans in place to provide essential services, although services may be "staffed differently" and there may be delays and changes, NHS England said. Dr Anne Rainsberry, national incident director for NHS England, said it was an "unprecedented situation" and other parts of the health service have been drafted in to help. Arrangements are in place to recall doctors from the picket line in an emergency, more GP appointments will be available and NHS 111 has increased the number of calls it can take. NHS ambulance trusts have also been asked to look at providing extra support, including providing temporary treatment centre facilities. Dr Rainsberry said: "The NHS exists to care for and treat patients and it is with enormous regret that we find patients put in this position. "We have focussed our efforts on essential services including emergency care but the effects of this action will be felt far and wide, with thousands of people having their operations postponed and their care disrupted for which we sincerely apologise. "NHS organisations have tried and tested plans to deal with a range of disruptions to seek to ensure continued safe services for patients, which is always our top priority. The NHS has been pulling out all the stops to minimise the risks to the quality and safety of care but this is an unprecedented situation during a time of heightened risk. "In some places the NHS may be under specific pressure." Earlier this week, the BMA said it would call off the forthcoming strike if Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt lifted his threat to impose the contract on junior doctors. But Mr Hunt said it was not possible to "change or delay" the introduction of the controversial contract. The Academy of Medical Royal Colleges (AMRC) has called on Mr Hunt to accept the BMA's offer and return to the negotiating table. A BMA spokeswoman said doctors wanted to protect patients and had given the NHS notice of the industrial action. She said: "Junior doctors deeply regret disruption to patients but they are taking this action because they fundamentally believe the Government's plans will be bad for patient care in the long term. "Crucially, there is still hope this action can be avoided. The BMA has been clear that it will call off next week's action if the Health Secretary removes the threat of imposition and returns to negotiations." A Department of Health spokesman said: "Well over a hundred thousand patients have now been directly affected by the BMA's extreme and irresponsible action, which even its own junior doctor leader advised against. "We have continually sought a negotiated solution over three years of talks, during which there were two walkouts from the BMA, and now there's only the one issue of Saturday pay outstanding. If the doctors' union had agreed to negotiate on that as they promised to do through Acas in November, we'd have a negotiated agreement by now. Instead, we had no choice but to proceed with proposals recommended and supported by NHS leaders - which were 90% agreed with the BMA." Rehana Azam, the GMB's NHS officer said: "The announcement by NHS England to ask the ambulance service to step in whilst junior doctors walkout is reckless. "GMB members in the ambulance service have faced unprecedented demands on their time. "Responding to emergencies, transferring patients to hospitals is increasingly becoming a challenge as the number of 999 calls continue to increase. "The increase in demand has nothing to do with NHS staff, it's to do with a government who have underfunded and fragmented the NHS. "GMB asks the Prime Minister to urgently get round the table to resolve the junior doctors dispute that his Secretary of State for Health created. "GMB warns the government not to overstretch an ambulance service that is already overstretched." Authorities said there are multiple crime scenes along the same road Eight members of the same family were shot in the head in "execution style" killings at four locations in rural Ohio, police said. The killer was still on the loose and considered armed and dangerous, police said, as they warned surviving relatives and residents to be on their guard. Three children, aged just four days old to three years, survived the rampage that left seven adults and a 16-year-old boy dead, Attorney General Mike DeWine and Pike County Sheriff Charles Reader told a news conference. Authorities said preliminary information indicated that none of the victims had taken their own life. Mr DeWine said it was possible more than one person was involved in the killings. Some of the victims were in bed, indicating they were shot while they were sleeping. The victims were identified as members of the Rhoden family. "It's heartbreaking," Mr DeWine said. "The one mother was killed in her bed with the four-day-old right there." A motive was not clear, authorities said. A dozen Bureau of Criminal Investigation agents were called on Friday morning to Pike County, an economically struggling area in the Appalachian region some 80 miles east of Cincinnati. Governor John Kasich, campaigning in Pennsylvania for his Republican presidential bid, said his office was monitoring the situation in Pike County. "Reports we are receiving from Peebles are tragic beyond comprehension," he wrote on his Twitter account. The FBI in Cincinnati also said it was closely monitoring the situation and has offered assistance to the Pike County sheriff's office if needed. Peebles High School imposed a precautionary lock-out on Friday morning after authorities notified the school head of the shootings a few miles away. The school was operating normally a few hours later. Piketon is the site of a Cold War-era uranium plant that was closed in 2001. Authorities set up road blocks at the intersection of Union Hill Road and Route 32 at the perimeter of a crime scene, Friday, April 22, 2016, in Pike County, Ohio. (AP Photo/John Minchillo) Authorities allow crime scene investigation vehicles to pass a perimeter checkpoint near a crime scene, Friday, April 22, 2016, in Pike County, Ohio (AP Photo/John Minchillo) Police in Ohio have interviewed more than 30 people in the investigation into the fatal shootings of eight family members at four different locations. Officers are hoping to find leads into the deaths of seven adults and a 16-year-old boy whose bodies were found in homes near Piketon on Friday. All victims were shot in the head, authorities said, and it appeared some were killed as they slept, including a mother in bed with her four-day-old baby nearby. The infant and two other small children were not hurt. Authorities did not release the victims' names but said they are members of the Rhoden family. Investigators said none of the deaths appeared self-inflicted, so they believe at least one assailant is at large. Law enforcement officials say whoever is responsible for the killings should be considered armed and dangerous. A motive for the slayings is not known, authorities said, but they urged surviving members of the Rhoden family to take precautions. Pike County Sheriff Charles Reader also recommended area residents be extra wary. "This really is a question of public safety, and particularly for any of the Rhoden family," Attorney General Mike DeWine said. Mr Reader said authorities had met with more than 100 relatives and friends of the Rhoden family at a church. Mr DeWine dismissed a report that the people authorities questioned included a person of interest. The Pike County Sheriff's Office and the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation are investigating the slayings. Pike County asked for the bureau's help on Friday morning. The first three homes where bodies were found are within a couple miles on a sparsely populated stretch of road while the eighth body, that of a man, was found in a house further away. Authorities did not release any information on what kind or how many weapons might have been used or whether anything was missing from the homes. Goldie Hilderbran said she lives about a mile from where she has been told a shooting took place - news she received from a postal worker who told her deputies had an area blocked off. "She just told me she knew something really bad has happened," Ms Hilderbran said. Governor John Kasich, campaigning in Connecticut for his Republican presidential bid, said his office was monitoring the situation in Pike County and the search for the killer or killers. "But we'll find them, we'll catch them and they'll be brought to justice," he said. The FBI in Cincinnati also said it was closely monitoring the situation and has offered assistance if needed. Economically-distressed Pike County, about 80 miles east of Cincinnati on the western edge of Appalachia, has about 28,000 people, more than a quarter of whom live in poverty. The area is home to a shuttered Cold War-era uranium plant that is still being cleaned up. One of my favourite quotations comes from Dr Martin Luther King, the great African-American civil rights leader. Dr King was a great man who was motivated by his Christian faith to challenge the injustice he saw around him in the United States. He said: "The first question which the priest and the Levite asked was: 'If I stop to help this man, what will happen to me?' But... the good Samaritan reversed the question: 'If I do not stop to help this man, what will happen to him?'" This basic desire to help the less fortunate and make the world a better place has driven many people from a Christian faith background into the service of other people. On Tuesday morning I was moved to tears by the story of Clare Theresa Crockett. BBC's Good Morning Ulster had a report by Dean McLoughlin. Dean's report was overlaid with Sarah McLachlan's song In The Arms Of An Angel. The song is powerful, but so was the story. One person after another spoke about Clare's "gentle" nature and her dedication to serving others through her faith. A recording of Clare speaking about her call to that country told how she surrendered her life to serving others. This young lady gave up everything she had in order to devote her life to helping other people. She was a talented actress and could have done anything with her life, yet she decided to become a nun working amongst the poor and needy. Her tragic death in the recent earthquake in Ecuador at the young age of just 33 robbed her family and the world of a tender, caring person. Yet withal, it is true to state that in her short life Clare Crockett probably had a more positive impact on the lives of people than many of us would achieve should we live to be 100. The extraordinary example of Maud Kells from Cookstown is another instance of someone driven by their faith to engage in the service of other people. For nearly 50 years Maud, who trained as a nurse at the Royal Victoria Hospital, has lived out her practical faith in DR Congo. Not content with helping others, Maud has shared her nursing skills with local people and trained others in nursing. At 75 she was shot by bandits in the country. This did not harden her heart towards the people of Congo, and she continues to labour there in the service of other people. These are two high-profile examples that many people will have heard about, but there are literally thousands of smaller ones all over Northern Ireland of people helping their neighbours and friends as a living, breathing part of their faith. Look at youth organisations: every day all across Northern Ireland boys and girls will meet in church halls as part of their Boys Brigade company, Girl Guides group or Campaigners. Through these and other organisations friendships will be made that will last a lifetime, and values instilled: self-discipline, respect for others, kindliness that make us better people. These groups exist because people of faith decided they wanted to make a positive contribution to society. They have endured because the children and young people who passed through the groups loved their time in them so much they wanted to become leaders and play their part in the work they are engaged in. Throughout Northern Ireland churches provide a massive range of services that, were the State to pick up the bill, the cost would run into millions of pounds. Because of the work of our churches there are thousands of older people who are not isolated and cut off from society. Pensioners' groups and indoor bowling clubs exist in our churches because Christian people live out their faith by offering friendship to their neighbours. On a recent visit to South Antrim I met a group of committed ladies from a church in Ballyclare who were providing food bank facilities - another element of people living the life of the Good Samaritan. In recent times it has become fashionable for some to denigrate people of faith. Faith in God is sneered at by some, and belief held up as foolishness. Despite this we should all of us - believer or not - be grateful to our churches and faith groups. They enrich our community and make Northern Ireland a better place. As she stares at her father's coffin in tears, four-year-old Corry-Leigh McGibbon is comforted at his funeral by a family member. The story of how Michael McGibbon came to lose his life is a sickeningly needless one As she stares at her father's coffin in tears, four-year-old Corry-Leigh McGibbon is comforted at his funeral by a family member. The story of how Michael McGibbon came to lose his life is a sickeningly needless one. The 33-year-old Belfast taxi driver is believed to have made an unfavourable comment to the daughter of a dissident republican. Then, Thursday week ago, two men arrived at the McGibbons' Ardoyne home to threaten Michael, a father-of-four, but he refused to go outside with them. It was while he was collecting his children from school the following day that he was approached by senior dissident republicans and told to present himself at an alley off Butler Place for a so-called 'punishment' shooting - or face exile. Mr McGibbon was not known to police and had no connection to dissidents. On arriving at Butler Place on Friday night, he was shot three times in the leg - one of the bullets severing an artery. He was found bleeding heavily a short time later by his wife Joanna - a nurse - but she was unable to save him. Mr McGibbon died in her arms. On Thursday, Mr McGibbon's remains were taken from his house on the Crumlin Road to the Holy Cross Church, where Requiem Mass was said for around 800 people. Before the service, Mrs McGibbon and the couple's four children - Seanna (17), Shea (9), Michaela (6) and Corry-Leigh (4) - all knelt by their father's coffin in one final, farewell prayer. The hearse outside the church bore floral tributes spelling out 'Daddy', 'Brother', 'Son' and 'Husband'. Requiem Mass was said by Fr Eugene McCarthy and co-celebrants Fr Gary Donegan, Fr Ochran Eastwood and Fr Gareth Thomas. Fr McCarthy said that no human being had the right to act as judge, jury and executioner and that Michael McGibbon didn't deserve to die the way he had. After the funeral mass, Mr McGibbon was laid to rest at Carnmoney Cemetery. A group calling itself the 'New IRA' has admitted responsibility for the murder. Your chance to go on an incredible Oriental holiday with Belfast Telegraph Travel For the much-travelled Danielle Farrell, meeting the man responsible for one of the greatest archaeological discoveries of the 20th Century was an experience she'll never forget. Farmer Yang Zhifa, now 75, made the accidental discovery of the iconic Terracotta Army in 1974 when he was digging a well near the tomb of the first emperor of China. "The Museum of the Terracotta Army was a must-see on my trip to China and Mr Zhifa was there signing books about his discovery," says Danielle, a travel blogger from Dublin. "I felt it was a real honour to meet him and to see that huge collection of terracotta sculptures, depicting the armies of the Qin Emperor, was mind-blowing." With no western street signs in Xi'an, home of the museum, Danielle was glad of the local guide organised by the Belfast Telegraph Travel Department. "There's no western influence anywhere - even Facebook and apps are blocked by the political system in China, so a guide is essential," says Danielle. "After spending seven days visiting Beijing, Xi'an and Shanghai, I believe the biggest benefit of travelling with Travel Department is the invaluable knowledge and expertise that local guides can provide. They're all so passionate about their jobs and love working with groups from Northern Ireland. "As well as having a tour leader for the duration of your time in China, you will also have local guides in each city. You can rest assured that every detail of your trip will be taken care of so you can relax and enjoy your time in China. You will also see many things you might miss if you were on your own." Danielle travelled to the 14th century city of Beijing with the Belfast Telegraph Travel Occasions Holiday. Upon arrival in Beijing, you are met by our local representative before being transferred to your opulent hotel, where there's an opportunity to join fellow travellers in a 'welcome drink', followed by your evening meal. This holiday of a lifetime kicks off with a full-day excursion to Tiananmen Square and the Palace Museum, also known as the Forbidden City. Off limits to most of the world for 500 years, the vast square is the best preserved cluster of ancient buildings in China. Finish your day with a stroll down Qianmen Street, Beijing's favourite shopping district. The well-organised day excursions on this special trip include the Great Wall of China, a fascinating jade jewellery and sculpture factory, and the Sacred Way, leading to the Ming Tombs, where 13 emperors are buried. The Summer Palace, the Olympic Village and Beijing Zoo - with its famous pandas - are among the myriad highlights of your Oriental visit. After a free day to enjoy your hotel's leisure facilities, you will take a trip to the Yonghe Temple, a monastery of Tibetan Buddhism, followed by a rickshaw tour on a warren of narrow streets and ornate houses. After lunch, there's time for shopping at the huge Sanlitun Village shopping centre and the Yaxiu Market, a silk and cloth market and a tourist's favourite for faux designer bargains. Then, it's back to the spiritual, with a visit to the Temple of Heaven, a stunning complex of religious buildings symbolising the relationship between earth and heaven. Combining ancient traditions and fascinating culture, this is a holiday that will leave you with memories to last a lifetime. Belfast Telegraph Travel is offering the chance to win this holiday, click here to enter, open until Saturday, April 30. Another insightful essay by guest blogger, Myron Pauli: Ive never limited myself to Republican and Democratic nominees since I cast my first Presidential vote writing in Barry Goldwater in 1972. No regrets on rejecting the decent but too-leftist George Mc Govern or reelecting The President! that imposed Wage and Price Controls, killed the Gold Standard, increased domestic spending, installed OSHA and the DEA, expanded the war in Indochina, etc. Trump, Cruz, Sanders, and Clinton all have their bad points to me but the first 3 occasionally say things I agree with. Trump has the best understanding of national identity, Cruz had the most detailed domestic spending cuts, and Sanders may be best on foreign/military restraint (as for Hillary! like the old Supreme Court definition of pornography, I find her utterly without redeeming social value). I am not in the tank for anyone so I listened with interest to the person I supported in 2012, Gary Johnson, at the Libertarian Party Debate on the Fox Business Network (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQPWiCgAjDo). Keeping in mind that the Libertarian Partys own website says The Party of Principle: Minimum Government Maximum Freedom. So imagine my consternation when I heard Gary Johnson say about the welfare state: I want to support those truly in need. Now, I have met Libertarians who wanted to cold turkey everything immediately stop Social Security checks to 85 year olds tomorrow! OK, maybe too drastic to people who paid into the system. Others would phase stuff out the Nanny State over 50 years. But I never heard an answer in favor of the Welfare State from a Libertarian until now. And I heard Governor Johnson talk about states running Medicare/Medicaid as if he were Governor Kasich advocating a more efficient Welfare State. Wheres the Principle? Then came the old force people to bake Lesbian-Nazi wedding cakes issue. Certainly, one could distinguish between the Park Service, Amtrak, the utility company, or even an internationally held corporation like Starwood Hotels having less freedom of association than an individual but Gary Johnson did not. He would apparently call up the Army, Navy, Marines, Coast Guard, Air Force, FBI, CIA, DEA, INS, and TSA to make sure you made that floral arrangement! OK not the most cosmologically important issue but where is the Minimum Government Maximum Freedom? When John Stossel quoted Milton Friedman that open borders were not compatible with a Welfare State, all that Johnson had were platitudes about Mexicos best coming here to do jobs that Americans wont do. Dear Gary if we really had no Welfare State e.g. Live Free of Die, is there not a wage whereby Americans would do? I was almost tempted to ask whether one has to actually cross the border to be a citizen since Libertarians are net-savvy, cant we have Chinese, Pakistanis, Congolese, etc. just apply on-line to be a citizen and vote in our elections? If Trump goes overboard on drug dealing rapists or terrorists, Gary Johnson seems to think the rest of the world are all angels completely compatible with American citizenship. ZERO admission criteria other than no criminal record into a Welfare State Democracy. Not only must the Bears admit Goldilocks but also house her, feed her, and bake her Nazi-Lesbo wedding cake! In fact, Gary Johnson said that the candidate he was closest to was Bernie Sanders and was pressing to get the disaffected Bernie voters when Hillary wins the Democratic nomination. That may be fine but are these angry Bernie voters libertarians or just a bunch of social-leftists protesting crony capitalism? From Gary Johnsons website, there is nearly nothing on programs to cut compared with Cruz and virtually zero for socially conservative libertarians. Johnson emphasizes more a dope smoking abortion-lovers for Free Trade than a more consistent Ron Paul type libertarianism. All in all, I still have my personal dilemma who to vote for on November 8th? I have a choice of rather flawed candidates and, if I do vote Libertarian, is that to be interpreted as a disgruntled Sanders-independent opposition to Madame Defarge? Do I go with the demagogic braggart Donald Believe Me Trump or Carpetbombing Cruz? Muddled Gary? Do I write-in Jim Webb or Ron Paul? Do I just oversleep and forget to vote? One hundred and fifty years ago, a woman living in Swampscott, Massachusetts, had an ah-ha moment. She couldnt describe the epiphany, but it resulted in an instant recovery from an injury caused a few days earlier that had left her bedridden. The attending physician and friends of the New England woman called the recovery a miracle. She explained her healing as the falling apple that compelled her to learn how she was healed. It led her to discover a timeless spiritual force that she later labeled, Christian Science. By the turn of the 20th century, Christian Science was all the rage in America and Europe, along with the womans name, Mary Baker Eddy (1821-1910). She was a pioneer in mind-study, though not the human mind, but divine mind. Eddy became a prolific writer on the subject of Christian Science, defined as a law of God interpreting a divine order. She taught classes on the power of prayer. She started a publishing house. She started a church, headquartered in Back Bay. She founded a secular newspaper. She revised her principal book, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, continuously until her death. Visitors today can visit the Swampscott house, along with other houses connected to the life of Eddy. The houses are maintained and open to the public by Longyear Museum, founded by Mary Beecher Longyear (1851-1931) and based in Chestnut Hill. Evidence from bygone days point to the historical environment from which Eddy plucked her ideas. During the Industrial Age, religious and secular teachings received a good shaking, along with the belief that cultural standings and physical matter were fixed. Eddy began preaching that there is more to the reality than what we see with our eyes. She valued the systematic approach of science, using logic and inspiration, rather than belief, and applied it to her religion. Prayer became a tool for healing, not only sin, but also physical problems. Christian Science went on to be chronicled by thousands of people as the power behind remarkable spiritual healings of hate, fear, addictions, depression, tuberculosis, and fatigue. Christian Science was noticeably celebrated more than it was satirized. Today, Christian Science isnt well known, or known well. Its confused with scientology. In retracing the steps of history, one can learn that Christian Science now carries baggage, the heaviest burden picked up in the 20th century when it was nearly redefined by critics and admirers alike to mean radical reliance on prayer or sacred words, instead of relying on a spiritual understanding of God. It is disingenuous to argue that committed prayer is divorced from Christian Science, as it is to assert that ritualistic prayer is synonymous with Christian Science. History shows, human beings make mistakes. Mary Baker Eddy made mistakes. But those mistakes could be learned from and rightness can reassert itself. Visitors and enquirers may wonder, is Eddy original or a fraud? Is Christian Science Christian or cult? Is its spiritual healing genuine or bogus? Mary Baker Eddy and Christian Science will be any of those to different people at different times. Their accomplishments will always be up for debate. History shows however, that Christian Science challenged the old thinking that health is a state of physical matter. It challenged mass consciousness to examine and pursue mindful healing. It challenged thinkers to consider how spirituality improves approaches to health, science, and religion. Bio: Cheryl Petersens book is, from science & religion to God: a briefer narrative of Mary Baker Eddys Science and Health. Available at Amazon.com Cheryls website is www.HealingScienceToday.com A man holds a portrait of professor A.F.M. Rezaul Karim Siddique, who was hacked to death by unidentified attackers in Rajshahi, northern Bangladesh, April 23, 2016. Faculty at a university in northwestern Bangladesh said they were planning to boycott classes scheduled for Sunday and Monday in anger over a colleagues grisly murder by suspected militants. Rajshahi University English professor A.F.M. Rezaul Karim Siddique was hacked to death while heading to campus Saturday morning, in a murder whose motive remained unclear but that bore the hallmarks of machete-killings of secular writers, bloggers and intellectuals, police said. Seven such killings at the hands of suspected Muslim radicals took place between February 2013 and April 7, 2016, with six occurring within the past 14 months. The Islamic State extremist group claimed responsibility for the professors murder, the U.S.-based SITE Intelligence Group tweeted on Saturday, although Bangladeshi officials have vehemently denied that IS has a presence in their country. We will bring out a protest rally tomorrow, and the teachers will boycott all classes on Sunday and Monday in protest of the killing, Shateel Siraj, former joint secretary of the Rajshahi University Teachers Association, told BenarNews on Saturday after faculty members held an emergency meeting. Rajshahi University students who were incensed at news of the killing of Siddique known as a lover of poetry who was trying to start a music school in his village staged a protest rally on campus earlier in the day demanding that his killers be arrested and prosecuted. Saturdays killing in Rajshahi, a riverfront city located some 200 km (124.2 miles) from Dhaka, was in fact the second hacking to death of a professor from the campus in less than 18 months. But the murder of sociology professor A.K.M. Shafiul Islam in November 2014 stemmed from a personal conflict with a student and was not religiously motivated, police told BenarNews. At least two suspects who were arrested in the Islam homicide case and are now standing trial on murder charges tried to throw police off their trail, by creating a Facebook page where they posted messages that made it look like militants were behind the sociology professors killing, police said. Militants may be killers Siddique, 61, was attacked by machete-wielding suspects around 7:40 a.m. as he was walking from his home to catch a bus to the university, Golam Saqlain, an assistant police commissioner at the Bolia police station in Rajshahi district, told BenarNews. The killers hacked him on the neck from behind. They hit at least three times. [A] two-third portion of his neck was severed from the body, Saqlain said. His attackers may have fled the scene on a motorbike, police said. The way the bloggers in the past were hacked to death, Professor Rezaul was killed in the similar fashion. So, we suspect that some militant groups could have been involved in the murder, Rajshahi Metropolitan Police (RMP) Commissioner Md. Shamsuddin told reporters. Police were still trying to pinpoint a motive, according to Saqlain who is part of a six-member team investigating Siddiques murder. We have yet to ascertain what group could have killed him. Besides, we are also investigating whether any other causes led to the murder, he said. Very simple and soft-spoken Hasan Imam, a sociology professor at Rajshahi, described Siddique as a quiet man who had no enemies and was not a political activist. He was a very simple and soft-spoken person; so personal enmity is unlikely to be the cause. Rajshahi University is making news headlines at the cost of our colleagues. We do not know who is going to be the next [target], Imam told BenarNews. According to Siddiques brother, Sirajul Karim Siddique, the professor had never received any death threats. He had been involved in writing and trying to set a music school in his village Dargamaria, he told reporters. Dargamaria lies in Bagmara, a sub-district of Rajshahi where the banned Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) emerged in 2002-2003, and is now among militant groups being targeted by Bangladeshi authorities in an ongoing anti-terror crackdown. Bagmara is also where a suicide bomber attacked a mosque frequented by minority Ahmadiyya Muslims on Dec. 25, killing himself and injuring three worshipers. Deposed former Thai premier Thaksin Shinawatra answers a question during an interview in New York, March 9, 2016. Former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra on Friday rejected suggestions by current leader Prayuth Chan-o-cha that he had hired foreign lobbyists to orchestrate protests in Bangkok earlier this week. I dont need to waste money to hire anyone to condemn the Thai prime minister and thus damage the country, Thaksin wrote on his Facebook page. There are no lobbyists in the world who can ruin you as much as you do yourself, he added, apparently addressing Prayuth. This government took power by a coup and administered the country for two years. What has it done for the world to see? The image is tainted with unprecedented violations of peoples rights, he said, suggesting this could lead to investment boycotts that would severely impact the Thai economy for many years. The war of words between the billionaire former telecommunications tycoon, who lives in self-exile after being charged with corruption in 2008, and the general who has led Thailand with an iron hand for two years, followed an unusual show of resistance to the junta earlier this week. Who did this? Who supported them? Who plotted this out? Who [hired] foreign lobbyists? Thaksin. You all know this, Prayuth told reporters Thursday when asked about the demonstration. Mock vote About 200 people clad in white T-shirts gathered Tuesday to protest the detention of Watana Muangsuk, a former commerce minister and leader of Thaksins Pheu Thai party. Watana was taken in Monday for a third attitude adjustment after posting remarks on Facebook against the constitution that has been drafted by the Thai junta and is to be put to a referendum in August. Demonstrators set up a mock polling station and acted out voting against the document, which critics say sets the stage for prolonged military control of the country. Nontarat Phaicharoen/BenarNews Political gatherings of more than five people are illegal in Thailand under the National Council For Peace and Order (NCPO), the formal name for the junta. About 400 police surrounded the demonstration. Two protest leaders were briefly detained but released without charges. On Thursday, Watana was charged with defying an order issued by the NCPO banning political activity, the Bangkok Post reported. He was released late Friday, after a bail payment of 80,000 Baht (U.S. $2280), according to a post on his Facebook page. Campaigning outlawed Prayuth took power in May 2014 in a military coup that toppled Thaksins sister Yingluck after months of paralyzing anti-government protests. Junta leaders say they seized power to stabilize the deeply divided country. Prayuth appeared irritated when reporters asked about Watana at a press briefing Thursday. The duty of the NCPO is to keep peace and order and maintain the judiciary system. Anyone who violates the law is wrong Law is law. Today we rule [the country] like this, he said. He went on to accuse Thaksin of orchestrating the recent protest. On Friday, Thailand approved a law providing a 10-year jail sentence for anyone campaigning ahead of the constitutional referendum, AFP reported. The law criminalizes "deceiving, forcing or influencing a voter to not cast his vote or vote in any direction," the report said. In a statement from Geneva Friday, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Raad Al Hussein expressed concern about military rule in Thailand and tightening curbs on free speech. An open and dynamic public debate on the draft Constitution would foster national unity, strengthen the legitimacy and acceptance of the Constitution and provide a sense of collective ownership, Zeid said. I urge the Government to actively encourage, rather than discourage, dialogue and engagement on the draft Constitution. He further urged the government to suspend the application of these dangerously sweeping laws and orders that have bestowed more power upon the military. We fairly exercise laws in line with good governance, which is the most important thing. We will not arbitrarily use the laws against any groups of persons or person, Col. Piyapong Klinpan, a spokesman for the junta, told BenarNews earlier in April, after an NCPO decree gave soldiers police-like powers to arrest people. 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 For hotels in Austrian Alps that serve up a highly-rated breakfast, try Der Waldhof, das bleibt Alpine Suites family & sports hotel and Hotel Grischuna. Breakfast at these hotels in Austrian Alps are also highly rated: Hotel Lamark, GEBHARD and Boutiquehotel - Michl. Travellers who stayed in Wyoming near Jackson Hole Airport (JAC) have said good things about Owen D, The Alpenhof and White Ridge A3. Among the hotels near Jackson Hole Airport in Wyoming, Timber Ridge 4, Flat Creek Inn and 1123 Indian Paintbrush have also been highly rated. A file photo. JAIPUR (PTI): Army Chief General Dalbir Singh Friday witnessed in western Rajasthan the 'Shatrujeet' exercise, which is a part of regular training where the Strike Corps hones war-fighting skills. The Army chief arrived in the exercise area where he was received by South Western Army Commander Lt Gen Sarath Chand. He was briefed on the operational plans and conduct of the exercise by Lieutenant General Shokin Chauhan, General Officer Commanding, Strike Corps, defence spokesperson Lt Col Manish Ojha said. Gen Singh reviewed complex and integrated operational manoeuvres of the formation. Synergy between Army and Air Force in executing air-land battle and the ability to orchestrate battle in network centric environment were also successfully validated during the exercise. Under the exercise, two airborne battalions of the elite Parachute Brigade were dropped on a single night behind simulated enemy lines to address objectives in depth by vertical envelopment and to maintain high tempo of operations. Composite infantry and mechanised columns of the Strike Corps maneuvred deep into 'enemy' territory and successfully linked up with the airborne force whereas networked radars, UAVs and aerial surveillance platforms ensured continuous flow of information. Mobile communication systems integrated with terrestrial network provided efficient communication on move across the battle field. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 23/04/2016 (2374 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. A young Brandonite made quite the impression with his result on an international math exam last month. Ten-year-old Walker Stie won the Brandon regional first place prize and was awarded a national gold medal after he finished tied for 38th out of almost 600 Canadian Grade 5 contestants on the Math Kangaroo Contest. Stie scored 117, while the Canadian average for his age was 73.16. Colin Corneau Ecole Harrison student Walker Stie, 10 seen tinkering with an abacus on Friday won a national gold medal at the Kangaroo Math contest last month. He was one of 20 local students, from Grade 1 to Grade 12, to write the test. It was made available locally for the first time by Brandon University computer science Prof. Gautam Srivastava in late March. I think its amazing that this kid that probably didnt think much of a math contest this year gets to win a national medal. Thats what its about at the end of the day, finding these gems in the rough, Srivastava said. The contest is available in French and English in six levels: grades 1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8, 9-10 and 11-12. The contest is self-guided, although several contestants prepare in advance. Walker said he felt confident after he handed in his test. I felt good because I went over the questions, then I went over them again and again and I felt like because of that I did well, he said on Thursday after learning of his score. The Ecole Harrison Grade 5 student spends time honing his special skill with Doug Pickering, another BU mathematics and computer science professor. On some weekends, we go to Forbidden Flavours (coffee shop) and we talk about math and we hang out together. Walker said hes also interested in geography and science at school except biology. I dont like biology. Hell receive his gold medal from Kangaroo Math for his performance. Other regional first places won by local students included Brody Tiel (Grade 4), Shashvat Varma (Grade 8), Aryan Vimalkumar Patel (Grade 9) and Yiding Zhang (Grade 10). Theyll be recognized at a ceremony in September, Srivastava said. tbateman@brandonsun.com Twitter: @tombatemann Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 23/04/2016 (2374 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. In one of the driest springs in recent memory, farmers south of the Shellmouth Dam will be paralyzed to do anything as they watch farmland near the Assiniboine River flood. Cliff Trinder, who owns a stock ranch on the shores of the river between Russell and Binscarth, said 10 of the last 12 years he has lost productive land to flooding flooding he believes at times is preventable. Its like Groundhog Day, Trinder said. Im not happy. The anger and the animosity that is out here is thick. File Assiniboine Valley Producers president and Oak Lake area farmer, Stan Cochrane seen inspecting his flooded land in May 2015 takes issue with operating guidelines for the Shellmouth Dam. Trinder wields a trident of criticism when speaking about the dam, with one prong for the three levels of government he believes are responsible for the mess the flooding has caused. Trinder said the federal government is to blame because officials were aware of the problems the dam would cause when construction was completed in 1972. Next, Trinder said the Manitoba government has operated the dam based on pretences that are diametrically opposed to each other. The reservoir cant double as a lake, he said. In many years, the emphasis has been on water storage and water retention than flood control to our peril, Trinder said. No clearer an example came in 2014, when the government closed the outflow to the dam in April, taking on more water than it was releasing. By the end of the month, a large rain in Saskatchewan forced the province to release a tidal wave of water that washed out crops downstream. Trinder said if they would have kept releasing water that year, as he requested, they would have had more of a buffer to deal with the deluge. And finally, Trinder said Manitobas neighbours to the west have been anything but friendly. Saskatchewan has been negligent of their control of agricultural drainage, which has made infrastructure drainage necessary and weve got a hell of lot more water than we ever had. Its totally unnatural, Trinder said. The biggest industry in Saskatchewan in 2011 and 2012 was selling large equipment to farmers so they could drain. The latest flood is a result of quick melt in northern Saskatchewan, which will result in some flooding of agricultural land between the reservoir and St. Lazare, according to the province. Trinder, who sits on the Shellmouth Dam regulation liaison committee, said he advocated that the province bring the levels of the reservoir down further in March, but was stonewalled by officials from Manitoba Infrastructure and Transportation who were concerned about summer levels. Stan Cochrane, president of the Assiniboine Valley Producers, said the root of the problem is the operating guidelines of the dam. We should have been letting water go in March, he said. This flooding shouldnt affect Cochrane, who farms near Oak Lake, because the Assiniboine is able to handle approximately four times the amount of flow south of St. Lazare compared to north of the dam. Some producers would like to see the province purchase the land in the flood plain north of St. Lazare to act as another flood mitigation tool. Cochrane believes thats a cop-out. He wants the province, with funding from Saskatchewan, to dredge the river from St. Lazare to the dam so it can facilitate higher cubic feet per second of water. Saskatchewan caused the problem and they need to pay for some of it, he said. The issue of flooding was raised at a Keystone Agricultural Producers advisory council meeting on Thursday. Im told that holding the water back until it threatens to run over the dams spillway creates a real flood situation, whereas letting the water out sooner would have created a man-made situation, KAP president Dan Mazier said. There would have been fewer farmers flooded in the second scenario, but the province would have had to compensate them. In the case of a natural flood, which we now have, the province does not have to provide compensation. KAP officials also came out in support of a plan that would construct a channel at the north end of Lake Manitoba to allow water to flow into Lake Winnipeg. ctweed@brandonsun.com Twitter: @CharlesTweed Opinion Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 23/04/2016 (2374 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. If you happen to be one of those rare breeds in Manitoba these days a provincial Liberal supporter there are but two ways to view the end results of leader Rana Bokharis election campaign. You are either mildly happy that there will now be three Liberal MLAs in the provincial legislature, or you are deeply disappointed, perhaps to the point of anger, that there wont be more like 18 or 19. There is, of course, a third option: a long-held resignation to the notion that the highly inexperienced rookie leader was going to mess up the best chance the Liberals had in years to capitalize on a weak and unpopular NDP government. In fact, it may well be fair to say that the three Liberal MLA-elects who will take their seats in a new session of the legislature won their seats in spite of not because of Bokharis leadership. For example, Judy Klassen, who won the constituency of Keewatinook, is a wonderful example of a person who exudes stamina and passion. As the CBC reported this week, Klassen spent hours driving on ice roads and even used a snowmobile on the campaign trail in order to visit most of the communities in the region. She ran a campaign with only four volunteers, and was considered the underdog as she ran to unseat long-time NDP MLA Eric Robinson. Her campaign was essentially a road trip on a shoestring budget, without any help from Rana Bokhari. Then theres longtime MLA and former leader Jon Gerrard, who held on to his constituency of River Heights. Aside from making rare cameo appearances for a few press announcements, he was essentially a non-entity within the official Liberal campaign. He kept his own seat, and let Bokhari and her campaign team pretty much do their own thing. For someone with his long history within the party and deep knowledge of party machinery, its odd his experience wasnt incorporated more. And theres no denying that 24-year-old Cindy Lamoureux, who won in Burrows on Tuesday night, capitalized on her father Kevin Lamoureuxs popular name. Her father has been a staple of Manitoba political circles for years, though the younger Lamoureux admitted she had to convince the electorate that she was suitable for the job. I had two main lines for that: one, Im actually older than my father was the first time he ran in politics, and two, our former premier, Edward Schreyer, was 22 when he first got elected, Cindy told the Winnipeg Free Press. He went on to be premier of Manitoba, and that goes into my goals. For Bokhari, Tuesday night was the ultimate disappointment. Not only did her party fail to take more of the centre-left vote away from the NDP, she herself was unable to win her own constituency of Fort Rouge, and ultimately placed a distant third behind controversial NDP star candidate Wab Kinew and second-place Progressive Conservative candidate Audrey Gordon. Her explanation on election night for this failure was short and bitter, saying that her party was running with zero dollars, and that resources are always a challenge. She even brushed off her own supporters by giving no formal speech on Tuesday, concession or otherwise. True, an election campaign needs cash as fuel, but the right leader can often draw upon an amazing amount of goodwill and volunteerism within the ranks of the party faithful. In the many one-on-one interviews that both The Brandon Sun and Winnipeg Free Press conducted with Bokhari, it was very clear before the campaign ever got underway that she was in way over her head. A Free Press editorial in March even roundly proclaimed that she was just not ready yet. Although, it appears that she believes shell be ready in another four years, even if she doesnt hold an MLA seat. On Thursday evening, she proclaimed that she would not be stepping down as leader. This despite the fact that her partys own campaign manager, Andy Drummond, said he hoped Bokhari would step down immediately after the party failed to win at least four seats, which would have given the Liberals official party status. Bokhari will have a very difficult time being an effective voice, seeing as how she will have no voice in the Leg. Perhaps she assumes that outgoing NDP Leader Greg Selinger will eventually vacate his seat in St. Boniface within the year. But winning a byelection there would be even more difficult than Fort Rouge, as it hasnt been a Liberal seat since 1999. And yet, perhaps she has a point in her stubborn decision to stay on. Who of the three Liberal MLA-elects would make a good leader? Lamoureux has a good name but is still quite young and inexperienced. Asking Gerrard to take over would be a step back and a mistake for the party. And while Klassen certainly has the passion, her constituency may be too far removed from the seat of power in Winnipeg for most voters to relate to her. There are no easy answers for Bokhari. But at least there are a few more voices at the table. Opinion Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 23/04/2016 (2374 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. It may have taken close to five decades, but the Progressive Conservatives have finally planted their flag on what longtime NDP MLA Drew Caldwell called the island of sanity in a sea of Tory blue. The victory, the first of its kind in the former labour-heavy area, indicates a shift at play in what once was considered the union-dominated workers constituency. Tuesdays election result also effectively puts on hold the political career of its second, long-serving MLA. I was fortunate over the past number of years to develop a friendly relationship with both the main contenders in the Brandon East battle, and the one thing I gleaned is they are far more similar than their politics may have indicated on the campaign trail. Clay Young of CKLQ may have said it best when he asked Isleifson at a Brandon Sun/ Westman Communications Group-sponsored debate whether he was a New Democrat in Conservative clothes. It shook Isleifson up a bit at the time, but it also gave him a real opportunity to share one of his strongest suits and he capitalized. Isleifson has a long history of work with those less fortunate, typically considered a strong NDP trait. By revealing his social conscience side, he shored up some of that fringe support which would prove problematic for Caldwell. It was a turning point for the campaigns, as Caldwell had to work double time to differentiate himself that evening and for the rest of the campaign from his competitors. I had the pleasure to serve with our MLA-elect on a couple of community boards and know this city will benefit from what Isleifson brings to the table. I got to know him when we shared duties on both the environment committee and Renaissance Brandon for the city between 2011 and 2014. Isleifson is whip-smart as it pertains to a number of issues and without a doubt will serve his constituents well. He has a steep learning curve moving into his new digs, but much like the federal NDP of 2011, he is among a large handful of new politicians learning the ropes together. He also has an experienced member in Reg Helwer accompanying him to Winnipeg, so the process may not be as daunting as many first envisioned, and Team Brandon can get rolling rather quickly. As for our outgoing Brandon East MLA, the city has moved on from one of the hardest-working politicians in our history. Drew Caldwell has been the face of the constituency for close to two decades and weathered both good days and bad working with three different MLAs from two different parties in Brandon West. His style was partly retail politics but more just plain old-fashioned hard work. Caldwell was phenomenal at connecting with residents, something that was not lost on yours truly following the 2011 provincial election. He made Brandonites feel like they were a part of his work for this community, and although he often had his detractors like many in politics for long periods of time do Caldwells work speaks for itself. Much of the investment in this community over the last two decades is as a result of Drew being Drew. By no means should any of this detract from Isleifsons historic win, but Caldwells loss comes down more to his party affiliation than a referendum in his work in the community. He, like so many others, fell victim to the anti-NDP, anti-Greg Selinger wave that swept across this province. It stings, but has become a fact of political life when any party remains in power as long as the New Democrats have. This community will miss Caldwells involvement, but knowing Drew, Im sure he wont be out of the loop too long. Moving forward, there is a hope this new government will proceed with some form of moderation to serve the needs of Manitobans, and our city seems well positioned with politicians like Helwer and Isleifson to benefit from that. Having both MLAs in government will also do plenty to push the cause of Brandon forward, the hope being to keep some of the infrastructure momentum and future projects on track. Voters clearly indicated on Tuesday they want good governance, maintained services and continued supports for Manitobans. If the Tories can get those three right, and avoid all of the pitfalls, they may actually have a chance to again begin building a dynasty of their own in this province. Opinion Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 22/04/2016 (2375 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Tuesday night heralded the demise of the NDP political dynasty in Manitoba as Premier Greg Selingers government fell in what amounted to an historic sweep. By the end of the night, it was clear Manitobans had, in an overwhelming manner, repudiated this government in no uncertain terms. The carnage was widespread as the Tories gained seats in literally all regions of the province, including former NDP strongholds like Thompson, Transcona and Dauphin. Brandons two seats, East and West, both went Tory. (Brandon West was not in doubt as MLA Reg Helwer has become a staple of our communitys political life.) It would be an exaggeration to suggest this was a shocking development, but given the fact Brandon East had never gone Tory, it was surprising at the very least. It was certainly indicative of the Tory blue sweep. So what happened? From my perspective, it was a combination of Selinger running a lacklustre campaign using egregious American-style negative tactics, alongside a government that had grown long in the tooth with tired rhetoric and disastrous financial performance, plus the infamous PST hike denied and then revealed, and the most powerful sentence in politics Its time for a change. When the public accepted Brian Pallister as a reasonable alternative to Selinger, the jig was up for the NDP. Selinger, mortally wounded after last years cabinet revolt, was never able to regain public confidence. He was the most unpopular premier in Canada. When your own caucus members announce that people hate you, then being the leader must feel like a temp job. Brandon East proved an interesting microcosm of what ailed the NDP and the various dynamics at work during this election. While serving in various media functions this election cycle, I noticed Brandon East NDP incumbent Drew Caldwell repeatedly went back to his usual shtick building Brandon and then recited a lengthy number of projects his party participated in building during the last 17 years. Caldwell had always been able to sell the theme that an MLAs sole job is to bring investment dollars back to his own community. His opponents failed to counter that in previous elections. How do you counter it? Easy by stating the job is not just to bring our own tax dollars back to Brandon, which is the very least we should expect, but by building Brandon on time and on budget. This, with respect, has been the biggest failing of the NDP in recent years. Caldwell in particular, and the NDP in general, were long able to drive the conversation in a simple direction amount of money spent equals commitment. Value never entered the conversation. In doing so, the NDP shrewdly commanded the high ground. For years, this strategy worked. With the glib Gary Doer enjoying record transfers from the federal government, it was easy to take this approach. However, all parties come to an end. The numbers tell the story. The NDP popular vote dropped by 20.4 per cent, a staggering figure. The Tories, meanwhile, gained 9.4 per cent and even the lowly Liberals garnered almost seven per cent more votes provincewide. All of those came at the expense of the governing NDP. The fear campaign advanced by the NDP never gained traction. Brandon West NDP candidate Linda Ross told voters in a televised debate to Be afraid. Be very afraid. Selinger himself suggested Manitobans battling cancer may not be able to access needed drug therapies under the Pallister Tories. This desperate fearmongering fell on deaf ears. It underscored the hopelessness of the NDP and the willingness of Manitobans to try something new. 4/19, as I like to call it, will go down in the history books as a sweep of momentous proportions. It should also be noted as auguring a new period of NDP reflection on policies, people and performance, and the beginning of a renewal for the party. Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams has accused Fianna Fail of reneging on their election promises and of working to put acting Taoiseach Enda Kenny back into power, writes Juno McEnroe of the Irish Examiner. During a sweeping attack on the potential minority government being put together, Mr Adams also had criticism of Independents and in particular Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin. His comments were delivered during his partys Ard Fheis tonight at the convention centre in Dublin. Highlighting the 100-year anniversary of the Rising, Mr Adams claimed that a real Republic would not tolerate the housing and homeless crisis or the scandals in hospital emergency departments. The Louth TD claimed that his party, in the interests of delivering change, had been willing to talk to Fine Gael and Fianna Fail after the election but that the two had refused this offer. Targetting Fianna Fail's election promises, Mr Adams highlighted two areas he argued the rival party was now going back on after the elections. He [Micheal Martin] also said he would not put Enda Kenny back into government. But putting Fine Gael back into power is exactly what he is negotiating. Thats not in the national interest. Fianna Fail voters did not vote to give Fine Gael another term. Fianna Fail's pledge to end water charges had also been forgotten, noted Mr Adams. He said: You promised in your manifesto to abolish Irish Water and to scrap water charges. However, Fianna Fail maintain that their manifesto only pledged to end or freeze charges for five years. Mr Adams also targetted Independent TDs, whose support Mr Kenny is seeking in order to try and form a minority government. Mr Adams said: Many citizens thought they were voting for an alternative when they voted independent. Some of those TDs now stand with Fianna Fail and Fine Gael. How independent is that? The party leader outlined Sinn Feins own pledges, including a social housing building programme, rent security for tenants, rural regeneration as well as a pledge to campaign to liberalise Irelands abortion laws. The 67-year-old leader also stressed that his party had stood against the "British Tory austerity policies" in the North. It would also campaign to introduce marriage equality there too, he said. Reiterating the theme of the conference, a United Ireland, Mr Adams said that a peaceful and democratic route to unity exists. Earlier in the conference, deputy party leader Mary Lou McDonald also launched an attack on Fianna Fail, calling the party Sinn Fein lite as she accused Mr Martin and his TDs of borrowing our policies. The claim comes after weekend revelations that Fianna Fail, like Sinn Fein, are also seeking to have the future of water charges examined by an independent commission. Mary Lou McDonald has dubbed Fianna Fail as Sinn Fein lite for borrowing the election promise to scrap water charges at the party's Ard Fheis. The Sinn Fein deputy leader has said Micheal Martin must now stand by that election pledge. Fianna Fail was never serious in its manifesto promise to scrap water charges, said McDonald. They were simply positioning themselves for the election campaign a soft, kind Fianna Fail. "The people of Ireland have been locked out of their own future - but Sinn Fein will tackle this head on" #SFAF16 pic.twitter.com/vHWrRuOZ29 Sinn Fein (@sinnfeinireland) April 23, 2016 If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then we Sinn Feiners are only scarlet from the compliment they pay us by borrowing our policies. She went on to tell Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin. We will not assist Micheal Martin and Fianna Fail as they put Fine Gael back in government, said McDonald. Not a chance. They are the problem, not the solution. They have turned their back on the people, we will stand by the people and with the people. Finance spokesman Pearse Doherty has said politicians need to realise there are people's lives behind the economic numbers. The people of Ireland have been locked out of their own future, said Doherty. Sinn Fein will tackle this head on through its economic and social policies. Our policies are not made up merely of numbers and statistics, of GDP and bond yields, although of course these are important. You cannot treat a hospital bed the same way as a mobile phone. You cannot have an economic policy that treats social cohesion as something that just gets in the way. The problems we face as a people are far too great, they run way too deep, to be fixed with such empty and futile gestures as tax credits and modular homes. Sinn Fein Party President Gerry Adams will deliver his keynote address tonight. The US president Barack Obama has said the North's peace process has become an inspiring example to the world. The president made the comment at a town hall style question and answer session in London today. Thousands of demonstrators have turned out in the city of Hannover to protest a planned US-Europe free trade agreement a day before President Barack Obama arrives. Police said that more than 20,000 people gathered for the demonstration. Police in Ohio have interviewed more than 30 people in the investigation into the fatal shootings of eight family members at four different locations. Officers are hoping to find leads into the deaths of seven adults and a 16-year-old boy whose bodies were found in homes near Piketon on Friday. All victims were shot in the head, authorities said, and it appeared some were killed as they slept, including a mother in bed with her four-day-old baby nearby. The infant and two other small children were not hurt. Authorities did not release the victims' names but said they are members of the Rhoden family. Investigators said none of the deaths appeared self-inflicted, so they believe at least one assailant is at large. Law enforcement officials say whoever is responsible for the killings should be considered armed and dangerous. A motive for the slayings is not known, authorities said, but they urged surviving members of the Rhoden family to take precautions. Pike County Sheriff Charles Reader also recommended area residents be extra wary. "This really is a question of public safety, and particularly for any of the Rhoden family," Attorney General Mike DeWine said. Mr Reader said authorities had met with more than 100 relatives and friends of the Rhoden family at a church. Mr DeWine dismissed a report that the people authorities questioned included a person of interest. The Pike County Sheriff's Office and the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation are investigating the slayings. Pike County asked for the bureau's help on Friday morning. The first three homes where bodies were found are within a couple miles on a sparsely populated stretch of road while the eighth body, that of a man, was found in a house further away. Authorities did not release any information on what kind or how many weapons might have been used or whether anything was missing from the homes. Goldie Hilderbran said she lives about a mile from where she has been told a shooting took place - news she received from a postal worker who told her deputies had an area blocked off. "She just told me she knew something really bad has happened," Ms Hilderbran said. Governor John Kasich, campaigning in Connecticut for his Republican presidential bid, said his office was monitoring the situation in Pike County and the search for the killer or killers. "But we'll find them, we'll catch them and they'll be brought to justice," he said. The FBI in Cincinnati also said it was closely monitoring the situation and has offered assistance if needed. Economically-distressed Pike County, about 80 miles east of Cincinnati on the western edge of Appalachia, has about 28,000 people, more than a quarter of whom live in poverty. The area is home to a shuttered Cold War-era uranium plant that is still being cleaned up. Authorities in Turkey have detained six suspected Islamic State (IS) militants who were allegedly planning to carry out attacks in the city of Konya. Governor Muammer Erol said on Saturday that the six - all foreign nationals - were detained in Konya on Friday. South Korea says North Korea has fired what appeared to be a ballistic missile from a submarine off its north-east coast. Seoul's defence ministry could not immediately confirm where the projectile landed after Saturday's launch. The number of irregular crossings by migrants to Greece has dropped considerably, showing the Turkish-EU migrant deal is working, Turkey's prime minister Ahmet Davutoglu said. Mr Davutoglu said today that, since the deal came into effect in March, around 130 crossings have been recorded per day. On some days, no refugees at all cross over to the Greek islands, he said. Mr Davutoglu was speaking in the city of Gaziantep, near Turkey's border with Syria, at a joint news conference with visiting German chancellor Angela Merkel, EU Council president Donald Tusk and EU Commission vice president Frans Timmermans. The Turkish leader said the EU is launching initial projects worth 187m aimed at improving the conditions of refugees in Turkey. The projects are being funded by the 6bn the EU pledged to Turkey over the next four years as part of the migrant deal. In return, the bloc can deport migrants who do not qualify for asylum in Greece back to Turkey. Ms Merkel and top European Union officials inaugurated a child support centre in Turkey for Syrian refugees funded by the 28-member bloc. Ms Merkel, Mr Tusk and Mr Timmermans on Saturday cut a red ribbon to open the centre which is supported by the UN children's agency. They were joined by Mr Davutoglu and his wife. Ms Merkel chatted with a group of a children standing in front of paintings made at the centre in the city of Gaziantep, near the border with Syria, gave some of them colouring pencils and listened to a band playing instruments. She shook hands with the young musicians and thanked them in Arabic. The delegation is visiting the area near the Syrian border in a bid to promote a deal reached with Turkey on the return of migrants who do not qualify for asylum in Greece. Four refugee children in traditional Syrian dress had greeted Ms Merkel and the EU officials with flowers as they entered a refugee camp. German Chancellor Angela Merkel, centre, accompanied by European Union Council President Donald Tusk, right, arrives for a visit at the Nizip refugee camp in Gaziantep province, southeastern Turkey, today. Pic: PA The leaders posed for photos with the children and met with the camp's elected leaders before walking into the site where the refugees are housed in container homes. A large banner mounted near the fence of the camp read in English and in Turkish: "Welcome to the world's largest refugee hosting country." Turkey is home to an estimated 2.7 million Syrian refugees. PERTH: Star spinner Rashid Khan said Afghanistan would bounce back from their opening loss to England at the... TEHRAN: Iran has once again rejected allegations that it has supplied Russia with weapons "to be used in the war in... Brethren Disaster Ministries has directed a grant of $10,000 from the Church of the Brethren Emergency Disaster Fund (EDF) to support the work of Heifer International in Ecuador following a massive earthquake last weekend. The weekends earthquake was Ecuadors largest since 1979, and claimed the lives of at least 577 people and injured more than 2,500. Last week Japan also was hit by two large earthquakes. Because aid agencies at work in Japan still have funding available from previous years giving toward earthquake relief, Brethren Disaster Ministries does not plan to allocate a grant for Japan at this time. A prayer request from the Church of the Brethren Global Mission and Service office asked for prayer for both countries, for comfort for those who mourn, healing for those injured, and strength for those whose homes and livelihoods were destroyed. Aid for Ecuador The focus of the Brethren Disaster Ministries response in Ecuador will be to support the work of Heifer and the ACT Alliance. Heifer International has a number of partners in Ecuador, including a program in Muisne, about 16 miles from the earthquake epicenter. In this area, Heifer has worked with farmers to restore the mangroves and preserve local sustainable aquaculture (fishing) practices. On April 16, a magnitude 7.8 earthquake occurred centered approximately 17 miles from the towns of Muisne and Pedernales, in a sparsely populated part of Ecuador. Widespread damage hit homes, businesses, and infrastructure, and was seen in more than a 200-mile radius of the epicenter. Heifer International has been working in Ecuador since 1954 and has projects in the area most impacted by the earthquake. Heifer partners, farmers, and families in the communities of Muisne, Manabi, Calceta, and Fortaleza del Valle have sustained significant damage. Immediate needs include shelter, food, and water. Longer term needs will include home reconstruction, rebuilding irrigation systems, crop processing units, and safe structures to preserve crops and protect livelihoods. This initial grant will help Heifer Ecuador assist 900 families in Fortaleza del Valle and 300 families in Muisne with emergency food, water, and shelter. Future grants will likely be larger and will support community-wide recovery work with Heifer International and the ACT Alliance response. To contribute to the Emergency Disaster Fund grant go to www.brethren.org/edf Academics across Australia have warned cuts to the ANU's esteemed School of Culture, History and Language will continue to diminish the nation's understanding of its region and the emerging economies within it. On Monday the university released details of its final proposed changes to the school, which included the removal of up to 15 academic staff members. ANU Students' Association Education Officer James Connolly, 21, at the centre of the ANU (Union Court) which was transformed into a makeshift graveyard as a stunt to protest successive funding cuts to higher education earlier this month. Credit:Jamila Toderas Professor Tim Lindsey, the Director of the Centre for Indonesian Law, Islam and Society at the University of Melbourne, said Asian language and general studies have been in steady decline in both Australian schools and universities. "This is particularly evident in the case of Indonesian studies. Interest and ability in Australia to understand Indonesia has in fact declined precisely at the time when Indonesia reformed, liberalised and opened up." The Coalition will make no changes to capital gains tax and negative gearing arrangements, as Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull signalled an election campaign focused on property values and household wealth. After weeks of suggesting the government might make some changes to negative gearing at the higher end of the income scale, Mr Turnbull said it was "common sense" to make no adjustments to existing arrangements. "What Labor is proposing is a huge, reckless shock to the market. This is no fine tuning; this is a sledgehammer they are taking to the property market," Mr Turnbull said in Sydney on Sunday. The murders of 29-year-old Sandra Peniamina and 46-year-old Michelle Reynolds in south-east Queensland earlier this month are tragic. Allegedly killed by their partners, Sandra and Michelle were not the only victims of senseless violence. Ten children, all under age 12 have had their lives shattered and now face growing up without their mothers. Our Watch CEO Mary Barry. Rosie Batty called domestic violence an epidemic, and she's right. Just last week, a further two women were killed. One in Queensland's remote community of Pormpuraaw, following a reported assault, while a second woman was found dead at a campsite in Bladensburg National Park. But it was his pursuit of complete artistic freedom - and legal protections for that freedom - that will make up a significant portion of his legacy. His several notable confrontations with record companies, streaming services, and social media users inspired other artists to demand artistic freedom and earn their fair share of profits. The death of Prince marks the end of a brilliant music career by one of pop music's most talented and eclectic artists. A virtuoso on any number of instruments, a master arranger and producer, and a pre-eminent showman, Prince's music was as diverse and versatile as his elaborate outfits. In 1978, when he was 19-years-old, Prince signed with Warner Bros and released his debut album, For You. Prince is credited for playing every instrument and singing all of the vocals on the album, which ran contrary to recording albums during the beginning of the megastar boom that would define the music of the 1980s. Prince died from an overdose of a synthetic opioid called fentanyl, the local medical examiner has found. Credit:Getty Images Albums of this period typically relied on an army of producers, arrangers, composers, and musicians. Michael Jackson's album Off the Wall (1979), for example, credits nearly 40 session musicians and more than 15 composers and arrangers. While it wasn't a major success, For You revealed Prince's budding genius and his desire to exert control over all elements of his work, allowing him to stay true to his artistic vision. For You was the first in a long line of studio albums that Prince produced with Warner Bros. After the release of two other developmental efforts, he released 1999 (1983) and Purple Rain (1984), which established the showman as one of the most unique, diverse, and dominant pop artists of the 1980s. One of the operatives likely to have appeared in the 60 Minutes story helping snatch two children in Lebanon, is a self-confessed former "hard drug" user, court documents reveal. The revelations have raised further questions about the vetting of the people that were hired to execute the sensitive recovery of the two young children in Beirut, a volatile city in an area under control of Lebanese militant political group Hezbollah. One of the men detained along with former Australian soldier and Child Abduction Recovery International (CARI) head Adam Whittington in connection with the bungled attempt to snatch the children is Cyprus tattooist Craig Michael. Mr Michael snatched his own child while in the company of Mr Whittington in Poland. Brisbane mother Sally Faulkner has been re-united with her family in Australia, a spokeswoman for the Nine Network has confirmed. The mother-of-three arrived in Sydney on Friday night robbed of custodial rights for her two children in Lebanon after an attempt to abduct them in Beirut failed and led to her and a 60 Minutes crew spending a fortnight in prison. On Sunday night, the Channel Nine program will feature Ms Faulkner and reporter Tara Brown re-uniting with their families in Australia - but will not focus on the events of the past two weeks. A federal MP who attended a protest meeting for a group linked to Reclaim Australia says he was "embarrassed and disappointed" that the event had an "anti muslim" agenda. Bob Baldwin, the retiring member for Paterson in the Hunter region of NSW, attended a meeting of the Stop the Buchanan Mosque community group on Friday night. Liberal MP Bob Baldwin says he walked out of anti-muslim protest. Credit:Charles Elias The group opposes a proposed mosque development in the rural suburb of Buchanan, just north of Newcastle. Mr Baldwin, who announced his retirement from politics last week, has previously stated his opposition to the mosque because of its location but said he left the meeting when he realised the event was "anti muslim", "instead of [being about an] inappropriate development in a rural residential area". Tony Abbott has admitted he made unnecessary enemies and left his friends feeling under-appreciated during his time as prime minister, as part of an extraordinary mea culpa on his government's failings. While Mr Abbott used his first two essays for Quadrant magazine to explain and defend his legacy, in the third and final instalment of the series, he spends some time candidly reflecting on where he and his government went wrong. He admits "there were some issues the Abbott government could have managed better or not pursued at all". "I voted with integrity and if I leave this place it will be with my head held high that I didn't bow down to intimidation and fear tactics." "I'm not going to bow down to any threat that I'm going to lose my job. I'll happily lose my job doing what I think is right," he said. Pretty much no one reckons he can do it, including Glenn Druery the so-called preference whisperer whohelped him win in 2013 who says Muir "voted himself into unemployment" by opposing Turnbull's building watchdog laws. So to get re-elected, he'll need a much bigger share of the primary vote this time around about 7 per cent. He knows a thing or two about intimidation. When he first entered Parliament he fell under the sway of Clive Palmer, who has often been accused of bullying his colleagues to get his way. But Muir derided by the political elites as a "bogan", particularly after his car crash 60 Minutes interview showed early on that he had a mind of his own. He quietly split from Palmer, and was soon followed by fully fledged Palmer United Party senators Jacqui Lambie and Glenn Lazarus. The comparison to Lambie is instructive. Both came to Canberra with zero political experience, and both were sneered at. But whereas Lambie was strident telling everyone in no uncertain terms what she thought about absolutely everything Muir disappeared from public view to learn the ropes. "Going from blue-collar background in rural Gippsland to Federal Parliament, in the national spotlight, was by far the biggest thing that is ever going to happen to me in my life. And I knew straight up that I need to take this slowly and carefully. For me that was the responsible thing to do." He reappeared a little over a year ago with a maiden speech that was one of the best in recent memory. It proved he was a thoughtful and authentic addition to the chamber, rather than a blight on it. Federal Treasurer Scott Morrison has defended the right of a Christian commentator to make controversial statements concerning homosexuality, which have included likening the advancement of gay rights to the rise of Nazism in pre-war Germany. "I respect everybody's opinions, I just hope and wish others would do the same," he said, after speaking at the Australian Christian Lobby conference. "I have always respected everybody else's faith and always sought to respect everybody else's view." Federal Treasurer Scott Morrison at the Australian Christian Lobby Conference. Credit:James Brickwood The ACL has been criticised for inviting conservative American commentator Eric Metaxas as keynote speaker at Saturday's event in Sydney. The author and radio host has drawn parallels between the current push for equality and the Church failing to stand up to the Nazi party. He is also a supporter of gay conversion therapy and claims "normalising" homosexuality is an attempt to break down all sexual boundaries. Up to 2000 students at TAFE's Sydney Institute have not been enrolled because of continuous problems with the NSW government's $531 million bungled IT system, teachers say. There have been delays in students' ability to borrow library books, log on to computers and access on-campus facilities such as printers because of the systems failures halfway through the teaching semester. A leaked email chain to TAFE's new managing director Jon Black also reveals that students who graduated last year after spending thousands of dollars on their education have been unable to receive their diplomas because of the ongoing glitches. It is the second year in a row that the system has created havoc for the vocational education provider, with senior leaders describing it as a "disaster". The EBS system is a part of the government's Learning Management and Business Reform (LMBR) program that has been rolled out across the state over the past decade. A report by the NSW Auditor-General found the program's costs had blown out by nearly $100 million last year. Two men have been charged over the alleged sexual assault of a 12-year-old girl on Sydney's Northern Beaches. Police allege that the girl was approached by two men aged 22 and 25 at Freshwater Beach about 3pm on Thursday, April 21. Police allege a 12-year-old girl was assaulted by two men in Brookvale. Credit:Georgia Matts It will be alleged the men drove the girl to a building in Brookvale where they both sexually assaulted her. Police were alerted and officers from the State Crime Command's Child Abuse Squad commenced an investigation. The story of Sandgate mother Thelma Healy's decade-long quest to find her son's Korean war grave has finally been told, more than 50 years after it occurred, thanks to her granddaughter. Brisbane journalist Louise Evans said her book, Passage to Pusan, was inspired by her grandmother's travel diary, which she was given about four years ago. Thelma Healy with her son Vincent, before he was sent to fight in the Korean War. "When I was growing up, I heard these tales of this amazing woman I never really knew she died when I was eight and an uncle I never knew, who was brave, handsome and heroic and had died at war," she said. "I suppose I just kept asking questions and, perhaps to shut me up, the family found my grandmother's diary and gave it to me to read. A female police officer was rammed into a parked police car after attempting to stop a stolen car on the Gold Coast. Two officers approached a car, that was allegedly stolen, as a man and woman were getting into it at an apartment complex on Murev Way, Carrara on Saturday afternoon. A woman involved in the altercation is still outstanding. A female officer identified herself and attempted to remove the keys from the ignition while her male colleague moved their police car to block the car. Police alleged the man in the car rammed into the female officer, pinning her against the police car, before driving away. The amendment would make preferential voting compulsory in time for the Toowoomba South byelection. Mr Springborg said the opposition's legislation to increase the number of seats in Parliament from 89 to 93 "smoked (the government) out" and exposed Labor's long-term plan, despite the comments from the Attorney-General's office on April 13. "The one advantage of that is we now know probably six to 12 months ahead of when we would have known that Labor was planning to do this," he said. "And they were planning to do it because they need to try to rig the result of the next election, because they know their primary vote is stuck and they need to force people to vote for them by exercising all of the preferences. "Yvette D'Ath should answer the question as to what has changed in the last week." Ms D'Ath remained coy on Saturday as to how long the government had been planning to reintroduce compulsory preferential voting, which had not been in place in Queensland since before the 1992 state election. "This is an issue political parties turn their minds to from time to time," she said. Optional preferential voting was introduced by the Goss Labor government in time for the 1992 state election, following a recommendation from Electoral and Administrative Review Commission a body set up out of the Fitzgerald Inquiry. The commissioner of that inquiry, Tony Fitzgerald, QC, appeared resigned to the sort of politicking seen in Queensland Parliament in the past week. "They're all just self-interested politicians and I've sought refuge from them in a zone of total indifference," he told Fairfax Media on Saturday. But Ms D'Ath said the reason for the change was that voters were confused by the different electoral systems at state and federal levels. "We had an opportunity, with an urgency bill on electoral matters brought into the Parliament, to seize that opportunity and address this inconsistency that I believe is better for the people of Queensland because it means that every vote counts," she said. "That is a good thing for our democracy and our electoral system." Ms D'Ath said the government had to respond to the LNP's urgency bill to increase the number of electorates. "The LNP walked into Parliament on Tuesday morning, dropped a private members' bill on electoral matters into the Parliament, immediately moved an urgency motion and gave us no more than two days to consider a response to that," she said. "So, the Palaszczuk government showed real leadership and we responded by introducing compulsory preferential voting." When asked whether Queenslanders were owed an apology for the lack of consultation and transparency, Ms D'Ath said: "I think the LNP should give them an apology, absolutely." "Any travesty of process is a consequence of the LNP," she said. Mr Springborg was incredulous at that suggestion. "That's an extraordinary argument because our bill that went through the Parliament was consulted widely last year right around the state," he said. "The person who should apologise here is Yvette D'Ath, who stood up in the Parliament over and over and cloaked herself in a veil of innocence and accountability. "That fell away last week." Optional preferential voting was long seen as an electoral disaster for the conservative side of politics in three-cornered contests involving the National and Liberal parties. Mr Springborg acknowledged his own previous opposition to optional preferential voting. "I've had views previously and that's a matter of public record in favour of compulsory preferential voting," he said. Police are searching for a missing teenage girl wearing a black hoodie and Ugg boots in Melbourne's west. Jessica Fisher, 16, of Sunshine, was last seen in Footscray on Friday at 4.30pm. Police say Jessica may be in the Werribee, Sunshine, Maribyrnong or Footscray areas. Jessica is described as 170 centimetres tall and medium build. She has long brown hair with a red tinge through it. She was last seen wearing a black Everlast hooded top, black tights and brown Ugg boots. Anyone who has seen Jessica is urged to contact Sunshine police on 9313 3333. A 19-year-old man has had surgery to treat facial injuries after he was attacked in Perth's Murray Street. Police say the man and his brother were standing in a Wilson car park opposite a Murray Street nightclub when he was attacked around 3.30am on March 27. A police photo of the victim of the alleged assault. Credit:WA Police His cheekbone was fractured in the attack. The man who hit the teenager is described as around 180cm tall, with possibly a tanned or brown complexion and dark short hair. He was wearing dark clothing. Berlin: German Chancellor Angela Merkel has come up with what might be the best argument to convince sceptical Germans to back a proposed trade deal between the United States and the European Union - it would be good for beer. Once finalised, the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), would create the world's largest free trade area with 800 million people. German Chancellor Angela Merkel waves as she arrives with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, right, for a visit to chip manufacturer ASML in Veldhoven, near Eindhoven, Netherlands last week. Credit:AP But its opponents fear that it could water down consumer protections and give corporations more clout. Speaking at a ceremony in the southern German state of Bavaria to mark the 500th anniversary of the country's beer purity law, Dr Merkel said that the German beer business could be one of the winners of the trade deal. By contrast, the Mexican government says it has fully cooperated with the experts, completing the vast majority of their information requests, while it is still processing the rest. For the families of the missing, young men training to be teachers in the impoverished stretches of rural Mexico, the experts' departure will be devastating. All along, they have refused to believe the government's version of events: that their children, who were in the city of Iguala as part of a protest, were kidnapped by local police officers working for powerful criminal gangs, then killed and incinerated in the garbage dump of a nearby town. In its version of the story, the government never gave a clear motive for the attack. For many Mexicans, the case represents something far greater than 43 people: it is a window onto the tens of thousands of others who have also disappeared during the nation's decade-long drug war, and the anguish visited on their families. Caught between cartel violence and a government either unwilling or unable to help, they are victims twice. The arrival of the international experts inspired hope and a shot at closure, if only vicariously, for those who suffer their losses quietly on the margins of Mexican society. In an exceptional gesture, Mexico granted foreigners permission to conduct a true investigation. Their departure will be a bitter one. "This is something that will probably haunt us for a long time," said Francisco Cox, a Chilean human rights lawyer and another member of the group of experts. "But it didn't make sense to stay here, because in a certain way it's giving legitimacy to something deep inside you know isn't right." Although the group's final report will be issued Sunday morning, the case is far from solved. The remains of only one of the 43 have been found and identified; the rest are still missing. Another question is how high the collusion between the drug gangs and the government goes. Although the government's own investigation focused on the complicity of the local authorities, the expert panel uncovered evidence that state and federal officials and even military personnel were present on the night of the students' disappearance. "It was clear in the government's investigation and the official account that there was an intention to keep this case at a municipal level, in terms of responsibility," said Carlos Beristain, another expert in the investigation. "But we revealed the presence of state and federal agents at the crime scenes and furthermore, that their participation implied responsibility." The government insists that the parting of ways with the international experts will be amicable, and it has thanked them in public for their work. The experts were not forced out, according to the government. They ran out of time. The government says it has played no part in a smear campaign. There is a free press in Mexico, and the government cannot prevent certain outlets from writing what they want, it says. In written responses to questions, Eber Betanzos, the deputy attorney general for human rights, said his office has worked closely with the experts. "The Mexican state recognises their work, their efforts and the attention to the victims," he said. But when asked to issue a joint statement denouncing the media campaign against the experts, the government more than once declined to do so. When the experts arrived in Mexico, in March of last year, they received a warm welcome from the government. At first, the experts said, there was a willingness to share documents and respond to requests for information and a collegiality that seemed to match the government's public posture. That abruptly changed in September, when the experts published a report that contradicted the government's version of events, referred to by the former attorney general as the "historic truth." The government's investigation said the students were killed and then burned in a garbage dump in the town of Cocula. Neither this panel of experts nor another international team of forensics experts also working on the investigation has found any physical evidence at the dump site corroborating a fire of such dimensions. "After our report, it was pretty clear the relationship had changed," Cox said. "They still thought that we would sustain their version of what had happened." Routine requests from the government took months, the experts said. Suggestions for ways to streamline the investigation were ignored. A media smear campaign began, assaulting individuals in the group, including accusations that they misspent money and had made statements supportive of terrorist acts in the past. For the investigators, the message was clear. "There are sectors within the government that don't want certain things to be questioned, and therefore there is an attempt to reinforce the 'historical truth,' without taking into account the new elements we have uncovered," Beristain said. "These sectors within the government looked at us as a threat, and this hardened their view towards us, which actually reinforces the impunity that stops things from changing in this country." The media attacks largely focused on Paz and another female lawyer, Angela Buitrago, who earned broad recognition for prosecuting government and military malfeasance in Colombia. In addition to the local media, some national newspapers, like El Financiero and Milenio, took part as well. In one instance in January, Buitrago was waiting in line at the Mexico City airport when she noticed a story on the front page of a local newspaper about her. It began with a characterisation of Buitrago as someone known to "fabricate testimony and pressure alleged witnesses in order to imprison military figures and politicians." It also quoted a person she had prosecuted as saying that any investigation in her hands would lack credibility. "It was unimaginable," she said. "The purpose of all this was just to delegitimise the investigation and to discredit and distract us." Paz, too, said she became a target. Pro-government organszations claimed that she had protected violent leftists and violated Guatemala's peace accords by trying former military officers. Although the government has repeatedly denied playing a role in the media campaign, it wields an inordinate amount of control over the media. The state spends hundreds of millions of dollars every year in advertising, making it a highly influential voice in the market. "We couldn't go out on the streets every day and read all the newspaper headlines insulting us," Paz said. Seoul: After firing a submarine-launched ballistic missile off its east coast on Saturday, North Korea's foreign minister said his country is ready to halt its nuclear tests if the United States suspends its annual military exercises with South Korea. And for those waiting for the North's regime to collapse, he had this to say: Don't hold your breath. Foreign Minister Ri Su-yong, in his first interview with a Western news organisation, held firm to Pyongyang's longstanding position that the US drove his country to develop nuclear weapons as an act of self-defence. A 51-year-old man shot and killed five people in the East Georgia community of Appling on Friday night, before fatally turning a gun on himself in his garage. The alleged gunman Wayne Anthony Hawes, 50, may have snapped after learning of his wife's plans for divorce, according to a local television station. Police say the man killed five family members before turning the gun on himself. Credit:AP Captain Andy Shedd of the Columbia County Sheriff's Office said the suspect lived in the neighborhood, about 40 kilometres west of Augusta, where he carried out the shootings at two houses, killing three adults in one of them and two in the other. Relatives said one of the victims, Reba Dent, was Hawes' mother-in-law, and Vernon Collins, the Columbia County coroner, said Hawes' wife was in protective custody Friday night. Sign up for our amNY Sports email newsletter to get insights and game coverage for your favorite teams Call it a power play. A developer has quietly revived a plan to build a floating power plant in a channel off the Brooklyn Navy Yard, more than a decade after local activists shut down its last attempt in court. The foes say they won the case arguing the public wasnt given enough chance to comment and were shocked to learn the gas-burning generator is back in the works and the end of the public comment period is once again just days away. I think theyre definitely trying to sneak it by because why dont we know about it? Somebody should have been notified, said Kathleen Gilrain of activist group Stop the Barge, who lives near the channel on Kent Avenue in Williamsburg and only found out about the proposal last Wednesday. Stop the Barge won a lawsuit against the state Department of Environmental Conservation in 2003 that halted Sef Industries plans for the six-story, 79-megawatt natural gas generator in the Wallabout Channel, successfully arguing it hadnt done an adequate review on how it would affect the surrounding environment. Now Sef which originally stood for Sunset Energy Fleet, and once tried to build an even larger plant off Sunset Park that was also thwarted by local activists and pols is asking the Army Corps of Engineers for permission to construct pipes to permanently secure a 220-foot by 100-foot barge and sell the energy in the case of natural disasters or attacks, according to documents it filed last month. In a recent pitch to sell power from the proposed plant to the state, Sef honchos claimed they have all the permits they need to go ahead with the big, buoyant battery. The public comment period for the application ends April 30. The activists and local officials railed against the previous plan because they believed it would be loud and cause air pollution that would make locals sick especially the diesel fuel used to partially power the barge. Planning for a plant: The developer included these plans for the floating power plant in the Wallabout Channel with its application. NYC Energy, LLC Gilrain believes it will be especially potent for the thousands of future residents moving into yet-to-be built developments across from the channel near Kent Avenue and S. 11th Street and at the old Domino Sugar Factory. Imagine being in a building when you have power plant stacks in front of your window, she said. The activists have now contacted their lawyer and say they plan to battle the barge once again. The Army Corps of Engineers is encouraging anyone with reservations about the plan to send a comment to its Manhattan office by April 30. The comments will be taken into account when deciding on the application, according to documents. Sef Industries did not return requests for comment. You can send your comments to: US Army Corps of Engineers, NY District, Attn: Regulatory Branch, 26 Federal Plaza, Room 1937 New York, NY 10278. Reach reporter Lauren Gill at lgill @cngl ocal.com or by calling (718) 2602511. Follow her on Twitter @laurenk_gill Bharti Airtel, country's largest wireless telecom player in terms of subscribers, is considering a final dividend, or a share buyback, or a combination of both for FY16. "The board of directors of the company will consider recommend final dividend for the financial year ended March 31, 2016 or buy back of equity shares of the company or a combination thereof, in its meeting scheduled to be held on April 27, 2016," the company said in a filing to the BSE. Shares of the company will get a boost if it undertakes a buyback. The market has been punishing telecom stocks over the past few months, as operational metrics have deteriorated and fears of heightened competition have increased risks. The move will be seen positively by investors as it suggests that promoters see value in the company. Bharti has been expanding its spectrum portfolio and now owns 4G data across all 22 circles in India. This makes it the only incumbent which has the ability to take on Reliance Jio. It may be recalled that the promoters of - the Mittal family and SingTel - are also looking to acquire an additional six per cent stake in the company for Rs 7,900 crore. The promoters will acquire the additional six per cent stake through Bharti Telecom, which currently holds 43.96 per cent in . The additional stake in will make the telco a subsidiary of Bharti Telecom. Both the Mittal family and SingTel are in the process of infusing Rs 2,500 crore equity capital into Bharti Telecom through a rights issue. In a recent stock exchange filing, Singapore Telecommunications said it had subscribed to the rights offer of Bharti Telecom through its wholly-owned subsidiaries Pastel Limited and Singtel International Investments. The objective of the Rights Issue is to "enable BTL to acquire further equity shares of Bharti Airtel," said Singtel's filing. On Friday, CEO Navneet Singh stood in front of his employees and told them that the experiment had ended. Some of the employees knew it was coming. Several in leadership positions had been shopping for jobs. A few had already approached BigBasket and Grofers. The shuttering of had been in the works for a few months. The company had given out appraisal letters to employees promising them salary hikes. These hikes meant that when they went out in the market they could bargain from a position of strength. But there was a catch. We were asked to resign en masse. And also we would be paid the new raised salary only for 22 days, said a former employee. As many as 150 out of 200 employees got this deal. A few of those who resigned said this was more to save face later when operations ceased on April 30. A select few who knew what was happening were told that they would be absorbed into Nuvoex, said an employee who was in a leadership position. Cosmetically, it would appear at the end of the month that most people were absorbed and there were very few layoffs. But that is not true. The delivery personnel were on contract and their services will be terminated. The closure doesnt hurt just the employees. It hurts Nuvoex as well. Snapdeal has been Nuvoexs biggest customer and that relationship triggered a $35 million investment last year. But Snapdeal, after Amazon launched Fresh, had been hoping that PepperTap would help it monetise the segment. Snapdeal wasnt happy with the shuttering, especially now. The relationship was strained. The proof was that Snapdeals orders through Nuvoex were also dropping, said another source. Singh, however, rubbished such claims and said that Nuvoexs relationship with PepperTap was intact. The empire started to crumble, in a manner of speaking, in May 2015. PepperTap had at the time decided on a very conservative growth plan. It had planned to expand to three cities in one quarter from its home base in Delhi. The mandate was simple: establish relationships with high-profile retailers and convince them to get on the platform. Each city growth plan was carefully calibrated. But investors, people in the know said, were getting itchy. They saw Grofers accelerate into different geographies and wanted PepperTap to keep pace. Overnight, the plan changed. We were told to focus on aggregation and fulfilment. We had to be faster than Grofers, said a former employee. The focus, the employee said, shifted from margins to cities. PepperTap was now targeting six cities in the quarter and 25 in seven months. We were asked to go all out and get hypermarkets on board even if it meant PepperTap got no commission in the beginning, the employee said. PepperTap, which so far had not been discounting heavily, got into that game as well. Industry experts said discounts in the grocery business ranged from two per cent for consumer goods to 20 per cent for vegetables and fruits. The reason BigBasket can give you deeper discounts on perishables is because they source from wholesalers and stock inventory. They dont go through retailers. Every bit of money they make is their own, said the co-founder of a company that recently pivoted away from the grocery delivery business. He explained that, on average, in the retail-sourcing model that PepperTap followed, the commission was about 20 per cent. And then add discounts and logistics fees. Lets assume, for arguments sake, the cost of your order is Rs 100. The commission on it is Rs 20. Sources said in the worst case scenario, PepperTaps logistics cost was 35 per cent of the order value. But that is at its worst. On average it was 17 per cent. So, Rs 17 is the logistics cost. It also needs to compete with BigBasket and offer discounts upwards of 20 per cent. Retailers refuse discounts and ask aggregators to offer discounts from their own pockets. It means PepperTap made a Rs 17 loss in the best case scenario and Rs 35 in the worst. Now, extrapolate that into the number of orders they had and you can see how they burnt cash, said the co-founder. But this is a problem most hyperlocal players face. You have to remember they didnt take commission from plenty of hypermarkets. So there was no commission to offset costs for two or three, sometimes, even four months, said a source. The only way to get a handle is to charge for delivery, which is something no player is ready to risk. We didnt want to charge for delivery because some customers may not want to pay, Singh said. Even globally, the viability of on-demand businesses is being questioned. Instacart, an on-demand grocery delivery service in the US around which Grofers, PepperTap and BigBasket are modeled, has increased its costs up to $10 per delivery. The incessant discounts and marketing meant PepperTaps orders soared. At its peak in November the companys orders per day touched 30,000. It was beating its competitors hands down. But others advertised as well. And the orders started dropping. In April, the number of orders was down to 1,100 a day and 500 from Delhi. Its average ticket price was around Rs 650. In comparison, industry experts estimate that Bigbasket handles 10,000 orders a day with an average ticket price of Rs 1,600 and Grofers 8,000 orders at an average ticket price of over Rs 1,000. PepperTap had asked its investors for more money but none was on offer. Sources said Sequoia Capital had placed its eggs in the Grofers basket. The writing was on the wall. Singh privately told employees that the traction the company had during Diwali was all but lost. They had failed in the money-raising game and with BigBasket running the segment the company was forced to call it a day. RISE AND FALL PepperTap foundedRaises $1.8 million in seed funding from Sequoia CapitalRaises $10 mn in Series A funding from Saif Capital and SequoiaRaises $36 mn Series B funding in a round led by SnapdealExpands to 15 citiesRaises $4 mn in venture debt from InnoVen Capital; acquires JiffStore in Cash and stock dealShuts down operations in six citiesShuts down all operations E- retailer company I-Street Bazar is planning to invest Rs 100 crore for expanding its reach to over 125,000 mom-&-pop stores across India. As against the existing e-commerce model of online directly selling to end users, I-Street Bazar has adopted a different business model. Rather than servicing end-customers, the company joins hands with local mom-&-pop retail stores to sell goods through internet retailing. Currently it has over 4,000 such partners in states like Gujarat, Rajasthan and Maharashtra. "There are around 14 million neighborhood mom&pop stores in India which provides a huge opportunity for us to reach out to end consumers through them. The way this model is getting accepted by the offline retailers, we are looking to join hands with over 125,000 stores in next three years," said Lakshya Malu, co-founder of I-street Bazar. To fund its future expansion plans, I-Street Bazar is planning to raise money through private equity. The company plans to reach out to private equity and venture capitalists, though it is also open to enter equity markets in near future. "There are several options for fund raising. However it is yet not decided on whether to go with private equity or angel investors," Malu said. The company currently has presence in Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and western Maharashtra. It is now looking at foraying in regions like North India, Uttar Pradesh, and Andhra Pradesh in near future. Apart from metros and big cities, the company is also targeting to spread network in small towns and semi urban areas where issues regarding awareness and accessibility of internet and online payments prevail. "Large number of Indian population still do not use online platforms for shopping due to lack of knowledge, payment related issues and most importantly delivery of the goods. Many e-commerce players are not delivering in small towns. To address these issues we have tied up with regional courier service providers who have strong reach in small cities," said Malu. According to the company as this model helps conventional mom&pop stores earn more, there has been a steady growth in partnerships with them. I-Street Bazar offers an average 8-10 per cent commission to its partners on each order. Established in 2014, the company earned a revenue of Rs 70 lakh in its first year of operations. Now, at the end of the third quarter of financial year 2015-16, I-Street Bazar has touched a turnover of Rs 10 crore. Promoters of the company have so far invested about Rs 12 crore. NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant has criticised for its allegedly poor handling of Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) portal. Replying to a series of tweets by people, complaining of technical glitches in the MCA portal, Kant said Infosys, which manages the service, was letting down the country. "I have cross-checked with secretary, corporate affairs. As (a) service provider, has let down the country," tweeted Kant, a Kerala-cadre IAS officer of 1980 batch who previously served as the secretary, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. Kant's tweet was in reply to a Twitter user named C S Rengarajan who had complained about delay in approval for INC 21, application for declaration prior to commencement of a business. "Visiting ROC Chennai daily from March 25, no relief for approval," said Rengarajan's tweet. Kant is driving several initiatives of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, including Startup India and Transform India, a programme to improve ease of doing business for faster economic growth. "I am not dealing with it (MCA portal), but since there were a lot of complaints on Twitter, I checked with secretary, corporate affairs. has just not been able to manage it, they have messed it up," Kant said in a short interview over the phone. K V R Murty, joint secretary at MCA, who is responsible for the project said, after the new system went live on March 27 this year, several issues were detected in the first two weeks as it would happen with "any system of this magnitude". However, he said, things have improved in the past two weeks. "We, in the ministry, monitor the tickets raised by stakeholders for complaints and that has also shown a definitely downward trend," said Murty. "So, things have certainly improved though they can be better. There is no doubt about it. We have been assured by Mr Vishal Sikka (CEO of Infosys) that they would do everything possible to ensure that no further inconvenience is caused to the stakeholders. We have seen evidence of things getting better in the last couple of weeks," he added. In 2012, Infosys had won the $50 million (Rs 272 crore) contract, replacing the then service provider Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), for a period of five years. The contract required the Bengaluru-based company to fully automate all processes related to enforcement and compliance under the Act. At that time, during the transition, the portal had developed several technical snags. These were later sorted out. On March 27, a new portal was rolled out to comply with the new Act. However, Infosys said, some technical glitches were noticed and soon rectified. "Infosys has upgraded the MCA21 system to run on the SAP platform, which went live on March 27, 2016. Post the go-live, over 1,183 Indian have been incorporated and 1,647 limited liability partnerships have been registered. In addition, since March 27, 2016, there have been more than two lakh filings," the company said in a statement. It added that the system is functioning normally now. The company said if the week gone by was compared with the same period in 2015, there was an increase of more than 20 per cent in daily filings on MCA portal. Infosys is working on several large e-governance projects in India, including the Central Processing Centre (CPC) of the Income Tax department and India Post modernisation initiatives. The Income Tax project is considered as one of the most complex transformational initiatives by the government which has helped the I-T department improve its processes significantly. L&T Finance is reportedly looking to buy a stake in state-owned IDBI Bank, with IFC, UK-based CDC group and Singapore's GIC also showing interest. The government, which has a 80.16 per cent stake (which will be reduced to 74 per cent after a qualified institutional placement) in IDBI Bank, has indicated it would like to reduce its stake and get into the back seat as far as operational matters were concerned. Does this mean L&T Finance's long-pending wish of becoming a bank could come true soon? Unlikely, said most analysts. Siddharth Purohit, banking analyst at Angel Broking, said: "I am not sure about the regulatory aspect. Regulators may not allow the merger of an NBFC (non-banking finance company) with a bank." Further, an analyst at a domestic brokerage said the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) might not approve such a deal as the L&T group did not get a licence for either a universal bank or a small finance bank. He added that these might be rumours, as L&T Finance's name has been appearing in all recent banking deals following its inability to bag a universal banking licence. Even if L&T Finance gets a stake, it will be a big negative for the company. This is because IDBI Bank has been struggling with a whole host of issues such as poor asset quality and profitability, weak capitalisation, lack of corporate governance in select cases such as Kingfisher Airlines and union opposition to privatisation, among others. Any potential buyer will find it tough to deal with these issues after a merger. Assuming that L&T Finance was the future buyer, it might not be able to derive much synergies from the IDBI Bank merger. Purohit said though IDBI Bank was focused on lending to corporates and L&T Finance targets the retail-lending space, weak financial positioning and lack of banking expertise in case of the latter would be key hurdles. Given IDBI Bank's corporate focus, its branch network too was not as large as some of the other public sector banks, he added. The bank's lower capital adequacy will only add to the woes of a potential buyer. Rating agency ICRA had estimated that IDBI Bank would need to raise common equity capital of Rs 8,000-11,000 crore and additional tier-I capital of Rs 3,000-4,000 crore during FY17-FY19 to meet the increase in regulatory minimum capital requirements and for meeting growth targets. This might be difficult, given that its huge stressed assets would keep provisions at elevated levels and continue to put pressure on the bank's profitability. The Odisha government has asked Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IOCL) to make equity contribution for the plastic park project coming up at Paradip in the vicinity of IOCLs 15 million tonne crude oil refinery. Odisha Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (Idco) has already formed a special purpose vehicle (SPV) for the project titled Paradip Plastic Park Ltd to monitor the project, for which at least 120 acres has already been procured. As per the initial estimate, the plastic park will be set up at a cost of Rs 106.78 crore out of which Rs 40 crore will be available as grant-in-aid from the Government of India. It is proposed that in view of the long-term partnership with in this venture, the project cost excluding the grants from the Government of India (Rs 66.78 crore) may be shared equally between Idco and IOCL, Sanjeev Chopra, principal secretary, industries wrote to chairman. The plastic park complex is expected to provide feedstock to downstream industries. It will also offer an assured market for IOCLs refinery products. has already commissioned its crude oil refinery, investing around Rs 35,000 crore. The Paradip refinery product mix would consist of 37.5% high speed diesel, 25.3% motor spirits, 13.1% ATF, 5.2% propylene+LPG, 8.1% petroleum coke and 1.8% sulphur. The products will be predominantly consumed in the domestic market except a portion of motor spirits, which will be exported. The IOCL refinery, its petrochemical complex, and the planned plastic park complex are an integral part of the PCPIR (petroleum, chemicals and petrochemicals investment region) hub spread over an area of 284 sq km, straddling Jagatsinghpur and Kendrapara districts in Odisha. The PCPIR hub is expected to attract investments to the tune of Rs 2.74 lakh crore. IOCL is the anchor tenant for the PCIR hub. Tata Motors (TML), India's biggest automaker, will issue non-convertible debentures (NCDs) to raise Rs 300 crore, and a meeting of senior executives and directors will be held on Wednesday. The fund-raising is part of the company's efforts to raise Rs 4,400 crore via NCDs for tenures ranging from two to 10 years in one or more series. "We wish to inform you that TML is desirous of issuing the first series of its rated, listed, unsecured redeemable NCDs aggregating to Rs 300 crore and in this regard is holding a meeting of its duly constituted committee of senior executive and directors on April 27, 2016," a statement by the Mumbai-based company said. In May last year, Tata Motors had proposed to raise Rs 4,400 crore from NCDs to meet its expansion plan. "It is proposed to issue NCDs on a private placement basis aggregating up to Rs 4,400 crore, in one or more series/tranches during the 12 months with an intention to substitute the short term liabilities/borrowings and for financing, part of the ongoing capital expenditure during the next 12 months as also for general corporate purposes," Tata Motors had said in its annual report. In continuation of its efforts to strengthen the capital structure, the company intends to augment the long-term resources by substituting part of the short-term liabilities with medium to long term resources, it had said. The company intends to raise NCDs for a tenure ranging between two to 10 years. It is 2 in the afternoon. The sun is beating down harsh. But inside the neat prefabricated structure, which is Delhi's first 'mohalla clinic', or community clinic, the air is cool. The air-conditioned room where the doctor attends to his patients, a majority of whom come from the Peeragarhi Relief Camp where the clinic is located, is a far cry from the dreary government health care centres one is so used to seeing. This mohalla clinic in Peeragarhi in West Delhi, an initiative of the Aam Aadmi Party government, is a pilot project that kicked off in July 2015. The government has set a target of a thousand such community clinics by the end of the year. Getting to the relief camp takes some effort. Located close to Punjabi Bagh and Paschim Vihar, two reasonably well-to-do neighbourhoods, and with a Delhi Metro line running close to it, it can be approached only after a 10-minute walk through decrepit surroundings. Outside of the relief camp, not many shopkeepers or even rickshaw-pullers appeared to be aware of its existence. But as you reach, the contrast is staggering. The area is a little more than a slum. The sanitised clinic stands out of its rundown surroundings. There is a neat row of chairs for patients to wait their turn. Inside, it is a two-room arrangement. The first room, reasonably spacious, has an attendant who mans the medicine counter. This room also houses the laboratory facilities to conduct tests like blood count, kidney function, liver function, urine routine, microscopy and lipid profile. Among the machines is a glucometer to check blood sugar levels. The second room, which is air-conditioned, is where the doctor sits. Pankaj Kumar, the resident doctor at the Peeragarhi mohalla clinic, moved here from the dispensary in Khyala, a village in West Delhi. Comparing the facilities at the dispensaries and the mohalla clinic, he says that while the treatment and medicines are free at both facilities, the clinic has an edge because it has a well-equipped laboratory which is a big advantage for the patients. They would otherwise come to the dispensaries for consultation and then run around for the tests. The clinic appears to be functioning smoothly and the doctor seems to have the time to patiently listen to people and attend to their problems. Unlike dispensaries, which function for six hours either in the morning or in the evening, the clinic is open from 7 am to 7 pm, six days a week. It remains closed on Sundays and on public holidays. The Peeragarhi mohalla clinic was built at a cost of Rs 15 lakh. Setting up a dispensary, on the other hand, costs close to Rs 5 crore. The government dispensary in the south Delhi neighbourhood of Saket is much more spacious in comparison to the Peeragarhi mohalla clinic. It has 12 rooms, including a pharmacy, medicine store, homeopathic unit, injection and immunisation room and a store room. The Delhi government, which is pushing the idea of community clinics, says that dispensaries take up too much space and are a waste of money. The mohalla clinics, their argument is, are better equipped and offer services almost at people's doorstep. Besides, patients do not have to suffer long queues while awaiting their turn. At the dispensary, some patients complained about the waiting time. "Sometimes I have to wait for over an hour for my turn," says a patient. The residents at the Peeragarhi relief camp are happy with their community clinic. "There used to be a dispensary here about 15 years ago, but it got damaged," recalls Shalu, a resident of the relief camp who uses only her first name. "We were forced to travel quite a distance for treatment. The process would take a very long time," she adds. A lot of people in the area, she says, cannot afford private treatment. "For them, this mohalla clinic is a god-send." Rajesh Kumar, another resident of the locality, says they get whatever medicines they need for free from the clinic. "The mohalla clinic really helped when my mother was seriously ill. It has made a massive impact to this area in a short span of time, so much so that now people from outside have also started coming here." Most residents of Peeragarhi are daily-wagers. In the past, a visit to the dispensary would mean losing half the day's wages, a luxury they could not afford. Now, with the consultation, medicines, lab tests and test reports being conducted and available under one roof, they say their worries are reduced. Mohalla clinics have the potential of becoming a game changer for health care in India. Kumar, the doctor at the Peeragarhi clinic, says, "This centre has made it possible for the poorest of the poor to get access to the kind of treatment they would not have been able to get at government dispensaries." The level of cleanliness and the fact that these clinics are less crowded as compared to dispensaries leave the patients feeling better, he adds. So far the pilot project appears to be a success. In its first month, the clinic attracted 3,316 patients and the number peaked to 5,186 in September last year. On an average, around 4,000 patients visit the clinic in a month. Arunoday Prakash, the media advisor to the Delhi government, is upbeat about the progress community clinics have made. But the question is: will the government succeed in achieving its target of setting up 1,000 such clinics by the end of the year? Prakash is confident it will happen. He says a hundred such clinics are already in place. Prakash looks at this project as one which could change the woeful primary health care system of the country. "These mohalla clinics will be an example for other state governments to emulate," he says. While the primary motive for setting up these community clinics is to address the health concerns of the lowest income bracket of society, Prakash insists that with the high standards of quality that have already been set, people from higher income brackets will also not shy away from availing of these facilities. Public health care, especially for the poor, has always been a massive challenge. In light of this, the concept of the mohalla clinic can make a significant difference. If the Delhi government delivers on its promises, and ambitions, then we could well be looking at a game changer. Digital literacy means different things to different people. To an IIT student, it can mean understanding the ins and outs of a machine, use of big data and analytics; to a regular student it can mean being adept with Word, Excel and apps on his phone; to a taxi driver it can mean his livelihood, and to a mother, it can mean the bridge between her and her children in a rapidly changing world. On a February afternoon at a Nasscom Foundation's National Digital Literacy Mission (NDLM) centre in a corner of Gurgaon (this one was financed by Amdocs), there is a group of 20-25 housewives - all with heads bent down on their computers - with two young instructors who are assisting them personally. The centre is small - just three rooms - and basic but it has what students in this case many middle aged need. Since September 2015, the group has been coming every day here for free training. Most of the women had learnt of it from their children's schools and word of mouth had done the rest. The training will teach them basics: creation and use of email accounts, Facebook, WhatsApp, paying bills online and using Word. Most members of the group are partially literate with some even having attended college for a while. Other than the practical gains of what this minimal digital training will bring them, the housewives have an emotional reason for what they are doing. Almost all of them say that they are motivated to come for a few hours everyday partly because they say this will help them bridge the "void" that is beginning to develop between them and their children - something they cannot live with. Younger mothers want to be in a position to guide their children through this new digital world, while older ones say that they have seen a distance develop between their children and themselves because the former don't relate to the non-connected world. They feel their mothers are uneducated even when they're not. As one of them puts it : "For them, we are as good as uneducated if we can't even use WhatsApp or Facebook". The reality of what is unfolding before them has made the mothers realise that they have little choice but to jump on the bandwagon. For some, however, the NDLM programme and the digital literacy it offers may even provide a new source of income - through part-time and even full-time employment. Bebe Yadav, 28, is a part of this group. Yadav says that she wants to become independent. She has set up her a Gmail account - a big leap for her. She has a laptop at home and is using it to check the prices of anything she needs to buy, booking train tickets and filling out school forms online. Yadav has even started paying bills online. This, she says, is an advantage because lines at payment booths can take up an inordinate amount of time and she would have to find the time to go and do this, amid her daily household chores. But above all, she feels she must have some basic knowledge so that she can teach her own children (she has three). "If I don't know anything, how will I teach them anything," she says. Yadav adds that she would like to pick up some kind of part-time job that can help supplement her family income. Life has dealt a tougher blow to Yadav's classmate, Sonia Lohia, who comes from Hisar in Haryana. Lohia suffered liver failure six years ago and had even slipped into a coma after a major transplant. Today, she has recovered and has a young son at home but financial troubles brought on by her illness continue to plague her family. Lohia has enrolled in the programme and is now quite adept at Word, Excel, use of Google and even social media. She is keen to either run her own playschool or teach at one. But till that happens, she is considering becoming a cab driver if the opportunity arises. She says she will use GPRS for routes - something she is understandably unfamiliar with. But perhaps the most inspiring story is that of Uma Goswami, who now lives near Gurgaon and works at Dell's front office. From a poor family in Chhattisgarh, Goswami used to walk three kilometres every day to school and grew up watching her family struggle financially. As a young child, she started going to the marketplace to help with selling the family's farm produce After finishing school, she worked as an insurance agent with her uncle's support where she began to appreciate the spread of IT and technology and understood how important it was to get somewhere in life. Goswami sought her parents' permission to come and live with an aunt in a village near Gurgaon. She now works with Dell during the night and has attends the programme during the day. Struggle hasn't dimmed the ambition in her. "I want to buy my own house here and bring my parents to live with me", she says. These stories mirror several other smaller successes that the NDLM programme has seen since it began in 2014. While the ultimate goal is daunting - 250 million Indians are to be trained by 2022 - a small start has been made. Nasscom, which is helping the government achieve this goal, has been working on digital literacy since 2001, when it set up the Nasscom foundation. Now, the foundation is working actively to direct corporate social responsibility funds into the programme. Today, the foundation has managed to help set up 87 centres across India, expected to grow to 100 centres soon. Shrikant Sinha, who heads the Nasscom Foundation, says that their attempt is bring women into the fold as far as possible as that means enlightening a whole generation. "She will bring in the children, the husbands and even the elders of the family." It may be too early to call the NDLM a success and sceptics of the mission are quick to dismiss the progress made on the grounds that the initiative lacks depth - like many of this government's recent initiatives. But while it may not be a storm yet, if one steps out of the ivory tower and takes a look, it's definitely more than a ripple. The Taj Mahal, the eternal monument of love, remains a must visit attraction for celebrity guests to India, the latest high-profile visitors being the British royal couple, William and Kate. Over the last couple of months, however, ordinary foreign tourists have been giving Agra a miss. To arrest the decline in foreigners visiting the monument, tour operators are demanding an off-season discount on entry fee, more flights to Agra and better infrastructure in the city. Read more from our special coverage on "TAJ MAHAL" British royals visit Taj Mahal Earlier this month, the Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO) wrote to the government recommending, among other things, a 50 per cent reduction in entry fees at Archeological Survey of India (ASI) monuments for the period April 1-September 30. This is a low season for foreign tourist arrivals and such a move will encourage great movement into the off-season period. While the IATO letter was not specific to issues concerning Taj Mahal, an IATO member said declining number of foreign tourists at Taj Mahal is an indicator of the state of inbound tourism in India. The entrance fee at Taj Mahal for a foreign tourist was hiked to Rs 1000 from Rs 750 starting April 1. The fee is levied by two agencies ASI and Agra Development Authority. A further hike in the entrance fee has been proposed. In his written reply to Rajya Sabha in March, minister of state for culture and tourism Mahesh Sharma acknowledged that number of foreign visitors to Taj Mahal declined to 0.64 million in 2014 from 0.69 million in 2013 and 0.74 million in 2012. The minister said no market study has been done to pinpoint the reasons for fall in footfalls of foreign tourists. However, some of the factors determining international tourist arrivals in any tourist destination including the Taj Mahal are prevailing travel trends, economies of tourism source markets, connectivity, availability of reasonably priced accommodation, good tourism infrastructure et cetera. Some operators believe that reducing entrance fees at monuments alone will not suffice, and will not be a big incentive for foreign tourists to come to India. Entrance fees are a very small component of the total tour cost, they pointed out. We have been writing to the government to improve infrastructure and provide better air connectivity to Agra. Earlier, foreign tourists used to stay overnight in Agra but now most only come for a few hours. We find some foreign tourists visiting only the Taj Mahal and, skipping Fatehpur Sikri and Agra fort because of high entrance fees, said Sunil Gupta, former president of the Tourism Guild of Agra. The coastal state of Kerala-going to polls on May 16, 2016-receives 40 per cent of remittances that come to India, which dropped to a four-year low of $14.9 billion (Rs 1 lakh crore) in the third quarter (October-December) of 2015-16. Remittances finance as many as 20 per cent households, or 2.4 million families. Assuming a family size of three, remittances directly affect 7.2 million of 35 million Keralites, according to a recent paper in the Economic and Political Weekly by K C Zachariah and S Irudaya Rajan based on the Migration Survey, 2014. The paper said: Remittances, at Rs 70,000 crore, accounted for 36.3 per cent of the net state domestic product (NSDP) in 2014. Remittances constitute a fourth-Rs 22,689 of Rs 86,180-of the per capita income of in 2014. Remittances were 1.2 times the revenue generated by the Kerala government in 2014. The growth rate of remittances to developing countries is estimated to have fallen from 3.2 per cent in 2014 to 0.4 percent in 2015, according to the latest report on migration by World Bank. Private money transfers to India reached 2011 levels, falling under $15 billion during the October-December quarter 2015, according to Reserve Bank of India data. India received $64 billion (Rs 3.8 lakh crore) in remittances in 2014-15. "With the fall in global oil prices, profits of Gulf companies have declined. This has had an immediate impact on money sent by people from Gulf to India, and particularly Kerala," K C Zachariah, Honourary Fellow at Thiruvananthapuram's Centre for Development Studies, told IndiaSpend. Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh rank below Kerala in remittance inflow, receiving 12.7 per cent, 12.4 per cent, 7.7 per cent and 5.4 per cent , respectively, in 2009 (latest available data, although there is likely no change in this proportion, according to experts). Kerala tops the share of remittance, with the number of workers sending money to the state increasing in the five years to 2014. Kerala received foreign money from 1.36 million non-residents in 1998. The number of Keralites working abroad had jumped to 2.4 million by 2014. "Declining oil prices reduced the amount of remittance money in the short term in 2015-16. As this economic slowdown is a sustained one, the number of workers emigrating outside Kerala is going to decrease gradually. Money sent by professionals like engineers and doctors will increase while that sent by workers-who currently dominate remittances-will decline", said Zachariah. Kerala will likely remain the remittance front-runner, which means it will continue sending more people than any other state. Why the majority of Kerala emigrants lean towards the Congress As 20 per cent of households survive on remittances, 20 per cent of the state's electorate would be affected by the slowdown. The share of voters is a potent force in the political economy of the coastal state. People from all three major religious communities-Muslims, Hindus and Christians-emigrate to other countries; a majority, 86 per cent , work in the Gulf countries. The majority of emigrants is Muslim because the Gulf countries are Islamic, notes the study in EPW by Zachariah. "As majority of the emigrants from Kerala are from religious minority communities, politically, most remittances-receiving households in specific regions prefer the Congress-led United Democratic Front, due to nation-wide secular image of the leading party," Sajad Ibrahim, Kerala representative of National Election Study, conducted by Delhi-based Centre for Study of Developing Societies told IndiaSpend. "However, corruption scandals alleging the involvement of some ministers in the incumbent government will be the most important poll issue in Kerala. Further, anti-incumbency will help the Communist Party-led Left Democratic Front (LDF)," he said. "It is difficult to measure the effect of reducing remittances on lives of people," said Zachariah. "It is a recent observation and we are into planning an in-depth study." Reprinted with permission from IndiaSpend.org. Indiaspend.org is a data-driven, public-interest journalism non-profit The 278-km-long road between Delhi and Nainital in Uttarakhand is not only used by thousands of tourists but also by hundreds of refiners. In the past three years, Uttarakhand has emerged as India's refining capital. The number of firms in this business in the state has grown five times in this period, almost doubling their refining capacity to 1,587 tonnes by the end of 2015. Yet, as the government launched its ambitious monetisation scheme last year to mop up idle deposits stored with the public and religious institutions through banks, it found that most of these companies lacked the ability to process gold at the level of purity required. "It is necessary to put order in the gold refining business," a top revenue department official said. In this direction, Budget 2016-17 clipped a tax arbitrage these units enjoyed as an area-based incentive. At the same time, the finance ministry has also cut a parallel benefit for larger units located elsewhere, including a joint venture of state-run MMTC and Switzerland-based PAMP. However, prospects of the industry, which is supposed to provide assaying and refining support to banks, are looking difficult. This may force the government to tweak parts of its tax proposals on gold in the Budget. Gold refining units flocked to Uttarakhand from 2011-12. Till then, despite having the largest gold reserves among the public, India had little refining capacity for extracting usable gold from raw or semi-processed stock, also known as gold Dore. Instead of doing this, people filled up on imported refined gold. The UPA government scrambled to remedy this. It offered a liberal area-based tax break to set up refining units. While it imposed a stiff import duty of 10 per cent on finished gold or bullion, it offered a countervailing duty of eight per cent set off on processing of gold Dore, giving a margin of two per cent for "manufacturing" gold. From just four units in 2012, the number of units jumped to 21 by 2015 in the excise-free zone of Rudrapur in the state. During the same period, the number of units in the rest of the country rose to only nine from two. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley this year corrected this anomaly by reducing the arbitrage to 1.25 per cent from the existing two per cent. Moreover, in line with the government's plan to phase out these exemptions, he has decided no new units or their additional capacity will get the benefit from now. According to Sudeesh Nambiath, lead analyst (precious metals) at Thomson Reuters, the minister's move is clearly aimed at consolidation of the business to ensure that the standards of purity of the refined gold in the Indian market meet the benchmark of London Bullion Market Association. "For banks, meeting this benchmark is necessary to ensure that high-value customers, including temple trusts, deposit their gold with them as part of the gold monetisation scheme," he said. For instance, a major Indian public sector bank discovered a horror story in its stock of gold bullion processed domestically. Instead of the 99.95 per cent purity level demanded from each piece, one consignment sent for refining to one of these units had purity level of 99.945 - a difference good enough to shave off a few lakh rupees per bar. The largest refiners for gold in the global market as of now are Turkey and Switzerland. But that picture is changing. Bengaluru-headquartered Rajesh Exports, which tied up with Switzerland's Valcambi, is now the owner of the world's largest gold refinery. It also has a presence in Uttarakhand. Jaitley, to draw parity, has also increased the excise duty on gold refineries in the rest of the country to 9.5 per cent from the existing 9 per cent. At a stroke, the margins for these refineries have come down to only 0.5 per cent (10 per cent import duty minus 9.5 excise). So even though the tax difference between the excise-free zones and excise-paying zones has been whittled, the margins for the latter have become too thin to keep the units running. MMTC apparently has been sitting on a large unprocessed consignment of close to 10 tonnes since March. Nambiath says it is difficult to foresee if the changed cost dynamics would lead to consolidation of units beyond Uttarakhand. The case for it in the state is relatively easy. For instance, other than Rajesh Exports, there are hardly any firms with refining capacity of above one tonne. Many others are seasonal and have depended on paying premium to sellers from their tax margins to survive, instead of buying Dore at discount. They are likely to shut shop soon. But as the demand for assayed gold rises, banks could find that the number of units able to provide commensurate quality beyond the hill state has also tapered off. CHANGING SCENARIO File photo of IDBI Bank employees in Mumbai protesting the govt's move to privatise the bank, on March 28, 2016. Photo: Kamlesh Pednekar After meeting with bankers at regional level, the All India Bank Officers' Association (AIBOA) will now reach out to end users to create awareness against privatisation of IDBI Bank. The association will be holding road shows in several cities for the same. The association believes the privatisation is not the way to address issues related to banking sector especially bad loans. "We are not in favour of privatisation of IDBI Bank or any other public sector . By doing this government wants to save defaulters. This is against the public interests. We are creating a base and soon we will go to the public to make them understand about privatisation," said S Nagarajan, general secretary of AIBOA. Currently, AIBOA is meeting with bankers at the regional level to create the base to oppose privatisation of IDBI Bank. In the said context, the association recently held a two day meeting at Ahmedabad in Gujarat. Government has been intending to reduce its share in IDBI Bank to below 50 per cent from current 80 per cent. "Privatisation is not a good option for public sector bank as well as the overall banking sector. The corporate loan defaulters are the main culprits behind draining out benefits of public sector banking," said S Nagarajan, ruing the fact that there is a law for loan recovery but has not been so effective. According to AIBOA, government should come up with strong recovery laws and also focus on implementation of the same. "To remedy the situation, government should enact an ordinance of effectively recovering the bad loans by attaching properties of the promoters as well as guarantors, expeditious recovery process through debt recovery tribunals, among others, which are the need of the time," he added. Government has admitted Rs 8 lakh crore bad loans in banking sector while according to AIBOA assessment, it is Rs 21 lakh crore which includes bad loans of Rs 3 lakh crore admitted by RBI and corporate debt restructuring of Rs 6 lakh crore, apart from money locked up in the coal license cancellation of 214 accounts worth Rs 5 lakh crore and Rs 7 lakh crore worth of money locked up in the infrastructure lending. ...ends US President Barack Obama marked the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare's death on Saturday by visiting the Globe theatre for a 10-minute performance of a scene from Hamlet, where the Danish prince poses the question: "To be or not to be". The Globe, with its timbered, white-washed curved-walls, is London's best-loved monument to the Bard, famous for its open-air performances of the works of England's greatest playwright. With the sun illuminating the theatre's wooden stage through the open roof, Obama was treated to a short private performance and entertained by a troupe of actors playing violins, mandolins, an accordion and penny whistles. "That was wonderful. I don't want it to stop," Obama said of the tale of the melancholy prince before shaking hands with the actors. The visit was something of a pilgrimage for the 44th President of the United States who has named Shakespeare's tragedies as among the top three books that have inspired him. According to a 2008 interview he gave to Rolling Stone, the other two works were Toni Morrison's "Song of Solomon" and Ernest Hemingway's "For Whom the Bell Tolls". In 2011, he quoted from one of those Shakespeare tragedies, Richard II, as he toasted Queen Elizabeth II: "To this blessed plot, this Earth, this realm, this England." Europe's latest fight against Google will surely be long, messy and kind to lawyers. But it seems unlikely to do much for competition, innovation or the consumers who benefit from both. In an antitrust case brought on Wednesday, the European Commission alleges that Google uses its Android operating system to unfairly privilege its own products on mobile phones. The new suit, which could result in a fine of more than $7 billion, joins a pending case filed almost six years ago about Google's dominance of the search-engine market. Google's mobile strategy is straightforward. It licenses its Android software to phone makers for free. In return, those agree to load Google apps onto their devices. The mobile-phone makers are free to choose not to, but then their users won't have access to some popular Google services, such as the Play store. By and large, this arrangement works pretty well. Google gets its apps in front of users, driving traffic to its services and selling ads. Phone makers get a stable and widely used operating system for free. And consumers have the liberty to download any of the 1.6 million apps Android offers, even if Google's stuff comes pre-loaded. By one conventional measure, this is satisfying all around: Android now powers some three-quarters of European smartphones. The main complaint of the antitrust czars is that this setup induces consumers to favour Google apps at the expense of potential competitors. As one regulator put it, Google should instead be letting users "decide for themselves which apps to load." This would be more persuasive if customers weren't already deciding for themselves which apps to load, and if it weren't trivially easy to find competing products on Android devices. (Remember: Google gives this technology away for free.) More broadly, the suit reflects a basic difference between European and American views of antitrust law. In the US, its main purpose is to protect consumers; in the EU, it is to protect competitors. Even under this theory, however, the EU's lawsuit is a reach. Google's free services power startups and strivers in Europe and around the world. Its eclectic research - into drones, driverless cars, even immortality - will surely benefit competitors yet unfounded. And there is another way in which the EU's investigation seems beside the point: Due to increasingly fierce competition, Google's dominant position in online advertising is by no means secure. Microsoft's dominance of the internet browser market in Europe was broken not by the EU's years-long antitrust suit but by competitors such as Mozilla and, ahem, Google. The behemoths of Silicon Valley aren't saints. But they've worked wonders for consumers, who now enjoy services and conveniences that were unthinkable only a generation ago - often for free. There's no guarantee that this virtuous cycle will always remain quite so virtuous, so vigilance is always necessary. But surely regulators should wait for a problem to emerge before they start demanding a solution. HSBC Holdings shareholders approved the bank's executive pay by a larger majority than last year after Chief Executive Officer Stuart Gulliver took a bonus cut and the bank lengthened deferrals for top managers. More than 90 per cent approved the executive pay report for 2015, after about 24 per cent of shareholders opposed it in last year's vote, the bank said Friday at its annual general meeting in London. Gulliver had his variable pay for 2015 cut 361,000 ($513,000) to 3 million, reducing his total compensation to the lowest since taking the CEO role in ... Singapore authorities have charged a former private banker with money laundering, following their probe into an embattled Malaysian state investment fund, according to people familiar with the case. Yeo Jiawei, a former wealth planner at the Singapore arm of Swiss private bank BSI SA, was charged on April 16, said the people. While the charge made no mention of 1Malaysia Development Bhd, they stemmed from investigations into the fund's money flows, the people said. Singapore's Attorney-General's Chambers on Friday confirmed Yeo's identity and the charge. The charges raise ... Uber Technologies' mega settlement of as much as $100 million helps it solve a major legal liability around workforce classification, but another piece of the agreement could make for some uncomfortable situations in the near future. As part of the settlement with drivers in California and Massachusetts, Uber has agreed to notify customers more clearly that tips are not included in fares and give tacit approval for optional gratuity. Drivers can now solicit cash tips by asking passengers or posting signs in their vehicles. Shannon Liss-Riordan, a lawyer representing the drivers, said ... Eight family members were found dead after being shot in the head "execution style in a rural southern Ohio community. Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine said investigators discovered seven adults and a 16-year-old dead at four crime scenes and the victims included a mother slain while her four-day-old child lay beside her. "We're advising family members to be very careful and take particular caution," CNN quoted him as saying. Pike County Sheriff, Charles Reader said that officers are searching for the killer or killers, who are probably armed and a danger to surviving family members. "We have a specific family that's been targeted but I don't think there's been a threat to any other members of the community," he said. "I've given the family precautionary measures to make. They know we're available," CNN quoted him as saying. Reader said that the child, along with a 6-month-old and a 3-year-old, survived the killings. He, however, did not name any suspect or give a motive, but said that all victims were members of the Rhoden family. The Ohio Attorney informed that the residents are grappling with a kind of violence rarely seen in Piketon, a town of about 2,000 residents 90 miles east of Cincinnati. "What makes this particularly grisly is you have three children involved who were there when the executions took place," he said. Reader said that the sheriff's office was notified in Friday morning that two bodies had been found in a bloody scene and the Officers were flagged down and told other bodies had been located. The officers at firs found seven people killed at three residences in the county, two "within walking distance" and the third about half a mile away, he said. On Friday afternoon, an eighth body was located in a fourth residence about 8 miles away, Reader said. The authorities are suspecting that there may be more than one killer. DeWine pressed that deaths are homicides but nobody killed themselves. "It would appear all of them were shot in the head.It would appear it occurred at night. ... The mother was killed in bed with the 4-day-old right there," DeWine said. " The Rhoden family was targeted and we've talked to the family and expressed our concern. The sheriff's office will work with them for protection, " he added. Meanhile, the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation is leading the investigation. It sent more than a dozen agents to assist the Pike County Sheriff's Office after the request for help came. Ohio Governor John Kasich has called the situation "beyond comprehension" and said the state is working with local law enforcement. "Reports we are receiving from Peebles are tragic beyond comprehension. We'll continue to monitor this closely and the state will work w/ local law enforcement however we can, " he tweeted. The Ontario Court of Justice will on Saturday hear the torture charges levelled against Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee president Captain Amarinder Singh by a U.S.-based human rights advocacy group "Sikhs for Justice" (SFJ). Singh, who is on visits to the U.S and Canada, has to cancel his political rallies in Toronto and Vancouver scheduled for the next week, following a request made by the Canadian Foreign Ministry. The SJF had lodged a complaint with the Minister of Foreign Affairs that the visit of Singh is "potential violation" of the "Global Affairs Canada" (GAC) policy. SFJ had lodged a complaint with the Canadian government against the election activities planned by Captain. "By targeting Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) living in Canada, canvassing for their votes and holding fundraising events in Toronto and Vancouver, Amarinder Singh would be violating the Canadian government's policy," said the SFJ. SFJ legal advisor Gurpatwant Singh Pannun told ANI over phone, "The purpose of a pre-enquete hearing is to determine whether there is sufficient evidence of torture charges levelled against the former Punjab chief minister to issue a summon or an arrest warrant requiring Capt. Amarinder to stand trial before the Ontario Court." Capt. Singh has shot off a letter to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, protesting against the decision to disallow him from addressing gatherings. Capt. Singh tweeted his letter and said he was disappointed over, "the gag order that has left a bad taste." "Since the host country does not allow such events, I thought it was better to cancel them," the Congress leader said in a statement said. "I would, however, look forward to meeting my fellow Punjabis in their homes and small groups to ensure the compliance of the host country's laws," he added. Seems like Deepika Padukone is having a gala time on the set of 'xXx Recently, her co-star, Tony Jaa, posted a selfie with the 30-year-old diva, wherein they both look like two kids, goofing around the sets and posting pout selfies. The Thai actor also seconds the same, and posted, "We never stop having fun when #DeepikaPadukone 's on set." The 'Bajirao Mastani' actress will be wrapping up her shoot by mid of May and will be back to start her next in Bollywood. It is rumoured, Deepika will be cast opposite Salman Khan in Kabir Khan's next flick. It is rightly said that 'where there is a will, there is a way.' In order to fulfill an age-old dream of his father, a groom in Sathava village of the Sarnath area in Varanasi arrived in a helicopter for his wedding procession. Akhilesh Singh, the groom, the son of the village head, said the entire family was very happy for this marriage. "It is the first time in our village a marriage is happening in which the groom is coming in a helicopter," he said. The groom's father, Vijay Singh, expressed his happiness, saying that it was his dream that his son receive his would-be wife in a helicopter. The entire village gathered to see the groom coming down from the helicopter. They were seen dancing and singing songs. After performing all rituals, the bride and groom went to their home in Chandauli. Pakistan Supreme Court (SC) Justice Saqib Nisar took oath as the acting Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) in Islamabad today, on the account of CJP Anwar Zaheer Jamali's seven day official visit to Anwar Zaheer Jamali's Following the oath taking ceremony, Chief Justice Nisar said that despite his post, he does not have the authority to respond to the government's letter, requesting the CJP to form an inquiry commission under broad-based terms of references (ToRs) to settle the Panama leaks controversy. The acting chief justice said that Chief Justice Jamali will take a decision about the formation of the commission after his return from Turkey, reports Dawn. The Dawn reports that CJP Jamali is likely to return to Pakistan on May 1. Almost three weeks after the leaks revealed that the Prime Minister's three children were among dozens of influential people from across the globe having offshore companies in tax havens. The government sent a letter to the Supreme Court registrar, requesting chief justice of Pakistan to form an inquiry commission under broad-based ToRs. The move was announced by Premier Nawaz Sharif in his second address to the nation on the matter. A delegation of senior Sri Lankan Buddhist monks and scholars led by the Speaker of the Parliament, Karu Jayasuriya, visited Taxila, Pakistan's ancient Buddhist center of learning, the Taxila museum and Taxila University. The 40-member Sri Lankan Buddhist delegation arrived in Pakistan for a week-long visit on Friday. The visit is part of an initiative aimed at introducing the people of Sri Lanka to Pakistan's rich Buddhist history and reviving the heritage of Pakistan's 'Gandhara Trail', the cultural and commercial hub of which was located at the present day town of Taxila, now a UNESCO Heritage Site, reports the Colombo Page website. During the visit, the delegation also offered their religious rituals and prayed at the Taxila Museum. Pakistan's Deputy High Commissioner to Sri Lanka Dr Sarfraz Ahmed Khan was also present on this occasion. The delegation members thanked the Pakistan government for the warm welcome and hospitality extended to them. The delegation will be visiting different sites of Buddhist spiritual & religious significance in Mardan, Takht-i-Bahi and Swat, besides visiting Lahore, Taxila and Peshawar Museums, which are home to some of the rarest historical Buddhist holy relics. Nepal's UCPN-Maoist Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal has said that he would take responsibility for incidents that occurred during the decade-long Maoist movement. At a press conference organised by the Revolutionary Journalists Association, at Dang, Dahal clarified he would take the entire responsibility of the then incidents as the supreme commander of the people's liberation army (PLA) and the party chair as well, reports The Himalayan Times. Dahal said that that the insurgency-related cases should be resolved through the principle of transitional justice. The former Prime Minister further said that he did not have any objections about the activities of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) and the Commission for Investigation of the Enforced Disappeared. Dahal urged the Nepali Congress and Madhesi centric parties to join the incumbent government to give it a shape of a national consensus government. Dahal clarified he was exercising to transform the incumbent government into a national consensus one. Responding to a query relating to the recent meeting of different Maoist parties at his party headquarters, Dahal expressed dissatisfaction over some decisions of the courts deliberately made against the Maoist parties. Bollywood actor will be announced as the Goodwill Ambassador for the Indian contingent at Rio Olympics, this year. Although, no official announcement has been been made till now. Rio Olympics is scheduled to commence on August 5 and end on August 21. The Olympic torch has been lit in southern Greece, kicking off the countdown to Rio 2016 on April 21. In a solemn and elaborate ceremony worthy of a 'Game of Thrones' pageant, women in ancient-Greek style dresses and men in tunics performed symbolic rituals at the site of Ancient Olympia. After its sprint through Greece, the torch will travel to Brazil on April 27 to begin a 95-day tour visiting 83 cities, 26 state capitals and 500 towns, reaching an estimated 90 per cent of the population. Bhumata Brigade chief Trupti Desai on Saturday insisted that the threats of Shiv Sena leader Haji Arafat will not work and her group would be going to Haji Ali Dargah on April 28. "This kind of threat is wrong. Everyone has the right to protest in a democracy. He has insulted women," Desai told ANI. "Our group would be going to Haji Ali Dargah on April 28. The threats from the Shiv Sena won't work," she added. Demanding the Shiv Sena to clear its stand, the Bhumata Brigade chief said that if the organization differs in views with Haji Arafat then they should sack him. Haji Arafat has earlier said he would not allow Trupti Desai to touch the mazar-e-sharif of Haji Ali Dargah. "Islam does not allow women to touch the mazar-e-sharif in a dargah. We strongly condemn what Trupti Desai is saying. We won't allow her to enter the inner sanctum of the Hazi Ali Dargah. I will be the voice of my religion and will not allow her to touch the mazar-e-sharif, Haji Arafat told ANI. On April 20, 'Haji Ali For All' Forum was launched by Desai along with several activists, NGOs and social groups to fight for entry of women to the shrine. The Maharashtra Government had in February supported the entry of women to the Haji Ali Dargah. The government had told the Bombay High Court that the entry of women cannot be prohibited. The court had asked the Devendra Fadnavis-led BJP Government to give its opinion on a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) challenging the decision of the Haji Ali Trust to ban the entry of women in the sanctum sanctorum of the dargah. A trustee of the Dargah, Rizwan Merchant, had earlier backed the decision not to allow women to enter inside the inner sanctum, saying their entry is prohibited for their own safety. Shah Rukh Khan knows how to create a perfect balance between personal and professional life. Though the 50-year-old actor is busy with his latest release 'Fan,' upcoming flick 'Raees' and the 'Knights' in the IPL series, he flew off to London to spend a "wicked weekend" with his kids, Aryaan and Suhana, who are studying there. The 'Dilwale' actor took to his Twitter handle to inform about his weekend plans. In reply to a post by Knight Riders' official Twitter page, which showed the players having gala time watching 'Fan' in a multiplex, SRK wrote, "Hope u guys like it. In London for a few days. Wicked weekend with the kids. But rushing back to be with u boys soon." Reportedly, AbRam too joined his dad to meet his elder siblings in London. According to a leading web portal, the inseparable father-son duo was clicked while checking-in at the Mumbai airport. At meeting held on 22 April 2016 Reliance Industries announced that the Board of Directors of the Company at its meeting held on 22 April 2016, inter alia, has not recommended any final dividend on the equity shares and the interim dividend declared by them at their meeting held on 10 March 2016 is the dividend on the equity shares of the Company for the financial year ended 31 March 2016. Powered by Capital Market - Live News Devinderpal Singh Bhullar, convicted in the 1993 Delhi bomb blast, was on Saturday ordered to be released on a 21-day parole by the Punjab government. Bhullar, who is suffering from acute depression and was reported to be mentally unstable, was admitted to the psychiatry ward of Guru Nanak Dev Hospital in Amritsar where he was shifted in June last year from New Delhi. He was admitted in New Delhi's Institute of Human Behaviour and Allied Sciences for treatment for the past few years. District authorities in Amritsar confirmed that Bhullar's parole orders had been received. Bhullar, a Khalistani terrorist, was convicted in the assassination attempt of former Indian Youth Congress president Maninderjit Singh Bitta in New Delhi in which several people died in September 1993. He was transferred to the Amritsar prison from New Delhi in June last year. His name was linked to terrorist activities in Punjab in the early 1990s. Bhullar had spent over 20 years in jail and there were demands from his family and radical Sikh organisations to release him on humanitarian grounds as he was mentally not stable. --IANS js/pm/ With the Congress set to corner the government over the dismissal of the Uttarakhand government and the ruling BJP intending to strongly counter it over "faulty" investigation in cases related to Ishrat Jahan and Lt. Col. Shrikant Purohit, yet another parliament session, this one beginning on Monday, looks set for a washout. The possibility of the two camps reconciling are remote as the confrontation is at the very top level, with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) determined to take on Congress president Sonia Gandhi for "influencing changes" in the Ishrat Jahan affidavit, while the Congress too finds fault with no less than Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah. "We do not see any harmony. The acrimonious mood will thus prevail even in both houses in parliament. You can expect washout of another session," former Samajwadi Party MP Shailendra Kumar told IANS here. Kumar's pessimism is not isolated as many sitting lawmakers -- from both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha - too feel that scenes of pandemonium would be repeated once again and the much-required Goods and Services Tax (GST) Bill will continue to remain stalled. Moreover, the ruling party has also stepped up attack on former home minister P. Chidambaram alleging that his decision to alter the affidavit on Ishrat Jahan was probably at the instance of higher ups in his party. "All these certainly seem to slam Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi and therefore, reconciliation between BJP and Congress does not appear likely," the Samajwadi Party leader said. In fact, the sentiment among non-Congress and non-BJP parties is that the confrontation between the ruling party and the opposition camp has got further aggravated. "It has become a pattern. Every time on the eve of the parliament sessions, Congress and BJP instead of reaching out to each other try to raise the level of confrontation. The casualty is the smooth functioning of parliament," a member of Odisha-based regional party Biju Janata Dal told IANS. Besides eyeing the passage of long-pending Goods and Service Tax Bill, the fate of the National Waterways Transportation Bill, Consumer Protection Bill and the Companies (Amendment) Bill, 2016 that seek to improve ease of doing business also hang in the balance. The parliamentary panel's report on the vexed land acquisition bill is also awaited. Congress has decided to stick to its aggressive posture on Uttarakhand. Anand Sharma, the party's deputy leader in Rajya Sabha, where the government is in minority, has already moved a notice for passing of a resolution, criticising the Narendra Modi-led government for imposing President's Rule in the state. "It was a gross lapse on the part of government to have dismissed the Harish Rawat government just hours before the trial of strength in the assembly," Congress Rajya Sabha MP, Ambika Sonia said. Congress and its allies including the Left parties may also stage protests outside parliament to highlight the Centre's "misuse of power" and giving cooperative federalism the go by. On alleged moves by the Modi government to let the Samjhauta Express blast accused Col Purohit off the hook or for dilution of alleged 'Hindu terror' cases filed under the previous United Progressive Alliance (UPA) regime, the Congress has demanded removal of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) chief Sharad Kumar. For its part, the BJP members like Anurag Thakur and Kirit Somaiya have said they will raise issues like the Ishrat Jahan case probe in Lok Sabha. "I will raise these issues in Lok Sabha as the Congress action on Ishrat Jahan not only exposes its prejudiced mind to play vote bank politics, but this has serious impact on national security as a Lashkar-e-Taiba operative was being given out as a helpless and innocent victim while police and security personnel were implicated," Anurag Thakur told IANS. The saffron party's attack against the Congress leadership is likely to be a multi-pronged strategy. BJP spokesman Sudhanshu Trivedi has already alleged that the saffron terror phrase was first used in 2009 and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had reportedly said in an interaction in July 2010 that 'Hindu terrorism' was more dangerous than other terrorism. "Subsequently home minister P. Chidambaram used the saffron terrorism phrase in parliament in August 2010. Congress leader Digvijay Singh in Mumbai had released a book that had linked the RSS to the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks," Trivedi alleged and wanted to know "how all these coincidences happened together". On behalf of Congress, Ashok Gehlot has accused Modi and Amit Shah of trying to defame the Congress president and vice president in the Ishrat Jahan encounter case to "draw political mileage". Responding to the salvo that Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi had instructed Chidambaram to change the affidavit, the Congress spokesman Randeep Surjewalla has said that Modi was trying to derail the probe. Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan has now called an all-party meeting on Sunday to ensure smooth functioning of the house. But as usual not many are optimistic about the outcome. (Nirendra Dev can be contacted at nirendra.n@ians.in) --IANS nd/rn/vm The emerging strategic and security scenario and the operational preparedness of the Indian army will be among the key issues to be discussed by top officers in six-day long Army Commanders' Conference starting here from Monday, a defence statement said. The conference, April 25-30, will discuss "current and emerging strategic security scenario, review of operational preparedness of the Indian Army and aspects pertaining to training, administration, military technology and force modernisation", it said. The conference will be inaugurated by Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar and chaired by Army chief, Gen. Dalbir Singh. --IANS ao/vd With the Kerala assembly election around the corner, campaigning has taken a different form as several top politicians have shifted to the social media, especially Facebook, on a war footing. The latest to jump onto the bandwagon is 92-year-old veteran CPI-M leader and former chief minister V.S. Achuthanandan. In just six days, his Facebook page has got more than one lakh likes. Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, state Congress president V.M. Sudheeran and CPI-M politburo member Pinarayi Vijayan are among the others who have now become very active on social and are using it to express their views, besides attacking one another. Chandy and Sudheeran have taken on Achuthanandan and reminded him about various stands he took in the past and on how he has shifted from those. On Saturday, Achuthanandan hit back at Chandy and explained his stand in a few cases, but soon, Sudheeran and Chandy returned with new posts to take on the veteran Marxist leader. A team of professionals hand-picked by these leaders are burning the midnight oil, watching every activity on the political front, and then coming up with fresh posts. The biggest gainer appears to be the local television media, as each fresh post is broadcast as a 'breaking news'. Polls for the 140-member Kerala assembly will take place on May 16. --IANS sg/pm/bg Versatile actor Arvind Swamy, who has ruled the Southern film industry for a long time, says he hopes to wield the megaphone soon. "I have plans to get into direction. Yes, I have written two scripts that I will be directing soon in a year or so. I am not sure whether it will be in Hindi or Tamil," Arvind told IANS. Arvind, who made his Bollywood debut with Mani Ratnam's 1992 film "Roja", is returning to the Hindi film world with debutant director Tanuj Bhramar's upcoming film "Dear Dad". The actor feels now audiences have changed and they are more receptive to new ideas. "I was not working for a while, but now I wanted to come back and enjoy my work. These days audiences have also changed... They are more receptive to new ideas. I didn't want to do the regular films. Now, it's my time to choose films with so many options that I have," he said. "Dear Dad" is a bitter-sweet coming-of-age story involving a father-son duo -- 14 year old Shivam and his 45-year-old father Nitin Swaminathan. --Indo-Asian News service Uma/ank/bg Pledging the India's commitment to fight global warming, Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar signed the historic Paris climate change agreement Friday calling it "the triumph of collective wisdom" in the global race to save the planet. The key element of the agreement that UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called "the covenant with the future" is a global effort to keep the rise in global temperatures below 2 degrees centigrade compared to the pre-industrial era level. After a parade of 175 leaders - presidents, prime ministers, princes, ministers and ambassadors - signed the agreement, the largest number of nations ever to sign such a pact at one time, Ban declared, "When I look out at the horizon, I see, more clearly than ever, the outlines of a new and better world." Speaking at the signing ceremony, Javadekar made a plea for "sustainable lifestyles and sustainable consumption" and for climate justice, both of which are in the agreement's preamble. "We must chalk up our action plans to implement the Paris Agreement based on these two features," he said. "If we continue with unsustainable consumption patterns, we will require three planets," he warned. "But we don't have three, we have only one planet, which people call mother earth. We must, therefore, take care of this one mother earth." Earlier in an interview he had attributed sustainable lifestyles and climate justice finding a place in the preamble to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's forceful advocacy. Javadekar solemnly reiterated India's commitment to reduce its emissions intensity - the amount of carbon output per unit of gross domestic product (GDP) - by 35 percent, to build up the non-fossil fuel power generation capacity to 40 percent, and to undertake a massive afforestation effort that will absorb 2.5 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Javadekar reminded the developed countries of their responsibilities. "Developed world must take enhanced targets for the pre-2020 period," which are required for the agreement to proceed, he said. "There cannot be an action holiday of five years." He also raised the issue of barriers being placed by developed nations in the way of adoption and proliferation of technologies for renewable energies. "Competitiveness concerns should not over shadow our common resolve to build a sustainable future," he said adding that he did not want to name any countries because of the solemnity of the occasion. The US took successful action against India before the World Trade Organisation over the requirements that certain parts for use in the Indian solar programmed should be made in India. New Delhi is challenging the ruling. The opening of the signing ceremony bestowed an honor for an Indian, Mahindra Group CEO Anand Mahindra, who was chosen to speak on behalf of the world's private sector. It was also a recognition of the active role the Indian private sector had taken on for limiting climate change. Mahindra said the agreement gave "business a chance to redeem itself from the trust deficit." He likened the process of arriving at the agreement to the manthan or churning in the Hindu scriptures that brought forth amrit or nectar of everlasting life, in this case the pact to "safeguard the world as we know it." The opening ceremony had a touch of glamour and drama amid a display of international power by political potentates. Actor Leonardo DiCaprio was one of the main speakers at the event and he said, "Now think about the shame that each of us will carry when our children and grandchildren look back and realise that we had the means of stopping this devastation, but simply lacked the political will to do so." Children representing 197 countries wearing shirts that read, "Your promise, our future," made their generation's case for the environment. US Secretary of State John Kerry held his two-year-old granddaughter Isabelle Dobbs-Higginson on his lap as he signed the agreement to emphasize the inter-generational responsibilities. (Arul Louis can be reached at arul.l@ians.in) --IANS al /tb Filmmaker Pawan Kumar, who shot to fame with the critically acclaimed Kannada film "Lucia", is ready with his second directorial, "U-Turn", which will hit the Indian screens on May 20. "In 10 months, we have gone from ideation to release. I am hoping that this film will make all the patrons of 'Lucia' happy again. The film will be premiering at the prestigious New York Indian Film Festival on May 8," Kumar said in a statement. "In over 75 years of Kannada cinema, very few films including 'Lucia' and 'U-Turn' have had an international premiere. We hope this will make way for more Kannada cinema to be introduced to the world," he added. The film, which will be distributed by Drishyam Films, will release on screens across multiple cities such as Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kochi, Trivandrum, Ahmedabad, Surat, Vadodara etc. Featuring Shraddha Srinath, Roger Narayanan, Radhika Chetan and Dilip Raj, the mystery thriller revolves around a young journalist who finds herself entangled in a murder case while working on a story on traffic rule breakers. --IANS hp/ank/bg Tribal leaders from Manipur's hills insisted on Saturday that they would not bury the bodies of nine protesters killed in clashes with the police after the state assembly passed three controversial bills last year till a constiitutional provision protecting the rights of indegenous peoples was extended to the northeastern state. "Today is the 236th day since the bodies have been lying in a morgue in Churachandpur," Romeo Hmar, convener of Manipur Tribals Forum Delhi (MTFD), said at a press conference here that was also attended by representatives of the All Manipur Tribal Women's Union (AMTWU). "Till today, no FIR has been lodged against anybody responsible for the deaths of the nine people," Hmar said, adding that the tribal people would not rest till the provisions of the constitution's sixth schedule were extended to Manipur. The sixth schedule ensures that the rights of tribal people who are minorities within a state or geographical area populated by a dominant non-tribal people are not subsumed within the rights framework of the latter. In the case of Manipur, the Meiteis of the state's valley area form the dominant non-tribal population. Ostensibly to safeguard the rights of the indigenous people, the Manipur government, bowing to pressure from agitators from the Valley, convened a special session of the assembly last August 31 and passed three controversial bills -- the Protection of Manipur People Bill, the Manipur Land Revenue and Land Reforms Bill (Seventh Amendment) and the Manipur Shops and Establishments (Second Amendment) Bill. The very day the bills were passed, protestors, mainly comprising tribal organisations, torched five houses belonging to Congress legislators. Among them were the dwellings of Health and Family Welfare Minister Phungzathang Tonsing and Lok Sabha member from Outer Manipur Thangso Baite in Churachandpur district. The violence and resultant police action left nine people dead on September 1. The nine bodies are still lying in a Churachandpur hospital morgue with the families refusing to bury them till the hill peoples' demands are met. The state government had passed the bills after a three-month-long agitation spearheaded by the Joint Committee on Inner Line Permit System (JCILPS) demanding the enforcement of an inner line permit system similar to those in force in Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, and Nagaland to check the influx of non-Manipuris into the state. The JCILPS says that according to the 2011 census, Manipur's population is 2.7 million. Of this, only 1.7 million are indigenous people while the rest are people who have their roots outside the state. However, according to the tribes inhabiting the hills of Manipur, the three bills would directly undermine the existing safeguards for the tribal hill areas regarding land ownership and population influx, as the primary threat for the tribal people came not from outside the state but from the Meitei people of the valley itself. Hmar on Saturday said that if the sixth schedule was extended to Manipur, then the rights of the tribal people would be protected if the three bills came into force. "Manipur's tribal people are the only tribal people of the northeastern states who are not covered under the sixth schedule," Hmar said. "We are not making a demand for it, we are claiming what is legitimately due to us. Give us equal treatment like other tribal people in the rest of India." The MTFD convener said that prime minister P.V. Narasimha Rao, while addressing the parliament in 1994 after the sixth schedule was extended to Tripura, had said that it would be extended to Manipur as well. "Till today, nothing has happened. We will bury the bodies of the nine protesters as soon as the Sixth Schedule is extended to Manipur," Hmar said. Nianglian, convener of AMTWU, said that the tribal people were demanding to know why they have not been given justice. "Why has the government of India not let us know about the status of the bills?" she asked. "We are not asking for something impossible but something that is possible," she said. The three controversial bills are now reportedly lying with the union home ministry. --IANS ab/vm German Chancellor Angela Merkel and top EU officials will on Saturday visit the Turkish-Syrian border to promote a controversial month-old migrant deal. The visit comes amid questions over the legality of the EU-Turkey pact, which deports back to Turkey migrants who do not qualify for asylum in Greece. Human rights groups said Turkey is not a safe place to return people, BBC reported. Turkish officials have warned the deal could collapse if demands for visa-free EU travel for its citizens were not met. The chancellor has faced opposition in Germany for her migration policies and has defended the deal with Turkey despite opposition from some European partners. Her trip comes as she faces additional pressure for agreeing to the prosecution of a German comedian accused of insulting Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Advocates of freedom of speech in both Turkey and Germany have called on Merkel to send out a strong message on the issue during her visit. It has been over a month now since the migrant deal between the EU and Turkey was struck, but not everyone was convinced that it was working smoothly. Although the number of migrants reaching Greece from Turkey has dropped by around 80%, few EU experts have arrived in the field, and many EU nations are dragging their feet to accept more migrants in. Angela Merkel said the aim of the visit was to see the living conditions of migrants in Turkey. More will be on the table, such as the promise of visa-free travel for Turkish citizens willing to go to Europe, which seems to be one of the most contentious issues. The goal of the EU-Turkey deal is to deter migrants, mainly Syrians and Iraqis, from making the crossing between Turkey and Greece. Under the agreement, migrants who have arrived illegally in Greece since March 20 are expected to be sent back to Turkey if they do not apply for asylum or if their claim is rejected. For each Syrian migrant returned to Turkey, the EU will take in another Syrian who has made a legitimate request. The scheme has reduced sharply the number of arrivals, from more than 56,000 in February to around 7,800 over the past 30 days, according to the European Commission. However, the Organisation of Migration said unofficial data for arrivals in Greece in recent days suggested the numbers were picking up again. The promised relocation to EU countries seems to be slow as nations were reluctant to take in more migrants -- 103 Syrians have been resettled from Turkey to Europe, the commission said. The EU has pledged up to $6.8 billion (4.5 billion pounds) in aid to Turkey over the next four years. Ankara, however, expects more, including visa liberalisation, a point which faces opposition of some EU members. "If the European Union does not take the steps it needs to take, if it does not fulfil its pledges, then Turkey won't implement this agreement," Erdogan said earlier this month. The agreement said Turkey must meet 72 conditions by May 4 to earn the visa waiver, but diplomats said only half of those points have been met so far. Turkey already hosts some 2.7 million Syrian refugees, at a cost of over $10 billion (7 billion pounds), the government said. Mossack Fonseca, the law firm at the centre of the massive leak of offshore financial data known as the 'Panama Papers', has denied destroying documents, claiming that bags of shredded paper seized by investigators from one of its properties contain information already collected in an earlier raid. In a statement, the company said it had digitised all of its documents and that prosecutors already had copies of everything removed in the latest raid on Friday. The company said it sent the documents to the warehouse on the outskirts of Panama city, in a neighbourhood less than 15 km from the headquarters of the firm, so they could be recycled, Efe news reported. Javier Caraballo, head of the newly formed Special Prosecutor for Organised Crime, said as he left the building that investigators had found "extensive documentation" and would re-assemble the shredded papers to analyse their contents. The headquarters of Mossack Fonseca, in the banking centre of the capital, was raided on April 12 in a search that lasted more than 27 hours but ended with no conclusive evidence to support charges. The leaks were reported by the media around the world on April 3 and included millions of documents related to shell companies and offshore accounts set up by Mossack Fonseca for its wealthy and powerful clients. Among those implicated in the leaks were Russian President Vladimir Putin, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, and relatives of British Prime Minister David Cameron and Chinese President Xi Jinping. --IANS py/bg North Korea has fired a submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) in the eastern waters, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said on Saturday. The projectile, estimated to have been a missile launched from a submarine, was fired around 6.30 p.m. (local time) in the waters off North Korea's South Hamgyong province, Xinhua cited South Korea's JCS as saying. The official declined to elaborate on whether the SLBM launch had succeeded, saying the military was closely monitoring the moves of the North Korean forces. --IANS py/bg President Pranab Mukherjee on Saturday inaugurated the Khongjom war monument at the place where the last battle of Manipur's independence was fought against the British army in 1891. The war memorial has been built at the Kheba hillock in Thoubal district along the India-Myanmar border, just over 30 km from Imphal. "It is a historic day since the last battle for (Manipur's) independence was fought at the same ground where we are assembled. After conquering several places in east, west and south India in two decades, the (British) mercantile company ruled the vast country. The Union Jack flag was hoisted in many parts of the country," Mukherjee said. "Queen Victoria made an announcement in 1857, saying that henceforth there would be no more annexation but small states would be protected by the British paramount." However, the princes of Manipur led by Tikendrajit revolted and the Britishers despatched three army columns from Tamu in then Burma (Myanmar), Cachar and Kohima in undivided Assam. The last battle against the British was fought at the Kheba hillock on April 23, 1891. "Manipur had the shortest period under British rule, up to 1945. Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose had hoisted the flag of independence near Moreh (in 1944)," the president said. Extolling the natural beauty, rich culture, endurance and tolerance of the people, Mukherjee said it was no wonder that India's first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru described Manipur as the jewel of India. Mukherjee said he was joining the people in paying homage to the brave sons and daughters of the country "who gave their today for our tomorrow". Manipur Governor V. Shamuganathan said the brave Manipuri soldiers fought the mighty British even though they (Manipuris) were armed with primitive weapons. Describing Manipur as an "unexplored paradise", the governor said: "There is no wonder that Manipur is the power house of sports. We appreciate the music and dance of the state." He, however, pointed out that there was a need to advance education and generate employment in the state. Thanking Mukherjee, Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh said: "We are grateful to the president for gracing the occasion. The monument inaugurated by the president signifies strength, moral courage and bravery of the people." Okram Ibobi hoped that the monument located along the Trans-Asian (India-Myanmar-Thailand) highway shall be a tourist attraction and help boost the state's economy. In the morning, the chief minister, his cabinet colleagues and officials paid homage to the martyrs. Security was beefed up in view of a boycott call given by an umbrella group of six banned organisations. However, there was no report of any untoward incident during the president's visit. --IANS il/pm/bg The Himachal Pradesh government has no plan to change the names of Shimla city and colonial-era landmarks in the state, Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh said on Saturday. "The renaming of Shimla and landmarks associated with the British rule will not be allowed," the chief minister told reporters here. The demand for changing names has come from Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP). After the decision to rename 'Gurgaon' in Haryana as 'Gurugram' was taken by the BJP government, the Himachal unit of VHP urged the chief minister that 'Shimla' be rechristened 'Shemalaya' which it claimed is the city's old name. Taking a jibe at the VHP, the octogenarian chief minister said: "Tomorrow they can say that Virbhadra Singh should also be renamed." The VHP also said that state-run hotel-cum-guest house Peterhoff in Shimla should be renamed 'Valmiki Bhawan' and Dalhousie town, which was established in 1854 by the British government as a summer retreat, should be named after Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. Peterhoff was home to seven viceroys during the British Raj. It later housed the Punjab High Court where Mahatma Gandhi's assassin Nathu Ram Godse was tried. It housed the Raj Bhavan in 1981 when it was gutted in a fire. It was subsequently rebuilt. Shimla, which served as the summer capital of British India between 1864 and 1939, currently has 91 British-era heritage buildings. --IANS vg/kb/vm Shiv Sena leader Durga Prasad Gupta was shot dead by unidentified assailants in Khanna town of Punjab's Ludhiana district on Saturday, police said. Gupta, who was provided security by the Punjab Police, was alone when the attack took place near his office in Khanna town, 75 km from here. He died on the spot after being shot from close distance by the assailants who were on a motorcycle. This is not the first attack on right-wing leaders, especially from Shiv Sena, in Punjab in the last one year. Shiv Sena leader Harinder Soni was shot at by unidentified assailants while he was on a walk in Gurdaspur town in north Punjab in April last year, while other unidentified assailants shot at the son of a Shiv Sena leader in Jalandhar city on January 18 this year leaving him injured. The victim, Deepak, son of Sena leader Vinay Jalandhari, was shot at by two motorcycle-borne assailants outside a school in Jalandhar's Deen Dyal Upadhaya Nagar area. In two separate incidents, unidentified people fired shots at Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) activists in Ludhiana city in January and February this year. --IANS js/vd Budget passenger carrier on Saturday said that it has sacked a commander-level pilot on charges of sexual harassment. The pilot was sacked after an internal complaint committee found him to be guilty of misconduct and sexually harassing an air hostess. The incident occurred during the airline's February 28 Kolkata-Bangkok flight, when the commander allegedly asked the air hostess to sit with him in the cockpit. According to sources, the pilot allegedly asked his co-pilot to leave the cockpit for a substantial period of time, leaving the commander and the air hostess alone. The commander repeated the act on the return leg of the journey. The pilot also used "unparliamentary language" with the Cabin Crew In Charge (CCI). Further, on complaint of the air hostess an internal committee was set up to look into the matter and found the commander guilty. "The incident would not have come to light if the pilot had not used abusive language with the cabin crew in charge. The very next day a complaint was received and the committee was setup to look into the matter," sources said. "The committee after recording the statement of all the parties found the pilot guilty. The airline's chairman Ajay Singh was keen to take the strictest action possible against the pilot." After the inquiry the airline sacked the commander and informed the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) about the incident. In a statement the airline said that it is an equal opportunity employer. "With respect to the present case, we wish to inform that we have internal complaint committee in place which is mandated by The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (prevention, prohibition and redressal) Act, 2013," the statement said. "We initiated inquiry process as per the guidelines laid in the said Act." As per the airline, the services of the alleged pilot has been terminated and the case has been informed to DGCA by flight safety department. Apart from the sexual harassment charges, the DGCA is said to have taken note of the flight safety breach caused by the incident. The absence of the co-pilot from the cockpit for a substantial period of time is considered to be a major safety breach and violation of operational procedures. If found guilty of safety breach the flying license of the pilot may be suspended. Three teams from the Birla Institute of Technology and Science (Bits) Pilani, the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)-Bombay and IIT-Varanasi were on Friday chosen as winners of the second edition of "Ericsson Innovation Awards India" here. The awards were presented by Paolo Colella, head (India region) of the Swedish communication technology firm Ericsson in association with the Foundation for Innovation and Technology Transfer (FITT), an industry interface organisation of IIT-Delhi. The winning teams will receive Rs.13 lakh each towards incubating the winning projects at any IIT-approved technology business incubators. "At the forefront of innovation in its history of 140 years, Ericsson wish to identify innovators of tomorrow and help them shape the solutions that will further define the networked society," Colella said in a statement. "Ericsson Innovation Awards India" were initiated in 2014 to promote the spirit of innovation within engineering students at select IITs. In its second year, the awards were rolled out to IITs, IISc Bangalore, BITS Pilani, and Banaras Hindu University (BHU), among others. The projects were submitted by students in areas such as web design, cloud computing, storage and networking, human-machine interface, embedded and hardware system design, Internet of Things (IoT), graphics and visualisation as well as research. --IANS sku/na/bg Less than two years ago, Man Bahadur Tamang was the proud owner of a homestead and farmland in this central Nepali village. But he lost all that he had in monster landslides that swept across the steep hillside wreaking havoc in its way and claiming 156 lives. Triggered by heavy rainfall, the massive landslides on August 2, 2014, blocked the Sunkoshi river creating an artificial lake in Sindhupalchok district and ripped a five-km portion of the Arniko Highway -- the main artery of goods and people flow to China. Tamang lost all that he had in the landslides -- his home as well as his farmland which was his sole means of earning a livelihood. "From a proud owner of adequate farm land, I have now become a daily wage labourer to earn my livelihood and look after my small family," said Tamang, 63, carrying a bundle of locally grown bamboo from a nearby forest on the steep slope above. He has built a temporary shelter near the road, not far away from his original homestead that was lost in the massive landslides. The artificial lake crated by the devastating landslides blocking the Sunkoshi river's flow submerged a hydro power plant and destroyed sections of the highway linking and China that cost the country $400,000 in trade revenue each day it remained closed for 45 days. Downstream, it created panic and fear in Bihar after the government warned of floods if there was a sudden bursting of the artificial lake formed behind the dam. Taking the threat seriously, the Bihar government sounded a flood alert in eight districts and started evacuating the people living along the Kosi's embankments. Such a disaster was neither new nor the last in the Kosi river basin. In the last 50 years, at least five such disasters have affected the basin. "The killer landslides changed the natural river flow, the landscape and farm land, not to talk about our village," said 78-year-old villager Jeet Bahadur Tamang, who lost his home in the nearby village of Mankha and all his kin in the landslides. Dozens of houses were either buried or smashed by the landslides in Mankha. "I have lost everything, with no one to take care of me. I am living alone in this old age... the government provides me ration to survive after the landslides," he said while drinking spring water from a tap, hardly a few metres from the debris of the landslides that still lay scattered as evidence near the Arniko highway, a road link connecting Kathmandu with the northern districts and the border with China. Tamang said that before the landslides he was fully dependent on farming for his livelihood. "No more now, my farmland has gone in the landslide and I have to fight to survive." He recalled that he used to harvest his crops and his traditional store made of bamboo was always full of foodgrains at home. But no more. "Now I am a landless labourer, dependent on labour jobs in the ongoing government works...." Tamang, along with several other families, has constructed tin and bamboo shelters and hopes that the government will build modest homes for them soon. "The government is yet to construct homes for us and has neither provided money to survivors like us," said Lanka Lama, a young man whose family used to till its farmland for livelihood but lost everything in the landslides. "I am working as a driver near Kathmandu and other male members of my family have also taken up jobs," said 22-year-old Lama. Lama said many of the survivors migrated to nearby towns and some to Kathmandu in search of livelihood. "They were forced to migrate after their land was devastated by the landslides with mud burying their farmlands." Lama's grandmother Suku Maya said: "We had to fight for survival after the landslides and are still fighting. Our future is uncertain. We are worried about our next generation as to how they would live here in fear." Tamang said: "We still fear devastation, destruction and death. During monsoon season, our fear increased. Some officials and scientists visited this area and told us that it is not a safe zone, anything can happen any time. But we are poor people, where can we go from here?" According to experts of Kathmandu-based Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), nearly two kilometres of soil, mud and rock, which had become loosened by the heavy monsoon rains, detached from the hillside and slid downwards towards Jure. The debris wiped out large sections of the village. ICIMOD expert Arun B Shrestha said: "We cannot control natural hazards like landslides... but there are many things that can be done to minimise their adverse impact on lives, livelihoods and valuable infrastructure." "More efforts to map landslide risks are needed and much more frequent monitoring of potential landslide sites is necessary." Union minister Pon Radhakrishnan on Saturday wondered why human rights organisations, the Election Commission and others are "silent" on the deaths of people at election rallies addressed by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa. "It is strange why human rights organisations and the Election Commission are silent on the deaths that occurred at election rallies addressed by Jayalalithaa. People in large numbers are ferried to attend Jayalalithaa's meetings and are housed like cattle inside an enclosure," Pon Radhakrishnan, minister of state for road transport and highways and shipping, told reporters here on Saturday. Nagercoil is around 710 km from Chennai. Four people who had attended Jayalalithaa's two rallies - at Virudhachalam and Salem- lost their lives due to heat. A large section of the crowd was either brought to the rally ground in trucks and buses or had come on their own from nearby areas. Radhakrishnan also wondered why no action has been taken against organisers of the AIADMK leader Jayalalithaa's two election rallies where the deaths had taken place. Queried about political parties changing their candidates, the Lok Sabha member from Kanyakumari, Pon Radhakrishnan said if the changes are made due to genuine reasons -family circumstances of the candidates - then it is understandable. "But like a game of chess the political parties are replacing the candidates," he remarked. Ruling AIADMK, DMK and PMK have announced new candidates in the place of the names announced earlier. Asked about DMK treasurer M.K. Stalin offering prayers at the Mel Maruvathur Adi Parasakthi temple recently, Pon Radhakrishnan said: "I hope one of these days he will do the 'anga pradakshanam' (rolling on the ground in that temple)." On the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)'s prospects in the Kanyakumari district, he said: "We are confident of winning all the six seats." Party cadres are also upbeat about BJP's prospects in the six assembly constituencies in Kanyakumari district. The BJP is contesting in 156 assembly constituencies in the May 16 election of the total 234 seats. The balance is shared with its allies. He said the proposed port in Colachel in Kanyakumari district will change the economic position of the people in the region. "The Congress and the DMK are betraying the interests of the people by opposing the project," he charged. --IANS vj/rn/vm Does India need a brand ambassador? The serial controversies of the past few months over the brand ambassadorship for the "Incredible India!" campaign suggest that the government of India would do better to direct its attentions elsewhere in promoting India as a leisure destination. In January, actor Aamir Khan was dropped as campaign spokesman after about 10 years; this came shortly after his remarks about India's growing intolerance after the lynching by a Hindu mob of a Muslim man suspected of keeping beef in his home. Some had argued that Khan's comments that his wife (who is Hindu) had suggested moving out of India on account of rising random violence against Muslims were untenable with his role as the country's promoter. At the time, the government announced that it would appoint actors Amitabh Bachchan and Priyanka Chopra as replacements. The new development was that the government chose to be involved directly in the exercise rather than via an advertising agency, as it did in the case of Khan, who was hired by McCann Worldwide. Indeed, the choice of Bachchan was seen to be at the behest of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who had appointed the mega star as brand ambassador of a popular Gujarat tourism campaign during his chief ministership. Before Bachchan could receive a formal contract, events took a tragicomic turn with the former's name popping up in the infamous Panama Papers, compelling the government to reportedly reconsider his name (Bachchan has denied his involvement with any company figuring in Panama Papers and insists that he was never approached to endorse the campaign). Congress spokesperson and Rajya Sabha member Jairam Ramesh tells Kavita Chowdhury that since the attitude of the Narendra Modi government is deliberately provocative and confrontational, it should not expect cooperation from the Congress. Thirteen Congress legislators from Bengaluru, five of whom are ministers in Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah's Cabinet; full Congress control of the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), the city's corporation and yet, when thousands of poorly paid garment workers hit the streets in Bengaluru last week protesting the Centre's new employment provident fund norms, Siddaramaiah's government was caught unawares. Demanding that art works, etc, be returned to their origins may be less foolish than bemoaning past subjugations as wrongs by others, but both represent that flawed, immature nationalism we are lately manifesting in more serious ways; also, that refusal to learn from history is holding us back as a nation. "It is your fault we were conquered, now make amends." Colonialism was an obscenity, nor can the positives it might have brought justify or mitigate it. But the question to ask is: why did we get subjugated? What capabilities could they employ that we lacked? And why are we still lagging behind? The common excuse is that colonialism didn't just set us back but stunted us: we had all the capabilities - and more - but they were stifled. Even were that valid, such self-exculpation typifies our continuing refusal to adapt to the existing world and times. It also evades the first question: we were defeated by our own faults. This is not to indulge our other favourite pastime of self-flagellation, but simply point to the only basis for progress. Arunachal Pradesh government has created 1,716 posts in various categories under the health and family welfare department out of targeted 2,541 posts, to revamp the health delivery system in the state. The posts were created vide an official order issued on April 13, an official communique said here today. The posts included five super specialists -- Rheumatologist, Neurologist, Nephrologist, Gastroenterologist and Endocrinologist, 36 posts of Junior Specialists in medicine, surgery, anaesthesiology, paediatrics, obstetrics & gynaecology, pathologist, microbiology, epidemiologist and biochemistry. Chief Minister Kalikho Pul said the posts were created in order to meet the man power shortage in General Hospitals, District Hospitals, Community Health Centres, Primary Health Centres and Sub-Centres across the state. Besides, it would also help to provide balanced employment opportunity and would benefit the people, the communique said. The chief minister has instructed the department to complete the appointment process within this year. In case of non-technical posts (C & D categories), appointment would be done district wise as per the vacancy position and health units in each district, the communique said. As many as 150 people were taken ill after consuming food during a wedding in Rajasthan's Karauli district. Residents of three villages had attended the wedding in Mansalpur area last night. According to the police, several villagers complained of vomiting and abdomen pain after consuming food at the wedding in Mansalpur area. Forty people were admitted to the local health centre in Mansalpur while 110 were rushed to the Karauli district hospital. After primary treatment, they were discharged, the police said. Two persons were killed and a woman was injured today when a Uttarakhand roadways bus hit the motorcyle they were traveling in Saharanpur district of Uttar Pradesh, police said. While Palla, a resident of Buggawala, and his niece Komal were killed on the spot, his sister-in-law Mukesh Devi was injured in the mishap at Doon highway as they were on their way to attend a wedding, Jagdish Sharma, SP (Rural) said. The bus driver has been arrested, Sharma said, adding, the bodies have been sent for postmortem. Meanwhile, in another incident, a 70-year-old woman was killed and four persons were injured when their car lost balance and hit a bridge. Nafi Singh died on the spot while his kin were injured in the mishap, Sharma said, adding the deceased's body has been sent for postmortem. The Delhi government today constituted a six-member committee to study the impact of opening of schools and hot weather on the odd-even scheme following traffic congestion on roads despite the ongoing second second phase of road-rationing plan. Transport Minister Gopal Rai said the move is to ensure proper measures in place whenever government comes out with the next edition of the odd-even scheme. The decision was taken at a review meeting on traffic situation chaired by the transport department today. The Committee, to be headed by transport special commissioner K K Dahiya, will have DTC's deputy CGM Anuj Sinha, DIMTS additional vice-president C K Goel, DCP (traffic) A K Singh, Executive Director (DMRC) Vikas Kumar and Education additional director Sunita Kaushik as its members. It has been asked to submit its report after the wrapping up of this edition of odd-even scheme. Rai said at the time of first phase of odd-even scheme implemented in January, schools were closed and weather was pleasant but during the second phase, opening of schools and hot weather are major factors contributing significantly to traffic jams. "Due to closing of schools in January, around 2500 school buses could not come on roads. Besides, as there was winter session that time, people used to prefer for a walk for small distance, but people are now using bikes, cars and taxis for the same distance causing traffic congestion on roads. "As schools are now open, parents are now doing more trips of their cars from home to schools, markets, office using one vehicle " he said. The transport minister further said, "The six-member committee will study the side effect of opening of schools and hot weather on the second phase of odd-even scheme. "Due to these two factors, how much effect - be it 5 per cent, 10 per cent or 15 per cent, is on the scheme so that government could ensure measures next time while implementing the third phase of the scheme. (Reopens DES 10) In the meeting, minister said that they reviewed the complaints of lack of coordination between traffic police, enforcement wing and civil defence volunteers at a local level. To deal with traffic congestion, government has also set up special monitoring team, to be headed by Special Commissioner Sandeep Goel, to do a proper monitoring of traffic signals across the national capital. He added that the decision was taken after government received several complaints against improper functioning of traffic signals which were causing traffic snarls on the capital's roads. Unlike the first phase, traffic congestion is being reported in various areas including Nehru Palace, ITO, Laxmi Nagar, Bhairav Sing-Marg, INA and some other parts of South Delhi during the second phase of odd-even scheme. Rai said that as per preliminary report, opening of schools and construction and repair works are causing traffic jams during the ongoing scheme. In view of this, government has directed PWD, DMRC and DJB to carry out their construction and repair works at night to avoid traffic jam. Few days before the second phase of the road-rationing plan, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had announced that if the scheme tuns out to be successful, government may seriously consider implementing it for 15 days every month. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) today kickstarted its 'Bolda Punjab - Punjab Dialogue' initiative with a discussion engaging youths wherein unemployment, drugs menace, education, and women safety emerged as key issues. On the lines of the 'Delhi Dialogue', AAP launched the Punjab edition to finalise its manifesto for the Assembly polls in the state slated for 2017. Senior Journalist and Head of the 'Punjab Dialogue' Kanwar Sandhu joined by senior party leaders Ashish Khetan, Sanjay Singh, Sucha Singh Chhotepur, Bhagwant Mann and, Harjot Bains gave a patient hearing to the youths rather than addressing. The youths raised the issue of registration of bogus cases against them, to which the AAP leaders promised, if voted to power, they would set up of a commission to review such cases and fix responsibility of "erring police officials". When one of the youths complained of repeated assault on linemen, teachers, anganwari workers and others at SAD-BJP rallies, Sandhu assured all such cases will be reviewed and considered sympathically if AAP comes to power. After listening to them, Sandhu and Khetan said health education, and unemployment will be focus area of their manifesto. "Like Delhi, AAP will bring government schools in Punjab on par with the best in the private sector and new ones will be opened with the massive improvement in the existing ones," Khetan added. On the drugs menace, he alleged that at present the police act against addicts while patronises the paddlers. "Once AAP is voted to power, not only supply chain would be snapped by putting druglords in jail within three months, private and government hospitals would be roped in for rehabilitation of drug-addicts," he added. On unemployment, Sandhu claimed no survey has been conducted since 1978 which has resulted in a huge gap between demands for jobs and creation of opportunities. "There is no link between the industry and education, which ahs multiplied the problem," he said. "Self-entrepreneurship will be emphasised upon by imparting special skill development training in ITIs," Khetan said, adding small scale industry would be upgraded to promote entrepreneurship. On the pattern of Delhi, education loan would be provided at lower rates to students, Khetan said. AAP leader Bhagwant Mann said the Badal government is patting its back on the massive increase in the Blue Cards holders for 'Atta-Dal' Scheme year by year but is ignoring the fact that the increase highlights its failures. Over 800 youths from across colleges in the area attended the event which lasted for over three hours. Over 300 of them, including girls, gave their suggestions. Barack Obama has described Prince George as "adorable" after the 2-year-old son of Prince William and Kate Middleton was allowed to stay up past his bed-time to meet the US President. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge hosted Obama and wife Michelle for an informal dinner at Kensington Palace in London last night, after which photographs were released of the guests kneeling down to shake hands with the young prince in his pyjamas. "I guess you all know why I came this week. It's no secret. Nothing was going to stop me from wishing happy birthday to her majesty, or meeting George, who was adorable," he told audience gathered for a town-hall style event in central London today. Obama began his day with a visit to the famous Globe Theatre in London to join in commemorations to mark the 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare's death. The playwright's works are being celebrated throughout the UK. The theatre is a replica of the circular, open-air playhouse that Shakespeare designed in 1599. Obama watched a brief performance of a portion of "Hamlet", including the famous "To be or not to be" soliloquy. Dominic Dromgoole, artistic director of Shakespeare's Globe, said: "At the end of an extraordinary journey all around the world, it is great to return home to the Globe, and to be able to perform a few scenes and to be welcomed back by President Barack Obama. "The spirit of 'Yes we can' has informed the entire tour, and it's an honour to meet the man who coined the phrase, and who exemplifies its spirit." Addressing young people at the town hall event later, Obama's message was: "Take a longer, more optimistic view of history. If any of you begin to work on an issue that you care deeply about, don't be disappointed if a year out things haven't been completely solved. "Don't give up and succumb to cynicism if after five years poverty has not been eradicated and we haven't resolved all of the steps we need to take to reverse climate change." Referring to his legacy as US President, he added: "I'll look at a scorecard at the end... I think that I have been true to myself. All villages in Haryana would be linked through internet and each village would have its own website through which information about various development works would be made available to the people. To begin with, broadband facility would be provided in 2500 villages this year and to all remaining villages during the next three-and-a-half years, Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar said while addressing "Haryana Swaran Jayanti Panchayat Sammelan" here today. BJP National president Amit Shah and representatives of Panchayati Raj Institutions from about 6907 villages participated in the Sammelan. The Chief Minister, who made a number of announcements for further strengthening the rural infrastructure, announced that village streets would be constructed at a cost of Rs 5000 crore under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGA). He said that the State Government has made adequate arrangement for supply of drinking water in the State, especially in the month of April, May and June. The Chief Minister also announced those village, block samiti and district which would achieve the target of hundred per cent household toilets, under the Nirmal Gram Yajana by November 1, 2016, would be honoured with a cash award of Rs one lakh, Rs five lakh, and Rs 20 lakh respectively. Apart from this concerned additional Deputy Commissioner, Deputy Commissioner and Block Development and Panchayat Officer concerned would also be honoured by the government. While referring to the recent agitation in the State, Khattar cautioned the people against those forces which are trying to divide them. He said that "we are united and would remain united". He urged the people to live with the spirit of 'Haryana Ek Haryanvi Ek.' He said that on the call given by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for rural development, various schemes of the Central and State Government have been implemented. Khattar said that initially, development of villages and welfare of farmers and the poor would be ensured by following the spirit of 'Antodaya' so that the benefit of welfare schemes and programmes reach the grass root level. While referring to the budget of the State Government, Manohar Lal Khattar said that earlier an increase of eight to ten per cent used to be made in the budget every year, but the present Government has made an increase of 28 per cent in the State's budget. He said that this year budget of Rs 88,000 core has been presented as against the previous budget of Rs 69,000 crore. Apart from this additional Rs 200 crore would be spent on the development projects, he added. (REOPENS DES 29) Khattar said that the State Government is committed to provide housing facility to the poor in the State. He said the Centre has implemented the scheme 'Housing For All.' Under this scheme, the State Government has set a target to construct one lakh 'pucca' houses this year and each eligible beneficiary would be provided Rs 1.50 lakh for the construction of house. Apart from this, it has also been decided to increase the carpet area of houses meant for economically weaker sections and those living Below Poverty Line under various housing schemes from 30 square meters to 50 square meter. The Chief Minister said that the villages having population of more than 10,000 were being given the name of 'Maha Gram Panchayats' and would be provided with sewerage and drainage facilities. At present the number of such villages is 120. He said that with a view to provide all people centric services in all villages online, village secretariat were being constructed. The village secretariats would be constructed in 1000 villages this year and the remaining villages would be covered during the next three-and-a-half years. He said that the State Government has adopted the policy of zero tolerance for corruption to ensure hundred per cent utilization of funds mean for development. The State Government has decided to constitute village level social audit committees to ensure optimum utilization of funds, Khattar said. The State Government is effectively implementing the 'Swacch Bharat Abhiyan' under which it has decided to achieve hundred per cent target of household toilets. At present the number of such villages is 9500. He said that it has also been decided to make the State Kerosene free. Khattar said that as the State is completing 50 years of its existence this year, various new schemes would be implemented for providing employment opportunities to the youth. He said that 359 MoUs signed during the 'Happening Haryana Global Investors' Summit at Gurgaon in March this year with investment proposals of Rs 5.84 lakh crore would also generate employment opportunities for the youth. Earlier Speaking on the occasion, Union Minister for Rural Development and Panchayti Raj, Birender Singh said that with a view to ensure rural development in the State, Rs two lakh crore would be directly transferred to the bank accounts of concerned Panchayats, another Rs two lakh crore would be given for undertaking various development works under MGNREGA in the next five years. Union Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment, Krishan Pal Gurjar said that both the Central and the State Governments are working for the welfare of the poor, farmers and labourers. Haryana Agriculture Minister O P Dhankar said that for the first time educated youth including women have made way to the Panchayati Raj Institutions. He said that Pradhan Mantri Krishi Bima Yojna has been implemented and he urged the representatives of the PRIs to work for the success of this scheme. Haryana Finance Minister Capt Abhimanyu said that the Gram Uday se Bharat Udey has boosted the confidence of the newly elected representatives of PRIs. He said that a target has been fixed to double the income of farmers by 2022. He said various schemes for the welfare of farmers and development of villages would be implemented and he assured that there would be no dearth of funds for the same. One more MLA from the YSR Congress today crossed over to the Telugu Desam Party in Andhra Pradesh, taking the total number of defectors to 13. Attar Chand Basha, MLA from Kadiri constituency in Anantapuramu district, joined the ruling party in the presence of Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu here this morning. The move comes even as Leader of Opposition YS Jaganmohan Reddy met Governor E S L Narasimhan in Hyderabad to complain about the 'purchasing' of his legislators by the ruling party. Local leaders of YSRC from Kadiri also joined the TDP along with Basha. Like his 12 other colleagues, who claimed they deserted the lone opposition party for the sake of "development", Basha too said he joined the TDP for the development of his constituency. It may be recalled that exodus of MLAs from YSRC began on February 22 when four of them crossed over to the TDP. Since then, legislators have been switching to the ruling party at regular intervals with the number now touching 13. The YSRC submitted a petition to Assembly Speaker Kodela Sivaprasada Rao seeking disqualification of the defectors. It also sought to build a case against them by issuing a whip for voting on two no-confidence motions (one each against the government and the Speaker) in the Budget session last month but the TDP outwitted the YSRC in the political game. Though it eventually issued a whip to its members for voting against the Appropriation Bill, the YSRC's strategy fell flat as "rules" did not permit voting. As his legislators continue to ditch him, a baffled Jagan petitioned the Governor against the "immoral" acts of the TDP in luring and 'purchasing' the opposition MLAs and sought action against Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu. Padma Shri awardee Indian-American Ashok Mago has received the prestigious Distinguished Alumni Award from theUniversity of Texas in the US for his services to the world of trade and industry. The award is presented to individuals who are distinguished in their chosen professions or life's work who demonstrate pride in the university, the University of Texas said in a statement. Mago is chairman of Mago & Associates Inc, a Dallas-based business and investment consulting firm. He is the founding chairman of the Greater Dallas Indo-American Chamber, now known as the US-India Chamber of Commerce, it said. He serves on the Board of Regents for the University of North Texas System and on boards for the Primary Care Clinic of North Texas and the Dallas County Community College District Foundation. In 2014, Mago was awarded the Padma Shri. Mago immigrated to the US in 1974 after getting a bachelor's degree from Delhi University. He received a Master of Business Administration from University of Texas. Syrian government strikes hit opposition-held areas near the capital and in the country's largest city, Aleppo, while rebels fired mortars in escalating violence that left at least 31 people killed and shattered a relative quiet in Damascus that has held since the teetering cease-fire took effect in late February. Western officials, including the UN envoy leading negotiations with Syria's warring factions, have warned that a cease-fire was in danger of total collapse due to escalating violence and the walk-out by the Saudi-backed opposition group from the talks Monday. The opposition accuses the government of wrecking the talks with ongoing attacks while the government says it is only targeting terrorist groups who are not part of the cease-fire agreement. The UN envoy Staffan de Mistura said the talks will continue until Wednesday as planned, but said the two sides are "extremely polarized," casting doubt on the ability to salvage the talks aimed at finding a political solution to the five-year conflict. The violence today appeared set to only harden the opposition's position. Anas al-Abda, the leader of the Turkey-based Syrian National Coalition represented in the Geneva talks, lamented the international community's "limpness" in responding to what he called "massacres" against civilians, in response to the Aleppo violence. For the second straight day today, government airplanes pounded neighborhoods in Aleppo held by the opposition, in what activists described as the most intense campaign of airstrikes since the cease-fire. Today's airstrikes in rebel-held areas in Aleppo killed at least 12 people, including children, when they targeted a residential area and market in the Tareeq al-Bab district in the contested city, the activist-run Aleppo Media Center said. Images of the destruction posted on the AMC Facebook page and other sites showed destroyed buildings and rescue teams removing civilians from under rubble and the upper floors of destroyed buildings, including terrified women and children. A day earlier, at least 18 people were killed in airstrikes on several rebel-held neighborhoods in Aleppo. Government forces have boxed-in opposition held areas from all sides except for a corridor from the northwestern edge of the city. Opposition groups have said reports of a new government offensive on their stronghold in the city would wreck the peace talks. The al-Qaeda branch in Syria, Nusra Front, and its more powerful rival, the Islamic State group, are not part of a cease-fire. The Nusra Front is deeply rooted in the areas in northern Syria controlled by opposition forces, complicating the oversight of the truce. Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today attacked his Delhi counterpart Arvind Kejriwal over removal of Delhi government's counsel in the Satluj-Yamuna Link (SYL) canal case, terming the move as a "political gimmick". Sharpening his attack on Kejriwal, Badal said, "rather than changing the lawyer on the sensitive issue, he should change his "anti-Punjab" mindset". "As Arvind Kejriwal hailed from Haryana so he was naturally inclined towards safeguarding the interests of his native state and nothing good for Punjab could be expected from him, the Chief Minister told a gathering during his Sangat Darshan programme here. He alleged that Kejriwal has not shown any affection to Punjab or its people and claimed his sole intention was to get political power in the state. Earlier, the Aam Admi Party (AAP) government told a five-judge Constitution Bench in the Supreme Court, headed by Justice A R Dave, that it wanted to withdraw written submission filed by the lawyer Suresh Tripathy. Seeking permission to file fresh submissions, the newly-appointed counsel appearing for Delhi government told the bench that documents were filed without taking instructions from the authorities and the government does not agree with the contents of the documents. Badal said that the love of Delhi Chief Minister was confined only up to attaining political power whereas in reality "he was pursuing the agenda of securing the interests of his native state on SYL issue". The Chief Minister alleged that both Congress and AAP were "hobnobbing with each other to snatch legitimate share of Punjab's water". He said that while Congress had in past signed various water agreements to "deprive" the state of its waters, the AAP was now trying its level best to ensure that these agreements were implemented at the earliest. Badal alleged it was a known fact that both these parties were hell bent upon "ruining" the state. Meanwhile, he expressed grief and concern over the attack on Gurdwara Sahib in Germany and killing of a Sikh leader in Pakistan. Badal urged the Centre to ensure all possible steps to safeguard the Sikh community residing across the world. An English professor on way to his university in northwestern Bangladesh was today hacked to death by ISIS militants near his home, the latest in a series of brutal attacks on bloggers, intellectuals and activists by the dreaded group in the Muslim-majority country. Rajshahi University professor AFM Rezaul Karim Siddiquee, 58, was attacked by motorbike-borne assailants within 50 metres of his residence in Rajshahi city while he was on his way to catch a bus for the university campus as the militants slit his throat using sharp weapons and left him to die, police said. "The miscreants attacked him from behind with machetes as he walked to the university campus from his home around 7.30 AM," local police station in-charge Shahdat Hossain told PTI over phone. He said the Professor of English literature died instantly and the assailants fled the scene after his death. Eyewitnesses said Siddiquee's body was found lying face down in a pool of blood, and a local media report quoted one of them as saying that she saw two persons leaving on a motorbike from the spot. US-based private SITE Intelligence Group said the Islamic State has claimed the killing. "ISIS' Amaq Agency reported the group's responsibility for killing Rajshahi University professor Rezaul Karim for "calling to atheism" in Bangladesh," it said in a tweet. Earlier, Rajshahi's police commissioner Mohammad Shamsuddin told reporters at the scene that the "technique of the murder suggested it could be an act of Islamist terrorists." The professor's neck was hacked at least three times and was 70-80 per cent slit, he said, adding that the nature of the attack shows it was carried out by extremist groups. An investigation into the killing is on. Meanwhile, angry students and teachers of the university rallied in the campus demanding immediate arrest of culprits. Siddiquee's colleagues said he was involved in cultural activities in the campus and used to play flute and sitar. "He was not known for affiliation for any political party... He had a progressive outlook that might have earned him the wrath of reactionary (Islamist) forces," professor of mass communication department of the university Dulal Chandra Biswas told PTI over phone. Biswas said he believed the Islamists murdered Siddiquee to prove their existence in view of a massive anti-militant security clampdown in the region. A liberal university professor on way to work in northwestern Bangladesh was today brutally hacked to death by machete-wielding ISIS militants near his home, the latest in a series of similar attacks on intellectuals and bloggers by the dreaded group in the Muslim-majority country. Rajshahi University professor AFM Rezaul Karim Siddiquee, 58, was attacked by motorbike-borne assailants within 50 metres of his residence in Rajshahi city as the militants slit his throat using sharp weapons and left him to die, police said. "The miscreants attacked him from behind with machetes as he walked to the university campus from his home around 7.30 AM," local police station in-charge Shahdat Hossain told PTI over phone. He said the Professor of English literature died on the spot following which the assailants fled the scene. The body was found lying face down in a pool of blood, and according to an eyewitness, she saw two persons leaving on a motorbike from the spot. US-based private SITE Intelligence Group said the Islamic State has claimed the killing. "ISIS' Amaq Agency reported the group's responsibility for killing Rajshahi University professor Rezaul Karim for "calling to atheism" in Bangladesh," it said in a tweet. Earlier, Rajshahi's police commissioner Mohammad Shamsuddin told reporters at the scene that the "technique of the murder suggested it could be an act of Islamist terrorists." The professor's neck was hacked at least three times and was 70-80 per cent slit, he said, adding that the nature of the attack shows it was carried out by extremist groups. An investigation into the killing is on. Meanwhile, angry students and teachers of the university rallied in the campus demanding immediate arrest of culprits. Siddiquee's colleagues said he was involved in cultural activities in the campus and used to play flute and sitar. "He was not known for affiliation for any political party... He had a progressive outlook that might have earned him the wrath of reactionary (Islamist) forces," professor of mass communication department of the university Dulal Chandra Biswas told PTI over phone. Biswas said he believed the Islamists murdered Siddiquee to prove their existence in view of a massive anti-militant security clampdown in the region. Two years ago, another Rajshahi University teacher AKM Shafiul Islam was similarly murdered. Though his murder was initially claimed by radical group 'Ansaral Islam', police later ruled out that possibility, saying he was murdered due to personal rivalry. But some years ago, two more professors of the state-run Rajshahi University had been killed. There have been systematic assaults in Bangladesh in recent months specially targeting minorities, secular bloggers, intellectuals and foreigners. Last year, four prominent secular bloggers were killed with machetes, one inside his own home. A group of JNU students today protested at the Bihar Bhawan here against the alleged killing of two Dalit CPI(ML) activists in the state's Begusarai district last month and were detained after they tried to enter its premises. The students, who wanted to submit a memorandum to the top officials at the Bhawan in Chanakyapuri area demanding justice for the deceased, also alleged that they were manhandled by the police, a charge denied by it. "We were peacefully staging a protest outside Bihar Bhawan demanding action against the killing of our comrades. When we went inside to submit a memorandum, police officials prevented us by manhandling and violently attacking," Sucheta De, National President, All India Students Association (AISA) claimed. The protesters including CPI(ML) Delhi state secretary Ravi Rai and JNUSU General Secretary Rama Naga were detained and taken to Chanakyapuri Police Station. Naga, was also among those charged with sedition in connection with the controversial event on JNU campus in February during which anti-national slogans were allegedly raised. "The protesters were detained under Section 144 CrPC," DCP (New Delhi) Jatin Narwal said. Senior officials further said some confrontation between the protesters and police did take place but there was not attack or manhandling. Two CPI(ML) Liberation activists were shot dead in Masudanpur diara under Balia police station of Begusarai district last month. Ahead of the fourth phase of poll in West Bengal on April 25, BJP today lodged a complaint with the EC demanding immediate removal of an officer on special duty from the office of the CEO alleging that he was acting as an informer to the ruling Trinamool Congress. "Even as EC from its headquarters is trying to ensure free and fair poll in West Bengal, some moles in CEO's office here are busy diluting the process. We demand their immediate removal and neutrality of the poll panel's office here," BJP National Spokesman Shahnawaz Hussain said here. The CEO's office, however, did not make any comment on the complaint. Earlier in the day, a BJP delegation met the CEO and submitted the complaint against the OSD Soumya Biswas and demanding prompt action for free and fair poll in the state. Hussain alleged that the OSD is an office bearer of TMC-sponsored State Government Employees Federation. "Despite his posting in CEO's office, Biswas is involved in federation and party activities on a regular basis," he said. Accusing TMC of indulging in violence during the ongoing poll, Hussain said it was attacking workers of opposition parties out of frustration and fear. He expressed confidence on BJP making a turnaround in the poll. "Prime Minister Narendra Modi's appearance in Bengal's poll campaign has changed the entire scenario as well as the party's poll prospect." On Rahul Gandhi's election rally today, the BJP national spokesman said people have lost all faith in Congress as well as in the Leftists. "There was nothing special in the content of Rahul Gandhi's speech and all his rallies are sparsely attended. He raised the issue of syndicate raj but it is nothing new from the Congress culture like 2G Spectrum and coal scam." People will raise questions about Congress' strategy to fight Marxists in Kerala and fight TMC in alliance with Marxists in Bengal, he added. Union ministers, BJP MPs and office bearers will be amid the rural folk listening to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's address on the Panchayati Raj Day in Jharkhand tomorrow when he is likely to flag his government's pro-village credentials. They have been asked to listen to the address, to be broadcast live by Doordarshan, amidst villagers and their representatives and interact with them in what is being projected as a major drive by the party to reach out to rural India. Party chief Amit Shah will interact with villagers in Ganoli, Ghaziabad. There is a view in the party that while it continues to enjoy support in urban India, it needs to bolster efforts to build itself in rural areas. Its Lok Sabha members, including ministers, will be in their constituencies, while the Rajya Sabha members will be present in different states, party spokesperson Anil Baluni said. Uttar Pradesh, which goes to assembly polls early next year, has been given top priority with several union ministers belonging to the Upper House, including Arun Jaitley, Smriti Irani, Suresh Prabhu and Manohar Parrikar, likely to be spending the day there, party sources said. Union ministers Ravi Shankar Prasad and Dharmendra Pradhan will be in Bihar. Modi's speech will bring the curtains down on the 11-day 'Gram Uday se Bharat Uday' programme launched by the Prime Minister on Dalit icon B R Ambedkar's birth anniversary on April 14 from his birthplace Mhow in Madhya Pradesh. "The Prime Minister believes that India cannot be developed without the development of its villages. Their progress is at the centre of his vision and that is why so many welfare and policy measures have been taken by the government," party's national secretary Shrikant Sharma said while talking about the programme. "We may not have won many seats but have played spoilsport for both alliance and TMC in many seats. The BJP can no longer be ignored in Bengal," said a senior BJP leader. Much to the surprise of many political analysts who had predicted that BJP's vote share of 2014 would come down drastically and the Left Front-Congress alliance would benefit from it were proven wrong. As BJP's vote share dropped from nearly 17.5 per cent in 2014 to 10.2 per cent this time, Trinamool Congress got the benefit in increasing its vote share by six per cent. BJP has this time sealed the fate of 70 alliance candidates by eating into the opposition vote share and getting around 5,000 to 10,000 votes. While decoding the reasons behind BJP's vote share playing a deciding factor, CPI(M) state secretary Surjya Kanta Mishra had alleged "It's quite clear that BJP and TMC had an understanding. In some seats TMC has voted for BJP, while BJP voted for the TMC." Another senior Left leader, on condition of anonymity, said, "At grassroots level those Congress and Left workers who didn't accept the alliance, either voted for NOTA or for the BJP, considering it to be a viable opposition to the TMC. That is why BJP has gained so much votes." BJP national secretary Siddharth Nath Singh termed the Assembly election results as satisfactory and hoped it would be a launching pad for the party in Bengal. "The results are satisfactory, but we could have done better. The victory in a seat like Baishnabnagar in Malda shows there can be consolidation against anti-national elements," Singh told Confident that she would finally bag the Democratic presidential nomination, Hillary Clinton appeared to have gone into a full campaign mode by training her gun on potential Republican opponent Donald Trump. While she did not respond to Trump's latest "crooked" characterization of her, Clinton slammed the real estate billionaire for his views on Muslims, immigrants and women. "I'm not going to respond to what he said about me," the former secretary of state told her supporters at a restaurant in Pennsylvania, where both the Democratic and Republican primaries are scheduled for April 26. The former New York Senator was apparently referring to the "crooked Clinton" remarks of Trump. Both Clinton and Trump are leading against their primary opponents in Pennsylvania. "I'm going to respond to what he has said about women in general. I'm going to respond to what he has said about immigrants. I'm going to respond to what he has said about Muslims. I'm going to respond on behalf of all the people who have been the target of his hatred and his demagoguery," Clinton said. This was her first major attack against Trump after her win in New York this week. But news reports said Trump is ready to fight out the former first lady. "The only thing she's got going is the women card. We call her 'Crooked Hillary' because she's a crooked person. She's always been a crooked person," Trump told Fox News. A day after the next round of primary elections in Maryland, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Connecticut and Rhode Island, Trump is scheduled to give a speech on foreign policy at the National Press Club on Wednesday, April 27. "I am honored to be invited to speak at an organization founded by former President Richard Nixon, and look forward to sharing my views on the many serious foreign policy issues facing our country and our allies around the world," he said. "Trade, immigration and security policies are critical concerns of all Americans, and we must develop a clear, consistent long-term foreign policy for making America safe and prosperous," he said in a statement. Congress in Punjab today proposed a constitutional commission instead of a regulatory authority as decided by the state government be set up to check overcharging of fees and "exploitation" of parents and students at private unaided schools. Chairman of Scheduled Castes (SC) department, Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee, Raj Kumar said a constitutional commission, headed by a serving or retired high court judge be set up for checking exorbitant fees by some private schools. Punjab government had yesterday said it gave final touches to a draft of the regulatory authority after a meeting of senior officials of the Education Department attended by Education Minister Daljit Singh Cheema. Dismissing as an "eye-wash" the finalisation of the draft of the regulatory authority, Kumar said panels had existed earlier also but private schools continued their open loot with arbitrary hikes in fees and funds. "Only a constitutional commission, having punitive powers against erring schools, would serve the purpose," he said. He was addressing a press conference at the venue of Congress activists' five-day hunger strike in Guru Hargobindnagar here against the overcharging of fees and funds by private schools and non-implementation of Post-Matric Scholarship Scheme for SC/OBC college students. Claiming that during UPA government Rs 250 crore were annually released for Post-Matric Scholarship Scheme, he alleged that during Modi and Badal governments not a single penny was being released. He also alleged that colleges were harassing SC students by withholding their roll numbers. The hunger strike by five Congress activists entered its fourth day today. Punjab Congress Legislature party chief Charanjit Singh Channi today said the Congress will start agitation in all the mandis of the state and gherao the ministers if the dues of the farmers are not cleared by next Tuesday. Punjab Congress will start statewide gherao of all the ministers of SAD-BJP combine government, Leader of Opposition in Punjab assembly Charanjit Singh Channi said here. "This deaf and dumb government is playing with the sentiments of the farmers," he said. Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal is just issuing statements of payments being released to the farmers but the reality on the ground is totally different, he said. "Not single penny has been given to any farmer till today," he alleged. Channi today visited the mandis in Ajnala and Jandial Guru alongwith the senior Congress leaders and workers. Blaming the Chief Minister for this mess, Channi said that farmers in the state have always "faced harassment" under the Akali Dal government headed by Badal who otherwise claims himself to be their champion. "This is part of the record beginning with second term of Badal as the Chief Minister beginning 1977. The farmers have blocked roads with their produce in protest during his regime. In the latest case, they have been waiting endlessly to get their payments for their produce procured by the government agencies. It is Badal whose policies, or the lack of the same, have resulted in increasing incidence of suicides by the farmers in this once the most advanced agricultural state in the country", he said. He claimed that the release of cash credit limit used to be a routine affair before the beginning of every procurement season but not since Narendra Modi took over as the Prime Minister. Challenging Aam Aadmi Party to spell out its farm policies rather than showing mirage to the people as Badal used to do to get votes, Channi asserted that AAP had no specific agenda for Punjab and the effort has been to cash upon emotions of the people that the Akali Dal has been doing for years. A couple has been arrested here for allegedly duping a woman of over Rs 3 crore in connection with the sale of a property in posh Green Park locality in south Delhi, police said. The accused Preeti Bansal and her husband Vinod Bansal were arrested from a house near Haidarpur Metro Station in Shalimar Bagh area on Thursday, DCP (South) Ishwar Singh said. According to police, Krisha Devi, a resident of Green Park filed a complaint of cheating of worth Rs 3.3 crore at Safdarjung Enclave Police Station. An FIR has been registered under relevant sections of IPC. In her complaint she stated that she used to visit a beauty parlour in Green Park and its owner Kusum Goel allegedly lured her to buy a property in the area at a substantially lower price of Rs 3.43 crore. Goel allegedly told Krishna that she had paid Rs 65 lakh for the property to Preeti Bansal and showed her an agreement to this effect. She also claimed that she herself was not in a condition to buy the property due to financial problems. Following this Krishna paid Rs 5 lakh as advance to Goel in July 2015. On July 31, 2015, a new agreement between Krishna and Preeti was made after which she paid Rs 20 lakh as token money. Later, the complainant also paid remaining Rs 3.1 crore to the accused. But, when she visited the property bought by her in December, 2015, she found that it was allegdly mortgaged to a bank. Preeti and Vinod had taken a housing loan of Rs 7 crore on the property. Also, a case was registered against them by a property dealer who had paid them Rs 1.25 crore, a police said. "They used to lure the people on the pretext that the property is in posh area, prime location and its floor can be purchased on nominal prices as compared to market rates. In this way, they have cheated four people," the officer said. The deity at the famous Bankey Behari temple here had to do with a curtailed menu for lunch on Thursday following a dispute between two groups of priests over who is eligible to cook the food. The situation arose after Billu Goswami who on behalf of different priests was cooking'Kacchi Rasoi' (lunch) for the deity for several years quit citing personal reasons. "A notice for volunteering to cook lunch for Thakur Ji was put up on the notice board. However, to my surprise no one came forward. Ultimately, two Saraswat Brahmins, who became disciple of two Goswamis,were given the responsibility of Kacchi Rasoi (lunch)." "... After consultation with senior Goswamis, the responsibility was given to the two Saraswat Brahmins. The ritual of giving them 'Kanthi Mala' (as mark of becoming disciple of the priest of the temple)," Bankey Behari temple committee president Nand Kishor Upmanyu said. However, the system was unacceptable to a group of priests who claimed that it was against the tradition of the temple and for the time being, it has been kept at abeyance, he said. "Whilepriest of morning shift (Rajbhog) is supposed to prepare Kacchi Rasoi (lunch), consisting of roti, kadhi, daal, two type of vegetables, three types of rice, sweet etc, himselfwith the help of his family members, the priest of evening shift (Shayan Bhog) is expected to prepare dinner for the deity consisting of puri, kachauri, vegetables, samosas, pakauri, sweet dishes, etc,"priest of the temple Shashank Goswami said. "How can we allow the holy tradition of the temple to be overlooked by getting the lunch prepared by an outsider?," former president of Bankey Behari temple committee Gaurav Goswami said. "While only milk rice was served in lunch to the deity day before yesterday, with the cooperation from other priests proper lunch asper prescribed menu was served to deity during the last two days. "Let the election to temple committee, slated for April 24, be over, then we would decide the future course of action," he said. Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari today said serious efforts are underway to bring down by 50 per cent the number of fatalities in road accidents in country. "About 1.5 lakh people die untimely in about 5 lakh road mishaps every year, which is unfortunate. The (transport) ministry is working to reduce the number of fatalities by 50 per cent," Gadkari told meet-the-press programme here. Explaining about the measures, Gadkari said government wanted to improve the road conditions, including repairs, and enhance visibility to minimise road curves to save lives. "I am pained to note that lakhs of people succumb to serious injuries on roads and leave behind their family members to face a number of problems and hardships," the minister said. He said about three lakh people suffer from multiple fractures resulting into loss of hands or limbs. "Our dream is to make India a accident-free country," he said, adding that only one accident was reported in Sweden last year. "India is one of the countries having a large number of accidents and fatalities. To overcome this, the ministry has identified over 2500 accident spot on the national highways," he added. Gadkari said national highways constituted only two per cent of total road network but are catering to almost 80 per cent of traffic. "The high density of traffic is causing safety hazards," he said. "Our Ministry has plans to increase the national highways network to least 1.5 lakh kms from 80,000 kms when the NDA government took over. "In the process, we already have about one lakh kms road (network) which means an addition of 20,000 kms by the government," he said. Gadkari said the national highways network in Maharashtra has increased from 5660 kms to 21,976 kms during last two years of NDA government. Referring to ambitious 'Sagarmala' project, the minister said that 28 mega projects have been planned with an investment to the tune of Rs 95,000 crore for infrastructure development and for development of ports and industry. "During last two years, total investment approved and commenced is Rs 29,382 crore (sic)," he said. A firefighter was killed in the major fire at a warehouse storing chemicals and fuel which was doused after overnight work by more than 1,000 firefighters in China's eastern Jiangsu province. The fire, which began around 9:40 AM yesterday at a facility owned by Jiangsu Deqiao Storage Co. In Jingjiang, was put out at 1:50 AM today. Firefighter Zhu Junjun, 26, was killed when he was caught in the flames after delaying evacuation to continue spraying water on the blaze and to cover other firefighters, according to the department. More than 1,000 firefighters worked overnight to douse off the blaze. With chemical storage tanks destroyed and their contents spreading over a wide area, firefighters had difficulty approaching for a while. They curbed the blaze after the valve of an oil pipeline was shut off, state-run Xinhua agency reported. Two fire engines were destroyed in the fire, the department said. The fire department had said that the fire started from pipeline and then triggered at the breather valve of gasoline tank. Goa government today decided to issue a show-cause notice to a private resort in Karnataka for allegedly blocking the flow of a river, which has resulted in the "drying up of a waterfall" located on the state's border. Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar held an emergency meeting in the capital city today with a legal team to discuss the issue of blocking of the water flow of a tributary of Mhadei river to Surla waterfall located on the border of both the states. "It has been decided to issue a show-cause notice to the owner of Delta Resort, who has put sand bags and completely blocked the flow towards the waterfall," Goa Advocate General Atmaram Nadkarni told reporters after the meeting. Goa is already in water dispute with Karnataka after the latter decided to construct dams across Mhadei river, which is also called as Mandovi downstream in the state. Nadkarni said the area in which the water has been blocked by the hotel management is an "eco-sensitive zone". "Goa Forest department is directed to issue the notice under Wildlife Conservation Act," he said. Goa government has also decided to raise the issue before Mhadei Water Dispute Tribunal during the hearing on Mandovi river diversion proposal scheduled on April 27. The State government has already rejected Karnataka's proposal for an out of court settlement and said the dispute should be resolved through the Water Disputes Tribunal. Karnataka is seeking to draw 7.2 TMC ft water from the Kalasa-Banduri streams, the tributaries of Mhadei river, and divert them to the Malaprabha river to quench the thirst of people of several towns and villages, including Hubballi-Dharwad. Two security guards deployed at a thermal power plant were found dead under suspicious circumstances in the wee hours today. Madan Pal Verma (38) and Mukesh Misra (35) of a private security company deployed at the pipeline outside the power plant on the Shahjahanpur- Hardoi road were found in a nearby culvert, police said. Both were rushed to hospital, while Verma was declared brought dead Mishra died in the hospital, police said. The bodies have been sent for post mortem and details of the cause of death will be known only after getting the report, police said. Meanwhile, the locals staged a protest alleging that they had been murdered in the power plant and their bodies thrown out. The plant administration has provided an ex-gratia of Rs. five lakhs each for the deceased. A 36-year-old Guatemalan woman has been sentenced to three years in prison by a US court for smuggling undocumented migrants from India into America. Rosa Astrid Umanzor-Lopez, who was extradited to the US from Guatemala, pleaded guilty in a federal court in Houston to one count each of conspiracy to smuggle undocumented migrants into the US for profit and human smuggling in the Southern District of Texas, the Department of Justice said yesterday. She is expected to face deportation following her release from prison. During the hearing, Umanzor-Lopez said that between January 2011 and her arrest in Guatemala on February 4, 2014, she and other conspirators recruited individuals in India who were willing to pay large sums of money to be smuggled into the US. For their smuggling operations, Umanzor-Lopez and her co- conspirators used a network of facilitators to transport groups of undocumented migrants from India through South America and Central America and then into the US by air travel, automobiles, water craft and foot, she said. Umanzor-Lopez also said that many of these smuggling events involved illegal entry into the US via the US-Mexico border near McAllen and Laredo, Texas. Three other members of the conspiracy have also been sentenced while a fourth one was at large. Protests in Handwara were "genuine expression of anger" towards the army and cannot be "rigged" on this scale as they mushroomed because of the way they were handled by the state government, former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah today said. He downplayed apprehensions of a new wave of militancy hitting South Kashmir but cautioned that the government need to remain watchful. "I don't think you can rig the protest on this scale and not to the point that people are willing to lay down their lives because of their sentiments or their feeling," Omar said in an interview to Karan Thapar on India Today TV. He said large number of people came out and their anger was diverted towards the army because of the alleged incident of molestation. "Now there are two views on the incident. The fact is what you saw was a genuine expression of anger and outrage which mushroomed because of the way it was initially handled," he said. When asked how he sees such protests in South Kashmir, Omar said in recent years, it (South Kashmir) had been calm with relatively less militancy in the area. "Whatever militancy we had seen has been close to Line of Control. Towns of Handwara, Kupwara have largely been calm. Their participation in elections... Has been much healthier... There is this resentment at the excessive presence of the army in the middle of these towns particularly a couple of bunkers that dot the two towns of Handwara and Kupwara but people were ready to take them into stride. In this case the incident of alleged molestation that was the spark that lit the fire," he said. When asked whether incidents in South Kashmir were new wave of militancy or old ones going on, he said these were bit of both. "It is also the result of shrinking of space that has taken place because of the alliance between the PDP and the BJP. I think we need to understand that PDP occupied an important buffer zone between the regular mainstream political parties and separatist for their soft separatism... "It appealed to a section who were not ready for full integration but perhaps weren't ready to pick up guns, demand azadi or unification with Pakistan. With PDP joining the BJP, I think their space or identity had shrunk. They find greater resonance with separatist cause than with the more right wing that is PDP...," he said. Omar said army was put in extremely difficult position and he thinks the state government should have been more careful about. "Knowing that target of people's ire is going to be army and knowing that army is ill equipped to deal with the law and order protests, I think the state government failed in pre-empting this sort of situation," he said. He said state government should have ensured adequate presence of CRPF and state police particularly those who are armed with non-lethal equipment to deal with public protests and put them in front of these army establishment because we knew army is going to be focal point of these protests. Rejecting the claim that Handwara was a tipping point, Omar said it would be "simplistic". "To suggest that it is some path-breaking development and that this event will cause much wider ripple effect than other incidents of the similar nature in the past have done, I don't believe that to be the case," he said. The situation is a matter of concern both in terms of local recruitment in militancy and huge crowds that gather when militants are killed in encounter, Omar said, adding this new trend started when local people get involved in encounter giving chance to militants to escape. "These are not signs that bore well for the future," he said as he rejected the apprehension that appeal of ISIS is growing in Kashmir saying he is yet to evidence that young boys are ready to pick guns under the banner of ISIS. (Reopens DEL 32) Omar refuted suggestion that there could be repeat of violent protests of the summer of 2010 saying people do not have appetite for such protests now. "One of the areas they failed in dealing Handwara was the fact that direction was not there. The Chief Minister chose to remain in Delhi and have meetings that would have no use to the state rather than rushing back to the state and taking control of situation and giving directions to deal with the situation that was unfolding," he said. Omar said when Mehbooba Mufti returned and gave direction, some semblance and some normalcy were restored but by then five people had lost their lives. The former Chief Minister also said the state government should have removed bunkers in Handwara on its own rather than waiting for these protests. Criticizing Bar Council of India for being a mute spectator to selling of law degrees by 'letter pad' colleges, the Madras High Court today directed Bar Councils to ensure they do not enrol applicants if they were found to have obtained law degrees while in service. A division bench, comprising Justices V Ramasubramanian and N Kirubakaran, gave the direction on a petition by one P Ramu, a Junior Engineer in Agricultural Engineering Department, Thanjavur, from March 17 1966 to October 31 2001, challenging the July 24, 2006 enrolment rules of the Bar Council of Tamil Nadu. It directed Bar Councils to verify if candidates applying for enrolment after crossing 40 years of age had rightly got law degrees and not enroll them if found otherwise. It also directed the Councils to verify the ration card, pan card and Aadhar Card of candidates to ascertain their address, social status and income at the time of enrolment. The Councils should also get affidavits from candidates who crossed 40 years of age at the time of enrolment, stating that they have not obtained law degree while in service. The petitioner had obtained a law degree to state as if he had undergone the course from 1998-2001, as a regular student in Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia College of Law, Bangalore University. Ramu said he joined the Department in 1966 and superannuated in the year 2001. After retirement, he applied for enrolment with the Bar Council of Tamil Nadu (BCTN) he said and claimed he had clearly stated his employment details to it. The BCTN sought to know how he had taken the course, especially when he was employed as a Junior Engineer in Thanjavur. Ramu said he filed an affidavit stating that he applied for leave and availed loss of pay to attend regular college during 1999 and 2001. But he did not furnish details. The BCTN then directed him on October 17, 2002 to produce all relevant documents before the Enrolment Committee as proof. Since he still did not do so, the Council on May 13, 2003 rejected his application and referred the case to the Bar Council of India which directed the BCTN on June 14, 2003 to give Ramu a chance to produce the records from the University to back his claims. If he did so and its genuineness was accepted by the Enrolment Committee, then they could take appropriate action. On June 21, 2004, the Bar Council of Tamil Nadu directed Ramu to produce the documents but he did not do so. Ramu then moved the High Court challenging the Bar Council rules, which was dismissed by the bench. The bench observed that it was shameful for the Bar Council to remain a mute spectator to sale of law degrees by 'Letter Pad' colleges and called for urgent remedial steps to contain the menace. "Otherwise, criminal elements and undesirous people will hijack the very system. In fact, criminalization of the Bar has already started," it said. This case was only the tip of the iceberg, showing how full-time salaried employees/staff were working and simultaneously doing law degrees elsewhere, it said. Setting aside a lower court order, the Madras High Court has acquitted an accused in a murder case on the grounds that the trial was not conducted properly. The IV Additional Sessions Judge had sentenced the accused to life imprisonment under IPC section 302 (punishment for murder). A Division Bench, which allowed the appeal filed by the accused Manikandan alias Pillappa of Kodungayur in Chennai, objected to the trial court judge allowing the prosecutor to recall a witness after several months to again examine him when no new fact was in the hands. It also criticised the public prosecutor and trial court judge for "harassing" the prosecution witness, who was the son of the victim, by calling him again and again and not recording the reasons for the same. The matter relates to the murder of Selvam by Manikandan. Selvam had slapped his brother-in-law and Manikandan's father Kesavan after he allegedly used abusive words against him and his wife. Manikandan had allegedly vowed to take revenge on Selvam following this. He allegedly attacked Selvam with a knife, killing him on the spot on November 1,2010. The Division Bench, comprising Justice M Jaichandren and Justice S Nagamuthu, yesterday set-aside the order of conviction and sentence imposed by the trial court, finding fault in the way the trial was conducted. "The learned judge has only exhibited his ignorance in allowing the prosecutor to recall the witness after several months to again examine the witness in chief examination when no new fact was in the hands of the learned public prosecutor to be introduced," the bench said. "We feel very sorry to say that the public prosecutor who conducted the trial had also been quite indifferent and equally ignorant of the legal positions." "Had the learned public prosecutor been a little vigilant or at least, had the learned judge been watchful, without being a silent spectator, in this case, the anomalies mentioned above, which have impelled us to acquit the accused would not have come into being." Writing the judgment for the bench, Justice S Nagamuthu observed that "under the guise of being fair to the accused, no court can afford to be unfair towards the victims and the witnesses and at the whims and fancies of the accused, the witnesses cannot be harassed by summoning them to court repeatedly and to humiliate them. (REOPENS LGM1) The bench, while referring to several Supreme Court judgments, said in number of cases, the legal fraternity has the tendency to appeal for adjournments in the lower courts, saying they have approached high courts for some relief. Without knowing whether the applicant has been granted any relief, the lower courts simply adjourn the matter, it said. The bench, citing an apex court judgement, said "we are pained to say apparently we do not find any change in the scenario, more particularly the mindset of the legal fraternity and judges of the subordinate judiciary to such kinds of unnecessary adjournments in many cases without recording any reason whatsoever." The court observed that "it is none of the business of the members of the judiciary to please the legal fraternity by granting uncalled for adjournments for mere asking, ignoring the legal mandate of section 309 CrPC." "Granting such unnecessary adjournments, in our considered view by itself, is an interference into the independence of the judiciary," it said. Citing an apex court judgement, the bench said the supreme court had expressed its "anguish in ever so many words in its rich vocabulary with regard to this (adjournments). An IIT Kanpur student was found guilty of sexually harassing a girl student and expelled. A 23-year-old BSc Physics student had accused her one year senior of sexually harassing her for last two years after which the college administration had forwarded the matter to the women's cell. The cell found the accused guilty and he was expelled later. According to the Deputy Registrar, the third year BSc student had approached the women's cell on January 5 this year with a complaint regarding the harassment. After investigating the matter, the cell gave a report to the IIT administration which was tabled at the IIT Senate on April 5. The accused student was expelled immediately. The accused then moved the Allahabad High court which has asked the IIT administration for all the details regarding the case. "Whatever decision the High court makes will be discussed at the Senate level and we will then take action according to the court's decision," said IIT Kanpur Director Prof Indranil Manna. On criticism in some quarters that entrance exams have become more of "memory tests", and many students were enrolling in mushrooming coaching institutes to break into IITs, Desai said students who get into IITs were very bright. "It's a supply and demand thing. There are 14 lakh people who want to get into 10,000 seats (in IITs); obviously there will be competition. It is an opportunity for someone (coaching institutes) to say: I will teach you to get in. What do you do now? If there is a certain market-driven opportunity (for coaching institutes), how can you deny that?" he said. "Current kids who get into IITs are very bright. Many people would say they have come through coaching and they only have memory, they don't understand...I have been practically in the IIT system all my life. Today, there are too many distractions for them. When you challenge them (those who get into IITs), these guys deliver," Desai added. Asserting that Navy has contributed significantly to the nation's geopolitical and developmental aspirations, Navy chief Admiral R K Dhowan today said indigenisation programme for platforms, weapons, sensors and equipment should remain an area of focus for the force. Addressing the bi-annual Naval Commanders' Conference, which commenced on April 21, Dhowan addressed the Navy's top leadership on myriad issues including enhancing operational readiness of the Commands, infrastructure development, human resource management, coastal security, cyber security and foreign cooperation initiatives. He revisited the thrust areas as also the importance of the C3I model - Commitment, Compassion, Credibility and Integrity - to keep focus on defined goals and maintain the Navy on the correct track. He said that the Navy has contributed significantly to the nation's geopolitical and developmental aspirations. Emphasising that combat readiness of the fleet and other operational formations is of prime importance, the Admiral said focused efforts, as hitherto, are required at all levels to ensure sustained growth of the Navy into a formidable multi-dimensional force. He complimented all ranks of the Navy in maintaining a high tempo of operations during the last six months including the "very successful" International Fleet review (IFR) held by the Navy at Visakhapatnam in February this year, apart from a number of other notable operational activities such as the first Combined Commanders' Conference on board Vikramaditya in December last, a statement by the Navy said. Among the focus areas discussed during the conference were aspects pertaining to training, skill development and welfare of retiring personnel who constitute a vital resource for the nation. The indigenisation programme of the Navy was discussed and the Navy chief stressed that indigenisation of platforms, weapons, sensors and equipment, through DRDO, public and private sectors as also through in-house efforts, should remain an area of focus. During the course of the conference, the Chief of the Naval Staff reviewed the progress of airfield infrastructure, security of Naval Air Stations, dockyards and naval establishments. In addition meteorological and oceanographic initiatives being undertaken in support of naval operations were also discussed. He emphasised the need for constant review and refinement of the Navy's logistics support structures to ensure that its combat units and formations receive quality logistics support while maintaining a high operational tempo. One of the highlights of the conference was the opportunity Naval Commanders had to interact with the MoD officials, wherein issues pertaining to joint operations and military synergy were discussed. He added that Navy's role is not only vital for national security, but also for national prosperity and development. The first edition of this year's bi-annual Naval Commanders' Conference concluded today. The Islamic State jihadist group has captured a Syrian pilot alive after shooting down his plane east of Damascus, an IS-affiliated agency said. Amaq agency yesterday gave the pilot's name as Azzam Eid, from Hama. It said IS fighters had shot down his plane and found him alive after he parachuted down to the crash site. A video posted by Amaq showed the charred remains of a plane, some parts still on fire, lying on a vast desert plain. Several apparent IS fighters in military-style fatigues circle around the wreckage, pointing to the two-starred Syrian government flag clearly visible on one of the wings. Syrian state agency SANA had no immediate news on the incident. IS fighters have shot down several Syrian government warplanes in recent weeks, including over the Dmeir military airport near Damascus and in the southern province of Sweida. But the pilots were able to land in regime-held zones on both occasions. In December 2014, IS shot down a warplane from the US-led coalition striking the group in Syria and captured the Jordanian pilot alive. The ultra-conservative group later burned pilot Maaz al- Kassasbeh alive and posted video footage of his death online. Syria's conflict first began in March 2011 with widespread anti-government protests which have since spiralled into a multi-front, complicated civil war. Across the country, IS is fighting the Syrian government, non-jihadist rebels, and Kurdish groups. YSR Congress President Y S Jaganmohan Reddy today told Governor E S L Narasimhan the ruling TDP in Andhra Pradesh was indulging in misuse of power and "luring" his party MLAs into the ruling TDP. The Leader of Opposition also sought action against Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu for the latter's alleged involvement in various "scams". "We have urged the Governor to intervene and see that action is initiated against the Chief Minister, who is facing serious corruption charges and is involved in various scams. He has been using the ill-gotten wealth to lure MLAs from other parties in an undemocratic method," Reddy told reporters here after submitting a memorandum to the Governor. "I challenge Chandrababu Naidu to disqualify the MLAs (of YSRC who have joined TDP) and go to the people seeking a fresh mandate which will stand as a referendum on his governance and undemocratic methods being employed ever since the party came to power," he said. The YSR Congress President's attack on the TDP came in the wake of 13 Congress MLAs switching over to the ruling party. The YSRC observed 'Save Democracy Day' today by holding candle light protests at district headquarters. The party leaders would go to New Delhi on April 25 "to apprise the President, Prime Minister and leaders of all political parties about the rampant corruption and blatant violation of democratic norms by Chandrababu Naidu and his government," he said. The YSRC leader demanded that the MLAs who switched loyalties should be disqualified and by-elections held immediately in their constituencies. Reddy said the party has complained to the Legislative Assembly Speaker about the legislators who have switched side but no action had been taken against them. "The party would seek legal recourse if the same continued," he added. Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar and Power Minister Piyush Goyal met US Secretary of State John Kerry here and discussed "a range of issues" including how India and the US can continue to work together on the issue of climate change as major economies. The two ministers met Kerry last night, hours after the historic signing ceremony by 175 nations of the Paris climate change agreement in the United Nations headquarters. Read more from our special coverage on "PARIS AGREEMENT" Government reacts in fits and starts to Paris agreement Javadekar signed the agreement on behalf of India while Goyal co-chaired the meeting of the International Solar Alliance with SegoleneRoyal, theFrench Minister of Ecology, Sustainable Development and Energy and President of the 21st Conference of the Parties (COP21) on the sidelines of the high-level climate change signing ceremony. Following the meeting with Kerry, Javadekar said the two sides discussed a "whole range of issues." A top official said the meeting related to the manner in which India cooperated on climate change leading up to the and how both nations can continue to work together on the issue of climate change as major economies. The two sides also discussed issues related to the Major Economies Forum scheduled for tomorrow and hosted by the US, the official added. Javadekar will attend the conference. The ministers informed Kerry about the steps India was taking towards sustainable development and tackling climate change, including the 26 new initiatives taken by the Narendra Modi government since the adoption of the in December last year such as the six dollar per tonne tax on coal production and building 500,000 toilets for girl students in schools where there were no separate toilets. Union Minister Jitendra Singh launched the 'Pink Chain Cancer Campaign' aimed at raising awareness about the disease and its prevention and cure at the North East Council (NEC) secretariat here today. The week-long campaign, organised by the NEC and the Pink Chain Campaign, an NGO, will culminate on April 29. Launching the campaign, Singh, the Union Minister of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) said the campaign is not necessarily meant for only the state of Meghalaya but for entire North East. "The success of this campaign would lie when we will arrive at a situation where we would not have the requirement of such a campaign a few years from now," he said. Over the years, the prevalence of cancer has gone up in the North East due to various factors, like food habits and lifestyle, Singh said. The DoNER Minister also announced a 6-month course at the Chennai-based Adyar Cancer Institute for physicians or surgeons from the region. Stating that the first batch has already left and started their course in January, he said the cost of training the doctors, surgeons and physicians will be borne by the ministry and the institute. Meanwhile, with over 270 cancer cases detected per one lakh population, Aizawl has been ranked the highest cancer prone district in the country, according to the latest 2014 report. Announcing this, National Cancer Institute chief Dr G K Rath said Aizawl has been followed by East Khasi Hills district of Meghalaya and Kamrup of Assam. He said North East states have reported high incidence rates of cancers of upper aerodigestive tracts and stomach. Cancer of the oesophagus is the most common in Meghalaya and Assam, while stomach cancer is prevalent in Sikkim and Mizoram. In women, the cancer of the breast and the cervix are the leading types in 18 of the 25 Population Based Cancer Registry (PBCR) while the cancer of the lungs was leading in Manipur and Mizoram. JNU Students' Union president Kanhaiya Kumar who is scheduled to address an event in the city tomorrow, will be issued a pre-emptive notice in which he will be asked to abstain from making any provocative and inciting statements, city police said today. "After Kanhaiya Kumar comes to the city, he will be issued a notice under section 144 of CrPC asking him to abstain from making any provocative and inciting statements during his speech so that social harmony will be maintained," Additional Commissioner of Police C Wakade said. Police also informed that permission to the event titled as "Rohith Act and safeguarding Indian Constitution" scheduled to be held at Balgandharva Rangmandir, has been given and adequate police bandobast will be deployed at the venue. Preventive notices have been issued to some right-wing organisations which could disrupt the event, he said. "Approximately 250 police personnel, including senior officers of the ranks of DCP, ACP and Police Inspector, will be deployed to make sure that no untoward incident takes place during the event," said Wakade. He said Kanhaiya will be given police cover to and from the venue. Progressive Students Youth Action Committee, which has organised the event, had yesterday said it has changed the venue in view of the preconditions imposed by the police. The programme, which was earlier scheduled to take place on the premises of Rashtra Seva Dal, was shifted to Balgandharva auditorium, where they got police permission. Local police station had issued a notice to the organisers asking them to fulfil some conditions, such as conducting a fire and structural audit of the venue which prompted them to shift the venue. Pop diva Mariah Carey will be honoured at the 27th Annual GLAAD Media Awards in New York next month. The "Hero" star will receive the Ally Award for her support of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender community. Director Lee Daniels will present his Precious leading lady with her accolade at the Waldorf Astoria New York on May 14, reported Billboard. Orange is the New Black star Laverne Cox is hosting the event, at which actor Robert De Niro will also receive the Excellence in Media Award. German Chancellor Angela Merkel has admitted she had made an "error" in the bitter freedom of speech row sparked by a comedian's poem about Turkey's president. But she defended her decision to authorise criminal proceedings against popular comedian Jan Boehmermann, saying this was a "fair" reaction to the poem that accused President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of paedophilia and bestiality. Merkel did, however, express regret that her spokesman Steffen Seibert had said she viewed the poem as "deliberately insulting" in the chancellery's first official reaction to the row. "With hindsight, it was an error," Merkel told regional officials meeting in Berlin yesterday, adding that the remark could have given the impression that "freedom of opinion is not important, that freedom of the press is not important". Merkel's decision to allow proceedings against Boehmermann has appalled rights groups, while the comedian has received vocal support from media and cultural figures. He could be convicted under the rarely-enforced section 103 of the criminal code -- insulting organs or representatives of foreign states. Prosecutors have opened a preliminary probe against Boehmermann over his so-called "Defamatory Poem", recited with a broad grin on public television on March 31, accusing Erdogan of bestiality and watching child porn. During its broadcast, Boehmermann had gleefully admitted the piece flouted Germany's legal limits to free speech and was intended as a provocation. He has suspended his television show in the midst of the controversy. The row has soured relations at a time when Ankara is vital to European Union plans to tackle the migrant crisis, and some commentators have suggested Merkel's decision was linked to a desire to avoid upsetting Turkey. The EU and Ankara in March agreed a deal that will see migrants arriving in Greece from Turkey sent back. In exchange, Turkey will receive billions of euros of EU aid and political concessions. JNU student leader Kanhaiya Kumar today came down heavily on the Narendra Modi dispensation, terming it a "Government of selfies and jumlas" as he pushed for enactment of a law to prevent caste-based prejudice in educational institutions. The Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union (JNUSU) President who hit headlines after being arrested on charges of sedition in the aftermath of an event at the JNU campus where alleged anti-India slogans were raised, went hammer and tongs against the NDA-led Centre and its pet projects. "The Modi government is coining only jumlas (idiomatic expressions) such as Make in India, which should actually be Fake in India; Stand Up India, Start Up India, Selfie with Daughter etc. It has become a government of selfies and 'jumlas'. "The reality is these are only tall promises by which the government is fooling the public as nothing positive was coming off the ground," he said. The 29-year-old was speaking on the topic 'Student-Youth Assembly Against Discrimination' at an event in suburban Tilak Nagar. Kumar said at a time when entire Marathwada region in Maharashtra was reeling under drought, "RSS-led government" was busy holding IPL matches in the state. "I heard a wax statue of Modiji has been carved out. I also heard a 12-year old girl in Marathwada died as she ventured out to fetch water in scorching heat. Let that wax statue of Modiji be put in Marathwada," he said. Kumar, on his first visit to the metropolis after being granted bail in the sedition case, also touched upon issues related to Mumbai during his 50-minute speech mixed with sarcastic jibes and hard-hitting words. He said the government should pay some attention to improve commuting in suburban trains, which are usually overcrowded leading to death of passengers many a time. The JNU leader said it was high time "Brahminical system" was rooted out and an egalitarian society established in the country. "I am not against Brahmins or any particular caste. But I am against social structure built around Brahminical system and Manuvaad. I want an end of this system and its replacement by Babasaheb Ambekar's vision (of casteless) society," he said. He slammed those who were asking Muslims to prove their nationalism and trying to determine the food habits of the countrymen. These issues are being seen with an eye on the next year's Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, he said. Kumar pitched for a new law, 'Rohith Act', to stop caste-based discrimination in educational institutions, a demand made in the wake of suicide by Dalit scholar Rohith Vemula in Hyderabad University in January. Kumar ridiculed the much-hyped bullet train project and sought to know who will travel on the high-speed rail network "in a country where unemployment is rampant". He took potshots at Modi over his pre-2014 general election promises of bringing back blackmoney stashed abroad and creating large-scale jobs. "Modiji promised to give Rs 15 lakh to everyone (from black money to be brought to India) and to create employment opportunities for two crore people every year. But I ask Modiji, what happened to your promises? Contrary to this, people are losing their jobs. They don't have money. Who will ride on your bullet trains," he asked. (Reopens BOM6) The event was jointly organised by Students' Federation of India (SFI), All India Students' Federation (AISF), Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) and All India Democratic Students' Organisation (AIDSO), among others. Other prominent student leaders who were present at the meet included Richa Singh (President of Allahabad University Students' Union), Shehla Rashid (Vice-President of JNU students' Union) and Nachimutti (President of FTII Students' union). They pledged to defeat fascist forces and uphold the secular and republican characters of Indian Constitution. Former Judge B G Kolse-Patil, social activist Teesta Setalvad and noted documentary filmmaker Anand Patavardhan also shared their views and criticised the "institutionalised murder" of Rohith Vemula. They said the BJP-led governments at the Centre and in Maharashtra were mere "tools" of RSS. The students and youths of the country "were not ready" to give the nation into the hands of "right wing" forces, they said. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will award Madhya Pradesh for excellent implementation of Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996 (PESA) on Panchayati Raj Day, tomorrow. State Panchayat Raj and Rural Development Minister, Gopal Bhargava will receive the first prize at the ceremony to be held in Jamshedpur, Jharkhand. "Madhya Pradesh has been chosen for the award on the basis of study conducted by the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research because of various works done under the Act for conserving culture, customs and traditions of Baiga and Bharia tribes," Bhargava told PTI today. "We have ensured their welfare by conserving their culture, customs and traditions by implementing PESA Act without disturbing their traditional lives," he said. In Madhya Pradesh, 89 development blocks have been designated as tribal blocks. Special provisions have been made for development of these panchayats in scheduled areas under the Act, an official release said. Veteran Nepalese journalist Kanak Mani Dixit, who was arrested by an anti-graft body for allegedly misappropriating a huge amount of money by misusing his public post, was today admitted to the ICU of a hospital here after he complained of high blood pressure. Dixit, the publisher of Himal and Nepali Times magazines who is considered well-disposed towards India and also writes for leading India media outlets, was admitted to the ICU in Bir Hospital to check uncontrolled blood pressure and heart conditions, his family sources said. Dixit, who is also a rights activist and the Chairman of Sajha Yatayat, the public transportation bus system in Nepal which serves Kathmandu Valley, was arrested from his Patan residence near here yesterday by a team of around 20 police personnel deployed by the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA). Dixit was kept in the custody of Metropolitan Police Circle, Gaushala. The anti-graft body has been probing the property details of Dixit on suspicion of amassing property disproportionate to his known source of income. Dixit, 60, had been ignoring summons by the constitutional anti-graft body and was "on the run", according to the CIAA. In a statement, the watchdog had said that Dixit was arrested on the basis of complaints received against him that he misused his public position as the chairman of Sajha Yatayat to accumulate property illegally. Meanwhile, Federation of Nepalese Journalists condemned the arrest, and demanded full investigation into the matter. "We condemn this action taken by the CIAA against a journalist, a pro-democracy and human rights activist. He is being detained in inhuman conditions, and we demand an immediate end to his physical and psychological harassment. Dixit should be released unconditionally forthwith," FNJ said in a statement. "We need to know whether there was misuse of power or prejudice involved in the process of arresting journalist Dixit by CIAA, which need to be made clear," said FNJ president Mahendra Bishta. "We are constantly monitoring the process of action being taken against Dixit by the commission," he added. The body expressed hope that the CIAA will investigate into all the aspects related to Dixit before arriving at any conclusion in the matter. "We are also keenly watching the process of investigation in this regard," he added. Dixit is accused of selling the organisational property as own inheritance and investing the income in other corporations. He has also been alleged to have procured a house and land in his name in the US. The total amount of alleged embezzlement was not known. The civil society leader, however, told local media after the arrest that the move was following an undemocratic decision of CIAA chief Lokman Singh Karki. Four years after the Rev. Don Beal retired as pastor of Central Christian Church in Billings in 2009, he felt a little at loose ends. Beal had spent 46 years in the pulpit, sometimes putting in 10- to 12-hour days. He knew retirement was coming and he had a few hobbies lined up, including rock hunting. But he felt he needed something more substantial. Beal found just the thing by volunteering at an elementary school. It gave me something meaningful and significant to do, he said Wednesday in an interview. If youre retired like I am, it means having a reason to get up in the morning. At the denominations regional assembly April 29-May 1 in Billings, which Beal organized, he hopes to help participants find their own paths to serving others. Were trying to ignite peoples passion for something outside of the church that they can do, said Beal, the vice moderator for the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Montana. The theme of the annual assembly is The Power of Passion. About 60 people, both pastors and congregants, are expected to attend the three-day event at Central Christian Church. The keynote speaker will be former Billings mayor Chuck Tooley, who will kick off his talk with a showing of the video Not in Our Town. Tooleys talk will focus on how the passion of the people in Billings translated into their fight against intolerance. Ed Kemmick, of the Last Best News online news site, will speak at a banquet on Montana personalities who have made a difference, Beal said. At other assembly events, a number of presenters will talk about how they have channeled their energy into different activities. That includes working in a prison ministry, aiding the homeless, helping at-risk youth, focusing on suicide prevention and volunteering in schools. Though the assembly is denominational, the public is invited to the 10 a.m. service at Central Christian Church on May 1, which will feature the Rev. Ruth Fletcher, the denominations regional minister. The denomination has nine congregations in Montana, Beal said, including two in Billings. The other churches are in Miles City, Joliet, Bozeman, Missoula, Helena, Great Falls and Kalispell. Like many denominations, Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) congregations have seen a decrease in membership over the years. One of the things that happens as churches get smaller is that people begin to move into survival mode, Beal said. And what they do is put all their energy into trying to save the institution, he said. And we want people to understand that our calling as Christians has to do with taking Christ into our communities in meaningful ways. For his part, Beal started volunteering at Miles Avenue Elementary about three years ago. When Lyn Bitney, the fourth-grade teacher he worked with, transferred to Highland Elementary, Beal moved along with her. I found my passion was kids, he said. I can tell by reading their faces, their behaviors, what theyre dealing with. Three days a week Beal arrives at the school by 8:30 a.m. He said its a little like going back to work but its not really work. These kids are so fabulous, so pliable at this age. Bitney has told Beal that his greatest contribution to her class is his kindness, his compassion and his patience. That, he said, has nothing to do with teaching subjects and everything to do with teaching life. The students of National Institute Of Technology(NIT), Srinagar today took out a protest march here and demanded permanent deployment of the CRPF in the campus and reshuffling of college administration and immediate formation of Student's Council. Over 300 students including NIT students today took out a protest march from Press Club to Science College in support of their demands. The students said they will continue with their protest till their demands are not met and will boycott the regular classes starting from Monday. NSUI leaders joined the protesting students and said that they will continue supporting the protesting students till demands are met. The MHRD and the college administration have turned a "complete deaf ear" to the primary demands of the students, one of the protesting students said. They demanded permanent deployment of the CRPF with powers in the campus (not under state administration). Besides this they also demanded reshuffling of college administration immediately and restructuring of NIT Srinagar administration by introducing cadre system. Administration (both Teaching and Non-teaching staff) should consist of 50 per cent quota of J&K state personnel and 50 per cent quota from other states of India, the NIT students said. The NIT students also demanded immediate formation of Student's Council on the lines of top NITs, IITs. They also demanded an online Special Grievance Redressal Mechanism (SGRM) exclusively for NIT Srinagar directly monitored by the MHRD. They also demanded action against JK Police and administration involved in the incident and action against those faculty members who are harassing students academically and hoisting of of tiranga (national flag) in institute campus. NITI Aaayog member Prof Ramesh Chand today urged the people and government of Mizoram to exploit the bamboo resources for economic development. Talking to the media persons in Aizawl, Chand said that the huge bamboo resources in the state should be harnessed by the people by extensive use of bamboo for building construction, furniture, dustbin and replacing polythene with bamboo. He said that the maximum utilisation of bamboo and its products can revolutionise the state economy. He opined that the state was moving behind other states in Agro-forest sector and the NITI Aayog was ready to help Mizoram in promoting the sector. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar today took exception to his Jharkhand counterpart Raghuvar Das's reply to his letter for extending cooperation to Bihar for strictly enforcing prohibition in the state. "I had written a letter to the Chief Minister of Jharkhand for cooperating with the state (Bihar) by keeping a strict vigil on Jharkhand border so that prohibition in Bihar can be strictly implemented," Kumar said during his address of JD(U)'s national council meeting. But Kumar expressed surprise the manner in which Jharkhand CM gave reply to his letter. "In reply to my letter, Jharkhand CM wrote back saying that he (Raghuvar Das) has received his (Nitish's) letter and has forwarded it to the Excise department for necessary action," Kumar said adding that is "this is a reply of a CM to another CM's letter." Kumar said that he would first of all visit and participate in the movement for implementing prohibition in Jharkhand. After Jharkhand, he would also go to Lucknow on May 15 to take part in a similar conference organised by women of Uttar Pradesh. As per a newspaper report, UP government has set a target of selling 32.02 crore litres of country made liquor in the current year, Kumar said. "I am going to participate in a conference at Lucknow on May 15. I would ask the UP CM whether the increased target (of country made liquor consumption) would be met by making Uttar Pradesh people drink the country made liquor or is somehow meant for people of Bihar where there is complete prohibition," Kumar said. Kumar, whose government enforced prohibition on April 5 in the state, said that people are asking if prohibition can be implemented in Bihar, then why not in UP, Odisha, Jharkhand. In Tamil Nadu, there is an agreement among major political parties to implement prohibition after the polls, he added. The meeting formally approved his election as the new national president of the party. The Pakistani Taliban today claimed responsibility for the assasination of a prominent Sikh politician who was shot dead by motorcycle-borne gunmen near his home in Pakistan's restive northwest. The Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in a statement said that sharp shooter of Special Task Force ofTTP "successfully" targeted Sardar Sooran Singh inhis home district Buner. The TTP also threatened its "Mujahideen would continue to target the people creatinghurdles in its mission." "Such activities would continue till the enforcement of Islamic system in the country," the terror outfit said. Singh, the Special Assistant to Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) on Minority Affairs, was assassinated in Pir Baba area of Buner district in the province when he was going back to his home after a routine walk yesterday. Meanwhile, thelast rites of Singh were held in Buner district. A large number of people from Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf and other political parties' activists attended the funeral. Singh's murder was widely condemned by fellow politicians and rights activists. A Patna-bound Air India flight carrying 152 passengers, including RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav and BJP MP R K Singh, from the Indira Gandhi International Airport here returned after being air-borne due to a malfunctioning in the aircraft's air-conditioning system. The snag-hit plane, an Airbus A320, was grounded and Air India had to deploy another aircraft to fly the stranded passengers to their destination, a source said. According to sources, Air India flight AI-415 departed at its scheduled time at 6.40 PM last evening but returned to IGIA as the aircraft's air-conditioning system had stopped working mid-way, it said. The airline was replaced the plane, causing an over four-hour delay, the source added. Pope Francis today heard confessions from 16 teenagers after a surprise appearance in St Peter's square to greet thousands of young people attending his holy year youth day. The 16 boys and girls were among tens of thousands of 13 to 16-year-olds visiting the Vatican this weekend as part of Francis's Jubilee year dedicated to the theme of mercy. Thousands of them confessed to a total of 150 priests on duty at St Peter's before passing through a door of the basilica that is only open for the duration of the Jubilee, which started in December and runs to November. Under Catholic tradition, passing through a so-called holy door entitles believers to special indulgences during jubilees. For this one, the first since 2000, Francis has authorised priests to absolve women who have had abortions. The Holy Year is also a time when the faithful are encouraged to reflect on their faith and renew their relationship with God. There were no special arrangements for the 79-year-old pope to hear the confessions of the teenagers selected to speak to him. They all appeared relaxed as they sat on simple chairs face-to-face with the leader of the world's 1.2 billion Catholics. Francis shooks hands warmly with each of them and spent a total of an hour and a quarter on the square before departing with a cheery "ciao ragazzi" (Bye guys!). After the religious ceremonies the mostly Italian teenagers were due to be entertained by rock and rap stars at a concert on Saturday evening in Rome's Stadio Olimpico. Many of them will be back at St Peter's on Sunday for a special mass led by Francis. Earlier in the day the pontiff was presented with a pistachio and hazelnut cake featuring an image of St George slaying a dragon. The Pope's real first name, Jorge, is the Spanish equivalent of George and April 23 is St George's day. President Pranab Mukherjee today acknowledged the historic significance of the Battle of Khongjom, 1891, saying that Manipuri soldiers who had used "outnumbered and primitive weapons" in their fight against the British foces "gave their today for our tomorrow". He said this while inaugurating a War Memorial Monument-cum-Tourist Complex as part of the 125th anniversary of the "Khongjom Day" celebrations in which the President was the chief guest. The President arrived at the Tulihal International Airport in Imphal at 2.20 pm and was airlifted to the recently constructed Kodompokpi helipad ground in Thoubal district. The President then headed for Kheba hillock, located 1.5 km from Khongjom, where he inaugurated the War Memorial Monument-cum-Tourist Complex. Narrating a brief historical account on how "the English East India Company gradually expanded its control over the vast tracts of India" and referring to the Battle of Khongjom, he said that "as per the historians it was the last battle of annexation which began with the 1757 Battle of Plassey". Khongjom Day is observed on April 23 every year by the government of Manipur to pay tribute to the brave sons of Manipur who made supreme sacrifice for the cause of their motherland. Paying homage to the brave Manipuri people who fought against the British forces, President Mukherjee said, "for a minimum period of time, a part of Manipur was liberated by INA and Netaji Subash Chandra Bose unfurled the tricolour at a place near Moreh". Noting that the state is "not just known for natural beauty and cultural variety", he appreciated the pluralism of the state and "urged for development and wished success in every endeavour". Earlier, the President was accorded a warm welcome by Manipur Governor V Shanmuganathan, Chief Minister O Ibobi Singh, his deputy Gaikhangam and other top government officers. Battle of Khongjom marks one of the last battles of the Anglo-Manipuri War of 1891 in which the British Army registered a decisive victory. The President had last visited Imphal in 2014 to attend the 14th Convocation of Manipur University. At a time when many states are reeling under severe drought, President Pranab Mukherjee has recommended consideration of a private member's bill that provides for protective measures for farmers of arid, desert and drought-prone areas and a welfare fund with an initial corpus of Rs 10,000 crore. The Farmers of Arid and Desert Areas (Welfare and Other Special Provisions) Bill, 2014 was introduced by senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel in Rajya Sabha in December 2014. The bill, if enacted, will involve expenditure from the Consolidated Fund of India. "It is estimated a sum of Rs 20,000 crore may be involved as recurring expenditure per annum. A non-recurring expenditure of Rs 5,000 crore may also be involved from the Consolidated Fund of India. A non-recurring expenditure of Rs 5000 crore may also be involved from the Consolidated Fund of India," the Financial Memorandum of the Bill says. Under the rules, a Bill which, if converted into a law and brought into operation would involve expenditure from the Consolidated Fund of India, cannot be passed by Parliament unless the President has recommended to that House its consideration. In a letter to the Rajya Sabha Secretary General a few days back, Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh has stated that the President, having been informed about the subject matter of the particular private member's bill has recommended its consideration under article 117(3) of the Constitution by the Rajya Sabha. The Upper House has listed the bill for consideration, which seeks to provide for the establishment of welfare fund for farmers of arid and desert areas with initial corpus of Rs 10,000 crore to be provided by the central government. A professor was hacked to death by unidentified attackers near his home in northwest Bangladesh today, the latest in a series of brutal attacks on bloggers, intellectuals and activists in the Muslim majority country. Rajshahi University professor AFM Rezaul Karim Siddiquee, 58, was murdered within 50 metres of his residence in the country's northwestern city of Rajshahi, police said. "The miscreants attacked him from behind with machetes as he walked to the university campus from his home around 7.30 AM," local police station in-charge Shahdat Hossain told PTI over phone. He said the Professor of English literature died instantly and the assailants fled the scene after his death. Rajshahi's police commissioner Mohammad Shamsuddin told reporters at the scene that the "technique of the murder suggested it could be an act of Islamist terrorists." The professor's neck was hacked at least three times and was 70-80 per cent slit, he said, adding that the nature of the attack shows it was carried out by extremist groups. The motive behind the murder is not immediately known. No groups claimed responsibility for the attack so far and police are investigating. Meanwhile, angry students and teachers of the university rallied in the campus demanding immediate arrest of culprits. Karim's colleagues said he was involved in cultural activities in the campus and used to play flute and setar. "He was not known for affiliation for any political party...He had a progressive outlook that might have earned him the wrath of reactionary (Islamist) forces," professor of mass communication department of the university Dulal Chandra Biswas told PTI over phone. Biswas said he believed the Islamists murdered Karim to prove their existence in view of a massive anti-militant security clampdown in the region. Two years ago, another Rajshahi University teacher AKM Shafiul Islam was similarly murdered. Though his murder was initially claimed by radical group 'Ansaral Islam', police later ruled out that possibility. Police said he was murdered as a sequel to personal rivalry. But some years ago, two more professors of the Rajshahi University had been killed. There have been systematic assaults in Bangladesh in recent months specially targeting minorities, secular bloggers, intellectuals and foreigners. Last year, four prominent secular bloggers were killed with machetes, one inside his own home. A large number of Sikhs staged a protest at collectorate here today demanding a ban on the screening of film 'Santa-Banta'. Under the aegis of Ghaziabad Sikh Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (GSGPC), the protesters, handed over a memorandum, addressed to Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, to the district magistrate. Addressing the protesters, GSGPC president Sardar Manjit Singh said the censor board has given a clean chit to "controversial film 'Santa-Banta'" but the committee "will not tolerate" any absurd comments against Sikhs. Manjit alleged the film has some "ethnic humour parts which will hurt the sentiments of the community". "One case is already pending in Supreme Court to prohibit the Santa-Banta jokes. Until the case is decided the screening of the film must not be allowed in cinema halls," he said. He said the members of the community will try to prevent the film's screening. As a pastor Im consumed with ministering to my church, while also leading her to reach our city. I love the city of Billings, and it hurts when I remember that most people who live here are lost. When Jesus gave the Great Commission, he instructed his disciples to begin in Jerusalem. Billings is our Jerusalem. This city is where we begin. It should be the epicenter of a transformational movement that began because we believe what the Bible says. We believe that Jesus died for all. Our ministry should be an authentic response to the Gospel directed at a city that we love. So how does this happen? What are some things you can do today to reach the lost in your city? It starts with this thought: Jesus is everything. I love the book of Hebrews because it tells us how great he is. Jesus himself said that if we love him, we will obey him. Too many Christians make worship a second thought, fitting it in once everything else is accomplished. Some people even become too occupied by Christian activity to take time to worship and glorify our Lord. Our prayers become a checklist for him to do to serve our interests. Our faith is wonderful because our God is wonderful. It brings joy because Jesus provides it. We were created for him and by him, so we shouldnt see him as another task to add to our already busy schedule. If we love Jesus enough, we will love people. The idea that we should hunker down and separate ourselves from the lost is foolish. We cannot hide from sin because sin resides in us: All we like sheep have gone astray. This approach reminds me of the Pharisee in Luke 18. When we refuse to talk to the lost, how will we lead them to Christ? People matter to God, and because of that, they should matter to us. Our actions demonstrate whether or not we actually believe what Scripture says. Jesus loves the world so much that he died for it, and then he commanded his church to reach out to it. Jesus did the work; all we have to do is share the story and love people. If you want to reach your city, you must love your church. I am not writing this because I am a pastor. I am writing this because Scripture expects it. I love the church not because it employs me, but because God brought me here to minister to these people (Acts 17). Jesus launched the church, Paul put its blueprints into words, and we are to do the work. Love your church because Jesus loves it. Loving your church includes service, partnership, generosity and prayer. Creating division, gossip, grumbling, slander and refusal to follow are all ways of demonstrating disdain. Too often Christians come to a church with a fear of commitment. Every church isnt for every person, but every Christian should be a contributing member of a church. To reach our city we must come together as a community revolved around Jesus. It's frustrating when Christians give lip service to the idea of loving the lost, as though Jesus set that precedent. Too many Christians pick up their Bibles for information rather than transformation. Scripture is clear that the church is in the people-loving business. If we cannot love people (including those who are difficult), we are failing to obey Christ. If we are refusing to obey Jesus, do we really love him? As I mentioned above, Jesus himself said if we love him we will obey him. The Christian life can be explained by love. When we love Jesus, the church and the world, we are on the right track. Indira Gandhi Government Medical College and Research Institute here sacked 137 of its temporary workers as per the Election Commission's directive, following charges that their appointment was in contravention of rules in force for the May 16 Assembly polls. The workers were hired in February this year as 'Multi Purpose Workers' on consolidated wage payment scheme. The College Director, who issued the order in this regard today, said the step had been taken in compliance with a directive of the Election Commission of India. He said some political parties had sought intervention of the Election Commission, alleging that the workers' appointment was in contravention of recruitment rules. The college had since terminated the services of these temporary workers with immediate effect, he said. The UK government has said that Indian languages such as Punjabi, Urdu, Gujarati and Bengali that have been part its school curriculum will continue to be taught across the country. The UK's Department for Education confirmed this week that the four languages will continue to be among the choice of subjects as part of the GCSE and A-Level syllabus, the equivalent of India's central board level school examinations. "I represent one of the most multicultural constituencies in the country so I can attest that we are more part of a global village now than we have ever been," said MP Bob Blackman, who had campaigned for the languages to be retained. "Our young people have far more opportunities available to them if they are able to be multilingual and that is why I have argued for language studies to be prioritised and protected in our educational system," Bob said. The UK government worked with the UK's exam boards to secure agreement that the community language qualifications will continue to be provided under these subjects. "I congratulate everyone who worked to keep this important issue on the agenda and I am pleased that in Nicky Morgan [UK education minister] we have an Education Secretary willing to listen to the needs of people on a practical level," Bob said. Other languages that have been retained as part of the school syllabus include Arabic, Modern Greek, Japanese, Modern and Biblical Hebrew, Polish, Portuguese and Turkish. Supermodel Naomi Campbell has claimed that she does not like the use of the word "racism" to describe discrimination she has faced in the fashion industry from time to time. The 45-year-old British supermodel made the comments during an interview when she was asked whether she faced racism at the start of her career in the '80s, reported Contactmusic. "I never use that word 'racism'. I find it a cliche word and I don't want to use it as an excuse," she replied. "For me it was... I call it territorialism, where there are people that have that certain territory and they stand their ground, and they are not going to change their mind and that is their opinion." Campbell did offer some specific examples of when she felt she was discriminated against, citing when she was turned down for the cover of the French version of Vogue magazine in the late '80s. "At first they said no, because they had never had anyone on it. It was instantly 'no' without thinking. So I thought, 'Let me go to my great friend Yves Saint Laurent and tell him'... I asked him to fix the situation and he did. That is how I got it. At least 27 civilians were killed today in regime bombardment on rebel-held areas across Syria, a monitor and local sources said, in the latest deadly violence despite a ceasefire deal. Twelve civilians were killed in Aleppo, according to a local civil defence official, and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 13 others died in shelling on the rebel town of Douma, east of Damascus. And two men were killed in regime airstrikes on Talbisseh in Homs province, the monitor said. Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman said the escalating violence meant the ceasefire in Syria had effectively collapsed. The barrage of air strikes on Aleppo began around 10:00am (0700 GMT) on several neighbourhoods, including the heavily-populated Bustan al-Qasr district, an AFP correspondent in the city said. But the deadliest raid was on the Tareeq al-Bab neighbourhood on the eastern edges of the city. A civil defence member responding to the incident said 12 civilians had been killed there. AFP footage showed a civil defence volunteer carrying a screaming woman down a ladder from a damaged building in the neighbourhood, as a pick-up truck drove the remains of one person away. Another volunteer brought down a young man cradling a baby from a high floor in a crane. At least nine other civilians were wounded in air strikes on other parts of the city, including Bustan al-Qasr and Al-Mashad, the civil defence member said. It was the second day of deadly strikes on Aleppo, after 25 civilians were killed and another 40 wounded in air strikes yesterday. Once Syria's commercial hub, the northern metropolis has been divided by government control in the west and opposition groups in the east. In the rebel-held town of Douma, 13 people -- including three women and two children -- were killed in government shelling on the city. The Observatory said all the dead were civilians. Douma lies in the Eastern Ghouta opposition bastion, where the Jaish al-Islam rebel group -- also party to the truce deal -- is dominant. The ceasefire deal brokered by Russia and the United States saw Syria's government and non-jihadist opposition agree to halt attacks while pursuing peace talks. Violence dropped across the country, including in Aleppo city, where residents cautiously began shopping in open-air markets and taking their children to parks. But Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman said on today that the truce had effectively collapsed. "Most of the areas that were under the ceasefire are now seeing fighting again," he said. More than 270,000 people have been killed since Syria's conflict first broke out in 2011. Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu today said his ministry has chalked out a plan to invest Rs 40,000 crore in different projects in Mumbai, blueprint of which will be prepared before August 15. "I belong to this city. And not only me but all my colleagues know what needs to be done so ample attention would also be given to Mumbai," Prabhu said at the foundation stone laying ceremony of an FOB (foot over bridge) at suburban Khar railway station here. The minister said he has recently held a meeting with Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis in this regard. "I held a meeting with the chief minister, chairman of Railway Board and other senior railway officials and we have chalked out a plan to invest over Rs 40,000 crore. Its blueprint will be prepared before August 15," he said. Prabhu said Central and the state government will collaborate to implement some of the big projects in the megapolis like elevated corridors between Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus and Panvel; Churchgate-Virar elevated corridor project to be completed in two phases. "I have personally spoken to senior officials to execute the work within stipulated time frame and if there is any technical glitch, I will personally see to it," he said. Outlining his priority to turn Indian railway into a world-class transport medium, Prabhu claimed, "The way we have invested money through some extra budgetary resources, no other government in the past in its first two years tenure has done." The minister later inaugurated a new FOB at suburban Vile Parle station built with a cost of Rs 2.30 crore. MP Poonam Mahajan, MLA Parag Alawani, Mumbai mayor Snehal Ambekar, MLA Ashish Shelar and other senior railway officials were also present on the occasion. South Sudan rebel chief Riek Machar will miss an international deadline today to return to the capital to take up the post of vice president, the government and rebels said, with his arrival now expected next week. "There is no coming today," Minister of Information Michael Makuei said, adding that the government will issue flight clearance for Machar to arrive by plane from Ethiopia only after international monitors have verified the number of weapons carried by the rebels accompanying him. The rebels, who were at an airport in Ethiopia, said they were ready to fly but needed permission to do so. An AFP reporter at the airport in Gambella said there was growing frustration among the rebel troops, who have now been there for several days, waiting to leave. UN chief Ban Ki-moon has urged Machar to return to Juba "without delay", while the US, Britain and Norway - key international backers of peace efforts - demanded he return by today. Machar was due to return to the capital Juba on April 18 to take up the post of first vice president alongside arch-rival President Salva Kiir. His failure to arrive has thrown an August 2015 peace agreement to end over two years of intense civil war into jeopardy. Under intense international pressure, the two sides reached agreement on Friday on the number of troops protecting Machar and the exact number of weapons they can carry. Machar can bring with him 195 men, carrying AK-47 assault rifles as well as 20 machine guns and 20 rocket-propelled grenades. Rebel spokesman James Gadet however said the weapons had already been checked by Ethiopian officials, and could also be verified upon their arrival in Juba. "The forces are ready," Gadet said. There was "high drama" over the six-day visit of Punjab Congress President Amarinder Singh to Canada, with a US-based rights group moving a Toronto court demanding his arrest over alleged atrocities committed during his tenure as chief minister. According to sources, Gurpatwant Singh Pannu of rights group 'Sikhs for Justice' has moved a court in Toronto seeking directions to arrest Amarinder on his arrival there. Amarinder, who came here on April 19 and addressed NRI gatherings here, was to fly to Toronto today but had to cancel his flight and was forced to wait for the court decision. Sources said the petition moved by "Sikhs for Justice" is demanding restraining orders on him. The petition alleges that Amarinder during his chief ministership between 2002 and 2007 promoted certain police officers who allegedly committed human rights excesses against Canadian Sikhs in India during the dark days of militancy in the state. "This is an attempt to thwart my meetings with NRIs while trying to reach out to them. These are a handful of people utilising such events to make money. They have tried to do the same with Congress President and former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh," Amarinder told PTI. He said he is awaiting the verdict of the Canadian court and will only then proceed to the country, where he intends to meet NRIs and interact with them in small gatherings. "I had to cancel my morning flight due to this incident. I am awaiting the verdict of the court and our people are arguing in the court there," he said. The Canadian government has restrained Amarinder from holding public meetings in their country. Amarinder is scheduled to address gatherings of NRIs in Toronto and Vancouver and will then return to United States to address NRIs in San Fransisco and New York, besides a few other places. Describing the Canadian government's move to disallow his interactions with NRIs in Toronto and Vancouver as a "gag order", Amarinder wrote to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to lodge his protest over the development. Amarinder was informed by Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar that the Canadian government has not allowed his public interactions during his proposed visit to Canada beginning April 23. A 23-year-old editor of a website in Singapore has been sentenced to 10 months in prison for publishing "seditious articles" intended to "provoke unwarranted hatred against foreigners". Ai Takagi, who is 12-weeks pregnant, is the Chief Editor of socio-political website 'The Real Singapore' (TRS). She surrendered herself at the State Courts yesterday to begin the jail term, The Straits Times reported today. She was convicted of sedition last month after she pleaded guilty to publishing "seditious articles" on the TRS website. Her sentence was deferred till yesterday. The court had found that the articles published by TRS were intended to "provoke unwarranted hatred against foreigners in Singapore" and jailed her for 10 months. Takagi, an Australian of Japanese descent, told the court that she set up TRS in 2012 to let Singaporeans express their views without fear. But the prosecution said the website was in fact a revenue-generating business. The court found that Takagi was a "a shrewd businesswoman who was driven by financial gains". Takagi had also apologised in open court to the people of Singapore for the harm the published articles had caused. Admitting she was not fully aware of the level of sensitivity needed when dealing with racial and religious issues here, Takagi claimed that she "loves" Singapore and hopes to call it her home permanently. "I now know that the harmony which Singapore enjoys today requires careful and continuous efforts on the part of everyone, citizens and visitors alike, to maintain," she said. One article was entitled "Why Some Singaporeans Feel Annoyed With Pinoys (a short name for Filipinos) In Singapore" and published in June 2014. The article quoted a Singaporean who allegedly quit his job claiming Filipinos in his company gave preferential treatment to their countrymen. It described them as "two- faced" and "relentless back-stabbers". Takag's Singaporean husband Yang Kaiheng, 27, is on trial for allegedly helping her run the site. He is expected back in court on June 22 when the case resumes. Global health organisations, including some Indian NGOs, have asked soft drink majors to stop "hardcore" marketing and advertising of sugar-sweetened beverages to children. The groups, which include Delhi-based Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), have written to CEOs of Coca Cola and Pepsico and other institutional investors to "acknowledge" the burden of sugar-related diseases in children. The letter, sent in the run-up to Coca-Cola's annual meeting on April 27 and PepsiCo's on May 4, claimed that the multi-nationals are targeting low or middle-income countries in Asia, Africa, Middle East and Latin America which face steep rise in costs associated with health problems related to these drinks. Both the soft drink majors were not available for comment on the matter. The letter has been co-signed by the George Institute for Global Health from Australia and India (which joined with other groups), Alliance for the Control of Tobacco Use and Health Promotion in Brazil. The Nutritional Health Alliance in Mexico, Australia and New Zealand, Obesity Society from Australia, China, India and UK, Centre for Science and Environment in India, World Obesity Federation and World Public Health Nutrition Association are also signatories to the letter. According to reports by Diabetes Foundation and Centre of Nutrition and Metabolic Research in India, the per capita consumption of sugary beverages has gone up by more than 5 times since 1998. "This in itself shows the impact of the marketing being done by these companies in developing countries like India. "There is growing science on the negative impact of excess sugar consumption on health. The scale of the problem can't be blamed on individuals - we live in an environment where companies like Coke and Pepsi spend billions for bombarding us with sophisticated advertising designed to maximize profits without respect for public health. "These companies are now aggressively moving into the less-regulated markets of developing countries with Coke investing USD 5 bn US in India over the next few years. "This will only worsen existing health problems associated with sugary drinks - rising levels of chronic illness, obesity and type 2 diabetes in countries that are already ill-equipped for the health fall out," said Alexandra Jones, George Institute for Global Health. Vivekanand Jha, Executive Director of the George Institute for Global Health said that around 2 lakh deaths occur every year due to sugar-related diseases. "Excess sugar in the body causes multiple disorders and eventually leads to obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular diseases, among other diseases. Children are the worst affected by these disorders as all marketing and advertising campaigns for sugar sweetened beverages are targeted upon them," he said. CSE's deputy director general Chandra Bhushan told The pilot of a solar-powered plane on an around-the-world journey took a few minutes to exchange pleasantries with the United Nations secretary general as he flew high above the Pacific Ocean enroute to a stop in Northern California. "I speak to you from the cockpit of Solar Impulse in the middle of the Pacific, flying only on solar power. No fuel," pilot Bertrand Piccard told UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon yesterday during a brief conversation streamed live on his aircraft's website. Ban hailed Piccard's pioneering spirit as "inspirational," telling him he was making history. Piccard responded that Ban, too, was making history by having just presided over the signing of a climate agreement supported by representatives of 175 nations. "What you are doing today in New York, signing the Paris agreement, is more than protecting the environment, it is the launch of the clean technology revolution," Piccard said. After brief good wishes from an official of his native Switzerland, the pilot continued on his way. He said he expected to be in the San Francisco Bay area by Saturday evening. Earlier, Piccard had watched in fascination from his plane as the sun, which is powering his aircraft's batteries, rose over the ocean on Friday, which is also Earth Day. "Absolutely fantastic moment ... That's a sunrise I will remember all my life," he said. The trans-Pacific leg of his journey is the riskiest part of the plane's global travels because of the lack of emergency landing sites. After uncertainty about winds, the plane took off from Hawaii on Thursday morning and was on course to land in Mountain View, California, over the weekend. The crew that helped it take off was clearing out of its Hawaiian hangar and headed for the mainland for the weekend arrival. At one point passengers on a Hawaiian Air jet caught a glimpse of the Solar Impulse 2 before the airliner sped past the slow-moving aircraft. The Solar Impulse 2 landed in Hawaii in July and was forced to stay in the islands after the plane's battery system sustained heat damage on its trip from Japan. The aircraft started its around-the-world journey in March 2015 from Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, and made stops in Oman, Myanmar, China and Japan. It's on the ninth leg of its circumnavigation. A woman beat to death a 13-month-old girl under her care in Poplar, threw the child's body into a dumpster and reported her missing before confessing to the crime a day later, a federal investigator testified Friday. Janelle Red Dog, 42, admitted striking the baby on three occasions, but it's uncertain if that's what killed her, her lawyer said. Red Dog got scared after Kenzley Olson died, so she disposed of the child's body in a trash container several blocks from her house on the Fort Peck Reservation, attorney Mary Zemyan said. She later reported the girl missing. Red Dog appeared in tribal court Friday and was ordered back into custody without bond, court officials said. Tribal prosecutors are expected to charge her by Tuesday, when she is scheduled for another hearing. It was the second major event in recent weeks to rattle the sparsely populated reservation, home to the Assiniboine and Sioux tribes in Northeast Montana. In late February, a man allegedly abducted and sexually assaulted a 4-year-old girl from a park in the reservation town of Wolf Point. The girl was found alive several days later. Fort Peck Tribal Chairman Floyd Azure said Kenzley's death and the recent kidnapping stemmed from a rising drug epidemic that the reservation has to address. "What it's coming down to is our society is basically allowing this to be the norm," he said. "We are allowing this to happen by not speaking out." Investigators haven't publicly linked either case to drugs, but Azure said he use of methamphetamine was at the root of both crimes. Bureau of Indian Affairs investigator Ken Trottier testified in tribal court that Red Dog confessed to punching Kenzley several times on Tuesday, killing her. She then put the girl's body in a duffel bag and threw it in a dumpster, he said. When Red Dog reported Kenzley missing hours later, authorities issued an Amber Alert that said the girl was kidnapped, possibly by a man and woman from North Dakota. The pair turned out to not be involved, and the alert was cancelled after Red Dog reportedly confessed and drew a map to the child's body. Prosecutors filed an affidavit outlining the allegations Thursday, but the chief judge overseeing the case has not released it. Zemyan said Kenzley had been under Red Dog's care since the girl's mother dropped her off approximately two weeks ago and then failed to return. Many details on the events leading up to Kenzley's death remain unclear, she said. "The only clear facts are that the baby was found in the dumpster, and Janelle told them where to find her, and that Janelle at some point struck the child. Those things don't add up to murder," Zemyan said. Azure said Kenzley's mother was in jail when her daughter was killed. That was confirmed by the tribal jail, although the charges against her were not available. Attempts to reach the mother and other members of the girl's family were unsuccessful. Funeral services were scheduled for Sunday. Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal today expressed shock over the brutal killing of a prominent Sikh politician who was shot dead by motorcycle-borne gunmen near his home in Pakistan's restive northwest province. Soran Singh, the Special Assistant to Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) on Minority Affairs, was killed yesterday in Buner district. The Pakistani Taliban today claimed responsibility for the assassination. In his condolence message, Badal described Soran Singh as "a multifaceted personality being a member of Pakistan Sikh Gurudwara Parbandhak Committee (PSGPC) and Evacuee Trust Property Board". Apart from being a public figure he was very active in social service and helped in ameliorating lot of poor sections of society in his constituency. With his untimely departure the Sikhs in Pakistan have lost their most vocal spokesman, Badal said. Expressing concern at the plight of minorities in the wake of this horrible incident, Deputy CM urged External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj to immediately raise the issue with the government of Pakistan and lodge a strong protest besides taking adequate steps to ensure safety and security of minorities there where Talibani extremism is posing a "grave danger" to all sections of society especially minorities. Badal has condemned an incident in which Sri Guru Granth Sahib was stolen from the Gurudwara Sahib of Hajishahr village in Kachchi in Balochistan and termed it as "deeply disturbing". Senior BJP leader Subramanian Swamy today appealed to the teachers to adopt ancient system of 'gurukula' and asked male students not to accept dowry. "Today we are at such a crucial juncture from where we want to see India as a developed country," said the former union minister who was addressing students at a private university function in Jalandhar today. "Students will play a pivotal role in shaping the country as a developed one. We all have to build a united and conscious India. You must accept the challenges and learn to face them before they are solved," said Swamy. "Men must also make efforts for women empowerment and bypass all kinds of partitioning talks. Male students must also resolve to not accept dowry in any form in their life," he said. "While adopting the ancient gurukula system, the students should not only be given projects but also encouraged to participate in such interactive activities which enhance their thinking capabilities and problem solving abilities," said the former union minister. A teenager who loved stunt biking and his elder brother have been arrested for stealing half a dozen two wheelers, police said today. The accused brothers Aakash, 19, and Azad, 21, were arrested alongwith their associate Rizwan on a tip off received by Crime Branch from Dwarka More in south west Delhi. Their arrest also led to recovery of three motorcycles and three scooty, said Ravindra Yadav, Joint Commissioner (crime). During interrogation, it was revealed that Akash is pursuing studies from National Open School and is a passionate stunt biker. His father being a taxi driver, he could not afford to buy motorcycles and so started stealing them. He also used to go for stunt biking on stolen bikes at Yamuna expressway alongwith his friends and uploaded his photos on facebook. He was earlier arrested by Moti Nagar police alongwith a stolen motorcycle. His elder brother Azad worked in the past as a sales executive at a showroom in Uttam Nagar area. He helped his brother to fulfill his passion for stunt biking by helping him vehicle lifting. The bikes stolen and used by the brothers were later sold to Rizwan who ran an auto repairing shop in Uttam Nagar. They got Rs 10,000 for each stolen bike they sold to Rizwan. The two wheelers were lifted by them from Uttam Nagar, Dwarka North, Rohini North, Kirti Nagar, and DLF Gurgaon areas and the concerned police stations have been informed, added the officer. The Telangana Government would hold talks with Karnataka on April 28 on the inter-state Rajolibanda Diversion Scheme (RDS) irrigation project. Telangana Irrigation Minister T Harish Rao would go to Bengaluru to hold parleys with his Karnataka counterpart M B Patil, a Government release said here today. The Telangana Government has been not able to provide irrigation facility to its farmers through the RDS for various reasons, it said. The works proposed in undivided Andhra Pradesh have not been taken up since the last three years. Though Telangana is entitled to utilise 15.9 TMC of water from RDS, it is not getting even 5 to 6 TMC, it said. Rao had taken up the matter with Patil, who invited him to Bengaluru for talks, the release added. RDS is built across River Tungabhadra in Kurnool district of Andhra Pradesh and Raichur district of Karnataka. The inter-state barrage supplies water to Karnataka, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. Tripura government has agreed to a proposal to supply additional 100 MW power to Bangladesh, but with a condition that the Centre would continue a steady flow of gas to 101 MW thermal power project in Sipahijala district, Tripura Power Minister Manik Dey said today. Recently, Bangladesh has written to the Government of India about its requirement of additional 100 MW power from Tripura and the ministry of power wanted the opinion of the state government. "We are also interested to supply additional 100 MW of power to our neighbour. We can give them the entire production of the 101 MW gas based thermal power project at Monarchak in Sipahijala district. If the Government of India can ensure steady flow of supply of gas to the project. We have intimated our opinion to the central government," state Power Minister told reporters here. The Monarchak project is owned by North East Electric Power Corporation (NEEPCO), a state owned power company which made an agreement to sell the entire production to Tripura. The project is now ready for commercial run if natural gas is supplied. During trial run gas was supplied by ONGC, which has huge recoverable reserve in the state. A double circuit transmission line from Sryamaninagar here to Comilla district in Bangladesh covering 47 km was erected by the Government of India, through which 100 MW power is being supplied from Tripura's 726 MW gas based thermal power project in Gomati district since March 23. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina, along with Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar, on March 23 opened the transmission through video-conferencing. Republican presidential front runner has used fake Indian accent to mock a call center representative in India. At the same time, he described India as a great place, asserting that he is not angry with Indian leaders. The billionaire from New York said that he called up his credit card company to find out whether their customer support is based in the US or overseas. "Guess what, you're talking to a person from India. How the hell does that work?" he told his supporters in Delaware. "So I called up, under the guise I'm checking on my card, I said, 'Where are you from?'" Trump said and then he copied the response from the call center in a fake Indian accent. "We are from India," Trump impersonated the response. "Oh great, that's wonderful," he said as he pretended to hang up the phone. "India is great place. I am not upset with other leaders. I am upset with our leaders for being so stupid," he said. "I am not angry with China. I am not angry at Japan. I am not angry with Vietnam, India...All these countries." Trump mentioned the fake call to India during his remarks on what he described as "crooked banking." Delaware, is a hub for the America's banking and credit- card industry. Topping the list include Bank of America, Citibank Delaware, M&T Bank and PNC Financial Services Group. "They are making a lot of money," he said. "You can't allow policies that allows China, Mexico, Japan, Vietnam, India. You can't allow policies that allows business to be ripped out of the United States like candy from a baby," Trump said in his address. "The manufacturing jobs are being stolen. Our jobs are being taken. We are losing at every front. There is nothing good. Our country does not win anymore. The jobs are being stripped. Factories are closing. We are not going to let this happen anymore," he said. Trump said he has as many as 378 companies registered in Delaware, where the Republican presidential primaries is scheduled on April 26 along with several other states. He is leading in polls against his other primary rivals. In his speech, Trump praised Delaware's status as a tax shelter and slammed President Barack Obama for not using the term "radical Islamists" in the fight against terrorism. "I want to run against crooked Hillary," he said, reiterating that a Trump vs Clinton race would bring the greatest turn out in the history of the American elections. "We will stomp on Hillary Clinton no one's ever done." He was also critical of Indian-American South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, who did not endorse him during the primary. Delaware has 16 delegates. Trump has 845 delegates, followed by Ted Cruz (559) and John Kasich (148). Turkey's prime minister has said the number of migrants crossing into Greece illegally has dropped considerably, as proof that a much criticised migration deal between Turkey and the European Union is working. Ahmet Davutolgu was speaking yesterday at a joint conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and top European Union officials who travelled near Turkey's border with Syria in a bid to promote the troubled deal with Turkey as they face increasing pressure to reassess the agreement. The group toured a refugee camp and inaugurated a child support centre funded by the EU. European Union Council President Donald Tusk said the EU plans to spend USD 1.1 billion on projects this summer to improve the lives of Syrian refugees in Turkey and Davutoglu said the bloc has already launched projects worth USD 211 million. Human rights groups criticised the trip to what they call a "sanitised" refugee camp -- and said EU officials should look further at the tens of thousands of Syrian refugees that are now blocked from entering Turkey. Many have questioned the legality of the March 20 EU-Turkey deal allowing for the deportation of migrants who don't qualify for asylum in Greece back to Turkey. Davutoglu said the number of migrants crossing illegally into Greece had dropped from around 6,000 per day in November to around 130 daily since the beginning of this month. "This drop shows the effectiveness of this joint mechanism," Davutoglu said. "Our priority was to stop the baby Aylans from washing up on the shores, and we have made great strides in this aim," Davutoglu said, in reference to drowned 3-year-old Aylan Kurdi, whose images helped galvanise world attention on the plight of the migrants. In return for the deal, the EU has earmarked USD 6.8 billion to Turkey over the next four years to help improve conditions for the 2.7 million Syrian refugees inside Turkey. The EU is also set to allow visa-free travel for Turkish citizens. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has pressed South Sudan rebel leader Riek Machar to return to Juba "without delay" and begin work in a transitional government. Machar had been expected to return to the capital on Monday, in line with a political agreement aimed at ending the two-year war, but differences over security arrangements in Juba delayed his arrival. Ban yesterday said President Salva Kiir's government had agreed to a compromise proposal on the arrangements for Machar's return and said this breakthrough should help with the swift formation of the new unity government. "Maintaining a spirit of cooperation will be crucial as the country's leaders begin the work of reversing the years of destruction this conflict has brought upon the people of South Sudan," he said in a statement. Ban urged Machar to travel to Juba "without further conditions which could jeopardize the fragile peace process and prolong the suffering of the South Sudanese people." Under the peace deal, Machar was to return to the post of vice president in a the new 30-month transitional government leading to elections. The latest stumbling block concerned the number of machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades that rebel troops protecting Machar would be allowed to carry. South Sudan's war began in December 2013, when Kiir accused Machar of plotting a coup. The conflict has torn open ethnic divisions and been characterized by horrific rights abuses, including gang rapes, the wholesale burning of villages and cannibalism. At the request of the United States, the Security Council met Monday and expressed "serious concern" at Machar's failure to return. International powers, including the African Union, the European Union, China, Britain and the US, gave both Machar and Kiir a Saturday deadline to resolve differences. Tens of thousands of people have been killed and more than two million have been driven from their homes since war broke out in December 2013. The International Solar Alliance (ISA) and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) have joined hands to promote solar energy globally. On occasion of a side event on ISA at UN Headquarters in New York yesterday, the Interim Administrative Cell of ISA and UNDP evinced their interest to promote solar energy globally, the New and Renewable Energy Ministry said today. The joint declaration was exchanged in the presence of Power, Coal and New and Renewable Energy Minister Piyush Goyal and Ministers and Ministerial representatives from around 25 ISA countries. Ministry of New and Renewable Energy Secretary Upendra Tripathy and the Chairperson of ISA Interim Administrative Cell exchanged the declaration with UN representative, it added. The major areas identified for working jointly include development of synergies with ongoing UNDP programmes and projects on solar energy in and across ISA member countries and creation of complementary linkages with ongoing global and regional efforts in the field of solar energy. They will also look for strategic cooperation in programmatic and technical expertise and facilitating the participation of the wider UN system towards the creation of innovation hubs in and technology transfers between ISA member countries. Support for the establishment of knowledge management systems as well as electronic networks and/or e-portals for the sharing, creation and management of knowledge on solar energy has also been identified. ISA and UNDP will also work on strengthening development of ISA's institutional structure and enhancing its capacity development efforts through the support of training programmes, the Ministry said. A court here has ordered the city police to register a case of alleged cheating under Section 420 of IPC against Kingfisher Airlines owner Vijay Mallya. The order by Chief Judicial Magistrate Nupur on Friday came on a complainant by an Air Asia pilot Akash Sharma. Sharma, a resident of Bulandshahr, told the court that he had served Kingfisher Airlines as a pilot from 2010 to 2012 and the airline owed him Rs.9 lakh. The amount accrued on account of TDS was deducted from Akash's salary but not deposited with the Income Tax Department by the accused, Sharma alleged adding this amounted to cheating. Agreeing with the complainant, the CJM ordered the police to register a case of cheating. A man is accused of hitting his nieces boyfriend in the head with a rock earlier this week. Roman Kreg Odonnell, 42, faces one charge of felony assault with a weapon, which is punishable by up to 20 years imprisonment and a $50,000 fine. Thursday at about 8:40 p.m., the Billings Police Department responded to a report of an assault with a "landscaping rock" on the 700 block of Parkhill Drive at Odonnells residence, where his niece also lives. Odonnells niece, Madeline Wright, told officers that her boyfriend had brought her home when Odonnell emerged from the house and yelled at her boyfriend, Jorden Hart, to "turn off his pickup or get the hell out of here! according to court documents. Wright said her uncle picked up a large rock from a "landscaped area and came back to the pickup and struck Hart in the head with it," according to court documents. Hart tackled Odonnell and held him down while they waited for law enforcement. While restrained, court documents state that Odonnell bit Harts wrist as he struggled to free himself. Odonnell was released without bond by District Court Judge David A. Carter on Friday under the condition that he avoid contact with the victim and avoid drinking establishments except for the bar where he works. Odonnell also can't possess a gun or use alcohol or drugs without a prescription, Carter said. Odonnell should walk away if the victim approaches him, and he should keep the court informed of his whereabouts, Carter said. Odonnell is scheduled to appear again in District Court at 9:30 a.m. April 29. Seeking to check poll-related violence in West Bengal, the Election Commission today stepped in by warning of action against officers who fail to take preventive measures and said perpetrators would not be spared irrespective of their political affiliation. The Commission said the entire election machinery, including police will curb violence "at all cost" and ensure free, fair and peaceful elections in all the 127 constituencies which will go for 4th, 5th, and 6th phases of Assembly polls on April 25, 30 and May 5. "Prior to the poll day, as part of vulnerability mitigation strategy, confidence building measures are being undertaken by large number of central police forces which includes visits to the identified vulnerable habitations, contacting vulnerable people and also preventive measures like seizure of arms and weapons, execution of non-bailable warrants, binding down of history sheeters, anti-social elements by applying relevant legal provisions to ensure fear-free environment," the Commission said in a statement. It said that each case of pre-poll, poll day and post-poll violence is being closely monitored and "strict action would be taken against such perpetrators irrespective of their political affiliation." The poll watchdog has also ensured that the officials concerned in the areas of poll-related violence are held accountable and that strict action is taken against those who show any negligence in taking necessary preventive measures or post-occurrence legal action in such cases. Workers of rival parties have been clashing with each other in West Bengal where Assembly polls are underway. They have used crude bombs which have left several people injured. But so far, there has been only one poll day violence-related death in the state. But people have died in pre-poll and post violence. (REOPENS DEL19) According to an EC statement, the Commission is following up with Chief Electoral Officer of West Bengal and DGP each of the matter of post-poll violence. As a result, the police authorities have arrested accused persons in such violence cases in the past two days, it said. Giving details, the statement said that on April 21, 11 cases were recorded and till now 13 peoples have been arrested in constituencies which polled during phase three of the Assembly polls. On April 22, six incidents of post-poll violence took place in the third phase in which till now seven persons have been arrested. In the entire state a total of 29 specific cases were registered and 26 people have been arrested as on April 22. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today said her government was committed to return land to "unwilling" farmers in Singur. "We will return the land. It is our commitment. The case is in Supreme Court. You will get justice. There is no cause for worry," the Trinamool Congress supremo said while addressing an election meeting here in Hooghly district. "As long as I am alive there will not be any injustice to you. We will continue to give rice at Rs 2 per kg," she said asking "Did CPI-M, Congress, BJP bother to look after you ?" Tata Motors had shifted their Nano car plant to Gujarat from Singur in the face of Banerjee's fierce movement against forcible farmland acquisition. After coming to power in 2011, the Mamata Banerjee government hand enacted Singur Land Rehabilitation and Development Act, 2011, that allowed it to reclaim the 400 acres land given to Tata Motors. The Act was, however, struck down by Calcutta High Court when challenged by Tatas and the state government had moved Supreme Court against the High Court order. Banerjee said, "CPIM had forcibly acquired the farm land. Tapasi Malik was raped and killed. The case is still with CBI but they have not done anything till now." In an obvious reference to CPI-M leader Rabin Deb who is contesting from Singur in Hooghly district, Banerjee said "He is talking big here coming from Kolkata. AIADMK supremo and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa today asserted her party would take "continuous steps" to attain a separate homeland for Tamils in Sri Lanka and demand that the Centre grant dual citizenship for refugees from the island nation living in the state. Addressing a huge election rally here, she said she has been continuously demanding an independent, international probe over war crimes and alleged genocide against Tamils in Sri Lanka. "So as to enable Sri lankan Tamils live with full freedom and self-respect and to attain a separate Eelam, continuous steps will be taken," she said. Launching a diatribe against arch rival DMK over the Sri Lankan Tamils issue, she alleged that DMK and Congress were together responsible for the destruction of Sri Lankan Tamils. "We will urge the central government to confer dual citizenship on Sri Lankan Tamils living here so that they can easily get job opportunities," she said. Noting that Sri Lankan Tamils have for long been living in and outside camps in Tamil Nadu, she said her regime was giving them all facilities. "There are also people who were born to refugees here and raised in the state. When the central government tried to repatriate them all, it was opposed by my government." She stressed that her party's policy was that any repatriation should be voluntary and based on the choice of refugees "after the situation in Sri Lanka, including security aspects changes fully, (for the better)". Jayalalithaa accused DMK of staging "dramas" over the issue against their interests. Such farce included a 'three hour hunger strike" by party chief Karunanidhi, she said. "Not only for Tamils here, he also betrayed Tamils in Sri Lanka," she said. She recalled that the Tamil Nadu Assembly had passed several resolutions on the Sri Lankan issue moved by her. Some of these included her demand for economic sanctions against Sri Lanka, an international probe against 'war crimes' and another related to a referendum (that she wanted to be sponsored by India in the UN forum) among Tamils on the question of a separate Eelam (Tamil homeland). Slamming DMK for what she termed was false propaganda against the AIADMK regime, Jayalalithaa said the Karunanidhi- led party is "harried by fear" that it would not even be "runner-up" in the May 16 assembly polls and was therefore resorting to such methods. Referring to some recent instances of so-called opposition to AIADMK nominees in some places, she alleged that such episodes were "staged" by DMK. "People of Tamil Nadu cannot be duped. It is DMK which is going to be disappointed. People are on my side and unable to tolerate that, DMK is indulging in fraudulent acts. I appeal to the Election Commission to monitor the party and take action," she said. Listing out various welfare schemes for farmers like Uzhavar Pathukappu Thittam (Farmers Protection Scheme), she alleged that DMK was indulging in false propaganda over alleged farmers' suicides. DMK in an advertisement had raised the issues of fertiliser price rise and farmers suicide, she noted. "Who is responsible for fertiliser price rise? DMK is making a wrong calculation that people would have forgotten (the reason for price rise)," she said. The chief minister recalled that it was during the UPA regime fertiliser prices were increased and pointed out that DMK was an ally of the Congress-led government then. "In the Cabinet meeting that paved the way for the increase, did not the then Union minister M K Alagiri of the DMK give his consent for the increase?" she asked. "After having been responsible for price rise, how big a deception it is to issue an advertisement to make it appear as if the AIADMK government was responsible for it," she said. She alleged that 1060 farmers had committed suicide in 2009 when DMK was in power and claimed the number had declined to 68 in 2014 in her regime. "Even such suicides were due to family issues," she further claimed. Bihar Chief Minister today said he was trying to play a "catalyst" to unite anti-BJP forces to defeat the saffron party and was not a claimant to any post but added that "if a person is destined to become the Prime Minister, he would become the PM one day". "I am not a claimant to any post. All I am saying is that we all should unite (against BJP). Is it a crime to appeal the people to unite," Kumar said while addressing JD(U)'s national council meeting which formally approved his election as the new national president of the party. He said that "time will decide the issue of leadership" and if a person is destined to become PM, he will become one "whether you name him or not". "First of all, we should unite (against BJP). Everybody needs to make sacrifice. Grand Secular Alliance would not have taken shape if I and Lalu Prasad had not sacrificed for a particular cause," he said. Just days earlier, Kumar had called on parties to unite for a "Sangh-free" country and repeat the Bihar experiment at the national level to oust the BJP in the 2019 general election, triggering speculation that he could lead such a front. "If a person is destined to become the PM, he would become the PM one day, whether you name him or not....And the person's dream never fructifies if he declares himself as the PM candidate," Kumar said today. Kumar's name was proposed by outgoing party president Sharad Yadav as his successor and around 1,000 party delegates from across the country ratified his election. The national council was convened to ratify Kumar's nomination as president by the party's national executive committee on April 10 in New Delhi. Kumar replaced party veteran Sharad Yadav, who held the post for a decade. Coming down heavily on BJP government at the Centre for its "failure" to fulfill its promises and "dividing the society on religious lines", Kumar said that if there is unity among anti-BJP forces at the Centre, BJP will not be successful in 2019 Lok Sabha polls. Assuming his role as a "catalyst", Kumar prescribed a 'Grand Secular Alliance' model on the lines of Bihar to defeat BJP. "We defeated the BJP in Bihar Assembly polls by forming a Grand Secular Alliance and we will be defeating BJP with this model in Lok Sabha elections too," he said. "Be it merger, alliance, understanding whatever it may be, I want the largest possible unity of anti BJP forces. That I will continue to do. We do not have any personal interest in doing so," he said. Warning that the country is facing the challenge of BJP/RSS ideology, he said that BJP has forgotten all the promises made by it in 2014 Lok Sabha elections. "Where is black money which it has promised to bring back", he questioned while reminding that BJP president Amit Shah had termed it a 'jumla'. Ridiculing Narendra Modi government's schemes like Start up India, Kumar said that "every day we hear a new slogan. Today we hear Stand Up India, tomorrow it will be sit down India, lay down India and sleep for ever India.... Slogans must be translated into reality." Kumar said that he would participate in the movement for implementing prohibition across the nation as in Bihar and he would start his campaign from neighbouring Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh. A 24-year-old Delhi-based youth has travelled solo on a motorbike across the country clocking over 50,000 km of journey in seven months. Krishanu Kona, who began his expedition in August from the national capital, returned early April, facing harsh conditions in Leh and covered practically whole of India. "The journey sounded daunting, but I just had my Eureka moment one fine day and took out my bike with whatever savings I had. My parents were very supportive in it," he said today. His father, Kona Madhusudana Rao, a government employee, said, "we were worried all the time." "He started on August 30 and returned on April 9. He wanted to go to the north-east also but because of some disturbance there he couldn't," he said. Wooing global investors including private equity giants such as Blackstone and Warburg Pincus, Power Minister Piyush Goyal highlighted the initiatives taken by the government to make India more business friendly. He assured them that the government is taking all steps that are necessary to sustain the current economic growth in India and it will continue with all major initiatives to enhance the ease of doing business. According to the Power Ministry, he also highlighted the need of India to have low cost, long tenor finance for his ambitious renewable energy scale of and requested investors to look at India for investments and take advantage of three Ds - democracy, demography and demand. Goyal held meetings with the Blackstone Group Co-founder, CEO and Chairman Stephen Schwarzian; Warburg Pincus' Saurabh Agarwal; New York Green Bank President Alfred Griffin; Chairman of Energy and Finance, Office of Governor of New York, Richard Kauffman and Big Belly CEO Jack Kutner on Thursday. The minister, who also holds the portfolio of Renewable Energy and Coal, is vising the US to participate in the launch of programmes under International Solar Alliance on Friday at the United Nations. He expressed hope that given the prediction of a good monsoon this year, India may see double digit growth by end of 2016-17 financial year itself. Goyal briefed the business delegations and investors on various steps undertaken by the government to improve energy access, rapid scale up of renewable energy, enhancing grid reliability, integration of renewable in the grid and the massive opportunity presented by the untapped demand in the Indian market. He outlined the steps being taken to improve the contractual/counter-party risk framework, that is critical to all investors. He also informed about the initiatives such as greening the grid, National Solar Mission, LED programme for enhancing energy efficiency. Speaking on the Ujwal Discom Assurance Yojana (UDAY), Goyal stressed upon the steps being taken to bring a drastic change in India's power sector that can take India to double digit growth trajectory in the economy. He also mentioned that India already has surplus power and demand stimulation through UDAY coupled with the growth in the Indian economy will quadruple electricity consumption by 2030. SALT LAKE CITY (AP) The mythical unicorn is a creature with a large, pointed, spiraling horn projecting from its forehead with the power to render poisoned water potable and to heal sickness. In the world of business, unicorn has an equally awe-inspiring meaning, but without the mythic overtones. Its a company, usually a startup that may not have an established performance record, with a stock market value or estimated valuation of more than $1 billion. Nationwide, there are approximately 150 companies valued at the billion-dollar level, the Deseret News reported (http://bit.ly/1SgusP7). The Beehive State is home to at least six unicorns including Domo Technologies, InsideSales.com, Pluralsight, Qualtrics all Utah based as well as JET.com and Thumbtack, which are headquartered elsewhere but have businesses within the state. The Wall Street Journal and tech analytics firm CB Insights each track the number of unicorns, which can change from month to month based on estimated value or investor funding level. The reality is that we are doing better than any other state in America today as the No. 1 best performing economy, Utah Gov. Gary Herbert told business leaders Friday during an economic summit. Were on the right road, going in the right direction. But are the unicorns a sign of a prosperous economic future or part of a building economic bubble with the potential to burst? Currently, the highest valued Utah unicorn is American Fork-based software firm Domo Technologies at $2 billion. Josh James, who also co-founded the web analytics software company Omniture in 1996, founded the new company in 2010. He sold Omniture to Adobe Systems Inc. in 2009 for $1.8 billion after having taken the company public three years earlier. Today, he is leading his second billion-dollar venture and attributed the presence of multiple unicorns in Utah to the business-friendly culture that has been cultivated over the past several years, along with the maturation of the states growing technology ecosystem. Well definitely see more companies get to the (unicorn) level, he said. Silicon Slopes is on the map in a big way. The San Francisco Bay Areas Silicon Valley is home to hundreds of startup and global technology companies. Silicon Slopes refers to a cluster of information technology, software development, hardware manufacturing and research firms along the Wasatch Front. James said the state is among the top producers in the nation of new tech startups and venture capital raised. It is a trend that he said is likely to continue thanks to the number of innovative, homegrown business savvy executives that have been responsible for the rise in Utahs technology sector. Silicon Slopes is a unicorn in a box,' he said. Weve got a great ecosystem of executives, financiers and venture capital that comes here from Silicon Valley combined with the (local) entrepreneurial spirit and experience that has been building here, and a great business environment. There is this spontaneous combustion that takes place. Another unicorn executive attributed much of the states tech success to an environment that is well-suited to developing strong enterprises. There is an overall hardworking attitude in Utah, said Brett Barlow, chief marketing officer at Pluralsight. Headquartered in Farmington, the privately held online education company provides video training courses for software developers and information technology professionals through its website. Weve generated a reputation of being solid professionals that are thoughtful in the way that we go about our business, he said. Barlow said the growth of the states tech economy is only just beginning, with other potential unicorns possibly on the horizon. Omniture started a path for a lot of these other tech companies, and I see it getting bigger and broader, he said. Were just getting started. Regional economic analysts have differing views on the local tech sector. One researcher noted an abundance of quality technology businesses currently in northern Utah, while another expressed serious concerns about the industrys future. With high levels of education and high levels of entrepreneurship, these types of companies (are created), said Lexi Russell, senior research analyst with the Bay Area office of commercial real estate firm CBRE. With five colleges in northern Utah, there is a lot of talent that companies can pull from, she said. With so many firms currently valued at or more than $1 billion across the country, whether they will all be successful in the long run is yet to be determined, she said. Just because you have the money, does that mean you can fulfill your business plan? Is your business plan profitable? Russell asked. Some of these companies are profitable, while some we may have to wait and see. Economically speaking, the impact of unicorns is uncertain. But the increasing presence of technology firms in Utah could be a harbinger of things to come, she said. Because they have a lot more tech there because the infrastructure is good might bring more net migration to the area, Russell said. That might be able to (preserve) some of the tech talent thats been cultivated through the educational institutions and the (Silicon Slopes) corridor. Yet there remains some concern about the potential for a tech bubble like the country experienced at the beginning of the millennium. Noting that the number of unicorns has more than tripled in the past three years, Hal Snarr, assistant professor of economics at Westminster College, said this latest expansion could be trouble in the making. People thought the dot.com (bubble) would continue to (grow), but when you look at this through the lens of history, its similar to a building boom, he said. Its just another bubble. He said the rapid growth and overvaluation of tech companies is very reminiscent of the housing bubble of the Great Recession. I dont think its sustainable, Snarr said. He said the reason so many companies are valued so highly in Utah is due to the states business-friendly climate that includes fair litigation, low regulation, along with fair, consistent taxation. Everything California is in terms of policy, Utah is like the opposite, he said. So we benefit from that. Snarr said, however, when Google was first launched years ago, the company was not valued at the billion-dollar threshold, which leads him to be skeptical of the increasing number of estimated high-value firms that are prevalent today. If Google was not a unicorn, and now you have all of these unicorns, I just see it as another dot.com bubble, Snarr said. Update: The Dumb Money recommends reading The California Weather Blog: California drought update; April showers in NorCal; and La Nina Looms. Much more detail and analysis (not a bad year in NorCal) ... El Nino was a bust this winter in California. Although the state received more precipitation than the previous four years - that isn't saying much. Here are a few resources to track the drought. These tables show the snowpack in the North, Central and South Sierra. Currently the snowpack is about 56% of normal for this date. And here are some plots comparing the current and previous years to the average, a very dry year ('76-'77) and a wet year ('82-'83). This winter was close to an average year in the North and Central Sierra, but below average in the southern section. For Pacific Crest Trail and John Muir Trail hikers, I recommend using the Upper Tyndall Creek sensor to track the snow conditions. This is the fifth dry year in a row along the JMT - although more snow than the previous four years. There will probably be adequate water and not too much snow on the passes. This graph shows the snow water content for Upper Tyndall Creek for the last 20 years. There is more snow than the previous four years, but that isn't saying much. Note: I hiked the trail in September 1998 - a very wet year - and there was snow all year on Whitney. Contributed photo The Corpus Christi Ballet will present "Swan Lake" in the Selena Auditorium at the American Bank Center on Saturday and Sunday. SHARE SATURDAY PERFORMING ARTS: Harbor Playhouse will perform the Broadway musical "Chicago" at 7:30 p.m. at 1802 N. Chaparral St. The production features dazzling dance numbers and mesmerizing musical performances. Cost: $18, adults; $10, children younger than 13. Information: 361-882-5500, www.harborplayhouse.com. FAMILY: Disney On Ice: 100 Years of Magic will perform at the American Bank Center at 11:30 a.m., 3:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Disney On Ice will be in Corpus Christi until Sunday. See your favorite Disney characters including Minnie, Mickey, Donald Duck, Goofy and an ensemble of Disney princesses, skating to more than 30 songs. Cost: Ticket prices range from $20-50. Information: DisneyOnIce.com. PERFORMING ARTS: Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi Department of Theatre and Dance will perform "Rent" at 7:30 p.m. at the Center for the Arts Warren Theatre. Cost: $10, adults; $7, students; $5 TAMU-CC students with valid ID. Information: 361-825-3756. THEATER: The Aurora Arts Theatre will present "Our Lady of the Tortilla" at 7:30 p.m. Cost: $15, general admission; military, student, seniors and children discounts available. Information: 361-851-9700, www.auroraartstheatre.com. CLASS: The Deaf and Hard of Hearing Center will host Baby Sign Language Classes during the next six weeks. The classes will be at 11 a.m. Saturdays at 5151 McArdle Road. Children must be 3 years old and younger. Cost: $60, one caregiver and baby; $85, parents and baby. Information: 361-288-8789, dtidwell@deafhhcenter.org. PARADE: The IBC Buc Days Parade will be at 11 a.m. down Shoreline Boulevard. Cost: Free. Information: www.bucdays.com CONSERVATION: The Texas State Aquarium will host its Party for the Planet to celebrate Earth Day from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. The event will offer games, conservation activities, drawings and prizes. The aquarium will also host Adopt-A-Beach at 9 a.m. Cost: Free with Aquarium admission. Information: www.texasstateaquarium.org. SUNDAY BAND: The Texas Jazz Festival will host the Texas Veterans Band Bar-B-Que & All Day Music benefit from noon to 7 p.m. at LULAC Council 1 Building 3516 Holly Road. The proceeds will go toward travel expenses for the Veterans Band of Corpus Christi, which will perform at the deactivation of the USS City of Corpus Christi Submarine in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on May 29-30. Cost: $8, per plate. Information: www.texasjazz-fest.org, 361-668-1206 YOGA: Beach Gal Bared Yoga will hold donation-based yoga classes at 3 p.m. at the Texas Surf Museum, 309 N. Water St. Participants are asked to bring their own yoga mat. Proceeds benefit the Texas Surf Museum. Cost: donations. Information: www.beachgalbared.com/yoga. PERFORMING ARTS: Harbor Playhouse will perform the Broadway musical "Chicago" at 2:30 p.m. at 1802 N. Chaparral St. The production features dazzling dance numbers and mesmerizing musical performances. Cost: $18, adults; $10, children younger than 13. Information: 361-882-5500, www.harborplayhouse.com. FAMILY: Disney On Ice: 100 Years of Magic will perform at the American Bank Center at 3 p.m. See your favorite Disney characters including Minnie, Mickey, Donald Duck, Goofy and an ensemble of Disney princesses, skating to more than 30 songs. Cost: Ticket prices range from $20-50. Information: DisneyOnIce.com. PERFORMING ARTS: Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi Department of Theatre and Dance will perform "Rent" at 2 p.m. at the Center for the Arts Warren Theatre. Cost: $10, adults; $7, students; $5 TAMU-CC students with valid ID. Information: 361-825-3756. THEATER: The Aurora Arts Theatre will present "Our Lady of the Tortilla" at 2:30 p.m. Sunday, April 24. Cost: $15, general admission; military, student, seniors and children discounts available. Information: 361-851-9700, www.auroraartstheatre.com. THEATER: The Port Aransas Community Theatre will host auditions for "Bye, Bye, Birdie" from 2-4 p.m. at 2327 State Highway 361, Port Aransas. Cost: Free. Information: 361-749-6036. BALLET: The Corpus Christi Ballet will present "Swan Lake" in the Selena Auditorium at the American Bank Center at 3 p.m. Cost: Ticket prices range from $12 to $32. Information: 361-882-4588. For more events check Caller.com/vivacc SHARE Steven James received the Outstanding American History and Government Teacher award from the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution, Corpus Christi, 2015 -2016. Patricia Stewart, DAR selection committee (from left); James; and DAR Regent Meta (Kitty) Angell attended the presentation. Patients from the Driscoll Children's Kidney Center attended a Spurs game in San Antonio on April 2 as part of a Live Auction package purchased at this year's Fiesta de los Ninos by Steve and Jessica Johnson, owners of JSJ Services, Inc. Reed Reyes (front row from left), Garret Schroeder, Karen Barrera, Alyssa Pena, Zacharius Garcia, Damian Pack, Alex Perez, Ernie Reyes (back row from left), Randi Reyes, Jennifer Schroeder, Elsa Barrera, Jessica Johnson, Steve Johnson, Rachel Garcia, Sabrina Pena, and Tisha Reyes went on the trip. The trip was donated by Julianna Hawn Holt, Peter M. Holt and the San Antonio Spurs. Transportation was provided by TLC, The Limousine Company. Area teachers and students were recognized during an April 9 Daughters of the Republic of Texas, Clara Driscoll Chapter monthly meeting. Justin Plata (from left), a student at Texas A&M University-Kingsville, holds a baby alligator for Mariyah Gonzalez, Terone Fontenot, Damion Rocha, Tydrick Fontenot, Jasmine Gonzalez and Janelle Bazan to touch. Calallen HS teacher named 'outstanding' Steven James received the Outstanding American History and Government Teacher award from the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution, Corpus Christi, 2015-2016, officials said. The award propels him for consideration and recognition at state and national levels. James has been a teacher at Calallen High School for 32 years, having held many roles of leadership, including sponsoring and directing student organizations; leading social studies curriculum development; and serving on the National Council of Social Studies. Students win in Land Office art contest Four Corpus Christi area students won runner-up prizes in the 2016 Texas General Land Office Adopt-A-Beach Treasures of the Texas Coast Children's Art Contest. In the kindergarten to second grade category, Nathan Taylor, a student at Kingsville's Harvey Elementary and Khloe Troup, a student at Sinton's Welder Elementary, won. In the third to fourth grade category, Meaghan Williams, a home-schooled student from Corpus Christi, won. In the sixth grade category, Joangelina Perales, a student at Driscoll Middle School in Driscoll, won. HELP students visit Coast Guard facility Juvenile Justice students in HELP Second Chance program visited the Corpus Christi Inner Harbor Coast Guard Facility, officials said. The purpose of the visit was for students to explore military careers and explore ships and technical gear. HELP takes at-risk, challenged and other youth to work sites around the city and the county to show them what is available and to give them hands-on experience in applying for jobs and how to keep them. DRT Clara Driscoll Chapter gives awards The Daughters of the Republic of Texas, Clara Driscoll Chapter, held their monthly meeting April 9 at Driscoll Children's Hospital, Chapter President Anita Eisenhauer presiding. Ellen Royce, Clara Driscoll DRT 3rd Vice President & Education/Awards chairman, presented the fourth- and seventh-grade Texas history teacher and essay contests winners. Trisha A. Osborne-Kay, of Incarnate Word Academy in Corpus Christi, was awarded the 7th-grade history teacher winner, and Megan Berryman, Episcopal Day School (Brownsville), was the 4th-grade history teacher winner. Valeria Pena, Episcopal Day School, won the 4th-grade Texas history essay contest, with her article titled "James Butler Bonham, the Messenger of the Alamo." Alexander Tinana, Baker Middle School, won the 7th-grade Texas history essay contest, with his article titled, "European Immigrants in the Republic of Texas." Trisha Kelso, treasurer, presented the 2016-2017 budget, which was approved by attending members. Viki Welch, DRT Registrar, swore in new member Mary Helen Dunnam. Cheryl Johnson and Catherine Lovoi were nominated, pending their application acceptance by the State DRT Registrar. April meeting refreshments were provided by members Patsy Loomis, Mary Nell Day, Ruth Carson, Bernetta Douglas and Pat Stewart. For more information, visit claradriscoll@drtinfo.org. Youth residents visit serpentarium Prospera Housing Community Services' youth residents went on an educational field trip sponsored by the Minority Advancement Project (MAP) of Texas on April 16 to Texas A&M Kingsville National Natural Toxins and Serpentarium Research Center. Students toured that center, after touring the Texas A&M Wildlife Center. Officials at Prospera Housing Community said they were glad the children the field trip and hoped they would be inspired to continue their education. Compiled by Natalia Contreras SHARE Contributed photo Retired Gen. Michael W. Hagee (left) and Aubrey Bridges, Mirador resident council president Contributed photo Retired Gen. Michael W. Hagee (left) and Shay Wallace, director of sales and marketing at Mirador Contributed photo Retired Gen. Michael W. Hagee spoke April 6 at Mirador. Mirador hosted retired Gen. Michael W. Hagee, president and CEO of The Admiral Nimitz Foundation, on April 6 as he visited the community to discuss his life and career. He also shared his passion for the National Museum of the Pacific War in Fredericksburg. Many residents of Mirador who are veterans attended the event. Hagee was the 33rd commandant of the United States Marine Corps and a four-star general. His career took him across the world to many countries while serving the United States in combat and during peace time. His numerous assignments include commanding general, 1st Marine Expeditionary Force; deputy director of operations at the U.S. European Command; and a number of diplomatic missions in the Pacific and the Middle East. Hagee remains active in public service and foreign policy debates, and has been one of the leading proponents of "Smart Power", testifying before Congress and providing advice to senators and congressmen on both sides of the aisle. Nothing heralds the spring season for me like walking into the annual Bernie's Famous Crawfish Boil benefiting the Del Mar College Foundation. The smell of the boil itself, the Zydeco music, folks wearing beads milling around enjoying it all while the weather is finally warm enough to really enjoy being outside but not yet blasto hot mean that spring has officially sprung in the Coastal Bend! This year's 8th annual event was April 7 at Concrete Street Amphitheater, and featured Leroy Thomas and his Zydeco band; a nod to Bernie Paulson, the namesake and creator of the event; and beads, masks, and Mardi Gras fun galore. We were even greeted at check-in by a fella on stilts handing out beads and other goodies! Brian Campbell and his team did an amazing job on the mudbugs, which were just the right amount of burn-your-lips spicy, and longtime Del Mar supporters such as Chris and Robert Adler, Scott Meares, alumnus Omar Lopez, board members Mary Jane Garza and Paulette Kluge, and even newbies such as Jeff Shea did, in the Louisiana vernacular, "pass a good time, cha." Congratulations to event chairman Steve Arnold for a great event, which has raised approximately $110,000 for the Foundation's scholarship fund. Scholarship recipients Peter Martinez and Buttri Jirasomboon were on hand to speak from the stage and thank everyone for their support, which made their scholarships possible, and then the crazy fun of the live auction began. Todd Wolter, live auction chairman, and his committee, including Del Mar Board of Regents Chairman Trey McCampbell, Regent Carol Scott and City Councilman Mark Scott, made sure there was plenty of great items on offer for the auction the good times they were a rollin'. A&M-Kingsville Legacy Ball a Success The President's Legacy Ball is annually held in the Memorial Student Union Building Ballrooms and hosted by the university's President and First Lady, Dr. Steven Tallant and wife, Karen. Each year, the event recognizes individuals, families, corporations and foundations whose cumulative donations to the university total more than $100,000 with induction into the university's Legacy Society. Honorees receive a plaque that is unveiled at the event and later hung on the University Legacy Wall of Honor. Proceeds from the event go toward student scholarships through the University Scholarship Endowment. Through the President's Legacy Ball, more than $400,000 has been raised, with proceeds going toward the University Scholarship Endowment, a scholarship fund dedicated to some of the brightest students at Texas A&M University-Kingsville. The 2016 honorees for the evening were Gene H. Dawson Jr. and Lori Dawson; the George and Mary Josephine Hamman Foundation; Fern E. Kirkley; and the William A. and Madeline Welder Smith Foundation. Texas A&M University System Chancellor John Sharp attended and offered special greetings. Elite level sponsors included Gold Legacy Sponsors Kleberg Bank and Riviera Telephone Company, Inc. Sponsors at the Silver Legacy Patron level were Mr. & Mrs. W.H. and Joyce Bynum; Coldwell Banker Homestead Properties, Inc.; Division of Student Affairs, Enrollment Management and University Administration; First Compass Homes; King Ranch, Inc.; and Col. (Ret.) Edward J. Preston Jr. First Lady Karen Tallant serves as chairwoman of the President's Legacy Ball planning committee. The committee is composed of members of the Kingsville community as well as faculty and staff from the university. The other members of the steering committee include: Judy Allen, Glenda Best, Janis Brock, Judy Colston, Ricki Cunningham, Mary Cusack, Jane Dodds, Darlynn Fugate, Melinda Garza, George Henkel, Goldia Hubert, Belinda Hughes, Abby Lozano, Sandra Messbarger, Joan Nuesch, Dolores Price, Graciela N. Salazar, Jean Claire Turcotte, Sue Waddingham, Jacqui Westbrook, Peggy Westbrook, Sylvia Woelfel, Charis Yaklin and Lynn Yaklin. Local Students Participate in Waco Cotton Palace Court Edward Hicks Layton and William Charles Layton participated in the 2016 Waco Cotton Palace on Friday. Each year, approximately 60 high school seniors are selected as members of the Waco Cotton Palace Court, an honored tradition that Waco has hosted since 1971. The Waco Cotton Palace is an energetic stage production that recounts the history of Waco. The 2016 updated historical stage show featured local residents who used drama, song, and dance to chronicle the history of the Waco community. The event raises funds for scholarships at McLennon Community College and Baylor University, and the recipients are introduced during the show. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO Seven Texas A&M University-Kingsville chemical engineering students Juan Hernandez (left), David Hinojosa, Cynthia Chevez, Seth Trebatoski, and Luis Riojas advanced to a national competition with a model car that cost 10 times less than their competitors. SHARE CONTRIBUTED PHOTO Seven Texas A&M University-Kingsville chemical engineering students Juan Hernandez (left), David Hinojosa, Cynthia Chevez, Seth Trebatoski, and Luis Riojas, advanced to a national competition with a model car that cost 10 times less than their competitors. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO Seven Texas A&M University-Kingsville chemical engineering students David Hinojosa (left), Cynthia Chevez, Seth Trebatoski and Luis Riojas, advanced to a national competition with a model car that cost 10 times less than their competitors. By Beatriz Alvarado of the Caller-Times Seven Texas A&M University-Kingsville chemical engineering students advanced to a national competition with a model car that cost 10 times less than their competitors. "Their design was made from ($50 worth of) household objects, while teams from other schools had designs that cost ten times as much," according to a university news release. The students took first place in the American Institute of Chemical Engineers Chem-E-Car competition during a regional conference in Houston. This was the first time in three years the A&M-K AIChE student chapter competed in the competition and the first time an A&M-K team won the regional competition and advanced to the national level, the news release states. The model car is propelled by hydrogen and oxygen the ingredients of water. The competition engages college students in designing and constructing a model car powered by a chemical energy source that will safely carry a specified load over a given distance and stop. The students will have a chance to compete at the national competition this November in San Francisco. The group plans to raise funds for all members of the team to attend. They also have time to refine their design. Twitter: @CallerBetty SHARE By Fares Sabawi of the Caller-Times Border Patrol agents found two men zipped in duffel bags attempting to cross the border into the United States Thursday morning, according to a news release from the agency. A Mitsubishi Outlander with three visible occupants approached the Falfurrias checkpoint, according to the news release. Agents referred the vehicle to a secondary inspection when they found two men hidden in zipped-up duffel bags. The men, from Guatemala, were unharmed and did not accept medical care. The driver, an American citizen, admitted her involvement in the smuggling scheme and was arrested, according to the release. SHARE The Texas economy long a standout among the states and a major source of Lone Star bragging rights has gained national attention as the "Texas Miracle." Over the past eight years alone, Texas' annual job growth has exceeded the nation's growth by a factor of four, with Texas adding jobs at a robust 2 percent clip, even in the face of a severe recession. But much of that growth has been fueled by oil and gas, which is five times more important to our economy than to the nation's. The recent price drop has been a body blow to our state for the first time in 12 years, Texas' job engine lags the rest of the nation. Over the past year, oil and gas companies have shuttered more than 600 operating rigs, cut investment by more than $40 billion and slashed payrolls by 65,000, with the further ripple effect of 250,000 jobs lost in other sectors. Yes, oil and gas still matters in Texas, which produces more than a third of the nation's oil. In 2014, the industry accounted for 13.5 percent of Texas' economic output. Cutting that output by more than half takes a toll on Texas' overall numbers. The Texas Miracle, at least for now, appears to be on ice. That's not to say the Texas economy is not growing; some parts of the state are doing quite well. But hard times in the oil patch mean Houston, the energy capital of the world, and other oil and gas producing areas will continue to experience rough waters that will splash onto other parts of the state. And while Texas will still add another 1 percent to its jobs tally in 2016, that is less than the state is used to and less than the nation overall. Still, unlike in previous oil and gas "busts," Texas state finances remain sound for several reasons. First, our revenue structure is more diversified than 30 years ago. While still critical to the economy, oil and gas is a smaller player. Second, much of the oil downturn was factored by the Texas Comptroller into his official revenue forecast and by legislators into the state's budget. Legislators last session left a $4.2 billion cushion in the general revenue fund and roughly $10 billion in the state's Rainy Day Fund. This sizable insulation will allow us to weather the downturn without the usual fiscal crisis. In addition, the state no longer heavily relies on severance taxes to cover basic state needs; most now are dedicated for other purposes. Third, today's high production levels lessen the depth of the price crash. Texas oil production today is about 50 percent higher than it was during the 1986 downturn and almost three times higher than it was in 2008. Natural gas production also is substantially higher. Absent a national recession, Texas state finances are likely to remain in the black for the foreseeable future, even if oil prices continue to be weak. What can we expect? The price of Texas oil is predicted to fluctuate substantially while averaging under $40 a barrel about $10 below 2015's level. Natural gas prices are expected to hover near 2015 levels. Unable to make money at those prices, producers will continue to cut capital budgets, drill fewer wells, employ fewer people and produce less oil than in years past. While oil and gas and related industries will continue to suffer, Texas also has a large energy-consuming economy helped by low energy prices, including new chemical plants and natural gas export facilities projects along the Gulf Coast. Other bright spots in the economy will be housing construction, service industries and health care. While 2016 may be a challenging year in Texas, it is a testament to the economy's underlying strength that the state has continued to add jobs as oil prices and drilling have slid to a third of what they once were. The Texas Miracle may be on ice for now, but as oil prices and drilling stabilize, the thaw will come. Unofficial estimates place between 5000 to 7000 Belarusian expatriates or descendants in Australia, most of whom came in two waves of migration after World War II and in the wake of the dissolution of the Soviet Union. "I came here wanting to be part of this country," Mr Mohamed said. "My wife is still in Sudan and I have applied to bring her here. It is our future here and to be part of society you need to know the history and the values." 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. 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 BMW has lost the core development team of the i3 and i8 cars to a Chinese company called Future Mobility. In case you didnt notice, Chinas interest in sustainable transport and personal automobiles is quite high, as multiple local electric-vehicle companies compete to come up with the best possible electric-driven automobile. Backed up by big multinational and investment companies, Chinese car manufacturers are very serious about materializing their projects, investing a lot of time, money and effort in them. Bloomberg reports that Dirk Abendroth, Benoit Jacob and Henrik Wenders will join Future Mobility Corp. a Chinese startup backed by Tencent Holdings, as vice presidents of software and connectivity, design, and marketing, respectively, according to people familiar with the matter, who preferred to remain anonymous. More interestingly, these three execs will join another former i8 project manager, Carsten Breitfeld, hired to be Future Mobilitys chief executive officer. However, this doesnt mean that well see competitive BMW-rivaling, Chinese-branded automobiles in the near future, as neither of these companies have manufactured cars before. Moreover, the automakers and the Chinese government seek to innovate their own automotive industry at first. Scouting capable key individuals appears to be a common practice in the E.V. industry, as Apple recently hired a Tesla engineer. PHOTO GALLERY Photo: ZoobiePhoto Impaired driving continues to plague Kelownas streets. RCMP responded to a three-vehicle collision Wednesday afternoon on Pandosy Street and Royal Avenue. A red Jeep had rear-ended a scooter that stopped at a crosswalk and pushed it into the back of a sedan. The 23-year-old woman on the scooter was taken to the nearby hospital with minor injuries. During the officers interaction with the driver of the Jeep at the collision scene, they detected signs of possible alcohol intoxication, said Const. Jesse ODonaghey of the Kelowna RCMP. The woman was subsequently taken to the Kelowna RCMP detachment for additional testing where she provided breath samples in excess of more than three times the legal limit. The 45-year-old West Kelowna woman driving the Jeep faces potential charges of driving under the influence of alcohol and has a court date on July 18. Late Thursday evening, an officer pulled over a grey GMC pickup truck spinning its tires and sliding sideways on Hein Road in Rutland. During the traffic stop, the officer noted signs of possible intoxication by the driver and demanded a breathalyzer test, which the driver failed. The 19-year-old Kelowna man was given a 90-day roadside prohibition and his vehicle was impounded for 30 days. Photo: Deborah Pfeiffer About 300 people came out Thursday night for a public forum on starting an independent school in Osoyoos. The effort has been underway since the School District 53 board voted 4-3 earlier this month to close Osoyoos Secondary School. "The purpose was to gather feedback on what the community would like to see in an independent school," said Brenda Dorosz, with the Osoyoos Community School Committee. The meeting, held at the Sonora Community Centre, included opening remarks from local dentist Dr. Jason Bartsch, spokesperson for the committee, and Coun. CJ Rhodes. Bartsch told the crowd they are looking into partnering with the town to use the Sonora Community Centre for the school, as well as a partnership with another independent school. The rest of the meeting was devoted to gathering feedback from students, parents and other community members. "I felt it was a very good productive meeting and I am still feeling hopeful," said Dorosz. The town council, which has opposed the closure, also released another letter on the matter on the town's website this week. The letter states in part: "Osoyoos Town Council is advising the School District 53 Board that given the impacts on the Town of Osoyoos and the region as a whole of the Osoyoos Secondary School closure, the town is considering legal action unless the board defers the school closure decision for at least one year to allow for meaningful consultation with the town and other School District 53 constituents." The third reading on the school closure matter will be held at the school board office in Oliver at 7 p.m. on April 27. Board chairwoman Marieze Tarr said after the decision was made that she recognizes this is a difficult time for students, staff and the community. Photo: Deborah Pfeiffer Area dignitaries and hosts welcomed everyone to the RV show taking place in Penticton this weekend, during Friday's opening ceremony. The 2016 BC Interior RV Show is being held at the trade and convention centre and South Okanagan Events Centre, through Sunday. "The Okanagan Valley is a huge RV resort in itself, and this is put together to promote the RV lifestyle," said Al Mullins, chair of the group holding the event. The event features multiple RV dealers, a variety of exhibitors and daily educational sessions. Outside the trade and convention centre, visitors were invited to climb aboard Alexa's Bus, a mobile road safety unit. The bus will be on site through Sunday to provide educational awareness about impaired driving, distracted driving and general traffic safety, said RCMP Const. David Fee. Since the inaugural event in 2012, the society has donated $15,500 to charity and over 10,000 pounds in non-perishable food items to The Salvation Army. In 2016, the society hopes to top the $20,000 mark. A weekend wristband for the RV show is $5. Those coming to the show are encouraged to bring a non-perishable food item for the food bank. For more information, go here. Photo: Castanet web cam If you're heading into Kelowna from the Westside, you may want to roll down the window, turn up the tunes and enjoy the solitude. It's going to take you a while. Castanet readers are telling us traffic is backed up all the way to Byland's and is moving very slow. There were reports of a accident which closed one lane on the bridge, however, that has not been confirmed. Photo: The Canadian Press There were no apologies from Conservatives on Friday following a scathing court judgment that exonerated Sen. Mike Duffy of 31 expense-related criminal charges while indicting his former political masters in the Prime Minister's Office of Stephen Harper. Only Conservative MP Candice Bergen was willing to speak with reporters, offering up a stout defence of Harper's leadership while avoiding the specifics of the Duffy verdict. Judge Charles Vaillancourt, in acquitting Duffy of all charges a day earlier, painted an exacting portrait of Harper's underlings manipulating the Senate using a covert command-and-control system that the veteran judge flatly deemed "unacceptable." Tight, centralized control from the Prime Minister's Office isn't a new story in Canada's parliamentary system, but the Duffy trial testimony and judgment gave rare insight into what Vaillancourt described as a "mind-boggling and shocking" case study. Donald Savoie, a political scientist who literally wrote the book on "court government," said in an interview that his 1999 academic treatise "Governing From the Centre" was considered a bit over the top at the time. "Clearly I didn't overstate the case," Savoie said Friday from his University of Moncton office. From his vantage point, Savoie said Vaillancourt absolved Duffy and found the PMO guilty. "They over-played their cards," said the acclaimed student of governments and bureaucracies. "It demonstrated tremendous disrespect for the institutions of the land, for parliament, for the Senate, for the House of Commons." "I think the lesson learned for the current PMO is, look, guys and gals, you can't push your weight around like that anymore. It doesn't work. The level of transparency now (means) we will know." Harper, still the MP for Calgary-Heritage, did not respond to a request for comment through his office. Conservative interim leader Rona Ambrose was not in the House of Commons and top former cabinet ministers who were on hand, such as Jason Kenney and Peter Van Loan, exited by back doors rather than face reporters seeking reaction to the ruling. Former cabinet member Michelle Rempel, usually a garrulous and open MP, offered a terse "no comment" as she sped past the microphones. Only Bergen, the Conservative MP for Portage-Lisgar and former minister of state for social development, was prepared to face the news cameras and defend her old government. "I would respectfully disagree with people, including the judge, who somehow thinks that we were all told what to do at the PMO," said Bergen. She said the Conservatives worked as a team, while acknowledging Harper's image problem as a control freak, contrasting him to current Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. "It was the narrative because Mr. Harper wasn't the selfie king at all. He wasn't in GQ (magazine)," said Bergen. "He wasn't talking with all of you (news media) folks as much as you probably would have wanted. The narrative then was he's controlling, he's a dictator. That was the narrative. It wasn't true. He was a strong, strong leader." With Duffy fully reinstated in the Senate and former PMO staff scattered to the winds, NDP MP Peter Julian was left to wonder, "who's taking responsibility for this fiasco?" John McKay, a veteran Liberal MP who's now parliamentary secretary to the defence minister, gave a surprisingly frank response when asked how Canadians can know that the same old centralized power won't continue in the Prime Minister's Office. "In some respects you don't," said McKay. He then pointed to Trudeau's decision to remove all Liberal-appointed senators from the party caucus and create a more partisanship-free Senate appointment process. "That creates its own level of difficulties," said McKay. "In fact, we're in kind of a no-man's land as to how we get our own legislation through." Nonetheless, McKay called Vaillancourt's judgment good for democracy. "I wish it was not so, but I think the judge has done us all a service to call our democracy to an account. And thank goodness we operate under the rule of law, and not under the rule of gossip." Savoie, the long-time critic of centralized government control, also sees a silver lining. The Senate will be forced to firm up its rules and regulations, Senate appointments will be less partisan and the PMO has been proven vulnerable to exposure of its inner workings. "I think change will come about and we've started to see it," said the academic. "There's accountability through rules and processes; that's one kind of accountability. The other form of accountability is reputation. Some reputations were destroyed through this process." Photo: Twitter Taxpayers forked out almost $150,000 for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his 30 cabinet ministers to hole up for several days at a swanky, seaside New Brunswick resort where they pondered weighty matters of state. And now they're poised to do it again, this time at a mountain resort in Kananaskis Country, 85 kilometres west of Calgary. The retreat, which officials argue is an important exercise in regional outreach and bonding for Trudeau's still relatively new ministers, includes a meeting Sunday evening with Alberta Premier Rachel Notley. Her office has indicated Notley intends to bend ministerial ears about the need for a pipeline to get her province's crude oil to tidewater and about her objections to Edmonton's exclusion from a recent boost in employment insurance benefits for regions hit hard by the plunge in oil prices. How much the retreat which ends Tuesday and includes ministers' chiefs of staff will cost is not clear, but it will likely be somewhat more expensive than a January retreat the Trudeau cabinet held in the resort town of St. Andrews-by-the-Sea. According to a tally by the Privy Council Office, the bureaucratic arm of the Prime Minister's Office, the St. Andrews retreat cost $74,429 in hotel, air fare, meals and incidentals for the ministers; an additional $74,977 was paid by PCO for unspecified costs related to the retreat. That pre-budget retreat "was the first chance for new ministers to sit down together and discuss the government's plans to create jobs, strengthen the middle class and grow an economy that works for all Canadians," PCO spokesman Raymond Rivet said in an email. Former prime ministers have held cabinet retreats in or around the national capital but Trudeau believes it's important for ministers to get outside the Ottawa bubble, officials say. The New Brunswick retreat was "part of the government's ongoing efforts to show Canadians from all regions of the country that their needs and aspirations are being heard and that they are factored into decision making," Rivet said. He noted that Trudeau and his ministers also attended a community spaghetti dinner, to which the whole town of St. Andrews was invited. There does not appear to be any similar community outreach event planned while the cabinet is in Kananaskis country, which is more isolated. But an official said some ministers are planning to arrive early or stay a few days after the retreat in order to take the pulse of Albertans. The St. Andrews retreat was also seen as a way to showcase the town as a tourist attraction, a rationale that presumably applies to Kananaskis as well. Officials will not divulge what issues will be on the rest of the agenda for Kananaskis but it's likely to include the challenges facing Alberta as a result of the oil price collapse and the repercussions that's having on the country's sluggish economy as a whole. It will also likely include discussion of the federal government's recently introduced and highly controversial legislation on medical assistance in dying, a burning issue at the moment. The retreat is being held at the Delta Lodge at Kananaskis, which bills itself as a luxury mountain resort and a "base camp to an outdoor adventure playground." Corporate rates for rooms at the lodge range from $132 per night to $299. Photo: Twitter The NDP's justice critic pleaded with the Liberal government Friday to ensure that desperately ill Canadians don't have to go back to the Supreme Court to fight controversial new legislation on doctor-assisted death. Murray Rankin, a public law expert from Victoria, said he was deeply disappointed to find a majority of recommendations made by members of a joint Commons-Senate committee were "missing from or contradicted" by the provisions in the bill tabled last week. Rankin, a member of the all-party panel, said the committee had a duty to make recommendations considering all situations that could arise in coming years, such as the issue of advanced consent for patients who face the prospect of losing their faculties. "We can do better than flatly contradicting the evidence of experts and the advice of parliamentarians from all parties and both chambers," Rankin told the House of Commons as debate on the bill got underway. Canadians are relying on the government to craft an appropriate legislative response to the top court's landmark ruling, and to get it right, he said. "The reality is, this moment is not going to come again," Rankin said. "This means abiding by the letter and spirit of the Supreme Court ruling and strengthening this bill against obvious challenges to its charter compliance." Rankin has a personal connection to the lawyer who represented the B.C. Civil Liberties Association in the case that led to the top court's ruling on assisted death. He and Joseph Arvay previously worked together at a law firm in B.C. The exchanges that unfolded Friday in the Commons mark the first instalment of what is sure to be a long and emotional debate on the government's legislative response to the Supreme Court's ruling from February 2015. That decision struck down the ban on physician-assisted dying, but was suspended until June 6 to give Parliament a chance to craft a law. The clock is ticking to pass the proposed legislation and there are already indications there could also be roadblocks once the bill hits the Senate, where some members have already hinted they fear the bill could violate the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould insisted Friday the government's bill is consistent with both the Supreme Court's decision as well as the Constitution. "There will always be a diversity of opinion about what is required to respond to a particular judgment, but it falls to Parliament not only to respect the court's decision but also listen to the diverse voices and decide what the public interest demands," Wilson-Raybould said. Parliament faces a difficult task in addressing this issue, she added. "It must weigh and balance the perspectives of those who might be at risk in a permissive regime against those who seek assistance in dying." OnThursday, the family of Kay Carter whose bid to obtain an assisted death was at the heart of the Supreme Court decision said that under the proposed legislation, their mother would not have qualified for medical help to end her life. "We fought for a half a decade and won our case at the highest court in the land and this bill would erase the victory that we achieved for people like my mom," Lee Carter said Thursday. "We ask ourselves, 'What was the point?'" Wilson-Raybould denied that claim, insisting the legislation known as Bill C-14 would in fact ensure that individuals like those who were before the courts in Carter could obtain access to medical assistance in dying. Conservative MP Scott Reid also raised concerns about the bill during Friday's debate, noting he has hesitations about the terminology that permits access to competent adults "whose deaths are reasonably foreseeable." "Would she (the minister) object to an amendment to this legislation in the committee process that would give a definition to the term 'reasonably foreseeable' so this is not left up to other individuals who may apply different standards?" Reid asked. Wilson-Raybould said there would be opportunities to closely examine the bill, adding the language used in the legislation "purposefully provided" flexibility to medical practitioners to use their own expertise. Photo: Thinkstock.com More than 500 doctors billed Ontario's health insurance plan over $1 million each last year, with one ophthalmologist charging what the province's health minister called "a staggering" $6.6 million. Of the top five billers, two are ophthalmologists, two are radiologists and one is an anaesthesiologist, but their names and where they work are not being released. The million-dollar club included 154 diagnostic radiologists, 85 ophthalmologists and 57 cardiologists. "It's not our emergency room physicians who are earning this kind of money," Health Minister Eric Hoskins told reporters Friday. "It's not our neurosurgeons who are billing over a million. It's a very narrow category of specialists." The top-billing doctors represent less than two per cent of physicians in the province but account for nearly 10 per cent of billings. Hoskins said the current structure allows some physicians to generate income many times the average doctor's salary, mainly because the fee structure has not kept pace with medical and technological advances. "Now I'm not saying these doctors did anything wrong," he said. "What I am saying is that there is an inequity in the fee code structure that has created this unfairness." There are "a great number" of doctors who prescribe methadone for people with opiate addictions "clustered around the million-dollar mark" in part because they are paid $35 for a urine dipstick test that cost $2 to $3, said Hoskins. "We found that in many cases physicians were earning more than half of their total billings from that one procedure," he said. "We pay our community labs $10." The province spends $11 billion annually on physician compensation, but has to find hundreds of millions of dollars more at the end of year because there are no caps on billings by doctors, who earn an average of $368,000, added Hoskins. "Unpredictable and frankly uncontrolled billing by some doctors is a problem that leaves less for family doctors and others, squeezes our ability to invest more in home care and community care, and robs us of our capacity to responsibly plan our health care spending each year," he said. The Liberal government has been locked in a fight with the Ontario Medical Association, which represents 34,000 doctors and medical students, after it imposed a series of fee cuts last year. The OMA has said the best way to get a new fee agreement is for the government to agree to binding arbitration, something Hoskins said he was willing to consider if the doctors return to negotiations, which broke off in January, 2015. "We created a sub-committee at their request to look specifically at the issue of arbitration...and they decided abruptly one afternoon to end those negotiations and walked away," he said. "We've never said no to arbitration." The OMA asked Hoskins on Friday to clarify his position on arbitration directly with them, not through the media. "Ontarios doctors have long said that strengthening patient-focused care requires a fair and predictable agreement that includes binding arbitration," said OMA president Mike Toth. "In order to move forward with the process of meaningful negotiations, rather than negotiate in public and mischaracterize the facts, Ontarios doctors ask that Hoskins clarify his position directly with the OMA." Photo: The Canadian Press Prime Minister Justin Trudeau joined world leaders who rushed to put their signatures Friday to a global treaty on climate change in hope of bringing it into force. Now comes the hard part. Canada is nowhere near its target of reducing greenhouse-gas emissions by 30 per cent by 2030. Emissions are still inching up. A national plan is still being worked out. Indeed, if you've got an idea how all this could work, please tell the federal government. Really it wants your advice. Trudeau used his appearance at the United Nations signing ceremony to promote the new website, www.canada.ca/climateaction, and the Twitter hashtag where the government is seeking suggestions from Canadians. "We're looking for ideas on how to reduce emissions," he told a news conference. "On the best way to move forward with carbon. And (on) how we can best prepare for and, if possible, avoid the impacts of climate change.... It's important that all Canadians be part of this conversation." He promised not to give up. In his first speech to the UN General Assembly hall, Trudeau said: "Today, with my signature, I give you our word that Canada's efforts will not cease." The agreement enters into force once it is ratified by 55 countries accounting for 55 per cent of global emissions, which is now expected to happen, given the resounding reaction Friday. The event broke the record for most first-day signatures for an agreement of its kind. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said at least 175 countries signed on: "It is a very moving day for me, personally.'' The pact negotiated last year differs from the old Kyoto accord in several important ways: Every major emitter has set individual targets under this one unlike Kyoto which excluded fast-developing countries. It does not include broad global emissions targets, nor is it binding. It does include a mechanism that will report on each country's progress it's a peer-pressure strategy. The broad goal of the agreement is to keep global temperatures from rising more than 2 C from pre-industrial levels, to stave off the most catastrophic effects of rising sea levels. Trudeau received a warm reaction. He was mobbed for photos, walking between meetings. The president of Colombia joked that he's now the most popular leader in the Americas. And he drew perhaps the most ovations of any leader who spoke to the assembly. One came when he described the particular challenge facing poorer countries: How to cut emissions, when their economies are growing fastest? "They shouldn't be punished for a problem they didn't create, nor should they be deprived the opportunities for clean growth that developed nations are now pursuing," Trudeau said. Developing-country delegations applauded again when he mentioned the $2.65 billion his government budgeted for international-assistance programs geared towards clean-energy programs. Trudeau's domestic opponents weren't singing such praises. The Conservatives said he hasn't been straight with people. They pointed to the parliamentary budget officer's finding that hitting that target could shave one to three per cent off the national economy by 2030. "The Liberals are misleading Canadians by saying everything is a win-win, while not accounting for the true economic costs," said a statement from Tory critic Ed Fast. "Fighting climate change is serious business and Canadians need to be prepared to have a frank discussion about who pays for it." The Conservatives said they're not actually opposing the emissions target which they set when they were in power. They just said the prime minister needs to be more honest about its costs. During his New York trip, the prime minister touted an all-of-the-above approach where additional oil production can coexist with cleaner technology, and more wealth gets spent on energy innovation. One prominent environmental economist says the country has actually made progress. Dave Sawyer of EnviroEconomics projects the country could get halfway to its targets with emissions declining 15 per cent by 2030, after levelling off in a few years, if provincial governments respect their already-announced plans. "Current policies are actually delivering a lot more than people think," he said. "There are still gaps." Photo: Skylar Noe-Vack A group of bikers came across an unusual sight near Max Lake Road, Friday afternoon. The outdoor enthusiasts spotted grey smoke above Forsythe Drive about 4:30 p.m. When Firefighters arrived on scene they discovered a fully involved car fire in the bushes off of Max Lake Road. According to a witness on scene the blaze was quickly extinguished and did not spread into the brush. RCMP are investigating the incident as reports indicate the vehicle could have been stolen. Photo: Thinkstock.com A Federal Court judge has reserved a decision on expanding the criteria for who can currently grow their own medical marijuana. Lawyer John Conroy appeared in Vancouver court on Friday to ask Judge Michael Phelan to vary a ruling he made in February that struck down legislation requiring patients to buy medical marijuana from designated growers. Phelan gave the Liberal government six months to come up with a new law and extended an injunction allowing 28,000 medical patients to continue growing or possessing cannabis. But Conroy, who represented four British Columbia plaintiffs argues the ruling "overlooked or accidentally omitted" certain issues, and says the injunction should be expanded to include other patients who previously held permits to grow medical marijuana. He also asked the judge to allow licence-holders the right to change the address on their licence, and he wants the judge to clarify that a 150-gram possession limit does not apply to marijuana stored by patients who grow their own pot or get it from designated growers. Conroy says he expects Phelan to release a decision on the motion to reconsider soon because the new legislation is due by the end of August. Photo: Contributed A Victoria police officer who advocates for the legalization of drugs while off-duty has been awarded $20,000 in a human rights case that pitted the nine-year veteran against his employer. The British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal sided with Const. David Bratzer, saying the Victoria Police Department interfered with his rights as a citizen to freely express his views and ordered the award for injury to dignity, feelings and self-respect. "Today, it's fair to say that employees, in particular police officers, have more freedom to engage in debates about public policy issues than they ever have before in this province," Bratzer said in an interview on Friday. The tribunal ruled in an 86-page decision that Victoria police restrained or attempted to restrain Bratzer's off-duty public advocacy activities as a member of the international organization, Law Enforcement Against Prohibition. Members of the organization include current and former law enforcement officials. The tribunal says Victoria police interfered with Bratzer's rights in five of eight complaints he made, including prohibiting him from attending a harm reduction conference in Victoria, speaking at a federal Green party event and refraining from commenting to the media about a successful 2012 marijuana referendum in Washington state. "I accept that, for the most part, the VicPD was sincerely trying to feel its way through a confounding issue attempting to balance the interests of a long-standing public institution that is paramilitary in nature while recognizing Mr. Bratzers right to express his views on this topic," tribunal member Walter Rilkoff wrote in the decision. "Nevertheless, the interference was of a significant right afforded to all citizens of this country and province, including police officers, and any award must recognize the seriousness of that interference." Acting Chief Const. Del Manak of Victoria police said in a statement the department accepts the decision, will seek to learn from it and an appeal is currently not planned. Bratzer filed the complaint against the department in February 2013, saying it tried on numerous occasions to restrain his off-duty public advocacy for Law Enforcement Against Prohibition. "We say that the more dangerous the drug is, the more reason you have to regulate it and control it through legalization," said Bratzer. "That's why we support the regulation, the control of all drugs as opposed to just some of them because at the end of the day, it's the policy of prohibition that has failed globally." The organization also links its approach to helping people get treatment. "We want to find a way to keep people alive until they can successfully enter and complete some kind of program to address their addiction issues," said Bratzer. He said he doesn't believe his off-duty views on drugs affect his duties as a police officer. "I have great relationships with my co-workers," Bratzer said. "Over the years, they've come to see when I'm on-duty I still enforce the drug laws within the bounds of my discretion." Photo: Contributed A national wildlife group is slamming a beaver-hunting derby underway in Saskatchewan. It's the first year for the derby, which runs until May 10. The competition offers cash prizes to hunters or trappers who kill the largest beaver or who come up with the most combined weight in beaver carcasses in 40 days. The Association for the Protection of Fur-Bearing Animals says the event is inhumane and ecologically harmful. The Saskatchewan Trappers Association says the derby helps eliminate bad hunting practices and teaches others how to utilize the entire animal carcass and fur. It says at this time of year beavers are often killed and left in the field to rot. Theyre putting a price on wildlife like this, where basically were just incentivizing people to go out and just shoot and kill as many beavers as they possibly can, just for a buck, said Adrian Nelson of the Vancouver-based wildlife association. Its really not sound management when it comes to dealing with wildlife populations, and its just, in a lot ways, disrespectful to a lot of the management policies that weve been working so hard to put into place over the years. The trappers' group said the wildlife group doesn't appreciate their intent. The main thing is that we dont want to see these animals left in the field of decay and rot without using the entire fur resource," said spokesman Ken Gartner. Nelson said such culls could lead to beaver extinction and her group is calling on the Saskatchewan government to end the contest. Photo: The Canadian Press The prosecution will get one final opportunity today to convince an Alberta jury that David and Collet Stephan failed their son by not getting him medical assistance before the toddler died of bacterial meningitis. The couple is charged with failing to provide the necessaries of life for nearly 19-month-old Ezekiel in 2012. David Stephan, a 32-year-old who works for a nutritional supplements company in Raymond, Alta., and Collet Stephan, 35, believed that Ezekiel was simply suffering from croup. As a result, they treated him with natural remedies containing hot peppers, garlic, onions and horseradish over a 2 1/2-week period before he stopped breathing and was rushed to hospital. He died a couple of days later. In his closing arguments Friday, defence lawyer Shawn Buckley painted the Stephans as loving and attentive parents who didn't realize the boy was seriously ill. The Crown has argued the Stephans didn't do enough to ensure Ezekiel received the medical treatment that he required. A friend of the Stephans, who is a registered nurse, testified she told the mother that he might have viral meningitis and advised the boy be taken to a doctor. Prosecutor Clayton Giles has indicated there's no doubt that the Stephans cared for their son but he has said they failed him when he needed help the most. 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 Collet Stephan researched treatments for viral meningitis online and the next day picked up an echinacea mixture from a naturopath in Lethbridge. Court was told Ezekiel was too stiff to sit in his car seat and had to lie on a mattress as they drove to the naturopath's office the day before he stopped breathing. The case is expected to be in the hands of the jury on Monday. The maximum penalty for failing to provide the necessaries of life is five years in prison. Photo: BCLC No winning tickets were sold for Friday night's $24-million Lotto Max jackpot. That means the grand prize for next Friday's draw on Apr. 29 will grow to an estimated $34 million. Earlier this month, a ticket holder from Kelowna won a $50-million Lotto Max jackpot. Photo: CTV Business is brisk at one Vancouver pot dispensary. Financial statements obtained by CTV News show the Vancouver Dispensary Society is pulling in about $10,000 a day, or $3.5 million a year. Were fairly busy and were not the top dispensary in the city, dispensary director and marijuana activist Dana Larsen told CTV Vancouver. Larsen was in Kelowna this month and spoke to a crowd of about 250 people about legalizing pot. He gave away marijuana seeds and encouraged people to plant them in a public area as an act of civil disobedience. Despite the million-dollar business, Larsen said he makes a negligible profit after paying his business expenses, donating to pro-pot causes and paying taxes. Vancouver has recently tried to licence a handful of dispensaries and told the rest to shut down by the end of April. Dozens have challenged those orders at the citys Board of Variance, and three others have taken the city to court with more expected to follow suit. With at least 100 other dispensaries in Vancouver, Larsen estimated an industry revenue of between $200 million and $400 million a year. This is the first indication of the resources the industry has to fight the plan by Vancouver to shut their doors. Even if the city wins, they still lose. All that means is $300 million a year in marijuana sales goes from the stores to the streets, he said. This is an industry the city council wants to shut down, eliminate 90 per cent and put all the sales on the street. That seems absurd to me, he said. The financial statements obtained by CTV News say the Vancouver Dispensary Society had a rough start, losing $5,800. Business picked up, however. By 2009, it made about $1.1 million, with a profit of about $2,000. By 2014, the last year documents were available, revenue had climbed to $3.5 million. The society was ordered by the B.C. Registrar of Corporations in March to disclose the documents. with files from CTV Vancouver Photo: CTV A man has been charged with assault following an attack on a Vancouver bus driver. Transit police say the assault happened Tuesday evening on the 99 B-line, when a man who had reportedly been harassing waiting passengers boarded the bus at Alma and Broadway. After getting on the bus, the man stood at the front of the vehicle, making derogatory remarks to the passengers and bus driver. The driver stopped the bus, opened the doors and asked the man to get off. The man began to argue and then allegedly spat on the driver before punching him twice on the side of the head. Police say a 42-year-old Vancouver man who is well known to police has been arrested and charged with one count of assault. Photo: Deborah Pfeiffer The effort to save Skaha Lake Park from commercial development was back in full swing on Saturday. Members of the Save Skaha Park Society held an event at the Penticton park to celebrate Earth Day and launch a membership drive. "We thought saving the park is a natural fit with Earth Day," said Lisa Martin, the spokesperson for the society. "And the main thing we are opposed to is the loss of green space and the impact on wildlife here including turtles, ducks and fish." The society is a citizen group that has vocally opposed a city-endorsed plan to allow a commercial waterslide operation, by Trio Marine Group, inside the public park. Trio also has plans to develop the Skaha marina. Opponents have rallied outside City Hall against the project, created a human chain at the park and collected more than 8,000 signatures on a petition. Saturday's event featured speakers from the society, musicians and walking tours around the entire perimeter of the park. Dr. Gerry Karr, with the society, talked about how a big waterslide would ruin the park and that once the land was gone they would never get it back again. He and others also emphasized the importance of the membership drive, for 10,000 members in 100 days. Having that membership, they say, will help if the civil suit the society filed against the city and Trio ends up in court. He added that at this point the city has not responded to the civil claim. People in attendance shared the society's goal of saving the green space. "I very firmly believe that a public park should not be used for private enterprise, especially since Penticton is already low on the amount of parks it should have for a city of this size," said Lynn Kelsey. Jake Evans, there with his son, said he wasn't sure where he stood, because both sides, (supporters of the project), and the society are making valid points. "When the whole scenario first came out, I thought what's the harm," he said. "But since then the way things transpired, I think maybe the mayor and council need to take more time on this." Supporters of the project believe it will be good for young families and give an economic boost to the city. Mayor Andrew Jakubeit, speaking to the civil suit, said where it is at is with the developer gauging their resolve to continue, modify or abandon their plans. "As both parties are named in the suit, it makes sense to ensure all parties are on the same page before proceeding and/or responding," he said. 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 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. This school year, Jordan Public Schools in Garfield County received 100 percent of their beef for school lunches as donations from local ranchers. Their Farm to Cafeteria Program resulted in all seven head of beef used for the year in the elementary, junior and senior high schools being locally grown and locally fed. Jordan Public Schools has 130 students enrolled attending a four days a week. In January 2015, Jordan Superintendent Nate Olson and members of the Jordan school board were brainstorming methods to improve the taste of the beef in school lunches. They implemented changes in time for the August class start. While were forced by the economics of the situation to adhere to federal school lunch guidelines, we have worked within them to create a uniquely Garfield County Lunch Program," Olson said. "Through the generosity of six local ranches, Garfield County Bank and Ryans Processing, our students are some of the best fed in Montana. Under the Federal Meat Inspection Act, inspection of beef entering the food supply is mandatory. Hence, donors hauled the live beef to Quality Meats of Montana, LLC, in Miles City, approximately 90 miles from Jordan, for harvesting and inspection. After USDA inspection and certification, the school paid for transportation back to Ryans Processing Plant in Jordan. Ryans donated the processing of one carcass, while the school paid for processing the remaining six head. As a special treat for students, donors and other community members, the prime rib was saved for a holiday dinner the day before Christmas break. Ryans Processing Plant cooked the roasts and served the school a wonderful lunch. Were all for it," owner Ed Ryan said. "The kids enjoy it and get something good to eat. Prime rib is also served at the Junior/Senior Banquet. A steak fry is planned for the seniors last day of classes. Marla Pluhar, Jordan Schools head cook, says the school consumed 150 pounds of ground beef, along with the other cuts from each carcass. She can make an array of meals. She uses ground beef for pizza, meatloaf, beef and gravy over mashed potatoes and hamburgers. She uses the prime rib, New York strip, tenderloin and all the roasts. She admits it is more work than using the USDA government meat program because of the preparation and clean-up time involved. The children receiving this generosity now know where their school lunch food comes from and seem enthusiastic. I think that its awesome, Evan Phipps, a freshman, said. Cody Hocking, a senior, stated: It has been the best thing to happen to the school in a long time. When I graduate, I will surely miss the school meals. There are plans to continue and possibly even expand this initiative. It was made possible through the generosity of Lee and Toni Murnion; Bryan and Chelsea Phipps; Rick and Earline Lawrence; Garfield County Bank; Colin and Carrie Murnion; Philip and Karen Gibbs; Brent and Hillari McRae; and Ryans Processing Plant. Also, Pluhar and Olson took on extra work and logistics. If your school is interested in locally-grown foods, there are programs to help them get started. The Montana Farm to School Summit 2016, Sprouting Success, is being held at Montana State University in Bozeman on Sept. 22-23. For more information visit: https://tofu.msu.montana.edu/cs/f2s_2016. At the Montana Energy conference held in Billings in March there was a great deal of talk about the future of the town of Colstrip. Most conversation was centered on legislative activity in Washington and Oregon, major consumers of Montana produced power, and the Clean Power Plan that was recently been put on hold by the U.S. Supreme Court. Recently passed legislation in Washington and Oregon demonstrates that their citizens want to transition away from coal-powered electricity. The actions in the legislatures have been interpreted by the sky is falling contingent as the beginning of the end for the town of Colstrip. This is disturbing because 1) its far from the truth and 2) its a really poor way to treat the people of Colstrip. For months now theyve been subjected to legions of leisure-suited typewriter salesmen telling them that the only answer to their future is in the past. Very few are reminding them of the incredible assets they hold and how they are ideally situated to respond to West Coast consumers. Talk future, not past Public Service Commissioner Kirk Bushman got close during the energy conference when he asked producers and retailers about an integrated plan that included wind, solar and gas generation. He ran out of time before we could explore his ideas further, but it was comforting to hear at least one policy maker talking about the future and not the past. Complicating matters further, we have several politicians and community leaders machine-gunning references from an economic study so widely discredited that its only material value is as the source of water cooler humor for real economists. But they find political capital in keeping the people of Colstrip living in fear so they continue to quote the study as if it actually had merit. So let me repeat: This is a really poor way to treat people. Why is the future so bright in Colstrip? Regardless of what happens with the current generation facilities, Colstrip remains on a very enviable position on the nations grid. It was built to deliver power to a growing Pacific Northwest and the workers in Colstrip have done this with phenomenal effectiveness for over four decades. That the consumers of the Pacific Northwest would prefer power from another source doesnt change Colstrips location and ideal position to deliver that power. What customers want As we speak, and before any coal fired generation goes offline, there are two wind projects in planning stages for Rosebud County a 700 MW facility north of Forsyth and a 350 MW field between Colstrip and Forsyth. These will employ hundreds of people during the construction phase and pay very impressive property taxes to Rosebud County. While wind farms dont employ nearly as many people as the coal fired plants do during operations, the wind also does not blow all of the time. A natural gas generating plant located in or near Colstrip could balance the load during peaks and non-windy days. A gas generation plant to supplement the renewables that our customers want would also keep every electrician, boilermaker and pipefitter currently working there employed and would continue to offer employment for generations. So if the good people of Portlandia want electrons derived from wind and solar, lets do like all astute business people do: Give our customers what they want. Colstrip is in the perfect position to do so. This is the conversation policy makers and business leaders should be having. Because if we dont respond to this market, someone else will. KALISPELL Authorities have released the name of a man who was killed when a logging truck and a pickup crashed into each other south of Creston. The Daily Inter Lake in Kalispell reported that 52-year-old Donald Spranger Jr., of Bigfork, was driving south on Montana 35 when his pickup crossed the center line and crashed into the logging truck Thursday afternoon. The man, who was wearing a seat belt, died at the scene. The driver of the logging truck was not seriously injured and was taken to a hospital for evaluation. Logs littered the highway at the scene of the crash, where the pickup had been pushed across the lane, crashing into the guardrail. A Casper man was arrested Thursday for allegedly masturbating in the parking lot of the Natrona County Library, according to a police report. Mark Allen Pasztor, 50, is the second man this week to be arrested for indecent exposure in Casper. Police arrested 20-year-old Brenden Nicholes Day on Monday after he allegedly exposed himself to a 10-year-old girl while she was walking home from school. Both men were being held in the Natrona County Detention Center as of Friday afternoon. Indecent exposure is a misdemeanor punishable by up to six months in jail. According to the police report, a woman called authorities shortly before 11 a.m. when she parked in the librarys south side parking lot and saw Pasztor masturbating inside his truck. The woman told officers there were children in a car parked next to hers. When approached by police, Pasztor said he was at the library looking for a job, the report states. He initially denied masturbating inside his truck, but then said he did touch himself inside his pants. Officers noted Pasztors truck was in clear view of a populated walking path, gazebo, bus stop and the library, according to the report. There will be a Conversations and Solutions event regarding Chattanooga's violence, "From A Community Perspective" held at the Edney Building, 5th Floor, 1100 Market St. on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. "Violence is taking Chattanooga hostage. Mothers are feeling helpless. Fathers are absent. Elderly are afraid to come out. Prisons are filling up fast," organizers said. "It is time to talk about what is happening, share ideas, and come up with a strategic plan to help our youth take a different path in life." The public is invited to the discussion event. The first scientist to suggest that the seven continents were once a single supercontinent was laughed out of the room. It wasnt until the U.S. Navy studied the floor of the Atlantic Ocean, some 50 years later, that the theory of Pangaea became well established and rocked the world of geology, said Kevin Chamberlain, from UWs Department of Geology and Geophysics. Now, piece by piece, scientists like Chamberlain are using the lifespan of rocks to determine how various supercontinents were likely arranged and when. In an article published April 11 in the online version of the geology journal Nature Geoscience, a team of scientists including Chamberlain argued that Siberia and North America were once connected, a discovery with important implications in the mining industry, which paid for the five-year study that culminated in the publication. Rare earth metals like copper and nickel are crucial for modern technology, but finding those deposits used to be the work of prospectors, effectively looking at the surface of the earths crust for stores of valuable metals, Chamberlain said. It was a tedious search. But mapping the history of the earths surface will allow mining companies to pinpoint areas likely to have mineral deposits. Knowing where continents once connected means that if copper, for example, had been successfully mined in an area on the edge of Siberia, it is also likely in the part of North American that broke away from Siberia millions of years ago. If a known deposit was at the edge of a continent that drifted apart ... if we can figure out which continent was next to the mineral deposit, then we have better ideas where to look, Chamberlain said. We bring it down from 100 possibilities to four possibilities. Chamberlains work involves dating a certain type of rock, mafic dykes, in different parts of the world. The value of studying mafic dykes is that they go very deep into the earth's surface, so their secrets dont disappear due to erosion. As you keep peeling off the rock you still have that record, he said. Its a fingerprint that doesnt go away; its deep. It goes all the way through the skin ... its a record thats survived from the ancient past. Mafic dykes are also very long, as many as 1,200 miles in length, and they were formed in a relatively brief period of time, Chamberlain said. You have half of the dyke on one continent and the other half on the other continent, but the age is the same, he said. Chamberlains geochronology lab at UW is one of four, and the only one in the U.S., that took part in the research study. His specialty as a geologist is dating mafic dykes by analyzing the decay of uranium as it turns into iron. Its similar to carbon-dating. But whereas carbon breaks down rapidly, uranium breaks down very slowly, allowing for dating farther back in the earths history. The North America-Siberia connection is only one of the relationships Chamberlains research has revealed. He used the same strategy to compare rock in Wyoming to the Great Lakes area. The south side of Wyoming once neighbored the region, he said. Nature Geoscience is highly respected and widely read in the scientific community, which Chamberlain hopes will help widen the discourse around mafic dyke dating strategy and its possibilities in further detailing the history of the earths continents. America is dusting off a military alliance with the Philippines that languished in the back of the closet for decades. You can practically hear them at the Pentagon trying it on for size: Hey, how'd we ever forget about this great thing? A glance at a map of Asia, and recent headlines, shows why the U.S.-Philippines partnership is in style again: The archipelago nation borders the South China Sea. That's where China is in the midst of an audacious power grab that must be challenged before it's a fait accompli, or escalates into a military confrontation. Advertisement Dotting the middle of the South China Sea is a series of rocks, reefs and islets known as the Spratly Islands. China is using sand dredgers there to create artificial islands in order to boost its territorial claims on nearly all of the South China Sea. Three of those man-made islands now have Chinese military airfields, at least two of which are complete. The area is patrolled by the Chinese navy, which tries to shoo away any ship or plane that encroaches. The Chinese gambit is clever, but it's a violation of U.N. convention: You cannot manufacture sovereign territory in international waters. A handful of rival governments Taiwan, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei also make claims on the Spratlys. Some of the land masses are occupied, but only China is building islands, claiming the near entirety of the South China Sea and attempting to enforce its claims with a robust military presence. The Philippines is challenging China's assertions at the United Nations. Advertisement The United States' interest in the Spratlys isn't over ownership of bits of sand and rock but in protecting freedom of navigation on the high seas, and putting a check on China's ability to carve up the Pacific. The U.S. military cannot stand by and watch as China attempts to seize control of one of the world's busiest open waterways. Twice in the past year, U.S. ships have glided past the Chinese-controlled Spratlys to send the message that fake islands get no ownership recognition. Only naturally formed islands have territorial control for a radius of 12 miles. The U.S. approach has been cautious. Too cautious, because so far it's unheeded by China. Which brings us (back) to the Philippines: Ties to the U.S. date to American colonial rule in the first half of the 20th century. In March 1942, at the outset of World War II, Gen. Douglas MacArthur narrowly escaped from the Philippines during the Japanese invasion, promising, "I shall return." He did, too. After the war, the U.S. maintained a strong military presence in the independent Philippines, including Clark Air Base and the Subic Bay Naval Station, both crucial to the U.S. during the Vietnam era. After the Soviet Union collapsed, there were no obvious threats in the Pacific to counter. Not from Russia, China or North Korea. The Philippines decided it was time for the U.S. to pack up and leave. Who knew what was coming? Things might look different in the Spratlys if Clark and Subic were still operating. The U.S. has a tight military alliance with the Philippines, just not on the old scale. Now we're looking at a revivified partnership. Call it: "I shall return. Again." Under a new pact, the U.S. will build facilities at five Philippine military bases, boosting radar and runway capacities. American troops will rotate through. One of the bases is on Palawan, an island just 100 miles from the Spratlys. The U.S. presence likely will expand over time. At the same time, the U.S. and India also are deepening military ties. The Philippines and Vietnam are doing the same with each other. Japan is upping its game, too, reinterpreting its peace constitution to allow its self-defense forces to actively cooperate with the U.S. on collective defense. Read: It will now be possible for Japan to sail and fly with the U.S. to counter North Korean craziness and Chinese assertiveness, including, perhaps, joint patrols in the South China Sea. Advertisement This is not about bringing heat to provoke danger. It's the opposite. The more America's allies collaborate with the U.S. to keep the peace, the clearer the signal to China and North Korea that provocations won't be tolerated. Ultimately, competing claims in the South China Sea have to be negotiated. But the crucial task is assuring that international waters are never usurped by any nation. Fake islands require a real response. I recently read a Talk of the County where the contributor was opposed to the passing of The Religious Freedom Bill in several states. The contributor was concerned about the discrimination and killing that is being done in the name of religion. The contributor prefers religious people follow the Bible, preach the Bible and not discriminate or kill people who do not believe in their God. It is important to discern that The Religious Freedom Bill is not a tool of radical Islam. It is a protective measure for Christians in America. Advertisement The Christian church does not discriminate. All people are welcome to come and to learn about the ultimate mission of the Christian church. They are welcome to come and to learn about Jesus, the savior of all humankind. Christians do not kill those who reject Christ. Christians are commanded when a person rejects Christ to "shake off the dust" and carry the gospel to the next person. Advertisement For Christian Americans, The Religious Freedom Bill is not a license to discriminate or to kill those who reject Christ. The Bill seeks to give Christians the same rights and representation that all other organized groups here in America have. Black Lives Matter, LGBT's and all the other groups demand and receive the right to a public platform. These groups demand and receive equal representation for their demands by those elected to serve all Americans. Christians do not desire to discriminate or to kill. All that the sincere followers of Christ desire, as U.S. citizens, are equal rights and equal representation in this Post-Christian America. Charles Danyus Naperville water rates look ready to jump come January as the city gears ups to meet new state filtration standards for waste water dumped into the DuPage River. But city officials expressed frustration that they don't know exactly what the new standards will require, so they don't know how much improving the plant might cost; how much time they have to get new water cleaning equipment in place; and if Naperville might qualify for grants or other funding to help pay for it. Advertisement Officials said all of these things the city council must learn before members decide how much residents' rates will rise. Meanwhile, city staff recommended new water rates whatever they are kick in Jan. 1, according to a recent memo. Advertisement Naperville's residential water bills average $87 per month, city officials said. "The potential for a wastewater increase is very high," said Mayor Steve Chirico, who estimated the upgrades at Springbrook Water Reclamation Center could cost anywhere from $10 million to $80 million. Springbrook is a 135-acre water treatment plant that serves Naperville and Warrenville. It sits on Plainfield-Naperville Road south and west of 95th Street. Too much algae suffocates fish The new requirements come after Naperville's permit expired last year to release treated wastewater into the DuPage River. The permit, issued by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, is necessary for the plant to operate. A draft permit requiring Naperville remove almost all phosphorus from the water already has been issued, said Sanjay Sofat, manager with the water pollution control division of the Illinois EPA. A final permit is expected later this year. Sewage and fertilizer typically contain high levels of phosphorus, a naturally-occurring element that at high levels promotes excessive algae growth in watersheds. That algae consumes oxygen in the water and essentially suffocates the fish, mussels and other aquatic life that depend on it, experts said. On a smaller scale, fluctuating oxygen levels created by algae growth can stress out river critters and trigger fish kills. On a larger scale, phosphorus-laden water from dozens of states feeds into the Mississippi River and contributes to a "dead zone" in the Gulf of Mexico, where fish and other sea creatures can't survive because the algae level is so high, experts said. Before 2011, Illinois municipalities were not required to remove phosphorus from waste water before dumping it, Sofat said. But the federal EPA that year sent Illinois a letter of noncompliance and asked the state to start addressing the problem. Since then, those applying for discharge permits now run into phosphorus treatment as a criteria for approval. Advertisement "There should not be any unnatural growth of algae," Sofat said. He did not share a timeline for when Naperville must meet the new standard, but said it could be within 7 or 9 years, depending on circumstances. Along with Illinois, Wisconsin and other states are working on similar phosphorus restrictions under order of the federal EPA, Sofat said. 'It's not going to get any better' Still, councilwoman Patty Gustin expressed frustration that the city does not know what it will be asked to do and when, especially when the price tag appears to be so high. "There are so many moving parts and there's so much information we don't have firmed up," said Gustin, who reiterated the council's goal to shore up Naperville's reserves and cut debt. Advertisement "If it's that important, why is there not national funding for this?" Gustin asked. Naperville is not the first community dealing with the new phosphorus requirements. In the Fox Valley watershed, Fox Metro Water Reclamation District took out a $92 million revolving loan last year from the state to pay for its new wastewater treatment plant in Montgomery, according to The Beacon-News. That plant will serve 300,000 residents in Aurora, Oswego, Montgomery, North Aurora, Sugar Grove, and portions of Batavia and Yorkville. User fees are expected to rise $16.50 per household per year. Despite the financial burden, Fran Caffee of Aurora, coordinator of the national Sierra Club's Water Sentinels program, said the growing phosphorus pollution problem needs to be addressed. "It's got to be dealt with. It's not going to get any better," Caffee said. "It's going to cost money, but those things do." Advertisement gbookwalter@tribpub.com Twitter @GenevieveBook David Coulson, a senior special agent with the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, talks to Indiana University Northwest students Thursday during a public presentation for Public Affairs Month. (Jim Karczewski, Post-Tribune) We say we live in a civilized society but, on some days, this casual assumption can be a hard sell for law enforcement officials like David Coulson. "Maybe we're only an industrial society," said Coulson, a senior special agent with the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Advertisement Coulson, who began his career as a Highland police officer in 1981, has been involved in hundreds of criminal investigations involving violations of firearms, arson, explosives and narcotics laws. He's pretty much seen it all regarding crime, homicides and illegal activity. Like many law enforcement officers, he's become desensitized to mankind's inhumanity to mankind. If anything, it helps to keep his sanity. For professional reasons, he's had to develop a hardened detachment, which we should all understand. Advertisement What is harder to understand is a similar detachment to criminal activity that many of us share with Coulson, though we're not in his profession. "We're becoming immune to it," Coulson told Indiana University Northwest students Thursday during a public presentation for Public Affairs Month. Coulson likened this immunity to crime to our collective reaction to car alarms. Remember when car alarms first came out and we'd hear one go off? The sound alone would stop us in our tracks, followed by the possibility that a vehicle was getting stolen or broken into. We'd look around, check out that vehicle, make sure everything was OK, and then keep walking. Not anymore. Car alarms go off these days and most of us, myself included, barely break stride or pay notice of any kind. The sound has become part of our audio landscape, similar to living near railroad tracks or a busy street. The noise doesn't go away but we get used to it. We create a sense of detachment to keep our sanity. Problem is, too many of us are forced to do this with criminal activity in our community, despite law enforcement's best efforts to keep us safe, Coulson said. He pointed out a program called "ShotSpotter," which uses gunfire detection equipment to document when shots have been fired in a city. East Chicago uses this program and its data in that city has revealed a troubling trend, Coulson said. "Only 20 percent of firearms incidents get reported by residents," he said. Advertisement Gunfire has become so routine in that city, and other inner cities with similar demographics, that people don't even bother to report it to police. This reaction or nonreaction is also common in Chicago, which passed a grim milestone last week. The number of people shot in that city this year has already passed the 1,000-victim mark as gun violence explodes at a pace not seen since the 1990s, according to a Chicago Tribune story. This year's gunfire violence toll is more than 66 percent higher than the same time last year, according to Tribune data. And the number of victims shot in Chicago this year, so far, exceeds the country's two larger cities, New York and Los Angeles, combined. If you think our corner of the state has no connection to all this gunfire in Chicago, think again. "Indiana is a source state for buying guns," Coulson said, noting that many of those guns purchased in Indiana are used by criminals in Chicago. "And keep in mind, the criminal element does not get rid of guns. They pass them on to other criminals." Coulson dissected what he called "urban terrorism" as part of a joint presentation with Ryan Holmes, public information officer for the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Indiana. Advertisement Both men are IUN graduates through the university's School of Public and Environmental Affairs program, which invites the public to celebrate Public Affairs Month with an array of engaging and informative events throughout April. The program's facilitator, IUN professor Joseph Gomeztagle, invited me to attend several public lectures but this one caught my attention. We tend to be more familiar with city, county and state law enforcement agencies, much more so than federal agencies such as the U.S. Attorney's Office, FBI and ATF. "They both look like the feds," whispered one guest, regarding Coulson and Holmes. She was joking, sort of, but this is largely what we know about federal law enforcement officers. They're called "the feds" and, as one guest noted, you don't mess with the feds. Holmes explained there are 94 U.S. Attorney's Office districts in the country, including his office, based in Hammond. That office, headed by U.S. Attorney David Capp, serves 32 Indiana counties and roughly a population of 2.5 million Hoosiers. These offices represent the U.S. government in virtually all litigation, criminal prosecutions, civil lawsuits and actions to collect judgments and restitution on behalf of victims and taxpayers. Criminal cases include identity theft, organized crime, public corruption and gang activity. Advertisement "David Capp has taken a different posture and position against gangs since being in office," Coulson said. This is obvious to anyone paying attention to Capp's doggedness against gangs such as the Latin Kings and Two Six Nation. He issues indictments like a doctor issues prescriptions. Post Tribune Twice-weekly News updates from Northwest Indiana delivered every Monday and Wednesday > Capp's office and other federal agencies in Northwest Indiana are constantly dealing with the "crime migration" from Chicago, Coulson noted. "To the points of least influence," Coulson said, referring to which cities criminals believe will be easier to conduct their business. "It's a daunting task for us in many ways," said Coulson, who consistently praised local police for their daily efforts against this eastbound crime migration. It's such trends as this one, in addition to our society's growing immunity to crime, that raise red flags for even hardened officers such as Coulson. It's one thing for guys like him to develop a professional detachment to gunfire violence. It's another thing for us to do so. Advertisement A metaphorical car alarm is going off and we're whistling right past it. jdavich@post-trib.com Twitter @jdavich Cisco Systems on Friday signed an agreement with southern Chinese city of Guangzhou to build a "model smart city." Cisco will establish a head office for innovation in Guangzhou's Panyu District to develop technology related to the Internet of Everything (IoE) and the Internet of Things (IoT), and create a IoE/IoT cloud platform that to serve industry. "We think this project is a tremendous opportunity for us to bring our capabilities together with our partners to deliver the vision that our teams have to make this an innovation showcase for the world," said Chuck Robbins, chief executive officer of Cisco. Through big data, cloud computing, and the IoE/IoT, a smart city can address problems such as traffic jams and pollution more efficiently. The project, the first in China, is expected to generate over 100 billion yuan (15 billion U.S. dollars) every year, according to Wen Guohui, Mayor of Guangzhou. "The project will help Guangzhou's industrial upgrade and economic development, and will also help the city become an international hub for technology and innovation," Wen said. Guangzhou, as a national hub for advanced manufacturing, is actively transforming its traditional industries with the introduction of new technology. Seeing opportunities in China's need for technological upgrades, Cisco announced last June that it would invest 10 billion U.S. dollars to support local innovation, and later set up a joint-venture with Chinese cloud computing and data center company Inspur. You are here: Home China's securities regulator on Friday approved seven companies' applications for IPOs. The seven companies are expected to raise up to 4.6 billion yuan (712 million U.S. dollars), according to a statement on the website of the China Securities Regulatory Commission. Among the companies, three will be listed in Shanghai and four in Shenzhen: three planning to be listed on the small- and mid-sized enterprise board and one on the ChiNext Board. The companies will set their schedules with subscribers and stock exchanges at a later date, the statement said. Flash Twenty civilians were likely killed in U.S. airstrikes in Iraq and Syria between September and February, said the U.S. Central Command in a statement on its website on Friday. The U.S. forces conducted nine separate airstrikes on the Islamic State (IS) targets from Sept. 10 to Feb. 2, said the statement, adding that another 11 civilians were likely injured. The first strike, on Sept.10, bombed an IS checkpoint in Kubaysah, Iraq, leaving two civilians killed and four injured when their vehicle came into the target area during the fight, said the statement. Another strike on a mortar fire position used by IS fight killed eight civilians in Atshanah, Iraq on October 5, according to the statement. Three of the nine airstrikes were conducted in Syria during the period, leaving three civilians dead with no injuries reported. The U.S. central command added that all the strikes complied with the law of armed conflict. Flash A record 175 countries signed on Friday the landmark Paris climate pact to save Mother Earth from the growing menace of global warming. In an unprecedented display of unity and action in the 70-year history of the United Nations, world leaders and government representatives lined up in the UN General Assembly Hall to ink the historic document, setting a new record for day-one endorsement of any international covenant. "We are breaking records in this Chamber ... Today is a day for our children and grandchildren and all generations to come," said UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon before the start of the signing process, which lasted some 2.5 hours. Taking place on the UN-designated Earth Day, Friday's signing involved nearly 90 percent of all the existing countries on earth -- from major powers like the United States and China to small island states such as Fiji and Maldives. France was given the honor to sign the pact first, in recognization of its hosting of the UN climate change conference in Paris in December 2015, which gave birth to the pact after nearly two weeks of tough negotiations. Fifteen other countries were also among the first to sign as they had pledged to deposit their instruments of ratification immediately after the signing. The agreement can enter into force 30 days after at least 55 parties that account for at least 55 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions have ratified it. China became the 21st signatory as Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli, the special envoy of President Xi Jinping, announced the country would ratify the pact before the G20 Hangzhou summit in September. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, who signed the document with his two-year-old granddaughter Isabelle sitting on his lap, said his country "looks forward to formally joining this agreement this year." The Paris accord aims to keep the global average rise in temperature below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels through drastic emissions cuts. However, there remain quite a few obstacles for the achievement of this ambitious goal, particularly the divergence between developed and developing countries over thorny issues like funding, responsibility and technology transfer. "We are in a race against time," Ban warned while addressing the signing ceremony. The window for curbing global temperature rise well below 2 degrees Celsius is rapidly closing, he added. Scientists said the monthly global temperature record has kept being broken over the past 11 months, and that 2015 has become the planet's warmest year since the late 19th century. Addressing the ceremony as a youth representative, 16-year-old Getrude Clement from Tanzania said: "As young people, the future is ours, but this is not the future we want for ourselves." After Friday, countries still have one year to ink the Paris Agreement, which remains open for signature till April 21, 2017. Hollywood star Leonardo DiCaprio, also invited to speak at Friday's signing ceremony, urged all signatories of the pact to deliver on their commitments to cutting greenhouse gases. "The world is now watching," said the newly-crowned Academy Awards best actor and also a UN messenger of peace. "You will either be lauded by future generations or vilified by them." You are here: Home Flash Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli (L) shakes hands with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon at the UN headquarters in New York, the United States, April 21, 2016. Zhang will attend the Paris climate agreement signing ceremony on April 22 as Chinese President Xi Jinping's special envoy. [Xinhua] China announced on Friday that it will finalize domestic legal procedures to ratify the Paris Agreement on climate change before the G20 Hangzhou summit in September. The announcement was made by Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli during a high-level signing ceremony of the landmark pact at the UN headquarters, with a record 175 countries inking the international accord. "The Chinese people honor our commitments. We will work hard to earnestly implement the Paris Agreement," said Zhang, the special envoy of Chinese President Xi Jinping to the signing ceremony. Climate negotiators of 196 parties adopted the accord at climate change talks in Paris, France, on Dec. 12, 2015. The agreement can enter into force 30 days after at least 55 parties that account for at least 55 percent of global emissions take the further national step of ratifying it. At the ceremony, Zhang announced three-pronged approach China will take to curb global warming. Besides efforts to push for an early entry into force of the Paris Agreement, China will take effective actions at home to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, he said. "We will launch a national emission trade market, substantially increase forest carbon sink. We will put in place a strict accountability system for environmental protection and ensure the implementation of all targets," the presidential envoy said. In its 13th Five-Year Plan, China pledged to cut carbon dioxide emissions per unit of GDP by 18 percent over the next five years, he said. "We will control both the total energy consumption and carbon intensity," Zhang said. He also stressed the importance of international cooperation on the fight against climate change. "China will take an active part in the follow-up negotiations of the Paris Agreement." Meanwhile, new cooperation projects have been launched this year to help strengthen the climate financing capacity of other developing countries, he added. Flash The suspected gunman is still at large after at least five people have been shot dead in two connected shootings in the southeastern U.S. state of Georgia, BNO News reported on Friday night. Police sources said the two shootings happened early Friday evening in Appling. Four were pronounced dead at the scene and one died on the way to hospital. "We're working (on) a multiple shooting. We have five victims, and the sheriff's department is looking for the shooter. And that's all I can tell you right now because we haven't finished processing the crime scene," Columbia County Coroner Vernon Collins told BNO News. There is no immediate word on the identities of the victims, and information about what may have led to the killings is not yet known. Flash The mayor of a small town in central Mexico and two of his bodyguards were killed by gunmen in a shooting attack on a highway on Friday, according to the state Attorney General's Office (PGJEM). The attack on Juan Antonio Mayen, mayor of the central Mexican town of Jilotzingo in the state of Mexico, occurred at 9:40 a.m. local time (1440 GMT) on a stretch of the Naucalpan-Ixtlahuaca Highway, roughly 40 kilometers from Mexico City, according to the office. Two of his bodyguards, one of them a police officer, were also killed, while another two were injured. Mayen had just completed his first 100 days in office last Friday after winning the post as the candidate of the conservative National Action Party (PAN). His term was to expire in 2018. The mayor was heavily guarded and traveling in a vehicle provided by the public security agency of the town when the gunmen in pickup trucks drove up, intercepted the car and opened fire, killing the men in a hail of bullets. The injured bodyguards were taken to a hospital in the neighboring city of Naucalpan for treatment. Officials were investigating a possible connection between Mayen and a local criminal gang, whose leader was killed two months ago, according to media reports. "We will go after the perpetrators and we will be transparent in the information derived from the related investigation," Jose Manzur, secretary general of the government of the state of Mexico, told reporters. Jilotzingo, home to some 18,000 inhabitants, is located in a mountainous region some 78 kilometers northeast of the state capital Toluca. At least 48 mayors have been killed since Mexico's drug war began in 2006. Many of them were believed to have been killed by drug cartels because of their refusal to meet the gangs' demands for money or obedience. A visitor tries a sample of kiwifruit on a fruit and vegetable expo in Beijing on Nov 28, 2013. [Photo/CFP] One of New Zealand's largest producers of kiwifruit is considering the possibility of growing its variety of the fruit in China as part of a plan to source it from local growers and ensure a year-round supply. Zespri International Ltd announced the plan on Thursday in Shanghai at the launch of the 2016 kiwifruit season, which is expected to set a record for sales. "We anticipate sales of around 24 million trays in 2016, up about one-third from the 18 million trays sold last season," said CEO Lain Jager. The company is now aiming for a 30 percent growth in export volume this year. China is already a major producer and consumer of the fruit, with the annual consumption reaching nearly 1.8 million tons in 2015, according to data from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization. Zespri and the Shaanxi provincial government have reached an agreement to establish a center of excellence in the province to support research, expert exchanges, grower tours and scientific collaboration. Both parties have also agreed to develop techniques to lift the quality of the fruit with sustainable production systems. Jager said, in a few years, Zespri will start sourcing the fruit from Chinese growers to meet increasing local demand. Zespri will open offices in Chengdu and Chongqing to market its products in the western region of the country. It is also investing in new partnerships and infrastructure and changing its import model to become the importer of record this year. That will give the grower greater control over the importation and distribution process.. Key market players said as tariffs on more fruit varieties are likely to go down in the next few years, China's consumers will have more options, and competition in this sector may become fiercer. wuyiyao@chinadaily.com.cn Chinese 100 yuan banknotes are seen in a counting machine while a clerk counts them at a branch of a commercial bank in Beijing, China, March 30, 2016. [Photo/Agencies] It's part of the bank's aggressive expansion plan along the Belt and Road Initiative routes Bank of China (Hong Kong) Ltd has received regulatory approval to set up a branch in Brunei, becoming the first Chinese bank allowed to enter the Southeast Asian country. Its parent company, the Bank of China, has been actively expanding its global network, especially in countries along the routes of the Belt and Road Initiative, which pass through more than 60 countries and regions. An important Belt and Road country, Brunei is politically stable and geographically well positioned, and its infrastructure is well developed. The opening of a BOCHK branch in Brunei will not only fit in with China's strategy of development but will also help the Bank of China, the nation's fourth-largest commercial lender by assets, cover all members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. At the same time, BOCHK is exploring the market in Southeast Asia and trying to develop into a regional bank. BOCHK announced the regulatory approval this week. Vice-President Lin Jingzhen said at a China-Brunei meeting: "We're actively preparing for the launching of the new branch, which will open for business as soon as possible. It will inject vitality into the development of financial markets in Brunei." Vice-Minister of Commerce Gao Yan said the announcement signifies that financial cooperation between China and Brunei "is entering a new stage". She is looking forward to the contribution of the branch in Brunei to economic and trade cooperation between the two countries. Last year, BOC set up four new branches in Laos, Myanmar, the Czech Republic and Austria as well as a representative office in Morocco. So far, the bank has overseas branches in 46 countries and regions, including 18 countries along the Belt and Road. Tian Guoli, chairman of BOC, said at a news conference for 2015 interim results: "We'll further increase our branches in South Asia, Central Asia, West Asia, Central and Eastern Europe, as well as North Africa to build the arteries of the financial system. In particular, we'll try to expand our network to more than half of the countries along the routes of the Belt and Road Initiative." jiangxueqing@chinadaily.com.cn The logo of Alibaba Group is seen inside the company's headquarters in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province early Nov 11, 2014. [Photo/Agencies] The offshoots of e-commerce conglomerate Alibaba Group Holding Ltd are setting up a joint venture with a major insurance company in China, tapping into the huge potential of the country's internet health insurance sector. Alibaba Health Information Technology Ltd said in an after-trade filing to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on Thursday that it has entered into an agreement with six other parties to establish a joint venture, which is to engage in internet health insurance related operations in China. The joint venture company, which has a registered capital of 1 billion yuan ($154 million), is Alibaba's latest push into China's nascent but rapidly growing internet insurance sector. "Through the joint venture, it (Alibaba Health) will be able to participate in internet health insurance, which is a new and promising business area that will also help align the interests of the participants in the healthcare market," said the Hong Kong-listed firm in the filing. The joint venture is pending for the approval from China's insurance authority. China Taiping Insurance Holdings Co Ltd, which accounts for 21 percent of the stake, is the largest shareholder of the joint venture. While the combined stakes held by Alibaba Health, Alibaba (China) Technology and Shanghai Yunfeng, a private equity firm cofounded by Alibaba Chairman Jack Ma, totals 40 percent of stakes. TPL, Yuwell Technology and Shenzhen Baiyeyuan, account for the rest 39 percent of the joint venture. Industry observers are not surprised by Alibaba Health's move in health insurance as the integration of internet technology and insurance industry has shown strong growth potential. Ma Tao, a research director of the Beijing-based internet consultancy Analysys International, said that it makes a lot of sense for Alibaba Health to make foray in the sector as it has natural advantage in data and technology. Statistics from Analysys International showed that the internet insurance market was estimated at 150 billion yuan in 2015, about 6 percent of the entire insurance sales in the country. Li Xiang contributed to this story mengjing@chinadaily.com.cn Lei Jun speaks at the 2016 China Green Companies Summit in Jinan, Shandong on April 23,2016. [Photo by Ren Qi/China Daily] Improving the quality and competitiveness of products is the key to strengthen China's manufacturing power, said Lei Jun, CEO of Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi, at the 2016 China Green Companies Summit on Saturday. According to Lei, most of the manufactured goods in the world come from China. However, China is not a manufacturing power. "The problem is that we manufacture a large number of cheap goods with low quality," Lei pointed out. Lei said that low efficiency of the production process led to high prices of products, the resulting products are of poor quality due to manufacturers' attempts to lower costs. Lei shared his experience in shopping in the US. "Chain stores like Costco win the consumers' trust by providing goods with high quality at the expense of cutting profits to the lowest possible. Consumers believe that what they get is the best deal. Companies like this turn their customers into fans, who would pay a $100 membership fee and even get its co-branded credit card." Lei said that Xiaomi is considering going with this business model and charging a membership fee. "I believe that charging a membership fee and service fee would win customers based on the quality and price of a Xiaomi smartphone." He also shared a laugh with the audiences asking if 5 percent of the price of the phone as an added fee is acceptable. Five years since it first entered the market, Xiaomi has witnessed its market value rocket up to 180 times with a valuation of $46 billion. Lei expressed that he knows the pressure that listed companies face. "Xiaomi won't rule out listing on the stock market, but I think that it still takes time for the company to reach its final success." A 10-member Taiwan delegation led by Chen Wen-chi (center) visits on Thursday a house of detention in Beijing where 45 suspects from the island are held.[Photo/Xinhua] The 77 suspected members of telecom fraud syndicates deported from Kenya this month will be tried on the mainland, said Chen Shiqu, deputy inspector of the Ministry of Public Security's Criminal Investigation Bureau. "The suspects specifically targeted people on the Chinese mainland, and their victims are from the mainland. Not to mention that many of the suspects are themselves from the mainland," Chen said. "They will be investigated and prosecuted in accordance with mainland law." All 45 Taiwan telecom fraud suspects who were repatriated to China from Africa on April 13 have confessed, Xinhua News Agency reported on Thursday. The other suspects come from the mainland. Chen added that each year wire fraud criminals from Taiwan obtain more than 10 billion yuan ($1.55 billion) from the Chinese mainland, despite repeated crackdowns launched by both sides of the Straits. "Mainland police will spare no efforts in dealing with telecom fraud syndicates, and we expect authorities in Taiwan will do the same," he said. On Thursday, the day after it arrived in Beijing, a 10-member Taiwan delegation visited the house of detention, where 45 suspects from the island are currently held, and it saw the suspects through a monitor. Chen Wen-chi, leader of the delegation and a cross-Straits legal affairs official in Taiwan, said in an interview with Xinhua that "all of the Taiwan suspects are in good condition. People don't need to be worried." The delegation also visited the detention house's medical facilities and was informed that the suspects' legal rights have been protectedmany have already met with their lawyers. She said the delegation will convey the information provided by mainland police to the judicial department in Taiwan, and the island will cooperate with the mainland on cracking down on cross-Straits telecom fraud. After releasing 20 fraud suspects who were deported from Malaysia on Saturday, citing a lack of evidence, Taiwan police arrested 18 of them on Thursday and restricted the remaining two from leaving the island, as clues have been detected. "This is actually a good opportunity for the two sides to cooperate on cracking down on wire fraud," said Ning Yongjie, deputy director of the Shanghai Institute of Taiwan Studies. "It is time to mount a campaign against the crime and protect the interests of people from both sides." Chinese government approved on March 21 that China will celebrate its National Day of Space Flight every year on April 24, the day when China's first satellite was successfully launched. The following are five memorable milestones that have highlighted the history of the country's aerospace exploration. China's first satellite Dongfanghong-1. [Photo/Xinhua] First satellite On April 24, 1970, China successfully sent its first satellite, Dongfanghong-1, into orbit with its Long March rocket, officially joining in the "space club" of the world, becoming the fifth nation after the Soviet Union, the U.S., France and Japan to achieve independent launch capability. After the launch, the devices on Dongfanghong-1 operated for 28 days, exceeding the originally estimated 20 days. It acquired a great deal of data for later satellite research and development. Nearly half a century has passed, and Dongfanghong-1 is still orbiting the Earth. It is believed it will continue its voyage for centuries to come. With just over six weeks before its caucus is held, state Democrats have begun efforts to get the message out to party faithful on how the process works Robert Haider, executive director of the North Dakota Democratic-NPL Party, said the party this week sent out a caucus guide to officials in all 47 legislative districts in preparation for its June 7 caucus. The caucus begins at 7 p.m. June 7, the purpose of which is to elect delegates in each legislative district to attend the partys State Delegate Selection Committee meeting June 18 in Bismarck. At the June 18 meeting, a total of 23 delegates and two alternates will be selected to represent the state at the partys national convention July 25-28 in Philadelphia. The caucus guide can be found at www.demnpl.com. For those attending the caucus, photo identification isnt required but attendees must be able to identify as a Democrat and that theyre voting for the party in this years election. Its based on the 2012 presidential results, Haider said. For each 300 (Democratic-NPL) votes in a district, theyll have one delegate and one alternate. Official North Dakota Secretary of State 2012 election results counted President Barack Obama receiving 124,966 votes in North Dakota in 2012, or 38.7 percent of the vote. Twelve district delegates are to be pledged to presidential candidates proportionately based on candidate preference at the district caucuses. The two alternates also are chosen from the district level. In addition, four at-large delegates are chosen, as are two pledged Party Leader or Elected Officials delegates and five unpledged Party Leader or Elected Officials delegates. The five unpledged Party Leader or Elected Officials delegates consist of Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D., the state party chair and vice-chair as well as the partys national committeeman and committeewoman. Haider said, with a strongly contested race between Hillary Clinton and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, the importance of the June 7 caucus depends on what happens between now and then in the race. I would imagine that the turnout would reflect the nature of the national race, Haider said. Not only will North Dakota be holding its caucus June 7 but the last five states with primaries scheduled will hold theirs the same day: California, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico and South Dakota. For the Democrats, the District of Columbia is last in the presidential primary process with a June 14 primary scheduled. A total of 2,383 delegates are needed to secure the nomination. As of this week, Clinton had 1,428 delegates to Sanders 1,151. When factoring in the unpledged party leaders from each state, known as superdelegates, the Clinton lead increases to 1,930 to 1,189. For the Republicans, North Dakota is the only state that isnt holding a caucus. Instead, they elected 25 unbound delegates earlier this month at their state party convention to attend their national convention, scheduled for July 18-21 in Cleveland. North Dakota Republicans have 28 total national delegates; the partys chairman, national committeeman and national committeewoman are automatic delegates to the convention. The Republican nominee needs 1,237 delegates to secure the party nomination. As of this week, Donald Trump had 845 delegates, followed by Texas Sen. Ted Cruz with 559 and Ohio Gov. John Kasich with 148. Delegate counts for both parties are based on Associated Press numbers. As China's economy transitions, Shenzhen looks forward to the fruits of innovation. Shenzhen party chief Ma Xingrui told media on Saturday that the city will further upgrade its innovation to a higher level. "Innovation should be driven by companies and the successful transition of companies is essential to the overall economic transition," he said. He added the government should help support companies' innovation. Nanshan iPark is an example of infrastructure supporting innovation. The park is located at the northern edge of Shenzhen special zone, which used to be the site of small villages before 2007. The government transformed three of these villages into an industrial park with 11 modern office buildings for innovative high-tech startups and companies with rental rates of only about 56 yuan per square meter per month. So far, the park has nurtured 103 high-tech companies, including the famous robotics manufacturer UBTECH Robotics Corp whose robots performed a dance at the CCTV spring festival gala. The park's annual value in 2015 reached 24.1 billion yuan and achieved a tax roll of 1.02 billion yuan. The Symposium Jointly on Commemorating the 400th Anniversary of William Shakespeare and Tang Xianzu was held at the town of Stratford-on-Avon in Britain, April 22. [Photo/Xinhua] The town of Stratford-on-Avon in Britain and Fuzhou city in China have signed an agreement to become sister cities on April 22, as the hometowns of two great playwrights William Shakespeare and Tang Xianzu mark the 400th anniversary of their deaths. Fuzhou, hometown of the renowned Chinese playwright Tang Xianzu in Jiangxi province, donated a sculpture of Shakespeare and Tang to the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, while another replica of the sculpture will be placed in a museum in Fuzhou. "Today's event is particularly pertinent as the written work of these two literary giants has survived for over 400 years and is both loved and popular," said Chris Saint, head of the Council of Stratford-on-Avon District. "We know that Chinese people regard Tang as their Shakespeare. We are proud of our international label as the home of the world's greatest playwright," he added. "This is the first time I'm aware that we have a formal cultural link with China, what a wonderful opportunity we got," he told Xinhua, adding that he would like to read more of Tang Xianzu's works and expects further events to promote cultural exchange to be held in the future between the two countries. Fuzhou is home to memorial halls, museums and theaters dedicated to Tang, and events are held every year celebrating the playwright. Seventy-seven Chinese, including 45 Taiwan residents, have been repatriated from Africa and are being investigated for suspected telecommunication fraud, the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council said on Wednesday. An Fengshan, the office's spokesman, said at a regular news briefing that in recent years, wire fraud criminals from Taiwan have obtained more than 10 billion yuan ($1.5 billion) yearly from the Chinese mainland. Only 200,000 yuan has been recovered, he said. "The case is considered China's first large-scale repatriation from Africa of telecom fraud suspects," said a senior official of the Ministry of Public Security who requested anonymity. On Wednesday, police in Kenya transferred 67 of the suspects to Chinese authorities. They arrived on chartered flights at airports in Beijing and Jiangsu, Hunan and Sichuan provinces. The 10 other suspects, including eight from Taiwan, were repatriated to the mainland on Saturday to stand trial. The case dates to November 2014, when police in Kenya discovered tools used by the criminals, including computer data interchangers, in a house in the capital, Nairobi. Through further investigation, the Kenyan police uncovered a cross-border telecom fraud ring. They detained 48 suspects from the Chinese mainland and 28 from Taiwan. According to the ministry, the criminal gang established many fraud dens in Nairobi and recruited phone callers to pose as law enforcement officers from the Chinese mainland to swindle Chinese residents in nine areas, including Beijing, Jiangsu and Sichuan. "The victims, including elderly people, migrant workers, laid-off workers and students, were cheated out of a large amount of money by the swindlers. Many families and enterprises became bankrupt, and some of the victims have committed suicide," the official said. "Our judicial department will investigate the Taiwan suspects according to law, and their legal interests will be protected," said An, the office spokesman. According to the ministry, police officers will update the Taiwan side on developments after careful investigation. Additionally, Taiwan judicial authorities will be invited to the Chinese mainland for discussions on combating cross-Straits telecom fraud. Since an agreement was signed on both sides of the Straits in 2009 for a joint effort to fight crime and for mutual legal assistance, severe measures have been taken to crack down on wire fraud involving Taiwan residents, the ministry said. The two sides have launched 47 joint law enforcement operations in Southeast Asia and destroyed more than 500 dens, cracking about 10,000 wire fraud cases. More than 7,700 wire fraud suspects, of whom 4,600 are from Taiwan, have been arrested, according to the ministry. When Taiwan suspects were handled by the island, many were not punished, and money obtained through fraud was not paid back to victims on the mainland, it added. Zhang Zhijun, head of the Taiwan Affairs Office, talked with Andrew Hsia, Taiwan's mainland affairs chief, via a hotline on Tuesday afternoon, discussing the repatriation and investigation of the Taiwan suspects. Zhang said telecommunication fraud allegedly conducted by the Taiwan suspects and involving mainland residents occurred despite repeated prohibitions. Criminals must be brought to justice to protect people's interests, he added. Contact the writers at pengyining@chinadaily.com.cn Fewer tourists visiting Taiwan Applications from individual mainland tourists to travel to Taiwan dropped by 15 percent between March 23 and April 5, while the number of group travelers dropped by 30 percent, according to the island's Tourism Department. The number of visits to Taiwan might see a year-on-year drop for the first time in 17 years, the department said in a statement on Tuesday. Last year, more than 10.4 million visits were made to Taiwan by tourists from the mainland. During the first two months of this year, there were 1.78 million visits, of which 40 percent were by tourists from the Chinese mainland. The department said the number dropped rapidly in the past two weeks. According to Xinhua News Agency, mainland travelers have been reluctant to visit the island because of the uncertainty of cross-Straits relations. They also worry about service quality and safety while in Taiwan, it said. The reduction also might reflect that mainland tourists are increasingly interested in other destinations, including European countries, Xinhua said. Feifei (pseudonym) is the second cancer-free baby born in Xiangya on Dec 6, 2015. Xiangya produced China's first cancer-free baby with the help of PGD (a cancer screening technology) on March 23, 2015.[Photo provided to China Daily] Having cancer can be terrifying. What may be more terrifying is seeing a specific kind of cancer passing down to you from your family tree, and knowing helplessly that it will haunt your children and grandchildren. Luckily for Wang Wei (who asked China Daily to use her pseudonym for privacy concerns), a 38-year-old new mother who has hereditary multiple exostoses, rare bone growth that can become cancerous in childhood, the family nightmare may finally end. So may it be for many parents like her in China, as a leading reproductive hospital has successfully produced two cancer-free babies, including one for Wang, using a pre-screening technology called the pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD). The treatment, as an additional procedure to the normal in-vitro fertilization (IVF), essentially selects the embryo that bears no hereditary cancer genes before putting it into a mother's womb. When Wang, from Zhuhai, Guangdong province, first came to the Reproductive and Genetic Hospital of CITIC-Xiangya in Changsha, Hunan province in March 2013, the then 35-year-old mother-want-to-be was in despair, hoping to give it a long shot at best. Because of her familial cancer problem, she chose an abortion three years into marriage, and had kept conducting birth controls ever since for fear that her baby may bear the same disease of her paternal family. Many relatives on her father's side and in her generation carry the same bone disease as she does. Medical statistics suggest that there is a 50 percent chance her baby may get the disease, which the World Health Organization says may develop into cancer in every 20 to 200 cases, too high for Wang to risk it. But deep inside she was still eager to parent a child, and so was her husband. They sought help from various online platforms and learned about Xiangya's attempt to produce babies that are free of familial cancers via PGD. There was no guarantee at that stage. And the expenses were quite a bite. For one circle - that is to take the eggs and sperms out and combine them into embryos, screen them, and put the healthy ones back into the womb - it costs 50,000 to 60,000 yuan, according to Dong Lei, spokesman for Xiangya. When the first cancer-free baby was produced using roughly the same technology in London in 2009, it cost about 8,000 British pounds just for the screening. Wang's first attempt was a failure, which burned up a year's salary. In December 2013, Xiangya picked three healthy embryos out of seven, but none survived in her womb. Frustrated, Wang sought local doctors for consultation, and they told her it was a hoax. "Some doctors knew little about the third generation of IVF," Wang says. "Hearing that I'm doing it outside the province (Guangdong), they had certain opinions. They said the technology is beyond China's capability, and Xiangya is cheating patients." Wang made up her mind and tried again in November 2014. This time, there was only one healthy embryo out of eight extracted, but it stayed and grew. On Dec 6, 2015, her child, the second cancer-free baby in China, was born. Lu Guangxiu, president of Xiangya, tells China Daily during an one-on-one interview in her office that the current PGD-led medical service offered by her hospital has its limitations. "I must point out that the so-called cancer-free babies are not absolutely immune to all cancers. They are just free of the specific tumors inherited from their families," Lu says. Besides that, not all hereditary cancers can be removed from one's family tree, Lu says as she pointed at a chart on her table. "At current stage, we can only do PGD for patients with cancer of monogenetic inheritance. For instance, the retinoblastoma, neuroblastoma, Wilm's tumor and pheochromocytoma." Wang's tumor falls into that category. But compared with the relatively less-seen group of cancers passing down in single genes, many widely seen cancers that stick around a family, like certain cancers of the stomach and lung, are caused by multiple genes as well as environmental factors, Lu explains. "We have a long way to go to use PGD to stop cancers of polygenic inheritance from passing down." Lu says, and she has been working on that. Huang Jin, a senior researcher with Beijing University Third Hospital who spent more than a decade studying PGD, says technical risks exist in PGD practice and patients deserve to know. "PGD reaches final diagnosis through conducting invasive practices on the embryos. A long-term and large-sample follow-up is needed." The first baby produced via PGD selection was born only in 1990, who just turned 26. Huang says that the time is not long enough to tell whether the invasive screening method would leave any harm. She also cites a research from the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology that the average pregnancy rate of PGD is about 23 percent, and says hospitals should inform patients of this. Aside from practical risks, ethical challenges also exist. Josephine Quintavalle, co-founder of Comment on Reproductive Ethics, a group that focuses on ethical dilemmas related to reproduction, told CNN after London witnessed the first cancer-free baby that "This is simply a mechanism for eliminating the birth of anybody (prone to) the disease. It is basically a search-and-kill mechanism." Wang's baby has reached 61 centimeters long and 6.1 kilograms now at three months and a half, normal at its age. Looking at her baby in her arms, Wang says: "It pleases us the most to be able to give our child a healthy body that bears no extra worries. Looking at it every day, we, like every parent in the world, wish our baby can grow up safe, healthy and happy." chenmengwei@chinadaily.com.cn 'Life is always bigger than a poem and the root of a poem.' [Photos provided to China Daily] It was almost 10 pm. A man in his late 20s was addressing a group of 40 people in a packed courtyard in central Beijing before dispatching them to all parts of the capital. "Don't target government bodies, such as police stations. Our action is not political at all and I don't want to make it look political," says the thin man with long hair. The guerrillas, most of whom have never met each other before, were divided into six contingents and sent to raid the city with something they conceive as powerful - poetry. From narrow hutong to the high-rise central business district, the guerrillas pasted sheets printed with poems on walls, signboards and street lamps as a gift to the local neighborhood and passers-by on March 20, the eve of World Poem Day. "You may also put them under the windshield wipers of cars. When drivers see them, they may expect them to be parking tickets but will find they are poems," says Li Dongzhe, the organizer of the event, who briefed the crowd. A former journalist and a poetry lover, Li initiated the activity on Someet, an online platform he co-founded, where users come up with interesting activity proposals and ask other people to join in. Other than the works of well-known poets such as Wislawa Szymborska of Poland and Beidao of China, Li intentionally included the poems of quite a few Chinese poets or grassroots writers, who are not very well-known yet. "This program shows more success than it shows failure. There is more income than there is tax forgiveness in this thing. We are going to need more money in the future." Bismarck School Board member Karl Lembke, before voting in favor of a letter of support for Bismarcks request for a five-year extension of the city's Renaissance Zone. The board voted, 3-2, in favor of the letter. q q q "We have got a lot of things we are going to be asking the taxpayers. We are hoping we can do whatever we need to do without increasing taxes. It may not be a possibility." School Board member Scott Halvorson, who voted to oppose the letter of support. q q q "I love how it has the connection between us and Satan, and the spiritual warfare. We fight on a daily basis as Christians against Satan, and we always know God is with us, so we don't have to be afraid." Martin Luther eighth-grader Amy Schaff, discussing a piece of work at Artists Celebrating Christ at the University of Mary last weekend. q q q "I think this is a great way to increase the breakfast participation. Healthy eating promotes better learning." Child nutrition director Becky Heinert, explaining Mandan High School's new breakfast kiosk to the Mandan School Board. q q q "In general, they (lignite coal mines) are producing some of the cheapest electricity in the country. That is competitive coal, and it's one of the few." James Stevenson, an analyst for IHS Energy, on coal being produced in North Dakota. q q q "I was fascinated at a young age. I love taking complex problems and solving them." Financial adviser Troy Nelson, on how he became interested in his profession at an early age. q q q "I have nothing but positive feelings about my experience with the chamber and as a Williston resident, and always be appreciative of being a part of this great community. The opportunity to lead the Bismarck-Mandan Chamber of Commerce is a once-in-a-career chance for me to utilize my experiences and help shape business policy in the capital city." Scott Meske, who is leaving the Williston Chamber of Commerce to lead the Bismarck-Mandan Chamber of Commerce. q q q "It's kind of all a blur. I'm still kind of in shock (that the cancer's back again. I don't know if I've accepted the fact yet. Yeah, there's a chance it might work, but, yet again, there's a chance there's not much they can do." Matt Jahner, who has a recurrence of cancer and is taking part in a trial program in Seattle. q q q "I don't want millions of dollars. I want the truth." Jamie Scott, wife of a man killed in an officer-involved shooting in Bismarck. q q q "A lot of sad things happened that were not worth remembering. Ervin Jose, on his experiences in World War II. q q q "The acceptance of free items from vendors and forming personal relationships may affect the ability of the department to independently and impartially evaluate vendors. We conclude employees' actions have created an appearance of losing independence or impartiality." From a performance audit critical of the state Department of Trust Lands. q q q "I am interested in helping try to promote knowledge of mosasaurs but also help figure out what was going on in their last days, a time when the massive Western Interior Seaway was starting to shrink." Nathan Van Vranken, a freelance paleontologist who hopes to do research in North Dakota. GRAND FORKS -- A judge lowered the bond of a 40-year-old man charged with attempted murder after a Grand Forks shooting. Odus Quincy Maxwell of Fargo was charged April 1 in Grand Forks District Court with attempted murder, robbery, both Class A felonies, and aggravated assault, a Class C felony, in connection with a March 29 shooting that injured 30-year-old David Manuel Gomez of Grand Forks. That same day, his bond was set at $500,000. But in a hearing Friday, Judge Lolita Hartl Romanick lowered his bond to a $150,000 L-bond, meaning he either has to pay a full amount in cash or go through a bondsman. The prosecution argued the bond should remain at $500,000 because of the nature of the crime, Maxwell's long list of convictions and the concern for public safety. In Minnesota, Maxwell was previously convicted of third-degree assault in 2003 and first-degree burglary, second-degree assault and felon in possession of a firearm in 2005. In North Dakota, he was convicted of felony theft of property in 2004. In 2013, police in Moorhead arrested Maxwell in connection with a stabbing outside an apartment building. However, based on available court records, it is unclear whether he was charged in the case. And in Texas, he was convicted of aggravated assault on a peace officer in 1993. He faces up to 45 years in prison on the attempted murder charge. (Photo : Getty Images) China will see a soaring demand of around 2,300 business jets in the next five years, according to a research report. Advertisement China will see a soaring demand of around 2,300 business jets in the next five years, pushing the industry's worth up to $103.5 billion, according to the joint report released by Minsheng Financial Leasing and Hurun Research Institute. "Business aviation in China has enormous potential," said Rupert Hoogewerf, chairman of Hurun Report. Like Us on Facebook Advertisement There are only 300 business jets operating in the country against 1,420 affordable buyers. Hoogewerf said that the demand for the industry will increase to 2,300 from 1,750 in the next five years. According to the 2016 China Business Aviation Special Report, locating flight plan approval and landing rights and being under scrutiny amidst the anti-corruption campaign are two of the main reasons why people are hesitant to buy. Meanwhile, Chinese business jet buyers value time efficiency and sense of independence the most. "China's business jet market is growing steadily," Jean-Michel Jacod, CEO of aviation firm Dassault Falcon, said. On the other hand, South China Morning Post reported that there is an increasing number of Chinese business jet buyers turning into sellers. Thus, it is expecting that jet prices are unlikely to fly high anytime soon. "Prices have struggled, certainly," David Dixon, Asia president of aircraft broker Jetcraft. He further cited the numerous factors affecting jet prices including the decline of oil, gas and natural resources like coal and mine; the strengthening of US dollars compared with other currencies; and politics in Brazil, China, and Russia. "There is a real shift today in the business that's about China: it is that aircraft are being sold out of the country as opposed to into the country," Jay Mesigner, a US-based aircraft broker, said. Advertisement TagsBusiness Jets, aviation industry, business (Photo : China Photos/Getty Images) Crowds like these can help prevent kidnapping attempts, says a social experiment. Advertisement Security guards were able to apprehend a man believed to be a kidnapper after discovering a young girl lying unconscious inside the mans backpack, reports say. The man, 25, reportedly attempted to kidnap the seven-year-old girl from inside the residential block where she lives in Lanzhou in Gansu province, the Lanzhou Morning News reported. He was asking for an amount of 100,000 yuan (about USD $15,388) as ransom. Like Us on Facebook Advertisement The suspected kidnapper said he needed money to start a business because he didnt have a job, the report said. He wanted to kidnap the young girl after learning that her father was a businessman. He reportedly followed the victim into the residential block after she went out from school for her lunch. Once there, the man abducted the young child. Before leaving the building premises, however, the kidnapper texted the family of the child and demanded the ransom money, the report said. The family then quickly informed the residential buildings management of the kidnapping. Shortly after, security guards were sent to block all pathways going out. The girl was found unconscious inside the closed backpack, lying near the stairs. The kidnapper, on the other hand, was discovered hiding inside a maintenance room. He was arrested shortly after The girl was able to recover after she was brought to the hospital. The report did not say whether she was abused or not. Kidnapping in Public While the kidnappers attempt to abduct the young girl was foiled because of some interventions, some kidnappers can actually succeed simply because bystanders do not intervene or simply dont care. Thats what a social experiment conducted in Dapeng has found out, reports Daily Mail. The social experiment was filmed, and involved a man in a hoodie and a young kid who walks alone in different places. The man will approach the child and use some sort of chloroform rag or handkerchief to try to abduct him. A cameraman then films the publics response. Watch the video here: Although that was merely a social experiment, it does show the general publics response to a crime happening right in front of them. As such, the video uploader asks people to be more vigilant and active whenever such situations occur, because they just might save a childs life. Advertisement TagsKidnapping, abduction, ransom, Lanzhou (Photo : Andrew Burton/Getty Image) Microsoft Corporate Vice President Panos Panay introduces a new tablet titled the Microsoft Surface Pro 4 at a media event for new Microsoft products on Oct. 6, 2015 in New York City. Advertisement While Apple's MacBook Pro 2016 has been speculated to bear a release date of June during the company's Worldwide Developers Conference event, Microsoft Surface Pro 5 rumors suggested that it would also have be out around that time. However, CNET pointed out that such theory actually sounded "unlikely" considering that a number of its expected specs are yet to be officially launched. Like Us on Facebook Advertisement Meanwhile, the tech site pointed out that despite the fact that six out of the 10 Surface models have been released during the month of October, it is worth noting that it might not hold true to the upcoming variant. With the update for Windows 10 being pushed back, as reportedly theorized by ZDNet's Microsoft guru Mary Jo Foley, it is very likely that Microsoft Surface Pro 5 would only be made available once such needed operating system upgrade is ready, the rumors claimed. Another strong point of why a 2016 release appeared impossible is the development of the successor of Intel's sixth-generation processor, or the Sky Lake. Accordingly, Kaby Lake would be around not earlier than late 2016. Considering this scenario, it means that the highly-anticipated model could only be released by early 2017, the tech site's Microsoft Surface Pro 5 rumors hinted. In the meantime, several expected specs of the upgraded variant of the said Microsoft product were dished as well. Based on the gathered information of CNET, the Surface Pen's triple A or button cell battery would already be replaced by a rechargeable one, competing with iPad Pro's Apple Pen which is being charged via its lightning cable. When it comes to connections, it may adopt the USB C port to include a single USB 3.0 port, Mini Display Port for video, microSD card slot, and audio jack. As for the anticipated price, the latest Microsoft Surface Pro 5 rumors claimed that the Core unit would be priced $899, while the Intel Core i7 and i7 Extreme would be sold for $999 and $1,599, respectively. Advertisement TagsMicrosoft Surface Pro 5 Rumors, Microsoft Surface Pro 5 Release Date, Microsoft news (Photo : Getty Images) Hollywood movie 'The Martian' could open the way for enhanced space cooperation between China and the US. Advertisement The Chief of the China National Space Administration Xu Dazhe has said that Hollywood blockbuster movie The Martian should inspire China and America to enhance space cooperation. The senior Chinese space official said The Martian movie is proof that the American people want to see more space collaboration between the two countries. Like Us on Facebook Advertisement "When I saw the U.S. film 'The Martian,' which envisages China-U.S. cooperation on a Mars rescue mission under emergency circumstances, it shows that our U.S. counterparts very much hope to cooperate with us," Xu told reporters. "However, it's very regrettable that, for reasons everyone is aware of, there are currently some impediments to cooperation." The American science fiction film The Martian, released in 2015, depicts a grim story of an astronaut's struggle to survive on planet Mars. In one of the important scenes, Chinese space agency is shown supplying a rocket to launch a NASA rescue package into orbit as a part of a mission to rescue a stranded astronaut. However, in reality, such space collaborations are almost impossible to take place as the US Congress has banned NASA from engaging in space cooperation with the Chinese space agency, citing security concerns as a major impediment. Officials in the US government fear that China may use cutting edge space technology for military purposes. The unending political tension between the two countries over the South China Sea and a host of other issues have, over the years, heightened this fear in Washington. Xu Dazhe, while briefing the reporters, tried to dispel this fear. He said that the Chinese space program would continue to serve national security, but won't compromise on world peace. "I believe that on this matter, China is more and more open, and I hope our American friends can take note," Xu said. In September last year, the US held a meeting with China for discussion on space technology, but the discussion was only restricted to civil space technology. Nonetheless, the meeting was the first of its kind between the two countries in recent years. Advertisement TagsThe Martin, chinese space program, Chinese Space (Photo : Getty Images) China has reportedly deployed 2,000 troops along its border with North Korea. Advertisement China dismissed reports on Friday about additional troop deployment at the North Korean border. The Ministry of National Defense issued a statement saying that the relevant reports are inconsistent with the facts. "The Chinese military maintains normal combat readiness and training state along China's border with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK)," the ministry stated. Like Us on Facebook Advertisement A Hong Kong-based human rights group claimed on Wednesday that Beijing had deployed thousands of troops at the country's border with the secretive communist state in the anticipation of a possible fifth North Korean nuclear test. The Information Center for Human Rights and Democracy said China has deployed 2,000 troops along its border with North Korea. Chinese military reportedly ordered its border force to measure radioactive radiation in case of another nuclear test by its neighbor, The North Korean regime continues its controversial nuclear program despite international sanctions. Pyongyang is reportedly preparing for another nuclear test ahead of a party congress next month. The tunnel excavation operations have been resumed at North Korea's main nuclear test site, Punggye-ri, according to 38 North. The analysis of satellite imagery showed limited vehicle and equipment activity at the site. China also urged North Korea to refrain from taking any provocative action that will further deepen tension in the Korean peninsula. "We hope that we can stay in close communication with the South Korean side and push forward the resumption of the six-party talks under the framework of implementing U.N. Security Council Resolution 2270," foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said on Friday. Advertisement Tagschina, North Korea, Nuclear test, troops, DPRK (Photo : Getty Images) China' first ever floating nuclear plant is expected to be completed by 2018. Advertisement A state-owned Chinese company is moving ahead with plans to build multiple floating nuclear power plants that can provide stable electricity to offshore projects. "The development of nuclear power platforms is a burgeoning trend," Liu Zhengguo of China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation (CSIC) said in an interview with Global Times newspaper. "The exact number of plants to be built [by CSIC] depends on the market demand. Judging by various factors ... the demand is pretty strong." Like Us on Facebook Advertisement The state-run newspaper reported that the country's first ever floating nuclear plant is expected to be completed by 2018 and to be put into use by 2019. "CSIC is the first company with the permission to construct the floating nuclear-powered vessel, and it aims to become the strongest builder of floating nuclear platforms within five years," said Wu Zhong, CSIC general manager. Quoting analysts, Global Times wrote that the plant could significantly boost the efficiency of the country's ongoing offshore projects on South China Sea islands. Foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying, however, dismissed the claim. China is reportedly running land reclamation projects in the South China Sea. The country claims most of the South China Sea, putting a strain on relations with its Asia Pacific neighbors and United States. U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday raised serious questions over China's intentions in the South China Sea. "The United States and Vietnam share interest in maintaining peace and stability in the region. So does China. But its massive land reclamation projects in the South China Sea and increasing militarization of these outposts fuels regional tension and raise serious questions about China's intentions," Blinken said. Advertisement Tagschina, nuclear, Floating Nuclear Power Plant, South China Sea (Photo : Getty Images) China Railways International consisted of various companies including China State Construction Engineering, CRRC and state-owned China Railway Group Advertisement China is wooing India to establish high-speed railways (HSRs) on other proposed routes, saying that it is equipped with the technology and expertise that can be beneficial for India's economy and people. Even though Japan has won India's 505-km track from Mumbai to Ahmedabad, China is seeking possibilities of partnering with them for other potential routes. It is conducting feasibility studies of putting a high-speed rail line on the 2,200-km Chennai-New Delhi route and another 1,200-km New Delhi-Mumbai tract. Like Us on Facebook Advertisement According to Zhao Guotang, the China Railway Corporation's vice general engineer, its studies were "progressing well," and they are looking forward to doing business with the country real soon. If realized, its proposed Chennai-New Delhi route will be the world's second largest, next to the 2,298 km Beijing-Guangzhou line that was opened in 2013. India accepted Japan's offer because of easier loan terms. China, on the other hand, may not have concessional terms but committed to offer expertise and technology that is more compatible with India and other South Asian nations. "We share a lot of similarities with India and other Southeast Asian countries in terms of the large population and the fact we are all developing countries," Zhao said. Zhao emphasized that the project is not merely based on terms but also on the speed with which the project is executed. He said that China has established more than 1,000 km of such tracks in the last 10 years, whereas Japan has only made 350 km. As China has been experiencing its worst economic growth in 25 years, the country is making aggressive attempts to win other nations into selling its HSR technology. The country is also seeking opportunities from other neighboring nations such as India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and the Philippines. Advertisement TagsIndia, Chennai, china, Japan, high speed railways (Photo : Getty Images) China Eastern Airlines saw a downward trend of shares despite its recent deal with Ctrip.com International Ltd. Advertisement Aviation company China Eastern Airlines Corp Ltd. posted a 5.29 percent share decline in Shanghai on Friday, closing at 6.27 yuan (96 cents) per share despite its recently announced partnership with travel service provider Ctrip.com International Ltd. Under the recent agreement signed on April 21 in Shanghai, Ctrip will buy 3 billion yuan ($461.6 million) worth of the airline's A shares. Moreover, both companies plan to cooperate on budget airlines, technology,and e-commerce. Like Us on Facebook Advertisement Investors disregard the deal, although the Shanghai Composite Index increased by 0.22 percent, closing at 2,959.24 points on Friday. Meanwhile, its stock performance trended oppositely from other markets. In New York, shares of the company climbed 3.43 percent on Thursday at 199.64 yuan ($30.72) apiece, at the same time in Hong Kong, shares also increased 0.44 percent at 3.84 yuan (59 cents). According to Yu Nan, Haitong Securities Co.'s industrial analyst, "The opposite market responses have reflected investor attitudes toward the news," explaining that the collaboration between the two companies may have been a positive move for investors in the United States and Hong Kong and that Chinese investors are potentially looking at long-term prospects. China's second largest carrier by passenger has been actively looking for potential strategic partners. Last year, it signed an agreement with Delta Air Lines to sell 10 percent of its H shares worth nearly 3 billion yuan ($450 million) to the US based carrier. "We already have an observer from Delta, and Ctrip will be entitled to appoint a director at China Eastern's board of directors and participate in the decision-making once its stake reaches 10 percent," Ma Xulun, China Eastern's president, said. "We expect their participation will effectively enhance China Eastern's management in their specialties." Advertisement TagsChina Eastern Airlines, Ctrip, Partnership, Delta Air Lines, China stock market, Shanghai Composite Index DEVILS LAKE An inmate faces an escape charge after he broke out of the Lake Region Law Enforcement Center Thursday in Devils Lake. Around 10:15 p.m., Kenneth James Eagleman, 29, broke a steel gate off a window, used the gate to break the window out and escaped, according to LEC officials. Authorities were contacted within minutes of the incident. He had not been apprehended as of Friday afternoon. Eagleman is described as 6 feet tall, weighing 150 pounds, having brown hair and eyes with tattoos on both arms. He was most recently living in Fargo but is originally from the Devils Lake area. He was placed in the Devils Lake facility on March 2 on charges of unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, reckless driving, fleeing in a motor vehicle and two counts of theft of property. Eagleman also had outstanding warrants in Fargo and Cass County, as well as with the North Dakota State Highway Patrol. Anyone with any information regarding Eagleman is asked to contact the Law Enforcement Center at 701-662-0700. A public health expert who also serves as a lay minster filed a federal lawsuit on Wednesday against Georgia Department of Public Health for firing him because of the content of sermons he delivered at his church. Dr. Eric Walsh has served on President Obama's Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDs, and has multiple advanced degrees. He also serves as a lay minister at Seventh Day Adventist Church, where he had preached on topics ranging from "following God, having compassion on the poor, health, marriage, sexuality, world religions, science, creationism, and more," his attorney Jeremy Dys of First Liberty said. In 2014, Walsh was hired as District Health Director for Northwest Georgia, by Department of Public Health on May 7, 2014. But about a week later, he was requested to submit copies of his sermons, which he did. The copies were forwarded to employees for review. The next day, his offer was retracted. He then filed a federal lawsuit against the health department. "I couldn't believe they fired me because of things I talked about in my sermons," said Walsh in a First Liberty press release. Dys commented on Fox News that "if the government is allowed to fire someone over what he said in his sermons, they can come after any of us for our beliefs on anything." Roger Severino of The Heritage Foundation said that bureaucrats are not permitted to refuse qualified people of jobs based on their beliefs, especially those expressed in a house of worship. "If the First Amendment means anything, it's that government bureaucrats have no business acting as sermon review boards. That would be religious discrimination, pure and simple," he said. The department has claimed that they did not terminate him because of his religious views. "Dr. Walsh was extended a conditional offer of employment by DPH, subject to passing a routine background check," the Department of Public Health (DPH) said in a statement. "During the background check process, DPH learned Walsh failed to disclose outside employment to his previous public health employer, which also was in violation of California law. Due to violation of both California state law and DPH policy, the offer to Dr. Walsh was rescinded." However, a statement released by First Liberty accused DPH of playing around with the facts. "The facts are these: after hiring Dr. Walsh, the Georgia Department of Public Health investigated Dr. Walsh's sermons, took issue with the beliefs he expressed in them, and fired him," the statement says. "On May 14, the DPH asked him to submit copies of his sermons, and assigned multiple sermons to various employees to review. On May 15, they held a meeting to discuss the content of the sermons and his employment at DPH. On May 16, they terminated Dr. Walsh from his employment." First Liberty obtained some DPH internal documents through a 'Freedom of Information Act' request, which suggested staffers having objections to his religious beliefs. "No one should be fired for something they say in their sermon," Dys said. home World British MPs' unanimously declare ISIS' barbaric acts as 'genocide' With 278a0 vote, the Britain's parliament unanimously declared acts of Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) against Christians, Yazidis, and affected groups as "genocide" despite strong government opposition, and lifted the matter to the United Nations (UN) Security Council as a call for justice last Wednesday, April 20. The overwhelming vote results are expected to increase the pressure on the government to take action. Direction from the Foreign Office for abstention was justified by the belief that only courts can decide for the legal description. "This ultimately is a matter for courts to decide. It is not for governments to be the prosecutor, the judge or indeed jury," Tobias Ellwood, the designated Foreign Office minister, said in an interview with The Guardian. In response, Edward Leigh, a member of Parliament (MP) emphasized in an interview with The Catholic Herald, "There's no point in the minister using his time in the House to condemn Daesh [ISIS], to mention all the appalling acts that they're doing and then saying at the end of the speech: 'Well, I'm sorry, but because of all the legal precedent... because we the government think that it's for the court to take the legal initiative, that we don't think it is appropriate for the British government to take action. Enough is enough. I call on the government to act." Fiona Bruce, the MP responsible for the motion, stressed in her speech that there never was a full record in the international community for what truly happened at a commission of genocide. She added instances of ISIS atrocities, even referring to eyewitness accounts of the killings and tortures that took place. The government, through its Foreign Office minister, highlighted the role of the Security Council in international criminal court referrals but was quick to recall that such move was blocked in 2014 by China and Russia. Furthermore, no assurance was given by the government to act on said motion. History shows how possible can ministers ignore backbench moves like that. MP Ian Blackford, however, stressed the urgency of pushing the issue to the Security Council. He added that the government must exhibit the needed level of leadership at present, just as justice was made certain in the past. home World Church leader's wife buried alive after trying to stop church demolition A house church leader and his wife were buried alive after attempting to stop the demolition of their church in the province of Henan in China. Beitou church leader Li Jiangong, together with his wife Ding Cuimei, stood in front of the bulldozer in order to prevent it from destroying the church facility. However, someone from the demolition team ordered the others to bury them alive, saying, "I will be responsible for their lives." The bulldozer pushed the couple into a pit and covered them with dirt. Li was able to claw his way through the soil, but his wife died from suffocation, according to Christian international human rights organization China Aid. The demolition was reportedly being conducted to give way to a local developer that was interested in the church property. However, similar incidents have happened in other parts of China because of the government's "three rectifications, one demoliton" program, according to International Christian Concern. The program has resulted in the forced removal of the cross in more than 2,000 churches. China Aid President Bob Fu condemned the actions of the demolition crew that buried Li and Ding alive. "This case is a serious violation of the rights to life, religious freedom and rule of law," Fu said. The Chinese authorities should immediately hold those murderers accountable and take concrete measures to protect the religious freedom of this house church's members." Jeff King, president of International Christian Concern, said it was saddened by what happened to the Beitou church. "The death of Ding Cuimei has added to the storyline of how the Chinese government does not hold life to be precious. Rather than stopping, they decided to literally bulldoze human beings as they stood their ground to protect a house of worship ... We stand with China Aid and call on the Chinese government to bring those responsible to justice and to stop its oppressive pursuit of whitewashing Christianity from its shores," King said in a statement. home World Ecuador, Japan earthquake news: Nonprofit organizations, churches, aid ongoing operations as aftershocks continue As death toll rises from the series of earthquakes that hit both countries, Ecuador and Japan are receiving continuous help from both local and global nonprofit organizations. Church leaders are also offering and calling for unified prayers following the tragic calamities. The aftermath of the tremors, reaching magnitude-7.8 in Ecuador and magnitude-7.0 in Japan, has seen terrors still coming due to authorities' warnings of aftershocks. At Saint Peter's Square last Sunday, Pope Francis, the well-loved pontiff, asked the faithful to pray for the suffering ones in Ecuador and Japan. "May the help of God and of neighbors give them strength and support," the Pope said, according to The Associated Press. The Episcopal Relief and Development is also supporting church partners in both Ecuador and Japan to cope with the situation, according to Episcopal News Service. Aside from pastoral care, providing temporary shelters and emergency supplies like water and food to affected communities is being done. Recipients of the said relief operations include affected areas in San Esteban and San Jose in Mexico. Nippon Sei Ko Kai (NSKK), Japan's Anglican Episcopal Church, was also given support as rescue operations continued. Giving Children Hope, a Buena Park nonprofit organization in Orange County, California is also reaching out to local contacts in Ecuador and outlining help with donations generated through its website. Two Orange County churches, Cypress Church and Calvary Chapel, are in the process of providing aid to Ecuador and Japan, awaiting word from missionaries on what to send. "Orange County is stepping up to the plate," Carly Visbal, spokesperson of Giving Children Hope told the Orange County Register. "We just pray and hope people rally behind the cause," Visbal added. Operation Blessing International, a nonprofit organization of Pat Robertson, is also sending help. It operates headquarters in Sendai, Japan a just nine hours away from Kumamoto a and in Mexico City, approximately 1,800 miles away from Esmeraldas, Ecuador. home World Israel news: Religious-Zionism rises in power over military and government, meets resistance from defense chief With leaders of the national police, the Mossad spy org, and Shin Bet security service identified as Religious-Zionists, this year marks the rising influence of religious nationalists in Israeli military and government. Gadi Eisenkot, chief of general staff of Israel Defense Forces (IDF), resists this trend though, to keep a stately and united army. In January, Eisenkot declared his agenda of removing the "Jewish Awareness" unit from the military ranks due to criticisms of religious and right-wing agenda inside the army. The said unit provides religious services, but there has been complaints that it pushes for an unconventional way in the battlefield. Israeli military and government used to be ruled by the secular and largely left-wing group, but recent years have seen the growing influence of new leaders who espouse both religion and nationalism. "The IDF is the people's army and includes a wide spectrum of Israeli society," Eisenkot wrote in a letter to the officers, as Reuters special report states. "A change is needed with the aim of keeping the IDF a stately army in a democratic country, nurturing that which unites its soldiers," he added. Eisenkot was clear on IDF's mission and that army division caused by politics and religion can make the mission impossible to achieve. Religious-Zionist leaders already appealed to the prime minister regarding this change. Even secular Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's governing coalition relies on this group for support. Many of his appointees and members of his inner circle are Religious-Zionists a an evidence that their representation has increased. Secular Zionism differs from religious Zionism because the latter cares more for biblical settlements and historical claims, which at present are in conflict with the Palestinian claim of "home." This care is considered a religious obligation, especially in constructing the Jewish state. It is this dominance of Religious-Zionists that will create a spark in the ensuing argument of dividing the land for the Palestinian state. Most Religious-Zionists do not favor giving Palestinians their territorial share. In a related post by Jack Smith, an interpreter of end-times Biblical prophecies, a prophetic touch is seen to develop from this situation. Their increasing influence and numbers may trigger the near-civil war issue in Israel in the fight for the Promised Land. History has witnessed the ongoing fight between Palestine and Israel for territory, from the Bible times until the present. Hundreds of Hindus embracing Jesus Christ amid miracles, healing even as persecution intensifies in India Despite mounting persecution, Christianity is thriving in India as hundreds of Hindus and tribal animists are embracing Jesus Christ, the Gospel Herald reports. One of the areas where conversion and evangelistic events are taking place is in the jungles of Kandhamal District in eastern India, which used to be "a hotbed of Hindu persecution of Christians," according to the Christian Aid Mission. Although Hindu fanatics once used these jungles as their killing fields for Christian converts, they remain the sites for evangelistic events, which a local ministry director said have been "wildly successful." So far, the director's group has held 14 such evangelistic events since last August, with 1,000 to 2,000 attending each one, the Christian Aid Mission says in its latest report. "By God's grace we are holding evangelistic jungle camps everywhere the violence took place," the director said. "It is God's doing. The violence took place almost everywhere in Kandhamal District. We held a jungle camp at one village church, and in 2008 that church building had been attacked, broken and set on fire, and the believers had fled to the jungle for safety." The Christian ministry director, who did not give his name for security reason, said thousands of Christian converts regularly gather in the jungle camps to hear the Word of God. "They are happy to accept Jesus as their God and Saviour and to live for Him in the midst of persecution," he said. The director said true stories about healing and other miracles are convincing more and more Hindus and animists to abandon their old faiths and turn to Jesus Christ instead. For instance, there is the story of a 53-year-old Hindu woman who put her faith in Christ last year. She was baptised along with her husband earlier this month. She said being a devout Hindu, she previously hated Christians. However, she was compelled to go to a Christian church to ask for help after she was "completely possessed by an evil spirit," which prompted her to embrace from one religion to another in search of a cure for her sickness and despondency. She said she was eventually healed in the name of Jesus and now she is "testifying that Jesus is the true and loving God." The woman said her son also converted to Christianity. "I was searching for this kind of life, and Jesus gave it to me," she said. "He is the only true and loving God. I am happy now." The ministry director also recounted the story of another Hindu who had a son with a mental illness. When a pastor prayed for him, the young man began recovering his sanity. Previously, the Hindu man spent thousands of rupees for his son's treatment, sacrificing many pigs, chickens and goats before many Hindu gods and goddesses. But these did not work, according to the ministry leader. He said they are planning to take the Hindu's son to a hospital to ensure his "complete healing." "We are sure that through his healing, the entire village will come to know Christ, the Saviour," the ministry leader said. Pastor Saeed Abedini accuses Iranian intel police of trying to hack into his Facebook account Pastor Saeed Abedini, who was imprisoned in Iran for almost three years for sharing his Christian faith, is accusing Iran's intelligence police of trying to hack into his Facebook account after he made critical remarks against the Islamic regime for jailing thousands of religious and political prisoners. "After my recent post on my Facebook (Proverbs 17:7) about Iran government today, Iran intelligence police tried to hack my Facebook account, but they haven't been successful (or maybe sending me a threat signal to stop)," he writes on his Facebook page. "Praise the Lord!" Abedini continues. "We keep [continuing], no one can stop us and no weapons [can] work against us!" In his earlier post, Abedini says despite their denials, Iranian authorities really put people behind bars if they do not like a person's religious, moral, or political beliefs. "I have witnessed for years that thousands of Iranians have been in prison because of 'how they think,'" he writes, adding that he was one of those prisoners. Even though the voices of prisoners in Iran cannot be heard now, Abedini says he can shout as loud as he wants against the Iranian government because "I am living in free land now." Abedini says the hacking attempt on his social media page has only further emboldened him to criticise the Iranian regime. He shares the Bible verse Isaiah 54:17 to further express his feelings. It reads: "No weapon formed against you shall prosper, and every tongue which rises against you in judgment You shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is from Me, says the Lord." Aside from working on his ministry, Abedini is also trying to fix his broken marriage with wife Naghmeh, who has earlier accused him of sexually abusing her, a charge Abedini has steadfastly denied. The couple have requested for privacy now that they are seeking counselling. Syrian peace talks falter, but limp on to next week with opposition absent The UN special envoy for Syria has vowed to take fragile peace talks into next week despite a walkout by the main opposition, a breakdown in a truce and signs that both sides are gearing up to escalate the five-year-old civil war. The opposition declared a "pause" in the talks this week because of a surge in fighting and too little movement from the government side on freeing detainees or allowing in aid. Nearly all of its delegation left Geneva. But UN envoy Staffan de Mistura said he had no plans to call off the negotiations, the first in five years of conflict to include some rebel factions. He said a ministerial meeting of world powers was urgently needed to get the talks back on track. "Bottom line, I plan to continue the proximity talks, but at the formal level and at the technical level until next week, probably Wednesday as originally planned," he said. A fragile ceasefire in place since February was still in effect because none of the sides had renounced it, he said, but it was "in great trouble if we don't act quickly". The talks at UN headquarters in Geneva aim to halt a conflict that has allowed for the rise of the Islamic State group, sucked in regional and major powers and created the world's worst refugee crisis. De Mistura now says 400,000 people have been killed in the war, far higher than the previous UN toll, usually given as 250,000. He said he had no proof of the higher figure but the estimate of 250,000 was two years old and no longer valid. The war was tilted in President Bashar al-Assad's favor late last year by Russia's intervention. Washington concerned by Russian moves The White House has expressed concern that Russia has repositioned artillery near the disputed city of Aleppo. The Russian military moves have sharpened divisions in Washington over whether President Vladimir Putin genuinely backs the UN-led initiative to end the war or is using the talks to mask renewed military support for Assad. President Barack Obama, on a visit to London, said the Syrian crisis cannot be solved without political negotiations and that required dealing with people he deeply disagrees with. "We are not going to solve the overall problem unless we can get this political track moving," Obama told a joint news conference with British Prime Minister David Cameron. He said he had always been sceptical about Putin's actions and motives in Syria and that Russia will recognise that the Syrian problem cannot be solved by military means. Washington is leading its own campaign of air strikes against Islamic State positions in both Iraq and Syria. It acknowledged on Friday that 20 civilians were among those killed in its strikes between September 10 and February 2. Britain's envoy to the Syria peace talks, Gareth Bayley, said on Friday: "The regime is so reliant on external support that it is inconceivable that its allies don't have the leverage to change its approach." Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Friday that the decision by the opposition High Negotiations Committee (HNC) to quit Geneva was not a loss for anyone except the HNC itself. "If they want to ensure their participation (in the peace talks) only by putting ultimatums, with which others must agree, it's their problem," Lavrov said, adding: "For God's sake, we shouldn't be running after them, we must work with those who think not about their career, not about how to please their sponsors abroad, but with those who are ready to think about the destiny of their country." Moscow and Washington sponsored the fragile cessation of hostilities that went into effect on February 27 to allow talks to take place but has been left in tatters by increased fighting in the past week. A warplane crashed southeast of Damascus airport on Friday, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors the conflict with a network of sources on the ground. It said the cause of the crash and the fate of the pilot were not clear. The Islamic State group released a video claiming to have shot it down. Footage showed fighters around burning plane wreckage, part of which had a Syrian flag painted on it. Reuters could not independently verify the video. Russia's Interfax news agency quoted a Syrian military source saying it crashed due to technical malfunction. In Aleppo, government air strikes in different parts of the city killed at least 19 people and wounded dozens more on Friday, with the death toll expected to rise due to serious injuries, the Observatory said. Further southwest in Hama province, warplanes targeted rebel-held areas in the strategic Ghab plain that borders Latakia province, Assad's coastal heartland. Insurgents announced a new battle in Latakia earlier this week which they said was in response to ceasefire violations by the government side, launching fierce assaults there. Fighting raged in the area on Friday, said Observatory. Assad main issue Endorsed by the UN Security Council, the Geneva peace talks marked the most serious effort yet to resolve the war, but failed to make progress on political issues, with no sign of compromise over the question of Assad's future. Government negotiators say Assad's presidency is non-negotiable. Underlining confidence in Damascus, a top Assad aide reiterated its view that local truce agreements and "destroying terrorism" were the way towards a political solution. The opposition wants a political transition without Assad, and says the government has failed to make goodwill measures such as releasing detainees and allowing enough aid into opposition-held areas besieged by the military. The HNC, which is backed by Western nations and key Arab states, had this week urged more military support for rebels after declaring the truce was over and said talks would not re-start until the government stopped committing "massacres". All the main HNC members had left Geneva by Friday, leaving a handful of experts and a point of contact behind. Syria is now a patchwork of areas controlled by the government, an array of rebel groups, Islamic State, and the well-organized Kurdish YPG militia. On Friday, rare clashes between YPG fighters and government-allied forces and militiamen took place for nearly a third day, the Observatory said, in fighting which a Syrian Kurdish official said had killed 26 combatants. DEVILS LAKE -- Since reaching a modern-day record high elevation of 1,454.3 feet above sea level five years ago -- after a nearly 32-foot rise over the previous 18 years -- Devils Lake has been falling, rather gradually. By freeze-up this past winter, the elevation had dipped to 1,450 feet. That's halfway to the benchmark of 1,446 feet, the elevation at which the state shuts off pumps installed to prevent a natural and potentially catastrophic overflow. The rest is up to Mother Nature. But even with man-made outlets sending as much as 600 cubic feet of water per second downstream to the Sheyenne River for as long as six months a year, rather than resembling a surge of water down a drain, the flow might be described as a slow drip. Stabilization dream While the 23-year wave of changing landscapes has been an economic boon to the region's recreation industry, it's been a bust for farmers and ranchers who have lost thousands of acres of productive land to the spreading lake. And the constantly evolving lake has virtually everybody wondering whether there ever will be something called normal in the Devils Lake Basin. "Living on the lake for 30 years, you learn there's no such thing as a normal level," said Kyle Blanchfield, co-owner of Woodland Resort. "It's either up or down." Geologically, the Devils Lake Basin is a 3,800-square-mile subbasin of the Red River Basin, formed tens of thousands of years ago when Glacial Lake Agassiz receded, leaving a giant lakebed. Devils Lake has overflowed into the Sheyenne River Valley at least twice in the past 4,000 years, the last time about 2,000 years ago. Without an inlet--one was part of the original Garrison Diversion project more than a half-century ago, but construction was halted before being completed -- there's virtually no way to manage the water entering as well as leaving the lake, it's practically impossible to maintain a lake elevation that might satisfy competing interests. The Devils Lake Outlets Management Advisory Committee will hold its annual meeting May 3 in Carrington. The agenda includes status reports and the 2016 operational plan for the east and west outlets, as well as the control structure at the Tolna Coulee, which connects Devils and Stump lakes with the Sheyenne River. The topic of whether the 1,446-foot elevation is the right benchmark likely will be discussed at the meeting. However, the mayor doubts any major changes will be made. Billions invested, lost Federal, state and local governments have spent an estimated $1.5 billion to mitigate the flood damage, including raising roads and bridges, fortifying and extending levees, relocating families and portions of communities, as the lake has risen and spread out over the landscape. The lake's surface area more than tripled between 1993 and 2011, inundating an estimated 167,070 acres, or about 261 square miles, at its peak. In the latter years of the latest wet period, each one-foot rise of Devils Lake devoured an estimated 10,000 acres of farm land. Even with the lake level now falling, direct and indirect agricultural economy losses have surpassed $1 billion since 2011. The hit this year alone is approximately $134 million, including direct farm income, personal income, retail trade and other losses, according to a report this past week from the North Dakota State University's Agricultural Economics Department. Farming in water Dan Webster is hoping this year to farm some land he hasn't seen in nearly a decade. He is gradually trying to reclaim acreage that has been lost to Devils Lake as it rose by more than 30 feet and nearly quadrupled in size between 1993 and 2011, before recently beginning to recede. Meanwhile, resort owners around the lake are constantly building, adding amenities they hope will help them to stay competitive, as they attempt to cash in on the multi-million-dollar outdoor recreation industry that has developed over the past two decades. Making it work Bill Wood, owner of East Bay Resort, is constantly adjusting to the fluctuating lake elevation, building new docks, adding campsites and cabins at the resort he built on his farm, beginning in 1998. This spring he also is adding an 80-by-100-foot events center to his facility. Although he has received some grant funding since he started converting a portion of his farm into a resort, it's been mostly a private investment. Today, he has 250 seasonal campsites and 24 overnight sites. He also has 13 rental cabins. Webster believes the state and the Devils Lake Basin still has an opportunity to stabilize Devils Lake. He advocates rerouting the proposed Red River Valley Water Supply Project, which would deliver Missouri River water by buried pipeline from the McClusky Canal to Lake Ashtabula, to run through Devils Lake before emptying into the Sheyenne -- just like the original Garrison Diversion project that never was completed. Dear Abby: Thirty-five years ago, my wife was raped in her mother's home when she was a teenager. Eight years ago, my daughter was also raped at the age of 11 in the same home. My mother-in-law blames them both for having been raped. She told them if it did happen, they probably deserved it. I don't understand this. How can someone take the side of the perpetrator and not their own flesh and blood? I want to call her up and give her a piece of my mind, especially since both of them are passive when it comes to this woman. Can they file a lawsuit against her for mental anguish? Help! I want to help them heal from this tragedy. Distraught Dad in Texas Dear Distraught: It is not unusual for families to circle the wagons when this kind of sexual assault occurs, or to blame the victim. That is why the damage persists from generation to generation. It's clear that your wife's mother is either in denial or without shame. If the perpetrator isn't in prison or a program for sex offenders, the person you should talk to is a detective in the police force in the city where these sexual assaults happened. If your wife and daughter haven't received counseling for the assaults (and I'm betting they haven't), they should find some now. The victims didn't "deserve" being assaulted. Counseling may help them get in touch with their anger, aim it where it belongs and finally release it along with their passivity. Dear Abby: My wife's first husband died of cancer. When we got engaged years later, she decided to keep his last name (partly in regard to her daughters) and add mine to it. She continues to display some photos of him around the house and maintains her plan to be buried with him at their common gravesite. Whoever thinks I must be jealous or resentful about this would be wrong. I haven't experienced a long marriage, raising children or nursing a terminally ill spouse for years. Instead of demanding that my wife "prove her love" by ignoring her history, I prove my love for her - in part - by deferring to her choices. Soon after our wedding we learned that I, too, had cancer. My case was treatable and I am now cured, thanks to God in heaven and my wife's tender care. We once knew someone who couldn't bear to think of his wife's ever marrying after his death. He pleaded, badgered and practically forced her to vow she wouldn't. So this is my message for men who are jealous about a deceased or hypothetical "rival": That is your own choice and it disgraces you. Grow out of it. Be a man and love your wife while you both live. Latecomer in Pasco, Wash. Dear Latecomer: Your wife is one lucky woman because she married an intelligent and pragmatic man. I hope you enjoy many more happy, healthy years together. DearAbby.comDear AbbyP.O. Box 69440Los Angeles, CA 90069Universal Press Syndicate This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate A white house that appeared to teeter on the brink of disaster for a year has finally succombed, The dilalpidated but beloved structure on the edge of the San Jacinto River in Conroe collapsed during this week's heavy rains, and parts of the old Magnolia Bend dwelling were carried away by rushing waters. Stacey and Jeremiah Langlois, of Aerial Creations, provided drone footage of the historic houses unglamorous end. LOOK BACK: The worst floods in Texas history That house is just such an iconic thing, Stacey Langlois said. I grew up in Conroe, my husband and I both did, and we spend lots of time here on the river, boating and swimming, and weve kind of been watching it over the years. On the Facebook page for the Montgomery County Police Reporter, where the houses collapse was first reported, residents mourned the loss of the building. The home was constructed in 1967, according to a post by Vicki Ballard. She said her parents, Genie and Gus Gonzales built the home five decades ago. The house used to be some 150 yards from the river, said Ballards brother Tim Gonzales, in another post. He was married in the home in 1980 before the family sold the place. PHOTO ESSAY: Houston's historic Tax Day floods Erosion eventually brought the river closer. Flooding had left the house in disrepair and the most recent resident had moved out close to a year ago. After spending much time in shambles, the famous site in Magnolia Bend met its demise during one of the areas worst rainfalls in recent history. See video and images from the home in the space above. Houston Chronicle reporter Jessica Hamilton contributed to this report. JAMESTOWN -- The 60-year-old Jamestown man who was injured in a train-wheelchair crash Thursday afternoon has been identified. Jamestown Police Chief Scott Edinger said Dennis Schneider was the man in the wheelchair who was injured when he was struck by a BNSF train. Lt. Robert Opp with the Jamestown Police Department said Friday that Schneider was crossing the railroad tracks on 2nd Avenue Southeast well before the BNSF train was coming through Jamestown. Opp said a front wheel on Schneiders motorized wheelchair got stuck in a track in the crossing and Schneider was unable to get the wheelchair unstuck. Schneider was transported to Sanford Medical Center in Fargo. He was listed in critical condition, according to Nadine Aljets, Sanford spokeswoman. Schneider was first taken to Jamestown Regional Medical Center by Jamestown Area Ambulance and later flown to Fargo. -- Forum News Service WATFORD CITY A Watford City man whose basement was flooded last month after a water main burst says he is facing thousands of dollars in expenses, and is now waiting to see if the city will pay up. The pipe break caused two sidewalks to collapse, created a sinkhole in the front yard, and funneled about 8,000 gallons of water into Bill Thinnes basement late the night of March 9. If an oil company dumps on someones property, they rush to clean it up, but suddenly its like a double standard the city of Watford doesnt seem to care, he said. The whole basement floor is a wreck. Its just disaster on top of disaster. Contray to Thinnes claims, Watford City public works superintendent Justin Smith said the city is willing to help, but the process is not a quick one. We are working with him, Smith said. Id rather not comment on it until we get the thing resolved, Some work, including the removal of soaked drywall from the basement, and using blowers to dry up remaining moisture, was paid for by the citys insurance, but Thinnes says there is still plenty to do. The space took a year and a half to renovate, and was being used as living quarters for several oil field workers. He estimates that between repairs for the basement and yard, expenses could come in around $48,000. So far, Thinnes has shelled out about $8,000 to pump out the more than 6 inches of water covering the basement floor and fill the sinkhole in the yard, among other work. Installation of drywall and a new basement floor, along with landscaping a torn up front yard, are next on the list. The 8-inch water main, buried about 8 feet deep, burst in the middle of the night, and it wasnt until a passerby banged on Thinnes door that he realized water was pouring into the basement. My front yard looked like the 6 oclock news, he said. Right there by my house it was like a geyser, it kept flowing like that for two hours. Thinnes arrived in Watford City in 2010 from Colorado, where hed served as the curator of the Humphrey Memorial Park and Museum. He found work as a chemical rep with a large oil field company, and lived in a trailer for nine months until buying the small yellow house across from the county courthouse. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Despite dam openings Thursday to slowly release record-level water from the Addicks and Barker reservoirs, both basins continue to rise, prolonging misery for waterlogged northwest Harris County subdivisions that won't subside for at least five days, officials said Saturday. "Even though they're releasing the water, the reservoirs continue to rise because they continue to get water from the creeks flowing into them," said Kim Jackson, spokeswoman for the Harris County Flood Control District. Before-and-after photos: Historic Conroe home collapses during rains Addicks, which is in far northwest Harris County, is expected to rise another 6 inches over the next five to seven days. That scenario will prevent water from draining immediately out of neighborhoods such as Bear Creek Village. Barker, which is closer to eastern Fort Bend County, is expected to rise another foot over the same period, Jackson said. New flooding is not anticipated for homes and streets in surrounding areas, including a small section of Cinco Ranch. Officials with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers have increased the pace of dam releases into Buffalo Bayou. "They're releasing a little bit more," Jackson said. "They're trying to get the water out as quickly as they can." FLOOD RECOVERY: Mayor sends displaced flood victims to hotels Some homes in Bear Creek Village already flooded at the beginning of the week as downpours filled Langham Creek. Water remains in streets of the community closest to Clay Road, which began having pooling from the rising Addicks Reservoir on Thursday. Officials predict the neighborhood "will have water in there for about another week" though the latest round is not expected to have as much impact on houses, Jackson said. "Those folks are in some tough shape there," she said. "It's not going to get in their homes, but it's still difficult. It's in their streets and even creeping up their driveways. "This is more of a mobility problem, but it's still impactful." The possibility of more rain this weekend means the Corps will interrupt its downstream water-releasing effort, which might happen on Sunday. This weekend in Texas: Some emergency supplies will be tax-free "Any time there's a threat of rain, they have to close the gates," Jackson said. "I haven't heard of any plans to close them on Saturday." Finally, flood control district and emergency management authorities are warning people not to enter enticing creeks and bayous on watercraft or otherwise. "The creeks are running fast and high. It's a beautiful day and tempting to go out on a raft or boat, but stay away from them," Jackson said. "The water in there is runoff. There's a lot of stuff in that water a lot of debris and little critters. Snakes. So, it's just not safe." This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate 2 killed, 3 hurt in collision with lumber truck At least two people died in a car wreck before noon Friday in Montgomery County. The three-vehicle accident happened along Texas 105 East near South Walker Road after 11 a.m. According to Montgomery County Hospital District EMS, two people were killed in the wreck and three others were transported to Conroe Regional Hospital. One of three people transported to the hospital was critically injured. Multiple reports indicate an 18-wheeler carrying lumber turned over in the accident. Two other cars also were involved in the collision. Texas Department of Public Safety troopers and other local officials were at the scene. Handgun carrier fires at vehicle used by thieves A person registered to carry a concealed handgun confronted three men suspected of stealing clothes from a Woodlands sporting goods store, then tried to shoot out the tire of their vehicle as they tried to flee the parking lot, authorities said. The Montgomery County Sheriff's Office said in a news release that the incident occurred about 12:25 p.m. Friday when three men entered the Academy store at 1360 Lake Woodlands and made off with "large amounts of assorted clothing merchandise." The concealed handgun carrier witnessed the theft, followed the suspects and confronted them. The suspects drove off in a gold Ford minivan that had been reported stolen in Harris County. Authorities said the getaway vehicle crashed into numerous vehicles and a tree in the parking lot. The suspects were able to get away, traveling at a high rate of speed, despite the effort to shoot out a tire. They were still at large Friday evening. Authorities said the license plate on the stolen vehicle was DMH0999.. Teacher accused of exposing self to girl student A Hogg Middle School teacher was arrested and charged with indecent exposure Thursday after allegations that he exposed himself to a student. The suspect allegedly exposed himself to girl walking to another school in the Heights. The Houston ISD employee has been reassigned off campus as police investigate. "HISD takes situations such as this very seriously, as the safety of students is always the district's top priority," school officials wrote in a statement Friday. Teen chargedin slaying of good Samaritan A teenager has been accused in the shooting death Friday morning of a good Samaritan who tried to protect a woman during an argument along a street in southwest Houston. Hector Henriquez, 18, is charged with murder in the shooting, which happened about 12:30 a.m. in the 7100 block of Troulon Drive near Lugary Drive, according to the Houston Police Department. Sgt. Kenneth Daignault, an HPD homicide investigator, said the victim was sitting in his parked car when he saw the suspect, later identified as Henriquez, engaged in an argument with woman. The argument possibly turned physical, and the good Samaritan got out of his car and intervened to protect the woman, who was later identified as Henriquez's girlfriend. That's when Henriquez pulled out a gun and shot the victim. The wounded man was rushed to Southwest Memorial Hermann Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. His name has not been released. From staff and wire reports Authorities are looking for the driver of a white pickup who hit and killed a man walking along the far right side of northbound Texas 249 at Cypresswood and then sideswiped another vehicle. About 2:15 a.m. Saturday, a woman driving a blue Infiniti in the center lane of the Texas 249 feeder road told Harris County Sheriff's Office deputies that she saw a man walking in the far-right lane. She moved over, straddling the center and far-left lanes, to give the pedestrian more room, Sgt. S. Wolverton of the sheriff's office 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. PEPPER PIKE, Ohio -- Impaired driving, Lander Road: Dispatched to separate complaints of erratic drivers within 30 minutes of one another on April 18, police arrested one man with an open bottle of cheap wine in his car, and another who may have been under the influence of something else. The first call came in just before 9:30 p.m. from Lander Circle, where police soon found a Warrensville Heights man, 68, and arrested him for OVI and open container. Then about 9:50 p.m. on April 18, police responded to a call of a possibly intoxicated driver, eastbound on South Woodland near Lander Road, and wound up arresting a Shaker Heights man, 73, who police suspected might be on drugs. Impaired driving, divided roadway, failure to control, driving under suspension; I-271: Responding to a report of a southbound vehicle in the northbound Express lanes around 4 a.m. on April 9, police soon found an unoccupied vehicle with its lights on in the median strip. Beachwood police soon found the suspect, a Warrensville Heights man, 36, as he was running through the parking lot at Crestmont Cadillac. In addition to driving on a suspended license, doing so under the influence, and driving the wrong way on a divided highway, he faces multiple charges in Beachwood as well. Suspicion, Chagrin Boulevard: Staff at the Orange Art Center reported April 14 that their computer server was attacked and records were stolen. Further, an I.T. specialist hired by the center reported that those records could not be recovered. Forgery (checks), uttering a forged check; Pinetree Road: The owner of Pure Barre on April 21 reported that fraudulent checks were being passed on the fitness studio's business account totaling $1,641. Industrial accident, South Woodland Road: While driving in the 28000 block of Route 87 on the night of April 19, a patrol officer's marked police crusier was rear-ended by a car driven by a Willoughby man, 55. Suspicion, Lander Road: A Middlefield woman, 35, came to the station April 19 to report that her child, a student at the Beechbrook juvenile's facility's Gund School, was injured while being restrained. The child's caseworker from Geauga County Family Services was contacted but police said that because the child was not present, no observation of the reported injuries was possible. Fraud, Gates Mills Boulevard: An officer responded April 17 to a resident requesting a report for a possible fraud incident. Missing person, Belcourt Road: A woman reported late on April 17 that her autistic daughter, 25, had walked away from the house. She was found heading northbound on Old Brainard Road and returned home without incident. Criminal mischief, Edgedale Road: A resident reported April 14 that someone has been throwing newspapers on their lawn for the past five months. Custody dispute, Shaker Boulevard: A Cleveland Heights man, 49, came to the police station April 11 to report an ongoing child custody dispute between the estranged parents. Police documented the dispute with no further action. Driving under suspension, expired/fictitious plates, disturbance (noise); Brookwood Drive: Responding to a noise complaint coming from a vehicle parked in a driveway on the night of April 8, police found a Willoughby Hills arrest warrant on the driver, a Euclid man, 20, who was also cited for the vehicular offense before being transferred. A Shaker Heights man riding in the car was released. Fraud, Pinetree Road: A Twinsburg man, 42, reported April 8 that money had been transferred from his Chase Bank business account without his authorization. He contacted the party in question, who said it was unintentional and returned the money. The account was cancelled and he wanted no further action taken. If you would like to discuss the police blotter, please visit our crime and courts comments page. CH police car.jpg Cleveland Heights police dealt with a man three times in one night before arresting him for disorderly conduct. (file photo) Disorderly conduct, Euclid Heights Boulevard: A man, 21, came to the attention of police three times during the evening of April 13. The man was initially told to leave the Grog Shop, 2785 Euclid Heights Blvd., where he argued with security. Officers were called to scene, only to be called once again when the man argued with his girlfriend in public near the establishment. Next, the man was back at the Grog Shop, again arguing with security. The suspect, who was intoxicated, was told twice to leave the business district before being arrested for disorderly conduct. Theft, Mayfield Road: At 7:20 p.m. April 13, management at Radio Shack, 3578 Mayfield Road, notified police that a man stole items from the store and left the scene. Police were unable to find the suspect. Officers later learned that store personnel did recover from the thief the stolen items, which included three pairs of headphones. Dog bite, Lamberton Road: At 4:30 p.m. April 12, a girl lost the grip on her dog and it ran to the sidewalk where a man was walking his dog. The two dogs growled at each other and when the girl pulled away her dog, the man's dog, possibly a German shepherd, bit her. The man walked away without trying to help or speak with the girl's family. Two days later, the girl's father reported the incident to police as his daughter's hand swelled and needed medical attention. Police could not locate the man and have asked neighbors' help in identifying him. Theft, Eddington Road: On April 16 a man and woman living together in an apartment informed police that they have not received mail in several weeks. The couple believes that the property owner might be taking their mail as they are in the middle of an eviction matter. Police found no evidence that the property owner took the mail. Theft from auto, Edgehill Road: Sometime between 8:30 p.m. April 15 and 8:40 a.m. April 16, someone used a tool to pull out the side window of a man's Jeep, parked overnight in his driveway. Stolen was a laptop computer which belongs to the man's place of work. Disturbance, Elmwood Road: On the evening of April 16 police were called to a residence where a man stated that he and his ex-boyfriend had a disagreement. When the complainant attempted to remove a temporary tag from his own car, the ex-boyfriend used his vehicle to try and keep the complainant from getting to his car. Next, the former boyfriend took out a steak knife and threatened to do damage to the complainant's car. The complainant drove from the scene and called police. There was no damage done to his car. Attempted robbery, Hampstead Road: At 9 p.m. April 16, a man was walking when a group of six youths he did not know began to follow. One of the youths, about 10 years old, asked the man about the Michael Jordan the sneakers he was wearing. The man did not answer and kept walking. Next, the other suspects, from 15-18 years of age, urged the young suspect to tug on the backpack the man carried. The young suspect obliged. Eventually, he stopped tugging on the backpack and told the man, "We'll let you go and just wait on the next suspect." All of the suspects then walked in another direction. Suspicion, Delmore Road: At 7:35 p.m. April 17, a woman called police when she saw a teen boy hiding behind her garage. When police arrived, the teen was gone. Police believe the boy was involved in a matter in which gun shots had been fired a short distance away in South Euclid. In that matter, a woman was driving in the Monticello Boulevard/Montford Road area when she saw one male chasing two others on the sidewalk. The male in pursuit held a handgun. One of the teens he was chasing wore a black t-shirt and fit the description of the teen seen hiding. None of the suspects involved were found. Theft, Lee Road: At 2:20 p.m. April 18, a man stole items from the CVS Pharmacy, 2160 Lee Road, and left the store. Police located the suspect a short distance away and, after a pat down, found the stolen items, which had a combined value of $26. The suspect, 50, denied before and after the pat down having stolen anything. The suspect became agitated after he was handcuffed, stating he is a UFC fighter and that he would show the officer, when he was let out of the police cruiser, how he worked his hands. Further, the suspect said he had recently suffered a stroke and that he was on his way to the doctor's office when police stopped him. Police believe the man has mental as well as physical illnesses. He was taken to University Hospital for evaluation. Theft, Lee Road: On the afternoon of April 18, a man was alone and setting up for an Alcoholic's Anonymous meeting at the Masonic Temple, 1635 Lee Road, when a man entered the room asking for a cup of coffee. The set-up man told the visitor that he had to leave at that time to get coffee at a nearby store, leaving the visitor alone in the room. When the man returned from the store, he found the visitor gone, along with two coffee burners, and five coffee pots. One coffee pot was found broken on the floor. A trash bag was also missing, possibly used to carry away the items. If you would like to discuss the police blotter, please visit our crime and courts comments page. CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Timothy J. McGinty will seek the death penalty against a Cleveland truck driver accused of three 2015 killings and another in 1997. The prosecutor filed a new indictment this week that includes specifications that would allow a jury to recommend the death penalty for Robert Rembert, Jr. Rembert entered a not-guilty plea Friday morning to all 25-charges contained in the indictment. The 45-year-old is accused of strangling 31-year-old Kimberly Hall, of Cleveland, and dumping her body June 10 on East 83rd Street near Kinsman Road. Prosecutors later charged him in the deaths of two others, his cousin Jerry Rembert and a family friend, Morgan Nietzel. Police found her shot to death inside Jerry Rembert's 140th Street home, where Robert Rembert was living at the time. Police arrested Robert Rembert the following morning as he left a shower at a Medina County truck stop. He was driving his dead cousin's red Saturn VUE, police said. The indictment also accuses Rembert in the 1997 killing of Rena Payne. The FBI has assisted county authorities in investigating his case. Robert Rembert is expected back in court May 3 for a pretrial hearing. If you wish to discuss or comment on this story, please visit our crime and courts comments section. Opioid overdoses spiking across region, overwhelming treatment resources An injection of Naloxone used to counteract the effects of opioids in the body. March 22, 2016. (Gus Chan / The Plain Dealer) CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Ohio's spike in opioid overdoses and deaths is a public health problem that requires an urgent influx of resources to treat addiction, stem the supply of prescription narcotics, and educate children and parents about the dangers, law enforcement officials and health experts said Friday. That conclusion was hammered home repeatedly during an extraordinary three-hour hearing in Cleveland hosted by the U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. Typically, such a gathering would be laced with law-and-order rhetoric and a sharp focus on combatting crime. But Friday's event was punctuated by broader questions about the nature of addiction, and how public perceptions surrounding it are undermining efforts to save lives. "Sometimes I wonder, if people were dropping dead at this rate of Ebola or Zika, how would we all be responding?" said Carole Rendon, acting U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio. "And would it look like the response that we're seeing to this crisis? And if not, why not? How do we get at the stigma that underlies our failure to address this?" Law enforcement leaders said they will continue to crack down on drug dealers and opioid traffickers, but they emphasized that the state's rising tide of fatalities will never be reversed by focusing strictly on punishing the users and suppliers of drugs. "We cannot arrest our way out of this problem," Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine said. "This takes a holistic approach. We have to have education. We have to have prevention. We have to have treatment." The hearing's location -- University Hospitals Case Medical Center -- reinforced a broader shift in thinking about how to address the epidemic and focus on treating it as a medical problem. The discussion stood in stark contrast to the tone and focus of President Ronald Reagan's War on Drugs in the 1980s, an initiative that largely focused on tougher law enforcement in minority communities where crack cocaine abuse was most prevalent. "A comprehensive approach is the only approach," said Republican U.S. Sen. Rob Portman, who added later: "This is about treating addition as disease like any other disease. It's not about a moral failing. It's about having a disease." The hearing was one of several the U.S. Homeland Security Committee is holding in communities nationwide to discuss the opioid crisis, which is killing 120 Americans a day, according to federal data. The event at UH was hosted by Portman and his Democratic counterpart, U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown; both lawmakers are pressing for action on a bill Portman co-authored that would pay for more resources to help attack the problem. Portman's bill, the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act, passed the Senate last month by a vote of 94-1. He has repeatedly exhorted House leaders to take up the bill, but it has yet to come to the floor for a vote. The bill includes a raft of measures that would increase funding for prevention and treatment. It would increase the distribution of Naloxone, a drug used to reverse opioid overdoses; it would provide more funding to help treat the addictions of incarcerated people; and it would also expand the number of disposal sites for unwanted prescription narcotics, among other measures. Health experts testified that those resources are critically needed in Northeast Ohio, where the rate of opioid-related overdoses and deaths has skyrocketed. Law enforcement officials said much of the spike is attributable to the availability of fentanyl, an opioid painkiller that is 40 to 80 times stronger than heroin, depending on the dose. In 2015, officials reported 228 deaths in Cuyahoga County alone due to the use of heroin, fentanyl, or a combination of both. In the first four months of 2016, the death toll has already reached 125, said Rendon, the acting U.S. attorney. "The devastation that this is reaping throughout our community cannot be overstated," Rendon said. "The crisis isn't limited to Cuyahoga County. I have 40 counties in the northern district of Ohio. We are seeing waves of deaths everywhere -- Lorain, Summit, Stark, Lucas, Marion. It's everywhere." Health officials said that while resources to fight the crisis are increasing, the response is still falling short in several respects. Several officials cited a lack of treatment beds, resulting in waiting lists that prevent people from getting the help they need to head off a relapse. Doctors are also restricted in the number of people they can treat with Suboxone, a medication that helps stem patients' urge to abuse heroin and other opioids. The Obama administration recently proposed a new rule that would lift the federal cap on Suboxone, doubling the number of patients doctors can treat from 100 to 200. Addiction specialists said the new rule would only address a part of the problem. "In Northeast Ohio, there are simply not enough facilities or behavioral services to treat addiction for those who need it," said Dr. Margaret Kotz, an addiction psychiatrist at UH. "When space is available, insurance fails to pay for it." Rob Brandt is one of many Ohioans who is painfully aware of the shortage of available resources. He founded Robby's Voice, a nonprofit that advocates for education and prevention, following the death of his 20-year-old son to a heroin overdose. During Friday's hearing, Brandt zeroed in on the statistic of 120 opioid deaths a day in America -- arguing that the only way to trim that toll is to get people to stop thinking of the victims as numbers. "We're going to lose 120 Americans today," he said. "We're going to lose 120 Americans every day until we move. We measure that statistic, but that's not a statistic. Those 120 are moms and dads and brothers and sisters and sons and daughters. That's what's got to stop." cleveland police car.jpg A man was shot early Saturday at East 71st Street near Berdelle Avenue in Cleveland after he started several fights at a nearby bar, police said. (File photo) CLEVELAND, Ohio -- A man was shot early Saturday after he started several fights at a South Broadway bar, police said. Officers found the man about 12:30 a.m. lying in the middle of the street near East 71st Street and Berdelle Avenue, police said. He had been shot in the stomach. A large crowd was gathered around him. Most of the people did not cooperate with investigators, police said. Paramedics rushed the man to MetroHealth. Some witnesses told officers that the man had gotten drunk at a nearby bar and was starting fights with other customers before the shooting. The last person the victim was seen arguing with was a man in an orange coat, police said. Detectives continue to investigate. If you'd like to comment on this post, please visit the cleveland.com crime and courts comments section. supervisors.jpg Cleveland police Sgt. Michael Donegan, one of five police supervisors criminally charged in the November 2012 killing of Timothy Russell and Malissa Williams, returned to work this month after an arbitrator overturned his firing. (Plain Dealer Publishing Co.) CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The only Cleveland police supervisor fired in the deadly 2012 chase is back on the job after an appeals court upheld an arbitrator's decision ordering his reinstatement. Sgt. Michael Donegan reported to the Cleveland Police Training Academy April 11, nearly three years after he was fired and two other supervisors were demoted for their roles in the 60-cruiser, high-speed chase that left two unarmed suspects dead. The city is calculating how much back pay Donegan will receive, said Capt. Brian Betley, president of the Fraternal Order of Police, the union representing the department's supervisors. Donegan's return comes as he and four other police supervisors face criminal dereliction of duty charges in the shooting. The Eighth District Ohio Court of Appeals has not yet decided whether to allow Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Timothy McGinty to move the misdemeanor trial from Common Pleas Court to East Cleveland Municipal Court over the officers' objections. Donegan was one of more than 90 total officers to face discipline in the Nov. 29, 2012 chase and killing of Timothy Russell and Malissa Williams. Donegan was involved in the chase and was in position to either take control of the chase or offer crucial information to other officers, then-Safety Director Martin Flask said in 2013. Donavan instead pulled out of the chase and parked his police car near a city park and "failed to offer any guidance or support to officers under your direct supervision," Flask said. Donegan and the FOP took his case to an arbitrator, who ruled in 2014 that the punishment was too harsh. The arbitrator ordered the city to reinstate Donegan with a two-year demotion to patrol officer. The arbitrator also reinstated the rank of the other two supervisors. The city appealed Donegan's reinstatement. A Cuyahoga County Common Pleas judge and a panel of appellate judges later upheld the arbitrator's decision. The city in January announced internal discipline against 12 of 13 officers who fired a combined 137 shots at the end of the chase. Six officers, including Michael Brelo, were fired. Six more were suspended. The 13th officer retired after the shooting. Brelo was charged with and eventually acquitted of involuntary manslaughter for his role in the shooting, touching off days of demonstrations that ended with more than 60 protesters arrested. The police union that represents rank-and-file officers, the Cleveland Police Patrolmen's Association, has vowed to win back the jobs of the six officers fired through arbitration. Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson has repeatedly voiced frustration that the arbitration process stymies efforts to rid the department of bad officers. An appeals court on Thursday upheld an arbitrator's decision reinstating an officer who was convicted of stabbing her boyfriend. If you'd like to comment on this post, please visit the cleveland.com crime and courts comments section. ERIE, Pennsylvania -- The woman who authorities said was beaten during a home invasion by accused Oakwood Village kidnapper Kyle Johnson has died. Erie police confirmed Saturday that the woman died and that prosecutors plan to add a murder charge to the list of charges Johnson already faces in the Tuesday attack on Crescent Drive. Johnson, 25, is charged with attempted homicide, aggravated assault, recklessly endangering, terroristic threats, simple assault and possessing instruments of crime, court officials said. He is expected to appear in court Saturday afternoon, Erie police said. Police have not released the woman's name. Detectives said that Johnson abducted Brandi Shakir Monday from her mother's house in Oakwood Village. Johnson then drove to Erie, where police said he broke into the house and attacked the woman and her husband with a crowbar and a box cutter, according to the Erie Times-News. Neighbors interrupted the break-in. One shot Johnson twice in the leg and abdomen, Oakwood Village police said. Johnson, Shakir, and the residents were all taken to hospitals to be treated. The woman spent days in the hospital in critical condition. Officers learned Shakir was missing after a fire broke out at her mother's house on Lynbrook Drive. She was not found in the house. Johnson could face prosecution in Cuyahoga County after his case in Pennsylvania is settled. If you'd like to comment on this post, please visit the cleveland.com crime and courts comments section Ohio Shootings This aerial photo shows one of the locations being investigated in Pike County, Ohio, as part of an ongoing homicide investigation. Eight members of the same family were found shot dead Friday at multiple crime scenes in rural Ohio. No arrests have been made. (Lisa Marie Miller, The Columbus Dispatch, via AP) PIKETON, Ohio -- Authorities have started executing search warrants as the investigation into the targeted killings of eight family members in this rural Ohio community continues. Agents with the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigations worked "throughout the night" interviewing people, gathering information and executing search warrants, but have made no arrests, the Ohio Attorney General's Office said Saturday. The Office did not say what agents were searching for or where the warrants were being executed. A spokesman did not immediately return a call for comment. DeWine's office also announced a Cincinnati-area businessman has offered a $25,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction in the case. The new information was released in an emailed a statement sent to reporters Saturday, after the office initially signaled it would hold a news conference. The bodies of seven adults and a 16-year-old boy were discovered Friday morning at four homes in Pike County, just off Ohio 32 about 80 miles east of Cincinnati. Officials have not formally identified the victims, but DeWine said Friday that they were all members of the Rhoden family. It appears the shooter or shooters targeted the family, DeWina said. Pike County Sheriff Charles Reader said authorities have found "no specific threat to the community," but urged residents to lock their doors until authorities make an arrest. More than 30 agents in the Bureau of Criminal Investigations are working with Pike County sheriff's deputies and other local agencies to investigate the killings. Anyone with information on this case is asked to call 1-855-BCI-OHIO or the Pike County Sheriff's Office at 740-947-2111. The Rhoden family released a statement through a victim's advocate thanking the public and law enforcement, and pleading for anyone with any information to come forward, according to WHIO. If you'd like to comment on this post, please visit the cleveland.com crime and courts comments section. ambulance.jpg Christopher Stoltz, 26, of Vermilion, died Friday after he was struck by a pickup truck on Middle Ridge Road in Amherst Township, the Ohio Highway Patrol said. (File photo) LORAIN COUNTY, Ohio -- A 26-year-old pedestrian was killed Friday after a pickup truck struck him in Amherst Township. Christopher Stoltz was walking on the south side of Middle Ridge Road just west of West Ridge Road about 8:30 p.m., according to the Ohio Highway Patrol. Stoltz, of Vermilion, was walking west. A 54-year-old Lorain man in a 2000 Ford F-250 was driving east on Middle Ridge Road and struck Stoltz, according to the Patrol. Paramedics rushed Stoltz to Mercy Hospital in Lorain. He was pronounced dead about 9 p.m., the Patrol said. The driver was not injured. Troopers are still investigating the crash and have not determined whether alcohol or drugs were involved. No charges have been filed. If you'd like to comment on this post, please visit the cleveland.com crime and courts comments section. TOLEDO, Ohio - A man was arrested and charged Friday after a woman said she saw him set fire to a vacant house. George D. Armour III, 29, of Toledo is charged with one count of aggravated arson in Toledo Municipal Court, records show. He is currently jailed at the Lucas County Correction Center. Armour is accused of lighting fire to a vacant house on the 3100 block of Cottage Avenue, near the intersection of West Central Avenue and Cherry Street. He made eye contact with a female witness and then left the property, a charging document states. The woman described Armour to detectives when first responders arrived at the fire, and police arrested him when he came back to the house, the document says. Armour confessed to police that he set the fire using a lighter and ignited the "common combustibles" inside. The charging document does not say whether Armour told police why he set the house ablaze. No injuries were reported. Armour is scheduled for arraignment at 9 a.m. Monday, records show. If you'd like to comment on this post, please visit the cleveland.com crime and courts comments section. police tape.jpg A 28-year-old woman was found dead Friday morning in a car parked in the lot of a Dayton funeral home, police said. (File photo) DAYTON, Ohio - A 28-year-old woman was found dead Friday morning in a car parked in the lot of a Dayton funeral home. Lorna Rae Wise, of Covington, Ohio, was found dead inside a blue sedan in the parking lot of Bowman and Young Funeral Home in the Miami Chapel area of Dayton, WHIO reports. Covington is about 40 miles northwest of Dayton. Wise's body was taken to the Montgomery County Coroner's Office, where an autopsy will be performed to determine her official cause of death, according to WHIO. Two people were detained as "persons of interest" in the investigation and were being questioned Friday afternoon by Dayton police, WHIO reports. If you'd like to comment on this post, please visit the cleveland.com crime and courts comments section. Westlake police SUV new.JPG Westlake police are investigating a home burglary. (Patrick Cooley, cleveland.com) Burglary, Balmoral Way: A resident April 15 reported his home was burglarized by someone who broke a window. The thief forced open a safe and took cash and jewelry. Theft, Detroit Road: Police arrested an 18-year-old Elyria woman April 15 for petty theft after employees of a store accused her of stealing $40 worth of property. Theft, Dover Center Road: Two Dover Elementary School teachers had cash stolen from their purses April 15. The purses were in the teachers' classrooms. Disorderly conduct, Columbia Road: An intoxicated 30-year-old caused a disturbance April 17 at a restaurant and was kicked out by staff. Police found the man nearby and arrested him for disorderly conduct by intoxication. Police said they determined he was from Mexico and they released him to U.S. Customs and Border Protection when he sobered up. Theft, Dover Center: A Chadwick Court boy's scooter was taken from Dover Elementary School April 18. It was located later that day at the High School. Vandalism, Crocker Road: A Painesville man reports someone cut the wires on his commercial mower April 18 while it was unattended at a job site. The man suspects a competitor in the landscaping business. Credit card fraud: A Smith Avenue woman told police she was contacted by the issuing bank about odd transactions on her grocery store credit card. Since she had never applied for such a card, she reported that matter to Westlake police April 21. Someone in Michigan charged $1,000 on the credit card issued in the woman's name. If you would like to discuss the police blotter, please visit our crime and courts comments page. 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. It will be very damaging for the stability of Europe if the United Kingdom leaves the European Union under "Brexit," a former president of the European Central Bank says. "The main problem, of course, is that the UK is taking enormous risks, not only economically, financially, historicallyI would said also in terms of its own flag," Jean-Claude Trichet told CNBC's "Closing Bell" on Friday. "If Scotland takes advantage of the situation to restart the process of getting out, you'd have to change the Union Jack." The United Kingdom is set to hold an in-out referendum that will determine whether the country will stay or leave the European Union on June 23. Trichet said he believes the UK will not exit the European Union because, "it's so clearly against the interest of the UK." "The UK is profoundly welcomed in the European Union, and that, of course, makes all of us trust that the UK will stay." The European Union would lose its second largest economy and up to $3 trillion in GDP, if Britain decided to part ways with the 28-nation economic bloc. The former monetary policy official contends that the UK's security and defense would be threatened if it voted to leave the EU. "It goes without saying that, from a financial standpoint, it would be a catastrophe for the UK to leave," Trichet said on Friday. watch now Jim Cramer will be the first to admit it: he hates next week. It is the busiest reporting week of the year, which means he anticipates volatility in the market. "There will be more snap judgments and more wrong judgments than you can imagine," the "Mad Money" host said. With this in mind, Cramer outlined the stocks he will be watching next week: Monday: Halliburton Halliburton : The stock is looking attractive with the recent run in oil. However, Cramer still likes best-of-breed, and that means he prefers Schlumberger. Tuesday: 3M, DuPont, Procter & Gamble, Apple, Twitter Apple : Cramer still stands by his motto of owning Apple, not trading it. But just like everyone else, he believes that the quarter won't be a knockout. However, he does think Apple could continue its positive ramp-up in service revenues. In fact, the stock's valuation is one that he would associate with a deep cyclical, not a growth stock. "The market is lapping up deep cyclicals, so I don't think the damage will be nearly as bad as I keep hearing about," Cramer said. Read More Cramer's game plan: Next week's big defining moment for oil Cramer sees an intense love affair with value stocks. Unfortunately, growth stocks have been kicked to the curb as part of a vicious stock rotation, and it could be just beginning. "What is incredible is that it doesn't even seem to matter how bad the deep cyclicals are or how good the growth stocks are. They are going to go in divergent directions when they report," the "Mad Money" host said. When Southwestern Energy reported, Cramer didn't see anything he liked from the company. Yet, it seems to have survived the downturn in the price of natural gas fairly well, better than Cramer would have thought a few months ago. Investors agreed, and the stock rose 15 percent Friday. The action in Southwestern instantly triggered everything around it, ranging from natural gas to oil master limited partnerships. "I think that at this pace, with oil up again we are going to start seeing takeovers of both oil and gas companies before their stocks get away," Cramer said. Read More Cramer: Expect the opposite when these companies report Skechers rose 6 percent on Friday following its first-quarter earnings. However, Jim Cramer thinks there could be more room to run. "We are just scratching the surface, and no one knows how big it can be. We could be monstrously big," Skechers Chief Finance Officier David Weinberg told Cramer. While the stock is still down 40 percent from its 52-week high, it has surged more than 100 percent in the past two years. Read More Skechers exec to Cramer: 'We could be monstrously big' Oil worker working on an oil rig Joe Raedle | Getty Images "We are just scratching the surface, and no one knows how big it can be. We could be monstrously big," Skechers Chief Finance Officier David Weinberg told Cramer. Skechers rose 6 percent on Friday following its first-quarter earnings. However, Jim Cramer thinks there could be more room to run. While the stock is still down 40 percent from its 52-week high, it has surged more than 100 percent in the past two years. Read more from Mad Money with Jim Cramer Cramer Remix: The problematic miss for earnings Cramer: LVS doesn't know what it's talking about Starbucks president: 'It was a record quarter' In October, Skechers' stock tumbled to $31 from $46 after reporting a disappointing quarter. However, Weinberg confirmed that management had originally set a timeline of five to six years to get to $5 billion in sales, but they now believe it will happen faster than that. "In some places we are just absolutely tiny, with plenty of room to grow," Weinberg said. He noted that Russia and Ukraine, in particular, have shown resilience and are selling very well. U.S. President Barack Obama flew to Queen Elizabeth's castle on Friday to wish happy birthday to the world's oldest monarch a day after she turned 90, calling her one of his favorite people. The queen and her husband Prince Philip greeted the president and U.S. first lady Michelle Obama as their helicopter touched down on the manicured lawns of Windsor Castle, the oldest and largest inhabited castle in the world located about 20 miles (32 km) to the west of the British capital. After chatting briefly, they climbed into the queen's Range Rover and the 94-year-old Philip drove them to the royal residence, which has been a family home for British monarchs for nearly 1,000 years, as trumpets sounded in the distance. Dominic Lipinski | WPA Pool | Getty Images "I have to say I have never been driven by a Duke of Edinburgh before, but I can report it was very smooth riding," Obama later told reporters. "The queen's been a source of inspiration for me like so many people around the world. She is truly one of my favorite people." Pete Souza | The White House | Getty Images Pete Souza | The White House | Getty Images The Obamas later had dinner with a younger generation of royals, the queen's grandson Prince William, his wife Kate and his brother Prince Harry, at Kensington Palace in London. Elizabeth, the oldest monarch in British history who has met 11 U.S. presidents, marked the milestone of reaching 90 with a walkabout on Thursday in Windsor where she met thousands of well-wishers. Obama said he had offered his own personal congratulations and presented the queen with a photo album chronicling her visits to the United States and previous presidential meetings, beginning in 1951 when she met President Harry Truman. "Should we be fortunate enough to reach 90, may we be as vibrant as she is," Obama said. "She is an astonishing person and a real jewel to the world and not just the United Kingdom." Don't be so quick to gloss over those employee benefit missives from HR. They might offer valuable help for getting your financial house in order. More employers are looking beyond retirement resources to help employees with other financial issues, from budgeting and debt management to investing, health care and saving to buy a home. More than half of employers 55 percent already offer a program to aid employees in at least one of those areas, according to a new report from benefits consulting firm Aon Hewitt. By the end of the year, they estimate, 77 percent of large- and mid-size companies will offer at least one such financial wellness program, and 52 percent will offer them in three or more categories. (See chart below for a breakdown.) Source: Aon Hewitt The financial wellness program offers vary. "It's easy to push tools, but I think now they're getting smarter about it," said Virginia Maguire, director of retirement product and solutions at Aon Hewitt. Personalized initiatives are becoming more popular, like solo sessions with a financial planner, for example, or education and incentives tailored to worker concerns (i.e. student loan help for a younger workforce). The interest comes amid other reports painting an increasingly gloomy picture of employees' finances. In Bank of America's 2016 Workplace Benefits Report, 75 percent of employees gave indications they aren't financially secure via measures like whether they can always pay their rent or mortgage. Just over half of workers say they are stressed about their finances, and 45 percent say their worries have worsened over the last 12 months, according to a PricewaterhouseCoopers survey released this month. (It's worth noting that Bank of America and PwC happened to conduct their surveys during periods of market volatility. Executives from both firms told CNBC.com that timing could have influenced workers' stress.) Source: PricewaterhouseCoopers Worker financial strain isn't lost on the boss. "Companies recognize that there's an issue," said Kent Allison, national leader of PwC's Employee Financial Wellness Practice. Programs often stem from company concerns about workers not saving enough for retirement. "They didn't ask the question on the front end, 'Why aren't they saving in the first place?'" he said. Of course, bolstering your bottom line, they hope, might improve theirs, too. Aon Hewitt found 44 percent of employers adding or expanding financial wellness programs were doing so to "decrease employee time spent addressing financial issues." In the PwC survey, 17 percent of workers said a financial problem had affected their work productivity, and 8 percent said it had caused them to miss work. Yet workplace financial wellness programs often fly under the radar. In Bank of America's survey, nearly one-third of employees of large companies said they didn't know if their employer offered financial wellness initiatives. Participation rates are often low, too. PASCAGOULA, Mississippi -- Imagine for a moment building a nearly life-size replica of the iconic Star Wars character Darth Vader out of little more than canned goods. But that's exactly what a team of students from Vancleave Middle School did Friday and Saturday as they competed with students from three other local middle schools in the "E-week Superbuild," part of Ingalls Shipbuilding's 11th annual Engineering Week. Teams from each school were assembled and charged with conducted their own canned and perishable goods drive with which they would build their projects. Ingalls personnel chose Star Wars as this year's theme, but students were free to determine their project within the theme. About 75 students participated in the competition, which began Friday afternoon and ended early Saturday afternoon. The event was held in the gymnasium of the former Naval Station Pascagoula on Singing River Island. "What we're trying to do is to encourage STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) participation in middle school kids," said event chairperson April Martin of Shipbuilding Women in Engineering (SWE), "so they will consider those fields for their secondary education and career." While Vancleave Middle School tackled recreating the light saber battle, Moss Point's Magnolia Middle School put together a Chewbacca recreation while Resurrection Catholic Middle School built Jabba the Hut and Gautier Middle School created a display with R2D2, along with Han Solo frozen in carbonite. "It took a while, because we had a lot of good ideas," said VMS co-captain Jarret Thompson. "In some cases, we realize the structure wouldn't be strong enough. We settled on the Darth and Obi Wan fight because it's the ultimate battle of good vs. evil." Students were allowed to use a few other materials to complete their projects. Each team was also assigned an Ingalls mentor to assist. Thompson gave their mentor, Ingalls engineer Sean Murphy, credit for helping them address some of the challenges in their project. A panel of Ingalls employees judged the projects in six categories: originality, complexity of design, ingenuity, design notebook, artistic value and number of cans. In the end, the judges determined Resurrection Catholic's Jabba the Hut project as the best. Students also said the competition, while fun, was definitely a learning experience. "In order to engineer something, it takes a lot of minds, a lot of ideas," said Vancleave's other co-captain, Jeb Wells. "I also learned it's not a good idea to use boxes of macaroni-and-cheese and then stack canned goods on top of them." The E-Week competition also benefits a good cause: all of the food items will be donated to Our Daily Bread soup kitchen in Pascagoula. Drone attacks on Kyiv rattle family of MU Ukrainian student Iranian drones are striking Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine. It's where the parents and sister of University of Missouri Ukrainian student Vlad Sazhen live. memorial concept.jpg An architect's rendering of the National Desert Storm Veterans Memorial planned for Washington, D.C. U.S. Rep. Steven Palazzo is sponsoring a 5K run/walk on the Biloxi/Ocean Springs Bridge in September to raise funds for the memorial. (NDSWM.org) A 21-year-old Steven Palazzo serving with the U.S. Marines in the Persian Gulf during Operation Desert Storm in 1990. Palazzo is now a U.S. Congressman representing south Mississippi. OCEAN SPRINGS, Mississippi -- Ocean Springs alderman granted approval this week for a fundraising bridge run/walk on the Biloxi/Ocean Springs bridge in September, but this isn't the typical bridge walk. The "Salute to the Military 5K", set for Sept. 24, is being sponsored by U.S. Rep. Steven Palazzo and all funds generated will go towards the National Desert Storm Veterans Memorial planned for Washington, D.C. "The proceeds from the 5K will benefit the National Desert Storm Veterans Memorial that is being built to remember the close to 700,000 Americans who served in the conflict," Palazzo said in an email to The Mississippi Press, "and to forever honor the 293 American men and women who gave the ultimate sacrifice." Palazzo is himself a veteran of both Persian Gulf conflicts. "This time 25 years ago I was a 21-year-old Marine serving in the deserts of Kuwait and Saudi Arabia as part of Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm," he said. "The Marines, Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen I served with were some of the finest warriors our country has ever produced." In December 2014, Congress approved the creation of the memorial on federal land in Washington, D.C., but the memorial is still years from fruition. Some $25 million is needed to fund construction, which will not begin until all funding is secured. No federal dollars will be used. Preliminary designs have been completed, but the final design must have the approval of the U.S. National Park Service, which will operate and maintain the memorial. Operation Desert Storm launched in 1990 after Iraq invaded its smaller neighbor, Kuwait. An American-led coalition composed of nearly 700,000 tropps -- 470,000 of them Americans -- responded. By February 1991, the coalition drove the Iraqi army -- the world's fourth-largest at the time -- our of Kuwait after only 100 hours following a five-month build up. "Operation Desert Storm/Desert Shield is the largest American war of the 20th century without a memorial," Scott Stump, CEO of The National Desert Storm Memorial Foundation and a Marine veteran who served in the war, told The Military Times. "I was one of the lucky ones. But there are almost 400 people who didn't come back." Palazzo encouraged all south Mississippi residents who support the military to participate in September's fundraising effort. "I encourage you to visit www.ndswm.org to learn more about the memorial," he said, "and I hope you will join me on Sept. 24 for the Salute to the Military 5K to support this worthy cause." More details on the walk/run will be released closer to the event. January 25, 2016 - Caution tape surrounds 100 North Main where maintenence workers knock some of the loose concrete facing off the building in preparation for a complete renovation of the tallest building in Memphis. (Jim Weber/The Commercial Appeal) By Wayne Risher of The Commercial Appeal Would-be developers of 100 North Main, the tallest skyscraper in Downtown Memphis, are targets of a Florida regulatory action alleging they mismanaged a troubled senior housing community. Florida officials are trying to wrest control of Tampa's University Village from a company affiliated with Eli T. Freiden, a Boca Raton-based, Memphis-born real estate investor and consultant, who represents 100 North Main's owner; and John W. Bartle, an Indiana-based development consultant on the Memphis project. The Florida proceedings are relevant in Memphis because of questions being asked about the future of 100 North Main, a Downtown landmark that has sat vacant and deteriorating for nearly two years. The building overlooks City Hall and offices of the Downtown Memphis Commission, Downtown's redevelopment agency. Elsewhere in Memphis, Bartle and Freiden worked in management roles for Ridgecrest apartments, a government-subsidized housing complex in Frayser that recently emerged from a two-year bankruptcy reorganization. And Bartle was point person for another Memphis complex, Hilldale, that defaulted last fall on payments on tax-exempt bonds issued by a city housing board. Ridgecrest and Hilldale were Nos. 1 and 3, respectively, in a 2014 Memphis Police Department ranking of HUD-subsidized housing with most offenses per unit. Bartle's previous legal entanglements include taking an Omaha, Nebraska, senior housing community into bankruptcy in 2014 and unsuccessfully seeking bankruptcy protection to avoid a federal tax judgment more than a decade ago. In an interview, Bartle said his specialty rescuing distressed properties occasionally puts him in adversarial situations. "I'm going to be the person who's in the forward position, if you will. I'm going to be the restructuring officer." Owners of 100 North Main are due back in Environmental Court Thursday to face allegations of code violations and to respond to a request, made in court March 24, to produce a financial plan for rescuing the building. Bartle said developers hope to present project details, including financing plans, to Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland in May. Bartle is identified in Florida records as president of BVM Management Inc., a nonprofit holding assets in affordable housing and senior housing and providing consulting services to approximately 40 skilled nursing facilities and continuing care retirement communities. BVM's 2013 tax return listed $27.3 million in revenues, $23.7 million in expenses, total assets of $51.2 million and total liabilities of $45.7 million. Freiden started a background screening company, Human Assurance LLC, in Memphis in 2012 and has held real estate and finance jobs over the past 13 years, according to an affidavit filed in Florida. He told the court he was an analyst and office director for Greystone Financial Group in Manhattan and a senior account manager for Primesource National, where his duties included financial oversight of 30 skilled nursing homes in the Midwest. The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation accused University Village owners of multiple violations of the state insurance code including failure to pay more than $4 million in refunds owed to residents. The office took aim at Freiden's lack of credentials in insurance and health care industries. University Village is under the insurance regulator's purview because it's a continuing-care retirement community providing independent living, assisted living and nursing care. It has more than 600 residents. The office on March 11 denied an application by Freiden's group to acquire control of University Village. An appeal is pending in state court of two initial orders of suspension that attempt to halt the group's continued involvement in the community. In a release announcing the orders, Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty said the allegations include failing to comply with a target examination, filing false information, continuing to take on new residents while being financially insolvent and "engaging in fraudulent or dishonest practices of management in the conduct of business." Meanwhile, Freiden's group is fighting an attempt by the Florida Department of Financial Services to put a receiver in charge of University Village. Owners have maintained the state has no grounds to take over the facility. They say it's being run by "competent, experienced persons" who have made progress in solving financial problems. They've complained that regulators have hamstrung their turn-around effort. Freiden declined to comment for this article and said he would be available at a later time. Bartle, a longtime consultant to multifamily housing developments, retirement communities and nursing homes, described himself as a representative of Americare, a development group that's working on a plan to revitalize 100 North Main. Bartle denied involvement in management of University Village in Tampa, despite numerous claims to that effect by Florida officials. Bartle said Florida officials "don't like" Freiden. Bartle put together a group of limited partners, including Freiden's IMH Healthcare, to acquire 99 percent interest in University Village in 2014. At the same time, BVM Management guaranteed two loans totaling $24.5 million intended to finance a two- to three-year turnaround. Freiden is the point person for a limited liability corporation, IMH Memphis, that bought 100 North Main last August from a group led by Isaac Thomas, a Memphis investor. Thomas's company bought the building in 2013, emptied it of tenants and proposed a nearly $100 million redevelopment that never got off the ground. Thomas is no longer listed as an owner, but he has continued to represent building owners in dealings with contractors. Individual members of limited liability corporations do not have to be identified in public documents, but developers of major projects in Downtown Memphis in recent years have disclosed owners' names as part of the process of winning public incentives such as property tax freezes. Owners of 100 North Main have not made formal application for incentives from the Downtown Memphis Commission, which has offices directly across Adams from the building. Bartle said IMH Memphis has a Miami-area architecture firm working on the 100 North Main project. Bartle said he's working on the financing package, and he has been talking with "a couple of investment banking firms." In recent years, Bartle took Omaha's Skyline Manor community into bankruptcy. Bartle was removed from management when a bankruptcy judge appointed a trustee to run it and oversee its sale to new owners. The trustee has been trying to recoup $600,000 that was distributed to Bartle's family members, business associates and others. The trustee considered the payments "fraudulent transfers," a civil law term for efforts to evade creditors by transferring money to other people or companies. "Probably John Bartle took advantage of a nonprofit company, and instead of focusing on the mission of the company, which is to provide housing to seniors, he focused on trying to get money out of it, and that's not really what you're supposed to do with a nonprofit," said T. Randall Wright, a lawyer who represented the Skyline Manor trustee. Bartle has been a key figure in two government-subsidized Memphis housing developments, Ridgecrest and Hilldale, that received tax-exempt bond financing issued by the Memphis Health Educational and Housing Facility Board. Ridgecrest filed for bankruptcy to head off an attempt by a lender, Federal National Mortgage Association or Fannie Mae, to get receiver appointed. Bartle was involved throughout the process as the owner's representative. After Fannie Mae objected to an attempt to hire Bartle's BVM Management as property manager, the owner agreed to hire LEDIC, an apartment management firm with deep Memphis roots. Ridgecrest bank records filed in bankruptcy court showed Freiden received payments totaling $27,500 over five months of 2014. A handwritten note by one entry said "manager." Bartle sparred with the IRS for more than a decade over claims of unpaid taxes, prompting a federal judge to appoint a receiver to monitor his personal finances and enforce payment of more than $1 million in delinquent taxes. Bartle said he's current on his federal income taxes. He attributed the tax case to a heavy-handed IRS. Brad Vest/The Commercial Appeal Demolition continues at the Benchmark Hotel at 164 Union Ave. The owner's plan to reopen it as a Fairfield Inn & Suites has faced a few hitches. SHARE By Thomas Bailey Jr. of The Commercial Appeal The northwest corner of Third Street at Union Avenue basks in the prominence of its neighbors, The Peabody to the south, AutoZone Park to the east, and the aromatic Charlie Vergos' Rendezvous behind. But finances cloud the future at 164 Union Ave. even as demolition crews finish clearing space for what was to be a new Fairfield Inn & Suites. MNR Hospitality bought the closed Benchmark Hotel for $3.2 million in 2012. MNR shares the same Goodlettsville address, near Nashville, as Epiq Hotels Inc. B Patel, president of Epiq Hotels, confirmed late this week what hotel consultant Chuck Pinkowski told the newspaper on Monday: A Fairfield Inn & Suites is intended for the site. But Patel added, "During the extensive design phases over the past few years and the recent demolition, we determined the project will now cost considerably more than initially budgeted, and are having trouble securing finances for the additional capital that will be required to complete the project." "We are continuing to explore our options,'' Patel wrote. He described the work taking place at the site as "focused demolition.'' Crews appear to be clearing almost everything but the support structures. Even the exterior walls are being removed from the five-story, 103,000-square-foot building that was constructed in 1958. "Our desire was to provide the City of Memphis with a transformational product at this very important location,'' Patel wrote in an email. The Fairfield Inn & Suites would have offered about 125 hotel rooms, Pinkowski has said. Patel did not say whether his company pursued a tax incentive from the Downtown Memphis Commission to help build a hotel and revive that quadrant of the sterling intersection. If he did, the effort was informal. Neither an application nor any other documents are on file with the commission, said Jennifer Oswalt, the commission's chief financial officer. Still, off-the-record discussions could have occurred between the property owner and Downtown officials. "They did try to get a PILOT (payment in lieu of taxes) from the commission,'' said Pinkowski, who consults in the hotel industry through his Memphis-based Pinkowski & Co. but is not involved with the project. "They were turned down.'' Downtown officials have sought to curb the use of tax incentives for smaller hotel projects, saying they instead prefer full-service hotels that can help boost convention business. Memphis Convention and Visitors Bureau President Kevin Kane said last year that the bureau has encouraged the Downtown Memphis Commission to earmark incentives "for when and if we can land that bigger property with meeting space." New, full-service hotels of at least 250 rooms help bring visitors to Memphis, said Doug Browne, general manager of The Peabody. His hotel has 464 rooms, 80,000 square feet of meeting space, restaurants and more. "When it's just another limited-service property then what happens is you're just stealing business from each other, not creating new business,'' Browne said. "Nobody is going to come to Memphis because there's another (limited-service hotel) in Downtown Memphis. The limited-service products are like ankle biters, they all steal from each other. Convention and meeting planners for hundreds of people don't want to scatter them across a lot of smaller hotels of varying quality, Browne said. The Downtown Sheraton with 600 rooms is the city's largest, and it likely must set aside 100 rooms for non-convention guests, he said. "So the largest group we can take in any one hotel is 500 rooms. Anything bigger than that has to go to three or four hotels,'' Browne said. "It's hard for the Convention & Visitors Bureau to sell the city for conventions when all we have is limited-service hotels,'' he said. Zacchaeus Crawford speaks to the media, on Monday, April 18, 2016 about 3 of his children, all under 11, being arrested at their school on Friday. (HELEN COMER/DNJ) What happened in Murfreesboro about a week ago shouldn't stay in Murfreesboro. Police arrested 10 children at an elementary school and led them away in handcuffs. The children didn't have weapons. They weren't fighting or hurting others. They weren't destroying property. Basically, they were arrested and taken to juvenile court for acting like children. Police said the kids, ages 6-12, were arrested on suspicion of failing to stop other kids from fighting off campus several days earlier. The official charge: "Criminal responsibility for the conduct of another." In that case, we all should be arrested. We've all failed to stop the fighting and violence among our youth. When did arrest become the alternative to a good talking-to? When did handcuffs replace time out? "If something needs to be corrected, it will be," Murfreesboro Police Chief Karl Durr told a church full of angry parents and others last Sunday. That's doubtful. America suspends, expels, detains and incarcerates more youth than any developed nation on the planet. An indefensibly disproportionate number of those youth are minorities from low-income homes, neighborhoods and schools. "Expulsion, detention, incarceration are the least effective ways to rehabilitate a child," said Jason Nance, a University of Florida law school professor. "And those punishments are being used primarily for children of color." Nance was one of several speakers at Thursday's town hall meeting in the Shelby County school board's auditorium. It was organized by local and national bar associations. The topic was "Dismantling the School-to-Prison Pipeline." It's called the school-to-prison pipeline, but it's really the poverty-to-prison pipeline. We've placed public schools right in the middle of it. Not coincidentally, more than half of all public school students in America are low-income children of color. What happened in the elementary school in Murfreesboro was a particularly stark example of the problem. "The real elephant in the room is poverty," Dr. Fred Johnson, a lifelong Shelby County educator, said at Thursday's town hall meeting. "The system perpetuates and too often accentuates poverty. We can't ask the schools to tackle these chronic social and academic problems with inadequate resources." Inadequate and shrinking. We're in the process of cutting Shelby County Schools' budget by $50 million, closing 10 schools, and mobilizing for potential gang violence in merging schools. "If it does happen," Ron Pope, SCS manager of public safety, told reporter Jennifer Pignolet, "then they know we're going to come down with the force of expulsion, suspension, police support, and they don't want that either." We don't either. But we can't expect schools or police departments to stop suspending, expelling, detaining or arresting so many children and youth without alternatives. There are many proven alternatives informed by research on child development, adolescent behavior, Adverse Childhood Experiences and so forth. Teachers, counselors and social workers, police officers and court officers know what they are. Some use them every day. More of them could if we gave them the training, time and resources they need to provide alternatives. "We want to learn and make things better so they don't happen again," Police Chief Durr told the crowd in Murfreesboro. You can start by not arresting children for being children. It happened in Murfreesboro, but it could have happened anywhere there's zero tolerance for children of color. Even if Anthony had a year to analyze and dissect each piece...(he couldn't tell if it would)... stand the harsh light of public exposure. WUWT insider Willis Eschenbach tells you all you need to know about Anthony Watts and his blog, WattsUpWithThat (WUWT). As part of his scathing commentary , Wondering Willis accuses Anthony Watts of being clueless about the blog articles he posts. To paraphrase: Click here to read more. Otis Sanford Columnist SHARE Harriet Tubman, 1826-1913, a former slave, became a conductor on the Underground Railroad, the secretive safe-house system that spirited slaves out of the South to freedom. She also helped John Brown recruit soldiers for his raid on Harpers Ferry and later served as a Union Army nurse, scout and spy in the Civil War. A student in my Mass Media, Diversity and Society class at the University of Memphis felt the urgent need to interrupt my lecture last week just as I was making a salient point about the value of citizen journalism. "Professor, we have some breaking news," he shouted. "They're going to put Harriet Tubman's picture on the $20 bill." Normally, it's a no-no for students to monitor cellphones during class. But this alert was indeed important breaking news. So for several minutes, my notes about citizen involvement in the news were tossed aside in favor of a broader discussion about racial and gender diversity on U.S. currency. Virtually to a person, the students were supportive of jettisoning Tennessean Andrew Jackson and replacing the nation's seventh president and co-founder of Memphis with Tubman, the famed abolitionist and authentic American heroine. The discussion told me a lot anecdotally about the mindset of many millennials the ones I am around, at least who have no interest in recognizing figures from the past whose history is one of hatred, racism and intolerance. Nearly half the class knew, for example, that Jackson was responsible for the "Trail of Tears," in which Native Americans of the Cherokee nation were uprooted from land east of the Mississippi in the 1830s and forced to migrate west to what is now Oklahoma. Some class members also were aware that Jackson was a slave owner, and found it pleasantly ironic that his mug on our money would be replaced by someone who freed hundreds of slaves through the Underground Railroad. Who says young people don't know history? The idea of revamping the $20 bill and adding the face of an African-American woman is fabulous. I only hope that I am still here to see it. Before the U.S. Treasury gets around to making the switch, it must first redesign the $10 note keeping Alexander Hamilton on the front to stay a step ahead of counterfeiters. That work won't be finished until 2020. The Treasury will then get busy remodeling the twenty, which may not enter circulation until 2030. Even then, Jackson will still have a spot on the back of the bill. There also are those, including former presidential hopeful Ben Carson, who believe Jackson should stay. Carson suggested to Fox News last week that Tubman should be placed on the rarely used $2 bill. Carson's lame comments aside, dropping Jackson for Tubman is a cultural milestone that even my students can appreciate. It represents a continuing detachment from the shameful periods in our nation's history that were filled with human suffering and degradation. Jackson, whose atrocities were acceptable at the time, should be recognized in history books. But with the $20 bill, we need some change. In 2015, Maronda Harris (left) and Michael Figlewicz off-loaded shipping containers from an air freighter during the day sort at the FedEx Memphis World Hub. FedEx has helped transform Memphis into an international trade center. (Mike Brown/The Commercial Appeal) Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump could learn a few lessons if they spent some time in Memphis. Heres where I would take them if they asked me what there is to see: Office complex, 3760 Lamar Almost every time I drive past the old Holiday Inn headquarters I wonder what Donald Trump might say if he gazed upon the three-story building, empty now for a dozen years. These first-class offices housed Holiday Inn, a hotel chain that was the citys premier global corporation until the financial run-in with Trump, then a New York developer. Holiday Inn borrowed cash, issued a shareholder dividend, essentially paying Trump $32 million to leave it alone. Weakened by debts, the chain was bought by British brewer Bass Plc, which moved the 1,700-employee head office in 1991 to Atlanta. After the move, FedEx occupied the building, leaving in 2004. It has been empty ever since. 889 Ridge Lake Boulevard Long before Hillary Clinton commanded $675,000 in fees for giving a single speech, she was the 30s-something wife of the lowly paid attorney general of Arkansas. Today she might want to stop and fondly reminisce about what was once inside 889 Ridge Lake, now part of the ServiceMaster complex, but long ago an office for a commodities firm named Refco. On the advice and guidance of a Refco trader in Arkansas, Hillary pocketed $100,000 (like $365,000 in todays money) betting on cattle futures over a number of months. Some experts later called her success implausible, noting she often sold futures just before the market turned against her position. Some suggested Refco allocated winning trades to her and stuffed other clients with losses. In the end, the 1970s cattle futures market collapsed, Refco declared bankruptcy, tangled in lawsuits, a former Mercantile Exchange chairman called the Hillary trades a tempest in a teapot and Bill Clinton was elected president of the United States. Runway 36R, Memphis International It is midnight. The sky is clear, the wind is out of the north. Fred Smith parks the car, points to the southern horizon, tells Donald Trump the moving lights are air freighters flying into the landing pattern, coming home from all over the country, all over the world. Why pair the FedEx founder and a presidential aspirant to gaze into the night sky? This town is immersed in global trade. At the center is FedEx. Trump has railed at the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership, assailed China over currency manipulation and proposed a 45-percent tax called a tariff on imports if China misbehaves. Not since Ross Perot in 1992 has a presidential contender sounded this pro-American on trade. Today, though, we need more than brash talk. America needs a reasoned plan that moves our interests forward without suddenly upending a world that now looks at us as its best market. We can ground FedEx Pacific flights, stifle China trade, but no longer can we make all that we need. Without imports, our economy stalls. Moore Tech, 1200 Poplar Clinton needs to see this. Its a private trade school, training plumbers, machinists, heating-cooling system mechanics, plant maintenance electricians and the like. Similar to the new program to produce 30,000 high-tech industrial workers over the next decade in Mid-South community colleges, Moore Techs classrooms exemplify a movement in U.S. cities to replenish Americas sorely depleted cadre of skilled manufacturing workers who have died, gone fishing or opened pizza parlors. Clintons job growth plan calls for investing in infrastructure, clean energy and scientific and medical research. It is good to have new bridges, wind turbines and labs. And it is wise to have the steel used in the bridges and the equipment used inside the turbines and labs engineered and manufactured in the United States. Yet were not wise. About 1.5 million engineers are employed in the United States, down from about 1.7 million in 1999. U.S. steel imports exceed exports. The United States ranks sixth worldwide in machine tool output, behind Italy and South Korea. At least half the tools that machine, cut and grind in American factories are imported, which means if Clintons grow-jobs plan proceeds, U.S. taxpayers also will lift factories in Asia, Europe and Latin America. If Clinton saw the ambitious kids enrolled in Moore Tech, Id remind her: Five million factory jobs have vanished since her husband was president. No one knows if there will be enough good jobs out there for every newly trained person. Lets tie the job-growth plan to a Made in the USA initiative. Alcenias, 317 N. Main She grew up in Meridian, Mississippi, traveled the world, the wife of a U.S. soldier, graduated in her 40s from LeMoyne-Owen College in Memphis, dreamed of manufacturing food, settled on a restaurant, opening it in 1997, a bright place named Alcenias. This month, a Swedish patron dropped off a Swedish magazine published in April. It contains a story about the cuisine of the American South. Her little soul food spot was mentioned first. She is Betty Joyce Chester-Tamayo, 62, an unabashed capitalist. What would I tell Donald Trump if he were here? She pauses briefly, says, Its more important to teach a person to fish than to give them a fish. She never lost her manufacturing dream. Id like to hear Trump tell her she goes by B.J. in explicit detail how to ramp up a manufacturing business around her relishes, sauces and entrees. If Trump could find a way to help unleash energetic entrepreneurs, it would revive this city, most cities really. In metropolitan Memphis, an area of 1.3 million people, half of them African American, only 993 black-owned firms employ one or more paid workers. Yet scaling up these firms would add appreciably to Memphis income. In Memphis proper, the city of 645,000, a typical household earned $37,100 in 2014, about 12 percent less than the $42,000 in median household income prevailing in 2000. KTG USA, 400 Mahannah Whether she is in Abu Dhabi, Berlin, London, Riyadh, Shanghai, Tokyo or Toronto, Clinton can remind investors of this plant, KTG USA, a paper mill near the Memphis riverfront. After Wal-Mart called for more American-made goods in its stores, one of the few big companies able to respond was a Canadian papermaker named Kruger. It revamped the old Kimberly-Clark mill and in 2012 began supplying the retailer's stores across the United States with White Cloud toilet paper. Kruger invested $316 million in the Memphis plant, the largest capital project undertaken by a private company here in years. Indeed, most of the industrial money flowing into Greater Memphis in the 2010 decade was orchestrated abroad. American investors prefer low-wage nations for manufacturing, while foreign industrialists have bet more than $1 billion on the Memphis area. As the former secretary of state, Clinton can remind her old associates abroad cities like Memphis are ripe for business. Ted Evanoff, business editor of The Commercial Appeal, can be reached at evanoff@commercialappeal.com and (901) 529-2292. Here's what to expect in Memphis real estate for the rest of 2022 By Katie Fretland of The Commercial Appeal The death penalty case of Michael Rimmer, which was troubled both by prosecutorial misconduct and ineffective defense work, is scheduled to return to Shelby County criminal court next week. Jury selection is set to begin Monday in the retrial of Rimmer in the 1997 killing of his former girlfriend, Ricci Ellsworth, who disappeared from a Memphis motel near Interstate 40 and Sycamore View where she was a night clerk. The body of the 45-year-old woman was never found. A judge in 2012 found that the Shelby County lawyer who prosecuted Rimmer, Thomas Henderson, "purposefully misled" Rimmer's defense counsel about evidence in the case. Henderson's "assertion both in 1998 and 2004 that he knew of no evidence exonerating or exculpating (Rimmer) was blatantly false, inappropriate and ethically questionable," Shelby County Criminal Court Judge James Beasley Jr. wrote. Shelby County District Attorney General Amy Weirich recused her office from the case in 2014. According to evidence presented at Rimmer's initial trial, Ellsworth was at the Memphis Inn office between 1 and 1:45 a.m. Feb 8., 1997. Large amounts of blood and the ring she always wore were later found in the employee bathroom. Rimmer showed up at his brother's house with his car and shoes muddy. He asked his brother to help him clean blood from the car's backseat, according to the court record. Rimmer was stopped March 5, 1997, in Johnson County, Indiana for speeding. Blood consistent with the female offspring of the Ellsworth's mother was found in the car. Rimmer had been convicted in 1989 of raping Ellsworth. An inmate, Roger Lescure, said Rimmer threatened to kill her and talked about how to get rid of a body. In the investigation of Ellsworth's disappearance, an Army sergeant, James Darnell, said he had been at the motel and saw two men who did not fit Rimmer's description with blood on their hands. Darnell picked out a felon from Bartlett from the photo lineup, but did not identify Rimmer, whose photo was also shown. Rimmer's attorney asked for exculpatory evidence from Henderson who responded the state was not aware of any. Signed photo spreads were logged into a property room, but Rimmer's public defender, Ron Johnson, failed to go to the property room. An investigation by USA Today published in 2011 found that other cases involving Henderson have been scrutinized. The news organization cited a death penalty case that resulted in a mistrial following a judge's determination that the state did not turn over evidence to the defendant's counsel. The defendant was subsequently acquitted in a retrial. A judge cited a failure by prosecutors to turn over statements that contradicted testimony by a victim in a separate case Henderson worked on, the news organization reported. Henderson "has been a dedicated public servant his entire career and has handled many of Shelby County's most difficult and heinous criminal cases over the past three decades," Weirich said in a statement in 2014. He began working in the office in 1976. A judge for the United States Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit, wrote in 2008 that the state covered up exculpatory evidence in the case of a woman sent to death row for having her husband killed in 1985. "This set of falsehoods is typical of the conduct of the Memphis district attorney's office during this period," wrote Judge Gilbert S. Merritt. He also cited the "complete failure" of the defense investigation. Since the 1970s, 156 people have been exonerated from death row in the United States, said Robert Dunham, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center in Washington, D.C. "The single most prevalent cause of wrongful convictions on death row is prosecutorial misconduct," Dunham said. Rimmer was twice sentenced to death in the killing of Ellsworth, once in 1998 and at a resentencing in 2004. His new trial has been ordered because his defense counsel did not properly investigate the case, Beasley wrote. The prosecution contributed to the problems with Rimmer's defense, and Henderson's assertions about evidence not existing "greatly undermined counsel's investigation of the facts," Beasley found. Beasley was a prosecutor in the Shelby County District Attorney General's Office from 1978 to 1995. The judge presiding over Rimmer's scheduled retrial, Chris Craft, was a prosecutor in the office from 1982 to 1994. The prosecutors of the retrial are Pam Anderson, of the Davidson County District Attorney's office, and Rachel Sobrero, of the Tennessee District Attorneys General Conference. Attorneys Paul Bruno and Robert Parris are defending Rimmer. Henderson declined to comment on the Rimmer case. "It would be unethical," he said. April 22, 2016; Police officers worked near the spot behind Frayser Elementary School where a 17-year-old was shot Friday night. (Daniel Connolly/The Commercial Appeal) By Daniel Connolly of The Commercial Appeal A 17-year-old shot Friday evening in Frayser is dead, police spokesman Louis Brownlee wrote in an email. Earlier in the evening, Memphis Fire Department Watch Commander Rita Jackson said the victim, whose name was not released, was in the 1600 block of Dellwood Avenue, behind Frayser Elementary School, and the fire department was notified shortly before 7 p.m. Police used yellow crime scene tape to block off an area that includes a playground behind the two-story elementary school. Seventeen-year-old Brittany Jones said she had walked away from the playground down a hill and into the street when she heard shots. "And I started running." She said she heard later that a teen had been shot. "Everybody was like, 'He dead! He dead!' " said Jones, who said it's common for people to hang out in the playground area with their children. A mom herself, she had left her child at home. She said the experience was frightening and described other young mothers running for safety. "Babies was falling," she said. Anjelca Henderson, Kristi Shook and Arthur Carpenter SHARE By Yolanda Jones of The Commercial Appeal Last Monday, Arthur Carpenter hit and killed a 6-year-old boy as the child attempted to cross Raines Road. Carpenter, 35, had no insurance and no driver's license. The day before, Anjelca Henderson, 27, and Kristi Shook, 34, were also arrested when both drivers were involved in a crash in Frayser where four children were injured. Both women had suspended/revoked licenses and no insurance. All three drivers were arrested under the Ricky Otts law, which requires police to arrest drivers involved in serious accidents who don't have a valid driver's license and proof of insurance. Carpenter, who killed 6-year-old Christopher Smith, may also face other charges in addition to the Ricky Otts law. The 2012 law is named for Ricky Otts, a 59-year-old Middle Tennessee man, who was killed in 2010 when his motorcycle was hit by the driver of a SUV. The SUV driver did not have a driver's license or proof of insurance at the time of the accident and received a misdemeanor citation for failing to drive without proper documentation. The driver, Jose Vasquez, officials said may have been an undocumented resident who they believe fled the country after the accident. "So the legislature created this law saying that the guy driving the SUV that hit Mr. Otts may have been in this country illegally," said Shelby County Assistant District Attorney Billy Bond, who handles DUI and vehicular homicide cases for District Attorney Amy Weirich's Office. "So police check to see if you are in this country illegally when you get physically arrested, but they don't check that out in the field." Bond said they don't track the number of arrests under the Ricky Otts law that come through their office. "I would be hard pressed to say how often, but I would say on the serious cases it comes up I would be surprised to say if it is something like 20 to 25 percent of the time," Bond said. "But that is a seat-of-my-pants guess. I don't think anybody actually keeps track of it." Bond added that before 2012 it was left up to the officer's discretion whether to arrest someone without a license and insurance in these crashes. "It applies to any driver, not just to the driver who appears to be 'at fault' in the crash," Bond said. "We've had cases where the victim of somebody else's bad act was driving without a valid license and without insurance, but they're the one laying up in the Med and police officers don't have any discretion they have to charge them with no driver's license and no insurance, and put them in the prison ward which means you as a taxpayer are footing the bill at that point, which I'm sure is not the outcome anybody contemplated when they passed that legislation." Former state Rep. Joe Carr, R-Lascassas, who sponsored the bill for the Ricky Otts law, said he supported the measure to bring victims like Ricky Otts justice. "What was going on was people were escaping justice because of a loophole in the existing law," said Carr said. "All we did was close a loophole saying that if you don't have a driver's license or insurance you will be detained in the event that somebody is killed or seriously injured." The Otts crash also spurred creation of another law that gives the court discretion to set a higher bail for drivers without a license and insurance involved in serious collisions who are found to be in the country illegally. The bill was signed into law May, 15, 2012, by Gov. Bill Haslam. "A clerk may set the amount of bail in excess of the listed amounts if the defendant is deemed a risk of flight," the law states. Opponents of the law said it unnecessarily penalizes undocumented residents who may have jobs and a family and are unlikely to flee the state. "In my opinion, it does and it is a continuation of policy that is intended to criminalize undocumented residents," said Andrew Free, an immigration and civil rights attorney in Nashville. "It is not a crime to be present in the United States without authorization. That is a civil violation to cross the border without inspection. But it is not a crime to be present in the United States without automatization. Rather than admit that reality, xenophobic state lawmakers here and elsewhere have chosen to criminalize unlawful presences through cutting off people's ability to access things like driver's licenses and then escalate those penalties as they continue to be incurred.'' Carr disagreed saying, "It does not unfairly target anybody that is not already breaking the law.'' For Ricky Otts Jr. the law brought his family some closure. Otts Jr. was 38 when his father was killed in the crash on Springfield Highway on the outskirts of Nashville on a fall afternoon six years ago. "Me and my siblings had to sit there and watch my father laying there dead on the ground for so long," Otts Jr. recalled about arriving at the accident scene. "It kinda scarred us mentally because that is something awful." He added that they were upset and confused why the driver that caused the crash that killed his father was not arrested. "They (police) told us that if they arrested him and wanted to go back and charge him with something bigger they wouldn't be able to do that. So that was their case for letting him walk," Otts Jr. said. "We found out later that wasn't the case at all. It was just at that point and time it was up to the officer's discretion whether or not to arrest under those circumstances." Otts Jr., 43, said his family lobbied legislators to change the law, and he was elated when Haslam signed the bill into law four years ago. "I went to the ceremony in downtown Nashville, and I wore my dad's boots that he had on the day he got killed," said Otts Jr. "This law offered us a little bit of closure. We want people not to have to go through what my family went through with knowing someone wrongfully took a life or hurt somebody bad and gets to just walk away from it." Ilsa Dewald, 19, and Chelsea Krist, 21, both from the University of Iowa, are among about 50 students cleaning up McKellar Lake through Living Lands & Waters' Alternative Spring Break. Last year the group collected 160,000 pounds of garbage from McKellar Lake in 12 days. SHARE By Tom Charlier of The Commercial Appeal A self-styled "warrior" against water pollution, Colton Cockrum fights his biggest battles on McKellar Lake. The lake, actually a slack-water harbor on the Mississippi River, often is deluged with trash that washes in from Nonconnah Creek. The creek drains much of South and East Memphis and Whitehaven before emptying into McKellar. "People are still trashing their neighborhoods in the city, and that trash is going into Nonconnah and Nonconnah flows into McKellar," said Cockrum, founder of the group Memphis River Warriors, which conducts monthly cleanups at the lake and other water bodies in the area. Cockrum's group soon will be getting help in its fight to clean up McKellar. The City Council will be asked to approve a contract providing for the installation of a system of floating booms that will collect litter in the lake. The city recently accepted bids on the project, with the lowest being for $319,238, said Scott Morgan, administrator of environmental construction for the Public Works Division. The system will consist of four plastic booms, three of them about 500 feet long and the other 800 feet. They will be buoyed by floats every couple of feet and attached by cables to large trees on the shore, Morgan said. The booms will corral the floating trash as it flows into the lake from Nonconnah Creek, preventing the debris from drifting into the trees and shore areas that are difficult to access, Morgan said. A separate contract will be awarded for the service of regularly gathering the trash collected by the booms. "I think it should have a good impact," Morgan said. Assuming there are no delays with the council's approval, installation of the booms should start by around September and be finished in a few weeks. McKellar's pollution has been a chronic problem and a source of embarrassment for the city. For each of the past several years, an Illinois-based environmental group has recruited dozens of students to help clean up the large masses of trash during spring break. The booms wouldn't be able to eliminate the raw sewage now contaminating McKellar as a result of recent leaks in the Memphis wastewater collection system. Leaks that began March 31 and lasted over a week dumped more than 350 million gallons of sewage into the lake, prompting health officials to advise against contact with the water there. Brown Missionary Baptist Church emergency response team officer Elbert Jones scans the crowd gathering for Pastor Bartholomew Orr's Wednesday night sermon in Southaven. Recently, the church's ERT unit helped Southaven police nab a suspect who had homemade explosives and firearms in his car while on church property. The incident came days before Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant signed into law a controversial bill allowing armed security teams in churches. (Mark Weber/The Commercial Appeal) SHARE Brown Missionary Baptist Church emergency response team officer Elbert Jones (middle) helps church medical staff members Catina Mathena (left) and Deborah Minor (right) with a medical emergency during a Wednesday night church service in Southaven. The church has 18 officers assigned to the ERT unit, and several are licensed to carry firearms. (Mark Weber/The Commercial Appeal) By Ron Maxey of The Commercial Appeal Bartholomew Orr tells the story of a former deacon, now deceased, who had a message for his fellow deacons every time Orr turned to God in prayer. "When Pastor Orr prays," Orr recalls the late Deacon Jessie James Smith telling his younger fellow deacons, "we don't need to close our eyes. Because the Bible did say, 'Watch and pray.'" It's a message delivered in humor but inspired by a healthy respect for vigilance a characteristic Orr, senior pastor of Brown Missionary Baptist Church in Southaven, thinks every church has to have in troubled times. Keeping eyes open, figuratively speaking, even as heads are bowed is the guiding principal not only at Brown, but at other houses of worship in the wake of random acts of violence that have shaken even the strongest people of faith. A measure signed into law by Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant earlier this month, allowing trained church members to carry weapons in church as part of security teams, is a new tool. But even without the controversial law, which doesn't take effect until July 1, many churches already have in place some sort of security protocol designed to protect not only against threats of violence, but to address medical emergencies and other unexpected situations. Brown, one of the Memphis area's larger churches with a membership of about 10,000 and about half that number routinely attending services, got a recent reminder of the importance of preparedness. Just days before Bryant signed the "guns in churches" bill into law, police apprehended a man in the parking lot of Brown's State Line Road campus. The church also has a south campus on Swinnea, just north of Goodman Road. The man, identified by Southaven police as Jason Leslie Moncrief, had firearms and homemade explosives in his car. Moncrief's motives were not clear. He told police his family owned the property north of the church, across the state line in Tennessee, and the church was a way to access the land. Police were monitoring Moncrief, who is not a member of Brown, because church security personnel noticed him around church property for several days. He was charged with trespassing, and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms is continuing an investigation. Such self-monitoring, working in conjunction with law enforcement, is cited by leaders of churches of all sizes as a way to head off problems. At Memphis' Bellevue Baptist, another of the area's largest churches, a 31-year-old man was stopped by security in March as he attempted to enter the Cordova church during Sunday services carrying a .40-caliber Beretta in his pants pocket and a .300 Blackout assault rifle in his backpack. Memphis police said the man, identified as Marcus Donald, told them he had to be vigilant against threats in society. He was taken into custody as an "emergency commitment" and evaluated. Due to privacy laws, no additional information has been released. "Not all churches have taken security seriously, which is a big problem," said Dr. John Tucker, pastor of Graceview Presbyterian Church in Southaven. Tucker, whose 80-member church is dwarfed by large congregations like Brown and Bellevue, said churches of all sizes must start taking their security more seriously. "It's something all churches are going to have to look at, although not every issue will be deadly force," Tucker said. "Still, we have people who are upset, and church is the place they go to cure their soul. So we should expect situations to arise." Tucker said when his church began thinking more seriously about security, the first step was to contact its insurance company, which had developed a policy for churches to follow. "So we started with doors, fire lights, making sure extinguishers were up to code things like that," he said. "We looked into getting a camera system, and that has been installed. We're also developing a medical response policy." Tucker said his congregation helped raise his awareness not the other way around on the issue of security. "What I found out from all this is that I wasn't really thinking about it (security), but people were," Tucker said. "I was really surprised by my own naivety. And, of course, it's in response to the world we live in. "We haven't worked out a policy as far as having guns in church, but we will definitely be discussing it." While properly licensed security personnel already carry guns in some churches Brown's extensive security team includes members who are armed the Church Protection Act signed by Bryant April 15 expands the ability of individuals to be armed in houses of worship. Under the new law, any individuals selected by the church's governing body can carry weapons into church for protection, with training. Also, the law doesn't require a permit to carry a holstered weapon. In essence, the law extends the "castle doctrine," allowing self-defense on one's own property, to include those on an established security team in churches. Critics argue the law, proposed in the aftermath of the Charleston, South Carolina, church shooting spree in which nine people were killed in a historic African-American church, is part of a dangerous proliferation of guns in all sorts of public venues. Supporters say it merely extends the level of self-defense. DeSoto County Constable Bobby Holloway and a partner teach gun safety, and Holloway said they're planning to make themselves available to churches providing the training members will need to get an enhanced carry endorsement on their existing concealed carry permits a provision that Holloway said he understands the new law will require in order to be on a church-designated security team. "We're working on preparing ourselves so that we can help churches prepare," Holloway said. Like the bill's sponsor when the legislation was introduced, Holloway turns to Scripture to justify the law. He cites Luke 22:36, where Christ tells disciples to sell their cloak and buy a sword if they don't have one. "I believe protecting yourself is a fundamental right that didn't just start with the Second Amendment," Holloway said. At Brown, in addition to gun-carrying members who are part of the law enforcement community, the emergency response team includes medical professionals. "It's a pretty comprehensive team," Orr said, "that includes greeters, parking lot attendants, hospitality they're a part of an overall team. We try to take a comprehensive, holistic approach to security." And while his church has taken a more well-defined approach to security in recent years, Orr said it's really nothing new despite the attention generated by measures like Mississippi's Church Protection Act. "I think especially in African-American churches," Orr said, "being on alert has always been in our DNA." SHARE The General Assembly exhibited its affinity for government overreach in at least two cases this week it's hard to keep track of all of them that smash the whole notion that governing least is governing best. As legislators were preparing to head home, their itch to micromanage the state's colleges and universities erupted. Who knew that legislators know more about how to manage a college campus than professional educators? When it comes to guns on campus and efforts to promote diversity, apparently they do. One can only hope that Gov. Bill Haslam, fresh off his astute veto of a bill that would have made the Holy Bible an official state document, will get the veto pen out again for a bill passed by the House that would allow faculty and staff with handgun carry permits to be armed on the campuses of public colleges and universities. We agree wholeheartedly with Southwest Tennessee Community College President Tracy D. Hall on this matter, as expressed in a recent guest column on these pages that students and employees are safer if deadly weapons are restricted to certified police officers trained to deal with emergencies involving firearms. The bill passed the Senate and House this week by comfortable margins. Haslam is said to be skeptical because it doesn't give institutions the power to opt out, a route that one can imagine most if not all Tennessee colleges and universities to take if given the option. The legislature also waded deep into the management of the University of Tennessee-Knoxville campus this week with competing versions of a bill that would strip funding from the University of Tennessee Office of Diversity and Inclusion, sending either some or all of the money to a fund that would provide scholarships to minority engineering students. Thursday night, lawmakers settled their differences and approved a bill that diverts for one year only about $436,000 from the UT diversity office into the minority-student engineering scholarships. The bill is headed for Haslam's desk, where he can sign it, veto it or let it become law without his signature. The attempt to stamp out the Office of Diversity and Inclusion is a gross overreaction to a couple of missteps by the office in recent months, offending some legislators with recommendations to use gender-neutral pronouns on campus and to consider avoiding planning religious-themed parties and decorations. It is also a rather transparent slap at the notion that schools ought to be promoting understanding among various cultures. In fact, efforts to promote diversity on campus on the whole have been useful and reasonable. And the school's administration already has shown that it is capable of correcting any instances of overreach. Granting scholarships to minority engineering students? A great idea. But not at the expense of a necessary component of the well-rounded education that helps students negotiate a multicultural world. SHARE By Dana Milbank Marsha Blackburn isn't one to worry about appearances. The Tennessee Republican didn't make any pretense this week of being impartial with the committee she chairs, the House Select Investigative Panel on Infant Lives, commonly known as the Planned Parenthood committee. On the eve of her panel's Wednesday hearing, Blackburn went over to Georgetown University to participate in a protest against Planned Parenthood, the very entity she is supposed to be investigating. According to the Right to Life organization, she gave a speech at a gathering called "Life-Affirming Alternatives to Planned Parenthood," part of a series of events in opposition to Planned Parenthood president Cecile Richards' speech at Georgetown on Wednesday. Then Blackburn showed up at her committee hearing the next morning and proclaimed, "My hope is that both parties can work together." That was probably never going to happen and it certainly isn't now that the secret videos that justified the panel's creation have been discredited as doctored. House GOP leaders created the panel last year in response to the Planned Parenthood videos that suggested the organization was illegally selling tissue from aborted fetuses to researchers for a profit. But investigations in a dozen states looking into the allegations came up empty. In Houston, a grand jury convened by the county attorney, a Republican, not only cleared Planned Parenthood, but also indicted the video makers on charges of tampering with a government record. GOP leaders, in naming Blackburn to lead the Planned Parenthood panel, had hopes of defusing the Democrats' complaint that the probe was another offensive in the Republicans' "war on women." That charge has been easier to make with Donald Trump leading the Republican presidential race and with several House Republicans on Monday making the extraordinary gesture of voting against a ceremonial bill honoring the first woman to be elected to Congress. But whatever legitimacy the select panel had left after the videos were discredited has been undermined by Blackburn. She scheduled the committee's first hearing for the very day the Supreme Court was holding arguments on the most important abortion case in 24 years. At that hearing, one of Blackburn's witnesses likened fetal tissue research a legal practice in the United States to the experiments of Nazi scientist Josef Mengele, saying the two are "maybe" equivalent. Blackburn, in her opening statement, drew the same comparison and invoked the Nuremberg Code. Then came Wednesday's hearing, the panel's second. Blackburn gave an opening statement mentioning the buying and selling of "baby body parts" no fewer than seven times. And the evidence that abortion clinics profit from the sale of these body parts? That would be in "Exhibit G," handed out by Blackburn's staff. "The AC (abortion clinic) has no costs so the payments from the PB (procurement business) to the AC are pure profit," it said. But this incendiary "exhibit" asserting that any abortion clinic that receives any payment for fetal tissue is breaking the law turned out to be not evidence but an undocumented claim by the Republican staff. "I think that these exhibits were created from whole cloth," said Rep. Diana DeGette, D-Colo., a member of the panel. She objected to the use of the exhibits, claiming they violated House rules. Republicans moved to table her objection and prevailed on a party-line vote. Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., tried again. He raised a parliamentary inquiry about how the "pure profit" conclusion was reached particularly because it was contradicted by three other exhibits that appeared to document activities performed by abortion clinics in the tissue sales that have associated costs. Blackburn declared that there was "no discrepancy" and that the documents "come from the investigative work" of staffers. The doubts about the videos and the unsupported "exhibit" did not stop the majority on the panel and their witnesses from relying on both. "Gruesome revelations came from a series of videos," declared Michael Norton, one of the witnesses. "It was clear from the videos that Planned Parenthood had been actively engaged in harvesting and trafficking, for profit, body parts of babies whose lives Planned Parenthood had ended." Another majority witness, Catherine Glenn Foster, cited the "undercover videos" and the "evidence presented by this panel." Rep. Joe Pitts (R-Pa.) spoke about how the "select panel investigation reveals" that "abortion clinics are incurring no costs" and therefore reaping profits from fetal tissue. And Kenneth Sukhia, yet another witness for the majority, said the discredited videos provide "corroborative evidence" that Planned Parenthood broke the law, saying "it doesn't matter" that statements in the video were selectively edited. It doesn't matter? After doctored videos, unsubstantiated "exhibits" and political moonlighting by Blackburn, those assessing the panel's relevance will conclude just that. Dana Milbank is a columnist for The Washington Post. Select Commodity All Ajwan Alasande Gram Almond(Badam) Alsandikai Amaranthus Ambada Seed Amla(Nelli Kai) Amphophalus Antawala Anthorium Apple Apricot(Jardalu/Khumani) Arecanut(Betelnut/Supari) Arecanut(Betelnut/Supari) Arhar (Tur/Red Gram)(Whole) Arhar (Tur/Red Gram)(Whole) Arhar Dal(Tur Dal) Ashgourd Astera Avare Dal Bajra(Pearl Millet/Cumbu) Bajra(Pearl Millet/Cumbu) Balekai Bamboo Banana Banana - Green Barley (Jau) Bay leaf (Tejpatta) Beans Beaten Rice Beetroot Bengal Gram Dal (Chana Dal) Bengal Gram(Gram)(Whole) Ber(Zizyphus/Borehannu) Ber(Zizyphus/Borehannu) Betal Leaves Bhindi(Ladies Finger) Bitter gourd Black Gram (Urd Beans)(Whole) Black Gram Dal (Urd Dal) Black pepper BOP Bottle gourd Bran Brinjal Broken Rice Broomstick(Flower Broom) Bull Bunch Beans Cabbage Calf Capsicum Cardamoms Carnation Carrot Cashewnuts Castor Seed Cauliflower Chapparad Avare Chennangi Dal Cherry Chikoos(Sapota) Chili Red Chilly Capsicum Chow Chow Chrysanthemum Chrysanthemum(Loose) Cinamon(Dalchini) Cloves Cluster beans Cock Cocoa Coconut Coconut Oil Coconut Seed Coffee Colacasia Copra Coriander(Leaves) Corriander seed Cotton Cotton Seed Cow Cowpea (Lobia/Karamani) Cowpea (Lobia/Karamani) Cowpea(Veg) Cucumbar(Kheera) Cummin Seed(Jeera) Custard Apple (Sharifa) Dalda Dhaincha Drumstick Dry Chillies Dry Fodder Dry Grapes Duck Duster Beans Egg Elephant Yam (Suran) Field Pea Firewood Fish Foxtail Millet(Navane) French Beans (Frasbean) Galgal(Lemon) Garlic Ghee Gingelly Oil Ginger(Dry) Ginger(Green) Gladiolus Cut Flower Goat Gram Raw(Chholia) Gramflour Grapes Green Avare (W) Green Chilli Green Fodder Green Gram (Moong)(Whole) Green Gram Dal (Moong Dal) Green Peas Ground Nut Oil Ground Nut Seed Groundnut Groundnut (Split) Groundnut pods (raw) Guar Guar Seed(Cluster Beans Seed) Guava Gur(Jaggery) He Buffalo Hen Hippe Seed Honge seed Hybrid Cumbu Indian Beans (Seam) Indian Colza(Sarson) Isabgul (Psyllium) Jack Fruit Jaffri Jamun(Narale Hannu) Jarbara Jasmine Jowar(Sorghum) Jute Kabuli Chana(Chickpeas-White) Kacholam Kakada Kankambra Karamani Karbuja(Musk Melon) Kartali (Kantola) Khoya Kinnow Knool Khol Kodo Millet(Varagu) Kulthi(Horse Gram) Lak(Teora) Leafy Vegetable Lemon Lentil (Masur)(Whole) Lilly Lime Linseed Lint Litchi Little gourd (Kundru) Long Melon(Kakri) Lotus Lotus Sticks Lukad Mahedi Mahua Mahua Seed(Hippe seed) Maida Atta Maize Mango Mango (Raw-Ripe) Marasebu Marget Marigold(Calcutta) Marigold(loose) Mashrooms Masur Dal Mataki Methi Seeds Methi(Leaves) Millets Mint(Pudina) Moath Dal Mousambi(Sweet Lime) Mustard Mustard Oil Myrobolan(Harad) Neem Seed Niger Seed (Ramtil) Nutmeg Onion Onion Green Orange Orchid Ox Paddy(Dhan)(Basmati) Paddy(Dhan)(Common) Papaya Papaya (Raw) Patti Calcutta Peach Pear(Marasebu) Peas cod Peas Wet Peas(Dry) Pegeon Pea (Arhar Fali) Pepper garbled Pepper ungarbled Persimon(Japani Fal) Pigs Pineapple Plum Pointed gourd (Parval) Pomegranate Potato Pumpkin Raddish Ragi (Finger Millet) Raibel Rajgir Ram Rat Tail Radish (Mogari) Raya Resinwood Rice Ridge gourd(Tori) Ridgeguard(Tori) Rose(Local) Rose(Loose) Rose(Loose)) Round gourd Rubber Sabu Dan Sabu Dana Safflower Sajje Same/Savi Season Leaves Seemebadnekai Seetafal Seetapal Sesamum(Sesame,Gingelly,Til) Sesamum(Sesame,Gingelly,Til) She Buffalo She Goat Sheep Snake gourd Snakeguard Soanf Soapnut(Antawala/Retha) Soapnut(Antawala/Retha) Soji Soyabean Spinach Sponge gourd Squash(Chappal Kadoo) Sugar Sugarcane Sunflower Sunhemp Suram Surat Beans (Papadi) Suva (Dill Seed) Suvarna Gadde Sweet Potato Sweet Pumpkin T.V. Cumbu T.V. Cumbu Tamarind Fruit Tamarind Seed Tapioca Taramira Tender Coconut Thinai (Italian Millet) Thogrikai Thondekai Tinda Tobacco Tomato Toria Tube Rose(Double) Tube Rose(Loose) Tube Rose(Single) Turmeric Turmeric (raw) Turnip Walnut Water Melon Wheat Wheat Atta White Peas White Pumpkin Wood Yam Yam (Ratalu) Select State Select Market It was oddly providential timing that I read Matthew Parris column in todays Times () the morning after finishing Militant, Michael Cricks seminal study of everyones favourite Trotskyite entrists. For Parris fears that the Conservatives may soon be faced with an entrist challenge of its very own: from UKIP. His anxiety has been sparked by a debate within the upper echelons of the party about a substantial reorganisation and rebrand after the EU referendum. Apparently Nigel Farage wants to shift the Peoples Army towards the model of an online movement, inspired by Five Star in Italy. This would allow, amongst other things, a direct democracy approach with members being able to vote on policies and ideas online. More significantly from a Tory perspective, he claims this would take away the need to have a national executive committee and a political structure. Whilst Matthew Goodwin, the academic and long-term UKIP-watcher, treats this as simply a party reorganisation, Parris has read between the lines and spotted that without a political structure UKIP might not actually remain a party at all. If it rebranded as a sort of sovereignty alliance, and stopped contesting elections, there would be nothing to prevent its members from joining or rejoining the mainstream parties. As Parris writes: Those many thousands of local Tory members who defected to Ukip (sometimes to sighs of relief from their Tory MP) could return to plague constituency Conservative associations and strongarm candidate selections. He doesnt mention, although the thought must surely have occurred to him, that an energised and well-coordinated phalanx of Brexiteer activists could also play a distorting, perhaps decisive, role in the upcoming leadership race. Is this scenario likely? And if it is, would it warrant Parris description of it as a virus? The connexion between UKIP and the Conservatives is not as clear cut as many think. Thanks in large part to the research of people like Goodwin, we now know that Farages party draws a very substantial chunk of its support from disillusioned, white, working-class voters who used to vote Labour, if they voted at all. As the party has recognised this it has gradually started to shift away from the libertarian, ur-Thatcherite positions often associated with it and to morph into a sort of national democratic party. Indeed, if it remains a separate party then National Democrats would be as good an ideological label for a rebranded UKIP as any. Suffice to say, these voters have huge cultural barriers to engaging with the Conservatives, even if their embrace of UKIP shows that they have no problem with right-wing politics per se. Its hard to see even Farage leading these voters to the Tories. This means that the sort of mass entry feared by Parris seems at once less likely to happen and, if it does, the post-UKIP entity inside the party would very likely be substantially weaker, at least numerically, than the current, independent party. If, that is, UKIP made the mistake of focusing solely on the Conservatives. There is an alternative. There would be nothing to stop a non-partisan sovereignty group from having a Labour wing. Indeed Grassroots Out, UKIPs preferred referendum campaign vehicle, has taken pains to secure one, led by Kate Hoey. If a big chunk of Labours voters support Brexit, then accommodating the views of those voters will be a necessary part of the partys attempt to reconnect with them if they are to address criticisms from outfits like Blue Labour that the Parliamentary Labour Party has grown too unrepresentative of a big chunk of the partys core vote. Militants experience in the 1980s and Unites more recently suggest that an active, organised, and committed group can get people selected in areas where Labour is deeply entrenched and organisationally moribund. This adds a new dimension to UKIPs current strength in such places, such as South Wales. If the result of Junes referendum is a relatively close-run defeat for Leave, then euroscepticism is not going to go away but will have to fundamentally rethink its strategic approach. The current model has proved over-dependent on the Conservatives and UKIP, two parties seen as on one side of the political spectrum and each a polarising force with certain sections of the electorate. Moreover, the British electoral system means that the latter is finding it impossible to make its breakthrough into national politics, and whilst its ex-Tory nature is overstated there can be no doubt that the defection of many former Conservatives has served mainly to strengthen the position of liberals like Parris (and David Cameron). With that track record, it isnt hard to see how UKIPs leadership and sponsors might see that all their time, effort, and money might be more effectively spent trying to influence the two major parties. Some successor to GO! could reinforce the eurosceptic wing of the Tories whilst harnessing UKIPs (and Hoeys) cut-through with Labour and ex-Labour voters to nurture a larger caucus of Labour Leave supporters for the next referendum. After all, the SNP have already demonstrated what can be achieved if you harness the enthusiastic activist base and organisational infrastructure of a referendum and successfully redirect it into normal politics. In fairness, it should be noted that there is a world of difference between even a well-organised pressure group and genuine entrism, the Militant-style a party within a party, or shadowy outline of a group within a group, which stalks Parris recent, slightly fevered columns. Big parties are broad churches and contain many groups of varying size and cohesion. But if he will insist on viewing the matter through the prism of infections and invasion, at least Labours experience has furnished him with a reading list. Close The components of human breast milk have long been distinguished along with the different functions it plays in an baby's primary meal however researchers are still baffled on why the configuration of these sugars changes during breastfeeding. An evaluation on how this change is likely associated to the immune system of the infant and microbiome, the developing gut was discussed lately in the April 19 issue of Trends in Biochemical Sciences, according to Eurek Alert! The milk from a lactating human female is poles apart from any other mammal as it has 200 various kinds of sugar molecules. This high in sugar milk is the infant's primary meal however most of them are not yet necessitated yet by babies. These available sugar molecules will then be the primary food source of bacteria in the gut which in just a few days and weeks will further grow in numbers. This feeding will help the bacteria culture into other bacterial components. Thierry Hennet, one of the authors of the study from the Institute of Physiology at the University of Zurich explained that, "The first impact breast milk has is favoring the colonization of the gut by specific bacterial groups that can digest these sugar molecules." "Infants don't have the machinery to digest these sugars so they are literally for the bacteria - it's like a seeding ground, and breast milk is the fertilizer," he added. Subsequently in a thirty day transition phase for the infant, a more advance immune system is now present which promotes the antibodies in the breast milk to alter by more than 90 percent. The once myriad breast milk sugars will also dwindle in numbers promoting less assortment for bacterial species. In its place, a more established supply of breast milk now contains elements essential for the continuous growth of the infant such as fat. It has been recognized that even with the absence of breast milk as a child grows does not do any harm thus fostering queries as to what is the standard to breastfeeding. The researchers made it a point to clarify that they draw a line on being cautious when it comes to breastfeeding recommendations. However Hennett added that, "On the one hand, breast milk is the product of millions of years of evolution and certainly possesses the optimal nutrients for a baby, but the question is how long does the newborn really need this supply? We feel families should make that decision, and not scientists." Meanwhile, New Zealand's dairy division considered a global player milk export has been met with a stumbling block in the world price market as China has continued to squirrel away its powdered milk, according to Reuters. Sources: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-newzealand-dairy-idUSKCN0WU1UU http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-04/cp-tub041216.php See Now: What Republicans Don't Want You To Know About Obamacare Close Presidential candidates will at some point have to address the issue on marijuana use with most of them seemingly shying away from the topic at least for now. Marijuana is something that has been overlooked by many, including media. This is despite the fact that the issue is likely to be controversial especially considering many states will eventually have recreational legalization ballots to vote on it. A look at the websites of the candidates hardly shows anything tied up with marijuana use which could hint at most applying a wait-and-see approach at least for now. Being a sensitive issue to tackle, such is seen as a big mistake with many believing that it is an important issue that should be tackled especially during the campaign period. Marijuana use is likely to be a key issue for the next president but from the looks of it, whoever wins it in the end will likely act on it when he or she is there. While most seem to be aware and plan to tackle the War on Drugs, a look at their websites seem to focus more on the serious drugs such as powder and crack cocaine. On the part of Hillary Clinton, a look at her site shows how she plans to address the drug issue though it mostly covers non-marijuana related ones. There are three key points related to marijuana, namely: Focus federal enforcement resources on violent crime, not simple marijuana possession. Allowing states that have enacted marijuana laws to act as laboratories of democracy Rescheduling marijuana from a Schedule I to a Schedule II substance with reference supporting medical marijuana for advanced research to health. For her part, Clintons approach is seen as an incremental one and not pretty different from the current policies that were put in place by current president Barack Obama. From the looks of it, she will cross the bridge when she gets there, opting to see what individual states will do. Donald Trumps stance is not that different, seen as a safe route and moving in the opposite direction. Such comes a bit of a surprise considering he was in favor of legalizing all drugs back in the 90s. But now, he takes a different stand, opposing marijuana though it remains to be seen if medical marijuana is included in all that. At some point, the topic will be discussed. Seeing almost similar stances from Clinton and Trump, it will be interesting if one or both of them will offer a different stance. See Now: What Republicans Don't Want You To Know About Obamacare Nationalism A Real Menace By Hanzala bin Aman 23 April, 2016 Countercurrents.org Patriotism is the feeling of an individual or a large number of individuals which establishes the love, sacrifice and the notion of doing well for the country. A patriot is ready to serve his/her homeland in the best way possible while also keeping in mind the best of humanity at large. Nationalism, however, opposed to patriotism, is a problematic idea among the populace which is intrinsically ethnocentric. The definition of nationalism, maybe open textured but a few problems like chauvinism, racism, parochialism, narcissism and irredentism among others are warps and woofs of nationalism. Many a great minds have opposed the notion of nationalism. Tagore called it the venom of modern history and Orwell, the worst enemy of peace. Even Albert Einstein called it the measles of mankind, which is very close to the Steiners idea of nationalism being venom of modern history. As observed by Michel Foucault The modern state (nation-state) can scarcely function without being involved with racism Inception of nationalism had incurred many great wars in the 19th and 20th century and also that most dreadful dictators of recent times have been the greatest nationalists. Nationalism in todays world has proved to be apocalyptic for humanity. Be it, Mussolinis Italy or Nazis Germany or Islamic State or any other dreaded regime, the common thing among all have been Nationalism. To put in Arundhati Roys word Nationalism of one kind or another was the cause of most of the genocide of the twentieth century. Flags are bits of colored cloth that governments use first to shrink-wrap people's minds and then as ceremonial shrouds to bury the dead. Nationalism in India Card of nationalism has been repeatedly played by different Indian governments to achieve what is unachievable with humanitarian aspect. Imposition of AFSPA in Kashmir and some North Eastern states, cleansing of tribals with the excuse of fighting naxalism and many other inhuman actions have been taken by Indian Government all in the name nationalism. Many goals were achieved by what is called as Strategic Hamletting. Hindutva Today, the kind of nationalism which has gained force all over the world is Religious-backed nationalism. This nationalism has serious consequences which are evident from loss of humanity due to Islamism, Zionism, Hindutva, Buddhist nationalism etcetera. Religion has a stark commonality with nationalism as both encourage ethnocentrism and racism. It, to a very large extent, shrouds the thinking of the mass and helps in very powerful polarization with Nationalism. In India, Hindutva has gained a very strong foothold. The targets of the racism by Hindutva forces have been Muslims, Christians, Tribals, Dalits and those who are opposed to the idea of India being a Hindu nation. Various episodes like Love Jihad, Cow Nationalism, Lynching in the name of food and protection of culture, attacks on the educational institutions and many others have shown the real motives of Sangh Parivar. Irrendetism is found common in Hindutva proponents who aim at the creation of Bharat Varsha boundary of which surpasses todays India and includes not only Pakistan but also Afghanistan, Nepal, Bhutan and Myanmar. In this Bharat Varsha, anyone outside Hinduism is considered to be a foreigner or an outsider thus needs to be ousted. This ideology has been summarized by Sangh Pracharak turned Sceptic DR Goyal in his book: Hindus have lived in India since times immemorial; Hindus are the nation because all culture, civilisation and life is contributed by them alone; non-Hindus are invaders or guests and cannot be treated as equal unless they adopt Hindu traditions, culture etc the history of India is the history of the struggle of the Hindus for protection and preservation of their religion and culture against the onslaught of these aliens; the threat continues because the power is in the hands of those who do not believe in this nation as a Hindu Nation; those who talk of national unity as the unity of all those who live in this country are motivated by the selfish desire of cornering minority votes and are therefore traitors; the unity and consolidation of the Hindus is the dire need of the hour because the Hindu people are surrounded on all sides by enemies; the Hindus must develop the capacity for massive retaliation and offense is the best defense; lack of unity is the root cause of all the troubles of the Hindus and the Sangh is born with the divine mission to bring about that unity. Hindu Rashtra in Construction Right-wing Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) came into power in May 2014 with the support of Industrialists (similar was the case of fascism in Italy as rued by I.H. Adler). These industrialists made the efficient use of media to raise BJP to the power. Right from that time, Sangh Parivar has paced up for the formation of Hindu Rashtra. To make India into one, they are for years following the very basic idea of consciousness and embodiment. Successful with making people conscious with millions of its supporters, embodiment of this idea has also started years ago. Ieva Zeka has discussed three stages for the creation of a nation which are: 1) Invention of National History 2) Invention of Language 3) Invention of substantially different culture This is very subtly represented in the Slogan like Hindi, Hindu, Hindustan. As publically confessed and which is also evident, Sangh Parivar has been trying to rewrite the history of India. The proposed history over-glorifies the Hindu rule in India and meanwhile also largely negates the contributions of Muslim Rulers. Absurd claims like people at Vedic time knew the process of Plastic surgery; Artificial Insemination and the airplane like vehicles were common are the examples of hilarious yet dangerous distortion of history. A sangh historian P.N. Oak went to the extent to falsely claim that Taj Mahal was infact a Shiva temple named Tejo Mahalaya which was constructed by Hindu rulers. Even Muslim rulers are now being accused of creating caste-discrimination in Hindus. Hindi is being forced on the populace as the spoken language. Urdu has been increasingly victimized over time and has been associated with Muslims. English is being held responsible for the corruption of Indian culture. Hindu Rashtra if created will be as problematic as ISIS or any other theocratic regime. As Ambedkar said If Hindu Raj does become a fact, it will no doubt be the greatest calamity for this country. It is a menace to liberty, equality and fraternity. It is incompatible with democracy. It should be stopped at any cost. How to fight Nationalism? To fight nationalism, patriotism must be inculcated in the hearts of the populace. Patriotism, as rued by Johannes Rau, can flourish only where racism and nationalism are given no quarter. We should never mistake patriotism for nationalism. Nationalism of any form must be maledicted. Discourse and dissent should be encouraged. Level of consciousness of young people must be raised. Intellectuals hold a special responsibility to enlighten the populace. Hanzala bin Aman is a writer and poet who writes primarily in English and Urdu. He hails from Gaya, Bihar where he did his early schooling. He also lived in New Delhi for a few years where he discovered his interest in writing. He is currently studying Agriculture at SHIATS, Allahabad. His articles and poems have been published on various online forums such as Huffington Post India, Anonymous Writers and others. Bhagwan Das: A Legendary Ambedkarite By S.R.Darapuri 23 April, 2016 Countercurrents.org Remembering Bhagwan Das on his 88th Birthday Mr. Bhagwan Das was born in an Untouchable family living at Jutogh Cantonment, Shimla (Himachal Pradesh) India on 23 April, 1927. He served in the Royal Indian Air Force during World War II and after demobilisation served in different capacities in various departments of Government of India at Saharanpur, Shimla and Delhi. He did MA. in History (Punjab University) and LL.B from Delhi University. He did research on the Indianisation of the Audit Department from 1840-1915. He had been contributing articles and short stories to various papers and journals published in India and abroad. His father Mr. Ram Ditta was fond of reading newspapers and was a great admirer of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar. Inspired and encouraged by his father, Mr. Das worked with Mr. T. R. Baidwan who was one of the most prominent leaders of the Untouchables in Shimla Hills, and joined the Scheduled Castes Federation at the tender age of 16. Since then he had been actively associated with the Ambedkarian Movement and did a great deal to promote the ideas of Babasaheb Ambedkar and to unite and uplift the downtrodden not only of India but also of other countries of Asia. Mr. Das was associated with many organizations of Lawyers, Buddhists. Scheduled Castes and Minorities in India. He was General Secretary, United Lawyers Association Supreme Court, New Delhi; General Secretary, Bouddh Upasak Sangh, New Delhi; Founder Chairman, Ambedkar Mission Society, which has branches in many parts of the world. He revived Samata Sainik Dal (Volunteers for Equality) founded by Dr. Ambedkar in 1926-27. He was Regional Secretary (North) Indian Buddhist Council; Founder, Society for the Protection of Non-Smokers. He was also founder President of Society for Promoting Buddhist Knowledge and Edited Samata Sainik Sandesh (English) from 1980-1990. Mr. Das was associated with the Peace Movement since the end of World War II in which he served on the Eastern Front (Burma) with the Royal Air Force (R.A.F.) as Radar Operator under South East Asia Command. He was one of the founder members of the World Conference on Religion and Peace (WCRP) (India) and participated in its Conferences held in Kyoto, Japan (1970); Princeton, USA (1979); Seoul, Korea (1986); Nairobi, Kenya (1984) and Melbourne, Australia (1989). He was also appointed Director of Asian Centre for Human Rights of Asian Conference on Religion and Peace (ACRP) in 1980 and continued to serve in this capacity- monitoring the news of violation of human rights in Asian countries and organising camps for training of human rights workers, speaking and writing for the cause. Mr.( Bhagwan Das acted as advisor to the International Movement against All Forms of Discrimination and Racism (IMADR), an International NGO based in Japan. He also delivered presentation about the problem of discrimination against oppressed caste in India at Buraku liberation and Human Rights Research Institute (BLHRRI) in Osaka. Mr. Das was also invited to deliver a lecture on Discrimination by the Peace University, Tokyo (1980) and he also addressed several meetings organised by the Burakumins of Japan. He gave a historical testimony before the United Nations in regard to the plight of Untouchables in South Asia, in the meeting of Sub-Committee on Human Rights held at Geneva, Switzerland in August 1983. He visited England in 1975, 1983, 1988, 1990 and 1991 in connection with lectures and seminars. He participated in the seminar held in Hull University in 1990 as a representative of the Ambedkar Centenary Celebration Committee UK and also held a seminar on Human Rights in India at London University, School of Asian and Oriental Studies in February 1991. He was invited to deliver Ambedkar Memorial Lectures in Milind Mahavidyalaya, Aurangabad (1970); Marathwada University (1983); Nagpur University, PWS College, Nagpur; Ambedkar College, Chanderpur and Amraoti University 1990. Mr Das also visited Nepal (1980 and 1990), Pakistan (1989), Thailand (1988), Singapore (1989) and Canada (1979 to study the problems of deprived and disadvantaged members of society, women and children. He delivered lectures in Wisconsin University (USA) in 1979 and North- Field College (USA) on Castes in contemporary India. He was invited to give lectures on Dr Ambedkar at the Institute of Oriental Studies, Moscow in June, 1990. Mr. Das practiced law in the Supreme Court of India. With a view to improving the professional competence of and helping upcoming advocates belonging to Untouchable and Indigenous Groups he founded Ambedkar Mission Lawyers Association and Legal Aid Society in 1989. He was General Secretary of Professions for People, an organisation founded in Delhi to elevate professional standards. Mr. Das was invited to preside at the Dalit and Buddhist Writers Conference held at Akola in 1989 and was closely associated with various organizations of Dalit Writers. Mr. Das wrote more than five hundred articles, papers for seminars, short stories for various newspapers and journals. His papers on Revival of Buddhism, Some problems of Minorities in India; Reservation in Public Services have been published in Social Action magazine brought out by Indian Social institute, New Delhi and Delhi University Buddhist Department. He also wrote many papers on Reservation and Representative Bureaucracy, Discrimination against the Dalits in Public Services, Minorities etc. He was a member of the Committee for evolving new strategies for the development of Scheduled Castes and Tribes VIII Plan set up by the Government of India and also a member of Ambedkar Centenary Committee of the Government of India. Mr. Das wrote many books in Urdu, English and Hindi on Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar, untouchables, Scavengers and Sweepers, Human Rights and Discrimination, etc. Prominent among them are Thus Spoke Ambedkar (Vol. 1 to 4, Ed); Ambedkar on Gandhi and Gandhism (Ed); Ambedkar ek parichey ek Sandesh (Hindi); Main Bhangi Hoon, (the story of an Indian sweeper told in the first- person). This book has been translated into German, Punjabi, Kannada and Marathi; Valmiki aur Bhangi Jatiyaan (Hindi); Kya Valmiki Achoot they? (Hindi); Valimiki (Hindi); Dhobi (Hindi); Dr. Ambedkar aur Bhangi Jatiyaan (Hindi), Dr. Ambedkar: Ek Parichay Ek Sandesh (Hindi); Bharat Mein Baudh Dhamm ka punar Jagran evam Samasyaen (Hindi); Revival of Buddhism in India and Role of Dr. Ambedkar. He translated into Urdu former President of the USA, Lyndon Johnsons book My Hope for America, Dr Ambedkars Book Ranade, Gandhi and Jinnah besides editing Bhadant Anand Kaushalyayans Gita ki Buddhi wadi Samiksha. He was also writing on Reservation and Representative Bureaucracy in India; Untouchables in the Indian Army (Mahar, Mazhbi, Chuhra, Pariahs, Mangs, Dhanuks, Dusadhs, Chamars, Kolis and Bheels), Mandal Commission and the Future of Backward Classes; Twenty- Two Oaths of Buddhism and Conversion; Ravidassis and Balmikis of Northern India; Buddhism and Marxism; Ambedkar as a Religious Leader but unfortunately his untimely death deprived him of completing these books. Mr. Das had toured almost the whole of India to study the problems of Hindu-Muslim riots, religious conflicts, atrocities committed on the Untouchables and Tribal people, with the group Threat to Diversity, Swaraj Mukti Morcha and as Chairman, Samata Sainik Dal. Mr. Das attained Nirvana on 18th November, 2010. He was a staunch Ambedkarite, a crusader against Untouchability, an iconoclast, a practicing Buddhist, a renowned writer on Dalits, Buddhist and Ambedkarite Movement, Human Rights and Law, a politician and a committed Social Activist. In order to commemorate his memory and his work at Nagpur it has been decided to dedicate a section of the library being set up at Deeksha Bhoomi Nagpur. It will be a befitting homage to his historical contribution to the Ambedkarian literature and movement. Similarly one Bhagwan Das Memorial Award has been instituted in School of Ambedkar Studies of Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedakr University, Lucknow (U.P.) Like Karl Marxs call Workers of the World Unite Bhagwan Das gave a call Dalits of World Unite which is quite relevant today. His pioneer work for internationalizing the problem of Untouchability will be viewed as his historical contribution to the eradication of caste based discrimination. I am sure his legacy will live long to guide the Dalits in their fight for emancipation. No doubt he will be remembered as a Legendary Ambedkarite. S.R.Darapuri I.P.S.(Retd) www.dalitliberation.blogspot.com www.dalitmukti.blogspot.com Western Xenophobia, Islam And The Third World By Jon Kofas 23 April, 2016 Countercurrents.org Xenophobia in the West Xenophobia has been on the rise in the last two decades in the Western World and it has influenced the political arena not just of conservative parties moving toward a more right wing course, but even centrist ones under pressure to protect the nation from perceived external threats. Is rising xenophobia a reflection of rising nationalism and conservatism in the age of globalization, or is it a reaction to a tangible threat posed by non-whites from the Third World, some who are Muslims, trying to settle in the West and diluting the purity of white Judeo-Christian society? Would the Western media, politicians and xenophobes of our era react the same way if instead of Muslim refugees and undocumented Mexican workers the migrants were from the Scandinavian countries? Because they come from the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America, Western xenophobia assumes racist characteristics, while humanitarianism is tossed aside no matter what the Vatican and the United Nations High Commissioner on Refugees have to say on the matter. In other words, it is not the immigrant and refugee to which many in the Western World object, but that outsiders are perceived as a threat to the purity of the native culture diluted with influx of people with different skin color, culture and in many cases religion. Many European analysts have been warning that the influx of immigrants, especially Muslim refugees fleeing war-torn Syria and Iraq, could tear apart the European Union as one after another member is becoming more nationalistic and tries to protect its national borders and its economic and cultural integrity. Just as many Europeans are concerned about the immigrants undercutting the continental bloc that has taken decades to build, many US analysts agree with politicians from both the Republican and Democrat party contending that illegal immigration from Mexico and Central America undermines security and takes away jobs from American citizens. Anti immigration arguments on either side of the Atlantic have become part of the political arena. Right wing populist politicians embrace positions not much different than one would expect from neo-Nazis, thus moving the xenophobia debate issue into the core of what would be otherwise mainstream politics. What exactly is the scope and magnitude of the so-called European Muslim refugee problem that has its causes in Western military intervention in Muslim countries and in Mexican illegal aliens? Of the 4.5 million Muslim refugees mostly from Syria and Iraq, an estimated 850,000 have crossed from Turkey for various European destinations. Of those, the US has accepted 2,290 in the last five years to join the approximately 3.3 million Muslim Americans that make up about 1% of the US population. http://www.factcheck.org/2015/11/facts-about-the-syrian-refugees/ As a percentage of the total population, Muslims in France are 7.5%, Netherlands and Belgium, 6% each, Germany 5.8%. Greece 5.3%, UK and Sweden at 4.6% each, Italy and Slovenia 3.6% each, Bulgaria 13.7% and Russia 10% with the largest total number of 14 million. The total Muslim population in the European Union is 19 million or 3.8% of the total. US Muslim population is roughly 1% of the total, or 3.3 million. This compares with 11.4 million illegal aliens, of which about half are from Mexico owing to the common border. http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/11/17/5-facts-about-the-muslim-population-in-europe/ In the age of the US-led war on terror, which has replaced the old East-West conflict, xenophobia reflects not just a deliberate political orientation and cultural prejudice owing to ignorance on the part of xenophobes. At the same time, right wing politicians and businesses have been using the issue to deflect attention away from structural problems society faces owing to downward socioeconomic mobility. However, this is also a manifestation of a far-reaching anxiety on the part of the mainstream society, the media, and the political and social elites. It clearly signals that they lack the means to forge a broad popular consensus around the weakened political economy. Therefore, xenophobia as a means of scapegoating becomes a convenient tool toward that goal. Migration of people from poor countries, especially Islamic ones in the last decade or so, is symptomatic of imperial policies that the West has been pursuing toward non-Western countries and most certainly not the result of any clash of civilizations as many would opportunistically argue. After all, Muslims co-existed harmoniously with all religions for many centuries from the Emirate of Cordoba in the mid-8th century until the early 16th century when the Spanish Christians expelled the Moriscos (Moors) of Granada to the Kingdom of Castile, Extremadura and Andalusia between 1568 and 1571. If one deconstructs the clash of civilizations theory it is evident that behind it rest Western views of hegemony and transformation policy intended to perpetuate the Islamic countries and indeed even the non-Islamic developing nations under permanent political, economic and strategic dependency on the West. After all, the entire Islamic world was under European colonial control that transformed into a neo-colonial relationship after WWII when the US became the worlds preeminent superpower. Moreover, the long-standing Israel-Palestinian conflict in which the US has always sided with Israel against the Palestinians and their Muslim allies has helped to mold xenophobia in the form of Islamophobia. The Iranian Revolution in 1979 that attempted a neutral course between East and West was another step in molding Western anti-Islamic views. This was followed by the US decision to use counterterrorism as the pretext to perpetuate the military industrial complex and Cold War policies after the end of Communism. Although in the first part of the 21st century, Western xenophobia is associated largely with Muslims, xenophobia is hardly a new phenomenon in politics and culture. Naturally, the influx of Muslim refugees primarily from Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Libya into Europe has intensified not just strong sentiment among racists, but exacerbated the xenophobic rhetoric in the political arena and media. Serving as a convenient distraction from practical solutions to societys systemic problems because it scapegoats migrants, xenophobia engenders fear about a specific tangible enemy. Instead of pointing to the structural flaws in the political economy, politicians and media point to someone to hate for undermining society the Syrian refugee family that is a potential terrorist, the Mexican family that takes away American jobs and feeds off the welfare system. Europeans and Americans hardly have a monopoly on xenophobia and this is not a recent phenomenon considering there is evidence of it throughout history in many parts of the world. There are more than 700 books and several thousand articles on this subject that has been prominent from the Golden Age of Pericles in 5th century Athens to the so-called post-racial Obama era that has in reality experienced a sharp rise in xenophobia. Just as the Athenian city-state had formalized the status of foreigners known as Metics and treated them as lesser citizens, the modern state is not much different in so far as it has the power to marginalize legal and illegal immigrants from the mainstream as well as project a negative image of them to society regardless of their contributions to the economy and culture. Besides fear, ignorance and the irrational in human beings prompted by media indoctrination that molds the dominant culture, mainstream institutions from businesses to churches do their part to keep xenophobia in the public debate. However, the relative decline of the Western middle class and rise of the Asian economy, especially China amid a new Gilded Age when capital is so thoroughly concentrated accounts for the rise of xenophobia. In other words, when the middle class fears its future and that of its children it does not blame the capitalist economy under globalization and neoliberal policies but refugees and immigrants who take low-end jobs to survive in their adopted land. Scapegoating psychology becomes an integral part of the mainstream because it is simply politically and socially unacceptable to challenge the root causes of mass migration from poor and politically unstable countries to richer and more stables one. In scapegoating, by definition, the enemy must be weaker than those on the attack which is why even at the height of the financial crisis, popular anger at bankers never became as strong as current Islamophobia. Its the same as the way a guy whos treated as a drudge at work then finds his strength by abusing his wife. The more that Muslims can be made to feel like outsiders, the more those who have defined them as other can feel empowered. (Paul Woodward, Scapegoating-psychology and rising xenophobia in America September 14, 2010) http://warincontext.org/2010/09/14/scapegoating-psychology-and-rising-xenophobia-in-america/ Besides the mass psychology of scapegoating that the media and politicians create and perpetuate, the world-economys weakened core in northwest Europe and US plays a catalytic role in convincing a segment of the masses that their real enemy is not caused by domestic and foreign policies intended to continue capital concentration at the expense of the vast majority. The shifting capitalist core from the West to East Asia affects the Western social structure in so far as middle class living standards historically high in industrialized countries have been sliding downward in the past four decades and they are unlikely to improve. In fact, downward socioeconomic mobility will continue across the entire Western World. This trend will only exacerbate xenophobia and afford the opportunity not just the right wing, but even mainstream bourgeois political leaders to blame influx of immigrants for all calamities befalling society. It serves the interests of the political and economic elites to blame the illegal immigrants and Muslim refugees rather than fault the political economy that results in downward socioeconomic mobility. The war on terror has added to the culture of fear surrounding xenophobia that only makes it more legitimate rather than an issue neo-Nazis and other extremists espouse. This allows xenophobes to argue it is all about national security and their ideological position has nothing to do with underlying racism. When the state is itself xenophobic and racist in its policies despite employing democratic rhetoric to present an image of an open society, why would the masses, at least a segment of them, be much different? This is as true in the US that leads the world in war on terror with policies intended to justify the continuation of the waning Pax Americana, as it is for the European countries. As an integral part of a Nativist ideology, xenophobia has become part of the mainstream because it has the stamp of legitimacy from the state that rhetorically opposes it but whose policies and practices promote it not just domestically but globally. Although it could be argued this is just a case of nationalism, there are degrees of nationalism ranging from moderate to neo-Nazi aspects that have become part of the political mainstream both in Europe and US. European and US Protest of illegal immigration In an open society citizens ought to have the right to protest for just about anything. However, only as long as such protests do not translate into: a) random vigilante acts; b) populist rhetoric of stereotyping and demonizing entire groups of people that leads to social and institutional marginalization; c) becomes a pretext for racist policies targeting minority groups; and d) impedes social justice in the rest of society and/or runs counter to the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) of which all Western nations are signatories. If social justice is a fundamental right for the protester of illegal immigration and refugees, it is equally the case for the immigrant who has basic human rights according to the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Does this mean that the US and EU must open their doors widely for all to enter? Of course no country can possibly have a complete open door policy. However, the advanced capitalist countries are in the position to pursue policies that do not force people from their native lands where they desire to live with their loved ones. Such policies range from economic exploitation to warfare, from supporting authoritarian regimes to regime change operations; all which are the root causes of mass migration whether from Islamic countries to EU or from Mexico and Central America to the US. It is essential to ask why there was a low level of inter-European immigration from the promulgation of the Schengen Agreement in 1985 until 2010, and why such a sharp rise after the EU led by Germany changed the inter-dependent integration model that essentially relegates the southern and Eastern European countries to virtually neocolonial areas of the northwest core region. Just as significant, why do we have so few Syrians, Iraqis, Afghans, and Libyans trying to cross over to Europe before the US and its NATO partners intervened directly or covertly in these countries to topple their regimes and destroy their countries in the process? While the Europeans are concerned about Muslim refugees, the US whose military solution policies caused the crisis is constantly warning about terrorism threats. At the same time, the US is also focused on the Mexican and Central American illegal immigration. One cause for the Mexican and Central America immigration is the chronic uneven terms of trade between the US and its southern neighbors. This means that the value of labor south of the Rio Grande is much lower to the benefit of more affluent US consumers and domestic and foreign corporations realizing higher profit margins because of low wages. After all, the goal of neoliberal policies is to reduce wage costs and raise profit margins globally. These economic refugees are created by Western policies as much as the political ones in the Muslim counties. Globalization under neoliberal policies since the Reagan-Thatcher decades of the 1980s has actually contributed to the rise of xenophobia ideologically and pushed the issue into the mainstream. This is because of the steady decline of the middle class that feels threatened by low-wage immigrant workers taking jobs considered undesirable by the native population. Despite the fact that immigrants usually take low-paying jobs, there is no shortage of protests against them, even against their babies born in the US. This is because of fear and prejudice but also because the media and right wing politicians directly or subtly promote cultural biases of religion, race, and ethnicity. The situation is not very different in Europe where people of color, invariably Muslim from Africa and Asia, work for much less and live in ghetto areas. In major European cities such as Paris, London, and Brussels there are ghettos because there is systemic, institutional and cultural racism and xenophobia against people already on the margins of society. Europeans of course have had the long-standing experience of racism with the Romani (Gypsy). For centuries gypsies have survived on the margins of the institutional mainstream. They have engaged in legal and illegal activities, as one would expect of a nomadic people not integrated into the mainstream. It is not a stretch of the imagination for xenophobes to place gypsies and Muslims in the same category and attribute to them stereotypes rooted in Social Darwinism. Naturally, political correctness, yet another treacherous brick on Liberal societys wall of hypocrisy, does not permit them to be as bluntly xenophobic as neo-Nazis. In many respects, the liberal political mainstream is even more dangerous than the conservative that is more open in its criticism of illegal aliens. This is because the liberals maintain a facade of the open society concept but legislate to discriminate. If there is social upheaval, and sociopolitical polarization, as far as the liberal and conservative mainstream is concerned it is not because the richest people are engaged in tax evasion; it is not because banks are laundering money and corporations are engaged in bribery while receiving government subsidies, including the European Central Bank propping them up buying corporate bonds. The fault rests with the lumpen-proletariat, gypsies, and Muslim refugees who lack the social, political and cultural respectability of the elites causing structural problems in society. If popular protests were to focus on the root causes of the Muslim refugee crisis in Europe and the illegal alien issue in the US instead of demonizing the migrants, it means that people would then turn their attention to government policies rather than blaming the victims of those policies. However, the politicians and the media manipulate public opinion so that people focus on the Syrian man carrying his daughter in his arms while trying to cross the border from Greece into Macedonia so he can reach Western Europe. Islam and Democracy Fear of Islam is a manifestation of a long-standing successful political propaganda in the Western mass media and political arena. If we simply stick to the empirical evidence we find that Islamic countries are not invading Western ones; Islamic countries are not exploiting the Western World through multinational corporations in every sector from energy to minerals; Islamic countries are not trying to overthrow Western governments because they want to install puppet regimes in Washington or London; Islamic countries are not forcing a transformation policy intended to exploit not just the economy but all of society in the West as the latter has been doing for decades in Muslim countries. The West has manufactured fear of Islam just as it manufactured fear of Communism because there is a struggle for Western hegemony on a world scale. There is no doubt that Islam like Judaism and Christianity has doctrinal biases that favor men over women and promote sociopolitical conformity. There is no doubt that those practicing Islam are just as hypocritical when it comes to the gap between what they preach and what they practice no different than Jews or Christians. The idea that Islam as old organized religion is somehow much different from Judaism and Christianity implies ignorance of its doctrines on the part of those making such an argument. The idea that Islam is incompatible with democracy implies a cultural and political bias that relegates Islam to an inferior religion than Christianity and Judaism. If Islam is indeed incompatible with democracy, then all religions are as well because Islam is hardly much different than the other two monotheistic religions. Besides, how often do Western politicians ask if Israel under a majority Jewish population is a theocratic or secular society considering it behaves as a theocratic state with the full backing of the US and EU while systematically persecuting Palestinians. If Israel behaves like a Zionist state in its policies, why has the argument about the inherent contradiction between Judaism and democracy not been raised in the West, except by a handful of intellectuals? If democracy implies unfettered materialism, consumerism, and hedonism, then many in the Islamic world reject the identification of democracy with such values. But so does Pope Francis who is as critical as many Muslims about the Western decadent value system rooted in materialism. If democracy means violating the national sovereignty of other nations, toppling their regimes, interfering in their internal affairs, then Western nations would fit the profile in this respect much better than Islamic nations. Oddly enough, the imperial powers have no qualms about violating the national sovereignty of developing Muslim and non-Muslim nations on which they impose economic, political, strategic and cultural hegemony, but they vigorously protest the symptoms of imperialism that include economic exploitation and refugee conditions owing to societal instability that results in emigration on the part of people seeking safer and improved conditions in the country that caused problems in their homeland. The glaring contradiction and hypocrisy of xenophobia inexorably intertwined with underlying racism is that the hegemonic power invokes its own right to self-determination and democracy but then denies it to the nation and people of countries whose population is fleeing hardships caused primarily but not exclusively by the hegemonic power. Even worse, Western xenophobes raise the question of compatibility of Islam and democracy, thus blaming the victim of imperialism for the absence of democracy. US proposals to force out illegal immigrants The political rhetoric about Mexican illegal immigration is as hollow and hypocritical as those advocating it for the simple reason that illegal immigrants are the cheapest labor force that capitalists exploit in every sector from farming to construction to domestic work. It is hardly ironic that politicians who take such a position usually have or had illegal aliens work for them. While most Republicans have a harsh anti-immigrant policy, Democrats support low-cost labor force coming from south of the border rather than sending them back or building walls as Israel has done in the West Bank to isolate Palestinians. According to US official studies, the cost to the US GDP if undocumented workers are expelled would be $850 billion in a period of 10 years, adding $40 billion annually to the federal budget deficit. One could argue that $40 billion increase in a deficit of $19 trillion is not significant, just as the $850 billion additional boost in GDP over ten years. However, in an international competitive environment and downward pressure on working class and middle class incomes, those figures are important. http://fortune.com/2015/01/29/does-it-cost-more-to-keep-illegal-immigrants-in-the-u-s-or-to-deport-them/ There is no doubt that the monetary cost of physically deporting, let alone building a wall would be very high versus the benefits US businesses derives from cheap undocumented laborers. It is hardly surprising that labor unions are against such workers who take any job for below minimum wage scale, thus putting downward pressure on wages of American citizens. Some of the union workers direct their anger toward the undocumented workers rather than the employers who hire them at below minimum wages, just as they direct their anger at technology that replaces them rather than the employer who keeps wages low and politicians who refuse to raise the minimum wage. Main differences between the Syrian and Mexican immigration Europes refugee problem is monumental in comparison to that of the US-Mexico immigration issue. However, the common denominator in both cases is the obtrusive presence of Pax Americana as manifested in military action in Syria and economic policies in Mexico. Besides differences in scope, the obvious differences between Syrian and Mexican immigration are that the former are fleeing a war-torn country where the US, its European allies, Turkey and Saudi Arabia tried to overthrow the Assad regime in order to determine the regional balance of power. In the case of Mexico, a nation so far from God and so close to the US, the issue is strictly economic conditions of a very corrupt country with detrimental social conditions that some people try to escape. Because politicians and the media in the US lump together the so-called immigration problem, and because Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trumps characterization of Mexicans as criminals and Muslims as terrorists, many people hardly bother with nuances of immigrant groups or the causes for their endeavors to reach the US. In September 2015, Eskinder Negash, former chief of the Federal Office of Refugee Resettlement stated that he had no serious concerns about allowing Syrian refugees into the US. By contrast, a number of Republicans at the federal and state level have argued in favor of a ban of such refugees, while they are also in favor of very tough measures against undocumented Mexican workers. In many cases, they link the two arguing that terrorists can and do come through the US-Mexico border thus posing a security threat. This fear mongering find fertile ground to fester like a disease that grows across America when middle class incomes keep dropping and the cost of living rises. http://cnsnews.com/news/article/penny-starr/former-obama-official-threat-admitting-syrian-refugees-us-11-million CONCLUSIONS From the early overseas voyages of the Portuguese in the 15th century until the US-NATO direct and insurgent operations in a number of Islamic countries (Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Syria and Yemen), the predominantly Christian West has engaged in colonial and neo-colonial domination to secure markets, geopolitical and strategic hegemony over non-Western, non-Christian countries. In an interview with a TV network in February 2015, State Department official Marie Harf stated that the US government understands a military solution to Islamic terrorism is a futile exercise and only by addressing the root causes such as poverty and injustice, absence of social justice and human rights could there be progress. She argued that: We cannot win the War on Terror, nor can we win the war on ISIS by killing them. We need to find them jobs. We need to get to the root cause of terrorism and that is poverty and lack of opportunity in the terrorist community. This candid admission illustrates that US government is well aware of the real causes and plausible solutions, but chooses the military option for various reasons that in turn create other problems such as refugee crises in the Middle East and xenophobia in the West. https://counterjihadreport.com/2016/03/20/islamic-encroachment-the-western-poverty-and-lack-of-education-syndrome/ Of course, Latin America is predominantly Christian, but the US considers it its sphere of influence since the US-Mexican war in the 1840s that gave us the Manifest Destiny, a long-standing doctrine running at the core of US foreign policy ideology. Like the Islamic countries that Europe initially subjected to colonial and neo-colonial conditions, and the US followed the European pattern of imperialism after 1945, similarly Latin America has been subjected to colonial and neo-colonial conditions under the patron-client integration model that permeates NAFTA and various other trade agreements inter-American economic relations. The changing demographics in the Western World clearly determine the level of xenophobia probably as much if not more than the steady downward socioeconomic mobility of the last four decades. Many xenophobes believe that the dilution of their white race will be contaminated and they will become a minority in the future so their culture will be bastardized and slowly effaced. Fear of losing their national/ethnic/religious/cultural identity because they could eventually become a minority is inexorably linked to the declining middle class and lack of prospects for upward mobility for the next generation. When xenophobes talk about taking back our country, or restoring its values and honor, or preserve our heritage, they are referring to underlying fear that cultural diffusion is the enemy when it comes in the form of people of a different race, ethnicity, and culture. Throughout civilization the process of cultural diffusion that takes place primarily through migration has been the catalyst for societal progress while isolation has been the catalyst for backwardness, decline and fall. Xenophobes and other varieties of racists clinging to the phantom of purity in race, ethnicity, and culture fail to recognize this reality tested throughout history across the world, thus inviting the demise the civilization they are trying to preserve. Jon Kofas is a retired university Professor from Indiana University. Listen Up: Mother Earth Is Calling Us Back By David Korten 23 April, 2016 YES! Magazine April 22 is Earth Day 2016. Each Earth Day marks another milestone in a profound human reawakening to the truth that we are children of a living Earth who survive and prosper only as contributing members of a living Earth community. The first Earth Day, in 1970, brought 20 million people to U.S. streets, parks, and auditoriums in a massive demonstration of public support for political action to limit human harm to nature. As the first mass demonstration in defense of nature, it marked the birth of the modern environmental movement. More than a billion people in 192 countries now participate in Earth Day each year. The 1962 publication of Rachel Carsons Silent Spring planted the seed. Prior to her book, the word environment rarely appeared in mainstream media. Silent Spring became a New York Times bestseller and drew worldwide attention to the devastating impact of our toxic wastes on human and animal health. By 1970, environmental groups like the Natural Resources Defense Council and the World Resources Institute were working with key political leaders to draft landmark environmental legislation. The massive turnout on the first Earth Day demonstrated strong public demand for political action. In response, Congress quickly authorized the Environmental Protection Agency and passed the Clean Air, Clean Water, Marine Mammal Protection, and Endangered Species Acts. President Richard Nixon, a Republican, signed them into law. The second turning point quickly followed. In 1972, two seemingly unrelated events took the movement to a deeper level. The crew of the Apollo 17 spacecraft photographed Earth from space. That image of Earth, a finite shining jewel suspended in the vastness of dark space, became one of the most iconic images in history. That same year, scientists working in MITs Systems Development Lab, published the results of a computer simulation demonstrating that if human consumption continued to grow at current rates, critical Earth systems would begin to collapse early in the 21st century. A dry, technical Report to the Club of Rome, The Limits to Growth, sold 12 million copies in 37 languages, challenged the fundamental assumption of mainstream neoliberal economics that there is no limit to growth in material consumption, and seemed to set the stage for dramatic political action. The corporate sector, recognizing a threat to profits, quickly mobilized to support the election of politicians loyal to the myth that growth in GDP and corporate profits holds the key to prosperity for all. It has prevailed for nearly four decades, with the support of academic economists who remain wedded to GDP growth as the economys defining purpose. The resulting cost to life and the human future is incalculable. The economic, social, and environmental consequences of decades of flagrant abuse of corporate power at the expense of democracy, people, and the living Earth have provoked a massive political backlash. The current demand for deep change corresponds to an emerging third stage in humanitys awakening environmental consciousness. 1. The first stage, provoked by the publication of Silent Spring, focused attention on the impact of industrial toxins on the health of humans and other animals. 2. The second stage, spurred by the image of Earth in space and MITs The Limits to Growth, introduced a planetary systems perspective. 3. The third stage features the voices of indigenous people whose traditions have long honored Earth as our living mother, of scientists who speak of Earth as a living superorganism that self-organizes to maintain the environmental conditions essential to life, and of religious leaders, such as Pope Francis, who opened his Care of the Earth encyclical with a reference to Mother Earth. Those of us who succumbed to the false promises of Western consumerism at great cost to our Earth mother, our living Earth family, and ourselves, are Earths prodigal children now returning home. We have only begun, however, to confront the implications for how we must now learn to live. This Earth Day let us share and celebrate the possibilities. Dr. David Korten (livingeconomiesforum.org) is the author of Agenda for a New Economy, The Great Turning: From Empire to Earth Community, and the international best seller When Corporations Rule the World. He is board chair of YES! Magazine, co-chair of the New Economy Working Group, a founding board member of the Business Alliance for Local Living Economies, president of the Living Economies Forum, and a member of the Club of Rome. He holds MBA and PhD degrees from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business and served on the faculty of the Harvard Business School This article was written for YES! Magazine, a national, nonprofit media organization that fuses powerful ideas and practical actions. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License. The Inheritance Of The Congress Socialist Party By Prem Singh 23 April, 2016 Countercurrents.org At the time of the establishment of the Congress Socialist Party (CSP) on 17th May 1934, in Patna, under the chairmanship of the patriarch of the Indian Socialist Movement, Acharya Narendra Deva, two goals were clear : to achieve the Independence of the country and to enhance the pace of the organised efforts towards establishing a socialist system. To achieve both of these goals, it was necessary to strengthen the true anti-imperialist spirit. In the first All India Congress Socialist Party meet on 21-22 October 1934 in Mumbai, where the outline of the detailed program in the direction of creating a socialist society were accepted, JP had said, Our work within Congress is governed by the policy of developing into a true anti-imperialist body. As was seen later on, the founders of the CSP were in favour of creating a socialist system through a fruitful dialogue with Marxism and Gandhism. Gandhi had opposed the formation of the Congress Socialist Party. But the founder leaders did not retaliate and attack Gandhi in return. The relationship and dailogue between the two continued till the death of Gandhi. This trend did not cease even afterwards : JP, who remarked on the establishment of the Congress Socialist Party that, Gandhism has played its part. It cannot carry us further and hence we must march and be guided by the ideology of Socialism joined the Sarvodaya movement, and Lohia presented a revolutionary interpretation of Gandhism. After the Independence, in the same spirit, a dialogue was establshed with Dr. Ambedkar, although he unfortunately passed away while the discussion was still on. The founder leaders of the CSP were Marxists, but they were not simply communists working under the International Communist movement. They were in the midst of the Freedom Struggle; they spent long terms in jails during the Civil Disobedience Movement and the Quit India Movement. The founder memebers were clear that freedom (of the country, society and individual) is a pre-requisite for true anti-imperialist spirit. A socialism which follows external dictates, and a revolutionary democracy born out of the dictatorship of one-party rule was not acceptable to the founder leaders of the CSP. The decision to create the Socialist Party separate from Congress after Independence, had far-reaching consequences in the direction of democracy and the strengthening of parliamentary system. For the socialist leaders, participation in the democratic process was not a strategy. The dream of an indepenedent nation which was inherent in the premise of progress towards socialism was one which would never again be enslaved, via an active political-cultural-intellectual participation of the marginalized sections Dalits, Adivasis, Backward, Women, poor Muslims - in the Indian social and economic milieu. Despite what Gandhi had said, the leaders of the Congress did not dissolve the Congress after it had achieved its goals; but the socialist leaders, after an initial hesitation, disassociated themselves from it. They succeeded, to some extent, in making a dent in the rule of the Congress after a sustained long struggle of two decades. Even if we do not accept any other achievement of the anti-Emergency struggle led by JP, the re-instatement of democracy is a lasting achievement, which is with us even till this day. The first warning of the attack of neo-imperialism, which has been continuing since the last three decades, was given by the socialist leader and thinker Kishen Patnaik. The current Indian politics also has two goals : the defence of our Independence from the onslaught of neo-imperialism and the establishment of a socialist society. This work can only be done by associating with the inheritence of the Indian Socialist Movement, the foundation of which was laid along with the establishment of the Congress Socialist Party in 1934. Without this determination and initiative the celebration of the 82nd foundation-day of the CSP will be merely ceremonial. Though there must be some real sentiment behind such ceremonial program, it has many disadvantages. All those who have been hand-in-glove not only with the Congress and the BJP but with Anna Hazare, Kejriwal-Sisodia, Ramdev-Shree Shree, V. K. Singh etc. are socialists this sends a totally negative message to the new generation. This is the reason why the youth is not coming out in clear support of the socialist movement. They are apprehensive that most politicians conduct their personal political business in the name of socialism. This business, obviously, runs under the all pervasive business of neo-liberalism thus strengthening the grip of neo-imperialism. At this juncture, the first lines of the poem written by Sarveshwar Dayal Saxena at the demise of Lohia, are worth remembering : See, how their stock soars! Those, who promise redemption for a fee ... Dr. Prem Singh,Dept. of Hindi, University of Delhi. Former Fellow Indian Institute of Advanced Study, Shimla. Visiting Professor Center of Eastern Languages and Cultures,Dept. of Indology Sofia University Dont Play Games With Constitutionalism By Dr. Vivek Kumar Srivastava 23 April, 2016 Countercurrents.org Supreme court has stayed the Nainital High Court decision on the President rule in Uttarakhand. High Court had reinstated Harish Rawat government which was brought under President rule by the Union government using article 356; that the government of the state could not be carried in accordance with the provisions of the constitution. The time line is thus: functional- dismissal-reinstatement-staying. Now what a common citizen can think about this game of confusion. Democracy cannot run as long as there is no constitutionalism. People should have faith in their government and government should be limited in nature and run by the rule of law but sad point is that Presidents rule was imposed without having a look on Sarkaria commission recommendations and S R Bommai case by the Union government. Common people do not have ideas about technical aspects but they have at least a stake in the functioning of the government. Why then such action? None is ready to answer because in India democracy is a word only, its incorporation at the political leadership is yet to be entrenched. Most will behave India as their fiefdom, Union government used a power which was to be used in exceptional circumstances only but narrow gains are more prominent than the real democratic values. Sarkaria commission had recommended that Article 356 should be used very sparingly, in extreme cases, as a measure of last resort, when all available alternatives fail to prevent or rectify a break-down of constitutional machinery in the State. All attempts should be made to resolve the crisis at the State level before taking recourse to the provisions of Article 356.(and) A warning should be issued to the errant State, in specific terms, that it is not carrying on the government of the State in accordance with the Constitution. (and) Normally, the President is moved to action under Article 356 on the report of the Governor. The report of the Governor is placed before each House of Parliament. Such a report should be a speaking document containing a precise and clear statement of all material facts and grounds on the basis of which the President may satisfy himself as to the existence or otherwise of the situation contemplated in Article 356.(and) The Governor's report, on the basis of which a Proclamation under Article 356(1) is issued, should be given wide publicity in all the media and in full. These recommendations were although not kept in mind when the President rule was imposed in Uttarakhand. A common citizen may ask what is the use of such commissions when these recommendations are not to be implemented. How will constitutionalism progress in the country? In famous S R Bommai case Supreme Court had defined certain limits as floor test could be carried on whenever the doubts about majority of ruling power existed but in case of Uttarakhand Union government took the line that Harish Rawat government was unconstitutional and immoral since March 18, when the Appropriation Bill was shown as passed. A division of vote was asked but was rejected..This is the first time that a failed bill was passed without a division of vote. This was if treated as case of maladministration then Bommai case spelt that in a situation of maladministration in a state , where a duly constituted ministry enjoys support of the assembly, resort to Art. 356 would not be proper. If otherwise thought by the Union government; why there was delay in the imposition of the Presidents rule, moreover why was it imposed just one day before the floor test? Why Bommai ruling was not given any importance? Union government should not be indulged as a party in the whole affair of the state as there was ongoing game of the petty politics but Union government could not hold the morality of behaving as the neutral authority. These developments are not good for the country because. Union government loses neutral position, citizen is confused. The SC stays the HC order , what does it mean to a common person? Two authorities two different decisions, common citizen is more confused. Hence the right way is to follow the dictums proposed by Sarkaria commission and the S R Bommai case. Indian constitutionalism needs to be nurtured. Dont play games with it. B R Ambedkar had said that this article will remain a dead letter word but in fact it has become a soft toy in the hands of the ruling parties which confuse common persons in periodic manner. Dr. Vivek Kumar Srivastava is Assistant Professor, CSJM Kanpur University (affiliated College) and Vice Chairman CSSP, honorary consultant CRIEPS (Centre for research on International Economics Politics and Society), e mail-vpy1000@yahoo.co.in The Yemen Conflict: Solutions To An Unnecessary War By Rene Wadlow 23 April, 2016 Countercurrents.org During the Second World War, in the United States there was a government-sponsored publicity campaign to save automobile gas with the slogan Is this trip necessary? The aim was to show that if one really asked the question, many trips were not really necessary. We can ask the same question about wars today. In Yemen, is the Saudi-led war really necessary? A new round of conflict-resolution meetings has started on April 20th in Kuwait facilitated by the United Nations and led by Ould Cheikh Ahmed of Mauritania who had earlier been the UN humanitarian coordinator for Yemen and so knows the country and its many factions well. There was an exchange of prisoners at the start as a good-will measure. A four-step conflict resolution outline has been proposed by a number of governments and non-governmental organizations, including the Association of World Citizens: 1) an immediate ceasefire ending all foreign military attacks; 2) humanitarian assistance, especially important for hard-to-reach zones; 3) a broad national dialogue; 4) through this dialogue, the establishment of an inclusive unity government. The title of the aggression of Saudi Arabia against Yemen changed its name from Operation Decisive Storm to Operation Restoring Hope probably on the advice of the public relations firm which advises the US Pentagon on the names of its operations. Saudi bombing from the air of cities, hospitals and refugee camps, created a storm, but the results were in no way decisive. It is not likely that Saudi bombing will Restore Hope. There is wide agreement in UN circles and among conflict-resolution NGOs that Yemen is a quagmire, with a free-fall of its economic and social infrastructure and with constant violations of the laws of war. The country is on the eve of a new division between the north and the south. Yemen's present form dates from 1990 when south Yemen (Aden) was more or less integrated into the north, but the country remains highly fractured on tribal, sectarian, and ideological lines, with the tribal structures being the most important. Negotiations among the multitude of factions in Yemen will be difficult. The most likely pattern will be for the country to split into two again with each half having a number of relatively autonomous regions. In the best of worlds, one could envisage a federal Yemen with the rule of law. More realistically, we can hope that these autonomous tribal areas do not fight each other actively. On a short term basis, we can hope that there will be minimum cooperation among the factions to allow necessary food imports and medical supplies. Poverty and the lack of a peaceful political horizon seem to be the continuing fate of Yemen, but violent internal conflict and Saudi aggression may not be permanent. With the start of negotiations, there is a role for NGOs to encourage the efforts in contacting organizations and individuals that might have a positive impact on events. There are many geopolitical and economic interests who want peace on their terms. Thus, our role as world citizens seeking a relatively just compromise solution is ever more important. Rene Wadlow is President and a representative to the United Nations, Geneva, Association of World Citizens. SHARE By Susan Orr of the Courier and Press New Albany, Indiana-based Your Community Bank has opened its first Evansville office. It's located at 727-D North Cross Pointe Boulevard, which was formerly occupied by Energy Systems Group. The person overseeing the local office is Darren Spainhoward, regional president of Your Community Bank's Evansville region. Previously, Spainhoward was at Old National for 25 years. His last position there was as senior vice president of commercial lending. Your Community Bank focuses on business and commercial lending. Spainhoward said high-level customer service and community involvement are the bank's trademarks. "We want to be friendly competitors to the other banks," Spainhoward told the Courier & Press earlier this month. Your Community Bank has $1.6 billion in assets and has 35 offices in Indiana and Kentucky. It operates in the Louisville, Lexington and Elizabethtown markets. President and Chief Executive Officer Kevin Cecil said Your Community Bank has been eying Evansville for a while. "We've always thought Evansville would be a great market and a great fit for us," Cecil said. But, Cecil said, the bank wanted to find the right person first. With his deep Evansville banking experience, Cecil said, Spainhoward is that person. "We think Darren's a great fit for us." Your Community Bank announced its Evansville plans last summer. But the bank had to gain state and federal approvals before it could begin operations, and its office space needed renovations. Bank officials and others gathered at the Evansville office Friday for a ribbon-cutting. At that event, the bank presented $1,000 donations to each of five local charities: Ark Crisis Nursery, the Buffalo Trace Council of Boy Scouts of America, Junior Achievement, the YMCA of Southwestern Indiana and Youth First. Paul Henry Gingerich was 12 when he arrived at the Pendleton Juvenile Correctional Facility in 2011. He is pictured on his 14th birthday there. (Photo: Kelly Wilkinson/IndyStar 2013 file photo) SHARE By Kristine Guerra/USA TODAY NETWORK/The Indianapolis Star Paul Henry Gingerich was 12 when he killed a man. On Friday just past six years later Gingerich was back in court in Kosciusko County, where he had been convicted and sentenced for the slaying of a friend's stepfather. Gingerich has been at Pendleton Juvenile Correctional Facility, a maximum-security prison for juveniles, since he was sentenced in January 2011. But now that Gingerich has turned 18, he has a shot at early freedom. Gingerich was one of the youngest people, if not the youngest, in Indiana to be sentenced to prison in an adult court. His sentence sparked an outcry among child advocates and juvenile justice groups. It also spurred legislation in 2013 that significantly changed Indiana's juvenile system. Under "Paul's Law," juveniles who commit serious crimes are placed in the juvenile system until they turn 18, at which time a judge determines whether to send them to an adult prison for the remainder of their sentence; place them under alternative programs such as probation, home detention or work release; or release them completely. That hinges largely on their progress under the juvenile system's rehabilitative and educational programs, and on their likelihood of committing another violent crime. Gingerich, who turned 18 in February, appeared at his Friday court hearing in a dark green polo, khaki pants and white sneakers. He is no longer the short, small-framed boy with a Justin Bieber-like haircut. At 5 feet 10 inches, Gingerich towers above his attorney, Monica Foster. Foster is asking the judge to either release the teenager to probation for what is left of his sentence, or place him under home detention to more gradually allow him to re-enter society. There is simply no legitimate penological purpose to be served by committing Paul Gingerich to further incarceration, Foster wrote in court records. Indeed, to commit Paul Gingerich to an adult prison would run a very real risk of destroying the progress that has undeniably been made by this young man. A memorandum that Foster filed in court, as well as testimony from Pendleton Juvenile Correctional Facility Superintendent Alison Yancey, outlined such progress. Gingerich began as a sixth-grader with inconsistent grades and several disciplinary write-ups, but he became an honors student who graduated from high school with a 3.8 GPA. He participated in group assignments, community and religious services, and several programs at Pendleton. He went through individual and group therapy, family counseling, mental-health programming and substance-abuse treatment. He mentored others and worked in Pendletons dining room. He has received six write-ups for violating Pendleton rules, but most of them involved giving pastries to other kids. None involved violence, said Yancey, who described the teen's behavior as "near perfect." "He hasn't really been a problem child at all," Yancey said. "He came in well behaved, and he's still well behaved." He would benefit from going to a college campus, Yancey said. The Indiana Department of Correction also determined that Gingerich has a low risk of re-offending. Court records further say that Gingerich has shown remorse and admitted having "thoughts, flashbacks and nightmares" about his crime. On April 20, 2010, Gingerich and then-15-year-old Colt Lundy shot and killed Phil Danner, Lundy's stepfather. Each fired twice, hitting the 49-year-old Cromwell man four times. The two, along with another 12-year-old, had planned to run away to California or Arizona. Gingerich and Lundy were charged with murder as adults. Both pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of conspiracy to commit murder. Both were sentenced to 25 years in prison. The Indiana Court of Appeals reversed Gingerich's conviction, saying the Kosciusko County court should have given Gingerich's defense attorney enough time to make the case that Gingerich should have been charged as a juvenile. Gingerich pleaded guilty again after the case was returned to the trial court. By that time, "Paul's Law" had taken effect, and the plea agreement called for a review hearing on the case once Gingerich turned 18. During the hourlong hearing Friday, Kosciusko County Prosecutor Dan Hampton called the lead investigator on the case, John Tyler of the Kosciusko County Sheriff's Department, to the stand. Tyler recalled details of the crime, as well as what happened before and after Danner was killed. Foster objected to Tyler testifying, saying the hearing was not about the crime but about Gingerich's progress in the juvenile system. Hampton argued that the court must know the "type of behavior that the juvenile facility has to address." The judge, James Heuer from neighboring Whitley County, allowed Tyler to testify. After hearing testimony, Heuer must now decide where Gingerich will spend the next several years of his life. Gingerich could walk out a free man, but he also could be sent to adult prison for the remainder of his 25-year sentence, cut in half by credit for good behavior. Because Gingerich wants to live with his mother in Fort Wayne if he is released, Heuer asked the defense attorney for information about programs in Allen County that Gingerich would be eligible for. He also asked the prosecution to determine Gingerich's eligibility for correction department programs. Heuer said Gingerich's progress was "impressive." But he also said he cannot turn his back on the victim's family, some of whom attended the hearing. "I do want to know what's out there in terms of alternatives," Heuer said. Heuer's decision likely will come this summer. Danner's family didn't make a statement in court and left immediately after the hearing. Hampton didn't return a call from IndyStar. Gingerich's parents also declined to comment. "I've always been optimistic about this case because I trust this kid," Foster said after the hearing. Before Heuer makes his decision, Gingerich must undergo major surgeries. He has been diagnosed with Crohn's disease, an incurable illness that causes inflammation in the lining of the digestive tract. A large part of his colon has been removed, and he now wears a colostomy bag. He intended to begin online college courses in January, but those were postponed because of his illness. Lundy is at the Correctional Industrial Facility in Pendleton, records show. He is scheduled to be released in 2022. --- IndyStar reporter Robert King contributed to this story. Alex Schmitt, Cheryl Musgrave & Brenda Bergwitz SHARE By Thomas B. Langhorne of the Courier and Press He's not calling it an endorsement, but Vanderburgh County Commissioner Bruce Ungetheim's position in the county's most hotly contested primary election helps clarify the battle lines. "I told (former Commissioner Cheryl Musgrave) I think she is by far the most qualified of the three candidates running," Ungethiem said of the May 3 Republican nominating contest pitting Musgrave, 58, against 32-year-old Alex Schmitt and 74-year-old conservative activist Brenda Bergwitz. But pre-primary campaign finance reports lay bare the extent to which Musgrave's bid to regain her former seat on county government's three-member executive governing body is opposed by GOP establishment figures. CANVASS PODCAST: Indiana Primary Election Preview Schmitt has a commanding lead in the money race, raising nearly three times as much as Musgrave with a major assist from Evansville Mayor Lloyd Winnecke. Schmitt reports contributions from political supporters and officials of Winnecke's administration including Winnecke's Carmel, Ind.-based 2015 campaign manager and donors, contractors and consultants who have supported the mayor. Winnecke's wife, Carol McClintock, regularly promotes Schmitt's campaign on her Facebook page, with one recent photo showing her doing "door to door and yard sign duty" with Schmitt volunteers. Other photos show McClintock wearing a Schmitt campaign button in public. Schmitt has raised enough money to afford the services of a Washington, D.C.-based political consulting and direct mail firm. He paid $3,965 nearly 9 percent of the $44,255 he reported raising to Political Ink, Inc. One of the firm's two partners was national political director of former House Speaker Newt Gingrich's 2012 presidential campaign. By comparison, Bergwitz reported raising $765 for her campaign. Musgrave, who reported raising $16,349, counters Schmitt's war chest, professional campaign help and GOP establishment support with recent endorsements by the Vanderburgh County Farm Bureau, Inc. and the Southwestern Indiana Builders Association political action committee. She has the support of four past local GOP chairmen Jeff Hatfield, Bob Whitehouse, Brent Grafton and Joe Harrison Jr. Schmitt was a political unknown with experience as a photographer specializing in "engagement, senior photos, family, scenery," and as an attorney when he entered the race in December. He said this month that he had left his position as an associate attorney at law firm Bingham Greenebaum Doll LLP, and was weighing other opportunities for employment. Having once dabbled in stand-up comedy, he describes himself on Twitter as a "lawyer, amateur photographer, funny man." Under party rules, Schmitt needed party chairman Wayne Parke's permission to run because he voted in last year's Democratic Party primary election the only primary in which he has participated. Parke confirmed Schmitt had no history of involvement in the GOP. Winnecke has said repeatedly that he sees in Schmitt the attributes of a bright young potential leader with a positive, collaborative message similar to his own. The mayor said in January that Musgrave was "not a supporter of our administration" last year, but he reiterated that his support for Schmitt is about Schmitt's attributes. Musgrave said she is too independent for Winnecke and his top aides, who she said are working with GOP leaders to turn the party into a cult of personality around the mayor. She said Schmitt would be entirely beholden to Winnecke if elected, acting in effect as the mayor's proxy on the County Commissioners. Schmitt did not return telephone and text messages seeking comment. Schmitt's contributors included Matt Humm, a Carmel resident who managed Winnecke's 2015 re-election campaign; former Mayor Russ Lloyd Jr., Winnecke's city controller; Kelley Coures, metropolitan development director in Winnecke's administration; and Police Chief Billy Bolin, an appointee of the mayor. Humm and Coures gave $100. Lloyd contributed $500, and Bolin kicked in $50. Alliances There is a certain symmetry in the way Republican factions are choosing sides in the Musgrave-Schmitt-Bergwitz race. Led by Winnecke, many of the same GOP establishment figures who are now backing Schmitt tried unsuccessfully to defeat Ungetheim in a Republican primary election in 2014. Instead, they supported then-Commissioner Marsha Abell, who lost to Ungetheim by a 55-45 percent margin. A look inside those numbers shows dramatic differences in the preferences of city and county Republicans differences that suggest Winnecke's political influence has limits. In the city, where Winnecke and his organization are strongest, Abell won five of six wards and garnered 59 percent to Ungetheim's 41 percent. Ungetheim won because he took a whopping 69 percent of the vote outside the city. The total of 6,258 ballots cast in the Abell-Ungetheim race was nearly evenly split between city and county, with 3,197 cast inside city limits and 3,061 outside the city. Robert L. Dion, a University of Evansville political scientist, said Ungetheim's commendation can help Musgrave with the Republican voters who comprise his power base outside the city but Winnecke's far more active support for Schmitt can mean more to the first-time candidate inside city limits. The mayor's political organization is fresh off its smashing 2015 victory and is still relatively intact, Dion said. "Mayor Winnecke was on the ballot just in November. I think there's a lot of residual energy pent up in the Winnecke machine, and they want to keep using it to leave a mark on government across the county," the UE political analyst said. "More than just giving his nod to somebody, I think the expectation is that he can lead people to follow his advice and vote for candidates he favors." In addition, Ungetheim had an advantage in county-only precincts that Musgrave does not. He was the public face of the 2012 drive to defeat a proposal for Evansville-Vanderburgh County local government consolidation, a deeply unpopular cause outside city limits. Musgrave said she voted no to the consolidation proposal after removing a pro-consolidation yard sign from her property. Serving as president of nonprofit Keep Evansville Beautiful at the time, she said she had felt compelled to display the sign because the group was then seeking city money. Winnecke was a leading public spokesman for consolidation, backed by an organization that raised its six-figure budget primarily from business interests. Among the contractors and consultants co-hosting a March 12 Schmitt fundraiser at Winnecke's Downtown condo were several that financially supported the pro-consolidation campaign. In Winnecke's 2012 campaign for consolidation lies the key to understanding his push to get Schmitt elected this year, Musgrave said. She pointed to the mayor's statement then that he would run for mayor of a combined government in 2014. "Having control of the County Commissioners is like second prize," Musgrave said. "They've lost the first prize, which was consolidation, so now they want to consolidate the power." Winnecke declined to respond when Musgrave made similar remarks in February, indicating he thought the charge was preposterous and saying he would not dignify it by replying. Through a spokesman, he declined again on Friday. 'The outsider' There is one giant wild card that Dion said likely will work to Musgrave's advantage in next week's primary election: the Indiana Republican presidential primary held on the same day. The 2014 primaries, in which there was no presidential nominating contest, saw 6,352 GOP ballots cast in Vanderburgh County. But this year, local elections officials expect something more like the 13,784 Republican primary votes that were cast in presidential election year 2012. Dion said those extra thousands of casual voters voters who typically don't turn out for elections unless presidential candidates are on the ballot will be more likely to recognize Musgrave's name than Schmitt's or Bergwitz's. Musgrave has been four times elected to countywide office and once appointed to head a state agency. Moreover, the opposition to Musgrave by local GOP establishment types will make her more, not less, appealing to voters looking to upset a few apple carts, Dion said. He said there is no reason to believe Winnecke's personal popularity is anything but robust but there are larger forces at work. "Those casual voters are coming in partly because they're drawn by the presidential race but also as part of this national mood of distaste for the political status quo," Dion said. "I don't think (Winnecke's support for Schmitt) hurts Schmitt but in the grand scheme of things, if your goal is to lodge a protest vote, Musgrave is clearly the outsider." Sen. Ted Cruz speaks at the Indiana Republican Party spring dinner at Primo's Banquet Center, Indianapolis, Thursday, April 21, 2016. SHARE By Tony Cook, IndyStar / USA TODAY NETWORK Republican presidential contender Ted Cruz will be back in Indiana on Saturday as part of his effort to block front-runner Donald Trump from winning the GOP nomination outright. The U.S. senator from Texas will stop at the Oasis Diner in Plainfield at 3:30 p.m., then host a rally at the Boone County Fairground's Witham Pavilion in Lebanon at 6 p.m. It will be Cruz's second Indiana stop in three days and signifies just how important the Hoosier state is to his strategy. Cruz is trying to prevent Trump from winning the required 1.237 delegates he needs to lock up the party's nomination. He views Indiana's May 3 primary when 57 delegates will be up for grabs as an essential part of that effort. The first public poll in the run-up to the primary was released Friday. It showed Trump leading Cruz 37 percent to 31 percent. Ohio Gov. John Kasich, who will be in town Tuesday, captured 22 percent. The poll had a margin of error of 4 percent and was sponsored by WTHR and HoweyPolitics. Sussex News Story Saved You can find this story in My Bookmarks. Or by navigating to the user icon in the top right. Carnival Corporation has sold back its 49 percent interest in Epirotiki Cruise Line to Epir Holdings. Paris Katsoufis, the third partner, and President of Dolphin/Majesty Cruise Lines, who obtained a reported 18 percent share in February, has also sold his portion. The price for the combined shares was approximately $25 million. According to Carnival Corp. Chairman and CEO, Micky Arison, "because of different strategic directions and cultural differences, it was in the best interests of both companies to separate." Adding that the move was "by mutual agreement and very amicable," Arison also noted that Carnival will realize a small gain on the transaction. This latest move follows vehement protest by Greek seafarers unions when, in January, Carnival increased its holding to 49 percent, the maximum ownership share allowed to non-Greek nationals under Greek cabotage laws in order for ships to fly a Greek flag. At that time, Katsoufis emerged as a shareholder and as Epirotiki Chairman, prompting speculation that he was allied with Carnival. The Greek unions questioned whether Katsoufis qualified as a Greek national because he has been a long-time resident of the U.S. They also threatened to strike if special job guarantees were not extended to them by Epirotiki. Since Carnival's "entry" into the Mediterranean via Epirotiki less than two years ago, the megacompany has indicated its intentions to restructure and modernize the Greek line. One move was to install Pamela Conover, a former Citicorp banker, as President and CEO based in Athens. In-house changes made by Conover included a new budgeting plan, computerization, and establishment of a hotel operations division under the supervision of Giora Israel, formerly Carnival's Special Projects Director. Other changes included putting several smaller Epirotiki ships on the selling block and updating the company logo. Epirotiki also announced its first winter season of full operations aboard the World Renaissance starting in November from Israel to Jordan and Egypt. Operating Differences However, early on reports indicated clashes in operating philosophy between Carnival and Epir Holdings, which represents the Potamianos family interests. The Potamianos family has owned the shipping line for four generations, dating back to 1830 when the company inaugurated. There may also have been some operating efficiencies in agency services, bunkering and purchasing in Europe enjoyed by Holland America Line and Windstar Cruises because of the Epirotiki affiliation. In addition, Carnival may also have lost a natural customer for its older ships. Conover and Israel are expected to join Carnival Corporation after assisting in the transition. One can't help but speculate whether Carnival will now establish its own European operations, rather than join with another company already ensconced in the region. Previous talks between Carnival and Club Med led nowhere. Good news for district officials who were excited about the prospect of federal grants to help schools become more integrated: The U.S. Department of Education is putting a twist on its nextand finalround of grants for the Investing in Innovation program. School districts that want to test out promising ideas to make schools more racially, economically, and ethnically diverse can apply for an i3 development grant (thats the smallest of the programs three categories of grants), according to a notice slated to be published in the Federal Register on Monday . The department is also looking for proposals that address school climate, college and career readiness, and explore how non-cognitive factors can contribute to student success (like social-emotional learning and perseverance.) Plus, rural projects will get a leg up in the competition. The department does a pre-application process with folks seeking development grants. Those applications will be available on April 27. The deadline to pre-apply is May 25. Does the whole federal-grants-for-diversity thing sound familiar? U.S. Secretary John B. King Jr. proposed a separate, $120 million program to address the topic in his budget request earlier this year . So far, though, its looking really, really unlikely that Congress will take him up on it. And some advocates were miffed that the program would only address socioeconomic, not racial, diversity. (I3 applicants can consider both, or either one. ) Some quick background on i3: Its the survivor among the Obama administrations marquee K-12 grant programs. Race to the Top and the School Improvement Grants are both gone, but the new Every Student Succeeds Act includes a program that looks a lot like i3, called the Education Innovation and Research program (EIR). The department will give out the first round of EIR grants next year, under a new president and likely a new education secretary. One big change with the new program: It will be a lot harder for the feds to decide what topics grantees should address. The research priorities are supposed to come from the field. So dont count on an EIR competition aimed at diversity. More on i3 in this package of stories , that I wrote with Sarah D. Sparks of Inside School Research fame. 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. Journalism award season continues, with Education Week winning an honor from the Society of Professional Journalists for its special report on New Orleans schools 10 years after Hurricane Katrina. The Re-Education of New Orleans , a multimedia package that debuted in August 2015, won SPJs Sigma Delta Chi Award for non-deadline reporting by a non-daily publication. The Sigma Delta Chi Awards honored two other education entries. Television station WDSU in New Orleans won in the documentary, small market category for an hourlong report on the Children of Katrina , which included a look at education effects of the hurricane disaster. Meanwhile, the McAlester News-Capital newspaper of Oklahoma won a public service journalism writing award for its series on nepotism and the misuse of public funds in the McAlester school district. Education Weeks report on New Orleans schools after Katrina said the hurricanes ruptures set off a cascade of profound changes to public schooling that have never before been seen in a single American city. Believers in the new way based on a proliferation of charters and school choice say its for the best, Education Week said. Graduation rates have ticked up. More kids are going to college. And achievement on state tests has grown. But, skeptics counter, there are casualties of such progress, the report continued. School closures that leave families stranded. Languishing special education students. And a growing class of young black men who never finish school and dont have jobs. Arianna Prothero, the lead reporter on the package, said she and other Education Week journalists reported the stories over several months that included multiple trips to New Orleans. For me, what I loved the most about the package and our coverage was the way we really prioritized the parents and students and educators point of view, she said. And Prothero cited the final segment of the package, The Last Word , which invited those with a stake in the outcome of the effort to improve education in New Orleans to offer their perspectives. We really handed the last word over to the residents of New Orleans, Prothero said. Besides Prothero, the team behind the package included reporters Denisa R. Superville and Corey Mitchell; photographers Charles Borst and Swikar Patel; videographer Deanna Del Ciello; artists Laura Baker, Gina Tomko, and Vanessa Solis; and web editors Stacey Decker and Del Ciello. The team was led by Lesli A. Maxwell, an assistant managing editor of Education Week who, as a reporter for the newspaper, spent the 2007-08 school year traveling to New Orleans to report on the early stages of the education rebuilding effort following Katrina. Leesburg Electric: With prices soaring, late fees are being waived Prices are up, so Leesburg Electric has decided that, as of Oct. 1, late fees will be waived. You've heard of Jack the Ripper, but maybe not John Christie, an equally notorious British serial killer who murdered seven women and one infant over a 10-year period between 1943 and 1953, and reportedly had sex with a few of his unconscious victims before delivering the fatal blow. His grisly story is the stuff of English legend, and in 1971, American director Richard Fleischer crossed the pond to immortalize it on celluloid. The result, '10 Rillington Place' (Christie's address and the scene of all of his crimes), is a deeply unsettling yet masterfully made film that's often difficult to watch, thanks to Fleischer's frank treatment of the material and exceptional performances by a highly talented cast. The Christie case is noteworthy not only for its perpetrator's horrific deeds and calculated method of killing, but also because of its impact on the British judicial system, which mishandled the investigation and convicted an innocent man of one of the murders. That man, Timothy Evans, an illiterate, hot-tempered bloke who rented a flat in Christie's rundown tenement with his wife Beryl and baby daughter Geraldine, fell prey to Christie's subtle yet relentless manipulations, which - compounded by Evans' fear, confusion, and compromised mental faculties - ultimately destroyed him. It's a devastating tale that resonates all the more strongly because it's true. And even though countless subsequent serial killers - from Charles Manson and David Berkowitz to Ted Bundy and Jeffrey Dahmer - have somewhat desensitized us to such demented and heartless violence, '10 Rillington Place' often provokes a queasy feeling of unease, despite the lack of any gore. That's a credit to Fleischer's keen storytelling ability and Clive Exton's tightly constructed script, both of which keep an intimate focus on the characters and foster a sustained aura of dread and claustrophobia. A veteran of the serial killer genre (if there is such a thing), Fleischer had previously directed 'Compulsion' (which chronicles the explosive Leopold-Loeb case) and 'The Boston Strangler,' yet his disturbing portrait of Christie raises the creepiness quotient exponentially. Like Hitchcock, Fleischer eschews graphic depictions of violence in favor of images of fear and foreboding that heighten the heinous nature of the crimes and their shocking impact. It all begins in the movie's opening frames, when the seemingly mild-mannered, attentive, and caring Christie (Richard Attenborough) quickly dispatches his first victim, a woman with severe bronchitis who hopes Christie's miracle elixir will cure her ills. With the same cordiality as Sweeney Todd in his tonsorial parlor before he slits his patients' throats, Christie sits the woman down in his ramshackle abode and puts a mask over her face so she can breathe in the vapors from a mysterious chalky brew. Yet unbeknownst to this naive and trusting soul, he laces the mixture with gas, and as she inhales the acrid fumes, she frantically and futilely tries to wriggle free of Christie's ever tightening grip, until at last she succumbs. Fast forward five years to 1949 and the arrival of the Evans family. The simple-minded Tim (John Hurt) toils at a menial job and regales his buddies with tall tales about his bogus privileged background while his comely wife Beryl (Judy Geeson) tends to their adorable baby girl. The couple loudly quarrels on a number of occasions, but the tensions reach a fever pitch when Beryl discovers she's once again pregnant. With no money for a second child, Beryl decides abortion is the only viable option and turns to Christie for fatherly guidance. Abortions, of course, are illegal, but the diabolical Christie convinces Beryl he has some medical training and can perform the procedure himself. With some trepidation, Beryl agrees, and after Christie has his way with her, he hatches a plot to pin her death on her distraught and frightened husband, who doesn't possess the tools to see through him. The first half of '10 Rillington Place' immerses us in Christie's sick mind, and when it becomes clear what he intends to do to Beryl, it's more than most of us can bear. I found myself squirming more than once, wishing I could stop the inevitable, and that's a tribute to Fleischer's measured pacing and understated approach. Like the characters, we long to escape Christie's stranglehold, so when the film shifts gears midway through and becomes a police procedural and courtroom drama, it's a welcome relief. The story's second half, however, is even more fascinating (and depressing), as we witness a monumental miscarriage of justice that's almost as sickening as Christie's murders. Whenever possible, Exton used actual court transcripts in place of invented dialogue, which lends the film a brutal authenticity similar - and more exploitative - movies lack. Attenborough is magnificent in the unsavory role. Donning a prosthetic bald skull (Christie had an enlarged head) and replicating Christie's quiet vocal tones (supposedly a result of being gassed during service in World War I), Attenborough fully inhabits the psychopathic killer whose kindly, timid demeanor masked his violent tendencies and distasteful fetishes. Though best known for his roles in 'The Great Escape' and 'Jurassic Park,' and for directing the Oscar-winning 'Gandhi,' Attenborough paints arguably his most vivid character portrait here, making an indelible impression in a completely unsympathetic part. And yet somehow the young Hurt eclipses him. In a performance of astonishing emotional intensity, Hurt brings Timothy Evans to brilliant life, embracing every facet of his personality, from the blustery braggart and bullying husband to the doting father and insecure simpleton. His raw, unbridled grief over his wife's death is a sight to behold, as is his dazed acceptance of Christie's manipulations and growing realization that the man he so implicitly trusted has cruelly betrayed him. Hurt has filed many riveting performances throughout his long and fruitful career, but this one ranks among his very best. There's nothing cheap or crude about '10 Rillington Place,' despite its chilling subject matter. Fleischer's semi-documentary approach elevates the material, but doesn't make it any easier to digest. Though I appreciate the artistry and performances, I'm not sure I ever want to visit '10 Rillington Place' again. And that is probably the greatest compliment I can pay this hard-hitting, well-crafted examination of unvarnished evil. The Blu-ray: Vital Disc Stats '10 Rillington Place' arrives on Blu-ray in a limited to 3,000 edition packaged in a standard case. An eight-page booklet featuring an essay by Twilight Time staffer Julie Kirgo, selected scene shots, and a reproduction of the movie's poster art is tucked inside the front cover. Video codec is 1080p/AVC MPEG-4 and audio is DTS-HD Master Audio 1.0. Once the disc is inserted into the player, the static menu without music immediately pops up; no previews or promos precede it. 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 Earlier this week we were treated to the latest official disaster-movie script about the world coming to an end if Britains voters decide to leave the European Union. Treasury civil servants cooked up numbers for what will happen to our incomes after gazing into their crystal balls and trying to guess what the world is going to look like in 14 years time. In reality, they have enough trouble working out what will happen 14 weeks ahead. But buried in the phoney forecasts there lurk some truly alarming numbers. The official assumption is that immigration will add at least three million to our population by 2030. Thats 200,000 people, or the equivalent to building a new town the size of Swindon or Aberdeen every single year. In other words, just a year after the Conservatives were returned to office, the Treasury admits it has given up on one of the key promises that the British people elected us to deliver to cut net immigration to the tens of thousands. Scroll down for video Iain Duncan Smith: The official assumption is that immigration will add at least three million to our population by 2030. Thats 200,000 people, or the equivalent to building a new town the size of Swindon or Aberdeen every single year They are doing this because of their desperation to remain part of the Brussels club whatever the cost to peoples lives. British people want to take back control of their borders, and introduce an immigration system that works for the British people which would involve allowing in migrants whose skills we need, as well as those who are fleeing persecution. We have a duty to see to it that the people who elected us have good quality homes and public services. The arrival of a staggering quarter of a million people a year from Europe alone makes that an impossibility. People are already experiencing the cost of uncontrolled immigration with pressure on jobs, wages, and housing not to mention ever-increasing waiting times at hospitals that are full to capacity, and families struggling to find places for their children at our oversubscribed schools. The hundreds of millions of pounds we send every week to the EU could be used to invest in our stretched public services if we leave the European Union and take back control over how our money is spent. Controlling our borders would be fairer for migrants themselves. We would end the scandal of unscrupulous employers cramming European workers into substandard housing and requiring them to pay rent that effectively pushes their pay below the minimum wage. This would reduce exploitation and at the same time mean rogue employers were not unfairly undercutting British workers. The bill for immigration hits all of us through our tax bills. The Prime Minister said last year that 40 per cent of all recent European Economic Area migrants are supported by the UK benefits system, with each family claiming an average of 6,000 a year. The PM wanted to address this to prevent migrants claiming any benefits for four years after they come to Britain. The EU refused to grant it. He said he wanted to end the madness of sending child benefit to migrants children who dont even live in this country. The EU refused that as well. Controlling our borders would be fairer for migrants themselves. We would end the scandal of unscrupulous employers cramming European workers into substandard housing and requiring them to pay rent that effectively pushes their pay below the minimum wage I bet Im not alone in finding it galling to watch a British Prime Minister running around Europe asking for a decent settlement, but only getting crumbs from the top table. The truth is the EU is incapable of reform. Its a failing project that no one in their right mind would join now. If we dont leave, I fear that the pressures Brits are already facing will only get worse because rather than reducing the pull factors the Government is increasing them. I cheered the introduction of the National Living Wage, but when take-home pay in Britain is already more than five times higher than in the poorest EU countries, such a jump in wages will surely lead to another stampede to our borders. To make the Living Wage work for British people, we need to be able to control the number of people coming in. If we Vote Leave we can take back control of our country and our borders. We can look forward to a more secure, as well as a more positive and more prosperous future. The tone was patronising, the language menacing and the message not only hypocritical but, frankly, insulting. Certainly, Barack Obama has every right to say he thinks its in Americas best interests for Britain to remain in the EU, if that is what he believes. But he has no business to come here and preach that submission to Brussels is good for the people of the UK. Barack Obama has every right to say he thinks its in Americas best interests for Britain to remain in the EU, if that is what he believes. But he has no business to come here and preach that submission to Brussels is good for the people of the UK By arguing that a Britain outside the EU would be at the back of the queue for a trade deal, to Number 10s delight, Mr Obama displayed contempt for voters and left little doubt that he sees the special relationship as a one-way street. Has he forgotten he leads a nation founded to proclaim independence from overseas control, whose citizens died for the right to make their own laws? Will he not admit that the US wouldnt agree in a million years to join a body like the EU, putting the Supreme Court in Washington under the thumb of foreign judges? Or that freedom-loving America wouldnt tolerate for a second the statist edicts spewing daily from Brussels? Why, then, does he abuse the UKs hospitality by urging Britons to remain in a relationship his own people would never countenance? Mr Obamas grasp of history is shaky, too, if he believes the EU can take credit for seven decades of relative peace. Yes, a new spirit of friendship between European nations sprang up after 1945. But this had far more to do with memories of the horrors of two world wars than with any Brussels institution. No, the true peacekeeper has surely been Nato, whose shield protected the continent from the Soviet Unions might during the Cold War while our intelligence-sharing arrangements, on which our security from terrorism depend, have nothing to do with the EU. Which brings us to Mr Obamas own sorry record as Commander-in-Chief and architect of Americas foreign policy. This is the man who made way for the rise of IS by his reckless withdrawal from Iraq. He has failed even to honour his pledge to close Guantanamo Bay. And his chief foreign policy success has been a deal with terrorist-sponsoring Iran. In the spirit of friends who have no fear of each other, to borrow his words, arent we entitled to ask why Britain should take advice from this President on how to conduct our own affairs? Blair's immoral greed We have long known Tony Blair is happy to sell his soul for cash with his principles thrown in free (if he ever had any). But until today, we didnt know his asking price for putting his experience and contacts as ex-Prime Minister at the service of brutal and corrupt dictators. Mr Blair asks a cool 5.3million a year for his firm to advise Kazakhstans President Nursultan Nazarbayev (pictured) On pages 14 & 15, the Mail reveals the answer. Mr Blair asks a cool 5.3million a year for his firm to advise Kazakhstans President Nursultan Nazarbayev on such matters as putting the best spin on his regimes massacre of striking oil workers. In office, Mr Blair vandalised the constitution, politicised the civil service, fiddled figures, dumbed down exams, sold honours and ducked vital reforms of welfare and the public services. Out of office, his treacherous greed continues to bring shame on our country. As a champion of making work pay, Iain Duncan Smith cheered when George Osborne announced the National Living Wage. But on Page 8 today, he admits a huge drawback. With pay in Britain five times higher than in poorer EU countries, he says, the further rise will lead to another stampede to our borders. Bruno Kramm, leader of Berlin's branch of the German Pirate Party, was arrested Saturday for insulting Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Kramm was detained while conducting a "literary analysis," in support of comedian Jan Boehmermann, outside the Turkish Embassy in Berlin. As part of the publicity stunt, he read two lines of Boehmermann poem ridiculing Erdogan. The incident comes after chancellor Angela Merkel allowed prosecutors to file charges against Boehmermann, following Turkish demands that he be punished for broadcasting the poem on local television. Boehmermann, however, was not physically detained by police. RT reports that Kramm was "approached by several police officers" after he began citing the lines and taken into custody. Police dispersed the gathering, according to RT. The arrest will further embarrass the German government, which sees itself as supportive of free speech but has failed to scrap an old law against insulting foreign heads of state. Merkel has promised to do so, but has also been criticized for condemning the poem and cosying up to the Turks to get them to accept more Syrian refugees. Line Of Duty has done it again. The award-winning police corruption story, BBC2s most popular serial drama for years, has consistently shocked audiences with violent plot twists that kill off major characters. Jessica Raine was just one episode into her debut on the show in 2014 when her character, rookie Georgia Trotman, was flung from a hospital window and killed. But thats nothing compared to the ending of last nights episode in which the shows charismatic but shifty heroine, ex-detective Lindsay Denton, was shot in the head at point blank range as she threatened to expose a VIP child abuse ring. Line Of Duty has consistently shocked audiences with violent plot twists that kill off major characters. Pictured: Superintendent Ted Hastings (Adrian Dunbar), Detective Sergeant Steve Arnott (Martin Compston), Detective Constable Kate Fleming (Vicky McClure) The award-winning police corruption story, BBC2s most popular serial drama for years, continues to delight. Pictured: Detective Sergeant Steve Arnott and Detective Constable Kate Fleming Denton (Keeley Hawes) had been the compelling figure at the core of the drama since the start of the second series. We believed in her innocence and even when she took a 50,000 bribe, betraying her fellow officers and helping engineer their murders in a gangland ambush, we still hoped her motives had been for the good. As he drove her to her fate, DI Matthew Cottan revealed he knew why shed taken the money: Because you wanted to find a young girl who was being groomed by [paedophile gangster] Tommy Hunter and his cronies. Now we might never know the whole truth. Shes been pushing her luck for weeks, ever since her unexpected reappearance in this series (a twist that was somehow kept secret until the moment she appeared on screen). Now shes pushed it right over a cliff-edge. This isnt the only shocking death in recent episodes. At the outset, writer Jed Mercurio spent an hour setting up the psychotic firearms officer Danny Waldron (Daniel Mays) as his new central character. Then, in a jaw-dropping scene, Danny was found with a bullet in his neck and the other gun squad officers standing around his body as he bled to death. One of those officers turned up hanging from a noose in a warehouse, a couple of weeks later. It wasnt suicide. Now every leading character suspects all the others. And that leaves us wondering... Who can we trust? SUPT TED HASTINGS (PLAYED BY ADRIAN DUNBAR) Superintendent Ted Hastings, played by Adrian Dunbar, likes to police the police in the show. But suspicions also hang over his head Hes the head of the anti-corruption unit, AC-12 the copper in charge of investigating corrupt coppers. For three series he has been the one dependable figure at the heart of Line Of Duty. Even that Northern Irish accent emphasises that hes a puritan to the core. Except that in the past couple of episodes, a deeply troubling side to the Super has been revealed. When a retired officer and old friend comes under suspicion, Hastings stalled the inquiry, then tried to stifle an informal interview. During the official follow-up questioning, he seemed to be frantically soft-pedalling. And when he greeted this friend, he used the Masonic handshake. What on earth is a watchdog like Hastings, a man who exists to police the police, doing in the Masons? And why, come to that, does he keep lying about his marriage break-up, and pretending that he goes home to his wife every night? At first viewers were inclined to give him the benefit of the doubt and assumed he was in denial, but now its starting to look much darker and creepier. At the centre of this series are gruesome rumours of systematic child abuse, at a boys home. If Hastings is part of the cover-up, then Lindsay Denton died for nothing because her last ploy, before taking a bullet to the head, was to send a copy of Danny Waldrons list to the AC-12 boss himself. All Hastings has to do is delete that email, and the evidence vanishes forever against a string of child molesters in the corridors of power. Including, probably, his old friend, former Chief Superintendent Fairbank. And maybe, possibly, but surely not... Hastings himself? Suspicion rating: 6/10 DETECTIVE INSPECTOR MATTHEW DOT COTTAN (CRAIG PARKINSON) Detective Inspector Matthew 'Dot' Cottan, played by Craig Parkinson, last night held a pistol to Lindsay Dentons eyeball and, with a shaking hand, pulled the trigger No doubts here. Weve always known Dot was a badun, stabbing his boss in the back during the first series, and revealed as the mastermind behind the murder of a police informer and several officers in the second. But we didnt know how far he could go until last night, when he held a pistol to Lindsay Dentons eyeball and, with a shaking hand, pulled the trigger. Until now he has seemed immune, a star policeman, commended for bravery after framing PC Hari Bains for the murder of a colleague, and literally beating himself up in the process to fabricate a life or death struggle. But this time he might have waded too deep: he murdered Denton in DS Steve Arnotts car, but he got blood all over his clothes and face in the process. Cottan let slip to colleague DC Kate Fleming that his gambling problem broke up his marriage. Weve seen him outside a betting shop, struggling to control his compulsion. But what we dont know is whether he plays his role as The Caddy the go-between for organised mobsters because hes in their debt, or because theyre paying him bribes. Is it blackmail, or greed... or both? One crucial clue: Cottan has five pay-as-you-go burners, untraceable mobile phones, at his apartment. That implies he gives and takes orders from at least five people. One was Hari Bains. Another could be old chum DC Nigel Morton (Neil Morrissey). But who are the others? Suspicion rating: 10/10 DETECTIVE SERGEANT STEVE ARNOTT (MARTIN COMPSTON) Detective Sergeant Steve Arnott, played by Martin Compston, is the closest this show gets to a hero Arnott is the closest this show gets to a hero. Hes chippy, cocky and thinks hes a better detective than anyone else at AC-12, but he plays by the book. He earned his place on the squad by refusing to join a cover-up after a blunder on an anti-terrorism raid. But his girlfriend, murder squad detective Sam Railston (Aiysha Hart), doesnt trust him. She thinks he slept with Lindsay Denton, despite all his denials. And Denton claimed to have a recording on her phone of her and Steve having a fumble: when she threatened to play it at an AC-12 meeting, he looked terrified and ordered her not to do it. What has he got to be so scared of? An audio recording of a fumble cant be that incriminating, unless he was commentating in conventional AC-12 interview style: For the tape, DS Arnott is now removing his shirt... Cottan has already stirred enough doubts about Arnott to have him suspended from duty. Now Dentons body is in his car. Even his partner, Kate Fleming, thinks he planted the money that got Denton convicted (another of Cottans double-crosses). We still trust Arnott... but no one else does. Suspicion rating: 2/10 DETECTIVE CONSTABLE KATE FLEMING (VICKY MCCLURE) So far, weve seen no reason to suspect Detective Constable Kate Fleming. Her personal life is a mess in the last series, she ended up sleeping in her car after a break-up but that never spills over into her police duties So far, weve seen no reason to suspect Kate. Her personal life is a mess in the last series, she ended up sleeping in her car after a break-up but that never spills over into her police duties. On the other hand, as the undercover specialist of AC-12, shes a consummate liar. When she insinuated her way into an elite firearms squad, no one saw through her disguise even though the team was under intense scrutiny, first for the killing of a suspect, Ronan Murphy, and later for the murder of their commanding officer, Sgt Waldron (Daniel Mays). Last night [THURSDAY 21st] Kate sought permission from a senior officer outside AC-12 to investigate one of her colleagues. We might assume shes interested in Ted Hastings and his Masonic chums. But shes also been flirting with Dot Cottan, which is not like her... could she be leading him on, in the hope hell give himself away? Suspicion rating: 3/10 Lindsay Denton (Keeley Hawes) and Melanie Hepburn QC (Poppy Miller) answer questions from the press GILL BIGELOW (POLLY WALKER) The police lawyer, a jobsworth who cares nothing about solving crimes but everything about appearances, has seemed dodgy since her debut in the current series. She was eager to give Hastings a file filched from the archives, which turned out to have all the juicy bits missing (unless, of course, it was Hastings himself who censored the details). And she was very lovey-dovey with the Super when she wanted him to kick Arnott off the case perhaps because the objectionable little sergeant was too close to uncovering the truth about abuse at the Sandsview Boys Home in the Nineties. Her reaction, when he informed her of his intention to interrogate retired Chief Supt Patrick Fairbank, was to offer to hand over all the files immediately to the historic sex abuse investigation team at Operation Yewtree. It didnt sound as if she was desperate to be helpful, more that she intended to bury the files. And when Hastings declined her kind offer, she got quite aggressive. Why would she care, unless she had something to hide? Suspicion rating: 7/10 THE YEWTREE CONNECTION Detective Sergeant Steve Arnott arrives at the scene of the crime in an action-packed episode One of the biggest shocks last night, other than the execution of Denton, came during the interrogation of former vice squad chief Patrick Fairbank. Newspaper photographs were projected onto a screen: one of them showed Fairburn shaking hands with Jimmy Savile. The spectre of Savile and other highly placed child molesters electrifies this drama. Mercurio has included some blatant references: Fairbank, for instance, is also the codename of a Metropolitan police inquiry into a paedophile ring in 2012. And the obese councillor who ran the abuse ring at the boys home was called Dale Roach. Switch that round and you get Roachdale or Rochdale, the consituency where serial sex offender Cyril Smith was MP for 20 years. Dale Roach told the boys to call him Mr Smith. The clues are everywhere in Line Of Duty, even in the names. Social worker Oliver Stephens-Lloyd was murdered nearly 20 years ago after he approached police with allegations of abuse. Fairbank did all he could to have his death dismissed as suicide. But Stephens-Lloyd must have made a list of suspects, names the boys had given him. If that list is ever found, it could be even more important than the one Denton died trying to deliver. THE UNANSWERED QUESTIONS Much of the appeal of Line Of Duty lies in the way nothing is ever cut and dried. New evidence emerges every week that twists our perspectives, forcing us to re-evaluate characters and their motives. We can never be sure we know everything and theres no guarantee that some of the biggest questions will ever be answered. ** Who is the Mr Big that controls police corruption? DI Dot Cottan is committing murder because hes terrified, not because he enjoys it but we never see him speaking to the people who control him, let alone meeting them directly. Are they organised gangsters, or high-ranking police officers too? And why is Mr Big so eager to protect paedophile politicians? ** Whats the truth about Lindsay Denton? At different times, weve been convinced of her innocence, and then certain she was guilty. She lived for nothing but policing, so what would be important enough to make her jeopardise that? Surely not a 50,000 that she couldnt easily spend. Theres much more to her story than we have discovered, but now shes dead will we ever learn all the answers? ** Is AC-12 rotten to the core? Its a bleak idea, and one that would enrage real-life police officers across the country, but sometimes it seems that the anti-corruption unit is doomed to failure because theres no such thing (in Jed Mercurios fictional world) as a wholly trustworthy copper. Every member of the team has a private agenda with secrets to hide. But few people could accept the idea of a police series that was inherently anti-police. If thats ultimately the case, millions of viewers will feel betrayed by the show itself, and the BBC would come in for intense criticism. Its one thing for a spy series, such as the Eighties classic Edge Of Darkness, to draw the conclusion that everyones dishonest and were all doomed but a very different prospect for a police drama. Advertisement THE DUPLICATE PHONE When DI Cottan threw one arm around his old mate Nigel Morton in an underground carpark, and reached for his pistol with the other, we were all expecting a gunshot. Even Neil Morrissey, as the washed-up old copper with the pantomime limp, looked ready for it. Instead, Morton got nothing worse than a hug. Cottan actually looked ready to cry: his colleague had handed over a cheap phone and SIM card that contained incriminating evidence against Dot. The inspector lost no time in destroying it with his lighter. Wh we saw and Dot didnt was the Jiffy bag in Mortons car, containing an identical phone and SIM. Clearly, that evidence has not quite disappeared. Will it be this twist that finally brings Cottan to justice? Or will he pin Dentons murder on Steve, wheedle Kate into bed and push a disgraced Hastings into early retirement... before taking over control of AC-12 himself? Its hopeless trying to second-guess this drama. All we can know for certain is that it will be a very long wait for next Thursdays climax. When the full story finally emerged it was genuinely chilling. Hazel Buchanan was a Sunday school teacher, Colin Howell was the charismatic family dentist. They were both married, respected members of their local Baptist church, but while they played happy families in public, in private they were having a passionate affair. When their secret came out the illicit meetings continued, and then came the shocking moment when Howell suggested to his mistress a plot to murder his wife and her husband. The Secret: Episode 1. James Nesbitt as Colin Howell, who carried out his plan with Hazel Buchanan What makes gripping four-part ITV drama The Secret so harrowing is that the tale is actually true. Colin Howell and Hazel Buchanan carried out their plan in the town of Coleraine in Northern Ireland in 1991. He killed his wife Lesley, a nurse and mother of their four children, and Trevor, Hazel's police officer husband and father of their two children, and dumped the bodies in the village of Castlerock, making it look like a suicide pact. The pair thought they'd got away with the perfect murder; indeed the horrific truth lay hidden for 19 years. But secrets have a way of coming out, and eventually the past came back to haunt them. Both Howell, now 56, and Hazel Stewart (she remarried), 53, are currently serving life sentences for murder. Hazel Buchanan [Genevieve O'Reilly] and Colin Howell [James Nesbitt] from a scene in the new series The story of what they did, how they got away with it for so long and how they were eventually caught had a special resonance for James Nesbitt, who plays Colin. 'This took place in my home town of Coleraine. My sister used to go to Lesley Howell's coffee mornings, and two of my best friends were patients of Colin's. It really shook a place that was already used to a lot of trouble. 'Everyone knows the story over there, everyone has an opinion on it, and we were very aware of local sensitivities, so we didn't film on the estate where the murders happened, or where the bodies were found. But after Colin dumped the bodies, he ran along the beach on his way home and ran right past my parents' house. We retraced his steps of that night, and recreating that was quite chilling.' Two of my best friends were his patients! The role of a manipulative killer is just the latest in a string of gruelling parts for James. In the powerful BBC drama The Missing he played a grieving father searching for his son. Before that he took on the role of Protestant MP Ivan Cooper in Granada TV's controversial Bloody Sunday, and in the film Five Minutes Of Heaven he played a Catholic man whose brother was gunned down in front of him by the Ulster Volunteer Force. 'It was great to go home and do something that wasn't about The Troubles,' admits James, with that familiar twinkle in his eye. The 51-year-old, who is separated from the mother of his two daughters, Peggy, 18, and Mary, 14, has certainly come a long way from romantic comedy Cold Feet which started nearly 18 years ago and in which he'll return later this year. To help prepare for his challenging roles in both Bloody Sunday and Five Minutes Of Heaven he met the real people he was to play. 'I would have loved to have met Colin Howell too,' he says. 'We spoke to a lot of people who knew him and he clearly had a certain charm and was a forceful personality with incredible self-belief, which put him in a place where he felt that rules didn't apply to him. It was eventually decided I shouldn't meet him, but I'm still very intrigued.' Dublin-born actress Genevieve O'Reilly, who plays Hazel Stewart, was less keen to meet her character, not least because Stewart still professes her innocence and claims she was coerced into the murders. She had her latest appeal against her conviction turned down in October. 'They're complicated people,' says Genevieve, 'with their goodness and their generosity to their community and their love for their children, but also their wickedness, their narcissism and cowardice.' Religion adds extra spice to the story as the couple met at the close-knit local Baptist church. 'It's easy to imagine the Baptist community as a cultish world,' says James. 'But I know a lot of Baptists and they're charitable people. It was interesting, though, to explore how wickedness can flourish and grow under the cover of religion.' James admits that playing Colin got under his skin. 'It's important to remember that the murder he wanted to commit wasn't the murder he did commit,' he says. 'He wanted it to be painless for Lesley and Trevor, and more significantly for himself, but it doesn't turn out like that, and I think that was what haunted him. Playing these characters certainly left an indelible mark on Genevieve and me.' The Queen with princes Andrew and Edward at Sandringham in 1969 lutching the remote control in her private sitting room atop Buckingham Palace, the Queen flicked over to BBC1 to catch News At Six. Her brow furrowed as the grinning face of Alexander Armstrong loomed up at the climax of Pointless. Baffled, she looked at her watch. She was early for Sophie Raworth and the news. Absorbed, Her Majesty carried on watching and she's been hooked on the popular early-evening quiz show presented by Alexander and Richard Osman ever since. 'Her Majesty's diary always stops for her afternoon cup of tea in her private sitting room and it's now customary for Pointless to be on the television,' reveals a courtier. The Queen watching the BBC1 Six O'Clock News on TV at Sandringham with Prince Edward and Prince Andrew Celebrities meeting HMQ can easily assume she's a fan of their shows because she'll have done her research and be able to hold a two-minute conversation with them. There are instances where PR machines like to claim her endorsement, but no one except The X Factor's producers would think she was a fan of the show, despite her allegedly telling a contestant in 2011 that, 'Your song was fabulous' and that she never misses it (clue: 'fabulous' is not a royal word). Coronation Street, unlike the Queen Mother and her own son and heir Prince Charles - who once appeared on it. She doesn't approve of TVs in bedrooms and consumes her morning news via Radio 4. She's a fan of political programmes with an edge. Shows like Question Time bore her unless they're confrontational. She'll watch racing (but detests ad breaks since it moved from the BBC) and loves Antiques Roadshow and Antiques Road Trip - but finds Bargain Hunt 'slightly vulgar', says my source. Her Majesty spends most time in front of a TV during her summer break at Balmoral. When she appeared on Antiques Roadshow in 2014 she asked Fiona Bruce when it was going to be broadcast. Hearing it might be August she said to Prince Philip, 'Oh good, we'll be able to watch it at Balmoral.' She was a huge fan of Jeeves & Wooster, possibly as a result of having been brought up on PG Wodehouse The BBC sends selected shows up for the Queen to watch, and has been known to slip in unrequested items they think she may enjoy. Her horizons are also broadened by the younger royals, who are known to send her DVDs. Although her comedy tastes were fashioned by favourites like Benny Hill and Dad's Army, modern comedies are too much. She was, though, a huge fan of Fry and Laurie as Jeeves & Wooster, possibly as a result of having been brought up on PG Wodehouse by her mother. Shows about snobbery like Keeping Up Appearances and Downton Abbey are favourites - and she's firmly in the anti-toff camp. She and Philip briefly earned the nicknames Hyacinth and Richard - after the Keeping Up Appearances characters - within the family. She was sorry when Last Of The Summer Wine ended in 2010 and there's also evidence she was a fan of The Bill. 'I don't like it but I just can't help watching it,' she's quoted as saying. She likes Silent Witness, New Tricks and Midsomer Murders but struggled with Inspector Morse because of all the music. She was a great fan of variety shows like Sunday Night At The London Palladium and The Good Old Days - in contrast with her dislike of turning up in person for the Royal Variety Show. Asked why she preferred such shows on TV she replied, 'Well, I can turn them off when I don't like something.' He's a good egg, Ben Fogle. And a popular one. Sixteen years after he and his dog Inca first won the nation's hearts as castaways in a TV experiment on the desolate Scottish island of Taransay, he remains as busy as ever. 'I am the bag man,' he laughs. 'I live out of a bag.' He can count on one hand the nights he's spent at the London home he shares with wife Marina and their two children, Ludo and Iona, over the past few months. He's not an animal expert or a TV hardman - and he has no pretensions to be either. His popularity lies in his candid everyman persona as well as a thirst for knowledge and an articulate way of expressing it. His classic good looks and easy charm are an added bonus - even the royals love him. But if you thought that all added up to blandness personified, well, he can surprise you. Ben Fogle with the Hadzabe tribe, who still hunt with bows and poison-tipped arrows, in Tanzania, Africa Ben had just made a Channel 5 series that fulfilled a lifetime dream - following what's known as the Great Migration across Africa; the biggest movement of animals on Earth. He says this has had a tremendous impact on him, giving him food for thought about the way the world is going and leading to some controversial conclusions. 'The Great Migration is the longest single project I've worked on since I was on Taransay,' he says. 'Over a year or so I went half a dozen times to follow this incredible movement. Up to two million wildebeest do 1,500 miles through the Serengeti region of Tanzania, across Kenya's Masai Mara area and then back down in their search for food and water.' Why not give tax breaks to one-child families? Ben relished getting close to the beasts even if it could be a bit too close for comfort. 'We spent a few evenings in a tent surrounded by wildebeest and lions and the noise was terrifying,' he says. 'One of our production team went out to check the camera batteries were charging and came face to face with a lion. He leapt into his tent and used a cable tie to lock the zip closed, which we all thought was hilarious because a bit of plastic holding a zip together wouldn't have kept a lion out if he'd wanted to come in.' Just as interesting as tracking the wildebeest was his time with the humans en route. In the first episode, screened last night and available on catch-up service My5, he stayed a few days with the nomadic Hadzabe tribe, who still hunt with bows and poison-tipped arrows. 'Being with them was extraordinary,' says Ben. 'I was appalled they were shooting baboons to eat, but that's part of their culture and you have to respect that. A lot of people might think that in 2016 they should be more sympathetic to our wildlife but their culture hasn't changed for thousands of years. I don't know how long such a tribe will be able to survive. In ten or 15 years they may be extinct. We focus a lot on the pressures on our wildlife but many tribes of people are also at risk of extinction. I see cities sprawling out into wilderness areas as human populations grow. They're growing at an astonishing rate but no one wants to talk about it and I find that terrifying.' Wildebeest on their annual Great Migration in the Serengeti. Up to two million do 1,500 miles through the region of Tanzania, across Kenya's Masai Mara area and then back down in their search for food and water Searching for an answer has led to some tough thinking. 'The voluntary reduction of family size is the only answer,' he sighs. 'I don't think we could ever impose a one-child policy like China has done; that artificially changes the balance of a population when parents only want a child of one sex. But I think in the next few years there will be campaigns from charities to introduce the idea of saving the planet by having only one child. They might need to have a financial incentive to make it work; maybe something like paying less tax. Sir David Attenborough and Chris Packham and a lot of great conservationists have already said it's the human population that's the biggest threat to our planet, and they're right.' Watch Ben in Ben Fogle: The Great African Migration Friday at 9pm, Channel 5 Ben admits that by having two children - Ludo is six, Iona four - he's not practising what he preaches. 'I've already contradicted my own principles and that's a problem the planet faces; heart over mind. It's natural to want to procreate. Our problem is we've become too good at protecting ourselves. The wildebeest population stays stable at 1.5 million even though it starts at 2 million, because so many are killed by other animals or drown in rivers. But we've come up with amazing drugs to keep people alive for longer. I'm not saying we need to get rid of all that but we've become victims of our own success.' Two years ago he and Marina lost a baby who died in the womb at 33 weeks. It was a little boy, they named him Willem. 'I think from that moment we, as a family, made the decision we wanted to enjoy every moment we have together. Life throws you curveballs and tests you; you have to be resilient. You can't dwell too much on the past, you have to look to the future.' To that end Ben's looking for a place to be a castaway once again, this time with his family. 'I'm about to start filming a new series of New Lives In The Wild, the Channel 5 show where I go and live with people who've moved to the most remote corners of the world. It gives me a great opportunity to search for potential places where we can do that as a family. Until recently Marina's rolled her eyes at the idea but she sees the value in it now. 'We spent time in Tanzania with the kids last year and it was amazing seeing them thrive. It would be great to have time as a family, but also to learn about different people, different environments, a different way of life. I'd like the children to understand their place in the world and how others live. 'A lot is made of children missing school for holidays. But frankly, if you aren't just going to sit on a beach in an all-inclusive resort there's no reason why children shouldn't have time off school to go and explore. They learn far more outside the classroom than in it, and we'd like to take ours out for six months. If I have to pay a fine, I will.' Ben, who went to Bryanston boarding school in Dorset, believes there's something very wrong with the education system. 'I hate our obsession with exams; they're all about box-ticking and nothing to do with children. I'd abolish it all. I'd make classrooms outside and get kids active. Children lose their aggression when they're outside. Scandinavia has a policy of outdoor education, and we should look at that.' This is partly why he's set up the School of Wild in the Cotswolds, which he's hoping to make a national franchise. 'It's a school in the woods where children can learn bushcraft skills: how to make bows and arrows, how to start fires without matches. It's about showing children what a beautiful place the wilderness is. I don't want my children to be scared of the wilderness. Everything I've been doing for the past 15 years has been leading to one big moment and that's what it is. I want to make sure every child has access to the outdoors and the wilderness.' Tracey Taylor struggled to give birth naturally to her first child. Doctors told her she had a small pelvis and should opt for a caesarean section if she became pregnant again. So, when baby number two was on his way in June 2015, Tracey repeatedly told medical staff at Londons North Middlesex Hospital this was what she needed. But her request was not taken seriously. She had to have a vaginal birth against her wishes. Her son, Kristian, was born following a very difficult birth, which ended in an emergency caesarean after suction and forceps had failed. He suffered severe brain injury and died five days later. The coroner examining the case wrote a damning report that was sent to the Department of Health in the past week, warning we face more deaths in future because women arent being given the caesareans they need. It seems to me beyond doubt that the NHS prefers vaginal births simply because they are less expensive than caesareans What on earth is going on? I thought the days when women and babies died in childbirth were behind us. Its not as if we dont have the knowledge, skill and technology to make giving birth a safe, pain-free experience. But the limitations of medicine arent to blame here. Instead, its two things: money and politics. It seems to me beyond doubt as the coroner himself concluded that the NHS prefers vaginal births simply because they are less expensive than caesareans. I have no issue at all with the NHS favouring cheaper options. But that only makes sense if it doesnt imperil standards of care. Official guidelines by the health watchdog Nice spell out that women should have a choice on caesareans. If a mother-to-be feels certain its the best choice for her, then thats her right. O r so the theory goes. The truth is that, despite the NHS banging on endlessly about patient choice, there isnt really any choice at all when it comes to birth. We pay lip service to women making birth plans, but if you try to deviate from what the clinician thinks you should have, then suddenly the mask slips and youre bullied into doing what they wanted all along. Official guidelines by the health watchdog Nice spell out that women should have a choice on caesareans. If a mother-to-be feels certain its the best choice for her, then thats her right Women who request caesareans are made to feel theyre lazy or indulgent. Small pelvis like poor Tracey Taylor? Sorry, love, tough luck, youll do what youre told. In Traceys case, there was a clear medical need for her to have a caesarean and its scandalous this was ignored. But why shouldnt she have been free to choose how she gave birth anyway? Why should any woman be forced to have her baby in a way she isnt comfortable with? The irony is that todays mothers are victims of the feminists of the Seventies, who attacked what they saw as the medicalisation of birth. They argued that the rise of caesareans was all about men taking over a natural process and limiting womens reproductive freedom. They had a point. Most of the obstetricians doing the operations were men, and no one wants birth turned into something as cold and clinical as removing a tumour. But, as so often happens, things have swung too far the other way. Today, there is a tremendous, almost crushing expectation placed on women that they must have as natural a birth as possible. Who cares if youre worried about potential pain and trauma? The NHS would rather have you panting away with some healing crystals and lavender water than lying with an epidural in an operating theatre. Weve switched from the tyranny of faceless men in surgical masks to the tyranny of hippy-dippy claptrap. And hospitals arent going along with this for any scientific reason. They are cynically doing it because its cheaper. When you look at private medicine, where women do actually get a choice, everyone is opting for more and more medical intervention. S uddenly all this natural guff is brushed away. Sure, you might have a bit of reflexology on the side, but ultimately you expect an obstetrician to be taking every possible step to make your birth easier. Caesareans are de rigueur. Its clear that when people have economic freedom, there are no qualms about a medicalised birth. Yet, in the NHS, obstetric wards have been re-branded birthing centres and expensive doctors have conveniently been banished. Im sick of seeing expectant women bowed down by the pressure placed on them to do things a certain way. This isnt being liberated. Its simply swapping one form of oppression and control for another. It's gender la-la land! Children as young as four are being asked by Brighton and Hove council which gender they identify with. Bonkers or what? Im all for gender stereotypes being challenged, and children feeling their sex has nothing to do with what they can achieve in life. I also support being sensitive and understanding towards individuals with gender dysphoria, where you feel your biological sex doesnt match your inner reality. But Im sorry, this is deranged. The la-la notion has crept in that there is no such thing as gender that its a construct we can choose like the colour of our socks. Every other animal under the sun is either male or female. Are humans the one exception? Never mind choosing their gender, these children are too young to choose what to have for tea. Acne can blight your life - and don't I know it New research by the British Skin Foundation shows nearly one in five people who have acne have contemplated suicide because of it. The same number have finished a relationship because of their acne, and nearly 60 per cent have experienced verbal abuse. Unfortunately, the medical professional often dismisses acne as just spots and fails to appreciate how brutally debilitating it can be. And a lot of people suffer in silence because they wrongly think nothing can be done. I developed acne when I was a teenager. I went to the GP, who shrugged, told me it was normal and gave me a cream that made my face sore and red. I didnt go back. So the acne stayed. It wasnt anywhere near as bad as some peoples, but it did get me down. I hadnt appreciated quite how much until a few years ago when a friend texted, asking if I was free that evening. New research by the British Skin Foundation shows nearly one in five people who have acne have contemplated suicide because of it A nasty crop of spots had erupted and I couldnt face being seen. I told my friend I was busy but then realised how ridiculous this was. This wasnt the first time it had happened. I was letting acne restrict my life, make me hide, and this was wrong. I vowed to act, and went to a dermatologist who put me on a drug called roaccutane. After a nine-month course, my skin was totally clear and I felt like a weight had been lifted. I happened to mention this to a friend. Hes a big, tough guy who is a former boxer. To my amazement he looked at me and said, in a hushed voice, that he was also plagued by acne and when it was bad he wouldnt go out for months on end. He had sometimes thought about killing himself because it was so upsetting. Ive known him for years and Id never imagined he was going through such agony. He also went on roaccutane and his skin cleared up. I still use a cream every night and I havent had so much as a pimple for years. But Ill never forget how something as seemingly small as spots can have such a big impact on your life. Cancer isn't a battle you win or lose Victoria Wood lost her battle with cancer this week. Just like David Bowie, Paul Daniels, Alan Rickman and Terry Wogan before her. At least, thats the phrase everyone uses: lost their battle. And I hate it. I wish the word battle was banned from all reports of cancer killing people. As Susan Sontag discussed in her book Illness As Metaphor, the words we use to describe cancer are the words of war. The cells invade and we fight back. We have an arsenal of treatments to defeat the enemy. The fact this language is so routinely used suggests it resonates with something deep inside us. I think thats partly because it makes things sound more under our control than they really are. Victoria Wood (pictured) lost her battle with cancer this week. Just like David Bowie, Paul Daniels, Alan Rickman and Terry Wogan before her By using words like fight and win, we suggest the sick person is in charge of their destiny, if only theyre brave and resilient enough. In reality, the success of cancer treatment relies on drugs, radiotherapy or surgery. While a positive frame of mind is important, essentially the cancer is destroyed by the treatment the patient receives, not the patient themselves. Survival is also down to luck at what stage the cancer was caught, whether it has spread, what organs it has affected and so on. Its actually all very random. Using aggressive, active words helps hide this terrifying reality. It also makes the sick person sound brave and heroic, which is a nice image for people around them to have. No one wants to think of their loved one being scared, upset and powerless. Yet this is the reality of having cancer. Its not a gallant, noble struggle. Its damn awful. Comedian Lenny Henry has lent his voice to a free audiobook designed to lull listeners to a better nights sleep. The three-minute Sleep Dreams story incorporates evocative language, soothing tones and sounds of the sea to induce feelings of relaxation. One Briton in three regularly suffers from insomnia, with poor sleep increasing the risk of serious medical conditions including obesity, heart disease and diabetes, as well as shortening life expectancy. Comedian Lenny Henry has lent his voice to a free audiobook designed to lull listeners to a better nights sleep The audiobook was devised by sleep expert Dave Gibson. He says: An audiobook is a fantastic way to switch off from the day-to-day frenzy of our full-on lives, and to gently wind down into a state of imagination and relaxation. This book in particular brings our body to a position where sleep is a natural small step for our bodies and minds to take. l Download your audiobook at premierinn.com/sleepdreams. A new wellbeing website uses DNA to help decide whether a person is better off having hypnotherapy or taking up tai chi. The IamYiam site (pronounced I am why I am) invites users to send a saliva sample to a lab and complete a questionnaire to set some health goals, such as reducing stress, sleeping better or losing weight. The DNA is tested for everything from food intolerances to whether the user is better suited to speed or endurance exercise. An appropriate type of treatment, such as yoga, hypnotherapy or nutritional therapy, can be recommended to reach that goal. The genetic profiling costs 387, but site users can search for and book vetted therapists free of charge. More information at iamyiam.com. CLASS TO GET YOU GLOWING Gym-goers can combine a workout with a night out after the launch of a glow-in-the-dark spinning class with a party atmosphere. Glow, is a new 40-minute class for Fitness First clients set in a darkened studio using a handweight called a velobell which glows under UV lights. Glow is a class set in a darkened studio using a weight called a velobell which glows under UV lights (pictured) Participants perform a series of dance moves to upbeat party tunes, using the velobell to work their upper body as the bike works the lower body. The class is currently being trialled in London. Fitness First director Lee Matthews says: Our instructors will create the ultimate party atmosphere and Glow will appeal to both early risers and groups of friends on a Friday night. People are more likely to miss a dental check-up than any other medical appointment. A survey of 2,000 Britons found a third admitted to missing regular dental appointments. In contrast, six per cent said they had missed GP appointments in the past, while just two per cent had missed a hearing test, according to the poll. Almost half of respondents said they wouldnt see their dentist if they experienced bleeding gums which can be a sign of gum disease while one in ten would Google their symptoms rather than visit the dentist. The survey by Denplan also revealed that only half of patients considered it important to report any changes in their general health to their dentist. BACK ACHE A PAIN FOR FIRMS Back pain is bad for business, with one in three workers taking time off due to musculoskeletal problems, research reveals. A survey of 2,000 people found that 31 per cent had missed work because of back pain, while 38 per cent blamed their working environment for causing the pain in the first place. Aches: A survey of 2,000 people found that 31 per cent had missed work because of back pain (file photo) The findings come as figures from the Health and Safety Executive show an estimated three million days were lost to work-related back disorders in 2014/15, with an average 13.3 days lost for each case. Mark Critchley, spokesman for backpainhelp.com, which commissioned the poll, said: Back pain related absenteeism has long been an issue, but how many businesses are actually looking at the causes? At The Mail on Sunday we take great pride in the quality of our journalism. All our journalists are required to observe the Editors' Code of Practice and The Mail on Sunday is a member of the Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO), the regulatory body for the Press set up in response to the Leveson Inquiry. We aim to correct any errors as promptly as possible. On January 24 we said the designer Elizabeth Emanuel had parted ways with Royal shirtmakers Thresher & Glenny when a joint project was cancelled. In fact they enjoy a good relationship and remain on excellent terms. Ms Emanuels business continues to do well. A statement about not working together was misattributed to a different firm and referred to a settled dispute. We apologise for these errors. If you wish to report an inaccuracy, please email corrections@mailonsunday.co.uk. To make a formal complaint under IPSO rules please go to www.mailonsunday.co.uk/readerseditor where you will find an easy-touse complaints form. You can also write to Readers' Editor, The Mail on Sunday, Northcliffe House, 2 Derry Street, London W8 5TT or contact IPSO directly at ipso.co.uk. Yehudi Menuhin was born 100 years ago last Friday. To honour his centenary (he died in 1999), three commemorative boxes have been issued: two from Warner Bros, and one from Sony drawing on the early Victor recordings he made. As a violinist, Menuhin was a child prodigy who even then possessed a mature musicality as well as a dazzling, virtuoso technique. In Menuhin: The Complete American Victor Recordings , one of the Sony CDs includes his first recording sessions in New York in 1928, when he was only 12, and its obvious why he created such a sensation. As a violinist, Menuhin was a child prodigy who even then possessed a mature musicality as well as a dazzling, virtuoso technique The rest of this enticing box includes recordings made in his 20s and 30s in America, including two wonderfully vivid accounts of the Bruch Concerto. When he was 16, Menuhin came to London to record Elgars Violin Concerto with the composer himself conducting. Elgar was so delighted with it that he took the boy off to the races to celebrate. The Elgar is included in the massive The Menuhin Century box , with 80 CDs, 11 DVDs and a 200-page book, all for about 180. In Menuhin: The Complete American Victor Recordings, one of the Sony CDs includes his first recording sessions in New York in 1928, when he was only 12, and its obvious why he created such a sensation For most music-lovers this will be too much, which is why the three-CD sampler, Yehudi: The Art Of Menuhin , handily priced at 9.90 or less for three-and-a-half hours of music, may come in useful. However, its just bits and pieces. Fortunately, the various boxes in the bumper set are being made available separately. The one to have is Box Two, with 18 CDs, mainly featuring Menuhin in his youthful prime, including that Elgar recording. Also here is other stuff of historical as well as musical significance, such as the recordings he made after the war with the German conductor Wilhelm Furtwangler, as an act of reconciliation with Germany. Furtwangler was under a cloud for staying in Nazi Germany during the war, and Menuhin got a lot of stick from the Jewish community for collaborating with him. Menuhin had great moral courage, and it was as much in recognition of his idealism as his musicianship that he became only the second musician after Benjamin Britten to be awarded a peerage Menuhin had great moral courage, and it was as much in recognition of his idealism as his musicianship that he became only the second musician after Benjamin Britten to be awarded a peerage, after he became a British citizen in 1985. In middle age, Menuhins violin technique began to falter, so he became even more imaginative in his choice of musical partners, including Ravi Shankar and the jazz violinist Stephane Grappelli. He also turned to conducting, with which he had considerable success, and its sad that so little of it is included here. Menuhin has been well described as A man of ideals and a citizen of the world. He did a lot of good, not just in music for example, he played for the surviving inmates of the Belsen concentration camp after its liberation in 1945. This weekend we should salute a man of rare stature. Yehudi: The Art Of Menuhin, handily priced at 9.90 or less for three-and-a-half hours of music, may come in useful. However, its just bits and pieces CONCERT OF THE WEEK Shakespeare 400 Holy Trinity Church, Stratford-upon-Avon Rating: No writer has inspired more composers than Shakespeare. So it was entirely appropriate that this concert should be a centrepiece of events marking the 400th anniversary of his death, in the very church where he is buried. The Maltese tenor Joseph Calleja and the English soprano Elizabeth Llewellyn performed some of the finest arias from Shakespearean operas, by masters such as Bellini, Gounod and, especially, Verdi. The Bard provided Verdi with some of his greatest inspirations, and this outstanding recital included extracts from Macbeth, Falstaff and, finest of all, Otello. Elizabeth Llewellyn also marked Shakespeares contribution to English song with two enchanting offerings from Vaughan Williams and Roger Quilter. With their encore of Tonight, from West Side Story (inspired by Romeo And Juliet), Calleja and Llewellyn brought a packed house to their feet to salute a side of Shakespeare not often celebrated. Stick a bottle of Fino in the fridge and drink it as fresh as possible to the sound of flamenco As Easter rolls into springtime, southern Spain blazes with festivities, and that means an eruption of Fino in your glass. The Feria de Jerez runs from April 30 to May 7 if youre a fan of sipping cool sherry on balmy evenings, weaving through glimmering villages of pop-up bars and restaurants known as casetas with music ripping up the night, stop reading and book your flight right now. Technically, this is a horse festival, but its ultimately a celebration fuelled by Fino sherry, the local tipple, always served chilled with exquisite nibbles that are so delicious youll wish you had ten tongues. The roots of this 500-year-old festival grow from the animal trade, when sherry was sipped to seal the deal. These days, horses and carriages parade in the day accompanied by locals in dazzling dresses, and the celebrations stretch deep into the night. Along with Manzanilla from down the road in coastal Sanlucar, Fino is the lightest style of sherry pale, intensely nutty and refreshingly tangy. For maximum pleasure, it absolutely has to be served chilled, ideally with nibbles Spanish ham, shellfish, green olives, salted almonds or Manchego cheese. La Gitana Manzanilla is on offer for 8.50 at Waitrose, down from 10, and when Im at the Feria myself, Ill be sipping Tio Pepe Fino, which you can find for 10 in Tesco or on offer at Ocado for 9. Its spot on, thanks to its salty savoury twist that acts like seasoning with light bites, and has an authenticity you dont always find in products that are so widely available. Own labels are also a good bet with some great value for money see my recommendations below. Or if cocktails are your thing, make yourself a cool Rebujito Fino mixed with lemonade over ice cubes. Or stick a bottle of Fino in the fridge and drink it as fresh as possible with the sound of flamenco cascading from your stereo. With bottles this tasty, they wont hang around the fridge for long. I Want My Wife Back Monday, BBC1 Rating: Caravanner Of The Year Wednesday, BBC 2 Rating: Camping Tuesday, Sky Atlantic Rating: First, lets deal with I Want My Wife Back, as someone has to. Its not going to go away if we simply pretend it isnt there. This is an old-fashioned sitcom in that it is set in white, middle-class suburbia, in the style of Terry And June or, more recently, My Family, which was very bad, but still averaged seven million viewers per episode, from which we can conclude either: (1) the British viewing public has a fondness for very bad sitcoms in the same way it has a fondness for Arctic Roll, which is a very bad pudding, or (2) one person liked it and 6,999,999 tuned in to double-check Robert Lindsay and Zoe Wanamaker were the stars, as they couldnt quite believe it. (I know, I know. The money was probably glorious. But even so.) This is an old-fashioned sitcom in that it is set in white, middle-class suburbia, in the style of Terry And June or, more recently, My Family , which was bad, but still averaged seven million viewers per episode White, middle-class suburbia neednt be the kiss of death, sitcom wise. Outnumbered, for example, was excellent. But if you are a (1) then you will find yourself extremely well served by I Want My Wife Back. This stars Ben Miller as Murray, who works in a bank as a relationship manager which means, in my experience, hes the person who sucks up to you when you have money in your account and then drops you stone dead when you dont. The sit is that Murray is so busy sucking up and dropping stone dead he has no time for his wife, Bex (Caroline Catz). Hes a workaholic, as he keeps saying, and everyone keeps saying, and were expected to buy into this sit even though Murray is never seen doing any actual work. I suppose if you are going to be a workaholic, the one who doesnt do any work is the best kind of workaholic to be. I mean, if you could be a drunk without having to drink wouldnt that be ideal? The characters are either stereotypes (the philandering boss, the overbearing in-laws) or spectacularly unlikely (Bexs feminist friend, that young woman in Murrays office who has the hots for him, inexplicably) No falling over or blackouts or hangovers or any of that faff? The characters are either stereotypes (the philandering boss, the overbearing in-laws) or spectacularly unlikely (Bexs feminist friend, that young woman in Murrays office who has the hots for him, inexplicably) while no one behaves in any way anyone would behave. Would the philandering boss ask Murray to cover for him and then raise the night in question in front of his own wife? I cant now recall a single funny line, and as for Bexs surprise birthday party, which Murray farcically tries to cancel once hes heard shes walked out, I might not have been able to stop laughing, had I started, but as I hadnt, it wasnt an issue. Also, lets be clear, this is not a show in which the women have agency. Yes, Bex walked out, but this isnt about her leaving. Its about Murray being left. By the way, Im a (2) and Ben Miller, he was quite funny once as one half of Armstrong and Miller. Wasnt he? Secondly, lets deal with Caravanner Of The Year, as someone has to. Caravanner Of The Year is one of those programmes that has drunk at the same waterhole as The Great British Bake Off, a waterhole already much depleted by sewing and allotments and what have you. The tasks included wives reversing round hay bales while the husbands shouted: HARD LEFT! HARD LEFT! and unless I dropped off and missed something, which is likely, I believe thats as exciting as it got So now, basically, were licking away at dry dirt, rather than seeking new waterholes in the form of original ideas. This features six couples all competing for the title, under the watchful eye of the chairman of the Caravan Club, a body founded to impart misery on all other Aroad users, particularly on bank holidays. The selection of the competitors was not explained, and the caravan did not have to be a caravan as there were also campervans, which are not caravans, and also motorhomes, which are not caravans. The tasks included wives reversing round hay bales while the husbands shouted: HARD LEFT! HARD LEFT! and unless I dropped off and missed something, which is likely, I believe thats as exciting as it got. The selection of the competitors was not explained, and the caravan did not have to be a caravan as there were also campervans, which are not caravans, and also motorhomes, which are not caravans This had dry dirt written all over it, but even so Im guessing this wont stop anybody visiting that waterhole yet again, particularly as weve yet to turn trainspotters into television, or bird watchers, or those people who drive to beauty spots, eat their sandwiches in the car, and promptly drive home. Go figure. The antidote to both the above might be Julia Daviss latest comedy, Camping. If you are familiar with Daviss output (Nighty Night, Hunderby) you will know shes both horrible and delicious, and therefore horribly delicious. Set during a group camping holiday, most of the characters are grotesques but, unlike those in I Want My Wife Back, theres a kernel of truth to them. We all know a control-freak mum like Fi (a superb Vicki Pepperdine) and a tragic man like Tom (Rufus Jones) who has left his wife for a hot young thing (Davis) and believes hes all groovy again. All six episodes have been downloaded and Im up to number four, but its not for the faint-hearted as sex and disease feature largely, along with Fis fear her son might not grow up straight. She is incensed when she discovers her husband has left a fossil on the beach for Archie to find. This is the sort of thing that is going to turn our son gay, she rails. Baywatch made him a seriously rich man - and he's so famous he even had a crab named after him. But what happened when he told scores of diehard fans: 'Get 'em Hoff'? My best decision? Buying the rights to Baywatch. The show first aired in 1989 and was cancelled after one season. I thought it had a lot of potential so invested my own money and became executive producer What is your earliest memory? Its 1956, Im four years old and taking a bath in the sink. I look out the window and see a horse-drawn carriage bringing milk and vegetables to my neighbours. The sun is shining. All is good in the world. What sort of child were you? I was a happy kid, always singing. From an early age I knew I could make people laugh so I was never short of company. But I was also quite shy, especially around girls. What is your most treasured possession? My pet pig, Miss Piggy. She once took a bite out of my musical directors leg, but I put a stop to that bad behaviour. When she gets out of hand, I give her a smack on the nose. What was your biggest life-changing moment? In 1982 I held the script to Knight Rider in my hands. I was entranced. I knew that part of Vegas cop Michael Knight was perfect for me. I was about to become a star. What is your biggest achievement? Too many to name. One that springs to mind is that I had a crab named after me. The scientists who discovered it noticed that the crabs bristles resembled my chest hair, so it became The Hoff Crab. What has been your most embarrassing moment? In 2007, there was THAT video that circulated online. I was drunk, simple as that. But it didnt cause me any embarrassment its pretty hard to embarrass David Hasselhoff. I was more embarrassed for my children. Who do I most despise? Myself. Ive done things when I was so over the edge that I didnt remember. In those moments Ive hurt people badly, people who are close to me. I absolutely despise that weakness What has been your greatest disappointment? There are times when I wish Id had better material to work with. The Hoff train goes all around the world and its a fun ride, but I wish Id done more serious work. But theres still enough time left to hit a few home runs. If you could edit your past, what would you change? Ive been divorced twice and those things are never easy to go through. There are times in my life when I should have taken my time with people instead of rushing in. I made decisions based on not wanting to be alone rather than being true to myself. What keeps you awake at night? Age. At 63, my body cant do all the things it used to. But that doesnt mean I plan to slow down. In my head Im still 20 years old and out to conquer the world. Who would be your dream dinner date? Id love to invite David Attenborough to dinner Ive been addicted to his shows for decades. If he wasnt available Id like to bring Sammy Davis Jr back from the dead. Sammy was one of the biggest inspirations of my life. He was a big fan of one of my early shows, The Young & The Restless. Thats how we became friends. To be able to enjoy one more evening with him would be a beautiful thing. DAVID HASSELHOFF Last gig you went to? The Rolling Stones in Los Angeles. I must have seen them 15 times. They never disappoint. Last book you read? The Dude And The Zen Master, by Jeff Bridges and Bernie Glassman. It's a lot more fun than it sounds. Last TV show you loved? I came to it late but I've started getting into Dexter. I also love Curb Your Enthusiasm. Larry David is irresistible. Advertisement What was your best decision? Buying the rights to Baywatch. The show first aired in 1989 and was cancelled after one season. I thought it had a lot of potential. It was a show about saving people and beautiful women in bathing suits. So I invested my own money and became executive producer, then with money from the royalties I bought the syndication rights from NBC. The show became a massive global hit. At one time it was watched by half the planet. It made me a lot of money [hes worth over $100 million]. When were you last really happy? I get paid to attend David Hasselhoff conventions where thousands of people come dressed as me. Theyre always happy occasions. I did one recently in Nottingham. I got into a little trouble because I encouraged everyone to take off their clothes, which they did. That was a wild night. What law would you like to change? I would bring in a new law so that, if someone disrespected their neighbour on the grounds of race, creed or colour, they would immediately go to jail for the rest of their life. Everyone on the planet is deserving of freedom and respect. There should be zero tolerance towards anybody who crosses that line. Who do you most despise? Myself. Ive done things when I was so over the edge that I didnt remember. In those moments Ive hurt people badly, people who are close to me. I absolutely despise that weakness in myself. What was the best night of your life? New Years Eve 1989. My single, Looking For Freedom, had been No 1 in Germany all through the summer of 1989. The Berlin Wall fell that November. On New Years Eve I stood on the remains of the wall and performed that song to 500,000 people. That was a historic moment, like Woodstock except bigger. I took 150 chunks of the wall away with me that night. Those chunks are each worth a few thousand dollars now. What is your biggest fear? Complacency. We live in a world where the front page of a newspaper will inform us that some innocent American has been beheaded in Iraq. Twenty minutes after reading the story, Ill be sitting around talking about a comedy show. Its too easy to become numb to the headlines. What do you dream about? I have a recurring dream that Im on stage in front of 10,000 people and I forget my lines. Another recurring dream I have is being on a plane that is about to crash. The pilot has passed out so I have to step forward and land the plane on the Los Angeles freeway. I guess thats a metaphor for my entire life. What is your best character trait? Im blessed in having a great sense of humour. I can find something hysterically funny in just about any situation. Ive also been blessed with great sensitivity and compassion. Modesty? Yeah, that too. The adventurer rowed the Atlantic with INXS, tunes in to Desert Island Discs in Mongolia... and loves to wake up in a jungle hammock with John Humphrys I download Radio 4s Desert Island Discs podcasts and take them around the world with me Ive listened to the programme in Mongolia, Papua New Guinea and Namibia Music to my ears I used to listen to INXS on a loop at boarding school in Dorset; any song from the album Kick sends me hurtling back to hot summers sitting on the lawn there I used to listen to INXS on a loop at boarding school in Dorset; any song from the album Kick sends me hurtling back to hot summers sitting on the lawn there. I even played it when I rowed across the Atlantic ten years ago. My children and I love Damon Albarns Mr Tembo. Its about the eponymous orphaned elephant that we were lucky enough to meet in Tanzania. I also went to see Gorillaz recently at the Roundhouse in London. They were amazing Damon Albarn is such a showman. Dont touch that dial I download Radio 4s Desert Island Discs podcasts and take them around the world with me Ive listened to the programme in Mongolia, Papua New Guinea and Namibia. My favourite episodes are the ones that provide an insight into the lives of people Ive previously never heard of, such as the poet Imtiaz Dharker and allergy specialist Dr Bill Frankland. My father [the vet, Bruce Fogle] was a guest. It was fascinating to hear the choices that reflected his Canadian heritage. I also like waking up to Today on Radio 4. Theres something therapeutic about hearing John Humphryss voice while lying on a hammock in a jungle. My movie magic City Of God stands as one of the most incredible films I have ever seen. A feast for the eyes, its bursting with the passion and energy that Brazil is made of City Of God stands as one of the most incredible films I have ever seen. A feast for the eyes, its bursting with the passion and energy that Brazil is made of. My degree was in Latin American Studies; I focused on the culture of the Brazilian favelas [slums]. The style and eccentricity of Wes Andersons films appeals to me. Theyre all impressive but everything about Grand Budapest Hotel and The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou made me smile. My TV gold Meet The Natives is a beautifully simple show that created reverse anthropology. It was a great way to learn about a unique tribe while analysing our own bizarre traits Meet The Natives is a beautifully simple show that created reverse anthropology: rather than the Westerner travelling to a wild place to live with a remote people, a Papua New Guinean tribe came to Britain. It was a great way to learn about a unique tribe while analysing our own bizarre traits. More recently Ive been enjoying Royal Navy School and The Secret Life Of Four, Five And Six Year Olds, which is a fascinating insight into what children do when they think youre not watching them. The plays my thing I really enjoyed the 2006 hip-hop show Into The Hoods by my old friend Kate Prince. If I ever end up on Strictly Ill get some dance lessons from her I need more than just a straight play to excite me so the Argentine troupe De La Guarda stand out for me. Theyre a cross between a rave, a nightclub and a circus. I took my wife Marina to see one of their shows, Fuerzabruta for her 30th birthday with friends and we all still talk about it. I really enjoyed the 2006 hip-hop show Into The Hoods by my old friend Kate Prince. If I ever end up on Strictly Ill get some dance lessons from her. The art in my heart Christo and Jeanne-Claude's Surrounded Islands, the installation project around islands in Miamis Biscayne Bay, is astonishing to look at I first heard of the artists Olly and Suzi when they painted a shark underwater and it bit through the canvas. One of my most prized possessions is one of their portraits of my late dog Inca. My wife knew how much I loved Inca so she somehow persuaded them to paint her. Christo and Jeanne-Claude have done some brilliant work. Their Surrounded Islands, the installation project around islands in Miamis Biscayne Bay, is astonishing to look at. Words of wonder Im into Scandinavian literature, such as Fredrik Backmans A Man Called Ove. Beautiful but heart-breaking. I was sobbing after the final chapter One of my favourite books is The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver. Its brutal and remarkable. Another is The Ascent of Rum Doodle, the fictional account of a heroic expedition up a mountain. Im into Scandinavian literature, such as Fredrik Backmans A Man Called Ove. Beautiful but heart-breaking. I was sobbing after the final chapter. with the option to channel the extra money into a pension Britain's 'forgotten army' of self-employed workers are heading for old-age poverty in their droves, according to a report headed by pensions expert Steve Webb. There are around 4.4million self-employed individuals in the workplace - making up one in seven of the working population. But pension saving in this sector has hit 'crisis levels', Webb warns, as the self-employed have largely missed out on the government's drive for automatic enrolment. Ticking time bomb: Self-employed's pension scheme membership has 'collapsed' and is at 'crisis levels' Webb, who was pensions minister until last year, is now director of policy at Royal London, which released the Britain's Forgotten Workers report. He said: 'Self-employed people are missing out on the surge in pension scheme coverage among employed earners. 'Indeed, whilst the number of self-employed people is growing, their membership of pension schemes has collapsed and is now at crisis levels. It is time for action.' Former pensions minister Steve Webb said: 'Self-employed people are missing out on the surge in pension scheme coverage among employed earners.' Webb added: 'Without action, millions of self-employed people could face poverty in old age.' Automatic enrolment into workplace pensions was introduced in 2012 in an attempt to avert a savings crisis among Britain's ageing population. The scheme been heralded a success, with more than six million people placed into a pension to date - but the self-employed are missing out, according to the report. It argues that while some self-employed people may benefit from recent changes to the state pension, action is needed to tackle the 'large and growing problem' of declining private pension provision among the self-employed. The report points to government estimates that the number of self-employed men in a pension scheme has fallen dramatically in the past 20 years. In the mid-1990s 62 per cent were members of a pension scheme, but by 2012 this proportion had fallen to less than a quarter. Webb also cited Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures showing the numbers of self-employed people grew between 2008 and 2013 across the whole of Britain. Sharing the wealth: The report suggests the self-employed should up their national insurance contribution, but have the option of putting it in to a pension or Lifetime Isa The report suggests some measures to remedy this shortfall that could avoid 'politically unfeasible' step of forcing the self-employed to save for a pension. It recommends the special category of National Insurance Contributions (NICs) paid by self-employed people on their profits - Class 4 NICs - should be hiked to 12 per cent, from the current 9 per cent. But instead of the government keeping this additional contribution, self-employed people could opt to have that extra 3 per cent diverted either to a pension or to one of the new Lifetime Isas set to launch next year, provided that they made their own direct contribution of at least 5 per cent. This combined contribution of 8 per cent would match minimum contributions under the planned rollout of automatic enrolment. However, under the proposal this would be the only way for the self-employed to benefit from the additional 3 per cent of NICs that they had paid in. The scheme would be similar to the way in which employees are only able to get a 3 per cent employer contribution to their pension pot if they remain enrolled in a workplace pension, and don't opt out. The report estimates that around three million self-employed people would be covered by this new scheme, and that it could increase the number of self-employed pension savers by more than two million - if opt-out rates mirrored those currently seen under auto-enrolment. Mike Cherry, national chairman of the Federation of Small Businesses said the report makes a 'valuable contribution', adding: 'This is a subject which needs much greater thought and attention.' Huw Evans, director of the Association of British Insurers, also welcomed the report, saying: 'This is an important report into an area of public policy that has received little attention in recent years; how to encourage self-employed people into greater saving for retirement. North Korea has tested a submarine-launched ballistic missile in the Sea of Japan today, it was reported. A spokesman for the South Korean defence ministry said: 'North Korea launched a projectile which was believed to be a submarine-launched ballistic missile around 6:30 pm (0930 GMT) in the East Sea (Sea of Japan) near the northeastern port of Sinpo. 'We are keeping close tabs on the North Korean military and maintaining a full defence posture.' North Korea has tested a submarine-launched ballistic missile in the Sea of Japan today, it was reported. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (centre) is animated as he guides a test fire of a new multiple launch rocket system The nation's supreme leader is seen giving his verdict to uniform clad flunkies at the Paektusan Hero Youth Power Station No. 3 in Ryanggang Province South Korea's Yonhap news agency said the missile flew 'for a few minutes'. North Korea has conducted a number of what it says were successful SLBM tests but experts question the claim, suggesting Pyongyang had gone little further than a 'pop-up' test from a submerged platform. The test-firing comes as North Korea prepares for a rare ruling party congress early next month, at which leader Kim Jong-Un is expected to take credit for expanding the country's nuclear weapons programme. North Korea has conducted a number of what it says were successful SLBM tests but experts question the claim The test-firing comes as North Korea prepares for a rare ruling party congress early next month, at which leader Kim Jong-Un is expected to take credit for expanding the country's nuclear weapons programme The state today released photographs of leader Kim Jong Un surrounded by flunkies at the testing of a new multiple launch rocket system. Wearing a long black duffel coat, Trilby hat and glasses, the country's supreme leader was cheered on by military figures on site at at the Paektusan Hero Youth Power Station No. 3 in Ryanggang Province. It was also reported that China sent 2,000 troops to the North Korea border before the test. The Hong Kong-based Information Centre for Human Rights and Democracy said earlier this week that China had sent the troops to the border but China's Defence Ministry has denied this. 'The relevant report does not accord with the facts,' a spokesman for the Defence Ministry said. South Korea's Yonhap news agency said the missile flew 'for a few minutes'. North Korean troops (File photo) 'The Chinese military maintains normal combat readiness and training on the China-North Korea border.' Reports periodically surface about unusual troops movements on the border, which are hard to verify independently and generally quickly denied by the Chinese government. China is North Korea's most important economic and diplomatic backer but has been angered by North Korea's nuclear and missile tests and has agreed to tough UN sanctions. Tension has been high on the divided Korean peninsula since Pyongyang's fourth nuclear test in January and rocket launch a month later that was widely seen as a disguised ballistic missile test. The UN Security Council responded by imposing its strongest sanctions to date over the North's nuclear weapons programme. China sent 2,000 troops to the North Korea border before the test, it has been reported. Chinese soldiers sit on armoured personnel carriers (File photo) Pyongyang has responded by staging a series of short- and mid-range missile tests and claiming a series of significant technical breakthroughs in its nuclear strike capability. It claimed it had miniaturised a nuclear warhead to fit on a missile and successfully tested an engine designed for an inter-continental ballistic missile that could reach the US mainland. While some experts say the claims are exaggerated, most acknowledge that the North's nuclear and ballistic missile programmes have made significant strides. North Korea and the rich, democratic South are still technically at war after the 1950-53 conflict ended in an armistice, not a treaty. China and North Korea fought side-by-side against a U.S.-backed South Korea, which joined forces under the U.N. flag. The North routinely threatens to destroy South Korea and the United States. Summer Shalodi, 30, has been charged with murder in the December 2015 death of Nadia Gibbons An Ohio babysitter has been charged with murder in the death of an 18-month-old girl who authorities say was given adult anti-anxiety medication. Thirty-year-old Lorain resident Summer Shalodi was indicted Thursday. She also faces charges of involuntary manslaughter, endangering children, corrupting another with drugs and tampering with evidence in the death of Nadia Gibbons on December 13. Lorain County Coroner Dr. Stephen Evans said that Nadia died from 'significant' head trauma and intoxication from alprazolam, a tranquilizer and anti-anxiety medication known by the brand name Xanax. Evans also said that alprazolam isn't prescribed to children. 'That's an adult medication,' he said. Shalodi is free on $50,000 bond. The Elyria Chronicle-Telegram reports Lorain police responded to a 911 call from Shalodi's home. Emergency crews found the toddler unconscious and cold to the touch. The Lorain County coroner told the newspaper that Nadia had died hours earlier and that toxicology tests showed Nadia had ingested Xanax. Eighteen-month-old Nadia Gibbons (left and right) was given anti-anxiety medication authorities say Detectives say emergency crews tried CPR on Nadia (pictured) but she had been dead for several hours by the time they were called Assistant County Prosecutor Dave Muhek said investigators suspect Shalodi gave Nadia the medication. 'We believe that Ms. Shalodi caused the juvenile to ingest a controlled substance and left the child unattended for a significant period of time,' he said. Shalodi called Lorain police to her Driftwood Drive home about 6:30 a.m. on December 13, saying she was concerned about Nadia because the girl was making 'gurgling' noises and was very still. Police reported that Nadia was motionless on the floor next to the bed, wasn't breathing and was cold to the touch when officers arrived. Police estimated that Nadia had been dead for hours before officers and paramedics arrived. 'I will grab one of his toy balls and hold onto his ball anything that helps me to feel close,' she said A woman whose son died after she pushed him on a swing set for two days straight is holding on to his memory, almost a year after his death. A judge found Romechia Simms, 25, not criminally responsible earlier this year following the death of Ji'Aire Donnell Lee, three. The little boy died of hypothermia and dehydration at a park in La Plata, Maryland. His mother had been suffering from schizophrenia at the time. Now, Simms attends therapy twice a week and has joined a support group - but she told the Washington Post she would never get over losing her son. Scroll down for video Ji'Aire Donnell Lee, three (pictured left with his mother and right in a Facebook shot) died in May last year after Romechia Simms, now 25, pushed him on a swing set in La Plata, Maryland, for 40 hours straight 'Sometimes I find myself doing weird things, like I will grab his socks and just hold onto his socks,' Simms told the newspaper. 'Or I will grab one of his toy balls and hold onto his ball - anything that helps me to feel close - that I know was his.' Ji'Aire died in May last year of hypothermia and dehydration after his mother kept him on a swing set for 40 hours. She could have faced up to 45 years in prison for manslaughter, child abuse and child neglect resulting in death. Simms had been diagnosed with schizophrenia and told authorities she had stopped taking her medication for a couple of days before her son's death. Before her trial started, she entered an Alford plea to a lesser charge of involuntary manslaughter. By entering that plea, she acknowledged that prosecutors had enough evidence to convict her of the charge but she did not admit guilt. Instead, a Charles County judge found Simms not criminally responsible and set her free her under a five-year conditional release order, stating she must see a psychiatrist and take her medication. Simms sometimes visits Ji'Aire's grave at Resurrection Cemetery in Clinton, Maryland (pictured on the day of the little boy's funeral) and has dreams about him at night The mother had been diagnosed with schizophrenia when she kept pushing her son on a swing set (pictured) for two days. A judge found her not criminally responsible and released her, ordering her to get treatment Two months after the verdict, Simms is keeping up with her treatment and sometimes writes downs her goals for the future in her journal. She once studied to become a high school teacher, but now told the Washington Post she wants to be a nurse. Simms lives in Waldorf, Maryland, with her mother - in a home where she keeps photos of Ji'Aire on the walls and his toys in boxes. 'I hate the way things happened,' she told the Washington Post. 'But there is nothing I can do to change that. I will always keep [Ji'Aire] close to my heart. 'Even though he is not here physically, I still feel him spiritually. I just know I will see him again one day.' She sometimes visits the little boy's grave with her mother, Vontasha, at Resurrection Cemetery in Clinton, Maryland. Vontasha wants new legislation to make it easier to get help for adults with mental illness. She tried to push for a law named after her grandson, but according to the Washington Post, it hasn't succeeded so far. Simms's mother, Vontasha (pictured visiting Maryland legislators in February) has tried to pass a new law named after her grandson, making it easier for relatives of adults with mental illness to get them help Public defender Elizabeth Connell said in February that Simms had put the little boy in a swing but couldn't get him out. 'And then the voices started telling her, 'Don't worry. Someone is coming. Someone is going to come. 'She was just trapped. What was happening was a mental breakdown, mental illness taking over her.' JiAire's father, James Lee, had once sought custody of the little boy, telling a court he did not believe Simms could safely care for him. They had agreed to keep sharing custody just 11 days before JiAire's death. State's Attorney Tony Covington said: 'As a direct result of her not taking her medicine two days leading up to this episode, Ji'Aire is dead. 'Essentially, and I can't think of any other word to use for it your honor, tortured to death.' But Vontasha insists her daughter never stopped loving the little boy. 'Even during that terrible time, in the darkest moment of her life, she never left him there alone,' she told the Washignton Post. 'She stayed out there in the cold and the rain. She nearly had pneumonia herself. She took off her coat to cover his body. She never lost that motherly instinct.' Simms, who likes to sing, wishes she could take to the stage but says she can't because people would judge her for her son's death. She has trouble sleeping at night but when she does, she sometimes dreams of Ji'Aire. A Perth student shot in New Orleans earlier this month has been released from hospital. Jake Rovacsek, 23, and his friend Toben Clements, 21, were taken to hospital after being shot in the chest and stomach in New Orleans in what police believe was a drug deal gone wrong. They were on a holiday in the U.S. following the Intercollegiate Mining Games in Montana. Scroll down for video Jake Rovacsek, 23, was one of the Australian students shot in New Orleans in a drug deal gone wrong Toben Clements, 21, was also shot. The pair were in the U.S. with Curtin University for the International Collegiate Mining Competition Curtin University vice-chancellor Deborah Terry said on Friday one of the students had been discharged from hospital, but did not identify which one. The other student remains in hospital, with his family by his side. 'We are relieved and very pleased to hear that one of our students has now been discharged,' Professor Terry said in a statement to Perth Now. 'The other student remains in hospital and his condition continues to improve.' Earlier it was revealed by New Orleans police that the men were at Swamp Bar on Bourbon Street when they approached an 'unknown black male' and asked to purchase drugs. They followed the man to a dark-coloured sedan where a driver was waiting, and were taken across the Mississippi River to the notorious suburb of Algiers. The students were drinking at The Swamp, a bar on Bourbon Street in the city's old district The students were shot after exiting a car at LB Landry Avenue and Shepard Street in the notorious suburb of Algiers CCTV footage obtained by 9News, shows the pair arriving with friends at the bar, drinking and then leaving around 1.30am - about three hours before they were shot. Once in Algiers, the driver told them the drugs would cost several hundred dollars to purchase and the students told them they did not have the money. The Perth students exited the vehicle and were approached by another unknown male who demanded their money, according to police. 'When they told him they didn't have it, the unknown male shot them both and then jumped in the vehicle with the unknown driver and fled the scene,' a police spokesman said. They were taken to New Orleans University Medical Centre around 4.30am. Professor Sam Spearing, who travelled to New Orleans to support the students, has also returned to WA. The pair were on a holiday in the New Orleans following the Intercollegiate Mining Games in Montana A 39-year-old woman has died after crashing her car into a power pole overnight. The accident occurred in the Adelaide suburb of Edwardstown just before 8pm last night. The female driver of a green Suburu Outlander station wagon lost control coming to a right hand bend, according to the Advertiser. A 39-year-old woman has died after crashing her car into a power pole overnight (pictured) Her car mounted the kerb where it struck the power pole and a large fence. The front of the vehicle was completely crushed during the accident. Police say the woman who was the only person in the car died at the scene. Her death brings the state's road toll to 31 this year, compared to 28 at the same time last year. It has been a horror start to the long weekend in NSW with five fatalities on the road. Police report three young men have died after their car left the road and hit a tree 10kms from Trangie, on the Mitchell Highway north-west of Dubbo in the state's west this morning. The men were travelling in a 4WD marked with green P-plates when they struck a tree at around 7.40am. One dog also died in the accident, three others are being checked by vets. A 17-year-old girl has died in Braemar, Mittagong, south of Sydney, after her vehicle left the road and hit a tree. The young woman had a 15-year-old passenger in the car at the time who was airlifted to Liverpool Hospital in a serious but stable condition. The accident occurred just before 2am. A pedestrian has also lost their life after being hit by a car in Cardiff, near Newcastle, at about 12.40 this morning. A 39-year-old man hit a 44-year-old man with his Mazda 3 sedan. The man stopped at the scene and attempted to assist the woman before paramedics arrived. This country has many great heroes and heroines. Take your pick, from Alfred the Great, who beat off the invading Danish hordes, to Florence Nightingale, the mother of modern nursing; from Queen Elizabeth I, our greatest national leader when this country was emerging as a proud nation state, to Lord Nelson whose naval brilliance ensured the eventual defeat of Napoleon. What is Shakespeare when compared with these practical heroes and heroines? What did the genius who died 400 years ago today do except write plays? Well, he was incomparably the greatest poet in the English language. And he brought to life a cast of unforgettable characters from melancholy Prince Hamlet to highly comic Bottom the Weaver in Midsummer Nights Dream; from Romeo and Juliets headstrong but doomed heroine to murderous Macbeth. He also defined all that is best about Britain, having lived at a time of quite amazing national revival. This happy breed of men, this little world, he wrote of our island. This precious stone set in the silver seaThis blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England. William Shakespeare defined all that is best about Britain, having lived at a time of quite amazing national revival. This happy breed of men, this little world, he wrote of our island Whoever you choose as your favourite hero, mine will always be William Shakespeare. More than any other writer, he had the capacity to think himself into the minds of other human beings, and to summarise the great range of our emotions in words that are simple and supremely eloquent. It is why his plays remain electrifying to this very day, and why they are played over and over again, to audiences all over the world. No other individual contributed more words to the English language. Critical, advertising, eyeball, submerge, lonely, obscene are but a handful of the 1,700 or so said to have been brought into general use by Shakespeare. No one invented more commonly spoken phrases: a sorry sight; all of a sudden; and thereby hangs a tale; as dead as a doornail; as pure as the driven snow; at one fell swoop these are just a fraction of the ones beginning with the letter a. Choose another letter s for example and you can find salad days; sea change; send him packing; set your teeth on edge; and stiffen the sinews, among a litany of other examples. His characters, complex and riddled with human imperfections, are as universal as the problems they face in his dramas. The 19th-century essayist William Hazlitt observed that Shakespeares genius shone equally on the evil and on the good, on the wise and the foolish, the monarch and the beggar. He dramatised all his creations different concerns their passions, follies, vices, virtues, actions, motives in a way that everyone still understands and empathises with today. Desdemona, innocently in love with her homicidally jealous husband Othello. Henry V, a soldier among soldiers talking to his men on the night before battle. Macbeth the psychopath killer. A broken King Lear howling in despair during a storm. No one invented more commonly spoken phrases: a sorry sight; all of a sudden; and thereby hangs a tale; as dead as a doornail; as pure as the driven snow; at one fell swoop these are just a fraction of the ones beginning with the letter a They are all so vividly real that we know them almost as well as we know our own families. In fact, so visceral, so harrowing is Lears desolation that some used to consider the play beyond the pale. To see Lear acted to see an old man tottering about the stage with a walking-stick, turned out of doors by his daughters in a rainy night, has nothing in it but what is painful and disgusting, wrote the Regency critic Charles Lamb. But it was England, and our nations prodigious reinvention of itself during Shakespeares own lifetime, that gave him his first great themes. When he was 24 years old, in 1588, England was threatened with invasion by the Spanish Armada, which aimed to sail up the Channel, smash the Royal Navy, and then bring an army of 30,000 across from Dunkirk. Philip II of Spain was poised to take over England, kill her Queen and force her subjects back into the Roman Catholic Church just as we had established ourselves as an Anglican country. Francis Drake and the other naval officers who led the resistance to this enormous enterprise were a terrifying lot. They won. The weather was on their side, and any Spanish ships they failed to sink were blown around our coast, some wrecked off Scotland, others off Ireland. No wonder Queen Elizabeth had a medal struck with the words: God blew with his winds and they were scattered. It really looked as if England had the wind in its sails. Philip II of Spain was poised to take over England, kill her Queen and force her subjects back into the Roman Catholic Church just as we had established ourselves as an Anglican country. Francis Drake (pictured) and the other naval officers who led the resistance to this enormous enterprise were a terrifying lot. They won And no wonder Prince Charles thought it apposite to read a passage from Shakespeares Henry VIII about the first Elizabeth as a birthday tribute to his mother this week: She shall be, to the happiness of England, An aged princess; many days shall see her, And yet no day without a deed to crown it. It was a glorious time for England and from the proud certainty of that Elizabethan age, Shakespeare looked back at the previous century when the country had been torn to bits by civil wars the so-called Wars of the Roses. Using contemporary chronicles of those wars, he turned them into the great drama of his early plays. Richard II, dithering, effete and pathetic. The repellent but impressive figure of Henry Bolinbroke, who overthrew Richard and became Henry IV. His son, wasting his life away in the taverns of Londons Eastcheap with the most fascinating, dissolute comic character ever invented the fat, vain and tragic knight John Falstaff. And then, that same son, Prince Hal, growing into Henry V who beat the French at Agincourt. English history, with all the vivid personal dramas attached to it, came alive before the Elizabethans very eyes. William Shakespeare was born in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, into an adventurous country which was in every sense renewing itself renewing its trade, its industry, and its expansion overseas. He was a grammar school boy who learnt Latin and possibly Greek, and was given a solid grounding in the great classical works of Ovid, Horace, Virgil, Cicero and Seneca. All the evidence suggests he left school in his early teens to help his father, an impecunious tanner and wool trader, and then became an actor. It was a time when great literature was flowering in England: Shakespeares contemporaries or near contemporaries included Edmund Spenser whose epic The Faerie Queene was an allegory of Britains political expansion; the plays of Christopher Marlowe (Dr Faustus), Ben Jonson (Volpone), and a dozen others were all being produced. In London, the modern theatre was invented. Up to this point, plays had been performed on make-shift stages in the open air. But to accommodate the craze for drama, special permanent buildings were permitted for the first time. When Shakespeare from being a mere actor or player turned his hand to writing and started to enjoy success, he was criticised by the snobs of the literary Establishment. William Shakespeare was born in Stratford-upon-Avon, (pictured) Warwickshire, into an adventurous country which was in every sense renewing itself renewing its trade, its industry, and its expansion overseas He was famously denounced by the (Cambridge-educated) dramatist Robert Greene. There is an upstart crow, beautified with our feathers, that with his Tygers heart wrapt in a Players hyde, supposes he is as well able to bombast out a blanke verse as the rest of you, wrote Greene. He was saying: instead of having proper plays written by university men, there is now this brutish new upstart, who is just an actor! And he thinks hes as good as us! Poor Greene died in poverty and obscurity, famous not for his own written work but only for this snobbish attack. Shakespeare, meanwhile, shot to fame as an actor, as a theatrical entrepreneur, and above all as a writer. He became an extremely famous man in his own lifetime, as famous as the actor Laurence Olivier in his day or Kenneth Branagh in our own. And when he had made his fortune in the London theatre, he returned to Stratford, built a big house, New Place, and proudly lived as the local boy made good. It beggars belief that there are otherwise intelligent people who still doubt that William Shakespeare of Stratford upon Avon wrote the plays attributed to him. In 1623, seven years after Shakespeare died, two actors, John Heminges and Henry Condell, who had worked with him, published the edition of his work which we call The First Folio. Heminges and Condell discussed his plays with him, and saw him improving them to make them easier to act. The changes can be seen by comparing the rougher versions of his plays, with the more finished ones in the Folio. How could it possibly be the case that some other person such as the Earl of Oxford or as some people believe Queen Elizabeth herself, might have secretly written the plays? One reason that Shakespeare was so subversive in Communist countries is that his characters are not bound by the straitjackets of ideology. They are simply themselves. This probably explains why, in 1941, Joseph Stalin (pictured left) banned Hamlet It is pure snobbery again, from those who think it impossible that someone who only went to a simple grammar school could possibly write about kings and queens and duchesses. But if you take this sort of argument to its logical conclusion, you would say that Agatha Christie would not have been able to write over 80 murder stories without being a mass murderer. In fact, it is surely because he went to a good grammar school and left early that he received the balance of education and life experience that helped mould his genius. Well-read, but not too bookish or austere, he was blessed with the common touch. His ambition, meanwhile, would have been fostered by his fathers debts, and his desperation to restore the family name. All this when Englands creative spirit was soaring under Elizabeths rule. Moreover, Shakespeare had a highly sensitive understanding of human societies and politics. This is why his plays have so often been used, and understood, in settings far in miles and spirit from Stratford-upon-Avon. Think of the very famous version of Hamlet called Hamletmachine which started rehearsals in Berlin in 1989. Set inside a thawing ice cube an allusion to the collapsing Soviet Bloc the crucial figure of the Ghost of Hamlets father was portrayed as Stalin. The production was credited with influencing events and speeding up the fall of the Berlin Wall. One reason that Shakespeare was so subversive in Communist countries is that his characters are not bound by the straitjackets of ideology. They are simply themselves. This probably explains why, in 1941, Joseph Stalin banned Hamlet. As the U.S. historian Arthur P. Mendel explained, the idea of a thoughtful, reflective hero who took nothing on faith, and who intently scrutinized life around him to try to separate truth from falsehood without prompting, seemed criminal to the Soviet dictator and his thought police. Shakespeares plays teem with varied characters, throb with passion, and pulsate with intellectual energy precisely because Shakespeare did not attach himself to ideology. People have tried to persuade themselves he was a Catholic, an agnostic, a fascist or communist. Perhaps he was all these things inside his head. Ideologues think it is not possible to hold incompatible opinions. Shakespeare shows that it is not only more than possible, but that many if not most of us are in that position. Having firm views on every subject under the sun might make sense to fanatics but to the rest of us its the start of madness. At the beginning of every production of Hamlet the audience wonders: Why cant he simply make up his mind? By the end, if the play has worked, the confusion and ambiguity of what it means to be human will make decisive figures in the play such as Hamlets uncle Claudius, who murdered the young princes father and stole both the queen and crown seem the weirdos. The doubting prince has become our friend. His lack of ideology, his absence of fanaticism and inability to be doctrinaire, epitomise so much of the human condition. Exeter University is to vote on cutting ties with the national student body after it elected a Left-wing activist who opposed counter-terror measures. The universitys 20,000 students will be balloted on leaving the National Union of Students over dissatisfaction with its hard-Left agendas. Many students are said to be angry at the NUSs links with Cage, the organisation that called Islamic State executioner Jihadi John a beautiful young man. Earlier this week, Malia Bouattia enjoyed a shock victory over sitting president Megan Dunn during the unions conference in Brighton It comes amid campaigns at Oxford, Cambridge and eight other universities to sever membership over claims the union no longer speaks for all students. But Exeter will be the first to hold a ballot on the issue this year, while Cambridge looks set to follow after campaigners submitted a motion on Thursday evening. A mass withdrawal from membership would be a severe blow to the union, which was formed in 1922 and is a confederation of 600 student guilds across the country. Earlier this week, Malia Bouattia enjoyed a shock victory over sitting president Megan Dunn during the unions conference in Brighton. Miss Bouattia, 28, is a key figure behind the NUS Students Not Suspects campaign, which tells students not to comply with counter-terror measures. Under the Governments Prevent strategy, academics are obliged to monitor students for signs of radicalisation and report concerns to the authorities. At one Students Not Suspects event held on campus at Exeter recently, NUS vice president of welfare Shelly Asquith appeared on a panel alongside Moazzam Begg, director of Cage. During the event, Mr Begg avoided answering a question on whether he condoned the stoning of women adulterers. Miss Bouattia has spoken alongside Mr Begg twice at student events and Cage tweeted to congratulate her on her appointment on Wednesday. Exeters guild of students is due to hold a campus-wide referendum on disaffiliating between May 2 and May 13. File photo She has also been forced to deny being anti-Semitic after branding Birmingham University a Zionist outpost in a 2011 blog post. Exeters guild of students is due to hold a campus-wide referendum on disaffiliating between May 2 and May 13. Other universities planning disaffiliation campaigns include Durham, Edinburgh, York, Westminster, Aberystwyth, London South Bank, the London School of Economics and Kings College London. Newcastles students union said it would hold a referendum if there is enough appetite from students. President Dominic Fearon said: The NUS only serves the few delegates who attend the national conference; they have very little interest in representing the majority of students. I think there is a bitter irony in them calling for governmental reform when there is clearly a desperate need for reform within their own organisation. Commenting on campaigns to leave the NUS, Miss Dunn, the incumbent president, told conference delegates: To anybody here or back on campus that is whispering of disaffiliation from NUS because of this conference know this: We are stronger when we work together. Well, that put us in our place. With shuttering of slow eyes, a languid delivery and a superior little drop of the chin, Barack Obama told us to stay in the European Union, or else. Or what? Well, we could forget about any quick trade deal as an independent Britain. Join the line, buddy. If rash enough to vote for self-rule, we could forget about being a global player. America would talk to the Europeans first. But he did like the Queen. Not Boris Johnson, though. The US President did not mention the Mayor of London by name but it was clear Boris irritated the bejaysus out of him by suggesting some Kenyan Obama family grudge against the British Empire. David Cameron and Mr Obama stood at lecterns, as is the form; behind them, flags David Cameron kept announcing he was the President's 'friend'. Shades of the plover bird standing in the crocodile's mouth Mr Obama went into a moist, windy justification of why he had moved a bust of Churchill from his study in Washington DC. There were two of those busts and there was only so much table space in the White House for statues and he had wanted one of Martin Luther King to remind him of the black struggle, etc, etc. If Boris was watching the press conference on the box, I bet he felt the most frightful worm by the end of it all. The late-afternoon event was held at the Foreign Office in one of those ornately wallpapered state-rooms big enough for five-a-side footie. David Cameron and Mr Obama stood at lecterns, as is the form; behind them, flags. To one side stood an Obama bodyguard surely seven foot tall. A slow beginning. Mr Cameron, face in part-shadow, said 'Barack and I' about eight times. He kept announcing he was the President's 'friend'. Shades of the plover bird standing in the crocodile's mouth. Mr Cameron, face in part-shadow, said 'Barack and I' about eight times during his speech today Prime Minster David Cameron welcomes US President Barack Obama to Downing Street ahead of a bilateral meeting Mr Obama said he had been to Windsor Castle for lunch and chauffeured by the Dook of Edin-buro. By the way, did you see the Queen's head-scarf yesterday? Was it not magnificently 'The League of Gentlemen'? The President said the Queen was 'a jewel', which sounded almost Cockney. He had taken along one of his toughest staff members who had 'almost fainted' with excitement on meeting Her Majesty. The President, a sometime college lecturer, is not a fast or succinct talker. He addresses a room like a professor explaining plangent inevitabilities to some not entirely bright undergraduates. He carries a doleful air. Perhaps the presidency has weighed him down, its daily digest of global iniquity showing him man's cruelties. Regarding our EU referendum he did the formal thing of saying the choice was down to the British people. 'I'm not here to fix any votes', he said before trying to do exactly that as he cited John Donne's line 'no man is an island' (ie, we needed the Europeans to make us strong). President Obama speaks beside David Cameron at the closing plenary session of the 2016 Nuclear Security Summit at the Washington Convention Center in Washington earlier this month He was commenting on the referendum not because Mr Cameron had begged him to in floods of tears. No. It was because Brexiteers had raised the possibility of a post-vote trade deal with the US, and he needed to tell us the facts of life. 'The UK's gonna be in the back of the queue,' he said. Downing Street aides practically purred with delight. How they will love using this threat in their pro-EU campaign. Dwelling on the economic repercussions for us of Brexit, Mr Obama said 'that's not something I'd probably do'. And then he gave his chin a defiant, curt litte drop. It was a movement that contained both menace and professorial superiority. A cold gesture. For all the talk of the Queen and Churchill and the 'special relationship', this was a press conference with ice at its core. The White House will only ever pursue the US interest. Nearly 113,000 hospital appointments and 12,500 operations are to be cancelled as a result of next weeks doctors strike, NHS bosses warned last night. Officials warned that the impact would be felt far and wide as hospitals across the country call off routine work and redirect their resources towards emergency care. Thousands of junior doctors are to walk out on Tuesday and Wednesday as part of a bitter row over pay and working hours. Nearly 113,000 hospital appointments and 12,500 operations are to be cancelled as a result of next weeks doctors strike, NHS bosses warned last night. File photo It is the first ever total strike in the history of the NHS, with the striking junior doctors refusing to do even emergency cases. A&E, maternity wards and intensive care units will be left with just consultants and nurses to cover the gaps. Junior doctors have held four strikes already this year - but in each case they only abandoned routine work, staying at their posts if they were rostered for emergency cover. But they have upped the stakes for next weeks action as the gulf grows between the British Medical Association doctors union and Jeremy Hunt, the Health Secretary. NHS England last night estimated that 12,711 elective operations have been postponed for the two-week period between 18 April and 2 May, which they say are a knock-on result of moving staff to cope with the strike. These figures relate to 4,187 inpatient cases and 8,524 day cases. Another 112,856 outpatient appointments have been postponed over the same period. Hospitals have been ordered to redirect available staff on emergency care, maternity, resuscitation teams, mental health crisis intervention teams and major incident teams. Over the previous four strikes, 25,000 operations have been cancelled in total. On the average day, NHS hospitals hold 157,000 appointments and 31,000 operations. The strikes will take place between 9am and 5pm on Tuesday and Wednesday. Dr Anne Rainsberry, national incident director for NHS England, said: The NHS exists to care for and treat patients and it is with enormous regret that we find patients put in this position. We have focussed our efforts on essential services including emergency care but the effects of this action will be felt far and wide with thousands of people having their operations postponed and their care disrupted for which we sincerely apologise. Junior doctors have upped the stakes for next weeks action as the gulf grows between the British Medical Association doctors union and Jeremy Hunt, the Health Secretary She added: The NHS has been pulling out all the stops to minimise the risks to the quality and safety of care but this is an unprecedented situation during a time of heightened risk. In some places the NHS may be under specific pressure. We want people to plan so they know what to do if they need medical care during the course of this industrial action. The NHS is open for business but we ask the public to use it wisely in this very challenging time as some services may change and some may be busier than usual. Earlier this week the General Medical Council warned doctors that some hospitals would be overwhelmed and struggle to cope. The regulator said that although doctors couldnt be struck off for striking alone, they could be investigated if a patient suffered harm on a ward theyd deserted. The row centres on a new contract proposed by Mr Hunt which will see junior doctors carrying out more weekend and overnight shifts, for lower rates of hourly pay. But the main issue concerns Saturdays with junior doctors demanding they are paid at premium rates, which are 30 per cent higher. The contracts will be sent to junior doctors to sign at the end of June, so the new terms can take effect from August. A spokesperman for the BMA said: Doctors want to do their utmost to protect patients, which is why the BMA has given trusts several weeks notice to plan ahead. Junior doctors deeply regret disruption to patients but they are taking this action because they fundamentally believe the governments plans will be bad for patient care in the long term. Crucially, there is still hope this action can be avoided. The BMA has been clear that it will call off next weeks action if the health secretary removes the threat of imposition and returns to negotiations. It is not too late for the government to listen to the many voices raising concerns about its plans, get back around the negotiating table and end this dispute through talks. A Department of Health spokesman said: Well over a hundred thousand patients have now been directly affected by the BMAs extreme and irresponsible action, which even its own junior doctor leader advised against. We have continually sought a negotiated solution over three years of talks, during which there were two walkouts from the BMA, and now theres only the one issue of Saturday pay outstanding. If the doctors union had agreed to negotiate... wed have a negotiated agreement by now. Instead, we had no choice but to proceed with proposals recommended and supported by NHS leaders which were 90 per cent agreed with the BMA. A scorned woman broke into the Adelaide home of her ex-boyfriends new partner and hit her with a hammer 10 times before trying to choke her to death with a plastic bag, a court has heard. Amy Kasehagen, 32, of Richmond, pleaded guilty to attempted murder and serious criminal trespass in the South Australian Supreme Court on Friday. The Advertiser reported that Kasehagen lay and wait inside the Glenelg home of 28-year-old Bronson Hayter last April. A sketch of Amy Kasehagen appearing in the Supreme Court where she plead guilty to attempted murder As soon as the woman arrived home and closed the door behind her, Kasehagaen launched a vicious attack, striking her with a hammer at least ten times, while trying to shove a plastic bag down her throat and choke her with a scarf. However, Kasehagen was distracted when a telephone rang and Hayter used the opportunity to run for her life. Kasehagen had filled a bag with Ms Hayter's personal belongings, like underwear, pickles, honey and yellow plastic ducks. She was attempting to leave when neighbours came to the rescue, pulling Kasehagen to the ground and putting her in a headlock fore ten minutes until police arrived. The Advertiser reported that police located a locksmith tool kit as well as Google screen shots of the layout of Ms Hayter's home. During her victim impact statement on Friday Ms Hayter said she is still in shock and disbelief. 'I have become very suspicious of anybody parking near my house,' she said. Hayter added: 'Of all the places in the world, home is the one place where everyone should feel safe.' The 28-year-old victim said in her victim impact statement that she was still suspicious of anyone parking near her Glenelg Kasehagen's lawyer Craig Caldicott said the attack was out of character considering she had been caring for her mother for the last seven years after she suffered from emphysema. 'She has an unblemished history and suddenly finds herself in the Supreme Court on one of the most serious charges you can face,' he said. Her death came days after Flint water plant foreman was found dead A young child was found alive in the home but has not been identified dead along with another woman on April 19 in a Flint home Sasha Avonna Bell, 19, was found dead Tuesday. She filed a lawsuit on behalf of her son, pictured A woman who was among the first to file a lawsuit in connection to the Flint, Michigan water crisis was identified as one of two victims of a fatal shooting that happened earlier this week. She was identified Thursday, the same day the death of a Flint Water Treatment Plant foreman who was wanted for questioning in connection with the crisis was announced. Sasha Avonna Bell, 19, filed a lawsuit that alleged her 1-year-old suffers from the effects of lead poisoning as a result of contaminated water in Flint. She was found dead on Tuesday along with another victim, Sacorya Renee Reed, inside a home on Ridgecrest Drive, MLive reported. A 1-year-old child was found unharmed inside the home, but it was not clear whether the toddler was related to Bell. A suspect was taken into custody, but no charges had been filed as of Thursday, according to MLive. Bell's attorney described her as a 'lovely young woman' who cared 'deeply' for her family and child. 'Her tragic and senseless death has created a void in the lives of so many people that loved her. Hopefully, her child will be lifted up by the love and support from everyone who cared deeply for Sasha,' said Corey M. Stern to MLive. Stern's New York-based law firm Levy Koningsberg is handling 64 lawsuits filed on behalf of 144 children, along with Flint-based firm Robinson Carter & Crawford. Sacorya Renee Reed, pictured left, was found dead along with Sasha Avonna Bell on Tuesday. Matthew McFarland, pictured right, was a foreman at the Flint Water Treatment plant who was found dead in an unrelated incident April 16 Bell's lawsuit named six companies and three current and former government employees, accusing them of shirking their responsibilities for the safety of the water in Flint Bell's lawsuit named six companies and three current and former government employees, accusing them of shirking their responsibilities for the safety of the water in Flint. A GoFundMe page was set up to pay for funeral costs for Bell. On Thursday, it was revealed that a Flint Water Treatment Plant foreman was found dead on April 16 in his Otter Lake home. Tara Brown's husband has opened up about having to hide his wife's arrest from their two children, as he reveals he was 'worried sick' up until the moment he heard her plane had left Lebanon. John McAvoy received a call from his wife, 60 Minutes reporter Tara Brown, on Wednesday to let him know that she was 'fine' and would be returning home after spending two weeks in a Lebanese prison as she and her colleagues faced kidnapping charges, the Daily Telegraph reported. The television producer had not heard his wife's voice since her arrest following the botched child recovery operation of Brisbane mother Sally Faulkner's two young children, who were snatched from a bus stop in Beirut on April 6. Scroll down for video Tara Brown's husband John McAvoy has opened up about having to hide his wife's arrest from their two children, as he reveals he was 'worried sick' up until the moment he heard her plane had left Lebanon Brown and her 60 Minutes crew at a Lebanon airport after their release waiting for their flight home Brown and her 60 Minutes crew - producer Stephen Rice, sound recordist David Ballment and cameraman Ben Williamson - touched down in Australia on Thursday night, but McAvoy said he could not even meet her at the airport as he did not want their reunion documented by media. 'You knew how much media attention there would be, so we all made a decision: Let's just all meet somewhere and let's get them picked up and brought to us,' he told the Daily Telegraph. He revealed he was terrified thinking that his wife could be kept away from their two sons, seven-year-old Jack and five-year-old Tom, for up to three years and could not relax until he knew she was on her way home. He said he had no idea of the details surrounding the story his wife was chasing in Lebanon and only knew something had gone terribly wrong when she stopped replying to his text messages. Wearing a black top, Brown looked happy and relaxed as she made her way through Sydney Airport Ms Brown was pictured being shoved into a police car on Monday after a court hearing was postponed Brown was arrested after allegedly filming Sally Faulkner's attempt to snatch her children - Lahlea, 5, and Noah, 2 - back from their father 'Because of time differences and language barriers, no one knew where they were for hours. It was pretty awful,' Mr McAvoy. Mr McAvoy said he did not want to scare his children with the prospect that Brown could have remained in prison and kept them busy by taking them interstate during the 'horrific' ordeal. 'I avoided watching a lot of TV or letting them see newspapers. As it stands now, they've still got zero idea.' He said now that Brown has returned they will sit down and speak to the boys about what happened, adding that it would be much easier to deliver the news now that their mother is home. 'When Tara's away, we ring each other a lot and text a lot. But the texts stopped, and that was not normal,' Mr McAvoy said The 60 Minutes crew sparked outrage on social media after posting a picture of them celebrating their release with drinks in an airport lounge before flying back business class to Australia via Dubai. They went straight to Beirut airport after an investigative judge dropped charges against them over their botched child recovery mission. But they were warned that they might be ordered back to Lebanon if prosecutors decide to proceed with criminal charges. Ms Faulkner has remained behind in Lebanon so she could spend time with her children before flying home to Brisbane. Channel Nine reportedly paid Mr Elamine US$500,000 in the official settlement after he rejected an earlier offer of $350,000, Channel Nine reportedly paid Mr Elamine US$500,000 in the official settlement after he rejected an earlier offer of $350,000, according to the Herald Sun. Mr Elamine has previously denied claims that he wants compensation, telling reporters that 'money is not an issue'. An undisclosed amount was also paid directly to Mr Elamine's family to encourage him to drop charges against the 60 Minutes crew, sources have claimed. He is still pressing ahead with charges against Adam Whittington and Craig Michael from Child Abduction Recovery International (CARI), who allegedly helped plan and carry out the abduction. Barclays Bank has outraged privacy campaigners by helping small businesses to snoop on rival firms. It is launching a big data tool for its half a million small and medium-sized business customers. The online service will enable small companies from corner shops to florists and local butchers to track the performance of similar businesses in their area. Firms will be able to check how many customers their competitors have. They can also discover the customers age group, gender, where they are from, how many times a week they visit, how many purchases are made and the average spend. Barclays Bank has outraged privacy campaigners by helping small businesses to snoop on rival firms Barclays will start selling this information via its SmartBusiness online tool for 4.95 a month plus VAT from next month. In a press release yesterday, the bank boasted that the service is the first of its kind. It said it will analyse and bring transaction data to life and will allow business owners to compare against similar businesses in their region. The data will be anonymous so firms will not be given detailed information of individual customers or the names of the rival firms. But the move has alarmed privacy campaigners, who last night accused Barclays of betraying its customers and selling personal information without consent. It comes after the Mail revealed last week that, in a bid to boost trade, TSB is secretly building psychological profiles of customers who visit its branches. Richard Tynan, of campaign group Privacy International, said: Banks not only hold our money but also vast quantities of our personal data. This gives them extraordinary insight, and therefore power, into what we value and how we behave individually and as compared to our peers. Services such as SmartBusiness demonstrate a growing trend of companies exploiting the vast amount of data they collect on their customers. Such exploitation is done without customers informed consent, and is unacceptable. The notion that any data, in particular financial data, is anonymous is deceitful. From very little information, it is possible to identify an individual. Companies should not betray customers by exploiting their data. The move by Barclays is the latest stage in a concerted push by all the High Street lenders to exploit data collected thanks to the rise of debit cards, mobile phones and social media Barclays said it has safeguards in place to make it difficult for its business customers to identify individual rivals from the data. But Guy Herbert, general secretary of privacy campaign group NO2ID, said: If banks and other organisations are getting the idea that your information is theirs to do with as they see fit then thats a pretty nasty state of affairs. The move by Barclays is the latest stage in a concerted push by all the High Street lenders to exploit data collected thanks to the rise of debit cards, mobile phones and social media. RBS has developed a data strategy called personology to track customers spending habits. Analysts comb through every aspect of an account holders finances to build up an in-depth profile. Barclays said: The majority of small business owners tell us they are too busy to analyse the information they already have stuffed into ring-binders, and we are simply presenting this insight in a way that can help them grow. A Tennessee man was charged with assault after he allegedly became upset and beat his breastfeeding wife for not cuddling with him. Dustin Hartley, 25, was intoxicated after a night out drinking with friends when he came home to his wife, Kennedy Decker, who was breastfeeding in their bedroom, according to the Leaf Chronicle. When Hartley tried to cuddle with her, she 'rebuked his advances'. He and Decker, both from Clarksville, began to argue and Hartley allegedly grabbed their one-month-old child out of her arms. Dustin Hartley (left), 25, was intoxicated after a night out drinking with friends when he came home to his wife, Kennedy Decker (right), who was breastfeeding in their bedroom Decker (pictured) told police she went to the child's room to let him 'cool off', but he came in the room still holding the baby and 'began hitting her in the arms and chest with his free hand' Decker told police she went to the child's room to let him 'cool off', but he came in the room still holding the baby and 'began hitting her in the arms and chest with his free hand'. She told police that she kicked her husband in the chest to get him off of her. He then allegedly put the child down and held her down. While he was doing so, the woman says she called 911. Hartley and his wife have been married since December 2014, according to his Facebook page and their son was born just last month. When police arrived, Hartley told officers he took the baby from his wife's arms, causing her to kick him and then he put the child down and began holding her down, according to the warrant. Decker had signs of being hit on her arms and Hartley had a mark on his chest consistent with being kicked, according to police. Hartley was booked into the Montgomery County Jail on $500 bond. When police arrived, Hartley (pictured with their child) told officers he took the baby from his wife's arms, causing her to kick him and then he put the child down and began holding her down Hartley (right) was booked into the Montgomery County Jail on $500 bond The Prime Minister will not allow meetings with top an election has not been announced He argues caretaker provisions are in place because an election was called Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull says opposition leader Bill Shorten will not be allowed to meet with Australia's top civil servants until he calls an election. Mr Shorten has asked for pre-election briefings from the Secretary of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, a move in line with the care-taker provisions that apply in the lead up to a federal election. The Labor leader argued in a letter to the Prime Minister on Thursday that Mr Turnbull had 'announced' the election when he indicated there would be a double dissolution election held on June 2, the ABC reported Malcolm Turnbull said he has not called an election and will not provide the opposition with access to the country's top civil servants But Mr Turnbull has dismissed the opposition's interpretation and said he will deny access to the country's top civil servants until he requests the Governor-General dissolve parliament. The government is expected to call an election after the budget on May 3. 'As you know, the election cannot take place until His Excellency the Governor-General decides to issue a proclamation dissolving the Parliament,' Mr Turnbull told ABC. 'His Excellency has not yet done so, nor have I advised His Excellency so to do. The pre-election period has not therefore commenced.' In the letter, however, Mr Shorten has said he will shortly contact the Secretary of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, Dr Martin Parkinson, to arrange a meeting. Caretaker provisions aim to ensure that the actions of the current government do not commit an incoming government. During the period the opposition is allowed to consult with government departments to ensure a smooth transition if an election results in a change of government. Mr Shorten has asked for pre-election briefings from the Secretary of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet A visit to Britain by an American president is always an impressive affair, and Barack Obamas fifth as U.S. leader this week has been no exception. As an official visit, rather than a state one, it may not possess the razzmatazz and pageantry of gun salutes, marching bands and formal dinners. But the Obamas were nevertheless guests at lunch yesterday with the Queen where the President was the first head of state to wish her a happy 90th birthday in person and last night they enjoyed dinner with Prince William and Kate at Kensington Palace. Let me say at the outset that I am an admirer of Barack Obama, writes Norman Lamont. But if Obama is wisely cautious about intervention in the Middle East, why on Earth does he think it appropriate to blunder into Britains referendum on the EU? Yet there is, of course, something that makes Obamas visit on this occasion very different: his determined appeal for Britain to stay in the European Union. Let me say at the outset that I am an admirer of Barack Obama. What most Conservatives criticise as his reluctance to intervene decisively in the Middle East, I see as a wise contrast to the foolhardy rush to war of his predecessor, President Bush. But if Obama is wisely cautious about intervention in the Middle East, why on Earth does he think it appropriate to blunder into Britains referendum on the EU? The President is a subtle man and he assured us that, when it comes to the vote on Europe, ultimately it is for the British people to decide. Thank you, Mr President! Who else would it be? Whether or not Obamas intervention in this highly contested debate backfires and boosts the Out vote, it certainly deserves to do so. For his meddling stems not from his concerns for Britain or, indeed Europe, but from his own Americas interests. In an article in yesterdays Daily Telegraph, he mentioned the special relationship between our two countries three times. A special relationship, he wrote, that was forged as we spilled blood together on the battlefield of World War II. Just in case we did not get the point, he added that Britain was a friend and ally to the United States like no other. The President is a subtle man and he assured us that, when it comes to the vote on Europe, ultimately it is for the British people to decide. Thank you, Mr President! Who else would it be? Really? Forgive my cynicism, but President Obama and his officials have used the phrase special relationship or similar ones extensively with regard to several countries. They include Israel, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Canada and Ireland. John Kerry, his Secretary of State, has referred to France as the U.S.s oldest ally. Special appears not to be very special at all a point made clear in Obamas threat at his Downing Street press conference yesterday that, if we leave the EU, well be at the back of the queue where any trade deal is concerned. The point is that every country wants to be told it has a special relationship with the United States, and Obama knows it. He also knows how to use it to get what he wants. F or instance, in a recent interview with American magazine The Atlantic, it was revealed that Obama had said Britain would no longer be able to claim a special relationship with the U.S. unless it committed to spending at least two per cent of its GDP on defence. So the Government had jumped to attention and promptly done so. Yesterdays unsavoury threat over trade deals which, incidentally, would be negotiated after Obama left office is another case of him trying to get his own way. The stark warning amid the pleasantries reminds us that the friendship can only remain true if the British people do as the U.S. says. The President insists he has a stake in the referendum debate because of his countrys sacrifice in the war. He says the tens of thousands of U.S. servicemen who rest in cemeteries on the Continent are testament to how intertwined the fortunes of America, Britain and Europe are. That is, of course, true. But it is disgraceful that a war we fought to keep our independence and in which Britain and the Commonwealth lost more troops than the Americans is being used by Obama as a reason for us to give up our sovereignty. And surely it is Nato, a military alliance between sovereign countries, that was created to meet the challenge of keeping peace in Europe. Whether or not Obamas intervention in this highly contested debate backfires and boosts the Out vote, it certainly deserves to do so Obama almost seems to be buying into the Euro-myth that it is the EU, rather than Nato, which does so on our continent. Moreover, the hundreds of thousands of British citizens who gave their lives in the war did so believing they were fighting for their own country. Very few believed they were fighting for a European political entity. Ironically, there were in fact plenty of Thirties fascist thinkers who believed in European unity. No, I am not implying those who support the EU are anything other than honourable but it is certainly the case that the idea of European integration has historically not been owned exclusively by the good guys. Another argument that Obama uses to persuade us of the perils of leaving the EU is that our ability to co-operate over intelligence and to fight terrorism would be compromised. But whereas, with GCHQ and our intelligence services, we have a counter-terrorism machine that is the envy of the world, the fact is that the EU doesnt really do intelligence. Richard Walton, head of Counter Terrorism Command at New Scotland Yard from 2011 to 2016, explained why in February. The European security organisations Europol and the Schengen Information System are both interesting constructs per se, he wrote. Really? Forgive my cynicism, but President Obama and his officials have used the phrase special relationship or similar ones extensively with regard to several countries, writes Norman Lamont (pictured) But Europol, while a useful discussion forum, is largely irrelevant to the day-to-day operations within the counter-terrorism sphere; and the Schegen Information System does not necessarily control the movement of terrorists across borders besides, you dont have to be in the EU to use it. Michael Hayden, a former director of the CIA, has also said that EU decisions, including privacy laws, have been made at the expense of security. Indeed, he endorsed the view of Sir Richard Dearlove, former head of MI6, that Britain could be safer outside the EU. Obama talks about needing the EU to cope with migration, without acknowledging how grossly incompetent it has been in dealing with the issue. He doesnt mention the euro, whose creation is the EUs proudest achievement and yet is a currency which has done so much harm to growth and employment in Europe. He insists that British ideas are having a profound impact on the development of the European Union. Yet how often have we heard this claim before while the march of European integration goes on relentlessly, irrespective of British objections? As I have said, the reason that Obama wants us to stay in the EU is because it helps the U.S. Britain is Americas best friend in the EU on most economic questions such as free trade or dealing with the financial crisis, Britains views have largely accorded with those of the States. And this is why Obama wants to keep us on the inside. The U.S. understands that a certain anti-Americanism motivates great swathes of European policy. Many European politicians believe that American global power must be counterbalanced by the development of power in Europe. A House of Lords select committee report concluded that EU foreign policy tends to oppose U.S. policy simply in order to make its voice heard. This was memorably epitomised in 1991 by Jacques Poos, the Luxembourg foreign minister and external spokesman for the EU, when he proclaimed at the onset of the Yugoslav crisis: This is the hour of Europe. It is not the hour of the Americans. U nfortunately, the tragic and criminal events that followed during the conflict in Bosnia exposed the sheer vanity and ineptitude of the Europeans who failed to support a military intervention to prevent the crisis, allowed endless ceasefires to be broken, and presided over massacre after massacre. Not only that, the U.S. then had to intervene to clear up the mess the Europeans had left behind. But still the Europeans are determined to forge a common foreign policy, and the U.S. is desperate to keep a pro-American voice in Europe in the form of Britain. One wonders how far President Obama really understands the EU. In 2011, when the U.S. was worried about Europes inability to sort out the problems of the euro, which threatened the whole world economy, Obama took a large delegation, including his treasury secretary, to a summit in Cannes. He then had a crash course in the politics of the EU. It was, by all accounts, a brutal meeting full of recriminations. According to the Financial Times, German Chancellor Angela Merkel burst into tears at one point, saying das ist nicht fair [that is not fair] . . . ich bringe mich nicht selbst um [I am not going to commit suicide]. The objects of her wrath were French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Obama, who were demanding that, yet again, Germany bail out the euro. Perhaps Obama would have begun to see how so many people who have dealt with the EU regard it as a dysfunctional organisation. Reuters reported that Obama presented himself as a man struggling to grasp the fragmented culture of multi-national European politics and that he appeared a bewildered spectator. At his own press conference, Obama remarked: There are a lot of meetings here in Europe, before adding: There are a lot of institutions here in Europe. One report suggested he didnt know who Jose Barroso, then president of the European Commission, was. Obama joked that he had learned a lot about the complexity of the EUs decision-making process, concluding that having to co-ordinate all those different interests is laborious. He probably does understand more about the EU today. But has he ever actually asked why so many people in Britain resist continued membership? To put it another way, would he advocate America surrendering a similar amount of sovereignty to supra-national bodies? Obama shows he does not understand what is happening in the UK when he observes there is a lively debate going on here and that my country is going through much the same. He appears to believe the rise of Donald Trump and the economic discontent of his followers is much the same as opposition to the EU. The two are completely different. This referendum is not an election and is not just about economics. It is a continuation of a long-running unresolved constitutional debate about the government and identity of this country. President Obama should be warmly welcomed. But he should also be told firmly that not everything in the interests of the U.S. is equally in the interests of Britain The United States has signed the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), creating a free trade area with Mexico and Canada, similar to the Common Market the precursor to the EU. America would hardly react favourably to being told there was going to be a NAFTA headquarters, comparable to Brussels, in Ottawa, and that this organisation would have the power to issue laws that applied in the United States. And what would they make of a NAFTA parliament located in Mexico City and a NAFTA court in Toronto, whose laws would overrule those of Congress and the Supreme Court? To be like the EU, there would have to be complete freedom of movement between Mexico, the U.S. and Canada. Finally, there would be a NAFTA passport and a NAFTA flag, to be flown on public buildings alongside the Star-Spangled Banner. It is only in Europe that we have talked ourselves in to believing that the nation state is obsolete. Elsewhere in the world, it has plenty of life left and the U.S., of all countries in the world, is the least likely to volunteer to give up being a self-governing nation state. Obama gives the impression that the EU, along with the World Bank and the UN, is just another international organisation. It is not. It is much more than that. As Elmar Brok, the German MEP, has said, Europe is a country under construction. Americans need to realise that British people value their democracy, their institutions and their independence just as proudly as the Americans do. Advertisement Prince George stole the show at Kensington Palace last night by meeting Michelle and Barack Obama wearing his dressing gown and slippers, sparking a surge in sales for his nightwear. Pictures emerged of George shaking hands with the leader of the free world wearing a pair of freshly-pressed blue gingham pyjamas, monogrammed dressing gown and a pair of slippers with aeroplanes on. And his clothes started a frenzy online, with exact same My 1st Years robe sold out within minutes of the photos going public, as eager parents tried to copy the look. The dressing gown was identified by MailOnline's FEMAIL Fashion Finder and is said to cost around 27. Scroll down for video Hello, Mr President: Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle crouch down to meet and shake hands with Prince George at Kensington Palace President Barack Obama talks with the Duke of Cambridge while the Duchess of Cambridge plays with Prince George on rocking horse A Kensington Palace Spokesman said: 'Prince George stayed up to meet The President and First Lady when they arrived at Kensington Palace' According to experts the traditional, understated clothing on Prince George and Princess Charlotte is deliberately chosen by the Duchess of Cambridge to avoid creating an inappropriate frenzy around their outfits. As staff opened the black double doors at the palace last night, Princess William and Harry, Duchess Kate and the Obamas walked into a cream-coloured hallway where another guest stood in the distance to greet the visitors - Prince George. The third in line to the throne could briefly be seen standing inside watching their guests come inside from the rain. He was allowed to stay up 15 minutes past his bedtime to greet their American guests. As the front doors closed, the group could be seen walking towards the Drawing Room, where they were took more photos. A palace source later confirmed that the Obamas met George but Charlotte was fast asleep: George stayed up for a few minutes when the President and the First Lady arrived but Charlotte was in bed. Prior to their arrival, George had been playing inside with a soft toy dog, which Michelle and Barack had previously gifted the two-year-old. It was a replica of the First Dog, called Bo. Pictures show the inside of their apartment at Kensington Palace for the first time, which was refurbished with 4.5million of taxpayers money - although the couple footed the bill for fixtures and furnishing themselves A Kensington Palace Spokesman said: 'Prince George stayed up to meet The President and First Lady when they arrived at Kensington Palace. 'He was able to show The President and First lady a rocking horse given to George when he was born - and a stuffed toy given to George when Princess Charlotte was born - that had been previously given to him by President and Mrs Obama. Along with Prince Harry, William and Kate opened the doors of their 22-room private apartment number 1A - to Mr and Mrs Obama, after the couple had lunched with the Queen at Windsor Castle. It is the first time that any of the young royals have entertained a head of state privately and the most significant event they have ever hosted at Kensington Palace. It ended a busy schedule of high-profile meetings and events for the President of the United States and the First Lady in the UK last night, after they arrived at Stansted Airport yesterday. For real estate enthusiasts the question is often pondered, what makes one apartment sell for more than the asking price, while another lays dormant without even a bid? Realestate.com.au used one Melbourne woman as an example to show buyers what they need to be on the look out for if they're investing in property. Angela Galvin has bought two properties in Melbourne in the last five years. The first was bought five years ago for $555,000. It was a two bedroom apartment in a 90-unit development in inner Melbourne. The second, bought last year for $1.2 million, was a converted brick warehouse turned into a two level apartment with three bedrooms and a balcony. The second apartment bought by Ms Galvin was in an old brick warehouse converted into apartments Ms Galvin's neighbour sold his similar property for $1.47 million, she paid $1.2 million a year ago Ms Galvin wanted to sell the first apartment before she purchased the second but unfortunately there was little interest and she couldn't even get the price she paid five years ago. However this week a neighbour at the new warehouse apartment block sold his very similar apartment for a massive $1.47 million, well above her payment of $1.2 million. Real estate agent Luke Sacco explains why there is such a big difference between the apartments. 'Anything in a heritage building sells well, anything that's got space sells well,' he said. But like every thing else, supply and demand is responsible for the difference in experiences and the lackluster reception to the attempted sale of Ms Galvin's first apartments. Real estate agents say heritage buildings always sell well, even better if they have space 'Where there's an overstock, with the cookie-cutter, the standard 1-to-2 bedroom small apartment space. There's a lot of those available,' he explains. Another thing to consider is of course location. 'Gen Y is looking to buy property and is increasingly trading off space for convenience by going for apartments in locations close to transport, good food and bards,' the article said. Generation Y is more likely to compromise on space if the apartment is close to transport and restaurants Low maintenance and smaller ongoing costs are being closely considered by buyers in the market. Sydney sider Elain Yong deliberated over where to buy an apartment for a long time before she settled on a great find. 'The building might have a great view, but I wasn't particularly happy with the building, I wanted a building with low starte levies. I didn't see the point in body corporate fees to pay for a pool I wouldn't use,' she said. Exposed concrete building are typically low maintenance, lowering the ongoing costs to apartment owners With an aging populations wide, disability friendly apartments are also quick to sell which is one of the reasons Ms Yong finally settled on a one-bedroom apartment in Surry Hills. 'It's an apartment designed for someone with a disability - everything's really wide. DeNode used recycled water in toilets. Because it's raw exposed concrete the upkeep is relatively low. The orientation of the apartment means it's always nice and shaded and cool.' A 50-year-old man gunned down five people on Friday evening before killing himself at home in Appling, Georgia, authorities said. Investigators found Wayne Anthony Hawes dead with a self-inflicted gunshot wounds in the early hours of Saturday, WRDW reported. They believe Hawes lost control after finding out his wife was divorcing him, a Columbia County Sheriff's Office spokesperson told WRDW while Hawes was still at large. Four people died at the scene and one was pronounced dead in the hospital in Augusta. Scroll down for video Wayne Anthony Hawes (left), 50, gunned down five people before shooting and killing himself at his home in Appling, Georgia, authorities said The two shootings happened a short distance away from each other - one in Johnson Drive and the other at the corner of Johnson Drive and Washington Road. Hawes's home had been set on fire when police found him according to WRDW. His wife was not among those killed but the victims included some of her family members, sheriffs Captain Andy Shedd told the Augusta Chronicle. They have been identified as Roosevelt Burns, 75, Rheba Mae Dent, 85, Kelia Clark, 31, Lizzy Williams, 59 and Shelly Williams, 62. Relatives told Fox 54 that Dent, Burns and Clark were part of his wife's family. The killings happened about 20 miles northwest of Augusta. Four people died at the scene and one died in the hospital in Augusta after the two shootings. Investigators believe Hawes acted after finding out his wife was divorcing him. Pictured is one of the scenes A jury on Friday sent a former East Texas mortician whose murder case inspired the movie Bernie back to prison. Bernie Tiede was sentenced to 99 years to life in prison following a new sentencing trial for his 1999 conviction in the 1996 killing of Marjorie Nugent, a widow more than 40 years his senior. Tiede, originally given life in prison, had been incarcerated nearly 16 years when he was temporarily freed in 2014 after his original prosecutor, Danny Buck Davidson, said he believed Tiede deserved a lesser sentence because of new evidence related to claims of sexual abuse that Tiede had suffered as a minor. Tiede, 57, was a mortician at the Hawthorn Funeral Home in Carthage, Texas, a town of about 7,000 about 150 miles east of Dallas, when he met Nugent at her husband's funeral in 1990. Bernie Tiede was given 99 years to life in prison on Friday during a a new sentencing trial for his 1999 conviction in the killing of Marjorie Nugent Tiede, originally given life in prison, had been incarcerated nearly 16 years when he was temporarily freed in 2014. Pictured above, he wipes his eyes as his uncle Elmer Doucet denies sexually abusing him as a child during day nine of Tiede's new sentencing trial The two became close friends and took lavish vacations abroad. Tiede became known around town for the gifts he gave himself and local residents - using Nugent's money. In 1996, Tiede shot Nugent four times in the back with a .22-caliber rifle, then hid her body in a freezer next to packages of frozen meat, pecans and corn. He carried on for nine months as if Nugent was still alive before authorities searched her home and found her body. In 1996, Tiede shot Nugent four times in the back with a .22-caliber rifle, then hid her body in a freezer next to packages of frozen meat, pecans and corn In his confession, Tiede described her as 'evil' and asserted that he snapped under the pressure of her mistreatment. After an initial mistrial, jurors in 1999 took less than an hour to convict him of murder. He received a life sentence. Bernie, the 2011 dark comedy inspired by Tiede's case, starred Jack Black, who portrayed Tiede as a quirky, friendly man who sang in the church choir, helped local residents start businesses and was beloved by a small, insular community. Nugent, played by Shirley MacLaine, was portrayed as a crotchety, withdrawn scold disliked by most of the town and who constantly insulted Tiede. Nugent's family has long protested how the widow was presented in the movie, saying Tiede manipulated their mother and grandmother to steal from her and should remain in prison. 'My grandmother was a real person,' her granddaughter, Shanna Nugent, said in a 2014 interview. 'She can't defend herself, and the reason she can't is Bernie Tiede killed her.' Austin attorney Jodi Cole saw Bernie and began investigating the case. She argued Tiede had been sexually abused as a child and felt trapped in a mentally abusive relationship with Nugent, leading him to experience a 'dissociative episode' when he shot her in the back. Danny Buck Davidson, the prosecutor who won Tiede's original conviction, agreed with her arguments that Tiede's case merited a maximum 20-year sentence instead of the life sentence he received. A judge let Tiede out of prison in 2014. Richard Linklater's 2011 dark comedy, Bernie, was inspired by the case. The film starred Jack Black, who portrayed Tiede as a quirky, friendly man who sang in the church choir, helped local residents start businesses and was beloved by a small, insular community. Since his release, Tiede had been living at the Austin home of filmmaker Richard Linklater, who directed Bernie. During his resentencing trial, which began April 6 in Henderson, 30 miles west of Carthage, a psychiatrist testifying for the defense told jurors the relationship between Tiede and Nugent was typical of abusive relationships and described Tiede as being like a battered wife. Tiede's attorneys had also argued to jurors that Tiede's mental state was affected after an uncle sexually abused him as a minor. But lawyers from the Texas attorney general's office, who replaced Davidson in the case after he recused himself, had argued Tiede was a con artist who killed Nugent to cover up his theft of her money. Through financial documents presented during the resentencing trial, the prosecutors argued Tiede was embezzling millions of dollars from Nugent, telling her he was investing her money in the stock market but actually spending it on himself and his friends. Witnesses at the retrial included Nugent's granddaughter, who helped discover Nugent's body. According to Tyler television station KLTV, the actual freezer was wheeled into the courtroom briefly. During his resentencing trial, which began April 6, a psychiatrist testifying for the defense told jurors the relationship between Tiede and Nugent was typical of abusive relationships and described Tiede as being like a battered wife Tiede's attorneys had also argued to jurors that Tiede's mental state was affected after an uncle sexually abused him as a minor A financial expert testified that Tiede took a total of $3.8million from Nugent during the course of their friendship, including after her death. And a forensics expert testified that he believed Nugent had been shot at least once while she was face down on the ground. The defense called a psychiatrist, Dr Richard Pesikoff, who said the shooting was 'a strange, unpredictable event brought on by intense emotional experiences,' according to The Dallas Morning News. Among those experiences, Pesikoff said, were claims that Nugent berated Tiede, made him shave her legs, and had him massage her back. The uncle who Tiede had accused of sexually abusing him denied the abuse claims at trial. However, three men testified they had also been sexually assaulted by Tiede's uncle when they were minors. Also testifying was Richard Linklater, the Texas native who made the movie. Linklater had let Tiede live with him in Austin since he was released from his sentence on bond, and said Tiede babysits his children and watches his pets. 'I think he's an incredibly nice, generous man who did a horrible thing 17-plus years ago,' Linklater said, according to KLTV. 'I consider him a friend and so does my family.' Tiede did not testify. Locals and MR Buckingham are calling on the government to stop fracking Methane gas was first noted in the river in 2012 Jeremy Buckingham recorded the fire at the Condamine River in QLD A Greens MP lit the a river on fire to show the effects of a coal seam gas A river has erupted into flames after a Greens MP waved a kitchen lighter over the side of the boat to bring awareness to the methane gas bubbling in the water. Jeremy Buckingham was left cowering on the side of the boat when flames licked his hands at the Condamine River, part of the Murray-Darling Basin south-west of Queensland. The large bubbles of gas seen gurgling in the video posted online by the Greens MP are reportedly an ongoing effect caused by coal seam gas mining occurring less than a kilometre away. Scroll down for video A greens MP has lit the Condamine River, part of the Murray-Darling Basin south-west of Queensland, on fire The methane seeps in the river were first noted in 2012. 'Holy f**k. Unbelievable. A river on fire,' said Mr Buckingham. 'The fracking just a kilometre away, methane coming up and now the river is alight. 'The most incredible thing I've seen. A tragedy in the Murray-Darling Basin.' The fire can be seen burning throughout the video and only appeared to subside when a local doused the flames with water. 'This area has been drilled with thousands of CSG wells and fracked. This river for kilometres is bubbling with gas and now it's on fire,' he said. 'This is the future of Australia if we do not stop the frackers who want to spread across all states and territories and do this to your community, to your environment. This is utterly unacceptable.' Jeremy Buckingham waved a kitchen lighter over the side of the boat to show the effects of methane gas bubbling in the water Jeremy Buckingham and locals believe the large bubbles of gas gurgling in the river are a result of a nearby coal seam gas Locals as well as Mr Buckingham believe the methane is not only effecting the river but is gradually causing greater damage to the environment. 'There has been concern that fracking and extraction of coal seam gas could cause gas to migrate through the rock,'read the caption along with the footage of the river on fire. 'Not only is it polluting the river and air, but methane is an extremely potent heat trapping gas. 'Fugitive emissions from the unconventional gas industry could be a major contributor to climate change and make gas as dirty as burning coal.' Recent reports on the gas in the river by an energy company showed the methane will not damage the environment The flames were burning for a least an hour after being and only subsided when a local paddled water onto the flames However earlier investigations led by an energy company that operates CSG wells in the district found a number of scenarios could have caused the methane seeps, reported the ABC. According to the studies the seeps did not pose a risk to public safety or the environment. 'We're aware of concerns regarding bubbling of the Condamine River, in particular, recent videos demonstrating that this naturally occurring gas is flammable when ignited,' said Origin Energy in a statement in 2013. 'We understand that this can be worrying, however, the seeps pose no risk to the environment, or to public safety, providing people show common sense and act responsibly around them. 'Ongoing research has identified several scenarios that could be contributing to the seeps including the natural geology and faults (formed tens-of-millions of years ago), natural events such as drought and flood cycles as well as some human activity, which includes water bores and coal seam gas operations.' But in February, a lead researcher into unconventional gas for the CSIRO, noted that the gas has been multiplying. The father of a 16-year-old girl who died after getting into a fight with a student at school has spoken out about the tragedy of his daughter's death. Amy Inita Joyner-Francis was killed Friday morning after a deadly scuffle with a gang of girls escalated into her head getting slammed against a bathroom sink. While some students suggested the altercation had been over a boy, others now say this was not the case - but declined to comment on what was the cause. Scroll down for video Speaking a day after Amy Inita Joyner-Francis' shocking death, her father Sonny Francis (pictured) said: 'I thought schools were a safe place' Friends have identified the victim as Amy Inita Joyner-Francis (left and right), 16, who died after being attacked by a group in the women's bathroom at Howard High School of Technology in Wilmington, Delaware, Thursday morning Paramedics (pictured) wheeled the student out of the school. Medics performed CPR on the victim before a helicopter arrived to transport her to a hospital Speaking a day after her shocking death, her father Sonny Francis told FOX29: 'I thought schools were a safe place. He added: 'I think this is a dream and I'm trying to wake up. All I know is my daughter is gone. She was the love of my life and it hurts.' 'There was an altercation that initially started between two people, and my understanding is that additional individuals joined in against the one person,' Gary Fullman, chief of staff to the Wilmington mayor, told KTLA. Kaya Wilson was in a stall when the fight broke out and spoke with the local news station after leaving school. 'She was fighting a girl, and then that's when all these other girls started banking her -like jumping her - and she hit her head on the sink,' Wilson said. Amy was flown to A.I. DuPont Children's Hospital in critical condition, where she was later pronounced dead.The cause of death has not been confirmed. Two female students are being interviewed by police, a spokesman for Wilmington's mayor confirmed The cause of the death for the student is still unknown. Above, a crime scene vehicle at the school on Thursday Mayor Dennis William was emotional as he announced Joyner-Francis' death. He said: 'My heart bleeds for the family' Police Chief Bobby Cummings said two female students were taken to police headquarters for questioning, according to local media reports. 'My heart bleeds for the family,' Mayor Dennis Williams told a news conference. Sherry Dorsey Walker, a Wilmington city councilwoman, says she has known the victim and her family for quite some time and had been asked by the family to speak on their behalf. Walker says the family is asking for spiritual healing in the community and no retaliation. She says they're also 'asking people to just be calm and pray for them'. The councilwoman described the victim as 'a wonderful human being', adding that 'her loss is a big void, not just in the family'. Nathaniel Kenyatta, a freshman at the school, was friends with the victim and spoke to Delaware Online on Thursday. He says he met her in a HVAC class and that she was an easy person to talk to. 'She was very open,' he said. 'I feel bad for the people who have known her for years.' A vigil was held for Amy on Thursday evening. Her friends and neighbors knew her as the quiet teen who would focus on her homework. Nik Stryminski told the News-Journal that Amy had kept him safe and out of a fight earlier this school year. A student cries in front of Howard High School of Technology on Thursday after a city official announced a student had died after the confrontation inside the school Classes were cancelled at the vocational school on Thursday after the deadly attack When he and another student were getting ready to fight she stepped in, backed him into a corner and calmed him down. He said: 'She didn't believe in fighting, and the craziest thing is she died in a fight.' Stryminski believes Amy went into the bathroom not to fight but to 'talk things out'. Many took to Twitter and Facebook yesterday to comment on the shocking nature of her death, with #RIPAmy trending. One person commented that it was sickening to know that students stood there and watched and recorded as the fight erupted all because of a boy. One Twitter user said she prays 'for this generation' and hopes 'justice will be served', while another said the world needs a 'cultural shift'. Howard isn't known as a violent school and Police Chief Cummings said he did not know of any other problems in recent days. But father Francis is still reeling from the fact that his daughter's death took place in the 'safe' environment of a school. He said: I thought that the schools were a safe place that you could drop your kids off and they would come home after school, but apparently thats not the case with some of the schools now. Donald Trump spoke in a fake Indian accent as he impersonated a call center employee at a rally in Delaware Friday. The Republican frontrunner criticized companies that hire workers abroad during a speech in Harrington. 'Do you ever on your credit card?' he asked as if beginning a stand-up comedy sketch. 'You want to find out about your credit car. Guess what, you're talking to a person from India. How the hell does that work?' The billionaire then launched into a rendition of his own experience calling the bank - not to check up on his own credit card, but to find out whether workers at the call center were actually from India. 'I said to this person, "Where are you from?" I wasn't checking on my card, I was actually finding out if this was true. So I called up under the guise of checking on my card. 'I said: "Where are you from?" "We are from India,"' Trump replied in lieu of the foreign worker, replaying the conversation to his supporters' delight. 'Oh great, that's wonderful. Thank you very much, that's all I needed to-' he said before gesturing as if hanging up a phone. Trump also spoke in broken English in August last year as he recalled negotiations with Chinese and Japanese partners. 'When these people walk into the room they don't say, "Oh hello, how's the weather? So beautiful outside, isnt it lovely? How are the Yankees doing? Oh, they are doing wonderful, great,"' he recalled. "They say: "We want deal."' Trump pretended to hold a phone up to his ear (pictured) as he replayed a call with his bank's helpline during a rally in Harrington, Delaware on Friday Newly compiled data reveals Google and its affiliates have attended meetings at the White House more than once a week, on average, since President Barack Obama took office. Numbers crunched by the Campaign for Accountability and the Intercept show 169 Google employees have met with 182 government officials in the White House. The meetings took place at least 427 times. The data used spans from Obama's first month in office in 2009 until October 2015, and includes government meetings with representatives of Google-affiliated companies Tomorrow Ventures and Civis Analytics. Data shows Google employees visited the White House at least 427 times between the time Obama took office and October 2015 The Google employee with the most visits is the company's head of public policy, Johanna Shelton, who paid the White House 128 visits. Johanna Shelton, pictured, is Google's top lobbyist. She paid 128 visits to the White House The government's apparently cozy relationship with Google was brought up about a year ago by the Wall Street Journal. In response to a story in the Journal titled 'Google Makes Most of Close Ties to White House,' the company responded: 'Of course weve had many meetings at the White House over the years.' Google wrote that topics discussed in the meetings ranged from patent reform, STEM education, and self-driving cars to Internet censorship, smart contact lenses, and cyber security. Friday's report in the Intercept came a week after Obama announced his support for a Federal Communications Commission plan that would make it easier for pay-TV customers to buy their own set-top boxes - a plan which an AT&T executive blasted as a 'Google proposal.' A real estate agent who was advising two pensioners on selling their home is under investigation after he bought their property at a bargain price and then flipped it within a few months for more than $600,000 in profit. Aaron Hughes was sacked for a breach of standards by his employer Barfoot & Thompson and is under investigation by New Zealand's Real Estate Agents Authority [REAA]. Mr Hughes bought a scruffy house in the suburb of Mt Wellington in Auckland last year for $530,000 ($470,000 AUD), about $100,000 ($89,000 AUD) less that the council valuation, property records seen by the Weekend Herald show. Aaron Hughes made $640,000 from the sale of this house less than four months after buying it from two pensioners Aaron Hughes is under investigation by New Zealand's Real Estate Agents Authority Less than four months after the private sale, without any work to the property, Mr Hughes sold the house for $1.255 million ($1.1 million AUD) - a profit of $725,000 ($640,000 AUD). The transactions were made through Az-Iz Rentals, which lists Aaron John Hughes as its sole director. It has now been removed from New Zealand's Companies Office register. Barfoot & Thompson was not involved in the sale and has condemned the actions of its former employee. Former homeowners Jack and Walter Tata - brothers in their 70s - were amazed to hear their house sold for that much when they were informed by the Weekend Herald. 'I didn't realise he was that sort of guy,' Walter Tata told the New Zealand Herald. 'I thought he was quite straight up.' The brothers said they were approached by Mr Hughes after he learned they wanted to sell the property. They thought the price Mr Hughes offered was a little low, but 'fair enough', Walter Tata said. Walter and Jack have complained with the REAA and are exploring their legal options. Daily Mail has contacted Mr Hughes for comment. Mr Hughes bought the Mt Wellington house last year for $530,000 ($470,000 AUD), about $100,000 ($89,000 AUD) less than its council valuation But it was the 'small things' loomed large for Former prime minister Tony Abbott has admitted a series of 'small things' loomed large for colleagues costing him the prime ministership but his government 'got the big things right.' Mr Abbott made the admissions in an article published in the May issue of Quadrant magazine. Abolishing the debt ceiling was a 'serious mistake', and stripping MPs of perks such as first-class overseas travel and employment of immediate relatives should have been handled more sensitively wrote Mr Abbott. Scroll down for video The former prime minister has conceded he made mistakes and misjudgements in policy, public opinion and dealings with colleagues that cost him the prime ministership Mr Abbott conceded his government failed to rise to the challenge of 'greater fairness, more thorough-going justice and deeper empowerment that a stronger economy makes possible.' He said: 'I made some unnecessary enemies and left too many friends feeling under-appreciated.' 'I can't let pride in what was achieved under my leadership blind me to the flaws that made its termination easier, even if claims were exaggerated or exploited in self-serving ways.' The first part of the article is said to be devoted to issues where he believes his government made the right call, including climate change, same sex marriage, national security laws and stopping the boats He also conceded there were some issues the Abbott government could have managed better or not pursued at all. Other areas he references include an error in only having one woman in his initial cabinet and that he should have anticipated the 'hostility' in awarding Prince Philip a knighthood. Abandoning the change to section 18c of the Racial Discrimination Act in the cause of free speech, and that he should have persisted with reform amendment advocated by crossbench senator Bob Day was also mentioned. Mr Abbott said he should have known his paid parental leave scheme was 'undeliverable' because of budget realities. Mr Abbott said it was sad that 'everything had become questionable', even his volunteering in indigenous communities and the annual charity bike ride, the Pollie Pedal He acknowledged 'more media', particularly long-form interviews where voters saw a different side of him - 'more personality and less adversarial sparring'. With regards to his public perception, he said it was sad that 'everything had become questionable', even his volunteering in indigenous communities and the annual charity bike ride, the Pollie Pedal. At the strategic level, he said his government's biggest problem was 'people's reluctance to accept that short-term pain might be necessary for long-term gain'. Among the things Mr Abbott said his government got right was climate change, same sex marriage, national security laws, stopping the boats and terminating corporate welfare. The former prime minister pledged to address the challenge his government "couldn't always rise to" in his future public life. Federal Environmental Minister Greg Hunt has joined leaders from 170 other countries in New York to sign the Paris Agreement to limit global warming by at least two degrees, but the Greens say the want less talk, more action. Mr Hunt says Australia will beat its Kyoto emission reduction targets by 78 million tonnes and meet a 2030 target of reducing emissions by 26 to 28 per cent below 2005 levels. "These are some of the highest targets anywhere in the world and certainly on a per capita basis we're right at the top," he told the ABC from New York on Saturday. Greens senator Larissa Waters says Australia is a laughing stock and well behind other countires The Greens have said that Mr Hunt likes to talk about actions against climate change but our policies aren't reflective Greens senator Larissa Waters says that signing the agreement won't see it avoid warming of three to four degrees if it's not backed up by action. 'Unfortunately, Minister Hunt likes to bandy about some figures but Australia has been a laughing stock on the international stage,' she told the ABC. 'Our pollution reduction targets are so far below the science and people know that our policies aren't even getting us towards those very low targets.' Australia's lack of follow-through on climate change will leave the Great Barrier Reef 'completely cooked' despite it signing the Paris climate deal, the Greens say. The Greens says Australia's lack of action on climate change will see the Great Barrier Reef 'completely cooked' Senator Waters rejected the government's commitment of a further $11 million on projects to continue improving water quality on the Great Barrier Reef following a study this week showing 93 per cent of the reef was bleached. She pointed to the Queensland and federal government's backing of the Adani coal mine which critics say will further imperil the reef. 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. Islamic State have claimed responsibility for the deadly attack Incident similar to recent killings of atheist bloggers in Bangladesh A university professor was hacked to death by a gang of attackers while on his way to work in northwestern Bangladesh. A.F.M. Rezaul Karim Siddique was attacked on his way to the state-run university in the city of Rajshahi, where he taught English. The attackers used sharp weapons and fled the scene immediately, according to deputy police commissioner Nahidul Islam. ISIS have claimed responsibility for the horrific attack. A.F.M. Rezaul Karim Siddique (pictured) was attacked on his way to the state-run university in the city of Rajshahi, where he taught English The attack was similar to recent killings of atheist bloggers in Muslim-majority Bangladesh by radical Islamists. The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack, according to the SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors jihadi websites. No further details were available. At least three other professors at Rajshahi University have been killed in recent years, allegedly by Islamist groups. Sajidul Karim Siddique, a brother of the professor, said he was a 'very quiet and simple man' who was focused on studying and teaching. He led a cultural group and used to edit a literary magazine. 'So far as we know, he did not have any known enemies and we never found him worried,' Sajidul said. 'We don't know why it happened to him.' Sajidul Karim Siddique, a brother of the professor (pictured), said he was a 'very quiet and simple man' who was focused on studying and teaching The government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has been cracking down on militant groups, which it blames for deadly attacks in the past year on secular bloggers, minority Shiites, Christians and two foreigners. It accuses the opposition of supporting religious radicals in seeking to retaliate against the government for prosecuting suspected war crimes during the country's 1971 independence war. Some of the attacks were claimed by the Islamic State group, but the government dismisses those claims and says the Sunni extremist group has no presence in Bangladesh. The sister of slain professor Siddiquee mourns after hearing the news of her brother's brutal death Following Saturday's attack, hundreds of students and teachers marched on Rajshahi University's campus and blocked a highway, demanding justice. Amnesty International condemned the killing and said those responsible must be brought to justice. 'The vicious killing is inexcusable and those responsible must be held to account,' Amnesty's South Asia director, Champa Patel, said in a statement. 'This attack sadly fits the gruesome pattern established by Islamist extremist groups in Bangladesh who are targeting secular activists and writers. 'The authorities must do more to put an end to these killings. A sleaze probe has been launched into the Culture Secretarys trip to Amsterdam with his dominatrix girlfriend after he failed to declare it. Tory MP John Whittingdale attended the 2013 MTV Awards in a two-night expenses-paid trip with a prostitute he had met online. Rules state MPs must declare trips that cost more than one per cent of their salary, about 660 in 2013, and Mr Whittingdale is now under investigation to determine if he broke them. A sleaze probe has been launched into the Culture Secretary John Whittingdale's (left) trip to Amsterdam with his dominatrix girlfriend Mistress Kate (right) after he failed to declare it The Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards Kathryn Hudson is probing a complaint by Labour MP Neil Coyle who suspects that Mr Whittingdale's trip exceeded the declaration threshold. 'It's good to know that no-one is above the rules and even Cabinet members will be investigated will be investigated where there are suspicions they've failed to declare trips abroad appropriately,' he told The Mirror. A source close to Mr Whittingdale told the paper that the Tory MP's trip totalled 530 but suspicions were raised when it emerged a pair of tickets for a similar trip he made in 2006 cost 160 for the ceremony alone. If an MP is judged to have broken the rules, he or she can be forced to apologise or even be suspended if there has been a serious breach of regulations. Mr Whittingdale has admitted he was in a relationship with a prostitute but claims he was unaware she was a professional dominatrix. The Tory MP for Maldon said he did not know the woman was a sex worker and he broke off the relationship when he discovered someone was trying to sell the story to the press. The Culture Secretary said he went out with her for around six months in 2013 and 2014 before he entered the Cabinet. They met through the Match.com site. The 56-year-old minister, who is divorced with two children, said he brought the embarrassing relationship to an end as soon as he discovered her occupation. The parliamentary commissioner for standards Kathryn Hudson is probing a complaint by Labour MP Neil Coyle who suspects that Mr Whittingdale's (pictured) trip exceeded the declaration threshold The relationship took place before he became minister in May last year - although he was chairman of the influential Commons Culture, Media and Sport Committee at the time. He said: 'Between August 2013 and February 2014, I had a relationship with someone who I first met through Match.com. She was a similar age and lived close to me. 'At no time did she give me any indication of her real occupation and I only discovered this when I was made aware that someone was trying to sell a story about me to tabloid newspapers. 'As soon as I discovered [this], I ended the relationship. This is an old story which was a bit embarrassing at the time. At centre of ICAC inquiry after crashing prosecutor Cunneen's car in 2014 Sophia Tilley, whose car crash sparked a failed watchdog probe into high-profile prosecutor Margaret Cunneen has been charged with cocaine possession in Sydneys east. Ms Tilley, 26, was standing outside the Bellevue Hotel with a group of friends on April 8 when police allegedly found her carrying a small amount of cocaine, Fairfax reported. It is understood that the amount of cocaine police discovered was less than a gram. Scroll down for video Sophia Tilley (pictured), whose car crash sparked a failed watchdog probe into high-profile prosecutor Margaret Cunneen has been charged with cocaine possession in Sydneys east An explosive transcript emerged of a phone conversation where Crown Prosecutor Margaret Cunneen (pictured) said she messaged her son's girlfriend telling her to 'start having chest pains' in a bid to delay a police breath test Ms Tilley, who dated Ms Cunneens son Stephen Wylie, was charged with drug possession and will face Waverly Local Court in May. Ms Tilley was driving Ms Cunneen's Ford Mondeo on May 31, 2014 when she was hit by another vehicle in Willoughby, on Sydney's north shore. The car was knocked onto its side and she was trapped in her seat belt for some time. She experienced chest pain and feared her breast implants may have ruptured. Ms Tilley, who was not at fault for the accident, tested negative for alcohol at hospital after the crash. An explosive transcript emerged in February of a phone conversation where Crown Prosecutor Margaret Cunneen said she messaged her son's girlfriend telling her to 'start having chest pains' in a bid to delay a police breath test. Ms Tilley (right), who dated Ms Cunneens son Stephen Wylie (left), was charged with drug possession and will face Waverly Local Court in May Sophia Tilley, 25 (pictured, above right, with boyfriend, Stephen Wyllie) was behind the wheel when she had a car accident sparking the previous investigation into Margaret Cunneen Fairfax published the transcript of the prosecutor's tapped conversation about Sophia Tilley with a tow truck driver on Friday, just hours after New South Wales upper house MP Rev. Fred Nile told The Australian he believed Ms Cunneen was 'joking' during the call. In the transcript, Ms Cunneen, a top lawyer with an extensive record in prosecuting high-profile criminals, was quoted saying: 'My only reservation, between you and me, is that that naughty girl had alcohol had, oh no thats alright, I can cover that... 'But she had drunk, shes on her P Plates. But it had been some time ago which is why I sent her the message to start having chest pains and get the ambulance because its bought her a few more hours.' 'Just hoping it goes down to zero cause otherwise there might be complicated insurance issues.' Ms Tilley only held a provisional P-plate license at the time of the incident, meaning she was restricted from drinking alcohol and driving. ICAC was investigating the allegation Ms Cunneen attempted to pervert the course of justice until the High Court found, following a challenge brought on by the crown prosecutor, that it had exceeded its jurisdiction Ms Cunneen has said she was using sarcasm during the phone conversation and denied wrongdoing. The Fairfax account was published not long after Rev. Nile told The Australian Ms Cunneen 'was being humorous and joking' in the phone calls. 'There is a man that she is friendly with and was chatting to - she was joking with these guys,' he was quoted saying. Ms Cunneen was previously investigated over claims she told Sophia Tilley (pictured) to 'fake chest pains' to dodge a police breath test following an accident in May 2014 'I'm sure she would have been more discreet if she knew it was going to finish up as an ICAC inquiry'. ICAC was investigating the allegation Ms Cunneen attempted to pervert the course of justice but the High Court found that it had exceeded its jurisdiction following a challenge brought on by the crown prosecutor. The NSW Solicitor-General later found no basis for prosecution. A hairdresser has spoken of how she spotted teen ripper James Fairweather staring at her from the bushes after recognising his jacket from a police wanted poster while out walking her dog. Michelle Sadler, 41, was walking her dog in Colchester, Essex, in May 2015, near where Fairweather had stabbed his second victim Nahid Almanea. The salon boss thought Farweather looked suspicious as he was lurking in the bushes wearing a combat jacket and wearing a pair of gloves. Hairdresser Michelle Sadler, left, spotted double killer James Fairweather, right, lurking in the bushes wearing a green combat jacket and surgical gloves and rang the police who found he was also armed with a knife Officers believe Fairweather, who was armed with this knife, pictured, was hunting for his third victim Ms Sadler told The Sun: 'People have told me I've saved lives, but the truth is I think I saved my own life. I think he was waiting for me to be his third victim. 'I walk my dog close to the nature trail and was down there on my own. I saw him hiding in teh bushes and looking really suspicious. I nearly s*** myself when I saw him there. 'When I close my eyes I see his face. I see those thick black glasses staring back at me.' The mother-of-one told The Mirror: 'He was so odd looking, I turned and left making sure he wasnt following me, stepping up my pace with every step. I saw another dog walker and told her I was calling the police. She said she had a big dog and said we should check out what he was up to. I convinced myself to go back because I would never forgive myself if something happened. 'He was nowhere to be seen, then the lady said "look, hes there" and I turned and saw him hiding in the bushes. He was no more than 15 feet away and staring straight at me. Its a face that will never leave me, a manic look. Just as I grabbed the woman by the arm and said "we have to get out of here", I noticed his jacket. It was the same jacket I had seen in the papers, that police said one of the killers was wearing. I was shaking, so called police.' Fairweather, pictured in a police interview, was just 15 when he killed his two victims in March and June 2014 Assistant Chief Constable of Essex Police Steve Worron, left, described Fairweather's crimes as 'beyond the comprehension of most people'. He said nobody would think a 15-year-old could commit such henious crimes Police responded immediately to the call and arrested Fairweather who was still lurking in the bushes. He was armed with a knife and was wearing surgical gloves. Officers believe he was actively prowling for his third victim. The then 15-year-old murdered James Attfield, 33 in a park in March 2014, stabbing his victim some 102 times. He later killed Saudi student Nahid Almanea in June 2014 with a bayonet. Officers questioned and released Fairweather following the second murder, although he was never ruled out as a suspect by investigators. Assistant Chief Constable Steve Worron of Essex Police, described the crimes which left the community in fear as 'beyond the comprehension' of most people'. Speaking after Fairweather, now 17, was found guilty of two counts of murder, Mr Worron said: 'He was never eliminated, and could not be eliminated, but there was no evidence to link him to either offence.' Fairweather, who had committed a previous knife offence, was one of 69 people who were interviewed after Ms Almanea's murder. He spoke to police 'voluntarily', not as a suspect and in the presence of his mother. He told police he was at home at the time Ms Almanea was killed. Fairweather was questioned early in the investigation in the presence of his mother Anita, pictured, but police said they were forced to release him because there was no evidence to link him to a crime Michelle Sadler reported Fairweather to police almost a year after Nahid Almanea's murder in June 2014 Mr Worron said: 'He gave an account of his whereabouts which could not be corroborated and on that basis he was not eliminated.' Mr Worron said that almost 300 people were interviewed after Mr Attfield's murder. Fairweather had been given a 12-month youth court referral order after carrying out a knifepoint robbery in which he stole cigars from a shop in January 2014. He got the referral order for that offence in the same month that he murdered Mr Attfield. Mr Worron said Fairweather had made 'extensive efforts' including hiding the weapons to try and cover his track but improvements in technology meant that DNA was able to link him to the murders. The net began closing in on Fairweather when he was arrested in May 2015 after a member of the public spotted someone acting suspiciously in the street and contacted police. The investigation, one of the biggest in Essex, cost just 2.6 million up to the end of March 2015. It involved over 1,500 officers and staff and help was also pulled in from Kent, the Metropolitan Police and other forces in the eastern region amid a huge operation to reassure the public and help them feel safe. Mr Worron said: 'I do not think anybody in society would expect or anticipate that a 15-year-old could commit two brutal murders in this way. 'It is beyond the comprehension of people that an adult, let alone a child, could behave in that way. The only person who can truly understand those offences is James Fairweather.' Fairweather was cound guilty of the two murders at Guildford Crown Court, having previously admitted manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility. Commenting after the case, Paul Scothern of the Crown Prosecution Service's Complex Case Unit said: 'This was a shocking case, particularly because of the young age of the defendant at the time and because the brutal attacks he carried out were entirely random. 'He did not know either James Attfield or Nahid Almanea, the victims did not know each other and the defendant had absolutely no reason to attack them.' Mr Scothern said: 'James Fairweather claimed voices and hallucinations compelled him to carry out attacks and he admitted manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility but denied murder. His claims were at the heart of the trial as the prosecution did not accept this was the case. 'We presented expert medical evidence to the jury that his claims were an attempt to deceive those who examined him, to literally get away with murder. 'Our evidence was that he was in control at the time, he knew what he was doing, he prepared for the killings by arming himself with a knife and gloves, and he took steps afterwards to conceal what he had done. The man who shot and killed New Zealand celebrity police dog Gazza has been found dead after failed negotiations with police. Police tried to negotiate with Pita Tekira, 29, throughout Friday night and used gas canisters to convince him to emerge from the upper level of the house in Porirua, north of Wellington where he had been barricaded since the morning, according to stuff.co.nz. Police had final contact with the man just before midnight before they used a remote control camera to locate Mr Tekira's body early on Saturday morning. He reportedly shot himself. Police dog Gazza was shot dead during the seige on Friday morning and will be remembered for his unrelenting bravery. A police officer was also injured after he was forced to jump out of a second storey window at the house on Kokiri Crescent. Battle-hardy police dog Gazza was shot dead during a siege with on Friday will be remembered for his unrelenting bravery Gazza and his handler Constable Josh Robertson (pictured) had been involved in a lengthy armed seige in Porirua, north of Wellington, which had involved a helicopter and armed police before he was shot dead by the assailant The four-year-old German Shepherd gained a tough reputation among Kiwi police dogs after he was strangled by a burglar tracked down in a forest after a three kilometre manhunt. 'It is with great sadness that Police can confirm the police dog who was shot during the incident today in Porirua was Gazza,' a statement from New Zealand Police read. Gazza was set to become a TV star and feature in the upcoming New Zealand television series Dog Squad with his handler Constable Josh Robertson. Gazza was set to become a TV star and feature in the upcoming New Zealand television series Dog Squad with his handler In April last year Gazza tracked down and attacked a burglar after a three kilometre chase through bush In April last year Gazza tracked down and attacked a burglar after a three kilometre chase through bush, stuff.co.nz reported. When his handler caught up with him, he reportedly found Gazza with his jaw locked on the burglar's forearm who was choking the dog and twisting his ears. 'He was getting stuck into the dog, but then dog got stuck back into him,' Constable Robertson told the publication last year. 'He absolutely nailed it.' Gazza is the most recent dog shot in the line of duty since police dog Gage was shot and killed in Christchurch in July 2010 Gazza is the most recent dog shot in the line of duty since police dog Gage was shot and killed in Christchurch in July 2010. The New Zealand Police Dog Training Centre are expected to host a memorial for Gazza in coming months. New Zealand Police say that despite 24 dogs being killed in 44 years, the number is incredibly low considering dogs are called out to operations 40,000 times a year. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has met US President Barack Obama and described their discussion as 'excellent'. The Labour leader emerged from Lindley Hall, central London, after almost 90 minutes and told reporters the pair touched on a number of topics, including the European Union 'very briefly'. Asked what they discussed, the Labour politician said: 'The challenges facing post-industrial societies and the power of global corporations and the increasing use of technology around the world and the effect that has.' Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn (centre) has met US President Barack Obama and described their discussion as 'excellent' The Labour leader emerged from Lindley Hall, central London, (pictured) after almost 90 minutes and told reporters the pair touched on a number of topics, including the European Union 'very briefly' Asked what they discussed, the Labour politician said: 'The challenges facing post-industrial societies and the power of global corporations and the increasing use of technology around the world and the effect that has' Mr Corbyn said Mr Obama congratulated him on being elected leader of the Labour Party and said he had 'enjoyed' the meeting. He said they also spoke about levels of inequality and poverty. Asked if they talked about the President's intervention into the debate on Britain's membership of the European Union, Mr Corbyn said they spoke 'very briefly' on the subject of Europe. There had been speculation for months about whether the meeting would go ahead. According to sources close to the talks, there had been tense negotiations with the US embassy to secure a slot in the president's diary. News of the meeting with Mr Corbyn, who opposes British military intervention in Syria, came as Mr Obama said the US and Britain were ready to take action to stop the Islamic State terror group securing a stronghold in Libya from which to launch attacks on Europe or America. Mr Corbyn has previously been critical of Mr Obama's presidency - in particular his foreign policy. The Labour leader has also blasted the President for failing to close Guantanamo Bay. When Mr Obama celebrated the killing of Osama bin Laden in 2011, Mr Corbyn described his death as 'a tragedy' - saying the Al-Qaeda chief should have been put on trial. Shortly before he entered the Labour leadership race last summer Mr Corbyn attacked Mr Obama for failing to deliver on his promise to release the British Guantanamo prisoner Shaker Aamer. Mr Obama and his wife Michelle will be leaving for Germany tomorrow. Leaders of the opposition are granted an audience with the US president during state visits, but this is not a state visit and so Obama was under no obligation to meet Corbyn, according to The Guardian. Jeremy Corbyn (centre) arriving for a private meeting with US President Barack Obama at Lindley Hall in Westminster today. Mr Corbyn said Mr Obama congratulated him on being elected leader of the Labour Party Leaders of the opposition are granted an audience with the US president (president) during state visits, but this is not a state visit and so Obama was under no obligation to meet Corbyn Corbyn, (pictured) who spent three decades on the left-wing fringes of the Labour Party before his surprise election as its new leader last year, had previously had few opportunities for high-profile meetings with major figures on the world stage. On social media Paul Singh wrote: 'Love to be a fly on the wall for the Obama Corbyn meeting. Do you reckon they will mention NATO?' Also on Twitter Katie said: 'Glad Obama is meeting Jeremy Corbyn. I couldn't keep up who was meant to be snubbing whom.' Before he became prime minister David Cameron secured a meeting with Mr Obama on a visit to London in 2009. David Cameron was awarded a 30-minute meeting at Winfield House, the residence of the US ambassador in Regent's Park. Cameron said at the time: 'We had an excellent meeting and we discussed a range of economic matters and a range of foreign policy matters. 'Obviously, it was a private meeting but a really productive meeting and it was good to see him and his team.' Shortly before he entered the Labour leadership race last summer Mr Corbyn attacked Mr Obama (pictured) for failing to deliver on his promise to release the British Guantanamo prisoner Shaker Aamer The Labour leader has also blasted the President (pictured) for failing to close Guantanamo Bay Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron (left) and US President Barack Obama (right) wave on the step outside Downing Street. Obama earlier intervened in the debate over Britain's EU membership, urging Britons to vote to remain in the bloc in a June referendum Corbyn, who spent three decades on the left-wing fringes of the Labour Party before his surprise election as its new leader last year, had previously had few opportunities for high-profile meetings with major figures on the world stage. Obama earlier intervened in the debate over Britain's EU membership, urging Britons to vote to remain in the bloc in a June referendum and warning that if they left they would be at the back of the queue for a US trade deal. Voters will have the final say in a June 23 referendum, but Obama stressed his view that EU membership only enhances British influence. 'The nations that make their presence felt on the world stage aren't the nations that go it alone but the nations that team up to aggregate their power and multiply their influence,' Obama said Friday at a news conference alongside Cameron. 'And precisely because Britain's values and institutions are so strong and so sound, we want to make sure that that influence is heard, that it's felt, that it influences how other countries think about critical issues.' 'We have confidence that when the U.K. is involved in a problem that they're going to help solve it in the right way. That's why the United States cares about this,' he said. Guantanamo protesters demonstrate outside Downing Street (pictured) yesterday. When Mr Obama celebrated the killing of Osama bin Laden in 2011, Mr Corbyn described his death as 'a tragedy' - saying the Al-Qaeda chief should have been put on trial Tasmania will prescribe medical marijuana for residents with serious illnesses from 2017. The drug will be prescribed to qualifying patients through a Controlled Access Scheme which does not change laws prohibiting the drug. Medical marijuana crops will be grown under federal licences, while the state government will work to maximise opportunities to cultivate medical cannabis and manufacture products, reports ABC. Medical marijuana will be prescribed to qualifying patients through a Controlled Access Scheme which does not change laws prohibiting the drug Tasmanian Health Minister Michael Ferguson said GPs would not be able to prescribe the drug, and that this would be left for an panel of clinicians. 'It needs to be a medical specialist with expertise in that particular area of disease,' Mr Fergusson said. He said there will also be ample work opportunities for prospective growers in the future. 'Tasmanian is well placed, I would suggest, given our experience in the cultivation and processing of poppies, to also be a leader in this space.' Epilepsy Tasmania chairman Ian Sauer said the move is an exciting development for the management of severe cases of the disease. 'People need to realise that medical cannabis will be one of many tools in the toolbox to help control epilepsy.' Finally they should 'beat their wives' but 'not to vent their anger' Then men should 'forsake their spouses in bed' by turning backs on them A Saudi family therapist has released a video on the 'correct way' for Muslims to 'discipline their wives' - but advised doing so using a toothpick or handkerchief. Khaled Al-Saqaby released the footage earlier this year and admitted on camera it was a 'thorny' issue, adding: 'Allah willing, we will cross this bridge safely'. Mr Al-Saqaby urges men not to physically abuse their wives but pursue three courses of action should they need 'discipline' - first talk to them, then 'forsake them in bed' and finally beat them. He said wives 'undoubtedly' caused problems because many 'want to live a life of equality with their husbands', which is a 'very grave problem'. Saudi family therapist Khaled Al-Saqaby, pictured, released a video advising husbands on how to 'properly discipline their disobedient wives' He said women 'undoubtedly' cause problems and in some cases provoke their husbands to hit them Sitting in an unknown woodland location, he explains why men may need to discipline their wives but outlines how to do it safely and according to Islam. In the video, he says: 'I am aware that this issue is a thorny one which contains many hazards, but Allah willing we will cross this bridge safely. 'I believe the problem arises when husbands do not understand how to deal with disobedience. Some women disobey their husbands and make mistakes with them, and their husbands think this is due to inadequate treatment [of disobedience].' He added: 'The first step is to remind her of your rights and of her duties according to Allah. Then comes the second step - forsaking her in bed. 'Here some husbands make mistakes which might exacerbate the problem.' Mr Al-Saqaby goes on to explain how men should remain sharing a bed with their wives but turn their back on them, rather than one of the couple sleeping in a different room or on the floor. Mr Al-Saqaby says beating should be the last resort and is not to 'vent one's anger' but to impose discipline He added necessary conditions must be met and that it should be done with a sewak tooth stick or a handkerchief He said: 'As a woman once told me, this is the most ingenious way to discipline a wife. If the husband leaves the room it is easier for her than if he remains but turns his back to her or if he sleeps on the floor or vice versa.' Finally comes physical action, although Mr Al-Saqaby stresses it should not be a way for a husband to 'vent one's anger'. He said: 'Women have to understand the aim is to discipline. The necessary Islamic conditions for beating must be met. 'The beating should not be performed with a rod, nor should it be a headband, or a sharp object which, I am sad to say, some husbands use. 'It should be done with something like the sewak tooth-cleaning twig or with a handkerchief, because the goal is to merely make the wife feel that she was wrong in the way she treated her husband.' The first step in his advice on dealing with 'disobedient wives' is to 'advise them' on their duties If this does not work, the next stage is to 'forsake her in bed' where a husband turns his back on his wife Mr Al-Saqaby adds there are some situations where a wife may hit her husband because of the 'faulty upbringing of some husbands' who may have seen their fathers hit their wives and be 'imitating their behaviour'. But he added women seeking equality with their husbands was one of the main reasons for a husband's need to discipline them. He said: 'This is a very grave problem. In addition, sometimes a woman makes a mistake that may lead her husband to beat her. 'I'm sad to say there are some women who say "Go ahead. If you are a real man, beat me." She provokes them.' Holidaymakers getting set for their summer breaks have been left furious after the revelation they face a new 'eco-tax' on arrival. Following months of discussion, the new tax will hit popular tourist destinations including Majorca, Menorca and Ibiza from July 1 - in time for the summer holidays. And those who have already paid for their holidays in advance will be forced to pay the fee, which was given the green light by the Balearic Island authorities in March. The islands are set to welcome a record number of holidaymakers this year, who are avoiding terror-hit destinations including Egypt and Tunisia. Families have been left furious by the new tax, which will come into effect in July. However the Balearic government said the monies would help protect the island's resources (pictured, sun seekers in Ibiza) Rates will vary depending on the hotel's star rating, with one to three-star hotels costing one euro a day per person and four and five-star hotels two euros - around 1.50 per day. It means a family of four with children aged over 16 could pay up to 70 extra over a fortnight. The fees will be paid directly to hotels, on top of what has already been paid to travel operators. The charges will halve after day nine of a stay. Tourism bosses in the Balearic government said the tax will fund efforts to protect the islands' natural resources, with tens of millions of euros in revenue. Some three million British holidaymakers flock to the Balearics, including the island of Formentera every year. One Trip Advisor reviewer, 'John',wrote on the site: 'So if it's not the All Inclusive killing off the bars, the Spanish government are sticking the knife in too. To me it's just utter greed.' Win Taylor, 70, from Belper, Derbyshire, found out about the charge after she booked a break to Majorca in September. She told The Sun: 'Our travel company sent us a warning email. We knew nothing about it. 'By now most people have booked their holidays so they have us over a barrel. You feel like they are cashing in.' Malta is the latest Mediterranean country to adopt the 'tourist tax.' Groups of sun seekers hoping to enjoy a trip to the islands (pictured) will need to save some extra cash for their summer holidays It will come into effect on June 1 after the original start date of April 1 was abandoned due to confusion over how it would be collected. There will be a 5 euro visitor cap for persons over the age of 18. Malta attracts two million visitors every year, and some 6m in extra revenue could be netted as a result. British holidaymakers are returning to old favourites in Spain in greater numbers this summer in the wake of recent terror attacks in Europe and the Middle East. Travel giant TUI Group, the owner of UK tour operators Thomson and First Choice, said summer bookings from Britons are up nine per cent on last year despite a downturn in tourism to Turkey and Egypt. The travel company said the largest increase in bookings has been for holidays to mainland Spain and the Balearic and Canary islands. In a half-year trading update to the end of March, TUI said demand for Turkey where attacks have occurred in central Istanbul and Ankara was 'subdued'. Following a drastic decline in the number of visitors to terror-hit destinations, the Balearic Islands are set to welcome a record number of holidaymakers this year - so the new tax has left many outraged (file photo) Travel operator ABTA said it 'had concerns' about the tax, adding it could: 'have the unintended consequence of driving tourists away from the islands.' A Melbourne photographer and director said he has been left 'shocked and surprised' after a recent Calvin Klein jeans advertisement featuring FKA twigs has striking similarities to his own work. Jack Hawkins, 24, shot an image in July last year as part of a personal project, depicting a naked blonde girl lying among a sea of jeans in various shades of blue, partially covered by some pairs. The final scene in a recent Calvin Klein advertising campaign shows FKA twigs falling from a balcony and landing on a pile of jeans. Scroll down for video The original photo taken by photographer Jack Hawkins, depicting a girl lying among a sea of blue jeans Mr Hawkins told Daily Mail Australia it was a project he'd had in mind for a while. 'I was trying to do a fashion editorial about the history of denim, how it's gone from a symbol of the working class to being worshiped and appreciated by higher class fashion,' he said. 'There's definitely references to the shot in the film American Beauty, I pulled some inspiration from the scene showing the girl laying on a bed of roses.' Mr Hawkins shared the image on his website and social media account. The image, and the initial test image with a man, was shared by Levis as inspirational content on their Instagram account. Mr Hawkins said he first became aware of the Calvin Klein campaign two months ago. 'I was sent some images from a friend, behind the scenes shots from the shoot, but at the time I wasn't aware of the actual shot,' he said. 'The behind the scenes shots had similarities but I wasn't concerned at the time. Over the next few months, more content relating to the campaign was sent to him and it wasn't until someone mentioned the video, that he started thinking more heavily about it. A still from the end of a recent Calvin Klein ad showing FKA twigs lying in a similar pose among pairs of jeans After noticing the similarities to his work, he researched how copyright laws worked in Australia and spoke to lawyers over the phone. One lawyer advised him that with regards to intellectual property he thought it was worth pursuing the case with Calvin Klein. 'He thought it was worth pursuing but he was very real about the cost of it,' Mr Hawkins said. 'He was very real with me about how these sort of cases because of the size of a corporation like that.' On the advice of the lawyer, Mr Hawkins posted the image to Instagram with this caption: 'I've been sitting on this for a while now, for the last two months I've been getting messages pointing out the striking resemblance of some imagery in the most recent My Calvin's campaign, shot by another photographer. It sucks, after speaking to lawyers in the intellectual property world I've been told I have a real case because of the amount of similarity in the work (being around 90%) but simply and sadly I just can't afford to have the legal done, letters drafting and messages sent. This is the sad truth of the broken system, the big boys always win. A test shot from Jack Hawkins' personal project that he shot in July last year in Melbourne There isn't much I can do now so I'll just leave this post here and let it act as lesson. It's hard to see your hard work and passion taken and replicated/stolen, with millions of people adoring it and someone else getting the credit for the imagery. Images I dreamed of for years. Anyway, thanks for the support always and to those who emailed and messaged me about all this nonsense. I'll be moving forward after this and continuing to make fun stuff for all your eye balls drool over hopefully. Love x'. For now, Mr Hawkins said he was going to wait and see where the conversation on the image went. The image he originally posted was intended to start a conversation with people in his creative circle, but over the past 48 hours he said it 'had sort of escalated'. 'I do want to emphasize this hasn't been a witch hunt or a blame game, but a conversation about what has happened,' he said. 'It's been very surprising the whole thing, its been lovely to feel a lot of support and get messages, a lot of offers of legal and financial help. 'It would be good to hear from someone involved in the campaign.' Mr Hawkins said it was important for people to get their voices out there and stand up for other young artists. 'I guess I would just say I think this sort of stuff happens a lot and it's sort of expected if youre going to be an artist.' 'I guess you have to expect it and take it on board when it happens.' He failed to work on the crime and was sacked for covering up his inaction Scotland Yard has sacked a detective who failed to investigate a serious assault using a gun which was later passed to Mark Duggan on the day he was shot dead. Detective Constable Stephen Faulkner was ordered to investigate the pistol-whipping of Peter Osadebay at the Lagoon Salon in Dalston on July 29, 2011. Faulkner claimed Osadebay refused to identify his attacker Kevin Hutchinson-Foster. Detective Constable Stephen Faulkner failed to investigate properly an assault involving Kevin Hutchinson-Foster who attacked a man in a barber shop with a gun which he later handed over to Mark Duggan, left Duggan was shot dead by the Met on August 4, 2011 after armed officers saw he was carrying this firearm, which had been supplied by Hutchinson-Foster inside a blood-soaked sock days after the barber shop attack Hutchinson-Foster handed over the BBM Bruni Model 92 handgun, which was inside a sock covered in Osadebay's DNA, to Duggan on August 4, 2011. The Metropolitan Police sacked Faulkner on Friday night without notice after highly-critical report into the affair was produced by the Independent Police Complaints Commission. The 87-page document found there were 'a number of failures' in the investigation conducted by Faulkner. The IPCC found that Faulkner had failed to download CCTV footage of the incident in the Lagoon Hair and Beauty Salon and distribute it to fellow officers in a bid to identify the suspect. However, Faulkner later told a more senior officer that he had dealt with the footage. The IPCC found that even if Faulkner had properly and promptly investigated the assault in July 2011, it was 'highly unlikely Hutchinson-Foster could have been identified before handing over the gun to Duggan'. According to the report, officers working for Operation Trident received a tip-off August 3, 2011, that Hutchinson-Foster was planning on giving Duggan a gun. Duggan collected the gun, which was wrapped in a blood-soaked sock and hidden in a shoebox, on August 4 and was shot dead shortly afterwards. Hutchinson-Foster was jailed in February 2013 for the assault and firearms offences, including supplying the same firearm to Mark Duggan on the day he was fatally shot by a police officer on August 4 2011. Duggan's shooting prompted wide scale rioting across London and several other cities Hundreds of people were arrested for looting after major retailers were attacked by mobs in August 2011 However, an IPCC report claimed the riots would not have been prevented if Faulkner had acted promptly The investigation followed a referral from the Metropolitan Police in November 2011 after it identified failings in its original investigation into the assault. The investigation found a case to answer that CCTV which clearly showed an individual carrying out the assault was not circulated at the earliest opportunity, a number of witnesses were not contacted following the assault and blood swabs were not submitted for forensic analysis for several months. DC Faulkner was also found to have attempted to deceive his supervisor several months later in an effort to imply that he had circulated the CCTV images shortly after the incident. In May 2015 a police sergeant was found at a misconduct meeting to have failed to adequately supervise the investigation but no sanction was imposed by the Met. The IPCC also examined why the Metropolitan Police specialist unit Trident did not immediately act on information the IPCC passed to it on August 12 2011 linking Hutchinson-Foster with the gun found at the scene where Duggan was fatally shot. A detective chief superintendent (DCS), the then head of Trident, cited perceived confidentiality issues, concerns not to prejudice the IPCC investigation into the shooting of Duggan and a belief that it was the responsibility of others to determine what information could be shared with Hackney borough officers as reasons for the delay. A detective chief inspector (DCI) from Trident provided similar explanations as well as a need to obtain further supporting evidence to affect an arrest, a focus limited to the supply of the firearm and concerns that any action may spark further public disorder. IPCC deputy chairwoman Sarah Green said: 'A number of explanations were put forward as to why the investigation into an assault did not progress as quickly as it should have. 'Whilst we accept that even if the assault had been promptly investigated, it would have been highly unlikely the assailant could or would have been identified before he provided the gun to Mark Duggan, the investigation was not given the priority it should have been. 'The public needs to feel confident that the police are doing all they can to ensure that these weapons are taken off the streets, including prompt and effective investigations and overcoming perceived difficulties. 'We welcome the fact that Trident has since extended its terms of reference to include a greater emphasis on the unit working with local borough units and other external agencies.' Violence and looting broke out across London and other cities after 29-year-old Duggan was shot in August 2011. Scotland Yard announced it had sacked an officer following an investigation by the IPCC The unrest began in the capital, with shops being looted, buildings set alight and stand-offs with riot police, but it quickly spread to other parts of the country, including Birmingham, Bristol and Manchester over the following few days. The Metropolitan Police announced on Friday night Faulkner's sacking. In a statement, which did not name the shamed former officer, Scotland Yard said: 'Following an investigation by the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) and a misconduct hearing lasting five days, a panel, made up of an independent representative, a superintendent and chaired by Commander Julian Bennett, have found that the case against a detective constable responsible for investigating an allegation of assault on 29 July 2011 at a barber's shop in Hackney has been proved. 'The gun that was used in the assault was later found at the scene of the death of Mark Duggan on August 4 2011 having been supplied to him by Kevin Hutchinson-Foster who was convicted of supplying the firearm to Mark Duggan, and possession of a firearm with intent to cause fear and actual bodily harm during the assault on July 29 2011. 'The panel found that the detective constable did not reach the requirements contained within the standards of professional behaviour in that his investigation into the assault on July 29 2011 breached the standards of professional behaviour because the officer failed to act with "honesty and integrity" and failed in his "duties and responsibilities" because he failed to conduct a proper investigation and thereafter sought to hide his investigative failings by dishonestly asserting that he had circulated the CCTV when he had not.' According to the statement, the Met 'considered the only appropriate sanction to be dismissal without notice'. Australian police are investigating how confidential information was leaked for the second time detailing the outcome of a tender process for Australias next submarine fleet. It is the second leak from within the military acquisition project in which French, German and Japanese companies are bidding for a $50 billion contract to build 12 submarines. It was reported that the Japanese bid had been dismissed, leaving France and Germany still in contention. Australian police are investigating how confidential information was leaked for the second time detailing the outcome of a tender process for Australias next submarine fleet (stock image) The Australian Federal Police confirmed in a statement sent to ABC News that the Department of Defence has asked it to investigate how the information got to the media. The AFP can confirm it has received a referral from the Department of Defence regarding the possible unauthorised release of government information, the statement said. News of the failing Japanese bid has led the Japanese Government to consider diplomatic action to promote its case. A Japan Maritime Self-Defence submarine (stock image) Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is considering a call to Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull to plead Japan's case, ABC News reported. This comes after Mr Turnbull announced that the AFP would investigate how sections of the draft defence white paper were leaked to The Australian newspaper in March. The contract is politically sensitive as it will have an impact on thousands of jobs in the shipbuilding industry in South Australia. This is the shocking moment an out of control vehicle flies across the road and destroys another car at a petrol station. The white minibus is seen to cut across the road at great speed, while looking unsteady on its wheels. And, after running over a billboard at the petrol station it then flips and lands on the bonnet of a parked car, in Kenya. The white minibus is seen to cut across the road at great speed, while looking unsteady on its wheels, in Kenya The small silver vehicle is completely written off in the incident. And parts of the car's body and window are seen to fly across the forecourt. However, the minibus eventually flips back the right way, before stabilising and gliding to a halt near one of the petrol pumps. In a panic, the driver of the dangerous vehicle and his passenger are seen to cooly slide out of the van's windows. The pair then join a gathering crowd of people around the damaged car, as they try to resolve the issue. A number of people in yellow tabards and what appears to be police uniform also try to help. After running over a billboard at the petrol station the minibus then flips and lands on the bonnet of a parked car The small silver vehicle is completely written off in the incident and parts of the car's body and windows fly across the forecourt The minibus eventually flips back the right way, before stabilising and gliding to a halt near one of the petrol pumps It is currently unknown whether anybody was hurt in the incident. Earlier this month another serious accident was nearly caused at a petrol station in China. The incident occurred as a driver attempted to ride away from a petrol pump with the nozzle still attached to his car. In a panic, the driver of the dangerous vehicle and his passenger are seen to cooly slide out of the van's windows The pair then join a gathering crowd of people around the damaged car, as they try to resolve the issue He rolled his sleeves up and dazzled the crowd with his casual demeanour It was the moment the UK had the chance to grill US President Barack Obama over some of the most serious issues affecting Britain and the world. But instead the room full of 500 invited guests ended up gazing adoringly at the charismatic leader of the free world after he turned up his charm to the full. Among the luvvies in the crowd were Hollywood actor Benedict Cumberbatch with his wife Sophie Hunter and Brit Award-winning musician Annie Lennox, who were spotted grinning with delight when the President made his way on stage, with Cumberbatch even taking a picture of Mr Obama on his phone. After giving an initial speech at the town hall event in London, he took off his jacket, rolled up his sleeves and adopted a much more casual demeanour. Scroll down for videos Barack Obama escaped questions on Brexit and the EU during a Q&A session in London today, pictured Among the invited guests were Hollywood star Benedict Cumberbatch and his wife Sophie Hunter, pictured Cumberbatch was even spotted taking a picture of the leader of the free world on his mobile phone, pictured Scottish music legend Annie Lennox was also among the very appreciative and adoring crowd Although the issues he was quizzed about were serious, he was never put any real pressure by his appreciative audience. Obama answered 10 questions but Britain's June 23 referendum on its EU membership was not raised during the question-and-answer session which lasted more than an hour. He joked and bantered with the crowd when picking out people to quiz him on subjects ranging from Northern Ireland and world trade agreements to transgender rights and Somali pirates. Maria Munir, a University of York student who is running for a council seat in Watford, came out as a non-binary person while asking a question, imploring the President to do more for transgender rights, particularly gender neutral toilets. The student said: 'Im coming out to you as a non-binary person, I dont fit Im getting emotional (there was applause from the crowd) because I come from a Pakistani Muslim back ground which has cultural implications. 'I know that in North Carolina people are being forced to produce birth certificates to prove your gender to go to the toilet. 'We dont recognise non-binary people under the UK Equality Act so if I am discriminated against I have no rights. 'Ive been working for the last nine months to raise these issues even though Im still at university and running for local elections at Watford. The President, pictured, quickly won over his audience after turning his charm up to the max Univesrity student Maria Munir, pictured, asked the President if he would do more for transgender rights The Watford council candidate got visibly emotional after coming out as a non-binary person at the event 'I wanted to ask if you and David Cameron would take us seriously as transgender people and tell us how to go beyond what has become accepted in including people who are outside the social norms.' President Obama said he was 'proud' of the steps she had taken to 'create a social movement'. He added: 'It sounds to me like youre on the right track I cant speak for David Cameron but on LGBT issues he has been ahead of the curve relative to other leaders around the world. 'Were taking a lot of serious steps to address these issues in the federal government the challenge in North Carolina is because its state law and our system, I cant overturn on my own state laws unless a federal law is passed that prohibits the state - and with the congress I have thats not likely to happen - you should feel encouraged that social attitudes on this have changed faster than with any other issue.' Another man asked about recent deaths in the Mediterranean sea and the international effort to protect ships against Somali pirates. He said: 'There have been reports that they [pirates] are dumping waste in the sea, and children are dying from strange diseases relating to the waste coming in from the sea. 'Can you kindly use your leverage in the international arena to look at this issue, to ensure this doesnt happen?' Mr Obama replied: 'Ill be honest with you, Im not fully familiar with some of the issues you refereed to. Im familiar with the challenges Somalians are going through, we have been working aggressively to get a functioning strategy that can protect its people. 'Im familiar with the issues of piracy and international concerns that led to many of the ships patrolling the areas. But with the other issues you raised Im not that familiar. 'So after this meeting Ill try to get some additional information from you. One of the things Ive learned as President is although you can fake your way through an answer, sometimes you dont know all the answers.' A man who identified himself as Peter from London quipped with the President that Hilary Clinton would be replacing him, adding 'Bernie would be alright too'. He asked the President what his priority was between health care, education and defence. The President replied: 'My first priority is keep US people safe. Im sure Prime Minister Cameron feels the same way. The President took his jacket off and rolled up his sleeves after his speech to adopt a more casual demeanour He bantered and joked with the crowd when picking out people to ask him questions, none of which were on the EU But he still spoke on important issues including racism, gay rights, the threat of terrorism and Northern Ireland 'Security is always top of the list. Threats from ISIL and terrorism are absolutely critical. How we address them is important. 'Recognising that security is not just a matter of military action but a matter of the messages we send and the institutions we build and the diplomacy and opportunity we present. 'That is going to be important for the next President of the US and any global leader.' 'He added: 'Im in awe of our respective militaries and men and women in uniform who serve their countries in such extraordinary circumstances. 'We do them a disservice saying the entire burden of keeping the world safe is on them; thats where diplomacy comes in. 'Iran were on the way to getting a nuclear weapon. Because of the work we did diplomatically they are no longer on that path. 'We never engaged with them militarily but the world is now a safer place. 'And we have to help places like Nigeria fight against rape and brutality. If there are communities where children cannot read or feed themselves they are more vulnerable to fostering these ideologies.' But he added it was 'important for young people who are suspicious of military action'. The President said: 'Too often its a knee jerk response to problems. We have to and we can do both.' Turning his attention to health care and education, he said he would like the next President to focus on the latter. He said: 'In terms of the US I would love to see a focus on early childhood education as the next step in filling out our social safety net. 'We dont yet have institutions that are fully adapted. Women work and support families and they need things like paid family leave and high quality childcare and we know when we invest in children aged between zero and three, in terms of them getting effective education we end up saving huge amounts of money from reducing poverty. 'We can learn from other countries along those lines. Across the developing world we have to deal with issues of inequality and one place to start is to make sure every child gets a decent education.' Questions also focused on minorities including gay rights and racism. On gay relationships, he said: 'People I loved who were in monogamous same sex relationships explained to me what I should have understood earlier - that it was not about legal rights but about a sense of stigma. 'I believe that the manner in which the LGBT community described marriage equality - as not some radical thing, but actually reached out to people who said they care about family values. 'If you care about everything family provides - stability, commitment, partnership - then this is actually a pretty conservative position to take - you should be in favour of this.' He also praised the Black Lives Matter campaign that has organised protests around the death of Treyvon Martin in 2013 and the Ferguson, Missouri, protests following the fatal shooting of Michael Brown by a white police officer. But he encouraged the movement to work on solutions as well as protests to bring about real change. He said: 'As a general rule I think that what black lives matter is doing now is to bring attention to the problem of a criminal justice system. Other questions put to him included international trade, the threat of Somali pirates and climate change He told this young woman, pictured, from Belfast that Northern Ireland's peace process was an 'inspiration' to the world He also called on China to do more to reduce its emissions as part of a worldwide challenge to fight global warming 'What I dont think is effective is once youve brought an issue to peoples attention and shined a spotlight and elected officials are ready to sit down with you - you cant just keep on yelling at them you cant refuse to meet because that might compromise the purity of your position. 'The value of social movements and activism is to get you at the table get you in the room, and then try to figure out how this problem is going to be solved 'Too often what I see is wonderful activism hat highlights a problem but then people feel so passionately and are so invested in the purity of their position that they never take that next step.' Climate Change was also a topic thrown at the President, specifically the Paris climate agreement that was signed by 171 countries at the UN in New York yesterday, aiming to bring about a huge drop in carbon emissions. Mr Obama said: 'The Paris agreement, the agreement we shaped is not going to by itself solve climate change. The world is going to need to do a lot more to prevent catastrophic climate change.' He added his strategy was to lock in China, as one of the biggest emitters, to take some serious steps to reducing climate emission The President said: 'Its a start, we can now start turning up the dial as your science and understanding improves. 'Make noise and occasionally you can act a little crazy to get attention, to shine a spotlight on the issue. 'But once people who are in power are prepared to meet and listen, do your homework, be prepare, present a plausible set of actions, and negotiate and be prepared to move the ball down the field, even if it doesnt get all the way there.' Answering a question from a young woman from Belfast, the President said the work done to achieve peace in Northern Ireland was an example to the rest of the world. He said: 'Northern Ireland is a story of perseverance. Your experience has been entirely different from your parents'. 'The example of peace making in Northern Ireland is now inspiring others like Columbia and in Latin America. 'How do you overcome years of enmity hatred and intolerance and try to shape a country that is unified? 'What you see in Northern Ireland thats most important is a very simple act of recognising the humanity of those on the other side. 'Having empathy and a connection and sympathy for people who are not like you. We are now seeing that. 'Its about being more than unionist or Sinn Fein. Just deciding the country as a whole is more important than any particular faction. The President, left and right, said international trade between the EU and US could bring millions of jobs to both sides of the Atlantic but he was not quizzed on the possibility of a separate UK agreement 'Its a challenging time to do that because theres so much uncertainty in the world and things are changing so fast.' He added: 'Theres a temptation to forge tribal identities that give you a buffer against change. Thats something we have to fiht against. 'Whether you talk about Africa, the Middle East, Northern Ireland, Burma - the forces that lead to the most violence and injustice spring out of people saying I want to feel important by dividing the world into us and them. 'They threaten me, and so I have to make sure my tribe strikes out first. Fighting that impulse requires us to start very young with our kids. 'What Ive seen in Northern Ireland is children going to school with a sense of "we are all in this together". But its still going to take some time.' Another young woman called Fatima asked about the ongoing trade negotiations between the EU and the US, which has caused controversy with Eurosceptics who believe Britain should negotiate its own agreement. The President said progress was slow but it could provide 'millions of jobs and dollars for both sides of the Atlantic'. He said: 'In order to get a trade deal done each country has to give something up and its time consuming. 'People are suspicious of trade deals because it feels like its accelerating global trends weakening unions and allowing jobs to he shipped to low wage countries. 'Some of the criticisms in the past are legitimate. Sometimes they serve interests of corporations and not workers. 'We have gone through this exercise with Asia and part of the argument Im making in the US is the answer to globalisation is not to pull up the drawbridge and shut off trade, the idea is to make sure we are embedding standards and values that help lift workers rights and environmental standards and fight child labour and human trafficking. 'Our values should be embedded in how countries trade with each other. 'We said to Vietnam if you want access to our markets if workers have no rights and there's no labour unions we are not going to let you sell t shirts and sneakers in our country because you will be undercutting values in our country. A hungry school of salmon has put Australia's south-west coast on alert after a feeding frenzy forced a stand-up paddle boarding session to be called off and triggered a shark warning. Footage of the scene shows swimmers and SUP boarders stranded on the shore of Bicton Baths, Perth, as a massive school of salmon thrashed in the water feeding on small fish. The video, viewed more than 60,000 times since being posted on Friday, was uploaded by Elemental SUP on Saturday morning after the morning session was called off. Scroll down for video A hungry school of salmon has put Australia's south-west coast on alert after a feeding frenzy forced a stand-up paddle boarding session to be called off and triggered a shark warning Massive school of salmon was filmed thrashing in the water during feeding frenzy in Perth The video, viewed more than 60,000 times since being posted on Friday, was uploaded by Elemental SUP on Saturday morning after the morning session was called off. A spike in shark sightings in the past week are thought to be related to salmon migration to the area. Swimmers and surfers in the south-west region have since been urged to steer clear of the water over the Anzac long weekend after a spike in shark sightings in the past week - thought to be related to salmon migration to the area. The Western Australia Fisheries Department issued the warning through their Shark Smart page which says the 25 sightings and three detections of sharks have been recorded over the past week. The affected area includes surfing hotspot Margaret River within the 100km coastline on the south-west point of the country, between Cape Naturaliste and Cape Leeuwin, where 20 shark sightings have been recorded. Paddle boarders were left stranded on the shoreline after the feeding frenzy disrupted their lesson Dozens of salmon were seen in shallow water feasting on the bait fish at Bicton Baths, Perth Salmon migration in the area is thought to have attracted sharks recently, sparking a warning for the region Footage of the scene shows swimmers and SUP boarders stranded on the shore of Bicton Baths, Perth The Western Australia Fisheries Department issued the warning through their Shark Smart page which says the 25 sightings and three detections of sharks have been recorded over the past week The warning comes after a spate of shark attacks across Australia which have kept surfers and swimmers on high alert. Ten serious attacks have been reported since late 2014 'Fisheries is renewing its shark warning in WAs South West...due to continuing shark activity and sightings in recent weeks,' the statement on the Shark Smart read. 'The change in activity may be due to a possible change in environmental conditions as schools of salmon have been reported in the immediate and adjacent areas in recent weeks. The warning comes after a spate of shark attacks across Australia which have kept surfers and swimmers on high alert. Ten serious attacks have been reported since late 2014. Professional surfer Brett Connellan was mauled by a shark in a dusk attack on March 31 when he was surfing at Bombo Beach at Kiama, near Wollongong, south of Sydney. The 22-year-old had been attacked 100m from the shore and after being saved by a friend he was flown by helicopter to Sydney's St. George Hospital where he recovered. In November last year, 20-year-old surfer Sam Morgan, was attacked by a bull shark off Ballina's Lighthouse Beach, leaving him with serious leg injuries. Within a week in July last year, two men were attacked in separate incidents. Craig Ison was attacked in Ballina and suffered a leg wound. Days earlier, a scallop diver was savaged off Tasmania's east coast while diving with his daughter. In November last year, 20-year-old surfer Sam Morgan, was attacked by a bull shark off Ballina's Lighthouse Beach, leaving him with serious leg injuries Professional surfer Brett Connellan was mauled by a shark in a dusk attack on March 31 when he was surfing at Bombo Beach at Kiama, near Wollongong, south of Sydney. There were no indications that any of the dead killed themselves The other three are 40-year-old Chris Rhoden Sr, 38-year-old Gary Rhoden and 44-year-old Kenneth Rhoden Five victims identified as Frankie Rhoden, his fiancee Hannah Hazel Gilley, Hanna May Rhoden, Dana Rhoden and 16-year-old Chris Rhoden Jr The massacre of eight people in a rural neighborhood may have been sparked by a feud over demolition car rivalry, it emerged today. News of the potential motive came as authorities released the chilling 911 calls that reveal the frantic moments loved ones discovered the bodies eight family members were found shot dead in Pike County, Ohio, on Friday as police still search for one or more shooters responsible. Police have yet to determine a person of interest who may have murdered members of the Rhoden family. Members of the family of the slain victims, however, have put forward the theory that jealousy or a dispute over a $3,000 car driven by one of the victims could be behind the murders. The victims, seven adults and a 16-year-old boy, were found dead at four homes along Union Hill Road, prompting authorities to believe they might be chasing three or more shooters. They eight victims have been identified as: recent-father and husband-to-be Frankie Rhoden and his 20-year-old fiancee Hannah Hazel Gilley; 22-year-old mother Hanna May Rhoden; grandmother-to-be Dana Lynn Rhoden, 37; 16-year-old Chris Rhoden Jr; 40-year-old Chris Rhoden Sr; 38-year-old Gary Rhoden and 44-year-old Kenneth Rhoden. Heartbreaking: Husband-to-be Frankie Rhoden and his fiancee Hannah Hazel Gilley, 20, were among those killed Friday in Piketon, Ohio, according to the Morning Ledger Tragic: Grandmother-to-be Dana Lynn Rhoden (left), 37, and her son, 16-year-old Chris Rhoden (right) were also murdered, according to the Morning Ledger. Victims Chris and Frankie are brothers Devastating: Hanna May Rhoden (pictured left and right) was killed Friday in the Piketon shooting that has rocked the small community, according to the Morning Ledger. Her Facebook page says she was already a mother to one child Kenneth Rhoden (left), 44, and Chris Rhoden Sr (right), 40, were named as victims in Friday's murders. Chris Rhoden Sr is the father of Chris Rhoden Jr, who was also killed in the massacre Gary Rhoden (pictured above in an undated photograph), 38, was named as one of eight family members killed in Pike County on Friday Members of the family of the victims suggested that jealousy or a dispute over a $3,000 demolition derby car (pictured) driven by Frankie Rhoden could be behind the murders. Frankie Rhoden, 20, who was gunned down with his fiancee Hannah Hazel Gilley,also 20, was said to have spoken about bitterness between him and other competitors. He had been competed several times in his 1990s model Ford Crown Victoria car in local derbies and had told of angry rows with other competitors. He had used his car to smash up the vehicles of other drivers, with the last car standing being declared the winner, in several local rallies. In a 911 call following the shootings, a woman sounded out of breath as she frantically told a dispatcher, 'I think my brother-in-law's dead ... There's blood all over the house.' 'There's blood all over the house. My brother-in-law is in the bedroom and it looks like someone has beat the hell out of him,' she said. Before weeping into the phone, she says it looked as though someone else was dead too. The distraught woman said two men, Chris Rhoden and Gary Rhoden, at 4077 Union Hill Road appeared to be dead during the call that was placed at 7.49am Friday. She drove to the house and discovered the horrific scene. 'I think they are both dead,' she said. In a second 911 call that was received, a man said: 'I just found my cousin with a gunshot wound.' The dispatcher asks, 'Is he alive?' The man replied and said 'no, no'. Johnny Gambill, whose wife Lorretta was first cousin to Dana Lynn Rhoden, 37, said: Some of us have been talking about the jealousy that Frankie had faced over his car. It was worth more than $3,000 and that made some people jealous around Piketon. Gambill, a trash collector, added: ' My wife had spoken to Dana about it and we feel today that could be the reason because there aint nothing else that seems what it could it be. The Rhodens are good people who live for each other and there is no reason why anybody should want to do this. They are all very close. Johnny Gambill (pictured above with his daughter, Rosemary), whose wife Lorretta was first cousin to victim Dana Lynn Rhoden, 37, suggested that the violence could have been sparked by a bitter rivalry Frankie Rhoden had with other derby competitors Gambill (right, with his daughter Rosemary and his son), said Frankie Rhoden had been competed several times in his $3,000 1990s model Ford Crown Victoria car in local derbies and had told of angry rows with other competitors Pastor Phil Fulton called the people who killed the Rhoden family 'evil, sick, hideous' on Friday outside his church Authorities said the shootings appeared targeted towards the Rhoden family specifically. Above, an aerial view of one of the scenes on Friday There is no drugs reason or money reason. Everybody is peaceful around here normally. There aint never been anything at all like this. The whole thing is so shocking and if the car was the reason then that is so disgusting and incredible. But there were people jealous about him and his car. Russ Clark, who runs Smash It Demolition Derbys locally with his brother Tim, said Frankie Rhodens car was worth more than many of the cars used in tournaments. He told Daily Mail Online that most cars were valued at around $500 to $1000 with high end cars worth from $2000 upwards. The victims car would easily be worth $3000 he added. Demolition derbies are popular across the midwest, and Frankie Rhoden had featured his car in local demolition derbies. The events are popular in the area and attract thousands of spectators, but competitions are governed by strict rules and drivers have to wear safety helmets. Gambill added: The whole thing is horrible. The Rhodens are good people and I hope the police catch the people who did this soon. But he insisted that the massacre should not give credence to calls for stronger gun laws to be introduced in the United States. He added: Guns dont kill people, it is people. I have got guns because I go hunting, but I would never point one at anybody. Local Pastor Phil Fulton, whose church is currently housing up to 100 Rhoden families and allied relations, said: The people who did this are evil, sick, hideous. He said he had seen the family members together and they were weeping and in fear for their safety. Eight Rhoden family members were found shot to death in rural Ohio Friday. Above, one of the crime scenes Authorities are investigating four crime scenes at homes along Union Hill Road in Pike County, including the one above Investigators might be looking for several killers but do not know exactly how many. Pictured, a sheriff's deputy stands near one of the crime scenes east of Peebles, Ohio on Friday They do not believe the community is at threat but Sheriff Charles Reader warned that there might still be an armed and dangerous threat at large. Above, one of the crime scenes Jeff Ruby, a restaurant owner in Cincinnati, tweeted (above) Saturday that he is offering a $25,000 reward for anyone that can provide information that leads to the arrest of the Rhoden family shooter or shooters Daily Mail Online was able to reach the family at the church, but they were too upset to talk and asked, through police and church officials, for photographs of them not to be published because of safety fears. Police have established that the killer or killers are still at large and not among the eight victims. The horrific massacre of eight family members in Pike County, Ohio on Friday has rocked the small community to its core. Authorities spoke to 100 of their relatives and friends gathered at a church on Friday. During a news conference on Friday evening, Attorney General Mike DeWine said authorities have interviewed more than 30 people and will talk to more of them as the investigation continues. 'We will continue until the case is solved. We do not know whether we're talking about one individual or two or three or more,' DeWine added. No person of interest has been apprehended and investigators are looking at different theories. They believe the killers targeted the family specifically, and DeWine said there was no indication of a threat towards the rest of the community. The rest of the family has been in touch with the sheriff's office for their protection. Kimberly Newman, Victim Advocate and Program Director for the Adams County Victim Assistance Program, told reporters that the family is expressing gratitude for the support and prayers they've received. 'The Rhoden family would like to thank everyone for all the outpouring of prayers and support for their family,' the statement reads. 'They ask that you continue to keep them in their prayers. They want to thank all law enforcement from Pike County and all surrounding counties for their immediate response.' Local pastor Phil Fulton said on Saturday the relatives of those killed are 'not doing well at all'. Sources told My Fox Columbus that the shootings do not appear to be random. Above, Union Hill Road - just east of Peebles, Ohio More than 100 friends and family members spoke to authorities. Pictured, officials speak near the scene of a mass murder east of Peebles, Ohio on Friday He describes the family as close-knit and hardworking and says they were previously part of his congregation at Union Hill Church, though not recently. Fulton says his church has been a haven for more than 100 grieving family members and friends and will remain open to them as needed. Jeff Ruby, a restaurant owner in Cincinnati, tweeted Saturday that he is offering a $25,000 reward for anyone that can provide information that leads to the arrest of the Rhoden family shooter or shooters. '2whom it may concern: Would like to post $25k reward for anyone who leads to arrest of Rhoden family killer(s) in Pike Co. Ohio. Need Contact,' Ruby tweeted. Ohio governor and presidential candidate John Kasich was 'very concerned' about the shooting and requested a briefing, DeWine said. 'We just couldn't believe it. When the governor and I talked I think he was still in shock about it,' he added. 'It's not something you expect to find in any place in the state of Ohio, it's certainly not something you expect to find in Pike County.' Kasich said his office was monitoring the situation in Pike County while he spent the Friday campaigning in Pennsylvania for his Republican presidential bid. 'Reports we are receiving from Peebles are tragic beyond comprehension,' Kasich wrote on his Twitter account Friday. In addition, there were no indications that any of the dead had killed themselves, DeWine said. 'We have a murder - or murderers - who have done this,' he added. Thirty officers were dispatched, including 13 road deputies, Reader said. The FBI remains available and has not been involved directly at this time. DeWine noted that it's unclear how long the investigation will last, but they will continue to work until the person or persons responsible are found. Authorities didn't release any information on whether there were multiple weapons used. Pictured, several ambulances were lined up along the road where the multiple crime scenes were located Friday Lt. Michael Preston, of the Ross County Sheriff's Department speaks to the media on Union Hill Road that approaches a crime scene, Friday, April 22, 2016, in Pike County, Ohio 'We're coming,' Reader said. 'When this investigation is complete it's going to point us into the direction we need to go and we will find who did this.' The eight who were murdered, including a mother sleeping in a bed with her four-day-old baby next to her, were all fatally shot in the head early Friday morning. Some of the victims were in bed, indicating they were shot while they were sleeping, authorities said, adding that some, not all, were killed in bed. The four-day-old, a six-month-old and a three-year-old child survived the grisly killings. Reader wouldn't say where the three surviving children were taken on Friday. 'Each one of the victims appears to have been executed,' DeWine said earlier. 'Each one of the victims appeared to be shot in the head.' Facebook tributes for those killed are pouring in, as many in the small community knew those who were murdered. A relative of the Rhoden family, Donna Musser, wrote on Facebook: 'Reality sets in so much when you look at these three precious babies and know they won't grow up knowing their mom's and dad's, grandma and grandpa and their aunt's and uncle's. 'I really hope the pos that walked into my families homes and killed them while Hannah held her newborn and the other babies were sleeping, I hope you truly get what you deserve hell isn't good enough for you.' In a post with the some of the victims' photos made into a collage, one user wrote: 'Fly high my beautiful friends!! Love each of you as family!! You will be greatly missed!! Fly high. Chris Rhoden, Frankie Rhoden, Hannah Hazel Gilley, Hanna May Rhoden, Dana Lynn Rhoden'. Another person who knew the youngest victim, Chris, wrote on Facebook: 'Still can't believe it's true, fly high Chris Rhoden. camp won't be the same without your jokes and you driving around camp in your car. praying for Piketon and the Rhoden family.' A motive isn't clear, authorities said, but they urged other members of the Rhoden family to take precautions, and Reader advised all residents to stay inside and lock their doors Friday night. 'This really is a question of public safety, and particularly for any of the Rhoden family,' DeWine said. Authorities create a perimeter near a crime scene on Union Hill Rd, Friday, April 22, 2016, in Pike County, Ohio Crime scene investigation vehicles drive up Union Hill Road as they approach the location of a reported multiple shooting, Friday, April 22, 2016, in Pike County, Ohio Media and emergency personnel stand at the perimeter of a crime scene as investigation vehicles drive up Union Hill Road, Friday, April 22, 2016, in Pike County, Ohio Crime scene investigators were first called to Union Hill Road at 8.21am, when seven of the victims were found shot to death in the head 'execution style'. The first three homes where bodies were found are located within a couple miles of one another on a sparsely populated stretch of road, while the eighth body - a man - was found in a house within 30 miles just before 2pm, the sheriff said. Authorities didn't release any information on whether there were multiple weapons used or whether anything was missing from the homes. Friday afternoon, Fulton remembered the victims fondly in interviews with local media. 'They all attended church at one time. They kind of dropped by the wayside probably three, four years ago, maybe. I would always see - out, very friendly, outgoing person. The kids seemed friendly, always you know, just good kids, seemed like,' Fulton told WKRC. He told the Columbus Dispatch that 'Dana loved her family' and 'worked hard'. 'What a tragic thing, a tragic thing,' Fulton said. 'We just have to lift this family, this community and this whole country up in prayer.' Fulton told WCPO that the mass murder was 'very out of character for our community, but with the ways of the world, the way things are going, I guess maybe we shouldn't be surprised. But we are. This is so tragic.' Peebles High School imposed a precautionary lockout Friday morning after authorities notified the superintendent of shootings that had occurred a few miles away, according to Regina Bennington, secretary to the superintendent for the Adams County Ohio Valley Schools district. High school officials said the school was back to normal operations later Friday morning. Piketon is the site of a Cold War-era uranium plant that was closed in 2001 and is still being cleaned up. The economically distressed county in the Appalachian Mountain region has some 28,000 residents and is roughly 80 miles east of Cincinnati. According to satellite views of the area, the street appears to be dotted with small farms. Anyone with information about the murders is asked to call the tip line at 1-800-BCI-OHIO. Advertisement Indian glamour couple Pankaj and Radhika Oswal have returned to Australia after five years to fight their alleged unpaid bills of $186 million, with plans to sue ANZ Bank for $1.1 billion amid Mrs Oswal claiming the bank 'raped her of her wealth'. The couple arrived in Sydney this week ahead of two court cases against ANZ Bank in May, and to face court action from the Australian Taxation Office over Mrs Oswal's tax bill - which The West Australian estimated to be $190 million. The Oswals' Burrup Fertilisers empire collapsed in 2010 and the couple left Perth and moved to Dubai a year later, leaving behind an eyesore mansion dubbed the 'Taj Mahal on the Swan'. They refused to return in February to give evidence in a case of fraud brought against them. Scroll down for video Pankaj and Radhika Oswal (pictured) - the Indian glamour couple who fled Australia after leaving an eyesore mansion dubbed the 'Taj Mahal on the Swan' - have returned to fight an alleged unpaid bill of $186 million The pair are seeking about $700 million in damages for Mrs Oswal, who claims she signed over her 35 per cent share to ANZ Bank on a contract that promised the Burrup Fertiliser plant would be sold for at least $2 billion. Mr Oswal is also seeking about $400 million in damages for losses on his shares, with Yara International and Apache Energy named in the action. They also have a separate claim against the bank that alleges Mrs Oswal was forced into signing over her share to ANZ on threats that she would be sent to jail and that their children would become orphans. The couple were issues with a Departure Prohibition Order from the Australian Taxation Office this week.Their two children remain in Geneva at boarding school. After leaving in 2011, the couple left their Peppermint Grove property. It was expected to be worth up to $70 million when complete, but was covered in graffiti since being abandoned 'When I landed in Australia, I told my wife Radhika that ... we might be here for six months, or we might be here for a month, or we might be here for six years,' Mr Oswal said. The order means the couple will not be able to leave Australia for a period of time. Mrs Oswal still reportedly resents ANZ after signing over her shares, on what she alleges was a guaranteed floor that would have left them plenty, even after the $860 million debt was paid. 'So basically ... they raped me of my wealth...,' she said. Mr Oswal's wealthy industrialist father passed away in March and he reportedly entered a dispute with his mother over the family inheritance. 'My father passed away without a will and as my father's eldest son I have a right to a law-defined inheritance of his personal estate,' he told Press Trust of India. After leaving in 2011, the couple left their Peppermint Grove property. It was expected to be worth up to $70 million when complete, but was covered in graffiti since being abandoned. The local council has long wanted it gone and was delighted in October of last year when a breakthrough was reached The 6800-square-metre Peppermint Grove property the couple abandoned in 2011 Peppermint Grove shire president Rachel Thomas said police were regularly called to the unfinished property The local council has long wanted it gone and was delighted in October of last year when a breakthrough was reached. Peppermint Grove shire president Rachel Thomas said an application filed by Ms Oswal with the State Administrative Tribunal to prevent the demolition was withdrawn. 'We believed we had a pretty good case and they've obviously decided that perhaps we did have a good case,' she said at the time. Ms Thomas said police were regularly called to the unfinished property. 'It was a real nuisance for the immediate neighbours in particular because of the antisocial behaviour. And with the graffiti, it was a real blot on the landscape,' she said. 'We've had people smoking dope in there ... noisy parties ... it [was] a real problem.' For all the latest news and updates on Pope Francis visit www.dailymail.co.uk/popefrancis with the youths and listened to their confessions for over an hour near famed Colonnade of Bernini Advertisement The Catholic act of penance is normally conducted in the privacy of a confessional box. But 16 teenagers carried out the traditional rite in front of thousands of young Catholic faithfuls as they confessed their sins to Pope Francis on chairs in the middle of St Peter's Square. The youths were given the unexpected opportunity as the Pontiff made a surprise appearance for a special Holy Year youth day at the Vatican in Italy late on Saturday morning. 16 teenagers confessed their sins to Pope Francis on chairs in the middle of St Peter's Square on Saturday morning at the Vatican The youths were given the unexpected opportunity as the Pontiff made a surprise appearance for a special Holy Year youth day in Italy The teenagers seemed at ease, with Francis shaking hands warmly with the youths. In all, the pope spent over an hour in the picturesque square Francis and each of the 16 teenagers sat face-to-face in simple chairs set up in pairs for him and many others hearing confessions near the famed Colonnade of Bernini. The teenagers seemed at ease, with Francis shaking hands warmly with the youths. In all, the pope spent over an hour in the square. They were supported by thousands of Catholics faithful, ranging in age from 13 to 16, who turned out for the youth event. Francis and each of the 16 teenagers sat face-to-face in simple chairs set up in pairs for him and many others hearing confessions near the famed Colonnade of Bernini One young girl sat with the Pope as he confessed her at the three-day event - which is expected to attract up to 70,000 teenagers from Italy and all over the world The Pope appeared in high spirits as he posed for pictures from the thousands of young Catholic faithfuls who turned up to glimpse the Pontiff The Pope has dedicated the Holy Year to two major themes of his papacy - mercy and reconciliation. More than 150 priests were in the square to hear confessions between 11.30am and 12.45pm, according to the Vatican Radio. The event, for the Jubilee for Teens, got underway on Saturday as part of the celebrations for the Extraordinary Year of Mercy. The three-day event's theme is 'Growing merciful as the Father', and will attract up to 70,000 teenagers from Italy and all over the world. The event, for the Jubilee for Teens, is part of the celebrations for the Extraordinary Year of Mercy. The three-day event's theme is 'Growing merciful as the Father' One young girl appeared engrossed in conversation as she listened intently to the Pope as he offered his words of penance Pope Francis waved as he arrived in St Peter's Square to hear confessions of young faithfuls during the Jubilee for Teens The celebrations kicked off on Friday with a pilgrimage to the Holy Door before the confessions. Later in the day on Saturday the teens will travel to Rome's Olympic Stadium where there will be a video message from the pope. Meanwhile, on Sunday morning the youngsters will be back in St Peter's Square for a Mass presided over by Pope Francis. More than 150 priests were in the square to hear the youngsters' confessions between 11.30am and 12.45pm on the day He faces up to six years in prison and a $10,000 in fines if he is convicted Pennix's hands appear to be wrapped around the students' neck He was filmed pushing the student and holding him down on the ground A teacher's aide in Milwaukee was charged with the physical abuse of a child after he was captured on camera attacking a high school student while calling him a 'n***er' and 'little motherf***er'. Jasmine Pennix, 39, was fired from Bay View High School in Wisconsin, where several boys were 'ripping on each other' in biology class on Wednesday morning, according to a criminal complaint. Pennix got into an argument with a 14-year-old boy, and now faces up to six years in jail along with a $10,000 fine if he is found guilty. Scroll down for video Jasmine Pennix, 39, (left) was fired from Bay View High School in Wisconsin after a video emerged of him shoving a 14-year-old student and putting his hands around his neck (right) A number of students were 'ripping on each other' in biology class when one 14-year-old told the teacher's aide to 'shut the f*** up', according to court documents cited by the Journal Sentinel. Pennix pulled the back of the boy's chair, causing him to fall on the floor before he put him in a headlock, the documents stated. They separated, but when the student egged Pennix on a second time, saying 'come on, do something', the teacher obliged. In the unsettling 18-second video, Pennix can be seen shoving the high school student onto the desks in the classroom. The boy eventually falls to the ground with Pennix's hands around his neck, as the teacher's aid can be heard calling the student a 'n****r' and asking: 'The f*** I tell you, little motherf***er?' Tony Tagliavia, a spokesperson for Milwaukee Public Schools, said Pennix was fired after administrators found out about the 'deeply disturbing' incident. The 39-year-old, who has had a clean record, was arrested the next day and held in Milwaukee County Jail on $25,000 bail. His next hearing is on May 10. The boy was treated at this hospital for minor injuries to his neck, hips and back, according to the criminal complaint. A number of students were 'ripping on each other' in biology class when one 14-year-old told the teachers aide to 'shut the f*** up'. Pennix shoved the student hard against the desk until he fell to the ground (left, right) The teacher's aid can be heard calling the student a 'n****r' and asking: 'The f*** I tell you, little motherf***er?' One parent James Sinkey told CBS58: 'He should have just marched out right away. There's no need for actions like that, it's just too much.' Democratic state senator Lena Taylor also issued a statement condemning Pennix's response. She said: 'I believe violence is a major educational barrier for our kids. 'We need to create schools and communities free of violence so that our kids can focus on learning, not looking over their shoulders. 'Until that day comes, we must ensure that our kids have access to school therapists who they can talk to about any trauma they experienced. Additionally, we must ensure workers have special training to address conflict.' British Airways passengers flying between New York and London faced significant delays today after just four staff had to check in up to 249 passengers onto the flight. Passengers waiting to board the flight described chaotic scenes as some were forced to wait up to two hours to check in their luggage. Two check in staff dealt with those travelling Club World, while a further two processed the bulk of the crew who were travelling Economy. Scroll down for video Passengers had to wait two hours to drop off baggage before boarding the British Airways flight from JFK The captain of the flight from JFK to Heathrow blamed the delay on 'unprecedented situation in the terminal' According to Flight Radar 24, the aircraft was delayed for 55 minutes because of the boarding problems One passenger who was travelling on Flight 0178 said the pilot of the aircraft apologised for the late departure blaming the 'unprecedented situation in the terminal'. According to the witness: 'There were hundreds of people in line and only four staff, one for first class, one for Club World and two for economy. It was ridiculous. 'We kept asking the desk staff what was going on and we were told that British Airways had cancelled overtime globally and so there weren't enough staff to check customers in. There wasn't even a supervisor around, just overworked check in staff. 'The desk staff were very friendly but they were feeling the strain of having to check in customers with so little assistance. 'People were waiting for over two hours just to check in and this was before they even reached the TSA screening. 'It is ludicrous that British Airways treats their customers with such contempt and disrespect.' Angry passengers took to Twitter to express their frustration at the lengthy boarding delay Some passengers complained they waited more than two hours to drop off a bag at the terminal building Another passenger said there were only two agents handling passengers which led to the delay The aircraft was due to take off at 8am local time, but as the estimated departure time approached, approximately half of the passengers were still waiting to board. Several passengers took to Twitter to express their anger. Alan Andrew Moore said: '80 minutes to drop a bag. JFK check-in disaster. Two agents, One flight.' Marc Owens wrote: 'I'm now well into the second hour of waiting to drop a bag off at JFK.' John Greening added: 'Waiting, waiting, waiting to check in at JFK!!! No Staff? Flight due off in 45 minutes.' The aircraft's captain told passengers: 'I want to sincerely apologise that we are running so late due to the unprecedented situation in the terminal. We hope to take off soon.' A British Airways spokeswoman apologised to passengers for the boarding delays. She said: 'A lot of planning goes into making sure we have the right number of staff available for our customers on any given day. 'We are sorry that some customers have faced difficulties this morning at JFK Airport and we're working to resolve the situation as soon as possible.' An hour after Boeing 747 was due to take off it was still on the apron outside JFK's Terminal 7 British Airways apologised to passengers over the delays boarding the flight at Terminal 7 in JFK, pictured A convicted murderer who was released early for good behavior has been sentenced to life in prison after killing again months after he was set free. Malcolm B. Benson, 50, of Wayne County, Michigan, was 29 when he was first charged with first-degree murder in 1995 but entered a plea deal so he would not spend his whole life behind bars. He was sentenced to between 20 and 40 years in prison for second-degree murder and two more for felony use of a firearm and served just over 19 years. Malcolm B. Benson (left) was sentenced to life in prison after killing Stanley Carter (right) months after he was freed early from prison for good behavior If Michigans current sentencing rules were in effect, he would have had to serve at least 22 and would not have been free until 2017, according to MLive. But instead, he was freed on parole in January last year. On September 23, 2015, he robbed and shot dead 59-year-old Army veteran Stanley Carter at a bus stop in Highland Park, according to CBS Detroit. This week, he was sentenced to life in prison. A spokesman for the Michigan Department of Corrections said Benson was freed in 2015 because Truth in Sentencing guidelines did not come into effect until 1998. On September 23, 2015, Benson robbed and shot dead 59-year-old Army veteran Stanley Carter at a bus stop (above) in Highland Park, Michigan His offense occurred in 1995, when we still allowed disciplinary credits, Holly Kramer told MLive. Disciplinary credits allowed for parole eligibility to be accelerated for an indeterminate sentence, like his 20 to 40 years, if a prisoner had good behavior. After Truth in Sentencing, disciplinary credits were eliminated and offenders sentenced after 1998 had to serve at least their entire minimum sentence. This is the horrific moment a suspect was gunned down by Brazilian police, despite putting his hands up to surrender. The footage shows three armed police officers surrounding the man, outside a hospital in Porto Algre. And although he drops to the floor in submission, more than 15 shots are still heard, as the police continue to brutally attack him. The officers are then all seen to run away. The suspect first comes onto the scene in a silver car as he speeds away from a police vehicle. Two policemen then dash out with guns and appear to aim them at the suspect's car. The footage shows three armed police officers surrounding the man, outside a hospital in Porto Algre Although he drops to the floor in submission, more than 15 shots are still heard, as the police continue to attack him Slowly, the silver car reverses backwards. The police are initially seen to squat patiently behind their vehicle in anticipation of the suspect. However, they then begin to run and aim at his car. Looking for a way out, the suspect opens his car door briefly before changing his mind and slamming it shut again. The suspect first comes onto the scene in a silver car (left) as he speeds away from a police vehicle Suspect eventually takes the plunge and sprints out of his car, only to be shot down by the police officers As he lies on the ground the man is seen to put his hands up in a bid to surrender However, he eventually takes the plunge and sprints out of his vehicle, only to be shot down by the police officers. As he lies on the ground the man is seen to put his hands up in a bid to surrender. But his offer is rejected and he is shot multiple times before the police make a swift getaway. The man's offer of surrender is rejected and instead he is heard to be shot multiple times A mother-of-two on her first day of vacation with her family in Florida was killed while walking her five-month-old son in a stroller Friday morning. Mariah Klinefelter, 35, was walking on the shoulder of Appleton Boulevard near Bay State Driver in Charlotte County with her son Noah when an SUV hit them around 7am, WZVN reported. Police say the mother was instantly killed and Noah was flown via helicopter with serious injuries to Bayfront Medical Center in St. Petersburgh. He is in stable condition despite suffering several broken bones. 'I saw that some pedestrians were stopped, and a lot of emergency vehicles, and they were trying to resuscitate a person in the grass over there,' neighbor Katherine Heart told WZVN. Tragic: Mariah Klinefelter (above), 35, was walking on the shoulder of Appleton Boulevard near Bay State Driver in Charlotte County with her son, Noah, when an SUV hit them around 7am Police say Mariah (above) was killed instantly and Noah was flown with serious injuries to Bayfront Medical Center in St. Petersburgh. He is in stable condition and suffered several broken bones Klinefelter had just arrived to the area Thursday night with her husband and two sons from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The family had planned to spend the week on Captiva Island, WZVN reported. Police say the driver of the SUV, 55-year-old Allen Peterson of Port Charlotte, stayed on the scene of the accident and has not been charged, WZVN reported. Some neighbors in the area of the accident believe it could have been prevented with sidewalks. 'It would be safer if we had our sidewalks. And the sidewalks are coming, but let's get them here where they belong next,' Ruth Thurber told WZVN. According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the woman was an attorney who worked in the Southpointe office of the law firm Steptoe & Johnson. Klinefelter had just arrived to the area Thursday night with her husband (pictured with her at their wedding) and two sons from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The family had planned to spend the week on Captiva Island Police say the driver of the SUV, 55-year-old Allen Peterson of Port Charlotte, stayed on the scene of the accident (above) and has not been charged According to the law firm's website, Klinefelter worked as a labor and employment attorney who counseled employers 'in a broad spectrum of labor and employment matters comprising state and federal court litigation, matters under the NLRA, including unionization campaigns, labor negotiations, grievances and arbitrations, as well as day-to-day personnel matters and practices.' She graduated in 2006 from Duquesne University with her law degree. Video Courtesy WZVN / ABC 7 Prior to working at Steptoe & Johnson, she worked as an attorney for Fedex Ground, Eckert Seamans, McGuireWoods and U.S. Steel, the Gazette reported. Susan Brewer, CEO of Morgantown, W.Va-based Steptoe & Johnson, told the Gazette she found out about the horrific accident Friday afternoon. 'What I said to our people is that she's a very talented labor and employment lawyer and we're very sorry to lose her,' Brewer told the newspaper. 'And our prayers are with her family. She'd been with us long enough to be very special.' Two Canadian parents whose son died after they treated him with maple syrup for meningitis argued in court they didn't know their baby was seriously ill. David Stephan, 32, who works for a nutritional supplements company, and his wife Collet used several home remedies to treat 18-month-old Ezekiel in 2012. Ezekiel was suffering from bacterial meningitis, but his parents allegedly fed the boy, who was lethargic and becoming stiff, supplements with an eye dropper. They claim they thought he was suffering from croup. David and Collet Stephan (pictured) are charged with failing to provide the necessaries of life for their one-year-old son Ezekiel in 2012 after he died on meningitis The Stephans allegedly treated their son with home remedies like maple syrup, hot peppers, garlic and onions In hopes of boosting Ezekiel's immune system, the couple gave the boy home remedies such as water with maple syrup and juice with frozen berries. They also tried other home remedies, which contained hot peppers, garlic, onions and horseradish, over a two-and-a-half week period, according to CTV News. When the boy stopped breathing, the couple called 911. On Friday the couple's lawyer, Shawn Buckley, addressed the 12 members of the jury, saying the prosecution would have to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that the parents knowingly endangered their son. He told them his clients are presumed innocent and the Crown must prove their guilt, according to Global News, and painted them as loving and attentive parents who did not mean to harm their child. The parents, pictured above with Ezekial, believed the child was only suffering from croup and not a more serious illness. Their lawyer said they are loving and attentive parents When Ezekiel, above, stopped breathing the Stephans called 911, which their lawyer argued shows they did not know prior to that the child was seriously ill Buckley also pointed out that when the Stephans called 911, the ambulance was not dispatched and a second was not equipped to aid a child as small as Ezekiel. He cited a doctor saying the child did have meningitis but died of a 'paramedic misadventure'. The lawyer also stated that many people saw the child alive before his death and none suggested he had meningitis. Doral Lybbert saw them at church, testifying Ezekiel appeared fine. Anthony Stephan the child's grandfather saw him the day before his death and thought he looked fine. Shawn Buckley, who is representing the family, said several people saw Ezekial, above, before his death and none thought he was gravely ill. However, one friend suggested Collet take him to a doctor because he could have meningitis Terry Meynder, a registered nurse, said she suggested Ezekiel see a doctor to find out what was wrong, according to the Global News. However, in March it was reported Meynders, who had assisted Collet with her home births, testified that Collet believed Ezekiel might be suffering from croup after he feel asleep in the bath. When Meynders examined the boy as he lay asleep he did not appear to be infected. Meynders said she mentioned that Ezekiel might have been suffering from meningitis and advised Collet to take him to see a doctor. Prosecution will deliver its final argument on Saturday and the case is expected to go to the jury early next week Throughout her testimony, Meynders stressed that she did not go to the Stephans' house as a medical professional, and went simply because she was friends with Collet. Buckley argued the second the Stephans realized something was wrong with their son they called 911. Prosecution will deliver its final argument today and the case is expected to go to the jury early next week. the central bank of Bangladesh but were caught out by spelling Hackers involved in one of the biggest bank robberies in history thought they had won the jackpot - until they were caught out by a simple spelling mistake. Some 20 people are believed to be behind the 60 million heist ($81m), which targeted the central bank of Bangladesh - which has no firewall. The hackers also attempted to steal a further 600 million ($850m) but were caught out when they spelt 'foundation' as 'fandation'. If the hackers had used a dictionary, they would have made off with nearly $1 billion. Hackers who attempted to steal nearly $1billion from the central bank of Bangladesh nearly made off with the money - one of the largest amounts every stolen from a bank in one go - but were caught out by a spelling mistake Leading investigators in the case said the lack of security made the bank an easy target - and also makes it difficult to find out how the hackers operated, and where from. Cyber criminals broke into Bangladesh Bank's system in early February and tried to make fraudulent transfers totalling $951 million from its account at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Most of the payments were blocked, but $81 million was routed to accounts in the Philippines and diverted to casinos there. Most of those funds remain missing, and the masterminds behind the heist have yet to be identified. Bangladesh police said they had identified 20 foreigners involved in the heist but said they appear to be people who received some of the payments, rather than those who initially stole the money. Mohammad Shah Alam, head of the Forensic Training Institute of the Bangladesh police's criminal investigation department, said it would have been 'difficult to hack if there was a firewall.' The lack of sophisticated switches - or networking devices - means it is difficult for investigators to figure out what the hackers did and where they might have been based, he added. Experts in bank security said the findings described by Alam were disturbing. 'You are talking about an organisation that has access to billions of dollars and they are not taking even the most basic security precautions,' said Jeff Wichman, a consultant with cyber firm Optiv. The bank had no firewall - giving hackers easy access to the money Tom Kellermann, a former member of the World Bank security team, said the security shortcomings described by Alam were 'egregious,' and that he believed there were 'a handful' of central banks in developing countries that were equally insecure. Kellermann, now chief executive of investment firm Strategic Cyber Ventures LLC, said some banks fail to adequately protect their networks because they focus security budgets on physically defending their facilities. Bangladesh Bank has about 5,000 computers used by officials in different departments, Alam said. He said given the importance of the room from which the funds were stolen - a window-less office in the bank's building in Dhaka - the bank should have deployed staff to monitor activity round the clock, including weekends and holidays. When the hackers attempted to steal a further $850 million by bombarding the New York bank with dozens of transfer requests, the bank's security systems and typing errors in some requests prevented the full theft. This is the heroic moment Italian policemen captured two armed robbers after they committed a terrifying raid on a post office. The men are seen to enter the shop concealing their identities with black hats and scarves. They then use their guns to scare customers and steal money, before swiftly being captured by police. The men are seen to enter the shop concealing their identities with black hats and scarves Police footage shows the men entering the shop in broad daylight. While one of the robbers is wearing casual blue jeans and a black coat, the other follows him dressed all in black. However, both keep their heads covered with hats. Once inside the store one of the men is quick to get out his gun and point it at the queue of customers. He then jumps onto the shop counter. Terrified by the experience, a number of people run out of the shop in all directions. Once inside the store one of the men is quick to get out his gun and point it at the queue of customers He then jumps onto the shop counter. Terrified by the experience, a number of people run out of the shop in all directions But this doesn't stop the determined robbers who continue to threaten people with their weapons before running out with the stolen cash. However, they didn't get far as a group of policemen were hot on their tails. And within moments they were pinned down on the ground and stripped of their weapons and stolen goods. Scanning over the evidence, the police footage shows the men's black hats and scarves, a gun and a large amount of stolen money. The determined robbers continued to threaten people with their weapons before running out with the stolen cash within moments the police had pinned the men down and stripped of their weapons and stolen goods Scanning over the evidence, the police footage shows the men's black hats and scarves, a gun and a large amount of stolen money Prince of Wales appeared on stage during star-studded gala at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre Advertisement Prince Charles took to the stage to deliver Hamlet's famous 'To be or not to be' line tonight as part of a gala marking the 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare's death. The Prince of Wales made a surprise appearance during the star-studded event at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon. A host of actors, including Benedict Cumberbatch, David Tennant, Sir Ian McKellen and Dame Judi Dench, debated how to deliver the iconic line during the comedy sketch, before Charles walked on stage and asked: 'Might I have a word?' There was a dramatic pause before he delivered the words: 'To be, or not to be: that is the question'. Scroll down for video Prince Charles shares a joke with Dame Judi Dench and David Suchet backstage following the performance of Shakespeare Live! from the Royal Shakespeare Theatre A host of actors, including Dame Judi Dench, David Tennant, Benedict Cumberbatch and Sir Ian McKellen, debated how to deliver the 'To be or not to be' line during the gala at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon The Prince of Wales and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall backstage at the event in Stratford-upon-Avon, England. Prince Charles is President of the Royal Shakespeare Company The Shakespeare Live! event, which was broadcast on BBC2 and at more than 350 cinemas across the country, also included appearances from Helen Mirren, Rory Kinnear. Al Murray and Tim Minchin, as well as dancers from the Royal Ballet. Charles, who is the president of the Royal Shakespeare Company, rehearsed in secret with Sir Ian before tonight's extravaganza. The Prince turned to the Bard earlier this week when paying tribute to his mother on her 90th birthday, using an edited passage from the play Henry VIII in a radio message broadcast over the BBC World Service. Earlier today, Charles visited the Shakespeare's former home in Stratford-upon-Avon and laid a wreath at his grave at the Holy Trinity Church. Thousands of well-wishers from around the world gathered at Shakespeare's birthplace to celebrate the playwright's legacy on the 400th anniversary of his death. A theatrical parade through Stratford-upon-Avon involved singing, dancing and riotous celebration as more than 10,000 people paid homage to the Bard, who was born and died on April 23. The titans of the acting world came together for the event: Left, Benedict Cumberbatch and Paapa Essiedu and right, Dame Helen Mirren and Dame Judi Dench When acting royalty met the Prince: Prince Charles performs alongside Dame Judi Dench, Tim Minchin, Harriet Walter, David Tennant, Paapa Essiedu, Benedict Cumberbatch, Rory Kinnear and Sir Ian McKellen Left, Prince Charles meets Al Murray and a staff member backstage and right, Al Murray - who starred as Bottom from a Midsummer Night's Dream - and Dame Helen Mirren Benedict Cumberbatch, Paapa Essiedu and Tim Minchin threw themselves into the live performance in in Stratford-upon-Avon Prince Charles took to the stage to deliver the iconic line as part of a gala marking the 400th anniversary of the Bard's death Prince Charles toured the town earlier today, visiting the playwright's former home to mark the special occasion Showing them how it's done: Tim Minchin, Harriet Walter, David Tennant, Dame Judi Dench, Paapa Essiedu and Benedict Cumberbatch on stage The procession featured civic dignitaries, local schoolchildren, musicians and performers, and a centrepiece ceremony with the unfurling of a birthday flag bearing the writer's image. There were also quieter moments of reflection on Shakespeare's life and success as his hometown began a weekend of events marking the occasion. The crowds were asked to play their parts by tossing sprigs of rosemary 'for remembrance', as the Bard wrote in Hamlet, as a funeral bier of flowers was pulled through the town's streets. Visitors then donned thousands of Shakespeare face-masks which had been handed out. The mood struck a more celebratory note with the appearance of the 12-piece Wendell Brunious Band from Louisiana who shuffled and shimmied along the parade route with a New Orleans-flavoured flavoured jazz procession. Band leader Andrew LeDuff said the group, including members of New Orleans' Tulane University, had jumped at the chance to mark Shakespeare's global impact and 'celebrate his life'. The Queen of the acting world and the Prince of Wales: A lively Prince Charles joined Dame Judi Dench on stage Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall meets Dame Helen Mirren, Dame Judi Dench and David Suchet backstage following the performance The Prince of Wales took the time to meet Paapa Essiedu and several other delighted cast members following the performance The Duchess of Cornwall meets cast members backstage. The couple appeared thrilled to be involved in this year's landmark anniversaryof the Bard's death Meeting the cast: Shakespeare Live! from the Royal Shakespeare Company marked the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare's death Seasoned professionals Harriet Walter, Sir Ian McKellen and David Tennant thrilled their royal guests and audience members Thousands of well-wishers had gathered at Shakespeare's hometown to celebrate the playwright's legacy Students of Stratford-upon-Avon schools wore masks and carried flowers as they watched the procession go through the town Actors performed excerpts of a Shakespeare play in the grounds of his birthplace in Stratford-upon-Avon earlier today The Prince of Wales laid a wreath at Shakespeare's grave at the Holy Trinity Church in the town in honour of the playwright A bier bearing a floral tribute to the playwright was wheeled through the town. There were quieter moments of reflection on Shakespeare's life and success to kick off a weekend of events marking the occasion Students of the Croft Preparatory School held flowers and flags for the celebrations. The crowds were asked to play their parts by tossing sprigs of rosemary 'for remembrance' A group of masked women joined the festivities as other visitors donned thousands of Shakespeare face masks which had been handed out Civil dignitaries and local clergy processed through the streets. One Shakespeare fan said: 'The great thing about Shakespeare is he's relevant today - he's very quotable' Geraldine Collinge, director of events and exhibitions at the RSC, said the weekend celebration was a chance to remember the impact the playwright One man wore a full Shakespeare costume complete with Elizabethan ruff for the celebrations, carrying a copy of his complete works The parade featured civic dignitaries, local schoolchildren, musicians and performers, and a centrepiece ceremony with the unfurling of a birthday flag Drummer Gerald French added: 'We came to do a New Orleans jazz funeral for Shakespeare as he was one of the few people to be born and die the same day, so he gets a special procession.' Spectator Jane Haigh, who had travelled from Coventry with friend Janice Bobby, said she wanted to be present to mark 'a wonderful legacy'. Ms Bobby added: 'The great thing about Shakespeare is he's relevant today - he's very quotable, and his plays can be interpreted so widely.' Playing a key role in this year's landmark anniversary is the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC), whose grand Stratford theatre on the banks of the River Avon continues to stage the Bard's plays in sell-out performances in a testament to his ongoing popularity. The Prince embraces the hugely talented British actor Paapa Essiedu, as they leave the stage with Sir Ian McKellen Prince Charles jokes with singer and songwriter Rufus Wainwright and other cast members - and the group couldn't be having more fun David Suchet and Dame Judi Dench joined their fellow performers as they celebrated Shakespeare's legacy in theatre, music, opera and ballet Spectator Jane Haigh, who had travelled from Coventry with friend Janice Bobby, said she wanted to be present to mark 'a wonderful legacy' The RSC director of events added: 'I think in this country we forget so many of the words we use, so many of the expressions and things we talk about have come from Shakespeare' Members of the public wearing Shakespeare masks carry bunches of flowers as they watch the parade, while one man films the event Spectators gathered outside the Bard's birthplace as actors performed speeches from the plays in traditional Elizabethan costumes Later tonight, a star-studded gala of performances will be performed at the riverside Royal Shakespeare Theatre Geraldine Collinge, director of events and exhibitions at the RSC, said the weekend celebration was a chance to remember the impact the playwright, who was baptised in the town on April 26 1564, had on the English language. Ms Collinge said: 'He is so much part of what we do every day. 'I think in this country we forget so many of the words we use, so many of the expressions and things we talk about have come from Shakespeare, like 'all that glistens isn't gold' or 'neither a borrower or a lender be', so some of the things you just say all the time come from Shakespeare.' Tim Minchin, Harriet Walter, Sir Ian McKellen, David Tennant, Paapa Essiedu, Benedict Cumberbatch and Rory Kinnear on stage Left, Al Murray - more commonly known as the pub landlord, starred as Bottom, and right, Camilla meets cast members The head boy of King Edward VI school held a quill during the parade as two other students rectified a banner saying 'In honour of William Shakespeare, man of Stratford' Spectators wearing Shakespeare masks lined the streets to watch the procession, with children kneeling at the front to get a better view Shakespeare, who penned almost 40 plays, died in 1616. Pictured is a woman wearing traditional dress during the parade Onlookers waved Union Jacks as they watched from the upstairs windows of a traditional half-timbered house in the town A floral tribute, which was carried through the town on a funeral bier, was placed next to a bust of the playwright in the town centre Earlier today, US President Barack Obama was treated to a special performance of scenes from Hamlet at Shakespeare's Globe Theatre in London, praising the actors as 'wonderful'. The president made an early-morning trip to the playhouse in Southwark to mark the anniversary of the Bard's death, which was celebrated across the world. Shakespeare, who penned almost 40 plays, over 150 sonnets, and coined well-known phrases still widely used to this day, died in 1616. Crowds also gathered in London to watch a film of Hamlet on the Southbank opposite St. Paul's Cathedral as part of 'The Complete Walk' as celebrations took place across the capital Soldiers in old-fashioned uniforms marched in Elsinore, Denmark with Kronborg Castle in the background to mark the 400th anniversary of the Bard's death Four hundred people in costumes and make up marched through the streets of old town in Gdansk, Poland in memory of William Shakespeare Michael said he had mental problems and argued paying child support He and child recovery specialist Adam Whittington are accused of kidnapping One of the accused kidnappers hired by 60 minutes for the botched abduction of two children in Lebanon is a self-confessed former hard-drug user with mental problems who didn't want to pay child support. Craig Michael remains behind bars in Beiruit with co-accused Adam Whittington charged with kidnapping after the botched child recovery operation of Brisbane mother Sally Faulkner's two young children. Mr Michael, a British-Cypriot tattooist, snatched his own child during a Child Abduction Recovery International (CARI) operation in Poland where he was accompanied by Mr Whittington, according to The Sydney Morning Herald. Adam Whittington (left) and Craig Michael (pictured right after the recovery of his daughter in Poland in 2014) remain in a Beirut jail facing kidnapping charges after allegedly leading the failed child recovery operation Court documents reveal that Mr Michael argued against paying child support in 2010 and wrote in an affidavit that he was 'not in a position to work because I have been a user of hard drugs for several years' Court documents reveal that Mr Michael argued against paying child support in 2010 and wrote in an affidavit that he was 'not in a position to work because I have been a user of hard drugs for several years.' He also reportedly stated: 'I suffer from serious mental problems that cause amongst others lack of mnemonic, panic attacks and confusion.' The affidavit was filed in Limassol Family Court in Cyprus and was in relation to a bitter custody dispute with his former partner Marta Swinarska. However, Mr Michael now vehemently denies any drug use. I haven't ever been a drug addict, he insists. He also says he only suffered mental issues such as stress and headaches, brought on by running a new tattoo shop at the time, as well as a brain lesion leaking blood which made me very dizzy. 'I did not receive one cent and did this for the love of reuniting the children with their mother,' further claims Mr Michael, regarding the botched operation. A bank statement has emerged which allegedly shows that the Nine Network directly paid at least $69,000 for the failed kidnapping of two children in Lebanon Earlier this week, a bank statement has emerged which allegedly shows that the Nine Network directly paid at least $69,000 for the failed abduction of two young children in Lebanon. The documents, which were presented to a Beirut court, show that a payment was sent to CARI with the reference 'Investigation Into My Missing Child'. CARI founder Adam Whittington, who is still behind bars, claimed this is proof that Nine paid for the botched recovery operation that landed Tara Brown, her 60 Minutes crew and a Brisbane mother in jail. His lawyer said that Nine paid Whittington a total of $115,000 to snatch Sally Faulkner's two children from her estranged husband's family on a Beirut street on April 6. Adam Whittington, the founder of the firm - who is still behind bars - claimed this is proof that Nine paid for the failed abduction that landed Tara Brown, her 60 Minutes crew and a mother in jail 60 Minutes presenter Tara Brown and Brisbane mother Sally Faulkner (front) were pictured walking free from jail in Beirut on Wednesday It comes after Brown and her three-man crew were released on bail on Wednesday along with Ms Faulkner after her ex-husband, Ali Elamine, 32, dropped the charges. A judge told them they were all 'free to leave Lebanon' after Nine paid a multi-million dollar settlement. But Mr Elamine is still pressing charges against Mr Whittington, who was allegedly in charge of the operation, as well as Craig Michael and two Lebanese people involved. They must remain in the country to face the charges. Mr Whittington's lawyer Joe Karam slammed the 'unethical' decision to leave the men in jail, saying that Nine had run away from any responsibility. Speaking outside the Baabda Palace of Justice in Beirut, Mr Karam said: 'Ethically it wasn't appropriate for Channel Nine to arrange for a deal and not include the man they asked to execute for them something. 'They were all a team they came all together and I think they should leave altogether,' he said. CCTV footage supplied by Lebanese authorities appeared to show the bungled abduction earlier this week Adam Whittington (left) and Craig Michael (right) remain in custody in Beirut after a failed attempt to recover Sally Faulkner's two children on April 7. The CARI group insists a rival revealed their plan Ms Faulkner's estranged husband, Ali Elamine, pictured leaving court on Monday, previously told reporters that he would press charges against everyone 'involved' in the failed abduction attempt He released the documents which allegedly show that $69,000 was paid into an account called IPCA Limited on January 22 this year. The payment was made from TCN Channel Nine's ANZ bank account. 'This is the first instalment of two payments that were given to my client by Channel 9,' Mr Karam told AAP. 'That shows that they did ask him to provide an investigation in a missing child which is not buying a story, they asked for what happened.' Mr Karam said he would continue to fight for Whittington and Michael's release from jail. A spokesman for Nine told Daily Mail Australia they 'can't make any comment on these matters' as they are part of an internal review. Channel Nine has announced a review into the botched operation to be led by former 60 Minutes boss Gerald Stone. Nine CEO Hugh Marks emailed staff on Thursday morning promising a comprehensive investigation into how the crew became embroiled in the child snatching plot. Ms Brown was pictured being shoved into a police car on Monday after a court hearing was postponed Ms Brown was caught in the middle of a frenzy outside a Beirut court earlier this week, but she said it looked worse than it was Faulkner in the mini van as she leaves the Beirut jail after her release with the 60 Minutes crew The veteran reporter was pictured walking free from jail two weeks after the botched abduction attempt 'It is important to reiterate that at no stage did anyone from Nine or 60 Minutes intend to act in any way that made them susceptible to charges that they breached the law or to become part of the story that is Sally's story. But we did become part of the story and we shouldn't have,' he said. 'Nine will conduct a full review that will be headed by Gerald Stone, with David Hurley and General Counsel Rachel Launders, to ascertain what went wrong and why our systems, designed to protect staff, failed to do so in this case.' 'We will task the review with recommending the necessary actions to ensure that none of our colleagues are put in a similar position in the future.' Ms Faulkner was released on bail on Wednesday along with Ms Brown and her crew, producer Stephen Rice, cameraman Ben Williamson, sound recordist David Ballment. They are still facing public prosecution charges of kidnapping and being members of a criminal gang and may be required to return if the prosecution goes ahead. The crew could be tried in 'absentia' if they do not return and face being banned from the country. They were seen laughing, hugging and smiling together in a car after they were all freed from jail. The TV crew are expected to arrive back in Sydney at around 10pm (local time). Tara Brown (pictured) was detained on kidnapping charges with a 60 Minutes crew that filmed the 'child abduction' of Sally Faulkner's two children in Lebanon on April 7 Mr Whittington's lawyer claimed his client was paid a total of $115,000 to snatch Sally Faulkner's (pictured) two children from her estranged husband's family on a Beirut street on April 6 The two children will now live with their father, Mr Elamine (pictured) in Lebanon after he was granted full custody The breakthrough came after Ms Faulkner secured a deal with her estranged partner in which she gave Mr Elamine full custody of the children in return for her release. The Australian reported that Mr Elamine is thought to have received a payout in the 'low single-digit millions'. But Mr Elamine insisted that he 'did not sign anything, did not get anything'. When asked whether Channel Nine paid anyone surrounding him or connected to him, Mr Elamine replied, 'I can't comment on that'. 'So someone around you may have received this money from Channel Nine?' The Project's Carrie Bickmore asked. 'Again, I have no idea. My lawyer and myself never communicated anything in regards to that,' Mr Elamine replied. Ms Faulkner's lawyer previously said she has been fighting to get access to her children for nine months. The lawyer said that Mr Elamine took the two children on a three-week holiday to Lebanon and did not return them as agreed. But an attempt to snatch them from a suburban Beirut street by a 'child recovery team', caught on CCTV, was ultimately unsuccessful. A father who joked to airport security staff his son had a bomb has been slapped with a hefty fine and a criminal conviction. Jamie Lauthier, 62, was seeing his son off at Adelaide Airport on March 17, 2015, when he put his hand on his son's luggage and joked 'there's only a bomb in this bag'. On Friday Mr Lauthier fronted Adelaide Magistrates Court where he was slapped with a $2500 fine and a Federal aviation crime conviction, reports Adelaide Now. A father was seeing his son off at Adelaide Airport (pictured) in 2015 when he put his hand on his son's luggage and joked 'there's only a bomb in this bag' Mr Lauthier pleaded guilty to having made a threat to commit an act of unlawful interference with aviation, which carries a maximum fine of $9000. 'I didn't even think of what I said at the time, and I obviously didn't expect the situation to grow into what it has but that was my mistake, Your Honour, ' Mr Lauthier tod the court. Magistrate Ian White told the father that in light of recent world events, the comment was only going to instill fear. 'You went too far by uttering that phrase in an airport where, in light of recent events, it can only strike apprehension and fear into reasonable people,' he said. He said the sentence is intended to discourage the public from making similarly inappropriate jokes. The magistrate noted the father evaded the maximum sentence because this was reserved for threats made with a 'far more menacing tone.' Disgraced tycoon Asil Nadir (pictured) was accused of 'buying his way to freedom' last night as he jetted off to Turkey to serve out the rest of his jail sentence there Disgraced Polly Peck tycoon Asil Nadir has been released from a Turkish prison just one night after he was transferred from the UK. The Turkish-Cypriot businessman, 74, was jailed for ten years in 2012 for stealing 29million from Polly Peck, a once-failing textiles company which he transformed into one of Britain's most successful firms in the 1980s. He was flown from London to Istanbul on Thursday evening after British authorities accepted his request to serve the rest of his sentence in Turkey. And a court ruling said Nadir would be released on probation and serve the rest of his sentence outside prison because there was no need to monitor him. His sister thanked Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu for their efforts in her brother's transfer and release, Turkish media reported. Nadir was yesterday accused of 'buying his way to freedom'. The crook secured the extraordinary prison transfer deal after handing over 5million to devastated investors in his collapsed empire. He hopes to celebrate his 75th birthday next month in his homeland in northern Cyprus and is already negotiating a move from mainland Turkey. Once there he expects to serve the remainder of his term under 'house arrest' in his 3million villa on the Mediterranean island. The decision to release him from a British prison came less than four years after he was jailed for a decade at the Old Bailey. His conviction followed a complex trial and 22-year Serious Fraud Office inquiry that is estimated to have cost taxpayers more than 20million. Last night, news of his release provoked anger among investigators and some of the tens of thousands of investors left out of pocket in 1990. One retired police officer involved in the original inquiry said: 'People will say he has bought his way to freedom. It was always on the cards. 'I don't think he has ever been truly sorry for what he did. His behaviour has disgusted those who have seen first-hand the misery he left behind.' Nadir was escorted onto scheduled Turkish Airlines flight TK986 from Heathrow Airport to Istanbul yesterday evening. Nadir (pictured several years ago in Cyprus) was flown from London to Istanbul on Thursday evening after British authorities accepted his request to serve the rest of his sentence in Turkey He has spent the last few days at Wandsworth Prison in South London, waiting for confirmation from the Ministry of Justice that the deal will go ahead. In addition to the 5m compensation, he paid a further 2million to cover the 1,987,743 Legal Aid bill he racked up during his trial. The size of the bill provoked outrage as he spent the trial living in a 23,000-a-month mansion and arriving at court in a chauffeur-driven car. His glamorous second wife Nur, 43 years his junior, wiled away the time shopping in designer West End stores and riding horses before leaving the country when he was jailed. Her mid-trial birthday present from her husband - a Range Rover Vogue - had a personal number plate AN02NUR, standing for 'Asil Nadir love to Nur'. It is also understood that he has abandoned any prospect of appealing against conviction or sentence and gave up his British passport. Nadir returned to Britain from his home in Northern Cyprus to 'clear his name' in 2010 after fleeing in 1993 before he went on trial. Nadir (pictured many years ago in Cyprus), who transformed Polly Peck into one of UK's most successful companies, was yesterday accused of 'buying his way to freedom' In August 2012 he was convicted of stealing 28.6million from his Polly Peck International textile empire. The jury found he raided the company to pay for his multi-million property empire, racehorses, antiques, fast cars and jewellery. Giving him two years to settle a 5m compensation bill, Mr Justice Holroyde rejected his claims of poverty. But the fraudster escaped a colossal potential compensation claim of 61million for pensioners and shareholders who lost their life savings. Nadir left under the Prisoner Transfer Agreement. This allows foreign criminals convicted of crimes in the UK to be forcibly removed to serve their sentences overseas. Usually they must have at least six months to serve. The idea is that they will serve their sentences back home, with the taxpayer no longer paying to house them. It costs around 40,000 a year to keep a prisoner behind bars in the UK. A Whitehall source defended the move, saying: 'Rather than having him squandering UK taxpayers' money, we would sooner have him off our books. 'Sending him back is a win-win we have got the money he owed and he is not costing us any more money.' A court ruling said Nadir (pictured several years ago) would be released on probation and serve the rest of his sentence outside prison The decision to release him from a British prison came less than four years after he was jailed for a decade at the Old Bailey (pictured) Nadir should now serve the remainder of his prison term in a Turkish jail but the final decision on his exact conditions rests with the authorities over there. His solicitors Bark & Co took to Twitter after his release to crow: 'Wishing our client Asil Nadir all the best, on his return home. Currently in the air.' A Ministry of Justice spokesman said: 'It is right that foreign criminals are properly punished but not at the expense of British taxpayers. 'This Government is committed to removing foreign criminals to their own countries. Several Republican delegates claim they are receiving menacing phone calls and even death threats from angry Donald Trump supporters. Steve House, the Colorado GOP chairman, said he has received thousands of threatening phone calls since the presidential front-runner didn't receive any delegates at the state's convention two weeks ago. All 34 of the party's delegates were awarded to Trump's rival Sen. Ted Cruz. House told Politico that the angriest of callers who support the billionaire businessman demand that he kill himself by putting a gun down his throat. 'He said, 'I'll call back in two minutes, and if you're still there, I'll come over and help you,' House recalled to Politico. Steve House (above), the Colorado GOP chairman, said he received thousands of threatening phone calls since Trump didn't receive any delegates at the state's convention two weeks ago All 34 of the party's delegates were awarded to Trump's rival Sen. Ted Cruz. House told Politico that the angriest of callers who support Trump (above) demand that he kill himself by putting a gun down his throat House is not the only person who has reported being threatened by Trump's supporters. This week at the Republican National Committee's quarterly meetings in Florida, several other leaders shared similar incidents that have happened with them. An unidentified party chairman said that one of the real estate mogul's supporters threatened him with 'bloodshed' if he didn't win the party's nomination. House is not the only person who has reportedly received threats. Craig Dunn, an Ohio delegate who supports Gov. John Kasich is concerned about the possibility of violence at the Republican convention in July 'A Trump supporter recently got in my face and threatened 'bloodshed' at the national convention and said he would 'meet me at the barricades' if Trump isn't the nominee,' said the chairman, who spoke with Politico anonymously. In addition, Tom John, an Indiana delegate claims to have received an unsettling email after he spoke out about The Donald in an interview with Politico. 'You know traditional burial is polluting the planet,' one email he received reads. 'Good luck becoming a delegate, we are watching.' Craig Dunn, a delegate who supports Ohio Gov. John Kasich, said that he's concerned about the Republican convention in July - especially if Trump loses. 'That's where there's the greatest prospect for danger,' Dunn told Politico. 'I don't see myself walking outside the convention with a Kasich badge.' Louisiana chairman Roger Villere said that security will be a priority at the convention in Cleveland. 'A lot of us bring our wives and children. Do we really want to? That's one of the things that was asked,' Villere told Politico. 'They assured us that we would be protected.' The GOP front-runner has long faced criticism from both Democrats and fellow Republicans that he encourages violence among his supporters. In the past few months, protesters have been assaulted at several Trump rallies. The GOP front-runner has long faced criticism from both Democrats and fellow Republicans that he encourages violence among his supporters Speaker Paul Ryan said that it's the billionaire should to take responsibility for the environment at his rallies. 'There is never an excuse for condoning violence, or even a culture that presupposes it,' Ryan said. His campaign has not explicitly encouraged violence among their supports, but has promoted several tactics that appear to contribute to the fear of those who have been threatened. One of the tactics includes when Dan Scavino, a top Trump adviser, shared the cellphone number of Tennessee state party chairman Ryan Haynes online with a message that accused the state party of trying to 'STEAL your vote TODAY.' At the time, Haynes told Politico that he almost canceled the party's delegate selection meeting when he was inundated with calls from angry Trump lovers threatening violence. In order to win the Republican party's nomination, a candidate needs 1,237 delegates. Currently, Trump has 845, Cruz has 559 and Kasich has 148. There are still 733 delegates that are available. The convention will start without a presumptive nominee if none of the candidates obtain the required 1,237 delegates. Genevieve O'Reilly and James Nesbitt star as Hazel Buchanan and Colin Howell in The Secret James Nesbitts face seemed frenzied, manic almost. The scene was over, the director had shouted cut. But, stumbling forward on the set, the actor was struggling to regain his strength and his composure and no wonder. I had just watched him play out a true life murder, a killing as shocking in its detail as it was to become notorious in its malevolent secrecy. This was the adulterous betrayal of not one but two loyal spouses, a double killing at the heart of a pious community made to look like suicide. It had so nearly been the perfect murder... Indeed, for two decades it was. When, in 2009, the terrible truth about the Castlerock suicides was finally uncovered, the nation was gripped by the compelling tale of sex, drugs, deceit, greed and murder laced with a hefty dose of evangelism. And watching Nesbitt, I was spellbound once again. I have devoted years to investigating the killings, one of the most distressing cases of domestic murder in the last half century, and my book is now the basis of major new ITV drama series, The Secret. It is a story not just of lust and selfish greed, but of near unbelievable hypocrisy among church-going evangelicals in protestant Northern Ireland and of a police force too cowed, too trusting, to mount a proper investigation. The betrayals began in the most unlikely of settings, the tightly-knit and deeply religious Baptist community in Coleraine in Northern Ireland. This was where, in 1990, Hazel Buchanan, a Sunday school teacher, met Colin Howell, a dentist and a charismatic preacher. Both were married, Hazel to her policeman husband Trevor, whom she had wed at the age of 17, and Colin to Lesley, then pregnant with their fourth child. Despite their professed faith, there was an immediate spark and an affair. Howell played the guitar at their local Coleraine Baptist Church and the pair found an excuse for their liaisons when he began calling at Hazels home to give her lessons. Before long, they were sleeping together, often at Hazels home. At times, they even had sex in the dentists chair of Howells surgery. In the summer of 1990, Hazel discovered she was pregnant. Howell convinced her to have an abortion, even though the act was taboo within their strict religious lives, and against the law as it still is in Northern Ireland. When a member of the church congregation uncovered the affair, both Hazel and Howell were counselled by the church and swore to end it. They told their respective spouses, who were naturally devastated. The guilty pair begged forgiveness and, at one stage, Trevor and Howell shook hands before the altar in front of their pastor, Howell promising contrition. But his words were hollow and they continued to meet in secret. The obvious and honest answer, divorce, was outlawed by the church. Then, in early 1991, Howell confided to his lover that he had a very different solution: the murder of their spouses, Trevor and Lesley, dressed up to look like suicide. As Howell put it in a letter to his lover: Let this be our secret. First they disposed of Lesley. In May 1991, as she lay sleeping under a duvet on the sofa, Howell slipped a hosepipe emitting carbon monoxide fumes from his car into her mouth and then, when she awoke struggling, he straddled her body, pressing down hard until all the fight had gone out of her. (This was the scene I watched Jimmy Nesbitt play out on set.) Killers: Lovers Howell and Buchanan used a hosepipe emitting carbon monoxide fumes to kill their spouses As she suffocated, she hoarsely called for Matthew her young son, who was asleep in a nearby room. Howell then dressed the corpse, stowed it in the boot of his car and dove to the home that Hazel shared with Trevor. Trevor, who worshipped his wife, already lay drugged in the couples bed, clad only in boxer shorts. Hazel had fed him tranquillisers in a tuna sandwich just before going to bed. The plan was to use the same hose and poison him with carbon monoxide fumes. But Trevor, like Lesley, woke up as he was attacked. There was a violent scuffle and Howell finally forced the hose into his victims mouth and watched as his thrashing body finally stilled. As Howell murdered the young police officer, Trevor and Hazels young children, Andrew and Lisa, lay sleeping soundly in the next-door bedroom. Trevors lifeless body was dressed and the incriminating hosepipe burned in the living room hearth. Howell then drove the bodies to Castlerock, a seaside village five miles from Coleraine. There, he arranged the corpses, pausing to place headphones playing religious songs on his wifes head, and attached a hose to the cars rear exhaust. He scattered family photographs of Lesley, 31, beside her body, turned up the church music tape (which he callously offered to give Lesleys grieving brother on the day of her funeral as a memento) and left the bodies to be found, the cars engine still running, pumping exhaust fumes into the car. Before he did, there was one more despicable act to be accomplished. Some time earlier Lesley, during a period of depression, had written a halfhearted note suggesting she was going to take her own life. She never knew Howell had found it. And now he put it to use, placing it conveniently back in their home for investigating police to find. When he had finished his nights work, Howell ran off across Castlerock beach on Northern Irelands prosperous north coast and cycled home. Trevor Buchanan wrestled with his killer as he died and Lesley Howell was heard calling for her young son as she struggled in the grips of her murdering husband When the bodies were discovered, it was predictably declared a double suicide. Many in the Coleraine Baptist Church knew of the affair and the community came to believe Lesley and Trevor, 32, could not live with their partners betrayal and had killed themselves. There were, of course, those who had their suspicions, but few voiced them. Seemingly impressed by Howells church credentials and his standing as a local businessman and maybe by Hazels cool, blonde beauty the police seemed uninquisitive. And when an inept police investigation concluded the deaths were the result of a suicide pact, the poignant tale seemed at an end. Howell, now 57, and Hazel, now 52, behaved stoically when told of the deaths and, at the funerals, sombrely followed their spouses coffins, which were buried yards apart in Coleraine cemetery. Their affair, although it continued for another six years, would not last, however. Hazel later married another police officer, David Stewart, and Howell went on to marry an American, Kyle, with whom he had five more children. More significantly, Howell suffered what he described as a crisis of faith when he ran into deep debt and his son, Matthew, whose name had been the last word on Lesleys breathe, died after an accident abroad. He had other worries, too. Howell had been cheating on his new wife and, more seriously, had been accused of sexually assaulting woman patients when they were drugged in his dentists chair. Whats more, his hitherto healthy bank balance was all but gone, after he invested his considerable savings in an ill-conceived venture to recover Japanese gold in the Philippines. His confession to police caused a sensation. Hazel stuck to her story that she had been under the spell of the narcissistic, delusional, Howell. But as the star witness at his former lovers trial, he destroyed her claims when he spoke calmly of how the woman he once wanted to marry and begin a new life with in Scotland was every bit as manipulative as himself. His evidence was compelling and at times theatrical. James Nesbitt looked drained and exhausted as he willed himself under the evil skin of killer Howell (pictured) Hazel and I were waltzing together all the time, he declared. All of the sidestepping was done together. I may have been the lead partner in the waltz but Hazel was dancing in co-operation with that dance. I wasnt dragging her around the floor, making her put her foot to the left or the right. She was doing it in perfect harmony, on her own and willingly. Hazel declined to take the witness stand. But she damned herself in her police interrogation tapes, which were played to the packed court. She agreed she had disposed of the hosepipe, washed the sheets, wafted the remaining carbon monoxide out of the bedroom and given Howell her husbands clothes in which to dress his body. Worst of all was her admission she had stood outside the bedroom door, motionless, as her lover murdered her husband in the couples bed. Hazel, convicted of murder under the law of joint enterprise, was sentenced to 18 years and, since 2011, has launched three unsuccessful appeals. Howell is serving life. At the announcement of their mothers guilty verdict, her children Andrew and Lisa were devastated. They, along with her husband David Stewart, continue to believe in her innocence and visit her regularly. Researching this case has taken up six years of my life. Watching an actor of the calibre of James Nesbitt, drained and exhausted as he willed himself under the evil skin of Howell, has been extraordinary. Equally, actress Genevieve OReilly who plays Hazel, is the murderess personified. It has been a long slog bringing the story to the small screen. One Oscar-winning producer told me: The problem here Deric, is that there is no hero. There just isnt a hero. He was right, of course, but I found a different sort of hero in Stuart Urban, the award-winning film maker, who came to see me in April 2014 to prepare a script. I was even offered, and readily accepted, a cameo role playing myself, then editor of Press Association Ireland, in the court scenes. Nesbitt lived in the Coleraine area before leaving for London to pursue an acting career, and knew of the story. He even met with former friends of Howell to get the characterisation right. As for Hazel, I believe her to be every bit as evil and cold-hearted as her lover. And her refusal to hold her hands up and admit her guilt just heightens the sense of grief felt by her former in-laws, the Buchanan family. Good, decent, honourable people, they only ever wanted justice, for the official records to be corrected and to try and achieve some sort of closure to what has been an unimaginable nightmare. An American woman accused of murdering her husband, who was also her biological uncle, in Belize has blamed 'crooked' police for framing her. Tracy Shannon Nessl began a romantic relationship with Timothy McNamara in 2012 and two years later he was dead of a gunshot to the head on their Belizean farm. Belizean police accused Nessl of murdering her husband but inconsistent details in the police report and forensics seem to back the 44-year-old's case that McNamara, who was 22 years older than her, killed himself. Nessl and McNamara struck up a connection when Nessl was visiting her grandparents in Soap Lake, Washington, in 2012. McNamara was going through his third divorce and quickly fell for Nessl - his niece. Tracy Shannon Nessl, 44, (pictured) is accused of killing her husband, Tim McNamara, who was also her husband while the couple lived in Belize But Nessl claims the two didn't know each other in that way. 'It's like we were soul mates. I didn't know him as an uncle, I didn't know the McNamaras very much. 'He was the man I fell in love with. Our souls connected,' Nessl told KREM. Although they had not had a relationship while Nessl was growing up, McNamara's adult children were disturbed by their father's incestual relationship. 'It was hard to know what to do,' Jennifer Ralston, Tim McNamara's daughter, said. To escape the scrutiny of their small town, Nessl and McNamara fled to Belize, bought a farm and planned to open a bed and breakfast. McNamara, who had an orchard in Washington, used a $240,000 insurance payout to buy the property in the Central American country. The couple got married in Belize, but the marriage was later voided when the government learned of the couple's biological relation. McNamara's adult children Jennifer Ralston (left) and Caleb McNamara (right) believe Nessl killed their father for financial gain and have filed a civil suit saying she murdered him 'I just felt like a princess. I was barefoot, Mac had flip flops on; it was beautiful,' Nessl said. While in Belize, McNamara and his children stopped communicating - a painful blow to the devoted father. And as McNamara's relationship with his children fell into disarray, so did his finances. In 2014, McNamara began speaking with his children via email again, who suggested he sell his property in Soap Lake. Tim McNamara (pictured) began speaking with his children again just before his death in Belize He told them he had quitclaimed the property to Nessl, which meant he had transferred the interest of the property to her two years earlier. His children feared the farm would be sold should McNamara die. On Christmas 2014, that fear was realized. McNamara went outside with a Glock in hand, which Nessl said he often did when the dogs barked, meaning some predatory animal was in the area. He fired a shot, but never returned inside, Nessl said. She found him dead of a gunshot wound to the back of the head on their porch. She ran to a neighbor's house for help, but it took hours for help to arrive. 'He was on his side and I was just spooning with him with a blanket over both of us to keep him warm,' Tracy said. The death was originally called a suicide, but then, Nessl claims, the lead officer of the Belizean police told her McNamara owed him money. When she declined to pay him, the case was turned into a homicide, she says. Orlando Vera, the National Forensic Science Service for the Ministry of National Security for Belize, later issued a report saying McNamara did not fire the bullet that ended his life. McNamara's children also believe Nessl is responsible for their father's death. 'The evidence is all there; it's all there,' Jennifer Ralston said. Nessl (pictured) has since returned to Washington state and is fighting extradition back to Belize after they filed a warrant to Interpol for her arrest They have filed a civil wrongful death lawsuit against Nessl for killing their father for financial gain, they allege. Belize has since issued a warrant for Nessl's arrest, which has been posted to Interpol. Nessl moved back to Washington to tend to McNamara's orchard after his death. She is currently waiting to learn if she'll be extradited back to Belize. However, the report Belize issued regarding McNamara's death is full of contradictions. Orlando Vera wrote in the McNamara's death report that the bullet entered on the left side of Tim McNamaras head and exited on the right, but later in the same report, Vera said the bullet exited on the left side of the head, according to KREM. Nessl's lawyer, John Henry Browne, said McNamara was clearly depressed due to the financial burden of the farm and wrote 'sentimental emails' to his children just before his death. He said Nessl had no motive to kill her husband and her life is more challenging now than if he were alive. A U.S. Army captain working in Iraq helped foil a terrorist plot to blow up a school in Denmark, a U.S. defense official has said. Capt. Bradley Grimm provided actionable intelligence gleaned from captured documents in Iraq, Col. Steve Warren, a spokesman for the coalition fighting ISIS, said on Wednesday. The intelligence, about foreign fighters from Denmark, included information on threats against a Danish school using homemade explosives, CNN reported. Scroll down for video Capt Bradley Grimm (left and right) was awarded the Danish Defense Medal for Special Meritorious Effort after he helped foil a terrorist plot to blow up a school in Denmark The information he provided helped to foil the plot and resulted in an arrest and the confiscation of explosives, Warren said. Brad's work likely saved the lives of Danish citizens. Furthermore, Grimm, who was based at al-Asad airbase in the western Iraqi province of Anbar, did the work voluntarily in addition to his regular duties, Warren added. As a result, he was awarded the Danish Defense Medal for Special Meritorious Effort in a ceremony with Danish Chief of Defense Gen. Peter Bartram, the Danish embassy in Washington told CNN. As a member of the anti-ISIS coalition, Denmark contributes strike aircraft, air defense radar, training and assistance to Iraqi forces. Grimm (center) was awarded the Danish Defense Medal in a ceremony with Danish Chief of Defense Gen. Peter Bartram (left) and the American ambassador to Denmark Rufus Gifford (right) Grimm did the work voluntarily in addition to his regular duties. Pictured above, his award This week, the Danish Parliament approved an expanded role for Danish forces in the fight against ISIS, including authority to take part in ground combat operations. In a statement on Wednesday, Defense Secretary Ash Carter said the decision is a sign of growing momentum in the fight against the terror group. This week's decision by the Danish Parliament to approve an expanded role in the fight against ISIL is a welcome contribution from a valued partner in the counter-ISIL coalition and another sign of the growing momentum for the campaign to defeat ISIL. Denmark is a steadfast partner in global coalition efforts. Its contributions, including strike aircraft, air defense radar, and training and assistance to Iraqi forces, have already been significant. This renewed and expanded role in the military campaign, including the authority to participate in the full spectrum of combat operations in Iraq and Syria, will further increase the military pressure on ISIL. Advertisement Republicans and members of the Irish party Sinn Fein have marched through the streets of Dublin in a ceremony to mark the centenary of the 1916 Easter Rising. Holding flags and banners, the figures - dressed in military clothing - marched outside the General Post Office on O'Connell Street, where the rebels had their headquarters during the insurrection. John Joe McCusker addressed the Sinn Fein members outside the GPO in the centre of the city, while veteran republican John Hunt watched as the march progressed through the capital. Republicans and members of the Irish party Sinn Fein have marched through the streets of Dublin in a ceremony to mark the centenary of the 1916 Easter Rising The Rising was launched by Irish republicans to end British rule in Ireland and establish an independent Irish state Holding flags and banners, the figures - dressed in military clothing - marched outside the General Post Office on O'Connell Street, where the rebels had their headquarters during the insurrection The Rising was launched by Irish republicans to end British rule in Ireland and establish an independent Irish state. It came during the First World War, while leaders in Westminster were distracted by military matters in Europe, which were the focus of public opinion at the time. Organised by a seven-man Military Council of the Irish Republican Brotherhood, the Rising began on April 24, 1916 and lasted for six days. The rebels seized key locations across Dublin and engaging in hand-to-hand street fighting with British troops who were brought in to quell the rebellion. Thousands of troops, artillery and even a gunboat were used by the British authorities to subdue the rebels, who were bombed into submission. Patrick Pearse, a schoolmaster and Irish language activist, who led the rebellion, surrendered on April 29, 1916. After the Rising the country was placed under martial law and 3,500 people were arrested, while 15 of their leaders - including Pearse and James Connolly - were executed. Organised by a seven-man Military Council of the Irish Republican Brotherhood, the rising began on April 24, 1916 and lasted for six days After the rising the country was placed under martial law and 3,500 people were arrested, while 15 of their leaders - including Pearse and James Connolly - were executed Throughout the six days of the uprising, almost 500 people were killed - about 54 per cent were civilians, 30 per cent were British servicemen and police, and 16 per cent were Irish rebels - and more than 2,600 were wounded. The British response to the Rising changed the mood in the country from one of peaceful constitutional nationalism to violent, armed republicanism that culminated in independence and the creation of the Irish Free State in 1921. On Easter Sunday last month thousands lined the streets of Dublin to mark the centenary of the Rising. President Michael D Higgins laid a wreath at Kilmainham Gaol in honour of the revolutionaries who were executed for their part in the rebellion. In a wreath-laying ceremony at the Stone Breakers' Yard in the Kilmainham Gaol, the President was flanked by a military guard of honour drawn from the Defence Forces cadet school. Prayers were said before Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny invited the head of state to lay the wreath 'on behalf of the people of Ireland in honour of all those who died'. Police patrolled the march in the Irish capital. John Joe McCusker (right) addressed the Sinn Fein members outside the GPO in the centre of the city He denies allegations against him and says he was undercover agent Morrocan Harrak, 46, (pictured) was arrested in Majorca on suspicion of planning an atrocity in Spain ISIS suspect Mohamed Harrak banned his ex-girlfriend from shaving her body hair, using make-up and wearing a bikini, even though she was Spanish. The bizarre rules, which friends say eventually led to their break-up earlier this year, have come to light after more details of his strange and conflicting life have emerged. Morrocan Harrak, 46, was arrested in Majorca on suspicion of spreading terrorist propaganda over the internet, attempting to recruit Daesh fighters and planning an atrocity in Spain. He denies all the allegations and claims it was all a cover for his work as an associate 'partner' for Spain's National Intelligence Centre after he was asked to pose as a terrorist to gain information about cells. Spanish newspaper Diario de Mallorca says Harrak tried to impose his strict Muslim beliefs and traditions on his former girlfriend who came from the Spanish mainland but lived and worked in Majorca. They had been together for five years but she ended the relationship because she could not stand his demands. The paper says her friends had revealed the strict instructions placed on her, including covering up when she went to the beach and not shaving her personal body hair . His mother and sister also wore a black veil every time they left the house as Harrak said it was wrong for them to show any kind of flesh in public. Harrak tried to impose his strict Muslim beliefs and traditions on his former girlfriend who came from the Spanish mainland but lived and worked in Majorca On one occasion, Diario de Mallorca reports, Harrak went beserk when he returned home for a meal and found pork was on the menu. His demands made a sharp contrast to his own Western lifestyle which included working in a holiday hotel as a chef and enjoying frequent paintballing sessions, driving a lorry and trying to join the Spanish police and army. Both of these were thwarted because of his nationality so he claims he 'did his bit' by working for the National Intelligence Centre and claims two officials travelled to Majorca to interview him. 'I am a CNI agent and they instructed me to infiltrate myself between these groups of radical jihadists,' he claims. Harrak said he accepted the offer and started work immediately. The aim was to infiltrate radical jihadists and stop them from planning attacks. Harrak reportedly went beserk when he returned home for a meal and found pork was on the menu Harrak led a Western lifestyle which included working in a holiday hotel as a chef and enjoying frequent paintballing sessions, driving a lorry and trying to join the Spanish police and army He claimed this work involved posting messages on social media in favour of the Islamic State and announcing his intention to join the group and become a fighter. Harrak is being kept in isolation in Palma prison to avoid any possible confrontations with other prisoners. Harrak's family in Majorca were so shocked after his arrest that a doctor had to be called out to give them treatment. However, he would only attend with a police guard because of concerns over his safety. Pheylin Cline (pictured), one, died on at UPMC Childrens Hospital in Lawrenceville, Pennsylvania, on Thursday after falling into her neighbor's pool on Wednesday The death of a baby girl who fell in a pool and drowned in western Pennsylvania has been ruled an accident. Pheylin Cline, one, died on at UPMC Childrens Hospital in Lawrenceville, Pennsylvania, Thursday after falling into a neighbor's swimming pool. The child went missing around 3.30pm on Wednesday. After not being able to find the child for ten to 15 minutes, the police were called and began searching for Pheylin. They found her body in the neighbor's pool and rushed her to the Grove City Medical Center. She was later flown to UPMC Children's Hospital on Wednesday. The following day she was pronounced dead. The owner of the pool told WKBN he specifically built a fence around it so kids couldnt get inside. He has no idea how Pheylin was able to get into the pool from across the street. There are two fences and two gates around the pool, both of which are spring-loaded to lock automatically. Taylor Moore, the daughter of the pool's owner, told WFMJ: The girl fell into this above-ground pool after she went missing. Her death was ruled an accident on Friday The pool's owner has two fences and two gates around the pool, which has automatic spring locks and they cannot figure out how the tint one-year-old was able to make her way into the pool area and fall in 'I can barely open the gate to the pool. You have to pull on it towards the post and then unlatch it. 'It doesn't just unlatch.' A relative of the victim told the station Pheylin was a precious child and the family is struggling with the devastating loss. Pheylin body was sent for an autopsy to determine if the death was in fact an accident. ISIS have reportedly killed 45 of their own fighters by locking inside a forensic freezer after they attempted to flee during a battle in Iraq. The staggering claims were made by the Iraqi media agency Al Sumaria News, who reported that the victims were shut in the freezers for a whole day. After their agonising deaths, the bodies of the victims were allegedly stretched out along the sides of the road to act as a warning to any other ISIS defectors, according to the Daily Mirror. ISIS have reportedly killed 45 of their own fighters by locking inside a forensic freezer after they attempted to flee during a battle in Iraq The staggering claims were made by the Iraqi media agency Al Sumaria News, who reported that the victims were shut in the freezers for a whole day The claims come as at least 12 people were killed in two separate car bomb attacks in Baghdad targeting security forces, police sources said today. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blasts which wounded a further 39 people, but ISIS regularly carries out attacks in the Iraqi capital, including one on Friday at a Shi'ite mosque. The larger of Saturday's bombs hit a security checkpoint in the northern al-Husseiniya district, killing nine. The second targeted an army convoy in Arab al-Jabour, an area of date palm groves on Baghdad's southern outskirts. ISIS have developed a reputation for their indiscriminate brutality against prisoners, civilians and even their own fighters Security has gradually improved in Baghdad, but bomb attacks against the security forces and Shi'ite residential or commercial areas are still a regular occurrence The Iraqi government has retaken several major cities from Islamic State in the past year and slowly pushed the militants back towards the Syrian border. Security has gradually improved in Baghdad, but bomb attacks against the security forces and Shi'ite residential or commercial areas are still a regular occurrence. Embattled John Whittingdale has admitted he could be forced to quit the Cabinet over revelations about his private and political life. Reeling from claims about affairs with a dominatrix, a former porn star and two Eastern European women, and about his MPs expenses, the Culture, Media and Sport Secretary told a friend last week: I cant take much more of this. His hopes of survival suffered another setback last night with new allegations by former topless model and porn star Stephanie Hudson. Ms Hudson whose affair with Mr Whittingdale, which ended last year, was revealed in last weeks Mail on Sunday says he told her: He secured his Belorussian student lover Natalia Lokhanova a 5,000-a-month job in Britain while he was in a relationship with her. He feared his links to controversial pro-Kremlin Ukrainian oligarch Dmitry Firtash wanted in the US on corruption charges could lead to claims he was sponsored by him. Left, former porn star Stephanie Hudson has revealed new insights into her former lover, while questions remain over whether Whittingdale secured his young lover Natalia Lokhanova, right, a 5,000-a-month job The claims increased the pressure on the Minister, a member of two secret Cabinet security committees, to explain his East European connections. Mr Whittingdale, 56, who is unmarried, had an affair with Ms Lokhanova, whose father is believed to have been a USSR military officer, from 2012 to 2013. Whittingdale told friends that, when his affair with Lokhanova, more than 20 years his junior, ended, she returned to Moscow. Her Facebook page showed photos of her on exotic holidays from Turkey to Thailand. Ms Hudson told the MoS: John told me he got her [Natalia] a 5,000-a-month job with a wealthy businessman friend of his. She went on to say that Mr Whittingdale had said that because she came from such a poor background, she was grateful for the opportunity. The MoS has been unable to contact Ms Lokhanova, whose whereabouts are not known. Ms Hudson said Whittingdale had also spoken of Firtash, a second-hand car dealer turned Ukrainian gas magnate who owns a mansion next door to Harrods in London. Ms Hudson said: John said the papers would be all over him because he had accepted some money. He called it sponsoring him. Firtashs critics in Ukraine claim he owns Ukrainian politicians who support his interests. In 2014, he was arrested in Austria, accused of bribery and corruption by the FBI. However, an Austrian court refused to extradite him when he complained that the charges against him were politically motivated. Firtashs UK representative, businessman Robert Shetler-Jones, has given tens of thousands of pounds to the Conservative party, but denies it had anything to do with Firtash. Firtash bankrolls the British Ukraine Society, of which Whittingdale has been a director. The MP has declared nearly 10,000 worth of BUS-funded trips to Ukraine in the MPs register. He says they were to boost UK-Ukraine relations. The minister is said to be worried his links to controversial pro-Kremlin Ukrainian oligarch Dmitry Firtash wanted in the US on corruption charges could lead to claims he was sponsored by him He helped to organise a Days of Ukraine event at the Commons, attended by Firtashs wife, Lada, to celebrate her husbands Dmitry Firtash Foundation charity. According to a WikiLeaks document, Firtash reportedly had dealings with Russian gangster Semion Mogilevich, accused of racketeering, money-laundering and trafficking prostitutes though Firtash denied it. In 2012, there were reports that plans to appoint Tory former diplomat Dame Pauline Neville-Jones as David Camerons National Security Adviser were blocked after her links to Firtash were disclosed by MI5. Her Lords office received 20,000 a year from Mr Shetler-Jones. Mr Shetler-Jones said he gave the money in a personal capacity. Mr Whittingdale is a member of two of the Governments National Security Council sub committees. He has a long-standing interest in Eastern Europe: he chaired the Commons all party groups on Ukraine and Russia and was a member of groups for Belarus, Georgia, Bulgaria, Hungary, Moldova and Armenia. His Essex constituency of Maldon was twinned with Brest, Belarus, in 2012. His lover Ms Lokhanova and the Belarus ambassador attended the launch in Maldon. A spokeswoman for Mr Whittingdale said: John has never received any money or any other financial benefits from Dmitry Firtash or his associates. Meanwhile, on Friday, the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards launched a formal probe into a trip John Whittingdale made to Amsterdam with Ms Hudson. Mr Whittingdale failed to declare the two-night, expenses-paid trip visit to the MTV Awards on the register of MPs interests. A source close to Mr Whittingdale said he did not need to because the trips cost did not meet a 660 threshold. Ministers mystery date spotted at French embassy banquet named as model turned glass-maker from Lithuania By Simon Walters and Stephanie Condron Kristina Bobs with Mr Whittingdale at a London Film Festival party in October The identity of the mystery blonde who accompanied John Whittingdale to a French Embassy banquet last month was revealed last night. She is Lithuanian model turned glass-maker Kristina Bobs, who has an English husband, Nigel Bobs, and lives in Leatherhead, Surrey. Kristina was with Whittingdale at a French Embassy cultural celebration last month where he was very keen to have her seated at his side. The Cabinet Minister asked if Kristina could be moved to the top table to sit with him and guest of honour Prince Michael of Kent, but was told she would have to remain on an outer table. The pair were also pictured at a London Film Festival party in October last year. Asked about her relationship with Mr Whittingdale, Kristina said: I have no comment. Mr Whittingdale also declined to comment. Jetsetting Kristina, who describes herself as a driven fun-lover who believes in taking risks, runs a successful hand-blown glassware company, Svaja, which sells traditional Baltic luxury art glassware. The name is derived from her middle name, Svajone, which means dream in her native country. Born Kristina Zvirblyte, she came to the UK, aged 25, when she studied Chemical Engineering at Leeds Beckett university, before switching to modelling. She is 47, though it appears she once told an interviewer she was born in the 1970s, which would have taken several years off her real age. She married her husband Nigel 16 years ago and in 2005 he gave up his job as a car trader to go into business with her. With his support, the glass-blowing business took off as Kristina added Arabic to the Lithuanian, English and Russian languages she speaks to help her boost sales on trips around the world. According to the Electoral Roll, the couple, who have a 12-year-old daughter, live in a double-fronted detached home at Tattenham Corner on the edge of Epsom racecourse. On Friday, a white Mercedes with what appeared to be a personalised numberplate based on Kristinas name was parked in the driveway. Neighbours said she lived there with her husband. Kristinas networking skills were in evidence when she and her husband were among those invited to a state banquet in Lithuania in honour of the Queen and Prince Philip. She also met Mr Whittingdales political heroine, Margaret Thatcher, before her death in 2013 and has described the former Prime Minister as an iconic woman who made a huge global impact. Top table: Cabinet member Mr Whittingdale (left) is pictured with Prince Michael of Kent (right) last month Kristina has said: Its funny when I look back at how I arrived in the UK: a fresh faced young woman with no particular goals. Now I look at myself and realise how driven I am to succeed in business, while having a happy balanced family life. A journalist asked me If you were to do it all again, would you choose beauty or brains? and my answer is, Intelligence is beautiful. My message to all women around the globe is: take risks, make your own rules and definitely have fun. Since 2013, she has also been the global ambassador for the Federal Association for the Advancement of Visible Minorities, a civil rights group. In 2011, the organisations founder, Raphael Louis, was jailed for three years for trying to cheat the Canadian tax system out of almost 5 million. There is no suggestion that Kristina was aware of any impropriety. Hes raising eyebrows on the home front, too: Culture Secretary bills taxpayer for more than 66,000 in rent for Westminster flat barely half a mile from one he already owns By Abul Taher and Glen Owen John Whittingdale was last night accused of manipulating the MPs expenses system by claiming rent from Parliament for a London flat despite already owning another taxpayer-funded property in the capital. The Culture Secretary has billed the taxpayer for more than 66,000 in rent for a flat in Westminster barely half a mile from one which he already owns, on which he is pocketing about 20,000 a year in buy-to-let income. The Tory MP for Maldon, Essex, purchased his flat in Londons Victoria in 2008, when MPs with two homes were able to nominate one as their main residence. Under the system in place at the time, they could claim back from the taxpayer the cost of mortgage interest payments on their second home, plus bills for furnishings and utilities. In the same year, Mr Whittingdale also bought a four-bedroom house in his Maldon constituency for 355,000 without a mortgage. He then nominated this as his main home, allowing him to make claims on his London property. Whittingdale's made 80,000 from renting his flat in London (left) while he claims 20,000 a year for his flat half a mile away Fury over the MPs expenses scandal in 2009 when MPs were revealed to have played the system by flipping the designations of their homes to maximise the amount of money they could pocket and claiming for spurious expenses such as duck houses forced a crackdown by the newly established watchdog, the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority. In 2012, IPSA banned MPs from claiming back their mortgage interest bills from the taxpayer, but allowed them to continue to claim for rent. A number of MPs, including Mr Whittingdale, reacted by moving into the rented sector or taking hotel rooms. Mr Whittingdale moved out of his flat in Victoria and into a rental property opposite Scotland Yard, on which he claimed rent of 1,700 a month. In 2014, he moved to a second rental property about a mile away in Vauxhall. Although the mortgage-rent switch is within IPSA rules, the wheeze has been condemned as an abuse of taxpayers money. Mr Whittingdale declares on Westminsters Register of Interests that he earns more than 10,000 a year in rental income from his London home. But when it was last offered for rent, the property was marketed for 1,900 a month, suggesting that since 2012 he has earned more than 80,000 on a home on which the taxpayer paid the mortgage interest for four years. Mr Whittingdale has also claimed more than 65,000 from the taxpayer to cover his rent bills between moving out in August 2012 and last October, when he stopped claiming. Labour MP John Mann said: This doesnt look good, and it doesnt help Mr Whittingdales cause. I congratulate Mr Whittingdale for terminating the rental claims. Boris Johnson has launched an astonishing attack on Barack Obama's 'ridiculous and weird' arguments for Britain to stay in the EU. In an outspoken assault last night, the London Mayor mocked the US President's controversial claim that Anglo-US trade would be hit by Brexit. And he stepped up his war of words with Obama over Winston Churchill, claiming that the wartime leader and the US both stood for democracy and that the EU didn't. Brexit cheerleader Johnson spoke out as infighting broke out among senior figures in the 'Leave' campaign after Obama's devastating intervention. Scroll down for video Boris Johnson (pictured) has launched an astonishing attack on Barack Obama's arguments for Britain to stay in the EU Some privately admitted they fear they are heading for defeat in the referendum on June 23. Prominent pro-'Leave' Tory MP Peter Bone said: 'Our message is being drowned out by the Government.' And one 'Leave' official said: 'We had no idea Boris was going to attack Obama so provocatively. It was a misjudgment. He must stop going off-piste.' Obama's intervention is seen as a potential game-changer in the referendum campaign, with some 'Remain' supporters predicting a decisive 60-40 victory. Respected poll expert Professor John Curtice said yesterday that the 'Remain' camp made 'significant progress' last week but the race was 'far from over'. Johnson had riled Obama almost before he arrived in the UK, saying the 'part-Kenyan' President had removed a Churchill bust from the Oval Office because of his 'ancestral dislike of the British Empire'. Obama responded by demolishing Johnson's claim that Britain could quickly cut its own trade deals with the US. And he said he 'loved' Churchill and still saw his bust every day in the White House. Johnson had riled Obama (pictured) almost before he arrived in the UK, saying the 'part-Kenyan' President had removed a Churchill bust from the Oval Office 'IT IS WEIRD THAT THE US SHOULD BE TELLING THE UK TO DO SOMETHING THEY WOULD NOT DREAM OF DOING THEMSELVES': BOJO'S BROADSIDE Barack Obama is entitled to his view and he is an honoured guest, but it is ridiculous to warn that the UK will be at the back of the queue for a free trade deal. The UK has never been able to do a free trade deal with the US in the last 43 years because we are in the EU! Any negotiations are entirely in the hands of the European Commission and only 3.6 per cent of commission officials actually come from this country. Negotiations are held up by absurd problems like the French restrictions on Hollywood movies or Greek hostility to American feta cheese. No one in the last 48 hours has come close to answering my point it is very weird that the US should be telling the UK to do something they would not dream of doing themselves in a million years. We can be better allies of America if we recapture control of our democracy and our borders and 350 million a week, much of which could be spent on this country's real priorities, such as health. It's time to take back control, folks. The crucial thing that Churchill stood for, and that America stands for today, is representative democracy. The problem with the EU is that nobody knows who is in charge and nobody knows who is making these decisions. Advertisement Mr Johnson told The Mail on Sunday last night: 'Barack Obama is entitled to his view but it is ridiculous to warn that the UK will be at the back of the queue for a free trade deal.' And he pointed out the only reason the UK hadn't already got a trade deal with America, was because we were in the EU, which hampered negotiations. And in a direct challenge to Obama he said: 'It is very weird that the US should be telling the UK to do something they would not dream of doing themselves.' In a separate interview yesterday, Mr Johnson was asked if he should apologise for his comments about Obama. In reply, he suggested criticism was an attempt to sabotage him by David Cameron's 'Remain' supporters. He scoffed: 'Oh come on. This is all a complete distraction an attempt by the Remain campaign to throw dust in people's eyes.' Obama's (left, with David Cameron) intervention is seen as a potential game-changer in the referendum campaign And he raised the stakes, repeating his charge of 'hypocrisy' against Obama, saying it was 'inconsistent, perverse and yes, hypocritical' to tell the EU to give up its sovereignty when the US would do no such thing. 'Leave' campaigners claimed the President's comment that the UK would be at 'the back of the queue' for negotiating a trade deal with the US was part of a 'stunt' orchestrated by Mr Cameron in return for helping Obama obtain a prominent role in the Queen's 90th birthday celebrations. Tory MP Sir Nicholas Soames, Churchill's grandson, called Mr Johnson's remarks 'appalling'. An anti-Trump protester was placed into a chokehold and forcibly removed from a Connecticut rally on Saturday by the police. The protester who was dressed in camouflage clothing was dragged out of the Klein Memorial auditorium in Bridgeport after interrupting Trump's speech. Witnesses say after being taken out for the first time, he then tried to run back in which resulted in the chokehold. Violence has become commonplace at the tycoons rallies. On Saturday he was in Connecticut Security escort a protester from the auditorium during a campaign rally for Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump A police officer puts a protester in a chokehold and drags him out of Donald Trump's Bridgeport rally Supporters pick up signs prior to the rally for Trump 'Protester being escorted out at Trump's Bridgeport rally tried to run back into the crowd. Officer put him in a chokehold, dragged him out,' tweeted UConn student Kyle Constable. 'They waste our time, but they make it interesting,' Trump then told the crowd during the incident. 'What's more fun than a Trump rally.' The controversial Republican front-runner's campaign stops have been marred by violent clashes between protesters and supporters. In February, while in Nevada, Trump declared he'd like to 'punch a protester in the face' for disrupting his rally and lamented it was no longer the 'good old days' where such people would have been 'carried out on a stretcher'. Linda Nichio, center left, of Bridgeport, Conn., and Nick D'Amico, center right, of Westbrook, Connecticut wait in line prior to the rally Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally in Bridgeport, Connecticut on Saturday That same month, a photographer was slammed to the ground by a Secret Service agent after cursing toward the agent during a dispute over where the photographer was allowed to be. In March, a Donald Trump supporter was arrested for punching a black protester in the face at a Fayetteville, North Carolina rally. A Chicago rally was also cancelled after a massive protest. A confident Trump told supporters on Saturday that he's not changing his pitch to voters, a day after his chief adviser assured Republican officials their party's front-runner would show more restraint while campaigning. 'You know, being presidential's easy much easier than what I have to do,' he told thousands at a rally in Bridgeport, Connecticut. 'Here, I have to rant and rave. I have to keep you people going. Otherwise you're going to fall asleep on me, right?' Trump declared to the crowd that he has no intention of reversing any of his provocative policy plans, including building a wall along the length of the Southern border. 'Everything I say I'm going to do, folks, I'll do,' he said. Trump's new chief adviser, Paul Manafort, met Thursday with top Republican officials and told them his candidate, known for his over-the-top persona and brashness, has been 'projecting an image.' 'The part that he's been playing is now evolving,' Manafort said. At a rally in Waterbury, Connecticut, earlier Saturday, Trump joked about how it's easy to be presidential, making a series of faux somber faces. But he said told the crowd he can be serious and policy-minded when he has to be. Manafort 'said, 'you know, Donald can be different when he's in a room.' Who isn't,' asked Trump. 'When I'm out here talking to you people, I've got to be different.' The Republican front-runner and most of his rivals in both parties were out campaigning Saturday across the quintet of Northeastern states holding primaries on Tuesday, including Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Rhode Island and Connecticut. For the Republicans, in particular, the stakes are high as Trump looks to sweep the remaining contests and reach the required 1,237 delegates needed to clinch the nomination, while his rivals Ted Cruz and John Kasich look to thwart his efforts and force the race into a contested convention. Trump revived his birther criticism of rival Cruz, which he has previously used to suggest the Texas senator is ineligible to run for president. 'Rafael! Straight out of the hills of Canada!' he declared, referring to Cruz by his given name. Most experts say that Cruz is eligible to serve in the White House even though he was born to an American mother on Canadian soil, but Trump has worked to sow doubts. An unelected United Nations inspector, whose job is funded by UK foreign aid cash, provoked outrage last night after he attacked Britain's crucial new counter-terror laws. Kenyan human rights chief Maina Kiai condemned the Home Office's flagship scheme aimed at stopping young Muslims joining Islamic State and calling on teachers to report suspicious activity. He also criticised crucial powers needed by security services to track terror suspects and plans to ban extremist groups. Kenyan human rights chief Maina Kiai met Ibrahim Mohamoud, CAGE's communications officer. CAGE previously described Jihadi John as a 'beautiful young man' who was 'extremely kind and gentle' The grandly titled Special Rapporteur On The Rights To Freedom Of Peaceful Assembly And Of Association launched his attack on Britain during a three-day visit to London last week. He met contentious figures including WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, a radical students' leader accused of anti-Semitism, and members of a prisoners' rights group who called Jihadi John a 'beautiful young man'. Last night former Defence Secretary Liam Fox hit back at Mr Kiai saying: 'With the level of oppression, abuse of human rights and terrorism around the world, I would think the United Nations would have better things to do with its resources and manpower than investigating one of the most peaceful, liberal and free countries. 'We don't make contributions to the UN to have them stick their noses into our country we give them to improve the lot of people who don't know what freedom and security are.' Mr Kiai is a Harvard-educated lawyer from Kenya which, its critics say, has far worse problems with human rights and terrorism than Britain does. The capital Nairobi is home to the world's biggest slum, the Kenyan president has been accused of crimes against humanity, and Islamist group Al-Shabaab killed hundreds of people in massacres at a shopping mall and Garissa University. In his role as Special Rapporteur, Mr Kiai was invited by the Government to observe freedom of association in Britain in 2013, and returned last week for an update. On the first day of his visit he met charities and members of 'civil society'. Mr Kiai was also photographed with his arm around Malia Bouattia (standing on Mr Kiai's right), the newly elected president of the National Union of Students. Mr Kiai also went to the Ecuadorian Embassy in Knightsbridge where Julian Assange has been granted asylum and has lived for almost four years since Britain's top court agreed to his extradition to Sweden for questioning over rape and sexual assault claims by two women He was pictured shaking hands with Ibrahim Mohamoud, communications officer for CAGE, the prisoners' rights group that described IS executioner Mohammed Emwazi known as Jihadi John as a 'beautiful young man' who was 'extremely kind and gentle', and blamed his radicalisation on MI5. Mr Kiai was also photographed with his arm around Malia Bouattia, the newly elected president of the National Union of Students. She has caused a split in the union as she once claimed it was Islamophobic for the union to pass a motion condemning IS, and described Birmingham University, where she studied, as a 'Zionist outpost'. Mr Kiai went on to meet MPs on the Joint Committee on Human Rights, travelled to the Home Office to see Policing Minister Mike Penning and Scotland Yard chiefs, and even took a lift in a patrol car to one of his appointments in Whitehall. He also went to the Ecuadorian Embassy in Knightsbridge where Julian Assange has been granted asylum and has lived for almost four years since Britain's top court agreed to his extradition to Sweden for questioning over rape and sexual assault claims by two women. Mr Kiai was pictured smiling with Mr Assange. Mr Kiai went on to meet MPs on the Joint Committee on Human Rights, travelled to the Home Office to see Policing Minister Mike Penning (pictured right) and Scotland Yard chiefs Mr Kiai delivered his damning verdict on the Government's anti-terror plans at a press conference after his meetings. He said that the Prevent counter-radicalisation strategy actually risked 'promoting extremism' by alienating Muslims, and created a 'Big Brother' society that left families afraid to discuss terrorism in their own homes. Mr Kiai is unpaid, but his visits and reports are paid for by the UN, to which the Foreign Office contributed 518 million last year. A spokesman for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights said: 'The funding for the Special Rapporteur On Freedom Of Peaceful Assembly And Association comes from the United Nations regular budget, which is approved by the General Assembly every two years.' Finally MPs do listen (and ask the Mail on Sunday to help) by Mark Wood The Mail on Sunday's campaign demanding an urgent review of Britain's foreign aid policy has triggered an investigation by MPs into 'fat cats' cashing in on the bonanza. And reporter Ian Birrell is set to address the International Development Select Committee in June when it meets to discuss the use of outside consultants by the Department for International Development (DFID). The move follows a hard-hitting report in this newspaper earlier this month which showed that private firms handing out British aid in the poorest parts of the world are driving up profits, pay and dividends, despite Government attempts to restrain them. Our campaign has shaken Whitehall as we have unearthed scandal after scandal connected to the UK's 12 billion foreign aid budget. Maina Kiai (pictured meeting the Crown Prosecution Service) said that the Prevent counter-radicalisation strategy actually risked 'promoting extremism' by alienating Muslims, and created a 'Big Brother' society that left families afraid to discuss terrorism in their own homes We revealed how cash poured into the Palestinian Authority helps pay the salaries of convicted terrorists. And we told how the 2015 aid budget was 'accidentally' overspent by nearly 200 million, according to the latest official estimates. Other stories that have shocked readers have ranged from millions being spent on teachers in Pakistan who do not exist, to thousands going on bringing North Korean officials to Britain for English lessons, and to learn about media and education. Meanwhile, our Downing Street e-petition demanding that the pledge to spend 0.7 per cent of national income on foreign aid be scrapped continues to attract signatures. The number soared past 227,000 last week and that has resulted in a Commons debate, set to be held on June 13. In our report on fat cats, we found that six-figure salaries, some as high as 300,000, are commonplace in the 'poverty industry', and that there were big pay rises. One American firm saw turnover and gross profits rise around fivefold in two years thanks to British contracts, yet no UK corporation tax was paid. The Harvard-educated lawyer even took a lift in a patrol car to one of his appointments in Whitehall Leading contractors include DAI Europe, which earned 82 per cent of its income from DFID on projects such as assisting entrepreneurs in Palestine in 2014, the latest year for which it filed accounts. In two years, the company's turnover rose from 17.4 million to 84.7 million, partly through the takeover of a rival 'to increase access to European donor organisations'. Gross profits soared from 1.8 million to 10.5 million. DAI's ex-managing director Julian Lob-Levyt, a former DFID adviser, saw his salary soar from 248,125 to 294,193 over this period. Yet the company has not paid UK corporation tax for three years, blaming overall losses. Its biggest British rival is Adam Smith International (ASI), which saw turnover from work such as 'greening growth' in East Africa and tax reform in Oman swell from 72 million to 111.7 million over the same period. Gross profits almost doubled from 9.2 million in 2012 to 17.4 million in 2014. The company is 'optimistic' about future prospects, according its report unsurprisingly, when Britain's aid giveaway is due to rise from 12 billion this year to 16 billion in 2020. Advertisement Before red solo cups and Girls Gone Wild seeped their way into popular culture, photographer Keith McManus spent 11 years documenting spring breakers in Daytona Beach, Florida. The series, titled Rites of Spring, captures the glory of sea, sex and sun in black and white photographs taken between 1982 and 1993. McManus said he focused on the yearly ritual because there are few rites of passage remaining in modern American culture. While his photos have taken on a romantic view of yesteryear, he said: 'One of the things people might consider a rite of passage was this spring break thing. 'Its not very profound as an activity, but if thats what you got, thats what you do.' McManus said he went back to Daytona year after year to explore the depths of a long-term project. The photographer, who his student described as 'quiet' and 'unassuming' in an NPR interview in 2013, said he walked along the beach with his Leica cameras, and shot his subjects unabashedly. He said: 'The worst possible thing is to sneak around and try and take pictures. And for some reason, and I can't really explain it, the more open I am about it the more invisible I become.' Keith McManus spent 11 years documenting spring breakers in Dayton, Florida to explore a long term photography project McManus said he focused on the yearly ritual because there are few rites of passages remaining in modern American culture While his photos have taken on a romantic view of yesteryear, he flatly shared his views on spring break, saying: 'It's not very profound as an activity' McManus said in an NPR interview: 'I don't think still photography is very good at answering questions. More often it poses questions, and I think that's one of the most endearing qualities of still photography' McManus would walk along the beach with his Leica cameras to capture naturalistic portraits of young people. He said: 'For some reason, and I can't really explain it, the more open I am about it the more invisible I become' While many of the photos in Rites of Spring show the chaos and energy of big crowds, McManus also managed to capture the quiet, private worlds between people that exist very much in public McManus is based in Philadelphia, and teaches photography as a visiting lecturer at the Rochester Institute of Technology in upstate New York. Pictured, a woman brands a sign declaring: 'You are headed for hell!' Daytona Beach has remained a spring break hot spot, although the city has tried to shed its hedonistic image of booze and crime to rebrand itself as a family-friendly vacation destination Princes William and Harry have secretly filmed cameo roles as Stormtroopers for the next Star Wars blockbuster. The Royals recorded the scene when they visited the set last week, The Mail on Sunday can reveal. They appeared alongside Daisy Ridley and John Boyega the British actors who played Rey and Finn in last years The Force Awakens and Oscar-winner Benicio del Toro, who is believed to be playing new villain Lord Vikram. Princes William and Harry mocked-up as Stormtroopers during their visit to the set of Star Wars VIII last week Film-goers will see the Princes in their Stormtrooper outfits but with their faces hidden behind helmet visors if the scene is kept in the final cut. Earlier, on the well-publicised official part of the tour of Pinewood Studios in Buckinghamshire, the Princes had been hugged by Chewbacca and fought a mock lightsaber battle, to the delight of onlookers. But then everyone apart from the director, producer and essential crew was cleared from the set so the royal appearance could be filmed in secret. A source told The Mail on Sunday: The line given was that they were going to have lunch and a private tour of the rest of the set. What really happened is that the director came over and told them it was time to get suited and off they went to the wardrobe department. The Princes dressed up in full Stormtrooper gear and filmed a scene in which Rey and Finn infiltrate a secret base. The rebel characters are in a lift with Benicia del Toros character when a group of Stormtroopers enter two of whom are William and Harry. After filming the scene but still in his Stormtrooper outfit, Prince William presented a birthday cake to one stunned crew member. Film-goers will see the Princes in their Stormtrooper outfits but with their faces hidden behind helmet visors if the scene is kept in the final cut The source said: The guy said it was surreal, being presented with a birthday cake by the future King of England who was dressed as a Stormtrooper. The Princes had a great time and could not have been more relaxed and friendly to everyone on set. Its obvious they are genuine Star Wars fans. The Princes spokesman would neither confirm nor deny the royal roles, but added: The Princes had a great day showcasing the British talent behind Star Wars. Producers Disney declined to comment. The filming of the Princes follows James Bond star Daniel Craigs appearance as a Stormtrooper in The Force Awakens. He initially denied he was in the film, but has since been listed in the credits as Stormtrooper JB-007 in a nod to his secret agent credentials. It is unclear whether the Princes requested their roles or whether, as is more likely, the invitation was extended by the film-makers. During last weeks lightsaber battle on the Pinewood set, Prince Harry joked Why do I always have to be the baddie? before turning to his brother with mock menace saying: Come on, lets dance. Then Harry said his godson, Prince George, would love one of the weapons. Daisy Ridley joked about the Princes geekiness during their visit, which was linked to Williams role as president of Bafta. She said: The minute you see someone with a lightsaber, you just think, Youre one of us. Thousands of people have pledged to stay away from Target stores to protest the chain's inclusive restroom and fitting room policy. The American Family Association (AFA), a Christian group, started a pledge on Wednesday, saying Target's rules put women and children at risk 'by allowing men to frequent women's facilities'. Target, which already allows anyone to use the facilities of their choice, published a statement earlier this week reasserting its stance in favor of equality and against discrimination. 'This means a man can simply say he "feels like a woman today" and enter the women's restroom... even if young girls or women are already in there,' the AFA wrote in response. Scroll down for video Target said earlier this week in a statement that it would continue to allow customers and staff members to use whichever restrooms and fitting rooms correspond to their gender identity (file picture) Target's statement, published on Tuesday, read: 'Inclusivity is a core belief at Target. Its something we celebrate. We stand for equality and equity, and strive to make our guests and team members feel accepted, respected and welcomed in our stores and workplaces every day. 'We believe that everyoneevery team member, every guest, and every communitydeserves to be protected from discrimination, and treated equally. 'Consistent with this belief, Target supports the federal Equality Act, which provides protections to LGBT individuals, and opposes action that enables discrimination.' It then reiterated Target's decision to allow transgender employees and customers to use the restrooms and fitting rooms that correspond to their gender identity. 'Everyone deserves to feel like they belong,' the statement read. 'And youll always be accepted, respected and welcomed at Target.' The AFA opposed the chain's policy the next day, saying it equated to allowing 'men to use the women's restrooms and dressing rooms'. 'Target's policy is exactly how sexual predators get access to their victims,' the AFA wrote in the boycott pledge. 'And with Target publicly boasting that men can enter women's bathrooms, where do you think predators are going to go? 'Clearly, Target's dangerous new policy poses a danger to wives and daughters. We think many customers will agree. And we think the average Target customer is willing to pledge to boycott Target stores until it makes protecting women and children a priority.' The group then asked the chain to keep 'separate facilities' for men and women and to provide a single unisex bathroom 'for the trans community and for those who simply like using the bathroom alone'. The pledge had received 340,785 signatures on Saturday. The American Family Association reacted by creating a pledge to boycott Target. Pictured, the chain's redesigned bullseye logo, which uses rainbow colors as a sign of their commitment to gender equality The AFA encouraged those who had signed the pledge to call Target to let them know, to share their comments on the chain's Facebook page and to mention it on social media using the hashtag #BoycottTarget. Target's renewed pledge towards gender equality came a month after North Carolina became the first state to require transgender people to use restrooms matching the sex they received at birth rather than their gender identity. Mississippi passed a law earlier this month allowing businesses to refuse to serve gay customers due to religious objections. Barack Obama said on Friday that legislation targeting lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people should be overturned. The president spoke during a new conference in London, just days after the UK warned its citizens of possible discrimination if they traveled to the US. 'The US is an extremely diverse society and attitudes towards LGBT people differ hugely across the country, the advisory read. 'LGBT travelers may be affected by legislation passed recently in the states of North Carolina and Mississippi.' A 27-year-old woman has been charged with causing grievous bodily harm with intent to murder after stabbing a woman in a wheelchair at a shopping centre. Police alleged the 42-year-old woman and the 27-year-old began arguing in an elevator at the shopping centre in Bega in the south-east of NSW shortly after 1pm on Saturday. The younger woman allegedly went to her vehicle to get a weapon before returning to the shop to continue the dispute with the older women, who was in a wheelchair. Police alleged the 42-year-old woman and the 27-year-old began arguing in an elevator at the shopping centre She then allegedly stabbed her in the neck before fleeing the scene. Paramedics treated the victim at the scene on Upper Street and she was rushed to South East Regional Hospital with critical injuries. She was then airlifted to Canberra Hospital for further treatment where she remains in a serious condition. The 27-year-old woman attended Bega Police Station a short time later and handed in the weapon which will undergo forensic examination. The alleged attacker has been refused bail to appear at Batemans Bay Local Court on Sunday. The victim was airlifted to Canberra Hospital for further treatment where she remains in a serious condition Anzac Day commemorations are in full swing, with the entire country recognising April 25 as a public holiday. But even though many Australians will have a long weekend given Anzac Day falls on a Monday this year, what does it mean for retail businesses? Every state and territory recognises Anzac Day as a public holiday but there are slightly different rules as to which business can open and trade normally. Here's a guide to what's open on Monday, April 25: Anzac Day commemorations are just around the corner with the entire country recognising April 25 as a public holiday. So what does it mean for businesses and trading hours? WHAT WILL BE OPEN ON MONDAY? Woolworths and Coles: Will be open from 1pm onwards in most states, except for parts of Queensland and South Australia (closed) RSL or Services clubs: Open from 5am in association with dawn services across the country. Restricted gambling and alcohol Petrol Stations, chemists, restaurants: Not impacted by any trading restrictions across country. Normal opening hours Retail stores: Open from 1pm onwards in NSW, Victoria, QLD. Normal opening hours in NT and ACT. All retailers in WA closed all day Advertisement New South Wales Most business in NSW are not permitted to start trading before 1pm on Anzac Day due to restricted trading hours. Supermarkets like Coles, Woolworths and Aldi will remain closed prior to this time. Pubs and licensed venues like RSL clubs will be open on Anzac Day. Some retails shops are exempt from trading restrictions, including chemists, petrol stations, cafes, restaurants and takeaway restaurants. These stores can trade as normal on Anzac Day. There are also a number of exempt trading areas, based on local government areas. Victoria Like NSW, Victorian based retailers are not allowed to trade between midnight and 1pm on the public holiday unless they are exempt from trading restrictions. All business, including supermarkets and major shopping centres are allowed to open after 1pm. Exempt shops include chemists, petrol stations, cafes, restaurants, takeaway outlets and hire outlets such as video stores. Businesses with 20 or fewer employees and businesses with no more than 100 workers at any one time in the seven days prior to Anzac Day are also exempt. After 1pm, all businesses may open. Queensland Shops are not permitted to open in Queensland on Monday until 1pm. Many supermarkets like Coles and Woolworths will remain closed in certain areas, including Gold Coast, Cairns and Port Douglas. Cinemas and amusement parts are also not allowed to start trading until 1.30pm unless they have been granted permission. Most supermarkets across the country will only be allowed to open after 1pm on Anzac Day. Stores in Adelaide and Western Australia will likely remain closed all day Pubs and clubs across the country will be open for Anzac Day, but most retailers won't open until after 1pm RSL and Services clubs across the country will be open from 5am in association with dawn services South Australia Stores in Adelaide's CBD are not allowed to trade before 12pm on Anzac Day. Most supermarkets outside the CBD, including Coles and Woolworths, will not open for the entire day. Stores outside the Greater Adelaide Shopping District or a Proclaimed Shopping District can trade at any time. Western Australia Retailers and businesses in Perth are not allowed to trade on Anzac Day. Small shops are exempt and can open from 6am to 11.30pm. These stores include chemists and newsagencies. Australian Capital Territory and Northern Territory While trading restrictions do not apply for the ACT and Northern Territory, many businesses will close anyway until 1pm to follow the tradition of other states and territories. Tasmania Due to trading restrictions, supermarkets and other retailers under a franchise agreement will remain closed until 12.30pm on Anzac Day in Tasmania. There are no trading restrictions on any other types of shops Supermarkets and shopping centres in most parts of Adelaide and Perth will be closed on Monday Australian Retailers Association Executive Director, Russell Zimmerman, said that confusion around trading hours on Anzac Day and whether or not the full days is public holiday is common for both consumers and business owners. 'All Australians are to be aware that the vast majority of stores are unable to trade on Anzac Day until between 12:30pm and 1pm, dependent on the state or territory they are in,' Mr Zimmerman said. 'On this sacred day it is important for all Australians to be able to pay their respect to the men and women who have fought for Australia, and the significant sacrifices made by so many.' Exceptions to morning store closure do apply in some cases, and the ARA advises business owners to check the regulations and opening hours for their area and store type. 'If consumers plan to visit stores on Anzac day, they should check with the stores they intend to visit that they will be open,' Mr Zimmerman said. More than 30 million worth of property was snapped up in less than five hours yesterday as the first luxury flats to be built at the former BBC Television Centre were revealed to the public. And despite price tags of up to 3.8 million for a three-bedroom flat, developers found no shortage of buyers, with some queuing overnight. The BBC sold the site in White City, West London home to studios where programmes such as Doctor Who, Dads Army and Fawlty Towers were filmed for 200 million in 2012. More than 30 million worth of property was snapped up in less than five hours yesterday as the first luxury flats to be built at the former BBC Television Centre (pictured) were revealed to the public It is being transformed into a complex boasting a gym, restaurants, cinema, private members club with rooftop swimming pool and hundreds of homes including penthouse pads at 7 million. The 50 properties unveiled yesterday by estate agent Savills are all within the world-famous, 1960s circular block, nicknamed the Doughnut by BBC staff. The first buyer turned up at 1am and more than 250 people had been through the show apartments by 3pm. Peter Allen, sales director at developer Stanhope, said: Weve been overwhelmed by the response. Young soldiers have accused the Returned Services League (RSL) of being ill-equipped to help new veterans who have recently returned from war. The RSL, which is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year, is designed to help soldiers and their families adjust to life at home after fighting. However, a group of young veterans believe the organisation is no longer helping them, claiming it is more interested in 'beer and pokies'. Young soldiers have accused the Returned Services League (RSL) of being ill-equipped to help new veterans who have recently returned from war (stock image) Former soldier John Keeley said many soldiers who have fought in Iraq and Afghanistan believe the RSL is out of touch with today's veterans, the ABC reports. 'I believe that the RSL is more focused on pokies and alcohol... This is a common belief among my friends that have come back from Iraq and Afghanistan,' Mr Keeley said. RSL Queensland President Stewart Cameron told the ABC about a meeting he had with a young soldier that backed the criticism. 'I simply asked this young man what would be required for him to join the RSL, and essentially he said, "Take away the bar and take away the pokies machines and build me a gym and I'm there",' Mr Cameron said. Former soldier John Keeley said many soldiers who have fought in Iraq and Afghanistan believe the RSL is out of touch with today's veterans (stock image) RSL Queensland President Stewart Cameron (pictured) said a young soldier told him the RSL needs to 'take away' beer and pokies and build gyms for soldiers instead Another solider said he 'was never inclined' to go to the RSL for help when he returned from East Timor, despite the fact he was battling with PTSD and depression. 'There seems to be a real disconnect between the RSL as an entity and the way veterans are, and what veterans' needs are,' The RSL was founded in June 1916, and has more than 1,500 branches and sub-branches across the country. Channel Nine's news boss admits the network needs to reconsider the current strategies on big-money stories after the 60 Minutes coverage of the recovery of two children in Lebanon went horribly wrong. Darren Wick said Channel Nine needs to take responsibility for its actions and analyse the situation to understand what went wrong but stopped short of saying the network will stop paying for stories, reported The Daily Telegraph. Mr Wick made the comments a few days after a bank statement emerged showing the Nine network paid at least $69,000 to the agency, Child Abduction Recovery International (CARI) with the reference 'Investigation Into My Missing Child.' Scroll down for video Nine News Boss Darren Wick admits the network's protocols failed after the botched kidnapping of two children in Lebanon resulted in the arrest of the 60 minutes crew A bank statement has emerged which allegedly shows that the Nine Network directly paid at least $69,000 for the failed kidnapping of two children in Lebanon Adam Whittington, the founder of the firm - who is still behind bars - claimed this is proof that Nine paid for the failed abduction that landed Tara Brown, her 60 Minutes crew and a mother in jail We cant sit here and think: we didnt do anything wrong, we had a bit of bad luck. You make your own luck, Mr Wick said. CARI founder Adam Whittington, who is still behind bars, claimed the bank statement is proof that Nine paid for the failed abduction that landed Tara Brown, her 60 Minutes crew and a Brisbane mother in jail. Mr Whittington's lawyer also said that Nine paid his client a total of $115,000 to snatch Sally Faulkner's two children from her estranged husband's family on a Beirut street on April 6. The direct payment to CARI and its founder differs to Channel Nines usual procedure of paying the talent, who in this scenario would have been the childrens mother Sally Faulkner. 'Weve got to have a look at money, what stories we pay for, how we pay for them,' Mr Wick said. 'The money equations been there a long time and will be there for a long time to come, but what parameters do we put on them, what rules and regulations do we impose.' 60 Minutes presenter Tara Brown and Brisbane mother Sally Faulkner (front) were pictured walking free from jail in Beirut on Wednesday Adam Whittington (left) and Craig Michael (pictured right after the recovery of his daughter in Poland in 2014) remain in a Beirut jail facing kidnapping charges after allegedly leading the failed child recovery operation Tara Brown and her three-man crew were released on bail on Wednesday along with Ms Faulkner after her ex-husband, Ali Elamine, 32, dropped the charges. A judge told them they were all 'free to leave Lebanon' after Nine paid a multi-million dollar settlement. But Mr Elamine is still pressing charges against Mr Whittington, who was allegedly in charge of the operation, as well as Craig Michael and two Lebanese people involved. They must remain in the country to face the charges. Mr Whittington's lawyer Joe Karam slammed the 'unethical' decision to leave the men in jail, saying that Nine had run away from any responsibility. Speaking outside the Baabda Palace of Justice in Beirut, Mr Karam said: 'Ethically it wasn't appropriate for Channel Nine to arrange for a deal and not include the man they asked to execute for them something. 'They were all a team they came all together and I think they should leave altogether,' he said. CCTV footage supplied by Lebanese authorities appeared to show the bungled kidnapping earlier this week Adam Whittington (left) and Craig Michael (right) remain in custody in Beirut after a failed attempt to recover Sally Faulkner's two children on April 7. The CARI group insists a rival revealed their plan Ms Faulkner's estranged husband, Ali Elamine, pictured leaving court on Monday, previously told reporters that he would press charges against everyone 'involved' in the failed abduction attempt He released the documents which allegedly show that $69,000 was paid into an account called IPCA Limited on January 22 this year. The payment was made from TCN Channel Nine's ANZ bank account. 'This is the first instalment of two payments that were given to my client by Channel 9,' Mr Karam told AAP. 'That shows that they did ask him to provide an investigation in a missing child which is not buying a story, they asked for what happened.' Mr Karam said he would continue to fight for Whittington and Michael's release from jail. A spokesman for Nine told Daily Mail Australia they 'can't make any comment on these matters' as they are part of an internal review. Channel Nine has announced a review into the botched operation to be led by former 60 Minutes boss Gerald Stone. Nine CEO Hugh Marks emailed staff on Thursday morning promising a comprehensive investigation into how the crew became embroiled in the kidnapping plot. Ms Brown was pictured being shoved into a police car on Monday after a court hearing was postponed Ms Brown was caught in the middle of a frenzy outside a Beirut court earlier this week, but she said it looked worse than it was Faulkner in the mini van as she leaves the Beirut jail after her release with the 60 Minutes crew The veteran reporter was pictured walking free from jail two weeks after the botched abduction attempt 'It is important to reiterate that at no stage did anyone from Nine or 60 Minutes intend to act in any way that made them susceptible to charges that they breached the law or to become part of the story that is Sally's story. But we did become part of the story and we shouldn't have,' he said. 'Nine will conduct a full review that will be headed by Gerald Stone, with David Hurley and General Counsel Rachel Launders, to ascertain what went wrong and why our systems, designed to protect staff, failed to do so in this case.' 'We will task the review with recommending the necessary actions to ensure that none of our colleagues are put in a similar position in the future.' Ms Faulkner was released on bail on Wednesday along with Ms Brown and her crew, producer Stephen Rice, cameraman Ben Williamson, sound recordist David Ballment. They are still facing public prosecution charges of kidnapping and being members of a criminal gang and may be required to return if the prosecution goes ahead. The crew could be tried in 'absentia' if they do not return and face being banned from the country. They were seen laughing, hugging and smiling together in a car after they were all freed from jail. The TV crew are expected to arrive back in Sydney at around 10pm (local time). Tara Brown (pictured) was detained on kidnapping charges with a 60 Minutes crew that filmed the 'child abduction' of Sally Faulkner's two children in Lebanon on April 7 Mr Whittington's lawyer claimed his client was paid a total of $115,000 to snatch Sally Faulkner's (pictured) two children from her estranged husband's family on a Beirut street on April 6 The two children will now live with their father, Mr Elamine (pictured) in Lebanon after he was granted full custody The breakthrough came after Ms Faulkner secured a deal with her estranged partner in which she gave Mr Elamine full custody of the children in return for her release. The Australian reported that Mr Elamine is thought to have received a payout in the 'low single-digit millions'. But Mr Elamine insisted that he 'did not sign anything, did not get anything'. When asked whether Channel Nine paid anyone surrounding him or connected to him, Mr Elamine replied, 'I can't comment on that'. 'So someone around you may have received this money from Channel Nine?' The Project's Carrie Bickmore asked. 'Again, I have no idea. My lawyer and myself never communicated anything in regards to that,' Mr Elamine replied. Ms Faulkner's lawyer previously said she has been fighting to get access to her children for nine months. The lawyer said that Mr Elamine took the two children on a three-week holiday to Lebanon and did not return them as agreed. But an attempt to snatch them from a suburban Beirut street by a 'child recovery team', caught on CCTV, was ultimately unsuccessful. Whether it's for essential souvenirs, unexpected day trips or splashing out on a fancy meal under the Tuscan sun, two thirds of British holidaymakers overspend when they are away. On an average budget of 747 per couple, a new report from the Post Office revealed that holidaymakers spent 195 more than they intended - adding up to a collective overspend of 1.55billion. The new report also highlighted that Brits rate Spain and Thailand as offering the best value breaks. Scroll down for video Families were found to be tougher judges than individuals on what constitutes good value (file image) While Sunny Beach in Bulgaria (pictured) offers the best value in Europe, holidaymakers who visited did not realise this Although the Holiday Spending Report from Post Office Travel Money revealed that new 80 per cent of Brits rate safety as the most important factor when choosing a holiday, value for money was still considered important. Of 2,099 UK adults surveyed, the report found that 79 per cent said the cost of getting to a resort influenced their destination choice and 72 per cent expressed concerns about resort costs, with almost half (47 per cent) citing the value of sterling as crucial in choosing where to holiday. However despite shrewd financial holiday planning with 78 per cent of travellers setting up a budget for their breaks, only a third of them stuck to it. Spain was considered good value by a staggering 90 per cent of visitors to the country Andrew Brown of Post Office Travel Money said: 'With the pound giving UK tourists less bang for their buck, it is surprising to see that overspending is continuing at the levels seen in previous years. DESTINATIONS WITH GOOD VALUE Destination % of visitors who rated it good value 1. Spain (mainland) 90% 2. Turkey 89% 3. Canary Islands 87% 5. Balearic Islands 86% 5. Thailand 86% 7. Portugal 85% 8. Cyprus 82% 9. Croatia 80% 9. USA 80% 11. Bulgaria 74% 11. Mexico 74% 13. Caribbean 72% 14. Italy 69% 15. France 62% 16. Dubai 47% 'What's more, since the average budget set virtually matches the amount of foreign currency that holidaymakers took with them in cash, this means they incurred charges by changing money at an ATM or paying on plastic to cover their overspending. 'We urge them to consider budget carefully this year to avoid paying through the nose.' The report singles out Sunny Beach in Bulgaria as Europe's cheapest getaway but the Holiday Costs Barometer illustrates how consumer perceptions of value do not always match the reality. Spain was considered by 90 per cent of those who had visited it to offer the best value rather than Bulgaria which was only rated as good value by 74 per cent of holidaymakers. Interestingly, the Balearic Islands scored an 86 per cent positive rating among the 43 per cent of respondents who had visited one of the islands, even though the Post Office found that prices for tourist staples have risen 23 per cent in Majorca, while San Antonio in Ibiza was the most expensive of 20 resorts surveyed. Holidaymakers visiting Italy and France did not feel that they were getting good value with Italy only rated well by 69 per cent of travellers and France achieving just 62 per cent satisfaction. However, as Sorrento and Nice are both home to some of the most expensive resorts surveyed, perception and reality seemed to be in line with each other. For travellers heading beyond Europe, Thailand was considered the best value achieving an approval rating of 86 per cent, while the United States was also thought to be good value by 80 per cent of respondents. Dubai achieved the worst rating in the survey with only 47 per cent of Brits thinking it offered good value The worst rating went to Dubai with only 47 per cent of Brits who visited the Emirate stating that it represent good value for money. Families were found to be tougher judges than individuals on what constitutes good value. Only 69 per cent of groups thought Cyprus was good value while 87 per cent of individuals were happy with the destination. He's the arrow-slinging superhero Clint Barton, otherwise known as Hawkeye, and stepped back into the role for Captain America: Civil War. But Jeremy Renner is prepared to give up his acting career to do what's best for his three-year-old daughter Ava, as he and ex-wife Sonni Pacheco share custody following their split last December. In an interview with SA Weekend, published on Saturday, the 45-year-old action star explained: 'I've gotta do whats best for the child and not whats best for me or my career.' Scroll down for video Sacrifices: Jeremy Renner is prepared to give up his acting career to do what's best for his three-year-old daughter Ava he explained in an interview published on Saturday The doting father added: 'Ill sacrifice whatever I need to be the best father I can for my child. Timeline-wise, I dont know what that means but it crosses my mind daily.' Life imitates art, as Jeremy considers retiring from acting, a similar situation is seen in the latest action blockbuster where his character Hawkeye makes a grand re-entrance after retirement. While retirement may be in the forefront of his mind, the Hollywood star has plenty of projects he is currently working on. Doting dad: The 45-year-old explained to the publication he thinks daily about what he should be doing for the sake of his little girl Life imitates art: As Jeremy considers retiring from acting, a similar situation is seen in the latest action blockbuster where his character Hawkeye makes a grand re-entrance after retirement Jeremy is a producer on the true-life drama, The Founder, which see's Michael Keaton plays the man who started McDonalds. The multi-talented star and his production company also have a Steve McQueen biopic 'bubbling' according to the publication, which indicates at this point he is still pushing on with his career. At the recent Silicon Valley Comic Con, he discussed the idea of his character Hawkeye being the focus of his own spin-off series made for the steaming site Netflix. Big ideas: At the recent Silicon Valley Comic Con, the Avengers star discussed the idea of his character Hawkeye being the focus of his own spin-off series made for the steaming site Netflix 'I think that Netflix is actually a really great model, if there's ever a way to explore the character, maybe it's in that [Marvel Cinematic Universe] world,' he began. 'These are things that are really not in my control, but I'd be open to it. I've really enjoyed getting to explore the character more recently.' 'The Netflix model is where all the character drama goes to now. You're doing a superhero movie or a Netflix or HBO kind of model. So I'd be open to it. Not up to me, though.' he pointed out. Jeremy is currently juggling spending time with his young daughter Ava and his thriving career as he debates what his future plans are. Captain America: Civil War is set for release on April 28. He recently returned home to America after causing a media frenzy Down Under during the Australian leg of his Rawwest Alive tour. And reports in Saturday's Daily Telegraph suggest Tyga may have left behind more than just a string of screaming fans. The publication alleges an unpaid bill to the tune of $5,000 was left at a venue in Sydney's Palm Beach after the 26-year-old and an American MTV crew stayed in the area during the rapper's tour. Scroll down for video Forgot to pay? A bill to the tune of $5,000 was left unpaid at a venue in Sydney's Palm Beach after Tyga and an American MTV crew stayed in the area, according to reports in Saturday's Daily Telegraph Tyga was spotted shopping at the Palm Beach General Store, while the MTV crew reportedly 'made themselves known' at the Palm Beach Wine Co, where they're said to have stocked up on gourmet food. However, it's not know where and by who the unpaid billed is owed to. Daily Mail Australia has reached out to Tyga's management, MTV, and the Palm Beach Wine Co. for comment. The alleged incident comes just one week after Tyga was seen flaunting a $400,000 Rolls-Royce Wraith on social media during his Australian tour. Down Under: The 26-year-old rapper was recently in Australia for his Rawwest Alive tour According to Yahoo, the Kylie Jenner's boyfriend cruised around in the luxury vehicle between shows of his Rawwest Alive tour. Meanwhile, Kylie is currently getting close to Tyga's ex-girlfriend and mother of his child, Blac Chyna. The 18-year-old reality star and 27-year-old spent the day together at Kylie's house on Thursday, and naturally made sure to document the whole thing on Snapchat. Hey, big spender! The Rack City rapper recently flaunted a $400,000 Rolls-Royce Wraith on Instagram during his Australian tour Travelling in style: Yahoo reports that Tyga used the luxury vehicle to drive around between shows Kylie shared a selfie which showed her cuddling up to Chyna, as she insisted there was never any bad blood between them amid reports the teen's sister Kim Kardashian played peacemaker. 'When we've been friends the whole time,' the Keeping Up With The Kardashians star captioned the picture. Chyna has three-year-old son King Cairo with Kylie's rapper boyfriend, and she is also engaged to the teen's half brother Rob Kardashian. Best friends? Kylie Jenner recently showcased her unlikely friendship with Tyga's ex-girlfriend Blac Chyna, who is dating her older brother Rob Kardashian She's the reigning queen of the jungle after winning the 2015 series of I'm A Celebrity. And Vicky Pattison could be heading back to the Australian bushland as the new host of spin-off show, Im A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here Now! Following veteran host Laura Whitmore's shock departure from the series last week, the 28-year-old Loose Women panellist is reportedly being pursued by show producers as the next star to helm the programme. Scroll down for video Reining supreme: Vicky Pattison could be heading back to the Australian bushland as the new host of spin-off show, Im A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here Now! An insider told The Sun: 'Vicky made such a great impression on last years show and was a hit with viewers. The production team are looking at various options but Vicky is the most exciting of the lot.' They added: 'She's infectious in front of the camera and knows the show inside out. Shes certainly up for it.' Another source meanwhile told the MailOnline that: 'The production team are looking at various options for presenters and format for the new series but it's still very early days and nothing has been confirmed.' Vicky's possible return to the jungle would come after she won the most recent series of I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! last year. MailOnline has contacted a representative for both Vicky and ITV for comment. A representative for the ITV show told MailOnline in a statement that 'no decisions have been made on this year's I'm A Celebrity ITV2 show.' Moving on: Following veteran host Laura Whitmore's shock departure from the series last week, the 28-year-old Loose Women panellist is reportedly being pursued by show producers as the next star to host Meanwhile, Laura, who began presenting the ITV2 spin off show in 2011, revealed she had quit the series in a no-nonsense post on Instagram. Addressing her 450,000 followers she wrote: 'After five incredible years with my extended I'm A Celeb family, I've taken the tough decision to hang up my jungle boots. 'It's been such a wonderful experience but I feel it's time to move on. 'I wish the team well and look forward to tuning in later this year as well as continuing to work with ITV on other shows.' Terrific trio: Vicky's possible return to the jungle would come after she won the most recent series of I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! last year after arriving late to camp with Spencer Matthews and Ferne McCann Seconds later she added a more informal comment, which said: 'This is a statement I released to the press yesterday. 'Sorry to say goodbye but been thinking about it for a long time and it's time. Still my favourite show on the telly!'. Laura, who replaced Caroline Flack as host, worked alongside Joe Swash, and in the most recent series, comedian David Morgan. However, the funnyman also announced his departure from the show days before Laura, after just one season on the helm. 'I had the greatest time in the Jungle last year and am sad I won't be able to join them this year,' he said. 'I'll be watching from the safety of my own sofa with a homemade cockroach-tini.' No more clowning around! Laura, who began presenting the ITV2 spin off show in 2011, revealed she had quit the series in a no-nonsense post on Instagram following five years of fun on the show The super squad: Laura, who replaced Caroline Flack as host, worked alongside Joe Swash (M) and Russell Kane (R) who was replaced by comedian David Morgan in the most recent series A spokesman for the programme added: 'Were sad to see them go and wish them all the best.' ITV have since confirmed that Joe Swash will return in the autumn. But whilst Vicky Pattison has been tipped to replace Laura in the series, she'll have to battle against Katie Price, who offered up her services as well as her ex-husband, Peter Andre's. Katie, who met the Mysterious Girl hitmaker on the show, took to Twitter to tease: 'I would sooo present this how cool if me and pete did it.' They have been delighting the critics with their extensive variation of delectable cuisines on My Kitchen Rules. And as sisters Tasia and Gracia prepare for the grand final showdown, they have revealed they are set to release their own line of cooking sauces after the show finishes. The idea came about after MRK judge Colin Fassnidge told them he sees their faces on a bottle. Scroll down for video 'I see your faces on a bottle': MKR judge Colin Fassnidge has encouraged sisters Tasia and Gracia to release a batch of cooking sauces as they prepare for final showdown on Tuesday Speaking about the possibility, Tasia told Yahoo that the popular show has given the pair a bit of a boost and they are excited to see what the future holds. All our efforts are going into that at the moment, she explained. Weve got a couple of recipes wed like to share, so were just looking at the options, the packaging and logos. Tasia told AAP that they already have a logo and it will be marketed under their first names and initially sold online. 'We didn't expect we would make it this far in the first place, so we are going to give this journey 100 per cent,' she said. 'We are working on our sauces because the judges always complimented us. 'We've finished the logo and we have the sauces ready, so after the show we will sell them online.' A recipe for sweet success? The idea came about after MRK judge Colin Fassnidge told them he sees their faces on a bottle All our efforts are going into that at the moment': Speaking about the possibility, Tasia told Yahoo that the popular show has given the pair a bit of a boost Initially, they will market one sauce, peanut satay, but the plan is to roll out several more soon after. The speed at which they can market and up-size their range may accelerate if they win the Seven Network competition. Even though the finale has been filmed, two endings were shot so the Indonesian-born siblings have no idea if they have won the $250,000 winner-take-all grand final. The Spice Sisters will face Anna and Jordan Bruno or Carmine and Lauren Finelli in the grand finale on Tuesday night. Domination: Meanwhile, the cooking completion is believed to be on track to be crowned the most watched show of 2016 - MKR dominates the ratings with a 16 per cent increase from when the show began in 2010 Yes we bicker, but Tasia and I are so organised in the kitchen, said 24-year-old Gracia during an interview reported in Daily Telegraph. And we practised a lot as well. Tasia would not let me sleep so yeah, she pushes me a lot. Shes the bossy one. Whatever, remarked her 26-year old sister. Shes the bossy one. Youve seen it! Meanwhile, the cooking completion is believed to be on track to be crowned the most watched show of 2016. According to publication, MKR has drawn in more viewers than any other programme since the beginning of the year. 'It's the best experience of our lives': Zana Pali breaks down in tears upon hearing she and her husband Gianni Romano have been eliminated from My Kitchen Rules The newspaper reports it has averaged 1.55million viewers per episode, a 16 per cent increase since its 2010 debut. Speaking about the show's success, MKR executive producer Rikkie Proost told the publication: 'We have the best finalists across any season this year. We put a lot of time and care into getting the cast mix right.' In recent weeks the show has triumphed over rivals, pulling in an average audience of 1.4million viewers since the start of this month. Its most recent episode on Thursday attracted 1.3million viewers, making it the most viewed show of the day ahead of Seven News (1million), Home and Away (750,000) and The Project (450,000). This season the show has put an interesting mix of teams together together including sassy lawyers Gianni Romano and Zana Pali, the cougar and cub Cheryl and Matt, as well as picky eaters Jessica Tichonczuk and Marcos Dillman. On Thursday night, legal eagles Gianni and his Zana Pali were eliminated from the reality cooking series in the semi-finals episode. Still smiling: Zana said she was grateful for her time on the show saying, 'You cannot put money on what we have learnt and how we've improved. It's priceless. It's the best experience of our lives' The Brisbane based couple failed to impress judges with their Balkan inspired dishes and missed out on a spot in Tuesday night's grand final decider. Upon hearing the news that they were going home, Zana, 25, broke down in tears, saying: 'We've loved working hard and we've learnt so much. MKR has all been about our family, our true traditional recipes.' She added: 'You cannot put money on what we have learnt and how we've improved. It's priceless. It's the best experience of our lives.' Despite hearing the sad news about their poorly put together dishes, the pair did received praise for their flavoursome beetroot ravioli with goat cheese and pistachios entree. Jennie Garth and her husband David Abrams gave each other a little TLC as they made their way to a lunch date on Friday. The couple lovingly held hands as they ran some errands before heading off to a taco shop for lunch. Jennie, 44, affectionately nuzzled up to her husband of less than one year, who kept it casual in a white button-up shirt and jeans. Lunch date! Jennie Garth cuddled up to her husband David Abrams as they headed out to lunch on tacos in Los Angeles on Friday Jennie, meanwhile, kept it comfortable in a slouchy jean top paired with baggy black trousers and sandals with criss-crossing straps. The former 90210 actress wore her light blonde locks down and protected her gaze behind a pair of shades. Her bearded husband did some of the heavy lifting, carrying their car keys and a silver gift bag. Jennie and David wed last summer at her ranch in Los Olivos, California following an eight month romance. Casual couple: While Jennie donned a denim top and slouchy black trousers, her husband made do with jeans and a white button-up shirt Hold on tight! Garth squeezed her husband's hand The actress was previously wed to Twilight actor Peter Facinelli, from 2001 to 2013. She was also previously wed to musician Daniel Clark from 1994 to 1996. Jennie told People in November that her marriage to David was unlike her past two unions. 'I've been married twice before, but it's never like this, and we're really happy,' she said. Love story: The couple wed last summer at her ranch in Los Olivos, California following an eight month romance It's history! The actress was previously wed to Twilight actor Peter Facinelli, from 2001 to 2013. She was also previously wed to musician Daniel Clark from 1994 to 1996 Speaking of Peter and Daniel, Jennie said her previous marriages 'were great in their own ways, but this one I just lucked out to be able to be so happy and to really realize that kind of love.' Jennie and Peter have three children together: eighteen-year-old Luca, thirteen-year-old Lola, and nine-year-old Fiona. Peter was engaged to actress Jaimie Alexander for nearly one year, but in February the couple called it quits. She's in Alice Springs to help celebrate indigenous culture as part of the Tjungu Festival. And model Samantha Harris was sure to take in some of the spectacular scenery in the Australian desert on Friday. The 25-year-old beauty posed in front of the magnificent Uluru, taking a selfie with a friend in front of the massive sandstone monolith. Scroll down for video 'Being a tourist in between shots': Samantha Harris took a snap in front of Uluru on Friday alongside Keira Elyse, while on a photoshoot for Tjungu Festival The natural beauty smiled as she made a peace sign with her right hand while wearing a delicate lace top with long sleeves, standing alongside Keira Elyse. The fashion icon and renowned model Samantha will lead a special fashion parade with aspiring Indigenous models, showcasing a selection of Indigenous fashion and textiles on Sunday. Running from April 22 to 25, the event celebrates and showcases indigenous food, fashion, film, sport and music. Mentor: The fashion icon and renowned model Samantha will lead a special fashion parade with aspiring Indigenous models, showcasing a selection of Indigenous fashion and textiles on Sunday. Natural beauty: Samantha has been modelling since the age of 13 It's Samantha's third trip to the Red Centre for the festival, visiting the landmark for the first time in 2014. Samantha has been modelling since she was 13 years old - her mother is Aboriginal and her father is German-English. She was discovered in a competition held by Girlfriend magazine. 'The one to watch': She was discovered in a competition held by Girlfriend magazine and even though she lost out to Abbey Lee Kershaw, Samantha was touted as the one to watch Although the competition was won by Abbey Lee Kershaw, then 16, who has gone on to forge an international career, Samantha also made what was to be a lasting impression. She was then signed by competition-sponsor Chic Management, and made her catwalk debut at 14 in a private show for designers run by her agent, where she was touted as the one to watch. Originally from Tweed Heads, Samantha is based in Sydney and is engaged to her boyfriend Luke Hunt, a builder from Queensland, who is set to be release from prison shortly, following a two-year prison sentence for dangerous driving causing the death of a grandfather in 2012. Former Real Housewives of New Jersey star Amber Marchese has denied her husband James attacked her on a flight on Tuesday. James, 46, was arrested and thrown off a Virgin America flight from LAX after allegedly choking Amber on Tuesday, and was charged with felony domestic assault,TMZ reported. In a statement released to DailyMail Online, Amber said incident was a misunderstanding - saying the couple had engaged in 'some heavy PDA' and were talking about joining the 'Mile High Club' before they were suddenly ordered off the flight. The 38-year-old denied James attacked her, calling the reports 'false and disgusting' and saying her husband was a 'perfect gentleman.' Scroll down for video Charged: Former Real Housewives of New Jersey star Amber Marchese has denied that husband James attacked her, after he was arrested and kicked off a Virgin America flight on Tuesday 'Domestic violence is not a joke, and having my husband be accused of such a heinous act is not only hurtful but damaging personally, emotionally and professionally,' said Amber in a statement. 'I would never let myself be a victim of anything or anyone.' The reality star said the couple were actually being amorous and having a 'bit of fun.' 'We were actually talking about hooking up and joining the 'mile high' club,' Amber said. 'Some heavy PDA was involved, just the opposite of what certain people reported they saw. 'After that brief bit of fun between us we prepared for takeoff and I ordered a glass of white wine. Arrested: Amber, seen holding hands with James after bailing him out, said the couple were in fact engaged in a 'heavy PDA' and not a violent altercation 'I was peacefully sipping my wine and Jim was sleeping when we were asked to leave the plane,' she said. Amber said the couple were not told what the issue was, and feared there had been a family emergency. 'Confused and scared our first thoughts were 'did something happen to our kids?' No explanations or answers were given to our questions and we were immediately separated. 'All I wanted was my husband Jim so we could figure out what happened and how to help the authorities by answering any questions. All Jim wanted was to make sure I was ok. Not finished: The 46-year-old said he intended taking legal action against the airline 'We asked why we're being removed from the plane. We complied with everyone involved from the flight attendant to the authorities. And she denied that James had been violent at any point, calling reports that he had hurt her 'false and disgusting.' 'Through this entire stressful situation my husband was nothing but a gentleman and never once lost his composure,' she said. 'To be crystal clear there was no complaint of domestic violence, signs of distress or request for assistance made by myself and there was no wrong doing by my husband. 'At no time did my husband ever choke me or threaten me in any way shape or form. 'Jim and I have been married for 10 years and he has always treated me like gold and we have a beautiful relationship and a wonderful life. Every relationship has flaws and we are not perfect BUT these reports are undeniably false and disgusting,' Amber said. Denial: James and Amber at Buca di Beppo restaurant in Times Square in February last year TMZ reported that just before take off, airline staff called police after the 46-year-old grabbed his wife's throat in an argument. Amber, who had a partial mastectomy last year during a second battle with breast cancer, later showed up at the police station to bail out her husband. The site published a video of the couple leaving the station holding hands; however the footage also appears to show James actively trying to convince her to hold his hand once he spotted the cameras. When they walk outside and the reporter asks them what happened, James revealed he plans to take legal action against the airline. In and out: Amber joined the Real Housewives Of New Jersey cast in the most recent season six, but announced in November she was leaving after just one season 'We're all good. You know, we're all sleeping, having a good time on the plane,' he said. 'I guess Virgin Atlantic wants to take care of my kid's scholarship funds.' When pressed on what had happened, James said he had 'no idea.' 'But we'll leave it to the big boys over there, it's all good. Had a great time, love California.' However he did confirm he is suing Virgin America over the incident. 'Oh I'm definitely pressing charges, and I'm filing civil litigation,' he said. Amber joined the RHONJ cast in the most recent season six, but announced in November she was leaving after just one season. She is mother to two children, and stepmother to two more of Jason's kids from a previous relationship. At least for now, he has a lucrative legal win under his belt. And Hulk Hogan, whose real name is Terry Bollea, certainly looked to be in a great mood as he stepped out with his wife Jennifer on Friday. The 62-year-old seemingly couldn't stop smiling as the couple held hands as they walked down the street in Miami. Flexing! Hulk Hogan, whose real name is Terry Bollea, certainly looked to be in a great mood as he stepped out with his wife Jennifer on Friday Always one to draw some glances, the former world champion donned a bright red tank top, black shorts and black trainers. Of course his distinctive mustache, shades and bandanna combination was on full display. It looked as though the couple had just finished up a workout, as wife Jennifer also sported workout attire in the form of her own black tank top, floral print cropped leggings and pink trainers. After navigating their way to a car, Hulk decided to have a little fun with the cameras and struck one of his trademark poses which showed off his massive biceps. Sweet couple: The 62-year-old seemingly couldn't stop smiling as the couple held hands as they walked down the street in Miami Eye-catching: Always one to draw some glances, the former world champion donned a bright red tank top, black shorts and black trainers The duo were later spotted relaxing on a friend's boat. Celebrations have definitely have been in order, as the pro wrestler recently won a $140 million settlement against Gawker Media for their release of a sex tape featuring the wrestler and his friend's wife without his consent. While Gawker has vowed to appeal, more controversy arose when transcripts emerged from the trial of Hulk using various racial slurs and epithets in conversations captured on the tape. Audio included a shocking racist rant, in which he can be heard referring to f***ing n*****s, Time for a dip? The duo were later spotted relaxing on a friend's boat Hogan had been discussing his daughter Brooke's alleged relationship with black rapper Stacks, the son of Cecile Barker, who was the manger for Sly and the Family Stone and an aerospace entrepreneur. Hogan was swiftly fired from the WWE after news emerged that his n-word laden pillow talk. He was also removed from the Hall of Fame and axed from their YouTube channel. He later admitted the rant had been 'probably the stupidest thing I ever said', during an interview on The View. Not all fun: He later admitted the racist rant had been 'probably the stupidest thing I ever said', during an interview on The View Chris Evans is no stranger when it comes to stepping into the superhero suit as Captain America. And as hype builds around his sixth appearance in the role, he spoke Australian radio host, Kent 'Smallzy' Small about which mementos he took home from the set of Captain America: Civil War. The 34-year-old action star revealed in an interview on Friday's Smallzy's Surgery on NovaFM: 'They gave me a shield, one of those little headpieces that you wear'. Scroll down for video Mementos: Chris Evans revealed in an Australian radio interview on Friday which mementos he took home from the set of Captain America: Civil War Smallzy cheekily asked if there was anything else that he took home from the set that no-one knew about. 'Nah, I know a lot of actors that have, but I've never really thought about it,' the Hollywood actor explained. The radio host was full of praise for the latest film in the wildly successful Marvel franchise, although Chris wasn't exactly on the same page. Chris explained: 'My personal favourite would be Captain America: Winter Soldier, but this one is a very close second'. Special memories: The 34-year-old action star revealed he got a shield and headpiece to keep after filming Ranking the films: The action hero star explained that his favourite film in the franchise was Captain America: Winter Soldier but the latest is a close second After so many appearances as the Marvel saviour, he admitted he knows how to get into the extremely fitted suit in around 10 minutes, and out of it in even less time. The film is the sequel to 2011's Captain America: The First Avenger and 2014's Captain America: The Winter Soldier. The plot centres around political interference in the Avengers' activities, causing a rift between former allies Captain America and Iron Man. Dramatic: The plot centres around political interference in the Avengers' activities, causing a rift between former allies Captain America and Iron Man New government laws being introduced to regulate superheroes divide the entire team into two factions; one lead by Captain America who resists it, the other by Robert Downey Jr's Iron Man, who wants to enforce it. According to Cinema Blend, Chris has thought about his future with the Marvel franchise and has said: 'I am gonna try and focus on directing a bit more, but by no means am I done acting. 'And if theyd have me back, yeah, Id probably consider it,' and is currently contracted to stay as Captain America until 2017. Captain America: Civil War is set for release in cinemas across Australia on April 28. Hes known for starring in Bondi Rescue as one of the most treasured lifeguards. But next week, American audiences will get the chance to see Anthony Harries Carroll make a guest cameo in the hit television show The Amazing Race. According to The Daily Telegraph, the Sydney star was tasked to help contestants with an odd but death-defying challenge in Indonesia where the final five hopefuls were battling in out to win $1 million. Scroll down for video TV star: Next week, American audiences will get the chance to see Anthony Harries Carroll make a guest cameo in the hit television show The Amazing Race I was up on top of a cliff when they arrived - I taught them pilates and then they had to jump off into the water 20 metres below, he explained. They were looking at me like, what the hell? Pilates? But we wanted them limber and feeling strong before they jumped because it was really high risk. For the gruelling task, his friend Paul Shivers - a high-risk scenario expert - was initially brought in to assist with water safety off camera. Hard work: According to The Daily Telegraph, the Sydney star was tasked to help contestants with an odd but death-defying challenge in Indonesia where the final five hopefuls were battling in out to win $1 million Change of pace: I was up on top of a cliff when they arrived - I taught them pilates and then they had to jump off into the water 20 metres below, he explained Anthony added: My job initially was to be down in the water as a safety man, but (a producer) recognised me and said they wanted me up on the rock. Meanwhile, his former Bondi Rescue co-star Trent Maxwell recently revealed his delight after making his life-long ambition come true by becoming a firefighter. Speaking to Confidential this week, the 24-year-old - who completed his training at the Alexandria College - described his new career as every kids dream. I applied six times, the TV personality confessed, before adding: I left school to become a lifeguard, but I never lost sight of becoming a firefighter. 'It's every kids' dream': Meanwhile, his former Bondi Rescue co-star Trent Maxwell recently revealed his delight after making his life-long ambition come true by becoming a firefighter From water to fire: Speaking to Confidential this week, the 24-year-old - who completed his training at the Alexandria Colleg - described his new career as every kids dream Saving lives is clearly in Maxwells blood as various members of his family are in the emergency services, working as paramedics and firefighters. Its kind of sticking with the family, he continued. Bondi Rescue is a reality television show which documents lifeguards patrolling the world's busiest beach during the summer period. Earlier this year, Bondi Rescue boss Bruce Hopkins was caught by police driving more than three times the legal limit. Chief lifeguard 'Hoppo' was unable to control his vehicle swerving on to the wrong side of the road luckily missing pedestrians and oncoming traffic along the beachfront of Sydney's Bondi beach, on January 4, according to reports. ABC's acclaimed legal comedy Rake will return for a new season in May. Rake, which stars Richard Roxburgh as controversial barrister Cleaver Greene, will enter its fourth season when the first episode shows on Thursday May 19. Season four will include guest appearances from significant stars including Harry Potter star Miriam Margolyes, House Husbands actress Justine Clarke, and American screen legend John Waters. Returning! ABC's acclaimed legal comedy Rake, starring Richard Roxburgh, will return for a new season in May Speaking with The Sydney Morning Herald last year, Ian Collie, one of the show's producers said the series may not continue past 2016. 'The fourth season will probably be the final one,' he said. The award-winning series made the announcement via their official Facebook, writing in the caption for a promotional poster 'He's baaack' with a photo of the lead star. Another guest! Harry Potter star Miriam Margolyes will also make an appearance in the upcoming series Legendary: The series will welcome acclaimed film identity John Waters as a guest star The post garnered nearly 9,000 likes, with many fans unable to contain their excitement at the news. 'I CANT HANDLE THIS!' wrote one viewer. 'One of best Television shows, ever. Extremely well written, and a marvelous cast,' wrote another. On Thursday, the show's admins teased some exciting news, writing: 'BIG news coming tomorrow, #Rake fans. Stay tuned!' to which fans reacted enthusiastically. 'Seriously, not even Rake himself bothers with this much foreplay! Hop to it!' Roxburgh won the 2013 AACTA Award for Best Lead Actor in a Television Drama, while the show has been nominated for a slew of awards consistently since its debut in 2010. The Fox Network in the US also commissioned an American version, starring Greg Kinnear as the lead character, renaming the lead character as Keegan Deane. She's spent the last two months knocking out walls and painting ceilings to get her new gym franchise up and running for opening day last Saturday. So, Maz Compton is now appropriately confident she and her builder boyfriend Glenn Naveau would make excellent contestants on The Block. Speaking exclusively with Daily Mail Australia on Saturday, the 31-year-old jests all the video footage she'd taken of the fit-out will be compiled into an audition tape for the hit reality TV series. Scroll down for video 'We're ready to go on The Block': Maz Compton jested about compiling an audition tape for the hit renovation series after constructing her own gym with her builder boyfriend Glenn Naveau 'We'd actually be the ultimate couple,' she enthused. 'Now that we've been through the whole process, I know my breaking point... Once you figure out where your boundaries are, you're fine,' she said of the physical and mental demands of renovations. The popular radio host said that despite being a little wary of what sort of effect the project would have on her relationship, she said it's drawn them closer. 'To be honest I was a bit hesitant at first, but I'm so pleased to say it's been the making of us,' she said cheerfully. 'I know my breaking point': She said the physical and mental demands of the project have set her up perfectly as a role on The Block Exciting times! The couple-turned-business partners opened their fitness studio in Avalon, Sydney on Saturday April 16 However, the radio personality admitted she and her construction beau ensure they keep business at work and maintain date nights to keep their romance alive. The couple-turned-business partners enjoyed the fruits of their labour last Saturday, when their fitness studio in Avalon, Sydney officially opened. The past two years have seen some incredible life transformations for Maz, who wrote on her blog in January about her year of sobriety. In an honest admission, the 2DayFM host said she drunk a bottle of wine a night at one point, after the sudden death of her manager Mark Byrne in 2014. 'It's been the making of us': Maz said the demanding project has brought her closer with her beau Glenn (left) Focusing on health: Maz has not touched alcohol for a year, her 36-year-old builder beau has not drunk for around three or four months While Maz has not touched alcohol for a year, her 36-year-old beau has not drunk for around three or four months with the pair preferring to live healthier lifestyles. 'I can't tell you how amazing that transformation has been for me,' Maz told Daily Mail Australia. 'I feel amazing, and I wanted to share my story with the community,' she said of her blog post. 'Can you imagine running a gym with a hangover?' The radio host said her transformation has been a practical one too 'As a society, we give ourselves the excuse to drink and that's not necessarily healthy.' She also said her sobriety has had a practical impact as well: 'Can you imagine running a gym with a hangover? My god, that would be insane!' she laughed. The media personality admitted the post struck more of a chord than she ever imagined and has been overwhelmed by the stories she's heard in return, from those who have identified with her story. Lindsay got engaged to Russian heir Egor Tarabasov earlier this month. And now it seems the actress' family will have another wedding to celebrate, with her brother Michael Lohan Jr, 28, set to wed his girlfriend Nina Ginz. Lindsay shared the news of their engagement as she congratulated the happy couple on Instagram on Friday, sharing a photo of Nina showing off what appeared to be a large diamond engagement ring. Scroll down for video Happy couple: Lindsay Lohan congratulated her brother Michael Lohan Jr and his girlfriend Nina Ginz on their engagement on Instagram on Friday 'Congratulations to my beautiful sister in law @ninaginz and my brother @mikelohan!!!' she wrote. Lindsay tagged her 22-year-old fiance Egor's @e2505t handle and added hashtags '#family ties, #LoveYou' and '#trendsoflifelove.' In the photo, Michael beams as Nina raises her hand over her mouth and flashes her diamond ring as they cuddle up in front of a beach hut. Lindsay is the oldest of four children from her mother Dina Lohan's marriage to ex-husband Michael Lohan, including Michael Jr and her sister Ali, 22, and brother Cody, 19, who are both models. Her father also has three other children, who are Lindsay's half-siblings: a 'love child' Ashley Kaufmann, 20, as well as two sons - Landon, three, and one-year-old Logan - from his marriage to Kate Major. 'Sister in law': Lindsay shared a selfie with her future sister-in-law Nina earlier this year Family: Lindsay with her full siblings Michael, left, and models Ali and Cody Lohan Lindsay has been living in London for the past few years after fleeing the LA lifestyle, where she was often in the spotlight for her many arrests and stints in rehab. She recently moved in with Egor in London and has been working to rebuild her acting career and health. But the Parent Trap star has been spending time back in her native New York visiting family since her engagement. She was seen shopping with sister Ali, as well as singing onstage at a Duran Duran concert she attended with parents Dina and Michael Lohan last week. Engaged: Lindsay and fiance Egor Tarabasov left Trump SoHo Hotel in New York City last week The actress also revealed that she has been studying Islam to satisfy her intellectual curiosity, and is open to converting. 'I'm a very spiritual person and I'm really open to learning,' the former child star told The Sun. ' America has portrayed holding a Koran in such a different way to what it actually is.' But she confessed she has yet to read the entire Koran, saying: 'Do you know how long that would take?' Hes famed for playing the courageous Ser Jorah Mormont in the hit drama Game Of Thrones. And just like many of his co-stars, Scottish actor Iain Glen has revealed his fears about being killed off in the medieval fantasy franchise. Now there's something horrible creeping up my wrist and all I can say is fingers crossed I'll still be alive,' the 54-year-old star told Spectrum Magazine. Scroll down for video 'Fingers crossed I'll come out alive': Iain Glen has revealed his fears about being killed off in Game Of Thrones in a new interview during his stay in Sydney Game of Thrones has turned into a phenomenon none of us could have predicted, he said, adding: I feel very lucky. It's been a treat to work on. Iain also confessed working with showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss for each series has been a great experience. I've noticed for everyone involved, for Dan and David especially, confidence surging though each season as it has grown in popularity, the star continued. And that's nice from the position we all started in. In the fifth series, his character had a nasty condition which involved some kind of dangerous greyscale rock growing on his hand. In character: The 54-year-old is famed for playing the courageous Ser Jorah Mormont in the hit drama Game Of Thrones New venture: Glen is currently filming a six-part drama in Sydney, Cleverman, which hell star alongside acclaimed actress Frances O'Connor. Meanwhile, Glen is currently filming a six-part drama in Sydney, Cleverman, which hell star alongside acclaimed actress Frances O'Connor. The six-part series is set Down Under and revolves around two estranged brothers, Koen (Hunter Page-Lochard) and Waruu West (Rob Collins), who are forced together to fight against enemies, both human and otherworldly. The ensemble cast includes Deborah Mailman, Hunter Page-Lochard and Stef Dawson, who played Annie Cresta in The Hunger Games: The Mockingjay. Sally Riley, head of Indigenous at ABC TV, said the show sets the benchmark for diversity on Australian television. The new series will screen on SundanceTV in United States on June 1 and in Australia on ABC, June 2. She's been single since splitting with bodybuilder Cemre Volkan last year. But now it looks like Brynne Edelsten is ready to find love again, with the 33-year-old joining dating app Tinder. 'Yes, that's Brynne's Tinder account,' a representative said when contacted by Daily Mail Australia, before adding: 'She's a single girl and like lots of single girls she's just exploring her options.' 'She's a single girl and like lots of single girls she's just exploring her options:' It has been confirmed to Daily Mail Australia that Brynne Edelsten has joined dating app Tinder The discovery of Brynne's Tinder account comes just days after she opened up about her infamous marriage to medical entrepreneur Geoffrey Edelsten, telling The Morning Show: 'I don't regret marrying him.' The reality TV star added that she could understand why the public had branded her as a 'gold digger' at the time. 'Obviously when you see someone - I was 25 and Geoff was 65 at the time - obviously you're gonna think 'gold digger' - who's not gonna think that?' Single and ready to mingle: The 33-year-old has been single since splitting with bodybuilder Cemre Volkan last year 'I don't regret marrying him:' Last week, the blonde admitted she doesn't regret her marriage to Geoffrey Edelsten She continued: 'I just loved him. But he wasn't the right person for me and it didn't work out, but I don't regret marrying him.' The blonde beauty put her best foot forward on her Tinder profile, choosing a glamorous photo of herself at a red carpet event and another one of her flaunting her svelte bikini body on the beach. For a career, the busty Melbourne socialite lists 'Director of Brynne Pty Ltd.' The American born beauty recently shed some serious kilos, with a jaw-dropping 15-kilo weight loss that has seen her go from a curvy size 12 to a more petite size six. Being frank: She said, 'Obviously when you see someone - I was 25 and Geoff was 65 at the time - obviously you're gonna think 'gold digger' - who's not gonna think that?' The blonde's shrinking frame has also affected her famous chest, which has dropped from a 12G to a smaller 8E - leaving her with 'nothing but implants' now that her natural body fat has vanished. Speaking about her new shape on Sunrise, Brynne explained she had been striving for 'years' to slim down. 'I've spent the last three and a half years at the gym and just trying to be healthy. It's taken time but it's finally paying off,' she said bashfully. Claiming to now visit the gym 'three days a week', the My Bedazzled Diary star said cutting out 'sugary drinks' had also helped her new regime. Teresa Palmer certainly nailed off-duty chic on Friday while out and about in Los Angeles with son Bodhi Rain, The 30-year-old Australian actress was seen wearing a navy coloured jumpsuit, the stylish number splashed with a white bird print all over. Teresa's sleeveless outfit showcased her slender arms on the day, and she definitely proved her penchant for accessorising with some bold items. Scroll down for video On the go: Teresa Palmer certainly nailed off-duty chic on Friday while out and about in Los Angeles with son Bodhi Rain She slipped her feet into a pair of tan coloured shoes, while sporting a pair of similarly coloured sunglasses. Meanwhile, a black handbag was slung over her right arm, as she carried her two-year-old son on her hip. Little Bodhi wore a white printed T-shirt on this occasion, teamed with a pair of bright shorts. Not spotted with the movie star on this occasion was her husband Mark Webber. Out and about: The 30-year-old Australian actress was seen wearing a navy coloured jumpsuit, the stylish number splashed with a white bird print all over Teresa has recently been quite active on social media, advocating support for mothers openly breastfeeding. Taking to Instagram last Friday, she shared a black-and-white filtered snap of herself breastfeeding her son, along with the caption: '2 years 2 months on and still our favorite moments are these morning breastfeeds. The house is still and it's just us snuggled in close awaiting the days adventures (sic)'. The image attracted mixed reactions from the movie star's social media followers. One Instagram user wrote: 'So beautiful. My son is the same age as yours and breastfeeding him is still my favourite part of the day too'. Stylish: Teresa's sleeveless outfit showcased her slender arms on the day, and she definitely proved her penchant for accessorising with some bold items Meanwhile, others were more inclined to question Teresa's choice, with one follower commenting: 'I am not being mean or so, but why would you breastfeed your child so long?'. Taking the liberty to clarify her decision, the actress responded: '@mrslarabrunner because it's the worlds most nutritious and healthy thing for my son as well as his greatest comfort (sic)'. She continued: 'When you have a child you will understand the desire to meet your child's needs in every way. The World Health Organization says the longer you can breastfeed the better it is for your child's overall health. Cute: Little Bodhi wore a white printed T-shirt on this occasion, teamed with a pair of bright shorts 'As a woman who is lucky enough to be able to breastfeed this long I'm grateful that I can provide my son with this kind of loving care. 'It's only been society that chooses to judge a woman's choice to continue to nurture their children beyond what has been perceived and labelled as "the norm" there is also a lack of education surrounding the benefits of continuing the breastfeed in to the toddler years (sic),' she concluded. In June last year, Teresa joined the growing number of women hitting back against the shaming of mothers who breastfeed in public. Accessoriser: She slipped her feet into a pair of tan coloured shoes, while sporting a pair of similar coloured sunglasses The beauty, who co-parents her husband Mark Webber's son Issac and their shared baby Bodhi Rain, expressed her disbelief at the double standards mothers face. 'There are billboards around the world that have a bra showing cleavage and that is totally appreciated and celebrated,' she said in an interview with VS magazine, 'but breastfeeding becomes so sexualised'. 'I'm actually shocked by it. I'm not trying to make a big statement, it's just unfortunate that there are such double standards.' Essentials on hand: A sleek black handbag was slung over her arm As a breastfeeding advocate she has done her best to reduce the stigma attached to nursing in public. She and her husband regularly share beautiful images of her nursing their son on Instagram, as she espouses the simple joys of motherhood, such as bonding with her child. In March last year, the Point Break actress hit headlines when she was pictured feeding her son as she walked with her husband to an L.A restaurant. She's known for her flirty 1950s style. And screen siren Jessica Chastain did not disappoint as she was spotted out and about in New York on Friday. The pretty actress, 39, wore a vintage-style red lace floral dress which perfectly showed off her toned legs as she headed into the Today studios to chat about her latest film The Huntsman: Winter's War. Screen siren Jessica Chastain was spotted out and about promoting her new movie The Huntsman: Winter's War in New York on Friday She teamed the dress, which featured pink cut-out style flowers and half length-sleeves, with classic nude high-heeled court shoes for her day out. The Help star kept her make-up simple with a pretty pink lip, and kept her eyes hidden behind a pair of vintage-style sunglasses. And she accessoried the retro-inspired look with dark matte nails and a pair of drop-style earrings. Her trademark red tresses were worn in a loose tousled style with one side tucked behind her ears, creating an effortless look. The gorgeous actress celebrated the Spring weather by wearing a red and pink vintage style lace cut-out dress, which she teamed effortlessly with classic nude court shoes to complement her retro look Jessica posed for the cameras as she made her way into the Today show's studios to discuss the new movie She sported a large Starbucks coffee cup, evidently to keep her going through her gruelling promotion schedule. The actress stopped outside the studio to sign autographs for her waiting fans. Jessica plays Sara in The Huntsman: Winter's War in the sequel to the 2012 hit Snow White And The Huntsman, and has been on the circuit over the past few weeks promoting the movie, which also stars Chris Hemsworth and Charlize Theron. Her next project, The Zookeeper's Wife, is based on the non-fiction book of the same name. The film follows the Polish zookeepers couple who saved many human and animal lives during the World War II by hiding them in animal cages. Her playful sense of humour won over the heart of Australia's third Bachelor star, Sam Wood, last year. And Snezana Markoski, 35, wasn't afraid to become the butt of her handsome fiance's joke on Saturday as the pair enjoyed a trip to a Mornington Peninsula winery with a group of Sam's friends. In a cute photograph shared by Sam, 35, on Instagram, the petite brunette was seen peeping her head out from behind Sam's male friends who were posing for a group shot. Scroll down for video '#photobombsnez': Snezana Markoski, 35, wasn't afraid to become the butt of Sam Wood's joke on Saturday as the pair enjoyed a trip to a Mornington Peninsula winery with a group of Sam's friends 'Cracking day down the Peninsula with the best friends in the world', wrote Sam in the caption before cheekily adding the hashtag: 'photobombsnez'. Personal trainer Sam decided to share another photo on Instagram to commemorate his weekend's outing, this time posing arm-in-arm with one of his friends in front of the picturesque winery back-drop. 'How's the serenity', he wrote in the caption before tagging his friend and adding the hashtag '#2bestfriends'. 'How's the serenity': Personal trainer Sam decided to share another photo on Instagram to commemorate his weekend's outing, this time posing arm-in-arm with one of his friends in front of the picturesque winery back-drop It comes after Snezana shared a sweet snap of her and Sam cutting up vegetables in the kitchen of what appears to be their newly-purchased Melbourne love nest. Taking to Instagram, Snezana wrote: 'Fresh yummy Sam's attention Hawks @hellofreshau'. Sam and Snezana purchased the home in January this year and the home boasts a stylish decor throughout. Chop chop! It comes after Snezana shared a sweet snap of her and Sam cutting up vegetables in the kitchen of what appears to be their newly-purchased Melbourne love nest The love-birds took to social media to excitedly announce the purchase of their family home with Sam writing: 'So ......the most incredible woman I've ever met and I just bought this beautiful little house,' as the pair beamed in front of a sold sticker plastered across the property advertisement. Since finding love on The Bachelor the couple have split time between his home in Melbourne and her home in Perth. In December after a whirlwind romance Sam got down on one knee during a family holiday in Tasmania with her daughter Eve from a previous relationship. Last month surrounded by family and friends the pair celebrated their engagement with a lavish bash in their soon-to-be hometown. Going back and forth: Since finding love on The Bachelor the couple have split time between his home in Melbourne and her home in Perth He's the apple of his parents' eyes. And Anna Faris, 39, lovingly held her adorable son Jack as the pair made their way out of LAX Airport on Friday. The mother-of-one looked in high spirits as she strolled with the three-year-old in her arms, flashing a bright smile at the cameras. Scroll down for video In safe hands: Anna Faris, 39, lovingly held her adorable son Jack, three, as the pair made their way out of LAX Airport on Friday The actress was dressed down in a plain navy top, light blue jeans and a pair of comfortable beige shoes. Anna tied her blonde locks up and wore them underneath a Ford cap, while she covered her eyes with a pair of shades. She accessorised with some eye-catching dangly earrings and had applied a slick of gloss to her lips. Young Jack looked smart in a knitted grey jumper and beige chinos with some bright red socks and Cars-themed trainers. His circular blue glasses perfectly complemented his mum's choice in outfit. Feeling happy: Young Jack looked smart in a knitted grey jumper and beige chinos with some bright red socks and Cars-themed trainers Cheeky! He smiled at the cameras before playfully sticking his tongue out much to his amusement He smiled at the cameras before playfully sticking his tongue out much to his amusement. There was no sign of Anna's husband Chris Pratt, but just days ago the Hollywood star posted a heartwarming picture on Instagram with a caption complimenting his boy and wife. Sharing a sweet photo of Jack, the Jurassic World actor gushed about how the little blonde haired boy looks just like wife Anna Faris. The 36-year-old star wrote a sweet caption which concluded: 'I snapped this photo and it dawned on me how much Jack looks like Anna. They are both so beautiful. Sleeping in with the two of them is my greatest treasure.' Matching his mum: His circular blue glasses perfectly complemented his mum's choice in outfit Chris began the touching note musing over a colourful rainbow that had been projected on a wall in his house, which his young son posed beside. He wrote: 'This morning Jack found a rainbow on the wall. I honestly couldn't figure out where it was coming from which according to science means it's some sort of portal. You ever see Stargate? Exactly. We were careful not to get too close,' Chris and Anna married in 2009 after meeting at a table reading for flick Take Me Home Tonight in 2007. They welcomed baby Jack in August 2012. Loving mother: Anna tied her blonde locks up and wore them underneath a Ford cap, while she covered her eyes with a pair of shades She's hard at work filming scenes as the villainous Rita Repulsa for the upcoming Power Rangers movie. But Elizabeth Banks enjoyed a break from filming in Vancouver on Friday as she stepped out for a low-key day with her family. The multi-talented actress and director showed off her effortlessly cool sense of style in a leather jacket teamed with quirky snakeskin-print trousers. Day off: Elizabeth Banks enjoyed a break from filming in Vancouver on Friday as she stepped out for a low-key day with her family. The 42-year-old added a pair of red and white sneakers and gold-detailed shades to her dressed down look, while her hair was tied back into a simple top knot. Elizabeth was seen chatting with friends as she enjoyed a takeout drink, with her eldest son Felix, five, also seen walking hand in hand with his doting mum. Elizabeth is in Vancouver shooting the anticipated big screen reboot of Power Rangers. On Tuesday People unveiled a first look at the character, played by the star, for the film which hits cinemas in March 2017. Keeping things casual: The multi-talented actress and director showed off her effortlessly cool sense of style in a leather jacket teamed with quirky snakeskin-print trousers The actress told the publication that this is her fist time to play a villain, and that she is 'looking forward to "world domination and being unpredictable as a character'. 'It's definitely a modern and edgy re-imagining of the original Rita Repulsa,' she said. The film, set for release March 2017, also stars Dacre Montgomery as Jason Lee Scott, the Red Ranger, Becky G as Trini, the Yellow Ranger, Ludi Lin as Zack, the Black Ranger, Naomi Scott as Kimberly Hart, the Pink Ranger, and RJ Cyler as Billy, the Blue Ranger. Banks also hinted the overhauled Rita has been given 'a backstory that connects her to the new Rangers'. Mum and me: Elizabeth was seen chatting with friends as she enjoyed a takeout drink, with her eldest son Felix, five, also seen walking hand in hand with his doting mum The actress and filmmaker is keeping bust as according to a recent report from EW, she has been confirmed to direct the Charlie's Angels reboot. The girl-power franchise began in the mid-Seventies when the television series featured Farrah Fawcett, Jaclyn Smith and Kate Jackson. It was later rebooted for the big screen starring Cameron Diaz, Lucy Liu and Drew Barrymore in 2000 followed by sequel Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle in 2002. She's a jet-set star, always on the go. And there was one very important stop Rachel Weisz had to make as soon as she landed back home in New York on Friday. The gorgeous actress was seen making a dash to upmarket lingerie store Agent Provocateur upon her arrival in the Big Apple. Scroll down for video Back home: Rachel Weisz layered up in a cosy sweater and smart coat as she arrived back in New York on Friday after recently f Rachel, 46, giggled as she carried a large bag out of the store and headed to her next stop. The stunning actress, who has been married to Bond star Daniel Craig since 2011, looked super chic for her flight. She layered up for the Spring weather in a blue sweater and white shirt teamed with grey skinny jeans which highlighted her svelte figure. The stylish star's statement piece though was a smart black jacket with white buttons. First stop! The gorgeous actress was seen making a dash to upmarket lingerie store Agent Provocateur upon her arrival in the Big Apple A pair of suede ankle boots and shades completed her look, while she left her long locks tumbling around her shoulders. The busy star has a number of projects on the go, recently wrapping up filming of big screen drama Denial back in the UK. Rachel has been spotted on set in London in her role as American historian Deborah Lipstad The biopic, based on the Deborah E. Lipstadt book History on Trial: My Day in Court With a Holocaust Denier, is expected for release in late 2016. Directed by Mick Jackson, the man behind The Bodyguard, Rachel stars as Deborah, the woman behind a legal battle against a man who was a Holocaust denier. They've been working hard on the set of xXx: The Return of Xander Cage. But Ruby Rose broke away from routine and enjoyed a coffee break with her co-star Nina Dobrev on Thursday. The actresses were seen chatting away happily as they made their way back to their trailers in between shooting scenes for the third installment of the action flick in Canada. Scroll down for video Dressing for warmth: Ruby Rose braved the chilly climes with a baggy blue jacket teamed with cargo pants and boots on xXx: The Return Of Xander Cage set on Thursday The teal-haired 30-year-old was dressed head-to-toe in shades of blue, black and charcoal as she sipped on her hot beverage. The Orange is the New Black star covered up her slim figure in an oversized blue coat teamed with cargo pants and black boots. The former MTV VJ opted for a natural pallet of makeup and parted her short dyed hair in the middle. The Melbourne native completed her looked with a silver necklace around her neck. See more of the latest Ruby Rose updates as she films xXx: the Return of Xander cage Break time: Ruby Rose broke away from routine and enjoyed a coffee break with her co-star Nina Dobrev Meanwhile, Nina rugged up in a black thermal coat which she placed over the top of another coat. The 27-year-old Vampire Diaries actress showed off her slender pins in a pair of blue trousers teamed with black boots and a striped shirt. Despite the chilly weather, the pair looked to be in good spirits as they smiled and giggled with their mutual friends. Bad smell: In Ruby's most recent video uploaded to Instagram, the Melbourne native took to the 27-year-olds trailer with fart bombs The composed displays comes just weeks after Ruby played multiple pranks on Nina. In her most recent video uploaded to Instagram, the Melbourne native took to her co-star's trailer to litter it with fart bombs. Recording the moment, the DJ tossed the square shaped bombs into the brunette beautys trailer. Counting down the moment before they exploded, the TV personality held back her cameraman before they started to explode. Ruby captured mainstream attention last year when she joined the cast of Orange Is The New Black in season three, playing sassy Litchfield inmate Stella Carlin - a romantic interest for the critically-acclaimed Netflix series' lead Piper Chapman. After captivating a new fan following from the American comedy-drama, the tattooed beauty secured a number of modelling gigs and roles in new movies, including Resident Evil: The Final Chapter and John Wick: Chapter Two. She recently received a special award for her contribution to the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community at the 27th annual GLAAD Media Awards in Los Angeles on Saturday. She is undoubtedly one of the most stylish stars in the industry. But taking a day off her usual high fashion ensembles, Sienna Miller opted to dress down on Friday as she arrived in London via Heathrow Airport. Donning a casual outfit for the flight from New York City, the 34-year-old looked comfy as she journeyed through the terminal. Scroll Down For Video Dressed down day: Sienna Miller cuts a laid back figure on Friday as she arrived in London via Heathrow Beaming broadly as she headed towards the exit, Sienna looked happy to be back in the capital. Going for ultimate comfort, Miller wore a loose fitted white knitted jumper with navy tracksuit bottoms and white trainers. Going make-up free, the mother-of-one wore her blonde tresses down in loose waves as she clutched onto her smartphone. Fresh faced: The 34-year-old actress wore a knitted jumper with tracksuit bottoms and trainers Sienna's laid back appearance comes just a few days after she put on an extremely stylish display as she stepped out in New York City. On Thursday, Miller looked typically chic in a spectrum of blue while she sauntered around SoHo in the afternoon sun on her own. Sienna sported a pair of very wide leg culottes, which were royal blue in colour, teaming them with a pair of paler blue suede heeled mules. Don't you step on my blue suede mules: Sienna put on an extremely stylish display on Thursday in New York Simple but effective: Miller favoured an effortlessly fashion-forward ensemble for her solo stroll in the sun The actress kept her upper half equally understated, pulling on a long-sleeved grey jersey top which she tucked into her waistband. Sienna carried a more colourful leather jacket over one arm after having underestimated the temperature while she carried a navy tote bag in her other hand. She afforded herself an element of coverage with a pair of cat-eye sunglasses and kept her head down as she went about her day. Tyga's SUV was searched by LAPD police officers on Thursday in Hollywood and now the rapper is crying foul. Tyga, 26, posted some grainy and shaky cell phone video on social media showing about half a dozen members of law enforcement around a black SUV and a cop searching the back seat of the vehicle. He confirmed on his Snapchat that they were looking for a gun. It followed the publication of a photo last month showing him leaving a Hollywood night club in the early hours of March 19 in a car with a man brandishing a weapon. Scroll down for video Search: LAPD officers checked out a black SUV that Tyga and his crew were riding in on Thursday in Hollywood, and Kylie's Jenner's boyfriend recorded it on his cell phone and posted it to Snapchat The rapper, who is dating Kylie Jenner, 18, took umbrage at the police action, telling TMZ they were 'only doing it to get under his skin'. He followed up the video with a photo of about half a dozen LAPD officers at the scene that has the caption, 'The real crooks.' However, law enforcement sources told the website that Tyga has known gang members in his crew and they went to 'check things out' after hearing he had a show in Hollywood. The rapper also shared this photo on social media, showing about half a dozen cops standing near the vehicle. He added the caption: 'The real crooks' Armed: In the early hours of March 19, Tyga was photographed leaving a Hollywood night club with someone brandishing a weapon in the back seat Controversy: The gun was clearly visible and it's not known why it was being brandished The sources said Tyga was told 'many times' that he could leave the scene but he chose to stay and take pictures. TMZ reported that there was a gun in the black SUV Tyga and his pals were riding in, and that one of the security guards with him had informed the officers he kept a weapon in the vehicle and that the proper permits were in place. It turned out that it was licensed in another state but since it was unloaded and not near to any bullets LAPD took no further action. Our sources say cops only wanted to speak with Tyga's crew -- not the rapper -- and he was told he could leave many times, but he stuck around to snap the pics. Law enforcement sources told TMZ that Tyga has known gang members in his crew and when they heard he was having a concert, they decided to check it out. Tyga confirmed on Snapchat cops were looking for a gun Meanwhile, Tyga and girlfriend Kylie were seen checking out mansions for sale on Friday in the upscale Thousand Oaks and Westlake Village communities, a short distance from where they currently live in Calabasas, California. The teen reality star and her beau drove around in her white Range Rover, sparking rumors that the two are preparing to move in together in a home of their own. Kylie already owns a $2.7 million luxury residence in a gated community in Calabasas that she moved into when she turned 18 in August. She and Tyga, who has a three-year-old son with former fiancee Blac Chyna, confirmed their relationship last summer, although they've been close since 2014. Chyna is now engaged to Kylie's older half-brother Rob Kardashian. Jessica Alba enjoyed some bonding time with her mother Catherine on a girls' trip to Hawaii. The Sin City actress, who also runs her $1 billion Honest Company, enjoyed another day of fun in the sun on Friday. She paraded her knock-out body in playful print bikini, frolicking in the surf before taking up a position on a towel beside her mother to soak up the sun. Birthday fun: Jessica Alba enjoyed a second day at the beach in Hawaii on Friday ahead Bonding time: Jessica was joined by her mother Catherine Celebration: The mother-of-two turns 35 on April 28 Jessica has always been close to her mother and father Mark Alba, previously describing them as 'fun and cool and laid back' parents. The star left husband Cash Warren in charge of daughters Honor, seven, and Haven, four, while she headed off for early birthday celebrations. She turns 35 on April 28. Jessica recently revealed she isn't worried about getting older because she is so much happier with herself now than she was 10 years ago. She told E! News: 'I have to say I like me better at 35 than at 25. Girl time: Jessica left her husband and kids at home for a trip with her mom and pals Making a splash: The actress emerged from the surf looking a picture of bliss Beach chic: She wore a playful print bikini and cool reflective Perverse Sunglasses 'I definitely went through a crisis at 25, 26, 27. 'I don't know, it was like a three-year crisis. Then I had Honor at 28, and I felt like everything just kind of fell into place and made sense. She added: 'I feel really good now, and I'm excited about turning 35.' When asked about her birthday plans, Jessica said at the time: 'I'm trying to figure out a fun birthday. I'm thinking maybe a girls' thing with some of my friends. 'Happy camper': Jessica shared pictures of her view on SnapChat 'Then, I was thinking something at my house. It would have to be a game night because I love a good game night!' Jessica co-founded her business which features non-toxic and eco-friendly baby, household and personal care products in 2012. It was valued last year at $1.7billion. She has previously said she 'pinches' herself over the success of her company. She's known for her impeccable style and ability to rock any look. And Georgia May Jagger stole the show when she attended her brother James' wedding to his long-term partner Anoushka Sharma on Saturday, putting her own twist on a bridesmaid look by donning a bright red suit. The 24-year-old beauty looked more like she was strutting down the catwalk then emerging from the stunning Oxfordshire house where the nuptials took place in front of 200 friends and family members. Scroll down for video Beautiful bridesmaid: Georgia May Jagger looked red hot in a tailored suit as she watched her brother James tie the knot with his partner of seven years, Anoushka Sharma, in Oxfordshire on Saturday Rock 'n 'roll royalty including her dad Mick Jagger and his Rolling Stones bandmate Ronnie Wood were in attendance, with the latter accompanied by his pregnant wife Sally Humphreys. It was a real family affair as Georgia's mum Jerry Hall also arrived at the ceremony with her new husband Rupert Murdoch, as well as James and Georgia's half-sister Jade. Georgia looked sensational in her quirky bridesmaid ensemble, showing off her statuesque figure thanks to a pair of tailored trousers and a fitted blazer. Fashionable touch: The 24-year-old catwalk sensation brought a high fashion touch to the nuptials, rocking a bold red suit and wearing her blonde locks in a dishevelled style Make way! The statuesque star added some extra inches to her height thanks to a pair of retro heels She elongated her endless legs thanks to a pair of peep-toe platform heels bearing a cute polka dot pattern. The striking star styled her blonde locks in a bedhead, dishevelled style, adding to the laid-back effect. Father-of-seven Mick - who raises Elizabeth, 32, James, 30, Georgia and son Gabriel, 18, with his ex Jerry - was also in attendance, along with his youngest son Luca, who he shares with Brazilian beauty Luciana Morad. Star-studded affair: Rock 'n 'roll royalty including Georgia's dad Mick Jagger and his Rolling Stones bandmate Ronnie Wood were in attendance Sister act: Georgia went arm-in-arm with her half-sister Jade, who was looking lovely in a floral print sundress Georgia ensured she looked her best to watch James celebrate his union with artist Anoushka, who he has been dating for seven years. The pair married at a discreet ceremony on top of a hill in the Catskills, in upstate New York, last September, but decided to commemorate the event a second time in the presence of their loved ones. The first wedding was largely kept secret and it seems Sir Mick didnt attend the low-key nuptials, presumably at the request of privacy-loving James. Neither, did mum Jerry - but the couples Alsatian dog, Vinnie, was alleged to have taken part in the open-air ceremony. But on Saturday, the lovebirds went all out for their star-studded family nuptials, which saw them dance to Madness classic It Must Be Love in front of their 200 guests. James is said to prefer a private life, but the profile of the musician turned actor has risen considerably since he signed on for HBO drama Vinyl. Snap happy: Georgia ensured she looked her best to watch James celebrate his union with artist Anoushka She vowed she would post a pregnant selfie 'every two weeks.' Hilaria Baldwin wasn't exactly true to her word as she shared another bare bump-revealing snap just ONE week after her previous one. The 32-year-old yoga instructor was wearing a leopard print brassiere and black briefs as she posed in front of the bathroom mirror, the items on the shelves behind her purposely blurred. She couldn't wait: Hilaria Baldwin showed off her growing bump while clad in leopard print lingerie in another pregnancy selfie just ONE week after her last one Hilaria had a little smirk on her face as she clicked the picture, her straight hair falling neatly down her bare back. 'I know I promised I would do this every two weeks, but as third time around (in three years and the fact that I was pregnant with Rafa like 5 min ago ??), I kind of just looked super pregnant right away.' She went on: 'Then there wasn't much change until now when this little boy is really growing in size. This explains it: The wife of Alec Baldwin explained 'this little boy is really growing in size' and she couldn't wait another week to share it Last week: It was on with the show for the third-time mom-to-be who posted this picture just last week while on vacation in Florida with the family 'These posts are about embracing the pregnant figure, appreciating our bodies while we go through such tremendous transformation, and accepting that we don't need to be a teeny tiny size in order to feel beautiful. 'Because it's all about feeling. Never showing more than you would see in a bikini on the beach, I hope that you all stay kind here.' And in regards to the blurry shelf items, Hilaria explained: 'I pixilated the products because this is not an advertisement...it's about an unphotoshopped quick snap showing my little munchkin grow ?? #BaldwinBabyBump3 #366daysoflivingclearly #HilariaLCM' 'And we begin the journey here': The yoga teacher donned pink and black underwear to show off her pregnancy progress last month She and husband Alec, 58, announced their were expecting a third child, a boy, in the fall. They already have two children together, daughter Carmen, two, and son Rafael, 10 months. Right away Hilaria got on the pregnancy selfie trail and posted her first photo of her blossoming bump in mid-March, just a few days after announcing the happy news. Giddy with glee: Hilaria and Alec Baldwin - pictured on April 18 - announced last month that they were expecting their third child, a boy, in the fall 'And we begin the journey again! #BaldwinBabyBump3,' Hilaria shared. 'I posted belly photos every two weeks when I was pregnant with Rafa. I didn't have the guts to do it the first time around with Carmen. The purpose? To show that we don't need to be ashamed or hide the pregnant figure.' Last week, along with a second bump-watch photo, Hilaria wrote of the difficulty in finding time to exercise while on holiday. 'Sometimes I find it's harder to workout on vacation than when home because the kids have no classes etc...so I wait until nap time!' she wrote. 'It was a hot run down here in Florida--but enjoying one more day until we head home to NYC. Took this #BaldwinBabyBump3 for a hot jog...so good! Taking it slow and staying hydrated in the heat. #366daysoflivingclearly #HilariaLCM' She always keeps us guessing with her stylish fashion moves, and Anna Friel didn't let the side down as she stepped out in a sapphire maxi for a night out. The 39-year-old Hollywood actress is set to hit TV screens in upcoming ITV crime programme, Marcell - but all the drama Anna needed was in her dress on Saturday night. The former Brookside actress headed to London's Chiltern Firehouse in her groovy get-up which she paired with velvet sandals. Scroll down for video Blue velvet: Anna Friel, 39, stepped out in billowing deep blue dress as she left the Chiltern Firehouse in London on Saturday Svelte Anna looked picture perfect in her majestic number, which ensured she stood out from the crowd. The mother-of-one looked fashion forward in the slinky dress during her night on the town. Anna, who has daughter Gracie with her ex-boyfriend actor David Thewlis, kept her feet cosy in a pair of velvet slippers, teamed with a nude pedicure. All smiles: Anna wore her hair swept up in a chic updo for the occasion Anna wore her glossy brunette locks swept up in a chic updo for the occasion. She looked stunning with just a slick of red lipstick and a touch of blush on her cheeks as she let her natural beauty shine through. She accessorized her look with a teal blue leather bag with gold chains which off-set her gold statement bracelet perfectly. Slinky: She looked stunning with just a slick of red lipstick and a touch of blush on her cheeks as she let her natural beauty shine through Meanwhile, Anna has admitted that as a fresh-faced 17-year-old, she knocked back music mogul Simon Cowell. The 39-year-old actress chatted with Kate Garraway and Ben Shepherd on the Good Morning Britain sofa on Friday, looking striking in a classic 1970s style outfit. During her interview, she admitted that after leaving long-running soap Brookside, Cowell approached her - offering the young starlet a singing contract. 'I just didn't think it was a natural step for me' she explained. 'I don't know what would have happened, but I was flattered to have been asked.' 'He looks after an incredibly high level of talent now I don't know how I would have looked in comparison.' The BBC is selling ITVs documentary marking the Queens 90th birthday rather than its own because the Corporations show did not contain enough footage of the Duchess of Cambridge to appeal to overseas audiences. As part of its Our Queen At 90, ITV secured an interview with Kate, who revealed that Prince George right with his mother and sister Charlotte calls his great-grandmother Gan-Gan. The BBC is selling ITVs documentary marking the Queens 90th birthday, because it has more footage of the Duchess of Cambridge. Pictured, the Duchess with her son Prince George and her daughter Charlotte In contrast, the youngest contributor to the Beebs Elizabeth At 90 was Princess Margarets daughter, Lady Sarah Chatto. A source says: The Beebs film hasnt got the gloss the Americans will want to see. She may have missed out on meeting US President Barack Obama when he dropped in at Kensington Palace for dinner on Friday night (it was after her bedtime) but Princess Charlotte will soon be undertaking her first Royal engagement Trooping the Colour on June 11. With any luck, we might even see Charlotte, who turns one next month, take her first public steps. After his weekly tete-a-tete with the Queen at Buckingham Palace, David Cameron dashes off to a sailing and kayaking club on the River Thames where ten-year-old son Elwen takes lessons The next time the Queen has a meeting with David Cameron and the Prime Minister seems a little distracted, its not because he is worried about the economy or trying to keep fellow Tories in check hes just in a rush to pick up his son. She's been recovering from a terrifying ATV crash earlier this month. But Vicki Gunvalson looked healthy and happy as she shared a selfie from Pelican Beach, Florida on Saturday, after vowing that her off-roading days are over. The Real Housewives of Orange County star, 54, flashed a hint of cleavage in a colorful bathing suit and was without the neck brace she's been sporting since the April 2 crash. Scroll down for video Recovery: Real Housewives of Orange County star Vicki Gunvalson looked healthy and happy as she spent time in Florida after being injured in an ATV crash with costar Tamra Judge earlier this month 'Time to #woopitup. It's a beautiful beach day with my great friend Tracy,' Vicki wrote, adding hashtags '#girlstrip, #redeye and #nonfilmingweekend.' The reality star told TMZ she is feeling much better as she checked in at LAX on Friday. 'I'm doing good,' the 54-year-old said as she strolled through LAX on Friday. 'I feel much better.' But she said she's learned her lesson, and has no plans for another ATV adventure. 'Never again,' she said. 'It's over, it's done. Bucket list checked.' Close call: Emergency crews rushed to the scene and the women were air-lifted to hospital after their off-road vehicle rolled over multiple times The Real Housewives of Orange County vet was air-lifted to hospital along with costar Tamra Judge after their off-road vehicle rolled over while they were riding over sand dunes in Glamis, California on April 2. Tamra, 48, was at the wheel when their ATV rolled over multiple times. An emergency crew arrived by helicopter and the women were rushed to hospital as RHOC cameras rolled. Vicki, who was released from hospital the day after the crash, wore a neck brace as she recovered. She was vomiting and had numbness in her fingers after the accident, TMZ reported, and she and Tamra both had neck and back pain. Vicki also thanked fans for their support and well wishes on Instagram after the accident. Grateful: Vicki thanked fans for their well wishes in an Instagram post after the accident 'Guardian angel': The RHOC vet spent time recovering at home with a neck brace after suffering neck and back pain following the crash 'Thank you everyone for your thoughts and prayers,' Vicki captioned an Instagram photo of the emergency rescue helicopter after the accident two week ago. She added the hashtag '#itwasntourtime.' She also shared a big 'Thank You' to fans, writing: 'Recovering at home but so thankful my guardian angel was watching over us (thank you Mom). 'To all of you that have sent tweets, emails and have called, thank you for all of your thoughts and prayers.' Abbas at UN says Israeli rule is ruining climate Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas told world leaders at a UN ceremony Friday that Israel must stop "destroying" the climate in the Palestinian territories. "The Israeli occupation is destroying the climate in Palestine and the Israeli settlements are destroying nature in Palestine," Abbas told the gathering of 175 countries signing a landmark climate deal. "Please help us in putting an end to occupation and to putting an end to settlements," said Abbas after signing the agreement. Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas on January 6, 2016 in the West Bank city of Bethlehem Thomas Coex (AFP/File) The Palestinian territories were among a group of 15 countries and parties that immediately presented their already-completed ratification of the accord aimed at tackling global warming. Abbas signed on behalf of the observer state of Palestine, a status the Palestinians obtained in 2012 at the United Nations and which allows them to join international conventions and agreements. Israel's ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, hit back, accusing Abbas of using the UN stage to rail against his country. "This climate summit is supposed to be a demonstration of global unity for the sake of the future of our planet. Unfortunately, president Abbas chose to exploit this international stage to mislead the international community," he said. The sharp exchange at the United Nations comes as France is pushing for an international conference to re-launch peace talks later this year. Palestinian foreign minister Riyad al-Maliki said Thursday that a push for a UN resolution demanding an end to Israeli settlement expansion will be put on hold to focus instead on the French initiative. The draft resolution was circulated to Arab countries and to some members of the Security Council earlier this month as part of a drive for UN action in support of the two-state solution. UN chief urges South Sudan's Machar to return to Juba UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Friday pressed South Sudan rebel leader Riek Machar to return to Juba "without delay" and begin work in a transitional government. Machar had been expected to return to the capital on Monday, in line with a political agreement aimed at ending the two-year war, but differences over security arrangements in Juba delayed his arrival. Ban said President Salva Kiir's government had agreed to a compromise proposal on the arrangements for Machar's return and said this breakthrough should help with the swift formation of the new unity government. South Sudan's rebel leader Riek Machar was vice-president from 2005 until he was sacked in 2013 Isaac Kasamani (AFP/File) "Maintaining a spirit of cooperation will be crucial as the country's leaders begin the work of reversing the years of destruction this conflict has brought upon the people of South Sudan," he said in a statement. Ban urged Machar to travel to Juba "without further conditions which could jeopardize the fragile peace process and prolong the suffering of the South Sudanese people." Under the peace deal, Machar was to return to the post of vice president in a the new 30-month transitional government leading to elections. The latest stumbling block concerned the number of machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades that rebel troops protecting Machar would be allowed to carry. South Sudan's war began in December 2013, when Kiir accused Machar of plotting a coup. The conflict has torn open ethnic divisions and been characterized by horrific rights abuses, including gang rapes, the wholesale burning of villages and cannibalism. At the request of the United States, the Security Council met Monday and expressed "serious concern" at Machar's failure to return. International powers, including the African Union, the European Union, China, Britain and the United States, gave both Machar and Kiir a Saturday deadline to resolve differences. Second Japan Cabinet minister visits Tokyo war shrine Japan's justice minister visited a Tokyo war shrine Saturday morning to become the second member of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's Cabinet attending its latest ritual, which has already angered China and South Korea. The Yasukuni Shrine honours millions of Japanese dead, including several senior military and political figures convicted of war crimes after World War II. "I paid respect in order to express my gratitude to the souls of those who fought for the nation and sacrificed their lives," Mitsuhide Iwaki told reporters. Japan's Justice Minister Mitsuhide Iwaki (R), seen as he leaves the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo, on April, 2016 - (Jiji Press/AFP) His visit came a day after dozens of lawmakers, including Internal Affairs Minister Sanae Takaichi, made their pilgrimage to the leafy central Tokyo shrine for a spring festival. Their visits immediately drew angry reactions from China and South Korea, which see it as a symbol of Tokyo's militaristic past. South Korea's foreign ministry spokesman Cho June-Hyuck said in a statement that the shrine "beautifies the colonial past and war of aggression, and enshrines war criminals". But Abe and other nationalists say the shrine is merely a place to remember fallen soldiers and compare it to burial grounds such as Arlington National Cemetery in the United States. Abe went in December 2013 to mark his first year in power, a visit that sparked fury in Beijing and Seoul and earned him a diplomatic rebuke from the United States, which said it was "disappointed" by the action. He made a ritual offering to the shrine earlier this week but refrained from going and reactions by China and South Korea to Yasukuni visits, while remaining critical, have become less intense as Japan has taken steps over the past 18 months to improve relations with both countries and Abe has held summit meetings with their leaders. Prince, the global icon rooted in hometown Minneapolis To millions, Prince was a global icon, but at heart he remained a hometown boy from Minneapolis, nurturing local talent, hosting legendary parties and putting the city on the international music map. Two days before he was found dead, Prince listened to music at the Dakota Jazz Club, the same venue where he played gigs three years ago that sold out in minutes, and which he frequented often over the years. On Saturday, he stopped off at Electric Fetus, the independent record store to which he gave exclusive rights to sell his "HITnRUN: Phase Two" album, to show support on Record Store Day and buy a Stevie Wonder CD. Not only did Prince buck the trend in not running his career from New York or Los Angeles, but he ignored the celebrity penchant for tax havens, balmy weather or life behind gated communities Mark Ralston (AFP) His last tweet was on that day, with a link to the store's website. A small city by US standards, with a population of less than half a million and where the mercury can plummet 40 degrees below freezing, Minneapolis could not be further removed from the flashy wealth of New York or Los Angeles that sucks up so many musicians and celebrities. "He looked really nice. He had a nice pair of black pants on, a nice dress-collared black shirt and dress shoes. He looked kind of fancy," said Bob Fuchs, 52, manager of Electric Fetus. It was the first time Fuchs actually shook Prince's hand, although it was the star's third visit since January. Each time, he phoned ahead to ask if he could stop by and shop. "He just wanted to make sure there wasn't a big to-do. He really wanted to be under the radar," said Fuchs, adding that Prince loved the name and the vibe of the store, and being able to collaborate locally. "He didn't want to be the corporate guy, he was very happy to work with a local entity," said Fuchs. - Huge thing - Minnesota has been a thriving hub for music, art and theater for decades. Bob Dylan also comes from here, but unlike Prince, as locals like to point out, he quickly took off for New York and beyond. "He (Prince) stayed here and that's a huge thing," said Lowell Pickett, co-owner of the Dakota and who saw Prince on Tuesday night. Purple Rain was filmed at the First Avenue club and elsewhere in and around Minneapolis, keeping the real place names putting both Prince and the locality on the map internationally, Pickett said. "He drew attention to Minneapolis in the international music world and as a result if you made music in Minneapolis, it was more likely that you would get noticed," said Pickett. He described Prince as an extraordinary talent scout, on top of his artistry as a musician, who helped to nurture their careers and worked with many Minneapolis musicians. The entire city mourns his loss. Officials have spoken out. Bridges have been lit purple. Thousands of people of every age, color and ethnicity have descended on First Avenue to celebrate his life. Fans and neighbors recall Prince's legendary free dance parties at Paisley Park. People remember the electricity of seeing him perform live, or bumping into him on the stairs at a gig. Not only did Prince buck the trend in not running his career from New York or Los Angeles, but he ignored the celebrity penchant for tax havens, balmy weather or life behind gated communities. Instead, he chose Chanhassen, a small greenbelt town that looks like a business park, to base himself at Paisley Park and keep two homes. - Part of our home - A 30-minute drive southwest from the bright lights of Minneapolis, it is friendly and comfortable, but unremarkable and modest. Fans outside Paisley Park said they grew up with Prince, listened to his music and became accustomed to seeing his purple limo drive around. "He loved it here," said Cindy Legg, a 41-year-old nurse who went "all the time" to Prince's club Glam Slam when she was in college. "He used to be there sometimes, and he was always very sweet and kind," she recalled, bringing roses to lay at the makeshift memorial outside Paisley Park. She never thought of him as a mega star. "He was just Prince and he was from here," she said. "He was part of our home, part of Minnesota." Sober, modest and not ones to have heads turned by celebrity, Minnesotans returned the compliment of having Prince as a neighbor by not intruding and affording him respect. "He's our history," said Jean Cunningham, a 66-year-old retired administrative assistant, who remembers watching Prince play with band Time when he was starting out. "He did a lot of things for the city," she said. "He helped a lot of people, I think, that we don't even know about." Fans and neighbors recall Prince's legendary free dance parties at Paisley Park and remember the electricity of seeing him perform live, or bumping into him on the stairs at a gig Mark Ralston (AFP) Instead of New York or Los Angeles, Prince chose Chanhassen, a small greenbelt town, to base himself at Paisley Park and keep two homes Mark Ralston (AFP) Bangladesh professor hacked to death in suspected Islamist attack Unidentified attackers hacked to death a university professor in Bangladesh on Saturday, police said, adding that the assault bore the hallmarks of previous killings by Islamist militants of secular and atheist activists. Police said English professor Rezaul Karim Siddique, 58, was hacked from behind with machetes as he walked to the bus station from his home in the country's northwestern city of Rajshahi, where he taught at the city's public university. "His neck was hacked at least three times and was 70-80 percent slit. By examining the nature of the attack, we suspect that it was carried out by extremist groups," Rajshahi Metropolitan Police commissioner Mohammad Shamsuddin told AFP. A man holds a portrait of Bangladeshi professor Rezaul Karim Siddique, who was hacked to death by unidentified attackers in Rajshahi on April 23, 2016 Md. Abdullah Iqbal (AFP) Shamsuddin said police had not yet named any suspects but added that the pattern of the attack fitted with previous killings by Islamist militants. Nahidul Islam, a deputy commissioner of police, told AFP that Siddique was involved in cultural programmes, including music, and set up a music school at Bagmara, a former bastion of an outlawed Islamist group, Jamayetul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB). "The attack is similar to the ones carried out on (atheist) bloggers in the recent past," Islam said, adding nobody had been arrested yet. Homegrown Islamist militants have been blamed for a number of murders of secular bloggers and online activists since 2013, the most recent being in the capital Dhaka early this month. Police said that in each of the attacks unidentified assailants hacked the victim to death with machetes or cleavers. Eight members of banned Islamist group Ansarullah Bangla Team, including a top cleric who is said to have founded the group, were convicted late last year for the murder of atheist blogger Ahmed Rajib Haider in February 2013. - 'Gruesome pattern' - Sakhawat Hossain, a fellow English professor from the university and a friend, said the slain teacher played the tanpura, a musical instrument popular in South Asia, and wrote poems and short stories. "He used to lead a cultural group called Komol Gandhar and edit a bi-annual literary magazine with the same name. But he never wrote or spoke against religion in public," Hossain told AFP. Hundreds of students of Rajshahi University staged impromptu protests, marching on the campus in batches and shouting slogans, demanding the arrest of the killers, local police chief Humayun Kabir told AFP. "The students were shocked at the latest brutal killing of their teachers. Some 500 of them shouted slogans and joined the marches calling for protection of all teachers and exemplary punishment for the killers," Mostafiz Mishu, a student who witnessed the protests, told AFP. Police said Siddique was the fourth professor from Rajshahi University to have been murdered. In February, a court handed down life sentences to two Islamist militants for the murder of another professor, Mohammad Yunus. The recent killings have sparked outrage at home and abroad, with international rights groups demanding that the secular government protect freedom of speech in the Muslim-majority country. Champa Patel, Amnesty International's South Asia director, condemned the latest killing as "inexcusable", saying it was part of a "gruesome pattern". "The authorities must do more to put an end to these killings. Not a single person has been brought to justice for the attacks over the past year," Patel said. Ansar al-Islam, a Bangladesh branch of Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent, this month claimed responsibility for the murder of 26-year-old Nazimuddin Samad, a law student who was killed on the streets of Dhaka, according to US monitoring group SITE. Police, however, blamed the Ansarullah for the murder. Bangladesh authorities have consistently denied that international Islamist networks such as Al-Qaeda or the Islamic State group, which recently claimed responsibility for the murders of minorities and foreigners, are active in the country. A long-running political crisis in the majority Sunni Muslim but officially secular country has radicalised opponents of the government and analysts say Islamist extremists pose a growing danger. People gather around the body of Bangladeshi professor Rezaul Karim Siddique after he was hacked to death by unidentified attackers in Rajshahi on April 23, 2016 Md. Abdullah Iqbal (AFP) Bangladeshi secular activists take part in a torch-lit protest against the killing of blogger Niloy Chakrabarti, in Dhaka, in August 2015 Munir Uz Zaman (AFP/File) Former Thai PM Banharn Silpa-archa dies at 83 Veteran Thai politician and former premier Banharn Silpa-archa died on Saturday at the age of 83, a Bangkok hospital said. "Banharn Silpa-archa passed away peacefully," said a statement from Siriraj hospital, where he was admitted with asthma on Thursday. Born to a Chinese family in central Suphan Buri province in 1932, Banharn was first elected an MP in the seventies and went on to become Thailand's 21st prime minister in 1995. Former Thai premier, Banharn Silpa-archa, seen during a political gathering in Bangkok in 2007 - (AFP/File) He stepped down the following year following a string of scandals and a bruising no-confidence debate in parliament. His Chart Thai party nevertheless remained a key coalition partner in governments led by then-prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra and the rival Democrat Party, earning the nickname "eel" for its slippery alliances. Banharn was banned from Thai politics for five years in 2008 and his party was dissolved for electoral fraud alongside other parties in the Thaksin-backed government. But he continued to wield influence as an advisor to the party after it was reincarnated under a different name. Libya unity government seeks EU accord on migrants Libya's Vice President Ahmed Maetig has expressed hope that the European Union will enter into an agreement with his country similar to that between the EU and Turkey restricting the flow of migrants to Europe. Maetig made the appeal while in Rome meeting with Italy's Interior Minister Angelino Alfano. "The vice president has asked that we proceed with an agreement between the European Union and Libya based on the one between the European Union and Turkey," a statement by Alfano read, without giving further details. Libyan security forces detain illegal migrants reportedly trying to cross the Mediterranean to Europe, during a raid in Tripoli Mahmud Turkia (AFP/File) According to the March 18 agreement, Turkey agreed to take back all migrants arriving in the Greek islands, in an effort to relieve the pressure on the European Union that saw one million migrant arrivals since early 2015. In return Europe promised to resettle one Syrian refugee for every Syrian taken back by Turkey, to grant visa-free travel to Turks within the border-free Schengen zone and to reassess Turkey's stalled EU membership bid. Maetig "thanked Italy for aiding the Libyan people, and expressed hopes that Italy would continue to play a key role in the national reconciliation process towards the construction of a united and democratic Libya," the statement said. Alfano added that the two had also agreed to work together to combat terrorism and human trafficking. Libya has had two rival administrations since a militia alliance took over Tripoli in mid-2014, setting up its own authority and forcing the elected parliament to flee to Tobruk. Last month a new UN-backed unity government arrived in Tripoli, with Italian Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni the first top Western official to visit its president, Fayez al-Sarraj. The international community sees the Government of National Accord as the best hope for oil-rich Libya, which has been roiled by turmoil since the 2011 ouster and killing of dictator Moamer Kadhafi. Top Philippine candidate pushes 'kill criminals' message Philippine presidential candidate Rodrigo Duterte on Saturday renewed his vow to kill criminals as the tough-talking favourite hit the stump in the capital heading into the home stretch of a controversial campaign. Seen by fans and foes alike as a real-life "Dirty Harry" from a southern city made infamous by shadowy vigilante death squads, the 71-year-old mayor of Davao is the surprise favourite in the race to succeed President Benigno Aquino. "The drug pushers, kidnappers, robbers, find them all and arrest them. If they resist, kill them all," he told about 2,000 people who cheered and shook their fists during a central Manila rally shortly after midnight. Philippine presidential front-runner candidate Rodrigo Duterte speaks during a campaign rally in Manila, on April 23, 2016 Noel Celis (AFP) "Go ahead and charge me with murder, so I could also kill you." Duterte had earlier pledged to kill 100,000 criminals and dump so many in Manila Bay that the "fish will grow fat" from feeding on them. More than 50 million people in the mainly Catholic Asian nation are qualified to vote on May 9 with Duterte holding a clear lead over four other candidates, including Aquino's preferred successor. Analysts say Duterte's profanity-laced campaign resonates in a chaotic, high-crime society with limited opportunities for a vast underclass working for a tiny elite. This was despite having called Pope Francis a "son of a bitch" and making crass comments about the jailhouse rape of an Australian lay Christian missionary who was killed in a 1989 prison riot in Duterte's own city. His April 12 comments, in which he suggested that as mayor he should have been the first in line to rape the victim, drew widespread public condemnation, including from the ambassadors of key allies the United States and Australia. The unrepentant candidate later told the envoys to "shut up" and steer clear of domestic politics, while also grudgingly issuing an apology over the rape comments. He has also vowed to hold direct talks with China to resolve overlapping claims in the South China Sea, in a reversal of Aquino's policy of multilateral discussions with other claimants and international arbitration. Prior to the Manila rally, Duterte met late Friday with Eduardo Manalo, chief minister of the conservative religious group Church of Christ to seek the support of the influential organisation, known by its initials INC. The group, which does not disclose its membership size, votes as one in line with what followers describe as biblical doctrines on unity. Politicians routinely make a beeline for its support during elections. "I laid out my programme to fight crime, illegal drugs and corruption.... Should God will me to win, I will fight for the rights as well as the religious freedom of millions of INC members," Duterte said in a statement. INC spokesmen confirmed the meeting Saturday. The Duterte meeting meant all four of the major presidential candidates have met with the INC leader. Supporters of Philippine presidential front-runner candidate Rodrigo Duterte attend his campaign rally in Manila, on April 23, 2016 Noel Celis (AFP) Syria Kurds, regime to press talks after deadly clashes Syrian regime officials and Kurdish representatives were to meet Saturday for a second day of talks on ending deadly clashes in the northeastern city of Qamishli, a senior security source said. A truce agreed on Friday held through the night, an AFP correspondent reported, and no gunfire was heard in the mainly Kurdish city where control is split between Kurdish militia and the Syrian army and its allies. The army and the Kurds have coordinated on security in Hasakeh province against Islamic State group jihadists, but tensions have built up between the sometimes rival authorities. A member of the Kurdish militia inspects Alaya prison in the city of Qamishli on April 22, 2016, following deadly clashes with the Syrian army and its allies Delil Souleiman (AFP/File) The fighting in Qamishli began on Wednesday with a scuffle at a checkpoint and was a rare outbreak of violence between the two sides. According to the Kurdish security forces, the three days of fighting have left 17 civilians, 10 Kurdish fighters and 31 troops and allied militiamen dead. Government officials and Kurdish representatives met at Qamishli's army-controlled airport on Friday and agreed to observe a truce until a lasting settlement to the dispute is reached. "There will be a new meeting today (Saturday) at Qamishli airport," a senior security source in Damascus told AFP. "They will discuss several points, including an exchange of fighters held by each side and the Kurds handing back control of the neighbourhoods they took from the regime," the source said. Early Saturday, there were fewer fighters from either side on the streets. Even checkpoints that had been erected during the fighting had been taken down overnight. AFP footage showed some few residents venturing out from their homes. Alan Baku, a Kurdish civilian, said residents had mostly remained indoors, however. "They can't leave," the 30-year-old said. "We're in an area that was rocked by clashes yesterday." "A few people are walking around because of the truce." Among them was Ali Saadoun, an Arabic language professor returning home from the local market. "The situation is calm and both sides are holding their positions because of the truce," the 37-year-old said. "We hope that it'll continue and that the clashes will stop. We don't want our city to be destroyed." The army and its militia ally, the National Defence Forces, control Qamishli airport and parts of the city, as well as parts of the provincial capital Hasakeh to the south. Nearly all of the rest of the province is controlled by the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), who have declared an autonomous region across the mainly Kurdish northern areas they control. The YPG is regarded by the Pentagon as the most effective fighting force on the ground in Syria against IS. Washington has defied angry complaints from NATO ally Ankara to provide military support to the Kurdish militia, which Turkish officials regard as an arm of the outlawed rebel Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). The Kurdish population in Iraq and Syria Philippe MOUCHE, Laurence SAUBADU, Simon MALFATTO (AFP) Yemen launches southern operation against Qaeda militants Yemeni forces backed by air power from a Saudi-led Arab coalition launched an operation Saturday to drive Al-Qaeda fighters out of a southern provincial capital, military officials said. Forces loyal to President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi in Abyan province advanced toward Zinjibar and the neighbouring town of Jaar, the sources said. Soldiers clashed with militants at Al-Kud, five kilometres (three miles) south of Zinjibar, while coalition Apache helicopters targeted militant positions in the area, they said. Forces loyal to the Saudi-backed Yemeni president take part in an operation to drive Al-Qaeda fighters out of Abyan province on April 23, 2016 Saleh Al-Obeidi (AFP) Military and medical sources said 25 Al-Qaeda militants and four soldiers were killed. Troops reached the government complex on the southern edges of Zinjibar and fighting raged around the compound, military sources said. Residents said heavily-armed and masked fighters were deployed on the city's streets. Government forces last week expelled militants of the jihadist network's local branch -- Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula -- from Huta, the provincial capital of Lahj, as part of a widespread operation to secure southern provinces. Coalition-backed forces have driven militants out of Aden, the southern city declared by Hadi as the country's temporary capital after Shiite Huthi rebels stormed Sanaa in September 2014. The Arab coalition began a military operation backing Hadi in March 2015 after rebels advanced on his refuge in Aden and forced him to flee to Riyadh. But pro-Hadi forces managed over the summer to wrest back control of Aden and four other provinces with the support of coalition firepower. Coalition forces have also backed pro-government forces against AQAP and Islamic State group militants who have taken advantage of the chaos to strengthen their grip on southern Yemen. The latest fighting comes as representatives of the government and the Iran-backed rebels continue with UN-sponsored peace talks in Kuwait, which began on Thursday. The negotiations are under pressure to firm up a fragile ceasefire in their conflict that went into effect on April 11. Armed Yemenis walk next to a dam in Marib province after heavy rain on April 22, 2016 Nabil Hassan (AFP) S. African leftist leader threatens violence to oust Zuma The firebrand head of South Africa's radical opposition Economic Freedom Fighters, Julius Malema, has warned he could seek to remove the government "through the barrel of a gun." "We are not scared of the army. We are not scared to fight. We will fight," he told the pan-Arab Al-Jazeera network in an interview to be broadcast on Sunday. Asked by the interviewer if that meant he was ready to take up arms, Malema said "Yeah, literally I mean it literally. We are not scared... South Africa's Economic Freedom Fighters leader Julius Malema was expelled from the ANC in 2012 Mujahid Safodien (AFP/File) "We will run out of patience very soon and we will remove this government through a barrel of a gun". The EFF has been demanding the ouster of President Jacob Zuma for several months, accusing him of corruption. Late last month, South Africa's constitutional court ruled Zuma had violated the constitution in using public funds to upgrade his private residence and said he must repay the money. EFF deputies regularly disrupt parliamentary sessions, sometimes shouting anti-Zuma slogans. Last year, EFF MPs were expelled from the assembly by security guards after fights broke out. "We are a very peaceful organisation, we fight our battles through peaceful means, through the courts, through parliament, through mass mobilisation, we do that peacefully," Malema told Al-Jazeera. "But at times the government has attempted to respond to such with violence, they beat us up in parliament... They sent soldiers to places like Alexandra (township) where people are protesting." The EFF leader, 35, was expelled from the ruling ANC in 2012 when he was head of the party's youth wing. Third day of Yemen peace talks winds up without progress A third day of UN-brokered peace negotiations in Kuwait between the Yemeni government and rebels wound up Saturday without progress, sources close to the talks said. The sources told AFP the two sides remained far apart, especially on the need to firm up a fragile ceasefire that went into effect on April 11. UN envoy Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed said in a statement late Saturday the talks had achieved "common ground to build on" but acknowledged that the negotiations were difficult. More than 6,800 people have been killed and 2.8 million displaced by the conflict in Yemen since March 2015 Mohammed Huwais (AFP/File) "The atmosphere of the talks is promising and there is common ground to build on in order to reconcile differences," he said. "We must realise that these difficult negotiations require time because they aim at reaching a solid agreement on a package of contentious issues so that the solution would be comprehensive and hollistic," Ould Cheikh Ahmed said. He added that the delegates agreed to the proposed agenda and to "work in parallel committees on political and security issues". A senior government delegate, however, denied that his delegation agreed to form parallel committees. "Our delegation has not agreed to form the parallel committees as stated in the UN communique," the delegate told AFP, requesting anonymity. Ould Cheikh Ahmed also said the two parties reaffirmed their committment to ceasefire and agreed that it is "comprehensive and binding". He said on Friday the truce was still only being 70-80 percent respected, he acknowledged, adding there were violations by both sides. The negotiations in Kuwait opened late Thursday after the delayed arrival of representatives of the Huthi rebels and allied forces loyal to ousted president Ali Abdullah Saleh. The Iran-backed Shiite Huthi rebels have insisted on a halt to air strikes by the Saudi-led coalition which is supporting the government, ahead of other issues, the sources said. President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi's delegation, for its part, is demanding the rebels lift sieges of cities, especially Taez, and release prisoners as part of confidence-building measures, the sources said. The government delegation has submitted a complaint listing 260 alleged ceasefire violations by the rebels on Friday alone, according to the sources. Rebel delegation spokesman Mohamed Abdulsalam said the priority was to end the fighting that has killed more than 6,800 people and driven 2.8 million from their homes since March last year. "Stopping the war and all forms of military action is the priority," he said on Facebook. On Saturday, three rebels and two loyalists were killed in clashes in Kirsh, a town on the highway to Taez from the southern port city of Aden where Hadi's government is based, military sources said. Loyalist forces in Taez, Yemen's third largest city, have been under rebel siege for months. On another battlefront not covered by the ceasefire, pro-Hadi forces backed by air power from the Arab coalition launched an operation Saturday to drive Al-Qaeda fighters out of a southern provincial capital, Yemeni military officials said. The forces in Abyan province advanced towards Zinjibar and the neighbouring town of Jaar, the sources said. Military and medical sources said 25 Al-Qaeda militants and four soldiers were killed. Troops also reached the government complex on the southern edge of Zinjibar and fighting raged around the compound, military officials said. Government forces last week expelled Al-Qaeda militants from Huta, the capital of Lahj province, as part of operations to secure southern provinces. UN Special Envoy to Yemen, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, in Kuwait City on April 22, 2016 as peace talks aimed at ending 13 months of conflict in Yemen resumed Yasser Al-Zayyat (AFP/File) The play's the thing: Obama visits Globe on Shakespeare's 400th Barack Obama on Saturday strutted the stage of William Shakespeare's Globe Theatre in London, joining in festivities to mark 400 years since The Bard's death. The US president was treated to scenes from Hamlet on his early morning visit to the venue, a reconstruction on the banks of the River Thames of a theatre dating back to the 16th century. Actors from a company that embarked on a two-year Hamlet world tour in 2014, playing to more than 100,000 people in 197 countries, put on a special performance for the president. US President Barack Obama shakes hands with actors after watching part of Shakespeare's Hamlet while touring the Globe Theatre in London, on April 23, 2016 Jim Watson (AFP) Obama watched actors perform various scenes from the tragedy, including the famous "To be, or not to be" soliloquy from the fictional Danish prince. The president stood in the open-air theatre watching intently, at times swaying back and forth on his feet to the music. He clapped loudly following the show and joined actors on the stage afterwards. "Let me shake hands with everyone. That was wonderful. I don't want it to stop," Obama said. The performers returned to London on Friday from their world tour, and will perform their four final shows at the Globe this weekend. Obama was also given a tour of the playhouse by Patrick Spottiswoode, director of director of education at the theatre. "You're doing a great job," he told Spottiswoode. The Globe was rebuilt close to its original site and stages authentic period performances of plays by Shakespeare and others. The theatre's artistic director Dominic Dromgoole said it was "an honour" to host the president -- whose 2008 campaign slogan, he added, had inspired the Hamlet world tour. "At the end of an extraordinary journey all around the world, it is great to return home to the Globe and to be able to perform a few scenes and to be welcomed back by President Barack Obama," said Dromgoole. "The spirit of 'Yes we can' has informed the entire tour and it's an honour to meet the man who coined the phrase, and who exemplifies its spirit." William Shakespeare's hometown of Stratford-upon-Avon on Saturday leads the global celebrations to mark four centuries since his death, with star-studded plays, concerts and parades. Focal points for the celebrations include Shakespeare's family home in Stratford, where it is assumed he was born in 1564, and the Holy Trinity Church, where he was buried. South Sudan rebel chief misses deadline to return South Sudan's rebel chief Riek Machar missed an international deadline to return to Juba on Saturday to become vice-president under a peace deal hoped to end war, claiming the government denied permission. Machar, who appeared at an airport in Ethiopia ready to return home to the capital, said the government in Juba failed to grant him clearance to fly despite monitors completing the required weapons verification. "I'm very disappointed," said Machar, wearing an open-necked orange shirt instead of military uniform, adding he hoped to fly on Monday. South Sudan rebel leader Riek Machar Ashraf Shazly (AFP/File) "We didn't get permission to land in Juba, not today and not tomorrow," he told reporters in the airport in the Ethiopian town of Gambella, close to the border with South Sudan. "The government is stalling." - Uncertain welcome - UN chief Ban Ki-moon has urged Machar to return to Juba "without delay", while the US, Britain and Norway -- key international backers of peace efforts -- demanded he return by Saturday. South Sudan's civil war began in December 2013 when Kiir accused Machar of plotting a coup. The conflict has reignited ethnic divisions and been characterised by gross human rights violations. It has included the abduction and rape of thousands of women and girls, massacres of civilians, recruitment of child soldiers, murder, mutilation and even cannibalism. Machar, who fled for his life from Juba as war erupted with massacres carried out in the capital, said he was unsure of what welcome he faced. "I don't know," he said. He said he was returning to his base at Pagak across the border in South Sudan, but would return to the airport on Monday hoping to fly. Machar was due to return to Juba on April 18 to forge a unity government with his arch-rival President Salva Kiir. - 'Risk of further conflict' - His failure to arrive has thrown an August 2015 peace agreement into jeopardy, with US, Britain and Norway warning in a statement late Friday of the risk of "further conflict and suffering." International monitors completed verification of the number of weapons carried by the rebels accompanying him, diplomats said Saturday. There was no immediate response from the government, who previously said they would clear Machar's plane to fly once the weapons-checking was completed. Minister of Information Michael Makuei has previously said he expected Machar to arrive on Monday. There was growing frustration among the rebel troops in Gambella, who have now been there for several days waiting to leave. Under intense international pressure, the two sides reached agreement on Friday on the number of troops protecting Machar and the exact number of weapons they can carry. Machar can bring with him 195 men, carrying AK-47 assault rifles as well as 20 machine guns and 20 rocket-propelled grenades. Machar, a former rebel leader turned deputy president, started a new rebellion after being fired by Kiir in 2013, fighting his way back to office. A 1,370-strong armed rebel force has already arrived in Juba as part of the peace deal, and government forces say they have implemented their promise to pull all but 3,420 of their troops from the city. All other soldiers have to remain at least 25 kilometres (15 miles) outside the capital. South Sudan AFP (AFP) Uganda chooses Tanzania for oil pipeline route Landlocked Uganda on Saturday announced plans to export its future crude oil production via a new pipeline to be built to a Tanzanian port rather than via Kenya. "We have agreed that the oil pipeline route be developed from Uganda in Hoima to the Tanzanian port of Tanga," Uganda foreign affairs minister Sam Kutesa told AFP. There was no immediate indication of the value of Saturday's deal. However, Kutesa told AFP cost was a factor. Uganda first discovered large quantities of crude oil on the shores of Lake Albert in 2006 Walter Astrada (AFP/File) "We considered Tanga oil pipeline route based on a number of aspects -- among them it is the least cost," the Ugandan minister said as Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, Kenyan counterpart Uhuru Kenyatta and Rwanda's Paul Kagame held a regional mini-summit outside Kampala. The first large discoveries of oil in Uganda date back to 2006 on the shores of Lake Albert. Reserves in the area are conservatively estimated at some 1.7 billion barrels. But informed sources say production will not come on stream before 2025. Three oil companies -- Total of France, Chinese giant CNOOC and Anglo-Irish firm Tullow -- each won a one-third rights share in 2009, but the issue immediately arose of how to export the crude from a country with no coastline. After years of talks discussing the relative merits of different routes out to the Indian Ocean, Uganda has chosen to run a 1,400-kilometre (800-mile) pipeline through Tanzania to the south of Lake Victoria through to the port of Tanga near the Kenyan border. According to a Ugandan experts' report dated April 11 and obtained by AFP, the Tanzanian project won the argument because the "Tanga port in Tanzania is fully operational while Lamu port in Kenya is still to be built". - Shebab security fears - The experts also highlighted the fact that the port at Tanga is protected from winds by several offshore islands, which is not the case for Lamu, raising fears of navigational hazards for oil tankers near the future Kenyan port. Kenya, where Tullow also found oil close to Lake Turkana in 2012, had proposed a pipeline from Uganda through impoverished northern Kenya to Lamu as part of an ambitious national development programme dubbed Vision 2030. Estimates of the cost of the Lamu corridor transport and infrastructure project, known as LAPSSET, are around $20 billion (18 billion euros), incorporating new roads, railway lines, airports, cities and pipelines from oil fields in Uganda and South Sudan connected to a new Lamu refinery and port. But the oil companies involved in Uganda preferred an alternative southern route through Kenya terminating at the existing major port of Mombasa. Although cheaper at some $4.3 billion, Nairobi was concerned it would not deliver regional development in the neglected north. There were also concerns for Uganda that parts of the Kenyan northern route would run near areas close to Somalia that might expose the pipeline to attacks by Al Qaeda-aligned Shebab militants. The deadlock between the two sparked the emergence of the Tanzanian option, throwing development of the Lamu project into question. Nairobi indicated Saturday it would continue with LAPSSET and build a pipeline for its own crude. Merkel begins Turkey trip with visit to refugee camp German Chancellor Angela Merkel visited a refugee camp on the Turkish-Syrian border Saturday, kicking off a high-stakes visit aimed at boosting a month-old migrant deal plagued by moral and legal concerns. Merkel, joined by European Council head Donald Tusk and European Commission Vice President Frans Timmermans, headed to the Nizip 2 camp near Gaziantep after touching down in the country's south-east. "Welcome to Turkey, the world's largest refugee hosting country," read a huge banner hanging over the entrance to the camp, which hosts some 5,000 people, including 1,900 children, in row upon row of white and beige prefabricated houses. German Chancellor Angela Merkel talks with refugee children at a preschool, during a visit to a refugee camp on April 23, 2016 The aim of the visit is to promote the six-billion-euro ($6.7 billion) deal to return migrants arriving on Greek shores to Turkey, which has come under fire from rights groups, the UN refugee agency and some EU leaders. The European leaders are keen to show how funds are helping Turkey improve conditions for the 2.7 million refugees the country is hosting -- though critics have pointed out the majority live in poverty far from the official camps. Security for the visit was high: the delegation arrived at the camp on a coach with snipers on the roof. Police had earlier arrested six people suspected of links to the Islamic State group accused of plotting an attack. Merkel met some of the camp's younger residents as she inaugurated an EU-funded child protection centre, bending to praise the drawings of several children armed with colouring pencils in a brightly-decorated classroom, before receiving presents and kisses from other youngsters. - Fraught ties - Ties between Germany and Turkey are strained following President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's warning that the deal to curb the migrant flow to Europe would fall through if the EU did not keep up its end of the bargain by allowing visa-free travel for Turkish citizens. The bloc promised to present a visa recommendation on May 4 if Ankara complies with its side of the accord, but there has been growing unease in Europe over fears that security concerns are being fudged to fast-track Turkey's application. US President Barack Obama on Saturday hailed Merkel's "courageous" leadership in handling the Syrian refugee crisis. But Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban said the EU had "sold out to Turkey" and the consequences were "impossible to predict", adding: "The security of the European Union cannot be in the hands of a power outside the EU." The success of the deal, which has sharply reduced the number of people crossing from Turkey to Greece, was also called into question, with the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) saying the numbers were "once again ticking up". Merkel had said the Turkey visit was a chance to take stock of the implementation of the migrant deal and discuss the next steps, as well as evaluate conditions on the ground for those who have fled the devastating five-year war in Syria. Judith Sunderland, Human Rights Watch's acting deputy director for Europe, said that instead of "touring a sanitized refugee camp", the delegation "should go to the detention centre for people who were abusively deported from Greece". - Refugee schools, hospitals - "We have schools and hospitals, life is good here," Mohamed Tomos, 49, who fled Damascus with his wife and four children and now lives with them in Nizip 2, told AFP. "But we want to know what our future holds. If the war ended today, tomorrow I would go to Syria," he said. The leaders will wind up the visit with a joint press conference with Turkey's Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu. Many in Europe will be watching closely to see if the delegation takes a stand against the deterioration of rights. Tusk set the tone for a confrontational visit on Friday, when he insisted "our freedoms, including freedom of expression, will not be subject to any political bargaining. This message must be heard by President Erdogan." His comments came as Turkish scholars and journalists, who have criticised the state's policies on Kurds and Syria, stood trial in Istanbul accused of betraying the state. The cases have sounded alarm bells over the growing restrictions on free speech under Erdogan and increased pressure on Merkel to show more spine after allowing a German comedian to be prosecuted for a crude poem about the Turkish leader. She was taunted Friday by one of the reporters on trial, Can Dundar, editor in chief of an opposition daily, who wrote an open letter saying Germany was "on the wrong side" and asking: "Will you again pretend there is no repression here?" Migrants and refugees: the routes to Europe Kun TIAN, Thomas SAINT-CRICQ (AFP) German Chancellor Angela Merkel (C) and Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu (back) talk with refugees during a visit to a camp on April 23, 2016 on the Turkish-Syrian border in Gaziantep Sailors aboard the German navy support ship Bonn keep watch in the Aegean Sea, off the Turkish coast John MacDougall (POOL/AFP) Darfur votes for five-state status quo: referendum chief Sudan said on Saturday almost 98 percent of Darfur voters favoured maintaining the war-torn region as five states in a referendum that faced international criticism and an opposition boycott. The referendum on whether to unite Darfur into a single autonomous region was held over three days between April 11 and 13. Darfur referendum commission chief Omar Ali Jamaa announced at a press conference that of those who took part, "97.72 percent voted for five states". The referendum on whether to unite Darfur into a single autonomous region was held between April 11 and 13 Ashraf Shazly (AFP) "Of 3,535,281 registered voters, 3,207,596 cast their votes" in a referendum that was monitored by international observers including the Arab League and the African Union, he said. A united Darfur with greater autonomy has long been a demand of ethnic minority insurgents battling the Khartoum government of President Omar al-Bashir since 2003, but they boycotted the vote, calling it unfair. Washington had also voiced concern, warning that the referendum "held under current rules and conditions... cannot be considered a credible expression of the will of the people". Rebel groups had questioned how displaced would vote, and residents of three camps for internally displaced people in central Darfur also protested against it. "We don't acknowledge the result of this referendum," Mohamed Abdelrahman, spokesman for the Sudan Liberation Army, told AFP from Uganda by phone. "It does not express the opinion of Darfur people as those who have been displaced and are living in camps and other parts of Sudan boycotted it." Bashir, whose ruling National Congress Party supports the five-state system, had insisted the ballot take place as stipulated in a 2011 peace agreement signed with some rebel groups. Darfur was a single region until 1994 when the government split it into three states, and later added another two in 2012, claiming it would make local government more efficient. Clashes between troops and the Sudan Liberation Army led by Abdulwahid Nur in the Jebel Marra mountain range in the heart of Darfur have forced at least 100,000 people from their homes since mid-January, the United Nations says. Ethnic minority rebels in Darfur mounted an insurgency against Khartoum's Arab-dominated government of Bashir -- who is wanted for alleged war crimes in the conflict -- complaining of marginalisation. More than 2.5 million people displaced by the conflict live in the vast region of western Sudan and 300,000 have been killed in the conflict, according to UN figures. Israeli fighters scramble to intercept undeclared airliner Israel scrambled fighter planes Saturday to intercept an unidentified passenger aircraft entering its airspace and escorted it to land at Tel Aviv, the Israeli military told AFP. Israeli media reported that the aircraft turned out to be an Air Sinai flight from Cairo to Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion airport. "Earlier this morning, two Israel Air Force aircraft accompanied a foreign aircraft planning to land at Ben Gurion airport which did not identify itself when entering Israeli airspace," a military spokeswoman said. Air Sinai pilots new to the route on April 23, 2016, failed to go through the usual radio identification procedure when approaching Tel Aviv from Cairo Saul Loeb (AFP/File) "The aircraft landed safely at Ben Gurion airport as planned," she added, without giving further details. An Egyptian aviation ministry official said that the pilot of the Boeing 737 had given the necessary notification to Cypriot authorities as he flew through their airspace but they were slow to pass it on to Israel. "Given that the Cypriot air traffic control was late in providing Israeli air traffic control with the plane's identification, an Israeli Air Force jet intercepted the plane," a ministry official told reporters, adding that the airliner had since returned to Cairo. Last month, an EgyptAir domestic flight was hijacked and forced to land on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus, where an Egyptian is currently in custody awaiting extradition proceedings. And in what Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has acknowledged as a jihadist bombing, a Russian plane crashed in the Sinai Peninsula in October killing all 224 people on board. Israeli public radio said that in Saturday's incident the Air Sinai aircraft was flown by pilots new to the route and unfamiliar with the usual radio identification procedure when approaching Israel. "The Egyptian company was asked to make the procedures clear to its pilots," the broadcaster said. News website Ynet, however, said the pilot's radio silence was "apparently due to a technical fault". IS claims killing of Bangladesh university professor A university professor was hacked to death by attackers armed with machetes in northwestern Bangladesh on Saturday, a killing claimed by Islamic State jihadists and echoing the murders of several secular bloggers. The assailants almost beheaded English professor Rezaul Karim Siddique, 58, when they attacked him from behind as he walked to the bus station from his home in the city of Rajshahi, police said. "By examining the nature of the attack, we suspect that it was carried out by extremist groups," Rajshahi Metropolitan Police commissioner Mohammad Shamsuddin told AFP. A man holds a portrait of Bangladeshi professor Rezaul Karim Siddique, who was hacked to death by unidentified attackers in Rajshahi on April 23, 2016 Md. Abdullah Iqbal (AFP) The Islamic State (IS) group claimed the murder of Siddique, the fourth professor from Rajshahi University to be killed by Islamists. Militants have also targeted secular bloggers and students in a string of murders that has sparked outrage and raised fears freedom of speech is under threat in Muslim-majority Bangladesh. "Islamic State fighters assassinate(d) a university teacher for calling to atheism in the city of Rajshahi in Bangladesh," IS's Amaq news agency said. Shamsuddin said police had not yet named any suspects, but the pattern of the attack fitted with previous killings by Islamist militants. People close to Siddique said he had never spoken out against religion, but he may have been targeted for his role in leading music and literature groups. "As far as I know, my husband didn't have any personal enmity with anyone," his wife, Hosne Ara, told the BBC. Hundreds of university students held protests after news of the murder, marching on the campus and shouting slogans demanding the arrest of the attackers, said local police chief Humayun Kabir. "The students were shocked at the latest brutal killing of their teachers," Mostafiz Mishu, a student who witnessed the protests, told AFP. "Some 500 of them shouted slogans and joined the marches calling for protection of all teachers and exemplary punishment for the killers." Homegrown Islamist militants have been blamed for killing several secular bloggers and online activists since 2013, most recently in the capital Dhaka early this month. Eight members of banned Islamist group Ansarullah Bangla Team, including a top cleric said to be its founder, were convicted late last year for the murder of atheist blogger Ahmed Rajib Haider. - 'Gruesome pattern' - Sakhawat Hossain, a friend and colleague of Siddique at the university, said he used to play the tanpura, a musical instrument popular in South Asia, and wrote poems and short stories. "He used to lead a cultural group called Komol Gandhar and edit a bi-annual literary magazine with the same name. But he never wrote or spoke against religion in public," Hossain told AFP. Nahidul Islam, a deputy commissioner of police, said Siddique was involved in several cultural programmes and had set up a music school at Bagmara, a former bastion of an outlawed Islamist group Jamayetul Mujahideen Bangladesh. "The attack is similar to the ones carried out on (atheist) bloggers in the recent past," Islam said, adding nobody had been arrested yet. Champa Patel, Amnesty International's South Asia director, condemned the latest killing as "inexcusable", saying it was part of a "gruesome pattern". "The authorities must do more to put an end to these killings. Not a single person has been brought to justice for the attacks over the past year," Patel said. A long-running political crisis in Bangladesh, which is majority Sunni Muslim but officially secular, has radicalised opponents of the government and analysts say Islamist extremists pose a growing danger. Bangladesh authorities have consistently denied that international Islamist networks such as Al-Qaeda or IS, which has claimed responsibility for the murders of minorities and foreigners, are active in the country. Ansar al-Islam, a Bangladesh branch of Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent, this month claimed responsibility for the murder of a 26-year-old law student killed on the streets of Dhaka, according to US monitoring group SITE. Police, however, blamed the Ansarullah group for the murder. People gather around the body of Bangladeshi professor Rezaul Karim Siddique after he was hacked to death by unidentified attackers in Rajshahi on April 23, 2016 Md. Abdullah Iqbal (AFP) Rajshahi University teachers march during a rally to protest against the death of the university professor Shafiul Islam, in November 2014 - (AFP/File) US warns North Korea over latest missile test North Korea's test Saturday of what appeared to be a submarine-launched ballistic missile was "a clear violation" of UN Security Council resolutions, the United States said, warning it was watching intently. The missile flew 30 kilometres (18 miles) but the launch in the Sea of Japan was believed to have failed, the South Korean defense ministry said. "We closely monitor North Korean activities and the situation on the Korean peninsula, especially North Korean military activities," US State Department spokesman John Kirby said in a statement. North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un (centre) inspects a submarine in 2014 "Launches using ballistic missile technology are a clear violation of multiple UN Security Council resolutions. "We call on North Korea to refrain from actions that further destabilize the region and focus instead on taking concrete steps toward fulfilling its commitments and international obligations." North Korea has been pushing to acquire submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) capability that would take its nuclear strike threat to a new level, allowing deployment far beyond the Korean peninsula and the potential to retaliate in the event of a nuclear attack. It has conducted a number of what it says were successful SLBM tests, but experts question the claim, suggesting Pyongyang had gone little further than a "pop-up" test from a submerged platform. S.Africa opposition targets disillusioned voters ahead of polls South Africa's main opposition party launched its campaign Saturday for August municipal elections by targeting black voters disillusioned with the African National Congress (ANC) that has ruled since apartheid. "In 2016, the face of poverty is still black," Democratic Alliance (DA) party head Mmusi Maimane told tens of thousands of supporters at a Johannesburg rally. "And this is why it is true when we say: The ANC governs as if black lives don't matter." South Africa main opposition party Democratic Alliance leader Mmusi Maimane addresses supporters at a rally on April 23, 2016 in Johannesburg Gianluigi Guercia (AFP) The DA hopes to make major gains in the municipal elections set for August 3, tapping into widespread discontent over South Africa's dire economy and embattled President Jacob Zuma. DA already governs the city and province of Cape Town and has been working to erase the image that it favours the white minority in the nation of some 52 million. Maimane told supporters to use the vote to send a message about the state of the nation. "It is a referendum on the future of our country," he said. "The election is an opportunity to send a message to President Zuma and the ANC that we are sick and tired of their lies." Zuma has faced a chorus of demands to step down after the Constitutional Court ruled last month that he failed to uphold the constitution by refusing an ombudswoman's orders to repay money spent on upgrading his private home. The affair has become a symbol of alleged corruption and greed within the ANC, which has ruled since Nelson Mandela came to power in 1994 after the end of apartheid. "We have seen an increase in corruption, starting at the very top," Maimane said. DA is aiming to overtake the ANC in Johannesburg, Port Elizabeth in the south and the administrative capital Pretoria, three major cities where it won 30-40 percent of the vote in the last municipal vote in 2011. South Africa's main opposition party, the Democratic Alliance (DA) hopes to make major gains in municipal elections set for August 3, tapping into widespread discontent over the country's dire economy and embattled its President Jacob Zuma Gianluigi Guercia (AFP) Turkey 'best example for world on how to treat refugees': Tusk European Council head Donald Tusk heaped high praise on Turkey for its reception of Syrian refugees on Saturday, saying the country served as "the best example" in the world on caring for those fleeing war. "Today Turkey is the best example for the whole world (on) how we should treat refugees," he said at a press conference following a visit with German Chancellor Angela Merkel to a refugee centre in the country. "This is not only a political and formal assessment... this is also my very private and personal feeling," he said. Visa deal or no migrant deal, Turkey warns EU Turkey stood its ground over the contentious issue of visa-free travel for its citizens on Saturday, warning German Chancellor Angela Merkel and top EU officials it would stop taking back migrants from Europe if the bloc failed to keep its word. "The issue of the visa waiver is vital for Turkey," Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said at a joint news conference with Merkel, European Council head Donald Tusk and European Commission Vice President Frans Timmermans. The leaders were in southeast Turkey for a high-stakes visit aimed at boosting a six-billion-euro ($6.7 billion) deal to return migrants arriving on Greek shores to Turkey. The deal has been plagued by moral and legal concerns. German Chancellor Angela Merkel (R) and Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu (L) give a press conference after visiting the Nizip refugee camp in Gaziantep on April 23, 2016 If Ankara meets its side of the agreement, the European Commission has promised to recommend next month that EU states approve visa-free travel for Turks. But there has been growing unease in Europe over fears that security concerns are being fudged to fast-track Turkey's application. Davutoglu said the key to tackling the migrant crisis lies in "closer cooperation, and for us part of that closer cooperation is the visa liberalisation... Those two go hand in hand." Merkel replied that she "intends to fulfill the agreement, provided Turkey brings the results" to the table. Ankara must meet 72 conditions to earn the visa waiver and is believed to have fulfilled about half. - Readmission deal at stake - Asked what Turkey would do if the EU tried to delay the visa part of the accord, Davutoglu said Ankara would stop taking back migrants. "If that were to happen then the readmission agreement will also not enter into force," he said. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had already warned at the start of the week that the deal would fall through if the EU did not come through on visas. Some 325 migrants have been returned to Turkey from the Greek islands since the agreement came into force on March 20, mostly from Pakistan and Afghanistan. The deal has already sharply reduced the number of people crossing from Turkey to Greece, though the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) has said the numbers are "once again ticking up", possibly as smugglers get more creative. Merkel, Tusk and Timmermans had earlier visited the Nizip 2 camp near Gaziantep on the Turkish-Syrian border, where they spoke to some of the 5,000 people, including 1,900 children, who live in rows of white and beige prefabricated houses. The European leaders were keen to show how funds are helping Turkey improve conditions for the 2.7 million refugees the country is hosting -- though critics have pointed out the majority live in poverty far from the official camps. They inaugurated an EU-funded child protection centre, receiving gifts from children, and seemed keen to keep their ally in the migrant crisis sweet, with Tusk saying Turkey was "the best example for the whole world" on how to treat refugees. Judith Sunderland, Human Rights Watch's acting deputy director for Europe, had earlier said that instead of "touring a sanitized refugee camp", Merkel "should go to the detention centre for people who were abusively deported from Greece". - Safe zones - Merkel said she had talked with Davutoglu about creating "safe zones... along the Turkish-Syrian border", saying it "has to be of the utmost immediate importance also in our negotiations for a ceasefire" in the conflict-hit country. Many in Europe had been watching closely to see if the delegation would take a stand against the deterioration of rights in Turkey. Tusk had set the tone for a confrontational visit on Friday, when he insisted "our freedoms, including freedom of expression, will not be subject to any political bargaining. This message must be heard by President Erdogan." But the leaders refused Saturday to be drawn, with Merkel saying simply that they had "talked frankly" about it. "We have always underlined... that values like freedom of the press of freedom of expression are for us inalienable", she said. Turkish scholars and journalists, who have criticised government policies on Kurds and Syria, are on trial accused of betraying the state in cases that have sounded alarm bells over growing restrictions on free speech under Erdogan. Merkel has drawn heat for allowing a German comedian to be prosecuted for a crude poem about the Turkish leader. She was taunted Friday by one of the reporters on trial, Can Dundar, editor in chief of an opposition newspaper, who wrote an open letter saying Germany was "on the wrong side" and asking: "Will you again pretend there is no repression here?" German Chancellor Angela Merkel talks with refugee children at a preschool, during a visit to a refugee camp on April 23, 2016 German Chancellor Angela Merkel (C), European Council head Donald Tusk (2R) and Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu (2L) talk with children at a preschool, during a visit to a refugee camp on April 23, 2016 in Gaziantep Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu (L) gives a high five to a child at a preschool during a visit to a refugee camp on April 23, 2016 With mythic vaults, Prince could also be prolific posthumously Prince was legendarily prolific over his four-decade career and even death may not stop him, with the pop icon storing a massive stash of unreleased work in his vaults. But the question of who decides on future releases will not be simple as Prince, who died suddenly Thursday at age 57, had no known children, no current spouse, no living parents and fiercely guarded his own creative control like few other artists. The Purple One possessed an insatiable appetite to make music, even giving pagers to his backup musicians and keeping engineers on shifts so he could record at any time of day in sessions that could last more than 24 hours straight. Prince performs on October 11, 2009 at the Grand Palais in Paris Bertrand Guay (AFP/File) Prince, in a 2014 interview with Rolling Stone that was only published after his death, not only confirmed a long-rumored vault of music at his Paisley Park compound in Minnesota, but said he had several of them. "I've never said this before, but I didn't always give the record companies the best song. There are songs in the vault that no one's ever heard," he said. Prince said he kept a "ton of stuff" in the vaults, including full unreleased albums, among them two made with The Revolution, his funky and diverse band with which he made the classic "Purple Rain." As with so much about Prince, his rationale kept people guessing. But he hinted that he wanted to create a historical record, with future releases bringing together the best tracks -- both smash hits and obscurities -- from periods of his career. "He was like a funnel. It was as if somebody was pouring these songs into him and they would just continue to come out from the other end like a water spigot that wouldn't turn off," music executive Alan Leeds, who headed Prince's Paisley Park Records, told the BBC in a 2015 documentary. Brent Fischer, a composer who long worked with Prince, estimated in the documentary that 70 percent of the recorded music went unreleased. - Flurry of albums - Prince's compulsion to produce constantly triggered one of the most famous label feuds in music history. When Warner Brothers tried to rein him in, Prince changed his name to the unpronounceable "love symbol" and wrote "slave" on his cheek to protest his contractual obligations. Prince reconciled in 2014 with Warner but he soon discovered an outlet that delighted him -- streaming. Prince last year announced a deal with rap mogul Jay-Z's service Tidal, calling the Internet platform "freedom" as he was able to release an album within 90 days of meeting the hip-hop entrepreneur. In a sign that the stamina-driven artist was not expecting to die, his 39th and final studio album -- "HITnRUN: Phase Two," released by Tidal in December -- comes off as an anti-climax. In contrast to rock legend David Bowie, who released the intricate "Blackstar" two days before his death in January from an unannounced battle with cancer, Prince was unlikely to consider "HITnRUN: Phase Two" a career-closer. A sequel to "HITnRUN: Phase One," named after Prince's tours in which he schedules shows at the last minute, the album featured several songs already in the public realm, including the danceable and ultra-sexy "Xtraloveable," which he had been playing since 1982 without formally releasing it. - Major sales prospects - Posthumous recordings are a major business. Prince's contemporary and sometime rival Michael Jackson has twice entered the top five on the US charts since his 2009 death with albums of previously unreleased material. And Elvis Presley, who died in 1977, returned to number one on the British chart last year with an album of archived vocals accompanied by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Bob Fuchs, manager of The Electric Fetus, a Minneapolis record store of which Prince was fond, said that customers were hoping to hear more music soon. "Everyone is absolutely dying for some of that stuff to come out," he said. But Sheila E., Prince's musical collaborator and former romantic partner, said the music should stay in the vaults as the artist always made his own decisions. "He worked with whomever he wanted, and if he had wanted those released, he would have released them," she told Fox News Latino. As for Prince himself, he was cryptic when asked in the 2014 interview whether he wanted the vaults opened when he was "gone." "No, I don't think about gone. I just think about in the future when I don't want to speak in real time." A Prince portrait and flowers left by fans outside the Paisley Park compound in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on April 23, 2016 Mark Ralston (AFP) Prince performs on stage during his concert at the Parc des Princes stadium in Paris on June 16, 1990 Bertrand Guay (AFP/File) Nepal marks one year since quake as frustration mounts Thousands of Nepalis grieved Sunday for their loved ones killed in a massive earthquake a year ago, as protesting victims still living in tents accused the government of failing them. Mourners carrying candles and Nepali flags packed into Kathmandu's badly damaged historic square to pray and to mark the anniversary of the quake that ripped through the impoverished country, killing almost 9,000 people. Thousands more were left injured in the 7.8-magnitude quake that triggered avalanches and landslides across the Himalayan nation and flattened whole villages. Portraits of earthquake victims are lined up as Buddhist monks offer prayers near Durbar Square, to mark the first anniversary of the 2015 Nepal earthquake, in Kathmandu, on April 24 Prakash Mathema (AFP) "It is emotional to be here... it feels good to come together like this," said Ajay Adhikari, a 26-year-old artist who lost his grandfather in the disaster. "Tonight is a chance to pay tribute to him," Adhikari told AFP as he joined the crowds for a candle-light vigil in Kathmandu Durbar Square, which was lit up with traditional butter lamps. Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli earlier laid flowers at a destroyed 19th-century tower in Kathmandu, while Buddhist monks in maroon robes held prayers at the site of another popular, now-destroyed temple. Despite the solemn occasion, frustration against authorities flared Sunday, with around 100 protesters marching towards government offices in the capital to demand faster reconstruction efforts. - Temporary shelters - About four million survivors still live in temporary shelters across the country one year on from the quake, according to the Red Cross. Chhuldim Samden, a 21-year-old student, said she was fed up of waiting for help as she and her family struggle to survive in a shack. "Even after one year, so many people are staying in tents, we are still living in a shack," Samden told AFP as she took part in the protest. "Where did all the donations go?" Although international donors pledged $4.1 billion to aid Nepal's recovery, political wrangling over control of the funds and delays in setting up the National Reconstruction Authority mean most victims have received nothing beyond an initial small payout. Following a storm of criticism, the government has vowed to kickstart the reconstruction of schools and hospitals and speed up the distribution of the first $500 instalment of a $2,000 payout promised to homeless survivors. Trekking guide Govinda Timilsina told AFP his life has been on hold since losing his house. He has been unable to rebuild his home himself because of the government's complex rules over qualifying for quake aid. "The government rules were so confusing, we were scared we would not get compensation if we started work on our own," said Timilsina. - 'Remember us survivors' - Apart from the damage to hundreds of thousands of homes nationwide, the disaster reduced more than a hundred monuments to rubble and damaged another 560 structures, including centuries-old temples and royal palaces in the Kathmandu valley that attracted visitors from around the world. In the historic town of Bhaktapur, many of the traditional brick houses that made it famous have been replaced by grey tents and rusty tin shacks where women like Laxmi Nyapit are now forced to raise their children. "Unless we get help, I don't know how we will ever live in a house again," the mother-of-three told AFP while sitting in her tent, which houses a bed and a stove. Nyapit, who has received just $150 from the government, said memorial ceremonies meant little. "They have to remember those who died, but first they have to remember us survivors and come here to help us," said the 40-year-old, who earns 35 rupees (32 US cents) a day from knitting gloves. "If our government cared, we would not be living like this after a year." The disaster struck on April 25 but commemorations were being held on Sunday -- the quake anniversary according to the Nepali calendar. More than 1,200 health centres were also damaged and nearly 8,000 schools were destroyed or left unsafe, leaving almost one million children without classrooms. Tired of waiting, about 110,000 families have moved back into homes that are still at risk of collapse. More than 31,000 victims have also rebuilt their own houses, taking out loans or turning to charities for help. On top of the financial losses, pegged at $7 billion, the disaster also delivered a severe blow to Nepal's already weak economy. A child runs near a demolished earthquake-damaged home in Dolakha as hundreds of thousands of Nepali earthquake survivors still languish in temporary shelters one year after the disaster Prakash Mathema (AFP/File) Rescue personnel search for survivors after an earthquake in Bhaktapur, on the outskirts of Kathmandu, on April 27, 2015 (top) and the same spot seen on April 22, 2016 Prakash Mathema (AFP/File) Senior commander from Syria rebel group killed: monitor A senior commander in Syria's powerful Islamist Ahrar al-Sham rebel group was killed Saturday night in a suicide bombing in Idlib province, a monitoring group said. "Ahrar al-Sham chief of staff Majed Hussein Al Sadeq was killed with three other fighters from the group in a suicide attack against its headquarters in Binnish town," northeast of Idlib city, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. "An unknown person parked his motorcycle near the headquarters then walked into a group of Ahrar al-Sham fighters and detonated his explosive belt," the observatory said. An image grab taken from a propaganda video in 2013 by Syria's Islamist Ahrar al-Sham group shows its members taking part in a training session at an undisclosed location in Syria It was unclear who was responsible for the attack. Sadeq, also known as Islam Abou Hussein, was a Syrian army officer who defected to join the opposition. He held several posts in Ahrar al-Sham before becoming its chief of staff. Ahrar al-Sham is one of Syria's most powerful rebel groups, founded in 2011 and financed by Turkey and Gulf states, according to experts. School board chairman accused of cheating on GED resigns BARBOURVILLE, Ky. (AP) The chairman of a Kentucky school board who is accused of cheating on a GED exam has resigned from the board. The Mountain Advocate in Barbourville (http://bit.ly/1qGT0cI ) reports that Knox County school board chairman Dexter Smith resigned Friday. Smith, who dropped out of high school at 17, signed up to take the GED exam in hopes of settling a controversy about whether a diploma he bought online was real. But Kentucky State Police allege Smith had another person take the test for him. The Kentucky Department of Education requires that school board members have a high school diploma or GED. Trooper Shane Jacobs said Smith signed a statement declaring he met the requirements when he ran for office three years ago. Boise's refugee resettlement program seen as a success BOISE, Idaho (AP) The success of Boise's refugee resettlement program has attracted international attention. German professionals, public officials and volunteers kicked off a two-day visit to Boise on Friday to learn about how the city welcomes and integrates refugees. Germany is among the many European countries that has seen dramatic increases in refugees due to a growing international migration crisis. In 2015, Germany saw around a million refugees cross into their country. "We have a lot of hate," said Petra Verhees, who lives in a small town in eastern Germany. "This is a new problem for us. We have 3,000 residents and we received 300 refugees. It's very important to find programs to integrate migrants from day one." Verhees said it's difficult to even address basic services like transportation or education for refugees while also keeping the backlash at a minimum. Her town doesn't have a bus system and children have to either walk or take a taxi to get to school, while the city council is largely opposed to any refugee resettlement efforts. Not every city has had negative experiences though. In Mannheim, with around 300,000 people, a flood of 15,000 refugees went fairly smoothly with little resistance from the rest of the community, said Jutta Breitner, who works for the city. "It's not all bright and shiny," she said. "Many people fear they will lose something. We are doing our best, but it's not always easy." Meanwhile, in Idaho, opposition to refugee resettlement has grown over the past year as part of the national debate over the vetting of refugees fleeing war-torn Syria and particularly following deadly terrorist attacks in San Bernardino, California, and Paris. The two-day tour is part of a recently launched exchange program called the Welcoming Communities Transatlantic Exchange that helps educate officials in various countries strategize best practices for refugee resettlement. Four cities in the United States were selected to participate in the program: Boise, St. Louis, Atlanta and Columbus, Ohio. In September, refugee officials from those cities will travel to Germany. Boise's tour highlighted efforts to work with the refugee community as part of its city planning, as well as looking at how public schools integrate incoming refugee children and learning how resettlement offices work with companies to quickly find jobs for refugees. Idaho has been resettling refugees since the 1970s. The effort originally focused on people fleeing Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos following the end of the Vietnam War, and then expanded to those escaping Soviet regimes in eastern Europe. As the amount of refugees needing help increased, so did Idaho's resettlement programs. The Twin Falls center opened five years after the Boise center was founded. News Guide: Real-life 'Bernie' murder case ends in repeat DALLAS (AP) A funeral director in small-town East Texas befriends a widow 40 years his senior at her husband's funeral, spends her money freely, then in 1996 shoots her and hides her body in a freezer for nine months. Bernie Tiede's case could have been written for Hollywood. And when a movie did get made about it, the resulting attention got him out of a life prison sentence. For three weeks, the real-life case featured in the 2011 dark comedy "Bernie" has been in a courtroom for an unusual trial to determine a new sentence. Instead, a jury from a neighboring county returned late Friday night with the same sentence as the previous jury had slapped on him 99 years to life in prison. Bernie Tiede, left, stands in court during day nine of his new sentencing trial, on Monday, April 18, 2016, at the Rusk County Justice Center in Henderson, Texas. Tiede was convicted in 1999 of killing Marjorie Nugent, a widow more than 40 years his senior whom he befriended in Carthage. He was sentenced to life in prison but freed after a prosecutor said he believed Tiede deserved a reduced prison sentence because of abuse he suffered as a child. Jurors could now send him back to prison or let him remain free. (Michael Cavazos/Longview News Journal via AP, Pool) The movie's director has portrayed Tiede as a gentle baby sitter who made one huge mistake. But prosecutors say he was a two-faced thief who stole millions of dollars from an unsuspecting 81-year-old widow before shooting her in cold blood. Here's a rundown of the case: ___ THE MURDER Tiede was a mortician at the Hawthorn Funeral Home in Carthage, Texas, a town of about 7,000 about 150 miles east of Dallas. Marjorie Nugent was more than 40 years Tiede's senior. The two met at her husband's funeral in 1990 and became close friends. They took lavish vacations abroad, and Tiede became known around town for the gifts he gave himself and local residents using Nugent's money. In 1996, Tiede shot Nugent four times in the back with a .22-caliber rifle, then hid her body in a freezer next to packages of frozen meat, pecans and corn. He carried on for nine months as if Nugent was still alive before authorities searched her home and found her body. After an initial mistrial, jurors in 1999 took less than an hour to convict him of murder. He received a life sentence. ___ THE MOVIE AND HIS RELEASE The movie "Bernie" helped Tiede win his release more than a decade later. Adapted from a Texas Monthly story, "Bernie" portrays Tiede as a quirky, friendly man who sings in the church choir, helps local residents start businesses and is beloved by a small, insular community. The movie is less charitable toward his victim, Nugent. Played by Shirley MacLaine, Nugent comes off as a crotchety, withdrawn scold disliked by most of the townspeople, some of whom appear in the film. Nugent's family has long protested how the widow is presented in the movie. "My grandmother was a real person," her granddaughter, Shanna Nugent, said in a 2014 interview. "She can't defend herself, and the reason she can't is Bernie Tiede killed her." Austin attorney Jodi Cole saw "Bernie" and began investigating the case. She argued Tiede had been sexually abused as a child and felt trapped in a mentally abusive relationship with Nugent, leading him to experience a "dissociative episode" when he shot her in the back. Danny Buck Davidson, the prosecutor who won Tiede's original conviction, agreed with her arguments that Tiede's case merited a maximum 20-year sentence instead of the life sentence he received. A judge let Tiede out of prison in 2014. ___ THE NEW TRIAL Two prosecutors from the Texas attorney general's office took over for Davidson. Their witnesses included Nugent's granddaughter, who helped discover Nugent's body. According to Tyler television station KLTV, the actual freezer was wheeled into the courtroom briefly. A financial expert testified that Tiede took a total of $3.8 million from Nugent during the course of their friendship, including after her death. And a forensics expert testified that he believed Nugent had been shot at least once while she was face down on the ground. The defense called a psychiatrist, Dr. Richard Pesikoff, who said the shooting was "a strange, unpredictable event brought on by intense emotional experiences," according to The Dallas Morning News. Among those experiences, Pesikoff said, were claims that Nugent berated Tiede, made him shave her legs, and had him massage her back. The defense also called an uncle who Tiede has accused of sexually abusing him. The uncle denied those allegations on the witness stand, according to The Dallas Morning News and KLTV. Also testifying was Richard Linklater, the Texas native who made the movie. Linklater had let Tiede live with him in Austin since he was released from his sentence on bond, and said Tiede baby-sits his children and watches his pets. "I think he's an incredibly nice, generous man who did a horrible thing 17-plus years ago," Linklater said, according to KLTV. "I consider him a friend and so does my family." Tiede did not testify. ___ Rubio says he's not interested in being vice president MIAMI (AP) Former Republican presidential candidate Marco Rubio says he has no interest in being vice president and has no plans to endorse any presidential candidate. But, he says, he will support "whoever is nominated and named by the party." In a wide-ranging interview with "Al Punto Florida," a new Spanish-language public affairs program to air statewide in Florida Sunday morning, Rubio said "I will let voters decide what will happen." "I will support whoever is nominated and named by the party. I, at this time, don't plan to get involved in the contest," he says, according to an interview transcript. FILE - In this March 14, 2016, file photo, then-Republican presidential candidate Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., speaks during a campaign rally at Palm Beach Atlantic University in West Palm Beach, Fla. Rubio says he has no interest in being vice president and has no plans to endorse any presidential candidate. But, he says, he will support "whoever is nominated and named by the party. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya, File) Nebraska researchers test new firefighting tool _ drones BEATRICE, Neb. (AP) Researchers in Nebraska tested a new tool on Friday that could eventually help in fighting grass fires drones. A team from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln flew an unmanned aircraft over the prairie at the Homestead National Monument of America on Friday, dropping ping pong-like balls filled with a chemical mixture to ignite brush-clearing grass fires. Local and federal officials are interested in the technology because it could help clear overgrown vegetation in rugged, hard-to-reach terrain, said Michael Johnson, a spokesman for the National Park Service. A drone designed to ignite controlled grass fires comes in for a landing in a field at the Homestead Monument of America in Beatrice, Neb., on Friday, April 22, 2016. University of Nebraska-Lincoln researchers are testing the drone as a possible tool for firefighters. (AP Photo/Grant Schulte) The balls are filled with a chemical powder, potassium permanganate, before they're loaded into the drone. During flight, the aircraft pierces the ball with a needle and injects it with another chemical, glycol, before releasing it. The mixture ignites one to two minutes later. The technology is already used by helicopters to start controlled burns, but researchers note that the drone is cheaper and more portable. "You could afford one of these on the back of your fire truck, whereas you probably can't afford to have a full-sized helicopter parked at your fire station," said Carrick Detweiler, a member of the Nebraska research team. The drone, which is about two feet wide with six rotors is programmed to drop the balls in a preset pattern to control how the fire spreads. On Friday, the unmanned aircraft rose out of the grass and hummed toward the horizon through a smoky haze. Minutes later, it released the balls one at a time, sparking a series of small fires that quickly grew and merged into one. Researchers hope the technology eventually could be used to set controlled fires in hard-to-reach places that would clear out brush and small trees and make it more difficult for wildfires to sweep through an area. The drone is the fourth prototype created by the university's Nebraska Intelligent Mobile Unmanned Systems Laboratory. It carries up to 13 balls and drops them from roughly 65 feet in the air, and carries a little more than one pound of cargo. Depending on the software used, the drones developed so far have cost between $6,000 and $8,000 apiece, said Jim Higgins, an engineering graduate student who has helped with the project. Universities in Colorado, Pennsylvania and Switzerland are exploring similar technology. Higgins said researchers have had to work out some kinks. In earlier tests, the balls exploded. Another time, one caught fire before it was released from the drone. Another limiting factor is the wind. The lightweight drone could not be used in high winds, which sometimes stoke wildfires. Sebastian Elbaum, a computer science and engineering professor, said firefighters also could eventually use drones to find hotspots and gather other key information about wildfires. "It's very, very exciting stuff," Elbaum said. "Today, firefighters have maybe a shovel, maybe their gloves and their helmets. Imagine them having this in their backpack, pulling it out and telling it, 'Hey, go scout out there. Check whether it's hot. Check whether it's safe." The project began two years ago as a new way to prevent wildfires in Nebraska and other Plains and western states. During a severe drought in 2012, Nebraska saw 1,570 wildfires that burned a total of 786 square miles an expanse nearly seven times the size of Omaha. The combined costs of ground-level firefighting, aerial suppression and assistance from other states cost Nebraska more than $11 million that year. Researchers will use Friday's test to examine how fire crews might use drones in the future, said Brittany Duncan, an assistant computer science professor and member of the Nebraska team. "We want to know how we could display information to firefighters better," she said. A drone designed by University of Nebraska-Lincoln researchers to help start controlled grass fires sits ready for flight at the Homestead National Monument of America in Beatrice, Neb., on Friday, April 22, 2016. Researchers are testing the drone to see what improvements are needed. (AP Photo/Grant Schulte) University of Nebraska-Lincoln graduate student Jim Higgins displays the drone he helped create before its flight at the Homestead National Monument of America in Beatrice, Neb., on Friday, April 22, 2016. The drone drops ping-pong-sized balls intended to start brush-clearing grass fires. (AP Photo/Grant Schulte) Conor McGregor a no-show, and off of UFC 200 LAS VEGAS (AP) Conor McGregor's seat was vacant, and so now is his spot headlining the big UFC 200 card this summer. The Irish fighter was a no-show at a press conference Friday promoting the card, and UFC President Dana White said he would not meet Nate Diaz in a rematch on top of the July 9 card in Las Vegas. "You have to show up to promote the fight," White said. "It's part of the job. It's what we do here." UFC president Dana White speaks beside an empty chair where Conor McGregor was supposed to sit during a news conference for UFC 200, Friday, April 22, 2016, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher) Not to be outdone, McGregor tweeted that he respected the fact other fighters traveled to the press conference "but not everyone up there made the company ($)400 million the last 8 months." The dispute over promotional duties means UFC's biggest card of the year will be without McGregor, the wildly popular fighter who lost to Diaz last month in a major upset. Diaz indicated he might not fight, either, though White said he was looking for an opponent for him. "If it doesn't happen I'm going on vacation," Diaz said. White left a seat on the dais vacant at a press conference at the MGM Grand, though McGregor made it clear earlier this week that he wouldn't be attending. McGregor posted on Facebook that he couldn't afford the time he would need to leave his training camp in Iceland for a series of promotional appearances for the card. But White noted the fight was nearly three months away, and that UFC is spending $10 million to promote the card and needed McGregor to participate in the promotion. "People (other fighters on the card) came from Poland and Brazil. Is that fair?" White asked. "It sets a bad precedent. These guys came in from all over the world and they're here." McGregor had asked for a quick rematch with Diaz, after moving up in weight to lose to him in a fight he dominated early. The two signed contracts, but McGregor disrupted plans when he refused to travel to Las Vegas from Iceland to promote the bout. White said he is not angry with McGregor and expects him to fight again, just not on the landmark UFC 200 card that will be held at the new T-Mobile arena on the Las Vegas Strip. He said McGregor could fight the winner of the bout between Jose Aldo and Frankie Edgar, which is on the UFC 200 card. Also on the card is Miesha Tate, who upset Holly Holm last month and will meet Brazil's Amanda Nunes. White said it is also possible that light heavyweight Jon Jones could meet Daniel Cormier on the card if Jones wins his fight Saturday against Ovince Saint Preux. McGregor is the biggest pay-per-view attraction the UFC has, but White said the card will have plenty of attractive fights. He said he understands fans want to see McGregor on UFC 200, but that he had to take a stand. "It's an unpopular decision, but it's the right decision," White said. The press conference took place before the weigh-in for UFC 197, which features Jones vs. Saint Preux for the light heavyweight title and Demetrious Johnson against Henry Cejudo in a flyweight title bout. UFC president Dana White speaks during a news conference for UFC 200, Friday, April 22, 2016, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher) Mixed martial arts fighter Nate Diaz attends a news conference for UFC 200, Friday, April 22, 2016, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher) At Tribeca, virtual reality takes early steps toward art NEW YORK (AP) Walking through most doors at the Tribeca Film Festival means taking a seat in a theater full of chattering moviegoers. But there are also darkened, cloth-wrapped chambers like old carnival booths promising never-before-seen wonders that offer nothing but a headset, headphones and perhaps some advice, like: "Watch for the dragon." Virtual reality has steadily become more of a presence at film festivals, particularly at Tribeca. And the buzz at this year's Tribeca's "virtual arcade" was one of the festival's most vibrant hubs of frenzy, albeit one filled largely with neck-craning people in goggles going "Whoa." Tribeca's VR arcade an indoor bazaar of film-like tales, journalistic explorations and splendorous dream worlds ripe for immersion captures a burgeoning medium learning to walk. Most of the creators acknowledge these are just the first sometimes crude, sometimes dazzling steps toward art. But the belief is strong that these are the early gestures of a new immersive and interactive art form with eons of evolution to come. This image released by Baobab Studios shows a scene from the VR Film Invasion! which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York. (Baobab Studios via AP) "We're trying to build the airplane while we're in flight," says Eugene Chung, chief executive of Penrose Studios, a VR content maker Chung founded after working at Oculus Rift and Pixar Animation. Penrose's "Allumette" is one of the standouts at the festival. Set in a Venice-like city in the clouds, the 20-minute narrative is about a young girl and the magical matchsticks handed down to her by her mother. The viewer can walk around the city or dive inside a docked ship, but the power of "Allumette" is as much in its story as its novel technology. "For us, it's all about what is the authentic story that we want to tell," says Chung. "For me, especially with 'Allumette,' it was about thinking about the sacrifices that my own parents, especially my mom, made while we were growing up, working so hard to provide for us the kind of life she never had." Many of the installations play like virtual reality demos providing the chance to dive among the reef off Italy or sit front row at a Grateful Dead concert. But the most interesting ones are predicated on applying traditional storytelling to the tools of virtual reality. "Invasion!" is the creation of Eric Darnell and Maureen Fan of Baobab Studios. Darnell, a veteran feature film director (the "Madagascar" movies, "Antz") was watching "War of the Worlds" when he hit upon the idea of bumbling aliens coming down to earth while a curious white bunny looks on. "They're kind of buffoons. They didn't think of, like, microbes? They should know that right?" says Darnell of the "War of the Worlds" invaders. "I thought: What if you took that to the nth degree? Not only did they not think about microbes, they also didn't think of little white bunnies." "Invasion!" could probably work as an animated short, but the viewer has more intimacy with the film's furry protagonist. The bunny looks the viewer straight in the eye, and when the aliens deplane, you can't help but feel protective of the little one standing next to you. Besides, when you look down, you realize that you have bunny feet, too. "There's a lot to learn and there's a long way to go," Darnell says of VR. "But the holy grail for me to find that kind of emotional experience that we're all used to getting from more traditional storytelling." Darnell, accustom to the roar of packed movie theaters, acknowledges missing the communal aspect of film. But he became a quick convert to virtual reality. "It was putting the headset on for the first time. It's one of those things that's hard to talk about to somebody who hasn't worn a headset," says Darnell. "I wanted to see what we could do with storytelling, and the kind of storytelling I've been doing for the last 15, 20 years." The questions, though, are endless about the unique grammar of virtual reality some kind of combination of film and video games. How much should the viewer be a part of a story? How can you lay out a narrative while still giving the viewer freedom to explore? What should these creations be called, anyway? Chung feels an affinity with the first creators-technicians of cinema, like the Lumiere brothers and Georges Melies: hybrid inventors and storytellers. "We're trying to create this from scratch in many ways," says Chung. "We're trying to define this new language in the same way the early film pioneers basically needed to invent new things." "We have all this expertise, but we're not the boss here," he adds. "It's virtual reality that's the boss. Every day she tells you what works and what doesn't." ___ Follow AP Film Writer Jake Coyle on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/jakecoyleAP This image released by Baobab Studios shows a scene from the VR Film Invasion! which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York. (Baobab Studios via AP) No May court date for federal Bundy standoff case in Nevada LAS VEGAS (AP) There won't be a federal trial next month in Las Vegas for rancher Cliven Bundy and 18 other defendants in an armed confrontation with government officers two years ago. In a written ruling issued following a two-hour hearing in a courtroom crowded with defendants, attorneys, U.S. marshals and audience members, U.S. Magistrate Judge Peggy Leen essentially called a May 2 trial date unrealistic. She noted that none of the 19 defendants has received any of the evidence against him for review, and five defendants who've been in custody in Oregon were arraigned just last week. David Andersen, of Overton, Nev., holds a sign during a rally in support of rancher Cliven Bundy outside of the federal courthouse Friday, April 22, 2016, in Las Vegas. A U.S. magistrate judge is due to decide if trial will be held next month in Las Vegas for Bundy and 18 other defendants in an armed confrontation in Nevada with government agents two years ago.(AP Photo/John Locher) Her order didn't set a new date. Federal prosecutors want a trial date next February, due to the number of defendants and the exceptionally large amount of evidence they need to exchange with defense attorneys. Fourteen of the defendants say they want to exercise their right to a speedy trial. The indictment charges conspiracy, obstruction, weapon, threats and assault charges that could get each man the equivalent of life in prison in the standoff with federal agents about 80 miles northeast of Las Vegas. All are currently in federal custody. Friday was the first time all appeared in one courtroom together. Leen has yet to rule whether the case will be tracked as "complex." Prosecutor Steven Myhre put the amount of video to be turned over to defense attorneys at 1.4 terabytes an amount that defense attorney Julian Gregory, representing Todd Engel, compared to 3,000 full-length Hollywood movies. Myhre said the material includes hundreds of thousands of Facebook postings obtained by warrants, plus investigators' reports, photos and media accounts collected since the gunpoint showdown. The April 2014 incident pitted about 270 armed and unarmed Bundy backers against about 40 federal agents and cowboy contractors who backed down and gave up a cattle round-up near Bunkerville, Nevada. Seven co-defendants in the Nevada case also face a federal trial in September in Oregon following their arrests in an armed occupation of a U.S. wildlife refuge earlier this year. Myhre called it unfair to expect those seven to prepare for and defend themselves in two federal trials in separate states at the same time. Assistant Federal Public Defender Shari Kaufman, representing Ryan Payne, a defendant in both cases, said the defendants shouldn't be put at a disadvantage by prosecutors' decisions about when to indict them. "They waited almost two years to bring this case," she said of prosecutors. Art dealer pleads not guilty in $1 million embezzlement case LOS ANGELES (AP) A prominent Los Angeles art dealer pleaded not guilty Friday to three grand theft counts charging him with failing to pay more than $1 million to former Disney executive Michael Ovitz and another man for paintings he sold for them. Perry Rubenstein was ordered held on $1 million bail pending a further hearing next Friday. He was also ordered to return to court May 11 for a pretrial hearing. Prosecutors said Rubenstein sold two Richard Prince paintings for Ovitz in 2013 for more than $1 million, but never paid Ovitz. The former Walt Disney Co. president and co-founder of Creative Artists Agency later sued him. A year earlier, he is accused of selling a piece by Japanese artist Takashi Murakami for collector Michael Salke for $825,000 but paying Salke only $575,000. Rubenstein, 62, was arraigned on three counts of grand theft by embezzlement. "We deny all these allegations and look forward to clearing his name and getting his reputation back," Rubenstein's attorney, Stephen Sitkoff, told the Los Angeles Times (http://lat.ms/1SxTHi0 ). If convicted of all charges, Rubenstein faces a maximum of 15 years in prison. Salke told police he contracted with Rubenstein in 2011 to sell the Murakami scroll for $750,000, but he agreed to let it go for $630,000 when Rubenstein told him that was the offer he got. Rubenstein eventually paid Salke $575,000, according to the Times. The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation bought Murakami's "The World of Sphere," and it is now part of The Broad museum collection but is not on display. Rubenstein, who made his name as a New York art dealer, opened his Los Angeles gallery four years ago to much fanfare on the local art scene. Kasich: Primary voters having second thoughts about Trump GLASTONBURY, Conn. (AP) Republican presidential candidate John Kasich says he's seeing signs that some primary voters in states that have already voted may be having second thoughts about supporting Donald Trump. He urged more than 1,000 people at high school gymnasium in Glastonbury, Connect on Friday to help him win some delegates Tuesday so he can have greater standing at the national convention. Connecticut is one of five states holding its presidential primary Tuesday. A Quinnipiac (KWIHN'-ih-pee-ak) University Poll shows Trump at 48 percent, Kasich at 28 percent, and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz at 19 percent in the state. The poll's margin of sampling error is plus or minus 3.4 percentage points. Republican presidential candidate, Ohio Gov. John Kasich speaks during a campaign event, Friday, April 22, 2016, in Glastonbury, Conn. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill) Charges to be dismissed in Phoenix freeway shooting case PHOENIX (AP) The man authorities have described as the Phoenix freeway shooter who terrorized the city last year received a huge victory Friday with prosecutors deciding to dismiss all charges for now. Jerry Cobb, spokesman for Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery, said that the office filed a motion to dismiss the charges, which include carrying out a drive-by shooting, without prejudice against Leslie Merritt Jr. "In conjunction with (the Department of Public Safety), we have identified additional forensic investigation that needs to be completed in order for the case to proceed," Cobb said. FILE - In this Oct. 1, 2015 file photo, accused freeway shooter Leslie Allen Merritt, Jr., appears in Maricopa County Superior Court for his arraignment in Phoenix. Prosecutors have decided to dismiss charges against Merritt, Jr., suspected in the freeway shootings that rattled Phoenix last year. Maricopa County Attorneys Office spokesman Jerry Cobb said Friday, April 22, 2016 that the office filed a motion to dismiss all charges without prejudice against Leslie Merritt Jr. Cobb says authorities and prosecutors identified additional forensic investigation that needs to be completed in order for the case to proceed. (Tom Tingle/The Arizona Republic via AP, Pool, File) This action will allow them "the necessary time" to file charges again, Cobb added. He declined to comment further. Jason Lamm, a defense attorney representing Merritt, did not immediately return messages seeking comment. On his Twitter page, Lamm said that the gag order imposed by a judge is still in place until the charges are formally dismissed. The news comes amid questions about the evidence that the Arizona Department of Public Safety said links Merritt to the crimes. He was released from jail Tuesday after a judge reduced his bond once set at $1 million to zero. He was allowed to return home under electronic monitoring. Judge Warren Granville imposed the gag order. As a result, lawyers said they could not discuss the evidence that prompted the shift in bond. Defense attorneys have said ballistic tests cast doubt on authorities' claims that he was behind four of the freeway shootings. The investigation into the other shootings remains open. Although nobody was seriously injured, the shootings caused panic on Phoenix-area freeways, where 11 vehicles were hit in August and September of 2015. The head of the Department of Public Safety said the shootings were the work of a domestic terrorist, and authorities heightened patrols and surveillance in pursuit of a suspect. Detectives took Merritt into custody Sept. 18. Gov. Doug Ducey declared, "We got him!" on Twitter five minutes after the arrest. The governor's office issued a statement Friday acknowledging only that the case was not over. "This issue is working through the criminal justice system, where it remains under investigation by state and county authorities. We expect the case to be treated fairly," said Ducey's spokesman, Daniel Scarpinato. In court the next day, Merritt adamantly denied shooting any cars, telling the judge, "I'm the wrong guy." He pleaded not guilty to drive-by shooting, aggravated assault and other charges. His lawyers immediately began raising questions about the evidence, citing ballistics information and phone records they say provided an alibi for their client. Daughter says father made threats day before fatal shootings ATLANTA (AP) The daughter of a northeast Georgia man suspected of shooting five people to death before killing himself says her father was a "ticking time bomb." Lauren Hawes told The Associated Press on Saturday that she, her mother Angela Dent and her 1-year-old daughter hid in a neighbor's house barely escaping with their lives while her father, Wayne Anthony Hawes, 50, went on a bloody rampage and killed five people, including her grandmother and cousin. "He made threats before, but we never thought it would be at this capacity," Lauren Hawes said. "He's been kind of a ticking time bomb if you want to put in a few words." FILE - In this April 22, 2106, file photo provided by courtesy of WRDW/WAGT Augusta, Columbia County Sheriff deputies investigate the scene of a shooting in Appling, Ga. Officials say multiple people were killed in two shootings in northeastern Georgia. (Courtesy WRDW/WAGT Augusta via AP, File) Capt. Andy Shedd of the Columbia County Sheriff's Office said in a statement that the Friday night shootings stemmed from a domestic dispute that left three men and two women dead at two separate locations within about a mile of each other. The body of shooting suspect Hawes was recovered Saturday by authorities in his home in Appling. Lauren Hawes, 26, confirmed that the bloodshed was connected to a domestic dispute between her parents: her mother had walked out on her father just a week ago. Angela Dent had left before but this time, she took her possessions with her to prevent Hawes from destroying them as he had done in the past. After Dent's departure, Wayne Hawes bottomed out emotionally. "He's done things that were questionable in the past, but never to this extent. This is very surprising. We thought he could possibly hurt himself, but not others," said Lauren Hawes. The rampage began Friday evening, when sheriff deputies responded to a home at about 8 p.m. and found three victims. Authorities then were called to a second home nearby, where two other victims were found. "We believe the two shootings were related based on witness accounts," Shedd said. When authorities reached Hawes' house and entered, they found him dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. They also found evidence that he attempted to set the house on fire. The victims were identified as Roosevelt Burns, 75; Rheba Mae Dent, 85; Trequila Clark, 31; Lizzy Williams, 59; and her husband Shelly Williams, 62. One of the female victims died on the way to the hospital, Shedd said. The others were dead at the scene. "We believe some of the victims were related to the suspect's wife," Shedd said. Lauren Hawes said her parents had known each since they were teenagers, and had a common law marriage. Lauren Hawes said Rheba Mae Dent was her grandmother, and her cousin was Trequila Clark. She said her grandmother was retired and her cousin was a registered nurse, who graduated from Augusta State University in 2012. She said Roosevelt Burns was her grandmother's brother. She also said family knew the Williams family from church and while her dad wasn't much of a church-goer, he was neighborhood friends with Shelly Williams. Ola Murry of Appling in northeast Georgia said the neighborhood is still devastated by the events. Murray said she thought Hawes was a nice guy, but he made a "stupid" decision. She would see him around the neighborhood and he would often say hello while passing by. "I always thought he was a nice guy," Murray said. "I know he did what he did, but that doesn't make him a bad guy. You know, the devil gets into you sometimes and you do stupid stuff. You got to think. You always have to put the Lord in front of you, let him lead you and you won't go wrong." An investigation is ongoing. ___ This story has been corrected to fix the spelling of two of the victims' names from Kelia Clark to Trequila Clark and from Rebva Mae Dent to Rheba Mae Dent. This undated photo provided by courtesy of WRDW/WAGT Augusta and Columbia County Sheriff's Office shows Wayne Anthony Hawes. Georgia authorities say a man suspected in two shootings that left multiple people dead has been found dead of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. Captain Andy Shedd with the Columbia County Sheriff's office says 50-year-old Hawes' body was recovered Saturday by authorities in his northeastern Georgia home. (WRDW/WAGT Augusta/Columbia County Sheriff's Office via AP) In this photo provided by courtesy of WRDW/WAGT Augusta, Columbia County Sheriff deputies investigate the scene of a shooting on Friday night, April 22, 2016, in Appling, Ga. Officials say multiple people have been killed in two shootings in northeastern Georgia. (Courtesy WRDW/WAGT Augusta via AP) Solar plane readies to land in California after 3-day flight SAN FRANCISCO (AP) A solar-powered airplane on a journey around the world was preparing to land in California on Saturday night to complete a risky, three-day flight across the Pacific Ocean. The Solar Impulse 2 was flying in a holding pattern off the San Francisco coast on 70 percent of stored energy while waiting for winds to decrease for landing at Moffett Airfield in Mountain View. The aircraft performed a fly-by over the Golden Gate Bridge in the late afternoon following 56 hours of flight that began Thursday morning in Hawaii. The Solar Impulse 2 solar plane flies into the sunrise out of Kalaeloa Airport, Thursday, April 21, 2016, in Kapolei, Hawaii. The solar plane will fly a two-and-a-half day journey to Northern California. (AP Photo/Marco Garcia) "I crossed the bridge. I am officially in America," pilot Bertrand Piccard declared as he flew over the iconic span as spectators watched the narrow aircraft with extra wide wings from below. Piccard said stopping in Silicon Valley, where the airfield is located, will help link the daring project to the pioneering spirit of the area. "Can you imagine crossing the Golden Gate Bridge on a solar-powered plane just like ships did in past centuries? But the plane doesn't make noise and doesn't pollute," Piccard said a live video feed on the website documenting the journey. "It's a priority to link the project we have with the pioneering spirit in Silicon Valley," he added. The aircraft started its around-the-world journey in March 2015 from Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, and made stops in Oman, Myanmar, China and Japan. It's on the ninth leg of its circumnavigation. The trans-Pacific leg of his journey is the riskiest part of the solar plane's global travels because of the lack of emergency landing sites. After uncertainty about winds, the plane took off from Hawaii on Thursday morning. The crew that helped it take off was clearing out of its Hawaiian hangar and headed for the mainland for the weekend arrival. At one point passengers on a Hawaiian Air jet caught a glimpse of the Solar Impulse 2 before the airliner sped past the slow-moving aircraft. The Solar Impulse 2 landed in Hawaii in July and was forced to stay in the islands after the plane's battery system sustained heat damage on its trip from Japan. Piccard's co-pilot Andre Borschberg flew the leg from Japan to Hawaii. He was aboard a helicopter to welcome Piccard as he approached the Bay Area. The team was delayed in Asia, as well. When first attempting to fly from Nanjing, China, to Hawaii, the crew had to divert to Japan because of unfavorable weather and a damaged wing. A month later, when weather conditions were right, the plane departed from Nagoya in central Japan for Hawaii. The plane's ideal flight speed is about 45 kph, or 28 mph, though that can double during the day when the sun's rays are strongest. The carbon-fiber aircraft weighs more than 5,000 pounds, or about as much as a midsize truck. The wings of Solar Impulse 2, which stretch wider than those of a Boeing 747, are equipped with 17,000 solar cells that power propellers and charge batteries. The plane runs on stored energy at night. The Solar Impulse 2 solar plane is moved out of the hangar to prepare for a dawn lift off at the Kalaeloa Airport, Thursday, April 21, 2016, in Kapolei, Hawaii. The solar-powered plane that has been grounded in Hawaii since July plans to resume its round-the-world voyage on Thursday. (AP Photo/Marco Garcia) Ground crew prepare for the departure of the Solar Impulse 2 solar plane from the Kalaeloa Airport, Thursday, April 21, 2016, in Kapolei, Hawaii. The Solar Impulse team landed in the islands in July after a record-breaking flight from Japan. (AP Photo/Marco Garcia) Solar Impulse 2 pilots Bertrand Piccard, left, and Andre Borschberg speak to the media in front of the solar plane from the Kalaeloa Airport, Thursday, April 21, 2016, in Kapolei, Hawaii. The Solar Impulse team landed in the islands in July after a record-breaking flight from Japan. (AP Photo/Marco Garcia) A Hawaiian hula dancer performs for the Solar Impulse 2 pilots Andre Borschberg, left and Bertrand Piccard, center, during a departure ceremony at the Kalaeloa Airport, Thursday, April 21, 2016, in Kapolei, Hawaii. The solar plane will attempt to depart Hawaii for California today. (AP Photo/Marco Garcia) FILE - In this Thursday, April 21, 2016 file photo, the Solar Impulse 2 solar plane lifts off at the Kalaeloa Airport, in Kapolei, Hawaii. The solar plane on an around-the-world journey has reached the point of no return over the Pacific Ocean after departing Hawaii, and now it's California or bust. The plane was cruising over the cold northern Pacific late Thursday at about 20,000 feet with a nearly-full battery as night descended, according to the website that's documenting the journey of Solar Impulse 2. (AP Photo/Marco Garcia, File) FILE - In this Thursday, April 21, 2016 file photo, the Solar Impulse 2 solar plane flies out of the Kalaeloa Airport, in Kapolei, Hawaii. The solar plane on an around-the-world journey has reached the point of no return over the Pacific Ocean after departing Hawaii, and now it's California or bust. The plane was cruising over the cold northern Pacific late Thursday at about 20,000 feet with a nearly-full battery as night descended, according to the website that's documenting the journey of Solar Impulse 2. (AP Photo/Marco Garcia, File) Solar Impulse 2 pilot Bertrand Piccard prepares to fly across the Pacific in a solar plane from Kalaeloa Airport, Thursday, April 21, 2016, in Kapolei, Hawaii. The solar plane will fly a two-and-a-half day journey to Northern California. (AP Photo/Marco Garcia) Ground crew pulls the Solar Impulse 2 solar plane on to the runway for a dawn lift off at Kalaeloa Airport, Thursday, April 21, 2016, in Kapolei, Hawaii. The solar plane will fly a two-and-a-half day journey to Northern California. (AP Photo/Marco Garcia) Turkey hails 'effective' migrant deal as EU leaders visit GAZIANTEP, Turkey (AP) Turkey's prime minister said Saturday the number of migrants crossing into Greece illegally has dropped considerably, as proof that a much criticized migration deal between Turkey and the European Union is working. Ahmet Davutolgu was speaking at a joint news conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and top European Union officials who traveled near Turkey's border with Syria in a bid to promote the troubled deal with Turkey as they face increasing pressure to reassess the agreement. The group toured a refugee camp and inaugurated a child support center funded by the EU. European Union Council President Donald Tusk said the EU plans to spend 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion) on projects this summer to improve the lives of Syrian refugees in Turkey and Davutoglu said the bloc has already launched projects worth 187 million euros ($211 million). Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, centre-left, EU Council President Donald Tusk, centre-rear, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, center-right, pose for a photo with children as they visit a Syrian refugee camp in Nizip, Gaziantep, Turkey, Saturday, April 23, 2016. Merkel and top European Union officials, under pressure to reassess a migrant deportation deal with Turkey, were traveling close to Turkey's border with Syria on Saturday in a bid to bolster the troubled agreement.(Hakan Goktepe/Pool Photo via AP) Human rights groups criticized the trip to what they call a "sanitized" refugee camp and said EU officials should look further at the tens of thousands of Syrian refugees that are now blocked from entering Turkey. Many have questioned the legality of the March 20 EU-Turkey deal allowing for the deportation of migrants who don't qualify for asylum in Greece back to Turkey. Davutoglu said the number of migrants crossing illegally into Greece had dropped from around 6,000 per day in November to around 130 daily since the beginning of this month. "This drop shows the effectiveness of this joint mechanism," Davutoglu said. "Our priority was to stop the baby Aylans from washing up on the shores, and we have made great strides in this aim," Davutoglu said, in reference to drowned 3-year-old Aylan Kurdi, whose images helped galvanize world attention on the plight of the migrants. In return for the deal, the EU has earmarked 6 billion euros ($6.8 billion) to Turkey over the next four years to help improve conditions for the 2.7 million Syrian refugees inside Turkey. The EU is also set to allow visa-free travel for Turkish citizens. Rights groups, EU legislators and the U.N. refugee agency have questioned the moral and legal implications of expelling people from Greece back to Turkey a country that many consider unsafe on grounds of security and human rights. Despite insisting that it has an open-door policy for Syrian refugees, Turkey in the past few months has blocked several thousand refugees who were fleeing northern Syria at the border, providing aid to them at displaced persons camps near the border instead. Human rights groups say some of the camps have been attacked and are pressing Ankara to give the refugees shelter inside Turkey. Amnesty International says Turkish authorities have also for the past three months been expelling around 100 Syrians a day back to their war-ravaged country an accusation Turkey has denied. The country has also rejected claims that Turkish soldiers have sometimes shot at refugees trying to cross the border illegally. Davutoglu reacted angrily to the Amnesty claim Saturday, saying not a single Syrian had been returned to his or her homeland without consent. Tusk backed Turkey, saying the country which is host to the worlds' largest refugee population was "the best example in the entire world of how to treat refugees." On Syria, Merkel said she was in favor of the creation of "areas that are under special protection of the cease-fire, where as much safety as possible can be offered." Merkel said: "The safer people can feel, the less they have to leave their homeland." Earlier, New York-based advocacy group Human Rights Watch urged EU leaders to understand the whole refugee picture at the Turkish border. "Instead of touring a sanitized refugee camp, EU leaders should look over the top of Turkey's new border wall to see the tens of thousands of war-weary Syrian refugees blocked on the other side," said Judith Sunderland, Human Rights Watch's acting deputy Europe and Central Asia director. "Then, they should go to the (Turkish) detention center for people who were abusively deported from Greece. That should make them rethink the flawed EU-Turkey deal." Merkel's visit also comes amid controversy over her decision to grant Turkey's request to let German prosecutors and courts decide whether German comedian Jan Boehmermann had insulted Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Critics have accused Merkel of kowtowing to Turkey because of the country's important role in stopping the influx of migrants to Europe. Merkel denied that Germany was no longer raising the question of freedom of expression with Turkish leaders. "I can assure you that the fact we speak with each other so often much more often than we used to leads to our addressing all these issues," she said. Turkey's leaders have warned that the entire migrant deportation deal will collapse if the EU fails to grant Turkish citizens the right to visa-free stays for tourism or business by July. On Saturday, Davutoglu said the issue was "crucial" for Turkey and said his country was working to fulfill its commitments on the issue. Meanwhile, U.S. President Barack Obama also weighed in on the issue in comments to German daily Bild that were published Saturday. He praised Merkel's "political and moral leadership" in the migrant crisis, but also stressed the need to uphold human rights. "The recent agreement between the EU and Turkey is a step toward a more equitable way of sharing this responsibility," he said. "As the agreement is implemented, it will be essential that migrants are treated properly and that human rights are upheld." ___ Suzan Fraser reported from Ankara, Turkey. Geir Moulson in Berlin and Derek Gatopoulos in Athens contributed to this report. Migrants stand behind a fence at the Nizip refugee camp in Gaziantep province, southeastern Turkey, Saturday, April 23, 2016. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and top European Union officials, under pressure to reassess a migrant deportation deal with Turkey, are traveling close to Turkey's border with Syria on Saturday in a bid to bolster the troubled agreement. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis) Migrants stand behind a fence at the Nizip refugee camp in Gaziantep province, southeastern Turkey, Saturday, April 23, 2016. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and top European Union officials, under pressure to reassess a migrant deportation deal with Turkey, are traveling close to Turkey's border with Syria on Saturday in a bid to bolster the troubled agreement. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis) Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, centre-right, EU Council President Donald Tusk, third right, EU Commission Vice President Frans Timmermans, second right, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, center-left, Turkey's Family Affairs Minister Sema Ramazanoglu, third left, and Gaziantep Mayor Fatma Sahin, right, cut ribbon during the opening ceremony of a Child Services Center for Syrian refugees in Gaziantep, Turkey, Saturday, April 23, 2016. (Hakan Goktepe/Pool Photo via AP) Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, right, EU Council President Donald Tusk, centre-rear, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, center, speak with children as they visit a Syrian refugee camp in Nizip, Gaziantep, Turkey, Saturday, April 23, 2016. Merkel and top European Union officials, under pressure to reassess a migrant deportation deal with Turkey, were traveling close to Turkey's border with Syria on Saturday in a bid to bolster the troubled agreement.(Hakan Goktepe/Pool Photo via AP) EU Council President Donald Tusk, left, takes a picture of Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, second right, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel as they visit a Syrian refugee camp in Nizip, Gaziantep, Turkey, Saturday, April 23, 2016. Merkel and top European Union officials, under pressure to reassess a migrant deportation deal with Turkey, were traveling close to Turkey's border with Syria on Saturday in a bid to bolster the troubled agreement. (Hakan Goktepe/Pool Photo via AP) Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, right, and EU Council President Donald Tusk speak as they visit a Syrian refugee camp in Nizip, Gaziantep, Turkey, Saturday, April 23, 2016. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and top European Union officials, under pressure to reassess a migrant deportation deal with Turkey, were traveling close to Turkey's border with Syria on Saturday in a bid to bolster the troubled agreement. (Hakan Goktepe/Pool Photo via AP) Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, right, and EU Council President Donald Tusk speak as they visit a Syrian refugee camp in Nizip, Gaziantep, Turkey, Saturday, April 23, 2016. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and top European Union officials, under pressure to reassess a migrant deportation deal with Turkey, were traveling close to Turkey's border with Syria on Saturday in a bid to bolster the troubled agreement. (Hakan Goktepe/Pool Photo via AP) Syrian refugee children chant slogans behind a fence at the Nizip refugee camp in Gaziantep province, southeastern Turkey, following a visit by German Chancellor Angela Merkel and top European Union officials, Saturday, April 23, 2016. Merkel and the officials, under pressure to reassess a migrant deportation deal with Turkey, were traveling close to Turkey's border with Syria on Saturday in a bid to bolster the troubled agreement. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis) A banner at the Nizip refugee camp in Gaziantep province, southeastern Turkey, following a visit by German Chancellor Angela Merkel and top European Union officials, Saturday, April 23, 2016. Merkel and the officials, under pressure to reassess a migrant deportation deal with Turkey, were traveling close to Turkey's border with Syria on Saturday in a bid to bolster the troubled agreement. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis) Syrian refugee children chant slogans behind a fence at the Nizip refugee camp in Gaziantep province, southeastern Turkey, following a visit by German Chancellor Angela Merkel and top European Union officials, Saturday, April 23, 2016. Merkel and the officials, under pressure to reassess a migrant deportation deal with Turkey, were traveling close to Turkey's border with Syria on Saturday in a bid to bolster the troubled agreement. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis) German Chancellor Angela Merkel, centre, accompanied byTurkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, left, talks to refugees during a visit at the Nizip refugee camp in Gaziantep province, southeastern Turkey, Saturday, April 23, 2016. Merkel and the top European Union officials, under pressure to reassess a migrant deportation deal with Turkey, were traveling close to Turkey's border with Syria on Saturday in a bid to bolster the troubled agreement. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis) German Chancellor Angela Merkel, left,accompanied by European Union Council President Donald Tusk, right, arrives for a visit at the Nizip refugee camp in Gaziantep province, southeastern Turkey, Saturday, April 23, 2016. Merkel and top European Union officials, under pressure to reassess a migrant deportation deal with Turkey, were traveling close to Turkey's border with Syria on Saturday in a bid to bolster the troubled agreement. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis) German Chancellor Angela Merkel, centre, accompanied by European Union Council President Donald Tusk, right, arrives for a visit at the Nizip refugee camp in Gaziantep province, southeastern Turkey, Saturday, April 23, 2016. Merkel and top European Union officials, under pressure to reassess a migrant deportation deal with Turkey, were traveling close to Turkey's border with Syria on Saturday in a bid to bolster the troubled agreement. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis) German Chancellor Angela Merkel, centre, accompanied by European Union Commission Vice President Frans Timmermans arrives for a visit at the Nizip refugee camp in Gaziantep province, southeastern Turkey, Saturday, April 23, 2016. Merkel and the top European Union officials, under pressure to reassess a migrant deportation deal with Turkey, were traveling close to Turkey's border with Syria on Saturday in a bid to bolster the troubled agreement. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis) ALTERNATIVE CROP OF AXLP106 - The bus carrying German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, European Union Council President Donald Tusk, and EU Commission Vice President Frans Timmermans, arrives during a visit at the Nizip refugee camp in Gaziantep province, southeastern Turkey, Saturday, April 23, 2016. Merkel and the top European Union officials, under pressure to reassess a migrant deportation deal with Turkey, were traveling close to Turkey's border with Syria on Saturday in a bid to bolster the troubled agreement. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis) German Chancellor Angela Merkel, right, EU Council President Donald Tusk, third left, and Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, second right, listen to a Turkish official at a Syrian refugee camp in Nizip, Gaziantep, Turkey, Saturday, April 23, 2016. Merkel and top European Union officials, under pressure to reassess a migrant deportation deal with Turkey, were traveling close to Turkey's border with Syria on Saturday in a bid to bolster the troubled agreement. (Hakan Goktepe/Pool Photo via AP) Trans-Atlantic trade deal in focus when Obama visits Germany BERLIN (AP) When President Barack Obama opens the world's largest industrial fair in the northern German city of Hannover on Sunday, he'll be leading a delegation of American companies hoping to conquer new markets abroad. He'll also be trying to complete one of his presidency's main pieces of unfinished business a trans-Atlantic trade pact. Officials in Washington and Brussels are trying to clinch key parts of the deal before the end of the year, after which a new U.S. president and election campaigns in major European countries could complicate negotiations. Proponents of the agreement known as the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, or TTIP argue that lowering tariffs and harmonizing rules would give a much-needed boost to businesses at a time of global economic uncertainty. Or as Obama put it when the talks launched three years ago: "New growth and jobs on both sides of the Atlantic." A man on stilts and dressed like the Statue of Liberty walks in front of balloons forming the slogan Stop TTIP during a protest of thousands of demonstrators against the planned Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, TTIP, and the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, CETA, ahead of the visit of United States President Barack Obama in Hannover, Germany, Saturday, April 23, 2016. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber) But this rosy view of TTIP hasn't caught the public's imagination, particularly in Germany. More than 100,000 people protested in Berlin in November against the proposed pact. On Saturday, police estimated some 35,000 marched against it in Hannover, carrying placards with slogans such as "Yes We Can Stop TTIP!" Organizers put the turnout at 90,000. Trade unions, nationalists and green groups have lobbied hard against the deal, claiming that it will drive down wages, erode consumer protection and environmental standards. The discussions, due to resume on Monday in New York, have come under criticism for the secretive manner in which they've been conducted. National lawmakers are only allowed to view draft documents in special reading rooms and are forbidden from talking about the documents with experts, the media or their constituents. Proposals to create dispute settlement tribunals have also stoked fears. EU trade chief Cecilia Malmstrom envisages special investment courts that would rule in disputes between governments and companies that feel they face undue legal hurdles to their business. Critics say such courts could place the interests of corporations above those of democratically elected governments, citing a recent case where tobacco giant Philip Morris sued Uruguay over a law requiring graphic warnings on cigarette packages. Alfred de Zayas, an American law professor and U.N. human rights expert, argues that such courts are unnecessary in countries that abide by the rule of law, such as the United States or the EU's 28 nations. Backers of the special courts say they would prevent cases from being heard by American jurors who don't understand the complexities of international trade law, and ensure that U.S. companies don't face discrimination in European countries with high rates of corruption. Juergen Hardt, a German lawmaker and the government's coordinator for trans-Atlantic cooperation, believes some of those leading the fight against TTIP "have other motivations" beyond trade. "They also want to incite anti-American feelings," he said. The EU's executive branch is trying to promote the benefits of a deal. On its website, it suggests that TTIP will boost demand for European delicacies like cheese, hams, wine, olive oil, spirits, and chocolate. "High tariffs at U.S. customs up to 30 percent make some of these hard for Americans to afford and difficult for European farmers and firms to export," it says. TTIP's backers hope images of Obama in Europe where his popularity remains high will counter those of tens of thousands protesting the deal. "One of the main misunderstandings is that we'd be doing the Americans a big favor," said Hardt. "As an export nation, where more jobs depend on export than in any other country, Germany has the greatest interest in free trade. So I think the Americans would be doing us more of a favor agreeing to such a pact than the other way around." In her weekly video message Saturday, Chancellor Angela Merkel said everything has been done to improve the transparency of the negotiations within reason. And she stated anew that European standards won't be eroded. "We are not falling behind our standards, but securing those we have in Europe today on the environment and consumer protection," she said. Yet time may be running out for a deal. A spokesman for Germany's Economy Ministry told The Associated Press that no draft proposals have been exchanged about numerous areas of negotiation. The two sides are also divided about the issue of tariff reductions and the opening up of the markets for services and procurement. "In order to achieve negotiating success this year, it will be crucial to make significant progress by the summer on technical questions, so that the final negotiations are restricted to a few, politically sensitive areas," said Andreas Audretsch, the ministry spokesman. ___ Follow Frank Jordans on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/wirereporter A man walking on stilts and dressed like the Statue of Liberty attends a protest of thousands of demonstrators against the planned Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, TTIP, and the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, CETA, ahead of the visit of United States President Barack Obama in Hannover, Germany, Saturday, April 23, 2016. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber) President Barack Obama pauses during a joint news conference with British Prime Minister David Cameron at 10 Downing Street, Cameron's official residence, in London, Friday, April 22, 2016. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster) An activist of the environment organization Greenpeace with a banner reading ' Yes we can stop TTIP!' hangs down at a building crane near a demonstration against the planned Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, TTIP, and the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, CETA, in Hannover, Germany, Saturday, April 23, 2016. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber) Thousands of demonstrators protest against the planned Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, TTIP, and the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, CETA, ahead of the visit of United States President Barack Obama in Hannover, Germany, Saturday, April 23, 2016. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber) Thousands of demonstrators protest against the planned Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, TTIP, and the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, CETA, ahead of the visit of United States President Barack Obama in Hannover, Germany, Saturday, April 23, 2016. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber) Thousands of demonstrators protest against the planned Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, TTIP, and the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, CETA, ahead of the visit of United States President Barack Obama in Hannover, Germany, Saturday, April 23, 2016. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber) Thousands of demonstrators protest against the planned Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, TTIP, and the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, CETA, ahead of the visit of United States President Barack Obama in Hannover, Germany, Saturday, April 23, 2016. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber) N. Korea claims successful test of submarine-fired missile SEOUL, South Korea (AP) North Korea said Sunday that it successfully test-fired a ballistic missile from a submarine and warned of its growing ability to cut down its enemies with a "dagger of destruction." South Korea couldn't immediately confirm the claim of success in what marks Pyongyang's latest effort to expand its military might in face of pressure by its neighbors and Washington. Hours before the announcement, South Korean military officials said the North fired what appeared to be a ballistic missile from a submarine off its eastern coast. The South's Joint Chiefs of Staff said the projectile traveled about 30 kilometers (19 miles) Saturday evening. That's a much shorter than the typical distance of a submarine-launched ballistic missile, which can fly at least 300 kilometers (186 miles). A successful test from a submarine would be a worrying development because mastering the ability to fire missiles from submerged vessels would make it harder for outsiders to detect what North Korea is doing before it launches, giving it the potential to surprise its enemies. A man watches a TV news program showing a file footage of a missile launch conducted by North Korea, at the Seoul Train Station in Seoul, South Korea, Saturday, April 23, 2016. North Korea on Saturday fired what appeared to be a ballistic missile from a submarine off its northeast coast, South Korean defense officials said, Pyongyang's latest effort to expand its military might in the face of pressure by its neighbors and Washington. The Korean letters at top left read: "North Korea fires a submarine-launched ballistic missile or SLBM." (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man) While South Korean experts say it's unlikely that North Korea currently possesses an operational submarine that can fire multiple missiles, they acknowledge that the North is making progress on such technology. In a typical example of overblown rhetoric, the North's Korean Central News Agency said leader Kim Jong Un observed from a test facility as the ballistic missile surged from a submarine and spewed out a "massive stream of flames" as it soared into the sky. It said the missile met all technical thresholds. The KCNA report said that after the test Kim declared that the North now has another strong nuclear strike method and also the ability to stick a "dagger of destruction" into the heads of its enemies, South Korea and the United States, at any time. The KCNA report didn't say when or where the recent test-firing took place. South Korean officials said the launch on Saturday took place near the North Korean coastal town of Sinpo, where analysts have previously detected efforts by the North to develop submarine-launched ballistic missile systems. The North last test-launched a submarine-launched ballistic missile on Dec. 25, but that test was seen as failure, the South's Joint Chiefs of Staff said. The North first claimed of a successful submarine-launched missile test in May last year. U.S. Strategic Command, headquartered at Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska, said its "systems detected and tracked what we assess was a North Korean submarine missile launch from the Sea of Japan." A statement from Strategic Command added that the missile launch "did not pose a threat to North America." U.S. military forces "remain vigilant in the face of North Korean provocations and are fully committed to working closely with our Republic of Korea and Japanese allies to maintain security," it said. The U.S. State Department would not comment on the reports of Saturday's launch, but noted "launches using ballistic missile technology are a clear violation of multiple U.N. Security Council resolutions." "We call on North Korea to refrain from actions that further destabilize the region and focus instead on taking concrete steps toward fulfilling its commitments and international obligations," said State Department spokesman John Kirby. North Korea has recently sent a barrage of missiles and artillery shells into the sea amid ongoing annual military drills between the United States and South Korea. Pyongyang says the drills are a preparation for an invasion of the North. The firings also come as the North expresses anger about toughened international sanctions over its recent nuclear test and long-range rocket launch. One brave Greenpeace member hung from a crane to present his poster waved flags, carried placards saying 'Yes We Can - Stop TTIP!' Thousands of demonstrators gathered in Germany to protest a planned free trade agreement between the U.S. and the EU, a day before President Barack Obama arrives. The streets of Hannover were crawling with activists who bitterly oppose the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, or TTIP. Demonstrators waved flags and carried placards with slogans such as 'Yes We Can - Stop TTIP!' and one brave Greenpeace member hung from a crane to present his poster high in the sky. Scroll down for video Thousands of demonstrators gathered in Germany to protest a planned free trade agreement between the U.S. and the EU, a day before President Barack Obama arrives The streets of Hannover were crawling with activists who bitterly oppose the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, or TTIP A man on stilts and dressed like the Statue of Liberty walks in front of balloons forming the slogan Stop TTIP during the protest Organizers claimed that 90,000 people attended the demonstration in Hannover but police estimate the count was more like 30,000. Obama will open the world's largest industrial fair in the northern German city on Sunday, leading a delegation of American companies hoping to conquer new markets abroad. He'll also be trying to complete the trans-Atlantic trade pact, which is one of his presidency's main pieces of unfinished business. Proponents of the agreement argue that lowering tariffs and harmonizing rules would give a much-needed boost to businesses at a time of global economic uncertainty. Or as Obama put it when the talks launched three years ago: 'New growth and jobs on both sides of the Atlantic.' But critics worry that it would erode consumer protection and environmental standards. Demonstrators waved flags and carried placards with slogans such as 'TTIP no thanks!' An activist of the environment organization Greenpeace with a banner reading ' Yes we can stop TTIP!' hung from a building crane to show off his poster The streets of Hannover were crawling with activists who worry that TTIP is a deal favouring only big business Opponents of a proposed transatlantic trade deal (TTIP) hold a banner reading 'Don't give TTIP any chance. Stop TTIP, CETA, TISA' during a prostest rally on the eve of U.S. President Barack Obama's visit Protestors demonstrate against the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) free trade agreement Officials in Washington and Brussels are trying to clinch key parts of the deal before the end of the year, after which a new U.S. president and election campaigns in major European countries could complicate negotiations. The discussions, due to resume on Monday in New York, have come under criticism for the secretive manner in which they've been conducted. National lawmakers are only allowed to view draft documents in special reading rooms and are forbidden from talking about the documents with experts, the media or their constituents. Proposals to create dispute settlement tribunals have also stoked fears. EU trade chief Cecilia Malmstrom envisages special investment courts that would rule in disputes between governments and companies that feel they face undue legal hurdles to their business. Officials in Washington and Brussels are trying to clinch key parts of the deal before the end of the year The discussions, due to resume on Monday in New York, have come under criticism for the secretive manner in which they've been conducted Critics say such courts could place the interests of corporations above those of democratically elected governments, citing a recent case where tobacco giant Philip Morris sued Uruguay over a law requiring graphic warnings on cigarette packages. Alfred de Zayas, an American law professor and U.N. human rights expert, argues that such courts are unnecessary in countries that abide by the rule of law, such as the United States or the EU's 28 nations. Backers of the special courts say they would prevent cases from being heard by American jurors who don't understand the complexities of international trade law, and ensure that U.S. companies don't face discrimination in European countries with high rates of corruption. Juergen Hardt, a German lawmaker, said the protesters 'also want to incite anti-American feelings' Protesters carried placards and waved flags with slogans such as 'Yes We Can - Stop TTIP!' A man holds a United States flag with the slogan 'For America Against TTIP' during the protests in Hannover Juergen Hardt, a German lawmaker and the government's coordinator for trans-Atlantic cooperation, believes some of those leading the fight against TTIP 'have other motivations' beyond trade. 'They also want to incite anti-American feelings,' he said. A protester holds a placard with pictures of German Chancellor Angela Merkel and U.S. President Barack Obama The EU's executive branch is trying to promote the benefits of a deal. On its website, it suggests that TTIP will boost demand for European delicacies like cheese, hams, wine, olive oil, spirits, and chocolate. 'High tariffs at U.S. customs up to 30 percent make some of these hard for Americans to afford and difficult for European farmers and firms to export,' it says. TTIP's backers hope images of Obama in Europe where his popularity remains high will counter those of tens of thousands protesting the deal. In her weekly video message Saturday, Chancellor Angela Merkel said everything has been done to improve the transparency of the negotiations within reason. And she stated anew that European standards won't be eroded. 'We are not falling behind our standards, but securing those we have in Europe today on the environment and consumer protection,' she said. Yet time may be running out for a deal. A spokesman for Germany's Economy Ministry said that no draft proposals have been exchanged about numerous areas of negotiation. The two sides are also divided about the issue of tariff reductions and the opening up of the markets for services and procurement. 'In order to achieve negotiating success this year, it will be crucial to make significant progress by the summer on technical questions, so that the final negotiations are restricted to a few, politically sensitive areas,' said Andreas Audretsch, the ministry spokesman. In her weekly video message Saturday, Chancellor Angela Merkel said everything has been done to improve the transparency of the negotiations Spain commemorates the 400th anniversary of Cervantes' death MADRID (AP) Spain commemorated the 400th anniversary of the death of its best-known writer, Miguel de Cervantes on Saturday. Events took place throughout the country celebrating the author of "Don Quixote," one of the most influential books in world literature and a work generally regarded as the precursor of the modern novel. In Alcala de Henares, Cervantes' birthplace, King Felipe VI honored Mexican author Fernando del Paso with the Cervantes Prize and Spain's Culture Minister Inigo Mendez highlighted his "contribution to the development of the novel, combining tradition and modernity, as Cervantes did." A man dressed as the character of Don Quixote holds a flaming stick during a mock funeral for Spanish writer Miguel de Cervantes, author of 'Don Quixote' to commemorate the 400th anniversary of his death, in his birthplace of Alcala de Henares, Spain, Friday April 22, 2016. (AP Photo/Paul White) The Cervantes award is handed out each year on April 23. It coincides with UNESCO's World Book Day , which promotes literature and commemorates Cervantes and English playwright William Shakespeare, who died on that date in 1616. Cervantes actually died on April 22, 1616, but Spain commemorates his death on the date he was buried. Some artists and academics have been critical of Spain's central government for not allocating funds to organize events on a scale similar to those celebrating Shakespeare's life in Britain. Yet many still found imaginative ways to honor Cervantes. Computer expert Diego Buendia designed a program that uploaded the entire text of "Don Quixote" onto Twitter in blocks of 140 characters at a time over the last 17 months. And a popular TV cookery show asked competitors to produce menus linked to the region of La Mancha where "Don Quixote" is set. A fusion of fantasy and reality, the book narrates the journeys and adventures by its hero and his mule-straddling squire, Sancho Panza. Alonso Quijano is an unremarkable gentleman who, after immersing himself in countless books about adventurous knights, decides to become one himself. Taking the name Don Quixote de La Mancha, he mounts his nag Rocinante and ventures out from a nameless village in the heart of Spain to right the wrongs of the world and defend the oppressed. He is clearly mad and mistakes inns for enchanted castles, peasant girls for stunning princesses and confuses windmills with malevolent giants. Sancho knows his master's judgment is unsound, but he sticks by him. The book has been a best-seller in many languages since it was first published in December 1604. Cervantes' descriptive ability convey many elements of Spain that readers can still recognize, including some regional recipes that have come down the centuries almost unchanged. Modern research has revealed details about Cervantes that have increased interest in him and his work. A man of no formal schooling, he was 58 when "Don Quixote" was published. His life was nomadic and full of hardship. He took part in the brutal naval battle of Lepanto that left him with a shattered left arm. Then he spent five years as a hostage in Algeria from where the Barefoot Trinitarians nuns in Madrid rescued him by paying his ransom. An archaeological excavation in 2014 found what experts concluded were Cervantes' bones buried in their convent. A coffin is wheeled though a street market during a mock funeral for Spanish writer Miguel de Cervantes, author of 'Don Quixote' to commemorate the 400th anniversary of his death, in his birthplace of Alcala de Henares, Spain, Friday April 22, 2016. (AP Photo/Paul White) Teenagers get surprise chance to confess sins to the pope VATICAN CITY (AP) Sixteen teenagers have gotten an unexpected opportunity to confess sins to Pope Francis. The pontiff made a surprise appearance late Saturday morning in St. Peter's Square, where thousands of Catholics faithful, ranging in age from 13 to 16, were participating in a special Holy Year youth day, including confession near the famed Colonnade of Bernini. Francis and each of the 16 teenagers sat face-to-face in simple chairs set up in pairs for him and many others hearing confessions in the square. The teenagers seemed at ease, with Francis shaking hands warmly with the youths. In all, the pope spent more than an hour in the square. Pope Francis shakes hands with a young faithful after confessing him, during Youth Jubilee at Saint Peter square in Vatican, Saturday, April 23, 2016. Sixteen teenagers have gotten an unexpected opportunity to confess sins to Pope Francis. The pontiff made a surprise appearance in St. Peters Square, where thousands were participating in Holy Year youth activities, with confession outdoors at the Vatican. (Angelo Carconi/ANSA via AP Photo) ITALY OUT He has dedicated the Holy Year to two central themes of his papacy: mercy and reconciliation. Pope Francis confesses a young faithful during the Youth Jubilee at Saint Peter square in Vatican, Saturday, April 23, 2016. Sixteen teenagers have gotten an unexpected opportunity to confess sins to Pope Francis. The pontiff made a surprise appearance in St. Peters Square, where thousands were participating in Holy Year youth activities, with confession outdoors at the Vatican. (L'Osservatore Romano/POOL photo via AP) Pope Francis confesses a young faithful during the Youth Jubilee at Saint Peter square in Vatican, Saturday, April 23, 2016. Sixteen teenagers have gotten an unexpected opportunity to confess sins to Pope Francis. The pontiff made a surprise appearance in St. Peters Square, where thousands were participating in Holy Year youth activities, with confession outdoors at the Vatican. (L'Osservatore Romano/POOL photo via AP) Pope Francis confesses a young faithful during the Youth Jubilee at Saint Peter square in Vatican, Saturday, April 23, 2016. Sixteen teenagers have gotten an unexpected opportunity to confess sins to Pope Francis. The pontiff made a surprise appearance in St. Peters Square, where thousands were participating in Holy Year youth activities, with confession outdoors at the Vatican. (Angelo Carconi/ANSA via AP Photo) ITALY OUT Pope Francis confesses a young faithful during the Youth Jubilee at Saint Peter square in Vatican, Saturday, April 23, 2016. Sixteen teenagers have gotten an unexpected opportunity to confess sins to Pope Francis. The pontiff made a surprise appearance in St. Peters Square, where thousands were participating in Holy Year youth activities, with confession outdoors at the Vatican. (Angelo Carconi/ANSA via AP Photo) ITALY OUT Trump's cries of 'rigged' system shift blame for his losses BRIDGEPORT, Conn. (AP) Donald Trump keeps hammering away at Republican insiders even as campaign aides are gingerly courting those same officials. "You know, right now we're fighting the party because it's a rigged system, ok? It's a rigged system," he told a boisterous crowd in Bridgeport, Connecticut, Saturday. It may seem counterproductive, but Trump's foot-stomping has served as a rallying cry to boost turnout and reinforce his appeal to voters who feel disenfranchised. The "rigged" system argument is a convenient scapegoat, shifting the blame for any future potential losses and lost delegates away from a campaign that has been outmaneuvered. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during a rally, Friday, April 22, 2016, at the Delaware State Fairgrounds in Harrington, Del. As his top aides spent the week gingerly courting Republican insiders at a seaside resort in Florida, Trump was busy railing against them. The system is all rigged, Trump told supporters at a rally Friday. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez) Trump has won more states than his rivals, yet his team has been badly outplayed by Texas Sen. Ted Cruz in ensuring that supportive delegates make it to the GOP convention in July in Cleveland. Pennsylvania, one of five states voting Tuesday, has an especially confusing delegate system. The primary winner will emerge with 17 delegates. But 54 delegates can vote for whomever they want. The ballot will feature 162 potential delegates, but it will offer no information about whom they support. That means voters who haven't consulted with the campaigns about their rosters will be in the dark. "That's why we have to win big," Trump told supporters Friday at a rally in Harrington, Delaware. "That's why on Tuesday, everyone has to go out and vote. We have to win big because the system is rigged." Trump's argument would only grow stronger if he were to win the majority of votes in Pennsylvania opinion surveys show him with a significant lead yet emerge with fewer delegates than Cruz. Trump has been relentless in his criticism of the delegate system, slamming party "bosses" and calling out the Republican National Committee and its chairman, Reince Priebus. On Friday, Trump compared himself to a prize fighter competing in rival territory. "The fighters have a great expression. When you have a champ that goes into a big territory but it's unfriendly; it's home of the other fighter. But the good ones go, 'No, no, I'm not worried,'" he said. "'Because if I knock him out there's nothing the judges can do. Right? What we have to do is knock them out with the volume of our votes." Earlier in the week, at a Florida resort where GOP officials gathered to discuss the presidential nominating process, Trump campaign aide Paul Manafort brushed off the idea that Trump's rhetoric was making it more difficult to build bridges with party leaders. "What he's slamming is the system. He's saying the system is rigged. And the system is rigged. It's rigged in all 50 states where they have different rules and that don't take into account modern presidential campaigns," Manafort said. Manafort added that Trump wanted to work with Priebus to change the system for the next election. "That's where things are getting confused," he said. "He's saying we've got to change rules so the next time, when people vote, their vote counts." Nonetheless, frustration with Trump's attacks on the RNC and the integrity of the nomination process were widespread at the party meeting in Hollywood, Florida, even as Trump's team was trying to make amends. In a private meeting Thursday with GOP officials, Manafort tried to assure them that Trump was on their side and prepared to fundraise for the party. He stressed that the candidate had had some "very good" conversations with Priebus and said the campaign hoped to work closely with state leaders to build its general election campaign. In Delaware, Trump's supporters said the billionaire is right to be angry at the delegate process. "It's not democratic," said Paul Eugstenberg, 72, a retired pilot from Dover. "This should be decided by the voters. It should not be decided at the convention. They have to fix this. This is not how this should work." Some suggested that if Trump were leading the delegate race going into the convention only to have someone else nominated, it would make them consider staying home in November instead of voting for the Republican nominee. "If this is taken from Mr. Trump, it would destroy the Republican Party," said Debbie Patty, a retired teacher from Greenwood. "People would think their vote doesn't count and that the party doesn't care about them." "I would never vote for a Democrat, but I'm not sure I could vote for a Republican in that scenario, either," Patty said. "That means not voting at all, and I hate that idea. But it might be what I have to do." ___ Lemire reported from Harrington, Delaware. Associated Press writer Steve Peoples in Hollywood, Florida, contributed to this report. Supporters react as Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during a rally, Friday, April 22, 2016, at the Delaware State Fairgrounds in Harrington, Del. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez) Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during a rally, Friday, April 22, 2016, at the Delaware State Fairgrounds in Harrington, Del. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez) The Latest: Tusk: Politicians shouldn't decide on insults GAZIANTEP, Turkey (AP) The Latest on Europe's migration crisis (all times local): 10:50 p.m. European Union Council President Donald Tusk says politicians should not decide on the line between criticism and defamation, saying it could spell the end of freedom of expression. EU Council President Donald Tusk, left, takes a picture of Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, second right, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel as they visit a Syrian refugee camp in Nizip, Gaziantep, Turkey, Saturday, April 23, 2016. Merkel and top European Union officials, under pressure to reassess a migrant deportation deal with Turkey, were traveling close to Turkey's border with Syria on Saturday in a bid to bolster the troubled agreement. (Hakan Goktepe/Pool Photo via AP) Tusk made the comments Saturday amid criticism that European leaders are overlooking freedom of speech restrictions in Turkey in order not to jeopardize the EU's migrant deal with the country. There are nearly 2,000 legal cases open in Turkey against individuals accused of insulting President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. And Chancellor Angela Merkel has come under criticism for her decision to grant Turkey's request to let German prosecutors and courts decide whether a German comedian has insulted Erdogan. As a former Polish politician, Tusk said he himself had developed "a thick skin." Tusk said: "The line between criticism, insult and defamation is very thin... The moment politicians decide which is which can mean the end of the freedom of expression." ___ 9:55 p.m. European Union Council President Donald Tusk says the 28-member bloc will spend 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion) this summer on projects to improve the lives of Syrian refugees. Tusk on Saturday also praised Turkey as the "best example" on how refugees should be treated. Tusk was speaking in Turkey at a joint news conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, EU Commission Vice President Frans Timmermans and Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu. Earlier Saturday they visited a refugee camp and an EU-funded center for Syrian refugee children to promote a Turkey-EU deal on stemming the flow of refugees. Human rights groups have criticized the trip to what they call a "sanitized" refugee camp. They say EU officials should look further at the tens of thousands of Syrian refugees who have now been blocked from entering Turkey. Turkey, home to 2.7 million Syrians, is host to the largest number of refugees in the world. ___ 9:30 p.m. Turkey's Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu says the number of irregular crossings by migrants to Greece has dropped considerably, which he says shows that the Turkish-EU migrant deal is working. Davutoglu said Saturday that since the deal came into effect in March, around 130 crossings have been recorded per day. On some days, no refugees at all cross over to the Greek islands, he said. Davutoglu was speaking in the city of Gaziantep, near Turkey's border with Syria, at a joint news conference with visiting German Chancellor Angela Merkel, EU Council President Donald Tusk and EU Commission Vice President Frans Timmermans. The Turkish leader said the EU is launching initial projects worth 187 million euro ($211 million) aimed at improving the conditions of refugees in Turkey. The projects are being funded by the 6 billion euros the EU pledged to Turkey over the next four years as part of the migrant deal. In return, the bloc can deport migrants who don't qualify for asylum in Greece back to Turkey. ___ 8:10 p.m. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and top European Union officials have inaugurated a child support center in Turkey for Syrian refugees funded by the 28-member bloc. Merkel, EU Council President Donald Tusk and EU Commission Vice President Frans Timmermans on Saturday cut a red ribbon to open the center which is supported by the U.N. children's agency. They were joined by Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and his wife. Merkel chatted with a group of a children standing in front of paintings made at the center in the city of Gaziantep, near the border with Syria, gave some of them coloring pencils and listened to a band playing instruments. She shook hands with the young musicians and thanked them in Arabic. The delegation is visiting the area near the Syrian border in a bid to promote a deal reached with Turkey on the return of migrants who don't qualify for asylum in Greece. ___ 6:20 p.m. Four refugee children in traditional Syrian dress were greeting German Chancellor Angela Merkel and top EU officials with flowers as they entered a refugee camp near Turkey's border with Syria. The EU leaders are visiting the government-run camp that is home to some 5,000 Syrian refugees in the town of Nizip on Saturday as part of a trip aimed at promoting a migrant deal with Turkey. Merkel, EU Council President Donald Tusk, EU Commission Vice President Frans Timmermans and Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, are also scheduled to symbolically inaugurate an EU-funded child support center where Syrian children can play and are given psychological support. The leaders posed for photos with the children and met with the camp's elected leaders before walking into the site where the refugees are housed in container homes. A large banner mounted near the fence of the camp read in English and in Turkish: "Welcome to the world's largest refugee hosting country." Turkey is home to an estimated 2.7 million Syrian refugees. ___ 5:20 p.m. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and top European Union officials have arrived near Turkey's border with Syria in a bid to bolster a troubled migration deal with Turkey as they face increasing pressure to reassess the agreement. Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu greeted Merkel, EU Council President Donald Tusk and EU Commission Vice President Frans Timmermans at the airport in the city of Gaziantep on Saturday. Security was high and the delegation was seen leaving the tarmac on a bus with two sharp shooters standing on the roof. The delegation is scheduled to visit a government-run refugee camp as well as an EU-funded child center where Syrian children can play and are given psychological support. Human rights groups have criticized the trip to what they call a "sanitized" refugee camp. They say EU officials should look further at the tens of thousands of Syrian refugees they say have now been blocked from entering Turkey. ___ 4:50 p.m. Barack Obama says a recent deal between the European Union and Turkey takes a step toward fairer sharing of the job of housing refugees. But the U.S. president was also stressing the need to uphold human rights. Many have questioned the March 20 deal, which allows the deportation back to Turkey of migrants who don't qualify for asylum in Greece. German Chancellor Angela Merkel championed the accord. In comments to German daily Bild published Saturday, Obama praised Merkel's "political and moral leadership" in acting on an obligation to help people fleeing horrific conditions. He said that the EU-Turkey agreement "is a step toward a more equitable way of sharing this responsibility." Obama added: "As the agreement is implemented, it will be essential that migrants are treated properly and that human rights are upheld." ___ 4:25 p.m. More than 100 people have taken advantage of an unusually low tide to wade around a border fence that juts out into to the Mediterranean Sea to enter Spain's North African enclave of Ceuta. The Red Cross says it attended those who made it into Ceuta and that six were taken to hospital to treat cuts and bruises. Spanish police say they intercepted 119 migrants who had managed to walk around the border fence on Saturday. Television footage transmitted on state broadcaster TVE's news bulletin showed police intercepting the migrants as they approached Ceuta's beach. Thousands of migrants try to reach Spain each year either by attempting to enter the country's African enclaves of Melilla and Ceuta or by making perilous sea crossings to the mainland. ___ 10:45 a.m. A human rights group says German Chancellor Angela Merkel and top European Union officials should rethink the EU's refugee deal with Turkey, as they travel to the Syrian border to promote the troubled agreement. Saturday's trip to the Turkish border city of Gaziantep, including a refugee camp, comes amid questions over the legality of the March 20 EU-Turkey deal to deport migrants who do not qualify for asylum in Greece back to Turkey. Human Right Watch acting director Judith Sunderland says instead of touring a "sanitized" refugee camp, the EU leaders should focus on the tens of thousands of Syrians blocked at the border. She also urged them to visit a detention center for migrants "abusively deported from Greece." Sunderland says "that should make them rethink the flawed EU-Turkey deal." Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, right, EU Council President Donald Tusk, centre-rear, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, center, speak with children as they visit a Syrian refugee camp in Nizip, Gaziantep, Turkey, Saturday, April 23, 2016. Merkel and top European Union officials, under pressure to reassess a migrant deportation deal with Turkey, were traveling close to Turkey's border with Syria on Saturday in a bid to bolster the troubled agreement.(Hakan Goktepe/Pool Photo via AP) Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, centre-left, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel speak with refugee children at a classroom as they visit a Syrian refugee camp in Nizip, Gaziantep, Turkey, Saturday, April 23, 2016. Merkel and top European Union officials, under pressure to reassess a migrant deportation deal with Turkey, were traveling close to Turkey's border with Syria on Saturday in a bid to bolster the troubled agreement. (Hakan Goktepe/Pool Photo via AP) German Chancellor Angela Merkel, right, and Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu shake hands with children at a Syrian refugee camp in Nizip, Gaziantep, Turkey, Saturday, April 23, 2016. Merkel and top European Union officials, under pressure to reassess a migrant deportation deal with Turkey, were traveling close to Turkey's border with Syria on Saturday in a bid to bolster the troubled agreement.(Hakan Goktepe/Pool Photo via AP) German Chancellor Angela Merkel, centre, accompanied byTurkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, left, talks to refugees during a visit at the Nizip refugee camp in Gaziantep province, southeastern Turkey, Saturday, April 23, 2016. Merkel and the top European Union officials, under pressure to reassess a migrant deportation deal with Turkey, were traveling close to Turkey's border with Syria on Saturday in a bid to bolster the troubled agreement. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis) German Chancellor Angela Merkel, centre, accompanied by EU Council President Donald Tusk, right, talks to young women during a visit to the Nizip refugee camp in Gaziantep province, southeastern Turkey, Saturday, April 23, 2016. Merkel and the top European Union officials, under pressure to reassess a migrant deportation deal with Turkey, are traveling close to Turkey's border with Syria on Saturday in a bid to bolster the troubled agreement. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis) German Chancellor Angela Merkel walks during a visit at the Nizip refugee camp in Gaziantep province, southeastern Turkey, Saturday, April 23, 2016. Merkel and the top European Union officials, under pressure to reassess a migrant deportation deal with Turkey, are traveling close to Turkey's border with Syria on Saturday in a bid to bolster the troubled agreement. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis) German Chancellor Angela Merkel, centre, disembarks a bus led the way by Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, left, during a visit at the Nizip refugee camp in Gaziantep province, southeastern Turkey, Saturday, April 23, 2016. Merkel and top European Union officials, under pressure to reassess a migrant deportation deal with Turkey, are traveling close to Turkey's border with Syria on Saturday in a bid to bolster the troubled agreement. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis) German Chancellor Angela Merkel, centre, is led the way by Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, left, as she disembarks a bus, during a visit at the Nizip refugee camp in Gaziantep province, southeastern Turkey, Saturday, April 23, 2016. Merkel and top European Union officials, under pressure to reassess a migrant deportation deal with Turkey, are traveling close to Turkey's border with Syria on Saturday in a bid to bolster the troubled agreement. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis) The bus carrying German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, European Union Council President Donald Tusk, and EU Commission Vice President Frans Timmermans, arrives during a visit at the Nizip refugee camp in Gaziantep province, southeastern Turkey, Saturday, April 23, 2016. Merkel and the top European Union officials, under pressure to reassess a migrant deportation deal with Turkey, were traveling close to Turkey's border with Syria on Saturday in a bid to bolster the troubled agreement. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis) FILE - This is a Wednesday, March 16, 2016 file photo of Syrian refugee Abdullah Koca, 43, who fled Syria four-years ago and had been living at a refugee camp for Syrian refugees in Islahiye, Gaziantep province, southeastern Turkey, holds his six-month-old son Ibrahim and his daughter Hadiyeh, 6, as they check the family pet bird suspended in a cage at the barbed-wired fence of the camp. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and top European Union officials plan to travel close to Turkeys border with Syria in hopes of promoting a troubled month-old agreement to manage a refugee crisis that has left hundreds of thousands stranded on the migrant trail to Europe. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis, File) Greek policemen stand on the tracks of a train station turned into a makeshift camp crowded of migrants and refugees at the northern Greek border point of Idomeni, Greece, Friday, April 22, 2016. The European Commission says the number of migrants arriving in Greece from Turkey has slowed dramatically from more than 50,000 in February to around 7,000 over the past 30 days. But Greece, currently home to 54,000 stranded migrants seeking to travel deeper into Europe, faces unrelenting pressure as the long-promised relocation of asylum seekers from Greece to other EU countries moves pitifully slowly. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia) FILE - In this Wednesday, March 16, 2016 file photo a Turkish flag flies at the refugee camp for Syrian refugees in Islahiye, Gaziantep province, southeastern Turkey. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and top European Union officials plan to travel close to Turkeys border with Syria in hopes of promoting a troubled month-old agreement to manage a refugee crisis that has left hundreds of thousands stranded on the migrant trail to Europe. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis, File) FILE This is a Wednesday, March 16, 2016 file photo of a Syrian refugee as she hangs clothes to dry on a barbed-wired fence at a camp for Syrian refugees in Islahiye, Gaziantep province, southeastern Turkey. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and top European Union officials plan to travel close to Turkeys border with Syria in hopes of promoting a troubled month-old agreement to manage a refugee crisis that has left hundreds of thousands stranded on the migrant trail to Europe. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis, File) Trump's GOP Senate critics fact check him on foreign policy WASHINGTON (AP) The Senate's leading Republican voices on national security are assembling an indictment of Donald Trump's worldview by soliciting rebuttals from U.S. military leaders that challenge the accuracy and legality of the GOP presidential front-runner's most provocative foreign policy positions. Over the past few months, Sens. John McCain of Arizona and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, two of Trump's sharpest GOP critics, have used their posts on Senate the Armed Services Committee to fact-check Trump's claims. Without mentioning the bombastic billionaire's name, they've asked senior officers who testify before the committee about waterboarding extremists, the consequences of targeting terrorists' families, and whether NATO and America's other key alliances have become obsolete. FILE - In this Feb. 24, 2016, file photo, Republican members of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., center, and committee chairman John McCain, R-Ariz., speak at a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington. Graham and McCain are assembling a harsh critique of Donald Trumps worldview by soliciting rebuttals from U.S. military leaders that challenge the accuracy and legality of his most provocative foreign policy positions. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File) Connecting the threads over weeks of hearings would produce a record of remarks that could be strung together and used by opponents of the presidential candidate. To demonstrate his fitness to be commander in chief, Trump is planning to tone down his brash personality and deliver a foreign affairs address on Wednesday the first in a series of policy speeches. He also is planning a separate speech on the military, telling The Associated Press in a recent interview that people may be surprised by "how well I'll handle matters relative to the military." Omitting Trump's name from the conversation allows the generals and admirals questioned by the senators to stay apolitical and out of the 2016 presidential campaign. But it's obvious that McCain, the committee's chairman, and Graham, who waged an unsuccessful bid for his party's White House nomination, are asking about positions Trump has staked out that have rattled the Republican Party and unnerved U.S. allies. Aides to the senators said there's no coordination or strategy between the two. But McCain and Graham are close friends and foreign policy hawks. It's not unusual to see them together on the floor of the Senate, hammering the Obama administration over the Iran nuclear deal, the civil war in Syria or troop levels in Afghanistan. Graham also wrote the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Marine Corps Gen. Joseph Dunford. Without citing Trump's name, he inquired about the billionaire's pledge, if elected, to bring back the use of waterboarding which causes the sensation of drowning and worse against captured militants. Congress has outlawed waterboarding along with other so-called enhanced interrogation techniques. Trump also said he would order the military to kill family members of militants who threaten the U.S., a position he has since retreated from after being heavily criticized. Dunford responded to Graham last week in a carefully worded letter that said violating the laws of war "diminish the support of the American people and the populace of Democratic states, including allies who might otherwise support or participate in coalition operations." Graham, a retired Air Force lawyer, has called Trump's foreign policy "gibberish" and "ill-conceived." Graham half-heartedly endorsed Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas for president because Cruz is "not completely crazy." McCain, an ex-Navy fighter pilot and the 2008 GOP presidential nominee, hasn't wavered from his position that he will support the Republican nominee. But he's bristled over what he's called Trump's "uninformed and dangerous statements on national security issues." Examples of McCain's and Graham's fact-checking approach were on display this past week. On April 19, when the Army general selected to lead U.S. forces in South Korea testified before the committee, McCain seized the opportunity to undermine Trump's suggestion that the U.S. withdraw its forces from the South because Seoul isn't paying enough to cover the cost of the American military presence. "Isn't it the fact that it costs us less to have troops stationed in Korea than in the United States, given the contribution the Republic of Korea makes?" McCain asked Gen. Vincent Brooks. Yes, Brooks said, telling McCain the South Koreans pay half, or $808 million annually, of the U.S. presence there. Brooks added that the South Koreans are footing the bill for more than 90 percent of a $10.8 billion project to build a base where U.S. troops will be stationed. Two days later, Trump's claim that NATO is irrelevant and ill-suited to fight terrorism came under the microscope. As president, Trump has said he would force member nations to increase their contributions, even if that risked breaking up the 28-country alliance. Responding to a series of questions from Graham, Army Gen. Curtis Scaparrotti, picked to be the top American commander in Europe, assured the committee of NATO's critical importance to the U.S. Breaking up the alliance, Scaparrotti warned, would benefit Russia, the Islamic State group and even the Taliban in Afghanistan. The issue of torture is personal to McCain, who was a prisoner of war in North Vietnam for more than five years and badly abused by his captors. During a committee hearing in February, McCain asked Director of National Intelligence James Clapper if he agreed that information gained through waterboarding and other methods of torture came at too high a cost for the United States. "I do," said Clapper, a retired Air Force lieutenant general. "Isn't it the fact that this is - American values are such that just no matter what the enemy does, that we maintain a higher standard of behavior? And when we violate that, as we did with Abu Ghraib, that the consequences are severe?" said McCain, referring to the prison scandal in Iraq. "Yes, sir," Clapper responded. NYC primary voter complaints draw investigations, suspension NEW YORK (AP) Even before the polls closed in New York's primary, the city's election board dismissed as groundless hundreds of complaints, many from people in Bernie Sanders' hometown borough of Brooklyn who said they were unable to vote. It wasn't until days later, after both the state attorney general and the city comptroller launched separate investigations, that New York City's Board of Elections began to appear to take the accusations seriously. It suspended its chief clerk in Brooklyn without pay amid questions into whether she followed proper procedures in what was supposed to be a routine housecleaning of voter registration lists. FILE - In this April 17, 2016 file photo, Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders speaks to supporters during a campaign rally in Brooklyn's Prospect Park, in the Brooklyn borough of New York. New York City's Board of Elections, long a target of complaints, came under fire as followers of Bernie Sanders, many from Sanders' hometown borough of Brooklyn, said they were unable to vote in the Democratic primary. The New York Board of Elections has suspended its chief clerk in Brooklyn without pay amid questions into whether she followed proper procedures in what was supposed to be a routine housecleaning of voter registration lists. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, File) Between November and April, about 126,000 Brooklyn voters either were removed from voting lists or had their statuses changed to "inactive" ostensibly because they had moved, their mail was returned as undeliverable or they failed to vote in two federal elections and didn't respond to letters. So far, the board has yet to fully explain what might have gone wrong with that process. To New Yorkers, news that people are unhappy with the Board of Election's performance was hardly surprising. It has been a punching bag for years, castigated for errors such as polls opening late, broken voting machines and poll workers providing wrong information. A city probe three years ago found widespread abuses including poll workers who peeked at voters' choices while they cast ballots and others who told voters to "vote down the line." "The people of New York City have lost confidence that the Board of Elections can effectively administer elections, and we intend to find out why the BOE is so consistently disorganized, chaotic and inefficient," City Comptroller Scott Stringer said in announcing his audit of Tuesday's election. Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said his office had received more than 1,000 Election Day complaints about voting problems. Initially, the city Board of Elections executive director, Michael Ryan, described the voter purge as routine. And just hours before Thursday's announcement of the suspension the Brooklyn elections chief, Ryan suggested that the complaints were mostly coming from Sanders supporters who misunderstood the state's rules for voting in primaries. "No one was disenfranchised," Ryan told Fox 5 New York. "What we did see was a concerted effort by some folks to apparently protest New York's closed primary process by showing up to vote when they weren't registered to vote. We tracked down dozens who say they were disenfranchised and as it turns out they weren't registered in the parties that they were trying to vote for." Some of the initial frustration over Tuesday's election was based in New York's rules for party primaries. Independents are barred from voting in either the Democratic or Republican contests and the deadline to switch parties passed unnoticed by many in October. Nancy Fray, a Sanders supporter who lives in Manhattan, learned too late that she wouldn't be able to cast her ballot, despite having switched her registration to Democrat in November. "I'm not just upset. This is completely full-out fury!" she said. Then, public radio station WNYC reported on Election Day that state statistics showed that the number of registered Democrats in Brooklyn had declined by more than 63,000 in the past five months. Critics say the voter purge points to problems with voting in New York City and state that go beyond one election. "Regardless of the outcome of any investigations of voter purges, the actual scandal is New York's outdated and archaic voter registration laws," said Neal Rosenstein, the government reform coordinator of the New York Public Interest Research Group. NYPIRG is calling for reforms also backed by Stringer including Election Day registration and automatic registration at the Department of Motor Vehicles and other state agencies. "None of this would take place if New York had same-day registration," Rosenstein said. Police: 3 killed in Alabama nightclub shooting AUBURN, Ala. (AP) Police in Alabama are investigating a shooting at a nightclub that left three people dead. WSFA (http://bit.ly/24aEUPI ) reports that the shooting happened at about 2 a.m. Saturday at a club in Auburn. Shots were still being fired when police arrived. Police investigators told the station that three men ages 25, 29, and 43 were found dead at the scene. All of the victims were from Auburn. Police did not release their identities. Fish hatchery hit with flood-borne 'rock snot' to reopen BETHEL, Vt. (AP) Almost five years after raging flood waters heavily damaged the White River National Fish Hatchery in the Vermont town of Bethel, contaminating tens of thousands of surviving trout and salmon with an invasive algae known as rock snot, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is ready to start raising fish there again. At the same time, the Vermont Department of Fish and Wildlife is finalizing plans and funding to rebuild its state hatchery in Roxbury, which was also damaged during Tropical Storm Irene on Aug. 28, 2011. For years both the White River and Roxbury fish hatcheries played key roles in developing the region's fishery. White River was primarily used to produce the fish that were stocked as part of a 40-year effort to restore Atlantic salmon to the Connecticut River watershed, but it also produced lake trout stocked in other parts of the Northeast, including some of the Great Lakes. Roxbury provided about 30 percent of the brook and rainbow trout stocked throughout Vermont. The loss of the White River hatchery helped contribute to the Fish and Wildlife Service's 2012 decision to abandon efforts to restore Atlantic salmon to the Connecticut River watershed. Vermont still hasn't been able to completely make up the loss of the Roxbury hatchery. The importance of fish hatcheries goes beyond just the production of fish that will be caught by anglers, said James Ehlers, the executive director of Lake Champlain International, which works to protect and restore the lake and the fish that live in it. "I can't imagine us ever getting to the point where we can restore (Lake) Champlain or its tributaries to sound water quality standards if we let go of the fisheries," Ehlers said. The 2011 flooding heavily damaged part of the Bethel hatchery and river water flooded many of the outdoor tanks, potentially exposing the surviving fish to the invasive algae didymo, known colloquially as rock snot, which has been found in the White River basin. Hundreds of thousands of fish survived, but rather than risk spreading the algae, which can overwhelm cold water lakes and streams, the large salmon were donated to native American tribes in the Northeast for use in native ceremonies. The smaller fish were destroyed. The service spent about $2.3 million making repairs, and the White River hatchery was ready to reopen in 2013, but by then the decision had been made to end the Atlantic salmon restoration efforts in the Connecticut River. Since the hatchery had lost its primary mission, it sat idle. Recently officials decided the White River hatchery would be used to produce yearling lake trout for Lake Champlain and to develop brood stock for landlocked Atlantic salmon for Lake Champlain, Lake Ontario and possibly Lake Erie. Employees are expected to start working there full time in the next few weeks. It's hoped the first fish will arrive late this summer, around the time of the fifth anniversary of Irene, said Bill Archambault, the deputy assistant regional director for fisheries for the Northeast Region. "It really is a strong commitment toward the Lake Champlain salmonids restoration program," Archambault said. The state of Vermont has been in discussions for years with the Federal Emergency Management Agency about how much it would contribute to the $5.3 million cost of rebuilding the Roxbury hatchery, the state's oldest. Unlike most modern hatcheries the Roxbury hatchery had raised most of its fish in outdoor ponds dug into the ground. FEMA is expected to contribute about $800,000 with the state paying the rest, said Fish and Wildlife Commissioner Louis Porter. Repairing it will require the state to bring the facility up to modern water quality standards. One of the outdoor ponds will be restored for its historic value, but most of the fish-raising will be done in modern facilities that will be built alongside the old, now-abandoned ponds, said hatchery manager Jeremy Whalen. Party spurns US Senate candidate who almost won in 2010 HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) Democrat Joe Sestak came tantalizingly close to winning a seat in the U.S. Senate six years ago and is hoping Tuesday to secure a rematch, but the party establishment wants nothing to do with him, pouring millions into the campaign of his chief rival. The former two-term congressman and retired Navy rear admiral is wearing his outsider status as a badge of honor as he seeks the nomination to take on Republican Sen. Pat Toomey this fall in a race that could tilt control of the Senate. He has said that he is fighting "for the soul of the Democratic Party," and that political party leaders "aren't in it for people any longer, they're in it for power and themselves." FILE - In this March 28, 2015, file photo, former U.S. Rep. Joe Sestak passes a sign marking the Pennsylvania-Ohio state border as he completes his "Walking In Other Pennsylvanian's Shoes" walking tour across Pennsylvania in Ohioville, Pa. Sestak, 64, is one of four candidates campaigning for the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania's primary on Tuesday, April 26, 2016, seeking to challenge Republican incumbent U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey's bid for re-election. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic, File) "I'm not a politician," he said when the candidates were asked at a Friday debate if they would represent a break with the status quo. "Four-and-a-half million dollars half of it by my own Democratic Party has been put in against me," he said. Party-endorsed candidate Katie McGinty focused instead on the Republican incumbent. "I'll do something very different from what Pat Toomey has done. Pat Toomey has sold out the middle class," she said. McGinty, a former state and federal environmental policy official, has trumpeted the broad range of support she has received, from President Barack Obama to Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid to former Gov. Ed Rendell. At the same time she has sought to tap anti-establishment sentiment by looking to the general election. Sestak's frosty relationship with party leaders dates to 2009 when he was recruited to challenge then-Republican Sen. Arlen Specter, then was asked to step aside when Specter switched parties to the delight of Democratic Party leaders. But Sestak refused to drop out even after former President Bill Clinton was recruited to dangle a government job offer in front of him. Sestak went on to beat Specter in the primary and lose to Toomey by only 2 percentage points in the 2010 general election, upsetting the Democrats' plans for regaining the seat in a state where they outnumber Republicans 4-to-3. Sestak again doesn't figure into the Democrats' plan. The resulting tension has shaped a race in which McGinty's side has outspent Sestak's two-to-one. She has been aided by nearly $2 million from a national party committee and $1.75 million from Washington-based Emily's List, which backs female candidates who support abortion rights. Despite the fundraising disadvantage, the 64-year-old Sestak has led nearly every independent poll. But a large bloc of undecided voters nearly one in three, according to a new Franklin and Marshall College poll is adding uncertainty to Tuesday's election. Sestak spent the last six years as a regular on the local party event circuit around Pennsylvania, earning loyalty from rank-and-file activists. He also walked across the state last year to kick off his campaign. The party's search for an alternative candidate ended last summer when it tapped McGinty, 52, a member of Gov. Tom Wolf's administration who had also worked for Al Gore, Bill Clinton and former Gov. Ed Rendell. She has run a radio ad voiced by Obama and Vice President Joe Biden made a campaign stop for her in Pittsburgh. McGinty said in one TV ad that Obama endorsed her "because he knows I'm a fighter." She has drummed out that theme in her ads, presenting herself as a champion for the middle class and women's causes, the 9th of 10 children of a Philadelphia cop and a diner waitress. In recent days, her campaign and Emily's List have also aired attack ads against Sestak. Sestak has leaned on his military service and touted endorsements by two of the state's largest newspapers, The Philadelphia Inquirer and Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. He has also told the story of his young daughter's successful fight with brain cancer as his motivation for running for Congress in 2006 and backing Obama's signature 2010 health care law. One wild card is how a third candidate, John Fetterman, will affect the race, even though he trails badly in the polls and fundraising. He's best-known in western Pennsylvania, where he is the 46-year-old mayor of the impoverished steel town of Braddock, about 10 miles outside Pittsburgh. He is 6-foot-8, scowling, bald and tattooed, and his liberal and unconventional campaign he has dropped in on bars, rock music venues and hookah lounges has won over some younger voters. A semiretired owner of a spring manufacturing shop, Joe Vodvarka, was also added back on the ballot in recent days after a dispute in court over whether he had submitted enough signatures. His family has run his low-profile campaign. ___ Associated Press writer Errin Haines Whack in Philadelphia contributed to this report. ___ Follow Marc Levy on Twitter at www.twitter.com/timelywriter. His work can be found at http://bigstory.ap.org/author/marc-levy. FILE - In this May 12, 2014, file photo, former Pennsylvania Environmental Protection Secretary Katie McGinty waves during a gubernatorial primary debate in Philadelphia. McGinty, 52, is one of four candidates campaigning for the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania's primary on Tuesday, April 26, 2016, seeking to challenge Republican incumbent U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey's bid for re-election. (AP Photo/Michael Perez, File) FILE - In this April 14, 2016, file photo, Braddock, Pa., Mayor John Fetterman meets with people following a news conference he held in Norristown, Pa. Fetterman, 46, is one of four candidates campaigning for the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania's primary on Tuesday, April 26, 2016, seeking to challenge Republican incumbent U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey's bid for re-election. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File) FILE - In this Feb. 25, 2016, file photo, semi-retired spring manufacturing shop owner Joseph Vodvarka talks about his campaign at his shop in the Pittsburgh suburb of Clinton, Pa. Vodvarka, 72, is one of four candidates campaigning for the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania's primary on Tuesday, April 26, 2016, seeking to challenge Republican incumbent U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey's bid for re-election. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic, File) Delegate math: How Tuesday could close door on Sanders bid WASHINGTON (AP) Hillary Clinton can't win enough delegates on Tuesday to officially knock Bernie Sanders out of the presidential race, but she can erase any lingering honest doubts about whether she'll soon be the Democratic nominee. After her victory in New York this past week, Clinton has a lead over Sanders of more than 200 pledged delegates won in primaries and caucuses. As she narrowed Sanders' dwindling opportunities to catch up, Clinton continued to build on her overwhelming support among superdelegates the party officials who are free to back any candidate they choose. In the past two days, Clinton picked up 11 more endorsements from superdelegates, according to an Associated Press survey. In this April 21, 2016, photo, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton listens during a campaign event in Hartford, Conn. Clinton cant win enough delegates on April 25 to officially knock Bernie Sanders out of the race for president, but she can erase any honest doubts still left that she will soon be the Democratic Partys nominee.(AP Photo/Jessica Hill) Factoring in superdelegates, Clinton's lead stands at 1,941 to 1,191 for Sanders, according to the AP count. That puts her at 81 percent of the 2,383 delegates needed to win the nomination. At stake Tuesday are 384 delegates in primaries in Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island. This group of contests offers Sanders one of the last chances left on the election calendar to gain ground in pledged delegates and make a broader case to superdelegates to support him. Yet it appears Clinton could do well enough Tuesday to end the night with 90 percent of the delegates needed to win the nomination, leaving her just 200 or so shy. The Sanders campaign knows a tough battle awaits in those five states and says it will reassess its campaign after Tuesday. If Sanders fails to win significantly in the latest primaries, he won't have another chance to draw closer in a big way until California votes on June 7. Clinton is on track to already have hit the magic number of 2,383 by that point. A look at the paths forward for the two candidates: ___ SANDERS' HOPE: RECAPTURE MOMENTUM After losing New York, Sanders needs to win 73 percent of the remaining delegates and uncommitted superdelegates to capture the nomination. That's not too realistic. So his campaign is arguing that the Vermont senator can flip superdelegates at the July convention in Philadelphia, especially if he were somehow able to overtake Clinton among pledged delegates. To do so, Sanders would need to win 59 percent of those remaining. The Sanders camp acknowledges that will require a win in Pennsylvania, the biggest prize on Tuesday with 189 delegates. Sanders is trailing Clinton by double digits in preference polling in the state. His campaign also believes he can pick up delegates in Connecticut, where 55 are at stake. Sanders would recapture some momentum with such an unexpected big-state win, but he can't escape the fact that Democrats award delegates in proportion to the vote. Even the loser gets some. That means a close victory for Sanders in Pennsylvania probably would be offset by the results in Maryland. That state, the second biggest prize of the night with 95 delegates, is a Clinton stronghold. The upshot: To catch Clinton, Sanders needs big wins in the delegate-rich, racially diverse states still left to hold primary elections. The problem: His next win by such a wide margin over Clinton in such a state would be his first. ___ CLINTON'S PATH: BOLSTER HER BIG LEAD If Clinton were to win four or five states Tuesday, as preference polling suggests, she will extend her pledged delegate lead to about 300. The most likely scenario: big hauls in Pennsylvania and Maryland, and modest gains in Delaware, Connecticut and Rhode Island. At that point, she would need to win just 35 percent or so of the remaining delegates from primaries and caucuses to maintain her lead in pledged delegates. In actuality, she's been winning 55 percent so far. More significantly, doing well on Tuesday would likely cement her support among superdelegates. Clinton now holds a 513-38 advantage among those party officials. An additional 163 superdelegates have yet to commit, but many have told the AP that they ultimately will support the candidate who wins the most delegates in the primaries and caucuses. Never before have superdelegates lifted a candidate to the Democratic nomination when he or she trailed in pledged delegates. When superdelegates are included, Clinton's lead after an average performance on Tuesday would require Sanders to start winning far more than the three of every four delegates he needs now just to catch up. Do a little better than that, and Clinton can reasonably expect to clinch the nomination by June 7 before the first votes are even counted in California. ___ Follow Hope Yen on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/hopeyen1 Rock Hall to offer free admission during GOP convention CLEVELAND (AP) The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland will be offering free admission and limited hours during the week of the Republican National Convention this summer under a sponsorship deal with AT&T. Cleveland.com reports (http://bit.ly/1pp9IMU ) the museum will be free and open to the public the week of July 17-21 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. CEO Greg Harris says the AT&T deal will more than cover what the museum would normally make during that time The museum will close early that week to set up for convention-related events. Groups including the Ohio Republican Party have reserved the space on the shore of Lake Erie for invitation-only events. The free admission covers the Rock Hall's planned "Louder than Words" exhibit, which premiers May 20. ___ Thousands of families in limbo 2 months after gas blowout LOS ANGELES (AP) It's been two months since a blown-out natural gas well was capped and officials spoke of thousands of uprooted families returning to their normal lives. But nearly half of the 8,000 families who left home at some point have yet to return, many still worried about the possibility of another leak and potential health hazards from chemicals in the gas that spewed uncontrollably for almost four months. Andrew Krowne's family is among those whose lives remain in limbo. Andrew Krowne, left, checks his phone his wife Jennifer brings the rest of their groceries into their hotel room, Thursday, April 21, 2016, in Thousand Oaks, Calif. It's been two months since a natural gas well blowout that uprooted thousands of Los Angeles families was capped and officials spoke of residents returning to their normal lives. Andrew is still wondering when that will happen. Like the 3,700 families who have yet to move home, Krowne, his wife, toddler and four other young children, are still in limbo. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill) Krowne, his wife, toddler and four other young children, are going into a fourth month at a hotel paid for by Southern California Gas Co. where they have celebrated four birthdays, including his wife's 40th and just last week, his daughter's fourth. "Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's Day, birthdays, Easter, everything's been in the hotel," Krowne said. "It was basically, stay away from (home) like it was the plague." The Krownes and others packed up to escape symptoms ranging from nausea to nosebleeds, rashes to respiratory problems or to avoid breathing air they feared would cause future health problems as the SoCalGas storage facility gushed 100,000 tons of climate-changing methane. Concerns in Porter Ranch and surrounding communities were reinforced last weekend by a small gas leak and oil spill at another company operating in the Aliso Canyon, one of the nation's largest natural gas storage fields and the major supplier for Southern California. SoCalGas points out that public health agencies have found air in the community safe, but it has been forced by courts to extend paying for temporary housing while the county health department tests homes for chemicals. The department, which initially gave the all-clear signal, has fielded 300 complaints from residents since the leak was capped Feb. 18, and a survey found more than 60 percent still reporting symptoms. Facing a much longer haul than it expected when it offered to pay for an additional week of lodging after the leak was sealed, the company now plans to move people from hotels to what it says are high-quality, longer-term apartments with kitchens that will prevent them from having to shuffle between hotels. SoCalGas spokesman Chris Gilbride said the county has created uncertainty for residents by continuing to push for housing extensions while performing tests for some 200 compounds, many of which are found indoors and in common household products. "The Department of Public Health's methodology appears designed to test everything that may be found in indoor air regardless of any relationship with the gas leak and we expect they will fail to produce any results that help residents understand whether the gas leak impacted their indoor air," Gilbride said. Displaced residents, angry about the leak's effect on their lives and frustrated with lagging reimbursements for meals and mileage, are not happy about being uprooted again. "I don't want to move to downtown LA in some crappy accommodation," said Janet Terterian, who has been staying with her dogs in a Four Seasons hotel. "I want to go home, but then when I was going home, I was getting sick." Terterian is so fed up, she's selling her house and plans to leave the area. She's having trouble finding a buyer for the spacious four-bedroom home she bought three years ago for $800,000 and listed in March for $1.1 million. Sales of Porter Ranch homes dropped 44 percent in the three months after the foul smell of gas began wafting over the area, compared with the three months before. The median price, which was just over $700,000 in March, remained stable during the period, according to RealtyTrac. The gas leak could have an impact on future development. The county has put a moratorium on all new residential development near the gas facility, holding up the luxury 188-home Hidden Creeks Estates, said Tony Bell, a spokesman for county Supervisor Michael Antonovich. The gas company had estimated costs related to the leak at $250 million to $300 million, but that was before the housing period was extended several times and doesn't include dozens of lawsuits or regulatory action. It said insurance should cover most of it. As the state investigates the cause of the blowout, the 114 other wells in the field are undergoing rigorous tests before the company can resume injecting gas into wells a mile-and-a-half underground. The company said it expects to resume operations by the end of the summer. The facility typically supplies gas-fired power plants during summer demand spikes and energy officials have warned that blackouts are possible without the facility's gas supplies. A consumer group and environmentalists have criticized such claims as a scare tactic to justify keeping the facility in operation. Krowne and others who live nearby are fighting to get the facility shut down. He's also fighting to stay in the Courtyard Marriott, where his family is packed into adjoining rooms, rather than move to an apartment. "They're ever so gently putting their hand on your back and forcing you to do this," Krowne said. "The whole point of this process is to make it so unbelievably hard on the resident so you give up and go home." Andrew Krowne poses with his wife Jennifer and kids in their hotel room, Thursday, April 21, 2016, in Thousand Oaks, Calif. It's been two months since a natural gas well blowout that uprooted thousands of Los Angeles families was capped and officials spoke of residents returning to their normal lives. Andrew is still wondering when that will happen. Like the 3,700 families who have yet to move home, Krowne, his wife, toddler and four other young children, are still in limbo. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill) Andrew and Jennifer Krowne's daughter Ashley, left, pushes her brother Dustin, center, and sister Juliet on a luggage cart as they head to dinner in the lobby of their hotel, Thursday, April 21, 2016, in Thousand Oaks, Calif. It's been two months since a natural gas well blowout that uprooted thousands of Los Angeles families was capped and officials spoke of residents returning to their normal lives. Andrew is still wondering when that will happen. Like the 3,700 families who have yet to move home, Krowne, his wife, toddler and four other young children, are still in limbo. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill) Andrew Krowne and his wife Jennifer, serve their children, clockwise from lower left, Juliet, Braydon, Ashley, Dustin and Kaitlyn dinner in the lobby of their hotel, Thursday, April 21, 2016, in Thousand Oaks, Calif. It's been two months since a natural gas well blowout that uprooted thousands of Los Angeles families was capped and officials spoke of residents returning to their normal lives. Andrew is still wondering when that will happen. Like the 3,700 families who have yet to move home, Krowne, his wife, toddler and four other young children, are still in limbo. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill) Yemeni military clashes with al-Qaida amid airstrikes SANAA, Yemen (AP) Yemeni forces loyal to the internationally recognized government killed 25 al-Qaida militants in heavy clashes Saturday in southern Yemen, a provincial official said, following an airstrike campaign this month by a Saudi-led coalition against al-Qaida positions in the area. Ground troops were advancing in Saturday's clashes in the town of Koud in the southern province of Abyan, said al-Khedr al-Seidy, the province's governor. Elsewhere, a suicide bomber detonated a car bomb southwest of the Abyan provincial capital of Zinjibar to stall advances by the military in the province. The explosion led to an unknown number of casualties among the army forces. Al-Qaida's affiliate in Yemen, viewed by Washington as the group's most dangerous offshoot, has exploited the conflict between Shiite rebels and government forces to expand its footprint. A Saudi-led, U.S.-backed coalition supporting Yemen's internationally recognized government is battling Shiite rebels known as Houthis and their allies. The Houthis have held Yemen's capital, Sanaa, since September 2014, and their advance across the Arab world's poorest country brought the Saudi-led coalition into the war in March 2015. In the central city of Taiz, five civilians were killed and seven others injured when a land-mine exploded as a bus was passing by on a side street west of the city. Taiz has been besieged for months by Houthis who have been indiscriminately shelling the war-devastated city and blocking the delivery of humanitarian aid, according to residents and aid groups. Clashes also continued Saturday in the provinces of Marib and Jouf, while the Saudi-led coalition launched airstrikes against the Houthis in Taiz and Jawf. In over a year since the Saudi intervention, the war has killed nearly 9,000 people a third of them civilians, according to the U.N. 'He was family': Music star Prince stayed home in Minnesota MINNEAPOLIS (AP) Bob Dylan left Minnesota, but Prince never did. When the music superstar died at age 57, it was in the same suburban Minneapolis studio compound where he had lived for years. He could have opted for the glamour of either coast but stayed home, where fans occasionally saw him in local nightclubs, a record store, or just bicycling near Paisley Park. "He was everything here," said Mark Anderson, 43, a longtime fan who estimated he saw at least 30 Prince shows and would bring his teenage son from nearby Eagan to see Prince's occasional late-night jams at Paisley Park. "He was more than a musician. He was family. A memorial fence in memory of pop star Prince is lined with flowers and signs at Paisley Park Studios Friday, April 22, 2016 in Chanhassen, Minn. Prince died Thursday at Paisley Park at the age of 57. (AP Photo/Jim Mone) "I think a lot of fans feel that way." Crowds continued flocking Saturday to pay respects at Paisley Park. An autopsy was conducted Friday, but officials said it may be weeks before results are known. A group of Prince's "most beloved" family, friends and musicians celebrated his life in a small, private service on Saturday after his remains were cremated. Prince's fame made Minnesota feel good about itself. In the wake of his death, fans here have recalled how the Oscar and seven-time Grammy winner put the sleek "Minneapolis Sound" of the 1980s on the national music map. "When you think of Minneapolis, you automatically think of Prince," said Jen Boyles, 37, a longtime Twin Cities music journalist. St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman was among thousands that turned up Thursday night outside of First Avenue, the downtown Minneapolis nightclub Prince made famous with his hit 1984 movie "Purple Rain" and where part of the movie was set and filmed. "Think about what Prince has meant to so many people across the globe, not to mention folks in the Twin Cities," Coleman told the Star Tribune. "Prince made us cool. Prince really made his mark from here." Even the local sheriff, at a news conference on Prince's death, reminded reporters that the purple-loving megastar was, at heart, a local guy. "This is a tragedy for all of us. To you, Prince Rogers Nelson was a celebrity. To us, he's a community member and a good neighbor," Carver County Sheriff Jim Olson said Friday. Minnesota is a rich musical state that has produced Bob Dylan, Judy Garland, Eddie Cochran and the Andrews Sisters. But they all moved away. Bob Fuchs, the manager of Electric Fetus, a south Minneapolis record store where Prince would browse without fans bothering him, rated Prince equal to Dylan. Prince's decision to stay home, Fuchs said, made him special. "As far as hometown musicians who still live here, that puts Prince at No. 1," he said. Lars Larson, who worked as security for Paisley Park on and off since 2001, said he thinks Prince cherished small-town life. "He had the freedom to do stuff here and not worry about paparazzi bothering him. I remember he would take trips to Dairy Queen in his BMW. I don't know if you can get away with that in Hollywood," Larson said. A few years ago, Prince showed up with a guitar at First Avenue, where he frequently performed, to see the band Gayngs, the club's general manager, Nate Kranz, recalled. But instead of performing, Prince just watched from the stage, Kranz said. Prince last performed at the club in 2007, but would stop by occasionally to see local acts, Kranz said. Besides opening his 65,000-square-foot Paisley Park recording complex in 1987 in Chanhassen, a town of nearly 23,000 people about 20 miles southwest of Minneapolis, Prince also owned a lot of undeveloped land in the suburb, Mayor Denny Laufenburger said. "Maybe to a certain extent he considered this a little bit of peaceful repose," Laufenburger said. Heather McElhatton of Minneapolis, who worked as a set decorator for Prince video shoots at Paisley Park from 1988 to 1998, said Prince had his pick of locating his $10 million studio but chose to remain in the Twin Cities. "He could have put Paisley Park anywhere. He could have put it on the moon and musicians would have rocketed up to record with him," McElhatton said. "He never lost touch with who he was or his roots." ___ Associated Press writers Kevin Burbach and Amy Forliti contributed to this report. ___ Follow Jeff Baenen on Twitter at https://twitter.com/jeffbaenen . His work can be found at http://bigstory.ap.org/author/jeff-baenen . Student comes out as 'non-binary' at Obama event in London LONDON (AP) A student who came out as "non-binary" in an emotional address to Barack Obama about transgender issues is being praised by the president for her bravery. Maria Munir, a 20-year-old student at the University of York in northern England, stood up at a town hall meeting with Obama in London on Saturday and said she was about to "do something terrifying, which is I'm coming out to you as a non-binary person." She then went on to urge the British and American governments to "take us seriously as transgender people." Maria Munir urges U.S. President Barack Obama to do more for the LGBT trans-sexual community saying she was doing something "crazy" and coming out to him as a non-binary person, during a town hall meeting with an audience from the U.S. Embassys Young Leaders UK program at Lindley Hall, the Royal Horticultural Society, in London, Saturday, April 23, 2016. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham) Non-binary is a term used by people who don't identify exclusively as either male or female. Obama said he was "incredibly proud" of Munir for speaking out and encouraged her to "keep pushing" for rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. However, the president said he can't do much about a North Carolina law that requires transgender people to use public bathrooms conforming to the sex on their birth certificates and restricts protections for LGBT people. Obama said he can't overturn state laws, and the current Congress is unlikely to prohibit states from taking such action. But he said his administration is doing what it can administratively and social attitudes are changing quickly. After the event, Munir said the experience had given her the confidence to "change the world." "I cannot describe the amount of nerves and excitement I felt at exactly the same time. I started to feel the tears well up," she said. "For me, aged 20, to be sat in front of the President of the United States, the leader of the free world, and to be able to pitch to him social action that I believe he can have a real influence on is something I will never be able to describe." Maria Munir urges U.S. President Barack Obama to do more for the LGBT trans-sexual community saying she was doing something "crazy" and coming out to him as a non-binary person, during a town hall meeting at Lindley Hall, the Royal Horticultural Society, in London, Saturday, April 23, 2016. Obama held the town hall-style event in London taking questions on diverse subjects from the predominantly young people in the audience. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham) Maria Munir, center, urges U.S. President Barack Obama to do more for the LGBT trans-sexual community saying she was doing something "crazy" and coming out to him as a non-binary person, during a town hall meeting at Lindley Hall, the Royal Horticultural Society, in London, Saturday, April 23, 2016. Obama held the town hall-style event in London taking questions on diverse subjects from the predominantly young people in the audience.(AP Photo/Matt Dunham) No Soup For You: Man upset after restaurant runs out of soup MANSFIELD, Texas (AP) A Texas lawyer upset that he wasn't provided a cup of soup during a recent meal has notified a restaurant owner that he'll sue if not reimbursed the $2.25 for the soup. Dwain Downing also is seeking $250 in attorney fees for the time spent drafting a letter sent to Benji Arslanovski, who operates Our Place Restaurant in the Fort Worth suburb of Mansfield. Downing says the soup was listed on the menu as part of a Saturday special. He says the restaurant offered no discount or substitution when it ran out. The lawyer argued the menu amounts to a contract with the customer and Arslanovski violated the terms of the contract. Death penalty sought for Ohio trucker accused in 4 slayings CLEVELAND (AP) A prosecutor is seeking the death penalty against a Cleveland truck driver accused in the slayings of four people. Cleveland.com reports (http://bit.ly/1NHMXd4 ) Cuyahoga (ky-uh-HOH'-guh) County Prosecutor Timothy McGinty has filed a new indictment including specifications that would allow a jury to recommend the death penalty for 45-year-old Robert Rembert Jr. Rembert pleaded not guilty Friday to more than 20 charges in the four slayings three last year and one in 1997. Prosecutors say DNA evidence ties Rembert to the strangulation deaths of 47-year-old Rena Mae Payne in 1997 and 31-year-old Kimberly Hall last June. He also is charged with fatally shooting his cousin, 52-year-old Jerry Rembert, and 26-year-old Morgan Nietzel at a Cleveland home he shared with the two. Rembert is due back in court May 3. ___ The Latest: Solar plane prepares to land after 3-day flight SAN FRANCISCO (AP) The Latest on the flight of a solar-powered airplane from Hawaii to California in an attempt to circumnavigate the globe (all times local): 9:45 p.m. A solar-powered airplane is preparing to land in Northern California after flying for three days across the Pacific Ocean. The Solar Impulse 2 solar plane flies into the sunrise out of Kalaeloa Airport, Thursday, April 21, 2016, in Kapolei, Hawaii. The solar plane will fly a two-and-a-half day journey to Northern California. (AP Photo/Marco Garcia) Solar Impulse 2 has been flying in a holding pattern off the San Francisco coast while waiting for winds to decrease for landing in Mountain View. The aircraft reached the Golden Gate Bridge Saturday afternoon following 56 hours of flight that began Thursday morning in Hawaii. The trans-Pacific leg of the journey is the riskiest part of the solar plane's global travels because of the lack of emergency landing sites. Solar Impulse 2 is on an around-the-world journey to promote renewable energy and the spirit of innovation. ___ 5:30 p.m. A solar-powered airplane has reached the San Francisco Bay area following 56 hours of flight over the Pacific Ocean. Pilot Bertrand Piccard is performing a fly-by over the Golden Gate Bridge as spectators watch the narrow plane with extra-wide wings from below. Earlier, Piccard said he was excited to get the chance to fly over the iconic span in a plane that doesn't make noise and doesn't pollute. The aircraft will loiter aloft until midnight when winds will decrease for landing at Moffett Airfield in Mountain View. Solar Impulse 2 is on an around-the-world journey to promote renewable energy and the spirit of innovation. The plane took off last March from Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, and it has made stops in Oman, Myanmar, China, Japan and Hawaii. ___ 1:45 p.m. The pilot of a solar-powered airplane on an around-the-world journey says stopping in California's Silicon Valley will help link the daring project to the pioneering spirit of the area. Pilot Bertrand Piccard, who left Hawaii three days ago, says he hopes to fly over San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge before landing in Mountain View. Piccard said Saturday on a live video feed on the website documenting the journey that he is very excited of the chance to fly over the iconic bridge in a plane that doesn't make noise and doesn't pollute. Piccard is expected to land in Northern California late Saturday. ___ 9:30 a.m. A solar-powered airplane on an around-the-world journey has traveled 80 percent of the way from Hawaii to California. The project's website says the Solar Impulse 2 aircraft is 48 hours into a three-day flight over the Pacific. The aircraft's destination on this leg of the journey is Mountain View, California, at the southern end of San Francisco Bay. The aircraft's wings are covered with solar cells to take energy from the sun to power the motors turning its propellers. During darkness it relies on energy stored in batteries. As the sun rose over the Pacific on Saturday, the plane's batteries began charging again. The aircraft started its journey in March 2015 from Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates. The Solar Impulse 2 solar plane is moved out of the hangar to prepare for a dawn lift off at the Kalaeloa Airport, Thursday, April 21, 2016, in Kapolei, Hawaii. The solar-powered plane that has been grounded in Hawaii since July plans to resume its round-the-world voyage on Thursday. (AP Photo/Marco Garcia) Ground crew prepare for the departure of the Solar Impulse 2 solar plane from the Kalaeloa Airport, Thursday, April 21, 2016, in Kapolei, Hawaii. The Solar Impulse team landed in the islands in July after a record-breaking flight from Japan. (AP Photo/Marco Garcia) Solar Impulse 2 pilots Bertrand Piccard, left, and Andre Borschberg speak to the media in front of the solar plane from the Kalaeloa Airport, Thursday, April 21, 2016, in Kapolei, Hawaii. The Solar Impulse team landed in the islands in July after a record-breaking flight from Japan. (AP Photo/Marco Garcia) A Hawaiian hula dancer performs for the Solar Impulse 2 pilots Andre Borschberg, left and Bertrand Piccard, center, during a departure ceremony at the Kalaeloa Airport, Thursday, April 21, 2016, in Kapolei, Hawaii. The solar plane will attempt to depart Hawaii for California today. (AP Photo/Marco Garcia) FILE - In this Thursday, April 21, 2016 file photo, the Solar Impulse 2 solar plane lifts off at the Kalaeloa Airport, in Kapolei, Hawaii. The solar plane on an around-the-world journey has reached the point of no return over the Pacific Ocean after departing Hawaii, and now it's California or bust. The plane was cruising over the cold northern Pacific late Thursday at about 20,000 feet with a nearly-full battery as night descended, according to the website that's documenting the journey of Solar Impulse 2. (AP Photo/Marco Garcia, File) FILE - In this Thursday, April 21, 2016 file photo, the Solar Impulse 2 solar plane flies out of the Kalaeloa Airport, in Kapolei, Hawaii. The solar plane on an around-the-world journey has reached the point of no return over the Pacific Ocean after departing Hawaii, and now it's California or bust. The plane was cruising over the cold northern Pacific late Thursday at about 20,000 feet with a nearly-full battery as night descended, according to the website that's documenting the journey of Solar Impulse 2. (AP Photo/Marco Garcia, File) Solar Impulse 2 pilot Bertrand Piccard prepares to fly across the Pacific in a solar plane from Kalaeloa Airport, Thursday, April 21, 2016, in Kapolei, Hawaii. The solar plane will fly a two-and-a-half day journey to Northern California. (AP Photo/Marco Garcia) Ground crew pulls the Solar Impulse 2 solar plane on to the runway for a dawn lift off at Kalaeloa Airport, Thursday, April 21, 2016, in Kapolei, Hawaii. The solar plane will fly a two-and-a-half day journey to Northern California. (AP Photo/Marco Garcia) North Florida school board supports transgender bathroom ban OCALA, Fla. (AP) A school board in north Florida plans to restrict access to school bathrooms based on a person's biological gender. The Ocala Star-Banner reports (http://bit.ly/2487MrB ) that the Marion County School Board reached a consensus on Thursday on a resolution that would ban transgender students from using bathrooms for the gender with which they identify. The board plans to take a final vote next week. The resolution states that "transgender people are not a protected class under federal or state law or under Marion County Public Schools policy." The issue was raised recently when a teacher reported that a transgender student who was born female but identifies as a male at Vanguard High school was using the boy's restroom. Police: Officer shoots Georgia man who refused to drop gun ATHENS, Ga. (AP) The Georgia Bureau of Investigation says a man has been shot by a police officer in northeast Georgia. GBI spokesman Mike Ayers says Athens-Clarke county officer David Kelley shot 22-year-old Justin Tramell Scott when he reached for a firearm early Saturday. Ayers says Kelley was on a routine patrol when he stopped at a store and encountered two men pouring liquor into a cup before the officer saw Scott with a firearm. Kelley commanded Scott multiple times to drop his weapon. But Ayers says Scott reached for his firearm. Kelley then fired shots at Scott, who fled before being apprehended. Ayers says Scott was taken to a local hospital for treatment of a non-life threatening injury. Manuel Pellegrini hopes David Silva is over his injury problems Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini is hopeful playmaker David Silva can put his ankle problems behind him. Silva is back in City's squad for Saturday's Barclays Premier League clash with Stoke after sitting out three of their last four games. The Spaniard had been playing through the pain barrier since suffering a blow to the joint while on international duty last October. Manchester City's David Silva is fit again after an ankle injury Pellegrini wanted to ease the 30-year-old's workload ahead of the first leg of City's Champions League semi-final against Real Madrid next week and thinks the rest will have done him good. Pellegrini said: "It was not a problem of ligament or muscle, it was a hard kick that could never recover 100 per cent from. I hope with the last treatment he is 100 per cent fit now and he won't have any more problems in the future. "He has improved a lot this week so he is very confident he can play tomorrow. We will see how many minutes he will play and then we will assess him after that, but the way he is feeling at the moment I don't think he will have any problems." Silva has been one of City's most influential players since his 26million move to the Etihad Stadium from Valencia in 2010. In the year prior to that he was the subject of reported interest from Real Madrid, who were then in the charge of Pellegrini. Asked if he was interested in taking Silva to the Bernabeu, Pellegrini said at a press conference: "Yes. He's a very good player and I think every manager wants to have David Silva in his squad." The Chilean, however, says he does not remember why a deal never materialised. Andy Murray could sit out Davis Cup clash with Serbia due to clay surface Andy Murray could miss July's Davis Cup quarter-final clash with Serbia after the decision to play the tie on clay. Last year, the 28-year-old led Great Britain to their first Davis Cup success in 79 years with victory over Belgium but their hopes of retaining the title could now come under threat. Murray suggested Serbia's Novak Djokovic may also step aside as their summer schedule looks packed with the French Open, Wimbledon and US Open joined on the calendar this year by the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. Andy Murray could miss July's Davis Cup quarter-final clash with Serbia By the time of the tie, Murray will have already converted to the grass-court season with Queen's and Wimbledon high on his agenda. As the Olympics and US Open take place on hard courts, playing on clay could mean playing three consecutive competitions on three different surfaces. Asked if the decision to play their Davis Cup tie on clay could potentially alter his commitment, Murray replied: "Potentially. I need to see how my body is first. "I leave now to go away next week to Madrid. It's pretty much full on through until the Olympics for the next few months. "(It is) a number of surface changes in a very short space of time, so you never know how the body is going to react or how it's going to pull up after those changes. "I'll just have to see how my body is. Hopefully I'll be fine, but it's going to be a tough few months and I think all the players are aware of that right now. The more surface changes that are put in there makes it that bit more tricky." World number two Murray was speaking at the launch of his new charity event, 'Andy Murray Live', which will see him play at Glasgow's SSE Hydro to raise funds for the UNICEF charity and Young People's Futures. The event will take place on September 21 and tickets will have a maximum price of 25. Murray, who was also unveiled as a new ambassador for UNICEF on Friday morning, said he was surprised by the choice of a clay-court in Serbia but did not think it was a strategic move to unsettle the British team. "It's tough. It just makes things more difficult at that period of the year," he said. "I thought that maybe they would put it on a hard court potentially. Obviously clay for us would be our weakest surface. It's going to be tough. I would say I was slightly surprised by it. "But every single away tie I have played over the last few years has been on clay. We went away to the States and played on clay, which is by far their worst surface. Italy, it's a bit more understandable. Belgium, I don't know if that is their best surface, also Serbia. "It's completely understandable but it's tricky for Novak Djokovic changing surfaces at that time too. George Clooney using fame to put global injustices under the spotlight George Clooney has said he counteracts the "suffocation" caused by fame by trying to highlight global injustices. The Oscar-winning actor, who was speaking at an international forum on genocide prevention, said he decided to use his fame to focus attention on those "who couldn't get any cameras on them at all" after reading about atrocities being committed in Sudan's Darfur region in the early 2000s. Clooney said: "Fame has an interesting element to it but if you tend to be followed round by a camera then you can feel suffocated at times." Clooney said: "Fame has an interesting element to it but if you tend to be followed round by a camera then you can feel suffocated at times." "I thought it might be effective if I went to those places and got those cameras to follow me and try and amplify these stories of NGOs who were doing such hard work, such dangerous work." Clooney has long taken an interest in humanitarian issues and co-founded the international relief charity Not On Our Watch with fellow Hollywood stars Matt Damon and Brad Pitt. The forum is part of a series of events being held in Yerevan, Armenia, including discussions around the global refugee and migrant crisis. Clooney said he felt "lucky" to be born in the United States. "I was lucky to be born where I was and not born as a young woman who was taken by Boko Haram. It was lucky - luck is genetic and time and place." "That luck needs to be spread. What I find beautiful about what we're doing this weekend is we're looking at it, we're pointing at it, we're amplifying it. There is an awful lot the world needs, not a handout but a hand-up." During his visit Clooney will present a one million US dollar (700,000) prize at a ceremony celebrating individuals who risk their lives for others. The series of events are being held 101 years to the day that Armenians say the Ottoman Empire began a genocide against their people, causing hundreds of thousands to flee the country as refugees. Armenians claim up to 1.5 million people were killed, a figure disputed by modern-day Turkey. Turkey strongly disputes claims that the events of 1915 were a genocide. Clooney's wife, human rights lawyer Amal Clooney, has previously campaigned and worked for international recognition of the Armenian genocide, making her a popular figure amongst Armenians. Clooney joked that he was in the country as "Amal's husband". He also rejected claims that films about genocide such as Hotel Rwanda desensitised viewers, and said the 24-hour news cycle was more to blame. However, the actor praised news organisations' coverage of the death of three-year-old Syrian Alan Kurdi, whose body washed up on a Turkish beach in September as his family tried to reach Europe, causing global outcry over the refugee crisis. "When it matters and when news organisations are very effective is when it is one small boy washed up on the shore, and for a period of time we focused on that and it mattered." On Sunday he will hand out the inaugural Aurora Prize to one of four individuals that includes a 100,000 US dollar (70,000) grant as well as the opportunity to nominate an organisation - that has inspired the winner - for a one million US dollar award. Retain your optimism, Barack Obama tells audience in question-and-answer session US President Barack Obama urged young people to reject cynics telling them they cannot change the world as he held a town hall-style meeting in London. On the second full day of his visit, Mr Obama addressed young people in Westminster and took questions from them. He praised the close relationship between the US and the UK, which he said had improved dramatically since the British "burned down my house" - a reference to the torching of the White House in the war of 1812-1814. US president Barack Obama speaks at Lindley Hall in Westminster, London, where he held a town hall-style meeting and answered questions from ordinary Britons. The president insisted now was the best time in human history to be alive as he urged the audience to ignore cynical voices saying that nothing could change. "Take a longer, more optimistic view of history," Mr Obama said. Asked about his biggest achievement in the past eight years as president, Mr Obama cited bringing in health insurance and dealing with the financial crash. "Saving the world economy from a great depression, that was pretty good. I'll look at the scorecard at the end. I think I have been true to myself," he added. Though he did not refer directly to his controversial remarks that a post-Brexit Britain would be at the "back of the queue" when it came to American trade deals, Mr Obama said that generally such economic agreements were difficult due to "parochial" interests and "factions" within countries. Mr Obama said racial tensions in America still needed to be dealt with and people could not be complacent just because an African-American was in the White House. "One of the dangers is that by electing a black president people say there must be no problem at all." Asked about which grassroots movements have been most impressive, Mr Obama cited the marriage equality campaign. "It's probably been the fastest set of changes in terms of a social movement that I've seen," he added. The president said he started out backing civil partnerships but gay friends helped persuade him that did not go far enough and full marriage equality was needed. Mr Obama was urged to do more for the trans community by someone who said they were doing something "crazy" and coming out to him as a non-binary person at the meeting. Mr Obama joked: "That wasn't that crazy, I thought you were going to ask to come up here and dance with me." The president then went on to praise the move to equality and said that controversial laws passed in North Carolina and Mississippi regarding trans people using public toilets were state issues. Mr Obama praised Prime Minister David Cameron for being "ahead of the curve" on LGBT rights issues. A Sikh questioner called for movement on issues like discrimination at airport security. Mr Obama insisted it was explicit US policy not to racially profile at airports. The president also praised the Black Lives Matter movement for raising awareness but cautioned you "can't just keep on yelling" at people who want to sit down and talk. "Seek out people who don't agree with you. That will teach you to compromise. Compromise does not mean surrendering what you believe." Asked about the peace process in Northern Ireland, Mr Obama said it was an example of what can be achieved when the US and Britain work together. The president is also meeting Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn following days of uncertainty regarding the event. News of the meeting with Mr Corbyn, who opposes British military intervention in Syria, came after Mr Obama said the US and Britain were ready to take action to stop the Islamic State terror group securing a stronghold in Libya from which to launch attacks on Europe or America. Mr Obama said the greatest allies in the fight against terrorism were Muslim Americans. "If we engage in Islamophobia we are not only betraying what is essential to us, but, just as a practical matter, we are engaging in self-defeating behaviour if we are serious about terrorism." Though billed as an opportunity for young people to connect with Mr Obama, there were also some famous faces in the audience including Annie Lennox, Benedict Cumberbatch, Holly Valance, Bank of England governor Mark Carney and designer Ozwald Boateng. After meeting the Labour leader, the president joined Mr Cameron to play golf at The Grove, Chandlers Cross, Herts. On the second full day of his visit, Mr Obama addressed young people in Westminster and then took questions from them. He called on Black Lives Matter activists to engage in meaningful debate with leaders in power rather than 'keeping on yelling at them' Mr Obama stressed there were "no plans" to send ground troops into Libya to support the recently-established Government of National Accord. Asked about his biggest achievement in the past eight years as president, Mr Obama cited bringing in health insurance and dealing with the financial crash. Though he did not refer directly to the implications of Brexit, Mr Obama said trade deals were generally difficult due to "parochial" interests and "factions" within countries. Mr Obama said racial tensions in America still needed to be dealt with and people could not be complacent just because an African-American was in the White House Asked about the peace process in Northern Ireland, Mr Obama said it was an example of what can be achieved when the US and Britain work together, adding that he was pleased that "tribal mentalities" were being broken down in Northern Ireland. Asked about which grassroots movements have been most impressive, Mr Obama cited the marriage equality campaign. Police await the arrival of the motorcade carrying Mr Obama at Lindley Hall in Westminster. Armed police in the motorcade carrying the US leader. Mr Obama's visit has been controversial, after he insisted that Britain would be better off remaining in the EU. Benedict Cumberbatch and wife Sophie Hunter await the arrival of Mr Obama at Lindley Hall. Earlier, Mr Obama watched a performance during a visit to the Globe Theatre in London to mark the 400th anniversary of the death of William Shakespeare. All the world's a stage for Mr Obama, as he is given a brief tour of the theatre by Patrick Spottiswoode, director of Globe Education. Cesc Fabregas inspires Chelsea to comfortable victory at Bournemouth Cesc Fabregas conjured all of Chelsea's goals in a commanding performance to mask the Blues' defensive frailties in a 4-1 Premier League win at Bournemouth. The Spain playmaker's inch-perfect through-balls teed up strikes for Pedro and Willian, while his astute flick round the corner let fit-again Eden Hazard drill home from 20 yards. At the death another sumptuous Fabregas flick let Nemanja Matic square into the box for Hazard to tap home his second goal and cement the visitors' victory. Eden Hazard scores his second goal of the afternoon John Obi Mikel endured an uncomfortable afternoon as a makeshift centre-back, such was Chelsea boss Guus Hiddink's reluctance to start Matthew Miazga. Gary Cahill's illness, coupled with John Terry's Achilles problem and Kurt Zouma's long-term knee issue, left Chelsea short in the heart of defence. Mikel agreed to shift back from midfield, but hardly answered the clarion call from Hiddink with any kind of security. Bournemouth wasted a hatful of first-half chances however, with only Tommy Elphick's header to show for their bluster. Bournemouth dominated the opening five minutes but Chelsea punished their lack of penetration with the summary justice of Pedro's counter-attack goal. Diego Costa found Fabregas and the Spaniard's through ball allowed Pedro to stroke home the opener in a three-touch move. The Cherries restored their dominance, even adding the idea of a cutting edge - but woeful finishing stymied the hosts' advance. Joshua King and Steve Cook skied shots from fine openings, before Lewis Grabban headed high and wide. King fired a point-blank header straight at Asmir Begovic and Grabban glanced a header wide. Just when Bournemouth sensed an equaliser, Chelsea struck again. Fabregas' smart flick round the corner carved space for Hazard and the Belgium playmaker drilled home from 20 yards. Again Bournemouth rallied, but this time they made their mark. Begovic tipped Marc Pugh's hanging cross onto the bar, and from the corner the hosts finally troubled the scorers. Elphick drove his header into the ground, the bounce eluding Begovic, and it went off the post and into the net. Grabban then botched a one-on-one, with Begovic saving well, before Junior Stanislas shot wide from the edge of the area. And at the end of the half Grabban was just unable to connect with Stanislas' low cross on the slide. Bournemouth boss Eddie Howe introduced Benik Afobe and Callum Wilson on the hour to liven up a stagnant second-half - but that only served as another catalyst for Chelsea. The Blues shrugged off their latest malaise thanks to the excellent Fabregas, whose through-ball let Willian canter clear and dink the ball over Artur Boruc for Chelsea's third goal. As time ebbed away Fabregas produced another magical moment, his one-touch lay-off paving the way for Matic to tee up Hazard's second goal. TWEET OF THE MATCH Jeremy Vine (@theJeremyVine): "LOVE the way Eden Hazard puts on bursts of pace, then dummies, pauses, shoots. Possibly if the pause didn't last 28 games it might be better" PLAYER RATINGS BOURNEMOUTH: Artur Boruc 5/10 Simon Francis 6 Tommy Elphick 6 Steve Cook 6 Charlie Daniels 6 Dan Gosling 4 Andrew Surman 4 Marc Pugh 5 Joshua King 5 Junior Stanislas 5 Lewis Grabban 5 Replacements: Callum Wilson (for King, 63) 5 Benik Afobe (for Grabban, 63) 5 Matt Ritchie (for Stanislas, 77) 5 CHELSEA: Asmir Begovic 5 Cesar Azpilicueta 5 John Obi Mikel 4 Branislav Ivanovic 5 Baba Rahman 4 Cesc Fabregas 9 Eden Hazard 7 Pedro 7 Nemanja Matic 7 Willian 7 Diego Costa 4 Replacements: Reuben Loftus-Cheek (for Willian, 82) 6 STAR PLAYER Cesc Fabregas, Chelsea: The Spain playmaker was at the heart of every Chelsea goal, always dropping deep to find the time and space to produce that one telling ball to carve Bournemouth apart. MOMENT OF THE MATCH Chelsea set the tone for their victory with an opening goal to stun Bournemouth after the hosts had dominated the first five minutes. Costa laid off to Fabregas who threaded a ball through to Pedro, and the Spaniard did the rest with a neat finish in a three-touch counter-attack of deadly quality. VIEW FROM THE BENCH England centre-back Gary Cahill's illness stretched Chelsea's defensive resources, but surely not to the extent that required John Obi Mikel to drop back from midfield. John Terry's injury absence might have seen Matthew Miazga promoted from the bench to partner Branislav Ivanovic, but instead Guus Hiddink called on Mikel to act as a makeshift central defender. MOAN OF THE MATCH Bournemouth's finishing was little short of abysmal. While the Cherries have had a fine debut Premier League season and fully merit survival, boss Eddie Howe will not accept that kind of profligacy. The hosts squandered a hatful of first-half chances, and losing 4-1 in the end told its own story of how Chelsea responded. WHO'S UP NEXT? Everton v Bournemouth, Barclays Premier League (Saturday, April 30) Mother paralysed after giving birth needs to raise 150k to help her walk again A mother is trying to raise 150,000 to help her walk again after she was left paralysed from the waist down following the birth of her daughter. Irrum Jetha, 34, has been wheelchair-bound since Amelie was born on August 29 2014. She was admitted to the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital for what was thought to be a normal delivery, and given an epidural - a pain killing injection to the back - at 3.30am. Irrum Jetha wants to raise 150k to help her walk again after she was paralysed following the birth of her daughter at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital When feeling did not return to her legs later that day, doctors conducted a scan which revealed a blood-clot had compressed Ms Jetha's spinal cord - leaving her paralysed. The clinical scientist and her husband, Adam Betts, are now trying to raise enough money to allow Ms Jetha to receive specialist treatment at the Zentrum der Rehabilitation Geerlofs centre in Pforzheim, Germany. Following a preliminary examination at the centre last October, Ms Jetha was told that with three months' treatment, she may be able to take a few steps using a walking frame. One day after giving birth, the new mother had to endure a life-threatening operation and was unable to see her daughter for six days. She said: "It hadn't been an overly long or painful labour, but even if it had, it would all have seemed worth it. We were the complete family we had yearned to be. "As I watched Adam cut the umbilical cord as he crowed: 'It's a girl', I remember thinking it was the happiest moment of our lives. Soon we would be carrying our precious baby across the threshold of our home, a family instead of a couple." But Ms Jetha was not released from hospital until a few days before Christmas - some four months later. She continued: "But even now I've never spent a single moment alone with her. Because of my disability I can't look after her alone, there are too many things that could go wrong. I can't bathe her alone or change her myself. "There have been so many mother and daughter bonding moments that I have missed. And I will never get those back. I've gone from being an active young wife to being entirely dependent on Adam. "I had nothing in common with the other new mums and I was constantly reminded of what I was missing. Every time I saw a mother walking with her baby I was in tears." Mr Betts, a research associate at Imperial College in London, took Amelie home and began looking after her alone and all but gave up work, becoming his wife's carer. The couple have instructed lawyers to investigate if there was any medical negligence by the hospital. Laura Craig, from Slater and Gordon solicitors, said: "Irrum, like so many parents, was dreaming of when her first child came into the world. "Unfortunately, what should have been a magical moment was over-shadowed by the unimaginable horror of her being left paralysed. "The bravery she has shown since that horrific incident is remarkable and awe-inspiring. Slater and Gordon is investigating whether delays in treatment, connected with her epidural, led to her becoming paralysed." Suicide bomber kills nine at Baghdad mosque, sources say BAGHDAD, April 22 (Reuters) - A suicide bomber killed at least nine people when he detonated an explosive vest after Friday prayers at a Shi'ite Muslim mosque in southwestern Baghdad, police and hospital sources said. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blast in al-Radwaniya district, which wounded at least 25 others, but Islamic State militants battling government forces in the north and west have regularly targeted Shi'ite areas in the capital. South Sudan agrees deal on arms to let rebel Machar return - mediator By Denis Dumo JUBA, April 22 (Reuters) - South Sudan's government has agreed on weapons it will let rebel leader Riek Machar bring on his return to the capital as part of a peace deal, resolving a last-minute row that led to a delay this week, the government and the mediator said on Friday. The announcement follows repeated delays to Machar's return since a peace deal was signed in August and growing frustration in the international community with the warring sides after more than two years of conflict that has shattered the young nation. Machar, who will take up the position of First Vice President to President Salva Kiir in a transitional government, had been due to return earlier this week but wrangling over what troops and weapons he could bring with him led to a fresh delay. The Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (JMEC), which includes Western powers, African representatives and others, proposed letting Machar bring 195 members of his forces, part of a quota agreed in a peace deal, and a limited amount of arms. The rebels accepted the deal proposed on Thursday but the government balked at some listed weapons, including rocket propelled grenade launchers. It relented on Friday. Government spokesman Michael Makuei said the government had accepted the terms "with immediate effect". "I welcome this concession by the government," JMEC Chairman Festus Mogae said in a statement, after threatening a day before that he would seek an "appropriate response" from the U.N. Security Council and African Union if a deal was not reached. "No further delay is tolerable," said Mogae, a former president of Botswana, pushing for Machar's return on Saturday. Makuei said timing depended on verifying equipment and troop numbers, so Machar could return on Monday at the earliest. Sponsors of the peace process fear the already fragile deal could unravel if it is not implemented more swiftly and differences are not patched up between Machar and Kiir. Kiir's sacking of Machar as his deputy in 2013 precipitated the crisis that led to a conflict in December 2013. Fighting has often run along ethnic lines, pitting Kiir's dominant Dinka ethnic group against Machar's Nuer. Thousands of people have been killed and more than 2 million people forced to flee their homes during fighting in a nation that secured its independence in 2011. European shares end lower, weighed down by carmakers By Atul Prakash and Danilo Masoni LONDON/MILAN, April 22 (Reuters) - European shares fell on Friday as automaker Daimler reported disappointing results and said it would investigate its U.S. emissions certification process. Poor sales also hit luxury group Kering, owner of the Gucci brand. The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index ended down 0.4 percent, adding to a slight fall in the previous session, although it made a second straight week of gains. Carmakers were the worst-performing sector. The European auto sector index fell 2.2 percent, dragged down by a 5.1 percent drop in Daimler after it reported first-quarter operating profit tumbled 9 percent. Daimler also said the U.S. Department of Justice had asked it to investigate its emission certification process in United States, including for its Mercedes brand. Rival PSA Peugeot Citroen fell 1.7 percent after it was raided by anti-fraud investigators on Thursday as part of investigations into auto pollutants. "The main reason that automotive stocks are down today are renewed emission investigations at Daimler, PSA Renault and Mitsubishi. So, as could be feared, the problem seems not to be limited to VW alone," said Patrick Casselman, senior analyst at BNP Paribas Fortis. Volkswagen fell 1.3 percent, off lows, after the company announced a 4.1 billion euros operating loss for 2015. Europe's largest automaker took a 16.2 billion euros hit to pay for its diesel emissions test-rigging scandal. "Investors should be relieved by the fact that VW has put a number on the financial risk associated with the vast majority of its diesel issues," Evercore ISI said in a note. "Management should now be in a position to more actively address the turnaround plan for the VW brand." French luxury group Kering was down 5.4 percent after its flagship Gucci brand posted a lower-than-expected rise in first-quarter sales on Thursday. The Kering group's overall first-quarter sales also disappointed. Finnish financial holding group Sampo fell 6.3 percent, the top decliner in the FTSEurofirst 300 index, after its shares traded without rights to its latest dividend payouts. Shares in Zodiac Aerospace surged 11.1 percent on speculation that Safran was interested in bidding for it, even though Zodiac said it was not for sale. A source close to Safran said an offer for Zodiac was "not on the agenda". Greek shares outperfomed to gain 1.2 percent, as Athens and international creditors moved closer to a deal on reforms that would unlock new loans and pave the way for debt relief. Today's European research round-up ADVISORY- Reuters plans to replace intra-day European and UK stock market reports with a Live Markets blog on Eikon (see cpurl://apps.cp./cms/?pageId=livemarkets for site in development). In a real-time, multimedia format from 0600 London time through the 1630 closing bell, it will include the best of our market reporting, Stocks Buzz service, Eikon graphics, Reuters pictures, eye-catching research and market zeitgeist. Breaking news and dramatic market moves will continue to be alerted to all clients and we will continue to provide a short opening story and comprehensive closing reports. If you have any thoughts, suggestions or feedback on this, please email mike.dolan@thomsonreuters.com. Russia says grants Ukraine request to delay Eurobond case defence MOSCOW, April 22 (Reuters) - Russia agreed to give Ukraine extra time to file its defence over a $3 billion debt owed to Moscow so Kiev can "soberly" assess the situation, Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said on Friday. Mali jet crash report urges better training, systems By Tiemeko Diallo BAMAKO, April 22 (Reuters) - Investigators into the crash of an Air Algerie flight in Mali that killed 116 people in 2014 have called for expanded anti-icing protection and better procedures and training after the pilots lost control while trying to avoid a storm. A final report by France's BEA agency, presented in Mali and Paris, focused on the way pilots responded to problems initially caused by the icing of vital probes, partly echoing the crash of an Air France airliner over the Atlantic in 2009. After an investigation lasting almost two years, the BEA said it could not exactly explain the crew's actions because of a faulty and damaged cockpit voice recorder. However, it confirmed earlier findings that an anti-icing system had been left switched off as the plane flew from Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso's capital, to Algiers at night, before crashing in the remote desert of eastern Mali on July 24. "The plane tried to avoid a storm area," Malian Transport minister Mamadou Achim Koumare said, presenting the report in a news conference in Bamako. "There was some icing in the aircraft's engine ... and it's at that time that the plane made a left turn and plunged." Of the victims, 54 were French citizens, and the BEA helped Mali investigate the crash of the McDonnell Douglas MD-83 jet. The 170-page report is the latest response to a series of accidents in which a combination of factors led to a high-altitude stall or loss of lift, prompting calls for better training for pilots in the air and in simulators. The BEA said the crew may have been distracted by the storm as well as problems in communicating with air traffic control. It found no sign that they responded to subsequent warning signs that the aircraft was losing lift, which include tell-tale wing vibrations and deliberate alarms inside the cockpit such as the automatic shaking of the control column. Pilots are meant to push the stick forwards and lower the nose to pick up speed in order to correct a stall, but the BEA said it had discovered a "lack of appropriate inputs on the flight controls to recover from a stall situation". It also suggested cockpit stall warnings woke up "belatedly" because of the logic that governs the way they are triggered. It recommended U.S. planemaker Boeing, which now owns the company that built the 18-year-old jet, should look at installing a permanent anti-icing system and changing the logic of some systems. It also called for improvements in the way simulators are designed for the aircraft, which is no longer in production. Quake toll reaches more than 600 as aftershocks spook Ecuador PEDERNALES/PORTOVIEJO, April 22 (Reuters) - The death toll from Ecuador's devastating 7.8 magnitude earthquake rose to 602 people on Friday, as dozens of aftershocks shook cities and towns around the country, spooking residents but causing no further damage. Saturday's quake, the worst in nearly seven decades, injured 12,492 people and left 130 missing, emergency management authorities said in a bulletin. Survivors were shaken again late on Thursday night when a powerful 6.0 magnitude quake struck off Ecuador's coast about 100 km (62 miles) north-northwest of Portoviejo and at a depth of 10 km (six miles). "When it started to shake last night we started to pray," said Alex Bachon, 43, a construction worker repairing damage from Saturday's quake at a hotel in Guayaquil. "I have never seen anything like this, it's been so bad." There were more than 70 aftershocks throughout Thursday night and Friday, the country's geology institute reported. There have been a total of 700 aftershocks since Saturday's quake. The tremors will continue for several weeks, emergency management official Ricardo Penaherrera warned on Friday, and he called on Ecuadoreans to stay calm. Survivors in the quake zone were receiving food, water and medicine from the government and scores of foreign aid workers, though President Rafael Correa has acknowledged that bad roads had delayed aid to some communities. With close to 7,000 buildings destroyed, more than 26,000 people were living in shelters. Some 14,000 security personnel were keeping order in quake-hit area, with only sporadic looting reported. THE COST OF REBUILDING Correa's leftist government, facing a mammoth rebuilding task at a time of greatly reduced oil revenues in the OPEC country, has said it would temporarily increase some taxes, offer assets for sale and possibly issue bonds abroad to fund reconstruction. Correa has estimated damage at $2 billion to $3 billion. A raft of temporary tax increases should raise between $650 million and $1 billion, the government said, stressing those in quake areas would be exempt. The 487 megawatt hydroelectric dam Sopladora, which is still in an experimental phase, could be one of the assets put on sale. Lower oil revenue has already left the country of 16 million people facing near-zero growth and lower investment. The government appealed for travelers to continue to fuel the $1.7 billion tourism industry, but visitors may be put off by warnings from health experts about the threat of mosquito-borne viruses in the quake area. U.S. has no objection to foreign banks dealing with Iran -Kerry NEW YORK, April 22 (Reuters) - The United States is not opposed to foreign banks doing business with Iran in line with the terms of a historic nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Friday. Panama raids property of Mossack Fonseca law firm - official PANAMA CITY, April 22 (Reuters) - Panamanian investigators on Friday raided a property used by Mossack Fonseca, the law firm at the center of a massive leak of offshore financial data, an official from the local prosecutor's office said. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said a statement with more details would be sent in due course. Leaks from the Panama-based law firm, dubbed the "Panama Papers," have embarrassed several world leaders and shone a spotlight on the shadowy world of offshore companies. Panamanian media reported that investigators left a Mossack Fonseca storehouse with bags full of shredded papers. Mossack Fonseca, which specializes in setting up offshore companies, has said it broke no laws, destroyed no documents, and all its operations were legal. Governments across the world have begun investigating possible financial wrongdoing by the rich and powerful after the leak of more than 11.5 million documents from the firm. A year after Nepal quake, some united in grief; others climb again By Ross Adkin KATHMANDU, April 22 (Reuters) - For survivors and relatives of victims of a landslide that struck with the force of half an atom bomb it is a time to grieve. For witnesses to a fatal avalanche at the Mount Everest base camp, it is time to climb again. A year after the worst earthquake in Nepal's history struck at four minutes to midday on April 25 last year, the Himalayan nation is remembering the 9,000 victims of the 7.8 magnitude quake and a second tremor 17 days later. Among those returning to Nepal are adventurers like Australian photographer Athena Zelandonii, who is trekking again to attend a ceremony of remembrance on Monday in Langtang village, obliterated by a huge rockfall that took the lives of 285 locals and foreigners. They will be remembered at the memorial event where, starting at 11:56 a.m., the name of each victim will be read out. "There was no question of not coming back," Zelandonii, 26, told Reuters in the capital Kathmandu. Part of a group of people who searched for loved ones or themselves lived through the disaster, Zelandonii survived an avalanche on the mountain slopes above Langtang, but was stranded for days by the rockfall. Still missing in the Langtang area is American Dawn Habash, a 57-year-old yoga instructor from Augusta, Maine, who was trekking in Nepal for the fourth time. Son Khaled and daughter Yasmine worked shifts to try and find out about their mother after the earthquake - all they could find out was that she was last seen walking downhill toward Langtang just before the earthquake. Both of them and Dawn's brother Randy are in Nepal for the anniversary, and hope that at least her body can be found. "Because we need that closure," said Khaled. "Sometimes I still get these lightning-bolt thoughts - what if? And that's not healthy." Of 181 foreigners who died in the earthquake or are still missing, 63 were in Langtang. Villager Kartok Lama, 30, said locals had already marked the anniversary of the quake by the Tibetan calendar that they follow. They said prayers in a hut because Langtang's two gompas, or Buddhist temples, had been destroyed. "Almost everyone from the village is back; people are rebuilding homes and hotels, and there is work going on in the fields," she told Reuters. "We want the tourists to come back." Monday's Langtang memorial will be preceded by national commemorations on Sunday - the quake anniversary by the Nepali calendar - at the site of Kathmandu's historic Dharahara Tower that collapsed. There will be a candlelit vigil that night and three days of national mourning. But the commemoration will be low-key in a country where one in seven people still live in makeshift homes, mostly tin shelters that dot the countryside by the rubble of buildings devastated by the quake. For many Nepalis it's been a lost year of political bickering over a new constitution, a blockade of the Indian border by its opponents and the failure to spend $4.1 billion in aid to rebuild, pledged by foreign donors. Tourism, which accounts for 9 percent of the economy, is down. A RETURN TO EVEREST Climbers have been slow to return. The number getting permission to scale the world's tallest peak, Mount Everest, in the spring fair-weather window is down to 289 from last year's 357. No one reached the 8,850 metre (29,035 ft) summit last year after an avalanche set off by the earthquake tore through Base Camp, killing at least 18 and abruptly ending the 2015 climbing season. The disaster, and a fatal avalanche the year before on the Khumbu Icefall approach from the Nepali side of the mountain, has led some climbing firms to reconsider whether the risks are worth fees of $50,000 or more that clients pay to summit Everest. One climber at Base Camp a year ago, Adrian Ballinger, is leading a small party to attempt Everest's northern route from Chinese Tibet. He says it is less dangerous. "It's a beautiful place, but a terrifying place," the American said of Nepal. A dry winter and global warming has made the icefall more treacherous than ever, added Ballinger, whose expedition company Alpenglow has suffered no Everest fatalities. Ang Tshering Sherpa, president of the Nepal Mountaineering Association, disagreed, saying that an elite team called the Icefall Doctors had already secured the route. "The condition of the icefall now is like it was before the earthquake," he said. IN THE MOUNTAIN'S SHADOW Shaheed and Anjali Kulkarni have returned to the Everest region a year after they watched from a nearby slope as the avalanche engulfed Base Camp. They helped carry the injured to a makeshift rescue centre down the mountain. The return of the mountaineering couple from Mumbai, India, is an exception. Numbers of trekkers have plummeted - and on less-travelled routes are still down by half - guides and lodge operators say. One is Sunita Rai, who is struggling to rebuild her Khumbila Lodge in Dhole, a hamlet perched on a ridge 4,200 metres (13,800 ft) above sea level that is part of the Gokyo Valley trail. "Renting this lodge was my chance to break with the past and earn a decent living," she said. Rai has rebuilt the dining room of her lodge after the earthquake, but much of the two-storey stone building is still covered in plastic sheeting. Now the 31-year-old worries how she will pay her yearly rent of $4,700 - seven times Nepal's annual per capita income - and works as a porter at times. "The trekkers haven't returned so to pay it I have to carry heavy loads up the mountain off-season," she said. Let's not overreact to Panama Papers, some EU finmins warn By Francesco Guarascio AMSTERDAM, April 23 (Reuters) - A European Commission plan to publicly reveal tax and financial data of large companies raised concerns among some European Union finance ministers who on Saturday advised caution after the Panama Paper leaks. Under pressure after the revelations about offshore firms hiding wealth, the EU executive proposed on April 12 a plan to increase tax transparency of multinational companies, including public disclosure of their activities in tax havens. Companies have warned of reputation risks, as some data may be misinterpreted if made publicly available. Non-EU firms could also acquire valuable information on their EU competitors, damaging their competitiveness, trade associations said. "We would prefer that as a first step, (corporate tax data) should be available to tax authorities, not to the public," Maltese Finance Minister Edward Scicluna told reporters on Saturday before an EU finance ministers meeting in Amsterdam. "We should not overreact," he said, warning against the competitive risks for EU companies if overly strict transparency regulations were adopted. Finance Minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem of the Netherlands, which holds the rotating EU presidency until July, said he favoured public disclosure but added: "Some are worried (public disclosure) will damage the competitive advantage of Europe." "We have to be careful about privacy rights," Belgian Finance Minister Johan Van Overtveldt added. The EU draft rules would require firms with an annual turnover above 750 million euros to publicly disclose their tax data in all EU countries where they operate. With a last-minute tweak, the Commission extended this new disclosure requirement to corporations' activities in so-called tax havens, jurisdictions that facilitate companies and individuals to hide their taxable income. The European Commission, the EU executive arm, had initially proposed in January that companies' detailed tax data should be available to tax administrations in each EU country, but not to the wider public. Anti-corruption campaigners have urged the EU do to more than what proposed so far, extending public disclosures to all countries and to more companies. Turkish soldier killed in operations in south east -military ANKARA, April 23 (Reuters) - A Turkish soldier was killed in an armed attack in Nusaybin in Turkey's south east, the armed forces said in a statement on Saturday. The soldier was injured having been attacked by members of the "separatist terrorist organisation" during operations against the group, and was taken to hospital. He could not be saved and died by 1100 local time (0800 GMT), the statement said. A ceasefire between the militant group Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and the state collapsed last July and attacks on Turkey's security forces have since increased amid a surge in violence in the predominantly Kurdish southeast that has killed hundreds of people. Drone strike in Yemen kills two al Qaeda suspects KUWAIT, April 23 (Reuters) - An air strike from a drone killed two men south of the Yemeni city of Marib on Saturday suspected of belonging to al Qaeda, local residents said by phone. "A drone fired two missiles at a car that had two men in it in al-Manain district south of Marib city, and the car was totally destroyed and the men were killed instantly," one of them said. The United States has used drone strikes in Yemen to target leaders of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), the group's local wing, which has plotted to place bombs on international airliners and has encouraged attacks in Western countries. Since Yemen's civil war began last year, AQAP has gained control over swathes of eastern Yemen, creating a local government there and introducing services. The war is between the Houthi movement and forces loyal to a former president on one side, and forces backed by President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi and supported by an Arab coalition led by Saudi Arabia on the other. Both sides in Yemen's civil war say they regard AQAP as a threat, and the group has previously attacked both Hadi's government and the Houthis. Since March, air strikes targeting Islamist militants have increased in Yemen, including a March 27 attack that killed 14 suspected AQAP members in Abyan province in the country's south. Yemen's warring parties began direct peace talks in Kuwait on Friday and will continue to meet despite failing to agree on an agenda, participants said. Bangladesh professor hacked to death by Islamist militants By Ruma Paul DHAKA, April 23 (Reuters) - A university professor was hacked to death on Saturday in northwestern Bangladesh, police said, with Islamic State claiming responsibility for the latest in a series of attacks on liberal activists. Two assailants on a motorcycle attacked Rezaul Karim Siddiquee, 58, an English professor at Rajshahi University, slitting his throat and hacking him to death, Rajshahi city police chief Mohammad Shamsuddin told reporters, quoting witnesses. He was found lying in a pool of blood near his home, where he was apparently waiting for a bus to the university campus about 200 kilometres (125 miles) northwest of Dhaka when he was attacked. Islamic State claimed responsibility for the killing of the professor for "calling to atheism", the U.S.-based SITE monitoring service said quoting the militant group's Amaq Agency. Police said the murder was similar to other recent attacks on secular bloggers by Islamist militants. But fellow university teachers said Siddiquee, while active in cultural events, never spoke or wrote anything about religion or Islam. "Professor Rezaul was killed in a similar fashion as the killings of bloggers," Shamsuddin said, adding he was a peaceful person and had no enemies. The Muslim-majority nation of 160 million has seen a surge in violent attacks over the past few months in which members of minority Muslim sects and other religious groups have also been targeted. Five secular bloggers and a publisher have been hacked to death in Bangladesh since February last year. A group affiliated with al Qaeda claimed responsibility for the killing of a liberal Bangladeshi blogger earlier this month, the SITE has said. Bangladesh authorities said the homegrown militant group Ansarullah Bangla Team is behind the attacks on online critics of religious extremism. The gruesome killing on Saturday triggered a protest by teachers and students of the Rajshahi University, blocking a major road and demanding immediate arrest of the killers. Three teachers at the university have been killed in recent years. Islamic State has also claimed responsibility for the killings of two foreigners, and attacks on mosques and Christian priests in Bangladesh since September, but police said local militant group Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen was behind those attacks. Norway hotel, restaurant employees to go on strike OSLO, April 23 (Reuters) - About 3,500 employees at Norwegian hotels and restaurants will go on strike from Sunday morning after wage talks with employers failed, the LO confederation of trade unions said on Saturday. The strike will affect about 350 restaurants and hotels, including one of the largest hotel chains in Norway, Thon Hotels , as well as some large hotels, such as Raddisson Blu Plaza and Clarion Hotel Royal Christiania in Oslo, Norwegian news agency NTB said. Syrian government strikes on two rebel-held areas kill 23 - monitor BEIRUT, April 23 (Reuters) - Syrian warplanes bombed the rebel-held town of Douma near Damascus and parts of Aleppo in the north on Saturday, killing 23 people, with the death toll likely to rise, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. Mediators have struggled to get combatants in Syria's five-year-old war to honour a Feb. 27 cessation of hostilities deal to enable peace talks in Geneva to proceed. Each side accuses the other of violating the truce. Fighting has escalated around Aleppo, Idlib, Latakia, Damascus and other areas over the past week and the main opposition group walked out of Geneva peace talks this week in protest at government attacks. The Geneva talks aim to end a war that has killed more than 250,000 people, created the world's worst refugee crisis, allowed for the rise of the Islamic State group and drawn in regional and major powers. Russia's intervention in the conflict beginning late last year has swayed the war in President Bashar al-Assad's favour. The Britain-based Observatory, which monitors the Syrian war through a network of contacts, said the death toll in Douma, northeast of the capital, was expected to rise from 13 because more than 22 others were injured, some critically. In a government-controlled camp near Douma, shelling killed a woman and child, and injured others, the Observatory said. There was also fighting near Bala in the southeast of Damascus between rebel groups and government forces with deaths occurring on both sides. In Aleppo, at least ten people were killed, including a child, by bombs dropped from planes in an insurgent-controlled eastern neighbourhood of what was Syria's commercial hub before the civil war began in 2011. This is the second day of heavy bombardment on Aleppo. Nineteen people were killed on Friday in similar air attacks. In a government-held area of northwest Aleppo, Syrian state television said six people were injured in rebel shelling. On Friday a Syrian warplane crashed southeast of Damascus. The Syrian military said it crashed because of a technical fault, but Islamic State said it shot the plane down and had taken its pilot captive. In a statement on Saturday the hardline militant group said this was the third Syrian warplane it had shot down in two weeks, in addition to a Russian drone. North Korea fires submarine-launched missile -South Korea By Ju-min Park SEOUL, April 23 (Reuters) - North Korea fired a submarine-launched ballistic missile off its east coast on Saturday, South Korea said, amid concerns that the isolated state might conduct a nuclear test or a missile launch ahead of a ruling party meeting in May. The North fired the missile to the northeast at about 6:30 p.m. (0930 GMT), the South's office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said. North Korea will hold a congress of its ruling Workers' Party in early May for the first time in 36 years, at which its leader Kim Jong Un is expected to say the country is a strong military power and a nuclear state. The missile flew for about 30 km (18 miles), a South Korean Defence Ministry official said by telephone, adding its military was trying to determine whether the launch may have been a failure for unspecified reasons. South Korea's Yonhap news agency said the missile flew "for a few minutes," citing a government source. The U.S. Strategic Command said it had detected and tracked a North Korean submarine missile launch but it did not pose a threat to North America. State Department spokesman John Kirby said launches using ballistic missile technology were "a clear violation of multiple UN Security Council resolutions." France on Saturday called on the European Union to unilaterally adopt additional sanctions on North Korea if the missile launch was confirmed. The European Union in March expanded trade and financial sanctions on North Korea, following up on harsh new measures imposed by the U.N. Security Council. The North first attempted a launch of the submarine-based missile last year and was seen to be in the early stages of developing such a weapons system, which could pose a new threat to its neighbours and the United States if it is perfected. However, follow-up test launches were believed to have fallen short of the North's expectations as its state media footage appeared to have been edited to fake success, according experts who have seen the visuals. South Korea's military has said it is on high alert over the possibility that the isolated North could conduct its fifth nuclear test "at any time" in defiance of U.N. sanctions after setting off what it said was a hydrogen device in January. Satellite images show North Korea may have resumed tunnel excavation at its main nuclear test site, similar to activity seen before the January test, a U.S. North Korea monitoring website reported on Wednesday. South Korea and the United States, as well as experts, believe the North is working to develop a submarine-launched ballistic missile system and an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) putting the mainland United States within range. North Korea is banned from nuclear tests and activities that use ballistic missile technology under U.N. sanctions dating to 2006 and most recently adopted in March but it has pushed ahead with work to miniaturise a nuclear warhead and develop an ICBM. A senior U.S. official said this week that North Korea should take a lesson from Iran which has agreed to roll back its nuclear programme in an agreement with Western powers in return for lifting of major sanctions but the North has shown no sign of entering into such a pact. North Korea Foreign Minister Ri Su Yong told the Associated Press in New York on Saturday that his country is ready to halt nuclear tests if the United States suspends its annual military exercises with South Korea. North Korea made a similar demand in January. Militants, guards clash near Libya's Brega port, oil commander wounded - sources BENGHAZI, Libya April 23 (Reuters) - Islamic State militants clashed with a Libyan force guarding oil ports near Brega terminal on Saturday, killing one guard and wounding four including Ibrahim Jathran, leader of the Petroleum Facilities Guard (PFG), security and medical sources said. Islamic State has a base in the Libyan city of Sirte and has launched frequent attacks against oil facilities and ports, including major export terminals that are closed but controlled by Jathran's PFG brigades. The PFG is one semi-official armed group that is backing a new unity government in Libya, where two rival administrations and their loose alliances of former rebels have been battling for control after the 2011 fall of Muammar Gaddafi. Fighting between PFG and a convoy of Islamic State militants broke out 52 kilometres south of the Brega oil terminal early on Saturday, a PFG source and a medical source said. "The four wounded included the commander of PFG, Ibrahim Jathran," the PFG source said. The new U.N.-backed unity government is trying to establish its authority over Libya, where a self-declared Tripoli government and a rival in the east and various armed factions have been vying for power and a share of the country's oil wealth for two years. Sudan's Darfur votes to keep multi-state system, opposition groups cry foul By Khalid Abdelaziz KHARTOUM, April 23 (Reuters) - The people of Sudan's Darfur have voted not to reunite the states of the conflict-torn region, the commission overseeing a referendum said on Saturday, but opposition groups said the poll was rigged by the central government in Khartoum. The government split the western region into three states in 1994, and then later into five states, following years of fighting in which mainly non-Arab tribes took up arms against what they said was discrimination by the Arab-led administration. Major rebel and opposition groups, who boycotted the government-arranged referendum, believe the splitting up of the region led to heavier Khartoum control and helped trigger renewed fighting in 2003. But the state referendum commission said on Saturday that 97 percent of voters chose to continue with the multi-state administrative system and that 3.08 million people of a total 3.21 million eligible voters had turned out, figures that opposition groups said were fraudulent. "These results reflect the fraud the Sudanese government continues to employ in all of its elections. It's the falsification of the will of the masses," said Jibril Bilal, a spokesman for the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), one of Darfur's two main rebel groups. "These results are not real nor logical. We don't acknowledge the referendum, which most of Darfur boycotted," he added. According to the United Nations, some 300,000 people have been killed in Darfur since the conflict first began, while 4.4 million people need aid and more than 2.5 million have been displaced. The government presented the April 11-13 referendum as a major concession, while opposition groups say a vote should be held only after a political settlement is reached to the intermittent 13-year conflict. Although violence has eased in recent years, an insurgency continues and Khartoum has escalated attacks on rebels over the past year. At least 130,000 people have fled fighting in the central Jebel Marra area since mid-January alone. "A referendum held this way complicates the situation in Darfur. We and the rest of the revolutionary forces demand the return of Darfur to a unified system, as it was before," Bilal said. Uganda picks Tanzania for oil pipeline route rather than Kenya KAMPALA, April 23 (Reuters) - Uganda will build a pipeline for its oil through Tanzania rather than Kenya, which had wanted to secure the export route, a summit of East African leaders said on Saturday. Picking a route is vital for oil firms to make final investment decisions on developing reserves found in Uganda and Kenya, which are among a string of hydrocarbon finds on Africa's eastern seaboard. Tanzania has found gas offshore. Land-locked Uganda, which found oil in a western region around Hoima, said last year it would build a pipeline through Kenya, linking its fields to Kenyan discoveries in Lokichar and on to Lamu on Kenya's north coast. But in March this year Uganda changed tack, saying it was now planning a pipeline from Hoima to Tanga on Tanzania's coast, prompting a last-minute push by Kenya for another switch. Saturday's summit of the East African Community bloc - which groups Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi - in Kampala confirmed Uganda would take the Tanzanian option. Regarding the crude pipeline, "the summit agreed that two crude oil pipelines, one from Lokichar to Lamu and another from Hoima to Tanga, will be developed by Kenya and Uganda respectively," the final communique said. "There is no more paralysis on that matter, we are moving," Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni said after the summit meeting. Kenyan Lands Minister Jacob Kaimenyi said the Uganda and Kenya pipelines would be developed independently. France's Total, one of the oil firms developing Uganda's fields, had raised security concerns about the Kenyan route. A Kenyan pipeline could at points run near Somalia, from where militants have launched attacks on Kenya. Britain's Tullow Oil, with stakes in both countries, had backed the Kenyan route, saying it would be cheaper if oil from both pipelines followed the same route. "While we have always believed that a joint Uganda-Kenya export pipeline was the most cost-effective option, we are clear that both Uganda and Kenya's oil resources can be developed separately," Tullow said in a statement. The firm said it would now work with both governments on the two pipeline projects. China's CNOOC is also involved in the Ugandan oil finds. Yemen peace talks continue as army fights al Qaeda By Mohammed Ghobari and Mohammed al-Mukhashaf KUWAIT/ADEN, April 23 (Reuters) - Yemen's government forces battled al Qaeda in the country's south on Saturday, aiming to push back advances the militant group has made during a year-long civil war for which peace talks are under way in Kuwait. Fifteen fighters loyal to al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) were killed in the clashes, residents and a military source said, while a drone strike killed two others further north. AQAP has taken advantage of chaos in Yemen since its civil war began last year to win control over swathes of southern and eastern Yemen, creating a local government there and introducing services. The war pits a collection of local forces and army remnants backed by the government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi and a Saudi-led Arab coalition against the Houthi movement and troops loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh. Representatives gathered in Kuwait on Thursday to begin peace talks after agreeing a ceasefire across the country. The United Nations, which has convened the talks, says around 6,000 people have died in the conflict, half of them civilians. However, as talks moved into a third day disputes continued over both the agenda and accusations from the government that the Houthis and Saleh's forces had breached the truce in the city of Taiz, a source from Hadi's government said. The government wants the Houthis and Saleh's forces to withdraw from cities and hand over weapons before discussing a solution to the political disagreements. The Houthis and its allies want a unity government to be formed before disarmament talks. The government delegation on Saturday said it would only meet U.N. special envoy Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmad and not sit directly with the Houthis, the source said. Ceasefire documents shown to Reuters by the Saudi-led coalition showed agreements for each of Yemen's provinces where fighting was taking place signed by representatives of each side, who had formed committees to monitor the truce. The agreements were decided in the southern Saudi town of Dhahran al-Janoub, a few miles from the Yemeni border, where representatives of the Houthis travelled last month to negotiate the ceasefire and prisoner swaps with Hadi's government. CLASHES Saturday's clashes at al-Koud near Zinjibar in the southern Abyan Province were between AQAP and army forces of Yemen's internationally recognised government backed by local militias, referred to locally as the Popular Resistance. In recent weeks Hadi's forces, backed by coalition air strikes, have pushed towards Zinjibar along the beach road from Aden. Al-Koud lies on that road only 5 km (3 miles) from Zinjibar, long considered an AQAP stronghold along with the town of Jaar about 15 km to the north. A group of dozens of AQAP fighters escaped, the military source said, adding that two army soldiers were also killed. Also on Saturday, an air strike from a drone killed two men south of the Yemeni city of Marib suspected of belonging to al Qaeda, local residents said by phone. The United States has used drone strikes in Yemen to target AQAP leaders, the global jihadist group's local wing, which has plotted to place bombs on international airliners and has encouraged attacks in Western countries. Since March, air strikes targeting Islamist militants have increased in Yemen, including a March 27 attack that killed 14 suspected AQAP members in Abyan province in the country's south. South Africa's opposition Democratic Alliance promises an "honest government" By Mfuneko Toyana JOHANNESBURG, April 23 (Reuters) - South Africa's main opposition the Democratic Alliance launched its election manifesto on Saturday in the economic hub of Johannesburg, one of the key areas it wants to wrestle from the ruling party in local polls in August. The party, which already governs one of the country's nine provinces, has chipped away at the ruling African National Congress' (ANC) large majority, growing its share of votes to 22 percent from 16 percent in national polls in 2014. The elections are set to be the most fiercely contested in the 22 years since the fall of apartheid due to growing unhappiness over corruption in government and persistently high unemployment as the continent's most-industrialised economy teeters on the brink of a recession. A poll by Ipsos in March found that 29 percent of the people interviewed were planning vote for the ANC, while 26 percent said they would vote for the opposition Democratic Alliance. On Saturday the centre-right party, which has positioned itself as a market-friendly alternative to the left-leaning ANC, promised the more than 20,000 supporters crammed into the Rand Stadium an "honest government" that would create jobs and deliver services. "It is a referendum on the future of our country," leader of the party Mmusi Maimane said referring to the Aug. 3 polls. "The ANC governs as if black lives don't matter," said 35-year-old Maimane, who became the DA's first black leader a year ago as it looked to counter perceptions that it is a white party and capture a larger slice of the black, working and middle class vote. "We have seen an increase in corruption, starting at the very top. We have a president who was found by the Constitutional Court to have broken the Constitution and the law," Maimane said in a speech. The party's mayoral candidates took turns accusing the ANC-led government of misusing state funds and failing to grow the economy, saying its bid to impeach the president in March that was easily defeated by the ANC's majority in parliament was proof the ruling party put corruption ahead of the people. IMF says Mozambique has over $1 bln of hidden debt JOHANNESBURG, April 23 (Reuters) - The International Monetary Fund said on Saturday that Mozambique had more than one billion dollars of debt guaranteed by the government that had not been disclosed to the Fund, and said it was evaluating the implications of the loans on the country's financial stability. Burundi rebel group hands back officer seized last month NAIROBI, April 23 (Reuters) - A Burundian army officer who had been captured by a rebel group last month was handed back to his unit on Saturday, the International Committee of the Red Cross said. At least three armed rebel groups have emerged since a political crisis erupted in Burundi a year ago, when President Pierre Nkurunziza launched his bid for a third term in office and then won a disputed election in July. More than 400 people have been killed in violence since April last year, worrying Western powers and regional states who fear a slide back into the kind of ethnically charged fighting witnessed during Burundi's 1993 to 2005 civil war. Alexis Irambona was captured by a rebel group calling itself FNL, the same name as a political party in Burundi, although the party denies any links. FNL party leader Agathon Rwasa, a former rebel commander, has said he would not take up arms again. "He was handed over from FNL to my colleagues in the Democratic Republic of Congo," Georgios Georgantas, the ICRC head of delegation in Burundi, told Reuters by telephone. He said the handover operation began on Friday and was completed on Saturday, after he was given to the Congolese armed forces and then to his Burundi unit, in the ICRC's presence. It was not immediately clear why the handover took place in neighbouring Congo. FNL circulated an image of Irambona a month ago on social media, showing him with his hands tied. They said at the time he was captured in a forest northeast of Bujumbura during fighting with the army. Army spokesman Balthazar Baratuza said at that time that there had been no clashes in that area. He said Irambona was captured while on his own in the region as he rode a bicycle. Most of the violence in the past year has been in the capital, but there have been skirmishes between armed men and the army and other members of the security forces in some rural areas and other towns or cities. Opponents accuse Nkurunziza of violating the constitution and a peace agreement that ended the civil war by running for a third term. The president and his supporters cite a court ruling that said he could run again. Germany seeking safe zones in Syria near Turkish border -Merkel GAZIANTEP, Turkey, April 23 (Reuters) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Saturday she was pushing for the establishment of special security zones in Syria near the border with Turkey where refugees could find shelter. Canada minister urges new media laws to boost local content -paper TORONTO, April 23 (Reuters) - Canada's Liberal government is prepared to overhaul the country's laws governing broadcasting, media and cultural industries to support local content, Heritage Minister Melanie Joly told the Globe and Mail in a report on Saturday, announcing a new policy direction in what she called a broken system. Canada's broadcast regulator has long had requirements for networks to carry certain amounts of local content. But it cut that quota drastically last year under the Conservative government, after the industry was shaken up by the arrivals of online media services such as the streaming site Netflix . Joly told the Globe she was willing to change laws such as the Broadcasting Act and the Telecommunications Act and modify the mandates of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) broadcast regulator and the Canadian Broadcasting Corp public media organization. She added the government would also create new laws or agencies, as needed. Joly's Canadian Heritage federal department on Saturday announced a public consultation on how to support and promote Canadian content in the current digital climate. The department said in a statement it has made available a pre-consultation questionnaire on media consumption habits and expectations that will be open until May 20. The department said Joly will lead the next phase, which will begin in the summer, though it did not give further details. Canadian Heritage did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Joly told the Globe she will start acting on the consultation's feedback in 2017, when she will also prepare a new cultural export strategy with International Trade Minister Chrystia Freeland. Last year the government eliminated its 55 percent requirement for local shows on over-the-air TV, with the CTRC saying the protections were no longer relevant in a world of abundance and choice. The regulator's decision is not expected to take effect until 2017. Yemen sides appoint ceasefire observers as army fights al Qaeda By Mohammed Ghobari and Mohammed al-Mukhashaf KUWAIT/ADEN, April 23 (Reuters) - Yemen's government forces battled al Qaeda in the country's south on Saturday, aiming to push back advances the militant group has made during a year-long civil war while peace talks take place in Kuwait. Twenty fighters loyal to al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) were killed in the clashes, residents and a military source said, while a drone strike killed two others further north. AQAP has taken advantage of chaos in Yemen since its civil war began last year to win control over swathes of southern and eastern Yemen, creating a local government there and introducing services. The war pits a collection of local forces and army remnants backed by the government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi and a Saudi-led Arab coalition against the Houthi movement and troops loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh. Representatives gathered in Kuwait on Thursday to begin peace talks after agreeing a ceasefire across the country. The United Nations, which has convened the talks, says around 6,000 people have died in the conflict, half of them civilians. However, as talks moved into a third day disputes continued over both the agenda and accusations from the government that the Houthis and Saleh's forces had breached the truce in the city of Taiz, a source from Hadi's government said. The government wants the Houthis and Saleh's forces to release prisoners, withdraw from cities and hand over weapons before discussing a solution to the political disagreements. The Houthis and its allies want coalition air missions to stop and a unity government to be formed before disarmament talks. The government delegation on Saturday said it would only meet U.N. special envoy Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmad and not sit directly with the Houthis, the source said. However, later on Saturday Ould Cheikh Ahmad said the sides had agreed to appoint delegates to oversee the ceasefire process, a small step forward. Ceasefire documents shown to Reuters by the Saudi-led coalition showed agreements for each of Yemen's provinces where fighting was taking place signed by representatives of each side, who had formed committees to monitor the truce. CLASHES Saturday's clashes at al-Koud near Zinjibar in the southern Abyan Province were between AQAP and army forces of Yemen's internationally recognised government backed by local militias, referred to locally as the Popular Resistance. In recent weeks Hadi's forces, backed by coalition air strikes, have pushed towards Zinjibar along the beach road from Aden. Al-Koud lies on that road only 5 km (3 miles) from Zinjibar, long considered an AQAP stronghold along with the town of Jaar about 15 km to the north. A group of dozens of AQAP fighters escaped and around 30 were injured and taken to a government hospital, the military source said, adding that two army soldiers were also killed. Later, a suicide attack on a military post in al-Koud was thwarted when a bomb-laden car was fired on and destroyed, killing the driver, before it reached the sentries, the military source said. Also on Saturday, an air strike from a drone killed two men south of the Yemeni city of Marib suspected of belonging to al Qaeda, local residents said by phone. The United States has used drone strikes in Yemen to target AQAP leaders, the global jihadist group's local wing, which has plotted to place bombs on international airliners and has encouraged attacks in Western countries. France calls on EU to adopt new sanctions against North Korea PARIS, April 23 (Reuters) - France called on the European Union on Saturday to adopt additional sanctions on North Korea after South Korea said the isolated state had launched a ballistic missile from a submarine. "We call on the international community to adopt a firm and united reaction so that North Korea stops its provocations," a spokesman for the French Foreign Ministry said in a statement. Portugal minister says BPI shareholders resume talks after row LISBON, April 23 (Reuters) - Spain's Caixabank and the daughter of the Angolan president have resumed contacts on a solution that would allow Portugal's Banco BPI to offload its risky Angolan assets and meet EU regulations, Portugal's economy minister said in a weekend radio interview. Talks on a deal between the two main BPI shareholders, which envisaged Caixabank buying Isabel dos Santos' stake in the bank, collapsed last Sunday. That prompted an intervention by the Portuguese government, which only exacerbated an already uneasy situation that could have political and diplomatic implications. Caixabank launched a takeover bid for BPI on Monday after the government changed a law on shareholder voting rights that helped Caixabank's bid, but irritated the Angolan side, which is reportedly preparing to retaliate. But Portuguese Economy Minister Manuel Caldeira Cabral told TSF radio that "work on bringing the parties together has resumed". "All the shareholders are interested in finding a solution. The leading shareholders also believe (that it is possible), or they would not be talking again to try to find solutions," he said, adding that the government was not involved this time. Dos Santos, daughter of Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos, earlier accused Portugal's government of making an "unprecedented and clearly partial" decision on voting rights, which allows Caixabank to vote with its full 44 percent stake versus dos Santos' 18 percent. A 20 percent voting rights cap has previously allowed her to oppose takeover bids. Expresso weekly newspaper said on Saturday that President dos Santos has a decree ready to be sanctioned that would take control of Angolan bank BFA away from BPI by capping the Portuguese lender's voting rights. Angolan telecom firm Unitel, where Isabel dos Santos is a key shareholder, would then assume control of the lucrative BFA. Unitel owns the other 49.9 percent stake in BFA. Expresso also cited a source at the Angolan central bank as saying that the country was considering freezing currency transfers by thousands of Portuguese working in Angola - a former Portuguese colony. Satyameva Jayate (Truth alone will triumph). There is no alternative to truth. Sattyen Dhaaryate Prithvee Sattyen Tapate Ravi, Sattyen Vaati Vaayuscha Sarvam Sattye Pratisthitam. It means truth alone establishes the order in the creation. In the Indian political set up, whenever there has been any attempt to destabilise balance of power or to subvert democratic principles, judiciary has uphold the rule of law and truth has prevailed. Yata dharmo, tato jaya (where there is righteousness, there is victory) and Satyameva Jayate are the two cardinal principles on which rests the justice system. One is inscribed on the logo of Supreme Court of India and another on the national symbol. Together they stand not only for truth and justice but for hope. The Uttarakhand government is a democratically elected popular government. The verdict of the Nainital High Court to set aside the arbitrary imposition of Article 356 in Uttarakhand was a right step in the direction of restoration of democracy not only in the hill state but in the minds of people. There is a famous line in TS Elliots The Hollow Men which suggests that the world will not end with a bang but with a whimper. While the sound narration in the Elliots classic may be speculative but there was no doubt that democracy was strangulated in Uttarakhand on March 27 with a whimper and its sanctity was revived by the high court verdict. It also cleared the confusion over the vote of confidence by the Harish Rawat government on the floor of the House. The verdict was a clear signal that the existence of a democratically elected state government does not owe its existence to the whims and fancies of the Union government. The decision of the Modi government to impose Article 356 in Uttarakhand was in contravention to the guidelines formulated by the Supreme Court in the SR Bommai case. The floor of the House is the appropriate and the only forum to decide whether a government enjoys the confidence of the House or not. So far as conducting the proceedings of the House is concerned, the speaker is the unquestionable authority. The speaker is bound by the rules and conventions of the House. As the nine MLAs did not have the sufficient numbers to break away under the Anti-Defection Law, they were suspended by the speaker. So, where was the breakdown of the constitutional machinery of the state, alleged by the Modi sarkar? If there was any break down at all, why did the Modi government failed to produce any material evidence before the court of law to support their theory that constitutional machinery in the Uttarakhand had failed to the extent that it necessitated imposition of Presidents rule? It was based on the recommendation of a hurriedly convened midnight cabinet meeting. The court was taken by surprise that the governor in none of his eight reports had recommended for imposition of Presidents Rule yet the Centre on its own wisdom decided to dislodge the democratically elected government. The office of president of India was unnecessarily denigrated for the reckless action of Modi government. The august office of president of India was unnecessarily denigrated for the reckless action of the Modi government. The president is the nations conscience keeper but he is constitutionally bound to act on the advice of the Union government. Any exercise of powers by the president without or beyond the advice of the Union government shall be unconstitutional as being violative of article 74(1) of the Constitution of India. It should not be forgotten that words of wisdom and caution from the president were ignored while imposing Article 356 in Arunachal Pradesh. Article 356 is a constitutional tool with enough safeguards. All these safeguards were thoroughly discussed in the constituent assembly and subsequently in the court of law. The onus lies on the Union government to explore and exhaust all other options before imposing Article 356 as a matter of last resort only when the government is not carried on in consonance with the provisions laid down for the constitutional government of the provinces. The article should not be used to achieve the political agenda of the prime minister and the ruling party as it is not meant to be invoked to serve political gain or to get rid of inconvenient state governments. Whether the government in the state is a good government or not is not for the Centre to determine but for the electorate to decide at appropriate time. Objectivity and absence of bias, and not motivating factors and lack of trust can ensure cooperative federalism between the Union and the states. The Uttarakhand episode is a grave reminder to the political leadership at the Centre not to mess with democratically elected governments in the states. The Uttarakhand government is a democratically elected popular government. The chief minister should be given the opportunity to prove his majority on the floor of the House. Who has the majority? That question must be answered on the floor of the House. The nine MLAs have been suspended by the competent authority under relevant laws and even then their petition is pending with the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court is entitled to examine the material on the basis of which the council of ministers advised the President, and the onus of justifying the arbitrary and reckless action is on the prime minister and his cabinet and certainly not the president of India who is duty bound to act according to advice of the cabinet. There is no doubt that the irrationality, arbitrariness, political motivation and mala fide intention of the Modi government shall be exposed in the Supreme Court. Arunachal Pradesh is also waiting for justice from the apex court. The bottom line is, the prime minister and his cabinet should not have put the president in such a predicament, in a court of law. After Arunachal Pradesh, whatever happened in Uttarakhand gives a clear message that the prime minister and his party have started a strategic process of grabbing power through backchannel means by disregarding the Constitution and federalism. In Arunachal Pradesh, Centre did not wait for Supreme Court decision and in the case of Uttarakhand, the chief minister was not allowed to prove his majority on the floor of the House. There is a famous saying Lobhascheda Gunena kim pischunnata yadyashti kim patake, which means if greed is part of a mans character, why should he need other bad qualities; if there is wickedness, why want sins. Ruth Paloma Rivera just bought her first home, battling her way through the paperwork obstacle course that is the post-crisis American banking system. In her initial attempt at obtaining a mortgage, the bank wanted a copy of her diploma from Rutgers University, where she earned a bachelors degree in political science. It asked for years of telephone bills and a letter from her credit unions to ensure she was in good standing, she said. Because of a mistake on her application, the bank also requested verification of her permanent residency status. Rivera, 28, was born in Puerto Rico, which makes her a U.S. citizen. It has been a really long, daunting, hard process, she said. Riveras financial background would make many banks nervous. She had multiple jobs after graduation. She temporarily stopped paying on some of her student loans because her wages were so low. She was turned down for a credit card. And the house she wanted to buy a three-story walk-up on the risky streets of North Philadelphia needs major repairs. But she also spent almost two years rebuilding her credit record, including moving in with her mother to cut expenses, so she could qualify for a mortgage. Her experience, and that of millions of other Americans, exemplifies what Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen calls a headwind for the economy: Its hard to get a loan. Bad mortgages were at the epicenter of the financial crisis in 2008-2009, the worst since the Great Depression. Since then, regulators have swarmed over the financial system, imposing tougher rules while levying billions in fines. The credit constraints have big implications in an election year thats seen Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders become the protest candidates of Americans who feel excluded from economic growth. In a globalized world where companies can move some service and production jobs across borders, wages are constantly under pressure, and financial security is increasingly about asset ownership. Missing ingredient for millennials: Down payment savings Many will likely be forced to delay home ownership and to absorb significant debt loads if they do eventually buy. Housing the traditional way Americans became stakeholders has become more elusive. The national home-ownership rate fell 5.1 percentage points, to 63.8 percent at the end of 2015, from the final quarter of 2006. The decline cuts hard across racial lines, dropping 3.8 percentage points for white owners and 6.3 percentage points for those who are black. The rate for Hispanics declined 2.8 percentage points. There are multiple causes of tight credit, which has lasted far longer than economists expected. The 2010 Dodd-Frank Act directed the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to establish a minimum standard for mortgage underwriting, requiring banks to verify a borrowers ability to repay. It also established a minimum of eight criteria, including employment status, current debt obligations and credit history. Given the risk of litigation or costly management of defaulted loans, many banks simply are stepping away from riskier borrowers. JPMorgan Chase & Co. recently told investors its total mortgage originations fell in 2015 to $106 billion, from $166 billion in 2013; only 16 percent had a loan-to-value ratio of 80 percent or higher, compared with 39 percent. Spokeswoman Elizabeth Seymour declined to comment on the decline. Banks are so scared right now, they are triple-checking every single thing, said Laurie Goodman, director of the Housing Finance Policy Center at the Urban Institute in Washington. Borrowers also were deeply scarred by the recession. While people are back to work, they are not at the income level they were seeing before the crisis, said Patricia Hasson, president of Clarifi, a nonprofit credit-counseling service in Philadelphia. Many are underemployed, making less money and carrying more of a debt load. Rivera accumulated $27,000 in debt to get her degree and graduated in August 2010, when the U.S. unemployment rate was 9.5 percent. You couldnt even get a job at McDonalds, she says. She found work as a substitute teacher but eventually stopped paying on her student loans because she wasnt earning enough to cover them and her other expenses. Her credit score cratered. Just how penalizing all this could be hit her hard one day when she applied for a credit card to buy a new Apple computer. I got denied, she said. That summer I started my credit journey. Her goal was bigger than buying a new Mac: After scraping by with low-paying employment, she had a revelation while watching money move in and boost property values in Philadelphias hipster Fishtown neighborhood. Rivera says she decided her career wouldnt depend on a particular job: It would be based on owning something, building its value and then owning something more. She would start with a bet that gentrification would spread beyond Fishtown with its craft-beer pubs, art studios and coffee shops into Kensington, a nearby neighborhood with a reputation for heroin dealing and crime. But Kensington also has colorful street murals and corner bodegas, a testament to its Puerto Rican, black and Dominican population. And development money now is flowing into its southern borders from millennials and first-time homebuyers priced out of more expensive neighborhoods to the southeast, according to Chris Somers, an owner of a Re/Max Access real-estate brokerage who also develops local properties. People feel more and more comfortable going into these fringe areas because they see their friends going there and development happening every week, he said. Rivera began looking at homes and exploring mortgage options. Any bank assessing the risk of loaning her money would ask two basic questions: Will she pay it back, and will the property at least cover the debt if she doesnt? Two metrics would help determine the answers: an appraisal and a credit score based in part on how shed repaid past debts. She already was working on cleaning up her score, the benchmark ranking for borrowers that credit-reporting companies calculate. The range is from 300 to 850. Hers had been in the 500s considered risky and she was obsessive about raising it. She scrimped, she saved, she moved in with her mom. There were no trips and no shopping sprees. She opened an account without a debit card at a credit union, making it more difficult to withdraw money. I sacrificed, she said. With some tough-love urging from advisers at Clarifi, she paid off one $1,000 college loan and began making the others current. After about 18 months, she says, her credit score crossed into the 700s, a level lenders consider a good risk, and she decided to make her move. She already had decided on the house in North Philadelphia, which she knew intuitively was the one when she found it, she said. But as collateral for a mortgage, it would look risky to some lenders: The property is more than seven decades old. Its stairs are dangerous and the basement is damp. The doors, floors and walls all needed fixing. So shed have to use part of her mortgage loan for home improvements. Rivera also had a record of frequent job changes; in addition to working as a substitute teacher, shed also been a youth counselor, cashier for a ferry-boat company and a security-company dispatcher. She started with a bank that offered grants for first-time home buyers, then the loan officers moved to Meridian Bank in Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania. In addition to requests for her diploma and telephone bills, Meridian asked for the contractor doing her renovations to add what permit costs are involved, according to an email she provided. It also wanted itemized labor and material costs and the information about her citizenship. Tom Campbell, a Meridian senior vice president in charge of residential lending, said specifics on labor, materials and permit costs are required by government guidelines for the type of purchase-and-renovation loan Rivera wanted. The bank also had to establish her residency status because of government guarantees on the loan, he said: Boxes in the citizenship section of her application were mis-marked, and the underwriter asked about it. Campbell added that also its common for lenders to ask for proof of college attainment from borrowers who have held multiple jobs. Campbell says Riveras application ultimately was considered incomplete because the banks questions werent sufficiently answered. We sit here and constantly complain that we have to put people through the wringer, he said. His bank provides loans to many low-income borrowers, and there should be a balance between too little and too much regulation, he added. Rivera switched banks on the advice of her real-estate agent. Fearing she would lose the house, she offered to pay the seller rent, even though she wouldnt be living there. The seller agreed. Rivera kept a radio playing in the kitchen and the lights on for about two months to ward off thieves who might steal copper piping and wire. Her persistence paid off. On March 18, her odyssey ended when she finally got a loan from Quaint Oak Bancorp., based in Southampton, Pennsylvania, and closed on the house. Owning property is empowering, Rivera said, and shes encouraged about her financial future for the first time since she left college. I really want it all, she said. And by all, she means all: the empty lot next door, several more empty lots one house over and, most of all, a foothold in American capitalism. The Albemarle County School Board has adopted the 2016-17 school year calendar and slightly extended the school day. All schools, with the exception of Yancey Elementary, will extend their days by five minutes to prevent the need to add any weather-related makeup days after the last scheduled day of school, which will be June 9, 2017. The first day of school will be Aug. 23. Yancey is exempt because it has an afterschool academic enrichment program. Other schools in the county system will vary on how the additional five minutes are used in the school day based on previous changes to the schedule or any bus schedule requirements. The new calendar designates Feb. 20 and March 31 as potential makeup days if they are needed. With the addition of the extra five minutes, no other makeup days will be necessary. The additional time equates to two additional days of instruction over the course of the school year. The start times of schools will not be affected by the change. Opening and closing times of schools will be announced to families when planning for the upcoming school year is completed. To view the newly adopted school calendar, visit k12albemarle.org. Charlottesville police are investigating the death of a man who was found Saturday morning at an auto business on East Market Street. Just before 11 a.m., officers received a call about a man trapped under a piece of equipment at Bobs Wheel Alignment, located at 923 E. Market St. When they arrived, officers found the mans body inside the building, which was not open for business at the time. Police said it appeared the man fell through the roof of the building and succumbed to his injuries from the fall. The incident is currently under investigation. A third man has been convicted in federal court in Charlottesville as part of an operation to abate the influx of methamphetamine into Central Virginia. Jose Alfredo Gonzalez, 32, pleaded guilty in federal court Thursday to distributing methamphetamine. The Charlottesville man was arrested in March as part of Operation Ice Storm, which also secured the arrests and convictions of two other men, who were given multi-year prison sentences earlier this month. Until malaria is eradicated globally, people travelling to and from malaria-endemic countries can import the disease to Europe, WHO experts warn. (Photo: Pixabay) Europe has become the world's first region to wipe out malaria, with zero cases reported last year, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Wednesday. The number of indigenous malaria cases dropped to zero in 2015 from 90,712 in 1995, and the last cases were reported in Tajikistan in 2014, it said. "This is a major milestone in Europe's public health history and in the efforts to eliminate malaria globally," said Zsuzsanna Jakab, WHO regional director for Europe. Strong political commitment, improved detection and surveillance of malaria cases, mosquito control, cross-border collaboration all contributed to the wiping out of the mosquito-borne disease, the UN agency said. "Until malaria is eradicated globally, people travelling to and from malaria-endemic countries can import the disease to Europe, and we have to keep up the good work to prevent its reintroduction," Jakab said. World leaders committed to ending the epidemic by 2030 when they adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in September. Great news! Europe is the first #malaria-free region of the world 1995: 90k cases 2015: 0https://t.co/sNL4qzTkAM pic.twitter.com/vemvTIr1pw WHO (@WHO) April 20, 2016 In 2015, there were 214 million cases of the disease, and it killed 438,000 people, most of them in sub-Saharan Africa. When a country has zero locally acquired malaria cases for at least three consecutive years, it is eligible for official certification of malaria elimination by the WHO. "The European Region has been declared malaria free on the basis of the present situation and the likelihood that elimination can be maintained," said Nedret Emiroglu, director of communicable diseases and health security, WHO Regional Office for Europe. "Experience shows that malaria can spread rapidly and, if Europe's countries are not vigilant and responsive, a single imported case can result in resurgence of malaria," she said. Until the end of World War Two, malaria was endemic throughout much of southern Europe. The Balkans, Italy, Greece and Portugal were particularly affected. Europe was declared malaria free in 1975, but the disease later re-emerged in the Caucasus, Central Asian republics, the Russian Federation and Turkey. J&K Chief Minister, Mehbooba Mufti, talking to officials during her visit to 'Ground Zero' along the International Border with Pakistan on Saturday. (Photo: DC) Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister, Mehbooba Mufti, on Saturday visited Suchetgarh and some other areas close to International Border (IB) with Pakistan where she pitched for opening new cross-border points to expand people-to-people contact. She also called for India-Pakistan reconciliation, asserting this was imperative towards bringing about peace in Jammu and Kashmir and beyond. She said she would be delighted if Suchetgarh is promoted as a people-to-people meeting point after reopening the cross-border route connecting it with Pakistani city of Sialkot. An official accompanying the Chief Minister said that Ms. Mufti only sought to give wings to her late fathers dream of making Suchetgarh J&Ks Wagah. Then Chief Minister Mufti Muhammad Sayeed had during a visit to the area in December last year said that his government will soon approach the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) with a request to explore the possibility of bringing Suchetgarh-Sialkote corridor between India and Pakistan along the IB within the ambit of cross-border trade and travel. Suchetgarh can be J&Ks Wagah. I will approach the Centre to make it a people-to-people meeting point across the IB, she said adding that with improvement in overall situation, we can also explore the option of promoting Suchetgarh as a trading point with the neighbouring country. Suchetgarh is about 27 kilometres from Jammu and served as the route to Sialkot during the pre-partition era, the (now) Pakistani town which is just 11 kms from the border post. The Jammu-Sialkot railway line through Suchetgarh was a 43 km narrow gauge branch of the North-Western railway and the first railway line in Jammu and Kashmir. But since 1947 the line has fallen into a state of disrepair on both sides of the border. Mufti later during a visit to Baba Chamliyal, a 17th century mystic's mausoleum close to the IB which attracts thousands of devotees from both sides on the annual mela held on fourth Thursday of June, urged media to highlight the cultural camaraderie that exists between the people of India and Pakistan. I wonder if hostilities can become news between the two neighbours, why can't cultural bonhomie, she asked. While interacting with media persons, the Chief Minister sought to send a strong message of peace and reconciliation to both India and Pakistan from the soil of Jammu and Kashmir. She cited the example of the US and Iran, once two sworn enemies, who have recently ended hostilities and stitched a new phase of engagement. If the US and Iran can join hands, I see no reason why India and Pakistan cannot come together to restore stability and begin a new era of peace and prosperity in the region, she said. Favouring more transit points for people-to-people contact, the Chief Minister said cultural affinity across the two regions is too strong to resist. I hope our good intentions are reciprocated by our neighbour, she said. After visiting various places of tourist interest and archeological importance in and outside the winter capital, she said, I promise to take tourism to all corners of Jammu, for which a proposal for a separate Tourist Circuit will be shortly finalized. Secretary Tourism briefed the Chief Minister about the Swadesh Darshan Project, funded by the Ministry of Tourism, under the Himalayan Circuit for development of Suchetgarh as a border destination. The other components of the Rs.5-crore project include restoration of old Octroi Post, construction of a multipurpose hall, development of water-body and landscaping of lawns to enhance the ambience of the place. J&K Chief Minister, Mehbooba Mufti, talking to officials during her visit to 'Ground Zero' along the International Border with Pakistan on Saturday . Srinagar: The outstation students of Srinagars National Institute of Technology (NIT) on Saturday held a protest rally in winter capital Jammu in support of their demands. They alleged that the Ministry of Human Resources Development (MHRD) and the college administration have turned a complete deaf ear to their primary demands. These demands include permanent deployment of the CRPF on the campus with complete powers and should not be under State administration, reshuffling of college administration immediately and restructuring of NIT Srinagar administration by introducing cadre system and administration (both teaching and non-teaching staff) should consist of 50 percent quota of J&K personnel and remaining 50 percent quota from other states of India. Their other demands are immediate formation of Student's Council on the lines of top NITs/IITs in the country, online Special Grievance Redressal Mechanism (SGRM) exclusively for NIT Srinagar directly monitored by the MHRD and that the same should not consist of any faculty member, action should be taken against J&K Police and administration involved in the April 5 cane-charge incident, action against those faculty members who are harassing students academically and that a Tricolour should be hoisted on the campus. The protesting students said that the list of the faculty members accused by them of harassing students academically has already been submitted to the MHRD. Joined by local leaders and activists of National Students Union of India (NSUI), the students took out a protest march from Jammu Press Club which culminated into a rally outside the Citys government-run Science College. Those who spoke on the occasion said that the protests will continue till their demands are met. They also announced that they could boycott the regular classes which are scheduled to resume on Monday. NIT Srinagar campus overlooking the Dal Lake had on April 1 witnessed clashes after Kashmiri students celebrated Indias defeat at the hands of West Indies in ICC Twenty-20 semi final by chanting pro-Pakistan slogans and lightening fireworks. Exasperated by it, the outstation students who outnumber the locals allegedly attacked them, leading to clashes and closure of the campus for students for four days. On April 5 evening, the outstation students attempted to leave the campus but were confronted by local police which used force, leaving many students injured. The incident evoked outrage across the country and the Centre rushed a two-member team of MHRD to hold talks with outstation students and asses the overall situation on the campus. Also, CRPF and SSB were deployed on the campus. Later majority of the outstation students left the campus for their homes after skipping minor examinations. The State government facilitated their travel after the MHRD conceded their demand that they would be given an opportunity to write these exams later. Last week, the NIT Srinagar official website reported that the ministry has agreed that the college management will consider formation of students' council and all national festivals will be celebrated in the institute. The minutes of a meeting, attended by NIT Srinagar Director Rajat Gupta, officials of MHRD and students representatives, and decisions by the Board of Governors were put on the website but it did not refer to another major demand of students that MHRD minister Smriti Irani or the Prime Minister should hoist the tricolour at the campus. The meeting decided to allow optional external evaluation for recent exams. Also, a committee constituted for students grievance redressal having two external members will go for further fact finding into incidents that led to tension at NIT Srinagar and is expected to submit its report around May 15. As per the website, among the main decisions taken is that "a new Committee for students Grievance Redressal which has been constituted with two external members will do the fact finding now and its Report is likely to be submitted by 15th May, 2016." It was also that the Board of Governors will consider the report and formation of students council and its modalities. Optional external evaluation "for the minor one exam, on written request and irrevocable basis," has also been approved. Enhancement of medical facilities within 3-4 months, prefab two hostels having 80 rooms and prefab 15 class rooms likely to be completed within six months, reimbursement of medical bill claims and food and fruit corner in the campus are the other demands of students that NIT administration has agreed to. It further said that the issue of encroachment of NIT land has already been taken up and it will be vigorously pursued with state government by the administration and all national festivals will be celebrated and that demands relating to improved facilities in the hostels will be expeditiously looked into. Chennai: Pre-poll convulsions that are usual in every political party during elections are in full flow this time around in Tamil Nadu too. Though dissent over candidates selection and other issues is prevalent in every other political party, including ruling AIADMK, opposition DMK has hogged the headlines this election. This is probably for the first time that DMK had to revise its candidate list the fourth time, by changing candidates in as many as four constituencies, bringing to the fore the differences and the dissent within the party. In fact, party chief M. Karunanidhi himself acknowledged there has been a lot of opposition to a few candidates of the party and repented not giving seats to kin of party veterans K Anbazhagan, Arcot N. Veerasamy and L. Ganesan, who have opted out of contesting the Assembly polls. It all started with protest from DMK men in Palayamkottai constituency, on Tirunelveli outskirts, against the candidature of T.P.M. Mohideen Khan as party nominee. Protests continue unabated in the district till the time of filing the copy against his candidature and demanding he be replaced immediately. The protests reached a peak a couple of days back when a party cadre tonsured his head. This is the fourth time Mohideen Khan has been nominated as the candidate from the constituency. In the Cauvery delta region, S.S. Rajkumar, younger brother of former Union Minister S.S. Palanimanickam, refused to contest from Orathanadu, where he was fielded by the party. The party was forced to replace him as he was keen on contesting only from Thanjavur. It also nominated Govindasamy in the place of Thanga Anandan from Vriddhachalam seat after there was considerable opposition to the latter from party men. The situation is no better in AIADMK with the ruling party being forced to replace Tamil Magan Hussain from Palayamkottai with S. K. A. Hyder Ali due to protests from partymen against the candidature of the former. The AIADMK has so far changed 21 candidates ever since the candidates list was announced on April 4. The party was forced to change a few candidates after the rival parties nominated heavyweights and veterans from there. After denying them chance, AIADMK nominated three ministers as candidates. Pre-poll convulsions are common even in parties like DMDK, Congress and Tamil Maanila Congress. While three MLAs left DMDK to form a splinter group and contest the Assembly elections in alliance with DMK, several district secretaries of Vijayakanth-led party have sought refuge in DMK. The dissidence and desertions in DMDK came primarily because of the partys decision to align with the Peoples Welfare Alliance. Even in a smaller outfit like TMC, which suffered a setback with senior leaders like Peter Alphonse and P. Vishwanathan quitting the party, there was disappointment among office-bearers as some were left out in the candidates list. Party secretary Ramesh announced he was quitting TMC after he was denied a seat. The already faction-ridden TNCC was also hit by dissidence when AICC member S. M. Idayathullah announced his decision to quit. The EU also promised to resettle one Syrian refugee for every Syrian taken back by Turkey, to grant visa-free travel to Turks within the border-free Schengen Zone and to reassess Ankara's stalled EU membership bid. (Photo: AP) Frankfurt: The European Union has "sold out to Turkey" in its handling of the refugee crisis and the consequences are "impossible to predict," Hungary's prime minister warned in an interview published Saturday. Viktor Orban launched the salvo in an interview with the German weekly Wirtschaftswoche as German Chancellor Angela Merkel and top EU leaders head to Turkey to boost a migrant deportation deal that has been slow to get off the ground. With the deal clinched by Brussels and Ankara, largely driven by Merkel, "we have sold out to Turkey. Such a thing is never good," said Orban, who has erected a barbed-wire fence to keep migrants and refugees from crossing into his country. "The security of the European Union cannot be in the hands of a power outside the EU." Under the month-old accord, migrants who travel to the Greek islands and whose asylum claims are rejected are being returned to Turkey in return for billions in EU aid. The EU also promised to resettle one Syrian refugee for every Syrian taken back by Turkey, to grant visa-free travel to Turks within the border-free Schengen Zone and to reassess Ankara's stalled EU membership bid. Turkey has also demanded an additional three billion euros by 2018 towards hosting migrants on its territory and warned that the deal could fall through if the EU does not allow visa-free travel for Turkish citizens by June. "We, the members of the EU, have already paid three billion to Turkey, soon we must pay three billion more. Impossible to predict where that will end," said Orban, who had himself supported the deal. "I supported the Turkish strategy only on the condition that there is also a system of protection on our own borders" in the EU, he said. Brussels has made a "mistake", he said, by focusing on redistributing the refugees rather than protecting its borders. The assault bore the hallmarks of previous killings by Islamist militants on secular and atheist activists. (Representational Image, Photo: AP) Dhaka: Unidentified attackers hacked to death a university professor in Bangladesh on Saturday, police said, adding that the assault bore the hallmarks of previous killings by Islamist militants of secular and atheist activists. Police said English professor Rezaul Karim Siddique, 58, was hacked from behind with machetes as he walked to the bus station from his home in the country's northwestern city of Rajshahi, where he taught at the city's public university. "His neck was hacked at least three times and was 70-80 percent slit. By examining the nature of the attack, we suspect that it was carried out by extremist groups," Rajshahi Metropolitan Police commissioner Mohammad Shamsuddin said. Shamsuddin said police had not yet named any suspects but added that the pattern of the attack fitted with previous killings by Islamist militants. Nahidul Islam, a deputy commissioner of police, said Siddique was involved in cultural programmes, including music, and set up a school at Bagmara, a former bastion of an outlawed Islamist group, Jamayetul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB). "The attack is similar to the ones carried out on (atheist) bloggers in the recent past," Islam said. Homegrown Islamist militants have been blamed for a number of murders of secular bloggers since 2013, the most recent being in the capital Dhaka early this month. Police said that in each of the attacks unidentified assailants hacked the victim to death with machetes or cleavers. Eight members of banned Islamist group Ansarullah Bangla Team, including a top cleric who is said to have founded the group, were convicted late last year for the murder of atheist blogger Ahmed Rajib Haider in February 2013. The recent killings have sparked outrage at home and abroad, with international rights groups demanding that the secular government protect freedom of speech in the Muslim-majority country. Ansar al-Islam, a Bangladesh branch of Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent, this month claimed responsibility for the murder of 26-year-old Nazimuddin Samad, a law student who was killed on the streets of Dhaka, according to US monitoring group SITE. Bangladesh authorities have consistently denied that international Islamist networks such as Al-Qaeda or the Islamic State group, which recently claimed responsibility for the murders of minorities and foreigners, are active in the country. The Delhi Congress hit out at the AAP over doublespeak on corruption after a court on Friday sought Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwals response in a matter related to alleged corruption surrounding Delhi Environment Minister Imran Hussain. Delhi Congress chief Ajay Maken dared Kejriwal to publicly reply whether there were criminal cases against 21 Aam Aadmi Party MLAs, and two former AAP ministers, Jitender Tomar and Somnath Bharti, even went to jail. Arent there criminal cases with regard to the degrees of six MLAs or probes are being conducted? asked Maken, who also raised 14 other issues to question Kejriwal governments performance. His press conference coincided with a Delhi High Court hearing on a petition alleging Hussains link to illegal construction in the Walled City. The petitioner has sought the transfer of the probe from police to the Central Bureau of Investigation. Maken slammed the AAP government for passing a Bill in Assembly to give a 400 per cent salary hike to MLAs at a time when sanitation workers, teachers and nurses had not got their wages for the many months. The Congress also questioned Kejriwal for his failure, during his first year of his tenure, to spend more on the education budget. A total of Rs 1,000.73 crore out of the education budget was allowed to lapse as the government failed to spend this money, Maken said. Maken also hit out at the AAP government for doing little to stop demolition of slums in Shakurbasti, Rangpuri Pahari, Hari Nagar and Tulsi Nagar at Inderlok. A huge backlog of work at Delhi governments forensic lab has forced discussions in the Home Department on outsourcing to private laboratories and hiring 150 contract workers for the government facility, sources said. The trigger for revamping the system was the recent Jawaharlal Nehru University sedition case in which videos were sent to a Hyderabad-based forensic lab to check their authenticity. The private labs report revealed that three out of the seven videos sent there were doctored. Nearly 12,000 samples are gathering dust at the Delhi government lab in Rohini and allegedly causing delays in trial courts. This is adding to the cost of operation of the governments prosecution machinery. Almost one-fourth of the samples lying at the lab are related to DNA tests which help in confirming the identity of disfigured bodies, linking a suspected rapist to a crime or a suspected murder to a killing. An official said that in the initial phase, the government is considering handing over the responsibility of tests related to DNA and voice samples to private labs. Officials of the Forensic Science Laboratory, prosecution directorate and the Delhi Police have started discussions on exploring the feasibility of engaging private labs, said a Delhi Home Department official. At present, police and the prosecution wing send samples for tests at city governments forensic lab in Rohini, CBIs Central Forensic Science Laboratory at Lodhi Road and other central government labs in Chandigarh, Kolkata and Hyderabad. A Home Department official said reports of some JNU case samples sent by Delhi Police to the CFSL at Lodhi Road are still awaited. Speedy forensic reports of unidentified bodies, especially in burn cases, are needed by police before handing over bodies to family members. At times, payment of relief by the Delhi government to the kin of victims, whose identity needs confirmation through forensic tests, gets delayed, said an official. The pending 12,000 samples at FSL Rohini are awaiting tests related to DNA, viscera, ballistics, handwriting and forgery. Sources said Home Department officials are of the view that private labs are in a position to give a DNA test report within 24-48 hours while a government lab may even take a few months. This leads to delay in investigation and trial, and poor conviction rates, an official said. At present, litigants seek courts permission and get forensic samples tested at private labs in case the government labs report is unfavourable. Apart for testing samples in labs, experts from the Delhi government forensic lab also visit crime scenes to collect samples and provide technical advice to courts hearing criminal cases. The BJP demanded a special session to discuss issues related with parents exploitation by private schools. Leader of Opposition in Vidhan Sabha Vijender Gupta has urged Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to call the session to legislate strong laws to curb commercialisation of education and exploitation of parents by public schools. Gupta said the Delhi government has so far only issued misleading advertisements and statements but has actually miserably failed to come out with any effective legislation against the exploiting public schools. The government in its advertisements refers to the order of the High Court dated January 19, 2016. According to this, the public schools cannot increase fees without prior approval of the government. But it has conveniently hidden the fact that this order is applicable only to those 200 schools only which were provided land at concessional rates by the DDA. There are around 2,000 public schools in Delhi, of which only 200 are covered by the city government, he added. No legislation It is strange that the government has made no legislation so far to exercise control over these schools. Therefore, the parents are looted by public schools. The last date for depositing fees in private schools is April 30. The Education Minister is asking parents not to deposit the increased fees. The parents fail to understand what to do in such a situation. Will the education minister be able to safeguard the interests of parents who will not deposit increased fees? The Delhi Vidhan Sabha had passed a Delhi Schools [Verification of Accounts and Return of Excess Fees] Bill, 2015. It had stipulated that there will be no action against schools that increase fee but the government will only examine their accounts. It is contrary to the present stand taken by the government. An English professor on way to his university in northwestern Bangladesh was today hacked to death by ISIS militants near his home, the latest in a series of brutal attacks on bloggers, intellectuals and activists by the dreaded group in the Muslim-majority country. Rajshahi University professor AFM Rezaul Karim Siddiquee, 58, was attacked by motorbike-borne assailants within 50 metres of his residence in Rajshahi city while he was on his way to catch a bus for the university campus as the militants slit his throat using sharp weapons and left him to die, police said. "The miscreants attacked him from behind with machetes as he walked to the university campus from his home around 7.30 AM," local police station in-charge Shahdat Hossain told PTI over phone. He said the Professor of English literature died instantly and the assailants fled the scene after his death. Eyewitnesses said Siddiquee's body was found lying face down in a pool of blood, and a local media report quoted one of them as saying that she saw two persons leaving on a motorbike from the spot. US-based private SITE Intelligence Group said the Islamic State has claimed the killing. "ISIS' Amaq Agency reported the group's responsibility for killing Rajshahi University professor Rezaul Karim for "calling to atheism" in Bangladesh," it said in a tweet. Earlier, Rajshahi's police commissioner Mohammad Shamsuddin told reporters at the scene that the "technique of the murder suggested it could be an act of Islamist terrorists." The professor's neck was hacked at least three times and was 70-80 per cent slit, he said, adding that the nature of the attack shows it was carried out by extremist groups. An investigation into the killing is on. Meanwhile, angry students and teachers of the university rallied in the campus demanding immediate arrest of culprits. Siddiquee's colleagues said he was involved in cultural activities in the campus and used to play flute and sitar. "He was not known for affiliation for any political party... He had a progressive outlook that might have earned him the wrath of reactionary (Islamist) forces," professor of mass communication department of the university Dulal Chandra Biswas told PTI over phone. Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar and Power Minister Piyush Goyal met US Secretary of State John Kerry here and discussed "a range of issues" including how India and the US can continue to work together on the issue of climate change as major economies. The two ministers met Kerry last night, hours after the historic signing ceremony by 175 nations of the Paris climate change agreement in the United Nations headquarters. Javadekar signed the agreement on behalf of India while Goyal co-chaired the meeting of the International Solar Alliance with Segolene Royal, the French Minister of Ecology, Sustainable Development and Energy and President of the 21st Conference of the Parties (COP21) on the sidelines of the high-level climate change signing ceremony. Following the meeting with Kerry, Javadekar told PTI the two sides discussed a "whole range of issues." A top official said the meeting related to the manner in which India cooperated on climate change leading up to the Paris agreement and how both nations can continue to work together on the issue of Climate Change as major economies. The two sides also discussed issues related to the Major Economies Forum scheduled for tomorrow and hosted by the US, the official added. Javadekar will attend the conference. The ministers informed Kerry about the steps India was taking towards sustainable development and tackling climate change, including the 26 new initiatives taken by the Narendra Modi government since the adoption of the Paris Agreement in December last year such as the six dollar per tonne tax on coal production and building 500,000 toilets for girl students in schools where there were no separate toilets. Upping the ante on the Uttarakhand political crisis, Congress leaders have given notices to discuss the matter in Rajya Sabha suspending the question hour and adoption of a resolution condemning the imposition of President's Rule there. The notices given by Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad and Deputy Leader of Congress in the House, Anand Sharma, seek to corner the government on the issue accusing it of "destabilising" a democratically-elected government in Uttarakhand. In his notice given under Rule 267, Sharma has also sought from Rajya Sabha Chairman Hamid Ansari the passage of a resolution condemning the Modi government for "destabilistion" of the Uttarakhand government and imposition of President's Rule in the state. The resolution reads "this House deplores the destabilisation of the democratically elected government in Uttarakhand and disapproves the unjustified imposition of President's Rule there under Article 356 of the Constitution." Ever since the dismissal of the Rawat government and clamping of central rule, Congress has mounted an offensive against the Narendra Modi dispensation. The party had started 'Loktantra Bachao, Uttarakhand Bachao' (Save Democracy, Save Uttarakhand) campaign to mobilise public support against the Centre. The Supreme Court yesterday stayed till April 27 the judgement of the state High Court quashing imposition of President's rule, giving a new turn to the continuing political drama in the state by restoring central rule there. Congress is trying to project the imposition of President's Rule in Uttarakhand and earlier in another party- ruled state of Arunachal Pradesh as an "attack" on the federal structure and is hopeful that a large number of Opposition parties will back it in cornering the government on the issue. At a time when many states are reeling under severe drought, President Pranab Mukherjee has recommended consideration of a private member's bill that provides for protective measures for farmers of arid, desert and drought-prone areas and a welfare fund with an initial corpus of Rs 10,000 crore. The Farmers of Arid and Desert Areas (Welfare and Other Special Provisions) Bill, 2014 was introduced by senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel in Rajya Sabha in December 2014. The bill, if enacted, will involve expenditure from the Consolidated Fund of India. "It is estimated a sum of Rs 20,000 crore may be involved as recurring expenditure per annum. A non-recurring expenditure of Rs 5000 crore may also be involved from the Consolidated Fund of India. A non-recurring expenditure of Rs 5000 crore may also be involved from the Consolidated Fund of India," the Financial Memorandum of the Bill says. Under the rules, a Bill which, if converted into a law and brought into operation would involve expenditure from the Consolidated Fund of India, cannot be passed by Parliament unless the President has recommended to that House its consideration. In a letter to the Rajya Sabha Secretary General a few days back, Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh has stated that the President, having been informed about the subject matter of the particular private member's bill has recommended its consideration under article 117(3) of the Constitution by the Rajya Sabha. The Upper House has listed the bill for consideration, which seeks to provide for the establishment of welfare fund for farmers of arid and desert areas with initial corpus of Rs 10,000 crore to be provided by the central government. Clause 6 of the Bill makes it mandatory for the central government to provide requisite funds to the states concerned while Clause 5 provides for certain welfare measures to be undertaken by appropriate governments. In the statement of objects and reasons of the bill, Patel has noted that Gujarat-in particular Suarashtra and Kutch regions and majors parts of Rajasthan are having arid and desert areas, which face extreme heat in summer and extreme cold in winter and mostly rainfall is scanty and deficient there. "Similarly states of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Jharkhand, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha.etc are frequently affected by unprecedented drought conditions and desert is spreading in many such areas," Ahmed said. He insisted that a welfare fund should be set up for the farmers of arid and desert areas as they face frequent drought conditions in these regions and generally lose their crops leading to indebtedness and distress among them. The bill seeks to provide for "protective measures and special facilities for the farmers of arid, desert and drought prone areas, who are often affected by natural calamities causing loss of crops, livestock, making them vulnerable to indebtedness, disease and physical infirmities, exploitation of money lenders." Financial Bills, other than Money Bills, are covered under article 117. Those which, if enacted, and brought into operation, would involve expenditure from the Consolidated Fund of India come under under clause (3) of article 117. Such a bill may be introduced in either House and it does not require the recommendation of the President for its introduction. It cannot, however, be passed by either House unless the President has recommended to that House the consideration thereof. But not being a Money Bill, Rajya Sabha has full power to reject or amend such a Bill as in the case of ordinary Bills. The Obama administration is trying to address Iranian complaints that US financial regulations are denying Iran the sanctions relief it deserves under last year's landmark nuclear deal. Meeting with Iran's foreign minister yesterday, Secretary of State John Kerry said the United States would not stand in the way of foreign banks or firms doing business with Iranian companies that are no longer subject to US sanctions. Kerry also said the administration was willing to further clarify what transactions are now permitted with Iran and urged foreign financial institutions to seek answers from US officials if they have questions. They should not assume, he said, that was once prohibited is still prohibited. Nor, he added, should they assume that transactions with Iran that remain illegal for US companies are illegal for foreign firms. Kerry's remarks, which came at the start of his second meeting this week with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, were an attempt to resolve confusion about what is permitted under the nuclear deal in which Iran agreed to curb its atomic program in exchange for billions in sanctions relief. Iran, as well as foreign banks and governments, have been clamoring for clarity, but it was not clear that Kerry's remarks would provide it. "The United States is not standing in the way and will not stand in the way of business that is permitted with Iran since the (nuclear deal) took effect," Kerry said, reading carefully from a prepared text. "We've lifted our nuclear-related sanctions as we committed to do and there are now opportunities for foreign banks to do business with Iran. Unfortunately, there seems to be some confusion among foreign banks and we want to try to clarify that as much as we can." The areas needing clarification, he said, include access to funds and financing for foreign firms to do business with Iran along with Iran's access to its own money, which had been frozen abroad under the nuclear sanctions. Access to all of these is permitted, Kerry said. "We have no objection (to) foreign banks engaging with Iranian banks and companies, obviously as long as those banks and companies are not on our sanctions list for non-nuclear reasons," he said. Kerry, however, stressed that the confusion and remaining US sanctions on Iran imposed for its ballistic missile tests, human rights abuses and support for terrorism are not the only reasons for foreign reluctance to do business with Iran. He cited the fragility and questionable integrity of Iran's banking system as well as other behavior that gives business executives pause about jumping into the Iranian market. Accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of "resorting to falsehood and bluffing the people", Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi today said they had promised lakhs of jobs but "not a single person got employment". "Mamata ji and Modi ji are making false promises. Mamata ji talked of providing jobs to 70 lakh people, while Modi ji had said two crore jobs will be given by his government. But not a single person has got employment," Gandhi said. Sharing platform with CPI(M) leaders at an election meeting here, he said Bengal which was once industrious has turned a "graveyard" in TMC rule and also attacked the Mamata government over corruption issue. He said no action was taken against those involved in Saradha and Narada scam. Referring to the recent flyover collapse in Kolkata which claimed several lives, Gandhi alleged that the TMC government had given contract of supplying material to its partyman who had supplied substandard materials. He charged Mamata and Modi with "telling lies about action against corruption and unemployment". He said Modi had promised to bring back blackmoney and fight corruption but nothing has been done. "His government has brought laws to turn blackmoney into white which I call 'Fair and Lovely scheme'," Gandhi said. "Earlier there were lots of industries in Bengal. But now in TMC rule, Bengal has turned into a graveyard. Only the industry of syndicate is flourishing in Bengal," he said. Seeking support for the Congress-Left alliance in the Assembly polls in West Bengal, he said if the alliance government was formed, its first task would be to provide employment, stop syndicate and corruption and take action against those involved in Saradha and Narada scam. "Vote for Congress-CPI(M), vote for the Congress-Left alliance and defeat Mamata government to usher in development," Gandhi said. CPI(M) central committee member Dipak Dasgupta was present with Gandhi at the meeting. "Mamata Banerjee had given a call for change. But after five years there has been no change. Earlier, there was jute industry where lakhs of people used to work. There were brick kilns in Howrah. But now everything is gone. Earlier Bengal was known as Sheffield of the East. But now it is known as graveyard of East," Gandhi said. "The job of a government is to provide employment, health services and education. She could not provide these things, rather she took away the money from the poor in the Saradha scam," he alleged. Calling Modi "a friend of Mamata Banerjee", the Congress vice president accused the chief minister of "dictatorial" rule in West Bengal. "In Bengal Mamata Banerjee is running a dictatorship and her friend in Delhi, Modiji, is spreading lies," he said and added that people should not forget that Mamata Banerjee had forged alliance with BJP earlier. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj will travel to Nay Pyi Daw soon to start Indias engagement with Myanmars first civilian government in 50 years. Swaraj will meet Nobel laureate democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi, who holds the offices of State Counsellor and the Foreign Affairs Minister, but is believed to be the de-facto leader in the new civilian government in Myanmar. She will also call on Suu Kyuis close confidante and Myanmars new President Htin Kyaw. The External Affairs Ministers visit is Indias first high-level engagement with Myanmar after a civilian government led by Suu Kyis National League of Democracy took office on March 30. She will invite both Kyaw and Suu Kyi to visit India at the earliest, officials told DH in New Delhi on Saturday. Swarajs visit to Nay Pyi Daw from May 1 comes almost three weeks after Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi travelled to Myanmar and met Kyaw and Suu Kyi. Wang was the first foreign dignitary to visit Myanmar after the change of regime in Nay Pyi Daw. Suu Kyi, who spent 15 years between 1989 and 2010 under house arrest, led the NLD to a landslide victory in November 8, 2015 general elections to parliament as well as regional and state legislatures in Myanmar. It was the first free and fair polls in the country after almost 25 years. It ended the more-than-half-a-century long military rule in the country. It dislodged the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party from power. On a visit to Kashmir by March-end which included a trip to the southern district of Kulgam, considered troubled, and to the northern district of Baramulla by train and taxi, I experienced only calm and friendliness. But Handwara has demonstrated that in Kashmir, though outwardly at peace, violence brews beneath. In Handwara, the story of a young girls molestation by a soldier brought suppressed grievances, suspicion and resentment of the youth onto the streets, and the short-sighted, continued presence of military bunkers in civilian areas brought the army into confrontation with the civilian population. The young girls appearance on a video shot by the army, denying that she had been molested by a soldier but by a local youth, visibly frightened and almost incoherent, is at the heart of the story, with the police having detained her and her father at some undisclosed destination. Three young people, a 55-year-old woman and a child lay dead in firing by the police and the army. They call us separatists, they are making us separatists, a young journalist was quoted as having cried out. In your view we are all terrorists anyway, arent we? he asked. Though Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti visited Kupwara and called on the families of the victims with salutary effect on the public mood, and Handwaras MLAerstwhile separatist leader and present member of Muftis cabinet Sajjad Lonecamped there and met the family of the dead child, inflammatory rumours had gripped the public. The government in fact placed the army in the line of fire. A third narrative then came from the mother pinning the overreaction of both sides on a panicked response of a young Kashmiri girl, born and brought up in conflict, so characteristic of Kashmirs young today. But this then brought the conduct of the Jammu & Kashmir (J&K) Police under public scrutiny. The minor girl and her fathers detention was purportedly for their protection. But those wishing to meet her, including her mother, were regulated by the police. This contradicted the status report filed by the government before the high court that the minor girl and family had requested police protection and were not under any detention. Nayeema Mehjoor, chairperson of the State Commission for Women, offered to assist the family of the minor girl in relocating them. This was further confused when the girl, obviously traumatised, and her family in a detailed two-hour meeting with their lawyers, were reported to have appealed to be allowed to stay at a place of their own. The issue of what sparked the incineration is therefore confusing, and even the act of committing the offence and who was responsible remains obscure. But what is alarming is that such an incident could have set off the violence that it did. India is indeed seen as a land of opportunity, but is also seen by Kashmiris as a Hindu nation. Handwara has left all Kashmir on the edge, which will take but a spark to reignite. India is indeed a land of freedom bound into a nation unparalleled in the world by the extent of its diversities in language, culture, caste and creed held together simply by an idea, the idea of India. Yet, to find place in this tapestry, the people of Kashmir must be allowed the enjoyment of the fullest participation in governance. Only then can they be expected to look upon even the state government as their own. And this gives the government an opportunity. Handwara brought once more into focus the resistance to continuing application of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA). But it also brought into question the conduct of the police. The Public Safety Act, 1982, allows the state police indefinite detention, and until 2010, it was foisted even on children. Though not invoked in Handwara, this needs no amendment but abrogation. Members of the military on the other hand, are in any case protected from arrest for anything done within the line of duty under Section 45 of the CrPC. The AFSPA, however, provides what amounts to total immunity. It has guidelines but no rules. Hence, the Handwara agitators call for action for unjustified firing will remain unpunished. But there is an alternative. The deployment of the army extensively in civilian areas in Kashmir is a hangover frozen along the demands of the war of 1947-48. Clearly, the premier threat today of war between two nuclear armed states is no longer a military assault, it is infiltration. If nothing else, that is the lesson of Kargil. For this purpose, the army would do well to consider redeployment along the more vulnerable Line of Control, in areas with a scattered population comprised mainly of Gujjars migrating seasonally to the highland pastures. In the Valley, civilians look upon the army as an occupation force, despite laboured efforts by military authorities to dispel such an image, nor is the army presence here required for maintenance of law and order. Financial investment Such redeployment will indeed require heavy financial investment. But surely, the need for restoring the confidence of a section of Indias citizens in J&K in their constitutional freedoms must be of paramount consideration. I see no other means of bringing the conflict in the state to closure. A passing reference to any Kashmiri blog on Facebook will substantiate this. And the relinquished military structures can be put to good use as hospitals or other buildings needed for community service, including placement of local police personnel. New construction could then generate employment for Kashmirs masons, carpenters and a host of skilled workers at present languishing under a regime of high unemployment, thus giving recourse to militancy a wide resource base of youth blighted through their upbringing. The ruling alliance in J&K can then deliver on its promise of development by using areas so vacated by the army in the Valley for providing public facilities, schools, hospitals, tourist resorts and panchayat offices. The imagination of most youth within Kashmir, of being more educated, aware, connected and more aspirational than their predecessors, remains constrained by structural and political factors leaning towards alienation, estrangement and withdrawal. But there are successful Kashmiri businessmen prospering within and outside Kashmir even in the US, West Asia and South East Asia, who could be invited to invest. If such a plan were implemented, there would be no need to withdraw AFSPA, which would cease to apply in areas which are without an army presence, except when the army is required to be called in. One constructive consequence of the tragedy in Handwara is the removal of the three military bunkers in Handwara market by the municipal authorities in the presence of minister Sajjad Lone. And decentralisation is now mandated by the Constitution, making every village a self-governing unit. Handwara has exposed dramatically the lack of public participation in governance in J&K. But the instrumentalities exist through institutions of decentralisation, transparency and accountability. The most viable scheme of decentralisation presented to former prime minister Manmohan Singhs round table in Srinagar in 2006 was the one devised by the last government led by Mufti Sayeed. And every village has common land or shamilat which can become grounds for dissemination of economic opportunity through rural business hubs centred on investment in information technology, the timber industry or in the development of tourist facility, generating employment and livelihood for Kashmirs youth. Therein lies the way to the future. (The writer, a retired IAS officer, was Chief Information Commissioner and Chairman, National Commission for Minorities) With the Congress set to corner the Centre over the Uttarakhand crisis in Parliament, which reconvenes on Monday, the government has decided not to push through fresh legislation. Instead, the government wants to clear the backlog of about 20 pending bills in both the Houses, including the GST, two ordinances and demands for grants from different ministries. Congress leader of opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad and his deputy Anand Sharma have moved notices in the Rajya Sabha for a debate and adoption of a resolution condemning the imposition of the Presidents Rule in Uttarakhand. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said the government was ready to debate the imposition of the Uttarakhand issue since never ever a minority government like that of Harish Rawat tried to pass a budget. The BJP will use liqour baron Vijay Mallyas debt scandal to hit back at the Congress since the flamboyant businessman got most of the loans from banks during the UPA regime. With the government focussed on getting the GST bill passed through Parliament after the treasury bench accepting a couple of the three contentious clauses, the BJP believes it stands a chance. The governments parliamentary agenda reveals that as of now, it has listed only one fresh legislation The Indian Institute of Management Bill, 2016, for consideration of both the Houses. Two ordinances listed in the legislative business are Uttarakhand Appropriation (Vote on Account) Ordinance, 2016, and The Enemy Property (Amendment and Validation) Second Ordinance, 2016. The Parliamentary Affairs Ministry has lined up for passage in the Rajya Sabha the Anti-Hijacking (Amendment) Bill, The Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Amendment Bill, The Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Bill, The Constitution (Scheduled Castes) order (Amendment) Bill and The Indian Trusts (Amendment) Bill. Among others, there are two on building infrastructure against corruption: The Whistle Blowers Protection (Amendment) Bill and The Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Bill. Similarly, in the Lok Sabha, the government is expected to bring nine pending legislations, including The Sikh Gurdwaras (Amendment) Bill, The Companies Amendment Bill, The Factories (Amendment) Bill and The Electricity (Amendment) Bill. Parliament has to give nod to demands for grants from the ministries of Civil Aviation and Tourism, Social Justice and Empowerment and Skill Development. Besides, the Finance Bill and demands for grants of Railways are also to be taken up. Two major Islamic sects representing Sunni and Shia scholars gave a call on Saturday to unitedly fight the challenges faced by the Muslim community in the country. At a meeting held under the banner of Ittehade Bainul Muslimeen, Moulana Mufti Ashraf Ali Saheb, member the All- India Muslim Personal Law Board, said, We live in Bengaluru and we never come across sectarian differences. The call of the time is to follow in the footsteps of our holy prophet. Vice president of the Board, Dr Syed Kalbe Sadiq, said every good thing has the following of a devil. A delegation of religious leaders from Iraq also took part in the programme. The Bangalore Metropolitan Task Force (BMTF) has booked 20-odd advertisers for putting up more than 60 advertisements illegally. Based on complaints by the assistant revenue officers at the ward level, first information reports (FIRs) were registered against advertisers across the city. BMTF sources said Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike Special Commissioner (Welfare and Advertisement) V Rashmi had ordered an investigation into the illegal hoardings. Hence, the BMTF too is taking up the matter on a priority basis. BMTF Superintendent of Police Devaraj said the task force had booked cases pertaining to illegal advertisements in public properties such as footpaths in various areas. We have not looked into the cases of illegal hoardings on private properties, he added. As the investigation progressed, the BMTF summoned the violators who claimed they had necessary permission from the authorities concerned to put up hoardings. Following the eight reports by BBMP Assistant Commissioner (Advertisements) K Mathai against illegal adverts, the Palike carried out an extensive drive to remove the hoardings, besides lodging complaints with the BMTF. Mathai has stated in his reports that the Palike had incurred a loss of Rs 2,000 crore in the last seven years in terms of advertisement revenue. He has also named some officials who overlooked the mushrooming of hoardings in Bengaluru. The term of more than 14,000 government degree college guest lecturers ended on Saturday. There, however, is uncertainty over the government continuing their services.Karnataka has 411 government first grade colleges with 4,800 lecturers and 14,531 guest faculty. With the government set to recruit lecturers, the guest faculty now fear for their jobs. Attempts by the guest lecturers to meet Higher Education Minister T B Jayachandra did not yield any result. Meanwhile, principals of various colleges have requested guest lecturers to continue their services. We have requested the government to continue the services of all the guest lecturers and have sought an increase of Rs 25,000 in their salaries. However the government has not responded, said N Srinivasachar, President, Karnataka State First Grade Colleges Guest Lecturers Association. He said that in Kerala, the guest lecturers were paid Rs 22,000 while in Harayana they were getting Rs 25,000. But in Karnataka, they are paid Rs 9,500 . Even the meagre salary had not been paid for the last three months, he added. The process to recruit 2,180 permanent lecturers has already been set in motion. The government has not regularised the services of guest lecturers who have worked for more than 10 years. If the government fills up vacancies, around 4500 lecturers might loose their jobs. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah will go to Delhi in the first week of May to discuss with the party high command the long-pending issue of cabinet expansion. Disclosing this to mediapersons here on Saturday, Siddaramaiah said that he was asked to come to Delhi on April 25 and 26. But he could not oblige due to his pre-occupation with the tour of drought-hit districts. I will go to Delhi in the first week of next month to discuss the issue of cabinet expansion with the central leaders of the party, he said. Asked about the issue of a dalit chief minister gaining currency again, Siddaramaiah made it clear that the matter had not at all been discussed in any party forum. Like all others, I am also in favour of a dalit becoming a chief minister, but then I am also a dalit, Siddaramaiah said. Noting that the Centre had decided to release Rs 723 crore to Karnataka towards compensation for crop loss in the rabi season due to failure of rains, the chief minister said it was not adequate, but the Centre had followed the norms of the National Disaster Relief Fund (NDRF). He said the state would submit another memorandum to the Centre, seeking more funds to tide over the situation arising out of drought. What centre has given is only input subsidy. It has not given funds for drinking water and fodder, which we had sought, Siddaramaiah said, adding that the state would spend any amount of money to meet the requirements of drinking water and fodder during drought. A Japan-based staffing firm on Saturday met Higher Education Minister T B Jayachandra with a proposal to recruit engineers, especially in the sectors of information technology and computer science, from various colleges in Karnataka. The company, Silver Peak Consultancy Service, is on the lookout for engineers from India and Vietnam. The firm states that there is a demand for 40,000 engineers in Japan during the next three to five years. There is also a huge demand for nurses, especially in geriatric care. However, to get a visa to work in Japan, basic knowledge of the Japanese language is mandatory. Speaking to reporters after meeting representatives of the firm at his office in the Vidhana Soudha, Jayachandra said the company had also come forward to conduct training classes in Japanese for the aspirants. Jayachandra said the proposal of the firm would be placed before the Karnataka State Higher Education Council meeting scheduled to be held in Bengaluru on May 3. Vice chancellors of various universities will attend the meeting and representatives of the firm will make a presentation before them. President of Silver Peak, Subha Bhattachan, said while Japan was self-sufficient as far as engineers in the sectors of mechanical, telecommunication and electrical, the country faced a shortage of Information Technology and Computer Science engineers. Bengaluru is known as the IT hub of India and hence their visit to the city. He said the company had already paid visits to various colleges in the state, the Visvesvaraya Technological University campus and was impressed by the infrastructure and the quality of education. Bhattachan said Japan had relaxed its visa norms for Indians. If proper documents were made available, a visa to Japan can be procured within three days. However, N5 level (understanding of basic Japanese) is mandatory. The Japanese language proficiency test has five levels N1 to N5 with N5 being the easiest. He said once a candidate cleared N5 in India, other levels could be studied and cleared in Japan. On an average, an engineer in Japan gets a minimum salary of Rs 2.5 lakh per month, but the cost of living is also high. However, there is a lot of scope for savings, he said. With Japan having a large population of senior citizens, there is a requirement of four lakh nurses, he said. There is also demand for mechanics, plumbers and welders. Two consecutive hydrological droughts have led to a steep shortfall in the production of tur dal (pulse) in Karnataka and the prices have hit the roof. A kilogram of fine variety of tur dal costs not less than Rs 160 to Rs 170 in Bengaluru city, while millers in Kalaburagi are selling it at about Rs 12,000 to 14,000 a quintal. Krishimartha Vahini, the government website which gives daily updates on arrivals and prices of agriculture produces in wholesale market in the state, on Saturday quoted the price of tur dal per quintal in the range of Rs 10,750 to Rs 16,000. The price of a quintal of urad dal has been quoted in the range of Rs 7,500 to Rs 20,000. This also means more than tur dal, urad dal has become costlier. But tur dal production and consumption is higher than other pulses as it is rich in protein. Kalaburagi, billed as the tur bowl of India, this year too, like last year, is facing a severe drought. The Kalaburgi division comprising seven districts used to produce nearly seven to nine lakh tonnes of tur in a normal year. But in 2015, the production came down by 45%, according to Minister of State for Agriculture Krishna Byre Gowda. And, this year it would be much less as not even one lakh hectares is covered under the cultivation. Kalaburgi Dal Mill Association former president Shivasharanappa C Nigudgi said, We used to produce not less than seven lakh tonnes of tur. But this year, we have not been able to produce more than one lakh tonnes. The situation is no better in Maharashtra. The paucity of rains over the last year has forced farmers to shun cultivation of pulses. Last year, the production of tur did not cross three lakh tonnes, and this year, it would not be even half of this. 250 lakh tonnes needed India needs 250 lakh tonnes of tur, while the production is about 150 lakh tonnes. The demand is met by importing 83 to 100 lakh tonnes from African countries. Nigudgi said with the shortfall being about 90% in Karnataka, the prices would not only go up, but there will also be severe shortage unless India imports tur in large quantities. Agriculture department director B Y Srinivas said the production of pulses had taken a hit owing to the prevailing drought conditions. Though the targeted area for 2015-16 was 27.01 lakh hectares, the crop area was increased to 30.38 lakh hectares owing to crop loss during the rabi season. Though the targeted production was 16 lakh tonnes in 2015-16, Karnataka could produce only 12.50 lakh tonnes of pulses. The department has maintained the same targets for 2016-17 also. This year has been declared the International Pulses Year. The thrust would be on the production of pulses. The target could be met, provided there are good rains, he added. The Panama Papers expose includes names of 31 investors from Bengaluru in the tax haven of British Virgin Islands (BVI). The list, released by International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), reveals the names of lesser known investors who have mentioned their city address. Some of the investors include Pradeep Ramanarasimha Setty Kare, director, Laxmi Vilas Bank, Suresh Kumar Sarada Devi Krishna Pillai, a resident of Marathalli. Karuturi Sai Ramakrishna, a floriculturist and MD of Karuturi Global Ltd based in Bengaluru with a Sadashivanagar address. Setty has been a shareholder and director of two companies in BVI - Smart Ideas Group and Wideview International Group Ltd - since 2007. It is not known if he has declared his investments in BVI with the income tax authorities. Wikileaks connection Interestingly, Pillai's name is also part of the Wikileaks for his involvement with a Singapore-based company. He has invested in Technomic Processors Pte Ltd, which has invested in Jupiter Alliance Ltd, a BVI business company. Pillai is also the director of Jupiter. On the other hand, Karuturi Ramakrishna has made investments in Maxworth Investment Ltd, Appointcorp Ltd and is a shareholder of Vericon Zot International Ltd in BVI. Other names A few other prominent names from Bengaluru are H J Siwani and M J Siwani of H M Constructions (Benson Town address). Siwanis of H M Constructions are directors of Habitat Holdings Enterprise Inc in BVI. Similarly, Rajiv Sawhney (Abbas Ali Road, Bengaluru), former MD and CEO of Mahindra Holidays and Resorts India Ltd and former chief executive officer of Telecom Business Group of Essar Global Fund Ltd has investments in BVI-based companies. Rajiv Sawhney and Kamini Sawhney are directors of Brookwood Worldwide Ltd in BVI. One more name, Edakkana Sham Bhat Mahabaleshwara with a Kodigehalli address, also figures on the list. Bhat is the director of Sharan Life Sciences Pvt Ltd and a sole director of SNB Invest. SNB was incorporated under the laws of the Russian Federation with an authorised and paid up share capital of 9,957,160 Russian roubles. He is the director of Unitrust Corporate Services Ltd, Helix Universal Ltd, Directors Ltd and Standard Prelomest Holdings Ltd in BVI. He is also the share holder in Euro Asia Dynamic Ventures Ltd in BVI. Omans Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) has launched a campaign aimed at educating consumers on the health risks associated with the use of counterfeit mobile phones. The regulator said there has been a global increase in the use of counterfeit phones, which poses a challenge to telecoms operators. Counterfeit phones pose a risk as they have not been tested and as such do not meet the international safety standards applied by the legitimate phone manufacturer, the TRA said. The new campaign aims to protect consumers from the potential risks caused by using fake devices due to their poor quality and low efficiency, and which also serve to undermine the communications networks in the Sultanate. Consumers are advised to purchase mobile phones only from authorised dealers. These dealers go through TRA type approval procedures on their import of telephone devices into the Sultanate, meaning consumers can be guaranteed they are purchasing a legitimate device. Such equipment and devices are also marked with the TRA name stamp, and the consumer should look for this stamp before proceeding with their purchase, the TRA said. This campaign comes at a time when the counterfeit phone phenomenon is witnessing a significant increase along with a rise in consumers complaints on lower quality and a shorter lifespan of their phones, said Mohammed Al Kindi, executive manager for regulation and compliance at the TRA. To combat this the TRA has contacted the GSM Association to develop technical solutions to reduce counterfeit phones in the local market. The TRA will also guide consumers in the Sultanate on how to use the International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) number to ascertain whether the phone device they intend to purchase is indeed an original device and not counterfeit. In a major coup for advertising sustainable, solar-powered technology, the Solar Impulse 2 aircraft has resumed its flight around the world. The solar-powered aircraft successfully took off from Kalaeloa Airport, Hawaii yesterday, with target destination of Moffett Airfield, Mountain View, California to complete the 9th leg of its journey. The Solar Impulse 2 is entirely solar powered, with no fuel engine implemented on it. The aircraft, along with its pilots Bertrand Piccard and Andre Borschberg, took off from Abu Dhabi in March 2015 to accomplish a historic, round-the-world trip. After finishing the eighth leg of its trip - the longest journey of 8,924 kms and five days from Japan to Hawaii, it ran into technical difficulties. The aircraft, having travelled through the warm, tropical weather, grew hotter than optimum calculations, and thereby was stalled in Hawaii until it could be fixed. Finally, April 21, Thursday marked the day for the flight to resume its journey, and the team aims to complete the mission without any further issues. "The Solar Impulse 2 has a lot of progress to make, but marks a significant coup in solar-powered technology" While the completion of the round-the-world trip would be a significant achievement in the field of solar power implementation in technology to reduce dependence on conventional fuel going into the future, there have been limitations that Solar Impulse 2 has faced. Each day, the aircraft flew up to a height of 28,000 feet and then descended slowly to conserve power. For long haul, the Solar Impulse 2 had to wait for good weather to embark upon its journey. Given weather conditions remain stable, the Solar Impulse 2 is expected to land at California on April 24, and then proceed to New York and Europe, before proceeding to land at Abu Dhabi to complete the trip round the world. The first Solar Impulse prototype embarked on a short-hop, 350-metre test flight on December 3, 2009. The present aircraft, Solar Impulse 2, has four electric motors, and the wings are embedded with solar cells than harness the energy. This is stored in Lithium Polymer batteries, and is synchronised with the horizontal stabiliser to drive the propellers and maintain flight. The first iteration of this aircraft, the Solar Impulse, became the first solar aircraft to complete a 24-hour flight, and also a 19-hour intercontinental journey from Spain to Morocco. While Solar Impulse still has significant progress to make, the completion of the world tour will be a major achievement in solar energy, a renewable source that was implemented commercially before it could be developed sustainably for a long-term green future. 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. Halloween creatures owls, crows and bats all live at Crossroads, and that makes us very happy, for these scary animals make a positive contribution to the habitats of the preserve. We don't even mind black cats, IF they are kept indoors. Feral and outdoor cats are exceedingly harmful to wildlife ... and that's not a superstition! But to tamp down superstitions, we at Crossroads will spend the week demystifying Halloween creatures. On October 28, 2022, at 6 p.m. will be our Evening with Owls. The Open Door Bird Sanctuary will be at Crossroads, offering a one-hour presentation followed by the opportunity to meet and greet live birds. Learn all about owls and the other incredible birds in the care of the Sanctuary! Down through the centuries, in many cultures throughout the world, owls have been associated with evil and death. Truth is, owls probably are not smart enough to be evil. But researchers agree that owls are about as dim as the nighttime forests in which they hunt. Owls don't need to be smart. They have everything else going for them. They are muscular. They fly silently. Their huge eyes enable them to see in the dark. Their beaks and talons are strong and wickedly sharp. But their sensitive ears are what make owls extraordinary hunters. Most people assume that the plumicorns (a.k.a. "horns) of an owl are its ears. Not so. The actual ears lie under feathers on the sides of the head, and they aren't symmetrical. Because one ear is higher than the other and the ears are unequal in size, sound is different from different directions, helping owls locate prey, which they do almost unfailingly, even in total darkness. Owls do not smell their prey. As with most birds, the sense of smell is insignificant, if it exists are all. Great Horned Owls frequently prey on skunks. Enough said. But well-developed intelligence? Researchers have observed owls beating their wings on bushes to try to flush out little birds. Is this learned behavior? Is it problem-solving? Maybe. For the most part, owls do not have a lot of problems to solve. They appropriate abandoned nests of other birds, so they don't need building skills. They are stealthy by nature, and they pounce on and usually catch anything they hear, so they don't need hunting techniques. In spite of ghost stories, legends of American First People, and superstitions from Europe and India, hooting owls do not foretell impending death, although their nocturnal calls are spooky. We hear them now and then this time of year, but we will regularly hear those eerie calls at Crossroads in January or February. In contrast to owls, crows are noisy all year round and they are amazingly intelligent. They can learn. They can remember. They can solve problems. They can even identify individual humans. And they detest owls, though whether this is innate or learned behavior is not clear. Those curious about crows will want to attend the Crossroads Book Club on Wednesday, October 26, at 10:00 a.m. This month, the book Crow Planet, Essential Wisdom for the Urban Wilderness by Lyanda Lynn Haupt will explore the fascinating world of these remarkable birds. The program is free and open to all, whether or not they have read the book. So bring the family to our program on owls, learn about crows at the Crossroads Book Club, or learn about bats at our pre-school Junior Nature Club on Wednesday at 10:00 a.m. or our Family Science Saturday program at 2:00 p.m. Costumes are encouraged but not required at Junior Nature Club and Science Saturday, and adult visitors are welcome. Thirty-one babies will get a head start on their college savings, thanks to CollegeCounts, Alabamas 529 college savings fund. The organization will select 31 babies born in the month of May to receive a $529 contribution to an existing or newly opened CollegeCounts account. Alabama State Treasurer Young Boozer said the giveway is intended to celebrate 5/29 Day (May 29) and encourage new parents to open accounts for their children. The sooner you start saving, the greater your savings will be as compound interest does its job, he said. According to the Alabama Treasury Department, parents of children born May 1-31, 2016 have until 5 p.m. on June 15 to visit AL529Day.com and enter their contact information and the date of their childs birth. Winners will be selected statewide at random and notified by July 1. Birth certificates or commemorative birth announcements for each winners child must be submitted to receive funds. Boozer said the event had been successful last year, the first year CollegeCounts tried it. I didnt realize how many babies were born in Alabama in May until we did this, he said. The CollegeCounts program has no minimum contribution requirements, allowing families to open accounts and save a little each month through quality investment funds, including Vanguard, T. Rowe Price, Fidelity, PIMCO, Dodge and Cox, MainStay, and DFA. 520 savings plans have tax benefits for parents. Under the 529 Section of the tax code, special tax benefits are provided to families saving for future college expenses. According to the Alabama Treasury Department, Alabama taxpayers may receive a generous state income tax deduction of up to $10,000 for married couples filing jointly ($5,000 for single filers) on contributions to CollegeCounts each year. The money may be withdrawn and used at colleges, universities, trade schools and graduate schools at one-, two- and four-year schools in Alabama and across the U.S. including vocational, technical, community, public and private colleges and universities for qualified expenses like tuition, fees, room and board (if enrolled at least half-time), books, supplies, and equipment required for enrollment, including computers, according to CollegeCounts information. 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. Home Off beat Japan Gets Its Own Stealth Jet! Is India Even Close? oi-Dennis Japan has become the fourth nation in the world to fly a manned stealth jet after the United States, Russia and China. The Japanese jet is seen as a direct response to challenges caused by aggressive Chinese presence in East Asia. So let's take a look at the new jet as well as find out where India is with regards to acquiring or developing its own stealth aircraft. {photo-feature} 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. Washington Hunt! Is to be appointed First Judge Who will pretend hereafter that a whistle cannot be made from a pigs tail? Check out East Niagara Post videos on YouTube, Vine and Periscope. One of the names most often heard, in Lockport history, is that of Washington Hunt. His name seems to pop up when just about anything happened in Lockport, NY, during the late 1800s, and his contributions to our area need to be recognized.He was born in Windham, Greene County in 1811, and at the age of 7, his family moved to Hunts Hollow, in Allegany County, where other family members had already established themselves. At the age of 17, Washington Hunt set out on his own, and traveled to where all traffic seemed to be headed: Lockport. Here, he began his career as a clerk in the store of Tucker and Bissell on Lower Main Street.In 1831, at the age of 20, he began to study law in the office of Lot Clark, a small frame house on Market Street, which subsequently burned down in 1835, and was replaced with the brick building that we all know of today. That building became Hunts Law office and was moved from 363 Market Street to its present location on Niagara Street, in 1955.He became the first director of the first bank in Niagara County, the Lockport Bank on the corner of Market and Chapel Streets, which opened in 1829. Just 10 years later, he was president of the Lockport Bank and Trust Co., being the successor of the first bank, and located at the same address.In 1833 he married Mary Walbridge and together with his father in law, Henry Walbridge, he bought about 32,000 acres of land from the Albany Land Company, who in 1827-1828 had bought all of the Holland Land Company acreage in Niagara, Erie, Genesee and Orleans Counties. These 32,000 acres eventually made Hunt and Walbridge very rich men.Soon after his marriage, he had acquired the fine cut stone house erected by Joel McCollum on the corner of Market and North Adam Streets.In 1834, Washington Hunt was admitted to the bar, and just two years later, he was appointed First Judge of Niagara County. He was then still only 24 years of age, and then served as Judge for the next five years.The elders of Lockport did not always respect Hunts youth, and the local papers often ridiculed him. For example, in the Niagara Courier in 1836, the following statement was made:Freedom of the Press was carried to the ultimate extreme in those days, and the need for being politically correct was unheard of. The irony of all of that is that Hunts political career was just about to take off. In 1839, his political aspirations were well known, and he entertained President Van Buren at his house on North Adam. Hunt was presumably alongside President Van Buren when he traveled to Niagara Falls aboard the Strap Railroad, and was also likely part of the crew that was unfortunately derailed in a previous Historically Relevant column.In 1842, he was elected to Congress where he served three terms becoming the leader of the NY Congressmen. His speeches and public papers won him respect across the nation. He retired from Congress, in 1849, and was then elected Comptroller of NY State. In 1850 he was elected Governor of NY State, but defeated when he ran for a second term. Hunt then returned to his Lockport Farm on North Adam.Soon after, he bought the stone house that was erected on the Old Niagara Road by Edward Hardy, in 1842. He upgraded the property and renamed the estate, Wyndham Lawn, after the place in Greene County where he was born (the spelling being changed slightly).He kept himself busy by remaining connected with the Merchants Gargling Oil Company that had acquired international fame, and in 1858, along with the Honorable T.T. Flagler, coaxed the brilliant Birdsill Holly to take charge of their machine works in Lockport. Holly would go on to become one of the most prolific inventors of all time, second only to Thomas Edison.In 1860, Hunt declined the Democratic nomination for US Vice President, which many believe was due to his unpopular views about Slavery. He would not have served well alongside a president that had proclaimed his desires to emancipate Slavery, and that elected President, in 1860, was Abraham Lincoln.Washington Hunt remained a loyal Lockportian until he died on February 2, 1867, and was buried at the Glenwood Cemetery in Lockport.Two years earlier, in September, of 1865, the Lockport Ladies Relief Society was organized, and they proceeded to establish a Home for the Friendless, and during the next six years, the Lockport Ladies dispensed relief in food and household goods to needy families.By 1871, a permanent location for friendless and destitute children was desperately needed, and on February 8, 1871, a charter was granted for this new home, which would be overseen by nine trustees. The trustees then appointed twenty four ladies as board members, with the following making up their officers: President, Mrs. J.T. Bellah; Secretary, Mrs. Calvin Haines; Treasurer, Mrs. A. J. Mansfield; and Recording Secretary, Anna S. Gardner. The Ladies group raised $3000 by subscription and yearly membership dues, and with the support of the trustees, the purchase price for the residence of F. N. Nelson, on High Street, at a cost of $5000, was secured.This house on High Street served its purpose until August of 1892, when Wyndham Lawn, the former home of Governor Hunt, was purchased for $30,000. The Home for the Friendless was invaluable to the needy of our area, and at their 25th Anniversary, on February 11, 1896, the organization had sheltered nearly 1000 children. Today, Wyndham Lawn Home for Children continues to improve the lives of young adults through guidance and support.When in Congress, Washington Hunt was always aware of the needs of others, whether they were in Lockport, or half way across the world. In 1846, he introduced a bill to appropriate half a million dollars, for the needy and starving people of Ireland, during one of histories most notable crop failures, the Great Irish Famine of 1845-1849. Washington Hunt never had any children of his own, but through his generosity in life, and his legacy in death, the necessities of the needy continue to be provided.An imposing monument of bronze and marble, 22 feet high, still stands in Glenwood Cemetery as a testament to the friends Washington Hunt made, through both care and generosity, all over the World.Until next time,+Dr. Scott Geise, a local businessman, has an active interest in Erie Canal and Niagara County history. His column, "Historically Relevant," appears on the first and third Saturday of each month. Please feel free to share any historically relevant stories that you may have hidden away somewhere. Buffalo-Niagara Film Commission Cindy Abbot-Letro, left, talks with Lockport Mayor Anne McCaffree and Niagara Falls Mayor Paul Dyster prior to the premiere of "The American Side" Friday night at the North Park Theatre in Buffalo. (PHOTOS BY SCOTT LEFFLER / ENP STAFF) "The American Side" Director Jenna Ricker talked with the media prior to the film's debut. The movie premiere lit up the North Park marquee. This prop from the movie adorns the entranceway to the theater. Check out East Niagara Post videos on YouTube, Vine and Periscope. BUFFALO -- The Lock City was on screen for just a couple minutes, but it was quality -- not quantity -- that mattered in the new independent film, "The American Side."The new flick made its world debut Friday night at The North Park Theatre, where Mayor Anne McCaffrey was in attendance, as was Lockport Caves and Underground Boat Ride owner Tom Callahan.Two separate scenes were shot in Lockport, although Lockportians may take issue with their geographic precision. The first scene, shot at the locks, purports to downstream from Niagara Falls as police find a body of a man that's said to have jumped over. The second scene is shot in the caves, but purports to be underground in Niagara Falls.Both scenes, however, brought Hollywood stars -- and crews -- to Lockport, adding to the city's ever-growing list of movies being shot in Lockport.McCaffrey said Lockport "is a great set for Hollywood. We've got some unique views of the canal. The topography is beautiful. The views are beautiful. And I think we've got some unique footage.""I think when people see the views of Lockport on the big screen, it makes them want to come and see it firsthand and enjoy our beautiful city," she said.McCaffrey watched some of the filming in Lockport and also caught part of the movie being filmed at the Erie County Fair.Callahan said the film crews that have come through Lockport in recent years have been great to work with and each filming builds on the last. While he was hesitant to give details, he said there is more in the works.The film's producer and star Greg Stuhr is an Eden native. He said "Buffalonians are very proud of their city and their city looks great on film, and it looks great, I think in this film. So hopefully everybody will come out and take a look at it."Director Jenna Ricker, not a Western New York native, also had nothing but kind words for the area. "My heart literally overflows with love for this city.""The American Side" was filmed entirely in Western New York. It features Hollywood stars Matthew Broderick, Robert Forster, Robert Vaughn, Janeane Garofalo and Camilla Belle.It will play at 4:30, 7, and 10 p.m. today, with select cast and crew in attendance for the 7 p.m. show. It will also run again at 4:30, 7, and 9:30 p.m. Sunday and Monday and various other times throughout next week. It makes its NYC debut on Friday. Apple on Tuesday announced a refreshed MacBook with some incremental improvements but nothing likely to dazzle even the staunchest Mac fans. Whats new: a sixth-generation dual-core 1.1 GHz Intel Core M3 Skylake processor an Intel HD Graphics 515 integrated graphics processor faster, PCIe-based flash storage increased battery life rose gold finish a redesigned keyboard removal of LEDs behind the keys a Force Touch trackpad a downgraded FaceTime camera no fan The MacBook has one USB-C port and has built-in 802.11ac WiFi and Bluetooth 4.0. It runs OS X El Capitan. Available on Apples website from Tuesday, and in Apples retail stores and at select authorized resellers from Wednesday, the MacBook starts at US$1,300. The improved battery life and fanless design got the attention of Eric Smith, a senior analyst at Strategy Analytics. Battery life is always top of mind for consumers, Smith told TechNewsWorld. However, he was a little disappointed that there has been no improvement to display resolution, as more PC OEMs are going to 4K displays in this price tier. Its All About the Chip Basically, all of the innovation for this new notebook came from Intel, not Apple, noted Rob Enderle, principal analyst at the Enderle Group. The Skylake processor is Intels strongest effort to get their arms around the need to blend performance and mobility, he told TechNewsWorld. Generally, you get both better performance and longer battery life. Using the Skylake processor allowed Apple to omit the fan in the latest MacBook, Enderle said. Apple has done away with the fan before, but they did it by throttling the processor so, in effect, you ended up paying for performance you only got until the processor was forced to slow down because of heat, he explained. The M version of Skylake shouldnt need to be throttled, which means this may be the first MacBook in a long time where youll actually get what you pay for. Bridled Enthusiasm The MacBooks early reviews were mixed. In general, reviewers liked its slimness and the new trackpad, but pointed out it has a slower processor than other Mac notebooks and thus is better suited for lighter use. They also expressed concern about the lack of ports, the new keyboard which has larger keys, and the high price. The consensus appears to be that the new MacBook is a product for a niche market. Cutting Costs to Boost Profits It looks like Apple stripped out features in order to increase margins, and even the M processor should be cheaper than what theyd been using, Enderle commented. Apples PC business, much like the rest of the market, is in slow decline, and they appear to be shifting to a cost containment strategy. However, thats inconsistent with its brand, which is associated with luxury, and reviewers are apparently noticing, he added, and MacBook sales might take a hit as a result. On the other hand, Apple may have gone that route with the new MacBook because its tiering its products as the PC market continues to slow, suggested Strategy Analytics Smith. The iPad Pro plays an important part of the tiering for computing devices at Apple now, he pointed out. As computing becomes increasingly mobile, laptops need to become thinner, lighter, and offer more power to compete with relatively low-cost products like the 12.9-inch iPad Pro. Windows-based notebooks with 4K resolution are in roughly the same price range as the new MacBook, and, while it would take a lot for most Apple users to switch to Windows, that is what happened when Apple last did this in the 1990s, Enderle observed. The company appears to be positioning the iPad Pro against this possibility, he said, and I expect their end game is to migrate Mac users to iPad Pros over time. However, the Surface Pro has been cutting a broad swath through the iPad market and the iPad Pro isnt there yet. This could end up being a huge gift to Satya Nadella. Chariot for Women, a ride-sharing service that excludes males 13 and older, reportedly has postponed its launch to sometime this summer due to heavier-than-anticipated demand. The company originally had planned to debut the service in Boston next week. Chariot for Women is open to all women, including transgender women. Children, including boys under the age of 13, also may ride. Focus on Safety The premise for the gender-restricted service is pretty straightforward: Disturbing stories about Uber drivers abound, and theres an untapped market for serving women and children only. Founder Michael Pelletz, who once worked as an Uber driver, got the idea for Chariot for Women after he picked up a young man who was behaving strangely. The mans actions scared Pelletz enough that he went to a police officer for help. The Chariot for Women app is focused on safety, and the company will conduct thorough background checks on drivers before taking them on, it said. Its drivers will start the day by answering a random security question to verify their identity. After a passenger requests a ride, the system will send her a safe word that the driver then must provide to verify identity before the passenger gets into the car. The passenger also will receive a picture of the driver, the make of car that will pick her up, and its license number. The app will use real-time GPS tracking and maps so customers will know exactly when their ride will arrive and wont have to wait on the curb. Giving Back Chariot for Women will donate 2 percent of every fare to womens charities, the company said. Customers list 10 local and national charities they would like to give to; that list will pop up in the app when they get into the car, and they can choose which of the charities gets the 2 percent of the fare allocated for charity. Speed Bumps Chariot for Womens gender focus has raised legal questions, but founder Pelletz has said that the company is prepared for any challenges. A similar service in New York SheTaxis has been operating since 2014 and is preparing to launch an Android app in addition to the iOS app currently available. Theres a need for this service, particularly given the recent horror stories related to Uber, said Susan Schreiner, an analyst at C4 Trends. The concept is very interesting, and will go a long way to eliminating the creep factor. It also will eliminate problems women have encountered using regular cab services, she told the E-Commerce Times. Theres been times Im coming back from the airport late at night when Ive gotten into a cab and its a little bit scary or the driver is rude, and I dont need that. Finding Its Way Support for Chariot for Women has lit up the twitterverse. Uber is a step above cab, but this sounds even better! wrote Sarah Dudley. Brilliant idea! Wishing @ChariotForWomen huge success, tweeted Valentina Vitols. Actress Debra Messing also tweeted support for the concept, as did Global Tech Women, an organization dedicated to closing the gender gap in technology. However, in a city like Boston, which is not a huge city and not a high-crime city, you wonder about the idea, remarked Laura DiDio, a research director at Strategy Analytics. Id think a service like this would be better targeted to a larger city with a higher crime rate, like New York, she told the E-Commerce Times. With competition from Uber, Chariot for Women might have to offer another inducement, she said, like a 20 percent discount. 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. A federal appeals courts decision to side with a transgender student who sued after his school restricted his restroom access could have far-reaching implications for schools around the country that have lacked legal clarity on this divisive issue. The decision was called a major turning point by the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network, and it could help set the tone for discussions about accommodations for transgender students nationwide, school law experts said. A federal district court judge in Virginia erred when he did not defer to the U.S. Department of Educations interpretation that a regulation created under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 applies to gender identity, a three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, in Richmond, Va., said in a 2-1 decision this week. The federal appellate panel sent the original case back to the lower court to reconsider its denial of a preliminary injunction that would allow Gavin Grimm, a high school student in Gloucester County, Va., to use the boys restroom at school. Grimm was born a girl but he now identifies as a boy and he has undergone hormone therapy. The Gloucester County school board voted unanimously to appeal the panels decision en banc to the full 4th Circuit, attorney David Corrigan said. The ruling, the first by a federal appellate court on the issue, affirms the Obama administrations position on allowing transgender students to use the restrooms and locker rooms that correspond with their gender identity, which it has increasingly asserted in legal briefs and civil rights agreements with school districts in recent years. Its a case of the legal framework really lagging behind our rapidly changing social norms, said Francisco Negron, general counsel for the National School Boards Association. We expect more of this to come. Marching Orders Suzanne Eckes, an education law professor at the Indiana University at Bloomington, said the ruling was part of a general trend of state courts and civil rights panels siding with transgender students on questions of school facilities access. If the ruling stands on appeal, and if another appellate court also upholds the Education Departments interpretation of Title IX, it could set a pattern for schools to follow, she said. If not, the issue could be headed to the U.S. Supreme Court. For now, the states in that circuit have certainly been given their marching orders, Eckes said. The 4th Circuit notably includes North Carolina, which recently became the first state to require public schools to restrict restroom access for transgender students. Republican Gov. Pat McCrory said he will study the ruling, which could leave his states schools with the difficult decision of either violating the new state statute or violating Title IX at the risk of losing millions in federal funding. The ruling cited precedents which said that, in cases where there is ambiguity in interpretation of a federal law, courts should give deference to an agencys interpretation of those laws. Title IX prohibits sex discrimination but, under a regulation, schools may have sex-segregated facilities. The school district had interpreted that regulation to refer to biological sex, while the federal Education Department has defined it as applying to gender identity. Because both could be viewed as valid interpretations of the law, the lower court was obligated to side with the department, the 4th Circuit panel wrote. We conclude that the regulation is susceptible to more than one plausible reading because it permits both the boards readingdetermining maleness or femaleness with reference exclusively to genitaliaand the departments interpretationdetermining maleness or femaleness with reference to gender identity, the ruling says. Many state and local policymakers have disagreed with the Obama administrations position. In November, the departments office for civil rights found an Illinois district in violation of the law because it would not grant a transgender girl unrestricted access to the girls locker room. Under threat of penalties, including a possible loss of federal funding, the district agreed to allow the student to use the girls locker room. Because the administrations civil rights guidance does not carry the force of law, school law experts have waited for a federal court ruling on the issue to provide greater legal clarity for schools. To this point, transgender students have won court victories under state anti-discrimination laws. In states without such laws, schools have been uncertain about their obligations. North Carolina Law The ruling may come into play in the ongoing controversy over pending state bills that restrict restroom access for transgender students. North Carolina is the only state to have such a measure become law, and the ACLU of North Carolina has already challenged the measure in court on behalf of plaintiffs at the states universities, who argue that it violates Title IX. South Dakotas governor vetoed a similar measure earlier this year, and Tennessee lawmakers delayed a school facilities bill after the states attorney general said it may put schools at risk of violating federal law and losing millions in federal funding. Several other legislatures have considered similar proposals in recent years. In an amicus brief filed in Grimms case in December, leaders of six states, including North Carolina, argued against the Obama administrations interpretation of Title IX and said the Gloucester County district has offered an adequate accommodation by giving Grimm access to a single-stall restroom. Advocates for transgender students and Grimms attorneys have said such accommodations are discriminatory and contribute to the stigmatization of students who already face difficulties with harassment and bullying at school. While many districts have pushed to maintain existing rules, some have allowed transgender students unrestricted access to school facilities without prompting from legal challenges. After students there campaigned, Los Angeles Unified opened a gender-neutral restroom at a high school recently, a move met with protest and celebration. U.S. Circuit Judge Paul V. Niemeyer was the lone dissent on the three-judge panel. This unprecedented holding overrules custom, culture, and the very demands inherent in human nature for privacy and safety, which the separation of such facilities is designed to protect, he wrote. More particularly, it also misconstrues the clear language of Title IX and its regulations. Madrid, Apr 23 (EFE).- Spain's acting foreign minister travels Saturday to Kazakhstan on an official visit aimed at bolstering bilateral and economic ties with the Central Asian nation, which last December signed a new partnership and cooperation pact with the European Union. Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo will arrive along with a business delegation in Astana, the Kazakh capital, where he will meet with counterpart Erlan Idrissov to review bilateral relations in the political, economic and cultural spheres and discuss opportunities for expanding and deepening those ties. Spain's top diplomat will kick off his official program on Sunday with a visit to Spanish train manufacturer Talgo's industrial facilities (the Tulpar-Talgo factory) and an academic event at the L.N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University, where Spain has established the "Ruy Gonzalez de Clavijo" Spanish learning center. On Monday, Garcia-Margallo and Idrissov will discuss regional issues and global security matters at a working lunch, a gathering in which the Spanish minister is expected to sign the document affirming Spain's commitment to the Green Bridge Partnership Program's charter. That program is a sustainable development initiative launched by Kazakhstan during Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy's official visit to Astana in September 2013. In addition, Garcia-Margallo is to open a business forum with Kazakhstan's investment and development minister, Asset Issekeshev, aimed at supporting Spanish companies already operating in the Central Asian country and promoting the entry of others that have shown an interest in that market. The minister will seek to promote the presence of Spanish companies in some of the large infrastructure projects that Kazakhstan - which will host the Expo 2017 world fair, an event whose official theme is "Future Energy" - is planning to undertake. Kazakhstan already is one of Spain's most important partners in Central Asia and ranks as one of the world's largest oil and natural gas producers and the planet's leading producer of uranium. Several Spanish companies and financial institutions have a presence in Kazakhstan dating back many years. In December of last year, the European Union and Kazakhstan signed the EU-Kazakhstan Enhanced Partnership and Cooperation Agreement, a new pact that will set the tone for future economic and political ties between the European bloc and the Central Asian nation. That new agreement, signed on Dec. 21, 2015, replaced the EU-Kazakhstan Partnership and Cooperation Agreement that had been in force since 1999. Kazakhstan also is prepared to defend its bid to become a non-permanent member of the U.N. Security Council for 2017-2018. If elected in June, the Central Asian nation would become the first independent republic of the former Soviet Union to secure one of those seats. Garcia-Margallo will travel Tuesday from Astana to Baku, Azerbaijan's capital, where he will attend the inauguration of the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations Forum. RTC on Richmond Hill causes road closure Emergency services were called out to reports of a vehicle on its roof and on fire in the early hours of this morning. Fire crews arrived at Richmond Hill at 5am where they proceeded to made the car safe and clear the road. Police arrested a 38 year old man near the scene who is assisting in their enquiries. Volunteer working in Greece calls for Island to take in refugees A Ballaugh woman is calling on the Isle of Man to do more to help refugees whose lives are in turmoil. Ayren-Marie Kelly has been volunteering in crisis zones since October last year - she's currently based in Athens where over 50,000 people are waiting to be relocated. She says she's been left feeling "disheartened" after seeing first-hand the realities of the problems they are facing. Ayren says it's time for other countries to sit up and take responsibility: Media Ayren-Marie Kelly Oh, Castiel, Supernatural season 11 is really putting you through the ringer. Cas' (Misha Collins) rather ill advised plan to allow Lucifer (Misha Collins) to co-habitat his vessel is already a bit of a train wreck, but, now that Amara (Emily Swallow) has her claws on two heaven's little angels, life for Jimmy Novak's skin suit is about to get a whole lot worse. When episode 21 rolls around, The Darkness will force Sam (Jared Padalecki) and Dean (Jensen Ackles) to double down on their plans to save their wingman. "Amara shows Dean how she's torturing Lucifer. Worried for Castiel, Dean and Sam come up with a plan to rescue him from Amara's clutches," The CW teased. A photo circulated on St. Patrick's Day had fans worrying Lucifer's powerful presence would start to corrode Cas' vessel before season's end, but, now that we know the pic (see below) comes from filming for "All in the Family," whatever lacerations and bruising is most likely an adverse side effect of spending two episodes in Amara's clutches. Considering behind-the-scenes snaps from episodes 22 and 23 show Lucifer/Castiel looking perfectly healthy, we can safely surmise that Jimmy's vessel is in little to no danger...at least not from angelic degradation. While we wait for the big rescue, Sam and Dean will be busy fighting a new monster and meeting up with Chuck. The Winchesters will return this Wednesday with "The Chitters" (see a preview below). "In a small town in Colorado, mysterious disappearances happen every 27 years," The CW teased. "Sam (Jared Padalecki) and Dean (Jensen Ackles) head to the town to investigate and meet two hunters who have a personal vendetta against these once-in-a-generation monsters." Catch Supernatural Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET on The CW. The discovery of dairy fats on ancient pottery may indicate dairying high in the Alps occurred as early as the Iron Age over 3000 years ago, according to a study published April 21, 2016 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Francesco Carrer from the University of York, UK, and colleagues. Dairy farming has long been an important economic and cultural tradition in the European high Alps, but little is known about when and how the practice originated. Using organic residue analysis, the authors of the present study found evidence of dairy fats present on pottery sherds from ancient stone structures high in the Alps. The authors suggest that these potsherds, dated to the Iron Age, may have been used for dairying, such as heating milk, earlier than had been previously shown. While only a small number of fragments were available for analysis due to poor preservation at high altitudes, the recovery of dairy fats from all three Iron Age sites may indicate that high alpine dairying began at least 3000 years ago. The authors suggest that these findings are early evidence of nutritious resources being produced and exchanged for purposes of socioeconomic development, and are strongly tied to traditions, such as alpine cheese-making, that continue today. ### Please provide a link to the freely available research in your news story: http://dx.plos.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0151442 Citation: Carrer F, Colonese AC, Lucquin A, Petersen Guedes E, Thompson A, Walsh K, et al. (2016) Chemical Analysis of Pottery Demonstrates Prehistoric Origin for High-Altitude Alpine Dairying. PLoS ONE 11(4): e0151442. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0151442 Funding: This work was supported by The Archaeological Service of the Canton of Grisons, 7th EU framework Marie Curie Intra-European Fellowship (FP7-PEOPLE-2012-IEF), and Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cientifico e Tecnologico (CNPq) of Brazil. Competing interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist. The smoking cessation medications varenicline and bupropion do not appear to increase the incidence of serious neuropsychiatric side effects compared to placebo, according to a study published in The Lancet today. The study is the largest trial to date looking at the safety and efficacy of three first line smoking cessation treatments - varenicline, bupropion and nicotine patches - compared to placebo in smokers with and without psychiatric disorders, and finds than smokers who took varenicline achieved higher abstinence rates than smokers on bupropion, nicotine patches, or placebo. The study involved more than 8000 people and was requested by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) following concerns about the neuropsychiatric safety of varenicline and bupropion. "Given that an estimated 6 million people worldwide die as a result of tobacco smoking every year, we need to be able to provide maximum support for people to stop smoking. Our study shows that all three first-line smoking cessation medications are effective in helping people stop smoking, with varenicline being the most effective," says lead author Professor Robert M. Anthenelli, University of California, San Diego, USA. [1] [2] Professor Anthenelli adds, "Clinical guidelines recommend that the most effective way to give up smoking is smoking cessation medication and counselling. However, smokers do not use these services enough, in part due to concerns that the medications may not be safe. The findings from this study, together with data from previous trials and large observational studies, make it highly unlikely that varenicline and bupropion increase the risk of moderate-to-severe neuropsychiatric side effects in smokers without psychiatric disorders." [2] Participants were adults aged 18-75 who smoked on average more than 10 cigarettes a day and were motivated to stop smoking (82% had made at least one attempt to quit). Half (4116) had a history of a past or current stable psychiatric condition including a mood, anxiety, psychotic, or borderline personality disorder, and about half of this group were taking psychotropic medication. The other participants (4028) did not have a psychiatric condition (figures 1 & 2). The trial was a double blind randomised trial and was designed to measure both the safety and efficacy of the two non-nicotine smoking cessation medications, varenicline and bupropion, relative to nicotine patches and placebo. All participants were assessed to see whether they suffered any moderate-to-severe adverse neuropsychiatric events during and after treatment, including agitation, aggression, panic, anxiety, depression and suicide ideation among others. Smoking cessation was verified by measuring levels of exhaled carbon monoxide (CO) at the end of treatment (9-12 weeks), and at follow up (9-24 weeks). For smokers without a psychiatric disorder, there was no significant increase in the incidence of adverse neuropsychiatric events across the four treatment groups (1.3% varenicline; 2.2% bupropion; 2.5% nicotine patch; 2.4% placebo) (table 2). Overall, there were more adverse neuropsychiatric events reported in the group with psychiatric disorders, than in the group without. However, the researchers found there were similar rates across all treatment arms (6.5% varenicline; 6.7% bupropion; 5.2% nicotine patch; 4.9% placebo) (table 2). Varenicline was more effective in helping people stop smoking than bupropion, nicotine patches, or placebo. Bupropion was about as effective as nicotine patches, and both were more effective than placebo. Overall, at 9-24 weeks, 21.8% of people on varenicline were continuously abstinent (16.2% for bupropion; 15.7% nicotine patches; 9.4% placebo). Smokers with a psychiatric disorder achieved slightly lower abstinence rates than smokers without a psychiatric disorder (figure 3). "Our study provides further evidence of the safety of these drugs in smokers with psychiatric disorders, who have some of the highest rates of smoking. We also show, for the first time, that the effectiveness of the medications is similar for smokers with or without psychiatric disorders. The small increased incidence of adverse neuropsychiatric effects in people with stable psychiatric disorders regardless of treatment needs to be balanced against the known significant health risks of smoking," explains Professor Anthenelli [2]. The authors warn that since the participants had a stable psychiatric disorder and were being treated, the findings might not apply to those with untreated or unstable psychiatric illness. The researchers also excluded people with current alcohol or substance abuse disorders and people who were at imminent risk of suicide. The study also did not look at whether the strength of nicotine dependence, or the severity of psychiatric symptoms affected the findings. Finally, just over 20% of people dropped out of the study but this was seen across the board, whether or not participants had a psychiatric disorder and irrespective of whether they received one of the three treatments or placebo. Writing in a linked Comment, Dr Laurie Zawertailo, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada, discusses the impact on clinical practice. She says: "The findings from this study show that neuropsychiatric adverse events occurring during smoking cessation are independent of the medication used. This finding combined with previous findings showing no greater incidence of this type of adverse event associated with bupropion or varenicline, suggests that clinicians should be comfortable prescribing the smoking cessation medication they feel would be most effective for their patient and should not worry about a specific medication increasing the risk of neuropsychiatric side-effects. The findings also suggest that patients trying to quit smoking, irrespective of method, should be made aware of the small chance that severe changes in their mood and psychiatric well-being might occur. Furthermore, clinicians should monitor all of their patients, especially those with a current or past psychiatric illness, for these changes. This monitoring could be added to the behavioural counselling that clinicians should be providing to patients who are trying to quit smoking." ### NOTES TO EDITORS: Funding: The study was funded by Pfizer and GlaxoSmithKline. The study is a post-marketing requirement in the USA for Pfizer and GlaxoSmithKline. As such, the study was designed by sponsor employees and academic authors. Declaration of interests: RMA reports receiving grants from Pfizer and Alkermes, and providing consulting and advisory board services to Pfizer, Arena Pharmaceuticals, and Cerecor. RMA's writing of this manuscript was supported, in part, by National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism grant numbers U01 AA013641 and R01 AA019720; National Institute on Drug Abuse/Veterans Affairs Cooperative Studies numbers 1031 and 1032; and Veterans Affairs Merit Award number NEUA-003-08S. NLB reports providing consulting and advisory board services to Pfizer and GlaxoSmithKline, and having been a paid expert witness in litigation against tobacco companies. RW reports receiving grants from Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson, and GlaxoSmithKline, and receiving personal fees for advisory board services from Pfizer and GlaxoSmithKline. RW's salary is funded by Cancer Research UK. AEE reports receiving grants from Pfizer and Forum Pharmaceuticals, and receiving personal fees for advisory board services from Pfizer and Reckitt Benckiser. AEE's writing of the manuscript was supported by a National Institute on Drug Abuse Career Award in Patient-Oriented Research, number K24 DA030443. LSA, TM, DL, and CR are employees and stockholders of Pfizer. JA is an employee of GlaxoSmithKline and stockholder of that company. AK is a PAREXEL employee working on behalf of GlaxoSmithKline. The opinions expressed in this Article are the authors' own, and do not necessarily reflect the views of their employers. [1] Data on smoking http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs339/en/ [2] Quotes direct from author and cannot be found in the text of the Article. IF YOU WISH TO PROVIDE A LINK TO THIS PAPER FOR YOUR READERS, PLEASE USE THE FOLLOWING, WHICH WILL GO LIVE AT THE TIME THE EMBARGO LIFTS: http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(16)30272-0/abstract Relaxo, has recently launched its new TV commercial for its range of summer flip-flops- Bahamas. The brand is being endorsed by actor Salman Khan. The film opens with a group of boys and girls feeling bored in a well-decorated room. In between, Salman Khan makes entry, teases them for their boredom, and asks to go to Bahamas (proposes an interesting plan to lift their mood). The girls and guys get excited while Salman opens a wardrobe filled with the entire range of Bahamas slippers. The next scene cut to a beach location with all the characters wearing colorful slippers and Salman dancing on a groovy music. Gaurav Dua, Executive Director (Sales & Marketing), Relaxo Footwears Limited said, Bahamas the brand, as the name suggests transcends you into the world of free spirit and fun which unwraps & unbound you from the mundane & routine to elevate you into a world of cheerfulness, joy & bonhomie. Bahamas boast of a versatile range of exquisite styles that suits the ever evolving needs of todays youth. With the concept Keep Chillin, Keep Flippin, the brand aims to position itself as a vibrant and youthful brand that compliments various moods and lifestyle of its customers. Commenting on the insight behind the campaign, Sanjeet Ahluwalia, Creative Director, Arms Communication said, The whole concept is to create a feel of Bahamas as the brand name itself is Bahamas. Bahamas is all about fun, carefree, energetic, colourful, excitement. Step into it today and just like Salman's friends, step out of boredom and turn your life into a fun loving zone You can watch the TVC here: Agency: Arm Communications Creative Director: Sanjeet Ahluwalia & Deepak Kirodian Client Servicing: Mukesh Gulati Account: Arms Communications Production House: RAT Films Director: Ashutosh Shah and Taher Mithaiwala Producer: Ruchi Narain Read more news about (ad news, latest advertising news India, internet advertising, ad agencies updates, media advertising India) The experiment is complete, and the results are clear: The Texas Miracle had more to do with high oil prices and geography than its blustery politics. An economic slowdown is a high price to pay for settling this argument. But at least now we know that politicians are not nearly as important to the economy as they claim and for that, we should all be relieved. The idea of the Texas Miracle was born during the Great Recession, when Texas economy grew while the rest of the nation foundered. During his presidential campaign, former Gov. Rick Perry accurately bragged that more jobs were created in Texas from 2008 to 2012 than in the rest of the country combined. Conservative commentators touted Perry for his policies of no income taxes, few regulations and high hurdles for personal injury lawyers. Jealous liberals claimed that Houston oilman George Mitchell was the one really responsible for those jobs because he pioneered hydraulic fracturing to break oil and natural gas out of shale rock. Since 2014, though, the prices for oil and natural gas have collapsed, 250,000 people have lost their jobs, and all thats left are Perrys policies. So what did we learn? First, the Texas economy is not as diversified as you may think. A common refrain among boosters is that oil and gas are no longer as important to Texas as they were in 1986, when the last big bust devastated the state. But thats only true because the federal government rewrote the classification rules for calculating gross domestic product, or GDP, in 1992. Oil and gas made up about 16 percent of the economy in 1986. When the old classification system is applied to Texas in 2014, the industry accounted for 14 percent of economic activity, according to Dale Craymer, president of the Texas Taxpayers and Research Association, a pro-business lobby group. Hes a former chief revenue estimator in the Texas Comptrollers Office and has been analyzing the economy for 30 years. Officially, Texas may have lost about 65,000 jobs in the oil and gas sector, but when you include the indirect layoffs, the total rises to 250,000, Craymer added. In the oil and gas communities, two years ago it was impossible to find an empty hotel room or a table at a restaurant, but there are not so many hospitality jobs anymore, Craymer said. Texas no longer outpaces the rest of the country in job creation, with the state unemployment rate ticking up as the rest of the countrys goes down. Texas is still adding jobs at a rate of 1 percent, but the rest of the country is growing at 2 percent. Oil and gas is clearly part of the Texas Miracle, maybe a third, Craymer explained. But its certainly not all of the Texas Miracle. So does that mean conservative politics are responsible for the other two-thirds? Some of it, but not all. Strict limits on lawsuits are a big draw for industries that tend to get into legal trouble. Limits on unions mean companies relocating here dont have to worry about labor disputes. And a permitting process that can take a year in other states may take only six months here, Craymer said. Taxes, though, are mixed a mixed bag. Employees enjoy the absence of a personal income tax, but the effective tax rate on businesses is above the national average at 5.3 percent. Complying with the franchise tax is expensive, even if a company doesnt have to pay it, and property taxes are punishing. We have very high property taxes, and we also are one of only seven states that include business inventories as part of the property tax, Craymer said. To make up for that, Texas must offer property and sales tax abatements, he added. Voter Guide: What to know for the midterm election Your guide to the Texas and San Antonio races and candidates on the Nov. 8 ballot. The simple truth is were not going to be able to compete for those major investment projects if we dont offer some kind of temporary safe harbor from our incredibly high property taxes, Craymer said. If the oil business and the states conservatism dont wholly explain why people and businesses move here, then whats the secret ingredient? Well, to steal from the title of my friend Erica Grieders book, Texas is big, hot and cheap. The truth be told, Texas has been outperforming the U.S. consistently back to World War II, Craymer said. In 78 percent of the monthly jobs reports since 1939, Texas has beat the national average in job growth. Texas has a major port, borders one of the countrys largest trading partners, and has almost no winter. Population density is low and land is relatively cheap, which makes it easy for people and companies to buy property. Texas also has other natural resources, including agriculture, timber and access to the sea. Texans also beat the national average in making babies, which stimulates the economy and boosts the number of available workers, while Rust Belt states suffer from shrinking workforces. Texas doesnt spend much on education, though, and has more minimum-wage workers who dont have health insurance than any other state. While that keeps overhead low for some businesses, it keeps the economy from generating more high-paying jobs. Texans can take pride in a lot of these facts but should be ashamed of others. Texas economic growth, though, is due to more than public policy and oil, which means we have room to fix some of our problems. Who knows what we can accomplish if we do that? Chris Tomlinson is the Houston Chronicle's business columnist. chris.tomlinson@chron.com This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate When the phones rang at Mission Pharmacal in San Antonio on Friday, the automatic response told callers that the office was closed because of the annual Battle of Flowers Parade. The bewilderment this elicits in non-San Antonio clients cracks up company President Neill Gobie Walsdorf Jr., to use a verb thats popular during what this year is an 11-day extravaganza of pageantry, parades and, yes, cracking confetti-filled eggs known as cascarones. They have this thing in their mind of these fighting flowers, he said. Its so much fun to explain to them that, no, this was really a famous battle, San Jacinto. Indeed, what started in 1891 as a parade to honor the heroes of the Alamo and the Battle of San Jacinto has evolved into a bash that characterizes the Alamo Citys psyche while generating $284 million in parade, party and other spending. And whether its by winning high-dollar vending contracts, ponying up for high-visibility sponsorships, designing the annual company Fiesta medal, or cutting employees loose to ride on parade floats or cheer on the high school band, local businesses cant dodge the fun. The Fiesta San Antonio Commissions Party With a Purpose motto extends from corporate offices down to restaurant employees saving money for college. For Mission Pharmacal, a drugmaker that this year designed its March of Dimes fundraising medal in honor of crazy chemist Neill Walsdorf Sr. and his joyous Fiesta attitude, its also the end of the companys fiscal year. Its our Fiesta as a company because we end April 30, and so what better way to enjoy life than to go all chips in for Fiesta? Walsdorf Jr. said. The Fiesta spirit permeates even the most staid of San Antonios corporate offices, decked out in DayGlo Fiesta flowers, with desks and meeting rooms across the county speckled with bits of cascaron confetti. USAA employees, slammed during this years Fiesta with work processing tens of thousands of claims from the April 12 hailstorm and this weeks Houston flooding, nevertheless made time for team parties, office decorations and volunteering at Fiesta-related events, company spokesman Matt Hartwig said. While new to San Antonio, Hartwig said it was hard not to grasp its significance to the city. Everybody loves Fiesta, and thats all everyone talks about, he said. Whataburgers corporate office sells its own medals and sponsors a Fiesta Fun Day, touted as a day to don bright and festive Fiesta attire, hats and medals. Frontier Enterprises, parent company of Jims Restaurants and Coffee Shops, Magic Time Machine, La Fonda Alamo Heights and the recently opened Frontier Burger, this year sold three different medals. A lot of our people have Fiesta medals on their shirts that theyre wearing, male and female, CEO Jimmy Hasslocher said. I think its just a great time. Im real upbeat about it. I just love Fiesta and love what it does for the city. Bill Miller BBQ, which has long cooked for the days-long A Night in Old San Antonio, offered free sweet and unsweet tea to Battle of Flowers Parade viewers streaming past its restaurant at Cesar Chavez Boulevard and Santa Rosa Avenue. Last year, the company decided to use medal sales to fund an employee scholarship contest, offering three $5,000 awards to the workers who wrote the best essay about what working at Bill Miller meant for their lives. Their were 65 entries, company co-owner Balous Miller said, and company leaders couldnt settle on just three. If youd have set down and read them, you can imagine in a business, the tears ran down our eyes with some of them, he said. My (chief financial officer) read every one of them,and she said we cant give away three, were going to give five. For button-down accounting firms such as Padgett Stratemann & Co., its a good time for workers to loosen their ties after tax time. Their Fiesta medal unveiling is a soiree with Mexican food and margaritas, and medals go to employees and Girl Scout Troop 2509. Proceeds from medals sold to the public are donated to United Way of San Antonio and Bexar County, company spokeswoman Maria Barrett said. April marks the end of a busy season for our audit and tax professionals, so to honor team members for the great work they have done, the office closes on Battle of Flowers day so families can get out and enjoy Fiesta, she said. Because thats what San Antonios all about. Voter Guide: What to know for the midterm election Your guide to the Texas and San Antonio races and candidates on the Nov. 8 ballot. Even at the normally staid center of justice in Bexar County, Fiesta is alive and well. This week, several clerks were seen wearing sashes covered with medals. Even some attorneys, many wearing jeans with shirts and jackets, wore a few. Some of the public offices of Bexar County District Clerk Donna Kay McKinney in the Paul Elizondo Tower and of County Clerk Gerald C. Rickhoffs in the Bexar County Courthouse have been decked out for weeks with streamers, medals, mini pinatas and lots of paper flowers. In the Cadena-Reeves Justice Center, some court offices behind the courtrooms are observing Fiesta as well, though decorations arent allowed in the courtroom. We deal with heavy issues. By nature of the beast, this isnt the happiest place on the Earth, said Judge Melisa Skinner, who presides over the 290th state District Court and hears her share of criminal cases. Because of that, she said, the back offices where the clerks work are usually decorated for other holidays as well. This year, the office created a Fiesta Photo Booth, with flowers and colored paper for pictures. Skinner said workers were able to do that because they had some empty space after furniture and equipment were moved out. Thats their office space, and if it makes the day more pleasant, she said, shes all for it. As long as we get through our work and maintain the highest level of professionalism. A native of San Antonio, Skinner said she has many fond memories of attending parades and Fiesta events with her family while growing up here. Fiesta is part of who we are, she said. Its part of us. lbrezosky@express-news.net Staff Writer Elizabeth Zavala contributed to this report. I am president of the organizing committee responsible for a convention this coming October in San Antonio to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Pan American Round Table, which was founded here on Oct. 16, 1916, at the Menger Hotel. We think there might be something wonderful in the newspaper archives about our organization and its founder, Florence Terry Griswold. I am hopeful that you will want to investigate further. Louise Actkinson Born Florence T. Terry in 1875, Griswold was the daughter of Judge William T. Terry and his wife Louisa, from New York and Illinois, respectively, and grew up on the Pendencia Ranch in Dimmit County. She was married in 1994 in Carrizo Springs to the first of her three husbands, cattleman Felix Motlow Shaw, with whom she had three children, Ruth, Adele and Felix Jr. The family lived at 323 Woodlawn Ave., left to her along with the rest of Shaws estate after he died July 17, 1908. Described as a wealthy stockman who resides in San Antonio, it was reported in the San Antonio Gazette, July 10, 1908, that Shaw was taken suddenly and dangerously ill at his ranch near Carrizo Springs, from which he was rushed by special train to Uvalde, then by car to his house in San Antonio. Apparently from a stroke triggered by heat-related illness, Shaw, only 48, died a week later at home. In his Gazette obituary, July 18, 1908, hes described as one of the best-known ranchmen in the Southwest; prominent pallbearers included banker Thomas C. Frost (Shaws next-door neighbor at a previous address) and ranchers J.W. Kokernot and George W. West. Shaws widow successfully fought an insurance company for a payout that would be roughly equivalent to $100,000 today and seems to have taken over his business, as she was listed in the 1910 U.S. Census as a cattle woman/dealer, living at the Woodlawn address with her children and three servants. Her second husband, Spencer P. Brundage, is sometimes omitted from accounts of her life; thanks are due to San Antonio Conservation Society Librarian Beth Standifird for finding documentation of their relatively brief marriage. Brundage had made quite a splash here as a real-estate dealer, a partner in the firm of Hust and Brundage. The 54-year-old widower grew up in Indiana, went into the dry-goods business, then moved into real estate, trading land in California, Missouri and Oklahoma before shifting to San Antonio in 1911. He probably met Florence Terry Shaw through contacts made in land deals in Dimmit County, where he was involved in the sale of the Landa and Oppenheimer ranches. The couple was married Sept. 29, 1910, here and returned to the Woodlawn house about a month later, after an eastern wedding trip, according to the Light and Gazette, Nov. 6, 1916. The Brundages had no children; perhaps because her children with Shaw were by then older and because her new husband was interested in raising the profile of his business, she became more socially active, as a member of groups such as the Reading Club, San Antonio Womans and Symphony Society, while her husband rose to become vice president of the International Club, a hospitality group that promoted the city to visitors from Mexico and other countries. After a little more than three years, the Brundages were divorced. The union might not have been a financial pleasure to either: By the 1920 census, he was living in a hotel in Amarillo, with the occupation of secretary. Florence assumed the name she is best known by when she married June 8, 1914, for the third and final time to John Case Griswold, who worked for the A.C. Dauchy Co, which dealt in real estate, loans, and investments. He moved into her house, and the third time, apparently, was the charm, because they remained married until her death nearly three decades later. At about the same time, Mrs. Griswold became active in suffragist groups, such as the San Antonio Equal Franchise Society. She became a frequent, featured speaker in favor of voting rights for women at local meetings. At the Womans Club, she presented a paper asserting that, The Granting of Suffrage to Women Would Further Humanize the World. An account in the San Antonio Light, Nov. 4, 1915, quotes her as saying that Nations have their character to maintain, as well as individuals, but the national character will necessarily depend more upon the moral qualities of the many than the few. Griswold next turned her attention to international understanding. The San Antonio Light, Oct. 17, 1916, notes that the Pan American Round Table had held informal meetings at intervals since last spring, but first convened formerly on Oct. 16, 1917, at luncheon in the Menger Hotel, where a stand in the corner of the table held 21 flags of South American countries, which the club will study, with Old Glory rising from the center. Griswold was director general and gave a splendid talk on Latin America, and the other members responded to a roll call with the motto of the country which she is to consider her own for the term. Several other members read telegrams of good will from representatives of the various South American countries and delivered briefings on current events, club procedures and future plans. Newspaper social notes over the next few years show that as the organization grew, its meetings became monthly, two receptions a year were added and the members were organized into committees, such as luncheon, library, music and publicity. The members all women, many from prominent families reported on Latin American events and welcomed guest speakers, including some representatives of national governments. Griswold died at 66; in her Light obituary, July 8, 1941, she is described as a prominent San Antonio clubwoman, who had been prominent in promoting cultural relations between the United States and the Latin American countries. The Round Table which eventually extended to many more chapters in this country and others established a scholarship in her name and celebrated October Founders Day meetings honoring her memory. RANGER LORE: The Texas Ranger who tracked down the Depressions most notorious couple was the bad guy in the 1965 film, Bonnie and Clyde, but nothing could be further from the truth, says John Boessenecker, author of a newly published biography, The Epic Life of Frank Hamer, the Man Who Killed Bonnie and Clyde. Hamer, who grew up in the Hill Country and spent some time as a Prohibition agent in San Antonio, led the fight against the (Ku Klux) Klan in the 1920s and during his long career saved 15 African Americans from lynch mobs, among countless other exploits, says Boessenecker, who will sign copies of the book from noon to 2 p.m., May 2, in the Alamo gift shop. historycolumn@yahoo.com Twitter: @sahistorycolumn Facebook: SanAntoniohistorycolumn Seguin police officers arrested one of three suspects linked to a large drug distribution ring in the Seguin and San Antonio areas involving the Texas Mexican Mafia. Gary Big John Ortiz was arrested Thursday and taken to San Antonio, where hes in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service, said Seguin police Deputy Chief Bruce Ure. The business card from the Graham banker is a little yellowed and a bit smudged, but Karla Martinez, a waitress at a popular River Walk restaurant, has kept it clipped to the black cover of her order pad for more than two years. Its probably not going anywhere for a while it represents a random act of kindness that still makes the single mom of two teary-eyed. The card was given to her in 2014 by a couple who offered to buy her sons college graduation ring when he became eligible to order one. Earlier this month, Martinez, whose own education took her only through high school, slipped the $1,000 gold Aggie ring purchased by her former customers on her sons finger during Ring Day at Texas A&M-College Station. Her son, Christian Alcoser, a 2013 top 10 percent graduate of Harlandale High School, was in his freshman year at A&M when Pascal and Joyce Hosch sat at one of Martinezs outdoor tables at the restaurant Ostra at the Mokara Hotel. Martinez remembers the occasion well. Business was slow, so she had the opportunity to spend a little time with her customers and mentioned her son was enrolled at Texas A&M. The couple told her they had degrees from A&M, and she recalls one of them had graduated in 1976 because that was the year she was born. The Hosches, who were in town to celebrate Joyce Hoschs birthday, said they had been thinking of doing something to give back to their school and decided before they left the restaurant that day that they would buy a class ring for Martinezs son. They told Martinez of their plan and asked for her sons name, and they gave her Pascal Hoschs business card with their first names and graduation dates scribbled on the bottom. Over the last two years, the Hosches, who have two children who are also A&M graduates, checked on Alcoser through the Former Students Association to see if he had enough hours to make him eligible to order his class ring. Alcoser, who is now a junior, reached the magic number of hours after the fall semester. The Hosches have never met Alcoser, and they have not seen Martinez since they gave her the card. They quietly paid for the ring, and Alcoser was informed via an email from the school that his ring was paid for and he could place his order. Alcoser said he was surprised when he found out about the gift. His mom had told him about her customers offer to pay for his ring, but neither had taken it too seriously. He had been talking to his mom about getting a summer job so he could purchase his ring next fall. Alcoser, who is considering law school, is already thinking of ways of paying it forward. His mom is still overwhelmed by it all. The Aggie ring is by far the biggest gift a customer has given her in the 13 years she has waited tables on the River Walk, Martinez said. Her son has sent the Hosches a thank-you note, but she is still trying to figure out how to reach out to them to thank them herself. Pascal Hosch said the gesture was never intended as a tip for their waitress. They had been wanting to do something for their alma mater, and it all just came together during that trip to San Antonio two years ago. In a telephone interview this week, the couple said they knew they would never get their name on a building on campus, but buying a ring for a graduating Aggie was within their reach. They plan to make the gifting of an Aggie class ring to a graduating student who cannot afford one an annual donation. San Antonio gets some truly amazing tourists. gpadilla@express-news.net Americans and homesick Brits can toast William Shakespeare's 400th birthday on St George's Day with a quintessentially British gin and tonic or a pint of Yorkshire ale. This comes as US exports of the UK's favourite beverages reached a record 361 million last year, Environment Secretary Elizabeth Truss said at an event in Chicago today. More than 220 million pints of ale, including from Yorkshires Ilkley Brewery and Aberdeenshires Brew Dog, were shipped to the States in 2015 worth a record 164 million. This is up 35% since last year. Enough gin to pour 580 million gin and tonics was enjoyed in the US last year as exports rose 9% to a record 159 million in part thanks to a UK revival led by fashionable artisanal producers like Sipsmith and Hoxton. And sales of English sparkling winewhich is now rivalling the very best French champagnehave helped boost overall wine exports to the US by 23%. During a special event to mark the Queens 90th birthday, and champion British drink, the Environment Secretary toasted the industry for their hard work breaking into the lucrative American market, bringing jobs and investment back to the UK. British beers becoming drinks of choice for many Speaking during the event, Environment Secretary Elizabeth Truss said: "Business is booming for our iconic drink brand in the States. "From our world class gins to beloved ales, its fantastic to see brands so synonymous with British culture becoming the drinks of choice in bars, clubs and restaurants across the US. "We already export nearly 2 billion of food and drink here every year but we can do a whole lot better. "I want to give our food and drink entrepreneurs every opportunity to drive up these figures, delivering jobs and prosperity back home. "Through remaining in a reformed EU we have a much greater chance of making this a reality." English wine is fast growing Miles Beale, Chief Executive for the Wine and Spirits Trade Association (WSTA) who organised the event said: "English wine is a fast growing industry with bold ambitions to boost production and open up new export opportunities. "Following the first ever English roundtable, hosted by Elizabeth Truss, the industry set targets of a 10-fold increase in wine exports and double production by 2020. "Like English wine our British gin is also experiencing a boom. "We have seen an incredible rise in the number of distilleries set up in the last year with record breaking sales reaching 1 billion. "This is a massive achievement for our Great British gin and English wine makers. "They are rightly very proud to be making exceptional quality British products now sought after at home and across the world." With 300 million consumers the US is the UK's biggest gin market, closely followed by Spain and Germany. The UK's successful alcohol industry already makes hundreds of millions a year from 35 free trade deals struck by the EU with over 50 countries. EU membership also means access to a market of 500 million people without tariffs or restrictions. The free trade transatlantic partnership (TTIP) deal, currently being negotiated through the EU, could also help secure market access for thousands more UK food and drink companies, boosting exports to the United States by 500 million. JCB is donating a 3CX backhoe loader worth $100,000 to help rescue and clear-up operations in Ecuador. The South American country was hit by a 7.8 magnitude earthquake last Saturday, resulting in the deaths of at least 570 people and injuries to over 7,000 people. It has been reported that 25,000 people remain in shelters as a consequence of the devastating earthquake that has been described by the countrys President Rafael Correa as the biggest tragedy in Ecuador in seven decades. JCB is supplying the versatile digger to the Provincial Council of Manabi through its Ecuadorian dealer Automekano. The machine will be put to work shortly in the provinces Pedernales Canton, where more than 90% of homes have been destroyed by the earthquake. Santiago Vasconez, Managing Director of Automekano, said: "Padernales was very close to the epicentre. "Many people are feared to have lost their lives and many thousands have been left homeless by the destruction. There is a desperate need for equipment to help relief efforts." JCB Chairman Lord Bamford said: "This was a very powerful earthquake with catastrophic consequences. "I hope our donation can play a small part in the clear up and rebuilding work that needs to be done in Manabi to help those people whose lives have been turned upside down." JCB has a history of helping countries affected by major natural disasters and has in recent years made equipment available to support relief and rebuilding efforts after earthquakes in Nepal, Indonesia, Chile, Pakistan and Haiti, and in the Philippines in the aftermath of Typhoon Haiyan. Presidents of the farm organisations and agri-cooperatives from across Europe united in Brussels to warn of the unprecedented crisis hitting EU agricultural markets & called on the EU for immediate solutions to tackle it. Copa President Martin Merrild said: "The situation is not sustainable. Measures agreed by the EU to improve the situation have had little impact. "The market especially for beef, pork and dairy is continuing to worsen, fueled by the Russian ban on EU farm exports. Pork prices are lower that they were eleven years ago. "It is unacceptable that farmers are paying the price of the political dispute with Russia. "Re-opening this market is a priority. Farmers & agri-cooperatives are also more exposed to market forces and they need access to market data so that they can plan ahead and hedge against risks". He continued: "To make it worse, the EU Commission is moving ahead with opening up the EU market to imports from the Latin American Trade bloc Mercosur, which would have a catastrophic impact on the EU agricultural market, especially beef. "These imports do not meet the EUs high environmental and quality standards and there are still serious concerns about safety aspects of meat production in these countries and their use of antibiotic growth promoters which is banned in the EU. "We want a level playing field. Imports to the EU must meet our high production standards. The EU must also step up action to find new markets and boost promotion measures for our produce. "This crisis shows the importance of having a truly common agriculture policy. "In the future, we need a Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) that is common in all member states and ensures our competitiveness as the current CAP is incapable of this. "Theres something definitely wrong when the price of milk is lower than the price of water." Importance of a well-developed food chain Cogeca President Thomas Magnusson went on to underline the importance of getting the food chain working properly again so that farmers get a better return from the market and are not squeezed unfairly. "The European Investment Bank (EIB) also needs to start delivering in order to develop the right financial instruments to help farmers invest in their businesses and improve competitiveness. "Agri-cooperatives can help farmers get a better price for their produce and can assist them on new innovative techniques but they need the support to ensure this. "Immediate solutions from the EU must be found to tackle this unprecedented crisis which has been hitting farmers and agri-cooperatives for years. "They are vital not only to solve hunger and malnutrition but also to maintain attractive rural areas and biodiversity". Copa & Cogeca are set to hold a workshop to start debating the future of the CAP in May. Soybean and corn organizations provide scorecard for presidential hopefuls By Diego Flammini Assistant Editor, North American Content Farms.com The Indiana Corn Growers Association (ICGA) and Indiana Soybean Alliance (ISA) released a scorecard of where the remaining presidential hopefuls stand on issues important to the two organizations. The organizations looked at different issues including the farm bill, the Trans-Pacific Partnership, and voluntary GMO legislation and encourage farmers to make informed decisions when it comes to selecting the next American leader. The release of the scorecard is timely as Indianas primary election day is Tuesday, May 3. Its incredibly important for farmers to support a candidate who shares our beliefs on major ag issues, said Mike Nichols, a farmer from Spencer County and president of the Indiana Corn Growers Association in a release. We hope farmers do their homework on where all candidates stand on the ag issues important to them. Neither the ICGA or ISA have endorsed a candidate, but members are asking farmers to connect with the candidates and make them think about agriculture. If the candidates come to your area, engage them about agriculture, said Jeanette Merritt, chair of the ISAs Membership and Policy Committee in a release. Ask a question at a town hall. Its our job to keep agriculture on these candidates minds. After looking at the scorecard, are you surprised by the results? "We really do work to fill the gaps in training and we're not here to replicate anything," Ms Batten said. "They can see for themselves when they are standing too far back from the sheep and allowing the dog to take control of the situation by running between them and the sheep.'' "We are looking at the detail on how that money is put together or rather how we can pull it apart and get to it,'' he said. Is Wawa coming to Fayetteville? Heres what we know. Wawa, a Pennsylvania-based convenience store chain that residents have long clamored for, could be coming to the area. Doctor Strange writer C. Robert Cargill has teased that the first trailer for the film has only given a tiny hint as to what we can expect from the upcoming film. Doctor Strange Cargill has teamed up with Scott Derrickson and Jon Spaihts to pen the film's screenplay for what is one of Marvel's most ambitious projects to date. And Cargill has hinted that we are going to be treated to even more characters and magic than the first trailer suggested - I really cannot wait to see what they deliver. Speaking on The Sunday Service podcast about the film, the screenwriter said: "This teaser is, it's the definition of a teaser. You are only getting a like a small taste of just how crazy this movie gets. We have only just the slightest hints of magic in there. "There are major characters you don't even glimpse in that trailer, there is so much stuff going on, that this thing is just nutty, the stuff they let us do, I can't believe they let us do it. Like, just,... Kevin Feige and other producers like Stephen Broussard would be 'How can we make it crazier?' and I was like, 'Aw right, let's play around.' It's just a hell of an experience." Doctor Strange sees Derrickson in the director's chair as well as penning the screenplay and this will be the first Marvel film of his career. The movie is set to hit the big screen this autumn and will see Benedict Cumberbatch in the title role. The British actor is joined on the cast list by Chiwetel Ejiofor, Tilda Swinton, Rachel McAdams, and Mads Mikkelsen. Doctor Strange will be the second film in Phase 3 of Marvel's films and will come after Captain America: Civil War, which is released later this week. Doctor Strange is released 28th October. by Helen Earnshaw for www.femalefirst.co.uk find me on and follow me on Hard to believe that the Sundance Film Festival: London 2016 is just around the corner and the full programme has been announced this week. Ellen Page in Tallulah It doesn't seem five minutes since we were looking at the films that were part of the 2015 festival and picking out the ones that we were most looking forward to... a year on, and the 2016 programme of feature films is just as exciting. Eleven movies will be screened as part of the feature film programme and we take a closer look at them. - Author: The JT LeRoy Story Author: The JT LeRoy Story is one of the documentary features that's not to be missed at Sundance London this year as Jeff Feuerzeig returns to the director's chair. Feuerzeig has already brought us movies such as Half Japanese: The Band That Would Be King and The Devil and Daniel Johnston and this is his first feature since that 2005 movie. It is good to see him returning to big screen feature films. The definitive look inside the mysterious case of 16-year-old literary sensation JT LeRoy - a creature so perfect for his time that if he didn't exist, someone who have had to invent him. Perhaps someone did. This is a riveting documentary about Laura Albert, who created JT and felt that she could say things through this persona that she couldn't say has herself. Author: The JT LeRoy Story really is an intriguing watch and the movie will receive its international premiere at the festival. - The Greasy Strangler Jim Hosking is making his feature film directorial debut with The Greasy Strangler and will mix elements of comedy, horror, and thriller with this new film. As well as being in the director's chair, Hosking has teamed up with Toby Harvard to pen the screenplay. Michael St. Michaels and Sky Elobar take on the central roles of Ronnie and Brayden and are joined on the cast list by Elizabeth De Razzo, Gil Gex, and Joe David Walters. When Big Ronnie and his son Brayden meet lone female tourist Janet on Big Ronnie's Disco Walking Tour - the best and only disco walking tour in the city - a fight for Janet's heart erupts between father and son, and the infamous Greasy Stranger is unleashed. The Greasy Stranger is another film that will be receiving its international premiere at playing at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year. - Goat 2016 is another busy year for James Franco both in front of and behind the camera. Goat will see the actor in front of the camera as he teams up with filmmaker Andrew Neel. Goat is the third feature film for Neel and comes after success with The Feature and King Kelly. The movie is based on Goat, the memoir by Brad Land and has been adapted for the big screen by David Gordon Green, Mike Roberts, and Neel. Reeling from a terrifying assault, a 19-year-old boy pledges his brother's fraternity in an attempt to prove his manhood. What happens there, in the name of 'brotherhood, tests both the boys and their relationship in brutal ways. Ben Schnetzer and Nick Jonas are set to take on the central role of Brad and Brett Land - two actors who are continuing to make a name for themselves. Jonas is best known as a musician while Schnetzer has appeared in The Riot Club and Pride in recent years. Goat has been winning over critics and audiences on the festival circuit so far and its screening at Sundance London will be a UK premiere for the film. - Indignation James Schamus is another first-time filmmaker to watch out for at Sundance London as he is set to make his debut with Indignation. The movie is an adaptation of the novel of the same name by Philip Roth and the screenplay has been penned by Schamus. Logan Lerman is one of the most exciting young actors around - if you have seen The Perks of Being A Wallflower than you should check it out - and he is set to take on the central role of Marcus Messner in this new film. Sarah Gadon, Pico Alexander, Danny Burstein, and Linda Emond complete the cast list and star alongside Lerman. It's 1951, and among the new arrivals at Winesburg College in Ohio are the son of a kosher butcher from New Jersey and the beautiful, brilliant daughter of a prominent alum. For a brief moment, their lives converge in this emotionally soaring film. Indignation received its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival this year and this will be the UK premiere of the film. Indignation has already had some incredibly good reviews and it is one of the films on the programme that I am looking forward to the most. - The Intervention Every year we see a number of actors make the leap into the director's chair... and this year it is the turn of Clea DuVall. DuVall is best known for her acting working in the likes of The Faculty and Argo and has now directed and written comedy/drama The Intervention. The movie follows four couples who set out on a weekend getaway together. But the weekend takes a very different turn when one couple discovers that the whole weekend was designed as an intervention on their marriage. DuVall is on the cast list and is joined by Cobie Smulders, Natasha Lyonne, Alia Shawkat, Jason Ritter, Melanie Lynskey, and Ben Schwartz. The Intervention will receive its international premiere at the festival after winning the U.S. Dramatic Special Jury Award for Individual Performance (Melanie Lynskey) at Sundance earlier this year. It is always exciting when an actor makes the leap into the director's chair and I can't wait to see what DuVall - who is very experienced in front of the camera - delivers with her debut. - Life, Animated Life, Animated was the winner of the Directing Award: U.S. Documentary at Sundance and is another of the documentary films that's not to be missed in London this summer. The movie was met well by critics and audiences as Roger Ross Williams returns to the director's chair. Life, Animated his is his first feature-length documentary since God Loves Uganda back in 2013. Owen Suskind, an autistic boy who could not speak for years, slowly emerged from his isolation by immersing himself in Disney animated movies. Using these films as a roadmap, he reconnects with his loving family and the wider world in this emotional coming-of-age story. I found Life, Animated to be a truly captivating and touching documentary that will draw you in and leave you totally hooked from start to finish. Life, Animated will receive its UK premiere at the festival in London and is set to be one of these most talked about films on this year's programme. - Morris from America Chad Hartigan is on writing and directing duties as he returns with his latest movie Morris from America. This is the third feature film from the filmmaker and comes after Luke and Brie Are on a First Date and This is Martin Bonner in 2008 and 2013. Morris from America is a movie that is set to mix elements of comedy, romance, and drama and boasts impressive performances from Markees Christmas - in the central role of Morris - and Craig Robinson. Carla Juri, Lina Keller, Jakub Gierszal, and Levin Henning complete the cast list. Thirteen-year-old Morris, a hip-hop loving American, moves to Heidelberg Germany, with his father. In this completely foreign land, he falls in love with a local girl, befriends his German tutor-turned-confidant, and attempts to navigate the unique trials and tribulations of adolescence. Morris from America is a movie that has some very genuine, warm, and funny moments and I just love the central performances from both Christmas and Robinson; the latter went on to win the U.S. Dramatic Special Jury Prize for Individual Performance. Hartigan was also triumphant at the festival as he scooped the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award for his work on the screenplay. - Other People Other People is another of the movies that will be receiving its international premiere. The movie has the honour of opening the Sundance Film Festival as Chris Kelly makes his feature film directorial debut. Kelly is known for his work in shorts with the likes of The Vote-Off and Mob Wives under his belt but Other People will see him make the leap into features for the first time. As well as being in the director's chair, Kelly has also penned the film's screenplay. The movie follows David, played by Jesse Plemons, a struggling comedy writer who, after breaking up with this boyfriend, returns home to help care for his dying mother. It has been a very busy year or so for Plemons and 2016 is going to be another great year for the actor. A great cast has been assembled for Other People as Bradley Whitford, June Squibb, Maude Apatow, Molly Shannon, and Zach Woods all-star alongside Plemons. Other People is a movie that is packed with great observations of everyday life. These are characters and this is a situation that many will be able to relate to and I think that is what makes it even more touching. Other People is a movie that will make you laugh and cry while Plemons and Shannon deliver wonderful central performances. - Tallulah Sian Heder is one of the female directors to watch out for at the 2016 festival as she is set to make her feature film directorial debut with Tallulah. As well as being in the director's chair, Heder has also penned the film's screenplay. The movie also sees Page return with another great leading role. We have seen Page star in a range of great indie movies during her career, and Tallulah looks set to be the latest. Page takes on the role of Tallulah, who is hired by a Beverly Hills housewife that is desperate to be rid of her toddler. Tallulah pretends that this child is hers in a bid to protect her... which leads to the lives of three women being changed forever. Tallulah promises to explore some interesting themes and ideas and it is one of the best female-driven movies that we are going to see at the festival this year. Page is joined on the cast list by Allison Janney, Tammy Blanchard, Evan Jonigkeit, Uzo Aduba, and Zachary Quinto. For me, Page is one of the most exciting actresses around and she delivered one of the best performances of Sundance Film Festival. I am excited for UK audiences to see her deliver another terrific turn. - Weiner Weiner was one of the most acclaimed movies of the Sundance Film Festival as it went on to win the U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Documentary. Now London audience will get to see this offering from Josh Kriegman and Elyse Steinberg. With unrestricted access to Anthony Weiner's New York City mayoral campaign, this film reveals the human story behind the scenes of a high-profile political scandal as it unfolds, and it offers an unfiltered look at how much today's politics are driven by an appetite for spectacle. Weiner was one of the best documentaries on show at this year's Sundance Film Festival and I am thrilled that this movie is part of the London programme. From the opening scenes to the closing credits, Weiner is a compelling documentary that takes you deep into a political scandal and takes a closer look at those that were involved. 2016 has already been a terrific year for the documentary movies and Weiner is another film in this genre that is truly not to be missed. - Wiener-Dog Wiener-Dog is the eleventh and final film on the feature programme and will bring some comedy to the festival in London in June. The movie marks the return of Todd Solondz, who has brought us films such as Happiness and Palindromes in recent years. This is the first feature for the filmmaker since Dark Horse back in 2011. It is great to see him back. The film tells several stories featuring people who find their life inspired or changed by one particular dachshund, who seems to be spreading comfort and joy. Danny DeVito, Zosia Mamet, Ellen Burstyn, Kieran Culkin, Julie Delpy, and Greta Gerwig make up an impressive and hugely talented cast list. Screening at Sundance Film Festival: London will be the international premiere for Wiener-Dog. Sundance Film Festival: London 2016 runs 2-5 June. by Helen Earnshaw for www.femalefirst.co.uk find me on and follow me on To celebrate the upcoming release of season 6 of HBO's hit TV series Game of Thrones, Into the Blue have created a handy season 5 recap map to help you catch up with the series so far. Credit: HBO Charting 10 of the main characters journey's during season 5, this infographic shows just how far each character has travelled and what they did to get there. So, just what have our favourite characters been up to during Season 5? This infographic gives you a quick recap of the main characters and where they have been during the last 10 episodes. Arya Stark After a long sea voyage, Arya arrives at Braavos, seeking refuge at the House of Black and White where Jaqen H'ghar is. Arya confides in Jaqen, telling him that she came to Braavos to become one of the Faceless Men. On her first assassination mission instead of killing the target, Arya kills one of her nemesis's Meryn Trant angering the Many-Face God who renders her blind as a punishment. Jon Snow Jon is chosen as the Lord Commander of the Night's Watch and plans to let the wildlings settle in the North so long as they help to fight the White Walkers. When negotiating with the wildlings in Hardhome they are attacked by an army of White Walkers. Jon escapes back to Castle Black with the surviving wildlings; but has made making some powerful enemies in the Night's Watch. Labelled a traitor, Jon is attacked by several of his comrades, dying in a pool of blood. Jamie Lannister Jamie, along with Ser Bronn, travel to Dorne to bring back his daughter Myrcella after Cersei receives a threat from House Martell. Doran insists that the union between the Iron Throne and Dorne continue and that the engagement of Trystane and Myrcella must stand. He suggests that Trystane and Myrcella return to King's Landing with Jamie and that Trystane be given a place on the Small Council. Finding Doran's suggestion reasonable they set sail for King's Landing, but while on the boat Myrcella collapses and dies in Jamie's arms after being poisoned. Tyrion Lannister With the aid of Varys, Tyrion escapes King's Landing and sails to Pentos. Varys attempts to persuade Tyrion to help restore House Targaryen to the Iron Throne, Tyrion isn't interested, but eventually agrees to travel with Varys to Meereen to meet Daenerys Targaryen. On reaching Volantis, Tyrion is abducted by Jorah Mormont, who intends to take him to Daenerys himself. Tyrion and Jorah are captured by slavers who plan to use Jorah in the fighting pits and make them rich. When they reach Meereen, Tyrion eventually meets Daenerys who decides to take him on as an advisor. After an attack by the Sons of the Harpy, Daenerys escapes the fighting on Drogon, leaving Tyrion to oversee Meereen untill her return. Cersei Lannister Following meeting the High Sparrow and reinstating the Faith Militant, Cersei is arrested for having an adulterous affair with Lancel Lannister and throw in prison. She confesses to adultery with Lancel, but denies an incestuous relationship with her brother Jaime. The High Sparrow states that she must stand trial and Cersei is stripped naked and her hair cut short before being paraded through the streets of Kings Landing naked as punishment. Once at the Red Keep, Cersei is covered with a cloak and is picked up by a huge knight who takes her away to tend to her wounds. Sansa Stark Sansa and Petyr travel west, where Sansa learns that they are returning to Winterfell and Petyr's plan is to have her marry Ramsay Bolton so she can take control of House Bolton from within. After their wedding Ramsay forces himself on Sansa and repeatedly hurts her in a bid to control her. Sansa decides she wants to escape and asks Theon to help her. He initially refuses, but does confess that he did not kill Bran and Rickon during the fall of Winterfell. Stunned by this news, Sansa is more determined than ever to escape and sees her chance during a battle between the Boltons and Stannis Baratheon. Theon and Sansa then escape Winterfell by jumping off the wall into the deep snow below. Daenerys Targaryen Daenerys is facing an uprising by the Sons of the Harpy and orders the Unsullied to patrol the streets of Meereen. After losing another one of her trusted advisors during the uprising, Daenerys decides to open up the fighting pits again to help stabilise the situation. She meets Tyrion Lannister and after much discussion takes him on as an advisor due to his experience of being the Hand of the King at King's Landing. Attending the Daznak's Pit, Daenerys watches the fighting from the royal box, but it soon turns to chaos as the Sons of Harpy attack. Outnumbered, Daenerys accepts that she will be taken prisoner or killed, but Drogon flies in and they escape. Later, Daenerys finds herself far from Meereen, and is quickly surrounded by Dothraki Warriors; she drops a ring in the grass to leave a trail. Stannis Baratheon Stannis moves his remaining army to the Wall, attempting to rebuild his forces by recruiting the wildlings to fight beside him but is unsuccessful. Undeterred, Stannis marches on Winterfell, but is halted by the severe winter. Ramsay Bolton and 20 of his men set fire to several spots in Stannis' camp, creating havoc and leading to the loss of men, horses and food. Stannis turns to Melisandre for guidance and she suggests to sacrifice his own daughter Shireen to better their chances of winning. Reluctantly Stannis agrees, burning Shireen at the stake. The weather subsides and Stannis can now march on Winterfell, but before he gets there he is confronted by Bolton's army. Outnumbered and malnourished Stannis' army is easily defeated. Wounded, Stannis manages to escape to the forest, but is confronted by Brienne of Tarth who executes him with a single stroke. Petyr Baelish Once arriving at Winterfell with Sansa, Petyr is summoned back to King's landing on Cersei's request. Upon his return Petyr finds the city ruled by the re-established Faith Militant and is warned that his days as a brothel owner are over. He meets with Cersei, telling her of the Bolton's plan to marry Sansa to Ramsay. Angered by this betrayal, Cersei agrees with Petyr's plan to lead an army of Vale knights to reclaim Winterfell for the Lannisters and appointing Petyr as the Warden of the North once the Boltons and Stannis are defeated. Later, he is approached by Olenna Tyrell who tells him that Margaery and Loras have been arrested due to Cersei's meddling and she wants his help. Petyr tells Olenna about Cersei's adulterous affair with Lancel. This revelation is given to the High Sparrow, who has Cersei arrested. Brienne of Tarth After failing to find Arya, Brienne and Podrick travel to Castle Black to see if Sansa Stark has been taken in by her half-brother Jon Snow, but on the way she finds Sansa with Petyr dinning at an inn. Brienne approaches them offering Sansa her protection but is rejected. Brienne and Podrick track Petyr and Sansa to Winterfell, staying in nearby Winter Town. Brienne, worrying for Sansa's safety gets a message to her saying that she is to place a candle in the window of the tower should she need help. Awaiting Sansa's signal, Podrick warns Brienne that Stannis' army are marching on Winterfell. They reluctantly abandon their mission to save Sansa. After the battle, Brienne finds Stannis wounded in the forest and kills him as retribution for his involvement in King Renly's death. Game of Thrones returns Sunday, April 24 on HBO in the US, simulcast in the UK on Sky Atlantic and shown on the same channel in the UK on Mondays at 9pm. Delhi girl Radhika Madan shot to fame with the show Meri Aashiqui Tum Se Hi. Radhika started off as a dance instructor in a dance school in Delhi. During a musical show, Ekta kapoor spotted her. She got a call from her and without any audition, she was directly called for the screen test. This is how she bagged the show, MATSH. Click On 'View Photos' To Check Out Radhika & Ishan's Candid Pictures While Radhika's on-screen pairing with Shakti Arora was appreaciated by the audiences, her affair with rumoured boyfriend Ishan Arya and the candid pictures of the couple, grabbed the eyeballs. Soon, the rumours faded, and there came a fresh rumour that said the actress was dating Rajveet Singh, who played the role of Chirag in the show. But, the actor denied saying that they are 'just friends'. Later, Radhika was spotted with Ishan in an award ceremony, which again sparked the rumours of the couple dating. During an interview to the Filmibeat, the actress clarified the rumours saying that she and Ishan are just friends. Recently, Ishan was also spotted at Radhika's brother's grand wedding. The couple sizzled together, which was evident from the pictures of the couple posted on their social media accounts. Post this, there were rumours of the actress planning to get married to her bf, Ishan. But the actress refuted the wedding rumours calling it as an April fool prank. She was quoted by a leading daily as saying, "I guess people love playing pranks and taking advantage of April 1. No, I am not getting married for another 10 years. Marriage is so far for me. Ishan is my best friend. He is a businessman and we have known each other for many years. But no, there is no marriage happening here." Well, whatever it may be... the couple look lovely together... What say guys?? (Images Source: Instagram) Mobile Des: Check out 20 candid pictures of Meri Aashqui Tum Se Hi actress' Radhika Madan and her alleged boyfriend Ishan Arya. NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwired - April 22, 2016) - ICMediaDirect, a full-service public relations and reputation management company, will join leading marketing agencies at Content Rising Summit to share techniques about the art and science of brand storytelling. Their team frequent many established marketing conferences and events, including ad:tech, Affiliate Summit, and LeadsCon, where they meet with other thought leaders in marketing to connect, exchange ideas, and discuss the most recent industry trends. The first Content Rising Summit, otherwise known as The Brand Storytelling Conference, was held at the Westin Boston Waterfront, right in the middle of Boston's seaport and innovation districts. The 2016 event, named Forward, is scheduled at the same location on June 22 - June 23 of this year. Skyword, the creator of the event, is a leading content marketing technology company that has helped to push forward the significance of online content for businesses. Skyword Founder Tom Gerace created the company out of the realization that the marketing world has shifted, and innovative marketers need to collaborate, learn, and share in order to move the world's top brands ahead of their competition. Speakers at the conference include trendsetters and visionaries such as Michael Brenner of Marketing Insider Group and co-author of 'The Content Formula,' Fulbright Scholar and successful screenwriter Robert McKee, and Victoria Keichinger, who has used content to turn Coldwell Banker into one of the world's leading real estate brands. The theme of this summer's Content Rising Summit is 'fusion,' how the combination of two separate factors can result in something extraordinary. ICMediaDirect is excited to reveal its newest methods that sync with one of the most powerful concepts in creative marketing today. The agency advocates an artful blend of visual media and thought-provoking content to produce stories that have impact and engage potential customers. "Well-developed content has the power to connect a business with targeted consumers," explains an agency spokesperson. "Our clients have been able to reach a broader base with an uplifting message, simply through the quality of the content they project." The long-standing public relations firm will convene with the most important minds in the business at Forward 2016 and looks forward to the innovation and inspiration that will certainly come from such an event. ICMediaDirect is a leading reputation management agency, specializing in online brand repair. Its extensive experience with successful online content marketing has helped companies and individuals project a positive image and build an efficient message with a strong impact on their audience. With office locations in New York and Washington, DC, the company serves a range of clients globally, including Fortune 500 companies, Olympic athletes, politicians, and celebrities. In 2015, it published a game-changing handbook on online brand repair and has been awarded the New York Excellence Award by the SBIEC for two consecutive years. ICMediaDirect frequently attends the major industry conferences and acts as a guiding example in marketing and brand management for other, newer companies. ICMediaDirect -- PR and Marketing News: http://icmediadirectnews.com IC Media Direct -- Leader in Online Reputation and Brand Repair: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSnMKWV1K3pa+1e8+MKW20160208 IC Media Direct -- Outlines Powerful Strategies for Building Online Branding: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/ic-media-direct-outlines-powerful-014916919.html Image Available: http://www.marketwire.com/library/MwGo/2016/4/23/11G094784/Images/ICMediaDirect_-_Reputation_Management_-_Team_at_IC-3995a84dad019590a945a63762b69133.jpg Embedded Video Available: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x3QHOeY8qAM Contact Information ICMediaDirect.com TEL: 1.800.595.0821 www.ICMediaDirect.com pr@icmediadirect.com DHAKA Suspected Islamist militants brutally murdered a university professor on Saturday in northwestern Bangladesh, a police official said, the latest in a series of attacks on liberal activists. Two assailants on a motorcycle attacked Rezaul Karim Siddiquee, an English professor at Rajshahi University, slitting his throat and hacking him to death, Rajshahi city police chief Mohammad Shamsudduin told reporters, quoting witnesses. He was found lying in a pool of blood near his home, where he was apparently waiting for a bus to the university campus about 200 kilometres (125 miles) northwest of Dhaka when he was attacked. Police said the murder was similar to other recent attacks on secular bloggers by Islamist militants. But fellow university teachers said Siddiquee, while active in cultural events, never spoke or wrote anything about religion or Islam. "Professor Rezaul was killed in a similar fashion as the killings of bloggers," Shamsudduin said, adding he was a peaceful person and had no enemies. Five secular bloggers and a publisher have been killed in a similar fashion since February last year. A group affiliated with al Qaeda claimed responsibility for the killing of a liberal Bangladeshi blogger earlier this month, the SITE monitoring service has said. Bangladesh authorities said the homegrown militant group Ansarullah Bangla Team is behind that attacks on online critics of religious extremism. The gruesome killing triggered protest by teachers and students of the Rajshahi University, blocking a major road and demanding immediate arrest of the killers. Three teachers at the university have been killed in recent years. The Muslim-majority nation of 160 million has seen a surge in violent attacks over the past few months in which members of minority Muslim sects and other religious groups have also been targeted. Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the killings of two foreigners, attacks on mosques and Christian priests in Bangladesh, but police said local militant group Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen is behind the attacks. The government has denied that the Islamic State or al Qaeda groups have a presence in Bangladesh. At least five militants have been killed in shootouts since November as security forces have stepped up a crackdown on Islamist militants looking to establish a sharia-based Muslim state. (Reporting by Ruma Paul; Editing by Tom Heneghan) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. From spontaneous cooperation to finding a way around theres something odd about peoples response to odd-even round two. There are more cars and more two-wheelers on roads compared to round one in early January. Wrong vehicles are out on wrong days and media reports say sale of second hand vehicles are up. There are traffic jams at several busy points that remained congestion-free last time. That suggests something might not be going well with the odd-even experiment in Delhi this time. Dilli bole dil se, odd-even phir se, says the AAP governments message. There are clear indications that its not happening dil se this time. The Arvind Kejriwal-led government should be worried. Some studies so far show no remarkable dip in air pollution level compared to last year. While others suggest a change for the better, the gains from the odd-even experiment have been more or less neutralised by dust storms and burning of crop residue in the neighbouring states. It means the government has to think afresh its strategy to fight air pollution. Keeping half the vehicles off the roads every day, even if managed successfully, may not make Delhis air less toxic. The challenge is much, much bigger and it requires a comprehensive action plan. The odd-even solution appears to be de-congesting the citys roads only, not doing anything more. That was never the original purpose. It could be the government overemphasised the contribution of vehicular emission to the overall air pollution in the city. Road and construction dust account for nearly 35 percent of PM 2.5. Its contribution to total pollution goes up in summer. The government probably had not factored this in while going for round two of road rationing or it anticipated even if the pollution scenario didnt get better, it would at least not get worse. The sincerity of the Kejriwal government in getting the odd-even experiment going is appreciable, however, it should take careful note of the response of people in different seasons. In winter they can afford to be patient and be forgiving of lapses by the implementing agencies, but not so in summer. Experts attribute more vehicles on roads this time to the heat. People are not comfortable with the idea of getting packed like sardines in buses and trains and the government cannot keep forcing them to bear the uncomfortable all the time. It also does not help that there are not enough buses to ferry people and the Metro cannot take load beyond a point. Unlike in January, this time there has been mischief from other players such as auto-rickshaws and taxis, both critical to the success of such a scheme. There have been complaints of excessive fare demand and poor service from both. Simply put, the government cannot afford to have too many displeased people around. If the displeasure grows into hostility, it would be disastrous for the government and the party too. Since it does not make sense antagonising people in an experiment where their support is critical, Kejriwal must think better before going into the next phase of odd-even. The fact that the government is planning to introduce 1000 buses by August and has a given a go ahead to app-based AC buses is acknowledgement of the problems on the ground. But it would be better if it puts the round three on hold till a majority of the 3000 additional buses planned originally hit the road. The government has proved that it can make a difficult concept like odd-even work in a difficult place such as Delhi. Now, it should be better prepared. And yes, it must do much more about road dust, construction dust and burning of farm waste in other states. In short, it must go the whole hog the now. Kolkata: Its posh. Its connected to everyone who matters, in West Bengal and across the country. Its not a district, but within Kolkata, it has a distinctive culture and identity. This is South Kolkata; home to chief ministers since 1972, including Mamata Banerjee. Its seven constituencies include Bhowanipore, the chief ministers home, Ballygunge, Rashbehari, Kasba, Behala East and Behala West and Kolkata Port. It is also home to an embarrassingly large number of the people captured on the Narada sting video tapes, some of whom, according to Mathew Samuel who was in the city in response to summons from the Kolkata High Court, were not shy about asking for more. As befits the locals of this posh area, there is a low voiced buzz about corruption in high places; residents, across the seven constituencies that are identified as South Kolkata, have turned fastidious about being represented by people caught with the cash in hand. After all, this is a bhadralok locality, as one member of a family that has lived in Rashbehari constituency for generations declaimed. And, the squeamishness is not limited to the top end of residents, who constitute the majority; it includes the bottom end too, who live check by jowl to the affluent, in the overhauled slums that are so characteristic of Kolkatas tolerant spirit. Of the seven constituencies of South Kolkata, Bhowanipore is home to Mamata Banerjees most stoutly defended caught on video, jailed by CBI in connection with Saradha Chit Fund scandal lieutenant, Madan Mitra; Ballygunge is home to minister Subrata Mukherjee; Kolkata Port is home for minister Firhad Hakim; Behala East is home for Kolkatas mayor Sovan Chatterjee, all of whom were caught on camera in the Naradasting. While the camera and its footage is now in judicial custody and its authenticity is being verified, the association of corruption and constituencies is difficult to ignore in South Kolkata, an area where Jauguars, Mercs, BMWs, Skodas and venerable vintage cars can crawl past the auto rickshaws and buses laden with proletarian commuters. Because of its proximity to power, the constituencies of South Kolkata have been a bellwether for political changes in the offing. And, this time, the anticipated cakewalk for the Trinamool Congress has turned into a real fight. From Bhowanipore, where Deepa Das Munshi has brewed up a storm, to Ballygunge and Behala, the tension is crackling in the air. So much so that even the poshest streets are not immune to the politics of intimidation. On one such street, tiny flags tucked into gates by the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party have been pulled out and thrown into the street; the Trinamool Congress grass and flowers buntings have replaced the oppositions pennants. Odd looking people are trawling the streets in the evening and checking out the loyalty of voters, especially those who run their businesses at street level. After one such episode, a working class voter snarled, I saw the flags being trashed. Its my right to vote for whoever I choose. The middle class and the upper middle class are saying much the same thing. Educated, well-off and well connected, the middle class is unhappy and has been so for some time at the way the Trinamool Congresss promises of Paribartan have played out. There is anger that investment has not happened and jobs have not been created. There is irritation that the syndicate has grown bolder and brutal. There is resentment that West Bengals image has taken a beating; its famously cultured and civilized people have been overshadowed by men and women tainted by publicly exposed corruption and that lumpen behaviour is protected and forgiven by the chief minister. South Kolkata is Mamata Banerjees home turf. Despite its snootiness, voters of these seven constituencies overwhelmingly supported the Trinamool Congress. It is a place that is both conservative and progressive, therefore at the level of ideas, it thinks Left and at the level of practice, it prefers the Congress or more recently the Trinamool Congress. Here, as nowhere else in West Bengal, the arithmetic is working against her, Om Prakash Mishra of the Congress said. As the initiator of the improbable Congress-Left alliance, Mishra has a different interpretation of what is going on in the state and specifically South Kolkata. Arithmetic and the chemistry of the joat have put Mamata Banerjee on the defensive on her home stretch, he explained. The momentum is moving away from the Trinamool Congress and Mamata Banerjees reiteration that the election is in her control, even though the Election Commission has changed her best men for their failures and biases, the violence, the intimidation and the four dead is a sign of how the tide is running against her, now, Mishra maintained. The chemistry is more difficult to quantify but the arithmetic is simple; Mishra calculates that the Congress and the Communist Party of India Marxist led Left Front have 35 per cent of the votes in South Kolkatas seven constituencies. The BJP which made a stunning inroad, notching up 17-18 per cent votes in 2014 in these seats does not have the same appeal now. Anti-incumbency is working against Mamata Banerjee as disgruntled and disappointed voters see in the new arithmetic a fresh start. The alliance is neither Congress nor CPIM; its a new beginning and there is a chemistry that has happened as the once sworn enemies have found a new lease of life in their partnership. The joint campaigns, the long processions of red flags and the tricolour with the hand, have worked to convince voters that the alliance is indeed workable. The possibility is the hope, as Mishra explained and people are voting for just that. Trinamool Congress leaders, indeed a candidate in one of South Kolkatas constituency, indirectly confirmed the possibility. The party is a platform. It is not a party. It is an idea and a mood. There is no substance; it has no organisation; it has no stable leadership and it has no policy. For as long as the public support us, we will win. The day the voter decides against the Trinamool Congress, it will collapse, he explained. The Trinamool Congresss appeal is that it is different; it is unlike any other political party and the difference is in the persona and style of its leader Mamata Banerjee. If South Kolkatas voters are beginning to feel disenchanted, then time is beginning to run out. For Mamata Banerjee the challenge is to magic up another mood. The biggest takeaway from the Uttarakhand high courts judgement which may or may not be vindicated by the Supreme Court on April 27th is its comment on the judicial accountability of the President of India. During the court proceedings, the chief justice of the high court came down heavily on the governor for acting on extraneous considerations and for misleading the union council of ministers. That is when the Attorney General of India, Mukul Rohtagi, told the court that if the president of India, the elder statesman, in exercise of his wisdom, found the governors recommendation tenable, then the charge against the governor that he acted on extraneous considerations would not hold good. It was then that the chief justice made a candid observation that there are situations when even the President, with all his wisdom, can go wrong. And when the President goes wrong, it is the task of the higher judiciary to point out his mistakes and take corrective action. The BJP has found this remark highly objectionable. Both its spokesmen, Nalin Kohli and Sambit Patra, expressed their anguish at the unsavoury portrayal of the President which, they felt, undermined the highest office of our land. They told the television viewers that the BJP was prepared to accept brickbats on account of the imposition of the Article 356 in Uttarakhand, but the party would not tolerate the erosion of the prestige of the institution of the presidency. When the anchors and other panelists reminded the BJP spokesmen that the President was amenable to the judicial review, these gentlemen waved the copy of the Constitution to argue that the Article 361 clearly envisaged the Presidential action immune from the judicial interference. These party spokesmen were either ignorant or feigned ignorance about a spate of the Supreme Court judgements on this issue in the last two decades. It is true that for almost three decades after the enforcement of the Indian Constitution, the high courts had gone by the letter, not spirit, of the provision enshrined in Article 361 and had upheld the imposition of the Presidents Rule on that ground. Instances abound. The Kerala High Court, in K K Aboo Vs Union of India case, refused to go into the constitutionality of the proclamation of the Presidents Rule. In Rao Birinder Singh Vs State of Haryana case, the high court held that the President, while exercising power under Article 356, did not act on behalf of the Executive of the Union but in a constitutional capacity and hence exercise of the power by the President was not amenable to the jurisdiction of the court. In A Sreeramulu case, the court held that judicial review was barred for a proclamation under Article 356 as the presidential satisfaction is basically a political issue and the court did not want to go into what was patently a political question. Almost similar views were expressed by the Andhra High Court in Hanumantha Rao Vs State of Andhra Pradesh and by Orissa High Court in Bijayanand Patnaik Vs President of India case. It is noteworthy that none of these cases came up for consideration of the Supreme Court. In 1977, the Supreme Court was approached when nine state governmentss were dismissed and fresh elections ordered by the Janata Party government at the Centre. The Supreme Court upheld the dissolution of the state assemblies, but for the first time, asserted that the Presidents Rule can be subjected to the judicial review (contrary to the position hitherto taken by the High Courts). In Assam assembly dissolution case (Vamuzo Vs Union Of India), the Chief justice of the high court did not allow judicial review but his brother judge in the bench did say that judicial review option was available. In SR Bommai Vs Union of India case (1989), the full bench of the Karnataka high court held that Presidential proclamation was justiciable. In 1992, the Madhya Pradesh High court heard the case of the dissolution of the state assembly and for the first time in Indias constitutional history, the HC struck down the Presidential proclamation as unconstitutional. President of India promulgated Presidents rule in six states between 1989 and 1992. They were heard together by the Supreme Court and is popularly known as S R Bommai Vs Union of India case (1994). The court found that there was no reasonable nexus between the reasons disclosed and the satisfaction of the President. Justice P B Sawant put it down categorically: Whether it is subjective or objective satisfaction of the President or it is his discretion or opinion, this much is quite clear that the President cannot exercise his powers under the Constitution on wish or whim. He has to have facts, circumstances which can lead a person of his status to form an intelligent opinion requiring exercise of discretion of such a grave nature that the representatives of the people who are primarily entrusted with the duty of running the affairs of the state are removed with a stroke of the pen. His action must appear to be called for and justifiable under the Constitution if challenged in the court of law. No doubt, the courts would be chary to interfere in his discretion or formation of the opinion about the situation, but if there be no basis or justification for the order under the Constitution, the courts will have to perform their duty cast on them under the Constitution. In the Ranmeshwar Prasad Vs Union of India case (2005), the supreme Court reiterated this position: The Presidents satisfaction has to be based on objective material. The objective material must vindicate that the government of the state cannot be carried on in accordance with the provision of the Constitution. That is a condition precedent before the issue of the proclamation. In that case, the Supreme Court pointed out that no objective material was placed before President Kalam in Moscow (he was on a State visit) to justify his signing of the proclamation to dissolve the Bihar assembly. There was an implied censure of the President, couched in polite language. The Uttarakhand High Court has said exactly the same about the action of President Pranab Mukherjee what the Supreme Court had said about the actions of President Kalam. President Kalam had seriously discussed the option of resignation after the SC snub (but he was apparently dissuaded by the then prime minister Manmohan Singh), as revealed by Dr Kalams Press Secretary. But President Pranab Mukherjee is a hard-boiled politician who, for sure, does not believe in resignations on moral or ethical grounds. Will President Mukherjee take a cue from President Narayanan who had the courage of conviction to turn down the governments proposal to impose Presidents Rule twice first in 1997 when he returned the United Front governments recommendation to dismiss the BJP government in Uttar Pradesh and again in 1998 when he returned the Vajpayee governments proposal to dismiss the Rabri Devi government in Bihar? The President will have to choose if he wants to be loyal to the Constitution or to the Powers-that-be. KUWAIT An air strike from a drone killed two men south of the Yemeni city of Marib on Saturday suspected of belonging to al Qaeda, local residents said by phone. "A drone fired two missiles at a car that had two men in it in al-Manain district south of Marib city, and the car was totally destroyed and the men were killed instantly," one of them said. The United States has used drone strikes in Yemen to target leaders of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), the group's local wing, which has plotted to place bombs on international airliners and has encouraged attacks in Western countries. Since Yemen's civil war began last year, AQAP has gained control over swathes of eastern Yemen, creating a local government there and introducing services. The war is between the Houthi movement and forces loyal to a former president on one side, and forces backed by President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi and supported by an Arab coalition led by Saudi Arabia on the other. Both sides in Yemen's civil war say they regard AQAP as a threat, and the group has previously attacked both Hadi's government and the Houthis. Since March, air strikes targeting Islamist militants have increased in Yemen, including a March 27 attack that killed 14 suspected AQAP members in Abyan province in the country's south. Yemen's warring parties began direct peace talks in Kuwait on Friday and will continue to meet despite failing to agree on an agenda, participants said. Officials travelling to Saudi Arabia with U.S. President Barack Obama this week said they hoped moves towards a peace deal in Yemen would allow a renewed focus on challenging AQAP. (Reporting by Mohammed Ghobari; Writing by Angus McDowall; Editing by Hugh Lawson) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. Eight members of the same family were shot to death execution-style in four homes in Pike County, Ohio, and more than 30 people have been questioned in the search for the killer or killers, officials said on Friday. The victims included seven adults and one juvenile, all shot in the head, Pike County Sheriff Charles Reader and Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine said. Reader identified them as members of the Rohden family. Asked about possible suspects, DeWine told a news conference: "We don't know whether we're talking about one individual, or two, or three, or more." An infant less than a week old, a 6-month-old and a 3-year-old survived the shootings in Pike County, in south-central Ohio. Some of the victims appeared to have been murdered in bed, including the mother of the infant who survived, DeWine said. He played down media reports that a "person of interest" had been detained in Chillicothe, in nearby Ross County. "I would not use the term person of interest. I will confirm that a number of people are being interviewed and there are several of those who are in Chillicothe," he said. DeWine said his office had interviewed more than 30 people, with more set to be questioned. Reader said anyone involved in the shootings should be considered armed and extremely dangerous. DeWine said that none of the deaths had resulted from suicide. He said processing the four crime scenes likely would continue through Friday night into Saturday morning. Islamabad: Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani's fate was dependent on speaker Fehmida Mirza's course of action, said a daily Wednesday, exhorting her to "stand up for the law and not for parochial loyalties". An editorial in the News International said the Supreme Court's detailed judgment in the contempt of court case against Gilani has "opened the question of whether the premier's fate rests in the hands of one woman Speaker of the National Assembly Dr Fehmida Mirza". It said that as things now stand, the speaker has three options: let the reference simply pass on to the Election Commission for its ruling; send the case to the Election Commission herself and let it take a decision in 90 days; or reject the reference under the argument that the prime minister does not merit disqualification. "Which course will the speaker choose?" the daily wondered. Referring to Mirza's statements that the Supreme Court has the right to interpret the constitution and that she understands that she has to fulfil both the expectations of the people and of parliament, the daily said: "...one is hopeful that the speaker will do the right thing". "The last four years have seen Mirza performing the balancing act between being a PPP (Pakistan Peoples Party) insider and a non-partisan speaker," it said, adding: "Now the question of forwarding the PM's reference will be the real test of Mirza's neutrality." With her latest statement, the speaker seems to have publicly tried to distance herself from Gilani and to, perhaps, suggest that "she will also not bend over backwards to be a rubber stamp for the executive". "...Mirza's decision on the matter will be as much a testament to the level of her own integrity and uprightness as it will be a move deciding the PM's future. There is only one right course of action and one hopes the speaker will stand up for the law and not for parochial loyalties," said the editorial. IANS KHARTOUM The people of Sudan's Darfur have voted not to reunite the states of the conflict-torn region, the commission overseeing a referendum said on Saturday, but opposition groups said the poll was rigged by the central government in Khartoum. The government split the western region into three states in 1994, and then later into five states, following years of fighting in which mainly non-Arab tribes took up arms against what they said was discrimination by the Arab-led administration. Major rebel and opposition groups, who boycotted the government-arranged referendum, believe the splitting up of the region led to heavier Khartoum control and helped trigger renewed fighting in 2003. But the state referendum commission said on Saturday that 97 percent of voters chose to continue with the multi-state administrative system and that 3.08 million people of a total 3.21 million eligible voters had turned out, figures that opposition groups said were fraudulent. "These results reflect the fraud the Sudanese government continues to employ in all of its elections. It's the falsification of the will of the masses," said Jibril Bilal, a spokesman for the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), one of Darfur's two main rebel groups. "These results are not real nor logical. We don't acknowledge the referendum, which most of Darfur boycotted," he added. According to the United Nations, some 300,000 people have been killed in Darfur since the conflict first began, while 4.4 million people need aid and more than 2.5 million have been displaced. The government presented the April 11-13 referendum as a major concession, while opposition groups say a vote should be held only after a political settlement is reached to the intermittent 13-year conflict. Although violence has eased in recent years, an insurgency continues and Khartoum has escalated attacks on rebels over the past year. At least 130,000 people have fled fighting in the central Jebel Marra area since mid-January alone. "A referendum held this way complicates the situation in Darfur. We and the rest of the revolutionary forces demand the return of Darfur to a unified system, as it was before," Bilal said. Analysts and diplomats say the government opposes a unified Darfur as this would give the rebels a platform to push for independence just as South Sudan did successfully in 2011, taking with it most of the country's oil reserves. (Writing by Eric Knecht; Editing by Hugh Lawson) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. KUWAIT/ADEN Yemen's government forces battled al Qaeda in the country's south on Saturday, aiming to push back advances the militant group has made during a year-long civil war for which peace talks are under way in Kuwait. Fifteen fighters loyal to al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) were killed in the clashes, residents and a military source said, while a drone strike killed two others further north. AQAP has taken advantage of chaos in Yemen since its civil war began last year to win control over swathes of southern and eastern Yemen, creating a local government there and introducing services. The war pits a collection of local forces and army remnants backed by the government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi and a Saudi-led Arab coalition against the Houthi movement and troops loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh. Representatives gathered in Kuwait on Thursday to begin peace talks after agreeing a ceasefire across the country. The United Nations, which has convened the talks, says around 6,000 people have died in the conflict, half of them civilians. However, as talks moved into a third day disputes continued over both the agenda and accusations from the government that the Houthis and Saleh's forces had breached the truce in the city of Taiz, a source from Hadi's government said. The government wants the Houthis and Saleh's forces to withdraw from cities and hand over weapons before discussing a solution to the political disagreements. The Houthis and its allies want a unity government to be formed before disarmament talks. The government delegation on Saturday said it would only meet U.N. special envoy Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmad and not sit directly with the Houthis, the source said. Ceasefire documents shown to Reuters by the Saudi-led coalition showed agreements for each of Yemen's provinces where fighting was taking place signed by representatives of each side, who had formed committees to monitor the truce. The agreements were decided in the southern Saudi town of Dhahran al-Janoub, a few miles from the Yemeni border, where representatives of the Houthis travelled last month to negotiate the ceasefire and prisoner swaps with Hadi's government. CLASHES Saturday's clashes at al-Koud near Zinjibar in the southern Abyan Province were between AQAP and army forces of Yemen's internationally recognised government backed by local militias, referred to locally as the Popular Resistance. In recent weeks Hadi's forces, backed by coalition air strikes, have pushed towards Zinjibar along the beach road from Aden. Al-Koud lies on that road only 5 km (3 miles) from Zinjibar, long considered an AQAP stronghold along with the town of Jaar about 15 km to the north. A group of dozens of AQAP fighters escaped, the military source said, adding that two army soldiers were also killed. Also on Saturday, an air strike from a drone killed two men south of the Yemeni city of Marib suspected of belonging to al Qaeda, local residents said by phone. The United States has used drone strikes in Yemen to target AQAP leaders, the global jihadist group's local wing, which has plotted to place bombs on international airliners and has encouraged attacks in Western countries. Since March, air strikes targeting Islamist militants have increased in Yemen, including a March 27 attack that killed 14 suspected AQAP members in Abyan province in the country's south. Officials travelling to Saudi Arabia with U.S. President Barack Obama this week said they hoped moves towards a peace deal in Yemen would allow a renewed focus on challenging AQAP. (Reporting by Mohammed al-Mukhashaf and Mohammed Ghobari; Writing by Angus McDowall; Editing by Alison Williams) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. Microsoft and Google have mutually reached an agreement to drop all the regulatory complaints against each other across the world. The companies have said they will now try to work together to solve any issues that arise before filing official complaints. Both the companies in September agreed to bury all patent infringement litigations against each other, settling 18 cases in the United States and Germany. Microsofts antitrust complaints in Europe date back to 2011 when the company filed a formal complaint with the European Commission against Google for favoring its own sites in its own search engine. Earlier this week, the European Union filed formal antitrust charge on Google over claims that it abuses the dominant position of its Android operating system. However, both companies stated that the latest move has nothing to do with the European Commisions complaints, and that its been in the works for some time. A Microsoft spokesperson said in a statement Microsoft has agreed to withdraw its regulatory complaints against Google, reflecting our changing legal priorities. We will continue to focus on competing vigorously for business and for customers. A Google spokesperson said in a statement Our companies compete vigorously, but we want to do so on the merits of our products, not in legal proceedings. source: 1, 2 In a surprise move, Halliburton (HAL 7.01%) pre-announced its first-quarter revenue in an operational update released after markets closed on Friday evening. Typically, when a company pre-announces results and does so on a Friday night, it's an ominous sign. However, in this case the numbers as a whole weren't as bad as expected, though they weren't all that great, either. Originally, Halliburton had planned to release its first-quarter results on Monday morning. However, with an end-of-the-month deadline looming for its pending merger with Baker Hughes (BHI), it decided to postpone the full earnings release and its first-quarter conference call until early May. It's a move that suggests that there is more news pending regarding that troubled deal. Drilling down into the numbers Halliburton said its first-quarter revenue was $4.2 billion, which was down 17% from last quarter. While that sounds awful, and it's not a great number by any means, it is a better result than was expected. Not only did the company's revenue decline outperform the global rig count, which was 21% lower sequentially, but it was also better than analysts' expectations of $4.14 billion. The company's North American segment in particular was stronger than anticipated. Going into the quarter, Halliburton had expected that segment's revenue to decline as steeply as the U.S. rig count, which was down 27%. However, Halliburton's revenue in that segment was down just 17% from last quarter: Segment Q1 2016 Revenue Q1 2015 Revenue YOY Change Q4 2015 Revenue QOQ Change North America $1,794 $3,542 (49%) $2,155 (17%) Latin America $541 $949 (43%) $694 (22%) Europe/Africa/CIS $778 $1,097 (29%) $962 (19%) Middle East/Asia $1,085 $1,462 (26%) $1,271 (15%) However, the company did note that the segment lost $38 million, which was slightly worse than the "about breakeven" that it had been guiding to deliver. Speaking of earnings, Halliburton didn't pre-announce earnings results, other than the operating earnings of its geographic regions. Turning to its other geographic segments, Halliburton reported weaker revenue results across the board. It had been guiding for "revenues to decline by a mid-teens percentage" in Latin America, but it delivered a 22% revenue decline. That was due to reduced activities in Mexico, Brazil, and Colombia, as well as the company's decision to begin curtailing its activity in Venezuela as a result of that country's financial woes. Meanwhile, Halliburton thought that revenue in the Eastern Hemisphere would "decline sequentially by a low-double-digit percentage," but it instead delivered a 15% decline in Middle East/Asia and a 19% decline in Europe/Africa/CIS. Driving this weaker result was a "sharp reduction in activity in the North Sea," as well as activity and pricing reductions in Asia Pacific. What to expect next Halliburton and Baker Hughes have until the end of this month to obtain regulatory approval for their merger. If that doesn't occur, either company could terminate the transaction or both parties could agree to once again extend the deadline to continue seeking approval. As it stands right now, this is a very tight time frame, especially given that the U.S. Department of Justice brought a civil suit to block the deal earlier this month. Either way, investors will know more about what both companies plan to do by May 3, which is when Halliburton now plans to hold a conference call to discuss its first-quarter results. In addition to the uncertainty surrounding that transaction, there's still immense uncertainty about when the oil market will start to recover. Halliburton noted in its press release that "life has changed in the energy industry" and that many producers are just "fighting to maintain some value for their shareholders" at the moment. Further, the company warned that even when producers feel better about the oil market, they'll probably be cautious about ramping up activity levels, given the stress on their balance sheets. This situation could lead to a much slower recovery in drilling activity than Halliburton had been anticipating. Investor takeaway Halliburton surprised investors by pre-announcing some of its first-quarter results while postponing the full announcement and subsequent conference call until early next month so it can get past a key deadline for the Baker Hughes merger. What numbers it did provide investors were a mixed bag. On one hand, North American revenue wasn't quite as bad as expected, which led to a better-than-expected overall revenue number. On the other hand, the company's international operations were under a lot of pressure, and the company clearly faces a challenging oil market in 2016. Marijuana advocates are getting ready for a battle in key states like California this November. California is among a slate of important states that will take up the issue of legalizing pot this year, and given how much money states like Colorado are hauling in from marijuana taxes, relieving pressure on cash-strapped state government budgets could be a deciding factor at the ballot box. Beaucoup bucks California may have broken ground on medical marijuana laws, but it's Colorado that has taken the mantle from the Golden State when it comes to recreational use. Colorado legalized marijuana in November 2012 and despite recreational sales beginning only in January 2014, the state reported legal recreational and medical marijuana sales of $996 million last year, up from $699 million in 2014. The rapid growth in marijuana sales in the state has led to a massive influx of money to Colorado's state coffers. Colorado's Department of Revenue reports it collected $135 million in marijuana taxes and fees last year, $35 million of which will be used to fund school construction plans. That's a lot of tax money, but it may only be the beginning. Sales of recreational and medical marijuana in Colorado skyrocketed 21% and 32% respectively between November 2015 and December 2015 to a combined $101.3 million and that means that Colorado's cannabis sales entered 2016 at a blistering $1.21 billion pace. Colorado reports that surging demand since December has led to it collecting $14.2 million in marijuana taxes and fees in March alone this year, up 56% from a year ago. Drop in the bucket Colorado's figures are impressive, but they could be dwarfed by California if voters legalize recreational marijuana in November. Last year, sales of medical marijuana in the state were a whopping $2.7 billion. Given that California is already the largest state for marijuana production (it grows more than 60% of all the marijuana grown in the U.S.) and there is potential of a passage of recreational marijuana laws in November, industry watchers think total marijuana sales in California could double by 2020. That would be quite a feat given that recreational marijuana sales wouldn't begin until 2018. The impact of a doubling in marijuana sales on California's budget would undoubtedly be big. In Adelanto, California, a city of 31,000 people located north of Los Angeles, Mayor Richard Kerr is on record stating that annual tax revenue from marijuana could be $10 million or more. That's roughly the size of Adelanto's city budget. The impact on other cities and towns throughout the state could be similar. Industry watchers estimate that a 15% proposed excise tax on marijuana sales could result in $1 billion in eventual statewide tax revenue per year. With that much money at stake, a success in California could motivate more states to join the pro pot movement. States like Massachusetts and Nevada are taking up the issue this year too, but they're far from the only states that could use a booster shot to their tax revenue. If states hope to keep up with rapidly expanding expenses, they might not want to ignore the opportunity that's associated with regulating marijuana. Is it likely to happen? This won't be the first time that California has considered legalizing recreational marijuana. Proposition 19 failed to win support at the ballot box in 2010. However, times have changed and attitudes toward marijuana have changed with them. According to an Associated Press poll in February, 61% of Americans support marijuana legalization. Growing support for marijuana among Americans could lead to a passage in California and elsewhere. However, if marijuana supporters and budget-minded voters really want to guarantee a green light in November, they'll need to make sure younger voters turn out en masse. While 82% of people age 18 to 29 favor marijuana legalization, only 44% of those age 60 and up do. Was it really only December that DARPA told us it was building a submarine-hunting drone-ship for the Navy? Well, get ready to be surprised. Just four months after we learned of the existence of the Anti-Submarine Warfare Continuous Trail Unmanned Vessel program, or ACTUV, it's already complete -- and afloat. Last week, the Pentagon's mad scientists at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency unveiled the ACTUV prototype in Portland, Ore., christening the vessel Sea Hunter. Built by small shipbuilder Vigor Industrial (that's another military shipbuilder we'll want to keep an eye on) under the supervision of prime contractor Leidos (LDOS 2.19%) and equipped with a novel sonar system from Raytheon (RTN), Sea Hunter measures 130 feet in length and is powered by twin propellers. Equipped with a robotic "autonomy suite," DARPA says Sea Hunter can be guided remotely with "sparse" supervision. But it's also said to be capable of self-navigation "in compliance with maritime laws and conventions for safe navigation," avoiding both fixed obstacles and steering around manned maritime vessels "in all weather and traffic conditions, day or night." To put these assertions to the test, the vessel will now embark upon an "extended" period of open-water testing conducted jointly by DARPA and the Office of Naval Research. What comes next? DARPA is taking its time testing out Sea Hunter and does not anticipate transferring the vessel to operational status with the U.S. Navy before 2018. Once it does, though, DARPA predicts that Sea Hunter will be able to perform submarine hunting duties "at a fraction of the cost of manned vessels that are today deployed for similar missions." According to defense tech magazine SIGNAL, the precise operating cost of Sea Hunter will range from $15,000 to $20,000 per day, on top of an estimated construction cost of $23 million for the vessel itself. If it succeeds in living up to its billing, chances are good that the Navy will order more copies of the initial prototype vessel from Leidos. What it means to investors How many Sea Hunters might the Navy ultimately need, and how much revenue will that mean for Leidos, Raytheon, and Vigor? Leidos notes that there are 377 virtually silent diesel-electric submarines scattered about the globe. Iran possesses 17 of these subs. Venezuela, with whom America has thorny relations as well, is said to be buying five for its navy. Sea Hunter's mission is to use its Raytheon sonar package to track individual diesel subs at-sea "for months" at a time -- freeing up expensive manned U.S. surface warships and submarines for other missions. Tasking Sea Hunters with shadowing potentially hostile submarines on a one-to-one ratio therefore implies a potential market for hundreds of these drone ships. And at a per-drone cost of $23 million, that suggests that the market opportunity for Leidos and its team could reach as high as $8.7 billion. If that sounds like a lot of money, well, it is. On the other hand, when you consider that just one of the Navy's new Ohio-class submarines will cost $7 billion -- getting hundreds of robotic sub-hunters for a similar cost may not be such a bad deal after all. I've written before that dividend investing isn't all about yield. In fact, when dividends seem too good to be true, that's often the case, a concept known as a dividend yield trap. With that in mind, here are two potential yield traps that I'd suggest investors stay away from, at least until these companies figure out how to sustainably increase revenue and profitability. The wrong kind of malls to own in the new retail environment CBL & Associates is a real estate investment trust, or REIT, that owns shopping malls in midsize markets. And at first glance, its 13.5% dividend may appear to be sustainable. After all, the $0.80 annual payout is well-covered by the company's projected funds from operations of $1.75 per share in 2018 and $1.70 per share in 2019. However, it's beyond that time that has me worried. Over 60% of CBL & Associates' properties are anchored by either a Sears or a JCPenney, but their chains are closing stores at a rapid pace and are struggling to survive. And unlike Class A mall operators like Simon Property Group, it isn't practical for CBL to redevelop those spaces into value-adding destinations. CBL's malls are of the Class B and C varieties. If you're not familiar with real estate property classifications, Class B properties generally have some deferred maintenance issues and/or have lower-income tenants, while Class C properties are typically located in less-desirable locations, are over 20 years old, and are in need of considerable renovation or repositioning. In a nutshell, CBL's properties aren't the best malls, nor is the company in a financial position to turn them into the best malls. While it's possible that the company's repositioning efforts may work, the future of this class of brick-and-mortar retail is far too uncertain. This company doesn't have a realistic path to raising revenue To be clear, I love going to physical bookstores, especially Barnes & Noble. However, I wouldn't invest in the company in the current retail environment. Barnes & Noble has two retail trends working against it. First, I know it's not exactly news, but the world is constantly becoming more digital, and this is especially true in books, music, and movies -- Barnes & Noble's core product types. Second, Amazon.com is eroding the e-commerce market share of the company (remember, Amazon began its life as a bookstore). While Amazon's sales have soared, as my colleague Joe Tenebruso wrote earlier in 2018, Barnes & Noble's online sales fell by 4.5% during the crucial holiday season. In the e-book category, Amazon's Kindle e-reader continues to dominate while Barnes & Noble's Nook is an also-ran. So, not only does Barnes & Noble sell products with declining sales, but it also faces tremendous and possibly insurmountable competition in the one area of retail that's actually working. From a numbers standpoint, things look pretty scary. Barnes & Noble pays an annual dividend of $0.60; based on analyst estimates, this translates to payout ratios of 102% and 95% in the next two fiscal years. To be fair, earnings per share can sometimes be misleading, but Barnes & Noble's cash flow hasn't been sufficient to cover the current dividend rate since 2014. Considering that the company has had six straight years of declining revenue, I wouldn't bet on these metrics to get much better anytime soon. 10 stocks we like better than Barnes & NobleWhen investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has quadrupled the market.* David and Tom just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy right now... and Barnes & Noble wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys. Click here to learn about these picks! *Stock Advisor returns as of June 4, 2018 John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fools board of directors. Matthew Frankel has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Amazon. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Shares of Big Lots have been on a white-hot run of late, up about 30% over the past three months. That easily outpaces the S&P 500, as well as discount retail peers like Dollar Generaland Wal-Mart. Signs of a sales turnaround and optimism over finally entering the digital age are fueling the happy times for Big Lots shareholders, but how long can they last? Image source: YCharts. Turnaround taleOperationally, Big Lots shareholders have reason to be optimistic. In Q4, same-store sales increased 70 basis points -- representing the eighth straight quarter of growth -- while gross margin inched up to 40.9%, which was 10 basis points higher than the year-ago period. Operating margin also came in at a solid 9.5%, suggesting that management isn't just deep-discounting their way to improved comps. Big Lots' turnaround initiatives, which include the introduction of a furniture leasing program, a change to its merchandising mix, and the continued right-sizing of its store count, have all seemed to help sales without weighing too heavily on profitability. No small feat, indeed. Management even upped the quarterly dividend 11% to $0.21 per share, showing plenty of confidence in the company's growth trajectory going forward. For Q1, Big Lots expects a same-store sales increase in the low single-digit range. When you combine that upbeat near-term outlook with the long overdue launch of an e-commerce platform (which should help boost longer-range sales), it's no surprise that Mr. Market is big on Big Lots' prospects. As a Foolish value investor, however, I worry that he might be a little too excited. Image source: Big Lots Too much credit?Without a clearly differentiated offering, it's tough to see how Big Lots keeps the momentum up in such a notoriously competitive space. After all, as fellow Fool Demitrios Kalogeropoulos notes, same-store sales declined for 10 consecutive quarters prior to the recent string of increases. While aggressive merchandise changes are certainly having a positive effect, the novelty might fade over time with fickle customers. And since the gains related to Big Lots' furniture leasing program are heavily credit-driven, they may not be all that sustainable, either. In other words, there's a decent chance that the company's recent sales improvement is somewhat temporary in nature. On the digital side, Big Lots itself doesn't expect too big of an initial boost: CEO David Campisi says it only sees the website generating $20 million in sales this year, which pales in comparison to a top line of $5.2 billion. As Demitrios points out, Big Lots has its work cut out in the e-commerce game against rivals with a multiyear head start. The platform probably won't be profitable for several quarters, and may even cannibalize business from customers who enjoy Big Lots' in-store experience. Waiting for a discountWith all that said, it wouldn't shock me if management keeps the sales momentum up for several more quarters. Given the recent-run up and P/E in the high teens, however, Big Lots shares don't seem to be factoring in enough risk that it doesn't. For reference, you can pick up dividend stalwart Wal-Mart at a P/E of 15, or pay up a bit for the faster-growing Dollar General at a P/E of 20. With year-over-year comparisons only about to get tougher for Big Lots in upcoming quarters, a more attractive entry point may be ahead. The article Is Big Lots a Big Buy? originally appeared on Fool.com. Brian Pacampara has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Big Lots. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Copyright 1995 - 2016 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Image source: Halliburton. In a surprise move, Halliburton pre-announced its first-quarter revenue in an operational update released after markets closed on Friday evening. Typically, when a company pre-announces results and does so on a Friday night, it's an ominous sign. However, in this case the numbers as a whole weren't as bad as expected, though they weren't all that great, either. Originally, Halliburton had planned to release its first-quarter results on Monday morning. However, with an end-of-the-month deadline looming for its pending merger with Baker Hughes , it decided to postpone the full earnings release and its first-quarter conference call until early May. It's a move that suggests that there is more news pending regarding that troubled deal. Drilling down into the numbersHalliburton said its first-quarter revenue was $4.2 billion, which was down 17% from last quarter. While that sounds awful, and it's not a great number by any means, it is a better result than was expected. Not only did the company's revenue decline outperform the global rig count, which was 21% lower sequentially, but it was also better than analysts' expectations of $4.14 billion. The company's North American segment in particular was stronger than anticipated. Going into the quarter, Halliburton had expected that segment's revenue to decline as steeply as the U.S. rig count, which was down 27%. However, Halliburton's revenue in that segment was down just 17% from last quarter: Segment Q1 2016 Revenue Q1 2015 Revenue YOY Change Q4 2015 Revenue QOQ Change North America $1,794 $3,542 (49%) $2,155 (17%) Latin America $541 $949 (43%) $694 (22%) Europe/Africa/CIS $778 $1,097 (29%) $962 (19%) Middle East/Asia $1,085 $1,462 (26%) $1,271 (15%) IN MILLIONS OF DOLLARS. DATA SOURCE: HALLIBURTON COMPANY. However, the company did note that the segment lost $38 million, which was slightly worse than the "about breakeven" that it had been guiding to deliver. Speaking of earnings, Halliburton didn't pre-announce earnings results, other than the operating earnings of its geographic regions. Turning to its other geographic segments, Halliburton reported weaker revenue results across the board. It had been guiding for "revenues to decline by a mid-teens percentage" in Latin America, but it delivered a 22% revenue decline. That was due to reduced activities in Mexico, Brazil, and Colombia, as well as the company's decision to begin curtailing its activity in Venezuela as a result of that country's financial woes. Meanwhile, Halliburton thought that revenue in the Eastern Hemisphere would "decline sequentially by a low-double-digit percentage," but it instead delivered a 15% decline in Middle East/Asia and a 19% decline in Europe/Africa/CIS. Driving this weaker result was a "sharp reduction in activity in the North Sea," as well as activity and pricing reductions in Asia Pacific. What to expect nextHalliburton and Baker Hughes have until the end of this month to obtain regulatory approval for their merger. If that doesn't occur, either company could terminate the transaction or both parties could agree to once again extend the deadline to continue seeking approval. As it stands right now, this is a very tight time frame, especially given that the U.S. Department of Justice brought a civil suit to block the deal earlier this month. Either way, investors will know more about what both companies plan to do by May 3, which is when Halliburton now plans to hold a conference call to discuss its first-quarter results. In addition to the uncertainty surrounding that transaction, there's still immense uncertainty about when the oil market will start to recover. Halliburton noted in its press release that "life has changed in the energy industry" and that many producers are just "fighting to maintain some value for their shareholders" at the moment. Further, the company warned that even when producers feel better about the oil market, they'll probably be cautious about ramping up activity levels, given the stress on their balance sheets. This situation could lead to a much slower recovery in drilling activity than Halliburton had been anticipating. Investor takeawayHalliburton surprised investors by pre-announcing some of its first-quarter results while postponing the full announcement and subsequent conference call until early next month so it can get past a key deadline for the Baker Hughes merger. What numbers it did provide investors were a mixed bag. On one hand, North American revenue wasn't quite as bad as expected, which led to a better-than-expected overall revenue number. On the other hand, the company's international operations were under a lot of pressure, and the company clearly faces a challenging oil market in 2016. The article Surprise! Halliburton Company Pre-Announces Q1 Results originally appeared on Fool.com. Matt DiLallo has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Halliburton. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Copyright 1995 - 2016 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. Image: Microsoft. The stock market closed out a successful week on Friday, with the Dow regaining the 18,000 mark and the S&P 500 posting gains of about half a percent during the week. Yet the final numbers hid considerable volatility related to the first-quarter earnings season, and in particular, technology companies seemed to fare particularly poorly. Oil prices climbed, providing some support to the energy sector, but weakness in other financial markets showed just how conflicted investors appear to be with the current economic situation. Microsoft was one of the poorest performers in the tech sector on the day, but other stocks outside tech posted big declines as well, and Hawaiian Holdings and Tempur-Sealy International also showed up among the weak players in the market Friday. Microsoft dropped 7% after reporting fiscal third-quarter earnings that fell short of expectations. The company's transformation into a cloud-computing giant continued, with annualized revenue reaching the $10 billion mark during the quarter. The adoption of Windows 10 has continued strongly, and that has helped other aspects of Microsoft's business, including the Bing search engine and the Office 365 business software package. Yet investors seemed to ignore the long-term progress that CEO Satya Nadella has made in making a transition away from a failing business model, instead focusing on some of the short-term pain the company will inevitably go through. That makes today's drop a potential buying opportunity for those who believe Microsoft is now on the right path. Hawaiian Holdings slid 11% in the wake of its Thursday afternoon earnings report. Adjusted earnings for the airline doubled from year-ago levels, and pre-tax margins climbed by more than 5 percentage points to 12.6%. Yet the airline's guidance didn't live up to expectations, and Hawaiian believes operating revenue per available seat mile could end up in a range of down 1.5% to up 1.5% for the second quarter. Full-year available seat mile figures are expected to rise 2.5% to 5.5%, but some investors had hoped for even stronger growth given the relatively strong economic situation within the U.S. market. Given how strong the airline industry has been, expectations have been ratcheted up, and Hawaiian's drop today shows the price stocks pay when those expectations aren't met. Finally, Tempur-Sealy International dropped 6%. The mattress-maker got a downgrade from an analyst company that argued the company might not receive as strong demand for its namesake Tempur-Pedic memory-foam products. The acquisition of Sealy has led the company to launch new mattress products, but competitive pressures and consolidation elsewhere in the industry threaten to make it more difficult for Tempur-Sealy to maintain the positive momentum it has built up. As a result, the analyst cut its price target on the stock by more than 20%, and Tempur-Sealy will have something to prove when it releases its quarterly report next week. The article Why Microsoft, Hawaiian Holdings, and Tempur-Sealy International Slumped Today originally appeared on Fool.com. Dan Caplinger has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of Microsoft. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Copyright 1995 - 2016 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Since early 2015, unit revenue has declined steadily at the three biggest U.S. airlines: American Airlines , Delta Air Lines , and United Continental . Unit revenue trends have been particularly weak on international routes, due to factors like the strong dollar and persistent overcapacity. Now the three legacy carriers have one more headache to look forward to in the key transatlantic market. Earlier this month, the U.S. Department of Transportation tentatively approved Norwegian Air Shuttle's plan to operate long-haul flights to the U.S. using an Irish subsidiary. This paves the way for further expansion by this disruptive budget carrier. Norwegian shakes up transatlantic flyingNorwegian began flying to the U.S. in 2013 on a new long-haul fleet made up of Boeing 787 Dreamliners. Since then, it has made waves by offering extremely cheap fares on routes that hadn't had much competition previously. Norwegian offers cheap fares on U.S.-Europe flights. Image source: Norwegian Air Shuttle. For example, Norwegian was offering one-way fares from New York to London for as little as $255 even before fuel prices plummeted. That was less than half the price of the cheapest one-way ticket offered by any of its competitors. Today, Norwegian operates 10 Dreamliners, so its market share for transatlantic flights remains quite low. However, it is contributing to overcapacity in that market, which has been noted by both Delta Air Lines and United Continental during their earnings calls this month. Incumbents protest Norwegian's strategyTo help expand its presence in the U.S., Norwegian has wanted to use a long-haul subsidiary set up in Ireland. This proposal has elicited strong objections from Delta, American, and United, as well as their labor unions. The legacy carriers and their unions allege that Norwegian Air Shuttle only wants to incorporate in Ireland in order to skirt U.S. and Norwegian labor laws. They have pointed to Norwegian's use of contractors hired through a Singapore employment agency rather than full-time employees and its plans to base flight crews in Thailand. (Norwegian has since promised to base its flight crews in Europe.) Norwegian does pay less than the U.S. legacy carriers. However, the goal of its Irish subsidiary wasn't so much to outsource labor to a low-cost country as to avoid being stuck in a high-cost country. (Norway's per-capita GDP has been nearly double that of the U.S. in recent years, though the sharp drop in oil prices since 2014 has narrowed the gap.) Norwegian's cost advantage is mainly driven by high utilization of its Boeing 787 fleet, fitting more passengers onto each plane, and the superior fuel efficiency of the Dreamliner. Labor costs are a much smaller part of the equation. Norwegian fits more seats on its 787s than rivals like United Airlines. Image source: The Motley Fool. Bad news for U.S. airlines, but great news for BoeingIn any case, the U.S. government didn't find any legal justification for blocking Norwegian from using its Irish subsidiary. As a result, American, Delta, and United are going to have to find a way to compete with Norwegian's cheap fares. Indeed, there's a lot more competition coming. Norwegian Air ordered 19 787-9s from Boeing last October. It has also agreed to Dreamliner deals with various aircraft leasing firms. In total, it currently plans to quadruple its long-haul fleet to 40 Dreamliners by 2020. After the DOT announced its tentative approval for Norwegian's Irish long-haul subsidiary, Norwegian CEO Bjorn Kjos stated that the company may exercise options for another 10 787-9s. These planes won't all be deployed on routes to the U.S. -- Norwegian is also looking at flying to places like Canada, South America, and South Africa. But the massive fleet expansion will inevitably put steady upward pressure on transatlantic capacity, forcing the legacy carriers to either fight back with lower fares or cut their own capacity. Norwegian's expansion isn't all bad news for U.S. business, though. Norweigan is quickly becoming one of the biggest fans of Boeing's Dreamliner. Many analysts have been worried about demand for Boeing's widebody planes like the 787. If Norwegian keeps growing rapidly beyond 2020, there could be a lot more orders coming for Boeing. The article 1 More Headache Coming for U.S. Legacy Airlines originally appeared on Fool.com. Adam Levine-Weinberg owns shares of The Boeing Company and United Continental Holdings, and is long January 2017 $40 calls on Delta Air Lines, and long January 2017 $30 calls on American Airlines Group. The Motley Fool is long January 2017 $35 calls on American Airlines Group. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Copyright 1995 - 2016 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Image source:Smhenry87 via commons.wikimedia.org. For dividend investors, there is nothing worse than buying into high-yield stocks that are subsequently cut. While there are some companies with high yields that can make for decent investments, there are many out there that will lure you in with that high yield only to burn you down the road. Today, GasLog Partners , Summit Midstream Partners , and Plains All American are showing signs of being yield traps. Here's why. You can't have bothAn investment with an extremely high yield and with a robust growth trajectory is like trying to find a Pegasus. A company can have a sustainable high-yield payout or it can have a modest payout with plans to grow it at a high rate, but it's extremely difficult to do both at the same time. GasLog Partnersis trying to be a Pegasus, but it looks more like a strong horse with cardboard wings taped on its back. If the company were to stay put where it is, it could be a decent high-yield investment. It owns eight LNG tanker ships that have long-term, fixed-fee charters with Royal Dutch Shell, so counterparty default is pretty unlikely. The problem is that it wants to keep growing its fleet quickly. Parent company GasLog has 18 ships already being considered for purchase. To raise the amount of capital it will need to make those acquisitions, it will have to do so through the debt or equity market. Excess cash from its current operations isn't enough to make a significant acquisition. Today's yield is too high to make a share issuance worth it, and you can only raise so much capital through debt before stretching the balance sheet too thin. Also, by pulling the growth lever, everything on the operations side of the business needs to go right. All of Golar Partners' current LNG tankers would have to have their charter options picked up. Otherwise, the company's ability to generate cash would dissipate quickly. If GasLog Partners pumps the brakes on its growth plans, then its stock could be a steady, high-yield workhorse for your portfolio. If it keeps pushing this growth plan, then don't be surprised if the wings fall off. "Grow into our payout" hasn't worked so far, but let's try it anywayIf there is one thing that the oil and gas market's crash has taught us, it's that the phrase "grow into our..." should be a major red flag. Producers that were taking on huge debts said they would grow into their balance sheets as new production came on line, and master limited partnerships that pushed their payout rates high said they would grow into it as new projects came on line. Too many times, we have seen companies that have employed this strategy blow up, yet it looks like Summit Midstream Partnersplans on doing it anyway. In 2015, it announced that its distribution to shareholders was more than the amount of cash it was bringing in the door. The saving grace, though, was that it made a substantial acquisition at the end of 2015 that is intended to grow distributable cash flow considerably for 2016. While that is certainly a possibility, there are some issues that aren't completely addressed that could bring the company's payout into question. One of them is the fact that most of the assets Summit acquired are natural gas gathering pipelines. Although 98% of its pipes use fixed-fee contracts, we have seen that gathering pipes can be some of the most exposed assets to volume declines from slowing production across the U.S. Another aspect to consider is that much of the payment for these assets -- $800 million to $900 million -- is being deferred until 2020. While the current structure looks strong and will allow the company some breathing room to build up cash and lower debt, there is a big question mark as to what its finances will look like when the bill for these assets come due. When looking for a high-yield investment, it's never a good thing when there are questions about the company's financial future. While it's entirely possible that it can pull it off, Summit, like GasLog Partners, needs a lot of things to go its way in the coming years. Backed into a corner, financially speakingLike so many other pipeline companies, Plains All American has some pretty large financing needs for its growth plans. The challenge for Plains is that there aren't a whole lot of options for financing these growth plans. Today, the company continues to have an investment-grade rating, but just barely. With its debt-to-EBITDA ratio already at 6.32 times, it is already pushing the limits that credit ratings agencies and lenders want to see. On top of that, it has a yield of 11.7%, which is also prohibitively high to raise capital through equity issuances. Those two conditions are why the company had to tap private equity by issuing $1.6 billion in preferred equity. According to CEO Greg Armstrong, that private equity raise was enough to satisfy its current capital spending needs and that the growth from that spending will help to boost cash flows and start covering all of Plains' payout to shareholders. Like the others listed here, though, much needs to go right for the company to be able to maintain its payout. Existing assets will need to reverse the recent declines in volumes across the system, and then there is the question of where financing will come after it has burned through its preferred share cash. There is a chance that Plains will be able to get through this rough patch with its payout in place, but it's going to be a pretty fancy high-wire act that could see investors experience a substantial cut. The article 3 Dividend Stocks That Are Yield Traps originally appeared on Fool.com. Tyler Crowe has no position in any stocks mentioned.You can follow him at Fool.comor on Twitter@TylerCroweFool.The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Copyright 1995 - 2016 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. In 2014, General Electric spun off its in-store credit-card division, Synchrony Financial , in an IPO as part of its plan to wind down the company's large finance division, GE Capital. Since the IPO, Synchrony's stock is up 26%, but it sits today 19% below its all-time high from July of 2015. What will it take for Synchrony Financial stock to return to that all-time high and beyond? I think these three reasons are all enough to send the stock higher. The market may be undervaluing Synchrony Financial's growth Since the 2014 IPO, Synchrony's stock has been valued roughly the same as Discover Financial Services in terms of price-to-book value. Today, Discover trades at 2.0 times book value to Synchrony's 1.9 times. The market values American Express at a premium to both of these competitors at 2.9 times, though that value has declined significantly during the last two years. SYF Price to Book Value data by YCharts. In terms of return on equity, the correlation between these stocks seems reasonable. As of year-end 2015, American Express led both Discover and Synchrony in returns on common equity at 24.5%, beating Synchrony by 22% and Discover by 14%. Higher return on equity should yield a higher valuation. That makes perfect sense. However, the market may be ignoring Synchrony's growth rate, which to me is a large differentiator between the three companies. Since 2013, Synchrony has grown its total assets by 42%, far more than Discover's 9.6% growth and American Express' 5.1%. During the same period, Synchrony's annual revenues have jumped 6%, to 4% and 3.1% for American Express and Discover respectively. SYF Total Assets (Quarterly) data by YCharts. Synchrony's fourth-quarter purchase volume increased 8% over 2014's, largely driven by a 23% increase in online and mobile orders. Loan receivables jumped 11%. Based on Synchrony's valuation today compared to Discover and American Express, it's possible that the market underappreciates Synchrony's growth rate. If that's correct, its valuation could jump ahead of Discover, causing the stock to rise along with the company's assets, customer base, and revenue. Consumer credit in the U.S. is a rising tide that could lift all boats Consumer credit balances in the U.S. have increased for 54 consecutive months, as of the most recent data available from February of 2016. In February, this growth beat expectations with a $17.2 billion increase. The January figure was also upwardly revised to $14.9 billion. Revolving credit increased $2.9 billion for the month. U.S. consumers are borrowing like crazy, and they have been doing so unabated for well over four years now. That's a fantastic trend for credit-card companies like Synchrony, and forward-looking data indicates the trend is likely to continue. The New York Federal Reserve Bank's Survey of Consumer Expectations indicates that households currently expect to increase their spending over the next year more than projections for increases in wages. In February, the Fed found that consumer expectations for spending increased 1% versus just a 0.3% increase in expected income growth. Source: Company website. Another survey by the Fed, the Survey of Credit Access, found that credit-card applications are likely to increase this year, providing support that credit cards will be the funding source of choice for any increase in consumer spending. Taken together, these surveys indicate that households plan to increase their spending more than increases in their pay, and credit-card debt is the most likely funding source to fill that gap. These are just projections, though, so reality could play out differently. However, the implication for the entire credit-card industry is important. A rising tide lifts all boats -- in this case, to the benefit of Synchrony Financial, American Express, and Discover Financial. Synchrony's efficiency will give it a strong competitive advantage. A bank's efficiency ratio measures the ratio of its net revenue to its costs. A lower efficiency ratio represents a more efficient bank, meaning that it takes fewer costs to generate the bank's revenues. By this measure, Synchrony is a clear market leader. The bank's efficiency ratio in 2015 was 33.5%, well below American Express' 58%, and Discover's 41.4%. What this means in practical terms is that Synchrony does a better job than its competitors turning every dollar of its revenue into profit. This gives the company more breathing room to invest in strategic initiatives for growth, return capital to shareholders, and even lower the company's risk profile. It allows the bank greater flexibility in pricing, and improves its competitiveness in the marketplace. If Synchrony can maintain this efficiency over the long term, I think it will provide the bank with a major competitive advantage. That should drive strong fundamental performance and push the stock higher year after year after year. The article 3 Reasons Synchrony Financial Could Rise originally appeared on Fool.com. Jay Jenkins has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of General Electric Company. The Motley Fool recommends American Express. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Copyright 1995 - 2016 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Dividend stocks can be a powerful tool to boost your investment returns, provided you pick stocks that don't just offer high yields, but also steady and growing payouts that can support those yields even as the market climbs. This long bull market may have made it tougher for income investors to find such "safe" high-yield stocks, but it's not impossible. There are several stocks with yields above 3% worth considering in today's market that could fetch you solid returns in the long run. My top picks among them are Brookfield Renewable Partners (NYSE: BEP), Enterprise Products Partners (NYSE: EPD), and Welltower Inc. (NYSE: HCN). Brookfield Renewable Partners: Dividend yield 5.6% Brookfield Renewable Partners is a renewable-energy company, as you might've guessed from its name. But it isn't just your average player in the space. It's one of the world's largest publicly traded pure-play clean energy companies, with 820 generating facilities and a capacity of 16,000 megawatts across the globe. What sets Brookfield apart is that hydroelectric power plants comprise 80% of its generating capacity, putting it among the leading companies in hydropower -- an arena where competition isn't as intense as in other clean energy spaces such as solar. Brookfield's revenues and cash flows are also highly predictable as it sells 90% of generated power under long-term contracts. Thanks to this stability in cash flows, the company has been able to grow its dividends at a compound average rate of 6.2% since 2012. Can it continue to reward shareholders as richly? Yes, based on management's stated goals to grow dividends by 5% to 9% annually and generate 12% to 15% annualized returns for shareholders in the long run. The best part: The company is focused on organic growth, with nearly 7,000 megawatts of capacity under development -- half of it wind energy, a high-potential, low-cost source that complements its hydropower business. Trading now at a price-to-cash flow of 11.8 times, there's little reason to believe Brookfield Renewable won't reward you richly in the long run. Enterprise Products Partners: Dividend yield 6% This midstream oil and gas company just delivered another set of solid quarterly numbers, with its volumes, operating income, and distributable cash flow hitting record highs as the company brought new projects online and ramped up capacity. Last month, Enterprise bumped up its dividend by 4%, marking its 54th consecutive quarter of payout increases. A low-single-digit percentage increase may not excite you, but Enterprise is intently focused on growth right now, which should eventually make way for greater dividends. Enterprise made a tough call last year when it decided to taper the growth rate of its distribution (the term limited partnerships use instead of "dividends"). It was a smart move, and as my colleague, Matt DiLallo remarked at the time, one which "only further solidifies its position as a top option for risk-averse income seekers." How so? Because Enterprise has a strong pipeline of projects, and by retaining cash, it can self-fund the bulk of its capital requirements without taking on debt or diluting its shareholders. That should help the company build a rock-solid balance sheet and a strong, sustainable distribution-coverage ratio in the long run. Enterprise may not offer high distribution growth today, but its payouts are likely to grow nonetheless as management's prudent strategy unlocks greater value for shareholders. Meanwhile, you can enjoy the stock's hefty dividend yield, which currently stands at 6%. Welltower: Dividend yield 5.85% If there's one trend you can't afford to ignore, it's an aging population that's set to send healthcare spending skyward. Investing in fundamentally strong, dividend-paying healthcare stocks, therefore, would be a smart move for an income investor. Enter Welltower -- a real estate investment trust that has a hugely diversified portfolio and is a leader in the healthcare REIT marketplace. Welltower's portfolio is leveraged to nearly every aspect of healthcare, including senior housing (70%), post-acute care (13%), and outpatient medical solutions (17%). The company's business model runs something like this: It buys healthcare properties, then leases them out to established healthcare providers to jointly operate and develop. As of the third quarter, Welltower held 1,334 healthcare properties. A diverse portfolio in a defensive industry with greater reliance on private sources of revenue has helped Welltower expand its funds from operations almost sixfold since 2011, and to grow dividends consistently, without which the stock's total returns over the past decade wouldn't be half as good as they are right now. If the U.S. Census Bureau's estimate that the 85-plus age group's population will double in 20 years is on target, dividend investors can expect solid returns from Welltower for years to come. 10 stocks we like better than WelltowerWhen investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.* David and Tom just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy right now... and Welltower wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys. Click here to learn about these picks! *Stock Advisor returns as of January 2, 2018 Neha Chamaria has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Enterprise Products Partners and Welltower. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Image source: www.aag.com via Flickr. If you have a 401(k) from a former employer, there are a few things you could choose to do with your account. You could cash it out, which is almost never the best option. You could leave it where it is, or combine it with your current employer's plan. Or, you can roll it into an IRA, which can be an excellent option. However, it's important to know what you're getting into before you roll over, so here are three things you need to know before you make your decision. 1. Should you roll your 401(k) over, or are you better off leaving it alone?Some 401(k) holders have no choice but to roll over. If their account balance is less than a certain threshold, the plan may require that the account either be rolled into a new employer's plan or an IRA. In addition to this, there are a few good reasons you might want to choose to roll over into an IRA. The most significant difference between a 401(k) and an IRA is the amount of investment options available. While 401(k) investments are generally limited to a dozen or so mutual funds, IRA money can be invested in virtually any stocks, bonds, or funds you want -- there are literally thousands of possibilities. So, an IRA gives you the ability to have a more active role in your investing. Of course, if you'd prefer to invest in a few funds and keep your retirement investing on autopilot, that's also an option. Another thing to take a look at is cost savings. According to Matthew Sadowsky, Director of Retirement and Annuities at TD Ameritrade: For example, if your 401(k) offers a fund that tracks the overall stock market with an expense ratio of 0.3%, you could potentially invest in the Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF which carries an expense ratio of 0.05%. This may not sound like much, but could save you significant money over the long run. 2. What should you do with the money after you roll over?One of the first things you need to decide is whether you want to take an active or passive approach to your retirement investing. If you don't have the time or interest to research stocks and/or you've been happy with your 401(k)'s performance, there's absolutely nothing wrong with constructing a portfolio of funds similar to those that you held in your 401(k). Be sure to look for funds with low expense ratios, and if you need help finding some good ones to invest in, check out this other article. On the other hand, if you'd rather take a more active approach, there are a few questions you need to ask yourself. How much tolerance do I have for market risk? If the money in your account represents most of your retirement savings, you probably shouldn't invest in too many "risky" stocks. On the other hand, if you have a large amount of money stashed elsewhere in lower-risk investments, you may be able to handle a little more volatility. If the money in your account represents most of your retirement savings, you probably shouldn't invest in too many "risky" stocks. On the other hand, if you have a large amount of money stashed elsewhere in lower-risk investments, you may be able to handle a little more volatility. How long until I need the money? Your investment time frame determines the type of stocks that are suitable for your portfolio. There are some stocks that tend to increase profits every year, and grow their dividends at a steady rate ( Verizon Communications is an example that immediately comes to mind). Others can be pretty volatile from year to year, but tend to do quite well over any long time period. For example, Warren Buffett has specifically recommended that prospective Berkshire Hathaway investors not buy shares unless they plan to hold them for at least five years. Your investment time frame determines the type of stocks that are suitable for your portfolio. There are some stocks that tend to increase profits every year, and grow their dividends at a steady rate ( is an example that immediately comes to mind). Others can be pretty volatile from year to year, but tend to do quite well over any long time period. For example, Warren Buffett has specifically recommended that prospective investors not buy shares unless they plan to hold them for at least five years. Do I want to prioritize income or growth? Dividend stocks are great, and are by no means just for income-seekers, but if you are going to rely on your investments for income, it somewhat limits your choices. Finally, whichever approach you take, one of the smartest things to do is to take advantage of the tools at your disposal after you roll over. Your brokerage likely has many retirement-planning tools, as well as stock research, screeners, and tools that can help you construct a diversified, risk-tolerant portfolio. 3. Know what not to doWhen investing, knowing what mistakes to avoid can be just as important as knowing what you should do, and this certainly applies to 401(k) rollovers. Specifically, Sadowski offers the following suggestions: Don't keep too much of your new IRA in cash. Doing so can deprive you of investment gains that will grow and compound over time. Based on the stock market's average historical returns, a $50,000 IRA could potentially be worth about $307,000 in 20 years if it's fully invested. With a third of the account in cash, this drops to $221,000, an $86,000 difference. If you buy individual stocks, keep your allocations between 2% to 5% of your total assets in each company. Don't just set it and forget it. Check up on your investments every so often to make sure your original reasons for buying them still apply. If one of your investments performs especially well, rebalance your portfolio to avoid too much exposure to any one stock or fund. Is it right for you?Naturally, at The Motley Fool we're generally in favor of rolling over into an IRA and building an excellent stock portfolio, but we realize that this approach isn't for everyone. If you want to take full control of your retirement and have the time and interest to do it right (or if you don't have a choice), rolling over into an IRA could be the smart move for you. On the other hand, there's nothing wrong with keeping your retirement savings in a 401(k) as long as the investments are reasonably priced and you're generally happy with the plan's performance. The article 3 Things to Know When Rolling Over Your 401(k) originally appeared on Fool.com. Matthew Frankel owns shares of Berkshire Hathaway. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Berkshire Hathaway, TD Ameritrade, and Verizon Communications. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Copyright 1995 - 2016 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. IMAGE SOURCE: THE MOTLEY FOOL Buffalo Wild Wings is set to release first-quarter 2016 results on April 26, after the market closes. With shares down nearly 10% in 2016 as of this writing, on the heels of last quarter's disappointing same-store-sales growth, investors are hungry for good news to propel the wings, beer, and sports-centric restaurant chain higher. But what, exactly, should we be expecting when Buffalo Wild Wings' report crosses the wires? Here are four things I'm watching closely. The headline numbersFirst, note that Buffalo Wild Wings hasn't provided specific financial guidance for the current quarter. And though itdidreveal same-store sales results through the first four weeks of Q1 (up 0.3% at company-owned locations, and down 1.5% at franchises), that information came with the caveat that management no longer views four-week trend reporting as an accurate predictor for quarter as a whole. That said -- and keeping in mind we don't lend much credence to Wall Street's quarterly demands -- the near-term direction of Buffalo Wild Wings stock may depend on how closely it mirrors analysts' consensus estimates, which currently predict revenue of $531.3 million and earnings of $1.78 per share. The cost of doing businessRelatedly-- and crucial to Buffalo Wild Wings' ability to drive bottom-line growth -- are its efforts to manage costs and expenses, notably including cost of labor as a percentage of overall sales (30.9% last quarter), and cost of sales (29.5% last quarter). Regarding the former, Buffalo Wild Wings management has stated that increases in average pay rates and benefits should be entirely offset by menu price increases and labor efficiencies. And within the latter, Buffalo Wild Wings management last quarter voiced its belief that 2016 "will be a year of deflationary food cost" -- that is, excluding the cost of traditional wings, which is expected to be roughly flat over 2015. More specifically, recall that around this time last year shares of Buffalo Wild Wings plunged as the price per pound of traditional wings soaredan incredible 41%. To curb these potentially wide swings and narrow the range it pays when wings are at historically high and low prices, Buffalo Wild Wings entered into modified pricing agreements for roughly two-thirds of its traditional wing supply last April. As such, Buffalo Wild Wings was set to renew these pricing agreements for another year at the beginning of this month. So expect clarity from management during this quarter's call regarding the extent to which the renewal may have tempered cost of sales as a percent of revenue. The fruits of franchise acquisitions ...Next, Buffalo Wild Wings was active in opportunistic franchise acquisitions last year, most notably including a massive $160 million purchase of 41 locations across Texas, New Mexico, and Hawaii. And despite continued franchise openings across the country, this large purchase meant there were 11 fewer franchised units in operation at the end of Q4 compared with the same year-ago period. In turn, franchise royalties and fees declined 2.9% year over year last quarter, to $23.8 million. Buffalo Wild Wings also had to incur significant expenses, in terms of both time and one-time costs, to transition these franchises into the company-owned restaurant fold, including more than 10,000 hours of training and more than 300 field team members to assist in transition of ownership. The good news? Buffalo Wild Wings last quarter reiterated its stance that these franchise acquisitions should contribute to revenue growth and be accretive to earnings this year. Listen closely, then, for updates indicating that these freshly minted company restaurants are performing as expected at this stage in their transition. GuidanceFinally, listen for any updates toBuffalo Wild Wings' full-year guidance, which most recently called for net earnings per diluted share in the range of $5.95 to $6.20, or growth of 20% to 25% over fiscal 2015. For perspective, that assumes same-store sales growth in the single-digit percentage range, driven by "modestly positive traffic" and menu price increases of roughly 2.4%. Of course, whether Buffalo Wild Wings narrowly misses or significantly exceeds this guidance remains to be seen. And its longer-term direction -- which includes nearly tripling its restaurant base to 3,000 units worldwide -- should be arguably more important for shareholders. But in the meantime, next week's report should serve as a useful preview as Buffalo Wild Wings progresses toward achieving that goal. The article 4 Things to Watch When Buffalo Wild Wings Reports Earnings originally appeared on Fool.com. Steve Symington owns shares of Buffalo Wild Wings. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Buffalo Wild Wings. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Copyright 1995 - 2016 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Under longtime CEO Ben Baldanza, ultra-low cost carrier Spirit Airlines didn't make much effort to be loved -- or even liked -- by its customers. As the company repeatedly emphasized in investor presentations, price is by far the most important factor affecting airline ticket purchase decisions. Given this nonchalant attitude, it's not too surprising that Spirit's customer satisfaction leaves something to be desired. Earlier this month, researchers released the 2016 Airline Quality Rating (AQR) report. This was the first time that Spirit was included in the ratings, and it came in dead last. Spirit Airlines didn't fare well in its first Airline Quality Rating report. Image source: Spirit Airlines. New Spirit Airlines CEO Bob Fornaro wants to improve Spirit's customer satisfaction without fundamentally altering its business model. But is that a realistic possibility? Bottom of the barrelThe Airline Quality Rating report ranks carriers based on their performance along four key customer-service related metrics. These are 1. on-time performance; 2. involuntary denied boardings (i.e., "bumping" customers from flights); 3. mishandled baggage; and 4. official customer complaints to the Department of Transportation. In the 2016 AQR report, which is based on data from 2015, Spirit Airlines posted a score of -3.18, which was the worst among the 13 airlines ranked. (Scores closer to zero are better.) That was the worst result since 2008. At the other end of the spectrum, Virgin America led the pack for the fourth year in a row with a stellar score of -0.40. The only airlines that were within a point of Spirit were regional airline Envoy Air and Spirit's fellow ULCC, Frontier Airlines. Frontier Airlines was also near the bottom in this year's AQR report. Image source: The Motley Fool. Breaking down Spirit's performanceThe interesting thing about Spirit's performance in the AQR report is that it's not terrible across the board. Spirit only bumped 0.31 passengers per 10,000, compared to an industry average of 0.79. Meanwhile, it was the fourth-best in the industry at avoiding lost baggage. However, Spirit had the worst on-time performance of the 13 carriers, with only 69% of its flights arriving within 14 minutes of the scheduled time. The industry average was nearly 11 percentage points higher at 79.9%. Most important, Spirit had by far the most customer complaints: 11.73 per 100,000 passengers. That's not a lot in absolute terms (0.01%), but it's 6 times more than the industry average. Can Spirit fix its shortcomings?Spirit's new CEO Bob Fornaro is making it a priority to improve the company's performance along the two dimensions where it is lagging badly: on-time performance and customer complaints. In terms of on-time performance, Spirit plans to slightly decrease its aircraft utilization, keep more spare aircraft on hand, and have more flight crews on reserve. Together, these measures will minimize the likelihood of cascading delays when something goes wrong. Longer-term, as Spirit grows, operational reliability should improve gradually. For example, with more flights at a given airport, it's more practical to keep a reserve crew on standby there in case somebody calls in sick. Improving customer satisfaction is trickier. The most important thing Spirit can do is continue its consumer education efforts, so that customers know what to expect. Spirit needs to charge high fees to make its business model work, but customers will be less angry if they know what's coming and what they need to do to avoid paying the fee. Better operational reliability will also reduce customer complaints. For example, a series of severe storms led to massive delays and numerous flight cancellations at Spirit last June. (Its on-time performance was a dreadful 49.9%.) Not surprisingly, customer complaints spiked to more than 19 per 100,000 passengers that month. This will take timeThrough the actions described above, Spirit should be able to improve its on-time performance. However, it is probably unrealistic to expect significant improvement on the customer complaint front in the near future -- it's a natural outgrowth of the ULCC business model. Spirit's fellow ULCC Frontier Airlines has tried to paint itself as a kinder, gentler ULCC. Yet its customer complaint rate was four times the industry average in 2015 -- second only to Spirit. More broadly, as Frontier has transitioned to the ULCC business model over the past three years, its AQR score has plummeted from -0.78 to -2.60. Customer education efforts won't make a difference overnight, but over time they could help the ULCC business model gain wider acceptance. The rate of customer complaints may also fall over time as more people try flying Spirit Airlines and those who hate it (and are more likely to file a complaint) resolve never to fly Spirit again! Spirit's low fare/high fee business model clearly isn't for everybody. But it has a valuable part to play in the U.S. airline industry. Management just has to figure out how to avoid some of the worst indignities of today's typical Spirit Airlines travel experience. The article Can Spirit Airlines Improve Its Customer Satisfaction? originally appeared on Fool.com. Adam Levine-Weinberg owns shares of Spirit Airlines and is long June 2016 $30 calls on Spirit Airlines. The Motley Fool recommends Spirit Airlines and Virgin America. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Copyright 1995 - 2016 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Image source: Universal Orlando. Life keeps getting harder for theme-park enthusiasts. The operator of the country's second most popular theme parks -- Universal Orlando parentComcast -- increased its rates for annual pass holders earlier this week. This move follows Disney's rollout late last year of the most dramatic increase in the media giant's history for its annual passes. It will cost Universal Orlando regulars between 3% and 6% more to buy an annual pass to the Central Florida resort. The discount offered to Florida residents is narrowing, making it an even bigger increase for them. Locals will now be paying as much as 9% more for the entry-level pass that offers access to the parks with certain blackout dates. Theme park companies pushing rates higher every year isn't a big deal, and it's something that Comcast's cable television customers know all too well. It follows larger increases for single-day tickets at Universal Orlando in February and Universal Studios Hollywood last month, where prices went up as much as 21% ahead of the California park's opening of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. This week's uptick may seem like small potatoes compared to what Disney's been doing lately. It increased annual passes by as much as 35% at Disneyland for its high-end pass, with low double-digit increases across most of its Disney World options. Disney and Comcast have been shifting to demand-based pricing over the past year, starting with Disney's move late last year to offer more pass holder tiers with blackout dates, and making it more cost prohibitive to purchase a pass that's good all year round. That move was followed by Disney World and Universal Orlando's rollout of tiered pricing for single-day tickets, making peak summer and holiday travel periods more expensive. These moves will naturally make it a lot costlier to hit up a theme park this summer, which probably was exactly when you were planning on checking out the King Kong ride at Universal Orlando or the new Frozen boat ride at Disney World's Epcot. Guests will probably pay up, and that's welcome news for Disney and Comcast shareholders. With low gas prices offsetting some of the sting and the economy holding up, it's going to be a busy summer for theme parks and regional amusement parks. Guests will pay more, but it will be investors who will be laughing all the way to the bank. The article Disney World's Biggest Rival Jacks Up Its Prices, Too originally appeared on Fool.com. Rick Munarriz owns shares of Walt Disney. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Walt Disney. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Copyright 1995 - 2016 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Let's address the elephant in the room for investors, or potential investors, of major automakers -- especially Detroit's Ford Motor Co. , General Motors and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles , which derive most of their profits from SUVs and trucks. The problematic pachyderm isn't peak auto sales -- though many consider the likelihood that we've hit that peak a deterrent from owning automaker stocks now. Rather, it's the looming increase in the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) requirement. Currently, U.S. regulations call for automakers to achieve a fleet-wide average of 54.5miles per gallon in their 2025 model year vehicles. That figure is a bit inflated compared to the standard mpg we're familiar with; the adjusted "real-world" average of that requirement would equate to a 40 mpg on the vehicle's Monroney window sticker. That 40 mpg target is still a high figure for automakers to hit, especially given that consumers' love affair with full-size trucks and SUVs continues to accelerate. Let's take a look at the details, and why this could be a concern to investors. What's the problem? The CAFE standard was enacted by Congress in 1975 as a way to reduce energy consumption by increasing the fuel economy of cars and light trucks on American roads. In 2012, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the Environmental Protection Agency issued increased standards requiring automakers to further improve fuel economy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, which was a cornerstone of the Obama administration's plan to combat climate change. In recent years, the standard has helped drive fuel economy higher, and quickly. Graph from latest NHTSA Economy Summary. CAFE standards absolutely serve a great purpose, but this increase comes at a problematic time for automakers. Between the significant declines in the price of gasoline in recent years and the improvements in fuel economy for larger vehicles, this is a tough environment for alternative-powered vehicles to gain mainstream consumer attention. Sales of alternative-powered vehicles have stagnated in recent years, and their market share has receded from its highs. Chart by author. Information source: Automotive News DataCenter. What's going to happen? This situation reminds me of an old marketing saying: "You can't push a string." While CAFE standards can definitely push automakers to innovate and invest in R&D to meet lofty mileage targets, they can't force consumers to pay a premium for the cars that result from those efforts. At a time when SUVs are red-hot, and gas prices remain cheap, the demand for hybrid and electric vehicles just isn't there. With that setting the scenario's context, June's meeting -- with the EPA, NHTSA and the California Air Resources board -- for the CAFE midterm review will set the table for a proposed standards rule in 2017 and a final decision by April 1, 2018. Basically, it's a meeting to determine whether or not the standards set in 2012 are still appropriate, which should be an interesting discussion. It's extremely difficult to predict what's going to happen given the array of constituencies pushing and pulling at this situation: the federal government, state governments, automakers and consumers. That's in addition to the 2016 elections, the result of which will certainly influence the standards in one way or another, given the widely differing views the parties hold on the need to address climate change. Regardless of the outcome of that upcoming meeting, Ford and GM have made it very clear they are on the alternative-powered vehicle bandwagon. Their research and development into hybrid, diesel and electric vehicles shows they see that change in the automotive industry is inevitable. Unfortunately for investors, with cheap gas making larger vehicles more popular, the current CAFE standards are a hurdle that will constrain automakers' design, production, and R&D choices over the next decade. Not to mention, they could jeopardize the sales emphasis on Detroit automakers' most valuable products, which generate a majority of its profits: SUVs and full-size trucks. Until we learn more in June, this will remain the elephant in the room, and an significant risk to factor into your automaker investing thesis. The article The Elephant in the Room for Major Automakers and Investors originally appeared on Fool.com. Daniel Miller owns shares of Ford and General Motors. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Ford. The Motley Fool recommends General Motors. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Copyright 1995 - 2016 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. When LinkedIn reported fourth-quarter results, the world's largest online network of professionals gave investors a reason to view the company's growth prospects skeptically. When it provided much weaker-than-expected guidance for 2016, shares were slammed. But one critical catalyst that only has a small impact on the company today could help prevent further deceleration in growth as it becomes a more meaningful portion of the company's business. I'm talking about China. Image source: LinkedIn. China, meet LinkedInUnlike social network peer Facebook, LinkedIn isn't banned from China. So it's definitely a unique and special opportunity for LinkedIn to have the chance to expand in this market. And given the size of enormous market, the country represents a significant opportunity for the company. Indeed, LinkedIn estimates that one in five of the world's knowledge workers are located in China. With all this in mind, you can bet LinkedIn is set on taking advantage of this opportunity. But it wasn't until 2014 that LinkedIn began taking the China market seriously. In early 2014, 5 million of the company's 277 million members were located in China, but they were only able to access the service through an English-based version of the site. This all changed in February 2014, when LinkedIn launched a Chinese-language version of the network for professionals. After announcing its simplified Chinese-branded site, the company boldly proclaimed in a blog post it believed it could eventually connect over 140 million Chinese professionals. Since 2014, LinkedIn has continued to ramp up its efforts in China. The company's next big move happened in 2015, when LinkedIn launched a complete pure-play, localized version of LinkedIn called Chitu, hoping to deepen its roots and expand its reach in the country. As of Q3 last year, LinkedIn said its members in China had increased from 4 million in February to 13 million. But does China remain a potentially meaningful catalyst for LinkedIn today? "Our fastest-growing market" In Q4, management was excited about the China market. "China continues to be our fastest-growing market in terms of new users," said LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner in the company's fourth-quarter earnings call. Weiner went on to note that growth has been a priority in the market, but now it will also "begin to invest increasingly in engaging those members." And LinkedIn is putting its money where its mouth is. After LinkedIn CFO Steven Sordello noted during the company's fourth-quarter earnings call that LinkedIn is "still very clearly in investment mode," he listed China as one of the company's "ongoing" investments into 2016. When LinkedIn reports first-quarter results on Thursday, look for management to provide an update on its China market. Specifically, maybe management will share how many members are located in the country, and whether or not management still believes there's potential to connect 140 million professionals in the market. While the company is unlikely to provide much information about LinkedIn's China market in the company's first-quarter press release, management usually discusses the market during its earnings call. The earnings call is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. PT and will be available for investors to listen to live at the company's "Investor Home" portion of its website. The article LinkedIn Corp. Earnings: Is This Catalyst Still Kickin'? originally appeared on Fool.com. Daniel Sparks has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Facebook and LinkedIn. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Copyright 1995 - 2016 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Longtime Netflix subscribers are going to see the prices for their streaming plans move higher this year. The video industry disruptor protected existing digital accounts when it bumped the monthly rate of its most popular plan from $7.99 to $8.99 in May 2014 and again up to $9.99 in this past October, but that generous grandfathering window is about to close. "We will phase out this grandfathering gradually over the remainder of 2016," Netflix writes in Monday's letter to shareholders. "We are rolling this out slowly over the year, rather than mostly in May, so we can learn as we go." More than half of Netflix's nearly 47 million domestic streaming accounts are currently paying just $7.99 or $8.99 a month for a plan that offers high-def videos on as many as two screens at the same time. It's been implied that most will start paying $9.99 a month like the other half of Netflix's subscriber base, but that's not the only option. Netflix doesn't want to lose the value proposition of $7.99 a month, especially since a couple of rival services have recentlyplanted the flag at $8.99 a month. This is why Netflix also now offers a $7.99 a month plan for new subscribers. It's limited to standard-def streaming and just one device at a time, but it wouldn't be a surprise if some of the penny-pinchers paying $7.99 a month under the grandfathered protection that starts expiring next month decide to give that a shot. Another option, of course, is that folks kiss the service goodbye. Netflix doesn't see that happening. "We expect only modestly increased churn from ungrandfathering, partially because these members have been with us for a reasonable period already, and because our content continues to improve," Netflix writes. It's true that they have been around the longest, but surely some of them stuck around because they feared that canceling at $7.99 a month meant coming back at $9.99 a month if they should decide to jump back in later. Now that incentive is gone. It should have some impact. However, Netflix is right about content improving. It had $7.1 billion in streaming content obligations when it pushed prices up from $7.99 two years ago. It's $12.3 billion now. If Netflix has committed to paying 73% more for content over the past two years, are you really going to complain about a 25% increase? Higher groundNow let's talk about an option that few are talking about, but one that may prove to be even more lucrative. Half of Netflix's existing users will have to decide between leaving, paying $9.99 a month for the plan that they are currently enjoying, continue to pay $7.99 a month for a scaled-back service, or upgrade to the $11.99 a month plan. The highest-priced plan offers access to even higher-quality UHD streams on as many as four screens at the same time. Right now this may not seem like such a big deal. High-def is enough, and most people don't have the kind of broadband connectivity to facilitate the chunky files of UHD, HDR, or 4K. That will change, and Netflix is making sure that it will be there. The first season of Marco Polo is HDR-enabled, and those higher-quality streams are available only to folks on the $11.99-a-month plan. "We are expanding our HDR content catalogue rapidly," Netflix writes, and this is a company that has a funny way of staying one step ahead of the audience. If they're working on supply, the demand will follow. It always does, and that's going to make $11.99 a month -- as much as 50% more than what folks are paying now -- the more desirable choice. It's the new ceiling, and knowing Netflix, it may not be long before an even higher ceiling gets put in. The article The Netflix Ceiling Is $11.99 a Month -- Not $9.99 originally appeared on Fool.com. Rick Munarriz owns shares of Netflix. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Netflix. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Copyright 1995 - 2016 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Image source: Tesla. For one of the highest-profile tech billionaires in Silicon Valley, Tesla Motors Elon Musk has never taken home a paycheck from the electric automaker. I happened to be reading through Tesla's most recent 10-K the other day (it's what we Fools do in our spare time), and while there is plenty of talk about Musk's overall compensation that primarily consists of equity awards, I ran across this tidbit on page 69: "No cash compensation has ever been received by our CEO for his services to the company." Similarly, the proxy statement notes that Musk also "does not receive additional compensation for his services as a director." The proxy technically lists Musk's base salary as $37,584, but The Wall Street Journal notes that this is only to accommodate minimum wage requirements in California. In a statement to WSJ, Tesla said that its compensation practices reflect its start-up roots, with a greater emphasis on equity awards in lieu of cash bonus programs. Cash is kingIt's not uncommon for founder CEOs to take home very little base pay. Steve Jobs famously had a token annual salary of $1 per year, while being compensated primarily with stock options (you probably remember the infamous options backdating scandal). Other tech CEOs like Mark Zuckerberg have also adopted the practice. But for Tesla, Musk's refusal to take home any cash is particularly important, considering the capital needs of the business. Cash flow is easily one of the most important metrics for Tesla right now, and new CFO Jason Wheeler was explicitly instructed by Musk to prioritize cash flow above all else. (Wheeler's base cash salary is $500,000, and he received nearly $21 million in option awards when he signed on.) Musk contributes plenty of cash to TeslaWhile Musk plunged nearly all of his wealth into Tesla in the early days to keep the company afloat, barely surviving the Great Recession, Musk continues to invest heavily in Tesla. Of course, Musk's compensation primarily consists of option grants, and he has plenty of shares to begin with (37.2 million shares as of the end of 2015). Musk's most recent exercise was in January of this year, when he exercised 532,000 options at an exercise price of $6.63. That's "only" $3.5 million going to Tesla, and the position is obviously deep in the money, but the point is that even to this day Musk actively hands cash over. Musk also bought $20 million worth of shares during the secondary offering last year. It's worth noting that Musk hardly ever sells Tesla shares, either. He has said that he "will be the last one to sell shares." Where does Musk get that cash?Many years ago, Musk pledged 7.4 million shares of Tesla to secure personal loans of upwards of $1.6 billion from a couple of the big banks, according to Reuters. This cash helps provide Musk with liquidity since he takes home virtually no cash while retaining his Tesla position. (His SpaceX compensation data is not available since SpaceX is a private company.) But when Musk exercises those options, he has to fork over the cash to purchase the underlying shares, which is essentially a small cash infusion. Technically, these loans represent a risk factor for Tesla's remaining shareholders, and the company acknowledges this in SEC filings. Since Musk is leveraged, if Tesla shares decline to a point that triggers a margin call for Musk, the CEO may have to sell shares to meet margin equity requirements. That potential selling pressure could theoretically hurt share prices further. With Tesla shares reapproaching all-time highs again, it doesn't seem like Musk will be facing any margin calls anytime soon. The article Tesla Motors Has Never Paid Elon Musk originally appeared on Fool.com. Evan Niu, CFA owns shares of Tesla Motors, andhas the following options: long January 2018 $180 calls on Tesla Motors. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Tesla Motors. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Copyright 1995 - 2016 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. We hear a lot about the importance of having good credit, but how often do we take the time to understand the behaviors that impact our credit scores? Sure, we all know that if we charge up a storm and don't pay our bills, our credit scores will get dinged. But here are three other ways you might be destroying your credit without even realizing it. 1. Paying your bills lateFailing to pay your bills on time is one of the quickest ways to destroy your credit. The good folks at Credit.com report that a payment that's 90 days or more past due will significantly damage your credit score for up to seven years. It doesn't matter if you're late paying a $20 bill or a $200 bill. Once your tardiness is documented, it'll stay with you for a long time, so if you think being late on a small bill won't matter in the long run, think again. Furthermore, while late payments that don't reach the 90-day mark aren't quite as bad for your credit, a series of 30-day late payments can be a black mark on your record as well. Assuming there's no cash flow problem at play, the easiest way to avoid being late is to set up automatic bill payments through your individual billers, your credit card companies, or your bank. Not having the money to pay your bills on time is a different story entirely, at which point you ought to sit down, review your spending habits, and make some serious cuts until your financial situation improves. While you can't exactly avoid paying rent or buying groceries, you technically don't need cable or Internet service. 2. Failing to check your credit reportMany of us don't bother to check our credit reports, but here's a good reason to be more proactive: 20% of credit reports contain errors, according to a 2013 Federal Trade Commission study. If yours is among them, you could wind up paying higher interest than necessary for a mortgage or home loan. Imagine you're applying for a $20,000, five-year auto loan and are approved for 6% interest because of your allegedly poor credit. At that rate, your loan will cost you $387 per month, or $23,200 over the life of the loan. Snag a 3% rate instead, and your monthly payment will be just $360 a month, or $21,600 over the life of the loan. In our scenario, you'd lose $1,600 by not spotting and correcting a credit report error. By law, you're entitled to a free copy of your credit report every 12 months from each of the three major bureaus, TransUnion, Experian, and Equifax. If you haven't read your own credit report this year, stop what you're doing, get a copy, and study it for errors. An hour or two of legwork to clear up a mistake could save you thousands of dollars down the line. 3. Using too much of your credit lineWhen credit card companies offer you a specific credit limit, they do so with the hope that you'll take advantage of that limit as much as possible. The reason? They make money from interest charges. However, using too much of your available credit can seriously damage your credit score. A high credit utilization ratio, which is the percentage of available credit you're using, can damage your credit score just like missed or late payments. Ideally, you should keep your credit utilization ratio to 30% or lower. If your credit card company extends you a $10,000 line of credit, make sure not to charge more than $3,000 in total at any given point in time. Exceeding that mark could make it more costly for you to borrow money in the future. Remember, poor credit doesn't just impact the amount of interest you'll pay on a loan, or your ability to get one in the first place. In some cases, it could even have a negative effect on your career. Some companies run credit checks on potential employees, which they're allowed to do by law. Say you're applying for a role that comes with a $10,000 salary boost and are denied because your prospective employer doesn't like how your credit report reads. Suddenly, your poor credit isn't just costing you money in higher interest payments; it's costing you $10,000 in salary as well. So while it may take some effort, protecting your credit can pay off in more ways than one. The article These 3 Habits Could Destroy Your Credit originally appeared on Fool.com. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Copyright 1995 - 2016 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. SOURCE: CHENIERE ENERGY. Cheniere Energy -- through its master limited partnership Cheniere Energy Partners -- put the United States firmly on the global LNG map when it exported its first LNG cargo to Brazil from its Sabine Pass liquefaction facility. While that's definitely a matter of pride, the real question is: Is Cheniere Energy Partners built to last? Can it flourish in the fiercely competitive global LNG market? Problems galore in the LNG market Global demand for liquefied natural gas has been slowing down, just as it has been for crude oil, thanks to slowing economic growth across the globe. In the lucrative Asian markets, for example, natural gas prices -- and by default, LNG prices -- are indexed to crude oil prices. As oil prices tumbled, so did natural gas prices. In February, Asian spot LNG prices fell to $5.98/MMBtu -- from nearly $20/MMBtu in 2014. Below is a table showing how LNG import prices have fallen during the last two years in Japan, a major importer of natural gas. Japan Liquefied Natural Gas Import Price data by YCharts. In addition, mild weather patterns in cold countries ensured that natural-gas demand didn't get to spike, which could've potentially pushed up prices. However, of greater consequence is the medium-term supply situation brewing in the global LNG market. In the face of slowing global LNG demand, vast amounts of capacity in natural-gas liquefaction and export are expected to come online from Australia between 2017 and 2019. While all the pessimism exists at the macro level, Cheniere Energy Partners' highly visible and stable cash-flow growth during the next three years makes it an attractive long-term investment -- especially for income-seeking investors. What projects constitute Cheniere Energy Partners? Unlike its general partner Cheniere Energy, which is betting on multiple projects, the bread and butter of the MLP, Cheniere Energy Partners, is the Sabine Pass Liquefaction facility, or SPL. The other revenue arms are the Creole Trail Pipeline, and the long-existing Sabine Pass regasification unit. Of the three, the Sabine Pass Liquefaction facility -- with six proposed liquefaction trains -- is expected to be the proverbial cash cow. The first train, Sabine 1, commenced commercial exports in late February, while the second train should follow suit in a few months. Of the remaining four, three are actively under construction and are expected to come online between 2017 and 2019. Each train is expected to deliver a massive 4.5 million tonnes per annum, or MTPA, of LNG. The construction of the sixth and final train is yet to receive the green signal via a final investment decision, or FID. What makes the cash flows stable and highly visible? Each of the five liquefaction trains are backed by "take-or-pay" fixed-fee contracts with investment-grade customers. The beauty of fixed-fee contracts is that they makes the MLP's cash flows virtually independent of underlying commodity prices. More importantly, these contracts are locked for a period of 20 years with no price reopeners, or other negotiation clauses that may threaten the long-term visibility of the cash flows. Of the total 22.5 MTPA of LNG that'll be processed in the five liquefaction trains at the Sabine Pass Liquefaction facility, 20 MTPA -- or nearly 89% of the total volumes processed -- are locked through "take-or-pay" contracts. Commercially speaking, there's $2.9 billion in annual fixed-fee revenue for the taking, as described in the following slide. In addition, the customers are reputed and are expected to honor the long-term contracts. SOURCE: CHENIERE ENERGY INVESTOR PRESENTATION. The Foolish bottom line Cash flows generated from the two liquefaction trains that would be operational by the end of 2016 will likely not be enough to offset costs incurred until now. However, it would be a different story once the remaining three trains come online by 2019. In other words, Cheniere Energy Partners will, in all probability, struggle to remain cash-flow positive over the next two or three years. However, that shouldn't deter investors, especially dividend investors, from jumping in right now because the long-term cash flow growth visibility is high. Additionally, the MLP refinanced its debt in February, which means no debt obligations are present until 2020. The $2.8 billion debt refinance itself bears testimony that lenders have full faith in Cheniere Energy Partners despite the overall oil and gas industry facing unprecedented headwinds in raising capital. The article Will Cheniere Energy Partners Sink or Swim? originally appeared on Fool.com. Isac Simon has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Copyright 1995 - 2016 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. As the number of confirmed cases of the Ebola virus in West Africa nears 9,000, many are questioning what would happen if the virus became airborne. At this time we have no evidence for airborne transmission, Dr. David Sanders, professor of biological science at Purdue University told Fox & Friends Wednesday. However, Sanders cautioned that the possibility of the virus mutating to become airborne cannot be ruled out, adding that there is a non-zero percent probability of it happening. Our own research that we published with our collaborators, demonstrates that Ebola has the inherent capacity to enter lung tissue, human lung tissue, just as influenza does, Sanders said. So it cannot be ruled out that it can acquire the capacity to go into the lung, from the airway side, he said, adding that at this point there is no suggestion that the virus has already mutated to be able to do so. I cant put a number on how possible it is, but the most important message is the longer the epidemic goes on, the more cases we have, the more likely it becomes, Sanders said. In September, Canadian researchers said their research found the strain of Ebola afflicting West Africa can be transmitted between humans by breathing. The possibility of it becoming airborne could result in a global spread of the disease resulting in [an] unprecedented number of deaths worldwide it is more than prudent to heavily invest in controlling the number of new patients infected by this disease, Francis Smart, econometrics research assistant told WND.com. However, many research teams and doctors refute these findings. In all the outbreaks that have happened previously, theres never been evidence that Ebola ever spread by an airborne route from human to human, Dr. Jeffrey Duchin, chief of communicable disease epidemiology and immunization of public health in Seattle and King County, Washington, told FoxNews.com. Ebola can be transmitted through contact with the blood or other bodily fluids of a person who is sick with the disease, and manifesting symptoms, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Friday I set off to Stratford-upon-Avon for the annual Shakespeare Birthday Celebrations in his home town. No one knows exactly when Shakespeare was born on but for a long time April 23 has been the accepted date, coincidentally both the day we are sure he died on and the day celebrated in England as St Georges Day, the name-day for the countrys patron saint. This year no one is quite sure what to call the event, since, as it seems impossible not to have noticed, 2016 marks the four hundredth anniversary of Shakespeares death and celebrating someones death doesnt sound quite right. So lets call this the 400th anniversary of Shakespeares legacy and celebrate that. We often talk about the astonishing nature of Shakespeares own imagination, that apparently limitless creativity that the novelist Alexandre Dumas described in a tone of awe: After God, Shakespeare has created most. But what precisely are we celebrating? Hamlet and King Lear, Romeo and Juliet and A Midsummer Nights Dream and all the familiar quotations, of course. But there are two Shakespeare passages that are much in my mind at the moment, neither of them well-known. The first is from Sir Thomas More, a play to which Shakespeare contributed the only scene in his own handwriting to have survived. In the play, the citizens of London, fed up with the number of foreigners in the city, have gathered to demand their expulsion and Sir Thomas More tries to talk them out of their violent intentions. One tactic he tries is to make them imagine they succeed: Imagine that you see the wretched strangers, Their babies at their backs, with their poor luggage Plodding to thports and coasts for transportation, And that you sit as kings in your desires [] What had you got? Ill tell you. You had taught How insolence and strong hand should prevail, How order should be quelled. The picture of the strangers we know them as refugees and migrants is appallingly familiar now, an image of terrified and desperate people fleeing a country hostile to them. Mores tactic succeeds and the noisy crowd quietens. Then More goes further, asking the crowd to imagine that the Kings response to their treasonous uprising is to banish them: whither would you go? / What country, by the nature of your error, / Should give you harbor?. If they arrive in any other country in Europe, why, you must needs be strangers, and the local population might Whet their detested knives against your throats: what would you think To be thus used? This is the strangers case, And this your mountainish inhumanity. We often talk about the astonishing nature of Shakespeares own imagination, that apparently limitless creativity that the novelist Alexandre Dumas described in a tone of awe: After God, Shakespeare has created most. But here, through Sir Thomas More, he asks the rioters to imagine and, by so doing, makes us imagine too, creating two visions of a future, both premised on the success of the rioters in ridding the city of the strangers. It is the second vision, of the protesters themselves becoming strangers, that is the one that sticks with me. As I watch and listen on television to those across Europe and across the U.S. who would lock their gates against all outsiders, I have some sympathy with their multiple fears, not least the fear of terrorism that Shakespeares Londoners did not have a reason to feel. But Shakespeare makes us move from the secure response of sympathy to the much more difficult one of empathy, of feeling what it would mean to be that other person, of exchanging our position for theirs in ways that go far beyond simply recognizing our common humanity, imagining instead becoming strangers desperate for a new home and acceptance by the local population. By achieving what he asks of us, we do not necessarily define what should be done but we can change the frame of mind within which those decisions could be taken. For my second moment I move from the migrant crisis to an election. At one point in Coriolanus, when the hero, as part of the political process of election to being a consul of Rome, has to stand in the marketplace, asking the citizens to give him their votes, he asks one of them what is the price of thconsulship, he gets an unexpected answer: The price is to ask it kindly. Coriolanus thinks the citizen means he has to ask nicely, to say please, to be humble as opposed to his usual arrogant contempt for the ordinary people. But the citizen and Shakespeare is asking for something more: for Coriolanus to accept that he is of the same kind, that he is like them and not a different order of human being simply through his status. Politicians of both parties always claim to be like the voters but I dont trust their rhetoric. If they acknowledged our likeness, they wouldnt make their stump speeches into the performances they are. Like Coriolanus in the market-place asking for the plebeians voices, those wanting to get elected have to go through civic rituals as persuasively as they can but I rarely see signs that they know the true price of asking kindly. When I watch the parade wind through the streets of Stratford-upon-Avon this weekend, unfurling flags of many nations, it is the power of moments like these that I shall be thinking of, language that reminds me of the global legacy of the small towns greatest son and, for all the kitsch of the event, Ill know how much that legacy deserves celebrating. Lawmakers are now expected to miss a May 2 deadline to pass legislation that would provide a pathway for Puerto Rico to restructure its staggering debt, but there is bipartisan optimism a deal will come soon after. The first of the month marks the day Puerto Rico is expected to default on a $422 million debt-service payment that it lacks the funds to pay. Republicans and Democrats say they are tweaking legislation that would eventually provide the U.S. territory with the ability to restructure $72 billion in debt, but not in time for that deadline. The House leaves next Friday for a week-long recess, and it do not return until Tuesday, May 10. Read more on WashingtonExaminer.com This is a story about flags, coins, congressional spending bills and a tunnel. But sometimes theres more than meets the eye behind what appears to be a rather innocuous series of seemingly non-related events. The Architect of the Capitol announced last September it would close off the tunnel that runs from the U.S. Capitol, under Independence Avenue and to the Rayburn House Office Building. The memo declared that construction will last for approximately one year with the majority of the work to take place nightly between the hours of 9:00 pm and 6:00 am. The AOC said the closure was necessary to renovate the tunnels ceiling, light fixtures, fire alarms and sprinklers. And so as construction began, down came the flags of all 50 states, the District of Columbia and U.S. territories which embroidered the tunnels wall. The tunnel looked pretty barren. The lack of flags accentuated the tunnels parabolic, curvature. The naked, vanilla wall still revealed a shadow of each flag and its state seal imprinted on the plaster. The exposed ceiling showed a network of nine parallel pipes running between the Capitol and Rayburn. A few days ago, House Administration Committee Chairwoman Candice Miller, R-Mich., announced that the flags wouldnt return when the tunnels work wrapped up. In place of the flags, the Architect of the Capitol would install reproductions of commemorative quarters issued by the U.S. Mint for all 50 states, the District of Columbia and U.S. territories. Each quarter serves as a reminder of the ideals, landmarks, and people from each state, as well as this nations great motto, out of many, one, Miller said in a statement. OK. No biggie. Just an aesthetic, interior design decision. Going for a different motif, right? Perhaps. But one of these flags was not like the others. Forty-nine state flags seemed fine. But it was the flag from Mississippi that caused trouble. Georgia adopted a new flag 13 years ago, dropping Confederate imagery. That left Mississippi as the only state emblem still depicting the Confederate battle flag. The upper left-hand corner of the banner features the deep blue cross cast against a red backdrop. Thirteen stars festoon the blue stripes. The Mississippi flag has hung in the tunnel for years. A similar subterranean passageway stretching from the capitol and to the Dirksen and Hart Senate Office buildings continues to display the flags of all 50 states, including Mississippi. But the Mississippi flag ignited a firestorm at the capitol after a massacre at the Emanuel African Methodist Church in Charleston, S.C. last June. Shooting suspect Dylann Roof later told police he began firing at black parishioners attending a Bible study in hopes of starting a race war. A few days later, South Carolina GOP Gov. Nikki Haley ordered the removal of the Confederate flag from the state capitol. And Haleys decision set into motion a whirlwind of issues in Congress as lawmakers tried to usher annual spending bills to passage. Rep. Jared Huffman, D-Calif., crafted a little-known amendment to the appropriations bill that would fund the Interior Department. Huffmans plan would prohibit the flying of the Confederate flag at many federal cemeteries. Without fanfare, the House approved Huffmans amendment, hooking it the Interior spending bill. But later the same night, Rep. Ken Calvert, R-Calif., introduced an amendment to counter Huffman -- apparently at the behest of the Republican leadership. The Calvert amendment would trump Huffmans idea. As a result, the House scheduled a vote on the Calvert amendment and the full Interior Department spending bill the next day. They couldnt have picked a worse day. It was the same day Haley would preside over a ceremony removing the Confederate flag from the statehouse grounds. The GOP brass worried it might not have the votes to pass the appropriations bill without attaching the Calvert amendment. Some Republicans simply couldnt be on the record approving a bill that wiped out the display of the Confederate flag in federal cemeteries. By the same token, the optics were awful for the Republicans. They didnt want to vote in favor of the Confederate flag just as Haley pulled down the Confederate flag. The GOP yanked the entire Interior bill from the House calendar. Then-House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, wanted a compromise. I want members on both sides of the aisle to sit down, and lets have a conversation about how to address what, frankly, has become a very thorny issue, Boehner said. It was at that point Democrats knew they had somewhat unintentionally marched House Republicans into a political box canyon. Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., pushed a resolution to remove any state flag containing any portion of the Confederate battle flag from the House side of the capitol. However, the resolution included a carve-out for lawmakers to continue displaying the flag inside their offices if they chose to do so. If the House adopted Thompsons resolution, officials would have to remove the Mississippi flag from the Rayburn tunnel. The effort would force Republicans to take a tough vote -- or pay a political price for not doing so. House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., punted the resolution so the House wouldnt have to deal directly with Thompsons initiative. The House voted with McCarthy, sidestepping a direct up or down vote. But while Republicans could a skirt a vote on the resolution, they couldnt avoid the issue. Democrats repeatedly tried to push a vote on Thompsons resolution without success. Republicans knew how embarrassing the outcome of the issue would be: The House would most likely defeat the resolution. That would help Democrats portray individual lawmakers -- now on the record on a specific roll call vote -- as voting in favor of maintaining the Mississippi flag. People would cry racism. Callousness. You name it. All of the things Republicans struggle with as a party that performs poorly with minority voters. There was residual impact, too. Democrats made it clear they would try to hook a version of the Huffman amendment onto any of the remaining appropriations bills. Variations of Huffmans plan might not pertain directly to flying Confederate flags at federal cemeteries. But Democrats could sure include an amendment to ban the display of such a symbol at any other federal facility governed by the remaining spending measures. Thus, the appropriations process ground to a halt. Republicans couldnt risk taking a vote on such a toxic issue. The House put the appropriations cycle on ice until winter. The maintenance of the Rayburn tunnel was long planned before this political dustup. But last year, multiple sources confided in Fox that the timing and removal of the flags may prove fortuitous. With the refurbishment of the tunnel slated to run through this September, there was hope that the Mississippi legislature would vote to change the flag in its next session. The Mississippi legislature concluded its 2016 session with multiple bills to redesign the state flag falling by the wayside. Back in Washington, lawmakers stared at the start of annual appropriations bills in just a few weeks and a naked wall lining the Rayburn tunnel. Could the summer of 2016 be a repeat of the summer of 2015? Thats when Miller engineered the state coin idea, mothballing the flags. Given the controversy surrounding Confederate imagery, I decided to install a new display, she said. I am well aware of how many Americans negatively view the Confederate flag. And, personally, I am very sympathetic to these views. However, I also believe that it is not the business of the federal government to dictate what flag each state flies. And so the installation of the commemorative quarters. As Miller says, each U.S. quarter is emblazoned with the phrase E Pluribus Unum, which means out of many, one. The protracted banishment of the Mississippi flag forced the removal of all state flags from the Rayburn tunnel. That would be E Pluribus Non, which means out of many, none. Republican Donald Trump holds a big lead in California, in a new Fox News Poll, while Hillary Clinton has a razor-thin edge over Bernie Sanders in the Democratic race. Trump captures 49 percent of likely Republican primary voters. Thats more than the combined support for his two remaining competitors: Ted Cruz receives 22 percent and John Kasich 20 percent. The mogul leads his rivals by a wide margin among every demographic group, including those he sometimes has trouble capturing: women, young voters, college graduates, and very conservatives. Clinton is up by just two points over Sanders among California likely Democratic primary voters (48-46 percent). CLICK TO READ THE POLL RESULTS A couple things are in Clintons favor. Among the subgroup of those saying they will definitely vote, her advantage increases to six points. Plus, support for Sanders is somewhat softer: 21 percent of his backers say they could change their mind compared to 14 percent of Clintons. The gender gap persists. Men break for Sanders by 22 points (58-36 percent), while women favor Clinton by 25 (59-34 percent). Meanwhile, the Vermont senator continues to receive strong support from younger voters (+56 points among voters under age 35), while Clinton remains popular with seniors (+37 points among voters ages 65+). Sanders has a 19-point advantage among Hispanics. He won Hispanics in Nevada and Illinois according to Fox News exit polling, while they went for Clinton in Florida, New York, and Texas. What if its ultimately a Clinton-Trump matchup in November? Some 45 percent of Sanders supporters say they would either consider voting for a third-party candidate or not vote at all. Same story on the Republican side. Only 53 percent of Cruz and Kasich supporters say they would vote for Trump in the general election. Instead, a large 42-percent minority would consider a third-party candidate or not vote rather than cast a ballot for Trump or Clinton. Cruz would do a tad bit better than Trump at keeping the party faithful, faithful. If its Clinton-Cruz in November, 56 percent of non-Cruz supporters would vote for him against Clinton, while 40 percent wouldnt. The Texas senator is helped by the fact that Kasich supporters are more likely to say hes their second-choice candidate by a 20-point margin. That could help Cruz in the primary as well, because more than one third of Kasich backers say their vote choice isnt locked in (35 percent). One quarter of Trump supporters (25 percent) and Cruz supporters (24 percent) say they could still change their mind. The California primary is June 7. Pollpourri Immigration -- a hot topic in the Golden State. The poll asked California primary voters what should happen to illegal immigrants who are currently working in the United States. By a 75-17 percent margin, they favor setting up a system for legalization rather than deportation. Over half of Republican primary voters prefer finding a way to legalize illegal immigrants working here (59-30 percent), and almost all Democrats agree (90 percent system to legalize vs. 5 percent deport). The Fox News Poll is conducted under the joint direction of Anderson Robbins Research (D) and Shaw & Company Research (R). The telephone poll (landline and cellphone) was conducted April 18-21, 2016, with live interviewers among a random sample of 1,206 California voters selected from a statewide voter file (plus or minus 2.5 percentage points). Results for the 623 likely Democratic primary voters and the 583 likely Republican primary voters have a margin of sampling error of plus or minus four percentage points. Donald Trump showed no signs Saturday of toning it down on the campaign trail, attacking the Republican establishment and presidential rivals -- after attempts to be more presidential and assurance from a top adviser a day earlier that the GOP front-runner would show more restraint. Trump said at a rally in Bridgeport, Conn., that being presidential is easy but boring. I have to keep you people entertained and awake, Trump told the crowd of about 1,000. Have you seen Hillary Clinton using a teleprompter . People starting yawning. Its a disaster. He also returned to calling Clinton, the Democratic presidential front-runner, Crooked Hillary and the argument that the Washington Republicans system of awarding delegates for primary and caucus wins is rigged. Trump appeared unwilling to spare anybody on Saturday, suggesting GOP rival Ohio Gov. John Kasich change the spelling of his last name so that it could be more easily pronounced. And he returned to calling his closest primary rival, Texas GOP Sen. Ted Cruz, Lyin Ted, after referring to him as Senator Cruz after Trumps commanding victory Tuesday in the New York primary. I sorta dont like toning it down, Trump said Saturday. Democrats and Republicans this coming Tuesday will hold primaries in Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island. On Saturday, Democratic candidate Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders was in Baltimore, where he continued to criticize Clinton for being supported by Wall Street and million-dollar PACs, or political action committees. He was scheduled to make a stop in Wilmington, Del., late Saturday, while Clinton visited the Orangeside diner in New Haven, Conn., where she largely focused on such economic issues as family leave, equal pay for women and increasing the minimum wage to $15 hourly. We need paid family leave because it's the most important part of anyone's life, she said. "Equal pay? We shouldn't be talking about it in 2016. It's almost embarrassing. Kasich was in Rhode Island, while Cruz, the most conservative in the GOP field, was in Indiana, ahead of that states May 3 primary. Cruz finished third in the New York primary and is not projected to do well Tuesday, according to most polls. Those polls show Trump with double-digit leads in Tuesdays races. Clinton also leads in all five states but by single-digit margins in Pennsylvania and Rhode Island, according to several polls. Trump will look to increase his delegate count toward getting 1,237 of them to secure the GOP nomination before the partys convention in July. He now has 845 pledged delegates, followed by Cruz with 559 and Kasich with 148. Clinton has 1,428 pledged delegates, compared to 1,153 for Sanders, toward securing their partys presidential nomination with 2,383 delegates. Earlier Saturday, at a rally in Waterford, Conn., Trump made similar, sarcastic remarks about appearing more presidential, a move his campaign and wife Melania apparently have urged him to make. Trumps new senior adviser, Paul Manafort, privately assured Republican National Committee officials at their spring meeting in Florida this week that the candidate knows he needs to tone down the vitriol and that Trump is merely projecting an image. The part that hes been playing is now evolving, Manafort said. The negatives will come down. The image is going to change. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Virginia Democratic Gov. Terry McAuliffe restoring voting rights for roughly 200,000 convicted felons is part of a lauded, national effort to reverse sentencing laws that most affect African Americans. But Republicans are suggesting that the governor, a long-time Clinton supporter, went too far by including violent criminals and that his move is a transparent effort to win votes. The governors executive order allows Virginia felons, includes convicted murders and rapists, who by Friday had completed their sentence and finished supervised release, parole or probation requirements to vote in the swing state in the November presidential elections. "Too often in both our distant and recent history, politicians have used their authority to restrict people's ability to participate in our democracy," said McAuliffe, whose move circumvented the GOP-led state legislature. "Today we are reversing that disturbing trend." However, Virginia Republicans suggest the move was really timed to help elect Hillary Clinton, the Democratic presidential front-runner who has been friends with McAuliffe since her and President Bill Clintons two terms in the White House. The singular purpose of Terry McAuliffes governorship is to elect Hillary Clinton, Speaker of the House William J. Howell told the Richmond Times-Dispatch on Friday. Howell, a Stafford County Republican, also said McAuliffes job as governor has always been a steppingstone to a job in Hillary Clintons Cabinet. The Virginia Republican Party on Friday acknowledged that such efforts are long overdue but said McAuliffe went too far by including violent offenders and that the move speaks of political opportunism. Few if any disagree that those who have paid their debts to society should be allowed full participation in that society. But there are limits, party Chairman John Whitbeck said. Gov. McAuliffe could easily have excluded those who have committed heinous acts of violence . His decision doesnt speak of mercy. Rather, it speaks of political opportunism. This blanket action, undertaken for such blatant political purposes, sullies the hard-won second chances of those who have worked so hard to overcome their mistakes. Restoration of rights should be a celebration of overcoming, not a transparent effort to win votes. On the campaign trail Friday, Clinton tweeted: Proud of my friend @GovernorVA for continuing to break down barriers to voting. The Washington-based Sentencing Project estimates that nearly 6 million Americans are barred from voting because of laws disenfranchising former felons. Maine and Vermont are the only states that don't restrict the voting rights of convicted felons. Such policies disproportionately prevent African Americans from voting, the group says. Virginia is among three states where more than one in five black adults have lost their voting rights, according to a recent Sentencing Project report. Black voters in recent decades have been loyal supporters of Democratic candidates. And they have turned out in large numbers for Clinton, particularly in the Deep South, which helped her build an early and big lead over rival Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who has made reforming the criminal justice system a big part of his campaign. McAuliffe said he is certain he has the legal authority for this massive extension of voting rights after consulting with legal and constitutional experts, including Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring. Rough 20 states have over the past two decades purportedly attempted to ease voting restrictions on felons. The Associated Press contributed to this story. With Donald Trumps overwhelming victory in New York killing off Ted Cruzs chances of being able to attain a 1,237 majority of delegates before Julys GOP convention, the Texas senator is casting his hopes on a contested convention where most delegates will be unbound by the second ballot and able to vote as they choose. But there are risks to that strategy. Even if Cruz is able to force a contested convention by keeping Trump from reaching the magic 1,237 number, he is counting on delegates both having the strength to vote to reject Trump in the face of significant pressure from the campaign and Trump supporters, and then moving to Cruz after they are unbound. While the strategy seems to have its merits, the question of whether delegates will back him could be complicated by recent threats made to both GOP party officials and delegates themselves, allegedly by Trump supporters. Colorado GOP Chairman Steve House received death threats after the states convention, in which Cruz locked up the support of most of the delegates. House said that he received thousands of angry calls from Trump supporters, with some threatening his family, angry about the way the delegates are selected. He has referred the matter to the police. Earlier this month, Trump adviser Dan Scavino posted the Tennessee GOP Chairman Ryan Haynes cell phone number on Twitter, telling supporters to Let him know you support the TRUMP delegates! and accusing Haynes of wanting to STEAL your vote TODAY. Haynes told Politico he nearly canceled the delegate selection meeting after receiving a firestorm of abuse and threats. But the threats have extended beyond just GOP officials. Politico reported Thursday that Craig Dunn, an Indiana delegate who criticized Trump, received a note warning traditional burial is polluting the planet that said ominously we are watching you. Dunn, a Kasich supporter, told the outlet hes most nervous about exiting the convention arena in the moments after a potential Trump loss. Thats where theres the greatest prospect for danger, he said. I dont see myself walking outside the convention with a Kasich badge. Dunn was one of at least four Indiana delegates who received disturbing messages some of which have been investigated by police, Politico reported. The billionaire frontrunner has done little to dissuade supporters from making such threats. In March he said I think youd have riots if the party attempted to block his nomination. The threats raise the question of whether delegates many of whom have little-to-no experience of the white hot intensity of national politics may feel unable to vote their conscience. Officials in Cleveland say that they are working hard to secure a safe convention and planning is well underway." RNC spokeswoman Alee Lockman told FoxNews.com the Secret Service is taking the lead. The Cleveland Department, Cuyahoga County Sheriff, the FBI and other security agencies are working closely with the Secret Service relative to developing the security plan for the Convention, Lockman said. There are Secret Service agents on the ground in Cleveland and they are making good progress. Local branches of the GOP expressed their confidence that delegates will not be harassed. Kyle Kohli, a spokesman for the Colorado GOP, told FoxNews.com that there had been a recent call with convention staff on the very issue of security for delegates. The security is so good in Cleveland that theres not going to be a notion of threatening appearances at hotel rooms, as Secret Service and convention staff are going to be so well organized, Kohli said. The city of Cleveland is also making preparations, spending over $800,000 on riot-control suits and batons for police working during the convention amid fears of rioting and violence, Cleveland.com reported. Kohli said there was little officials could do about threats to delegates on social media. Thats going to be there one way or another. Its not something were overly concerned about, we think our delegates will be secure and will exercise good judgment and not be influenced by either stuff online or people showing up, Kohli said. Taylor Mason, spokesman for the Iowa GOP, echoed Kohlis sentiments and said they werent too worried about delegates being swayed. People in Iowa are not really easily scared, Mason said. [Threats] wouldnt be a deterrent. A spokeswoman for the Pennsylvania GOP also told FoxNews.com they have no concerns about the convention. The Cruz and Trump campaigns did not respond to requests for comment from FoxNews.com. But in March, the Trump campaign told FoxNews.com they are in the process of trying to woo as many unbound delegates as possible ahead of the convention. The unbound ones were going after pretty strongly, Barry Bennett, a senior adviser to the Trump campaign, said. We arent going to waste resources on them, but if youre 'wooable' we plan to woo. Bennett also raised the possibility that delegates who are lined up behind Cruz could fall to the wayside once the convention starts, at which point his support will evaporate as they line up behind a more moderate candidate such as Ohio Gov. John Kasich. "This is where I think Cruz is being taken for a ride," Bennett said. "The establishment is using him because they want to get to the second ballot, and then they'll pretend they've never heard of him." Kasich could also cause problems among some unbound delegates for Cruz. In Pennsylvania, where a primary is held Tuesday, delegates are not bound to any candidate either, but Cruzs campaign has been working hard behind the scenes to get his people in place. However, there is some high-level support for Kasich in the Pennsylvania GOP including former Gov. Tom Ridge and national GOP committeeman Bob Asher and that creates the potential that a bloc of delegate votes will favor Kasich. The Associated Press contributed to this report. The Justice Department said Friday it has withdrawn a request that sought a court order forcing Apple to assist in opening a locked iPhone 5s linked to a drug case in New York. According to a court filing, the Justice Department no longer needs Apples assistance in unlocking the device because an individual provided investigators with the correct passcode Thursday. This ends months of litigation that has been unfolding in the Eastern District of New York tied to a locked iPhone 5s running iOS7 that belong to a convicted drug kingpin. As we have said previously, these cases have never been bout setting a court precedent, they are about law enforcements ability to need and access evidence on devices pursuant to lawful court orders and search warrants, Justice Department spokeswoman Emily Pierce said in statement. Authorities in October requested that a federal judge in Brooklyn compel Apple to assist federal authorities in unlocking the device. Similar to the recently vacated litigation tied to the San Bernardino iPhone, the government cited the All Writs Act in its application. But contrary to the San Bernardino iPhone case, a federal judge denied the governments application submitted to the court back in March. Pierce said they arent revealing the identification of the individual who gave authorities the passcode, citing an ongoing investigation. Fox News Matt Dean and the Associated Press contributed to this report. Growing a franchise can be hard work. You have to think about corporate sales and marketing, as well as providing for the franchisees. It looks something like this: Corporate marketing programs. Corporate marketing programs for franchisees. Additional marketing programs offered through corporate for the franchises. Each of these initiatives takes a lot of work -- and you cant do just one. The thing is, they all work together. You need to have corporate marketing to attract franchises and grow the size of the brand. You need to have marketing for the franchisees because if they are not successful, neither are you. It will also be hard to attract more franchises if your current ones are going under and not profitable. The additional marketing programs also help a lot. In some cases, you will have an owner who owns multiple shops or just one that wants to be a big spender. If corporate offers these programs through vendors, they get to have some control, provide more value to the owners and help grow the size of the brand. Related: The 4 Essential Elements of a Franchise Marketing Plan In this post, we will talk about franchise marketing. Specifically, how you can set it up to attract franchisees and boost the credibility of corporate. Corporate marketing programs. When I say corporate marketing, I mean marketing just from the business-to-business perspective. Basically, we are trying to attract more franchisees to the franchise. Here are some of the things to consider. Have a location-based strategy. Almost all franchises have some kind of location element. That means all of your marketing strategy should be tied to location. On the corporate level, youll want to focus your efforts on the regions that you are trying to build out first. For example, you may start in Southern California, expand to Northern California and then to Arizona. When you do this, you need a good mix of online and offline marketing to build the brand and take the location by storm. Consider the following: Local SEO Local Google AdWords Yelp ads Yellow pages Local directories Microsites or landing pages (there is a lot to know about this one) Local content marketing Social media ads and social media marketing Radio advertising Buy billboards in the area Sponsor sports teams in the area TV in the area Direct mail Try to set up a pipeline for your franchisees One of the main draws to any franchise is that there will be demand for business due to the brand credibility in the consumers eyes. The idea is that the franchise is so established that when you buy it, the customers will automatically come. Now in some cases, franchises take this a step further and actually deliver business to the franchisees. For example, I have some corporate franchise clients who literally send business to the owners. Either way, corporate should be working to establish a pipeline for the owners. It makes the business much more attractive and keeps things positive. Get on lists. Large business sites such as Entrepreneur have lists of franchise opportunities. In addition, people are constantly writing on the topic. Many of these lists are industry-specific, and will often state the best franchises to own at any given time. As part of the franchise-marketing strategy, it is a great idea to get on these lists. People read them often and they can drive a lot of business. Get them into a funnel. People research franchise options heavily before purchasing one. There are a lot of options, price points, business models, set-up costs In general, there is just a lot to this type of business. One of the most important things you can do is get them into a funnel. Now, this can be some type of drip campaign using a tool like Infusionsoft or just a basic MailChimp email newsletter. Either way, you need to stay on their radar after you have captured their email and other actionable information. While they might download your information packet at first, they might soon forget the franchise if this is not put in place. Keep in mind that getting them to be a part of your social communities or follow your blog can also accomplish this. Make your brand glow. Not all of the marketing needs to be direct response. Keep in mind that people need to really like the brand. They need to feel as though the franchise is greater than their current business. Or if they dont have a business, that it is a great opportunity and surefire win in general. Invest in great creative, a nice website and plenty of positive marketing to make people proud to invest in a franchise. Have a strategy to target similar businesses. This is different for every type of franchise, but one of the main ways some franchises acquire new franchisees is by going into a non-franchises business and doing a presentation about why they should switch over. This demands a great deck, plenty of supplementary marketing materials and a sales team. If done right, it is one of the most effective strategies for acquiring new franchisees. Related: What Franchisees Need to Know About Digital Marketing (Infographic) Corporate marketing program for franchisees. Outside of doing marketing to acquire franchisees and build the brand, it is also a good idea to have marketing services on the franchise level. Generally, this will be a budget of $150 to $2,000 a month per franchise (of course it all depends on the franchise and the needs), and it will be highly targeted to the individual location. If possible, there should be one standard package and other larger packages which franchisees can contract directly for. You will need a baseline program. The baseline program should be provided by the franchise, but it can come out of a franchise fund. Generally, franchises will vote on a marketing program and budget at annual meetings. This would then get allocated to these program. The program should be location specific. The baseline program needs to be very location specific. If it is online that is a given, but if there are offline elements, such as billboard or radio, that also needs to be very targeted. Direct mail also needs to be highly local. The most important thing is to ensure you are delivering in the right markets based on the level of franchisees you have there. You should have options to upgrade. When creating the options to upgrade, you want to make sure they are all somewhat affordable for the franchisees. Options should then be priced in a general range that makes sense across the board versus pricing differently per region. Its a good idea to work with an agency who has experience. To build out this type of system internally is very tough. Especially if you are a new franchise with a small team. You need expert and experienced personnel. In most cases, it is a good idea to bring on an agency with heavy local advertising experience and of course franchise experience. Related: The Best and Worst Franchise Marketing Campaigns of 2015 Issues of which to be aware. Two of the largest issues are communication and reporting. It is critical to be able to create a lot of reports, send them to franchises and have them be able to interpret it correctly. It is also important to have an open line of communication and excellent customer service. Without it, the value might not be fully understood. Marketing can get pretty complicated, especially digital marketing, so things like webinars and presentations are key to ensure there is ample understanding across all parties. Additional marketing programs. Some franchisees will only own one or two franchises, but other will own five, 10 or more. When this is the case, the franchisee will most likely consider their franchises as their own business. A franchise needs to have an agency they can trust to provide custom solutions to these type of owners. Make sure you have a solution for them that is dependable and can get them the results they are looking for. Summing up franchise marketing. If you are looking to attract franchisees, you need to have a clear and profitable model, a strong case for making the investment and serious brand credibility. If you do a great job with your franchise marketing, you will be well on your well to attracting new owners. Authorities hunting for the assailant behind the 'execution-style' killings of eight family members in Ohio released chilling 911 audio Saturday from the murder scene. A woman who called 911 to report two of the eight slayings said in a recording that she found her brother-in-law dead and "blood all over the house." In one made Friday morning, the out-of-breath caller says another person in the house also appears dead, and it looks like someone had "beat the crap out of them." The Ohio attorney general said in a press conference Saturday that investigators and law enforcement worked through the night to gather information and execute search warrants to determine who shot eight family members in the head in rural southern Ohio Friday. The victims, all members of the Rhoden family, were identified Saturday as 40-year-old Christopher Rhoden Sr.; his 16-year-old son, Christopher Rhoden Jr.; 44-year-old Kenneth Rhoden; 38-year-old Gary Rhoden; 37-year-old Dana Rhoden; 20-year-old Clarence "Frankie" Rhoden; 20-year-old Hannah Gilley; and 19-year-old Hanna Rhoden. A Cincinnati-area businessman posted a $25,000 reward for information that leads to an arrest and conviction in the brutal slayings. In a written statement, Attorney General Mike DeWine and Pike County Sheriff Charles Reader said the investigation into the killings of the Rhoden family is still in its early stages. They said evidence continues to be processed and analyzed from the four properties near Piketon where the family members were found dead Friday. DeWine told reporters earlier Friday that eight relatives seven adults and a 16-year-old boy were apparently shot in the head execution-style. Pike County Sheriff Charles Reader said at least three young children survived. One was 4 days old, one was 6 months old, and the third was 3 years old. The youngest baby was found in bed next to the childs dead mother. My heart goes out to my county, Reader said. DeWine said the family's last name was Rhoden, but did not give first names. "If I was a member of that family, I would be extra cautious right now," the attorney general added. Reader later told a late night news conference he had spoken with the family and gave them "precautionary measures to take." Asked if he had a message for the killer or killers, Reader replied, "we're coming." Investigators said it was possible more than one shooter attacked the family because the homes were spread out roughly a mile and a half apart. Three of the four homes were on the same street in Piketon. Officials said a preliminary investigation revealed that none of the eight killings were by suicide. According to the Chillicothe Gazette, the first call of a possible fatality came at 7:53 a.m. The sheriffs office received a 911 call reporting a possible death at a home owned by a Christopher Rhoden on Union Hill Road. Police found two bodies in that home. While deputies were responding to that call, bystanders flagged authorities down and pointed them to two more houses on the same road. Five move bodies were found in those homes and the 16-year-old was later found at a home on Left Fork Road. Pastor Phil Fulton told the Gazette that one of the victims was 37-year-old Dana Manley Rhoden, Christopher Rhodens ex-wife. Police havent confirmed those details The Union Hill Church pastor opened his doors to the Rhoden family to help deal with their tragic losses. Fulton told WTTE-TV hes here for them in this difficult time. "This is a time I've learned over the years you put your feelings on hold that's hard to do but you embrace the family as you deal with the family this is where we rely on the lord," Fulton said. He said he has no idea what kind of evil person wouldve killed members of the Rhoden family. The church will remain open providing meals and other support for those affected by the tragedy, according to WTTE-TV. Goldie Hilderbran said she lives about a mile from where she has been told a shooting took place news she received from a mail carrier who told her deputies had an area blocked off. "She just told me she knew something really bad has happened," Hilderbran said. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Click for more from the Chillicothe Gazette. Click for more from Fox 19. Click for more from My Fox 28 Columbus. Chicago police are reviewing officers' use of force in a 2011 robbery and two officers have been stripped of their powers pending the outcome of an investigation. The department announced the news Friday evening. It comes as Mayor Rahm Emanuel pledges to change how police-involved shooting and misconduct cases are handled after the fatal shooting of Laquan McDonald. The black teenager was shot 16 times by a white officer in 2014. Superintendent Eddie Johnson says he's reviewing internal affairs and Independent Police Review Authority cases. Among them is the 2011 incident where Johnson says the officers' actions in apprehending an offender now serving prison time is "concerning." Video shows an officer roughly handling a woman who's been pulled over, including taking her to the ground with her hands up. The daughter of a northeast Georgia man suspected of shooting five people to death before killing himself says her father was a "ticking time bomb." Lauren Hawes told The Associated Press on Saturday that she, her mother Angela Dent and her 1-year-old daughter hid in a neighbor's house barely escaping with their lives while her father, Wayne Anthony Hawes, 50, went on a bloody rampage and killed five people, including her grandmother and cousin. "He made threats before, but we never thought it would be at this capacity," Lauren Hawes said. "He's been kind of a ticking time bomb if you want to put in a few words." Capt. Andy Shedd of the Columbia County Sheriff's Office said in a statement that the Friday night shootings stemmed from a domestic dispute that left three men and two women dead at two separate locations within about a mile of each other. The body of shooting suspect Hawes was recovered Saturday by authorities in his home in Appling. Lauren Hawes, 26, confirmed that the bloodshed was connected to a domestic dispute between her parents: her mother had walked out on her father just a week ago. Angela Dent had left before but this time, she took her possessions with her to prevent Hawes from destroying them as he had done in the past. After Dent's departure, Wayne Hawes bottomed out emotionally. "He's done things that were questionable in the past, but never to this extent. This is very surprising. We thought he could possibly hurt himself, but not others," said Lauren Hawes. The rampage began Friday evening, when sheriff deputies responded to a home at about 8 p.m. and found three victims. Authorities then were called to a second home nearby, where two other victims were found. "We believe the two shootings were related based on witness accounts," Shedd said. When authorities reached Hawes' house and entered, they found him dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. They also found evidence that he attempted to set the house on fire. The victims were identified as Roosevelt Burns, 75; Rheba Mae Dent, 85; Trequila Clark, 31; Lizzy Williams, 59; and Shelly Williams, 62. One of the female victims died on the way to the hospital, Shedd said. The others were dead at the scene. "We believe some of the victims were related to the suspect's wife," Shedd said. Lauren Hawes said her parents had known each since they were teenagers, and had a common law marriage. Lauren Hawes said Rheba Mae Dent was her grandmother, and her cousin was Trequila Clark. She said her grandmother was retired and her cousin was a registered nurse, who graduated from Augusta State University in 2012. She said Roosevelt Burns was her grandmother's brother. Ola Murry of Appling in northeast Georgia said the neighborhood is still devastated by the events. Murray said she thought Hawes was a nice guy, but he made a "stupid" decision. She would see him around the neighborhood and he would often say hello while passing by. "I always thought he was a nice guy," Murray said. "I know he did what he did, but that doesn't make him a bad guy. You know, the devil gets into you sometimes and you do stupid stuff. You got to think. You always have to put the Lord in front of you, let him lead you and you won't go wrong." An investigation is ongoing. The veteran Florida zookeeper who was mauled by a tiger violated policy when she entered into the big cat's enclosure, zoo officials said. In a statement released late Friday, Palm Beach Zoo president and chief executive Andrew Aiken said Stacey Konwiser, 38, entered "the same portion" of the tiger house that was "clearly designated as accessible by a tiger." Konwiser, also known as "the tiger whisperer" was inside the tiger habitat on April 15, 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. "Under Palm Beach Zoo policy, zoo employees are never allowed to enter a tiger enclosure to which the animal has access," the statement said. 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. 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." 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. "All of us share two common goals: to completely understand how this could ever happen and to assure everyone that this will never happen again," Aiken said in the statement. next Image 1 of 3 prev next Image 2 of 3 prev Image 3 of 3 After Israel's war against Gaza militants in 2014, Arab countries led the way in pledging reconstruction aid to the devastated seaside enclave. But a new report released Monday by the World Bank shows that Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and other Arab donors have delivered only a small fraction of what was promised. The World Bank released its report a day before a gathering of international donor countries in Brussels, sending the meeting a stark message that donations are well behind the schedule set when pledges were made at an international conference in October 2014. "Actual disbursements fall short of planned disbursements by around $1.3 billion, and hence, donors are urged to accelerate the disbursement of funds," the report said. If donor funding continues at the current pace, it added, pledges are expected to be complete by mid-2019, some two years behind schedule. Israel launched the war in July 2014 in what it said was a campaign to halt heavy rocket fire from the territory, which is ruled by the Islamic militant group Hamas. During 50 days of fighting, more than 2,200 Palestinians were killed, over half of them civilians, according to U.N. and Palestinian estimates. Seventy-three people, including six civilians, were killed on the Israeli side. The fighting also inflicted heavy damage on Gaza, damaging or destroying some 171,000 homes, according to U.N. figures. The Palestinians say 75,000 people remain homeless. Israel says Hamas is responsible for the damage, noting the group used residential neighborhoods for cover as it fired rockets, triggering Israeli retaliation. At the 2014 conference in Cairo, the international community pledged some $3.51 billion in aid over three years to rebuild Gaza. According to Monday's report, $1.41 billion has been delivered, compared to $2.71 billion that should have arrived based on the original schedule. Qatar led the list of donors in 2014, pledging $1 billion. The energy-rich country's foreign minister at the time, Khalid bin Mohammed al-Attiyah, denounced the "international silence" that surrounded Gaza's destruction. "While the Palestinian people need financial support, they need more political support from the international community," he said at the time. Yet a year and half later, Qatar has delivered only $152 million, or 15 percent of what was promised, according to the World Bank. Saudi Arabia, the No. 2 donor, has delivered just over 10 percent of the $500 million it pledged, while the United Arab Emirates has sent just 15 percent of the $200 million it promised and Kuwait has delivered none of the $200 million it pledged. Turkey, one of Hamas' closest allies, has delivered about one-third of the $200 million it pledged. Officials from Turkey and the Gulf Arab countries were not immediately available for comment. In contrast, the United States has delivered all of the $277 million it pledged, while the European Union has sent nearly three-quarters of the $348 million it promised, according to the figures. Individual European nations, including Norway, Switzerland, Germany and the U.K. have all sent most or all of the aid they pledged. The international aid is meant to pass through the internationally recognized Palestinian Authority, bypassing Hamas. Last week, Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah urged donor countries to "make good on their pledges" they made at the Cairo Conference. For years, the Palestinians, who rely heavily on donor aid to prop up their self-rule government, have complained that Arab allies have been slow in delivering promised assistance. Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri urged donors to fulfill their pledges, warning that ongoing harsh conditions in Gaza could lead to renewed violence. "Unfortunately, there are broken promises and betrayal from the donor parties in the reconstruction file," he said. "We call on all parties to honor their pledges because the situation in Gaza is catastrophic, and it constitutes a real case of suffocation and prepares the atmosphere for the return of the explosion." Donor aid is just one component of rescuing the embattled Palestinian economy, and in its report, the World Bank also took aim at Israel. Monday's report said the Palestinian Authority is losing about $285 million each year under existing economic agreements with Israel. In interim peace deals in the 1990s, Israel agreed to collect taxes on behalf of the Palestinians and transfer the money each month. The World Bank said some of the arrangements have become outdated, while others have not been fully implemented due to "tax leakages" on trade with Israel and undervaluing Palestinian imports from other countries. It said the losses amount to 2.2 percent of Palestinian economic activity. The report also said that Israel is holding some $669 million in revenues owed to the Palestinians, mostly pension contributions collected from Palestinians working in Israel and their employers. It said the Palestinian Authority has not yet created a dedicated pension fund for these workers, holding up the money. It said that an Israeli blockade imposed on Gaza after Hamas seized power in 2007, "continues to weigh on the economy." It also said that Egypt's closure of its border crossing with Gaza, the main gateway for people moving in and out of the territory, has "further exacerbated the situation." ___ Associated Press writer Fares Akram in Gaza City, Gaza Strip, contributed to this report. North Korea on Saturday fired what appeared to be a ballistic missile from a submarine off its northeast coast, South Korean defense officials said, Pyongyang's latest effort to expand its military might in the face of pressure by its neighbors and Washington. The South Korean officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of office rules, could not immediately confirm where the projectile landed. The Saturday evening launch of what the officials said was presumably a submarine-launched ballistic missile took place near the North Korean coastal town of Sinpo, where analysts have previously detected efforts by the North to develop submarine-launched ballistic missile systems. A successful test from a submarine would be a worrying development because mastering the ability to fire missiles from submerged vessels would make it harder for outsiders to detect what North Korea is doing before it launches, giving it the potential to surprise its enemies. South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement that the projectile fired by the North on Saturday traveled about 19 miles. It said a typical submarine-launched ballistic missile can travel at least 186 miles. The North last test-launched a submarine-launched ballistic missile on Dec. 25, but that test was seen as failure, the Joint Chiefs of Staff said. The U.S. State Department would not comment on the reports of Saturday's launch, but noted, "Launches using ballistic missile technology are a clear violation of multiple U.N. Security Council resolutions." "We call on North Korea to refrain from actions that further destabilize the region and focus instead on taking concrete steps toward fulfilling its commitments and international obligations," said State Department spokesman John Kirby. North Korea has recently sent a barrage of missiles and artillery shells into the sea amid ongoing annual military drills between the United States and South Korea. Pyongyang says the drills are a preparation for an invasion of the North. The firings also come as the North expresses anger about toughened international sanctions over its recent nuclear test and long-range rocket launch. North Korea's belligerence may also be linked to a major ruling party congress next month meant to further cement leader Kim Jong Un's grip on power. Promoting military accomplishments could be an attempt to overshadow a lack of economic achievements ahead of the Workers' Party congress, the first since 1980. While South Korean experts say it's unlikely that North Korea currently possesses an operational submarine that can fire multiple missiles, they acknowledge that the North is making progress on such technology. This past weekend my family traveled to Tennessee for my little brothers ordination ceremony. Ordination is the process of acknowledging Gods call on someones life and setting them apart for the office of ministry in the church. Jordan is a passionate theologian who loves to study the Word of God. Even better, he loves to share what he has learned with others. He possesses an unwavering faith that is grounded in the Bible. He is adept at relating biblical themes with current culture, which makes him particularly effective in ministering to young people. That, and the fact that he loves to play video games. Sunday night was a special time for my brother because it was the culmination of years of pastoral training and formal schooling. The number of people in the audience made it obvious that Jordan touched many lives during his years in Tennessee. It was a meaningful evening for all, but only his family knew just how incredible that moment was. For it is by Gods grace and Gods grace alone that Jordans lifeand mine, for that matterturned out the way it has. Jordan is not the person he is because of the circumstances of his upbringing. He is who he is despite those circumstances. Our father was an alcoholic and a drug addict who left our family when Jordan was just 3 years old. Being six years older, I have some memory of our father being a part of our family. Jordan does not. My mother and grandmother did the best job that they could to support and raise three children. Times were difficult. Money was tight. A sense of security was rare. They endeavored to fill the void left by our dad, but nothing can completely replace the love of a father. As I listened to Jordan give his testimony and watched person after person come up and pray over him and his wife, I couldnt help but think about two different passages of Scripture. The first is from Pauls second letter to Timothy. In it Paul writes, I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well. (2 Timothy 1:5). He goes on to say that Timothy has been acquainted with the sacred writings since childhood. Like Jordan and I, Timothy did not have a believing father, but he did have a mother and a grandmother who taught him about God. Looking back, I can say the same for my own grandmother and mother. If there was one constant in our childhood, it was the church. We were there whenever the doors were open. Our familys matriarchs prayed for us and taught us the Bible. They successfully planted seeds in our hearts that blossomed into a faith in Jesus as our Savior. We can learn a beautiful lesson from this that we can apply to our own families about the importance of following the admonition of Deuteronomy 11:19. We are to teach Gods words to our children talking about them when [we] sit at home and when [we] walk along the road, when [we] lie down and when [we] get up. The second passage of Scripture that I was reminded of was Gods promise to the people of Israel through the Old Testament prophet Joel. In Joel 2:25, He says, I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten ... You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied, and praise the name of the Lord your God who has dealt wondrously with you. And my people shall never again be put to shame. Addiction is a lot like a swarm of locusts. It doesnt just eat away at the addict himself, but at everything and everyone around them. In its wake, it leaves heartache and destruction. But when I look at my family now, I can honestly say that God has restored to us all that my fathers addiction had eaten way. My brother said it best when he stood before the assembled congregation to share his testimony. This is all because of Jesus, he said. It is only because of His grace that I stand here today. It all begins and ends in Him. Heather Ablondi is a womens ministry speaker and author who lives in Fredericksburg. You can contact her through her website, heatherablondi.com. As we enter the mid-terms, and begin ramping up for the upcoming presidential election, we would all do well to get to know Mark Noll. US Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) Market Is To Grow At A CAGR Of 8.47 % By 2018 : Radiant Insights,Inc The Virtual Desktop Infrastructure Market in the US 2014-2018, has been prepared based on an in-depth market analysis with inputs from industry experts. -- Virtual Desktop Infrastructure market in the US to grow at a CAGR of 8.47 percent over the period 2014-2018. One of the key factors contributing to this market growth is the need for remote access interfaces for the enterprises. The Virtual Desktop Infrastructure market in the US has also been witnessing the growing adoption of cloud-based virtual desktop infrastructure solutions. However, the huge capital expenditure into network restructuring could pose a challenge to the growth of this market. Browse Full Research Report With TOC on http://www.radiantinsights.com/research/virtual-desktop-infrastructure-vdi-market-in-the-us-2014-2018 The Virtual Desktop Infrastructure Market in the US 2014-2018, has been prepared based on an in-depth market analysis with inputs from industry experts. The report focuses on the US; it also covers the Virtual Desktop Infrastructure market landscape and its growth prospects in the coming years. The report also includes a discussion of the key vendors operating in this market. The key vendors dominating this market space are Citrix Systems Inc., Microsoft Corp., Oracle Corp., and VMware Inc. Other vendors mentioned in the report are Desktone Inc., MokaFive, Quest Software Inc., RedHat Inc., and Unidesk Corp. See More Reports of This Category by Radiant Insights: www.radiantinsights.com/catalog/ict Key questions answered in this report: What will the market size be in 2018 and what will the growth rate be? What are the key market trends? What is driving this market? What are the challenges to market growth? Who are the key vendors in this market space? What are the market opportunities and threats faced by the key vendors? What are the strengths and weaknesses of the key vendors? You can request one free hour of our analyst's time when you purchase this market report. Details are provided within the report. Request For Research Report Sample @ www.radiantinsights.com/research/virtual-desktop-infrastructure-vdi-market-in-the-us-2014-2018#tabs-4 About Radiant Insights,Inc Radiant Insights is a platform for companies looking to meet their market research and business intelligence requirements. We assist and facilitate organizations and individuals procure market research reports, helping them in the decision making process. We have a comprehensive collection of reports, covering over 40 key industries and a host of micro markets. In addition to over extensive database of reports, our experienced research coordinators also offer a host of ancillary services such as, research partnerships/ tie-ups and customized research solutions. For more information about us, please visit http://www.radiantinsights.com/research/virtual-desktop-infrastructure-vdi-market-in-the-us-2014-2018 Contact Info: Name: Michelle Thoras Organization: Radiant Insights, Inc. Address: 28 2nd Street Phone: 14153490054 Source: http://marketersmedia.com/us-virtual-desktop-infrastructure-vdi-market-is-to-grow-at-a-cagr-of-8-47-by-2018-radiant-insightsinc/111857 Release ID: 111857 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) Blue Whale Lifeguard & Pool Service In Atlanta Celebrates Its 25th Anniversary Blue Whale Lifeguard & Pool Service, Inc. is celebrating its 25 year anniversary and reveals some of its big wins and challenges it faced getting this far. More information on the business can be found at http://bluewhalepools.com -- Blue Whale Lifeguard & Pool Service, Inc. is celebrating their 25th Anniversary, which commemorates twenty five challenging, fun, profitable years in business. This is a huge milestone for the Atlanta-based pool management business, which has provided pool management to Homeowner Associations and residential subdivisions with swimming pools since 1990. Blue Whale Lifeguard & Pool Service, Inc., one of the premiere pool management companies in Atlanta and surrounding cities, got it's start in 1990 when founder Morgan Vesali graduated from Georgia Tech when the job market was not that well and decided to start this business. Vesali already had 5 year experience working for the Buckhead YMCA as lifeguard and swim instructor and in his final years he was promoted to aquatic coordinator. This experience made starting Blue Whale the perfect choice. One of the earliest challenges Blue Whale Lifeguard & Pool Service, Inc. faced was dealing with new lifeguards and keeping all the customers happy. While every business of course faces challenges, some, like Blue Whale Lifeguard & Pool Service, Inc. are fortunate enough to enjoy real successes, wins and victories too. Once such victory came when establishing a business from ground zero to one of the major pool management companies in Atlanta and suburbs. Morgan Vesali, Owner at Blue Whale Lifeguard & Pool Service, Inc. was also quoted when discussing another big win. "One of the high points of Blue Whale Lifeguard & Pool Service, Inc.'s history so far was to get to know more about the business and how to work with different customers and employees." Blue Whale Lifeguard & Pool Service, Inc.'s Founder, Morgan Vesali says "We're delighted to be celebrating our 25 Year Anniversary. I believe the secret to getting this far in business today is commitment to excellence and patience". Blue Whale Lifeguard & Pool Service, Inc. currently consists of 50 employees and has big plans for the upcoming year. One of their core objectives is growth in the HOA's and subdivisions within the metro Atlanta market. Blue Whale Lifeguard & Pool Service, Inc. would also like to thank friends, customers and all its partners for their well wishes on this happy occasion. More information on the business can be found at http://bluewhalepools.com For more information about us, please visit http://bluewhalepools.com Contact Info: Name: Morgan Vesali Organization: Blue Whale Lifeguard & Pool Service, Inc. Address: 5480 Woodsong Trail, Dunwoody, GA 30338 Phone: 770-893-9017 Release ID: 111907 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) New Website Helping Authors Promote their Christian Book on a Shoestring Budget New Christian book website helping authors promote their book on a shoestring budget. -- Christian authors trudge the long road to write and complete their God-honoring masterpiece. Little do they know- this is just the beginning of their journey. Now comes the hard part... MARKETING! While there are many great places to promote books, authors quickly realize how expensive some promotional sites can be. Matthew Irons, entrepreneur and author of the best-selling book, "Upward Entrepreneur: How to Transform Your Start-up Business in 21 Days by Unlocking the Truth of God's Word". Just created a new website, CrossCenteredBooks.com. This website is the newest place to find discount and free Christian eBooks. "It's challenging to find affordable ways to promote a book when you don't have a lot of money to invest", says Irons. Right now, CrossCenteredBooks.com is offering their Christian book marketing package for only FIVE DOLLARS! Mr. Irons understands the frustration of marketing a book on a limited budget. He wants to help other Christian authors get noticed by new readers, and help propel the success of their book for God's glory. This package includes: placement on the "Featured Christian Books" page for one day, and remain listed in the site archives forever; be included in the daily email blast; be listed on their Facebook Page, and Group; and shared on other social media properties (Twitter, Pinterest, Tumbler, etc.). Even though the site cannot guarantee sales, it is a great way to get a book in front of as many Christian readers as possible! CrossCenteredBooks.com makes it easy for readers to get updated on the newest discounted and free Christian eBooks by subscribing to their email list, and connecting to their social media pages. All Christian authors are invited to take advantage of this limited-time Christian book marketing package. To learn more, please visit http://crosscenteredbooks.com/christian-book-marketing-package/. For more information about us, please visit http://crosscenteredbooks.com Contact Info: Name: Matthew Irons Email: support@crosscenteredbooks.com Organization: CrossCenteredBooks.com Source: http://marketersmedia.com/new-website-helping-authors-promote-their-christian-book-on-a-shoestring-budget/111939 Release ID: 111939 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) Screen Printing Company Reinfall Design, Re-Brands Their Image Reinfall Design announces their re-branding and the availability of their new screen printing & embroidery service. More information can be found at http://www.reinfalldesign.com. -- People looking for the latest and greatest from the screen printing & embroidery industry will soon be able to get involved with Reinfall Design. Today Eric Stecks, Owner at Reinfall Design releases details of the company's re-branding and release of their newest product line. The company's new image is designed to appeal to schools, businesses and organizations in the 21st century. Reinfall Design ensures that all of their products are of the highest quality to meet the demands of each and every customer. This is great news for the consumer as it will give more confidence in getting exactly what the customer orders online and what they receive in the mail. A 100% Money Back Guarantee is made part of their service, since Eric says it gives customers the comfort of knowing they are getting what they ask for. Customers who invest in these products should enjoy this because it will ensure that customers gets exactly what they want, guaranteed. Reinfall Design delivers excellent customer service and Eric made sure to make this an intrical part of their new development, as it ensures that customers receive the highest quality attention and get exactly what they need. Customers in need of custom apparel and head wear will likely appreciate this because Reinfall Design takes pride in making sure that the customers get the highest customer care and service.. Eric Stecks, when asked about the Reinfall Design's commitment said "We have made major changes to improve our quality, guarantees and customer service and are proud to relaunch our brand." This is the latest offering from Reinfall Design and they are particularly excited about this new re-branding launch because they has been working on this for several years to ensure the best service and quality and finally all the pieces are in place to provide the nation with high quality apparel at an affordable cost. Those interested in learning more about Reinfall Design and their screen printing & embroidery service can do so on the website at http://www.reinfalldesign.com For more information about us, please visit http://www.reinfalldesign.com Contact Info: Name: Eric Stecks Email: reinfalldesign@gmail.com Organization: Reinfall Design Address: 1113 Cherry Street, Lake in the Hills, IL 60156 Phone: 847-849-3749 Release ID: 111836 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) Paul Tarins RICP Announces Another Successful Retirement Planning Today Educational Series View as PDF Print View ( April 23, 2016 ) Winter Park, FL -- Mr. Paul Tarins, founder of Sovereign Retirement Solutions of Winter Park Florida, was lead instructor, bringing the nationally-known Retirement Planning Today educational course to Seminole State College, Oviedo campus. The course was taught over two evenings. Sessions were held in January and February in Oviedo, FL. Mr. Tarins donated all tuition received for the program to support the Foundation for Seminole State College. This is his second year teaching the course. More About The Educational Course: The Retirement Planning Today series was developed by the Financial Educators Network of Lake Oswego, OR. Retirement Planning Today instructors, such as Paul Tarins, must be authorized by the Financial Educators Network (FEN). The authorization process, as described on the FEN website is rigorous and only qualified and experienced financial professionals are approved. FEN itself is described on their website, at http://www.retirementplanningtoday.com/, in the following quote; "Financial Educators Network (FEN) is an independent training and education company. We have developed our services to meet the needs of schools and organizations who want to complement and enhance their adult education programs." Tarins provided his personal summary of the course; "A major focus is on establishing your retirement goals. We first help you determine the income you will need in retirement. With that in mind, you can calculate of the financial assets you will need to accumulate during your working years. Throughout, we also work on your practical considerations; debt, increasing cash flow, IRA strategies, taxes, estate planning and risk management. Overall, the program is designed to help you plan a successful retirement. As the saying goes; if you fail to plan you should plan to fail." The official offering brochure describes attendee benefits; "Retirement Planning Today contains something for everyone. We address financial issues that pertain to the self-employed as well as employees of corporations and government agencies. The course is designed to teach you how to build wealth and align your money with your values to accomplish your goals in life. Whether you plan to retire 20 years from now or have just recently retired, the information you learn in this class can deliver rewards throughout your lifetime." More About the Foundation for Seminole State College: (source: https://www.seminolestate.edu/foundation/about/) Created at the request of the College's first president, Dr. Earl Weldon, the Foundation for Seminole State College is a not-for-profit corporation established under Florida law in 1968. The activities, funds and resources produced by the Foundation are managed by a board of directors, comprising dedicated business and civic leaders. These men and women serve the Foundation without compensation while contributing their considerable management and leadership skills to foster support for Seminole State. The Foundation's mission is to enhance the College's programs and services through the development and management of private contributions and community partnerships. The Foundation provides resources that support academic excellence, increased access and vital community outreach, which assists in the advancement of the institution, students, faculty and staff. The Foundation's goal is to increase its role as steward of relationships and funds; serve as the facilitator of opportunities; and be the messenger and model of the College's values and merit. Mission The Foundation's mission is to enhance Seminole State College's programs and services through the development and management of private contributions, public grants and community partnerships. The Foundation provides resources that support academic excellence, increased access and vital community outreach, which assists in the advancement of the institution, its students, and its faculty and staff. The focus of the Foundation for Seminole State College is to increase its roles as the steward of relationships and funds; the facilitator of opportunities; and the messenger and model of Seminole State values and merit." About the Course Instructor, Paul Tarins: From http://www.sovereignretirementsolutions.com/; "Paul Tarins,RICP, president and founder of Sovereign Retirement Solutions has been a resident of Central Florida for over twenty five years. He received his bachelor's degree in Economics from Florida State University. He began his career in 1998 acquiring experience in the financial services profession ranging from working for major financial institutions to working with smaller boutique broker dealers. This developed into a vision of owning a business that focused solely on providing honest, simple financial advice. The advice he provides is focused on a philosophy of sound and conservative principles that utilize a wide variety of financial products and services with a focus on cost efficient portfolios, asset distribution, and wealth preservation." Paul is a fully licensed Insurance Producer in the State of Florida. He has completed all course work for the Retirement Income Certified Professional designation through the American College of Financial services. Paul Tarins is not a Seminole State College faculty member. About Sovereign Retirement Solutions As described on the firm's website: "As an investment advisor representative of Portfolio Medics, Paul acts in a fiduciary capacity, meaning he accepts fiduciary responsibility by acting in the legal best interest of his clients and putting his client's interests always ahead of our own." "Risk management is an important part of our investment strategy. Our investment goals are to consistently achieve reasonable returns on investments over time based on a plan specifically created for the individual client. We prefer consistent and reasonable to sporadic and extreme. We will manage and monitor your assets unlike the typical financial advisor's one size fits all management approach." About Sovereign Retirement Solutions OR: Investment advisory services are offered through a separate entity, Portfolio Medics, a registered investment advisor. Sovereign Retirement Solutions and Portfolio Medics are not affiliated. Sovereign Retirement Solutions provides insurance services to clients through Paul M Tarins LLC. For more information visit r Recent Press Releases By The Same User Matteson Partners Taking On New In-House Legal Recruitment Clients (Mon 29th May 17) Huong Nghiep A Au Vocational Guidance School Launches New Major (Thu 25th May 17) FSP unveils new Industrial and Gaming power solutions at COMPUTEX 2017 (Wed 24th May 17) The Best Free Keylogger of 2017 Has Been Announced by the Official Remote Keylogger (Tue 23rd May 17) The Remote Keylogger Development Team Announces An Update to the Official iPhone Keylogger (Thu 11th May 17) CaptureStream Announces its New Streaming Video Recorder and Downloader (Mon 8th May 17) MDM, Inc. Joins Largest-Ever U.S. Business Delegation to Hannover Messe MDM, Inc. announced today that it would be part of the largest-ever U.S. delegation to Hannover Messe, the world's foremost trade fair for industrial technology, taking place April 25-29, in Hannover, Germany. -- Colorado Springs -- MDM, Inc. announced today that it would be part of the largest-ever U.S. delegation to Hannover Messe, the world's foremost trade fair for industrial technology, taking place April 25-29, in Hannover, Germany. For the first time in the Fair's history, the United States will be the Partner Country, a status that provides the more than 390 businesses and organizations in the U.S. delegation an unprecedented opportunity to be prominently featured throughout the event. President Obama will also participate in this year's event, themed "Integrated Industry-Discover Solutions." MDM, Inc. will exhibit in Hall 27, Stand B32 at the show. "The U.S. business community and the Department of Commerce have a clear message for the world: the United States is open for business. We will demonstrate and deliver on that message at the 2016 Hannover Messe," said U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker. "We are proud to have some of America's most innovative and forward-thinking pump engineers who focus their work on developing disruptive technology to deliver higher efficiencies joining the U.S. delegation at this year's fair." MDM, Inc. is a manufacturer of corrosion resistant centrifugal pumps; MDM focuses their work on delivering higher efficiencies by examining each pump component that limits efficiency, improving the efficiency of those components, and then putting them all back together. The results of their work are widely known as the industry leader in efficiency, reliability and lowest total cost of ownership. Gene Ashe, the President of MDM, Inc. said, "We are excited to be a part of the first-ever USA Partner Country presence at Hannover Messe. MDM is committed to developing new technologies to ensure the success of the energy transition. As an expert in hydraulic engineering we are trailblazing new ideas and concepts, which allow us to manufacture pumps that offer efficiency, reliability and in return offer lowest total cost of ownership to our partners. We look forward to making the most of this opportunity." Hannover Messe typically hosts more than 200,000 attendees from more than 70 countries, including global investors, buyers, distributors, resellers and government officials. For more information visit the MDM blog: http://blog.mdminc.com About MDM, Inc. MDM, Inc. has been an innovative leader in the corrosion resistant centrifugal pumps manufacturing business since 1978 and has intensely cultivated its SEQUENCE and ADVANCE brand. The names have come to mean high quality and innovations at a reasonable price within several pump market segments including: Industrial, Commercial and Consumer. Recently, the additional trademarks VALUFLO, SEQUEL and GENESYS are testament to an ongoing commitment to product development. About Hannover Messe The Hannover Messe is the world's biggest industrial fair, held on the Hannover fairground in Hannover, Germany. At Hannover Messe 2016, all eyes will be on Industry 4.0 (advanced manufacturing). Over five action-packed days, some 5,000 exhibitors will be showcasing the latest technologies for the factories and energy systems. The event's Partner Country for 2016 - the United States of America - will be presenting its high-tech offerings "Made in the USA", and U.S. President Barack Obama will be leveraging the world's foremost trade fair for industrial technology to promote the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). Contact Info: Name: Ben Ashe Email: bash@mdminc.com Phone: 626-345-9048 Organization: MDM Inc. Source: http://www.prreach.com/pr/23496 Release ID: 111990 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) Free Freightnet Membership List your company in the Freightnet directory. It's Free, it's Easy and your company can be displayed in front of potential freight buyers within 24 hours. Livestock farmers are urging consumers to beef up your butty as the nation celebrates the start of Great British Beef Week. Beef Week kicks off today (Saturday 23 April) St Georges Day and is designed to raise awareness of the quality and versatility of great British beef. Industry leaders hope the celebratory week will also help stem the slide in beef prices, which have fallen to their lowest level since August 2011. Organised by Ladies in Beef, this year the emphasis is on beefing up your butty a celebration of the 5.7bn sandwiches eaten by British consumers every year. See also: Beef prices fall to lowest since summer 2011 From making the ultimate beef butty from St Georges Day roast leftovers to enjoying a steak sandwich, Ladies in Beef hope to promote increased beef consumption. Beef farmers daughter Sophie Cumber, a member of Ladies in Beef, said: Butties are a mainstay of our lives, so its important they are a nutritious part of the weekly meal plan. All beef carrying the Red Tractor logo can be traced back to the farm where the livestock came from, guaranteeing the provenance of the meat purchased. For inspiration, the Ladies in Beef website includes a special ultimate beef butty video, as well as a range of recipes, beef-cut information and some fun Moo dances. They will also be out on the streets giving away British beef sandwiches and will host a range of local events run in conjunction with the Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution. Figures from AHDB Beef & Lamb suggest the average beef price slumped to 325.2p/kg in March 2016, losing nearly 5p/kg since January and about 29p/kg since March 2015. The last time the farmgate beef price was so low was August 2011, when it fell to 316.7p/kg. NFU livestock board chairman Charles Sercombe said he was delighted at the return of an annual event to promote British beef at a time when the sector faced significant challenges. Millions of pounds are being wiped off the value of the payment grids, leaving many producers questioning the viability of the industry, said Mr Sercombe. We need initiatives like Great British Beef Week to raise awareness among shoppers of great British beef and to re-engage with consumers. Shoppers were continuing to call for greater provenance and clearer labelling of the origin of food products, said Mr Sercombe. The NFU recently produced an online supermarket sourcing guide in a bid to show shoppers which of Britains big retailers are backing British farming. The city of Corvallis is switching its 55-vehicle vehicle diesel fleet to renewable fuels. The citys utility trucks, emergency response vehicles, street sweepers and transit buses currently are using R-50, a blend of 50 percent petroleum diesel and 50 percent renewable diesel. By the end of this month or early next month the city will convert to R-99, which is 1 percent petroleum and 99 percent renewable. The renewable diesel is a mixture of vegetable oils and animal fats. Bob Fenner, fleet supervisor for the city, performed tests and evaluations of the new fuel. It costs 12 cents more per gallon the city used 136,000 gallons of diesel in 2015 but that cost is expected to come down, city officials said, as more communities begin using the fuel. Also, Fenner found that there are power and mileage efficiency savings and that the use of the renewable fuel reduces the amount of fuel system maintenance that is needed. The switch to renewable diesel in our fleet will have an immediate impact on the citys commitment to reducing its carbon footprint, said Mayor Biff Traber. I hope that the growing demand for this type of alternative fuel in Oregon will help strengthen the states renewable energy industry. Earlier, the city had experimented with biodiesel but found that it contributed to more wear and tear on vehicle systems. The conversion to renewable diesel is expected to lead to an annual savings of 1,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent, said Scott Dybvad, city sustainability program specialist. In addition to the reduction in carbon emissions, the entire community will benefit from a reduction in many pollutants that contribute to smog and poor air quality, Dybvad said. City officials noted that Eugene and Portland already use R-99 and that San Franciscos 2,000-vehicle diesel fleet switched to R-99 last summer. One of the stories from the Gospel According to John that is frequently reflected on in the weeks following Easter is that of Doubting Thomas. Thomas, one of the 12 closest friends and followers of Jesus, gets singled out following the resurrection because he tells his fellow disciples that hes going to have to experience the risen Jesus for himself in order to believe he is alive. Having previously appeared to the others, Jesus comes again and offers Thomas the experience he seeks. Whether we take this story literally or not (and I, for one, do not), who among us wouldnt be like Thomas and need to see for this ourselves? Who wouldnt be skeptical of such an outrageous claim? Historical references beyond the Bible report that Thomas moved forward in his life as a courageous teacher and missionary based on his own experience, the evidence that rose from his doubt. I am like Thomas. For me, doubt is a very important feature of my faith. I must have room in my spiritual life for challenges and questions coming from others as well as those that simply rise within me. Otherwise, my faith is not really my own, but is instead the cobbling together of what others have believed and written and experienced. All the questioning and doubting has brought me to a place in my journey with Jesus where my particular beliefs ABOUT him carry less and less weight. And what has risen instead within me is an ever-growing belief IN Jesus. There is a critical distinction here. If we were to say what we believe ABOUT our spouses, our friends, our loved ones, we might be saying that we thought they were fun, or optimistic or dependable or maybe undependable or overly sensitive. We would be describing them in some way. But when we say we believe IN them, we are simply saying we TRUST them we have faith IN them. I personally doubt many of the widely held beliefs ABOUT Jesus. I have stopped having doubts about having these doubts because I believe IN him. I trust him. I have faith in what he taught, how he lived, how he died and what rose from his life. I use the word Christ to describe what rose from Jesus life the love of God shown in him and the power of that love available to all people. My belief IN Jesus has freed me from the need to have a very formal set of beliefs ABOUT him, and this freedom has led me to an ever-deepening trust in the love that IS God. Like Thomas, I have evidence to support my belief in Jesus the Christ. Im not talking here about evidence of the literal truth of the resurrection or evidence to establish the perfect language to describe Jesus theologically. I have found evidence of Jesus in the lives of those who follow him, who care deeply for others, who seek justice and strive to live in peace, who do their best to love without conditions. I must say I also see evidence of this unconditional love in any and all people of good will, whether they claim to be followers of Jesus or not. Love is not limited by anyones set of beliefs ABOUT anyone or anything. Jesus knew that love itself is something you simply believe IN something you could trust. Any of us, like Jesus, can be evidence of love in the world. About this, I have no doubt. Welcome to my genealogy blog. Genea-Musings features genealogy research tips and techniques, genealogy news items and commentary, genealogy humor, San Diego genealogy society news, family history research and some family history stories from the keyboard of Randy Seaver (of Chula Vista CA), who thinks that Genealogy Research Is really FUN! Copyright (c) Randall J. Seaver, 2006-2021. '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. CIA Director Pays Unannounced Visit to Bosnia - Reports Sputnik News 19:43 22.04.2016(updated 20:31 22.04.2016) US Central Intelligence Agency Director John Brennan is in Bosnia on an unannounced visit for talks with officials, the Web news publication Balkan Insight reported Friday. WASHINGTON (Sputnik) The CIA director arrived from Saudi Arabia, where he met with senior officials from six Gulf Arab nations aimed at coordinating efforts in the conflicts in Iraq, Syria and Yemen, the report said. "Brennan's visit demonstrates that the United States is interested and willing to help Bosnia to further develop its capacities to counter terrorism," security expert Armin Krzalic told the publication. Local reporters were briefed on the visit by Bosnia's chief prosecutor and head of the country's anti-terrorism group, Goran Salihovic. The group is made up of the heads of several agencies, including police, the prosecution office and border police, according to Balkan Insight. According to the group, 124 Bosnians are fighting in foreign wars four in Ukraine and the others in Syria and Iraq for Daesh, which calls itself the Islamic State. Terrorists who come back to Bosnia face jail terms. Some receive lighter sentences if they negotiate their returns and cooperate with Bosnian authorities, other reports explain. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address US Secret Court Ruling Exposes NSA 'Reform' Sham - Whistleblower Sputnik News 01:08 23.04.2016 AT&T/NSA whistleblower Mark Klein claims that the revelation this week that a special court had approved new secret National Security Agency (NSA) operations exposed the 2015 USA Freedom Act as just a new cover for US government abuses. WASHINGTON (Sputnik) The revelation this week that a special court had approved new secret National Security Agency (NSA) operations exposed the 2015 USA Freedom Act as just a new cover for US government abuses, AT&T/NSA whistleblower Mark Klein told Sputnik. "In my view, and the view of the leading NSA whistleblowers, including Thomas Drake, Daniel Elsberg and others, the USA Freedom Act was a fig leaf which did virtually nothing to halt the massive NSA domestic spying," Klein said on Friday. Instead, the 2015 act was intended to give the appearance of "reform" while actually giving new life to the intrusive 2001 USA Patriot Act passed under President George W. Bush right after the September 11, 2001 al-Qaeda terrorist attacks, he maintained. "My guess is this is a change in appearances only, for public consumption. The NSA has shown a remarkable ability to stretch the meaning of words to get whatever they want, such as by interpreting the word 'relevant' to include everybody's phone records in the entire country," he stated. Klein is a now-retired 22-year AT&T employee who, in 2006, exposed that the company had a secret room in its San Francisco facility Room 641A where the NSA had been allowed to install a splitter to trap and record all Internet traffic coming and going over AT&T's backbone lines. The continuing secrecy was consistent with the intent and detailed terms of the 2015 USA Freedom Act, Klein explained. "In the matter of NSA spying on phone call metadata, which [former NSA contractor] Ed Snowden revealed the act's only "reform" was to replace the wholesale handing over to the NSA of millions of Americans' phone call metadata, with a more indirect system," he pointed out. Klein observed that under the new system, the NSA would first submit a specific request to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) court. The actual records would be held by the phone companies, who would then comply with FISA court requests in individual cases, he said. "The Act did not address at all the invasive NSA spying on the internet via the 'secret rooms' revealed by me- at AT&T and other companies," Klein noted. On the surface, the USA Freedom Act would seem to be a constriction on the NSA collection, if somewhat minor, Klein acknowledged. However, he continued, "the FISA court under Bush cooperated in secret with NSA to do the massive and illegal collection as far back as 2001, and the big phone companies like AT&T had no trouble in handing all of it over willingly, with no resistance." The FISA court oversees requests for surveillance warrants against suspected foreign spies inside the United States by federal law enforcement and intelligence agencies. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Centcom Releases Civilian Casualty Assessments By Terri Moon Cronk DoD News, Defense Media Activity WASHINGTON, April 22, 2016 U.S. Central Command officials said today that U.S. airstrikes targeting the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant terrorist organization likely resulted in 20 civilian casualties and 11 civilian injuries in Iraq and Syria last year. Briefing Pentagon reporters via teleconference, Centcom spokesman Air Force Col. Pat Ryder said after thorough assessments of civilian casualty allegations, the "preponderance of evidence" indicates nine separate manned and unmanned U.S. airstrikes between Sept. 10, 2015 and Feb. 2 likely resulted in the causalities and injuries. "We deeply regret the unintentional loss of life and injuries resulting from those strikes and express our deepest sympathies to the victims' families and those affected," he said. Goal: Minimize Casualties "Centcom conducts thorough assessments of all allegations of civilian casualties associated with our airstrikes," Ryder said. "Our goal is to minimize the risk of civilian casualties to the greatest extent possible." The colonel emphasized the U.S. air campaign on ISIL targets in Iraq and Syria is "the most precise in the history of warfare." A Centcom press release also noted that all nine airstrikes complied with the law of armed conflict and all appropriate precautions were taken. Ryder said airstrikes are coordinated in advance with local government officials, and the U.S. military takes "extraordinary precautions" to assess risks to civilian populations. Measures used to mitigate casualties include rigorous flying standards in targeting processes, comprehensive analyses of all available intelligence and careful selection of precision-guided weapons, he said. While airstrikes are conducted when civilian presence near ISIL targets is least likely, Ryder said ISIL fighters are culpable in such tragedies. ISIL Fighters Hide Amongst Civilians "[ISIL continues its] cowardly tactic of hiding and operating among civilian populations by terrorizing citizens in these areas and repeatedly demonstrating their utter disregard for the lives of innocent men, women and children," he said. Including today's casualty assessment, Ryder said there have been 41 other unintentional civilian deaths and 28 injuries from airstrikes since assessments began. The first assessment of a civilian casualty followed a Nov. 5, 2014, airstrike, a DoD official said. Ryder said 162 allegations have been filed since then, and 112 of them were deemed not credible. He said 23 other allegations remain open -- 20 are pending credibility assessments and three are pending investigation. Credible Reports Following are the nine U.S. airstrikes that are reportedly credible, according to the Centcom press release: -- Sept. 10, 2015: in Kubaysah, Iraq, near Hit, during a strike on an ISIL checkpoint, it was assessed that two civilians were killed and four were injured when their vehicle appeared in the target area when weapons were already in flight; -- Oct. 5, 2015: in Atshanah, Iraq, near Huwayjah, during a strike on ISIL personnel, it was assessed that eight civilians were killed during a strike on a mortar fire position used by enemy fighters; -- Nov. 4, 2015: in Huwayjah, Iraq, during a strike on an ISIL vehicle, it was assessed two civilians were injured. The incident occurred when, after weapons were already in flight, the ISIL vehicle unexpectedly pulled off the side of the road near a building where two civilians were standing; -- Nov. 12, 2015: in Ramadi, Iraq, during a strike targeting ISIL fighters, it was assessed that one civilian was killed; -- Dec. 10, 2015: near Raqqah, Syria, during strikes against Siful Sujan, an ISIL external operations planner, it was assessed that one civilian was killed; -- Dec. 12, 2015: in Ramadi, Iraq, during a strike on ISIL personnel at a suspected ISIL checkpoint, it was assessed that five civilians were killed after they unexpectedly moved into the target location when weapons were already in flight; -- Dec. 24, 2015: in Tishreen, Syria, near Manbij, during a strike on two ISIL fighters in a vehicle, it was assessed that one civilian on a motorcycle was killed after riding up to the target area when weapons were already in flight; -- Jan. 11, 2016: near Mosul, Iraq, during a strike on five ISIL individuals guarding an ISIL cash distribution station, it was assessed that one civilian was killed and five were injured; and -- Feb. 2, 2016: in Ghazili, Syria, near Ayn Isa, during a strike on an ISIL vehicle, it was assessed that one civilian was killed after driving into the target area unexpectedly when weapons were already in flight. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address U.S. Conducts Combined-Joint Operation with Philippine Counterparts By Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Jerome D. Johnson Defense Media Activity - Hawaii JAMINDAN, Philippines, April 22, 2016 At the break of dawn, a Philippine army platoon and one U.S. Army platoon from 2nd Battalion, 3rd Infantry Regiment, geared-up on Antique Airfield to conduct the final mission of Operation Handa Koa, part of this year's Balikatan exercise. The team of soldiers boarded two CH-47 Chinook and four UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters to launch an air assault. Together, they trekked through the jungle to reach their main objective, code-named "Rhino". "We started off with a combined-joint amphibious assault on the island itself, and then a Marine air assault onto Antique Airfield. The combined Marines then took control of the airfield expand the lodgment, and conducted a defense," said Army Capt. James Hodges, 25th Infantry Division assistant operations officer. "We then conducted an air landing with U.S. Army forces and Philippine army forces via C-130 to occupy the airfield, and then conducted air assaults from the airfield to a northern objective on Panay itself. Simultaneously, we had Philippine Special Forces conduct reconnaissance missions on the same two objectives to the north," Hodges added. Working Together The first phase of the operation began on the island of Luzon, which included numerous days of planning and synchronization at Camp Emilio Aguinaldo. A combined-joint U.S. and Philippine forces team then worked together to project assets from Luzon to conduct a large-scale operation on the island of Panay. "As we transitioned out of the initial projection phase-down to our initial staging base, it gave us the opportunity to do final rehearsals here on the airfield and then understand a little more about the operational environment that we were going to go into specifically to the island of Panay, and then conduct the air assault today on the objective," said Army Lt. Col. Jared Bordwell, Task Force Patriot commander. Soldiers from 2nd Battalion, 3rd Infantry Regiment had the opportunity to work closely with their Philippine army counterparts at Fort Magsaysay before executing their mission on Panay. The soldiers conducted jungle survival training, close quarters training, and counter improvised explosive device training. "The initial phase back at Magsaysay is when we started to understand each other and gain that appreciation for capabilities as well as form that camaraderie between the two forces," Bordwell said. "An infantryman is an infantryman. So the [Philippine soldiers] and their capabilities and our capabilities -- as we understood each other a little bit more -- they meshed very well with actions on the objective. It was just like having two U.S. platoons or having two [Philippine] platoons out there. Both company commanders did an incredible job of planning, synchronizing, and really enabling that communication during the actions on to facilitate the execution of the mission." By training together, the U.S. and Philippine soldiers developed tactics, techniques, procedures, and built partnerships. A Great Opportunity "I think Balikatan was a great opportunity for my soldiers and myself to learn a lot about the Philippines, understand our partner here, and understand some of the unique challenges of the operational environment," Bordwell said. "I think it's also a great teaching tool as we continue our partnership in the Pacific in the future, and more likely than not soldiers will be back here doing Balikatan or other operations. It's a great partnership and a great ability for us to learn from our partners as well hopefully teach them some capabilities, and refine some of their overall abilities." This year marked the 32nd iteration of the annual Balikatan exercise. The U.S. and the Philippines have a continued interest in strengthening their longstanding security alliance, which has provided a platform for security and stability in the region throughout the decades. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address US 4th Fleet Hosts Bilateral Staff Talks with Chilean Navy Navy News Service Story Number: NNS160422-28 Release Date: 4/22/2016 3:08:00 PM By Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Michael Hendricks, U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command & U.S. 4th Fleet Public Affairs MAYPORT, Fla. (NNS) -- Delegates from U.S. 4th Fleet met with members from the Chilean Navy for the annual Maritime Staff Talks hosted by 4th Fleet at Naval Station Mayport April 19-21. Maritime Staff Talks were established to enhance professional exchanges and interoperability between South American and U.S. navies including discussions covering maritime operations, exercises and theater security cooperation events. Staff talks provide a collaborative environment to share insight into each country's goals for maritime security. Rear Adm. George Ballance, Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command/Commander, U.S. 4th Fleet welcomed the Chilean delegates and highlighted the importance of the event. "It is my pleasure to open the 2016 Maritime Staff Talks between Chile and the United States," said Ballance. "Our efforts this week will further the great cooperation between our navies, enhance our mutual security, and perhaps most importantly, continue to strengthen the friendship and trust between our two countries." UNITAS Pacific 2015, a multilateral exercise, was hosted by Chile and focused heavily on developing and sustaining partnerships that improve the capacity of both U.S. and partner nation maritime forces. "Since the last staff talks held in Vina del Mar in 2014, the Chilean Navy hosted an extremely successful UNITAS PAC in 2015 with the USS George Washington strike group and Air Wing," said Ballance. "As we look ahead, your leadership roles in combined exercises like PANAMAX, UNITAS and RIMPAC will continue to strengthen the links of communications and advance the interoperability between our navies." U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command and U.S. 4th Fleet employ maritime forces in cooperative maritime security operations in order to maintain access and enhance interoperability to build enduring partnerships that foster regional security in the U.S. Southern Command area of responsibility. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address US, Swedish Forces Conduct Bilateral Naval Exercise Navy News Service Story Number: NNS160422-24 Release Date: 4/22/2016 2:31:00 PM From U.S. Naval Forces Europe-Africa/U.S. 6th Fleet BALTIC SEA (NNS) -- USS Donald Cook (DDG 75) and a U.S. Navy P-3 Orion from Patrol Squadron (VP) 4 conducted an underway engagement with the Swedish Navy, April 22. Training alongside partners such as Sweden allows for increased proficiencies across warfare areas as our two nations work toward a safe and prosperous Baltic region. Quote: "We are pleased to be conducting an exercise with our Swedish allies which will enhance interoperability between our Navies. Professional exercises between partners in the region, continue to promote a mutual commitment to regional and global security." -Cmdr. Charles Hampton, commanding officer, USS Donald Cook "The ability to execute anti-submarine warfare flight operations into the Baltic Sea from regional partner nations is crucial to maintaining theater security. Drills and exercises like this with our partners provide vital opportunities to increase our ASW expertise, improve allied naval interoperability, and refine our expeditionary capabilities. From our Polish hosts to Swedish naval units, this exercise has demonstrated the effective communication and cooperation within the region. It has been an honor to be a part such a successful team effort." - Lt. Cmdr. Matthew Garcia, officer in charge and mission commander of (VP) 4 Combat Aircrew 11 (CAC-11) "It's always great to travel and work alongside our Allied Partners. Our team is greatly appreciative of the support and new relationships that we have built with our Polish hosts. It has truly been a pleasure and we look forward to continuing to operate in the region." - Senior Enlisted Leader, Chief Petty Officer (AWFC) Frank Wilson (VP) 4 Detachment Quick Facts: Donald Cook (DDG 75) and VP-4 conducted ASW training while in the Baltic Sea. Earlier today, Donald Cook first dropped an Expendable Mobile Underwater Anti-Submarine Warfare Training Target (EMATT) and began anti-submarine warfare exercises with a U.S. Navy P-3 Orion from Patrol Squadron (VP) 4. Afterward, Donald Cook (DDG 75) and VP- 4 conducted serialized training events with Swedish armed forces in a number of warfare areas to include mine warfare and air defense. Donald Cook and the Swedish navy practiced air defense tactics against a Swedish aircraft that simulated a threat air target and wrapped up with a maritime domain exercise that enhanced each nation's situational awareness of surface ships in the Baltic Sea. VP-4 is forward-deployed to Sigonella, Italy, and is currently operating from Lansk, Poland, to assist in anti-submarine warfare training. The maritime security drills are meant to build interoperability and increase unit-level proficiencies in order to enhance maritime security of the Baltic Sea. Donald Cook, a multi-mission destroyer forward-deployed to Rota, Spain, and is currently operating in the Baltic Sea as part of Operation Atlantic Resolve in order to assure allies of our shared commitment and to build interoperability toward peace and stability in the Baltic region. U.S. 6th Fleet, headquartered in Naples, Italy, conducts the full spectrum of joint and naval operations, often in concert with allied, joint, and interagency partners, in order to advance U.S. national interests and security and stability in Europe and Africa. This press release was updated at 1732 CET to correct errors of fact. Changes were made to the Quick Facts section that distinguished the ASW serial event as being separate from the exercise conducted with the Swedish navy. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Pentagon admits to killing more civilians in Syria, Iraq Iran Press TV Fri Apr 22, 2016 9:1PM The US has admitted to more civilian casualties in its airstrikes against alleged Daesh (ISIL) positions inside Syria and Iraq between September and February, amid reports that the Pentagon has increased civilian death tolerance in the two countries. According to a statement on Friday by the US Central Command (CENTCOM), in the five-month period, a total of 20 civilians were killed and 11 others were injured as a result of air raids by the US-led coalition which started its aerial campaign in August 2014. "In this type of armed conflict, particularly with an enemy who hides among the civilian population, there are going to be, unfortunately, civilian casualties at times," CENTCOM spokesman Colonel Pat Ryder said. The new announcement raises the official tally of civilians killed in the campaign to 41, with 28 more injured. According to a USA Today report earlier this week, the Pentagon has passed new rules allowing higher levels of allowable civilian casualties in its military campaign against Daesh. Six Pentagon officials, all speaking on condition of anonymity, told the paper that The Pentagon has delegated more authority to US Army Lieutenant General Sean MacFarland, head of the US-led coalition against Daesh in Iraq and Syria, to approve targets when civilians could be killed. Meanwhile, Airwars, a UK-based airstrikes monitoring group, says the real number of US civilian victims exceeds 1000 people as the US and its allies have carried out more than 12,000 plane and drone strikes in Iraq and Syria, dropping some 40,000 bombs. The group released a report in March, saying the UK-based group's analysis of 352 coalition-related events leading to civilian casualties indicate that 1,004 to 1,419 non combatants have so far lost their lives in US-led airstrikes. The London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on February 15 that US air assaults had claimed 38 lives in Syria's Hasakah Province over a two-day period. At least a dozen civilians were killed in two aerial assaults by US military aircraft in Mosul on December 21, according to eyewitness and medical sources. Additionally, the US has admitted that on December 18, a number of Iraqi soldiers were killed in a so-called "friendly-fire" involving American fighter jets. In another similar incident, US air raids in the Syrian town of Ayyash in Deir al-Zour province killed four Army soldiers in the Saeqa military camp, according to the so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which is affiliated to the foreign-backed Syria opposition. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Russia says Turkey seeks for Nagorno-Karabakh war Iran Press TV Fri Apr 22, 2016 4:5PM Russia has strongly slammed the Turkish stance on the crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh, accusing it of seeking to ignite war in the disputed region. "Statements made by Turkish leaders are totally unacceptable for one simple reason -- they are calling not for peace but for war," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said at a press conference in the Armenian capital of Yerevan on Friday. Ankara promised to fully support its ally Azerbaijan in its conflict with Armenia over the Karabakh since the eruption of the crisis on April 2 that claimed the lives of at least 110 people. A shaky Moscow-brokered ceasefire kicked off on April 5 and stopped the huge fighting but the two sides still continue to accuse one another of violating the truce. "Unfortunately, we have already got accustomed to such quirks from the current Turkish leadership," Lavrov said. The new wave of unrest in Karabakh and surrounding areas in Azerbaijan have sparked concern about resumption of hostilities in the strategic region, which has been relatively calm since the end of a three-year war in 1994. Fears are also high that the war could trigger a broader conflict in the Caucasus region between Russia and Turkey whose bilateral relations are already strained since November 2015 when Turkey downed the Russian Su-24 fighter jet over Syria. Nagorno-Karabakh, a landlocked region in the South Caucasus, is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan; however, it is governed by the self-proclaimed Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, a nation established on the basis of the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast of the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Yemen's Houthis, pro-Hadi militias exchange prisoners as peace talks begin Iran Press TV Fri Apr 22, 2016 10:55AM Yemen's Houthis and militiamen loyal to former President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi have exchanged hundreds of prisoners captured during the Saudi-led war on the Arab country. The swap involved 71 Houthis fighters as well as 50 pro-Hadi militiamen. It occurred in the Yemeni capital Sana'a on Thursday, the same day that UN-brokered peace talks between the Houthis and the Hadi loyalists began in Kuwait, reports said. The talks had been planned by the UN to open on Monday, but were delayed over accusations of truce violations from the parties to the Yemeni conflict. Mohammad Ali al-Houthi, the head of Yemen's Supreme Revolutionary Committee, said before flying to Kuwait that his delegation was going to the talks with the hope that the "bloody aggression" by Saudi Arabia would be halted. On Friday, Saudi military spokesman Brigadier General Ahmed Asiri told Al Jazeera TV channel that Riyadh supported the peace talks but it would continue its war on Yemen if the negotiations failed. In January, Asiri admitted that Saudi Arabia was stuck in a "static war" against its southern neighbor. Yemen has seen almost daily military attacks by Saudi Arabia since late March 2015, with internal sources putting the toll from the bloody aggression at more than 9,500. Hundreds of thousands have also been displaced across the country as a result of the war, which is meant to restore power to Hadi. A staunch ally of Riyadh, Hadi resigned from the presidency last year and then fled to Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia has failed to prevail in Yemen despite its daily bombardments and aid and weapons from the US and UK. In an opinion piece, the UK newspaper The Guardian described Saudi Arabia as "a regime that fits the definition of extremist if the term has any serious meaning." Saudi Arabia "is leading a brutal military operation in which UK-supplied aircraft, bombs and missiles are playing a major role," the paper said. "One side-effect of the chaos resulting from the Saudi campaign is that the local franchises of al-Qaeda and Isis (Daesh) are now thriving as never before," it added. Al-Qaeda in Yemen "as the group's most dangerous branch, now controls a 340-mile-long mini-state along Yemen's southern coast," according to The Guardian. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Israel building new wall near Lebanese border Iran Press TV Fri Apr 22, 2016 9:22AM Israel is walling off an area in the Upper Galilee near the Lebanese border and the Israeli-occupied side of Golan, citing what it claims are security threats from Lebanon's Hezbollah movement. Israel's Channel 2 News has aired footage of Israeli troops constructing a wall in Kibbutz Misgav Am near the Lebanese border by placing sections of concrete next to each other. Israeli regime officials claim the wall is meant to prevent the potential entry of Hezbollah fighters to conduct attacks. Israel waged two wars on Lebanon in 2000 and 2006. About 1,200 Lebanese, most of them civilians, lost their lives during the 33-day war in the summer of 2006. A senior Israeli military official warned that another war would be "devastating" to Lebanon as Tel Aviv would unleash all of its military capabilities on the Arab country. Major General Yair Golan, Israel's deputy chief of staff, said on Wednesday Hezbollah had developed capabilities that present "unprecedented" threats to Israel. In 2012, a similar wall was set up by Tel Aviv near the Lebanese town of Metulla. The recent wall construction came two days after the Israeli army started a military drill in the northern occupied territories. The military exercise reportedly involved large numbers of Israeli aircraft, vehicles and army troops. The drill was geared toward "maintaining competency and vigilance of the troops," an Israeli military statement said. The Israeli army also held a two-day general drill in and around the northern city of Safed on the weekend. The latest development came after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday ruled out any possibility of returning the Israeli-occupied section of the Golan Heights to Syria. Iran, Germany, the Arab League and the US joined Syria in rejecting Tel Aviv's claim over the occupied Golan Heights. Israel seized the Golan Heights from Syria after the 1967 Six Day War and illegally annexed the region in 1981 - a move unanimously rejected the same year by the UN Security Council. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Russia Rules Out Military Solution of Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict Sputnik News 17:58 22.04.2016 Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that Azeris and Armenians should return to the negotiating table over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh area. YEREVAN (Sputnik) Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov urged Azeris and Armenians on Friday to continue peaceful talks over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh area against all odds as the conflict has no military solution. "I understand it is hard to return to the negotiating tableBut if we make just a tiny step forward in the political process it would help prevent future flare-ups," Lavrov said in Yerevan, Armenia. Violence in Azerbaijan's breakaway region escalated early this month. Baku and Yerevan have accused each other of provoking hostilities. A ceasefire was achieved on April 5, following days of clashes that led to numerous casualties on both sides. The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) has been trying to mediate the conflict since 1992. It set up a Minsk Group, co-chaired by Russia, France and the United States, to look for a way out of the crisis. Speaking after a meeting with Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan, Lavrov said both countries did not support calls for alternatives to the OSCE group. "We agree that the troika of co-chairs should be the key coordinator in line with the mandate that was backed by the [conflicting] parties," Lavrov stressed. The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict began in 1988, when the region sought to secede from the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic. It proclaimed independence when the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, triggering a war that lasted until a Russia-brokered ceasefire in 1994. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address US, Swedish Forces Conduct Training Exercise in Baltic Sea Sputnik News 17:22 22.04.2016(updated 17:54 22.04.2016) The guided-missile destroyer USS Donald Cook and an Orion P-3 surveillance aircraft were transfered the Swedish navy in the Baltic Sea. WASHINGTON (Sputnik) The guided-missile destroyer USS Donald Cook and an Orion P-3 surveillance aircraft, known for its submarine hunting capabilities, have joined the Swedish navy in a series of maneuvers in the Baltic Sea, the US Navy announced in a press release on Friday. "The ability to execute anti-submarine warfare (ASW) flight operations into the Baltic Sea from regional partner nations is crucial to maintaining theater security," mission chief Lieutenant Commander Matthew Garcia said in the release. "Drills and exercises like this with our partners provide vital opportunities to increase our ASW expertise, improve allied naval interoperability, and refine our expeditionary capabilities." In Friday's US-Sweden exercise, both navies practiced mine warfare, air defense and anti-submarine warfare. The two navies finished off the exercise with a merchant ship monitoring exercise, the release explained. Last week, two Russian Su-24 Fencer tactical bombers flew close to Donald Cook. The United States expressed concern over the developments through Washington's defense attache in Moscow. The US European Command (EUCOM) said the jets flew in a manner that resembled an attack and ignored safety advisories. According to the Russian Defense Ministry, the bombers swerved away from the US warship once it was identified. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address 20 Civilians Killed in US Airstrikes in Iraq, Syria During 5-Month Period by Jeff Seldin April 22, 2016 U.S. and coalition airstrikes targeting Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria killed 20 civilians and wounded another 11 during a five-month period, according to the latest assessment by military officials. U.S. Central Command has been conducting an ongoing review of civilian casualties and said the deaths and injuries came as a result of nine airstrikes from September 2015 to February 2016. In four of the nine airstrikes, officials concluded civilians were killed or injured after moving into the target area after the planes or drones had already fired their weapons. In another strike, the U.S. concluded two civilians died after weapons had locked on and fired at an Islamic State vehicle, which then pulled off to the side of the road, stopping in an area where two civilians were present. A statement from U.S. Central Command said the all the airstrikes complied with the law of armed conflict and all appropriate precautions were taken." "What you have is again, ISIL operating in crowded, populated areas," said Central Command spokesman Col. Pat Ryder. "Particularly with an enemy who hides among the civilian population, there are going to be, unfortunately, civilian casualties,' he said. "We do everything we can to avoid it." U.S. officials have previously said they would be less averse to higher numbers of civilian casualties for some airstrikes, including those targeting Islamic State's cash centers. The new report found one civilian was also killed and five more injured in just such a strike on an Islamic State cash distribution center in Mosul on January 11, 2016. "These are tough decisions the commanders have to make," Operation Inherent Resolve spokesman Steve Warren told reporters earlier this year when asked about a separate strike on an Islamic State cash depot on January 18, 2016. "We were prepared to accept civilian casualties, in conjunction with this cash strike," Warren said of the January 18 strike, which was not covered in the latest civilian casualty report. "It's tragic, and it's not something that we want to do," he said, adding at the time that the initial estimates of civilian casualties in the January 18 strike were "extraordinarily low, single digits." An independent organization that monitors civilian casualties, Airwars.org, said Friday the U.S. admission of additional civilian casualties was a good step but not enough. "We remain concerned that the Coalition is significantly under-reporting non-combatant deaths," Airwars Director Chris Woods said in a statement published on the group's website. The not-for-profit group, funded by charitable organizations and human rights activists, estimates coalition airstrikes have killed between 1,064 to 1,638 civilians since August 2014 far more than military authorities have reported. In all, the U.S. estimates 41 civilians have been killed and 28 injured in coalition airstrikes since the start of the U.S.-led campaign against Islamic State. In the same time, the coalition has launched 91,000 sorties (air missions) and almost 12,000 airstrikes against Islamic State targets. "This is an extremely precise air campaign," said U.S. Central Command's Col. Ryder. "We take a lot of efforts to make sure we're striking what we intend to strike." NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address NATO-Russia Talks Fail, but Raise Hopes by Luis Ramirez April 22, 2016 NATO and Russia held their first dialogue in two years this week. The meeting among ambassadors of the alliance and Russia in Brussels Wednesday failed to produce agreements, but analysts say it has raised hope that Russia may be making a new effort to emerge from isolation following its annexation of Crimea and support for separatist rebels in eastern Ukraine. Russia is still under sanctions from the United States and other members of NATO, which called on Russian forces to stop their actions to destabilize eastern Ukraine and protested the annexation of Crimea. At the meeting, officials gave no indication that Russia is ready to make any concessions, such as withdrawing its support, in both personnel and weaponry, for separatist rebels in eastern Ukraine. "We had a frank and serious discussion," said NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, but he said differences between Moscow and the alliance are persistent and deep. He said there remain "profound disagreements." The meeting came at a time when relations between NATO and Russia are at their lowest since the Cold War. Aside from differences over Ukraine, tensions have been raised by a string of incidents involving the U.S. and Russian militaries that Washington and NATO have condemned as dangerous and unprofessional. The latest was last week, when a Russian airplane buzzed a U.S. destroyer and a U.S. reconnaissance aircraft over the Baltic Sea. U.S. and NATO officials called the meeting with the hope of opening communication and eventually updating their agreements to prevent accidents and misunderstandings during military maneuvers. Russia had good reasons for attending the session. "I don't think Russia has any intent in being seen as a rogue state or somehow isolated," said Samuel Greene, director of the Russia Institute at King's College London. "They clearly don't agree with the West, but they do see themselves as part of the global equation and remain interested in communicating." Showing a willingness to emerge from isolation is important for Moscow. The EU extended its sanctions in December but they are due to expire in July. With Germany and France pressing to review and eventually lift them, analysts say Russia sees a real possibility that the sanctions could soon be lifted or at least reduced. Following an impressive performance in Syria, where Russian-backed forces helped the government of President Bashar al-Assad drive back rebels and retake considerable amounts of territory, Russia came to the table in Brussels in a position of strength. "Russia believes it has proven it is relevant and has the capacity to insert itself into equations that are important to Washington and to NATO," Greene said. Neither the U.S. nor NATO has security agreements with Ukraine. With the Ukrainian government failing to enact anti-corruption measures at a rate acceptable to the EU and the Ukraine conflict no longer making headlines in the West, analysts say it is not unlikely that Europe may move to begin lifting sanctions soon, or at the very least, improving ties with Moscow. Boosting military-to-military communication between Moscow and NATO to avoid confrontations could be one first step. Talks in Brussels on Wednesday went nearly four hours longer than scheduled, a sign that while neither side is willing to make concessions, it is willing to talk. In a move that could help further thaw relations with Russia, Douglas Lute, the U.S. ambassador to NATO, said Friday there is no chance of NATO expansion anytime soon. "There's no way we're going to get consensus any time in the near future" on adding Georgia or Ukraine, he told the Aspen Security Forum in London. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Amnesty: Nigerian Army Killed Hundreds, Buried Them in Mass Grave by Chris Stein April 22, 2016 Amnesty International says hundreds of people were killed by the Nigerian military in a clash with a Shi'ite Muslim sect in the northern city of Zaria in December. The report's release Friday comes as the government filed charges that carried the death penalty against hundreds of the group's surviving members. In December, residents of the Kaduna suburb Mando noticed a massive hole dug in a remote part of their local cemetery. It was then filled almost as quickly as it had been dug. What they only found out later was that it was full of bodies. A Kaduna state official told VOA that inside the mass grave were corpses of 347 people killed in a clash between the military and the Islamic Movement of Nigeria, a Shi'ite sect based in Zaria. Amnesty International's Senior Crisis Response Advisor Donatella Rovera says what took place there was a massacre. A report from the rights group says soldiers shot children in the head and set a building full of wounded people on fire, then tried to cover it all up. In addition to those buried in the mass grave, the Shi'ite group says a further 350 of their members remain missing. "The Nigerian military went to extraordinary efforts to cover up their crime, to destroy the evidence and this is very striking," said Rovera. The military says soldiers fought back after members of the sect tried to assassinate the chief of army staff as he passed through Zaria. The military spokesman did not respond to requests for comment. Rovera says both the military and Kaduna state are complicit in covering up the deaths of hundreds of people. One state official says he was merely doing his job. Namadi Musa, an adviser to the government on religious matters, told VOA that Kaduna's governor asked him the day after the clash to travel to Zaria and ensure that 347 corpses released by the military were given a proper burial. "I followed specific instructions: count the number, make sure they're buried in a dignified way, and know where they're buried," said Musa. A state commission of inquiry is investigating the incident. State officials this week filed charges against a group of 50 people arrested after the clash. A lawyer for the group, Festus Okoye, says he expects a total of 265 people to be arraigned in the coming weeks. Of those, 255 will face charges of culpable homicide, which carries the death penalty. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address CAR President Wants Arms Embargo Lifted by Esha Sarai April 22, 2016 President Faustin-Archange Touadera of the Central African Republic, who took office less than a month ago, has said his first tasks will include disarming ex-combatants and rebuilding the military. "Security, peace and national reconciliation will enable all Central Africans to freely go about their business," he said in an exclusive interview with VOA's French to Africa Thursday. He also said the international arms embargo on the C.A.R. imposed in 2013 must be lifted. "As of today, our defense forces are not operational. ... To rebuild our army, we need that embargo ... lifted or at least [changed] in a way to allow our elements to operate." He added that he felt confident, after his meeting with U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon, that this issue would be addressed in the next Security Council meeting. Touadera was elected president of the C.A.R. in February in a poll that was widely seen as a step forward for the country. The C.A.R. has been mired in violent turmoil since Seleka rebels ousted then-president Francois Bozize in 2013. There has been no meaningful disarmament of armed groups, something the president said will require the financial backing of the international community. VOA's Jacques Aristide interviewed Touadera in New York after the newly-elected president met with with Ban. Touadera said the two men discussed the accusations of child sexual abuses by French and U.N. peacekeepers in the C.A.R. He added his government is not involved in the ongoing investigation. "What we want is justice be done ... Our desire that's what I told the secretary-general is that if there are cases where there is evidence, we should at least be informed and involved in probing for the truth. We will also talk to contributing countries to expedite the process so that justice is done for these victims," he said. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address US-Saudi Arabian Relations Joe Biden has made his position on Saudi Arabia and its war in Yemen clear. In the two years before the 2020 election, Biden said Saudi Arabias government has very little social redeeming value, that Riyadh had murdered children and innocent people in Yemen, and it was a pariah state. Under a Biden-Harris administration, we will reassess our relationship with the Kingdom [of Saudi Arabia], end US support for Saudi Arabias war in Yemen, and make sure America does not check its values at the door to sell arms or buy oil, Biden said in October. That forceful language is echoed by the wider Democratic Party. The reason for this push to punish Saudi Arabia on the Democratic side is clear the war in Yemens continuing humanitarian cost, the murder of Saudi dissident Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in October 2018, and the Trump administrations overt support for Saudi Arabia throughout these affairs. Aside from shared antipathy for Iran, Saudi Arabia was President Donald Trumps first overseas visit, and the outgoing US leader bragged that he protected Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) after Khashoggis killing. Many Democrats, on the other hand, called for MBS to be held accountable. The Biden administration will end the perception that the Saudi leadership enjoys near-unconditional support in the White House with a view to reframing it around goals that serve both the US and Saudi interests, Kristian Ulrichsen, a fellow for the Middle East at Rice University, told Al Jazeera. These would include a way of disengaging Saudi Arabia from Yemen. In April 2019, a bipartisan resolution to end American involvement in the war was passed by both houses of Congress, only to be vetoed by Trump. At the time, the president defended his actions by saying peace in Yemen could only come through a negotiated settlement. The question now is whether Biden will have more luck in bringing about such a solution. I think the Biden administration can have a very positive impact on ending the war in Yemen, said Gregory Johnsen, a former member of the UN Security Council Panel of Experts on Yemen. Indeed, the US may be the only country, which if it so chooses can put enough diplomatic pressure on Saudi Arabia to end the war in Yemen. Following recognition in 1931, the United States and Saudi Arabia established full diplomatic relations, with exchange of credentials and the first U.S. ambassadorial posting to Jeddah, in 1940. Saudi Arabias unique role in the Arab and Islamic worlds, its holding of the worlds second largest reserves of oil, and its strategic location all play a role in the long-standing bilateral relationship between the Kingdom and the United States. The United States and Saudi Arabia have a common interest in preserving the stability, security, and prosperity of the Gulf region and consult closely on a wide range of regional and global issues. The United States and Saudi Arabia enjoy a strong economic relationship. The United States is Saudi Arabias second largest trading partner, and Saudi Arabia is one of the United States largest trading partners in the Middle East. Saudi Arabia is the second leading source of imported oil for the United States, providing just under one million barrels per day of oil to the U.S. market. The United States and Saudi Arabia have signed a Trade Investment Framework Agreement. Saudi Arabia launched its Vision 2030 program in April 2016, laying out plans to diversify the economy, including through increased trade and investment with the United States and other countries. Saudi Arabia plays an important role in working toward a peaceful and prosperous future for the region and is a strong partner in security and counterterrorism efforts and in military, diplomatic, and financial cooperation. Its forces works closely with U.S. military and law enforcement bodies to safeguard both countries national security interests. The United States and Saudi Arabia also enjoy robust cultural and educational ties with some 55,000 Saudi students studying in U.S. colleges and universities and scores of educational and cultural exchange visitors each year. The United States also provides promising youth and emerging Saudi leaders the opportunity to experience the United States and its institutions through the International Visitor Leadership Program and various other exchange programs. The United States and Saudi Arabia are working collectively toward the common goal of a stable, secure, and prosperous Middle East. Saudi Arabia is a vital U.S. partner on a wide range of regional security issues, and a founding member of the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS. Saudi Arabia hosted the inaugural conference in Jeddah in September 2014, enacted and continues to enforce tough criminal penalties for those facilitating terrorism or traveling to fight in foreign conflicts, and issued multiple statements against ISIS/Daesh as Enemy Number 1 of Islam. Saudi Arabia also leads Coalition efforts to disrupt ISIS financial and facilitation networks and build Coalition members capacity to identify and target such networks by increasing information sharing and developing structural measures to counter illicit financial flows. The United States works with Saudi Arabia and other members of the Gulf Cooperation Council to increase cooperation on border security, maritime security, arms transfers, cybersecurity, and counterterrorism. Supported by U.S. security cooperation efforts, the Kingdom foiled numerous terrorist attempts against Saudi and foreign targets and successfully deterred external attacks. The United States remains committed to providing the Saudi armed forces with the equipment, training, and follow-on support necessary to protect Saudi Arabia, and the region, from the destabilizing effects of terrorism, countering Iranian influence, and other threats. Toward that end, the United States will continue to collaborate with Saudi Arabia to improve training for special operations and counterterrorism forces, integrate air and missile defense systems, strengthen cyber defenses, and bolster maritime security. The U.S. has $126.6 billion in active government-to-government sales cases with Saudi Arabia under the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) system. Since the May 2017 signing of the $110 billion commitment to pursue Saudi Armed Forces modernization, we carried out an increase in FMS and DCS cases. To date, this initiative resulted in over $27 billion in implemented FMS cases. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address 46 Malaysian nationals fighting for Daesh in Syria: Police Iran Press TV Fri Apr 22, 2016 3:52PM The Malaysian federal police force says nearly four dozen citizens of the Southeast Asian country are currently fighting alongside members of the Takfiri Daesh militant group in Syria. Senior Assistant Director at the Counter Terrorism Division of the Malaysian Police Datuk Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay told official Bernama news agency that a total of 79 Malaysian citizens have joined the ranks of Daesh, of whom 46 are still in Syria. Ayob Khan added that nineteen Malaysians, including seven bombers, have been killed during Daesh acts of terror in Syria, and another eight have returned home. He said terrorism charges have been brought against 65 individuals so far, adding that the defendants have strong Takfiri ideology, and have been given counseling sessions during interrogation. Between 27,000 and 31,000 foreign fighters have entered Iraq and Syria to join Daesh and other Takfiri terrorist groups in the two crisis-hit countries, according to data provided by the Soufan Group. While there are no confirmed figures for the official tally, experts predict that many are still fighting in the conflict zones, while an estimated 20 to 30 percent have returned home. The foreign fighters joining these groups are from at least 86 countries. The countries with the most fighters in the conflict are Tunisia, Saudi Arabia and Russia. The number of foreign militants from Western Europe has more than doubled since June 2014. Most of the European militants come from France, Germany and the United Kingdom. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Pakistan captures Qaeda financier blacklisted by UN Iran Press TV Fri Apr 22, 2016 3:23PM Pakistani security officials have arrested a senior al-Qaeda member who has been on the United Nations Security Council sanctions list since 2012. A senior police officer said on Friday that Abdur Rehman alias Abdul Rehman Sindhi was arrested in Karachi a day earlier. Muqaddas Haider said Rehman's arrest came in a congested residential quarter after an extensive joint operation by police and intelligence agencies. "Abdul Rehman Sindhi is an old veteran of al-Qaeda," Haider said. Officials said Rehman was a member of various Pakistan-based militant organizations before joining al-Qaeda, a group in which he played a key role. The UN listed him as terrorist for providing financial services to al-Qaeda four years ago, imposing asset freeze, travel ban and arms embargo on him. The Qaeda operative is believed to have met the group's founder Osama bin Laden and his successor Ayman al-Zawahiri for at least several times. Officials said Rehman was also connected to Saud Memon, a key suspect in the kidnap and murder of US journalist Daniel Pearl in 2002. Among the internationally-outlawed groups he joined were Al-Akhtar Trust, Jaish-e-Mohammad and Harkat-ul-Jihad Islami, Haider said. The high-profile arrest comes as Pakistan has been facing growing pressure to crack down on militant groups operating across the country. Massive operations were carried out in 2014 when Zawahri announced the formation of a new wing, al-Qaeda in the Indian subcontinent. The region, which stretches across several countries including Pakistan, India and Bangladesh, is home to more than 400 million Muslims. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address China Rejects Claims of Troop Buildup Along North Korean Border Sputnik News 01:53 23.04.2016(updated 03:21 23.04.2016) In response to reports that it has massed troops along the North Korean border, China maintains that all current deployments are at normal levels and that there has been no troop escalation along the peninsula. On Wednesday, reports surfaced that Beijing was preparing for North Korea's fifth nuclear test by deploying troops along its border with the country. According to a statement from the Hong Kong-based Information Center for Human Rights and Democracy, 2,000 Chinese troops were tasked with measuring radioactive emissions along the border should Pyongyang follow through with its test. If true, it is unclear how the move would affect relations between the longtime allies. On Friday, however, Beijing denied the reports. "The relevant report does not accord with the facts," the Chinese Defense Ministry said in a statement. "The Chinese military maintains normal combat readiness and training on the China-North Korea border." China has been vocally critical of North Korea's recent nuclear and ballistic missile tests. Earlier this month, the People's Daily argued that Pyongyang's actions threatened to destabilize the peninsula. "Syria's turmoil came about as the result of a population of only 20 million or so people. Just imagine what it would be like for the Korean peninsula with [roughly] 80 million?" the editorial read. "With inadequate economic, military, technological and management capability, should there be any nuclear leaks, like those that occurred in Japanwhat would happen to northeastern China's security?" The editorial was later removed. Earlier on Friday, Beijing announced that it planned to meet with South Korean officials regarding security concerns. "The Special Envoy of South Korea Kim Hong-kyun arrived in China to meet with the special representative of the Chinese government for Korean Peninsula Wu Dawei and to exchange opinions on the situation on the Korean Peninsula," said China's Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying. Experts expect Pyongyang to carry out its fifth nuclear test in early May. Earlier tests resulted in harsh new sanctions being implemented on North Korea by the United Nations. Russia has also called on North Korea to deescalate regional tensions. "The situation on the Korean Peninsula calls for particular alarm. Pyongyang is ignoring the demands of the UN Security Council and is continuing to make threats with nuclear missile experiments," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said during a speech at the Mongolian Foreign Ministry earlier this month. "We hope that the North Korean side will listen to the voice of reason, refrain from taking new irresponsible steps, and realize the elusiveness of hopes to reach recognitions by the global community of its nuclear status." North Korea maintains that it needs nuclear weapons to defend itself, specifically citing recent joint military exercises held by the US and South Korea. Those drills carried out scenarios that explicitly rehearsed a "preemptive strike on North Korea," according to Gregory Elich of the Korea Policy Institute. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Iran confirms planned sale of 32 metric tons of heavy water to US Iran Press TV Fri Apr 22, 2016 5:29PM A senior Iranian nuclear negotiator confirms reports that Iran will sell 32 metric tons of heavy water to the United States, PressTV reports. Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister for Legal and International Affairs Abbas Araqchi told PressTV in Vienna, Austria, on Friday that the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran and a US company reached an agreement on heavy water sale on Friday before a joint commission meeting between Iran and the P5+1 group of countries. He added that the agreement was signed following three months of negotiations. Araqchi and Helga Schmid, who represents the P5+1 countries, held four-hour talks in Vienna on Friday for the first time after Iran and the six global powers started implementing the nuclear agreement, dubbed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), on January 16. During the meeting, Araqchi and Schmid discussed the process of the JCPOA implementation and obstacles in this regard as well as the lifting of sanctions against Iran. Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council the United States, France, Britain, China and Russia plus Germany signed the JCPOA on July 14, 2015 following two and a half years of intensive talks. Under the JCPOA, all nuclear-related sanctions imposed on Iran by the European Union, the Security Council and the US would be lifted. Iran has, in return, put some limitations on its nuclear activities. US announcement on Iran's heavy water purchase The US Department of Energy will buy 32 metric tons of heavy water from Iran for $8.6 million, a department spokeswoman said on Friday. "The United States will not be Iran's customer forever," the spokeswoman said and added that the department plans to sell the heavy water to commercial and research entities, including a national lab, inside the US. Meanwhile, State Department spokesman John Kirby said Iran's compliance with the landmark nuclear agreement meant that the heavy water had already been removed from Iran. "Our purchase of the heavy water means that it will be used for critically important research and non-nuclear industrial requirements," Kirby added. The JCPOA allows Iran to sell its enriched uranium material -- called UF6 -- and to buy natural uranium or "yellow cake" in return. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Iran, P5+1 meet for 1st time after JCPOA implementation Iran Press TV Fri Apr 22, 2016 12:59PM Representatives of Iran and the P5+1 group of countries hold their first joint commission meeting to discuss framework for the implementation of the historic nuclear agreement they struck last year. Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Legal and International Affairs Abbas Araqchi and Helga Schmid, who represents the P5+1 countries, held talks, which lasted over four hours, in the Austrian capital of Vienna on Friday for the first time after Tehran and the six global powers started implementing the nuclear agreement, dubbed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), on January 16. During the meeting, Araqchi and Schmid discussed the process of the JCPOA implementation and obstacles in this regard as well as the lifting of sanctions against Iran. Araqchi, who heads Iranian Foreign Ministry's committee following up on the implementation of JCPOA, told IRNA that the country's delegation is also scheduled to hold separate meetings with some members of the P5+1 countries on the sidelines of the session. He noted that the Iranian delegation is comprised of Deputy Foreign Minister for European and American Affairs Majid Takht-e-Ravanchi, Hamid Ba'eidinejad, the director general for political and international security affairs at Iran's Foreign Ministry, two teams of technical experts from the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran and a legal team from the Central Bank of Iran and Foreign Ministry. Before the implementation of the JCPOA, Araqchi and Schmid held two rounds of talks in Vienna on October 19 and December 7, 2015. Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council the United States, France, Britain, China and Russia plus Germany signed the JCPOA on July 14, 2015 following two and a half years of intensive talks. Under the JCPOA, all nuclear-related sanctions imposed on Iran by the European Union, the Security Council and the US would be lifted. Iran has, in return, put some limitations on its nuclear activities. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address US to Buy $8.6 Mln Worth of Nuclear Materials From Iran Sputnik News 16:24 22.04.2016(updated 16:47 22.04.2016) The United States and Iran are expected to finalize a deal for Washington to purchase an estimated $8.6 million worth of heavy water to help Iran comply with its nuclear agreement, according to US media reports on Friday. WASHINGTON (Sputnik) According to US officials, the purchase is intended to help Iran quickly reduce its stockpile of nuclear material as required by the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and encourage other countries to make similar purchases. "The idea is: Okay, we tested it, it's perfectly good heavy water. It meets [specifications]. We'll buy a little of this," US Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz was quoted as saying by The Wall Street Journal. "That will be a statement to the world: 'You want to buy heavy water from Iran, you can buy heavy water from Iran. It's been done. Even the United States did it.'" The Energy Department has not specified how it will pay for the 32 tons of heavy water. The material is expected to be used in scientific research and could also be sold to private companies for commercial purposes, according to the media outlet. US Secretary of State John Kerry and Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif are expected to meet in New York on Friday to discuss a number of key issues related to the implementation of JCPOA. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address US to Buy Iranian Heavy Water as Part of Nuclear Deal by Pamela Dockins April 22, 2016 The United States is purchasing 32 tons of a key component in the development of atomic weapons from Iran, in a bid to help Tehran implement provisions in the landmark nuclear deal. The U.S. Energy and State departments confirmed Friday the purchase of heavy water, which can be used to produce weapons-grade plutonium. The plan was announced as U.S., Iranian and other officials met in Vienna to discuss implementation of the nuclear agreement, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA. Earlier, Iran sold low-enriched uranium to Russia to help implement the deal. Word of the U.S. purchase came ahead of a Friday meeting between Secretary of State John Kerry and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on the sidelines of the U.N. climate change signing ceremony in New York. Iran has complained that it has not been getting the sanctions relief it deserves under the nuclear deal because of restrictions imposed by financial institutions. Heading into the talks, Kerry said the U.S. has not and will not stand in the way of business permitted in Iran since the nuclear agreement was implemented in January. "Unfortunately, there seems to be some confusion among some foreign banks, and we want to try to clarify that as much as we can," he said. 'Difficult path' Zarif said Iran continued to have differences with the U.S. "We hope that the statement made today by Secretary Kerry will begin to open the difficult path that has been closed because of concern that banks had about the U.S. approach towards implementation," he said. Earlier Friday, the heavy water purchase drew immediate criticism from some U.S. lawmakers, including House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce, who has expressed ongoing concerns about the possible ramifications of the nuclear deal. "Once again, the Obama administration is handing Iran's radical regime more cash," Royce said. "Far from curbing its nuclear program, this encourages Iran to produce more heavy water to sell, with a stamp of U.S. approval," he added. The State Department said the U.S. would not lose sight of its concerns about Iran's provocative actions, such as its recent ballistic missile tests. "No one is blind to Iran's unhelpful activities in the region," said Elizabeth Trudeau, the department's press relations director. "This [heavy water purchase] was a commercial transaction. It was allowable. It fills a need here in the United States," she added in a Friday briefing. U.S. officials say the purchase will cost about $8.6 million. They described the transaction as "limited in scope" and said it would be routed through "third-country financial institutions." A senior State Department official said the U.S. has not ruled out future purchases. Transportation, resale The Energy Department said it expected to resell the heavy water to U.S. research and commercial buyers, but indicated the U.S. had not committed to future sales. "The United States will not be Iran's customer forever," the Energy Department said in a statement. "It is exclusively Iran's responsibility to find a way to meet its JCPOA commitments." The State Department said Iran was expected to deliver the heavy water to the U.S. "in the coming weeks." State Department spokesman John Kirby said the material was not radioactive and did not present safety concerns. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Despite Nuclear Deal, US Pressures EU Allies to Isolate Iran Sputnik News 00:28 23.04.2016(updated 01:56 23.04.2016) While the Iran nuclear deal was meant to open the Islamic Republic to international trade, the United States has stalled the implementation of its end of the bargain and is pressuring European allies to shun Tehran. In exchange for providing assurances that it was not pursuing nuclear weapons, Iran was guaranteed a gradual end to international sanctions as part of the P5+1 deal. But Iran has accused the United States of violating the accord by discouraging the international financial community from investing in Tehran. "To date, all the Western countries are under the US influence. All of our banking operations do not pass without problems," Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said last month, according to IRINN news agency. "It is clear that behind all this are [sic] the United States who only declared about the lifting of sanctions, but lifted them on paper only." Now, European leaders are backing up those claims. "Europe is being taken hostage by American policy," said EU parliament official Marietje Schaake, according to Arutz Sheva. "We negotiated the nuclear deal together, but now the US is obstructing its execution." Other officials complained about US threats against attempts to bring Iran out of its isolation, according to AntiWar.com. "Several major companies across the world are in line for major contracts with Iran to modernize their economy after protracted sanctions," Jason Ditz writes for AntiWar, "but getting those deals done is moving at a snail's pace, with the US blocking international banks from facilitating money transfers to pay for them, and the US threatening travel bans on European businessmen who go to Iran." Iranian Minister of Foreign Affairs Mohammad Javad Zarif has stressed that he will continue to push the US to honor its end of the nuclear agreement. "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 the banking sector," he told reporters earlier this month, speaking alongside High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini. "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. The JCPOA nuclear deal stipulates that the international community gradually roll back economic and travel sanctions against Tehran in exchange for a reduction in the country's uranium enrichment facilities. Agreed to by Iran, the US, UK, Russia, China, France, and Germany, the deal provides Tehran with capabilities to pursue nuclear technology for peaceful purposes, while providing assurances should Iran "break out" and pursue a nuclear weapon. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Mines kill dozens as Iraqis head back to Ramadi Iran Press TV Fri Apr 22, 2016 1:16PM Mines laid by Daesh Takfiri group have killed dozens of Iraqis returning to the liberated city of Ramadi in the western province of Anbar. UN officials said Friday that explosives still unexploded across Ramadi keep claiming lives in the town four months after its recapture from Daesh. That comes despite repeated warnings by local officials that civilians should take precautionary measures as most of Ramadi remains unsafe. Tens of thousands have flocked to their homes mostly following calls by political and religious figures whom the central government accuses of seeking financial gain by launching reconstruction projects before others. In its latest estimates, the UN said 49 people have been killed and 79 others wounded in Ramadi since the beginning of February. "The UN is deeply worried about the safety of returning families and the widespread infestation of many neighborhoods with unexploded devices and booby traps," Lise Grande, UN humanitarian coordinator in Iraq, said, adding that figures provided by the authorities are "almost certainly an underestimation". The official demanded the government to accelerate efforts meant to clear areas in Ramadi as quickly as possible "using the most up-to-date, modern and professional methods". Lacking enough expertise for defusing the explosives, Iraq has contracted several foreign companies, including a US de-mining company, to remove explosives and train Iraqis to dismantle the devices planted by Daesh in Ramadi. Reports by eyewitnesses say Daesh has littered Ramadi's streets with bombs, while explosives are also planted in residences, including under rugs and other fixtures. Casualties have also been reported as residents attempt to restore electricity as bombs are connected to the power grid. Iraq dealt a major blow to Daesh when its elite forces and allied tribal fighters managed to retake Ramadi in late December. The city, which lies around 100 km (60 miles) west of Baghdad, along some other territories in west and north, fell into the hands of Daesh in mid-2014. Baghdad has vowed to clear the entire Iraqi soil from the Takfiri group in 2016. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address 9 killed, 25 injured in Iraq Shia mosque bomb blast Iran Press TV Fri Apr 22, 2016 10:38AM At least nine people have been killed and 25 more injured after a bomb explosion inside a Shia mosque in the Radwaniyah area, southwest of the Iraqi capital Baghdad. Security and medical sources said a bomber detonated his explosive vest at the mosque after Friday Prayers. No group has so far claimed responsibility for the explosion but Daesh terrorists have been often blamed for such attacks. The news comes a day after a series of bomb explosions and a shooting attack at residential neighborhoods in and around Baghdad claimed the lives of at least eight people and injured more than two dozen others. The United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq says a total of 1,119 Iraqis were killed and another 1,561 wounded in acts of terrorism, violence and armed conflict in March. According to the UN mission, the number of civilian fatalities stood at 575. Violence also claimed the lives of 544 members of the Iraqi security forces. A great portion of the fatalities was recorded in Baghdad, where 259 civilians were killed. Gruesome violence has plagued the northern and western parts of Iraq ever since Daesh terrorists launched an offensive in June 2014, and took control of portions of the Iraqi territory. The militants have been committing heinous crimes against all ethnic and religious communities in Iraq, including Shias, Sunnis, Kurds, and Christians. Iraqi army soldiers and fighters from allied Popular Mobilization Units are seeking to win back militant-held regions in joint operations. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Iraqi forces free 200 people from Daesh south of Mosul Iran Press TV Fri Apr 22, 2016 1:22AM Iraqi army forces have freed scores of people who had been imprisoned by the Takfiri Daesh terrorist group near the embattled northern city of Mosul. On Thursday, the Iraqi Army Brigade 72 and Division 15 of Nineveh Operations Command liberated 200 people, including families and children, in the villages of al-Haj Ali and Mahana, which lie around 70 kilometers (45 miles) southeast of Mosul and in the vicinity of the town of Makhmour. The development came on the same day as Iraqi fighter jets struck Daesh positions west of al-Siniya district in the northern province of Salahuddin as well as the outskirts of the oil-rich city of Baiji, killing scores of the extremists and destroying their explosive-laden vehicles. Separately, Iraqi army troopers backed by fighters from the Popular Mobilization Units thwarted a Daesh offensive against the city of al-Saqlawiyah, located 50 kilometers (31 miles) west of the capital. Several Daesh Takfiris were reportedly killed and a car bomb destroyed in the process. Meanwhile, Daesh terrorist group has executed nearly four dozen of its members in the western province of Anbar on charges of fleeing the battlefield. A local source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Daesh terrorists killed 45 fellow militants in Mosul by forcing them to sleep in forensic storage refrigerators for 24 hours. Daesh extremists then placed the victims' bodies at the entrance of houses across the city. The source added that the slain militants were accused of escaping clashes with Iraqi government forces in the city of Hit, which lies 70 kilometers (43 miles) northwest of Anbar's provincial capital city of Ramadi. The northern and western parts of Iraq have been plagued by gruesome violence ever since Daesh terrorists mounted an offensive in June 2014. The militants have been committing vicious crimes against all ethnic and religious communities in Iraq, including Shias, Sunnis, Kurds, Christians and others. The Iraqi army and fighters from the Popular Mobilization Units have been engaged in operations to liberate militant-held regions. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Japan Successfully Tests Fifth Generation Stealth Jet Sputnik News 07:39 22.04.2016 Japan has successfully carried out the first test of its stealth jet. TOKYO (Sputnik) The plane took off from Nagoya Airfield (Komaki Airport) in Aichi Prefecture at around 08:50 a.m. local time on Friday (23:50 GMT on Thursday) and landed safely at Gifu Air Field in Gifu Prefecture at 09:13 a.m. (00:13 GMT), Defense Ministry Program Manager Hirofumi Doi told Bloomberg by phone. Japan is now the fourth nation, after the United States, Russia and China to test fly its own stealth jet. The plane cost about $366 million to develop, according to Japan's Defense Ministry. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. led the developers' team. According to Doi, the ministry will study data from the Friday test flight and decide on further developments of the fifth generation stealth fighter. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Pakistan sacks six army officers over corruption Iran Press TV Fri Apr 22, 2016 8:24AM Pakistan has sacked six high-ranking army officers, including two generals, who were convicted of being involved in corruption. A lieutenant-general, a major-general, three brigadiers and a colonel were dismissed on Thursday after a court found them guilty of corruption, said Pakistani officials on condition of anonymity. The officials did not give further information about the trial and the corruption cases, but declared that the six did not receive prison sentences. According to local media, the officers were only stripped off some military benefits, except for pension and medical ones. The move came two days after Pakistan's army chief General Raheel Sharif said corruption had to be uprooted amid the fight against terrorism. "Ongoing war against terrorism and extremism being fought with the backing of entire nation cannot bring enduring peace and stability unless the menace of corruption is not uprooted," Sharif said on Tuesday. He noted that the country's armed forces will "fully support every meaningful effort" for the integrity and prosperity of Pakistan. The move comes amid calls for Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to resign after the so-called Panama Papers showed that his family members had offshore accounts. The leaks from Panama's Mossack Fonseca firm said that three of the premier's children own offshore companies and assets that were not mentioned in family's wealth statement. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Why Russia Is Rocking the European Boat by Danila Galperovich, Igor Tikhonenko April 22, 2016 In an April 6 referendum in the Netherlands, a majority of participants voted against approving an association agreement between the European Union and Ukraine. The results were greeted with concern in the West, but with delight in Moscow. Russia's government saw the vote as evidence that it was "on the same page" with Europe's far right in this case, the Freedom Party headed by Geert Wilders, the Dutch politician known for his opposition to Islam and immigration who hailed the referendum's "no" vote as "the beginning of the end of the EU." The Dutch referendum was just the latest in a series of developments that have journalists and researchers from around the world taking a closer look at how European radical organizations most of them on the right side of the political spectrum, but also some on the left are connected to the administration of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Is it simply a coincidence that many of these organizations supported the Kremlin's actions against Ukraine? According to researchers, the answer is no: radicals in Europe, together with some cynically-minded mainstream politicians, are close to Russia's current leaders, both ideologically and financially. Money trail For example, in 2014, the leader of France's National Front, Marine Le Pen, admitted her far-right party had taken an $11-million loan from Russian-owned First Czech-Russian Bank. Le Pen's "lieutenants have been to Moscow many times and met people there, and it's very clear there's an open financial connection, and also some intellectual support," Washington Post columnist Anne Applebaum told VOA's Russian Service, adding that there are also direct connections between Hungary's far-right Jobbik party and Russia. "One of its members has deep and long Moscow links," she said. According to Applebaum, there are also "indirect" links between Europe's far right and Moscow. "For example, there have been conferences organized with Russian money which the leaders of these right-wing groups attend," she said. Such links were also on display during the November 2014 elections in eastern Ukraine, which were organized by Russia-backed separatists in the region. A number of Europe's far-right parties, along with Greece's Communist Party, agreed to send monitors to observe that vote, which Western governments dismissed as illegitimate. "The third kind of link is intellectual," said Applebaum. "It's one that we saw in the recent Dutch referendum, whereby a right-wing party borrows liberally from Russian propaganda and Russian-manufactured disinformation in a local political dispute." Applebaum said Moscow supports Europe's far-right in hopes of weakening European organizations and institutions that it "perceives as a threat." She added, however, that such actions will not ultimately benefit Russia as a country. "Russia, in my view is a European country," she said. "It should be trying to join Europe and strengthen it, and I don't see what Russia gains by trying to destroy Europe." 'Divide and split' David Kramer, senior director for Human Rights and Democracy at the McCain Institute for International Leadership, a Washington-based research institution, told VOA he did not think that Russian actions were decisive to the outcome of the Dutch referendum. "Russia is exploiting Europe's divisions and disagreements, though I think it goes too far to say that Russian propaganda had a significant impact on the Dutch referendum's outcome," he said. "The vote frankly was more about Dutch views toward the EU, and the referendum on Ukraine and the EU got caught up in that. Still, the result was a major boost for Putin and a big blow to Ukraine." More broadly, Moscow is trying to "to divide and split Europe," according to Kramer. "And Europe is giving Russia openings to do this," he said. "That it is not a source of deep shame and embarrassment that a major French political party can openly ask for Russian funding and that would be illegal in the U.S., by the way says a lot. Putin's greatest export is corruption, and the West imports it. We need to do a better job of blocking Russian money and its corrupting influence. I am more worried about that than I am about Russian propaganda." Boris Reitschuster, a former Moscow correspondent for the German news magazine Focus and author of a book titled "Putin's Hidden War," has investigated the connections between Germany's far right and the Kremlin and its ideological representatives. He told VOA that German rightists have direct connections with the Russian government, with people who used to work for the Stasi, the former East German communist secret police, and with Russian "friends" of the Putin government like the ultra-nationalist political scientist Alexander Dugin and Konstantin Malofeyev, a far-right billionaire who is said to have provided funds for the separatists in eastern Ukraine. KGB methods Moscow, said Reitschuster, has long been working to increase its influence on political life in Germany. "I think it started shortly after Putin came to power," he said. "He was a KGB man, and everything he is using now is the old methods of the KGB and the Stasi." Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014 was a "watershed," he added, "as if, before that, something had been created but was in sleep mode, and suddenly was turned on." According to Reitschuster, several German right-wing parties have "clear" links to Moscow. One is Alternative for Germany, which won 4.7 percent of the votes in the 2013 German federal election, just short of the 5 percent electoral threshold to gain seats in the Bundestag. Another is the National Democratic Party of Germany, whose former leader, Udo Voigt, participated in a congress of European ultra-right radicals held in St. Petersburg in March 2015. Voigt is currently a member of the European Parliament. There is also "a whole network" of right-wing German websites and media with connections to Russia, said Reitschuster. "I think it is impossible to believe that this is a coincidence." Still, Reitschuster believes Russian meddling in German affairs will ultimately backfire. "In the long run, this could help Germany, because I think we will survive such an assault and that it, on the contrary, will help strengthen our patriotic spirit, strengthen our understanding of how important our freedom is," he said. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Riyadh-Washington ties irrevocably changed: Ex-Saudi spy chief Iran Press TV Fri Apr 22, 2016 11:9AM Saudi ties with the US have changed forever and would not return to what it was before even under a new president, the kingdom's former intelligence chief Prince Turki al-Faisal says. "There is going to have to be, a recalibration of our relationship with America -- how far we can go with our dependence on America. How much can we rely on steadfastness from American leadership. What is it that makes for our joint benefits to come together," he told CNN. "And I don't think that we should expect any new president in America to go back to, as I said, the yesteryear days when things were different," Faisal added. Faisal further criticized recent remarks by US Senator Richard Blumenthal that low oil prices and high domestic output lessened Washington's dependence on the kingdom. Saudis "no longer have us in an energy straitjacket," Blumenthal had told The New York Times. Faisal said the remarks by the prominent senator were an insult to the Saudi monarchy. "I've always thought that America and Saudi Arabia willingly came together to undertake joint efforts," said the prince, adding, "If you want to change course and establish new grounds for understanding, you don't have to be insulting." He criticized US President Barack Obama for calling Riyadh a "free rider" on American policies in the region. "Personally, of course it hurt me," Faisal said. Faisal does not currently hold any official position in the Saudi leadership, but his views are usually described by insiders as often reflecting those of the kingdom's senior officials. The remarks came as Obama met with Saudi King Salman and other Arab leaders in Riyadh, where he reportedly received a cold and embarrassing reception by Saudi rulers. Obama, however, reaffirmed support for Arab allies of the US. Washington, he said, will "use all elements of our power to secure our core interests in the [Persian] Gulf region and to deter and confront external aggression against our allies and our partners." In recent years, US-Saudi relations have cooled over the US failure to oust the Syrian government, its nuclear agreement with Iran, and a Congress bill implicating Saudi officials over the 9/11 attacks. The Obama administration has prevented the release a 28-page document that could implicate Riyadh in the planning of the September 11, 2001 attacks in New York and Washington. Meanwhile, Riyadh has threatened to sell off $750 billion in US assets if Congress passes the bill. The measure would allow American citizens to sue the Saudi regime for any role it may have had in the attacks, which killed 3,000 people. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Damascus to resume talks with UN envoy on Monday Iran Press TV Fri Apr 22, 2016 1:47PM Syria's chief negotiator in peace talks plans to resume talks with UN Special Envoy for Syria early next week. Bashar al-Ja'afari, who also serves as Syria's ambassador to the United Nations, made the remarks at a news conference after the government delegation's meeting with UN Special Envoy Staffan de Mistura on Friday. "We agreed with the (UN) Special Envoy (Staffan de Mistura) that we meet once again on Monday at 11 o'clock, and devote the session to discuss our modifications on the paper submitted by the Special Envoy," he said, adding that the two sides discussed humanitarian issues during Friday's meeting. Ja'afari also commented on the humanitarian situation in Syria after shipments of medical and food supplies were delivered to 120,000 people in and near the militant-held town of Rastan, located 25 kilometers (16 miles), north of Homs, on Thursday. "90 percent of these 6.5 million (internally displaced people) now reside in government-controlled areas. They all receive humanitarian aid and 1.7 million have returned to the towns they originally lived in before being displaced," he said. Elsewhere in his remarks, Ja'afari once again accused Qatar, Turkey and Saudi Arabia of supporting terrorism in Syria. He also condemned the "illegal coercive sanctions" imposed by major powers against his country. "This includes a boycott of Syrian banks and preventing investment in Syria. It would seem the only investment done in Syria is investment in terrorism, it looks like a winning project," he said. Syria peace talks are under way despite the absence of the Saudi-backed oppositions as leaders of High Negotiations Committee (HNC) left the latest round of the peace talks, which began in Geneva on April 13, to protest at what they called escalating violence and restrictions on humanitarian access in Syria on April 19. The move has triggered condemnation and doubts about the real intentions of the HNC with the Russian Foreign Ministry accusing it of employing blackmail on April 20. In reaction to the HNC decision, Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal al-Mekdad also said the opposition's move proved their lack of seriousness in reaching a political solution to the conflict gripping the Arab country. The previous round of the UN-backed peace talks for Syria came to a halt on March 24 over disagreements on the role of President Bashar al-Assad in Syria's future, with the foreign-backed Syrian opposition insisting that Assad must not have a role in the country's future. In an interview with Lebanese TV station Al Mayadeen, the Syrian government's chief negotiator, however, said that Assad's future is not up for discussion at peace talks. Syria has been gripped by foreign-backed militancy since March 2011. According to a February report by the Syrian Center for Policy Research, the conflict in the Arab country has claimed the lives of over 470,000 people. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address US divided over Russia's military role in Syria: Report Iran Press TV Fri Apr 22, 2016 7:47AM A new report shows growing division within the US administration over Russia's military role in Syria. The Reuters report on Friday quoted several unnamed US official as saying that Washington had doubts about Russian President Vladimir Putin's 'genuine' support for a UN-sponsored peace initiative in Syria. It said despite Moscow's recent withdrawal of some warplanes from Syria, Russia has actually boosted its forces on the ground there with advanced helicopter gunships and airstrikes against what the Americans described as moderate opposition groups. Such militant groups have long enjoyed the backing of the United States and its regional allies. The officials warned that a US failure to react would be seen by Moscow as a fresh sign of American timidity. This is while the Pentagon in March acknowledged Russia's "constructive role" in the Syrian peace process which might ultimately lead to a "resolution" of the years-long conflict. "It's being clear that they have focused more of their military attention on ISIL. We think that is a good thing. We encourage that from the start," Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook said on March 29. "They're playing a constructive role with regard to the cessation of hostilities," he added. Now other officials reportedly believe US inaction could encourage Russia to escalate challenges to America and its allies. A ceasefire agreement in Syria, brokered by Russia and the United States, entered into force on February 27. The Syrian government accepted the terms of the truce on condition that military efforts against Daesh and the al-Nusra Front terrorists, who are excluded from the ceasefire, continue. Syria has been gripped by foreign-backed militancy since March 2011. According to a February report by the Syrian Center for Policy Research, the crisis in the Arab country has claimed the lives of over 470,000 people and displaced nearly half of its pre-war population of about 23 million within or beyond its borders. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Hmeymim Group Wants No Changes to Syria Constitution During Transition Sputnik News 15:46 22.04.2016 Tarek Ahmad, a member of the Syrian Social Nationalist Party (SSNP) representing Syria's internal opposition group formed at Hmeymim base said that current Syrian laws concerning political parties, elections or political system could be changed only after the new constitution is voted on in a national referendum. MOSCOW (Sputnik), Svetlana Alexandrova The current Syrian constitution should not be changed during the transitional period, but elected national experts from different political groups may start working on a draft of the new one, a member of the Syrian Social Nationalist Party (SSNP) representing Syria's internal opposition group formed at Hmeymim base told Sputnik Friday. On Thursday, Syrian Prime Minister Wael Nader Halqi told Sputnik in an interview that after a broad national unity government in the war-torn country is formed, it will begin work on the draft of the new Syrian constitution, which will be presented at a national referendum. "Geneva I communique and [UN] Security Council resolution state that Syria needs to maintain its existing institutions. The most important institution is a country's constitution. The Syrian constitution should remain unchanged while the elected Syrians experts from different groups are working on a new Syrian constitution," Tarek Ahmad said. Ahmad added that these experts may amend or completely change current laws concerning political parties, elections or political system, but only after the new constitution is voted on in a national referendum. Syria has been mired in civil war since 2011, with forces loyal to President Bashar Assad's government fighting numerous opposition factions and extremist groups. The 2012 Geneva communique stipulates that all parties to the Syrian conflict must form a transitional governing body with full executive powers by a mutual consent. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address US Senate Foreign Relations Chair Calls for 'Plan B' in Syria Sputnik News 01:44 23.04.2016 The Chairman of the US Senate Foreign Relations Comittee Senator Bob Corker said amid the Syrian opposition's pull out of the Geneva peace talks and ceasefire collapse, it is time for US Secretary of State John Kerry to consider a 'plan B' in Damascus. WASHINGTON (Sputnik) Amid the Syrian opposition's pull out of the Geneva peace talks and ceasefire collapse, it is time for US Secretary of State John Kerry to consider a 'plan B' in Damascus, the Chairman of the US Senate Foreign Relations Comittee Senator Bob Corker said in a statement. On February 24, two days after Russia and the United States negotiated the ceasefire in Syria, the White House said that Washington was "not ruling out a Plan B" in case the truce did not hold. Later, reports emerged that the Central Intelligence Agency and its regional partners were preparing Plan B in Syria which would include deliveries of various types of anti-aircraft weapons to Syrian rebels. "Now that the cessation of hostilities is effectively dead, it looks like it's time to consider what Secretary Kerry referred to as 'Plan B', and I look forward to him laying that out very soon," Corker said in a statement on Friday following his conversation with senior Syrian opposition leader Dr. Riyad Hijab. Corker noted that after speaking with Hijab, he understands why the opposition left the Geneva talks and explained that Syrian President Bashar Assad "continues to target civilians, block humanitarian access, and refuse the release of detainees." On Monday, the members of the Syrian opposition High Negotiations Committee (HNC) announced they would suspend its participation in the ongoing peace talks in Geneva, citing serious violations of the cessation of hostilities. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Turkey court releases 4 academics accused of terror propaganda Iran Press TV Fri Apr 22, 2016 5:15PM A court in Istanbul has released pending trial four Turkish academics jailed on charges of "spreading terrorist propaganda." "We are excited to announce the release of our colleagues. We will read out a press statement in front of the courthouse soon," the Academics for Peace group, which represents the signatories of the petition, said on Facebook on Friday. The scholars were arrested in March for their alleged role in organizing a petition against the government's military campaign in the southeast of the country in January that was signed by over 2,000 academics calling for peace. Back in January, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan lashed out at the large group of academics who criticized Ankara's anti-PKK campaign, saying the academics will continue to thrash around "in this pit of treachery they fell in." The next court hearing will be held in September, the group added. Turkey's southeast has been volatile since a shaky ceasefire between Ankara and the PKK that had stood since 2013 collapsed following a large-scale military operation against the militant group. Ankara has been engaged in a large-scale campaign against the PKK in its southern border region in the past few months. The Turkish military has been conducting offensives against the positions of the militant group in northern Iraq as well. The Turkish military operations began in the wake of a deadly July 2015 bombing in the southern Turkish town of Suruc. More than 30 people died in the attack, which the Turkish government blamed on the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group. After the bombing, the PKK militants, who accuse the Ankara government of supporting Daesh, engaged in a series of attacks against Turkish police and security forces, prompting the Turkish military operations. The PKK launched its insurgency against Turkey in 1984. So far, more than 40,000 people have been killed in the conflict. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Turkey's top court overturns 275 verdicts in Ergenekon case Iran Press TV Fri Apr 22, 2016 8:44AM Turkey's supreme court of appeals has overturned the conviction of 275 people who had been tried for allegedly plotting a coup d'etat against the government in Ankara back in 2003. The high court in Ankara said on Thursday that it had found several flaws in the original trial of the individuals, among whom are former military chief Ilker Basbug, other military officers and lawyers, as well as academics and journalists. They had been convicted of seeking to overthrow Recep Tayyip Erdogan Turkey's then-prime minister and current president through activities in an alleged network referred to as Ergenekon. The top court said that the lower court had relied on illegal wiretappings and statements from witnesses whose identities were not revealed. Having ruled that the defendants have been denied a fair trial, the top court ruled that Basbug, the former military chief, must be retried by a high court in line with regulations on the prosecution of senior officials. Basbug and 18 of the other defendants had been sentenced by the lower court to life in prison in 2013. Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Yalcin Akdogan has accused the followers of Turkish exile Fethullah Gulen of having "poisoned the judicial process" in the original trial. Turkish officials have been speaking of a shadowy deep state associated with Gulen that they say is trying to depose Erdogan. Gulen denies the allegation against him. Just on Monday, police arrested more than 100 people accused of leading a "Gulenist terror group." A court in December 2014 issued an arrest warrant for Gulen, who fled to the United States in 1999 after authorities leveled charges against him. Turkey has asked the US to extradite him but Washington has reportedly been unwilling to do so. Academics on trial Another court in Istanbul will try four academics on Friday on charges of "spreading terrorist propaganda" for their alleged role in organizing a petition against the government's military campaign in the southeast of the country. Ankara has been engaged in a large-scale campaign against the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) militant group in its southern border region in the past few months. The Turkish military has been conducting offensives against the positions of the militant group in northern Iraq as well. Turkish journalists Can Dundar and Erdem Gul, respectively the editor-in-chief and the Ankara bureau chief of opposition newspaper Cumhuriyet, will also appear in a closed-door hearing in the same court on Friday on charges of "espionage." Back in May 2015, the opposition paper published several articles and videos purportedly implicating the Turkish intelligence organization (MIT) in the clandestine provision of weapons supplies into Syria in 2014. Ankara, however, denied the allegation, saying the trucks had been carrying humanitarian aid to Syria. Turkey has reportedly been a major supporter of the militant groups operating in Syria, which has been grappling with a foreign-backed crisis since March 2011. It has also been accused on numerous occasions of being involved in illegal oil trade with Daesh terrorists, another accusation it has denied. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Ukraine Hopes to Sign Open Skies Treaty on Aerial Surveillance Sputnik News 11:36 22.04.2016(updated 11:56 22.04.2016) Kiev is looking forward to sign an Open Skies EU deal in July on monitoring EU's military forces and activities, Ukraine's Infrastructure Ministry said Friday. KIEV (Sputnik) Kiev expects to sign a treaty with the European Union in July that will allow it to monitor EU's military forces and activities, Ukraine's Infrastructure Ministry said Friday. "Signing the Treaty on Open Skies with the EU is a key objective. This time, Brussels has set July 2016 as the prospective date [of the signing]," Infrastructure Minister Volodymyr Omelian said. In the past two years, Europe has several times postponed the signing of the treaty. Omelian urged the bloc to stick to its promise and warned that," I will not trust the EU again and will keep reminding it to keep its word." The Treaty on Open Skies was signed in March 1992 and became one of the major confidence-building measures in Europe after the Cold War. It entered into force on January 1, 2002, and currently has 34 States Parties, including Russia and the majority of the NATO countries. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address SHARE By The Kansas City Star (Tns) The Rev. Holly McKissick, pastor, Peace Christian Church UCC: In our blended family, we have four kids ages 18-21 years when freedom expands and limits are increasingly the kids' to navigate. It's not easy. Sociologists keep increasing the age for attaining adulthood, but the journey is lifelong. Same goes for faith. One does not "become" a Christian once and for all. One is always "becoming," trying to make the world more just and peaceful than the day before. In my progressive faith tradition, personal freedom is not a central concern, except when preachers and politicians threaten the right to vote, the right to choose or the right to marry. Rather, it is balancing personal freedom with the common good. How does freedom a gift from God and a privilege of citizenship compel us to work for the freedom of others? How do we transform a country that imprisons people at such a high rate? How do we work to heal our broken world? My daughter is 21 and some days you'd think the freedom to legally drink is her crowning achievement. Of course, it's not. She will graduate this spring, and her dream is to be a community organizer in her Rust Belt college town. Her latest passion is a farmers market for the left out and the left behind. Ask me in a few years when her salary is still less than a year of tuition, but for now I'm thankful for who she is becoming and happy to see her so free. The Rev. Justin Hoye, pastor, St. Patrick's Catholic Church, Kansas City, North: No, you will not lose your personal freedom. To the contrary, you will experience it fully for the first time. The Catechism of the Catholic Church attests that God wants his creation to be free (CCC 1730-1748). As revealed in sacred Scripture, mankind was created with the freedom to accept God's vision for itself. Humanity refused, and in this initial rejection humanity deceived itself into believing it could create the conditions that would satisfy the human heart. Every one of us since this first rejection comes into a world oriented away from God and enslaved to passions and burdens that keep us from being who we are envisioned to be by our creator. After we became unable to unfetter ourselves from choices that only confine the human spirit, God entered our world in the divine person of Jesus Christ, taking to himself our human nature. Through Jesus' life, death and resurrection, our human nature now has the potential to be liberated from that which truly encroaches on our freedom: sin. When a person is immersed into Jesus' life the life of one who lived in perfect harmony with his father's will he or she receives the graces needed to live in accord with God's vision. This vision is our unique life, detached from sin and lived at its fullest potential. God desires we choose this best life. SHARE The Standard-Times publishes news of special events and programs. We do not accept items detailing regular weekly sermons or schedules. Items will be run only once. Church news can be submitted by email at maria.hagland@gosanangelo.com or by fax to 325-659-8133. Forms also are available in the Standard-Times lobby from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Deadline for submission next week is Wednesday before the date of publication. Dates, times, address and a publication number are required. Belmore Baptist Belmore Baptist Church, 1214 S. Bell St. will participate in the Pregnancy Help Center LifeWalk fundraiser at 9 a.m. today. There will be a Children's Church for ages 4 through fifth grade at 10:50 a.m. Sunday. A new DVD series called "Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus" will be shown at 5 p.m. and there will be a homemade ice cream and cookie fellowship following the evening service at 7 p.m. Belmore is also collecting the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering for North American Missions. The Easther Bible Study for all ladies will be at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday. The Seekers Sunday school class will have a fellowship at 6:30 p.m. Thursday. Call 325-651-4661 for more information. Eola Baptist Eola Baptist Church, 11894 Farm-to-Market Road 381, will hold its 4th Sunday Singing and Fellowship from 4-6 p.m. Sunday. Anyone who can sing or play an instrument can come an share their talent. Light snacks and drinks will be provided. Call 325-656-246 or 325-234-4932 for more information. First Christian First Christian Church, 29 N. Oakes St. will hold its second annual cook-off fundraiser "A Taste of FFC's Best" at noon, Sunday. Meals should be dropped off in the kitchen Sunday before noon. Proceeds will benefit the 2016 Mission Trip to Central Texas. Call 325-653-4523 for information. Freedom Fellowship Freedom Fellowship of San Angelo Church, 342 S. Chadbourne St., will have a family picnic and special service titled "Jesus in the Park," at 10 a.m. Sunday, at the Bosque at Bart De Witt Park, 330 S. Irving St. There will be music, games, bouncy houses and other activities for the whole family. Call 325-227-4121 for more information. First Presbyterian First Presbyterian Church, 32 N. Irving St., will prepare and serve the meal Monday at the Wesley Trinity Daily Bread Soup Kitchen, 301 W. 18th St. Anyone interested in volunteering is asked to arrive at the soup kitchen by 9 a.m. Chemo Care packages are available to anyone undergoing chemotherapy. Volunteers are also needed for VBS 2016. The free, four-day program will be held from 9 a.m. to noon May 31-June 3. Call 325-655-5694 for more information or to arrange for receipt of a care package. Sierra Vista United Methodist Church Sierra Vista United Methodist Church, 4522 College Hills Blvd., will have a Children-Led Worship at 5:30 p.m. Saturday and at 8:30 a.m. and 11 a.m. Sunday. The theme is "God's Good News" and the music will be provided by the children's choirs and their hand bells. A Sunday school class led by Chuck Kirking will begin at 9:45 a.m. in Room 105 in the Life Center. Wednesday is the last session of the children's K.I.C.K. program. St. Luke United Methodist St. Luke United Methodist Church, 2781 West Ave. N, will hold its annual Relay For Life Silent Auction before and after worship services on Sunday and May 1. St. Luke will also participate in the City Blitz at 8 a.m. April 30 and will need volunteers to help paint houses. Call 325-949-1545 for more information on how to volunteer, or if you are interested in donating an item to the auction. Holy Angels Catholic Holy Angels Catholic Church, 2309 A&M Ave., will host its 53rd Annual Holy Angels Parish Spring Festival beginning at 10 a.m. May 1. Sit-down food service will last until 1 p.m., drive-through/take-out food service end at 2 p.m., a live auction begins at 1:30 p.m. and bingo starts at noon and lasts until 5 p.m. There will be a cake walk and concessions until 3 p.m. and games, inflatables and family fun will be available until 4 p.m. The food is $10 per plate and consists of brisket, all-you-can-eat sausage, green beans, mashed potatoes, slaw and desert. Call 325-658-8008 for more information. Contributed photo Colorful eastern-collared lizards don't mind the heat. SHARE By Michael Price Most, if not all, herpetologists can attribute their involvement with reptiles and amphibians to a fascination with dinosaurs when they were young. It was definitely the case with me, and I can remember the summer days of my childhood observing a modern-day dinosaur, the eastern-collared lizard. The eastern-collared lizard (Crotaphytus collaris) is one of two species of "Mountain Boomers" that live in Texas, and it has by far the largest area of distribution. It can be observed throughout the western three-quarters of the state, including the Panhandle, Trans-Pecos, and Edwards Plateau eco-regions. It occurs to the north to southern Nebraska, westward to northern Arizona, and southward into Central Mexico. This conspicuous lizard prefers arid to semiarid rocky arroyos, rocky hillsides and mesas. It prefers open areas with large rocks for basking and hunting, and the rocks strewed along caliche county roads are used. The eastern-collared lizard is among the most brilliantly colored and impressive lacertilian species in the United States. The scales on its back are small and granular in appearance and texture, and the background coloration varies from a light tan to gray to greenish-gray, and many small light spots and reticulate lines are often present. There is a prominent double black collar on the neck on all specimens, giving this animal its common namesake. The head is large and almost disproportionate in size to the body. The front legs are smaller than the back legs, and the tail, which is colored like the back, is long. During breeding season, the animals take on a different appearance, particularly sexually mature males. While attempting to attract a mate, the head of the male becomes a bright yellow, while the background coloration changes from a light dull color to a brilliant blue, green or turquoise. The double black neck collar and light spots are set off even more by this extraordinary display. Males are the larger sex, achieving lengths of up to 14 inches, although most are just under 12 inches. Females are slightly smaller than the males, topping out at approximately 10 inches. "Mountain Boomers," like other lizard species, are coldblooded, or ectothermic. This means they do not generate heat from inside their body, as mammals and birds do, but are dependent on outside sources for heating and cooling. They are active throughout the day from early April to October, and unlike many other reptile species, the high metabolism of this lizard enables it to be observed during the hottest part of the summer afternoons. The eastern-collared lizard is oviparous, which is a fancy way of saying that it lays eggs. After emerging from the winter-long brumation period (reptiles do not hibernate in the true sense of the word), males search out females to mate. After mating, the female lays a medium-sized clutch of eggs (between one and 14, with an average of six) in moisture-retaining soil. Older, larger females can lay multiple clutches per summer. After approximately two months of incubation, the 3-inch-long young emerge prepared to fend for themselves. These lizards are gregarious baskers, and the higher basking areas are used by the larger alpha male. When threatened, it has a habit of lifting its front legs and tail off the ground in a bipedal motion, running much like a miniature Tyrannosaurus rex. Michael Price is the director of the San Angelo Nature Center. Contact him at michael.price@sanangelotexas.us. PHOTOS BY Sarah Johnson/Times Record News Rebecca York (from left), Oleta Rice, Kubis Brown and Patti Fox look over fabric at the sewing room at Faith Village Church of Christ. The ladies are members of "Team Sew," a group that meets monthly to sew clothing and blankets that will be shipped to countries across the world and locally to places like Faith Refuge, Patsy's House and First Step. Fabric is donated or bought at bargain prices and stored in the newly renovated sewing room at the church. SHARE Irene Wallace (left) and Doris Lemond hold up samples of the some of the handmade clothing they helped make in their sewing group at Faith Village Church of Christ. Faith Villages Team Sew clothes suffering children in love By Sarah Johnson, Wichita Falls Times Record News When Rebecca York sews, her thoughts turn to the children in need who will be wearing her creations. "I think of them not having anything to even put on that day," she said. "When I make the little T-shirt dress with the ruffle, I can imagine a little girl twirling around in it." York and fellow members at Faith Village Church of Christ get together once a month to churn out hundreds of handmade items including T-shirts, shorts, tops, skirts, pants, dresses, blankets, quilts, bibs, caps and pillows to send to places like Ukraine, Haiti, Indonesia, Belize and South Sudan. "Whatever needs are out there, we sew them," York said. About 12 to 15 ladies gather on a Saturday at the church on McNiel Avenue for "Team Sew." They sew, crochet and knit for about four hours, break for lunch, then resume sewing. "We don't take roll, and people come and go as they please," York said "We have a big, old, good time. We pray together. It's really been a pleasure to be a part of it." According to York, "there has been sewing going on for years at Faith Village," but the group officially started in 2012. She and her daughter listened to a missionary talk about the extreme poverty and hardships in Ukraine. Their hearts broke. "My daughter cried after she heard that the babies didn't even have pacifiers," York said. For Team Sew member Patti Fox, it's satisfying to be able to help someone across the world who has personally suffered from war, like the one in Ukraine in 2013. "When the war in Ukraine first started, people left with the clothes on their backs," Fox said. "They went away and when winter came they had no warm clothes, no jobs, no shelter, no blankets. The churches of Christ started to help them and that's when we got involved." Many of the clothing items are sent to the capital city of Kiev, where a lot of the war victims settled. "Parents are asking for items for their children, not for themselves," Fox said. "In 2013, we sent 50 boxes of clothing and blankets to Ukraine." Dennis Cady, a missionary out of Faith Village Church of Christ, recently took three suitcases full of clothes to Haiti. Each suitcase weighed more than 50 pounds. Some of the handmade items stay right here in our community, donated to places like Texhoma Christian Care Center, Patsy's House, Rainbow House, First Step and Midwestern Healthcare. "One time, Ruth Henry, one of our older members, saw a child at an apartment complex laundry room holding a quilt that she had made," York said. "Ruth was our real inspiration. She made more than 500 quilts out of her apartment. Her place was like a sewing factory." The group puts out the word for donated fabric and hunts for fabric bargains all over town. Last fall, a room in the church was renovated thanks to Fox's architect husband, Ron for the sewing group. There is a huge cutting table in the middle of the room, surrounded by floor-to-ceiling shelves on all four walls for the fabric. "People have fabric that may have been at their mother's house that they didn't want to take to the dump," York said. "We put it all to good use. I sent a letter to the Church of Christ in my hometown of Childress for fabric and they gave 50 sacks of fabric and notions." Each woman has her sewing niche. "Oleda (Rice) makes these thick fleece blankets reinforced with double knit, because not many people use that anymore," Fox said. "Some ladies are crocheting mats from Walmart bags that will be used as mats. People love to get creative. We are greatly blessed." Here's the information you should know about the Zika virus. (Fotolia) SHARE By Mayo Clinic News Network (TNS) The Zika virus pandemic has grown to a global health concern. As world health leaders learn more about the mosquito-borne virus that causes birth defects such as microcephaly, more misinformation circulates, especially on the Internet. Mayo Clinics Vaccine Research Group Director Dr. Gregory Poland is leading a team to create the first vaccine to help prevent the stop of the virus. He says researchers are working behind the scenes to learn more about the virus, and its important for the public to be careful where they are getting their information. Here are top four myths about Zika virus: 1. ITS A CONSPIRACY THEORY Wrong. Poland says thats silliness. 2. THERES NO NEED FOR WORRY Wrong. Poland says that would be untrue. We need to stay informed. 3. WE UNDERSTAND THE VIRUS Wrong. Poland says that there is a lot to learn about the virus. 4. THE U.S. IS NOT AT RISK Wrong. Poland says almost certainly we will see Zika in the United States. The mosquito that carries the virus is found along the southern rim of the U.S. and up the northeast corridor. He says it is a matter of time. This is a virus of considerable concern, Poland says. It is a virus we are learning a lot about so we cannot tell what all the ramifications are going to be. For reasons we do not understand, this is a virus that is causing severe abnormalities in unborn children and thats unusual for a mosquito-borne virus. Poland urges us all to get our information from credible sources such as from Mayo Clinc and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. He says the best thing we can do is be informed and use common sense. Chipping lead paint on a Baltimore home. (Lloyd Fox/Baltimore Sun/TNS) SHARE By Alan J. Heavens The Philadelphia Inquirer (TNS) When Andrew Miller works on his home, his training as a certified lead-dust sampling technician comes in very handy. I put drop cloths down everywhere, have HEPA (high-efficiency particulate air) filters on all the vacuum cleaners, and wet wipe every surface to make sure I have picked up all of the dust, said Miller, owner of Ally Services, an environmental building and contracting services firm. Such precautions are necessary. In Philadelphia alone, the Census Bureaus 2009 American Housing Survey showed, 91.6 percent of residences were built before 1978, the year that lead in paint was outlawed. Events in Flint, Mich., have raised fears about dangerous lead concentrations in drinking water. But the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the most hazardous sources of exposure for children are deteriorating lead-based paint and lead dust, on surfaces and in the air, inhaled or transferred from hand to mouth. Millers business is part of an industry that tests homes and apartment buildings for lead, then determines the best way of dealing with it. Since Flints troubles hit the news, there has been a 300 percent increase in lead-related telephone inquiries to his office, he said. How can you know whether you and your children are exposed to lead where you live? A blood test can determine lead levels in the body. As for the home, both the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Environmental Protection Agency recommend that anyone with a residence built before 1978 just assume that lead paint is present and take special precautions during even minor repairs. In Pennsylvania, 3.9 million, or about 70 percent, of the states 5.8 million housing units were built before 1978, according to the Census Bureaus 2010 American Community Survey. The New Jersey Department of Community Affairs puts the number at more than 2.4 million of that states 3.3 million housing units. About 24 million U.S. housing units are considered to contain deteriorated lead paint or elevated levels of lead-contaminated dust, with more than 4 million of those dwellings home to one or more children. Of particular concern are children under age 6, the CDC says, because they tend to put their hands or other objects that may be contaminated with lead dust into their mouths. Youngsters are especially vulnerable because their rapidly developing brains and nervous systems are particularly sensitive to the effects of lead, the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychology says. Reduced IQ, learning disabilities, and behavior problems can result. The World Health Organization says lead also causes long-term harm in adults, including increased risk of high blood pressure and kidney damage. Exposure of pregnant women to high levels of lead can cause miscarriage, stillbirth, premature birth and low birth weight, and minor malformations. Because of the hazard it poses, reducing or removing lead in a home such as by replacing windows whose lead-based paint has deteriorated is a job for EPA-certified professionals only, who must meet training standards and comply with safe work practices. Windowsills and window wells are common sources of lead exposure. Lead dust is stirred up when windows are being raised and lowered as the weather gets warmer, Miller said. Both HUD and EPA have established standards and protocols for the identification and removal of lead-based paint. Companies that violate the work practice, training, or administrative rules could face fines of up to $37,500 a day, the EPA says. Pennsylvania and New Jersey have incorporated those regulations into their statutes and provide lists of licensed certified testers and contractors who have met federal and state requirements. There are four major methods of dealing with residential lead-paint hazards, the EPA says: Replacement, which involves removing a building part containing lead-based paint and substituting a new one. Enclosure, which covers the lead-based paint with a solid barrier, such as drywall. Encapsulation, in which the surface containing lead-based paint is coated so that it is not accessible. Removal of the paint, the most expensive of the four. The cost of a typical lead-paint remediation ranges from $8,000 to $12,000, said Shantae M. Goodloe, a HUD spokeswoman in Washington. Even routine home-improvement efforts have the potential to increase lead exposure, however. Common renovation activities like sanding, cutting, and demolition can create hazardous lead dust and chips, the EPA says in its brochure The Lead-Safe Certified Guide to Renovate Right (https://goo.gl/LB4TLh). The key to protecting yourself and your family during a renovation, repair or painting job is to use lead-safe work practices such as containing dust inside the work area, using dust-minimizing work methods, and conducting a careful cleanup, the brochure says. Although the housing industry and the scientific community agree that lead paint is a health hazard, both sides have been vociferous critics of the EPAs regulations to tackle it. Scientists, including members of the EPAs own scientific advisory board, have taken issue especially with safe-level standards for lead particles in house dust and yards, which havent changed since 2001, said David E. Jacobs, chief scientist at the National Center for Healthy Homes in Washington. They need to be revised based on our new knowledge, Jacobs, an advisory board member, said recently, noting that while the regulations have helped reduce blood-lead levels in 90 percent of the population, there are still 530,000 children every year whose tests exceed acceptable levels, and that is too many. For its part, the housing industry, with the support of members of Congress, has sought repeatedly to soften EPA regulations. In 2014 and 2015, legislation was introduced to restore a rule giving homeowners the right to opt out of the EPAs lead renovation, repair, and painting provisions if they would attest that there were no children or elderly living on the premises. According to the Congressional Record, the measure, which died in committee, sought to require the EPA to approve a test kit that met its own standards for avoiding false positives. Jay Cipriani, of Cipriani Builders in Woodbury, N.J., who remodels many homes constructed before 1978, said, We test them to a T. We test the trim, doors, walls, and ceiling for lead in the areas we will be working in. If we find lead, we follow strict guidelines as to how to control dust. It may add about $300 to $500 to the cost of an average job, as we need to buy and set up a lot of lead-dust protection, disposable plastic tarps, Cipriani added. Since December 2012, Philadelphia has required property owners who rent to families with children under age 6 to certify that those properties have been tested for lead paint. If evidence of lead-paint contamination is found, it must be remediated. Elevated lead levels are found in about 1,000 Philadelphia children a year, or 3 percent of those tested, local health officials said in hearings when the bill was introduced in City Council. When contamination is identified in homes with infants, however, some families are unwilling to allow remediation, even when it is free, the 2011 Philadelphia Lead-Free Homes Study, headed by Cara Campbell of Drexel Universitys School of Public Health, found. In 1995, a federal law went into effect requiring every home seller and landlord to disclose the presence of any known lead-based hazards in residences built before 1978. Jacobs, of the National Center for Healthy Homes, said the original version of that law would have required an inspection, instead of simply checking the I dont know box. The EPA distinguishes between inspecting a home, which is a surface-by-surface investigation to determine whether there is lead-based paint and its location, and doing a risk assessment, which determines the presence, type, severity, and location of lead-based paint hazards, and ways to control them. To my knowledge, Ive never heard of a (home-sale) deal that went bad because of the presence of lead paint, said Harris Gross, president of Engineers for Home Inspection in Cherry Hill, N.J., although people with children are understandably more cautious about it, Ive found. Contact Alan J. Heavens at aheavens@phillynews.com or write him at The Philadelphia Inquirer, Box 8263, Philadelphia PA 19101. Volume prohibits individual replies. SHARE By Guillermo Torres Every family has a story about how its ancestors arrived to help shape this country. How those forebears once walked down the gangplank into the United States. Or the way those ancestors' boat took on too much water on the way from Asia, or from Europe. From Sicily or Spain or Holland. The way those huddled masses journeyed across the U.S. on their immigrant journeys. On foot, on horse, wagon or on a sickbed pulled by livestock. One West Texas family's story starts on this continent, however. But even that saga at one time involved boats, long forgotten ones from the Scottish or Spanish shores. But first, a bit about the keepers of one West Texas story. Among them, my second cousins, Alfredo Morales and his wife, Adelia, married for five decades, and by extension, siblings Frank, Ofelia and Roberto Morales. I stepped into Alfred's and Adelia's large, empty-nest home on a recent sun-drenched Saturday, on a quest for historical information about the rugged Junction-Fort McKavett region of the frontier era. I'm writing a historical novel and I needed information about the land, ranching practices and lingo. To a writer, part of being credible means conducting research. And Alfred offered some historical nuggets about the land that his family has ranched for about 150 years. But the research took a detour. A good one. Alfredo and Adelia began bringing in suitcases of historical reading material from their garage. What unfolded was a spellbinding story of drama, struggle and sacrifice. Alfredo and Adelia, like countless other Americans, have a lot of history to share. And the common thread among we amateur historians is the fear that, when we pass on, those scraps of paper, photos and stories will be lost to oblivion. The Morales family's story begins in Mier, Mexico, in the state of Tamaulipas, which is directly south of the southern tip of Texas. It was 1846. The year that historians, today, concede the United States launched a wrongful war against Mexico and ended up with Mexico surrendering the western part of Texas, California, New Mexico and other portions of what we now call the U.S. But land grabs aside, the Morales family saga began one day when three boys, among them Meliton Morales, 7, were herding goats near Mier. The short version: A roaming band of Apaches swooped in and took the three boys captive. The older boys, 12-13, tried to escape but were recaptured. The Apaches were said to have killed the older boys in front of Meliton to show him the fate of escapees. Meliton was held captive for approximately nine years and later by the Delaware (Delaware were Eastern in nativity but were pushed westward as whites migrated westward). This band of Apaches traveled far and wide. As far south as Mexico and north to Colorado, Kansas ? even Illinois. At age 17, Meliton, the story goes, was urged by an Indian woman to escape and find a better life. He and another captive, a young white woman, rode away on horseback, leaving behind the life of Indians. They arrived one day at Fort Leavenworth, Kan. From there, Meliton's historical trail dissolves. Then, in 1865, as the Civil War was winding down, he surfaced in New Orleans. A photo of him survives, in a seemingly gray uniform though he was a Union soldier. Long story short, he returned to his boyhood home in Mexico and South Texas and, years later, with the help of his wife, drove 2,000 sheep and 200 goats northward to the Fort McKavett area, established a ranching empire, became one of the first jurors in the newly formed Kimble County, raised a family and earned a Texas historical marker. A son married into the Hall family (descendants of Scottish royalty) of that area and that family built an English-style mansion that survives to this day. On the wedding day in 1892, when Manuel Morales, son of Meliton, married Magdelina (May) Hall, the woman's sister was said to have written in a diary: "May Hall married a Mexican." Such was the temper of the times. Alfred Morales marvels at his family's story. And he's understandably proud of it. But his search for older roots ends where the Morales family story begins. In Mier, Mexico. He'd like to pick up the trail backward from there into the 1700s or wherever it might lead. He asks for information anyone might have on Meliton Morales' ancestors or ways he can access that information. But so many other stories are out there. In every village, town and city. In forgotten corners of the mind and in storage areas. Other family stories come to mind. My father, around age 12, driving my grandmother in the Central Texas countryside to perform her midwife duties. Later, as a teen, working in a field with other laborers. The farmer runs across the field, shouting, "The Japanese attacked us!" My father went back to work, not knowing how that historic attack would affect him later. Two and a half years hence, he'd fall in Brittany, France, in a hail of Nazi gunfire. Evacuated across the Channel in an English hospital, he heard Ginny Simms singing in a room of wounded American boys. Ah, the stuff of Hollywood. Another story, this one of struggle: My mother earning her nursing cap when "career girls" were rare. A story of adventure: My cousin, Eddie Sandoval of Melvin, finding himself at an American Indian sun dance. Later, following his American Indian path, setting foot at the heavenly and spiritual Machu Picchu. So many great stories ... In your attic, your files, your storm shelter or chest of drawers are stories such as these. Perhaps even more adventurous, more historic or even tragic. Because of your place, your nativity, your residency in the Americas, they are All-American tales and your histories are draped in the fabric of native lore. If history is to mean anything, it should be to remind us of who we are and where our journeys began. And, maybe, where we'll go. Driving sheep across Texas, working the land or fighting wars ? it is the American journey to where we are today. Share it. Don't let it slide into oblivion. Guillermo Torres is a longtime writer-editor at the Standard-Times, Los Angeles Times, Dallas Morning News and San Antonio Express-News. He's edited books, published fiction and written essays for numerous U.S. newspapers. He's writing a historical novel, "Lupita Winteroad," with hopes to incorporate the story of Meliton Morales into it. Students enjoy their assignments as well as a job well done. SHARE Each student is assigned a task and bags are assembled in an assembly line. Contributed photos/Donnie Lunsford Members of the Central High School Life Skills class stand with their teacher, Valerie Jones. Valerie Jones accepts plaque for Life Skills Class for over 288 Earth Team hours. Green globe of the Americas By Donnie Lunsford, Public Affairs Specialist NRCS Every year, the USDA amasses countless volunteer hours worth millions of dollars in donated time toward conservation across the nation through the USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Earth Team Volunteer program. For the past two years, San Angelo's Central High School Special Education Department's Life Skills Class has assembled educational bags for conventions, school events, workshops and Earth Day events as Earth Team Volunteers. This year, NRCS in Texas presented a plaque to the Life Skills Class to honor the hard work and dedication of the students to the Earth Team as a part of National Volunteer week. "This partnership is a win-win for NRCS and the Life Skills Class student volunteers and it helps with the NRCS mission of Helping People Help the Land," said Elisha Kuehn, assistant conservationist for field operations in San Angelo. "This effort could not have been done without the dedication of their teacher, Valerie Jones, and teacher's aide, Christy Julius, who have worked with these students to assemble this educational material for a lot of our outreach events." The Life Skills Class focuses on teaching the students to communicate either verbally or through sign or gesture. The students begin the class in the 10th grade and stay in this classroom until they are 22 years old. During this time, the students' academic requirements are met and transitioning into adult life becomes the focus, allowing them to develop skills to function in a sheltered work setting. Three years ago, San Angelo's Vocational Adjustment Coordinator at that time, Becca Flores, reached out to the NRCS to inquire if there were any activities or tasks the students in Jones's class could do to help build life skills through the NRCS's Earth Team Volunteer Program. "We have really enjoyed working with the NRCS by putting together the educational bags. Each student gains real world experience and it means more to the students when they have a real task that they know goes out to the public," Jones said. "Each student has a task that they work on to complete the entire project, which helps develop fine motor skills, planning and following processes with specific instructions." Since the students began their volunteer efforts, there have been nine volunteers with approximately 288 hours. They have filled countless bags, which allows NRCS staff to focus efforts on conservation planning, while forging skills in these young volunteers. "The Life Skills Class and their teachers have been a great asset to our agency and the Earth Team Program," said Cheryl Parrish, earth team volunteer coordinator and office assistant. "I enjoy picking up and dropping off supplies because you can see that they really enjoy the tasks that they are given." Earth Team is a program that partners volunteers with NRCS employees. It was created in 1985 and offers many opportunities to individuals 14 and older who are interested in volunteering to improve the nation's natural resources. Earth Team volunteers help NRCS conservationists provide private landowners and others a range of services from conservation technical assistance to teaching and generating awareness about conservation through community projects. Contact the NRCS office to volunteer or visit the website at www.tx.nrcs.usda.gov for more information. Tesla Investigates Self-Driving City Transit Federal Bill Raises Open Data Expectations At an April 21 transportation conference in Norway, Tesla CEO Elon Musk revealed company plans to fabricate a self-driving vehicle it sees as a traffic-reducing alternative to public transit. Electrek, an electric transit blog, reported that the news was less of an announcement and more of a carefully-worded teaser of a secret Tesla project under development.We have an idea for something which is not exactly a bus, but would solve the density problem in intercity situations, Musk said. I think we need to rethink the whole concept of public transport and create something that people are actually gonna like a lot more. I dont want to talk too much about it.Musk said autonomous vehicle technology would be at the heart of the vehicle, and that it's a distinct development project completely separate from Tesla initiatives like the Hyperloop an experimental passenger pod to transport people at supersonic speeds. In his remarks, he went on to say that this new type of car would be able to actually take people to their final destination and not just to the bus stop.While innovative, such a solution may be more iterative than groundbreaking. In San Francisco, the ride-hailing startup Chariot which also eschews the term bus or vans for its vehicles crowdsources its routes, and pickup and dropoff locations by customers. Meanwhile, big transportation network company Lyft has launched Lyft Line, which dynamically matches passengers to drivers heading in the same direction and destination. Likewise, Bloomberg has reported that billionaire Warren Buffet has also sponsored an all-electric busing system in the city of Seattle.Musks solution may be an iterative adaption of each technology, creating the first electric passenger vehicle that is both autonomous and dynamically routed.A criticism that holds true for most data transparency policies is that they are weak. Whether city, state or federal, government open data policies while passed with the best intentions are often aspirational rather than operational reforms. They are not legally binding and have no punitive measures if departments fail to comply.Largely, this soft policymaking stems from open datas newness. Governments have desired to test its merits, to see if citizens benefit, services improve, and how costly open data portals are to construct and maintain. Yet with open datas growing acceptance as a basic utility for service, accountability and sheer performance, federal legislators have increased pressure to compel agencies to adopt open data both in principle and in practice.On April 14, Rep. Derek Kilmer, D-Washington, and Rep. Blake Farenthold, R-Texas, introduced the Open Public Electronic and Necessary (OPEN) Government Data Act . The two lawmakers submitted the law to Congress as a tool to force those on the fence into action. The legislation manages this by turning President Obamas 2013 executive order mandating open data by default into a legally binding policy. Similarly, it requires federal agencies to maintain an inventory of their data sets, and nationally, to maintain Data.gov, the centralized database for U.S. open data.The Data Coalition, an open data lobbying group that supports the bill, said in a blog post that while the legislation could not transform agencies overnight, it would act as an instrument for transparency advocates to open agency data piece-by-piece. Further, the Data Coalition said excessively long delays or refusals might be branded as legally questionable under the law.If the OPEN Government Data Act continues to gain bipartisan support, it will be the second national open data law passed in the country. The Digital Accountability and Transparency (DATA) Act is the first, and when signed into law in 2014, it officially mandated that agencies publish their expenditures online and in a standardized machine-readable format. Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, and Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Nebraska, have committed to introducing a companion bill in the Senate. For the last several years, the public cry to answer the questions around how law enforcement interacts within the communities it serves left officials with a daunting task. The answers were locked away in mounds of data, collected over decades and largely untouched.Then in May 2015, President Obama announced that the recommendation from the Task Force on 21st Century Policing would be the basis for the Police Data Initiative (PDI), an effort to use data in communities across the country to better understand trends and issues around policing.In a summit held at the White House April 22, government and industry officials gathered with community representatives to review the progress made over the course of the last year.Among other highlights, officials pointed to the more than doubling of police data programs from 14 initial participating agencies to 53 agencies as a sign of progress. While the number represents a significant boost in PDI participation, there are nearly 18,000 agencies unengaged in the process.During a panel discussion facilitated by Roy Austin, the deputy assistant to the president for Urban Affairs, Justice and Opportunity, leading law enforcement agency officials discussed the path forward in the open police data realm.David Brown, chief of the Dallas Police Department, said transparency efforts in the major Texas city have played a key role in engaging the public and helping to rebuild community trust.As part of the efforts, 12 years worth of officer involved shooting data, including information like the race of both subject and officer, was made publically available in easy-to-read formats.The ultimate result, Brown said, was a 67 percent reduction in excessive force complaints and a 45 percent reduction in deadly force incidents in 2015.On average, the chief said the department averaged between 150 and 200 annual complaints. In 2016, only 4 complaints have been lodged and only two officer involved shooting have occurred to date in 2016.We believe that holding the small number of officers accountable protects the integrity of the vast majority of officers who uphold the standards of our noble profession, Brown said.Los Angeles County Sheriffs Departments Chief Data Officer Wendy Harn shared the Southern California countys efforts to publish a host of nine data sets around the shootings.Harn said a variety of shooting data is broken down into simple, visual snapshots that allow viewers quick access to hit and non-hit shootings, unintentional shootings and other shooting incidents.The repackaging of the data into digestible forms goes beyond the early interpretations of transparency seen in massive data dumps, the CDO said.I thought a daily dump of data was being transparent, and it really isnt being transparent. Its saying, Heres my data. Figure it out if you can, she said. So, we really are working hard at saying, 'How do we interpret and tell that story?'Despite the growing support for open data initiatives among the various levels of government, Harn said there are a number of challenges to be considered. These include the government structure, deputy buy-in, funding, and the value of open data and the fostering of a chief data office.Robert Schroeder, assistant chief of the Louisville Metropolitan Police Department, said initial conversations around publishing department data were terrifying for his agency.A 2012 executive order from Mayor Greg Fischer outlined a larger course for an open and transparent city government, but Schroeder said early data publications left the public looking for more information.During the first PDI meeting, Schroeder said a pledge was made to release expanded data sets on crime, vehicle stops, arrests, citations and assaults against officers.Our prior work had primed us for that meeting," he said. "We had started the journey but we hadnt gone really far down the road."The department has since expanded its available data sets to include employee characteristics, hate crimes and officer-involved shootings. And it is currently working with Code for America to extract officer complaint data as well.Despite what panelists described as legitimate fears among the larger profession around opening police data, the three collectively agreed their concerns were met with positive results at minimal costs.I try to make it a pocketbook issue. People understand pocketbook issues, Brown said. Once it becomes a pocketbook issue, its an easy conversation on why this data is important to release, why use-of-force data is important to release, why we need to be as transparent as possible and hold officers who might not follow the rules accountable so that the citizens who pay our salaries will continue to support us when we want raises and other benefits. Monza's F1 future may have come to a head during a meeting in Milan late this week. Amid Monza's troubled negotiations with Bernie Ecclestone, La Gazzetta dello Sport reports that the F1 supremo travelled to Milan late this week to meet with Lombardy president Roberto Maroni. The report added that, at the regional headquarters, Ecclestone's long-time business and personal confidante Flavio Briatore was also present, as well as Lombardy deputy Fabrizio Sala. "During the meeting, which was very friendly, the future of the grand prix at Monza was discussed," read an official note. (GMM) Alex von Kleydorff / Hearst Connecticut Media The Connecticut Office of Tourism holds its 2016 Governors Conference on Tourism on April 27 in Hartford, giving a forum for leaders of attractions, hotels, restaurants and cultural organizations to share ideas on building momentum heading into the summer tourism season. The event will be held from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on April 27 at the Connecticut Convention Center in Hartford and costs $99 to attend. The agenda includes awards; an exhibitor showcase; a dozen workshops covering topics like digital marketing, social media and tourism trends; and addresses by Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and the CEO of Turkel Brands, which has handled marketing campaigns for tourism in Miami, Puerto Rico and other destinations. Dream Worship group, NewSpring is proud to release their sophomore record company album, on DREAM's spanish label, Vision. The album, NewSpring en Espanol con Charlee Buitrago features latin worship artist, Charlee Buitrago covering the groups album, Salvation Rise which released in 2014. "Our church has such a dynamic ministry that it only made sense to partner with such a talented artist (Charlee Buitrago) to put together a new fresh spin on some of our more popular songs." - Justin Land (Worship Leader for NewSpring Church). In addition to iTunes, you can text "NSSpanish" to 51555 and we'll send you the iTunes link. Check out their new track, "Mi Dios, Mi Padre" : NewSpring en Espanol con Charlee Buitrago track listing: 1. La Gloria Sea a Ti 2. Mi Dios Mi Padre 3. Nuestro Dios 4. Por Tu Gloria Y Por Mi 5. Mi Defensor For more information about the group go to www.DreamLabelGroup.com, https://newspring.cc and www.charleebuitrago.com About NewSpring: NewSpring exists to reach people far from God and teach them how to follow Jesus step by step. Perry Noble is the founding and senior pastor of NewSpring Church in South Carolina. The church averages 32,000 people during weekend services at multiple campuses throughout the state. Perry is a gifted communicator and teacher, convicted about speaking the truth as plainly as possible. God has given him a vision and a passion for helping people meet Jesus, and each week he shares God's word and its practical application in our daily lives. Perry, his wife Lucretia, and their daughter Charisse live in Anderson, South Carolina. You can read all of Perry's unfiltered thoughts about life and leadership at PerryNoble.com. Don't worry, he holds nothing back. Music at NewSpring Church is about reaching people far from God and helping them follow Jesus step by step. About Charlee Buitrago: Charlee Buitrago was born San Cristobal Venezuela, and raised in Puerto Ordaz. At 17, Charlee left his country for America leaving everything behind but a Bible his mother gave him. With verses like Matthew 6:25, Charlee became saved through acts of grace as a friend took care of him at a mission. Today, Charlee is married and has a son named Jeremias. He now spreads Jesus' message through music with NewSpring Church. Tags : newspring newspring worship newspring church NewSpring en Espanol con Charlee Buitrago Charlee Buitrago dream records By William Schwartz | Published on 2016/04/22 In anticipation of the 1st International Peace Film Festival in Gangjeong (which starts today), I impulsively grabbed a plane ticket to Jeju. From inside Korea traveling to Jeju is actually quite cheap. Although maybe it just seems like that because April is an off season. I can see why. For most of these early days spent in Jeju City, the weather was pretty balmy, with nary a fluffy white cloud to be seen in the blue sky. Still, I have to admit that from atop the many mountain parks that dot the landscape, the coastline looks pretty cool in any climate. Advertisement These pictures were all taken near the top of Sarabong (), which is just south of the harbor. Or it might have been Byeoldobong (), another mountain slightly to the east. In typical fashion the only reason I was in either of these places was because I was trying to go to the ferry terminal but overshot it. It's hard to get too annoyed since the view in this general really is ever so wonderful. And besides, I got to see something else interesting when I got back down- Genuine Jeju horses! Jeju horses are a big deal for some reason. From what I can gather, historically, there were no predators on Jeju Island so it was an ideal place to raise horse stocks without having to worry about a tiger coming down from the mountains and eating them. I was surprised to find these horses because they're not actually tied up to anything. They were just wandering around wild and free. Not that they seemed completely tame, mind you. I couldn't get that close, and there wasn't a horse handler in sight. Now why would these nice horses want to run away from home- ...Oh, hm. I'd be upset about this, except I'm pretty sure most horses in Jeju today are just for riding. Besides, pigs are smarter than horses, and I don't see that many people getting mad about how we eat them. Albeit not in jerky form, most of the time. I had actually originally planned to go down to the south coast by bus and then take a ferry to Jeju, I was surprised to find that a one-way airplane ticket only costs about half as much as the overland and sea route. But worry not- from a nautical perspective too even just on the ground wandering through various harbors it's easy to get a good sense of how busy Jeju is as a port. These are just some of the smaller ships spotted at a smaller landing. For fishing maybe? Not really anyone around so I couldn't ask. Further inland I ran into this delightful monument in a peace park close to the Jeju National Museum. That strapping tiger standing atop the globe is Hodori, the mascot for the 1988 Seoul Olympics. You probably best recognize him from his frequent appearances in the early episodes of "Answer Me 1988". Like most of South Korea's Olympic landmarks, this park is not in the best condition. I can't tell whether that's rust or whether this Hidori was always supposed to have that odd overlayed green sheen. Alas, simply being close to the Jeju National Museum was not enough to make Hidori here a big restoration priority. As for the museum itself...well, it's a museum. There's lots of old Jeju maps, even more old Jeju pottery, and a neat-looking ceiling in the main room. There's a big Neolithic exhibit right now, and a kid's center, although overall in terms of huge make-or-break events, there isn't really all that much. The Jeju National Museum is worth going to if you're in the neighborhood- which might be enough, given that there's so much to do in Jeju overall. Article by William Schwartz Bonus Pictures~ Published on 2016/04/22 | Source Movie "Master" recently had a Korean traditional sacrificial ritual, 'gosa' to wish for a success of the production. Advertisement "Master" is "Cold Eyes" director Cho Ui-seok's next film project starring the powerful golden lineup, Lee Byung-hun, Gang Dong-won, Kim Woo-bin as well as Uhm Ji-won, Oh Dal-soo, and Jin Kyung. The filming begins on April 23rd. "Master" is a crime action movie depicting the mind-boggling brain game between the intellectual crime unit and an unprecedented fraudster backed by the real brain behind the biggest fraud case in history. Lee Byung-hun will play CEO Jin of One Network, who leads the enormous fraud case. Gang Dong-won will play Kim Jae-myeong, a commander of the intellectual crime unit. Kim Woo-bin has been cast for the role as General Park, who is the actual brain behind the fraud case led by CEO Jin. The first rendezvous of the three A-list actors is drawing explosive attention. In addition to this, Uhm Ji-won will play Jemma Sin, a member of the intellectual crime unit. Hwang Myeong-joon, an elite lawyer, also a former prosecutor, is played by Oh Dal-soo. Jin Kyung also joined the fantastic cast for her role as Mom Kim, a marketing director of One Network. As the powerful supporting actors have also joined the movie, the level of anticipation has been raised even higher. Film director Cho Ui-seok, Lee Byung-hun, Gang Dong-won, Kim Woo-bin, Uhm Ji-won, Oh Dal-soo, and Jin Kyung attended the ritual on April 21st as the filming is about to begin. Also, as the entire staff joined the cast and the director on the day, the passion and excitement by the entire team of the movie were clearly evident as they wished for the safety of the team throughout the filming and the success of the film. Published on 2016/04/22 | Source From the Director of "My Sassy Girl", comes a time travel thriller about two men's race to change a woman's fate "Time Renegades", a South Korean time travel romance thriller is premiering in Los Angeles (at CGV Cinemas) on Friday, April 15, followed by a wider North American release on April 22 in Fullerton, Washington D.C., New Jersey, Dallas, Seattle, Chicago, Atlanta, Vancouver, and Toronto. "Time Renegades" follows two men-a soon-to-be groom living in 1983 (Cho Jung-seok) and a police detective living in 2015 (Lee Jin-uk). Together, they try to stop the death of the woman they love (Lim Soo-jung) after they begin communicating through their dreams. With director Kwak Jae-yong of "My Sassy Girl" and "The Classic" at the helm, and a star-studded cast, the film has been in the spotlight since production began. Director KWAK made his first film debut with "Watercolor Painting in a Rainy Day" in 1989, since then he has become one of the leading directors of Korea. He and the rest of the cast fell in love with "Time Renegades" as soon as they read the script. Advertisement More information : cj-entertainment.com/movies/160330-001/time-renegades *** Tickets Giveaway *** First-come, first-served basis. Two (2) pairs of comp tickets in the following locations: - Regal La Habra (Fullerton) - 1 left - AMC Sugarloaf Mills (Atlanta) - AMC Showplace Niles (Chicago) - Regal Fairfax Towne Center (DC) - Cine Oasis (Dallas) - 1 left - AMC Alderwood (Seattle) To win the tickets please contact us here : hancinema.net/message.php Published on 2016/04/22 Advertisement Fans of The Walking Dead and the plethora of zombie movies out there might want to check out the webtoon, The Undead King. It'll satisfy your zombie needs while adding a supernatural layer into the mix. It has a strong mystery at the center of its story that effectively builds a level of intensity within each episode. The world has become plagued with some sort of unknown virus that has changed the majority of the population into flesh-eating zombies. The humans that remain are in hiding and suffering from a lack of resources and food. One survivor is an unassuming high school boy who joins forces with a mute little girl. But he soon discovers that she is a supernatural creature known as a gangshi who can kill zombies easily. She carries a walkie talkie with her that connects them to unknown man who introduces the little girl as Yoo Yoo and himself as the Undead King. He informs the boy that Yoo Yoo will lead him to a safe shelter and protect him along the way. But once the boy is alone with Yoo Yoo, he finds a video on her that reveals there is much more to her complicated story than he realizes. It soon becomes clear that a larger conspiracy exists regarding why the zombies and the gangshi exist. And as the unnamed boy continues along his journey and meets other survivors, it becomes increasingly unclear if there is actually anyone left in this world he can trust. Everyone seems to be hiding something, especially the Undead King. This webtoon is definitely something that horror fans will be familiar with and like. It adds new elements to the genre and builds a mystery that we become invested in because there are so many questions that are presented to us that we want the answers to. Find out who survives this battle here and be sure to check out our Facebook page to get exclusive updates on your favorite webtoons! 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 Check out App States craft enrichment program and its new opportunities for community members of the High Country. The almost 20-year-old craft enrichment program at Appalachian offers a wide variety of classes at an affordable rate, flexible schedule and small class sizes. Act fast! Registration is already open. The program was started by Director Emeritus Eric Reichard and was named for Michael R. Patricelli, whose wife sponsors the program in his memory. Click here for more information on the honoree. The classes will offer community members 16 years and older the chance to learn a new skill, many of which will require equipment and tools not readily available to the public, like the pottery studio. The program also offers the opportunity to advance an already learned skill, be taught by professionals in the field of study and meet people who share common interests. Its a great deal, ASU Craft Enrichment Director Kathy Copley said. We offer excellent classes at wonderful registration fees. The program offers summer classes that are shorter and in workshop form to accommodate more schedules. Day time classes will include parking passes. Evening classes, which will be in Katherine Harper or Edwin Duncan Hall, will include free parking after 5 p.m. Classes come at affordable prices, and most include all of the materials you will need. Its an affordable way to learn or advance a skill that youre already involved in, Copley said Because of the smaller class sizes, there will even be time to not only get individualized attention from the instructor, but time to work on personal projects. You can also check out craftenrichment.com or follow Craft Enrichment on Facebook Posts are generally daily. For more information, contact Copley at [email protected]. Wed love for people to visit us and learn more about the program, Copley said. Program Details Registration opens at noon on Sunday, May 1 for the summer classes in the Michael R. Patricelli Craft Enrichment Program at Appalachian. Craft Enrichment offers a variety of classes for novices, advanced students or individuals ready to explore a new hobby. There will be three new classes this summer: bead weaving, intermediate pottery, Photoshop for beginners and sewing fundamentals, as well as four new instructors. Here is the complete list of all of the 22 classes (for all skill levels) offered in the craft enrichment program: Classes offered this summer: Basket making (Back to Basics With Baskets) Batik Fundamentals (Perennial favorites) Drawing (Beginning Drawing Techniques) Glass (Beginning Stained Glass, Fusing and Slumping and Bead Making) Jewelry (Beginning, Intermediate/Advanced and Bead Weaving: Earrings, Bracelet and Pendant) Painting (Beginning Oil Painting and Adventures in Acrylics) Photography (Beginning Digital Photography and Photoshop for Beginners) Pottery (Pottery: Decorating With Images From Nature with Jimmy Savely, Advanced Open Studio, Beginning Pottery: Focus on Fundamentals, Beginning Pottery with Tara Belk and Intermediate Pottery: Developing More Skills) Quilting and Sewing (Beginning Quilting and Sewing Fundamentals) Video Production Weaving (Beginning Weaving) Classes not offered this summer: Basket Making (Paper Basket Making) Craft Sampler Landscaping Make It, Take It Painting (Watercolor Landscapes for Intermediate Painters and Beginning Watercolor) Welding/Metalworking (Introduction to Welding) Pottery (Beginning and Intermediate Pottery with Maggie Black, Beginning Pottery with Dottie Baker and Surface Design and Decorating Techniques) Classes offered this fall: Electronics (Introduction to Arduino) Woodworking (Beginning Bowl Turning and Advanced Bowl Turning Classes not currently offered: Biodiesel Production Workshop Drawing (Drawing Landscapes and Still Lifes) Fly Tying Glass (Intermediate Stained Glass) Mosaics (Magic and Mystery of Mosaic) Photography (Intermediate Digital Photography) Spinning (Fiber Spinning) Woodworking (Introduction to Woodworking Techniques) Class cost will range from $135 to $190. For most classes, the class fee covers the cost of materials, and for weekday classes, it includes parking passes. Free, convenient parking will be available for evening and weekend classes. This summer, there will be weekend classes, week-long morning or afternoon workshops, and 4-, 5-, 6-, 8-, and 10-week courses. Professional-level equipment will be available and participants have time to see where an idea leads in studio-based classes that promote the development of artists at all levels. Class size will be limited, so early registration is encouraged. Online registration begins Sunday, May 1 at noon at www.craftenrichment.com. At noon on May 1, all of the click here links will be active. Registration cannot be in advance. Contact Teri Reddick at [email protected] or 828-262-2530 for more details about registration. Share this: Twitter Facebook LinkedIn Reddit Pocket By Jessica Isaacs | [email protected] Many organizations around the world work to change lives and communities, and Kiwanis International is among the most effective on both local and global scales. A relentless commitment to impacting lives at home and abroad makes each Kiwanis Club a powerful force for positive change, and the Banner Elk chapter is no exception. In fact, several of its members were recently recognized for their outstanding work in the community. Read more to learn about these honorable recognitions and check out bannerelkkiwanis.org for more information about the local chapter. About Kiwanis Represented in 80 countries around the world, Kiwanis International seeks to bring about large-scale change by starting with the lives of children, who represent hope for a brighter future and a better world. One project, one community and one child at a time, Kiwanians work to tackle prevalent health-related and other issues facing young people everywhere. The organization is known for its largely successful global health initiatives, like its campaign to eliminate iodine deficiency disorders. Today, Kiwanis is hard at work through a global partnership with Unicef to eliminate maternal/neonatal tetanus. Many Kiwanis Clubs foster a passion for selfless service in younger generations by leading and influencing childrens programs and Key Clubs high school student-led branches of the Kiwanis organization. Right here in the High Country, the Kiwanis Club of Banner Elk meets weekly and works tirelessly to further the agencys mission here in western North Carolina. It also makes possible a variety of community programs for locals and visitors alike. Recently, several of its members have received special honors in recognition of their service through the club. Bob Barinowski, Zeller Fellow Retired Air Force Lt. Colonel and longtime BE Kiwanian Bob Barinowski was awarded the Walter Zeller Fellowship, which is named in honor of the first Kiwanian to contribute to the KI Foundation in 1940. For Barinowski, one particular experience with a local student launched what would become more than a decade of substance abuse awareness and prevention in the High Country. I recall sitting at Avery High School and listening to a 16-year-old girl explain that her main suppliers of drugs were her parents, he said. Since then, hes worked tirelessly to help local students channel their energy into positive and rewarding programs, like Young Life, leading them away from the vulnerable moments that often tempt young people into drug abuse. His work was recognized in a recent ceremony, where his 9-year-old granddaughter Sadie Grace Barinowski pinned the Zeller pin to his lapel. Roy Krege, Zeller Fellow Known affectionately as Mr. Woolly Worm here in the High Country, Roy Krege has been a member of the BE Kiwanis Club since 1968. An instrumental leader in fundraising for the towns annual Woolly Worm festival, this local leader has also remained active in club works like the backpack food program for local children, the reading program and the Eliminate Project. He, too, was recently recognized as a Zeller Fellow, one of the highest recognitions attainable through Kiwanis International. As a Kiwanian, I can put good works into my belief that to be great in Gods kingdom you need to be the servant of all, he said. Krege humbly accepted the award and continues to lead the community as an example of true Christian service. Jim Swinkola, Centennial Award A retired CEO of Grandfather Home for Children and a 33-year member of the club, Jim Swinkola has long been making a difference through the Kiwanis organization. He serves as the advisor for Avery High Schools award-winning Key Club, where he actively works to encourage service and leadership in todays youth. It is my hope that a goodly number of the Key Club members will translate their leadership skills into strengthening nonprofit organizations whose mission it is to serve children, he said. The more skilled the agencys staff leaders, the better the service delivery. Swinkola was honored with the Kiwanis International Centennial Award at the recent ceremony. Few things in life make me feel better than being an active Kiwanian. The Centennial Award is nice, but the impact Kiwanis and Key Club makes on the children of Avery County is tremendous, he said. Thats where the action is, working to better the lives of children, which is what Kiwanis does. Share this: Twitter Facebook LinkedIn Reddit Pocket Health The field of health is rapidly changing and increasingly complex. Our content helps you keep up with the latest trends in health care in ways you can understand. Local craft pioneer SAB adding stage, kid zone Workers construct a new stage at Southern Appalachian Brewery on Locust Street. Southern Appalachian Brewery is celebrating its fifth birthday by adding a new music stage, covered seating and a designated kids zone. Related Stories The husband-and-wife team of Andy and Kelly Cubbin gave Hendersonville its first craft brewery when they moved their brewing operations from Fletcher. In doing so, they helped launch a revitalization of the citys Historic Seventh Avenue District. While SABs outdoor space instantly became one of the areas go-to hangout spots, renovations of the courtyard will allow the brewerys noted lineup of live music performances to be staged outside in the warm weather, with covered seating and a professional lighting system adding to the ambience. A specialized outdoor kids area will soon be unveiled as well. In addition to the structural improvements, SAB is celebrating its anniversary with the fifth annual Meltdown Vintage Motorcycle Show on Saturday, April 30. Proceeds will benefit the Veterans Healing Farm in Hendersonville, will once again feature hundreds of pre-1980 motorcycles and custom cafe racers. The event also includes live music, the return of a special Meltdown brew from SAB, food trucks, vendors, a new Builders Showcase with some of the top custom builders in the country, and a raffle drawing for the chance to win a beautiful classic British cafe racer. On Wednesday, April 27, Southern Appalachian is joining forces with Hendersonville restaurant Postero to present the inaugural Spring Has Sprung Beer Dinner a five-course, six-brew affair showcasing the diverse beers of SAB and the creative dishes of Postero. Tickets are $75 per person and can be purchased online here. The week of anniversary festivities will also include live music each night, specials on pints and growlers and the release of special brews from SABs small-batch pilot brewing system. The anniversary comes as the brewery is experiencing growth. SAB recently filled one of its largest beer orders to date and head brewer Andy Cubbin hopes to double total production in 2016 as distribution expands throughout all of North Carolina and into South Carolina by summer. For information visit http://www.sabrewery.com or the its Facebook page. The body of tragic MMA victim Joao Carvalho has been returned to Portugal almost two weeks after the fighter was rushed to hospital with a fatal brain injury. Mr Carvalho was taken straight to hospital after an MMA bout with Irish fighter Charile Ward at the National Stadium on Saturday, April 8. He was treated at Beaumont Hospital, but died of his injuries the following Monday night. Body Mr Carvalho's body arrived in Portugal late on Thursday night, after he was released by the Dublin Coroner's at 8am on Thursday. His body was taken to Dublin Airport at 2pm for a flight that left the city at 5pm and arrived in Lisbon at 9.20pm. Details of Mr Carvalho's funeral arrangements are not yet known. The official cause of death has not been confirmed, with the Portuguese fighter's family expected to return for a Dublin Coroner's Court sitting on his cause of death in around six months. A crowd-funding site has raised 11,600 for the victim's family so far. X Factor host Dermot O'Leary has said that Dublin is always a great place for talent-spotting. With the auditions kicking off in the 3Arena tomorrow morning, huge queues are expected to form from early on as aspiring stars seek fame and fortune. Dermot, whose parents are Irish, said the capital city has always been a ripe hunting ground for new stars. "Last time we came to Dublin, when we had Katy Perry on the panel, we found Niall Horan," he said. "Dublin is good for bands for us, if you fancy chucking together a couple of mates and going down. We always do well in Dublin. I don't know why we haven't been back." He also told 2fm's Jenny Greene that he hopes that Sharon Osbourne will be joining Louis Walsh on the revised panel as Simon Cowell tries to give the show a fresh boost of life. "It would be great to see those two back on the same panel because they bring the best out in each other," he said. Ciaran and Karen Bishop called for more to be done to support the victims of crime. Photo: Gerry Mooney. The family of a Bray teenager murdered 25 years ago say they will never get her back, but her killer still has a long life ahead of him as he reaches the end of his sentence. Jill Bishop was only 18 when she was killed by Michael McLaughlin, then aged 23, after a Halloween disco in 1991. Her badly-beaten body was found the next day behind the wall of a house on the seafront. A 1 coin had been forced down her throat. Jill had gone to the disco with her 16-year-old sister, Karen, and met McLaughlin there by chance for the first time. Heap When they all left the disco everything seemed to be fine, and Karen walked ahead with others to give her sister space with McLaughlin after her big night out. Karen arrived home to her parents, Ciaran and May, at around 3.30am, but two hours later there was still no sign of Jill. "I knew she was dead. I said to Ciaran, 'She's dead, she's in a heap somewhere'," Mrs Bishop told the Herald. McLaughlin is now 48 and coming near the end of his life sentence. He gets regular temporary release from prison. Although there is no official date for him being released, which has to be granted by the justice minister after approval by the parole board, the Bishops know freedom is inevitable for him in the not-too-distant future. McLaughlin began getting day release in 2012, the beginning of the road to getting out for good. As a long-term prisoner convicted of murder, he had to build trust with the authorities, and his temporary release gradually became more regular and for longer periods. He is now being prepared for life in a society that has changed dramatically in 25 years. He was last allowed out last weekend. Although a quarter-of-a-century has passed since Jill's murder, her family remember it as if it had happened only yesterday. "At 48, he will still be a relatively young man despite having served 25 years in jail," said Mr Bishop. "People are living much longer now, but Jill never got beyond 18. We won't have her ever again. "The State supports prisoners like McLaughlin, but what support do we get? Nothing whatsoever. "We were never given counselling or anything, yet he seems to be a priority for the system. "We're told he won't be able to live or be in areas like Bray, but who polices that? How do we know we won't bump into him in the city some day? "At the moment we know he is in jail, and when he is out on temporary release we are informed about it, but after his release we just won't know where he is." Mrs Bishop said: "We will never forgive him. People have asked us could we ever forgive him, but it's not our place to forgive him - only Jill could do that, but she's not here. "I wake up every morning at 3.30 - the time Jill was supposed to come home. "Out of the 10 we gave her we got 3.78 back from the gardai in a plastic bag. We remember every detail like it was yesterday. Blind "When Jill's body was found, one of her contact lenses had been knocked out in the attack. She would have been practically blind without it in the darkness, and with the weather and her arthritis she would not have been able to run. She was defenceless." Karen said that from the day of the murder, McLaughlin seemed to come first in the eyes of the State. "I remember being brought down to the garda station to try and give a statement, but I had to wait outside in a squad car because he was in there. I was the one forced to wait, it seemed wrong," she said. "Nobody understands how a murder affects a family. It was my first disco. As a girl that age I seemed overlooked afterwards. All the attention from the gardai was focused on my parents. The siblings seemed to come down the line." Jill and Karen also have a brother who has a family of his own. "Jill never got to see our grandchildren," Mrs Bishop said. Her husband added: "I visit her grave every day. We never forget Jill." The couple praised the gardai for the work they did in bringing McLaughlin to justice, especially John O'Mahony, who is now Assistant Commissioner. "He has visited us every Christmas without fail," said Mrs Bishop. A woman who had a carving knife and three Stanley knives in her handbag while on her way to a christening has been jailed for six months. Kelly Noble (30), who has a previous conviction for manslaughter after she stabbed a teenage mother of two to death 10 years ago with a knife, claimed at Drogheda District court she bought the knives the day before to use in her new apartment. She said she "wasn't sure" if she went home that evening after buying the knives, which she claimed was the reason they were still in her bag. Judge Conal Gibbons said he did not believe her evidence, saying it was an "absolutely irrational and unbelievable explanation". Noble, of Emmet Manor, Emmet Court in Inchicore, Dublin 8, had denied being in unlawful possession of the knives outside McBride train station, Dublin Road in Drogheda on April 14, 2013. Garda Emer O'Sullivan gave evidence that she saw Noble and a man acting suspiciously, searching the ground near the train station. She said Noble, who was carrying a large shoulder bag, consented to be searched and the knives were recovered. She told gardai she "bought the knives to use at home". Evidence On hearing the evidence, Judge Gibbons said he was satisfied the State proved their case. Defence barrister Ronan O'Carroll said Noble has three children aged four, 13 and 15 and that her partner died seven weeks ago. On handing down the sentence, Judge Gibbons said: "The circumstances make no sense to me. I don't believe she bought them in the manner she said and was going to a christening armed." The court heard Noble has several previous convictions, including manslaughter, theft and public order. When she was 21 Noble was convicted by a unanimous verdict of the manslaughter of Emma McLoughlin (19) outside Pat's supermarket, in Laytown, on June 2, 2006. The jury deliberated for two days at the Central Criminal Court. She was sentenced to eight years with the last two suspended. Kelly Noble's mother, Jacqui Noble, was also previously handed a life sentence for the murder of her former partner and Kelly's father. Hacked In 2004, Jacqui Noble was convicted of the murder of 33-year-old Derek Benson. He was hacked to death with a sword at his flat at Sandy Hill Avenue, in Ballymun, Dublin, in May 2000, by Jacqui's co- accused, Paul Hopkins, of Sillogue Avenue, north Dublin. Following her father's death and her mother's imprisonment, Kelly Noble was taken into care. She later moved to the Seaview Estate in Laytown, Co Meath, after the birth of her first daughter. Residents of a Dublin flats complex named after a 1916 volunteer have been told they cannot fly a tricolour in his honour as they may breach guidelines about flying the national flag. Neighbours in the George Reynolds House flats in Irishtown applied to Dublin City Council (DCC), which own their homes, to have a flagpole erected for the 2016 commemorations. Local man Tony Byrne has pledged to take responsibility for ensuring the flag is raised and lowered at the appropriate times, as laid out in guidelines drawn up by the Department of the Taoiseach. Rebel However, DCC said the residents could not erect a pole where compliance with the rules, which were agreed by the commemorations committee, could not be guaranteed. George Reynolds was a section commander of C Company, 3rd Battalion, of the Dublin Brigade. On Easter Monday, he was given command of Clanwilliam House, which was the last rebel post to fall during the Battle of Mount Street. He was one of three volunteers who died during the fighting there. Mr Byrne, who has lived in George Reynolds House for 22 years, said he had no problem sticking to the rules. "This year is supposed to be about the people who died in 1916," he said. "I love flying the Irish flag. The President has to pass here every time he has an event in the Aviva, so it would be lovely to have a flag raised on a flagpole for that too. "I'm willing to get up at 8am every morning and raise the flag, and take it down. If I'm not here, one of my neighbours or my son will do it." Local councillor Paddy McCartan said he was keen to see the idea rolled out as part of a pilot scheme. "The problem was that if this was done in one DCC complex then others would want it as well," he said. "I think it could be used as a pilot project, which could be reviewed in a year. I think it's a great idea in terms of civic pride. "There was a suggestion that we could get a plaque, but the residents want a flag and it will give a good sense of pride for them. "I think we'll get agreement for a pilot project. I'm going to pursue that, as my motion supporting the residents was agreed at the area committee. They are determined that it will come to fruition." Responding to Mr McCartan's motion, the council said: "Given the requirements set down by the Department of the Taoiseach, we do not recommend the flying of the flag on council property except in circumstances where compliance with the guidelines can be guaranteed. "Apart from the reservations expressed about flagpoles, any erection of a permanent structure in this area prevents many activities taking place, including the main Christmas tree erection, and blocks other themed community events that use that area throughout the year." The guidelines are not statutory requirements, so their observance is a matter for each person. Hoisted In Article 7 of the Constitution, the guidelines say the tricolour is normally only displayed in the open from sunrise to sunset and that when being hoisted or lowered it should not touch the ground. Mr McCartan said the committee members, including Mr Byrne, were more than capable of following the guidelines, and the respect they will show towards the flag will be a marker for the younger generation living in the area. "If the guidelines weren't adhered to I'd be the first to say it isn't working and I'd only put my weight behind it if I was convinced the relative guidelines would be adhered to," he said. "This is the way the flag should be properly displayed and it's a very good example for young people and children to see the respect for the tricolour." There were bizarre scenes at a north Dublin Garda Station when a young man who may have been targeted by the 'New INLA' gang attempted to run into the building for protection. The incident unfolded at Ballymun Garda Station at around 2.30pm on Thursday when a major gangster and two of his associates were spotted grabbing a man on the street. It is believed the victim was going to be bundled into a waiting silver car. While the four men struggled, the gang target managed to free himself and run towards the station while being chased by the gangster, who then ran into the station after him. A large number of gardai then came out of the station and the two men were seen running away from the area together. Gardai followed the four men and spoke to them briefly. No arrests have been made in the case, which gardai described as a scuffle between four people. It is understood that officers have been investigating whether the incident arose because of a dispute over a pair of runners. Another theory is that the alleged target was being attacked over the theft of an expensive bicycle. The gang target is a 30-year-old convicted sex offender who has also been jailed in relation to a murder. "Gardai are aware of a scuffle outside Ballymun Garda Station between two parties who are known to each other," a garda spokeswoman said. Threatening "There have been no complaints from anyone involved in the incident and no one has been arrested," she said. The spokeswoman said that gardai are not investigating the incident as an attempted abduction. Gardai have been involved in a number of operations against the 'New INLA' gang, whose key associate was involved in Thursday's incident. He was jailed for three years for threatening to kill a 28-year-old mother in 2011. He received an additional two years after gardai found over 16,000 worth of drugs at his home in October 2010. Earlier this month, the Herald revealed that the new gang, which were involved in a crime summit meeting at a north Dublin hotel recently, fled the area in a hurry after getting "spooked" by a garda surveillance team which were monitoring their meeting. Sources said the gang were also believed to be behind two murder attempts against Limerick criminal Sean 'Cowboy' Hanley last year. One of the senior gang members is suspected of being involved in a pipe bomb intimidation incident targeting deceased Dublin drug dealer Charlie 'The Walrus' O'Neill. This criminal and another feared dissident republican are also the chief suspects for a savage attack in Limerick last November, during which they tortured a victim. Investigations into the mob were stepped up after a viable bomb and a Glock pistol were found when armed gardai pulled over and then searched a vehicle in Co Laois on February 25 last. Over a decades-long career, Prince became an icon for his originality, flamboyance and sheer musical talent. Naturally, his rare media appearances were filled with memorable quotes. Here are some of the best. "All these non-singing, non-dancing, wish-I-had-me-some-clothes fools who tell me my albums suck - why should I pay any attention to them?" - Prince hits back at his critics in a 2006 interview. "The internet's completely over. I don't see why I should give my new music to iTunes or anyone else. They won't pay me an advance for it and then they get angry when they can't get it." - Prince consistently refused to hand over his music to the tech companies that changed the industry during his career. To this day, it's difficult to find his music on iTunes, Spotify or any other streaming services. "The key to longevity is to learn every aspect of music that you can." - Appearing on The View, Prince gave some sage advice to Justin Bieber and aspiring musicians everywhere. He should know - he consistently performed for more than 40 years, and managed to release 39 studio albums during his career. "I ain't mad at anybody. I don't have any enemies." - While this quote from an interview may have been an exaggeration, it's certainly true that he was universally loved by musicians around the world. "Record contracts are just like - I'm gonna say the word - slavery. I would tell any young artist ... don't sign." - Prince has had famously torrid relationships with some of his record labels. After getting out of his contract with Warner Bros, he pointedly titled his 1996 album Emancipation. "The internet's like MTV. At one time MTV was hip - and suddenly it became outdated. Anyway, all these computers and digital gadgets are no good. They just fill your head with numbers and that can't be good for you." - Many would agree with Prince, quoted here in a 2013 interview. Martin ORourkes fiancee Angelina Power leans against the hearse containing his body. Photo: Caroline Quinn This is the final moment a loving fiancee shared with her partner after he became the latest victim in the deadly Hutch/Kinahan gangland feud. Innocent father Martin O'Rourke (24) was gunned down on Sheriff Street in Dublin city centre in a case of mistaken identity last week. The father-of-three was laid to rest following an emotional service attended by Taoiseach Enda Kenny. In a heartbreaking moment, Martin's distraught partner Angelina blew a kiss to a picture of the victim as a hearse brought him to his final resting place. Mr O'Rourke's young daughter also shared "one last dance" with her father before his coffin was removed from the church. The young girl was brought to the altar by another female relative, while the song Daddy's Girl played from the church speakers. Martin's daughter then embraced her father's coffin, before close relatives and family gathered around to console one another. Violence Floral tributes with the words "Uncle", "Father" and "Fiance" were also brought to the altar. The congregation of around 100 mourners heard how Mr O'Rourke had been through "tragic times" in his 24 years, but that he had been "on the right path". In his homily during the service, Fr Derek Farrell condemned the recent outbreak of violence in the capital. He quoted Archbishop Diarmuid Martin when he said: "Could the repeated question of an innocent four-year-old child to her grieving mother - 'Where's Daddy?' - fail to touch even such hearts? "Martin was a young man who had very little in life, really - but he had life and had a loving fiancee, children and friends, only to be so callously and brutally robbed of everything. "His one and only precious life has been taken. His family and friends' loved one has been taken. His fiancee's husband-to-be has been taken. His children's daddy has been taken. "Many have said that Martin was at the 'wrong place at wrong time', but in the years ahead it will be important for his children to know that, while he may have been at the wrong place, he was also on the right path. "It will be important too, to hear and keep the family's memories of the person they knew and loved." Fr Farrell spoke of how breaking news on TVs and social media screens told the nation of a "shocking, frightening and tragic shooting of an innocent bystander on a Dublin street" on April 14. The emotional service took place at St Michan's Church, Halston Street, in Dublin yesterday morning before his remains were brought to Fingal Cemetery for burial. Among those in the congregation were politicians Christy Burke, Janice Boylan and Joe Costello, as well as a number of charity groups and representatives of the Sheriff Street community. Social campaigner Fr Peter McVerry also took part in the Mass. The Taoiseach kept a low-key presence before and during the ceremony, and talked with Martin O'Rourke's family and friends after the service was over. The Mayo politician also invited members of Mr O'Rourke's family to meet him at Dail Eireann next week. Despite Mr Kenny's presence, which was welcomed by the mourners, there was no representation from the acting Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald or the Garda Commissioner Noirin O'Sullivan. Mr O'Rourke was the fifth victim of the Hutch/Kinahan feud - which appears to show no signs of stopping soon. The first person to die was Gary Hutch (34), who was shot at a Spanish apartment complex in September. A revenge attack for Hutch's murder then took place in February of this year, when a hit-squad stormed the Regency Hotel and David Byrne (33) was killed. Three days later Eddie Hutch (58) was shot dead at his Ballybough home. In another fatal shooting believed to be ordered by the Kinahan Cartel, a former business associate of Gerry Hutch was killed at his Meath home. Noel 'Kingsize' Duggan was shot dead as he sat in a car outside his home. BRISTOL, Tenn. Tennessee High School junior Tyler Myers will attend America Legion Boys State May 22 28 at Tennessee Tech in Cookeville, Tennessee. The local American Legion Post Hackler-Wood #145 named Myers as a Boys State participant. He is the son of Corey and Denise Myers of Bristol, Tennessee. Myers was selected for this program based on his GPA, being in the top 10 percent of his class, and his active involvement in the community. The American Legion is among the education programs of government instruction for high school students. Each participant becomes part of the operation of his local, county and state government. At American Legion Boys State, participants are exposed to the rights and privileges, the duties and the responsibilities of franchises citizen. The training is objective and practical with city, county, and state governments operated by the students elected to the various offices. Activities include legislative sessions, court proceedings, law enforcement presentations, assemblies, bands, chorus and recreational programs. ROGERSVILLE, Tenn. For the first time, an athlete from Hawkins County, Tennessee, has been se-lected to compete in the 2017 Special Olympic World Winter Games in Austria. Robert Miller, a former Cherokee High School student, hopes to represent Team USA, competing in the sport of snowboarding. Robert, 25, will be traveling to various training facilities in preparation for the World Games. Competing in the Special Olympic World Winter Games is an accomplishment and honor that most athletes never have the opportunity to experience. Robert will be traveling to Austria in March of 2017. In order for him to compete, the Hawkins County Special Olympics organization needs to raise $7,000 to assist with travel expenses. There is currently a go fund me campaign (www.gofundme.com/9gt75aa8) is underway, and fundraising events will be held later this year. Anyone wishing to donate can also mail checks to Area 32 Special Olympics, 103 Arrowhead Drive, Rogersville, TN 37857. For more information, contact Christy Thacker at Chris-ty.thacker@hck12.net. RICHMOND, Va. (AP) As former Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell's public corruption case goes before the U.S. Supreme Court, three of the jurors who convicted him say they remain certain they did the right thing. They say they aren't buying McDonnell's core argument: that he only extended routine political courtesies to the former vitamin executive who gave him and his family more than $165,000 in gifts and loans, and that his conviction if allowed to stand would make virtually every public officeholder a potential target of overzealous federal prosecutors. "Politics as usual that's a lousy excuse," juror Daniel R. Hottle said in a telephone interview. McDonnell's lawyers and opposing counsel from the Justice Department will make their arguments to the nation's highest court Wednesday. The court, reduced to eight members with the recent death of Justice Antonin Scalia, is expected to rule by the end of June. Juror Kathleen Carmody said she understands McDonnell's premise that he didn't do anything for former Star Scientific Inc. CEO Jonnie Williams that he wouldn't do for any other constituent, "but as a juror, based on what was presented to us in those six weeks, I disagree and stand by our decision." Tyree Ford said he, too, has no second thoughts. The other nine jurors declined interviews, did not return messages or could not be reached. Carmody said the turning point for her came in closing arguments, when prosecutors laid out a detailed time line demonstrating that gifts, loans or leisure outings provided by Williams were often promptly followed by McDonnell doing something on his behalf for example, asking an aide to meet with Williams to discuss his efforts to obtain state university research on his company's signature anti-inflammatory product, Anatabloc. "That really crystallized everything," Carmody said. Hottle said actually seeing much of the swag provided by Williams a Rolex watch for McDonnell and designer clothing and accessories for his wife and co-defendant, Maureen made a big impression. "When you see all that evidence sitting in the room, you just think, 'Oh my God,'" he said. Williams also loaned McDonnell $120,000 to keep his money-losing vacation rental properties in Virginia Beach afloat. He wrote a $15,000 check to pay for catering at a McDonnell daughter's wedding and paid for a couple of family getaways and several rounds of golf at an exclusive club for the then-governor and his sons. The vitamin pitchman never received the state university research he was seeking. However, he did get meetings with administration officials, a product launch event at the Executive Mansion and appearances by the McDonnells at events promoting Star Scientific's products. McDonnell, 61, and his wife were both convicted in September 2014 at a joint trial where Williams testified under immunity as the prosecution's star witness. The former governor, once considered a possible running mate for 2012 presidential candidate Mitt Romney, was sentenced to two years in prison. Maureen McDonnell was sentenced to a year and a day. The courts have allowed both to remain free, however, while they pursue separate appeals an accommodation that doesn't sit well with some of the jurors. "It's a crying shame that we had 12 people spend all that time, and somebody's spent all that money, and we still don't have due process," Hottle said. Carmody said it's frustrating that the McDonnells have managed to stay out of prison for so long. Ford said he doesn't share that feeling. "I don't take it personal by any means that he hasn't gone to prison," Ford said. "He's well within his rights." He said he hopes McDonnell has been able to spend more time with his five children. "He sacrificed a lot of time for the people of Virginia and probably not enough for his family," Ford said. He added that he did not like the former governor's trial strategy, which has not been part of the appeal: trying to show that his marriage was so troubled that he and his wife were barely communicating and could not have conspired in a bribery scheme. Several witnesses portrayed Maureen McDonnell as petulant, suspicious, secretive, manipulative, accusatory and prone to angry outbursts. "Personally, I don't think it was in good taste to kind of make her be the fall guy," Ford said. A federal appeals court has put Maureen McDonnell's hearing on hold until after the Supreme Court rules in her husband's case. RICHMOND, Va. More than 200,000 convicted felons will be able to cast ballots in the swing state of Virginia in November under a sweeping executive order Gov. Terry McAuliffe announced Friday. The Democrat said restoring the rights of felons to vote and run for office will help undo the states long history of trying to prevent African-Americans from fully participating in our democracy. This is the essence of our democracy and any effort to dilute that fundamental principle diminishes it, folks, for all of us, McAuliffe said on the steps of Virginias Capitol, before a crowd of more than 100 people that included many felons. Left-leaning advocacy groups were there as well, handing out voter registration forms. Republicans called the order a bald-faced political move by McAuliffe a close friend of Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton to help his party hold onto the White House. I am stunned yet not at all surprised by the governors action, House Speaker William J. Howell said in a statement. This office has always been a stepping stone to a job in Hillary Clintons cabinet. Republicans said ex-offenders who committed violent crimes, like murder, should not be allowed to vote or have other civil rights restored. Terry McAuliffe wants to ensure that convicted pedophiles, rapists, and domestic abusers can vote for Hillary Clinton, said Senate Republican Caucus Chairman Ryan T. McDougle. Kimberly Carter, 45, filled out a voter registration card shortly after watching the governors speech. Now working as a customer service representative, she said shes been prevented from voting her entire adult life after a drug arrest in her late teens. You make a mistake, 20 years later youre still paying for it, she said. Nationwide, nearly 6 million Americans are barred from voting because of laws disenfranchising felons, according to The Washington-based Sentencing Project. Virginia, Iowa, Kentucky and Florida are the only states that still remove voting rights for felons for life unless a state official restores them. Such policies make black Americans of voting age four times more likely to lose their voting rights than the rest of the adult population, disenfranchising one of every 13 African-American adults nationwide, but Virginia is even more punishing. Its among three states where more than one in five black adults have lost their voting rights, according to a recent Sentencing Project report. Howell said Republicans are reviewing whether McAuliffe overstepped his legal authority. Republicans pointed to a letter written by a lawyer for Democratic Gov. Tim Kaine in 2010 rejecting the idea that the governor had the ability to grant blanket restoration of rights. McAuliffe said he is certain he has such authority after consulting with legal and constitutional experts, including Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring. Constitutional scholar A.E. Dick Howard, who presided over the most recent rewrite of the Virginia Constitution 45 years ago, said McAuliffe has broad discretion in restoring civil rights, and has now ended one of the last remaining legacies of an earlier constitutional convention that was committed to white supremacy. The last ghost of the 1902 convention was buried today, Howard said. The governors order enables every Virginia felon to vote, run for public office, serve on a jury and become a notary public if they have completed their sentence and finished any supervised release, parole or probation requirements as of April 22. The administration estimates this population to include about 206,000 people. Thereafter, the governor will act month by month to restore the rights of felons who complete all these requirements. Previous governors in other states have granted broad restoration of voting rights in the past decade, but McAuliffes action is the largest to date, according to the Sentencing Project. There were 5.3 million registered voters in Virginia as of April 1, according to the Virginia State Board of Elections. McAuliffe, who won election in 2013 by slightly more than 50,000 votes out of more than 2.2 million cast, brushed aside suggestions about political motivations, citing his longtime advocacy for restoring rights. This is something thats in the marrow of bones, this is something I feel very deeply about, McAuliffe said. Before Fridays order, McAuliffes administration had restored the rights of more than 18,000 felons more, they said, than the past seven governors combined. Former Gov. Bob McDonnell, McAuliffes immediate predecessor, was also a strong advocate for restoring rights. NAACP President and CEO Cornell William Brooks said he hopes more states follow the lead of Virginias governor. History shows when people are denied the right to vote, the loss of representation weakens our neighborhoods and communities, and furthers systemic inequality, Brooks said in a statement. APPLING, Ga. (AP) A man who shot and killed five people during two separate shootings as part of a domestic dispute in Georgia was found dead in his home early Saturday of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, authorities said. The body of shooting suspect Wayne Anthony Hawes, 50, was recovered Saturday by authorities in his northeastern Georgia home, Columbia County Sheriff Captain Andy Shedd said in a statement. Shedd said the Friday night shootings stem from a domestic dispute that left three men and two women dead. Sheriff deputies responded to a home on Johnson Drive about 7:54 p.m. Friday and discovered three victims - a man and two women. At 8:32 p.m., authorities responded to a second crime scene on Washington Road where two other victims, a man and a woman, also were found. The victims found at the home on Johnson Drive were identified as Roosevelt Burns, 75, Rheva Mae Dent, 85, and Kelia Clark, 31. Victims found at the Washington Road scene were identified as Lizzy Williams, 59, and Shelly Williams, 62. Hawes knew the victims and the shootings stemmed from a domestic incident, Shedd said. He said Hawes' wife was not among the victims but that some of her family members were among those killed. One woman died on the way to the hospital, according to Shedd. The others were dead at the scene. An investigation is ongoing. BRISTOL, Tenn.Brandon Lemmons and James Babb, from the State of Tennessees Forestry Division, joined Holston View Elementary Schools fifth-grade class and city leaders Friday to celebrate Bristols 28th year of being a Tree City USA. Lemmons, who presented a flag to the city in recognition of the honor, said there are very few communities that have maintained the status as long as Bristol. To be a Tree City USA, communities have to maintain a tree board, have a community tree ordinance, spend at least $2 per person on urban forestry and celebrate Arbor Day, he said. Bristol has done all those things for 28 yearsits a pretty big deal. Chad Keen, the citys vice mayor, said he read that planting a tree is good for the soul. A tree like this will be around for many, many, many years, he said. In the future, it will be a way to reflect back on the past. Keen also read a proclamation urging city residents to plant a tree in commemoration of Earth Day/Arbor Day. Several students then shoveled mulch around a tree planted earlier by Bristol Tennessee Essential Services. Fifth-graders Natalie Beheler and Stephen Hicks said it was fun to be a part of the Arbor Day celebration. Trees really help the environment by producing habitats for birds, Stephen said. Natalie added that she learned about photosynthesis and how trees release oxygen into the air in class. Trees just produce a bunch of oxygen and keep growing and growing, she said. Weve been learning about trees in class so we didnt learn a lot today that we didnt already know, but it was fun to be here. Mike Musick, recreation superintendent for the citys Parks and Recreation Department, said he hopes that Bristol will be a Tree City USA for years to come. Twenty-eight years from now when your kids are at Holston View, this tree will be a lot bigger than it is today, he said to the students. Youll remember the day we planted and hopefully, well be celebrating our 56th consecutive Tree City U.S.A. Dr. Ken Silver, an associate professor in East Tennessee State Universitys College of Public Department of Environmental Health, will serve on the Advisory Board on Toxic Substances and Worker Health, which was recently established by President Barack Obama pursuant to congressional legislation adopted in December 2014. The group will advise the U.S. Secretary of Labor on technical issues related to the governments compensation program for sick nuclear workers. The Department of Labors Office of Workers Compensation Programs provides compensation and medical benefits to nuclear weapons workers who were diagnosed with medical conditions related to exposure to toxic substances at covered nuclear facilities. We will be focused on finding systemic solutions to the problems that claimants with occupational illnesses face when trying to document exposures in the past, Silver explained. Well translate concerns into advice and recommendations. Silver is one of 15 members named to the advisory board. Another East Tennessee representative on the board is Garry Whitley of the Atomic Trades and Labor Councils Worker Health Protection Program in Oak Ridge. The groups first meeting is set for April 26-28 in Washington, D.C. We look forward to working with advisory board members, each of whom is committed to the well-being of the nations nuclear weapons workers, said U.S. Secretary of Labor Thomas Perez in a press release issued by the U.S. Department of Labor on April 1. The expert advice of the new board members on the technical aspects of the (Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act) will be invaluable in strengthening and improving this important program. Silver has spent much of his career focused on occupational health issues for underserved populations. He spent years researching the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, where the United States conducts classified work related to the design of nuclear weapons. In 1999, he set aside his dissertation on the topic to help the families of those individuals impacted by working at the facility. He has since completed his dissertation and authored several other scholarly articles on the topic. Currently, Silver is using a Tennessee Board of Regents grant he and colleagues were awarded last year to host an Environmental Health Leadership Institution this summer that brings college-bound students of migrant and seasonal workers to the ETSU campus for a week. Silver and his team will spend the week educating these students on worker protection standards, pesticide safety and other worker and environmental health topics. These are the lucky few who have a shot at higher education. Some of their parents and siblings are still in agriculture, Silver said. We hope these students can help us build a bridge from classroom learning to the best training approaches for those working in agriculture. Harper's dramatic HR sends Phillies to first World Series since 2009 The reigning NL MVP hit a go-ahead home run in the bottom of the eighth inning to give the Phillies a 4-3 win over the Padres Nothing goes right for Edgewood in long trip to East Central We attempted to send a notification to your email address but we were unable to verify that you provided a valid email address. Please click here to update your email address if you wish to receive notifications. Otherwise, you may click here to disable notifications and hide this message. This domain has expired. If you owned this domain, contact your domain registration service provider for further assistance. If you need help identifying your provider, visit https://www.tucowsdomains.com/ When dancer Kiran Segal was writing Zohra Segal: Fatty, a book that gave an insight into her relationship with her legendary mother, the 100-year-old Zohra commanded her to also write about her flaws. I told her how can I write bad things about you. But she retorted wheres the fun in only writing good things, remembers Kiran, on the sidelines of a press conference to announce the Zohra Segal Festival of Arts to be held at the national capital this weekend (April 23-24). Two years after Segal passed away in 2014 at the age of 102, it is this memory perhaps that makes her daughter unflinchingly candid about her mother in an exclusive interview with Hindustan Times. She was great fun to be with. You could crack the dirtiest jokes with her and she would laugh the loudest, recalls Kiran. But ask her whether that means Segal was an easy mother in her growing up years and she says, Oh no, she was extremely strict. She never hit me, but my ears would singe from her scolding if I did something that she didnt approve of. I used to be mortally scared of her. She would take me to rehearsals with her on my school holidays so that she could keep an eye on me, But then Segal, born Sahibzadi Zohra Begum Mumtaz-ullah Khan in Saharanpur, Uttar Pradesh, had always been an odd ball of many, often contradictory, character traits. She was perfectly trained in managing a household. When she folded a sheet or a table cloth, it would be in that perfect corner-to-corner style, without a single wrinkle, says Kiran. But rather than getting married and settling down as was expected of her after graduating from Queen Mary College in Lahore, she went on to study Eurhythmics at the Mary Wigman School of Dance in Dresden and eventually joined dancer Uday Shankars group as a lead dancer and teacher. When she did marry, she chose Kameshwar Segal, a Hindu man eight years her junior. And after his untimely death in 1957, expertly juggled her career and the responsibilities of a single parent, in India and Europe. Read: At 100, Zohra Segal wants blonde hair, hourglass figure Zohra Segal with daughter Kiran. Segal was born Sahibzadi Zohra Begum Mumtaz-ullah Khan in Saharanpur, Uttar Pradesh on April 27, 1912. (HT Photo) Cutting the birthday cake at her 102nd birthday, the last one that she celebrated. (Kiran Segal) In a career spanning over seven decades as a dancer-actor, Zohra made a name for herself on stage, in television and films, worked at Prithvi Theatres and the India People Theatre Association and was a part of such critically-acclaimed projects as The Courtesans of Bombay, The Jewel in the Crown and Tandoori Nights. However, popular recognition in India came to her quite late. I remember soon after she had returned from Europe, after living and working there for 25 years, we had gone to a party. I thought it was quite nice, but when I asked her, she was quite disgruntled. What nice party, no one paid any attention to me, she had grumbled, says Kiran with a laugh. In 1995 she was approached by writer Sadia Dehlvi and her brother Waseem to act in Amma and Family, a television series about an ordinary Muslim family. The story was partly autobiographical. The character of Amma was based on my own grandmother who was very lively. Zohra apaa played the character with such authenticity that many in the audience believed that she was really my grandmother, recalls Dehlvi. After Amma, the character of the feisty, often mischievous and endearing grandmother or grandmotherly person became Zohras forte and she played it to perfection in films such as Dil Se, Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, Saawariya, Cheeni Kum, Bend it Like Beckham and Bhaaji on the Beach. In real life too Zohra apaa was a lot like Amma. We would often gather around her on the sets and request her to tell us stories from her life. She was such a splendid story-teller. As an actor, she was a complete star. She would come alive under the lights, says Dehlvi. Years later, Dehlvi remembers bringing Segal to the Khushwant Singh hosted Not a Nice Man to Know. They both had this ability to make digs at oneself. Khushwant told me later that he enjoyed the episode with Zohra Segal the most. There would be this twinkle in her eyes, an energy and body language that was perfectly charismatic, she says. It was this ability to capture and hold her audiences attention that made her such a legendary actor. Read: Bollywoods Laadli of the century Zohra Segal dies at 102 A young Zohra Segal... she married Kameshwar Segal, a Hindu man eight years her junior. (Kiran Segal) Zohra was perfectly trained in managing a household. But rather than settling down as was expected of her after graduating from Queen Mary College, Lahore, she went on to study Eurhythmics in Dresden, Germany and eventually joined dancer Uday Shankars group. (Kiran Segal) But it was not always easy for those around her to live with her constant need to be under the spotlight. She was a complete attention seeker. If someone was visiting home and started talking to me, she wouldnt like it, says Kiran with a laugh, as her television actor daughter Sujata adds, She would says things to shock people just to get attention, but at times it would get uncomfortable for the family. For example, she had this habit of saying, do you want to marry me, to any young man she met. It stopped being funny. She adds, She could also be very selfish. She would always ask for pakodas to be made if there were visitors at home. But that was only because she loved pakodas herself and would polish off more than half of it. In her youth Sujata remembers fighting and then making it up with her grandmother. We used to fight like sisters. But we would make it up too. She used to call me her golden girl. Nani hated how untidy I used to be in those days, but I am just like her now punctual and very tidy, she says. And Sujata passed on both her rebellious nature and her love for Segal to her own daughter Madhyama, who also grew up in the all-women Segal household in New Delhi. (Segals son Pavan is settled in Malaysia.) But though the family misses her every moment they believe that in whichever world she is in, Segal will be delighting both in the attention and the celebration of arts that has been organised in her name this weekend. Read: When I pass away, I want no mourning, says Zohra Segal Zohra Segal had years of experience in theatre and long associations with Prithvi Theatres and the India People Theatre Association. (Kiran Segal) The mischievous and endearing grandmother or grandmotherly person became Zohras forte and she played it to perfection in films such as Dil Se, Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, Saawariya, Cheeni Kum, Bend it Like Beckham and Bhaaji on the Beach. (Kiran Segal) What: The Zohra Segal Festival of the Arts Where: CD Deshmukh Auditorium, India International Centre, 40 Max Mueller Marg When: April 23-24 Time: 11.30 am onwards The festival will include a panel discussion, theatre, film screening, dance recital by Segals great-granddaughter Madhyama and an exhibition of Segals photographs. Kiran intends it to become an annual event. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON One of the oldest politicians of the country, Velikkakath Sankaran Achuthanandan runs around the state with the vigour of a youngster these days. Everyone in the LDF needs this crowd-puller known for his acerbic tongue and mass popularity. The veteran spoke to Hindustan Times about LDFs prospects in the May 16 poll, his love for social media and other issues, including CPI(M)-Congress poll alignment in West Bengal. Being the main campaigner of the Left Democratic Front you are touring the state from one end to the other. How do you find prospects of your coalition? No doubt we will touch three digits (at least 100 in 140-member house). People are waiting for a chance to dump the most corrupt government the state has ever seen. Solar scam, bar bribery to illegal land deals, this government [is] a blot on the nations face. It will be a verdict against [Oommen] Chandy and [Narendra] Modi. You will be the next chief minister? Dont try to land me in unnecessary controversies. Such issues my party will decide. General secretary Sitaram Yechury had explained this earlier. Now our main task is to bring the LDF to power. There are reports that you have got an assurance in this regard. These are your interpretations. I dont want to say anything on this. Some people do say you meekly surrendered to the party? My association with the party is very old. Those who criticise me have no idea about this. I became a party member at the age of 17 after working in it for three years (that is 14 years onwards). It explains everything. In Kerala, CPI(M) and Congress are sworn enemies but in Bengal you are friends? It was a local arrangement to fight the enemy no 1 (Mamata Banerjee). The party central leadership has made it clear that it was a temporary arrangement. Now Mamata is facing the music. At times you have to enter into such deals. For the first time, many constituencies are witnessing tough three-way fights? The BJPs dream of opening its account will remain a mirage. They have got strength in certain pockets and it wont be sufficient for seats. More than the Congress, now people of Kerala hate the BJP and PM Modi. An informed society, JNU and Hyderabad varsity incidents have shocked them. Modi promised in 100 days he will bring back black money and deposit it in the common mans account. You know what really happened money launderers are slipping out of the country so easily. Now the PM remains mostly on foreign soil. Look, there is enough space for secular democratic forces these days the Left will be a force to reckon with and Kerala will mark the beginning. You recently joined Facebook and Twitter? I am 92-plus. Need such things to live amongst youngsters. I want to connect with young voters. Social media is very popular and its interventions on certain occasions were really good. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON At around 4pm, the deputy Lok Sabha speaker nervously watches as a crowd begins to fill the campaign ground in Kanchipurams Varanavasi village. Amma is yet to take off from Chennai, but AIADMK campaign managers frantically go about preparing the venue for their leader. Half an hour later, all 18 party candidates from Kanchipuram, Tirvarur and Tiruvannamalai districts are asked to take their seats about five feet below the stage, where Jayalalithaas chair awaits her. Its a dress rehearsal of sorts. The candidates are in their sharpest men in starched white lungi and white shirt and women in green sarees with matching blouse and, of course, the mandatory angavastram in party colours draped on their shoulders. Once the manager is satisfied, the candidates stand and wait for Ammas arrival. The mic is double-checked, and everything appears to be in order. Amid wild cheers of proval, M Thambidurai informs the crowd that Amma will grace them with her presence soon. The long wait for the audience and the AIADMK leaders, none of whom took a seat the entire time, ends at 5:30pm as two helicopters land at a makeshift helipad a few yards away, setting off a mini dust storm. Some candidates rush through the cloud of dust to greet Jayalalithaa, who is surrounded by an entourage of security guards. After a customary puja, the candidates bow to their leader in deference. Only after Amma nodded in approval that anyone took their seat. In fact, it was this deference for the leader in the AIADMK that DMK treasurer and former deputy chief minister MK Stalin mocked at an election rally in Karur district. Jayalalithaa sits high on a podium and all the candidates sit way down below, as if practicing untouchability, Stalin said. He even singled out finance minister O Panneerselvam to highlight the servility of people under the AIADMK leader and said this hurts the pride of the people. But Jayalalithaa remains unaffected by such criticism, and the AIADMK lugs this tradition along. Once on stage, she wastes no time launching into her speech a routine, predictable fare a report card of her government, a list of her achievements, promises fulfilled and an attack on the DMK and its patriarch M Karunanidhi. Her monologue receives thunderous applause from her devotees, guided by a man in a safari suit directing the audience to clap from the edge of the dais. But for her followers, the content of her speech really doesnt matter. I had come to see her and am happy I did, said Kannambika from Cheyyur. She has done so much for us. Yes, there was some hardship during floods, but on the whole, things are much better for us now. Everywhere you look, Ammas face stares back at you. Giant picture cut-outs line the venue. The most prominent of all is a massive poster of MGR handing over a torch to Jayalalithaa. In between, CN Anna Durai and her mentor MGR make a few appearances, but it is clear who the supreme leader is. Salman Khan may have once campaigned hard to free Sarabjit Singh but the director of the movie Sarbjit says that he was never part of the script. According to reports, a part of the story in Sarbjit supposedly concerned Salman Khan. In 2012, Salman had campaigned on Twitter to free the real-life Sarabjit Singh from jail in Pakistan where he was confined for over 20 years for alleged spying. Aishwarya Rai in a still from the movie. (YouTube) The film is about Sarabjits sisters struggle to get him freed. Omung said: This is just not true. We dont know who started it, or why. Salmans campaign to free Sarabjit was never part of our script. Ever! So where is the question of deleting an episode that was never in our film? We dont know who started this nonsense. A mutual friend of Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, who plays Sarabjits sister in the upcoming film, and Salman said: Neither Salman nor Aishwarya wish to have anything to do with one another. The last thing Salman would want is to have his name popping up in an Aishwarya-starrer. He doesnt take kindly to his name being used without his consent. Watch trailer: Choreographer-turned-film-maker Farah Khan returned to India from China recently. She had just finished choreographing a song in director Stanley Tongs Indo-Chinese film, which features Jackie Chan, Sonu Sood, Amyra Dastur and Disha Patani. A source close to Farah says that she had visited Beijing, to choreograph the Bollywood-themed track. Read: Jackie Chans persona leaves Farah Khan smitten Initially, she was sceptical about how Jackie would perform the steps, but he managed to do them with ease, says the source, adding that a farewell party was also organised for her on the last day of the shoot. Read: Lets not speculate: Farah Khan on who will star in her next film It was really sweet of the makers to throw a bash for Farah. She also invited Jackie and Stanley to her home for dinner when they visit India next, says the source. We tried contacting Farah, but she remained unavailable for a comment. Follow @htshowbiz for more. This is the depressing story of a brilliant man who faced many struggles. Though he writes with affection and gratitude of certain people and events, the persecution he describes at different points of his career appears to have dominated his life. His heart condition resulted in numerous dramatic collapses and hospital internments. It is also unfortunate that Dev Lahiri, a Rhodes Scholar and member of the heyday staff of Oxford University Press, has his memoirs strewn with proofreading and design disasters. This book has 222 pages, of which 66 are devoted to the horrors he faced while trying to bring reforms to The Lawrence School, Lovedale, between 1991 and 2000. Later, at Welham Boys School, Dehradun, things went bad for him again. Lahiri describes his victimisation in detail, blithely naming perpetrators and valiantly trying to clear his reputation with an energetic mud-fest. Read: Celebrating the woman behind Jane Eyre | Charlotte Bronte turns 200 This review is not concerned with what actually happened, but cannot help observing that the inaccuracy and exaggeration in the book reduces its credibility. Lahiri sneers at a career in marketing, mocking the enthusiastic selling of soap. However, his book exposes him as a master of the glib half-truth. A few examples follow. This memoir is neither a work of literature nor a source of inspiration to coming generations. He says he gave up his job as a tea planter in a few weeks because: I just felt uncomfortable dealing with plants. I realized I needed to do something with people. Hmm! A tea planters job requires sound fundamentals of agriculture, but it is in fact through the management of labour in the field and factory that the job gets done and it is actually more about people than plants. He also claims to have been the first headmaster of Lawrence to have actually allowed a girl student to lead the Founders Day Parade. Not true. Rohini Gopalan, a girl student, led the parade in May 1977. Lahiri writes, My daughter was followed into the town, her photos taken and morphed. Matters got worse. Anonymous letters started arriving addressed to the student body, accusing me, among other things, of sleeping with the lady teachers and Indrani of sleeping with the men. But in the 1990s, morphing photos was still only science fiction! Even if we allow that a headmaster might have inadvertently used an anachronism and his daughter had actually felt disgraced by misuse of her photo, by what standard could anonymous letters, however scurrilous, make matters worse? Read: Up close and personal | Naomi Campbell bares it all in new book Lahiri also quotes a report which states that it was he who made Lawrence one of the most famous schools of the country. Well: Lawrence School, Lovedale, was founded in 1858. When I joined, in 1971, it had long been recognized as one of the best schools in India. Every institution has its ups and downs, consequent on the people who lead and manage it. Evaluation and improvement may vary in consistency but they are continuous processes, never the work of just one person. This memoir is neither a work of literature nor a source of inspiration to coming generations. When slotted as a tell-all expose, it could provoke a careful reader to question whether the author (even if his intentions were blameless) had the emotional strength and stability required to implement reforms effectively. With a Little Help from my Friends Dev Lahiri Rupa Rs 295 222 pages Saaz Aggarwal is the author of Sindh Stories from a Vanished Homeland. When she went to Agra to meet the citys domestic workers and learn about their lives, Swara Bhaskar also went shopping for Chanda, the character she plays in Ashwini Iyer Tiwaris directorial debut Nil Battey Sannata. I bought the handbag that Chanda carries in the film for Rs 100, after much haggling at a local market, says Bhaskar. I also got a comb, a mirror and a pair of rubber chappals. I started walking around in them two months before the shooting began. Nil Battey Sannata (UP slang for a loser) is the story of a domestic help who failed class 10, but tries to convince her daughter to study further by going back to school herself. In the film, 28-year-old Bhaskar plays mother to a teenager. Since she had no life experiences to draw on for this part of her role, Bhaskar interviewed her mother, Ira (who teaches film studies at Delhis Jawaharlal Nehru University), about her experiences handling 15-year-old Swara. A whole list of complaints came out, she says laughing. But it made me realise that we never look at our parents as individuals dealing with their own failures, successes, and desires. That helped me breathe life into Chanda. Swara Bhaskar in a still from Nil Battey Sannata Bhaskar won the best actress award for this role at the Silk Road International Film Festival in China in September 2015. Back home, even before the films release, superstars Amitabh Bachchan and Aamir Khan were all praise. From her debut in 2009 in the little-known Madholal Keep Walking, to her break as a supporting character in Tanu Weds Manu (2011), followed by a character role in the Sonam Kapoor-Dhanush starrer Raanjhanaa (2013), to Salman Khans sister in Prem Ratan Dhan Payo (2015), the limelight seems finally to have found Bhaskar with Nil Battey Sannata. I am an outsider, says Bhaskar. I dont have a producer-father or an actor-boyfriend or a Karan uncle I can call up. But in under six years, I have been able to build a certain kind of credibility. People trust my presence in a film to deliver something good. Her first solo lead in a film was Listen Amaya (2013), which had Farooq Sheikh and Deepti Naval in pivotal roles. Because it was an indie film, it did not reach the audience, says Bhaskar. Ive realised it is not enough to just do a film, you have to sign one that gets a good release. Im glad Nil is getting the backing of a big studio like Eros. As an actor you must become street smart in some ways. Bhaskar says she sees her time in the industry as a journey to becoming an adult. I have become a little more cynical, and I would like to believe, a little wiser. When I first came to Mumbai, I was very idealistic, she says. Now I can look anyone in the face and tell a lie. But Im in a good place. An English literature graduate from Miranda House (Delhi University), Bhaskar completed her Masters in sociology at JNU. But her innate nautanki-ness, she says, brought her to Bollywood. I love acting, though I dont like the frills around itred-carpet appearances, dressing up to look a certain way, she says. Bhaskar also stands out for her candour: shes refused to endorse a fairness cream and made her opinions of the casting couch and the industrys fixation with appearances clear. In February, she came out in support of the JNU students charged with sedition. It got her, she says, into all sorts of trouble. Apart from the abuses and trolling online, there were calls to boycott Nil.... I didnt know we were not supposed to criticise the government because I assumed that is our democratic right, she says. Bhaskar now says shell try and tone down what she says in public. There is a lot of money riding on Nil..., my producers money. I dont want to jeopardise that, she says. But I dont believe any meaningful art can come out of a society that is scared to ask questions. The Wonder Years Maths Mein Dabba Gul I got 85 per cent in the class 10 board exams, then I failed the class 12 maths pre-board. I dont know why I took up maths after class 10. Favourite subjects History and English As a student I was... Not naughty because I was a prefect. But I looked the other way when others played pranks. Punishments None. I was once caught climbing out of the classroom window while bunking a class. I lied that I had to go to the bathroom and the exit was crowded. The principal believed me. supriya.sharma@hindustantimes.com Follow @DoNotRamble on Twitter From HT Brunch, April 24, 2016 Follow us on twitter.com/HTBrunch Connect with us on facebook.com/hindustantimesbrunch SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON A small-town boy from Rourkela stitched his way into the wardrobes and hearts of some of the most famous women in America. This is the story of Bibhu Mohapatra. At the door, his half grin can be mistaken as cocky. But as he enters the wood-panelled room, his eyes light up with boyish wonder. The large bay windows catch his fancy; he looks out at the Mumbai skyline and exclaims excitedly, What a view! What a view! Youd think that for a New Yorker with an Upper West Side address, the panorama of a sprawling city would hold little surprise. But for this 43-year-old man, just as for the thousands of hopefuls from small towns, Mumbai is still so special, so mysterious. He may be the toast of A-list fashion circles now, he may have dressed some of the most influential women in the US including First Lady Michelle Obama, and Hollywood stars Gwyneth Paltrow and Hillary Swank but, at heart, Bibhu Mohapatra is still a humble boy from a small town in Odisha. A year ago, during a previous interview with Brunch, his heavily inflected American accent with its slow Indian drawl had been the cause of much amusement. Oh, I never made a conscious effort to speak like an American, he had said then. Hell, I still wobble my head when I talk. Last week in Mumbai, for the launch of his jewellery collection for Forevermark, the internationally renowned designer was still all humility and desi-accent. Even during this interview, slivers of his simple past often take over his acquired American mannerisms. Often, he looks back fondly at the people and instances that helped shape Bibhu, the man, and Bibhu, the designer label, as they are today. Mohapatras affair with the needle and thread began when he was about 12. Old saris, tablecloths and cheap fabric bought with pocket money would be cut and sewn up into dresses for his sister. (Subi Samuel) From Rourkela, With Love Rourkela in Odisha is a nondescript place. It has a population of a mere five lakh. Its landmarks include a steel plant around which the town was built. On rare occasions, Rourkela makes it to the news, riding mostly on the success of one of its former residents: Mira Nair, maker of films such as Monsoon Wedding and The Namesake. Or Amish Tripathi, writer of the Shiva trilogy. And more recently, Bibhu Mohapatra, creator of the dress that Michelle Obama wore to India last year. Mohapatra had a typically small-town upbringing climbing trees, playing gilli-danda, scraping your knees while learning to ride a bicycle and coming home to more thrashing. On most weekends, he watched bewitched as his engineer father took apart a bike or car part by part. We didnt have video games back then or even a TV. We got our first TV in 1988. Newspapers never carried anything on fashion. Sunday supplements would sometimes profile one of those early designers, such as Rohit Bal or Suneet [Varma] or Tarun [Tahiliani]. That was all the fashion I had access to. Though the exposure came much later, the interest developed early. He was always curious about things his mother sewed. And his affair with the needle and thread began when he was about 12. Old saris, tablecloths and later, cheap fabric bought with pocket money, would be cut and sewn up into dresses for his sister. That poor girl was so patient! he laughs. She never discouraged me, but would kindly ask, Is it okay if I wear these at home? When I finally made a proper dress for her, she wore it to some function and got a lot of compliments. That kind of solidified something within me, it made me believe that I could perhaps, do this. In a conservative Indian family, he says, a boy wanting to learn to sew would be criticised. Not in mine though. With an engineer dad and a mom who had the full-time job of raising the four of us, the Mohapatras were modest in wealth but rich in outlook. My parents were traditional, but progressive at the same time. And so each of us had breathing room. Now, with both his parents gone, he sometimes feels like I dont have a roof over my head anymore. But his siblings continue to be his support system. Theyre all very happy. And proud of me, of whatever they read in the news. But they make sure I get a reality check every now and then, he says. While interning at Halston in New York, Mohapatra worked non-stop: running to factories carrying bolts of fabrics, making embroidery layouts, going to fittings while attending classes six days a week. (Subi Samuel) New York, New York Mohapatra studied in an Oriya-medium school till Class 7. He went on to study at the Municipal College in Rourkela and then spent a year in a management course just to get 16 years of education, a requisite for applying to a Masters programme in the US. But America was not so much a dream for him as it was a stepping stone into the future, into fashion. At that time, in the early 90s, there was only one fashion school in India NIFT, Delhi. And it didnt seem like I could get through it. Honestly, I didnt even try, he says. At the insistence of his brother who was studying graphic design in the US then, he applied for and got into the Masters in economics programme at Utah State University on a partial scholarship. That was my ticket to America. I left in 1996, with a suitcase full of Indian spices and a heart full of dreams! While there, a professor chanced upon his sketchbook one day. You need to go to New York, she told me. She was kind enough to call her friends in the art department so that I could sit in during their classes [without paying extra] and do live drawings. I couldnt have afforded those otherwise. He started improving his portfolio and by the time he finished his Masters, he was sure that economics had been just a detour. Fashion designing was what he intended to really pursue. So, he joined the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York. The fast, bustling metropolis was a different ballgame altogether. Back in Utah, he was making ends meet with an on-campus job as a janitor: cleaning, vacuuming and shovelling snow. He says, Before I took that job, I didnt even know what a janitor did. I remember going for the interview and looking at one of the computers, thinking Ill probably get to sit there. Only I was taken to the closet where the brooms and mops were kept. He earned a measly $4.25 an hour, but learnt that no job is ever too small. In New York, though his student loan paid for tuition and board, hed be left with less than two dollars for food. That city is bloody expensive! I had to find a job before my course ended, or Id end up on the street. But for a job, I needed some experience, for which I needed an internship. So armed with 20 printed copies of his resume, he walked into 7th Avenue the home of all things fashion and dropped them amidst takeaway menus at top design houses, such as DKNY, Tommy Hilfiger and Calvin Klein. Mohapatra got two phone calls off that exercise. One was from the house of Halston named after legendary American designer Roy Halston Frowick, who rose to fame designing hats (Jackie Kennedy wore his pillbox hat at JFKs presidential inauguration). While at Halston, Mohapatra worked non-stop. I would be running to factories carrying bolts of fabrics on my shoulders, making embroidery layouts, going to fittings while attending classes six days a week. I was like a kid in a candy shop; I was living my dream. After a year there, Mohapatra moved on to a full-time job at another big design house J Mendel. He spent nearly a decade there and during that time, he expanded his team from four to 20 people. It was here that he first cultivated contacts with some of the most famous women in America. At J Mendel, I learnt about the key things you need to focus on to build a luxury business. And, how crucial it is to build a cohesive theme. Youre as good as your theme, he says. He was lucky, he says, to work under a boss who allowed him the trust and opportunity to develop his own aesthetic and a huge budget to hone his skills. Here, he learnt to create luxury. Freida Pinto, Michelle Obama, Lupita Nyongo, Priyanka Chopra and Jennifer Lopez are among the celebrities Bibhu Mohapatra has dressed. (Getty Images) Next Stop: Someplace Else When he finally decided to venture out on his own, Mohapatra took a couple of months off to clear my head and get things out of my system. The repetition of five collections a year had set in hard, and it was heartbreaking to cut ties with a team he had nurtured. So he went off to Europe, travelling, going completely off-grid. Chantilly, near Paris, the city famous for its lace, was one of his pit stops. I went for a friends big birthday bash at a palace there. Every living French president was there, celebrities, writers, musicians it was an eclectic mix, he says. This was where he met the British-Irish artist, film producer and style icon Daphne Guinness (heir to Arthur Guinness, the inventor of Guinness beer). I saw her, I met her and I was mesmerised by her, says Mohapatra. She would become the muse for his first ever individual collection. Drawing inspiration from women with incredible personalities and stories has been a recurring theme in his creations. They dont have to be fashionistas, or anyone famous. They can be flawed, everyone is flawed. But their journey, what they stand for as people, their work thats what is important to me. Last October, for instance, he went on a tour of the Forbidden Palace in Beijing. After four hours, he reached the place where the Dragon Lady Chinas Empress Dowager Cixi had lived. She was a concubine but she wanted to rule the empire. A lot of people I spoke to described her as a horrible person, pure evil. But some thought that she was the beginning of modern China, she gave voice to women. She was a trailblazer who ruled the empire, by hook or by crook, for 50 years! Now hows that story for some inspiration? Mohapatra pauses, amidst his excited narration, for effect. The Dragon Lady managed to leave a lasting impression on his latest Fall Collection, which is replete with Oriental themes. Like his muses, his creations too exude a sense of power without being overpowering. I want my clothes to make women feel more of what they are instead of becoming someone else they should feel confident, empowered. Mohapatra is famous for his evening gowns. But he loves doing what he calls date dresses sort of in-betweens that you can go to work in and then add or take off a layer and voila! Youre ready for a date night or cocktail party. He has an eye on India. He doesnt look disappointed when I tell him that not many people still know him here. Its not about how many people know me or how many times I show up in the tabloids. Even if 10 people know me, Im happy as long as they know me for the right reasons, he says. People here know Manish Malhotra and Sabyasachi [Mukherjee] for the incredible brands theyve built for themselves. It isnt just about who they are, but how they interacted with the people thats the secret to their success. It is the secret to his success too. Word of mouth is a big tool. But a lot of it has to do with how you treat people. If you treat people well, they will talk about you. For now though, Mohapatra is content with his latest interest jewellery. But again its the stories behind the shine that draw him. His own story goes: many years ago, his mother showed him family heirloom no one wore anymore. When I first touched them, I felt like I had met all these women in my family who I never actually knew, the designer says. It struck me that jewellery serves a more important purpose: of holding on to stories, generation after generation. The collection is luxurious, as a Bibhu Mohapatra gown would be. To me, luxury is what has been preserved over a long time, what has been kept alive by peoples skills and passed down generations. You can find it in metal work, fabrics, leather when you have access to that repertoire of craft, that is real luxury. And what better place to find such luxury than in India? There is a sadness in his eyes as we talk about his birthplace: he realises that he wont be able to visit Odisha on this trip. Ive been missing home the memories, the air... Theres a lot to see in this world, he says. But, theres no feeling like coming back home. Up, Close & Personal * A celebrity you love designing for: Michelle Obama, of course. Shes so inspirational, so gracious, so kind, so real. And she knows what looks good on her. * One Indian woman youd love to design for: It has to be Rekha. That woman uff! When Im in Mumbai, my driver makes it a point to stop the car in front of her house for two minutes, in the hope that shell come out to walk her dog or something (laughs). But no. No luck! * What keeps you up at night? Payday! I employ people and Im very proud of that, but I also feel responsible for their livelihoods and the roofs over their heads. * What dish do you cook best? Chingri jhol (prawn curry), Oriya style. * Do you read? I love to read. Sometimes, I keep going back to the same book because you discover new things every time. My favourite writer is Gabriel Garcia Marquez. * Whats your favourite kind of music? I love all kinds, from Rabindra sangeet to rap, reggae, Spanish music, instrumental Im very democratic about music. * How do you de-stress? I go off to my country house in upstate New York and look after my chicken and fish there. Sometimes I binge-watch movies. I may go to YouTube and look up old Hindi films, the super silly ones with Lalita Pawar I love that woman! * If you were to redo the costumes for one movie, which one would it be? Oh god, there are so many! Devdas has to be one. The new one. Because it was such an interesting time when the book was written, you could do so much with it with so little it didnt have to be layered with 10 yards of fabric trailing behind you. * One designer who has inspired you. Givenchy. The original one. * What do you like wearing? Jeans from APC. Cotton shirts that I get tailored. And very inexpensive, black cotton T-shirts which are my work wear. Black is so non-fussy. Sometimes, I wear colours too. Photographs shot exclusively for HT Brunch by Subi Samuel satarupa.paul@hindustantimes.com Follow @SatarupaPaul on Twitter From HT Brunch, April 24, 2016 Follow us on twitter.com/HTBrunch Connect with us on facebook.com/hindustantimesbrunch When The Oberoi shut its doors in Delhi at the beginning of April, it marked the end of a glorious phase in Indias hospitality sector. The Delhi Oberoi was not the chains first hotel. By the time it opened in 1965, the company already ran (under a management contract), one of the citys best hotels, The Oberoi Imperial (it is just The Imperial these days). It had the Simla hotels. And it had Calcuttas best hotel, The Oberoi Grand. But the Delhi Oberoi was special. Rai Bahadur MS Oberoi (father of the chains current chairman, Biki) had long wanted to build a modern American-style hotel with 24-hour room service, a coffee shop, a multiplicity of restaurants and smart, world-class service. He started on the project on a huge plot in south Delhi and then ran out of money. The shell of the hotel remained incomplete for several months till somebody told the Rai Bahadur that he could have access to US government funds to complete the project. All he needed to do was to find an American partner. In the Sixties, you had two kinds of hotels. You had the grand dames, such as The Savoy in London, The Ritz in Paris, The Peninsula in Hong Kong or The Carlyle in New York. But you also had a new kind of American-style hotel exactly the sort of hotel that Oberoi wanted to build in Delhi pioneered by Conrad Hilton, who set out to build a Hilton in every major city of the world. Eventually, Hilton kept his domestic hotel business but sold his overseas company to TWA, then one of the worlds great airlines. Hiltons major competitor overseas was InterContinental Hotels, owned by Pan Am, TWAs great global rival. Between the two of them, Hilton and InterContinental pretty much invented the modern international hotel. Rai Bahadur MS Oberois wish for a modern American-style hotel, with 24-hour room service, a coffee shop, a multiplicity of restaurants and smart service came true with the Delhi Oberoi. The Rai Bahadur went to InterContinental (Hilton had its own, ultimately aborted, India project) and asked them to partner with him. They jumped at the offer, US government funds suddenly became available and the Oberoi InterContinental opened in 1965 and changed hoteliering in India forever. The Oberois went on to find other partners (such as Sheraton in Bombay in 1973), but nearly every other Indian chain, created or reinvented since 1965, was influenced by that iconic Delhi hotel. For instance, when the Bombay Taj opened its new tower in 1972, not only did it partner with InterContinental as well, but it even used the same interior designer (Dale Keller). We forget now that while the old Hilton-InterContinental formula consisted of grand lobbies and lots of restaurants, it also involved small rooms with tiny functional bathrooms. And yet, every single Indian hotel built between 1965 and 1986 stuck to that formula. By the late Seventies, a newer paradigm of luxury had begun to develop in east Asia with such chains as Regent taking the lead. This focused much more on the room itself room sizes sometimes doubled in newer properties and the tiny functional bathrooms of old were abandoned in favour of grander spaces with separate shower stalls and baths. And soon enough, large circular bathtubs and vast shower areas began to define luxury. Biki Oberoi first brought that style of hotel to India with The Oberoi Bombay (opened in 1986) and it soon became the new standard for luxury hotels all over the world, especially after the Four Seasons bought Regent and after eastern luxury chains (Mandarin Oriental, Peninsula, etc) began expanding. Dubais JW Marriott Marquis had terrible service Now, even Hilton concedes that its once-iconic brand means no more than a basic five star. So it is with Sheraton and the others. Luxury hotels use other brand names like Waldorf Astoria, Ritz-Carlton or St. Regis. And the Four Seasons is all luxury with no basic brand. And that would have been the primary distinction (basic five-star v/s luxury) except for the development of the hip hotel, a trend pioneered by Ian Schrager and Steve Rubell in New York in the late 1980s, with Morgans and Royalton and soon taken up by other hoteliers (Andre Balazs, the Kemps, etc) before being corporatised by the W chain. As the distinctions grew more complex, the defining characteristic of a luxury hotel became the quality of the service. It was on that basis that The Oberoi, New Delhi, with its small rooms survived for so long but it was only a matter of time before Biki decided to gut the hotel and build large, new luxurious rooms. But the more I travel, the more I realise that many of the old certainties about luxury and service are collapsing. Read: Time to renovate the great residences and enjoy the culture of old Delhi For instance, it is an article of faith in the hotel business that Asian service is the best because salaries are low and hotels can hire more staff per guest than hotels in Europe, Japan or the USA can. But I am no longer sure this is true. Yes, there is a lot to be said for the grand dames of Paris (I love The Bristol) but it is the newer hotels that have world-class service (say, Le Royal Monceau) and better guest recognition. (The first time my son stayed at the Park Hyatt in Paris, he was wowed by the fact that when he went down to breakfast on his first day the waiters addressed him by name). In Paris, new hotels like Le Royal Monceau have better guest relations. Nor is heritage any guarantee of quality; The Waldorf-Astoria is easily the worst five-star hotel in New York. It is the newer ones (the Four Seasons, The Peninsula and The Park Hyatt) that offer the real luxury experience. And if service is all about staff salaries, then why do Dubai hotels have such terrible service? Perhaps Ive been unlucky but service at the last six hotels Ive stayed at really sucked. (Im excluding The Oberoi because I was not anonymous there.) Grosvenor House was terrible, so were Sheraton, Hilton and Radisson properties. And the worst was the JW Marriott Marquis where I stayed last time. It is a huge hotel (1,600 rooms) with great (Indian) senior staff, but front office took 25 minutes to check me in; every time I called room service, I was kept on hold (Your call is important to us) and they refused to iron a shirt in under six hours no matter what express charge I offered to pay. At the old Dubai Taj Palace (thank God, the Taj has now abandoned that hotel), the room service order-taker advised me as a fellow Indian, not to eat the parathas (Sir, sab frozen hai). And the bad experiences just pile up. Perhaps Ive just been staying at the wrong hotels in Dubai. And if service is only about numbers, then somebody should explain the excellence of Japanese service to me. Japanese salaries are high so staff numbers are low. But the Tokyo Park Hyatt is the single most elegant hotel I have ever stayed at anywhere in the world. Period. The Sky Suite at the Tokyo Andaz It wasnt just the interiors (stunning) or the efficiency of the service. It was the air of refinement that characterised the hotel. If you were approaching the concierge desk and the concierge was busy, somebody from reception would head you off, see if they could help you instead and if they couldnt, would then seat you on a sofa. When the concierge was free, they would come back to escort you personally to the concierge desk. There would be different fruit in your room everyday the sweetest little strawberries Ive ever eaten, a porcelain plate of succulent cherries all served individually, without any of the mixed-fruit-basket crassness favoured by Indian hotels. When you were checking out, the receptionist would come down to the porch to see you off. If you changed currency at the cashier, they would check the bank rate and tell you that the hotels exchange rate was 0.35 per cent higher than the rate at a nearby bank and offer to give you the address. Read: Even if you dont want to splash out on super luxury, go to the Maldives Singapore used to have good service 20 years ago (and no tipping culture), but they now accept that things have gone downhill. Its because the Chinese got so rich and became too arrogant to work as waiters or bellboys at hotels, they say. Well, then, how do you explain Japan? I stayed at two hotels (the Park Hyatt and the Andaz) both of which were staffed nearly entirely by highly educated, supremely sophisticated Japanese who provided some of the best service Ive encountered in my life and would not accept any tips. (There is no tipping culture in Japan, though perversely, staff in Singapore now hunger after tips.) Raymond Bickson, who ran the Taj Group for many years used to say that the greatest challenge for grand hotels was that, despite their heritage, they always ran the risk of being outclassed by newer hotels. He would give the examples of Tokyos Imperial Hotel, Singapores Raffles and Bangkoks Oriental. All were great hotels in their day. But they would be nobodys first choice these days. Meanwhile, shed no tears for the Delhi Oberoi. When it reopens in 18 months, it will be better and classier than any luxury hotel India has ever seen. From Biki Oberoi, we should expect nothing less. From HT Brunch, April 24, 2016 Follow us on twitter.com/HTBrunch Connect with us on facebook.com/hindustantimesbrunch SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Anil Agarwals plan to merge subsidiary Cairn India with flagship firm Vedanta Ltd, which recently hit a roadblock after the government expressed apprehensions about the proposed merger, may finally see the light of the day. Following a dispute, the income tax department froze shares held by Cairn Energy in Cairn India in 2014. The I-T department has said that the merger can happen only after the freeze is lifted and tax issues are resolved. Sources, however, told HT that if Cairn Energy agrees to set aside the value of its shareholding in Cairn India in an escrow account, the government will have no objection against the merger. The government is concerned about the attached shares in Cairn India and is opposed to the merger, sources said. The company has set June 2016 as the date of the merger. Vedanta Group had acquired Cairn India from British promoters Cairn Energy Plc in 2011 and proposed a merger last year. In January 2014, the tax department slapped a R10,247-crore notice on Cairn Energy on alleged capital gains made in a 2006 business reorganisation it carried out in its India unit before getting it listed. The total tax due after including interest comes over `29,000 crore. Cairn India is facing a tax demand of `20,495 crore in the same case. While Cairn India has approached the Delhi High Court, Cairn Energy is contesting the matter through an international arbitration. Cairn Energy holds 9.5% stake in Cairn India, valued at `1,950 crore, according to analysts. London-based Vedanta Resources debt stood at $7.7 billion as on March 31, 2015, and its Indian arm Vedanta Ltds at $4.57 billion. Zero-debt Cairn India, on the other hand, has $2.85-billion in cash reserve. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The Modi-governments plans to fastpace infrastructure projects seem to have run into a speed breaker hit by increased delays and cost overruns over the last two years. The number of delayed or stuck projects have jumped significantly over the last two years despite the governments efforts to hasten bureaucratic decision making, ease procedures and raise the pace of project execution. As on March this year, 893 infrastructure projects worth Rs 11.36 lakh crore across a range of sectors from thermal power to highways were delayed. This is a sharp jump from the 816 stuck or delayed projects valued at Rs 9.68 lakh crore as of March 2015 and 766 stalled projects worth Rs 9.79 lakh crore as of March 2014, according to data assembled by the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE), a research agency. Unfavourable market conditions, weak commodity prices, funding constrains, poor raw material linkages are the key reasons contributing to the increase in stalled projects, sources in government as well as private sector told HT. A host of factors including inter-ministerial consultations, environmental concerns and procedural bottlenecks at the states continue to slow down infrastructure project implementation. Mounting bad loans, which has topped Rs 4 lakh crore, has also made banks reluctant to lend to projects that are prone to delays. India would require about $1 trillion (Rs 66 lakh crore) half the value of the national GDP over the next five years to overhaul its collapsing infrastructure. The Narendra Modi-led NDA government aims to build 40 km of highways every day, four times more than the previous UPA governments target, which it had failed to achieve. The road and other infrastructure projects can spur economic activity, boost construction and create jobs. According to credit rating and research firm Crisil, the construction sector is the most labour-dependent among all non-agricultural sectors, requiring more than 12 people to produce Rs 10 lakh of real output. Experts said delays are happening despite the governments policy focus to eliminate red-tape to get stalled projects going. The government is trying to address the root causes for project delays such as environmental clearances, long-term financing instruments. But, whats concerning is the number of stalled projects are rising every quarter, said Neeraj Sharma, Director, Grant Thornton Advisory Private Limited, a consulting and audit firm. Goa is one of the smallest of the Indian states, and yet one of the most storied. The beauty of Goas natural landscape, and of its traditional homes and churches, the artistic and musical creativity of its people these have all attracted hordes of foreign and Indian tourists to its shores. But there is a darker side to Goa as well. Away from the beaches, the real estate sharks play havoc with the countryside, and the mining barons loot the dense forests that line the states eastern boundaries. Hartman De Souzas book Eat Dust vividly describes the impact of unregulated and/or illegal mining in Goa its destruction of hills, forests, rivers and springs, its undermining of the social fabric of rural communities, its physical polluting of Goas environment and its moral corruption of Goas political economy. As Hartman De Souza relates, in the 1960s and 1970s mining in Goa was largely in the hands of four families. But as the business spread, ownership became more diversified. What remained constant was the patronage given to miners by politicians across parties. They provided the leases, and overlooked the environmental and social transgressions of mining lords, so long as they funded elections (and often lined pockets of individual politicians too). State leaders were given active support by politicians at the Centre (again across parties) who ensured that environmental clearances were given without any due process. One committee set up by the ministry of environment and forests in Delhi cleared 150 projects in Goa in a little over an hour. READ: Illegal mining goes unchecked under BJP rule: Sachin Pilot Last week I visited Goa to study the situation at first-hand. I went first to the north, to the island of St Estevam, where a priest named Father Bismarque Dias lived. Father Bismarque had been campaigning against controversial development projects, including a special economic zone and a new airport, that would have adversely affected social cohesion and caused environmental abuse. He had also opposed the sale of large tracts of Church land to builders (for which brave act the Bishops had him defrocked). In November 2015 Father Bismarque went missing. Two days later his decomposed body was found in the Mandovi River. Sitting in his home, speaking to his mother, brothers, and friends, I found that despite their grief the priests spirit still lived. Father Bismarque was a fine musician who used songs (sometimes composed by himself) to motivate villagers to protect their lands, their forests, their livelihoods. Banners with his photograph fluttered around the village, demanding that justice be done. In death, as in life, Father Bismarque embodied the struggle of decency and democracy against brutality and illegality. READ: Illegal mining: Probe report gathers dust at Punjab vigilance bureau From St Estevam, I drove to the south-east of the state, to the village of Cawrem, set amidst fields and forests. Here lives a young tribal activist named Ravindra Velip, who has been at the forefront of social protests against illegal mining. Last month, Ravindra was arrested and taken into judicial custody. The next day, with the evident complicity of officials responsible for his safety, he was blindfolded, gagged, and savagely beaten. He suffered multiple fractures, and might have been killed had his screams not brought fellow detainees to the scene, whereupon his attackers fled. Shockingly, the police even refused to file an FIR on this murderous assault. In Cawrem I met Ravindra Velip, his arm in a sling. I also met with the villages, whose morale and resolve was intact, the womens especially. The villagers of Cawrem argue that if mining is necessary, local co-operatives should be entrusted with the job, since they would take greater care not to damage the environment while retaining the proceeds within the community. Afterwards I toured the mining areas. The devastation was horrific. Entire hillsides had been gouged out, the waste dumped in streams and ponds. In this lush, monsoonal, part of the world, where peasants had access to springs and streams to provide them all the water they wanted, mining had made unpolluted water so scarce that they had to import tankers. The social disruption was as grievous, with mining lords recruiting goondas to intimidate protesters, and the administration playing divide-and-rule, by offering trucking contracts to other villagers to provide them some sops. In 2010, after the horrors of illegal mining had been exposed by social activists, the government of Goa appointed the Justice MB Shah Commission. The Commission found that the mining mafia had committed large-scale violations of forest, wildlife and pollution legislation. It estimated that the loss to the public exchequer owing to illegal mining was a staggering `35,000 crore. The report and the outcry it provoked compelled the government to suspend all mining in Goa in September 2012. Sadly, the Goa government has recently permitted mining to re-start. As several studies have shown, mining provides massive profits to mine-owners, but merely short-term employment to the locals. It destroys both the village economy as well as social solidarity. And the environmental impact is colossal, unquantifiable in precise terms, but surely running into billions of rupees. READ: Jharkhand: Villagers up in arms against govt over emerald mining lease The attacks on Father Bismarque and Ravindra Velip are not new. Other social activists have in the past been targeted by the mining mafia in Goa, whose tentacles run deep into the political class, the police, the bureaucracy (and even the media). The Goan economy is increasingly based on greed rather than innovation, its political system based on cronyism and corruption. In such a political economy, elementary human justice as well as environmental sustainability inevitably get short shrift. Although most Indian and foreign tourists may not know or care, something is very rotten in the state of Goa. The citizens of Goa know and care, since they see and experience it all the time. Ramachandra Guhas most recent book is Gandhi Before India Twitter: @Ram_Guha The views expressed are personal SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Recently Oxford Universitys Faculty of Theology and Religion caused something of a sensation when it was reported that its undergraduate students would not have to study Christianity. As often happens in this sort of situation, on reading the small print, it transpired that students would have to study Christianity in their first year but not thereafter. Nevertheless, this decision demonstrates how far religious teaching at Oxford is prepared to stray from its roots in the Church of England in order to keep up with the times. A member of the faculty said, We want to offer to potential students what is interesting for them and that has changed a lot in the last 30 years. In India there is no point in asking whether religious studies are keeping up to date because there are virtually no opportunities to study religion at the university level. Only Jamia Millia Islamia, as far as I know, has comparatively recently had the courage to establish a Centre for the Study of Comparative Religions and Civilizations. I say courage because the failure to establish religious studies surely springs from secularist nervousness about religion, and the failure to understand that secularism needs to find a place for religion. Writing of the time when the Constitution was being debated, the Sanskrit scholar Madhu Khanna, who was the first head of the Jamia Department, has said the proponents of secularism in India sharply criticised and rejected the very idea of including religious studies as a part of our educational policy. Since then religious studies have fallen between two stools. Secularists have continued to show no interest in the objective and critical study of religion. The advocates of nationalist Hinduism have not shown any interest presumably because the studies would go beyond the narrow confines of their religious beliefs. READ: US varsity to have chairs of Sikh, Jain and modern India studies Why does this lack of religious studies matter? It matters for a variety of important reasons. Take the vexed question of secularism. The study of religion would help to reach a definition of secularism that finds a place for religion in public life and education without favouring any one religion. Prime Minister Narendra Modi says that harmony is essential for development. How can there be harmony in a multi-faith country so nervous about religion that its afraid to allow its young people to study the subject? In the absence of authentic religious scholars and scholarship, the claims of those who have a vested difference in promoting religious disputes go unchallenged. Television anchors allow sectarian spokespersons to claim that they speak on behalf of all Hindus or all Muslims without challenging them. Phrases like Hindus are offended or this offends Muslims are bandied around freely. Demands for books to be banned are accepted without any serious attempt to refute the allegations made, and in spite of the damage the bans cause to Indias international reputation. Now 130 people of varied occupations have signed a petition to Rohan Murty, demanding that he remove the renowned Sanskrit scholar Sheldon Pollock of Columbia University from the editorship of the Classical Library of India he has financed. The signatories are clearly motivated as much by political as by religious concerns. They demand that the library should be in Indian hands. The petition also has strong nationalist overtones. For instance, it calls for scholars who are imbued with a sense of respect and empathy for the greatness of Indian civilization to undertake the project. But to which Indian university could Murti have entrusted the editing of the library? One of the petitioners, Makarand Paranjpe from JNUs Centre for English Studies, has implied there isnt one. READ: Watch this madrasa: Co-education. Sanskrit. Computers. Hinduism At this time of religious conflicts, there is an urgent need throughout the globe for a greater understanding of the phenomenon we call religion. There is perhaps no country where this is more important than India, with its unique multi-faith population, and no country is capable of making a more significant contribution to this understanding because of its multi-faith past. So its not just India but the world that loses because of this lack of institutions for the study of religion. The views expressed are personal There was an attempt to attack Delhi University teacher GN Saibaba on Friday when he visited Ram Lal Anand College, where he previously worked, for the annual day celebration. He wasnt harmed as students formed a human chain around him and guarded him until the function went on. They were raising slogans against me and were not letting me enter the college. But students were very protective and they stayed with me till the function got over, said the English teacher. Saibaba was arrested by the Maharashtra police for alleged Maoist links in 2014. After the arrest, he was suspended from college. He suffers 90% disability. Read | Out on bail, DU prof Saibaba says he has returned to a bigger prison The professor was recently granted bail by the Supreme Court. On Thursday, RLA Colleges governing body constituted a one-member committee to revoke his suspension and reinstate him. Students alleged outsiders misbehaved and tried to attack Saibaba. Disturbed by the incident, students from English department wrote to the college principal and demanded an inquiry into the incident. Those who misbehaved with professor Saibaba were not college students, said the letter. They said those who misbehaved with Saibaba did not represent the opinion of the students and so should not be considered. Now that the college is considering reinstating Saibaba, ABVP is trying to create trouble. This is a bizarre thing that is happening on the campus. We really want Saibaba to come to the campus, said a student who did not want to be named. ABVP office bearers refused to comment. Read | DU prof Saibaba gets bail, SC says cops were extremely unfair to him A joint delegation of Delhi University Teachers Association (DUTA) and staff association of RLA College appealed to the governing body members to revoke the suspension. DUTA also appealed to vice chancellor Yogesh Tyagi to intervene and ensure that established norms, procedures and the rules of law are upheld. Millions of bits of plastic, chunks of carpet, biscuit wrappers and bottles are strewn for miles and enmeshed into the soil at the Yamuna floodplain that hosted the World Culture Festival a month ago, HT found on Saturday. The garbage and construction waste that might have irreparably damaged the areas fragile ecosystem are hidden from plain sight. There are vast stretches of green grass, cattle grazing in the field and even some birds chirping in the distance. But a closer look punctures claims made by spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravi Shankars Art of Living Foundation that the festival it hosted had a negligible impact on the floodplain. HT found plastic sheets, wrappers and empty bottles of Ravi Shankars brand of biscuits and packaged water lodged into the soil at many spots. The area around the stage touted to be the worlds largest is still filthy, with construction waste such as brick and mortar, and plastic in different forms, scattered all over. The mega event was held on 1,000 acres of land on the Yamuna banks and featured 35,000 musicians and dancers, newly built dirt tracks and 650 portable toilets, in addition to the seven-acre stage. Read: Will pay fine for Yamuna event only after damage assessment: AOL The festival ran into controversy days before its opening ceremony with environment groups accusing organisers of ripping up vegetation and ruining the rivers fragile ecosystem by damaging its bed and disrupting water flows. But the Art of Living dismissed these charges and said any plastic or garbage at the site was because of foul play. Trespassers are responsible for the garbage. There is zero security at the site and anybody can just walk in and do whatever they want, said Gautam Vig, Art of Living Foundation director. He said the site was handed over to the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) on Monday after clean-up operations. The grounds have been returned in a better condition greener, cleaner and with no damage to the soil. There was no water, air or soil pollution from Art Of Livings side, he added. The National Green Tribunal (NGT) fined the organisers Rs 5 crore and said it will assess damage to the floodplain after the event. The foundation has paid just Rs 25 lakhs till date. A case at the NGT is underway to decide the exact amount of compensation to be paid for the damage caused by the festival. Experts appointed by the green court said substantial damage had taken place. The floodplain has been completely destroyed; the natural vegetation consisting of reeds and trees was completely removed, an NGT appointed panel had said in its report in March. It also said it was too late to scrap the event and suggested a fine of Rs120 crore. The expert team is yet to make its assessment of the damage caused and report back to the green court. On Friday, the green court reserved its order on whether the Art of Living Foundation can pay Rs 4.75 crore as environmental compensation charge through bank guarantees. Read: Three weeks after AoL fest, Yamuna floodplain clean-up far from over . The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) will soon release the official notification for the 2016 Indian Administrative Service (IAS) and Indian Forest Service (IFS) exam. The Commission had earlier planned to release it on April 23, but later it got deferred. Read | UPSC defers release of official notification for CSE 2016 A general candidate gets only six attempts to clear the exam and must do so by the time they turn 32. For OBC category candidates, the age limit is 35 years and the number of attempts is nine while for candidates belonging to Schedule Cast (SC) and Schedule Tribe (ST), the age limit is 37 years, while the number of attempts is unlimited. Educational qualifications: For appearing in an IAS exam, a degree of graduation in any stream from any university recognised by the University Grants Commission (UGC) is required. Candidates who have appeared in the qualifying exam and are awaiting results are also eligible to apply, provided they submit the certificate of qualification along with the mark sheet to the UPSC before the main exam. A candidate applying for IFS exam must possess a bachelors degree in one of the following: Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Science, Botany, Chemistry, Geology, Mathematics, Physics, Statistics and Zoology, or a Bachelors degree in Agriculture, Forestry or Engineering from a recognised university. You can find more details about the eligibility, number of attempts, etc. on the official website. Residents, schools and city firms celebrated the Earth Day on Friday by planting and gifting saplings to one another. Many city schools such as Blue Bells, Ridge Valley and Scottish High celebrated the day with great fervour and enthusiasm. Teachers explained the significance of the day and the need to protect the environment to students. A discussion was conducted on the 3Rs Recycle, Reuse and Reduce. Planting saplings, conserving water and electricity were some of the issues that were highlighted. Students expressed their views on their idea of an ideal planet. The youngsters made posters, collages, badges, and slogans, and pledged to save the earth by contributing in their own ways. The students of Scottish High International School celebrated Green Week, which is aimed at combating environmental degradation because of pollution. Members of the environment club organised a Green Quiz in the school. Students also tried to convey a message through poems and acts, posters and banners. Various residential communities pledged to plant more trees. They also vowed to be more caring and responsible towards the environment by making simple changes in their life style such as saving electricity and water, segregating waste at the source, using jute and cloth bags for shopping, carpooling and using natural resources judiciously to reduce global warming. Deepak Ramesh Gaur, also known as the Tree Man, and the founder of NGO Gift A Tree Network, launched an online campaign selfie with tree. He spoke to children about the importance of the trees in their lives. Real estate developer Vatika group on Friday announced that it has installed solar panels at its projects with a view to reduce its carbon footprint and to give impetus to the use of green energy. The group claims to have invested `R75 lakh on the solar panels and other equipment at Vatika Business Park, Sohna Road. Similarly, another company Ingersoll Rand celebrated the Earth Day by planting saplings at its office premises. After dabbling in Hollywood films and Broadway, Indian-American actor Devika Bhise was last seen playing Janaki, the wife of popular mathematician S Ramanujan in The Man Who Knew Infinity (2015). Interestingly, she not only featured in the film adaptation of the book by Robert Kanigel, but has also acted in a play, called The Partition, which is based on the title. When asked about the biggest challenge she faced in essaying the character, Devika says, I had to transform myself completely from a 21st century New Yorker to a Brahmin Iyengar girl from the early 20th century. The other hurdle was that Janakis life was quite tragic. So, the part of the story that revolves around her, was emotionally taxing. Devika, who has already brushed shoulders with Uma Thurman and Colin Firth in The Accidental Husband (2008), talks about working with Dev Patel, who plays S Ramanujan in the movie. I used to spend a lot of time on the sets with Dev. He brings a great deal of spontaneity to his acting. I have seen his film, Slumdog Millionaire (2008), and he delivered a great performance in it, she says. Praising the films cast, Devika calls Jeremy Irons a gentleman of another calibre. She adds, Hes the kind of actor I would like to turn into one day. He exudes so much humility, charm and grace. I also met Stephen Fry, who has a mind that is unparalleled. A lot of the actors in the movie belong to the old school [of acting], and that really was a good learning experience. Watch: Trailer of The Man Who Knew Infinity Devika adds that she was waiting to play an Indian character in a film. I was really excited about this movie because I got to play an Indian character. I couldnt wait to be cast as an Indian. The problem I had in Hollywood earlier was that people would cast me as a Puerto Rican, Hispanic or an African American person, but never as an Indian, says the actor. While a lot of Indian actors are venturing into Hollywood projects, Devika feels theres still much to be done. She adds, If you compare the situation now with what it was like 10 years ago, its like apples and oranges. But look at the Oscars this year. There was a lot of controversy about African-American representation. But an Asian a Pakistani woman won an award for a documentary, and it wasnt talked about much. We still need to be aggressive about the fact that we need our representation as well. Read: I am not expendable just because I am a woman: Priyanka Chopra SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON In his Oscar speech itself, Leonardo DiCaprio had made his intentions about caring for the environment rather clear and now the Hollywood actor has urged world leaders signing the Paris climate deal on Friday to deliver on their commitments to cut greenhouse gases. You will either be lauded by future generations or vilified by them, said DiCaprio at the UN ceremony where 171 nations lined up to sign the landmark accord. We can congratulate each other today, but it will mean absolutely nothing if you return to your countries and fail to push beyond the promises of this historic agreement. Now is the time for bold, unprecedented action. The actor, who this year won his first Oscar for his portrayal of a frontiersman in The Revenant, spoke in his role as UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moons messenger of peace with a special focus on climate change. (AFP) The actor, who this year won his first Oscar for his portrayal of a frontiersman in The Revenant, spoke in his role as UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moons messenger of peace with a special focus on climate change. Read: Leonardo DiCaprio vaped so hard, he almost left his Oscar behind The 41-year-old celebrity returned to the United Nations after delivering a much-watched address to world leaders during a UN climate summit in September that set the tone for the Paris accord. DiCaprio said the record turnout at the signing ceremony was a sign of hope, but he argued that sticking to the Paris agreement would not be enough to confront climate change. DiCaprio said the record turnout at the signing ceremony was a sign of hope, but he argued that sticking to the Paris agreement would not be enough to confront climate change. (AFP) An upheaval, a massive change is required right now, one that leads to a new collective conscience, he said. Our planet cannot be saved unless we leave fossil fuels in the ground, where they belong, he said, drawing applause from the chamber. Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim, Coordinator of the Indigenous Women and Peoples Association of Chad, Getrude Clement(R), Youth Representative from Tanzania, and Leonardo DiCaprio. (AFP) Look at the delegates around you, he added. It is time to ask each other what side of history will you be on. After 21 years of debates and conferences, it is time to declare no more talk, no more excuses, no more ten-year studies, no more allowing the fossil fuel companies to manipulate and dictate the science and policies that affect our future. Watch the entire speech: Follow @htshowbiz for more Former Khalistan Liberation Force militant and 1993 Delhi bomb blast convict Devinderpal Singh Bhullar was on Saturday released on parole after 23 years. The move comes a day after former militant Gurdeep Singh Khera walked out of Amritsar central jail on parole. Talking to HT, Amritsar deputy commissioner Varun Roojam said, We have approved Bhullars 21-day parole. Bhullar was shifted to Amritsar central jail from Delhis Tihar in June last year. But he was immediately admitted to the psychiatry ward of the local Guru Nanak Hospital and had been undergoing treatment for depression there since then. Read: Court acquits Devinderpal Singh Bhullar, paves way for his parole Bhullars wife Navneet Kaur, along with her relatives, received him when he was released from police custody. Before being shifted to Amritsar, Bhullar was admitted to the Institute of Human Behaviour and Allied Sciences in New Delhi as he was suffering from depression. Bhullar was convicted in connection with the killing of nine people in a bomb blast in 1993. Among those who survived the attack is former Youth Congress chief MS Bitta. Dal Khalsa spokesperson Kanwarpal Bittu said, We welcome the parole being granted to Bhullar. He will be now able to spend some time with his family. The case file 1993: Blast outside AIYC headquarters in New Delhi kills nine. Bhullar, one of main accused, fleas to Germany 1995: Bhullar deported to India and arrested 2001: Trial court hands out death penalty to Bhullar, who is lodged in Tihar Jail 2012: Bhullars treatment for depression begins, shifted to a hospital in Delhi 2014: Supreme Court commutes his death sentence to life imprisonment 2015: Bhullar shifted to Amritsar hospital after SC accepts family's plea 2016: State govt approves Bhullars parole SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Suspected Maoists blew up parts of the Navin Prathamik school building in Patna on Friday night. No casualties have been reported. The school, located within the Simultalla police station limits of Jamui district, 260 kms south-east of Patna, has a polling booth set up for panchayat elections on Sunday. The blast occurred when a marriage party was passing through a road located close to the school. Police authorities have, prima facie, ruled out the possibility of Maoist involvement in the blast. DIG eastern range Barun Kumar Sinha who holds additional charge of the Munger range, said the blast seems to be the work of criminals and that crude bombs were used for the purpose. Police sources said they believe the blast must have been the handiwork of one of the candidates, in order to defer polling. The DIG said further investigations were on. As the Supreme Court stayed the Uttarakhand high courts verdict to repeal Presidents rule in the state, another important adjudication for revocation of the disqualification of rebel Congress MLAs is awaited on Saturday in the court of Justice Umesh Chandra Dhyani. It was his judgment asking the Harish Rawat-led government to seek a trust vote on March 31 that set the ball rolling for more judicial interventions. Coming from the provincial judicial services, Dhyani joined the erstwhile Uttar Pradesh Judicial Service on November 5, 1979. He worked as district judge of Udam Singh Nagar, Nainital, and director of the state judicial academy (UJALA), and then the district judge of Dehradun. Later, he was appointed registrar general in the Uttarakhand high court on September 20, 2010. He was also appointed law secretary of the state government and legal advisor to the Governor. Dhyani was elevated as judge of the high court on September 13, 2011. In the current crisis, Dhyanis big pronouncement was to seek a trust vote by the Rawat government on March 31 while hearing the case against presidents rule on March 29. But this was stayed by the division bench of the HC following a revision petition filed by the central government. The Allahabad High Court on Friday stayed the arrest of Rahul Bajaj, chairman of the Bajaj group of companies, in an alleged case of cheating. An FIR, lodged by petitioner Asha and Companies on March 30 this year, alleged that Bajaj had committed forgery by encashing a crossed cheque in spite of the payment being made earlier. Hearing a writ petition filed by Rahul Bajaj, a division bench comprising justice Bala Krishna Narayana and Justice Shashi Kant directed Bajaj to return the cheque to the trader concerned within a period of 10 days. The court passed the above order after hearing both sides. With water levels in most of the major reservoirs across Krishna and Godavari rivers reaching dead storage and ground water plummeting further, almost entire Telangana and parts of Andhra Pradesh are in the grip of water scarcity. The heat wave has further added to peoples miseries. Maximum day temperatures continue to be between 40 and 43 degree Celsius in Telangana and Rayalaseema region of Andhra. The heat wave has already claimed more than 100 lives in the two states. The scarcity of fodder has dealt a blow to the crisis-ridden agriculture. Farmers in the worst-hit Mahabubnagar, Nizamabad and Nalgonda districts of Telangana and in perennially drought-prone Anantapur district of Rayalaseema are selling away their cattle to slaughterhouses. With no fodder and water, small farmers are unable to maintain the cattle, the mainstay for the farming. The farmers, who have milch animals for additional income, are also selling them off at half the price. For instance, cattle from various villages in Nalgonda district are brought to the weekly market at Kondamadugu near Bibinagar for sale. I couldnt have seen it dying of hunger and thirst. So I sold it away, said G. Narsaiah, a farmer from Nalgonda district who sold the only bullock he had. The animals are dying because of heat wave. Shepherds were badly hit by the severe drought. The families dependent on cattle breeding are also forced to resort to distress sale. There are also reports of farmers and agriculture labourers migrating to cities abandoning their pets. Hundreds of people from Mahabubnagar, Nizamabad and other districts of Telangana and from various parts of Rayalaseema have migrated to cities like Hyderabad, Vijayawada, Bengaluru and Mumbai to work as construction labourers. While migration is an annual phenomenon, the numbers this year have gone up due to the severity of drought. National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme (NREGP) has also taken a hit because of the scorching summer and also non-payment of wage dues to the labourers. Telangana has declared holidays for schools a week in advance due to the heat wave. The government has announced that midday meal scheme for school children will continue even during holidays. However, there are not many takers for this as the children have to cover a distance of two to three km to reach the schools. The intense heat is forcing them to remain indoors. Targetting the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) government for failing to take tackle the situation, the opposition parties and NGOs are demanding relief measures on war footing. They want the government to arrange food for children, handicapped and aged near their homes. Telangana government declared 231 mandals (revenue units comprising a varying number of villages) out of total 443 rural mandals in the state, drought-affected. In Andhra Pradesh, 359 mandals out of 670 have been declared drought-hit. The water levels in 14 major reservoirs serving both the states have fallen alarmingly. The water available in all of these reservoirs was 224 TMC as on April 21. The availability was 233 TMC the same day last year. The levels in most of these reservoirs have reached dead storage. Two of them have completely dried. In Telangana, which is largely dependent on ground water, the level has plummeted further. According to latest report by ground water department, the average level for the state in March was 14.88 metres. The same in March last year was 12.27 metres. Buoyed by infrastructure development, especially in highways and shipping sectors, picking pace in India, the government is dreaming big. The government has drawn up an ambitious plan to set up India Infrastructure International, a joint initiative of the highways ministry, shipping ministry and infrastructure companies, which will compete in the global market for undertaking infrastructure projects. Apart from giving consultancy, preparing project reports, the company will facilitate the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), the central agency that builds highways across India, as well as private infrastructure companies to bid globally for projects, said a senior highways ministry official. The ministry last week moved a cabinet note in this regard. While the highways and shipping ministry will have 40% equity in the company, the remaining 60% will be held by infrastructure companies and industry federations such as FICCI and CII, said another official. The official, however, said the NHAIs global foray wont be at the cost of its domestic commitments: NHAIs main priority would still be building highways in India. The ministry plans to build 20,000km of highways in the next four-five years at an investment of Rs 1.86 lakh crore. The idea to set up the company came after a six-member committee headed by RC Sinha, advisor to highways minister Nitin Gadkari, last year recommended taking the NHAI to foreign shores. The committee in its report recommended setting up a separate agency to undertake offshore projects on the lines of ONGC Videsh, which works overseas in the exploration, development and production of oil and gas. Gadkari later decided to expand the proposal to rope in the shipping ministry and infrastructure companies. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON A hand grenade was found in Varanasi district court premises on Saturday morning, causing a panic. The grenade had no detonator and was defused later, prompting a scaled-up security level across the town. At 9.40am, a passer-by spotted the grenade in an unclaimed polythene bag under a chair near gate number one of the court and called the police. The court work was immediately suspended as the police immediately cordoned off the area until a bomb disposal squad recovered the explosive, which was without a detonator. SSP Akash Kulhary said the grenade was without detonator. It was recovered by bomb disposal squad. All the entry and exit points to the court have been sealed and police is trying to check the whole premises for any more such things, a senior police official told IANS. Local intelligence unit (LIU) officials link recovery of hand grenades to a possible gang war, they say Brijesh Singh and other mafia dons frequent the court for appearances in cases. The possibility of a terror angle is also being explored, an official said. There was a bomb explosion in this court in 2007 in which some people were killed. All the cases listed for the day in the court have been postponed to Monday. Meanwhile, the security was scaled up in Varanasi, the parliamentary constituency of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Searches were also being carried out near ghats along the Ganga river and other religious sites in the area, the police officer said. Pitching for India-Pakistan reconciliation, Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti said on Saturday the two nations should begin a new era of peace and prosperity in the region similar to how the US and Iran ended hostilities and stitched a new phase of engagement. If US and Iran can join hands, I see no reason why India and Pakistan cannot come together to restore stability and begin a new era of peace and prosperity in the region, Mehbooba said. The chief minister said she will be delighted if the border town of Suchetgarh is promoted as a people-to-people meeting point at the International Border. She urged media to highlight the cultural camaraderie that exists between the people of India and Pakistan. I wonder if hostilities can become news between the two neighbours, why cant cultural bonhomie, she said while touring border areas of Suchetgarh and the shrine of Baba Chamliyal, revered by people on both sides of the border. Mehbooba described as most unfortunate the civilian deaths at Handwara. An IIT Kanpur student found guilty of sexually harassing a girl student has been expelled. A 23-year-old BSc Physics student had accused her one year senior of sexually harassing her for last two years after which the college administration had forwarded the matter to the womens cell. The cell found the accused guilty and he was expelled later. According to the deputy registrar, the third year BSc student had approached the womens cell on January 5 this year with a complaint regarding the harassment. After investigating the matter, the cell gave a report to the IIT administration which was tabled at the IIT Senate on April 5. The accused student was expelled immediately. The accused then moved the Allahabad high court which has asked the IIT administration for all the details regarding the case. Whatever decision the high court makes will be discussed at the Senate level and we will then take action according to the courts decision, said IIT Kanpur director Prof Indranil Manna. Drought-hit Denganmal in Maharashtra, one of Indias driest places, has of late caught the attention of sociologists, rather than policymakers. In a strange impact, a constant water crisis has made its largely monogamous population turn to polygamy. Men take up to three wives because one isnt enough to fetch hard-to-find water. Women with metal vessels clutched to their waists trek long distances foraging for the days fill. On bad days, it can take three or four expeditions under a harsh sun. So more wives mean a more equitable division of labour. Over time, this has skewed the local sex ratio. Researchers began calling this the water-wives phenomenon. Elsewhere in arid Vidarbha and Marathwada, multiple crop failures have caused wives to take the lead. They are facing up to taboos, braving stares and sniggers as they begin to work outside the home for the first time, selling bangles door to door to keep their children in school or trading in livestock so they can buy medicine. Water has indeed become Indias scarcest resource, which isnt just hurting the economy, but its people too. A back-to-back drought after failed monsoons has pushed large parts of the country to crisis point. Last year, heatwaves killed an estimated 2,500. This year, more than 100 have perished already. If a similar number were to die in, say, terrorist violence, a national alert would have been sounded. A special train brings five lakh litres of water for the drought-hit Latur in Maharashtras Marathwada region, which is battling severe drought. (Anshuman Poyrekar/HT Photo) On March 13, the Ganga ran so low on water near West Bengals Farraka that eastern Indias largest power plant had to be temporarily shut down. In Latur, water is being transported in rail wagons. In Bundelkhand an impoverished region spanning 13 districts across UP and Madhya Pradesh district magistrates have to ensure nobody uses drinking water for anything else. In 91 nationally monitored large lakes and basins critical for power, drinking and irrigation, levels have fallen by a third. Although the immediate reason for an exacerbating water crisis is always a monsoon failure, bad rainy spells are not the main cause. Its about how water is utilised, particularly in a country with only 4% of the worlds water resources and 16% of the global population. The countrys public water-supply systems are creaky. In large cities, much of the assured supply is hogged by the rich. Urban demand is currently 135 litres per person per day, three times as much as rural Indias 40 litres, excluding farm use. In mountain state Meghalaya, one of the rainiest places on Earth, residents face shortages. We dont have the funds to create storage for the surplus runoff, says Richardson Sangma, an irrigation department official in Shillong, the states picturesque capital. Hard times As rural incomes plummeted following successive bad farm seasons, the make-work National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme a crucial social safety net was sputtering. It was unable to ramp up work opportunities or provide timely payment to drought-stricken farmers, due to a funds crunch. Slowly, the country hurtled into its worst rural distress in decades. In Beed, Maharashtra, this crisis is taking the form of under-age marriages. The only work available is in sugarcane units, and they pay more if you work in pairs. As a result, girls as young as 13 are being married to boys just a couple of years older. Over the past three years, as farm yields have fallen, we have witnessed at least a 20% rise in the number of under-age marriages, says child rights activist Tatwashil Kamble. We know its happened when they suddenly stop attending school or college. Some reappear for the exams, wearing a mangalsutra. When droughts occur, calls for ramping up Indias poor irrigation from the current 40% of total arable land grow loud. Yet, even with a relatively insufficient irrigation network, agriculture use accounts for 80% of the countrys total water consumption. Water-guzzling crops, such as rice and sugarcane, are the single biggest threat to its plunging water table. Indias per capita availability of usable fresh water is about 1,123 cubic metres, down from about 4,000 cubic metres in 1947, and against the current global average of 3,000 cubic metres. The real problems are irregular supply, widespread contamination and growing demand in the face of declining usable sources. All this can quickly worsen into a humanitarian crisis when successive monsoons fail. Our agriculture demands huge water. Its the biggest consumer. Drinking accounts for less than 10%. Its worrying, says Ghanshyam Jha, chairman of the Central Water Commission. Jha is worried not for nothing. According to McKinsey Consultings 2030 Water Resources Group, India will be one of the largest centres of agricultural demand for water by 2030, with projected withdrawals of 1,195 billion cubic metres in 2030. This will require a doubling of its usable water generation. Indias green revolution in the 1960s saw a spurt in water consumption, as the government provided cheap electricity and diesel for farm use, in a bid to raise output. Given water availability patterns, the green revolution should have been promoted in eastern India, a rain-surplus region. Instead, much of the irrigation expansion has been in the north, where the share of cultivated area covered by irrigation has risen from 78% in 1996 to about 90% in 2007. Geographically, India is carved up into 5,723 groundwater blocks. Nearly 1,500 are overused, making it impossible for rains to replenish them. In Bundelkhand, there is no famine-like situation but agriculture has been badly hit for three seasons now. Right now, what is required is urgent relief, not long-term plans, said Sudhir Panwar, a member of the UP State Planning Commission. Aside from two bad summers, a series of hailstorm in March 2015 ravaged winter crops in five states: Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana. In many rural areas, its tough to get to a water source. According to the NSSO, in Jharkhand it takes 40 minutes one way, without taking into account waiting time. In Bihar, its 33 minutes. Rural Maharashtra clocks an average of 24 minutes. According to the World Health Organisation, a household is considered water-stressed if it spends more than 30 minutes getting to its water source. The current dry spell should end when the monsoon, predicted to be normal, arrives in June. But the long-term prospect isnt rosy. It will require dramatic changes in agriculture, higher pricing of water for the rich, more renewable sources for electricity and newer technologies to minimise farm use of water, says Vasudha Deshmukh, a former water consultant for the government, who has also consulted with the WHO and World Bank. According to Deshmukh, policymakers tend to rely on short-term goals. One such step is a lumbering wagon train that currently pulls into Jaipur railway station each week from Delhi with much-needed cargo: 12,000 gallons of water. Read: Soaring temperatures put 330 million at risk, says govt Read:Heat wave grips more parts of India; Odisha, Telangana, Andhra worst-hit SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Indias nuclear power agency has cleared a long-delayed insurance policy for all 21 reactors, officials said on Saturday, marking a significant leap in the countrys ambitious plans to become one of the worlds top nuclear power generators. Officials said the insurance policy was cleared by the board of the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) on Thursday under the India Nuclear Insurance Pool (INIP), set up in June 2015 to address liability issues for both operators and suppliers. The insurance policy of suppliers was also finalised on April 21 and is likely to be cleared in the next meeting between GIC Re, the lead manager of the Insurance Pool, and industry representatives, they added. India plans to build around 60 nuclear reactors with an aim to produce 63,000 megawatts (MW) of power by 2032, from 5,780 MW at present, as part of a broader push to move away from fossil fuels and cut greenhouse gas emissions. A 2010 law giving the state-run NPCIL the right to seek damages from suppliers in the event of an accident had been putting off suppliers till now. We are very happy that all the concerns of suppliers have been addressed by GIC regarding the nuclear insurance pool. We just need clarity on from when the insurance policy would be active and till what period or what is called the start-up of initial licensing period, a senior official of Godrej and Boyce, a precision supplier, told HT. India has already deposited its instrument of ratification for the Convention on Supplementary Compensation for Nuclear Damage (CSC) with the International Atomic Energy Agency in February this year. The CSC requires signatories to channel liability to the operator and offers access to relief funds. An official said the Modi government set up a Rs 1,500-crore insurance pool after putting the liability issue on fast track. Westinghouse Corporation submitted its techno-commercial bid for six nuclear reactors for the 6000 MW Mithi-Virdi power plant in Gujarat in February and an empowered committee will evaluate the bid on April 28 in Mumbai. The Westinghouse deal is expected to be finalised during Prime Minister Narendra Modis trip to the US this June. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Prominent journalists, activists and scholars from India, Nepal, Bangladesh, the US and other countries have urged the Nepal government to release well-known journalist, Himal editor Kanak Mani Dixit, saying he is a courageous voice for transparency and freedom of expression in Nepal and across South Asia. It is with deep concern that we have learned of the arrest of Kanak Mani Dixit, the widely respected founder-editor of Himal Media and a courageous voice for transparency, freedom of expression and democratic rights in Nepal and across South Asia. The charges are related to alleged corruption but Kanak Dixit says it is part of a vendetta pursued against him by people in government, said a statement jointly issued by the journalists, activists and scholars from the countries, as well as Australia, the UK and Sri Lanka. The statement says: We have known Kanak Dixit as a true professional, human rights defender and energetic journalist whose credentials are built on robust research and tremendous courage. Kanak Dixits detention comes at a time of increased pressure on free media across South Asia. The activists and journalists have also urged national and international media organisations to seek Dixits immediate release and a fair and transparent trial, free of bias. We call upon the Government of Nepal to issue a transparent and unequivocal statement on his detention for we are deeply concerned about his safety and rights, said the statement. We condemn all forms of pressure tactics on editors like him and other courageous media figures such as Mahfuz Anam of the Daily Star in Dhaka, who is facing 80 cases of sedition and libel in Bangladeshi courts, as well as other media persons who are committed to the rule of law and justice, added the statement. Nepals anti-graft body on Friday arrested Dixit from his Lalitpur-based residence over the alleged charges of corruption case and accumulation of property through the illegal way. One of the most prominent faces of alleged Hindu terror in India, religious leader Pragya Thakur, is likely to get off the hook in the 2008 Malegaon blasts case for lack of proof, sources said on Saturday. Another key accused in the case, Lt. Col Prasad Purohit, is expected to be named in the chargesheet. Sources in the National Investigation Agency (NIA) said it didnt find concrete proof linking Thakur to the blasts that killed seven people but had enough evidence against Purohit. He was allegedly involved in the setting up of Abhinav Bharat and met some of its members to discuss terror plans. The NIA is in the process of finalising the chargesheet, which will be submitted in a special court next month. The evidence against Pragya looks very weak and she may not be charged, said an investigator. The agency also decided to drop Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) provisions against the accused because of procedural lapses by the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) Our investigation is still not complete. And as far as MCOCA is concerned, even if, for the sake of argument, it is not invoked, we have enough provisions available under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, NIA chief Sharad Kumar told HT. He is expected to take a final call on the charges soon. But sources said dropping MCOCA will weaken the case as confessions of the accused made before a police officer will no longer be admissible as evidence in a court. This will strengthen opposition parties, who repeatedly accuse the NDA government of going slow in cases where Hindu terror suspects are involved. Several such cases such blasts in Malegaon (September 2006 and September 2008), Samjhauta Express (February 2007) and Mecca Masjid (May 2007) have been dogged by slow prosecution and hostile witnesses. Of around a dozen witnesses in the 2008 Malegaon blasts, two retracted their statements five years back. One made a complaint before the Maharashtra human rights commission, alleging coercion. Two more witnesses, Yashpal Bhadana and Dr RP Singh, recently alleged the same in front of a magistrate. There are a few more witnesses who have told the NIA that they gave statements under duress. Our probe is getting hampered by this, said the investigator. Former NIA prosecutor in the case Rohini Salian had alleged that an officer of the agency asked her to go soft on the accused after the NDA came to power. Thakur has been in judicial custody since October 2008. She was arrested on charges of being a key conspirator in the case and is one of the 14 accused named in a Maharashtra ATS chargesheet. The case was handed over to the NIA in 2011 along with six other cases of alleged Hindu terror. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON A Class 12 student was attacked with acid while on her way to a tuition centre on Saturday after she spurned the advances of a 21-year-old man in Uttar Pradeshs Etah district. The girl received 5% burns on her face and the neck and was admitted to a hospital. Doctors treating the girl said her condition was stable, adding that the acid used in the attack was not very strong. The accused, Ajay Singh, has been arrested and booked under section 326(A) of Indian Penal Code (punishment for throwing acid). The 17-year-old girls mother, who has lodged a police complaint, said Singh was harassing her daughter, asking her to be his friend. Acid remains easily available in the country, despite a 2013 Supreme Court order to curb sales. Globally, there are as many as 1,500 recorded acid attacks each year with more than 1,000 cases estimated to occur in the country alone. The majority of victims are women, attacked over domestic or land disputes, rejected marriage proposals or spurned sexual advances, a recent report by legal experts said. On Saturday, police in the Uttar Pradesh town said the shopkeeper who sold acid to the accused will also face action. With inputs from agencies The Ooty diocese on Friday denied that it had reinstated controversial Indian priest Joseph Jeyapaul, who served a sentence in the US for abusing minor girls. Father Sebastian Selvarajan, secretary of Bishop House, Ooty and spokesperson for the Diocese, told Hindustan Times that Jeyapaul was not given any job or assignment or reinstated as was being alleged. He has been simply given a residence, a permit to stay, that is all, he said. The diocese came under fire after a 26-year-old Minnesota woman sued it, alleging that Jeyapaul, who had sexually abused her and another girl while working at their local church, was reinstated to ministry after consultations with the Vatican. Selvarajan said the diocese would legally tackle the federal lawsuit filed in Minnesota . Asked if Jeyapaul would cooperate with investigations and subsequent action by authorities, Selvarajan said, he has cooperated with the authorities in the past and why are you asking this question at all? The lawsuit was filed against Bishop Arulappan Amalraj of Ooty diocese for reinstating Jeyapaul to ministry. The victim said she felt abused, degraded and re-victimised all over again when she learned that Amalraj had lifted Jeyapauls suspension in February. She told reporters in Minnesota earlier this week that reinstating the priest would endanger kids in India. Children deserve to be protected in India and nobody is doing that at this point, said the complainant. She said Jeyapaul is a serious offender and her reason for suing the Tamil Nadu diocese was to act and spread the word to protect those kids in India. Her plea accuses the diocese with nuisance by allowing a known child abuser to live freely in a community and interact with children; and negligence, and seeks $75,000 in damages. The complaint said Jeyapaul, while working at the diocese of Crookston, Minnesota, had unpermitted sexual contact with her multiple times starting 2004. She was 14 or 15 then. Jeyapaul fled to India in 2005, and the diocese of Crookston immediately informed its counterpart in Ootacamund and the Vatican about his sexual misconduct. A criminal case was filed in Roseau County in 2007. Jeyapaul was arrested in India in 2012 and extradited to the US in 2014. He pleaded guilty to sexual misconduct in a Minnesota court in 2015 and was slapped with a jail term. He was deported to India after serving the sentence. On January 16, with the permission of Pope Francis, Bishop Amalraj lifted the suspension of Father Joseph Jeyapaul. It may be the most irresponsible Vatican move weve ever seen: Catholic officials in Rome have lifted the suspension of a recently convicted predator priest, said Barbara Dorris of St Louis, outreach director of Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), an advocacy group of which the victim is also a member. We are stunned and saddened by such blatant recklessness and callousness, Dorris said. Pakistan must respond positively to Prime Minister Narendra Modis bold decision to initiate dialogue process with Islamabad in order to create a conducive atmosphere between the two neighbours, Muslim leaders have conveyed to the Pakistani envoy in the Capital. Since Modi came to power he has taken a number of measures to reach out to Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to give a push to the dialogue process that remained suspended for several years. He did not miss any opportunity to remain in touch with the Pakistan government. It is incumbent on Pakistan to reciprocate his efforts to end the decades-long hostilities between the two nations, Muslim leaders conveyed to Pakistan high commissioner Abdul Basit and his colleague on Friday evening at the All India Muslim Majlis-e-Mushawarats office. The AIMMM is an umbrella body of the Indian Muslim organisations. Representative of the Jamat Islam, Jamait Ahle Hadis and several social groups were present at the 75-minute meeting held in a cordial and friendly atmosphere. Initiating the discussion, Mujtaba Farooq, secretary general of the Mushawarat, said that friendly and good neighbourly ties between India and Pakistan is essential for peace in the sub-continent. He said India and Pakistan are twins, separated at birth, and there is need to develop strong ties between the two nations. We should not allow some disgruntled elements to derail the peace process, Farooq added, and lauded the Pakistan Prime Minister for also taking steps to correct the course of ties. At this point Basit said that despite the Pathankot terror act, the two countries have not abandoned the dialogue process. Mushawarat chief Navid Hamid said that Prime Minister Modis visit to Lahore on December 25 last year was a landmark trip and it showed how serious he is in pursuing peace with Pakistan. The Pakistani leadership needs to strengthen forces of peace and rein in those who try to scuttle it by their inhuman acts, he said. Extremism and terrorism are major threats to both nations and they should work together to eliminate it in all forms and manifestations, he added. Hamid said that people of the two countries are for peace and every efforts should be made to promote it so as to usher in an era of prosperity in the South Asian region. He said that Indian Muslims have progressed in all fields and they have made huge contribution for promotion of Islamic ideology in its true perspective. This was admitted by noted Pakistani Islamic scholar late Dr Asrar Ahmed also. The high commissioner also acknowledged the role of Muslims in nation building in India. He said that Indias secular and democratic system enabled them to achieve progress in various fields. He also stated that Pakistans minorities are also doing well in business and a good number of them are in government services, including foreign affairs and defence service. They have major say in decision making as a good number of seats are reserved in parliament for them, he added. Sectarian and ideological conflict is a major threat to his country. Communal clashes are less as compared to attacks on various Islamic sects and groups, Basit stated. Khawaja Shahid, Pro Vice chancellor of the Maulana Azad University, said that Prime Minister Modi enjoys absolute majority in parliament and has shown a will to seek cooperation with Pakistan. It is the right time for the Pakistani leadership to reciprocate his efforts. --IANS manzoor/rn Punjab Congress leader Captain Amarinder Singh postponed his visit to Canada, which was to commence on Saturday, as he awaited the outcome of the hearing of a case filed against him in a court in Toronto. The case was filed by hardline activist group, Sikhs for Justice, alleging that a resident of Canada had been subjected to torture while Singh was Punjabs chief minister. Singh who was in Chicago decided to delay his visit till an order was issued in the case and said he considered this to be a straight case of harassment. He also said he would catch a flight to Toronto subject to the courts decision. The case of the private prosecution filed before a Justice of Peace in the Ontario Court of Justice commenced on Saturday morning with an examination of documents submitted to ascertain whether those were adequate and if they fell within the Canadian law. After that process, a pre-enquete or evidentiary hearing started before another Justice to see if there was enough evidence of torture charges to issue a summons or an arrest warrant against the former Punjab CM. Singh refuted the charges, saying his tenure as chief minister was the most peaceful time in the state, it was considered a golden period. He said he had ensured the remission of sentences to many who were jailed in cases relating to the Khalistan movement. In a statement, SFJs legal advisor Gurpatwant Pannun said, With information (sic) in hand, there are reasonable and probable grounds to believe that during Capt Amarinders tenure as chief minister of Punjab, there was systematic torture of Sikh nationalists who are campaigning peacefully for an independent Khalistan. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON A display of anti-Islamic State (IS) flags outside Srinagars Jama Masjid after Fridays prayers caught people by surprise, given that pro-IS flags are a routine feature here. Witnesses said that a group of young men climbed a wall in Nawhatta chowk immediately after the prayers and displayed a poster depicting an IS commander. Written in Urdu, the poster shows the commander as saying, God does not order us to declare jihad against Israel, in response to which a second line questions: Then does God order you to blast mosques? The emergence of the Islamic militant group on a global scale seemed to enamour many of the younger people in Kashmir, particularly in Srinagars downtown where flags in support of the IS often get waived around during protests. Police attribute the allure to the usage of Islamic symbols. However, Fridays stunt could indicate a changing mindset in the Valley. Read: Islamic State can find no ground in India Almost all prominent militant groups operating from Kashmir, including the United Jihad Council and Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT), have been antagonistic to the claims and actions of IS. Last year in November, the LeT had termed the IS as a production of anti-Islamic western countries, which had no role and scope in Jammu and Kashmir. United Jihad Council general secretary and Tehreek-ul-Mujahideen chief, Sheikh Jamil-ur-Rehman had dismissed any scope for the Al-Qaeda and IS in Jammu and Kashmir. In January this year, separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani condemned the group as anti-Islamic and a group of murderers after a group of boys made it a practice to put up IS flags near the mosque in downtown Srinagar every Friday. Read: Islamic State snubs Ravi Shankar, sends him beheaded mans pic Those fighting for Daesh (IS) are actually murderers, who are spilling innocent blood and are not in any way representing Islam, he said, urging youth to not be swayed by propaganda. With fears of the group infiltrating Kashmir cropping up, police officials say there is hardly any presence of the IS on the ground, and allege that the flag hoisting routine is done to annoy security forces and get media attention. Read: Suspected Islamic State operative sent to NIA custody for 15 days Fridays anomaly however, went unnoticed by them. Station House Officer (SHO), Nawhatta, Mudasir Shafi said, Today we had a relatively peaceful day after the prayers. There were some very minor incidents of stone pelting, adding he was unaware of the incident. Aside from the anti-IS flags, those of LeT were also allegedly put up. When Congress president Sonia Gandhi met select party leaders for a strategy meeting to discuss the Uttarakhand issue on Thursday evening, she mentioned non-cooperation at least thrice, underlining perhaps the partys approach towards the upcoming second session of Parliament. The Congress has identified nine issues, including the Centres role in dismantling the Uttarakhand government, to attack the NDA in the session that starts from Monday. After the near wash-out of the two sessions last year, the government is looking ahead to the second half of the budget session to push bills, including the all-important Goods and Services Tax Bill, touted as the biggest tax reform in India. Read | SC stays Uttarakhand HC order which set aside Presidents Rule in state In the meeting, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, senior leaders like AK Antony, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Anand Sharma, Ahmed Patel and Mallikarjun Kharge were present. Singh spoke the least but he, too, maintained that the Centre had crossed its lines. All leaders echoed Gandhis sentiments and said there should be no cooperation with the government on any issue and the party must unite other opposition forces to attack the NDA in the upcoming session. Read | One-day chief minister: Harish Rawat pulls off a Nayak in Uttarakhand In Rajya Sabha, where the government is in a minority, party leader Anand Sharma has already moved a motion to deplore the governments role. The proposal says, That this House deplores the destabilisation of the democratically elected government in the state of Uttarakhand and disapproves the unjustified imposition of Presidents rule. Read | Even President can be wrong, Uttarakhand HC tells Centre Apart from the Uttarakhand issue that came as a double blow for the Congress after the dismissal of its government in Arunachal Pradesh, the Congress also identified the Pathankot issue, the Ishrat Jahan case, drought management, and communalisation of education institutes as some raging issues to hold up the session. On Ishrat, the Congress feels that the BJP is now trying to falsely implicate senior Congress leaders. Pathankot probe, too, is a grey issue. How can the government invite and allow ISI agents to visit our airbase and conduct a farce in the name of a probe on Indian soil? said a Congress leader. Former defence minister AK Antony was vocal in the meeting on the Pathankot issue as well as the Rafale deal that is yet to be signed. Read | Why Prez Rule in 5th yr of Rawat rule, Uttarakhand HC asks Centre An avoidable political-judicial tussle in Uttarakhand SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Ousted Uttarakhand chief minister Harish Rawat on Saturday accused the Bharatiya Janata Party of threatening Congress MLAs and urged the governor to provide security to them. The BJP hit back at the Congress leader, demanding legal action against him for his unconstitutional step of taking charge as the CM without a written order from the high court. BJP leaders are building an atmosphere of animosity and bitterness in the state. They are even issuing threats to Congress and PDF MLAs. I have urged the governor to make security arrangements for them, Rawat said. The six-member Progressive Democratic Front (PDF), a combination of the Bahujan Samaj Party, Uttarakhand Kranti Dal and Independent MLAs, was a part of the Rawat government and has stood by him in the political crisis in the state. Read: SC stays Uttarakhand HC order which set aside Presidents Rule in state Countering the BJP leaders claim that they have the required numbers to form a government in the state, Rawat said MLAs supporting them should come out openly. They should openly state whether they are poaching MLAs or engineering another defection in Congress with money power, Rawat said. The BJP, however, attacked Rawat for hurriedly taking charge as the CM and convening two cabinet meetings to take policy decisions even before a written order of the Uttarakhand high court that quashed Presidents Rule in the state could reach the Centre and the governor. A BJP delegation led by its state unit president Ajay Bhatt met governor KK Paul and demanded appropriate legal action against Rawat, saying his actions were unconstitutional. All decisions taken by Rawat during his one-day tenure stand null and void after the Supreme Court stayed the HC ruling till April 27, an official said. As many as 18 decisions were taken during these high-level meetings and the bureaucrats were asked to implement them on priority. The decisions included making some ad hoc teachers permanent and regularisation of some other staff. With the re-imposition of Presidents Rule, after the stay order from the apex court, the decision of the high court to re-install Rawat as chief minister has become null and void and so have all the decisions taken by him during the one day he held office, the official told IANS. The Uttarakhand high court on Saturday deferred its decision on a petition filed by nine Congress rebels challenging their disqualification by the assembly speaker. The deferment kept alive the suspense over the fate of the nine legislators who plunged the state into political crisis and are crucial to the BJPs hopes of forming the government in the hill state. Fixing Monday for the next hearing in the case, the court of justice UC Dhyani said it will deliver its verdict before April 29 when former chief minister Harish Rawat has been asked to prove his governments majority by a two-judge bench. The high courts observation came a day after the Supreme Court stayed the two-judge benchs revocation of Presidents rule in the hill state, giving a breather to the BJP-led government at the Centre. The apex courts verdict, likely on April 27, will decide whether Rawat will get the chance to prove his governments majority in the house. The Centre had clamped Presidents rule in the state on March 27 citing governance breakdown, just a day before Rawat was to prove his strength in the assembly. The Congress accuses the BJP trying to topple governments in opposition-ruled state and the issue is likely to see fireworks in Parliament when it reconvenes on Monday. Pleading on behalf of assembly speaker Govind Singh Kunjwal, senior advocate Kapil Sibal said the nine rebels have violated the law against defection and deserved to be punished for it. Read: Congress gives notice for Rajya Sabha debate, resolution on Uttarakhand How can you stay a disqualification? They have committed a constitutional sin and are yet seeking the stay on this sin, Sibal said referring to an observation made by the two-judge bench on Thursday. He said the rebels knew it was unethical and unconstitutional when they joined the BJP and signed a memorandum seeking division of votes during the budget session of the assembly in March. Sibal accused the MLAs of trying to jump the hierarchy of courts by going to the Supreme Court seeking transfer of the court to the apex court. Earlier, Vikas Bahuguna, the counsel of the rebel MLAs, sought adjournment until Monday saying that his senior lawyers were not present to argue the case. Though the speakers junior lawyer objected saying that Sibal was on his way to the court, the judge allowed the rebel MLAs to put their arguments on Monday. Sibal argued in the afternoon. Rawat, meanwhile, accused the BJP of threatening Congress and PDF MLAs and urged the governor to provide security to them. BJP leaders are building an atmosphere of animosity and bitterness in the state. They are even issuing threats to Congress and PDF MLAs, Rawat told reporters. The six-member Progressive Democratic Front (PDF), a combination of BSP, UKD and Independent MLAs, was a part of the Rawat government and has stood by him during the current political crisis in the state. Read: SC stays Uttarakhand HC order which set aside Presidents Rule in state The populist decisions taken by former chief minister Harish Rawat in two hurriedly convened cabinet meetings in a span of 24 hours after his government was reinstated following a high court verdict on April 21, will be rendered null and void, a senior official said on Saturday. Following Supreme Courts stay on high court verdict, all the decisions taken by the Harish Rawat cabinet on April 21-21, are bound to be declared null and void for the want of authority by them to take decisions officially, said a principal secretary rank official, who did not want to be named. The governors office did not receive the high court order till the time the former CM held two cabinet meetings and announced 11 populist decisions, including granting of Rs 3,100 pensions for identified statehood agitators, he said. Officials in the governor office said that the governor was not happy with the way Harish Rawat called the cabinet meetings in the absence of a formal high court order that reinstated his government on April 21. Read: Uttarakhand HC defers decision on rebel Cong MLAs disqualification Although the governor was informed about the high courts verdict reinstating the Rawat government by a delegation of Congress legislators lead by Harish Rawat, the verdict was not formally approved in the absence of documents, they said. As a result the governor has no option but to assume it (the decisions) as declared null and void, some of them said. Meanwhile state BJP leadership demanded that action be taken against Harish Rawat for holding the cabinet meetings. Why was Harish Rawat in such a tearing hurry to preside over the cabinet meetings thwarting constitutional norms? questioned BJP leader Satpal Maharaj. Even when the high court ordered to reinstate the state government what was the compulsion for the cabinet meetings? Rawat had no locus standi for taking important decision and the governor must take notice of this, he said. State BJP president Ajay Bhatt, too said that the governor must take legal action against Harish Rawat and his cabinet colleges for holding cabinet meeting. The cabinet meetings were in clear violation of Article 357(2) that disallows any type of policy decision under the circumstances in which the decisions were taken by the Harish Rawat government, said Bhatt after lodging a complaint with the governor about the Rawats cabinet meetings. A high alert was sounded across Varanasi on Saturday after a hand grenade was found on the premises of the district court, prompting the police to seal the building and launch a search. The recovery of the grenade -- wrapped in a polythene bag and placed beneath a stamp vending shop -- triggered panic in the temple town, with security being stepped up in key areas. A local intelligence unit (LIU) official linked the recovery of the hand grenade to a possible gang dispute, as Brijesh Singh and other mafia dons are brought to the court regularly for appearances. However, the possibility of a terror angle is also being explored, the official said. The grenade was spotted at around 9.30am by a team of policemen during a routine morning check, the police said. They, however, said the grenade was inactive as it didnt have a detonator. A bomb disposal squad and sniffer dogs were called in immediately after the discovery. The court gates were sealed for a thorough search and the entire court compound was sanitised. All cases listed for hearing in the court have been postponed to Monday. An inactive hand grenade, which was placed near Gate Number 1 of the court compound, has been recovered. There was no detonator. It was taken to the police lines, said senior superintendent of police (SSP) Akash Kulhary. The SSP denied a security lapse: Police personnel examine the court compound every morning. Owing to our alertness, the grenade was detected. The district police chief also ordered a thorough search of the banks of River Ganga in the city, the Kashi Vishwanath temple, Sankat Mochan temple and other high-security areas. The district administration has decided to install closed circuit television cameras to strengthen the court security, said district magistrate Rajmani Yadav. Varanasi is represented by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Parliament. Nine people had been killed and several injured in a blast on the court premises on November 23, 2007. With agency inputs If youre planning to buy a cough syrup for your child, think again. Medicines with codeine a chemical derived from opium -- are banned for children below 12 in many countries but are freely available in India as popular cough syrups such as Corex, Phensedyl, Benadryl and Teddy cough. In 2013, the United States, United Kingdom, European Union, Canada, Australia and New Zealand banned codeine-based medicines for children under 12 and new mothers after a safety review found serious side effects in children, including fainting, seizures and death. But most codeine-containing cough syrup brands do not even carry a label that warns of the potential side effects of the chemical on children and breastfeeding women. Read: Pfizer stops selling popular Corex cough syrup in India after ban Codeine is known to cause opioid poisoning in children and adults with high metabolic rates, say experts. It would have been ethical for pharma companies to approach the Drug Controller General of India in 2013 after the global discovery of serious side effects. They should have also pulled out of the market then, said Dr CM Gulhati, editor, Monthly Index of Medical Specialities (MIMS). I am intrigued to know on what basis they are defending its use. Codeine-based cough syrups are among the 344 fixed-dose combinations (FDCs) banned by India in February, a move that highlighted how lax regulations led to the circulation of harmful drugs. India is one of the worlds largest markets for medicine but has notoriously poor implementation of regulations that let hundreds of drugs that are banned in the US or Europe slip through the monitoring process. In many cases, guidelines are vague or non-existent, and are inconsistently applied by central and state agencies. Read: Not just Vicks 500 and Corex: India has banned 344 drugs The FDC of codeine with chlorpheniramine was approved within 24 hours by the then drugs controller on March 10, 1995, without any tests for safety and efficacy that are mandatory under the laws, said Dr Gulhati. The ban on FDCs was challenged by pharma companies in the Delhi high court that observed India was a dumping ground for medicines labelled unsafe for use in developed countries. But drug companies say they followed all existing regulations and couldnt be faulted as India doesnt ban codeine-based medicines. In India, our product is a prescription medicine that is approved for prescription to patients (adults and children) depending on their clinical condition, said a company spokesperson for Pfizer, the manufacturer of Corex. Corex has a well-established efficacy and safety profile in India for more than 30 years and has both Central and State licenses and approvals. Abbott, said, Phensedyl received DCGI approval in 1995 and has been on the market in India since the 1980s. Phensedyl is a prescription product. Phensedyls bottle label is in line with the Indian regulations. Read: After FDC drugs ban, non-codeine cough syrups set to storm market Read: Dabur Honitus, Patanjali cough syrup may gain from govt drug ban SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON A local Shiv Sena leader stoked a controversy on Saturday by saying that Bhumata Brigade chief Trupti Desai would be hit with slippers if she tried to enter the Haji Ali Dargah, prompting the gender equality campaigner to say she will go ahead with her plan on April 28. The Shiv Sena leadership, however, distanced itself from Arafat Shaiks comment, saying be it a man or a woman, all have equal rights to enter any religious place. If she (Desai) speaks about entering the Haji Ali Dargah, she will be welcomed with a prasad of chappals. She cannot be allowed to enter the mazar at any cost, Shaik told reporters in Mumbai. Shaiks comments of hitting Trupti Desai with chappals were made in his personal capacity. This is not the official stand of the party. Our stand is that whether it is a temple or a dargah men and women have equal rights to pray in them, Sena spokesperson Neelam Gorhe said. Also, once the high court has given a decision it has to be implemented by the government and the police. Thus, it will be wrong to obstruct a womans entry into any religious institution, she said. Desai said no threats will work against her plan. No one can issue threats in a democracy. He has insulted women by threatening us against entering the dargah. We will go ahead with our plan on April 28 and not let their threats work with us, she said. Shaiks comments evoked a sharp response from the Opposition parties, which said that Sena, through its Muslim leaders, is putting forth its real agenda. This game of the Sena is well known. First make one of its leaders a scapegoat and put forth its stand through them and then conveniently distance itself. People have understood their real agenda, Congress spokesperson Al-Nasser Zakaria said. NCP leader Nawab Malik said Shaik is no community leader and ridiculous statements are being made by him to grab media attention. He is not the leader of Muslims. He is making these ridiculous comments only to garner media attention. People know he belongs to a party infamous for making anti Muslim comments, he said. Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar on Saturday said he was trying to play a catalyst to unite anti-BJP forces to defeat the saffron party and was not a claimant to any post but added that if a person is destined to become the Prime Minister, he would become the PM one day. I am not a claimant to any post. All I am saying is that we all should unite (against BJP). Is it a crime to appeal the people to unite, Kumar said while addressing JD(U)s national council meeting which formally approved his election as the new national president of the party. He said that time will decide the issue of leadership and if a person is destined to become PM, he will become one whether you name him or not. First of all, we should unite (against BJP). Everybody needs to make sacrifice. Grand Secular Alliance would not have taken shape if I and Lalu Prasad had not sacrificed for a particular cause, he said. Just days earlier, Kumar had called on parties to unite for a Sangh-free country and repeat the Bihar experiment at the national level to oust the BJP in the 2019 general election, triggering speculation that he could lead such a front. If a person is destined to become the PM, he would become the PM one day, whether you name him or not.... And the persons dream never fructifies if he declares himself as the PM candidate, Kumar said today. Kumars name was proposed by outgoing party president Sharad Yadav as his successor and around 1,000 party delegates from across the country ratified his election. The national council was convened to ratify Kumars nomination as president by the partys national executive committee on April 10 in New Delhi. Kumar replaced party veteran Sharad Yadav, who held the post for a decade. Coming down heavily on BJP government at the Centre for its failure to fulfill its promises and dividing the society on religious lines, Kumar said that if there is unity among anti-BJP forces at the Centre, BJP will not be successful in 2019 Lok Sabha polls. Assuming his role as a catalyst, Kumar prescribed a Grand Secular Alliance model on the lines of Bihar to defeat BJP. We defeated the BJP in Bihar Assembly polls by forming a Grand Secular Alliance and we will be defeating BJP with this model in Lok Sabha elections too, he said. Be it merger, alliance, understanding whatever it may be, I want the largest possible unity of anti BJP forces. That I will continue to do. We do not have any personal interest in doing so, he said. Warning that the country is facing the challenge of BJP/RSS ideology, he said that BJP has forgotten all the promises made by it in 2014 Lok Sabha elections. Where is black money which it has promised to bring back, he questioned while reminding that BJP president Amit Shah had termed it a jumla. Ridiculing Narendra Modi governments schemes like Start up India, Kumar said that every day we hear a new slogan. Today we hear Stand Up India, tomorrow it will be sit down India, lay down India and sleep for ever India.... Slogans must be translated into reality. Kumar said that he would participate in the movement for implementing prohibition across the nation as in Bihar and he would start his campaign from neighbouring Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh. Whats the one thing that all doting dog owners hate about weekends? The look of hurt abandonment in the eyes of the animals, as they are left behind at home, while the humans perform the usual weekend ritual of movie going, mall hopping and eating out. While watching movies with your pets is still something that you can indulge in only in the comfort of your homes, Delhiites now have the option of going out to grab a bite with their dogs, with sisters Mallika and Nayani Tandon gifting the city its first dog cafe, Puppychino. I must confess that even though I love dogs and have a pet of my own, my first thoughts when I heard about Puppychino was that it would be a wasted effort. I imagined to myself a place of utter chaos animal litter, aggressive dogs biting and yelping and unhygienic floor were some of my concerns. But one visit has cured me of my scepticism, for I was pleasantly surprised to find that Puppychino is much cleaner and better organised than many hooman (human-only) cafes. Read: 7 tips to care for your furry pals in monsoon Read: Exotic breeds more vulnerable during summer Read: St. Bernards should be in the Swiss Alps, not in Delhi The Tandons have segregated the cafe into two sections, one for the dogs and the other for humans. There is a trainer to keep any over-excited animal in control, and the cleaning staff ensures that dog litter is not a problem. It is also a great place for people who have always wanted dogs, but have been deprived because their families didnt want pets. Bobo the Labrador and Simba the Husky, the official Puppychino mascots, are pleasant company. I had a wonderful time there recently with my pet. While the dog muffins the cafe offers different options such as peanut butter muffin, a favourite with the dogs kept my dog happy, I made my choice from a selection of pizzas and pastas and both returned home satisfied. Try it out with your dog this weekend, if you havent already been there. (The author is a dog lover and student.) What: Puppychino Where: 119 Shahpur Jat, Third Floor, Near UCO Bank Open: 12 noon to 10 pm everyday Pet pamper: Other available services in the city Pet salons and spas: To give your pet a perfect grooming Pet creche: Whether it is just for a few hours every day while you are in office or during an extended holiday, a pet creche offers care for your pet while you need to be away. Some cities now also have pet-sitters or baby-sitters for your pets Pet stays: Hotels where you can check in with your pets Ceviche at its most basic, fresh raw fish cured in citrus juices, spiced with peppers, served cold is so entrenched in Peruvian culture they have a national holiday in the dishs honour. Anyone who has tried ceviche will admit that its the stuff of instant addiction. To taste it, Mumbai diners must go to LIMA, chef Atul Kocchars second restaurant in India after (and alongside) NRINot Really Indian, in Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC). LIMAs renditions of both traditional -- tart and textural sea bass ceviche with avocado and onion, and untraditional -- mushroom ceviche with enoki, oyster mushroom, trumpet, shimeji, and shiitake in a soy-dark, tangy ponzu reduction, are as good as any weve sampled in Peruvian restaurants. The untraditional ceviche has enoki, oyster mushroom, trumpet, shimeji, and shiitake in a soy-dark, tangy ponzu reduction. But LIMA is not a Peruvian restaurant it calls itself a Latin American lounge bar, and it features Peruvian, Brazilian, and Mexican flavours. With blue rope lamps and chevron floor below, the bar is the focal point of an otherwise unpretentious glass-walled room in shades of earth, with un-cushioned armless dinner chairs, a few bright lounge seats, and an array of luminaires. The bar menu is longer than the food menu but a short list doesnt always mean easy choices for curious appetites. To have the sea bass, we had to forego the grouper with strawberry leche de tigre (tigers milk, the name given to ceviches runoff, made of marinade and fish juice). To have the salty, sweet, spicy and plump Brazilian churrasco (grill) of gojuchang- and honey-marinated chicken thighs, we had to forego the livers with chimichurri. These were hard decisions. The Brazilian churrasco (grill) of gojuchang- and honey- marinated chicken thighs is salty, sweet, spicy and plump. Happily, there were almost no regrets. Chunky, dense, smoky and delicious grilled yuca (tapioca) served with salsa criolla (South American kachumber) and roasted green tomato salsa reminded us that sabudana comes from a tuber that tastes best unprocessed. A fragrant kumquat basil caipirinha alongside made us wish the speakers piped samba instead of Bieber. LIMA also has the plumpest quesadilla in town. Beans, corn, bell peppers and manchego were so generously stuffed into a tortilla, it was an inch high. Ask for the spiciest house-made sauce, and youll want to knock back a tequila to tame the burn. From Chinese chao fan (literally fried rice) comes Peruvian arroz chaufa, borne of chifa cooking, which uses Chinese ingredients in Peruvian food. Like ceviche, and many of LIMAs dishes, it exhibits some of the influences of colonisation and migration on the regions flavours Moorish, Spanish, African, Japanese, Chinese, Korean. At LIMA, one diner said the chaufa reminded him of fried rice made with leftovers from biryani. The Peruvian arroz chaufa, borne of chifa cooking, which uses Chinese ingredients in Peruvian food, shows off the influences of colonisation and migration on the regions flavours Moorish, Spanish, African, Japanese, Chinese, Korean. (Aalok Soni/ HT Photo) At the moment, dessert comes from NRI next door. They were out of their excellent gondhoraj tart, so dessert became a course we were willing to forego. What: Lima Rating: **** Where: 2 North Avenue, Maker Maxity, Bandra Kurla Complex When: Noon to 12.30 pm Cost: 4,000 for a meal for two, with one drink each. Call: 3000-5040 The author tweets @RoshniBajaj After giving a plot in Andheri to Bollywood actor and Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Hema Malini for just Rs 1.75 lakh, the Maharashtra government will give her Rs 8.25 lakh as refund. Hindustan Times was first to report on April 16 about the state governments decision to allot the plot for a paltry sum of Rs 1.75 lakh and how the BJP MP will not have to pay any money against the plot. Now, a city-based right to information activist Anil Galgali has found out through an RTI query that the government will return Rs 8.25 lakh out of Rs 10 lakh the actor had earlier given to the government for another plot. Read more: Hema Malini gets prime Mumbai plot for just Rs 1.75 lakh The government, however, clarified that the price of the plot was decided on the basis of a policy on allotting land to cultural and educational institutions. These bodies are required to pay only 25% of the cost of the land and that too as per the rates on February 1, 1976. In line with this, the market price of the 2,000-sqm plot as per Rs 350 per sqm is Rs 7 lakh and 25% this is Rs 1.75 lakh. Since the actor already paid Rs10 lakh for a plot in Versova Village in 1996 that could not be alloted as it came under a coastal regulatory zone (CRZ), the state will return the balance - Rs 8.25 lakh - to her. Galgali, meanwhile, alleged that the government is cheating the public. On one side it is levelling allegations on the opposition leaders that they have amassed properties at cheap prices and on the other hand the government has allotted property worth over Rs 70 crores for just Rs 1.75 lakhs to Hema Malini Dance Academy. This is the first incident wherein any government which has allotted land will also be paying from the exchequer as well. Hema Malini will be setting up a dance school and cultural complex on the plot through her charitable trust called Natya Vihar Kala Kendra. Thane and Navi Mumbai, which has been battling severe water scarcity, have finally got some relief with the railways giving permission to the civic bodies to use water from its dam in Parsik Hills near Thane. During his visit to Mumbai on Thursday, railway minister Suresh Prabhu told the railway administration to help the civic bodies of Thane and Navi Mumbai by letting them use the water from the dam. SK Sood, general manager, Central Railway, said, We have allowed Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) to take water from the railway dam at Dighe for next three months. Prabhu tweeted on Friday that along with Navi Mumbai, Thane too will be given water from the dam. Rail dam in Thane dist is helping Navi Mumbai by supplying water,we will do the same for Thane by supplying water to the Municipal Corpn,he tweeted. Read more: Rail minister Prabhu travels by train, commuter invites him to wedding CR GM and TMC chief Sanjeev Jaiswal will visit the dam on Monday to examine the modalities for supplying water, said Narendra Patil, chief PRO, CR. Railway officials, meanwhile, said they are not sure how much water the dam has at present. When it was being used by the railways, it had the capacity to supply 15 million litres water daily. Water collected from this dam is directly supply to Thane station via pipeline. After electrification of railway, it didnt need much water. Now this water can be used to deal with shortage. said Sadashiv Tetvilkar, who has written a book on history of Thane. The e-rickshaws distributed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on April 5 under the Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana seems to have no takers in Noida and Ghaziabad. Nearly 2,000 battery-operated rickshaws are gathering dust at the NIB (National Institute of Biologicals) ground in Sector 62 Noida. The Mudra scheme refinances loans of up to Rs 10 lakh given by lending institutions to small borrowers for non-farm income-generating activities. Modi had distributed a total 5,100 e-rickshaws, of which a thousand each were meant for Noida and Ghaziabad. The rickshaws were linked to the Ola app and expected to offer online payment facility to customers. The distribution was aimed at empowering Dalits and women. Noida road inspector Mahesh Sharma said 352 licences have been issued so far to e-rickshaw drivers but not even a single vehicle has been registered or issued route permit to date. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had distributed a total 5,100 e-rickshaws on April 5, of which a thousand each were meant for Noida and Ghaziabad. (Mohammad Zakir/HT Photo) The e-rickshaw drivers need a valid driving licence, vehicle registration and route permits from transport department to ply the vehicles. However, nothing has been moving. The PM had distributed 5100 e-rickshaws of which 1000 were each for Noida and Ghaziabad only. Bhartiya Micro Credit (BMC), the Lucknow-based microfinance company, which had financed these e-rickshaws has failed to get 2000 new buyers-cum-drivers for Noida and Ghaziabad. As e-rickshaws are available cheaper than the price quoted by the company, neither the new buyers nor those who already own a vehicle have shown interest in the scheme. If you buy an e-rickshaw through BMC, it will cost between Rs 1.60 lakh to Rs 1.70 lakh after two or three years of instalments. I bought e-rickshaws from local dealers for Rs 62,000. Also, I have never heard about this company. We are a group of 250 e-rickshaw drivers ferrying passengers in Sector 62. None of us are interested in getting it from BMC, said Sandesh Kumar, a migrant from Bihar who is running an e-rickshaw in Noida for over a year. It is much better for us to get our own rickshaw registered with the transport department. Why pay monthly EMIs? We do not want to get into all this, said Sundar Paswan, another e-rickshaw driver. The project is facing legal hurdles too. The Noida transport department has asked BMCto prove its credibility as an auto-finance firm. In the non-banking sector the market is flooded with self-claimed entrepreneurs. We have asked the company to prove whether it is authorized to finance vehicles like other authorised banks in the country. For that the company will have to produce a Trade Certificate (TC) which is mandatory for any financing company dealing in vehicle trade as per Motor Vehicle Act (MVAct), said Rachna Yaduvanshi, assistant regional transport officer, Gautam Budh Nagar district. She said Rule No 34 of MV Act says that a financing company must be approved by the Reserve Bank of India. If BMC fails to produce the Trade Certificate, their e-rickshaws and drivers would be treated as unauthorised and action would be initiated to seize their vehicles, said Yaduvanshi. Rising Star, Sarthak Automobiles, Aman Automobiles and Kumar Traders are four registered traders with Noida transport. According to Vijay Pandey, managing director of BMC, these companies are BMC vendors. He said that his companys credibility should not be doubted as it is working as a business associate with authorised banks. The owners are poor who were selected on first come first serve basis and these vehicles have been purchased from six different vendors. We help poor people in getting loan from banks for e-rickshaw, in getting permits and driving licence from transport department, said Pandey. Claiming that the company has more than 500 buyers from Noida and Ghaziabad, Pandey said BMC will comply with the rules. An Ola spokesperson said only those e-rickshaws that are authorised and have licence will be provided through the platform.. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The Punjab government on Saturday approved the parole of 1993 Delhi bomb blast convict Devinderpal Singh Bhullar. The move comes a day after it released former militant Gurdeep Singh Khera on parole, Bhullar, who was brought to Amritsar from New Delhi last year, was admitted to the psychiatry ward of the local Guru Nanak Hospital since then. Talking to HT, Amritsar deputy commissioner Varun Roojam said, We have approved Bhullars 28-day parole. However, Bhullar was still in the hospital till the filing of the report with police guarding his ward. His supporters had gathered outside the ward. Before being shifted to Amritsar, Bhullar was admitted to the Institute of Human Behaviour and Allied Sciences in New Delhi as he was suffering from depression. After being brought to Amritsar, Bhullar was first rushed to the central jail from where he was shifted to the Guru Nanak Hospital. His family was allowed to regularly visit him at the hospital;. Dal Khalsa spokesperson Kanwarpal Bittu said, We welcome the parole being granted to Bhullar. He will be now able to spend some time with his family. Dr PD Garg, who is attending on Bhullar, said the latter was fit to go home. The case file 1993: Blast outside AIYC headquarters in New Delhi kills nine. Bhullar, one of main accused, fleas to Germany 1995: Bhullar deported to India and arrested 2001: Trial court hands out death penalty to Bhullar, who is lodged in Tihar Jail 2012: Bhullars treatment for depression begins, shifted to a hospital in Delhi 2014: Supreme Court commutes his death sentence to life imprisonment 2015: Bhullar shifted to Amritsar hospital after SC accepts familys plea 2016: State govt approves Bhullars parole SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Senior Congress leader and Rajya Sabha MP Partap Singh Bajwa on Friday visited the Gurdaspur grain market to take stock of the wheat procurement process and talked to the farmers to know their grievances. He was accompanied by Dinanagar MLA Aruna Chaudhary, PPCC member Raman Bahl, PPCC general secretary Fateh Jang Singh Bajwa and local Congress leaders Ajay Verma, Neeraj Salhotra and Anu Gandotra. Farmers complained to Bajwa that their produce was not being procured promptly and they had to face hardships at the mandi by waiting for long durations for sale. Bajwa also went to the office of the Gurdaspur Market Committee, but secretary Kuljit Singh was absent. Bajwa said there was no one even to listen to the problems being faced by the wheat growers. He said during the previous Congress regime, the process of wheat procurement was smooth across the state and the farmers were paid within 24 hours after procurement. Bajwa said he had not heard of anyone getting payment against his produce this season. Bajwa criticised the state government for failing to streamline the procurement even as the process had officially started on April 1. He said due to delay in procurement there was always danger of the produce getting destroyed by rain as it rained in Ferozepur on Friday. Gurdaspur market committee secretary Kuljit Singh said when Bajwa and other Congress leaders visited his office, he was in another room nearby. When I tried to enter my office, the security personnel stopped me saying there was no space left inside, he said. Pointing to the Punjab government calendar in which chief minister Parkash Singh Badal was seen with folded hands, Bajwa said that Badal had already said bye to the people and the next government (of Congress) would solve the problems of the people. Two farmers Roop Singh and Ajit Singh of Nawan Pind Hundal told Hindustan Times that they had brought their produce to the mandi on Saturday morning, but none of the procurement agencies had contacted them till afternoon. They said there were no facilities for farmers at the mandi when they have to wait for their turn. Demands CBI probe into grain scam Bajwa demanded a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the alleged `12,000-crore foodgrain scam in Punjab. He said CAG had found grains worth the said amount short in the godowns of the state. Bajwa said he would rake up the issue in the Rajya Sabha. He urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to waive off debts of Punjab farmers, saying on an average, five farmers were committing suicides daily in Punjab. Bajwa also accused Punjab food and supply minister Adaish Partap Singh Kairon of allotting the grain-lifting contract to his favourites, who, he alleged, would sublet the work to others at a premium. Kairon could not be contacted for his comment. Bajwa also condemned the new state excise policy, which, he said, was an attempt to monopolise the liquor trade in the state. He said the next government in Punjab would be formed by the Congress. He negated any challenge from Aam Aadmi Party, saying it lacked experience to rule. On Navjot Singh Sidhus nomination to Rajya Sabha, he said it was a welcome step, a decision taken by the BJP under pressure as he (Sidhu) could have joined Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). Offers condolences to Kirpals family Bajwa offered his condolences to the family of Indian prisoner Kirpal Singh, who died in a Pakistan jail on April 12, at Mustafabad Saidan, 7 km from here, on Saturday. He demanded all monetary and other benefits to the family on the lines given to the kin of Sarbjit Singh, who too had died in a Pakistan jail in 2013. People did open up to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) at the start of its Bolda Punjab dialogue series on Saturday at Landran in this district. A woman even asked its leaders: I lost my husband at 33 and now I want to save my two sons from drugs. Can you help? Youth was the first segment of society to give the party inputs for the 2017 assembly election manifesto. With drug addiction a menace among them in the state and unemployment chronic, the two questions dominated the first interaction in the campaign seen as antidote to the Congress drive of Coffee with Captain. A young man referred to an open nexus between politicians and drug suppliers and asked the AAP leaders: How will you counter this problem? In name of drug awareness, nothing is done beyond holding a few seminars. There is no proper rehabilitation programme for addicts, said another participant. AAP leader Ashish Khetan said police were going after only small addicts and not big drug suppliers. If we are voted to power, well put the drug lords into jail within three months; and rope in private hospitals for the rehabilitation of drug-addicts. he said. False cases against youth was another issue highlighted. The party promised a commission to review these cases and hold police officers accountable on getting the mandate. Job opportunities in Punjab are limited because there is no new industry, said a young man. Another complained of repeated assaults on linemen, teachers, anganwari workers and others at Akali-BJP rallies. Senior journalist and dialogue head Kanwar Sandhu assured them of solutions subject to AAPs winning the polls. There is no job survey conducted after 1978, and no link between industry and education, said Sandhu. The party will lay focus on self-employment training to youth and upgrade small-scale industry to promote entrepreneurship, said Khetan, promising efforts to reopen the closed industrial units. He proposed Delhi model in Punjab to fight corruption and improve education. Education loans will cost less and payback will start after job, said Khetan. The Border Security Force (BSF) has received strong tip-offs that people from across the border are trying to take advantage of the wheat harvesting season to sneak in drugs, arms and fake currency into the Indian territory. Sources said the BSF is leaving nothing to chance and has fanned out all its units posted at their respective headquarters to guard the 533-km Indo-Pak border and keep a check on farmers who might be lured by smugglers. We have launched a special campaign to minutely check heaps of wheat as well as fodder being carried out from farms situated across the border fence, a senior BSF official told HT. The BSF has already upped security on the border, where farms stretch beyond the border fence at various places, after the deadly attack on the Pathankot airbase in January this year. But more deployment comes as fear of smuggling lurks as the harvest season has begun. On Thursday, the BSF seized 1kg heroin from a farm near the border fence in Ferozepur. Last week, two residents of the Barre Kee village were held with 31.5 kg heroin. Deputy inspector general, Ferpzepur sector, RK Thapa told HT: We are very alert to the situation and are leaving no stone unturned to ensure a safe border. Senior superintendent of police 9SSP), Ferozepur, Manminder Singh said all farmers harvesting wheat at the border will be under a strict vigil. Special check points have been set up on roads leading to border areas, he added. The three Jalandhar car bomb blast case accused, who are in the custody of the Ludhiana police, on Friday alleged torture at the hands of cops. They (police) are desperately trying to slap murder cases on us. We are being thrashed badly, said Hardeep Singh, one of the accused, showing injuries on his knee. Hardeep, who was brought to a local court, also hinted that anger was brewing in the Namdhari community at Sirsa over atrocities being committed on them in police custody. The Sirsa faction of Namdharis is headed by Thakur Dalip Singh, the estranged brother of the current sect head at Bhaini Sahib Satguru Uday Singh. We were arrested in January after being falsely implicated in the Jalandhar bomb blast case. Ludhiana cops, who brought us here four days back, have been asking us if we have any clue about the killers of Namdhari matriarch Chand Kaur, said Hardeep. But they (cops) have not bothered to enter Bhaini Sahib where the killers are hiding, he alleged. On April 17, the Ludhiana police had procured the production warrants of Jagmohan Singh of Gadaipur, Harbhej Singh of Sirsa, and Hardeep Singh of Bholath to look into their alleged role in the murder of a woman in Ludhiana in September last year. Police have so far failed to solve the gruesome murder of Chand Kaur. Confusion after court order As the court sent the three Jalandhar bomb blast accused to judicial custody on Friday, cops proceeded to take the three accused to the Ludhiana jail, triggering outrage among the Namdhari supporters present in the court. They said the three accused should be sent to Kapurthala jail. We do not want to go to Ludhiana jail, police will torture us there, said Jagmohan, an accused. It was later clarified by the court that the accused should be sent to Kapurthala jail. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Nearly a month after a Dalit woman was dragged out of her office and allegedly raped in Muktsar district of Punjab, the accused surrendered before a court on Friday and was sent to a three-day police custody. Jagdeep Singh, 25, allegedly abducted the woman from her workplace, a computer centre, on March 25. And the crime was captured on a CCTV camera in a nearby shop in the Muktsar area. The footage showed the accused, also known as Jojo, forcibly dragging the woman, said to be in her early 20s, out of her office in broad daylight. Singh and his accomplice, Sandeep Singh, allegedly took the woman to a farmhouse and raped her. They left her at Malout bus stand. Singh surrendered a day after the Dalit woman and her father met officials of the National Commission for Scheduled Castes. A case was registered against the accused under various provisions of the law including for abduction and rape five days after the incident, police said. Singh and the woman were from the same village and knew each other, reports said. The youth had come to meet the victim. They were chatting so we thought they were acquaintances. But soon he tried to abduct her, and when we protested, he started fighting with us. The entire episode was recorded on the CCTV camera, Sumit Kumar, the owner of the computer centre, said. Police said Sandeep, who is on the run, will be arrested soon. Terming the 1984 Operation Bluestar foolishness on the part of then prime minister Indira Gandhi, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and newly nominated Rajya Sabha member Subramanian Swamy on Saturday demanded declassification of its files to bring out the truth behind allowing army into the Golden Temple in Amritsar. Addressing the students of Lovely Professional University (LPU) here, Swamy said in reply to a question from one that he believed slain militant leader Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale to be a preacher who promoted Sikhism and motivated youth to stay away from drugs. Since Bhindranwale at that time was only 35, his style of preaching was a bit aggressive, and thats what prompted many to think that he was a hardliner, even a terrorist. I met him many times before this operation. He would call media to the Akal Takht in routine. Why would any terrorist hold press conferences? said Swamy. Starting the controversial topic in his speech, the MP said it was communist leader Harkishan Singh Surjeet who had conveyed it to communist-ruled former Union of Soviet Socialist Republic (USSR) that if Sikhism returned to Punjab, it would wipe out communism from the state. Once a Soviet ambassador to India also accepted that because of pressure from Surjeet, USSR had asked prime minister Indira for the operation. Then president Giani Zail Singh had asked me to advise Indira not to take this step under the Soviet pressure. I talked to her but she was so obsessed with the USSR that she could not say no, said the five-time MP. Swamy said when he had raised question in 1984 over calling Bhindranwale a terrorist; many political parties had opposed him. I lost an election because of this stand. But my opinion will remain the same. Only the declassification of files and few sentences in the post-Bluestar carnage against Sikhs in Delhi would provide relief to the community and bury the issue forever, said the BJP leader. India to divide Pak if it doesnt mend its ways Newly nominated BJP Rajya Sabha member Subramanian Swamy claims that India is making a strategy to divide Pakistan into four, if the neighbour didnt mend its ways. The leader known for his straight and controversial remarks said the groundwork had begun, though no one at the government level would admit to it. Tomorrow, my party may call it my personal opinion but we all working on it, he told students. He further accused Muslims of hindering Uniform Civil Code in India alone, while in Australia and the US, they had adopted and accepted it. Here the Hindu majority is soft. Abroad, the majority is very strict, he said. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON A man allegedly killed his wife in front of their three children on the intervening night of Thursday and Friday at Jawaddi Kalan here. The accused, Sonu Passi, who was under the influence of liquor when he committed the crime, fled from the spot, leaving behind his children with 27-year-old Poonams body. The police have arrested the accused and booked him under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). Police, during the investigation, found that the accused had strangulated the victim first and later bludgeoned her to death with a sewing machine. The police have also recovered the blood soaked machine from the house. Police said that Sonu was an habitual drinker and Poonam, who was a native of Uttar Pradesh, used to deter him to give up drinking, but he was reluctant. Inspector Kamaldeep Singh, station house office (SHO) at Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar police station, said, Sonu worked at a gym as a massager. He was married to Poonam around 7 years ago. The couple has three children a five-and-a-half-year-old and three-year-old sons and 8-months-old daughter from the marriage. The SHO added that Sonu was an acute drunker and used to suspect his wife of infidelity. Poonam used to deter him from drinking. On Thursday late, the two entered in an argument. Sonu assaulted her and strangulated her. When she turned unconscious, Sonu took the sewing machine and bludgeoned her to death. She suffered grievous injuries on head and stomach. When neighbours came to know about the incident, they informed Poonams brother Amit, who reached the spot and informed the police, following which the police initiated the investigation. Singh said the police had arrested the accused on Friday evening from Jawaddi area. He was trying to flee from the city to avoid his arrest. A case under Section 302 of the IPC has been registered against the accused in this context. The children have been handed over to their relatives. The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has issued a letter to the director, PGIMER on Friday, ordering it to revoke the two orders where the institute had extended the probation period and then relieved a nursing superintendent Jaspal Kaur in 2015. The institute has been asked to immediately rescind the two orders and send a compliance report within a week. On March 9, 2016, PGIMER had marked a letter to the ministry highlighting the issue of Jaspal Kaur. On April 22, 2016, a reply was marked by the ministry to the PGIMER and its copy is with the HT. The letter reads, the matter has been examined and it is observed that the order dated January 29, 2014 and March 5, 2015 regarding extension of probation period and relieving from services of Jaspal Kaur, nursing superintendent, have been issued without following due procedures. The letter further mentions, You are, therefore, directed to rescind the above two orders dated January 29, 2014 and March 5, 2015 immediately and to send report in a week. The issue Jaspal Kaur was assistant nursing superintendent in the Government Medical College and Hospital, Sector 32 (GMCH-32) and she worked there for 17-18 years. In 2012, she applied for the post of nursing superintendent at the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER). After two years of probation, she was expecting to get her regularisation letter, but in January 2014 the institute administration increased the probation period by one year. The hospital administration is not authorised to increase the probation period from two to three years. Only president of the institute (union health minister) has the powers, said an official, PGIMER. After the third year of probation, when Jaspal Kaur asked for regularisation, she was served a relieving letter on March 5, 2015. No reason was mentioned as to why she has been relieved, said an official. In March 2015, CAT had stayed the relieving order of Kaur. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON After series of protests by parents against private schools for overcharging, the fee committee has shot off a letter to the director public instructions (DPI secondary), secretary Punjab School Education Board and district education officers (DEOs) directing them to tighten the noose on institutes violating the high court guidelines. The letter dated March 28 was sent to the DEOs the on April 12 when the admission process in schools was about to end. The fee committee has directed the DPI and school board secretary to issue the instructions to all schools in the state against charging admission/upgrade fee, non-issuance of receipts and forcing the parents to buy books from recommended book shops. Read more: Parents protest: Jalandhar school deploys police outside premises The letter signed by committee chairman justice Amar Dutt reads: It has been brought to the notice of the fee committee by parents that the management of most of the schools do not make available voluntarily list of books along with name of the writer and publisher which are going to be prescribed for various classes so that the children can purchase these books from a seller of their choice. The letter states that the parents were being harassed and book sellers were resorting to monopolistic tendencies. The letter also mentions that the schools cannot charge re-admission fee. It has been brought to our notice that some schools are charging admission/upgrade fee from the students already studying in their institution. This malpractice can only be cured by your intervention, the letter reads. Parents had also alleged that schools were charging fee under different heads but were not issuing any receipts. The letter says: It has also come to the notice that some of the schools are not issuing receipts giving details of fee charged under different heads. Such practices do not in any way enhance the reputation of schools as well as the education department. Panel holds meeting with four schools The committee on Friday also held a meeting with four schools from the state in which management of a private school from Nakodar Indo Sweet International Convent School was called with two schools from Faridkot and Sangrur. Sources said regular meetings were being held with school managements for the past over two years, but no action has been taken against schools, expect against Bal Bharti School, Ludhiana. A number of complaints against schools are pending with committee. The committee receives a number of complaints against schools every day, but no action has been taken against schools to date, said an official. Even as the district administration held a meeting with the school heads and asked them to submit the fee details for each class for the current and the last sessions to the DEO (secondary), parents are not impressed. On Friday, parents protested again and raised slogans against the loot by private schools and resolved to continuing with the agitation. Parents accused the administration of not been able to come out with a clear policy and a few termed the steps taken by deputy commissioner Varun Roojam a eyewash. Read more: Amritsar admn asks private schools to stop loot District education officer (secondary) Satinder Bir Singh said the matter would be resolved on priority. Parents are agitated and I am visiting them at the protest sites. I am telling them that the matter is being taken up seriously. I am waiting for the school heads to submit me the detailed fee structure by Monday. The school which fail to do so would be taken to task, he said. The DEO will also conduct inspections in schools against which complaints had been received and check fee records and shops, if any, on the premises. I will constitute an inspection team. This matter will also be taken up with the fee committee for further action. Schools with more than 10% hike will have to roll it back and if they do not do so, they will face the consequences. We will definitely give names of violator schools to the CBSE, recommending de-affiliation. We will make fix the annual fee-hike limit between 7-10% and every school has to abide by it. It will be announced in the next meeting, he said. Protests continue Friday witnessed the third day of protests outside Sri Guru Harkrishan Public School (Golden Avenue) and the school had to be closed for the day. The DEO tried to pacify the protesters, but they didnt relent, saying they wanted action and not assurances. A parent, Dharambir Singh Mahiya, said, We will be taking out a protest march on Monday. We do not trust the verbal assurances and will keep mounting pressure on the administration. Despite approaching the DC a number of times, he only held a meeting and then passed the buck. Why cant DC Varun Roojam fix the fee hike for city schools? We wont call the stir off till something concrete comes out. Protesters Gurdev Singh and Ranjeev Sharma said, If the DEO says he will make sure schools abide by the regulations then he should take some concrete steps and get them implemented. If the administration feels that a mere meeting will pacify the parents, they are mistaken. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Concerned over the poor health of students in government schools across the state, director general school of education (DGSE) Pradeep Aggarwal has asked the authorities to improve the quality of mid-day meal given to the students. He said nutritious food having jaggery and groundnuts should be served to the students. In a letter to school authorities, the DGSE said: It has come to the notice that students are suffering from anaemia, malnutrition and weak eyesight which is not only affecting their health but they are lacking in studies too. So it is advised to all schools that they should add some nutritious food items in the mid-day meal being given to the students. The school head has been directed to maintain a register to record the details of the mid-day meal. In Jalandhar district, over 1.15 students are given mid-day meal in schools. However, mid-day meal officials say it was not possible to include nutritious food items as they only get `3.86 for a primary student and Rs 5.76 for upper primary student. We are facing already difficulties due to meagre funds. How can we add more items to the existing menu, said a block official. There are nine mid-day meal block officers for 19 blocks in Jalandhar district who check the quality of the meal, but officials say it not possible for them to visit every block. We need more officials to check the food quality, said another block official. IMPROVE CONDITIONS OF TOILETS Taking cognisance of reports of poor condition of toilets, the DGSE has asked schools to maintain these. The letter states: Funds are being given by the government and panchayat for maintaining toilets in schools. The school authorities must pay attention to clean and maintain the toilets. There are around 1,000 primary and 180 middle schools in Jalandhar district and not even a single school has sweepers to maintain cleanliness. Earlier, the DGSE told HT that a meeting was held with the finance department and panchayats have been asked to appoint the sweepers in primary and middle schools. Last year, the Union government released a grant of `1 crore to schools for the construction of toilets under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA). In 2014-15, 268 schools were given grants to the tune of around `5 crore for same purpose but the funds were not utilised rationally. The Punjab government banned Santa Banta Private Limited on Saturday, claiming that the movie portrays the Sikh community in a denigrating and defamatory manner. The decision was taken after a delegation of the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Managing Committee (DSGMC), led by its president, Manjit Singh GK, called on deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal in Delhi. The delegation said the movie hurt the sentiments of the community. Sukhbir asked the state chief secretary to impose a ban on the screening of the movie in Punjab. The ban will come into effect immediately, said a government spokesperson. Last week, the Bombay high court, while hearing petition by a Mumbai Sikh Congress leader, refused to grant an interim stay on films release on April 22. Sikh protesters staged a demonstration on Saturday at the collectorate in Uttar Pradeshs Ghaziabad, saying the film has some ethnic humour parts which will hurt the sentiments of the community. Read: Santa Banta Pvt Ltd review: All pain, no gain Himachal Pradesh chief minister Virbhadra Singh on Saturday denied having any plans to change the name of state capital Shimla and colonial-era landmarks in the state. The demand for changing names has come from Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP). After the decision to rename Gurgaon in Haryana as Gurugram was taken by the BJP government, the Himachal unit of VHP had urged the chief minister that Shimla be rechristened Shemalaya which it claimed was the citys old name. Shimla, which served as the summer capital of British India between 1864 and 1939, currently has 91 British-era heritage buildings. After inaugurating the Himachal Travel Mart here, the chief minister said the renaming of Shimla and landmarks associated with the British rule would not be allowed. Shimla is a well-known tourist destination globally, he said. Taking a jibe at the VHP, the octogenarian chief minister said, Tomorrow they can say that Virbhadra Singh should also be renamed. The VHP also said state-run hotel-cum-guest house Peterhoff in Shimla should be renamed Valmiki Bhawan and Dalhousie, which was established in 1854 by the British government as a summer retreat, should be named after Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. Peterhoff was home to seven viceroys during the British Raj. It later housed the Punjab High Court where Mahatma Gandhis assassin Nathu Ram Godse was tried. It housed the Raj Bhavan in 1981 when it was gutted in a fire. It was subsequently rebuilt. Earlier in the morning, the CM inaugurated Himachal Travel Mart at the Ridge, Shimla, where apart from Himachal, exhibits for promoting tourism activities of 15 states are being displayed. Singh said such initiatives went a long way in promoting tourism activities and gave the much-needed fillip to the tourism industry. On Friday evening, after launching Himachal Travel Mart at a local hotel, Singh said efforts were on to realise the true potential of tourism in the state, while taking care to not indiscriminately exploit Himachals tourism wealth. He said apart from coming up with new ropeways, expansion of Kangra airport had been proposed and the initial land acquisition had been done. Besides, the Jubbarhatti airstrip had also been improved and widened, he added. We hope that flights will soon be started to and from Shimla as the Supreme Court has directed the central government to start air services to Shimla at the earliest, he added. There has been a consistent increase in tourist arrivals in the state. From January to December 2015, 1.75 crore tourists visited the state with an annual growth rate of 7.46%. The state is yet to fully realise its tourism potential and we are working hard to pursue our goals, said tourism commissioner Mohan Chauhan, adding that tourism was declared an industry in the state in 1984, and it was contributing about 8.25% to the state gross domestic product. (With agency inputs) SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Superintendent of police (SP) Salwinder Singh, who was being probed by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in Januarys Pathankot terror attack case, was among three Punjab Police officers given new transfer/posting orders on Friday. The transfers and postings will come into immediate effect, an official spokesman has said here, adding that Punjab Police Service (PPS) officer Salwinder Singh has been posted as assistant commandant of the 75th Battalion of Punjab Armed Police (PAP) in Jalandhar. The NIA had been trying to find out whether the senior cop had any role in the drug racket being run in the border districts of Pathankot and Gurdaspur. His car was used by Pakistani terrorists to approach the Pathankot airbase, where they killed seven soldiers and injured 20 others before the base was secured almost 80 hours later. The SP had told the agency that the terrorists in army fatigues had taken away the car after taking him hostage on the night of December 31, 2015. He also said he had managed to free himself and call his superior officers. For hours, this was treated as a case of armed carjacking only. The Gurdaspur SP was, later, suspended. In the latest transfers meanwhile, PPS officer Sailendera Singh has been posted as SP (crime), Chandigarh, while Hem Pushap Sharma has been posted as SP, police operations, Pathankot. It is not clear whether the lack of teachers led to a decrease in number of students in schools or the fewer students made government lethargic in filling vacant posts or rationalising the teaching faculty. To know this, special correspondent Prabhjit Singh spoke to education minister Daljit Singh Cheema. Excerpts: Why is there a severe shortage of teachers in government schools? The shortage is there mainly because of lack of complete rationalisation. But the situation is not so alarming, as the teacher-pupil ratio in Punjab is 17. We are holding counselling for some 4,500 newly recruited teachers. Read more: State govt schools in search of teachers Why have some schools been running with just a single teacher, with a service-provider manning the school instead of a regular teacher? The number of students in such schools is low. We are doing rationalisation to use the surplus faculty in many schools. And when it comes to service-providers, they should also be treated as teachers as they do the same job. The problem mainly is in border and Kandi areas with Tarn Taran as the worst-affected district. What is the future of these service-providers on annual contract who get a paltry Rs 7,500 per month? Chief minister Parkash Singh Badal met Union human resource minister Smriti Irani in Delhi three days ago to press upon the Centre to regularise these service-providers as they were appointed under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) and 70% of their salary component comes as the SSA funds. Why have these service-providers not received their salaries for three months? The Centre has scheduled a national-level meeting of its appraisal committee on April 28, after which the SSA funds would come in for their salaries as well. What do you have to say on different categories of teachers and the gap in their salaries? I am in favour of appointing regular teachers by the education department. The CM met the HRD minister for regularising service-providers. When will TET pass-outs get jobs considering there are so many vacancies? TET is just an eligibility that they fulfil, and they are being rightly considered as we are in the process of making fresh recruitments, with counselling of some 4,500 of them already on. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Most projects that do not have basic facilities in place, are not completed on time or do not receive a completion certificate due to some violations by builder, are often not financed by banks. What this means is that buyers who want to invest in these projects might not get financed by lenders and depend entirely on their savings to pay for the properties. Banks carry out legal and technical due-diligence on each project they finance. If something goes wrong with the project mid way, we may stop funding the project but will never advertise that we have stopped financing it. But if a customer were to approach us, we will inform him that we are not extending loans for that particular project because of some technical issue, says a senior banker. For example, if towers 5, 6 and 7, are located on disputed land, we may send out an internal communication that these towers should not be funded but will continue to fund towers 1, 2 and 3 that are permissible, he says. In India, there is a large delivery risk associated with projects. Completion of a project is dependent on the developer and the local competent authority. Lending is dependent on the track record of a developer and banks can stop disbursement even mid way. Customers should, therefore, check the delivery record of a developer, the marketability of a project (whether it can be completed on time and whether the buyer can sell it). Buyers should check with the bank whether the project is approved and take time to arrive at a decision. Dont simply look for discounts and subvention schemes. Spend enough time to do due- diligence, advises another banker. The state government should also get a public notice published stating the names of developers who may not have paid the land dues, he says. There have been cases of banks sanctioning loans for a housing block with 10 floors authorised by the housing board. In case a developer adds more floors to the tower, most banks will not disburse loans to customers for those floors, says another banker. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The second film by Kannada filmmaker Pawan Kumar, U Turn, will release on May 20. His first film Lucia won him critical acclaim when it released 2013. In 10 months, we have gone from ideation to release. I am hoping that this film will make all the patrons of Lucia happy again. The film will be premiering at the prestigious New York Indian Film Festival on May 8, Kumar said in a statement. In over 75 years of Kannada cinema, very few films including Lucia and U-Turn have had an international premiere. We hope this will make way for more Kannada cinema to be introduced to the world, he added. Watch U Turn trailer here: The film, which will be distributed by Drishyam Films, will release on screens across multiple cities such as Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kochi, Trivandrum, Ahmedabad, Surat and Vadodara. Featuring Shraddha Srinath, Roger Narayanan, Radhika Chetan and Dilip Raj, the mystery thriller revolves around a young journalist who finds herself entangled in a murder case while working on a story on traffic rule breakers. ott:10:ht-entertainment_listing-desktop Love him, hate him but you just cant avoid laughing at him. Donald Trump, the Republican front-runner in the ongoing US elections, has managed to be the butt of jokes. Be it memes around his toupee or him mixing up 9/11 attack with 7/Eleven (a popular convenience store chain), the 69-year-old is always in news. His rival, senator Ted Cruz from Texas, took a dig on Trump on Friday when he tweeted, Donald Trump cant be trusted with common sense. Why would we trust him in the White House? Twitter users have been leaving no chance to poke fun at him. Im certain if Miss #HarrietTubman walked into a #DonaldTrump rally shed need her gun to keep his supporters from lynching her, posted Black Conservative (@blackrepublican). Trumpcat (@Darren32895836) tweeted, #Donald trump Lyin @tedcruz favorability among women has plummeted!!! Ladies say hes SO NASTY they want 2smack him!?? The thought of earning less than their wives made some men switch their vote from Hillary Clinton to Donald Trump, read a post by Harvard Biz (@HarvardBiz). As if thats not enough there are memes that read, What is Donald Trump telling Barack Obama supporters? Orange Is The New Black and Whats the only thing that can stop Donald Trump? A Cruz missile. Cant get funnier. At least eight people were found dead on Friday in four locations in rural Ohio, authorities said. Seven of them, including two children, were slain in execution-style killings at three homes along a rural road, but no arrests were made and its unclear whether the killer or killers were among the dead, authorities said on Saturday. Details on the death of the eighth person werent immediately available, but the body was found in a fourth location, said Jill Del Greco, spokeswoman with the Bureau of Criminal Investigation. Attorney General Mike DeWine planned to provide an update in Pike County later on Saturday afternoon, she said. DeWine and Pike County Sheriff Charles Reader had said earlier that seven victims were believed to be members of the same family. All were shot to death, they said. There is not an active shooter and no arrests have been made, DeWine and Reader said. Authorities are trying to determine a motive, identify the deceased and determine if the killer or killers are among the deceased individuals or on the loose. A dozen Bureau of Criminal Investigation agents were called today morning to Pike County, an economically struggling area in the Appalachian region some 80 miles east of Cincinnati. TV reports from the scene said a staging area has been set up with ambulances and fire personnel. Governor John Kasich, campaigning in Pennsylvania for his Republican presidential bid, said his office was monitoring the situation in Pike County. Reports we are receiving from Peebles are tragic beyond comprehension, Kasich wrote on his Twitter account. The FBI in Cincinnati also said it was closely monitoring the situation and has offered assistance to the Pike County sheriffs office if needed. Peebles High School imposed a precautionary lockout on Saturday morning after authorities notified the superintendent of shootings that had occurred a few miles away, according to Regina Bennington, secretary to the superintendent for the Adams County Ohio Valley Schools district. High school officials said the school was back to normal operations later today morning. Piketon is the site of a Cold War-era uranium plant that was closed in 2001 and is still being cleaned up. German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Saturday she was pushing for the establishment of special security zones in Syria near the border with Turkey where refugees could find shelter. I have ... again demanded that we have zones where the ceasefire is particularly enforced and where a significant level of security can be guaranteed, Merkel said in the Turkish city of Gaziantep during a joint news conference with Turkish and EU officials. Unidentified attackers hacked to death a university professor in northwestern Bangladesh on Saturday. The Islamic State claimed responsibility for killing AFM Rezaul Karim Siddique, US-based monitoring agency SITE Intelligence Group said. ISIS Amaq Agency reported the groups responsibility for killing Rajshahi University professor Rezaul Karim for calling to atheism in Bangladesh, the agency said in a Twitter post. Siddique, an English professor, was attacked in the morning when he was walking for a bus near his home to get to Rajshahi University, Sushanta Chandra Roy, assistant commissioner of Rajshahi Metropolitan Police, said. He said the killing has similarities with recent murders of atheist bloggers in Bangladesh, adding that some witnesses said that the attack was carried out by two young men riding a motorbike. The attackers used sharp weapons, and fled the scene immediately, he said. Read: Bangladesh professor hacked to death in suspected Islamist attack Protesting Siddiques killing, his colleagues and students marched through the Rajshahi University campus while angry students blocked a highway demanding justice. Global rights group Amnesty International condemned the killing and said those responsible must be brought to justice. The vicious killing of Rezaul Karim Siddique is inexcusable and those responsible must be held to account. This attack sadly fits the gruesome pattern established by Islamist extremist groups in Bangladesh who are targeting secular activists and writers, Amnesty South Asia Director Champa Patel said in a statement. Siddiques family said they had no idea whether he faced any threat or was concerned about his life. The professor used to play Tanpura and led a cultural group and edited a literally magazine, his brother Sajidul Karim Siddique said. Read: Twelve recent attacks by Islamist radicals in Bangladesh Its a mystery to us, I cant believe someone can kill such a simple man, Siddique told Hindustan Times over phone. Asked whether he suspected any radical groups, he said his brother was never outspoken about any ideology that could hurt anybody. He used to write poems and short stories. Since last year, a number of atheist bloggers, activists and publishers had been attacked and killed allegedly by Islamist groups. Since 2006, three other teachers of the same university have been killed. Read: Bangladesh blogger Niloy Chowdhury hacked to death in Dhaka A European Commission plan to publicly reveal tax and financial data of large companies raised concerns among some European Union finance ministers who on Saturday advised caution after the Panama Paper leaks. Under pressure after the revelations about offshore firms hiding wealth, the EU executive proposed on April 12 a plan to increase tax transparency of multinational companies, including public disclosure of their activities in tax havens. Companies have warned of reputation risks, as some data may be misinterpreted if made publicly available. Non-EU firms could also acquire valuable information on their EU competitors, damaging their competitiveness, trade associations said. We would prefer that as a first step, (corporate tax data) should be available to tax authorities, not to the public, Maltese finance minister Edward Scicluna told reporters on Saturday before an EU finance ministers meeting in Amsterdam. We should not overreact, he said, warning against the competitive risks for EU companies if overly strict transparency regulations were adopted. Finance minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem of the Netherlands, which holds the rotating EU presidency until July, said he favoured public disclosure but added: Some are worried (public disclosure) will damage the competitive advantage of Europe. Dominique Plihot, spokesperson for ATTAC, right, speaks with anti-fraud activists blocking entrances at Societe Generale's Paris headquarters as part of a protest accusing the French bank of ties to the so-called "Panama Papers", in Paris on April 7. (AP) We have to be careful about privacy rights, Belgian finance minister Johan Van Overtveldt added. The EU draft rules would require firms with an annual turnover above 750 million euros to publicly disclose their tax data in all EU countries where they operate. With a last-minute tweak, the Commission extended this new disclosure requirement to corporations activities in so-called tax havens, jurisdictions that facilitate companies and individuals to hide their taxable income. The European Commission, the EU executive arm, had initially proposed in January that companies detailed tax data should be available to tax administrations in each EU country, but not to the wider public. Anti-corruption campaigners have urged the EU do to more than what proposed so far, extending public disclosures to all countries and to more companies. The issue of public country-by-country reporting has not been formally discussed by EU finance ministers yet at the Amsterdam meeting on Friday and Saturday, but the ministers are debating anti-tax avoidance measures and plans to tackle value added tax (VAT) frauds that cost EU states billions of euros a year in lost revenues. President Barack Obama had a very important visitor on Saturday night, as he rounded up his visit to the United Kingdom. He may have seen the Globe Theatre, had tea with the Queen and butted heads with Londons bumbling mayor Boris, but a bonus for Obama was the chance to meet Prince George, Williams nearly 3-year-old son. Prince George on his rocking horse as Duchess Catherine talks to him, while Obama and Prince Williams share a chat. (Reuters) The British royal palace released photos showing the Obamas and the royals chatting in the drawing room of Williams apartment home, and of Obama kneeling in front of a pajama-clad George. The President had visited the United Kingdom to make a public speech against its exiting the European Union, as well as to discuss bilateral issues. Read: Obama hits back at London mayor Boris in part-Kenyan row North Korea has fired what purportedly looked like a ballistic missile from a submarine off its northeast coast, South Korea said. The ministry could not immediately confirm how far the projectile flew or where it landed. The launch took place near the North Korean coastal town of Sinpo, where analysts have previously detected efforts by the North to develop submarine-launched ballistic missile systems North Korea in recent weeks has fired a slew of missiles and artillery shells into the sea in an apparent protest against ongoing annual military drills between the US and South Korea and toughened international sanctions against Pyongyang over its recent nuclear test and long-range rocket launch. Read | North Koreas fifth nuke test seen imminent, increased movements at site Some analysts also think North Koreas belligerent stance is linked to a major ruling party congress next month meant to further cement leader Kim Jong Uns grip on power. They say the North could be making efforts to promote military accomplishments to its people to make up for a lack of tangible economic achievements ahead of the Workers Party congress, the first since 1980. North Korea has been seen in recent years as developing technologies for launching ballistic missiles from underwater. Security experts say that acquiring the ability to fire missiles from submarines would be an alarming development for the North because missiles fired from submerged vessels are harder to detect before launch than land-based ones. Also read | Convincing the doubters? North Korea declassifies nuke arms programme While South Korean experts say its unlikely that North Korea currently possesses a submarine large enough to carry and fire multiple missiles, they acknowledge that the North is making progress on a dangerous weapons technology. United States President Barack Obama implored young British people not to pull back from the world on Saturday, a day after he warned the country of the risks of voting to leave the European Union in a referendum in June. We see new calls for isolationism, for xenophobia, Obama told young people at a town hall event in London. When I speak to young people, I implore them, and I implore you, to reject those calls to pull back. I am here to ask you to reject the notion we are gripped by forces that we cannot control. And I want you to take a longer and more optimistic view of history, he said. Read: Yes we can, Brexiters tell pro-EU Obama Speaking to over 500 young British people, Obama joked about Britains colonial past, saying that despite the so-called special relationship between the two countries, the United States had once had quarrels with Britain but then made up. Obama answered 10 questions but Britains June 23 referendum on its EU membership was not raised during the question-and-answer session which lasted over an hour. Obama also said a planned trade deal between the United States and the EU had run up against parochial interests of individual countries but would create millions of jobs and billions of dollars of benefits on both sides of the Atlantic. Read: US president Obama urges blood brother Britain not to leave the EU People right now are especially suspicious of trade deals because trade deals feel as if they are accelerating some of these globalising trends that have weakened labour unions and allowed for jobs to be shipped to low-wage countries, he said. And some of the criticisms in the past of trade deals are legitimate. Some times they have served the interests of large corporations and not necessarily of workers in the countries that participate in them, he said. Unidentified attackers hacked to death a university teacher in northwestern Bangladesh on Saturday, amid growing concerns at home and abroad about the confrontation between Islamist hardliners and secularists in the country. AFM Rezaul Karim Siddique, an English professor , was attacked in the morning when he was walking for a bus near his home to get to Rajshahi University, where he worked, Sushanta Chandra Roy, assistant commissioner of Rajshahi Metropolitan Police, said over phone. Read: Bangladesh blogger who opposed radical Islam hacked to death Roy said they had no immediate clues about the killing and no group immediately claimed responsibility. He said the killing has similarities with recent murders of atheist bloggers in Bangladesh, adding that some witnesses told them that the attack was carried out by two young men riding a motorbike. The official said the attackers used sharp weapons, and fled the scene immediately. Read: Twelve recent attacks by Islamist radicals in Bangladesh Wrote poems, short stories Siddiques family said they had no idea whether he faced any threat or was concerned about his life. The professor used to play Tanpura and led a cultural group and edited a literally magazine, his brother Sajidul Karim Siddique. Its a mystery to us, I cant believe someone can kill such a simple man, Siddique told Hindustan Times by phone. Asked whether he suspected any radical groups, he said his brother was never outspoken about any ideology that could hurt anybody. He used to write poems and short stories, he said. Read: Bangladesh blogger Niloy Chowdhury hacked to death in Dhaka Protesting Siddiques killing, his colleagues and students marched through the Rajshahi University campus while angry students blocked a highway demanding justice. Global rights group Amnesty International in a statement condemned the killing and said the responsible must be brought to justice. The vicious killing of Rezaul Karim Siddique is inexcusable and those responsible must be held to account. This attack sadly fits the gruesome pattern established by Islamist extremist groups in Bangladesh who are targeting secular activists and writers, Amnesty South Asia Director Champa Patel said in a statement. The authorities must do more to put an end to these killings. Not a single person has been brought to justice for the attacks over the past year, Patel said. Police said an autopsy has been conducted and the body was handed over to the family for burial, expected to take place on Saturday night. We are preparing for his burial, his cousin Nazrul Islam said. This is a difficult time for us. Please pray for us. Since last year, a number of atheist bloggers, activists and publishers had been attacked and killed allegedly by Islamist groups. Since 2006, three other teachers of the same university have been killed. Police have blamed radical Islamist groups for those killings. One of the slain teachers was a follower of mystic poet and lyricist Lalon. Attacks also took place against foreigners and minority Shia, Ahmadiya and Hindu communities. Many Christian priests have reported that they have been threatened by unidentified people. Some of the attacks were claimed by the Islamic State group, but Prime Minister Sheikh Hasinas government claimed that this group has no base in Bangladesh. Philippine presidential candidate Rodrigo Duterte on Saturday renewed his vow to kill criminals as the tough-talking favourite hit the stump in the capital heading into the home stretch of a controversial campaign. Seen by fans and foes alike as a real-life Dirty Harry from a southern city made infamous by shadowy vigilante death squads, the 71-year-old mayor of Davao is the surprise favourite in the race to succeed President Benigno Aquino. The drug pushers, kidnappers, robbers, find them all and arrest them. If they resist, kill them all, he told about 2,000 people who cheered and shook their fists during a central Manila rally shortly after midnight. Go ahead and charge me with murder, so I could also kill you. Duterte had earlier pledged to kill 100,000 criminals and dump so many in Manila Bay that the fish will grow fat from feeding on them. More than 50 million people in the mainly Catholic Asian nation are qualified to vote on May 9 with Duterte holding a clear lead over four other candidates, including Aquinos preferred successor. Analysts say Dutertes profanity-laced campaign resonates in a chaotic, high-crime society with limited opportunities for a vast underclass working for a tiny elite. This was despite having called Pope Francis a son of a bitch and making crass comments about the jailhouse rape of an Australian lay Christian missionary who was killed in a 1989 prison riot in Dutertes own city. His April 12 comments, in which he suggested that as mayor he should have been the first in line to rape the victim, drew widespread public condemnation, including from the ambassadors of key allies the United States and Australia. The unrepentant candidate later told the envoys to shut up and steer clear of domestic politics, while also grudgingly issuing an apology over the rape comments. He has also vowed to hold direct talks with China to resolve overlapping claims in the South China Sea, in a reversal of Aquinos policy of multilateral discussions with other claimants and international arbitration. Prior to the Manila rally, Duterte met late on Friday with Eduardo Manalo, chief minister of the conservative religious group Church of Christ to seek the support of the influential organisation, known by its initials INC. The group, which does not disclose its membership size, votes as one in line with what followers describe as biblical doctrines on unity. Politicians routinely make a beeline for its support during elections. I laid out my programme to fight crime, illegal drugs and corruption.... Should God will me to win, I will fight for the rights as well as the religious freedom of millions of INC members, Duterte said in a statement. INC spokesmen confirmed the meeting Saturday. The Duterte meeting meant all four of the major presidential candidates have met with the INC leader. The US expressed concern on Saturday over Pakistans continued tolerance for terrorist groups like Haqqani network and said that it has raised this issue at the highest level with the authorities in Islamabad. We have consistently expressed our concerns at that the highest level of the government of Pakistan about their continued tolerance for Afghan Taliban groups, such as the Haqqani network, operating from Pakistani soil, state department Spokesperson Elizabeth Trudeau said. Americas concerns were raised with Pakistan again after the dreaded terrorist attack in Kabul this week in which more than 70 people were killed. Afghan authorities have blamed this to the Haqqani network and alleged this had the backing of the Pakistani establishment. We have pressed the government of Pakistan to follow up on its expressed commitment not to discriminate between terror groups, regardless of their agenda or their affiliation by undertaking concrete action against the Haqqanis, Trudeau said in response to a question. Pakistani authorities have reiterated their commitment that they will not discriminate against those groups, she noted. We continue to call on them to live up to that commitment, the spokesperson said. I think words matter and we continue to encourage them to have their actions match those words, Trudeau said responding to Afghan allegations that Pakistanis helped the Haqqani network in this Kabul attack. Any attack the Haqqani group conducts is not possible without Pakistans help and this has been repeatedly proven in the last 14 years, a presidential spokesperson, Dawa Khan Meenapal, was quoted as saying by Voice of America on Saturday. Would you like a drone with your cocktail? The worlds first cafe using the tiny domestic unmanned aircraft as servers has opened in a Dutch university. The pop-up drone cafe will be serving up all weekend as part of celebrations for the Dream and Dare festival marking the 60th anniversary of the Eindhoven University of Technology. The 20 students behind the project, who spent nine months developing and building the autonomous drone, aim to show how such small inside craft could become an essential part of modern daily life. It has potential as a useful tool for human kind. We see it as the next mobile phone. You choose and you programme it like you want, student and project leader Tessie Hartjes told AFP. The drone, nicknamed Blue Jay, which resembles a small white flying saucer with a luminescent strip for eyes, flies to a table and hovers as it takes a clients order, who points to the list to signal what they would like. The blue eyes of the first drone load up by scanning the list to register the order, said Hartjes. Once its fully loaded, then the order is ready. And another one comes with the order in a cup in the grip. The cafe is offering four different alcoholic and non-alcoholic cocktails, which are either bright blue or green -- the same colour as the drones eyes. The drinks are picked up and carried by a set of pinchers underneath the drone, in a bid to show that these aerial machines could be used to carry out delicate missions such as delivering medicines or even helping to track down burglars. Each drone has cost about 2,000 euros to build, in a project funded by the university which the students say aims to give a glimpse of the future. Thanks to sensors and a long battery life they can fly inside buildings and navigate crowded interiors, unlike other drones, which rely on a GPS system. The Blue Jay is an intelligent bird that lives in complex, social environments, the students say in a video presenting their work. They believe the drones applications could be endless: as extinguishers to put out fires, alarm systems to warn of intruders or mini-servants which would respond to commands such as fetch me an apple. We believe that one day, domestic drones will be a part of society. One day, a drone could be a friend, says one of the students in the video presentation. Social media is very much a double-edged sword: it can connect users from all around their world, but it also makes each user's posts vulnerable to scrutiny from others. This is particularly true for companies who partially rely on their exposure on social media to contribute to their revenue, and Cheerios is learning that first hand. What happened, you ask? As you may recall, 57-year-old Prince died Thursday at his Chanhassen, Minn. home. The superstar, famous for hits like "Kiss" and "Purple Rain," was found unresponsive in an elevator in Paisley Park Studios and pronounced dead at 10:07 a.m. or less than half an hour after paramedics were dispatched to the scene. News of his passing spread quickly, and many took to social media to share their condolences, including Cheerios, which was just one of many. Unfortunately for the cereal brand, its post was less than well-received, prompting a slew of angry messages in response. Hey guys, Prince died. BUT PLEASE DON'T FORGET ABOUT CHEERIOS! pic.twitter.com/S31hQm7BTq Andrew Nicla (@AndrewNiclaASU) April 21, 2016 Can't believe that Cheerios Prince ad. Incredibly poor taste to use his death for self promotion. smh Harbinger (@veebex) April 22, 2016 Yes, you read correctly, "Rest in peace" with a Cheerio in place of the dot over the "i" was enough to offend hundreds of cereal eaters. Why exactly? Apparently, some fans of the pop icon felt that the tweet was an example of shameless branding by the Cherrios and argued that the company was using Prince's death to market its products. In fact, Cheerios received so many angry tweets about a seemingly innocent tweet that it actually deemed it necessary to delete its initial post, as well as issue a statement about the reasoning behind the post, saying: "As a Minnesota brand, Cheerios wanted to acknowledge the loss of a musical legend in our hometown. But we quickly decided that we didn't want the tweet to be misinterpreted, and removed it out of respect for Prince and those mourning." This whole incident only serves as another entry in the debate over whether brands should be allowed to tweet about a celebrity's death or specific holidays. Occurrences like this happen every year, and they always illicit the same type of reactions. There are a lot of factors that need to be considered in the discussion, such as intent and "tastefulness" of the tweet, but such factors are highly subjective - as evidenced by this whole event. However, if random people on Twitter are the ones who will make such decisions, then a certainly level of uniformity needs to be established. Cheerios may have garnered the most attention with its tweet, but it certainly wasn't the only company who made a post to commemorate Prince's life. Other companies took to Twitter to post Prince tributes of their own, but received far less attention. We join the world in mourning the loss of a genius, a legend, and an inspiration to generations of artists and fans. pic.twitter.com/nd5OgLcRdl Spotify (@Spotify) April 21, 2016 A purple nebula, in honor of Prince, who passed away today. https://t.co/7buFWWExMw pic.twitter.com/ONQDwSQwVa NASA (@NASA) April 21, 2016 So, what is the difference between Cheerios and the other brands? Who knows. The argument could be made that Cheerios wanted to increase its exposure, but its Cheerios - how much exposure does a cereal brand need when anyone can find them lined up across the cereal aisle in a local grocery? Not to mention, seeing the tribute most likely didn't make anyone have the sudden urge to whip out a bowl of cereal. On the contrary, this looks like just another example of the Twitterverse overreacting to something that was far less serious than what it actually was. @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Monarchs may be facing more threats than researchers once thought. Not only are monarch butterflies suffering from a lack of milkweed and the threat of herbicides and genetically modified crops, but they are also suffering from sparse autumnal nectar sources as well as weather and habitat fragmentation. In any given year, a total of four generations of monarch butterflies traverse much of North America over a 2,000-mile trek beginning in early spring when they leave their Mexican wintering grounds. In the first generation, millions of monarchs fly through Texas and Oklahoma. The following generations move into the Midwest and Northeast. When autumn hits, though, the fourth generation returns to Mexico for the winter. The monarch butterfly population reached an all-time low about two years ago. However, the population today is about six times what it was then. This can be largely attributed to improved weather and release from the severe drought in Texas. With that said, there are still threats that face the butterfly population, and that's why the researchers in this latest study decided to investigate the issue a bit more closely. "Thanks to years of data collected by the World Wildlife Fund and citizen-scientists across north America, we have pieced together the monarch life cycle to make inferences about what is impacting the butterflies," said Anurag Agrawal, professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at Cornell University and senior author of the study. The researchers actually didn't find evidence to support the "milkweed-limitation hypothesis" during the monarch's breeding season during the summer in the Midwestern and northeastern U.S. Instead, they found problems in the transition from the U.S. and southern Canada to the overwintering grounds in Mexico. So, what's happening? It's likely that the monarchs aren't finding enough nectar to feed on as they travel long distances. In addition, threats such as habitat loss and insecticide can also pose problems to the traveling monarchs, especially as populations of these butterflies continue to decline. "Given the intense interest in monarch conservation, the blame being put on herbicide use and the national dialog about potentially listing monarchs under the endangered species act, we have to get the science right," Agrawal said. The findings were recently published in the journal Oikos. @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Due to the increasing dangers of the Zika virus, federal health and safety officials have advised companies that employ pregnant women, women who are planning to become pregnant and men whose wives or girlfriends are planning pregnancy to consider letting them work indoors if they are in the proximity of areas with Zika transmission. The new suggestions could place a big burden on various industries that employ outdoor workers, such as construction, agriculture and transportation, if the virus makes its way to the American mainland this summer. "We recommend employers provide insect repellent with EPA active ingredients and encourage workers to use it," said Jill Shugart, a senior environmental health specialist with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, who also recommends that employers encourage staff to wear clothing that covers any exposed skin to reduce the chances of a mosquito bite. "If a worker indicates they are pregnant, we encourage reassignment," she added. The Zika virus poses the greatest risk of infection from mosquito bites, although the new guidelines also include recognition of its ability to transmit through sexual contact. The new guidelines are considered interim, meaning that they are not legally enforceable. These kinds of advisory guidelines are common during emergencies like epidemics. In addition to the aforementioned additions, the interim guidelines also recommend against pregnant women traveling to areas where Zika virus is circulating and suggest that businesses delay travel to these areas for workers who are or plan to become pregnant. The only American territories currently known to possess Zika transmission are Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and American Samoa. However, if the virus makes its way to Florida or the Gulf Coast this summer, which the CDC believe is possible, knowing the risk of specific locations will be difficult, although the risk for outdoor workers will be greatest in these areas. "Not throughout the United States, but pretty much the Gulf Coast and places in U.S. where there's concern about this virus becoming readily transmitted," said Rosemary Sokas, occupational health expert from the Georgetown University Medical Center. "They've already had dengue in Florida and Texas and they're anticipating the same issues with Zika." @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Weve been patiently waiting on Danny Browns first album since Old took the hip hop world by storm back in 2013. Apparently, its been finished for at least a month. On verge of beginning a short tour through Australia, Danny Brown had an in-depth conversation with The AU Review and revealed a few things about his upcoming album. Speaking on the delay between his albums, Danny Brown puts it into financial perspective. I used to feel like that [rushed] when I was in a time of my life where I maybe wasnt as financially stable as I am now, he explains. It was always like, I want to work, I want to do stuff. Ive got to get some money. At this time, Im alright, so I was able to take my time. I was able to do what I wanted to do and make the best possible product I could make. Im so happy and I cant wait; Im so excited for people to hear white Ive been working on for the past few years. Comparing his upcoming project to Old, Brown says that I feel like Ive found my sound since. This album is not necessarily about me experimenting so much, but more so about me just doing what Danny Brown does. Its just my sound, you know? A lot of those ideas I used to have before, Ive just built on those ideas and made them bigger. Theyve finally come full circle. Sounds like the album wont be a huge departure for Danny, and were more than okay with that. So just drop the album already! [via The AU Review] dannybrown-newalbuminterview After a three-year hiatus driven by the rapid release of their first two albums, The Shoos get ready to showcase their richest album yet, next month in Dublin. Producing an album can be an exhausting, albeit rewarding, job; after releasing their first two albums in two years, The Shoos stood back to take stock of where they were at and then allowed themselves a little time... For album number three, they put themselves under pressure to produce radio worthy music. Bassist Steve Maher explains that, We were itching to get back out there, but we really were focused on nailing it. We stopped ourselves from rushing the album until it was right. This decision made all the difference. Their time away has reinvigorated their The Shoos have created an album to be rightly proud of, while their belief in and commitment to their sound will set them apart as they crusade through their next stage as a band. Advertisement Needless to say, their upcoming album party will be a night not to be missed. The Shoos' album celebration party is set for May 26th at The Workman's Club and tickets are available now. The new album, The Shoos is out now. Houston's cash-starved drillers could see their collective credit limits shrink by billions of dollars this spring, as banks look to reduce exposure to struggling energy producers. "Banks are concerned about the potential for loan losses," said James Wilkins, an analyst at Moody's Investor Service. "They're seeking more security and want more cushion." Moody's has predicted that the riskiest producers could see their credit limits lowered by an average of 15 percent this spring. Some producers have already seen reductions has high as 40 percent, and three-fourths of riskier drillers expect to see their bases cut in the near future. Drillers could be asked to make payments or offer collateral to bring their outstanding credit in line with the lower ceilings, adding a burden that could force producers to sell assets or even seek bankruptcy protection. Other, healthier companies could be left with less access to the capital they need to stay afloat at $40 oil. Previously, banks have been lenient with drillers despite almost a year of cheap oil and gas and warnings that credit limits might fall. But as the downturn has gone on, smaller companies are running out of ways to raise new funds and keep creditors happy. "More companies are running out of options," said Mark Sadeghian, an energy credit analyst at Fitch Ratings. "There clearly is more pressure now." Banks typically re-evaluate how much they're willing to lend twice a year, once in the fall and once in the spring. The revisions affect a type of short-term credit that replenishes as its paid back, somewhat like a super-sized credit card. The loans are typically used to fund new wells and everyday business expenses. Smaller production companies typically pledge oil and gas reserves to support those loans, and as the value of those reserves has fallen, banks are willing to lend less. For a time, many smaller companies were able to keep creditors at bay by selling off assets to raise cash and pay debt. Others had locked in higher oil prices long ago through futures contracts. But those contracts are mostly gone, Moody's said. Now, creditors are cutting deeper and adding more terms to the loans they are willing to make. On April 14, Memorial Production Partners said lenders had cut its short-term credit limit by 20 percent from $1.2 billion to $925 million. The company also agreed to limits on how much cash it could pay investors to appease creditors. Others, such as Vanguard Natural Resources, may have their credit limits cut past the amount they'd borrowed under the old maximum. Creditors typically require companies to repay the excess, and Moody's said it expected Vanguard to do so by selling assets. In March, Vanguard said it had sold about $280 million worth of Oklahoma oil patch holdings to Titanium Exploration Partners. The least healthy companies may not be able to secure loans on any terms or sell assets to keep old loans, Moody's said, leaving them with no choice but to default. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate COATZACOALCOS, Mexico - Desperate relatives gathered outside a petrochemical plant Thursday hoping for news about loved ones still unaccounted for a day after an explosion killed at least 13 workers. Officials said 18 workers had been reported missing. About 30 families massed at a plant entrance road, where a sharp chemical smell still hung in the air about a mile from where the blast occurred Wednesday afternoon. Many wore facemasks to ward off the pungent odor. Shoving broke out as people unsuccessfully tried to force their way into the installation in Coatzacoalcos on Mexico's southern Gulf coast. Some shouted at marines and soldiers who were called in to guard the facility, and they threw rocks at a white government SUV when it arrived at the scene. Rosa Villalobos traveled about four hours by bus from the city of Veracruz to scour Coatzacoalcos hospitals looking for her son, Luis Alfonso Ruiz Villalobos, a 25-year-old worker at the plant. When she couldn't find him she showed up at the plant entrance. "What I want is for justice to be done in my son's case, for there to be no impunity," Villalobos said. "I'm going to stay here. Even though I have no money, even though I have nothing to eat, I'm staying put." Some volunteers brought food and drink to the families. After a while authorities began taking people inside in small groups to see a list of those confirmed dead. Some left crying after seeing their loved ones' names. Jose Antonio Gonzalez Anaya, director of the state oil company Petroleos Mexicanos, said one area of the plant was still too hot to enter and the death toll could rise. The blast in this industrial port city forced evacuations of nearby areas as it sent a toxin-filled cloud billowing into the air. State oil company Petroleos Mexicanos, or Pemex, said 136 workers were injured. Twenty-four remained hospitalized. Pemex said it and another company, Mexichem, operated the Clorados 3 plant of Petroquimica Mexicana de Vinilo, which produces the hazardous industrial chemical vinyl chloride. In early February, a fire killed a worker at the same facility. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate The Anders family - mom, dad, two kids, two dogs and a cat - moved into a midcentury-modern rancher in Meyerland last spring, just five weeks before the Memorial Day weekend floods inundated it with 2 feet of water. They moved out and stayed gone for months while the house was remodeled "from top to bottom." Last Monday, the floodwaters were back, this time rising 6 to 8 inches and forcing the family to ask again whether they should remodel or start over and rebuild. Erin Anders spent days working her way through piles of soggy laundry and stepping around heavy-duty fans noisily drying out the hardwoods. She paused to talk with the insurance adjuster. It wasn't supposed to be like this. The seller's disclosure said the 1959-vintage home had never flooded before, Anders said, "so we felt comfortable." Besides, she said, "Meyerland is supposed to be the neighborhood to be in, right?" The suburban enclave just outside Loop 610 in southwest Houston sprang from former rice fields in the mid-1950s. For years, it attracted families seeking a comfortable home zoned to good schools and close to the Texas Medical Center and many of the city's synagogues. Yet two devastating floods in 11 months have families and real estate agents asking existential questions about the neighborhood: Will people still want to buy homes there? What will happen to land values and home prices? Ed Wolff, a real estate broker who lives and works in Meyerland, was assessing the damage to his own home while trying to advise clients who were in the process of buying or selling properties there. By week's end, two of his buyers who were under contract on houses there decided to pull their offers. Neither house flooded last week, but both did last May. "It was the psychological aspect of it that affected them more than the reality," Wolff said. The optics certainly were disturbing. On the streets near Kolter Elementary, a high-performing grade school where students learn in multiple languages, piles of water-soaked carpets, wood boards and drywall were heaped onto curbs in front of flooded houses. The school was closed for two days last week, and flooded-out homeowners left to stay with friends or family. Pricey houses The recent housing boom brought only more popularity to Meyerland. Housing got more expensive, with the median price per square foot increasing 22 percent between 2011 and 2015, according to the Houston Association of Realtors. Last year, however, the median price per square foot declined 8 percent compared with 2014. By comparison, the Bellaire subdivision was up 4.5 percent, and Westbury gained 10 percent. The Harris County Appraisal District said it is still analyzing data from Meyerland for the past year so it declined to say how real estate values have been affected. It's hard to find a house in Meyerland listed for less than $400,000, and the prices go up to $1.4 million. Most of the neighborhood is bounded roughly by Beechnut Street to the north, Bellfort Street to the south, Chimney Rock Road to the west and South Post Oak to the east. 'Saturated' market Stacey Christman, a real estate agent who sold about 10 Meyerland-area houses that flooded last year, said builders initially were paying around $400,000 for lots. But she noticed prices starting to drop in the fall as builders slowed their acquisition pace as the economy softened. "Between the market being saturated with flooded houses and oil prices going down, you don't have as many people buying houses," Christman said. She became active in real estate in the area because she wanted to help people who were facing similar circumstances she was many years ago. Christman used to live in a part of Friendswood that flooded so many times the homeowners were bought out by the government, who removed their homes. Christman now has three listings in Meyerland that flooded in 2015. Two of them flooded again last week, and a buyer has one under contract. The buyer had plans to remodel it, but she's not sure what will happen now. "People are going to be pretty gun-shy," she said. Character affected The 2015 deluge had another impact on Meyerland that residents like Anders find unsettling. Builders started putting up more and larger new homes after the floods, affecting the character of the once-uniform neighborhood. That trend is now likely to be accelerated. Anders, whose home features a U-shaped layout and 18-foot ceilings, doesn't want everything to look the same. "You don't want a cookie-cutter neighborhood," she said. While some of her neighbors may cut their losses, sell and move elsewhere, others are moving forward. After last year's flood, Houston-based Partners in Building began taking new home orders from Meyerland-area residents whose homes were badly damaged. The company expects to do more this year. Staying affordable? People will continue to want to live in Meyerland because they grew up there, their kids are in the schools or it's close to their places of worship, said the homebuilder's president, Jim Lemming. "Folks we're talking to, they want to stay there, and this is the route they're going to go," said Lemming, who is building homes 5 or 6 feet higher than the ones that flooded. Wolff, who sees a neighborhood where values have remained stable, said Meyerland's location relative to other parts of Houston means there will always be people willing to buy there. "Does it keep Meyerland affordable because we've flooded multiple times? Maybe," he said. Residents are angry and want answers about why their neighborhood has taken so many hits. Wolff, who only had 2 inches of water in parts of his house this time around, remains hopeful the city will fix any drainage issues that may have caused the flooding. "We are physically capable of preventing some of this," he said. "There are plenty of places on earth that have engineered their way around these issues." This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate WHITEFIELD, Maine - Peter Froehlich lives at the end of a mile-long dirt road in a part of Maine where pickup trucks share the right of way with wandering dairy cows. The local cable company won't run a line down the road, and his cellphone is useless because he lives in a wireless dead zone. Now Froehlich, 70, worries a new Maine law will eventually allow the telephone company to unplug him from the plain old telephone service he depends on. "If they get out of the landline business, I will have no way to connect with anybody else, unless I get in my truck and drive out," he said. Maine is joining a growing group of states that have passed laws to limit or remove requirements that telephone companies provide traditional, price-controlled phone service - in essence, moving toward a day when plain old landline phone service goes from an endangered species to extinct. Concern is acute in Maine, the most rural state and the one with the oldest average population. Thirteen states in the past three years have said telephone companies can use alternative technology, like wireless and broadband Internet, to provide basic service. Maine is the first to end basic phone service mandates in communities where there is competition, said Sherry Lichtenberg, principal at the National Regulatory Research Institute. FairPoint said that it will still offer landline service in those areas, but that the service quality and price will be left to the free market. California is considering similar legislation. Ohio, Michigan and Kentucky have passed laws allowing telephone companies to stop offering traditional phone service and are now determining how to implement them, Lichtenberg said. "It will be interesting to see how fast other states follow Maine," she said. The bill signed this month by Maine Republican Gov. Paul LePage gives the state's largest telephone company, FairPoint Communications, a "level playing field" in the most competitive areas of the state and maintains consumer protection in areas where choices are fewer, said Mike Reed, president of FairPoint in Maine, which has struggled financially since buying Verizon's landline business in northern New England in 2007. "Maine has recognized the tensions the entire country faces," Reed said. Consumer groups that fought the bill argued it would allow FairPoint to abandon customers who still use their landline phones because they prefer the call quality and reliability. The senior advocacy group AARP, which led the opposition, later agreed not to fight the bill after lawmakers added consumer protections that made it harder for the company to abandon service. Amy Regan Gallant, a lobbyist for AARP, said the group nevertheless remains worried about the long-term future of traditional telephone service in Maine, with its implications for older people not using wireless technology. "We do suspect this is the beginning of the end of landline phones," she said. The issue resonates in Maine because vast parts of the state have spotty cell coverage and limited access to high-speed broadband service. But traditional phone companies can no longer afford the high cost of maintaining the legacy phone network in rural areas, and policy makers have yet to figure out a long-term plan for sustaining that network, said Jon Banks, an attorney with USTelecom, a trade group representing broadband service providers. "It's a rural problem," he said. He said traditional telephone companies have only an 18 percent share of the voice market, with half of their customers served by wireless networks and the remaining half split between old-style telephone lines and voice-over internet protocol service. The Maine law phases out state oversight of the old-style service, removing regulations first in seven cities where there is competition among providers and adding more communities until a limit of 22 is reached. Elsewhere in the state, the law requires FairPoint to provide basic service to every customer who wants it, but the company is now allowed to raise its rates up to 5 percent annually. New people are pouring into Houston faster than any other metropolitan area in the country. Between July 1, 2014, and July 1, 2015, the population grew by 159,083 people, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. That averages out to one more person every 3 minutes and 20 seconds. Same amount of time as a Taylor Swift song. But where do they all live? Of the 92 ZIP Codes that make up the pocket within Beltway 8, the area tied to the 77044 ZIP Code in Houston's northeastern corner saw the largest increase in residents in recent years. Between 2010 and 2014, 4,747 people were added to the population there, an increase of 15.3 percent. Although all people tend to move around - the average American will pick up and move about 11 times during his or her lifetime - there's more moving and shaking happening in the 77044 area than one would expect, even for a highly mobile region like Houston. Across the city, 75.6 percent of residents moved into their homes after 2000; but in the 77044 neighborhood, the rate is significantly higher, at 87.2 percent. The reason for the increase is two-fold. First, it's a classic case of, "if you build it, they will come." Between 2010 and 2014, the number of housing units in this northeastern neighborhood rose from 10,158 to 11,515, an increase of 13.4 percent. This outpaced the city as a whole, which added housing units at a rate of 2.3 percent. And the people schlepping out to the suburban fringe are younger than you might expect: More than half of residents there are younger than age 45. That leads to the second reason for the increase in 77044: With a large share of couples in their peak childbearing years, more babies are being born in 77044 than you'd expect. Nationally, 54 in 1,000 women gave birth during the 2014-15 period covered in the census. Houston's rate is a bit higher at 62 in 1,000 women. But in the 77044 neighborhood, there's a stork invasion, with 70 births for every 1,000 women. Let's hope all those new housing units come equipped with nurseries. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Sometimes the smartest food trends are obvious. While doing restaurant research the co-founders of Houston-based Hospitality USA were drawn to menus boasting farm-fresh produce, locally sourced meats and fish, nongenetically modified grains and dairy, and cage-free eggs. "One of the things we learned is better-quality food leads to better entrees, and I think that's what people are looking for," said Edgar Carlson, who founded HUSA with business partner Larry Martin. "We saw trends of restaurateurs doing good things with fewer ingredients and ingredients that are healthier for you. Some call it clear or transparent menus. Like all food trends, they're pretty obvious." While their portfolio of restaurants (including Baker St. Pub & Grill, Sherlock's Baker St. Pub, Local Pour and Watson's House of Ales) hasn't traditionally been associated with good-for-you foods, the company decided its newest brand would move toward that "clear" realm. Enter the Restless Palate. While in no way branded vegan or vegetarian - or even "healthy" food - HUSA wanted to tap the healthy-eating and healthy-living lifestyle that places a premium on quality food choices. Even before they opened on the green at La Centerra at Cinco Ranch in Katy, the owners were interacting with locals, asking what types of food they were drawn to and what didn't exist in their market. More Information Restless Palate 2643 Commercial Center Blvd., La Centerra at Cinco Ranch, Katy, 281-574-7431; rpfresh.com See More Collapse "They talked about great salads, simple grilled fish, flatbreads and a good burger," Carlson said. All of that, and much more, appears on the menu at Restless Palate, which opened a few weeks ago in the former home of D'Amico's, at 2643 Commercial Center Blvd. The restaurant's name suggests an adventurous appetite. "You're not resting from all the flavors, you're constantly discovering," is how HUSA chef Pablo Gomez described the rationale behind the name. And that drive to discover new flavor paths helped focus Gomez in developing a menu aimed at fresher, cleaner, health-conscious fare. The Restless Palate's lunch and dinner menus feature wheat-flour flatbreads (topped with chicken pesto and artichoke; firecracker rock shrimp; or roasted pears, blue cheese and candied pecans); toasts (avocado and cucumber; mozzarella and tomato; and roasted beets and ricotta); soups and entree salads; sandwiches and burgers; and starters such as warm goat cheese and San Marzano tomato dip, edamame and roasted garlic hummus, bay scallops and shrimp ceviche, and peppered bacon deviled eggs. Entrees include herb-grilled salmon with kale, asparagus and quinoa; shrimp with Thai curry, broccoli, carrots, fried basil and brown rice; seared sashimi-grade yellowfin tuna tacos with Mediterranean couscous; and a churrasco steak served with brown rice with quinoa, black bean and sweet potato medley and chimichurri sauce. Restless Palate aims to create healthier (and flavorful) food whenever possible, Gomez said. Strategies include using more vegetables, fresh Gulf seafood, limited to no use of butter and cream or heavy sauces, and frying in rice bran oil. The restaurant, which offers craft cocktails, beer and wine, also brews local Geva Premium Coffee and makes aguas frescas each day. Chef Matt Marcus of Eatsie Boys and 8th Wonder Brewery was brought in as a consultant while the menu was being developed to give Restless Palate's food an even greater creative edge. Marcus said he welcomed the opportunity to work with Restless Palate. "Doing projects like this is important to me to grow as a chef," he said. "I enjoyed having the creative liberty to do cool new things." A restaurant boasting a menu with more healthful ingredients might be welcome in a retail and restaurant community where neighboring brands include Bernie's Burger Bus, Torchy's Tacos, Bonefish Grill, Perry's Steakhouse & Grille, and HUSA's own Baker St. Pub & Grill. Who knows - maybe a little "clear" will rub off on one of the sister brands? Sesame ginger Ahi tuna salad Katy Turkey Sandwich Firecracker Rock Shrimp Flatbread LOS ANGELES - Stance, a maker of luxury socks, has raised $86 million. Dollar Shave Club, a grooming company that supplies subscribers with razors and moistened bathroom wipes, has amassed more than $160 million. And the Honest Co., actress Jessica Alba's home-care brand known for its plant-based diapers, has scored $222 million. The three businesses make consumer goods, yet they're all backed by heaps of venture capital - the type of funding that fuels the tech world. So why are the biggest investors in technology backing firms whose tech prowess amounts to little more than a nifty website and a social media team? It's a question that lingers in the Herman Miller-gilded boardrooms of venture capital firms. And it's one that underscores how Silicon Valley, despite its reputation for world-changing ideas, can also quietly embrace the mundane. "It's a debate we're constantly having," said Venky Ganesan, managing director of Menlo Ventures, which invested not only in Stance but also Uber and Siri before it was sold to Apple Inc. "Does the world need a cure for cancer or another e-commerce startup?" No one was asking that half a century ago when Wall Street financiers first took notice of the innovations - largely for the military - coming out of commercial labs in California and research universities such as Stanford. Those bankers would engender a culture of risk-taking that believed, with a little funding, crazy ideas like the microchip could take flight in a big way. "In the old days, the Valley went for moonshots in part because of, well, moonshots," said Margaret O'Mara, a history professor at the University of Washington. "Venture capitalists invested in and nurtured companies doing these things because very small companies could grow large by building sophisticated little devices." But even early on, there was a willingness to explore investments that had little to do with technology. Draper, Gaither & Anderson, one of the first venture capital firms when it opened in 1959 in Palo Alto, invested in drugs for glaucoma as well as cushioned playground surfaces. Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, the money behind game-changing companies such as Tandem Computers, also invested in a sneaker-resoling business and a hybrid between a motorcycle and snowmobile called the Snowjob. "It took awhile for these firms to develop their reputations," said Leslie Berlin, a project historian for the Silicon Valley Archives at Stanford. "They had to figure out which business models worked for them." Those business models have generally depended on the technological trends of the day - from the personal computer revolution to the rise of the Internet. For a time, e-commerce itself was on the technological forefront thanks to venture-backed firms like Amazon and Webvan, which helped introduce online shopping to the masses. They inspired entrepreneurs to create digital alternatives to retail - a trend that continues unabated today in all manner of consumer categories, including mattresses (Casper, $71 million raised) and tuxedos (Generation Tux, $25 million raised). The appeal of consumer goods like shampoo and razors is that you don't have to explain why anyone needs them, making them a somewhat safer bet than, say, a virtual reality startup or a builder of flying cars. Venture capital firms invested more than $1 billion in retail and distribution in the U.S. last year, more than five times the 2013 sum, according to the National Venture Capital Association. An additional $4.8 billion went to consumer products and services, nearly four times more than 2013. In that time, retail has nearly tripled to 1.7 percent of all venture capital investment while consumer goods and services has nearly doubled to over 8 percent. Many in this new wave of consumer startups differ from Amazon in that they don't live and die on complex algorithms to manage inventory or drive sales. Instead, they buy third-party software to build an e-commerce platform, then lean on clever marketing to differentiate their brands. The result? Innovation no longer has to be defined by technology, but simply enabled by it. "You don't always need tech to be transformative," Ganesan said. Take Dollar Shave Club, which has been so disruptive to the razor industry that its main rival, Gillette, was compelled to launch a similar online subscription service and later filed a patent lawsuit against the Los Angeles startup. Despite that, there's nothing particularly cutting-edge about Dollar Shave Club's razors. They're made by a South Korean manufacturer, Dorco, which sells the same blades to many customers (though the brand's grooming products are developed in-house). What Dollar Shave Club does expertly is marketing. Founder Mike Dubin is famous for his tongue-in-cheek commercials, which have racked up tens of millions of views on YouTube. And the company's social media and customer service teams have spread that irreverent attitude online. In a similar fashion, Honest Co. has benefited from skillful marketing and ample media coverage of Alba, its Hollywood A-list co-founder. The brand, which largely uses contractors to make its products, has positioned itself as a more natural alternative to mainstream sellers of things like soaps, shampoos and detergents. "I don't think anything is game-changing tech in what we do," said Brian Lee, one of Honest's four co-founders and a veteran investor in consumer startups. "We were born online, so digital was part of our DNA. ... I don't define us as e-commerce or retail. Rather, I define the company as a way of life." There are also major advantages of going Web-only. Dollar Shave Club can deliver its products nationwide to anyone without the risks and costs of opening physical stores. And thanks to its subscription model, the company knows the buying habits of its customers intimately - a powerful edge on legacy brands. Dollar Shave Club does this with software built by its own engineers, suggesting that some consumer startups may be more technical than they appear. "It's almost like these things are so commonplace you forget how revolutionary it is," Jeremy Liew of Lightspeed Venture Partners said of online retailers. To Liew, whose firm has backed Honest, apparel brand Bonobos and fashion subscription service ShoeDazzle, the success of e-commerce startups proves how straightforward his job is. "I don't think the mission of venture capital is to take big risks and change the world," Liew said. "The job of venture capital is more prosaic - investing money in companies that will have more value in the future than they have today." Not everyone shares that view. Some leading tech investors say it's good business to take big risks on companies with the potential for profound change. Fail to do that and you're just an ordinary capitalist, not a venture capitalist. Consider Sun Microsystems co-founder Vinod Khosla, who later formed Khosla Ventures. His firm was an early investor in $1 billion unicorns such as Lookout, which predicts mobile security flaws before they strike, and Square, which lets anyone with a smartphone process credit card payments. "Frankly, I find most venture capitalists are investors more than risk takers," Khosla said. "As I like to say, I'm OK with a 90 percent chance of failure if there is a 10 percent chance of a world-changing technology in some large area." Most often, that means looking under the hood of a startup and seeing if there's meaningful technology inside. "We don't do e-commerce and the reason is because they aren't tech companies, in our view," Khosla said. "They're about marketing the products." Blind optimism in tech has faded in the last year, highlighted by the fact that not a single tech firm has gone public so far in 2016. The cooling sentiment could steer an even larger chunk of venture capital toward industry giants like Uber. The rest will be fought over by consumer and high-tech startups alike. As investors try to find the smartest places to put their money, some in the tech world wonder whether backing another e-commerce startup will come at the expense of more novel technologies. Stefanos Zenios, whose entrepreneurship class at the Stanford Graduate School of Business created food delivery app DoorDash, can't deny his preference. "I wish more of my students would spend more time thinking about startups based on solid technology as opposed to meeting the next consumer trend," he said. "I believe the pendulum has swung too much toward consumer-oriented startups. I don't think it benefits the long-term vitality of our economy. Strong tech that creates something unique and a competitive advantage is more sustainable." Here's a story University of Houston English professor and folklorist Carl Lindahl told me on a wet Wednesday afternoon this week, our city not yet recovered from Sunday night's deadly deluge: It was another Wednesday, 11 years ago, and Lindahl had responded to the UH president's request for the academic community to volunteer in the massive effort to get Katrina evacuees settled in Houston. Although he's one of the world's foremost scholars of folk narrative, Lindahl wasn't a specialist - a medical professional or a social worker - so his assignment was to sort piles of donated clothes at the George R. Brown Convention Center. Among the tired and bedraggled evacuees waiting for help was a New Orleans resident in his 50s who was maybe 6 feet 7 inches tall. "He had this amazing mixture of looking both composed and bewildered," the professor recalls. "And I was trying to find pants for him that were long enough in the leg to fit him. And it took us quite a while. And he started telling me a story, not because I asked him, but because apparently he just needed to tell it." The tall evacuee told Lindahl that he was among seven people trapped on the second floor of a building as the filthy water rose up the stairwell. When it became obvious help wasn't coming, the man stepped off into "the junk" and swam block after block to a drug store, broke in and liberated several cases of water. He had never broken into anything in his life, he told Lindahl. He apologized. More Information Storm Songs & Stories When: May 4; doors open at 7 p.m., show at 8 p.m. Where: Upstairs at Rudyard's, 2010 Waugh Info: No cover; open mic; all storm-related songs, stories, poems are welcome. See More Collapse To get the heavy cases back, he fashioned a harness out of a rope and coat hangers, attached the clumsy contraption to his shoulders and plunged back into the water. He survived and so did his friends in the building, thanks to his remarkable feat. And now, this unprepossessing middle-aged man had made his way to Houston with nothing but the clothes on his back, and even they were unwearable. His story was so powerful in the telling because he had to tell it, Lindahl concluded. He had to convince himself that it had really happened. It was as if the heaviness of that experience was too burdensome to bear alone. "I was so impressed by the humility with which he told this story," the professor recalls. "I was so awed by what he said, I forgot to ask his name. That story just kept haunting me." Lindahl also realized at that moment that he may not be a doctor or a social worker, but as a professor of narrative he was a specialist of sorts. He saw a way to help beyond sorting clothes. The mild-mannered scholar called his friend and fellow folklorist Pat Jasper, the brash, take-charge founder of Texas Folklife Resources in Austin, and in the coming weeks the two of them developed a one-of-a-kind project called "Surviving Katrina and Rita in Houston." Sponsored by UH, with money from the Houston Endowment and elsewhere and with assistance from the Library of Congress, the idea was to train survivors to gather narratives from their own communities. 'Rebuilding community' The two folklorists knew that survivors sharing stories with fellow survivors would be a more powerful and cathartic experience than telling their stories to notebook-scribbling journalists, oral historians or therapists. They knew that people who have been through traumatic events are more likely to open up to those who have survived similar experiences - and both are changed by the encounter. With assistance from Margaret Bulger, director of the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress, the two Texas folklorists designed an intensive, weeklong field school at UH that provided fundamental research skills - how to conduct an interview, how to record and transcribe it, how to be sensitive to ethical concerns. Participants were paid for their time in the classroom and the field. "What we found was that by bringing these people together to learn how to collect stories and tell each other their own stories, they started rebuilding community, this community of survivors," Jasper told me Wednesday afternoon. "There really is a lot of evidence outside our field of folklore that telling one's story leads to creating social networks, leads to enhanced resilience, leads to rebuilding a new form of community for the people who have been traumatized." Chantell Jones embodies that evidence. A 19-year-old community college student in New Orleans when Katrina destroyed her New Orleans East neighborhood, she and her large extended family had to be rescued by helicopter. They made their way to Austin and then Houston, where they bounced from shelter to shelter before moving into a Greenspoint-area motel for two months. That's when they began to realize that they weren't going back home and when Jones became an interviewer with the survivor project. She conducted an estimated 40 interviews. "I knew a lot of people over here," she told me, "and it was very emotional telling the stories and hearing the stories, seeing the hurt and the pain that people went through. But part of it was therapeutic. It bonded us, made us closer." Jones, 30, is now a Houstonian. She works for a company that does media research. This week's flood, she said, "brings back all the bad memories. I've cried every day this week." 'What else' but write? Lindahl and Jasper, like Jones, have moved on to other projects, although Lindahl's work is a more ambitious outgrowth of the Katrina-Rita project. He's worked with tsunami survivors in Japan, earthquake survivors in Haiti and, currently, Syrian refugees in Italy. As in Houston, he's helping them tell their stories. Also like Jones, Jasper and her husband have become Houstonians. She's developed an ambitious folk-life program for her richly diverse city and on May 4 will present one last look at Houston's Katrina, Rita and Ike experiences. In conjunction with Houston Grand Opera, it's an open-mike presentation at Rudyard's on Waugh called "Storm Songs & Stories." She got the idea some years ago, she said, when she realized how many local roots musicians had written Ike songs. "What the hell else were people doing," she asked the other day, "when there was no electricity, and they couldn't go to work? They were writing songs, they were writing poems, they were creating spoken-word pieces." They'll be offering up those pieces May 4, as will longtime New Orleans snare drummer Lumar LeBlanc, one of Jasper's interviewers when he escaped to Houston after Katrina. I talked to him this week by phone from New Orleans, where he and his band Soul Rebels are rehearsing for Jazz Fest. "People sharing, even though it was in the middle of a catastrophe, gave us a sense of self-sufficiency," he said. "That's the part that I most admired about the survivor project." A vital need LeBlanc, a Texas Southern graduate, has long known what Jasper has discovered about her adopted city. After Ike, she said, "I realized that every Houstonian has a storm story." The immediate need in this town, of course, is to make sure that people are safe, that they have a roof over their heads, that they have clean clothes to wear. But there will come a time - in fact, it's probably here now - when our latest storm survivors will realize that sharing their stories also is a vital need. The memoirist Patricia Hampl once put it this way: "A story, we sense, is the only possible habitation for the burden of our witnessing." If we're among the lucky ones, if we escaped this week unscathed, one of our tasks will be to listen to those stories. Just listen. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate It's 9 o'clock on a Tuesday night and the sound of sneakers pounding on whirring treadmills travels across the wide open space at 24 Hour Fitness-Galleria. Traditionally, late-night hours have been a dead zone for gyms. But in recent years, busy Americans have shifted their schedules, finding pockets of time in the evening to squeeze in workouts. Between 2005 and 2015, the number of visits to fitness studios after 9 p.m. grew 47 times over, according to Mindbody, an app that helps users schedule workouts. And Houston is no exception to this national trend. "We're super busy at night," says Mallory Miller, manager at the Galleria gym on Richmond. "Usually, clubs get busy at around 6 or 7, but here, it's about 8 or 9 at night that clubs get really busy," she says as a stream of people pours out of a classroom at the end of a boot camp session. Some head to the staircase to go home for the night. Others scatter into the gym's cavernous workout area for a little extra toning. What's behind the shift? The International Health, Racquet & Sportsclub Association reports a steady increase in the number of people who belong to a fitness club, growing even as Americans log more hours at their desks. Changing tastes, that come with a younger generation's increased presence in the market, also come into play. "The members and guests who take advantage of the late hours are primarily younger - in their 20s to mid-30s, young professionals," says Scott Elliott, general manager at Studio Fitness, a Houston gym that recently pushed its weeknight closing time from 9 p.m. to 10 p.m. to accommodate demand. Pew Research Center reports that millennials are much more likely to work out than their older peers; 56 percent of millennials said they'd gotten vigorous exercise in the past 24 hours, compared to 48 percent of Generation Xer and 42 percent of baby boomers. Add in the fact that classes and weightlifting sessions can double as a social hour, and the demand for later workouts comes into focus. "We have a lot of people who come with their boyfriends and girlfriends, and their friends," says Chris Caldwell, the trainer in charge of 24 Hour Fitness' 8 p.m. boot camp class. "I would say maybe about 30 (percent) to 40 percent of the people who come to class come with at least someone they know, or a significant other. Maybe even more. It's very social." For Jonathan Hernandez, a sophomore at Bellaire High School, his three-hour-a-night routine at 24 Hour Fitness is a healthy way to hang out with friends. "When we get home from school, we're pretty much tired, so we take a quick nap, eat and then when we rest up and come here, we're full of energy," Hernandez says, taking a pause from a set of partner push-ups he completed with his friend and classmate Erik Cuevas. "We do this like five or six times a week," says Cuevas, 16, whose weeklong schedule sets days aside for back, arm and chest exercises. "This is our hobby." While late-night workouts are increasing in popularity, they're not for everybody. "Working out or doing any kind of vigorous exercise in the evening, within a couple hours of bedtime, it gets all the wrong hormones excited," says Richard Castriotta, medical director for the Sleep Disorders Center at Memorial Hermann Texas Medical Center and director of pulmonary and sleep medicine at UTHealth's McGovern Medical School. "The workout itself results in an increase in the secretion of adrenaline and a whole slew of chemical mediators that are geared to keeping you awake and alert - the fight-or-flight reaction." Castriotta recommends that people don't schedule workouts within a couple of hours of bedtime, noting that in addition to adrenaline, exercise also triggers the release of norepinephrine and cortisol, chemicals that should be low at night and peak in the morning to accommodate the body's circadian rhythms. "There are always exceptions to every generality," he says. "Just like there are people who can drink a pot of coffee and sleep like a baby, there may be some who can exercise at night and sleep very well." Jasmine Quinerly counts herself as an exception. For the past few years, she's been heading to 24 Hour Fitness at odd hours that work with her schedule as a minister. She also stops by for personal training sessions beginning at 9 p.m. twice a week. Quinerly's trainer, Monet Young, works her so hard in the total-body sessions that Quinerly says she can't wait to hit the pillow afterward. "I have heard people who don't work out late because they do have trouble winding down. But that's not my issue," Quinerly says laughing. "When I get home, I'm done." Mike Glenn A wrecker was able to free a truck that had dropped through a hole in a parking garage roof of a west Houston shopping center. The truck was pumping water from a flooded garage about 4 p.m. Friday in the 900 block of Town and Country when the pavement suddenly gave way. AUSTIN - Life outside the governor's mansion has proven profitable for Rick Perry. The former Texas governor made more than $365,000 in total compensation in 2015 for serving on the corporate boards of two firms that are part of Republican mega-donor Kelcy Warren's vast energy empire, according to regulatory filings. The filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission detail publicly for the first time the value of Perry's compensation for his role as a non-employee director at two pipeline companies. His compensation for 2015 included more than $107,000 in cash and $255,000 in stock awards - and he's already been given shares worth $100,000 for each company this year as part of annual equity awards. Perry was appointed to a board position at Dallas-based Energy Transfer Partners in early February 2015, roughly two weeks after he officially wrapped up serving 14 years as governor, the longest stretch in state history. Regulatory filings also show Perry accepted another board position the following month with Sunoco Logistics Partners, an appointment that had not previously been reported. The two companies are part of a network that fall under the umbrella of Energy Transfer Equity, which is led by Warren. The Dallas oil-and-gas billionaire plunked $6 million into several super PACs that last year supported Perry's failed presidential bid. Both companies declined through spokespeople to comment on Perry's appointment or his compensation packages. Steve Werner, a professor of management at the University of Houston's Bauer College of Business, said tapping the former governor of a state rich in oil and gas makes perfect sense for the two pipeline firms. "You could look at it from a negative viewpoint where this is a way of gaining influence. That would raise a question of whether the ex-governor has any influence," said Werner, who has written a book on managing human resources in the oil and gas industry. "The realistic view is this is somebody that knows about the inner workings of government and one that's well-versed in the oil industry." In filings, the two companies said Perry was selected due to "his vast experience as an executive in the highest office of state government" and because he had been "involved in finance and budget planning processes throughout his career in government." Corporate board directors are selected to represent shareholders' best interests and to "essentially look over management's shoulder to make sure they are running the company correctly," said Steve Hall, a founding partner and managing director of independent compensation consulting firm Steve Hall and Partners. And, Hall said, it's not out of the ordinary for ex-politicos to land on corporate boards. Several former U.S. senators have ended up with positions in corporate boardrooms. Former Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson joined the boards of several private companies, and ex-Florida Gov. Jeb Bush also served on boards or as an adviser to at least 15 companies and nonprofits. Bush resigned all of his corporate and nonprofit board positions in the lead-up to his run for president. "When you're dealing with regulatory agencies and other government bodies, it's always nice to have somebody on your board that knows those inner workings," said Hall, whose firm specializes in executive compensation and corporate governance. "You're getting the expertise of this person. It's not just the number of hours you're sitting in front of a boardroom or a stack of paper." Along with his corporate board pay, Perry reported earning $250,000 in 2015 for "consulting" from a company headed by San Antonio's Peter Holt, another major Perry campaign donor. Perry also reported state retirement income of more than $130,000, according to a personal financial disclosure report filed with the Federal Elections Commission this week. For his corporate positions, Energy Transfer Partners reported paying Perry $82,420 in cash and shares worth $154,400 at the time they were awarded. The board position at Sunoco Logistics Partners netted Perry $25,000 cash, and shares valued at $101,250. The shares do not fully vest until 2020, according to regulatory filings. Perry also gets an annual equity award of shares worth $100,000 from each company. Those shares also don't fully vest until five years after they are awarded. Hall, the compensation expert, said Perry's pay packages fall in line with the industry standard for non-employee directors, noting that neither Energy Transfer Partners nor Sunoco Logistics Partners were among the top companies for director pay in the energy sector. "There's nothing out of the ordinary with his compensation," said Hall, whose firm studied director pay at 600 companies in 2014, including at the two where Perry serves as a director. "What you typically find is there are no special deals for directors. If you're a director, this is basically what you get." This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate With Congress debating whether to approve President Barack Obama's request for $1.9 billion in emergency funding to battle the Zika virus, the second-ranking Senate Republican on Friday said the public health risk may be too great to leave the response a dollar short. "It's a lot of money, and the question is what is the appropriate level of funding. Are we responding to this as we should? Are we overreacting or underreacting?" Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, said at a press conference at Texas Children's Hospital. "What I learned here today is the risk of underreacting is really too high to take any chances." Dr. Peter Hotez, a tropical disease expert with Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children's, warned previously that Houston likely would be ground zero for a Zika outbreak in the U.S. because it shares the three factors driving the rapid spread of the virus in other countries - poverty, crowding and mosquitoes. Cornyn spoke after meeting with doctors, including Hotez, and public health officials, who expressed the difficulty of trying to react to an unknown and unpredictable virus on the fly. "We're all scrambling as quickly as we can to see what it does," said Dr. Kjersti Aagaard, associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children's. "We have a virus that is completely unpredictable clinically. We don't know how many women who are infected will actually have babies born with microcephaly. And we don't know how it's going to behave as it continues to move forward." The Obama administration has agreed to use $500 million that was appropriated for the Ebola crisis but not yet spent. Cornyn called it a "good down payment" on the Zika response until Congress can consider appropriations bills providing additional money. But that might not happen until September, well after the summer months when the risk of an outbreak of the mosquito-borne virus in the U.S. is the highest. "It's late, but I'm glad there's some intent to do it," U.S. Rep. Gene Green, a Democrat representing the 29th District including parts of Houston, said at a Rice University global health conference earlier in the day. "We certainly need it right now." Dr. Mustapha Debboun, director of mosquito control with Harris County, said the mosquitoes that can transmit the Zika virus are most active in the warm, humid months of June and July. It's only a matter of time, he said, before a local mosquito bites someone who has acquired Zika in another country, starting the spread of the virus in the U.S. "Sometimes the wheels of Congress move very slowly," Cornyn said. "But we want to make sure we're not writing blank checks." The Zika funds will be used by the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to finance research and development of new diagnostic tests and potentially a Zika vaccine, and to support the public health infrastructure on the front lines of the Zika response. Earlier this year, researchers Texas Children's and Houston Methodist Hospital developed the first hospital-based rapid test for Zika and have tested at least 75 patients so far. Hotez said it was unlikely a vaccine could be developed in time for the current global outbreak. In the absence of a vaccine, the public health response in the U.S. will focus instead on prevention, trying to delay the start of a Zika outbreak in the states as long as possible and to minimize its spread once it starts. Prevention activities are targeted primarily at eliminating the Aedes aegypti mosquito that can carry Zika from person to person. Local health departments are urging individuals to eliminate trash such as tires or plastic containers that can hold water and provide a breeding site for mosquitoes. Debboun said this week's flooding in Houston likely filled those receptacles with water once again, but the storm came before the height of the mosquito season in June and July. The first sign that Zika has begun circulating in the U.S. might not come until six to nine months later when women start delivering babies with birth defects linked to the virus. "Every time we learn more about this virus, it gets worse and worse," Hotez said. "This is every parent's worst nightmare." This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Mayor Sylvester Turner moved Friday to make good on his promise to provide temporary housing for flood-displaced residents - most from the Greenspoint area - by securing hotel accommodations for families who had been living in city shelters. City health and housing officials, together with Red Cross volunteers, began checking families out of the city's last remaining shelter about 6:30 p.m. Friday, loading them onto Metro buses and taxis that would transport them to one of seven Greenspoint-area hotels. Four days after floodwaters tore through 1,800 Greenspoint apartments, the city was prepared to house 139 families - everyone who was registered at the M.O. Campbell shelter as of Friday morning - for up to a week at a total cost of about $139,000, according to the city's flood recovery coordinator Bill Kelly. The effort is set to be financed by the nonprofit Greater Houston Storm Relief Fund, which Turner said has taken in well over $1 million in three days. "He wants them to be in a place that's comfortable. Right now they're sleeping on cots in a high school gymnasium," Turner spokeswoman Janice Evans said. "A hotel is a bed with a shower and you're not sleeping with a bunch of other people. You've got more privacy for your family. It's just all those comforts that we all would like to have." The strategy has precedent, as the city worked alongside nonprofits last year to place victims in hotels after weather emergencies. Turner, who was not present at M.O. Campbell on Friday night, announced during a Wednesday community meeting that he was aiming to secure temporary housing for all shelter occupants by 5 p.m. Friday. "My job is to protect the people, and we are going to make sure that they are protected," he said. News of the hastily arranged plan - finalized by Houston officials late Friday afternoon - reached those residing in the shelter chaotically, with some receiving phone calls from the city and others learning of the plan by word of mouth. Tears began rolling down Jasmine Green's cheeks as she received word of her placement at Baymont Inn & Suites, three miles away from her flooded Arbor Court apartment. "It's like the best thing that's happened to me," Green, 25, told health department official Valerie Atara as her 3-year-old son bounced on her lap. "Everything in its time, I told you that, didn't I?" Atara replied. Fitzgerald Williams of Acres Homes was crying, too, when he sat down to be checked out. Hours earlier, Williams, a 45-year-old father of six, had fretted about his family's plans, assuming they would be in a shelter until housing assistance came through. "There's just a lot of stuff I'm going through right now," he said over lunch. Now, Williams said he didn't know what to think. "I'll get over there and see what they got," he said. 'Organized chaos' Under Turner's command, city officials sought to move all displaced residents from M.O. Campbell on Friday night. "It's kind of organized chaos, but it'll work," Health Department Director Stephen Williams mused. He said the Red Cross was compiling a list of flood victims not registered with the shelter as of Friday morning, adding that the city might have to get another set of rooms. Charles Blake of the Red Cross stressed that he was prepared to keep the shelter open if necessary. "If they don't have enough spaces to place people this evening, then the shelter will remain open," Blake said. "We'll be here as long as the people need some place to stay." Meanwhile, the city has continued to work with the owners of Greenspoint's 17 flooded apartment complexes to find longer-term housing for those affected by the flood. Steve Moore, part-owner of 10 of those properties, said Friday morning that he thought he had the capacity to accommodate all of the families who had been staying in the shelter. Applicants would be required to undergo a full background check. "If somebody shows up, we've got to treat them just like any other applicant," he said. Moore estimated that by the middle of next week, he would be able to restore enough units to accommodate all of his displaced tenants who wanted to return. Credit on May rent Friday morning, crews of contractors removed drywall and insulation from affected apartments at Moore's Rockridge Springs apartments, as a church-affiliated group removed debris that had accumulated outside. "People lost a lot of stuff. Trust me, we know - we've been throwing it away," said Talton Morris, a 22-year-old Greenspoint resident working cleanup for $10 an hour. Families whose apartments flooded are set to receive a 25 percent credit on their May rent, according to letters provided to residents. Jeff Lowry's Park De Ville apartments took on 18-20 inches of standing water, he said, and yet he believed all 60 families living in the affected first-floor units had opted to stay after the flooding. Lowry, the owner, said he was prepared to abate May rent, help residents relocate to another unit at one of his properties or allow them to break their lease without penalty, depending on what families wanted. HUD subsidized Securing accommodations for residents of the nearby Arbor Court apartments - a subsidized housing complex and one of Greenspoint's hardest hit - is expected to be more difficult. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development must sign off before that housing subsidy, currently tied to the complex, can be transferred elsewhere. "HUD has a process, and we're kind of just waiting and working through that," said Michael Gerber of the Housing Authority of the City of Austin, whose subsidiary administers the vouchers for Arbor Court. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate UNITED NATIONS - Leaders from 175 countries signed the Paris Agreement on climate change Friday as the landmark deal took a key step forward, potentially entering into force years ahead of schedule. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, holding his young granddaughter, joined dozens of world leaders for a signing ceremony that set a record for international diplomacy: Never have so many countries signed an agreement on the first available day. States that don't sign Friday have a year to do so. "We are in a race against time," U.N. secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told the gathering. "The era of consumption without consequences is over." Many now expect the climate agreement to enter into force long before the original deadline of 2020. Some say it could happen this year. After signing, countries must formally approve the Paris Agreement through their domestic procedures. The United Nations says 15 countries, several of them small island states under threat from rising seas, did that Friday by depositing their instruments of ratification. World watching U.S. China, the world's top carbon emitter, announced it will "finalize domestic procedures" to ratify the Paris Agreement before the G-20 summit in China in September. Ban immediately welcomed the pledge. Kerry said the United States "absolutely intends to join" the agreement this year. The world is watching anxiously: Analysts say that if the agreement enters into force before President Barack Obama leaves office in January, it would be more complicated for his successor to withdraw from the deal because it would take four years to do so under the agreement's rules. China's climate envoy, Xie Zhenhua, said his government hopes the U.S. will join the climate agreement "as soon as possible." The United States put the deal into economic terms. "The power of this agreement is what it is going to do to unleash the private sector," Kerry told the gathering, noting that this year is again shaping up to be the hottest year on record. Ban warned that the work ahead will be enormously expensive. "Far more than $100 billion - indeed, trillions of dollars - is needed to realize a global, clean-energy economy," he said. The agreement will enter into force once 55 countries representing at least 55 percent of global emissions have formally joined it. An analysis by the Washington-based World Resources Institute found that at least 25 countries representing 45 percent of global emissions joined the agreement Friday or committed to joining it early. French President Francois Hollande, the first to sign the agreement, said Friday he will ask parliament to ratify it by this summer. France's environment minister is in charge of global climate negotiations. "There is no turning back now," Hollande told the gathering. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also announced that his country would ratify the agreement this year. Other countries that said Friday they intend to join the agreement this year include Mexico and Australia. Countries set targets Countries that have not yet indicated they would sign the agreement Friday include some of the world's largest oil producers, including Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Nigeria and Kazakhstan, the World Resources Institute said. The Paris Agreement, the world's response to hotter temperatures, rising seas and other impacts of climate change, was reached in December as a major breakthrough in U.N. climate negotiations, which for years were slowed by disputes between rich and poor countries over who should do what. Under the agreement, countries set their own targets for reducing emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. The targets are not legally binding, but countries must update them every five years. Already, states face pressure to do more. Scientific analyses show the initial set of targets that countries pledged before Paris don't match the agreement's long-term goal to keep global warming below 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit), compared with pre-industrial times. Global average temperatures have already climbed by almost 1 degree Celsius. Last year was the hottest on record. The latest analysis by the Climate Interactive research group shows the Paris pledges put the world on track for 3.5 degrees Celsius of warming. A separate analysis by Climate Action Tracker, a European group, projected warming of 2.7 degrees Celsius. Either way, scientists say the consequences could be catastrophic in some places, wiping out crops, flooding coastal areas and melting Arctic sea ice. MEXICO CITY - An international panel of experts brought to Mexico to investigate the haunting disappearance of 43 students that ignited a global outcry says it cannot solve the case because of a sustained campaign of harassment, stonewalling and intimidation against it. The investigators say they have endured carefully orchestrated attacks in the Mexican media, a refusal by the government to turn over documents or grant interviews with essential figures, and even a retaliatory criminal investigation into one of the officials who appointed them. For some, the inevitable conclusion is that the government simply does not want the experts to solve the case. "The conditions to conduct our work don't exist," said Claudia Paz y Paz, a panel member who earned international recognition for prosecuting a former Guatemalan dictator on charges of genocide. "And in Mexico, the proof is that the government opposed the extension of our mandate, isn't it?" The pressure on the investigators - described by four of the five panel members in an interview with The New York Times - undermines promises by the Mexican government to fully cooperate and uncover what happened to the students, one of the worst human rights abuses in the country's recent memory. Hundreds of thousands flooded the streets to protest the disappearances, sending President Enrique Pena Nieto's approval ratings plummeting and contradicting his effort to depict Mexico as a progressive nation ready to assume its place on the world stage. Instead, the case exposed the impunity tearing at the seams of the rule of law. The international investigators say their job is far from complete. But they will leave Mexico in the coming days nonetheless - pushed out, they say, by a government many suspect of covering up what happened on the night in September 2014 when the 43 college students were abducted by the police and never seen or heard from again. By contrast, the Mexican government says it has fully cooperated with the experts, completing the vast majority of their information requests, while it is still processing the rest. For the families of the missing, young men training to be teachers in the impoverished stretches of rural Mexico, the experts' departure will be devastating. All along, they have refused to believe the government's version of events - that their children, who were in the city of Iguala as part of a protest, were kidnapped by local police officers working for powerful criminal gangs, then killed and incinerated in the garbage dump of a nearby town. In its version of the story, the government never gave a clear motive for the attack. For many Mexicans, the case represents something far greater than 43 people: It is a window onto the tens of thousands of others who have also disappeared during the nation's decadelong drug war, and the anguish visited on their families. Caught between cartel violence and a government either unwilling or unable to help, they are victims twice. Although the group's final report will be issued Sunday morning, the case is far from solved. The remains of only one of the 43 have been found and identified; the rest are still missing. At the start of the presidential campaign, Ted Cruz told voters he would be the only "consistent conservative" in a crowded Republican field. Then he confronted the modern GOP - a fractured party, in which each faction has a different definition of what "conservative" means. To consistently please all of them, Cruz has had to be inconsistent with himself. Time and again he has shifted, shaded or obfuscated his policy positions - piling on new ideas, which sometimes didn't fit with the old. Cruz, for instance, promised libertarians that he would show a strict respect for the Constitution's checks and balances. Then, the senator from Texas promised social conservatives that he would scrap one of those checks and balances, stripping lifetime tenure from Supreme Court justices. He criticized Donald Trump's plan for mass deportation of undocumented immigrants. Then he seemed to support it. He appeared skeptical of military intervention in Syria. Then he vowed to find out whether "sand can glow in the dark" there. Cruz's maneuvering has helped him build and maintain a base of support among the party's activist class: If Trump fails to win the GOP nomination outright, Cruz could have enough backing among Republican delegates to win it after the first ballot at the party's convention in Cleveland in July. But while Cruz's rightward shifts might have been politically smart during the primary season, they probably would create major challenges during the general election, putting Cruz far to the right of most voters. "Now, he's in this wonderful position where he's both the last anti-establishment candidate acceptable who is not named Donald Trump, and he's also the last establishment candidate," said Matt Welch of the libertarian magazine Reason, applauding Cruz's policy shifts. "That's just a genius level of maneuvering." "The question is: What might he believe, in the middle of all of that?" Welch said. "And I think people have a right to be very skeptical as to whether there is a real core belief system." Cruz's campaign did not respond Friday to a detailed list of questions about his policy positions. It's clear that, on a number of issues, Cruz has been very consistent in his beliefs. He has opposed giving undocumented immigrants a path to U.S. citizenship. He says that climate change is not a significant problem, defying considerable scientific evidence for climate change. Cruz has consistently opposed abortion, including in cases in which the pregnancy was caused by rape. He opposes same-sex marriage. But Cruz says that - despite those personal feelings - he would leave decisions on abortion and marriage to the states. That was of a piece with Cruz's politics during his early years in the Senate: He adhered to tea party originalism, which believed Washington could be corrected by a return to the limited vision of its Founding Fathers. "We need to restore the Constitution as our standard," Cruz says on his campaign website. Then, after the Supreme Court decision last year that made same-sex marriage a right nationwide, Cruz said the Constitution needed a change. "I am proposing an amendment to the United States Constitution that would subject the justices of the Supreme Court to periodic judicial-retention elections," Cruz wrote in an op-ed in National Review. Now, Cruz said, the public would periodically get a chance to throw out "judicial tyrants" with whom they disagreed. He didn't actually file that proposed amendment, but a point was made. This was a different kind of conservatism, one in which some policies were so important that the Constitution should adapt to them. "If Ted Cruz is a 'constitutionalist,' he is a sore-loser, fair-weather constitutionalist," David Vladeck, a professor at Georgetown University Law Center, wrote in an email. "The Constitution's framers would be aghast at Cruz's proposal to undermine the Constitution's main protection against a tyrannical majority." On the subject of immigration, Cruz once championed policies from his party's business wing - including big increases in legal immigration. He called for doubling the caps on the number of green cards granted each year and supported a fivefold increase in the number of visas granted to high-skilled guest workers, known as H-1B visas. He demurred when asked what he'd do with the millions of illegal immigrants already living in the United States. But then came Trump. After the billionaire used promises of a sweeping immigration crackdown to rocket to the top of the GOP race, Cruz's own policies grew sharply tougher. He was against any increase in legal immigration. He called for the high-skilled visa program to be halted for 180 days so that reported abuses in the system could be investigated. Rick Tyler, Cruz's former communications director, said he believes Cruz is "to the right of everyone who's running" in the race. "If he changed his position on H-1B - and it's fair to say he did, but you have to look underneath it and say, 'Did he change his principle on it?' No, and I think that's the important thing," Tyler said. On the question of what to do with illegal immigrants, Cruz's answers grew tougher and tougher. First, Cruz said, he wouldn't offer them legal status. But he wouldn't follow Trump's lead and deport immigrants en masse. Then, maybe, he would. "Yes, we should deport them," Cruz said on Fox News. When asked by host Bill O'Reilly if he would "look for them," Cruz said yes. "Of course you would. That's what ICE exists for," Cruz said, referring to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. "We have law enforcement that looks for people who are violating the laws that apprehends them and deports them." If Trump had redefined what the most conservative position on immigration was, Cruz was going to keep up. At rallies now, Cruz makes this explicit without saying Trump's name: He says he wants to build a border wall and that he already "has someone in mind to build it." Another noticeable shift was in Cruz's approach to the federal budget. At the beginning of his campaign, his ideas seemed drawn to please anti-tax conservatives, whose biggest concern was to reduce what Washington raises and spends. Cruz proposed instituting a single flat income tax, set at 10 percent. That would be a massive boon to the rich, who pay much higher rates now: The nonpartisan Tax Policy Center found that the top 0.1 percent of earners would get a tax cut equivalent to 29 percent of their after-tax income. It would also take a massive slice out of overall federal revenue: The Tax Policy Center estimated the loss at $8.6 trillion over a decade. That was a major departure from past GOP orthodoxy: 2012 nominee Mitt Romney didn't want to reduce revenue at all. That was still not as big as Trump's proposed tax cut, which the center said would eliminate $9.5 trillion in future revenue. Cruz had specific suggestions for what he would cut to partially offset the loss. He would eliminate four Cabinet agencies - the departments of Commerce, Energy, Education, and Housing and Urban Development - and the Internal Revenue Service (Cruz would shift the tax-collecting function to a new office with less power and fewer employees). In fact, Cruz wanted a new constitutional amendment to require that the federal budget eventually balance. But then, while campaigning in hawkish South Carolina, Cruz added another piece to the plan. Even as he slashed funding for the rest of the government, he promised a spending spree at the Pentagon: dozens more warships, hundreds more planes, thousands more troops. Analysts have estimated that the cost could exceed $1 trillion - and that it could reach $2.4 trillion - over a decade. "All these promises can't add up. It's not possible," said Marc Goldwein of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. He estimated that if Cruz tried to make good on all of these promises - plus another pledge to fully fund Social Security benefits for the near future - he might have to cut all other spending by 85 or 90 percent. "It's not realistically possible to cut taxes by $8 trillion and increase defense spending by $2.5 billion and balance the budget." That shift was connected to another, in Cruz's policies toward the military. In the Senate, Cruz had votedrepeatedly against the bill that sets policy and authorizes funding for the Pentagon, often objecting that it did not have enough civil-liberties protections for Americans accused of terrorism. Late last year, Cruz was deeply skeptical of U.S. military interventions overseas - even in Syria. "We have no dog in the fight of the Syrian civil war," he said. Cruz has said he remains skeptical of unnecessary foreign interventions, but in February he called for an extensive Pentagon buildup. He also began to call for aggressive tactics against the Islamic State in Syria: The United States would carpet-bomb the militants, Cruz said, and find out "if sand can glow in the dark." That has left even proponents of a larger U.S. military wondering about the sincerity of Cruz's positions. "I don't buy that he understands what he's trying to do," said Chris Harmer, a retired Navy commander and national security consultant. He said he agreed with Cruz that the Navy was too small, but he wondered why he hadn't said so before. "Ted Cruz should have spent the last four years making a case for: This is why the end state of the Navy ought to be bigger . . . He hasn't done any of that," Harmer said. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate AUSTIN -- Texas' success with rehabilitation and treatment programs in its prisons is about to get a national audience. On Friday, a Republican National Committee panel adopted a resolution advocating the expansion of treatment and rehabilitation programs for non-violent offenders as a way to lower recidivism rates and save taxpayers billions in incarceration costs. The resolution will be considered for adoption at the GOP national convention in July in Cleveland. "Texas has success with these programs, and we are the first of 10 states named in the resolution as having adopted these programs that have successfully reduced incarceration costs and making communities safer," said Texas GOP Chairman Tom Mechler, a former chairman of the Texas prison system's governing board who helped get the resolution adopted during a planning meeting in Florida. "Many states have looked to Texas on this . . . Our recidivism rate is down to 21.7 percent. California is at 65 percent." Adoption of the resolution contrasts with the sentiment of the party two decades ago, when tougher punishment was at the top of the GOP agenda, at a time when candidates were calling for putting criminals away for longer sentences and spending less on treatment programs to pay for more prisons in Texas and other states. Those policies have faded in recent years, as spiraling costs to operate large prison systems with high-recidivism rates have fueled calls to spend taxpayer money on programs that work at reintegrating non-violent offenders back into communities as productive citizens as opposed to just keeping them locked up. Mechler said Friday's vote for the resolution was unanimous. Alabama, Georgia, Kansas, Mississippi, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina, South Dakota and Utah also are named in the resolution as having made improvements in their justice systems with new diversion and treatment programs for non-violent offenders. "These policies increase personal responsibility, remove government obstacles to putting ex-offenders back to work, and use proven and effective faith-based, educational, and rehabilitative programs which allow these individuals to lead productive, crime-free lives," the resolution states. "The RNC urges state legislators and Congress to coordinate with families and faith-based communities, provide substance abuse treatment to addicts, emphasize work and education, and implement policies that cut costs while obtaining better outcomes." In addition, the GOP resolution calls for "a reevaluation and elimination of excessive government regulation where inadvertent noncompliance has been deemed a criminal offense" -- a first step to reevaluating many low-level drug offenses and property crimes in a move that has been increasingly supported in recent years by conservatives and business and advocacy groups nationwide. (Thumbs up) On this, the 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare's death, we look to the great man to help make sense of and provide a way forward in the wake of a week that began with horror. From Brutus in Julius Caesar, Act 4, scene 3: There is a tide in the affairs of men, Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune; Omitted, all the voyage of their life Is bound in shallows and in miseries. On such a full sea are we now afloat, And we must take the current when it serves Or lose our ventures. (Thumbs down) Mother Nature took eight of our brothers and sisters. The area's elected leaders must manage in front of tragedy instead of reacting from behind. The call to action from a Wednesday editorial on this page merits repeating: " you can't control the weather, but there are certainly things you can do to prepare for weather's wrath. It's called leadership. We'd all sleep a lot easier, knowing that the folks we elected to represent us had our best interests at heart." (Thumbs twiddled) Let's just say, hypothetically, the mayor wanted to appoint a flood task force to do something about this mess. Here's our advice for the future Flood Czar: Start with A&M marine sciences professor Samuel Brody who spoke plainly with NPR's Kai Ryssdal. "over the last 15 years, we added 25 percent more pavement in the area In the Houston area, every square meter of pavement equates to about $4,000 in extra flood damage elevating structures above the 100 year level of inundation is saving on average about a million dollars per community per year." (Thumbs down) You'd think that Ted Cruz would be the leader Houston needs on flooding. After all, his swankienda on Allen Parkway is about 200 yards from Buffalo Bayou. But Texas' junior senator has been all but silent on the flood - we saw two tweets - instead gallivanting across the northeast looking for votes. Meanwhile, Sen. Cornyn spoke on the Senate floor and promised to help mobilize federal resources. We hope this means emergency funding for the Army Corps of Engineers to expedite work on Bray's Bayou and the Barker and Addicks Reservoirs. (Thumbs down) Since when did Ted Cruz or Donald Trump start running Southwest Airlines? Business school case studies helping students learn to build a better brand used the company's association with LUV as the gold standard. But in the last month, the airline booted an Arabic speaker off a plane and did the same with a woman in a headscarf for changing seats. (Thumbs up) We interrupt those of you constantly bashing HISD to note that in this week's U.S. News and World Report ranking of the nation's best high schools, Carnegie Vanguard High School was No. 10. (Thumbs up) A last-minute shot by James Harden secured a win over the Warriors on Thursday to make the series 2-1, but a stoic response from the bench had fans questioning the Rockets' mindset as they play against one of the winningest teams of all time. We don't know what the players were thinking, but risking a "shut up" from Dwight Howard, we'll let the Bard close out thumbs with that famous soliloquy from Hamlet, Act 3, scene 1: To be, or not to be - that is the question: Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune Or to take arms against a sea of troubles And by opposing end them? To die, to sleep; Michael Paulsen/Staff Who should represent you? What policies are important? What does the future look like for your city, county, state and nation? These are the questions that voters answer when they step into the voting booth and cast their ballots during primaries, runoffs and on Election Day. And then there's the special election to fill Mayor Sylvester Turner's unexpired term in House District 139. No, this isn't the race to replace Turner as a state representative. The election for that position will be held on May 24. Rather, this is the race to become the seat warmer until the real elected official is sworn into office in January 2017. A college senior boarded a flight and excitedly called his family to recount a U.N. event he had attended, but, unfortunately, he was speaking Arabic. Southwest Airlines kicked him off the plane, in the sixth case reported in the United States this year in which a Muslim was ejected from a flight. Such Islamophobia also finds expression in the political system, with Donald Trump calling for a temporary ban on Muslims entering the country ("Welcome to the USA! Now, what's your religion?") and Ted Cruz suggesting special patrols of Muslim neighborhoods (in New York City, by the nearly 1,000 police officers who are Muslim?). Some 50 percent of Americans support a ban and special patrols. Such attitudes contradict our values and make us look like a bastion of intolerance. But for those of us who denounce these prejudices, it's also important to acknowledge that there truly are dangerous strains of intolerance and extremism within the Islamic world - and for many of these, Saudi Arabia is the source. I'm glad that President Barack Obama is visiting Saudi Arabia, for engagement usually works better than isolation. But let's not let diplomatic niceties keep us from pointing to the insidious role that Saudi Arabia plays in sowing instability and, for that matter, in tarnishing the image of Islam worldwide. The truth is that Saudi leaders do far more to damage Islam than Trump or Cruz can do, and we should be as ready to denounce their bigotry as Trump's. Americans are abuzz about the "missing 28 pages" - unsupported leads suggesting that Saudi officials might have had a hand in the 9/11 attacks. But as far as I can tell, these tips, addressed in a still-secret section of a congressional report, were investigated and discredited; Philip Zelikow of the 9/11 Commission tells me the 28 pages are "misleading"; the commission found there was "no evidence" of the Saudi government or senior officials financing the plot. The much better reason to be concerned with Saudi Arabia is that it has promoted extremism, hatred, misogyny and the Sunni/Shiite divide that is now playing out in a Middle East civil war. Saudi Arabia should be renamed the Kingdom of Backwardness. It's not just that Saudi women are barred from driving, or that when in cars they are discouraged from wearing seat belts for fear of showing their contours, or that a 19-year-old woman who was gang-raped was sentenced to 200 lashes (after protests, the king pardoned her). It's not just that public churches are banned, or that there is brutal repression of the Shiite minority. As the land where Islam began, Saudi Arabia has enormous influence among Muslims worldwide. Its approach to Islam has special legitimacy, its clerics have great reach, its media spread its views worldwide, and it finances madrassas in poor countries to sow hatred. From Pakistan to Mali, these Saudi-financed madrassas have popped up and cultivate religious extremism - and, sometimes, terrorists. A State Department cable released through WikiLeaks reported that in Pakistan these extremist madrassas offered impoverished families a $6,500 bounty for turning over a son to be indoctrinated. To be blunt, Saudi Arabia legitimizes Islamic extremism and intolerance around the world. If you want to stop bombings in Brussels or San Bernardino, then turn off the spigots of incitement from Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries. "Saudi Arabia is not an enemy of the U.S., but it is an enemy of itself," a Kuwaiti once told me. A new survey finds that young Arabs in the Middle East and North Africa want to modernize, with 52 percent saying that religion plays too big a role in the Middle East. That's true of many, many Saudis as well, and some have tried to start a desperately needed conversation about tolerance. One of them, Raif Badawi, a blogger, was arrested and sentenced to 1,000 lashes. In the past I sometimes defended Saudi Arabia on the basis that it was at least moving in the right direction. But in the past few years it has been backtracking while also starting a brutal war in Yemen. Obama's biggest mistake with Saudi Arabia was providing arms for that war, implicating America in what Human Rights Watch says may be war crimes. In short, as a Saudi father named Mohammed al-Nimr says, "Saudi Arabia is now going in the wrong direction." He should know: His brother, a prominent Shiite religious figure, was executed in January, and his son, Ali al-Nimr, has been sentenced to death for participating in protests when he was a minor. "Americans should care, because what happens here can affect the world," the father told me, and he cautioned that Saudi repression destabilizes the entire Middle East. He's right. Bill O'Reilly has denounced me as a "chief apologist" for Islam, and I'll continue to decry what I see as Islamophobia in the West. But at the same time, let's acknowledge that Saudi Arabia is more than our gas station; it is also a wellspring of poison in the Islamic world, and its bigotry fuels our bigotry. Kristof (@NickKristof) is a New York Times columnist. As someone intimately familiar with the economic realities of the situation, I am quite disappointed by the immigration arguments made by the Texas Attorney General's Office before the United States Supreme Court this past week. Regardless of your position on President Obama's executive action protecting immigrants from deportation or the State of Texas' claim that driver's licenses for them would be an unfair burden, one fact is inescapable: They are here, and they are not going anywhere. An estimated 2.5 million are in Texas and many of them are doing a majority of the construction work, usually for low wages and under dangerous conditions. They're also cooking our food, mowing our lawns, cleaning our buildings and performing many other necessary tasks. Why are our state officials ignoring the fact that once many of Houston's 600,000 undocumented immigrants are protected from deportation, they would have to start paying more taxes like the rest of us? Every credible independent study on the subject has shown that undocumented immigrants are a net benefit to the Texas economy. The only state-conducted study on it, back in 2006, found they boosted the Texas economy by $17.7 billion and have not been a drain on state government. It's been a decade since that comptroller's study. My suspicion is our leaders haven't seen fit to do another one because the results would not be politically beneficial to them during election cycles in which Republicans compete with each other to appear as anti-immigrant as possible. That style of politics laid the groundwork for the rise of Donald Trump. The relatively insignificant cost of issuing drivers licenses would be minuscule when compared to the state and federal taxes these hard-working individuals would be required to pay if they were granted legal status. Plus, we would finally know exactly who is here by requiring them to register with local and state governments. Identifying immigrants and compelling them to pay taxes has been a mantra for some of us in the business community for years. Most members of Congress - Republicans and Democrats - feel the same way. So, why are we allowing the politics of the few to set the agenda for the entire nation? Instead of arguing against our own interests before the highest court in the land, Texas should take the lead in solving the problem. In the last session of the Legislature, a bill was passed out of a Texas House committee to issue driver permits to undocumented immigrants. Gov. Greg Abbott should sign that into law next year. It would be a good start. In the construction industry, which I have worked in all my life, large numbers of undocumented workers are paid "off the books," laboring in unsafe conditions with little to no safety training, working long hours on weekends with no overtime pay, and using the emergency room as their workers' compensation provider. It sickens me and it is costing all of us taxpayers dearly. None of this should be acceptable to anyone. What we have long held as an honorable profession has been relegated to a commodity that some owners and contractors take advantage of. Sure, you can say it's a government problem. They should solve the immigration mess. But somewhere along the way we all have to stand up and do what is right. Marek is president and CEO of Marek, a specialty subcontractor based in Houston. 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. 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CP The chair of Canadas federal telecom watchdog noticed something missing this week from hearings hes holding into the country's internet accessibility: Women. Today there was a report issued by Employment and Social Development Canada that found the proportion of women in federally regulated companies has dropped from 46 percent to 41 percent in the past 20 years, Jean-Pierre Blais said in an unexpected aside on Wednesday. Advertisement And since weve started this hearing weve faced panels like your own entirely of men, he said, addressing Chris Edwards, a vice-president at the Canadian Cable Systems Alliance (CCSA). Im not picking on you. Youre not alone in this, Blais told Edwards, who spoke just before the watchdog. Blais, the chairman of the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), crunched some numbers on how much of a voice women have had in CRTC hearings, which help determine regulations for TV, internet and phone services in the country. Of 1.8 million words spoken at three CRTC hearings in the fall of 2014, only 163,000 were spoken by women about 14 per cent. Advertisement Where there have been women on the panels in these telecom proceedings, they dont have speaking roles, Blais said. Blais turned the spotlight on the CRTC itself, noting that just two of its eight commissioners are women. He said he was speaking to government, to the industry and even ourselves when he asserted that we can do better. Advertisement According to research from 2014, there were 208,000 women employed in information and communication technology jobs in Canada, amounting to less than one-quarter of the total workforce of 845,000. After Blais finished, Edwards said he also wants to see more women in the sector. But he added: The other thing that you have to balance off is that we are asked to come here with the people who have the expertise to deal with the questions." Absolutely, Blais agreed. Also On HuffPost: When people think of the world's most expensive cities, places like New York and Hong Kong (and Vancouver) come to mind. There are lots of ways to measure how difficult it is afford city living. And these cities certainly rank near the top when it comes to the price of real estate alone. But that doesn't tell the whole story. Many people, particularly in large cities, rent their homes. So sometimes it's better to look at what it costs to rent versus incomes in a given area. Advertisement That's precisely what Global Cities Business Alliance (GCBA) has done in a discussion paper on global housing costs that was released this month. The London-based non-profit looked at how much it cost to rent in 15 cities as a portion of net earnings. And Beijing took the cake. The cost to rent in the capital of the People's Republic of China took up 122.9 per cent of people's earnings last year. In other words, for every $100 earned, on average, they owed $122.90 in rent. Advertisement "Big cities like Beijing are victims of their own success: rapid growth has magnetised workers, but they now need to deliver enough houses so that workers enjoy living there," GCBA CEO Lesley Saville said in a news release. "The problems facing Beijing are the same as facing other global cities, only more pronounced." Beijing's rent as a share of net earnings was three to four times higher than what's considered "affordable housing" (30 to 40 per cent of your net income). The cost to rent in the city has pushed people to outlying areas, forcing commutes that take as long as 104 minutes per round trip, according to the GCBA. But it has also forced them to live in underground, windowless units with no air conditioning, Reuters reported. About a fifth of the approximately 7.7 million migrants in Beijing live underground or at their workplaces, said Xinhua, China's state news agency. Advertisement What's Canada complaining about? These numbers ought to seem staggering to Canadians who complain about the high cost of living in certain cities. In Toronto, for example, renters only spend an average of 23 per cent of their income (~$1,026) on housing and utilities, according to the Canadian Rental Housing Index. And in Vancouver, they only spend about 24 per cent. But the cost to buy in these cities tells a different story. The cost of a single-family home took up about 109 per cent of Vancouver incomes at the end of last year, according to Royal Bank of Canada. Single-detached homes in Toronto, meanwhile, represented about 60.6 per cent of earnings. While Beijing was the most expensive place to rent when compared with local incomes, San Francisco was top of the list in terms of the cost of renting costs alone, at US$2,824. Advertisement Its placement wasn't surprising. Housing costs have skyrocketed in the area amid a booming tech scene in Silicon Valley. It's so expensive that one man was literally living in a box until he was ordered to vacate. Saville said that many cities are dealing with housing costs by looking at new funding and financing models. San Francisco, for example, has an affordable housing bond and trust fund. And Boston has an innovation lab looking at housing solutions, Saville pointed out. So maybe there's a little perspective for Canadians in this. And perhaps some solutions, too. Also on HuffPost: Pass the tissues, please. Just days after Prince was found dead in his home, a short clip has resurfaced online showing Whitney Houston and her daughter Bobbi Kristina Brown grooving at one of The Purple One's 2011 concerts. The late vocalist holds her then 18-year-old daughter in a tight embrace as they both belt out "Take Me with U." Advertisement The duo's close bond shines through as they rock, sway and laugh to Prince's music. All three passed away suddenly over the last few years: Houston in 2012, Brown in 2015 and Prince, now in 2016. Watch the clip above and prepare to get chills. Also on HuffPost: I met Prince when I was asked to open for him at his festival in Copenhagen. I was always such a fan and excited about the prospect of seeing him live again. I never for one second suspected that I was about to endeavour upon the most career changing and inspiring 48 hours of my life. I was very inexperienced at the time. I had just finished my first album cycle. When I was playing I was on very early in the day and the field was only partially full as people had mainly bought tickets to see Prince himself and Chaka Khan. As I was playing I felt so out of my depth. I couldn't stop thinking to myself "you are not good enough to be here and the crowd know it". Mid set the audience began to cheer profusely and I couldn't understand why. I turned to my band who were all nodding their heads to their left while glaring eyes at me. I turned in the direction they were pointing me towards and was shocked and in awe to see the man himself sitting on a chair singing along and clapping to the music smiling and laughing. I couldn't believe he would want to watch let alone know the lyrics of my songs. I think he could tell I was surprised because he kept laughing and winking at me. Advertisement After the show he asked me why I didn't play Stargazer which was an obscure album track on my first album which I couldn't believe he knew. Then he said "I would like you to come and watch the other shows with me". On the Saturday I went with him to every show and watched Raphael Saadiq (who I later went on to work with on album three through meeting him there), Chaka Khan and then Prince himself play. During the shows he was constantly trying to teach me what to learn from the more experienced musicians. I made a mental note of all he told me. Also watching him with his band and the way they interacted had a profound effect on me. This was something which has influenced my style of live performance to this day. I always give everyone a solo and put the musicians in the spotlight just as much as myself and I always change the arrangements every show by directing them with glances and arm gestures. This is what Prince taught me. That evening I was invited to his hotel room with a friend. He opened the door smiling and wearing red pyjamas and offered me some tea and lemon drizzle cake. He told me he had recorded my performance and asked if I wanted to watch it back. He said he always watched every one of his own shows back in order to learn from his mistakes. He was a real perfectionist. I stated that I was too ashamed to watch myself in front of him as I was too much in awe of him. He laughed and said I was silly! What I remember about being around him was his contagious laughter and sense of humour. The rapport he had with his band was that of old friends. It was a really great energy to be around. Later that evening he introduced me to Janelle Monae and the great Larry Graham who he told me "invented slap bass". I felt like I was part of some glimpse of history. I was humbled and unable to sleep that evening. Advertisement On the Sunday he asked me to watch all the shows with him again. I did. Wide eyed and absorbing everything. Janelle Monae played the same slot as me the day before and I was astonished by her skills on stage. I knew I had to make some changes to my own live performance style and the people I played with. At one point Chaka Khan's security guard approached me with a mic and asked me to sing I'm Every Woman with her. I didn't know all the lyrics. Everyone was side of stage pushing me to go on. Prince included. I went on mortified in front of what felt like around 40,000 people and completely murdered the song and came off crying, frantic and worried. I went to my dressing room and called my mum and said I wasn't made to be in music. All these people had made me realise I wasn't good enough. When I had pulled myself together and freshened up I walked outside. All Janelle Monae's band were outside applauding and saying they loved my voice and I was really surprised. Everyone there was like a family. They made me feel like I was worthy of being part of it all despite my doubts. The people Prince brought together were all passionate about music but humble and encouraging of one another. It was a real eye opener. That evening we did a small show with Prince in a 200 capacity venue on a housing estate in Copenhagen. It was completely unassuming. Prince was in his element. Jamming, playing his hits, remixing his hits, experimenting the whole time. There was a feeling that no performance he did was ever the same as it was about that moment in time. Every time I saw Prince live in my life I felt that. Like every time was a special exclusive glimpse into his world. That evening he let me close the show with his band. I sang Etta james At Last. As I walked off the stage he waved goodbye and left. And from that moment my life had irreversibly changed. No one has ever taught me as much as he did in that 48 hours. He taught me about style, about grace, how to engage with an audience, how to learn to be comfortable with who I was, how never to think my learning would end and to always push for improvement. He taught me how lucky I am to do the job I do. What stood out about him mostly was his passion for his art, his humour and his desire to pass on his knowledge and experience to a new generation of musicians. I know he had very strong bonds with two of my friends, Laura Mvula and Lianne Le Havas and he wanted to cultivate talent. Advertisement I feel so grateful for that 48 hours, although I saw him several times after that, that was the time that really made a huge impact on me. I was in the presence of greatness and I knew it. I am so sad for the world that we won't be able to continue to appreciate his live shows. And I know that anyone who got to witness him really and truly got to witness something special. He was a hero, an Icon, a God. Youtube/ mitchellharley Researchers are calling for the creation of a national coastline observatory in Australia with increasing concerns about the impact of climate change on the countrys shoreline. The researchers, from the University of New South Wales, say climate change and severe weather events are damaging populated areas and a national scheme would be the best strategy for slowing down the erosion. Advertisement In one of the worlds longest-running beach erosion research programs, the researchers have been monitoring the coastal pipeline of Sydney's Northern Beaches for 40 years. But with no structured program to document coastal changes there is currently no method to accurately predict how climate change will impact the rest of Australia's beaches and coast lines. One of the researchers, Dr Mitchell Harley, told ABC that the 40-year-record of beach changes have provided a great insight into fluctuations that occur in this section of south-east Australia. We're working blind in terms of other sections of the coast line across Australia, said Harley. He said that although there are over 11,000 beaches in Australia there is no need for them all to be monitored. Advertisement What we've found is if you just be clever and select representative sites representative of certain types of coast lines across Australia, we can get a good snapshot of the whole Australian coastline just from, say, representative sites of 15 to 20 different sites, said Harley. What we'd like to see is a national coastline observatory with 20 or so representative sites across Australia which will provide the snapshot of the coastal variability that's happening. He said this would provide important data that could be used to understand how Australias beaches are changing as climate change sets in and to accurately predict how they will respond in the years to come. Harley said the issue of coastal erosion is caused by the location of coastal infrastructures being too close to the coastline which he attributes to a lack of knowledge and data on coastal changes. A lot of these planning decisions were done well over 100 years ago, they really had no idea about how the coastline was changing and unfortunately we're still like that in many sections of the coastline across Australia, said Harley. Advertisement He said their climate change research is not only in relation to the ocean, rising sea levels and the effect that this will have on the coastline, but also the changing storm patterns and wave directions. Fairfax Media He's no social media superstar like Mike Baird. He doesn't have the NSW Premier's perfect white smile or tanned skin, nor Baird's "cool dad" vibe. He doesn't have the sophisticated gentleman's appeal of Malcolm Turnbull, the silver fox with the silver tongue. But Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has quietly established himself as the country's most effective, determined and gutsy leader -- with nary a selfie in sight. Advertisement Andrews is hardly the archetype of the perfect political leader in the social media age. Prominent ears, a crooked smile, a flat voice hardly suited to soaring oratory. His prowess on social media doesn't approach that of Baird or Turnbull; you won't find moody black-and-white pictures with Iraqi refugees, selfies with dogs or kayaking happy snaps on Andrews' timeline. What you will find, however, is a portrait of a leader achieving policy goals with enviable speed. Andrews' recent political track record reads like a wishlist for Australian progressives. Australian-first program of medical cannabis? Check. A $572 million package for domestic violence, more money even than the federal government spends nationwide? Check. Directly defying Canberra and standing in opposition to cutting funding for LGBTI education program, the Safe Schools Coalition? Check. An Australia-first LGBTI "pride centre" and specific gender-diverse health services? Check. Massive funding boost to drug courts, to better address drug-related crime? Check. A huge increase to legal services for asylum seekers? Check. Oh yes, and that has all come in just the last month. Advertisement Andrews was elected as Premier in December 2014, his Labor government winning the two-party vote 52-48. The winning margin wasn't massive, and his administration holds a slim majority of 47 of the 88 seats in the lower house, but with only 14 of the 40 in the upper house, needs seven of the nine crossbenchers to pass his legislation. Andrews' track record would be impressive enough for a government with a clear majority in both houses, let alone one that constantly needs to negotiate with minor parties to pass anything. "Ive always seen Victorias rightful place as the progressive capital of our nation, Andrews told The Guardian in December. "You cant very well say, We have to have gender equality, but equality around sexuality, oh well, well that doesnt really matter, its a kind of optional extra. No. Everybody should be treated fairly." Because equality is not negotiable. https://t.co/Ug7zrrciHH Daniel Andrews (@DanielAndrewsMP) April 20, 2016 Malcolm Turnbull has seen his massive popularity shrink, and his lead over Bill Shorten cut dramatically, in the wake of a series of half-hearted policy test balloons that were shot down almost as soon as they were tentatively broached. Mike Baird -- Australia's most popular leader, according to the polls -- was once the golden boy of political social media, but his new #CasinoMike nickname has stuck and his recent Facebook updates have been hijacked by opponents of NSW's strict nightclub lockout laws. Advertisement Andrews, by contrast, is keeping a low profile online and speaking up when it matters. He still does the stock-standard photos with constituents; shaking hands, opening public facilities, listening intently to voters. But there's rarely a goofy selfie, a photo of his lunch or coffee date, or a #ThrowbackThursday of his earlier days. Daniel Andrews, it seems, is too busy getting stuff done. We're not winding back Safe Schools. End of story. pic.twitter.com/zYwoWcFLBy Daniel Andrews (@DanielAndrewsMP) April 12, 2016 As governments around the country agreed to scale back the Safe Schools program, Andrews was the lone voice committing to keeping the money flowing in; indeed, he said his government would fund the program fully, if necessary. As the federal government tore funding from community legal centres and the homelessness sector (which they have recently started to reverse, with $100m for domestic violence and a $30m ad campaign), without much fanfare Andrews announced more than half a billion dollars for family violence. As Queensland considers classing marijuana in the same category as heroin and ice, Andrews announced that kids with severe epilepsy would be the first beneficiaries of Victoria's nation-leading medical cannabis program. As the Federal Government commits to a plebiscite on marriage equality, on Wednesday it was revealed the Victorian state budget would include $15 million for an LGBTI pride centre. Andrews summed it up simply -- "because equality is not negotiable". Stefan Postles via Getty Images CANBERRA, AUSTRALIA - FEBRUARY 10: Minister for Health and Sport Sussan Ley during House of Representatives question time at Parliament House on February 10, 2016 in Canberra, Australia. (Photo by Stefan Postles/Getty Images) Every child in Australia will receive dental coverage under an expanded $5 billion federal government scheme in the upcoming budget. In the largest ever Commonwealth investment in front-line public dental services, the federal government has announced the initiative which will provide more than 10 million Australians with access to public dental services. Advertisement The Health Minister Sussan Ley spoke to media on Saturday about the governments plan to improve Australian childrens dental health through a single national agreement with the states and territories. There are children in our schools who've not seen a toothbrush let alone a dentist, and, a really good public dental scheme needs to look after the vulnerable, the disadvantaged, the low income and it needs to pick up on every child across Australia, Ley told reporters. The new scheme will replace the current child dental benefits scheme where only 3 million Australian children get means tested dental health coverage. The aim will be to ensure all children aged under 18 are eligible for federal government subsidised public dental services. Advertisement The current adult dental agreement will also be replaced with the new dental scheme which will provide coverage for more than 5 million low- income adults who hold concession cards. The agreement will double the current funding that the Commonwealth gives the state governments which Ley expects will dramatically reduce the waiting lists and allow an additional 600,000 patients to be treated each year. Im delighted, therefore, that this scheme, when legislated -- and I'm confident that it will be - will be the first time that the Commonwealth makes long-term, ongoing investment in a national dental framework, with the state governments at the table, she said. We need something consistent, we need certainty and we need that investment for every public dental patient for the long term. But opposition leader Bill Shorten believes otherwise, telling the media that this scheme will add millions of children to the public dental waiting lists. Advertisement The idea that you improve the dental health of children by cutting $1 billion and making all the children of Australia have to go through public waiting lists to get dental care support from the government is a dental care hoax, he said. Ley said she will also be discussing preventative measures with state governments such as introducing the importance of the six-monthly application of fluoride to childrens teeth. We dont necessarily need dentists to do that. We can have oral therapists, we can have dental vans at schools, we can have a really strong focus on prevention with this announcement, Ley said. It's been a tough summer for farmers, and it's been even tougher for the Great Barrier Reef. It's these farmers that are working to protect the Great Barrier Reef in its recovery by trialing cutting-edge new techniques with Project Catalyst. Advertisement Now running for eight years, Project Catalyst seeks to reduce run-off from farms that flow into the Great Barrier Reef catchment, cutting down on the potentially poisonous fertiliser component nitrogen. The project has trialled and implemented a range of new farming practices like using GPS technology and 'x-ray' style mapping to understand a farm better to moisture sensors to determine when to stop watering. Environmental consultants Catchment Solutions manager Craig Davenport said the best supporters of the reef were the people who'd seen it and loved it. Advertisement "The farmers love the reef because they love heading out there fishing on the weekend," Davenport said. "They dont feel isolated from the reef, they're well aware that the little creek that goes by them flows out to the reef and they want to do what's right." To deepen this connection, the project conducts field trips that takes farmers out to see it for themselves. "They get to dive and have a look around, see what they're striving to protect." Project Catalyst shows farmers the river meets the reef. Project partner World Wildlife Fund Australia' Andrew Rouse said the advancements the project had discovered were shared by enthusiastic farmers. Advertisement "Like any industry you had leaders and laggards and one thing we've found is farmers like advice best when it's presented by other farmers," Rouse said. "What's great about this project is it's provided the space for some of the more progressive growers to talk about what's working. "Success breeds success and when one farmer can show that a new system is working, others want to follow." The project is funded in a large part by The Coca Cola Foundation, which contributed $5.31 million since the projects inception, but Rouse said we needed more. "We're very pleased to see public and private investment in this project has seen a 70% reduction in nitrogen," Rouse said. Advertisement "The government has a 2025 target up to 80 percent reduction, so theres still a lot of work to do across reef catchments and the scale of investment required is significantly larger. "As were heading into an election year, we're calling for a billion-dollar fund to accelerate best practices." After this season's coral bleaching event, the need to protect the reef while it recovers becomes all the more pertinent. Supplied Sydney man Robert Maxwell describes Chernobyl as his Pompeii. Maxwell, who only began studying historical archaeology in his mid-20s, is completing his doctorate in 20th century urban abandonment and stumbled across the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, only to realise he was the only archaeologist to study it. "I just did a little a bit of research on Chernobyl and discovered there was no research on Chernobyl. No one had ever done it. I just couldn't believe it so I jumped at the chance," Maxwell told The Huffington Post Australia. Advertisement For the past six years, Maxwell has been studying the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone along with the city of Detroit and a demolished housing complex in Elephant & Castle in London, aiming to prove "that ideology and materiality conflict with each other and cause these episodes of abandonment". "[The PhD] aims to prove what we did and what we said we did are unrelated. We will all admit that we don't necessarily do what we say we do, so that brings every history that's ever been recorded into question. It really says that what you're getting is a biased possible half-truth and so the only way to cut through that is to study the physical remains." Maxwell has taken two field trips to the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, in 2010 and 2012, and while flying home from his first trip the archeologist found himself on QF32, the flight that suffered an uncontained engine failure and landed in Singapore. Once the plane emergency landed, Maxwell said he refused to depart without his carry-on, which he was told to leave on the flight. It contained all of his research and pictures from the trip. The archaeologist is protective of his work, and the zone, which he hopes will one day be heritage listed. Right now, it is not. Advertisement The Chernobyl disaster on April 26, 1986 was one of the worst nuclear power plant accidents in history, where an explosion at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in the town of Pripyat, Ukraine, killed more than 30 people instantly, but the casualties continued for many years. As the 30 year anniversary approaches, Maxwell hopes people realise, "the relics of the recent past are as important as the relics of the ancient past, perhaps even more so because they are from a period we call from within living memory". His favourite part of Chernobyl is No 16. Kurchitova Street -- a huge apartment building which he calls "cell upon cell upon cell of private behaviour that you don't get recorded in history books". "You get a really keen insight into the life of the people and the panic of April 1996, because of the material that was taken and the material that's left behind," Maxwell told HuffPost Australia. What drew the 37-year-old to archeology was a love of history, and a fascination with objects more than words. But what really got Maxwell hooked was the idea that "what people say and what people do are completely unrelated". Advertisement "Humans are very bad at abandoning things. We don't like abandoning things, or abandoning places so anywhere that you will find described as an abandoned place, I will guarantee that it's got a current use, that's it's a site for resource reclamation," Maxwell tolf HuffPost Australia. "It's this mythical entity that doesn't exist -- we will always reuse a site. It's just about understanding its changing context." Here are some pictures taken by Chernobyl's only archaeologist. The Ferris Wheel, Chernobyl. Upper Hall of Elementary School Number 2, Pripyat. Advertisement 21st century street art, Pripyat Culture Palace. Gas masks, Pripyat Elementary School. Sample vials, Pripyat Hospital.. Regrowth, Chernobyl. Image: Rainbow Flag. Stock Photo. Pixabay.com Finding a job in a country as poor as Armenia can be daunting under the best of circumstances. It's even more difficult if you're gay. That's because most employers hold the same anti-gay attitudes as society in general, and there are no laws to protect gays from discrimination. Job discrimination is just one obstacle that gays in Armenia and other former Soviet countries face, however. They must endure the scorn of family, friends and society, and condemnation from government and church leaders. Anti-gay legislation that some countries have enacted -- and that others have tried to enact -- has increased the vitriol. Advertisement But the worst nightmare for gays in the region is the possibility of physical attack, including beatings, torture and death. The violence is widespread, and increasing, according to gay-rights advocates. Given the many news stories about attacks on Russian gays, and the country's recent enactment of anti-gay legislation, many people would be surprised to learn that pre-Soviet Russia was more tolerant toward gays than Western Europe. That changed when Soviet dictator Josef Stalin made homosexuality a crime. Although most former Soviet countries eliminated the law after they became independent in 1991, the long-term damage -- in terms of hardened attitudes toward gays -- had been done. Vladimir Putin, who began his career as a Soviet functionary, has obviously embraced the notion that homosexuality means deviance, perhaps a crime, certainly a sin. He has played a key role in fostering today's homophobic attitude in the region by speaking out against homosexuality and championing Russia's 2013 anti-gay-propaganda legislation. That law outlaws the dissemination of information about non-traditional sex. Advertisement Russia is the trend-setter across the former Soviet Union, so it wasn't surprising when officials in other countries decried homosexuality and their parliaments tried to push through copies of Moscow's anti-gay-propaganda legislation. Although mistreatment of gays is common in the region, most people shrug it off, either condoning it or not caring. Every so often the issue surfaces in such a dramatic way that the public can't ignore it, however. In Armenia's capital of Yerevan, a club frequented by gays was firebombed in 2012. Politicians from the ruling Republican Party of Armenia and opposition parties sent a message about what they considered the deviant nature of gays by defending the brothers arrested for the crime. "I am sure these young men acted in accordance with our public and national ideology, and that they acted correctly," said Artsvik Minasyan, a member of parliament from the Dashnaktsutyun Party. In Ukraine, masked, homophobic thugs surrounded a hotel in Lviv where a gay festival was about to take place in March of this year and shouted, "Kill, kill, kill!" Advertisement Worried about their safety, organizers canceled the event and scurried from the city. Many Ukrainian gays took part in the Euromaidan protests in Kiev in 2014 that ousted pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych, who had tried to curry favor with Putin by championing anti-gay legislation in Ukraine. The gays, like others at the demonstrations, took part at great risk, because police ended up killing more than 100 protesters. Gays had joined in the uprising in hopes that a new, pro-European Union Ukrainian government would afford them the protections that gays in the EU enjoy. That didn't happen. In fact, anti-gay sentiment remains as strong as ever in Ukraine. In Russia, three men were arrested in Volgograd in 2013 for the brutal murder of a friend who admitted while drinking with them that he was gay. Police found the victim's naked body in a city square. His attackers had sexually abused him with beer bottles, and crushed his skull. A measure of the hate that gays engender in some Russians was the fact that the victim and his attackers had been friends not just for a short time, but for years. Advertisement Another high-profile gay-bashing story in Armenia was a young man's decision this year to discuss on television how difficult it is to be openly gay in the country. Edgar Nahapetyan's main motivation for appearing on the talk show was the hope that it would help him get a job. Every employer he had contacted had rejected his application after learning he was gay -- a situation that's common in the former Soviet Union. Not only did his television appearance fail to help him land a job, but other guests on the show subjected him to horrific gay-bashing, and gay haters attacked him on social media. The gay-rights group PINK finally helped him find a janitor's job. But Nahapetyan is still shaken by the vicious reaction to his going on television. Meanwhile, human-rights defenders saw the episode as just one more piece of evidence that the journey to gay rights in the former Soviet Union will be long and harrowing. 'All-Gender Restrooms' sign with some copy space at the top of the frame. This article was written by Caitlyn Jenner for WhoSay as part of an on-going original series that explores issues and people in the LGBT community. Hi friends, There's a lot of news out there about bills in different state legislatures that are good or bad for the LGBT community. Lately, they've been mostly not-so-good bills. I've spent a lot of time thinking about what kind of message these harmful bills send, especially to transgender youth growing up in these states. Advertisement In North Carolina, the governor signed a law that, among other things, forces transgender people to use restrooms that don't match the gender they live every day. Mississippi recently passed a broad anti-LGBT bill which also includes language that would allow any business or employer to force transgender people into the wrong restroom, putting their safety at risk. New bills targeting LGBT people are now being debated in Tennessee and South Carolina, and on the horizon in Illinois, Kansas, Michigan, Missouri and Washington state. Let's back up a bit. Did you know that in over half of the states in our country, a person can be fired, denied housing or kicked out of a restaurant simply because they are gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender? There is no federal law that explicitly protects LGBT people from discrimination -- only state and local laws. So, the LGBT community has to fight for those protections state-by-state, county-by-county, and city-by-city just to be able to live their lives free from discrimination. In some places like Houston, Texas and Charlotte, North Carolina, we've won nondiscrimination protections, only to have the law repealed; in other states, there are legislators trying to pass anti-LGBT bills that make it easier to discriminate against gay, lesbian bisexual, and transgender people. Most of these bills attempt to make it illegal for transgender people to use public bathrooms that match the gender they live every day. Using the restroom is something we all need to do, but these so-called "bathroom bills" are designed to make it difficult, if not impossible, for transgender people to simply go about their daily lives. Advertisement The legislators introducing these bills claim they are about public safety. But it's important to know that in the 18 states (and more than 200 cities) that have laws and ordinances protecting transgender people from discrimination, there have been no increases in public safety incidents. None. Why? Because there are laws in every state which make it illegal for anyone to enter a restroom to harm or harass people, or invade their privacy. Police use those laws to arrest perpetrators and keep people safe. Protecting LGBT people from discrimination doesn't change that! We all want safety and privacy in public bathrooms. But these anti-LGBT bills, like the ones in North Carolina and Mississippi, actually make us less safe, not more safe. They open the door to abuse, aggressive and confrontational behavior in bathrooms, and encourage strangers to demand that women and girls prove that they are actually female in order to use the restroom. No one wants that. If one of these harmful bills is introduced in your city or state, please take a moment and listen to the stories of actual transgender people who live near you. Let's help their voices are heard over the fear mongering from the other side. We have already seen the difference it makes! In South Dakota, a group of incredibly brave trans youth shared their stories with Governor Dennis Daugaard, and he vetoed a bad bill that targeted trans people. To see if an anti-LGBT bill has been introduced where you live,take a look at the website from my friend Mara Keisling and the amazing people at the National Center for Transgender Equality. They also include action steps you can take to make sure the bill is defeated. There are some good bills out there. In Massachusetts, advocates are working to pass a bill that protects transgender people from discrimination in public spaces. And like we've seen in so many other places, courageous transgender youth and their families are helping lead the charge to get this done by sharing their stories. Advertisement We need more bills like the one in Massachusetts -- bills which ensure that every transgender person, no matter what state they're growing up in, can go to school safely and get the education they deserve. We need to make sure they can put that education to good use by getting a job and making a living for themselves and supporting their families. We need to make sure they can buy a home and go out to a restaurant or a movie theater without facing harassment. And yes, we need to make sure those trans kids -- and all transgender people -- can use the restrooms that align with how they live every day. Updating our laws to protect people from discrimination -- and preventing laws that harm LGBT people -- is important to me. We'll keep talking about these bills here, and alerting you when there's something you can do to help. How you're treated shouldn't depend on geography -- our country is better than that. A half century of military dictatorship has officially ended in Burma, or Myanmar. The cost has been high, with brutal war and systematic repression finally giving way to nominal civilian rule. Yet taking the final steps toward democracy may be as difficult as making the transition so far. For years it seemed like this day would never come. In 1962 the mystical military strongman Ne Win took control. The junta called an election in 1990, which gave a landslide victory to Aung San Suu Kyi, daughter of a respected independence leader, and her National League for Democracy. The junta voided the results and redoubled repression. Advertisement But six years ago the so-called State Peace and Development Council transformed itself into a nominally civilian regime, with the military receding into the background. Suu Kyi, now a Nobel laureate, was released from house arrest. The transition was marred by imposition of a constitution which cemented military power, continuing violations of civil and political liberties, and wide scale persecution of the Muslim Rohingya. But free elections were held last November, in which the NLD overwhelmed candidates from the regime's Union Solidarity Development Party, including cabinet members, party chairman, and parliamentary speaker. The new government was sworn in at the end of March. Suu Kyi was barred from the presidency by a constitutional provision drafted specifically against her: no one with a foreign relative can be president. (Her late husband and two sons are British.) However, she originally took on four cabinet ministries: education, energy, foreign affairs, and presidential office, later dropping the first two. Moreover, she chose classmate U Htin Kyaw as president, having previously explained that she would be "above the president." To formalize her authority the party's first legislative act was to create the position of "state adviser," which, explained MP Khin Maung Myint, would be "the president's boss" who "can control the president and all the Cabinet members." The bill authorized her to directly contact government officials and private groups and individuals. Legislators passed the measure over the military's opposition, which had drafted the existing constitution to target her. In his inaugural speech Htin Kyaw spoke of the need for "a constitution that has democratic norms and is suitable for the nation." That was widely seen as a pitch for changing the constitution, which the military refused to consider both during the extended lead up to the election and after the NLD's electoral triumph. Guaranteed one-quarter of the parliamentary seats by the constitution it drafted, the Tatmadaw, as the military is known, is able to block any constitutional change. The armed forces also retain control of the defense, home affairs, and border affairs ministries. Advertisement The NLD is targeting this disproportionate influence. NLD parliamentarian Than Aung Soe opined: "We will try step by step to reduce the military percentage." Yet doing so will require either the military's consent or a true revolution. And no one should count on the former: Military commander-in-chief Gen. Min Aung Hlaing emphasized the importance of the Tatmadaw retaining its "leading role in national politics." Gen. Hlaing proclaimed unity between the military and people, despite the former's brutal mistreatment of the latter for decades, and the importance of "stability." He pledged to "cooperate to bring about prosperity" but warned against "chaotic democracy" which could result from "a failure to abide by the rule of law and regulations and the presence of armed insurgencies." Indeed, it remains unclear why the generals decided to yield full power. They may have concluded that a negotiated transition offered greater long-term security than risking a future popular explosion. The junta's members also apparently thought--erroneously, just as in 1990--that they could divide the opposition and maintain at least a share of elected power. The military undoubtedly recognized that the nation had fallen dramatically behind the Asian "tigers" and even such neighbors as Thailand. Finally, the nationalistic Tatmadaw found the embrace of Burma's massive neighbor China to be suffocating. Democratization was the only way to bring in America and Europe, which had imposed tough economic sanctions. Despite the NLD's overwhelming electoral triumph and Suu Kyi's expansive moral authority, governing will remain a cooperative process. Argued historian Thant Myint-U, November "was not an election of a government. It was an election for a spot in a shared government with the army." Myanmar's future requires Suu Kyi and the NLD to push steadily for moderate reform while winning the military's confidence if not trust. While the Tatmadaw is unlikely to reverse course and again seize power--the democratic genie really seems to be out of the bottle--a rupture in relations and confrontation would have unpredictable and potentially disastrous consequences. Advertisement The challenges facing the new government are enormous. Despite great potential, Burma remains a desperately poor land. However, reforms have barely begun. The latest Economic Freedom of the World index placed Burma at a dismal 146 of 157 nations. Sean Turnell of Australia's Macquarie University complained that recent changes "are not, for the most part, liberal market reforms, but simply expanded permissions and concessions, often given to the crony firms that dominate parts of the economy." The government must address pervasive corruption, legal processes, property rights, business regulation, and trade restrictions. Significant economic reforms are needed to encourage domestic entrepreneurs and foreign investors alike. The state remains authoritarian. Last year Human Rights Watch reported that "the reform process has stalled." Freedom House rated Burma as "Not Free" and moving backwards. The government cracked down on journalists and military-dominated parliament approved legislation further restricting religious liberty. The new government must adopt wholesale liberalization covering free speech and assembly, media freedom, online activism, judicial process, and criminal procedure. Equally important, the military, which still controls the security agencies, must respect the people's new liberties. Myanmar remains a land aflame. Although most ethnic groups have signed ceasefires with the government, conflict continues with some, such as the Kachin, Shan, and Wa. The government must negotiate and implement long-term peace agreements, which require substantial self-government and reintegration into Burmese institutions. Particularly contentious is the status of the stateless Rohingya in Rakhine State, who have been targeted by Buddhist nationalists. Tens of thousands of Rohingya have been displaced. So far Suu Kyi has downplayed the violence, but the new government must act to protect the Rohingya and other vulnerable groups. Complicating these tasks are the people's high expectations. President Htin Kyaw called for patience, but that may end up in short supply. The Burmese people voted more for The Lady, as Suu Kyi is known, than the NLD or a particular political program. It isn't likely to take long for disappointment to arrive amid practical politics, including difficult economic, ethnic, labor, and religious disputes. Moreover, while a truly heroic figure who has fought for democracy, Suu Kyi never had the opportunity to practice the art of democracy. She has run the NLD autocratically, failing to develop leaders to follow her, and raised concern with her decision to hold two ministries directly, as well as the super-president position. Before taking power she declared that she will "make all the decisions, because I am the leader of the winning party." That isn't a healthy approach even in a mature, well-developed democracy. Advertisement The movement toward full democracy could be at risk if the political fault line between Suu Kyi and the military deepens. While Burma must eventually vest full power in civilian hands, the NLD should avoid breaching the civilian-military relationship by pushing too hard too soon for constitutional and political changes which the Tatmadaw is unwilling to make. Of course, the military should get out of the way. But the only way it will do so without bloodshed is if convinced to do so. Despite all this, however, what is happening in Naypyidaw is extraordinary. After decades of military dictatorship, civilians have taken over most of the positions of authority in Burma. The people of Myanmar do not yet rule themselves. But they are closer to doing so than at any previous point in more than a half century. The U.S. and other nations should encourage the democracy process. Economic sanctions remain, including on roughly 150 "specially designated nationals," individuals and businesses linked to the junta. American firms are having trouble finding capable local partners and at a disadvantage compared to firms from Europe, which has lifted its restrictions. Indeed, Suu Kyi declared last November that "With a genuinely democratic government in power, I do not see why they would need to keep sanctions on." While much more remains necessary to create a liberal and free society, Washington should further relax sanctions to reward progress so far. If the military continues to cooperate in Myanmar's transformation the rest of the restrictions should be lifted in the coming months. At work or elsewhere, most everyone has experienced a relationship that turned toxic. If you have, you know they're a major drain on your energy, productivity, and happiness. In a new study from Georgetown University, 98% of people reported experiencing toxic behavior at work. The study found that toxic relationships negatively influence employees and their organizations in nine notable ways: 80% lost work time worrying about the incidents. 78% said that their commitment to the organization declined. 66% said that their performance declined. 63% lost work time avoiding the offender. 47% intentionally decreased the time spent at work. 38% intentionally decreased the quality of their work. 25% admitted to taking their frustration out on customers. 12% said that they left their job because of it. 48% intentionally decreased their work effort. While the turnover from toxic relationships is costly, the real cost is the lost productivity and emotional distress experienced by people who are stuck in these relationships. We may not be able to control the toxicity of other people, but we can control how we respond to them, and this has the power to alter the course of a relationship. Before a toxic relationship can be neutralized, you must intimately understand what's making it toxic in the first place. Toxic relationships develop when one person's needs are no longer met or someone or something is interfering with the ability to maintain a healthy and productive relationship. Recognizing and understanding toxicity enables you to develop effective strategies to thwart future toxic interactions. What follows are the most common types of toxic relationships and strategies to help you overcome them. Relationships that are passive aggressive. This type takes many forms in the workplace, from the manager who gives you the cold shoulder to the colleague who cc's e-mails to your boss. One of the most common forms of passive aggression is a drastic reduction of effort. Passive aggressive types have great difficulty receiving feedback, and this can lead them to leave work early or not to work as hard. Passive aggression is deadly in the workplace, where opinions and feelings need to be placed on the table in order for progress to continue. Advertisement When you find someone behaving passive aggressively toward you, you need to take it upon yourself to communicate the problem. Passive aggressive types typically act the way they do because they're trying to avoid the issue at hand. If you can't bring yourself to open up a line of communication, you may find yourself joining in the mind games. Just remember, passive aggressive types tend to be sensitive and to avoid conflict, so when you do bring something up, make sure to do so as constructively and harmoniously as possible. Relationships that lack forgiveness and trust. It's inevitable that you're going to make mistakes at work. Some people get so fixated on other people's mistakes that it seems as if they believe they don't make mistakes themselves. You'll find that these people hold grudges, are constantly afraid that other people are going to do them harm, and may even begin nudging you out of important projects. If you're not careful, this can stifle upward career movement by removing important opportunities for growth. The frustrating thing about this type of relationship is that it takes one mistake to lose hundreds of "trust points" but hundreds of perfect actions to get one trust point back. To win back their trust, it's crucial that you pay extra-close attention to detail and that you're not frazzled by the fact that they will constantly be looking for mistakes. You have to use every ounce of patience while you dig yourself out of the subjective hole you're in. Remember, Rome wasn't built in a day. Relationships that are one-sided. Relationships are supposed to be mutually beneficial. They have a natural give and take. In the workplace, this applies to relationships with people who report to you (they should be getting things done for you and you should be teaching them) as well as with people you report to (you should be learning from them, but also contributing). These relationships grow toxic when one person begins to give a disproportionate amount, or one person only wants to take. It could be a manager who has to guide an employee through every excruciating detail, or a colleague who finds herself doing all the work. If possible, the best thing to do with this type is to stop giving. Unfortunately this isn't always possible. When it isn't, you need to have a frank conversation with the other party in order to recalibrate the relationship. Advertisement Relationships that are idealistic. Idealistic relationships are those where we begin to hold people in too high a regard. When you think your colleague walks on water, the relationship becomes toxic because you don't have the boundaries you need in a healthy working relationship. For instance, you might overlook a mistake that needs attention, or do work that violates your moral compass because you assume your colleague is in the right. This loss of boundaries is extremely toxic to you, and you have the power to set the relationship straight. No matter how close you may be with someone, or how great you think her work may be, you need to remain objective. If you're the one people are idealizing, you need to speak up and insist that they treat you the same way they treat everyone else. Relationships that are punitive. Punitive relationships are those where one person punishes the other for behavior that doesn't align directly with their expectations. The major issue with punitive types is that their instinct is to punish, without adequate communication, feedback, and understanding. This belittling approach creates conflict and bad feelings. To survive a punitive type, you must choose your battles wisely. Your voice won't be heard if you dive right in to every conflict. They'll just label you as someone who is too sensitive. Relationships built on lies. These types get so caught up in looking good that they lose track of what's fact and what's fiction. Then the lies pile up until they're the foundation of the relationship. People who won't give you straight answers don't deserve your trust. After all, if they're willing to lie to you, how can you ever really depend on them? Advertisement When you remove trust from any relationship, you don't have a relationship at all. Building a relationship on lies is no different than building a house on a pile of sand. The best thing you can do is to count your losses and move on. How To Protect Yourself From A Toxic Person Toxic people drive you crazy because their behavior is so irrational. Make no mistake about it--their behavior truly goes against reason, so why do you allow yourself to respond to them emotionally and get sucked into the mix? The ability to manage your emotions and remain calm under pressure (an important component of emotional intelligence) has direct links to your performance and happiness. One of the greatest gifts of emotional intelligence is the ability to identify toxic people and keep them at bay. The more irrational and off-base someone is, the easier it should be for you to remove yourself from their traps. Quit trying to beat them at their own game. Distance yourself from them emotionally, and approach your interactions with them like they're a science project (or you're their shrink if you prefer that analogy). You don't need to respond to the emotional chaos--only the facts. Maintaining an emotional distance requires awareness (which you can increase with an emotional intelligence test). You can't stop someone from pushing your buttons if you don't recognize when it's happening. Sometimes you'll find yourself in situations where you'll need to regroup and choose the best way forward. This is fine, and you shouldn't be afraid to buy yourself some time to do so. Advertisement Most people feel as though because they work or live with someone, they have no way to control the chaos. This couldn't be further from the truth. Once you've identified a toxic person, you'll begin to find their behavior more predictable and easier to understand. This will equip you to think rationally about when and where you have to put up with them and when and where you don't. You can establish boundaries, but you'll have to do so consciously and proactively. If you let things happen naturally, you're bound to find yourself constantly embroiled in difficult conversations. If you set boundaries and decide when and where you'll engage a difficult person, you can control much of the chaos. The only trick is to stick to your guns and keep boundaries in place when the person tries to cross them, which they will. Bringing It All Together There are many different types of toxic relationships in the workplace. When you find yourself embroiled in one, it's worth the effort to evaluate things carefully and develop a course of action that will save your sanity and better your career. Authored by Mario Molina, V. Ramanathan and Durwood Zaelke Quick cuts to super-pollutant soot and methane needed to stave off calamity. The Paris climate agreement that nearly 200 nations signed on Friday is important, but it's not enough. Speed matters in climate protection. Immediate action to cut four "super pollutants" could make the difference between a reasonably safe climate and one that carries staggering human and financial costs. Scientists have recently issued new climate warnings, as warming accelerates at a pace unprecedented in the last 66 million years. Arctic sea-ice, which reflects considerable warming back to space, has reached a new winter low. And the once-stable West Antarctic Ice Sheet may be starting to disintegrate, threatening five to six feet of sea-level rise during this century, inundating many coastal cities and populations. Risks to human health are also accelerating. In the U.S., tens of thousands of people will die prematurely every year from extreme heat waves, floods and violent storms, as well as from diseases carried by mosquitos and ticks, according to a recent White House report. The financial cost will be astronomical if we fail to keep warming below 3.6F above pre-industrial levels -- the upper limit recommended by experts for at least some assurance of safety. Adapting to rising temperatures will slow global economic growth and cost trillions over the next century leaving millions more people mired in poverty and making it all the more difficult to pay for the costs of dealing with climate change. Advertisement The nightmare scenario is one in which "feedback mechanisms" cause uncontrollable impacts in an endless loop. For example, as warming has accelerated, shrinking Arctic sea ice has added an extra 25% more warming since 1979 beyond warming from carbon dioxide emissions. Similarly, as the Arctic heats up at twice the global average rate, permafrost thaws and releases methane that causes still more warming. Over the last year, rising temperatures have also contributed to Alaska's near-record forest fires, which melt the insulating layer above the permafrost, adding still more methane to the atmosphere, on top of the carbon from the fires themselves. Unless we rapidly slow down these self-amplifying feedback mechanisms, we could lose the first major battle of climate change and face worse problems in the future. All countries must keep their commitments to pursue aggressive cuts to carbon dioxide under the Paris Agreement. Yet even under full implementation, global temperatures will increase between about 4.5 and 7.2 degrees Fahrenheit, far above the 3.6-degree guard rail. The best and fastest way to prevent immediate climate destabilization lies in cutting back on emissions of super pollutants that make outsize contributions to warming despite the fact that they are produced in much smaller quantities than carbon dioxide. They include ground-level ozone and black carbon soot, from sources such as power plants and diesel engines, as well as methane (often from natural gas systems and agriculture) and hydrofluorocarbon refrigerants (HFCs) in air conditioning and other systems. These four super pollutants are between 28 and 4,000 times more potent warmers than carbon dioxide. And because they are short-lived, slowing their release into the atmosphere can curb warming quickly. Ground-level ozone and black carbon disappear within a month, methane and HFCs within 15 years. By contrast, 25% of carbon dioxide remains in the atmosphere for 500 years or more. Slashing the super pollutants could reduce the rate of warming by as much as 50% in the critical period from today to 2050. Advertisement This may be the best - perhaps the only - way to slow warming in the near term, and to stop the self-amplifying feedbacks from surging beyond control. There are other enormous benefits. Pollution from black carbon soot cuts short millions of lives every year: replacing dirty diesel vehicles as well as the inefficient cook stoves and lanterns (often used indoors in developing countries with deadly effects) could save nearly 80 million lives over the next 20 years. Ground-level ozone damages crops: cutting it can improve food security for hundreds of millions. Worldwide use of HFCs can be cut under the Montreal Protocol starting this year. Cutting carbon dioxide emissions remains imperative, and cannot be delayed. Yet the parallel strategy of reducing super pollutants is perhaps even more important to avert disastrous consequences in the near-term. Mario Molina shared the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1995 for work on chlorofluorocarbons and teaches at the University of California, San Diego. V. Ramanathan discovered the greenhouse effect of halocarbons, and is professor of atmospheric and climate science at UC San Diego. Durwood Zaelke is president of the Institute for Governance & Sustainable Development. On the eve of World War I, there were two million Armenians in the declining Ottoman Empire. By 1922, there were fewer than 400,000. The others -- some 1.5 million -- were killed in what historians consider a genocide. As David Fromkin put it in his widely praised history of World War I and its aftermath, "A Peace to End All Peace": "Rape and beating were commonplace. Those who were not killed at once were driven through mountains and deserts without food, drink or shelter. Hundreds of thousands of Armenians eventually succumbed or were killed ." The man who invented the word "genocide"-- Raphael Lemkin, a lawyer of Polish-Jewish origin -- was moved to investigate the attempt to eliminate an entire people by accounts of the massacres of Armenians. He did not, however, coin the word until 1943, applying it to Nazi Germany and the Jews in a book published a year later, "Axis Rule in Occupied Europe." ...The University of Minnesota's Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies has compiled figures by province and district that show there were 2,133,190 Armenians in the empire in 1914 and only about 387,800 by 1922. Water is the basic building block of our humanity--without it, human, animal, and plant life could not survive. Without it, our global goals of ensuring sustainable development, peace, and security are unachievable. Water washes over more than 70 percent of the surface of our blue planet, yet as of this Earth Day some 1.5 to 2 billion people have no reliable source of clean drinking water. Another 2.5 billion do not have access to basic sanitation facilities. How can one-third of the planet's population drink, bathe themselves and their children, fight disease, produce food, and live with dignity when they don't have safe water or adequate sanitation? The United States is working to create a more water secure world by increasing access to safe drinking water and sanitation, improving water resources management, and promoting cooperation over shared waters. These are just some ways that State Department and U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) foreign assistance dollars support our environment and our shared Earth. To do this, the State Department and USAID invest in capacity building, infrastructure, technology, private sector partnerships, and innovative financial instruments that mobilize local capital. Between 2007 and 2016, the United States has allocated in excess of $6.0 billion in water and sanitation activities in more than 50 countries worldwide. This support will help us empower our partner countries to meet the needs of their citizens, improving access to safe drinking water, sanitation and hygiene; enhancing water resources management; and mitigating tensions associated with shared waters. Advertisement These activities have made real and lasting impact for people across the globe. As a result of these activities, more than 50 million people have received access to improved drinking water and/or sanitation services. We have also developed several innovative partnerships that have helped mobilize support from across the United States. The US Water Partnership (USWP) is a prime example of this. In 2012, the State Department helped launch this new public-private partnership in order to unite and mobilize American knowledge, expertise, and resources to address water challenges around the world, especially in developing countries where needs are greatest. To date in 2016, the USWP has aggregated commitments worth over $1.3 billion dollars from 112 members, and has impacted the lives of people in over 100 countries. In 2013, USAID launched its first ever Water and Development Strategy, setting new WASH and agricultural water management targets to be met by 2018. Since then, more than 7.6 million people gained access to improved drinking water and nearly 4.3 million people gained access to improved sanitation facilities. At this current rate, USAID will reach its goal of improving water access for 10 million people and improved sanitation access for 6 million by 2018. We must build on these successes to be able to continue to meet human, livelihood, and ecosystem needs. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) will help us remain focused on achieving water security for all. In 2015, The United States and 192 other nations formally adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development at the UN Summit on Sustainable Development in New York. Goal Six of the 2030 Agenda, "Clean Water and Sanitation," lays out a number of targets including universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water for all by 2030. To achieve this and other SDGs, we will need strong support for foreign assistance resources in FY 2017 and beyond. We will also need to work with the private sector, civil society, academic institutions, donor countries, and developing countries themselves to mobilize resources and form collaborative partnerships with a diverse array of stakeholders. Advertisement In line with the SDGs, and as a part of this year's Earth Day celebrations, the State Department will host the annual 6k Walk for Water on April 28, 2016. This walk acknowledges the millions of people in the developing world, most often women and girls, who walk an average of six kilometers a day to collect water for their families. The task of collecting water keeps children out of school and prevents women from engaging in more productive economic activities and often puts both women and children at risk of physical assault. I'll be very honest with you. Science was never my strongest - or even favorite -- subject during school. But even though it wasn't top on my list, I did learn quite a few things. The first, and probably most important, thing I learned during any science class was that facts do not lie. No matter how much you may want to be a naysayer and disagree, you cannot simply change facts to fit your own narrative. I think that's a lesson that Ted Cruz and Donald Trump missed out on in school. They seem to want to change and ignore proven scientific fact about the environment and climate change. Take Cruz for example. During a hearing he held in December as the chairman of the Senate's Subcommittee on Space, Science, and Competitiveness, he repeatedly challenged all proven scientific fact and made wild, false assertions in an attempt to defend his faulty view. And then of course, there is the front-runner for the Republican nomination. In a tweet a few years ago, Donald Trump wrote: "The concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive." All I can say to that: What? John Kasich has acknowledged that climate change may be real, but he continually disregards the overwhelming scientific evidence that human activity is the main cause of the problem. As we celebrate the 46th anniversary of Earth Day this year, I just can't understand how anyone could back a candidate for president who doesn't believe in science and fact? That was the most important lesson I learned in college - data doesn't lie. You may not agree with it, but facts are facts. That's why I'm so proud of all the work that has been accomplished by President Obama these last seven years to protect our planet and preserve it for generations to come. When laying out his Climate Action Plan in June 2013, President Obama asked, "Someday, our children, and our children's children, will look at us in the eye and they'll ask us, did we do all that we could when we had the chance to deal with this problem and leave them a cleaner, safe, more stable world?" If Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, or John Kasich win in November, the answer will sadly be "no" since they refuse to acknowledge the facts. That's why it's more important than ever that Democrats unite together this fall so we can continue building on President Obama's legacy. The Obama administration has made real progress in developing a wide range of initiatives that reduce greenhouse gas emissions through clean energy policies. Since President Obama took office, the U.S. has increased solar electricity generation by more than twenty-fold, and tripled electricity production from wind power. President Obama has tirelessly worked with the EPA to develop a plan to reduce carbon emissions from power plants by 32 percent from 2005 levels by 2030. He's put in place tough fuel economy standards for passenger vehicles and is pushing us to invest in 21st century technologies that will improve the planet. President Obama and Democrats at every level recognize and understand the science of climate change and the real impact that proactive policies we implement can have on preserving the planet for future generations. On this Earth Day, we need to make sure we draw light to the fact that leaders in the GOP like Trump, Cruz, and Kasich simply want to ignore the facts of science and continue destroying our planet. I'm hoping for a future that's brighter, that's cleaner, and that's safer. And with a Democrat in the White House, and Democratic majorities in Congress and state legislatures, we'll see that brighter future last for generations. On the campaign trail, Bill Clinton has faced protests by Black Lives Matter activists calling him out for his crime and welfare "reform" bills which adversely impacted black people. The same activists should denounce Clinton's foreign policies in Africa which screwed over black people too. Clinton for example was in office during the Somalian fiasco in which militia fighters loyal to Mohammed Farah Aideed shot down two Black Hawk helicopters. In rescue operations, over 3,000 Somalians were subsequently killed, a third of them women and children, compared to 18 Americans. Advertisement The humanitarian relief operation went awry because Americans failed to recognize that aid was not seen as impartial in a clan-based society like Somalia if it strengthened a particular group. Continental Oil Company (Conoco) also helped plan logistics for the Marine landing, whose main result was to upset the traditional balance of the Somali kinship system and help convert Somalia into a failed state. Clinton's involvement in Rwanda was even more disastrous than Somalia. The official storyline is that the United States was a bystander to genocide in April 1994, a theme promoted by National Security adviser Samantha Power in her Pullitzer Prize winning book, A Problem from Hell: America in the Age of Genocide. However the 2015 BBC documentary "Rwanda's Untold Story" shows that the Clinton administration was very much complicit in the mass killings in Rwanda in 1994, and then supported Rwanda and Uganda as they invaded and plundered the Congo in 1996 and again in 1998. The Clinton administration's strategy was to support the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) led by Paul Kagame who had triggered civil war in 1990 by invading Rwanda from Uganda. Rwanda was ruled at the time by French-backed Hutu General Juvenal Habyarimana. Advertisement The Tutsi had been expelled from Rwanda following the Hutu Power revolution of the early 1960s and were an oppressed people. However the methods they employed to regain power in their country violated international law. An eight-year investigation by French magistrate Jean-Louise Brugiere that included sworn affidavits by high-level RPF defectors along with an investigation by FBI agent Jim Lyons blocked by UN Prosector Louise Arbour concluded that Kagame shot down the plane of Habayrimana on April 6, 1994 as a pretext for gaining political power. Moral legitimacy was accorded to the RPF based on the supposition that Hutu militias had massacred hundreds of thousands of Tutsi with machetes following a call for genocide which was never proven to have taken place. RPF soldiers meanwhile carried out their own massacres, extending to the Congo. RPF militias hunted down Hutu refugees in the forests and overthrew Congolese strongman Joseph Mobutu, an American Cold War client who had lost his strategic utility, and then Mobutu's successor Laurent Kabila who had once fought alongside Che Guevara. The Clinton administration in 1994 convinced the UN Security Council to replace French troops with noncombatants to enable the RPF take-over. The Pentagon is estimated to have provided $10 million in arms covertly to Rwanda and Uganda through the period of the Congo invasion, sending military advisers contracted through a private company and coordinating communications, as Wayne Madsen detailed in his book Genocide and Covert Operations in Africa, 1993-1999. As a consequence of the Congo War, Rwanda and Uganda's economies boomed from coltan and cobalt, and Western corporations such as American Mineral Fields (AMF), headquartered in Hope, Arkansas (Clinton's hometown) and Barrick Gold (whose board included George H.W. Bush and former Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney), received concessions for mining and mineral resources worth over $157 billion. Advertisement According to Human Rights Watch, Clinton's foreign policy generally adopted a "selective approach to human rights," turning a "blind eye in African countries considered to be strategically or economically important." In oil-rich Nigeria, Clinton failed to impose sanctions against military ruler Sani Abacha after he had executed nine Ogoni activists including Ken Saro-Wiwa, and subsequently provided military training through a private contractor with a checkered human rights past. The Clinton administration also provided over $137 million annually to Ethiopian leader Meles Zenawi who was heralded as part of a "new wave of democracy in Africa," though he jailed political opopnents and went on to rule for over twenty years. This was smiilar to the other great democrats heralded by Clinton, Paul Kagame, who assassinated political opponents even in exile, and Yoweri Museveni who still rules Uganda with an iron-fist. The Clinton administration did special harm to Africans in pushing structural adjustment programs through the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF). In copper-rich Zambia, a showcase for the neoliberal reform, rapid privatization resulted in "systematic exploitation by multi-national corporations, national assets sold for a 'song' and persistent tax dodging," according to South African analyst Khadija Sharif. Living and working conditions deteriorated and environmental standards worsened while public services were slashed in the midst of the unfolding HIV-AIDS pandemic. Considering the adverse consequences of Clinton's foreign policy, Black Lives Matter should focus attention on the harm done to black people the world over by Bill's brand of neoliberal and neo-colonialist politics which Hilary would likely continue. Advertisement As Secretary of State, Hillary was a key champion of the war to oust Muammar Qaddafi in Libya which helped convert that country into a failed state, and failed to supported a bill she promoted as Senator to regulate conflict minerals. Peter Schweizer reports in Clinton Cash that the Lundin Group of Vancouver, Canada paid $250 million to Congolese leader Joseph Kabila's "finance minister" in return for mining concessions that yielded "staggering profits" and then pledged $100 million to the Clinton Foundation, which may have shaped Hilary's about face. In Bill-like fashion, Hilary subsequently turned a blind eye to blatant corruption in elections that restored Joseph Kabila to power. Given this record, Black Lives Matter should be targeting both Bill and Hilary on the campaign trail, and a major last ditch effort is needed in support of Bernie Sanders. Looking at me with a mischievous smirk, Ryder opens his book after a second prompt. As teachers, we say we don't have favorites, but Ryder, he is my favorite. This fourth-grader is imaginative, analytical, funny, sarcastic, intelligent -- and dyslexic. He also acts out frequently, ever the class clown, doing whatever it takes to get out of reading or writing. He has difficulty accurately spelling words with three and four letters, and identifying and pronouncing short vowels. For this reason, I recognize and appreciate the trust he places in me. Students like Ryder stand to benefit from the new Research Excellence and Advancements for Dyslexia (READ) Act, signed by President Obama in February to increase research related to dyslexia, including awareness, early identification, classroom instruction, and targeted intervention. This law is focused on promoting equal educational opportunities for the estimated 8.5 million K-12 students with dyslexia and will most certainly improve long-term outcomes through better preparation for and access to high school. The READ Act will make it more likely that students with dyslexia will receive a free and appropriate public education, a right that is already due to them and protected by existing federal laws. But, like so many policies meant to revolutionize American education, there are often unforeseen hurdles. Through my own experiences -- meeting, consulting, and supporting the professional development of teachers around the country each year -- I feel quite confident in the assertion that teachers are not being adequately prepared to address the needs of students with dyslexia. While the READ Act will support new research, we need to begin reevaluating and prioritizing this knowledge in our teacher education programs. Advertisement Dyslexia is the most commonly diagnosed neurobiological disorder, influencing the development of decoding (reading) and encoding (spelling) skills. Research has demonstrated that students who struggle with reading are at risk of continuing to experience difficulties throughout their school years and a host of negative long-term consequences, including discipline problems, dropping out and future joblessness or underemployment. Disparate outcomes, between students who attain reading proficiency and those who struggle, create sustained unequal opportunities within our school systems. Students with dyslexia require explicit, targeted, and systematic instruction in addition to multiple opportunities for practice with immediate, corrective feedback. There is strong evidence based on decades of high-quality educational research that provides guidelines to inform practices for students with dyslexia. We know how to design and implemented interventions (especially in the early elementary grades) that remediate reading difficulties and ensure students' needs are being met. But teachers need to have proper training to support this type of instruction, understanding that students with dyslexia will learn to read differently than a student without dyslexia. How will America's schools comply with the spirit of the READ Act if teacher training does not include the knowledge and skills necessary to support this group of students? The International Dyslexia Association has stated that teachers need to be trained deeply in the structure of language, including the speech sound system, writing system, structure of sentences, meaningful parts of words, relationships among words, and the organization of spoken and written discourse. As special education expert, I will tell you, that just is not happening. For example, at the College of Education at The University of Texas at Austin, ranked No. 3 public and No. 10 overall nationally, pre-service teachers in our undergraduate general and special education programs receive only one course focused on reading development and instructional methods for struggling readers. Now don't get me wrong, it's a great course (I teach it!). Students leave with a solid base of knowledge related to reading instruction for diverse learners, and we send excellent teachers out into the world. But we do not have even close to an adequate amount of time to ensure that our teachers are leaving with deep knowledge about dyslexia, or the type of instruction and specialized interventions that students with dyslexia will need. The ability to read proficiently is critical to school success. Throughout the primary grades, learning to read is a central focus; and as students move into the upper elementary grades, much of the content being taught relies on their ability to access text and read for understanding. Learning to read should be the right of all students -- and as such, students with dyslexia must be ensured appropriate instruction. Words have always had a profound effect on me and my love of words was one of the reasons I chose to study education. In my early years as a teacher, I found it distressing that some of my students were not able to access the written word. This turned into a deep interest in and commitment to understanding and supporting students who struggled with reading, particularly those with disabilities that made learning how to read a treacherous process. When I now teach future teachers and lead professional development with teachers around the country, I often share these words by John Steinbeck: Advertisement Some people there are, who being grown, forget the horrible task of learning to read. It is perhaps the greatest single effort that the human undertakes, and he must do it as a child ... I remember that words--written or printed--were devils, and books, because they gave me pain, were my enemies. Then one day, my aunt gave me a book... and I stared at the black print with hatred, and then, gradually the pages opened and let me in. The magic happened. "I worried that the man I was starting to like would be disappointed or repulsed ... I needed to warn him so he wouldnt be surprised at what he saw or touched." Editor's Note A HuffPost article that previously existed at this URL has been removed. As more than 150 world leaders convene at the United Nations for the historic signing of the Paris Agreement, the United Nations Global Compact is calling on companies to set an internal price on carbon at a minimum of $100 per metric ton over time. Today's signing ceremony at the UN is about making sure that we turn aspirations into actions, and setting a price on carbon is one of the most effective ways to drive climate into corporate strategy and investment. Around the world, strong momentum is building among Heads of State, city and regional leaders as 40 nations and more than 20 cities, states and regions have adopted or are planning explicit carbon prices, covering approximately 12 percent of global GHG emissions. Advertisement Investors are also calling for a price on carbon. The UN-backed Principles for Responsible Investment, a substantial group of investors holding $59 trillion in assets under management, have pledged to invest based on sustainability criteria, consistent with producing shareholder return. A subset of these investors has specifically called on companies to apply an economically meaningful price on carbon, including some investors decarbonizing their portfolios. Based on our work with over 70 companies that have already internalized a price on carbon, we believe that $100 is the minimum price needed to spur innovation, unlock investment, and shift market signals to ultimately reduce global greenhouse gas emissions in line with the 1.5 to 2-degree Celsius target. Already many leading companies have taken steps to price carbon at even $50 or $60, which today is notable. However we need to see an ascent in ambition and price across the board. We especially urge companies participating in our Caring for Climate initiative to take a leadership position and adopt the $100 price by 2020. Through our Business Leadership Criteria on Carbon Pricing, we invite companies to take on the triple challenge of setting, advocating, and reporting for an ambitious price on carbon. Advertisement Last December, our family of four traveled to Botswana and Zimbabwe with good friends - another family of four - who have been sharing our sense of adventure and world-exploration for several years. We spent nine days on photo safari, from December 19-29, 2015 and returned with camera SD cards filled with magnificent stills and videos from our trip. But at least one SD card did not make it back. Fast forward to April 21, 2016 when we learned that Rebecca S, the youngest of our group at 21, "was all over the internet." What? How? Because she had inadvertently dropped an SD card on the sandy ground ("in the middle of nowhere") during one of our Zimbabwean leg-stretchers, and it was found a week later by a storytelling video-making whiz kid, NYC-based Joe Sabia, who documented his discovery and investigative skills in a thoroughly entertaining video. General Raheel Sharif, Pakistan's army chief, is taking action against corrupt army officers. To what extent will he go in this unprecedented battle? Photo source: Baaghi TV, Pakistan. Media leaks have revealed that Pakistan's powerful army chief General Raheel Sharif has sacked at least twelve senior army officers because of their involvement in 'corruption'. The army has not provided more details about the nature and scale of corruption these officers were involved in. This is an extraordinary development given the fact that the military, the actual center for political power in the country, has historically silenced calls for accountability and transparency with regards to the perception about widespread corruption within its ranks. In the first place, it requires enormous courage and also involves great risks for journalists and politicians to question the corruption in the army or seek accountability. In 2007 when the fearless defense analyst Dr. Ayesha Siddiqa published her remarkable book, Military Inc., probably the best account ever about the Pakistani military's wealth and its internal distribution among the top officials, the army immediately cancelled the book launch. A Chicago Tribune correspondent stationed in Islamabad reported that "all the fancy hotels in Pakistan's capital decided not to rent out their meeting halls" for the book launch due to pressure from the army. Advertisement However, the book still succeeded in creating great damage to the beneficiaries of the military industrial complex. It created a good deal of understanding among the educated Pakistani middle class about the culture of protected interests within the army, how the senior generals guarded each other and patronized the junior officers in order to perpetuate and protect the corrupt system that safeguarded everyone's economic interests. Nevertheless, calls for the army's accountability have never been a popular election slogan because of its high cost for the politicians, including the possible derailment of democracy or fabrication of false corruption cases against vocal politicians. In private conversations, both senior and junior army officers do not deny the existence of corruption but then they insist that the army has an internal mechanism to deal with corruption and breach of discipline. The whole world does not need to know, they argue, about corruption in "our army" because it will tarnish the institution's public image and the morale. The fresh dismissal of senior officers should be seen in the broader context of the increasing influence of General Raheel Sharif in the country's politics. Sharif has consistently been working on his brand for several months. He does not seem to be sufficiently satisfied and content with his current image. He feels under-appreciated. He still faces an identity crisis that he keeps struggling to overcome. He wants to be recognized as the great army chief who led a decisive battle against the Taliban and eradicated religious extremism from Pakistan. In an earlier dramatic announcement this year saying that he would not seek an extension for his term as the army chief, Sharif tried to establish his brand as the selfless general who would not seek more power in spite of being fully capable of doing so. Now, Sharif has presented himself as the tough guy who will investigate corruption in the army. Advertisement Well, Sharif cannot simply hit and run. If he intends to investigate corruption in the military, his retirement later this year would not take this newly initiated process anywhere. Therefore, fighting corruption could actually be a great pretext for Sharif to prolong his stint as the army chief. Holding powerful army officers for their corruption will certainly trigger tremendous resistance from some senior officers. General Sharif will need great allies and confidants within the army to pursue this important mission. It should have been done much earlier. The more he digs into the annals of corruption, the more enemies he will inevitably make among his fellow officers. The real challenge will come when he will be required to extend these investigations to retired officers and his own colleagues. In Pakistan, corruption is often narrowly defined as making money through illegal means. That surely is a big part of it and General Sharif should work on that front but one aspect that urgently merits attention and action is the misuse of official power while dealing with the people of conflict zones. More than the millions and billions they have made, officers should be held accountable for sanctioning the killing of innocent civilians in several operations that could have otherwise been avoided had political solutions been employed. In Balochistan, where many of these officers led the paramilitary force, the Frontier Corps, they engaged in excessive use of force, extrajudicial killings and torture of young Baloch students and political activists. Advertisement Army officers posted in conflict zones with massive military strength often find it tempting to misuse their authority, make poor judgments and forget the responsibility that comes with deployment. This is precisely what General Sharif must address. Furthermore, another aspect of 'corruption' that needs investigation is the connection between elements in the army and radical Islamic terrorist groups. The army chief must make it clear whether supporting Jihadist and sectarian groups is an official policy or this is happening because some insiders are making a fortune by establishing, tightening and expanding ties with the Jihadis outfits. Hindustan Times via Getty Images NEW DELHI, INDIA - JANUARY 15: Congress leader Captain Amarinder Singh after the press conference to announce the merging of PPP with Congress at AICC Headquarters on January 15, 2016 in New Delhi, India. Manpreet Badal, the estranged nephew of Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, joined Congress and merged his outfit, Peoples Party of Punjab, (PPP) with it after meeting Rahul Gandhi. (Photo by Virendra Singh Gosain/Hindustan Times via Getty Images) CHICAGO -- Describing the Canadian government's move to disallow his interactions with NRIs in Toronto and Vancouver as a "gag order", Punjab Congress President Amarinder Singh yesterday wrote to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau expressing regret on the development. Amarinder was informed by Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar that the Canadian government has not allowed his public interactions during his proposed visit to Canada beginning today. Advertisement In his two-page letter to Trudeau, Amarinder said, "It feels like a gag order that has left a very bad taste, more so when issued by a democratic government like the Canadian....It is surprising and ironical that the refusal to allow me public interactions has come barely after a few weeks of your personally expressing regrets over the Komagata Maru tragedy." The former Punjab chief minister, who is on a three-week tour of the United States and Canada to address NRIs, said in his letter that the Canadian 'gag order' undermined the fundamental freedoms the Canadian Constitution guarantees. "I believed and I still believe that the Canadian constitution under Section 2 guarantees some 'fundamental freedoms' which also include 'freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and association'. Your government's gag order undermines these fundamental freedoms," he said. Noting that the cancelled interactions and gatherings had been organised by the local Canadian citizens only and he was to be there only as "their and your guest". Advertisement The Canadian government has invoked provisions of "Global Affairs Canada" policy that forbids foreign governments to conduct election campaigns in Canada or establish foreign political parties and movements in Canada. Amarinder clarified to the Canadian PM that he had no intentions of carrying out any election campaign in Canada as there were no elections in Punjab as of now and neither did he have any plans to setting up a political party or movement in Canada. Advertisement Contact HuffPost India Also see on HuffPost: Artur Borzecki Photography via Getty Images hand on table DHAKA -- A professor was hacked to death by unidentified attackers near his home in northwest Bangladesh this morning, the latest in a series of brutal attacks on intellectuals and activists in the Muslim majority country. Rajshahi University professor AFM Rezaul Karim Siddiquee, 58, was murdered within 50 metres of his residence in the country's northwestern city of Rajshahi, police said. Advertisement Unidentified miscreants hacked the English professor with sharp weapons and left him to die at the Battala Crossing in Salbagan area around 7.30 a.m, police officer Shahdat Hossain was quoted as saying by the Bdnews24.com. He taught English at the university. Avijit Roy, a prominent Bangladeshi-American blogger known for speaking out against religious extremism was hacked to death as he walked through Bangladesh's capital with his wife. Advertisement The motive behind the murder is not immediately known. Two years ago, another Rajshahi University teacher AKM Shafiul Islam was similarly murdered. Bangladeshi mourners carry the coffin containing the body of blogger Ahmed Rajib Haider for funeral in Dhaka. Though his murder was initially claimed by Islamist radicals, police later ruled out that possibility. Police said he was murdered as a sequel to personal rivalry. But some years ago, two more professors of the Rajshahi University had been killed. A relative of dead Bangladeshi blogger Washiqur Rahman reacts after seeing his body at Dhaka Medical College. Advertisement There have been systematic assaults in Bangladesh over the past six months specially targeting minorities, secular bloggers and foreigners. Last year, four prominent secular bloggers were killed with machetes, one inside his own home. Contact HuffPost India Also see on HuffPost: YOSHIKAZU TSUNO via Getty Images Dolkun Isa, Secretary General of the World Uyghur Congress speaks to an AFP reporter during an interview in Tokyo on May 2, 2008. Dolkun Isa is here to protest against upcoming visit by Chinese President Hu Jintao. AFP PHOTO / Yoshikazu TSUNO (Photo credit should read YOSHIKAZU TSUNO/AFP/Getty Images) NEW DELHI--An invitation to a leading Chinese dissident to participate in a conference in Dharamshala next week could develop into another irritant between India and China. Dolkun Isa, a leader of World Uyghur Congress (WUC) who lives in Germany, has been invited to the conference being organised by the US-based 'Initiatives for China'. Uyghurs and many other Chinese dissidents in exile are expected to attend and discuss democratic transformation in China. Advertisement China's displeasure about reports that Dolkun has been given the visa was reflected in Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hua Chunying's statement: "What I want to point out is that Dolkun is a terrorist in red notice of the Interpol and Chinese police. Bringing him to justice is due obligation of relevant countries." When asked about the issue, External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Vikas Swarup today said,"We have seen the media reports and External Affairs Ministry is trying to ascertain the facts." India's decision to permit WUC leaders whom China regards as backers of terrorism in its volatile Muslim-dominated Xinjiang province was reported to be in response to Beijing blocking Indian bid to get Jaish-e-Muhammad chief Masood Azhar banned by the UN. The Times of India reports: "India's retaliatory diplomacy comes after China decided to put a technical "hold" on Masood Azhar's terror designation. In fact, China, when pressed for a response, asked India to consult Pakistan, which India felt was disingenuous. " Prior to this external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj had let China know in no uncertain terms that India was not pleased with China blocking India's bid to get JeM chief Masood Azhar banned by the UN. "I told him (Wang) that if we were to fulfil our intention of fighting terrorism together, then China should review the stand it had taken at the UN 1267 Committee," Swaraj said during a joint press conference with Wang and Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov, on 18 April. Advertisement Meanwhile, Dolkun has been quoted by media as saying that he had already been granted visa by the Indian government for the conference but he would take a final call only after assessing his security in India, as China got a Red Corner Notice issued against him by Interpol. With inputs from PTI Contact HuffPost India Also see on HuffPost: Prakash Javadekar/Twitter UNITED NATIONS -- India yesterday signed the historic Paris climate agreement along with more than 170 nations, marking a significant step that has brought together developing and developed nations for beginning work on cutting down greenhouse gas emissions to combat global warming. Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar signed the agreement in the UN General Assembly hall at a high-level ceremony hosted by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. The ceremony was attended by heads of government, ministers, corporate leaders and artists. Advertisement "This is a moment in history. Today you are signing a new covenant with the future," Ban said, adding that, "We are in a race against time." The opening ceremony included music from students of New York's Julliard School and a short video bringing the "gavel moment" from Paris to the signature ceremony. At 171 nations, the signing ceremony for the climate agreement set the record for the most countries to sign an international agreement on one day, previously set in 1982, when 119 countries signed the Law of the Sea Convention. Advertisement The signing is the first step toward ensuring that the agreement comes into force as soon as possible. It was a defining moment to sign on behalf of India#ParisAgreement@UN @PMOIndiapic.twitter.com/RB2YUTkQBC Prakash Javadekar (@PrakashJavdekar) April 22, 2016 After the signing, countries must take the further national (or domestic) step of accepting or ratifying the agreement. The agreement can enter into force 30 days after at least 55 Parties to the UNFCCC, accounting for at least 55 per cent of global emissions, ratify the agreement. India has maintained that the burden of fighting climate change cannot be put on the shoulders of the poor after decades of industrial development by the rich nations. Advertisement It has announced plans to quadruple its renewable power capacity to 175 gigawatts by 2022 as part of the government's plan to supply electricity to every household. India seeks to add 100 gigawatts of photovoltaic capacity, 60 gigawatts of wind power, 10 gigawatts of biomass and five gigawatts of hydro projects. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, in an address to a city- based thinktank earlier this week, had said that notwithstanding its development need, India is completely committed to protecting the climate. "The level of development we have reached is far, still the hard reality is we have a lot of distance to cover. We need more housing, power, toilets, roadsand factories. Therefore our requirements of fuel is certainly going to increase. Notwithstanding that our own standards of protecting the environment are very rigid," Jaitley had said. "There is a method in each one of the steps we are taking" like taxing oil, cess on coal and emphasis on alternative renewable energy, he had said. "We are conscious of our responsibilities," he said. A day before the signing ceremony, Javadekar had said that India has come to New York for signing the Paris agreement with "full confidence that ultimately the collective wisdom will prevail and all countries -- developed and developing -- will do their bit." He said that every climate action has a "cost" and developed nations are asking the developing world to pay that cost. "The developed world has caused the climate change of today because of their 100 years of relentless carbon emissions. We are much cleaner at our development stages as compared to those of the developed world," he said, adding that the developed world "behaved irresponsibly" and the developing nations are suffering. India, which along with the United States and China, is world's top greenhouse gas emitter, has maintained that its energy needs will be enormous going forward as it needs to lift millions out of poverty, develop its infrastructure and provide basic amenities like toilets, affordable houses and expand public transport. Advertisement About 13 countries, mostly Small Island Developing States, are expected to deposit their instruments of ratification immediately after signing the agreement. The signature ceremony is a legal formality, with only Heads of State or Government, foreign ministers, or other representatives with "formal powers" from their governments signing the agreement. In the agreement, all countries agreed to work to limit global temperature rise to well below 2 degrees Celsius, and to strive for 1.5 degrees Celsius. The signing ceremony coincided with the International Mother Earth Day and in his message on the day, Ban said the Paris accord, in conjunction with the Agenda for Sustainable Development, holds the power to transform the world. There is only one original copy of the agreement -- it contains the full text of the agreement in the six official languages of the United Nations -- Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish. Advertisement There is a page for each of the 197 Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. Each nation signed the agreement while seated at a table on a specially constructed stage in the UNGA hall. French President Francois Hollande began the signing ceremony. Speaking at a press conference this week, David Nabarro, the Secretary-General's Special Adviser on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and Climate Change, told reporters that the signing of the Paris Agreement is crucial because achieving progress in relation to climate change is central to the broader effort of achieving the SDGs. "Most people who looked at the global situation say that if we don't succeed in maintaining the world under a 2 degrees Celsius rise, then it's going to be incredibly difficult to realise the Sustainable Development Goals," Nabarro warned. "And so implementing the Paris agreement is important for promoting prosperity, improving people's wellbeing and protecting the environment. The Paris Agreement was adopted by all 196 Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change at the UN Climate Change Conference in Paris on December 12 last year. Advertisement Contact HuffPost India Also see on HuffPost: Hutchinson's Salvation Army started in 1894 In 1910, under Captain George Seeds, the citadel at 114 West Sherman St. was built. Imperial Valley News Center Updates to the List of Eligible Imports Produced by Independent Cuban Entrepreneurs Washington, DC - Today, the U.S. Department of State updated its Section 515.582 List, which sets forth the goods and services produced by independent Cuban entrepreneurs that are authorized to be imported into the United States pursuant to Section 515.582 of the Cuban Assets Control Regulations (CACR). As of April 22, persons subject to U.S. jurisdiction may also import coffee and additional textiles and textile articles produced by independent Cuban entrepreneurs, in addition to the items previously authorized. Also, imports of these items no longer need to be made directly from Cuba. These changes allow for more engagement with Cubas private sector through new business opportunities. The State Department will continue to update this list periodically. Empowering the Cuban people and Cuban civil society is central to our approach to Cuba. Expanding commercial ties between independent Cuban entrepreneurs and the United States creates new opportunities for such empowerment. As President Obama stated during the March 21 entrepreneurship summit in Havana, Cubas economic future partly depends on growth in the private sector, and the United States wants to be a partner as Cuba moves forward. Imperial Valley News Center 10 charged in international money laundering and ID theft scheme involving millions in fraudulent tax refunds Santa Ana, California - Federal authorities arrested five out of 10 defendants late Wednesday who have been charged in identity theft cases tied to an international money laundering scheme involving millions of dollars in fraudulently obtained federal income tax refunds. The criminal complaints filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court and unsealed Wednesday charge the 10 defendants with participating in a money laundering ring that used hundreds of bank accounts opened with stolen identities to launder millions of dollars in fraudulently obtained tax refunds. According to the affidavits supporting the complaints, the Internal Revenue Service has identified approximately 7,000 fraudulent tax returns related to this scheme that cumulatively sought about $38 million in refunds. The IRS issued about $14 million in refunds, and the money was deposited into and laundered through bank accounts used in the scheme. The fraudulent tax returns were filed and the bank accounts were opened with personal identifying information that had been stolen from thousands of victims. The arrests are part of an ongoing investigation being conducted by IRS Criminal Investigation, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcements (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. During Wednesdays operation, the federal agencies receive substantial assistance from the Los Angeles Police Department, the Los Angeles International Airport Police Department, the Glendale and Santa Monica police departments. Stolen identity refund fraud schemes are a growing problem that victimize both the United States government and individuals who have tax returns fraudulently filed in their names, said U.S. Attorney Eileen M. Decker. We are devoting more resources to combat this problem and will continue to pursue organizations that engage in this type of fraud. These cases demonstrate that we will dismantle these criminal operations and stop schemes that target innocent Americans and steal taxpayers' money. The 10 defendants, each of whom was named in a separate criminal complaint, allegedly used fraudulent foreign passports to commit identity theft by opening numerous bank accounts and mailbox addresses with the stolen identities. According to the criminal complaints, they used fraudulent passports from the Republic of Armenia, Georgia, and the Czech Republic that had the names of identity theft victims, but the defendants photographs. Investigating refund fraud and identity theft is a top priority for IRS Criminal Investigation, stated Anthony J. Orlando, acting special agent in charge for IRS Criminal Investigation. Stealing identities and filing false tax returns is a serious crime that hurts innocent taxpayers. These arrests should serve as a strong warning to those who are considering similar conduct. Law enforcement is serious about investigating these crimes and holding accountable those who defraud the government. The complexity and audacity of this scheme was truly astounding and illustrates the lengths to which fraudsters will go to game the system for financial gain, said Mark Selby, acting special agent in charge for HSI Los Angeles. Identity theft and tax fraud result in billions of dollars in losses every year in this country and cause incalculable heartache and financial harm to law-abiding consumers. We owe it to them to pursue these cases aggressively, making it clear that those who brazenly enrich themselves on the back of the American taxpayer, as these defendants allegedly did, will be held accountable for their crimes. The mailboxes and bank accounts were opened in cities throughout Los Angeles and Orange counties - including Newport Beach, Cypress, La Habra, Alhambra, Azusa, Covina, Encino, Los Angeles, Montebello, North Hollywood, Rowland Heights, Temple City and Glendale. The five defendants taken into custody Wednesday are: Eduard Astvatsatryan, 34, of Glendale, who allegedly opened at least 17 bank accounts and 14 mailbox addresses in different identities; Hripsime Avagyan, 24, of Burbank, who allegedly opened at least six bank accounts and seven mailbox addresses in different identities; Armen Mkrtchyan, 46, of Glendale, who allegedly opened at least two bank accounts and two mailbox addresses in different identities; Sargis Sergio Tabadzhyan, 54, of West Hollywood, who allegedly opened at least 13 bank accounts and seven mailbox addresses in different identities; and Artash Stepanyan, 31, of Glendale, who allegedly opened at least 14 bank accounts and six mailbox addresses in different identities. The defendants arrested Wednesday were held overnight and were scheduled to make their initial court appearances Thursday afternoon in U.S. District Court in Santa Ana. Authorities continue to search for the other five defendants. They are: Mkhitar Mkrtchyan, 43, of Sylmar, who allegedly opened at least two bank accounts and two mailbox addresses in different identities; Karen Pogosian, 45, of Sun Valley, who allegedly opened at least two bank accounts and two mailbox addresses in different identities; Konstantin Galstyan, 23, of Sylmar, who allegedly opened at least four bank accounts and two mailbox addresses in different identities; Jane Doe, who allegedly opened at least eight bank accounts and six mailbox addresses in different identities; and John Doe, who allegedly opened at least four bank accounts and two mailbox addresses in different identities. Federal authorities are seeking the publics help in apprehending these defendants. Anyone with any information regarding their possible whereabouts is encouraged to contact IRS Criminal Investigation at 213-200-3083 or HSI at 1-866-DHS-2ICE. A criminal complaint contains allegations that a defendant has committed a crime. Every defendant is presumed to be innocent until and unless proven guilty in court. The identity theft charges alleged in the 10 complaints each carry a statutory maximum sentence of 15 years in federal prison and a fine of up to $250,000. California man sentenced to 14 years in prison for receiving child pornography Sacramento, California - A northern California man who once appeared on a television show discussing his compulsion to molest children has been sentenced to 14 years in federal prison for receiving child pornography, following a probe by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcements (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). Nicholas Torrieri, 43, of Redding, was sentenced Wednesday by U.S. District Judge Kimberly J. Mueller. Upon his release from prison, Torrieri will be required to register as a sex offender and will be supervised by the court for the rest of his life. Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Josh F. Sigal prosecuted the case. According to court documents, in October 2014 and again in January 2015, HSI special agents identified a computer offering files depicting minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct through a file-sharing network. The computers Internet Protocol address was traced to Torrieris residence. On Feb. 11, 2015, HSI special agents searched the residence and seized several digital devices. A subsequent forensic review of these devices uncovered more than 600 images and 240 videos containing child pornography. During the course of the investigation, law enforcement discovered a videotape of a 1998 television talk show about how to protect children from sexual abuse. Torrieri appeared on the show and claimed that he had participated in hundreds of incidents of victimizing children, including both encouraging minors to expose themselves and actual molestation. At Wednesdays sentencing, Judge Mueller noted that he has a compulsion that he has been unable to control. Criminals who create and distribute pornographic images of children often fuel the behavior of like-minded predators who covet this despicable content. Innocent victims are left with permanent scars that can never be entirely healed, said Ryan L. Spradlin, special agent in charge for HSI San Francisco. This sentencing is a testament to the dedicated HSI agents and our law enforcement partners who work tirelessly to root out predators and make them face the judgment they deserve. This case is a product of Project Safe Childhood, a Department of Justice initiative launched in 2006 to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse, and HSIs Operation Predator, an international initiative to protect children from sexual predators. Led by the U.S. Attorneys Offices and the Criminal Divisions Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute those who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc. Since the launch of Operation Predator in 2003, HSI has arrested more than 12,000 individuals for crimes against children, including the production and distribution of online child pornography, traveling overseas for sex with minors, and sex trafficking of children. In fiscal year 2014, more than 2,000 individuals were arrested by HSI special agents under this initiative. HSI encourages the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free Tip Line at 1-866-DHS-2-ICE or by completing its online tip form. Both are staffed around the clock by investigators. Suspected child sexual exploitation or missing children may be reported to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, an Operation Predator partner, via its toll-free 24-hour hotline, 1-800-THE-LOST. For additional information about wanted suspected child predators, download HSI's Operation Predator smartphone app or visit the online suspect alerts page. Redding man sentenced for interstate marijuana trafficking and money laundering Sacramento, California - A Redding man convicted for his role in a conspiracy to grow marijuana in California and transport it to the East Coast for sale was sentenced Wednesday to six and a half years in prison, following a multiagency probe that included U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcements (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). John James Kash, 53, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Kimberly J. Mueller. Kash was convicted in November 2015 after a six-day jury trial of conspiracy to distribute marijuana, manufacturing marijuana, and conspiracy to launder monetary instruments. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Michele Beckwith, Christiaan Highsmith, Kevin Khasigian, and Justin Lee prosecuted the case. The evidence at trial showed Kash was part of an interstate marijuana trafficking conspiracy that diverted marijuana from California to Pennsylvania from 2009 through 2013. Kash was arrested in 2013 after being found in a Redding warehouse that had been converted into an indoor marijuana grow. The warehouse contained four separate marijuana grow rooms with plants in various stages of development to allow for year-round marijuana production. Kash and his co-conspirators shipped the marijuana grown in the Redding area to Pittsburgh. Kash, a native of Pennsylvania, coordinated the marijuana distribution in the Pittsburgh area. In May 2013, Kash and co-defendant James Massery shipped 158 one-pound bags of marijuana concealed in shrink-wrapped barrels from California to Pennsylvania. Kash and co-conspirators Massery, Glen Meyers, and Aimee Burgess were all arrested in Pennsylvania as they were unloading the marijuana from the barrels. Kash recruited his family and friends to assist with the concealment and transport of the cash generated by the drug trafficking activities. During an eight-month period between August 2010 and April 2011, Kash and others attempted to launder $382,000 in drug proceeds through credit unions in Pittsburgh and Redding. Kash was arrested in May 2012 in Utah attempting to drive $60,000 in cash from Pittsburgh to Redding. The United States ultimately seized approximately $1 million in drug proceeds from various bank accounts and other assets that Kash and his co-conspirators controlled. This case was the product of a probe by the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation and the Sacramento Valley Financial Crimes Task Force, with assistance from HSI, the Pennsylvania State Police, the Drug Enforcement Administration, Pennsylvanias Washington County Drug Task Force, and the Utah Highway Patrol. Kash is the last of four defendants to be sentenced. Co-defendant Glen Meyers was sentenced to eight years and two months in prison; James Massery was sentenced to six years and three months in prison; and Aimee Burgess was sentenced to five years in prison. Man Convicted of Assault for Trying to Run Over Deputy U.S. Marshal with a Minivan Sentenced to Federal Prison Los Angeles, California - A man who was found guilty of assaulting a Deputy U.S. Marshal by trying to run him over with a minivan has been sentenced to 96 months in federal prison. Keith Leon Smith, 47, of Carson, was sentenced Monday by United States District Judge R. Gary Klausner, who said the defendant was really lucky on two grounds that he did not kill the Deputy Marshal and that he was not killed by law enforcement as he assaulted the Deputy Marshal. Smith was found guilty by a federal jury on January 14 of one count of assaulting a federal officer with a deadly and dangerous weapon. According to the evidence presented during a three-day trial in United States District Court, six Deputy U.S. Marshals went to a residence on East 220th Street in Carson, where they believed Smith was residing, on March 11, 2015. The Deputy Marshals were conducting an investigation with the goal of taking Smith into custody after a federal judge in 2013 had issued a bench warrant. Smith was wanted because he had violated the terms of his supervised release, after serving more than seven years in prison for being convicted of manufacturing methamphetamine. While conducting surveillance, the Deputy Marshals observed Smith exit the residence, get into a minivan and leave the location. The Deputy Marshals, who were in several vehicles, followed Smith and executed a traffic stop, blocking his van. As the Deputy Marshals approached the minivan that Smith was driving and identified themselves as law enforcement officers, Smith reversed his vehicle toward some of the Marshals Service vehicles. Smith then suddenly accelerated his vehicle toward one of the Deputy Marshals, who was in front of the minivan. The Deputy Marshal, now in the way of the oncoming minivan, fired his weapon at the windshield and fell backward onto the ground. Smith briefly stopped the vehicle as the shots hit the windshield, and then accelerated the minivan toward the Deputy Marshal, who was then lying on the ground. The Deputy Marshal was able to jump out of the way of the minivan and fire several shots at the vehicle. According to court documents, the Deputy Marshal believes that he would be dead if he had not stumbled out of the way of defendants oncoming vehicle. Mr. Smith took an inherently dangerous situation and made it much worse for everyone involved, said United States Attorney Eileen M. Decker. There are serious consequences to dangerous and willful acts, such as intentionally driving a vehicle at a Deputy Marshal who is carrying out his lawful duties. His decision to put law enforcement officers in jeopardy has earned him this lengthy prison sentence. Smith then sped away as the Deputy Marshals gave chase. But, due in part to his dangerous driving, which included swerving into oncoming traffic, Smith was able to elude capture that day. However, deputies with the Los Angeles Sheriffs Department located Smiths minivan the next day and took him into custody. During a subsequent interview with Sheriffs detectives, Smith stated that he did not stop for the Marshals because he did not want to go back to prison. The investigation in the assault case was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department. The government was represented at yesterdays sentencing by Assistant United States Attorney Anil J. Antony of the General Crimes Section. Bakersfield Man Sentenced for Striking Sheriffs Helicopter with Laser Fresno, California - Pablo Cesar Sahagun, 26, a citizen of Mexico and resident of Bakersfield, was sentenced to 18 months in prison for aiming the beam of a laser pointer at a Kern County Sheriffs helicopter, United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced. On January 11, 2016, Sahagun pleaded guilty to aiming a beam of a laser pointer at an aircraft. According to court documents, he repeatedly struck and tracked a Kern County Sheriffs helicopter, Air-1, with the beam of a green laser pointer. The laser pointer was key-activated and labeled as a Laser 301, a device that purports to emit a one-watt laser beam, which is 2,000 times more powerful than what is legally permissible for a laser pointer. The laser strikes caused the airmen to experience flash blindness, glare, blurry vision, eye discomfort, headache and irritation. In sentencing Sahagun, United States District Judge Dale A. Drozd stated: This is an egregious case of a laser strike. The circumstances are inexplicable. Reports of laser attacks on aircraft have increased dramatically in recent years as powerful laser devices have become more affordable and widely available to the public. From 2011 to 2015, there have been over 23,000 laser illumination incidents in the United States reported to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). This year there have been over 22 laser strikes reported in the United States every day. In the Eastern District of California, which encompasses 34 counties in the eastern portion of California, there were 214 reported laser incidents in 2015. Lasers can completely incapacitate pilots who are trying to fly safely to their destination, endangering their crew members, passengers and people on the ground. This case was the product of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Kern County Sheriffs Office, and the Bakersfield Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Karen A. Escobar prosecuted the case. Imperial County Public Works Director William Brunet to Provide Report on Unpaved County Roads El Centro, California - Tuesday, April 26, the Imperial County Public Works Director William Brunet will provide a report on the work that the Imperial County Department of Public Works (ICDPW) performed on unpaved county roads during fiscal year 2014-2015 at the Imperial County Board of Supervisors regular board meeting. The open session of the meeting will begin at 9:30 a.m. at the County Administration Building in El Centro. The report will take place during the discussion calendar. This is an opportunity for the public to learn more about a portion of the work that ICDPW does to sustain more than 2,500 miles of roads, paved and unpaved, they are charged with maintaining in the unincorporated area of the County. This report will focus on unpaved roads which represent about half of the countys road system. Aside from the report, the meeting will provide a forum for the Board and members of the community to pose questions or voice concerns. Residents of the Imperial Valley interested in receiving more information about unpaved County roads are encouraged to attend. For those who cannot attend, he/she can listen to the meeting live at the Imperial County Board of Supervisors website. Border Patrol Agents Seize Meth at Highway 86 Salton City, California - El Centro Sector Border Patrol agents assigned to the Indio Station working at the Highway 86 checkpoint, arrested a man suspected of drug smuggling after they discovered packages of methamphetamine hidden inside the spare tire of the vehicle on Wednesday. The incident occurred at approximately 11:30 a.m., when a 36-year-old man approached the checkpoint driving a 2002 white Ford Explorer. A Border Patrol detection canine alerted to the vehicle during a pre-primary inspection. Agents referred the man to the secondary inspection area for a closer examination. After an intensive search, agents discovered packages of methamphetamine hidden inside the vehicles spare tire. The methamphetamine had a combined weight of nine pounds with an estimated street value of $81,000. The Border Patrol is continuously assessing the right combination of assets needed to maintain operational control of the border, said Assistant Chief Patrol Agent David Kim. The threat constantly changes and we frequently fine-tune our enforcement posture to heighten the probability of its success. The man, a United States citizen, the vehicle, and narcotics were turned over to the Drug Enforcement Administration for further investigation. In fiscal year 2016, El Centro Sector has seized than 500 pounds of methamphetamine. CBP Officers Find Heroin Stashed in Suitcase Lining, Concealed Under Motorcycle Gas Tank Calexico, California - Customs and Border Protection officers at the Calexico downtown port of entry foiled attempts to smuggle heroin across the border in a suitcase and under the gas tank of a motorcycle. The tenacity and experience of our frontline officers directly resulted in the seizures of an extremely dangerous drug, said David Salazar, acting Port Director for the Calexico ports of entry. These arrests illustrate how CBP officers blend their training and skills with non-intrusive inspection technologies to successfully intercept narcotics before they enter our communities. The first incident occurred at about 5 p.m. on Wednesday, April 20, when a CBP officer encountered a 20-year-old male U.S. citizen after he arrived at the downtown ports pedestrian inspection facility. The officer noticed the man, who was traveling with a suitcase, appeared nervous and escorted him for additional review. While in a secure area, officers searched the contents of the mans suitcase and discovered two tape-wrapped packages hidden behind an inner lining. The contents of the two packages field-tested positive as heroin, yielding a total weight of five pounds, and worth approximately $45,000. The second incident occurred shortly after 4 p.m. on April 21, when a 23-year-old male Mexican citizen arrived at the downtown port riding a 2002 Honda CBR600 motorcycle. A CBP officer referred the man and his motorcycle aside for a more intensive inspection. During the inspection of the motorcycle, officers utilized the ports imaging system and detected anomalies under the gas tank. Officers continued searching the area and discovered two wrapped bundles of heroin stashed in the gas tanks housing. More than four pounds of heroin was extracted from the motorcycle, worth an estimated street value of $38,000. The man transporting the suitcase, a resident of Glendale, Arizona, and the motorcyclist, a resident of Mexicali, were arrested by CBP officers and turned over to the custody of Homeland Security Investigations agents for further processing. Both men were eventually booked into the Imperial County Jail to face federal charges. CBP seized the narcotics. President Obama on Armenian Remembrance Day Washington, DC - President Barack Obama: "Today we solemnly reflect on the first mass atrocity of the 20th centurythe Armenian Meds Yeghernwhen one and a half million Armenian people were deported, massacred, and marched to their deaths in the final days of the Ottoman empire. "As we honor the memory of those who suffered during the dark days beginning in 1915and commit to learn from this tragedy so it may never be repeatedwe also pay tribute to those who sought to come to their aid. One such individual was U.S. Ambassador Henry Morgenthau, Sr., who voiced alarm both within the U.S. government and with Ottoman leaders in an attempt to halt the violence. Voices like Morgenthaus continue to be essential to the mission of atrocity prevention, and his legacy shaped the later work of human rights champions such as Raphael Lemkin, who helped bring about the first United Nations human rights treaty. "This is also a moment to acknowledge the remarkable resiliency of the Armenian people and their tremendous contributions both to the international community as well as to American society. We recall the thousands of Armenian refugees who decades ago began new lives in the United States, forming a community that has enormously advanced the vitality of this nation and risen to prominence and distinction across a wide range of endeavors. At a moment of regional turmoil to Armenias south, we also thank the people of Armenia for opening their arms to Syrian refugees, welcoming nearly 17,000 into their country. "As we look from the past to the future, we continue to underscore the importance of historical remembrance as a tool of prevention, as we call for a full, frank, and just acknowledgment of the facts, which would serve the interests of all concerned. I have consistently stated my own view of what occurred in 1915, and my view has not changed. I have also seen that peoples and nations grow stronger, and build a foundation for a more just and tolerant future, by acknowledging and reckoning with painful elements of the past. We continue to welcome the expression of views by those who have sought to shed new light into the darkness of the past, from Turkish and Armenian historians to Pope Francis. "Today we stand with the Armenian people throughout the world in recalling the horror of the Meds Yeghern and reaffirm our ongoing commitment to a democratic, peaceful, and prosperous Armenia. " U.S. Department of Education Green Ribbon Schools Honorees Announced U.S. Secretary of Education John B. King Jr. was joined by Managing Director of the White House Council on Environmental Quality Christy Goldfuss today to announce the 2016 U.S. Department of Education Green Ribbon Schools, District Sustainability Awardees, and Postsecondary Sustainability Awardees on the Department's YouTube channel. Across the country, 47 schools, 15 districts, and 11 postsecondary institutions are being honored for their innovative efforts to reduce environmental impact and utility costs, improve health and wellness, and ensure effective sustainability education. "I congratulate these schools, districts and postsecondary institutions for their commitment to sustainable facilities, health, and classroom practices," King said. "The healthiest, most inspiring school facilities can and should be another tool to level the playing field, particularly for underserved students. These honorees are 21st century learning environments that encourage every student and teacher to perform at his or her best." "Earth Day reminds us of the great strides we've made to address climate change and protect our planet, but there is still a long way to go to ensure that our children and grandchildren can experience our earth's natural treasures just as we have," Goldfuss said. "By inspiring young people to connect with their environment every day, today's honorees are creating the next generation of environmental stewards." The honorees were named from a pool of candidates nominated by 25 states, Washington, D.C., and the Department of Defense Education Activity. The honorees include 41 public schools and six private schools. The schools serve various grade levels, including 27 elementary, 18 middle, and 14 high schools, with several schools having various K-12 configurations. Fifty-one percent of the 2016 honorees serve a disadvantaged student body. The postsecondary honorees include two community colleges and one work-college. The list of all selected schools, districts, colleges, and universities, as well as their nomination packages, can be found here. A report with highlights on the 73 honorees can be found here. More information on the federal recognition award can be found here. Resources for all schools to move toward the three Pillars can be found here. Following is the list of 2016 U.S. Department of Education Green Ribbon Schools, District Sustainability, and Postsecondary Award Honorees: Alabama A.H. Watwood Elementary School Childersburg, AL Childersburg, AL University of Montevallo Montevallo, AL California Bay Farm School Alameda, CA Alameda, CA Bishop O'Dowd High School Oakland, CA Oakland, CA Los Angeles Unified School District Los Angeles, CA Los Angeles, CA Manhattan Beach Unified School District Manhattan Beach, CA Manhattan Beach, CA San Francisco Unified School District San Francisco, CA Colorado Heritage Elementary School Highlands Ranch, CO Highlands Ranch, CO Poudre School District Fort Collins, CO Fort Collins, CO University of Colorado Colorado Springs Colorado Springs, CO Connecticut CREC Two Rivers Magnet Middle School East Hartford, CT East Hartford, CT CREC Two Rivers Magnet High School Hartford, CT Hartford, CT King School Stamford, CT Delaware Wilmington Montessori School Wilmington, DE Department of Defense Education Activity Kimberly Hampton Primary School Fort Bragg, NC Fort Bragg, NC Van Voorhis Elementary School Fort Knox, KY Fort Knox, KY Garmisch Elementary Middle School Bavaria, Germany District of Columbia Capital City Public Charter School Washington, DC Florida Beachside Montessori Village Hollywood, FL Hollywood, FL Alachua County Public Schools Gainesville, FL Gainesville, FL Orange County School District Orlando, FL Georgia Atlanta Neighborhood Charter School Atlanta, GA Atlanta, GA Pharr Elementary School Snellville, GA Snellville, GA Paideia School Atlanta, GA Atlanta, GA City Schools of Decatur Decatur, GA Decatur, GA Georgia Institute of Technology Atlanta, GA Iowa Atlanta, GA Iowa Spalding Park Elementary School Sioux City, IA Sioux City, IA Hawkeye Community College Waterloo, IA Kentucky Eastern Elementary School Lexington, KY Lexington, KY Russell Cave Elementary School Lexington, KY Lexington, KY Berea College Berea, KY Louisiana Westdale Heights Academic Magnet Baton Rouge, LA Baton Rouge, LA Baton Rouge Magnet High School Baton Rouge, LA Baton Rouge, LA Benjamin Franklin High School New Orleans, LA New Orleans, LA University of Louisiana at Lafayette Lafayette, LA Maryland Sligo Middle School Silver Spring, MD Silver Spring, MD Broadneck High School Annapolis, MD Annapolis, MD Anne Arundel County Public Schools Annapolis, MD Massachusetts Littleton Public Schools Littleton, MA Minnesota Glendale Elementary School Savage, MN Savage, MN Henry Sibley High School Mendota Heights, MN Mendota Heights, MN Macalester College Saint Paul, MN Montana Hellgate High School Missoula, MT Missoula, MT Two Eagle River School Pablo, MT Nebraska Prescott Elementary School Lincoln, NE Lincoln, NE Alfonza W. Davis Middle School Omaha, NE Omaha, NE Irving Middle School Lincoln, NE New Jersey Whitehouse School Whitehouse Station, NJ Whitehouse Station, NJ Egg Harbor Township High School Egg Harbor Township, NJ Egg Harbor Township, NJ Essex County West Caldwell Tech West Caldwell, NJ West Caldwell, NJ Triton Regional High School Runnemede, NJ Runnemede, NJ Raritan Valley Community College North Branch, NJ New York Schuylerville Elementary School Schuylerville, NY North Carolina Wiley International Studies Magnet Elementary School Raleigh, NC Raleigh, NC Sandy Grove Middle School Lumber Bridge, NC Lumber Bridge, NC Elon University Elon, NC Ohio Urban Community School Cleveland, OH Pennsylvania Park Forest Elementary State College, PA State College, PA The School District of Jenkintown Jenkintown, PA Jenkintown, PA Slippery Rock University Slippery Rock, PA Virginia St. Stephen's & St. Agnes Middle School Alexandria, VA Alexandria, VA Charlottesville City Schools Charlottesville, VA Charlottesville, VA Virginia Beach City Public Schools Virginia Beach, VA Washington Columbia Crest A-STEM Academy Ashford, WA Ashford, WA Gaiser Middle School Vancouver, WA Vancouver, WA Lakota Middle School Federal Way, WA Federal Way, WA Bethel School District Spanaway, WA Spanaway, WA Issaquah School District Issaquah, WA West Virginia Berkeley Springs High School Berkeley Springs, WV Wisconsin Department of Justice to Launch Inaugural National Reentry Week Washington, DC - As part of the Obama Administrations commitment to strengthening the criminal justice system, the Department of Justice designated the week of April 24-30, 2016, as National Reentry Week. Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro will travel to Philadelphia on MONDAY, APRIL 25, 2016, to hold events as part of National Reentry Week with public housing advocates, legal services providers and community leaders where they will announce new efforts to improve outcomes for justice-involved individuals including youth. Later in the week, the Attorney General will visit a Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) facility in Talladega, Alabama, to highlight reentry programs in prison. Similarly, Deputy Attorney General Sally Q. Yates will visit a federal womens prison in Texas and will later hold a media availability at Santa Maria Hostel, a specialized residential substance abuse, mental health and trauma facility. Acting Director Thomas Kane of the Bureau of Prisons will accompany both Attorney General Lynch and Deputy Attorney General Yates on their visits. Too often, justice-involved individuals who have paid their debt to society confront daunting obstacles to good jobs, decent housing, adequate health care, quality education, and even the right to vote, said Attorney General Lynch. National Reentry Week highlights the many ways that the Department of Justice and the entire Obama Administration is working to tear down the barriers that stand between returning citizens and a meaningful second chance leading to brighter futures, stronger communities, and a more just and equal nation for all. The Obama Administration has taken major steps to make our criminal justice system fairer, more efficient and more effective at reducing recidivism and helping formerly incarcerated individuals contribute to their communities. Removing barriers to successful reentry helps formerly incarcerated individuals compete for jobs, attain stable housing, and support their families. An important part of that commitment is preparing those who have paid their debt to society for substantive opportunities beyond the prison gates, and addressing collateral consequences to successful reentry that too many returning citizens encounter. Leadership from across the Administration are traveling during National Reentry Week in support of these many events and are encouraging federal partners and grantees to work closely with stakeholders like federal defenders, legal aid providers and other partners across the country to increase the impact of this effort. National Reentry Week events are being planned in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. U.S. Attorneys Offices alone are hosting over 200 events and BOP facilities are holding over 370 events. ATTORNEY GENERAL LYNCH AND SECRETARY CASTRO HOLD NATIONAL REENTRY WEEK EVENT WHO: Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro WHEN: MONDAY, APRIL 25, 2016 2:30 p.m. EDT WHERE: Raymond Rosen Manor Auditorium 2301 W. Edgley St. Philadelphia, PA 19121 ATTORNEY GENERAL LYNCH VISITS FEDERAL BUREAU OF PRISONS FACILITY IN ALABAMA WHO: Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch Acting Director Thomas Kane of the Bureau of Prisons WHEN: FRIDAY, APRIL 29, 2016 WHERE: FCI Talladega 565 East Renfroe Road Talladega, AL 35160 Federal Womens Prison WHO: Deputy Attorney General Sally Q. Yates Acting Director Thomas Kane of the Bureau of Prisons WHEN: TUESDAY, APRIL 26, 2016 WHERE: FPC Bryan 1100 Ursuline Avenue Bryan, TX 77803 OTHER WHITE HOUSE AND DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE EVENTS SURROUNDING NATIONAL REENTRY WEEK INCLUDE: Joint Statement on South Sudan Peace Process Washington, DC - Following statement was issued jointly by the Governments of the United States of America, the United Kingdom, and Norway. The members of the Troika (United States, United Kingdom, and Norway) are deeply disappointed by Riek Machar's continued failure to return to South Sudan's capital Juba to form the Transitional Government of National Unity. This represents a willful decision by him not to abide by his commitments to implement the Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan. We congratulate the government for demonstrating maximum flexibility for the sake of peace by agreeing to the compromise proposal on the return of security forces proposed by regional and international partners and mediated by the Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission. It remains important that the government fully withdraws its troops from Juba as called for in the peace agreement. We also welcome the opposition's support for the compromise proposal and demand that Machar abide by this commitment and return to Juba by 23 April. Machar's failure to go to Juba, despite efforts from the international community to support his return, places the people of South Sudan at risk of further conflict and suffering and undermines the peace agreement's reform pillars - demilitarizing South Sudan, injecting transparency of public finances, and pursuing justice and reconciliation - that offer South Sudan a chance for renewal. We will pursue appropriate measures against anyone who further frustrates implementation of the peace agreement. Ambassador Catherine Russell Travels to Sudan and Malawi Washington, DC - Ambassador-at-Large for Global Womens Issues Catherine Russell will travel to Sudan and Malawi from April 23 30. In Sudan, Ambassador Russell will meet with government officials, representatives of civil society and international organizations, community leaders, and students to discuss the status of women and girls in Sudan. Her meetings will focus on preventing violence against women, promoting womens economic empowerment, and enhancing womens roles in peace, security, and reconciliation efforts. The Ambassador will also meet with Awadeya Mahmoud, a 2016 recipient of the Secretarys International Women of Courage Award. In Malawi, Ambassador Russell will meet with government officials, local leaders, members of civil society, and students to learn more about the status of adolescent girlsparticularly their health, education, and safetyas part of a new U.S. effort to empower girls in Malawi under the Let Girls Learn initiative championed by First Lady Michelle Obama. Guatemala-Belize: Shootings in Disputed Area Washington, DC - We are deeply concerned by reports today that a child was killed and two family members injured in the disputed area between Guatemala and Belize known as the Adjacency Zone. We express our deepest condolences to the family. We urge calm and restraint by both sides, and we call for a full investigation of the facts surrounding this tragedy. Finally, we encourage both countries to cooperate fully with the OAS Adjacency Zone Office and to continue engaging in the confidence building measures agreed upon in 2005. We reiterate our support for both countries to continue efforts to hold referenda on referring the territorial dispute to the International Court of Justice. Pakistan Twitter's Hilarious Memes During Their Defeat to India in T20 World Cup are Everything 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 }} Fantasy film-making virtuoso Guillermo Del Toro has famously accumulated a vast collection of bizarre movie memorabilia over the years. Now, he intends to share the contents of his personal house of curiosities with fans in a new exhibition in Los Angeles, which could travel to as many as seven major cities, including Toronto, Mexico City and Paris. The Mexican director of films including Pans Labyrinth, Crimson Peak, Hellboy and Pacific Rim stores the artefacts of his lifelong obsession with monsters and the macabre at a personal museum near his LA home. He conducted a video tour of the premises which he calls Bleak House, after the Charles Dickens novel which was posted on YouTube in 2012. The exhibition, Guillermo Del Toro: At Home With Monsters, is set to make its public debut at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) in July, and will include some 500 items, most of them from Del Toros own collection. After leaving LA in November it will move on to Minneapolis and Toronto - and then, it is hoped, to Mexico City, Barcelona, Paris and New York. Speaking to the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, Del Toro said Bleak House contains up to 9,000 books, 50,000 magazines and comics, 580 original artworks and thousands upon thousands of toys and collectibles. I have secret passages behind bookshelves. I have a room where it rains all day. At 51, I live the life of a well-financed 12-year-old, he said. Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter for all the latest entertainment news and reviews Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the IndyArts email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Eugene met Oscar on a beach in Normandy 160 years ago this summer. Eugene Boudin, 32, was painting in the open air, which was regarded as an eccentric or British thing to do at the time. Oscar-Claude Monet, 16, was an art student although his family wanted him to become a grocer. From that meeting flowed Impressionism, the great Norman art movement. Oh, very well, daccord, things were a little more complicated than that. Impressionism was a rebellion against convention by young artists in Paris in the 1860s and 1870s. One of their leaders was Claude Monet, who had by then dropped his Oscar. The other painters came from all sorts of places. In its origins, however, the worlds favourite art movement was coloured by the towns and fields and beaches and above all by the restless weather of Normandy. Several of the great Impressionist painters and their predecessors Monet, Degas, Corot, Boudin were Norman or had Norman connections. The movement took its name from Monet's Impression Sunrise, which was painted at Le Havre on the Norman coast in 1872. Even non-Norman Impressionists like Pissarro, Renoir and Gauguin painted many |Norman scenes. Six years ago, Normandy made an elaborate attempt to wrest back some of the credit for Impressionism from the French capital. A sprawling arts festival, Normandie Impressioniste, was held in 100 Norman towns and villages. It attracted 1,000,000 visitors. A second festival in 2013 was almost as successful. A third, even more sprawling, Normandie Impressioniste festival began last week and will continue until late September. There will be 450 events, including large exhibitions in Rouen, Caen, Honfleur, Le Havre and Giverny and smaller ones in Bayeux, St Lo, Cherbourg, Vernon and scores of other towns and villages. The events include concerts, plays, films, concerts, boat trips, sound and light shows, picnics (dejeuners sur l'herbe), riverside dances and guided walks. The central theme this time is Impressionist portraits, rather than landscapes. For details, see www.normandie-impressionniste.eu There is also a wonderful, related exhibition at the Musee Jacquemart-Andre in Paris LAtelier en Plein Air (The open air art studio) which traces the Norman and British roots of Impressionism. Both festival and Paris exhibition have been influenced by the work of Jacques-Sylvain Klein, a Norman-born art historian, lawyer, economist and former senior official in the French parliament. Mr Klein believes that the elusive light of Normandy inspired Impressionism, first through watercolours painted by J.M.W. Turner during a visit in the 1830s, then through the works of Boudin and Monet. The light of southern France is magnificent but relentless and predictable, he says. The light of Normandy is ever-changing. Impressionism is about the instantaneous, about fugacite the fleeting, how to capture the essence of the passing moment. In that sense, Impressionism is quintessentially Norman. Quite an impression: Exhibition shines fresh light on the gardens that inspired Monet, Renoir, Cezanne and Pissarro Show all 26 1 /26 Quite an impression: Exhibition shines fresh light on the gardens that inspired Monet, Renoir, Cezanne and Pissarro Quite an impression: Exhibition shines fresh light on the gardens that inspired Monet, Renoir, Cezanne and Pissarro 420415.bin Image courtesy of the Board of Trustees, National Gallery of Art, Washington Quite an impression: Exhibition shines fresh light on the gardens that inspired Monet, Renoir, Cezanne and Pissarro 420401.bin Photo Image copyright The Metropolitan Museum of Art/ Art Resource/ Scala, Florence Quite an impression: Exhibition shines fresh light on the gardens that inspired Monet, Renoir, Cezanne and Pissarro 420407.bin Photo The National Gallery, London Quite an impression: Exhibition shines fresh light on the gardens that inspired Monet, Renoir, Cezanne and Pissarro 420406.bin Photo Tate, London 2010 Quite an impression: Exhibition shines fresh light on the gardens that inspired Monet, Renoir, Cezanne and Pissarro 420405.bin Photo: U. Edelmann - Stadel Museum/ ARTOTHEK Quite an impression: Exhibition shines fresh light on the gardens that inspired Monet, Renoir, Cezanne and Pissarro 420403.bin Image courtesy of the Board of Trustees, National Gallery of Art, Washington Quite an impression: Exhibition shines fresh light on the gardens that inspired Monet, Renoir, Cezanne and Pissarro 420402.bin Photo 2009. Image copyright The Metropolitan Museum of Art/ Art Resource/ Scala, Florence Quite an impression: Exhibition shines fresh light on the gardens that inspired Monet, Renoir, Cezanne and Pissarro 420408.bin Photo Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid Quite an impression: Exhibition shines fresh light on the gardens that inspired Monet, Renoir, Cezanne and Pissarro 420409.bin Photo Leeds Museums and Galleries (City Art Gallery) UK/ The Bridgeman Art Library Quite an impression: Exhibition shines fresh light on the gardens that inspired Monet, Renoir, Cezanne and Pissarro 420412.bin 2008 Minneapolis Institute of Arts Quite an impression: Exhibition shines fresh light on the gardens that inspired Monet, Renoir, Cezanne and Pissarro 420413.bin National Museum of Wales Quite an impression: Exhibition shines fresh light on the gardens that inspired Monet, Renoir, Cezanne and Pissarro 420414.bin Photo: Rheinisches Bildarchiv Koln Quite an impression: Exhibition shines fresh light on the gardens that inspired Monet, Renoir, Cezanne and Pissarro 420416.bin Copyright National Galleries of Scotland, Photography A Reeve Quite an impression: Exhibition shines fresh light on the gardens that inspired Monet, Renoir, Cezanne and Pissarro 420417.bin Copyright National Galleries of Scotland, photography: John McKenzie Quite an impression: Exhibition shines fresh light on the gardens that inspired Monet, Renoir, Cezanne and Pissarro 420418.bin The Art Institute of Chicago Quite an impression: Exhibition shines fresh light on the gardens that inspired Monet, Renoir, Cezanne and Pissarro 420419.bin Photo National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne Quite an impression: Exhibition shines fresh light on the gardens that inspired Monet, Renoir, Cezanne and Pissarro 420420.bin Photo RMN (Musee dOrsay)/ Herve Lewandowski Quite an impression: Exhibition shines fresh light on the gardens that inspired Monet, Renoir, Cezanne and Pissarro 420421.bin The Bridgeman Art Library Quite an impression: Exhibition shines fresh light on the gardens that inspired Monet, Renoir, Cezanne and Pissarro 420423.bin Private Collection Quite an impression: Exhibition shines fresh light on the gardens that inspired Monet, Renoir, Cezanne and Pissarro 420424.bin Private collection Quite an impression: Exhibition shines fresh light on the gardens that inspired Monet, Renoir, Cezanne and Pissarro 420425.bin Denver Art Museum Quite an impression: Exhibition shines fresh light on the gardens that inspired Monet, Renoir, Cezanne and Pissarro 420426.bin Terra Foundation for American Art, Daniel J. Terra Collection, Chicago Quite an impression: Exhibition shines fresh light on the gardens that inspired Monet, Renoir, Cezanne and Pissarro 420427.bin Gemeentemuseum Den Haag Quite an impression: Exhibition shines fresh light on the gardens that inspired Monet, Renoir, Cezanne and Pissarro 420429.bin The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston Quite an impression: Exhibition shines fresh light on the gardens that inspired Monet, Renoir, Cezanne and Pissarro 420430.bin Carmen Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection Quite an impression: Exhibition shines fresh light on the gardens that inspired Monet, Renoir, Cezanne and Pissarro 420431.bin When Monet painted the facade of Rouen cathedral (in 1892-3) he worked on up to 14 different canvasses at one time. He ended up painting 31 different versions of the cathedral. The fickleness of the Norman weather drove him crazy. It's getting worse and worse, Monet wrote on one occasion. At 9am there was hail. Then, in 10-minute intervals all day long, we had a procession of rain, sun and snow. The Norman weather this spring is much the same and has prevented me from planting my seed potatoes; but how beautiful the countryside looks for two minutes in every hour. The first Normandie Impressioniste festival was pushed strongly by the Norman politician and former French prime minister and foreign minister, Laurent Fabius. He thought that it would help to generate popular support for the unification of the two Norman regions, upper and lower, created by President Francois Mitterrand in the 1980s. Six years later, thanks to another Norman-born politician, President Francois Hollande, Normandy is whole again. In January this year, 950 years after the Conquest, Williams former Dukedom became a single administrative unit for the first time since Bad King John lost it carelessly to the French in the early 13th century. Upper Normandy, near Rouen, our new provisional capital, is, I confess, alien territory to me. In the new found spirit of Norman unity, I went along this week to Rouen art museum to see its contribution to the Normandie Impressioniste festival. Perversely, the exhibition concentrates on impressionist portraits and domestic scenes mostly painted in the Paris area. It is a marvellous show all the same, beginning with a handful of Monets earliest works - sketches and caricatures signed Oscar. The Rouen exhibition has a device for creating impressionist selfies. A camera linked to a computer programme converts your photograph for free, into a painting by your favourite impressionist painter. I now have a fetching image of myself, as Claude Monet would have pictured me. Offers will be considered starting at Euros 1,000,000. Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter for all the latest entertainment news and reviews Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the IndyArts email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} It's no surprise that Saint George turns up a few times in Shakespeare's plays, most famously in Henry's rallying cry to his troops before the battle of Harfleur, in Henry V: "Follow your spirit, and upon this charge Cry 'God for Harry, England, and Saint George!'" The saint crops up a total of 18 times, with 16 of those being in the history plays, putting the lives of the Richards II and III and te Henrys IV, V and VI, and most of those being versions of Henry's cry. "God and Saint George, Talbot and England's right," "Saint George and victory! fight, soldiers, fight," and the rest. You have to look harder in the comedies to find the saint whose holiday shares the national playwright's birthday, April 23. He's there in the early, and relatively obsure, Love's Labour's Lost, when the noble lord Berowne heckles a play that's being put on for the Princess of France, saying that one of the actors, Holofernes the schoolmaster, has a face like "Saint George's half-cheek in a brooch". Ouch. Then he's in The Taming of the Shrew, a play equally rarely performed, though the reason is its inherent misogyny, rather than its rather pedantic sense of humour. Here the repartee is between Petruchio and Katherina (the 'shrew') when she dismisses him as "young one", and he replies: "Now, by Saint George, I am too young for you." But rather than running through all the mentions of the saint in Shakespeare's plays, why not look at the celebratory image used by Google to mark their shared day. Saint George and his dragon appear at the far left and right, with the playwright in the middle, flanked by depictions of eight of his plays. Can you work out what they are? The best Google Doodles Show all 50 1 /50 The best Google Doodles The best Google Doodles Mister Rogers Google Doodle celebrating children's TV presenter Mister Rogers Google The best Google Doodles Lucy Wills Google Doodle celebrating haematologist Lucy Wills Google The best Google Doodles Falafel Google Doodle celebrating falafel Google The best Google Doodles St George's Day Google Doodle celebrating St George's Day Google The best Google Doodles James Wong Howe Google Doodle celebrating Hollywood golden age cinematographer James Wong Howe Google The best Google Doodles Seiichi Miyake Google Doodle celebrating Seiichi Miyake, developer of tactile paving Google The best Google Doodles Walter Cronkite Google celebrates US broadcast journalist Walter Cronkite's 100th birthday The best Google Doodles Lantern Festival 2016 Google celebrates the last day of the Chinese New Year celebrations with a doodle of the Lantern Festival Google The best Google Doodles Google Doodle celebrating Sergei Diaghilev Google Doodle celebrating art critic Sergei Diaghilev Google The best Google Doodles George Boole Google marks mathematician George Boole's 200th birthday The best Google Doodles Sergei Eisenstein Google Doodle celebrating soviet film director Sergei Eisenstein Google The best Google Doodles 41st anniversary of the discovery of 'Lucy' Google marks the 41st anniversary of the discovery of 'Lucy', the name given to a collection of fossilised bones that once made up the skeleton of a hominid from the Australopithecus afarensis species, who lived in Ethiopia 3.2 million years ago The best Google Doodles Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Google celebrates physician and suffragist Elizabeth Garrett Anderson 180th birthday The best Google Doodles Sir William Henry Perkin Google Doodle celebrating chemist Sir William Henry Perkin Google The best Google Doodles Nelly Sachs Google Doodle celebrating poet and playwright Nelly Sachs Google The best Google Doodles Thanksgiving 2018 Google Doodle celebrating Thanksgiving 2018 Google The best Google Doodles Nigerian Independence Day Google Doodle celebrating Nigerian Independence Day Google The best Google Doodles Mary Prince Google Doodle celebrating abolitionist Mary Prince Google The best Google Doodles Father's Day 2016 Google celebrates Father's Day The best Google Doodles Ebenezer Cobb Morley Google Doodle celebrating "father of football" Ebenezer Cobb Morley Google The best Google Doodles Octavia E Butler Google Doodle celebrating science fiction author Octavia E Butler Google The best Google Doodles Tamara de Lempicka Google Doodle celebrating painter Tamara de Lempicka Google The best Google Doodles Johann Carl Friedrich Gauss Google Doodle celebrating mathematician and physicist Johann Carl Friedrich Gauss Google The best Google Doodles Fanny Blankers-Koen Google Doodle celebrating Dutch Olympic gold medalist Fanny Blankers-Koen Google The best Google Doodles John Harrison Google Doodle celebrating clockmaker John Harrison Google The best Google Doodles Guillermo Haro Google Doodle celebrating astronomer Guillermo Haro Google The best Google Doodles St. David's Day Google Doodle celebrating St. David's Day Google The best Google Doodles Carter G Woodson Google Doodle celebrating Carter G Woodson, a pioneering African-American historian Google The best Google Doodles St Andrew's Day Google Doodle celebrating St Andrew's Day Google The best Google Doodles Gertrude Jekyll Google Doodle celebrating horticulturist Gertrude Jekyll Google The best Google Doodles Children's Day 2017 Google Doodle celebrating Children's Day 2017 Google The best Google Doodles Studio for Electronic Music Google Doodle celebrating the Studio for Electronic Music Google The best Google Doodles Olaudah Equiano Google Doodle celebrating abolitionist Olaudah Equiano Google The best Google Doodles Fridtjof Nansen Google Doodle celebrating Norwegian explorer Fridtjof Nansen Google The best Google Doodles Ladislao Jose Biro Google celebrates Ladislao Jose Biro's 117th birthday The best Google Doodles Amalia Hernandez Google Doodle celebrating ballet choreographer Amalia Hernandez Google The best Google Doodles Dr Samuel Johnson Google Doodle celebrating lexicographer Dr Samuel Johnson Google The best Google Doodles British Sign Language Google Doodle celebrating British Sign Language Google The best Google Doodles Eduard Khil Google Doodle celebrating baritone singer Eduard Khil Google The best Google Doodles Fourth of July Google Doodle celebrating Fourth of July Google The best Google Doodles Victor Hugo Google Doodle celebrating author Victor Hugo Google The best Google Doodles Google Doodle celebrating Giro d'Italia's 100th Anniversary Google Doodle celebrating Giro d'Italia's 100th Anniversary Google The best Google Doodles Google Doodle celebrating St. Patrick's Day Google Doodle celebrating St. Patrick's Day Google The best Google Doodles Google Doodle celebrating St. David's Day Google Doodle celebrating St. David's Day Google The best Google Doodles Steve Biko Today's Google Doodle features anti-apartheid activist Steve Biko Google The best Google Doodles The history of tea in Britain Google celebrates the 385th anniversary of tea in the UK The best Google Doodles Nettie Stevens Google celebrates geneticist Nettie Stevens 155th birthday The best Google Doodles William Morris Google celebrates English polymath William Morris' 182 birthday with a doodle showcasing his most famous designs Google The best Google Doodles Professor Scoville Google marks Professor Scovilles 151st birthday The best Google Doodles Sophie Taeuber-Arp Google marks artist Sophie Taeuber-Arp's 127th birthday From the left: the first is Hamlet, doubtless the easiest one, with the Prince's hand holding the skull of the former court jester, Yorick, from the gravedigger's scene: "Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him, Horatio; a fellow of infinite jest, of most excellent fancy; he hath borne me on his back a thousand times; and now, how abhorred in my imagination it is!" Second is Julius Caesar, with a strangely bequiffed Brutus about to stick the Roman dictator in the back with a dagger. Third is Othello, with the villain Iago planting the virtuous Desdemona's handkerchief in the rube Cassio's lodgings, so he can fool the noble Othello into thinking his young wife is unfaithful. Fourth is another easy one: the balcony scene from Romeo and Juliet. Juliet seems pretty strong in the arm.. Moving to the right of Shakespeare, we have the "brave vessel" in the first scene of The Tempest, that will deposit Antonio, Ferdinand and the others on Prospero's island. That said, it could probably just as easily be the shipwreck in Twelfth Night, that lands Viola in Illyria, or the shipwreck in The Comedy of Errors. Shakespeare liked his shipwrecks. Then there's the king on the throne. Well, there are plenty of kings in Shakespeare - more of them even than shipwrecks - but let's say for the sake of argument that this is King Lear, looking so haggard and spooked on his throne, though most people would give him a white beard, rather than such a full black one. Next up is the witches in Macbeth, wondering when they three shall meet again. Well, in another Google Doodle in a few years' time, I should think. Lastly, we have a donkey-headed person asleep under a tree, snoring a delightful tune. It can only be Bottom, from A Midsummer Night's Dream, though the point in the play is uncertain. Usually when he's sleeping, with his full-on ass's head, he's surrounded by fairies. When he wakes up on his own, he's been retranslated back into plain old human-headed Bottom. We must assume these Google Doodlers know of what they draw... Stay ahead of the trend in fashion and beyond with our free weekly Lifestyle Edit newsletter Stay ahead of the trend in fashion and beyond with our free weekly Lifestyle Edit newsletter Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Lifestyle Edit email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} A crisis-hit hospital was forced to request support from military medics to care for patients at its chronically under-staffed A&E department, it has emerged. Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust held talks with the local barracks as it sought to resolve a dire staffing shortage in the emergency department of Chorley Hospital, which has since been forced to suspend its service. The A&E had only eight of the 14 middle-grade doctors it required to continue running a safe service. But the request to the military was unsuccessful as the right grade of medic was not available. National NHS bosses are also said to have advised against the request, warning that military personnel should be requested only in the the last resort. With junior doctors set to go on strike on Tuesday and Wednesday, walking out of emergency care for the first time, the local MP and the British Medical Association said the drastic situation in Chorley was an extreme symptom of a wider staffing crisis in the NHS. It comes as a letter from more than 2,500 consultants, GPs and other senior doctors accuses the Government of leaving junior doctors with no choice but to strike by attempting to introduce seven-day services in the NHS without funding or workforce planning . The letter, seen by The Independent, also reassures patients that consultants and other non-junior doctors will keep the NHS safe on strike days. Not only are we duty-bound to do so, but we will gladly provide this emergency cover to ensure that the juniors can take this action with the complete confidence that their patients are safe, they write. The signatories include Dr Clare Gerada, former chair of the Royal College of GPs, and other senior medics including leading surgeon Professor Nigel Standfield and vice-president of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health Dr Andrew Long. The Department of Health has called the latest strike action extreme and irresponsible and repeated its criticism of the BMA for failing to negotiate over Saturday pay. More than 12,700 operations have been cancelled as a result of the new industrial action. Senior figures including NHS Englands medical director Sir Bruce Keogh have warned that an all-out strike could irreparably damage trust in medics. Junior doctors say their dispute is about more than pay, and warn that the new contract being forced upon them, which requires more weekend working for less pay on Saturday, will lead to the current workforce being overstretched, leading to further shortages on wards during the working week. A Department of Health spokesperson said the Government had continually sought a negotiated solution over three years of talks. If the doctors' union had agreed to negotiate on that as they promised to do through [the arbitration body] Acas in November, we'd have a negotiated agreement by now. Instead, we had no choice but to proceed with proposals recommended and supported by NHS leaders which were 90 per cent agreed with the BMA, the spokesperson said. 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 Chorleys A&E was downgraded to an urgent care centre last week after the hospitals management proved unsuccessful in its attempts to fill rota gaps, blaming a national shortage of emergency doctors and Government restrictions on recruiting temporary agency staff. In a memo to staff sent last week, the trusts chief executive Karen Partington said that it was exploring potential support from GPs and the military. The strategy of seeking support from the local Fulwood Barracks had been urged by the Chorley MP Lindsay Hoyle, who told The Independent yesterday that he believed the trust had not done enough to secure military support to help it through an emergency. We have an A&E on the edge of closure because of the lack of doctors, he said. Lives are put at risk if that A&E goes down. All you do by closing the A&E is put pressure on the nearby emergency departments. He added: This isnt unique to Chorley. We know there is a major crisis in the lack of staff for A&E. But he criticised the trusts management for not doing enough to keep the A&E open. Johann Malawana, chair of the BMAs junior doctor committee, said that the situation in Chorley was a sign of an NHS in a state of crisis. Staffing shortages are so acute in some areas that hospitals can no longer deliver safe care. Rather than addressing the root causes of this, the government is focussing on forcing through a junior doctor contract that will hit those areas of medicine where there are already recruitment and retention problems. The contract will undermine the ability of the NHS to attract and keep the next generation of doctors at a time when we desperately need more doctors, not fewer. In a statement on the trusts website, Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust chief executive Karen Partington said that management had held conversations with colleagues at the local barracks because we already provide some training for their medics. However they do not have the right kind of doctors available that we need, she said. We have requested advice from NHS England about the feasibility and process for accessing national armed services support. NHS England advises that such an application for support would constitute a military aid to civilian authorities request, which is a last resort and would only be considered when all other options have been exhausted. NHS England advises that as plans are in place to maintain a safe and effective service, and discussions are continuing, such a request is therefore currently not appropriate. 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 }} Q. I have 18 old Abbey National Citicorp travellers cheques, with a total face value of $850. In April 2014 I read in Questions of Cash that Santander would cash Abbey National Citicorp travellers cheques. But when I went to my local Santander branch I was told that there would be a 10 charge per cheque. That means I would be charged 180 to redeem them. Is this a fair charge? I would be left with around 400, less than half their value. PB, by email. A. On current exchange rates, $850 converts to about 590. Santanders charge of 10 per cheque would, as you say, leave you with about 400, which is a lot more than half the face value. Having said that, we share your view that the charge of 180 seems to put it politely steep. A spokesperson for Santander justified the charge, saying The 10 fee is applicable to redeem travellers cheques through Santander. This is part of our terms and conditions. The fee is applicable as this is a non-standard service and it is a complex transaction. This fee would be to handle the conversion and processing of the cheques and is applicable to all customers intending to redeem foreign or travellers cheques. Other banks will have their own fees applicable and may vary. She also said the charge is in line with the industry. That 10 fee is per cheque, no matter how many cheques are presented. We had hoped that Santander would charge either no fee or only a small fee, given that it took over the business of Abbey National, which had issued the travellers cheques. Initially we were given some hope that a lower charge could be agreed as Santander suggested that you arrange to cancel the batch of travellers cheques and replace them with a single travellers cheque. But when we asked for clarification of how this could be done, we were told that we had been given incorrect advice owing to confusion at Santanders end. Earlier this year (Questions of Cash, 13 February 2016), Citi offered to help encash another readers old Citi travellers cheques. Citi has again agreed to help out. Its spokesman said: Clients need a financial institution they can count on for the long term, so Citi is pleased to assist in covering the value of these cheques in this instance. UK supermarkets ranked by value for money Show all 10 1 /10 UK supermarkets ranked by value for money UK supermarkets ranked by value for money 1. Waitrose Getty Images UK supermarkets ranked by value for money 2. Aldi Getty Images UK supermarkets ranked by value for money 3. Sainsbury's Getty Images UK supermarkets ranked by value for money 4. Marks & Spencer UK supermarkets ranked by value for money 5. Lidl Getty Images UK supermarkets ranked by value for money 6. The Co-op Getty Images UK supermarkets ranked by value for money 7. Morrisons Getty Images UK supermarkets ranked by value for money 8 = Asda Getty Images UK supermarkets ranked by value for money 8 = Tesco Getty UK supermarkets ranked by value for money 10. Iceland Getty Images Q. You already helped my family get a response from Royal Mail to our request for first day covers, enabling us to place an order (Questions of Cash, 27 February, 2016). But after my husband ordered the first day covers he didnt receive them, even though the payment was taken from his account on the same day. Since then we have had no luck in getting any straight answers from Royal Mail. Its system seems to be fully automated and staff apparently havent read the email that my husband sent. VR, London. A. Royal Mail has now sent your husband the ordered first day covers, along with a goodwill gesture to apologise for the delay. Q. I bought a Qatar Airways business class ticket from London to Luxor via Doha. The ticket conditions allowed me to make changes. I was booked on an 8.00 flight from London to Doha, arriving in Doha at 16.55 and connecting with the Luxor flight the next morning at 07.15. I wanted to leave London at a later time and found at least eight available seats on the 21.30 flight arriving at 06.10 the next day, still giving me enough time to continue on the original flight to Luxor. But when I phoned Qatar Airways the operator refused to change the ticket informing me that there were no seats available. I was told that I would have to rebook for that flight and pay again! I had to upgrade to first class at a cost of almost 400. It seems that the airline is inventing rules to stop a passenger from changing their changeable ticket unless the passenger pays extra! LS, Sussex. A. Qatar Airways explains that it was not possible to make a change to the ticket as there was no availability in business class for the London to Luxor part of your journey. A spokesman for the airline clarifies: As the flight was booked with a connection, as per our terms and conditions, there must be availability in the same fare class on both flights in order to change departure dates or times. 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 bank holiday is within touching distance, which only means one thing the start of the summer season and the promise of that precious two weeks away from it all. Thanks to travel comparison sites and best buy tables were getting better at hunting down holiday deals all the time. Unfortunately that doesnt extend to our haphazard approach to spending cash a mistake that costs us hundreds of pounds every time we get away from it all. Think that cant possibly include you? How many of our top 5 holiday spending mistakes sound familiar?: Paying in pounds Travellers who spend using a credit or debit card abroad often choose to pay in pounds when given a choice, as its easier to understand how much they are paying. However, Ali Steed, editor of the money-saving website MyMoneyDiva.com, warns travellers they should always choose to be charged in the local currency, whether they are withdrawing cash or paying a bill. Choosing the local currency means you will pay your bank's exchange rate, while choosing to be billed in your home currency of 'GBP' will often mean you are paying an exchange rate imposed by the local provider, which could be significantly higher than your bank would charge you. Withdrawing cash There are a whole host of good reasons to use a card overseas, but withdrawing cash can drastically increase the cost of currency. Its unwise to withdraw cash on credit cards abroad, as youll likely be stung with a two to three per cent fee on top of your withdrawal, warns Tashema Jackson, a money commentator at uSwitch.com. If you cant avoid spending on a card with transaction fees, check what charges apply before travelling. What happens on holiday wont stay on holiday and you could avoid a nasty surprise on your return. Looking to make an international money transfer? See how much you could save with HiFX Travel Photo of the Year: The winning entries Show all 8 1 /8 Travel Photo of the Year: The winning entries Travel Photo of the Year: The winning entries Winners: Landscape category - Jurassic Coast (Dorset, UK) by Tony Cowburn Tony Cowburn Travel Photo of the Year: The winning entries Winner: Icon category - Tiger's Nest (Paro Valley, Bhutan) by Kasia Nowak Kasia Nowak Travel Photo of the Year: The winning entries Winner: People category - Reflections (S-21 Prison, Phnom Penh, Cambodia) by Charlotte Currie Charlotte Currie Travel Photo of the Year: The winning entries Winner: Wildlife category - Escape! (Tanzania) by Vittorio Ricci Travel Photo of the Year: The winning entries Runners-up: Icon - Snow Time (Westminster Bridge, London) by Ron Tear Ron Tear Travel Photo of the Year: The winning entries Runner-up: Wildlife - Momentary (Bucks, UK) by Porsupah Ree Porsupah Ree Travel Photo of the Year: The winning entries Runner-up: Landscape - Polar Bear Landscape (Wrangel Island, Russia) by Gunther Riehle Travel Photo of the Year: The winning entries Runner-up: People - Let Sleeping Sikhs Lie (Amritsar, India) by Allan Dransfield Allan Dransfield Changing money at the airport Its possible to change money well in advance of a holiday, yet thousands of people only get around to doing so at the airport before they fly. Research from FairFX shows that doing so can leave you up to 320 worse off for every 1,000 you exchange, thanks to wild discrepancies between rates offered at different airports. Travellers can save money by shopping around for the best rates and buying in advance, even ordering the night before for airport collection can bag a cheaper rate. But thats not the only way travellers are getting stung when exchanging money. Nick Hill, money expert for the Money Advice Service, says: Some providers may charge you interest if you buy foreign currency using a credit card because it can be classed as a cash withdrawal, so make sure you compare the pros and cons of the different payment methods. Taking the wrong credit card Using a credit card to pay for purchases while travelling can be a safe way to spend, but without the right card the charges can swiftly rack up. Analysis from Gocompare.com shows that a traveller using a credit card that charges for overseas use in order to withdraw cash could end up paying almost 8 for every 100 they take out hardly a competitive rate. Matt Sanders, credit card spokesperson at the comparison site, explains: The average fee charged for overseas card use is 2.9%, which can easily add up if youre doing the bulk of your holiday spending on your credit card or plan on making any big purchases while youre away. Remember, this fee is added on top of any additional transaction fees you might face, for instance a restaurant service or credit card charge. There are some cards on the market that dont charge a fee for overseas use, so if you are considering spending on plastic while youre on holiday, it could be worth getting online and shopping around for a card that suits your needs while youre away. Forgetting foreign currency We dont just pay over the odds to exchange our holiday cash, many of us then make the situation worse by simply dumping our foreign currency in a drawer at home and forgetting about it. Research from Visa Europe suggests that British holidaymakers have an average of 55.25 in leftover foreign currency simply dumped in the home and ignored. Kevin Jenkins, managing director UK & Ireland, Visa Europe comments: British holidaymakers could be saving money instead of returning home with foreign currency, which likely remains unused and gathering dust. Our research suggests that as a nation, we have accumulated 663m of foreign currency in our homes hard-earned money which could be better put to use or donated to charity. Almost as bad, a third of holidaymakers say they blow unused currency at the airport to save having to exchange it, even if they arent buying bargains. Looking to make an international money transfer? See how much you could save with HiFX For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} A man who claims he was the drug dealer for recently deceased pop star Prince has spoken out about the highly addictive drugs he used to supply the musician with. The man, who calls himself Dr D, said he used to supply thousands of dollars worth of drugs to Prince until 2008. If true, the comments portray an anxiety-ridden image of the majorly addicted star, who allegedly used the drugs to cope with stage fright. I first met Prince in 1984 while he was filming the movie Purple Rain and he was already majorly addicted to opiates - I didnt hook him on drugs. He was already a really heavy user, Dr D told the Mail Online. He claimed he worked backstage at Prince concerts for many years so he could covertly supply the star with drugs. The California-based dealer claimed he saw Princes addiction worsen over time to the point where, such was his tolerance to opioids, he often took many times the limit of what was considered safe. Prince - A Life in Pictures Show all 10 1 /10 Prince - A Life in Pictures Prince - A Life in Pictures Prince Rogers Nelson, known by his mononym Prince, who has died at the age of 57 at his Paisley Park compound in Minnesota PA Prince - A Life in Pictures Prince performs in concert at Riverfront Coliseum during his Purple Rain Tour in Cincinnati, Ohio, on January 22nd, 1985 AP Prince - A Life in Pictures US singer and musician Prince performing on stage at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, outside Paris on June 30th 2011 AFP / Getty Prince - A Life in Pictures US musician Prince performing on the Stravinski Hall stage during the 47th Montreux Jazz Festival, in Montreux, Switzerland on 21 April, 2013 EPA Prince - A Life in Pictures Prince performs during the 'Pepsi Halftime Show' at Super Bowl XLI between the Indianapolis Colts and the Chicago Bears on February 4, 2007 2007 Getty Images Prince - A Life in Pictures Prince plays during a press conference at the Miami Beach Convention Center, February 1st, 2007 AP Prince - A Life in Pictures Prince performs during the second day of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in Indio, California on April 26th 2008 AP Prince - A Life in Pictures Prince performs before a sold-out audience, in Houston on January 11th 1985 AP Prince - A Life in Pictures Musician Prince gestures on stage during the Apollo Theatre's 75th anniversary gala in New York, June 8, 2009 Reuters Prince - A Life in Pictures Prince Rogers Nelson, known by his mononym Prince, who has died at the age of 57 at his Paisley Park compound in Minnesota PA Dr D said he often sold prescription painkillers to Prince, mainly the pill-based Dilaudid and Fentanyl, which is topically absorbed into the body, similar to a nicotine patch. According to Dr D, he often used both at the same time. Hed buy large supplies of both drugs. I think the most he ever spent was around $40,000 at one time, Dr D claimed. Id say his habit was costing him about $200-300 a day, but that didnt matter to him as he had plenty of money - he never ran out. Prince did this because he was very scared of performing, Dr D suggested. The drug dealer told the news website: He needed the drugs because he was so nervous - he could be nervous in a room with just five people in it. He wasnt really a party guy, he was doing these drugs so he could feel at ease around people. He was scared to go out in public, he was scared to talk to people and didnt like to go on stage. He had the worst case of stage fright Id ever seen. A lot of performers rely on drugs to make them feel confident on stage, but he was by far the worse. I remember when he was filming Purple Rain he was buying a lot of drugs - I think it was nerve wracking for him to have to perform in front of cameras and people every day so he needed the drugs. It was an exciting time for him and he was on top of the world - he was like God. But as that fame increased, the less at ease he was with people and the more he needed drugs. Then at other times, when his fame lessened, hed turn to drugs too. Its like he was afraid of the fame but then when it was gone hed miss it and crave it. He would always buy a lot of drugs around his big shows - like when he played the Superbowl in Miami in 2007. He came to see me right before. World pays tribute to Prince Show all 20 1 /20 World pays tribute to Prince World pays tribute to Prince Messages left by fans outside the Paisley Park residential compound of music legend Prince in Minneapolis, Minnesota Getty Images World pays tribute to Prince Guests dance to Prince music as a slide show flashes images of the artist above the stage during a memorial dance party at the First Avenue nightclub in Minneapolis, Minnesota Getty Images World pays tribute to Prince Nasa released the image of a purple-hued nebula to mark the passing of music icon Prince. They commented: "A purple nebula, in honor of Prince, who passed away today." One online commenter remarked: "Can anyone see #Prince playing his guitar in this #NBULA" Rex World pays tribute to Prince A Hollywood sign is illuminated in purple in memory of the late musician Prince in Los Angeles Getty Images World pays tribute to Prince A view of the Prince tribute at Times Square Hard Rock Cafe in New York Getty Images World pays tribute to Prince Candles lit in remembrance to Prince are seen around his star outside the Warner Theatre in Washington Getty Images World pays tribute to Prince Lorraine Womble reacts during a gathering in Leimert Park in memory of musician Prince Getty Images World pays tribute to Prince A Prince memorial outside the First Avenue club where music legend Prince had his first breakthrough at the start of his musical career in Minneapolis, Minnesota Getty Images World pays tribute to Prince Julya Baer, 30, (R) cries at a vigil to celebrate the life and music of deceased musician Prince in Los Angeles World pays tribute to Prince Atribute to Prince at the Ritzy cinema in Brixton, London PA World pays tribute to Prince A sign in remembrance to Prince is seen outside the Warner Theatre in Washington Getty Images World pays tribute to Prince Fans lay flowers and memorials outside First Avenue, the nightclub where U.S. music superstar Prince got his start in Minneapolis, Minnesota Reuters World pays tribute to Prince The Mercedes-Benz Superdome is lit up in the color purple in New Orleans, to honor pop legend Prince AP World pays tribute to Prince A woman holding a large poster of Prince arrives to a gathering in Leimert Park in memory of musician Prince, in Los Angeles Getty Images World pays tribute to Prince Kenneth Beavers, 49, holds a candle at a vigil to celebrate the life and music of deceased musician Prince in Los Angeles Reuters World pays tribute to Prince Loretta Thomas, 45, (L) and Deshone, 50, listen to a Prince song at a vigil to celebrate the life and music of deceased musician Prince in Los Angeles World pays tribute to Prince A man writes on a makeshift memorial as fans gather at Harlem's Apollo Theater to celebrate the life of deceased musician Prince in the Manhattan borough of New York Reuters World pays tribute to Prince A makeshift memorial is seen as fans gather at Harlem's Apollo Theater to celebrate the life of deceased musician Prince in the Manhattan borough of New York Reuters World pays tribute to Prince Sheila Clayton of St Paul, Minnesota (L) hugs an unidentified friend outside of Paisley Park, the home and studio of US musician Prince, in Chanhassen, Minnesota (EPA) EPA World pays tribute to Prince People watch as City Hall is illuminated in purple in remembrance of the late singer Prince in Downtown Los Angeles Reuters Despite this, Dr D believed Princes alleged choice of narcotics was why few others picked up on the habit. He was always a pill man - thats why nobody ever saw him do drugs, he said. He never smoked or shot up, or snorted cocaine. He was always functional and I never saw him out of it or strung out. At the time I was dealing other drugs too but he never asked for anything else. Dr D added: When I knew him he didnt have any health problems that I knew about - he was taking the drugs because he needed them to cope, not because he was in pain. In fact he always seemed very healthy. He didnt drink as far as I know and he would always eat salads. One time he was eating a salad and a skinless chicken breast with no dressing and I commented about how healthy he was. He turned to me and said, If I didnt watch my food I probably wouldnt last that long. I think it was his way of counteracting all the drugs he was taking. The Independent has contacted police departments in California and Carver County, Minnesota for comment. 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 cyclist has been jailed for four years for sexually assaulting 15 women and girls, including a 11-year-old girl. Daniel Randall-Coles, 25, from Southampton, committed 17 sexual assaults over three weeks in January. Randall-Coles cycled alongside his victims, who were often walking alone at night, and groped them. Daniel Randall-Coles, 25, from Southampton, committed 17 sexual assaults over three weeks in January (Hampshire Police) Police launched a public appeal, releasing CCTV footage of Randall-Coles approaching and assaulting a 12-year-old girl while she was on her way to school. He handed himself in at Southampton Central Police Station on 31 January. Randall-Coles pleaded guilty at Southampton Court on 4 March to 15 counts of sexual assault on a female and two counts of assaulting a girl under 13 by touching. Police released CCTV footage of Daniel Randall-Coles, which led to him handing himself in (Hampshire Police) Detective Sergeant Matt Barcraft-Barnes, from the Western Investigations Team, said: This was a complex investigation with numerous victims all reporting sexual assault by a stranger, described in the same way, in various locations within Southampton, in a very short amount of time. "We received a large number of reports in quick succession, which we swiftly consolidated to concentrate on bringing in one man. With the help from media and the public, Randall-Coles found himself having to present himself at a police station on January 31, less than 24 hours after we released his image." UK news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 UK news in pictures UK news in pictures 21 October 2022 Sculptor Peter McKenna puts the finishing touches to a pumpkin that will form part of the Planet A Hebden Bridge Pumpkin Trail in the West Yorkshire town PA UK news in pictures 20 October 2022 Britains Prime Minister Liz Truss delivers a speech outside of 10 Downing Street in central London to announce her resignation AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 19 October 2022 Salmon leap up Stainforth Force on the River Ribble in the Yorkshire Dales as they swim upriver to their spawning grounds during the annual Salmon migration PA UK news in pictures 18 October 2022 Just Stop Oil protesters continue their protest for a second day on the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge, which links Kent and Essex and which remains closed for traffic, after it was scaled by two climbers from the group PA UK news in pictures 17 October 2022 Hundreds of students take part in the traditional Raisin Monday foam fight on St Salvator's Lower College Lawn at the University of St Andrews in Fife PA UK news in pictures 16 October 2022 A protester holds a placard during a march into central London at a demonstration by the climate change protest group Extinction Rebellion AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 15 October 2022 A member of the public drags an activist who is blocking the road during a "Just Stop Oil" protest, in London, Britain REUTERS UK news in pictures 14 October 2022 Germanys Womens double skulls during day one of the World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals at Saundersfoot beach, Pembrokeshire PA UK news in pictures 13 October 2022 Family and mourners arrive at St Michael's Church, in Creeslough, for the funeral mass of 49-year-old mother of four Martina Martin, who died following an explosion at the Applegreen service station in the village of Creeslough in Co Donegal on Friday PA UK news in pictures 12 October 2022 Motorists in Coventry pass trees showing autumnal colour PA UK news in pictures 11 October 2022 A woman and her dog in the the North Sea at Tynemouth Longsands beach before sunrise PA UK news in pictures 10 October 2022 Police officers remove a campaigner from a Just Stop Oil protest on The Mall, near Buckingham Palace, London PA UK news in pictures 9 October 2022 A drummer plays during the Diwali on the Square celebration, in Trafalgar Square, London PA UK news in pictures 8 October 2022 Timothee Chalamet attending the UK premiere of Bones and All during the BFI London Film Festival 2022 at the Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, London PA UK news in pictures 7 October 2022 Two young male fallow deer lock antlers in Dublins Phoenix park as rutting season begins PA UK news in pictures 6 October 2022 The Princess of Wales during a cocktail making competition during a visit to Trademarket, a new outdoor street-food and retail market situated in Belfast city centre, as part of the royal visit to Northern Ireland PA UK news in pictures 5 October 2022 Greenpeace protesters interrupt Prime Minister Liz Truss as she delivers her keynote speech to the Conservative Party annual conference PA UK news in pictures 4 October 2022 Prime Minister Liz Truss and Britains Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng wearing hard hats and hi-vis jackets, visit a construction site for a medical innovation campus in Birmingham AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 3 October 2022 British artist Sam Cox, aka Mr Doodle, reveals the Doodle House, a twelve-room mansion at Tenterden, in Kent, which has been covered, inside and out in the artist's trademark monochrome, cartoonish hand-drawn doodles PA UK news in pictures 2 October 2022 Erling Haaland celebrates after scoring Manchester City's second goal against Manchester United at Etihad Stadium. Haaland went on to score a hattrick, his third of the season in the Premier League. City beat United 6-3. Manchester City FC/Getty UK news in pictures 1 October 2022 Protesters hold up flags and placards at a protest in London. A variety of protest groups including Enough is Enough, Don't Pay and Just Stop Oil all demonstrated on the day AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 30 September 2022 British Prime Minister Liz Truss, who has not been seen in days, leaves the back of Downing Street after a meeting with Office For Budget Responsibility following the release of her governments mini-budget Getty UK news in pictures 29 September 2022 The Virginia creeper foliage on the Tu Hwnt i'r Bont (Beyond the Bridge) Llanwrst, Conwy North Wales, has changed colour from green to red in at the start of Autumn. The building was built in 1480 as a residential dwelling but has been a tearoom for over 50 years PA UK news in pictures 28 September 2022 Criminal barristers from the Criminal Bar Association (CBA), demonstrates outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London, as part of their ongoing pay row with the Government PA UK news in pictures 27 September 2022 David White, Garter King of Arms, poses with an envelope franked with the new cypher of King Charles III 'CIIIR', after it was printed in the Court Post Office at Buckingham Palace in central London AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 26 September 2022 A gallery staff member poses next to a painting by Lucian Freud - Self-portrait (Fragment), 1956 - on show at a photocall for the Credit Suisse exhibition - Lucian Freud: New Perspectives at the National Gallery in London PA UK news in pictures 25 September 2022 Labour leader, Sir Keir Starmer is interviewed by Laura Kuenssberg in Liverpool before the start of the Labour Party annual Conference which he opened with a tribute to Queen Elizabeth II and sang the national anthem PA UK news in pictures 24 September 2022 Handout photo issued by Buckingham Palace of the ledger stone at the King George VI Memorial Chapel, St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle PA UK news in pictures 23 September 2022 A climate change activist protests against UK private jets while lighting his right arm on fire during the Laver Cup tennis tournament at the O2 Arena in London EPA UK news in pictures 22 September 2022 Woody Woodmansey, Lee Bennett, Kevin Armstrong, Nick Moran and Clifford Slapper attend the unveiling of a stone for David Bowie on the Music Walk of Fame at Camden, north London PA UK news in pictures 21 September 2022 A flock of birds in the sky as the sun rises over Dungeness in Kent PA UK news in pictures 20 September 2022 Flowers which were laid by members of the public in tribute to Queen Elizabeth II at Hillsborough Castle in Northern Ireland are collected by the Hillsborough Gardening Team and volunteers to be replanted for those that can be saved or composted PA UK news in pictures 19 September 2022 The ceremonial procession of the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II travels down the long walk as it arrives at Windsor Castle for the committal service at St Georges Chapel AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 18 September 2022 A man stands among campers on The Mall ahead of the Queens funeral Reuters UK news in pictures 17 September 2022 Wolverhampton Wanderers Nathan Collins fouls Manchester Citys Jack Grealish leading to a red card. City went on to win the match at Molineux Stadium three goals to nil. Action Images/Reuters UK news in pictures 16 September 2022 Members of the public stand in the queue near Tower Bridge, and opposite the Tower of London, as they wait in line to pay their respects to the late Queen Elizabeth II, in London AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 15 September 2022 Members of the public in the queue on in Potters Fields Park, central London, as they wait to view Queen Elizabeth II lying in state ahead of her funeral on Monday PA UK news in pictures 14 September 2022 The first members of the public pay their respects as the vigil begins around the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II in Westminster Hall, London, where it will lie in state ahead of her funeral on Monday PA UK news in pictures 13 September 2022 Crowds cheer as King Charles III and Camilla, Queen Consort arrive for a visit to Hillsborough Castle Getty UK news in pictures 12 September 2022 Crowds line the Royal Mile, Edinburgh, as King Charles III joins a procession from the Palace of Holyroodhouse to St Giles Cathedral following the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II Katielee Arrowsmith/SWNS UK news in pictures 11 September 2022 Members of the Public pay their respects as the hearse carrying the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II, draped in the Royal Standard of Scotland, is driven through Ballater AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 10 September 2022 Britain's Prince William, Prince of Wales, Britain's Catherine, Princess of Wales, Britain's Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, Britain's Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, wave at well-wishers on the Long walk at Windsor Castle AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 9 September 2022 King Charles III and Camilla, Queen Consort wave after viewing floral tributes to the late Queen Elizabeth II outside Buckingham Palace Getty UK news in pictures 8 September 2022 A screen commemorating Britain's Queen Elizabeth II in Piccadilly Circus, London Britain EPA UK news in pictures 7 September 2022 Police officers stand guard after Animal Rebellion activists threw paint on the walls and road outside the Houses of Parliament in protest, in London, Britain Reuters UK news in pictures 6 September 2022 Queen Elizabeth II welcomes Liz Truss during an audience at Balmoral, Scotland, where she invited the newly elected leader of the Conservative party to become Prime Minister and form a new government PA UK news in pictures 5 September 2022 Visitors at the PoliNations garden in Victoria Square, Birmingham, which is made up of five 40ft high tree installations and over 6,000 plants. The PoliNations programme aims to explore how migration and cross-pollination have shaped the UKs gardens and culture PA UK news in pictures 4 September 2022 Undergraduates at the University of St Andrews take part in the traditional Pier Walk along the harbour walls of St Andrews before the start of the new academic year PA UK news in pictures 3 September 2022 The Massed Pipes and Drums parade during the Braemar Highland Gathering at the Princess Royal and Duke of Fife Memorial Park PA UK news in pictures 2 September 2022 Number 12 Company Irish Guards at Wellington Barracks, central London, before commencing their first Guard Mount at Buckingham Palace PA He added: Randall-Coles was brazen and arrogant in his approach to committing these crimes, targeting victims aged 11-years-old to 57-years-old across the city for his own gratification. I hope the sentencing here today goes some way to giving the many victims closure. 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 Scotland Yard detective has been sacked over failures in an investigation linked to the death of Mark Duggan. The 29-year-old was shot dead by police in Tottenham on 4 August 2011, sparking protests that escalated into the London riots and disorder across the country. Much of the dispute over Mr Duggans death centred around whether he was armed at the time of the shooting but a local drug dealer was later jailed for supplying him a handgun just minutes before his death. Kevin Hutchinson-Foster had used the weapon to pistol whip a barber five days before but numerous failings were found in the investigation into that attack, potentially allowing Hutchinson-Foster to remain at large and pass on the gun. Kevin Hutchinson-Foster (pictured) was convicted of passing the gun to Mark Duggan (PA) A Metropolitan Police officer was dismissed without notice on Friday after an Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) misconduct hearing over the case. The investigation found a case to answer that CCTV which clearly showed Hutchinson-Fosters attack on the barber was not circulated at the earliest opportunity, a number of witnesses were not contacted and blood swabs were not submitted for forensic analysis for several months. The officer, named onlly as DC Faulkner, was also found to have attempted to deceive his supervisor several months later in an effort to imply that he had circulated the footage shortly after the incident. In May 2015 a police sergeant was found at a misconduct meeting to have failed to adequately supervise the investigation but no sanction was imposed by the Metropolitan Police. London riots spiral out of control Show all 21 1 /21 London riots spiral out of control London riots spiral out of control 633966.bin GETTY IMAGES London riots spiral out of control 633903.bin Getty Images London riots spiral out of control 633902.bin Reuters London riots spiral out of control 633790.bin Getty Images London riots spiral out of control 633798.bin Matthew Lloyd/Getty Images London riots spiral out of control 633793.bin Leon Neal/AFP/Getty Images London riots spiral out of control 633796.bin Matthew Lloyd/Getty Images London riots spiral out of control 633797.bin Matthew Lloyd/Getty Images London riots spiral out of control 633799.bin Matthew Lloyd/Getty Images London riots spiral out of control 633681.bin GETTY IMAGES London riots spiral out of control 633795.bin Leon Neal/AFP/Getty Images London riots spiral out of control 633800.bin Leon Neal/AFP/Getty Images London riots spiral out of control 633801.bin Leon Neal/AFP/Getty Images London riots spiral out of control 633568.bin Getty Images Europe London riots spiral out of control 633569.bin PA London riots spiral out of control 633802.bin Leon Neal/AFP/Getty Images London riots spiral out of control 633821.bin Dan Kitwood/Getty Images London riots spiral out of control 633570.bin Rex Features London riots spiral out of control 633822.bin Dan Kitwood/Getty Images London riots spiral out of control 633823.bin Dan Kitwood/Getty Images London riots spiral out of control 633824.bin Dan Kitwood/Getty Images The Independent Police Complaints Commission found a number of failures in a Metropolitan Police Service investigation into an assault with a firearm in Hackney in July 2011, a spokesperson said. However, the IPCC found that even if the assault had been promptly investigated, it would have been highly unlikely the assailant could or would have been identified before he provided the gun to Mark Duggan. The IPCC also examined why the Mets gun unit Trident did not immediately act on information handed to it on 12 August 2011, which linked Hutchinson-Foster with the gun found at the scene where Mr Duggan was shot. A detective chief superintendent, the then head of Trident, cited perceived confidentiality issues, concerns not to prejudice the IPCC investigation into the death of Mr Duggan, and a belief that it was the responsibility of others to determine what information could be shared with Hackney borough officers as reasons for the delay. A jury found that Mark Duggan had been unarmed but had been lawfully shot twice by a police marksman (Getty Images) A detective chief inspector from Trident provided similar explanations, as well as a need to obtain further supporting evidence to effect an arrest, a focus limited to the supply of the firearm and concerns that any action may spark further public disorder. Sarah Green, deputy chairwoman of the IPCC, said: A number of explanations were put forward as to why the investigation into an assault did not progress as quickly as it should have. While we accept that even if the assault had been promptly investigated, it would have been highly unlikely the assailant could or would have been identified before he provided the gun to Mark Duggan, the investigation was not given the priority it should have been. The public needs to feel confident that the police are doing all they can to ensure that these weapons are taken off the streets, including prompt and effective investigations and overcoming perceived difficulties. We welcome the fact that Trident has since extended its terms of reference to include a greater emphasis on the unit working with local borough units and other external agencies." 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 }} Barack Obama has urged an audience of young people to "reject pessimism and cynicism" at a town hall-style event in London. In his speech in Westminster, the US President argued that cynics who suggest it is not possible to change the world should be ignored. It was important to "take a longer, more optimistic view of history", he added. "My primary message is going to be to reject pessimism and cynicism, know that progress is possible and that problems can be solved," Mr Obama said. Progress is not inevitable and it requires struggle, perseverance and discipline, and faith. "But thats the story of how we won voting rights, and womens rights, and workers rights, and civil rights, and immigration rights, and gay rights, because of those who came before us often risked their lives to give us the chance to know something better. Thats what gives me so much hope about your generation. So many of you are driven by that same impulse." He called for young people to work together and avoid isolationism. "We see calls for isolationism or xenophobia. We see those who would call for rolling back the rights of people. "I think we can understand they are reactions to changing times. But, when I speak to young people, I implore them, and I implore you, to reject those calls to fall back." Recommended Read more Barack Obama explains why he moved Winston Churchill bust Mr Obama praised the close relationship between the US and the UK, which he said had improved dramatically since the British "burned down my house", a reference to the torching of the White House in the war of 1812-1814. Answering questions from the audience, Obama praised David Cameron for being ahead of the curve on transgender rights issues, saying that "social attitudes on this issue have changed faster than I've seen on any other issue". Seek out people who don't agree with you. That will teach you to compromise, Mr Obama said when asked about dealing with political opponents, adding that this attitude would also help people who decided to get married. Mr Obama, who arrived in London on Friday, also visited the Globe Theatre to mark the 400th anniversary of the death of William Shakespeare. His warning on Friday that Britain leaving the EU would push the country to the back of the queue for American trade deals has sparked a row from pro-Brexit campaigners. Mr Obama urged Britain to remain in the European Union in a speech, reflecting the governments pro-EU stance. I don't think the EU moderates British influence in the world, it magnifies it, he said, stressing that America would prioritise relations with Brussels over forming any new free trade agreements with Britain. America's top 11 fears Show all 11 1 /11 America's top 11 fears America's top 11 fears 11. Fracturing of Iraq America's top 11 fears 10. Violence in Afghanistan America's top 11 fears 9. Instability in Egypt America's top 11 fears 8. Political violence in Turkey America's top 11 fears 7. Increased tensions between Israel and Palestine America's top 11 fears 6. Violence and instability in Libya America's top 11 fears 5. Political instability in European Union resulting from migrants and refugees America's top 11 fears 4. Nuclear war with North Korea America's top 11 fears 3. Cyber attack on critical infrastructure America's top 11 fears 2. Mass casualty terror attack on the US America's top 11 fears 1. Intensification of civil war in Syria On Newsnight on Friday evening, Liam Fox, the former defence secretary, called Mr Obama's comments about the EU debate largely irrelevant. Nigel Farage said that Mr Obama was talking down Britain with his comments, while Tory MP Dominic Raab said he was a lame duck for repeating the views of the UK government. The American president is in the UK to celebrate the Queens 90th birthday, and has also held talks with David Cameron, who he will meet again on Saturday evening. 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 }} Jeremy Corbyn has met US President Barack Obama and described their discussion as "excellent". The Labour leader emerged from Lindley Hall, central London, after almost 90 minutes and told reporters the pair touched on a number of topics, including the European Union (EU) "very briefly". Mr Corbyn said Mr Obama congratulated him on being elected leader of the Labour Party. He added that he had "enjoyed" the meeting. Asked what they discussed, the Labour politician said: "The challenges facing post-industrial societies and the power of global corporations and the increasing use of technology around the world and the effect that has." He said they also spoke about levels of inequality and poverty. Asked if they talked about the President's intervention into the debate on Britain's membership of the European Union, Mr Corbyn they spoke "very briefly" on the subject of Europe. A Labour Party spokesperson said that there would also be further contact between the White House and Mr Corbyns team to discuss measures to deal with international tax avoidance and evasion". A White House spokesperson said: The President met today with leader of the Labour Party Jeremy Corbyn at the Royal Horticultural Societys Lindley Hall. "The President congratulated Mr Corbyn on his election to lead the Labour Party. The two leaders discussed the impact of globalisation on labour and working people, and the need to take steps to reduce inequality around the world. "They agreed that the UK should remain a member of the EU. 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 }} More than 2,500 consultants, GPs and other senior doctors have said that next weeks all-out strike action by junior doctors will be safe for patients. The letter, which will be delivered to David Cameron and Jeremy Hunt, accuses the Government of leaving junior doctors with no choice but to take industrial action over the imposition of their new contracts. It states that despite much publicity to the contrary senior doctors would be capable of keeping the NHS safe for our patients when junior doctors walkout between 8am and 5pm on Tuesday and Wednesday. They warn that plans to force through the new contract, which will require junior doctors to work more weekends for less pay on Saturdays, represented an attempt to deliver a seven-day NHS without funding or workforce planning. In pictures: Junior doctors protests in UK Show all 10 1 /10 In pictures: Junior doctors protests in UK In pictures: Junior doctors protests in UK 20,000 Junior Doctors marched through central London in protest at the new contract changes the government is trying to impose which they say will be unfair and unsafe In pictures: Junior doctors protests in UK Junior doctors protest in London In pictures: Junior doctors protests in UK 4 year old Cassius takes part in a demonstration in Westminster, in support of junior doctors over changes to NHS contracts, London In pictures: Junior doctors protests in UK Protest over proposed changes to junior doctors' contracts, Leeds In pictures: Junior doctors protests in UK Junior doctors and NHS staff protesting against the health service cuts and the proposed contract changes offered by the government outside Parliament In pictures: Junior doctors protests in UK Junior doctors and NHS staff protesting against the health service cuts and the proposed contract changes offered by the government outside Parliament In pictures: Junior doctors protests in UK Over 5000 junior doctors rallied in Waterloo place, before marching through Whitehall and onto Parliament Square, in opposition to Jeremy Hunt's new working conditions for doctors In pictures: Junior doctors protests in UK Demonstrators listen to speeches in Waterloo Place during the 'Let's Save the NHS' rally and protest march by junior doctors In pictures: Junior doctors protests in UK Junior doctors marched in London to highlight their plight In pictures: Junior doctors protests in UK A protester at a demonstration in support of junior doctors in London Stretching an already limited resource across seven days does not improve patient care, rather diminishes it, and will also result in the demoralisation of an entire generation of junior doctors, the letter states. We are keen to work with you to improve patient care, but this will come with clinical engagement, not disempowermentThe emergency walk out demonstrates the desperation of our trainees, who feel they are being left with no other choice. The signatories include former chair of the Royal College of GPs, Dr Clare Gerada and other senior medics including leading surgeon Professor Nigel Standfield and vice president of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health Dr Andrew Long. They add: We, the senior specialists, will keep the NHS safe for our patients and your constituents, despite much publicity to the contrary. Not only are we duty-bound to do so, but we will gladly provide this emergency cover to ensure that the Juniors can take this action with the complete confidence that their patients are safe. Junior doctors' plea to David Cameron A second letter, signed by 150 consultants and GPs at the world-renowned Addenbrookes Hospital in Cambridge, calls the new contract unsafe, unworkable and unfair, adding that patients would continue to receive safe, appropriate care during the strike. This care will be given by consultants, other specialist doctors and GPs who, along with our other colleagues such as nurses, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, and phlebotomists, will be working normally, they say. The Department of Health called the latest strike action extreme and irresponsible and repeated its criticism of the BMA for failing to negotiate over Saturday pay. More than 12,700 operations have been cancelled as a result of the new industrial action. Senior figures including NHS Englands medical director Professor Sir Bruce Keogh have warned that an all-out strike could irreparably damage trust in medics. Junior doctors say their dispute is about more than pay, and warn that the new contract being forced upon them, which requires more weekend working for less pay on Saturday, will lead to the current workforce being overstretched, leading to further shortages on wards during the working week. A Department of Health spokesperson said the Government had continually sought a negotiated solution over three years of talks. If the doctors' union had agreed to negotiate on that as they promised to do through ACAS in November, we'd have a negotiated agreement by now. Instead, we had no choice but to proceed with proposals recommended and supported by NHS leaders - which were 90 per cent agreed with the BMA, the spokesperson said. 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 curry industry is in crisis because restaurants are unable to recruit top chefs due to new immigration rules, an industry leader has said. Around 600 curry houses across the country have shut in the past 18 months and there are fears that a further 4,000 restaurants - around a third of the industry - could follow. Curry house owners say the increasingly tough immigration rules mean they are struggling to bring highly-skilled chefs over from Asia and it is making it difficult for these businesses to grow. As a result, restaurants are increasingly unable to provide adequate customer service or fulfil orders. British Curry Awards founder, Enam Ali, and his supporters are campaigning for the Government to ease immigration restrictions. He has sent a 75-page document to the Prime Minister, the Home Secretary, the Business Secretary and employment minister Priti Patel, to urge them to introduce one-year visas for chefs from sub-continental Asia. If the plan is not approved, Mr Ali warns it could hurt the Conservative party as the Asian community are "mad" about the situation and "will very genuinely show that at the ballot box". His submission said: We propose a tightly controlled, temporary work visa scheme where expert chefs from outside the EU are allowed to enter the UK on very strict employment terms. These terms would limit their employment to a maximum of one-year with no right of return, no chance of residency or out-of-work benefits. Around 600 curry houses have closed down in the past 18 months due to visa restrictions (Rex Features) Employment would be restricted to the sponsoring restaurant only and would require the employer to provide private health insurance. The employees dependents could not be brought to the UK and this means there would be no burden whatever on the welfare state or the British taxpayer. This type of short-term visa is similar to those used in the USA, Germany and the Middle East. Current immigration rules mean chefs wanting to come to the UK must earn at least 29,570 after deductions for accommodation and meals and cannot work at a restaurant with a takeaway attached. Curry house owners say they cannot afford to pay those wages and most businesses have a takeaway service. Imam Uddin, president of the Guild of Bangladeshi Restaurateurs in Staffordshire, told the Guardian: There are lots of restaurants up for sale, but nobodys buying. Its pretty bad. They cant deliver the service they intend to, which ultimately leads to under-trading and, eventually, closure. The shortage of chefs has led to increasingly high wages with Dr Wali Uddin, who owns a curry house in Edinburgh, saying the typical wage has now doubled in the last two years to between 700-800 a week. 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 Alun Sperring, who owns the Chilli Pickle restaurant in Brighton, says chefs are now demanding free accommodation which is totally unfeasible. He said bringing chefs over from Asia brought authenticity to their menus and inspired permanent staff members. A Home Office spokesperson said: We want to nurture more home-grown talent and encourage young people in this country who want to pursue a skilled career. This means the restaurant sector offering training to attract and recruit resident workers to meet their staffing needs. The industry is starting to make progress in this area, recruiting and training more chefs in the UK, and this needs to continue. 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 student and gender equality campaigner has been praised for coming out as non-binary on live television, before telling US President Barack Obama of the wish that he and David Cameron would take transgender people seriously. An emotional Maria Munir, 20, whose parents were not yet aware of this, used the town-hall style event in central London as an opportunity to urge the US President to do more for transgender rights. Maria told Mr Obama: Now I'm about to do something terrifying I'm coming out to you as a non-binary person, which means that I don't fit I'm from a Pakistani-Muslim background which inevitably has cultural implications. Maria continued: In the UK we dont recognise non-binary people under the Equality Act, so we literally have no rights. Despite being a university student and running for local elections in Watford, Maria explained about finding time to work with the civil service fast stream on transgender issues, before asking Mr Obama: What could you do to go beyond what is accepted as the LGBTQ rights movement? Mr Obama praised Maria's work on this issue, and said: You should feel encouraged just by virtue of the fact social attitudes on this issue have changed faster than Ive seen on any other issue. It doesnt feel fast enough for you, or for those who are impacted and thats good, you shouldnt feel satisfied, you should keep pushing. But I think the trend lines are good on this, were moving in the right direction - in part because of courageous and active young people like yourself. He also said that the UK prime minister is ahead of the curve on LGBTQ issues compared to many other world leaders. However, speaking afterward the event Maria expressed disappointed with the Presidents response. The reason is because I've been imagining this situation for quite some time so it's never going to live up to that. But his answer, I felt, was not of the calibre I would expect of an outgoing President. In order to really be the face of change, he really needs to start doing something about transgender rights, because the T in LGBT has been ignored for a very long time. Maria added: I've been sitting on this issue for such a long time. I haven't come out to my parents, so I'm sorry mum and dad, and I just thought if anyone in the world is going to be able to accept me for who I am it should be the President of the United States. I feel really bad because I'm so close to them, but unfortunately we live in a society where people who want to make the worst out of you always will. Unfortunately people in my community would never have responded well to this news. I felt that if I told my parents it would almost be a burden on them because they would feel as though they have to keep me a secret. I took a huge risk to be honest doing this, because I know I'm going to go home and I know that people are going to isolate me. Stonewalls Senior Communications Officer Matt Horwood told The Independent: We applaud Maria Munir's courage in coming out so publicly, and agree that there is still lots to do to ensure non-binary people are accepted without exception. Part of this involves amending the definition of gender in the Equality Act in order to be inclusive of and protect the non-binary community. This is something that Stonewall has been clear on and pushed for. Recent law changes in states like North Carolina and Mississippi demonstrate how quickly equal rights can be lost, and while we should celebrate the progress that LGBT equality has made, we must not be complacent or ignore the work that lies ahead, he said. The US President has come under fire recently for not doing more to counter the so-called Bathroom Bill, which requires transgender students to use bathrooms according to their biological sex. He explained that his hands are tied when it comes to state law because of the way government works in the US, but during a press conference with Mr Cameron he made his thoughts on the matter clear, stating: The laws that have been passed there are wrong and should be overturned. PA contributed to this report. 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 }} Winston Churchills grandson has called Boris Johnsons use of claims that the part-Kenyan US President has an ancestral dislike" of the British empire deplorable and completely idiotic. The Mayor of London alleged that a bust of Churchill had been banished from Barack Obamas office in an attack on his intervention in the EU referendum debate. Some said it was a snub to Britain, Mr Johnson wrote in The Sun. Boris on US foreign policy Some said it was a symbol of the part-Kenyan Presidents ancestral dislike of the British empire of which Churchill had been such a fervent defender. Sir Nicholas Soames, the wartime Prime Ministers grandson, called the claims a completely desperate move by Mr Johnson as he fronts the Vote Leave campaign. "I'm mad enough to think it was probably written by some little twerp who works for Boris, he told LBC radio. "I can't believe that Boris would really have done something so stupid. "But whatever it is, it bears his name and it's deeply offensive." A bust of Churchill lent to George Bush during his Presidency was removed from the Oval Office in 2009 but a second bust of Churchill remains elsewhere in the White House (AFP/Getty Images) Sir Nicholas, the Conservative MP for Mid Sussex, said one bust of Churchill was lent to George Bush during his time as President but ended its lease before his successor took office in 2009. Another head of Churchill remains in apartments used by the Obama family, he added. Boris needs to grow up, because it is not obligatory for any of us to have a head of Winston Churchill in our bedroom, Sir Nicholas said. Why should the President of the United States have a head of my grandfather in his room? Its very nice that he did but I dont regard it as being a terrible crime. He added that he was not in the least bit offended by the US Presidents support for David Camerons position on the EU, and said Churchill would not have been concerned either. Winston Churchill: Life in pictures Show all 30 1 /30 Winston Churchill: Life in pictures Winston Churchill: Life in pictures Winston Churchill Winston Churchill leaving London for his country home, Chartwell in Kent in 1964 Winston Churchill: Life in pictures Winston Churchill Sir Winston Churchill with his daughter Mary and son-in-law Christopher Soames (right) in 1964 PA Winston Churchill: Life in pictures Winston Churchill (Seated left to right) Air Chief Marshal Sir Charles Portal; Field Marshal Sir Alan Brooke, Winston Churchill; Admiral Sir Andrew Cunningham, (standing left to right) the Secretary to the Chiefs of Staffs Committee, Major General L C Hollis; and the Chief of Staff to the Minister of Defence, General Sir Hastings Ismay at an unknown location Winston Churchill: Life in pictures Winston Churchill Winston Churchill flashes the V-sign on 19 June 1963 AFP PHOTO Winston Churchill: Life in pictures Winston Churchill Winston Churchill feeds the deer in Richmond Park, accompanied by his private secretary Anthony Montague Brown and personal detective Edmund Murray on 25 March 1963 Winston Churchill: Life in pictures Winston Churchill Winston and Lady Churchill leaving their Hyde Park Gate home for an Ascot race meeting on 16 June 1961 Winston Churchill: Life in pictures Winston Churchill Jacob Epstein with Winston Churchill in 1958. The pair lived on the same London street Evening Standard/Getty Images Winston Churchill: Life in pictures Winston Churchill Prime Minister Winston Churchill kisses Queen Elizabeth II's hand as she leaves 10 Downing Street in London, after a dinner on 4 April 1955 Getty Images Winston Churchill: Life in pictures Winston Churchill Winston Churchill at the christening of his granddaughter, Charlotte Soames at Westerham Parish Church, Kent on 6 November 1954. Left to right: godparents Fitzroy MacLean and Diana Churchill, Sir Winston Churchill, Lady Clementine Churchill, Christopher Soames and his wife Mary Churchill. The children are Nicholas, Jeremy and Emma Soames with his grandson Nicholas Soames Winston Churchill: Life in pictures Winston Churchill French President Paul Ramadier awards the medaille Militaire to former British prime minister Winston Churchill on 12 May 1947 Winston Churchill: Life in pictures Winston Churchill Winston Churchill outside the German Reichstag during a tour of the ruined city of Berlin on 16 July 1945 PA Winston Churchill: Life in pictures Winston Churchill The prime minister of the wartime Coalition government Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill during a speech 0n 2 July 1945. The July 1945 general election resulted in a resounding victory for the Labour Party Winston Churchill: Life in pictures Winston Churchill British Prime Minister Winston Churchill (L) walking with General Bernard Law Montgomery near the Rhine river in Germany during an advance by Allied troops on 23 March 1945 Winston Churchill: Life in pictures Winston Churchill Marshal Joseph Stalin and Winston Churchill together at the Livedia Palace in Yalta, where they were both present for the conference on 7 February 1945 Winston Churchill: Life in pictures Winston Churchill Winston Churchill with his daughter Mary and General Sir Frederick Pile (GOC Anti-Aircraft Command) watch anti-aircraft guns in action against V1 flying bombs on 30 June 1944 Winston Churchill: Life in pictures Winston Churchill Winston Churchill and General Sir Bernard Montgomery with his dog in 1944 Winston Churchill: Life in pictures Winston Churchill Prime Minister Winston Churchill Prime US President Franklin D. Roosevelt seated in the garden of the villa in Morocco where they met for a war conference surrounded by British and American war correspondants, on 23 January 1943 PA Winston Churchill: Life in pictures Winston Churchill Winston Churchill and his wife, Clementine, on board a naval auxiliary patrol vessel during a visit to the London docks on 25 September 1940 Winston Churchill: Life in pictures Winston Churchill First Lord of the Admiralty, Winston Churchill strolls in the grounds of his country home, Chartwell Manor on 31 October 1939 Topical Press Agency/Getty Images Winston Churchill: Life in pictures Winston Churchill Winston Churchill, recently appointed Hon Air Commodore to 615 Auxiliary Air Force Squadron, climbing out of a Gloster Gauntlet II aircraft during a visit to the Squadron at Kenley, Surrey on 16 April 1939 Winston Churchill: Life in pictures Winston Churchill Winston Churchill balancing a top hat on his walking stick watched by his daughter Mary, outside the Mansion House in London Winston Churchill: Life in pictures Winston Churchill British statesman Winston Churchill attends the Anglo-Irish Conference in Downing Street on 11 October 1921 Winston Churchill: Life in pictures Winston Churchill The platform party is attentive to Winston Churchill as he delivers his address opening a new YMCA hostel for munitions workers at Enfield, Middlesex, on 20 September, 1915 Winston Churchill: Life in pictures Winston Churchill Winston Churchill won his first parliamentary seat in 1899 Getty Images Winston Churchill: Life in pictures Winston Churchill 2nd Lieutenant Winston Churchill of the 4th Queen's Own Hussars in 1895 Winston Churchill: Life in pictures Winston Churchill Winston Churchill dressed in the uniform of Harrow School Rifle Corps Save Photo Winston Churchill: Life in pictures Winston Churchill Winston Churchill between the ages of 13 and 17 at the time he attended the Harrow School Save Photo Winston Churchill: Life in pictures Winston Churchill Winston Churchill in his school years Save Photo Winston Churchill: Life in pictures Winston Churchill The former Jennie Jerome, Lady Randolph Churchill, born in New York, with her sons John (left) and Winston, in 1885 Time Life/Getty Winston Churchill: Life in pictures Winston Churchill Winston Churchill as a young boy, aged 7, in Dublin, Ireland Sir Nicholas, who is staunchly pro-EU, said he launched his scathing attack on Mr Johnson with regret, adding: Boris has been a friend of mine for many, many years and Im fond of him, but this is business. The row dominated the first day of Mr Obamas visit to the UK on Friday, when he held talks with the Prime Minister before meeting the Queen and other members of the Royal Family. When questioned on Mr Johnsons article, the President clarified that there had once been two busts of Churchill in the White House and that the statue formerly kept in the Oval Office had been replaced by one of Martin Luther King. I love Winston Churchill, I love the guy, Mr Obama said, describing seeing the remaining head every day. On a visit to his Uxbridge constituency, Mr Johnson remarked that people would make his article about what they want, adding: The crucial point is that I'm a big fan of Barack Obama - I was one of the first people to come out in favour of him ages ago." 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 }} Dilma Rousseff, the embattled President of Brazil, has invited the international community to side with her in a domestic crisis that could spell the end of her leadership, telling reporters in New York that her opponents plans to see her impeached would constitute a coup. In a meeting with foreign journalists at the Brazilian ambassadors residence in Manhattan, Ms Rousseff said: In the past, coups were carried out with machine guns, tanks and weapons. Today, all you need are hands that are willing to tear up the Constitution. Her political rivals, whom she characterised as conspirators, are seeking to oust Ms Rousseff, the leader of the centre-left Workers Party, over allegations that she illegally used funds from state-controlled banks to disguise Brazils deficit ahead of her 2014 re-election. Legislators in the Brazilian Chamber of Deputies voted last Sunday to press ahead with impeachment proceedings, which the President insisted had no legal foundation, arguing that such accounting tricks are common practice for political leaders in Brazil and elsewhere. Ms Rousseff was in New York ostensibly to join representatives of 175 countries in signing the Paris climate change agreement, in a ceremony at the United Nations on Friday. Given the upheaval at home, she had wavered on whether to attend the event at all. She concluded an address to the General Assembly on climate change by noting the grave moment Brazil is undergoing, but said: Brazil is a great nation, with a society that was able to defeat authoritarianism and build a vibrant democracy. Our people are hard-working and have great esteem for freedom. I have no doubt they will be able to prevent any setback. Recommended Read more The US and 170 other nations signed a landmark global warming deal With Brazil in the midst of a crippling recession, deepened by a multi-billion-dollar corruption scandal involving the government-run oil company, Petrobras, public opinion is decidedly against the president. After the vote in Brazils lower house of congress, Senators in the capital, Brasilia, are expected to give the go-ahead for an impeachment trial no later than 17 May. Ms Rousseff would be suspended for up to 180 days during the trial. She would be replaced, at least temporarily, by her Vice President, Michael Temer, who faulted Ms Rousseff for risking the reputation of the Latin American giant in the interests of saving her presidency. Speaking to the New York Times, Mr Temer said he was very worried about the presidents intention to say Brazil is some minor republic where coups are carried out. Ms Rousseff, who is 68, was imprisoned and tortured as a young Marxist activist in the guerilla struggle against the military dictatorship that ruled Brazil from 1964 to 1985, when democracy was re-established. She would be the second Brazilian leader since 1985 to be impeached. Though many Brazilians are keen to see her pushed out of office, others fear her opponents may be guilty of misdeeds as bad as or worse than hers. Most nonetheless believe she will probably be convicted by the necessary two-thirds majority of Senators. I will fight with all my strength, Ms Rousseff said on Friday. I am willing to fight to ensure that Brazil does not become a country where democratic rule is broken. Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The ex-boyfriend of a former US Marine who allegedly paid a hitman to kill him has told the dramatic story of how he faked his own death. Brad Sutherland said he learned he had been targeted for assassination by Laura Buckingham, 29, a combat veteran who served twice in Iraq and who is also the mother of their son. So he took part in his own mock murder in a garage as part of a police sting operation to make Ms Buckingham, of New Albany, Louisville, Kentucky, believe he was dead. [The hired killer] was supposed to either do it when I left for work or on my way home, Mr Sutherland told The Daily Beast. When they brought me down to the police station and [first] told me about this, the first thing I said is, Im being punked. Ms Buckingham wanted to end a custody battle with Mr Sutherland over their three-year-old son, according to ABC News. She is alleged to have first asked her new boyfriend Joseph Chamblin, an ex-army sniper who was disgraced in 2011 when he was filmed urinating on a dead Taliban soldier, to take Mr Sutherlands life. Ms Buckingham is then accused of paying $3,000 (about 2,000) to a hitman recommended by Mr Chamblin, allegedly telling the contract killer I want him gone". However, the hitman was in fact an undercover agent at the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, who had been informed of the alleged plot by Mr Chamblin. The agent, still posing as a hitman, is said to have returned to Ms Buckingham with photographic evidence of Mr Sutherlands death. Soon afterwards, the ex-Marine was arrested and charged with criminal intent to commit first-degree murder. Ms Buckingham had become a baker in Indiana after working for eight years in the military, and had even been on the cover of a local magazine in a feature about her new life as owner of a bakery called Bread and Breakfast. She has been charged with attempted first-degree murder and is currently on bail awaiting a hearing on 2 May. When told how much Ms Buckingham was willing to pay to end his life, Mr Sutherland said, "Are you fucking kidding me? My lifes only worth $3,000?, according to the Daily Beast. [It's] like bring us your tax cheque and well get you a car only this is more like bring us your tax cheque and well assassinate your ex-fiance." 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 judge in the US has been praised for his compassion after sentencing a war veteran to one night in jail for violating probation, and joining him for the duration of his stay. Sgt Joseph Serna had appeared before district court judge Lou Olivera, at the Cumberland County Veterans Treatment Court, in North Carolina, for a number of progress reviews having being sentenced to attend a veterans treatment programme after being charged with driving under the influence. The veteran, who earned three purple hearts during his time in the military and has struggled with post-traumatic stress disorder and related alcohol abuse since returning to the US, was sentenced to 24-hours in jail after confessing to Judge Olivera that he lied about a previous urine test. But knowing his history, Judge Olivera said he would not see the former Special Forces soldier spend time in his cell alone, potentially triggering his PTSD, and opted to stay with him and talk. Sgt Serna, 41, had spent almost 20 years in the armed forces, during which he had undertaken four tours of Afghanistan, survived a suicide bomb attack and a roadside bombing, and had been the sole survivor of a vehicle accident that saw three of his colleagues die after their armoured truck toppled off a road into a canal. The judge, who is a Gulf War veteran, told the Fayetteville Observer: When Joe first came to turn himself in, he was trembling. I decided Id spend the night serving with him. The pair sat out the night of 13 April in the same cell, having a conversation described to WRAL by the judge as a personal, father son conversation. They have worn the uniform and we know they can be contributing members of society, Judge Olivera said of seeing veterans in court. We just want to get them back there. 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 town in the US state of Colorado has been left without any police after the entire department quit in one day. The resignation of police marshal Tim Bradley prompted the towns three other volunteer officers to do the same leaving nearby El Paso County and Teller County sheriffs offices to look after the town of Green Mountain Falls. Residents were apparently offered no explanation for the sudden departure of their police force, although Fox News reported an anonymous source as saying the police were unhappy with the newly elected mayor Jane Newberry. Their resignations happened just a day before she took office. Ms Newberry told the news channel: In an election year theres always some people who choose to stay and some people who choose to go and I think that happens at every level of government. He [the marshal] is pursuing other opportunities as I understand and good luck to him but thats not to say that we are without police coverage." At a town meeting, local people were told of the officers' decision to quit and a notice was also displayed at a local post office but it was unclear when they would be replaced. It is believed the new mayor will advertise for new police officers as soon as the towns budgets are decided. They [the residents] should absolutely feel safe, Ms Newberry said. I have every confidence in El Paso County Sheriffs Office. "I always have and theres no reason anybody needs to worry. We are a small community and its one of our advantages is we all look out for each other. 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 }} China is getting closer to building maritime nuclear power plants that could "sail" to disputed islands in the South China Sea and provide electricity for new defence facilities, airports and harbours, according to a report. Almost the entire South China Sea believed to have huge deposits of oil and gas are claimed by Beijing. However Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam also have claims to parts of the waters, through which about 3.5 trillion in trade flows every year. Tensions have increased over China's military and construction activities on the islands such as the Spratlys, some of which it has occupied. It has built runways and even artificial islands on reefs to bolster its claims to the waters. However Beijing says most of the construction is meant for civilian purposes, like lighthouses. A Filipino soldier on patrol on Pagasa, one of the Spratly Islands. Tension in the region is growing because of Chinas alleged plans to station military aircraft on some of the islands (EPA) The Global Times, an influential tabloid published by the ruling Communist Party's official People's Daily, said the nuclear platforms could "sail" to remote areas and provide a stable power supply. China Shipbuilding Industry Corp, the company in charge of designing and building the platforms, is "pushing forward the work", said Liu Zhengguo, the head of its general office. "The development of nuclear power platforms is a burgeoning trend," Mr Liu told the paper. "The exact number of plants to be built by the company depends on the market demand." Demand is "pretty strong", he added, without elaborating. There has been speculation that the territorial dispute in the South China Sea could spark a new world war. On Thursday, US Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken said during a visit to Vietnam: "The United States and Vietnam share interest in maintaining peace and stability in the region. So does China. "But its massive land reclamation projects in the South China Sea and increasing militarisation of these outposts fuels regional tension and raise serious questions about China's intentions. "The United States will defend our national interest and support our allies and partners in the region." A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Hua Chunying, played down the Global Times' article as a media report. "I've not heard here of the relevant situation," Ms Hua told a daily news briefing, without elaborating. In January, two Chinese state-owned energy companies, China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) and China General Nuclear Power Corporation (CGN), signed a strategic cooperation framework pact on offshore oil and nuclear power. CGN has been developing a small modular nuclear reactor for maritime use to provide power for offshore oil and gas exploration and production. It expects to begin building a demonstration project in 2017. Xu Dazhe, head of China's atomic safety commission, told reporters in January the floating platforms were in the planning stage and must undergo "strict and scientific demonstrations". Chinese naval expert Li Jie told the Global Times that the platforms could power lighthouses, defence facilities, airports and harbours in the South China Sea, adding: "Normally we have to burn oil or coal for power." It was important to develop a maritime nuclear power platform as changing weather and ocean conditions presented a challenge in transporting fuel to the distant Spratlys, he added. (Reuters/staff) For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Isis has claimed responsibility for the murder of a professor in Bangladesh for supposedly calling to atheism. Rezaul Karim Siddique, 58, was on his way to the Rajshahi University where he worked as an English teacher when he was viciously attacked. Police have said the incident, which took place on Saturday, is similar to others in recent months by suspected Islamic militants. In a propaganda statement, Isis, also known as Islamic State and Daesh, said its fighters had carried out the murder. Deputy police commissioner Nahidal Islam, said the attackers used sharp weapons to kill Professor Siddique and then fled the scene. His brother, Sajidul Karim Siddique, described the victim as a very quiet and simple man who was focused on studying and teaching. He also led a cultural group and used to edit a literary magazine. So far as we know, he did not have any known enemies and we never found him worried. We dont know why it happened to him, he said. Parallels have been drawn to the murders of four secular bloggers who were killed with machetes last year. The four men had appeared on a list of atheist bloggers circulated by the Ansurallah Bangla Team purportedly an affiliate of al-Qaeda in 2013. Local militants claimed responsibility for their deaths. In September 2015 Isis claimed responsibility for the death of an Italian citizen in the Dhaka, the countrys capital. In addition, at least three other professors at Rajshahi University have been killed in recent years, all allegedly by Islamist groups. The government in Bangladesh has previously dismissed suggestions that Islamist terrorist attacks take place in the country, claiming Sunni extremists are simply not present. It has been criticised for a lack of action to address the problem. In November hundreds of people took to the streets in Dhaka to protest about the on-going attacks after publisher Faisal Arefin Dipan was murdered. Professor Anwar Hossain, a former vice chancellor at the Jahangimagar University, expressed the views of many when he said: After every killing, statements are given by the government and law enforcement agencies. But they can neither arrest any killer nor complete the investigation, he said, according to the Dhaka Tribune. War crimes trial campaigner Muntassir Mamoon, who also spoke at the protest, said: Such lenient statements from the government are encouraging the killers. Reuters contributed to this report. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} North Korea is believed to have launched a ballistic missile from a submarine in the Sea of Japan, the South Korean military has said. However South Koreas Joint Chiefs of Staff told news agency Yonhap that the missile flew for just 30km compared to the usual 300km-minimum range of a submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM). The potential missile launch comes almost a year after Pyongyang announced it had carried out a successful underwater SLBM test in May, with two further unsuccessful tests carried out towards the end of the year prior to the submarine being damaged. Philip Hammond said the "provocation" showed North Koreas disregard for its international obligations. This latest provocation, yet another violation of UN Security Council Resolutions, underlines the threat that North Korea presents to regional and international security," the Foreign Secretary added. In conducting this test, North Korea has again shown its blatant disregard for its international obligations and the UK will be working on a strong multilateral response through the UN and EU. In pictures: North Korea hydrogen bomb test Show all 15 1 /15 In pictures: North Korea hydrogen bomb test In pictures: North Korea hydrogen bomb test In pictures: North Korea hydrogen bomb test In pictures: North Korea hydrogen bomb test A lab employee from the Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety's regional office in Gangneung, east of Seoul, checks for radioactive traces in the air, in Gangneung, soon after North Korea announced it successfully conducted a hydrogen bomb test. The office in Gangneung is the closest one to the site of the North's claimed test. Officials said it will take three to four days to analyze air samples in detail for any traces of radioactivity, the Yonhap news agency reported EPA In pictures: North Korea hydrogen bomb test In pictures: North Korea hydrogen bomb test In pictures: North Korea hydrogen bomb test North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un signing a document of a hydrogen bomb test in Pyongyang In pictures: North Korea hydrogen bomb test People watch a TV news program showing North Korea's special announcement at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea AP In pictures: North Korea hydrogen bomb test Getty Images In pictures: North Korea hydrogen bomb test Getty Images In pictures: North Korea hydrogen bomb test In pictures: North Korea hydrogen bomb test In pictures: North Korea hydrogen bomb test South Korean people watch TV news at Seoul station EPA In pictures: North Korea hydrogen bomb test Japan's meteorological agency officer Yohei Hasegawa displays a chart showing seismic activity, after a North Korean nuclear test, at the agency in Tokyo Getty Images In pictures: North Korea hydrogen bomb test Ko Yun-Hwa, administrator of Korea Meteorological Administration, briefs reporters showing seismic waves from the site of North Korea's hydrogen bomb test, at his office in Seoul Getty Images In pictures: North Korea hydrogen bomb test North Korea's border county of Kaepoong is seen from a South Korean observation post in Paju near the Demilitarized zone dividing the two Koreas as North Korea announced it had successfully carried out its first hydrogen bomb test Getty Images The reclusive country was hit by international sanctions following a fourth nuclear test in January this year, while Seoul is closely watching Pyongyang as a fifth nuclear test is expected to take place soon. The fifth test is rumoured to involve a small nuclear warhead that can be fitted to a ballistic missile, prompting the South Korean military to go on high alert and igniting fears the missile launch is linked to the nuclear test. Satellite images have shown activity at the Punggye-ri test site, including what it thought to be the excavation of tunnels at the site. Both the US and South Korea believe Pyongyang to be attempting to develop an intercontinental missile system that would put the US in its range. 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 }} Survivors of one of the refugee crisis most deadly boat disasters have told of their despair at watching their loved ones die. I saw my wife and my two-month-old child die at sea, together with my brother-in-law, an asylum seeker from Ethiopia said. The boat was going down...down...all the people died in a matter of minutes. UN probes reports of refugee deaths after ship sinks Mohamed is just one of 41 people rescued from a shipwreck that killed up to 500 people trying to cross from Libya to Italy last week. After the shipwreck we drifted at sea for a few days, without food, without anything, he said. I think thought I was going to die. When we were rescued we were told them that we wanted to go to Italy, but we have been brought to Greece. He was interviewed by staff from the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) after arriving in the port of Kalamata. Between 400 and 500 asylum seekers are believed to have died in the disaster, which was one of the most deadly sinkings since around 800 people died off the coast of Libya on 19 April 2015. The 41 survivors, from Somalia, Ethiopia, Egypt and Sudan, were eventually spotted by a Filipino cargo ship after drifting for three days. Survivors of a deadly shipwreck, Ismam Mowlid of Somalia (L) and Mahmud Muaz of Ethiopia in Athens on 21 April (AFP/Getty Images) Mowlid Isman, a 28-year-old from Somalia who lost his sister and her child in the disaster, said: We saw the dead people with our eyes. He and another man who was rescued described how they managed to clamber onto a smaller boat but that the smuggler controlling it refused to wait for those still struggling in the sea around them. Muaz Mahmud Aymo, a 25-year-old Ethiopian migrant who lost his wife and baby, said the smuggler brandished a knife and threatened to kill him before speeding away from refugees crying out for help. "(The smugglers) say: You are gonna go to Italy. Today. Tonight. No problem. You are safe," he said. "All the people, they die on that ocean." They had left the Libyan port of Tobruk, Libya, on several small boats to reach a larger vessel waiting off the coast. The tactic is frequently used by smugglers to evade detection by Libyan authorities, militias and European Union surveillance ships. When the refugees arrived at the wooden vessel after several hours, they found it already dangerously overcrowded but said they and around 200 others were forced to join the 300 already on board. Coast guard members help survivors to disembark at the port of Kalmata in South Peloponnese, Greece, 17 April 2016. (AFP/Getty Images) The 30 metre long boat started taking on water as the transfer continued, they told the IOM, sparking scenes of panic as it started to sink. Survivors said they and some others made it back to a smaller boat that delivered them there but most drowned with the ship as it rocked violently from side to side and capsized. Recommended Read more Refugee numbers rise in Italy as Turkey deadline approaches Smugglers had charged the desperate men, women and children between $800 (500) and $2,000 (1,400) for the deadly voyage. The 37 men, three women and a three-year-old child have been fingerprinted by Greek authorities and have been given papers allowing them to stay in the country for six months. The testimonies we gathered are heartbreaking, said Daniel Esdras, the IOMs mission chief in Athens. We await further investigations by authorities to better understand what actually happened and find hopefully evidence against criminal smugglers. The number of migrants known to have drowned in the Mediterranean so far this year is nearing 1,300, according to UNHCR figures, and campaigners fear the toll will rise as a crackdown on crossings between Greece and Turkey push refugees on to longer and more dangerous routes. Refugee crisis - in pictures Show all 27 1 /27 Refugee crisis - in pictures Refugee crisis - in pictures A child looks through the fence at the Moria detention camp for migrants and refugees at the island of Lesbos on May 24, 2016. AFP/Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures Ahmad Zarour, 32, from Syria, reacts after his rescue by MOAS (Migrant Offshore Aid Station) while attempting to reach the Greek island of Agathonisi, Dodecanese, southeastern Agean Sea Refugee crisis - in pictures Syrian migrants holding life vests gather onto a pebble beach in the Yesil liman district of Canakkale, northwestern Turkey, after being stopped by Turkish police in their attempt to reach the Greek island of Lesbos on 29 January 2016. Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees flash the 'V for victory' sign during a demonstration as they block the Greek-Macedonian border Refugee crisis - in pictures Migrants have been braving sub zero temperatures as they cross the border from Macedonia into Serbia. Refugee crisis - in pictures A sinking boat is seen behind a Turkish gendarme off the coast of Canakkale's Bademli district on January 30, 2016. At least 33 migrants drowned on January 30 when their boat sank in the Aegean Sea while trying to cross from Turkey to Greece. Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures A general view of a shelter for migrants inside a hangar of the former Tempelhof airport in Berlin, Germany Refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees protest behind a fence against restrictions limiting passage at the Greek-Macedonian border, near Gevgelija. Since last week, Macedonia has restricted passage to northern Europe to only Syrians, Iraqis and Afghans who are considered war refugees. All other nationalities are deemed economic migrants and told to turn back. Macedonia has finished building a fence on its frontier with Greece becoming the latest country in Europe to build a border barrier aimed at checking the flow of refugees Refugee crisis - in pictures A father and his child wait after being caught by Turkish gendarme on 27 January 2016 at Canakkale's Kucukkuyu district Refugee crisis - in pictures Migrants make hand signals as they arrive into the southern Spanish port of Malaga on 27 January, 2016 after an inflatable boat carrying 55 Africans, seven of them women and six chidren, was rescued by the Spanish coast guard off the Spanish coast. Refugee crisis - in pictures A refugee holds two children as dozens arrive on an overcrowded boat on the Greek island of Lesbos Refugee crisis - in pictures A child, covered by emergency blankets, reacts as she arrives, with other refugees and migrants, on the Greek island of Lesbos, At least five migrants including three children, died after four boats sank between Turkey and Greece, as rescue workers searched the sea for dozens more, the Greek coastguard said Refugee crisis - in pictures Migrants wait under outside the Moria registration camp on the Lesbos. Over 400,000 people have landed on Greek islands from neighbouring Turkey since the beginning of the year Refugee crisis - in pictures The bodies of Christian refugees are buried separately from Muslim refugees at the Agios Panteleimonas cemetery in Mytilene, Lesbos Refugee crisis - in pictures Macedonian police officers control a crowd of refugees as they prepare to enter a camp after crossing the Greek border into Macedonia near Gevgelija Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures A refugee tries to force the entry to a camp as Macedonian police officers control a crowd after crossing the Greek border into Macedonia near Gevgelija Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees are seen aboard a Turkish fishing boat as they arrive on the Greek island of Lesbos after crossing a part of the Aegean Sea from the Turkish coast to Lesbos Reuters Refugee crisis - in pictures An elderly woman sings a lullaby to baby on a beach after arriving with other refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos after crossing the Aegean sea from Turkey Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures A man collapses as refugees make land from an overloaded rubber dinghy after crossing the Aegean see from Turkey, at the island of Lesbos EPA Refugee crisis - in pictures A girl reacts as refugees arrive by boat on the Greek island of Lesbos after crossing the Aegean sea from Turkey Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees make a show of hands as they queue after crossing the Greek border into Macedonia near Gevgelija Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures People help a wheelchair user board a train with others, heading towards Serbia, at the transit camp for refugees near the southern Macedonian town of Gevgelija AP Refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees board a train, after crossing the Greek-Macedonian border, near Gevgelija. Macedonia is a key transit country in the Balkans migration route into the EU, with thousands of asylum seekers - many of them from Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq and Somalia - entering the country every day Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures An aerial picture shows the "New Jungle" refugee camp where some 3,500 people live while they attempt to enter Britain, near the port of Calais, northern France Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures A Syrian girl reacts as she helped by a volunteer upon her arrival from Turkey on the Greek island of Lesbos, after having crossed the Aegean Sea EPA Refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees arrive by boat on the Greek island of Lesbos after crossing the Aegean sea from Turkey Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures Beds ready for use for migrants and refugees are prepared at a processing center on January 27, 2016 in Passau, Germany. The flow of migrants arriving in Passau has dropped to between 500 and 1,000 per day, down significantly from last November, when in the same region up to 6,000 migrants were arriving daily. The Central Mediterranean route between North Africa and Italy has seen the bulk of disasters, with at least 380 people additionally drowning on the eastern route across the Aegean. More than 180,000 refugees have arrived on European shores since January a far greater number compared to the same period last year but face ever tighter asylum restrictions and closed borders across the continent. A spokesperson for the UNHCR called on nations to increase legal entry routes for asylum seekers, including resettlement programmes, family reunification, student and work visas and the possibility of private sponsorship. These will all serve to reduce the demand for people smuggling and dangerous irregular sea journeys, he added. Angela Merkel joined European Union officials on a trip to Turkey on Saturday in a bid to bolster the troubled refugee agreement, which has seen the country promised billions of Euros and visa concessions. Human rights groups criticised a planned trip to what they call a sanitised refugee camp near the Syrian border, where Turkish guards have been accused of shooting asylum seekers fleeing worsening violence. 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 }} Doctors in Syria have begged the UK government to allow the RAF to drop food for starving people cut off from aid by the raging civil war. In an open letter to David Cameron, doctors from the Union of Medical Care and Relief Organizations (UOSSM) also said medical supplies were urgently needed. The organisation, made up of Syrian doctors living outside of the country who support those working near conflict areas, estimates that only 36 out of the 5,000 doctors who used to work in Aleppo are still there, while 80 per cent of hospitals in conflict areas have been destroyed by five years of fighting. In the letter, which supports an on-going campaign by UK MPs to help aid reach Syrian civilians, the doctors suggested air drops would be the best way to stop people dying from starvation, given that aid is not reaching people on the ground, despite aid trucks theoretically being permitted into conflict areas. Syrian doctor Ghanem al-Tayara, who runs medical aid charity Syria Relief, told the Telegraph: The rate of death from chronic disease and lack of treatment is equal to the deaths from bombardment and shooting and everything else. Something has to be done whether it's air drops or opening corridors. It's not acceptable in 2016 for people to die just because of a lack of simple medicines. People have died just because of a lack of antibiotics. Many Syrian civilians have fled the country, or been uprooted from their homes in conflict areas, but others have been trapped by the fighting, with more than 100,000 believed to be people stuck in the Azaz district of Aleppo alone. The doctors from UOSSM identified 18 areas where people were largely hemmed in by Assads forces, with just one air drop from the UN having taken place, to civilians trapped in an Isis stronghold, with no news as to whether further air drops are planned. 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 }} Isis fighters have captured the pilot of a Syrian warplane they claim to have downed near the country's capital. "The pilot, called Azzam Eid, from Hama was captured after he fell by parachute near the site where his plane crashed east of Damascus," a statement published by its propaganda outlet Amaq said. Citing a Syrian military source, Russian news agency Interfax said the plane belonged to the Syrian Air Force and crashed because of a technical fault. Isis claimed the plane had been shot down, but the terror group did not claim responsibility (file image) (AMER ALMOHIBANY/AFP/Getty Images) "The plane had recently undergone repairs... there was no attack from the ground. It crashed because of a technical fault. The pilot ejected," Interfax quoted the source as saying. Earlier, another Islamist group in the area, Jaysh al-Islam, said the plane had crashed near the town of Bir al-Qasb due to a technical fault shortly after it left the Dumayr air base. But a video shared online by Amaq claimed the plane had been shot down, showing fighters clambering over its burning wreckage and stamping on the Syrian flag painted on its wing. In pictures: The rise of Isis Show all 74 1 /74 In pictures: The rise of Isis In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters Fighters of the Islamic State wave the group's flag from a damaged display of a government fighter jet following the battle for the Tabqa air base, in Raqqa, Syria AP In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters Fighters from Islamic State group sit on their tank during a parade in Raqqa, Syria AP In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters Fighters from the Islamic State group pray at the Tabqa air base after capturing it from the Syrian government in Raqqa, Syria AP In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters Fighters from extremist Islamic State group parade in Raqqa, Syria AP In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis kidnapping A video uploaded to social networks shows men in underwear being marched barefoot along a desert road before being allegedly executed by Isis Getty Images In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis kidnapping Haruna Yukawa after his capture by Isis In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis kidnapping Khalinda Sharaf Ajour, a Yazidi, says two of her daughters were captured by Isis militants Washington Post In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters Spokesperson for Isis Vice News via Youtube In pictures: The rise of Isis A pro-Isis leaflet A pro-Isis leaflet handed out on Oxford Street In London Ghaffar Hussain In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters Isis Jihadists burn their passports In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis controls Syrian Aid A man collecting aid administered by Isis in Syria In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis controls Syrian Aid A woman collecting aid administered by Isis in Syria In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis controls Syrian Aid Local civilians queue for aid administered by Isis. Since it declared a caliphate the group has increasingly been delivering services such as healthcare, and distributing aid and free fuel In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq crisis Iraqi security forces detain men suspected of being militants of the Isis group in Diyala province In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq crisis Mourners carry the coffin of a Shi'ite volunteer from the brigades of peace, who joined the Iraqi army and was killed during clashes with militants of the Isis group in Samarra, during his funeral in Najaf In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraqi refugees An Iraqi Shiite Turkmen family fleeing the violence in the Iraqi city of Tal Afar, west of Mosul, arrives at a refugee camp on the outskirts of Arbil, in Iraq's Kurdistan region In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi A photograph made from a video by the jihadist affiliated group Furqan Media via their twitter account allegedly showing Isis leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi delivering a sermon during Friday prayers at a mosque in Mosul. Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi declared an Islamist caliphate in the territory under the group's control in Iraq and Syria In pictures: The rise of Isis Islamic extremists destroying mosques in Iraq Shiite's Al-Qubba Husseiniya mosque explodes in Mosul In pictures: The rise of Isis Islamic extremists destroying mosques in Iraq Smoke and debris go up in the air as Shiite's Al-Qubba Husseiniya mosque explodes in Mosul. Images posted online show that Islamic extremists have destroyed at least 10 ancient shrines and Shiite mosques in territory - the city of Mosul and the town of Tal Afar - they have seized in northern Iraq in recent weeks In pictures: The rise of Isis Islamic extremists destroying mosques in Iraq A bulldozer destroys Sunni's Ahmed al-Rifai shrine and tomb in Mahlabiya district outside of Tal Afar In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq crisis Iraqi security forces celebrate after clashes with followers of Shiite cleric Mahmoud al-Sarkhi, in front of his home in the Shiite holy city of Karbala, 50 miles (80 kilometers) south of Baghdad In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq crisis Iraqi security forces arrest a follower of Shiite cleric Mahmoud al-Sarkhi after clashes with his followers in the Shiite holy city of Karbala, 50 miles (80 kilometers) south of Baghdad In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq crisis Iraqi security forces arrest a follower of Shiite cleric Mahmoud al-Sarkhi at his home after clashes with his followers in the Shiite holy city of Karbala, 50 miles (80 kilometers) south of Baghdad In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq crisis Iraqi security forces arrest a follower of Shiite cleric Mahmoud al-Sarkhi after clashes with his followers in the Shiite holy city of Karbala, 50 miles (80 kilometers) south of Baghdad In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq crisis A vehicle burns in front of a home of a follower of Shiite cleric Mahmoud al-Sarkhi after clashes with his followers in the Shiite holy city of Karbala, 50 miles (80 kilometers) south of Baghdad In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraqi refugees An Iraqi woman holds her exhausted son as over 1000 Iraqis who have fled fighting in and around the city of Mosul and Tal Afar wait at a Kurdish checkpoint in the hopes of entering a temporary displacement camp in Khazair In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraqi refugees Displaced Iraqi women hold pots as they queue to receive food during the first day of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, at an encampment for displaced Iraqis who fled from Mosul and other towns, in the Khazer area outside Irbil, north Iraq In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters in Syria A militant Islamist fighter waving a flag, cheers as he takes part in a military parade along the streets of Syria's northern Raqqa. The fighters held the parade to celebrate their declaration of an Islamic "caliphate" after the group captured territory in neighbouring Iraq In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters in Syria Isis fighters wave flags as they take part in a military parade along the streets of Syria's northern Raqqa province Reuters In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters in Syria Isis fighters travel in a vehicle as they take part in a military parade along the streets of Syria's northern Raqqa province In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters in Syria Fighters from the Isis group during a parade with a missile in Raqqa, Syria. Militants from an al-Qaida splinter group held a military parade in their stronghold in northeastern Syria, displaying U.S.-made Humvees, heavy machine guns, and missiles captured from the Iraqi army for the first time since taking over large parts of the Iraq-Syria border In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters in Syria Isis fighters during a parade in Raqqa, Syria In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters in Syria Fighters from the Isis group during a parade in Raqqa, Syria. Militants from the splinter group held a military parade in their stronghold in northeastern Syria, displaying U.S.-made Humvees, heavy machine guns, and missiles captured from the Iraqi army for the first time since taking over large parts of the Iraq-Syria border In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters in Syria Isis fighters hold a military parade in their stronghold in northeastern Syria In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters in Syria Isis fighters during a parade in Raqqa, Syria In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters in Syria A member loyal to the Isis waves an Isis flag in Raqqa In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq crisis Iraqi anti-government gunmen from Sunni tribes in the western Anbar province march during a protest in Ramadi, west of Baghdad. The United Nations warned that Iraq is at a "crossroads" and appealed for restraint, as a bloody four-day wave of violence killed 195 people. The violence is the deadliest so far linked to demonstrations that broke out in Sunni areas of the Shiite-majority country more than four months ago, raising fears of a return to all-out sectarian conflict In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq crisis Iraqi security forces hold up a flag of the Isis group they captured during an operation to regain control of Dallah Abbas north of Baqouba, the capital of Iraq's Diyala province, 35 miles (60 kilometers) northeast of Baghdad In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters in Iraq Isis fighters parade in the northern city of Mosul In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq crisis Volunteers, who have joined the Iraqi army to fight against the predominantly Sunni militants from the radical Isis group, demonstrate their skills during a graduation ceremony after completing their field training in Najaf In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq crisis Kurdish Peshmerga troops fire a cannon during clashes with militants of the Isis group in Jalawla, Diyala province In pictures: The rise of Isis Lieutenant General Qassem Atta speaks during a press conference Iraqi Prime Minister's security spokesman, Lieutenant General Qassem Atta speaks during a press conference about the latest military development in Iraq, in the capital Baghdad. Iraqi forces pressed a campaign to retake militant-held Tikrit, clashing with jihadist-led Sunni militants nearby and pounding positions inside the city with air strikes in their biggest counter-offensive so far In pictures: The rise of Isis A police station building destroyed by Isis fighters An exterior view of a police station building destroyed by gunmen in Mosul city, northern Iraq. Iraq's new parliament is expected to convene to start the process of setting up a new government, despite deepening political rifts and an ongoing Islamist-led insurgency. Iraqi President Jalal Talabani issued a decree inviting the new House of Representatives to meet and form a new government In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters in Iraq Smoke billows from an area controlled by the Isis between the Iraqi towns of Naojul and Tuz Khurmatu, both located north of the capital Baghdad, as Iraqi Kurdish Peshmerga forces take part in an operation to repel the Sunni militants In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraqi refugees An elderly Iraqi woman is helped into a temporary displacement camp for Iraqis caught-up in the fighting in and around the city of Mosul in Khazair In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraqi refugees An Iraqi Christian woman fleeing the violence in the village of Qaraqush, about 30 kms east of the northern province of Nineveh, cries upon her arrival at a community center in the Kurdish city of Arbil in Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraqi refugees An Iraqi woman, who fled with her family from the northern city of Mosul, prays with a copy of the Quran AP In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters in Iraq The body of an Isis militant killed during clashes with Iraqi security forces on the outskirts of the city of Samarra Reuters In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq crisis Iraqi civilians inspect the damage at a market after an air strike by the Iraqi army in central Mosul EPA In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq crisis Members of the Al-Abbas brigades, who volunteered to protect the Shiite Muslim holy sites in Karbala against Sunni militants fighting the Baghdad government, parade in the streets of the city AP In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq crisis Shia tribesmen gather in Baghdad to take up arms against Sunni insurgents marching on the capital. Thousands have volunteered to bolster defences AFP/Getty In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq crisis A van carrying volunteers joining Iraqi security forces against Jihadist militants. Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki announced the Iraqi government would arm and equip civilians who volunteered to fight AFP/Getty In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Fighters of the Isis group parade in a commandeered Iraqi security forces armored vehicle down a main road at the northern city of Mosul In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq An Islamist fighter, identified as Abu Muthanna al-Yemeni from Britain (R), speaks in this still image taken undated video shot at an unknown location and uploaded to a social media website. Five Islamist fighters identified as Australian and British nationals have called on Muslims to join the wars in Syria and Iraq, in the new video released by the Isis In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Al-Qaida inspired militants stand with captured Iraqi Army Humvee at a checkpoint belonging to Iraqi Army outside Beiji refinery some 250 kilometers (155 miles) north of Baghdad. The fighting at Beiji comes as Iraq has asked the U.S. for airstrikes targeting the militants from the Isis group. While U.S. President Barack Obama has not fully ruled out the possibility of launching airstrikes, such action is not imminent in part because intelligence agencies have been unable to identify clear targets on the ground, officials said In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Militants attacked Iraq's main oil refinein Baiji as they pressed an offensive that has seen them capture swathes of territory, a manager and a refinery employee said In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Militants from the Isis group parading with their weapons in the northern city of Baiji in the in Salaheddin province In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq A smoke rises after an attack by Isis militants on the country's largest oil refinery in Beiji, some 250 kilometers (155 miles) north of the capital, Baghdad. Iraqi security forces battled insurgents targeting the country's main oil refinery and said they regained partial control of a city near the Syrian border, trying to blunt an offensive by Sunni militants who diplomats fear may have also seized some 100 foreign workers In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Militants of the Isis group stand next to captured vehicles left behind by Iraqi security forces at an unknown location in the Salaheddin province. For militant groups, the fight over public perception can be even more important than actual combat, turning military losses into propaganda victories and battlefield successes into powerful tools to build support for the cause In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq An injured fighter (C) from the Isis group after a battle with Iraqi soldiers at an undisclosed location near the border between Syria and Iraq In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Fighters from the Isis aiming at advancing Iraqi troops at an undisclosed location near the border between Syria and Iraq In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Fighters from the Isis group taking position at an undisclosed location near the border between Syria and Iraq In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Fighters from the Isis group inspecting vehicles of the Iraqi army after they were seized at an undisclosed location near the border between Syria and Iraq In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq One Iraqi captive, a corporal, is reluctant to say the slogan, and has to be shouted at repeatedly before he obeys Sky News In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Iraqi captives held by the extremists Sky News In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Iraqi captives held by the extremists Sky News In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Militants of the Isis group force captured Iraqi security forces members to the transport In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Militants of the Isis group transporting dozens of captured Iraqi security forces members to an unknown location in the Salaheddin province ahead of executing them In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq A major offensive spearheaded by Isis but also involving supporters of executed dictator Saddam Hussein has overrun all of one province and chunks of three others In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Militants of the Isis group executing dozens of captured Iraqi security forces members at an unknown location in the Salaheddin province In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Isis militants taking position at a Iraqi border post on the Syrian-Iraqi border between the Iraqi Nineveh province and the Syrian town of Al-Hasakah In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Isis rebels show their flag after seizing an army post AFP/Getty Images In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Isis militants waving an Islamist flag after the seizure of an Iraqi army checkpoint in Salahuddin Getty Images In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Demonstrators chant slogans as they carry al-Qaida flags in front of the provincial government headquarters in Mosul, 225 miles (360 kilometers) northwest of Baghdad. In the week since it captured Iraq's second-largest city, Mosul, a Muslim extremist group has tried to win over residents and has stopped short of widely enforcing its strict brand of Islamic law, residents say. Churches remain unharmed and street cleaners are back at work Fighting is raging in the area around Dumeir airport between forces loyal to Bashar al-Assad, Isis and the Syrian opposition. The so-called Islamic State overran part of the region earlier this month, capturing hundreds of civilan workers from a cement factory, including several who were later massacred. Additional reporting by Reuters For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} An Israeli soldier charged with manslaughter for shooting a Palestinian man dead has been released for two days so he can celebrate Passover with his family. Sergeant Elor Azaria, 19, has been at the centre of the divisive case after he shot the Palestinian man in the head at close range in Hebron in an incident caught on camera. The victim, Abdel Fattah Al-Sharif, had been involved in a knife attack, however the video clearly showed the assailant who had already been shot was incapacitated when Mr Azaria killed him. Palestinian man shot by Israeli soldier as he lies on the ground Since his arrest, Mr Azaria has been held in an on-base detention centre, as ordered by a military court, and will return there after the holiday until the case is concluded. Family and friends welcomed Mr Azaria to his home in Ramle in a celebratory fashion, the Times of Israel reported, and his father Charlie thanked people for their support. Speaking to journalists outside their home, he also thanked the judges who allowed his son to have the holiday at home. With Gods help this whole thing will end and well go back to being a normal family. We love Israel, were not enemies of the state, he said. The Israeli military has filed charges of manslaughter and inappropriate military conduct against the conscript infantry medic, after initially detaining him on a murder warrant. According to his charge sheet: The terrorist ... was left lying on the ground, still alive, and did not present any immediate and tangible danger to the civilians and soldiers around him. The young soldier, it said, handed his helmet to a comrade, cocked his rifle, walked a few steps towards the Palestinian and fired one bullet at the terrorist's head, which killed him. 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 This action violates the rules of engagement and has no operational justification, it added. Those defending Mr Azaria say at the time he feared the Palestinian had a hidden bomb. Despite the charges and the footage of the incident filmed by a Palestinian onlooker a poll conducted last month found 57 per cent of respondents did not think the young soldier should have been arrested. An online petition calling for him to be decorated as a hero has more than 62,000 signatures and thousands have demonstrated in Tel Aviv calling for his release. If found guilty of manslaughter, Mr Azaria could be sentenced for up to 20 years in prison. Reuters contributed to this report. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The number of confirmed civilian deaths in American air strikes against Isis in Iraq and Syria has almost doubled to 41. US Central Command has concluded a new round of investigations into reports of innocent bystanders being killed in bombings campaigns against what it said were legitimate targets. At least 20 civilians died in US air strikes between September and February, including eight in a single attack on a mortar position used by militants, it said. Colonel Patrick Ryder, a spokesperson for Central Command, said the casualties were deeply regretted but maintained that the campaign was the the most precise air campaign in the history of warfare. Many of the deaths came in strikes on Isis vehicles, seen here in Sirte, Libya "There is no such thing as an intentional civilian casualty, he added. "We are attempting to avoid civilian casualties, but in these cases, unfortunately, we assess that it was likely that civilians had died. "In this type of armed conflict, particularly with an enemy who hides among the civilian population, there are going to be, unfortunately, civilian casualties at times." An official report said the preponderance of evidence shows that 20 civilians were killed and 11 injured in nine separate US strikes. The first was in Iraq on 10 September, when a vehicle drove into the target area near an Isis checkpoint in Kubaysah after weapons were already in flight. Two civilians were killed and four were injured when their vehicle appeared in the target area. The deadliest single strike was on 5 October in Atshanah, Iraq, when eight civilians died when a mortar position was hit. The US has only released details of civilians killed by its own planes, and not those of Britain and other coalition members (Getty Images) In another apparent accident involving moving vehicles, two people were injured Al Huwayjah, Iraq, when a targeted Isis vehicle unexpectedly pulled off the road to where they were standing on 4 November. Days later, a civilian was killed in an unspecified strike against Isis fighters in Ramadi, Iraq, and on 10 September, another bystander died during strikes against Siful Sujan, said to be an Isis external operations planner, in the groups de-facto Syrian capital of Raqqa. Officials said another five civilians were killed when they unexpectedly moved into the target location near a checkpoint in Ramadi, Iraq, on 12 December. Then on Christmas Eve, a passing motorcycle rider died when a missile hit a car carrying two Isis fighters in Tishreen, Syria. One civilian was killed and five were injured near Mosul, Iraq, on 11 January during a highly publicised strike on five Isis militants guarding a cash distribution centre. Operation Inherent Resolve released cockpit footage of the strike, showing the building explode into flames as cash burst into the air, hailing efforts to disrupt and destroy Daesh financial operations. The most recent confirmed incident came on 2 February, when a civilian was killed after driving near a targeted Isis vehicle in Al Ghazili, Syria. The Coalition takes all feasible precautions to avoid civilian casualties during the course of military operations, a statement from Central Command said. In all of the cases released (on Friday), assessments determined that although the strikes complied with the law of armed conflict and all appropriate precautions were taken, civilian casualties unfortunately did occur. The 20 deaths nearly doubled the total number of acknowledged civilian casualties since the US-led air campaign began in 2014. It has conducted nearly 12,000 air strikes in that time, which has also seen Russia start its own air campaign in support of President Bashar-al Assad in Syria. In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Show all 19 1 /19 In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Syrian boys cry following Russian air strikes on the rebel-held Fardous neighbourhood of the northern embattled Syrian city of Aleppo Getty In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Russian defense ministry spokesman Major General Igor Konashenkov speaks to the media in Moscow, Russia. Konashenkov strongly warned the United States against striking Syrian government forces and issued a thinly-veiled threat to use Russian air defense assets to protect them AP In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Syrians wait to receive treatment at a hospital following Russian air strikes on the rebel-held Fardous neighbourhood of the northern embattled Syrian city of Alepp Getty In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Russian Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov speaks at a briefing in the Defense Ministry in Moscow, Russia. Antonov said the Russian air strikes in Syria have killed about 35,000 militants, including about 2,700 residents of Russia AP In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Jameel Mustafa Habboush, receives oxygen from civil defence volunteers, known as the white helmets, as they rescue him from under the rubble of a building following Russian air strikes on the rebel-held Fardous neighbourhood of the northern embattled Syrian city of Aleppo Getty In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Civil defence members rest amidst rubble in a site hit by what activists said were airstrikes carried out by the Russian air force in the town of Douma, eastern Ghouta in Damascus, Syria Reuters In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria A girl carrying a baby inspects damage in a site hit by what activists said were airstrikes carried out by the Russian air force in the town of Douma, eastern Ghouta in Damascus, Syria Reuters In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Civilians and civil defence members look for survivors at a site damaged after Russian air strikes on the Syrian rebel-held city of Idlib, Syria Reuters In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Civilians and civil defence members carry an injured woman on a stretcher at a site damaged after Russian air strikes on the Syrian rebel-held city of Idlib, Syria Reuters In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Volunteers from Syria Civil Defence, also known as the White Helmets, help civilians after Russia carried out its first airstrikes in Syria In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria The aftermath of Russian airstrike in Talbiseh, Syria In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Smoke billows from buildings in Talbiseh, in Homs province, western Syria, after airstrikes by Russian warplanes AP In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Russian Air Forces carry out an air strike in the ISIS controlled Al-Raqqah Governorate. Russia's KAB-500s bombs completely destroy the Liwa al-Haqq command unit In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Caspian Flotilla of the Russian Navy firing Kalibr cruise missiles against remote Isis targets in Syria A TASS/ITAR-TASS Photo/Corbis In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Russia claimed it hit eight Isis targets, including a "terrorist HQ and co-ordination centre" that was completely destroyed In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria A video grab taken from the footage made available on the Russian Defence Ministry's official website, purporting to show an airstrike in Syria In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria A release from the Russian defence ministry purportedly showing targets in Syria being hit In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Russia launched air strikes in war-torn Syria, its first military engagement outside the former Soviet Union since the occupation of Afghanistan in 1979. Russian warplanes carried out strikes in three Syrian provinces along with regime aircraft as Putin seeks to steal US President Barack Obama's thunder by pushing a rival plan to defeat Isis militants in Syria In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Caspian Flotilla of the Russian Navy firing Kalibr cruise missiles against remote Isis targets in Syria, a thousand kilometres away. The targets include ammunition factories, ammunition and fuel depots, command centres, and training camps A TASS/ITAR-TASS Photo/Corbis The Kremlin has criticised the US over collateral damage while denying claims that its strikes have killed hundreds of civilians in what human rights organisations have called indiscriminate bombing on rebel territory. The number of civilian deaths acknowledged by the US now stands at 41, although the number is expected to rise as investigations into other incidents continue. The US did not release the number of dead Isis militants, although the Pentagon recently claimed more than 25,000 jihadists had been killed in air strikes. Their ranks of fighters are estimated to be at the lowest levels in about two years, and more and more of them are realising that their cause is lost, Barack Obama said. Monitors from the independent NGO said the civilian death toll from air strikes by the US-led coalition was due to pass 1,000 last month. The figure was described in Parliament as credible, sparking calls for Britain and other member states to release reports. 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 }} Russia has declared it will take "all necessary measures" against the US following the latest sabre rattling by the two world powers. Moscow accused Washington of intimidation after a US naval destroyer in the Baltic Sea sailed close to its territory. Russian ambassador to Nato, Alexander Grushko, said his country would not take such actions lightly. Speaking after a meeting with the US ambassador to Nato, Douglas Lute, and other Nato representatives, Mr Grushko added: This is about attempts to exercise military pressure on Russia. We will take all necessary measures, precautions, to compensate for these attempts to use military force. Tensions flared when Russian SU-24 attack planes flew dangerously close to guided-missile destroyer the USS Donald Cook last week. Mr Lute said the ship was on routine business in international waters near Poland when it was harassed by the jets, which made numerous close-range passes. US Secretary of State John Kerry later said the Navy ship could have opened fire on the military planes under rules of engagement. Vladimir Putin and the people Show all 11 1 /11 Vladimir Putin and the people Vladimir Putin and the people 561608.bin Vladimir Putin and the people 561611.bin GETTY IMAGES Vladimir Putin and the people 561614.bin EPA Vladimir Putin and the people 561615.bin REUTERS Vladimir Putin and the people 561617.bin AP Vladimir Putin and the people 561618.bin GETTY IMAGES Vladimir Putin and the people 561620.bin PA Vladimir Putin and the people 561621.bin AP Vladimir Putin and the people 561622.bin GETTY IMAGES Vladimir Putin and the people 561624.bin GETTY IMAGES Vladimir Putin and the people 561625.bin EPA Speaking after the meeting, Mr Grushko declared that there could be no thaw in relations between the two countries until the US-led alliance withdraws from Russias borders. His comments come after Russia has bolstered its submarine attack fleet and increased its activities. The US Navys top commander in Europe, Admiral Mark Ferguson, said Russian patrols around the coasts of Scandinavia, Scotland, the Mediterranean and the North Atlantic had increased by 50 per cent in the last year. The Nato meeting with the two envoys also discussed Moscows annexation of Ukraines Crimea region two years ago and its continued support for separatist rebels in the east of the country. Nato Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said members rejected Mr Grushkos account of events that led to the conflict, which has seen around 9,000 people die since 2014. Mr Stoltenberg said: In the meeting, it was re-confirmed that we disagree on the facts, on the narrative and the responsibilities in and around Ukraine. Many allies disagree when Russia tries to portray this as a civil war. This is Russia destabilizing eastern Ukraine, providing support for the separatists, munitions, funding, equipment and also command and control. He stressed both sides needed more dialogue over security in Europe. Russia continues to deny any direct involvement in Ukraine. 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 }} This map shows the countries where journalists are free to report the news and the places in which the media is most strictly controlled. The nations with the least press freedom are Eritrea, North Korea and Turkmenistan. The UK is rated as having a satisfactory situation worse than Germany, Ireland and Costa Rica which are all described as having a good situation. The map, created for the Independent by statistics agency Statista, uses data from the Reporters Without Borders (RSF) 2016 World Press Freedom Index, which assessed how much freedom the media holds in 180 countries. Press freedom around the world has fallen by nearly four per cent since last year, according to the report's measurements. The secretary-general of RSF, Christophe Deloire, wrote in a statement that many world leaders are developing a form of paranoia about legitimate journalism, resulting in clampdowns on debate and independent reporting. The country with the highest degree of press freedom is Finland, followed by the Netherlands, Norway, Denmark and New Zealand, which are all classed as having a "good situation" when it comes to reporting. While Europe is still by far the continent with the highest degree of press freedom followed by Africa, which overtook the Americas for the first time this year it is far from perfect and the situation is worsening, according to RSF. World Press Photo Competition 2016 winners Show all 15 1 /15 World Press Photo Competition 2016 winners World Press Photo Competition 2016 winners 'Tough Times for Orangutans' by Tim Laman (USA): Nature, 1st Prize Stories A Sumatran orangutan threatens another nearby male in the Batang Toru Forest, North Sumatra Province, Indonesia. The lives of wild orangutans are brought to light. Threats to these orangutans from fires, the illegal animal trade and loss of habitat due to deforestation have resulted in many orphan orangutans ending up at rehabilitation centers Tim Laman/World Press Photo World Press Photo Competition 2016 winners 'Storm Front on Bondi Beach' by Rohan Kelly (Australia): Nature, 1st Prize Singles A massive 'cloud tsunami' looms over Sydney as a sunbather reads, oblivious to the approaching cloud on Bondi Beach Rohan Kelly/World Press Photo World Press Photo Competition 2016 winners 'Exposure' by Kazuma Obara (Japan): People, 1st Prize Stories "My mother said that it was a typically quiet day, warm and windy. She and my father opened the window and they felt completely safe on the day of the explosion, the 26th of April 1986." The worlds worst nuclear accident happened on 26 April 1986 at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. Just 5 months after the disaster, a girl was born in Kiev just 100 km south from Chernobyl. The wind included a great amount of radioactive elements, and the girl became one of the victims of the tragedy. This series of pictures represent the last 30 years of the life of that invisible girl. All pictures taken on old Ukrainian color negative films, which were found in the city of Pripyat, located 5 km from the Chernobyl nuclear power plant Kazuma Obara/World Press Photo World Press Photo Competition 2016 winners 'Waiting to Register' by Matic Zorman (Slovenia): People, 1st Prize Singles A child is covered with a raincoat while she waits in line to register at a refugee camp in Presevo, Serbia Matic Zorman/World Press Photo World Press Photo Competition 2016 winners 'Hope for a New Life' by Warren Richardson (Australia): Spot News, 1st Prize Singles, World Press Photo of the Year A man passes a baby through the fence at the Hungarian-Serbian border in Roszke, Hungary Warren Richardson/World Press Photo World Press Photo Competition 2016 winners ' Aftermath of Airstrikes in Syria' by Sameer Al-Doumy (Syria): Spot News, 1st Prize Stories Sameer Al-Doumy/World Press Photo World Press Photo Competition 2016 winners 'Europe's Refugee Crisis' by Sergey Ponomarev (Russia): General News, 1st Prize Stories Refugees arrive by boat near the village of Skala on Lesbos, Greece Sergey Ponomarev/World Press Photo World Press Photo Competition 2016 winners 'IS Fighter Treated at Kurdish Hospital' by Mauricio Lima (Brazil): General News, 1st Prize Singles A doctor rubs ointment on the burns of Jacob, a 16-year-old Islamic State fighter, in front of a poster of Abdullah Ocalan, the jailed leader of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, at a Y.P.G. hospital compound on the outskirts of Hasaka, Syria Mauricio Lima/World Press Photo World Press Photo Competition 2016 winners 'An Antarctic Advantage' by Daniel Berehulak (Australia): Daily Life, 1st Prize Stories Daniel Berehulak/World Press Photo World Press Photo Competition 2016 winners 'China's Coal Addiction' by Kevin Frayer (Canada): Daily Life, 1st Prize Singles hinese men pull a tricycle in a neighborhood next to a coal-fired power plant in Shanxi, China. A history of heavy dependence on burning coal for energy has made China the source of nearly a third of the world's total carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, the toxic pollutants widely cited by scientists and environmentalists as the primary cause of global warming Kevin Frayer/World Press Photo World Press Photo Competition 2016 winners 'Talibes, Modern-day Slaves' by Mario Cruz (Portugal): Contemporary Issues, 1st Prize Stories Abdoulaye, 15, is a talibe imprisoned in a room with security bars to keep him from running away. Series portraying the plight of Talibes, boys who live at Islamic schools known as Daaras in Senegal. Under the pretext of receiving a Quranic education, they are forced to beg in the streets while their religious guardians, or Marabout, collect their daily earnings. They often live in squalor and are abused and beaten Mario Cruz/World Press Photo World Press Photo Competition 2016 winners 'Haze in China' by Zhang Lei (China): Contemporary Issues, 1st Prize Singles A city in northern China shrouded in haze, Tianjin, China Zhang Lei/World Press Photo World Press Photo Competition 2016 winners 'Vetluga's Hockey' by Vladimir Pesnya (Russia): Sports, 1st Prize Stories Evgeny Solovyov, head coach of HC Vetluga preparing the stadium for the match. Players of an amateur hockey team in provincial Russia before, during and after a game in the regional championship in Vetluga, Nizhny Novgorod Oblast, Russia Vladimir Pesnya/World Press Photo World Press Photo Competition 2016 winners 'FIS World Championships' by Christian Walgram (Austria): Sports, 1st Prize Singles Czech Republic's Ondrej Bank crashes during the downhill race of the Alpine Combined at the FIS World Championships in Beaver Creek, Colorado, USA Christian Walgram/World Press Photo World Press Photo Competition 2016 winners 'Sexual Assault in America's Military' by Mary F. Calvert (USA): Long-Term Projects, 1st Prize Stories US Army Spc. Natasha Schuette, 21, was pressured not to report being assaulted by her drill sergeant during basic training at Fort Jackson, South Carolina. Though she was hazed by her assailants fellow drill instructors, she refused to back down and Staff Sgt. Louis Corral is now serving four years in prison for assaulting her and four other female trainees. The US Army rewarded Natasha for her courage to report her assault and the Sexual Harassment/ Assault Response & Prevention office distributed a training video featuring her story. She is now stationed at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Series portraying women who have been raped or sexually assaulted during their service with the US Armed Forces. At the moment, only one out of ten reported sexual violence cases goes to trial and most military rape survivors are forced out of service. Victims suffer from the effects of Military Sexual Trauma, (MST), which include depression, substance abuse, paranoia and feelings of isolation Mary F. Calvert/World Press Photo The continent that respects media freedom most seemed to be on a downhill course, RSF said in its report. Counter-espionage and counter-terrorist measures were misused. Laws were passed allowing mass surveillance. Conflicts of interest increased. Authorities tightened their grip on state media and sometimes privately owned media as well, it said. Poland has dropped 29 places in the rankings since 2015, despite still being described as satisfactory. Earlier this year, the Polish government attracted criticism when it enacted a new law enabling the state to appoint management positions in public radio and television. China is among the countries listed as having a "very serious situation" for press freedom. Censorship and controls on press freedom in China are said to be tightening since president Xi Jinping came to power in 2012. French journalist Ursula Gauthier was expelled from Beijing in December, after publishing an article that the government said supported terrorism. Challenges to press freedom in the UK include a lack of laws guaranteeing press freedom, as well as pressure from the government following the publication of certain stories such as Edward Snowdens whistleblowing allegations, according to a 2014 report by the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers. RSF has published the World Press Freedom Index annually since 2002. 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 }} At the worlds busiest single-runway airport, the builders are in. I am standing in a concrete shell high up in the South Terminal, with a formidable view over the runway and taxiways. This vantage point was, until recently, occupied by restaurants and lounges. It has been stripped down to the bare concrete to be handed over to a new tenant: British Airways. The airline is about to fit out a lounge complex so that its most commercially important passengers can enjoy a soothing or productive start to their journeys. It is in the nature of a transport facility handling over 40 million people a year that some element or other of the infrastructure is constantly being worked on. But landside and airside, in both terminals, the pace of change is picking up. Gatwick is preparing for one of the most complex challenges since the Queen opened the airport in 1958: the big switch. In nine months the present arrangements come to an end. From 25 January 2017, business travellers familiar with the Sussex airport will need to overwrite their memory banks. Your flight to Edinburgh, New York or Zurich may not be departing from the usual location. For almost three decades, Gatwick has had two terminals. By the mid-1980s the original facility was getting stretched. So a North Terminal opened in 1988, adding acres of floor space and dozens of new gates. It became the home of British Airways Gatwick operation the hub without the hubbub, as it was known for a while. The North Terminal is almost a mile from the South Terminal, connected by a driverless shuttle train. Virgin Atlantic, the other big long-haul player, stayed put in the South Terminal. It was later joined by a small airline called easyJet. The upstart soon outgrew its allocation of space in the South Terminal and set up a parallel operation in the North Terminal. For a decade passengers have had to ensure they are in the right place for their flight even the then-president of Abta once missed his flight to the travel associations annual convention after a terminal muddle. And the airlines operational needs mean that some planes and passengers arrive at the opposite terminal to that planned. Today, easyJet is Britains biggest airline by passenger numbers, and the largest operator at Gatwick by some distance. It will carry almost 20 million passengers in and out of the airport this year, more than twice as many as the second-placed carrier, British Airways. Consolidating all easyJet operations in one location, with space to expand, is a logical step. The North Terminal delivers the right capacity, but only if British Airways moves south. BAs short-haul operation follows the same patter over the day as easyJets, with peaks early in the morning and in the evening. To make the most of available space, easyJet and Virgin Atlantic need to be co-sited: their operations dovetail, with Virgins departures occupying the middle of the day. So BA and Virgin should swap places. Simple? Well, unlike the opening of Heathrows Terminal 2, Gatwick does not have the luxury of new capacity that can gradually be filled. Ideally, the infrastructure could simply close for a few weeks to allow for landside check-in systems and airside lounges to be reconfigured. But passengers, airlines and the airport itself would not countenance a shutdown of Britains second-largest airport even for a day. Which is why Chris Woodroofe, Gatwicks head of passenger operations, is monitoring multiple timelines months ahead of the move. We have 42 separate projects coming together, he says. There is nothing like a deadline to focus the mind. The last easyJet flight from South Terminal will depart on 23 January. The following two days are Tuesday and Wednesday, the quietest days of the week for flying all the more so in the third week in January. On both days, easyJet will cut 40 per cent of its flying programme to help manage the switch, says Woodroofe. BA and Virgin Atlantic will continue as normal on 24 January, and that night will change places. When the first wave of flights from Florida and the Caribbean arrives on the morning of 25 January, the aircraft will taxi to their new homes. At the same time, staff will be on hand to meet departing travellers before they fly out, reminding them of the new arrangements. For easyJet passengers, a single home removes complications. British Airways will no doubt make much of the attraction of its new location for business travellers; sharing a terminal with Gatwicks rail station cuts out the shuttle trip. And after a year of sharing a commercial lounge, premium passengers will once again be in a BA oasis. This is a solution for the next 10 years, says Woodroofe. After that, who knows what the Sussex airport will look like? The Governments decision on whether to build the next runway at Heathrow or Gatwick does not appear to be as time-sensitive as the big switch. Up to the minute the news you need in 180 words Euro start The cross-Channel train operator Eurostar has made it possible to get a flying start to the working week in Europe by moving its Monday morning departure from London St Pancras to Brussels earlier. It now leaves at 6.13am, arriving in the Belgian capital at 9.28am 39 minutes earlier than the usual first train. Connections to The Netherlands are available, allowing you to reach Rotterdam by 11am. The early train also calls at Ebbsfleet in north Kent, close to the M25, at 6.30am. eurostar.com West by northwest Virgin Atlantic is launching transatlantic services from Manchester to two key US business destinations: Boston (twice weekly) and San Francisco (three times weekly). They will provide welcome non-stop options for business travellers. But the links, flown by Airbus A330 jets, will begin in March 2017. fly.virgin.com Less express The key high-speed line between Stuttgart and Mannheim in Germany is undergoing engineering work from this week to 20 July. Journey times on the Cologne-Stuttgart-Munich line are being extended by 20 minutes. bahn.de Click here to view UK Tours and Holidays, with Independent Holidays. 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 }} A flight to New York has been diverted to Ireland after declaring an emergency minutes after it took off from Manchester Airport. The plane was diverted to Shannon Airport in County Clare amid reports of smoke in a lavatory, according to tracking website Air Live. Pakistan International Airlines Flight 711 was due to fly to John F Kennedy International Airport after its departure scheduled at 12.45pm. The flight path of Pakistan International Airlines Flight 711 on 23 April 2016 (Flight Aware) But tracking data showed the Boeing 777 taking a sharp turn south minutes later and descending towards an emergency landing as it sent a 7700 squawk. The code alerts all air traffic controllers in the vicinity to an emergency situation on board, such as a passenger falling ill, and the crew makes the decision whether to land. Niall Maloney, the operations director at Shannon Airport, told The Independent a technical problem was believed to be the source of the alert. A Pakistani International Airlines Boeing 777 from Manchester to JFK has diverted to Shannon Airport having declared an emergency en-route, he said. The aircraft landed safely at 2.36pm at is now at a stand. 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 Police and fire crews were being sent to the scene as part of the routine response to emergency landings. 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 You wrote in The Independent about Izy, the low-cost trains between Brussels and Paris that you said offered third and fourth class. I have been looking to book, but the cheap fares you mention have not been available. Name withheld, Brussels A Izy, an offshoot of the existing high-speed operator Thalys, is offering standing places for 10 and fold-down seats for 15 for the 200-mile journey between the French and Belgian capitals. As with low-cost airlines, the very lowest fares are scarce. My understanding is that these prices are available for a limited number of seats, but are in high demand and therefore need to be booked well in advance. Normal seats (known as Standard) and premium class (Standard XL) are also available, and give the certainty of being able to relax in some comfort during the journey. The starting point for Standard is 19 and for XL 29, though prices rise once the cheapest deals have been snapped up. John Potter, publisher of the European Rail Timetable, makes the interesting point that: When the allocation of Standard 19 seats sell out and the price increases to 29, the Standard XL price of 29 jumps to 39 and so on upwards. That way, you will never have Standard XL prices lower or equal to Standard. Every day, our travel correspondent Simon Calder tackles readers questions. Just email yours to s@hols.tv or tweet @simoncalder 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 }} Im not going to tell you how to vote, but you should vote to stay in the EU, said Barack Obama on Friday. Those werent his exact words. His exact words were ultimately something the British people have to decide for themselves and but and friends have to be honest and so on, at some length. The President should keep his opinions to himself, the British people told pollsters. They had a but too, which was that his intervention actually made them more likely to vote to stay. Not that such a finding is reliable. One thing we know about opinion polls is that people are bad at predicting what they will do. But the weight of endorsements is likely to push the voters only one way. We dont want to be told what to do, but when the President of the US, the leaders of all our allies, the Prime Minister, the Chancellor, the Governor of the Bank of England, the leader of all parties apart from Ukip and the bosses of most big companies recommend something, we are bound to wonder. Just how bloody-minded do British voters have to be to kick against such a mass of panjandrums? This may be an anti-politics age. It may be fashionable to rage against the establishment, but for a lot of younger ragers, Jeremy Corbyn, Nicola Sturgeon, Leanne Wood and Caroline Lucas have confused things by moving the barricades. Obama has dinner in Kensington Against such a consensus, we look for someone to put the opposite view. And who is there? Boris Johnson and Michael Gove. I have a higher opinion of both of them than most pro-Europeans do. I thought Gove made a strong argument in his speech on Tuesday that German car makers would never allow their government to impose tariffs on British imports because Britain is one of their most important markets. This was derided by No 10 as the Albanian argument a brilliant piece of propaganda, and congratulations to Craig Oliver, the Prime Ministers head of communications, if he thought of it because Gove pointed out that Iceland, Albania, Serbia, Macedonia and Turkey were part of the EUs no-tariff free-trade zone. He was right: if we left the EU, we would be able to trade freely with it. The trouble for the Outers is that Gove is still unpopular because when he was Education Secretary he annoyed the teachers, third only to junior doctors and nurses in the public esteem charts, and he comes across on TV as too pleased with himself. So that leaves Johnson. And his water-pistol aimed at the Presidents motorcade on Friday just soaked his own face. Journalist that he is, he wanted a funny story for the opening of his pre-emptive article in The Sun, and so he recycled an essentially untrue story about Obama chucking a bust of Winston Churchill out of the White House, and added the spin that this might be because the President bore a grudge against the British on behalf of his Kenyan grandfather who was imprisoned during the Mau Mau uprising in the 1950s. Did someone say clown? Johnsons intervention was a disservice to democracy. The case for leaving the EU is a strong one, and deserves to be put to the British people with clarity and care. There are arguments against Obama that ought to be heard. Johnson did indeed make the point that the US would never accept the kind of external authority that he thinks the British should continue to accept. But his clowning in his first paragraph obliterated that important debate and undermined his own authority. It is baffling. Since his decision to put himself at the head of the Leave campaign in February, Johnson presents himself as the alternative prime minister. If the British people vote to come out of the EU, he would negotiate our departure. You would have thought this meant he surrounded himself with a team of capable people, working above all on the policy questions that are going to come up in the referendum campaign. Their first responsibility, though, would be to stop him making stupid mistakes. This can be hard when a politician is speaking without notes in front of a camera, although Johnson has developed a technique known as bumble and bluster that gives him time to avoid the most obvious mistakes. But when a politician is writing an article for a newspaper, you would have thought that someone might have read it through and said, This bit where you talk about the part-Kenyan Presidents ancestral dislike of the British empire, do you think that will help? So instead of good arguments being made in a disciplined way for Britain to leave the EU, we get Gove making elegant speeches that sound like his old newspaper columns, we get Johnson making a fool of himself and we get the chief bureaucrat of the Leave campaign, Dominic Cummings, turning up for a select committee hearing with his shirt all over the place, no cufflinks and telling the chairman, Ive got another meeting at four, so Ill have to be out of here before that. I am willing to listen to Johnsons complaints about President Obama coming over here and telling people how to vote when he has put up the decent case for leaving the EU that the British people deserve to hear. 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 }} US President Barack Obama is to send a message of support to the inaugural Giants Club Summit, a unique gathering of African Heads of State, corporate leaders, philanthropists, and scientists dedicated to ending the illegal killing of elephants and safeguarding their landscapes forever. President Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya will host the Africa-led event, and be joined by fellow Giants Club members President Ali Bongo of Gabon, President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda, and senior representatives of President Ian Khama of Botswana. Together, these four countries alone are home to more than half of Africa's remaining savannah elephants, and three quarters of its remaining forest elephants. President Idriss Deby of Chad, and President John Magufuli of Tanzania are to send high-level delegations. President Barack Obama is to send a senior team led by Deputy Secretary of State Heather Higginbottom, and William C. Woody, Chief of the US Fish and Wildlife Service's Office of Law Enforcement. A short timeline of elephant poaching Show all 10 1 /10 A short timeline of elephant poaching A short timeline of elephant poaching 1880s.jpg Robert H. Milligan, New York Public Library A short timeline of elephant poaching 1910.jpg Creative commons A short timeline of elephant poaching 1979.jpg Surreal Name Given, Flickr A short timeline of elephant poaching 1980s.jpg Scotch Macaskill A short timeline of elephant poaching actual elephant forensic.jpg Space for Giants A short timeline of elephant poaching 1990s.jpg Space for Giants A short timeline of elephant poaching 1999.jpg Vidhi Doshi A short timeline of elephant poaching Ivory elephants.jpeg Space for Giants A short timeline of elephant poaching elephantfence.jpg Space for Giants A short timeline of elephant poaching Elephant dust (1)_1.jpeg Space for Giants Helen Clark, the head of the United Nations Development Programme, and Ibrahim Thiaw, Deputy Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme, will both attend with conservation specialist colleagues, alongside Jorge Rios, head of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime's Wildlife and Forest Crime Programme. Representatives of global finance and philanthropy include Evgeny Lebedev, owner of the British Evening Standard newspaper and Independent digital news platforms and patron of the Giants Club; Richard Branson, founder of the Virgin Group, who will dial in to the Summit; and Jochen Zeitz, former chairman of sportswear multinational Puma. Leading African corporate figures attending include Manu Chandaria, one of Kenya's best-known entrepreneurs Leading African musicians, including Eric Wainaina from Kenya, and Mrishi Mpioto and Peter Msechu of Tanzania, will perform at a live Gala Dinner for delegates, and many will participate in key Summit sessions discussing how to harness star influence to support conservation. Judi Wakhungu, Kenya's Cabinet Secretary for Environment, Natural Resources, and Regional Development Authorities, said: "The attendance of so many of my fellow African governments, alongside very senior delegations from the United States, Europe, Russia, bilateral partners from the United Nations, leading financiers and philanthropists, and conservation experts, is testament to the uniqueness of the Giants Club Summit. "This is not another talking shop. This is an extraordinary opportunity for us to show the world that we know how to stop poaching, and for the world to stand alongside us and help us to make it happen. These are the very real outcomes we are expecting from the Summit. We are eager to get started." Summit discussions revolve around three key themes. First, showing that African countries know what works in frontline conservation protection and the successful prosecution of poachers. Second, illustrating how to draw on the goodwill of individuals with global influence to connect ideas and build support to expand these proven conservation interventions. Third, to present smart new ways of paying to safeguard elephants and the landscapes they inhabit after poaching has been eradicated. "That is what is special about The Giants Club, and The Giants Club Summit," said Max Graham, founder and CEO of Space for Giants, the conservation charity that helped form The Giants Club. "We can put in one place all the people who need to be together really to accelerate progress on elephant protection: Africa's leaders, conservationists, philanthropists and investors, and people with the influence to bring others to our side "We're anticipating some pretty significant outcomes from the Summit. The focus will be on protecting elephants and stopping poaching, addressing problems of growing human populations living alongside hopefully growing elephant populations, and coming up with clever new ways to finance looking after elephants and their landscapes forever." The Summit will be held on the slopes of Mt Kenya in the central Kenyan town of Nanyuki from Thursday April 28 to Saturday April 30. In total, more than 170 delegates are expected to attend. The event immediately precedes Kenya's ivory burn in the capital, Nairobi, later on April 30, when President Kenyatta leads the destruction of 105 tonnes of seized ivory to put it beyond economic use. Brand Kenya Board, which markets Kenya as a destination for tourism and investment abroad, is the official Supporting Partner of The Giants Club Summit. To find out more about The Giants Club Summit go to: http://spaceforgiants.org/giantsclub/summit. To donate go to: http://spaceforgiants.org/giantsclub/donate/ 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 }} It is inevitable that public and political discourse in the UK should currently be focussed on the upcoming EU referendum. All the talk is of the possibility that we may soon leave Europe. Ironically, on other side of the continent, tens of thousands of refugees remain desperate to find a way in. In the first three months of the year, refugees and migrants were arriving in Greece at the rate of nearly a thousand a day, according to the Greek authorities. Another 25,000 or so have reached Italy from North Africa. As spring turns to summer, as seas calm, the numbers are expected to rise. And for all the thousands making the journey successfully, hundreds are still dying en route drowning in the middle of the Mediterranean or the open waters of the Aegean: the name of their watery grave little matters to the victims of these seas. Last week up to 500 people were killed when a boat capsized north of the Libyan coast. That all this should be happening in the spring of 2016 tells a bitter truth: the refugee crisis which made headline after headline last year is still very much ongoing. Politicians have tried to talk up their achievements. On Thursday, the UK government announced it was to take up to 3,000 of the most vulnerable child refugees, in addition to the 20,000 refugees it had already agreed to resettle. But none of those 3,000 will be drawn from children already in Europe, many of whom are living in treacherous conditions in more or less makeshift camps. And in any event, Britains agreement takes us up to 2020 it is, in reality, a drop in a corpse-strewn ocean. In mainland Europe hearts have hardened. Last autumn Angela Merkel flew the flag for liberal policy-makers and indicated that there would be no limit to the number of refugees Germany would accept. There may have been an economic imperative at play as well, but nonetheless the German approach seemed hearteningly commendable. Yet as time has passed the policy has compromised Mrs Merkels popularity both at home and abroad. Governments in countries to Germanys south-east, angered by a unilateral policy which they believed would encourage the flow of people, one by one closed borders as 2015 drew to a close. Earlier this month, Austria threatened to close the Brenner pass, one of the Alps main crossing routes, if Italy did not stem the numbers of migrants heading north from Italian arrival zones. Meanwhile, efforts by the European Union to formulate a common policy have foundered. Quotas were voted through last year, though Britain opted out and several member states in eastern Europe objected. Sure enough, nations which were always unsympathetic to the plan have simply not put it into practice. More shamefully, those in the north and west of the continent, which pushed for the measure, have largely failed to enact it too. By the beginning of last month, of the 160,000 asylum seekers which the EU had agreed to allocate around the bloc, just a few hundred had officially been granted refuge. And lest it be forgotten, the figure under discussion in the quota system is but a fraction of the total number of migrants which have made their way to Europe well over a million have arrived since the beginning of 2015. Seemingly in despair at its own failings, the EU struck a deal with Turkey this year, offering money and a glimpse of future EU membership in return for taking back refugees and migrants who make land on the Greek islands. It was the kind of back stairs agreement which was bound to provoke criticism; and campaign groups have been swift to condemn the systems lack of transparency and humanity. If there is a glimmer of hope it is that the civil war in Syria has been less ferocious since a truce came into force at the end of February, although there have been reports of renewed fighting in recent days. The advance of Isis has been halted at least and it appears not to be the fighting force it was a year ago. Even so, peace and stability in Syria cannot be easily reasserted and even when they come, the country faces years of rebuilding before displaced citizens can return to their homes. Putting to one side refugees in Europe, there are close to 5 million Syrian refugees in Lebanon and other neighbouring countries, while more than 6 million more have been displaced internally. Quick fixes are not on the agenda. There can be little doubt that the collapse of Syria, and the refugee crisis stemming from the conflicts there and in Iraq, represent one of the modern worlds greatest failures. When little Aylan Kurdi died on a Turkish beach last September it felt for a moment that things would change, solutions would be found. How sickeningly wrong that has turned out to be. 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 }} Your correspondents (Letters, 23rd April) parroting Boris Johnson's predictable outrage at President Obama's remarks about the harsh realities Britain would face outside the EU seem, like Boris, to have overlooked the first two words in the name of the President's country. America's strength comes in large part through being a successful union of 51 diverse states. There are huge differences between, for example, Missouri and California yet they can trade, and their citizens travel freely without raising any eyebrows. It's a mark perhaps of lingering post-Empire arrogance that so many British citizens have apparently been convinced by ambitious oddball politicians that we, who together make up less than 1 per cent of the world's population, could prosper alone in the globalised twenty-first century and that other countries would be falling over themselves to offer us favourable trading deals. Brian Hughes Cheltenham Just imagine the furore there would be if our head of state had flown to New York, delivered speeches urging Americans to vote for Donald Trump, and threatened that there would be consequences if they voted instead for Bernie Sanders. For his part, Obama is nakedly attempting to interfere in our internal democratic processes (such as they are) in a way which would not be tolerated in his own country. Michael McCarthy London Yugo Kovach, David Kilpatrick and J H Moffatt all criticise Barack Obama for having the temerity to recommend that the UK remains in the EU (Letters, 23 April). If one views America as a Commonwealth of individual states which are in effect separate countries, making their own laws and levying their own taxes while accepting that certain things such as defence and currency are organised federally, it puts a different complexion on the situation. This parallels the ideals of a federated Europe, with each national state taking their own decisions on laws and taxes but accepting a supranational element for the common good. The Brexiteers are acting like the Southern secessionist states prior to the Civil War. If they had won, it is unlikely that America would be the powerful country it is. Britain outside of Europe would be like Virginia outside the USA - surviving yes, but a very small fish in a very big pond. Patrick Cleary Devon Where on earth is Boris Johnson coming from? Obama speaks as President of the United States - the clue is in the title: the most successful-ever union of states exercising a fair degree of independence within the whole, but far more integrated that anything proposed for the EU. Mike Brayshaw Worthing Andrew Grice thinks that Obama's comments are a positive game changer in the debate. Obama's comments, or perhaps, threat that the UK would be at the back of the queue in trade deals if it left the EU, I found patronizing and insulting and I am a voter for Remain! John Edgar Blackford This is the first time I have written a Letter to the Editor but I am so incensed by Obama's false claims that he wants us to stay in the EU for our own good. It is patently obvious that he wants us there as the only member who speaks his language in both senses of the word. The US have been unsuccessfully trying to do a trade deal with the EU for a long time and he knows that most of the other EU states resent the US for its dominance. He then adds insult to injury by saying that we will be back of the queue when it comes to trade deals with the US if we leave. This is an idle threat as, of course, America will do trade deals with us as it will be in their interests to do so. Finally he needs to do his homework and realize that pretty well all our requests or objections have been over-ruled by the EU so, in fact, we do not have any more influence there that he does. Jim Parker Warwickshire Boris has said that the USA would not surrender sovereignty as the UK is being invited to do. He omits to mention that the USA has gained its present position because all of the individual states did surrender much of their sovereignty in order to become a federal superstate. In other words, they are successful because they are ahead of us in the sovereignty surrendering stakes. Steve Ford Haydon Bridge Having just returned from the USA where I visited Texas, several other states and the Alamo, it seems to me that we have much to learn from the USA and President Obama about managing a union of (sovereign) states. The USA thrives because it knows how to manage the legitimate, self-governing needs of 50, semi-autonomous states in the global context. From this it is evident that what the EU needs is continuous evolutionary reform in which the UK remains an example of a hitherto successful union with a significant and crucial role. David Rhodes Nottingham Scottish National Party Nicola Sturgeon is a highly - regarded political operator. Her slick PR team is relentlessly effective. But has she made a tactical error in being too honest in her manifesto? She admits she'll spend her next parliamentary term - in its entirety, if necessary - working hard to convince the majority who disagree with her ambition to break-up the UK. We've watched the SNP lose focus on the economy and public services time and again over the last five years as it obsessed over the constitution. Now it seems the next five will be the same. Martin Redfern Edinburgh 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 }} On Monday in the heart of Moscow, for a fleeting instant, the bleak stand-off between the US and Russia will be put aside. That day is the 71st anniversary of the meeting on the Elbe River, and to mark the occasion a sculpture will be unveiled in the Old Arbat district, barely a kilometre from the Kremlin, depicting the historic link-up between Soviet and American troops on the bombed out bridge at Torgau on April 25 1945. At that point, Nazi Germany was cut in two. Inside a week Hitler was dead and a few days later World War II in Europe officially ended. More to the point, the Elbe signified a rare moment when the two countries were allies, united in a common cause. But for all the symbolic importance that attends Mondays event, and whatever dignitaries are present, it will be low key and small wonder. No ceremony can banish reality. We may not be exactly reliving the Cold War. Unlike the immediate post-war decades, no ideological conflict exists to underpin it. Communism has virtually vanished from the face of the earth, and Russia practices its own bastardised version of capitalism. But todays climate of tension, mutual suspicion and mutual incomprehension feels scarcely less chilly. America doesnt get why the Russians believe that Ukraine is part of, and must remain within, their sphere of influence, why they felt justified in seizing Crimea, and provoking a low-grade conflict in largely Russian-speaking eastern Ukraine that holds the entire country in suspended animation. Ditto its behaviour a few years ago in Georgia, another former Soviet republic that sought to realign itself with the West. Russia for its part remains perennially insecure, perennially unable to understand that what it sees as an entirely reasonable desire to protect its western borders is perceived by the West and particularly by the countries, that share that border as unprovoked and unnecessary aggression. It cannot quite grasp that the 28-nation Nato alliance of 2016 is not a re-incarnation of the Third Reich, secretly planning to use its forward positions in the old Soviet domains of eastern Europe as a springboard for overunning the motherland. Other elements of the original Cold War are also resurfacing. Unwilling to take each other on directly, they do battle in proxy wars, most obviously in Syria. Russia is beefing up its armed forces, especially its attack submarines, where the US and Nato have long held an advantage. Ancient Cold War concerns are suddenly alive again, such as control of the maritime channels between Greenland, Iceland and Britain (GUIK in Nato terminology) through which Soviet submarines must pass to reach the open North Atlantic. All the while, the provocations continue. For Russia, the very presence of Nato so close to its borders is a provocation, and not without reason. After all, during the Cold War proper the alliance was hundreds of miles away, with East Germany, Poland as well as the satellite Soviet Republics of Belarus and the Baltics states standing in-between. Today Poland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania belong to the alliance. Nato is on the very doorstep of Russia proper. So Russia stages provocations of its own most blatantly on April 13 when the US destroyer Donald Cook, while on a routine patrol in international waters in the Baltic, was buzzed by a Russian jet that flew within 30 feet of it. Washingtons response was to tut-tut about gross unprofessionalism on the part of the Russians, and how Moscow was pushing the envelope. But more concrete counter steps are on the way. In testimony to the Senate last week, Army General Curtis Scaparrotti, the incoming Supreme Commander of Nato and of US forces in Europe, declared that President Putin was seeking not just to push Nato back, but to destroy it. Currently, the US rotates a couple of combat brigades in and out of Eastern Europe. Washington has already boosted its European military budget by $4bn. Now Scaparrotti wants a brigade, equivalent to 5,000 men, permanently stationed there, a tripwire to re-assure nervous allies and guarantee a US response to any direct Russian aggression. As for incidents like the Donald Cook, Scaparrotti advocated giving the Russians a taste of their own medicine. In the meantime, Nato will show it means business when it holds military exercises in Poland this summer, involving 25,000 men, which will of course only fuel Russian paranoia. Anyone remember Natos Able Archer exercise of November 1983, a particularly fraught moment in the Cold War, when the Kremlin put its forces on maximum alert, fearing the exercise was camouflage for a full-scale attack on the Soviet Union, nuclear weapons and all? Nuclear weapons of course remain the bottom line in any confrontation between Russia and the US, and the greatest reason to hope this Cold War 2.0 will not turn hot. More likely, say the wargamers, Moscow will continue the strategy it honed in Ukraine, needling and seeking to destabilise weak neighbours like the Baltics with asymmetric warfare, but stopping short of frontal attack. One mistake however a provocation, a retaliation, a sailor killed or an aircraft shot down and the brinkmanship could have incalculable consequences. All of which is a very long way from the Elbe. That moment on April 25 1945 in reality is far less golden than it seemed then. Europe was about to be split into two ideological, economic and military blocs, and Washington and Moscow already realised that each would be the others main post-war enemy. The Soviet spies in the West were long since at work. But somehow the candle of collaboration past still flickers. Every so often a so-called Elbe Group, made up of retired senior US and Russian generals, convenes in a third country to discuss problems in the relationship. The group has no official standing, but is a precious backchannel that allows participants to understand each others point of view. Its not a perfect arrangement, and probably wont change the world any more than the unveiling of a commemorative sculpture in central Moscow. But right now, its the best we can hope for. 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 }} Keir Shiels was trying to think of a more culturally English word than bothersome, when Ben Stanley nominated peckish and suggested I should compile a Top 10, a companion list to Most English Remarks from two years ago 1. Codswallop. Dates from only the 1960s, according to the Oxford Dictionary, which surprised me. Nominated by John Peters. 2. Flabbergasted. Sacha Langton-Gilkss gast has been much flabbered. Recommended Read more Top 10 Job Titles 3. Flibbertigibbet. Sarah Terry reminds me that Tony Blair was described as such by Jonathan Powell, his chief of staff. 4. Moreish. A word that became popular only the 1990s, offered by Ian Rapley. 5. Palaver. Imported to English in the 18th century, a talk between tribespeople and traders (above), from Portuguese palavra, word. Amalia Sabonchian says: Im an Aussie, never heard it before I got here. 6. Pop, as a verb. Without which, according to Leyla Sanai, air stewards and stewardesses, and nurses and doctors, would be flummoxed. (Flummoxed itself worthy of an honourable mention.) 7. Quite. Youve not mastered the English of the English until you know and can use at least 12 meanings, as Damian Counsell points out. 8. Rather. As in rather bothersome, rather peckish and Im really rather tired of listening to your excuses, Handley, says Simon LeVay. Recommended Read more Top 10 songs in which someone is callously left to die 9. Sorry, says Martin Sykes-Haas. Sorry. 10. Trundle. Wheeled in by Pseudoreality Rules. No room alas for Albus Dumbledore's little list, when he welcomed pupils to a new year at Hogwarts: I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak! Next week: Films whose central plot device has been rendered incomprehensible by progress (Road Trip turns on someone having posted a video cassette to his girlfriend) Coming soon: People whose first name begins their surname (such as Mo Mowlam and Kris Kristofferson) Your suggestions, and ideas for future Top 10s, in the comments please, or to me on Twitter, or by email to top10@independent.co.uk Listellany: A Miscellany of Very British Top Tens, from Politics to Pop, is available from all good bookshops and at just 3.79 on Kindle 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 }} Has something gone adrift within the moral compass of our news reporting? In the past week, 64 Afghans have been killed in the largest bomb to have exploded in Kabul in 15 years. At least 340 were wounded. The Taliban set off their explosives at the very wall of the elite security force watch out for that word elite which was supposed to protect the capital. Whole families were annihilated. No autopsies for them. Local television showed an entire family a mother and father and three children blown to pieces in a millisecond while the citys ambulance service reported that its entire fleet (a miserable 15 vehicles) were mobilised for the rescue effort. One ambulance was so packed with wounded that the back doors came off their hinges. But Prince also died this week. Now Afghanistan is the country to which we and our EU partners are happily returning refugees on the grounds that Kabul and its surrounding provinces are safe. It is, of course, a lie as flagrant and potentially as bloody as the infamous weapons of mass destruction we claimed were in Iraq in 2003. By then, we had already promised the Afghans in 2001 that we wouldnt let them down. We wouldnt forget them as we did after the Soviet war. A Blair promise, of course, and thus worthless. There was another story on Afghan television last week, which carried its own dark implications for the future. A young man called Sabour was convicted of murdering two American advisers and told the court that he had absolutely no regrets. Afghan social media began to fill with comments in support of the man. He was a real Afghan, said one. A true Afghan. So much for Afghanistan and its utterly corrupt government and our continued claim that we support this bogus administration and that our advisers are there to produce, well, not Jeffersonian democracy as the Americans coyly admitted in 2003 but at least stability. Drone video shows levels of devastation in Homs, Syria But Prince also died this week. Then there was the latest Mediterranean catastrophe. Up to 500 refugees and migrants were believed to have drowned after refugees from a small vessel sailing out of Libya were transferred onto a larger boat on which Egyptians, Ethiopians, Somalis and Sudanese were traveling. The survivors were landed in Greece, some having seen their families drown. But there were no pictures of the sinking. No autopsies for them, of course. No dead little Aylan Kurdis were washed up on a soft beach for the cameras. They simply drifted straight down to the depths of the ocean to join the other thousands of skeletons who never made it to Europe. Do not reflect that five hundred lives is almost exactly one third the total passenger deaths on the Titanic. Do not mention that another million human beings are likely to choose this Mediterranean passage now that we are closing the straits between Greece and Turkey. Because Prince died this week. Migrants' desperate boat journeys to Europe Show all 33 1 /33 Migrants' desperate boat journeys to Europe Migrants' desperate boat journeys to Europe Migrants fleeing conflict Desperate for entry to the EU, the group of migrants risked being washed away by the sea at Ventimiglia rocks, June 2015 Migrants' desperate boat journeys to Europe Migrants fleeing conflict Stranded migrants spend night on rocks - theywere supplied with emergency blankets after a cold night next to the sea, June 2015 Migrants' desperate boat journeys to Europe Migrants fleeing conflict Migrants climb in the back of a lorry on the A16 highway leading to the Eurotunnel in Calais, June 2015 Getty Images Migrants' desperate boat journeys to Europe Migrants fleeing conflict A police officer sprays tear gas to migrants trying to access the Channel Tunnel on the A16 highway in Calais, northern France, June 2015 PHILIPPE HUGUEN/AFP/Getty Images Migrants' desperate boat journeys to Europe Migrants fleeing conflict Migrants jump out of a lorry after being discovered by French gendarmerie officers AP Migrants' desperate boat journeys to Europe Migrants fleeing conflict A migrant sits under the trailer of a lorry AP Migrants' desperate boat journeys to Europe Migrants fleeing conflict A Belgian navy sailor passes life vests to migrants sitting in a rubber boat as they approach the Belgian Navy Vessel Godetia, June 2015 AP Migrants' desperate boat journeys to Europe Migrants fleeing conflict Migrants on the Belgian Navy vessel Godetia after they were saved during a search and rescue mission in the Mediterranean off the Libyan coast, June 2015 AP Migrants' desperate boat journeys to Europe Migrants fleeing conflict Iraqis wait as they are detained by Hungarian police after crossing the Hungarian-Serbian border illegally near the village of Asotthalom, Hungary, June 2015 Reuters Migrants' desperate boat journeys to Europe Migrants fleeing conflict Syrian refugees walking on train tracks through Macedonia on the Western Balkans migration route, after entering Europe through Greece, June 2015 Reuters Migrants' desperate boat journeys to Europe Migrants fleeing conflict A group of migrants huddle together during an operation to remove them from the Italian-French border in the Italian city of Ventimiglia. Italy and France engaged in a war of words as a standoff over hundreds of Africans offered a graphic illustration of Europe's migration crisis. Italian Interior Minister Angelino Alfano described images of migrants perched on rocks at the border town of Ventimiglia after being refused entry to France as a "punch in the face for Europe", June 2015 Migrants' desperate boat journeys to Europe Migrants fleeing conflict A migrant is carried by Italian police in Ventimiglia, Italy. Police reportedly removed migrants from under a railway bridge, June 2015 EPA Migrants' desperate boat journeys to Europe Migrants fleeing conflict Migrants queue after disembarking from the Royal Navy ship HMS 'Bulwark' upon their arrival in the port of Catania on the coast of Sicily, June 2015 GIOVANNI ISOLINO/AFP/Getty Images Migrants' desperate boat journeys to Europe Migrants fleeing conflict A Syrian child holds a drawing as he waits to disembark from Belgian Navy vessel Godetia at the Augusta port, Italy. Around 250 migrants from Syria arrived at the Sicilian harbour from a Damascus refugee camp, June 2015 Migrants' desperate boat journeys to Europe Migrants fleeing conflict A dinghy overcrowded with Afghan immigrants arrived on a beach on the Greek island of Kos, May 2015 Migrants' desperate boat journeys to Europe Migrants fleeing conflict An Afghan child migrant is helped off a rib on the gReek island of Kos, May 2015 Migrants' desperate boat journeys to Europe Migrants fleeing conflict An Afghan migrant girl holds the hand of a woman as they arrive on a beach on the Greek island of Kos, after crossing a part of the Aegean Sea between Turkey and Greece, May 2015 Migrants' desperate boat journeys to Europe Migrants fleeing conflict Afghan migrants crossed part of the Aegean Sea between Turkey and Greece, May 2015 Migrants' desperate boat journeys to Europe Migrants fleeing conflict Afghan migrants arrive on a beach of Kos, May 2015 Migrants' desperate boat journeys to Europe Migrants fleeing conflict Rescuers help children to disembark in the Sicilian harbor of Pozzallo, Italy in April 2015 Migrants' desperate boat journeys to Europe Migrants fleeing conflict A boat transporting migrants arrives in the port of Messina after a rescue operation at sea, April 2015 Getty Migrants' desperate boat journeys to Europe Migrants fleeing conflict Armed Forces of Malta personnel in protective clothing carry the body of a dead immigrant off Italian coastguard ship Bruno Gregoretti as surviving migrants watch in Senglea, in Valletta's Grand Harbour, April 2015 Migrants' desperate boat journeys to Europe Migrants fleeing conflict Rescued migrants talk to a member of the Malta Order after a fishing boat carrying migrants capsized off the Libyan coast, is brought ashore along with 23 others retreived by the Italian Coast Guard vessel Bruno Gregoretti at Boiler Wharf, Senglea in Malta, April 2015 Migrants' desperate boat journeys to Europe Migrants fleeing conflict A boat of would-be immigrants near the Italian island of Lampedusa. Most of those crossing the Mediterranean headed to Italy in December 2014 Getty Images Migrants' desperate boat journeys to Europe Migrants fleeing conflict The Sierra Leone-flagged Ezadeen vessel, carrying hundreds of migrants, is towed by the Icelandic Coast Guard vessel Tyr in rough seas in the Mediterranean sea off Italy's south coast in January 2015 Reuters Migrants' desperate boat journeys to Europe Migrants fleeing conflict Hundreds of migrants seen on board the decks of the Moldovan-flagged Blue Sky M cargo ship - believed to be carrying 700 illegal immigrant altogether after it docked at the Italian port of Gallipoli in the early hours of 31 December 2014 EPA Migrants' desperate boat journeys to Europe Migrants fleeing conflict Hundreds of migrants seen on board Blue Sky M after it docked at the Italian port of Gallipoli in December 2014 Migrants' desperate boat journeys to Europe Migrants fleeing conflict A crowded boat of rescued African migrants off the coast of Sicily in October 2014 AFP Migrants' desperate boat journeys to Europe Migrants fleeing conflict Migrants of sub-Saharan origin being rescued last month as part of the Mare Nostrum operation in Italy in October 2014 EPA Migrants' desperate boat journeys to Europe Migrants fleeing conflict An Italian Customs Police boat takes illegal immigrants on board off the coast of Lampedusa, Italy in September 2014. Some 40,000 migrants have died since the year 2000, more than half of them in the Mediterranean Getty Migrants' desperate boat journeys to Europe Migrants fleeing conflict Migrants are pictured on an Italian navy ship after being rescued in open international waters in the Mediterranean Sea between the Italian and the Libyan coasts in August 2014 Reuters Migrants' desperate boat journeys to Europe Migrants fleeing conflict Firemen and policemen evacuate the dead bodies of migrants from a boat on July 1st, 2014 in the port of Pozzallo, Sicily GIOVANNI ISOLINO/AFP/Getty Images Migrants' desperate boat journeys to Europe Migrants fleeing conflict An Italian navy motor boat approaches a boat full of migrants making its way to Europe. The boat was carrying almost 600 people but some 30 died during the journey in June 2014 AP No, I dont begrudge those who mourn this brilliant musician and the social revolution he represented. The Purple Rain superstar also had fans across the Middle East. There are Arab Facebooks aplenty today expressing their sorrow at his death. But I do wonder if we are going too far. When network television presenters are expressing their condolences to the mayor of Minneapolis and the Eiffel Tower has turned purple, there must surely come a time when we ask ourselves if our sense of priorities has not lost all perspective. Could not one of those three dead children in Kabul have become a Prince? Or the children among the five hundred souls on the sinking Mediterranean boat? Could not he or she have become a superstar? How about a few presenters expressing their sorrow for their deaths, too? The colour would be black instead of purple, of course. The Eiffel Tower lights would have to be switched off. But this will not happen. Because Prince died this week. Leading management guru Dr Eddie Molloy has come up with the proposals to radically reform how credit unions operate. Photo: Declan Doherty A radical shake-up to make the credit union movement more like the GAA is to be voted on by members this weekend. The GAA is seen as hugely successful, with a strong central governance structure. Now credit unions are being urged to pool the assets of the movement, which amount to 13bn, and create a central organisation that would act collectively. The report recommends that the credit unions should model themselves on the GAA, by combining strong local units that make decisions centrally. This would allow them to take on the banks, but retain their local connections. It may finally clear the way for credit unions to offer mortgages. Leading management guru Dr Eddie Molloy has come up with the proposals to radically reform how credit unions operate. Delegates at the annual general meeting of the Irish League of Credit Unions will be asked this weekend in Limerick to approve a phased overhaul of how the movement operates. The ultimate aim, over a four-year period, would be to move to a situation where credit unions form a federated system, with a strong central structure. This is similar to the model successfully operated in Canada. In document labelled "confidential", Dr Molloy describes the credit union movement as a "sleeping giant" with huge financial resources, a priceless reputation for integrity and democratic control. But he outlines how it is massively under-achieving and is regarded by most senior members to be in relative decline. The document sets out in stark terms the pressures on credit unions. It says they: Suffer from very poor investment and savings returns; Face huge competition from banks; Are subject to restrictive regulation; Have too many older members; Fail to keep up with technological changes; Have no coherent IT strategy; And now face pressure from car manufacturers and distributors offering ultra low-cost finance deals. Threats Dr Molloy said there was concern that some people see credit unions as "the poor man's bank", with large numbers of credit union members being inactive. This means they do not take out loans or other services. The report says the "business model is underachieving". Each credit union is owned by its members and operates separately. They are loosely affiliated to the league, which is a representative body, but also provides financial services to credit unions and has a rescue fund. "The movement, because it lacks the coherence of a unified organisation, has not demonstrated agility to respond to game-changing external threats and opportunities over the past two decades," the report, called 'Re-awakening The Sleeping Giant', says. "Rules of affiliation have been ignored and are unenforceable," the report says. The Central Bank has earmarked about 1.7bn for payment to the Government, sources said last night. It represents the State's share of the Central Bank's annual surplus or profit and is in line with last year. The bank is due to publish its annual report on Wednesday, after the document is formally placed before the Oireachtas on Tuesday. Central banks normally make money by lending to commercial banks, but this year's annual report will be closely read for details of bonds it holds linked to the liquidation of the former Anglo Irish Bank. The controversial bonds - owed by taxpayers - replaced the notorious Anglo Irish bank promissory note. The Central Bank is under pressure from the ECB to sell the bonds, but when it does it destroys the cash raised while taxpayers must continue to pay interest to the new owners. Finance Minister Michael Noonan said this month that Central Bank sales are ahead of the minimum schedule laid out when the lender was liquidated. The Central Bank's stock of the bonds is now 22bn, Mr Noonan said this month. In 2014, holdings of the notes declined to 24.5bn the Central Bank said in its last annual report. In response to a parliamentary question from Fianna Fail finance spokesman Michael McGrath in February, Mr Noonan said interest income paid by the Irish Government on the bonds contributed 817.1m in 2013 and 859.4m in 2014 to the Central Bank's profits. Ultimately much of what was paid out by the Exchequer in interest on bonds was re-couped through the Central Bank. That's expected to drop to 669.9m for 2015. (Bloomberg) Profits at Quinn Industrial Holdings, part of the former manufacturing empire of Sean Quinn, hit 16.6m last year as its turnover surged 25pc to 203m. The earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) compared to the 6.2m in EBITDA the business earned in 2014. It made a profit before tax and exceptional items of 5.9m last year, compared to a loss of 14.6m a year earlier. The company's operations comprise the packaging and construction industry supply (CIS) businesses that were once part of the Quinn Group. The units were acquired in December 2014 from Aventas. The buyer was QBRC, a company that includes a group of former Quinn executives, and which was backed by existing Aventas financiers, including Brigade Capital, Contrarian Capital and Silver Point Capital. The former Quinn executives involved in the buyout include Liam McCaffrey, who is now chief executive of Quinn Industrial Holdings (QIH). He said that 2015 had been a "transformative year" for the group. "The continuing support of our investor group for QIH's ongoing capital investment programme marks a major endorsement of our strategic direction and future prospects and will assist in our target of delivering a further improvement in profitability and employment in 2016," he said. A death threat was made against Mr McCaffrey last month, while contractors working on former Quinn wind farms have been sent bullets in the post. A handwritten letter was sent to staff working for Danish energy firm Vestas warned them to "stay away" from a windfarm or "face the bullet" and noting it was a" final warning". QIH said that the business benefited from the strength of sterling last year. A significant proportion of its revenue is derived from the UK. But it added that underling margin improvements were achieved "across the board", despite the one-off impact of acquisition costs. QIH chief financial officer Dara O'Reilly said that the company now has a "solid platform for sustainable progress". "Both businesses are trading strongly year to date and we look forward to implementing the next phase of our strategic plan in the period ahead," he said. During the year, the average number of employees at QIH increased from 656 to 721. The group said that the average wage at the company also rose 5pc last year. The company plans capital investment totalling 14m this year. Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) - the Californian tech-to-life-sciences lender - has lent well over $50m to Irish tech start-ups in recent years and has now placed a permanent representative in Ireland for the first time. Gerald Brady, head of UK relationship banking with SVB, told the Irish Independent that the lender is well over halfway towards its target to lend $100m into Irish firms, but declined to give a specific figure. The bank has 14 companies that it is lending to in Ireland across the technology and life sciences sectors. He said SVB, as of January, has a permanent representative in Ireland such is the level of demand, and the level of opportunity. "We're well over $50m. We're a little faster than the pace that we thought we'd be, which is a good thing, and it's driven by the opportunities that we've seen," Mr Brady told the Irish Independent on the margins of the All-Ireland-US Sister Cities Mayors' Summit in Croke Park. Mr Brady said he believes SVB will hit the $100m target ahead of time and may go beyond it. "We've got clients and we see the opportunity here and we've got relationships that are requiring time," he said. Mr Brady heaped particular praise on Collison brothers, John and Patrick, who founded online payments company Stripe. They launched Stripe Atlas earlier this year, which lets budding entrepreneurs in developing countries begin trading online through a connection to a US bank account, online payment system (Stripe) and US incorporated company registration. To further this, Stripe has teamed up with a number of financial, legal and professional services firms, including SVB, which will provide banking services for Stripe Atlas Start-ups. "The Collison brothers are one of the best examples of Irish entrepreneurs in the world," Mr Brady said. "What they've done with Stripe is incredible. Stripe's become probably one of the most important payment companies in the world." Asked if SVB would consider expanding further its presence in Ireland, Mr Brady said the lender does not have a banking licence. But he added: "The intent is to grow. What we are in Ireland is we're regulated as a lender. We can't take deposits, because we don't have a banking licence as such ... but the intent over time would be to continue to build, add people and again, as I say, in terms of opportunity, that's the really limiting factor. "From our perspective, you've seen great quality opportunities, so I'm very convinced that we'll continue to see great entrepreneurs coming out of Ireland." SunEdison had splashed out $3.1bn on its expansion spree into the wind and solar sectors It was the expansion spree that burnt SunEdison. The world's biggest developer of clean-energy projects, SunEdison, had splashed out $3.1bn (2.7bn) - an amount that had already spooked investors and industry partners. And with SunEdison now in bankruptcy in the United States with $16bn (14bn) in liabilities, the company's collapse isn't reflective of the state of the renewables sector, say rivals. Indeed, in the US and Europe investment and interest in wind and solar energy remains strong. Irish firm Gaelectric, for instance, which is currently considering a sale of its wind farm assets for up to 350m, is attracting significant interest in the assets from potential buyers. Other renewables operators in Ireland, such as John Mullins' Amarenco solar firm, are also active. Amarenco wants to build 40 solar plants in Ireland. It also owns solar plants in France. Eddie O'Connor's Mainstream Renewable Power has been rolling out wind and solar farms across the world, in countries such as Chile and South Africa. The collapse of SunEdison says more about its "relentless pursuit of growth" than the solar industry as a whole, said Jenny Chase, chief solar analyst for Bloomberg New Energy Finance. She noted that other large developers such as First Solar have been profitable in recent years. SunEdison's restructuring may even benefit some other solar developers. "The issue with SunEdison was they tried to grow too fast and took on too much debt," Andrew de Pass, chief executive officer of Conergy, said in an interview. SunEdison is majority-owned by Kawa Capital Management, a Miami-based asset management firm that acquired assets of an insolvent German solar company three years ago. Conergy completed almost 500 megawatts of solar plants last year generating revenue of more than $500m and has "little" debt, he said. The biggest impact from SunEdison's bankruptcy could be the potential sales of project assets offered in what's already become a buyer's market. Conergy may bid on such assets with a partner, said Mr de Pass. Investment in the renewables industry hit a record $329bn last year, more than triple the investment of a decade ago, according to data compiled by Bloomberg New Energy Finance. Governments everywhere are stimulating renewables and ratcheting back support for fossil fuels after agreeing in Paris in December to limit the emissions causing global warming. That deal was signed by more than 160 countries yesterday at the UN headquarters in New York. "The strong outcome of the Paris agreement signals the beginning of the long term path towards decarbonisation through a range of critical areas including energy efficiency and renewable energy generation," said Gene Murtagh, the chief executive of Irish insulation firm Kingspan. "The future is brighter than ever," said Alan Russo, senior vice president of sales at REC Solar, a commercial solar installer backed by the US utility Duke Energy. GlassPoint Solar, which is developing systems to stimulate production of the most viscous grades of oil, said the industry is increasingly rivalling traditional fuels on price. The cost of solar and wind technology has tumbled it the past few years, stimulating demand. "The travails of one company will not stop the rise of solar power," said Rod MacGregor, co-founder of GlassPoint. "We stand at a watershed moment where solar technologies are both proven and economical in applications from rooftops to oilfields." (Bloomberg) Residents of a Dublin flats complex named after a 1916 volunteer have been told they cannot fly a tricolour in his honour as they may breach guidelines about flying the national flag. Neighbours in the George Reynolds House flats in Irishtown applied to Dublin City Council (DCC), which own their homes, to have a flagpole erected for the 2016 commemorations. Local man Tony Byrne has pledged to take responsibility for ensuring the flag is raised and lowered at the appropriate times, as laid out in guidelines drawn up by the Department of the Taoiseach. However, DCC said the residents could not erect a pole where compliance with the rules, which were agreed by the commemorations committee, could not be guaranteed. George Reynolds was a section commander of C Company, 3rd Battalion, of the Dublin Brigade. On Easter Monday, he was given command of Clanwilliam House, which was the last rebel post to fall during the Battle of Mount Street. He was one of three volunteers who died during the fighting there. Mr Byrne, who has lived in George Reynolds House for 22 years, said he had no problem sticking to the rules. "This year is supposed to be about the people who died in 1916," he said. "I love flying the Irish flag. The President has to pass here every time he has an event in the Aviva, so it would be lovely to have a flag raised on a flagpole for that too. "I'm willing to get up at 8am every morning and raise the flag, and take it down. If I'm not here, one of my neighbours or my son will do it." Local councillor Paddy McCartan said he was keen to see the idea rolled out as part of a pilot scheme. "The problem was that if this was done in one DCC complex then others would want it as well," he said. "I think it could be used as a pilot project, which could be reviewed in a year. I think it's a great idea in terms of civic pride. "There was a suggestion that we could get a plaque, but the residents want a flag and it will give a good sense of pride for them. "I think we'll get agreement for a pilot project. I'm going to pursue that, as my motion supporting the residents was agreed at the area committee. They are determined that it will come to fruition." Responding to Mr McCartan's motion, the council said: "Given the requirements set down by the Department of the Taoiseach, we do not recommend the flying of the flag on council property except in circumstances where compliance with the guidelines can be guaranteed. "Apart from the reservations expressed about flagpoles, any erection of a permanent structure in this area prevents many activities taking place, including the main Christmas tree erection, and blocks other themed community events that use that area throughout the year." The guidelines are not statutory requirements, so their observance is a matter for each person. In Article 7 of the Constitution, the guidelines say the tricolour is normally only displayed in the open from sunrise to sunset and that when being hoisted or lowered it should not touch the ground. Mr McCartan said the committee members, including Mr Byrne, were more than capable of following the guidelines, and the respect they will show towards the flag will be a marker for the younger generation living in the area. "If the guidelines weren't adhered to I'd be the first to say it isn't working and I'd only put my weight behind it if I was convinced the relative guidelines would be adhered to," he said. "This is the way the flag should be properly displayed and it's a very good example for young people and children to see the respect for the tricolour." Tomorrow's Rock Against Homelessness gig is a virtual sell-out, and organisers are urging people to get their tickets before they're all gone. While some space still remains, it's expected that demand will soar over the next 24 hours with a chance that all tickets could be snapped up when doors open at 7pm. Organised by Independent News and Media and MCD Productions, the concert in the Olympia will feature some of Ireland's finest musicians - with all proceeds going to One For Ireland. Irish performers Camille O'Sullivan, The Strypes and HamsandwicH will take to the stage on the night. They will also be joined by Le Galaxie, Something Happens, The Stunning, Mundy, Heathers, Roisin O and Brian Kennedy. Meanwhile, MTV presenter Laura Whitmore and Jedward will also be among the crowd in the Olympia on the night. Camille O'Sullivan said she would like to help in any way she could, adding: "It's good to be part of something pro-active and supportive." "Homelessness is heartbreaking to see and, sadly, seems to be getting worse," she continued. One For Ireland is a charity initiative that aims to raise money for homeless services throughout the country this month. It encourages people to give as little as 1, in a bid to raise at least 1m on one day, April 29. Organisations to benefit from the fundraising include the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul, the Peter McVerry Trust, the Irish Youth Foundation, the Simon Community and Focus Ireland. Niall McLoughlin, CEO of the Irish Youth Foundation, said: "The number of children and young people who are now homeless in our country has gone beyond shocking." Video of the Day "The speed at which this number is increasing is even more alarming," he added. According to figures from Focus Ireland, 85 families across Dublin became homeless in the month of March alone. The homeless charity added that the current housing crisis left 293 families and 600 children with no home in the first three months of the year. Tickets cost 25 and can be bought at www.ticketmaster.ie or by calling 0818 719 300. Leszek Sychulec (34) and Andrzej Gruchacz (35) had pleaded not guilty to murdering Mr Krupa at Bogganfin, Athlone, Co Roscommon., Stock photo: Getty Images/iStockphoto A cage fighter and another man have been found guilty of murdering a 23-year-old by beating him unconscious and leaving him to drown in the River Shannon. Polish-born Patryk Krupa drowned in the Shannon outside Athlone while incapacitated with a head injury from a violent assault on June 20, 2014. Leszek Sychulec (34), a Polish cage fighter with an address at Drinan, Ballymahon, Co Longford, and Andrzej Gruchacz (35), with an address in Warsaw, Poland, had pleaded not guilty to murdering Mr Krupa at Bogganfin, Athlone, Co Roscommon. The Central Criminal Court trial heard that Mr Krupa had been walking to the gym with two friends, when a black BMW stopped beside them and two men got out. One of these men head-butted one of Mr Krupa's friends before telling them to f**k off. They moved away as instructed and Mr Krupa disappeared down an alley with the men from the BMW. The trial heard the friends were concerned as they knew Mr Krupa owed some money to a man. They contacted Mr Krupa's pregnant girlfriend and the three began searching for him. They found the deceased floating face down in the Shannon. They tried to revive him but he couldn't be saved and was pronounced dead at the scene. The jury heard from a witness called Kuba Zmuda, who had been instructed by the two men in the BMW to find Mr Krupa. He said he was in the front passenger seat when the two men took their victim off Church Street in Athlone. Mr Zmuda said Mr Krupa was crying, "I pay", as they beat him. Mr Krupa's blood was found on Mr Sychulec's watch and sock. The jury reached a unanimous verdict after five hours deliberating. At the beginning of April, Pope Francis asked every Catholic church in Europe to take up a special collection for the people of war-torn Ukraine on 24 April. Photo: Reuters The country's largest Catholic diocese has been accused of hijacking the Pope's special collection for humanitarian relief in Ukraine which takes place in parishes across Ireland and Europe this weekend. At the beginning of April, Pope Francis asked every Catholic church in Europe to take up a special collection for the people of war-torn Ukraine on 24 April. Encouraging the faithful to make a generous contribution to the collection, the Pontiff explained on 3 April: "This gesture of charity, in addition to relieving material suffering, is intended to express my personal closeness and solidarity, and that of the entire Church, for Ukraine." However, in the archdiocese of Dublin, parishes have been told to divide contributions made to the second collection between the Pope's special Ukraine appeal and the weekly Share collection which supports diocesan agencies, the Bishops' Conference and poorer parishes. One Dublin parishioner has complained to both the papal nuncio and the archdiocese of Dublin - saying this is not in keeping with what the Pope planned. Michele McGowan, a parishioner in the Dublin parish of Lucan, told the Irish Independent that the Pope's effort for Ukraine was being "undermined" by this decision. "This is a great opportunity to show support and solidarity with Ukraine. However, the Dublin diocese is going to halve that collection with Share." She claimed the diocese was "hijacking the Pope's collection". Parishes in other dioceses usually have just one collection on a Sunday, so dedicating a second collection to Ukraine is easier to facilitate. A spokesperson for the archdiocese of Dublin told the Irish Independent that it has collected "in various different ways over the years for special collections". "Sometimes the diocese has simply made a donation, on other occasions there were church ground box collections," she said. In relation to Sunday's collection for Ukraine she said: "Parishes have been asked to provide separate boxes for the Ukraine collection in all churches to facilitate people who may not be present at Mass this Sunday and who wish to contribute to the collection or who would wish to give an additional contribution explicitly for the Ukraine." These boxes will be left all week in churches. But Michele McGowan said this still didn't deal with her criticism of the 50:50 division of the second collection, and her call for the Share collection to be set aside in favour of the Ukraine collection. She added that parishes were well used to seeing the Share collection set aside for special collections such as the Peter's Pence collection for the Pope's charities, and other collections for Accord, Crosscare and to support seminarians in Maynooth. "They do not divide those collections with Share," she highlighted. She added that she would have been happier if parishes were told to hold a third collection - because at least people could choose how much to give to Ukraine. NORTHERN Ireland fraudster Julia Holmes (63), and her Co Limerick lover Thomas Ruttle (56), died by inhaling fumes from a charcoal barbecue in a sealed bedroom in Mr Ruttle's house, gardai believe. The couples' badly decomposed bodies were discovered by members of a Traveller burglar gang who broke into the Ruttle family home in Askeaton, Co Limerick on May 18, last year. Expand Close Julia Holmes' decomposed body was found last Monday / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Julia Holmes' decomposed body was found last Monday A source has now revealed that the bedroom in which the bodies were discovered had been sealed from the inside, and that a burnt out charcoal BBQ was also found in the room. The body of Holmes, a grandmother, a serial fraudster and the subject of an international police hunt, was found lying next to Mr Ruttle. All indications point to a joint suicide pact. Due to the decomposition of the bodies gardai were investigating a number of possible causes of death, including fatal gunshot wounds, and liquid poisoning. Expand Close Julia Holmes (far right) with her second husband Clyde Parrish from Texas and her two step daughters, Kimberly (far left) and Rosalyn (top centre) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Julia Holmes (far right) with her second husband Clyde Parrish from Texas and her two step daughters, Kimberly (far left) and Rosalyn (top centre) Now, 11 months after their deaths, gardai believe Ms Holmes and Mr Ruttle died by carbon monoxide poisoning. A six-person jury at Newcastle West Coroner's Court will hear detailed evidence next Monday April 25. The first prisoner has been freed as the law on suspended sentences remains in chaos. Three others are now seeking to be released, after High Court Judge Michael Moriarty declared unconstitutional the provisions allowing for revocation of suspended sentences. But it will be next week until further clarity is given on the solution to the crisis. The prisoner who was released yesterday had received a three-year sentence in January 2014, with the last 12 months suspended, on a charge of theft. The man was released with the consent of the State, as lawyers said they were not standing over his detention. A High Court judge will next week clarify the scope of orders to be made following the significant judgment made last Tuesday. Even though it has been four days since that judgment, there is still no emergency legislation. Acting Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald has been cloistered in talks on the formation of a new government. A statement last night said she would be asking for approval of emergency legislation next week "with a view to it being enacted as soon as possible". But last night there was further confusion over the issue of activating suspended sentences. Just hours after the prisoner was released, Mr Justice Seamus Noonan was told an "issue" had arisen as to the exact scope of the orders Mr Justice Moriarty intends to make arising from his judgment. Those final orders were due to be made on May 5 but will now be addressed next Wednesday, said Shane Murphy SC, for the Governor of Portlaoise Prison. Counsel asked for an adjournment of a challenge by a prisoner to the lawfulness of his detention in Portlaoise. Mr Justice Noonan said he would adjourn, as the court could not decide the issues fully until there was further clarification. Earlier yesterday, Mr Justice Noonan had freed the first of the four prisoners seeking release, on foot of a challenge to the legality of his detention. It was brought under Article 40 which requires the immediate release of any person not detained in accordance with law. The man had previously been released having served the twoyear custodial term but again remanded in custody earlier this month, for the purposes of activating the suspended 12 months, after admitting a different offence. Following the striking down of the revocation power, he claimed he was unlawfully in custody. One of the three other people seeking release was previously jailed on robbery and firearms charges, another did time for drugs offences. The statement from the Department of Justice last night said that any issues that may arise at the Final Order hearing next Wednesday would be taken into account when it came to deciding on the issue of emergency legislation. It added that the relevant Section 99 of the Criminal Justice Act 2006 "has been under review in the Department and, as part of this, legal advices had been sought as part of the examination of the section". A man who strangled his brother with a bungee cord before hiding his body in a pit by the Cliffs of Moher has been found not guilty of his murder by reason of insanity. Declan O Cualain (41) with an address at An Caoran Beag, An Cheathru Rua, Co Galway was charged with murdering Adrian Folan (O'Cualain). At the Central Criminal Court Mr O Cualain pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to murdern at Lislorkin North, Liscannor, Co Clare on July 4, 2014. Prosecution Counsel, Anthony Sammon SC, said the accused was "fixated with paedophilia" and held the baseless delusion his brother was a person "afflicted with this difficulty". After a period of just 21 minutes deliberating, the jury returned their verdict Ms Justice Margaret Heneghan committed Mr O Cualain to the Central Mental Hospital, to be brought before the court on Thursday May 5. Talks aimed at forming a government have stalled unexpectedly after Fianna Fail refused to budge on its demand to suspend water charges. Acting Taoiseach Enda Kenny and Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin were last night drafted in to salvage the negotiations after their teams had a series of disagreements. The two parties had opposing views on four key issues, including rural funding, rent supplement and reversing cuts to career guidance in schools. However, the parties remain furthest apart on the deeply divisive issue of water charges. Last night, senior Fianna Fail sources warned the talks could collapse unless Fine Gael agrees to suspend charges for all households. Fine Gael's proposals, which would see 600,000 households escape water bills, "do not go far enough", according to one senior Fianna Fail figure. But a senior Fine Gael source insisted the party's proposals are "as far as we can go". Mr Kenny and Mr Martin were briefed by their respective teams before holding a "cordial chat" on the telephone. But following the breakdown of the talks, there was a marked change in the mood emanating from figures within both camps. "This is not at a crisis stage, but it is at its most difficult point," said one Fianna Fail source. The breakdown in talks came just hours after 39 TDs tabled a Dail motion calling for the suspension of charges. But in a further sign of the difficulties encountered at the negotiations, both parties admitted that differences remain on issues other than water charges. In relation to housing, the negotiators disagreed on rent supplement, which Fianna Fail wants to increase. However, the outgoing Government has previously warned such a move would be seized on by landlords, who would simply increase rent. The issues of homelessness and education also led to friction during yesterday's talks. Fianna Fail demanded cuts to guidance counselling in secondary schools be reversed. "We think it should be reinstated," a source said, adding: "it's still not resolved". Fianna Fail is said to want "more specifics" on plans to help disadvantaged rural areas. However, the disagreement over water is still perhaps the biggest gulf between the parties. Speaking after the talks adjourned at Trinity College, Fianna Fail negotiator Jim O'Callaghan said there were a number of issues "in respect of which we can't reach agreement". He added that he does not view the difficulties as being insurmountable. "If there's compromise on both sides they can be resolved but we have reached a stage where we've been talking for a while and there's a number of matters that haven't been resolved ... and we need further instructions from our respective leaders." Acting Transport Minister Paschal Donohoe said he believed agreement can be still be reached over the weekend. "There are difficult issues for both parties and that is why we believe now it is appropriate at this stage that we get instruction and guidance from our party leaders on these matters." It had been hoped that Fine Gael could conclude its talks with Fianna Fail about forming a minority government as early as today, before making renewed contact with Independent TDs. However, the adjournment in the talks between the two parties means this is now highly unlikely. Property funds have spent more than 1.9bn snapping up thousands of houses and apartments as the country grapples with the deepest housing crisis in its history. (Stock photo) Property funds have spent more than 1.9bn snapping up thousands of houses and apartments as the country grapples with the deepest housing crisis in its history. Entire streets and apartment blocks have been bought in multi-million euro deals as families struggle to buy a home and rental costs soar due to the lack of new homes coming onto the market. A special investigation by the Irish Independent shows that almost 9,000 units have been bought in some 300 deals since 2010, with properties purchased for as little as 6,000 each. The properties were sold despite the Government committing to tackling the growing housing crisis, including pledging to maximise delivery of units "owned by Nama or its debtors" for social housing and launching two major policy documents in 2014 aimed at solving the crisis. An analysis of the Property Price Register shows 1.906bn was spent, with the vast bulk of the homes - 7,500 in Dublin, Cork and Galway - bought in areas where demand is highest. Who's buying Ireland, Pages 4-5 GPS have expressed concern about the potential risks of a new scheme which will allow medical card patients to bypass their doctor and receive drugs and treatment from pharmacists for minor illnesses. (Stock image) GPs have expressed concern about the potential risks of a new scheme which will allow medical card patients to bypass their doctor and receive drugs and treatment from pharmacists for minor illnesses. The scheme, beginning on June 1, will mean medical card holders can be treated by their pharmacist for dry eye, dry skin, scabies, threadworms and thrush. A spokeswoman for the Irish Pharmacy Union (IPU), which is holding its annual conference today, said currently medical card holders with these conditions must attend their GP and obtain a prescription for a treatment, even when it is a non-prescription medication. "All available evidence supports the implementation of pharmacy-based treatment of minor ailments," she insisted. "Where appropriate, the patient will be referred to their GP." However, Dr Mark Murphy, spokesman for the Irish College of General Practitioners, said doctors were concerned that some patients may be under-diagnosed. GPs, unlike pharmacists, had the expertise of taking a medical history to ensure that serious illness in most cases was not overlooked, he insisted. "This is not the solution to under-resourced general practice or hospital overcrowding. "It ignores there may be market factors compelling pharmacists to suggest this pilot as pharmacists look to enhance their role after years of similar austerity measures to those which have created a crisis in general practice. Pharmacists will receive a per prescription fee for medications dispensed." It also "removes the separation of prescriber and dispenser roles, representing a shift in Irish health policy", he added. He welcomed the fact it was first starting on a pilot basis and would be assessed. An IPU-commissioned survey, released at the annual meeting in Dublin, said six in 10 people say they consult their pharmacist first before deciding whether to attend a GP. Struggling hospitals are facing a new financial crisis - after the HSE warned that it will impose fines of around 80m if they fail to meet targets to ease the trolley crisis, the Irish Independent has learned. Some groups of hospitals risk having around 12m in fines imposed in the coming months if senior health officials, who are due to make unannounced inspections next month, fail to see improvements in patient waiting times at emergency departments. However, the HSE and the Department of Health are refusing to divulge the individual financial penalties which each hospital is in danger of having to absorb. It remains unclear what implications this will have for patient services. And hospitals have been prevented from releasing the figures. A HSE spokesman confirmed that director general Tony O'Brien notified hospitals of the maximum fine they will face if they fail to implement eight actions. Despite the good weather and the reduction in flu, there were 357 patients on trolleys nationally yesterday, including 42 in Beaumont Hospital and 33 in both University College Hospital Galway and Tullamore Hospital. The proposed actions, which are ultimately aimed at cutting the numbers of patients in emergency departments who are on trolleys for more than nine hours, include discharging patients in wards over seven days. Hospitals also need to have specific policies in place to care for elderly patients on trolleys and cut the waiting times for "walking wounded" patients who can be treated and sent home. They have been set a series of deadlines for each action with most having to be met by the end of June. Surges The policy has been endorsed by acting Health Minister Leo Varadkar to address "surges in demand for emergency care". Financial sanctions would be imposed if necessary improvements were not made, he warned. The President of the Irish Medical Organisation (IMO), Dr John Duddy, condemned the political obsession with Irish Water when the health service should be top of the list in talks on forming a government. "Irish Water is being treated as a matter of life or death while the real issues of life or death are ignored," he said. The health budget faces a potential 500m shortfall. Meanwhile, State watchdog the Mental Health Commission has criticised the decision to divert funding out of the 35m ring-fenced for mental health services. Chairman John Saunders said "a key area of concern" was the staffing of community mental health teams. This had improved over the past few years, but there were still large gaps in teams for social workers, and other key staff. The coffin of Martin ORourke is carried to St Michans Church accompanied by a piper. Photo: Caroline Quinn Angeline Power looks at a picture of her late fiance Martin through the hearse window after the funeral in Dublin, which was attended by Taoiseach Enda Kenny. Photos: Caroline Quinn The daughter of innocent shooting victim Martin O'Rourke shared "one last dance" with her father before his coffin was taken for burial. The 24-year-old father-of-three became the latest victim in the deadly Hutch/Kinahan feud when he was was gunned down on Sheriff Street in a case of mistaken identity. Expand Close Tragic shooting victim Martin O'Rourke pictured with his partner Angelina Power / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Tragic shooting victim Martin O'Rourke pictured with his partner Angelina Power Yesterday, he was laid to rest following an emotional service which was attended by the Taoiseach Enda Kenny. His distraught fiancee Angeline blew a kiss to a picture of the innocent victim as the hearse brought him to his final resting place. Mr O'Rourke's young daughter also shared "one last dance" with her father before his coffin was removed from the church. The young girl was brought to the altar by another female relative, while the song 'Daddy's Girl' played from the church speakers. Expand Expand Previous Next Close Funeral of Martin O'Rourke. St Michans Church, Halston Streett, Dublin. Picture: Caroline Quinn Funeral of Martin O'Rourke. St Michans Church, Halston Streett, Dublin. Picture: Caroline Quinn / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Funeral of Martin O'Rourke. St Michans Church, Halston Streett, Dublin. Picture: Caroline Quinn She then embraced her father's coffin, before close relatives and family gathered around to console one another. Floral tributes with the words 'Uncle', 'Father' and 'Fiance' were brought to the altar. The congregation of around 100 mourners heard how Mr O'Rourke had been through "tragic times" in his 24 years, but that he was "on the right path". In his homily, Fr Derek Farrell condemned the recent outbreak of violence in the capital and quoted Archbishop Diarmuid when he said: "Could the repeated question of an innocent four-year-old child to her grieving mother, 'Where's Daddy?' fail to touch even such hearts?" "Martin was a young man who had very little really in life, but who had life and had a loving fiancee, children and friends, only to be so callously and brutally robbed of everything. "His one and only precious life has been taken. His family and friends' loved one has been taken. His fiancee's husband-to-be has been taken. "His children's daddy has been taken," he continued. "Many have said that Martin was at the 'wrong place at wrong time', but in the years ahead it will be important for his children to know that while he may have been at the wrong place, he was also on the right path. It will be important too to hear and keep the family's memories of the person they knew and loved." Fr Farrell spoke of how breaking news on TVs and social media screens told the nation of a "shocking, frightening, and tragic shooting of an innocent bystander on a Dublin street" on April 14. The emotional service took place at St Michan's Church, Halston Street in Dublin 7, yesterday morning before his remains were brought to Fingal Cemetery for burial. Among the congregation were Christy Burke, Janice Boylan, Joe Costello and several charity groups. McSavage told the court he refuses to pay the fee because he has questions around the standard of the national broadcasters shows. Photo: Courts Collins Comedian David McSavage has said he did not pay his TV licence because he had "genuine concerns" about the national broadcaster's use of taxpayers' money. The 49-year-old comic, who starred in RTE's 'The Savage Eye', appeared in court for not paying the 160 TV licence fee at his address at Kingsland Parade in Dublin 8 on May 7 last year. He launched a scathing attack on RTE, telling the court: "If a plumber provided as poor a service as RTE, they would go out of business. "RTE needs to stop embarrassing us with their awful output. It needs to reform, modernise and work harder before it can justify the outrageous high cost of the TV licence. "Because of this taxpayers' money, RTE is denied the opportunity to financially hit rock bottom and learn from their mistakes. "This is why RTE is an institution where people fail upwards and creatives go to die." Asked if he would work with RTE again, he said: "Who knows what the future holds? They should be knocking on my door." McSavage was given another chance to avoid jail for not paying his TV licence after a judge adjourned the case. An inspector told the court that he called to McSavage's house last May 7 and found he did not have a TV licence. The inspector told the court that a current TV licence had been paid on March 31, but that 115 arrears were owed. Judge John O'Neill said McSavage's reason for not paying the licence fee was not a "legal justification". McSavage told the court he would pay the arrears and Judge O'Neill adjourned the case until June 16. He warned McSavage that if the arrears are not paid, he runs the risk of a conviction. Prior to his appearance in court, McSavage had said he was prepared to take a stance and go to jail in protest at the poor quality of programmes on RTE. However, after the hearing at Dublin District Court, he told reporters: "It is one thing saying it, another thing doing it". McSavage said that he has not bought a licence and he did not know who had got it for him. "Unless," he added, "Ray D'Arcy bought one for me, he said he would." He also said he did not understand what happened during the proceedings in which Judge O'Neill gave McSavage a chance to pay 115 arrears and avoid a hefty fine along with a court conviction. Under the Broadcasting Act 2009, it is a prosecutable offence to be found in possession of an unlicensed television set. Fines for an unlicensed television set can be up to 1,000 for a first offence and 2,000 for subsequent offences. An incisive mind, a man of great wit and good humour and with a unrivalled insight into the Irish psyche, these were the tributes paid to esteemed journalist James Downey as hundreds gathered in the small Leitrim village of Dromahair for his funeral mass. His was a voice of integrity and that voice is now stilled, Fr John McTiernan told mourners. Addressing mourners at his funeral mass, his daughter Rachel told how journalism and politics had been his life blood and gave him so much joy. He used to say Rachel its not work, it s a privilege," she added. Expand Close Funeral Mass of journalist James Downey, St Patrick's Church, Dromahair, Co Leitrim. Photo Brian Farrell / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Funeral Mass of journalist James Downey, St Patrick's Church, Dromahair, Co Leitrim. Photo Brian Farrell She recalled the Irish Independent columnist as not only one of the finest journalists of our generation but also a brilliant teacher, a remarkable advisor and the best father we could ever have wished for. He became a journalist because he believed in a better world, one that is more equal, inclusive and based on social justice and saw journalism as a means to achieve this," she added. Mourners from the world of media and politics joined the family in paying their final respects to the journalist. Among them were Irish Independent editor Fionnan Sheahan, RTE's Tommie Gorman, Sean Whelan and former London editor Mike Burns and journalists David McKittrick, Dan White, Ciaran Byrne, Miriam Lord, Mary Maher, Conor O'Clery, Paddy Clancy and Gerry Thornley. Expand Close Funeral Mass of journalist James Downey Photo Brian Farrell / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Funeral Mass of journalist James Downey Photo Brian Farrell President Michael D Higgins was represented by his Aide de Camp Ltd Commander Patricia Butler, while former TDs Brendan Smith, Conor Lenihan, Declan Bree and Frank Feighan were also in attendance. Fr McTiernan told the congregation that the Lord had called James Downey gently home last Wednesday, just one day before his 53rd wedding anniversary. Describing him as a man with unrivalled insight into the Irish psyche and, a journalist with an encyclopedic knowledge of world news and public affairs he added: "we miss an incisive mind, a man of great wit and good humour, most of the time. Jim didnt suffer fools gladly but he didnt do humility when in full flight." "When he warmed to you he was wonderful company, especially over a glass of wine and there was always a memorable quotation to take away," he added. During the mass, his grandchildren Sean, James, Catherine and Colm read prayers of the faithful, praying for our political leaders that they would be inspired to govern the nation to justice and equality to all people, as James had worked tirelessly to achieve. His grandsons gave a rendition of Panis angelicus while his granddaughter Catherine played I Believe in Angels on the clarinet. The Director of Public Prosecution has directed that no charges be brought in relation to the death of teenager Anna (Ana) Maria Hick who died after reportedly taking ecstasy. Hick (18) from Northcote Terrace in Dun Laoghaire, Co Dublin collapsed outside the Twisted Pepper nightclub on Dublin's Middle Abbey Street on May 16, 2015 - two days before her 19th birthday. She was rushed to the Mater Hospital where she died the following day. The teenager's mother Elga Hick attended a brief inquest hearing at Dublin Coroner's Court as a date for a full inquest was set. A file was submitted to the DPP who directed that no charges be brought, Inspector Sharon Kennedy of Store Street Garda Station told the court. Ana, who had reportedly ingested three ecstasy tablets on a night out with friends, collapsed outside the nightclub at around 3am. Emergency services performed CPR at the scene amid efforts to save her life. She was rushed to the Mater Hospital and placed in intensive care unit. The teenager's condition deteriorated and she was pronounced dead surrounded by family around 5pm the following day, May 17. Ana had been out celebrating the end of her first year in college with friends when she collapsed. She was described as fun- loving, determined and ambitious in tributes from friends following her death. Coroner Dr Brian Farrell asked Ms Elga Hick if she had any questions ahead of the full inquest hearing into her daughter's death and she replied, no. The coroner adjourned the inquest until June 30, 2016 for full hearing. MARY Lou McDonald has accused Fianna Fail of borrowing its policy to get rid of water charges from Sinn Fein, telling leader Micheal Martin were scarlet for you. Addressing her partys Ard Fheis , Ms McDonald accused Fianna Fail of attempting to be Sinn Fein-lite and said imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. She said: Micheal Martin, as Dubs would say, were scarlet for you, and claimed his party is borrowing our policies for cynical electoral reason. The Sinn Fein deputy leader told him: we will hold you to that promise so scrap the water charges. Fianna Fail are insisting on the suspension of water charges in its ongoing talks about facilitating a Fine Gael minority government. Read More Several new TDs and candidates for the upcoming Assembly elections addressed the delegates at Sinn Feins Ard Fheis in Dublins Convention Centre. Stormont Assembly candidate for East Antrim Oliver McMullen said he wants the Wild Atlantic Way tourism initiative extended to countries in the North to encourage more visitors across the border. He suggested the tourist trail should include the Giants Causeway and praised the Wild Atlantic Way promotion as one of the most successful tourist initiatives in Ireland. The Atlantic Ocean doesnt stop at the border and the Wild Atlantic Way shouldnt stop at the border either, Mr McMullen said. Our island has good potential in attracting many more visitors from all over the world, he added and cited tourists travelling to the filming locations of of Game of Thrones in his own constituency and the renewed filming of another Star Wars movie in Kerry and Donegal this year. Later today the Ard Fheis will vote on motions relating to its goal of a united Ireland, on economic recovery and party development. During her speech this morning Dublin Central TD Ms McDonald said that in the year of the Centenary of 1916, the political establishment dont want to discuss partition which she described as the elephant in the room. The North is not a foreign land, she said adding her party will work to bring about the reconciliation of orange and green and end partition. Fionnan Sheahan Ireland Editor at Mediahuis. Fionnan writes news, analysis and comment on current affairs and politics for the Irish Independent and Independent.ie. He is a weekly columnist with the Irish Independent and a presenter of InFocus, the current affairs podcast from Independent.ie. A native of Thurles, Co Tipperary, Fionnan has won several awards for print and digital journalism from Newsbrands Ireland, the Law Society and the National Newspapers of Ireland, including National Journalist of the Year. Prior to his current role, Fionnans positions included Editor and Political Editor of the Irish Independent. He is a regular commentator on TV and radio. 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. Premium What will it take to unite Ireland? Opinions are divided There are those for whom Northern Ireland is a geographical fragment of the UK holding true to empire on its western flanks, and those for whom partition is a century-old wrong that must be overturned. Somewhere in the middle are the persuadables people willing to accept either unity or union, so long as the justification is logical. One way or another, the unity conversation is in the air. When Gerry Adams takes to the stage to deliver his keynote speech in the Convention Centre this evening, one television set in a small Co Armagh home will be quickly switched off. For in this home, located over 100km from the bright surroundings of the Dublin docklands, the mood is sombre and at times dark. The sole occupants are Stephen and Breege Quinn - a warm, gentle couple who continue to ask the question 'Why?' Why was their son Paul brutally murdered by the IRA in October 2007 - long after the terror group told us their campaign of violence had come to an end? And why did the gang of armed men resort to such barbarity by luring the 21-year-old to a shed in Co Monaghan before beating him to death with steel bars and truncheons studded with nails? Of course, Stephen and Breege know they will never receive the answers to these questions. But they do believe one of the country's most senior political leaders has the contacts and the capacity to at least help them to get some closure following their loved one's murder. "Gerry Adams has to know something or somebody," Stephen told the Irish Independent last night. "But he doesn't seem to care about what happened to our son. He has never even picked up the phone to us," he added. The Quinn family, the McConville children, Austin Stack and Mairia Cahill all believe Adams knows more about some unsolved crimes and atrocities than he lets on. It is therefore extraordinary that a politician carrying so much baggage could remain so comfortably at the helm of the Sinn Fein party for as long as he wishes. But to explain why Adams possesses a cult-leader status in the republican movement requires a deep understanding of the current Sinn Fein psyche. Internally, the appetite for a new leader is virtually non-existent. In fact, there is a deep-rooted fear that life after Adams could drive the party into a period of stagnation, or worse, a crisis. Adams is the only southern figurehead deemed capable of dealing with a rise of IRA activity, if one occurs. He is treated like a celebrity in the US - which is vital for the party's massive fundraising drive. And with many political challenges still facing Stormont, Sinn Fein figures believe the time for Adams's departure has not yet arrived. But if, as we believe, an exit strategy is being put in place, perhaps now is the time for Adams to show courage and step up to the plate. The deep wounds that were caused by his Republican associates remain as raw today as ever. The story of Paul Quinn is just one of a catalogue of examples. In France, they call it 'Le Brexit', and the possibility of it happening has prompted an odd mix of alarm, ambivalence and applause across the Channel. With just over two months to go before the referendum that will determine whether the UK remains in the European Union (EU), French President Francois Hollande and Prime Minister Manuel Valls have warned that the tremors from a Brexit would be felt in France and throughout the bloc. French economy minister Emmanuel Macron told a conference in London this week that leaving the EU would make the UK "just like Hong Kong, Jersey or Guernsey". He warned: "Leave the club and you'll be alone." Macron has also claimed that a Brexit could upend the 2003 bilateral Le Touquet treaty, which set down a system whereby British police carry out passport checks in France while their French counterparts can conduct their own controls in Dover. The minister argued that if this happens, the migrant camps in Calais could become a reality across the Channel in Kent. Many in the French business elite are uneasy about the possible impact of a Brexit - some believe that having the UK in the EU helps counter the more statist leanings of France and other countries. Henri de Castries, chief executive of insurance firm Axa, said the British referendum was akin to playing Russian roulette "with maybe not six bullets in the gun - but at least four." But attitudes among the general public here are far more ambivalent. A new opinion poll for 'Le Figaro' newspaper shows 50pc of French respondents are against a Brexit. Earlier this year, a study by the University of Edinburgh found that the French were keener on the UK leaving the EU than any other nationality in the bloc, with 44pc wanting it to withdraw. Attitudes seem to have hardened in the run-up to the vote - another poll showed a similar number of French believe that the UK is a problem for the EU, compared to just 7pc sharing that view last year. The tabloid 'Le Parisien', commenting on another survey with similar results, said the figures showed that "Britain will always be seen in France as the perfidious Albion." Meanwhile, France's far-right and Eurosceptic National Front party, whose support base has expanded greatly over the past year, is cheering for the UK to leave the EU. Its leader Marine Le Pen, who is planning to visit the UK to campaign in favour of a Brexit, wants British voters to opt for withdrawing because she hopes such a move would trigger a chain reaction across the bloc. A recent poll showing that 53pc of the French would like to have their own referendum on EU membership was applauded by Le Pen. Given the opportunity to vote, 44pc of respondents said they would stay, 33pc would leave and the remainder were unsure. Some French who do not fall into the National Front or the wider Eurosceptic camp, but still wish for the UK to leave the EU, argue that such a move would make the bloc "more French" and therefore should be seen as an opportunity for France. Such views summon the ghost of Charles de Gaulle, who, as French president in the 1960s, vetoed the UK's request to join the EU's forerunner. De Gaulle envisaged the then nascent European project as based mainly on Franco-German co-operation and was wary of the UK's ties with the US. While the French government's official line is that it wants the UK to stay in the EU, some mandarins are privately more ambivalent, particularly those who have always seen the UK as an obstacle to deeper integration. Another facet of the debate in France is the question of the British diaspora there. Some 300,000 Britons live in France, many of them retirees. They fret about what a possible departure from the EU might mean for their right to stay and work, plus their access to healthcare and public services. If the UK votes to leave on June 23, it will prompt lengthy negotiations, including over the rights of British citizens living in the bloc. Some Britons in France are already seeking French citizenship in case their legal status is imperilled. "The problem is no one really knows which way this might go," says one British expat living in the south of France. "We're taking no chances." Now don't freak when I tell you this, but I miss the Dail. Not, you understand, because of its ability to solve complex social problems or create housing for the thousands of homeless - we're all well aware those kind of fantasy aspirations are far beyond the capabilities of our elected officials. No, what I really miss, after nearly 60 days of deadlock, is the cajoling, chicanery and codology we get in daily doses from Leinster House. It's our very own emerald reality soap - complete with 158 play actors, each on a yearly mimimum of almost 90,000. Only last week, one of the great Gielguds of the chamber emerged briefly from retirement to remind us of the acute verbal dexterity we no longer enjoy. Bertie-isms such as "We're not going to hang anyone on the guillotine" have long since passed into legend. And his observation that "At present, I have my hand in a whole lot of dykes, trying to keep them in and keep people together" will surely be used as a referendum slogan somewhere in the world some day. But for sagacity and judiciousness, could anything beat this multiple negative in response to a question during the Mahon Tribunal: "It is not correct, if I said so I wasn't correct, so I can't recall if I did say, but I did not say it, and if I did say it I didn't mean to say it." Regardless of where you stand on his legacy, there's no escaping the long shadow cast by one CJ Haughey when it comes to the more arresting moments of modern Irish political life. Famous for the Charvet shirts and "living beyond our means" gaffes of the 1980s, Charlie had a tongue on him that would make a viper recoil. His description of Conor Cruise O'Brien as a minister being "like a lighthouse in a bog, brilliant but useless" was a classic. But not to be outdone, The Cruiser fired back: "I regret that I called Deputy Haughey a gentleman and can give him my assurance that it will never happen again." CJ once berated a Senator so badly the poor man forgot where the exit door was. "Try the f--ing window," his master barked helpfully. Newsman Leo Enright fairly summed up the Haughey mystique when he said, "I have a theory about Charlie. If you give him enough rope, he'll hang you." Whatever about the world of UFC, an ability to roll with the punches is key to survival in the octagon of Dail Eireann. Hit the canvass at your peril. Here's what I mean: "The prospect of Fianna Fail examining the impact of the Maastricht Protocol on the Irish Constitution is like a chimpanzee with a screwdriver at the back of a television set," was a straight left delivered by Michael McDowell. The late Jim Kemmy floored many, especially when taking on fellow Treaty City inhabitant Willie O'Dea: "Mighty Mouse in Limerick and church mouse in the Dail." No slouch himself at slinging a decent zinger, his observation on Enda is classic O'Dea: "It's very hard to take criticism from somebody who, in so far as I can make out, never had an original thought in his head, never came up with an original idea, and if he does come up with one in the future, it will be beginner's luck." And, proving the sons of the Kingdom have a way with words, Jackie Healy-Rae gave his opinion on coalescing with the Progressive Democrats with this: "I wouldn't share power with them on a sheep dip committee." In the end, when it comes to old-style put-downs, Michael Noonan has long proven himself the Obi-Wan of Dail Eireann: "You're like the auld fella walking up and down the boundaries of the ballroom of romance saying he'll dance with nobody across the floor," he jibed at Sinn Fein's reticence to form a government. "But sure the truth of the matter is that nobody wants to dance with him either." It's impossible to pick the top put-down of all time, but James Dillon's retort to De Valera's impugning of his family's patriotism is a true classic: "I'll have you know, sir, that my father, John Dillon, and my grandfather, John Blake Dillon, gave of their gallant best for this country while your ancestors, sir, were bartering budgerigars in the back alleys of Barcelona." So kiss, make up and form a government, people - we sorely need the laughs. SOLVING any crisis takes time, but it seems to be manifestly wrong that investors can buy up housing when a country's citizens cannot purchase or rent a home to call their own at an affordable price. The figures outlined today show that the wheels of commerce continued to turn when the country was experiencing its darkest hours. Spotting an opportunity, property funds went on a spending spree. They were investing billions of euro when the government was desperately trying to ramp up delivery of social houses and kick-start the construction industry. But these figures are only one part of the story. It is understood that on top of the 9,000 units purchased since 2010 across most counties, property funds also bought more than 30,000 mortgages on buy to let properties - meaning they control in the region of 40,000 houses and apartments. The spending really began to take flight from 2012, when more than 120m was invested. It's probably no coincidence that this is around the time that property prices and rental costs began to rise, according to data from the Central Statistics Office and Private Residential Tenancies Board. But what to do? Very little legally, it seems. While some, including acting Environment Minister Alan Kelly, have suggested that property rights are the problem, legal sources suggest that the State simply cannot ride roughshod over the constitution. A legal entity, such as a company, has rights too, including the right to equality before the law. While banning investors from buying anything may seem to be an easy solution, it's far more complicated than that. Aside from the fact that the investment made by some of these funds was welcomed at the time, particularly those who plan to remain in the market over the longer term and provide a decent standard of rental accommodation, it sticks in the craw that units were bought for as little as 6,000. The question is why the State didn't snap up these homes, complete the developments, and sell some on the private market and use others for social housing to create mixed-tenure communities. There's a number of reasons why. County managers would suggest that part of the problem was the fact that approval was needed from the Department of the Environment was needed before units could be bought on the open market. If that sale was happening in a tight timeframe, the council inevitably lost out because it couldn't move quickly enough. The system has since been changed so only one approval is needed for purchases of 15 units or sales of 2m or less, but it's a layer of bureaucracy the private sector needs not cope with. But there's deeper issues. If an apartment block for sale has sitting tenants, there isn't funding available to councils to purchase these units. In one case, a Dublin apartment block was for sale for 3.5m, but half the units were occupied. The local authority could have purchased the block outright, providing much needed homes in a mixed-tenure community, but the sale never went ahead because of the private tenants. The block sold shortly after for 5.5m to an investor. What's really needed is an agency with experience and commercial staff - some of which could readily be found in Nama - with the ability to write a cheque and decide what to do with the units after the purchase goes ahead, allowing it compete with the private sector and help solve this crisis. A snazzy Sinn Fein ard fheis on the eve of the actual 100th anniversary of the Easter Rising is typical of Gerry Adams's sense of theatre and history. The party president has always harboured ambitious ideas of how future generations would view him. When compared in September 1994 to Michael Collins, another republican who made a historic compromise with the British, Adams grandly retorted, "He didn't end partition". Putting Adams on a par with Collins may have been excusable in those heady days immediately after the IRA ceasefire. Now, it's just plain daft. The 31-year-old soldier turned statesman was cut down in his prime, long before his potential was realised. The record of Sinn Fein's pensioner president - still stubbornly clinging onto his position after 33 years in office - is there for all to see. Gerry Adams's achievements are in many ways remarkable. He pulled off the impossible. He persuaded the IRA to end its campaign without any movement towards a British withdrawal - to effectively accept partition; he took his party into government at Stormont; and he reached hero-like status in the North. In the Republic, it has been a different tale. Although a success story in his own Louth constituency, away from Border areas he is more of a hindrance than a help to his party. Despite the cards falling perfectly for Sinn Fein in February's election, it failed to make the big breakthrough expected. A 13.8pc vote represented steady, not spectacular, progress. Sinn Fein didn't replace Fianna Fail as the main opposition party, and it hasn't entered government either. It inhabits a political no- man's land. Fianna Fail has proved a far more capable and ruthless rival than the SDLP ever was. Adams's limitations as a political leader were thoroughly exposed by Micheal Martin, who emerged the clear winner in their election debates. The media in the North had for far too long indulged and pussy-footed around the Sinn Fein president. He has not got away with the same evasions and ambiguities in the Republic. And, when he is challenged by interviewers, we see that he is not the sharp, intelligent performer than he was once hailed as. He is exposed as distinctly mediocre. Yet Adams undoubtedly has profited his party. Back in 1983, when he took the reins of power, Sinn Fein was run on a shoe-string and so it continued for a decade. Clad in denim and duffel coats, its leaders had scarlet pimpernel type existences. They had few friends beyond the ghetto. Sinn Fein operated from dingy, wire-caged offices. Its small support circle stretched only to the British 'loony left' and die-hards in Brooklyn and the Bronx. Trips abroad consisted of attending solidarity conferences in far-flung places with equally marginalised foreign revolutionaries. Today, it's all very different. Sinn Fein is the wealthiest party on this island. Its premises are plush and hi-tech. Film stars and billionaires line up to shake hands with Adams. Carly Simon even serenaded him at a birthday party in a Greenwich Village nightclub. The Sinn Fein president enjoys a holiday home in Donegal and he was able to jet off to the US for medical treatment, with the tab being picked up by a rich American benefactor. He's come a long way for a guy who was pulling pints in the Duke of York pub in Belfast city centre at the start of the Troubles. But unfortunately the rising tide that has improved the personal position of Adams and other prominent Sinn Fein figures hasn't lifted people in the communities from which they came. Despite all its radical rhetoric in the Republic, Sinn Fein's record is abysmal in securing social and economic justice for its constituents across the Border. Almost 40pc of children in west Belfast live in poverty and the same proportion of adults have no qualifications. The area has the lowest life expectancy rate in the North. Of all the jobs promoted by the government, less than 2pc end up in west Belfast. This can't be blamed on the Brits. Adams's history of improving the lot of those he speaks so sentimentally about - the "people of no property" - is atrocious. Even in the North, where he once enjoyed the undying adulation of his community, the gloss is slowly wearing thin. Although still a minority, you will find more and more people in working-class republican areas speaking scathingly of Adams and co. Sinn Fein is set to remain the largest nationalist party in the North for the foreseeable future, but it is facing new challenges. In last year's Westminster election, its vote fell by an unprecedented 17pc in west Belfast, where People Before Profit has been making waves with its young politician, Gerry Carroll, who is set to be elected to Stormont in next month's Assembly elections. But when considering Adams's legacy, it's apt to return to his own retort in 1994 about Michael Collins - "He didn't end partition". Well, the Sinn Fein president certainly hasn't either and he's had a considerably longer time than Collins to try. In the early days of the peace process, he repeatedly promised a united Ireland by 2016. How hollow those pledges sound now. Irish unity is not even on the agenda and, as former IRA prisoner Anthony McIntyre quipped, only someone with "a ballot box in one hand and a white stick in the other" would believe differently. Adams has taken a dangerous, militant movement dedicated to smashing the state - which the IRA and Sinn Fein was - and transformed it into an outfit accepting the constitutional status quo on this island. For doing that, all those who cherish peace must be eternally grateful. And while he will cast himself as a revolutionary republican this weekend, his own personal self-advancement is down to abandoning the most fundamental tenets of that tradition. 'The acquiescence of the State in facilitating the firesale of thousands of houses and apartments, some for as little as 6,000 each, will in time be recognised as a monumental blunder' Ireland and its relationship to property is conclusive proof that history repeats itself first as tragedy, second as farce. In the wake of the Famine in 1849, the Encumbered Estates' Court came into being, enabling the mass sale of Irish estates whose owners were swamped with debt. At that time, the country was an impoverished colony of Britain. Today, we have our independence and there can be no excuses, such as blaming absentee landlords or peers stupefied by port and louche living, for our plight. The acquiescence of the State in facilitating the firesale of thousands of houses and apartments, some for as little as 6,000 each, will in time be recognised as a monumental blunder. It is staggering to think that this has happened since 2010; after the government had resolved to solve the escalating housing crisis, and committed to maximising delivery of units "owned by Nama or its debtors" for social housing. Today we reveal how property funds have been able to swoop on residential units worth almost 2bn. Has there ever been a more glaring demonstration of a Government presiding over a policy so fundamentally at odds with its own ends? The consequences of all of this have undoubtedly contributed to the unprecedented housing and homeless crises. It has also contributed to families all over the country being left unable to afford to rent, let alone buy, a home. In allowing these funds to hoover up property, rather than stepping in and procuring it for the State, we have snuffed out the dream of property ownership for generations. There is an overwhelming need for a coherent plan on housing. By failing to encourage and support the possibility of home ownership, we have built a systemic problem into the future. Nama's recent commitments on the development of residential property will smack to many of a belated bolting of the stable door, after the horse has been sold for a song. It all adds up to much too little, far too late. Before a ban or regulation of MMA is introduced in Ireland, given the lack of progress on the formation of a government, might it be an idea for representatives of Fine Gael and Fianna Fail to resolve the matter not in the Dail, but in the octagon? Then we'd see some genuine engagement. Instead of a guarantee of three to five budgets, there would be a guarantee of three five-minute rounds - much more efficient. I see both sides trying to occupy the middle ground. It's quite likely that there would be liberal use of the guillotine, not to mention the whip (which might breach even MMA rules), but on the other hand, we might see a few submissions. Fianna Fail would of course be awarded the interim title (now that it can't have the real one). They might be short on numbers, but Fine Gael could second some of its TDs to Fianna Fail to even things up (everyone knows the difference between them is akin to the difference between the violin and the fiddle anyway). Of course, MMA terminology would have to be explained to any would-be protagonists. For example, it would have to be clarified that 'striking' has nothing to do with Luas workers and that a 'tap-out' has nothing to do with the Dail bar. Finally, I suggest both sides are denied use of any private health insurance until the crisis in the health service is addressed, and all fluids until they agree on a plan for Irish Water. Rob Sadlier Rathfarnham, Dublin 16 System is fine - for politicians As we enter the ninth week of political squabbling, the only options for government are one led by Fine Gael (which was soundly rejected in the last election) or by Fianna Fail (which was soundly rejected in the previous election). Apparently, the major stumbling block to agreement is water charges (imposed by Fine Gael and originally promised by Fianna Fail). Whilst these facts may suggest that our system is somewhat bizarre, nothing could be further from the truth - the system is well designed to serve politicians rather then the people. Anyone for a directly-elected executive? Norman FitzGerald Taylors Hill, Galway Littering is a capital crime I visited Howth summit in Dublin last week for the first time in maybe 20 years and I was just appalled by the litter scattered everywhere. The sun was warm, the furze was glowing, the view was spectacular - but oh, the litter. There were no bins as far as I could see and no signs telling people to take their litter home. Business in Howth benefits greatly from visitors. We had a fantastic lunch, and surely three or four people could take it in turn to go up there each week and clean the place up. Litter is a problem for all of us. Contrast this with Baltimore, Co Cork, and the surrounding area, where in a week we have seen no litter and where one is very aware that littering is not acceptable. Our seas and oceans are choking with litter, especially plastic. Our poor old planet is groaning under the weight of it and we must not add to it. Maura Richards Tunbridge Wells, Kent, England Kenny's words were last straw I see that Fine Gael (and their fellow travellers Fianna Fail) are continuing to treat the electorate with utter contempt. I seem to recall that they categorically stated that "Europe" insisted that Irish Water be a private company. Now it seems that this rule can be ignored to put these devious, corrupt megalomaniacs back in place to pander further to their financiers. Although I expect to hear that 'the Troika' will have told them to form a government at any expense, and will have permitted this stroke. My eyes well up when I remember my father and his brothers, Fine Gael to the end. One of them as a boy fought the Black and Tans, and because of Enda Kenny's clownish assertion that we are all too stupid to understand "economic jargon... which people don't understand", I for the first time in my life gave no vote to any Fine Gael candidate. Enough is enough. James O'Brien Shannon, Co Clare Create jobs and build homes We are coming out of the worst recession in decades. The building industry was destroyed. I would have thought the Government would do all in its power to employ as many builders, electricians, plumbers and other trades-people as possible to kick-start the economy, and at the same time provide homes for the thousands who desperately need one. Anything would be better than the millions being squandered having families staying in hotels. Aine O'Duinneacha Address with editor We need an end to 'Enda-isms' I see the Advertising Standards Authority of Ireland (ASAI) complaints committee has ruled that Toyota should stop using its 'Best Built Cars in the World' slogan. What we need is a watchdog to keep us safe from political slogans and 'Enda-isms' such as "Let's keep the recovery going" and "Paddy likes to know what the story is". Damien Carroll Kingswood Dublin 24 Treat all cancer patients fairly Reading Eilish O'Regan's piece on the surge in delays for vital bowel cancer testing (Irish Independent, April 16), figures from the Irish Cancer Society revealed that the number of public patients waiting over three months for a colonoscopy has reached a record high of 4,343 on the last day of March. These people are in danger of delayed diagnosis and are missing immediate life-saving treatments. Private patients can have this test done in 12 days. This imbalance must be addressed by the incoming government in the 2016-2025 cancer strategy, to ensure all cancer patients get equal access to treatment. Tom Towey, Cloonacool, Co Sligo. From Civil War to water war The Civil War was caused by failure to agree with an English directive on partition and affected our rights as a nation to freedom in the 20th century. After much fighting amongst ourselves, we eventually agreed to a watered down variation of that ultimatum. The divisive results of that conflict are still with us today. Comparably, the Irish Water war was caused by a failure to agree with an EU directive/regulation on extra water charges and our rights to life-essential water. Again, after in-fighting, will we agree to a 'watered down' variation of another ultimatum? And will the divisive results of the water charges conflict still be with us in 22nd century ? Canice Smyth Harristown, Navan, Co Meath In his last film, Alan Rickman delivers yet another tightly-coiled performance The art of modern warfare is no longer consigned to battlefields on the ground. Devastating missile attacks, pinpointed by drones, have allowed politicians to strike at the heart of supposed terrorist networks without having to stare into the whites of the enemies' eyes. Yet with greater power comes crushing responsibility - all technology is prone to error and one misplaced explosion can be exploited as propaganda to intensify the cycle of violence. 'Revolutions are fuelled by postings on YouTube,' observes one nervous politician in Eye In the Sky, an intelligent and timely thriller that asks if there is such a thing as acceptable collateral damage in the pursuit of global freedom. Gavin Hood's nerve-racking film, tightly scripted by Guy Hibbert, doesn't have the answer to that complex moral conundrum. Instead, events on screen put the characters - and us - through the emotional wringer as a joint American and British taskforce decides if the slaughter of one innocent child is a tolerable consequence of neutralising a jihadist cell. Operation Cobra has been tracking radicalised British men and women linked to the Somali group al-Shabaab. One high-profile target, Susan Danford (Lex King), is under surveillance at a house in Kenya, monitored by agents including Jama Farah (Barkhad Abdi). Lieutenant General Frank Benson (Alan Rickman) takes control of the operation from London, while Foreign Secretary James Willett (Iain Glen), who is at an arms fair in Singapore, watches a live video feed from a US drone piloted by Steve Watts (Aaron Paul) in Nevada. At a command base in Sussex, Colonel Katherine Powell (Helen Mirren) has a direct link to Watts and explains that the objective is 'to capture not kill'. When covert footage reveals targets in the house are wearing suicide vests primed for an imminent attack, priorities change. The clock is ticking and politicians on both sides of the Atlantic deliberate. Meanwhile, Watts and his spotter, Airman Carrie Gershon (Phoebe Fox), notice a nine-year-old girl (Aisha Takow) selling bread near the target house, who would be killed in a missile strike. Eye In the Sky is dedicated to Rickman. He delivers a tightly coiled performance as the go-between who needs political and legal assent before issuing his command. Mirren is in equally imperious form while Paul exudes the anguish of a man wrestling with the consequences of defying orders. Hibbert's lean script envisions an almost tragi-comic contrast between the Brits, who repeatedly refer up the chain of command, and the unflinching Americans. This gallows humour dissipates some of the suffocating tension. With the precision of a drone missile, Hood's film begs uncomfortable questions about matters of life and death, when they can be distilled to the squeeze of a joystick trigger in an air-conditioned cubicle thousands of miles from the intended kill zone. Rating: 8/10 Green Party Leader and TD for Dublin Bay South, Eamon Ryan is to be the guest speaker at a public meeting on the 'Threat of Brexit and European Disintegration' being held the Town Hall in Dundalk at 8pm on Tuesday April 26. The meeting is being organised by the Louth East Meath Green Party constituency group. And it is thanks to Mr Ryan's colleague, Cllr. Mark Dearey, that the meeting is taking place in the Town Hall at all, after a motion, laid down at Dundalk Municipal District Committee, was passed by colleagues that recommended the listing of the 34-year ban on political parties using the hall. Members of Dundalk District Council agreed to ban political meetings in the Town Hall in 1982 after Sinn Fein booked it for an Ard Fheis. The ban lasted more than 30 years until Cllr. Dearey asked that the council recommend to the board of An Tain Theatre, who now run bookings in the Town Hall, to remove it. The Tain Theatre board lifted the ban earlier this year and the Green Party is the first party to hold a public meeting there. Cllr. Dearey said that the passing of the motion to lift the ban means that 'the Town Hall can become a hub, in the middle of the town, for public debate and discourse'. On the Brexit meeting, Cllr. Dearey said: 'The implications of a British withdrawal from the EU will be profound for the country and particularly for the border counties, politically, culturally and economically. 'There has been very little local debate so far or on how we can have our voice heard across the border and across the water. But the prospect, for the first time of having an external EU border running from Carlingford Lough to Lough Foyle needs to be understood and resisted. The Greens will launch their 'Canvass your Cousin' campaign, urging people to send a postcard or email relations in the UK and the North highlighting the importance to Ireland of Britain remaining within the EU. Everyone is welcome to attend and there will be an opportunity for contributions from the floor. Christina Kenny (right) with her mum Alison who passed away last December A Dundalk woman has called for local people to show their support for Cystic Fibrosis awareness week, following her mum's sad death from the illness last year. Christina Kenny (22) lost her mum Alison to Cystic Fibrosis (CF) in December 2015, after a lifetime battle against the disease. At 45 years old, Alison, from Ath Leathan, had lived longer than many people diagnosed with the disease that sadly cuts young lives short. Now, Christina has taken on the challenge her mother spearheaded to raise awareness and funding for vital research into the condition that primarily affects the lungs and digestive system. Ireland has the highest incidence of CF in the world, with one in 19 Irish people said to 'carry' one copy of the altered gene that causes the disease to develop. 'This week is '65 roses week', CF national awareness week,' explained Christina. 'People can donate two euro by texting '65ROSES' to 50300 or buy a purple rose, which are being sold all over the country this week.' She explained that the money goes towards various grants for CF patients for things like fertility treatment, medical equipment, research and education. As her mother had always been a tireless campaigner for CF awareness Christina said she also wanted to add her voice to those campaigning to increase public awareness about the disease. Indeed, she has just started her PhD in Queen's University in Belfast, specialising in research on Cystic Fibrosis, and last weekend she spoke at the CF Ireland annual conference about her experiences growing up with a mum who was battling the condition. Christina added that despite her ill health, her mother always encouraged her to follow her dreams. She always encouraged me to go to college, to do what I wanted,' continues Christina. 'I am so appreciative that I got to know her as an adult. I know how precious time is and to grab life when it comes.' The 1916 centenary celebrations saw a tea-tastic time for the young pupils of Scoil Naomh Lorcan, Omeath! The pupils, parents and staff of the north Louth school hosted a centenary concert and a 1916 tea party to commemorate the historic event. A spokeswoman for the school explained that 'a lot of effort and preparation was put into both events by pupils, parents and staff.' Scoil Naomh Lorcan began the celebrations with a concert, which filled the Dolmen Theatre with the sound of poignant music from the era. Music teacher Ruth McPhilips helped the children prepare the songs for the event which they proudly performed in front of parents, staff, past pupils and the entire community. The school celebrated Proclamation Day with a 1916 themed tea party, where the pupils dressed in outfits, also from the early 20th century era, to serve up tea and cake to their parents and teachers! The enthusiastic young students even baked all of the food themselves before turning waiters for the day at the tea party. 'The whole school got involved, even the pre school children, and they all really embraced the theme.' The event was held just before the school proudly raised the flag at 12 midday to mark the historic 100 years since the historic moment in Irish history. And the celebrations didn't end there, as Scoil Naomh Lorcan prepare to stage a theatre production in honour of the Easter Rising. The school are working with Louth County Council's art office on the play to commemorate the events of 1916. It is set to be staged in the school on Wednesday May 11th when all parents and staff are welcome to go along. Meanwhile, there are a number of events planned this weekend to commemorate the exact 100th anniversary of the 1916 Rising. On Friday, members of the Dundalk 1916 Relatives' Committee will present their specially-commissioned medals to the families of the men who mobilised in Louth on Easter Sunday 1916 at an invitation only event at the Town Hall on Friday. Also on Friday, Dundalk artist Carol Wallace will launch her exhibition, 'A Nation Rises', featuring portraits of the 16 men executed in the aftermath of the Rising, at the County Museum. On Sunday, there will be a march from the Boyle O'Reilly Hall in Clanbrassil Street to Courthouse Square where a wreath will be laid and later that afternoon, in Dublin, the Reclaim 1916 pageant and parade will feature relatives from Louth. Full details see pages 10 and 11. The historic input of a group of brave fire-fighters from Louth who volunteered to help respond to the Nazi bombing 'Blitz' of Belfast 75 years ago was remembered at a special ceremony in the city on Sunday. Cllr. Maria Doyle, chair of the Dundalk Municipal Committee represented the town at the event which she told the Argus was 'a very moving tribute to all those affected by the blitz.' 'I was honoured to represent Dundalk Municipal District at the ecumenical service in St. Anne's Cathedral, Belfast to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the Blitz.' She was joined by fellow Louth Councillor, Paul Bell, who represented Drogheda at the event. 'Myself and Cllr. Bell carried up candles at the event to remember the emergency services who responded during the bombing blitz.' Cllr. Doyle added that she was 'honoured' to have met with relatives of those who lost their lives during the bombing. In mid-April 1941, at least 70 men and 13 fire engines from Drogheda, Dublin, Dundalk and Dun Laoghaire voluntarily responded to a call for support with responding to a German aerial bombardment of Belfast which saw almost 1,000 people killed and 100,000 left homeless after 200 tonnes of high explosives were dropped by around 180 German aircraft over four hours of sustained attack. One of the Louth fire engines that responded, a London-built Merryweather vehicle returned to Belfast for the ceremony thanks to Dundalk fire fighter Martin Yore, who drove it to the event. Businesses are being urged to avail of new retail incentives being launched by Louth county council. These include a small business support scheme, new business incentive scheme and shop front improvement grants, for which the maximum grant is 2,000. Cllr Mark Dearey has welcomed the incentives, which he described as an acknowledgement of the struggle people are going through. 'I encourage people to avail of them, do up their shops and take advantage of small rates relief.' Cllr Tommy Byrne expressed his shock at the amount of rates owed to the local authority, and called for a reduction in the rates for existing shop owners, as there had been no reduction 'during the worst recession in the history of Ireland.' He also made a case for a tax amnesty. Cllr Byrne believes that money could be re-invested to rejuvenate towns. Head of finance, Bernie Woods, pointed out the rates in Louth are a lot lower than neighbouring counties. She added the council has worked with businesses in the bad years. Describing remarks made by Cllr Byrne as a contradiction, Cllr Dearey said an amnesty doesn't yield income. He continued re-rating was going at a slow pace, and said the last time it was done in Dundalk was in the early 'seventies, and that it might take another 30 or forty years. Cllr Dearey suggested self-assessment as a way of changing the system. In agreement, was Cllr Conor Keelan who felt self-assessment is key to reforming the existing rates system, as various retailers are over-burdened. He welcomed the incentive schemes, and hopes the executive gives a further presentation on them and their benefits. Director of service, Frank Pentony said part of the incentives is a rates reduction scheme for the towns of Dundalk, Drogheda and Ardee. On the subject of self-assessment, Ms Woods said that type of system is presently being piloted in Carlow. The hunt is on for a new president of Dundalk Institute of Technology with advertisements for the position released North and South of the border last week. In the advertisement, the college says it is looking for an 'inspiring and strategic leader' and outlines how it is the leading third level education provider in the North East, providing 'quality educational opportunities from undergraduate to PhD level across a broad range of disciplines. 'The Institute has a strategic alliance with Dublin City University which facilitates cooperation in academic programme development, research, enterprise support and internationalisation to support the education and research needs of the North Eastern Region'. The Governing Body of DkIT says they wish to appoint a president 'to provide strong and focussed leadership for the institute' and make a nod to the financial problems in the IT sector, highlighted in recent Oireachtas reports, saying the appointment comes 'at a time of significant change and development within the Irish third level sector and to chart a clear path for the Institute to grow and thrive within this increasingly complex landscape'. 'The successful candidate will be an inspiring and strategic leader, with a proven track record of achievement at an appropriately senior level in business/enterprise, the public sector or higher education. 'They will have highly developed leadership, organisational and communication skills combined with the strategic capability, vision and drive to shape the future of DkIT'. The position is stated to be a full-time fixed term appointment for seven years. For a confidential discussion on the post contact Sandra Cairns on 01 8587455 or at Sandra.Cairns@publicjobs.ie and the closing date for receipt of applications is Thursday May 5. For more information and to make an application visit www.publicjobs.ie DkIT is committed to a policy of equal opportunity and encourage applications under the Employment Equality Act. At the launch of the DFP bursary for schools awards (from left) Sean Thornton, St Louis; Eoin Doohan, MD DFP Group; Deirdre Matthews, St Louis School principal; Seamus O Hanlon, QFA Director DFP Group and Frank Cooney, Chairman of the St Louis Board of Management Secondary school students in Dundalk are set to benefit from a new business bursary award which has been inaugurated by DFP, the pension and investment consultants. One successful student from each of Colaiste Ris, De La Salle College, O Fiaich College, Dundalk Grammar School, St Louis Secondary School, St Mary's College and St Vincent's Secondary School, will receive 1,000 towards the cost of going to college and studying business. At Thursday's launch in the company's Quayside Business Park offices, representatives of the schools joined DFP directors and staff to hear about the initiative. Each school will select a pupil who best fits the criteria for the bursary, which will be presented at the school's annual awards night. Eoin Doohan, managing director of the group, apologised for shifting the onus onto the schools to pick a candidate for year one. However, he explained that next year a competition will be created for every Leaving Certificate student to enter if they want to study business or not. 'Hopefully, the bursary will give young people an opportunity to go to third-level education. 'I hope they are received well.' Outlining the background to how the idea came about, Mr Doohan said he started the business in 2000 from a small office in Dublin Street with one other member of staff. Looking after a 'couple of hundred' people, they managed 3- to 4 million of client funds. 'Sixteen years later, we have 18 staff at offices in Dundalk and Dublin (3), managing 250 million in client funds.' He added DFP has 'survived and thrived' from investing heavily in people who have had the benefit of third-level qualifications. 'From that, we gave thought to doing something on a community basis.' Mr Doohan continued that business has gone very well, and he is delighted to be able to do this. Shankill resident and local hero Victoria Williams Gaine had a joyful reunion with the man she saved when he paid a surprise visit to her school to thank her for her brave action. The 16-year-old student in St Joseph of Cluny performed life-saving CPR on binman Florin Popa when he suffered a heart attack outside her home on March 23. Mr Popa, a Panda Waste employee from Romania, arrived at the school last week to present her with a bunch of flowers and to thank her for saving his life. Principal of St Joseph of Cluny Secondary School Mary White said that the reunion between Florin and the transition year student was a really nice moment to witness. 'Victoria was delighted to see him,' she said. 'It's a good news story. It's great because transition year can get a bit of a knocking at times.' The Gaine family were preparing to fly to New York on the morning of March 23 when Florin collapsed outside of their home. Victoria's mother Viv Gaine alerted her daughter when she found him and the student quickly took action by beginning CPR. Within four or five minutes of calling 999, the first ambulance arrived. However, when the medics saw that Victoria was competently administering the lifesaving procedure, she was asked to continue. 'The ambulance men realised that she knew what she was doing and it allowed them to set up,' Ms Gaine told the Irish Independent. A second ambulance soon arrived and Mr Popa was placed into it and transferred to St Vincent's Hospital. Ms Gaine said that the key factor in saving Mr Popa's life was that her daughter had learned CPR in her school in Killiney. Six years ago, the school introduced a CPR course as part of their transition year programme. Victoria had learned how to administer the procedure only two months before. Commenting on the event yesterday, Principal Ms White said that the school is 'very proud' of Victoria for taking action. 'I feel that, while people can be trained to do something, it's the moment when courage is needed that's important,' she said. 'All of those doubts can come into your head when something happens but Victoria just knelt down and got on with it.' 'She was upset after the event because she was concerned and worried. She was unsure whether she did the right thing. But the ambulance crew told her that she saved the man's life.' Mr Popa's colleagues have described Victoria as a 'superstar'. The company have donated a defibrillator to the school as a sign of gratitude. Victoria, who was described as a conscientious and involved student by her principal, received some inspiration from the event and is now considering a career in the medical profession. 'She is very calm under pressure and decisive. She knows what to do in a crisis situation and takes the initiative,' added Ms White. In light of the incident, Ms White said that the school have been reminded about the importance of teaching CPR. 'We took it on about six years ago and have put about 500 students through it. We feel that, for 500 students, we now have one life saved,' she said. 'It is a skill that they can use for the rest of their lives. Hopefully, if a problem arises in future, the students will be able to carry out the CPR process.' The CPR training in the school is taught by qualified nurse Mary Feeney, who is a parent of one of the students in the school. Along with other local nurses and equipment from the National Rehabilitation Hospital in Dun Laoghaire, Mary spends several hours teaching the students how to effectively provide CPR. 'We are very fortunate to have this training in our school and this incident has definitely caused a response from other schools,' said Ms White. 'We are keen to see it being rolled out nationally in transition year.' James McCormack, an Irish Citizen Army soldier from Lisdornan was killed at Moore Lane beside the GPO in Easter Week 1916. To commemorate this event, Bellewstown Heritage Group is naming the bridge at Dardistown over the M1 the James McCormack Memorial Bridge. The ceremony takes place at the bridge on Tuesday 26th April at 11 a.m. It will be attended by Chairman of Meath County Council Councillor Brian Fitzgerald as well as local Meath County Councillors from the Laytown/Bettystown area. The memorial event has been made possible by a generous grant from Meath Co. Council. It is hoped that the Mayors of Drogheda and Fingal will also attend. Up to a hundred members of the extended McCormack family are expected to travel to the event which is being organised by Bellewstown Heritage Group. A number of local history groups, neighbours and friends of the McCormacks as well as groups of children from the local schools will also be present to pay tribute to this local hero who was killed exactly one hundred years ago on the 26th April 1916. Well-known local historian Brendan Matthews will speak about the life and times of James McCormack who lived in the Lisdornan area until his mid-twenties before moving to work in Baldoyle. Personnel from the Organisation of National Ex-Servicemen will be on hand to salute the national flag while various members of the McCormack family will read prayers and the Proclamation. Bernadette McGuinness, chairperson of Bellewstown Heritage Group, says the group has made huge efforts in recent months to locate the descendants of James McCormack. They have successfully made contact with his grandsons Michael and Jimmy McCormack, who live in Howth, Co Dublin, sons of James's eldest son Michael. They have also met Finglas-based John McCormack, son of Joseph McCormack, James's second son. Noel McCormack (also known as Stephen McCormack) son of Jimmy McCormack, James's youngest son nowadays lives in the Drogheda area having moved from the original family home in Baldoyle. Up until the 1960s, James McCormack's youngest brother Michael lived on in the homeplace in Lisdornan and his son nowadays lives in Skerries. But the heritage group feels that there are most likely descendants of James's other siblings Hugh, John and Margaret McCormack still living in the Stamullen/Julianstown/Bellewstown area. Another name that has cropped up in recent research is that of Richard McCormack who was working away from home and registered as a farm servant in the 1901 and 1911 census. In 1911 Richard was employed by James and Jane Warren in Bellewstown. It is possible that this Richard was a younger brother of James McCormack. So this is a shout-out to McCormacks in the area who feel they may be related to this 1916 man to come and join in the commemoration ceremony and meet the rest of the McCormack clan. James McCormack got involved in the great Lockout of 1913 and joined the part-time Irish Citizen Army which was formed to protect the workers from police brutality during the strikers' protest marches. On the Monday of Easter Week, McCormack reported to Liberty Hall and was assigned to the GPO where he fought alongside James Connolly. On Wednesday the 26th April 1916 he was spotted by a British army sniper in Moore Lane at the back of the GPO and was shot through the head, dying instantly. It's almost 200 years since a young lad from Drogheda called Joe Murphy arrived in the city of St Louis, Missouri. He was born in 1805, but at the age of 12, left his home with his 19-year-old aunt for a new life in Newfoundland, Canada. In 1819, he headed south to St Louis and would become known as 'the Henry Ford' of the century. Murphy invented his own wagon, known as the Murphy Wagon or the Prairie Schooner. This was the era when people were heading into the 'Wild West' but found the ordinary wagons simply not big or sturdy enough. Murphy's wagons could take four to five times the weight of previous wagons crossing the great plains. It is estimated that he made 200,000 wagons, serving the Santa Fe, Oregon, and California Trails as well as the Mexican War. He began his own company after serving as an apprentice. The Murphy wagon was sixteen feet long and eight feet wide. The rear wheels were seven feet high and eight inches wide so that they didn't sink in the sand. The beds were an additional seven feet deep and the canvas-covered top made it higher. When fully loaded, the Murphy could handle ten tons of freight! Iron tyres on the wooden wheels and holes for bolts were burned rather than drilled to keep the wood from splitting. By 1860, Murphy had modified his original design so that two wagons could be hauled in tandem by one team. The price was $130 each. I wonder has any major work taken place locally on Joe Murphy and his ancestors? A man who is alleged to have assaulted two bar staff after he was allegedly refused alcohol had his case adjourned for the presiding judge to consider jurisdiction of the case. Judge Conal Gibbons said he would require a dental report on one of the alleged victims before deciding whether to have the case heard at District Court level or whether it is to be heard in the Circuit Court, where, if convicted, the penalties are higher. Charles Kelly (28) of St Finian's Park in Drogheda is charged with a Section 2 assault on a member of the bar staff at The Admiral Bar on Shop Street on February 25th. He is further charged with a Section 3 assault causing harm to another bar staff member at the same pub on the same date. He is also charged with criminal damage at the pub. Inspector Martin Beggy outlined the alleged facts of the case stating that the defendant allegedly entered the pub and was allegedly intoxicated. 'He allegedly was refused alcohol but allegedly left the pub before allegedly coming back,' said Inspector Beggy. 'He then allegedly struck one of the bar staff in the mouth. This person allegedly suffered a chipped tooth. Another bar person was allegedly hit in the face,' said Inspector Beggy. Judge Gibbons adjourned the case until June 10th for the dental report to be produced before deciding whether to accept jurisdiction or not. Old Drogheda Society 1916 Commemoration Lectures are taking place next week. Lunchtime Lecture, Tuesday April 26th at 1.05pm in the Tholsel is "Frank Thornton, a Drogheda man in the thick of the action" By Liam Reilly. Frank Thornton, was one of three brothers from Peter Street , who fought in the Rising, he returned from Liverpool to fight in the Rising and he was in charge of the company of volunteers that occupied the Imperial Hotel/Clery's building opposite the GPO and who later worked as Deputy Assistant Director of Intelligence for Michael Collins. Liam Reilly is the CE supervisor in Drogheda Museum Millmount. He has lectured and written several articles on Drogheda's contribution to the 1916 Rising. Evening Lecture Wednesday April 27th at 8.00pm in the Governor's House, Millmount: Reporting the Rebellion - Drogheda Media Easter 1916 by Audrey Smith A special press censorship office was set up in Dublin after the rebellion which aimed to prevent the publication of seditious or inflammatory material. The impact of censorship was such that it provided little by way of an accurate account of daily events. The result was that there was no strictly contemporary newspaper reporting from the actual scene of the rebellion. It would not be until the beginning of May that hard news about the rebellion began to filter through. For many publications, however a lack of information and hard fact did little to slow the rush to judgement. Drogheda citizens were served by several newspapers during this period and this lecture will present new research on how local media played a role in shaping local opinion of the 1916 Rising. Audrey Smith is a native of Drogheda and she is a recent Hons History graduate from Trinity College, Dublin Lunchtime Lecture Friday April 29th at 1.05pm in the Tholsel: 'The Lead up to the Rising;the Story of a Bold Fenian Man' by Brendan Matthews What were the events and circumstances that lead to the Rising and who where the men behind the insurrection. Brendan Matthews , needs no introduction as he has been part of the Drogheda Museum Milmount's research team for over ten years. All lectures are open to the public. It's official! Pope Francis has given his blessing to those behind the campaign to save the Dominican Church. Fr Jim Donleavy wrote an impassioned letter to Rome recently, urging for support in the bid to keep the almost 800-year Dominican presence in the town alive. In a letter from the Vatican last week, Monsignor Paolo Borgia from the Secretariat of State stated that the Pope 'appreciated the concerns' which prompted the priest to write to him. 'The Holy Father will pray for you and your intentions and he sends his blessing,' the letter added. For Fr Jim, it comes as a huge boost, just months ahead of what is likely to be a final decision on the future of the church. 'I suppose it's good to have the Pope on your side!,' he stated. The local Dominicans are still in the dark over the church and priory with little comment coming from the headquarters in Ireland. 'We still haven't had any talks and there remains immense pressure on the community here over this. As I have said before, I'm going nowhere,' he remarked. The cause of the church was boosted by their entry in the recent St Patrick's Day parade that saw them win a prize after replicas of the church and tower were displayed on the back of two vehicles. 'People can't stop talking about them,' Rita Hanratty from the group added. Thai New Year or 'Songkran' was celebrated last week at one of Malahide's favourite eateries where the traditions of this special festival were faithfully observed. Siam Thai celebrated Songkran on April 13th and 15th in partnership with local beauty salon, Monica Tolan's and in keeping with Thai traditions of cleansing, regeneration and beautification, the restaurant created a special occasion reflecting these Thai customs and Songkran rituals. In addition to Siam's award winning menu, diners visiting over the Songkran period also received some special festive treats. The word Songkran is derived from the old Thai word of 'Sankranti', which means 'to move or to change'. Songkran is regarded as the most important and longest holiday in Thailand. Unlike other Thai festivals it is traditionally celebrated for three consecutive days. In the days before the celebration of Songkran, home owners clean their houses. Buddha images must be washed carefully so as to bring good fortune to the household. Songkran 2016 focused on spiritual intentions like giving alms to monks and paying a visit to Buddhist temples to festoon colourful flowers. flags and banners in these sacred places. Another eye catching tradition is the so-called 'Water Fight'. Armed with water guns, containers and even buckets, travellers and natives including children throw water upon others, which symbolises cleansing and rejuvenating of their bodies. Women also partake in beauty treatments which is why Siam has teamed up with Monica Tolan in Malahide. Songkran festival is a mix of tradition and fun but it was also about showcasing Thai's finest dishes. A talented filmmaker from Swords will showcase his latest work at the prestigious Belfast Film Festival which began last week and continues up to next Saturday. Andrew Lynch from Swords is a young filmmaker who is in competition at the festival, vying for the much coveted Belfast Film Festival Shorts Award. Andrew's film is called 'Brenda' which is set for a screening on the final day of the festival at the Queen's Film Theatre in Belfast. Based loosely on a true story, Brenda is about the last day of a heroin addict's life as seen through the eyes of her eight-year-old daughter. It was the debut film of the Swords director and has aready picked up two awards so far on its festival tour, taking the Best Newcomer Award at our own Fingal Film Festival and Best Film at The XX International TV Festival in Montenegro. Andrew is an actor and writer from Swords and is the co-creator of 'Three Peas'. His debut play, 'Death Row Cowboy' which Andrew co-wrote and performed in, had two runs successful runs In Dublin's Smock Alley Theatre in 2014 before transferring over to London's Courtyard Theatre, where it was very well received. Andrew also produced the short documentary Rebirth which is about Stephen Clinch and how he managed to turn his life around from heroin addict to Love/Hate actor. 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 14th to 23rd. The tantalising 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 so the Swords filmmaker is in some impressive company at the festival. Alison and Anthony Crowe at the Celtic Tenors in Balbriggan Church The three golden voices of the Celtic Tenors filled St Peter and Paul's Church with sweet music on a special night in Balbriggan that will be remembered for a long time to come by everyone who attended. The Celtic Tenors are touring churches and cathedrals around the country and made Balbriggan their latest stop for a stirring peformance at St Peter and Paul's. The three-man vocal group enlisted some local help on the night and were backed up by the beautiful voices of the Balscadden National School Choir who opened the show. Father Chris got in on the tact too and treated the audience to a rendition of that Neil Diamond favourite, Sweet Caroline and Amy Campbell pitched in with a wonderful piece on the Uilleann pipes which was followed by another beautiful choir, this time from Balrothery National School. There was more to this evening's proceedings than a concert with the event doubling as a fundraiser for a special parish project. The cash raised by the performance will be used in supporting a number of local young people who are travelling to Krakow in Poland along with parish pastoral worker, Niamh and Fr Chris, for World Youth Day in July. The lucky audience on the night were treated to a huge repertoire of songs from the Celtic Tenors in the beautiful surroundings of the local church. The vocal group who have travelled the world at the Celtic Tenors were as comfortable singing songs from the traditional Irish folk song canon to classical tunes and pop music. Also performing on the night was pianist, Sophie Sullivan and local tenor, Andrew Green. Balbriggan and Balscadden church choirs also added their voices to this unforgettable show on a wonderful night of music in the parish. Teachers from St Joseph's school in Rush are taking part in the Erasmus Plus Programme, a European/ Leargas funded project. There are three other countries involved with Ireland. Germany, Sweden and Estonia are also involved in the programme, which is run in association with Trinity College, Dublin and Bridge 21. At the beginning of April, four teachers from each of the partner countries travelled to Ireland to work with Bridge 21. All 16 teachers worked together on developing enquiry based, student centred learning activities and lessons which are centred around the Bridge 21 learning model. They also visited St Joseph's, where they met with the students and saw four different lessons taught using the Bridge 21 model. This model of learning supports and scaffolds projects in many ways. The students become independent and confident learners. The teacher facilitates their project work in a team based environment, which is technology mediated. Students learn essential life skills such as collaboration, communication and problem solving and furthermore increase their knowledge and take ownership of their own learning. Meanwhile, first year students have taken part in the TAP (Trinity Access Programme) Educational Achievement projects to Trinity college. The school is hoping for a record number of winners this year! Ardmac's participation in the recent National Workplace Well-being Day was aimed at improving employee health through promoting better nutrition and physical activity Ardmac, a leading international construction company based in Swords, took part in National Workplace Well-being Day recently. The day was an IBEC initiative to help improve employee health through promoting better nutrition and physical activity. According to the Nutrition & Health Foundation (NHF), four out of five employees point to a positive link between their health and well-being and their company's productivity. Two in five meanwhile claim that sickness and absenteeism are a barrier to productivity within their workplace. 'Ardmac believe that the health and wellbeing of our staff is of paramount importance. Taking this into consideration, we have introduced a health and well-being programme, called 'Be at Your Best',' explained Debbie Treacy, Ardmac's Human Resource Manager. She added: 'Our aim is to introduce some initiatives throughout the year, as part of a structured programme. 'This was Ardmac's first time being involved in National Workplace Wellbeing Day. With the huge success of today, we look forward to making it an annual event.' On the day, Ardmac had a fruit delivery to its staff where employees of the Swords company got to enjoy some fresh and healthy produce from Country Crest. Head and shoulder massages were also offered to the firm's staff in a bid to create a 'stressless' environment. At lunchtime, staff were encouraged to get active with the 'Lunchtime Mile' which asked employees of the Swords company to run a mile at lunch in a bid to promote the benefits of physical activity. When the day was done, the aim was to have staff feeling happier and healthier and perhaps, the event would help kick off some healthy habits among the company's workforce. April 8th was Ireland's second National Workplace Wellbeing Day and saw hundreds of companies - large and small across every sector - participate. The day was an initiative aimed at helping improve employee health through promoting healthier habits across the nation's workforce and saw a number of local businesses get involved, including Ardmac in Swords. Ardmac is an international company specialising in the construction of high value working environments for global brands in the pharmaceutical, technology and commercial sectors, with offices in Swords, Craigavon, Manchester, London and Benelux. Explaining the company's philosophy, a spokesperson said: 'We retain our market leading position through the skills of our people, the quality of our processes and the sharing of our in-depth industry knowledge.' A huge blow has been dealt to some 300 workers in Swords who have been told their jobs are at risk after Swords-based multinational company, Convergys announced they had lost a major contract. A 'town hall' style meeting was called at the company last week with all staff at the international call centre asked to attend. At that meeting, the shocked Swords staff were told by company management that the company had lost a major client and all of their jobs were at 'risk'. Paul Terry, marketing and communications director for Convergys in Europe said the company was still 'working out the full implications' of losing the contract. He said that the Swords jobs were 'at risk' but said it was 'too early to be definitive' about job losses at the firm and said the company was working hard to secure new work for the site'. A North Fingal employee of the company said that workers are 'sceptical' about suggestions from the company that 20 to 30 jobs may be available at their Santry-based business and that 40 to 50 jobs could be saved at the Swords site. He told the Fingal Independent here was 'a lot of shock and a lot of upset' among the 300 staff when the surprise announcement was made and that the news had 'come out of the blue'. He was also critical of the redundancy terms on offer, which he said were the 'bare minimum' statutory redundancy terms. Staff have been told a 30-day consultation period on the future of their jobs will begin this Wednesday. It is understood that the contract lost by the Swords business is moving to Greece and Portugal. The Convergys employee said the last week, since the news broke has been 'surreal' for the workers but staff are continuing to be professional in delivering a service to their customers at the call centre. Sinn Fein TD for Fingal, Louise O'Reilly has written to the acting Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation Richard Bruton expressing her deep concern about the 300 potential redundancies at Convergys in Swords. She said: 'These workers, their families and their communities will be devastated by this news. The Minister previously stated in September 2013 that the Business Processing Outsourcing sector was 'targeted as part of the Action Plan for Jobs'. 'Therefore, I am seeking the assistance of Minister Bruton's department in this 'targeted' area for these workers. 'More specifically, I am asking the Minister to intervene and seek another company to take this over as a going concern and for him to do all in his power to ensure that these vital jobs are saved.' Work will get underway on the new runway at Dublin Airport shortly There has been a flood of local political reaction to news of the resurrection of the new runway project at Dublin Airport that has ranged from wholehearted welcome for the development to outright opposition. Deputy Brendan Ryan TD (Lab) said he has met with the chief executive of the daa, Kevin Toland and was assured that the authority would be 'engaging with, and listening to local communities and groups on this proposal'. He gave a broad welcome for the development and said it would help build the case for the incoming Government to progress the Metro North project. 'If we are to get more passengers into Dublin Airport, we need a means of transporting them from the Airport into the city and up to Swords,' Deputy Ryan said. Cllr Darragh Butler (FF) argued that if the runway project progresses, the original Metro North plans should proceed and not the 'scaled back' version green lit by the outgoing Fine Gael and Labour Government. Cllr Butler welcomed the job opportunities that the new runway will bring but sounded a note of concern for residents in parts of Swords and in St Margaret's, saying that there needed to be 'effective consultation with residents to ensure that local concerns are raised and addressed as best as possible'. His Fianna Fail colleague, Cllr Adrian Henchy said he was 'delighted' that progress has been made on the runway project and said he sees the development as 'a very positive step for the daa and Fingal'. However, local Green Party representative, Joe O'Brien was less convinced on the wisdom of pursuing the project. While recognising that Dublin Airport is 'an important economic hub not just for Dublin Fingal but for the whole country', he said there needed to be 'a proper debate about this proposed new expansion and investment'. He said that Dublin Airport 'needs to be protected and grown responsibly'. The Green Party representative said: 'What concerns me most is the lack of public debate on the matter. There is the assumption that this project will be good for everyone, but that is not the case.' Annew tourist office showcasing the very best of what Malahide has to offer is set to open in the parish centre A permanent tourist office for Malahide is in the offing, according to a local TD who said he has been pushing for the facility along with the local chamber of commerce and local community groups. Deputy Darragh O'Brien (FF) said: 'A tourist office is something that has been needed in Malahide for a long time. This is a vibrant area and popular with visitors throughout the year, but particularly in the summer months. The news that a tourism office will open in the next two to four weeks, just in time for the summer, is a great boost for the town. 'I and other Fianna Fail representatives in the area, such as Cllr. Eoghan O'Brien have been working in conjunction with the local Chamber of Commerce to help bring this about and I met with senior council officials earlier this week to finalise the plans. The office will be fully accessible, located in the parish centre of St. Sylvester's Church, right next to Malahide train station. 'It is a great facility that I am delighted to see opening. In the locality of Malahide there is a wealth of tourist attractions that visitors can enjoy. The bars and restaurants in Malahide are some of the best that Dublin has to offer. The scenery of this coastal town attracts droves to in the summer months to the area.' A 10 million plan to transform the Arrivals Hall and facade of Terminal 1 has been unveiled Renovations include new flooring, a replacement ceiling, the removal of desks currently situated in some window areas to allow natural light in and a new look to the front of Terminal 1 When completed, the Arrivals Hall will be brighter, more spacious and modern. All restaurants will be located in one area while services such as the Tourist Information Office, Bus, Travel and the Information Desk will be grouped together making the floor layout more user friendly and intuitive for customers. Dublin Airport's Managing Director, Vincent Harrison said the Arrivals Hall will look very different. 'We are upgrading Terminal 1 on a phased basis and we have already enhanced the Departures Floor. We are now turning our attention to the Arrivals Hall. Our goal is to greatly improve the overall look and feel for our customers,' he said. Floor replacement is underway and hoarding will be in place around different areas of the Arrivals Hall until the project is complete in the coming months. 'The Arrivals Hall is synonymous with happy and emotional scenes at Dublin Airport. We are confident that, when completed, the renovations will significantly enhance the ambience in that area,' Mr Harrison added. Terminal 1 is 44 years old and has welcomed over 400 million passengers during that time. Fifteen students from IT Carlow paved the way for the future of foster care when they celebrated the completion of Ireland's first certificate course in the subject. The students, who already work as foster carers in Wexford and Waterford, were the first to upskill by completing the Level 6 Certificate in Child Development, Attachment and Interventions for Foster Carers. Over 14 weeks, they learned theory and developed skills to enhance their understanding of children in care. The course is the result of a collaboration between IT Carlow Wexford Campus, TUSLA, and the HSE. Course content includes neuroanatomy, brain functioning and neuroscience. Attachment and developmental theory are also key to each lecture, along with a strong focus on self-care for the carer and support systems for both the carer and child. Commenting on the new course, Annemarie Stafford, Principal Social Worker at TUSLA, said: 'This exciting, innovative collaborative programme is particularly important at a time when over 95 per cent of children and young people in care in Ireland are in general and relative foster care. The course, which was fully funded by TUSLA, emphasises the need to inform and up skill Foster Carers.' The students were honoured with a certificate presentation at IT Carlow's Wexford campus last week. Expressions of interest for places in the next course due to commence in September will be sent to all foster carers in the coming months. It once played host to the stars of the silver screen, bringing the magic of Hollywood to rural audiences; Maureen Potter, Jimmy O'Dea and Jack Cruise brought a touch of Vaudeville; hypnotists and comedians brightened dark days and nights and then, the lights went out and remained dimmed for more than 40 years. Refurbished in 2012, The Art Deco Theatre is a gem in the heart of Ballymote town. With its refurbishment, it was a case of "Lights, Camera, Action" as the 68 year-old Ballymote cinema building, silent since the 1970's, began a sparkling new lease of life as the The Art Deco Theatre, an ultra modern arts centre, bringing the joy of the performing arts back into the heart of this South Sligo community. Leased from Sligo County Council by the Ballymote Community Enterprise group, the total refurbishment of 500,000 was mostly funded by Sligo Leader in 2012. The Art Deco Theatre plays host to a wide range of artistic activities, from full scale musical productions, cinema, school concerts to local activities such as children's birthday parties, Ballymote bingo and associated events. On Friday 1st April, The Art Deco Theatre played host to the talented Sligo Pianist and Composer Kieran Quinn and his full band. Kieran performed music from his current album, The Next One. After his successful 32 Pianos nationwide tour last year, he was very excited to be back on home turf. The audience were entertained for over two hours and as Kieran always likes to include artists from the local community this time it was a wonderful opportunity for two local leaving cert students, Laura Woods and Niamh Quinn. Both girls sang beautiful solos and performed a haunting duet of the 90's Classic Rock song "alone" putting everything into their performance much to the delight of the audience. "The theatre continues to grow and hot on the heels of the concert an evening of opera was held on Sunday 10th with a showing of 'The Magic Flute' which is Kenneth Branagh's English-language film version of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's opera," said Gerri Tighe. "Afterwards the audience were treated to food and beverages in the upstairs balcony which can cater for up to 50 people in a relaxed luxurious environment. A truly enjoyable evening was enjoyed by both locals and visitors from Sligo and as one local put it to me 'it was a fabulous night and I would definitely go back'." Next up for the Art Deco is the 'Voice of Sligo' singing competition with Art Deco's main man Sean spending many hours preparing song lists and discs for singing hopefuls around South Sligo. Many of the local schools have embraced the idea and facilitated the theatre by distributing registration forms to children from 1st class to 6th. This promises to be a very entertaining night with the final planned for 30th April. Family tickets will be available and Sean advises that booking in advance is recommended to avoid disappointment, he can also be contacted on 0873104150 for any anxious parents with last minute queries. Some may expect the theatre to quieten down as summer approaches, but that's not the case. Birthday party bookings are very busy with a number of weekends fully booked. A new initiative between the theatre and creches and special needs centres around Sligo to cater for groups with various needs and requirements is the main focus for the summer months. A booking has even extended from as far away as Letterkenny for a special needs group looking for something 'safe and appealing'. This superb facility hopes to continue the success of the first quarter of 2016 on into the year and plans are afoot to start a youth drama group as soon as possible - anyone between the ages of 10-18 should contact Gerri on 087 6698418 if interested in taking part as places will be limited. For now however the main focus will be on the 30th April for 'The Voice of Sligo' and the first contest of its kind being held in the Art Deco. Organiser Sean Rooney says: "We hope to see the locals out in force to support this and would encourage both young and old to come along on the night" . Kelesa performs Secret Love Song during Sunday nights show, earning her place in the final of The Voice of Ireland Sligo's Kelesa Mulcahy is the red hot favourite to win this year's 'The Voice of Ireland' after her stunning performance during Sunday night's semi-final saw her voted into the final. The 34-year-old performed Little Mix's 'Secret Love Song', as she aimed to win the solitary spot for Team Kian in this Sunday's final. Kelesa was hailed for her bravery in choosing a ballad over the high-energy songs she has previously sang. "It was such a class evening," she told The Sligo Champion. "I was very nervous because it was very stripped back compared to the high-energy performances I had done before." Kelesa's friends and family were in The Helix to support her, support which she says has been very important to her. "I haven't watched it back yet, it's so nerve-wracking listening back to yourself. I just hear myself and think 'what am I going on about?'. One of the highlight's of her evening was that she was given some special effects on stage. "I had a wind machine. It was unbelievable!" But there is a downside to being involved in a knock-out competition. "It's horrible seeing people go home. You become so close to them and you really build up relationships with them all. "That's the hard part of it all. The support I've received is unbelievable. "Everyone is really behind it. It is such a buzz," she said. Kelesa was back in Sligo yesterday for a homecoming, where she met members of the community. But, she returns to Dublin this morning (Tuesday) for rehearsals. Each of the four finalists will perform two songs each this Sunday evening, along with one group performance. The Sligo Champion is fully behind Kelesa, and we urge everyone to vote for her as she looks to become the 2016 winner of The Voice of Ireland. One of Summerhill college's most accomplished past pupils was in town last week to launch the school's new five year plan. President of NUI Galway Dr Jim Browne visited his alma mater on Thursday afternoon to officially launch Summerhill's Strategic Plan 2015/16 - 2019/20. He was joined by the college Patron and Bishop of Elphin Dr Kevin Doran, Principal Paul Keogh and Chairperson of the Board of Dr Michael Duignan at the launch. The 5 Year Plan is a first for the college and the result of a lengthy consultation process with students, staff, parents and interested parties. One of the features of the plan is the introduction of three new subjects: Music, Agricultural Science and Economics. Other goals include greater student and parent participation in the life of the college, developments in the areas of the arts, drama and music; the establishment of an "Ethos Award", new sporting facilities, a formal Alumni Association and formal links with third level institutions. Further support for students with Special Educational needs is also planned with the building of a second ASD centre and expert committee. Several retired members of staff and past pupils attended the launch also. Dr Browne described the plan as "ambitious and exciting" and said he looked forward to attracting more students from Summerhill to NUIG. Dr Duignan presented Dr Browne with a panoramic photograph of Benbulben to remind him of his time in Sligo 1966-'70. Recruitment and HR services company Collins McNicholas has recorded a 20% growth in job vacancies registered with the company in the first three months of 2016. The number of candidates registering with the company has also increased - by 26% - in the first quarter of 2016 compared to the last quarter of 2015. "This is further evidence of positivity in the job market as confidence builds amongst jobseekers. We can now be cautiously optimistic about an Irish recovery," said Director Antoinette O'Flaherty. Ireland's unemployment rate currently stands at 8.6%, having fallen steadily from 9.8% over the last 12 months. This is anticipated to fall further throughout 2016 and 2017. Ms O'Flaherty added that the Irish economy continues to grow and job creation should rise in tandem but warned that volatility in the global economy, and the potential repercussions from the 'Brexit' vote in June, could all impact the Irish economy. The company's data shows that jobseekers with skills in engineering are in high demand as the economy improves, particularly quality, process and chemical engineers, including lab analysts, software developers and data analysts. The medical technology, biopharmaceutical, pharmaceutical and software sectors are performing particularly well, according to the research by Collins McNicholas, which assists some of Ireland's leading employers to recruit and develop talent. The data also shows that the recovery is no longer isolated to Dublin, with other large urban areas, including Galway, Cork and Limerick, doing much better over the last 12 months. Commenting on trends in the Irish labour market, Ms O'Flaherty added: "With an expanding graduate pool, particularly in the STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) areas, we expect that the country will continue to attract new foreign direct investment and also ensure that the existing multinationals have a strong talent pipeline into the future. "Demand for software, medical devices, multilingual and biopharma skills are in particularly high demand right now. Talent availability will ensure Ireland continues to attract foreign direct investment, which will be essential to our long term growth." Former London gangster-turned Christian John Pridemore will share his amazing story with parishioners at St Kevin's Church, Tinahely, as part of the upcoming Parish Mission. The Mission will run from Monday, April 25 to Friday, April 29 and John will speak on the opening evening at 7.30pm. A native of London's east-end, John has a very moving and powerful story to tell and will speak about how he found God, turned his life around to become devoted to his faith. John is now a full-time evangelist who travels internationally speaking in parishes and schools about how God has transformed his life. This Mission will be led by St. Patrick's Community, a group of lay people based in Carrick on Shannon, Co. Leitrim, who have given over 200 Missions in Ireland and across the UK during the past 15 years, with a great response to their work. The Mission team will bring the faith alive by sharing their own personal stories of how their struggles in life brought them closer to God. Their message appeals to all ages. Those seeking to re-energise your faith are invited to this Mission which will have Mass at 9.30 a.m. Monday to Thursday, and evening sessions at 7.30 p.m. Each evening has a different reflection theme with talks, prayers and music. This Mission is also an opportunity to reflect on this 'The Holy Year of Mercy' declared by Pope Francis. In this special Jubilee Year, Pope Francis encourages us an individuals and as a church 'to be a witness of mercy' - in compassion, forgiveness and God's love. A number of protesters appeared before Bray District Court last Thursday after being arrested at Rosehill in Wicklow town the previous day. They were charged under section 12 of the Water Services Act, obstructing the exercises of Irish Water. James Higgins (29), Church View, Arklow, was released on bail with the condition that he must not interfere with Irish Water or GMC Sierra. While the gardai asked that he stay out of Wicklow town, the court heard that his mother lives there so that condition was not imposed. Eamon McGrath (60), 68 Kenmare Heights, Greystones, was released on similar conditions. The out of work taxi driver has grandchildren in Wicklow so that condition was not imposed. Gardai asked that the protesters not go within 100 metres of Irish Water or their agents, however the defence asked that this be imposed sensibly as they could be walking along the street and encounter them. 'We have concerns that conditions will be abused if too loose,' said Inspector Denis Whelan. Sean Doyle (66), 11 Sunnybank, Kilpedder, was released on similar conditions. The court heard that he needs to go to Wicklow a number of times a week, shopping, and that he was prepared to give an undertaking not to impede Irish Water. Lynda Southern (41), Finvarra, Hyde Road, Dalkey, was told to stay out of Wicklow Town as she has no reason to go there. William Douglas (34), 87 The Oaks, Keatingstown, Rathnew, was similarly released on the condition that he not impede Irish Water. The court heard that his Rathnew home is in the Wicklow town environs. All matters were adjourned to May 10 at Wicklow District Court, sitting in Bray. Former Beatle Sir Paul McCartney (R) arrives at London's High Court, on March 17, 2008, with his legal representative Fiona Shackleton. Heather Mills dancing at 'An Evening With Suggs And Friends' in aid of pancreatic cancer at Emirates Stadium on March 17, 2016 in London, England. (Photo by Eamonn M. McCormack/Getty Images) Musician Sir Paul McCartney and Heather Mills attend the Fifth Annual Adopt-A-Minefield Gala night held at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on November 15, 2005 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images) Singer Sir Paul McCartney and his fiance model Heather Mills signals to the news media at Castle Leslie June 10, 2002 in Glaslough Village, County Monaghan Musician Paul McCartney and fashion designer Stella McCartney attend the Natural Resources Defense Council's 11th Annual `Forces For Nature' Benefit at 583 Park Avenue on March 30, 2009 in New York City. (Photo by Andrew H. Walker/Getty Images) Heather Mills attends the World Premiere of StreetDance 3D at Empire Leicester Square on May 10, 2010 in London, England. (Photo by Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images) Heather Mills talks to reporters at the High Court on March 17, 2008 in London, England. Heather Mills has been awarded ?24.3m in her divorce settlement with Sir Paul McCartney. (Photo by Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images) Heather Mills arrives at the High Court in central London, on February 12, 2008 Musician Sir Paul McCartney and wife Heather Mills attends the Annual Adopt-A-Minefield Gala hosted by Paul McCartney at the Century Plaza Hotel on October 15, 2004 in Century City, California. (Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images) Beatles legend Paul McCartneys divorce from former model Heather Mills was one of the most explosive in showbiz history. Their relationship was fraught with drama since their first meeting in 1999 to their final day in divorce court in 2008. Author Philip Norman details the highs and lows in his new book Paul McCartney: The Biography, which has been serialised with impossibly juicy excerpts in the Daily Mail. Here are some of Heather's most talked about moments during their relationship... 1. They first met at the Pride of Britain Awards in 1999. Expand Close British pop-star Paul McCartney (R) and Heather Mills pose for photographers in Hollywood, 24 March 2002 / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp British pop-star Paul McCartney (R) and Heather Mills pose for photographers in Hollywood, 24 March 2002 He was still mourning the loss of his wife of 29 years Linda, who died of breast cancer in 1998. Heather was engaged to filmmaker Chris Terrill, whom she soon broke it off with to be with Paul. 2. Heather really, really didnt like Stella McCartney. Expand Close Musician Paul McCartney and fashion designer Stella McCartney attend the Natural Resources Defense Council's 11th Annual `Forces For Nature' Benefit at 583 Park Avenue on March 30, 2009 in New York City. (Photo by Andrew H. Walker/Getty Images) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Musician Paul McCartney and fashion designer Stella McCartney attend the Natural Resources Defense Council's 11th Annual `Forces For Nature' Benefit at 583 Park Avenue on March 30, 2009 in New York City. (Photo by Andrew H. Walker/Getty Images) "Every week [Stella] tried to break up our marriage. She was so jealous. She wasnt interested in her dads happiness. I cant protect her any longer. Shes done some evil, evil things," Heather said of her former step-daughter. Apparently she wasnt happy because Stella would only give her a 10% discount on her clothing line. 3. She's been caught in a few lies. Video of the Day Expand Close Heather Mills in her early modelling days / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Heather Mills in her early modelling days Details of her early modelling career are pretty sketchy. Heather claimed to be a 250,000 per year catwalk model with little to no evidence to support the claims. 4. Heathers ex-husband Alfie Karmal questioned the authenticity of much of the claims made in her autobiography and beyond. Expand Close Heather Mills talks to reporters at the High Court on March 17, 2008 in London, England. Heather Mills has been awarded ?24.3m in her divorce settlement with Sir Paul McCartney. (Photo by Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Heather Mills talks to reporters at the High Court on March 17, 2008 in London, England. Heather Mills has been awarded ?24.3m in her divorce settlement with Sir Paul McCartney. (Photo by Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images) According to Norman, Alfie said: She told me so many fibs that if shed said it was raining, I would have checked. 5. Heather claimed every man proposed to her within seven days of meeting. Expand Close Heather Mills attends the World Premiere of StreetDance 3D at Empire Leicester Square on May 10, 2010 in London, England. (Photo by Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Heather Mills attends the World Premiere of StreetDance 3D at Empire Leicester Square on May 10, 2010 in London, England. (Photo by Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images) 6. She was given a serious allowance during their marriage. Expand Close Musician Sir Paul McCartney and Heather Mills attend the Fifth Annual Adopt-A-Minefield Gala night held at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on November 15, 2005 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Musician Sir Paul McCartney and Heather Mills attend the Fifth Annual Adopt-A-Minefield Gala night held at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on November 15, 2005 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images) McCartney had given Heather an annual allowance of 460,000, a credit card and jewellery totalling 338,000. She was also given 641,000 to buy an office in West London. 7. Her settlement was a little less than what she expected. Expand Close Heather Mills arrives at the High Court in central London, on February 12, 2008 / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Heather Mills arrives at the High Court in central London, on February 12, 2008 After firing her lawyer, Heather decided to represent herself and demanded a 4.2m a year settlement, totalling over 100m. This was to support the lifestyle she had grown accustomed to during her marriage including 640,000 for holidays, 160,000 for clothes, 38,000 for "equestrian activities" despite the the fact she no longer rode. 8. She ended up getting 31m including properties in the UK and New York. Expand Close Heather Mills arrives to the High Court on February 13, 2008 in London, England. Sir Paul McCartney and Heather Mills are attending the third day of a hearing to reach a financial settlement for their divorce. (Photo by Daniel Berehulak/Getty Images) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Heather Mills arrives to the High Court on February 13, 2008 in London, England. Sir Paul McCartney and Heather Mills are attending the third day of a hearing to reach a financial settlement for their divorce. (Photo by Daniel Berehulak/Getty Images) 9. Heather famously poured a jug of water over Pauls attorney Fiona Shackleton after her settlement was announced. Expand Close Former Beatle Sir Paul McCartney (R) arrives at London's High Court, on March 17, 2008, with his legal representative Fiona Shackleton. / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Former Beatle Sir Paul McCartney (R) arrives at London's High Court, on March 17, 2008, with his legal representative Fiona Shackleton. 10. Heather spent the settlement in just 22 months. Expand Close Heather Mills dancing at 'An Evening With Suggs And Friends' in aid of pancreatic cancer at Emirates Stadium on March 17, 2016 in London, England. (Photo by Eamonn M. McCormack/Getty Images) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Heather Mills dancing at 'An Evening With Suggs And Friends' in aid of pancreatic cancer at Emirates Stadium on March 17, 2016 in London, England. (Photo by Eamonn M. McCormack/Getty Images) Most of its been given to charity, gone into ethical businesses or paid for a couple of -properties for my daughters future security, she said. I could never sit with millions of pounds in the bank that could make matters change. President Barack Obama, Prince William, Duke of Cambridge and First Lady Michelle Obama talks with Prince George at Kensington Palace. Photo: Pete de Souza Barack Obama has urged Britain to stay in the European Union, saying that the sacrifice of his country's soldiers during World War II means America has a stake in the referendum debate. The American President invoked the spectre of the war and told British voters that their choice in the referendum "will echo in the prospects of today's generation of Americans as well". In an article for the 'Daily Telegraph' he also warned that a vote to leave the EU will leave Britain less able to tackle terrorism, the migration crisis and any economic shocks in the global economy. But his intervention has sparked a controversy. Responding to the remarks yesterday, London mayor Boris Johnson landed himself in a storm after referring to Mr Obama as the "part-Kenyan president". In a piece for 'The Sun', Mr Johnson referred to the alleged removal of a bust of British wartime prime minister Winston Churchill from the Oval Office when Mr Obama became president. "Some said it was a snub to Britain," he wrote. "Some said it was a symbol of the part-Kenyan president's ancestral dislike of the British empire - of which Churchill had been such a fervent defender." Ukip leader Nigel Farage has supported Mr Johnson's remarks in his piece for 'The Sun' and claimed Mr Obama bears a grudge because of colonialisation. Mr Obama's intervention will infuriate Eurosceptic cabinet ministers, who have said it is "inappropriate" for him to comment on a British referendum. The US president used his article to tackle their criticism head-on, suggesting that he has a right to comment because Britain and America's "special relationship was forged as we spilled blood together on the battlefield". "I will say, with the candour of a friend, that the outcome of your decision is a matter of deep interest to the United States," Mr Obama wrote. "The tens of thousands of Americans who rest in Europe's cemeteries are a silent testament to just how intertwined our prosperity and security truly are. And the path you choose now will echo in the prospects of today's generation of Americans as well." Mr Obama made clear that he believes that the United States, the United Kingdom and the EU "have turned centuries of war in Europe into decades of peace, and worked as one to make this world a safer, better place". "What a remarkable legacy that is," he wrote. "And what a remarkable legacy we will leave when, together, we meet the challenges of this young century as well." He made an emotional appeal for Britain to vote to remain a part of the EU, which he says is an institution created "from the ashes of war". He makes clear that Britain - and America's - ability to tackle the threat of Islamist terrorists is better served if the UK is still in the EU after the June 23 referendum. "Our special relationship was forged as we spilled blood together on the battlefield," he wrote. "It was fortified as we built and sustained the architecture for advancing stability and prosperity in Europe, and our democratic values around the globe. "From the ashes of war, those who came before us had the foresight to create the international institutions and initiatives to sustain a prosperous peace: the United Nations and NATO; Bretton Woods, the Marshall Plan, and the European Union. "Their efforts provided a foundation for democracy, open markets, and the rule of law, while underwriting more than seven decades of relative peace and prosperity in Europe. Migration "Today, we face tests to this order - terrorism and aggression, migration and economic headwinds - challenges that can only be met if the United States and the United Kingdom can rely on one another, on our special relationship, and on the partnerships that lead to progress. "As citizens of the United Kingdom take stock of their relationship with the EU, you should be proud that the EU has helped spread British values and practices - democracy, the rule of law, open markets - across the continent and to its periphery," he wrote. "The European Union doesn't moderate British influence - it magnifies it. A strong Europe is not a threat to Britain's global leadership; it enhances Britain's global leadership. The United States sees how your powerful voice in Europe ensures that Europe takes a strong stance in the world, and keeps the EU open, outward looking, and closely linked to its allies on the other side of the Atlantic. So the US and the world need your outsized influence to continue - including within Europe." The US president and British Prime Minister David Cameron met yesterday and Mr Obama and his wife also had lunch with Queen Elizabeth II. This week, Mr Cameron warned that the referendum is a "choice for life" and said a vote to leave would be a "self-inflicted wound on our economy". He also accused ministers backing the Brexit campaign, including Michael Gove, the Justice Secretary, of "insulting" the British people and "scaremongering" about what staying in the bloc means for the country. The prime minister also warned that British products including cider, cheese and whisky, could be threatened if the country leaves the EU because they would no longer enjoy protected geographical status, meaning copycat producers could sell products of an inferior quality with the same name. It came as the UK's statistics watchdog warned that one of the key claims made by the Brexit camp over the financial cost of EU membership is "potentially misleading". Vote Leave's claim that 350m (440m) a week is sent to Brussels does not take into account the UK's rebate or the money that comes back from the EU, Sir Andrew Dilnot said as he criticised the "lack of clarity" in the way the statistics have been used. The number of irregular crossings by migrants to Greece has dropped considerably, showing the Turkish-EU migrant deal is working, Turkey's prime minister Ahmet Davutoglu said. Mr Davutoglu said on Saturday that, since the deal came into effect in March, around 130 crossings have been recorded per day. On some days, no refugees at all cross over to the Greek islands, he said. Mr Davutoglu was speaking in the city of Gaziantep, near Turkey's border with Syria, at a joint news conference with visiting German chancellor Angela Merkel, EU Council president Donald Tusk and EU Commission vice president Frans Timmermans. The Turkish leader said the EU is launching initial projects worth 187 million euro aimed at improving the conditions of refugees in Turkey. The projects are being funded by the six billion euro the EU pledged to Turkey over the next four years as part of the migrant deal. In return, the bloc can deport migrants who do not qualify for asylum in Greece back to Turkey. Ms Merkel and top European Union officials inaugurated a child support centre in Turkey for Syrian refugees funded by the 28-member bloc. Ms Merkel, Mr Tusk and Mr Timmermans on Saturday cut a red ribbon to open the centre which is supported by the UN children's agency. They were joined by Mr Davutoglu and his wife. Ms Merkel chatted with a group of a children standing in front of paintings made at the centre in the city of Gaziantep, near the border with Syria, gave some of them colouring pencils and listened to a band playing instruments. She shook hands with the young musicians and thanked them in Arabic. The delegation is visiting the area near the Syrian border in a bid to promote a deal reached with Turkey on the return of migrants who do not qualify for asylum in Greece. Four refugee children in traditional Syrian dress had greeted Ms Merkel and the EU officials with flowers as they entered a refugee camp. The leaders posed for photos with the children and met with the camp's elected leaders before walking into the site where the refugees are housed in container homes. A large banner mounted near the fence of the camp read in English and in Turkish: "Welcome to the world's largest refugee hosting country." Turkey is home to an estimated 2.7 million Syrian refugees. Crime scene investigators head for the site of the shootings (AP) Police in Ohio have interviewed more than 30 people in the investigation into the fatal shootings of eight family members at four different locations. Officers are hoping to find leads into the deaths of seven adults and a 16-year-old boy whose bodies were found in homes near Piketon on Friday. All victims were shot in the head, authorities said, and it appeared some were killed as they slept, including a mother in bed with her four-day-old baby nearby. The infant and two other small children were not hurt. Authorities did not release the victims' names but said they are members of the Rhoden family. Investigators said none of the deaths appeared self-inflicted, so they believe at least one assailant is at large. Law enforcement officials say whoever is responsible for the killings should be considered armed and dangerous. A motive for the slayings is not known, authorities said, but they urged surviving members of the Rhoden family to take precautions. Pike County Sheriff Charles Reader also recommended area residents be extra wary. "This really is a question of public safety, and particularly for any of the Rhoden family," Attorney General Mike DeWine said. Mr Reader said authorities had met with more than 100 relatives and friends of the Rhoden family at a church. Mr DeWine dismissed a report that the people authorities questioned included a person of interest. The Pike County Sheriff's Office and the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation are investigating the slayings. Pike County asked for the bureau's help on Friday morning. The first three homes where bodies were found are within a couple miles on a sparsely populated stretch of road while the eighth body, that of a man, was found in a house further away. Authorities did not release any information on what kind or how many weapons might have been used or whether anything was missing from the homes. Goldie Hilderbran said she lives about a mile from where she has been told a shooting took place - news she received from a postal worker who told her deputies had an area blocked off. "She just told me she knew something really bad has happened," Ms Hilderbran said. Governor John Kasich, campaigning in Connecticut for his Republican presidential bid, said his office was monitoring the situation in Pike County and the search for the killer or killers. "But we'll find them, we'll catch them and they'll be brought to justice," he said. The FBI in Cincinnati also said it was closely monitoring the situation and has offered assistance if needed. Economically-distressed Pike County, about 80 miles east of Cincinnati on the western edge of Appalachia, has about 28,000 people, more than a quarter of whom live in poverty. The area is home to a shuttered Cold War-era uranium plant that is still being cleaned up. The Solar Impulse 2 is on its way to Northern California (AP) The pilot of a solar-powered plane on a round-the-world journey has chatted with the United Nations secretary general as he flew high above the Pacific on his way to Northern California. "I speak to you from the cockpit of Solar Impulse in the middle of the Pacific, flying only on solar power. No fuel," pilot Bertrand Piccard told Ban Ki-moon during a brief conversation streamed live on his aircraft's website. Mr Ban hailed Mr Piccard's pioneering spirit as "inspirational", telling him he was making history and Mr Piccard responded that Mr Ban, too, was making history by having just presided over the signing of a climate agreement supported by representatives of 175 nations. "What you are doing today in New York, signing the Paris agreement, is more than protecting the environment, it is the launch of the clean technology revolution," Mr Piccard said. After brief good wishes from an official of his native Switzerland, the pilot continued on his way. He passed the half-way point of the journey and said he expected to be in the San Francisco Bay area by Saturday evening. But he may arrive early. The project's website said Solar Impulse 2 picked up a strong tail wind in the late afternoon and was cruising at about 93mph. "This is fast for #Si2!" the website said. Earlier, Mr Piccard had watched in fascination from his plane as the sun, which is powering his aircraft's batteries, rose over the ocean on Friday, which was also Earth Day. "Absolutely fantastic moment ... That's a sunrise I will remember all my life," he said. The trans-Pacific leg of his journey is the riskiest part of the plane's global travels because of the lack of emergency landing sites. After uncertainty about winds, the plane took off from Hawaii on Thursday morning and was on course to land in Mountain View, California, over the weekend. The crew that helped it take off was clearing out of its Hawaiian hangar and headed for the mainland for the weekend arrival. At one point passengers on a Hawaiian Air jet caught a glimpse of the Solar Impulse 2 before the airliner sped past the slow-moving aircraft. The Solar Impulse 2 landed in Hawaii in July and was forced to stay in the islands after the plane's battery system sustained heat damage on its trip from Japan. The aircraft started its round-the-world journey in March 2015 from Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, and made stops in Oman, Burma, China and Japan. It is on the ninth leg of its circumnavigation. Mr Piccard said the destination in the heart of Silicon Valley was fitting, as the plane will land "in the middle of the pioneering spirit". his co-pilot Andre Borschberg flew the leg from Japan to Hawaii. The team was delayed in Asia as well. When first attempting to fly from Nanjing, China, to Hawaii, the crew had to divert to Japan because of unfavorable weather and a damaged wing. A month later, when weather conditions were right, the plane departed from Nagoya in central Japan for Hawaii. The plane's ideal flight speed is about 28 mph, though that can double during the day when the sun's rays are strongest. The carbon-fiber aircraft weighs more than 5,000 pounds, or about as much as a midsize truck. The wings of Solar Impulse 2, which stretch wider than those of a Boeing 747, are equipped with 17,000 solar cells that power propellers and charge batteries. The plane runs on stored energy at night. Elections in Anderson County: How to vote early and what to know What to know about the 2022 general election and voting in South Carolina, which has passed new legislation to create a period for early voting. PHOTOS BY KEN RUINARD/INDEPENDENT MAIL Coleman Fitts (left) of the group AUthenticity plays guitar while dancers perform a Motown medley at the 2016 President's Gala at Anderson University. SHARE Olivia Walker, a sophomore at Anderson University studying nursing, speaks about being thankful at the 2016 President's Gala at Anderson University. Julie Miller (right) holds up a ticket to the 2016 President's Gala at Anderson University while standing next to her husband, John Miller, while Butch Hughes (left) and Diane Sutherland hand out tickets. Related Photos AU Presidents Gala By Mike Ellis of the Independent Mail The orchestra members tuned their instruments, and the curtain slid open. Then the sounds of a Motown revue started to fill the Henderson Auditorium at Anderson University on Friday evening. The eclectic program, called the President's Gala, is an annual tradition, a showcase of student talent for university donors and others. Anderson University senior Blakely Francis, the lead student producer, said it's a true variety show with acts from tap-dancing to *NSYNC and from Cole Porter to African drum rhythms. It takes months of work to hone more than two dozen acts for the gala, which this year included 203 students from the South Carolina School of the Arts, which is at the university, said David Larson, dean of the school. The audience of about 1,000 Friday was full of some of the university's biggest financial supporters, as well as instructors and students. An orchestra with more than 50 musicians traded off with choirs, a piano solo and rock bands as dancers flittered in and out. Seniors Megan Blanton and her husband, Richie, were emcees for the evening. She tap-danced to a drum beat that he laid down as they helped the crowd ease into the night. There would be some head-scratching moments in the show, university President Evans Whitaker had warned the donors at a reception before the show. "But it all works," he said. The formal reception happened under a sprawling white tent set up on the pavement outside Thrift Library, a building that opened in 2007, well after many of the university's boosters were already supporters. Judy Lusk, who graduated from the school in the late 1960s and is married to the chairman of the university's board of trustees, said she is blown away by the changes. "It was pretty back then," she said, "but it's just so much more beautiful now." Food and drinks at the reception were done Southern style, with lemonades served in Mason jars to match the tomato pies, shrimp and grits cups and buttermilk fried chicken. Jim and Carrie Motes, who both work at the university, said they are regulars at the gala. "It's a wonderful event, and it gets bigger every year," said Jim Motes, an associate professor of Christian ministry. Sophomore Olivia Walker told the donors that she came from the Boston area to Anderson. Whitaker said Walker made such a compelling case for supporting Anderson University that his own comments couldn't match hers. Walker wanted a Christian college, she said, but she also wanted to be close to her family. So she prayed. She cried after hearing she'd gotten a scholarship to Anderson University, which matched the timing of her father losing his job and relocating to the Southeast. "Your generosity," Walker told the donors, "helped students like me come here. Without you, I couldn't afford to be here. I will use your generosity to serve God and others throughout my life." Follow Mike Ellis on Twitter @MikeEllis_AIM SHARE By Nikie Mayo of the Independent Mail Southern Wesleyan University officials want to build a special community on the Central campus one that would allow disabled people from Anderson and Pickens counties to gain independence and sample college life. The university recently unveiled plans to build apartments on roughly 3.5 acres of school property between Wesleyan Drive and College Street. Those apartments would become homes to people now served by the disabilities and special needs boards in both counties. The county agencies serve people with intellectual disabilities, brain injuries and similar special needs, and officials from both said they are always looking for opportunities to help the clients function as independently as possible. When the university and the county agencies collaborated, the "friends" project was born. It begins with a $1.7 million apartment complex. The complex will house 20 people nine SWU students and 11 disabled people who the university describes as "friends." "This will mark a new level of inventive learning for SWU students," university President Todd Voss said. "To think students from our special education, ministry, social science and a vast array of other majors will be able to serve, learn and apply real life experiences while pursuing their degree is the ultimate in a higher education environment. And to think of the difference these students will make in the lives of our special friends for achieving work and independent living skills is unprecedented." Elaine Thena, executive director of the Pickens County Disabilities and Special Needs Board, said disabled clients and university students will be matched based on a rigorous selection process. "The students will act as mentors and helpers for our disabled clients," Thena said. "The goal is to allow our clients to immerse themselves as much as possible into campus happenings sporting events, chapel, musicals, time at the dining hall or other activities. This is something they can't get in our agency now, in part because of the shortage of public transportation for them. But in this program, they will have access to Clemson Area Transit. It's a chance for a new dimension for them." The apartment complex at the university will include a quarter-mile walking trail, a covered drop-off point for vans, and facilities for trained staff to watch over disabled clients 24 hours a day. Lisa McWherter, Southern Wesleyan vice president for advancement, also serves as a volunteer on the Anderson County Disabilities and Special Needs Board's board of directors. "It has been, and continues to be, a pleasure to serve as a connection point between the special-needs community and Southern Wesleyan University," she said. "We're looking forward to the special abilities of this population being celebrated at SWU in a myriad of ways. Without a doubt, our campus community will be enhanced by the daily presence of our friends with disabilities and special needs." Mike Cannon, who is a volunteer on the Anderson County disabilities agency's board of directors, said he hopes the Southern Wesleyan project will ultimately serve as a model for more universities. "This is an incredible opportunity for our clients," he said. "They'll have someone shadowing them to help them out, but they will get a new view of the world. They might be able to hold jobs at the cafeteria or the campus store. Just as much, this will be great for students. There is so much that they can learn from our folks. We won't put just anyone in this program. We will make sure they can be adaptive and can handle it." Thena said the university project will be funded through a variety of sources, including the South Carolina Department of Disabilities and Special Needs. Some state housing funds and low-interest loans could be used on the project, too, she said. She estimates that officials still need to raise $1 million for the first phase of the project. The apartment complex is expected to be built by August 2017. If the "friends" program is successful, two more apartment complexes will be built later, Cannon said. Follow Nikie Mayo on Twitter @NikieMayo

Joy Lewis/Reporter-News Abilene State Supported Living Center Direct Support Professional Loren Diaz works on a craft project with Rick Shahan during an active treatment time Thursday, July 3, 2014 at the Abilene Center.

SHARE Joy Lewis/Reporter-News Sharon Culbert folds laundry during her shift Thursday, July 3, 2014 at the Abilene State Supported Living Center's Vocational Services department. Joy Lewis/Reporter-News Bedrooms are decorated with personal belongs in one of the State Supported Living Center homes. Joy Lewis/Reporter-News The Volunteer Services building is one of the older ones on the campus of the State Supported Living Center's Vocational Services department in Abilene. Some buildings date back to the 1920's. By Brittany Jackson Patients, employees and state representatives look for answers amid the Texas Sunset Commission's evaluation of the Abilene State Supported Living Center. The center is one of 13 being evaluated for closure. In addition to shutting down a center in Austin, the commission may choose five others to close. The commission is responsible for determining whether an agency receiving taxpayers money is necessary, and if it is, how to save money. The Abilene State Supported Living Center cares for residents with mental disabilities, often times severely debilitated. Serving about 300 residents from 18 different counties, it is the second largest center in Texas. Closure could displace 1,309 employees, and result in a $46 million loss the Abilene economy, said Jason Smith, president and CEO of Abilene Chamber of Commerce. Gailan Thomason was devastated by the news. Her sister, age 67, began her residency at the Abilene State Supported Living Center when she was 16. "I just can't imagine it," she said. "My sister needs to be watched. I have to keep my arm on her to keep her from wandering into traffic." Cecilia Cavuto, spokesperson for the center, said the ?what if' questions and speculation are useless at this point. "No center is closing at this time," Cavuto said. "It is a legislative decision that won't even be made until meetings that will take place next year, from January to June." However, Cavuto said transition plans are in place for each resident. The plans, in the event that the center does close, would detail an appropriate process for individuals and their families. The plans may be necessary as members of the Sunset Commission urge residents to turn toward community-based services. But a change from a living center to a group home is a major jump for many families. Toby Dagenhart, vice president and director of Disability Resources Inc., said many families can't afford the 24-hour care outside of a state supported living center and government funded programs. He said the government aided Home Community Service programs are the most affordable option for many families, but are known for their 15-18 year waiting lists. In the meantime, families might be forced to participate in out-of-pocket, privately owned organizations, like DRI, or drastically change their lifestyles. "It's going to be devastating, I think. For a lot of families that's their only option," he said. "People may have to quit their jobs, change them or cut their hours, or maybe have to relocate out of the state or city." In terms of taking care of adult disabled people, though, he said, "Texas has a long road ahead of it." State Rep. Susan King (R-Abilene) disagreed with the commission's recommendation for moving to different programs. She said the Department of Aging and Disability Services, which is investigating the situation, evaluated the cost of keeping the center open as a block average for each person. She argued that the community-based programs the department wanted to move to could be equally as expensive if all people' needs were accounted for. "Because of all the variabilities of all these individuals in the centers, you can't look at a straight numerical percentage and make a judgment," she said. "It's very complex, we can't just look at the economic impact and the jobs and the value of the land." In fact, Smith found discrepancies within the commission's report. While the commission originally claimed the government could receive $18 million by selling the center's property, Smith encouraged them to apply the numbers to a market-based model when determining its value. Despite a high numerical value in its cost analysis, Mayor Norm Archibald said Abilene maintains an efficient center. In addition to its accounting services for centers in West Texas, it provides laundry services to San Antonio and other centers. Archibald submitted his defense to the Texas Sunset Commission, in his testimony on the town and its people's behalf. "To lose that workforce to a closure would be devastating. Overall, this is something we want to fight to keep open," he said. "We've been making sure the people know how important the State Supported Living Center is to us as a city." Smith encouraged anyone with an opinion on the topic to let state elected officials know. In fact, multiple officials are asking the community to speak up. According to a news release from State Senator Troy Fraser (R-Horseshoe Bay), he said, "It is not too late for those who share my concerns to join me in voicing their opinion to the Sunset Commission that our State Supported Living Center remain open to serve those who depend on it." Fraser represents a number of Big Country counties, including Taylor. The commission meets again Aug. 13, to vote on whether to keep the original information and numerical estimates in creating a bill, or to input modified information. The commission will finalize a recommendation and send it to the Legislature for the final determination. King said State Senator Jane Nelson (R-Flower Mound) set up subgroup called "The Working Group," and is accepting letters and calls from concerned people. International Corporate Governance Day, to discuss the importance of good governance and improve the ease of doing business. Representatives from the Government, leading corporate, as well as international organisations attended the round table to discuss challenges regarding corporate governance and way forward. Good Corporate Governance has to begin from within and ICSI is taking the first step to establish decorum towards the same, said CS Mamta Binani, President, The Institute of Company Secretaries of India. She further added, Governance is a vital aspect, without which none can achieve harmony in the working patterns and further to this it has to evolve day in and day out in accordance with the changing requirements both internally and globally in each and every aspect. As observed all the countries are trying to implement good governance norms in all facets. Now the need of the hour is to leap forward to have a day as an International Day for Corporate Governance, for creating awareness and celebrating determination towards international promotion and recognition of the corporate governance norms. Present on the occasion were dignitaries like Dr. Navarang Saini, Director, Investigation & Inspection, Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Dr. Mahesh Gupta, President, PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry & Chairman and Managing Director, Kent RO Systems Ltd, Ved Jain, Vice President , ASSOCHAM, Austin Tyler, Junior Policy Analyst, Corporate Affairs Division, OECD Speaking on the occasion, key note speaker, Navarang Saini, Director, Investigation & Inspection, Ministry of Corporate Affairs,said We have to work towards a system of minimum government and maximum governance and this is a great platform to discuss the same.To enumerate the possible methods and procedures for the adoption of Best corporate governance practices by the entire world, it becomes all the more important to create an environment of maximum transparency. The government has created a single window for incorporating companies, creating the least possible hassle and saving time for the corporate sector. Talking about the importance of G20/ OECD Principles of Corporate Governance, at the ICGD, Austin Tyler, Junior Policy Analyst, Corporate Affairs Division, OECD, said The G20/OECD principles of Corporate Governance will promote trust and improve functioning of the economy, build efficiency, financial stability and sound financial systems that will promote good governance. We are eager to continue the collaboration with India to work towards the same. As a platform to discuss and enumerate the possible methods and procedures for the adoption of Best corporate governance practices by the entire world, it becomes all the more important to stand together to have an effective system of rules, practices and processes by which a corporate is directed and controlled. Speaking on behalf ASSOCHAM, Ved Jain, Vice President , ASSOCHAM, said, It is important to have an effective system of rules, practices and processes by which a corporate is directed and controlled, therefore good Corporate Governance is the .key to a building a successful business environment. The International Round Table addressed some important guidance such as: In order to have an effective system of rules, practices and processes by which a corporate is directed and controlled, The Institute of Company Secretaries of India today organised anto discuss the importance of good governance and improve the ease of doing business. Representatives from the Government, leading corporate, as well as international organisations attended the round table to discuss challenges regarding corporate governance and way forward.Good Corporate Governance has to begin from within and ICSI is taking the first step to establish decorum towards the same,She further added, Governance is a vital aspect, without which none can achieve harmony in the working patterns and further to this it has to evolve day in and day out in accordance with the changing requirements both internally and globally in each and every aspect. As observed all the countries are trying to implement good governance norms in all facets. Now the need of the hour is to leap forward to have a day as an International Day for Corporate Governance, for creating awareness and celebrating determination towards international promotion and recognition of the corporate governance norms.Present on the occasion were dignitaries likeSpeaking on the occasion, key note speaker,We have to work towards a system of minimum government and maximum governance and this is a great platform to discuss the same.To enumerate the possible methods and procedures for the adoption of Best corporate governance practices by the entire world, it becomes all the more important to create an environment of maximum transparency. The government has created a single window for incorporating companies, creating the least possible hassle and saving time for the corporate sector.Talking about the importance of G20/ OECD Principles of Corporate Governance, at the ICGD,The G20/OECD principles of Corporate Governance will promote trust and improve functioning of the economy, build efficiency, financial stability and sound financial systems that will promote good governance. We are eager to continue the collaboration with India to work towards the same. As a platform to discuss and enumerate the possible methods and procedures for the adoption of Best corporate governance practices by the entire world, it becomes all the more important to stand together to have an effective system of rules, practices and processes by which a corporate is directed and controlled.Speaking on behalf ASSOCHAM, It is important to have an effective system of rules, practices and processes by which a corporate is directed and controlled, therefore good Corporate Governance is the .key to a building a successful business environment. Corporate Governance way forward International Corporate Governance Day - Benefits to the World and Corporate Importance of Collaboration In a discussion on Corporate Governance way forward, panellists like CS Narayan Shankar, Senior Vice-President & Company Secretary, Mahindra & Mahindra Limited, Gopal Krishna Agarwal, Central Council Member, ICSI, CS Pavan K. Vijay, Managing Director, Corporate Professionals Pvt. ltd. & Chairman Secretarial Standards Board , agreed that good Corporate Governance ensures better corporate performance. They all agreed that the challenge before them is to create a system of governance that promotes supports and sustains economic development with special consideration to environment and long term sustainability. The emphasis on governance reforms is growing around the world. The new developments and improvements in corporate governance practices in the last decade relating to Role of Independent Directors, Diversity, Board Practices, and Sustainability indicate the enhanced focus of stakeholders. This Round will take a stock of the role of these pillars of contemporary governance with the corporate performance and will make an attempt to devise a way forward. On the occasion a paper was presented by Antonio Franchi, Partner, Head of the Civil and Commercial Law Department, Carnelutti Studio Legale Associato, Italy and Dr. K Achalapathi, Professor and Director Placement Services, Osmania University & Ahalada Rao, Central Council Member, ICSI On a discussion on International Corporate Governance Day - Benefits to the World, it was discussed that in the new era of globalization and modernization, the corporate house spearheads across the globe and the entire world is becomes a stakeholder. Varied policies and frame works are being followed by these corporate in different jurisdictions. There is a necessity of motivating and mobilising the governments of respective jurisdictions, to achieve this noble cause of self regulated Corporate Governance through the platform of International Corporate Governance Day. The modalities for achieving the next level Corporate Governance has to be deliberated and arrive at a common collaboration, discussed CS Ahalada Rao Central Council Member, ICSI, CS Mahadev Tirunagari, Practicing Company Secretary & Chairman Hyderabad Chapter of ICSI & Lt Gen J S Ahluwalia, President, Institute of Directors. A paper was presented by Anders Pettersson, Owner, Magnum Opus Consultancy, BrazilIi Good Corporate Governance ensures better collaboration. To discuss the need for collaboration between the stakeholder, panellists like CS Makarand Lele Central Council Member, ICSI & CS R Venkata Ramana, Practicing Company Secretary & Vice Chairman Hyderabad Chapter of ICSI & Austin Tyler, Junior Policy Analyst, Corporate Affairs Division, OECD discussed, It is important to understand the vulnerability to the frauds and corporate failures. As a platform to discuss and enumerate the possible methods and procedures for the adoption of Best corporate governance practices by the entire world, it becomes all the more important to stand together to have an effective system of rules, practices and processes by which a corporate is directed and controlled. There is a necessity of motivating and mobilising the governments of respective jurisdictions, to achieve this noble cause of self regulated Corporate Governance through the platform of International Corporate Governance Day. The modalities for achieving the next level Corporate Governance have to be deliberated and arrive at a common collaboration. Google as the top brand of India with Facebook, Gmail, Microsoft and Samsung rounding up the top five. A study by global research firm Ipsos ranksas the top brand of India withand Samsung rounding up the top five. WhatsApp is sixth on the Indias top 10 most influential brands, Flipkart is the top ranked Indian brand at seventh place. The other two Indian brands on the list - SBI and Airtel - are at ninth and tenth, while US based Amazon is placed at number eight. Brands are more than just corporate logos. They have meaning, personality, even attitude. The role brands play in our lives and the world at large is becoming more important," said Ipsos India MD Amit Adarkar. From improving our personal well-being to transforming the communities and societies we live in, many brands today are driven to make a dent in the universe, he added. The Most Influential Brands study that ranks brands according to their influence in 21 countries was conducted in December 2015. Ipsos study has measured the biggest, most well-known and/or highest spending brands only. The Ipsos Most Influential Brand Study evaluates over 100 brands across 21 countries and involved 36,600 interviews. In India, where the study was conducted for the first time, we canvassed the country to ask more than 1,000 Indians online to assess more than 100 brands, Ipsos said. GVK Power & Infrastructure Ltd handed over its phase I power plant to AP Discoms for a final terminal value of Rs .261.27 Crore. Ltd handed over its phase I power plant to AP Discoms for a final terminal value of Rs .261.27 Crore. GVK Power & Infrastructure Ltd ended at Rs. 6.85, up by Rs. 0.03 or 0.44% from its previous closing of Rs. 6.82 on the BSE. GVK Power & Infrastructure Ltd ended at Rs. 6.85, up by Rs. 0.03 or 0.44% from its previous closing of Rs. 6.82 on the BSE. The scrip opened at Rs. 6.95 and touched a high and low of Rs. 6.95 and Rs. 6.74 respectively. A total of 1936154(NSE+BSE) shares were traded on the counter. The current market cap of the company is Rs. 1081.75 crore. The BSE group 'A' stock of face value Rs. 1 touched a 52 week high of Rs. 10.55 on 17-Jul-2015 and a 52 week low of Rs. 6.37 on 29-Feb-2016. Last one week high and low of the scrip stood at Rs. 7.08 and Rs. 6.7 respectively. The promoters holding in the company stood at 54.25 % while Institutions and Non-Institutions held 9.93 % and 35.82 % respectively. The stock traded below its 200 DMA. India on Friday signed the historic Paris climate agreement, along with more than 170 nations, in a worldwide effort to cut greenhouse gas emissions. Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar signed the agreement in the UN General Assembly hall at a high-level ceremony hosted by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. The ceremony was attended by heads of government, ministers, corporate leaders and artists. This is a moment in history. Today you are signing a new covenant with the future, Ban said. We are in a race against time, he added. The signing is the first step toward ensuring that the agreement comes into force as soon as possible. After the signing, countries must take the further national steps by accepting or ratifying the agreement. The agreement can come into force 30 days after at least 55 Parties to the UNFCCC, accounting for at least 55 per cent of global emissions, ratify the agreement. Jaiprakash Associates Ltd is reportedly planning to streamline its operations, according to reports. The company has reduced its cement supply to markets in the north, says report. The company reportedly said that it has chosen to withdraw from certain markets of Haryana and Delhi. The scrip opened at Rs. 8.34 and has touched a high and low of Rs. 8.34 and Rs. 8.16 respectively. So far 11343643(NSE+BSE) shares were traded on the counter. The current market cap of the company is Rs. 2023.8 crore. The BSE group 'A' stock of face value Rs. 2 has touched a 52 week high of Rs. 24.75 on 23-Apr-2015 and a 52 week low of Rs. 6.45 on 12-Feb-2016. Last one week high and low of the scrip stood at Rs. 8.53 and Rs. 7.93 respectively. The promoters holding in the company stood at 39.38 % while Institutions and Non-Institutions held 27.02 % and 33.59 % respectively. The stock is currently trading above its 200 DMA. managing director and chief executive officer Kishor Kharat reportedly said the lender is not in discussions for a merger with the L&T Finance Holdings. We have not got any formal proposal from L&T Finance (Holdings) on stake sale. There is no plan of a merger (with L&T), Kharat was quoted as saying. IDBI Bank Ltd ended at Rs. 72.5, up by Rs. 0.2 or 0.28% from its previous closing of Rs. 72.3 on the BSE. The scrip opened at Rs. 72.2 and touched a high and low of Rs. 73.2 and Rs. 71.5 respectively. A total of 4958273(NSE+BSE) shares were traded on the counter. The current market cap of the company is Rs. 14926.41 crore. The BSE group 'A' stock of face value Rs. 10 touched a 52 week high of Rs. 95.7 on 03-Dec-2015 and a 52 week low of Rs. 47.4 on 12-Feb-2016. Last one week high and low of the scrip stood at Rs. 73.95 and Rs. 68.1 respectively. The promoters holding in the company stood at 73.98 % while Institutions and Non-Institutions held 18.61 % and 7.41 % respectively. The stock traded above its 200 DMA. Kharat reportedly said the bank has not yet done its overall valuation for stake sale purpose. Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) said on Friday that it was looking to buy more crude oil from Iran. Ltd (RIL) said on Friday that it was looking to buy more crude oil from Iran. The company made small purchases from Iran in the current quarter and is currently engaged in talks for bigger supplies, indicating that it could also get into a long-term supply contract, said V. Srikanth, RIL's joint CFO. We have had engagements with Iran before the sanctions and they have grades of crude that are attractive to us from where we are, Srikanth told reporters at a news conference. Srikanth said that the company has booked a small consignment of crude oil from Iran and long-term contracts could be thought of only after the payment issue is settled. India is set to import at least 400,000 barrels per day (bpd) of Iranian oil in FY17, with refiners looking to ramp up purchases after the sanctions targeting Tehran ended in January, according to reports. Iran was Indias second biggest crude oil supplier before economic sanctions aimed at Irans nuclear programme hampered its trade relations with New Delhi. Sitting is the new smoking. lumobackreview.net Most of us sit for long hours every day, without realising how bad it is for our health. Several studies have shown that prolonged sitting is slowly killing us, because it leads to slower digestion and higher risk of diseases like heart problems and diabetes. In fact, it is even linked to a higher risk of an early death. A new study has linked standing to weight loss. homedit.com In the past, studies have shown that standing for just two extra hours a day can improve your blood sugar, triglyceride and cholesterol levels. Now, a new study has found that standing for some time every day can even help you lose weight. Researchers from Australia and Denmark worked together to study the impact of sitting on a persons weight. Just so you know, Denmark has introduced sit-stand desks in workplaces to improve employee health. The researchers selected 317 Danish participants from across 19 offices and informed half of them about how using sit-stand desks would help their health. The other half of the participants were not told anything. Both the groups of participants had to wear devices that would measure their movement and activity during the day. gadgetreview.com In the first month of the experiment, the group that had been informed about the benefits of standing sat for 71 minutes less in office every day compared to the other group. At the end of three months, the first group was sitting for 48 minutes less per day. The first group also walked 7 8% more every day than the second group. In just the first month, their body fat percentage dropped by 0.6%. Thats not a lot, but its a step in the right direction and once standing at work becomes a habit this figure could improve. The researchers also noted that none of the participants complained about back pain while standing. A reduction in sitting time by 71 minutes per day and increases in interruptions could have positive effects and, in the long run, could be associated with reduced risk of heart disease, diabetes and all-cause mortality, especially among those who are inactive in their leisure time, said lead author Dr. Janne Tolstrup. Facebook, Google, Apple and Boeing are just a few of the companies that offer standing desks. ergotron.com As awareness about the harmful effects of sitting began to spread, more and more companies have started giving their employees the option to stand at work. According to the Wall Street Journal, Facebook officials say they have seen an upsurge in requests for standing desks to five to eight a week with a total of between 200 and 250 deployed at the company of more than 2,000 employees. Facebook also is trying out a treadmill stationwhere a worker can walk or run on a treadmill while tapping at a computer. The publication also reported that, Google spokesman Jordan Newman said that "many employees at Google opt for standing desks, and we offer them as part of our wellness program" though he said he didn't know the exact number. Fear and Loathing in the Arabian Nights By Pepe Escobar April 23, 2016 " Information Clearing House " - " Sputnik "- US President Barack Obama landed in Saudi Arabia for a GCC petrodollar summit and to proverbially reassure Gulf allies amidst the oiliest of storms. The Doha summit this past weekend that was supposed to enshrine a cut in oil production by OPEC, in tandem with Russia it was practically a done deal ended up literally in the dust. The City of London via the FT wants to convey the impression to global public opinion that it all boiled down to a dispute between Prince Mohammed bin Salman the conductor of the illegal war on Yemen and Saudi Oil Minister Ali Al-Naimi. The son of ailing King Salman has been dubbed the unpredictable new voice of the kingdoms energy policy. A famous 3 am call did take place in Doha on Sunday. The young Salman called the Saudi delegation and told them the deal was off. Every other energy market player was stunned by the reversion. Yet the true story, according to a financial source with very close links to the House of Saud, is that the United States threatened the Prince that night with the most dire consequences if he did not back down on the oil price freeze. So predictably this goes way beyond an internal Saudi matter, or the Princes erratic behavior, even as the House of Saud is indeed racked by multiple instances of fear and paranoia, as I analysed here. As the source explains, an oil production cut would have hindered the US goal of bankrupting Russia via an oil price war, which is what this is all about. Even the Prince is not that erratic. Iran had made it more than clear that after the lifting of sanctions it does not have any reason to embark on a production cut. On the contrary; oil contributes to 23% of Irans GDP. But as far as the House of Saud is concerned feeling the pain of a budget deficit of $98 billion in 2015 a moderate cut was feasible, along with most of OPEC and Russia, as Al-Naimi had promised. Another key variable must also be taken into account. Not only the whole saga goes way beyond an internal Saudi dispute; no matter what Washington does, the oil price has not crashed as expected. This would indicate that the global surplus of oil has been largely sopped up by falling supply and increasing demand. As a GCC-based oil market source reveals, have you noticed how much attention Kerry and Obama have been giving Saudi Arabia out of all proportion to the past to keep that oil price down? Yet WTI is up and holding over $40.00 a barrel. Thats because oil demand and supply is tightening. The oil market source notes, oil surplus is now probably less than a million barrels a day. So the only way, in the short to medium term, is up. Blowback from His Masters Voice? The House of Saud, by flooding the market with oil, believed it could accomplish three major feats. 1) Kill off competition from Iran to the US shale oil industry. 2) Prevent the competition from stealing market share with key energy customer China. 3) Inflict serious damage to the Russian economy. Now its blowback time as it could come from none other than His Masters Voice. The heart of the whole matter is that Washington has been threatening Riyadh to freeze Saudi assets all across the spectrum if the House of Saud does not cooperate in the oil price war against Russia. That reached the tipping point of the Saudis shaking the entire turbo-capitalist financial universe by issuing their own counter threat; the so-called $750 billion response. The burning issue of freezing all Saudi assets across the planet has come up with the US Congress considering a bill exposing he Saudi connection to 9/11. The declassification and release of those notorious 28 pages would do little to rewrite recent history; 9/11 with no serious investigation was blamed on Islamic terror, and that justified the invasion of Afghanistan and the bombing/invasion/occupation of Iraq, which had no connection to 9-11 nor any weapons of mass destruction. The 28 pages did intimidate the House of Saud and Saudi intelligence though. Especially because the odd sharp brain in Riyadh could make the connection; the 28 pages were being paraded around in Western corporate media before the OPEC meeting to keep the Saudis in line on the oil war against Russia. That may have been yet another Mafia-style offer you cant refuse; if the House of Saud cuts oil production, then it will be destroyed by the release of the 28 pages. So we are now deep into Mutually Assured Threat (MAT) territory, more than Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD). No one really knows how much Saudi Arabia has tied up in US Treasuries except for a few insiders in both Riyadh and Washington, and they are not talking. What is known is that the US Treasury bundles Riyadh's holdings along with other GCC petrodollar monarchies. Together, that amounted to $281 billion two months ago. Yet the Saudis are now saying they would get rid of a whopping $750 billion. A New York investment banker advances that six trillion dollars would be more like it. Earlier this year, I revealed on Sputnik how the House of Saud was busy unloading at least $1 trillion in US securities on the market to balance its increasingly disastrous budget. The problem is no one was ever supposed to know about it. The fact is the US and the West froze $80 billion in assets that belonged to the deposed head of the Egyptian snake, Mubarak. So a freeze tied up with framing Saudi Arabia for terrorism would not exactly be a hard sell. The nuclear option For all the pledges of eternal love, its an open secret in the Beltway that the House of Saud is the object of bipartisan contempt; and their purchased support, when push comes to shove, may reveal itself to be worthless. Now picture a geopolitical no exit with a self-cornered House of Saud having both superpowers, the US and Russia, as their enemies. Obamas visit is a non-event. Whatever happens, Washington needs to sell the fiction that the House of Saud is always an ally in the war on terra, now fighting ISIS/ISIL/Daesh (even if they dont.) And Washington needs Riyadh for Divide and Rule purposes keeping Iran in check. This does not mean that the House of Saud may not be thrown under the bus in a flash, should the occasion arise. As the source close to Riyadh advances, the real nuclear option for the Saudis would be to cooperate with Russia in a new alliance to cut back oil production 20% for all of OPEC, in the process raising the oil price to $200.00 a barrel to make up for lost revenue, forced on them by the United States. This is what the West fear like the plague. And this is what the perennial vassal, the House of Saud, will never have the balls to pull off. 2016 Sputnik. All rights reserved Why Is the Progressive Left Helping the Elite Elect Hillary? By Paul Craig Roberts April 23, 2016 " Information Clearing House " - Have you noticed that it is not only the presstitute media and the two establishment political parties that are beating up on Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump but also the progressive left? Sometimes the messages overlap so much that the progressive left sounds like the One Percent. But mainly the progressive left is down on Sanders because he is not pure, and they dont like Trump because he hurts peoples feelings and doesnt apologize. This is astounding. Here we are faced with the corrupt media and the corrupt party establishments determined to put in the Oval Office a tried and proven agent of the One Percent, and the progressive left is beating up on the only two alternatives! I doubt that Sanders or Trump would be able to achieve much for the American people except to reduce the flow of official lies that the presstitutes turn into truths by constant repetition. The Oligarchy is too strong. It was more than a half century ago that President Eisenhower warned us of the threat to American democracy from the military-security complex. That complex is much stronger today, and, in addition, we have Wall Street and the mega-banks that control the US Treasury and Federal Reserve, the Israel Lobby that has the US Congress wrapped around its little finger, the extractive industries (energy, mining, timber) that prevails over the environment and preservation, and agribusiness that poisons our food, exterminates honey bees and butterflies and produces chemical fertilizer runoff into waters that result in massive fish kills from algea. None of these powerful interests will permit the welfare of the American people to get in the way of their agendas and profits. Nevertheless, the election of Sanders or Trump is important, because it demonstrates that American citizens are emerging from The Matrix and have no confidence in the two corrupt political parties that betrayed them. The message would go out to the world as well that the American people have no confidence in the Washington Establishment. These messages are very important and can only have beneficial effects. So why is the progressive left helping the One Percent keep the lid on the rest of us? Has the progressive left sold out or is the progressive left putting its emotional needs above the general welfare? Dr. Paul Craig Roberts was Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Economic Policy and associate editor of the Wall Street Journal. He was columnist for Business Week, Scripps Howard News Service, and Creators Syndicate. He has had many university appointments. His internet columns have attracted a worldwide following. Roberts' latest books are The Failure of Laissez Faire Capitalism and Economic Dissolution of the West , How America Was Lost , and The Neoconservative Threat to World Order . Why Secrecy Rules Apply to Everyone Federal agencies relentlessly pursue suspected whistleblowers, while self-serving politicians escape punishment. By Philip Giraldi April 23, 2016 " Information Clearing House " - " American Conservative "- - Starting with Hammurabi, rulers have frequently appreciated that their subjects would be more acquiescent to being governed if they had at least a minimal appreciation that they were being treated fairly. That understanding has led to the development of law codes along the lines of the Roman Republics laws of the Twelve Tables, which were inscribed in bronze and posted prominently in the Forum so everyone would know what the rules were. In the Middle Ages statues of Justice erected in the Italian republics often had her blindfolded and with a scale in one hand and a sword in the other, indicating that guilt would be weighed fairly and punishment, if merited, would be delivered inexorably. For modern democracies the rule of law has often been translated into the expression equal justice under law. Of course everyone knows that there is no such thing as equal justice. Certain infractions are rarely prosecuted while other crimes are pursued rigorously. Expensive lawyers reduce the risk of there being any serious consequences for the wealthy even when one is caught out. Employees of the state are rarely punished even when their felonies cost the taxpayers millions of dollars because no one wants to look closely at corruption in government. But there is nevertheless the impression that the law exists to serve everyone equally, which is why the recent comments by President Obama regarding Hillary Clintons personal email account, which included 22 emails classified top secret, are so incredible. Obama made two statements regarding Hillarys private email server while she was secretary of state. His first comment was that he would do nothing to impede the investigation and possible filing of charges against Clinton if the facts should warrant that kind of action, elaborating That is institutionally how we have always operated: I do not talk to the attorney general about pending investigations. I do not talk to FBI directors about pending investigations. We have a strict line. And then he followed up by stating that Theres carelessness in terms of managing emails, that she has owned, and she recognizes. I continue to believe that she has not jeopardized Americas national security. Anyone who has ever handled classified material, which presumably includes the president, knows that there are a number of things that you do not do. You do not take it home with you, you do not copy it and share it with anyone who does not have a clearance or a need to know, and you do not transfer it to another email account that is not protected on a government server. If you have a secured government computer, that means that what is on the computer stays on the computer. This is not a matter of debate or subject to interpretation. It is how one safeguards classified information even if one believes that the material should not be classified. That the classification might be unnecessary is not your decision to make. Obama is, of course, lying when he says that he will allow an investigation to proceed unimpeded. The attorney general and FBI director work for him, and he is keenly aware of what is going on. He doesnt have to say anything at all for Loretta Lynch to understand that it might be in the administrations interest to slow down or kill the process. As Obama has one major legacy issue in the waning days of his presidency, to make sure that the Democratic Party holds onto the White House, to torpedo Hillary Clinton through prosecution over mishandling classified information would be unthinkable for him and the people around him. He does not have to send a signed presidential memo or have an off the record conversation to make sure that his associates appreciate that point. And second, when Obama claims that there was no breach of security, his assessment is irrelevant, in part because he may not know that to be true. The government was not controlling the private server in Chappaqua and numerous messages both there and in Washington have reportedly been erased. Besides, the accusation being made against Hillary is that she mishandled classified information, not that she gave it to some foreign power. She clearly is guilty as messages were cut and pasted minus their classification caveats. The question should be not whether she is guiltyshe isbut rather what form of punishment is appropriate. But Obama has sent a clear message that he has considered the matter and there will be no punishment. And then there is the somewhat similar case of General David Petraeus. While CIA director, Petraeus shared classified information with his lover Paula Broadwell, who was his official biographer. He eventually plea bargained guilty to giving Broadwell eight notebooks that he was insecurely storing in his home, including classified information recorded while he was serving as commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan. The notebooks held some of the most sensitive kinds of military and intelligence secrets , including names of undercover officers, intelligence resources, paraphrases from high-level meetings of the National Security Council, and even some comments about Petraeuss discussions with the president. It has been argued that Broadwell had a security clearance and was writing an official biography, but she had no need to know the highly sensitive information contained in the notebooks and should not have had access to them. Petraeus was placed on probation for two years and was fined $100,000, which he could easily afford. Proposals to demote him in rank and so diminish his pension were rejected. Some argued that he was protected by his rank and status and that his punishment had he been an enlisted man or junior officer would almost certainly have been much greater. But it is precisely due to his rank and status that the punishment was more severe than it seemed. He went from being a highly respected military officer and head of the CIA to being a man in disgrace who furthermore had his extramarital affair exposed to the nation. Some might plausibly argue that he should have also done jail time, but it is not unreasonable to maintain that the punishment hurt him in the area where he was most vulnerablehis reputation. In reality the penalty might be considered to be at least somewhat proportionate to the crime. And then we come to Jeffrey Sterling, who is currently serving a three and a half year prison term for allegedly leaking information to New York Times journalist James Risen. Sterling first came to the medias attention when in 2003 he blew the whistle on a botched CIA operation called Operation Merlin, telling the Senate Intelligence Committee staff that the CIA had mistakenly sent nuclear secrets to Iran. So it was perhaps inevitable that in 2006, when James Risen published a book that inter alia discussed the botched Operation Merlin, the Department of Justice focused on Sterling as the suspected source. In court the federal prosecutors relied almost entirely on Risens phone and email logs, which reportedly demonstrated that the two men had been in contact up until 2005. But the prosecutors did not provide the content of those communications even though the FBI was listening in on some of them. Risen has claimed that he had multiple sources on Operation Merlin, and Sterling has always denied being involved. No evidence was ever produced in court demonstrating that any classified information ever passed between them. Jeffrey Sterling could not even testify in the trial on his own behalf because he would have had to discuss Operation Merlin, which was and is still classified, meaning he could not reveal any details about it even if they were already known through the Risen book. Indeed, some of the information in Risens book relating to Merlin could not have been known by Sterling as he was no longer associated with the operation after mid-2000, a detail that could also not be presented as it too was considered classified. The jury convicted Sterling based on suspicion, a verdict that defense witness Colonel Pat Lang, former head of the Defense Intelligence Agencys clandestine program, described as a travesty. After conviction Sterling was sent to prison in Colorado900 miles from his familys home in St. Louis. According to his wife Holly, legal fees have wiped out the couples finances, leading some to believe that the government deliberately set out to make an example of Sterling. John Kiriakou, another CIA whistleblower who was also imprisoned, observed that The point wasnt just to imprison Jeffrey. It was to ruin him. Utterly ruin him. The point was to demonize him. And frighten any other would-be whistleblowers. So much for equal justice under law. The politically best connected abuser of classified information walks, the next one down the ladder in terms of political importance is fined but not otherwise punished, and the least institutionally protected individual goes to jail. And the real irony is that only the first two demonstrably mishandled classified information for their own convenience and benefit. It was never demonstrated that Sterling had done so. Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton: The Palestinian Defender vs. the Israel Apologist By Marjorie Cohn April 23, 2016 " Information Clearing House " - " Truthdig "- An amazing thing happened at the prime-time Democratic debate in Brooklyn on Thursday. A few days ahead of Tuesdays delegate-rich New York primary, presidential candidate Bernie Sanders dared to criticize Israel. Rival Hillary Clinton, on the other hand, stood firm as an uncritical apologist for Israel. CNNs Wolf Blitzer asked Sanders to explain his assertion that Israels actions during the 2014 Israel-Gaza conflict, when Hamas launched rocket attacks on Israel, were disproportionate and led to the unnecessary loss of life. Sanders stated that Israel has the right to defend itself and to live in peace and security without fear of terrorist attack, adding, That is not a debate. But Sanders went on to say that 10,000 Palestinian civilians had been wounded and 1,500 were killed. Sanders actually understated the fatalities. According to an independent international commission of inquiry convened by the United Nations Human Rights Council, more than 2,100 Palestinians lost their lives in that conflict. Fewer than 75 Israelis were killed. Sanders added, Now, if youre asking not just me, but countries all over the world was that a disproportionate attack? The answer is that I believe it was. The U.N. commission documented 2,251 Palestinian deaths, including 1,462 civilians (299 women and 551 children), and the wounding of 11,231 Palestinians, including 3,540 women and 3,436 children. By contrast, six civilians and 67 Israeli soldiers were killed, and up to 1,600 were injured. Quoting official Israeli sources, the commission reported that Israeli rockets and mortars hit civilian buildings and infrastructure, including schools and houses, causing direct damage to civilian property amounting to almost $25 million. The commission found that 18,000 Palestinian housing units were totally or partially destroyed; much of the electrical, water and sanitation infrastructure was incapacitated; and 73 medical facilities and several ambulances were damaged. Moreover, 28 percent of the Palestinian population was displaced. In international law, the principle of proportionality requires an attack be proportionate to the military advantage sought. Israel did not provide information to the commission to support the conclusion that the civilian casualties and damage to the targeted and surrounding buildings were not excessive. The commission therefore found that the Israeli attacks could be disproportionate, and may amount to war crimes. When Blitzer asked Clinton whether she agreed with Sanders that Israel overreacts to Palestinians attacks, and that in order to achieve peace, Israel must end its disproportionate responses, she demurred, citing the requirement that Israel take precautions. The principle of precautions in international law means Israel had a legal duty to take precautions to avoid or limit civilian casualties. The commission concluded, In many incidents, however, the weapons used, the timing of the attacks, and the fact that the targets were located in densely populated areas indicate that the Israel Defense Forces [IDF] may not have done everything feasible to avoid or limit civilian casualties. The commission said that the IDFs use of roof-knock warnings before the strikes did not constitute effective warning. The commission found that either the people affected didnt understand that their homes were being subjected to roof-knocking or the IDF gave insufficient time for them to evacuate after the warnings. The commission also criticized Israel for inferring that anyone remaining in an area that has been the object of a warning is an enemy or a person engaging in terrorist activity. Those civilians choosing not to heed a warning do not lose the protection granted by their status. The only way in which civilians lose their protection from attack is by directly participating in the hostilities. As the commission pointed out, the targeting of civilians may amount to a war crime as well as a violation of the right to life enshrined in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Sanders made another declaration one would not expect from an American politician on national television. He said, If we are ever going to bring peace to that region which has seen so much hatred and so much war, we are going to have to treat the Palestinian people with respect and dignity. But Clinton could not bring herself to agree with him. In fact, Sanders pointed out that during Clintons speech to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) in March, I heard virtually no discussion at all about the needs of the Palestinian people. Almost none in that speech. Clinton did tell AIPAC that Palestinians should be able to govern themselves in their own state, in peace and dignity, and she made a veiled reference to avoiding damaging action, including with respect to settlements. Israel continues to build illegal settlements on Palestinian land. But Clinton spoke only of the threat to Israel from the Palestinians and Iran. She called out anti-Semitism, and opposed Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions), an international nonviolent movement initiated by Palestinian civil society to pressure Israel to end its occupation of Palestinian lands. In the Brooklyn debate, Sanders said that in order to achieve peace in the region, the United States must play an even-handed role, adding, We cannot continue to be one-sided. There are two sides to the issue. But for Clinton, there is only one side, and that is Israels. When she mentioned the Palestinians during the debate, she described them as threats to Israel, focusing only on Hamas. Absent from her remarks was any mention of the humanity of the Palestinian people. During her address to AIPAC, she advocated bolstering Israeli missile defenses with new systems. But she said nothing about providing the Palestinians with missile defenses against 155-millimeter Israeli artillery. Although Sanders had declined an invitation to personally address AIPAC, he made a statement he would have delivered to the group. It included this sentence: But peace also means security for every Palestinian. It means achieving self-determination, civil rights, and economic well-being for the Palestinian people. Sanders also argued for ending what amounts to the [Israeli] occupation of Palestinian territory, establishing mutually agreed-upon borders, and pulling back settlements in the West Bank, as well as ending the economic blockade of Gaza. Clinton promised AIPAC that one of the first things she would do as president would be to invite Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the White House. She would probably also push to increase the $3.1 billion in military assistance the United States provides to Israel annuallymore than to any other country. There is a vast difference between Sanders and Clinton on Israel. Make no mistake. A President Hillary Clinton would strengthen Israels noose around the necks of the Palestinian people. She would not be an honest broker in any process to bring peace to that region. Marjorie Cohn is a professor at Thomas Jefferson School of Law, former president of the National Lawyers Guild, and deputy secretary general of the International Association of Democratic Lawyers. Her most recent book is Drones and Targeted Killing: Legal, Moral, and Geopolitical Issues. Follow her on Twitter @marjoriecohn. 2016 Truthdig, LLC. All rights reserved. Syrian Elections Confirm Wests Worst Fears By Tony Cartalucci April 23, 2016 " Information Clearing House " - " NEO "- Despite Syrias ongoing conflict, life in many parts of the nation goes on. Syrias election schedule is no exception. The last parliamentary elections before the latest held this month were in 2012. Since these elections are held every 4 years, the recent elections were far from a political stunt to bolster the legitimacy of the current government, but instead represented the continuity of Syrias ongoing, sovereign political process. Attempts to undermine the credibility of the elections have become the primary objective of US and European news agencies, however, even the US governments own election monitoring nongovernmental (NGO) agencies have conceded the last presidential election in 2014 saw soaring voter turnout, and despite attempts to leave voter turnout this year omitted from US-European press reports, it appears to also have been high. The Washington-based, USAID-funded Election Guide reported a 73.42% voter turnout in Syrias 2014 presidential election, a turnout that would be astounding had they been US elections. Voter turnout for the 2008 and 2012 presidential elections in the US, for example, were 57.1% and 54.9% respectively. The 2016 Syrian parliamentary elections appear to have also enjoyed a high turnout, with the International Business Tribune in its article, Syria Elections 2016 Updates: Geneva Peace Talks Resume Amid Scrutiny Of Countrys Ballot Process, reporting that: Voting hours for the Syrian parliamentary elections Wednesday were extended for an additional five hours because of such a high voter turnout. A religious leader there lauded the number of voters participating, saying that it was an indication to voters apparent opposition to the cruelty, terrorism and destruction experienced in Syrias civil war. Despite high turnouts in previous elections and indicators like that reported in the International Business Tribune regarding this latest poll, US papers like the New York Times (NYT) decided to sidestep facts and intentionally indulged in unconfirmed, anecdotal stories to portray turnout as low as possible and the credibility of the elections nonexistent. Anne Barnards questionable NYT article titled, Syrian Parliamentary Elections Highlight Divisions and Uncertainty, claimed that: Large parts of the country that are controlled by insurgent groups did not participate in the voting on Wednesday. Despite a fragile partial cease-fire, government and Russian warplanes have continued to hit areas controlled by nationalists and Islamist rebels, as well as territory held by the Islamic State, also known as ISIS and ISIL. An American-led coalition is also bombing areas held by the group. Throughout Barnards NYT piece, she categorically fails to inform readers that while the geographical areas controlled by insurgent groups might be large, the majority of Syrias population does not reside within them, and clearly chose to vote in large numbers both in 2014 and 2016 for the current government. Claims that Kurdish regions also did not participate, omitted the fact that Syrias total Kurdish population is less than 10% of Syrias population and that not all Syrian Kurds reside in these regions and refused to vote. Dispelling the Displacement Myths It is usually the US that reminds the world of Syrias displaced population. What it often doesnt mention is the fact that most of these displaced Syrians have not fled abroad either to Turkey or Jordan or further beyond to Europe, but have instead sought safe haven in Syrias capital of Damascus and the protection of its government and the Syrian Arab Army. The US-EU-funded Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) would reveal precisely this in its 2012 report, Syria: No safe haven A country on the move, a nation on the brink, stating: Syrias two biggest cities Damascus and Aleppo were seen as safe havens from the violence and gradually saw a large influx of IDPs [internally displaced persons] fleeing from the zones of conflict. It is clear that the majority of Syrias population are fleeing from US-EU backed freedom fighters and seeking sanctuary under the protection of the regime Western powers have attempted to convince the world led by villains. With this in mind, poll results in favor of the ruling government should be of no surprise, despite rhetoric circulating in US-European media. The Wests Worst Fears Confirmed This reality confirms the Wests worst fears, that despite all attempts to divide and destroy the modern nation-state of Syria, the people remain relatively united in cause to restore peace and order within the nation, and to do so with the current government leading the way. It is also ironic that the United States and Europe endlessly expound the virtue of self-determination but now attempt to undermine an exercise in that very self-determination by the Syrian people. It is clear by the statements made by the United States and several European nations regarding the recent elections that the problem was not necessarily the manner in which the elections were held, but who they included. It was not candidates Syrian law excluded from the elections, but candidates the United States and Europe simply do not approve of. In other words, the US and Europe are doing precisely the opposite of promoting self-determination in Syria and are in fact attempting to undo or otherwise undermine the credibility of the results of the recent elections. NPR in an article titled, Parts Of Syria Vote In Parliamentary Elections That Critics Say Are A Sham, would report that: Mark Toner, U.S. State Department deputy spokesperson, said this week that to hold parliamentary elections now given the current circumstances, given the current conditions in the country, we believe is at best premature and not representative of the Syrian people. A French Foreign Ministry spokesman called the elections a sham, while his German counterpart said that country will not accept the results, Reuters reported. It should be remembered that the US and its European allies eagerly supported elections held in Ukraine amid fierce fighting in the nations easternmost region. Despite the inability or unwillingness of many in Ukraine to vote, the elections were both held and recognized by the US and Europe. The reason for this hypocrisy should be clear. Those running in Ukraines elections were candidates the US and Europe approved of, supported, and knew would win, while those running and most likely to win in Syrias elections are not. Thus, democracy from an American or European point of view, is more about special interests in the West selecting a foreign nations future government, not its people, unless of course, the people can be convinced to back those candidates Washington and Brussels supports as well. Not only does the recent election in Syria confirm the Wests worst fears of a failed campaign to divide and destroy the nation, casting doubts on the viability of installing a Western-friendly regime into power during the proposed transition, but rather than exposing the alleged illegitimacy of Syrian democracy, it is the Wests brand of selective meddling and manipulation of polls that has been laid out for all the world to see. With any luck, Syria may serve as an example for other nations to follow in resisting and overcoming foreign interference in their domestic political processes. Tony Cartalucci, Bangkok-based geopolitical researcher and writer, especially for the online magazineNew Eastern Outlook. When We Mourn The Passing Of Prince But Not 500 Migrants, We Have To Ask: Have We Lost All Sense Of Perspective? Could not one of those dead children among the five hundred souls on the sinking Mediterranean boat become a superstar? By Robert Fisk April 23, 2016 " Information Clearing House " - " The Independent "- Has something gone adrift within the moral compass of our news reporting? In the past week, 64 Afghans have been killed in the largest bomb to have exploded in Kabul in 15 years. At least 340 were wounded. The Taliban set off their explosives at the very wall of the elite security force watch out for that word elite which was supposed to protect the capital. Whole families were annihilated. No autopsies for them. Local television showed an entire family a mother and father and three children blown to pieces in a millisecond while the citys ambulance service reported that its entire fleet (a miserable 15 vehicles) were mobilised for the rescue effort. One ambulance was so packed with wounded that the back doors came off their hinges. But Prince also died this week. Now Afghanistan is the country to which we and our EU partners are happily returning refugees on the grounds that Kabul and its surrounding provinces are safe. It is, of course, a lie as flagrant and potentially as bloody as the infamous weapons of mass destruction we claimed were in Iraq in 2003. By then, we had already promised the Afghans in 2001 that we wouldnt let them down. We wouldnt forget them as we did after the Soviet war. A Blair promise, of course, and thus worthless. There was another story on Afghan television last week, which carried its own dark implications for the future. A young man called Sabour was convicted of murdering two American advisers and told the court that he had absolutely no regrets. Afghan social media began to fill with comments in support of the man. He was a real Afghan, said one. A true Afghan. So much for Afghanistan and its utterly corrupt government and our continued claim that we support this bogus administration and that our advisers are there to produce, well, not Jeffersonian democracy as the Americans coyly admitted in 2003 but at least stability. But Prince also died this week. Then there was the latest Mediterranean catastrophe. Up to 500 refugees and migrants were believed to have drowned after refugees from a small vessel sailing out of Libya were transferred onto a larger boat on which Egyptians, Ethiopians, Somalis and Sudanese were traveling. The survivors were landed in Greece, some having seen their families drown. But there were no pictures of the sinking. No autopsies for them, of course. No dead little Aylan Kurdis were washed up on a soft beach for the cameras. They simply drifted straight down to the depths of the ocean to join the other thousands of skeletons who never made it to Europe. Do not reflect that five hundred lives is almost exactly one third the total passenger deaths on the Titanic. Do not mention that another million human beings are likely to choose this Mediterranean passage now that we are closing the straits between Greece and Turkey. Because Prince died this week. No, I dont begrudge those who mourn this brilliant musician and the social revolution he represented. The Purple Rain superstar also had fans across the Middle East. There are Arab Facebooks aplenty today expressing their sorrow at his death. But I do wonder if we are going too far. When network television presenters are expressing their condolences to the mayor of Minneapolis and the Eiffel Tower has turned purple, there must surely come a time when we ask ourselves if our sense of priorities has not lost all perspective. Could not one of those three dead children in Kabul have become a Prince? Or the children among the five hundred souls on the sinking Mediterranean boat? Could not he or she have become a superstar? How about a few presenters expressing their sorrow for their deaths, too? The colour would be black instead of purple, of course. The Eiffel Tower lights would have to be switched off. But this will not happen. Because Prince died this week. Defending Democracy To the Last Drop of Oil By Eric Margolis April 23, 2016 " Information Clearing House " - Poor President Barack Obama flew to Saudi Arabia this past week but its ruler, King Salman, was too busy to greet him at Riyadhs airport. This snub was seen across the Arab world as a huge insult and violation of traditional desert hospitality. Obama should have refused to deplane and flown home. Alas, he did not. Obama went to kow-tow to the new Saudi monarch and his hot-headed son, Crown Prince Muhammed bin Nayef. They are furious that Obama has refused to attack Iran, Hezbollah in Lebanon, and Syrias Assad regime. They are also angry as hornets that the US may allow relatives of 9/11 victims to sue the Saudi royal family, which is widely suspected of being involved in the attack. Interestingly, survivors of the 34 American sailors killed aboard the USS Liberty when it was attacked by Israeli warplanes in 1967, have been denied any legal recourse. The Saudis, who are also petrified of Iran, threw a fit, threatening to pull $750 billion of investments from the US. Other leaders of the Gulf sheikdoms sided with the Saudis but rather more discreetly. Ignoring the stinging snub he had just suffered, Obama assured the Saudis and Gulf monarchs that the US would defend them against all military threats in effect, reasserting their role as western protectorates. So much for promoting democracy. Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states have been de facto US-British-French protectorates since the end of World War II. They sell the western powers oil at rock bottom prices and buy fabulous amounts of arms from these powers in exchange for the west protecting the ruling families. As Libyas late Muammar Kadaffi once told me, the Saudis and Gulf emirates are very rich families paying the west for protection and living behind high walls. Kadaffis overthrow and murder was aided by the western powers, notably France, and the oil sheiks. Kadaffi constantly denounced the Saudis and their Gulf neighbors as robbers, traitors to the Arab cause, and puppets of the west. Many Arabs and Iranians agreed with Kadaffi. While Islam commands all Muslims to share their wealth with the needy and aid fellow Muslims in distress, the Saudis spent untold billions in casinos, palaces and European hookers while millions of Muslims starved. The Saudis spent even more billions for western high-tech arms they cannot use. During the dreadful war in Bosnia, 1992-1995, the Saudis, who arrogate to themselves the title of Defenders of Islam and its holy places, averted their eyes as hundreds of thousands of Bosnians were massacred, raped, driven from their homes by Serbs, and mosques blown up. The Saudi dynasty has clung to power through lavish social spending and cutting off the heads of dissidents, who are routinely framed with charges of drug dealing. The Saudis have one of the worlds worst human rights records. Saudis royals are afraid of their own military, so keep it feeble and inept aside from the air force. They rely on the National Guard, a Bedouin tribal forces also known as the White Army. In the past, Pakistan was paid to keep 40,000 troops in Saudi to protect the royal family. These soldiers are long gone, but the Saudis are pressing impoverished Pakistan to return its military contingent. The US-backed and supplied Saudi war against dirt-poor Yemen has shown its military to be incompetent and heedless of civilian casualties. The Saudis run the risk of becoming stuck in a protracted guerilla war in Yemens wild mountains. The US, Britain and France maintain discreet military bases in the kingdom and Gulf coast. The US Fifth Fleet is based in Bahrain, where a pro-democracy uprising was recently crushed by rented Pakistani police and troops. Reports say 30,000 Pakistani troops may be stationed in Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar. Earlier this month, the Saudis and Egypts military junta announced they would build a bridge across the narrow Strait of Tiran (leading to the Red Sea) to Egypts Sinai Peninsula. The clear purpose of a large bridge in this remote, desolate region is to facilitate the passage of Egyptian troops and armor into Saudi Arabia to protect the Saudis. Egypt now relies on Saudi cash to stay afloat. But Saudi Arabias seemingly endless supply of money is now threatened by the precipitous drop in world oil prices. Riyadh just announced it will seek $10 billion in loans from abroad to offset a budget shortfall. This is unprecedented and leads many to wonder if the days of free-spending Saudis are over. Add rumors of a bitter power-struggle in the 6,000-member royal family and growing internal dissent and uber-reactionary Saudi Arabia may become the Mideasts newest hotspot. Eric S. Margolis is an award-winning, internationally syndicated columnist. His articles have appeared in the New York Times, the International Herald Tribune the Los Angeles Times, Times of London, the Gulf Times, the Khaleej Times, Nation Pakistan, Hurriyet, Turkey, Sun Times Malaysia and other news sites in Asia. http://ericmargolis.com Copyright Eric S. Margolis 2016 - What you say during your first day on the job doesnt just impact on what your colleagues think about you. It could also end up costing you the gig. Its natural to want to be liked, to impress and fit in quickly. However, many try too hard, and talk too much when they should be listening. It is in lieu of this that INFORMATION NIGERIA has put together things you should never say on your first day at work. In my last job No one likes a know it-all but one who walk into the new job with energy and a splash of humility. I have to leave early on Fridays If you hadnt talked about that prior to joining, landing in the new job and suddenly dropping these kinds of bombs on them really shows a lack of communication and respect on your part. Theyre expecting you to just come in and be there and be present, be eager, be ready and willing to learn. Who should I meet and who should I avoid around here? A question like this is basically asking co-workers to gossip thats a career killer Thats not how I learned how to do it Employers dont want to hear what you cant do. They want to hear that you are open-minded and ready to learn to do it their way. That can sometimes slip out because people want to be able to show their expertise and they think thats why they got hired. But, if you dont frame it properly, it can really sound negative and critical of the organization thats just hired you. Whats the holiday party like? Do we get bonuses or a ham or something? Why dont you just wait and see when holiday time rolls around. By the way, what will you do if you go home empty-handed? No, thanks. I brought my lunch today. Turning down an opportunity to get lunch and bond with new coworkers or a boss seems standoffish, even if you did pack your lunch that day. Eight members of a family were all shot to death in what appeared to be execution-style killings Friday across four different locations in Pike County, Ohio, according to police authorities. The victims were seven adults and one 16-year-old found in three homes on the same road. Some of the victims appeared to have been killed in their sleep early this morning and were found shot to death in their beds, Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine said at a news conference on Friday afternoon. One of the victims, a new mother who was sleeping in bed with her 4-day-old baby was shot in the head and killed. DeWine said that while residents of the county should not panic, they should be careful. At a news conference Friday night, DeWine noted that authorities have interviewed more than 30 people, though he declined to characterize any of them as persons of interest. There are different theories that were looking at, DeWine said, noting that investigators are still working the crime scene. The eighth victim, an adult, was found later than the other victims at a fourth location in Piketon, officials said. Three children in the homes, the 4-day-old baby, a 6-month-old baby and a 3-year-old were found alive at the crime scenes. The Police are still working on positively identifying each of the deceased individually and notifying their next-of-kin. No arrests have been made yet. Source: ABC News Mass slaughter of hundreds of men, women and children by soldiers in Zaria and the attempted cover-up of this crime demonstrates an utter contempt for human life and accountability, said Amnesty International as it publishes evidence gathered on the ground revealing how the Nigerian military burned people alive, razed buildings and dumped victims bodies in mass graves. The report, Unearthing the truth: Unlawful killings and mass cover-up in Zaria, contains shocking eyewitness testimony of large-scale unlawful killings by the Nigerian military and exposes a crude attempt by the authorities to destroy and conceal evidence. The true horror of what happened over those two days in Zaria is only now coming to light. Bodies were left littered in the streets and piled outside the mortuary. Some of the injured were burned alive, said Netsanet Belay, Amnesty Internationals Research and Advocacy Director for Africa. Our research, based on witness testimonies and analysis of satellite images, has located one possible mass grave. It is time now for the military to come clean and admit where it secretly buried hundreds of bodies. More than 350 people are believed to have been unlawfully killed by the military between 12 and 14 December, following a confrontation between members of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN) and soldiers in Zaria, Kaduna state. IMN supporters some armed with batons, knives, and machetes had refused to clear the road near their headquarters, the Hussainiyya, for a military convoy to pass. The army has claimed that IMN supporters attacked the convoy in an attempt to assassinate the Chief of Army Staff. IMN members deny this. Following an initial confrontation the military surrounded other locations where IMN supporters had gathered, notably at the residential compound of IMN leader Ibrahim Al-Zakzaky. Some people were killed as a result of indiscriminate fire. Others appeared to have been deliberately targeted. All available information indicates that the deaths of protestors were the consequence of excessive, and arguably, unnecessary use of force. Zainab, a 16-year-old schoolgirl, told Amnesty International: We were in our school uniforms. My friend Nusaiba Abdullahi was shot in her forehead. We took her to a house where they treated the injured but, before reaching the house, she already died. A 10-year-old boy who was shot in the leg told Amnesty International how his older brother was shot in the head as they tried to leave the compound. We went out to try to shelter in a nearby house but we got shot. On 13 December, two buildings within Ibrahim Al-Zakzakys compound, one of which was being used as a makeshift medical facility and mortuary, were attacked by soldiers. Alyyu, a 22-year-old student, told Amnesty International that he was shot in the chest outside the compound and was taken inside for treatment: There were lots of injured people in several rooms. There were dead bodies in a room and also in the courtyard. Around 12-1pm soldiers outside called on people to come out, but people were too scared to go out. We knew they would kill us. Soldiers threw grenades inside the compound. I saw one soldier on the wall of the courtyard shooting inside. One mother described a phone conversation with one of her 19-year-old sons before he was killed alongside his twin brother and their step brother and sister in the compound. They are shooting those injured one by one, he told her. As soldiers set fire to the makeshift medical facility in the compound that afternoon, Yusuf managed to escape despite serious gunshot wounds: Those who were badly injured and could not escape were burned alive, he told Amnesty International. I managed to get away from the fire by crawling on my knees until I reached a nearby house where I was able to hide until the following day. I dont know how many of the wounded were burned to death. Tens and tens of them. Footage believed to have been shot on mobile phone by IMN supporters after the incident shows bodies with gunshot wounds as well as charred bodies strewn around the compound. After the incident the military sealed off the areas around al-Zakzakys compound, the Hussainiyya and other locations. Bodies were taken away, sites were razed to the ground, the rubble removed, bloodstains washed off, and bullets and spent cartridge removed from the streets. Witnesses saw piles of bodies outside the morgue of Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital in Zaria. The hospitals Chief Medical Officer told Amnesty International that the military sealed off the area around the morgue for two days. During that time he saw army vehicles coming and going. A witness described to Amnesty International what he saw outside the hospital mortuary on the evening of 14 December: It was dark and from far I could only see a big mound but when I got closer I saw it was a huge pile of corpses on top of each other. I have never seen so many dead bodies. I got very scared and run away. It was a terrible sight and I cant get it out of my mind. Another witness told the organisation how he had seen diggers excavating holes at the site of the suspected mass grave: There were five or six large trucks and several smaller military vehicles and they spent hours digging and unloading the trucks cargo into the hole they dug and then covered it again with the earth they had dug out. They were there from about 1 or 2 am until about 5 am. I dont know what they buried. It looked like bodies, but I could not get near. Amnesty International identified and visited the location of a possible mass grave near Mando. Satellite images of the site taken on 2 November and 24 December 2015 show disturbed earth spanning an area of approximately 1000 square metres. Satellite pictures also show the complete destruction of buildings and mosques. It is clear that the military not only used unlawful and excessive force against men, women and children, unlawfully killing hundreds, but then made considerable efforts to try to cover-up these crimes, said Netsanet Belay. Four months after the massacre the families of the missing are still awaiting news of their loved ones. A full independent forensic investigation is long overdue. The bodies must be exhumed, the incident must be impartially and independently investigated and those responsible must be held to account. A man impersonating as a serving officer in the Nigerian Army, Mr. Prince Onyemauche has been arrested by the Army for prosecution. Mr Onyemauche was arrested alongside a serving senior non-commissioned officer, SSgt Jacob Phillip at about 3.00 a.m. along Wazobia Motor Park, Gwagwalada, Abuja in February, 2016 by troops of the 176 Special Forces Guards Battalion. The suspect was driving a grey-coloured Toyota Tacoma pick-up van with registration No. Lagos LSD 05 BM at the time of his arrest. He had earlier escaped check at the Abaji military checkpoint on the same day where he had told the soldiers that he was a Colonel in the Army, but the soldiers promptly reported the incident which led to his arrest in Gwagwalada. Following the arrest, both suspects were moved to Gwagwalada Barracks where a search on their vehicle revealed that they were in possession of illegally acquired weapons. The search revealed an AK 47 assault rifle with registration No. 3290 and four ammunition magazines. Two of the magazines were empty while the other two were loaded with 42 rounds of 7.62 mm ammunition. A Luger pistol with 21 rounds of 9mm ammunition and the sum of N1,011,300.00k were also recovered from the vehicle. Other items recovered from the suspects included six GSM handsets, one Samsung Galaxy tablet, 12 check booklets, six ATM cards, a drivers licence and a voters card belonging to Mr Onyemauche as well as a temporary drivers licence belonging to one Mr Rasaq Olanrewaju. The rest items recovered from them were one expended case of 9 mm pistol ammunition, seven sets of fund transfer forms for Zenith Bank and Ecobank, and a sales invoice No. 19822 issued to one Blessed Triplet Pharmacy. Preliminary investigations also revealed that Mr Onyemauche has long formed the habit of illegally using soldiers as escorts while travelling outside Lagos to his village in Imo State and sometimes to Abuja. Three soldiers including SSgt Phillip already identified as travelling with the suspect without official authorization are now awaiting trial by a military court-martial while Mr Onyemauche will be handed over to the Nigeria Police for further investigation and prosecution. While parading the suspect today, Army spokesman, Colonel Sani Usman, urged the general public to always have in mind that not all persons that claim to be military personnel are truly so, adding that where people suspect foul play on encountering such persons, they should be quickly reported to the law-enforcement agencies, the Military Police or at any nearest military barracks Source: KwaJay blog An High Court in Makurdi, Benue State has sentenced a bus driver, Tanko Inalegwu, who robbed passengers of N68,000, to death by hanging. In his ruling, Justice Hwande held that the prosecution proved before the court that the convict conspired with others, now at large to rob their victims of various sums of money totalling N68,000, on October 10, 2013. He said that the convict and his gang had pretended to be passengers in the commercial vehicles in which they dispossessed the unsuspecting victims of cash at the old Customs House, North Bank, Makurdi after which they pushed out the three victims from the moving vehicle. The Judge stated that contrary to the victims claim, evidence tendered before the court showed clearly that the convict was a key player in the robbery. Report said the convict had confessed to the police that he committed the offence, but later made a U-turn, claiming that he made the confessional statement after being tortured by the Police. Justice Hwande said that the confessional statement provided enough ground for the verdict of the court and his conviction. Metro Naija. An auto body shop in Minnesota was the subject of a drug task force investigation after a report that the owners were distributing drugs to employees as bonuses. The owner of Clear Choice Auto Body Repair, 40-year-old Jesse Michael Seifert, was arrested after an employee said that he and his girlfriend Nancy Jean Loehlein, 39,had been paying employees in methamphetamine. Agents of the Minnesota River Valley Drug Task Force investigated the shop and Cmdr. Jeff Wersal reported that Loehlein gave each of the shops six employees half-gram of meth in Seiferts presence. Syringes and a digital scale with traces of meth were found at the Mankato business as the task force search the building on Thursday. Wersel said the task force had been observing the shop for more than sixth months but did not have enough evidence to arrest Loehlein. Seiferts record contained previous arrests for marijuana possession and drunken driving. UPI The Ministry of Finance on Friday clarified that Thursdays debt repayment deferral is not a bail out to state governments. The ministry in a statement said the deferral totaling N10.9 billion, is to ensure that the states are in a better position to meet their salary obligations to workers. We are not able to guarantee that all states will be able to meet their salary obligations, as each states situation is dependent on its own cost profile and other obligations it may have. But this initiative is to improve their position to do so, the Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun, said. She said all the states will receive the relief this month, adding that further deferrals will be subject to the agreement of a Fiscal Restructuring Plan to be prepared by each state with clear measurable objectives. Adeosun stressed that the Finance Ministry is keen to ensure that the programme of financial discipline being driven by the federal government is replicated in all tiers of government, including elimination of payroll fraud and increased spending efficiencies in overhead. The vice chancellor said this in his address at the convocation arena in Abraka. He said a total of 5,811 students graduated under its Bachelor degree programmes in the 2014/2015 session of the university. He added that 24 graduates got first class, 1,123 bagged second class upper, while 3,222 obtained second class lower division, among others in the first degree programme. He noted that the university in the session produced, 47 Ph.Ds, 431 Masters, 243 Post Graduate Diploma and 485 with Diploma certificates. Peretomode said that the students were found worthy in both character and learning and enjoined them to explore the economic environment as good ambassadors of the university. He commended Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State for his continued support, especially for releasing the sum of N200m for accreditation purposes. He said that the university had obtained 93 per cent accreditation for its programmes but called for improved funding to enable it to meet its infrastructure needs. The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the best graduating first degree student, Mr Marcus Ifeanyi of the Department of Mathematics bagged First Class Honours with 4.86 Cumulative Grade Point Aggregate. Source:NAN The Nigerian Army said on Friday that the curfew imposed on Maiduguri, the Borno State capital between 9pm and 6am was still in force. This is contained in a statement issued in Maiduguri by Mustpaha Anka, the deputy director, Army Public Relations. The Army warned that drastic action would be taken against individuals found violating the curfew. It has come to the notice of headquarters of 7 Division of the Nigerian Army, Operation Lafiya Dole, that some members of the public violate orders on curfew imposed on Maiduguri and environs. Violations of curfew threaten the relative peace being enjoyed in Maiduguri town. Please be reminded that a legitimate curfew in Maiduguri imposed from 9pm to 6am is still in force. The division wishes to inform the general public that despite the successes recorded against Boko Haram insurgents across the state, the fight against insurgency is not yet over, he said. The statement said the curfew might be reviewed in future when the security situation in the state improved. The Borno State government and headquarters of the theatre command will at the appropriate time review the curfew in line with prevailing security situation across the state. We wish to reiterate that anyone found flouting the orders will be arrested and prosecuted. All law abiding citizens and peace loving people of Borno are hereby advised to report any suspicious persons to the nearest military post, security agencies or Civilian Joint Task Force, it said. (NAN) The Lagos State Emergency Management Agency on Saturday said it received a report of a fire outbreak at Customs Training School, Ikeja in Lagos. The cause of the fire is still unknown. LASEMA spokesman, Adebayo Kehinde, told DAILY POST that there was no loss of life nor injury sustained at the scene. However properties worth millions were lost. Three training classes were completely burnt, while the main training complex of about 10 classes were savaged, he said. Operatives of the Agency, Lagos State Fire service from Ikeja, Ilupeju and Alausa with Nigeria Police were on ground. Recovery operation is still on going, he added. The spokesman quoted LASEMA General Manager LASEMA, Mr. Michael Akindele as assuring that proper investigation would be conducted. Source:Dailypost Governor Aminu Masari of Katsina State on Friday said his predecessor, Ibrahim Shema, sold to himself, state vehicles worth N400 million at the twilight of his administration. Speaking with newsmen in Katsina, Masari alleged that the state vehicles, which were just one year old, were sold off at scrap value of N3 million each. Can you imagine a car of N78 million bought in 2014 was sold for just N3 million, another N10 million vehicle for N990,000. This is disturbing, he said. Gov. Masari said all the sold off vehicles were less than two years old but were sold at 90 per cent depreciation value. He further claimed that when the Shema administration realized its tenure was winding down, it embarked on financial recklessness for which the state is now facing the negative consequences. Aside vehicles, the governor alleged that his predecessor and cronies personalised several government houses and property in Kaduna and Abuja, adding that we have so many of them, we are just taking our time and we shall soon make them public. Governor Masari said several elders and elites of the state had tried to mediate between us but to no avail as the present government insists that all funds missing should be refunded while the former government is maintaining its position that it did nothing wrong. The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) yesterday disclosed that 16 states were yet to disburse about N57, 663, 185, 735 out of the bailout funds approved for them by President Muhammadu Buhari. This is just as it fingered some states including Imo, Zamfara and Enugu, as engaging in diversion of the bailout funds which were meant for workers salaries, to other use. Some states were yet to either collect or utilize the bailout funds as at the time the ICPC compiled its report. Those in this category are Sokoto, Kogi and Bayelsa states. The Commission made the disclosures in a statement in Abuja by its spokesperson, Edet Ufot, on the report of its investigation into the use of bailout funds by 23 states. It would be recalled that President Buhari in a three-pronged relief package last July, approved the sharing of a total of N713.7 billion to cash strapped states to pay outstanding workers salaries. The package involved the sharing of N413.7billion Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) proceeds between the states and the Federal Government using the revenue allocation formula, a special intervention fund of between N250 billion and N300 billion from which states could obtain soft loans from the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, to pay salary arrears as well as a debt relief programme as proposed by the Debt Management Office (DMO), to help states restructure their commercial loans now put at over N660 billion. In the document, ICPC/P.E/27/S.1, which was dated April 22, 2016, the commission said: The report comes under ICPC Prevention mandate and states are welcome to use this initiative. Some states that have not fully utilized their bailout funds according to the ICPC, are as follows: Adamawa (N7,200,000,000); Bauchi (N195,011, 616m); Benue (N1,650, 084,000.520); Cross River (N4,715, 516, 959); Ekiti (N390,613, 747m); Katsina (N8,574,415,469); Gombe (N4, 361, 119,848.27); Ondo (N1, 537,575,050.32); Osun (N16, 311,765,418); Plateau (N26, 980,938.85m); Kwara (N29,862,014.92m); Oyo (N1,111,652, 408.40); Delta (2,806,911,019.50); and Kebbi (N4,463,975,420.27). The commission said: As part of the Federal Governments effort to end the lingering crisis of unpaid workers salaries in most states of the federation, President Muhammadu Buhari approved a comprehensive relief package designed to salvage the situation through the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)s Special Intervention Fund which offered affected states soft loans solely for the purpose of paying the backlog of salaries. Whereas the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is yet to officially confirm this to the commission, the 27 benefiting states from the open sources are: Abia, Adamawa, Bauchi, Bayelsa, Benue, Borno, Cross River, Delta, Ebonyi, Edo, Ekiti, Enugu, Gombe, Imo, Katsina, Kebbi, Kogi, Kwara, Nasarawa, Niger, Ogun, Ondo, Osun, Oyo, Plateau, Sokoto and Zamfara. Following strident allegations of diversion of these bail-out funds and to avoid industrial unrest, ICPC in collaboration with the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) decided to monitor the disbursement of the bailout funds in the 27 benefiting states. However, relying on available sources we could only cover 23 states. The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), working in concert with the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), made good its resolve to monitor the bailout funds for the offset of salary arrears loaned to 27 states of the federation as approved by President Muhammadu Buhari. Following the conclusion of the monitoring exercise, the commission hereby wishes to issue, for public notice, the report of the exercise. The commission also will not hesitate to provide updates to this report where applicable. It is important to note that the monitoring exercise report and probable updates are being released to the public by the ICPC to foster understanding between workers and the state governments by providing a transparent process that eliminates information gaps that often lead to rumour-mongering. The commission is convinced that this will promote a healthy atmosphere for interaction between the parties on the matter. London Mayor Boris Johnson has caused controversy in the United Kingdom by claiming that US President Barack Obama has an ancestral dislike for Britain as a result of his part-Kenyan heritage. His comments came after Obama, on a London visit, angered proponents of a so-called Brexit by saying the UK is better off by staying in the European Union. In an opinion essay published in the right-leaning tabloid The Sun, the mayor criticised Obamas eagerness to urge British voters to remain in the EU and argued that the president may be anti- British. Johnson, who is seen as the unofficial leader of the campaign for the UK to leave the EU, claimed in his article that Obama removed a bust of Britains war-time prime minister Sir Winston Churchill from the Oval Office shortly after he took office in 2009. Some said it was a snub to Britain. Some said it was a symbol of the part-Kenyan presidents ancestral dislike of the British empire of which Churchill had been such a fervent defender wrote the London mayor. However, his remarks about Obamas heritage did not score Johnson any points in the EU discussions. Instead, he was branded racist by several prominent MPs. Tory MP Sir Nicholas Soames, who is the grandson of Sir Winston Churchill, said Johnsons comments were appalling and totally wrong on almost everything. Time and time again, his judgment is awry and he shows in this article a remarkable disregard for the facts, the truth and for all judgment, he told LBC radio. I dont think Boris has the stature to be leader. Sir Nicholas also said it was inconceivable that Churchill would not have welcomed the views of Obama. Embattled Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, has for the first time, opened up a can of worms on the origin of his perceived persecution in the hands of the All Progressives Congress-led federal government, which he said he contributed so much to build. The Senate president, the third in hierarchy of the countrys leadership, is currently fighting the political battle of his life at the Code of Conduct Tribunal, CCT, which is trying him for alleged false and anticipatory declaration of assets. In an open letter he wrote as a reply to an earlier article published last Saturday by Ovation Publisher, Dele Momodu, in his Pendulum column on ThisDay, Saraki said that his original sin was his refusal to support a Muslim/Muslim ticket for the APC in the 2015 presidential election. According to him, those whose ambition were truncated by his opposition to an all-Muslim presidential ticket, had been doing everything possible to frustrate him. It would be recalled that in the build-up to the last general election, rumors were rife that the APC, which at the time was battling to stave off an Islamic party toga, was contemplating fielding then General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) and former Lagos State Governor, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, as its presidential and vice presidential candidates, respectively. This much was attested to by Mr. Tinubu in a widely publicized statement explaining why he turned down Buharis offer to be his running mate. The speculation in some quarters is that Tinubu, who wields such enormous influence in the present dispensation, though in unofficial capacity, is using state apparatus to harass Mr. Saraki, a two-term former Governor of Kwara State, for going against the APCs wish to contest and emerge as Senate president. But Saraki denies this speculation, explaining that the source of his present political travails predate the June 9 election of presiding officers for the National Assembly, with the contest for the Senate Presidency seat providing the opportunity for those still aggrieved by his opposition to their ambitions, to launch a counter-attack. He said: I have also been accused of helping to frustrate some peoples opportunity to emerge as President Muhammadu Buharis running mate. But I have no problem with anybody. My concern was that it would not be politically smart of us to run with a Muslim-Muslim ticket. I doubt if we would have won the election if we had done this, especially after the PDP had successfully framed us a Muslim party. I felt we were no longer in 1993. Perhaps, more than ever before, Nigerians are more sensitive to issues of religious balancing. This was my original sin. What they say to themselves, among other things, was that if he could conspire against our ambition, then he must not realise his own ambition as well. For me however, I have no regrets about this. I only stood for what I believed was in the best interest of the party and in the best interest of Nigeria. We have got to that point in our country when we no longer believe that anyone could stand for anything based on principles and convictions alone. Moreover, in the growing culture of media crucifixion and presumed guilt; it is rare to find a voice like yours that calls for fairness and justice. Saraki did not spare the APC for its indifference to his trial. He said: Let me make this point clearly. I do not expect to be shielded from prosecution because of my contribution to APC, if there was genuine basis for such action to be taken against me. But I have every reason to expect not to be persecuted by the party that I contributed so much to build. The New PDP may not have given APC victory in 2015, but it was an important factor in the dynamics that produced that victory. And with all sense of modesty, I was an important factor in the formation of New PDP; in leading that group to the APC; in ensuring our groups support for the candidate during the primaries and in mobilising substantial resources for the election. For these, I have not expected any special compensation. Rather, I only expect to be treated like every loyal party member and accorded the right to freely aspire. On allegations that in seeking to be Senate president, he struck a deal with the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and made it possible for one of them Ike Ekweremadu to be the Deputy Senate President, Saraki said he knew it was the dominant narrative across the nation, but it was far from the truth. He continued: I did not do any deal with the PDP. I did not have to because even before the PDP Senators as a group took the decision to support my candidature on the eve of the inauguration of the 8th Senate, 22 PDP Senators had already written a letter supporting me. What I did not envisage was a situation where some members of my party would not be in the chambers that day, especially when the clerk had already received a proclamation from the President authorising the inauguration of the Senate. Pray, if a team refused to turn up for a scheduled match and was consequently walked over, would it be fair to blame the team that turned up and claimed victory? I believe those that made it possible for PDP to claim the Deputy Senate President position were those who decided to hold a meeting with APC senators elsewhere at the time they ought to be in the chambers. What the PDP Senators did was to take advantage of their numerical strength at the material time. They simply lined up behind Senator Ike Ikweremadu while those of us from APC voted for Senator Ali Ndume. It was a game of numbers, and we were hopelessly outnumbered. If the PDP had nominated their own candidate for the Senate Presidency position that day, they would have won. It was as simple as that. He said further that his ongoing trial was not about corruption: I am happy that since my trial started, people who have followed the proceedings have now understood better what the whole thing is about. I have had opportunity to declare my assets four times since 2003. Over those years, the Code of Conduct Bureau had examined my claims. There was no time that they raised any issues with me on any item contained in my declarations over those twelve years. This is why you should be surprised that while I am being tried by the Code of Conduct Tribunal, the witness and the evidence supplied against me were all from the EFCC. Like you, I have an abiding faith in the judiciary. May God forbid the day that we would give up on our judicial system. However, the onus is not on me to prove that I have confidence in the judiciary; the burden is on my prosecutors to prove to the world that justice is done in my case. If the process of fighting corruption is itself corrupt, then whatever victory is recorded would remain tainted and puerile. Let me end by observing that I am not alone in this trial. On trial with me in this process is the entire judicial system. On trial with me is our entire anti-corruption institutions and our avowed commitment to honestly fight corruption. On trial with me is our partys promise to depart from the ways of the past, a promise that Nigerians voted for. And I dare say, on trial with me is our media and their ethical commitment to report fairly and objectively. In the end, it is my earnest hope that whatever we do will ultimately ennoble our country. Read Sarakis full letter here The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has frozen an account operated by former Minister of Aviation and Peoples Democratic Party chieftain, Femi Fani-Kayode. The account was frozen by the anti-graft agency, which is presently investigating the alleged N4 billion campaign cash splashed by ex-President Goodluck Jonathan in the build-up to the 2015 general elections. The funds were allegedly withdrawn from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and shared to 10 other directors, directorates, zonal directors and state directors of the PDP Presidential Campaign Organization. Details of the largesse sharing are as follows: Fani-Kayode (N840million); Goodluck Support Group (N320million); Achike Udenwa and Viola Onwuliri (N350million); Nenadi Usman (N140million); and Okey Ezenwa (N100million). Fani-Kayode, who was in charge of the PDPPCO media directorate, declared yesterday that he knew nothing about the withdrawal of the cash from the CBN or funding of the PDP presidential campaign by the former National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki. He, however, admitted that campaign funds were paid into the account of a company linked with a former Minister of Finance and Director of Finance of the PDPPCO, Mrs. Nenadi Usman, from where it was shared to him and others. Mrs. Usman, a former senator, is reportedly cooling her heels at the EFCC headquarters in Abuja as investigation reaches advanced stage over her role in the N4 billion cash bazaar. But Mr. Fani-Kayode has dared the anti-graft agency to do their worse in a statement in Abuja entitled The Money Transfers and the Truth about the Presidential Campaign Funds. The Nation reports that beneficiaries of the campaign funds may be arrested for questioning by the anti-graft agency. Comptroller General of the Nigerian Prisons Service, Peter Ezenwa Ekpendu has faulted claims by a member of the House of Representatives, Joan Marakpor that the she was slapped and severally assaulted by the orderly to the CG on Wednesday. Tribune The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) set politics aside on Friday as top gladiators of both parties stormed the St Pauls Catholic Church, Benin City, to honour Most Rev. Dr Augustine Obiora Akubeze, Archbishop of Benin Catholic Archdiocese on his 10th Episcopal ordination anniversary celebration. Leadership 22-year-old Miss Saidat Sanni, from the department of Statistics has emerged the overall best student of Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH), Ogbomoso. Daily Trust A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kogi State, Malam Yakubu Ibrahim Adoke, said the administration of Governor Yahaya Bello is distracted by people struggling to get political appointments. Guardian The Department of Petroleum Resource (DPR) has sealed eight filling stations in Adamawa and Taraba states and recovered 190, 000 litres of petroleum products diverted by a major marketer in the two states. Daily Times President Muhammadu Buhari has sent a letter detailing the grey areas in the 2016 Appropriation Bill passed by the National Assembly that he wants the leadership of the federal legislature to review. The Nation Former Aviation Minister Femi Fani-Kayode will have to live without one of his accounts for now. The Controller-General of Prisons, Dr. Peter Ekpendu, has denied the alleged assault and battering of a female lawmaker, Onyemaechi Mrakpor, by his aides within the National Assembly complex. The House of Representatives on Thursday unanimously adopted a motion by Minority Leader, Leo Ogor, seeking to summon Mr. Ekpendu to appear before its Committee on Interior, to explain why he should not be committed to prison for the action by his men, while allegedly he sat in his car watching. Mrakpor is the member representing Aniocha (North and South)/Oshimili (North and South) federal constituencies of Delta State on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP. Reacting to the allegation, the Public Relations Officer of the Nigeria Prisons Service, Francis Enobore, in a statement issued in Abuja on Friday, explained that Ekpendu was at the National Assembly complex with just four vehicles, not 20 as reported in a section of the media, adding that the fracas with the lawmaker took place at the security post of the outer gate. Mr. Enobore further explained that it is necessary to establish what transpired before apportioning blames, noting that the incident was being investigated by the police. The statement read, It is important to state that whereas it is true that the Controller-General was at the National Assembly on the invitation of a Committee to attend to some official issues with some of his staff, neither the pilot car in front of him nor his official car had any confrontation with anyone. He went there with 4 cars and not 20 as alleged. However, since it is alleged that the assault took place within the precinct of the National Assembly, precisely at the security post of the outer gate with hordes of security personnel from various agencies including that of the National Assembly on duty, it is advisable to establish what actually transpired from these security officers. The matter is currently being investigated by the Police. The Controller-General is a peace loving and law abiding citizen of Nigeria who has never been involved in any act of bravado, impunity or hooliganism and will never encourage any form of abuse on any Nigerian including the Honourable member of the National Assembly and will not tolerate any form of indiscipline on the part of his staff. Unidentified attackers hacked a university professor to death in Bangladesh, police have said, adding that the assault bore the hallmarks of previous killings of bloggers and online activists. Police said English university professor Rezaul Karim Siddique, 58, was hacked from behind with machetes as he walked to the bus station on Saturday from his home in the countrys northwestern city of Rajshahi. Two or three assailants rode up on a motorcycle and attacked Siddiquee, slitting his throat and hacking him to death, police official Golam Sackline told reporters, adding that an investigation had been launched. Rajshahi Metropolitan Police commissioner Mohammad Shamsuddin told AFP that the authorities had not yet named any suspects but added that the pattern of the attack fitted with previous killings of secular and liberal figures. Teachers and students at Rajshahi University staged a demonstration at campus after the murder. Nahidul Islam, a deputy commissioner, said Siddique was involved in cultural programmes, including music, and set up a music school at Bagmara, a former bastion of an outlawed group, Jamayetul Mujahideen Bangladesh. The attack is similar to the ones carried out on [atheist] bloggers in the recent past, Islam said. There was a mild drama yesterday at the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) sitting in Abuja. The chairman, Danladi Umar, ordered a counsel to the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, Raphael Oluyede, out of the courtroom.It is in this light that INFORMATION NIGERIA brings to you the altercation that ensued between the tribunal chairman and Sarakis lawyer. Oluyede:: My lord, it is your power, I am just saying that when an application is filed, the judge has a duty to look at it and say his mind; he can rule on it Umar: When he filed that application as a busy body, I was not informed. Please let us continue the cross-examination. Oluyede: My lord Umar: Sit down Oluyede:: Your lordship Umar: I say sit down, I am talking to you Oluyede:: I am counsel in this matter Umar: I say sit down Oluyede:: I will not be intimidated in the temple of justice. You have shady relationship with the EFCC. That is why we want you to recuse yourself. Umar: I will commit you for contempt if you continue to speak to me this way. Oluyede:: You will commit me to contempt for doing my job. There are too many shady relationships you have with EFCC. Umar: I say sit down. Where are the policemen? Oluyede:: I am a counsel in this matter. It was at that point that Umar called for police officers to walk Oluyede out of the courtroom, but for the intervention of the prosecution counsel, Rotimi Jacobs, who pleaded with the tribunal. The police had, however, made an attempt to walk Oluyede out of the court when he (Oluyede) eventually sat down. Oluyede had, however, on Wednesday filed an application seeking the disqualification of the chairman of the tribunal from further presiding over the trial on ground of alleged bias. When I sighted the girl near my compound, my body changed and the devil ministered unto me that the girl would be sweet like her elder sister whom I had earlier dated and I quickly called her inside my room. These were the words of a 39-year old man, Nurudeen Owolabi from Ilorin Kwara State while confessing to defiling a 12 year old primary pupil in his house at No 5, Alhaji Yinusa Street Bariga, Lagos. Like other rapists, Owolabi who is cooling off at a cell of Special Anti Robbery Squad, (SARS), Ikeja blamed the devil for misdirecting him. According to him, since her elder sister relocated out of Lagos, his eyes had been on her younger sister because her elder sister was a bundle of joy on bed. He recounted to our reporter that he once summoned the courage to tell the 12-year old girl his intention to date her at a ripe age to replace her elder sister and that the girl agreed to the proposal. The Ilorin-born suspect argued that it was in line with the sealed agreement between them that made him to buy cabin biscuits for the girl so as to water their plans and help himself. He said before the incident, the relationship between him and the girl was cordial and smooth but that the parents of the girl who lived the next yard were not privy to it. Honestly, I was waiting for her to add another year to start full-blown relationship with her. But on April 14, when I saw her wearing one tempting dress, I lost control and all my body stood up and I lured her into my room with biscuit and asked her to make love with me and she consented. I hurriedly pulled her clothe and had carnal knowledge of her. You know what? She did not cry. Instead, I noticed she enjoyed it which even made me to wonder whether I am the first person. After the encounter, she left but did not clean her body well. I suspect that was how her mother discovered and queried her, he narrated. He confirmed to us that the girl was sent on undisclosed errand in his own yard when he accosted her Pleading for mercy, Owolabi said the incident had taught him a lesson of his life as his fiancee whom she planned to marry may no longer accept him. He said I have now known the voice of the devil and it will never again deceive me. Speaking on the issue, Commissioner of Police in the state, Mr Fatai Owoseni decried the rate at which young girls are frequently abused. The police boss said the victim (names withheld) has been traumatised as a result of the act and is currently being medically attended to at Mirabel Medical Centre In a related development, a 36-year old man, Imeh Akpan who was arrested by the police in Lagos for allegedly having carnal knowledge of his 15-year-old step-sister has blamed his action on influence of alcohol. The suspect who resides at Obalende area of the state claimed to have been drunk when he committed the act. Our reporter gathered that the suspect had been sleeping with the little girl, when she was five, until she is now 15. Akpan who later blamed the act on the devil stressed that he took the alcohol at a friends child naming ceremony. He said the alcohol worried him because he took different kinds of drinks which later influenced his action Hear him: when I returned from the party that fateful day, I did not know when I removed my clothes and raped her. There was nobody at home that night. Sincerely speaking, I was under the influence of alcohol, otherwise , how could I sleep with a little girl like that. I am married. I brought her up. Why would I rape somebody who has been living with me when she was just five. All that happened to me is the work of the devil. The victim whose name was withheld told our correspondent that his uncle was lying. She said she had slept with her twice. According to her: The first time he slept with me, I was about 14 years old then, while the second scenario was last week when my aunty , his wife was not around. After the first incident, I reported it to my aunty when she came back from her travelling. But when my aunty confronted her husband on why he slept with me, he denied it and even threatened to send me packing from the house. It was my aunty who begged him to spare me and the matter was resolved. The victim, however, said that to her surprise, her auntys husband never stopped the act, stressing that whenever her aunty was not at home, her husband always wanted to sleep with her. For the instant case, I carelessly left the door open. When he returned from the party, he tore my pants and pounced on me. I struggled with him but he over powered me. The victim said that after the incident that night, she ran out of the house to a neighbours apartment to beg for phone to call her mother, but the neighbour said she was out of call card. She said: I ran to the junction of our street where I met a man who after explaining everything to him offered to help me and he took me to a hotel so as to pass the night. But when I tried to sleep, I saw the suspect in my dream so I could not close my eyes. When it was 3am, the man that wanted to help came to me and promised to help me, but almost raped me again. She added that it was her scream that alerted the management of the hotel who came and rescued her from the grip of the man who wanted to rape her again after promising to assist her. Immediately I left the hotel that night, while walking on the street that early dark morning, I saw policemen who were on patrol who came to my rescue and my aunty husband was later arrested after I narrated the whole story to them. Sourxe:BreakingTimes On this day in 1997 in South Africa; Eugene TerreBlanche, leader of the Afrikaner Weerstands Beweging (AWB) was convicted on two counts, for attempted murder and assault in a Potchefstroom court and sentenced to six years in jail. This sentence was handed down for the brutal assault of one of his workers, a Mr Paul Motshabi, whom he beat over the head and neck in March 1996. Mr Motshabi suffered brain damage in this attack. The reason for the attack was that Mr Motshabi was allegedly eating on the job. The second conviction arose from an incident two weeks before the assault on Mr Motshabi, when TerreBlanche set his dog on Mr Mdzima, a petrol attendant. A part of the sentence was that TerreBlanche was denied the right to own a firearm, as his actions had showed him to be an individual prone to violent outbursts. Also on this day in 2009: Unknown gunmen kidnapped Peter Ademokhai, a retired army general, at his farm in the southern state of Edo in Nigeria. Equally on this day 2004: A speedboat full of gunmen attacked a boat carrying oil workers in the delta region of Nigeria. Two Americans and four others were killed. On this day in 2007 as well: Former President Umaru YarAdua was declared winner of presidential election in Nigeria. On this day in 1971;William Tubman, president of Liberia dies. He was the 19th President of Liberia, serving from his election in 1944 until his death in 1971. Tubman is regarded as the father of modern Liberia; his presidency was marked by attracting sufficient foreign investment to modernize the economy and infrastructure. During his tenure, Liberia experienced a period of prosperity. He also led a policy of national unity in order to reduce the social and political differences between his fellow Americo-Liberians and the indigenous Liberians. The Nigerian Army has announced that troops of 3 Battalion, 22 Task Force Brigade on Friday made an unprecedented catch with the arrest of four key strategists for the extremist Boko Haram sect. A statement by the spokesperson for the Army, Sani Usman, said the Boko Haram kingpins were arrested in Kala Balge local government headquarters of Rann, Borno State. The statement reads in part: Troops of 3 Battalion, of 22 Task Force Brigade have made an unprecedented catch with the arrest of 4 Boko Haram terrorists Ameers (kingpins) at Rann, headquarters of Kala Balge Local Government Area today, Friday 22nd April 2016. The arrested kingpins specialized in various aspects of criminality to sustain the Boko Haram terrorists group in their areas. Mr. Usman, a colonel, said the four terrorists were arrested following a tip-off by well-meaning members of the public. He said Subsequently, the troops conducted a cordon and search operation in the general area that led to the apprehension of the terrorist leaders, who contribute to the sustenance of the insurgency through their illegal trade specialization. The statement gave the names of the arrested suspected terrorists to include Umara Mai Gyaran Rediyo (Radio Technician), Umaru Mai Nama, (who specializes in cattle rustling and sales), Alifa Makinta (a specialist on stealing foodstuffs) and Balu Jugudum (in charge of stolen jewelries). Presently the suspects are undergoing interrogation, Mr. Usman said. The Commandant General (CG), Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps (NSCDC), Abdullahi Muhammadu, has warned that Nigeria risks sitting on a keg of gunpowder if government fails to work on the psyche of adults and especially children, whose parents were murdered by Boko Haram insurgents. This process, Muhammadu argued, should take pre-eminence over material assistance to victims of insurgency in the country. The NSCDC boss gave the warning in Abuja at the opening ceremony of the third edition of security management training for directors and senior managers of private security firms in Nigeria. According to Muhammadu, a recent visit to an Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camp in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, revealed that there are over five thousand orphans there. His words: Terrorism in Nigeria has taken a different dimension. Some years ago, we never thought in our lives that in Nigeria we would have suicide bombers. Today, we have them among our children. We have to wake up to fight this virus in our system now. I was opportune to be among the team that went to the North-East with the minister and the service chiefs. What I saw on ground in the aftermath of Boko Haram, honestly, if you go there as a Nigerian, you will weep. In Maiduguri alone, when we visited one of the Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps, we saw more than 5,000 orphans. Some of the members of the House of Representatives who went with us could not stand the situation. They went out crying because when you see a nine years old girl crying and you ask her, where is your father and she tells you that in her presence her father was slaughtered, what do you do? And where is your mother? She says her mother was shot in the breast and she fell down and that she had a scar on her head and you could see it. So what do we do to fight this virus out of the system? The immediate past Governor of Jigawa State, Alhaji Sule Lamido, has described the current national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Senator Ali Modu Sheriff, as the best thing to have happened to the major opposition party. Mr. Lamido made this assertion in an interview published in Daily Trust on Saturday ahead of the anticipated visit of the PDP national chairman to Jigawa next week. According to the former governor, those opposing Sheriffs emergence as chairman of the former ruling party are doing so out of fear because they realize he (Sheriff) is a veteran politician with a huge followership. You know, Modu Sheriff (current PDP acting national chairman), has a long standing political history. All those making noise are product of political invention, he said. Lamido recalled that as a member of the then opposition, Sheriff as two-term governor of Borno State, floored the PDP at the polls and was one of the arrowheads that led the defunct All Nigerian Peoples Party, ANPP, to the alliance that later gave birth to the All Progressives Congress, APC, the current governing party. When they were forging alliance with ANPP, Sheriff was the arrowhead, Mr. Lamido said, adding They were celebrating him when he was in APC, working for APC. He was a very wonderful person. But, when he joined the PDP, he became a Boko Haram member. Who is saying so, of course, the APC members because they are scared of him? He knows them damn too well. Looking back on the 2015 general elections, the ex-governor alleged that the PDP was vilified, intimidated with religion, falsehoods and propaganda through Facebook postings. Rwandan genocide pictures were posted as Boko Haram victims. PDP was blackmailed into silence. Giving insight into the voting pattern in the North, which accounted largely for the APC Tsunami in the region, Lamido said When you queued to vote in the north, people viewed you as an infidel. You were all there and these things happened in a country where freedom should be the operating word. APC man can vote APC but if Lamido votes PDP, he is a Christian, he is a pastor. He, however, said with Sheriff at the saddle, the PDP is poised to send the APC packing in 2019. I think, today, Sheriff is the best thing to have happened to PDP. It is a huge good will, he has a huge followership. He is somebody who is courageous, inspirational and he can say look, APC go to hell! APC is thoroughly scared because they know him and what he is capable of doing. He will come to Jigawa sometime next week. We will come out en masse to welcome him and assemble the biggest crowd ever in Nigerian politics. We want to force them (APC) out in 2019 because they have no agenda and manifesto to govern. Maritime Law expert and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, Olisa Agbakoba, has expressed concern over the nature of bilateral agreements Nigeria signed with China during President Muhammadu Buharis recent visit. While the Presidency counted the blessings of the trip to include the attraction of over $6 billion investments to Nigerias wobbling economy, Mr. Agbakoba noted that there is not enough information in the public about Buharis state visit to China. According to him, he would have preferred a situation where more information is made public on what the bilateral agreements signed with China entails. The former President of the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, said he was also worried about the legal framework surrounding some of the agreements reached. I am concerned that such a complicated process was finished in one week. Im concerned as to whether it was actually finished. Im concerned about what legal framework was used because in international trade there are two frameworks; multilateral, under the WTO which this is not, or bilateral investment negotiations. So I dont know if this is bilateral investment or simply bilateral trade. These are very important clarifications because they carry different consequences, Mr Agbakoba said. The human rights activist also faulted Chinas request for Nigeria not to deal with Taiwan because of their new bilateral agreement. The pro-democracy activist fumed: Who are they to say that to a sovereign country like Nigeria that we cannot deal with Taiwan? I find that offensive and contrary to the status of Nigeria as one that wants to occupy the seat of Africa in the Security Council. While acknowledging that Nigeria has a lot to learn from the China economy, Mr. Agbakoba said Africas largest economy has to first develop a national plan. Some leading legal luminaries including former justices of the Supreme Court have advised Chairman of the Code of Conduct Tribunal, CCT, Mr. Danladi Umar, to withdraw from presiding the ongoing trial of Senate President Bukola Saraki over alleged false assets declaration to ensure fairness in the matter. The legal giants, who picked holes in the Supreme Court judgement of February 5, 2016 giving the CCT jurisdiction in the Saraki trial, argued that the CCT is not a court of law under our Constitution and cannot be invested with criminal or quasi-criminal jurisdiction. Eminent lawyers, who shared this view included Justice Salisu Alfa Modibo Belgore (former Chief Justice of Nigeria; Justice George Oguntade (CFR), former Justice of the Supreme Court; Justice Samson Odemwingie Uwaifo, former Justice of the Supreme Court; Prof. Ben Nwabueze, SAN; Chief Nnoruka Udechukwu SAN; Chief Mike Ozekhome, SAN; and Mr Olalekan Ojo among others. The advice was part of the communique of the Conference on The Code of Conduct enshrined in the Constitution of Nigeria and its crucial Importance in the fight against Corruption held in Lagos on March 24 by the Ben Nwabueze Centre, which was released, yesterday. There was a mild drama at the CCT trial on Thursday as Danladi Umar, refused to hear the motion filed by Sarakis counsel on the CCT chairmans alleged bias. Umar dismissed the application asking him to disqualify himself from the case, saying that motion as far as the tribunal is concerned is of no consequence; not worthy to be entertained and is hereby thrown away. However, the lawyers asked Umar to withdraw on account of the graft allegations against him and the way he has handled the trial so far. They said the following in the communique: It is not reasonably to be supposed or be expected that Mr. Danladi Umar can be impartial or unbiased in adjudicating the case between the Federal Republic of Nigeria (FRN) against Saraki. There can be no greater mockery of the whole notion of impartiality in any adjudicatory system than that Umar, with the threat of prosecution and removal from office for alleged corruption by the FRN hanging over his head, should have been allowed to adjudicate as presiding judge in the circumstances of this case. Bias on the part of Umar seems to be clearly manifest in all the circumstances surrounding the case. The manner in which the trial was being conducted by Umar manifests also a certain overzealousness that suggests at least a real likelihood of bias on the part of Umar against Saraki or a lack of impartiality, they said. Acknowledging unchallengeability of the judgement of the Supreme Court in the Saraki case delivered on February 5, 2016, they however said the Supreme Court decision on the issue of the jurisdiction of the CCT is inconsistent with the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended). The Supreme Court was wrong in holding that the Constitution itself invests the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) with a quasi-criminal jurisdiction. The Code is, in its essential character, merely a body of rules designed to regulate the civil, not criminal, behaviour of public officers, much in the fashion of the Civil Service Rules. The CCT, not being so listed under Section 6(5) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) as a Court, has no power or jurisdiction, derived from the Constitution, to try, convict and impose punishment on persons for a criminal offence; the decision of the Supreme Court attributing such jurisdiction to it, as jurisdiction derived from the Constitution, is null and void under sections 1(3), 6 and 36 (13) of the Constitution; also any law made by the National Assembly that confers such jurisdiction on the CCT is null and void. The Supreme Court decision on the issue of the jurisdiction of the CCT has no basis in a law validly made by the National Assembly. They continued: The Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act is glaringly unconstitutional and void because it duplicates relevant provisions of the Constitution, and because some of its provisions purport to vary the provisions of the Constitution. The CCT is not a court of law under our Constitution and cannot be invested with criminal or quasi-criminal jurisdiction. The initiation of the criminal prosecution against Dr. Saraki before the CCT by a Deputy Director in the Federal Ministry of Justice at a time when there was no incumbent Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) is invalid and incompetent in law. Also, they urged that Saraki be given a fair hearing before a Court of Law where there would not be any likelihood of bias. They also said that there is need to ensure that decisions of the Apex Court, as a court of last resort, are consistent with each other, and, above all, with the supreme law of the land, the Constitution, as well as with laws validly enacted by the legislature. Source: Vanguard A woman has left her community in shock as many people troop to her house after news broke that she gave birth to a snake-like creature. A woman from Giyani in Limpopo gave birth to a snake-like creature, Mzansi online reports. It was gathered that the weird incident took place in the Giyani town of South Africa. According to neighbours, the 37-year-old woman and her family are still puzzled with the mysterious thing that happened to her. The woman identified as Avhapfani said she started feeling sick sometime in October last year and would continuously vomit. Her husband, who works in Rustenburg encouraged her to take a pregnancy test of which it came back negative. In April, Avhapfanis stomach started to swell as if she was in her last pregnancy trimester. She went to doctors for scans who claimed she needed to go several procedures before they would determine what was wrong with her. However, the woman woke up one day in severe pain as if she was in labour and her family took her to the doctors who could not do anything at that time. In distress, they took her to a local sangoma who then told them she had to remove the thing that was inside her. It was during the process that a midwife forced her to give birth and undergo labor. To their surprise, a creature that looks like a snake with two teeth of came out of her. Stunned and in shock, her mother quickly stabbed the creature and lit it on fire. The woman is now recovering from the shocking incident. A 23 year old New Jersey woman, Hyphernkemberly Dorvilier who hid her pregnancy from her family, gave birth and set her newborn daughter on fire in January 2015 and left her in the middle of a street to burn to death. Fortunately, a neighbour saw her, called the Police and tried to save the baby by covering her in a towel and then held her down Dorvilier until the Police arrived. Dorvilier was found with a gas canister and lighter in her pockets. According to authorities, the baby was found with her umbilical cord and placenta still attached and had third-degree burns over 60 percent of her body. She died two hours after she was flown to a Philadelphia hospital. Autopsy reports confirmed that the infant died of smoke inhalation and and burns. Dorvilier pleaded guilty in February to aggravated manslaughter and was sentenced on Friday to 30 years in prison. While handcuffed and shacked in court on Friday, she said: I was on a downward spiral. I believe I hit my rock bottom,. I apologize first and foremost for not giving my daughter, Angelica, the life she deserved. She deserved so much better. Police said they responded to a call about a fire on a road in the township, near Philadelphia and that when they arrived at the scene, they found the neighbor holding Dorvilier down on the ground and the baby wrapped in a smoldering towel and paper. Dorviliers sister, Dejennie, pleaded with Judge Terrence Cook for leniency, saying that Dorvilier needed help. But the judge said the punishment was the sentence that justice requires. He said: The crime in this case was committed against the weakest of the weak, a helpless newborn, Cook said. All she knew was the extreme excruciating pain of being set on fire by her mother, the person who was supposed to love and protect her. Burlington County Prosecutor Robert Bernardi said: This was an atrocious act, and one that was entirely preventable given our states law that allows someone to anonymously give up an unwanted infant,. Witnesses to the baby burning homicide told police that Hyphernkemberly poured flammable liquid on her newborn daughter before setting the infant on fire. It was just horrible. Like nothing youve ever seen, neighbor David Joseph told the media. Joseph added that due to the womans apparently calm demeanor, he thought she was just dumping trash after stepping out of her Land Rover. We saw the fire and thought someone was burning trash, he added. When Josephs wife realized a baby was burning alive, she screamed and Dorvilier attempted to run away from the area but David Joseph managed to hold her down until the police arrived. A makeshift memorial for the baby burned alive still stands where the homicide took place. It was just mind boggling. It was nightmare even if you have a strong heart. Hopefully shell pay for it, Joseph concluded Source: LA Times Self-storage properties are constantly changing hands, and Inside Self-Storage is regularly notified of these market transactions. Many are covered in detail on the ISS website and available for viewing on the Real Estate topics page. Following are additional acquisitions and sales that werent covered independently due to missing information such as buyer, seller, sale price or other relevant details. A three-property Florida portfolio was sold for $47.9 million. The facilities were previously managed by Extra Space Storage Inc., a publicly traded self-storage real estate investment trust (REIT) and third-party management firm. The facilities in Palm Harbor, Saint Petersburg and Tampa comprise 223,903 net rentable square feet of storage space in 2,291 storage units. "Demand for Florida self-storage properties is vigorous, especially for top-quality assets like these with historically strong physical occupancies," said Michael Mele, senior vice president of investments in the Marcus & Millichap Tampa, Fla., office and senior director of the firms National Self Storage Group (NSSG). "The strength of the Tampa [Metropolitan Statistical Area], combined with the lack of supply, made this portfolio extremely valuable. Mele and Luke Elliott, a senior associate also in the firm's Tampa office, represented the buyer and the seller, a New York-based REIT. Antioch Storage in Antioch, Ill., was sold to a limited-liability company. The property at 284 Main St. comprises 29,370 square feet of storage space in 245 units. It also includes 115 vehicle-parking spaces as well as vacant land for potential expansion. The facility was constructed in 1984 and expanded in 1992 and 2014. The buyer and the seller, also a limited-liability company, were represented in the transaction by Mele and Sean M. Delaney, vice president of investments in the Marcus & Millichap Chicago/Oak Brook office. The two-property, family-owned portfolio that includes Byram Self Storage in Port Chester, N.Y., and New Haven Self Storage in New Haven, Conn., was sold for $25 million, or more than $218 per square foot, to a privately held company based in Santa Monica, Calif. Both facilities are just off Interstate 95, about 50 miles apart. Byram Self Storage at 2 Highland St. contains 937 units. New Haven Self Storage at 140 Ferry St. contains 1,063 units. The buyer and the seller, a Delaware-based limited-liability company, were represented in the transaction by Mele and Kevin Menendez, an NSSG associate. These properties had been in the sellers family for generations, but after careful consideration, they realized the time was right to put them on the market, Mele said. We are seeing this more recently with smaller, family-run, self-storage operators. Increased competition from national players and record prices make now the perfect time for smaller operations to cash in. Columbia Storage Group, which operates nine facilities in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, purchased Advantage Storage & Rental in Pen Argyl, Pa., for $1.9 million. The property at 1059 Pennsylvania Ave. has been rebranded as Columbia Self Storage. Opened in 2008, it sits on nearly 4 acres and includes more than 200 storage units in nine buildings. The buyer and seller were represented in the transaction by Kevin Bledsoe, a brokerage advisor for Investment Real Estate LLC (IRE). Griffis All-Stor Mini Storage in Newport, N.C., was sold to a regional investor for more than $41 per rentable square foot. The property at 1491 Hibbs Road comprises 25,500 net rentable square feet of storage space on 3.7 acres. Opened in 1996, it includes 224 storage units in five buildings, parking and a rental office. Midcoast Properties Inc. President Dale C. Eisenman represented the seller. Lake Orion Self Storage in Lake Orion, Mich., and StorMax in Oxford, Mich., were sold to a limited-liability company. The Lake Orion property comprises 38,400 square feet of storage space. StorMax includes 9,150 square feet of storage space. The buyer and the sellers were presented in transaction by Tom Berlin, a self-storage investment specialist in the Marcus & Millichap Detroit office. National Storage Affiliates Trust (NSAT), a real estate investment trust, purchased All-Stor Self Storage, in Monroe, Ga., for $4 million and rebranded it as SecurCare Self Storage. The property at 1005 S. Broad St. comprises 62,566 net rentable square feet of storage space in 472 units and 10 parking spaces. The buyer and the seller, a private corporation, were represented by Brett Hatcher, vice president of investments, and Gabriel Coe, associate, in the Columbus, Ohio, office of Marcus & Millichap. Stein Investment Group sold three The Space Shop Self Storage properties in Hamilton, Hudson and Loganville, Ga., to a self-storage REIT. The facilities, which are within 60 miles of each another, comprise 216,000 square feet of space in 1,773 storage units. All were recently expanded. The buyer and seller were represented in the transaction by Elliott, Mele and NSSG Senior Director Stacey Gorman. An unnamed industry REIT has purchased a newly built facility in Aurora, Colo., following construction but prior to the certificate of occupancy. The property is near the corner of East Iliff Avenue and Interstate 225. It comprises 86,175 net rentable square feet of storage space. The buyer was represented in the transaction by Charles Chico LeClaire, senior vice president of investments, and Adam Schlosser, vice president of investments, of The LeClaire Group and the Denver office of Marcus & Millichap. The sale represents a trend in the industry [in which] developers decide to sell the property upon completion instead of taking on the lease-up risk, LeClaire said. This strategy works best with class-A assets in excellent locations. The buyers range from large private operators to national REITs that are interested in acquiring select properties. There are a lot of developers out there that would like to sell at the certificate of occupancy stage, but the buyer pool is very small and the deals can be difficult to do. Headquartered in Salt Lake City, Extra Space owns or operates 1,347 self-storage properties in 36 states; Washington, D.C.; and Puerto Rico. The companys properties comprise approximately 900,000 units and 101 million square feet of rentable space. Since its inception in 1998, IRE has provided brokerage, construction, development and management services to self-storage owners and investors. Its construction arm, founded in 2000, has built more than 2 million square feet of self-storage space in eight states. Marcus & Millichap is a commercial-property investment firm with more than 1,500 investment professionals in offices throughout the United States and Canada. Midcoast Properties offers brokerage services to self-storage owners and investors in the Carolinas and Georgia. Headquartered in Greenwood, Colo., NSAT is a self-administered and -managed REIT focused on the acquisition, operation and ownership of self-storage properties within the top 100 U.S. Metropolitan Statistical Areas. The company has 292 self-storage facilities in 17 states comprising approximately 17 million net rentable square feet. It's owned by its affiliate operators, who are contributing their interests in their self-storage assets over the next few years as their current mortgage debt matures. Stein Investment Group is an Atlanta-based private real estate investment firm thats actively seeking real estate acquisition opportunities in multi-family, office, residential, retail and self-storage throughout the Southeast. Byram Self Storage, Port Chester, N.Y. New Haven Self Storage, New Haven, Conn. UnitedHealth Group Inc. will drop out of government-organized health insurance markets in at least 16 states as the U.S. industry leader tries to stem losses from participating in Obamacare, the healthcare overhaul that has brought coverage to millions of people. UnitedHealth hasnt listed the markets its leaving, and confirmations of the companys withdrawals have been trickling in from regulators in the 34 states where the company sold plans for this year. The insurer wont sell individual ACA plans for 2017 in states including Texas, North Carolina and Maryland. UnitedHealth also is withdrawing from some related state insurance markets for small businesses. Chief Executive Officer Stephen Hemsley said Tuesday that the company will end up selling Obamacare plans in only a handful of states next year. The exchange market is proving to be smaller and riskier than UnitedHealth expected, meaning we cannot broadly serve it on an effective and sustained basis, he told investors. UnitedHealths reported state departure are Alabama, Georgia, Missouri, Pennsylvania, Arkansas, Louisiana, Nebraska, Tennessee, Colorado, Maryland, North Carolin,a Texas, Connecticut, Michigan, Oklahoma and Washington. Its going to take a while for these markets to settle out and stabilize, said Sabrina Corlette, a research professor at Georgetown Universitys Center on Health Insurance Reforms. Some carriers are going to see this as an opportunity and potentially go after business in these areas. So far, New York and Nevada have confirmed that UnitedHealth plans to remain on their ACA exchanges next year. The company has also filed plans to participate in Virginia for 2017. Wisconsin said it hasnt received an exit notice from UnitedHealth, and that it doesnt comment on insurers business plans. A representative of Covered California said plan participation is confidential until its announced later this year. In the states where UnitedHealth stops offering ACA plans for next year, people who are currently enrolled with the insurer will have to choose a new health plan during open enrollment. Their current coverage isnt affected. Volatile Markets The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, President Barack Obamas signature domestic policy achievement, is projected to cover about 12 million people this year, according to the Congressional Budget Office, providing tax subsidies that help many afford private insurance. The program has proven volatile for health insurers selling coverage in the new markets, known as exchanges, with some reporting losses. Insuring customers in ACA exchanges has turned out to be more costly than expected. That may be because sicker people are choosing to buy coverage, or because people buying plans deferred treatment for their medical needs until they got covered. Insurers also have said some people are buying insurance, using lots of care, and then dropping their coverage mid-year. ACA Losses UnitedHealth, which had about 795,000 ACA customers as of March 31, warned in November that it was posting losses on ACA policies. In December, the company said it should have stayed out of the individual exchange market longer. The exchanges are a small part of the companys total medical membership of 47.7 million people. Yet the insurer said Tuesday that it expects to lose about $650 million on ACA plans this year. Hemsley spoke on a conference call after the companys release of first-quarter results, which topped analysts profit estimates, thanks in part to UnitedHealths consulting, technology and services unit, Optum. The stock gained 2.1 percent to $130.50 at the New York close. The impact of UnitedHealths decision to leave the ACA markets will vary by state. In North Carolina, a quarter of consumers will see the number of available Obamacare insurers drop to one for next year, according to an analysis from the Kaiser Family Foundation. Many of the rest will have just two carriers to pick from. The Kaiser analysis of UnitedHealths plans doesnt include actions by other insurers. Cigna Corp. is planning to enter a few new markets for next year, Matthew Asensio, a company spokesman, said by e-mail. The insurer offered plans on seven state exchanges for this year. No Statewide Coverage In Washington state, UnitedHealth was a relatively small player in the individual market, with less than 2 percent of enrollment, according to Pam MacEwan, CEO of the states health insurance marketplace. Yet the companys exit from the small business exchange would leave that market without a carrier that offers coverage across the state, MacEwan said in a memo to board members of the Washington Health Benefit Exchange. A UnitedHealth unit called Harken Health will continue to sell in Georgia, mainly in the Atlanta area. Harken also offers plans in the Chicago area. Katherine Hempstead, who studies health insurance at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, said Harken is a sign that UnitedHealth is still trying to figure out a better approach to the new markets created by the ACA. Theyre not totally giving up on the individual market, she said. The one piece of really good news is that they did not pull the plug on Harken. Maybe what United is really doing is reinventing itself. Copyright 2022 Bloomberg. Topics Carriers Washington A 1981 Ferrari GTSI that has been missing for 21 years has been recovered, according to the National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB). The car, reported stolen in 1987 from Newport Beach, Calif. while on consignment at a dealership, was recovered at the Port of Los Angeles and Long Beach earlier this month. The original owner was paid about $37,000 for the insurance theft claim in 1987 for the vehicle, one of 1,743 of that model made in 1981, NICB said The original owner has been contacted, according to the theft bureau. After it was stolen, the vehicle identification number (VIN) was later switched to the VIN of a 1982 Ferrari that had already been exported to Norway in 2005. When the vehicle arrived at the port, it was headed from Texas to Poland. Working with Customs and Border Protection, the California Highway Patrol and Ferrari representatives, NICB said it was able to determine the true identity of the car and to recover the original theft report filed with Newport Beach Police in 1987. NICB records showed only 12 stolen red Ferraris still unrecovered at this time. The NICB is supported by property/casualty insurance companies and self-insured organizations. News and Video Source: NICB Topics Auto Fraud Eleven months ago, Houston had a deadly flood. This week, the city had another. Events like these are often called 100-year floods, and that can be misleading. The U.S. government began using the term in the 1960s to describe a flood that has a 1 percent chance of happening in any given year, not a chance of happening only once a century. Its statistical probability and that can change over time. Over the span of 30 years, which is the length of many peoples mortgages, there is a once in four chance it is going to happen, said Mari Tye, a project scientist in the mesoscale and microscale meteorological laboratory at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado. Over 100 years, there is a 67 percent chance. And that doesnt take into account other conditions that can alter the outlook, including changing climate or the effects of El Nino or La Nina. Moving Target Thats why the 100-year event is such a moving target, especially in an urban environment, said Chuck Watson, director of research and development at Enki Research, which develops tools to measure hazards. Someone builds a couple of parking lots, and you just turned a 100-year event into a 70-year event because of the impervious surfaces. Asphalt doesnt soak up rain water; it just sends it somewhere else, such as into the house next door. When you add in natural climate cycles, the results are further skewed, Watson said from his office in Savannah, Georgia. One of the influences of El Nino is to send more rain across the southern U.S.. In a situation like that, the chances of a catastrophic flood might rise to one in 20. At least seven people died in Houston in this weeks rain, according to CNN. The bulk of the downpour was Monday, when a daily record 9.92 inches (25 centimeters) fell at George Bush Intercontinental Airport, the National Weather Service said. Some areas received more. At least 100,000 customers lost power, the citys light rail was shut and water was over the banks of more than half of its 22 bayous and creeks, which help with flood control. Even Worse If you get that much rain, there is no place for the water to go, said Jill Hasling, who founded the Weather Research Center in the Texas city. The current flood is worse in some ways than the one last May, Hasling said in an interview at the American Meteorological Societys Hurricanes and Tropical Meteorology conference in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Parts of the city that were dry a year ago are inundated now. That flood damaged more than 2,500 homes and killed more than 30 people in Texas and Oklahoma, according to reports at the time. A little more than 35 percent of the state had been suffering some level of drought, but by the first week of June the share had dropped to less than 1 percent, the U.S. Drought Monitor reported. This reveals another problem with trying to quantify extreme events things can always get worse, which makes it difficult to come up with a worst-case scenario. With all our records, we dont know what the most extreme is, because they are rare, Tye said. You make an estimate of the probability and then another storm comes along that is worse. As for Houston, Hasling has some advice: Theres more than one flood a year in Houston. If you live in Houston, buy flood insurance. If you are not in the flood zone, buy it anyway; it will just be cheaper. Copyright 2022 Bloomberg. Topics Flood Plaintiffs leading a lawsuit against online dating website Ashley Madison over a security breach that exposed the personal data of customers must publicly identify themselves to proceed with the case, a U.S. judge has ruled. Forty-two plaintiffs, seeking to represent users of the website who had their information compromised, had proceeded anonymously against Ashley Madisons Toronto-based parent company Avid Life Media, the ruling released on April 6 showed. The plaintiffs are suing Ashley Madison, a website that facilitates extramarital affairs, for failing to adequately secure their information, marketing a Full Delete Removal service that did not work, and using fake female accounts to lure male customers, according to the ruling. Their action comes after hackers who claimed to be unhappy with Avid Lifes business practices publicly released Ashley Madison customer data last August. Reuters has not independently verified the authenticity of the data, emails or documents. Judge John A. Ross, of a district court in Missouri, wrote in his ruling that being publicly named as an Ashley Madison user amounts to more than common embarrassment, but noted the 42 plaintiffs have special roles in the case that require identification. The plaintiffs are class representatives and may need to testify or offer evidence, unlike class members, those in the lawsuit who do not need participate as actively, Ross wrote. He ruled that the plaintiffs must either identify themselves or proceed as class members, who can remain anonymous. The class for the collective lawsuit has not yet been certified, the ruling noted. There are at least 10 plaintiffs who are publicly named. Avid Media did not immediately respond to a request for comment. (Reporting by Ethan Lou in Toronto; Editing by Bernadette Baum) Related: Topics Lawsuits USA Legislation Cyber Training Development Quasi 10 milioni di italiani si metteranno in viaggio per la Pasqua 2017, con un incremento del 2,3% rispetto allo stesso periodo dello scorso anno. Il 93% scegliera di rimanere in Italia mentre il restante 7% optera per una localita estera. E in crescita anche il giro daffari, che si attesta a quota 3,34 miliardi di euro (+3,6%). Emerge dai dati previsionali di Federalberghi sulle vacanze pasquali degli italiani. Le mete preferite dagli italiani che rimarranno nel Belpaese saranno le localita darte (29,1%), il mare (28,8%), la montagna (21,4%) e i laghi (4,5%). Per chi andra allestero, le grandi capitali europee assorbiranno il 69,5% della domanda, seguito dal 13,8% delle localita marine e crociere. La permanenza media si attestera sulle 3,4 notti (contro le 3,5 notti del 2016) con una spesa media comprensiva di tutte le voci (trasporto, alloggio, cibo e divertimenti) pari a 337 euro (contro i 332 euro del 2016) con un dettaglio di 310 euro per chi restera in Italia e di 679 euro per chi scegliera destinazioni estere. La struttura ricettiva preferita, sara per il 32,5% la casa di parenti e amici, seguita dallalbergo (26,7%), dalla casa di proprieta (14,6%), dai bed and breakfast (10,4%), dallagriturismo (4,4%), dai residence (3,4%) e dallappartamento in affitto (3%). Con questi presupposti, il segnale positivo che ci viene dal mercato consente di analizzare la situazione con moderato ottimismo ha commentato il presidente di Federalberghi, Bernabo Bocca vi e senzaltro da considerare il calendario che questanno colloca le festivita a meta del mese di aprile. E anche se la durata dei pernottamenti sara lievemente inferiore rispetto allo scorso anno, occorre leggere questa lieve flessione nella giusta prospettiva, tenendo conto delle occasioni di vacanza che gli italiani avranno nelle prossime due settimane, con i ponti del 25 aprile e del primo maggio. Le imprese del settore, ha aggiunto, chiedono a gran voce misure concrete volte a contrastare labusivismo, ridurre la pressione fiscale, potenziare le infrastrutture. Ultimo ma non meno importante, a quasi un mese dallabrogazione dei voucher, siamo ancora in attesa dello strumento alternativo che dovra mettere le imprese in condizione di far fronte alle esigenze di flessibilita imposte dal mercato. 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. Alwaleed bin Talal is the founder of the Kingdom Holding Company, a Saudi Arabian conglomerate that invests in hotels, real estate, and publicly traded companies worldwide. Regarded as one of the wealthiest global investors, Alwaleed bin Talal's net worth in 2022 was $16 billion. Key Takeaways Alwaleed bin Talal is a billionaire and member of the Saudi Arabian royal family. He is the founder of the Kingdom Holding Company. Alwaleed bin Talal has been listed on Time Magazine's list of most influential people and is considered the 'Warren Buffett' of Saudi Arabia. Early Life and Education Alwaleed bin Talal was born on March 7, 1955, in Saudi Arabia. With his birth, Prince Alwaleed bin Talal became a member of the House of Saud, the royal family of Saudi Arabia. He is the grandson of Saudi Arabias first monarch, King Ibn Saud, and the nephew of the nations last King, Abdullah Saud. His mother, Princess Mona Al Solh, was the daughter of the first Prime Minister of Lebanon. In 1975, Alwaleed bin Talal traveled to the United States to pursue his education. He earned a bachelors degree from Menlo College in California in 1979 and a masters degree from Syracuse University in 1985. Following graduation, Alwaleed bin Talal returned to Saudi Arabia to launch a career in business. The Investor In 1980, Alwaleed bin Talal founded the Kingdom Holding Company. As a devout value investor, Alwaleed uses Kingdom Holding as a vehicle to hold an internationally diverse portfolio of businesses operating in many sectors including banking, real estate, and healthcare. When Kingdom Holding launched, Saudi Arabia required foreign companies interested in operating in the country to have partners and representatives who were citizens of the kingdom. Proving a lucrative opportunity, Alwaleed bin Talal represented international companies and claimed ownership stakes in the projects he helped to facilitate. By 1989, he had amassed a personal net worth of $1 billion. Holding Company A company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the securities of other companies. Kingdom Holding diversified its investment portfolio, acquiring the failing United Saudi Commercial Bank, ultimately acquired by Samba Financial Group, the Saudi kingdom's largest financial institution. During the 1990s, Kingdom Holding purchased a 4.9% stake in Citigroup in the United States and it remains a core part of the Kingdom Holding portfolio. Alwaleed bin Talal's notable investments include stakes in Four Seasons Hotel Ltd., Euro Disney, and Lyft as well as the Hotel George V in Paris and the Savoy Hotel in London. He was one of Twitter's earliest investors before its public offering, and News Corporation, the parent company of the Wall Street Journal and HarperCollins publishers. In August 2018, he announced a $250 million investment in Snap Inc. that would give him a 2.3% stake in the company. By 2022, Kingdom Holding had a market capitalization, the market value of its publicly-traded shares, of nearly $10.3 billion. What Philanthropic Organizations Has Alwaleed Bin Talal Founded? Alwaleed bin Talal oversees Alwaleed Philanthropies which includes Alwaleed Philanthropies "Global", focusing on philanthropic and humanitarian projects around the world, Alwaleed Philanthropies Lebanon, which is focused on the social and community needs of Lebanon, and Alwaleed Philanthropies Saudi Arabia, which focuses on the needs of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. How Has Alwaleed Bin Talal Invested in Climate Change? In December 2016, Alwaleed bin Talal joined Bill Gates' Breakthrough Energy Coalition with the promise of a $50 million investment. What Investments Does Alwaleed Bin Talal Have Besides Those With Kingdom Holding? Alwaleed bin Talal owns real estate in Saudi Arabia and the majority of the Arabic-language entertainment firm Rotana. The Bottom Line Alwaleed bin Talal is a Saudi royal and billionaire. A renowned international investor, his Kingdom Holding Company owns significant stakes in companies around the world, including Citigroup and Snap. How Delta fared against its main competitors in 2020 2020 Delta United Southwest American Revenue $17 billion $15.35 billion $9 billion $17.33 billion Net Loss $12.38 billion $7 billion $3 billion $8.88 billion Aircraft 750 812 718 855 RPM* 73,412 73,883 54,221 91,825 * Revenue passenger miles, in millions. SOURCE: Delta Airlines, United Airlines, Southwest Airlines, and American Airlines. Delta Air Lines is headquartered and has its largest hub in Atlanta, Georgia. Its other major hubs are in Minneapolis-St. Paul, Detroit, and Salt Lake City. Prior to the onset of the pandemic, it offered more than 5,000 daily departures and as many as 15,000 affiliated departures including via the SkyTeam alliance, of which Delta is a founding member. Delta served about 200 million customers in 2019, a figure which dropped to 70 million in 2020. As of end-December 2020, Delta Airlines had 750 mainline aircraft within its fleet, of which 660 were active and 90 were parked temporarily. Delta lost $12.4 billion on $17 billion in revenue in 2020. This compares to a $4.7 billion net income in 2019 on $47 billion in revenue. On a revenue passenger mile basis, Delta is ahead of Southwest Airlines, about even with United Airlines, and lags behind American Airlines. Below we look at Delta's top competitors in greater detail. 1. United Airlines Holdings United Airlines Holdings (UAL) is one of the largest airline holding companies in the world. It flies throughout North America and also services Asia, Europe, Africa, Latin America, and the Middle East. Its major hubs are located in Chicago, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Washington D.C., Guam, and Newark in New Jersey. As of end-December 2020, United Airlines operated 812 mainline aircraft. It transported nearly 57.8 million passengers in 2020, compared to roughly 162.4 million the year before. United Airlines lost $7 billion on $15.35 billion in revenue. This compares to a $3 billion profit in 2019 on a top-line figure of $43.25 billion. United targets the same customer groups as Delta: the upper-middle class, high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs), and frequent business travelers. Both are known as premier airlines offering high-quality service. United is a member of the Star Alliance, which serves nearly 1,000 airports in 154 countries. 2. Southwest Airlines Co. Southwest Airlines (LUV) has had a major impact on the airline industry since launching service in Texas in 1971 with just three planes. It is known for friendly customer service and cheap flights to secondary airports along popular, high revenue routes. The airline relies solely on the Boeing 737 for all routes, which minimizes maintenance expenses. As of end-December 2020, Southwest operated 718 Boeing 737 aircraft and flew to 107 airports in 40 states. Despite reduced travel due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the airline began service to six new destinations in 2020: Hilo on Hawaii, Cozumel in Mexico, Steamboat Springs in Colorado, Telluride and Crested Butte in Colorado, Palm Springs in California, and Miami. Southwest Airlines transported nearly 67.8 million passengers in 2020, compared with 162.7 million the year before. It lost $3 billion on $9 billion in revenue in 2020. This compares to a profit of $2.3 billion in 2019 on revenue of $22.42 billion. Southwest targets middle-class fliers as opposed to luxury or business class travelers. It is also more dependent on the domestic travel market compared to Delta. 3. American Airlines Group American Airlines Group (AAL) is a holding company for American Airlines and its wholly-owned regional carriers Envoy Aviation, PSA Airlines, and Piedmont Airlines, which operate under the brand name American Eagle. Its major hubs are Charlotte, Chicago, Dallas-Fort Worth, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Philadelphia, Phoenix, and Washington D.C. As of end-December 2020, the company operated 855 mainline aircraft and 544 regional aircraft. American Airlines transported 95 million passengers in 2020, compared with 215 million the year before. It lost $8.88 billion on $17.33 billion in revenue in 2020, compared with a profit of $1.68 billion on $45.76 billion in revenue in 2019. American Airlines caters to the upper-middle class and frequent business travelers, the same target group as Delta. It is a founding member of the oneworld Alliance. The airline is known for having the best customer loyalty program, AAdvantage, which offers five mileage credits for every dollar spent, though higher tier customers earn additional mileage credits of 40~60%. The Bottom Line Despite the pandemic, Delta remains committed to its leadership as one of the best-performing airlines in the world. Known for customer care and luxury, Delta has maintained its upper-middle-class and business travel customer base. The month of March has come and gone, and now for many the attention has switched to Mothers Day, when they have the opportunity to celebrate and their Mother. At Blarney Woollen Mills, you dont need to be stuck for ideas, we have you sorted! With a wide range of unique Irish gifts which would make a thoughtful and uniquely Irish Mothers Day gift. Whether it's a carefully chosen personalized gift or a traditional gift, your mother will truly cherish that authentic sense of Ireland. We have a few of our favorites just for you. A visit to the Mothers Day section of the Blarney.com website will leave you with no excuse not to have that special gift once the 10th of May comes along. As a special gift to IrishCentral readers, use promo code IrishCentral at checkout and save 20% off any non-sale items throughout Blarney.com until the 28th of April. With free shipping to the USA, UK and Europe what are you waiting for? The brilliance of genuine Swarovski crystals, combine with the intricate Celtic designs to create unique and beautiful works of art. PLUS for a limited time you will receive your very own Irish Landowner Certificate that gives you your very own small individual plot of Irish Land. We've got that special 'just for you' piece of Celtic jewelry. Including items for men and women, the range of personalized jewelry at Blarney Woollen Mills includes Celtic pendants, cufflinks, Celtic earrings, key rings and money clips, available in both Sterling Silver and gold Simple yet elegant, it features the Trinity Knot, a traditional Celtic design symbolizing the mind, body and soul. It is also said to represent the promise to love, honor and protect, making this the perfect gift for her! This necklace blends faith and Celtic tradition in a seamless design. A sterling silver cross winds in an elaborate gold plated trinity knot and each arm of the cross is adorned with a string of diamonds. Crafted in the unmistakable hand painted green Irish Shamrocks that distinguish Belleek, this personalized Irish china mug is the perfect gift. You can personalize this mug with any name up to 10 characters. Add a little piece of Ireland to your home. Characterized by its diagonal weave incorporating several colours, our hearty check throw is woven with 100% Merino Wool and is crafted to the highest standards of quality and finish. The classic check design will compliment traditional through to modern interiors. The beauty and elegance of the Lismore Waterford Crystal Collection has made it Waterford Crystal's most loved collection. Distinguished by its long wedge cuts and simplistic patterns, this collection remains fresh and balanced 60 years after its introduction in 1952. A massive hit for 2016. Bring the taste of Ireland to your home with these wonderful Irish coffee glasses. Each glass has the recipe for Irish coffee engraved on the side to help you make the perfect hot drink. Sit back, relax and let the aroma of the coffee take you to Ireland in your own home. Delicately spun from natural and pure cotton linen yarn, this airy and lightweight collection is accented with stitch detail to exude a hint of Irish style. Natural vegetable oils infuse this soap with gentleness and a subtle fragrance. Each bar evokes Celtic calm and wellbeing. It's sure to relax you on the ebb tide of your day. The three traditional Irish soap scents are: Sweet Lavender, Heather & Moss, Wild Irish Morning Rose. Each bar of soap is wrapped in organic linen which can then also be used as a great exfoliating cloth. These are just some of the great products available online from blarney.com which also includes our collection of exquisite Celtic jewelry, Irish Clothing and timeless Waterford Crystal. So now there are no excuses come Mothers Day! We also have a fantastic range of Irish Gifts at the IrishCentral Gift Store. I was born in Cork City, population 120,000(ish). Much as I love home, I always felt like maybe I belonged in America, but I only ever made it as far as London. This spring I finally got to New York, and the first 48 hours kind of blew my mind. In no particular order, here are a few of the things that I noticed 1. Everyone knows New York = skyscrapers, but no one prepares you for how much Manhattan will make you feel like one of Rick Moranis unfortunate offspring in Honey, I Shrunk the Kids! 2. Drivers here honk their horns as liberally as Valley girls use like and uh-huh 3. Having a roll of dollars in your hand makes you feel like Ray Liotta in Goodfellas, even if you only have six bucks 4. When crossing the road, youd think the red hand would signal stay where you are unless you want a cab driver to mow you down, but to New Yorkers it means proceed casually, you are immune to death 5. No one, and I mean no one dresses like any of the characters in Sex and the City. Thankfully no one talks like them either 6. The chemist is called the pharmacy and they sell things that definitely arent good for you in there, like industrial strength teeth-whitening strips and bags of potato chips bigger than a sleeping bag 7. Youd expect New Yorkers to be rude, but they say sorry almost as much as Irish people do 8. The buildings arent the only things that are big: A medium coffee contains enough liquid to bathe a small hippo, a burrito is roughly the size of a fat childs leg, ask for a large anything and youll need a wheelbarrow to take it home 9. The New York subway system has been expertly designed to make all tourists look and feel like complete idiots. Dont believe me? Try inserting your Metro card 10. No one smokes. Ask a waitress in a bar where you can smoke and shell look at you like you asked if you could set fire to a child, not a cigarette 11. Try and maintain your sense of humour when you plug in your hairdryer into a US socket it emits as much air as a dog breathing on your head 12. There is more chance of a guy in London asking for your number in a public place than there is of the Queen donating all her earthly goods to the Salvation Army and joining a commune. In New York, men will approach you and ask for your number on the street, they will whoop at you at of car windows. 13. There are shops called American Eagle, Hollister and Abercrombie and Fitch dont let the different names fool you, they all sell the same thing 14. The street vendors are really friendly and polite for people who sell meat that will certainly kill you 15. Manhattan is the only place on the planet where dogwalking is a legitimate career choice. --- Bio: Katy Harrington is Digital Editor of The Irish Post, the popular website for the Irish in Britain. She has writes regularly for The Irish Times, The Irish Examiner and has a weekly column in The Sunday Independent for over four years. She comes from Cork, but lives in London, which she loves despite missing her dog (and family) very much. *Originally published in April 2016. Executed on this day, August 3, 1916, for his role as an Easter Rising rebel, Sir Roger Casement had received a knighthood just five years previously. Roger Casement was born into a Protestant family in Sandycove, County Dublin, on September 1, 1864. Educated in Ballymena, County Antrim, he left school at 16 and went to work for a shipping firm in Liverpool. In 1884, Casement went to Africa to work for the African International Association where he learned firsthand what European colonization was perpetuating on the inhabitants of the Dark Continent. He eventually went to work for the British Colonial Service before transferring to the British Foreign Office in 1901. Read more Ten little-known facts about Easter Monday 1916 and the Rising While in the consular service he witnessed many atrocities connected with the rubber trade in the Congo Free State, a colony under the control of King Leopold II of Belgium. In 1904 he was commissioned to write a report on these human rights violations, including slave labor and mutilations of the limbs of some of the natives. The Congo Report caused a sensation and brought Casement into the public spotlight. Casements next posting was to South America in 1906. There he came upon even worse brutality against the natives in the Peru rubber trade where such things as death sentences by starvation were carried out. For his findings on the two continents, he was awarded a knighthood in 1911. His experiences soured him on imperialism and colonialism. The exploitation he found in Africa and South America he believed was not unlike what the British were propagating in Ireland. He decided it was time to burrow his way into the revitalized Irish national movement. He began to contribute anonymously to "The Irish Review" edited by Joseph Mary Plunkett and they became friends. Casement was thought of highly by the Plunkett family: Casement was a fine, sincere and very intelligent man, remarkably kind and charitable, Geraldine Plunkett Dillon wrote in her autobiography "All in the Blood." Casement called himself the leprechaun of Irish politics,.My father [Count Plunkett] and Joe admired him very much and we always heard him spoken of with respect and liking. Unfortunately, these salubrious feelings were not shared by most of the Fenian leadership, especially Thomas Clarke, the old Fenian jailbird who was putting the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB) back on its feet in Dublin. And thats how Casement first got into trouble. He was not an IRB member. He was tolerated, certainly, but not trusted by Clarke and his confederates. Casement was not a member of the IRB, Geraldine Plunkett wrote, because of a scruple he had about oaths; having taken the oath of allegiance for the British diplomatic service, he did not think it right to take the IRB oath on top of that. This must have infuriated the hard-boiled Clarke, a man who had spent years in British dungeons. Also, Clarke was wary of Casements two mentors, Bulmer Hobson and Professor Eoin MacNeilltwo of the most pacifist revolutionaries in the history of Ireland. Clarkes suspicions about MacNeill soon proved to be true. MacNeill arbitrarily countermanded the orders for Easter Sunday maneuvers which resulted in confusion and chaos. The revolution had to be moved to Easter Monday and MacNeill had robbed it of its full impact. Casement had come into things national, Kathleen Clarke, Toms widow, recalled in her book "Revolutionary Woman," and Tom knew very little about him. Naturally, he had no cause to place much confidence in him; and the fact that he had been knighted by England in recognition of services rendered made Tom suspicious of him. Casement was not long enough in nationalist things in this country to prove his genuineness. With the outbreak of the First World War, Casement ran off to America and then Germany (via Norway) trying to win the Germans over to the Irish cause. In New York John Devoy, the tough old FenianPearse called him the greatest of the Feniansand close friend of Clarkes, cast a suspicious eye on Casement. But unlike Clarke, Devoy actually took a liking to him. In his autobiography "Recollections of an Irish Rebel," Devoy saw his strengths and weaknesses. While a highly intellectual man, Casement was very emotional and as trustful as a child, Devoy wrote. Practical politics he did not understand He was an idealist, absolutely without personal ambition, ready to sacrifice his interests and his life for the cause he had at heart but was too sensitive about the consequences to others of his actions. Although Devoy had reservations about Casements political naivete, he did supply him with money and shared his German contacts with him. Casement had grand plans for a German landing of troops to coincide with the Rising, but, according to Geraldine Plunkett, The Germans had had doubts of Casements credentials and distrusted his temperament. It was during their time together in Germany that Joe Plunkett got to know Casement better. Plunkett was also in consultation with the Germans in Berlin, but he had no hope for Casements quixotic plans. It was during this period that Plunkett realized Casement entertained delusions of grandeur. According to Geraldine, Joe said that Casement thought he was to be the military leader in command of the Rising and that every one of these things would be a disasterit was far too late to re-cast plans, Casement was no leader and he could not be concealed at all. While in Germany Casement tried unsuccessfully to raise an Irish Brigade from Irish prisoners-of-war taken by the Germans. He also negotiated successfully the transfer of weapons that were to be used in the Rising. Although initially against the Rising, he traveled to Ireland in a German U-boat and was captured as he landed on Banna Strand in County Kerry. His German arms, aboard the Aud Norge, were also intercepted by the Royal Navy forcing her captain to scuttle her. It was a double disaster and Casement was moved to London for trial. His three-day trial took place at the Old Bailey between June 26 and 29. He was prosecuted by Edward Carson, the Orange bigot, who years earlier had hounded Oscar Wilde into prison. He was found guilty of treason and sentenced to death by rope. From the dock Casement spoke: Where all your rights become only an accumulated wrong; where men must beg with bated breath for leave to subsist in their own land, to think their own thoughts, to sing their own songs, to garner the fruit of their own laboursand even while they beg to see these things inexorably withdrawn from themthen surely it is a braver, a saner, and a truer thing to be a rebel in act and deed against such circumstances as this than tamely to accept it as the natural lot of men. Calls for mercy were heard from the likes of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, George Bernard Shaw, and W.B. Yeats. Conveniently, the British revealed that Casement had written what became known as The Black Diaries. Supposedly, they told of Casements homosexual romps on two continents. (John Devoy called them foul and slanderous propaganda.) This quieted the calls for leniency and Casement was hanged in Pentonville prison on August 3, 1916. On the last day of his life, he converted to Catholicism. He became the last of the 1916 rebels to be executed and only one to be executed outside of Ireland. To this day his Black Diaries remain controversial. Many believe that they are a forgery of the British Secret Service. Adding to the mystery, Michael Collins, in 1922, viewed them and claiming that he knew Casements handwritingalthough they apparently never metand authenticated them. In 1965 his remains were removed from Pentonville Prison and returned to Ireland. He was given a state funeral, attended by the last surviving commandant of the Easter Rising, President Eamon de Valera, and was buried in front of the appropriately named Republican Plot in Glasnevin Cemetery, the resting place to some of Irelands most famous patriots. He remains one of Irelands most enigmatic figures and controversy still swirls around the mere mention of his name. The poet Yeats perhaps said it best, that even today, The ghost of Roger Casement/Is beating on the door. ~~~~~~~~~ Dermot McEvoy is the author of the "The 13th Apostle: A Novel of a Dublin Family, Michael Collins, and the Irish Uprising and Irish Miscellany" (Skyhorse Publishing). He may be reached at dermotmcevoy50@gmail.com. Follow him at www.dermotmcevoy.com. Follow The 13th Apostle on Facebook here. *Originally published in August 2016. A month after the Brussels terrorist attacks, Charles Michel said the freebies touted in Belgian radio commercials play on unjustified fears over security at Belgiums main air gateway. I dont see that as fair play, I dont see it as appropriate, Mr Michel said late Thursday. I deplore this initiative, he said. KLM, the Dutch unit of Air France-KLM, said it has offered the train-to-the-plane package for years and decided on this years publicity campaign because it has had to cancel three of its five daily flights from Brussels to Amsterdam. KLMs hub at Amsterdams Schiphol airport is about two hours by train north of Brussels and Air Frances home in Paris an hour to the south, making both airports easy to get to from Belgium. Our Belgian customers should be able to fly, said Gedi Schrijver, a KLM spokeswoman. We have a really good product for Belgian customers to reach Schiphol by train. The death toll in the March 22 bombings across Brussels stands at 32. Brussels airport is now handling 450 flights a day, two-thirds the normal level. Trains were due to start running to the airport, about 15Km from Brussels, yesterday. Bloomberg The fast-food chain posted a 6.2% gain in same-store sales last quarter, the best performance in four years, and earnings topped analysts estimates. The results show CEO Steve Easterbrooks plan to revive the worlds largest restaurant chain is gathering momentum. Since taking the helm over a year ago, he has revamped drive-thru ordering, tweaked kitchen operations, and slimmed down the menu. The company also has reignited US sales with all-day breakfast and McPick two-for-$2 and two-for-$5 deals. Yet challenges remain for the burger chain. Companywide revenue still declined last quarter, the seventh straight drop, and higher labour costs are pressuring its profit margins. McDonalds also is embroiled in a dispute with the National Labour Relations Board in the US over whether workers at its franchised restaurants qualify as company employees, a change that threatens to upend its business model. While revenue dropped 0.9% to $5.9bn (5.2bn) in the quarter, that beat analysts $5.81bn average projection. Net income rose to $1.23 a share in the quarter, the Oak Brook, Illinois-based company said in a statement. Profit is getting a boost from lower prices for ingredients, such as beef, and that trend may continue. The company said it expects its grocery bill of 10 commodities to drop by as much as 4.5% in the US this year, a larger decline than the company predicted in January. Bloomberg Paddy Power said the probability of the UK staying in had surged to 73% yesterday, up from 69% on Thursday, the highest level for the in side since the campaign got under way in earnest in recent weeks. A Paddy Power spokesman cited missteps by London mayor Boris Johnson the leading political proponent for Britain to leave the EU to explain the increased chances of the UK rejecting a Brexit. QIHL chief executive Liam McCaffrey would, however, make no comment on the reported strained relations in recent months between Mr Quinn and the management and new owners of QIHL. He also refused to comment on whether managers or owners had struck any new understanding with Mr Quinn on the future of the group. The holding company controls 12 operations and employs 743 people across a swathe of jobs-starved Midlands counties, including Fermanagh, Cavan and Longford, as well as in Kent in England. It was bought in late 2014 by New York and Connecticut-based investment funds, Brigade Capital, Contrarian Capital and Silver Point. The funds which specialise in managing distressed debt and assets own up to 80% of QIHL and the rest of the group is controlled by its managers. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation rose to 16.6m in 2015 from 6.2m in the previous year. QIHL said it swung back to a pre-profit of 5.9 million before exceptional charges and posted a net profit of around 3m in 2015, compared with a pre-tax loss of 14.6m loss in 2014. Sales climbed by 25% to 202.7m. Mr McCaffrey said both parts of the group had had a good performance, exceeding expectations of management when the businesses were acquired. Their value had increased, he said. The US investors were very comfortable with the outlook of the businesses, he said, as shown by plans to invest a further 14m into operations through 2016. He said the group was in the process of hiring more people. The continuing support of our investor group for QIHLs ongoing capital investment programme marks a major endorsement of our strategic direction and future prospects and will assist in our target of delivering a further improvement in profitability and employment in 2016, Mr McCaffrey said. The investigation comes six months after the US Environmental Protection Agency said it would review diesel vehicles following an admission from Volkswagen that it installed software in cars allowing them to emit up to 40 times legally permissible level of pollution. Daimler chief financial officer Bodo Uebber declined to elaborate on what prompted the investigation when the company published earnings for the first three months of the year yesterday. The plant now owned by Russian aluminium giant Rusal is Europes largest producer of alumina, a white powder extracted from bauxite to produce aluminium. Aughinish has found itself at the centre of one of Europes longest-running court battles after the European Commission ruled in 2005 that it enjoyed unfair tax breaks. The EUs General Court ruled in favour of the commission yesterday, reversing two previous rulings in favour of the Government. The illegal aid is repayable within two months unless the Government decides to appeal the case to the European Court of Justice, the EUs highest court. A spokesman for the Department of Finance said the judgment is being examined. Ireland is one of Europes main alumina exporters, along with France, Italy, Germany, Greece, Spain, and the UK. Aughinish Alumina employs 450 people at its plant in Askeaton in Co Limerick, the only factory of its kind in Ireland. The Government granted the company tax exemptions in 1983 on purchases of heavy oil used in the alumina extraction process. In 1992, EU governments approved minimum rates of tax on heavy oil, but said Ireland, France, and Italy could continue to apply lower rates, until 2006. The commissions case against Ireland rests on 10.9m in tax breaks granted in 2002 and 2003, when Aughinish was owned by Swiss commodities conglomerate Glencore. The commission said the exemptions constitute illegal state aid and distort competition in the EU since they confer an advantage only on certain firms or regions, despite the fact they were approved by EU governments. In 2007, the General Court struck down the commissions decision on the grounds it failed to state reasons, but the commission made an appeal to the European Court of Justice. The case was sent back to the General Court, which then ruled against the commission for a second time in 2012, a ruling the commission also appealed. This is the third time the court has ruled on the case. Aughinish Alumina has also been subject to national and EU environmental probes after local farmers said toxic sludge and dust particles were emanating from the plant. The European Parliaments petitions committee, after a 2007 site visit, described the plant as a blot on the local landscape, surrounded by shining red mud pools. The Environmental Protection Agency granted the plan an Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control licence in 2008, after it was bought by Rusal, which means its activities do not cause a significant adverse environmental impact. That licence has since been renewed, and in 2011 the plant launched a new bauxite residue disposal area on the site to cover its waste management needs until 2030. Ireland is involved in a separate EU state aid investigation into tech giant Apple. MEP Marian Harkin said the court ruling, while separate from the Apple case, shows the commissions willingness to crack down on tax matters. I wonder is this a sign of things to come, given there are some high-profile cases coming down the line, she said. The Employment Appeals Tribunal (EAT) found that Jane Callaghan was unfairly dismissed by OCS One Complete Solutions Ltd for gross misconduct after a piece of bread she was toasting jammed in a toaster, setting off a fire alarm at the Guinness Storehouse. Ms Callaghan was working at a function at the storehouse on April 2, 2014, and there were 360 guests in attendance, with 170 meals about to be served. Ms Callaghan admitted to accessing the executive Bailey Suite of the storehouse to take a break and placing a piece of bread in a toaster, which then jammed. A facilities cleaning manager with the firm told the EAT hearing, held over two days in Dublin, that Ms Callaghan panicked and ran from the executive suite, thus allowing the alarm system to become fully activated. The alarm was subsequently stopped by a manager before the building was evacuated, and the evacuation process did not actually commence. In the investigation, Ms Callaghan admitted that she didnt have permission to use the executive suite, and admitted using the toaster. The firm found that her actions constituted gross misconduct and sacked Ms Callaghan on April 23, 2014. A witness for the firm told the EAT hearing that the incident resulted in another employee being dismissed; a third employee receiving a written warning; and a fourth failing a probationary period. Ms Callaghan had worked for the firm for 13 years and had no previous disciplinary issues. The firms head of operations told the hearing that he did not consider a lesser sanction than dismissal in Ms Callaghans case, as he was thinking of what could potentially have happened if there had been a full evacuation of the building. In her evidence, Ms Callaghan said that two named supervisors and one named manager were aware that she took breaks in the Bailey Suite, as she would often say to them: I am taking my break in the Bailey Suite. On the night in question, Ms Callaghan owned up to what had happened as she felt that if she took the blame she would just get a slap on the hand because of her service record. Ms Callaghan told the Employment Appeals Tribunal that she did not receive any training in relation to the alarm or evacuation procedures. In its determination, the EAT stated that the regulations may have prohibited the staff from using the Bailey Suite, however practice and procedure condoned by the supervisors and/or managers had allowed them to do so. The EAT stated: If the toast had not burned on the day, there would have been no incident, and consequently no dismissal. The EAT went on: It was reasonably foreseeable that by permitting the staff to use the facility that toast could burn, therefore to chastise the claimant for this was unfair. The tribunal also noted that the toaster in the cabin for staff outside the premises was not working, and that rats were known to be in that area, which would diminish the acceptability of the use of the cabin. Solicitor for Ms Callaghan, Gavan Mackay, said Ms Callaghan has not worked since that time. Declan O Cualain, aged 41, with an address at An Caoran Beag, An Cheathru Rua, Co Galway, was charged with murdering Adrian Folan (O Cualain) at Lislorkin North, Liscannor, Co Clare, on July 4, 2014. On Monday at the Central Criminal Court, Mr O Cualain pleaded not guilty to murdering Mr Folan by reason of insanity. Anthony Sammon, prosecuting, told the jury on Thursday that the accused had become fixated with paedophilia and held the baseless delusion that his brother was a person afflicted with this difficulty and he may have sexually abused a sibling. Mr Sammon said the accused was in an utterly delusional state of mind at the time and the delusions were not to be given any weight whatsoever. Two consultant forensic psychiatrists gave evidence yesterday that Mr O Cualain should not be held responsible for his actions and he met the requirements for the special verdict of not guilty by reason of insanity. Both of them agreed that Mr O Cualain had his lithium dosage of medication discontinued less than one month before he strangled his brother to death with a bungee cord. Yesterday, after just 21 minutes deliberation, a jury of nine men and three women returned a verdict of not guilty by reason of insanity. After they had delivered their verdict, Ms Justice Margaret Heneghan told the jury they had a difficult task over the last few days as it was a distressing case. The judge then exempted them from further jury service for 15 years. Mr Sammon told the court that a recommendation had been made by Dr Ronan Mulranney that Mr O Cualain be committed to the Central Mental Hospital and return to court in 14 days. Ms Justice Heneghan then made an order committing Mr O Cualain to go to the CMH yesterday and that he be brought back before the court on May 5. The judge also directed the preparation of a psychiatric assessment report. Ms Justice Heneghan then extended her sympathies to the family of Adrian Folan, saying: I have noticed the distress they have all been under and all I can do is extend my sympathies. Comdt Dave Brown of the Baldonnel base told a hearing into the facility that, were the incinerator to go ahead, the Air Corps would need to impose a no-fly zone around it, with other restrictions also likely, including no possible operations at the Haulbowline Naval Base in southerly wind conditions. The proximity of the stack of the waste-to-energy facility to the approach paths of Haulbowline Naval Base and Spike Island is a matter of concern, Comdt Brown said. This is due to the fact that this stack will be emitting significant amounts of exhaust gases and is seen as a potential hazard as it may render approaches by Air Corps helicopters into Haulbowline and Spike Island as unsafe. Well, you have to fill in your census form its the law. After the last one five years ago, 20 people were prosecuted for failing to do so and five were convicted. But the fact is that there are huge gains to the country by knowing crucial information about its citizens. As the Central Statistics Office which runs the census points out, the results which emerge from tomorrow will help identify: the likely demand for schools and health care facilities; the best locations for new shops; how many people are coming into and going out of the country; where the employment blackspots are; how is the health of the nation. So can anyone who doesnt fill out their form really complain if, in a few years time, their local town is not getting a new school which they would like their kids to attend? At the end of the day, the form takes an average of less than half an hour to complete and for an example of what we learn, here are some of the statistics from the 2011 census. The Paris Agreement was adopted by all 196 parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change on December 12 last year. All countries agreed to work together to limit global temperature rise to below 2C above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts for a 1.5C target. Ireland, through the EU, indicated its commitment to the agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 40% by 2030, compared with 1990 levels. Environment Minister Alan Kelly signed the deal on behalf of Ireland in New York yesterday and said the deal represents a major milestone in the collective response to the impacts of climate change. The Paris Agreement echoes Irelands resolve, underpinned by my enactment last December of Irelands first ever climate change legislation, the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Act 2015, to continue the process of pursuing a transition to a low carbon and climate resilient economy, he said. However, John Gibbons of An Taisces climate change committee, said Irelands response to the global crisis was to miss EU targets which themselves fall far short of what is required under the Paris Agreement. At Paris, knowing the extreme danger of inaction, we agreed to act urgently to cut our economys greenhouse emissions year on year to reach near-zero carbon emissions by 2050, said Mr Gibbons. Our new Climate Act mandates a transition pathway to a low-carbon future. Instead, we are doing the exact opposite. We are choosing a path of short-term financial gain, intentionally adding to global impacts and undermining our future wellbeing. Why are we being so foolish? he said. Data from the Environment Protection Agency last month indicated that Ireland is likely to miss its EU-mandated 2020 emissions reductions targets. The EPA said that, even under the best case scenario, greenhouse gas emissions will remain relatively static up to 2020. As a result, emissions in 2020 will be between 5% and 12% below 2005 levels, and will not meet the 20% reduction target. Instead of the sharp reductions we are legally mandated to achieve, Irish agriculture is due to increase its emissions by 6%-7%, while transport emissions are set to climb by between 10% and 16% versus their 2014 levels, said An Taisce. Meanwhile, EPA data issued this week showed that, while across the EU, participants in the Emissions Trading Scheme recorded modest emissions cuts in 2015, Irelands ETS companies increased emissions by 5.3%. Martin ORourkes tragic but belatedly hopeful life was summed up by Fr Derek Farrell at the 24-year-olds funeral, eight days after he was shot dead by a hitman who targeted a gangland figure but killed an innocent man. There were desperate scenes of grief at St Michans Church in the centre of Dublin city as Martins coffin was carried from the hearse. A relative fell to her knees pleading for the sight she was seeing not to be real. Martins nieces, clutching a precious framed photo of their uncle, cried too. Then his two-year-old son, Michael, began to sob in the arms of his grandmother, the distress around him finally proving too much. Martins fiancee, Angelina Power, expecting their fourth child in the autumn, held their four-year-old daughter, Angela, tight by the hand and tried to reassure her. Only baby Martin, just eight months old and cuddled by his aunt, was spared the realisation of the pain gripping his family. His father knew too much about death. Martins brother, Michael Rocky; his mother, Mary; and father, Patrick Podge, had all gone before him and Martin had been warned by those who helped him fight his addiction demons that he was putting his own life in jeopardy. Martin listened, the mourners heard, and was turning his life around, going back to education, due to start a drug rehabilitation course and aiming to move out of homeless accommodation into a flat with Angelina and the children. When offered the view that any man can be a father but it takes a real man to be a daddy, it inspired Martin with a motivation for the new direction in his life, Fr Farrell said. Now those with power needed to listen. It was no harm, then, that Taoiseach Enda Kenny had slipped quietly into the congregation to hear the priest plead for investment in sports clubs, youth clubs, community guards, community centres, community groups, outreach workers, training centres and drug treatment, and rehabilitation centres. Martin had begun coming to terms with his losses, writing a poem to his late mother that began: Hey mam, every day I bless your picture/It makes me feel ok, cause it feels like Im with you. He used to sing the song Daddys Girl to his first-born, Angela, and the record was played as the funeral Mass drew to an end. Little Angela was gently twirled around by her auntie to the familiar tune and she didnt cry. Not yet. Just hours before Mr Justice Seamus Noonan refused the challenge by Naoufal Fassih, aged 35, a Dutch national originally from Morocco, his fresh application for bail was refused by the district court. Mr Justice Noonan rejected arguments that Mr Fassih was not given a fair hearing before being refused bail, for the first time, by the district court on April 15. Before refusing bail on that date, the district court adjourned the matter four times to allow Mr Fassih to provide evidence which should have been available from the outset, he said. There was no fundamental denial of justice and no fundamental flaw in this case, he ruled. Mr Fassih had suffered little or no prejudice as a result, because he was always free to renew his bail application. Mr Fassih was arrested on April 7 at an apartment on Lower Baggot St. He was brought before Dublin District Court the following day. He gave a different name on arrest, the court was told. He is charged with having two false instruments, a Belgian national identity card and a Dutch passport, both bearing different names. Warrant hearing Naoufal Fassih also appeared in court on foot of a European Arrest Warrant issued by Dutch authorities. Sergeant Sean Fallon told the High Court that Dutch police want Mr Fassih, 35, to face charges of assault, money laundering, and possession of false documents. Justice Aileen Donnelly remanded Mr Fassih in custody until May 9. In an impassioned address to a Network Cork lunch, Chief Executive of the stock exchange Deirdre Somers said that our tax system disincentivises entrepreneurs from scaling their businesses, and makes trade sales [of Irish companies to multinationals] effectively inevitable, she said. Singing the praises of indigenous Irish companies, Ms Somers described them as more completely embedded than any foreign multinational will ever be in this country, more completely loyal to this country, they bring a corporate ambition, a global sectoral relevance and leadership that will deliver the next generation of entrepreneurship. Warning that the next generation of Irish companies are unlikely to have family money to fund them, she said the State should provide support so entrepreneurs can take the risks necessary to expand globally. We need to allow them to derisk their lives, we need to allow them to take money off the table in a very tax-transparent but beneficial way, and we need to encourage them not to sell out [ to multinationals] because they want to ensure that their house and their family is secure, said Ms Somers. We need to put the challenges and needs of those entrepreneurs to the very top of our agenda and we need to support them with funding, talent, resources and management capabilities, we need to provide education and supports, and we need to demystify this and we need to say, its okay to have the ambition to bring your company to the next level. Why is there no clear government ambition and vision for scaling Irish enterprise to a global level while at the same time we have a clear ambition around FDI [foreign direct investment] and they are doing an increasingly better job around supporting the establishment of fledgling industry? Ms Somers also questioned the countrys attitude to ambition and asked why we always need external validation from abroad rather than having confidence in our own entrepreneurs. She underlined that scale matters in business and that we need to change our attitude to ambition as a nation if we want to think big and deliver big. It would be wonderful if our political establishment were to have the vision for Ireland to be the best small country in the world to grow a business rather than establish a business, said Ms Somers. We have to keep our eye on the prize which is matching our start-up ambition with our scaling ambition otherwise we will never get the economic benefits as a country that such scale can accrue. She said we are not building a sustainable future for our youth if we dont grow Irish business. Who is going to hold the sippy cup for this economy if all our youth emigrate [as] all the small companies are wrapped up and bought by international companies, she said. Ms Somers finished her speech by reminiscing about a discussion she had with a Stanford academic in which he described the Irish entrepreneurs doing Enterprise-Ireland backed MBA leadership courses as lacking in ambition. He said its extraordinary the Irish guys in the room generally have the best business, the best proposition, the best capabilities and the least ambition, she said. Scale matters. Ireland benefits hugely from large-scale industry both economically, through jobs, economic multiplier effect, but most importantly, through the leadership it brings to the next generation of entrepreneurs. Mr Beades and members of his group had engaged in protest at the Kingston family farm in Nohoval, Co Cork, which could not be described as peaceful, Mr Justice Paul Gilligan said. Some 1,000 cattle owned by Peter and Tracey Kingston were to be sold on April 12 at an auction on the farm by Cork County Sheriff Sinead McNamara as part of moves by an ACC-appointed receiver to recover part of a 2.4m debt. Mr Beades, who is spokesman for the New Land League, put up a Facebook posting about a protest planned for the auction. The party leader has also called on Fine Gael and Fianna Fail to set a deadline for the completion of their talks, in order to get an agreement across the line. Opening his partys ard fheis in Dublin last night, Mr Adams left open the possibility of putting himself forward for the leadership of Sinn Fein in the years ahead. Up to 2,000 delegates are expected at the conference, where 100 motions will be debated, including on water charges, health, and a united Ireland. The ard fheis, coinciding with the centenary of the exact date of the Easter Rising, will see Sinn Fein build momentum ahead of the Norths assembly elections next month. Mr Adams launched an attack on Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin, accusing him of reneging on an election promise not to put Enda Kenny back in government. The Louth TD said an alternative to putting Mr Kenny back was for Fianna Fail to share power in a coalition. Alternatively, there should be another general election, added Mr Adams. If they dont come to a conclusion quite soon, I dont think theres any option but to call for an election. But well give them the grace of another short while to sort things out. Its not right... There isnt much patience left. Sort it, theres nothing that beats a deadline. In her speech to the ard fheis, deputy leader Mary Lou McDonald said the last eight weeks saw farce on a grand scale played out between Fine Gael and Fianna Fail. She added: They protest there are fundamental points of difference between them. They protest too much. Lets be clear: The only point of difference between these men is which of them is top dog. Whilst Enda Kenny and Micheal Martin and their colleagues jockey for position, holding the Dail to ransom, in the real world life continues apace. Sinn Fein this weekend debate the economy, rural Ireland, public services, and the development of the party. Delegates passed a motion last night, reiterating their election pledge, calling for water charges and Irish Water to be scrapped. Meanwhile, the Norths deputy first minister Martin McGuinness last night warned that extremes within loyalism and so-called republicanism were trying to drag people back to the dark days of the past. He also cautioned against Britain leaving the EU. We also need to ensure that we oppose any move by the little Englander mentality towards a Brexit from the European Union as that would be a hugely retrograde step. Derek Daly, who is chairing the hearing, faced numerous calls for the process to be adjourned until a decision is made on whether an error by Indaver Ireland in its application forms renders it invalid. Joe Noonan, a solicitor representing Chase (Cork Harbour Area for a Safe Environment), pointed out how the name Indaver Ireland Ltd was used on the form, but the name Indaver Ireland was used on public notices and elsewhere. He claimed Indaver Ireland Ltd is not a legal entity and therefore could not be used to apply for planning permission for the 160m facility in Ringaskiddy. Indaver said it was a clerical error that does not render the application invalid. At the hearing in Carrigaline, Co Cork, Lorna Bogue, a Green Party candidate in the general election, argued that if an individual had filed the application under an incorrect name, they would be expected to reapply for permission. It is only fair and just that a company, especially a company that is proposing a project that has such wide-ranging public health risks, be placed under the same scrutiny, said Ms Bogue, adding that she was presenting her questions under protest. Gertie ODriscoll, a local resident, pressed Mr Daly on the issue. Is this valid or invalid? If this is invalid we are all wasting our time. Mr Daly said he had noted what Mr Noonan had said earlier in the week on the issue and that he may need to seek further advice on the matter. It would be wrong to give an instant response to it, he said, as it was a matter of significance. Ms ODriscoll asked that information be provided on Monday, with people in favour then standing up in the venue in a show of support. Mr Daly said: I will have further discussion over the weekend, adding that a counter-argument had been made by Indaver. Signalling that he will seek legal advice, he said: I will give an update on where I stand at the beginning of proceedings [on Monday]. That is all I can offer and it is not unreasonable. Yesterdays hearing also featured a contribution from Fr Sean OSullivan, of the harbour parish. He said Ringaskiddy was more than an industrial area and referred to past pollution in the area, claiming residents had already suffered the consequences of poor planning, lack of regulation, and poor enforcement. They are saying enough is enough, said Fr OSullivan. Aisling OCallaghan said Ireland is already due to miss greenhouse gas emission targets and projects such as the incinerator with 12,000 trucks used to carry material are one unhelpful side-effect. Earlier, Ms Bogue said there would be a HGV movement every 5.9 minutes in Ringaskiddy village if the plan went ahead, with no clarity regarding provision of pedestrian crossings. Indaver said the World Health Organisation had deemed incineration a hygienic method of dealing with waste. Fine Gael TD David Stanton said he was concerned that worsening traffic situations at points such as the Jack Lynch Tunnel and Dunkettle interchange would deteriorate further were the project allowed. He said upgrades should be completed before any decision is made on permission for it. He said the nature of Cork Harbour had changed since the project was first floated and that local factors such as agriculture and work at the IMERC maritime facility could be adversely affected if the incinerator gets the green light. Indaver said it was sure the facility would not have a negative effect on tourism or other developments. Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald said last night she would be asking the Government to approve the legislation at its next meeting with a view to having it enacted as soon as possible. However, a legal expert who warned of the problems almost a year ago, said it may be possible to keep using the existing legislation as it retained sufficient powers that were not problematic. Barrister James Dwyer said: It may be an overstatement to describe the current situation as a crisis. The situation concerns people who get a suspended or partially suspended sentence for an offence and who offend again while the suspension is still in effect. Conviction on the new offence means the suspension can be revoked and the full sentence imposed, but the High Court ruled on Tuesday that parts of Section 99 of the Criminal Justice Act 2006 dealing with the issue infringed on the rights of a person who wanted to appeal the new conviction. Several more cases, similar to the one that saw a man convicted of theft and domestic violence walk free yesterday, will be determined by the courts next week and other challenges are expected, leading to pressure on the Government to act and to explain why the problem wasnt fixed earlier. James Dwyer gave an address on the problems with Section 99 to the Irish Criminal Bar Association last summer and followed it up with a detailed paper in the professions periodical, the Bar Review, last November. The problems with the drafting of section 99 have been flagged by judges and lawyers for some time, he said yesterday. However, Mr Dwyer stressed that only subsections 9 and 10 of Section 99 had been struck down by the High Court and he felt only a limited number of cases would be affected. It should be noted that there is another mechanism for revoking suspended sentences which will remain in the section, namely subsection 17. If the section remains without new legislation amending it following the striking down of subsections 9 and 10, the rest of the section is arguably workable. When asked if she had been aware of the earlier warnings about the law prior to Tuesdays ruling, Ms Fitzgerald said: Section 99 of the Criminal Justice Act 2006 has been under review in the department and, as part of this, legal advices had been sought as part of the examination of the section. The Gearagh, near Macroom, Co Cork, is one of four inland forest deltas in the world and is widely described as the most ecologically intact. The land was controversially flooded by the ESB in the 1950s to make way for hydroelectric dams at Macroom and Inniscarra. Thousands of ancient oak and yew trees, from what is described as Western Europes last post-glacial alluvial temperate rainforest, were destroyed. However, a rebirth has been noted in the forest and it has made a remarkable recovery, according to Kevin Corcoran of the West Cork Ecology Centre. However, the natural recovery is being undermined by nearby windfarms, afforestation and land reclamation projects, campaigners say, and there is a risk the forest could be washed away unless action is taken urgently. They are hopeful an EU Habitats Directive can save the Gearagh if a management plan is agreed between the ESB, IFI, NPWS and the local authority on the state-owned land. The Gearagh is one of four inland forest deltas in the world. They believe it has huge eco tourism potential as a national nature reserve and special protection area. The forest was an enormous natural soaking ground and flood barrier in the Upper Lee Valley and is a remnant of the temperate rain forest that once covered much of the Eurasian land mass, better known as Europe and Asia. Mr Corcoran has been monitoring and studying the Gearagh for the last 35 years. The main focus has been to ensure this priceless gem is preserved for posterity. Up to now, the best way to achieving that has been through keeping it below radar, away from a public glare that could quickly wipe it out through mass intrusion. This has been incredibly difficult, almost like trying to hide the Cliffs of Moher, but somehow the centre has managed to pull that off, he said. A documentary, River Runner, made by Declan OMahony two years ago, brought the story of the Gearagh to an international audience when it was produced. In addition, 2,000 people signed a petition in support of the restoration of the Gearagh woodland. An ESB spokesman said a working group has been established with stakeholders regarding the development of a management plan. He said: Other interested parties will be consulted on these matters in due course. Judge Con OLeary imposed the nine-month term on the 16-year-old at a juvenile sitting of Cork District Court yesterday for carrying the Stanley knife down his pants on April 8. Judge OLeary refused to accept jurisdiction to deal with another charge against the same teenager for assault causing harm on March 1. Inspector Gary McPolin presented a medical report yesterday on the other youths injuries and the stab wounds were so extensive the judge said he would not deal with it at district court level. A book of evidence will now have to be prepared on that. Several background reports from Oberstown were prepared on the accused in the course of his detention there up to yesterday and during a previous term there. His behaviour is more impulsive and more bizarre than the behaviour normally experienced by Oberstown staff, Judge OLeary said. The judge said it was unusual to see such pessimistic reports from Oberstown. The accused was described as having a preference for resolving his difficulties physically rather than verbally. On one occasion when he did not get the response he wanted from staff, he locked himself in a bathroom and they had to break the door down to get in to him. On another, he trashed his room but the judge noted the teenager was rational enough not to damage his television as he knew this would not be replaced for him. Reports on the accused also referred to his aggression and instigation of conflict with other young residents at Oberstown who found him a torment. He was diagnosed with opposition defiant disorder 10 years ago at the age of six and Judge OLeary said the 16-year-olds patterns of behaviour now seemed to be deeply ingrained. The judge noted that all staff dealing with him noted that the accused could be charming and manipulative. Bail conditions pending his appeal require him to live at home, sign at his local garda station three times a week, have no contact with the injured party and stay away from wherethe assault allegedly happened. Eddie Burke, solicitor, said yesterday that the teenager was pleading guilty to the charge of carrying the weapon, namely the Stanley knife. Mr Burke said the accused was extremely anxious to get into a residential treatment programme to deal with his addiction issues. He accepted that the background reports made for grim reading. There is a public safety issue here. The gardai have concerns about the young man in public with knives, Insp Fergal Foley said last week. Patrick McCann, aged 32, of no fixed address in Cork, and originally from Crumlin, Dublin, yesterday pleaded guilty to trespassing at the Old Aran Isle bed and breakfast on the night of October 12, 2015. McCann was jailed for five months yesterday for the crime. He admitted counts of trespassing and giving gardai a false name and address. He had been given temporary release in the course of serving a 15-month jail sentence and failed to return to prison at the appointed time. Inspector Ronan Kennelly told Cork District Court yesterday that a large window was smashed at the property shortly before 10pm that evening. Gardai responded to a call about the damage and a search of the property was conducted. McCann was found hiding in a shower in a unit of the property. Two other men were also found in the premises. McCann gave gardai a false name and address on the night. He also denied having anything to do with the breaking of the window. He pleaded guilty yesterday to giving the false name and trespassing at the premises. Judge Olann Kelleher imposed the five-month jail term. Concurrent jail sentences that did not increase his overall jail time were imposed on McCann for shoplifting and similar offences. Detective Garda Tom OSullivan testified that McCann turned up at the Old Mill pub in New Tipperary, Donoughmore, Co Cork, on March 23, where he was seen on CCTV entering as a trespasser and stealing 300 from a cash register. On October 15, 2015, he kicked four wing mirrors off cars parked at Little Hanover St, causing 1,375 worth of damage. Eddie Burke, solicitor, said the defendant apologised for all of the incidents for which he was before the court. He said McCann had a heroin problem and had been with Victory Outreach in Maynooth giving them all his social welfare and fundraising for them while in residence there. An issue broke on the news about the integrity of Victory Outreach and he left it. He became homeless and that was at the time of these incidents, said Mr Burke. Firefighters had to to hike up hills with heavy equipment after a huge fire broke out at the Tomies, on the westernmost edge of the 10,000 hectare Killarney National Park late on Wednesday. They used hand-held beaters to turn the fire which was only brought under control early yesterday morning when rain saved the service from having to call in the army air corps helicopter, which had been on standby since Thursday morning. Kerrys assistant chief fire officer Mike Flynn said the main fire seems to have begun around 568 metres up on Tomies Rock, to the rear of Kate Kearneys Cottage in the Gap of Dunloe. Six fire tenders were gathered and personnel drawn from four different fire services on Wednesday and Thursday. Speaking from the area early yesterday, Mr Flynn said hundreds of acres of heather and upland plants had been burnt to a pure black char and no nesting birds, wildlife, or plant life remained. The Killarney wildfire cost an estimated at 10,000. Pat Dawson regional manager with the National Parks and Wildlife Service said those protecting Killarney National Park were in fear of wildfires at this time of year. He said the cost to wildlife and habitats was huge, and there was also a threat to property and life. We will be co-operating with gardai to see where the fire started, Mr Dawson said. Upland and so-called commonage burning is illegal since March 1. The IWT is resisting attempts to change the Wildlife Acts and allow burning continue into April. Pic: Don MacMonagle On Tuesday it asked the public for feedback on illegal fires and so far has logged or had reports of fires in the Slieve Mish Mountains, Clifden, Connemara, and a number of other locations including near Baltimore in West Cork. It says wildfires, particularly if they reoccur, devastate the landscape. The fire service in Kerry also fought huge blazes in Kilcummin between Killarney and Castleisland on Thursday night, and in Waterville in south Kerry the previous night. EVER get the spooky feeling youre being ignored? When actress Amy Mains latest leading man failed to return her texts or emails, she inadvertently found herself starring in the most modern of ghost stories. Speaking to Feelgood from her LA home, she recalls: We met through a friend and had an incredible eight-hour first date that I thought was perfect and included a super-hot, make out session on his kitchen counter. Then he dropped off the face of the planet. I could not figure out what happened, and took a sucker-punch to my self-esteem. There may be 50 ways to leave your lover, but for Generation Tinder, ghosting the act of cutting off all digital contact is fast become the most popular choice. A spine-chilling 80 per cent of 18-33 year-olds have been haunted by the phenomenon, according to one recent survey by dating app Plenty of Fish. Glee star Lea Michele, 29, is believed to be among them after boyfriend of two years Matthew Paetz reportedly left her all of a sudden and without warning. She got no reason or explanation for the split, a source told E! News. Main, whos written about her experience of online dating and dumping in new book 40 Dates & 40 Nights, can sympathise after a second love interest whom she met on www.Match.com employed the break-up technique also known as the slow fade. Unfortunately, we did have sex, she says. Twice. On the second and third dates. And then poof! He was gone. I contacted him several times, no answer. Then about a month later I got a one-line email from him saying he was in Europe. And thats the last I heard. With an estimated 10m people worldwide swiping right or left on Tinder each day, experts say theyre not surprised that kicking someone to the curb has become just as casual. When we studied online dating back in the mid-2000s we found that most people emailed back and forth for a while to get to know each other, says Dr Larry Rosen, Professor Emeritus at California State University and one of the worlds leading authorities on the psychology of technology. Now it is a single swipe and a few words and people meet. No longer do you meet someone first in the real world, exchange numbers, have a first date in a week or so and continue to slowly develop your relationship. "Everything is gleaned from a few two-dimensional words with a glass screen forcing each person to assess the other with limited cues. Relationships explode and implode much faster when they start electronically, continues the author of iDisorder: Understanding Our Obsession With Technology and Overcoming its Hold On Us. Not that they cant work, but there is not enough time to process the person and make an assessment of them based on all available face-to-face cues. Ghosting is just a side effect of doing everything behind a screen, as is breaking up by text and other strange ramifications of online dating. If breaking up is hard to do, as Burt Bacharach once wrote, then blocking someone on social media is certainly easier, with women just as likely to ice a relationship. Stateside, a survey by Elle magazine found that almost 17% of men and 24% of women have ghosted someone at some point in their lives. But newly single Charlize Theron, 40, insists shes not one of them. Opening up to the Wall Street Journal this month, the Oscar winner shot down rumours that she iced out fiance Sean Penn after 18 months together: When you leave a relationship there has to be some ... crazy story or some crazy drama. And the ... ghosting thing, like literally I still dont even know what it is Its just its own beast. We were in a relationship and then it didnt work anymore. And we both decided to separate. Thats it. From being left standing under Clerys clock to waiting endlessly by your WhatsApp, of course, rejection is nothing new when it comes to courting. In an era where you can click to ignore invites on Facebook and unfollow friends on Twitter, psychologist Bernadette Ryan reckons todays tech-savvy teens may even be able to cope with heartbreak better. With Tinder you can swipe right, swipe left, its all very immediate, she says. So I would think ending a relationship can be very immediate as well. Ghosting is probably part and parcel of online communication. For a lot of teenagers, its quite acceptable to break up by text, particularly if the relationship has been conducted by a high level of social media interaction, as opposed to face to face. A relationship therapist with Relationships Ireland, Ryan believes the ghosting phenomenon has the biggest impact when the people have involved have had a face-to-face relationship. Ive heard of cases where its happened three months down the line, and just nothing, she says. First of all, theyre thinking has something happened to them. They desperately try to reconnect with them until eventually they have to live with the realisation that the person has just disappeared. It really is a very cruel way to end a relationship. Never mind a Dear John letter, these days most Irish singletons would settle for a break-up text, according to Bill Phelan of Dublin-based matchmaking agency Perfect Partners, who predicts that disappearing acts are set to rise. I think ghosting is a disgrace, he says. Its cowardice and it can have an effect on someones self-esteem. Sometimes they wonder if its their fault. It just happens all the time because its so easy to replace a person. "You can basically go on Tinder and order a potential partner the same way you would buy a book on Amazon or do your weekly shop online. This is going to become more and more prevalent because of the fact that these relationships are disposable. There are so many of these [dating] sites now out there its all just too easy. Despite confessing that it was really painful to be completely ignored by her exes, blogger Amy admits she once ghosted a former flame in order to dodge an awkward break-up conversation, but only ended up feeling even worse. I honestly didnt know how to handle the situation at the time because Id jumped in way too fast, she says. So I decided to just drag him along for a few weeks, hoping hed get the hint. Of course he didnt, he just felt the same confusion and pain Id felt after being ghosted. I finally confronted him face to face and told him the truth that I was no longer interested in him, says Amy, who met her current boyfriend in a Manhattan bar. He accepted my apology and weve remained on good terms. It was such a good lesson to learn. If youre not feeling it, thats OK, but show respect for the other person and be honest. The experts agree. There have always been people that for whatever reason cant face another and say, Look, its over, says Ryan. Its not easy to tell somebody, This isnt working for me, but at the end of the day, it is the right way, its the humane way to end a relationship. The ghosting thing just leaves people hanging. Man up is Phelans straight-talking break-up advice: People that we introduce may come back and say, Im not sure about meeting them again. What I say to them is, Look, what I would like you to do is speak to them. The easiest and gentlest and best way is to be open and honest [and] say something to the effect of, It was nice meeting you, and I enjoyed the evening, but I have to be honest and say its not for me. That leaves both people knowing exactly where they are, but nobodys been hurt. Between ghosts and zombies exes who apparently come back from the dead in another eerie online occurrence looking for love in 2016 isnt for the faint of heart. Just dont let the spectre of the dating apocalypse, as Vanity Fair put it last year, spook you too much, says Ryan. I think really youve got to realise, This is the other persons problem not mine. If somebodys going to drop all contact with you, theres nothing you can do anyway. Maybe the question to be asked by the person who gets ghosted is: Was the other person ready for a mature relationship? How to make a clean break Just do it: Theres never a perfect time to break-up with someone, so pick a D-day and stick to it just so long as its not on the way to their best friends wedding. Never dial and dump: Ordering dinner or paying a bill are fine to do by phone. Snapping someones heart in two, however, should always be done in person. Choose neutral territory: Dishes may be fired and F-bombs dropped, so try to minimise the fallout by picking a private but neutral location, and definitely not your favourite restaurant. Keep it simple: While its good to be clear on why the relationship flat-lined, theres no point in conducting a post mortem either. Now is not the time to point out all of your exs annoying habits. Bring the Kleenex: Breaking-up is the worst, so be prepared for tears, but dont expect them. Whether your partner feels aggrieved or simply relieved, as the person breaking up you have to suck it up. Dont buckle: Only one thing sucks more than being dumped, and thats being strung along, so once youve decided to pull the plug, dont dangle the carrot of reconciliation. In wine terms we are still quite conservative and stick to what we know but this week I want to encourage you to embrace the new. None of the wines recommended below are from grapes that are familiar to the average wine drinker, but all should be. Portugal is the perfect place to challenge your wine-buying conventions as under 10% of the grapes they grow are international varieties. Most of Spains wines are made from tempranillo and garnacha but if you look a little harder you will find lots of unusual wines to try such as the ones below. While I am still charmed by albarino and the peach-scented but dry wines of Rias Baixas (and the alvarinos of northern Portugal) I have another love in this part of the world godello. Godello is fragrant in the way that good semillon or chardonnay can be, but is also fresh, dry and characterful. The grape is found throughout green Spain and is excellent in Bierzo, Ribeira Sacra, Monterrei and Valdeorra but good ones can also sometimes be found elsewhere. Celebrity wine producers such as Rafael Palacios have helped its profile but is still relatively difficult to find in the average wine shop (and almost impossible to find in the supermarkets). Mencia is the classic native red grape of north-west Spain but is virtually unknown outside its native Bierzo. The grape almost always has a scent of violets and lively ripe fruit, blackberry and cherries, and sometimes with a forest-floor edge. There have been attempts to posh it up by fermenting in oak but this is not always successful as the fruit doesnt need improving. Stick with middle-ground wines between 12 and 20 and you will get plenty of bang for your buck, and fruit for your florins. The natural wine below is made with malvasia di candia, trebbiano and ortugo but the grapes are not the point here as the skin contact removes much of the varietal character. If you only try one orange wine in your life it should be this one as it is excellent. BEST VALUE UNDER 15 Jardim de Estrella Tinto 2014, Dao, Portugal 12.95 JJ O Driscolls Cork, O Learys Cootehill, Hole in The Wall Wine Dublin 7, Quintessential Wines, Drogheda; www.quintessentialwines.ie Dao is a mountainous region in central Portugal named after the Dao river. Dao wines are not as common in Ireland, for some reason, but this blend of Touriga Nacional, Tinta Roriz (Tempranillo) and Alfrocheiro is worth seeking out for its ripe juicy fruit aromas and dense blackberry flavours. Jardim de Estrella Branco 2014, Dao, Portugal 12.95 JJ O Driscolls Cork, O Learys Cootehill, Hole in The Wall Wine Dublin 7, Quintessential Wines, Drogheda; www.quintessentialwines.ie A blend of Malvasia Fina and Encruzado, the former commonly used to make lighter styles of Madeira and the latter the most common white grape of Dao and arguably the finest of Portugals indigenous grapes. This has enticing tropical and citrus aromas with refreshing apple acidity. Honoro Vera Monastrell 2014, Jumilla, Spain 14.95 JJ O Driscolls Cork, O Learys Cootehill, Hole in The Wall Wine Dublin 7, Quintessential Wines, Drogheda www.quintessentialwines.ie Monastrell (aka Mourvedre) is the classic grape of south-eastern Spain where it produces dense blackcurrant fruit flavours mixed with touches of tar and game. This has lots of concentrated fruit with solid tannins and a touch of chocolate on the finish. Best for steak dinners and casseroles. BEST VALUE OVER 15 La Stoppa Ageno 2010, Emilia Bianco IGT, Italy 31.99 Stockists: Bradleys, Le Caveau, Green Man Wines Terenure, lAtitude 51 Winebar One more natural wine recommendation for Real Wine Month. You wont get more natural than this orange wine fermented on its skins for 30 days with natural yeasts. Bruised pear aromas, tannic and peachy on the palate with orange rind and grapefruit hints. Probably best with food. Brezo de Gregory Perez, Bierzo, Spain 16.95 Stockists: JJ O Driscolls, Sheridans sheridanscheesemongers.com, Quintessential Wines, Drogheda; www.quintessentialwines.ie Currently this wine has two importers, a situation that may not continue as both believed they had it exclusively. Godello is the other classic white grape of north west Spain (after Albarino) and this has ripe fragrant floral, apple, peaches with lingering apple fruit with a distinct hit of pineapple. Brezo de Gregory Perez, Bierzo, Spain 16.95 Stockists: JJ O Driscolls, Sheridans www.sheridanscheesemongers.com Quintessential Wines, Drogheda; www.quintessentialwines.ie I recommended a Mencia a couple of weeks ago but I cant get enough of this charming grape variety. This has red pastille fruit aromas, fruity and rich but with an elegant lightness of touch and lingering flavourful red and black fruits. Try with cold meats, Manchego cheese or with any meat dish. This puts me in the right frame of mind before getting up to organise breakfast and lunches for my brood of six children. Im out the door for 8am and on my moped - the most convenient mode of transport for commuting between the two ARC Cancer Support Centres which are open Monday to Friday, 10am-4.30pm. 8.30am At work, my first task is to check voicemails, emails and the busy days schedule for both centres. ARC is an organisation that provides psychosocial support to people who have been diagnosed with cancer, their families, and carers. 10.30am Today Im facilitator for the Living Life Programme, an eight-week psycho- educative course for people living with secondary or metastatic cancer. The course covers many topics and includes guest speakers such as a medical consultant oncologist discussing treatments. 12.30pm Meeting with Deirdre Grant our CEO to review and plan service developments. Services include counselling, complementary therapies such as reflexology, acupuncture, stress management, and relaxation, yoga and workshops. Workshops include a six-week prostate cancer programme and a six-week CLIMB programme for children aged five to 11 whose parent or significant adult has a cancer diagnosis. 1pm Lunch. At this stage of the day, I often pop over to our other centre to check in. 2pm Meeting with the small but dynamic fundraising team. All our services are free of charge so we rely heavily on the generosity of the public and our corporate partners for donations and grants. It is important for the team to be kept updated on what monies are needed for our service provision. 3pm A significant part of my role is linking in with the hospital oncology teams and departments. ARC is strategically located to four centres of excellence for cancer care and is therefore very convenient for patients who would like psychosocial support outside of a hospital setting. 6pm I head home for dinner and family catch-up then take Gypsy our dog for a walk. * Patricia Pugh is services manager at ARC Cancer Support Centres, Dublin. For details see www.arccancersupport.ie or phone 01-8307333. WITH our green, lush and striking countryside, not to mention welcoming tourist boards, its perhaps no surprise that some of the worlds biggest movie and television productions have taken place, at least in some small part, on these here shores. Rugged coastlines, ancient castles, vibrant green fields and abundant natural beauty spots mean that Ireland has an undeniably cinematic landscape one that location scouts are clamouring to visit. Perhaps one of the most well known sites to be featured in a modern production is that of the scenic north, featured often on the hit HBO and Sky Atlantic show Game Of Thrones. The Dark Hedges in Ballymoney, Co Antrim, featured in Game of Thrones The series is back this week, with extensive scenes filmed in and around Derry, Antrim, Down and Fermanagh. Castle Ward in Co Down is better know to Thrones fans as Winterfell, the old home of the Stark family thats now been taken over by the horrid Boltons. The Kings Road that leads to the Nights Watch is an avenue of beech trees in Antrim, while Tollymore Forest Park in Down doubles as The Haunted Forest, where Wildlings roamed and Whitewalkers stalked their prey. Northern Irelands tourism industry has been boosted by Game Of Thrones presence; various tour and experience packages have sprung up, and enthusiasts are coming from far and wide to see the locations of their favourite show in real life. Tollymore Forest in Co Down which is The Haunted Forest in Game of Thrones. But its not just the north thats a favourite with the screen industry there are spots countrywide known for providing a back drop to Hollywoods greatest stories, and perhaps none so much as County Clare. When it came to deciding on a popular film location to escape to for a minibreak, my fiance Joe and I were spoilt for choice. We couldve travelled up to Co Down, down to the Skelligs, south to Wexfords beaches or indeed stayed in our native Dublin. But we decided to go west, to that most striking of coastlines. Arriving at Dromoland Castle ( www.dromolandcastle.ie ) was like something out of a film itself; the ancestral home of the descendants of Brian Boru, its a dramatic location. The castle as it stands now has been there since the early 19th century, and is undeniably visibly striking as you drive up. Going inside, the opulence continues. Its been extended several times, but the heart of the castle is where guests dine, drink and relax. We decided on Co Clare due to the sheer amount of productions that have taken place there in the last half a century. The Cliffs of Moher have attracted many filmmakers, and have featured prominently in films like Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, The Princess Bride and Ryans Daughter. Upon visiting the Cliffs that afternoon, we discovered that many more smaller films have been made there, and that 1973 Paul Newman flick The Mackintosh Man even featured a white Mercedes going off the side of one of the cliffs. Apparently the filmmakers really did drive the car over the edge, something that would never happen in these health and safety conscious times. Looking down on the Atlantic from the Cliffs of Moher, Co Clare, which has featured in Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince as well as Father Ted. The Harry Potter crew were keen to shoot an entire scene featuring the boy wizard and Hogwarts principal Dumbledore in one of the caves down by the crashing waves in 2009, but by that time proper measures were in order to protect talent and equipment from the unpredictable Atlantic surf. Still, they managed to film the interior of the cave, and the actors on a rock at the foot of the cliffs. The cliffs themselves even feature in the opening scene of the films trailer, and are so eerily spectacular, they look like CGI. In The Princess Bride, the cliffs double as The Cliffs Of Insanity, climbed by Wesley in pursuit of Buttercups kidnappers. The actor Cary Elwes even fights a duel at the summit, and filming in 1986 involved a stunt man dangling on a harness over the first headland for several days while the sequences were filmed. Now the site of an impressive visitor centre, production companies are still inundating the cliffs with requests to shoot there, so watch this space. Looking down on the Atlantic from the Cliffs of Moher, Co Clare After our visit to the Cliffs, two exhiliarated movie buffs returned to Dromoland for a fancy dinner, feeling like characters from Downtown Abbey. The combination of the fabulous hotel and the interesting activities made for an ideal minibreak, and we both agreed that the food at Dromoland was the best either of us had ever had in an Irish hotel high praise indeed ( www.dromoland.ie ). Before we left, we decided to visit another famous site, although more of a local favourite than an international production. Both huge Father Ted fans, when we heard the infamous parochial house was mere miles away from our base, we hopped in the car in search of Ted, Dougal, Jack and Mrs Doyles not-so-humble abode. The storms that battered Clare in the early weeks of the year still made their presence felt two roads we attempted to drive up towards the house were badly flooded still and closed off, so getting there was more arduous than anticipated. Eerily, just as we were pulling up to the house after taking the long (long) way around, we heard the news that Frank Kelly had died. The actor who portrayed Father Jack on the hit Channel 4 show passed away on the same day as Ted himself, Dermot Morgan, 18 years later. Seeing the house after hearing that news made it even more emotional. In the summer months, the owners throw open their doors on certain days so visitors can have tea at Teds ( www.fathertedshouse.com ) but we settled for a view from the gate. Wed learned at the Cliffs that though the Aran Islands are often credited with being the setting for most of the external shots of Craggy Island, in reality, the Cliffs of Moher was the place a lot of filming was done remember the Holy Stone of Clonrichert, and Dougal and Jack walking along the coast? All filmed in Co Clare. However, the wild west coast isnt the only other major location attraction. There are plenty of others on the Emerald Isle too SKELLIG MICHAEL The ancient island stole the show at the end of the latest Star Wars escapade, and is set to feature heavily in Episode VIII, too. Its where Luke Skywalker has been hiding out for the last few decades, a double for the fictional Ahch-To, and director JJ Abrams couldnt believe his luck at being allowed to shoot there. The island is UNESCO protected and only a limited amount of tourists are allowed visit and climb the rock each year. While filming, the cast and crew were holed up in Portamagee, on the Ring of Kerry. An ideal place for a minibreak, tourists can stay anywhere along the scenic route and visit the rest of it in a day. A great spot in Killarney is Muckross Park Hotel ( www.muckrosspark.com ). Kerry makes an appearance in several other big productions, including The Field, Far and Away and Excalibur, not to mention Ryans Daughter which used lots of local extras from Dunquin. Recently, Colin Farrell flick The Lobster was shot in the Parknasilla Resort ( www.parknasillaresort.com ). EAST COAST Saoirse Ronans star turn in Brooklyn was shot in Enniscorthy, but the most famous film shot in Wexford has to be Saving Private Ryan. In 1997, Steven Spielberg and his crew descended on Ballinesker Beach, Curracloe, to film epic scenes of the Normandy landings on D-Day. Hundreds of members of the reserves of the FCA played soldier extras, and the production went down in Irish movie history as being one of the biggest and best. The film, of course, went on to win five Academy Awards, including the Oscars for Best Director and Best Cinematography. Those looking for a staycation nearby cant go far wrong with Duncannon or the Hook Peninsula. Dunbrody House, Kevin Dundons stunning country house hotel, won a major international accolade earlier this year and is a perfect base for exploring the region ( www.dunbrodyhouse.com ). Another multi-Oscar winning film was also shot in the East Mel Gibsons 1995 epic Braveheart. Some scenes were shot in Scotland, but most of it took place in and around Ardmore Studios, with all the soundstage scenes shot there too. Trim Castle stood in for the English town of York, with the Co Meath spot also playing a London square. Blessington Lakes, Ballymore Eustace and the Curragh all featured too, in famous battle scenes that are sure to go down in movie history. Bellinter House is a good base to travel to these locations ( www.bellinterhouse.com ), and theyre also easily reached from Dublin if youre driving. CORK John Huston shot The Mackintosh Man in Co Clare, but the Hollywood director and screenwriter also shot an adaptation of Moby Dick in Youghal in 1956. Ken Loachs The Wind That Shakes The Barley was filmed around West Cork, taking in locations like Bandon, Coolea and Timoleague. Colin Farrells Ondine was set on the Beara Peninsula, while War of the Buttons filmed in Castletownsend. Skibbereen is a popular destination to get away from it all while taking in the famous locations nearby, while Inchydoney Island in Clonakilty has a reputation for great food and a fabulous spa ( www.inchydoneyisland.com ). MAYO One of the most famous films shot in Ireland has to be The Quiet Man. Famous Hollywood director John Ford decamped to Cong, Co Mayo, for months to film the Irish-centric story starring John Wayne and our very own Maureen OHara. Showing Ireland in glorious technicolour with strong stereotyping, the film was a massive hit in the States and is still a big reason American tourists visit here today. The best-known nearby hotel is the stunning Ashford Castle ( www.ashfordcastle.com ), recently voted the best hotel in the world by a network of leading travel industry executives. It underwent a renovation in 2014 and is now one of the most luxurious destinations in Europe, never mind the world. If Ashford is a little rich for your blood though, the nearby lodge is a stunning option thats much better value ( www.thelodgeac.com ). DUBLIN From Michael Collins to Intermission, lots of Irish films have been shot in and around Dublin. Roddy Doyles Barrytown trilogy of The Snapper, The Commitments and The Van were set in the citys north suburbs, while John Carneys Once and Sing Street take place in the environs of Dublin 8. One of the most famous films shot in the capital though, is Educating Rita perhaps because its not meant to be set in Dublins fairy city at all. Trinity College doubles for a Liverpool university where Julie Walters and Michael Caine meet, but its not the only location used. The Stags Head pub, the airport and UCD all feature too, to the delight of Irish audiences at the time. The Westin Hotel on Westmoreland Street is the closest hotel to both Trinity and the Stags Head ( www.thewestindublin.com ). See more about the Atlantic Film Trail and other local cinema tours at www.discoverireland.ie Shares in Mitsubishi Motors Corporation (MMC) fell 15% this week after the automaker admitted to falsifying fuel economy tests affecting about 625,000 mini-cars it built for its own brand and for Nissan Motor (NM). None of the applicable cars are sold in Europe, but to the end of March 2016, MMC had sold 157,000 units under its own brand and supplied 468,000 to Nissan. MMC said it developed the cars and was responsible for obtaining the relevant certifications, so conducted fuel consumption testing. During development of the next generation of mini-car models, Nissan examined the fuel consumption rates and found deviations in the figures. It requested MMC to review the running resistance value set by MMC during tests by MMC. In the course of our internal investigation upon this request, MMC learned of the improper conduct that MMC used the running resistance value (tyre rolling resistance and air resistance) for testing which provided more advantageous fuel consumption rates than the actual rates, the automaker said. MMC added: We have decided to stop production and sales of the applicable cars. NM also has stopped sales of the applicable cars, and MMC and NM will discuss compensation regarding this issue. During our internal investigation, we have found that the testing method which was different from the one required by Japanese law has been applied to other models manufactured by MMC for the Japanese domestic market. Taking into account the seriousness of these issues, we will also conduct an investigation into products manufactured for overseas markets. In order to conduct an investigation into these issues objectively and thoroughly, we plan to set up a committee consisting of only external experts. We will publish the results of our investigation as soon as it is complete. Fuel competition News that will possibly appeal to motorists is the announcement of a Win Your Fill of Fuel Around Ireland promotion by Valero, who market fuel in Ireland under the Texaco brand. Continuing until May 6, motorists who spend 30 or more on fuel at any participating station can enter a draw to win a free 500 Texaco fuel voucher. Applicable in the Republic of Ireland only, entries which include a simple test of skill are subject to terms and conditions printed on the entry form can be deposited in a dedicated entry box at the station where the purchase is made. One winner will be chosen from each participating station. New Volkswagen The Tiguan will start from 29,720 in petrol form, with a 1.4-litre TSI engine putting out 125bhp and starts at 33,765 for a 2.0-litre TDI engine putting out 150bhp. There is one diesel engine size available initially, a 2.0-litre unit, putting out 150bhp with a choice of two-wheel drive and four-wheel drive, with 4Motion All-Wheel Drive available in diesel engines from 150bhp upwards. An entry-level 2.0-litre diesel, putting out 115bhp will be available in early 2017, as well as 2.0-litre diesel engines with 190- and 240 bhp, pricing has yet to be finalised for these models. The traditional specification grades for Volkswagen are used with new Tiguan, starting with Trendline and moving through Comfortline, up to the highest specification Highline. Even entry-level Trendline models get 17 Montana alloy wheels, air conditioning, Bluetooth connectivity and USB interface. There is a raft of safety features as standard including ESC, Lane Assist, ISOFIX points for two child seats and the front assist including city automatic emergency braking. Comfortline models add 17 Tulsa alloy wheels, a multifunction leather steering wheel, more storage compartments, silver roof rails, 65% light absorbing rear side and rear windows, cornering lights, 6.5 composition media radio system with CD player and eight speakers, adaptive cruise control and 3-zone climate control. The Tiguan arrives in a segment that has blossomed this year, said Volkswagen Irelands head of operations, Paul Burke. There has been a huge shift towards SUVs here in Ireland, and Volkswagens new Tiguan will install itself as the premium offering in this segment thanks to the fabulous build quality, increased interior and luggage space and generous equipment levels. Volkswagen dealers can now take provisional orders for the new car, with first deliveries expected in time for the 162-plate. There is currently a roadshow taking place where customers can get the chance to view the new model in their local Volkswagen dealership. Speaking with The Telegraph, UK transport minister Robert Goodwill revealed that there is speculation that the collision may have even been a plastic bag or something. He explained that It was the local police force that tweeted that they had a report of a drone striking an aircraft. He added, The early reports of a dent in the front of the plane were not confirmed there was no actual damage to the plane. Overnight, both teams had sought technical advice from experts, including on what compromise could be agreed on the impasse over water charges, the main stumbling block to a deal. A question was how much in generous allowances could be afforded from Fine Gaels point of view, to appease Fianna Fail demands. Moreover, advice was needed on how meters might help homeowners apparently beat the charge by conserving water. But this requires an actual meter. From Fianna Fails side though, the key issue was whether charges can be suspended for a lengthy period, possibly up to five years or at least until the next general election. The experts came back, the negotiations resumed. All looked sunny and rosey as both teams exited Trinity College Dublin and headed to a nearby building to trawl through their policy differences. There were other issues to negotiate. But there was also a clear optimism in the air, as acting health minister Leo Varadkar told waiting reporters earlier in the morning, that he was cautiously optimistic about a deal on the weekend. Agriculture Minister Simon Coveney had already said on Thursday that he hoped talks could be wrapped up by tomorrow. But behind the scenes, Fianna Fail were holding their position on the need to suspend water charges. Meath TD Thomas Byrne told RTE earlier in the day it was doubtful an agreement could be reached if Fine Gael did not suspend charges for five years, as his party demanded in its election manifesto. Lead party negotiator Michael McGrath was equally cautious. The Cork South Central TD was adamant that a U-turn by his party on its election promise would not be acceptable to Fianna Fail. We as a party are trying to rebuild trust in politics, rebuild trust with the party, he said. Were not in the business of saying one thing before the election, and doing something fundamentally different after the election. Clearly, Fianna Fail are anticipating any political pressure if they cannot get enough movement on freezing water charges and scrapping Irish Water. Already, anti-water TDs were out on the plinth in Leinster House yesterday outlining a motion, agreed by 39 TDs, to abolish charges. It has been signed by Sinn Fein, the Anti-Austerity Alliance/People Before Profit group, Independents-4Change, the Social Democrats, and Independents. Fianna Fail know they will get hammered during this Dail if they cannot get their way on water charges. It now seems that whatever advice was brought back into the negotiating room that this triggered a fresh standoff in the talks. Instead of tidying up a deal for a fresh vote for Taoiseach next week, both teams broke off and said they would have to seek the advice of their leaders. Announcing the fresh deadlock, Fianna Fail TD Jim OCallaghan said there were issues now after over two weeks of talks that could not be resolved. Weve now reached a situation where there are a number of issues in respect of which we cant reach agreement, he said. The party negotiator though also revealed that it was not just the thorny issue of water charges now which could not be resolved. The issues involve a variety of matters in the area of housing, education, rural affairs and indeed water. Both sides agree that nothing is insurmountable. But as the days roll on, the long- term viability of a minority government even lasting a short time is increasingly in doubt. Maybe both sides are setting the scene for a final push across the line, in case party hardliners object to compromises. The coming days will tell. But there are surely only a few left before time runs out. Last week in the corridors of Leinster House, one Fine Gael minister stopped to chat about the ongoing talks to form a Government. We cant walk away, we are trapped he said. Things were not going well at this stage and anger was mounting as to the delay in striking a deal with Fianna Fail. Myself and one of my colleagues put it to the minister that in light of the difficulty, why not walk away and let Fianna Fail at it and go into opposition. It may have been a quip from the minister, but I took it more as the mask slipping and it was the most accurate description of Fine Gaels dilemma. As they have repeatedly told us, they are the largest party in the Dail with 50 seats, but they are nowhere near the number they need to form a Dail majority. So while Temporary Taoiseach Enda Kenny and his inner team have made the running in trying to form a Government, their willingness to compromise on so many issues is a clear sign of their weakened position. Some within the party remain desperate to cling on to power, and see Kenny become the first Fine Gael Taoiseach re-elected, and that desperation has come at a significant cost. That willingness to concede ground on so many points, has led many Fine Gaelers to privately ask the question whether they would be better off in opposition. But now we are in the space that a Fine Gael minority Government is the only viable option, the feeling of being trapped is coming to the fore. Such feelings combined with the failure so far to agree a final deal with Fianna Fail and the Independents reinforce my beliefs that whatever arrangement is arrived at, it is doomed to fail. The Independent Alliance Fianna Fail, for their part, appear to be relatively happy with where they stand. Never that keen to go into power, Fianna Fail belatedly made an attempt to woo Independents last week. Micheal Martin went on to annoy them all by issuing the put up or shut up threat, which led 14 of them to abstain from the vote for Taoiseach. Since then, we have had this infuriating round of talks between the two big parties, bedevilled by limited actual facts, plenty of spin, and counter-spin from people claiming to be in the know. On Thursday night, Finance Minister Michael Noonan spoke of a Fianna Fail cave-in on the role of local authorities in Irish Water, only for that to be rejected vehemently by the Fianna Fail team. It then emerged late that night that Fine Gael are now willing to consider suspending water charges while a new system can be cobbled together. So rather than a Fianna Fail cave in, it was a Fine Gael climb down. That sort of nonsense from such a wily politician as Noonan serves only to anger the increasingly impatient public. But taking a step back, there has been a lingering suggestion that all of this heat is a phony war. In the background, Kenny and Martin have been in regular contact with each other and it is felt that by and large they are in agreement, with a few loose ends to tie up. Even if that is the case, there is still plenty of potential for this precarious house of cards to come crashing down. Firstly, there is no guarantee either parliamentary party will stomach whatever concessions on water are finally agreed by the negotiating teams, but if the two leaders get behind the deal, then it should go through. A trickier prospect is nailing down the disparate gang of Independents. It is unthinkable that the 14 TDs who joined forces to abstain from the last vote for Taoiseach will hold together. The six TDs of the Independent Alliance want to remain as a solid, united group. Yet, some members of the Alliance like Shane Ross, Michael Fitzmaurice and Finian McGrath were ready to support Kenny 10 days ago, but the position of John Halligan was delayed the group from declaring their hand. Halligan said he withdrew from the talks process because of a lack of progress in terms of 24-hour cardiac care in Waterford Hospital. His predicament has been the source of some annoyance among the other alliance members, who fear his reluctance may jeopardise what they have managed to achieve for their own areas. This weekend, Halligan signalled he is closer to coming back on board, which would lead me to conclude that a deal is possible and the Alliance will back Kenny next time around, albeit through gritted teeth. The Rural Alliance is less clear. Given the Katherine Zappone deal, Fine Gael has lost the support of Mattie McGrath who lashed out at the giving of commitments on the 8th Amendment. Tipperary-based Mattie McGrath, a member of the loosely-linked five rural TDs group, made the remarks as divisions continued to appear among Independents. In a message on social media after days of speculation, the unaligned Zappone said she secured specific commitments from Fine Gael in return for voting in favour of Mr Kenny during last Thursdays Taoiseach nomination. The commitments for a promised change include increased public service investment; more affordable childcare; and greater school diversity. They also involve moves to examine a referendum on the Eighth Amendment and to equality-proof future national budgets. Zappone said that while any formal position she may have in the next Government has yet to be discussed, these issues were pre-requisites for her giving support to Mr Kenny last week. However, McGrath said he disagrees with the issues contained in Ms Zappones deal and strongly suggested he will reject any Government that implements her policies. More power to her, but it is a sad state of affairs. Kenny is a desperate man for power. I wont be dancing to any tune to that melody. I wouldnt touch that with a barge pole, he said. A number of other Independents, including fellow rural TDs member Michael Collins, are also believed to be strongly opposed to any deal on abortion legislation. The Healy Raes, Michael and Danny, looked to be split as what to do, with Danny opposed to supporting Kenny while Michael was ready to back the embattled Fine Gael leader. The Healy Raes Michael, speaking to me yesterday, said they will not commit either way until the deal between Fine Gael and Fianna Fail is finalised. But the other major factor is the position of Enda Kenny. If re-elected, Kenny is likely to stand down within a matter of months. This has been seen as a significant element for some Independents, who strongly dislike Kenny on a personal level. The fact many of them ran on platforms opposing his policies has been a major impediment to progress so far. His departure could just be the necessary grease to ease a deal together. At the end of a frustrating week, talks between the big two parties are to continue with the expectation could be completed within a couple of days. Please, oh please, let this all end soon. So it went with Sean Quinn, who built a business empire from a disused quarry in Fermanagh. Time and again, the former billionaire entered business sectors as an outsider. Each time, he defied common sense to succeed and thrive. His stubbornness is still evident today, but now, post-crash, as Mr Quinn negotiates his autumn years, you have to wonder whether its an asset or a liability. Mr Quinn is not a happy bunny, despite having much to be happy about. At 68, he has emerged from the loss of his businesses, bankruptcy, and even imprisonment, with both his dignity, and the support of his community, intact. The future has been secured for most of the businesses he built up in Cavan and Fermanagh. The former Anglo Irish Bank, with which he had got entangled in disastrous loans and share-buying, put the Quinn Group into receivership. Two years ago, most of the group was bought by three local men, backed by US vulture funds. The group was renamed Quinn Industrial Holdings. Continuity with the old group was achieved by appointing Mr Quinns long-time senior managers to similar roles, and by retaining Quinn himself as a consultant on an annual stipend of 500,000. The size of the retainer represents the respect and affection he enjoys locally. Yet Mr Quinn is angry and frustrated that life is not as it used to be, before it all came tumbling down. He appears to believe the businesses were not lost, but merely loaned out. To that end, he has come into conflict with the new management, some of whom got their start, and blossomed, under him. Mr Quinn is not the only one up there in Fermanagh/Cavan who is angry and frustrated. Some individuals, who appear to share a purpose with Mr Quinn, but not his support, are taking out their frustration through violence and intimidation. The latest example was a public death threat to senior management at Quinn Industrial Holdings last week. This is the second such threat. There have also been acts of vandalism against the company. Another arm of the Quinn Group, engaged in wind farming, was sold off separately to a Danish company. It has had to employ a security firm to protect workers. Some managers have received bullets in the post. The Danish ambassador has raised concerns about the issue with the Department of Justice. Yet another frustrated entity is a self-styled outfit called Concerned Irish Citizens. This groups stated objective is to have the former Quinn Group companies restored to the ownership of Sean Quinn and his family. Concerned Irish Citizens seem to believe that laws that govern all other citizens should not apply to somebody whom they obviously hold in the highest esteem. So there are three separate entities: Mr Quinn, Concerned Irish Citizens, and the thugs, who all appear to share a common purpose, but very different means of achieving it. When urged to come out and condemn the violence, the Quinn family issued a statement: Sean Quinn and the Quinn familys stated position is that they have always condemned, and will continue to condemn, negative activity in the local area. On Thursday, after the latest death threat, Mr Quinn issued another statement, condemning the abusive and threatening activity. I have always criticised the intimidation. However, I am but one voice and I feel that other people that operate within this community should play their part, also, the statement read. Its unclear to whom Mr Quinn was referring, or what exactly he wanted done. The Concerned Irish Citizens also expressed their concern at the threats and violence. One member, a Mr Joey Smith, told the Irish Times that he condemned what was being done. But Ill tell you something, he went on. I wouldnt need the FBI to tell you why it is being done. Local people are getting very angry. I think Sean Quinn and the Quinn family are showing great restraint. With regards death threats, I dont believe in death threats. Having said that, I can see why they would be made. The violence isnt new within the trajectory of the Quinn Groups demise. When the bank first moved in, there were acts of vandalism and threats against employees of the receiver. Concerned Irish Citizens, and the Quinns themselves, were able to draw on widespread support, both locally and nationally, to reinforce their sense of grievance. Thousands travelled to Cavan for rallies, in support of a family that felt it had been wronged. The GAA network also mobilised for a stricken member. For those beyond the locale, it was more straightforward. Mr Quinn had been reckless in gambling his money and his employees future. He had run the groups cash cow, Quinn Insurance, in such a manner that it had to be bailed out. Every insurance policy-holder in the State is paying a levy to cover the cost of the bail-out. Yet, among his own, he was able to draw on his 40-year record of local enterprise to enjoy the status of a local chieftain grievously wronged. That all seems like a long time ago. Now, the division is not between the local community and outsiders, but, instead, resembles a form of internal strife. Those with whom Quinn soldiered, on his meteoric rise and steep descent, are now the enemy. The stated objective of the earlier campaign to ensure that the businesses continue to thrive locally is not the main issue. The loyalty of a close-knit community is no longer a weapon in the fight against perceived enemies from beyond. This time, its Sean Quinn looking for a way to take back what he believes is his. Greed, he said himself, was his downfall in throwing good millions after bad in Anglo shares. And one has to wonder whether it is the same story now, as he apparently strives to gain back ownership of his former companies, irrespective of the cost. While he maintains that position, its unlikely that the thugs whom he condemns will stop. Its also unlikely that the ludicrous Concerned Irish Citizens will concede that its time to lay down their vitriol. What should be of concern to Mr Quinn is the damage he may be doing to the legacy he enjoys locally, where most have been prepared to paper over the bad, remembering only the good he has done. At times like these, the stubbornness that was once a valued ally can manifest itself as a deadly enemy. Mr Obama was speaking after Downing St talks with British prime minister David Cameron during a two-day visit which he has used to speak out in favour of continued UK membership of the 28-nation bloc after the June 23 referendum. At a joint press conference in the British Foreign Office, Mr Cameron insisted that the special relationship between the UK and US was not constrained by Britains EU membership. EU membership gave Britain a powerful tool to stand up for the values it shares with the US, said Mr Cameron, adding: Now, I think, is a time to stay true to those values, and to stick together with our friends and allies in Europe and around the world. Mr Obama said the UK would be in the back of the queue for a trade deal if it left the EU, because the US would focus on the bigger bloc. The US president stressed the referendum was a decision for the people of the United Kingdom and he was not coming here to fix any votes. But he defended his right to offer an opinion, saying: In democracies everybody should want more information, not less, and you shouldnt be afraid to hear an argument being made thats not a threat, that should enhance the debate. Particularly because my understanding is that some of the folks on the other side have been ascribing to the United States certain actions we will take if the UK does leave the EU. They say, for example, that we will just cut our own trade deals with the United States. So they are voicing an opinion about what the United States is going to do. I figured you might want to hear from the president of the United States what I think the United States is going to do. And on that matter, for example, I think its fair to say that maybe some point down the line there might be a UK-US trade agreement, but its not going to happen any time soon because our focus is in negotiating with a big bloc, the European Union, to get a trade agreement done. The UK is going to be in the back of the queue. Trying to do piecemeal trade agreements was hugely inefficient, he said. Setting out the choice facing Britain, the president said: If, right now, I have got access to a massive market where I sell 44% of my exports and now Im thinking about leaving the organisation that gives me access to that market and that is responsible for millions of jobs in my country and responsible for an enormous amount of commerce and upon which a lot of businesses depend thats not something I would probably do. Responding to Mr Obamas comments, the co-founder of the Leave.EU campaign, Richard Tice, said: We dont have a trade deal with the United States now because were members of the European Union. The proposed EU-US trade deal, TTIP (Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership), would be disastrous for British workers. Obama doesnt have the authority to deny us a deal, as he will be long gone before any such proposals are on the table. He called, and was told the ashes were from a cremation performed three years ago, in Elizabeth, New Jersey. Someone had accidentally dropped the box while trying to dump the ashes into the ocean. He brought the ashes to a local cemetery on Thursday, and they will be returned to New Jersey. Tigers day out USA: Animal-control officers have captured adomesticated tiger that was spotted roaming a residential neighborhood in a south Texas city. The Conroe Police Department says it received several phone calls on Thursday, from residents who saw the young, female tiger. Animal control officers captured the tiger, which was wearing a collar with a leash attached. Sgt. Dorcy McGinnis says that the tiger seems to be tame. Authorities are asking for assistance in locating the owner. The tiger will not be allowed to be housed in Conroe, due to this incident. Conroe is 40 miles north of Houston. Iced cream USA: The owner of a western Massachusetts ice-cream shop, which is due to open soon, says his delicious dishes are a taste to die for. Thats because Petros Mirisis is opening his ice-cream parlour in a former funeral home, in Chicopee. Mirisis, who owns a restaurant in town, tells westernmassnews.com he loves taking his three daughters out for ice cream, but its always hard to find a place. He drove past the old funeral home every day on his way to work and always thought it was a great place for a business, in the heart of the city and across the street from the library. Rammed bank with tractor USA: Police have arrested a 30-year-old Vermont man, who they say attempted to rob a credit-union branchs night-deposit box by slamming into it with a tractor. The Rutland Herald reports that Chase Siliski will be arraigned in Rutland criminal court in May, on charges of felony grand larceny, felony attempted grand larceny, and a misdemeanour count of unlawful mischief. Police say Fair Haven Rescue Squad members observed Siliski repeatedly ramming the night-deposit box of the Green Mountain Credit Unions Cold River Road branch, in November. The Proctor man allegedly fled the scene in the tractor and ran into the woods. He was apprehended on April 10. Squirrelled away USA: Omaha police have announced the death of a squirrel that hung around police headquarters and who had his own Twitter following. Police say the squirrel, which went by @OPDSquirrel, was found dead in the police headquarters parking lot, in downtown Omaha. A post by Officer Michael Bossman announced the death, accompanied by a picture of a dead squirrel outlined with chalk. The squirrels Twitter account, however, remains active. The rodents nearly 350 followers have been treated to follow-up tweets from friends and family including one from Mrs. OPDSquirrel, who thanked everyone for their kind words and said he will be sorely missed by our 35 children and I. Unexploded bomb ENGLAND: A school has been evacuated after a suspected, unexploded bomb from the Second World War was found on a building site. Police were called to Boone Street, south-east London, following reports of the discovery. Scotland Yard say the object is believed to be a WW2 ordnance and initially did not elaborate on whether it was a bomb, a gun, or another form of weaponry. But a spokesman later said it was a bomb. Shakespeare in school ENGLAND: The classroom where William Shakespeare completed his formal education is being opened for tours, to mark the 400th anniversary of his death. Owned by King Edward VI school, Shakespeares schoolroom and guildhall will be open to visitors from April 23, thanks to a 1.8m grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund. The schoolroom, in Stratford-upon-Avon, is also where the Bard is thought to have seen his first plays. Headmaster Bennet Carr told the BBC: If Im on my own in there sometimes, the hairs stand on the back of my neck. Yoga row on flight USA: A flight from Hawaii to Japan was forced to turn around, after flight attendants became embroiled in a row with a passenger, over yoga. Hyongtae Pae was heading home to South Korea, after a holiday to celebrate his 40th wedding anniversary, when he went to the back of the plane to do yoga and meditate. Authorities say he refused to return to his seat, threatened crew members, and shoved his own wife. He also tried to bite and head-butt two US military members, who were passengers on the flight and trying to restrain him. Business The Irrawaddy Business Roundup (April 23, 2016) Firms urged to review corruption policies; Chevron seeks to offload assets; new investment rules viewed as agriculturally favorable; and Burma declared Asias fastest growing economy. Investors Urged to Update Anti-Bribery Rules After Suu Kyi Order After the new government issued new rules to civil servants on accepting gifts, an international law firm is advising its clients working in Burma to update their anti-bribery and corruption measures. In one of her first acts as Presidents Office Minister, Aung San Suu Kyi on April 4 issued new guidelines that bar government staff from accepting any gifts with a value over 25,000 kyats (just over US$20). The order came after the National League for Democracy (NLD) put fighting corruption at the center of its campaign for the November 2015 elections. And in a sign that the new government is serious about tackling graft, the Presidents Office this week issued a warning to a local media company for allegedly trying to hand a gift of 5 million kyats to a government officials assistant during a Thingyan celebration in Naypyidaw. London-based law firm Berwin Leighton Paisner issued a note on April 20 advising its clients to take note of the new guidelines. International investors working in a high risk country like Burma should already have anti-bribery and corruption (ABC) measures in place, the firm said, especially those from Britain and the United States, which both have strict laws on foreign corruption that apply overseas. However, the note said, Given that the [new Burmese government] Guidelines contain a number of exceptions, a robust approach is recommended to avoid scenarios where a public official may avoid censure under the Guidelines but US or UK ABC legislation may still be engaged. Lawyers at Berwin Leighton Paisner urged foreign investors to revisit and revise their ABC compliance policy to take into account the new guidelines. Further, investors would be well advised to conduct or obtain proper and accessible ABC training for their local staff, suppliers and contractual counter-parties, the note said. It would also be prudent to conduct appropriate levels of compliance due diligence on potential counter-parties before entering into any joint ventures or partnerships in Myanmar. Chevron Looking to Sell $1.3b of Burma Assets Reuters reported this week that US oil and gas major Chevron has put its assets in Burma, estimated to be worth $1.3 billion, up for sale. The newswire cited banking sources familiar with the matter and said the disposal would be part of a broader retreat from the company. With interests around the globe, Chevron may need to preserve cash as oil prices continue an extended slump due largely to a glut of supply from Middle Eastern oil producers. Chevron was among the winners when the Burmese government issued a slew of offshore exploration blocks in 2014. After negotiations, the company signed a production sharing agreement with the governments oil and gas company for the shallow-water Block A5, off Arakan State, in May 2015. Chevron is also a minority shareholder in the Yadana and Sein offshore gas fields that are operated by French company Total and supply most of their gas to Thailand via pipelines. Reuters reports that Chevrons production in Burma amounts to 117 million cubic feet, or about 2.2 percent of the companys global gas output for 2015. Analysts have previously warned that falling global oil prices could mean delays in converting recent exploration licenses in Burma into production deals. Production is wanted sooner rather than later to provide much needed funds to state coffers as the new government looks to address infrastructure needs and invest in public services. But there may be interest in Chevrons assets, particularly since Burma is seen as one of the worlds last largely untapped locations for conventional hydrocarbon deposits. Reuters sources named Thailands PTT Exploration and Production and Australias Woodside Petroleum as possible buyers, who would likely want to take all three assets together. It also noted there could be interest from China and Japan. Woodside, which did not comment to Reuters on the Chevron assets, has issued public announcements about two gas discoveries in the Arakan Basin in recent months and is not hiding its excitement about prospects in Burma. The Australian Associated Press reported on Thursday that Woodside Petroleum Chief Executive Peter Coleman said the company was looking to snap up more assets in Burma while oil prices are low. Coleman offered few details, but promised more information on the companys plans soon. The investor day in May will give a better line of sight to where we think commerciality in Myanmar will come from, the AAP quoted him as saying. New Investment Rules Could Help Agriculture: KPMG Global auditor KPMG said this week that a recent amendment to Burmas foreign investment rules could help the development of the countrys agricultural sector. In a tax alert issued Thursday, KPMG gave a rundown to changes made by the Myanmar Investment Commission on March 21, before the new government took power. Under the Foreign Investment Law, the MIC has the power to issue rulings on what economic activities foreign firms can perform, and what activities can only be performed by local firms or joint ventures. The latest notification removed from the list of prohibited activities for foreign companies the manufacture of rubber, as well as the production and distribution of hybrid, high-yield and local seeds used to grow crops. The above removal of need for joint ventures [and thus potentially could be carried out by a wholly foreign-owned entity] for the above activities should bode well for the development of the agricultural sector in Myanmar, KMPG said in the alert. The alert also noted a change that allows joint ventures to produce and distribute vaccines, under certain conditions, and a change to the circumstances when foreign investment is totally prohibited. The new rules state: Economic activities deemed to deteriorate the watershed or catchment protection forests, religious places, traditional belief, pasture land, shifting cultivation farms and water resources will now be prohibited. KPMG did not comment on the latter amendment, but other observers have noted the broad wording could cause complications for foreign investors. ADB Hails Burma as Fastest Growing Country in Asia The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is predicting that Burmas economy will grow faster than any other in Asia in the coming year. Despite flooding that devastated one fifth of the countrys farm land, and moderating economic activity in the Peoples Republic of China [PRC], Myanmars economy is expected to grow 8.4 percent in 2016 and early 2017, the highest rate in Asia and the Pacific, the ADB said in a statement to mark the release of its 2016 Asia Development Outlook. The ADB hailed relief efforts after Cyclone Komen and intense rains in July and August 2015 that wrecked about a fifth of Burmas cultivated land and displaced more than 1.6 million people. The bank also praised the economys resilience. The storm did little to slow down the rest of the booming economy, with garment exports increasing by 28 percent to $2 billion, the statement said. Natural gas exports slightly increased as well. Tourism was also a major driver of the economy with 4.7 million arrivals in 2015 with about 70% of visitors entering overland from neighboring countries. Spending by tourists rose by 19% to $2.1 billion in 2015. While it noted risks from the countrys ongoing conflicts, the continued reliance on natural resource extraction and vulnerability to bad weather, the ADB said the prospects look sunny for the country, predicting a healthy 8.3 percent gross domestic product growth in 2017. IFC Provides $40m for Rangoon Container Port Development The World Banks International Finance Corporation has provided $40 million in financing for the expansion of a privately owned port in Rangoon. The loan is the first phase of $200 million of support the IFC has pledged to the Myanmar Industrial Port, which it hopes will expand the ports annual handling capacity from about 300,000 containers (or 20-foot equivalent units) to 500,000 containers or more. The investment is IFCs first in the transportation sector in Myanmar and is part of a broader strategy to help Myanmar do business more efficiently and more competitively, thereby unlocking the countrys potential for increased international trade and supporting job creation and economic development, the IFC said in a statement this week. Myanmars container volumes are estimated to have increased by 90 percent over the last 3 years due to rapid growth in imports and exports following the governments implementation of political and economic reforms. The Myanmar Industrial Port on the Rangoon River is operated by Myanma Anwa Swan A Shin Group, a family-owned local company headed by Capt. Ko Ko Htoo. The company built and began operating the port in 2003 with the blessing of the then-ruling military junta. IFCs financing for MIP comes at a critical time in Myanmars development when transport infrastructure is urgently needed to realize the countrys growth potential, Hyun-Chan Cho, IFCs head of infrastructure and natural resources for Asia, said in the statement. The MIP loans will also help to catalyze investment by other private developers and financiers in Myanmars infrastructure sector for which long-term US dollar funding has not been readily available. Thailand Lags as Myanmar Gains Ground Few next-door neighbors have moved so far in opposite political directions than Thailand and Myanmar, demonstrating the imperative of compromise in deeply polarized societies. Few next-door neighbors have moved so far in an opposite political direction than Thailand and Myanmar, also known as Burma. After more than half a century of military dictatorship from 1962, Myanmar has returned to democratic rule with a free and fair election last November and now a civilian-led government under Aung San Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy (NLD) party. Over the same period, Thailand progressed in fits and starts from military-authoritarianism to popular rule only to revert to dictatorship, enabled by two military coups in 2006 and 2014. The reversal of political fortunes in these two Southeast Asian countries is instructive. It shows the imperative of compromise and accommodation in deeply polarized societies to reach a moving, workable balance. While under its long military-authoritarian rule, Myanmar faced international opprobrium, suffocated under the weight of Western sanctions, and became a sick member of Asean. With its Myanmar baggage, Asean frequently had to skip or scale down top-level meetings with major democratic governments, and Myanmar itself had to ignominiously forego its rotational chairmanship of the 10-member grouping in 2005. When they ushered in reforms, Myanmars top generals wanted to survive by making concessions and keeping much of what they previously had. But they also underestimated how political liberalization could generate its own infectious momentum, especially when spearheaded by a quiet but committed leadership. When President U Thein Sein, a retired top general, freed political prisoners, released Ms. Suu Kyi from her house arrest and instituted broad-based reforms to open up the economy and politics from 2011, his administration was quickly overwhelmed by the force and logic of basic rights and freedoms that had been unleashed. The costs of rolling back Thein Seins reforms soon became too high for Myanmars militaryalso known as the Tatmadawwhich stood by its constitutional compromise. By constitutional design, the military automatically takes a 25 percent cut in the legislature where a 75 percent majority is required for charter amendments, and controls three security-related ministries for home affairs, defense, and borders. With another clause banning Ms. Suu Kyi from the presidency for having family members who are foreign nationals, this set-up represented the militarys end of the bargain. As the NLD won 77 percent of contested seats in parliament (compared with 10 percent for the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party), the ball has been in Ms. Suu Kyis court. Appointing a lifelong confidant, Htin Kyaw, as a titular president, she has astutely carved out an unprecedented new role as state counsellor to oversee government affairs. As a complement, she has also become a minister attached to the Presidents Office and Myanmars foreign minister, effectively the countrys spokeswoman. So far the Tatmadaw has kept its word and allowed Ms. Suu Kyi and the NLD a free hand. Led by Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing, the generals apparently do not want to return to their old atrocious ways under dictatorship. The onus will be on Ms. Suu Kyi to reciprocate by displaying magnanimity over vindictiveness. If she were to immediately go after vested interests of the generals and their cronies or somehow ram through constitutional changes to make her president in short order, for example, the civil-military accommodation could unravel. Yet she has to assure a semblance of transitional justice for past military misdeeds and tackle corruption from the military period. Ms. Suu Kyi will need to manage expectations and deliver results on the ground while ensuring her civilian-led administration keeps the military at bay, a tightrope exercise of the highest order for Myanmar. Unlike Myanmar, Thailand has been stuck in a holding pattern between the electoral forces of exiled former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and his party machine on one hand and his royalist-conservative adversaries on the other. Against the old political order from the Cold War that gravitated around the military, monarchy and bureaucracy, Thaksin exploited the inexorable tide of globalization and democratization to great success by winning all Thai elections since 2001. But the vested interests and family-business links that accompanied his rule led to corruption and abuse of power by his personalized regime. His conflicts of interest and unassailable parliamentary majority paved the way for a military takeover in September 2006 after months of yellow-clad anti-Thaksin street protests. The generals routinely came up with a new constitution designed to clip Thaksins electoral power by making the Senate half-appointed and shifting power to the judiciary. Yet Thaksins party still carried the polls, and more yellow-shirt demonstrations ensued and ended up with an opposition-led government. But Thaksin eventually came back through his youngest sister, Yingluck Shinawatra, who won the election in July 2011. Just as his sisters government became stable in power, Thaksin gave his rivals another chance by introducing an amnesty bill in October 2013 that would have freed him of all criminal charges and a conviction, enabling him to return home. The amnesty gambit led to more street protests by the yellow side and yet another putsch in the following May by the same fraternal band of generals who staged the preceding coup. This time, led by Gen. Prayut Chan-o-cha, Thailands generals are taking no chances. They have ruled directly in government and appointed only a handful of technocrats. The junta, known as the National Council for Peace and Order, came up with an interim constitution that equipped Prayut with absolute power in a remarkable reincarnation of past military dictatorships. Hundreds of dissidents have been detained for up to seven days at military barracks against their will. Human rights advocates have been intimidated, journalists harassed. The National Council for Peace and Order installed a rubber-stamp legislature, pro-reform assembly, Constitution Drafting Committee, and cabinet led by none other than Prayut himself. The culmination of the coup is now a military-inspired draft constitution that vests substantial power in a military-appointed Senate that can keep any elected government in check for an interim period of five years during the generals 20-year reform drive to take Thailand to where they think it should be going. In addition, the constitution stipulates that the elected prime minister does not have to be an elected representative, thereby opening the door for a junta choice. If the constitution passes the referendum on Aug. 7, polls are supposed to take place in 2017. Tensions have mounted as civil society and political parties have come out against the overtly pro-military charter. Many who earlier encouraged a military intervention to restore law and order, and others under the impression that the militarys safeguarding role during the royal transition was essential, are having second thoughts. For the foreseeable future, Thailands ruling generals appear to be hunkering down for long-term rule and brooking no dissent in the process. Thus the road ahead for Thailand will mostly likely be marked by more turmoil. What Thailand needs is the kind of compromise and accommodation seen in Myanmar. To get there, Thailands political crisis and polarization has to bottom out to a point where all sides exhaustively come to the realization that none could win it all and therefore bargaining and negotiation cannot be avoided. It took Myanmars military regime almost five decades to come to terms with this reality. Many Thailand watchers at home and abroad hope it will not take Myanmars neighbor as long. Thitinan Pongsudhirak is an associate professor at Chulalongkorn University. This opinion piece first appeared in the Bangkok Post. Dateline Irrawaddy: We Cannot Accept the National Education Law The Irrawaddy speaks with general secretary of the ABFSU Phyoe Phyoe Aung and student union leader Nan Linn about ongoing protests against the National Education Law. Thalun Zaung Htet: Welcome to Dateline Irrawaddy! This week, well discuss the student protestors, who were released following President Htin Kyaws presidential pardon, and their expectations for the countrys education system, with Phyoe Phyoe Aung, general secretary of the All Burma Federation of Student Unions (ABFSU) central work committee, and Nan Linn, a university student union leader. Im Irrawaddy Burmese editor Thalun Zaung Htet. First of all, Im happy that students, including you, were released on April 8. Everyone was happy that day. But after the release, we saw statements on social media from the released student protestors, including you, which said the protest had not been called off because 11 demands remained unfulfilled. This drew critical comments on social media like if students want to go back behind bars [they should say so], and other similar criticisms. Why havent the student protestors called off the demonstration? Phyoe Phyoe Aung: Throughout the year while we were on trial, especially after there was speculation that Aung San Suu Kyi would become education minister, we explained the student protests [against the National Education Law] whenever we gave interviews. Those 11 demands are what the students wish for, which they expressed at the students conference in November 2014. We cannot accept the National Education Law, which was drafted and approved by the [former] government and Parliament. It is over-centralized and would be an obstacle to the development of a democratic education system in our country. Therefore, students unanimously decided to protest that law. The protest depends on whether or not their demands are met. The decision [to call off the protest] cannot be made by an individual person or organization. In our understanding, it is the nature of a protest to end automatically once demands are met. People failed to take note of what we have continuously said, but many have taken notice of news that has spread on social media about the protest continuing and students taking to the streets. Lately, we have explained [the law and our demands] comprehensively through interviews and statements. TZH: Nan Linn, the National Education Law was enacted in 2014 and [former President] Thein Sein made some amendments to the law in 2015. How much does the existing education law meet the demands of students? Does the law still need to be changed? Nan Linn: Surely, it needs to be changed. We pressed for 11 demands. Some have been met and some have not. And others are only nominally met. TZH: Can you tell me what the 11 demands are? NL: Roughly, they are about the education budget, ethnic languages, restructuring student unions and changing the university admission system for matriculating students. TZH: Which demands have been met and which have not? NL: The law unexpectedly includes provisions about student unions. [An article] of the law provides the formation of student unions at respective universities. The law also touches on ethnic languages and introduces changes to structure and power within the National Education Commission. But, taking a deeper look into its essence, it has yet to pave the way for the implementation of these provisions. Although the law includes so and so provisions, those provisions still need to clear legal barriers to pave the way for educational reforms. If you take a closer look, you will see restrictions behind those provisions. TZH: So, you mean the National Education Law is not a driving force for promoting education, but rather a tool to make sure the education system is under government control? NL: Sure, it is. TZH: The National Education Law formed the National Education Commission and the Higher Education Coordinating Committee. Phyoe Phyoe Aung has said that the law is over-centralized. Does the countrys education system even need the National Education Commission and the Higher Education Coordinating Committee? PPA: We attended the student representatives discussions with scholars. Generally, I think we do need to form a body of independent scholars to shape policies, manage funds and monitor the quality of universities and schools. But if that organization is under the influence of the government, the government will retain control. It will be a question of the ratio [of government representatives in the body]. It is reasonable that it will include government representatives because the government provides funds. But if the ratio of government representatives is unreasonably large, it will not be an independent entity. This concerns us. Regarding the coordinating committee, if universities become independent and have autonomy, they will be able to coordinate with other universities, either local or international ones. Then, universities can act freely. But if law forms an unnecessary committee, a committee for showour country used to have many committees and organizations for showit might not work at all. If possible, we prefer that universities have autonomy and can coordinate with other universities as they wish. TZH: So, you mean the existing National Education Law is over-centralized and needs to be decentralized? PPA: Because the first National Education Law that passed was over-centralized, we continuously pressed for our demands. We staged protests as a last resort, after negotiations had failed. In response, the government introduced some changes to the law. It has been decentralized to a certain extent, for example, the ratio, as Nan Linn has said. The proportion [of government representatives] has been reduced in the National Education Commission. But still, there remains a certain extent of centralization in the law. TZH: The National League for Democracy (NLD) government is in power, as we voted for it in the poll last November. The NLD is leading both the government and Parliament. Nan Linn, to what extent are the students prepared to negotiate with the current government and Parliament? Will students continue to press for their demands? I ask this question because you said you have not called off the protest. As far as Burmese people understand, a protest means taking to the streets and shouting slogans. How will you continue to press for your demands? NL: We staged the protest against the National Education Law, which was one-sidedly approved by Thein Seins government, because that law was unacceptable and over-centralized. As a manner of protest, we took to the streets. As Phyoe Phyoe Aung said, we have not called off the protest. There will be different ways and means to continue making changes to the law. Will we negotiate with the government? Will we rewrite the National Education Law or change sections of it? How much will we be able to work with the new government? [Calling off the protest] depends on these factors. We want to choose how we negotiate. We are still staging the protest against the National Education Law, but we want to settle this through negotiation. As you said, the NLD is the peoples government, elected by the people. We hope that they know what students and people want, and what is best in order to guarantee democratic education reforms. We hope to work out an agreement with them. TZH: The incumbent Education Minister Myo Thein Gyi served as the rector of University of West Yangon. He served as the government representative during talks with students about the National Education Law. We heard feedback from students and teachers that they do not like him much. You have spoken with Myo Thein Gyi. Do you think he will be able to create the National Education Law you want? PPA: I have not yet talked directly with Myo Thein Gyi but we know some things about him, such as the alleged discord during the NNER [National Network for Education Reform] meeting in Naypyidaw. I dont know about his personal life. But I am sure that the education circleespecially teachers, education staff, and some of the students who have engaged with himare not very satisfied with him. I am also not quite satisfied with him. He is one of those people who took a lead role implementing the education reform policy of the previous government. The NLD has its own education policy, and I am concerned how he would do with the two different policies. I am concerned that his education reform is just a duplication of the former governments plan. Im concerned that it will deviate from the education reforms aspired to by the NLD government and the people because he has the power as the education minister. But if Aung San Suu Kyi can handle Myo Thein Gyi, we will be able to have some relief. Education is instrumental in the countrys reforms. Once the education system of a country is changed, the future of that country will change a lot. We prefer an education minister who is dedicated and can fix the system. It is best if Myo Thein Gyi takes the lead role in education reform but keeps the door open [for students to negotiate]. TZH: Education is of fundamental importance for the development of a country. There are many countries that have achieved development by improving their education systems. One example is Singapore, in Southeast Asia. It has no resources but it built itself through excellence in education. Education is extremely important. The future of our countrys education now depends on the policies of the NLD government. Phyoe Phyoe Aung, Nan Linn, thank you. Facebook announced on Wednesday, April 20, that its Messenger apps on Android and iOS will start supporting group calling features. Facebook's head of Messenger made the announcement on Facebook, specifying that the new feature will come to Messenger's Andorid and iOS apps and once the feature is live a phone icon will appear in the top right corner of group conversations. According to Mashable, users in a call would be able to see who in the group is participating in the call. Currently the calls are limited to 50 participants per call. This number is high enough so the new feature would be able to accommodate most of a user's Messenger threads. Slack, Microsoft's Skype and Google Hangouts support all free group calling, so this update will also make Facebook Messenger more competitive. Until now Facebook Messenger hasn't supported group calling even if voice calls were implemented for years already. According to Bussiness2Community, at its F8 developer conference Facebook also made the announcement of a new API for its Messenger service that will allow companies to interact with customers via bots. The implementation of bots opens the way for a 100 percent automated and scalable "conversational commerce". Bots can provide to customers anything from customized communications like live automated messages, receipts and shipping notifications, to automated subscription content like traffic and weather updates. Chat bots can interact directly with customers who are interested to have access to certain information. According to eMarketer, experts estimate that the rate of user penetration of the messaging app will exceed 68 percent by 2019. Companies will be able to reach smartphone owners via a messaging app even if they will not download the app. One of the Facebook's launch partners is the ecommerce shopping destination Spring. Spring co-founder Alan Tisch explained in an interview for the New York Times about the reasons why his company signed up. According to Mr. Tisch, much of the commerce is based on conversations already, but conversing with a chat bot can make the shopping experience to feel like magical. However, not all customers might find bots worthy of their time and not all companies might consider the bots useful for their business. Only time can tell if chat bots will become a common occurrence in ecommerce. Recently, Microsoft recently has filed a patent for an inconspicuous pointing device having an optional optical sensor under it, which can be employed for identification as well as navigation purposes. As of now, it is not certain that the patent application (20160103505 Kind Code: A1) will be approved, or, even if approved, Microsoft will use the new technology (trackpoint) in any of its future devices; this interesting concept gives an idea as to how the Redmond-based tech behemoth is currently envisaging the evolution of its hardware in future. The patent application describes a pointing device having a sensor with an input surface to detect the tactile interaction as well as a depressed part of a user. The device my comprise a body that enables controlled displacement through the tactile interaction of the user, a tactile surface attached to a first side of the body that is arranged to receive the user's tactile interaction, and a bottom area attached to a second side of the body that is opposite the first side, Free Patent Online reported. Many may be wondering as to why Microsoft has filed for the new patent. Well the answer is not difficult to find. Initially, the biometric identification was marketed as a means to protect phones as well as other mobile devices, but its expediency can also be effective in a number of other situations. While it is possible to secure Windows PCs using a four-digit PIN, employing facial recognition or even a fingerprint sensor is perhaps equally fast, and much more secure. In fact, Windows Hello, Microsoft's patented biometric technology, is an important feature of Windows 10, in addition to being a tool that the company expects users will adopt instead of passwords for different websites. The patent filed by Microsoft is considered to be broad enough that apparently covers everything from a more conventional trackpoint, or "nipple mouse," similar to those present on Lenovo's ThinkPad notebooks, to something having a somewhat larger surface area. In fact, Microsoft has never incorporated a physical trackpoint in its Surface devices, which actually employs a camera to recognize the user, the PC World reported. The new patent application filed by Microsoft envisages a touch-sensitive surface, which will perhaps be made from any semi-transparent material, thereby enabling a sensor underneath the surface of the trackpoint to read a fingerprint. Apparently the trackpoint might tilt if needed, but the patent filing also implies that the trackpoint could sense the user's finger optically as it "swipes" in any direction. From the aesthetic point of view, embedding a trackpoint inside the Surface's clean key layout may be a hazardous proposition. However, one needs to recall that Microsoft was almost about to release the purported Surface Mini, a smaller edition of its Surface Pro tablet line. In fact, with the size of devices shrinking, there is lesser room for a conventional trackpad. While Apple is yet to admit that it is working on "Project Titan," an electric car, which will be partially autonomous, recent rumors suggest that the Cupertino tech titan would require partnering with a reputed automobile major help it realize it ambitions. A partnership is essential for Apple so that it can have a smooth sailing through the complicated as well as exclusive universe of automobile manufacturing. Unfortunately for the Cupertino tech titan, the "Project Titan' suffered a major setback as automobile giants BMW and Daimler discontinued negotiations with Apple over a collaboration for the purported car, Handelsblatt, a German business publication reported. Quoting industry sources," Handelsblatt reported that the two automakers discontinued the negotiations following disagreements regarding control as well as data. According to the report, while Apple insisted the purported car is built closely into its patented cloud software, the German automobile manufacturers demanded customer data protection be the key aspect of their future approach. Meanwhile, negotiations with BMW fell apart in 2015, while talks with Mercedes-Benz maker Daimler collapsed as recently as on Wednesday last. Last year, Apple CEO Tim Cook visited BMW's headquarters in Munich, while senior Apple executives also visited Daimler's factory in Leipzig to explore how the company manufactured its i3 electric car. Surprisingly, talks between Apple and BMW ended soon after. As of now, Magna, the Canadian-Austrian-based automotive contract manufacturer, is still in the race for manufacturing Apple's dream car. In fact, Apple is said to have already developed a "secret lab" in Berlin, where the Cupertino-headquartered tech giant has reportedly poached a small team of 15-20 engineers from several German car companies, The Verge reported. Aside from hiring German automobile engineers, Apple is also said to be looking for executives from car manufacturers in the United States. According to reports, Apple has recently hired Chris Porritt, former vice-president of Tesla's vehicle engineering. Porritt joins Apple after four months since Steve Zadesky, the head of Project Titan, left the company. On Tuesday morning, people using Google were surprised to find that the search engine giant had rated its own website as "partially dangerous." When users entered "google.com" in the search engine's safe browser tool, which automatically scans billions of URLs for potentially hazardous websites, they received this shocking cautionary note. A number of pages on this website (google.com) install malware on the computers of visitors, Fortune quoted the Safe Browsing Site status page warning. It added some attackers on this site (google.com) may even try to deceive the users to download software or steal their information. Meanwhile, the Mountain View-headquartered tech giant refused to comment on the website's status by Tuesday afternoon, but those threatening cautions possibly don't mean that visiting "google.com" site itself is unsafe. In its place, the cautions put forward that some unscrupulous users have misused the services of Google either to host or link to something malevolent. As a result, the safe browser tool flagged the entire domain as somewhat dangerous. The page went on to explain that sometimes users post undesirable content on websites that are usually safe, The Washington Post reported. However, as of now it is not certain as to what duration google.com has been flagged as "partially dangerous." A number of Reddit users, however, noticed it on Tuesday -- the very day when the Site Status page said its information was last updated. In fact, a flood of blog posts in November 2015 also suggest google.com was flagged with the dubious distinction even then. Introducing the Safe Browser toll in October, Google security engineers wrote in a blog post, "If a favorite website shows up as 'dangerous,' it's often due to user-uploaded bad content or a temporary malware infection." They added on the FAQ page that Site Status will return to usual when the webmaster cleans up the website." Meanwhile, it has been noted that Google's Safe Browsing tool had discontinued rating its flagship site as a hazard on Wednesday morning. When contacted, a Google spokesperson confirmed to Fortune that the alert taken down on Tuesday late night. The spokesperson further asserted that the Safe Browsing service is forever on the search for for security issues that might require fixing. Microsoft today released to testers the first real look at its next major Windows 10 upgrade, dubbed the "Anniversary Update." Build 14328, which was issued to the Insider "Fast" ring -- or release track -- early Friday, included the biggest feature changes since the original edition of last summer. Microsoft had touted most of the new features at its Build developer conference three weeks ago. "This is a major build, packed with lots of new features and improvements," said Gabriel Aul, engineering general manager for Microsoft's operating systems group, in a long post to a company blog today. As he has for some time, Aul warned testers that build 14328 has some "rough edges" by virtue of the "amount of code change," and urged those uncomfortable with instability to retreat from the Fast ring. Build 14328 includes features Microsoft spent considerable time touting at Build, among them the pen-based platform, Windows Ink; significant functionality additions to Cortana, the OS's digital assistant; and improvements to some of the core user interface (UI) components, like the Start menu and the at-the-side notification center. The return of new features to the Windows 10 beta ended several months of steady updates that introduced a slew of behind-the-scenes tweaks, but surfaced few easily-noticeable changes. Microsoft has not yet revealed a date for the Anniversary Update's release, saying only that it would appear this summer. Windows 10 will turn one on July 29, the date last year it launched. Build 14328's eventual successor may be the only Windows 10 upgrade in 2016. Although Microsoft originally cast Windows 10's schedule as three-upgrades-annually, it's since backpedaled to a two-to-three-times plan, with the emphasis on "two." But several long-time Microsoft watchers, including ZDNet's Mary Jo Foley and the WinBeta website, have reported, via unnamed sources, that Microsoft will postpone a second 2016 upgrade until sometime in the spring of 2017. According to Foley, Microsoft will do that to sync with refreshed company-branded hardware, specifically the Surface Pro and Surface Book devices. Today's upgrade was available only to Insider participants on the Fast ring. Those who have selected "Slow" may have to wait weeks for a glimpse. Get unlimited access to all content and features at ivpressonline.com with our Full Online Access Subscription. Read our E-Edition, the digital replica of the print newspaper online, access content in exclusive sections including Family, Teen, Business, Databases, Farm and more. This option does not include daily home delivery of the Imperial Valley Press newspaper. For home delivery service, please select Premium or Premium Plus. The state of Maryland is hitting two birds with one stone in its efforts to cut aggressive greenhouse gas emissions that cause environmental problems. The move by the state is seen to have two results: jobs for the locals and contributions to fight climate change. After the Paris climate change agreement has been signed, Maryland is doing its part by pursuing aggressive emissions cuts by transitioning from the use of fossil fuels to a greener, Earth-friendly alternative. One of the results of such shift is job opportunities for the local residents. VOA News reports that, for instance, "[a]t the Marlin Steel plant in Baltimore, metal parts are made for pharmaceutical companies, carmakers, and others." Plant owner Drew Greenblatt said he is proud of his company. "We'll have a Chinese shipping clerk in Shanghai opening up a box that says, 'Made in America,' Greenblatt said. Greenblatt, however, doesn't acknowledge that Maryland has already become a part the multistate program that charges power plants for their CO2 emissions. According to the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, or RGGI, revenues from sales will be used for programs that would benefit both the state and its residents. "These types of policies are neither job creators or destroyers. They're job shifters," Brian Murray, head of economic analysis at the Duke University Nicholas School of the Environment, said. One of these benefits includes "green job" training programs in renewable energy installation and home efficiency. More or less, training and certification programs related to renewable energy are said to cost $15,000 through a community college program. "The nine states in RGGI have seen their economies grow faster than those in the rest of the country, even as their greenhouse gas emissions have fallen more than in other states, the VOA news report states. So far, the RGGI funds have shelled about $2 billion into the nine states' economies. "Our economic experts have not seen a significant negative impact on the economy," Maryland environment secretary Ben Grumbles. "[There have been] positive impacts, with more jobs and economic development to come." Nowadays, promotions are not the only way up. Lateral moves can also help you with your career. Some employees think that lateral career moves are not so important. On the contrary, it may help you advance your career even more than moving up. According to Motto, a lateral career move is "a move within the company that doesn't result in a title change." The publication busted three myths about lateral career moves and shared how it can actually help employees with their ambitions. A lot of people think that a lateral move does not help in career advancement. In truth, being transferred to another department actually means that you get to learn different parts of the business operations. Lateral moves, when seen in this light, will enable employees to learn more about the business than their colleagues. Moreover, now that one knows how everything works, this could result to a management role in the future. The second myth is that lateral moves will make you lose all your contacts as well as your momentum. This will only happen if you allow it to happen. "It's your responsibility to keep up with those you've left behind," Motto advised. "There's no one more relevant than the person who can share a best practice from their new organization with their old co-workers." Lastly, it is assumed that a lateral move does not increase responsibility. The publication noted that a lateral change in a massive corporation can actually mean being an individual contributor one day and being responsible for the performance of a team in the next. Ultimately, you are in charge of managing your career path. This means that every lateral move is an opportunity to learn new skills and earn new responsibilities. Associations Now added that many American workers are now open to the idea of a lateral career move. They are all up for it, especially if it results to better work-life balance and professional development. Steve Wozniak expressed his dismay over Apple's tax affairs, stating that the company and all other companies should be paying 50 percent in taxes like individuals do. "I don't like the idea that Apple might be unfair - not paying taxes the way I do as a person. I do a lot of work, I do a lot of travel and I pay over 50 per cent of anything I make in taxes and I believe that's part of life and you should do it," Wozniak said during his stint at BBC Radio 5 Live. Wozniak said that every single company in the world should pay 50 percent. Woz said that when he and Steve Jobs started the company 40 years ago, money was never a factor. "Steve Jobs started Apple Computers for money, that was his big thing and that was extremely important and critical and good." The company has received criticisms with regard to its tax affairs. Furthermore, Apple has been accused of utilizing tax shelters in order to protect its revenues. "The company, sometimes said to be the richest in the world, is being investigated over claims it uses Ireland and Luxembourg to get tax breaks," Yahoo UK reports. Apple is paying only two percent, more or less, of taxes in Ireland. However, there are speculations that the company has offshore cash reserves of about $200bn, which are beyond the reach of US tax officials. Other individuals believe that the investigations could lead to Apple paying $8bn in back taxes, even if the case is filed against the Irish government. "Under the EU's state aid rules, national authorities cannot take measures allowing certain companies to pay less tax than they should if the tax rules of the state were applied in a fair and non-discriminatory way," The Register reports. Ireland government, on the other hand, is confident that "there is no breach of state aid rules in this case." Wozniak left the Apple company in 1985. He is now focusing on charity projects ensuring computers are accessible in schools. It's official Robert Downey Jr. has made it known that he's going to be part of the next Spider-Man movie for Sony and Marvel's "Spider-Man: Homecoming." Downey's tandem with Spidey makes the connection behind the "Captain America: Civil War" narrative, according to The Hollywood Reporter. In a financial perspective, Robert Downey Jr.'s presence was necessary. Forbes has it that he is what the movie industry calls a franchise insurance. This is the third Spider-Man franchise to come out and Jon Watts' movie is reportedly going to be a big hit when it hits theaters in July 2017. Reports indicated that Tom Holland's portrayal of Peter Parker created a great impression amongst viewers. But the fact remains that this is still the third "new" Spider-Man franchise in the last fifteen years. Which is why the franchise-movie industry needs Tony Stark to be in the picture. Robert Downey Jr. will most likely wear the Iron Man suit again but he is considered by Forbes to be a "hopefully we don't need it" insurance policy. It's well-known that the Marvel Cinematic Universe movies that has Tony Stark in it does a lot better compared to those without him. It is not known if this Spider-Man movie will be within the realm of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The pending movie still needs to compete against "Amazing Spider-Man 2's" $709M hit. It is also not known just how much face-time Robert Downey Jr. will make in the trailers and in the movie but Forbes goes on to say that having enough Iron Man footage in the trailers is a much safer bet to truly breakout as opposed to a Spider-Man: Homecoming that does not feature Tony Stark. Email Links to our top local news stories of the day, Monday through Saturday. Land and Space Journal Sentinel business reporter Tom Daykin talks about commercial real estate and development. SHARE By of the There soon will be free night parking near restaurants, taverns and other attractions within a Milwaukee east side night life area. A new Common Council resolution will grant permission to Columbia St. Mary's to install two lighted, projected signs on its Prospect Medical Commons parking structure, 2311 N. Prospect Ave. Those signs will help make people aware of the 65 parking spaces, said Jim Plaisted, East Side Business Improvement District executive director. "This will be a great parking option for our Oriental Theater visitors and will add valuable spots to our east side parking availability," Plaisted said. "It will be a quick, safe place to park in the neighborhood." The spots are in the above-ground ramp, and are available from 7 p.m. to 3 a.m., Monday through Friday, and 3 p.m. to 3 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday, he said. The below-ground portion of the ramp is still reserved only for customers of Whole Foods Market, 2305 N. Prospect Ave. Columbia St. Mary's agreed to make the spaces available after the Common Council and Mayor Tom Barrett in 2013 approved the neighboring Greenwich Park Apartments. That six-story, 52-unit building is being developed at 2353 N. Farwell Ave. by Mercy Housing Lakefront Inc. Greenwich Park is being built on what was a city-owned parking lot, and is scheduled to open this fall. The city sold that 46-space meter parking lot for $150,000 to Mercy Housing, which worked with Columbia St. Mary's on the project. SHARE By of the A Milwaukee group-buy program that aims to provide volume discounts for homes and businesses adding solar systems is expanding citywide this year, and beyond the city limits to Shorewood. The group-buy program was launched by Milwaukee Shines and the Midwest Renewable Energy Association three years ago and has gone from neighborhood to neighborhood until now. Since 2013, nearly 100 homes and businesses across the city have added solar panels through the program, said Elizabeth Hittman, sustainability coordinator with the city's Environmental Collaboration Office. "Anyone who participates, no matter where they live, gets the benefit of the economies of scale" created by the program, said Peter Murphy, market development coordinator with MREA. Those savings will come on top of federal tax credits and a discount through the statewide Focus on Energy program, Murphy said. The volume-purchasing program results in bigger discounts as more homeowners sign up MREA has launched similar group-buy programs in Illinois, and another is being considered in Minnesota, Murphy said. The initiative, helped in part by a Department of Energy grant won by MREA, started in 2013 in Milwaukee's Riverwest neighborhood and later added solar systems in Bayview, Layton Boulevard-West, Washington Heights and the east side. Riverwest residents were asking for the program to come back to their neighborhood, but the city wanted to expand its outreach so decided to include all of Milwaukee this year, said Hittman. Shorewood is launching its own initiative at the same time, called Solar Shorewood. "We have had a number of residents participate in the programs in the past," said Chase Kelm of the village's conservation committee. "So we said to the MREA, why not give Shorewood a try?" Informational sessions, dubbed "solar power hours," are planned in the coming months in the two communities, starting Tuesday in Shorewood. Details can be found at www.solarshorewood.com or www.solarmke.com. Twitter: twitter.com/plugged_in Facebook: www.fb.me/JSBusiness SHARE By of the West Allis police Friday asked the public for help in their search for a man wanted for sexually assaulting a young girl. The attack occurred about 8 a.m., Thursday in the 6100 block of West Lapham, according to West Allis police. According to police, the man approached two girls and engaged in illegal sexual contact with one of them before both girls escaped. Police said the man spoke Spanish to the victim and described him as Hispanic, 20-30-years-old, five feet-six inches tall, with a thin build, short black hair with tight curls and clean-shaven. He was wearing a white T-shirt and jeans and driving an older, red, 4-door "classic auto," according to police. Anyone with information about the man is asked to call the West Allis Police Department at (414) 302-8000. Witness Ashley Cartagena testifies about the 2014 crime scene in which she suffered 27 bullet wounds as she sat in her car. Credit: Rick Wood By of the The case against a man on trial for the failed execution-style attack on a 23-year-old woman as she sat in her car outside a salon got stronger late in the week. Police concede that after two years, they have found no connection between Jose Dancel, 45, and the victim, Ashley Cartagena, who somehow survived being shot multiple times, suffering a broken jaw, arm and leg bones and 27 gunshot wounds. She no longer has full use of her right arm. Nor could police find any reason someone else would target the hair stylist. Dancel says he didn't do it, and Cartagena and some neighbors who identified him and his truck are just mistaken. No gun has been found, but when Dancel let investigators search his Kenosha home, they found 9mm ammunition, like the kind fired at Cartagena, but no gun to use it. Dancel, a Navy veteran who had several other guns and ammunition, said he had recently sold a 9mm handgun, but had no paperwork from the sale, or the name of the buyer. They also found Oakley sunglasses like the kind the witnesses said the shooter was wearing. Both the ammunition and the glasses are very common. His truck, however, had distinctive features. The other witnesses a mother and her three daughters who lived near the crime scene and heard the shots said the shooter walked past their house and left in a silver four-door pickup truck with a butterfly sticker on it. The shooting occurred around 9 a.m. on March 22, 2014, in a parking area behind D'Matrixx salon near S. 47th St. and Forest Home Ave. The victim was alone in her car waiting for the shop to open when, she testified, a man she'd never seen just walked up and began firing into her car. A now retired detective, Octavio Delgado, testified that one of the first things he did was search area businesses for security video that might show the fleeing shooter. A jewelry store's camera did show a silver or gray pickup going west on Forest Home right after shooting. Delgado said staff at a Toyota dealership looked at the video and identified the truck as a 2001-'05 Tacoma, with a sport options package. Detectives began trying to visit the registered owners of hundreds of such trucks, looking for one connected to the shooting, with no luck. After Cartagena had stabilized and recovered enough to go out in a wheelchair, she helped police compose a composite sketch of her shooter. A couple of days later, police released that sketch and photos of a similar four-door Tacoma, asking that anyone who might see such a vehicle to call police. On April 18, Cartagena's uncle called to say he saw one outside a Greenfield bookstore. Police responded and questioned Dancel when he returned to his truck, which had two white stickers on the back window, a dragon and a butterfly, as well as a pink breast cancer awareness sticker on the tailgate, and a U.S. Navy license plate frame. Witnesses had said they had seen a butterfly decal on the truck the day of the shooting. Dancel denied any involvement in the shooting. Police took his information and let him go. But the next day, April 19, six officers showed up at Dancel's residence in Kenosha. Dancel allowed six police officers to search his gun safe, his phone, computer and iPad, and truck. They seized the truck and arrested Dancel in connection with the shooting. Prosecutors also presented video of a lineup at which Cartagena and the neighbors picked Dancel out from five other jail inmates as the man they saw. The defense questioned the fairness of the lineup, suggesting some of the "fillers" were clearly different from the witnesses' descriptions, like one man being nearly bald, or far shorter, or older than the witnesses' descriptions. Defense attorney Anthony Cotton also questioned why each man in the lineup was told to remove the sunglasses they wore as they first walked out, because without the glasses, Dancel, who has Asian features stood out among others who all looked more Hispanic. While the shooter never removed his glasses, one of the neighbors said she had seen a man behind the wheel of the same truck when it was parked in front of her house a few days before the shooting. Prosecutors rested Friday. The defense expects to present its case Monday, including an expert who will testify about the unreliability of eyewitness testimony. Dancel was awaiting trial on unrelated child sex abuse charges in Kenosha County when he was arrested in the shooting. A jury convicted him in October 2014, and he was sentenced the following January to 15 years in prison and 15 years of supervised release. Jurors in the current case do not know of Dancel's conviction and sentence, only that he was charged with bail jumping in addition to attempted first-degree intentional homicide. Packers defense has no margin for error because rest of team is awful Certainly the Green Bay defense had lapses at inopportune times, but the loss at Washington can't be placed on Joe Barry's unit. SHARE By , Sturgeon Bay's historic Michigan Street Bridge was closed until further notice Friday evening after a backhoe being hauled across the bridge struck and damaged several overhead beams. At 5:52 p.m., officers were dispatched to the Michigan Street Bridge for an accident involving a piece of machinery that struck the bridge multiple times. The only bridge open for use in the city at this time is the Maple-Oregon Bridge, as the Bayview Bridge along Wisconsin 42/57 is currently closed for construction and maintenance. Officers arrived on scene to find a backhoe had struck eight or nine support beams of the Michigan Street Bridge while passing under the 85-year-old steel girder bridge. "As a result of that the Michigan Street Bridge is closed until further notice," said Sturgeon Bay Police Officer Chad Mielke. The owner-operator of the backhoe being carried onto the bridge was John Kowalski of Marinette, according to Sgt. Greg Zager of the Sturgeon Bay Police Department. "He was worried about it being a wide load and a narrow bridge," Zager said. The bridge can accommodate vehicles up to13 feet 6 inches high. The backhoe was 13 feet 10 inches. Despite being closed to vehicles the bridge remained open to foot traffic. Multiple dented beams could be seen from the bridge's sidewalk. Dale Weber, Northeast region structural engineer for the Wisconsin Department of Transportation, came from Green Bay to assess the damage shortly after 8 p.m. Three beams or members, including a partially severed beam, caused some concern, Weber said. Experts at the DOT's Bureau of Structures in Madison are reviewing photos of the damage Weber sent to them. "For the meantime, they want to keep the bridge closed for safety sake," Weber said. Best case scenario the bridge will reopen Saturday morning, he said. The bridge will continue to be open to foot traffic and for navigation purposes for boats and ships. The backhoe also sprayed hydraulic fluid onto the road and into the bay. Door County Emergency Services, the Sturgeon Bay Fire Department and U.S. Coast Guard officials were on scene helping with cleanup. 04/22/2016 Social Work alumna Kristi Elrod (right) uses her JSU education to care for Alabama's elderly. In honor of National Social Work Month, the Alabama Nursing Home Association (ANHA) recently recognized JSU alumna Kristi Elrod and the nations 600,000 social workers for the vital role they play in Alabamas nursing care centers. A Licensed Baccalaureate Social Worker (LBSW), Elrod earned a Bachelor of Social Work from JSU in 1994. She began her career at Crowne Health Care of Fort Payne, and was named social service director at Albertville Health and Rehab in 2000. She serves as secretary of ANHAs Activity and Social Service Auxiliary. Read the following Q&A between ANHA and Elrod to learn how her social work degree from JSU is helping her serve Alabama. First, why is it important for social workers to be licensed? Elrod: I think it is important because there are values and principles when you hold a licensed that you have to adhere to. We pledge to support and follow the National Association of Social Workers Code of Ethics, which guides the professional conduct of social workers. Were required to earn 30 hours of continuing education every two years to maintain our license. Also, if a skilled nursing care center is over 120-beds it is required to have a licensed social worker. Tell us some of the tasks a skilled nursing care center social worker performs on a daily basis. Elrod: I like to call the first thing we do meet and greet. We contact the family of each new person who is admitted to our center. We meet with the family and gather a social history of the new patient or resident. We answer any questions the family or resident has to help ease their transition. We handle any grievances that families or residents have, such as if someone has lost an item. Also, there is a section of the Minimum Data Set (nursing home care plan form) where I have to assess the persons needs from a social service perspective. Why are social workers important in the daily operation of a skilled nursing care center? Elrod: Social workers play an important and vital role because we do handle so many different situations. Were an advocate for the resident and are here to make sure all of their needs are met including emotional and psycho-social needs. We also interact closely with other members of the interdisciplinary care team. For example, if the nursing staff doesnt have an answer to something theyre doing related to a certain resident, they will call the social service department to help. We network a lot with outside agencies such as hospitals, home health and hospice. We also provide a lot of family education. Tell us more about the education you provide to families. Elrod: We educate them when they first come in and talk to them about what to expect and reassure them a lot. I let them know that if there is ever any question about their loved one during their stay here that we have an open door policy and to let us know. We also do a lot of education about end of life care and the transition to hospice. How is a social worker involved a resident or patients care plan? Elrod: Part of the MDS (Minimum Data Set) relates to social work and the mood of the resident. We have to carefully assess the mood of the resident. There is a part relating to psycho-social needs and that goes back to their daily preferences and reflects back to their lifestyle or daily routine before they came to live here. Theres also a part related to behaviors. For example, if someone exhibits behaviors that could lead to depression we work with the nursing staff and others to develop a plan to hopefully prevent depression. How have the roles and responsibilities of skilled nursing care center social workers changed over your 22-year career? Elrod: Were seeing so many different levels of patient care and a lot of younger people living in skilled nursing facilities whose needs are much different from older residents. We provide more individualized care now and regulations are moving us to more resident-centered care. Your documentation is so much more in-depth, as we have to show exactly what did or are currently doing to meet the needs and likes and dislikes of the residents. That goes back to making sure you get a good social history when the person first comes to our center. What are your thoughts on moving towards person-centered care? Elrod: Its a good thing. As part of my initial interview with a resident, I ask a lot of questions about their likes and dislikes. This is their home and we want to make it a home-like environment for them. When did you know you wanted to work in a skilled nursing care center? Elrod: I had some classes at Jacksonville State University that dealt with aging and geriatric care. It sparked an interest in me. I thought there is so much of the population aging that it would be a good professional opportunity for me as well. What advice would you give a social worker beginning his or her career in a skilled nursing care center? Elrod: No two days are the same. Every day that you come in will be challenging, but it is all worthwhile and so rewarding. Thats probably why Ive done this so long. I cant imagine being anywhere else. Ive had a few student interns who have shadowed me for several months and they dont want to leave because they fall in love with helping the elderly. What would you say to a college student to encourage them to consider skilled nursing care? Elrod: If they love the elderly and want to make a difference in someones life, then by all means, this is the place to do it. When I walked in the door this morning, one of my residents greeted me with a smile and gave me a hug. At the end of the day when Im leaving, a resident will tell me to be careful and theyll see me tomorrow. That makes my day! Reddit Email 0 Shares By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | World leaders signed the COP21 Paris climate accord on Friday, Earth Day. Whether it will be meaningful in stopping carbon dioxide emissions and emissions of other dangerous greenhouse gases that are warming our planet remains to be seen. But there is some good news on the emissions front, and new renewable energy installations are key to it. 1. The worlds production of carbon dioxide remained flat at 32.1 billion metric tons per annum for the second year in a row. In the past 25 years it has been rare for emissions not to grow, except in years of severe economic downturn such as 2009. In 2012 and 2013 emissions grew by 4% a year. But in 2014 they grew by only 0.5%, and there was virtually no increase again in 2015. This stabilization of emissions took place even though the world economy continues to grow, demonstrating that the old fears about CO2 reductions being bad for the economy were misplaced. Moreover, it is thought by economists that the main reason for the flattening of emissions is the vast increase in wind, solar and other renewable sources of electricity. Renewables accounted for 90% of new electricity generation last year! You will see some analysts attribute the leveling off to the replacement of coal plants with natural gas power plants, but that change accounts for only a minor amount of the flattening. Many coal plants have been replaced, in Iowa and Texas, e.g., not with natural gas but with wind farms. Natural gas is said to emit only half as much CO2 as coal; but recent research suggests that natural gas drilling produces far more methane than had previously been thought, and methane is an extremely potent and dangerous greenhouse gas. Besides, solar and wind emit no carbon dioxide at all once their construction is paid for, and the fuel is free. One caveat: It is unsustainable for CO2 emissions to remain flat at 32.1 bn metric tons a year! The only way to mitigate the worst effects of climate change is to reduce global emissions. That hasnt happened yet, and COP21 will remain a dead letter unless it does. h/t The Guardian 2. India almost doubled its solar capacity in 2015, from 3.74 gigawatts to 6.75 gigawatts. (A gigawatt is a billion watts, i.e., equivalent to 10 million 100-watt light bulbs). It hopes to nearly triple its current capacity by the end of 2017. Photovoltaic panels have fallen in cost by 80% in the past 5 years. 3. Indian economists now figure that solar energy is cheaper than coal in India. Coal is usually figured to generate electricity at 5 cents a kilowatt hour, though if you took into account the environmental damage it does that would be more like 45 cents a kilowatt hour. New solar bids in some sunny places like Dubai have been let for 6 cents a kilowatt hour, so solar is certainly competitive with coal in places like India. Moreover, a solar farm can be built quickly and relatively inexpensively. India hopes to have 100 gigawatts of solar generating capacity by 2022. The US, the European Union, China and India are the worlds biggest carbon polluters, so if India can reduce its emissions it would be meaningful for the world and would also put a burden on the other three (whose emissions are much bigger) to do more in this regard. 4. Electricity generation is only part of the puzzle. Some 40% of transmission lines worldwide need to be replaced with Ultra High Voltage lines. China has announced plans to build out its grid to neighbors like Japan, South Korea and Russia, and ultimately all the way to Europe, with an eye to ensuring massive savings. (Cheap wind-generated electricity might be stuck on a Pacific coast far from the cities that need it without these transmission lines). Since China is a leader in renewables, it even hopes to make money on the the transition away from hydrocarbons by selling its excess electricity to neighbors. Long distance transmission of electricity only involves a loss of about 7%. The ability to export excess electricity to places it is needed also works against deflation in the renewables markets. 5. China spent $103 billion on renewable energy installations in 2015, 36% of the world total and more than the US, Japan, and the UK put together. China is currently the biggest emitter in absolute terms, though the US far exceeds it on a per capita basis. 6. Chinas CCTV reports that 63% of new power plants built in China in 2015 were non-fossil fuel. Joanna Lewis of Georgetown University explained, That means primarily wind, followed by hydro, followed by solar and nuclear fourth. Thats a real change, where you go back ten years ago and China was building almost 100 gigawatts a year of new coal plants, that number has dropped dramatically. Of course what the world needs is for all new power plants to be non-fossil fuels. We have to keep it in the ground. - Related video: Euronews Knowledge: Solar panels take to the water as new farms flourish Reddit Email 0 Shares By Silvia Boarini | (Inter Press Service) | UMM AL-HERAN, Southern Israel, Apr 22 2016 (IPS) Despite ostensibly freezing the Prawer Plan a proposed bill to regulate Bedouin settlement in the Negev in 2013, Israel continues to push for forced closure of unrecognised Bedouin villages in this southern region. The village of Umm al-Heran, near the Bedouin township of Hura, is amongst those slated for demolition. A view of the unrecognised Bedouin village of Umm al-Heran, slated for demolition along the nearby village of Attir. In the background, Jewish National Fund bulldozers prepare the land for tree planting. The state is forcing the Abu Al Qian tribe to relocate to nearby Hura. Credit: Silvia Boarini/IPS Tasneem Abu Al Qian, a bright 12-year-old, is not going to let her village disappear without a fight. Armed with a camera, she is part of a group of women and children tasked with documenting police operations such as demolitions or arrests, as well as the work of Jewish National Fund bulldozers, which are now busy preparing the ground for tree planting. I feel very sad all the time about the upcoming demolition, she told IPS standing outside her family home. It makes me angry. Why am I not equal to the Jewish kids who are supposed to move here? Fighting to exist Umm al-Herans legal battle for existence began in 2002, when the national council for planning and building effectively rubber-stamped its closure by approving the construction of the Jewish settlement of Hiran in its place. The Abu Al Qian tribe was moved to their current location in Umm al-Heran by military order in 1956, soon after the establishment of the state of Israel. The village, just like 35 other Bedouin hamlets in the Negev, was never recognised by the state and is neither connected to the water network nor to electricity grid. Despite a stark lack of development opportunities, which are easily afforded to nearby Jewish communities, the Abu Al Qian have worked to transform Umm al-Heran into a quaint rural village home to roughly 700 people and powered by generators and solar panels. The final ruling As far as the Israeli judiciary is concerned, the fate of Umm al-Heran was sealed on May 5, 2015, when Israels Supreme Court ruled that the evacuation of the village could go ahead and that there should be no more appeals against it. Israeli authorities want to see the villagers relocated to the nearby government-planned Bedouin township of Hura, where, many complain, already there is little space and inadequate infrastructure. Meanwhile, the area of Umm al-Heran is to undergo a drastic transformation. According to the areas master plan, it will be renamed Hiran and house a Jewish community. We can never say that the legal route is definitely closed, Souad Bishara an attorney with Adalah, the legal centre for Arab minority rights in Israel, which has represented the village since the beginning of the dispute, told IPS. The options are limited but something new might come up and we will continue to support the village. Nonetheless, the ruling, attorneys at Adalah fear, sets a dangerous precedent. It effectively allows authorities to evacuate citizens from state land in the absence of a compelling public purpose, and may give the green light to more mass demolitions of unrecognised villages. In a press release released at the time of the ruling, Adalah stated: The Courts decision legitimises Israels longstanding policy against Palestinian citizens of Israel a colonial policy rooted in an ideology of racial discrimination, segregation and dispossession Working for a political solution Despite the Supreme Courts decision, the fight in the village continues. The Abu Al Qian and Adalah have teamed up with human rights and Bedouin rights NGOs, to mount an advocacy and media campaign pushing for a political solution. We are working to build a solid resistance in the village, Fadi Masamra, director general of the regional council for unrecognised village, told IPS, adding that we connect Umm al-Heran with organisations and activists, the goal is to stop states plans to uproot these families. The Arab-Jewish NGO Negev Coexistence Forum (NCF), another local group working to advance Bedouin rights, is behind the visual documentation project which is actively involving children and women in the defence of their village by using cameras. The photos are collected by NCF from all participating villages at risk of demolition and used for advocacy at local and international level. At the end of March, Umm al-Heran was also chosen as the location for the yearly Land Day gathering, an event commemorating six Israeli Arabs killed by state authorities during protests against land confiscation in 1976. Arabs continue to suffer from discrimination in access to land and housing, MK Ayman Odeh (joint list) told the crowd gathered on the day. Today we launch yet another cry of protest, he continued, and we demand recognition of all unrecognised villages in the Negev. Development and de-development Instead, the demolition in Umm al-Heran could take place at any time. Recognition is what would have given this village a real chance to develop, Bishara explained. They worked hard for 60 years to make this place liveable. They built their own houses and basic infrastructure. It is not conceivable in moral and legal terms that they should be displaced, she concluded. At the 7th Negev Conference held a few days ago in the southern city of Yehuram, President Rivlin congratulated the people working for the development of the region but also talked of the need to solve outstanding Bedouin land claims and the wider issue of unrecognised villages. Without reaching a settlement of this complex issue the south will have difficulty moving forward, he told the audience. Yet for the Bedouin communities on the ground, these are empty promises. There is no strategic plan to solve this situation in a way that takes into considerations the needs of the Bedouin community, Masamra told IPS. In the village Young Tasneem cannot imagine being unable to go back to her home, to her bedroom and to all her things and yet, at 12 years of age, she is also trying to deal with the possibility of this loss. I have had such a good childhood here, I have really good memories and I dont want to lose them, she said camera in hand. I take pictures of the trees, of my friends, our homes, I take pictures to save my village, she told IPS. If they come to demolish, Ill have a document of how it was. I want to remember how it was growing up here. Reddit Email 0 Shares By Charles Davis | ( TeleSur | The U.S. is at war with the same extremist group it claimed to have defeated five years ago, and its relying on sectarian extremists to "win" again. The United States is winning the war on terror, just as it always has. The Islamic State group is on the defensive, Col. Steve Warren told reporters earlier this year. In Iraq, it has reportedly lost 40 percent of its territory since an international coalition led by the U.S. began bombing the country, again, in August 2014. In Syria ,it has lost 20 percent of its territory, the coalition claims. The story of Americas victory over terror in Mesopotamia needs to be told, wrote Walter Russell Mead, a foreign policy expert at the neoconservative Hudson Institute, nearly five years ago. At that point, just a few months before President Barack Obama announced the withdrawal of most U.S. troops in Iraq, the mood was triumphant, with those who backed the 2003 invasion and occupation claiming retroactive justification from the fact that, after years of insurgency, the Sunni Arabs of Iraq made a fateful decision, as Mead put it. They chose America over al-Qaida. And indeed they had, for a time, for a good deal of money. At its peak, 103,000 Sunni fighters, were put on the U.S. payroll and proclaimed the Sons of Iraq, paid to attack al-Qaidas local affiliate rather than U.S. occupation forces. And it workedagain, for a time, for a good deal of money. When most U.S. troops left in December 2011, those who had run al-Qaida in Iraq out of the country were supposed to be incorporated into the Iraqi states security forces. Instead, Prime Minister Nouri al-Malikfresh off an election loss to a secular, nationalist coalition, which proved to be no obstacle to the U.S. and Iran insisting he remain in powerhad his countrys Sunni sons thrown in prison, tortured and disappeared. Despite the vanquishing of al-Qaida, the clumsily sectarian system that the U.S. installed after the overthrow of Saddam Hussein remained in place, with a sectarian strongman backed by foreign powers at the top. The factors that contributed to the Sunni insurgency and the rise of extremism were left in place, so three years laterafter the Maliki government answered non-violent, non-sectarian protests demanding equality before the law with a hail of bullets, mirroring the response of other authoritarian regimes in the regionthe insurgency returned, Sunnis returning to the fight against a state created by occupation years after the occupation itself had ended. By 2014, al-Qaida in Iraq had rebranded as the Islamic State and came roaring back across the border with Syria, proclaiming itself the savior of a repressed minority as it sought to exterminate any minority that was not Sunni. Today the U.S. is once again at war with Sunni extremists in Iraq as well as Syria, and this time that wara very real one, with airstrikes that have likely killed over 1,000 civiliansis supported even by those opposed to prior interventions. I voted against the war in Iraq, U.S. senator and presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders says on his website. The only good it served was to destabilize an entire region, and create the environment for al-Qaida and ISIS to flourish. As for the war in 2016, Sanders believes the United States should be part of an international coalition, led and sustained by nations in the region that have the means to protect themselves. In other words: the policy being pursued by the Obama administration today, where U.S. airstrikes support and U.S. weapons arm largely Shia militias known as Popular Mobilization Forces that are organized and trained by the Islamic Republic of Iran. Thats the war thats being won, according to all of the governments waging itincluding, lest one forget, the government of Iraq. Writing in The Atlantic this month, war correspondent Anand Gopal paints a rather different picture: one where the war against the Islamic State is being won, militarily, while the forces fighting it lose the hearts and minds of a Sunni population that feels no less terrorized by the sectarian extremists the U.S. empowers today compared to the sectarian extremists it first created when it decided in 2003 to introduce war in a country that had not attacked it, once considered the gravest of all war crimes. Regime change without worrying about what happens the day after you get rid of a dictator does not make a lot of sense, Sanders has said. After the feel-good victory one must plan for the day after, and no one much likes to do that. A valid point, but as Gopal observesbased on the sort of on-the-ground reporting increasingly absent in an online world of 140-character talking points stretched into 800-word, half-thought pieces with a high bounce rateits one being ignored by all those backing a war policy today without a thought as to what comes next; without paying much if any attention to the evil that the U.S. and its allies, new and old, are empowering to replace the evil they seek to destroy. teleSUR spoke to Gopal, an award-winning war correspondent who has covered Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria for publication such as Harpers, The Nation and the Wall Street Journal, about the U.S.-led war on the Islamic State and what ordinary people witnessing that war firsthand think about the claim that its being won. The U.S. has been bombing the Islamic State in Iraq since August 2014, arming and in some cases providing air cover for these Popular Mobilization Forces. The U.S. of course says its succeeding and Iraqi forces have taken back some territory. You just got back from Iraq. Is that the perception among people you spoke to, that the U.S. and its allies are winning the war against the Islamic State? Well, when you talk about winning the war you really have to distinguish between the military situation and the broader political situation. So militarily, absolutely it is the case that the anti-ISIS forces, which is the U.S. and the Iraqi government and Iranian forces, are indeed defeating ISIS on the ground. ISIS has lost a great deal of territory in the last year and it will most likely continue to lose territory. But if you look at the broader political situation and really look at the reasons why ISIS was produced in that area in the first placethe underlying sectarianism and the sense among some sections of the population that the Iraqi state is deeply corrupt and abusivetheres been no headway on those issues. Its just as bad and abusive as it was a year ago or two years ago, and so the underlying issues that led to the rise of ISIS really havent been affected, which means even if we see the military defeat of ISIS on the ground, it doesnt necessarily mean well see peace in Iraq; it doesnt necessarily mean that we wont see another insurgency or other types of violence that will continue for a long time because of the U.S.s actions and the Iraqi states actions. I wanted to talk to you about those underlying factors. Of course the U.S. invasion in 2003 and subsequent occupation created fertile ground for these sort of extremist groups, but when the U.S. withdrew most of its troops in December 2011 we were told that al-Qaida in Iraq, the predecessor to the Islamic State, was mostly defeated. The question being: the U.S. occupation is often seen as driving extremism, so what explains the resurgence of al-Qaida in Iraq since most U.S. troops left? I think its actually right that al-Qaida iness Iraq was largely defeated by 2011, but the U.S. in its withdrawal had left essentially a deeply broken and shattered society, and its really from the ashes of that society that al-Qaida in Iraq was able to reemerge. The reason why al-Qaida in Iraq was able to be defeated in the short-term was because of what was called the Anbar Awakening, which essentially was the U.S. throwing lots of money and guns at insurgent forces, bribing them to stop fighting against the U.S., and thats what they did. A lot of the forces that were fighting the U.S. and Iraqi governments stopped, but that wasnt accompanied with any sort of political reconciliation. These are militias and forces that had been fighting for years, and without any reconciliation, without any attempt to try to absorb these forces into the Iraqi armed forces, or more generally into Iraqi society, essentially led to these forces reemerging as an insurgency again, and thats what happened a couple years after the U.S. left. There was a protest movement in 2013 that was mostly led by Sunnis who were demanding equal rights and demanding an end to some of the counter-terrorism laws that were in place since the days of the occupation, in which thousands of innocent people had been swept up and tortured or killed by the Iraqi state. The protest movement was drowned in blood by the government and it was through that processthe destruction of the protest movement and the lack of a broader reconciliationthat the insurgency reappeared in Iraq, and within the insurgency al-Qaida in Iraq was able to maneuver to get a dominant position. As I understand it, those protests werealthough they were mostly Sunni, they were explicitly non-sectarian. And as you note in your article, Iraqi Sunnis have kind of lagged behind the Kurds and Iraqi Shias in terms of embracing the kind of identity politics thats been forced on Iraq by the U.S.-written constitution. We know about the crackdown, and how it parallels the crackdown in neighboring Syria, but how did a crackdown on a non-sectarian protest movementhow did highly sectarian Sunni extremists exploit that? Well, there was actually two waves of the protest movement. The first was actually in 2011, and that wave, which was actually dubbed the Iraqi spring, that was happening around the same time as the other uprisings in the Arab worldthat one was much less sectarian in character. It had Sunnis and Shias and a strong secular component as well. So you had elements of the left, for example the Iraqi Communist Party, and Nouri al-Maliki, the prime minister, succeeded in dividing that protest movement; divide and conquer. He arrested certain elements of ithe isolated the secular elements of itand through various ways succeeded in sort of forcing the sectarian character on that movement. Essentially the state declared war on a section of its population and so we have what we have today. So by the time 2013 rolled around, and you had a second wave of those protests, it had a much more of a Sunni character in the sense that it was predominantly in the Sunni areas where the protests were taking place. But even then it wasnt really an avowedly sectarian protest movement. There was an element of that movement that was articulating for a separate Sunni state, but there were also others who were just demanding an end to the de-Baathification laws and to some of the counter-terrorism laws. But the movement faced a lot of repression. I think this mirrors what happened in Syria, where you had unarmed protesters that were gunned down; you had people who were thrown in prison; anybody who was associated with the protesters was called a terrorist was called a member of al-Qaida; there were widespread accounts of torture. In this way slowly the movement mutated into an armed struggle, and in the process of becoming an armed struggle the forces that had the access to the most guns and the most money were some of the hard-line insurgent groups, including the old Baathist organization and al-Qaida in Iraq, and so those groups were able to rise to the top in the general breakdown of the protest movement. Really very similar in some respects to what happened in Syria. Was any of this preventable, in your view? After the U.S. withdrew, was there anything that could have been done to stop Iraq from going down this sectarian road? Obviously Nouri al-Maliki was propped up by the United States, and also Iran. Was there anything they could have done to pressure him not to carry out this crackdown, or was this kind of set in motion by the U.S. invasion and occupation and we were always going to end up in a not very good place? I think if you look at it broadly, what youre seeing is the failure of the integration of different segments of society as a result of the post-2003 order, and so if you look at it that way it really is sort of a structural consequence of the way in which the U.S. invaded and established the occupation. I think the odds were stacked against any sort of peaceful outcome. But I dont know if anything is strictly preordained because there were lots of specific moments along the way which were clearly moments that had exacerbated tensions. Ill give you a couple examples. One is 2010, the Iraqi parliamentary elections, when a movement, Iraqiyawhich was a non-sectarian group, a secular groupactually won the elections and Maliki maneuvered to undo those results. He was backed by President Obama on that in what was essentially a power grab. And that led toward retrenching sectarian politics from the top. And during the protest movements there were a number of incidents when the Sunni elites were actually looking to make connections with the Iraqi state but they were arrested or turned away or in some cases tortured. The key moment there was when Maliki decided to pull the army out on various protest encampments. Tribal militias took over the protest grounds and the Iraqi government just started shelling these areas, killing hundreds of people in Fallujah. Essentially the state declared war on a section of its population and so we have what we have today. Can you shed any light on the thinking of the Maliki government? As you note, they were more than willing to deploy armed force against nonviolent protesters. But when the Islamic State came roaring back across the border from Syria the Iraqi army fled, and Maliki was widely criticized for not taking the threat seriously. What explains that? Why deploy lethal force against nonviolent protesters who you are calling al-Qaida but be hesitant to do so against actual al-Qaida? Well, thats a good question. An issue from Malikis perspective is, if you look at the Anbar Awakening, there are cases where the U.S. basically put every military-aged male in a town on the payroll and said that, you are a member of the Sons of Iraq. There were 60,000 people who are technically part of the Sons of Iraq program and this is far greater than what the Iraqi state had the capacity to absorb. In terms of why Maliki was so willing to open fire against protestersISIS, actually, its biggest victories, particularly in Mosul and Fallujah, those victories werent really military victories. They were really political victories first, and what I mean is that if you take, for example, Fallujah, tribal revolutionaries took Fallujah and then ISIS kind of came in from within that and coopted parts of the revolutionary movement and took it over slowly. And they had a lot of local support in doing that. Same in Mosul. They had a lot of local support. That sort of accounts for why those places fell so quickly. They had support from within and so it was very difficult for the army to go in and actually fight and take it. That accounts for the semi-collapse of the army in the face of ISIS because theyre seeing towns that all of a sudden overnight are becoming ISIS strongholds and none of the soldiers were willing to go into what was going to be an almost certain bloodbath. Thats why the Iraqi state was unable to take over these places very quickly. Im sure youre familiar with the fact there are a lot of conspiracy theories in Iraq trying to explain the rise of the Islamic State. I saw a poll the other week that said many Iraqis believe the Islamic State was a deliberate creation of the United States. Im wondering: During your travels in Iraq, what did Iraqis tell you? And Im also curious whether theres a sectarian divide on this. It seems to me that maybe Sunnis might be more willing to argue that ISIS was the result of state repression that they exploited, whereas perhaps Shia Iraqis might be less willing to concede their government and its pursuit of sectarian policies led to the rise of the Islamic State. Well, even among Sunnis though, those who very clearly describe to me the outcome of these policies, it is a fact that many of those Sunni groups and Sunni leaders who initially allied with ISIS in 2014 have now realized that it was a terrible mistake because ISIS has destroyed their communities. And so theyre also opposed to ISIS and so one of the ways they account for it is they say it was created by the U.S. as a way to destroy the Sunni movement. Its a very popular conspiracy theory. Among Shias and others, they would also say the same thing: that it was created by the U.S. to destroy Iraq. The only difference you might see between the two groups is that a lot of Sunnis will tell you that the United States and Iran are secretly working together and have created ISIS and theyre running it, and they will point to the Shia militias and other groups (benefitting). Whereas, youre less likely to hear Shias say that Iran is part of the problem, but they will say that the United States and conspiracy theorists theyre all agreed that the United States created ISIS. Its a very widespread belief. I want to talk about the relationship between the U.S. and Iran in terms of policy in Iraq. Its kind of amusing: Ayatollah Khamenei, on his Twitter account, kind of hints at these conspiracy theoriesthat the U.S. is not really serious about fighting the Islamic State, suggesting it created that problem to justify a perpetual presence in Iraq. But in reality, it seems Iran and the U.S.their policies are complementary. The militias are trained by the Islamic Republic and are armed and given air cover in some cases by the United States. Do Iran and the United States effectively have the same policy in Iraq, and what is that? I think they have very similar policies; theyre working in parallel, almost. The Iranian militias tend to have a much stronger presence towards the north of Baghdad, for example in Diyala. Whereas in Anbar the U.S. has successfully lobbied to keep the Shia militias to a limited role. Ultimately, at the end of the day, theres a de facto alliance between the two sides. Theyre both working to try to stabilize the Iraqi state and defeat ISIS. Both appear to agree on keeping Haider al-Abadi in place, and his position right now is very precarious due to protests. So you have this very complicated situation in which Shia militias that are in some cases even receiving U.S. air power in Iraq are fighting against ISIS and certain Shia militias are going to Syria to support Bashar al-Assad, who the U.S. at least ostensibly is opposed to. So its extraordinarily complicated, but in Iraq I think it is the case that there is a de facto alliance thats become stronger since the Iran deal. Both Iran and the United States seem to share this sectarian conception of how Iraq should exist. In the case of the United States, one could perhaps chalk it up to a patronizing Orientalism that only sees foreigners in terms of their ethnic group or religious identity. In the case of Iran, it just seems like cynical, power politics; theyd rather like to have a state that identifies as Shia next door. Is that a correct interpretation? And is there any hope of a non-sectarian, unified Iraq arising if two of the most influential foreign powers there dont share that vision? Absolutely the U.S. and Iran share a sectarian vision of Iraq, and for the U.S. that has been the case since the beginning. Iraqis will tell you back in 2003, 2004, they would try to go meet with the U.S. in one of the pre-parliamentary councils, and everyone had to say whether they were Sunni or Shia or Kurd, and people would say, "Im a communist. Im secular." They would say, "It doesnt matter. Youre Sunni or Shia." Theres still a real possibility for non-sectarian policies. It really depends on the levels of violence and it depends on the will of outside forces. The U.S. had this very sectarian mentality that is sort of a classic way in which outside forces deal with local populations; the British and the French have done the same thing, historically. Despite that, I think theres surprisingly theres still hope for non-sectarian, anti-sectarian politics in Iraq. Even now, in the last nine months or so, theres been a big, powerful protest movement in Baghdad, protesting against lack of services, lack of electricity, the deep, widespread levels of corruption in government. Until the last couple months it was largely a secular movement, one that had participation from Sunnis and Shias, and also one that had participation from various secular forces, from trade unions, from communists and others. And in the last two months that movement has sort of been taken over by Moqtada al-Sadr, and its become much more of a Shia Islamist movement. But the demands are still non-sectarian demands. Theyre demanding to end the sectarian quotas in government, to end the patronage system in government. And what youre seeing in the last year, and what you saw in 2010, you see the flourishing of a cross-sectarian politics. I think whenever the levels of violence drop, as in 2010, or how it was this past summer when the threat to Baghdad from ISIS receded, you tend to see the Islamist forces losing ground and some of the more secular forces gaining ground. I think that shows that theres still a real possibility for non-sectarian policies. It really depends on the levels of violence and it depends on the will of outside forces as well, who tend to use sectarianism as a way to pursue their own ends. Can you speak at all to what has given rise to this protest movement? As youre saying, now it has a little bit more of a not necessarily sectarian color, but its more of a Shia Islamist movement with Moqtada al-Sadr endorsing it. Why is al-Sadr endorsing this? Why would Iraqi Shiites be upset with a system that, at least from an outside perspective, it seems that they benefit from at the expense of the Sunnis? The movement started last summer because of the soaring temperatures and the fact that there was no electricity in large parts of the country, especially in Baghdad. This is just a basic failure of state services and so thats how the movement began. But it grew to address the rot thats at the core of the Iraqi state. For example, all the political parties are patronage parties; posts are doled out to specific parties. Many people argue they havent really delivered anything for ordinary people, and while its true that broadly speaking after 2003 Shias have benefitted, relative to Sunnis, its not like Shias are doing well either. The price of oil has collapsed. The state is moving toward austerity politics, where some of the social services are being gutted. Its not fun to be a Shia in Iraq, its just the challenges are different than being a Sunni, and so theres a lot of dissatisfaction with and anger towards the government, toward officials, and thats why theres a demand to remove this patronage system and have a technocratic government. That was the demand for months and months. People would say, "Im a communist. Im secular." They would say, "It doesnt matter. Youre Sunni or Shia." Moqtada al-Sadr got involved in February for complicated reasons. One reason, I think, is hes trying to sell himself as a nationalist. His militia, his people, are probably the least sectarian today of any of the Shia militias. Hes gotten behind the protests and given it a lot of muscle, to the point where now, once his people got involved, the Abadi government was actually forced to draw up a new cabinet that was full of technocrats. And when he did that all the entrenched interests, the Islamist parties, Malikis side, they fought back and demanded that he retract it. So now Abadi is in a very precarious situation, caught on one side between a mass movement, and the Sadrists, and on the other side by the Islamist parties and the old elite that was brought here by the United States in 2003, which means that we may see in the coming months a coup, we may see in an overthrow of Haider al-Abadi. We dont know whats going to happen, but it looks to be an explosive situation today. I wanted to touch on what is essentially the focus of your article in The Atlantic, which is the Popular Mobilization Forces. Theres a specific line in there where you point out that NGOs and human rights workers have been documenting cases, and they allege thatin certain areas, at leastanti-ISIS forces may have killed as many Sunnis as ISIS has. Obviously in the United States, in large part because of the terrorist attacks that ISIS has carried out in the West, we have this focus on the Islamic State as a kind of exclusive evil. With respect to Syria, a very common thing to say would be like Bernie Sanders in the last Democratic debate: Assad and ISIS are bad, but we have to deal with ISIS first. Are we focused too much on the Islamic State at the expense of a holistic approach to the problems of the Middle East? Absolutely, I think its a major problem. With Sanders comments that we have to deal with ISIS before we deal with Assadit actually doesnt make sense to do that, because Assad helped produce ISIS. His bombing and torturing guaranteed that groups like ISIS would emerge. Same in Iraq: the sectarianism of the state and the militias helped produce ISIS. The danger becomes that if you look at just the immediate problem of the Islamic State, you end up deputizing the same sorts of actors that helped produce the problem youre trying to fight in the first place. Thats a problem in Syria and Iraq. Can you explain what sorts of abuses the Popular Mobilization Forces have been accused of carrying out? The militias have been accused of a whole range of things, from extrajudicial killings to horrific torture to you name it. A lot of things we tend to associate with ISISbeheadings and the mass slaughtermost of them have done that as well its just that they, like the Assad regime, tend to do these things without the camera rolling. They have a different audience. They have a different constituency that theyre trying to reach. But every one of these groups is extremely brutal. An enormous amount of power still exists among social movements and ordinary people on the ground, but they tend to get smothered by the policies of major states like the U.S. I write about in this article one Sunni family describing what they have gone through. They flee ISISand flee the brutality of ISISonly to deal with the brutality of Shia militias in Baghdad. And theres many, many stories like that. There are cases where after territories have been liberated from ISIS that militias have gone in and set houses on fire, set people on fire, and all sorts of horrific things. These are things that tend not to get talked about in the West, particularly so with Assad. If you get a chance to look at the photographs of people who were in Assads prisons and see the horror that is unfolding on a daily basis thereISIS pales in comparison to what Assad has been doing in terms of inflicting terror on a population. In the United States, it seems the political establishment and the leading candidates for the Republican and Democratic presidential nominations, theyre all basically in agreement that the Obama administrations strategy for fighting the Islamic State is more or less working. No one has the stomach for another ground invasion, so this kind of half-in approach of airstrikes and proxies on the ground, whether its these Popular Mobilization Forces or the Kurds in Iraq and Syria, the perception is that this working. If you had the opportunity to speak to any of these candidates, or President Obama himself, and you were asked whether this strategy is working, what would you tell them? What would you recommend to U.S. politicians who, for better or worse, are determined to continue intervening in Iraqs affairs? Its hard for me to say only because I think that U.S. politicians, when they are talking about these things, they tend to look at it from a completely different framework than I am. These policies either work or dont work with respect to what they perceive to be U.S. national security interests and so in that sense you can see that ISIS is being defeated and it may seem that this is helping U.S. national security interests. Im actually less interested in what is perceived as U.S. national security interests and more interested in what ordinary people on the ground in Iraq or Syria view as being in their interest. And there you see a real divergence, because the U.S. just does not have the track record of acting in the interests of ordinary peoplethe U.S. or any other state, for example Russia or Iranin that region. Any kind of strategy that relies on the policies of on high, in many ways will be doomed to fail, instead of looking at whats actually happening on the ground. So, for instance, in Syria, since the partial ceasefire weve seen a blossoming of the protest movement that had been more or less crushed for a few yearsa protest movement thats not only protesting against Assad, but also against Jabhat al-Nusra, which is the al-Qaida franchise in Syria. An enormous amount of power still exists among social movements and ordinary people on the ground, but they tend to get smothered by the policies of major states like the U.S. and others. That makes total sense. Obviously U.S. politicians are interested in the perceived U.S. national interest and theyre not so much concerned about Iraq as a functioning stateas long as its functioning enough to keep ISIS there, contained, and not in the West. Exactly. Keep it on life support. Charles Davis is an editor at teleSUR. Follow him on Twitter: @charliearchy Via TeleSur - Related video added by Juan Cole: CNN: U.S. sending 200 more troops, choppers to Iraq Reddit Email 0 Shares By EurActiv.com | Russias latest military moves in Syria have sharpened divisions within the US administration over whether Russian President Vladimir Putin genuinely backs a UN-led initiative to end the civil war or is using the negotiations to mask renewed military support for Syrian President Bashar Assad. Russia has repositioned artillery near the disputed city of Aleppo, several US officials told Reuters. Despite withdrawing some fixed-wing aircraft in March, Russia has also bolstered its forces in Syria with advanced helicopter gunships, and renewed airstrikes against moderate opposition groups, said US officials, speaking on condition of anonymity. The Russian reassertion of military backing has prompted some US officials to warn that a failure to respond would be seen by Moscow as a fresh sign of American timidity. That, they say, could encourage Russia to escalate challenges to US and allied militaries through more provocative Russian air and naval maneuvers. They also contend that a US failure to respond would further damage Washingtons relations with Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states seeking to oust Assad, and with Turkey, which has been firing artillery at Islamic State targets in Syria. The answer, they argue, is stepped-up US support for moderate Syrian rebel factions with more anti-tank missiles and grenade launchers sent through third countries. However, other officials, including National Security Advisor Susan Rice, have vetoed any significant escalation of US involvement in Syria, the officials said. Rice is the fly in the ointment, said a person familiar with the internal debate. Obama himself has long been reluctant to deepen US involvement in the war, saying last October that Washington would not get drawn into a proxy war with Moscow. His administration has focused more on pressing the fight against the militant Islamic State group, which controls a swathe of northeastern Syria. The White House declined comment about any internal debate on Syria or Putins intentions. The United States and other Western nations have struggled to read Putins intentions ever since Russian forces launched a surprise deployment in support of Assad last September. His abrupt announcement in March of a partial withdrawal and other steps have continued to leave Western policy makers guessing about his agenda. Reading Putin The current debate over how to respond to Russias military moves partly reflects a difference of opinion in Washington over whether Putin has been sincere in his backing for the UN peace process which is now struggling for survival. Russia and US agree to speed up Syria peace effort Russia and the United States agreed at talks in Moscow yesterday (24 March) to use their influence over the sides in the Syria conflict to speed up progress towards a political solution. US officials and experts question why Putin hasnt been able, or willing, to press Assad into making more concessions in the negotiations. Either Russia has pulled the wool over Obamas and (US Secretary of State John) Kerrys eyes or theyve pulled it over their own eyes, said the person familiar with the internal debate and who asked not to be identified. On one side are US military and intelligence officials who think Putin does support the UN-backed talks. These officials argue that Assad then undermined the initiative by obstructing the Geneva process and ignoring the ceasefire, provoking responses by the rebels and leaving the truce in shreds. As a result, Putin had no choice but to ramp up support for his Syrian ally, they say. I think the regime played a very, very sly game, said Charles Lister, an expert with the Middle East Institute. They were playing spoiler with the full knowledge that the oppositions patience would wear out. Other US officials and experts think Putin has never been sincere about diplomacy, and that Obama and Kerry were naive to believe Russian statements of support. Putin remains wedded to keeping Assad in power and ensuring that Russia retains a naval port on the Mediterranean coast and an airfield in northern Syria, the only major military bases it has outside the former Soviet Union, they said. This was a cynical game from the beginning by Putin, agreed Jeffrey White, a former senior Defense Intelligence Agency analyst now with the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. I dont believe for a minute that he was buffaloed by Assad. I think they are in league together. While US officials gave conflicting assessments on whether Russia had sent additional artillery to Syria, the Obama administration on Thursday openly expressed concern about reports that Russia has shipped more materiel into the country. The Pentagon has declined to speculate on Russian motives. I dont know what their intentions are. What I do know is that we have seen regime forces, with some Russian support as well, begin to mass and concentrate combat power around Aleppo, Army Colonel Steve Warren, the Baghdad-based spokesman for the US-led coalition fighting Islamic State, said on Wednesday. So this is something that were concerned about and something were keeping an eye on. Via EurActiv.com with Reuters Rep. Chris Collins (R-N.Y.), the first member of Congress to endorse Donald Trump, said in a recent interview that he thinks the business mogul will make sure hes surrounded by nothing but the highest-caliber talent if he occupies the West Wing ... Im convinced he will have the best Cabinet thats ever been assembled by a president. This is a mantra frequently recited by Trump supporters who seem oblivious to his serial business failures and habitually fraudulent business practices. They confuse Trumps branding success, which can be attributed to his impressive marketing skills, with business management skills. So lets test Collins theory that President Trump can be expected to fill his administration with only the highest-caliber talent by examining the track record of the man Trump recently hired to oversee the management of his presidential campaign: Paul Manafort. Manafort has made a fortune representing some of the worst people in the world during his four-decade career as a Washington, D.C., fixer and lobbyist. His clients have included a sordid assortment of kleptocratic dictators, corrupt narco states, Mafia-connected oligarchs and African warlords who use child soldiers, systemic rape and mass starvation as weapons of war. A recent article in The Daily Beast by Betsy Woodruff and Tim Mak, Top Trump Aide Led the Torturers Lobby, noted that a 1992 report from the Center For Public Integrity listed (Manaforts firm) as one of the lobbying firms to profit the most by doing business with foreign governments that violated their peoples human rights. Threats to U.S. national security and the integrity of the political process arent obstacles to Manaforts personal enrichment. Yahoo News Michael Isikoff reported this week that Manafort was investigated by the FBI for his representation of an American front organization of ISIL, Pakistans notorious intelligence service. Manafort was also at the center of the Reagan administrations Housing and Urban Development scandal in the 1980s. A 1989 article in The Washington Post reported that during testimony before a congressional committee, Manafort grudgingly admitted that he engaged in influence peddling to obtain millions of dollars in low-income housing rehabilitation grants to fund real estate projects in New Jersey, Connecticut, Georgia and Puerto Rico. A 1989 United Press International article reported that Manafort formed a partnership to purchase a dilapidated 326-unit apartment complex in Upper Deerfield Township, N.J., two weeks before the New Jersey Public Housing Authority was notified that HUD had approved funding. Manafort admitted he received advance notice that HUD would fund his project, which the townships mayor described as a horrible waste of taxpayers money. While Manafort and his partners got rich, the low-income tenants the program was supposed to benefit had their rents doubled and saw no improvement in their living conditions. The abuse of the program by Manafort and others was so rampant that HUD Secretary Jack Kemp was forced to suspend the program. The question everyone should be asking is, will this be the way President Trumps appointees administer government programs? Put another way, will Trumps appointees be channeling the spirit of Abraham Lincoln or Gordon Gekko? Nat Hentoff is a nationally renowned authority on the First Amendment and the Bill of Rights. We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on! Go to form 280 Shares Share When I think back about what I learned about drug addiction in medical school in the 1980s, I cant think of much. Sure, I talked to plenty of patients who had been snorting coke and injecting heroine. One man with AIDS promised to teach me how to draw blood, if Id sit by his side and keep him company. He didnt have any other visitors. Maximum security prison where he was before, had a game room, and a gym and, he told me, the food was a hell of a lot better. In any event, he fed me the kinds of stories I had only read about. Looking back, he probably just wanted to help me, so I wasnt poking him over and over since I was the one charged with getting his blood samples. A teen mom told me that she tried crack for first time during her 7th month of pregnancy so the baby would come out early and small. I didnt believe her at first, but a pediatrician told me that was in vogue among the city high schoolers, both pregnancy, and the forced premature delivery. But besides my bedside conversations, I never really learned much about helping people get over addictions. I think we figured that was something for someone else to worry about, like the people who run Alcoholics Anonymous. Things may be changing. On March 29, at the national summit on drug addiction, the Obama administration pledged $1.1 billion in new funding to combat widespread opioid addiction, in large part to expand access to treatment. At the same time, 60 medical schools announced that this fall, they are going to offer some kind of class that teaches doctors-to-be about prescribing opioids. Still, according to medical writer Maia Szalavitz, whats needed is a massive overhaul of the way we understand and treat drug addiction. Szalavitz has been writing about the science of addiction for about 30 years. Before that, she was an addict, shooting up heroin and snorting coke. In her latest book, Unbroken Brain: A Revolutionary New Way of Understanding Addiction, Szalavitz weaves her own story (gifted, geeky Ivy-league kid turned user and dealer, who, at one point faced 15 years to life in prison) with insights gleaned from interviews and extensive reading on the subject. Simply put: She says drug addiction is a learning disorder. Or as she explains, it changes your brain chemistry much like falling in love. And much the way you can fall out of love (and undo all that jumbled circuitry), you can do the same for drug addiction. She also argues against the notion that all addicts are born that way hard wired for addiction. She argues against the notion that addiction is a weakness, and the only way out is to pray to a higher power. Her book is convincing and a good read because she uses analogies to make the nitty-gritty science easy to digest and then breaks up the research reports with her own story, that includes some pretty crazy scenes. When she was 17, she went back to Jerry Garcias seedy hotel after the Grateful Dead played in New Haven, and they snorted coke together. It was her first time. How could she say no? Then theres the time, when she shot up so much heroin and cocaine, she was convulsing and wailing so much that her strung-out friends in the next room assumed she was having sex. Somehow, she survived that and everything else. The partying with Garcia was before she started Columbia University. The drug overdose was after. She eventually dropped out, finishing her degree from Brooklyn College. What Im arguing here is that the reason it looks like a choice is because you have learned something, that changes the way your brain sets priorities, and when that happens, its kind of as though youve fallen in love with a drug and you feel as if your emotional survival depends on getting that drug no matter what. When you fall in love or have a kid, you will put priority on that no matter what in order to have those people necessary in your life. When you do that involuntarily with a drug, it can be problematic. To say the least. She is not blaming her addiction on anyone or anything else but speaks of learning as the re-wiring of your brain circuits that manage your centers of reward and pleasure. Her point is that if we think of the problem as wires plugged into the wrong places, we can use the same kind of learning to get them back in order. As she describes it, pop science would have us believe that drugs zap dopamine, the pleasure center, in the brain. The more we fire up those chemicals, the more drugs we need to keep the flame going. But its really more complicated than that. First of all, she explained, theres two kinds of pleasure: desire and reward. Or as she puts it, the pleasure of the hunt and the pleasure of the feast. Her mission, in addition to preaching her gospel about addiction, is to persuade medical educators to update their outmoded curricula. Medical students need to learn that people with addiction are people first, not some kind of scum trying to defeat your efforts to cure them. (Shes had a few bad experiences with doctors, as you can read in her book). If you understand why they feel the need to escape, youll be a lot more compassionate and a lot better to help. Compassion more formally known as humanities in medicine seems to be the buzz word around medical school campuses these days. But Szalavitz has a point and if nothing else her book is a gripping read. As for me, well, my friend/patient the drug addict in the corner room kept his word. He told me that through years of experience he could get blood from the tiniest veins between his toes, and he showed me how to do the same. I was too embarrassed to ask a nurse or the resident to go over the nuts and bolts of blood drawing. Im not sure we helped him overcome his addiction (actually, I know we didnt), but we tried as best as we could in those days to care for him while he succumbed to AIDS. Randi Hutter Epstein is a writer, reporter, and physician. She is the author of Get Me Out: A History of Childbirth from the Garden of Eden to the Sperm Bank. She can be reached at her self-titled site, Randi Hutter Epstein, and on Twitter @randiepstein. Image credit: Shutterstock.com SHARE Hilary Franz By Tristan Baurick of the Kitsap Sun Former Bainbridge Island Councilwoman Hilary Franz announced her bid to replace state Public Lands Commissioner Peter Goldmark, who is not seeking a third term. Franz, an attorney and director of Seattle-based conservation group Futurewise, is running on a "platform of environmental sustainability" for a job that oversees logging on more than 2 million acres of state-owned lands. "To have a truly sustainable model for our resources especially in light of climate change you have to mitigate and adapt, whether it's for forest fires or drought," said Franz, a Democrat. The public lands commissioner leads the state Department of Natural Resources, an agency with about 1,200 full-time employees and an annual budget of more than $300 million. Along with state forests, DNR manages 1 million acres of agricultural land in Eastern Washington and 2.6 million acres of bottomlands in marine waters and rivers. Franz wants to apply "greater science and common sense" to timber harvests near steep slopes and watersheds. She hopes to revise a system that feeds timber revenues into school construction. The system does not provide a "dependable or sustainable" funding source for schools, she said. She enters the race with strong competition from within her party. King County Councilman Dave Upthegrove, who served several terms in the state House, and Karen Porterfield, a former candidate for Congress, also are running as Democrats. Franz served on the Bainbridge City Council from 2008 to 2011. During that time, she brokered an agreement with DNR to establish the state's first open water marina. The Eagle Harbor Marina's aim was to preserve a semblance of Puget Sound's last community of anchored-out liveaboards. She also championed farmland preservation and helped initiate the islandwide RePower Bainbridge energy efficiency initiative. She considered a run for the state House before taking the helm of Futurewise, a nonprofit aimed at preserving open spaces and promoting denser development in cities. Franz moved from Bainbridge to Seattle last fall. Her campaign has been endorsed by Earth Day founder Dennis Hayes and former King County Executive Ron Sims. Ta'Kaiya Blaney, a 15-year-old environmental activist from the Tla'amin First Nation, talks with elementary school students during the Indigenous Youth Summit on Climate and Ocean Change at the House of Awakened Culture in Suquamish on Friday. Blaney gave a speech and a musical performance as part of the summit. SHARE Suquamish Elementary School students listen to the musical performances of Ta'Kaiya Blaney and Robby Romeo during the Indigenous Youth Summit on Climate and Ocean Change hosted by the Chief Kitsap Academy at the House of Awakened Culture in Suquamish on Friday. Students watch presentations during the Indigenous Youth Summit on Climate and Ocean Change in Suquamish on Friday. Among those attending were students from the Quinault, Quileute, Makah, and Muckleshoot tribes. By Rachel Seymour of the Kitsap Sun SUQUAMISH Manuel Sigo fishes in the same place every year and has noticed a decline in salmon and shellfish, he sad. Sigo, who is a Suquamish Tribe member and a senior at Chief Kitsap Academy, pointed to pollution, ocean acidification and other environmental issues as problems that are interfering with cultural traditions and the livelihoods of tribal members. "Our native people and fishermen are being affected by this," he said. Sigo was one of about 100 Chief Kitsap Academy and Suquamish Elementary students who attended the indigenous Youth Summit on Climate and Ocean Change at the House of Awakened Culture in Suquamish on Friday. During the Earth Day event, students heard from Ta'Kaiya Blaney, a 15-year-old environmental activist from the Sliammon First Nation in Canada, who became an advocate when she was 10 after discovering plans for an oil pipeline and tankers coming through her community. Blaney now uses music to spread her message of environmental protection and performed at the United Nations Conference on Climate Change in Paris last year. "This holiday brings more than awareness, it brings a sense of emergency and empowerment," Blaney told students. "Every problem is an opportunity for improvement for everyone involved." She performed several of her songs for Chief Kitsap students alongside Robby Romero of Red Thunder, an Apache rock group. Romero also is the president of Native Children's Survival, a nonprofit that advocates for human rights, the environment and social justice with music and film. Blaney is a youth ambassador for the organization. Sigo said her message is an important one to know about and to share with everyone, not just indigenous communities. Everyone is affected by climate and ocean change, he said. Sigo and his fellow students also have been participating in the Ecosystem Pen Pal Program, along with five other schools. The six schools paired up for pen pals and all joined together through a video conference during Friday's youth summit. Chief Kitsap's students are paired with Kalaheo High School students in Hawaii, who they visited in April. Breena Belgarde, a junior at the academy, was one of 15 students who traveled to Hawaii for 11 days, along with tribal elders. The students learned about how traditional Hawaiian culture was similar to the Suquamish. They also learned how to make medicine from turmeric root and went canoeing with a Hawaiian canoe family. "Everything kind of clicked and we all got along really well," Belgarde said. Last fall, students started writing to one another and the academy students caught, traditionally smoked and canned salmon to send their Hawaiian pen pals. These programs were made possible by grants from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, along with the National Marine Sanctuaries Foundation Hollings Grant, according Karen Matsumoto. She is a teacher at Chief Kitsap Academy and coordinated the Earth Day summit and Ecosystem Pen Pal Program. Graphic shows planned layout of the new Harrison Medical Center campus in Silverdale By Tad Sooter of the Kitsap Sun SILVERDALE Work is underway on one of the largest commercial construction projects in Kitsap County history. Contractors began site prep this week for a five-story parking garage at Harrison Medical Center in Silverdale. The garage will be the first structure completed in a massive, four-year expansion of the hospital campus, overseen by parent company CHI Franciscan Health. "Beginning to build the garage is a significant first step in CHI Franciscan's commitment to Harrison Medical Center and the communities we serve," CHI Franciscan Peninsula Region President David Shultz said in a news release announcing the start of construction. Crews will erect fences, clear trees, install erosion controls and build the garage foundation during the next few months, according to the release. Visitors will see construction traffic as the garage is built, but no roads will be closed and all hospital entrances will remain open. Clear Creek Trail also will stay open, though a portion of the trail will be rerouted around the site and access from the hospital parking lot will be blocked. About 37 parking stalls at the hospital will be fenced off during the project. Work will take place between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m. on weekdays. The 240,000-square-foot parking garage will provide 787 stalls. Construction of the garage marks the first phase of an expansion project that will eventually create 640,000 square feet of acute and ambulatory care space on the campus. Future projects include a nine-story hospital tower, renovation of the existing hospital, a new cancer center and a medical office building. The new facility could be open to patients in the winter of 2019. Expanding in Silverdale will allow CHI Franciscan to shutter Harrison's aging East Bremerton hospital and consolidate acute care services in the center of the county. CHI Franciscan spokesman Scott Thompson said its still being determined whether Harrison Bremerton should be demolished or repurposed. The medical group plans to build a new clinic in Bremerton that will provide primary care and urgent care, along with imaging and lab services. The group hopes to open the clinic in 2018. A location has not been announced. SHARE Luther Franklin Mills Sr. Suquamish, WA April 22, 1934 to April 20, 2016 Veteran Luther Franklin Mills, 81, of Suquamish Washington passed away Wednesday April 20, 2016 in his home surrounded by his family. His parents Susie Neal and Harrison Mills precede Luther in death. He leaves his beloved wife of 59 years, Dolores Mills. Grieving with their mother are his six children, Gloria Smith, Jackie Severson, David Mills, Tima Zaiss, Luther Mills Jr., and Lori Bakken. He also leaves behind his 18 grandchildren and nearly 50 great grandchildren, who love him dearly. Luther Mills proudly served in the United States Navy for four years followed by an additional four years with the Navy Reserves. After serving his country he went on to work for Boeing Aircraft Company for thirteen years. He then worked for Keyport Naval Submarine base where he eventually retired. A celebration of his life will be held at 1:00pm preceded by a visitation at 11:00am at the Suquamish Welcome House, 7235 NE Pkwy, Suquamish Wa, 98392. View a full tribute at www.lewischapel.com. By Don Jacobs of the Knoxville News Sentinel After 30 years of service, Knoxville Police Department Deputy Chief Nate Allen is ready for his next challenge as chief of the Decatur, Ala., Police Department. Allen on May 23 will take the reins of the Decatur department, which has 137 officers protecting a city of about 56,000 people. "(Knoxville) will always be home," Allen said Friday. "I've enjoyed it." Allen, a native of Detroit, started with the KPD in 1986. He retires from the Police Department as commander of the Criminal Investigation Division. During his career, Allen has commanded the East Patrol District and served as the city's Homeland Security coordinator. Knoxville Police Chief David Rausch said Allen has been valuable in building relationships with the city's diverse communities. "Although Nate's loss will be felt throughout the department and the city, with his wealth of law enforcement knowledge and experience, I'm confident he will make an immediate and positive impact on the citizens of Decatur," Rausch said. Rausch spoke to city officials in Decatur to recommend Allen for the job. Allen was chosen from among 27 applicants. Allen holds a bachelor's degree in business administration with a specialization in homeland security from North Central University. He is a graduate of the FBI National Academy, Georgia Law Enforcement Executive Command College and the Police Executive Research Forum's Senior Management Institute for Police Executives. Allen said his wife of 18 years, Robin, and their twin 9-year-old daughters made several trips to Decatur to be certain it was a place for their family. Now, Allen said, his wife has to find them a house. Allen fills the position vacated Feb. 29 with the retirement of the previous chief. SHARE Steven H. Cook, assistant U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Tennessee. By Jamie Satterfield of the Knoxville News Sentinel A veteran Knoxville federal prosecutor went to Congress recently armed with PowerPoint slides, statistics and studies, but his message was simple violent criminals cannot terrorize communities from behind prison walls. In his capacity as president of the National Association of Assistant U.S. Attorneys, Steve Cook's testimony before Congress and meetings with congressional staffers in recent months is being credited with at least slowing down what had been billed as a bipartisan effort to slash mandatory minimum federal prison terms for future gun-wielding criminals and those already locked up. The Congressional Quarterly reported that Cook's presentation, which included statistics to back up his contention that penalties now being decried as draconian drastically reduced violent crime and that new reform efforts already are causing a spike in crime rates, was so effective the Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act is stalled and a retooling underway. The act, sponsored by U.S. Sen. Charles E. Grassley, R-Iowa, would, among other things, cut by one-third mandatory minimum penalties for armed career criminals, gun-toting drug traffickers and armed robbers and would free criminals already serving time under the current sentencing structure early. The bill comes after three separate U.S. Sentencing Commission initiatives that have led to the early release of thousands of convicted drug dealers in the past two years, and a mandate by the U.S. Justice Department Cook's employer to cut down on drug prosecutions involving mandatory minimum sentencing. The effort has been pushed by groups complaining that tough federal sentences have locked up a disproportionate number of black men and stuffed prisons full of nonviolent offenders. But as Republican candidates have jockeyed to lure voters in this year's presidential race, the effort has gained support from Republican members of Congress. Cook, a former police officer, has worked for 30 years as a prosecutor. He currently is chief of the criminal division of the U.S. attorney's office in Knoxville. But he has taken vacation time to lobby against sentencing reform measures backed by his boss, President Barack Obama. Cook noted the sentences were enacted amid the crack cocaine scourge that, by the early 1980s, was laying waste to inner-city communities. "From 1960 to 1985 or so, violent crime across the country had tripled," Cook said. "Crack dealers had taken over the inner cities. Murders skyrocketed." A bipartisan effort that included black leaders resulted in the enactment of 10- and 20-year minimum penalties for armed drug dealers and a sentencing structure for armed criminals such as robbers, kidnappers and carjackers that upped punishment for each use of a gun in a violent crime. A serial robber, for instance, would draw seven years for using a gun in a single robbery and another 25 years for each subsequent robbery in which a gun was used. Federal prosecutors, in turn, began working with local law enforcement to use the federal system to prosecute and punish the worst of the worst criminals through those sentences, Cook said. "We started using the tools, and we started taking violent people in these communities out," Cook said. "By 1991, we not only stopped the rise in violent crime, but we reversed it." FBI statistics bore out that assertion, with violent crime rates in major cities dropping by nearly half. What Cook called "well-funded" groups began pushing for reform under the Obama administration, and the U.S. Sentencing Commission responded by lowering drug penalties and applying those changes retroactively, freeing scores of drug offenders. Now the crime rate is back on the rise, Cook said. According to the latest FBI statistics, reports of rapes have increased by 9.6 percent, murders by 6.3 percent and aggravated assaults by 2.3 percent in the past year. Cook said offenders released early under those reforms have committed violent crimes, citing a triple-killing in Ohio and a killing in Tennessee as recent examples. "When you put criminals in jail, crime goes down," Cook said. "That's what incapacitation is designed to do, and it works." He calls a "myth" the idea that most offenders in federal prisons are nonviolent drug pushers and says racial bias plays no role in who gets federally prosecuted. "People get prosecuted who break our laws," Cook said. He cited as an example that the lion's share of defendants being prosecuted in the federal court system in Knoxville on methamphetamine, oxycodone and heroin trafficking charges are predominantly white. He also noted the gun sentences targeted in the proposed law could play a key role in helping Knoxville authorities combat the city's deadly gang problem. "It's a very effective tool for taking those violent repeat offenders off the street," Cook said. Students at the Division Street Campus of Pellissippi State gather Friday, April 22, 2016, for English and Spanish conversations in the student lounge. Students, left to right, are Sita Kromah, Angelica Ndayiragije, back to camera, Ibrahim Madi, and Shayan Seyfimakrani. (MICHAEL PATRICK/NEWS SENTINEL) SHARE Retiree A.M. Lindsey talks with student Tristen Schlosser at Pellissippi State on Friday. Students learning English can practice their skills and learn about people from other parts of the world during the conversations. Professor Patty Moore, right center, begins a conversation topic for students at the Division Street Campus of Pellissippi State where they gather Friday, April 22, 2016, for English and Spanish conversations in the student lounge. Students learning English can practice their skills and can learn about people from other parts of the world. (MICHAEL PATRICK/NEWS SENTINEL) Sita Kromah, left, from Liberia, questions Ashley Cameron, back to camera, during a conversational English group meeting at the Division Street Campus of Pellissippi State Friday, April 22, 2016. At right is Ibrahim Madi. Students gather for English and Spanish conversations in the student lounge. (MICHAEL PATRICK/NEWS SENTINEL) By MJ Slaby of the Knoxville News Sentinel With packages of cookies and hot coffee, the group gathered around a table at Pellissippi State Community College's Division Street campus and started chatting. The topics jumped from serious to lighthearted, spurred by news and personal experiences. The mix of students learning English as a second language and native speakers was intentional. The cross-cultural conversation tables are a new addition to Friday mornings on the campus and an idea from Patty Moore, an adjunct professor who teaches ESL. It's authentic conversation practice for students learning English, but it's also an opportunity for students from arious countries and students who may have never been out of the country to meet and learn from each other, she said. "There are more similarities than differences," Moore said. While the conversation tables on Fridays are in English, Raul Rivero, an adjunct professor in Spanish, also leads a weekly conversation session that allows attendees to practice their Spanish skills. While community members have participated in both groups, the group speaking Spanish has several regular attendees from the community. A.M. Lindsey said she's tried to learn Spanish for years. For her, the weekly gatherings are an opportunity to practice. She said learning a new language is exercise for the brain, like crossword puzzles. "Learning a second language makes the world a smaller place," said Vyrone Cravanas, another Knoxville resident who attends the Spanish group. Campus Dean Esther Dyer said she'd love to see the groups continue to grow and include more members of the community. Moore said the weekly gatherings fill a need for connection between students who are native English speakers and those who aren't. It's a small campus, so the students see each other again and chat in the hallways, she said. Sita Kromah, an ESL student, said the conversation sessions offer a chance to learn people's viewpoints on world events and to learn about American culture. Ibrahim Madi agreed and said he can share background from his home country of Saudi Arabia. So when he hesitated on jumping into a conversation about protests, Moore jumped in. "This is your forum," she said. "Share." To learn more about the conversation tables or join as a community member, call the campus at 971-5200 before or after the campus closes for summer from May 27 to Aug. 1. SHARE None of the five Tennessee pets that have tested positive for rabies this year is from the Knoxville area but that doesn't mean it's not possible. Rabies was confirmed in four dogs in Middle Tennessee and a cat in Johnson County, on the easternmost tip of the state, so far in 2016, the state health department said, but wild animals anywhere can carry the virus and only a fraction of them are tested. In Hamblen and Greene counties this year so far, skunks have tested positive. Knox County typically has a few bats test positive each year, posing a danger even to indoor animals, since bats can fly inside homes. The Knox County Health Department and Knoxville Veterinarian Association will offer $10 rabies shots at area schools from 2-4:30 p.m. on two Saturdays: May 7 and 14. State and local laws require all dogs and cats 3 months and older to be vaccinated against the rabies virus, which attacks the brain and spinal column and can be fatal within days. May 7 clinics are at Ball Camp, Beaumont, Blue Grass, Dogwood, East Knox, Halls, Inskip, New Hopewell, Rock Hill and Sunnyview elementary schools; Gresham, Northwest and Whittle Springs middle schools; and Austin-East, Farragut, Powell, South-Doyle and West high schools. May 14 clinics are at Anderson, Brickey, Cedar Bluff, Chilhowee, Christenberry, Copper Ridge, Gibbs, Hardin Valley, Karns, Mount Olive, Norwood, Ritta and Shannondale elementary schools; Bearden and Carter middle schools; and Bearden High School. Dogs should be on a leash, and cats should be in carriers or pillowcases (through which the shot can be given). If your animal is aggressive, leave it in the car and ask for assistance at the registration desk. SHARE Rufus Ragland, 19, charged with assault on a Loudon County deputy. (Knox County Sheriff's Office) By News Sentinel Staff A Knox County man will serve 15 years in prison after he pleaded guilty this week to attempted second-degree murder in a 2014 chase with Loudon County deputies. Rufus Lamar Ragland also admitted to aggravated assault, felony reckless endangerment, felony evading and felony theft, according to a news release from Russell Johnson, 9th Judicial District attorney general. The case began Aug. 22, 2014, when a black Chevrolet Tahoe was reported stolen from Knox County. The vehicle was spotted on Interstate 75 South by Deputy Craig Brewer and confirmed to be the stolen vehicle through the Tahoe's OnStar system. Brewer chased the Tahoe toward the exit ramp state to Highway 72, where the OnStar operator disabled the vehicle. Deputy JC Schultz and Cpl. Marty Branham joined the chase as the Tahoe turned toward a Weigel's convenience store parking lot. Sgt. Michael Watkins saw Ragland, then 19, jump out and attempt to run, then climb into another black Tahoe. Ragland sped toward Watkins, rammed Watkins' patrol car, hit the driver's door, then backed up and hit a support pole. Ragland then hit Schultz, the release said, sending the deputy over the left fender of the Tahoe and onto his head on the concrete, then speeding toward Highway 72. Tennessee Highway Patrol troopers ultimately arrested Ragland. Police found a .38 caliber revolver, about 3 grams of cocaine, digital scales and 162 baggies of marijuana inside the first Tahoe. Ragland was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison for the drug possession, Johnson said. More details as they develop online and in Sunday's News Sentinel. SHARE "What do you want to be when you grow up?" That is the age-old question children and teens are asked by adults. However, the real query within this question goes deeper. It revolves around abilities and expectations the hopes and dreams of children and where they envision their place in the future. Seeds of promise are planted within every child, but seeds require tending if dreams are to come true. The hopes and aspirations of some children are carefully and lovingly nurtured, while others find themselves planted in barren soil. Fortunately for children in Tennessee, the environment of education is being plowed and groomed for growth so that aspirations may be nurtured. Gov. Bill Haslam's Drive to 55 and the Tennessee Promise initiatives are setting the course for higher levels of educational attainment to ensure career and economic opportunities for Tennessee's future. If we are to meet the goal of having at least 55 percent of Tennesseans equipped with a college degree or certificate by 2025, then today's students must be prepared in all types of educational programs. Public education relies on teachers to nurture our children into learners who will become our leaders of tomorrow. Regardless of the career or profession, teachers bear the challenge of preparing the future generation. The Tennessee Department of Education recently released a report, Equitable Access to Highly Effective Teachers for Tennessee Students, that acknowledges great teaching is the most significant in-school factor for raising student achievement, particularly for students who struggle academically. According to data from Tennessee's public schools, academic improvement in students who score at the lowest proficiency level shows the greatest increase when they have instruction from a highly effective teacher for two or more consecutive years. So, of course, we want every teacher in every Tennessee to have the best possible preparation to provide the most highly effective instruction. King University, establishment in Bristol, Tenn., in 1867, has brought its outstanding teacher preparation program to the greater Knoxville area. On our campus at Hardin Valley, the School of Education provides the kind of training that produces highly effective teachers. It is the combination of knowledge, observation, and application that produces the highest quality teachers. They, in turn, will produce the educated and skilled workforce to ensure Tennessee's future economic growth. When I was a child growing up in East Tennessee, it was highly effective teachers that made a difference in my life. They helped me learn basic skills and guided me as I traveled my educational pathway. They supported, believed and equipped me to become the first in my family to graduate from college. They helped me and my classmates give voice to whatever our dream might be. The skills we learned from them gave us the opportunity to turn hopes into realities. Every child in every Tennessee classroom should have that kind of teacher! King University School of Education's Knoxville campus will be graduating our first cohort of teachers this spring, and we invite all to come and celebrate this landmark. A Celebration Reception will be 4-6 p.m. on Tuesday, April 26. We will honor not only the teacher graduates from our Hardin Valley campus, but also the mentor teachers and schools that have helped shepherd them toward their goal of becoming professional educators. It will be a celebration of achievement that will bear fruit for generations to come. Nancy S. Gregg is assistant professor of education and program coordinator for the Teacher Education Program at King University's Hardin Valley campus. She may be reached at nsgregg@king.edu or 865-690-5803. SHARE In 2016, the oldest baby boomers will reach the age of 70. By 2029, all baby boomers one in five Americans will be 65 or older, and their life expectancy will exceed their parents by 10 to 25 years. As a member of this generation and a leader in the senior living industry, I notice every day how we are reshaping our expectations for aging. What is now known as Asbury Inc. was "birthed" during the baby-boom era, as it began in 1956 with support from the Holston Conference of the Methodist Church. In 2016, we are celebrating our 60th anniversary. We operate Asbury Place continuing care retirement communities in Maryville and Kingsport, Tenn. Like our fellow boomers, we're not satisfied with the status quo and are willing to challenge traditional wisdom. While Asbury Place remains steadfastly focused on fulfilling residents' physical, intellectual, spiritual and social needs, we also have shifted our approach to incorporate resident choice as a key component of our communities. This culture change involves environment, systems and attitude. It's not just a change you can see, it's a change you feel, a change residents embrace as they direct their own lives with staff empowered to help them do so. As the population ages and Americans live longer, AARP recommends finding a retirement community accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities/Continuing Care Accreditation Commission. Nationally, only 13 percent of continuing care retirement communities hold the rigorous accreditation, and Asbury Place is one of only three in Tennessee to earn the distinction. Continuing care retirement communities offer residents multiple levels of care independent living, assisted living and skilled nursing care. Thus, residents can seamlessly transition from one level of care to another, as necessary. It also means spouses who require different levels of care can live on the same campus. Also like our fellow boomers, Asbury Place, along with other continuing care retirement communities, is rethinking what it means to live well. Health and wellness no longer just refer to physical well-being. Residents want lives with purpose and meaning ones that include a balance of social, vocational, spiritual, physical, intellectual, emotional and environmental enrichment. From community service opportunities to sharing knowledge and learning new things, continuing care retirement communities strive to provide meaningful opportunities for residents. Boomers are not done changing the senior housing market, and communities like ours are with them every step of the way. This summer, we will expand our culture initiatives by creating new household environments that will provide communal living spaces with private bedrooms for an intimate family setting. Asbury Place will continue to provide needed care from our continuum of services for residents in these innovative units. As we celebrate our 60th anniversary, Asbury Place is honored to help seniors optimize their lives through environments of dignity, grace and personal choice for the boomer generation and beyond. Marjorie Shonnard is chief operating officer for Asbury Inc., a not-for-profit corporation that operates continuing care retirement communities in Kingsport and Maryville, Tenn. For more information, visit http://www.asburyplace.org. SHARE A look at recent events in the news that pleased us ... Top schools: The L&N STEM Academy is the 6th best high school in the state of Tennessee according to The U.S. News and World Report, which released the 2016 U.S. News Best High Schools ranking. Four top performing Knox County High Schools made the national list, according to a Knox County Schools news release, meaning they were ranked higher than 2,763 other high schools in the country. The L&N STEM Academy was ranked 341st nationally, and earned a gold medal. Silver medals went to Farragut High School, (13th statewide, 1,483rd nationally); Hardin Valley Academy, (18th statewide, 1,744th nationally); and Bearden High School, (23rd statewide and 2,066th nationally). Big gift: Scripps Network International is donating $10 million to East Tennessee Children's Hospital, the largest gift ever for the health care provider. The gift will help fund a 245,000-square foot building that will contain a new neonatal intensive care unit, a new surgery cent and a family lounge. The $75 million building will be called Scripps Networks Tower and also will contain a computerized pediatric simulation center named for the Knoxville-based company. Returning land: A bill that would return 76 acres of land along the Little Tennessee River to the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians is making headway in the U.S. House of Representatives. Sponsored by U.S Rep. Chuck Fleischmann, R-Tenn., the Eastern Band Cherokee Historic Lands Reacquisition Act would return to the tribe land where two former Cherokee capitals once stood. The area was flooded nearly four decades ago after the Tennessee Valley Authority built Tellico Dam. The land, according to the Chattanooga Times Free Press, would be used for museums, memorials and interpretive trails. No funding: Knox County officials came up empty this year in their quest to secure state funding for a treatment facility for nonviolent mentally ill and addicted offenders. The state's $34.8 billion budget, proposed by Gov. Bill Haslam and approved by the General Assembly, did not contain any funds for the long-discussed project. Former District Attorney General Randy Nichols delivered the bad news to the Safety Center Committee on Monday. Knox County had asked for $1 million a year for three years in operating funds. SHARE I find it utterly amazing that approximately 4 percent of our nation's total population dominates virtually every news cycle. The most recent debacle regarding LGBT rights in Mississippi and North Carolina has raised the ire of liberal citizens and politicians, in addition to corporate entities threatening to cease doing business in states who are purportedly violating LGBT civil rights. And as usual, the federal government is threatening to intervene by withholding funding to states that choose to oppose certain LGBT demands. Sadly, the rights of the vast majority of the remaining 96 percent of our population have been buried in a sea of political correctness gay marriage, same-sex parenting and now transgender bathroom usage being the most recent examples. Another unfortunate outcome of this debacle is the liberal assertion that if one supports traditional marriage, parenting and restroom access, you are a homophobic bigot. Nothing could be further from the truth. As a straight person, I wholeheartedly support the rights of all Americans, regardless of one's sexual identity, race, religion, etc. But, like so many of the vast silent majority, I have had more than enough of the political correctness that constantly fires the flames of anger and discord between us. For example, I suspect in most instances where an appropriately attired LGBT person enters a preferred restroom, he or she would go unnoticed. Acceptance, diversity and tolerance will never succeed when forced upon people through coercion and political correctness. Fortunately, the Constitution and Bill of Rights protect us all. It just seems the will of the majority has been extinguished by the will of the few. Dick Southmayd, Oak Ridge By Choi Sung-jin In 1990, Japan's per capita gross domestic product stood at $25,140, not much lower than Sweden's $29,294. The ratio of national debt against GDP was 67.0 percent in Japan, not terrible compared with the 46.3 percent in Sweden. And Japan's economic growth rate of 5.6 percent was far higher than Sweden's 0.8 percent, which meant that Japan could take care of its debt easily. Last year, Japan's per capita GDP was $32,481 while Sweden's had soared to $48,966. The national debt-GDP ratio surged to 245.9 percent in Japan but Sweden's fell to 43.9 percent. Analyzing and understanding what have happened in the two countries over the past 15 years is important for Koreans, who face a situation similar to what Japan and Sweden encountered in the early 1990s, economic experts point out. Korea's per capita GDP is now in the mid-$20,000 range, the nation's economy has entered into a low-growth phase, and its national liabilities have started to balloon. The contrasting trajectories of Japan and Sweden look to be behind the government's recent decision to set Sweden as its role model and regard Japan as an example of failure. At a meeting to discuss the nation's fiscal strategy, chaired by President Park Geun-hye, Friday, the Ministry of Strategy and Finance pointed out that Japan has ended up sharply increasing its national debt while failing to pull up its growth rate because the country dragged its feet in structural reforms and was bent on consumptive economic stimuli amid sharply increasing welfare demands resulting from its population getting older. Sweden, on the other hand, has attained both economic growth and fiscal health through bold industrial restructuring as well as fiscal, pension and welfare reforms, the ministry said. Ministry officials stressed in particular that Sweden has achieved fiscal soundness by strictly controlling government spending based on strong discipline. Since 1996, the Scandinavian country has set a ceiling on government expenditures while introducing "surplus targets" in fiscal earnings and expenses. The fiscal reforms, initiated by agreement of most all of the politicians and carried out with bipartisan support, led to the establishment of a fiscal policy council responsible for guiding the nation so that it could attain economic growth, stable employment and fiscal sustainability. As a result, while most other European countries coped with fiscal crises by raising taxes and reducing welfare programs, Sweden did not need to resort to these austerity measures thanks to the soundness of its well-thought-out and executed fiscal reforms. On the other hand, Japan has delayed fundamental reforms, increased the issuance of government bonds, which pushed its fiscal deficits higher and higher. "Japan's strong manufacturing sector has hindered the country's industrial restructuring, keeping Tokyo from improving industrial structure through continuous fiscal input," said Roh Hyung-wook, an assistant minister of strategy and finance. "And the Japanese government did not spend its money effectively, investing most of it into social infrastructure and building a number of while elephants." By Choi Sung-jin The concerns about mass bankruptcies of businesses that operated in the now-closed Gaeseong Industrial Complex (GIC) are becoming a reality. According to the council of GIC companies, 120 out of the total 123 businesses that operated there until its shutdown in February have since suffered combined losses of 815.2 billion won ($713.2 million) 568.8 billion won in fixed assets and another 246.4 billion won in liquid assets. The council officials said some 50 firms that had made most of their products at the inter-Korean factory park or whose entire manufacturing facilities were there appear to be experiencing crises of insolvencies. Except for about 10 relatively large companies listed on the stock exchange, most of the others should be seen in similar situations, they added. By most appearances, up to 70 of the GIC companies will have to close their businesses before long if the current situation continues, the council said. "We have yet to see a firm go bankrupt but too many of them have already suffered irreparable damages," a businessman at the council said. "The companies will first stop employing new workers and then begin to sell assets before going bankrupt." Even listed companies are faltering as their profitability rapidly deteriorates because of sharp increases in labor costs. For example, Cuckoo, a maker of electric rice cookers, had manufactured 900,000 units at its GIC plant annually, 10 percent of its total output. Since the industrial park's shutdown, it has beefed up manpower in two other local factories to meet demands from China, Vietnam and Malaysia. The sales figures in the first quarter are not in, but company executives are bracing up for a decrease in the company's bottom line. The Shinwon Group, an apparel maker that had made 12 percent of its total output at its GIC plant, has diversified its production to China and the Philippines, but is experiencing difficulties. Hit harder were some 90 suppliers of parts, materials and manpower, who do not even have the rights to demand compensation from the government, the council said. Government officials are not exactly sitting idle but their support measures appear to be falling far short of satisfying the owners of damaged businesses. In a press release Thursday, the government said it is working out steps to help protect the companies that operated in the GIC from diverse aspects of finance, job security, marketing and manufacturing bases, through varied agencies such as the Small and Medium Business Administration and the Ministry of Employment and Labor. "We have finished accepting their reports about damages and are examining them," said a government official. "Based on its results, the government is planning to provide support based on reasonable standards and principles that the public can understand and within limits that the government's budget allows." To prevent their possible bankruptcies, some government officials responsible for supervising corporate accounting practices have also suggested that the companies not reflect their losses resulting from the complex's shutdown on their financial statements immediately and record them on separate notes. "If they immediately reflect asset losses caused by the seizure of their plants and equipment by North Korea on their accounting books, many of these companies will fall into crises of impaired capital or bankruptcies," another official said. One company owner exploded in anger. "Even if we hide our losses, they do not disappear," exclaimed a CEO who had operated a company making leisure goods at the GIC. "If I cannot pay wages to my employees, the only thing left for me to do is to close my business." Another manager took issue with the government's one-sided decision to close the complex, saying, "How can businesses operate if the government betrays them without even prior notice," he said. "Even now, the government's armchair policymakers are trying to conceal the situation without coming up with real compensation plans." North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Su-yong had a brief, hand-shaking encounter with U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon at U.N. headquarters Friday as he attended a signing ceremony for a landmark climate agreement. Ri was the 76th representative to sign the "Paris Agreement," which was adopted in December to replace the Kyoto Protocol on climate change. After the signing at the podium of the U.N. General Assembly Hall, each participant shook hands with Ban. A smiling Ban welcomed Ri as he took steps to leave the podium after the signing, and the two shook hands. During the hand-shaking, Ban held Ri's right hand with both hands, while Ri put his left hand on the right arm of Ban in apparent gestures of affinity. While shaking hands, they talked to each other for some 13-14 seconds before posing for cameras. Each delegate made a three-minute speech on climate change, and Ri used the opportunity to criticize the U.S., arguing that social and political stability must be guaranteed in order to address global environmental problems, but what he calls U.S. nuclear war exercises are destabilizing the situation. Ri arrived in New York on Wednesday for a four-day trip. The visit has drawn keen media attention as it marks Ri's first since tensions spiked following the North's fourth nuclear test in January, its long-range rocket launch in February and the adoption of a new U.N. sanctions resolution last month. Ri last visited New York in September to attend the U.N. General Assembly. Speculation had arisen that the trip could provide opportunities for Ri to hold talks with U.S. officials, such as Secretary of State John Kerry amid growing concern that the North could conduct yet another nuclear test. But the State Department said Kerry has no plan to meet with Ri. Ri is not expected to hold a formal meeting with Ban either. An official of the North's mission to the U.N. said the North has not asked for a meeting with the U.N. chief. (Yonhap) By Park Si-soo The R.O.K Army and the U.S. Army are on emergency standby Saturday as North Korea is expected to carry out its fifth nuclear test in the days to come. They don't rule out the possibility that the provocation could happen this weekend -- as early as Saturday. Seoul and Washington are sharing related intelligence on a real time basis, while top nuclear envoys of South Korea and China are discussing a range of cooperative measures to thwart the North's nuclear test. American and South Korean military surveillance captured the movements showing that all preparations are complete at North Korea's Punggye-ri nuclear site, according to local news reports. Satellite imagery revealed that a significant number of vehicles along with other equipment was no longer visible at the site. That could mean the reclusive state has taken the final steps before conducting its next test. All personnel have been evacuated to safe areas, according to reports. North Korea launched what appeared to be a ballistic missile from a submarine in the East Sea Saturday, the South Korean military said. The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said North Korea fired a projectile that it believes was a submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) around 6:30 p.m. The JCS said it is keeping close tabs on the North Korean military while maintaining its readiness posture. The JCS didn't immediately say if the launch was a success. (Yonhap) The chief nuclear envoys of South Korea and China held talks on Friday as satellite images indicate that North Korea may be preparing to conduct its fifth nuclear test, possibly ahead of its key party congress early next month. Kim Hong-kyun, South Korea's Special Representative for Korean Peninsula Peace and Security Affairs, arrived in Beijing earlier in the day and began talks with his Chinese counterpart, Wu Dawei, said a South Korean diplomat who was involved in the Friday meeting. Before departing for Beijing, Kim told Yonhap News Agency by telephone that he and Wu will have an "in-depth exchange of views on a range of cooperative measures, including an earnest implementation of U.N. Security Council resolutions, how to curb North Korea's additional provocations and countermeasures in the event of a North Korean provocation." North Korea has been slapped with tough international sanctions following its fourth nuclear test in January and the launch of a long-range rocket in February. Defying sanctions and international condemnation, North Korea has vowed to carry out more nuclear tests and ballistic missile launches. Satellite images have shown that North Korea may have resumed tunnel excavation at its main nuclear test site. North Korea is gearing up for a key party congress early next month with some analysts saying that Kim Jong-un may think that a fifth nuclear test is needed to burnish his credentials ahead of the May event. On Thursday, Ambassador Sung Kim, the U.S. Special Representative for North Korea Policy, held talks with Wu in Beijing. Kim said the U.S. and China "remain united on our firm opposition to North Korea's provocative and irresponsible behavior." The U.S. and China "are deeply concerned" over signs of North Korea preparing for another nuclear test, Kim said, urging the North to refrain from making any such provocation. (Yonhap) North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Su-yong claimed Thursday that the communist nation had no choice but to develop nuclear weapons in order to cope with U.S. nuclear threats. Ri made the remark during a keynote speech at a high-level meeting of the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals at U.N. headquarters, claiming the U.S. is currently conducting what he calls nuclear war exercises on the Korean Peninsula, apparently referring to annual military exercises. "In order to remove nuclear threats, we tried dialogue and made efforts through international law, but everything went down the drain," Ri said. "The only thing left was to respond to nukes with nukes." Ri also said that sanctions on the North are a challenge to sustainable development, but the country won't give in to such measures. He also said that U.S. attempts to topple the North through an economic blockade are an expression of ignorance. Ri also said the North will make sure to get compensation for the U.S. hampering the North's sustainable development, and urged Washington to immediately end its "hostile policy" toward Pyongyang. The top North Korean diplomat arrived in New York for the signing of a historic U.N. climate agreement set for Friday. The trip has drawn keen media attention as it marks Ri's first since tensions spiked following the North's fourth nuclear test in January, its long-range rocket launch in February and the adoption of a new U.N. sanctions resolution last month. Ri last visited New York in September to attend the U.N. General Assembly. Speculation had arisen that the trip could provide opportunities for Ri to hold talks with U.S. officials, such as Secretary of State John Kerry amid growing concern that the North could conduct yet another nuclear test. But the State Department said Kerry has no plan to meet with Ri. Meanwhile, the White House said the U.S. remains open to dialogue, but the North should demonstrate its denuclearization commitment. "North Korea, frankly, just has not indicated any degree of seriousness about denuclearization," Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes said at a briefing in Saudi Arabia while accompanying President Barack Obama, according to a White House transcript. "We've said we'd be open to engagement with North Korea if they are serious about meeting their past commitments and moving towards the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. We've seen the opposite from the North Koreans in their behavior," he said. The Iranian nuclear deal shows "diplomacy can resolve these issues, but ultimately the North Koreans have not taken that path." (Yonhap) The U.S. Pacific Commands Air Contingent here requires its A-10C Thunderbolt IIs to be prepared for any situation, and maintenance personnel play a critical role in adapting to a new environment and launching aircraft at a nearly perfect rate. Every day our Airmen are out here are getting these aircraft 100 percent mission ready making sure they are capable of answering the call and executing the mission 24/7, said Master Sgt. Chad Everett, the 25th Aircraft Maintenance Unit production superintendent, Osan Air Base, Republic of Korea, from Springdale, Arkansas. "Being here at Clark AB is really about projecting PACOMs presence and accomplishing the mission when called upon." The Air Contingent was stood up at the invitation of the Philippine government, utilizing the Airmen and aircraft that were already in place at the conclusion of Balikatan. As such, the maintainers and crew were already familiar with operating in and around Clark AB, and were able to continue to foster the working relationships built with Philippine partners during the exercise. The presence of the A-10C and personnel here, and their combined ability to launch missions providing transparent air and maritime situational awareness, underscore the U.S. commitment to the Indo-Asia-Pacific region. This PACOM presence would not be possible without maintainers here providing mission-ready aircraft for the pilots to go out and execute the mission, Everett said. The Air Contingent is depending on our maintenance unit to provide jets that can fly those sorties and be able to project that presence throughout the region." "Without maintenance, these aircraft will not fly, Everett added. Maintenance specialists verify that every component of this high performance aircraft is maintained to the most exacting standards. This mission focus requires maintenance professionals from a range of career fields, including crew chiefs, avionics, propulsion, fuels, ammo, and many more, to come together with one succinct focus. Staff Sgt. Arrec Chetwood, a 25th Aircraft Maintenance Unit A-10 crew chief from San Antonio, Texas, explains how theyre pulling it off, every day. For us its all about building up a team and accomplishing every job, every mission, in a real way, he said. Chetwood said that a benefit of operating with the A-10C is that many of its parts are interchangeable left and right, including the engines, main landing gear and vertical stabilizers. Avionics equipment includes multi-band communications; Global Positioning System and inertial navigations systems; infrared and electronic countermeasures; and, a heads-up display to display flight information. "Were here to get the job done safe and as quick as possible while maintaining unit morale and camaraderieits challenging, but were doing it while supporting PACAFs commitment to the Indo-Asia-Pacific region, Chetwood said. The Air Contingents aircraft are only as good as the Airmen who maintain and fly them, said Col. Larry Card, Commander of the Air Contingent. "We definitely came together to ensure these aircraft are mission-ready even if we need to work 14-hour shifts, said Chetwood. The long hours puts a lot of strain on all these Airmen getting the job done, but were doing it, day in and day out and I cant thank them enough for their hard work and dedication to the mission." Business / Economy by Staff Reporter The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) has called on accountants to help authorities in stamping out illicit financial flows which prejudiced the economy US$1,8 billion in 2015.Illicit financial flows continue to pose a threat on efforts to retain cash.Speaking at the just-ended 3rd Zimbabwe Accountants Conference, RBZ Governor, Dr John Mangudya said professionals should help with policies to increase revenue inflows."We need people like you so that whatever you can do will translate into increased macro- economic activities," he said.Dr Mangudya said accountants must also monitor and ensure transparency on financial transactions.According to the central bank, US$1,8 billion was externalised by individuals and corporates last year through remittance of donations to oneself, offshore investments and externalisation of export sale proceeds by corporates. The SLFP does not condone the continuation of the Emergency Regulations (The Public Security Ordinance) more than a day necessary Read more PRESS RELEASE Obama Launches a New Effort To Turn ASEAN Against China April 21, 2016 (EIRNS)Obama this week launched his Southeast Asia Maritime Security Initiative (MSI), announced last summer but only now being funded. The plan is to put $425 million into military support for the seven ASEAN countries bordering the South China Sea, plus Taiwanaimed at winning joint support for Obamas confrontation with China. Much of the money is expected to go to the Philippines, where US Ambassador Philip Goldberg announced on Monday a $42 million package for an aerostat reconnaissance blimp and sensors for Philippine naval patrol vessels to help the US to identify and target Chinese ships. The MSI was initiated by Sen. John McCain, in his endless search for new wars, and promoted by Obamas Defense Secretary Ash Carter. In an interview with The Diplomat, Carter praised the Philippines as "one of the more forward-leaning among the four ASEAN claimants in the South China Sea disputes," and accused China of taking advantage of their weak military. Do the Philippines think a blimp is going to help them if Obama starts a war with China? PRESS RELEASE The General Kujat versus The Secretary Stoltenberg: After the NATO-Russia Council Meeting WIESBADEN, April 21, 2016 (EIRNS)Germanys tabloid Bild Zeitung is forced to acknowledge opposition, in the person of Gen. Harald Kujat (ret.), to NATOs reckless behavior in their report today on the Wednesday NATO-Russia Council meeting in Brussels. After the three-and-a-half-hour meeting, the paper asked, "Why are they even bothering to talk with Putin after Crimea and Russias support for Assad?" Kujat told Bild that "political and military predictability" was the basis for the partnership between NATO and Russia, and with the Ukraine crisis, "not to use the important instrument, the NATO-Russia Council (NRC), at the moment it was urgently needed, was a mistake." General Kujat became head of the NATO Military Committee in 2002, its highest military deliberative body, the same year the NRC was founded. That the NRC finally met, was a sign of rationality, Kujat said, but this has to be deepened quickly by a meeting at the Foreign Ministers level and then with the heads of state and government at the July NATO Summit in Warsaw. "And promising best success would be a direct discussion of Presidents Obama and Putin. ... The conflicts in Ukraine and Syria can only be solved by the United States and Russia," said Kujat, who had also been Bundeswehr Chief of Staff in 2000-2002. Bild cites NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg (whom General Kujat once noted, is merely a Secretary) saying there will be no return to normality and "todays meeting will not change that." General Kujat thinks otherwise, telling todays Neue Osnabrucker Zeitung, "Russia wants to be acknowledged as a great power along with the U.S.A., to be able to negotiate on a level playing field"; to which Bild added, "NATO should come into accord with this wish and establish the framework to solve the conflicts in the world." PRESS RELEASE Theres No Stopping the Campaign To Free the 28 Pages April 22, 2016 (EIRNS)The following press release was issued tocay by the Lyndon LaRouche Political Action Committee: Even as White House hack Ben Rhodes assured the Associated Press in Riyadh on Thursday that during President Obamas visit to Saudi Arabia "there was no discussion of the calls in the U.S. for the release of the 28 pages," the pressure builds to bring to light the role of Saudi Arabia (and perhaps not only Saudi Arabia) in the Sept. 11 attack which killed nearly 3,000 Americans. Friday saw the publication of editorials in the flagship New York Times and the popular national daily USA Today, demanding the release of the classified 28 pages. "The 28 pages should be released immediately," the Editorial Board of the Times stated in an editorial on "Unfinished Business From 9/11," which it illustrated with a catchy graphic of a big, bold seal reading: "EXPANDED Edition; 28 MORE Pages" stamped on the cover of the Joint Congressional Intelligence Committee report. Both the NY Times and USA Today give credence to the White Houses bogus opposition to passage of the bipartisan Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act (JASTA)now sponsored by 24 Senators, after Bernie Sanderss name appeared yesterday. But the USA Today editorial concludes: "Better to start by declassifying the infamous 28 pages and begin to publicly sort out what the Saudi role in 9/11 really was. Proof of Saudi government complicity would be a powerful argument for letting lawsuits proceed." Londons inimitable Daily Mail headlined on Thursday that former New York City Mayor "Rudy Guiliani Suggests Saudi Arabia WAS Involved in 9/11 Attacks and Reveals He Was Offered $10 Million By A Prince from the Gulf State As Obama Cozies Up to King Salman On Trip to the Middle East." Guiliani had told "Fox & Friends" of the incident, and insisted "the American people need to know exactly what was the role of the Saudi Arabian government in the attacks. We are entitled to know who killed our loved ones and who almost killed all of us." And the conservative American Spectator published a call to "Release Those 28 Pages Now"which also demurs on the JASTA bill, but says declassification of the chapter is urgent "immediately." Even former House Intelligence Committee chair Pete "Hoaxster" Hoekstra no longer opposes the release of the 28 pages, telling "Fox & Friends" on Friday morning that he doesnt PRESS RELEASE Grushko: The Problem Is NATO Expansion April 22, 2016 (EIRNS)NATO expansion was the focal point of the NATO-Russia Council meeting on April, of which the recent U.S.-Russia military encounters in the Baltic Se are but functions. "I will say without going deep into details that of course it was one of the main issues, as the military theme is the closest to the competences of the Russia-NATO Council and the aims it was set up for," Alexander Grushko, Russias Ambassador to NATO, told Rossiya 24 TV, yesterday. Grushko dismissed NATO countries demands for better mechanisms for regulating NATO-Russia military activities in close proximity to each other. "We said absolutely clearly that NATO is trying to put the cart before the horse," he said, adding that theres no lack of such instruments. "The problem is that from the mid-2000s, NATO started getting closer to our borders in military and military-infrastructural terms, exploring territories of new members, and after the Ukrainian crisis, or taking advantage of the Ukrainian crisis to be more exact, it moved to the policy of deterrence, which is expressed in concrete military construction measures," he went on. PRESS RELEASE Americans Are Killing Themselves at Increasing Rates, New Data Show April 22, 2016 (EIRNS)Yet another study has been published on the demographic implosion which the United States has undergone since the 1999 elimination of Franklin Roosevelts Hamiltonian Glass-Steagall Act, and the related economic and political policy shifts which followed under the Bush and Obama administrations. National Center of Health Statistics Data Brief No. 241, posted today on the Centers for Disease Control website, is shortand stark: "After a period of nearly consistent decline in suicide rates in the United States from 1986 through 1999, suicide rates have increased almost steadily from 1999 through 2014. While suicide among adolescents and young adults is increasing, and among the leading causes of death for those demographic groups, suicide among middle-aged adults is also rising." Rates have risen so sharply since the last federal report in 2013, that researchers issued this report to call attention to the problem, the New York Times reported. As one of the authors of the study, CDC statistician Sally Curtin, pointed out in an interview with NPR today, "the deaths are but the tip of the iceberg," since there are always many more suicide attempts than those in which people succeed in killing themselves. The overall suicide rate in the United States increased 24% over that period (from 10.5 suicides per 100,000 people in 1999, to 13 per 100,00 in 2014), "with the pace of increase greater after 2006," to an average annual percent increase of about 2% per year. The increase in the suicide rate occurred in all age brackets between 10 to 75 years, and for both males and females. As found in the recent studies documenting rising mortality rates generally, the increase in suicides in what should be one of the most productive age brackets, people aged 45-64, is horrific: suicides by women of that age increased by 63%; suicides by men, by 43%. The gender gap, where historically more men commit suicide than women, has narrowed. For example, suicides by women and girls between 10 and 75 rose by 45% since 1999, while the rate of suicide by males "only" rose by 16%. Suicide rates since 1999 for females aged 15-24, 25-44, and 65-74 ranged between 31% and 53%, the report states. And which female age group was found to have the largest increase? Girls aged 10 to 14, whose suicide rate rose by 200% during the time periodtripling from 0.5 per 100,000 in 1999 to 1.5 in 2014! As American statesman Lyndon LaRouche has emphasized again and again in recent months, such shocking figures are the result of the submission of the United States to a British imperial culture and economy which has robbed people of the meaning of their living. The LaRouche Political Action Committee issued its pamphlet, "The United States Joins the New Silk Road. A Hamiltonian Vision for An Economic Renaissance," precisely as a call to arms in the war to end this literally suicidal submission to that British system. The feverish excitement about Teslas promised Model 3, an all-electric plug-in sedan that will travel 200 miles or more a single charge and cost less than $35,000, has overshadowed Chevrolets coming Bolt EV, which will have about the same range and price point as the Model 3 but is likely to go on sale far earlier. We spoke with Shad Balch, Chevys manager of new product, about the Detroit giants electric car. Your Volt hybrid has a lot of admirers. Is there any concern that a 200-mile plug-in Bolt EV will cannibalize Volt sales? Advertisement These are different cars for different consumers. The Bolt EV will be the vehicle for someone who wants a daily driver that uses no fuel and produces no emissions. The Volt is for someone who still needs a car with a gasoline engine that can make that long drive. A report this week from Edmunds.com says that electric vehicle loyalty is at an all-time low that more and more people are trading in their hybrids and plug-ins for high-mileage compact cars and SUVs. Were at about the 100,000 mark for Volts sold and we are the No. 1 bestselling plug-in hybrid in the U.S. Were at the top of the customer satisfaction studies. Anecdotally, I know we have a lot of Volt customers waiting for their leases to expire so they can replace them with a new Volt. Still, with gasoline prices remaining stable and market penetration of electric vehicles of all kinds flat or falling, how do you convince more people to go electric? Thats the challenge. We have to get people to drive the car. Once they do, they realize its not just about the price of gas. Its about the performance the torque at zero RPM, the silence, the lack of vibration. These are things we try to engineer into gasoline-powered cars, but theyre all inherent in electric vehicles. Elon Musk is getting a lot of attention for his planned Tesla Model 3, even though the cars will not be delivered until at least late 2017. Does that help or hurt the Bolt EVs prospects? It helps. It helps the whole industry. Every story about the Model 3 includes a mention of the Bolt EV and our target date is ahead of theirs. Were on track. Pre-production models have rolled off the line about six weeks ago. We are on schedule to begin production at the end of this year, with deliveries to start immediately afterward. Some Tesla watchers wonder what kind of Model 3 Musk can deliver for $35,000, and believe that a fully loaded version will cost $50,000 or more. Will there be many trim levels of Bolts? Not really. There will be some options, but the base car will have most of our content and connectivity features, including active safety features. That will all be standard from the lower trim level. charles.fleming@latimes.com News / Africa by Staff Reporter MURDER suspect has been killed by a mob in Malawi's Chikwawa district after he allegedly killed a woman and ate part of her flesh.Nyasa Times reported that the gruesome murder, which took place in Liwonde village, was discovered after the suspect had chopped off the victim's head and disemboweled her, before eating her intestines and parts of her skin."It was a gruesome murder, you would not want to see the mutilated body," Rhoda Mawale, an officer at the Chikwawa police station was quoted as saying.Soon after the horrific crime, an angry mob approached the suspect and chased him down and killed him.The development marked a surge in the number of mob killings that have ravaged the southern African nation in the past months.An unknown man was recently reported to have been beaten to death after he was suspected of stealing in Balaka District.The man was said to have been found in a neighbour's house, following which he was severely beaten and left on nearby railway tracks, where he was run over by a train.The United Nations Commission of Human Rights has since condemned acts of mob justice in Malawi, calling on law agencies to bring culprits to book and sensitise citizens on the dangers of taking the law into their own hands. The dream of bringing single-payer healthcare to the United States is a hardy one. It's still with us despite years of disrespect by the general public, intense opposition from powerful stakeholders in the healthcare economic status quo, and the enactment of the very non-single payer system known as Obamacare. Should we give up on the dream, already? That's the question raised by a provocative recent article in the New England Journal of Medicine by Jonathan Oberlander, a political scientist and health policy expert at the University of North Carolina, one of the most percipient critics of the U.S. healthcare system. The enduring appeal of Medicare for All is understandable, given the fragmented, inequitable, costly, profit-driven, and wasteful nonsystem that prevails in the United States. Healthcare expert Jonathan Oberlander His regretful answer is yes. "Single-payer," he writes "has no realistic path to enactment in the foreseeable future. It remains an aspiration more than a viable reform program." Instead, he argues that "preserving and strengthening the ACA, as well as Medicare, and addressing underinsurance and affordability of private coverage" is "the best way forward now for U.S. medical care." Jonathan Oberlander of UNC says the best path to continued reform of U.S. healthcare is to build on Obamacare and Medicare, not pursue the single-payer dream. (UNC) (Test) Oberlander's words may trigger an uproar among single-payer advocates, and not merely because they're passionate about their goal and convinced that it's the only sure way of bringing universal coverage to the U.S., but because they're probably right. Anyone seeking a clue to how passionate they are need only examine the controversy ignited recently by one of our most dedicated single-payer advocates, the Los Angeles oncologist and biotech executive Paul Y. Song. Speaking at a New York rally for Bernie Sanders, the single-payer advocate running for the Democratic nomination for President, Song laced into the opponents of single-payer: "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," he said. The twitterverse decided he must have been calling Hillary Clinton a "whore," Sanders disavowed the statement, and Song issued a heartfelt apology. Song is someone I know well and respect as a serious student of healthcare policy and a valiant crusader for single-payer healthcare (we've shared panel appearances on this and other healthcare topics). He was unfairly pilloried for his terminology; having been present at many single-payer debates, I find it perfectly plausible that Song was referring generally to Democrats of little faith. (His wife, the journalist Lisa Ling, is a Clinton supporter.) Paul Y. Song at the fateful Sanders rally at which he gave Twitter users something new to get outraged about. (Getty Images) (Test) What's worse, his basic point got obscured once the social media outrage machine went into overdrive. It's a sound one and hardly subject to dispute: the obstacles to single-payer include "big pharma and the private insurance industry," along with political leaders who allow those industries' interests to control the policy discussion. It's a safe guess that Hillary Clinton, still bearing scars from her experience trying to get healthcare reform enacted during her husband's Administration, wouldn't disagree. Oberlander, for his part, is impressed that single-payer is at least back on the debate floor, thanks in part to Sanders, whose platform includes Medicare-for-all. I've analyzed the Sanders proposal critically, while acknowledging that single-payer deserves to be front-and-center in any discussion of U.S. healthcare reform. Many healthcare experts faulted Sanders for failing to accept that the American political system simply isn't going to get over its hostility to single-payer any time soon. Oberlander's point is that a fixation on single-payer threatens to become a distraction from efforts to preserve the gains already made and enact achievable advances in reform. 689126219170750464 The irony is that Oberlander acknowledges that "the enduring appeal of Medicare for All is understandable, given the fragmented, inequitable, costly, profit-driven, and wasteful nonsystem that prevails in the United States." He notes, too, the failure (so far) of Obamacare to bring relief to the unaffordability of medical treatment for many Americans and the presence of a population of uninsureds that still numbers 30 million. But aspiring to solve these problems via single-payer healthcare isn't enough, he argues. "Single-payer supporters have not articulated a convincing strategy for overcoming the formidable obstacles that stand in its way." Medicare for All "would trigger fierce resistance from conservatives and the business community and anxiety in many insured Americans fearful about changing coverage and the specter of rationing" Oberlander writes. "The ACAs comparatively conservative reform approach inspired false charges of 'socialized medicine,' 'pulling the plug on grandma,' and 'death panels.' It takes only a little imagination or a look back at the history books to predict the reactions that an actual single-payer plan would evoke." He might have added that enactment of Medicare for all would intensify, rather than quell, the politicization of healthcare in the U.S. To quote again healthcare policy expert Harold Pollack, as we did in our analysis of the Sanders proposal: "Imagine the national policy debate over abortion, contraception, HIV prevention, immigration policy, and other matters in a national Medicare plan." No rational expert on healthcare doubts that some form of single-payer is the best device for true healthcare reform in the U.S.--although as Oberlander notes, there are almost as many forms of single-payer in existence as there are countries that claim to apply it, from Britain's government-owned healthcare system to Canada's privately-owned but government-insured system, to the hybrid versions in Germany and Switzerland. Oberlander believes that some incremental steps toward single-payer are "conceivable" but that a viable full-scale transformation is simply not currently foreseeable. He's not so far apart from some of single-payers' most dedicated advocates, many of whom take the long view. The possible paths are many, but the goal beckons from the very distant future. What drives the single-payer dream is an essential truth, articulated for me a few years ago by the late Arnold Relman, the reformist former editor of the New England Journal of Medicine: "It's the only logical solution." Keep up to date with Michael Hiltzik. Follow @hiltzikm on Twitter, see his Facebook page, or email michael.hiltzik@latimes.com. Return to Michael Hiltzik's blog. When picking up a box of cheese rolls, potato balls or a cake at Portos Bakery & Cafe, two things are always guaranteed: The lines will be long and the food affordable. There cannot be one without the other. Portos, a Southern California mainstay responsible for catering generations of family parties, birthdays and quinceaneras, attracts hordes of customers by selling pastries that cost about $1 but taste like you paid more. But to make a profit, Portos needs to sell a lot of those pastries. Advertisement How many? In March, the chain dished out nearly 520,000 potato balls and more than a million cheese rolls in its three locations of Glendale, Burbank and Downey combined. If we dont have the volume, we have to raise prices, said Betty Porto, 57, one of three siblings who run the family business founded by their Cuban emigre parents. That willingness to embrace the crowds is a chief reason the bakery has thrived for four decades, fending off national chains, recessions and low-carb fads along the way. But there also comes a point when the lines get too long and begin driving customers away. Thats why the family is expanding once again, preparing to open its first new store since 2010 in Buena Park later this year before adding another one in West Covina in 2017. Each new bakery typically reduces crowds at existing stores about 7%, Porto said. Expanding also helps keep costs down. The bigger the business gets, the easier it is to demand lower prices for ingredients. The chain is such a huge buyer of flour, sugar, eggs, butter and fruit that it can also cut deals with its suppliers to deliver daily. That lowers storage costs and reduces the likelihood that inventory will spoil and go to waste. See more of our top stories on Facebook >> We dont buy flour bags, we buy flour by the truckful, said Porto, a rosy-cheeked mother of two college-aged children who often has to wear a back brace to account for the hours she spends on her feet in her familys bakeries. Portos has grown into an amalgamation of a mom-and-pop business and a finely tuned corporate chain like the Cheesecake Factory. The family hired a consultant years ago to calibrate its business operations. It installed greeters with earpieces and walkie-talkies to direct customers to the correct lines. And the chains nearly 1,000 employees are deployed using software that projects sales in 30-minute intervals so that managers know how many workers they need. Mara Serrano fries potato balls at Portos Bakery & Cafe in Glendale. In March, the chain dished out nearly 520,000 potato balls in its three locations. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) If you need two people for a job, then you only use two people, Porto said. You dont go around wasting labor because thats going to cost you money and whos going to pay for that? The customers. The family wont disclose revenue at the private business, but says growth has been steady. Thats why Portos is expanding and considering selling frozen pastries online to reach fans who live out of state or those unwilling to wait in line for a bite. Its not just long lines the family is sensitive about. In car-centric L.A., parking remains one of the biggest challenges for the business. The bakery benefits from several city parking structures in Glendale, but it has no such luxury in Burbank. So Portos bought the building next door to its bakery just for its allotted parking spaces. In Downey, the family built a multi-story garage. SIGN UP for the free California Inc. business newsletter >> Thats important for regulars like Felicite Paz and her husband Jorge, who drive an hour once a week from their home in Pomona to eat lunch at Portos in Glendale. Ill eat anything here, Felicite Paz, 64, said over a plate with chicken pie, a potato ball and an empanada. Jose Pose and his wife Adela are just as dedicated customers. This place is like religion for us. We come here once a week like church. Jose Pose, a Pasadena retiree This place is like religion for us, said Jose Pose, 74, a Pasadena retiree who had his daughters wedding cake made at Portos. We come here once a week like church. The food at Portos is based on the favorites family members grew up eating in Cuba before their lives were upended by the rule of Fidel Castro. Betty Portos mother, Rosa Porto, lost her job as a manager at a cigar distributor. Her father, Raul Porto, was sent to a labor camp. The family survived by baking cakes and selling them through word of mouth. Customers had to share their rations for eggs and sugar to make the desserts. They paid by bartering chickens or beans. After being wait-listed for eight years, the Porto family left its hometown of Manzanillo for the U.S. in 1971 under a program known as the Freedom Flights. Miami was already saturated with Cuban immigrants, so the family was sent to L.A. penniless and in need of work. Raul Porto got a job as a janitor at a Van de Kamp Bakery in Glassell Park. Rosa Porto started baking cakes for fellow Cubans and neighbors in Silver Lake. Demand grew so much and space was so limited at home that the kids beds had to be covered in tablecloths for makeshift counter space. My mother would flip cakes all night so we couldnt go to bed, Betty Porto said. In 1976 and with a $5,000 loan, the family opened its first storefront, a 300-square-foot bakery in a strip mall on the corner of Sunset and Silver Lake boulevards. A little boy admires the colorful pastries as his mother places an order at Portos Bakery & Cafe in Glendale. The bakery has thrived for four decades, fending off national chains, recessions and low-carb fads along the way. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) There are several items that put Portos on the map: meringue-frosted Cuban cake, meat pies, chicken empanadas, potato balls, ham croquettes and guava and cheese pies. But given L.A.'s diversity, the family began expanding the menu to include Mexican treats and European desserts. We were getting Filipino, Mexican and Salvadoran customers, Betty Porto said. We were running out of space. In 1982, Portos moved to Brand Boulevard in Glendale. That was the business only location until the family opened its second store in Burbank in 2005. Five years later, Portos opened its third location in Downey. The next generation of children is already being groomed to take over the pastry empire. Two are already working at the business. Betty Porto and her siblings are encouraging the others to work somewhere else first before potentially joining Portos. We want them to work somewhere else so they know theres a chain of command everywhere you go, said Betty Porto, who has a masters degree in political science from UCLA and was aiming to become a lawyer before deciding to join the family business. You cant just come here and be successful without having the right tools because everyone will be looking at them for leadership. Transitioning a family business to the next generation isnt easy, said Ken Ude, director of the USC Marshall Family Business Program. Only 30% of family-run companies make it as far as Portos has, handing off a business from the first generation to the second. Only 12% make it to third generation and less than 5% make it to the fourth generation. It gets more complicated from one generation to the next. Its not always like Portos, where the kids see how hard their parents work and choose to work just as hard. Ken Ude, director of the USC Marshall Family Business Program It gets more complicated from one generation to the next, Ude said. Its not always like Portos, where the kids see how hard their parents work and choose to work just as hard. Its a hell of a brand with scrappy customer service, he added. Clearly theyre all on the same page. The rise of national chains like Panera Bread, Corner Bakery Cafe and Au Bon Pain doesnt faze Betty Porto. Those brands serve a niche, she said, but they dont come close to having the tradition that Portos commands with the families that have braved the lines for years. You come to Portos, I can make a cake for your childs first birthday, her communion, her baptism and her quinceanera, she said. I can marry her off and then the next generation starts. david.pierson@latimes.com Twitter: @dhpierson ALSO Uber drivers have mixed reactions to $100 million settlement Dozens of Kmart and Sears stores to close, including four in California Value of Princes $300-million estate is expected to soar in coming years In Los Angeles, Picasso and Warhol pieces dont hang just in museums they grace the walls in extravagant open houses. At real estates most rarefied level, when homes are selling for $10 million or more, youre not going to be putting up Z Gallerie pieces anymore, said Billy Rose, president of the Agency in Los Angeles. Instead, elite home stagers coordinate with art galleries to rent original art pieces to use during home showings. Like the houses themselves, the art is for sale. Advertisement Realtors and galleries say its a win-win: The pieces make the homes feel more luxurious and one-of-a-kind, and the art is more likely to be sold if its brought to a place where wealthy buyers are sure to pass through. When staging a newly renovated estate in Pacific Palisades on the site of President Ronald Reagans former home, the developers brought in Picasso sketches, works by David Hockney and Donald Sultan, a Vija Celmins ocean lithograph and two Ethan Murrow drawings. The house was redone to appeal to a buyer with a deep affinity for the Golden State, so nearly all of the pieces reference California or classic Western imagery, said Janus Cercone, principal of Los Angeles-based Jaman Properties. Rare art rentals from places such as Jason Vass Gallery in L.A. and Hamilton Selway Gallery in West Hollywood are in line with other open house practices designed to help sell a luxe lifestyle: the vintage prestige cars sitting in the garage, the lavish custom furnishings and the catered champagne-and-caviar parties. Although the artwork is lent without charge, Cercone said she spends tens of thousands of dollars on insurance, professional art packers, transporters and installers, not to mention around-the-clock armed security. It adds up, said Paul Lester, principal partner at the Agency. But it definitely creates a secondary level of depth and gives more credibility to the house itself because theres a richness to it, a fullness you dont get from a lot of the staging art you see. He said the lighting and appeal of multimillion-dollar spaces provide the perfect venue for exquisite artwork. Its like a gallery, he said, because when the art is in a space like that, its so beautiful it speaks. In many cases, it begs to be taken home. Ive seen the art sell to the person buying the house, and also to the person selling, Lester said. And Ive had the experience where a potential buyer isnt right for the house, but they come back for the art. After one recent open house that Cercone held, film producer and director Shawn Levy didnt make an offer but purchased a couple of Warhols, as well as pieces by Ellsworth Kelly and Robert Rauschenberg. You never know what will sell, said Cercone, who noted that Realtors do not take commissions on purchased artwork. Some buyers appreciate the vision buying the furniture, art, accessories, even the potted plants.. She said she has been offered art reproductions for staging purposes with the suggestion that no one will be able to tell the difference, but we believe our buyer will absolutely know. If we put ourselves in their position, wed have to ask: If theres fake art on the walls, what else isnt authentic? hotproperty@latimes.com Walk into Roberts & Tilton gallery in Culver City and you will stumble into a murder scene. A man lies dead in a bathtub. His wild-eyed assailant stands behind him, knife in hand, ready to strike again in case the deed is not done. Another figure reaches toward the murderer, futilely trying to put a stop to the death that has just transpired. The ghastly scene is a sculptural installation by Los Angeles artist Daniel Joseph Martinez that riffs on one of the most famous paintings in Western history: Jacques-Louis Davids late 18th century masterpiece The Death of Marat, which depicts the bloody assassination of the French revolutionary thinker Jean-Paul Marat in his bathtub. Advertisement The unsettling aspects of Martinezs grisly installation dont end there. Each of the three sculptures bears the same face that of the artist for a tableaux that feels as much like a surreal nightmare as it does a forensic replay of one of the most well-known murders of the last 500 years. To add to the drama, the piece is flanked by bleachers. Sit down to take it all in and you help transform this violent act into theater. Choose to stand around and youre on stage with victim and murderer, a character in a play about politics and violence. It is the sort of delirious move that Martinez is known for: A piece that shocks as much as entangles the viewer. This is an attempt to look at who we are through our barbaric acts, says Martinez, seated on one of his bleachers. We are complicit. If we cant admit that, how will we make the world a better place? Gallery founder Bennett Roberts describes the installation as a curious art historical memento mori: Its troubling and fascinating. It breaks the mold. Breaking the mold is something the artist has done for decades. Martinez, 59, has a rugged face and sleeve tattoos, which give him the aspect of road-weary rocker, one who, in casual conversation might drop references to French philosophy and quantum physics. Throughout his career, he has created conceptual works that confuse and provoke through a wide range of ideas and materials. In 2005, he paired white, minimalist paintings with wall text of unidentified extracts from Adolf Hitlers Mein Kampf. The series, for San Antonios Artpace, toyed with minimalist precepts as much as questions of race and power. Two years later, for the Cairo Biennial, he created an animatronic version of himself experiencing death-like spasms. The installation (later shown at the Orange County Museum of Art in Newport Beach) was inspired, in part, by a scene in Blade Runner, where a robot replicant short circuits and expires. Titled Call Me Ishmael, The Fully Enlightened Earth Radiates Disaster Triumphant (a phrase taken, in part, from the writings of 20th century German philosopher Theodor Adorno), the sculpture was arranged so that the viewer stood over the flailing figure a perspective that generated simultaneous sensations of power and helplessness. There is something about watching your own death ... says Martinez, trailing off as he describes the experience of watching his rubber doppelgangers enduring such visceral moments. But the work for which he is perhaps best known consists of just a handful of words. For the 1993 Whitney Biennial in New York, Martinez created a series of museum admission badges that, when put together, read, I Cant Imagine Ever Wanting to Be White. The piece stirred outrage and generated critical drubbings. Time magazines Robert Hughes described them as a cute one-liner. Another critic wrote of the show: White is bad, were told here, or utterly uninteresting. Was this a sensational act of race-baiting? Or simply a statement of affirmation by someone who cant imagine being something they are not? In typical Martinez fashion, the works ultimate significance lies with the viewer, whose own views on race inform its ultimate meaning. For the artist, who is Mexican American, it was a response, in part, to a common rhetorical question hed heard over the course of his life. Stuff like, Who would want to be Mexican? or Who would want to be black? he explains. His badges were intended to serve as an interruption of a hegemony. More than two decades after its debut, the badges are the rare biennial piece whose implications the art world is still trying to pick apart. Born and bred in Los Angeles, Martinez is an artist who has always been intrigued by difficult and complex ideas. Teachers at a Catholic high school helped cultivate a love for a whole librarys worth of subjects, including art, history, philosophy and literature. Im a voracious reader, and I have a natural hunger for knowledge, he says. But they really beat it into me. This profound intellectualism was something he further delved into at the California Institute of the Arts in the 1970s, where his undergraduate professors were figures such as Michael Asher, a pioneer of conceptual art. (In 1970, Asher quite famously reconfigured the walls of the art gallery at Pomona College, leaving a section of it open to the elements 24 hours a day a piece that transformed the nature of a once-exclusive space.) "[Asher] offered the idea of post-studio, that you could have ideas that werent confined to studio art, says Martinez. That things were driven by ideas and that you then look for the right form by which to communicate that idea. This mind-opening experience was followed by a spell working as a studio assistant for German conceptualist Klaus Rinke, a protege of the influential German artist and theorist Joseph Beuys. He taught me what Beuys was about, says Martinez of Rinke, that the line between teaching and art was nonexistent and that all art was political. The experimental ethos he inherited from his mentors has marked his own practice, one that has been driven by ideas over commerce. Martinez isnt the sort of artist to crank out pretty prints for a fair. Over his career, he has photographed incarcerated juveniles and created a series of grotesque photographic self-portraits in which he appears to be dismembering his own body (and therefore his ego) an uncanny visual feat accomplished with the help of Hollywood film prosthetics. (He frequently works with Patrick Magee of the special effects house MageeFx.) From 1997 to 2002, he helped run an alternative art space in downtown Los Angeles with fellow artists Glenn Kaino, Rolo Castillo and Tracey Schiffman called Deep River. Among other things, the space gave painter Mark Bradford, who will represent the U.S. at next years Venice Biennale, his first show. Like Beuys, teaching has been an important part of Martinezs intellectual equation. For 25 years, he has helped shape a generation of students at UC Irvine, where he counts now-established artists, such as sculptor Ruben Ochoa and installation artist Kori Newkirk, among his graduates. Juan Capistran, a conceptual artist whose work has been shown at the L.A. County Museum of Art and the Hammer Museum, says he pursued his MFA at UC Irvine specifically to work with Martinez. His influence is clear, he states via email. Ive learned to push the work, take leaps sometimes not successful shift gears, always trying to produce work that transcends and operates in a wider context. These are the same exacting demands Martinez places on his own art. For his current installation, the artist isnt just updating a famous 18th century painting into some sculptural meme. He is taking on the larger issues that shaped Davids work when it was made and how it has shaped culture since. There is, to begin with, the historical context of the painting the French Revolution which Martinez believes speaks to our own political moment. You couldnt have had more inequity than you had during the French Revolution, he explains. It was a revolt against aristocracy, the abuse of the king and queen, which was so extreme. Plus David wasnt just a painter, he was a participant. If you drink hemlock, I shall drink it with you. Thats what he said to [Revolutionary leader Maximilien] Robespierre as he was led to the guillotine. The exhibitions incredibly unwieldy, if poetic, title is drawn, in part, from this expression of solidarity: If You Drink Hemlock, I Shall Drink It With You or A Beautiful Death; player to player, pimp to pimp. (As performed by the inmates of the Asylum of Charenton under the direction of the Marquis de Sade.) Its a mouthful. Other aspects of the installation refer to other historical and cultural elements. The bleachers that transform Roberts & Tilton into a mini-theater allude to the plays that the infamous Marquis de Sade (also a revolutionary) used to stage while interned in a mental asylum. They also nod to a 1963 play by German author Peter Weiss, known as Marat/Sade, that imagined a play about Marats death as written by the Marquis and staged in the asylum of Charendon. My piece is an interpretation of all of those interpretations, says Martinez albeit an interpretation that features cast copies of Martinez as both murderer and victim. These are so realistically produced, down to the human hairs on their arms, that it can feel uncommonly eerie to stand in the gallery chatting with Martinez as his silicone copies stab each other just over his shoulder. In its own gory way, the piece takes the viewer back to the birth of modern democracy, to the French Revolution, where thousands died under the blade of the guillotine in the name of freedom. For me it seems useful to think back and mix up history, says Martinez. How do we know who we are and what we are going to be if we dont know what we were? History has a way of idealizing events such as revolutions. Martinez reminds us that they are drenched in the basest of human instincts. Roberts, who has worked with the artist for roughly half a dozen years, says the works challenging nature is part of what makes it so intriguing. Daniel is forcing the darkest side of possibility on the future, he says. His forte is that he makes us all responsible for things that we often negate are part of our responsibility. Martinez wouldnt have it any other way. I get to make art its a privilege, he says. Why do it if theres not a higher purpose? As in his other work, that exact purpose, however, always remains just a bit enigmatic, something for the viewer to untangle as they take their seat in the artists carefully constructed asylum. Daniel Martinez, If You Drink Hemlock, I Shall Drink it with You or A Beautiful Death; player to player, pimp to pimp. (As performed by the inmates of the Asylum of Charenton under the direction of the Marquis de Sade), at Roberts & Tilton. On view through May 21. 5801 Washington Blvd., Culver City, robertsandtilton.com. Find me on Twitter @cmonstah. News / Africa by Agencies Cape Town - EFF leader Julius Malema said during a televised interview that if the ANC continues to respond violently to peaceful protests "we'll remove this government through the barrel of a gun".During an episode of Talk To Al Jazeera, Malema told Al Jazeera's Jonah Hull that if the ruling ANC continues to respond violently to peaceful protests: "We'll run out of patience very soon and we'll remove this government through the barrel of a gun."At the beginning of the interview Hull asked Malema how far he was willing to go in his "war" against President Jacob Zuma and reminded him of his 2014 threat to make the entire Gauteng province ungovernable."'We'll fight," you said. 'We've the capability to mobilise our people and fight physically," Hull said. "That's not befitting of a government in waiting, is it?""We know for a fact that Gauteng ANC rigged elections here," Malema replied."We know for a fact that they lost Johannesburg and they lost Gauteng. But we still accepted it. But they must know that we're not going to do that this year. We're not going to accept. Part of the revolutionary duty is to fight and we're not ashamed if the need arise for us to take up arms and fight. We'll fight."This regime must respond peacefully to our demands, must respond constitutionally to our demands. And if they're going to respond violently like they did in the township of Alexandra, just outside Johannesburg, when people said these results don't reflect the outcome of our votes, they sent the army to go and intimidate our people we're not going to stand back. Zuma isn't going to use the army to intimidate us. We're not scared of the army. We're not scared to fight. We'll fight."Hull asked Malema to clarify this. "When you say you're willing to take up arms, that's what you mean?"Malema responded: "Yeah, literally. I mean it literally. We're not scared. We're not going to have a government that disrespects us."Hull: "And on what basis, under which circumstances? If they respond violently to our peaceful protest."Malema said: "We're a very peaceful organisation. We fight our battles through peaceful means, through the courts, through parliament, through mass moblisation. We do that peacefully. But at times, government gets tempted to respond to such with violence. They beat us up in parliament and they send soldiers to places like Alexandra where people are protesting. We'll run out of patience very soon and we'll remove this government through the barrel of a gun."Earlier, Malema had denied that Zuma was his primary concern."We're not waged in a war against Zuma and the ANC. We're waging a war against white monopoly capital. Zuma isn't our enemy. The ANC isn't our enemy. Theyre standing in our way to crushing white monopoly capital, which has stolen our land, which controls the wealth of our country. As we are in the process of crushing the white monopoly capital, there will be some of those irritations that we have to deal with. Zuma represents such an irritation; the ANC represents such an irritation."The 28-minute interview premieres on Al Jazeera English tomorrow at 21:30 CAT. I finally got the go-ahead early last week. Silicon Valley billionaire Vinod Khosla was willing to talk to me about why hes been fighting for six years to keep the public off its own beach near Half Moon Bay. I had plenty of questions. Khosla, a co-founder of technology giant Sun Microsystems and a major Silicon Valley venture capitalist, is an intriguing character. President Obama has visited his estate in Portola Valley, on the eastern slope of the Santa Cruz Mountains, and Khosla has been a huge donor to Obamas and other politicians campaigns. For a while there, his financial and intellectual contributions to the clean technology movement had people calling him an eco-hero. He has pledged half his wealth to charity. Advertisement But few have a charitable view of what hes doing at Martins Beach near Half Moon Bay. Public access is blocked at Martins Beach, owned by billionaire Vinod Khosla. (Steve Lopez / Los Angeles Times) Khosla doesnt even live on his 89-acre coastal spread, but hes locked the gates and hired attorneys and lobbyists to keep people from fishing, surfing, doing yoga or so much as contemplating sand dollars along a shoreline that belongs to the public. This, despite a century or more of access before Khosla bought the property for $32 million in 2008. Ive been to Martins Beach and Id like to go back again, so I was eager to understand Khoslas thinking. Just before my flight north, though, Khoslas lobbyist called to say that the billionaires attorney wanted the interview to be off the record. See more of our top stories on Facebook >> To my relief, the lobbyist former California Coastal Commissioner Rusty Areias added that Khosla himself might feel differently. So I flew north and drove to Khosla Ventures near Stanford University, shook Khoslas hand and sat down to chat. It was a short conversation. Khosla spoke for no more than a minute or two before saying that every word out of his mouth was off the record. What do you have to hide? I asked. Khosla said that if he spoke openly to me, hed have to speak to 20 other reporters. Really? He also said that a number of Martins Beach matters are in litigation. Sure, but I also wanted to talk to him about issues not tied up in court, such as why he bought the property if hes not living on it, and what he plans to do with it. I wasnt there on a social call, after all, and had nothing to gain from hearing him say things I wouldnt be allowed to print. Khosla grew increasingly irritated and told me I could take or leave his terms. He was a busy man, he said. I gathered up my things and left. Then, spotting him again on my way to the parking lot, I told him that I, too, happen to be a busy man. Interested in the stories shaping California? Sign up for the free Essential California newsletter >> But not so busy that I dont have time to offer Khosla some advice: There are few things Californians feel more passionately about than their coast, so cut your losses and quit running up the bill taxpayers will have to pay for battling you in court. Perhaps youre thinking of fighting this to the U.S. Supreme Court, or angling for a favorable resolution from the six or seven political hacks currently holding forth on the 12-member California Coastal Commission board. But the longer it drags out, the more you lose. Because even if your stubbornness, money and clout prevail, youll be the billionaire who pledges generosity but practices petty elitism. Speaking of generosity, I offer these suggestions free of charge. And, to be fair, Khoslas perspective is not lost on me. Ive read the legal arguments. As he sees it, the Deeney family, from whom he bought the property, allowed visitors in for the price of a parking fee, making beach access a commercial and private enterprise rather than a public right. Khosla did the same thing from 2008 and 2010, but business wasnt great, and he didnt appreciate having San Mateo County officials telling him he still had to open the gate despite liability costs, beach erosion and the deteriorating parking lot. San Mateo County and California Coastal Commission officials told Khoslas team before and after his purchase that he must provide access. Instead, he closed the gate without the required permit and ignored a San Mateo County judges ruling that he open it. Martins Beach ... has never been open to public access, Khosla wrote in a 2014 op-ed in the San Francisco Chronicle. It hasnt? The Coastal Commission conducted a survey and heard from hundreds of Californians who have visited Martins Beach for decades, often for no fee at all, to celebrate special events or to simply soak up the wonder of a great treasure. The fabulous yellowed photos they sent in, now part of the public record, pay homage to one of the most strikingly beautiful sandy beach coves on the Central Coast. The state Constitution and the California Coastal Act demand maximum possible access to the shoreline, and at the very least, wet sand and open water are owned by each and every one of us, even where those beaches abut private land. Frankly, I can see a way out of this for Khosla. Since he pledged to give up half his wealth to charitable causes, why not donate Martins Beach to the state and be a hero to the people in return for a fat tax credit? The property has a few dozen cabins, so he could make Martins Beach a kind of Crystal Cove North. Or he can hold on to his property but negotiate a reasonable price for a beach access route with the California Lands Commission, rather than having the state grab the beach through eminent domain. On that point, Khoslas arrogance runs as deep as the Marianas Trench. He told the state hed be happy to sell a small slice of his property so that people can get to the beach again. For a mere $30 million. Thats about what he paid for the entire 89-acre property. What a deal. The state doesnt have the money to maintain parks enjoyed by millions of Californians and visitors from around the world, and a billionaire venture capitalist wants to gouge us for a fraction of his expansive spread. I guess Ill never know what Khosla would have told me. But heres what I want to say: Wealthy landowners have already fenced off far too much of Californias glorious coast, and each new loss of access robs people of their right to enjoy a slice of paradise. Thats on the record, by the way. steve.lopez@latimes.com Twitter: @LATstevelopez ALSO Californias next senator could be a Latina. Will her past mistakes get in the way? L.A. city and county polls diverge sharply in support for funding homelessness programs Volunteers remove tons of trash from Los Angeles River as Earth Month cleanup continues Taline Arsenian walked through the doors of her Glendale middle school classroom 16 years ago expecting to teach her usual math class of 35 students. When the bell rang, she saw nearly half of the class was absent. Then she remembered the date: April 24, a day observed in recognition of the Armenian genocide. As the years went by, more students, both Armenians and non-Armenians, began missing school on that date. Advertisement Arsenians family came from an Armenian village that is now part of Turkey. Her grandparents were survivors of an event that left more than 1 million Armenians dead. As a teenager, she shared a bedroom with her grandmother, who told her stories of how her ancestors were deported and her homeland was taken over. And for decades, Armenians struggled for recognition around the globe that a genocide had been perpetrated against their people. It hits very close to home, said Arsenian, 49. When you hear that denial and its part of your family tree, its very personal. All I have to do is follow my family tree to see its interrupted by genocide. All I have to do is follow my family tree to see its interrupted by genocide. Taline Arsenian, middle school teacher This year, Glendale Unified became the first school district in the country to establish a day in remembrance of the genocide, which began in 1915 and resulted in the death of 1.5 million Armenians at the hands of the Ottoman Turks. Schools will now close on any weekday when its April 24 in memory of the Armenian genocide. Southern California is home to the largest Armenian community outside of Armenia, and Glendale has long been seen as a kind of Armenian cultural mecca. People of Armenian descent make up about 40% of Glendales 210,000 residents. The city remains a point of entry for Armenian immigrants and each year, as April 24 approaches, locals drape Armenian flags over the hoods of their cars, wave them from their car windows and hang them from their businesses. Most stores post signs in both English and Armenian telling customers they will be closed in remembrance of the genocide. Establishing the holiday in the schools is part of a larger effort in the heavily Armenian city to keep the memory of the genocide alive at a time when few survivors remain. Armenian Americans are hoping to make progress on the local level after losing an emotional bid last year to have the U.S. government officially recognize the genocide. More than 20 countries have recognized the genocide, according to a list maintained by the Armenian National Institute. President Obama has not called the massacre a genocide since he took office, despite campaign trail promises to do so and heavy lobbying by the Armenian community. Administration officials have said Obama made a necessary decision, crucial to the U.S. alliance with Turkey. Despite this, more than 40 states including California have recognized the genocide, according to the institute. As ethnic Armenians worldwide mark the 101st anniversary of the genocide, Glendales Armenians are celebrating the school districts decision as a small step in the decades-long battle for recognition. Since the 2013-2014 school year, students and teachers in Glendale have been given the day off on April 24, an unofficial acknowledgment that so many would be out anyway. Glendale has been my home for 25 years, and to know that an elected body in my city has acknowledged an Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day is very significant, Arsenian said. Glendale Unified school board member Greg Krikorian said that when he was growing up in Hartford, Conn., people would ask him who the Armenian people were. They hadnt heard of Armenia, let alone the genocide. It brings relevance to it, said Krikorian, whose grandparents became orphans after the killings. It is a victory if we can educate more students and children and faculty on what really happened. He added: My personal family is very small because of what the Ottoman Turks did. Armenians regard the tragedy that took place in 1915 as part of an organized, orchestrated effort by the Ottoman Turkish government. Historians have characterized what happened as a precursor of and even a model for genocides that followed, including Adolf Hitlers systematic slaughter of European Jews and other groups decades later. Turkey disputes that a genocide happened, but other countries, including Canada, France and Italy, use the term. In recent years, the Armenian communitys goal has shifted from mere recognition to a call for reparations. Outside Glendale High School on Friday morning, many Armenian American students wore shirts commemorating the genocide that read: Our wounds are still open. 1915. Arpi Badlians father was born in Armenia, she said, and he taught her to stand in solidarity with the community at an early age. She said shes been marching in remembrance rallies since she was 10. The 17-year-old said shes grateful for the districts decision to commemorate the day on the calendar. In this world, we aim for equality, she said. Jesika Kubesarian and her brother, David, said they plan to march in a rally Sunday. Their grandmother always spoke about the genocide, Jesika said, but never talked about the people she knew and lost. You march to appreciate the days they didnt have. Every day we walk, we know they deserved to be in our shoes, to live and not die, Jesika, 14, said of the victims. The generation who survived the genocide taught us to be strong. Astghik Hakobyan, president of the Armenian Student Assn. at Glendale Community College, called the districts decision absolutely perfect. My fathers grandparents were genocide survivors. I always heard their stories when I was little. It gave me goose bumps, Hakobyan, 21, said. Her great-grandparents became orphans after the attacks. There is no Armenian in the world who doesnt have a relative that was affected by the genocide. At Sevana Gifts on Glendale Avenue, keychains decorated with the Armenian flag hang on Serop Shahbazians counter. Come Sunday, the 59-year-olds store will be closed. He said he was glad that Glendale schools would close in memory of the genocide. We dont say, This is not important because its a school, Shahbazian said as a woman rushed to the register and asked if he had any flags left. He handed the woman two flags, then continued: This is not a movie. Its our reality. Its pain and its hurt. sarah.parvini@latimes.com Twitter: @sarahparvini ALSO Allegations flowing in against the surfer gang of Lunada Bay Newborn baby boy is mauled to death by family dog in Mira Mesa Value of Princes $300-million estate is expected to soar in coming years Daniel Torres, who was living in the United States illegally when he enlisted in the Marine Corps by using a false birth certificate, became a U.S. citizen this week. Torres, who joined the Marines in 2007 and served in the Iraq War, was eligible for citizenship under special provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act that allow for people who serve in the military during a period of hostility. It waives other usual requirements for citizenship, such as lawful permanent residence and physical presence in the United States. Now 30, Torres has been living in Tijuana for the past five years. He was sworn in as a citizen during a 10-minute ceremony in downtown San Diego on Thursday. Advertisement Torres was more than three years into his military service when he lost his wallet and had to replace his identification. It was then that his story began to unravel. After discovering Torres status, the Department of Motor Vehicles alerted his superiors. He said he was given an honorable discharge. When I enlisted in the Marines, I knew the risks. It was something that could come up; it was something that could come back and hurt me, he said Thursday outside the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services downtown office. I was just hoping that I wasnt going to pay for that mistake for the rest of my life. And now Im able to finally go home and live the life I feel like I need to. After his discharge, Torres voluntarily left the U.S. in 2011. He went to France in hopes of enlisting in the Foreign Legion but was unsuccessful because of the hearing loss he had suffered in Iraq, according to his attorney. See more of our top stories on Facebook >> Then he decided to return to the city where he was born: Tijuana. Many deported veterans now live in Tijuana and in other regions of northern Mexico, often with the help of the Deported Veterans Support House, also known as the Bunker. The organization offers veterans resources as they get acclimated in Mexico; it is currently working with about 25 men, according to founder Hector Barajas-Varela. Though Torres wasnt deported, his case has helped revive a debate about whether deported immigrants who have served in the military many in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars deserve to stay in the U.S. But Torres case is unusual because he doesnt have a criminal record. Most military veterans were legal residents who were deported because of criminal convictions, said his attorney, Jennie Pasquarella, director of immigrants rights for the ACLU of California. Bill Rider, founder of the San Diego-based nonprofit American Combat Veterans of War, said hes never heard of a case like Torres, in which an immigrant who served illegally in the military becomes a U.S. citizen. I think its very unique, as a matter of fact, he said. Torres was brought to the United States as a teenager, after his father had obtained a work permit. His parents now live in Utah, and Torres has extended family members in San Diego. For Torres, enlisting in the Marines had been a career goal. Theres always this taboo of people just coming to the United States, immigrants just coming over to the United States and taking advantage of the system, he said. I didnt want to be another Mexican taking somebodys job. I wanted to prove that I was willing to do something for this country, that I deserved the right to be in this country. We dont choose where we are born. After his discharge, he said he didnt have employment options in the United States. I couldnt go to school. I couldnt get student loans. I couldnt get a job. This was right after the economy was in a really bad moment, so there were no jobs to be had, he said. I couldnt live legally; I couldnt live comfortably. It was very heartbreaking for me, said Torres, who petitioned for U.S. citizenship at the beginning of the year. Torres, whos in his last year of law school at the Universidad Autonoma de Baja California, plans to stay in Tijuana through December, until he graduates. He hopes to enroll in law school in the U.S. once he returns to the States. tatiana.sanchez@sduniontribune.com Sanchez writes for the San Diego Union-Tribune ALSO Police pursuit ends with woman stripping naked in public Police search for three suspects in South L.A., including one who allegedly shot at officers Volunteers remove tons of trash from Los Angeles River as Earth Month cleanup continues News / National by Staff Reporter A 39 year old man from Budiriro in Harare is in trouble after he allegedly fondled the daughter of his landlord while she was sleeping.Noah Mutenzi pleaded not guilty to the charge when he appeared before Mbare magistrate Kudzai Ziholve.Mutenzi was remanded to April 26 for trial. The court heard that Mutenzi on April 17 at 3pm fondled the landlord's daughter while she was asleep after he sneaked into her room. She woke up to her surprise to find Mutenzi caressing her.A report made to the police led to his arrest. The state Fair Political Practices Commission has approved a $3,000 penalty against San Diego County Supervisor Greg Cox for votes he took on the California Coastal Commission involving SeaWorld. The settlement, which was unanimously approved Thursday, pertained to two commission votes Cox made regarding SeaWorlds application for a permit to expand its orca enclosure. At the time, Coxs wife held 500 shares in SeaWorld stock in her retirement portfolio. I am extremely embarrassed by this situation and I have no one to blame but myself, he said earlier this month when he announced he would be fined. Advertisement Cox said he was unaware his wife had purchased the stock when he considered the SeaWorld permit in October. At a commission meeting, Cox was the lone vote against an amendment that would prohibit SeaWorld from both breeding orcas and transferring them between parks. He then joined the rest of his colleagues to award SeaWorld the permit on the condition that the marine park no longer breed or transfer the animals. SeaWorld opposed the commissions restrictions and the companys stock value dropped after the action. The theme park filed a lawsuit but later dropped it. When he learned of his wifes investments in January, Cox self-reported the conflict to the commission and his wife sold her stock. The fine, he said, would be paid from personal funds, not his campaign account. joshua.stewart@sduniontribune.com Stewart writes for the San Diego Union-Tribune. ALSO The sweet spot for building drug tunnels? Its in San Diegos Otay Mesa neighborhood Two prosecutors left San Diego city attorneys office after findings of 98 botched cases Its time for the California Air Resources Board to focus on low-income areas, lawmakers say William Shakespeare is 400 years dead as of April 23, but his heritage seems in excellent shape. His plays are loved, admired and endlessly produced; our greatest actors regularly turn down bags of Hollywood cash to do Shakespeare on stage. The continued success of Shakespeares plays would have amazed one of his earliest admirers, the poet John Dryden. In his Essay of Dramatic Poesie, published in 1667 just 51 years after Shakespeares death, Dryden noted that the playwrights popularity had already begun to fade because his language was now a little obsolete. English was changing fast; and Shakespeares style, even in his own day somewhat gnomic and knotted, was becoming more alien with each generation. Three centuries of critics and scholars have resisted Drydens implied prophecy; and their heroic labors ensure that we can now decipher far more of Shakespeares language than Drydens contemporaries could even if we sometimes read him in editions with more notes on the text than actual text. Advertisement ------------ FOR THE RECORD: Shakespeare: An April 24 op-ed about translating Shakespeare into modern English referred to linguist James McWhorter. His name is John McWhorter. ------------ Yet there are limits to this method of keeping Shakespeare alive. Because marginalia are no use on stage, theaters have begun to take very large liberties with Shakespeares plays. Today, a director commonly begins by downloading the text of a play and penciling out as much as a third of it, including many of the more difficult lines. The cut-down script can then be played more slowly to help the modern audience follow it. Play-goers and film-goers who have found Shakespeare daunting on the page, yet enthuse about how much easier he becomes when well staged, may not realize how much of Shakespeare theyre not getting. The modernizing of Shakespeare doesnt end there. Seeking a wider demographic, directors veer ever nearer to patronizing their audiences, as they invent astute (or simply cute) ways to make these old plays with their old language excite theater-goers today. I recall one famous directors version of King Lear in which the wicked sisters Goneril and Regan were given vampire make-up and had bat-squeaks dubbed over their speeches, while Lears unruly knights wore pig masks and fought with giant phalluses. And then there was the science-fiction Macbeth, whose characters stood in peaked plastic capes on a bridge somewhere in hyperspace and intoned Light thickens, and the crow makes wing / Toward the rooky wood. Play-goers and film-goers ... may not realize how much of Shakespeare theyre not getting. Although some anachronisms succeed, and can truly revitalize a play, many productions exist today on a knife-edge of absurdity. Might it not be better to translate the plays accurately and well into todays English, and then play them uncut with less-aggressive directorial tricks? After all, the rest of the world gets its Shakespeare in translation, and still seems to find him well worthwhile. The linguist James McWhorter is one who thinks so. He argues that it is time to stop pretending that we can easily absorb 16th century English We cannot understand what the man is saying and that we should use contemporary English translations. Few support McWhorter in public, but more do in private. The specialist Shakespearean director John Bell told me 10 years ago, It is obvious the long-term future of Shakespeare on stage must be in modern-English translations. For years Ive believed that the vast Shakespeare industry could afford to accommodate a minimally updated version of the plays, says Neil Hornick, London actor and former literary agent. Resistance to reform should come as no surprise. Actors and directors, many of whom live and breathe Shakespeare seven days a week, know the deep satisfactions to be found in enacting works of such rich and ambiguous depth. Understandably, they bristle when philistines suggest these works are now incomprehensible. Ken Healey, when director of script studies at Australias National Institute of Dramatic Art, remarked that the taboo against translation into contemporary English was held in place by a still-common belief among Shakespearean directors and actors that their interpretive skills, plus the innate magic of the text, can make almost any passage intelligible to any audience worth interacting with. Healey added: Theyll be impressed once someone discovers a much larger audience is possible for Shakespeare in translation, and for a production whose standards reviewers praise, but not till it happens. That may happen sooner rather than later: In October 2015, Lue Douthit, director of literary development and dramaturgy at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, announced that the festival will be funding 36 separate translators to translate all Shakespeares plays. Shakespeare fans may wonder: What would his plays sound like in modern English translation? Rather similar perhaps, but clearer. Here, for instance is Thersites in Troilus and Cressida berating another character: Let thy blood be thy direction till thy death! then if she that lays thee out says thou art a fair corse, Ill be sworn and sworn upont she never shrouded any but lazars. A modern English version might run: May the itch in your blood be your guide through life! Then if the old woman who lays you out thinks you make a pretty corpse, Ill be sure shes only done lepers. Much the same meaning but vastly more chance of the audience getting it. As ever, much will depend on the skill and scholarship of the translator. Yet in modern English, just as in French or German or Hindi, good translators and perhaps even great translators will in time emerge. Even the purple passages may work surprisingly well in translation. Here for instance is Olivia in Twelfth Night nervously confessing her love for Cesario: What might you think? Have you not set mine honor at the stake, And baited it with all thunmuzzled thoughts That tyrannous heart can think? To one of your receiving Enough is shown; a cypress, not a bosom, Hideth my heart: so, let me hear you speak. Translated, this might become: What might you think? Have you not tied my honor to the stake Like some poor shambling bear, and baited it With all the un-muzzled hounds of blabbing thought A tyrant could invent? Enoughs been shown For one of your quick uptake to perceive. A lace veil, not a breast-bone, hides my heart. So, Now, sir, may I hear you speak? The tradition of performing Shakespeares plays in their original texts has lasted a remarkable four centuries and will never entirely vanish. Yet theater companies, looking to the future and determined to sell tickets, may finally come around to the idea that translation is a viable alternative. Mark OConnor is a professional poet and translator who recently received a doctorate for a thesis on translating Shakespeare. He blogs at https://shakespeare-in-modern-english.blogspot.com.au Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook To the editor: Virginia resident Peggy Hayes, a supporter of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, complains that the Obama administration has un-babysat the country and blames it for the loss of her health insurance several years ago. (Virginia voter, struggling to make ends meet, finds a voice with take-charge Donald Trump, April 21) Yet it took me all of one minute on the Virginia health insurance exchange website to determine that a resident of Spotsylvania County that is Hayes age and with her income could obtain a policy for $258 a month. Thats $11 a month less than what Hayes had been paying for her catastrophic policy, and while it has a large deductible, it provides almost certainly better coverage than she had in the past. By not doing her homework and foregoing insurance, she is not only throwing money away on a tax penalty, she is also almost certainly setting herself up for financial catastrophe down the line. Advertisement Some would argue that The Times reporter would be breaching his journalistic objectivity by informing Hayes of these facts. But if thats the case, these spotlights on low-information voters like Hayes reduce their electoral decisions to something like a freak show that supposedly more enlightened urbanites in Los Angeles can chuckle at. Ive seen many such stories over the past six years about people like Hayes who refuse to even contemplate getting health insurance, and their decision goes even gently unquestioned by reporters. I scratch my head about this noblesse oblige toward objectivity. Certainly you want to inform readers, but maybe once in a while you should inform people like Hayes. Ron Shinkman, Sherman Oaks Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook The presidential election has Obama explaining it to concerned foreign leaders (Kirsty Wigglesworth / Associated Press) The American presidency is often called the most powerful job in the world. And perhaps in this election, more than most, many outside the U.S. would like a say in its outcome. Concern about Donald Trumps campaign rhetoric, and its apparent resonance among large swaths of the American public, has become a regular feature of President Obamas interactions with foreign counterparts and appears likely to trail him as he began something of a farewell tour of Europe on Friday. Its fascinating the degree to which the single most important question Im asked these days from other world leaders is, Whats going on with your elections? Obama told interviewer Charlie Rose this week, calling the drama of the Republican race the tip of a broader iceberg of dysfunction that weve seen. White House aides at times seem weary of questions about the extent to which the campaign is figuring in to Obamas conversations with foreign leaders. But Obama and Vice President Joe Biden often have acknowledged the frequency of the inquiries, sometimes in jest. Toasting Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at a state dinner, he credited Canadians who have, so far, rejected the idea of building a wall to keep out your southern neighbors. Read More Rep. Loretta Sanchezs easygoing, neighborly style has won over Orange County voters for two decades, but that blessing has come with a nettlesome curse: the occasional, stinging political gaffe. Since jumping into the U.S. Senate race last spring, Sanchez has found herself receiving negative attention for imitating a Native American war cry which was caught on video and for suggesting that 5% to 20% of Muslims support a caliphate. Even the launch of her campaign was flubbed when a draft announcement was leaked to reporters days before she was ready. Advertisement Sanchezs missteps have drawn snickers from her opponents in the race to replace four-term Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer, who is retiring at 75. But past rivals warn against discounting her. They say the Democrat has a history of defying low expectations, and Sanchezs 10 straight congressional victories in a county known as a bulwark of rock-ribbed conservatism is evidence of her tenacity and deft political skills. Its easy, based on Lorettas colorful actions and gaffes, to dismiss her right off the bat. But she is actually an aggressive and smart campaigner, said George Andrews, who managed Republican Van Trans unsuccessful 2010 campaign to unseat Sanchez in one of her toughest reelection challenges. For Sanchez, 56, facing long odds is nothing new. In 1996, the little-known financial analyst from Anaheim earned the nickname Dragon Slayer after ousting archconservative Rep. Robert B-1 Bob Dornan, beating him by just 984 votes. She survived a bitter fight with Dornan as he attempted to overturn the results by claiming the election was tainted by illegal ballots cast by noncitizens. Before that, her political resume consisted solely of a failed bid for the Anaheim City Council. When she first ran, she was not expected to be the nominee, not even by the Democratic Party, said Los Angeles-based political consultant John Shallman, who managed Sanchezs 1996 campaign. And when she was the nominee, they didnt believe she had a chance. Why? Because she was Latino and a woman. Born to parents who immigrated to Los Angeles from Sonora, Mexico, Sanchez remembers being one of the first enrollees in Operation Head Start, a federal program for low-income children, at her El Monte elementary school. Her parents met while working in an L.A. rubber and plastics factory, where her father was a union machinist and her mother a bookkeeper. When the Sanchez family moved to Anaheim in 1965 and joined just a handful of other Latino families in the neighborhood, both next-door neighbors put their homes up for sale, Sanchez recalled. Sanchez was the second of seven children, and her parents pushed them to focus on math and science anything less than a straight-A report card spelled trouble. All went on to earn college degrees. My dad told me, I never want anyone to call you a dumb Mexican, Sanchez said. Sanchez married retired Army prosecutor Col. Jack Einwechter in 2011. At the time, he was working as a Washington lobbyist; hes now a practicing attorney in Orange County. (Sanchez divorced her first husband, Stephen Brixey, in 2004.) Einwechter said he had been a longtime registered Republican and voted for Ronald Reagan in the 1980 presidential election. Now, he said, he is a dedicated Lorettacrat. Sanchez said she registered as a Republican when she was a senior at Katella High School in Anaheim on the advice of her civics teacher, a liberal, who told her that voting for Democrats in conservative Orange County guaranteed a life of crushing disappointment. But Sanchez changed her mind abruptly in the early 1990s, a period of political awakening for many California Latinos, when she heard GOP presidential hopeful Pat Buchanan unleash brimstone-laced diatribes about the illegal invasion of Mexican immigrants crossing into the U.S., bringing drugs and stealing American jobs. Kamala Harris is much more careful and controlled. Loretta is kind of out there. Raphael Sonenshein, director of the Pat Brown Institute of Public Affairs at Cal State Los Angeles My parents are immigrants, Sanchez recalled thinking at the time. I said to myself, you know what. I dont think Im a Republican. Sanchezs political transformation, in many ways, coincided with a wave of Californians, especially Latinos, moving away from the Republican Party. But the growth of the Democratic Party in the state offers her no guarantee of success in her current campaign. Her biggest rival is state Atty. Gen. Kamala Harris, a fellow party member who remains comfortably ahead in the polls and fundraising with less than two months until the primary. A recent USC Dornsife/Los Angeles Times survey found Harris leading Sanchez 28% to 19%, with Republican hopefuls in single digits and 32% of California voters undecided. California has not had an open Senate seat since 1992. The top two finishers in the June 7 primary election, regardless of party, will face off in the November election. Sen. Dianne Feinstein will be up for reelection in 2018. In the two decades that Sanchez has represented central Orange County, she has been praised and pilloried, viewed at times as a national defense expert, masterful fundraiser and sage political mentor but also a legislative lightweight and a gaffe-prone wild card. Washingtonian magazine in 2006 labeled Sanchez as no altar boy/girl. Last May CQ-Roll Call named her among the debate shapers and swing votes on its list of the 25 most influential women in Congress. 1 / 13 Rep. Loretta Sanchez, on Feb. 4, 1998, celebrates a decision by the House task force to dismiss former Republican Rep. Bob Dornans challenge to her November 1996 election victory. (Ron Edmonds / Associated Press) 2 / 13 Loretta Sanchez, left, celebrates a likely win over Republican Rep. Robert Dornan with friend Consuelo Smith on Nov 12, 1996. (Craig Y. Fujii / Los Angeles Times) 3 / 13 Rep. Loretta Sanchez, left, listens to testimony along with former Rep. Robert Dornan and his wife, Sallie, at a congressional elections hearing in Santa Ana on April 19, 1997. (Craig Y. Fujii / Los Angeles Times) 4 / 13 Rep. Loretta Sanchez, D-Calif., second from right, and other House members walk up the steps of the Capitol in 1997 after a news conference calling for an end to the investigation in Sanchezs contested election. (Brian K. Diggs / Associated Press) 5 / 13 Rep. Loretta Sanchez gestures on the steps of a congressional office building in Washington during orientation week for new members of Congress. (Alex Garcia / Los Angeles Times) 6 / 13 In 2002, Rep. Loretta Sanchez, left, walks with sister Linda Sanchez, who was running for Congress. (Alexander Gallardo / Los Angeles Times) 7 / 13 Rep. Loretta Sanchez, right, smiles while her sister Linda Sanchez, gets a victory call in her congressional race in 2002. (Alexander Gallardo / Los Angeles Times) 8 / 13 Rep. Loretta Sanchez speaks with volunteers in 2010 at her Anaheim campaign office. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times) 9 / 13 Rep. Loretta Sanchez attends the Veterans Day Parade in Fresno in 2015. (TOMAS OVALLE / For The Times) 10 / 13 Rep. Loretta Sanchez kisses her husband, Jack Einwechter, at the California Democrats State Convention in May 2015. (Patrick T. Fallon / For The Times) 11 / 13 Rep. Loretta Sanchez gestures while speaking before the California Democrats State Convention in February. (Ben Margot / Associated Press) 12 / 13 On a campaign swing in November in Imperial Beach, Rep. Loretta Sanchez listens to Paloma Aguirre, U.S.-Mexico border director from Wildcoast. (Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times) 13 / 13 Rep. Loretta Sanchez is photographed in January at Ann LeGore Elementary School in El Monte, which she had attended. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times) She has won accolades for voting against the Iraq War resolution and the Patriot Act at a time when Washington was under intense political pressure to respond after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. She is the second-ranking Democrat on the House Armed Services and Homeland Security committees, is well-versed in global security issues and considered a vocal advocate for women in the military. But she has drawn scorn for her carefree manner, including her tradition of sending flamboyant Christmas cards and for a later-scuttled proposal to throw a party at the Playboy Mansion during the Democratic National Convention in 2000. (Playboy magazine founder Hugh Hefner has contributed more than $35,000 to her campaigns.) In December, she was criticized by Muslim American organizations and the Harris campaign for saying that between 5% and 20% of Muslims support the establishment of a strict Islamic state. She later suggested she had gotten the fact from a book. Shes a bit of a maverick, very feisty, and has sometimes crossed swords with people in her party, said Raphael Sonenshein, director of the Pat Brown Institute of Public Affairs at Cal State Los Angeles. Kamala Harris is much more careful and controlled. Loretta is kind of out there. That reputation travels with her, but supporters also believe Sanchezs long history of helping other Democratic candidates, in California and across the nation, has helped salve any political wounds. Among the beneficiaries has been her younger sister Linda, a former labor organizer from Whittier, who was elected to the House in 2002 making the duo the only sisters in history to serve together in Congress. She also is credited with helping fellow Orange County Democrats Lou Correa and Joe Dunn get elected to the state Legislature now the two are running against each other to replace her in Congress. On the campaign trail, Sanchez emphasizes her national security experience, saying that over two decades she has developed an expertise in nuclear proliferation and has met with American combat troops and officers in Iraq. She warns that it would be a mistake to send a novice to the Senate during such perilous, complicated times a not-too-subtle dig at Harris and the top Republicans in the race. This is too important a state, and too important a position for someone to get on-the-job training, she said. As a member of the Armed Services Committee, she has pushed efforts to protect members of the military from sexual assaults as well as decrease the size of the nuclear arsenal, and questioned wasteful military spending. Her legacy is being a really tough critic on procurement problems, said Rep. Adam Smith of Washington state, the only Democrat who outranks her on the committee. Shes strong on national security. But she wants the money spent well. Sanchez lacks the type of signature bill that members of Congress aspire to write, even though her party held power for four years of her 20-year tenure. She has made a mark, though, as a cautious voice on foreign military engagement and in pushing for greater human rights in Vietnam and other countries. A review of Sanchezs attendance shows she missed 13 of 18 Homeland Security meetings from January through early November, tied for the second-worst attendance on the committee. She missed the vast majority of her subcommittee meetings and half the full meetings in the 2013-14 congressional term, when she was not yet running for higher office. Last year, Sanchez was supposed to co-chair a task force on obstructing terrorist travel and keeping violent extremists from entering the United States. But two Republicans on the eight-member panel, who said they attended most of at least 16 meetings and briefings over seven months, said they never saw Sanchez there. Democrats serving on the Homeland Security Committee, from which the task force was created, said attendance was not recorded at the private meetings. Sanchez could not cite any meetings she attended, but said she thought she had attended some. I attended the vast majority of them I did not see her there, said freshman Rep. Martha McSally (R-Ariz.), a retired Air Force colonel. Sanchez has also missed more floor votes in the House more than one in five than all but two other members in 2015, according to Congressional Quarterly. Thats a drop from her previous terms in Congress, when she cast votes more than 90% of the time in all but one year. Sanchez said she doesnt recall missing many Homeland Security hearings, but added that her responsibilities on the Armed Services committee this year expanded greatly when Smith, the ranking Democrat, was away from Congress because of two hip surgeries. Sanchez said she also spent more time in California, in part because her father has Alzheimers and her elderly mother, though still independent, also needs more care. On domestic issues, Sanchez has tried to cultivate a moderate image, joining a group called the Blue Dog Coalition dedicated to fiscal conservatism. She was one of 63 members of her party who opposed the 2008 bank bailout. Still, Sanchez has voted with her party more than 90% of the time in all but two of her 19 years in Congress, according to Congressional Quarterly. In 2015 she voted with Democrats nearly 97% of the time, higher than average among Democrats. She voted against building the Keystone XL pipeline and opposed a constitutional amendment to require a balanced budget. She also voted against most Republican spending plans and agreed to a series of bipartisan compromises intended to keep the government from shutting down. She voted in favor of major Obama administration initiatives, including the 2009 economic stimulus package, the auto bailout, the financial services overhaul, a comprehensive greenhouse gas cap bill in 2009 intended to curb global warming and the Affordable Care Act, called Obamacare by some. Sanchez said casting those tough votes is what sets her apart from the other top candidates in the Senate race and why she is supported by so many of her congressional colleagues. Harris, though, has the fundraising edge, with substantial support from Hollywood. She also has the endorsement of Emilys List and Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Cory Booker of New Jersey. Sanchez said she faced similar obstacles in her first congressional bid against Dornan, so she remains undaunted. I just dont believe that this election is going to be decided by insiders, she said. phil.willon@latimes.com @philwillon Sanchez, Harris and the top GOP Senate candidates meet Monday evening for their first debate. Follow our coverage live on our Essential Politics news feed. ALSO: Read our profile of Harris Majority of voters undecided in Senate race Updates on California politics Students across Glendale Unified commemorated the 101st anniversary of the Armenian Genocide on Wednesday with songs and poetry in what was the 15th annual event spearheaded by Glendale school board member Greg Krikorian. Beginning in 1915, an estimated 1.5 million Armenians were massacred by the Ottoman Turks, and the genocide is still denied by modern-day Turkey. NEWSLETTER: Stay up to date with whats going on in your community>> This night is crucial as we enter the 101st year of Turkish denial of the Armenian Genocide, Krikorian said during the event at Glendale Highs John Wayne Performing Arts Center. One of the genocides survivors is Glendale resident Madeleine Salibian, who turned 101 in December, and who attended the event, where more than 1,000 attendees gave her a standing ovation. Jefferson Elementary School students play Simon Says as they wait for the Armenian Genocide commemoration to start at Glendale High School on Wednesday, April 20, 2016. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer) Salibian was born in Aintab, now known as Gaziantep, Turkey. She was only a few months old when her fathers Turkish friend gave her family three donkeys on which to escape, and the family ultimately traveled out of harms way to Aleppo. Each year, Salibian said she enjoys participating in local, student-driven events that commemorate the genocide. Shes glad that it perpetuates and that it hasnt been forgotten, said Salibians daughter Susan Howe, who translated for her. The event brought together students from Armenian clubs at Glendale, Clark Magnet, Hoover and Crescenta Valley high schools, as well as students from R.D. White and Jefferson elementary schools and Toll Middle School. During the event, the Davidian & Mariamian Educational Foundation choir sang Armenian songs. The 15th annual event was spearheaded by Glendale school board member Greg Krikorian. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer) Armina Gharpetian, president of the Glendale school board, recalled how board members unanimously approved a resolution in March officially marking April 24 as a day of remembrance for the Armenian Genocide in Glendale Unified. As an Armenian American, I feel blessed to live in a school district which values and takes pride in having a very diverse community and constantly promotes and teaches human kindness toward one another. The commemorative event was the first for Glendale Unifieds new superintendent, Winfred Roberson, who stepped into his new leadership role about two weeks ago. I cannot pretend to know your pain, he said. But I stand with you in your quest for American and world awareness. -- Kelly Corrigan, kelly.corrigan@latimes.com Twitter: @kellymcorrigan -- ALSO: Rep. Schiff asks Obama to call Armenian Genocide what it is Atrocity on exhibit in Armenia: An Open Wound Glendale school board closes in on map for voting districts During the 15th annual Armenian Genocide commemoration on Friday, Glendale Mayor Paula Devine said the city has long stood with the Armenian community, and Im proud to stand with you this evening. She said the event, held at the Alex Theatre, is a time to reflect, educate and remember the atrocities that began in 1915, after which 1.5 million Armenians were killed by the Ottoman Empire, now modern-day Turkey. Remember, this is history. It is history that tends to repeat itself, Devine said. We see it and we feel it today. Yet we also can see how resilient the Armenian culture is. Councilman Zareh Sinanyan gave a speech that decried Turkey, which, many decades after the genocide, is still waging a proxy war against Armenia and whose actions, he said, helped lead to the rise of the Islamic State (also known as ISIS). The world can see, Sinanyan said, that Turkey is more than ever isolated, more than ever seen for what it truly is. 1 / 17 The director of the Rose and Alex Pilibos Student Choir directs a section of the choir who are holding portraits in front of them at the city of Glendales 15th annual Armenian Genocide commemoration at the Alex Theatre in Glendale on Friday, April 22, 2016. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer) 2 / 17 Sebu Simonian sings at the city of Glendales 15th annual Armenian Genocide commemoration at the Alex Theatre in Glendale on Friday, April 22, 2016. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer) 3 / 17 Ara Najarian gives the keynote speech at the city of Glendales 15th annual Armenian Genocide commemoration at the Alex Theatre in Glendale on Friday, April 22, 2016. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer) 4 / 17 The dancers with the Djanbazian Dance Academy at the city of Glendales 15th annual Armenian Genocide commemoration at the Alex Theatre in Glendale on Friday, April 22, 2016. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer) 5 / 17 Dancers with the Djanbazian Dance Academy at the conclusion of a performance Glendales 15th annual Armenian Genocide commemoration at the Alex Theatre in Glendale on Friday, April 22, 2016. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer) 6 / 17 Soseh and Ara, of the Element Band, perform at the City of Glendales 15th Annulal Armenian Genocide Commemoration at the Alex Theatre in Glendale on Friday, April 22, 2016. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer) 7 / 17 Rouben Haroutunyan accompanies the Rose & Alex Pilibos Choir at the city of Glendales 15th annual Armenian Genocide commemoration at the Alex Theatre in Glendale on Friday, April 22, 2016. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer) 8 / 17 Sebu Simonian, of Capital Cities, signs Safe and Sound at the city of Glendales 15th annual Armenian Genocide commemoration at the Alex Theatre in Glendale on Friday, April 22, 2016. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer) 9 / 17 The Rose & Alex Pilobos Choir performs at the City of Glendales 15th Annulal Armenian Genocide Commemoration at the Alex Theatre in Glendale on Friday, April 22, 2016. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer) 10 / 17 Dancers with the Djanbazian Dance Academy at the City of Glendales 15th Annulal Armenian Genocide Commemoration at the Alex Theatre in Glendale on Friday, April 22, 2016. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer) 11 / 17 A dancer with the Djanbazian Dance Academy at the City of Glendales 15th Annulal Armenian Genocide Commemoration at the Alex Theatre in Glendale on Friday, April 22, 2016. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer) 12 / 17 The Rose & Alex Pilobos Choir performs at the city of Glendales 15th annual Armenian Genocide commemoration at the Alex Theatre in Glendale on Friday, April 22, 2016. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer) 13 / 17 The Rose & Alex Pilobos Choir with an Armenian Flag made with cards which on the other side are portraits at Glendales 15th annual Armenian Genocide commemoration at the Alex Theatre in Glendale on Friday, April 22, 2016. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer) 14 / 17 The director of the Rose and Alex Pilibos Student Choir directs a section of the choir who are now holding the colors of the Armenian flag, colors that moments before were large portraits, at Glendales 15th annual Armenian Genocide commemoration at the Alex Theatre in Glendale on Friday, April 22, 2016. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer) 15 / 17 David Samuelian sings the Armenian National Anthem, accompanied by Aram Lepejian at Glendales 15th annual Armenian Genocide commemoration at the Alex Theatre in Glendale on Friday, April 22, 2016. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer) 16 / 17 The AGBU Scouts process through the Alex Theatre with the Armenian and American Flags at Glendales 15th annual Armenian Genocide commemoration at the Alex Theatre in Glendale on Friday, April 22, 2016. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer) 17 / 17 Dancers with the Djanbazian Dance Academy at Glendales 15th annual Armenian Genocide commemoration at the Alex Theatre in Glendale on Friday, April 22, 2016. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer) Councilman Ara Najarian, who has attended 12 of Glendales genocide remembrance events, served as the keynote speaker and used the occasion to talk about the origins of the genocide. He noted that the Christian Armenians lived for generations in what is now modern-day Turkey, which took revenge against them as well as Assyrians and Greeks. Najarian noted that his maternal grandmother threw herself into the Euphrates River, not wanting to become a sex slave. His maternal grandfather was forced to march, but managed to keep with him his Bible. Najarian then held up the book, which has been passed down in his family. It was his treasure, he said. Ara Najarian gives the keynote speech during Glendales 15th annual Armenian Genocide commemoration at the Alex Theatre in Glendale on Friday, April 22, 2016. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer) Najarian said the killers of today, like ISIS, are widely referred to as terrorists, but they really should be called genocidal maniacs because what theyre doing in Syria and Iraq have frightening similarities to what the Turks did more than 100 years ago. Turkey must admit that what they did in 1915 was a genocide, Najarian said. They should learn from history. Germany has apologized for its Nazi past, as has the United States for its use of slavery, Najarian said. Those wounds are beginning to heal, he added, but thats still not the case for Armenia. We wont stop until Turkey admits that it committed genocide and that we get justice, Najarian said. The evening also featured a performance by the Djanbazian Dance Academy, the classical modern dance company based in La Crescenta, and music from Ara Dabandijan and Soseh Aramouni, both of Element Band. Sebu Simonian of Capital Cities, the choir from Rose and Alex Pilibos Armenian School and David Samuelian, accompanied by keyboardist Aram Lepijian, also performed. -- Bradley Zint, bradley.zint@latimes.com Twitter: @BradleyZint -- ALSO: Glendale students mark 101st anniversary of the Armenian Genocide Rep. Schiff asks Obama to call Armenian Genocide what it is Atrocity on exhibit in Armenia: An Open Wound Representatives from the newly formed La Canada Flintridge Sister Cities Assn. made the rounds on Tuesday, sharing updates on the groups progress with members of the City Council and La Canada Unified School District Governing Board. NEWSLETTER: Get the latest 818 headlines straight to your inbox >> Vicki Schwartz, who formed the nonprofit organization as a first step in the process of finding the city an international sister city through Sister Cities International, introduced city and school officials to Peter Lowenstein, who will be the groups vice president of international STEM programs. A recent retiree from the space and telecommunications industrys private sector, Lowenstein explained the organization will compile an inventory of community resources with the help of various community stakeholders. That list will help La Canada move forward as it selects from among four potential sister cities worldwide. Schwartz also announced the names of six La Canada students recently selected to attend a four-day Sister Cities International Youth Leadership Summit in Washington, D.C., in July. They are Amr Eissa and Lenny Pieroni from St. Francis High School; La Canada High School students Kelly Steele, Luke Stefan and Naomi Stephan, and Flintridge Prep student Courtney Johnson. For more information, visit lcfsistercities.org. -- Sara Cardine, sara.cardine@latimes.com Twitter: @SaraCardine -- ALSO: La Canada teachers remain hopeful as district office administrators receive 4% salary bump The quick success and slow decline of a local icon Southern California Edison liaison vows to address issues News / National by Letwin Mubonesi A MUTARE man was arraigned before the courts last week for stealing Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority overhead copper conductors.Manica Post reported that Farai Mandaza denied the theft charges when he appeared before senior magistrate, Sekai Chiundura. Public prosecutor, Fletcher Karombe, told the court that Mandaza teamed up with two other accomplices who are still at large to steal the copper cables at Village 3, Nyamajura in Odzi."On April 6 at around 11pm, Mandaza connived with Godfrey Gumbo and Chibwanda Moyo who are still at large to go and steal copper conductors using Mandaza's white Nissan car to ferry the cables. They went on to cut 2 250 meters of copper conductors from a power line and were spotted by some villagers while loading the copper conductors in their white Nissan car."The trio fled from the scene leaving behind the motor vehicle which was loaded with the copper conductors after the villagers had teamed up to arrest them."The villagers made a police report leading to the arrest of Mandaza. Detectives recovered 2250 meters copper conductors valued at $13 500," said Karombe.Mandaza denied the charges.The case goes for trial on April 22. Police in northwestern Bangladesh have found similarities between the killing of a university professor Saturday and recent slayings of bloggers and secular activists by Islamist militants. Rezaul Karim Siddique, an English professor at Rajshahi University, was hacked to death when he went to catch a bus to campus around 7.30 a.m., police said. The attack took place near Siddiques house and was carried out by two assailants on a motorcycle, police said citing witnesses. Professor Rezaul Karim Siddique has been killed in the same way that the bloggers and online activists were slain, Rajshahi Metropolitan Police Commissioner Mohammad Shamsuddin told reporters at the scene. That leads to the suspicion that this might be the handiwork of radicals. Advertisement See the most-read stories this hour >> Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack, accusing the professor of advocating for atheism, according to the SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors militant websites. The extremist group has claimed other attacks in Bangladesh, where a series of deadly assaults against secular bloggers, minority Shiites, Christians and two foreigners has spread fear in the past year. The government has dismissed those claims, however, saying Islamic State does not have a presence in the country. Security forces have stepped up a crackdown on homegrown Islamist militants, who they say are behind the attacks. Bangladesh is an officially secular country, but more than 90% of its 160 million people are Muslim. NEWSLETTER: Get the days top headlines from Times Editor Davan Maharaj >> At least three other professors at Rajshahi University have been killed in recent years. After Saturdays attack, hundreds of students and faculty members held a demonstration on campus and blocked a highway for about 45 minutes to demand justice. Family members said they were not aware of any threats against Siddique, who was 58. They described him as a free-minded person who was involved in cultural organizations and edited a literary magazine. Kader is a special correspondent. ALSO How Japan came to rank worse than Tanzania on press freedom Death toll in Taliban bombing and gunfight rises to 64; Afghan president calls the attack inhuman Despite contaminants found on campus, ill students and state TV expose, school in China stays open North Korea on Saturday fired what appeared to be a ballistic missile from a submarine off its northeast coast, South Korean defense officials said, Pyongyangs latest effort to expand its military might in the face of pressure by its neighbors and Washington. The South Korean officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of office rules, could not immediately confirm how far the projectile flew or where it landed. The Saturday evening launch of what the officials said was presumably a submarine-launched ballistic missile took place near the North Korean coastal town of Sinpo, where analysts have previously detected efforts by the North to develop submarine-launched ballistic missile systems. A successful test from a submarine would be a worrying development because mastering the ability to fire missiles from submerged vessels would make it harder for outsiders to detect what North Korea is doing before it launches, giving it the potential to surprise its enemies. Advertisement North Korea has sent a barrage of missiles and artillery shells into the sea amid ongoing annual military drills between the United States and South Korea. Pyongyang says the drills are a preparation for an invasion of the North. The firings also come as the North expresses anger about toughened international sanctions over its recent nuclear test and long-range rocket launch. North Koreas belligerence may also be linked to a major ruling party congress next month meant to further cement leader Kim Jong Uns grip on power. Promoting military accomplishments could be an attempt to overshadow a lack of economic achievements ahead of the Workers Party congress, the first since 1980. While South Korean experts say its unlikely that North Korea currently possesses an operational submarine that can fire multiple missiles, they acknowledge that the North is making progress on such technology. ALSO Allegations flowing in against the surfer gang of Lunada Bay Newborn baby boy is mauled to death by family dog in Mira Mesa Value of Princes $300-million estate is expected to soar in coming years Uber settled two class-action lawsuits with Uber drivers late Thursday in a move that will cost the company up to $100 million. That sum will go to the approximately 385,000 Uber drivers in California and Massachusetts who opted into the states' respective class-action suits against Uber, though in California the settlement still needs approval by a district court judge. Employees or Contractors? The lawsuits Uber opted not to fight were both based on a discrepancy that's at the heart of its business model -- along with other app-based contracting services like it, often called the "sharing" or "gig" economy. It's the question of whether the people working for (or with, depending on which side of the issue you're on) the company should be considered "employees" or "independent contractors." The difference in classification means the difference between workers getting employee benefits and protections, which costs Uber money, or not. Specifically, in the biggest class action suit in California, about 240,000 Uber drivers claimed they were wrongly classified as independent contractors and sued for reimbursement of expenses and tips. Uber Settles The terms of the settlement have Uber paying an initial $84 million to the drivers in the two states, with a possible addition of another $16 million going out to the class-action participants if Uber's market value increases by an additional 50 or more if and when the company goes public. The settlement will also allow drivers to post signs indicating that tips are not included in the amount charged by Uber, but would be appreciated. One of the drivers' claims was that Uber misled customers to think that tips were part of the total fare. Uber will also create an appeals system for drivers to contest deactivations, which is Uber's equivalent of firing a driver. Uber will also be prohibited from summarily deactivating a driver without offering a reason. Uber likely settled the lawsuit, even at the $100 million cost, because the penalties it could have been forced to pay if it lost would be in the several hundred million dollar range. The Question Remains But likely more important to Uber, settling the lawsuits helps the company avoid a court setting any legal precedent about the classification of workers under its business model. In dodging a legal contest to its business model, one could see the settlement as a partial victory for the company. According to the Chicago Tribune, Uber CEO Travis Kalanick saw it that way, and expressed his feelings on his blog this week. "Drivers value their independence -- the freedom to push a button rather than punch a clock, to use Uber and Lyft simultaneously, to drive most of the week or for just a few hours," wrote Kalanick. "That's why we are so pleased that this settlement recognizes that drivers should remain as independent contractors, not employees." On the other side of the lawsuit, Shannon Liss-Riordan, the lawyer representing the Uber drivers in California, also declared victory and signaled that the employee/contractor question underpinning the suit will continue to be an issue challenging businesses that operate in the new "sharing" economy. "No court has decided here whether Uber drivers are employees or independent contractors and that debate will not end here," Liss-Riordan said in a statement to Quartz. "This case... stands as a stern warning to companies who play fast and loose with classifying their workforce as independent contractors, who do not receive the benefits of the wage laws and other employee protections." The Philippine Commission on Elections guaranteed that the elections on May 9 will resume despite the recent hacking scandal which exposed almost 55 million personal data of the country's registered voters. According to Philstar, NBI agents nabbed 23-years old Paul Biteng who is a new information technology graduate from Sampaloc, Manila. Agents also seized Biteng's personal computer which will be subjected to digital forensic examination in order to identify his activities before, during, and after the hacking incident. The Malabon City Court was the one who issued the warrant of arrest for the said culprit. Biteng will be charged for violating Section 2A-1 of the Cybercrime Prevention Act which covers the illegal access to the whole or any part of a computer system without a permission or approval. Andres Bautista, the Commission's Chairman, uncovered that the suspect admitted to defacing the Comelec's website. Bautista said the suspect only wanted to show off his abilities in hacking down websites. Bautista, on the other hand, wanted to reassure the public that the vote counting machines will not be affected by the said incident. NBI agents are also looking for Biteng's possible associates, although their participation to the crime has not been established. Virgilio Mendez, NBI's director, said they are now preparing to apply the search warrants for Biteng's possible accomplice. As reported by Rappler, based on the NBI's investigation, Biteng has no intention to harm the said site but just to show the public how vulnerable the Comelec website is. Chairman Bautista clarified that Biteng was not paid nor is an associate to any political party in the country James Jimenez, Comelec's spokesperson, said the automated election will be using a different server which they believe is not part of the site that was hacked. Political experts believe that the elections will not be compromised because of the issue as per ABC News. The hacked data includes vital details like voter's name, birthday, home address, email, parents' full names and in some parts, the voter's passport details as well as their fingerprints. News / National by Staff Reporter Caps United skipper Method Mwanjali will spend the weekend in custody after the High Court deferred his bail application hearing on charges of attempted murder, to Monday.Justice Samuel Kudya deferred the case to enable the State to file its response and a medical affidavit.The medical affidavit will enable the court to ascertain the extent of injuries suffered by the stab victim."The matter was postponed to Monday to enable prosecution to file their response to the bail application," said Tinofara Hove of TK Hove and partners who is representing the Caps United skipper.This means Mwanjali will know his fate on Monday.Mwanjali, 33, allegedly stabbed Tonderai Nhunzvi with a knife in the early hours of Sunday following an altercation in the parking lot at Long Cheng Plaza in Harare.He appeared before Harare magistrate Tendai Mahwe challenging his placement on remand, but it was thrown out for lack of merit.He was advised to apply for bail at the High Court because the magistrates' court has no jurisdiction over such matters.Hove filed the bail application on Thursday. The hearing hit a snag after the court requested to see the medical report while the State requested for time to file their response.The former Mamelodi Sundowns and Mpumalanga Black Aces defender's victim is battling for his life in a Harare hospital. He was allegedly stabbed twice in the stomach.Mwanjali's accomplice and team-mate Archiford Gutu was granted $100 bail, and will appear in court on the same day. Gutu is facing malicious damage to property charges.The State alleged that the parties met at an intersection in the Long Cheng Plaza complex and their vehicles almost collided.Gutu, who was behind the wheel, allegedly got out of the vehicle and charged towards Nhunzvi who had three passengers on board and confronted him accusing him of reckless driving.As Gutu was shouting, Nhunzvi reportedly closed his car windows and this infuriated Gutu who allegedly then smashed the windscreen using an unknown object.Mwanjali allegedly joined in the melee and drew a knife and is said to have stabbed Nhunzvi twice in the stomach.Nhunzvi's friend, Lionel Muchena, who reportedly tried to stop Mwanjali from stabbing Nhunzvi, was also caught in the crossfire and sustained a cut on his hand. News / National by Elizabeth Tsuro AN illegal gold panner from Gweru has been sentenced to 12 months in prison for robbing a 15-year-old boy of $12.Maxwell Nyoni, 23, of Mkoba Village 14, pleaded guilty to robbery before Gweru Magistrate Tayengwa Chibanda.In passing sentence, Magistrate Chibanda said robbery offences were on the rise hence the need for a custodial sentence."The fact that you stole $12 isn't mitigatory because if the defenceless young boy had more money you could have taken it from him."Robbery crimes are on the rise hence the court will impose a custodial sentence to send a message to the public," he said.Magistrate Chibanda sentenced Nyoni to 12 months in jail but suspended one month on condition that he restitutes the complainant $12 through the clerk of court before May 31.Prosecuting, Lloyd Mavhisa told the court that last Sunday at around 7PM, the boy, who on his way to Mabutho Farm to visit his mother, was near Sponono Bar at Mkoba Village 14 Business Centre.The court heard Nyoni approached the teen and grabbed him by the collar.Nyoni, the prosecutor said, ordered the boy to surrender all the money he had."He told Nyoni that he didn't have money. Nyoni inserted his hand into the complainant's trouser pockets and took away $12," said Mavhisa.The prosecutor told the court that the complainant had no visible injuries and was not medically examined.Police arrested Nyoni after the boy made a report. Service continued as usual Friday evening at the Hamilton Family Restaurant, but forks fell in favor of cellphones to snap images of a special guest making his way among the diners. U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, of Texas, seeking the Republican nomination for president, talks April 22, 2016, with diners inside the Hamilton Family Restaurant in Allentown. (Kurt Bresswein | For lehighvalleylive.com) U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, stopped his tour bus in Allentown to meet and greet supporters at the HamFam, talk a little policy and continue his push for votes ahead of Tuesday's Pennsylvania primary. There was no rally or public address. "The Iran deal I will rip to shreds the first day I'm in office," went one snippet of conversation from the candidate as he chatted at a booth, adding that anything done by executive order under President Obama can be undone by executive power, as well. A crowd several hundreds-strong awaited Cruz's arrival shortly after 6:30 p.m. He pulled up alongside Michael Tahos' restaurant in a charter bus painted black and decorated with the candidate's name. The visit marked the first by a candidate for president to the Lehigh Valley this election season. CNN broadcast live from the parking lot, and a Fox News cameraman was among the media following Cruz throughout the diner. A few protesters attended, one holding up cardboard scrawled with "Trans Lives Matter"; another touted support for opponent and front-runner Donald Trump. A Trump rally Thursday night exploded into taunts and shouts between hundreds of supporters and protesters in Harrisburg, pennlive.com reports. Cruz also stopped Friday in Williamsport and Scranton before heading Friday night for Pittsburgh, campaign media coordinator Rachel Slobodien said. Barry Weber, seated at a HamFam booth alongside wife Erika, said he passed up fishing in the Monocacy Creek to see Cruz. He likes the candidate's staunch Constitutionalist background, conservative views and support for the Second Amendment. "If anyone's like Ronald Reagan, Ted Cruz is," Weber, of Nazareth, said. Weber was seated across from friend Michael Trump (no relation), who came with his daughters, 10-year-old Elizabeth and 7-year-old Meredith. "I'm still undecided," Trump, of Whitehall Township, said just after talking with Cruz, whom he respects. "I'm starstruck right now." Outside awaiting Cruz's arrival, Mary Baccala, of North Whitehall Township, stood with her sons Raffaele, 8, and Angelo, 7, and daughter, 3-year-old Olivia. "We believe in everything he stands for," Baccala said. "His values are very honest, he's straight to the point." Democratic voters on Tuesday will voice support for Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders or Roque "Rocky" De La Fuente while Republicans cast votes for Cruz, Donald Trump or John Kasich. Political analyst G. Terry Madonna says in his Politically Uncorrected column that Cruz will compete Tuesday with Kasich for moderate voters, and must do well in the Lehigh Valley and Philadelphia suburbs. Then there is the question of delegates and how their allegiances will play out at the Republican National Convention in July in Cleveland. Unlike on the Democratic ballot, candidates for delegates to the convention aren't listed on the ballot alongside the presidential candidate they'd support. Allentown resident Bob Wippel said inside the HamFam after talking with Cruz he supports a more popular-vote based approach than the delegate system, and he has yet to make up his mind ahead of Tuesday. "Whoever wins I'll support them," the Republican said. While waiting outside the diner, Emmaus resident Bill Gibson bought up Cruz pins at three for $10, one proclaiming support for "Hillary for Prison." "I think Cruz is the most intelligent of the six remaining," he said, "and most clearly resembles what I believe in the most and that's the Constitution and that everybody that's standing in this line" should be treated equally. Barbara Kemmerer lives in Allentown and came out to see Cruz, who she's "adamant" about supporting, she said. "I can't believe people in my family who are staunch conservatives and went for Trump," she said, adding that it's a marvel how the candidates maintain the pace of the campaign. Cruz had planned to fuel up at the Hamilton Family Restaurant but ended up continuing to meet with supporters instead of sitting down at the counter as originally planned. Kurt Bresswein may be reached at kbresswein@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @KurtBresswein. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook. TURKEYS The final chapter of 's fall from grace has yet to written, but the federal charges against him describe a consultant who brazenly engineered pay-to-play schemes for prominent office-holders. Those include former Pennsylvania Treasurer Rob McCord, Allentown Mayor Ed Pawlowski and former Reading Mayor Vaughn Spencer. On Thursday, Fleck pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit extortion and bribery and one count of tax evasion. That he will go to jail seems a certainty -- he faces 10 years in prison and a $500,000 fine -- but the larger tragedy is that he used his genius to short-circuit already weak campaign laws. In the process, he reconfirmed for skeptics that government business is rigged in favor of inside traders and crooked politicians. Pawlowski, through his attorney, called out his former friend and campaign manager, asking Fleck to come clean and exonerate him. Time will tell. The charges released by the FBI in the Fleck case include a quote attributed to Pawlowski, vowing retribution to lawyers who failed to meet demands for campaign contributions. The Knowlton Township Committee is scheduled to vote next week on a negotiated settlement that will remove municipal Clerk from her job. Patton is accused of abusive behavior, performing campaign work on the job, and showing up for a meeting intoxicated. Officials who took part in a state hearing aren't commenting on the details of a proposed agreement. Patton, who is on administrative leave, has served as clerk since 2002. A complaint filed with the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs lists seven charges as grounds for her removal. TROPHIES Pennsylvania in the Legislature haven't gotten together on much of anything. It's noteworthy when they do. Their collaboration on a bill legalizing several marijuana products (but not the smokable form) for medical use was a major, long-awaited breakthrough. Now the challenge is getting a system in place to get medicines into the hands of those who need them, and to monitor the program and look for improvements, such as keeping up with new forms of therapeutic marijuana and considering additional conditions and illnesses. This week Wolf signed a bill to make it easier and quicker for victims of spousal abuse to dissolve their marriages. The bill, sponsored by state Rep. , D-Lehigh, allows victims to streamline divorce proceedings. Under existing law, an abusive spouse could stall divorce proceedings for up to two years and demand several face-to-face counseling sessions. Wolf visited the new Bradbury-Sullivan LGBT Community Center in Allentown to sign the measure. in Nazareth have joined a fund-raising effort with a humanitarian bent. Parents and students are aiming to fill 300 bags with 25 pairs of new or gently-used shoes, to be sent to underprivileged people in countries such as Ghana, Haiti and Guatemala. The PTA will receive a payment based on the quantity of shoes donated. They're accepting donations of footwear in good condition from the community, in any size for men, women and children, which may be dropped off at the Memorial Library of Nazareth and Vicinity through May 6. The Storage Mill in Nazareth donated a storage unit to house the shoes. The fundraiser is being run through , which provides free bags and pays 40 cents per pound of acceptable shoes. , an Easton Area High School graduate who founded a tech company in San Francisco, took first prize in Sir Richard Branson's Branson's Extreme Tech Challenge. Competing against 2,000 entrants, Dy's Bloom Technologies won for development of the Belli, a diagnostic tool that helps pregnant women monitor the health of their fetuses. The Band Aid-like device is placed on the abdomen to log fetal movements and heartbeat, with the goal of preventing pre-term births. Dy, who grew up in Palmer Township, graduated from Cornell University and earned a doctorate from UCLA in biomedical engineering. He drew upon his training with IMEC in Belgium, a biotech company with expertise in wearable technology, later forming his own West Coast company. Please allow ads as they help fund our trusted local news content. Kindly add us to your ad blocker whitelist. If you want further access to Ireland's best local journalism, consider contributing and/or subscribing to our free daily Newsletter . Support our mission and join our community now. Four of the USAs founding fathers: (l to r) Adams, Morris, Hamilton, Jefferson There was a rather strange moment on Thursdays BBC Question Time. There was a discussion about President Obamas intervention in the EU referendum debate. Liam Fox was waxing lyrically about how the USA has great democracy, and all we want is the same democracy ourselves without our country being, he posited, controlled by Brussels. What this argument seemed to miss is the title of the country: The United States of America. That great country is the most outstanding example of a federation known to man! Fifty states have pooled sovereignity over relevant matters while retaining strong powers over appropriate areas in their states. If there is any strong argument, through example, for the EU, it is the USA. * Paul Walter is a Liberal Democrat activist and member of the Liberal Democrat Voice team. He blogs at Liberal Burblings. A POLISH woman has described how her life was ruined after she was assaulted by another woman at a nightclub in the city centre. Kaja Szeleg, aged 20, was giving evidence after AnneMarie Walpole, aged 23, of the Spa, Castleconnell pleaded guilty to charges relating to an incident on January 25, 2015. Inspector Paul Reidy told Limerick District Court there had been pushing and banging between the pair before Ms Walpole struck the injured party in the face a number of times. Ms Szeleg, who had been living in Limerick for over a decade prior to the incident, told the court her social life was affected and that it was very hard for me following the incident. She said she attended her GP afterwards and is still receiving physiotherapy. She has since returned to Poland. I moved out, I was stressed, it kind of ruined my life, she said. Ms Walpoles solicitor told the court his client, who comes from a very respectable family, was unbelievably apologetic for her actions. Judge Marian OLeary was told the defendant, who is the manager of a restaurant in the city, has no previous convictions and furnished a written apology to gardai in advance of the court proceedings. The court was told Ms Walpole was herself the victim of an assault some months prior to the incident and that she is now attending counselling. Judge OLeary was told the defendant, who had consumed alcohol on the night, has learned a serious lesson as a result of what was described by her solicitor as 30 seconds of madness. Given the circumstances and he previous good record, the judge was urged not to record a formal conviction as it would affect Ms Walpoles career and travel prospects. Judge OLeary adjourned the matter to June to facilitate the preparation of a pre-sanctioned report by the Probation Service. EASTER Sunday 1916 saw the single biggest event of the Easter Rising in Limerick when hundreds of Irish Volunteers mustered at Glenquin Castle. The muster was part of a wider plan to galvanise the country and strike for Irish freedom against imperialist Britain. On the day, up to 300 volunteers, drawn from 11 Irish Volunteer sections, made their way across fields, their eyes firmly on the Glenquin landmark. Their mission was to be part of a wider national uprising. But they never got to fulfil it and Ger Greaney, who is the prime organiser for the re-enactment of Glenquin which will take place this Sunday, explains how the events of one hundred years ago, all fell apart. On April 18th 1916, the Tuesday of Holy Week, Charles Wall was called out of an Irish Volunteer meeting in Dromcollogher to meet two gentlemen who had travelled from Dublin. They were members of the secret organisation the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB), Mr Greaney says. After swearing Charles into the IRB they gave him the plans and instructions for the 1916 rising. As commandant of West Limerick he was to mobilise all the local volunteer groups at Glenquin Castle outside Ashford on Easter Sunday. Then on that day at the appointed hour the group were to move up to Devon Road Station near Templeglantine and take over the train bringing up the smuggled guns that Roger Casement was to land in Banna Beach. From there they were to deliver half the guns to the Limerick City Volunteers based in Killonan and take the remainder to Gort in Galway. There they were to join the local force and fight their way across to Dublin, Mr Greaney goes on. Only Charles Wall Knew of the whole plan. All the local volunteers in each parish knew was that they were to travel to Glenquin with a blanket, their weapon and three days rations and that the hour to act had come, he continues. They travelled on foot over bogs and fields and along side-roads to avoid detection. They waited for hours in Glenquin until finally the word came from Limerick that the rising had been called off. Next Sunday, in honour of this event, scores will make their way from up to 16 locations, including Milford, and travel on foot to Glenquin. There, there will be a short commemorative ceremony, a reading of the proclamation of 1916 and this will be followed by a big Irish traditional music concert as well as a display of memorabilia. All will be welcome. News / National by Staff reporter Youth, Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Minister Patrick Zhuwao yesterday admitted to bungling on the Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Act, saying he could have misinterpreted certain issues. Minister Zhuwao said President Mugabe's interpretation of the Act was "perfect" and final.He made the admission of error at a press conference at his office after the launch of Zimbabwe Youth Empowerment Investment Committees' Zero Draft Overview."I'm appointed by the President and as I take directions, it's quite possible that l can misinterpret certain things. I must be able to listen to my boss when my boss explains that l'm misinterpreting certain things," he said.President Mugabe a fortnight ago moved in to clarify the confusion over the interpretation of the indigenisation law, which he said undermined business confidence in the country.Zhuwao said the resultant confusion had increased the cost of doing business while weakening the country's competitiveness in the wake of a public spat between Cabinet ministers.Minister Zhuwao had attacked his Finance and Economic Development counterpart Minister Patrick Chinamasa and Reserve Bank governor John Mangudya for asserting that the financial services sector had met the indigenisation requirement ahead of the March 31 deadline.Asked about the deadlines he had issued to foreign companies to comply with the country's indigenisation laws, Minister Zhuwao said: "The pronouncement by the President has helped significantly. That's also clarified in the statement," he said.Asked to comment on the war of words between him and former chairperson of the recently formed steering committee on the Zimbabwe Youth Empowerment Strategy for Investment, Acie Lumumba, Minister Zhuwao said the reason for Lumumba's ouster was based on a conflict of interest between his job description and a private company he owned.He however said he had not fully investigated Lumumba's allegations on social media and that if he had known that there was a potential conflict, he could not have appointed him. Lumumba, in a recorded video which has gone viral on social media, said Zhuwao was not fit to hold any public office.In the video, he alleges that their conflict arose after Zhuwao gave him an ultimatum in front of ministry officials last week to deliver three percent of shares from Old Mutual funds to his office."I don't spend too much time looking at those allegations because I primarily believe in terms of section 61 of the Constitution, which says everybody has a right of expression and freedom of the media. I'm not going to focus on that because I'm an appointed Minister of government, and I've a specific responsibility that l must focus on," said Zhuwao.He also claimed that Lumumba's allegations were 'false': "l absolutely have no idea what triggered him to say that. I wish I was a prophet. If there's any impropriety, he must report me to the authorities and I'm investigated if there's anything l did wrong. You must never threaten to be a person of integrity. It's something you can never threaten. He has an obligation as a citizen to reveal more," he said. News / National by Staff reporter A self-styled prophet appeared in court yesterday for allegedly raping a woman after convincing her that it was a cleansing ceremony.Tichaona Gwinhi, 27, of 2174 Old Tafara appeared before Harare regional magistrate Noel Mupeiwa. He denied the allegations.The complainant, 20, resides in New Mabvuku.Prosecutor Tinashe Makiya alleged that on March 11 the woman was on her way home near Old Tafara Cemetery.She met Gwinhi who introduced himself as a prophet before telling her that she was being troubled by an evilspirit that attacked her whole family.Gwinhi further told the woman that the spirit was operating from her stomach and caused her pains.The court heard that the woman confirmed the prophecy and believed that Gwinhi was a true prophet.Gwinhi then invited the woman to his residence for a cleansing ceremony, where he allegedly raped her.The court heard that Gwinhi spent the night in the kitchen and raped the woman several times.The complainant was released the following morning and left for her grandmother's place. She informed a friend who assisted her to report the matter to the police.Gwinhi was subsequently arrested. A map showing the change in drug overdose death rates in U.S. counties between 1979 and 2013. Areas in red had the highest increases, while areas in dark blue had the lowest increases. Some U.S. counties have seen a 70-fold increase in drug overdose deaths in the last few decades, a new study finds. However, the areas with the highest increases in drug overdose deaths are not always the places with the most drug trafficking, as identified by the government, the study found. This suggests that drugs are passing through some high-trafficking counties without affecting death rates of the people in those regions, but are causing problems in other parts of the country, the researchers said. "Our research reveals several potential new drug overdose problem regions that warrant careful attention as they may not correspond to areas covered by federal resources to combat drug trafficking," study co-author Jeanine Buchanich, deputy director of the University of Pittsburgh's Center for Occupational Biostatistics and Epidemiology, said in a statement. For example, western Pennsylvania has one of the fastest-growing rates of drug overdose in the nation, but it is not an area with a lot of drug trafficking, Buchanich said. [Top 10 Leading Causes of Death] In the study, researchers analyzed information on U.S. accidental drug-overdose deaths from 1979 to 2014. During this time period, the death rates from drug overdose increased 6.7 percent each year, on average, from 2,475 total deaths in the U.S. in 1979 to 38,675 total deaths in 2014. The counties with the largest increases in drug overdose death rates were clustered in southern Michigan, eastern Ohio, western and eastern Pennsylvania, as well as in New Jersey, much of southeastern New York and coastal New England, the researchers said. In particular, the counties of Jefferson, Louisiana; Norfolk, Massachusetts; Franklin, Ohio; Montgomery, Ohio; Summit, Ohio; and Kanawha, West Virginia, saw 70-fold increases in drug overdose death rates during the study period. In contrast, counties in the Midwest, California and Texas saw little to no change in drug overdose deaths during this period, the study found. The researchers also analyzed drug overdose deaths in the 31 counties that are part of the U.S. High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas program. These areas receive federal resources to reduce drug trafficking and production. Some of the counties with high drug trafficking also had large increases in drug overdose deaths, including areas in Ohio and West Virginia. But some counties, like Norfolk, Massachusetts, are not considered high-trafficking areas, and yet had large increases in drug overdose deaths. In addition, high-trafficking areas near the borders in California, Texas and southern Florida had drug overdose death rates that were lower than the national average in 2014. "The drug poisoning mortality epidemic is continuing to grow," the researchers said. "While resources are justifiably being targeted to the high-intensity drug-trafficking areas, they must also be allocated to counties outside those areas with rapidly increasing and currently high drug overdose rates," Buchanich said. The study was published April 13 in the journal Preventive Medicine. Follow Rachael Rettner @RachaelRettner. FollowLive Science @livescience, Facebook& Google+. Original article on Live Science. The famous Crab Nebula, as seen by the Hubble and Herschel space telescopes. NASA tweeted out this photo on April 21, 2016, in honor of the musician Prince, who died that day at the age of 57. NASA paid its respects to Prince with a gorgeous space image that recalled the late musician's most famous album, Purple Rain. "A purple nebula, in honor of Prince, who passed away today," NASA officials tweeted Thursday (April 21) along with the photo, a composite view of the Crab Nebula that combines imagery from the agency's iconic Hubble Space Telescope and the European Space Agency's Herschel Space Observatory. The Crab Nebula, which lies about 6,500 light-years from Earth, is a supernova remnant a structure shaped by the explosive death of a massive star. Such stars burn incredibly brightly and die young, so NASA's photo tribute seems doubly appropriate: Prince, lauded as one of the most talented and influential musicians of his generation, was just 57 when he died. Follow Mike Wall on Twitter @michaeldwall and Google+. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook or Google+. Originally published on Space.com. #cannabis #marijuana #medical The Veterans Medical Marijuana Safe Harbor Act gets refiled, a move to block the legalization of any illicit drug in Idaho gets quashed as lawmakers cite the popularity of medical marijuana, and more National Bipartisan Bill to Legalize Medical Marijuana for Military Vets Filed in Congress. A bill that would federally legalize medical marijuana for veterans was refiled in Congress Thursday. Reps. Barbara Lee (D-CA) and Dave Joyce (R-OH), both co-Chairs of the Congressional Cannabis Caucus, and nine other original cosponsors filed the Veterans Medical Marijuana Safe Harbor Act on the House side, while in the Senate, Sen. Brian Schatz (D-HI) is leading the proposal, and hes joined by five other lawmakers, including Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT). The bill would allow vets in states with legal medical marijuana programs to use it with a physicians recommendation, and it would allow doctors at Department of Veterans Affairs to make such recommendations. Idaho Idaho House Kills Bill That Would Have Blocked Medical Marijuana. The House on Thursday defeated a proposed constitutional amendment that would have blocked the state from ever legalizing any illicit drug by requiring a two-thirds vote of both the House and Senate to do so. House Joint Resolution 4 failed after 6 House Republicans voted against it saying Idahoans want medical marijuana. Iowa Iowa Lawsuit Challenges Governors Delay in Seeking Federal Exemption for Medical Marijuana. Veteran activist Carl Olsen has filed a lawsuit against Governor Kim Reynolds (R) after she has failed to move forward with an effort to win an exemption from federal drug laws. The legislature passed and Reynolds signed a bill to do that last year but has failed to act. The lawsuit is an attempt to prod her to move on it. Louisiana Louisiana Bill to Allow Smokable Medical Marijuana Advances. A bill to allow and tax smokable marijuana for medical marijuana patients, House Bill 514, passed the House Ways and Means Committee unanimously last Friday. The measure would apply the states 4.45% sales tax to such products. The bill is now ready for a House floor vote. Tennessee Tennessee Medical Marijuana Bill Wins Committee Vote. A bill to allow for the use of medical marijuana, Senate Bill 667, was approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee Thursday and now heads for the Senate Calendar Committee. Companion legislation, House Bill 880, is also moving, having passed out of one House Health subcommittee and scheduled for a House Health Committee vote net week. Permission to Reprint: This article is licensed under a modified Creative Commons Attribution license. Looking for the easiest way to join the anti-drug war movement? Youve found it! By Philip Smith Paul Ebeling, Editor Have a healthy week, Keep the Faith! News / National by zrp DetailsAccused: Justin MpofuOffence: RobberyLast known address: 588 Cowdray Park, BulawayoBrief circumstancesAccused in the company of his accomplice Shadreck Zvigo entered a house in Bulawayo where they assaulted the occupants and demanded cash at gunpoint. The two went away with the complainant's motor vehicle and took away cash amounting to $30 000,00 and eight cellphones.For any information contact the Officer In Charge Homicide Squad, Bulawayo, Detective Chief Inspector Mwezi on (09) 71568. Hillside CR 67/04/10 and Homicide DR 10/04/10 refers. If you do not have a current print subscription to the Lodi News-Sentinel, but want to view unlimited articles for the month, please choose this option. News / Regional by Richard Muponde FOUR police officers from Kezi have been arraigned for allegedly assaulting a villager after accusing him of insulting a member of the Neighbourhood Watch Committee.Bothwell Tsiga, 25, James Mandidzinga, 31, Regis Jakarasi, 25, and Doubt Mapfumo, 38, whose ranks were not mentioned in court, but all of Kezi Police Station, pleaded not guilty to assault before Gwanda magistrate Nomagugu Ncube.Request Moyo of Chief Bakwayi Sithole area in Kezi was allegedly hospitalised following the brutal assault in the Charge Office at Kezi Police Station.Two witnesses including the complainant have testified.They told the court the cops assaulted Moyo and he saved himself by calling a senior policeman.The prosecutor, Mncedisi Dube, said on July 31 last year at about 7AM, Moyo went to Kezi Police Station."He was making a follow up on a letter left at his homestead by police officers ordering him to present himself at the police station," said Dube.The court heard that when he entered the Charge Office, an officer ordered him to remove his shoes and sit behind the counter.The NWC member who claimed to have been insulted, Mandla Moyo, allegedly entered the Charge Office and one of the police officers asked Request why he was insulting the police.Immediately thereafter, Dube said, Tsiga entered holding a baton and started assaulting Request.The other three allegedly joined in.They later indicated that Moyo should pay a fine and that was when he phoned the senior cop, the court heard.Dube told the court that the cop, a Superintendent Mpofu, pleaded with the quartet to stop assaulting the complainant."The four accused released Moyo and he went for treatment at Kezi Hospital. He proceeded to Bulawayo where a medical report was compiled," said the prosecutor."A formal report was made to the police leading to the arrest of the four police officers."The trial continues on April 28 and the State has summoned a Chief Inspector Muza from Gwanda police to testify as he was said to have investigated the matter at some point. The second year Art students of Mean Scoil Mhuire are using their heads - literally and figuratively - for the Aisling Childrens Festival 1916 commemoration project. The students and their teacher, Ms Clare Daly, have spent six weeks working with renowned milliner Wendy Louise Knight, creating 1916-themed hats in workshops organised by the Aisling Festival as part of the centenary celebrations. Wendy Louise has been involved with the Aisling Festival for a number of years, carrying out hat-making workshops with local primary school pupils. This workshop was different, however, in that the secondary school students had free rein on the type of hat they created and the design and material they used, leading to some spectacular results. At first we spoke about what 1916 meant to them and then all the girls did lovely mood boards, Wendy Louise told the Leader, revealing the lesson that she shared with the girls: Hats dont have to be regular hats, they can be Art pieces. In creating their pieces, which were inspired by the women of 1916, the girls took these words to heart. While some opted to make their own mark on the traditional medical and military head wear, others modelled theirs on the GPO and the Proclamation. We got some amazing hats, Wendy Louise smiled, adding that fifteen girls had taken part in the workshop and will display their hats at the commemorative parade in Longford on April 24. This, after winning the Youth Endeavour Award at the 2016 St Patrick's Day Parade in Longford town. The girls also got a chance to show off their work to Irish TV, who filmed a segment at the school on Monday last. Admitting that shell miss her trips to the school, Wendy Louise revealed that the workshops were greatly enjoyed, not just by herself, but by the students and their Art teacher. This was backed up by Mean Scoil Mhuire teacher and Aisling Festival Committee member Clare Macko, who explained that the school and the festival wanted to do something that would inspire the students, and allow them to design, create and then showcase their work. It's a combination of history, creativity and design, she added. The students loved it and while Wendy was saying it was their first experience of millinery, a lot of them are very interested in it now. Thanking Longford County Council and Ireland 2016, who made the funding available, Clare also added that the Aisling Children's Arts Festival will return this Autumn, running from October 23 - 29. Developers built more houses in Longford during the Celtic Tiger years than in the three decades leading up to it, a business gathering was told at the weekend. Gerard Brady, senior economist with IBAC revealed the startling statistic at a 'Get Involved Think Tank' initiative at Longford Rugby Club on Saturday. From 2001-2007 period, Longford recorded more house builds than in the previous 1970-2000 period. Over 60 people attended the event which heard that construction between 2006-2007 in Longford surpassed even the likes of Dublin, Cork and Limerick. Many of those findings, together with a broad range of other topics discussed on the day, are now set to form part of a major report by Longford Chamber of Commerce chiefs. It's important to remember, we are starting from a very low base, said Lisa Brady, Longford Chamber. The chamber representative was at pains to stress her remarks following last Saturday's proceedings were just initial thoughts at this stage. But, she said, plenty of upbeat and realistic targets emanated from the day long affair. Where we need to focus on is providing supports for local businesses and manufacturing, she added. We also have to look at how we can start exporting goods out of the county. Other key talking points which are expected to form part of the soon to be compiled report, include the need for improved infrastructure and broadband capabilities. Other keynote speakers, who also addressed last weekend's event included Longford County Council Director of Services Barbara Heslin and a tourism presentation from Seadna Ryan. It's now expected the findings from the events of last Saturday will be handed to all four of Longford Westmeath's sitting TDs and interest groups as part of ongoing efforts to kick-start Longford's recovery. Local News, Community, Charity & Cause, Press Releases, Seasonal & Current Events By Long Island News & PR Published: April 23 2016 Nassau County Executive Edward P. Mangano joined forces with the State Firemens Association and the volunteer fire service to announce the 6th Annual RecruitNY program at a press conference today at the Nassau County Firefighters ... Nassau County Executive Edward P. Mangano presents a proclamation to the State Firemens Association. Pictured along with the County Executive are: Francis X. Murray, Mayor of Rockville Centre; Anthony DEsposito, Hempstead Town Councilman; Scott Tusa, Nassau County Chief Fire Marshal; and Craig Craft, Nassau County Commissioner of the Office of Emergency Management. Nassau County, NY - April 21, 2016 - Nassau County Executive Edward P. Mangano joined forces with the State Firemens Association and the volunteer fire service to announce the 6th Annual RecruitNY program at a press conference today at the Nassau County Firefighters Museum on Museum Row in Uniondale. Volunteer firefighters protect our homes and communities 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Nassau Countys Bravest are our friends and neighbors, and they help our communities whenever and wherever support is needed, said County Executive Mangano. I encourage anyone who is interested in becoming a volunteer firefighter to visit their local firehouse during the Recruit NY weekend and sign up. To assist with recruitment and retention, Nassau County offers volunteer firefighters free community college tuition and a property tax exemption. Over the past several years, statewide fire departments have experienced difficulties in recruiting and retaining volunteers for a variety of reasons. Volunteer fire departments need to bolster their emergency responder numbers, so they can continue to provide the optimum level of protection for their residents. As we witnessed with Superstorm Sandy, residents rely on the heroic men and women of the volunteer fire service. This year, more than 540 departments in 60 counties across the state are participating in RecruitNY and we look forward to welcoming New Yorkers to all our fire department Open Houses, said Robert McConville, President of the Firemens Association of the State of New York. RecruitNY has proven a success in past years and is a key initiative to help bolster membership numbers so fire departments can continue to provide the optimum level of protection to their local residents. As part of a statewide effort to increase volunteer firefighter numbers in New York State, Nassau is encouraging residents to visit the following fire department open houses during RecruitNY weekend on Saturday, April 23rd and Sunday, April 24th: Bellerose Fire Department, Bellmore Fire Department, Bethpage Fire Department, East Meadow Fire Department, East Rockaway Fire Department, Floral Park, Freeport Fire Department, Glenwood Fire Company, Locust Valley Fire Department, Manhasset-Lakeville Fire Department, North Bellmore Fire Department, North Merrick Fire Department, Oceanside Fire Department, Rockville Centre Fire Department, South Farmingdale Fire Department, and Syosset Fire Department. During RecruitNY weekend, fire departments will conduct tours of their firehouse and fire apparatus, allow visitors to try on turnout gear, and provide visitor activities and stations throughout the firehouse. Members will discuss the requirements to be a volunteer, as well as conduct demonstrations, answer questions, and let visitors know how to join their fire department. Looking to stay up to date about all of the news stories and local headlines that are important to Long Islanders? We've rounded up the top coverage for all of the important topics from multiple sources around Long Island, so you can be sure you've got the most recent update on the top stories for Long Island. Have an idea for a news story? Email us at news@longisland.com Columnists Press Releases News / Religion by HWPL Zimbabwe - Heavenly Culture, World Peace, Restoration of Light (HWPL) The Zimbabwe branch worked together with religious leaders to host the 2nd HWPL WARP (World Alliance of Religions' Peace) Office on April 21, 2016.HWPL WARP Office was initiated as a practical solution to the achievement of peace by the Chairman Mr. Man Hee Lee of HWPL at the WARP Summit in September 2014. At present, 142 WARP Offices in 70 countries are being held every month, where various religious leaders contrast and compare their scriptures for a better mutual-understanding.Members from a vast group of religions were represented at the scene, namely, Father Ron Bennett representing the Catholic Church, Mr. Paradza Kuyakwenzara from the Christian Science, Janita Hargoven from Brahma Kumaris, Ras Mweli Mabhikwa from Rastafarian.When asked what role religious leaders can play to make sure there are no conflicts because of religion Mr. Ras Mweli Mabhikwa said "Religious leaders must stick to the truth especially the Christians. They must not twist the Bible to suit what they need especially for monetary gain because religious leaders are supposed to be spiritual leader. They must speak the truth boldly."Reverend Mathias Tsine also said "People must tolerate one another for peaceful co-existence and religious leaders must learn to tolerate one another and accept other religions."Under the theme "Understanding Religion" religious leaders talked about "Who is the founder of your religion, when was it founded and where is its place of origin?" and "Through what event did it begin and how will it end?" In addition, they also had an open discussion about how one can reconnect and understand God.Through the meeting, each religious leaders cleared misinterpretation of different religions and were led to a deeper acceptance of each religion's standards and teachings which steer towards the accomplishment of peace.With the support from participants, HWPL WARP Offices are being operated all over the world. The ultimate goal of the office is solve the conflicts caused by the difference of religion, which make up more than 80% of the whole conflictsWhile, on the 14th of March, HWPL International Law Peace Committee proclaimed The Declaration of Peace and Cessation of War' in Seoul, South Korea. Through its 10 articles such as fostering religious freedom, promoting peaceful coexistence amongst religious and ethnic groups, and spreading a culture of peace, it presents the practical way to achieve peace. Opinion / Columnist I suppose it is called delayed sight. Last week I drew the ire of opposition MDC-T supporters when I raised the self-evident, dead-end scenario that comes with demonstrations, and the fleeting joy that comes with regaling inflated crowd numbers.My crime was simply that I reminded Tsvangirai and his ilk that demonstrations do not make parties electable. Do not make manifestos. Do not make parties even. That they only afford demos momentary street power, afford them a chance to purge emotions so as to restore their body's "humours" to full balance for a pacific sedateness ever after.The Greeks of yore, knew this very well, which is why they invested millions in amphitheatres, where deadly games and other forms of gory mass spectacles were enacted for the collective joy and inside pacification of the demos.The people needed to be "amuseth", as Dickens would presciently proclaim years later in Hard Times. For there is that zone in all of us, which seeks escape from hard realities by sliding into the irrational, delectably irrational, a zone of perfect amusement where hard questions of life, hard balls thrown up by the rational brain, are happily suspended. A great escape, but one which does not last forever.Inserting constitutional fissuresAnd makers of world constitutions many of them great students of collective human behaviour know this perfectly well: that every society needs institutionalised fissures, needs escape holes, the real challenge being to know what these are, and then of course to provide for them.Some go samba. Others bull fighting. Yet others find that by way of sex orgies. In the western world, these fissures included allowing their mad caps moments of untrammelled rage, of un-listened rage even, in some dark corner, in some park called Hide, sorry, Hyde, where their angry shout themselves hoarse, exhaust themselves in unmatched but unheard eloquence.Fissures by way of newspapers and newspaper columns where anger is daily ventilated in great style and headline. Fissures created by illusory power borne out of ephemeral combinations. So, your constitution must provide for freedom of association or assembly, freedom of speech, so pent-up mass anger gets purged through collective street action street marches to be exact, or solipsistic writings.The supposedly angry march together, bellowing song and denounciatory chants, but mauling good portions of ice-cream and other street goodies in stride. Even swooping love messages amidst this same season of mass discontent and anger. Yes, a pane, a bull light or two might be smashed or broken. But what is that compared to the raging demos of Paris in 1789? Compared to a monarch without a head? A Bastille smouldering smoke?The key thing is to make them feel avenged for the excesses of their governors. Thereafter, pubs are full, guffaws of oppositional victory soon melding and giving way to airy froth of malt, and then real froth of spittled snore of the drunken.Such constitutional fissures amount to indulgences of the demos by the powerful, gifts from power, all to give the masses a sense of play, participation and involvement, which they do not actually have. And will never have.Inviting stern facesIt is important for political leaders, especially those in opposition, to know this basic truism of human science, so they correctly place demonstrations in the scheme of things political. The real tragedy comes about when the likes of Tsvangirai mistake this ephemeral, indulged power, with a walk to State House. Or with their reawakening from a long-wrought political stupor, with their second coming, all to false cheers from an obliging, politically semi-literate crowd.Then, the temptation to overreach and thus to invite real trouble for themselves becomes only too real. There is no constitution in the world which provides for demonstrations as a mechanism for changing power and leadership. You would have to look elsewhere for that kind of permission. Quite the contrary, constitutions grant concessions to solidify power already got, leadership already ascended. Giving that power and leadership the legitimating show of legitimating permissiveness. Not sanctioning chaos.And as Tsvangirai was soon to learn, reading too much into the constitution, and into miserly demonstrations, invites interlocutors with awesome, forbidding faces, invites eerie warnings from arms of State coercion. Such is the way society is organised, and he should be literate enough to know that. And so, too, should be those who advise him.Look who is quarrelling with generals?Of course, one commentator got it perfectly right. The MDC-T demonstrations were not meant against the establishment. They were a show of opposition people power against other opposition peers. No wonder they have drawn quite some sharp reaction from within ranks of the opposition, while Zanu-PF, mammalian king of the jungle-like, lumbers on, unconcerned, undistracted. And exactly the scenario I drew up for the opposition last week played out with a raging, vindicating nemesis.Tsvangirai no longer wants coalition talks, we are told. Mafume warns against demonstrations that breed big egos, we read. Or Madhuku who carps, "Topple Mugabe", all from the safety and serenity of an ivory tower and a one-man crowd. It is a wonderful, amusing spectacle which has given us a roaring effervescence, followed by a quiet settlement of a bowered pool.But give it to Tsvangirai, he made his point to his siblings, and proceeded to monopolise an altercation with the State, itself the ultimate objective of the opposition. Today Save brags that he is the only one picking a fight with generals and commissioners. Others may join him if they so wish. It is not a pleasant feeling.The first as the lastAnd from opposition websites, a clear admission that People First is having a hard time breaking into Matabeleland. Why mention any one region? That is the story all over, everywhere, spectacularly so in Masvingo where attempted gatherings of Zimbabwe People First have been such a monumental embarrassment to the interim party, if a party it is. Gatherings created by disgruntled MDC-T functionaries all in the hope of plenty.And once posts and stipends have proved unavailable, they have pulled back and out, leaving the First the very Last. And the appeals taking place for readmissions within Zanu-PF, set against the self-pleasing gloom and doom predictions! The start of a massive roll-out of big public projects in housing, roads, broadcasting, health does anyone in the opposition read these great signs and auguries ahead of 2018?In heat yet againOf course not. Quite the contrary, the beast is in heat again. The signs of self-delusion abound yet again. Invented invincibility. Swelling, imagined crowds. Pending victory. A spectacular one came by way of a loud story whose by-line was evenly split between Itai Mushekwe, Mary-Kate Kahari and Malvin Motsi. You sometimes wonder whether or not these propaganda simpletons credit us with any thought or memory.In gist, the story claims a $2bn-Marshall Plan for Zimbabwe by godly America, set and soon to be disbursed once "democratic elections" are successfully held in Zimbabwe, giving us a democratically elected leader from the opposition! A democratic election whose outcome is predisposed, even with a name: Morgan Tsvangirai, deputised by Joice Mujuru!And attempts at creating an impression of far-flung sourcing of the story, creating an impression of arduousness in putting it together. Sprinklings of historicity. Amidst an undecided US electoral contest still at the phase of intra-party contests! Oh my Goodness!Yes, I hear you, gentle reader. You are right. It is a story we have read before. And before, read practically as a prelude to every electoral year. But Tsvangirai begins to read this with unvarnished, boundless delight, even feeling the tickle of power up from behind and beyond his ears! The beast is in heat yet again.When gloom is brightAnd the propaganda package for us ahead of 2018 is a very simple, unvarying one. Paint the situation in the country as one of unrelieved doom. Everything must be depicted as collapsing, including Zanu-PF itself.When the President projects an economy on the mend, present him as mad, as an out-of-touch old man whose projections deserve raucous laughter. Yet on the same day, an American think-tank makes pretty much the same prediction, but to editorial A-men from the same press. It must come from Americans!And, even as Zanu-PF is falling apart, like everything else, the opposition must still be exhorted to unite ahead of 2018, so as to defeat Zanu-PF! To fight a dead party? And dire predictions of mass starvation in the country. None which we see at all. Then the new American envoy showers Zimbabwe with praises, acknowledges phenomenal progress made by the country, all against the harsh environment of sanctions imposed by his country.Even promises thawing relations. And somewhere inside, talks about some pledge of some $20 million towards drought relief. They lap up to that, behaving as if without that pledge, Zimbabweans are set to perish with hunger. It has to be gloom and doom. That is the one side, propaganda side.And bright actually gloomyThe other one is where things look incredibly bright for the opposition, rosy, ahead of 2018. Freedom for the hyena means death for the sheep. They do not have to do anything, beyond simply uniting. Zanu-PF is finished, and all that remains is to keep entrapping it, setting up for discrediting by the international community. A stunt or two by the other Dzamara for loud, oversized headlines. Finish!Meanwhile, the Russians are dominating ZITF. So are the Chinese. Gold companies are retooling for greater outputs. The consolidated diamond mining company is set to operate and another revenue stream gets opened up. At another level, Zimbabwe records a trade surplus against South Africa, its foremost trading partner.Less because Zimbabwe's export performance has picked pace, more because of import restraining, itself the beginning of economic wisdom, and with it, recovery. I mean does it make sense to entertain an outfit like called Food Lovers which busily imports 'manwiwa' from South Africa, yet all the way from Binga to Lupane, roadsides are green-balled by stout watermelons from hard working peasants, all crying for a market.Or a Food Lovers which imports 'mabura, mbambaira chaidzo', which almost block the highway from Juru right up to Mutoko? Just that import compression takes us very far down the road to recovery. Just that policy clarity, alongside many such wayward policies, which did not make sense.Another miracle for the blindThus we shall have this binary communication where the dark is in fact the bright, and the bright the dark, with false ululating all over. I mean you talk and write lame about a fictitious $2 billion Marshall Plan, and not about $2 billion dualisation of the Beitbridge-Chirundu highway, with many such to follow. Such givenness to pessimism can actually be infectious, with the public media also diseased.The other day I asked an editor with the public media how Zimbabwe can be said to be in an energy crisis when he himself has not suffered any load shedding since last year, and against the backdrop of mega-Chinese projects on energy. Simply because of failure to read the times correctly, failure to resist a herd-mentality that shapes news, very soon Zimbabwe will be another miracle, unheralded, unexpected. In the meantime, let the irate supporters of Tsvangirai be irate yet again. Who cares?Icho!nathaniel.manheru@zimpapers.co.zw DALLAS, Tex.When the person described as one of the most conservative columnists in Texas editorializes about how bad was Judge Sidney Fitzwater's decision to deny Three Expo Events' Motion for Preliminary Injunction, thus scotching chances for an Exxxotica convention in Dallas in May, perhaps Dallas' political leaders should reconsider their position. As those who've been paying attention to the controversy know, Judge Fitzwater denied the injunction on essentially two grounds: that the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center, where Exxxotica was to be held (and where it was held last year), is not a "public forum" where free speech is to be protected, but rather a "commercial interest" that doesn't need to take First Amendment rights into consideration, and that the City Council's passage of a resolution that barred the convention manager from contracting with Three Expo was "content neutral"meaning they didn't pass it not because they don't like porn, but for some other non-speech-related reason. "What makes little sense, at least to the humble layman: When all of the argument leading to that 8-7 council vote pounded away on the evils of pornography, how can a decision to bar a porn expo come out as 'viewpoint neutral'?" asked Dallas Morning News Opinion Blog Editor Mike Hashimoto. "Council member after council member on the Rawlings side cited porn as a great scourge of our times, yet this did not affect the vote? "If the Dallas City Council had a long historyor much history at allof voting to bar other conventions, regardless of viewpoint, that would be one thing," he added. "That also would defy logic: Why would a city government bar from city-owned property any such gathering that was within the law and paid for the space, when that space wasnt exactly turning big profits? The city funds the convention center into the tens of millions of dollars for debt service and annual subsidy. Every dollar the city puts into the convention center falls not from some magic money tree but is taken by force of law from Dallas taxpayers." That last comment, of course, betrays Hashimoto's libertarian leanings, but his real point is that every dollar paid to attorneys and others to fight Exxxotica's use of the convention center is a dollar wastedand so far, the city is wasting about $4,000 per day on the fight, and it'll only get more expensive from here. "[A] 'constitutional conservative' argues that the entire document [U.S. Constitution], words on paper and their interpretations, means something, not a picking-and-choosing of what we like and ignoring what we dont," Hashimoto added. "The free speech part of the First Amendment, then, means something. Whether you agree is immaterial. So insisting that free speech should apply to all taxpayer-funded property isnt an expansive reading as much as its logical and clear. From a laymans perspective." In other words, it doesn't take a lawyer to recognize that the city's discrimination against Exxxotica is hardly constitutional, despite the claims of "content neutrality" by those who would bar the expo from the convention centerand that contradiction is what they'll be faced with front and center when this dispute goes to trial. Indeed, the Dallas Observer's Stephen Young quoted Dallas City Councilmember Philip Kingston, an opponent of the anti-Exxxotica resolution, as saying, "The thing that I think is not going to survive is the idea that anything about the city's action against Exxxotica was anything other than viewpoint discrimination. This is pretty much classic viewpoint discrimination. ... Even if the [city's lawyers' claims about Exxxotica] are true. It's, at best, a pretext for what really was the majority's revulsion at the type of speech that goes on at Exxxotica." Young noted how the judge's decision has been met with applause from Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings, as well as Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who filed an amicus brief on behalf of himself and the conservative Dallas Citizens Council opposing the injunction. (Paxton, it will be remembered, was indicted last year on federal and state securities fraud charges.) "Rawlings and Paxton probably shouldn't count their chickens, or their flourishing businesses, before they hatch," Young opined. "The thing about Fitzwater's rulingshe also declined the city's request to dismiss the case entirely Thursdayis that, should Exxxotica have the wherewithal, this case is going to trial. That could cost the city a ton of cash." Indeed, that's the most likely outcome, and while Three Expo's attorneys are still discussing their options in the wake of Judge Fitzwater's decision, it's almost a certainty that they will take the case to trial. "Although we're disappointed in today's decision, we did understand that getting the injunction would have been a very high legal hurdle," Exxxotica founder J. Handy texted to Young. "We were obviously happy the judge denied the city's motion to dismiss and we look forward to moving ahead with the case. We are in this for the long haul. You can't put a time, or a dollar, limit on the freedom of speech." Of course, over that "long haul," the city will be piling up a mountain of legal fees, and Dallas-based appellate attorney Chad Ruback estimated that the case could easily take three years to come to a conclusion. Over that time, the city's attorneys could easily run up a bill in the area of $4.5 millionand that's not even including Exxxotica's legal fees, which the city will have to cover as well when it loses the case, just as it's lost two previous similar speech cases. And considering that Exxxotica won't be held in Dallas this yearat least, not at the convention centerthere'll be the question of the damages the city will owe Three Expo for banning the eventand that could run into millions as well. But what the heck; the citizens of Dallas can afford it ... or can they? One thing's for sure: Most of them certainly won't want to. Hmmm ... wonder when their next mayoral/city council elections are scheduled for? (H/t, once again, to the Bradleys for their invaluable information-gathering) The Yarmouk refugee camp in the Syrian capital of Damascus has witnessed fierce battles between the Islamic State and Al Nusrah Front in recent weeks. Multiple reports say the Islamic State has been gaining ground from Al Nusrah, which is an official branch of al Qaedas international organization. Yarmouk was once home to more than 100,000 Syrian and Palestinian refugees. Its current population is far less, but it is difficult to find a precise estimate. Earlier this month, the UN warned that the fighting between the rival jihadists has only added to the humanitarian crisis for those refugees who remain. The Syrian government also launches airstrikes in the area as well. The continuous, highly intense fighting is not only causing civilian casualties and fatalities, but has also acutely aggravated shortages of food and clean water for the approximately 6,000 civilian families residing inside Yarmouk, Chris Gunness, a spokesman for the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), said on April 14. UNRWA has regularly attempted to supply food, hygiene products and blankets to the residents of Yarmouk and nearby camps, but its mission has been interrupted by the heavy fighting. The Islamic State began its new push in Yarmouk on April 7. Multiple factions have clashed there since 2012, but the so-called caliphate saw an opportunity to advance and took it. An offensive by the Islamic State a year earlier, in April 2015, fizzled after local militant groups and Al Nusrah thwarted its expansion. Abu Bakr al Baghdadis organization has controlled turf inside the camp since then, but the situation was essentially a stalemate. That has changed in recent weeks, with Al Nusrah losing turf. Amaq News Agency, which is part of the Islamic States prolific media machine, released the infographic seen on the right on Apr. 14. It says the Islamic State controls 30% of Yarmouk and 70% of the nearby Palestine Camp. The infographic also indicates that 15 Al Nusrah Front fighters defected after Baghdadis men announced amnesty for any jihadists who left the al Qaeda branchs forces. Amaq refers to Al Nusrah as simply Al Qaeda, which is accurate. The group is openly loyal to al Qaeda emir Ayman al Zawahiri and staffed with veteran jihadists throughout its ranks. Amaq has regularly reported on Al Nusrahs (al Qaedas) alleged defections and losses since then, with 10 al Qaeda fighters purportedly defecting on April 18. Five more al Qaeda jihadists reportedly defected on April 23, with the Islamic State killing three men who refused to switch sides. Amaq has also been eager to trumpet al Qaedas loss of ground. A headline from the media outfit on April 7 read: Islamic State fighters take control of the Juwrat ash-Sharibati neighborhood and parts of the Yarmouk Camp, south of Damascus, after clashes with al Qaeda. That same day, the media arm reported: Breaking | Islamic State fighters take control of the Arubah checkpoint seperating Yalda [another area] from the Yarmouk Camp in Damascus after clashes with al Qaeda. Another headline on April 11 said: Renewed advance by Islamic State forces at the expense of al Qaeda fighters in Yarmouk Camp in Damascus, capturing new positions. It is often difficult, if not impossible, to fully verify Amaqs claims. But independent reporting indicates that the Islamic State has the upper hand in the current battle. Daesh [Islamic State] has chased Al Nusra[h], its former ally in the Yarmouk camp, from 90 percent of the territory it controlled, Anwar Abdel Hadi, who heads the Palestine Liberation Organization in Damascus, told Agence France-Presse (AFP). Estimates provided to both AFP and Newsweek suggest that the Islamic State has between 2,000 and 3,000 fighters in Yarmouk and the nearby area. Al Nusrah is believed to have far fewer fighters in the camp, perhaps only a few hundred. Local witnesses also told Newsweek that both sides are beheading their jihadist rivals during the vicious conflict. Should the Islamic State be victorious, Baghdadis men will have a new safe haven in Damascus. On April 20, Amaq released a short video documenting the areas of Yarmouk that have fallen under the Islamic States control. The images, some of which are included below, show a sparsely populated area ravaged by war. Screenshots from Amaq News Agency video inside Yarmouk refugee camp: Thomas Joscelyn is a Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and the Senior Editor for FDD's Long War Journal. Are you a dedicated reader of FDD's Long War Journal? Has our research benefitted you or your team over the years? Support our independent reporting and analysis today by considering a one-time or monthly donation. Thanks for reading! You can make a tax-deductible donation here. LOS ANGELES, CA Alexis Fawx has had a busy week with multiple releases, including Thursday's I Love My Mom's Big Tits 2 from Digital Sin. In this scene, Fawx confronts stepson Tyler Nixon about his peeping ways. Although Nixon tries to deny his attraction, Fawx knows better and then lets him get more than just a peek. Also out on Thursday, is Three's Cumpany from Girlsway.com. When Jaclyn Taylor brings over her new lesbian friend, Fawx can't control her anger, especially since they are making a mess of her clean house. After a physical confrontation, Fawx and Taylor finally give into their mutual attraction and Fawx gets her lesbian fantasy fulfilled. Fawx also appears in Reality Junkies' Couples Seeking Teens 20, released on Wednesday. Fawx and husband Manuel Ferrara have a wild threesome with Trillium. The scene will be available for streaming on 4/27. And rounding out the week, Fawx and Tanya Tate have a tryst in Lesbian House Hunters 12 from Girlfriend Films, released on DVD this past Monday. Center: Mr Ralava BEBOARIMISA had a working session with the collaborators of the General Secretary of CITES, on March 23rd, 2015 -there is just one-month-old- in the office of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in Geneva, Switzerland The new malagasy government, on april, 15th 2016 Why is Mr Ralava Beboarimisa not a member of the Olivier Mahafaly Solonandrasana government anymore? Madagascar minister seeks AGC meet-up SINGAPORE: Madagascar's environment minister plans to meet officials here over a case involving US$50 million (S$71 million) worth of rosewood logs alleged to have been imported here illegally from the African country. This comes after a district court here last month dismissed the case against a managing director and his company charged over the import. About 30,000 rosewood logs seized here last year on transit from Madagascar to Hong Kong are being held pending a High Court appeal to be fixed in due course. The Attorney-General's Chambers (AGC) is appealing against the earlier decision, a spokesman has confirmed with The Straits Times. The Madagascar minister hopes to meet AGC officials. I think we may need to coordinate and exchange information among ourselves to get a positive result for the outcome of the appeal , said Mr Ralava Beboarimisa, Madagascar's Minister of Environment, Ecology, Sea and Forests, in an e-mail to The Straits Times. The case has drawn keen notice abroad: The Environmental Investigation Agency, which lobbies globally for the protection of endangered species and climate issues, has urged Mr Beboarimisa to probe how the cargo was cleared for export by Madagascar before it took off. It is understood that he was not the incumbent minister then. Last month, a district court dismissed the case against managing director Wong Wee Keong and his company Kong Hoo for allegedly importing the logs without a permit, ruling that these were in transit here and bound for Hong Kong. The goods acquired from Madagascar by Kong Hoo were seized in March last year when a cargo vessel carrying them berthed at Jurong Port. They were meant to be restuffed into containers and shipped to Hong Kong. It was then reported to be the largest amount of rosewood logs ever seized. Rosewood - Dalbergia and Diospyros in this case - is a restricted item listed under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (Cites), to which Singapore is a signatory. A Cites listing means permits are required for the commercial import, export or re-export of a specified species. But in this case, the Madagascar authorities had cleared the items for export. A delegation came to Singapore last December to look into the case. A month later, Madagascar's then environment minister, whose name was not given in the judgment, confirmed via e-mail the export documents were authentic, noted District Judge Jasvender Kaur. She held that prosecutors had not made the case to justify the charge under the Endangered Species Act against Mr Wong and Kong Hoo. But Mr Beboarimisa said: I do not think that Madagascar can approve this sort of export. In any case, this export will be clarified by further investigations as soon as Madagascar has access to all exhibits produced during the current trial , he added. He said Madagascar has now inventorised, marked, secured and recorded in a national database all seized or hidden logs scattered in the country's 11 regions. To complement this, satellite and radar surveillance activities of Madagascar's north coast - the main area of illegal boarding - are ongoing with the support of the World Bank . He said these measures are beginning to show results, citing the seizure of more than 1,000 tonnes of precious wood in Hong Kong on October 8 this year. We all need to understand that natural resources trafficking is part of international organised crime. It involves huge amounts of illegal funds. And the fact is those funds will be recycled for other illegal activities , he said. Trafficking puts pressure on endangered species, which are part of our common legacy, he said. The lessons are (that) this must be our common struggle and our common cause , he added. This article was first published on December 1st, 2015 ************************* High Court overturns earlier decision by lower court to dismiss the charge SINGAPORE: The managing director of a company said to have illegally imported endangered rosewood from Madagascar will have to defend the charge against him, after the High Court on Friday (February 19, 2016) set aside an earlier acquittal. Wong Wee Keong, 54, and his firm Kong Hoo are facing charges of importing nearly 30,000 rosewood logs into Singapore in March 2014 without a permit. The prosecutions case against them was dismissed last October by District Judge Jasvender Kaur, who said the defence had no case to answer. In a decision that environmentalists criticised as setting back efforts to stop trafficking of illegal timber, District Judge Kaur had ruled that the logs were in transit and found no evidence to show they had been imported to Singapore no permit was hence needed. The seizure of the rosewood logs, worth about US$50 million (S$70.4 million), was the largest ever recorded, according to environmental news site Mongabay. The prosecution appealed against District Judge Kaurs decision and Judicial Commissioner See Kee Oon on Friday agreed substantially with its arguments, ordering the case to be remitted to court for trial. The evidence does not point irresistibly to the district judges conclusion that the sole purpose of bringing the logs into Singapore was to ship them to Hong Kong, said Judicial Commissioner See, who will issue written grounds of his decision at a later date. The prosecution argued that District Judge Kaurs decision was potentially inconsistent with Singapores international obligations as a signatory to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna (CITES), and was against the legislative intent of Singapores Endangered Species Act to comply with CITES. Although there were signed quotations of ocean freight charges for the logs from Singapore to Hong Kong, there were no particulars of the purported overseas buyers nor their departure date, argued Second Solicitor-General Kwek Mean Luck, who said this cannot be regarded as a true transit case on the mere say-so of Wong and Kong Hoo. Among recommendations adopted by CITES parties, are that items in transit have named consignees, and any permits or certificates clearly show the ultimate destination of shipment. While not legally binding, they provide a basic framework for how treaty provisions should be interpreted and promote consistency in the international implementation of CITES, noted amicus curiae Kelvin Koh. An amicus curiae, or friend of the court, is appointed by the court in certain cases to assist on legal issues. The prosecution also pointed out that Wong and Kong Hoo had not informed authorities that they were shipping endangered species from Madagascar, which would be needed for authorities to exercise physical or active legal control over the goods. Mr Kwek disagreed with the defence and the judges conclusion that the logs are within such control simply by being within the free trade zone of ports. Such an interpretation would be against Singapores intent to comply with its CITES obligations and mean laxer regulations in certain areas that would allow wildlife traders to traffic endangered species to the exclusion of relevant authorities oversight, he said. This does not accord with Parliaments intention to prevent Singapore from being used as a conduit for the smuggling of CITES-protected species, he said. Wong and Kong Hoo are represented by lawyers K Muralidharan Pillai, Mr Paul Tan and Mr Choo Zheng Xi. The trial is expected to resume after March 2016. Todayonline.com The Rock To Star In Jumanji Remake Trending News: One Of Your Favorite 90s Movies Is Getting Remade With The Rock Starring Why Is This Important? Because a remake was inevitable, but is The Rock the best man for the job? Long Story Short Hollywood is giving the remake treatment to the 1995 classic Robin Williams flick Jumanji with Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson at the helm. Forgive me for being really sketched about this. Long Story It's safe to say without a shadow of a doubt that Hollywood loves these two things remakes and The Rock. And with the former tongue-dancing wrestler already set to star in remakes of Baywatch and Rampage, Hollywood is giving the keys over to Dwayne Johnson to star in a remake of 1995's Jumanji. The Rock, looking jacked as ever, made the announcement on Instagram while holding the Jumanji script (as seen via Mashable). Excuse me for being a little skeptical of a classic Robin Williams movie getting remade, but maybe I'm not over it. Should I feel comforted that The Rock promised "to deliver something cool and special.. and not screw the whole damn thing up;)?" Hmm, not so sure. At this point we've certainly smelled what The Rock is cooking as an actor, and there's definitely been a bunch of stinkers. Johnson will be working with Director Jake Kasdan, who directed Sex Tape and Bad Teacher and producer Matt Tolmach, who worked on the Amazing Spider-Man movies. Yeah, definitely not easing my skepticism. Own The Conversation Ask The Big Question Is it too soon to start remaking Robin Williams movies? Disrupt Your Feed I already know this movie is going to suck. Drop This Fact Kevin Hart has also been rumored to be part of the Jumanji cast. Has Social Media Taken Over Your Life? Trending News: How Much Social Media Is Too Much? Why Is This Important? Because social media is changing our brains (and we like our brains). Long Story Short Research by a leading psychologist has revealed social media users regularly post things online even if they dont agree with their own opinion just to receive likes. A staggering number admitted use of social media, plus their friend or follower count, has a direct link to their self-esteem. Long Story If Jaws was the movie that made mankind petrified to step foot in the sea, newly-released horror Friend Request could be the one that sees us hurl our laptops, smartphones and social media accounts into a hot, bubbling volcano. The film sees a college student lose all her Facebook friends (and some of them their lives), after accepting the friend request of a scary, rather unhinged stranger. While the plot is (thank Christ) pure fiction, its nod to social medias monstrous power in modern life led to University of South Wales psychologist Dr Martin Graff to embark on a study. People crave likes on Facebook and Twitter, says Dr Graff of the research. Some are willing to sacrifice, to some extent, what they actually believe in order to get them. People accept friend requests from individuals they dont actually know. So it does alter the way in which we act, which might affect how we act face to face. The upshot of the study is: We spend an average of 28 hours each week online (whereas some, this writer included, far surpass that). The average number of Facebook friends for those aged below 29 is 300. 27% of respondents post updates purely to receive likes, while 11.5% will go so far as to write things they dont actually agree with in order to get some. A frankly astonishing 77% either agreed or strongly agreed their self-worth would be lower without social media, with 64% admitting social media likes can pep them up when feeling low. Ignore for one moment that our smartphones and certain sites increasingly hold the key to the ego of actual human beings, and perhaps whats most troubling is that some among us basically play a character online. You know, like that friend of yours who acts like a cash-drenched baller on Instagram, despite having worked a Sainsburys checkout since age 16. Were being the people wed want to be, but never feeling good about ourselves, claims social media consultant, Zoe Cairns. There are even apps that, if we take a selfie, can bring our cheekbones in and chin up. It makes us someone that were not. We end up hiding behind our keyboards. Another frightening finding from Dr Graffs study is that, in an age where the spectre of Catfishing, identity theft and myriad hacks loom large, 34% freely admitted to accepting friend requests from people they didnt know. Its scary, admits Cairns, who was a mortgage broker prior to launching her consultancy firm in 2010. People dont think twice about putting their full name and date of birth on their profiles, checking into their home and then letting everyone know when theyre off on holiday. When they receive a friend request, she adds, they might think that person is their friend, but it could be absolutely anyone. People need to be so aware of this, especially parents with young kids. Consider this a warning: social media is no longer sociable. Perhaps its time to pull the plug? Own The Conversation Ask The Big Question Dont people who fake it for likes deserve everything they get? Disrupt Your Feed Whatever I gave up Facebook the day my Aunt Vera signed up. Drop This Fact According to the University of Hong Kong, 420 million of us are addicted to the internet. Thats six percent of the human population! HCI Capital AG acquires the long-established Hamburg shipping company Ernst Russ GmbH & Co. KG. The HCI Group, which early in 2016 already the majority of the shares of Konig & Cie. Group had taken, thus expanding again the controlled fleet and strengthen its maritime services division. This HCI consistently pursued the strategic positioning as an asset and investment manager with a maritime focus. The Ernst Russ GmbH & Co. KG is one of the oldest, internationally known Hamburg shipping companies and has existed since 1893. They bereedert a fleet of seven container and four RoRo ships and has different interests. These include the Combi Trade GmbH, an international shipyard mediation, and participation in the chartering broker Ernst Russ Shipbroker GmbH & Co. KG. Through the acquisition of Ernst Russ GmbH & Co. KG, the HCI Group has now already around 40 ships in active management and approximately 180 fund ships, which are managed by partners shipowners. It strengthens the Ernst Russ GmbH & Co. KG Shipbroker its service portfolio in the field of chartering and has future through the Combi Trade GmbH have preferential access to a large shipyard grid. Jens Mahnke, board member of the HCI Capital AG said, "With the acquisition of Ernst Russ GmbH & Co. KG, we are expanding our Fleet operated fleet, complete our maritime services and underline the consistency with which we pursue our strategy. The name Ernst Russ is international maritime tradition, quality and responsibility. In this sense, we also provide the HCI Group in difficult markets to successful businesses. We are proud of. " The acquisition of Ernst Russ GmbH & Co. KG by means of a contribution in kind, due to which the share capital of HCI Capital AG will be increased by 6,225,000 EUR to 32,434,030 EUR. Was accompanied the transaction by KPMG, Deloitte and TaylorWessing . Ships and aircraft from the Royal Australian Navy and Japanese Maritime Self Defence Force (JMSDF) have completed the bilateral Exercise NICHI GOU TRIDENT off the coast of New South Wales. The exercise, which has been conducted regularly between Australia and Japan since 2009, was aimed at further developing interoperability between the Japanese Maritime Self Defence Force and the Royal Australian Navy, HMA Ships Ballarat, Adelaide and Success along with JMSDF destroyers JS Umigiri, JS Asayuki and submarine, JS Hakuryu, conducted a range of activities including anti-submarine warfare, ship handling and aviation operations as well as activities with Royal Australian Air Force AP-3C Orion and Hawk 127 aircraft. Australian Exercise Director, Captain Brian Schlegel said the successful interactions were especially important for the navies at a working level. The exercise was successful and certainly provided ample opportunity to practice significant activities in a bilateral environment with open exchanges of ideas and operating procedures to further enhance our interoperability. Australia and Japan conduct regular exercises, including NICHI GOU TRIDENT and the biennial Exercise KAKADU. The JMSDF ships will spend a few days in harbour with crews participating in cultural activities before departing for home. Krishnapatnam Port inaugurated yesterday the maiden call of M V Maersk Bentonville as part of the direct weekly service from Krishpatnam to Salalah (Oman). The first voyage of Maersk Bentonville discharged 551 TEUs and loaded 770 TEUs of exports. The weekly service is expected to provide fastest and most competitive service to the exporters and importers of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka and Northern Tamil Nadu to the ports of US East Coast, Mediterranean, Europe and Africa. A formal inaugural ceremony was held to commemorate the maiden call in the presence of Mr. Anoop Kumar (RSM, Maersk Line), Mr. Biju Ravi (RSM, Safmarine) and Dr. Anup Dayanand Sadhu (GGM, CONCOR). Launching the service from KPCT, Mr. Anil Yendluri (Director & CEO, Krishnapatnam Port) welcomed the vessel and presented a memento to the vessel Captain. Exporters that supported the maiden vessel call were similarly presented with mementos by Mr. Jithendra Nimmagadda (COO, KPCT) & Ms. Vinita Venkatesh (Director - Marketing, KPCT). The Sales, Operations and Customer Service teams of Maersk and Safmarine along with KPCT team were also part of this memorable inaugural event. Speaking on the occasion Mr. Anil Yendluri, Director & CEO, Krishnapatnam Port said, We along with Maersk are happy to inaugurate Salalah Krishnapatnam Port service. The new service will substantially minimize the cost and transit time in these areas, which will be of a huge benefit to our customers. The service will further get a boost from CONCORs new rake service. CONCOR has commenced rake service (Two rakes per week) from ICD Bangalore to KPCT and thereby providing hot connection to the Vessel for exports from Bangalore and also the fastest connection for imports clearance into Bangalore. Speaking on the commencement of new rake service Dr. Anup Dayanand Sadhu, GGM, CONCOR said The new rake service between ICD Bangalore and KPCT can be increased into a daily service as per the requirements of the trade. Maersk team is pleased to announce this service due to the world-class infrastructure available at KPCT and are very happy with the immense support received from the EXIM trade particularly from exporters of Rice, Tobacco, Shrimps, Granite, Gherkins, Cement, etc. and importers of News Print, Furniture, Waste Paper, Machinery, Auto Components, etc. Uwe Beckmeyer, Parliamentary State Secretary at the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy paid a visit to MTU Reman Technologies in Magdeburg to find out more about the companys development operations in the maritime sector. The important role the Rolls-Royce subsidiary plays in shipping is in fact a two-fold one. Beckmeyer, who also acts as Federal Government Coordinator for the maritime industry said, "The use of gas engines in maritime applications will continue to grow in significance. Against the background of the energy turnaround in Germany, the Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy supports research into alternative drive systems. And when it comes to developing and testing new technologies, MTU is a very important partner." Beckmeyer was accompanied on his visit by Andreas Steppuhn, the parliamentary party leader of the social democrats in Saxony-Anhalt. MTU is part of Rolls-Royce Power Systems. "In terms of research and development, Magdeburg is a very important location for us," explained Dr Ulrich Dohle, President of the Power Systems division of Rolls-Royce, to Beckmeyer during his visit. At the test stands in Magdeburg, future-generation engines are put through highly complex tests for example of new combustion processes for diesel and gas engines. Achieving lower emissions and fuel consumption and higher engine output are the crucial criteria for researchers in Magdeburg. "In particular, the mobile gas engine as an eco-friendly propulsion solution for work boats, ferries and yachts is a top issue for the future," said Dohle. "We are putting a lot of energy into driving mobile gas engine development on a big scale, working alongside shipyards, shipping companies and other players in the German maritime industry. In the years ahead, the gas engine will transform shipping the world over. If companies in Germany's maritime industry make a concerted effort, they can act as the driver behind this change, and strengthen and expand their position on the world market," said Dohle to Beckmeyer with conviction. He also went on to emphasize that the gas engine as a concept for the future is about a lot more than just a different type of fuel with a different type of combustion. One of Rolls-Royces ambitions in Magdeburg is to build a new type of test stand for dynamic gas engines that has hitherto not been available on the market. The second pillar at MTU Reman Technologies in Magdeburg is the industrial reconditioning of engines, also known as remanufacturing. At the end of their normal life-cycle, high-speed diesel engines carrying Rolls-Royce's MTU brand are put through a standardized process in which they are disassembled, their components cleaned and generally overhauled, and then re-assembled to form as-new engines. It takes just a few weeks for them to be got ready for re-installation, for example in a high-speed ferry or yacht, as well as in railway locomotives or generator sets. "Magdeburg is centre of excellence for remanufacturing MTU engines," explained Wilfried Probian, general manager of MTU Reman Technologies. "MTU engines all around the world are reconditioned using the special reman processes developed by our engine experts," he said. Stocks Bull or Bear Market Rally? The market started the week at SPX 2081. On Monday it dipped down to SPX 2074 and then started to rally to new uptrend highs. By late Wednesday the SPX hit 2111, and then started to decline. By Friday morning the SPX hit 2081, then bounced to end the week at 2092. For the week the SPX/DOW were +0.55%, the NDX/NAZ were -1.10%, and the DJ World index gained 0.70%. Economic reports for the week were mostly positive. On the downtick: building permits, housing starts and the Philly FED. On the uptick: existing home sales, the FHFA index, leading indicators, the WLEI and weekly jobless claims improved. Next weeks reports will be highlighted by the FOMC meeting, Q1 GDP and the PCE. Best to your weekend and week! LONG TERM: bear market rally After a two month uptrend, and the SPX reaching within 1% of its all time high, it has become increasingly difficult to find bearish pundits anywhere. Even many of the perm-bears, as they are called, have turned bullish. This uptrend has obviously become quite a convincing, the central banks have got your back, advance. Nevertheless, we would like to point out the MACD activity on the monthly chart below. As you will observe it topped out in early 2015 and has been heading lower ever since, except for some flattening out in the first few months of 2016. This is not bull market action. Notice the MACD peaked before price in 2007 and declined throughout the bear market that followed. Also observe the 1999 peak, and steady decline, except for a few flattening out periods during that bear market. A bit more difficult to observe is the 1987 peak and 1984 peak before the bear markets that followed. We continue to count the Cycle wave [1] bull market completing in 2015 with five Primary waves. Primary waves I and II completed in 2011, and Primary waves III, IV, V completed in 2015. The first decline from the Cycle wave [1] high we have labeled Major wave A. And the current uptrend is labeled Major wave B. MEDIUM TERM: uptrend After a double bottom around SPX 1870 in late 2015 the market rallied straight up to SPX 2116 before faltering and heading back down again. After a double bottom around SPX 1810 in early 2016 the market has rallied straight up to SPX 2111. Both advances were two of the best uptrends in the past seven years, and both were preceded by double bottoms. At the SPX 2116 high the RSI displayed a double negative divergence. At the recent SPX 2111 high the RSI is displaying a double negative divergence. The initial decline, after the SPX 2116 high, started off gradually and then gained momentum on the way down. The recent SPX 2111 high only occurred two days ago. We continue to label this uptrend as three Intermediate waves. Int. A at SPX 2009, Int. B at SPX 1969, and Int. C at SPX 2111. We have counted Int. A as five overlapping waves: 1947-1891-1963-1932-2009. And Int. C as five overlapping waves: 2057-2022-2075-2034-2111. This pattern is currently suggesting an eleven wave complex zigzag. If the market has topped, a completed Major wave B would be in place. If it pulls back further and then rallies to higher highs, then it could start looking like an impulse wave. Either way, when this uptrend does conclude we will have a much better idea what this uptrend implies longer term. Medium term support is at the 2085 and 2070 pivots, with resistance at the 2131 pivot. SHORT TERM The short term wave pattern, as noted above, appears to be a series of five wave overlapping patterns. For Int. A we have Minor waves a and b at SPX 1947 and 1891, with a subdividing Minor c: 1963-1932-2009. Int. C has the same pattern: Minor waves a and b at SPX 2057 and 2022, with a subdividing Minor c: 2075-2034-2111. The key levels going forward are SPX 2111, 2074, and 2034. Should the market exceed SPX 2111 it is obviously extending to higher highs. Should the market drop to SPX 2074, the recent five wave advance from 2034 has definitely concluded. Should the market drop to SPX 2034, then the entire uptrend may have concluded as well. Short term support is at the 2085 and 2070 pivots, with resistance at SPX 2104 and SPX 2116. Short term momentum ended the week at neutral. Trade whats in front of you! FOREIGN MARKETS The Asian markets were mostly higher and gained 0.8% on the week. European markets were mostly higher and gained 2.6% on the week. The Commodity equity group were mixed and gained 1.5% on the week. The DJ World index gained 0.7% on the week. COMMODITIES Bonds continue to weaken and lost 0.9% on the week. Crude made a higher uptrend high gaining 4.7% on the week. Gold appears to be in a downtrend and lost 0.5% on the week. The USD is trying to establish an uptrend and gained 0.4% on the week. NEXT WEEK Monday: New home sales at 10am. Tuesday: Durable goods, Case-Shiller and Consumer confidence. Wednesday: the FOMC statement and Pending home sales. Thursday: Q1 GDP (est. +0.3%) and weekly Jobless claims. Friday: PCE prices, Personal income/spending, the Chicago PMI and Consumer sentiment. Best to your weekend and week! CHARTS: http://stockcharts.com/public/1269446/tenpp https://caldaro.wordpress.com After about 40 years of investing in the markets one learns that the markets are constantly changing, not only in price, but in what drives the markets. In the 1960s, the Nifty Fifty were the leaders of the stock market. In the 1970s, stock selection using Technical Analysis was important, as the market stayed with a trading range for the entire decade. In the 1980s, the market finally broke out of it doldrums, as the DOW broke through 1100 in 1982, and launched the greatest bull market on record. Sharing is an important aspect of a life. Over 100 people have joined our group, from all walks of life, covering twenty three countries across the globe. It's been the most fun I have ever had in the market. Sharing uncommon knowledge, with investors. In hope of aiding them in finding their financial independence. Copyright 2016 Tony Caldaro - All Rights Reserved Disclaimer: The above is a matter of opinion provided for general information purposes only and is not intended as investment advice. Information and analysis above are derived from sources and utilising methods believed to be reliable, but we cannot accept responsibility for any losses you may incur as a result of this analysis. Individuals should consult with their personal financial advisors. Tony Caldaro Archive 2005-2019 http://www.MarketOracle.co.uk - The Market Oracle is a FREE Daily Financial Markets Analysis & Forecasting online publication. EVERETT Everett police are continuing their investigation into a police shooting that left one man dead. The Boston Globe reported that 48-year-old Mario Mejia Martinez died after he was shot by the officer. Police said Martinez confronted the officer with a knife. One witness agreed with police assessment, saying that each time the Martinez advanced on the officer with his arms raised and a knife in his right hand, the officer backed up. This continued several times until Martinez started walking directly at the officer and he opened fire. Investigators said the shooting was captured on a city surveillance camera. The video will be released once the investigation has been completed. After he was shot, Martinez collapsed in the middle of the intersection of Chelsea Street and Broadway. He was transported to Massachusetts General Hospital where he later died from his wounds. Several dead in rural Ohio shooting Authorities allow crime scene investigation vehicles to pass a perimeter checkpoint near a crime scene, Friday, April 22, 2016, in Pike County, Ohio. Shootings with multiple fatalities were reported along a road in rural Ohio on Friday morning, but details on the number of deaths and the whereabouts of the suspect or suspects weren't immediately clear. The attorney general's office said a dozen Bureau of Criminal Investigation agents had been called to Pike County, an economically struggling area in the Appalachian region some 80 miles east of Cincinnati. (AP Photo/John Minchillo) PEEBLES, Ohio Authorities say that three children who were present during the Pike County, Ohio, shooting spree that left eight people dead Friday morning have survived, according to CNN. A 3-year-old, 6-month-old and 4-day-old were uninjured, authorities said. One of the children the 4-day-old was reportedly in bed with their mother when she was shot. Authorities have confirmed that the eight people who were murdered "execution style" were all members of the Rhoden family of Pike County. Seven adults and one 16-year-old are among the dead. Police are still trying to determine if a lone gunman was responsible for the killings, or if the gunman was among those who died Friday. "I am still actively looking for a shooter," Pike County Sheriff Charles Reader said, according to CNN. "I cannot confirm that there is no one on the loose who is not involved with this. If he is, he's armed and dangerous." Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine commented on the horrific nature of the episode, saying "What makes this particularly grisly is you have three children involved who were there when the executions took place," CNN reports. LOWELL A 36-year-old Lowell man was ordered to Bridgewater State Hospital for a mental health evaluation after he was charged with making online threats to an elementary school. Robert McDaniel pleaded not guilty at his arraignment in Lowell District Court Friday on a charge of threatening to bomb or hijack causing serious public alarm, the Lowell Sun reported. According to court documents, McDaniel is accused of posting threats on the parent page of the Pawtucketville Memorial Elementary School site Thursday, including "preparing to kill kids ... got rifle ready," and "Should I shoot up this school?" Prosecutors also said McDaniel posted, "Next mass murder will come from Lowell Massachusetts, Pawtucket Memorial watch out Bang Bang." The school was closed for spring vacation, but some 38 children were in the school for a community program. They were taken to another facility. A court psychologist said McDaniels has suffered from acute mental health issues for more than 13 years. However, McDaniel told Dr. Stephanie Hanson that he has stopped taking his medications and started self-medicating with cocaine, methamphetamines and alcohol. Lowell police were able to trace the posting to McDaniel's Facebook page. Officers arrested McDaniel at his home, where police said they searched and found no firearms, weapons or bombs. Judge Thomas Brennan ordered McDaniel held without the right to bail pending a dangerousness hearing May 11. Leonard Campanello Leonard Campanello, police chief for Gloucester, Massachusetts, will be honored by President Barack Obama at a White House event next week. Here, Campanello poses at his office in Gloucester, Mass., Monday, June 1, 2015. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola) (Elise Amendola / Associated Press file) GLOUCESTER Leonard Campanello, the Police Chief of Gloucester, Massachusetts, will be recognized by the Obama administration at a ceremony at the White House next week, for his influential work to combat drug addiction. Campanello launched an innovative drug-treatment program called ANGEL that allows addicts to surrender their drugs to the police and seek assistance through detox and rehabilitation. Through the program which was launched in the spring of 2015 addicts are guided to detox facilities by volunteers which the program has dubbed its "Angels." As an alternative to incarceration, the program has been widely lauded. The Boston Globe reported that by August of 2015 ANGEL had sent nearly 100 people into treatment for their addiction. As a result of ANGEL, the White House has dubbed Campanello a "Champion of Change." "Chief Campanello's compassionate leadership has helped thousands in Massachusetts' North Shore," said White House Senior Advisor Valerie Jarrett. "His work is a model for our police stations and neighborhoods. We look forward to honoring Leonard as a Champion of Change." The New England High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area the group that nominated Campanello released a statement saying that "recent figures suggest that more than 260 addicts have been treated since June 1st" as a result of ANGEL, and that "Gloucester has experienced a 23 percent drop in quality of life crimes," which tend to be drug-related. On the subject of his award, Campanello has been modest putting the emphasize on his community instead of his own accomplishments. "To have the President of the United States and the White House recognize Gloucester for taking a small role in combating addiction through de-stigmatization, awareness, humanity and treatment, is a testament to the City, Mayor Sefatia Romeo Theken, and our residents, whom I am so proud and humbled to serve," said Campanello in a statement. "This is a very proud moment to be a part of the Gloucester Community." The event will take place on Friday, April 29, at 1 p.m., and will feature remarks by White House Senior Advisor Valerie Jarrett, Director of National Drug Control Policy Michael Botticelli, and Surgeon General Vivek Murthy. westfield schools logo WESTFIELD - School officials will outline the School Department's financial needs for Fiscal 2017 Monday at a public hearing scheduled at South Middle School. The hearing will be held in the school's auditorium at 6:30 p.m.. The School Committee's Finance Committee has scheduled its first review of the financial package for Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. in the city Council Chambers at City Hall. School administration was busy this past week finalizing the financial request that will be presented at the annual public hearing by Superintendent of Schools Suzanne Scallion and School Business Manager Ronald R. Rix. The current school budget totaled $57.8 million. That budget resulted in the elimination of about 30 school staff and teacher positions. Sixteen people were not rehired and 14 left the system through retirement and other reasons. "We are in the final stages of our budget preparation," Rix said earlier this week. "We anticipate a slight increase to keep programs and services now offered," he explained. The budget will also include funding for the operation of the Russell Elementary School under a lease arrangement between Russell and Westfield now entering its second year. pipeline pennsylvania.jpg This photo shows a natural gas pipeline under construction. (Spectra Energy) New York's Department of Environmental Conservation on Friday rejected a Section 401 Water Quality Certification for the Constitution pipeline, effectively shelving the 124-mile interstate natural gas project. It happened two days after Kinder Morgan suddenly announced on April 20 that it would suspend all work on its 420-mile Northeast Energy Direct, another major interstate pipeline project in the Northeast, due to economic reasons. In fact, in New York and Pennsylvania, Constitution would have largely paralleled the supply path of Northeast Energy Direct. Constitution's application failed to meet New York's water quality standards, wrote John Ferguson, chief permit administrator with DEC's Division of Environmental Permits and Pollution Prevention. The line would have impacted around 250 streams, "including trout spawning streams, old-growth forest, and undisturbed springs," Ferguson wrote in a 14-page April 22 letter to the Houston-based company. "We are very disappointed by today's decision," Constitution said in a statement. "We remain absolutely committed to building this important energy infrastructure project. We are in the process of analyzing the stated rationale for the denial. Once that review is complete we will assess our options, which may include an appeal to the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals." The DEC said it had repeatedly asked Constitution for site-specific analysis of pipeline burial depth for all impacted streams, but the company refused, providing only limited analysis. "Pipes can become exposed in stream beds if not buried deeply enough, and corrective action can further damage the stream and impact water quality," the department said. The DEC said it received reports that landowners, possibly with Constitution's knowledge, clearcut old-growth trees along the pipeline route, including trees near streams and water bodies, even after the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission ruled that Constitution could not cut trees in the right-of-way. In New York, the project would have created a new, 99-mile corridor not contiguous with existing utility rights-of-way. The project would have crossed New York state through Broome, Chenango, Delaware, and Schoharie counties before meeting other pipelines in the town of Wright, near Albany. State officials say they conducted a rigorous review of Constitution's application, all supporting materials, and more than 15,000 public comments on the project before reaching the decision. Under Section 401 of the U.S. Clean Water Act, applicants seeking approval for projects which would discharge into the country's navigable waters must show compliance with the federal law. No federal license or permit for such projects shall be granted until the water certification has been obtained or waived. Section 401 certifications are issued by the states. If a state fails to act on a certificate application within one year, its requirements are waived. Constitution had submitted its application with the New York DEC on April 29, 2015. The DEC denied the company's certification on April 22, 2016. Constitution had won a certificate from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on Dec. 2, but could not move forward without the Section 401 certification. The Constitution pipeline is proposed by Williams, an energy infrastructure company, in partnership with Cabot Oil & Gas, Piedmont Natural Gas, and WGL Holdings. Constitution had projected economic benefit to New York including $13 million in new taxes and 1,300 construction jobs. The pipeline would be "open access," meaning utilities could potentially tap the line to provide local natural gas service. Constitution had been working with Leatherstocking Gas Company, LLC, to develop four interconnects along the pipeline route in New York. The project enjoyed support from labor and business groups. Constitution was designed as a 30-inch line to carry up to 650,000 dekatherms of natural gas per day, enough to serve approximately 3 million homes. The project faced fierce opposition from the environmental community, who urged New York Gov. to deny the federal water quality certificate. Protesters included Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and Karenna Gore. In a high-stakes standoff, workers for the pipeline company cut trees on a Pennsylvania maple syrup farm under the watch of armed U.S. marshals after members of the Holleran family and their supporters lost a protracted legal and regulatory battle. Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump Presidential front-runners Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton will return to Connecticut this weekend to promote their respective Republican and Democratic campaigns ahead of the state's April 26 primaries. (AP File Photos) Presidential front-runners Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton will return to Connecticut this weekend to promote their respective Republican and Democratic campaigns ahead of the state's April 26 primaries. The billionaire businessman and former first lady, who have both recently campaigned in Hartford, will host events across the state. Trump will travel to Waterbury, Connecticut Saturday for a 10 a.m. rally at Crosby High School. He will then stop in Bridgeport, Connecticut for a 12:30 p.m. campaign event at Klein Memorial Auditorium. Doors for the events will open at 7 a.m. and 9:30 a.m. respectively, according to the GOP front-runner's campaign. Clinton, meanwhile, will campaign at Orangeside on Temple in New Haven, Connecticut at 1:45 p.m. on Saturday and hold a public event at the University of Bridgeport at 2:15 p.m. on Sunday. The former secretary of state is expected to discuss her campaign proposals to raise incomes for families and to break down barriers that hold Americans back, according to her campaign. The events come just days after Clinton hosted a public discussion on gun violence prevention efforts with activists and others in Hartford and more than a week after Trump pledged to bring back jobs to the state during a rally at the Connecticut Convention Center. GOP White House hopeful and Ohio Gov. John Kasich, meanwhile, hosted a Friday evening town hall event in Glastonbury, Connecticut ahead of the state's upcoming primary. Trump holds a 22-point lead over his Republican rivals in the Nutmeg State, according to RealClearPolitics' polling averages. Clinton leads Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders by nearly 8 percentage points in Connecticut, RCP data found. GLASTONBURY, Conn. Despite facing a steep uphill battle to winning the Republican Party's presidential nomination, Ohio Gov. John Kasich made his case to Connecticut voters Friday. Days ahead of the state's primary election, Kasich defended his path to winning the GOP nomination, telling more than 1,000 supporters who crowded Glastonbury High School that no Republican candidate will win enough delegates to be named the nominee outright. Contending that a contested Republican nominating convention is imminent, Kasich said delegates will consider two things: Who can beat Hillary Clinton in a general election match-up and who can be president. "Regardless of what these other two people have to say, when you win 15 separate polls over Hillary and they lose 15 separate polls, that will be a big consideration when we get to Cleveland," he said, referencing GOP rivals Donald Trump and U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas. Touting his experience in Congress and as the governor or Ohio, as well as New Hampshire polling data suggesting that voters are having "buyer's remorse" when it comes to Trump, Kasich argued that he's the best candidate suited for presidency. "If you want to go on an airplane flight, it's best to go with somebody's who's flown a bunch I don't want to get in an airplane with somebody that says, 'Well I've never really done this before, but I think I can do it because I'm really great,'" he said in an apparent swipe at Trump. The Ohio governor further argued that the Republican Party's history when it comes to contested conventions is on his side. "We have had 10 contested Republican conventions throughout our history, and seven out of 10 times the person who was selected was behind when they went in, they were not the leader," he said. "And only three times out of 10 not a bad batting average, but not an all-star did the leader get selected, so this is going to be very interesting because no one's going to have enough delegates and we're all going to learn about how we pick a president." Kasich, who fielded voter questions on foreign policy, business growth and pay equity, urged Connecticut voters to support him on Tuesday's primary. "What can you do for me? Make sure that you get out and vote and allow me to win delegates in the district in which you live so I can go to the convention in a strong position," he said. Allison Arnista, 20, of Harwinton, Connecticut, said she's a "big fan" of Kasich's foreign policy proposals and enrolled as a Republican to support him in Tuesday's primary. "I just think he's the best candidate for the job," she said in an interview. Arnista acknowledged that the governor has not been as popular as other GOP candidates, but said she thinks he has a good shot at the nomination if the party heads to a contested convention. Jim Lacroix, 38, of Glastonbury, agreed that "it's probably going to be an uphill battle" for Kasich to represent the Republican Party come November. Despite this, Lacroix said it was important for him and his 6-year-old son, Logan, to come out and show their support for the Ohio governor. "He seems like the only adult on the stage at times, which is good. The fact that he's a governor versus some of the other backgrounds is important he just seems like somebody you can trust," Lacroix said. Susan Dzialo, 64, of Glastonbury, who urged support for Trump outside the town hall, meanwhile, expressed concerns about Kasich's potential impact at a possible contested GOP convention. "In my opinion, I think the risk is that if it is a contested convention he's the neutral candidate that the Republican Party might get behind," she said. The governor, who has won only his home state's primary election, is looking to do well in Connecticut in order to prevent Trump from winning the party's nomination outright and force a contested convention. Polls give Trump, who has won a total of 845 delegates, a 22-point advantage over Kasich in the Nutmeg State's April 26 primary, according to RealClearPolitics poll average data. The Ohio governor's stop came just one day after Clinton campaigned in Hartford and a week after Trump rallied support in the Connecticut capital. GLASTONBURY, Conn. Ohio Gov. John Kasich took a break from campaigning Friday to reflect on reports of shootings that killed eight people in his home state. Speaking to reporters following a town hall event in Glastonbury, Connecticut, Kasich pledged to bring to justice the person responsible for the reported shootings in Piketon, Ohio. "There's eight people dead execution-style, what can you say? What is there to say other than when people like that die and people bleed we all do, all over the country," he said. "It's a terrible, terrible thing. We've just got to find out who did this and, again, bring them to justice." The Ohio governor would not say for sure whether he will return home in response to the event. "If I needed to be back home for some reason I would go, but we've handled a lot of crises and you handle them in the way in which you get the best resolution," he said. "If I'm needed I'll be there. But, I don't want to go running into something where I'm not going to add anything of great significance." According to the Associated Press, eight members of a family were fatally shot in the head Friday, leading to a manhunt in the state. Eduardo Rodriguez Boston Red Sox starting pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez throws to the Baltimore Orioles in the fifth inning Sept. 14, 2015 in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky) (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky) HOUSTON -- Boston Red Sox starting pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez (knee) pitched five innings and threw 70-plus pitches today in an extended spring training game in Fort Myers. The next step: A rehab start. "There was solid velocity in the low-90s," Red Sox manager John Farrell said. "Used all his pitches. Provided he comes in tomorrow and checks out fine, we would get him out to make his next start likely in Portland." The Red Sox want to keep starting him every fifth day, but Portland has this coming Thursday as an off day on its schedule. So Rodriguez likely will make the start Friday for the Sea Dogs at home vs. Reading. "It's going to be a minimum of two (rehab starts), possibly three," Farrell said. A Friday rehab start puts the lefty in line for another rehab start May 4. A potential third rehab start would be May 9. So he could be in the Red Sox starting rotation by mid-May (around May 14) barring any setbacks. The 22-year-old Rodriguez went 10-6 with a 3.85 ERA and 1.29 WHIP in 21 starts (121 2/3 innings) for the Boston Red Sox as a rookie in 2015. A group from Billings returns to the Magic City after a three day tour of Oklahoma City this week. John Brewer, President and CEO of Billings Chamber of Commerce, says most of their last day in the city was talking about what they had experienced there and what they can implement in Billings. Brewer says one of the biggest things they learned on their trip was the way city, civic and business leaders of Oklahoma City share the same vision for the city. By Emily Nantz, Executive Producer Full Story: http://www.kulr8.com/story/31796395/chamber-ceo-reflects-on-recent-trip-to-oklahoma-city A new book on the Chinese ecommerce giant Alibaba has revealed that founder Jack Ma insisted that his first employees reside only minutes from work. Alibaba now a thriving $200 billion company began in 1999 as a humble start-up based in Mas apartment in Hangzhou, China. In "Alibaba: The House that Jack Ma Built, author Duncan Clark recalls the companys roots and the demanding culture that contributed to Alibabas success. By Matt McFarland Full Story: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/innovations/wp/2016/04/22/this-ceo-banned-his-first-employees-from-living-more-than-15-minutes-from-work/?hpid=hp_hp-cards_hp-card-technology%3Ahomepage%2Fcard by Kipp Jarecke-Cheng , Columnist, April 22, 2016 With the rapid rise of Millennials in the workforce, companies of all shapes, sizes and industries have struggled to crack the code of how to attract, retain and develop the best young talent. At 53.3 million strong, Millennial workers now possess the largest share of the American workforce, and by 2020, this socially oriented, tech-savvy group will represent more than 50% of the total global workforce. As Gen Xers move into more senior and executive management roles and Baby Boomers retire (at a rate of 10,000 workers each day), ensuring a strong pipeline of talented Millennial workers has become mission critical for most organizations. Effectively engaging the best Millennials at work, however, has proven to be challenging. Traditional financial incentives that once enticed early career Gen Xers and Boomers dont seem to carry much sway with young workers nowadays, and the kinds of elaborate and sometimes goofy perks that often were de rigueur at Silicon Valley startups are starting to be seen as forced and inauthentic. advertisement advertisement So what are Millennials looking for in their dream jobs? Despite complaints from (usually older) managers who say young workers feel entitled to too much recognition for too little effort, the reality is that Millennials are largely a generation of thoughtful, hardworking employees. While their perspectives on work and life may be different from older generations, the demands that Millennials make of their supervisors and workplaces arent as outlandish as some naysayers would like to suggest. Here are five tips to better engage Millennials in the workplace: Let Them Make Time for Work and Life While many generations of workersparticularly working parentshave strived to achieve some semblance of work-life balance, Millennials are perhaps the first generation to proactively insist upon and expect workplaces that not only support but encourage employees to lead more integrated livesfrom the very start of their careers. Whether its time to explore non-work interests, spend with friends and family, or further their education, Millennials havent been shy about demanding flexible work schedules and nontraditional job structures in order to pursue their passions. Older workers might perceive workplace flexibility as something that needs to be earned, but Millennials are having none of that. "Millennials bring two extremely valuable perspectives that will help transform organizations, said Jessica DeGroot, founder and president of ThirdPath Institute, a Philadephia-based think tank dedicated to helping workers design more integrated lives. The first is their complete acceptance that men and women are equally capable of both caregiving and breadwinning, which means as parents, they will have much greater success becoming a team at home as they manage both work and family responsibilities. Second, Millennials understand the importance of creating win-win boundaries at work, therefore they can demonstrate to all workers how to move ahead while continuing to reap the benefits of having a full life outside of the office." Let Them Break Down Silos Unlike previous generations of workers who believed they had to pay their dues by climbing the corporate ladder in order to gain access to information and opportunities, Millennials are uneasy with rigid corporate structures and completely turned off by information silos. Easy access to senior leadership, corporate transparency and clearly defined values are key drivers to what Millennials seek in their ideal jobs. Old-school management styles and hierarchical corporate cultures are two of the fastest ways to drive away talented Millennial workers. According to a report by PwC, while Millennials said they feel comfortable working across generations and especially value the mentorship of older colleagues, 38% of young workers said older management often doesnt relate to them, and 34% said their personal drive is intimidating to older co-workers. Flat, team-based work approaches allow Millennials to feel more deeply connected, respected and valued. Let Them Help Design Their Own Career Paths An essential component of Millennial employee engagement is letting them have a voice in how their careers are structured. The one-size-fits-all approach to building careers simply doesnt square with Millennials ambitions. Their desire for amazing, personalized experiences and the chance to prove their abilities and quickly rise through the ranks often will trump the allure of a heftier paycheck. Unlike the traditional career paths of many Gen Xers and Boomers, which tended to be more linear, Millennials are forging nonlinear and unique career paths that are aligned with a personal sense of purpose. One respondent in the PwC report said it best: My career will be one of choice, not one chosen out of desperation. It will align who I am with what I do. Let Them Satisfy Their Desire for Constant Learning Although financial rewards arent entirely without their charms for Millennial workers, this is a generation thats even more committed to personal learning and professional development, and they expect their workplaces to provide the tools and resources to feed their voracious appetite for learning. The days when professional development programs were a nice-to-have-but-not-mandatory workplace perk are over. Millennial workers assume on-the-job learning programs will cater to their aspirations throughout their careers and job opportunities will let them punch above their weight class. Let Them Know That Their Loyalty Must Be Earned Lastly, Millennials know that the job market tables have turned and employers can no longer treat employees as interchangeable commodities. According to a report by Jobvite, a majority of employed job seekers see their current positions as placeholders, and among Millennial job seekers who are currently employed, a lack of loyalty to their current jobs is further compromised if they perceive a dearth of growth opportunities. With more than one-third of Millennials reporting that they change jobs every one-to-three years, job-hopping has become the norm among younger workers. In 2008, 10% of young workers said they expected to have six employers or more during their careers. Today, more than a quarter of young workers now expect to have six employers or more in their lifetimes, a massive shift from previous generation of workers that developed lifelong careers at one or two organizations. Rather than employees proving to companies that they are worthy, Millennials workers expect companies to prove their worth to them. by Sara Guaglione , April 22, 2016 When Donald Trump appears on a magazine's cover, more readers were attracted to read that issue, according to new research from GfK MRI. Overall, we really saw a lift across all of these demographics for the Trump covers, Mickey Galin, EVP, research development at GfK, told Publishers Daily. The study found that when Trump is slapped on the cover, there was a notable increase in readership for the issue, in comparison to other issues of the same magazine. The biggest impact was among adult men who live in households with annual incomes under $50,000. But even readers in higher income brackets were more likely to read the magazines featuring Trump. For example, adults in households with incomes between $50,000 and $75,000 were 15% more likely to read those issues featuring Trump on the cover. advertisement advertisement While our data does not suggest who will or will not end up voting for Trump, he certainly has the power to make specific magazine issues very appealing. This Trump bump is exactly what publishers want, Galin stated. This translates into additional pickups of a brands publication and an opportunity to connect with consumers, Galin added. The current election cycle and some of the candidates, in particular Donald Trump, are generating a lot of interest with Americans, she told PD. This increased interest provokes consumers to seek out information. Magazines are a trusted medium to satisfy that heightened desire for information. Galin doesnt see this trend dying down anytime soon. Given that our study is a weekly study, we are continuing to watch for additional issues across any title that we measure that include Trump on the cover, Galin said. Im pretty sure that well see a continuation of this Trump bump effect at least in the near future. GfK MRI, a provider of media and consumer research in the U.S., surveyed adults about their readership of 16 issues within six magazine genres between July 2015 and February 2016. The magazine titles include Bloomberg Businessweek, Esquire, Forbes, National Enquirer, New York Magazine, New York Times Magazine, People, Rolling Stone, The Economist, The New Yorker, Time and Us Weekly. GfK MRI found that men were 17% more likely to have read or looked into one of the Trump issues, compared to issues without Trump, and those with annual incomes under $50,000 were 32% more likely. by Josh Engroff , Op-Ed Contributor, April 22, 2016 The future has arrived its just not evenly distributed yet -- science-fiction writer William Gibson If you ever get the chance to see Erin Yogasundram present, you should. Erin is the 24-year-old CEO and founder of Shop Jeen, a playground for Gen Z and young Millennials to explore, share, shop, experiment, interact, learn & discover, and she is rewriting the future of fashion retail. For Erin, product, sales, social marketing, customer service, branded content and customer service arent separate things, bolted together across departments and agencies; they are one thing, organically inseparable. She has the hustle and positive energy of a true entrepreneur. As an 11-year-old on Manhattans Upper East Side, Erin would hang out by the doors of The Late Show with David Letterman, solicit autographs from celebrities, then quickly sell them on eBay. She started Shop Jeen from her dorm room at the age of 20. advertisement advertisement Erin combines the skills of fashion curator, cultural linguist, and psychologist. She talks to her customers like personal friends, and they love her for it. Millions of dollars in sales and a huge Instagram fan base later, half a million people think think Erin is totally bae AF. The importance of TV for gaining this kind of reach and engagement? None at all. The point isnt that every brand should start talking like a 22-year-old. The point is we that we live in a culture that increasingly values personalization and authenticity and scale in all communications, whether with friends or brands. And its pretty much all happening in social. The are two (intertwined) reasons for this. The first is cultural: Gen Z was not alive during, nor conditioned by, the era dominated by linear media (the time that ad execs of a certain age refer to as The Golden Age). That reality -- of few channel options, pervasive :30 second spots, brands talking at people rather than with them, media devices that were huge but dumb -- isnt their reality. So why should they give a shit about it now? The other reason is technology. If you squint your eyes a little, the world in 2016 looks a bit like a sci-fi movie. What do we see? Well For the first time in history, every human on the planet has or wants a pocket supercomputer. Often called a smartphone, this device is really just a magic portal into a galaxy of infinite options for communicating, entertaining, consuming and creating content,, buying things, returning things (after you realize those jeans arent really going to fit, cmon let's be real), and getting work done (if you must). We also see continent-size populations communicating with each other at a rate of 60 billion messages per day. And that number includes Messenger and WhatsApp. We see artificial intelligence that can beat humans at the hardest game ever invented by humans, Go. (What will the hardest game that AI invents for us be? The Matrix?) We see bots, bots, bots in every place where at least 100 million people are gathered, Facebook, Slack, Telegram, Kik. This is the real birth of what Chris Messina calls conversational commerce. We see people not only talking to bots (Siri) and trusting them with their money (Amazon Echo), but also trusting them with their emotions. We rational adults might not be fooled, but many children actually believe that Siri and Alexa are real and would be sad if they died (thankfully neither can be killed by normal means, only by corporate parents). In other words, a brand doesnt need to be Shop Jeen in order to bring a high level of personalization and authenticity into its interactions with consumers. During F8 last week, Facebook basically rolled out the red carpet to make this process as easy as possible for brands: Come on in, this is where your consumers are. Increased authenticity and personalization will change the shape of advertising, I think. Advertising done poorly has always felt like a dislocation, a wedge between us and our desired experience. And so we skip it, switch it, block it, or opt out of the whole environment altogether and find shelter in Netflix and Telegram. Great advertising, however, is an experience in itself, interesting or useful in its own right. These days, great advertising contains the same attributes we value highly in human communication: authenticity, integrity, intelligence, empathy, humor. Thus, as great advertising gets closer to The Real Thing, it starts to become it. Still commercial yes, but shorn of the unhelpful baggage accrued during earlier eras of advertising. Conversation is one of the simplest, yet most personal, forms of communication between two individuals. As brands adopt chat and conversation as new modes of consumer interaction, advertising itself will change, and for the better. The future has arrived. Its just not evenly distributed yet. The smoking cessation medications varenicline and bupropion do not appear to increase the incidence of serious neuropsychiatric side effects compared to placebo, according to a study published in The Lancet. The study is the largest trial to date looking at the safety and efficacy of three first line smoking cessation treatments - varenicline, bupropion and nicotine patches - compared to placebo in smokers with and without psychiatric disorders, and finds than smokers who took varenicline achieved higher abstinence rates than smokers on bupropion, nicotine patches, or placebo. The study involved more than 8000 people and was requested by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) following concerns about the neuropsychiatric safety of varenicline and bupropion. "Given that an estimated 6 million people worldwide die as a result of tobacco smoking every year, we need to be able to provide maximum support for people to stop smoking. Our study shows that all three first-line smoking cessation medications are effective in helping people stop smoking, with varenicline being the most effective," says lead author Professor Robert M. Anthenelli, University of California, San Diego, USA. 1, 2 Professor Anthenelli adds, "Clinical guidelines recommend that the most effective way to give up smoking is smoking cessation medication and counselling. However, smokers do not use these services enough, in part due to concerns that the medications may not be safe. The findings from this study, together with data from previous trials and large observational studies, make it highly unlikely that varenicline and bupropion increase the risk of moderate-to-severe neuropsychiatric side effects in smokers without psychiatric disorders." 2 Participants were adults aged 18-75 who smoked on average more than 10 cigarettes a day and were motivated to stop smoking (82% had made at least one attempt to quit). Half (4116) had a history of a past or current stable psychiatric condition including a mood, anxiety, psychotic, or borderline personality disorder, and about half of this group were taking psychotropic medication. The other participants (4028) did not have a psychiatric condition (figures 1 & 2). The trial was a double blind randomised trial and was designed to measure both the safety and efficacy of the two non-nicotine smoking cessation medications, varenicline and bupropion, relative to nicotine patches and placebo. All participants were assessed to see whether they suffered any moderate-to-severe adverse neuropsychiatric events during and after treatment, including agitation, aggression, panic, anxiety, depression and suicide ideation among others. Smoking cessation was verified by measuring levels of exhaled carbon monoxide (CO) at the end of treatment (9-12 weeks), and at follow up (9-24 weeks). For smokers without a psychiatric disorder, there was no significant increase in the incidence of adverse neuropsychiatric events across the four treatment groups (1.3% varenicline; 2.2% bupropion; 2.5% nicotine patch; 2.4% placebo) (table 2). Overall, there were more adverse neuropsychiatric events reported in the group with psychiatric disorders, than in the group without. However, the researchers found there were similar rates across all treatment arms (6.5% varenicline; 6.7% bupropion; 5.2% nicotine patch; 4.9% placebo) (table 2). Varenicline was more effective in helping people stop smoking than bupropion, nicotine patches, or placebo. Bupropion was about as effective as nicotine patches, and both were more effective than placebo. Overall, at 9-24 weeks, 21.8% of people on varenicline were continuously abstinent (16.2% for bupropion; 15.7% nicotine patches; 9.4% placebo). Smokers with a psychiatric disorder achieved slightly lower abstinence rates than smokers without a psychiatric disorder (figure 3). "Our study provides further evidence of the safety of these drugs in smokers with psychiatric disorders, who have some of the highest rates of smoking. We also show, for the first time, that the effectiveness of the medications is similar for smokers with or without psychiatric disorders. The small increased incidence of adverse neuropsychiatric effects in people with stable psychiatric disorders regardless of treatment needs to be balanced against the known significant health risks of smoking," explains Professor Anthenelli 2. The authors warn that since the participants had a stable psychiatric disorder and were being treated, the findings might not apply to those with untreated or unstable psychiatric illness. The researchers also excluded people with current alcohol or substance abuse disorders and people who were at imminent risk of suicide. The study also did not look at whether the strength of nicotine dependence, or the severity of psychiatric symptoms affected the findings. Finally, just over 20% of people dropped out of the study but this was seen across the board, whether or not participants had a psychiatric disorder and irrespective of whether they received one of the three treatments or placebo. Writing in a linked Comment, Dr Laurie Zawertailo, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada, discusses the impact on clinical practice. She says: "The findings from this study show that neuropsychiatric adverse events occurring during smoking cessation are independent of the medication used. This finding combined with previous findings showing no greater incidence of this type of adverse event associated with bupropion or varenicline, suggests that clinicians should be comfortable prescribing the smoking cessation medication they feel would be most effective for their patient and should not worry about a specific medication increasing the risk of neuropsychiatric side-effects. The findings also suggest that patients trying to quit smoking, irrespective of method, should be made aware of the small chance that severe changes in their mood and psychiatric well-being might occur. Furthermore, clinicians should monitor all of their patients, especially those with a current or past psychiatric illness, for these changes. This monitoring could be added to the behavioural counselling that clinicians should be providing to patients who are trying to quit smoking." Advertisement "The sentinel cells pass through the body, mopping up toxins, bacteria, and essentially serving as a liver, a kidney, and innate immune system and being left behind in the slime trail," said Joan Strassmann, the Charles Rebstock Professor of Biology in Arts & Sciences. But it wasn't clear how the farmers prevented their sentinel cells from carrying away and discarding the bacteria they depend on for food. "Our question was: If you have to be nice to your bacteria because you want to carry them along as food, how do you have this sentinel cell system at the same time?" Brock said.So Brock predicted that farmers would have fewer sentinel cells, in order to avoid sloughing off all their symbiotic bacteria. Looking for the tell-tale signs of sentinels in the slug's slime trails, Eamon Callison, a former undergraduate student in the lab working on his senior honors thesis, found that farmers had only half as many sentinel cells as their non-farming relatives. "Our prediction was true," said Brock. "But that's never the end of the story."With fewer protective sentinels, how would these farmers fare against toxins? "I just figured the farmers have fewer sentinel cells, so it's likely they'll do worse than the non-farmers when exposed to toxins," said Brock. "The farmers actually did better, surprisingly."While non-farmers were crippled by toxins and produced fewer offspring, the farmers didn't seem to mind at all - with or without the toxin, they produced the same number of viable spores, out competing the non-farmers. Brock thought the bacteria farmers carried with them might explain this unexpected finding. So she 'cured' the farming Dicty of their symbiotic bacteria and then exposed them to the toxin again. This time, fertility plummeted in the presence of the toxic chemical. Without their bacteria, the amoebae succumbed to the toxin.Somehow, the bacteria that farmers carry with them not only help them bring along a food source but also protect their hosts from toxins, even making up for fewer detoxifying sentinel cells.Just how these bacteria provide protection remains a mystery. They could act as a sponge, taking the brunt of the damage and shielding their hosts from the toxin's effects. Or they could actively degrade the toxin, even using it as food.Similar detoxifying roles for symbiotic bacteria have been discovered across biology, from neutralizing insecticides and fungicides, to allowing mammals like sheep and goats to feed on otherwise toxic plants. But to discover how widespread detoxification is, and how it has evolved or is maintained, will require much more research."As far as detoxifying microbial interactions, multicellular animals are really tough organisms to work with, and I think that there's a lot we can figure out with this very simple eukaryote,," said David Queller, the Spencer T. Olin Professor of Biology in Arts & Sciences. "We think that this is just the start of a really fabulous system for looking at bacteria-eukaryote interactions," he said.Source: Eurekalert Advertisement Memory Total cortical volume Thickness of the temporal lobe cortical Inferior and greater lateral ventricle volumes Anticholinergic Drugs Dosages that Increase Risk for Dementia 10mg/day of doxepin 4mg/day of diphenhydramine 5mg/day of oxybutynin for more than three years increase the risk of dementia. Check with a doctor about medications for hay fever, asthma or any ailment instead of self-medicating. Do not stop any medication till the doctor is consulted. Ask for alternate medications. Shannon L. Risacher, PhD1,2; Brenna C. McDonald, PsyD, MBA1,2,3; Eileen F. Tallman, BS1,2; and colleagues "Association Between Anticholinergic Medication Use and Cognition, Brain Metabolism, and Brain Atrophy in Cognitively Normal Older Adults" JAMA Neurol. Published online April 18, 2016. http://www.thoracic.org/copd-guidelines/for-patients/what-kind-of-medications-are-there-for-copd/what-are-anticholinergic-medications.php The study assessed the association between the use of anticholinergic drugs and glucose metabolism, brain atrophy and cognition among cognitively normal adults. Data for the study was collected from the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) and The Indiana Memory and Aging Study (IMAS).About 409 participants were included in the ADNI study and after the first baseline study, the study participants were checked after 3,6 and 12 months, after than annually. Among them, 52 participants took anticholinergic drugs while 350 participants did not take anticholinergic drugs.In the IMAS study, 49 study participants were included in the study with 8 participants taking anticholinergic drugs while 41 participants didn't. After the initial baseline study, the participants were checked every 18 months.The duration of the study was as long as 4 years for many participants. Participants who took anticholinergic drugs were found to have lower:The study results found that there was a sharp clinical decline in the size of the brain with increased brain atrophy and dysfunction. The research provides evidence that the use of cholinergic drugs can lead to cognitive decline, especially in older adults and so alternative drugs should be used for treatment.Though there have been studies that were conducted earlier to analyze the association between prolonged drug usage and cognitive decline , this is the first study that looks at the biological pathways that lead to the decline, using neuro-imaging techniques.Dr Risacher further states that "These findings might give us clues to the biological basis for the cognitive problems associated with anticholinergic drugs, but additional studies are needed if we are to truly understand the mechanisms involved".Anticholinergic drugs act on muscles around the bronchi. When there is lung irritation, the muscles around the bronchi tighten resulting in narrow bronchi. Anticholinergic drugs act on these muscles and prevent narrowing of the bronchi.This study by Dr Risacher has found that over-the-counter anticholinergic drugs are used for hay fever, asthma and even sleeping pills. Older adults who have been using drugs like Benadryl , Nytol and Piriton for 3 years have more than 60% chance of developing Alzheimer's.The reason behind the increased risk for Alzheimer's is believed to be due to these drugs blocking the release of acetylcholine which is necessary for the transmission of electrical signals between nerve cells. In Alzheimer's, there is lowered level of acetylcholine, therefore, these drugs may lead to aggravation of the condition or could trigger the condition in the elderly.The study found that:Older patients who require these drugs for treatment should be monitored closely. The lowest dosage that provides the required relief should be administered for the patients and the progress of the treatment closely recorded. Alternate drugs that do not produce cognitive decline should then be used to protect the cognitive abilities of the patient.Since many of these drugs are available over the counter, it is difficult for doctors to monitor their usage by older adults. However, the conclusive evidence provided by this research warrants better awareness among senior citizens to prevent cognitive decline.Here are some tips for the elderly to follow as a result of this research:Source: Medindia 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 "The induction of M cells by TNF-alpha suggests that the body may have a built-in system that promotes the inflammation as well as regulates and ultimately suppresses the response," said David Lo, a distinguished professor of biomedical sciences, who led the research study.The study, performed on mice, focused on the gut, which the Lo lab has been researching for many years. Study results appear online in"If we don't know what triggers the disease then the best we can do is treat the disease by suppressing inflammation," Lo said. "Currently, the main drug therapeutics being used to manage IBD are anti-inflammatory treatments. One of the newest is a series of biologicals - basically antibodies - that absorb the inflammatory molecules that promote the inflammatory response. There are half a dozen of these biologicals - specifically targeting the cytokine TNF-alpha. They don't work in all patients, resulting often in some patients having to try one biological after another to find out what works."Lo explained that TNF-alpha promotes the destruction of tissues. But this cytokine also promotes tissue healing."Cytokines are regulators of host responses to infection and inflammation," he explained. "Some make disease worse because they are proinflammatory. Others reduce inflammation and promote healing because they are anti-inflammatory. TNF-alpha plays a dual role in that it does both. If we had a more focused way of dealing with the undesired inflammatory aspects of TNF-alpha, we could still retain the healing, restorative aspects of this cytokine."The body's intestinal lining has epithelial cells that form a barrier so that bacteria in the gut do not pass on into the rest of the body. During inflammation - whether from disease due to a person's genetic predisposition or from an infection - TNF-alpha is one of the proteins produced. Lo's team found that in the case of IBD infection TNF-alpha triggers an increase in the number of M cells up and down the colon. Further, the M cells act like selective gates."They show up in the colon where they didn't exist before, alerting the immune system that something is up," Lo said. "Through the M cells and their selective gatekeeping, the immune system is able to do some sampling of the gut - both more frequently and along the whole intestine. The colon is not normally a place where you have this sort of sampling going on. To significantly ramp up the sampling process by these M cells this way can help us figure out how the immune response will gear up its ability to either deliver a more powerful immune response or, alternatively, regulate and suppress the inflammation, and thus restore normal homeostasis in the intestine."For several years now, Lo has studied M cells in terms of how differentiation decisions get made to produce them."In the course of our research, it became evident to us that some of the factors that promote M cell differentiation overlap with the factors that produce disease, inflammation and destruction," he said. "We knew that diseases like IBD produce some of the same factors. We wondered if IBD also triggered M cell differentiation, and launched an investigation."Besides leading to the development of more targeted drug therapies, the new work could help scientists like Lo better understand why people afflicted with IBD have a chronic type of inflammation in the first place."Advanced immune surveillance is a clue into how the immune system is attempting to restore balance and calm in the tissues," Lo said. "If M cell production is a critical part of this restoration process, then it means we can develop more targeted therapies that don't block this restoration. Many of the biologicals being used today absorb and wipe out TNF-alpha, but in the long run this may be harmful to the patient because removing TNF-alpha altogether also blocks its ability to produce restorative mechanisms."Next, Lo's lab plans to focus on the different receptors in the body that receive signals that then trigger inflammation and tissue restoration."We would like to know which receptors are responsible for what," Lo said. "Which promote the undesired inflammatory effects, which promote the restorative effects? How does this trigger a sequence of events leading to restoration of calm and inflammation removal? The ultimate goal would be to have drug therapies that are more targeted so it's no longer like throwing a sponge at the infection and hoping something will work."Source: Newswise When I was a kid a verrry long time ago, Chattanooga was a much smaller city than today, being very restricted by both natural and political boundaries which kept us small. Downtown was early laid out very methodically - and very well - to accommodate both in-coming and out-going traffic. The roads and highways which led into town followed the paths of former wagon roads which meandered into town, swerving and curving to avoid perpetual mud-bogs or other obstacles that farm animals could not negotiate. But when these wagon roads hit Chattanooga they immediately found a well-thought-out grid of paved city streets. We can still trace some of those old wagon roads today where they divert their paths from the city streets. One of these would be Old Ringgold Road, where it has followed the grid through town and east on Main Street; then, on the side of Missionary Ridge, it suddenly turns right - diagonally - where it winds its ancient path over to our modern Ringgold Road on the other side. Same principle holds true for the equally ancient Rossville Avenue which juts off of Main Street to connect with Rossville Boulevard. That street leads into the town of Rossville, Ga., oldest community in the area. It had a post office before Chattanooga! But Chattanooga remained confined to the small space of my early years. Generations of Mayors and other City Fathers wrestled with the problem of how to make Chattanooga grow. I believe one of the first areas being eyed for annexation was a large, basically low area east of Missionary Ridge referred to simply, but descriptively, as "east of the Ridge". Our city was so desperate to claim it that a U.S. Senator from Chattanooga, Nathan L. Bachman, pushed legislation that would provide for the construction of the two tunnels which are still in constant use on Ringgold Road. (The East Ridge Tunnels). These tunnels were named in honor of the Senator's father, a Confederate veteran, and former pastor of First Presbyterian Church, Dr. Jonathan Bachman. Opening these "Bachman Tubes" tunnels removed through-traffic from "Old" Ringgold Road, which then became a residential street. Only problem now was that the good people who lived out "east of the Ridge" did not want to be part of Chattanooga (!), so they incorporated and founded the new City of East Ridge which remained a part of Hamilton County. Brainerd, to the north, however, only got ONE tunnel, but welcomed its annexation into the city of Chattanooga. (The second, north, tunnel came much later around 1950). The city was hemmed in on the west by Marion County whose line follows the escarpment of Elder Mountain - and of course we could not extend south into Georgia. The Tennessee River was a natural boundary on the north, meaning that the little country towns to the north - such as Hixson - remained very rural until well into my lifetime. "Annexation" was a big word politically for much of my life and there were many referendums over it. "East" was the only direction the city could easily expand. But there were problems in that direction as well. In about 1946 our good neighbor, Mr. Willian F. Jackson, returned from WW2. A steamfitter by trade, he was very happy at the prospect of working for the new DuPont plant which had recently opened north of the river. He easily got the job, but the commute was exhausting! He had to leave from his home in the Belvoir community of Brainerd, drive west into town, go north across the Walnut Street bridge, turn right, and follow Hixson Pike east for miles before reaching his new job at DuPont. He was not alone, of course, and the need for a new bridge was more than apparent. It took a long time to get all the legal work done before the bridge over Chickamauga Dam was actually built. But it finally opened and we could not function without it today. For all of my younger life there had been only two bridges across the Tennessee River: the Walnut Street and Market Street bridges. These had served us well for many years, and were fine for the age of horse-drawn wagons, buggies, and even T-Model or A-Model cars. But modern cars were too large, especially for the Walnut Street Bridge. It had become structurally unsafe and the lanes were so narrow that it was downright scary to drive across it. (My car was actually one of the last cars to go across, just hours before it was shut down!) Mayor Rudy Olgiati (whose family came from the Swiss colony of Gruetli-Laager, Tn.) had the vision for a brand new bridge which could connect the northern and southern portions of U.S. Highway 27. His bridge would fit in very nicely with the new efforts at city planning which were beginning to take shape. The Olgiati Bridge would create the possibility for a brand new focal point in town which was to be called the "Golden Gateway". North-south traffic on U.S. 27 could exit onto 9th Street, and the resulting influx of traffic needed to be provided for. Ninth Street (now MLK) had been no wider than 7th or 8th Street, so it would have to be widened. This was a painful process, requiring great amounts of time. Buildings were ripped away exposing ugly interior walls with ragged wallpaper and uneven brick walls still showing, that stood for years afterward without adornment. But the overall intended flow of traffic worked as expected. This was the mid-1950's and early 1960's. The biggest "negative" to this project is that it is where we lost our beloved Cameron Hill! We were told that they were only taking a few feet of dirt from the top of the hill to use as fill-dirt along the new roadways, but it resulted in total mutilation of that beautiful and historic site. Next, President Eisenhower, as General of the Army in WW2, had seen Germany during that war and had been impressed by the German system of "Autobahns". He thought America should have a system equally as good, so promoted the idea and quickly got Congressional approval. The program was to be called, "Project '66", indicating that the entire system would be completed by 1966 - and much of it was, but I was told that such a system could never work in the swamp lands of Louisiana, or other such places. I never heard what the outcome was in those places... Artist George Little recorded on canvas some of the drama from that era in Chattanooga. Every way you turned your head you saw orange (rust primed) steel girders plus a lot of cement, and George Little painted it on canvas. The landscape was very "raw" in appearance here for a very long time. Also, there were detours a-plenty, and - if you could ever get on a stretch of one of the new roads - it led only a mile or two until you had to exit again! Probably about 1966 (on time!) the State and local dignitaries held a ceremony on the "Ridge Cut" officially, and at long last, uniting the eastern and western portions of I-24. The I-75 freeway was to the east and did not get the same amount of publicity as I-24. This was a time of great change across the entire country, actually. Change can be painful - as it was for my parents who were advancing in age, who, along with hundreds of others had to relocate. But, all told, the change was for the good, and the freeways are indispensable today. At some time in the 1950's or '60's Miller Brothers department store acquired the former Clemons Brothers furniture company property across Broad Street and built a tunnel between the two buildings which fouled all traffic on Broad Street for months on end. And in my parents' day, one huge change to Chattanooga was surreptitiously undertaken by the City Fathers. Broad Street only ran from the Tennessee River to 9th Street (now MLK Boulevard). By pre-arrangement, and probably on a weekend night, a group of men tore down at least one of the blocking buildings at the south end of Broad Street, and ran an automobile through the vacated property. It could now be proclaimed a "street" - legally. Also, the two new viaducts on McCallie and Bailey Avenues served to create the new eastern suburbs of Highland Park and Brainerd. The former "East End Avenue" now became, "Central Avenue"! But could you ever imagine Chattanooga without Broad Street? (Chester Martin is a native Chattanoogan who is a talented painter as well as local historian. He and his wife, Pat, live in Brainerd. Mr. Martin can be reached at cymppm@comcast.net ) A Criminal Court jury deliberated until late Friday night before finding Jeremy Reynolds guilty of first-degree murder in the slaying of 19-year-old Wendell Washington. The conviction carries an automatic life prison sentence. Reynolds previously served time for facilitation to commit second-degree murder in the 2005 death of Harold Steven Freeman. The prosecution had argued that the murder was premeditated. The defense said there was not enough evidence to convict Jeremy Reynolds for the slaying. Reynolds has been standing trial all week for the first-degree murder of Washington in the May 5, 2013 Lupton City shootout. Closing arguments were made Friday morning in Judge Barry Steelman's courtroom.Prosecutor Kevin Brown, the first to address the jury, said, Jeremy Reynolds was prepared. He was prepared to confront Wendell Washington. As a result of that confrontation Wendell Washington lay dead - on his own front porch, shot seven times.Prosecutor Brown said that Deante Duncan, a fellow gang member, went with Reynolds to Washington's house. He said that the two men who are seen in a video carrying Reynolds into Erlanger Hospital on the same night of the shooting weren't hanging around to answer questions because they had just been at 3687 Northrop St. and killed Wendell Washington.Prosecutor Brown said that one of Washington's neighbors had seen a white Mitsubishi SUV leave the street after hearing gunshots. Prosecutor Brown said this is the same white SUV that can be seen in the Erlanger Hospital video, which he said arrived seven minutes after the shooting.He also said that the Hi-Point 45 caliber gun taken off of Gerald Jackson months later was a match for bullets found at the crime scene. He said that Jackson, who has been ruled out as a suspect, had the gun because he was Jeremy Reynolds's fellow gang member.Prosecutor Brown said that findings from the autopsy of Washington were consistent with Washington being bent over and turning away from the gunfire.He was trying to get away from Jeremy Reynolds, Prosecutor Brown said. He was trying to get away form the man that was killing him - that shot him on that front porch seven times.Defense attorney John McDougal said that the prosecution was relying on emotion.They want to scare you into convicting (Reynolds) because they don't have any evidence that he did it, he said. The evidence doesn't help them. It doesn't complete their story, it tears it apart.Attorney McDougal said that Wendell Washington was a drug dealer and that drug dealing's a very, very dangerous occupation. He said that anybody could have shot Washington.He recounted the testimony of Teri Arney, a special agent forensic scientist at TBI's Crime Lab. Attorney McDougal said that the 40 caliber bullet removed from Reynolds during surgery could have come from other types of guns than the 40 caliber Glock found in Washington's home.Attorney McDougal also said that there was a distance problem, since one of the holes in Reynolds' shirt tested positive for a contact shot and Washington was shot from far away. He also said that the vehicle seen in the hospital video was gray, not white. He said that the vehicle could not have traveled from the crime scene to Erlanger as quickly as the prosecution says that it did.The state admits they have no direct proof, said Attorney McDougal. If the state has doubt, ladies and gentlemen, how can you not have doubt?Just because the facts don't make sense to the defense doesn't mean they're not true, said Prosecutor Lance Pope. Mr. McDougal misrepresents what the evidence is and then tries to tell you it's reasonable doubt.He said that not all of the gunshot wounds to Washington were from far away, but that Agent Arney had found contact firearm discharge on Washington's jacket.There's some proof in the case that Wendell Washington was involved in the sale of narcotics, said Prosecutor Pope.He said that if Washington was doing something illegal, he deserved to be arrested, but what he didn't deserve was to be murdered on his front porch.You get to decide you won't stand for it, Prosecutor Pope told the jury. You won't stand for (Reynolds's) guns. You won't stand for his violence, for his shootings, for his gangs. You won't stand for it. Kristiana McCombs, a junior cello performance and music education double major from Rockford, Illinois, was named Lee Universitys 2016-2017 Presser Undergraduate Scholar. Kristiana exemplifies the type of student that the Presser Foundation had in mind when they established the Presser Scholar Program, said Dr. William Green, dean of Lees School of Music. She is a student that is dedicated to the art of exceptional music making, that takes advantage of every opportunity to learn, and is fully engaged in helping others fuel their passion for music. Ms. McCombs is a Centennial Scholar with a 4.0 GPA. She is a member of Lees Symphony Orchestra, Chamber Strings, and the Chamber Music program. She has also performed with the Chattanooga Symphony Orchestra. While at Lee, she has been a Gateway Peer Leader, a participant in the Honors Recital and Student Showcase Recital, a featured soloist in Symphony Orchestras Concerto Competition Concert, and student assistant to the chair of Music Performance Studies. I am deeply grateful to be included in the circle of outstanding students at Lee University who have been named Presser Scholars, said Ms. McCombs. Being recognized by professors whom I highly admire and respect means a great deal to me as a student and musician. This award will be a tremendous help to me as I endeavor to eventually study music at the graduate level and become a professional musician. The Presser Foundation, established by music publisher Theodore Presser, is dedicated solely to the support of music and music education. With its Undergraduate Scholar Award, the Pennsylvania-based foundation recognizes students who demonstrate outstanding accomplishments in music performance at accredited colleges and universities across the country. As the 2016-2017 Presser Scholar, Ms. McCombs will receive a cash stipend for her upcoming senior year. Presser Undergraduate Scholar Awards are distributed to a number of accredited institutions throughout America. Past recipients of Lee University include Matthew Kelly (2015), Joey Archer (2014), Erica Tipton (2013), Matthew Wilkinson (2012), Lamprini Lindeman (2011), Christopher Oglesby (2010), Sabbath Ward (2009), Rachael Skidmore (2008), Michael Land (2007), Brooke Upton (2006), Troy Strand (2005), Rachel Ogle Laney (2004), Amy Shallenberger (2003), Brian Shaw (2002), RaeAnna Hooper (2001), and Jeffrey Jewsome (2000). HURON COUNTY County commissioners should maybe resolve to the state to ban fracking, Commissioner John Nugent said this week. And some say there may be enough support in Huron County to trigger a referendum for DTE Energys plan to bring 50 to 70 more turbines to the area. Both are examples of the uncertainty surrounding local energy options. The idea to ban fracking, which uses pressurized water and chemicals to drill into underground oil or gas formations to fracture rock layers and release oil or gas reserves, resurfaced this week at a board of commissioners meeting. Commissioners have cited groundwater and air contamination concerns especially of Hurons 93-mile shoreline. Nugent says its a concern because most of the county relies on wells. Fracking, or the potential for it in other counties, could affect Huron County because the county gets groundwater from Cass City and not the lake as one might think, Commissioner Clark Elftman said. The 2006 Michigan Zoning Enabling Act prohibits counties and townships from regulating or controlling oil and gas well drilling. House Democrats in mid-February introduced a package of bills that would eliminate preemption of local zoning regulations and establish setbacks for oil and gas wells. Nugent says he wants to see the kind of local control referenced in the bills, which were referred to the Committee on Energy Policy where they currently sit. Were unprotected when it comes to fracking in Huron County, Nugent said in March (http://bit.ly/1Wg7MDc). Last year, there were 12 oil and gas leases filed in Huron County, according to the Register of Deeds Office, which says there have been more than 300 leases recorded since 2010. Officials say no county wells have actually been fracked. See what county planners have said on fracking here: http://bit.ly/1BadyJb. According to the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), fracturing has never jeopardized the environment or public health. Gas and oil operators have been fracking around the country since the 1940s, and in Michigan, some 12,000 wells have been fractured over the past 50 years, the DEQ says. Gov. Rick Snyder, in a special message on energy in March 2015, said fracking has continued in Michigan at 10,000 wells without any real problems. Studies examining hydraulic fracturing are ongoing. Others have taken a firm stance against it. The Committee to Ban Fracking in Michigan, formed in 2012 as a political campaign, plans to collect enough signatures to submit to the state by June 1 a ballot initiative to ban fracking statewide. In 2012, Vermont became the first state to ban fracking. New York followed in 2014, while Maryland set a moratorium through 2017. Arizona, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Oregon and Congress all proposed legislation in 2015 that would ban fracking, but none have become law, according to Congress. Locally, wind energy has been just as contentious. DTE Energy is in an early stage to build 50 to 70 turbines across four townships. A project planning area covers 61 square miles and over 39,000 acres 22,000 in Lincoln Township. DTE says it has 21,000 acres under contract for wind development with about 100 landowners and is talking with other landowners. However the entire Lincoln Township Board says it opposes the plan. A growing number of residents do, too. Included in a packet for Tuesdays board of commissioners meeting are documents that read, We the undersigned residents of Lincoln Township hereby request to be removed from the commercial wind overlay district. Signed April 2016. The documents list over 50 signatures with addresses, dated between April 6 and April 14. Some are from landowners already under easement with DTE, including Lincoln Trustee John Wisneski. Board of Commissioners Chair John Bodis says if planners approve DTEs request and it gets the OK from county commissioners, he was told there are enough signatures to support a referendum to put the question to voters on the ballot. A resident would first have to file a letter of intent to file a petition within seven days of commissioners approval to amend the zoning ordinance for DTEs plan. The minimum signatures needed are 807, from residents living in the 16 county-zoned townships, and they would need to be submitted within 30 days. If thats the case, so be it, Bodis said this week. If the people speak, we should listen. DTE says there are many steps to an overlay approval prior to the point of considering whether a referendum vote will happen, and that its current focus is responding to the planning commissions request for additional information. County planners at a March 30 hearing tabled a decision on DTEs plan. Less than a third of the state's legislators answered in a statewide survey whether they'd prefer to amend the law or leave it as-is when their session starts Monday. A couple cited an impending Rotary meeting or preparations to run for Congress as reasons why they had no time to answer, while another simply hung up on a reporter in between questions. The survey, conducted by reporters from seven newspapers and The Associated Press since April 13, consisted of three questions posed to all 168 current senators and representatives. Seeking a yes-or-no answer, the first asked: "Do you support revisiting House Bill 2 to possibly amend it during the regular session?" The second asked which parts they wanted to address, while the third sought any further comments. Here's what one Republican who voted for the legislation, Rep. William Brawley, thought of the survey: "We read your questionnaire and believed it was a trap and I would not respond." Overall, 41 lawmakers mostly Democrats said they favor revisiting the law. That's several more than the group also mostly Democrats who voted against it or left their chamber in protest the day it passed during a March special session. The law says that in government buildings as well as public schools and universities, transgender people must use bathrooms corresponding with the gender on their birth certificate. It also excludes sexual orientation and gender identity from statewide antidiscrimination protections and overrules local nondiscrimination ordinances. The law has drawn widespread criticism from equality advocates and business leaders and even rock icons such as Bruce Springsteen, who canceled a concert. Eleven survey respondents said they weren't in favor of changing the law. Another 17 either declined to comment or offered an equivocal answer. The rest simply didn't answer their phones or return messages or emails. Several sought to quickly get off the phone. Reached at home, Rep. John M. Blust answered question No. 1 by saying: "I'm not looking at doing that right now." "Can I put you down as a 'no'?" a reporter asked. The Republican, who voted for the state law, said he had no more time to talk because he was mired in work on his campaign for U.S. Congress in North Carolina's 13th District. Republican Rep. Josh Dobson, who also voted for the legislation, said: "I usually refer everything to the Speaker's office," then hung up before a reporter could ask a follow-up question. Rep. Pat Hurley politely said she was preparing for a Rotary meeting and asked a reporter to call back around 2 p.m. She didn't answer the second call. Of 41 lawmakers on AP's portion of the list, a handful responded promptly. Twenty-eight never returned calls and emails to their legislative offices, followed by messages on home, mobile or business numbers. Democratic Sen. Floyd McKissick of Durham, who wants the law repealed and left in protest when it passed, suggested some may be unwilling to talk out of embarrassment or loyalty to the Republican caucus. "I've spoken to two that were not really happy with the bill to start with, but the pressure of the caucus to stick together is very strong," he said. "But none of them would ever speak publicly against their caucus." One lawmaker not afraid to discuss his support for the bill is Sen. Jerry Tillman, who speaks with a frankness sharpened over seven terms in the chamber. "I would not be for amending it," he said by phone. "We passed a good bill, and I'm ready to stand on that bill." He added, "Right now I don't even feel like the mood is there to do any changes." Hours later, Senate leader Phil Berger echoed that sentiment. While Berger didn't respond to the survey, he discussed the likelihood of any changes with reporters Wednesday: "I don't know that I would at any point be ready to say we are going to make any changes. I just don't see the need for it." Rabbi Yaakov Horowitz filed a lawsuit against the Newark, New Jersey, company Wednesday, days ahead of Passover. Horowitz was the chief supervising rabbi at The Manischewitz Co. He worked for the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America, which supplies supervising clergy to independently ensure kosher standards are kept at food producers. The union also is named in the lawsuit, which was filed in New York City and seeks millions of dollars in compensation for emotional distress and damage to the rabbi's reputation. The Orthodox Union says the lawsuit is "entirely without merit" and Manischewitz meets the highest kosher standards. Manischewitz officials have no comment. LANSING The state Senate Education Committee heard testimony this week on a bill that would wipe away the Common Core Standards in Michigan, which in the long run, would cut back the amount of time students spend taking standardized tests. Common Core Standards is an educational initiative that details what students in grades kindergarten through 12th should know in English language arts and math by a certain grade level. Senate Bill 826 would ultimately, terminate all plans, programs, activities, efforts and expenditures relating to the implementation of the educational initiative commonly referred to as the common core standards. Following a Senate Education Committee meeting earlier this week, Committee Chairman Sen. Phil Pavlov, R-St. Clair Township, issued a statement on Common Core and the need for Senate Bill 826. Its absolutely wrong the way Common Core was imposed on the states, Pavlov stated. States and local school districts not the federal government should be in charge of education policy. If the bill were to pass, the state academic content standards would be changed to the same academic standards that were in effect in Massachusetts during the 2008-09 school year. The Massachusetts Standards have been proven effective for educating students, Pavlov stated. These standards use education practices familiar to parents, are internationally benchmarked and competitive, are developmentally appropriate and are not politically biased. From a local perspective, a few superintendents said last years testing was overkill for their students. The initial idea I think was a good one, said Harbor Beach Superintendent Lawrence Kroswek. The idea was everybody should be teaching the same thing, the same way at the same time. They were testing students for the wrong reasons, he added. It was about testing students to evaluate teachers. You test a student to use the results to help improve instruction. Last year, juniors at Harbor Beach High School were busy 11 hours of testing busy. There were (elementary school) children that were just plain tired of testing and they just gave up, Kroswek said. Even though the students were pushed to the limits with tests, the district still did well and Kroswek credited the success to his staff. Were fortunate to have a very strong staff, he said. Our teachers are very good at prioritizing at each grade level and very good at helping with the transition from grade level to grade level. Bad Axe and Caseville Superintendents, Greg Newland and Ken Ewald, respectively, both said the amount of testing done was an overkill for students. I wish that this would become more of a local controlled decision when it comes to assessment and curriculum, Newland said. We obviously need to have an assessment that the school can look at student data, such as, what are individual needs and system needs. Ewalds outlook was much like Newlands a local look. Somehow we need to focus in on what we should be teaching our children in the Thumb and not a national outlook, Ewald explained. I definitely believe that right now, the testing is overkill. I think the testing we do is taking too much time away from their teaching time in the classroom. Ewald said the curriculum should expose children to subjects that surround them. For example, a district in Houston, Texas, and a district in Pigeon, Michigan, should have curriculums that reach more of its students needs versus a curriculum with a national perspective. A constant change in the statewide curriculum is not good for the education process, he added. HARBOR BEACH Officials are reaffirming safety will not be sacrificed in a plan to convert the Harbor Beach Coast Guard station to a seasonal operation. Harbor Beach will join a list of 16 other seasonal stations on the Great Lakes if the Coast Guard goes forward with its proposal, Mayor Gary Booms said at a council meeting this week. The Coast Guards premium months of operation for the Harbor Beach station will now be June, July and August and the station will essentially be closed November, December, January and February, the mayor said. Coast Guard officials met with Harbor Beach city leaders and first responders last Friday. 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 the Coast Guard. Following that meeting, City Director Ron Wruble said it wasnt the best news, but that the silver lining is the Coast Guard will still have a big presence in Harbor Beach. Which Booms said means the Coast Guard will have a staff of at least 10 people in Harbor Beach during the boating season. Odds are, (the Coast Guards proposal) will probably go through, Booms said, adding that it would take effect next year. The Coast Guard says part of its decision is based on a 63 percent decrease in search and rescue cases across the Great Lakes since 2005. Booms says he was told that the Coast Guard took seven calls for incidents over the months of November, December, January, February and March between 2007 and 2014. We havent had a whole lot in the past, the mayor said of ice rescues. However its still a concern, he said, because in past years there have been more ice fisherman and more ice, due in part to the shuttered DTE Energy plant not discharging warm water into the harbor anymore. Officials say more security will arrive with a plan to bring two helicopters from Traverse City, designed to operate in cold weather and fly through freezing rain and heavy winds. By doing this, theyre not saving any money, Booms said. The mayor said locals had a lot of dialogue with the Coast Guard last week, got their questions answered and expressed opinions, and that its in their hands now. If a boats on the water, theyre going to have a presence here, he said. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry joins dozens of world leaders for a signing ceremony that is expected to set a record for international diplomacy: Never have so many countries signed an agreement on the first available day. States that don't sign Friday have a year to do so. Many now expect the climate agreement to enter into force long before the original deadline of 2020. Some say it could happen this year. After signing, countries must formally approve the Paris Agreement through their domestic procedures. The United Nations says at least 13 countries are expected to do that Friday by depositing their instruments of ratification. The agreement will enter into force once 55 countries representing at least 55 percent of global emissions have formally joined it. The United States and China, which together account for nearly 40 percent of global emissions, have said they intend to join this year. "We definitely want to be in the first wave of ratifying countries," Maros Sefcovic, the energy chief for another top emitter, the 28-nation European Union, told reporters Thursday. Countries that had not yet indicated they would sign the agreement Friday include some of the world's largest oil producers, including Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Nigeria and Kazakhstan, the World Resources Institute said Thursday. The Paris Agreement, the world's response to hotter temperatures, rising seas and other impacts of climate change, was reached in December as a major breakthrough in U.N. climate negotiations, which for years were slowed by disputes between rich and poor countries over who should do what. Under the agreement, countries set their own targets for reducing emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. The targets are not legally binding, but countries must update them every five years. Already, states face pressure to do more. Scientific analyses show the initial set of targets that countries pledged before Paris don't match the agreement's long-term goal to keep global warming below 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit), compared with pre-industrial times. Global average temperatures have already climbed by almost 1 degree C. Last year was the hottest on record. The latest analysis by the Climate Interactive research group shows the Paris pledges put the world on track for 3.5 degrees C of warming. A separate analysis by Climate Action Tracker, a European group, projected warming of 2.7 degrees C. Either way, scientists say the consequences could be catastrophic in some places, wiping out crops, flooding coastal areas and melting Arctic sea ice. The United States is a key concern for the Paris Agreement as other countries worry what the next president might do. Analysts say that if the agreement enters into force before President Barack Obama leaves office in January, it would be more complicated for his successor to withdraw from the deal, because it would take four years to do so under the agreement's rules. "Walking away from the agreement would instantly turn the U.S. from a leader to a defector" with serious diplomatic consequences, Elliot Diringer of the U.S.-based Center for Climate and Energy Solutions think tank told reporters Thursday. The Obama administration is expected to treat the deal as an executive agreement, which needs only the president's approval. As the Paris Agreement moves forward, there is some good news. Global energy emissions, the biggest source of man-made greenhouse gases, were flat last year even though the global economy grew, according to the International Energy Agency. Still, fossil fuels are used much more widely than renewable sources like wind and solar power. The Walker County Chamber of Commerce celebrated the pre-grand opening and ribbon cutting ceremony of the new Hardees Restaurant at 300 McFarland Ave., Rossville. Hardees is owned by J & S Restaurants and has been in Rossville since 1989 when Hardees of Rossville was born. Hardees is a fast-food chain serving fried chicken, big burgers and made-from-scratch breakfast biscuits. Officials said, "Also, please go by and take a look at their beautiful new renovations and wall murals known as Contemporary Star decor." A former Marine discharged more than two years ago for disobeying orders, including that she not post Bible verses at her workstation, will go before the military's highest court next week to argue her religious rights were violated. In challenging the ruling of her court-martial judge, former Lance Cpl. Monifa F. Sterling has garnered the support of a wide range of religious organizations and dozens of members of Congress, who believe the Marine Corps violated her rights under the Military Religious Restoration Act. Attorney Michael Berry, a former Marine Judge Advocate General and now director of military affairs for the First Liberty Institute, which is representing Sterling, said last fall that the case "has the potential to affect the religious freedom of millions of Americans who serve in our armed forces." In an interview with McClatchy News Service in October, Berry aid the appeals court's decision to hear the case marked a victory for Sterling's many advocates. Among her backers are more than 40 members of Congress who have weighed in on the case with a friend of the court brief. A similar filing was made by The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty and represented various Protestant, Catholic, Mormon, Jewish, Muslim and Sikh leaders, including endorsing agencies for military chaplains. But while the court will hear Sterling's argument that the military violated her rights by forcing her to remove Bible verses from her workplace, it will not address other charges for which she was found guilty at court-martial. These include refusing to wear the uniform ordered by her superior and refusing to report for duty. "The other charges aren't being challenged in this appeal. The only issue before the court is whether the military violated Lance Corporal Sterling's right to religious freedom by discriminatorily forcing her to remove her scripture verses from her workspace," Daniel Blomberg, legal counsel for The Becket Fund, told Military.com. Blomberg said the original court ruled against the former Marine's religious rights argument because it "didn't think that posting scripture verses was a sufficiently well-known religious belief to be protected, and because it believed that religious speech is inherently 'divisive' and may be pre-emptively censored. "Both rulings are unusual, harmful, and need to be reversed," Blomberg said. The court found that in May 2013, Sterling posted the Bible quote, "No weapon formed against me shall prosper," above her computer monitor, on the computer tower and on her in-box. After she was told to take them down and refused, a noncommissioned officer, identified in court papers as Staff Sgt. Alexander, removed them. Sterling reposted the verse the next day and Alexander again removed them. The court, in its decision to punish Sterling with a bad conduct discharge, also noted that her defense attorney "essentially argued for a punitive discharge" on the grounds she wanted out of the Corps quickly. The defense attorney's sentencing comments included statements that "Sterling ... is recently married. And she has also said, she is not long for the Marine Corps one way or the other. And so whatever punishment you give her, I would ask that it be a punishment that quickly brings [LCpl] Sterling's association with her command and the Marine Corps to an end." Attorney Bradley Girard of Americans United for Separation of Church and State said Sterling's case has nothing to do with religious liberty in the military. Also, Sterling never told her staff sergeant the verse was from the Bible and that she was posting it for religious reasons, AU states in its own court filing on the case. "She didn't even mention it was religious until her trial, which was six months later," Girard said. -- Bryant Jordan can be reached at bryant.jordan@military.com. Follow him on Twitter at @bryantjordan. US Army Lt. Gen. Sean MacFarland, commander of US forces in Iraq and Syria, and US Air Force Gen. Lori Robinson, the first woman named to head a combatant command, have been listed by Time magazine as among the 100 most influential people worldwide. Time put MacFarland and Robinson in the "Leaders" category of the most influential 100 that also included Pioneers, Titans, Artists and Icons. Other leaders listed along with MacFarland and Robinson included North Korea's Kim Jong Un, Russian President Vladimir Putin, and politicians Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, Paul Ryan and Bernie Sanders. Those who know MacFarland best described him as a selfless leader who deflects praise onto those in his command. Col. Christopher C. LaNeve, who served under MacFarland at Fort Bliss, Texas, told the El Paso Times that, "In over 20-plus years of my service, Lt. Gen. MacFarland is one of the most tactically proficient and caring leaders I have ever served with." In a glowing tribute to MacFarland, now commander of Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve with headquarters in Baghdad, Sen. John McCain said, "Through 15 years of war, our nation has been blessed with leaders who stepped forward -- leaders like David Petraeus, Stanley McChrystal, James Mattis and Ray Odierno. Sean MacFarland belongs in such distinguished company." "I first met then-Col. MacFarland in Ramadi in December 2006. Iraq was in the grip of a seemingly intractable sectarian conflict. But MacFarland had the courage to adapt and innovate. His support of the Anbar Awakening was the model for the successful surge strategy that broke the back of al-Qaida in Iraq," McCain said. "I can think of no better commander than MacFarland to lead US and coalition forces in destroying the Islamic State," said McCain, an Arizona Republican and chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee. The Time list came out just as Robinson was wrapping up the Senate Armed Services Committee confirmation hearing on her nomination by President Obama to lead US Northern Command and the North American Aerospace Defense Command. She appeared headed to swift confirmation as the first woman to lead a combatant command. In a tribute to Robinson for Time, Rep. Tammy Duckworth, an Illinois Democrat who was severely wounded as an Army helicopter pilot in Iraq, said, "When I joined the US Army Reserve in 1992, there were no female four-star generals." "In the military, a combatant command is the ultimate job. It's the pointy tip of the spear, overseeing the people carrying the rifles and flying the aircraft," Duckworth said. "For years, women were barred from combat roles, closing off their route to the senior leadership. Gen. Robinson's appointment makes clear to every female lieutenant that the top jobs are now open to them," Duckworth said. -- Richard Sisk can be reached at Richard.Sisk@Military.com. 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... Two professionals from Barge, Waggoner, Sumner and Cannon, Inc. presented at the 2016 Tennessee Water Resources Symposium, an American Water Resources Association - Tennessee Section event. Trevor Cropps presentation focused on utilizing Next-Generation Radar (NEXRAD) data for determination of precipitation in the absence of gage data. He describes the challenges encountered when using the raw NEXRAD data provided by the National Climactic Data Center, including the distortions caused by the radar sites proximity to the watershed and temporal anomalies that require detection and removal. Adrian Ward presented on the development of an HEC-HMS hydrologic model and HEC-RAS hydraulic model for the Big Creek drainage basin near the City of Millington, Tn. In 2010, Big Creek experienced a historic flood event that exceeded previous records and flooded the city of Millington and the U.S. Navys Naval Support Activity (NSA) facility. These models were used to provide various flood simulations and cost estimates to determine the most desirable park alternative that benefits the most residents. Members of the Chattanooga Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta played host to 620 sorority members on April 1-3. Sorority members throughout the State of Tennessee, Alabama, Florida and Georgia, in addition to National Officers and Regional Committee Members, Southern Regional Director Cheryl W. Turner, and Southern Regional Representative Brittany Stephenson all convened at the Chattanooga Convention Center to conduct and attend workshops, networking opportunities and community service. This years event, held in Chattanooga, to date had the largest number of registrants than any other cluster previously held in the State of Tennessee. "The theme, 'Rolling on the River,' resonated throughout the entire event. Members of the Chattanooga Alumnae Chapter 'rolled' out the red carpet for visiting members, 'rolled' down scenic Tennessee River via the Southern Belle Riverboat, and the conference 'rolled' out workshops to energize, educate and empower members," officials said. The Sisterhood Luncheon, held on Saturday, April 2 was attended by the Honorable Mayor Andy Berke and School Board Member Karitsa Mosley. "Sisterhood and public service are major components of the organization," officials said. The SOS (Support Our School) Project was the service project selected to aid a few area schools. "Thanks to the hundreds of books and thousands of school supplies donated by all attendees, the Chattanooga Alumnae Chapter was able to impact the following schools: Orchard Knob Elementary, Calvin Donaldson Elementary, Clifton Hills Elementary, Woodmore Elementary and Orchard Knob Middle. The proceeds from the Ecumenical Service will be given to a local charityRoom in the Inn," officials said. Sorry, we can't find the content you're looking for at this URL. Johannesburg (AFP) - Prosecutors in South Africa said Thursday they had charged firebrand opposition politician Julius Malema under an apartheid-era law after he urged his supporters to occupy land illegally. The National Prosecution Authority (NPA) said it had "decided to institute criminal prosecutions" against Malema on two counts for contravening anti-riot laws and incitement to trespass. The charges arose from remarks Malema made two years ago and in June this year urging his supporters, most of them black and landless, to seize any land they wanted. Malema's leftist Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) party has garnered growing public support by campaigning for South Africa's deep inequality to be tackled through land expropriation. Land reform is a key issue in the country, where much of the wealth remains in white hands 20 years after the end of apartheid. "This is what the state does when it's desperate," Malema told a news conference after the charges were announced. "All those who are seen to be opponents, they must be suppressed through state institutions. "But with me they have met their match, I am not scared of anything." In June Malema told his supporters: "If you see a piece of land and you like it, don't apologise, go and occupy that land. That land belongs to us." Founded in 2013, the EFF entered parliament the next year with 25 lawmakers, becoming the third largest party. Prosecutors said they would not charge Malema with treason as demanded by the ruling ANC party, after he threatened a violent overthrow of the government, in an interview with Al-Jazeera television. The National Park Service and the Outdoor Foundation announced the recipients of the 2016 Challenge Cost Share Program, which supports projects that promote urban outreach, youth engagement and connecting people to the outdoors. Nationally, the partners selected 17 projects from 62 applications, awarding more than $360,000 that will be matched by an estimated $760,000 in direct and in-kind contributions from recipients. More than 10,000 youth are expected to be engaged during this celebration of the National Park Services Centennial. Glass House Collective received $25,000 to support its work to engage the local East Chattanooga community. Planning is underway to establish the Glass Street Connector trail between the community and Sherman Reservation, a unit of Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park located on Missionary Ridge. Through a diverse partnership with the Trust for Public Land, the Southeast Conservation Corps, the Sierra Club, Friends of the Park, and the City of Chattanooga, the project is making headway. Several community clean-up days have already been held in the past months, and Phase I of trail construction is scheduled to begin this summer. You can see Sherman Reservation from Glass Street, but few of our residents are aware that we have a National Park within walking distance to this community, said Teal Thibaud, Executive Director of the Glass House Collective. We have an opportunity to connect our community with nature and history, increase physical activity, and make this neighborhood a more inviting place to live. This year the National Park Service celebrates its 100th Anniversary. This project represents the future of our nations park system as we look to educate young people about the importance national, state and local parks, explained Alison Bullock, Community Planner with the National Park Services Rivers, Trails and Conservation Assistance Program. The Challenge Cost Share Program supports National Park Service parks, National Trails and Wild and Scenic Rivers that are aligned with partners that promote urban outreach, youth engagement and/or connecting people to the outdoors. The initiative requires a 1:1 match by the local recipient resulting in greater financial leverage and impact. In addition, the Outdoor Foundation is actively seeking additional support for the selected projects. Program priorities include: Urban Outreach: Projects to promote active healthy living, restore or conserve community natural and cultural assets, or promote close-to-home access to recreation within an urban setting. Youth Engagement: Projects to engage youth participants to play, learn, serve and work associated with National Park Service sites and programs. Connecting People to the Outdoors: Projects to enhance tangible and/or intangible access to the outdoors that provide increased outdoor recreation opportunities. The Outdoor Foundation is thrilled to partner with the National Park Service to reconnect Americans to their national parks and engage a new generation of outdoor enthusiasts and stewards, said Chris Fanning, executive director of the Outdoor Foundation. The Challenge Cost Share program is one of the most effective initiatives that leverages public and private funds and invests in local partnerships that deliver results. The Peace and Security Council of the African Union (AU), at its 590th meeting, held on 14 April 2016, adopted the following decision on the situation of refugees in the Dadaab Refugee camps in Kenya: Council, 1. Takes note of the Report of the Chairperson of the Commission on the Comprehensive Technical Assessment Mission to Dadaab Refugee Camps, in Kenya [PSC/PR/(DXC)] and the briefing provided by the Commissioner for Political Affairs on the matter. Council also takes note of the statements made by the representatives of the Republic of Kenya, the Federal Republic of Somalia and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR); 2. Recalls its previous communiques and press statements on the Republic of Kenya's efforts in fighting al-Shabaab and its plan of relocating the Dadaab Refugee Camps, in particular, press statement [PSC/PR/BR.(DXXXVII)], and communique [PSC/PR/COMM.(DLIV)], adopted at its 537th and 554th meetings, held on 24 August 2015 and 3 November 2015, respectively; 3. Reiterates the importance of upholding relevant international and African instruments, including the 1951 United Nations Convention relating to the status of refugees and the 1967 UN Protocol relating to the status of refugees, as well as the 1969 Organization of African Unity Convention governing the specific aspects of refugee problems in Africa; 4. Further reiterates its appreciation to the people and Government of Kenya for upholding its international obligations on refugees, hosting large number of refugees in the country, particularly at the Dadaab Refugee Camps, since its establishment in 1990, despite the attendant security, economic and environmental challenges; 5. Acknowledges the legitimate security concern of Kenya that the Dadaab Refugee Camps, in existence for more than 25 years, have been infiltrated and have become hideouts of Al Shabaab terrorist group, which exploits the camps to plan and carry out attacks against Kenyan institutions, installations and civilians. Council deplores that the Dadaab Refugee Camps have been deprived of their humanitarian character and function by the Al Shabaab terrorist group; 6. Agrees with the findings of the Comprehensive Technical Assessment Mission, which aligns with the conclusions reached by the Government of the Republic of Kenya, that the Dadaab Refugee Camps constitute a serious threat to the security of Kenya. Council reiterates that no refugee camp should assume a permanent existence. In this respect, Council urgently calls for practical measures to accelerate the voluntary repatriation of Somali refugees in safety and dignity, to the liberated areas and safe locations inside Somalia; 7. Underscores the seriousness of the terrorist threat in Kenya, the region and the continent as whole. Council reiterates its strong condemnation of all acts of terrorism committed on the continent by whomever, wherever and for whatever purposes. Council further reiterates the AU's determination to rid Africa of the scourge of terrorism and violent extremism, which cannot be justified under any circumstances, noting that terrorism cannot and should not be associated with any religion, nationality, civilization or group. Council expresses the AU's full solidarity with the affected countries and the victims of terrorism; 8. Notes with concern that the repatriation of the Somali refugees to their country, as provided for in the 2013 Tripartite Agreement between Kenya, Somalia and the UNHCR, has moved at a slow pace and has consequently not achieved the desired results since the signing of the Agreement on 10 November 2013. Council further notes that the Tripartite Agreement is a working and living mechanism aimed at facilitating voluntary repatriation of Somali refugees and can be enhanced to boost its effective implementation in order to meet with expectations of concerned parties, including those of the Government of Kenya; 9. Stresses that it is the responsibility of any government to take care of its citizens. Council appreciates the readiness of the Federal Government of Somalia to welcome back its citizens and provide for their needs. In this regard, Council stresses the need for a speedy reconstruction of Somalia, in order to capacitate it to take responsibilities over its citizens. Council, therefore, appeals to the entire international community, particularly the United Nations, to further enhance its support to the AU Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) and the Somali Security Forces in their efforts to stabilize Somalia, a condition which will encourage Somali refugees to voluntarily return to their country; 10. Reiterates its appeal to the international partners to extend the necessary financial, logistical and technical support to the Federal Government of Somalia, to further strengthen its security forces and facilitate the effective delivery of the required social services, so as to create the conducive conditions, including pull factors, for the voluntary and safe return of the Somali refugees; 11. Stresses that shouldering the burden of refugees is the responsibility of the international community as a whole and not individual countries alone. In this regard, Council strongly urges the international community to increase funding to Somalia, Kenya, UNHCR and other humanitarian agencies operating in Kenya and Somalia, in order to enhance and support voluntary repatriation of Somali refugees. Council calls on AU Member States and partner countries, which are in a position to do so, to volunteer to receive Somali refugees, particularly those that request and qualify for resettlement in a third country; 12. Calls on the international community, particularly those who made pledges at the October 2015 Brussels Pledging Conference on Somalia, to honour their commitments to facilitate the voluntary repatriation of Somali refugees in Kenya back to their country. Council regrets that, out of the US$ 500 million that was pledged at the Pledging Conference, only US$105 million has been redeemed. Council renews its call for donors to redeem the remaining gap of US $395 million; 13. Decides, in light of the foregoing, that: i) Kenya, Somalia and the UNHCR, being signatories to the Tripartite Agreement, should urgently take measures to accelerate the voluntary repatriation of Somali refugees in the Dadaab Refugee Camps in Kenya, back to Somalia. In this context, requests that the signatories re-negotiate the Agreement with a view to resolving the limitations in it, that have so far hindered the voluntary repatriation process; ii)Accelerated repatriation measures be put in place aiming to maximize the voluntary return of the Somali refugees, particularly those from the Dadaab Refugee Camps, during the period 2016-2017, on the basis of either a re-negotiated Tripartite Agreement or a new mechanism to be negotiated and agreed upon by Kenya, Somalia and the UNHCR; iii)In view of the recommendation by the Technical Assessment Mission to the Dadaab Refugee Camps that the imperative of closure of the camps is a reality that must be confronted immediately and with the urgence it deserves, Council requests the Commission to investigate and present, within 30 days, a report on a mutual way forward regarding the paradox between international legality and terrorism. 14. Requests the AU Commission to deploy the required efforts to provide support to Kenya, Somalia and the UNHCR in their efforts to achieve a balanced and realistic solution that fully takes into account the needs of the refugees and the Kenyan concern regarding the serious security threat arising from the exploitation and abuse of refugee camps in Kenya by the Al Shabaab terrorist group; 15. Further requests the AU Commission, through its relevant departments, in consultation with AMISOM, to embark on implementing programmes inside Somalia, particularly in the liberated areas, that will contribute to supporting the voluntary repatriation of the Somali refugees and also enhance the pull factors within Somalia, in order to promote the required momentum for voluntary repatriation; 16. Decides to remain actively seized of the matter. The members of the Troika (United States, United Kingdom, and Norway) are deeply disappointed by Riek Machar's continued failure to return to South Sudan's capital Juba to form the Transitional Government of National Unity. This represents a wilful decision by him not to abide by his commitments to implement the Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan. We congratulate the government for demonstrating maximum flexibility for the sake of peace by agreeing to the compromise proposal on the return of security forces proposed by regional and international partners and mediated by the Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission. It remains important that the government fully withdraws its troops from Juba as called for in the peace agreement. We also welcome the opposition's support for the compromise proposal and demand that Machar abide by this commitment and return to Juba by 23 April. Machar's failure to go to Juba, despite efforts from the international community to support his return, places the people of South Sudan at risk of further conflict and suffering and undermines the peace agreement's reform pillars - demilitarizing South Sudan, injecting transparency of public finances, and pursuing justice and reconciliation - that offer South Sudan a chance for renewal. We will pursue appropriate measures against anyone who further frustrates implementation of the peace agreement. Mass slaughter of hundreds of men, women and children by soldiers in Zaria and the attempted cover-up of this crime demonstrates an utter contempt for human life and accountability, said Amnesty International as it publishes evidence gathered on the ground revealing how the Nigerian military burned people alive, razed buildings and dumped victims bodies in mass graves. The report, Unearthing the truth: Unlawful killings and mass cover-up in Zaria, contains shocking eyewitness testimony of large-scale unlawful killings by the Nigerian military and exposes a crude attempt by the authorities to destroy and conceal evidence. The true horror of what happened over those two days in Zaria is only now coming to light. Bodies were left littered in the streets and piled outside the mortuary. Some of the injured were burned alive, said Netsanet Belay, Amnesty Internationals Research and Advocacy Director for Africa. Our research, based on witness testimonies and analysis of satellite images, has located one possible mass grave. It is time now for the military to come clean and admit where it secretly buried hundreds of bodies. More than 350 people are believed to have been unlawfully killed by the military between 12 and 14 December, following a confrontation between members of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN) and soldiers in Zaria, Kaduna state. IMN supporters - some armed with batons, knives, and machetes - had refused to clear the road near their headquarters, the Hussainiyya, for a military convoy to pass. The army has claimed that IMN supporters attacked the convoy in an attempt to assassinate the Chief of Army Staff. IMN members deny this. Following an initial confrontation the military surrounded other locations where IMN supporters had gathered, notably at the residential compound of IMN leader Ibrahim Al-Zakzaky. Some people were killed as a result of indiscriminate fire. Others appeared to have been deliberately targeted. All available information indicates that the deaths of protestors were the consequence of excessive, and arguably, unnecessary use of force. Children injured and killed Zainab, a 16-year-old schoolgirl, told Amnesty International: We were in our school uniforms. My friend Nusaiba Abdullahi was shot in her forehead. We took her to a house where they treated the injured but, before reaching the house, she already died. A 10-year-old boy who was shot in the leg told Amnesty International how his older brother was shot in the head as they tried to leave the compound. We went out to try to shelter in a nearby house but we got shot. Shot and burned alive On 13 December, two buildings within Ibrahim Al-Zakzakys compound, one of which was being used as a makeshift medical facility and mortuary, were attacked by soldiers. Alyyu, a 22-year-old student, told Amnesty International that he was shot in the chest outside the compound and was taken inside for treatment: There were lots of injured people in several rooms. There were dead bodies in a room and also in the courtyard. Around 12-1pm soldiers outside called on people to come out, but people were too scared to go out. We knew they would kill us. Soldiers threw grenades inside the compound. I saw one soldier on the wall of the courtyard shooting inside. One mother described a phone conversation with one of her 19-year-old sons before he was killed alongside his twin brother and their step brother and sister in the compound. They are shooting those injured one by one, he told her. As soldiers set fire to the makeshift medical facility in the compound that afternoon, Yusuf managed to escape despite serious gunshot wounds: Those who were badly injured and could not escape were burned alive, he told Amnesty International. I managed to get away from the fire by crawling on my knees until I reached a nearby house where I was able to hide until the following day. I dont know how many of the wounded were burned to death. Tens and tens of them. Footage believed to have been shot on mobile phone by IMN supporters after the incident shows bodies with gunshot wounds as well as charred bodies strewn around the compound. Cover-up After the incident the military sealed off the areas around al-Zakzakys compound, the Hussainiyya and other locations. Bodies were taken away, sites were razed to the ground, the rubble removed, bloodstains washed off, and bullets and spent cartridge removed from the streets. Witnesses saw piles of bodies outside the morgue of Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital in Zaria. A senior medical source told Amnesty International that the military sealed off the area around the morgue for two days. During that time he saw army vehicles coming and going. A witness described to Amnesty International what he saw outside the hospital mortuary on the evening of 14 December: It was dark and from far I could only see a big mound but when I got closer I saw it was a huge pile of corpses on top of each other. I have never seen so many dead bodies. I got very scared and run away. It was a terrible sight and I cant get it out of my mind. Another witness told the organisation how he had seen diggers excavating holes at the site of the suspected mass grave: There were five or six large trucks and several smaller military vehicles and they spent hours digging and unloading the trucks cargo into the hole they dug and then covered it again with the earth they had dug out. They were there from about 1 or 2 am until about 5 am. I dont know what they buried. It looked like bodies, but I could not get near. Amnesty International identified and visited the location of a possible mass grave near Mando. Satellite images of the site taken on 2 November and 24 December 2015 show disturbed earth spanning an area of approximately 1000 square metres. Satellite pictures also show the complete destruction of buildings and mosques. It is clear that the military not only used unlawful and excessive force against men, women and children, unlawfully killing hundreds, but then made considerable efforts to try to cover-up these crimes, saidNetsanet Belay. Four months after the massacre the families of the missing are still awaiting news of their loved ones. A full independent forensic investigation is long overdue. The bodies must be exhumed, the incident must be impartially and independently investigated and those responsible must be held to account. BACKGROUND On Monday 25 April, the military are expected to give evidence to the Judicial Commission of Inquiry established by the Kaduna State Government in January 2016. On 11 April, a Kaduna State government official told the Judicial Commission of Inquiry that the bodies of 347 members of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN) were collected from the hospital mortuary and an army depot in Zaria and buried secretly in a mass grave near Mando (outside the town of Kaduna) on the night of 14-15 December. The IMN claim a further 350 people who went missing during the incidents in Zaria remain unaccounted for. During field research carried out in Kaduna state and Federal Capital Territory (FCT) in February 2016, Amnesty International delegates interviewed 92 people, including victims and their relatives, eyewitnesses, lawyers and medical personnel. Attempts were made to interview members of the military. IMN leader Al-Zakzaky and his wife Zeinat Al-Zakzaky were arrested and held incommunicado. They were only allowed access to their lawyer for the first time on 1 April 2015, three and a half months after their arrest. Amnesty International has not had access to those who remain in detention but has received information from medical sources that some of the detainees were not allowed access to necessary medical care for several weeks after their arrest. Amnesty International is calling for those IMN supporters charged in connection with this incident to be tried promptly and fairly and for those still held in detention without charge to be either immediately charged or released. 23.04.2016 LISTEN The very caption of this article is oxymoronic, because the very existence of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) violates the very salient tenets of Ghanas 1992 Republican Constitution. And so to attempt to fault Nana Osei-Wusu for accepting President Mahamas appointment to serve as a member of the Atebubu-Amantin District Assembly would simply be grossly tantamount to an abject non-issue (See I am a Member of the NDC Atebubu Chief Classfmonline.com / Ghanaweb.com 3/31/16). Nana Osei-Wusu, to begin with, is not the substantive Chief of Atebubu, as the caption of the article reporting the violent factional clashes between some two NDC youth groups erroneously sough to suggest. He is the Sanaahene (or Treasury Director) to the Chief of Atebubu. In other words, Nana Osei-Wusu is a royal cabinet appointee to the Chief of Atebubu. As of this writing, I had yet to check and find out whether the Chief of Atebubu was a paramount chief or not, primarily because the angle of the story that I was more interested in highlighting regarded how the factional battles between the two Atebubu NDC youth groups strikingly reflected what a paid NDC-agitprop commentator recently described as the patapaa spirit of many a key main opposition New Patriotic Party operative. Actually, it is the key operatives and, to be certain, the entire constabulary of the National Democratic Congress that have been breastfed with and weaned on the schoolyard-bully spirit of Patapaa. I am also not the least bit flabbergasted that Nana Osei-Wusu would come public to boldly assert his card-carrying membership of the NDC. This ought to have been known to even the most retarded Atebubu NDC operative, the moment the Sanaahene decided to unconstitutionally accept his District Assembly membership payola from President John Dramani Mahama. As the Chief of the Atebubu Royal Treasury, Nana Osei-Wusu was an obvious choice and the most logical conduit for the Flagstaff House to courting the support of the substantive Atebubuhene. Nevertheless, Nana Osei-Wusu had a few meaningful words to say in connection with the violent clashes between the two NDC youth groups of Atebubu township. The clashes, we are told, were provoked by rumor claiming that President Mahama had fired Mr. Sampson Oti-Boateng, the Atebubu District Chief Executive (DCE). This, once again, brings into sharp relief the imperative need for all District Chief Executives in the country to be directly selected by the people in the polling booth. Well, in the era of the Internet, you would have thought that President Mahama would have dispatched a bulk-email message to all the relevant political actors of Atebubu to that effect. Predictably, nothing of the sort appears to have been done by the Chief Resident of the Flagstaff House or any of his legion assigns. Instead, we had the supporters of Mr. Oti-Boateng, the widely rumored to have been fired NDC-DCE, on the one hand, and the supporters of another NDC parliamentarian by the quite voguish and poetic name of Mr. Sanja-Nanja, whose factional supporters are alleged to have attempted to seize Mr. Oti-Boatengs Flagstaff House-issued vehicle from him. It goes without saying that the NDC operatives have a soft spot for taxpayer-underwritten vehicles which dangerously verges on the pathologically scandalous. And believe it or not, dear reader, this is a quite refreshing change; for it used to be that the NDC toy of choice was the AK-47 semiautomatic rifle, an assault weapon that was popularized by the Rawlings-led juntas of the erstwhile Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC) and the so-called Provisional National Defense Council (PNDC). Not very long ago, for instance, the NDC District Chairman of Mim, also in Mr. Johnson Asiedu-Nketias Brong-Ahafo part of the country, was nearly hacked to death over the use of an official vehicle. The NDC leaders are often quick to point to incidents of factional violence among the members of the main opposition New Patriotic Party, as a telling indication that the NPP operatives are not prepared to assume the august reins of governance come January 2017. The fact of the matter, however, is that the NDC operatives are in such a scandalous disarray that Ghanaian democracy and the economy are almost certain to irreparably collapse, should the Mahama Posse be returned to power. *Visit my blog at: kwameokoampaahoofe.wordpress.com Ghanaffairs 23.04.2016 LISTEN "...In another transaction identified by ActionAid as a tax dodge, Accra Brewery borrowed 8.5m...in 2009-10. The loan was more than seven times Accra Brewery's total capitalisation...(The)..interest costs on this loan charged to Ghana will wipe out 76,000 of Accra Brewery's tax liability each year.... SABMiller has numerous subsidiaries offshore, including 11 in Mauritius, eight in the British Virgin Islands, six in Switzerland...six in British crown dependencies..." (The Guardian) . It is a mighty long way from Panama, Central America, to Accra, Ghana! In fact, according to our ace internet-information robot, Panama, where the HQ of the Mossack Fonseca law firm sits, is precisely 8,725 miles from Accra, as the crow flies. As such, from Accra, we'd have hoped that our Mr. Ace Ankomah would not have trivialized, in a rather petty fashion, the "Panama Papers" Tax Haven, cum money-laundering, cum tax-evasion, scandal. In fact, it is painfully apparent to us that our Mr. Ace Ankomah is "merely" looking at the Mossack Fonseca Tax-Dodge facility for rich and powerful politicians from Africa (and Ghana where it truly matters to us), from the perspective of a solitary but pompous individual with too much into theory. That is the world of the private company desiring to preserve, and add to their "shares", resources that actually did not belong to them in the first place. Ace Ankomah totally neglects the important detail in the record that shows Mr. Kuffour and his family did not have that account until he became the President of Ghana, that, staffers in an office of Mossack Fonseca warned supervisors about multiple instances of corruption related to the Kuffours and their accounts. In fact, of the records thus far published, none is so disgracefully read. Significantly, our pompous Ace Ankomah totally neglects aspects of public policy that are inter-twined, that ought to be of concern to taxpayers, as citizens, including those who happen to be lawyers, accountants, politicians, and prosecutors. And so, we will admit that from our lowly vantage position, unlike Ace Ankomah, we've not seen citizens anywhere: "...the whole world...jumping up and down like... (they)... have ants in...(their)...pants because some people choose to keep monies and incorporate companies in tax havens...". Maybe Mr. Ankomah is too mired in his old "grad school" days when he found the "sexy" in "Tax law", notwithstanding the counsel he received from professors practicing with century old textbooks that Tax Law in college was actually "supposed to be boring". So, maybe, just maybe, Mr. Ankomah has been counting too many "beans" that are not his. Or, they may be beans not earned the old-fashioned way, as in, "legally" and totally free of "Dodgy-Dave International Crow-Flying Business Acrobatics", (ICFBA). Fact is, today, we all live in a global, inter-dependent, information age. Today, business is still king and agile, multi-billion dollar companies are controlling titans. Most of the titans seek the cheapest rents so they can pay the lowest. That affords them the ability to award themselves and their corporate chief executives and financial officers multi-million dollar annual incomes and golden parachutes. Increasingly, with sophisticated marketing strategies and public relations budgets and annual sales several orders bigger than the annual incomes of many African countries combined, the "Panama Papers" and the tax havens they speak of constitute another cruel grievous betrayal of Africans by their politicians, after colonialism and neo-colonialism. There is a lot more to any value than "merely" the "legal", Mr. Ace Ankomah! Today, there are at least seven (7) things we knew before, and know even now, that must have escaped Ace Ankomah since the leak of the Panama Papers. Today, we know that: 1. The Guardian, (2010) reported back in 2010 that ActionAid identified SABMiller, owner of Accra Brewery, as a tax dodger that uses the business strategy called "thin capitalization: "...In another transaction identified by ActionAid as a tax dodge, Accra Brewery borrowed 8.5m from the same Mauritius company in 2009-10. The loan was more than seven times Accra Brewery's total capitalisation. ActionAid's tax expert estimates that the interest costs on this loan charged to Ghana will wipe out 76,000 of Accra Brewery's tax liability each year.... SABMiller has numerous subsidiaries offshore, including 11 in Mauritius, eight in the British Virgin Islands, six in Switzerland and six in British crown dependencies..." (Felicity Lawrence, The Guardian) . 2. It is politicians such as Mr. Agyekum Kuffour who make laws. It is they who create tax loop-holes that allow people like Mr. Ankomah to simply grab using self-serving Dodgy-Dave ICFBAs. 3. We know now that at least in the case of Ghana, former president Mr. Kuffour his son (also an accountant), and his wife, have all been implicated in the "Panama Tax Haven" expose 4. We know that the Prime Minister of Iceland, Mr. Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson, before charges have even been filed, has resigned amid the controversy over his offshore tax haven holdings 5. We know that "....Officials in France, Germany, Austria and South Korea....were beginning investigations into possible malfeasance, from money laundering to tax evasion. Frances finance minister, Michel Sapin, told Parliament the government was putting Panama back on a blacklist of havens for tax evaders..." . (As we are writing this article the offices of Mossack Fonseca is being raided by Panamanian officials, 6. We know that based in part on the disclosure of the Panama Papers, the United States treasury has now tightened the approval limits for inversions. "Inversion" is the practice whereby American companies acquire companies from other countries where taxes are lower, "merely" to relocate their Headquarters to those countries on paper. This, just so they can pay a lot less taxes, or nil, even as those companies profit from the infrastructure and protections afforded by the Government and People of the United States - to those same companies, their employees, their families, and the communities in which they live. As a result, US drugmaker Pfizer just walked away from its $160 billion merger the petit Ireland-based Allergan Plc. But for the change in the law, the US would have lost an estimated $1 billion annually from taxes not collected from a company still essentially an American company. 7. We know that in Britain as well, Prime Minister David "Dodgy" Cameron is facing strident calls his resignation and a government inquiry into the matter. Dodgy Dave is being accused of bald-faced hypocrisy by championing financial transparency while benefiting from his family offshore tax haven accounts at the same time. (Our prediction is this: In a more literate and serious county like the UK, Mr. Cameron would be a wounded PM who, like Mr. Gunnlaugsson of Iceland, would also resign before we can all learn to wail: Dodgy Dave is losing the battle over Panama, Mr, Ace Ankomah! Dodgy Dave is losing the battle over Panama, Mr, Ace Ankomah! So, the way we see it, what Mr. Ankomah wrote is "merely" a theoretical exercise. Ankomah talked a lot about the many courses in tax law he took, many years ago. Unfortunately, he does not seem to recognize, directly or indirectly, that tax laws do not come from "Haven". Rather, they are in reality written and enacted by politicians like Mr. Kuffour. As a result, there is actually nothing serious or "applied", in the critical sense, looking at Mr. Ankomah's boastful homage to tax havens. In fact, if Mr. Ankomah, the African, was a tad serious, rather than "jump like ants were in his pants" when he read about Mossack Fonseca, he would have instead hollered to the open African skies: 1. Oh gosh, Mossack Fonseca customers from Africa have already paid taxes on the money they've sent to the tax havens 2. Oh gosh, Mossack Fonseca customers from Africa are merely shifting their tax obligations to a lower tax administration area within the same political boundary, within the same country 3. Oh gosh, the Mossack Fonseca tax havens pay higher interest than they can get in their own countries! 4. Oh gosh, there are absolutely no ethical boundaries that when crossed, permit a sacking of politicians involved with a Mossack Fonseca tax haven by citizens who pay the salaries of politicians by the "mere", simple, act of that ownership. But Mr. Ace Ankomah makes none of these claims. Instead, Ankomah merely reminisces about 25-year old lectures that were in reality probably more than half-century old at the time he heard them because the people who originally wrote those papers had been mostly dead the previous half-century, and counting. Talking about confused minds! But, this is still the global, information, inter-connected, business age! It is politicians who still decide what tax laws they will write and enact! It is top-echelon state tax law administrators who still decide what tax cheats they will go after! And, there are numerous cases where politicians have not changed or passed laws because the status quo benefits them, and their fat pockets. So yes, Ace Ankomah, even if we were to throw away all unethical prohibitions that cry "sacking" and "resignation" of public officials and bureaucrats for engaging in Dodgy-Dave ICFBAs: "...the mere use of tax havens (CAN) be a crime or evidence of corruption...". In fact, in addition, those same factors could then be evidence of civil offenses where, for example, the "managers" come way ahead with billions of dollars in their pockets, while shareholders are left holding empty bags. So tell us now, Mr. Ace Ankomah! Shouldn't we be a lot more critical and reflective? Can't we try to be more balanced in our reflections, "grad" school graduate, or not? Can't we try to discern the larger public policy implications for the things we see, say, hear, and do? Is it not those things that also ought to matter more to Africans and the hyper-poor communities in this age, inside and outside Accra? In closing, we will urge our Mr. Ace Ankomah, the Philip Baidoos, and others of similar mind, to take a minute to watch that 30-second video2 about that 10-year old American lad talking about the law, lawyers, taxes, and yes, prisons! Get the dockets and the readings glasses with all those imported gold rims, partners! So it goes Ghana! NOTES & SOURCES: 1. Dodgy-Dave International Crow-Flying Business Acrobatics (ICFBA, pronounced, 'Ikf-ba', Prof Lungu(2016). 2. Ace Ankomah. Merely using a tax haven isn't a crime- Ace Ankomah, ( http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/features/Merely-using-a-tax-haven-isn-t-a-crime-Ace-Ankomah-429481 /). 3. Caroline Humer and Ankur Banerjee. Pfizer, Allergan Scrap $160 Billion Deal After U.S. Tax Rule Change, ( http://www.reuters.com/article/us-allergan-m-a-pfizer-idUSKCN0X3188/ ). 4. Felicity Lawrence. 2010. Brewer accused of depriving poor countries of millions in revenue. The Guardian, ( http://www.theguardian.com/business/2010/nov/29/sabmiller-india-africa-actionaid-report/ ) 5. Philip Lewis (Mic). 10-Year-Old Explains Wealth Inequality in the Justice System Better Than You Ever Could, ( https://www.yahoo.com/news/10-old-explains-wealth-inequality-190400061.html /). www.GhanaHero.com . Visit for more information. (Read Mo'! Listen Mo'! See Mo'! Reflect Mo'!). Subj: RE: Merely Using a Tax Haven Isn't a Crime-Ace Ankomah Twitter: https://twitter.com/professorlungu Brought to you courtesy of www.GhanaHero.com16 Apr 16. Land degradation is an increasing issue globally, exacerbated by climate change and affecting food security, threatening water resources and ultimately acting as a driver to migration. All human life ultimately depends on land including the soil and water. From land, food is grown, on it protective shelters are raised, and through and across it, the fresh water we drink is purified and delivered. Land provides humans with the means to live and has been a provider of vital resources. But at the start of the 21st century, our lands are no longer able to keep up with the pressures placed on its limited resources, increasing misuse and demands for it resulting in rapidly intensifying desertification and land degradation globally Scientific research has proven that carbon emissions from the earth into the atmosphere does not only cause climate change globally , but also contributes significantly to land and environmental degradation and poor soil fertility which in turn leads to low agriculture productivity and household food insecurity. Research has also shown that agriculture and land degradation are responsible for about 25 percent of carbon emissions globally. However, the irony is that it has been scientifically proven that healthy soils can store large amount of carbon instead of allowing it into the atmosphere to affect the climate. In fact scientific research has shown that land is the largest carbon store on earth, after the oceans. Soils could take up much more carbon if managed sustainably. Speaking to the Upper East Regional Director of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) , Mr Asher Nkegbe, who is also the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification ( UNCCD) National Focal Point for Ghana, he stated that the sheer extent of dry lands in the country offers scale opportunities for carbon storage and improved adaptation for poor rural communities if prudently managed. Scientifically it is also proven that carbon storage in the soil could contribute to soil fertility thereby increasing food security. Experience shows that sustainably managing the land and rehabilitating it, where it has been degraded, provides valuable co-benefits in terms of food security and preserving biodiversity. Mr. Nkegbe emphasized. There is no doubt that, the poorest people with the fewest options are the hardest hit by the impact of climate change. Thus nearly eighty per cent of the poorest people in Ghana predominantly live on the land in rural areas. Their livelihoods mostly depend on small-scale rain-fed agriculture. Climate Change has led to less rainfall and more land degradation making the situation more terrifying. Worldwide, in every year, up to twelve million hectares of productive land are lost globally due to land degradation and climate change. Gripped with this fear, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is warning us to expect a two percent drop in agriculture output per decade, as a result of climate change. The Intergovernmental panel on Climate Change also observed that if the current unsustainable farming practices continue, globally we would need an additional 4-6 million hectares a year for increased food production annually. Climate Change and Food Security Context in Ghana The Northern Ecological Zones of Ghana being the Northern, Upper East , Upper West Regions are the most affected when it comes to Climate Change and Food Security. The reason is simple. Induced human activities such as the continuous bush burning, unsustainable farming practices, indiscriminate felling of trees for charcoal production, farming close to river bodies, sand winning among others have led to land and environmental degradation. This does not only lead to climate change, but also renders most of the soils degraded hence leading to low agriculture productivity and household food insecurity. The experience of hunger among most of the people particularly the vulnerable are attributed to climate change. If we degrade the land, it leads to climate change because a degraded piece of land is unable to store carbon. It is a fact that human induced activities such as continuous bush burning, unsustainable farming practices, indiscriminate felling of trees for charcoal production, farming along river bodies and sand winning among others contribute to land degradation and climate change particularly in the Northern parts of Ghana, Mr Nkegbe told the Ghana News Agency. Proposing the way forward to tackle Climate Change and Food Security in Ghana, the UNCCD National Focal Person stressed that healthy soil is the basic requirement for populations to cope with climatic irregularities and shocks. He indicated that sustainably managing the land and rehabilitating it, where it has been degraded, provides valuable co-benefits in terms of food security and preserving biodiversity. Under the Sustainable Land and Water Management ( SLWM) practices, he mentioned the creation of Buffer Zones along various rivers, forestation, composting, minimum tillage, stone bonding, half moon, the Zai concept and creation of community reserves among others are highly recommended for adoption. In conclusion it is quite clear from the above that land restoration and rehabilitation through SLWM practices is key to addressing the challenges of Climate Change and Food Security. During the launching of the Sustainable Development Goal (SDGs) in 2015, President John Dramani advocated strongly of Ghanas position in promoting Agriculture which falls under the SDGs. Agriculture production could be improved through SLWM interventions. As suggested by the UNCCD National Focal Point for Ghana, the sheer extent of dry lands in the country especially the three Northern Regions offers opportunities for carbon storage and improved adaptation for poor rural communities if prudently managed. There is the need therefore for the Government of Ghana to focus more on the adoption of SLWM concept by encouraging and supporting more farmers to adopt the concept. Government led agencies such as the Ministry of Food and Agriculture and NGOs in the agriculture sector must champion the SLWM intervention to contribute to the reduction of climate change and food security. Already the EPA in collaboration with relevant state institutions with the sponsorship package from the Canadian Government just ended implementing similar intervention in the three Northern Regions under GEMP which has made considerable impact. There is the need to scale up the project. [email protected] Kampala (AFP) - Landlocked Uganda on Saturday announced plans to export its future crude oil production via a new pipeline to be built through Tanzania rather than Kenya. "We have agreed that the oil pipeline route be developed from Uganda in Hoima to the Tanzanian port of Tanga," Uganda foreign affairs minister Sam Kutesa told AFP. "We considered Tanga oil pipeline route based on a number of aspects -- among them it is the least cost," the Ugandan minister said as Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, Kenyan counterpart Uhuru Kenyatta and Rwanda's Paul Kagame held a regional mini-summit outside Kampala. The first large discoveries of oil in Uganda date back to 2006 on the shores of Lake Albert. Reserves in the area are conservatively estimated at some 1.7 billion barrels. But informed sources say production will not come on stream before 2025. Three oil companies -- Total of France, Chinese giant CNOOC and Anglo-Irish firm Tullow -- each won a one-third rights share in 2009, but the issue immediately arose of how to export the crude from a country with no coastline. After years of talks discussing the relative merits of different routes out to the Indian Ocean, Uganda has chosen to run a 1,400 kilometre (800 mile) pipeline through Tanzania through to the port of Tanga near the Kenyan border. According to a Ugandan experts' report dated April 11 and obtained by AFP, the Tanzanian project won the argument because the "Tanga port in Tanzania is fully operational while Lamu port in Kenya is still to be built". Kenya had proposed a pipeline from Uganda through impoverished northern Kenya to Lamu as part of an ambitious national development programme dubbed Vision 2030. But the oil companies involved in Uganda preferred an alternative southern route through Kenya terminating at the existing major port of Mombasa. Although cheaper, Nairobi was concerned it would not deliver regional development in the neglected north. There were also concerns for Uganda that parts of the Kenyan northern route would run near areas close to Somalia that might expose the pipeline to attacks by Al Qaeda-aligned Shabaab militants. By George-Ramsey Benamba, GNA Accra, April 22, GNA - Government would support cashew farmers to achieve their production levels to ensure the availability of the crop for both domestic industries and for export, President John Dramani has said. He said plans were also underway to rope in the Ghana Export and Import (EXIM) Bank which would be established within the year to assist the farmers to harness their potentials in the commodity. President Mahama announced this when a delegation of cashew farmers from the Brong Ahafo Region called on him at the Flagstaff House, Kanda. The farmers, from seven districts of the region and led by Mr Eric Opoku, Brong Ahafo Regional Minister, were at the Presidency to appeal to President Mahama to set up a board for cashew farmers and withdraw the suspended policy that was to ban the export of cashew from Ghana. President Mahama said in line with his government's commitment to diversify the traditional cash crops and export commodities, alternatives such as coffee and cashew would be supported to supplement the performance of cocoa and gold. He said the Ministry of Trade and Industry would soon engage the cashew farmers and processors to find lasting solutions to their challenges in the cashew industry. Odeneho Dr Afram Brempong III, Paramount chief of the Suma Traditional area, who spoke on behalf of the farmers appealed to President Mahama to establish a scholarship scheme for children of cashew farmers. He said the scheme should be focused on only children of cashew farmers, unlike the unfortunate misdirection of cocoa scholarships to 'aliens' in the cocoa industry. The paramount chief said apart from being drought resistant, cashew could thrive very well in places that cocoa and other cash crops were not growing well. He said the climate change was having a heavy toll on the production of cocoa and called for timely interventions that would catapult the cashew industry to achieve greater heights. Odeneho Brempong III also appealed to President Mahama to restore the prices of cashew nuts to GH4.50 per ton. GNA Tema, April 22, GNA - Restore Africa Health and Sanitation, a Texas based Non-Profit Organization, has donated 500 boxes of medical accessories worth $200,000 to the Tema General Hospital. Accessories amongst others include Catheters, Stretchers, ET Tubes, Pedi Nasal Cannulas, Adult Nasal Cannulas, Suction Catheters and scrubs. Presenting the donation, Mr Reginald Mensah, the CEO of the Restore Africa Health and Sanitation, said his NGO solicits vital equipment, accessories and drugs from the United States to augment the needs of health facilities in the country. Mr Mensah said this donation will not be the last and urged the head of the institution to submit a list of for consideration. He said the donation was made possible through the assistance provided by the following donors from the United States; Mission Regan McKinney, Texas, Buckner Children & Family Services from Mesquite, Texas, and Results Staffing & Final Clean from Mockingbird Dallas all in the United States of America. Receiving the items, Dr Kwabena Opoku-Adusei, the Medical Director of the Tema General Hospital, expressed his gratitude saying the donation would greatly enhance their work at the hospital. In an interview with Ghana News Agency (GNA), Dr Opoku-Adusei said the Tema General Hospital was constructed in 1954 as a clinic to treat injured workers who were assisting in the construction of various communities in Tema. He said in 1962 it was made a hospital adding that currently the facility needs a lot of refurbishment to cope with the growing number of patients that visit the facility. Dr Opoku-Adusei said the Tema General Hospital has a bed capacity of 394 with 34 doctors and 394 nurses. Dr Lawrence Ofori-Boadu, the Emergency Physician Specialist, said about 1,000 emergencies are recorded in a year at the Tema General Hospital and 7,000 deliveries are recorded annually. Present at the ceremony included Madam Janet Afua Antwi, Deputy Director of Nursing; Dr Atta Agyepong, Pharmacist; and Mr Rudolf Francis Hans-Jorie, the President of C2YA International NGO based in Tema. GNA The Chattanooga Chamber and Tennessee Career Center - American Job Center - Southeast Tennessee Development District will host two free How To Get A Job 101 learning sessions on Thursday, April 28. Human resources directors from local businesses will present information on topics ranging from resume writing and online applications to interviewing and appropriate follow-up. We are offering these sessions at the request of local employers who have participated in our previous job fairs, said David Steele, Chamber Vice President of Policy and Education. Through efforts like this, the Chamber supports local workforce development, benefiting both job seekers and employers. Session 1 will be held from 8:30-11:30 a.m., with Session 2 from 1:30-4:30 p.m. at Brainerd Crossroads (BX) located at 4011 Austin Street. Participants receive a name badge to present at the May 5 Spring Job Fair, also at the at Brainerd Crossroads (BX), indicating session completion to more than 80 potential employers. Tripoli (AFP) - An Islamic State group attack on a checkpoint near an oil plant in eastern Libya on Saturday killed a guard and wounded seven others, a military source said. "A major force 60-vehicles strong" mounted the attack south of Brega, 700 kilometres (435 miles) east of Tripoli, the LANA news agency said. "Saturday's IS assault killed one guard and wounded seven, including the official responsible for guarding oil installations," it added. Since January 4, the jihadist group has staged several attacks on ports and oil terminals, notably Ras Lanuf and Al-Sidra, from its coastal base in Sirte, hometown of slain dictator Moamer Kadhafi. Libya has been in chaos since the 2011 uprising that ousted and killed Kadhafi, with IS taking advantage of the turmoil to gain ground in the oil-rich country. It has the largest oil reserves in Africa, estimated at 48 billion barrels. Its pre-uprising output of 1.6 million barrels per day has since shrunk by a third. By D.I. Laary in Accra Accra, April 23, GNA - Policy think tanks from African centres for democratic development have met to look at alternative ways of improving democratic tools to stimulate rapid economic growth in the region, fight poverty and joblessness. The deliberations come on the back of the tank's observation that there are myriad of challenges in the region that undermines speedy social and economic transformation to boost the living conditions of the people. Professor E. Gyimah-Boadi, the Executive Director of Afro -Barometer said, 'We, therefore, we found it necessary to come together and discuss such issues and how impactful we can be in tackling these problems.' 'The meeting is to discuss a common agenda to make an impact on the development of Africa by helping to minimise the hindrances that affect democracy and development across the continent.' A delegation from the US, led by Assistant Secretary of State for Africa Affairs, Mrs Linda Thomas Greenfield, took part in the discussions directed at removing impediments to African democratic growth. Mrs Greenfield said the US Government backed the Centre for Democratic Development's (CDD) struggles to encourage democratic practice in Africa because they believed think tanks had the capacity to examine important matters that policymakers might not have time to consider. She said transparency in governance, creation of jobs, insecurity and promotion of education were some of the pressing issues that called for swift attention. Mrs Idayat Hassan, the Director of the CDD - Abuja, noted that democratic practice has become a norm in Africa as most countries undergo free, fair and peaceful elections. However, she said, corruption, inequality, and violent extremism still challenged the continent and called for planned action to tame the tide and make democracy more meaningful. Citizens' role in making democracy work ought to be expanded and they had to be educated to take full responsibility of their actions, she added. Mr Peter Aling'o, the Head of the Institute for Security Studies, Nairobi Office, hailed democracy on the continent, saying in East African countries, election had now become a common activity. However, he said the issues against quality in elections were key threats. He expressed worry the region was plagued with violent conflicts, largely driven by ethnicity and manipulations of state institutions and the change of constitutions in a bid hook on to power. GNA 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 business M&A in steel sector likely to be limited in India: Credit Suisse There is lot of stigma about selling assets in India, so it is going to be a lot trickier in here than it will be abroad, feels Neelkanth Mishra, India Equity Strategist at Credit Suisse. Here is the latest jail booking report from Hamilton County: ALLEN, TREVOR ANTHONY 340 CELESTIAL LANE HIXSON, 37343 Age at Arrest: 19 years old Arresting Agency: Hamilton County FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY FAILURE TO APPEAR SEAT BELT LAW VIOLATION --- ANGLE, STEVEN HERSHEL 2304 NIMITZ STREET CHATTANOOGA, 37406 Age at Arrest: 44 years old Arresting Agency: Chattanooga DOMESTIC ASSAULT --- BLACKMON, SYDNEY CHEYENNE 2033 CENTURY AVENUE CLEVELAND, 37311 Age at Arrest: 20 years old Arresting Agency: Hamilton County Booked for Previous Charges or Other Reason(s) --- BRAMLETT, DAVID ALEXANDER 6220 SHALLOWFORD ROAD APT310 CHATTANOOGA, 37421 Age at Arrest: 26 years old Arresting Agency: Chattanooga DUI - 2ND OFFENSE TRAFFIC CONTROL SIGNALS VIOLATION LIGHT LAW VIOLATION ADDRESS CHANGE REQUIRED - 10 DAYS --- BROWN, KIELA LOUISE 5105 N MOORE LANE APT A CHATTANOOGA, 37411 Age at Arrest: 34 years old Arresting Agency: Hamilton County DRIVING ON REVOKED, SUSPENDED OR CANCELLED LICENSE --- BYNUM, KATIE 3402 REDDING RD CHATANOOGA, 37415 Age at Arrest: 20 years old Arresting Agency: Red Bank DOMESTIC ASSAULT --- CANNON, JOHNNY LEE 1910 CAMDEN AVE CHATTANOOGA, 37406 Age at Arrest: 60 years old Arresting Agency: Chattanooga DOMESTIC ASSAULT --- DAVIS, DESMOND EUGENE 3041 DEE DRIVE CHATTANOOGA, 37406 Age at Arrest: 26 years old Arresting Agency: Chattanooga EVADING ARREST IMPROPER PASSING IMPROPER TURN (MOTOR VEHICLE) SPEEDING RECKLESS DRIVING RESISTING ARREST OR OBSTRUCTION OF LEGAL PROCESS DRUGS GENERAL CATEGORY FOR RESALE FAILURE TO SIGNAL TURN RECKLESS ENDANGERMENT POSSESSION OF DRUG PARAPHERNALIA --- DAVIS, RASHAD CANTREL 4816 SWAN ROAD CHATTANOOGA, 37416 Age at Arrest: 19 years old Arresting Agency: Chattanooga ATTEMPTED FIRST DEGREE MURDER AGGRAVATED ASSAULT POSS.A FIREARM DURING COMMISSIION OR ATTEMPT TO CO RECKLESS ENDANGERMENT --- DIXIE, DAMARCUS JARON 4307 10TH AVE CHATTANOOGA, 37407 Age at Arrest: 26 years old Arresting Agency: Hamilton County VIOLATION OF PROBATION (DISORDERLY CONDUCT) --- DOUGLAS, JASON SCOTT 10165 SCENIC HWY LOOKOUT MTN, 30750 Age at Arrest: 35 years old Arresting Agency: Hamilton County FUGITIVE (DADE COUNTY, GEORGIA) CONTEMPT OF COURT --- EAGLEBERGER, CHARLES ARLEY 1509 APT. Here are the mug shots: ANGLE, STEVEN HERSHEL Age at Arrest: 44 Date of Birth: 07/09/1971 Arresting Agency: Chattanooga Last Date of Arrest: 04/22/2016 Charge(s): DOMESTIC ASSAULT BLACKMON, SYDNEY CHEYENNE Age at Arrest: 20 Date of Birth: 06/06/1995 Arresting Agency: Hamilton County Last Date of Arrest: 04/22/2016 Booked for Previous Charges or Other Reason(s) BRAMLETT, DAVID ALEXANDER Age at Arrest: 26 Date of Birth: 02/20/1990 Arresting Agency: Chattanooga Last Date of Arrest: 04/22/2016 Charge(s): DUI - 2ND OFFENSE TRAFFIC CONTROL SIGNALS VIOLATION LIGHT LAW VIOLATION ADDRESS CHANGE REQUIRED - 10 DAYS BROWN, KIELA LOUISE Age at Arrest: 34 Date of Birth: 07/20/1981 Arresting Agency: Hamilton County Last Date of Arrest: 04/22/2016 Charge(s): DRIVING ON REVOKED, SUSPENDED OR CANCELLED LICENSE BYNUM, KATIE Age at Arrest: 20 Date of Birth: 11/02/1995 Arresting Agency: Red Bank Last Date of Arrest: 04/22/2016 Charge(s): DOMESTIC ASSAULT CANNON, JOHNNY LEE Age at Arrest: 60 Date of Birth: 05/25/1955 Arresting Agency: Chattanooga Last Date of Arrest: 04/22/2016 Charge(s): DOMESTIC ASSAULT DIXIE, DAMARCUS JARON Age at Arrest: 26 Date of Birth: 12/03/1989 Arresting Agency: Hamilton County Last Date of Arrest: 04/22/2016 Charge(s): VIOLATION OF PROBATION (DISORDERLY CONDUCT) EAGLEBERGER, CHARLES ARLEY Age at Arrest: 28 Date of Birth: 12/09/1987 Arresting Agency: East Ridge Last Date of Arrest: 04/22/2016 Charge(s): AGGRAVATED ASSAULT (DOMESTIC) FITCH, JACOBIA D Age at Arrest: 23 Date of Birth: 08/12/1992 Arresting Agency: Chattanooga Last Date of Arrest: 04/22/2016 Charge(s): DOMESTIC ASSAULT RESISTING ARREST OR OBSTRUCTION OF LEGAL PROCESS FORD, JOSEPH K Age at Arrest: 46 Date of Birth: 07/14/1969 Arresting Agency: Chattanooga Last Date of Arrest: 04/22/2016 Charge(s): DUI - 1ST OFFENSE DRIVING WRONG DIRECTION ON "ONE-WAY" ROAD (ACCIDE GAINES, LARRY J Age at Arrest: 30 Date of Birth: 12/06/1985 Arresting Agency: Chattanooga Last Date of Arrest: 04/22/2016 Charge(s): THEFT OF PROPERTY THEFT OF SERVICES FAILURE TO MAINTAIN LANE DRIVING WITHOUT DRIVERS LICENSE / EXPIRED LICENSE DRIVING ON REVOKED, SUSPENDED OR CANCELLED LICENSE GENTRY, JOHN D Age at Arrest: 35 Date of Birth: 05/13/1980 Arresting Agency: Hamilton County Last Date of Arrest: 04/22/2016 Charge(s): VIOLATION OF PROBATION (ASSAULT) GRIER, CHRISTOPHER LEE Age at Arrest: 48 Date of Birth: 07/04/1967 Arresting Agency: Hamilton County Last Date of Arrest: 04/22/2016 Charge(s): CONTEMPT OF COURT (NON SUPPORT) HADDOX, VONTEL DEON Age at Arrest: 18 Date of Birth: 11/04/1997 Arresting Agency: Chattanooga Last Date of Arrest: 04/22/2016 Charge(s): CRIMINAL TRESPASSING SIMPLE POSSESSION VIOLATION OF PROBATION HARRIS, JOSHUA V Age at Arrest: 27 Date of Birth: 01/12/1989 Arresting Agency: Hamilton County Last Date of Arrest: 04/22/2016 Charge(s): VIOLATION OF PROBATION (POSSESSION OF CONTROLLED S HICKS, JANICE KAY Age at Arrest: 45 Date of Birth: 10/22/1970 Arresting Agency: Chattanooga Last Date of Arrest: 04/22/2016 Charge(s): THEFT OF PROPERTY (UNDER $500) HUTTENHOFF, ELIZABETH ROSE Age at Arrest: 29 Date of Birth: 02/16/1987 Arresting Agency: Hamilton County Last Date of Arrest: 04/22/2016 Booked for Previous Charges or Other Reason(s) JOHNSON, GEORGE EDWARD Age at Arrest: 45 Date of Birth: 11/15/1970 Arresting Agency: Red Bank Last Date of Arrest: 04/22/2016 Charge(s): FAILURE TO APPEAR JONES, ALICIA RENE Age at Arrest: 25 Date of Birth: 03/30/1991 Arresting Agency: Hamilton County Last Date of Arrest: 04/22/2016 Charge(s): AGGRAVATED ASSAULT JONES, MICHAEL CARNELL Age at Arrest: 54 Date of Birth: 01/18/1962 Arresting Agency: Hamilton County Last Date of Arrest: 04/22/2016 Charge(s): VIOLATION OF SEX OFFENDER REGISTRATION MALVEAUX, ALBERT VINCENT Age at Arrest: 41 Date of Birth: 08/19/1974 Arresting Agency: Chattanooga Last Date of Arrest: 04/22/2016 Charge(s): POSSESSION OF DRUG PARAPHERNALIA MAYFIELD, TONY ANTHONY Age at Arrest: 59 Date of Birth: 03/10/1957 Arresting Agency: Chattanooga Last Date of Arrest: 04/22/2016 Charge(s): CRIMINAL TRESPASSING MCCONNELL, ARTRYCE SANTASHA Age at Arrest: 26 Date of Birth: 02/20/1990 Arresting Agency: Hamilton County Last Date of Arrest: 04/22/2016 Charge(s): DOMESTIC ASSAULT MCGEE, RANDALL LYNN Age at Arrest: 38 Date of Birth: 02/04/1978 Arresting Agency: Hamilton County Last Date of Arrest: 04/22/2016 Charge(s): DRIVING ON REVOKED, SUSPENDED OR CANCELLED LICENSE FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY MEALOR, TIMOTHY WAYNE Age at Arrest: 54 Date of Birth: 04/11/1962 Arresting Agency: Red Bank Last Date of Arrest: 04/22/2016 Charge(s): DRIVING ON REVOKED, SUSPENDED OR CANCELLED LICENSE MONCADA, ANGELINA MARIE Age at Arrest: 29 Date of Birth: 05/30/1986 Arresting Agency: Hamilton County Last Date of Arrest: 04/22/2016 Booked for Previous Charges or Other Reason(s) MORRISON, CATHY BYINGTON Age at Arrest: 47 Date of Birth: 01/19/1969 Arresting Agency: Chattanooga Last Date of Arrest: 04/22/2016 Charge(s): THEFT OF PROPERTY LEAVING SCENE OF ACCIDENT W/DAMAGE TO VEHICLE FAIL TO YIELD DRIVERS TO EXERCISE DUE CARE FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY OWEN, MATTHEW NEIL Age at Arrest: 20 Date of Birth: 01/10/1996 Arresting Agency: Chattanooga Last Date of Arrest: 04/22/2016 Charge(s): POSSESSION OF CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE POSSESSION OF DRUG PARAPHERNALIA QUINN, LYNDSAY BREANNA Age at Arrest: 18 Date of Birth: 05/17/1997 Arresting Agency: Chattanooga Last Date of Arrest: 04/22/2016 Charge(s): THEFT OF PROPERTY UNDER 500 RUTH, WILLIAM JACOB Age at Arrest: 26 Date of Birth: 10/04/1989 Arresting Agency: Hamilton County Last Date of Arrest: 04/22/2016 Charge(s): POSSESSION OF CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE POSSESSION OF DRUG PARAPHERNALIA SILVERS, CHRISTIAN Age at Arrest: 20 Date of Birth: 10/31/1995 Arresting Agency: Hamilton County Last Date of Arrest: 04/22/2016 Charge(s): DOMESTIC ASSAULT SOLOMON, ANGELA GWEN Age at Arrest: 39 Date of Birth: 11/24/1976 Arresting Agency: Chattanooga Last Date of Arrest: 04/22/2016 Charge(s): 911 VIOLATION (IMPROPER USE) TORREY, CHARLES ISIAH Age at Arrest: 27 Date of Birth: 09/07/1988 Arresting Agency: Hamilton County Last Date of Arrest: 04/22/2016 Charge(s): VIOLATION OF PROBATION (POSSESSION OF CONTROLLED S UPSHAW II, ROCKIE LAMAR Age at Arrest: 30 Date of Birth: 06/18/1985 Arresting Agency: Hamilton County Last Date of Arrest: 04/22/2016 Charge(s): DRIVING ON REVOKED, SUSPENDED OR CANCELLED LICENSE SPEEDING WILLIAMS, BILLY JOSEPH Age at Arrest: 38 Date of Birth: 09/03/1977 Arresting Agency: Hamilton County Last Date of Arrest: 04/22/2016 Charge(s): VIOLATION OF PROBATION (DOMESTIC ASSAULT) WILLIAMSON, KYLE J Age at Arrest: 49 Date of Birth: 10/29/1966 Arresting Agency: Hamilton County Last Date of Arrest: 04/22/2016 Charge(s): VIOLATION OF PROBATION (PASSING WORTHLESS CHECKS) WOODS, JHAMONNE DASONTAE Age at Arrest: 24 Date of Birth: 01/23/1992 Arresting Agency: Last Date of Arrest: 04/22/2016 Charge(s): VIOLATION OF PROBATION (AGGRAVATED ROBBERY) D KARWILL LANE EAST RIDGE, 37412Age at Arrest: 28 years oldArresting Agency: East RidgeAGGRAVATED ASSAULT (DOMESTIC)---FITCH, JACOBIA D238 WATER STREET CHATTANOOGA, 37410Age at Arrest: 23 years oldArresting Agency: ChattanoogaDOMESTIC ASSAULTRESISTING ARREST OR OBSTRUCTION OF LEGAL PROCESS---FORD, JOSEPH K1900 ROSEBROOK DRIVE CHATTANOOGA, 37421Age at Arrest: 46 years oldArresting Agency: ChattanoogaDUI - 1ST OFFENSEDRIVING WRONG DIRECTION ON "ONE-WAY" ROAD (ACCIDE---GAINES, LARRY J4788 FORESTWOOD HIXSON, 37343Age at Arrest: 30 years oldArresting Agency: ChattanoogaTHEFT OF PROPERTYTHEFT OF SERVICESFAILURE TO MAINTAIN LANEDRIVING WITHOUT DRIVERS LICENSE / EXPIRED LICENSEDRIVING ON REVOKED, SUSPENDED OR CANCELLED LICENSE---GENTRY, JOHN D5870 GETTYSBURG DRIVE HARRISON, 37341Age at Arrest: 35 years oldArresting Agency: Hamilton CountyVIOLATION OF PROBATION (ASSAULT)---GREEN, CHRISTOPHER EDWARD8470 SUMMIT HILL COURT OOLTEWAH, 37363Age at Arrest: 20 years oldArresting Agency: ChattanoogaATTEMPTED FIRST DEGREE MURDERAGGRAVATED ASSAULTPOSS.A FIREARM DURING COMMISSIION OR ATTEMPT TO CORECKLESS ENDANGERMENT---GRIER, CHRISTOPHER LEE1230 JENNIFER CIRCLE SHELBEYVILLE, 37160Age at Arrest: 48 years oldArresting Agency: Hamilton CountyCONTEMPT OF COURT (NON SUPPORT)---GUNN, COREY ANTHONY309 BURLEIGH AVE DAYTON, 45417Age at Arrest: 46 years oldArresting Agency: Tenn Highway PatrolDUI - 2ND OFFENSEPOSSESSION OF CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE---HADDOX, VONTEL DEON1213 HENDRICKS ST CHATTANOOGA, 37404Age at Arrest: 18 years oldArresting Agency: ChattanoogaCRIMINAL TRESPASSINGSIMPLE POSSESSIONVIOLATION OF PROBATION---HALL, QUENTIN VAUGHN114 HEDGEWOOD RED BANK, 37415Age at Arrest: 38 years oldArresting Agency: ChattanoogaVEHICULAR ASSAULTFINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITYDRIVING ON REVOKED, SUSPENDED OR CANCELLED LICENSEDRIVING UNDER THE INFLUENCE---HARRIS, JOSHUA V3905 B KINGSBRIDGE RD CHATTANOOGA, 37416Age at Arrest: 27 years oldArresting Agency: Hamilton CountyVIOLATION OF PROBATION (POSSESSION OF CONTROLLED S---HICKS, JANICE KAY1632 A DUKE LANE CHATTANOOGA, 37421Age at Arrest: 45 years oldArresting Agency: ChattanoogaTHEFT OF PROPERTY (UNDER $500)---HUTTENHOFF, ELIZABETH ROSE1030 DOCKERY LANE CLEVELAND, 37323Age at Arrest: 29 years oldArresting Agency: Hamilton CountyBooked for Previous Charges or Other Reason(s)---JOHNSON, GEORGE EDWARD1671 KIUKA ROAD DAYTON, 37321Age at Arrest: 45 years oldArresting Agency: Red BankFAILURE TO APPEAR---JONES, ALICIA RENE642 WEST14TH STREET COURT CHATTANOOGA, 37402Age at Arrest: 25 years oldArresting Agency: Hamilton CountyAGGRAVATED ASSAULT---JONES, MICHAEL CARNELL700 PINE ST CHATTANOOGA, 37402Age at Arrest: 54 years oldArresting Agency: Hamilton CountyVIOLATION OF SEX OFFENDER REGISTRATION---LEE, ANTWON DEVON2110 VANCE AVE CHATTANOOGA, 37406Age at Arrest: 26 years oldArresting Agency: Hamilton CountyVIOLATION OF SEX OFFENDER REGISTRY (3RD OFFENSE)---MALVEAUX, ALBERT VINCENT2108 DELANO DRIVE CHATTANOOGA, 37406Age at Arrest: 41 years oldArresting Agency: ChattanoogaPOSSESSION OF DRUG PARAPHERNALIA---MAYFIELD, TONY ANTHONY4030 DORRIS ST CHATTANOOGA, 37410Age at Arrest: 59 years oldArresting Agency: ChattanoogaCRIMINAL TRESPASSING---MCCLURE, DUSTIN NICHOLAS557 B UNION FORK RD SODDY DAISY, 37379Age at Arrest: 31 years oldArresting Agency: ChattanoogaVIOLATION OF PROBATION (AGGRAVATED CRIMINAL TRESPA---MCCONNELL, ARTRYCE SANTASHA7086 MULE DEER PLACE OOLTEWAH, 37363Age at Arrest: 26 years oldArresting Agency: Hamilton CountyDOMESTIC ASSAULT---MCGEE, RANDALL LYNN12610 CIVIC CLUB DRIVE SODDY DAISY, 37379Age at Arrest: 38 years oldArresting Agency: Hamilton CountyDRIVING ON REVOKED, SUSPENDED OR CANCELLED LICENSEFINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY---MCGEE, RODRICK DEMICHAEL2410 E. 19TH ST. CHATTANOOGA, 37404Age at Arrest: 18 years oldArresting Agency: ChattanoogaREGISTRATION REQUIRED IN 30 DAYSREGISTRATION, DRIVING UNREGISTERED VEHICLELIGHT LAW VIOLATIONFINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITYDRIVING ON REVOKED, SUSPENDED OR CANCELLED LICENSE---MEALOR, TIMOTHY WAYNE521 HEDGEWOOD DR CHATTANOOGA, 37405Age at Arrest: 54 years oldArresting Agency: Red BankDRIVING ON REVOKED, SUSPENDED OR CANCELLED LICENSE---MONCADA, ANGELINA MARIE6931 ECHO GLEN DRIVE CHATTANOOGA, 37412Age at Arrest: 29 years oldArresting Agency: Hamilton CountyBooked for Previous Charges or Other Reason(s)---MORRISON, CATHY BYINGTON630 LEDFORD RD CLEVELAND, 37323Age at Arrest: 47 years oldArresting Agency: ChattanoogaTHEFT OF PROPERTYLEAVING SCENE OF ACCIDENT W/DAMAGE TO VEHICLEFAIL TO YIELDDRIVERS TO EXERCISE DUE CAREFINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY---NICHOLS, CHRISTOPHER SHANE59 VINITA TRAIL FLINTSTONE, 30725Age at Arrest: 44 years oldArresting Agency: ChattanoogaDRIVING ON REVOKED, SUSPENDED OR CANCELLED LICENSEFINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITYLIGHT LAW VIOLATION---OWEN, MATTHEW NEIL3695 PRESTWICKE PLACE ADAMS, 37010Age at Arrest: 20 years oldArresting Agency: ChattanoogaPOSSESSION OF CONTROLLED SUBSTANCEPOSSESSION OF DRUG PARAPHERNALIA---QUINN, LYNDSAY BREANNA1603 S SMITH ST EAST RIDGE, 37412Age at Arrest: 18 years oldArresting Agency: ChattanoogaTHEFT OF PROPERTY UNDER 500---RUTH, WILLIAM JACOB2700 SHEPHERD VIEW DRIVE CHATTANOOGA, 37421Age at Arrest: 26 years oldArresting Agency: Hamilton CountyPOSSESSION OF CONTROLLED SUBSTANCEPOSSESSION OF DRUG PARAPHERNALIA---SILVERS, CHRISTIAN8319 IRIS RD CHATTANOOOGA, 37421Age at Arrest: 20 years oldArresting Agency: Hamilton CountyDOMESTIC ASSAULT---SOLOMON, ANGELA GWEN1 E 11TH STREET APT 716 CHATTANOOGA, 37402Age at Arrest: 39 years oldArresting Agency: Chattanooga911 VIOLATION (IMPROPER USE)---SPURGEON, ADAM LEBRON9404 OAK STREET OOLTEWAH, 37363Age at Arrest: 33 years oldArresting Agency: Hamilton CountyDOMESTIC ASSAULTEVADING ARREST---TORREY, CHARLES ISIAH3247 CONNER STREET CHATTANOOGA, 37411Age at Arrest: 27 years oldArresting Agency: Hamilton CountyVIOLATION OF PROBATION (POSSESSION OF CONTROLLED S---UPSHAW II, ROCKIE LAMAR8331 WEST HWY 36 CHICKAMAUGA, 30707Age at Arrest: 30 years oldArresting Agency: Hamilton CountyDRIVING ON REVOKED, SUSPENDED OR CANCELLED LICENSESPEEDING---VELASQUEZ, HUMBERTO EPFANIO1602 E20TH ST CHATTANOOGA, 37404Age at Arrest: 36 years oldArresting Agency: ChattanoogaFAILURE TO APPEAR---WEBB, DYLON WAYNE309 RETRO HUGHES ROAD SALE CREEK, 37373Age at Arrest: 21 years oldArresting Agency: Soddy DaisyPOSSESSION OF CONTROLLED SUBSTANCEPOSSESSION OF CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE---WILLIAMS, BILLY JOSEPH13749 LILLARD ROAD SODDY DAISY, 37379Age at Arrest: 38 years oldArresting Agency: Hamilton CountyVIOLATION OF PROBATION (DOMESTIC ASSAULT)---WILLIAMSON, BRYAN TYREE2255 EDGMON FOREST LANE CHATTANOOGA, 37421Age at Arrest: 26 years oldArresting Agency: ChattanoogaRESISTING ARREST OR OBSTRUCTION OF LEGAL PROCESSEVADING ARRESTPOSSESSION OF DRUG PARAPHERNALIADRUGS GENERAL CATEGORY FOR RESALE---WILLIAMSON, KYLE J2608 64 E WAR TRACE, 37183Age at Arrest: 49 years oldArresting Agency: Hamilton CountyVIOLATION OF PROBATION (PASSING WORTHLESS CHECKS)---WOODS, JHAMONNE DASONTAE804 WEST 38TH STREET CHATTANOOGA, 37410Age at Arrest: 24 years oldArresting Agency:VIOLATION OF PROBATION (AGGRAVATED ROBBERY) April 23, 2016 Meltdown in Libya by Richard Galustian The fallout of the continuing meltdown of Libya will be felt hard in in particularly Southern European countries. The Tripoli and western town's militias are continuing to make hundreds of millions of dollars sending even more tens of thousands of migrants north to the EU. All changed for the worse last week with a number of pronouncements and events, though reading mainstream media, you would be forgiven for thinking otherwise. First Britain's Foreign Secretary, Philip Hammond announced he didn't need Parliament to send troops involving the UK in another quagmire that would prove similar to its disastrous involvement in Afghanistan. Hammond, within hours, back tracked on that idea under pressure from Parliament. Meanwhile the UN and EU has also stated it will change formally international recognition status, from the House of Representatives (HOR) parliament to Serraj, whether or not HOR recognize the Government of National Accord (GNA) which would give the UN appointed Serraj control of Libyas vast foreign assets, estimated at $140 billion. The saga further continued last Monday night when Serraj's addressed more than 50 of the great and good; foreign and defense ministers of the European Union gathered at a dinner in Luxembourg, his words coming to them by video screen. Despite the fact that the HOR in Tobruk, had not decided to accept the GNA nevertheless illogically the EU's Federica Mogerini reaction to Serraj's presentation that same evening, perpetuating the charade of his Unity government, stated she had 100m to give him! To remind readers, over two weeks ago Serraj arrived in Tripoli with no more than 7 men were on the ship, the remnants of what should have been a 9-man Presidential Council. And where are the 30 ministers and 60 deputy ministers that constitute the GNA? Plucked from obscurity by the UN, a Tripoli businessman was selected, one Fayez Serraj, to bring peace to Libya, who they expect to end the war between the Islamist National Salvation government in Tripoli and the elected parliament (HOR) in Tobruk. The further expectation then is for Serraj to head a united Libyan army crushing both ISIS and the migrant-smuggling gangs, the Wests twin Libya headaches. Impossible! To preserve this illusion, western dignitaries staged visits to the Libyan capital, a virtual 'Potemkin Village' show. They land amid tight security at the city center Mitega airport, guarded by their own small army and by the few militias who have taken Serrajs side, and his promise of fat pay rises. From there it is a nervy two mile dash in armored cars down the coastal highway to the naval base. Once the dignitaries are inside then there are the all-important photographs showing handshakes before scurrying away again. Also last Monday the British Foreign Secretary, Philip Hammond paid a very short visit to Tripoli's Naval 'bunker' as it has become known. A few days earlier the French, Italian and German foreign ministers completed this sham also. Soon after the French and German VIP planes flew away though, a militia blew up the home of a politician who had dared object to the new government. Hours later, another militia attacked the Tripoli home of deputy designate prime minister, Ahmed Maiteeg. Neither man was home, wisely staying well clear of this militia-infested city, but the second attack saw rival militias bring tanks onto the streets in fighting that spluttered for five hours. Of Serraj there was no sign. He has spent most of the last few weeks abroad, in Cairo, Istanbul, London and Tunis, anywhere but Libya. None of this was mentioned in Monday nights Luxembourg gala dinner. EU leaders maintained the facade, and in fact enhanced it, promising to send diplomats to Tripoli, a city almost equivalent to Sarajevo of the early 90s. Last month both the EU and the UN however threatened sanctions on 'spoilers' - the threatened asset freeze and travel bans - on men for daring to object to the Serraj government. One, Abdul Rahman Swehli caved in quickly to EU pressure was rewarded by being anointed as 'President' of the so called State Council. Other 'spoilers', of which Gen. Hafter is one, can expect the same despite the fact he has almost won the Battle for Benghazi against extremists. However only one man this week so far has been named to the sanctions list under President Obamas executive sanctions order against 'spoiler' Libyans and that is Khalifa al-Ghweil, the leader of the Islamist Tripoli Government. So far hes the only addition. No doubt more will be added. That US Executive order will be implemented by the UN not the EU. Unless the HOR's Saleh is also intimidated sufficiently by UN to say yes soon to Serraj's phantom GNA government, he could be next on the list. He is already sanctioned by the EU. The UN's Martin Kobler also this week in Tobruk made Salah an offer, in Don Corleone's words, he can't refuse! But even if the HOR does accept the GNA, which they allegedly did the other day, that still will not bring peace to Libya, only the facade of there being a unity government. Recently both Libya's rivals eastern and western central banks announced plans to print their own new currency. I predict a country that will eventually split. Posted by b on April 23, 2016 at 9:59 UTC | Permalink Comments Alderman Says Man Who Punched Him In The Face Called Himself 'Lucifer' By Mae Rice in News on Apr 23, 2016 7:02PM Ald. Walter Burnett (photo via Facebook) Thursday night, a man punched Ald. Walter Burnett (27th) in the face outside Burnett's Near West Side office. Late Friday afternoon, we spoke to Burnett about the incidentwhich he described as the first time a constituent has gotten physical with him. He said his assailant, who first stopped by Burnett's office at 4 N. Western Ave. around noon Thursday, told Burnett's staff his name was Lucifer, and said he was tired of Burnett and Emanuel "messing him around." Though he did not threaten to kill Burnett or EmanuelBurnett said he misspoke talking to the Sun-Timesthe man did threaten to "kick our butts," Burnett said. A new hire had just started working Burnett's front desk, Burnett told us, which was a factor in this man not being apprehended earlier Thursday for his threatening behavior. Later Thursday evening, when the man punched Burnett in the face, he told Burnett, "You know what that's for," according to Burnett. Burnett didn't know, and asked for clarification from the man after police apprehended him, but the man insisted that he would only talk to media. The man was arrested with a small knife in his pocket and three bags of cannabis, according to Burnett, though police have not yet replied to a request to confirm this. "I'm used to getting knocked around, and knocking people around," Burnett told Chicagoist. (He was a Golden Gloves boxer in his youth.) However, Burnett said he was disturbed by this particular incident, which seemed "premeditated." "I'm concerned about the guy," Burnett said. "I'm concerned about his mental challenges." Burnett sees this incident as evidence Chicago needs to offer better mental health services. "Tomorrow it could be somebody else [getting attacked]." Nissan IDS Concept [Photo/China Daily] Chinese premium car owners are more interested in high-technology configurations while the Europeans are more concerned about the practicability of the vehicle, according to a report released this week. More than 80 percent of premium car owners in China are greatly influenced by the controllability and advanced technology of the models when making a purchasing decision, the survey from Hurun Report said. Intelligent vehicle interaction system, automatic engine start-stop functions and driving assistance are must-haves for the Chinese high-end car owners. They also like options such as airless and explosion-proof tire, command system, auto piloting and intelligent recharging. In Europe, people tend to be only interested in whether the high-tech vehicle could result in energy efficiency, the report said. About 70 percent of Chinese premium car owners are the users of car-hailing applications, while the rate drops to 35 percent in Europe, showing different attitudes toward the use of technology. Half of both Chinese and European premium car owners have been the drivers of car-hailing apps, believing such behavior would bring more possibilities to make new friends, taking part in public welfare activities and saving energy and protecting the environment. Zhang Xiaoming, 39, a Mercedes-Benz owner from Beijing, said performance and comfortable levels were the key points for him in choosing the car. With a bachelor's degree, Zhang currently is a manager of a film company. He is also a user of the car-hailing service Didi Dache. Luo Xin, 36, a Porsche owner from Shanghai, said he cared about brand value, eye-catching appearance and performance most when he bought the car, which is his third. Luo is the owner of an English-language training institute. The report was based on a survey of 1,350 Chinese car owners from 10 cities: Beijing, Tianjin, Dalian, Shanghai, Hangzhou, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Xiamen, Kunming and Chengdu. It also surveyed 1,110 car owners from six European countries: the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain and Sweden. The report compared the images of nine premium auto brands and their owners in China and Europe, including Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Audi, Porsche, Lexus, Volvo, Land Rover, Cadillac and Infiniti. It said while the Europeans are relatively more mature on vehicle purchasing, the Chinese are more emotional. They have different types of concerns and the purpose of using the vehicle varies. In general, the premium car owners in China are younger, with an average age of 33. The male owners account for 74 percent in China and 62 percent in Europe. Education background is the most different feature. The Chinese premium car owners are more educated, 97.6 percent of them have bachelor's or higher degrees. It is 67.7 percent in Europe. Consumption preference is also difference. European consumers are more sensitive on pricing, with 44 percent of them caring about the price, much higher than the 17 percent in China. Brand and sales have greater influence on the Chinese than European, the report said. A fugitive on the list of China's 10 most-wanted fraud suspects has been arrested, the Ministry of Public Security said on Friday. Wu Muxing, 37, is accused of conspiring with others to defraud a total of 40 million yuan (6.15 million U.S. dollars) via social media in two separate cases. In Nov. 2015, Wu conspired with others to take 4.9 million yuan from a corporate accountant by impersonating the head of the company on an instant messenger. Acting on a tip-off, police in Shanghai managed to freeze only 2.8 million yuan. While three of Wu's accomplices were caught, Wu fled. In Dec. 2015, he was found to be behind another case in Shenzhen where the victim, also a company accountant, was cheated of 35 million yuan. The police managed to secure over 28 million yuan while apprehending 28 suspects. Wu remained at large. The ministry has offered a reward of 50,000 yuan for information leading to the arrest of anyone on the most-wanted list. On April 20, police caught Wu in his hometown of Quanzhou, Fujian province. He is now in custody, pending further investigation. Hu Kaihong: Ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon and welcome to today's press conference. April 24 is designated as the National Day of Space Flight from 2016 with the approval of the State Council. We are very glad to have Xu Dazhe and Tian Yulong here today. Mr. Xu is vice minister of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, administrator of the State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defence and administrator of the China National Space Administration. Mr. Tian is chief engineer of the State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defence and secretary of the China National Space Administration. They will brief you on the National Day of Space Flight and the development of China's space industry. I am Hu Kaihong, spokesperson for the State Council Information Office. China launched its first manmade satellite, Dong Fang Hong No. 1, on April 24, 1970, making it the fifth country that was able to launch a homemade satellite using a homemade rocket. China has made great progress in the field of astronautics for more than four decades. The establishment of the National Day of Space Flight comes in line with the needs to preserve the Chinese ethos, build China into a leading country in the space industry, foster public awareness for science and culture, increase young people's interest in science, realize the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation and further exhibit China's determination and faith in the peaceful use of outer space to promote human progress. The theme of this year's National Day of Space Flight is the "Chinese dream, space dream." The day will be observed through a series of educational activities held nationwide, including lectures on national day, exhibitions, an open day for the public and meetings with experts on campuses. Now, I give the floor to Mr. Xu who will give you a detailed introduction to the National Day of Space Flight and the development of China's space industry and then take questions from you. Xu Dazhe: Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen. I am very pleased to meet our friends from the press here and thank you very much for your attention and support of China's space industry. China launched its first manmade satellite, Dong Fang Hong 1, on April 24, 1970, laying a foundation for China's space industry. Setting this day as the National Day of Space Flight demonstrates the particular attention paid by both the Party and the nation to the space industry, China's stance on the peaceful exploration of outer space as well as China's determination to maintain innovation and scale the heights of future development. We hope the establishment of the national day will become an important carrier for developing astronautics, a key platform for space education, scientific exploration and innovation, and a window for the rest of the world to better understand China's space industry. This year marks the 60th anniversary of China's inception of the space industry. For the past six decades, people working in the industry have dedicated themselves to blazing a trail in the space industry through innovation and building a complete astronautic research and production system as well as an efficient engineering management system, powered by a high-caliber team of skilled men. They have created a space spirit and culture, made outstanding accomplishments in artificial satellite technology, manned space flight and lunar exploration, made solid progress in the development of space technology and science, and made a positive contribution to the promotion of science, the economy and national strength. Currently, China has successfully soft landed a spacecraft on the moon and has grasped the key technologies of manned space flight, taking the country to the forefront of space technologies in the world. In addition, its self-developed Beidou Navigation System is advancing towards the integration into the global networking and the resolution ratio of remote sensing satellites has entered the Amish era. China has launched the Long March series of carrier rockets for 226 times, with a success rate of over 96 percent. It has satellite systems with complete function ranging from communication, remote sensing and navigation to technological experiment, with nearly 150 satellites currently in orbit. China's space technology has served economic and social development, with remote sensing satellites represented by a Gaofen, Fengyun, Ocean and Resources series widely applied in agriculture, forestry, land observation, mapping, water conservancy, housing construction, environmental protection, disaster reduction, transportation, meteorology and ocean development. A stable and efficient commercialized business model has taken shape in the operation of communication satellites. The development of navigation and positioning satellites are moving on a path of industrialization. The application of various satellites has yielded remarkable economic and social benefits. Take the key project of the high-resolution earth observation system as an example. With several satellites already successfully launched, the high-resolution and applied comprehensive information service platform has enabled over 1,100 companies in 18 sectors and 25 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions to realize data sharing and popularize their professionalized application. China's exploration capacity and research level in space science has improved remarkably. Space science application in manned space flight and moon exploration has made headway in development. Several scientific experiment satellites represented by the Dark Matter Particle Exploration and Practice series have been successfully launched. Many breakthroughs have been achieved in physics, chemistry, life sciences, microgravity and other space science fields. The fields of space debris observation, mitigation and protection have also made great progress. China's space exploration has become an important platform for pooling wisdom and efforts of Chinese scientists. Recently, an activity designed to solicit ideas about the load design of the moon exploration from the public met with warm responses from young people and science enthusiasts across China. The international cooperation in space flight has achieved great accomplishments with over 100 cooperation agreements signed with 30 state-level space institutions and international organizations. China also proactively promotes the construction of the "Belt and Road" Space Information Corridor and the construction of a remote satellite constellation together with BRICS countries, and supported the Asia-Pacific Space Cooperation Organization member countries in building a multi-task, mini-satellite constellation. The World Meteorological Organization listed the Fengyun Satellites as International Business Meteorology Satellites and the International Committee on Global Navigation Satellite System authorized the Beidou Navigation System as one of the four core system suppliers. The export of space navigation products has expanded in scale and variety, with 50 satellites for commercial purposes launched for 44 times, 10 carrier launching services completed and nine satellites exported. All of these demonstrate the fact that China's high-end equipment is going global. Developing space flight and developing power in the field is our long pursued dream. In the year of 2016, the beginning of China's 13th Five-Year Plan, China's Mars Exploration Project has been officially approved, the National Civil Space Infrastructure Construction has been established, the Chang'e-4 mission has been initiated, the Chang'e-5 project has entered a key stage, the Beidou Navigation System has accelerated integration with global networking and the non-poisonous and pollution-free Long March 5 and 7 Carrier Rockets with high thrust will make a maiden flight this year. The Tiangong-2 and Shenzhou-11 docking crafts, Gaofen-3 Satellite, Fengyun-4 Meteorology Satellite, Hard-X Ray Modulation Telescope Detection Satellite and Quantum Science Experiment Satellite will also be launched this year. The period of the 13th Five-year Plan will bring about strategic opportunities for China's space development. The 13th Five-year Plan covering Space Flight, the 13th Five-year Plan covering Space Science and the fourth edition of China's Space Flight White Paper will be compiled this year. In the near future, the space flight industry will implement an innovative, coordinated, green, open and shared development model, make full use of strategic opportunities, and take a strategy-guided, innovation-driven, integrated and industrial upgrading development path. Following the development concept emphasizing technological innovation and stepping up the two "wings" of space application and space science, China's space flight industry will demonstrate and launch new projects, enhance strategic emerging industries, nurture new businesses of "internet plus satellite application," harvest more self-developed achievements and also push forward the formulation of related laws and regulations. In other words, in five to seven years from now, China will have accomplished key scientific projects in manned space, moon exploration, Beidou navigation and high-resolution earth observation. By 2025, the National Civil Space Infrastructure construction will be completed and the space information application business will be industrialized and developed on a large scale. By 2030, all these capacities will be greatly sharpened and China will become a strong power in space flight. China unswervingly adheres to the principle of peaceful exploration of outer space and is committed to broadening international exchange and cooperation. Starting from this new point, we are willing to take a more open attitude and collaborate with other countries to compose a new chapter in space exploration and contribute to human welfare. Thank you. Now, I would like to take your questions. China Daily: I have three questions for Mr. Xu. What is the significance of setting April 24 as China's National Day of Space Flight? How does the international community feel about the issue? What activities will be arranged for celebrating China's first space day? Xu Dazhe: Thanks for your concern for China's National Day of Space Flight. As I have mentioned earlier, we set April 24 as the National Day of Space Flight to commemorate the launch of China's first home-grown man-made earth satellite, which was the first step in Chinese history for sending people into space and discovering the mysteries of the universe and the peaceful use of space resources. It also means that China became the world's fifth country to launch a home-grown man-made satellite, which was the first milestone in the development of China's space industry. With a history of 60 years, the industry has witnessed three milestones: launching a man-made earth satellite, sending Chinese people into space to have them orbit the earth, and realizing the Chinese millennium dream of landing on the moon. Since the first milestone event is pioneering and fundamental, it is representative and commemorative to mark the day of the event as China's National Day of Space Flight, and has been widely accepted among people dedicated to the space industry and other sectors of society. Before I came here, I learned that space agencies from more than 30 countries have sent their letters of congratulation to the National Space Administration, expressing their interest in the issue. I believe that setting the day helps inherit the spirit of space flight, which is a part of Chinese culture and involves the traditional space spirit and the spirit to develop atomic and hydrogen bombs and man-made satellites, and also to develop manned space flight. Marking the day helps carry on the spirit and take it forward. It helps unite Chinese strength. The dream of spaceflight is a part of the Chinese dream. We shall adhere to the Chinese path of development, carry forward the Chinese spirit and enhance Chinese wisdom. It helps cultivate the culture of innovation. The Chinese space program has witnessed a history of independent innovation because no core technology can be bought; we must develop it by ourselves. In these circumstances, we choose a path of self-reliance and innovation. It also helps promote opening-up and sharing. The space project is huge and complex, demanding international cooperation for exploring the mysteries of the universe for the benefit of mankind. Countries over the world, especially the big powers, must make joint efforts. I have noticed that countries with a will to become strong nations have invested more in space than they did before. We have been adhering to the principle of the peaceful use of outer space resources and hope to act with wide international cooperation. As I mentioned earlier China's National Day of Space Flight will become a window for the world to learn about China's space development. We are willing to take the opportunity brought about by this issue to enhance cooperation with our international counterparts. Thank you. TASS: What achievements do you think have been made due to Sino-Russia cooperation in the space industry so far? In what space fields do you hope to cooperate with Russia? Xu Dazhe: China and Russia have established a good method for cooperation. April 12 is Cosmonautics Day in Russia. The general manager of the Russian Federal Space Group Company invited me to attend activities celebrating the day. But it is a pity that I couldn't afford the time then and had to send a representative instead. The general manager, who was the former head of the Russian Federal Space Agency, will make a special trip to Beijing tomorrow to have talks with me and to attend activities for the celebration of China's National Day of Space Flight on April 24, a move that shows that bilateral cooperation has been good in the past and has huge room to develop in the future. The Russian space industry is further ahead than those of other countries and the International Day of Space Flight is set to mark the first man-made satellite launched by the Soviet Union on October 4, 1957. So, it is of great significance to take the opportunity to talk about Sino-Russia cooperation. China and Russia have an outline for cooperation and dozens of collaborative projects, all of which have gone well. We have recently cooperated in aerospace power and electronic components. We will make joint efforts in exploring the mysteries of the universe, making more breakthroughs in space technologies and better use of space resources for the benefits of the people from both nations and all mankind. The room for bilateral cooperation is huge. Thank you. China National Radio: The development of China's space industry features a range of highlights and is quite impressive. How do you evaluate the level and strength of the industry as a whole? What's the schedule, plan and target for China's space industry? What kind of large project will be implemented next? Xu Dazhe: China now is truly a large country in the space industry, but the United States and Russia are still ahead and the European Space Agency (ESA) also has advanced technology. Currently, China is stepping forward to become a major power in the space industry. We hope that with the implementation of the 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-2020), China can become one of the great powers in the industry in the next 15 years. That's a brief answer for your first question. China's 13th Five-Year Plan has listed a number of large projects in the space industry that will be implemented in the next five years. Currently, the first thing we should do is to continue focusing on existing projects, including the third part of manned space flight, the third part of moon exploration, and the third part of the Beidou Navigation Satellite System, which are expected to be finished in five to seven years. We also plan to complete a high resolution earth observation system at the end of 13th Five-Year Plan. Next, we will take about10 years to establish our national civil space infrastructure, which has already been released to the world. During the 13th Five-Year Plan period, we plan to develop deep space exploration, spacecraft on-orbit services and maintenance systems, a sky-earth integration information network and heavy-carrier rockets. This year is the 60th anniversary of China's inception of the space industry, and we have many programs to be launched. In January 2016, we approved the Mars exploration project. Chang'e 4 will land on the far side of the moon, which will be the first landing on the far side by a human being. And the key technology plan for heavy-carrier rockets has been approved. Thus, we have very much work to do on engineering developments for space flight during this period. As the administrator of the China National Space Administration, I would like to say that in my mind, I have to think not only about aerospace engineering, but also space science and application. The biggest transformation for China's space industry now is to use space resources to serve national economic development and people's wellbeing. Therefore, the three systems -- remote sensing, navigation, communication -- will be expanded accordingly. Just now, I mentioned the development concept of emphasizing technological innovation and stepping up the two "wings" of space application and space science, which is a big change for us. We also should contribute more to mankind. Regarding space science, we will explore more unknown areas and understand more about surviving environments and the space environment of the earth. NHK: According to previous media reports, China will establish a space station around 2020. But Xinhua reported yesterday that the establishment will be carried out around 2022. Which is the exact year? If the plan is changed, why? You said just now that China would establish national civil space infrastructure around 2025, what kind of infrastructure do you mean? Could you give us a brief introduction about that? Xu Dazhe: Our plan is to establish a space station around 2020, and we are now carrying out a space lab project. This year, we will launch Tiangong-2 and Shenzhou-11, and conduct a range of tests for a space lab. Around 2020 or 2022, we plan to establish our space station without any change. The word "around" means 2020, 2021 or 2022, it's not an exact number. As for why, manned space flight is a challenging and complicated project, our plan is to accomplish it in 2022. Regarding your question about national civil space infrastructure, I think you can find some documents online. We plan to establish three systems: relatively completed remote sensing, navigation and communication system, in order to serve mankind and people's wellbeing. Currently, I pay more attention on how to improve strategic emerging industries and their applications. Thank you. China Space News: Recently, the nation has been mourning the death of Liang Sili, one of China's pioneering space scientists. Meanwhile, people have pondered again the challenging question posed by famous scientist Qian Xuesen why China's schools fail to nurture outstanding talent. My question is how will China cultivate space talent in the future? Are there any specific plans or ideas? Xu Dazhe: China's achievements in the space industry can be attributed to both the old generation of patriotic and dedicated scientists and technicians and the subsequent generations of high-quality, innovative talent. As you can see, many chief engineers of satellite, rocket and other large-scale projects are quite young. As far as I can remember, many foreign officials have said that they fully recognize China's achievements in the space, but they were more impressed by China's untapped potential, because there are so many young talented people who can go on working for many years. As for the challenging question posed by Qian Xuesen, I just want to say that the purpose of creating the National Day of Space Flight is to promote innovation and to create an atmosphere welcoming to talent. We need more original ideas and leading scientists. I knew Mr. Liang very well, while Mr. Qian was the first director of an institution where I worked. I had discussed the issue with Mr. Qian. He gave us great encouragement. He believed that the young generation is working harder and doing better than his generation. But we also noticed that we need to work harder to promote innovation. We must allow people to try new things and make mistakes. We have to develop more incentive policies. This is very important. The Communist Party of China and the Chinese government have established many methods for honoring and awarding scientists and technicians for their major contributions to the country's space industry. But those contributing to other sectors will not be overlooked. Of the 23 owners of the Two Bombs and One Satellite Award, 12 had engaged in the space industry. Their honor has stimulated generations of space scientists and technicians. The ongoing solicitation of innovative lunar probe design is meant to increase public enthusiasm for innovation. By the way, I want to share with you one of my stories. The year before last, I visited the United States and talked with the head of NASA. During the talk, I said that space activities have many purposes. First and most importantly, it should inspire dreaming. This is very important to mankind. Second, it should promote innovation. Third, it should be beneficial to people. Fourth, it should promote cooperation. An important space industry can give outstanding scientists and technicians a chance to distinguish themselves from others. The challenging question posed by Qian Xuese has prompted us to think about many issues. In the future, we will cooperate with the Ministry of Education, the China Association for Science and Technology, the Communist Youth League Central Committee and other departments to further arouse public interest in scientific study and pass down the spirit of Wan Hu, a legendary space pioneer in ancient China, to our children and our children's children. Takungpao: My first question is about China's satellites. Could you tell us what benefits they have created? The second question is about China's space industry. What role has it played in China's economic and social development? As a strategic new industry, how can it create large benefits after receiving so much investment? When you answered the questions just now, you repeatedly said that the space industry has made great contributions to the improvement of people's livelihood. Could you give us some specific examples of this? What special benefits can people get from it? Xu Dazhe: It's true that the space industry needs a lot of investment, but it can also create great social and economic benefits and cultivate a lot of talent. The industry has a close connection to people's livelihood. There is a popular saying that the further the spacecrafts go, the closer the space technologies come to us. China's first satellite only played the song "The East Is Red" in space. That was its only goal. This story is known by many of you here. But today, our life is closely connected with space technologies and satellite applications. For example, before we leave home, we usually check the weather forecast. China's weather satellites enjoy a good reputation throughout the world. They have made great contributions to global atmosphere observation and weather forecast. If we want to make a journey, we will use a navigation satellite, positioning satellite and Earth observation satellite. When we want to know global news, we will use direct broadcast satellites and communications satellites. In the hinterland, even medical care and education depend on distance services provided by satellites. As soon as we launched a couple of satellites for the High-Resolution Earth Observation System, 25 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the central government began to build corresponding data centers. Why did they do so? That is because the satellites are closely connected with our daily life. You might have read the news about the heavy metal pollution of soil. Here you need the help of remote sensing satellites, which can analyze land use and soil conditions. Satellites have also been used to monitor plant coverage, mineral exploitation and precision farming activities. They can also estimate grain output. When Ecuador was hit by a major earthquake, we immediately provided it with pictures of the quake-hit area before and after the disaster to help the victims. The United Nations set up a platform for space-based information for disaster management and emergency response in China. So, I have reasonable ground to say that the space industry has a direct bearing on our life. If we can obtain 3D elevation photos, they will help water conservation and urban construction projects. Just a few days ago, we held a meeting to study how to use space resources to help the targeted poverty reduction campaign. This is a major task of the 13th Five-Year Plan period (2016-2020). More than 50 million Chinese people need to be lifted out of poverty. Satellites can give us a lot of data. If we can make good use of them, they will help us in all circles of life. The data provided by the Chang'e lunar probe project has offered important data to scientists for studying moon and space environments. Therefore, you can see that the benefits of the space industry are mostly intangible. Some people have made calculations and concluded that one unit of growth in the space industry can stimulate the growth of other sectors by 10 times or even higher. When the terminal-end application of a navigation satellite was upgraded, millions of people applied for registration, because the satellite is important to transportation and fishery industries. Just now, I talked about China's key space infrastructure. If we can build it in 10 years, it will create more social and economic benefits. By then, all communications activities can be done on broadband, even if you use a fixed network or mobile network. Moreover, satellites can be used in public management and social governance, which are also important to us. Many departments have followed our progress closely. We are making satellite observation plans, but our schedule is too tight. We can't fully satisfy the needs of national economic development and social governance. This is the current situation: We can meet basic needs, but we can't meet all of them. Reuters: Some people have criticized China's space program, saying it lacks transparency and might contain military implications. I wish to know how you would respond to such criticism. Also, I wonder if you would provide some details about China's annual budget for its space program. Xu Dazhe: China's development of its space program features openness, one of the country's five keywords in the principal ideas for development, as evidenced by our cooperation with many countries. Today, the government is holding such a press conference and I am here to answer your questions. This shows our open attitude. I just now briefed you on our plans for this year and for the next five years and ten years, telling the world such information. It's fair to say that China is becoming increasingly open, and its information increasingly transparent. Space resources can serve national security and the economy, and therefore we integrate military and civil development into our strategy. We use space resources for preserving world peace and safeguarding China's national defense; this is an understandable pursuit. I think, on this subject, China is more and more open. I hope our friends in the United States will notice this so that we may cooperate with our American colleagues in developing astronautic technologies. I noticed that the U.S. film "The Martian" has an imaginary scenario in which China and the United States jointly conduct a rescue mission on Mars, which shows that our American colleagues are also very keen on cooperating with us. But sadly, due to well-known reasons, obstacles still remain to our cooperation. The positive fact, however, is that we opened up a new dialogue mechanism last year, based on which we will continue our communication this year. Speaking of the budget, China's budget for the space program is on par with its economic growth. In the latest NPC session, we announced the budget, too. Here, I can tell you, friends from the United States, that our budget is far smaller than that of the U.S. government, roughly 1/10 according to some American colleagues' analysis. The figure represents a certain degree of accuracy. That is all that I want to say. Thank you. CCTV and CNTV: In your briefing just now, we heard that China has formally approved its Mars exploration program. Would you please elaborate on some details? Also, since China has been very successful with its manned spacecrafts, lunar exploration flights, the Beidou sat-nav system and the Gaofen series earth surveillance satellites, I wish to know if there are new space projects to be accomplished during the 13th Five-Year Plan? Please tell us about them. Xu Dazhe: It has been approved to launch a Mars exploration satellite around 2020, the final year of the 13th Five-Year Plan. The probe is expected to orbit Mars, land and deploy a rover all in one mission. This is a very difficult task. Mars exploration is a major undertaking for space science and astronautics. Our Mars exploration mission was approved on Jan. 11 of this year. As the window of launch only appears once every 26 months, we are carefully making detailed plans so that we can carry out the mission in 2020, a window of opportunity. This is a challenge for us, since only the United States has thus far both landed and conducted surface exploration on Mars successfully, and Russia has only successfully landed on Mars. We hope to complete the tasks in one mission, a fairly big leap I would say. Our Mars rover could study the soil, environment, atmosphere on Mars, and check the water on Mars, something we are highly concerned about. Studying these allows human beings to study themselves, including how life originated and what is the environment the Earth exists in. Mars is fairly close to our Earth in many aspects, because it has a certain thickness of atmosphere, but it is different from the Moon, so Mars exploration will represent China's deep space exploration in its truest meanings. Although our spacecraft have already flown into the deep space, deep space exploration cannot be a reality until we have accomplished Mars exploration. CRI: We know that two weeks ago, the U.S. SpaceX company successfully recovered a carrier rocket on a floating sea platform, a milestone in the human history of astronautics. It brought back the world's attention to commercial space flight. Apart from the United States, all major astronautic powers in the world have been actively promoting commercial space flights, which saw SpaceX and its peer companies rushing to take part in space exploration. What is the current development of China's commercial space flight? When will China's own 'SpaceX' appear? Xu Dazhe: SpaceX recovered the first-stage booster with success. But to be able to reuse and to relaunch the recovered rocket is a long way away. While we respect the courage of SpaceX, having only booster recovery technology is not enough to make low-cost launches or reduce the general cost of astronautics. It requires us to keep working on engineering and technological development as well as change the way we launch rockets. Lowering costs is a pursuit for us in the engineering sector, and in that way we can reduce expenses, making it more affordable. We should learn from our peers their courage in this regard. Speaking of commercial space flights, China is already in the business. As I mentioned just now, China has been in the space flight service for many countries, and with all of them we signed contracts. But how we should make the most of social resources and make them serve the astronautic industry is a matter that our government is concerned about. We have an open attitude; we encourage social resources to contribute to the astronautic sector. In addition, I wish to say that the country set up the National Day of Space Flight to raise the entire society's attention to astronautics, so that all kinds of companies, including those in the private sector, will actively contribute to the development of China's astronautic industry. At the same time, astronautics is a high-risk industry and requires every legal person and every enterprise to carefully understand the opportunities. China has raised the integration of military and civil efforts to the importance of national strategy. In so doing, we hope more resources from the private sector will come to China's national defense and astronautic industries. We welcome their participation, and will make more active policies to facilitate the development of commercial space flight. China Xiaokang (www.chxk.com.cn): Mr. Xu, as you also serve as chairman of the China Atomic Energy Authority, my question is related to the country's atomic energy. The Fourth Nuclear Security Summit was successfully held in Washington in early April of this year. Nuclear safety has been given close attention by the international community in recent years. As a major nuclear country, what effort and progress has China made in strengthening its own nuclear safety? I hope Mr. Xu can answer this question. Xu Dazhe: This question has somewhat slightly deviated from our theme today, but I can still answer your question. Nuclear resources can be very well and peacefully used for the benefit of mankind. However, in order to help the nuclear industry enjoy healthy development, we must pay close attention to nuclear safety and consider it a top priority. China has done a lot of work in the field of nuclear safety. From late March to early April, I paid a visit to Washington. Our approaches to replacing high-enriched uranium with low-enriched uranium and building a nuclear security demonstration center have been recognized by society. We must perform well in nuclear science and nuclear medicine, because they are closely related to our health and our moderately prosperous society. Now, how to make better use of nuclear power and whether we can safely use nuclear power to reach more distant planets are the questions asked of our engineers and scientists. Both of the areas are related to safety, the people's livelihood and our economic development. The purposes are the same. We want to make peaceful use of nuclear energy, and we want to enhance the well-being of mankind. Thank you. Hu Kaihong: That's all for today's press conference. Thank you, Mr. Xu. Xu Dazhe: Thank you to all of our friends from the press. Someone should sue the President for ... Stanislaus National Forest Sign View Photos Sonora, CA The Forest Service has given more details and updates regarding its dead tree removal projects in the Stanislaus National Forest. To date almost 2,500 dead trees have been removed from high hazard areas on the forest due to the recent surge in the mortality rate to around 29 million in California, according to forest officials. With more than a dozen high-priority projects, local and statewide resources have been assigned and are assisting in efforts to implement more than a dozen high-priority projects. We have a lot of work to do, but projects are moving forward to remove hazard trees to make the forest safer for our visitors and residents, said Jeanne Higgins, forest supervisor for the Stanislaus National Forest. The focus is to identify high hazard areas in the treatment zones, which include land adjacent to communities; campgrounds and trail heads; administrative facilities; and alongside roadways and infrastructure such as powerlines. Forest Service spokesperson Veronica Garcia outlines the risk zones stating, We divided our crews on each highway corridor, 120, 4 and 108. They are surveying the area to see what trees are more hazardous. We divided the areas into three different risk zones high, medium/moderate and low, high being a frequently occupied area, such as campgrounds, trailheads and permanent structures. She adds that moderate includes areas that people walk around and can use vehicles with low zones being areas least visited by the public. As previously reported, earlier this month the forest offered members of the public possible tree removal services if they qualify. Property owners need to fill out a Hazard Tree Evaluation Request Form. The hazard tree abatement will be considered on a case-by-case basis. For additional information you can call the Stanislaus Supervisors Office at 209-532-3671. A corrupt Chinese official who had been on the run abroad since 2007 returned to China on Thursday and turned herself in to authorities, the Communist Party of China's disciplinary watchdog said in Beijing Friday. Zhou Shiqin, 64, was a former finance official with the Shenyang Railway Bureau in northeastern China before she fled to Australia in October 2007 when she was charged with graft, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) said. She was one of the 100 fugitives listed in an Interpol "red notice." With the space for graft and power abuse considerably narrowed at home after years of anti-corruption efforts, China is increasingly looking to for international cooperation in apprehending suspects overseas. Just on Thursday, China launched "Sky Net 2016", its latest campaign to capture those still at large via international cooperation. Its more than colorful words painted onto an old pair of denim jeans. For victims, theyre messages of encouragements as they try to coup with the trauma of sexual assault. For the students who painted the jeans, its a call for awareness; a message designed to give them power and the courage to stand up and say no to something they are not comfortable with. Its really important they know about sexual assault awareness, said Melinda Morales, who works alongside Brandy Heads as a part of the Crisis Center of the Plains Outreach and Educational team. Over the past few weeks, the two have worked with neighboring school districts to promote the Denim Day initiative. Started locally in 2015 by the two, Denim Day, observed on April 29, is a worldwide campaign to raise awareness about sexual violence. On Denim Day, people are encouraged to wear jeans in order to raise awareness of rape and sexual assault. The movement began after Italian Supreme Court justices decided to overturn a rape conviction of a 45-year-old man who was originally convicted for attacking an 18-year-old woman. The justices felt that since the victim was wearing tight jeans she must have helped her rapist remove her jeans because he couldn't have removed them himself, thereby implying consent. The following day, the women in the Italian Parliament came to work wearing jeans in solidarity with the victim. Peace Over Violence developed the Denim Day campaign in response to the case. Last year, Morales and Heads worked with the youth of the Tulia Independent School District to create motivational jeans to raise awareness about sexual assault. The students painted strong and encouraging messages on the pants and decorating them with paint. The denim jeans will be hung up at the Crisis Center of the Plains building, 115 E. Seventh St. We basically told them, if you were a victim and had to come to our agency, what kind of stuff would you want to see, Morales said. With uplifting messages, the outreach teams hope the jeans will encourage victims as they enter the building. And at the same time, the students are able to learn how to stay safe themselves, and teach kids that sexual assault is never justified by a situation or circumstance. Its not about you not saying no, its about you not saying yes, Morales said. Morales stated sometimes the public thinks that sexual assault only happens with adults, however its an ever growing problem among teenagers. This year weve really gotten a lot of outcries, said Morales who added that the average age for a first sexual assault is 14. Morales said sometimes a teenager is assaulted while they are intoxicated. They think, they shouldnt have been drinking and this was a result. This leads to silence. They say, I blame myself . . . I shouldnt been drinking, Morales said. But the Crisis Center team says a situation never excuses a sexual assault; and students are learning this. This year, the team was able to expand the denim movement to Lockney and Dimmitt; a feat Morales and Heads are proud of. It make us feel like we are making a difference, Morales said. Morales said the team visits Tulia, Lockney and Dimmitt at least once a week to conduct educational programs. The curriculum is planned out by Heads and Morales. The team teaches students among all age groups. We have curriculum depending on age, said Morales. For younger children, the teams speaks mostly about bullying. Morales and Heads even teach at Plainviews Wee Care Daycare Center and at the YMCAs safe camp. For teenagers, the team introduces ideas of what healthy relationships are and how to avoid or stop teen dating violence. Morales said by that age, teenagers are already entering relationships and sometimes dont know what is right and wrong. In some cases, a teenager may see domestic violence at home and bring the same characteristics to their girlfriend or boyfriend. Its a cycle and we can break that, Morales said. Morales added that they try to share what a teenager needs to know before they enter a relationship. And even share characteristics that reveal the signs of a potential abuser. Morales said the teenagers who painted the jeans were excited about the project. Morales even said the teacher she worked with in Lockney, Cindy Belt, even kept a pair of jeans to hang at the school to raise awareness among the entire student body. The Crisis Center seemed happy about the support and added they hope to add new schools in the years to come. 400 years after his birth, Shakespeare, widely considered the greatest writer of the English language, is fondly remembered. 2016 marks the 400th year since the death of William Shakespeare, regarded by many as the greatest writer of the English language. While most people are aware of his importance, there is much less clarity about why this is so. Like many school-aged children both English and non-English speaking, I was introduced to Shakespeare in my school curriculum with "Romeo and Juliet," "Macbeth," "Julius Caesar" and "Hamlet" all playing starring roles. Like many of my peers at that time, I found the language difficult at first but perseverance and effective teachers helped me to appreciate both the depth of his insights, his clever mix of comedy and tragedy, his adept use of plot and much more. In my university days I majored in English literature and greatly benefitted from a more critical approach in my required subject on the plays of Shakespeare. Later, as a secondary English teacher I greatly enjoyed sharing my love of Shakespeare with my students. I especially enjoyed the conversion which often took place when students who came into the course thinking they would hate Shakespeare found themselves weeping during class or watching a performance such as Franco Zeffirelli's wonderful production of "Romeo and Juliet." Indeed, I saw the film for the first time in Dodge City, Kansas and was struck by the fact that at the end of the film no one moved with many sitting in their seats sobbing. This was in regard to a story where everyone knew the ending before they entered the theatre! I was equally fascinated by the fact that while living in Beijing, I attended the production of "Hamlet" by an English troupe. Even though the words had to be translated in a PowerPoint presentation next to the stage, the place was packed with a largely Chinese audience who both knew the play and its characters well, and responded to it with all the emotion and reaction that I would have expected from a performance in the U.K., Australia or the U.S. It is also interesting to learn that many people who claim not to like or appreciate Shakespeare do not realize that they quote him every day, so profound has been his impact upon the English language. Here are just a few of the many examples: "For goodness sake" - Henry VIII "Neither here nor there" - Othello "All's well that ends well" - All's Well That Ends Well "With bated breath" - The Merchant of Venice "Naked truth" - Love's Labour's Lost "Be-all and the end-all" - (Macbeth) "Jealousy is the green-eyed monster" - (Othello) "In my heart of hearts" - (Hamlet) "In my mind's eye" - (Hamlet) My appreciation of Shakespeare has deepened over the years. Shakespeare wrote about all aspects of life; as I have experienced more of life, I realize more and more how profound, how eloquent, how insightful he was. I especially appreciate the way, through his characters, that he asked and pondered the big questions in life. Studying Shakespeare, I see his growth over time and how his art matured to reach its greatest heights in his tragedies such as "Macbeth." I like his practicality. He did not let perfection be the enemy of the good. His writing is uneven. It is seldom perfect -- but, as he knew so well, the play must go on. Few know that Shakespeare was well respected and successful, but not regarded as "great" in his time. That tells me that we should concern ourselves less with fame, but be content to do our best and let history take care of itself. Shakespeare was also fortunate to live in an Elizabethan Age, a "Golden Age," an age of innovation, especially in drama, poetry, music and the arts. Like today, it was an era that benefitted from good governance, a growth in international trade and a spirit of adventure and discovery that ignited the imagination of the general populace. Finally, in contributing his "verses" in plays and poetry, Shakespeare inspired others in the centuries to follow. For those readers like me who look at the brilliance of Shakespeare and despair, we should also take heart from another writer, one from the country of my birth, who, inspired by the Bard that came before him, sang his own song and became the father of American poetry, none other than Walt Whitman: O Me! O Life! Oh me! Oh life! of the questions of these recurring, Of the endless trains of the faithless, of cities fill'd with the foolish, Of myself forever reproaching myself, (for who more foolish than I, and who more faithless?) Of eyes that vainly crave the light, of the objects mean, of the struggle ever renew'd, Of the poor results of all, of the plodding and sordid crowds I see around me, Of the empty and useless years of the rest, with the rest me intertwined, The question, O me! so sad, recurring-What good amid these, O me, O life? Answer. That you are here-that life exists and identity, That the powerful play goes on, and you may contribute a verse. Eugene Clark is a columnist with China.org.cn. For more information please visit: http://www.china.org.cn/opinion/eugeneclark.htm Opinion articles reflect the views of their authors only, not necessarily those of China.org.cn. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas has reached a deal with Hospital Corporation of America that avoids dropping the healthcare systems Texas facilities from the insurers network come May 1 after their existing contract would have expired, Methodist Healthcare System announced late Friday. There will be no disruption in care, Methodist spokeswoman Carla Sierra said in an email. Sierra said the new contract applies to all of HCAs Texas facilities. The two sides renewed a long-term contract, she said, declining to specify the duration or provide other details. Edna Perez-Vega, a spokeswoman for Blue Cross Blue Shield, didnt immediately confirm or comment on the matter when reached after normal business hours Friday. There's been a resurgence of speculation around Apple's rumored electric car, codenamed Project Titan, as of late. Motor Trend should probably get most of the credit for that, after it took a stab at what an Apple car might look like, for better or worse (mostly worse). Subsequently, some fellow Fools and I also weighed in on what Apple's car might be like once it debuts (you can read our stunningly insightful thoughts here). But if and when Apple releases its car, there at least a few reasons why its vehicle could have a rough road ahead of it. The company does have its advantages in the automotive space, of course, but let's take a look at three possible downfalls for now. Problem No. 1: The high-end price tag Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster has speculated that an Apple car will cost $75,000 when it launches. That's not an astronomical price for an electric vehicle these days -- Tesla Motors' Model S starts at $70,000 before any tax breaks -- but it is very much out reach for most car buyers. A luxury Apple car isn't necessarily a bad thing; plenty of carmakers offer high-priced vehicles, and Tesla has certainly proven that electric vehicles in that price range can sell. But the potential pitfall here is that Apple is used to selling high-end devices for the mass market, but a $75,000 electric car is aimed at a small market. Apple isn't used to selling tens of thousands of products -- it's used to selling millions. And that's the difference between Tesla's Model S price tag and Apple's car. Tesla built its business by releasing expensive vehicles that subsequently help pay for increasingly affordable ones. Tesla CEO Elon Musk even thanked Model S and Model X owners at the Model 3 launch for "helping to pay for" the $35,000 Model 3. Apple, on the other hand, is accustomed to immediate (and high) profitability from its devices. It's not building a car company -- it's releasing a new product. And I don't think consumers will buy into a high-priced Apple car the same way they've bought into Musk's vision of mid-priced electric car for the masses. If Apple sets the price too high, then car buyers may wonder why they shouldn't just buy a Tesla instead (more on that later). Problem No. 2: The leap from iPhone maker to carmaker is huge I know this may sound a lot like the automakers who think Apple is way in over its head in building a car, but they do make a few good points. Apple has a very strong brand and pretty loyal customer base, but those are mainly for much cheaper products like tablets, computers, and iPhones. Even for Apple, converting users from a $750 phone to a $75,000 car will be quite a leap. Releasing a car would not just challenge Apple's ability to market its products, it would fundamentally change the type of company Apple is. Apple successfully adapted from being a computer company to a devices and services company, but that's arguably a much easier shift than moving from a devices company to automobile company. Additionally, there have been recent reports that Apple is having problems finding an automaker that'll manufacturer its vehicle. Talks with BMW and Daimler have recently broken down, and Apple is supposedly looking to Magna-Steyr to possibly build the car. Problem No. 3: Tesla is a formidable opponent Let's stick all of the Apple's-going-to-buy-Tesla arguments aside for right now and just stick with the two companies competing in the automotive space. Commenting on an Apple Car, Tesla CEO Elon Musk welcomed new all-electric cars into the market. About the Apple Car Musk said, "It will expand the industry." But while Musk may want others to join him on the EV train, there's no way he doesn't still want to be king of it. Tesla has been busy upending the electric car market over the past several years, and its unlikely that Apple will be able to steal Tesla's thunder with its own car. I envision that Apple will release a beautifully designed car that reflects the simplicity and functionality of its other products. But Tesla's vehicles are magnificently designed and well-built, too, which means Apple will have a much harder time setting itself apart in the automotive market than it has in the past in the mobile and PC markets. And then there's the experience problem. Apple will bring its car to the market in 2019 at the earliest. By that time, Tesla will have launched four separate electric car models, created multiple electric battery configurations, will have set up an extensive Supercharging network, and will have been running its own massive battery-producing factory for two years. Apple won't just be entering a new market -- it'll be competing directly with one its most formidable opponents ever. Foolish final thought Though I've been skeptical about Apple car in the past, I'm starting to come around to the idea. But I still think the hurdles facing Apple in the car market are huge, and they shouldn't be glossed over. If Apple decides to launch a car in the next three years, it'll likely be one of the most difficult products it's ever built and one of the most challenging products it's ever sold. A secret billion-dollar stock opportunity The world's biggest tech company forgot to show you something, but a few Wall Street analysts and the Fool didn't miss a beat: There's a small company that's powering their brand-new gadgets and the coming revolution in technology. And we think its stock price has nearly unlimited room to run for early in-the-know investors! To be one of them, just click here. The article 3 Reasons Why the Apple Car May Fail originally appeared on Fool.com. Copyright 1995 - 2016 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Parenting books usually do not come to mind for readers looking for a good story. Slow Takes a Long Time by Helotes author Lesli Hicks presents readers with an absorbing narrative, one amplified by a big heart. Hicks tells the story of her second adopted child, a boy originally found abandoned in a Chinese marketplace in 2001, a victim of Chinas one-child policy. Hicks and her husband, Steve Lee, earlier had adopted a girl from China. She wanted a sibling. So the couple returned to China for another child. His Chinese name is Dang Guole. He had been in perhaps six foster families, some of them likely abusive, before Hicks and Lee adopted him. His American name is not given in the book to protect his privacy. His story since coming to Texas? More Information Slow Takes a Long Time By Lesli Hicks Tate Publishing, $11.99 See More Collapse The boy tells it directly as a first-person narrator. Kind of. Hicks writes the narrative in her sons voice, letting readers see everything from his perspective while revealing a great deal about the parents and the challenges they face to raise their son. Challenges? The couple learn soon after the adoption that their son shows signs of being intellectually disabled or intellectually delayed. They sometimes were subjected to the more offensive term, mentally retarded, causing parental tears. The boys narrative voice conveys his parents fears that they might not be suited to raising a special-needs child. The boys narrative voice reveals the joy he feels with having a forever family in a new country, enjoying toys and foods he never would have had otherwise. He learns to express his love and appreciation abundantly. Through the boys eyes, readers see that his parents are more than capable and suitable. Their devotion, protectiveness and patience make the boy the happiest in the world, even as the parents struggle to seek the best educational alternatives for him. Hicks and Lee are both former newspaper reporters. Hicks was a San Antonio Express-News business writer in the 1990s, while Lee worked for the San Antonio Light. Hicks always had a gift for delivering revealing insights in her writing, and she does so on every page of Slow Takes a Long Time. One of the best is her observation that everyone has special needs. Hicks makes it clear the parents have grown as people and have learned from him as much as he has gained from them. Parents often face uncertainty about their children. At the same time, Hicks writes in a afterword, there is this part we would like to remain precisely unchanged: his utter happiness in our world. The story does not come to a typical end. The boys future likely will take many turns. But a book like Slow Takes a Long Time cannot serve a higher purpose. It ought to be read by all parents, not just ones raising children needing special education. dhendricks@express-news.net State, local and federal authorities this morning raided more than 20 locations in Comal County allegedly associated with the Texas Mexican Mafia. Federal authorities obtained indictments this week against 11 alleged members, including a lieutenant, Joey Mertz Gonzalez, also known as "Wheelchair," alleging drug charges. He is partially paralyzed from a previous shooting, gang investigators said. Several more could face state drug charges. San Antonio police are seeking a suspect in a double shooting that happened Saturday morning at a bar on the North Side that sent two people to the hospital. Police responded to a shooting about midnight at Angie's Patio Bar, 323 Fredericksburg Road, where a patron had been shot at by an unidentified man. The round went through the pant leg of a woman and struck a wall. A head-on collision caused by a vehicle traveling the wrong way on the far North Side sent two people to the hospital in critical condition Saturday morning, San Antonio police said. The driver traveling west on the eastbound lane of Loop 1604 near Bulverde Road slammed into a Cadillac going the correct way on the highway at about 3 a.m. Saturday, according to police. Ahmad Rahimi started several businesses after immigrating to the United States from Iran in the 1970s, including Ashkan Food Mart and R Bar, both on Rittiman Road. One of 13 children in a small mountain town in Iran, Rahimi excelled in math and science and trained for military service from the time he was in middle school. Its part of their upbringing that they go into the military, his daughter Claudia Rahimi said. Because of his high grades, Rahimi was chosen for pilot training and was considered one of their top gun pilots in his 20s. Rahimi was 68 when he died of cancer April 15. More for you NWS predicts isolated strong, severe storms possibly on Monday As a member of the Imperial Iranian Air Force, Rahimi was sent to the United States to attend the Defense Language Institute program at Lackland AFB during a time when relations between the United States and Iran were strong. Rahimi was sightseeing downtown on a weekend break when he met his future wife. More Information Ahmad Rahimi Born: March 28, 1948, Izeh, Iran Died: April 15, 2016, San Antonio Preceded by: Parents Loft Ali and Homa Rahimi. Survived by: Daughters Claudia Rahimi, Shaghayegh Rahimi and son-in-law Raul Macchia, and Shirin Rahimi; sons Cris Rahimi and daughter-in-law Jennifer, Amir Rahimi and daughter-in-law Jaclyne, and Aryarad Rahimi; three grandchildren; and former wives Nasrin Rahimi and Esmeralda Rahimi. Services: Celebration of life from 6 to 8 p.m. today at Mission Park Funeral Chapels South, 1700 SE Military Drive. See More Collapse They exchanged numbers and continued to talk; it went from there, Claudia Rahimi said. Deciding to move to the United States permanently, Rahimi worked on obtaining the paperwork while still in the military and continuing to train at other U.S. bases. He left the Iranian military in 1976, the same year he married, and became a resident alien in 1978, moving his family to Lewisville, northwest of Dallas. He soon became a true American with a deep appreciation that if you want to say something, you can say it, Claudia Rahimi said. And if you want to think it, you can think it. Attending the University of Dallas in the evenings, Rahimi worked as a manager for Stop-N-Go Convenience Store, a company he started with as a clerk. Rahimi graduated with a masters in business in 1986 and, still with Stop-N-Go as a regional manager, he bought a gas station with a partner, later starting businesses in Killeen and Pflugerville. Rahimi stressed to his children that education was the way to get ahead, Claudia Rahimi said, and so was working hard for what you want. Returning to Iran after he and his wife divorced in 1986, Rahimi remarried, bringing his wife and children to California, where he started another business. They lived there for not even two years, Claudia Rahimi said. They finally came back to Texas so we could all be together. Settling in Windcrest, Rahimi opened Ashkan Food Mart on Rittiman Road, starting R Bar next door. Friends who go there call him Mr. Frank, his nickname, his daughter said. mheidbrink@express-news.net Bill Clinton trespassed against the cardinal rule of contemporary Democratic politics, which is that Thou Shalt Not Contradict Black Lives Matter Protesters. Clintons lapse came at a Philadelphia rally recently. When demonstrators inveighed against the 1994 crime bill signed by Clinton, the former president gave much better than he got. He rebutted them in finger-wagging detail, repeatedly returning to the point that the crime bill sought to diminish the rampant criminality that was destroying black lives. Clinton thought he was winning the argument, and by any reasonable standard he was but, politically, he committed a multitude of sins. He defended the old term super predator as an accurate description of gang leaders who prey on kids not realizing that the phrase has been deemed dehumanizing (gang leaders are very sensitive to such microaggressions). Instead of denouncing the police as agents of systemic racism, he defended sending more of them into the streets. And by using the phrase black lives in the context of blacks killing other blacks, he signaled he doesnt get that the only approved use of the slogan is as a bludgeon against the criminal-justice system. In short, Clinton demonstrated a common-sensical, pre-Black Lives Matter understanding of criminal justice, and quickly had to backtrack. Presumably, he wont be guilty of such an offense ever again. Both Clinton and his critics exaggerate the effect of the 1994 crime bill, which, among other things, funded more cops and prisons. Clinton attributes the drastic decline in crime rates to it, when the drop had already begun. The critics attribute the drastic increase in incarceration to it, when that, too, preceded the bill. But the notion that the crime bill, and other tough-on-crime measures like it, was part of a racist dragnet to imprison black men guilty of low-level drug offenses is obviously absurd. It is easy to forget now, but between 1960 and 1990, the United States experienced perhaps the worst crime wave in its history. Violent crime increased more than 350 percent. Across the 1960s, robbery rose 500 percent in cities with a population of a million. It would be impossible for the political system not to respond vigorously to such a tide of disorder, especially when the criminal-justice system was initially so inadequate to the task. In his book The Rise and Fall of Violent Crime in America, Barry Latzer notes how the criminal-justice system was fraying as crime spiked in the late 1960s: The number of arrests per reported crime went down, not up; sentencing to prison occurred less often, not more; and prison time served for serious crimes actually shortened, not lengthened. Subsequently, we readjusted, and it wasnt an exercise in quasi-white supremacy. From 1976 to 2005, blacks were 47 percent of murder victims. Bill Clintons talk of kids wasnt just pulling at the heartstrings. During the crack epidemic in Washington, D.C., about 500 kids were shot and stabbed in a roughly two-year period. Since their communities suffered so grievously from drug crime, black Democrats supported important legislative elements of the crackdown on drug offenses from the 1970s onward. Yet the war on drugs wasnt the main driver of the remarkable 30-year rise in incarceration, from roughly 300,000 to more than 1.6 million. According to John Pfaff of Fordham Law School, less than 20 percent of the inmates in state prisons (they house most U.S. prisoners) are there primarily on drug charges. The vast majority are guilty of violent or property offenses. There is no doubt that policing and prisons as well as the waning of the crack epidemic played a role in breaking the great crime wave of the 1960s. That we are safer creates the political opening to rethink our incarceration policies. Bill Clinton will now want to button his lip before saying such a thing, but it doesnt make it any less true. comments.lowry@nationalreview.com The mission of the Environmental Protection Agency is to protect human health and the environment. The EPA came into existence during the 1970s during the Nixon administration. There is an impression that only Democrats care about the environment. Richard Nixon was a Republican. Some perspective: In the early 1970s, there was a lack of respect for the environment by big and small factories alike. They polluted the air and water with impunity in many cases. The question now for companies in the United States is, how much protection is too much? We live in a globally interconnected world. With the advent of the Internet, many jobs that required a physical presence at a company can now be performed anywhere in the world. And manufacturing can be performed in many places other than the United States. Why would a company want to offshore some or all of its production? Some of that has to do with cheaper labor. However, what we lack in cheap labor costs we make up for in productivity. But companies also perform some of their activities overseas due to regulatory compliance. The EPA is one of those agencies imposing costly regulations. The National Association of Manufacturers, or NAM, reports the macroeconomic impact of federal regulations. Its study reveals that manufacturers bear a disproportionate share of the regulatory burden. That burden is heaviest on small manufacturers because their compliance costs are often not affected by economies of scale. The analysis finds that the average manufacturer in the United States pays nearly $19,564 per employee per year on compliance costs. Imagine how much cheaper products would be if the manufacturers did not have to spend their precious capital on regulatory compliance. Of the EPAs 24 air rules, the highest estimated costs are for the Clean Air Fine Particle Implementation Rule issued in 2007; the Clean Air Interstate Rule issued in 2005; and the National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants From Coal- and Oil-Fired Electric Utility Steam Generating Units or Utility MACT issued in 2011. The EPA estimates the cost of implementing Utility MACT is $11 billion per year. The White House attempts to rationalize the benefits to the public by suggesting there will be less cost because the Earth will not be as warm and health in general will improve. This is illogical. Imposing such stringent regulations on U.S. manufacturing in order to cool the planet is a senseless argument if other parts of the planet, such as China, are spewing more toxic greenhouse gases than we are saving. Within the White Houses claims is this fine print in 2009: Many constituents of particulate matter (PM) can be linked with multiple health effects, and the evidence is not yet sufficient to allow differentiation of those constituents or sources that are more closely related to specific outcomes. The takeaway from the report is that the government wants to protect you by imposing very stringent regulations on businesses. But the amount of health care benefit for the public calculated by the federal government is unproven and has no direct benefit to the manufacturer who is compelled to comply with such mandates. The costs are absorbed 100 percent by the manufacturer or business until they get passed on to the consumer. The general public appears to be schizophrenic. On one hand, consumers want and demand inexpensive products; on the other, they want items made in the USA. But if they were made in the USA, the cost would be significantly more (think about the Apple iPhone). The biggest driver of offshore outsourcing is government regulation. The pace of agencies issuing new rules and regulations has hit a record high under President Barack Obama, whose administrations rules have filled 468,500 pages in the Federal Register. Theres a problem, however. Technically speaking, about 1,800 regulations shouldnt be in effect, because they werent reported to Congress as required and thus should be considered illegal. The effect of all of these regulations (legal and illegal) is to drive companies to outsource overseas. If the EPA would back off a bit, and allow industries to catch up and the market to adjust, more products would be produced here and more jobs would be available to U.S. citizens. Meanwhile, China, in December, issued a code red for its air pollution. The reach of Chinas air pollution extends to California. China will be happy to make products; however, the byproduct of pollution it creates is 100 times worse than if that product were made in the United States under 2001 regulations. The EPA seems to think the U.S. is somehow not impacted when China or India pollute at increasingly higher levels. Forcing U.S. companies to move their manufacturing overseas adds to global warming by other countries. Heavy-handed regulations have to end. This will cause companies to return, creating thousands of jobs. Until the EPA and other agencies relax their regulations, U.S. companies will be forced to have components of their manufacturing go overseas. And when the manufacturing goes to places that pollute more than the U.S., the EPA is complicit in global warming. Dr. Alan M. Preston has been a professor for five years in San Antonio specializing in epidemiology, biostatistics and health care policy. Most of his career has been spent as a CEO for managed care companies and physician organizations. He has assisted states in shaping health care policy and was given the title of honorary insurance commissioner for the state of Louisiana. That the military had a culture problem was evident in the number of sexual assaults occurring in the ranks soldier on soldier, and not just women as victims. This prompted changes though more are needed in how the military deals with these assaults and spurred actions to address the culture that may have abetted them. But there is some evidence, far from conclusive, that perhaps the military needs to look at its culture to deal with another problem military suicides. Is it contributing? There is research to indicate that combat and deployments to war zones might not be playing as big a role as thought. A recent Express-News article by Staff Writer Sig Christenson reported that the number of military suicides since 2003 now amount to more than the troops killed in Iraq. The Army leads in this regard, but the Marines and Air Force also show increases. Christenson, writing of some possible strategies to deal with this, also had this tidbit about some of the research: But war veterans actually had a slightly lower suicide rate than military personnel who had never deployed. A study done last year reported that the suicide rate was 16 percent higher for those veterans who were never deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan than for those who had. And, yes, veterans commit suicide at a rate roughly 50 percent higher than civilians who share similar demographic traits. A number of factors were cited as possibly contributing. Returning Vietnam veterans did not take their lives in greater proportions than the general population, but many of those soldiers were drafted, perhaps representing a greater cross-section of the U.S. male population than those who serve in todays all-volunteer military. And Iraq- and Afghanistan-era soldiers and veterans came back to a troubled economy and joblessness or lost jobs, considered a potential trigger for suicides. Other possible factors: Indications of psychological problems may have shielded some from deployments, and a focus on the mental health of those who had experienced combat or deployments to war zones perhaps meant that those who hadnt didnt get the same kind of attention. And just because you didnt go to combat doesnt mean you didnt lose friends to war or didnt deal with war in less direct ways. But there is also the possibility that military life generally is stressful. New duty stations every few years and separation from family for prolonged periods alone can make it so. And theres this: Though male veterans take their lives at three times the rate of women veterans, these women are taking their lives at twice the rate of other women. Women were barred from combat roles until recently. This indicates a need for some introspection about military life. Understand, no one should expect the military to be touchy-feely 24/7 or that it could be even if it wanted. The military branches have already done much in recent years to make sure their members and their families feel more secure. We are only suggesting that when it comes to military or veteran suicides, perhaps the branches and the Veterans Administration can explore if the culture is a contributor. It neednt wait for that conclusive study. If the figures on suicides for veterans and soldiers who havent been deployed are accurate, this indicates the need for that introspection. It is undeniable that soldiers and veterans suffering post-traumatic stress disorder or injury from combat or deployments need to get appropriate attention. But if early research is indicating high rates for those who werent deployed, than these warriors need attention, too. Im told that its now cool in high schools to be a Bernie supporter and call yourself a socialist. So the short-sightedness of the neoliberals in failing to provide adequate employment opportunities for the young is turning people under 40 against what people in the 1960s called The System. Whether the voters that Sanders mobilized turns out to be the vehicle for change is open to question. But his campaign has demonstrated that large swathes of society, most important the next generation, does not see the current order as legitimate and wants fundamental change. SHARMINI PERIES, TRNN: Welcome to the Real News Network. Im Sharmini Peries coming to you from Baltimore. With Hillary Clintons win in the New York primary on Tuesday, the opinion pages are buzzing, demanding that Bernie Sanders opt out of the race. Others argue that longer Sanders stay in the race the better, as more people will have an opportunity to hear his revolutionary messages of changing the material conditions they face. Well, were going to take that issue up with our next guest, Bhaskar Sunkara. Hes joining us from Brooklyn, New York to discuss this, and Bhaskar Sunkara is the founding editor of Jacobin magazine. Bhaskar, thank you so much for joining us today. BHASKAR SUNKARA: Thanks for having me on again. PERIES: So lets take this issue up. Should Bernie Sanders step down and give Hillary Clinton the reign here as far as the Democratic nomination is concerned? SUNKARA: Well, Ive seen this call a lot. You know, I saw it, I was up late watching cable news last night. And I saw it in the pages of the opinion pages of places like the New York Times today. And I think people making that call fundamentally misunderstand what the Bernie Sanders campaign was about. This is not about kind of, you know, cutting back room deals. Theres a lot of speculation that if he leaves now hell be able to cut a better deal with the Clinton operatives than if he, if he stays around and fights until the convention. You know, what its really about is about laying forth a set of policies, a set of ideas to build a new set of, sort of, politics. It was about really this issue-driven campaign based on principle. And that campaign is better served by Bernie Sanders going out there and continuing to campaign. I mean, we still have California. We have by far the largest state in the country to go. And I am, you know, partial to some of the arguments of Clinton supporters that say listen, look at where the delegates are right now. Bernie cant catch up with pledged delegates. You know, I can see that logic. I think itd be very difficult if not almost impossible for him to, to do that. But I dont think that should stop him from keeping to go and fight, and spread his message. And this message wont just end with this convention. Its a message thats going to create, at least I hope and a lot of other people on the left hope, a new constituency both inside and outside the Democratic Party that will shape a lot of U.S. politics in the next decade or so. PERIES: All right. Now, the other big question, Bhaskar, is that did Hillary Clinton win this nomination in New York fair and square? Theres a lot of issues surrounding the legalities of the election process itself. Theres some challenges out there. Tell us what they are, you are in New York, and whether she won this fair and square. SUNKARA: Well, theres a few different issues at play in New York. Theres for one this question of the 125,000 or so voters that were taken off the rolls in Brooklyn, and whether or not theres legitimate explanation for that. And thats something thats already being investigated, having been taken up. Theres then also the question of whether or not New York should be, have been an open primary instead of a closed primary. And then there is the other question of how difficult it is to actually register to vote and also change your party registration in New York. And I think they each have different merits. On the first point, I dont know. I think its kind of a situation where we have to see, you know, where this investigation goes. When we get more information well be able to better judge. I wouldnt leap to the conclusion that the Sanders campaign was very much [inaud.] by this thing in Brooklyn, but I would say that the New York Board of elections, as anyone in New York knows, has a terrible reputation for being absolutely incompetent or worse, and tied to machine politics, and so on. You know, the New York Board of Elections has always had a terrible reputation, so its no wonder that people are kind of very suspicious of anything like this happening. So again, theres an investigation. Well see if theres kind of compelling explanations, or more evidence arises out of there. Under question of open versus closed primary, I think its important to remember that, you know, the Clintons were actually the ones pushing for open primaries, and a lot of other people around the DLC in the 1990s. And their idea was that they would open up the Democratic primary to moderates and other voters, and this would prevent kind of this liberal or left wing of the Democratic party from gaining traction. So its kind of funny the roles are now reversed, and a lot of Sanders supporters would like to see more open primaries. I think theres a real debate to be had there. I think there is probably a legitimate role for closed primaries, though, so I dont think thats really where Sanders supporters should draw their attention. I think the real outrage in New York is this question of voter registration deadlines. Now, weeks before the first presidential debate, even, weeks and weeks, months before the first caucus, the Iowa caucus, was the deadline in October for people to change their party affiliation. So this is before most New Yorkers had heard of Bernie Sanders. And they, Independents were kind of unable to make that decision, decide what party to register for, and stay independent. I think thats an outrage. October is that deadline. The voter registration deadline was also quite early for new registrants. That was in March, about a month before. So again, I think we need a fight principally for democracy and for policies that allow for the highest amount of turnout possible. And it doesnt necessarily matter. I think in this case it would have probably helped Sanders if there was more Democratic voter registration laws in New York. But it doesnt really matter. I mean, its just a matter of principle. And also we should know on the left that the more people we have turning out and voting, the easier to vote, the better it is for us in the long run, because left of center candidates benefit from high turnout. And so I think thats really where our outrage should be directed. You know, everything else, its hard to see. Did Clinton win legitimately in New York? Again, not all the evidence is in. I would guess, based on the, on the margin of her victory, that in fact she did. But that doesnt mean there wasnt thousands and thousands of Sanders supporters that were unable to vote because of New Yorks quite regressive voter registration laws. PERIES: And what now? Many, many people are disappointed that were Bernie Sanders supporters. But in terms of movement-building, and in terms of securing the very important issues that was raised by the Bernie campaign, and having those issues addressed by whether its the Democratic Party or whoevers going to take power, are very important issues. So what would you say to those who have been in the campaign and fighting for Bernie Sanders to be heard? SUNKARA: Right. Well, absolutely. Ive been really impressed by a lot of people on the left who have engaged with the campaign, and have done I think a lot of great work in it. So Ive been impressed by the work of people behind, people for Bernie, you know, Democratic Socialists of America, Socialist Alternative, you know, decided to wholeheartedly engage in the campaign. And then of course the much more significant support of various unions, not the least of which is the CWA, which is currently on strike. You know, over 30,000 members are on strike against Verizon. So you know, I think a lot of our hope has to go in that direction, in the connections and networks that have been built. But theres a lot to do, and were not fully prepared, I think, on the left, to take all this energy and excitement, and the fact that, you know, I know it was a disappointment last night, but we got 42-43 percent of the population in the, the voters in a state like New York, to vote against kind of a home senator in a presidential race for someone who was a virtual unknown just a couple of months ago. So I think we should be really impressed with what weve done, and be optimistic for the future. But you know, its hard to say exactly what needs to be, needs to be done. I think were going to need help from elements of the Sanders campaign, and theyre still campaigning, and will be so until the convention. I think a lot of people out on the West Coast, the nurses unions and others, are going to really put in a lot of energy into this California primary. Again, even though it seems like its a little bit too late for the, to get enough pledged delegates to actually win outright. But that doesnt mean that theres not battles yet to come, not least of which will be battles on the actual convention floor about platform, about things like that, that you know, obviously what the Democratic Party writes in their platform is not, their elected officials are not bound to it by any means. But I think the battles around that and other battles between Clinton and Sanders supporters will be instructive for people, and hopefully it will expose to people the nature of the Democratic party and why we need to kind of build movements outside of it in the long run. PERIES: All right. Bhaskar, thank you so much for joining us, and we appreciate your points of view here. SUNKARA: Thank you for having me. PERIES: And thank you for joining us on the Real News Network. Oscillating currents point to practical application for topological insulators (Nanowerk News) Scientists studying an exotic material have found a potential application for its unusual properties, a discovery that could improve devices found in most digital electronics. Under the right conditions the material, a compound called samarium hexaboride, is a topological insulatorsomething that conducts electricity on its surface but not through its interior. The first examples of topological insulators were only recently created in the lab, and their discovery has sparked a great deal of theoretical and experimental interest. Now, a team of physicists at JQI and the University of California, Irvine, may have found a use for tiny crystals of samarium hexaboride. When pumped with a small but constant electric current and cooled to near absolute zero, the crystals can produce a current that oscillates. The frequency of that oscillation can be tuned by changing the amount of pump current or the crystal size. A scanning electron microscope picture of platinum wires on a samarium hexaboride crystal, which can produce an electric current that flips millions of times a second. (Image: A. Stern/UCI) This behaviorwhich mimics that of components in modern cell phones and computers in a much smaller packageis due to a complex interaction between currents carried by protected electronic states on the crystals surface and the temperature changes they provoke in the crystals interior. "Its not often that devices rely on such sophisticated ingredients," says JQI Fellow Victor Galitski, who partnered with Dmitry Efimkin, a postdoctoral researcher in the Condensed Matter Theory Center at the University of Maryland, as well as experimentalists at UCI on the new work. Galitski and his colleagues published the results April 20 in Physical Review Letters ("Radio Frequency Tunable Oscillator Device Based on a SmB 6 Microcrystal"). The work is the latest development in more than four decades of research on samarium hexaboride (link is external), which is known for its unusual properties at low temperatures. At high temperatures, the material acts like an ordinary metal, but as it is cooled down, its resistance to electrical currents increases. Unlike most materials, however, the resistance doesnt keep increasing. Rather, it plateaus, even as the temperature continues to drop. In 2010, Galitski and several colleagues hypothesized that this mysterious behavior arose because samarium hexaboride is a particular kind of material, which they dubbed a topological Kondo insulator. They predicted that such a material would exhibit a transition from a conventional metal at high temperatures to a topological insulator when cooled down. Physicists raced to verify the prediction by trying to observe signature surface currents. Along the way a group at UCI noticed that the material could also produce an oscillating current ("Limit Cycle and Anomalous Capacitance in the Kondo Insulator SmB 6 "). "That was a completely accidental discovery," says Jing Xia, an associate professor of physics at the University of California, Irvine, and a co-author of the new paper. "We had no clue what was going on." The frequency of those early oscillating currents was too low to be useful in modern devices, so Xia and Galitski began parallel investigations, with Xia trying to scale down the crystal size to create faster oscillations and Galitski trying to explain the origin of the fluctuating current. The new paper is the culmination of their efforts. The crystals are now much smallerjust 100 microns long compared to sizes of millimeters in the previous work. This leads to current oscillations that occur tens of millions of times a second, frequencies which can drive radio transmitters or the clocks found in computer chips. The small size also created headaches for Alex Stern, a graduate student at UCI and lead author of the paper, who painstakingly connected miniscule platinum wires to the tiny crystals in order to make the measurements. "It was really just getting lucky after doing it several times," Stern says. "And once you get one wire on, the hardest thing was to get the second one on right next to it." Meanwhile, Galitski and Efimkin worked on developing a model to explain the origin of the current oscillations. In the paper, the researchers derive equations that describe how current-carrying charges are transported through the material. Depending on experimental parameters, the charges either flow steadily or fluctuate, the latter corresponding to an oscillating current. Those oscillations appear for only a narrow range of parameters, and the researchers say they were lucky that their sample fall into this regime. Despite the technical complexity of the theory, Galitski says that the physical mechanism that drives these fluctuations is simple. The essential steps are shown in the graphic above. As a current begins to flow on the crystals surface, a high resistance causes some of the currents energy to heat the samples interior. This causes the electrical resistance of the interior to decrease slightly, momentarily allowing more current to flow. But the decreased resistance also dissipates less energy, so the interior cools back down and the original resistance is restored. This process repeats itself many times a second to produce the fluctuating current seen in experiments. SHARE John Reilly Appointments Sojourn Hospitality announced John Reilly has been appointed general manager for the Naples Bay Resort. Honors Carolyn Chester, of Naples, an AT&T employee, was honored with the President's Volunteer Service Bronze Award (100-249 hours of volunteer service in a year) for exceptional commitment to community service. Information: www.presidential serviceawards.gov Theodore "Ted" Soliday, executive director of Naples Municipal Airport, was named the 2015-16 recipient of the Leadership Collier Foundation Alumni Association Distinguished Alumni Award. Events Station Group Manager for Media Vista Group Antonio Guernica will give a presentation on the Hispanic media market at the Bonita Springs Area Chamber of Commerce's second Power Networking Luncheon at 11 a.m. May 18 at Artichoke & Company, 11920 Saradrienne Lane, Bonita Springs.Information: 239-992-2943; www.BonitaSpringsChamber.com To submit your business news directly online, go to naplesnews.com/BIZwire or email news@naplesnews.com. A sign hangs Wednesday, July 16, 2014 at RaceTrac at 1150 Airport-Pulling Rd. in Naples, Fla. The prominent gas and convenient store business put in its controversial application to build a major 24-pump station near a small neighborhood off U.S. 41 and Davis Boulevard. Now they're looking to re-write the county's zoning code as it relates to gas stations. (Corey Perrine/Staff) SHARE By Greg Stanley of the Naples Daily News A gas-station chain is fighting again to build a 16-pump site with a 24-hour convenience store just east of the U.S. 41 and Davis Boulevard intersection. RaceTrac, which has been expanding into Collier and Lee counties over the past two years, has once again asked Collier County commissioners to waive a rule that prohibits gas stations from opening within 500 feet of one another. Neighbors rallied to fight the proposal in 2014, and, facing stiff opposition, RaceTrac withdrew its petition before commissioners could vote. The company is back now with two proposed site plans. The first plan would have the gas station abut a row of two-story homes on Mills Lane and Frederick Street that are tucked away underneath mature palm trees about a mile east of downtown Naples. The other would place the gas-station closer to the six-lane highway and provide more of a buffer to the houses behind it. Both proposals would fall within 500 feet of a 7-Eleven on the other side of U.S. 41 and would need a waiver from commissioners to build, said Fred Reischl, principal planner for Collier County. RaceTrac, however, says it believes the first site plan, which pins the gas-station closer to the homes, doesn't need a waiver. The company said it is only filing for one under protest. "A waiver for (the site plan) is not needed due to the fact that it is not adjacent to the nearby 7-Eleven station," company officials wrote in their application. That's just not the case, said Reischl. Commissioners will decide on Tuesday how they want the application to proceed. They won't vote up or down on the waiver, itself, but will decide how to handle it administratively, whether to send the application to the planning commission first to be reviewed or just deal with it directly themselves in May. The benefit of sending it to the planning commission first is that some of the contested issues between the company and neighbors could be worked out before it comes to a vote, said Deputy Manager Nick Casalanguida. "Otherwise this matter, which is complicated, disputed by the applicant and controversial with the neighborhood, will not have been vetted before it goes to the board of county commissioners," he said. Neighbors say the gas station wouldn't be a good fit for the area and the county's plans for it. "The location doesn't make any sense," said Vern Hammett, who lives on Frederick Street. "Our concerns all still remain. It would still have the same major negative impact on the neighborhood. And when you consider what the county is trying to do with this area, this type of activity has no compatibility what the rest of what's going on." Directly across U.S. 41, commissioners have been trying to redevelop about 5 acres for several years, eyeing higher-end condominiums, retail and a hotel. The county is in negotiations with a developer over the sale of that land. SHARE Claire McMahon tidies a table full of donated bras during the Zonta Club of Bonita Springs Woman of the Year Luncheon April 20, supporting Free The Girls. Laura Gates/Banner Correspondent Teri Lamaine (far right) joins other Woman of the Year Award recipients during the Zonta Club of Bonita Springs luncheon April 20 at Bonita Bay Club. Laura Gates/Banner Correspondent Kimba Langas, co-founder of Free The Girls, speaks at the Zonta Club of Bonita Springs Woman of the Year Luncheon at Bonita Bay Club April 20. Laura Gates/Banner Correspondent This lot of red and white wines was among items raffled during the Zonta Club of Bonita Springs Woman of the Year Luncheon April 20 at Bonita Bay Club, supporting Free The Girls. Laura Gates/Banner Correspondent By Laura Gates, Banner Correspondent When Kimba Langas arrives home at the end of the day, she commonly finds bras lying on her front porch. It doesn't disturb her. She's happy to collect these discards. What most American women have haunting the back of their lingerie drawers is a treasure trove to women in developing countries. Not only are bras in demand there, they have the power to catapult rescued sex slaves out of poverty. "You don't have to do something big to save the world," said Langas, co-founder of Free The Girls and guest speaker for the Zonta Club of Bonita Springs annual Woman of the Year Luncheon. "It can be as simple as fishing bras out of the back of a drawer." Luncheon attendees were asked to bring a bra as part of their admission to the event Wednesday. The resulting mountain of brassieres will be added to Free the Girls' inventory and supplied to victims of modern-day slavery who have been rescued and rehabilitated in Mozambique, El Salvador and Uganda. Free the Girls helps with a third "R": Reintegration. Women are given 100 bras to start a business and may purchase more a below-market cost, giving them a competitive edge against other street vendors, Langas explained. They use their profits to enhance their standard of living and provide for their children; some even launch other businesses. "When you give bras, you give life," said Langas, quoting a message from a Free The Girls recipient in Uganda named Fatima. "We are able to do so many things because of what you give." Another slavery survivor, Ofelia, uses the bra business to support her family of six, Langas reported. Ofelia purchased a brick house with glass windows in Mozambique. "Nobody has glass windows in her community," Langas said. "People stop and use it as a mirror. Now she's an esteemed business woman in her community. She has a house, and she's starting to sell other products." Langas aims to inspire others to become "everyday abolitionists." Aside from donating bras, people may help by sharing on social media, networking with industry partners, or joining other agencies which aid victims of sex trafficking, Langas added. "We all have a part to play in ending human trafficking and modern slavery," she said. Zonta International's stated vision is synergistic with Free The Girls: "...a world in which women's rights are recognized as human rights and every woman is able to achieve her full potential." The Bonita Springs Zonta club is one of many across the nation which support Free The Girls. "I am more than thrilled to meet some more Zonta friends," Langas said Wednesday. Since 1998, the Bonita Springs club has named one outstanding community member as Woman of the Year. Teri Lamaine, executive director of the Bonita Springs Assistance Office, joined this exclusive group Wednesday. "She is very involved, very giving and obviously very passionate about people," said Zonta president Sara McCallum. A longtime community advocate, Lamaine was nominated by numerous individuals for the Woman of the Year honor. Known as a "cheerleader" for the city of Bonita Springs, Lamaine also is the founder of the Bonita Blues Festival, which raises funds for Music for Minors and the Children's Hospital of Southwest Florida. Her first interaction with Zonta was as a board member for the Parkinson Association of Southwest Florida. "Zonta has touched me personally and professionally," Lamaine said, receiving her award. "Zonta helps enrich our community of Bonita Springs." Eight former Woman of the Year recipients also attended Wednesday's luncheon, including luncheon chair Trish Leonard. Along with the bra donations, Zonta also raised funds for Free The Girls through a silent auction and raffle -- allowing the men to take part in helping the mission. To learn more about Free The Girls, visit the organization's website freethegirls.org. SHARE By Kristine Gill of the Naples Daily News A Naples man is accused of stealing nearly $100,000 in insurance claim payments from an elderly New Jersey business owner who lost business during Hurricane Sandy in 2012. The Florida Division of Insurance Fraud announced the arrest Daniel T. Phelps, 56, Thursday. Investigators say Phelps spent the stolen $96,000 on a new Jaguar car, a boat, Lasik eye surgery, and a trip to Key West. The agency began investigating Phelps in 2014 when they received information that he had stolen two checks from George Capuzzi, who was awaiting two checks that would help him reopen his business in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Click here to read the affidavit The investigation revealed that Capuzzi had health issues and needed help processing the insurance claims. Capuzzis friend referred him to Phelps who redirected delivery of the claims to his girlfriends home in Naples. Once the checks were mailed, Phelps visited Florida and endorsed the checks by forging Capuzzis name. Phelps used his step brothers license to deposit the checks into a joint account, then transferred the money to his own personal account and used it at will. To date, Capuzzi has not reopened his business. Phelps was picked up at the Broward County Health Center on charges of scheming to defraud, grand theft, and criminal use of personal ID. This case is being prosecuted by the Office of the State Attorney, 20th Judicial Circuit of Florida under State Attorney Stephen B. Russell. SHARE By Greg Stanley of the Naples Daily News Collier County off-roaders may have finally found a place to ride. The Federal Aviation Administration has given county officials preliminary approval to build an ATV park at the Immokalee airport. The site is about half the size the county wanted, but proponents of an off-road park are willing to take what they can get after more than a decade of fruitless searching. "At this point in time, something is better than nothing," said Jeff Close, a member of a county advisory committee tasked with finding land for the park. "It's a start." The park would go on about 300 acres of undeveloped airport land. The county already owns the land and, with trees and tall vegetation, it may not need much work, said Steve Carnell, administrator of the county public services department. "With the layout the way it is, the site could be big enough," Carnell said. "There isn't much we would need to work around because the things that are there are the things you want. The trees and other vegetation make for good trails." The county needs to conduct an environmental review and put forward a business plan to show the FAA that the park would be self-sustaining. The FAA would have to sign off on the park before it could be built. But local airport leaders think the off-roaders would complement the Immokalee airport's drag racing strip and perhaps spur enough interest to bring a campground back to the airport. A campground would be key to a successful off-road park, Close said. "You almost have to have one if you're going to pull people in from other counties," he said. "You can't expect people to come that distance then just load up and go home." The airport had intended to build a campground to go with the drag strip. Construction started but never finished. With talk of an ATV park, the airport could revive plans to finish the campground, said airport manager Justin Lobb. "It's something we're definitely interested in pursuing," Lobb said. "The idea is a campground and an ATV park would be very complementary, so we're waiting to see if the ATV park will come to fruition. There are still hurdles we need to go through, but the park would definitely be beneficial to the airport." The money to build the park would come from a $3 million settlement the county received in 2011 from the South Florida Water Management District. The district pledged in 2003 to find one square-mile 640 acres for off-roaders in return for kicking them out of the Picayune Strand State Forest as part of an Everglades restoration project. Over the next eight years, the district's search found nothing but unwilling sellers and environmental concerns. Eventually, the county government filed a lawsuit against the district. In a 2011 settlement, the district threw up its hands and paid the county $3 million to conduct the search itself. Four years later, that money still is sitting in county coffers almost entirely untouched. In October, the county set aside $10,000 to create a program to give residents free tickets to ATV parks within a few hours drive of the county. The program offered more than 300 tickets to residents who wanted them and was used to gauge public interest. In a matter of months, all tickets were claimed. Gold medal winners of the NAACP Collier County ACT-SO competition. From left to right: Jhonnan Desinor, Jenia Alexis, Jacksen Pierre, Jeffrey Saintil, Ivonne Munoz, Roberto Burgos, Stephanie Latortue, Jasmine Cledanor and Kesline Senesca. The winners will go on to the national competition in Cincinnati in July. (Maryann Batlle/Staff) By Maryann Batlle of the Naples Daily News Roberto Burgos had not heard his name yet, but he knew he won. The 16-year-old from Golden Gate High School placed his hands on his face and squinted his eyes to hold back tears. The people seated around his banquet table had come to the same conclusion, and some of them quietly congratulated him. It was his Oscars moment. Burgos was among 14 young competitors who gathered Saturday at the Hilton Naples to hear the results of last weekend's NAACP Collier County local ACT-SO competition. ACT-SO stands for "Afro-Academic, Cultural, Technological and Scientific Olympics," an annual program designed to "recruit, stimulate and encourage" achievement among high school students, according to the NAACP. High school students earned bronze, silver and gold medals in humanities, performing arts, science and visual arts. The 2016 local gold medal winners, including Burgos, who won medals for drama and singing, will go on to the national competition this July in Cincinnati. All travel expenses are paid through contributions made by sponsors who support NAACP Collier County's youth outreach. The winners were buoyant as they ate celebratory cake and congratulated each other. Jasmine Cledanor, 15, earned a gold medal for her poem about "a deceptive woman who lets out her inner evils on other people." The Lely High School student said she is inspired by Edgar Allan Poe. "I want to explore all different types of writing," said Cledanor, who also won a bronze medal for essay writing. "This opportunity is a platform to get my poetry exposed." Ivonne Munoz, 15, had no formal singing training until she joined the Collier County ACT-SO competition her freshman year at Lely High School. Now a sophomore and on her way to the nationals competition, Munoz said she is focused on her goals. "What matters most to me is knowing that I did my best," said Munoz, who won a gold medal for oratory and a silver medal for singing. The chance to perform before a national audience validates all the hard work, said Burgos, who said he plans to study music and theater at Florida Gulf Coast University before following his dreams elsewhere. "I feel like my voice can touch others," Burgos said. Other gold medal winners were Kesline Senesca, for vocals; Jeffrey Saintil, for poetry performance; Stephanie Latortue, for engineering; and Jacksen Pierre, for drawing. Other silver medal winners were Jeffrey Saintil, for poetry writing; Laurie Paul, for poetry performance; Fridson Janvier, for drawing; and Giovanni Principe, for photography. Bronze medals also went to Jenia Alexis, for poetry writing; Kesline Senesca, for singing; Jhonnan Desinor, for poetry performance; and Tomas Coliqueo, for painting. FILE - In this Dec. 2, 2015, file photo, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally at the Prince William County fair grounds in Manassas, Va. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen, File) SHARE FILE - In this April 3, 2016 file photo, Republican presidential candidate Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, speaks during a campaign event in Green Bay, Wis. For months Donald Trump has dominated the political scene like no other. But listen to endangered Senate Republicans as they campaign for re-election and you might not even know he exists. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya, File) By Alexandra Glorioso and Maria Perez of the Naples Daily News Serena Perez remembers the moment when she realized Republicans might have a problem with Latino voters in this election. About a month ago, a Cuban-American who has lived in the U.S. for 18 years walked into the immigrant voter advocacy organization New Florida Majority in Miami and asked if he could register to vote. He and his family had always supported Republicans, but this time he was serious about voting for a Democrat, said Perez, the organization's field director. His explanation, offered in an animated discussion, was that billionaire Donald Trump would be a disaster for Latinos if he were elected, Perez said. "This moment affirmed the Cuban community is changing," she said. That view is supported in new research that suggests Cuban Americans in Florida are uniting, particularly the younger generation that will consider more liberal candidates, with other Latinos across party lines in the 2016 election. A new survey indicates that 65 percent of Florida Latinos say they don't believe the Republican Party cares about them or is sometimes hostile to Latinos. That number is similar to the 73 percent of Latinos nationally who feel the same way about the GOP, according to the poll, conducted by the Seattle-based Latino Decisions political research group. The firm, which has done research for Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton, was hired by the immigrant advocacy group America's Voice to conduct the poll. The surprise, however, is that the results in Florida are not far off from the national numbers, despite a big Cuban population that has typically not been as swayed politically by immigration arguments because they have an easier path than many Latinos to citizenship. Sylvia Manzano, a political scientist for Latino Decisions who conducted the study, said in a conference call Friday the poll accurately represented Florida's Latino demographics, with a margin of error of 4.9 percent. The disenchantment with the Republican Party, including Cuban Americans who have been loyal GOP voters, is driven mostly by Latinos who view Trump and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz unfavorably, primarily because of their public positions on immigration, the poll conducted between April 3 and April 13 suggests. Nationally, 87 percent of Latinos view Trump unfavorably, with 79 percent viewing him very unfavorably, according to the poll, which has a 2.1 percent margin of error in the national sample. In Florida, the numbers are similar: 84 percent view Trump unfavorably, with 73 percent viewing him very unfavorably, according to the poll. Nationally, 52 percent of Latinos view Cruz unfavorably, with 34 percent viewing him very unfavorably. In Florida, 45 percent of Latinos view Cruz unfavorably, with 32 percent viewing him very unfavorably, according to the poll. Florida's trouble with Latino voters mirrors a nationwide problem for the Republican Party, one GOP leaders vowed to fix after 2012 nominee Mitt Romney lost ground with the voters. Romney received 27 percent of the national Latino vote, or just over half of the 44 percent that President George W. Bush received in his 2004 re-election. Trump Collier County campaign chairwoman JoAnn Debartolo said she doesn't believe her candidate's support among Latinos is as low as the new poll suggests. Trump has won in every county except for one in Florida and is winning many Latino votes, she said. In Collier County alone, there are over a dozen core Latino volunteers for Trump, she said. "There are a lot of Latinos who are happy with Trump," she said. Mike Lyster, chairman of the Collier County Republican Party, said he doesn't think the Republican Party is alienating the Latino vote. His party, he says, has a Latino presidential candidate, Cruz, while the Democratics don't. Ivan Terrero, president of the Hispanic Republican club of Collier County, said there is still six months before the election. Many Latino voters can change their perception about Donald Trump when they get to know better who he is and what he stands for. Terrero said he is sure Donald Trump will correct any mistakes he might have made. "I don't think the Republican Party is really concerned about that," Terrero said about the possibility the primary campaign could be alienating the Latino vote. "If there is an issue that has to be corrected, it will be corrected." The tough talk on immigration from Trump and Cruz has hurt the GOP among Latino voters, the poll suggests. Nationally, 78 percent of Latino voters surveyed said they were less likely to vote Republican because of Trump's position on immigration, and 55 percent said Cruz's position make them less likely to vote for the GOP. In Florida, 68 percent of Latino voters surveyed said Trump's immigration stance turned them off to the GOP, and 48 percent of Florida Latinos said Cruz's position makes them less likely to vote Republican. Dario Moreno, associate professor of Politics and International Relations at Florida International University, said in an interview the results were in line with his own research. Moreno, who once taught a class with Republican U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, has worked for Republican campaigns. His research suggests 35 percent of Cubans in Florida support Trump. Normally, about 70 percent of Cubans favor the Republican nominee, he said. Manzano said the reason both Trump and Cruz's rhetoric about deporting undocumented immigrants has alienated Florida Latino voters is that one in four people polled has personally known someone who is undocumented. "When Trump talks about this, it's not hypothetical. This is a very real experience for them," she said. "These are people they go to school with, people they go to church with." torn divorce decree and cash, with wedding ring SHARE Paper cutout family with divorce related messages By Kristine Gill of the Naples Daily News Many local divorce attorneys and advocates against domestic violence agree that divorce laws need a major overhaul in the state of Florida. But like Gov. Rick Scott, they don't agree with state legislators who wanted to do it by approving a bill they said would have favored parents instead of children when it comes to custody battles. In his veto letter issuedApril 15, Scott said that Senate Bill 668 hotly contested among Floridians might have done just that. "Current law directs a judge to consider the needs and interests of the children first when determining a parenting plan and time-sharing schedule. This bill has the potential to up-end that policy in favor of putting the wants of a parent before the child's best interest by creating a premise of time-sharing," he wrote. "Our judges must consider each family's unique situation and abilities and put the best interests of the child above all else." Divorce attorneys here in Naples said the bill, which also established guidelines for awarding alimony, might have passed without the 50-50 language. "This would have been great for alimony payers," said Alex Peterson, principal attorney and owner at Family First Legal Group in Naples. "There is a lot of discretion in alimony right now. You can go into court with one case you think will get $2,500 a month and get $4,000 or nothing. Having some sort of guidelines would be helpful for people going into those cases." But like Scott, Peterson said the custody language was not in the best interest of children. "I don't think it would have had a tremendous impact," he added. "Some judges on the bench have an unwritten presumption of 50-50 custody. I don't consider it a travesty to fathers in the state of Florida that this didn't pass. I've represented quite a few fathers in the state who have gotten a fair shake." John "Jack" Long Jr., a family law attorney in Naples with Long, Murphy & Long, P.A.., agreed with Peterson. "My firm liked the fact that the bill gave us some certainty through guidelines on how to resolve alimony demands, whereas now the demands are up to the quality of the lawyer of the spouse seeking it," he said. The bill would have eliminated permanent alimony and also established a formula for payments that would have considered income of each spouse and the length of the marriage. But when it comes to the 50-50 language, he believes the system works "as well as it can" currently to address the nuances of custody battles. Not all parents want shared custody, and some aren't fit to have custody. A 50-50 schedule can be burdensome for parents and unsettling for children. "This would give someone a foot in the door to ask for 50-50 because you begin with the premise, but it's not as strong as a presumption," he pointed out, adding that the bill would not mandate 50-50 custody but rather make it a sort of preferred arrangement in the right situation. Peterson and Long said they anticipate more attempts at reform on these counts given the governor has vetoed similar bills in the past. Advocates against domestic violence voiced strong opinions against the 50-50 premise. Linda Oberhaus, executive director of The Shelter for Abused Women & Children, is a member of the board of directors for the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence (NCADV), which has consistently opposed all language related to 50-50 time-sharing. "Popular proposals to enact statutory requirements for joint physical custody threaten the safety and well-being of battered women and their children," Oberhaus said in a statement. "The danger is that it assumes that 'shared parenting' and 'co-parenting' are inherently in the best interest of all children, without regard to what is actually happening in the lives of the families involved. Especially in cases where domestic violence has been documented, we should not be elevating the rights of parents over the safety and well-being of children." Hers was an opinion echoed by state leaders as well. Leisa Wiseman, spokeswoman for the Florida Coalition Against Domestic Violence, agreed Scott should have vetoed the bill. "Considering the unique circumstances of a family is especially important when there is domestic violence in the home, as keeping the children safe is a primary concern. A premise/presumption of 50-50 time-sharing as prescribed in the bill places a substantial evidentiary burden on a survivor of domestic violence to prove a negative i.e. to show why 50-50 time- sharing is not in the best interest of the child," Wiseman said in a statement. "Many victims of domestic violence do not have attorneys in divorce actions, and because they are proceeding pro se (without legal representation), may not have the ability to present the necessary evidence to overcome this premise. As a result, had the bill stood, a judge may have to award 50-50 time-sharing even when it is not in the best interest of the child to do so." SHARE The latest kerfuffle between the Collier County teachers' union and School Board member Kelly Lichter may not constitute a violation of laws or policies against in-school politicking, but it certainly gives voters a litmus test for 2016. For starters, it should convince voters the coming election isn't just about issues. It's also a referendum on conduct of elected leaders. It likewise should remind voters of the importance of showing up, compared with the turnout travesty in the August 2014 primary. At Collier School Board meetings this year, Lichter complained the Collier County Education Association (CCEA) engaged in political activity during working hours at school. The union distributes a newsletter, which has included links to independent websites with some content critical in nature. Lichter's complaints prompted school district attorney Jon Fishbane to look into the allegations. At a March 8 meeting, he updated the board on his investigation and said he would report back at their April session. He did so, finding that no law or policy was violated. The allegations We expect most teachers will be surprised anyone, much less a School Board member, would compartmentalize their "working hours." If they're politicking in the classroom, taxpayers should be duly alarmed. But Collier has a lot of good teachers who aren't clock punchers. If someone puts in long hours doing lesson planning or grading students' work off campus, why begrudge them a few personal moments on school grounds? We find the "work time" suggestion unfair to the profession. Notably, Lichter isn't even on the ballot this year. The union, teachers and anyone else ought to be able to share their views about School Board members' performance as free speech. If there's a legitimate complaint about politicking, it should come from someone running. We'd applaud anyone who raises general awareness to the upcoming election. Lichter's complaint comes with baggage. She was called out last year by the Florida Education Association because of her anti-union conduct, as we called it, and the district sidestepped a lawsuit. We'd also note that, during a School Board meeting last year, Lichter told the audience not to worry, 2016 wasn't far away. That wasn't political? Crossing the line Fishbane's investigation pointed to the need for CCEA to better train those distributing its materials. That's on union leadership. Comparatively, however, that pales with Lichter again crossing the line in a compulsive desire to go rogue. On March 11, three days after Fishbane told the board he was investigating and would provide an update in April, Lichter fired off a complaint to the Florida inspector general. She didn't even mention Fishbane's investigation, instead stating "there may be collusion between the CCEA and the school district." It was forwarded to the Department of Education, which referred it back to the School Board and Fishbane. August 2016 Does this represent the kind of conduct Collier voters want from their School Board members? We wish we knew. Lichter was elected with an asterisk in August 2014 with 16,760 votes that's 9 percent of the 185,016 then eligible to vote. Only about 32,600 even voted in that nonpartisan race about 10,000 fewer than in the 2010 School Board primary when there were far fewer registered voters. Candidates running for two Collier School Board seats in August deserve to know they've been elected without an asterisk. A greater turnout in August 2014 would have erased this question we still have concerning Lichter's election. Issues wise, she's aligned with board member Erika Donalds, who advanced from the primary in 2014 to win a November runoff thus winning voter support twice. Conduct wise, we've seen night and day on the board between the two since. That's why it's important for voters to hear from School Board candidates about issues but also how they intend to conduct themselves if elected. Maybe Collier voters prefer five board members who each want to function independently. If voters don't show up in droves in August, we'll be left to guess and attach more asterisks to those chosen. SHARE Sandy Doyle, Naples Election foils Are Collier School Board candidates Erick Carter and Stephanie Lucarelli being used as foils? Melhor Leonor's Naples Daily News report on Southwest Florida Citizens Alliance's School Board forum on Marco Island included a very interesting comment: "The seats appearing on voters' ballots later this year are currently held by board members Kathleen Curatolo and Julie Sprague, who have not indicated whether they plan to run for re-election." Both Curatolo and Sprague have supposedly told constituents and the local teachers' union that they are not running. But this could be just a political tactic to deflect parental dissatisfaction. The final qualification date is June 24 and they could easily jump back into the race. Then, they could use their name recognition and the "establishment" to carry the day. Both incumbents have been under tremendous pressure these past 18 months for their votes on disastrous issues ranging from (1) a 5.82 percent property tax hike; (2) refusing to support an external audit; (3) voting with board member Roy Terry to support pornography in books; (4) not following F.S. 1003.42 requiring the teaching of our founding principles instead of revisionist history; and (5) religious and political indoctrination in our classrooms. This is only the tip of the iceberg a lawsuit alleging Curatolo violated parents' and taxpayers' First Amendment rights was settled out of court, and a lawsuit is still pending over the shenanigans of Superintendent Kamela Patton's Sunshine Law dealings with Blue Zones. Beware to Lucarelli and Carter; you may just be sacrificial lambs. To the other candidates, heads up. And to the voters, do not lose sight that one or both of these incumbents could be doing a slick end-run. SHARE Douglas Lewis, Naples Public school failures Collier County high school students achieved a reading proficiency of only 54 percent, a math proficiency of only 62 percent and a college readiness of only 31 percent. Yet, the Florida grading system claims most of our high schools are "A" schools (www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/florida/districts). Local extremists are peddling statements such as the following in order to justify, explain and empower such public school failures: " scores in English Language Arts (ELA) and math decline when schools educate a higher percentage of students who qualify for free and reduced lunch." Additionally, public charter school success is falsely attacked on the basis that they do not have as many students on free or reduced lunches as do public non-charter schools. As a community, we are committed to the very best in educational rigor and opportunities for all public school students, and such statements seek to unnecessarily divide us. Further, this approach falsely stereotypes our wonderful students. For example, International Studies Charter High School in Miami-Dade County has 61 percent of its population on free or reduced lunches and has a total minority enrollment of 80 percent. However, students attending International Studies Charter High School achieved a reading proficiency of 71 percent, a math proficiency of 69 percent and a college readiness of 100 percent. Thankfully, schools like International Studies Charter High School do not buy into the kind of bigotry of low expectations that is being falsely peddled by local extremists. Frankly, this is the right approach. Let's link arms. Let's take off the victim glasses. Let's empower all of our students and parents with more school choices and the very best in educational rigor and curriculum. Agreed? Key players in 2022-23 Silly Season Can you hear it? Just listen. That is the sound of the NASCAR rumor mill starting up, and there are plenty of questions to answer for 2023. Eamonn Wynne She had ridden in a few charity races 15 years ago but hadnt sat on a racehorse for over 10 years. So when she was asked to consider putting her name forward for the St. Patricks Derby at the Cheltenham Festival last March Clonmel woman Wendy Normile eventually agreed but only after a lot of persuasion. She took part in the race to raise funds for Cancer Research UK and that struck a chord with Wendy - the daughter of Pat (Patricia) and Alan Normile from Marlfield as her brother Alan had died from bowel cancer in December 2010. From over 100 applications to ride in the race she was one of the 12 chosen and her mount Prince of Fire, owned by JP McManus and trained by Charlie Swan, finished third. More importantly she raised more than 53,000 sterling for the charity. Her fundraising efforts were rewarded last month when Wendy was invited to the Cancer Research UK Thank You Lunch at the House of Lords in London, when she learned that she was one of the highest individual fundraisers for the charity over the last year. I was delighted with the invitation. It was a nice reward and a great honour. It was a lovely day and a lovely tribute to Alan. Her brother was just 36 when he succumbed to cancer almost two years ago, leaving behind his wife Lucy and their three young children, all of whom were under the age of 7. The couple trained a string of racehorses just outside Perth in Scotland where Lucy continues to train successfully and raise her young family. The experience of riding in the St. Patricks Derby was amazing and it was a great tribute to Alan, who adored Cheltenham. Although this charity is based in Britain the research undertaken by Cancer Research UK benefits people worldwide as everybody has been touched by cancer in some way, says Wendy, who lives in Fethard and works as secretary to the manager at the world-famous Coolmore Stud. Cancer Research UK, which doesnt receive any Government funding, brings together the worlds leading scientists in their efforts to find a cure for cancer. In addition to riding in the charity race she organised other fundraisers including a charity auction night in Moyglass and a coffee morning, as well as setting up a donation page on the website Justgiving.com She had great support from her family, friends, work colleagues in Coolmore and business associates, as well as people she had worked with in the United States 20 years ago. People have been so generous. Even the taxi driver who took me to the House of Lords told me to donate the fare to the charity, she says. Wendy also had great assistance from trainer Michael Mouse Morris and was allowed to prepare for the race at his Everardsgrange stables in Fethard, where she had worked in the office some years ago. The lunch at the House of Lords on 19th September was hosted by Lord Evans of Watford. The guest list included 60 people who had supported Cancer Research UK by either organising fundraising events or participating in various activities themselves. Guests were also addressed by Dr. Harpal Kumar, Cancer Research UK Chief Executive, who told them that their support had enabled the charity to lead world research in discovering and developing newer, kinder treatments while moving closer to finding a cure for the disease - Cancer Research UK has helped double the survival rate of cancer sufferers in 40 years. This was followed by a short speech by one of the scientists involved in Cancer Research who gave an update on some cancer treatments and their advancements. Visiting Athens on Friday (22 April), NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg met with the Greek President Prokopios Pavlopoulos, Prime Minister Aleksis Tsipras and Defence Minister Panos Kammenos to discuss current security challenges and NATOs response. Mr. Stoltenberg thanked Greece for its commitment to the Alliance for many decades, its investment in collective defence, and its significant efforts to cope with the biggest migrant and refugee crisis in Europe since World War Two. The Secretary General recalled that "NATO is in the Aegean Sea because Greece, Germany and Turkey requested our assistance to help cut the lines of human trafficking," and stressed that, as part of international efforts, "NATO is helping counter criminal networks, secure our borders and save lives. NATO is also working with the EU closer than ever before." Mr. Stoltenberg thanked Greece for contributing three ships to NATO's deployment in the Aegean, and for the excellent cooperation with Turkey and the EU's border agency Frontex. In preparation for the NATO Summit in Warsaw in July, the Secretary General also discussed with his Greek hosts NATO's efforts to address the root causes of the refugee and migrant crisis. We are assisting partner countries in the Middle East and North Africa to strengthen their own defence and fight terrorism and instability, he said. The Secretary General stressed that this month NATO started training Iraqi officers and stands ready to support Libya. We also discussed the challenge of a more assertive Russia, responsible for aggressive actions in Ukraine, Mr. Stoltenberg said. He stressed that in response to Russias actions the Alliance has increased collective defence and deterrence, "not to provoke a conflict, but to prevent a conflict, and to keep our citizens safe." At the same time, NATO is keeping lines of political dialogue open, as testified by the recent meeting of the NATO-Russia Council. 'This kind of loss hurts' 'Overseas connections' (NaturalNews) For all its political and social quirks, one good thing that can be said about California is that the state boasts a booming agricultural industry. That said, the billions of dollars generated by California farming each year has drawn the attention of international crime rings who are targeting some of the most lucrative crops.As reported by, these rings are concentrating especially on high-value nuts, stealing truckloads at a time, and causing police and the hauling companies being victimized by the thefts to boost efforts to break up the crime spree which has cost growers millions.The highly sophisticated theft rings are, in many cases, utilizing high-tech tactics such as hacking into trucking companies in order to steal identities. That enables their operatives to arrive with false shipping papers while they pose as legitimate truckers, thereby allowing them to simply drive off with loads of nuts including walnuts, pistachios and almonds valued at between $150,000 and $500,000 each.It's only some days later, when shipments don't arrive at their intended destinations, that growers, trucking companies and authorities realize that the nuts are likely already in another state or on a ship bound for Europe or Asia, where they will command top dollar on black markets, police say.In fact, as their value climbed, theft of nuts peaked in California last year, with losses totaling around $4.6 million from just 31 reported incidents more than the combined thefts of the three previous years, according to data from CargoNet, a group of shipping companies and law enforcement agencies allied to prevent losses.Asreported further:"You get hit with that kind of loss it hurts," Crosswell told theThe value of nuts grown in California , the nation's leading agricultural producer, has climbed dramatically in recent years, due to rising global demand for healthy snacks in places like China and other emerging economies. Agriculture in China, as reported by NaturalNews , has a history of being tainted and toxic , so it is only natural that Chinese with means would prefer organic and other healthy food from the U.S. and elsewhere.In total, California grows more almonds, pistachios and walnuts than any other state, with a combined value of $9.3 billion in 2014. All by themselves, almonds were valued at $5.9 billion, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture data cited byDan Bryant, supervisory special agent for violent and organized crime programs at the FBI's Sacramento office, told the news wire service that the nuts' high value has garnered the attention of criminal enterprises who have begun to exploit weaknesses in the cargo shipping industry to attain massive profits.When asked, Bryant would not ID any organizations currently under suspicion, due to ongoing criminal investigations.But he did say, "It's not just some teenage kids ripping off nuts. These are sophisticated people."In addition to federal authorities, local police are also involved, as is the state government. One state lawmaker has introduced a measure that would fund a statewide task force that targets all types of cargo theft. Also, law enforcement officials and nut growers met recently to forge a strategy to prevent more thefts.Due to the dramatic rise of nut thefts, Tulare County Sheriff Mike Boudreaux tripled his agricultural crimes unit from two to six detectives last year.notes that in 2013 Boudreaux's office investigated one pistachio theft valued at $189,000. While no cases were reported in 2014, the following year his department recorded the loss of six shipments of almonds and pistachios worth a combined $1.6 million.One load was tracked to Los Angeles, and one arrest was made. Officials would not provide the suspect's name to, only that he had "overseas connections." Supporters say usage would be manageable Critics say there will be more health, law enforcement issues A November 2015 ministerial briefing presentation, "Legalizing & Regulating Marijuana," was released to The Canadian Press under the Access to Information Act. Some conclusions and recommendations were withheld from release, but the document offers insight into how the new government will navigate the issue. (NaturalNews) The Canadian government plans to introduce legislation in 2017 that, if approved, would make the sale of marijuana legal throughout the country, the nation's health minister said.As reported by the BBC, if the law is enacted it would make Canada one of the largest Western countries to permit widespread usage of the drug.Health Minister Jane Philpott said in recent days that the objective of any legalization law would still be to keep marijuana "out of the hands of children and profits out of the hands of criminals."Left-leaning Prime Minster Justin Trudeau pushed for legalization of marijuana during his recent campaign.The announcement that the government would seek to legalize pot coincided with April 20 an unofficial holiday for advocates of cannabis . Hundreds of marijuana users demonstrated outside Parliament in Ottawa last week.Pot is already legal in Canada for medical purposes, and some have argued the same things that other advocates have said in other countries pushing for legalization that doing so would lessen their nation's burden on the criminal justice system."We will work with law enforcement partners to encourage appropriate and proportionate criminal justice measures," Philpott said. "We know it is impossible to arrest our way out of this problem."Not all Canadian government officials and parliamentarians, however, are on board with the legalization plan. MP Gerard Deltell, a lawmaker from Canada's opposition Conservative Party, says widespread legalization would harm the overall health of the country."That's one of the worst things you can do to Canadian youth - to open the door to marijuana," he told Reuters.Trudeau has named Bill Blair, the former police chief of Toronto, to be the government's point man on the legalization process."We control who it's sold to, when it's sold and how it's used," Blair said likening marijuana to how alcohol is regulated, according to the BBC. "And organised crime doesn't have the opportunity to profit from it."He added that pot would remain illegal in Canada while the legislation was being worked out; Philpott said those details had not yet been produced.As reported byin March, as the liberal government began its legalization push Health Canada identified nine key considerations from possible health risks and benefits to the experiences of other jurisdictions documents showed.reported further:Here were some key findings:Eleven percent of the population age 15 and older used marijuana in the past year, according to a survey that was actually conducted in 2013. At 26 percent, use was highest in the 20-24 age group. This was defined as "relatively low overall rates of usage" and rates actually declined with age.While some evidence exists that there is some therapeutic benefit to marijuana use , the documents said, for symptoms of chemotherapy, neuropathy and treatment-resistant epilepsy in children, the health community consensus is that there are also long-term risks to cognitive ability for users under 25.Criminal enterprises are heavily involved in the marijuana trade, much of which is imported from the United States via Mexico and South America. Also, there are illegal grow operations throughout Canada, according to Canadian authorities. In addition, police have reported a small number of drug-impaired driving offenses, and critics say those are likely to climb if the drug is legalized throughout the country. Here's hoping all dogs do go to Heaven. Maggie, an Australian kelpie likely to be the world's oldest dog, recently died at her home in Victoria, Australia. The dog was thought to be 30 years old, though there is no official paperwork on her real age. Her owner Brian McLaren, a Woolsthorpe dairy farmer, confirmed the passing of his friend. He said he feels saddened by her death, but is "pleased she went the way she went," as reported by The Guardian. Maggie the kelpie grew up with McLaren. He got her as an eight-week-old puppy 30 years ago. In November last year, the furry dog became a media sensation. Australia's 7 News Perth featured Maggie in a video, which featured her as most likely the oldest dog in the world. In the short clip, McLaren described the dog as his good friend who shadows him around the farm, where she is the only sheepdog among several cats. "In my mind, it is possible," said veterinarian Dr. Jack Ayerbe in the video about her long life span. "But it's a really, really remarkable feat." Dog years work differently than human years. According to the CalculatorCat website, a long-standing belief is that a dog year is equal to 7 human years. However, it is only a rough guide and can be quite inaccurate, since there are several factors in our doggie friends that must be considered, such as their size, breed and life expectancy. The CalculatorCat website suggests a middle-ground approach based on studies that dogs develop quicker in the early stages of their lives. This method takes the dog's first two years, with a dog year equal to 10.5 human years. After that, every dog year is considered equal to 4 human years. Using this calculator, Maggie is about 133 human years old, which is still quite a feat for many pets. It is sad that Maggie, who is now peacefully sleeping under a marked grave under a pine tree, does not have any documentation to prove her real age. The Guinness Book of World Records says that the record for the oldest dog is currently held by Bluey, an Australian cattle dog, who passed away at age 29 in 1939. Although pets may not live long with us, there are several health benefits associated with taking care of one. According to Animal Planet, studies show that owning a pet can help us become more social, make us feel less lonely and even help reduce the risk of heart-related diseases. With both cheap clothing lines and high-end brands proliferating in countries like Italy, U.S., Japan and Hong Kong, the fashion industry indeed has a big influence around the world. But before you go splurging on the clothes you've been eyeing for some time now, or before you book your ticket for some bargain shopping in Thailand, ask yourself first, did you know that the fashion industry is destroying the environment? Greenpeace International has shown some concern on the hazards of the growing fashion industry. Although there's nothing wrong with shopping and wanting to dress well, there are consequences when it comes to making the clothing people wear. In China, one of the biggest industries is comprised of denim factories. But producing tons and tons of denim at a breakneck pace is detrimental to the environment because of the chemicals used in factories in order to produce them. They say it causes high levels of industrial pollution and it causes its toll on the environment. According to a Greenpeace report, it takes 1.7 million tons of chemicals to produce 2 billion pairs of jeans every year. Not to mention the water consumption needed for production which can go as high as 7,000 liters. Aside from denim jeans, Greenpeace believes that waterproof outdoor clothing can also be a cause of deterioration in the environment. The substance found in outdoor gear to repel water, called perfluorinated chemicals or PFC, is non-biodegradable and will turn into waste over time. Greenpeace experts also claim this substance is also considered carcinogenic. Overconsumption is another problem. Because there are a lot of cheap clothes, people tend to hoard. Another problem with the fashion industry and the costumer culture is that most of the clothing people hoard turns into waste very quickly. A report said that in the UK alone, 350,000 tons of clothing ended up in their landfills every year. How can we help resolve the problem and save the environment? Recycle There are clothes which are designed to last. Instead of throwing them in the trash, adding to the industrial pollution, might as well repurpose them into other household necessity like curtains, table accents, etc. Detox your clothing This is a solution presented by Greenpeace, for clothing companies to stop using chemicals in their clothes like PFC. Promote and buy organic clothing There are eco-friendly clothing materials produced without harming the environment Being fashionable should also mean being responsible, and in order to stop destroying the environment, fashion enthusiasts and bargain hunters alike should start to shift the fashion industry and costumer culture to a more socially responsible trend. The California Republican Convention is just one week away and the fury to get ready for next Friday and the June 7 primary is underway. On the same day that Donald Trump hosted a rally in Delaware claiming the primary system is rigged and the only way to knock out his opponents is with votes, his campaign launched a California-wide call urging Independents in the state to register Republican. With California's primary vote less than two months away and contests still not decided, the Golden State has become a strategic hot spot for presidential campaigns. "Time is short and every vote counts," Trump said in the phone message. "I want your vote and I want to make America great again." Trump's phone call campaign comes one week before California's Republican Convention. All three Republican candidates seeking the party's nomination are scheduled to attend. But Republican activist Craig Deluz said most super PAC supporters do not back Trump. Deluz also said Trump's efforts to win California may be too little, too late. "He is not consistent with the values of Republicans, the Republican Party platform or in general the Republican agenda and I think that in the long-run he is going to have a very difficult time in California," Deluz said. Trump is scheduled to give the keynote address at the Republican Convention kick-off banquet scheduled for next Friday at the Hyatt Regency in Burlingame. A wealthy Internet entrepreneur appeared in San Francisco court Friday for a probation revocation hearing. Prosecutors want a judge to jail Gurbaksch Chahal for a September 2014 incident in which they said he kicked a woman a dozen times. The reported victim -- who is now refusing to testify -- told police she met him while she was working at the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas. Several months later, after they had been drinking inside his penthouse, the woman said Chahal got angry over her treatment of his security staff. She told police that the attack left her with two bruises. After the incident, she said he threatened to report her to immigration if she went to authorities. The incident came just five months after a judge threw out a video tape prosecutors said showed Chahal hitting another woman more than 100 times. In that case, the court ruled that the video was not legally seized by police. As a result, Chahal was out on probation for a misdemeanor battery conviction at the time of the penthouse attack. Before Friday's hearing, members of the Sikh community accused prosecutors of going overboard and called Chahal a prominent leader who has provided jobs to the community. Bob Dhillon, general secretary of the Sikh Temple, said Chahal should not be punished because the earlier case fell apart due to a legal technicality. "If something is wrong with our justice system, that justice system has to be the problem (and) not continue to pursue Chahal," Dhillon said. But domestic violence victim advocates said Chahal must be held accountable "We understand that they are coming to show their support," said Beverly Upton with the San Francisco Domestic Violence Consortium. "But so many other Sikh organizations are questioning whether he is accountable." The judge in the case will be hearing more testimony in coming days before she decides whether there is enough evidence to revoke Chahal's probation. Chicago State University said Friday that while the approval of a $600 million spending bill to keep Illinois' public universities and colleges open through the summer is appreciated, it's not enough. The entire CSU family appreciates the support of lawmakers who voted to provide these much needed funds in order to help universities continue effective operations, the statement reads. It should be noted however that this funding measure represents only a portion of the appropriation CSU and its sister universities are owed by the state. The amount provided is insufficient in solving the broader crisis the budget impasse has created. CSU has been one of the hardest hit schools in the state. The school cancelled its spring break and moved its commencement ceremonies up to April 28. Chicago State will now receive $20 million in funding to keep the school running. Nevertheless, the university will still have to make concessions moving forward. While appreciative and supportive of the emergency funding, limited allocation by the state will still require CSU to make difficult cost-cutting decisions moving forward, including additional workforce reductions, the statement read. Gov. Bruce Rauners office lauded the bipartisan effort. By passing this bipartisan agreement, lawmakers in both chambers put aside political differences to provide emergency assistance for higher education, ensuring universities and community colleges remain open and low-income students can pay for school, Rauner spokeswoman Catherine Kelly said in a statement. We are hopeful the General Assembly will build on this bipartisan momentum in the weeks ahead as we negotiate a balanced budget with reform for Fiscal Years 2016 and 2017. Rauners key Democratic counterpart, House Speaker Michael Madigan, placed blame on the governor for creating the dire situation. Governor Rauner has said that crisis creates opportunity and leverage, and that government may have to be shut down for a while, Madigan said in a statement. Now, he has forced a situation where some universities are on the verge of closing. The state's budget impasse dates back to July of last year. The stalemate has hinged on a battle over Rauner's pro-business, union-weakening Turnaround Agenda. Earlier this week, Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis called Gov. Bruce Rauner a new ISIS recruit and now the Illinois Republican Party is using her statements as a fundraising tool. Our Governor was compared to a group that murders innocent children in cold blood and sells women in to slavery, Illinois Republican Party Chairman Tim Schneider wrote in a fundraising e-mail. Stand with Governor Rauner and tell Karen Lewis that her obscene rhetoric won't be tolerated. She must be held accountable for such grossly inappropriate statements, Schneider added. The e-mail also includes a link to a site that allows supporters to donate to the Illinois Republican Party. During a Wednesday speech at Chicagos City Club, Lewis blasted Rauner, tying the governor to the terrorist organization. Bruce Rauner is a liar and, you know, Ive been reading in the news lately about all of these ISIS recruits popping up all over the place- has Homeland Security checked this man out yet, Lewis asked. Because the things hes doing looks like acts of terror on poor and working class people. Rauners office quickly rebuffed Lewis claims. This kind of rhetoric has no place in American public discourse and sets a terrible example for our kids, Rauner spokeswoman Catherine Kelly told Ward Room. Last week, Rauner released his school funding breakdown for next year. Chicago Public Schools stands to lose $74 million under the plan. In addition to this, Rauner moved forward with a plan to give control of CPS to the Illinois State Board of Education in February. During her speech, Lewis referred to Rauners Turnaround Agenda as his turn us down agenda and faulted the governor for the fallout from the states budget stalemate, which dates back to July of last year. Last week, the CTU rejected an independent fact-finders report that recommended teachers accept CPS latest contract offer. In the rejection, Lewis said a countdown clock is ticking and they could walk off the job as early as May 16, which would disrupt the final weeks of the school year. A young mother of three who disappeared just days before the party she had been planning for her 2-year-old sons birthday has been found dead, police said Friday. Merrillville police said Diamond Lewis' body was found Thursday in the basement of an abandoned home in the 1400 block of West 18th Avenue. "All indications point to domestic violence," police said in a release. An autopsy found she died of asphyxiation due to stragulation and her death was ruled a homicide. Two people are in custody in connection with her death, authorities said. Charges were pending as of Friday morning. Lewis was last seen with her infant daughter Morgan last Tuesday, as she got in a car with the father of the 2-month-old girl. Her ex-boyfriend, Darran Barnes, said he picked up Lewis and Morgan from a Walgreens in Merrillville, Indiana after she asked for a ride because her boyfriend was using her car. Barnes picked Lewis up sometime between 3 a.m. and 4 a.m. and drove her and her daughter to 15th and Virginia in Gary, where Lewis' boyfriend had taken her car. Thats when he says Lewis got into a vehicle with Morgans father and drove off. The last time Barnes spoke to her was in a text message later that morning. She took off and she texted me that morning like, Thank you, he said. I said youre welcome and that was the last I heard from her. Lewis father, Cornelius Lewis, said it is not like his daughter to disappear, especially without her children. I am really worried because this is something Diamond has never done before, he said. Cornelius Lewis noted his daughter had been planning a celebration for her 2-year-old sons birthday, set for this weekend. There is no way Diamond would miss that, he said. Police said 2-month-old Morgan has been found safe. The sophomore who died shortly after a confrontation inside a bathroom at her Wilmington, Delaware, high school has been identified as Amy Joyner-Francis, police said Friday. Police have not said what caused the 16-year-olds death, but school and city officials said Thursday she died shortly after a "physical altercation" with two students at Howard High School of Technology. Students who knew about the fight said they believe it stemmed from a dispute over a boy. Police did say a school resource officer called EMS at 8:18 a.m. Thursday for a student complaining of head and chest pain, and that the call quickly escalated to a report of CPR in progress. Joyner-Francis died a short time later at a nearby hospital. Students at the school, which is part of the New Castle County Vocational Technical School District, returned to class Friday. An autopsy was expected the same day. Family Photo "Several female students were involved in a physical altercation at approximately 8:15 a.m. this morning, in a main floor girls bathroom, just at the time classes began for the day," the school district said in a statement. Shauntea Bellamy cried as he sat outside the school after learning of the student's death. He worked with her as part of youth outreach programs and said she was set to volunteer in a summer program he organizes. "It hurts when you know her personally and she's not one of my students who are out there in the streets like that," he said. Wilmington Mayor Dennis Williams said police were interviewing suspects Thursday evening, but didn't elaborate about whether arrests would be made. Those closest to 16-year-old Amy Joyner-Francis gathered at a growing memorial in her memory outside her Wilmington, Delaware high school Friday night to mourn her death. NBC10s Drew Smith was there. State agencies will help provide support for those affected by the tragedy, Gov. Jack Markell said in a statement. Wilmington City Councilman Darius Brown is holding a town hall meeting for the community at 6 p.m. Monday, at Stubbs Elementary School. He said the governor, state attorney general and mayor will speak. Students were surprised to hear about the girl's death, saying the school is not known for being a trouble spot. Records show there have been 14 reported fights there last school year. Williams called the fight an isolated incident. Friends of the girl held a vigil in her memory outside the school Thursday night, and another vigil was expected at 6 p.m. Friday. "A lot of families were destroyed today," Williams said. Delaware police are still investigating the death of 16-year-old Amy Joyner-Francis, who died after a fight inside a Wilmington high school Thursday. NBC10s Deanna Durante has more on what led up to that fight and what the community is saying about the loss of Amy. A search warrant released by the Midlothian Police Department Thursday says fitness instructor Missy Bevers died of a head wound. Meanwhile, investigators in the North Texas city have seized her pickup truck in hopes of finding a clue that leads to her killer. Terri "Missy" Bevers, 45, arrived at the Creekside Christian Church at about 4 a.m. Monday to prepare for her early-morning Camp Gladiator fitness class. When her students arrived at 5 a.m., they found her unresponsive. Officials later declared her dead after finding signs of a struggle and evidence of forced entry, police began investigating her death as a homicide. A review of surveillance video recorded inside the church revealed the presence of another person inside an hour before Bevers' arrival. The person was described as wearing black, police-like clothing. Police originally thought the person was a man, but backed away from that assertion Tuesday afternoon. In the search warrant dated April 18, police said Bevers was "deceased from a head wound" and that the person in the video "used an unknown instrument to cause the death of Terri Bevers at this location." The Dallas County medical examiner completed an autopsy on Bevers Tuesday, but police are not releasing her specific cause of death citing the ongoing investigation. By withholding that information, police said they retain a strategic advantage in the investigation. The warrant instructed police to take custody of Bevers' 2012 Ford F-150 pickup truck. Inside the vehicle, police said they could see Bevers' purse, an iPad and other personal effects. Police said they hope to find clues inside the truck that lead them to the woman's killer. On Wednesday, Midlothian police said their investigation was being assissted by the Texas Rangers, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Search Warrant [[376598621,C]] NBC 5's Jocelyn Lockwood contributed to this report. A solar-powered plane on an around-the-world journey was about a third of the way to California early Friday after taking off from Hawaii, the project's mission control said. Solar Impulse 2 pilot Bertrand Piccard called out the sunrise after cruising over the north Pacific on battery power during darkness, according to a livestream from a website documenting the journey. "Absolutely fantastic moment ... That's a sunrise I will remember all my life," he said. The plane was cruising over the cold northern Pacific on Friday Earth Day an occasion the team planned to mark with a live call between Piccard and United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. The trans-Pacific leg is the riskiest part of the plane's global travels due to the lack of emergency landing sites. After some uncertainty about winds, the plane took off from Hawaii Thursday morning and was on course to land in Mountain View, California, over the weekend. The crew that helped it take off was clearing out of its Hawaiian hangar and headed for the mainland for the weekend arrival. At one point passengers on a Hawaiian Air jet caught a glimpse of the Solar Impulse 2 before the airliner sped past the slow-moving aircraft. The Solar Impulse 2 landed in Hawaii in July and was forced to stay in the islands after the plane's battery system sustained heat damage on its trip from Japan. The aircraft started its around-the-world journey in March 2015 from Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, and made stops in Oman, Myanmar, China and Japan. It's on the ninth leg of its circumnavigation. Piccard, said the destination in the heart of Silicon Valley is fitting, as the plane will land "in the middle of the pioneering spirit." Piccard's co-pilot Andre Borschberg flew the leg from Japan to Hawaii. The team was delayed in Asia, as well. When first attempting to fly from Nanjing, China, to Hawaii, the crew had to divert to Japan because of unfavorable weather and a damaged wing. A month later, when weather conditions were right, the plane departed from Nagoya in central Japan for Hawaii. The plane's ideal flight speed is about 28 mph, though that can double during the day when the sun's rays are strongest. The carbon-fiber aircraft weighs more than 5,000 pounds, or about as much as a midsize truck. The wings of Solar Impulse 2, which stretch wider than those of a Boeing 747, are equipped with 17,000 solar cells that power propellers and charge batteries. The plane runs on stored energy at night. News of a beloved celebrity's death often brings heartbroken fans from far and wide to the Hollywood Walk of Fame to pay tribute to a talent lost. But when news spread of Prince's sudden death, there was no star on the world-famous sidewalk to gather around. That's because the legendary pop artist had turned down the opportunity, as so many elite and influential figures had not, to have his name monumentalized along the Hollywood corridor. "Prince was approached on two occasions about the possibility of being nominated for a star and he stated that the timing was not right," the Walk of Fame said in a Facebook post Friday in response to questions about the notably absent star. "We would have loved to honor this very deserving talent. It is unfortunate that it did not work out." Ana Martinez, a Walk of Fame ceremonies producer, said in a statement that an application was never submitted on behalf of the Purple One, but he could still be honored posthumously, though the waiting period for that is five years. "We hope his family will do that when the time comes," Martinez said. Other big names noticeably absent from the Walk of Fame include Oscar-winners Robert De Niro and Dustin Hoffman, comedian Jerry Seinfeld, media mogul Oprah and Grammy-winners Madonna and Whitney Houston. According to Martinez, of those, Madonna, Whitney Houston, Jerry Seinfeld and Oprah have been selected, but have not set dates for dedication ceremonies. Ohio Governor John Kasich sat down for a one on one interview shortly before his town hall event in Glastonbury and said he knows the odds are stacked against him winning Connecticut. "People are really just beginning to find out who I am but were plugging ahead and we hope were going to have a decent finish here, Kasich told NBC Connecticut. Kasich is far behind both Donald Trump and Sen. Ted Cruz in the delegate count. In the most recent Quinnipiac University Poll, Kasich trailed Donald Trump by double digits. He says he tries not to look at polls much during the primary stage. Kasich said GOP voters should look at polls that show how well he fares against Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton. In 15 straight national polls I beat Hillary Clinton because I can attract people who Republicans dont always attract and we just have to keep going. Even though Kasich's tone is far less forceful than those of his GOP rivals, he tells voters to not mistake him for a moderate. He said he's still conservative. He said with a GOP Congress he would repeal the Federal Healthcare Law, Obamacare, but said states like Connecticut that have seen success with the expansion of Medicaid for low income residents, could keep that segment. He views Medicaid as a separate element altogether. It wont affect my decision. States that expanded can keep what they have and those that havent will live with what theyve decided. When pressed on whether he will win in Connecticut, Kasich said his eyes are on Cleveland and the Republican National Convention. That's the only victory he's concerned with. "If I can win delegates to me it will be considered a win and I think were going to get some delegates. I cant predict whats going to happen. You just move one foot in front of the other, with your eyes focused on Cleveland where were going to have an open convention and well see what happens. The international mystery may have started in Zimbabwe, but it ended in the state of Connecticut. Joe Sabia, who is a Milford-native, said when his friend found an SD card in the sand while on safari in southern Africa, he immediately knew he had to find the owner. "I said 'I'm holding on to this' with the intent of going back to my laptop and seeing if there were actual images on the card," Sabia told NBC Connecticut. Sabia remembered seeing a YouTube video from 2011 about a New York man, Todd Bieber, who found a roll of film in Brooklyn and, with the help of the internet, was able to return the film to its rightful owner in Paris. The 32-year-old videographer thought this could be a "digital version" of Beiber's story and created a six-minute YouTube video to recount how his trip to Zimbabwe turned into a lost and found mission. In the video, Sabia finds the SD card has 13 photos of a group of friends from about four years ago. One photo was even taken on the exact day Dec. 31 that Sabia's buddies found the SD card. The video shows Sabia hopelessly looking for clues about who these people may be. A photo showed a jersey framed on a wall and another some shelves. But it was a phone number on a water heater in one picture that led Sabia a little closer to his finding his SD Cinderella. The phone number was a Fairfield area code. The company is based in Fairfield County, Connecticut. Someone here is from Fairfield County, Connecticut!" Sabia is heard exclaiming on camera. After making the video, Sabia's friends helped share the post on social meda sites like Reddit. Within five hours someone knew someone, who knew someone, who eventually found a girl who is in some of the photos," Sabia told NBC Connecticut in a Skype interview. It turns out the girl from the photos wasn't that far from Sabia at all. All of a sudden the picture pops up and its me and I freak out. I was like, 'this isnt real,'" Rebecca Sheinman told NBC Connecticut. The young woman and her family had taken the same safari trip around the same time Sabia did in December 2015. Sheinman, 22, who is originally from Wilton, said she was on the phone with her mom on Wednesday night when her dad grabbed the phone. "He said, 'Girly, get a computer' and I hear in his voice he is freaking out!" Sheiman said. Sheinman's dad had gotten an email from a friend with Sabia's link. Sheinman and her dad soon emailed Sabia to thank him for finding her SD card, even though she didn't know it was lost it in the first place. And just like that, Sabia traveled thousands of miles back home from Africa to find that the owner of this lost SD card was also a native in his home state. In another serendipitous twist, Sheinman said she will be moving to New York City after she graduates from college in Michigan the same city where Sabia lives right now. The two plan to meet up sometime in May when Sheinman returns east and can finally reunite with her SD card and exchange a ton of stories. "I would love to put a bow around this whole thing. I want to be able to hand her her digital card and talk about our stories." Sabia told NBC Connecticut. "We're so accidentally bound by this experience," she added. A newborn was killed by the family dog while in the parents' bed Friday morning, San Diego Police confirmed. The 3-day-old died following the attack in a home on Flanders Drive near Camino Ruiz in the Mira Mesa area. Sgt. Tuu Nguyen, of the Child Abuse Unit San Diego Police Department, described the baby's death as a tragic accident. His unit was called as it is in any child death investigation. The mother and father of the newborn were watching television in bed with the baby and the dog, Nguyen said. When the mother suddenly coughed, "the dog made contact with the baby leading to traumatic injuries," Nguyen said. The parents rushed the newborn to the hospital, but the baby did not survive. Nguyen did not go into details regarding the injuries the baby suffered, saying the San Diego County Medical Examiner's office would determine the cause of death. The dog is in the custody of the Department of Animal Services and under quarantine. It was described as a 2-year-old American Staffordshire Terrier by agency Deputy Director Dan DeSousa. DeSousa did not have details on the attack but told NBC 7 an animal is placed under quarantine any time it bites or breaks human skin. He added that the family can direct them to euthanize the dog but they have not received that directive. The location of the incident is near Mesa Verde neighborhood park and south of Mira Mesa High School. Check back for updates on this developing story. A family claiming a disabled child was sexually assaulted on school bus is now suing East Hartford, its school district and the Dattco bus company. The sexual assault on the bus happened on two separate occasions in late summer, according to the lawsuit. The 20-page lawsuit was filed in Hartford superior court on Wednesday. It said the assailant was another male student, who has a history of alleged behavioral issues. The NBC Connecticut Troubleshooters recently sat down with the familys attorney. Attorney Rick Kenny described to NBC Connecticut what the childs parents are going through, Youre frustrated as to why this would happen in a school system of all places. It didnt out in some park-- it didnt happen at some ball game. It happened on a school bus, where youve entrusted your child to. The lawsuit alleges the victim, named anonymously as John Doe, was sexually assaulted in August of 2015 on a Dattco school bus. The child was 12 years old at the time and a special education student at East Hartford middle school. Attorney Kenny said there is video surveillance of both incidents. Attorney Kenny told the NBC Connecticut Troubleshooters, When you look at the films, you dont have any question this took place." The paperwork indicates the child was forced to inappropriately touch another male student riding the same school bus and perform oral sex on that same student. It happened, Kenny said, two times in late August, as the bus driver was either loading or unloading wheelchair bound students behind the bus. Attorney Kenny added, The bus driver cannot say, 'well Im doing the wheel chairs therefore, I cannot monitor the other children in the seats, ok?' The lawsuit names the town of East Hartford, its board of education and Dattco, Inc. specifically. The documents cite negligence that includes the failure to provide a safe ride to school, failing to adequately train employees and failing to warn of the danger presented by the so-called assailant. Kenny stated, Im not sure why he was on that bus, thats something we need to find out because everyone else on bus had some level of disability. Kenny describes the assailant as having past behavioral issues and not being disabled. This is a small version of a Dattco bus. 3-4 students in the benches and 3-4 wheelchairs in the back, and for some reason the bus driver didnt see this, the school had no monitor on the bus and the young man was assaulted in the seat by student in DCF custody, by the child, Kenny stated. Kenny said the alleged victim is now receiving intensive treatment. Hell be transferred to another school district, and is suffering from shock, emotional distress, anger, sadness, feelings of being unsafe, paranoia and increased anxiety, according to Kenny. School superintendent Nathan Quesnel tells the NBC Connecticut Troubleshooters the district conducted an investigation as soon as the allegations came to light and they contacted police. Adding, "The safety and wellbeing of our students is our paramount concern. If we become aware of any claim a student has been mistreated in any way, we investigate the claim properly and thoroughly. Where appropriate we also notify law enforcement and child protection agencies. Kenny reminded, Connecticut has a law that says theres special duty to children, you now have custody of child, the parents do not. And when you have that you have an affirmative duty to make sure child isnt harmed. And eh, didnt do that and neither did Dattco and were going find out why. A spokesman for Dattco, Incorporated, and the bus company named in the lawsuit tells the NBC Connecticut Troubleshooters, because of ongoing litigation, Dattco is unable to release any information at this time, stated COO Cliff Gibson. A spokesman for the mayor in East Hartford told us by phone today, she has no comment because this is an ongoing investigation. The Department of Children and families is prohibited by state law from disclosing information on child protection records. The following editorial appeared in the Los Angeles Times on Tuesday, April 19: ___ The Supreme Court on Monday heard oral arguments in United States v. Texas, a case that will determine whether 4 million people living in the country illegally will get a reprieve from the threat of deportation, as President Barack Obama sought to provide. Its a contentious case framed as much by politics as law, and one that has gained even more urgency with the rise of Donald Throw Them All Out and Build a Wall Trump as the face of a troubling anti-immigrant populist fervor. But the president was right in November 2014 when he issued an executive order expanding the pool of people eligible for deferrals because they were brought to the United States as children, and offering deferrals to the parents of U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents. There are at least 11 million people living in the U.S. without permission, nearly two-thirds of whom have been here for more than a decade. To track them all down and throw them out would be cruel, inordinately expensive, damaging to communities and disastrous for such businesses as construction, landscaping and food production. Trump and Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, may not be able to stomach the notion, but those illegals have become part of our society. After the Dream Act died in the Senate in 2010, Obama crafted the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals policy to offer a reprieve to more than 1 million people living here illegally since childhood. In the wake of House Republicans refusal to consider the bipartisan Senate immigration reform bill in 2013, Obama broadened the definition of those eligible for reprieves under his previous order, while also granting similar treatment to those in the country illegally who are the parents of citizens or green-card holders. But Texas led a challenge by 26 Republican-dominated state governments that accused the president of failing to follow the required procedures in adopting new regulations and of violating the Constitutions requirement that the president take care to faithfully execute the laws Congress enacts. Despite their weak legal arguments, a Texas federal judge issued an injunction against Obamas new deferrals, leading to Mondays arguments before the high court, which were dominated by questions about whether the president overstepped his authority and whether the states have legal standing to challenge the deferrals. To bring a legal challenge, a petitioner must show that it has or will suffer concrete and particularized injury. The lower courts accepted Texas claim that the deferrals would harm the state by increasing its costs under a state policy that allows drivers licenses for noncitizens lawfully living in the state. But the federal government doesnt order states to issue the licenses, and Texas could avoid the damage by changing its policy or setting a higher fee. We believe the courts should be as open as possible to those seeking redress from wrongs, and should not deny standing lightly. But we also think it is wrong for elected officials to use the courts to settle political disputes rather than legal issues, as Texas and the other states are doing here. If the Supreme Court tells Texas et al that theyre fighting a political battle in the wrong arena, that would send a welcome signal. Conversely, a 4-4 split would in effect end the deferrals, which would be bad for the country and for millions of people carving out lives for themselves. We would prefer the court to affirm that the president acted within his powers in deciding whom to target for removal and whom to give permission to work in the country powers established in immigration law. And in the process, the justices can grant some relief to immigrant families who have become integral to the fabric of the nation. Ohio police released 911 calls that were placed from two of the four locations where eight family members were found dead on Friday. "There's blood all over the house!" the first caller said in the call placed at 7:49 a.m. "I think my brother-in-law's dead." "I think they're both dead," she said before breaking down into sobs, according to one of two 911 call recordings released Saturday by the state attorney general's office. Police still have no one in custody in the killings, which took place in Piketon, a small, rural town east of Cincinnati. Authorities identified the victims Saturday as Hannah Gilley, 20; Christopher Rhoden, Sr., 40; Christopher Rhoden, Jr., 16; Clarence "Frankie" Rhoden, 20; Dana Rhoden, 37; Gary Rhoden, 38; Hanna Rhoden, 19; and Kenneth Rhoden, 44. Some of the family members appeared to have been killed as they slept, including a mother in bed with her 4-day-old baby nearby, according to authorities. The newborn and two other small children were not hurt. None of the deaths appeared self-inflicted. The victims' bodies are all at the Hamilton County coroner's office, where autopsies are expected to take the weekend to complete. Officials continued the scramble to determine who targeted that clan and why. Investigators said they interviewed more than 30 people, but made no arrests. Attorney General Mike DeWine, in a Friday night news conference, would not say whether there was a "person of interest" in connection with the deaths, but did say many of those who were interviewed were in Chillicothe, NBC affiliate WLXT reported. He dismissed a report that the people authorities questioned included a person of interest. DeWine said they expressed their deepest sympathy for the family, adding "this is just a horrible, horrible tragedy." Officials urged surviving members of the Rhoden family to take precautions and offered help, and they recommended that area residents also be wary. "There is a strong possibility that any individuals involved with this are armed and extremely dangerous," Reader warned. Reader said Friday night that authorities had met with more than 100 relatives and friends of the Rhoden family at a church. The Pike County Sheriff's Office and the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation are investigating the slayings. Pike County asked for the bureau's help Friday morning. The first three homes where bodies were found are within a couple miles on a sparsely populated stretch of road, while the eighth body, that of a man, was found in a house father away. Authorities didn't release any information on what kind or how many weapons might have been used or whether anything was missing from the homes. Goldie Hilderbran said she lives about a mile from where she has been told a shooting took place news she received from a mail carrier who told her deputies had an area blocked off. "She just told me she knew something really bad has happened," Hilderbran said. Gov. John Kasich, campaigning in Connecticut for his Republican presidential bid, said his office was monitoring the situation in Pike County and the search for the killer or killers. "But we'll find them, we'll catch them and they'll be brought to justice," he said. Earlier Friday, Kasich tweeted that what happened in Peebles is "tragic beyond comprehension." The FBI in Cincinnati also said it was closely monitoring the situation and has offered assistance if needed. Economically distressed Pike County, about 80 miles east of Cincinnati on the western edge of Appalachia, has about 28,000 people, more than a quarter of whom live in poverty. The area is home to a shuttered Cold War-era uranium plant that's still being cleaned up. What happens if you lose a gift card and when you find it again years later it's no longer any good? A Newport Beach man called I-Team's Randy Mac for back up. Initially, Fred Piroumian was told his cards no longer had value, then he was told to file a claim. Once the I-Team got involved he got the answer he wanted. We've all stood in Piroumian's shoes. You move, you misplace things. "Totally gave up," he said. "Totally thought they were gone." Five years after they were lost, Piroumian found them tucked away in a box. But when he called to check the balance, he was told they were no good, he said. Macy's froze his gift cards, he said, and said he had to fill out a claim to get anything back. "Gift cards that are for a specific store cannot have an expiration date," said Rigo Reyes, chief investigator for LA County's Department of Consumer Affairs. California's gift card law prohibits gift cards from expiring. But Reyes said stores can freeze a gift card if it hasn't been used for a while, and can ask that you submit a claim. "As long as the consumer gets his money back, following the steps that the company put in place, and it has got to be reasonable." Because gift cards are often compromised, stolen or lost, if significant time passes, some stores may have procedures for you to follow to get them reactivated. Macy's assures us they asked for this consumer's information simply to confirm his identity. The I-Team reached out to Macy's, which said Piroumian's cards were purchased before California's gift card law went into effect "back in the days when Macy's gift cards expired." And that's what happened to Piroumian's. A spokesman for the company said, "Macy's gift cards purchased in recent years never expire." All Piroumian's cards were reactivated. Piroumian is frustrated he felt he had to call for help getting his own money back. "Nobody ever wants to go through this, even if it is resolved quickly," he said. "Nobody wants to have to fight again for what's theirs." Authorities on Friday announced a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible for fatally shooting a father in front of his girlfriend and infant daughter in Compton last year. Homicide detectives exhausted all known leads in the June 28 murder of 25-year-old Roberto Lucio of Compton, and solicited help from the public Friday afternoon, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. Lucio was shot outside his home in front of his girlfriend and infant daughter about 11:35 a.m. in the 1500 block of West 154th Street, LASD said. He later died at a hospital. At a news conference in downtown Los Angeles on Friday, family members expressed their grief and pleaded for help to find Lucio's killer. "Living in Compton, I always saw people get killed," said Gladys Lucio, the victim's sister. "But when it happened to me, it changed my whole perspective about everything." Lucio's family said he had stepped outside of his home with his family to buy toiletries, when a man in a vehicle pulled up and started shooting. Lucio's father said he was shot in the heart, and he ran to his side and held his head in his hands -- but Lucio was already dead when help arrived. "He looked at my dad with his eyes opened, like he wanted to say something to my dad," Yesenia Lucio said. The shooter, described as a man in his early 20s, fled the scene. He is believed to have taken off in a dark-colored, newer model Kia Optima with paper plates, authorities said. "Nobody has the right to take anybodys life away. I think we should stop him before he does it to anybody else," Gladys Lucio said. Demonstrators gathered at UCLA Friday to protest the use of cocaine and methamphetamine in lab animal experiments. The crowd of about four dozen converged at the corner of Le Conte Avenue and Westwood Boulevard for a march past the Neurobiology Department and toward the chancellor's office. They say animals are unnecessarily subjected to drug injections in lab experiments, proving what is already known about addiction. Computer models are a better way to research addiction, they say, and can be done more efficiently and cheaply than animal experiments. They're hoping their protest will put a stop to it. "They use live animals to do research on, without their consent," said Ellen Erickson of Animal Justice Project. "It's horrific tests. They're doing research on animals for addiction with methamphetamine, with tobacco, substance abuse and other addictions." UCLA released a written statement in response to the rally, saying in part that the "research has enhanced our knowledge of the workings of the human body in health and disease and has led to advances in our understanding diagnose and treatment of numerous diseases - including cancer, heart disease, neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease, and mental health disorders such as schizophrenia and depression." The school says all animals are treated humanely during those procedures. A former art dealer accused of failing to pay more than $1 million to the owners of paintings sold through his gallery, including former Hollywood powerbroker Michael Ovitz, pleaded not guilty Friday to three felony charges. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Sergio C. Tapia ordered Perry Rubenstein, 62, to be held in lieu of $1 million bail, pending a bail review hearing next Friday. He is also expected back in court May 11, when a date will be set for a hearing to determine if there is enough evidence for him to stand trial on three counts of grand theft by embezzlement. One of Rubenstein's attorneys, Stephen Sitkoff, told the judge that his client had "no criminal record whatsoever" and that defense lawyers had unsuccessfully offered to arrange Rubenstein's surrender if he was charged. Deputy District Attorney Marisa Zarate countered that the $1 million bail was appropriate. Rubenstein claimed that he sold two paintings by artist Richard Price for Ovitz in 2013, totaling more than $1 million, but never paid his client and kept the proceeds, prosecutors allege. Rubenstein is also accused of selling a painting by Takashi Murakami on behalf of art collector Michael Salke, but failing to turn over the full amount to him. Outside court, Sitkoff said, "This is a civil matter. It doesn't belong in criminal court." The Los Angeles Times reported that Rubenstein's gallery declared bankruptcy in 2014. Rubenstein was arrested late Thursday in Santa Monica. If convicted as charged, he could face up to 15 years in state prison, according to the District Attorney's Office. Police are searching for additional victims of a 61-year-old man suspected of molesting two girls at a Del Rey home where his wife also runs a day care center. Pedro Aguirre Borda was arrested Wednesday in the 11500 block of Braddock Drive, according to the Los Angeles Police Department. Borda faces two felony counts of child molestation for the alleged abused that occurred in 2007, when Borda was 52 years old, police said. The first case was reported but no charges were filed. The second case, also in 2007, was reported this year, police said. The Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office recently filed warrants for both cases. The female victims were 3 and 5 years old at the time. Both incidents occurred at Braddock Drive where his wife also runs a day care center, police said. Borda is being held on $1.2 million bail. Anyone with information is asked to contact Los Angeles Police Department at 213- 473-0447 or 877-527-3247. Anyone wishing to remain anonymous should call 800-222-8477. A warrant has been issued for the arrest of a man believed to behind at least one car fire in Los Angeles -- and possibly others. The Los Angeles Fire Department believes 34-year-old David Charles Barton may be responsible for the car fires. They say that Barton was caught on tape placing combustible materials under a car on April 11. Denisha McQueen's car was set on fire in the downtown area next to another car that was also burned in separate incidents, both different from the April 11 blaze. She says police suspected this was an act of arson and found matches next to both of the vehicles. NBC4 News found that two similar car fires were started within the area and were caught on video recently. "It is unbelievable seeing it happening versus seeing the aftermath," McQueen said while watching the video. "It's upsetting and it's making me angry... it's like, why would someone do something like that?" McQueen took pictures of her totaled car and alerted the fire department. "It's just a material thing," said McQueen. "I'm very glad that no one was injured and that no one was a victim of this." Barton was arrested for similar crimes in 2014, according to the LAFD. Seven people, including a police officer, were stricken by an unknown substance in downtown Los Angeles tonight and rushed to a hospital, but all were expected to be treated and released. Firefighters responded about 7:15 p.m. to the intersection of San Pedro and Fifth streets after at least one person was stricken on a bus bench in the area, according to Jason Schutt of the Los Angeles Fire Department. The patients were exposed to an unknown hazardous material and did not suffer drug overdoses as originally reported. A crowd gathered at the intersection as firefighters tended to the victims and officers were summoned to provide crowd control, according to the Los Angeles Police Department. A Norwegian law firm says it has filed a lawsuit asking an Oslo court to ensure that Edward Snowden can travel to Norway to receive an award without risk of being extradited to the United States. Lawyers at the Schjodt law firm in Oslo said Thursday they filed the petition on behalf of Snowden and the Norwegian PEN group, which has invited him to receive its Ossietsky Prize in November. Attorney Halvard Helle told the AP that the petition seeks a "declaratory judgment" stating that Snowden, currently in Russia, cannot be extradited to the U.S. The former National Security Agency contractor in 2013 leaked details of a secret government eavesdropping program and left the country. He faces U.S. charges that could land him in prison for up to 30 years. The former president of the Broward Teachers Union has been sentenced to another year and a half in prison, on top of five years he already received for fraud and campaign finance violations. The Sun Sentinel reports that a federal judge rejected part of a plea agreement Friday for Patrick Santeramo, who ran the union for 11 years, and gave him the additional prison time. A Broward circuit judge sentenced Santeramo on state charges last week. Between 2001 and January 2012, authorities say Santeramo diverted about $165,500 in union money to himself through a kickback scheme with a construction company. Santeramo was ordered to pay $165,500 in restitution to a pair of insurance companies. Santeramo also made illegal campaign contributions by having 25 people make the donations and then reimbursing them with teacher union money. Police say the suspect they'd been looking for in a purse-snatching on an MTA bus is an 11-year-old boy. The boy was arrested and charged with grand larceny in the Feb. 26 robbery inside the bus on the corner of Commonwealth and East Tremont avenues in the Bronx, police say. Surveillance video from inside the bus shows the boy waiting for the bus to stop, and as the doors open, he grabs the 53-year-old woman's purse and runs off. The woman was seated in the front with her grandson on her lap. The purse contained her iPhone 5 and personal identification, police said. Parents who live next to the bus stop were disturbed by what they saw in the video. "I think it's up to parents to keep track of their children at all times and obviously they're not doing a good job at it," said Edwin Hernandez of Tremont. The boy will be facing a judge in juvenile court, police said. Work on the L train's East River tunnel is not scheduled to start until early 2019. That's the word from the MTA. It's still undecided whether the entire tunnel will be shut down or one tube at a time will be closed allowing some trains to run while workers repair damage from Sandy. At an authority board committee meeting on Monday, officials said the first public hearing on the project will be held on May 5 at 6 p.m. at the Marcy Avenue Armory in Brooklyn. Another hearing will follow in Manhattan later in May. Officials will explain potential construction approaches they're considering and take questions from the public. The MTA says after the meetings, it will continue to meet with residents, businesses, community boards, merchant groups and civic associations in both Brooklyn and Manhattan. The L tunnel, also known as the Canarsie tunnel, is one of nine underwater tunnels that flooded in the 2012 storm. It carries more than 300,000 weekday riders. Some work on other tunnels was done during nights and weekends, while the R line's Montague Tunnel under the East River was closed for more than a year, and the G line's Newton Creek tunnel was closed for two months, both for complete renovations. The MTA says the reconstruction will also include improvements to stations, like new stairs and elevators at the Bedford Avenue station in Brooklyn and the First Avenue station in Manhattan. Brooklyn residents have already held their own community meetings to express their displeasure over a potential shutdown. A Long Island man says he was burned by an e-cigarette battery inside his pocket while inside a Home Depot store on Monday, days after a New York City woman says she was injured in a similar scenario. Stephen Rosenbluth was shopping inside the store in Freeport when the battery ripped through his sweatpants and boxers. "My pocket went on fire, it actually exploded," he said. Rosenbluth said other shoppers were stunned and apparently thought he was trying to blow up the store until they realized his pants were on fire. Patricia Mills, who was in line behind Rosenbluth, said, "He went into his pocket, and it [blew up] like a firework." "It was very frightening," she said. Rosenbluth said the explosion left second-degree burns on his hand and thigh. When he tried to pull the battery out, "I took a paper towel, wiped it and some of my skin came off." Other than email the cigarette manufacturer, Rosenbluth said he almost let the incident slide until he saw NBC 4 New York's report on Katrina Williams, whose rechargeable e-cigarette battery exploded in her pocket earlier this month. Efest, the China-based company that made the battery, said in an email that the company's battery packing boxes contain a warning to customers. Beginning this year the warning is being printed on the battery wraps as well, the email said. A warning on the company's website states that batteries shouldn't be placed in pockets. Also on the website is a 2014 email from a customer who appeared to have a similar experience, reading, "I was only informing you of the hazards of keeping the battery in your pocket in hopes that you put a warning on the battery so that the same thing doesn't happen to anyone else." "We are so sorry about this customer. ... But the vaping customers also (have) the responsibility to know how" to use their equipment, the company's email said Rosenbluth's lawyer says there's no warning on his client's batteries. That's a problem that needs to be fixed, he says. "Was this substandard manufacturing, is this a problem with all lithium ion batteries?" said attorney Keith Altman. "We don't know who, but one body has to regulate." With the increasing popularity of electronic cigarettes have come reports of exploding e-cigarette batteries. The U.S. Fire Administration estimated more than 2.5 million Americans used e-cigarettes in 2014, and between 2009 and 2014, there have been 25 fires or explosions involving vaporizer batteries. Sean Kane, president of Safety Research & Strategies, Inc., told NBC News he is "troubled" that no federal agency is regulating e-cigarettes. "We're seeing a flood of these low-cost, low-quality devices that are hurting people and we're dealing with safety as an afterthought," Kane said. "We need tough standards that require good design and manufacturing practices to ensure these devices are produced safely." A roaring fire swept through a Long Island condo complex overnight, gutting six units and sending intense flames shooting through the structure. Six fire companies, two ambulance companies and multiple police units responded to the blaze, which broke out at the Blue Ridge condo complex in Medford just before 11:45 p.m. When crews arrived the fire had already ignited four units at the condo complex. It then spread to two more units, Medford fire officials said. The fire was brought under control at 1:10 a.m. Officials said no one was injured. The number of people displaced is unclear. Beverly DeCesare was among those forced out. She said that neighbors banged on her door and told her to get out as the flames started sweeping through the building. She said she wasn't able to grab anything, running out of the building in her robe and slippers. "Furniture is gone. My clothes are gone," she said. "(There's) nothing." Suffolk County Fire asked the Red Cross to respond. Arson detectives from Suffolk County were investigating the cause of the fire. Top Tri-State News Photos An off-duty police officer was arrested Saturday morning on charges accusing him of beating and choking his wife. Officer Richard Phipps, 42, fought with his wife and began to choke her in front of the couple's teenage daughter at their home in Jamaica, Queens, investigators said. Their 16-year-old daughter tried to intervene, but was shoved away by Phipps, police said. Phipps, a 16-year veteran of the force, was charged with criminal obstruction of breathing, assault, harassment and acting in a manner injurious to a child. His wife wasn't seriously injured, police said. The boat carrying two missing teenagers, who disappeared off the Florida coast last year, was discovered near Bermuda nearly eight months after they vanished, authorities said Saturday. Austin Stephanos and Perry Cohen, both 14, set out on a fishing trip off the Jupiter Ponce de Leon Inlet aboard the single-engine boat on July 24, 2015 and never returned. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission said a Norwegian supply boat spotted the boys' Seacraft 100 miles off the coast of Bermuda on March 18 while on route to Norway. [[376850771, C]] The commission notified the boys' families once they confirmed the boat belonged to Stephanos, NBC affiliate WPTV reported. According to NBC News, a spokesman for the Fish and Wildlife Commission said the families were told they could come forward with the information "in their own time." An iPhone belonging to Stephanos and a tackle box were found on the teens' recovered boat, according to the U.S. Coast Guard. The boat is expected to return to the U.S. in mid-May, Fish and Wildlife Commission Spokesman Rob Klepper told NBC News. Lengthy searches by the Coast Guard and private pilots turned up no clues. The Coast Guard initially located the boat off New Smyrna Beach, two days after it went missing, but the company hired by the Coast Guard to bring the boat back couldn't find it. An 11-year-old girl from Somerset, Massachusetts, has died after choking on a marshmallow at a birthday party last Saturday. Azriel Estabrooks, a student at Somerset's North Elementary School, was found unconscious at the party and hospitalized for almost a week in critical condition, according to NBC affiliate WJAR in Rhode Island. She died Friday morning, the school principal told WJAR. Azriel's mother, Iris, said she dropped her daughter off at the party and received a call about an hour later from the mother who was hosting. "[She said] that I need to hurry up because something happened to my daughter," Estabrooks told WJAR. "She doesn't know what happened." The fire department responded to the scene, authorities said. Estabrooks said rescuers found a marshmallow lodged in her daughter's throat. She believes Azriel was unconscious for some time without oxygen to her brain before someone found her and called for help. Estabrooks accused the host family of negligence. WJAR could not reach the family for comment at the time of the initial report. At a time when criminal justice reform has gained national attention and bipartisan support from even the leading candidates for president, a handful of documentaries at the Tribeca Film Festival are giving a close-up to the human cost of mass incarceration. The films pursue the issue in numerous directions, from the conditions of solitary confinement to the difficult re-entry to society ex-convicts face. But they're united in depicting a system that's dehumanizing and destructive for all who enter it. "There's a lot of talk about a change moment. There hasn't been that much change," says Kelly Duane de la Vega, co-director of "The Return." ''We're hoping that this film and the many, many others that are in this struggle together can catalyze on this moment." "The Return," also directed by Katie Galloway, movingly trails a pair of men released after California altered the harsh sentencing of its "three strikes" law. David Feig's "Untouchable" delves into the distorted effects of Florida's stringent sex offender laws (more than 800,000 are listed on the state's sex offender registry). "Prison Dogs," by Geeta Gandbhir and Perri Peltz, documents psychically damaged inmates finding healing by caring for puppies. For "Solitary," Kristi Jacobson spent a year and half documenting a Virginia supermax prison and the lives of inmates who spend 23 hours a day within a 10-foot by 8-foot cell. There's even a virtual reality exhibit at the festival that simulates the experience of solitary confinement. The films are filled with tender and tragic stories of people many of them poor, many of them black men who made mistakes at a young age and were locked away for questionably long terms. They are stories of debatable justice, but are more principally films about human dignity. "The main thing I wanted my film to do was make you think about who these people are as humans: human beings who had childhoods and wives and for one reason or another, wound up here," says Jacobson. "The difference between them and you may be thinner than we think." An estimated 2.2 million Americans are behind bars, many times more than most industrialized democracies. Though crime has fallen drastically since its peak in 1991, the prison population has grown exponentially. The National Research Council found that the 2009 state and federal prison population was seven times what it was in 1973. Studies have found increased incarceration rates only slightly improve crime rates. Recently, criminal justice reform has emerged as a rare bipartisan issue. Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz has voiced support for easing mandatory minimum sentencing, as has Democratic candidate Hilary Clinton, who has written of an "incarceration generation." Last year, President Barack Obama became the first sitting president to visit a federal prison. "The Return" debuted at Tribeca but its true premiere was at Manhattan's Otisville Correctional Facility. There, inmates peppered one of the film's subjects, Bilal Chatman, for advice on how to make it on the outside. For Chatman, who has found a good job and remarried, agreeing to do the film was first simply about "survival" a means to help him get released. He had to rethink his commitment to the film once he was out. Not only were cameras a distraction in a trying time, he didn't want to be defined as an ex-con. "I didn't want them around," said Chatman. "Then I felt this sense that I had this opportunity to get this out there to the world. I had a sense of responsibility to all the guys that are still left there." The film's other subject, Kenneth Anderson, has had a harder road. He served 14 years, entering prison with four young children. His struggles include mental health and crushing guilt over his absence. "I've been yearning for freedom even though I'm walking around free," he says in "The Return," which PBS's "POV" will air in May. "I've seen it three times and I've cried all three times," says Chatman, who will meet Anderson next month. "Kenneth's family moves me every time. ... My connection to them is life long." The personal tales of "Solitary," filmed at Virginia's Red Onion State Prison, are no less emotional. One inmate asks, "Could you live in a bathroom for 10 years?" The toll of nearly zero human interaction is severe. Another inmate, fighting for his sanity, says, "I feel like I've been buried alive." Yearning for human connection, inmates often contort themselves to speak to other inmates through air vents in their cells. And the prison is grueling for the guards, too, many of whom took the job as the only local option aside from the coal mines. "The system is dehumanizing for all of us," says Jacobson, whose film will later air on HBO. "But there is some hope. We're at a particular moment in time where people who have been working on this issue for decades, just coming up against really well built brick walls, seem to be legitimately saying there is real progress and real reason to have hope." Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders campaigned in Delaware Saturday. Sanders spoke at the Chase Center on Riverfront in Wilmington, Delaware. Actress Rosario Dawson also attended the event and introduced Sanders. Sanders also hosted a rally Saturday morning at Royal Farms Arena in Baltimore. Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton is also heading to Wilmington for a campaign rally Monday morning. The Clinton campaign says the get-out-the-vote event is set for 11:15 a.m. Monday at World Cafe Live at the Queen. It's free and open to the public. Both Maryland and Delaware have presidential primaries Tuesday. Police in Delaware say an officer investigating a report of a man with a gun shot a 17-year-old boy in the knee after a foot chase. Wilmington police say in a news release that officers were called Thursday evening for a report of a man with a gun. Police say officers tried to stop a suspect, but he fled. When officers confronted the teen, police say an officer shot him. Police say the 17-year-old was taken to Christiana Hospital in good condition with a gunshot wound to his knee. Police say officers recovered a replica handgun from the teen, but did not say what prompted the shooting. Police did not give the races of the teen or the officer. home World Forced marriage in the United Kingdom still widely unreported despite law Many cases of forced marriage in the United Kingdom have remained unreported, and the cases that make it to court are very few. In West Yorkshire, 51 cases of forced marriage have been investigated since 2014, but only five have resulted in charges being filed, according to The Guardian. In the West Midlands, 31 investigations were conducted, but 19 ended up with no charges being filed. Eight of these were dropped because the victims did not want to proceed with the investigation. Only one case, in which a man secretly filmed a woman while she was in the shower and later forced her to be his second wife, resulted in a conviction. The man received a 16-year sentence for charges including bigamy, rape, and forced marriage. In 2014, a new law forbidding forced marriages was passed in England and Wales. Based on the law, parents who force their children into marriage can be imprisoned for seven years. With 1,300 cases of forced marriages investigated in 2013, 15 percent of which involved young people below 15 years old, the law was passed to encourage victims to speak up and report to the authorities. "Nobody is going to be forcing you to prosecute or criminalise your parents. Reporting is the first thing you have to do and it will be your choice to pursue a criminal justice process," Jasvinder Sanghera of the Karma Nirvana charity addressed the victims, BBC reported. However, two years later, police are still finding it difficult to bring cases to court, primarily because the victims are afraid to file cases against their abuser. An eight-year-old boy, the youngest known victim of forced marriage so far, is among those guarded by a special court order in West Yorkshire. Mak Chishty, the most senior Muslim police chief in Britain, encouraged more victims in the Muslim community to come forward. "My message to the community and to victims is I recognise it's under-reported, I recognise it's going on. I need you a through friends, family, teachers a to come and tell me and my colleagues in policing so we can help," he said. He also urged them to stop the practice because not only is it out of date, it is also a form of abuse against human rights. Stopping it would also not mean disrespecting the Muslim culture, said Chishty, who comes from a Muslim Pakistani background. "That doesn't mean not practising your religion, this means conforming with human rights," he said. On a sunny Sunday in spring, three generations and three branches of Pam Moody's family went to have fun at Gillian's Wonderland Pier on the Ocean City Boardwalk. "We're actually hard-core Sea Isle people," said Carrie Siewic, of Burlington County, one of Moody's daughters. "But we drive here for the Boardwalk." With warm weather, the local shoreline fills up with people looking for family fun. And businesses have looked to feed that need with everything from roller coasters and Ferris wheels to pinball parlors and video arcades. But family-friendly attractions can be difficult to attract, and maintain. When Gillian's Funland was in Sea Isle City for five summers, the extended Moody family went there. But Funland closed in 2013, and "we miss that thing," Siewic said, after her mom, sister, daughter and nephew got off the merry-go-round in Ocean City. "We went all the time until it left. Then we came here." New Jersey tourism was a $43.4 billion industry last year, including more than $10 billion spent on recreation, according to a state report released earlier this year. Visitor spending was $6.7 billion in Atlantic County and about $6 billion in Cape May County last year, according to the report. And coastal towns and businesses have tried to boost spending by families, something easier said than done. For decades, at least since the first casino opened in Atlantic City in 1978, critics have said the city doesn't have enough family draws. "They have one pier. One place for kids on this whole Boardwalk," said Scott Gardini, of South River, Middlesex County, after a Steel Pier visit with his son, Vincent, 4. As a kid, he went to the Seaside Heights boards in Ocean County. Now, if he wants to treat his kids to a boardwalk, sometimes he drives right by Atlantic City to Wildwood. He was in Atlantic City with his in-laws last week but said the city should broaden its market with "the casinos... dropping like flies." And Atlantic City has tried, desperately at times, to answer those critics. Steel Pier, which drew families for years with a mix of shticks that ran from rising stars to diving horses, closed after Resorts Casino Hotel opened in 1978. But it was reborn in the 1990s as an amusement pier full of rides and games. Investors have proposed three water parks in recent years, including two in closed casinos, the Atlantic Club and Revel. So far, not one has shown any progress. And last week, City Council approved tax incentives for a planned "Polercoaster," a vertical roller coaster at the long-vacant home of yet another former casino, the Sands. Plus Tropicana Atlantic City, which once had and closed an indoor amusement park, Tivoli Pier, opened a new "Family Fun Station" a few summers ago with 50-plus games. Back at Wonderland Pier, Brett and Shannon Balsley, of Linwood, watched their daughter, Olivia, 3, spin around happily on a kiddie ride. The parents go to Atlantic City restaurants, concerts and shows "all the time," Brett told The Press of Atlantic City. But if they want kicks for the kids, they head the other direction. "Personally, I think Atlantic City should stay an adult town. ... I don't think you should try to compete with Ocean City and Wildwood. They've got the market cornered" on family fun, he said. That take echoes something Steve Wynn, the casino magnate, told Time magazine in 2001 about family-friendly attractions for his latest Las Vegas resort. "Not interested. I'm after Mom and Dad," Wynn said. "Destinations have to look at their strengths," said Brian Tyrrell, a hospitality and tourism-management professor at Stockton University. "Look at the strength of Wildwood; it's family-friendly. Ocean City, the same thing; there's plenty for (families) to do. "Certainly there are going to be families with young children who come to Atlantic City occasionally, and there are some things for them," Tyrrell added. "But in general, that's not a strength of Atlantic City. I would add, though, that you can still be family-friendly and just not look for families with young children." Take his parents. They're big fans of Atlantic City shows and restaurants and visiting them with their son. And because there are different towns with different personalities all along the local coast, he supports marketing that cooperates instead of competing from town to town. "There certainly is plenty to do in the region," he said. "That's one avenue you could take." Gillian's Funland opened in Sea Isle in 2009, after local leaders worked for years to find an amusement park to replace Fun City. That small park ended a 30-year run right off the city's beach in 2000; the owners sold the land to luxury-home developers. Mayor Len Desiderio said he wanted a family-friendly draw because after Fun City closed, he got "literally thousands" of requests for something like it. The town finally found a taker when Jay Gillian, the third-generation owner of Ocean City's main amusement park, agreed to build one on city-owned land just off the bay. Gillian sunk an estimated $2.5 million into Funland to open it. But it closed for good less than five years later, in 2013, a summer when some rides never ran due to damage from Hurricane Sandy. And while both city and operator blame Sandy for Funland's demise, Gillian also said later that the place never took off the way he expected it to. Gillian told The Press in 2014 that "I probably should have left earlier. If it had been about the bottom line, I would have left after the first or second year, the third year at the latest." By phone this week, Gillian said the departed park keeps haunting his numbers. He's paying off close to $1.5 million in debt and expects to keep paying for another 10 years. Desiderio praises the efforts in his town of Gillian, who is also Ocean City's mayor. "They're very successful in Ocean City, and we were expecting something similar," Desiderio said. "My thing was, they couldn't bounce back" from the hurricane. "It was the only amusement park being opened in the country (in 2009), and it just didn't happen. It just didn't work," Desiderio added. "Amusements are ... a tough, tough business." After 87 years of family experience, Gillian can't disagree. "Regulations are just unbelievable. Borrowing money is unbelievable. Mom-and-pop amusement parks like us ... have so much going against us," he said. "It's a short season. We're competing against schools and camps (for kids). We're competing against Great Adventure, Disney ... the superparks." And his list goes on. Still, family-friendly can be money-making, for all concerned. Kathy Kaufman, of Washington Township, had two of her five grandchildren out last Sunday for a stroll on the Ocean City boards by Wonderland. She said the town is perfect for families. When her two kids were young, she brought them here. Today, her kids bring their kids. To encourage that, she bought a home in Ocean City because it's her favorite family-friendly town. And around the time she settled on the house, she made another major purchase. "We just spent $1,400," she said," for (ride) tickets for all my grandchildren." George Bengal, the head of humane law enforcement for the Pennsylvania SPCA, has been diagnosed with terminal cancer, the organization announced Friday night. Bengal is a former Philadelphia police officer who moved into animal welfare 20 years ago. He is often seen briefing the media when animal control officers carried out raids or rescued abused animals. "He has saved thousands of animals, brought hundreds of criminals to justice, and mentored officers and colleagues in enforcing the cruelty code," the organization wrote its post. Bengal learned of the diagnosis recently. Officials did not say what type of cancer he was suffering from. The PSPCA has set up a webpage allowing people to write messages to Bengal thanking him for his service. They are also encouraging people to share posts on social media using the hashtag #thankyougeorge. Authorities say a man being sought in the shooting death of his wife killed himself when police attempted to stop him for questioning on a rural western Pennsylvania road. State police said Anthony Detar, 38, was a suspect in the Friday death of Kelly Detar, 40, at their Sewickley Township home. Kelly Detar could have died in the early morning hours because no one was at home before a family member discovered her body at about 8:15 a.m. Friday and called 911, Trooper Steve Limani said. Officials said Anthony Detar shot himself shortly after noon Friday when troopers stopped his sport utility vehicle near Marienville in Forest County, about 125 miles away from the home. Coroner Norman Wimer said police were trying to apprehend the man and ``keep him in an unpopulated area since he was considered armed and dangerous.'' A neighbor, Richard Coleman, said Anthony Detar was a self-employed construction worker who had been preparing for a fishing trip when Coleman last saw him a few days ago. Kelly Detar studied criminal justice at Westmoreland County Community College, according to her Facebook page. "She was always smiling and laughing,'' Sherry Lackey, 40, of Yukon, a childhood friend, told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. ``She was outgoing and very trusting, a happy-go-lucky girl.'' The couple, who married in 2009, loved to hunt, fish, camp and ride dirt bikes and had a cabin in northern Pennsylvania, Coleman said. ``They seemed like a very loving couple.'' Midlothian police released surveillance video Friday afternoon showing a person of interest in the Missy Bevers case walking through a church on Monday morning, shortly before the married mother of three was killed. Terri "Missy" Leann Bevers, 45, was attacked inside the Creekside Church of Christ after arriving at about 4 a.m. to teach an early-morning Camp Gladiator workout class, police said. Police released a few frames of the video Monday, noting the person's distinctive gait and mannerisms, hoping it would help identify the unknown person. "We are just hoping that somebody will see something that piques their interest and spurs their memory, so that they may make a connection to somebody they know and provide us that tip," said Midlothian's Assistant Police Chief Kevin Johnson. Midlothian police released surveillance video Friday afternoon showing a person of interest in the Missy Bevers case walking through a church on Monday morning, shortly before the married mother of three was killed. Friday afternoon, they released a longer clip showing the person walking through different parts of the church and swinging what appears to be a large hammer. Police would not say if it was the weapon used to kill Bevers, however, they indicated it was found near her body along with other tools from the church. "Detectives would like the public to focus in on the mannerisms and distinguishing walk of the suspect," Johnson said, "Investigators believe that someone still has information or may recognize the suspect in this case." Police said the indoor surveillance system at the church is motion-activated and that results in different time sequences. If there was no movement captured by the camera system, the video would stop recording. Video surveillance times are approximate, police said. Investigators first said the person in the video, who is wearing black clothing and dressed similarly to a police tactical officer, is a man. On Tuesday they backed away from that assertion and said they weren't sure of the person's gender. When asked about potential suspects, Johnson said they were considering a long list of people. "At this point, everything is on the table. We simply don't know," he explained. "All we know is that we want to find the killer responsible, whether it was one person or two persons, three persons male or female." Bevers is believed to have been in the church only moments before she ran into the person in black. Her students later found her unresponsive inside the church she was later declared dead by a Justice of the Peace. Police said in a search warrant released Thursday that Bevers had a head wound, but further details about her death have been kept secret due to the investigation. "This case is weighing heavy on the community and our investigative team. Our thoughts and prayers remain with the Bevers family and our entire Midlothian community. We will vigorously pursue the person or persons responsible and bring them to justice," said Midlothian Police Chief Carl D. Smith. Midlothian police release more of a surveillance video recorded early Monday with hopes of helping identify a person of interest in the slaying of Missy Bevers. The Midlothian Police Department continues to investigate new leads and is being assisted in the investigation by the Arlington Police Department, ATF, FBI and the Texas Rangers. Anyone with information is asked to contact the department's tip line at 972-775-7624. Tipsters may be eligible for a cash reward and can also remain anonymous by contacting Ellis County Crime Stoppers at 972-937-PAYS (7297). Oak Farms Dairy has offered a $10,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and grand jury indictment of the person or persons responsible. On Friday afternoon, Kristi Stout, the victim's sister-in-law, said a fund had been established for Bevers' daughters. Anyone wishing to contribute can do so by making a donation to the Bevers Children Fund at any Citizens National Bank of Texas location. NBC 5's Caroline Connolly contributed to this report. Worldwide vinyl sales may increasing at an exponential rate, but that wont stop San Diego wax institution Off the Record from closing its doors at the end of April. You gotta be a hardcore music person to appreciate the fact that vinyl sounds better, the stores manager Paul Russe told SoundDiego. Most people dont care. Theyre not concerned about that stuff. Music for a lot of people is background. For people who care about vinyl, music isnt background its foreground. Even though recent reports have vinyl sales up nearly 30 percent in 2015 over 2014s numbers the 10th consecutive year that vinyl sales have grown its just not enough. Sure, vinyl sales are up, Russe continued. But theyve come back from zero. Its kind of a isnt that cute kind of thing. Its a curio. Oh, isnt that an anachronistic way to listen to music. And for Off the Record (currently located at 2912 University Avenue), that particularly enlightened demographic just isnt enough to keep the store afloat. Russe explained the reasoning behind the closure. Its not any one reason, Russe said, sighing. Its a number of reasons: finances; gentrification of the neighborhood; the raising of rent; the fact that this neighborhood has transitioned from a place to shop to a place to drink no one comes to record stores when theyre out drinking. Its a sad, disappointing fate for the San Diego staple. Off the Record, which began its life in 1978 on El Cajon Boulevard in College Grove and then later on 5th Avenue in Hillcrest (where it moved in 1989), made a name for itself by being a one-stop shop for everything music: vinyl (new, rare and used), CDs (new and used), music-related posters, zines, stickers, patches, and various other types of music merchandise. It housed sweaty, jam-packed in-store shows by everyone from Nirvana to Slayer, Motorhead, Husker Du and the Misfits. Then in 2005, due to rising rent, low foot traffic and Hillcrests expensive metered parking, the shop relocated again to North Park, which was in the midst of a huge commercial revitalization that hinged mostly on the influx of countless pubs and craft beer breweries. According to Russe, the in-vogue neighborhood which bustles nightly with local (and out-of-town) drinkers also sealed the store's fate. Its not a place where people come to shop anymore, he explained. Its an area where people in their 20s come down to go to the 20-30 bars here. Theres hardly any retail stores open. Even Claires [Coffee Shop, which had been located next door] closed and theyve been here for 21 years. They had to close for the same reasons. We used to have a lot of night business, but now that its a bar scene at night, you dont go to a record store when youre out drinking. While its a considerable shock to those of us that have spent countless hours flipping through their treasured bins, Russe and the rest of the staff are still reeling as well. I havent had time to digest it, he said. I just havent had time to think about anything because were trying to get everything priced and out on the floor. But, it blows. Its a bit of a shock. For the opportunists out there (or maybe those that would like to come in one last time and pay respects), Off the Record is having a going-out-of-business sale until they shut their doors on April 30. New vinyl and CDs are 20 percent off, while used CDs and vinyl are 50 percent off. And for those that might be wondering according to Russe, the shop has no plans to reopen somewhere else. So whatever you do, be sure to head in for one last vinyl hunt before Off the Record stops spinning for good. Dustin Lothspeich plays in Diamond Lakes and Boy King, and runs Gear and Loathing in San Diego. Follow his updates on Twitter or contact him directly. San Diego police are investigating three reported overdoses of the anti-anxiety medication Xanax. In a news release on Friday afternoon, police said that three juveniles were taken to hospitals for treatment in the Carmel Valley area. The overdoses occurred on Thursday, police said. I've never seen it at school being used but i have seen it at parties.yah people use i "I've never seen it at school being used, but I have seen it at parties. Yeah, people use it," local student Sam Xaviar told NBC 7. He watched emergency crews swarm into the front parking lot of Torrey Pines High School Thursday morning to rescue someone who overdosed on Xanax. Though he said none of the people involved attend his school-- Xanax is a concern. The drug is used to treat panic disorders and anxiety. Police are cautioning people against taking it without a prescription or mixing it with alcohol. Carmel Valley isnt the only area affected though. Madison High School in Kearny Mesa is dealing with the issue as well. I've seen a couple kids walk around. Theyve been real lazy, tired, Madison High parent Carla Romero said. Face been real down. They look like zombies. The San Diego Unified School District confirmed that last month one student who was acting ill and wouldn't cooperate with school officials overdosed on Xanax. It leaves me concerned the kids have easy access to it, and the kids who need it aren't being responsible. Romero said. I dont deal with drugs, Madison student Alyna Coleman said. I just think there are better ways to handle things. If you aren't okay with life right now go talk to someone. Join an activity if you dont feel cool." For more information on the misuse of Xanax, residents are encouraged to contact their doctor or call the police's regular line at (619) 531-2000. Those who wish to report a Xanax overdose are asked to call 911, the police departments northwestern division at (858) 523-7000 or, if you wish to remain anonymous, you can call San Diego Crime Stoppers at (888) 580-8477. Police have not said where the drugs are coming from or if any arrests have been made. Further details on the overdoses and the juveniles conditions were not released. In a fitting tribute to Princes reign, his iconic 1984 movie, Purple Rain will play at AMC Mission Valley theater in San Diego for the next six days, AMC confirms. On Friday, AMC told CNBC that the company will honor Prince by playing Purple Rain at 87 AMC movie theater locations across the U.S., including AMC Mission Valley 20 at Westfield Mission Valley mall on Camino Del Rio North. The flick a rock musical drama set against the music scene of Princes hometown of Minneapolis will play on the big screen at select AMC theaters April 23 through April 28. The film marked Prince's acting debut and became a cult classic. AMC told CNBC that the theater companys Special Content and Programming teams worked together with the Warner Bros. distribution team to bring the movie to theaters after the sudden death of Prince Thursday. Select AMC theaters in major cities like Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas and Houston will also take part in the big screen tribute to legendary musician. Prince was found unresponsive Thursday in an elevator at his suburban Minneapolis compound. His autopsy was completed Friday and authorities said they found no signs of violence during the initial investigation. His death brought an outpouring of love from Prince grieving fans around the world. In San Diego, downtown hotspots like the Hard Rock Hotel in the Gaslamp Quarter, The House of Blues and the US Grant hotel paid tribute to Prince in their own ways, including lots of purple lights and special marquees. The Hard Rock Hotel filled its lobby in purple lights and displayed a larger-than-life photo of Prince on a huge screen behind the check-in desk and played only Prince songs throughout the hotel Thursday. The hotels Legend 6 ballroom is the last place where Prince played in San Diego in May 2013. Coronado will be adding service to the Silver Strand and the Coronado Cays for its annual Free Summer Shuttle program. The shuttle will operate from May 27 to Sept. 26, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sundays through Thursdays and until 10 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays. The program is jointly funded by the City, the Coronado Tourism Improvement District and Loews Coronado Bay Resort. The city council agreed to contract with the San Diego Metropolitan Transit System to provide the shuttle service for the fourth year in a row. The shuttle will run every 15 minutes, more frequently than last year. The new Free Silver Strand Summer Bus will run every 30 minutes and stops at the Cays, Loews, Navy Housing and the Naval Amphibious Base along the strand. The City of Coronado is contributing $221,000 in support of the shuttle service. As the operator of the Free Silver Strand Summer Bus, Loews also is contributing $32,000 in services. The resort plans to use the funds to expand its existing service shuttling guests downtown. Last year, more than 116,000 people took a ride on the Free Summer Shuttle. More than 200,000 convicted felons will be able to cast ballots in the swing state of Virginia in November's election under a sweeping executive order by Democratic Gov. Terry McAuliffe announced Friday that restores their rights to vote and run for office. The Democrat said his actions would help undo Virginia's long history of trying to suppress the black vote. It wipes out a Civil War-era provision in Virginia's constitution that was meant to block African Americans from voting. "Too often in both our distant and recent history, politicians have used their authority to restrict people's ability to participate in our democracy," McAuliffe said in a statement. "Today we are reversing that disturbing trend and restoring the rights of more than 200,000 of our fellow Virginians, who work, raise families and pay taxes in every corner of our commonwealth." McAuliffe said he is certain he has the legal authority for this massive extension of voting rights after consulting with legal and constitutional experts, including Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring. The governor's action means that every Virginia felon who has completed their sentence and finished any supervised release, parole or probation requirements as of April 22 will be able to vote, run for public office, serve on a jury and become a notary public. No longer will they have to fill out special paperwork to get voting rights restored. The administration estimates that about 206,000 people will be impacted. Virginia House of Delegates Speaker William J. Howell (R-Stafford) said the delegates will review the governor's policy, which he said will "restore the rights of the most heinous criminals without batting an eye." "Under this governors policy, violent criminals will be treated the same as lifelong law-abiding citizens," Howell said in a statement. "Not only will these criminals have the right to vote, but they will also be serving on our juries. By using no discretion in this process, the governor is undermining the strength of the criminal justice system and the sanctity of our civil rights." Republicans called McAuliffe's move political opportunism. Republican Gov. Bob McDonnell initially made it easier for non-violent felons to vote again, but GOP leaders accuse McAuliffe of trying to build up Democratic voter roles for the November election. "I am not surprised by the lengths to which he is willing to go to deliver Virginia to Hillary Clinton in November," Howell said. McAuliffe has made the restoration of rights of former convicts a priority of his administration. Before Friday's order, the administration had restored the rights of more than 18,000 felons, which officials said is more than the past seven governors combined. The Washington-based Sentencing Project estimates that almost 6 million Americans are barred from voting because of laws disenfranchising former felons. Maine and Vermont are the only states that don't restrict the voting rights of convicted felons. Such policies disproportionately prevent African Americans from voting, the group says. Virginia is among three states where more than one in five black adults have lost their voting rights, according to a recent Sentencing Project report. Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders will campaign in Maryland and Delaware this weekend. According to his campaign website, Sanders will host a rally Saturday morning at Royal Farms Arena in Baltimore. The event was originally planned for Druid Hill Park, but predictions of rain prompted the change. Ben Jealous, the former head of the NAACP, and actor Danny Glover will also appear. Then on Saturday evening, Sanders will take part in a ``Community Conversation on Young Men of Color.'' Jealous, Glover and the Rev. Jamal Bryant will also participate in the event at the Memorial Church of God in Christ in Baltimore. Sanders last visited Maryland in December, when he toured West Baltimore. He'll also campaign Saturday afternoon in Wilmington, Delaware. Both Maryland and Delaware have presidential primaries Tuesday. The Prince George's County Fire Department took a moment Friday night to remember the two firefighters shot, one of them killed, one week ago while responding to a call in Temple Hills, Maryland. At 7:51 p.m., the fire department observed a moment of radio silence to mark the time the firefighters called for help. John Ulmschneider was shot multiple times and died. Firefighter and paramedic Kevin Swain was shot four times and is still recovering in the hospital. Police said a man opened fire on the firefighters because he apparently thought they were breaking into his home. The man also shot his brother who was with the firefighters when they entered the home, police said. The man has not been charged. Swain's family has set up a donation site where people can give to a charity fund set up in his name. Morningside Volunteer Fire Department, where Swain was employed, tweeted a photo of Swain in the hospital on Thursday and said, "Kevin continues to heal and receive visitors." A 19-year-old firefighter who was shot four times last week while responding to a call for help in Temple Hills, Maryland, has been released from the hospital Saturday evening, News4's Darcy Spencer reports. Kevin Swain, a volunteer firefighter in Prince George's County, was recovering at Shock Trauma in Baltimore since he was shot Friday, April 15. "Thank you for all the support. The support has been phenomenal," Swain said with a smile as he left the hospital. "I couldn't ask for anything else. I'm ready to go home." Another firefighter, John Ulmschneider, was fatally shot. Swain and Ulmschneider were responding to a welfare check at a Temple Hills home that night. The man inside the home opened fire on the two firefighters and his brother when they entered, police said. Police said he believed someone was breaking into his home. He has not been charged. "It's gotta be the brightest point at the end of a very trying week for us as a fire department," said Battalion Chief Eric Reith, with Prince George's County Fire and Rescue. Swain was surrounded by his fellow firefighters as he made his way to a fire engine for the ride home. "For public safety, a line if duty death is a dark moment and trying moment for any organization. The sweet point is today, there's a little bit of a ray of light getting to see someone that was injured critically get to go home and complete their recovery." "For public safety, a line of duty death is a dark moment and trying moment for any organization. The sweet point is today, there's a little bit of a ray of light getting to see someone that was injured critically get to go home and complete their recovery," Reith said. Firefighters held a moment of radio silence Friday night, exactly one week after the shooting. Swain's family has set up a donation site where people can give to a charity fund set up in his name. An online fund has also been established to support Ulmschneider's family. He left behind a wife and a 2-year-old daughter. A man has been charging people in the Washington, D.C., area to fix damage he caused intentionally, according to police. Police charged Christopher Clore with theft, destruction of property and other charges. A man made a hole in a piece of wood on the roof of the Bethesda, Maryland, home of David Hills 79-year-old mother then told her a tree limb had damaged her roof, Hills said. To me it looks like they bashed it in with a hammer or a hatchet and then stuck a tree limb through it and took a picture with their cellphone and thats what they used to convince her she needed repairs right away, Hills said. The man allegedly told Hills mother he was doing work in the area when he noticed the tree limb They didn't have any kind of business cards, Hills said. They didnt even have a ladder. They borrowed her stepladder to get up on the roof. His mother agreed to pay $2,100 for repairs. They put on an old shingle on, Hills said. Ironically, they put it on in such a way that rain that fell on the roof would run under that shingle and leak into the house. So that was a nice touch. Clore is accused of similar crimes in Fairfax County, Virginia, and police said he also scammed a woman in Kensington, Maryland. He actually got a deposit in that case of $300 and then just never returned to the home, Montgomery County Police Cpl. Rebecca Innocenti said. She never saw him again. There have been a dozen home improvement scams in the county since March 1. Police are warning residents to beware and remember not to feel pressured to hire a repairman who comes to your door offering a quick fix. It makes my blood boil, Hills said. Its absolutely despicable that people would prey on other people this way. A suspect has been arrested in the shooting death of a man in Clinton, Maryland, last week, police say. Prince George's County police said 25-year-old Antonio Barnett, of Waldorf, has been charged with first and second-degree murder. Police said Barnett shot and killed Carl Marshall on Saturday, April 16. Officers found Marshall suffering from a gunshot wound in the 5300 block of Vienna Drive about 9:50 p.m. He died from his injuries at the scene, police said. Police believe Barnett and Marshall had an argument before the shooting. Barnett is being held without bond. Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to call police at (301) 772-4925 and can remain anonymous by calling Crime Solvers at 1 (866) 411-TIPS or texting CRIMES (274637). Authorities said Norfolk police shot two people, killing one and wounding another, in separate incidents. Virginia State Police are investigating both shootings. The fatal shooting occurred early Saturday after a nearly seven-hour standoff. State police said a 30-year-old white man wanted on felony warrants barricaded himself inside a house at about 6 p.m. Friday. After hours of unsuccessful negotiations, the man fired an assault-style weapon at police, who returned fire. About 7 p.m. Friday, city police responded to an unrelated fatal shooting. State police said an officer shot an armed man who was standing near the victim. The 45-year-old black man was taken to a hospital with non-life threatening injuries. No names were released. State police said they did not know the race of the officers involved in the shootings. A neurology resident with Miami's Jackson Health System has been fired after a controversial video involving an Uber driver went viral in January. The hospital announced in a statement Friday it was "moving forward with the termination of Dr. Anjali Ramkissoon," and said she is entitled to an appeal process. Dr. Ramkissoon, who was a fourth-year resident, had initially been placed on leave and removed from all clinical duties while an internal investigation was launched. The incident started when Ramkissoon got into an Uber vehicle without a reservation and refused to get out. The driver, Igor Belic, said she wasn't his customer, but Ramkissoon demanded a ride. A video posted to YouTube shows the confrontation between Ramkissoon and Belic in Brickell. It shows Ramkissson trying to knee the driver as Belic asks witnesses to call 911 while holding her wrists to restrain her. **Warning: The video below contains graphic language and content** Ramkissoon is seen in the video hitting and kicking the driver, and throwing items, including a pair of scissors and a cellphone, out of his car. After several minutes, she eventually stops and walks away. Ultimately, Belic decided not to press charges. In an interview with "Good Morning America" after the incident, Ramkissoon called the incident the "biggest mistake of her life" and said there is "absolutely no excuse" for her actions. Ramkisson admitted to GMA that she had been drinking that evening and said she was having a bad day after her father was admitted to the hospital and then her boyfriend of two years broke up with her. "There is absolutely no excuse for my actions. I am ashamed. I am so sorry. I've hurt so many people with this," she told GMA. A young child was killed Saturday afternoon when a private ambulance struck the child on Nassau Street in Boston. The 3-year-old girl was hit by the emergency vehicle in the early afternoon. She was transported to Tufts Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead. The girl's mother was traumatized, according to eyewitness Raymond Pereyra. "She was crying in agony," Pereyra said of the parent. "Just rolling around, crying in agony on the pavement." Boston Police, who are investigating, called the incident a tragic accident. The ambulance driver was very shaken up, according to Pereyra. "He was distraught," he said. "He was crying." EasCare, the company that owns the ambulance, issued a statement expressing remorse. "Everyone at EasCare is deeply saddened," President and CEO Tim Coolen said in the statement, adding that the company is cooperating with the investigation. Everywhere Hillary Clinton goes lately, it seems, amounts to a homecoming of sorts. The Democratic presidential candidate's winning primary campaign in New York was filled with stops throughout the state she calls home, having represented it in the Senate. Before she arrived at a rally in Scranton, Pennsylvania, on Friday night, the city's mayor praised her as a "local woman who made it big." On Saturday, she joined families at a doughnut shop in New Haven, Connecticut, a few blocks from Yale University, where she attended law school and met her future husband, President Bill Clinton. Clinton was introduced by Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., who spoke of her ties to Yale and work on child welfare issues. "You know New Haven," the congresswoman said, recalling that Clinton campaigned in 1992 with DeLauro's mother at Sally's Apizza, a local restaurant known for its thin crust pizza. Looking to connect, Clinton often talks up her local ties, recounting stories from her past as a lawyer, child advocate, political spouse, lawmaker and diplomat that spans decades. She shared memories of growing up in Park Ridge, Illinois, during a rally in suburban Chicago before the state's primary. In Miami Beach, she met with workers at the famed Fontainebleu Hotel, waxing nostalgic about staying there as a young woman. In Texas, she recalled her work registering Latino voters in the Rio Grande Valley during the 1972 election. Pennsylvania and Connecticut, two of the five states holding primaries on Tuesday, have both played a role in Clinton's upbringing. Her father's family hailed from Pennsylvania: Clinton's grandfather worked in a Scranton lace mill and her father, Hugh Rodham, grew up there and played football at Penn State. Clinton often talks of happy memories at her family's summer cottage on nearby Lake Winola. When she arrived in Scranton during dinnertime, Clinton stopped at a local Italian restaurant, Casa Bella, joined by her two brothers, Hugh and Tony Rodham. Walking among the tables, diners reminded her of her family ties. "I met people who said things to me like, 'I knew your cousins. I knew your uncles.' I had one man say, 'Didn't we sled down Court Street one winter?'" Clinton said at a rally in nearby Dunmore. "It just brings back a flood of the best memories and the best people." Connecticut was the training ground of Clinton's legal career and her work as a child advocate. At an event to discuss the minimum wage and equal pay, Clinton spoke of her "great affection for New Haven" and recalled making the rounds with doctors at Yale-New Haven Hospital to help abused children. "I loved living here and I'm also impressed with the changes," Clinton said, telling the city's mayor, Toni Harp, "I want to be a good partner to you and the people of this state." A 57-year-old Tinmouth, Vermont, man was killed Friday night when he was struck by a car on Gulf Road in Tinmouth. Leo Branchaud was struck at 8:23 p.m. while walking in the road near his home and died as a result of his injuries, according to Vermont State Police. The driver, Lisa Velde, 57, also of Tinmouth, Vermont, was traveling north, near the intersection of McNamara Road, when the accident occurred. Police are investigating. A man who jumped from a moving car onto a highway in Massachusetts is now facing assault charges. Massachusetts State Police tell WWLP-TV that the 22-year-old Webster resident was in a car on Interstate 91 returning from the Six Flags amusement park with three other people Thursday night. Police say someone in the car called 911 to complain he was drunk and assaulting a 16-year-old girl sitting next to him in the back seat. The person then told police the man jumped out. Police later found him on the side of the breakdown lane in Longmeadow. The man was taken to Baystate Medical Center with minor injuries. His name was not released. He was charged with domestic assault and battery, witness intimidation and other charges. The U.S. no longer requires Apples assistance to unlock an iPhone 5s phone running iOS 7 used by the accused in a drug investigation, stating that an individual provided the passcode to the iPhone at issue in this case. The Department of Justice has withdrawn its application in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York. DOJ had earlier appealed to District Judge Margo K. Brodie an order from Magistrate Judge James Orenstein, ruling that Apple could not be forced to provide assistance to the government to extract data from the iPhone 5s. Yesterday evening, an individual provided the passcode to the iPhone at issue in this case, DOJ wrote in a filing to the court late Friday. Late last night, the government used that passcode by hand and gained access to the iPhone. The filing did not provide information on who the individual was and in what capacity he was acting. Jun Feng, the accused in the methamphetamine possession and distribution investigation, provided the passcode to investigators, said The Wall Street Journal, quoting people familiar with the matter. Feng has already pleaded guilty and is due to be sentenced. He had earlier told investigators that he didnt remember the passcode. The filing in the New York court has parallels to another dispute between Apple and the government over assistance in cracking an iPhone 5c running iOS 9 used by one of the terrorists in the San Bernardino killings in December. In that case in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, the government had demanded Apples assistance but later asked the court to vacate its order as it had accessed data stored on the phone, using a tool from a third party. The tool addressed only a narrow slice of iPhones, Federal Bureau of Investigation director James Comey said earlier this month. While it could unlock the the iPhone 5c running iOS 9, the tool does not work on the iPhone 5s or 6, he said. Apple, meanwhile, demanded to know in the New York case whether the government had exhausted all other options to get to the data. Judge Orenstein had ruled that Apple cant be forced to extract data from the iPhone 5s under a statute called the All Writs Act, the same law invoked in the California case. The government's reading of the All Writs Act, a statute enacted in 1789 and commonly invoked by law enforcement agencies to get assistance from tech companies on similar matters, would change the purpose of the law from a limited gap-filing statute that ensures the smooth functioning of the judiciary itself into a mechanism for upending the separation of powers by delegating to the judiciary a legislative power bounded only by Congress's superior ability to prohibit or preempt, Orenstein had written in his order. The governments withdrawal of its demand for Apples assistance in both the New York and California cases leaves unresolved a key legal issue whether the government can compel device makers to help break the encryption and other security in their products, which is an issue of significance both to tech companies and privacy groups. Apple could not be immediately reached for comment. Closure date confirmed THE date for the final closure of Newburys courthouse has been announced. It will have heard its last case by the end of June. The deadline was confirmed this week by a spokeswoman for Her Majestys Courts and Tribunal Service, Zoe Campbell. There has been speculation among some staff that the building will be sold off for housing as the site is in a prime location, near the town centre with waterside views. But any deal could potentially be complicated by the fact that the courthouse is joined to the adjacent police station via a cell complex. Ms Campbell said: We own the freehold of the court building. Thames Valley Police owns the police station. We have sold court buildings connected to police stations in the past, so its not an issue in terms of any future sale of the building. A spokeswoman for Thames Valley Police, James Williams, said: Should the court be sold then we would have to work through any separation issues. But these are not insurmountable and there would be no adverse impact on the police station. The courthouse in Mill Lane was opened amid much fanfare in April, 1966. For decades, civic leaders fought against its proposed closure, warning that losing the ability to dispense justice locally would make Newbury little more than a suburb of Reading. In 2010 the Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales opposed the move, warning it would result in demoralised magistrates quitting, defendants failing to attend, postponed hearings and impossible court workloads. He queried the figures which purported to show the Newbury courthouse was underused, expressed concern about access from rural areas and wondered whether even a modest increase in workload could be absorbed by a central court such as Reading without significant difficulty. From July, cases from West Berkshire will be heard at Reading, Slough and Maidenhead. Urgent police appeal for information AN ELEVEN-year old girl was assaulted yesterday (Friday) in Donnington, with an urgent police appeal for information about the incident. This was the second incident in the neighbourhood involving girls in a week, following an attempted abduction of an eight-year-old last Tuesday (April 19) in the neighbouring area of Shaw. According to Thames Valley Police (TVP), in the latest incident yesterday (Friday April 22), the 11-year-old girl was walking along Love Lane at around 3.30pm from Trinity School towards Shaw-Cum-Donnington Primary School, when she was approached from behind by a white man in his 40s. He was described as scruffy. Investigating officer, Det Con Snezhanna Lennon of Force CID, based at Newbury Police Station, said: This was a frightening experience for the victim. Extra patrols from the neighbourhood policing team are in the area. I would like to reassure the community that we are conducting a thorough investigation to find out what happened. Last Tuesday (April 19), also according to Thames Valley Police (TVP), there was an attempted abduction of another girl, aged eight, in Shaw, an area which neighbours Donnington. The girl was riding her bicycle in Owen Road at about 5pm, when a vehicle driven by a woman pulled up beside her. The woman got out of the black, four door vehicle, which was small to medium in size, with blacked out windows, grabbed the girl by the arm and told her to get into the car. The girl broke free and fled on her bicycle and was left shaken in the incident. The woman was in her forties or fifties, of medium build with blonde/mousey/brown shoulder length hair. She was wearing a white knitted jumper and skinny light blue jeans. Police have appealed to anyone who was in the area at the time and witnessed either incident, or saw anything suspicious, including between 3 and 4pm in Donnington yesterday (Friday) to contact police on the non emergency number 101, quoting URN 916 (22/4). Thank you for visiting us! But, the requested page is currently unavailable. Kindly start browsing from our Home Page Champaign, IL (61820) Today Clear skies this evening will become overcast overnight. Low 61F. Winds S at 10 to 20 mph.. Tonight Clear skies this evening will become overcast overnight. Low 61F. Winds S at 10 to 20 mph. New Delhi: The Delhi government has put on hold its bike-taxi and rent-a-bike schemes after authorities in Gurgaon and Bengaluru launched a crackdown over rampant violations in their operations. The AAP government had in February, 2015 approved the rent-a-bike scheme but not notified it. It was aimed at providing last mile connectivity to tourists and individual in the city. The Bike-taxi scheme was, however, under consideration. "In Gurgaon and Benguluru, operators of rent-a-bike and bike-taxi schemes were running private vehicles which is in violation of rules. Only commercial vehicles are allowed under the scheme," said a senior official. The official said that in view of this, the transport department will study the scheme and then come out with a final notification. "We have put on hold rent-a-bike and bike-taxi schemes for now. We will soon issue a notification on the schemes after studying all aspects," the official said. As per the rent-a-bike scheme, tourists will be required to submit their identity at bike counters and thereafter, they would be given the bike on rent. New Delhi: Government has no plans to review terror cases involving right wing groups and such matters are between courts and the National Investigation Agency (NIA), probing all such cases, a senior official said on Friday. The cases are lying before the courts and government has no role in it, the senior official said and ruled out the possibility of ordering any fresh investigations. The terror cases allegedly involving cadres of a right wing organisation include 2007 Samjhuata train blast and 2006 Malegaon blast. The official said one of the accused Lt Col Prasad Shrikant Purohit's wife had complained of alleged unfair treatment to her husband during investigation. The matter is with the NIA and if she is not satisfied, she can come to the Ministry of Home Affairs to redress her grievances, the official said. Lt Col Purohit has been chargesheeted in the 2006 Malegaon blast case. A blast rocked Malegaon in Maharashtra in which four persons were killed while several others injured. The probe was initially conducted by the Maharashtra ATS and later handed over to the NIA. Besides Purohit, Pragya Singh Thakur, Shivnarayan Kalsangra, Shyam Sahu, Ramesh Upadhya, Sameer Kulkarni, Ajay, Rakesh Dhawade, Jagdish Mhatre, Sudhakar Dwivedi, Sudhakar Chaturvedi and Pravin Takalki have been arrested. The NIA has filed charge sheet against eight people in connection with Samjhauta blast case which includes Naba Kumar Sarkar alias Swami Asimanand, Late Sunil Joshi alias Sunilji, Ramchandra Kalsangra, Sandeep Dange (both absconding), Lokesh Sharma, Kamal Chauhan, Amit and Rajender Choudhary. The case pertains to the criminal conspiracy which resulted in bomb blasts in the Attari Express (Samjhauta) train near Panipat, Haryana on February 18, 2007. Ramaji Kalsangra and Sandeep Dange, who are absconding accused in the Samjauta blast case, have also been chargesheeted in this case. Mumbai: Former media baron Peter Mukerjea's lawyer on Friday argued in a court that mere calls between him and his wife and prime accused Indrani Mukerjea during the period when Sheena Bora's murder took place, did not make him a conspirator. "Peter is a murderer just because he spoke to his family?" advocate Aabad Ponda said, adding that Indrani and her secretary Kajal, too, had several telephonic conversations. "The motive attributed by CBI for the crime (financial transactions) also was not believable," the lawyer added while seeking bail for Peter. Advocate Ponda told the special CBI court that Indrani had spoken to several people during the period, not just Peter (who was then abroad). "Indrani had even called (senior IPS officer) Deven Bharti. If these are not objectionable, then why are Peter's calls objectionable?" the lawyer said. He claimed that four days after Sheena's murder, eight calls were made to Bharti on April 28, 2012. "Bharti did not even mention it in his statement, CBI doesn't find it objectionable. I am not suggesting that Bharti is part of the conspiracy," advocate Ponda asserted. In its charge-sheet, CBI has pointed out several calls between Peter and Indrani during the concerned period to show that Peter, too, was party to the conspiracy to kill Sheena. The arguments will continue on Monday. Peter's bail application had been rejected once earlier. He was arrested on November 19. The other arrested accused are Indrani, her former husband Sanjeev Khanna and her driver Shyamvar Rai. Indrani, Rai and Khanna allegedly strangled Sheena, Indrani's daughter from earlier relationship, in a car in April 2012. The crime came to light in August 2015. According to CBI, the crime was linked to financial transactions. New Delhi: Upping the ante against cab aggregators, the Delhi government told the High Court that Ola and Uber are operating illegally in the national capital. The assertion was made during a PIL hearing which alleged that Delhi government is doing nothing to prevent surge pricing by Ola and Uber. "The alleged unlicensed aggregators namely Ola and Uber are operating illegally as their applications for license were rejected by the transport department vide order dated June 28, 2015," AAP government's transport department said in an affidavit in the Delhi High Court. "Not only the app based companies are unlicensed but they are also not allowed to charge more than prescribed rates of fare in the shape of 'surge price' or 'peak time charge' and punitive actions are being taken against violators by the enforcement teams of the department and Delhi traffic police is also being requested to stop illegal operations by these app based operators," it said. The government's response came on a plea filed by Magic Sewa Pvt Ltd which has alleged that certain unlicensed taxi aggregators "have been disdainfully violating" its notification on fares by charging very low amounts like Rs five per km or as high as Rs 38 per km. It, however, informed the court in its affidavit filed by their counsel Sanjoy Ghose that to "regulate auto rickshaws and taxi services, Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (GNCTD) under relevant provisions of section 93, 95 and 96 introduced a scheme called 'City Taxi Scheme 2015' vide notification dated August 26, 2015. "The said scheme, under clause VII provides that the licensee shall charge fare as prescribed by the transport department from time to time and as such there is no provision under the scheme for charging any kind of 'Peak Time Charge' or 'Surge Prices'," it added. With PTI Inputs. New Delhi: The Patiala House Court will hear a case against three news channels for airing alleged doctored videos of the February 9 incident at the Jawaharlal Nehru University where anti-national slogans were raised. The case against the news channel was filed by the Delhi government. Earlier, a magistrate report on the videos of the controversial JNU event said that no 'Pakistan Zindabad' slogans were raised and words inciting violence were doctored. The Arvind Kejriwal government had on February 13 ordered a magisterial inquiry into the alleged raising of anti-national slogans in the university campus. A video also came into public domain which showed some people raising anti-India slogans at the event. In the video, the youngsters, whose faces were covered, could be seen raising slogans against India. JNU Students' Union president Kanhaiya Kumar, along with five other students, was charged with sedition for allegedly organising the event glorifying Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru and shouting anti-India slogans. 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. 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. A 24-year-old woman was abducted from her workplace in Muktsar in Punjab, dragged across the street in broad daylight and allegedly raped. The horrifying act took place on March 25. The man dragging the woman out of her office, has been caught on CCTV camera. Despite the incident taking place during the day with several people in the vicinity, none of the bystanders stepped up to help her. Police, too, registered an FIR in the case five days after the incident took place. Even after a month, no arrests have been made. Police claim the woman knew the assailant and the two belonged to the same village. The young Dalit woman and her family has approached the National Commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes for help. The Commission has summoned the police officials seeking details of the probe into the incident. Chennai: National Award-winning actor Bobby Simhaa and actress Reshmi Menon entered into wedlock in Tirupathi on Friday. According to a source close to the couple, the wedding was attended by the families of the bride and groom, besides some close friends. "Besides the families of Bobby and Reshmi, filmmaker Karthik Subbaraj and producer Elred Kumar were present at the wedding," the source told IANS. The couple, who fell in love on the sets of last year Tamil film 'Urumeen', will have their wedding reception here on Sunday. Bobby made his acting debut with 2012 Tamil film 'Kadhalil Sodhappuvadhu Yeppadi', won the National Award for his performance in the critically acclaimed 2014 film 'Jigarthanda'. Reshmi has starred in Tamil films such as 'Burma', 'Maya' and 'Kirumi'. New Delhi: Narendra Jadhav, member of erstwhile National Advisory Council (NAC) headed by Congress President Sonia Gandhi, was on Friday nominated by the Modi government to Rajya Sabha along with BJP leaders Subramanian Swamy and Navjot Singh Sidhu. Malayalam actor Suresh Gopi, journalist Swapan Dasgupta and boxer Mary Kom were also nominated as the new Rajya Sabha members. President Pranab Mukherjee nominated the six personalities from different fields to the House of Elders following a recommendation of the Narendra Modi government, a Home Ministry spokesperson said. He said a formal notification regarding their nomination to the Upper House would be issued shortly. The President recommends the names of the nominated members drawn from fields such as literature, science, sports, art and social service on the advice of the government. 62-year-old Jadhav, an economist, was a member of Sonia Gandhi-led NAC during the UPA tenure from 2010 to 2014. Tiruchirappalli: AIADMK supremo and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa on Saturday asserted her party would take "continuous steps" to attain a separate homeland for Tamils in Sri Lanka and demand that the Centre grant dual citizenship for refugees from the island nation living in the state. Addressing a huge election rally, she said she has been continuously demanding an independent, international probe over war crimes and alleged genocide against Tamils in Sri Lanka. "So as to enable Sri lankan Tamils live with full freedom and self-respect and to attain a separate Eelam, continuous steps will be taken," she said. Launching a diatribe against arch rival DMK over the Sri Lankan Tamils issue, she alleged that DMK and Congress were together responsible for the destruction of Sri Lankan Tamils. "We will urge the central government to confer dual citizenship on Sri Lankan Tamils living here so that they can easily get job opportunities," she said. Noting that Sri Lankan Tamils have for long been living in and outside camps in Tamil Nadu, she said her regime was giving them all facilities. "There are also people who were born to refugees here and raised in the state. When the central government tried to repatriate them all, it was opposed by my government." She stressed that her party's policy was that any repatriation should be voluntary and based on the choice of refugees "after the situation in Sri Lanka, including security aspects changes fully, (for the better)". Jayalalithaa accused DMK of staging "dramas" over the issue against their interests. Such farce included a 'three hour hunger strike" by party chief Karunanidhi, she said. "Not only for Tamils here, he also betrayed Tamils in Sri Lanka," she said. She recalled that the Tamil Nadu Assembly had passed several resolutions on the Sri Lankan issue moved by her. Some of these included her demand for economic sanctions against Sri Lanka, an international probe against 'war crimes' and another related to a referendum (that she wanted to be sponsored by India in the UN forum) among Tamils on the question of a separate Eelam (Tamil homeland). Slamming DMK for what she termed was false propaganda against the AIADMK regime, Jayalalithaa said the Karunanidhi- led party is "harried by fear" that it would not even be "runner-up" in the May 16 assembly polls and was therefore resorting to such methods. Referring to some recent instances of so-called opposition to AIADMK nominees in some places, she alleged that such episodes were "staged" by DMK. "People of Tamil Nadu cannot be duped. It is DMK which is going to be disappointed. People are on my side and unable to tolerate that, DMK is indulging in fraudulent acts. I appeal to the Election Commission to monitor the party and take action," she said. Listing out various welfare schemes for farmers like Uzhavar Pathukappu Thittam (Farmers Protection Scheme), she alleged that DMK was indulging in false propaganda over alleged farmers' suicides. DMK in an advertisement had raised the issues of fertiliser price rise and farmers suicide, she noted. "Who is responsible for fertiliser price rise? DMK is making a wrong calculation that people would have forgotten (the reason for price rise)," she said. The chief minister recalled that it was during the UPA regime fertiliser prices were increased and pointed out that DMK was an ally of the Congress-led government then. "In the Cabinet meeting that paved the way for the increase, did not the then Union minister M K Alagiri of the DMK give his consent for the increase?" she asked. "After having been responsible for price rise, how big a deception it is to issue an advertisement to make it appear as if the AIADMK government was responsible for it," she said. She alleged that 1060 farmers had committed suicide in 2009 when DMK was in power and claimed the number had declined to 68 in 2014 in her regime. "Even such suicides were due to family issues," she further claimed. Bengaluru: Microsoft and Alphabet's Google have reached a deal to withdraw all the regulatory complaints against each other, the companies told Reuters. "Microsoft has agreed to withdraw its regulatory complaints against Google, reflecting our changing legal priorities. We will continue to focus on competing vigorously for business and for customers," a Microsoft spokesperson said in an email. Google, in a separate email, said the companies would want to compete vigorously based on the merits of their products, not in "legal proceedings". The companies in September agreed to bury all patent infringement litigations against each other, settling 18 cases in the United States and Germany. "... Following our patent agreement, we've now agreed to withdraw regulatory complaints against one another," Google said on Friday. Google's rivals had reached out to US regulators alleging that the Internet services company unfairly uses its Android system to win online advertising, people with knowledge of matter told Reuters last year. The European Commission also accused Google last year of distorting internet search results to favor its shopping service, harming both rivals and consumers. Kathmandu: For survivors and relatives of victims of a landslide that struck with the force of half an atom bomb it is a time to grieve. For witnesses to a fatal avalanche at the Mount Everest base camp, it is time to climb again. A year after the worst earthquake in Nepal's history struck at four minutes to midday on April 25, 2015, the Himalayan nation is remembering the 9,000 victims of the 7.8 magnitude quake and a second tremor 17 days later. Among those returning to Nepal are adventurers like Australian photographer Athena Zelandonii, who is trekking again to attend a ceremony of remembrance on Monday in Langtang village, obliterated by a huge rockfall that took the lives of 285 locals and foreigners. They will be remembered at the memorial event where, starting at 11:56 AM, the name of each victim will be read out. "There was no question of not coming back," Zelandonii, 26, said in the capital Kathmandu. Part of a group of people who searched for loved ones or themselves lived through the disaster, Zelandonii survived an avalanche on the mountain slopes above Langtang, but was stranded for days by the rockfall. Still missing in the Langtang area is American Dawn Habash, a 57-year-old yoga instructor from Augusta, Maine, who was trekking in Nepal for the fourth time. Son Khaled and daughter Yasmine worked shifts to try and find out about their mother after the earthquake - all they could find out was that she was last seen walking downhill toward Langtang just before the earthquake. Both of them and Dawn's brother Randy are in Nepal for the anniversary, and hope that at least her body can be found. "Because we need that closure," said Khaled. "Sometimes I still get these lightning-bolt thoughts what if? And thats not healthy." Of 181 foreigners who died in the earthquake or are still missing, 63 were in Langtang. Villager Kartok Lama, 30, said locals had already marked the anniversary of the quake by the Tibetan calendar that they follow. They said prayers in a hut because Langtang's two gompas, or Buddhist temples, had been destroyed. "Almost everyone from the village is back; people are rebuilding homes and hotels, and there is work going on in the fields," she told Reuters. "We want the tourists to come back." Monday's Langtang memorial will be preceded by national commemorations on Sunday - the quake anniversary by the Nepali calendar - at the site of Kathmandu's historic Dharahara Tower that collapsed. There will be a candlelit vigil that night and three days of national mourning. But the commemoration will be low-key in a country where one in seven people still live in makeshift homes, mostly tin shelters that dot the countryside by the rubble of buildings devastated by the quake. For many Nepalis it's been a lost year of political bickering over a new constitution, a blockade of the Indian border by its opponents and the failure to spend $4.1 billion in aid to rebuild, pledged by foreign donors. Tourism, which accounts for 9 percent of the economy, is down. A RETURN TO EVEREST Climbers have been slow to return. The number getting permission to scale the world's tallest peak, Mount Everest, in the spring fair-weather window is down to 289 from last year's 357. No one reached the 8,850 metre (29,035 ft) summit last year after an avalanche set off by the earthquake tore through Base Camp, killing at least 18 and abruptly ending the 2015 climbing season. The disaster, and a fatal avalanche the year before on the Khumbu Icefall approach from the Nepali side of the mountain, has led some climbing firms to reconsider whether the risks are worth fees of $50,000 or more that clients pay to summit Everest. One climber at Base Camp a year ago, Adrian Ballinger, is leading a small party to attempt Everest's northern route from Chinese Tibet. He says it is less dangerous. "It's a beautiful place, but a terrifying place," the American said of Nepal. A dry winter and global warming has made the icefall more treacherous than ever, added Ballinger, whose expedition company Alpenglow has suffered no Everest fatalities. Ang Tshering Sherpa, president of the Nepal Mountaineering Association, disagreed, saying that an elite team called the Icefall Doctors had already secured the route. "The condition of the icefall now is like it was before the earthquake," he said. IN THE MOUNTAIN'S SHADOW Shaheed and Anjali Kulkarni have returned to the Everest region a year after they watched from a nearby slope as the avalanche engulfed Base Camp. They helped carry the injured to a makeshift rescue centre down the mountain. The return of the mountaineering couple from Mumbai, India, is an exception. Numbers of trekkers have plummeted - and on less-travelled routes are still down by half guides and lodge operators say. One is Sunita Rai, who is struggling to rebuild her Khumbila Lodge in Dhole, a hamlet perched on a ridge 4,200 metres (13,800 ft) above sea level that is part of the Gokyo Valley trail. "Renting this lodge was my chance to break with the past and earn a decent living," she said. Rai has rebuilt the dining room of her lodge after the earthquake, but much of the two-storey stone building is still covered in plastic sheeting. Now the 31-year-old worries how she will pay her yearly rent of $4,700 - seven times Nepal's annual per capita income - and works as a porter at times. "The trekkers haven't returned so to pay it I have to carry heavy loads up the mountain off-season," she said. Kathmandu: Nepal government on Friday made a fresh appeal to Madhesis to seek peaceful solution to the political crisis through talks even as the agitating parties announced nationwide protests beginning next week in their new bid to continue their struggle against the Constitution. Deputy Prime Minister Bijay Kumar Gachchhadar, a senior Madhesi leader himself, called the Terai-centric parties to the negotiating table. Talking to reporters at Biratnagar Airport in eastern Nepal, Gachchhadar said there was no alternative to holding talks and that the demands of Madhesis - largely of Indian- origin - could only be resolved through Constitution amendment. Gachchhadar, who is also the chair of the Madhesi People's Rights Forum (Democratic) - the only Madhesi party in the coalition government but not part of the agitation, said that the government was continuing talks with all sides as consensus and collaboration among the major parties was essential to implement the Constitution. His remarks came on a day when the Federal Alliance, an alliance of the agitating seven Madhes-based parties and other ethnic political groups, unveiled fresh protest programmes to press for their demands of greater representation and more rights to the ethnic minorities of southern Nepal. As per the protest plan, the alliance will picket Singha Durbar, the main administrative building of the country, situated in the capital on May 14. The alliance has decided to launch fresh protest programmes for 15 days which will be organised in all three geographical regions - Terai, Hill and Mountain. As per the protest plan, the alliance will submit protest note on April 27 and put up black flags at government offices on April 29. Likewise, protest assemblies will be held in several other districts. The Madhesi parties led the six months-long violent agitation, mainly to protest against the seven-province federal model enshrined in the Constitution. Nearly 60 people lost their lives during the agitation that also disrupted the supplies of petroleum products and cooking gas among other essentials to Nepal, leading to severe hardships to the people. The agitation, however, ended unexpectedly in February just before Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli's maiden visit to India without any political agreement. Normally the US Secret Service is pretty strict about President Barack Obama getting in non-armoured cars with non-expert drivers, but on Friday they made an exception. On Obama's arrival at Windsor Castle, the president and First Lady Michelle Obama -- code names "Renegade" and "Renaissance" -- were picked up from their Marine One helicopter by Queen Elizabeth II and her 94-year-old husband Prince Philip, who was in the driver's seat. Obama and the prince, formally known as the Duke of Edinburgh, got in the front of the Range Rover while the queen and First Lady sat in the back. "I have to say, I have never been driven by a Duke before," Obama later joked. "I can report that it was very smooth riding." This is Obama's fifth trip to Britain as president, and he hinted at how much he has enjoyed meeting the country's longest-serving monarch who has greeted US presidents since Harry Truman. "The queen has been a source of inspiration for me," Obama said. "She's truly one of my favourite people." The two couples had lunch together at Windsor, the queen's weekend residence located west of London, to mark her 90th birthday, which was on Thursday. But the trip also marks what is likely to be Obama's last presidential visit to Britain and meeting with the queen. As a gift, the White House said the Obama presented the queen "with a custom photo album chronicling her visits with US presidents and first ladies". "The collection of historical photos in the album highlights the enduring close friendship between the United States and the United Kingdom," the White House said. The queen's first visit to the United States was in 1951, before the start of her long reign. The only president since Truman that she has not met was Lyndon B. Johnson. Dhaka: A professor was hacked to death by unidentified attackers near his home in northwest Bangladesh this morning, the latest in a series of brutal attacks on intellectuals and activists in the Muslim majority country. Rajshahi University professor AFM Rezaul Karim Siddiquee, 58, was murdered within 50 metres of his residence in the country's northwestern city of Rajshahi, police said. Unidentified miscreants hacked the English professor with sharp weapons and left him to die at the Battala Crossing in Salbagan area around 7.30 AM, police officer Shahdat Hossain was quoted as saying by the Bdnews24.com. He taught English at the university. The motive behind the murder is not immediately known. Two years ago, another Rajshahi University teacher AKM Shafiul Islam was similarly murdered. Though his murder was initially claimed by Islamist radicals, police later ruled out that possibility. Police said he was murdered as a sequel to personal rivalry. But some years ago, two more professors of the Rajshahi University had been killed. There have been systematic assaults in Bangladesh over the past six months specially targeting minorities, secular bloggers and foreigners. In 2015, four prominent secular bloggers were killed with machetes, one inside his own home. Liberty University has responded to a lawsuit from a family that wants to exhume the remains of its ancestors from beneath the schools main campus. In documents filed in Lynchburg Circuit Court this month, Liberty asks the court to deny the Moorman familys exhumation request because it would require the use of Libertys property outside of the bounds of the memorial area, constituting a temporary taking of private property. The former cemetery has been covered with a large amount of fill, about 16 feet of fill at the new finished grade, and to excavate the remains safely could disrupt Libertys adjoining property including the improvements constructed thereon, Liberty wrote in an April 7 filing, referring to the schools recently completed Center for Music and Worship, which abuts the 32-foot-by-34-foot memorial area on top of the cemetery. The case began a little more than a year ago after negotiations over the fate of the cemetery between the school and the descendants of one of Lynchburgs founding families, Zachariah and Elizabeth Terrell Moorman, fell through. The couple and a number of their Quaker descendants as well as an unknown number of slaves are buried in and near the family cemetery, which is believed to be more than 200 years old. Liberty Universitys predecessor, The Old Time Gospel Hour, took ownership of it in a 1972 land sale. Liberty University took pre-emptive legal action against the family in 2015, pointing to a 1979 court order as proof of its rights. Countersuits, a dismissed complaint and subpoenas followed, with documents placed under protective orders and labeled privileged by the courts, preventing them from being shared publicly. The latest public documents reveal the graveyard is beneath 16 feet, or about 771 cubic yards, of dirt. According to the university, 26 feet of fill or more rested atop the cemetery prior to the latest campus construction. The bottom line is we are still asking the court not grant the relief the Moorman family is seeking, said David Corry, LUs general counsel, this week. From LUs perspective, the family is asking the court to force Liberty to use its own property for the Moormans purposes. We just dont think thats what the law allows and/or thats what the court has any power to do, Corry said. Attorney John Francisco, who now represents 99 members of the Moorman family, said Libertys argument comes as no surprise, and now his team is focused on the discovery process. We want to find out if the remains are still buried under the ground, Francisco said. Were not confident that they are. In legal filings he would not release to The News & Advance, Francisco said he learned Liberty University conducted a ground-penetrating radar test of the memorial area in February 2015, about nine months before it filed suit against the family. The results of the test were negative, Francisco said. Corry confirmed Thursday ground-penetrating radar was used at the site. Liberty University commissioned ground penetrating radar analysis of the memorial area from an independent firm to learn what it could about the sub-surface conditions without performing an excavation, Corry said in an email. This type of analysis is of limited value depending upon the depth of what is sought to be located and the type of soils involved. We understand that the clay fill soils used in this part of Virginia essentially prevent the radar from revealing very much, so it couldnt see what was about 16 feet below the surface. Chad Burchett, one of the Moorman family descendants involved in the lawsuit, said this week as the case has lumbered forward, he has become increasingly concerned over the whereabouts of his familys remains. We are very disappointed with LUs attitude toward this situation. In January of last year, they were willing to pay for the exhumation now they tell us that they completely oppose us exhuming and relocating our own ancestors remains. And so we feel that theres a strong possibility that the remains are not where theyre supposed to be and we are diligently investigating, Burchett said this week. Were still here. We want answers. We want to understand what went on and want our ancestors remains relocated to a more suitable site. An exhumation is no small task, said Corry, whose team estimates it would cost at least $450,000. A previous estimate provided by the family had put the cost at about $50,000. According to earlier court rulings, the Moorman family must cover all costs of exhumation and relocation. Are they really going to represent to the court that they have that kind of money to spend to actually act upon the relief that they are asking the court to grant, Corry said, Or is this just an act to embarrass LU? Asked about the familys finances, Burchett said only the family is staying the course. Liberty University has for years been, and remains, an active construction zone, he said. For the family to come in, dig a hole and put the dirt back, how does that permanently affect their property? It doesnt, Burchett said. Were not going away. The family is not going away. Were going to prove our case in court. A hearing date has not been set. Red Hulk, Ronin, and more: 10 Heroes and Villains whose secret identities were hidden from readers There's a longstanding superhero tradition of hiding the identity of certain characters even from readers Home News Sports Social Obituaries Events Letters Looking Back Health Jewels Stitch in Time St. Ann's Catholic Church building destroyed by fire, arson suspected April 22, 2016 Arson is suspected as the cause of a fire that completely destroyed St. Ann's Catholic Church in Bonners Ferry. According to reports, investigation shows the fire appears to have been started in three separate locations in the basement of the building. Bonners Ferry Police have identified a person of interest related to the fire, a man who had been arrested earlier in the day on unrelated charges. In addition, statues in the church building had been vandalized, which added to the suspicion of an intentionally-set blaze. Similar vandalism had occurred at the church two months ago, also at Bonners Ferry's Trinity Lutheran church. Firefighters were called to the scene at approximately 1:00 a.m. Thursday morning, April 21. They found the building fully engulfed in flames on their arrival. Firefighters were on the scene fighting the fire through the early-morning hours of Thursday, with a crew remaining through the day and overnight Thursday night to monitor for any flare ups in the collapsed and burned building. Bishop Peter F. Christensen of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Boise, issued a statement about the burning of St. Ann's in Bonners Ferry: Like many of you, we have been following the early morning fire at St. Ann Church, Bonners Ferry. We are happy to report that Father Carlos Perez, parish administrator, was not injured, and neither were there any injuries reported among parishioners or the brave members of the community who fought the fire. We have been heartened by the prayers and support of the community and of Catholics and others around the state reaching out to the people of St. Anns in this hour of need. Catholics have worshipped at St. Anns for more than 120 years. We are cooperating with authorities investigating the cause of the blaze. Join me in praying for the people of St. Anns and all those affected by this fire. Investigation into the cause of the fire, and in identifying a definite suspect is ongoing. Along with the Bonners Ferry Police Department, other investigating agencies include the Idaho Fire Marshal's Office and the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. St. Ann's has an outdoor pavilion where some gatherings may be temporarily held. Plans were to hold a special mass at the Bonners Ferry United Methodist Church. Trinity Lutheran church has also offered use of its building. Questions or comments about this article? Click here to e-mail! Home News Sports Social Obituaries Events Letters Looking Back Health Jewels Stitch in Time Details on new Bonners Ferry Shopko Hometown store announced at Chamber of Commerce dinner meeting April 23, 2016 One of the special guests at last night's Big Ideas 2016 Dinner, sponsored by the Bonners Ferry Chamber of Commerce, was Jason Brandow, a representative of Shopko, who presented information on the new Shopko Hometown store now being built on Bonners Ferry's South Hill. (for more information on the Chamber of Commerce Big Ideas Dinner 2016, click here). It is anticipated construction of Shopko's building will be completed and the new store will open for business in October of this year, according to Mr. Brandow. It was last October, in 2015, when the Boundary Economic Development Council and the Bonners Ferry Urban Renewal Agency announced that plans were in the works for a new Shopko store to be built in Bonners Ferry. The site for the new store, located on the South Hill on property between the Kootenai Valley Motel and the Idaho Department of Lands, had been purchased by a Utah-based property development company. The Bonners Ferry Urban Renewal District has been working with the developer on the public infrastructure required for the development. According to Mr. Brandow, the developer will continue to own the property and is supervising the current construction. Shopko will be renting the property and the building for its store. (Story continues below this photograph) Mr. Brandow said the company is still in the process of hiring a manager and assistant manager for the Bonners Ferry Shopko store. He estimated the new store will have 25-30 employees, and some part-time employees. Shopko currently operates about 370 stores in 25 states, according to Mr. Brandow. Although many of these are larger stores in large cities, the newer concept of the Shopko Hometown stores is aimed at placing stores in smaller communities of population 3,000 to 8,000 people. Typically a Shopko Hometown store will carry about 70% of the merchandise found at Shopko's larger stores. The Shopko Hometown stores are built in one of three different sizes: 15,000 square feet, 25,000 square feet, or 35,000 square feet. The Bonners Ferry store will be a 25,000 square foot store. In addition to the regular retail merchandise available in the store, the Bonners Ferry Shopko Hometown store will have a pharmacy, and will have a "limited amount" of groceries. Although Shopko stores often have an optometrist office for the provision and sale of prescription eyeglasses, Mr. Brandow replied "not yet" when asked about whether the new Bonners Ferry Shopko would have optometry. In addition to Bonners Ferry's new Shopko Hometown store, two other Shopko stores are opening in other Idaho locations this year. Shopko is based in Ashwaubenon, Wisconsin, near Green Bay. The company was founded in 1962 by James Ruben, and opened its first store in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Although Shopko had been a publicly held company for many years, it was acquired in 2005 by Sun Capital Partners, a global equity firm headquartered in Boca Raton, Florida, with offices worldwide. In addition to Shopko, Sun Capital owns more than 300 other companies, and has combined worldwide sales of over $45 billion. Some of the other companies owned and operated by Sun Capital include Johnny Rockets, The Limited, Boston Market, and Friendly's restaurants. Questions or comments about this article? Click here to e-mail! Decibel Caravan on the move For more info and ticket information: www.facebook.com/ decibelexpo or rsteencaribben. com . Police probe baby girls death Up to press time, officers were said to be preparing to interview close relatives of the child identified as Amanda Sanchez. Newsday understands that on Thursday morning, the mother of baby Amanda, identified only as Nathalia had an argument with a male relative and the child was left unattended at their Laventille home. When the mother returned, she found baby Amanda unresponsive. The child was rushed to the Port-of-Spain General Hospital where doctors pronounced her dead. However, when doctors noticed dried blood on the back of the childs head the police were called in. Officers took possession of the body which was sent to the Forensic Science Centre (FSC) in St James. An autopsy done yesterday by Forensic Pathologist Dr Eslyn McDonald- Burris revealed that baby Amanda died of shock and haemorrhage consistent with blunt force trauma to the head. Newsday was told that a female relative of the child was detained for several hours as officers recorded a statement from her. Other relatives were supposed to be picked up for interview last night. When Newsday visited the FSC yesterday, a woman identified as the dead childs grandmother refused to be interviewed. No comment. We dont really know what is going on, so no comment, the clearly grief-stricken woman said before walking away. Right now is a very bad time and I really do not want to talk about this. I would rather be left alone, she said when pressed for comment. Even as police continue their investigations into little Amandas death, funeral arrangements are continuing. UWI wants to help Ecuador In a statement issued yesterday, UWIs Vice-Chancellor, Professor Sir Hilary Beckles, said our prayers go out that they are restored to near normalcy as soon as possible. We are deeply concerned for those who have been left vulnerable, including our current students and our University is keen to provide any assistance they need during this difficult time. UWIs Cave Hill Campus in Barbados administers the Teach English Caribbean programme (TEC) which has 129 Ecuadorian English teachers enrolled as students. Fifty of these students currently attend classes at the campus and are preparing for mid-term examinations. In response, the Ecuadorian students are working with the Office of Student Services at Cave Hill, the Campus Guild of Students and the Office of Business and Internationalisation to host a number of activities to support recovery efforts. This past Wednesday (April 20), a relief church service was organised by the students and the Universities and Colleges Christian Fellowship (UCCF) of the Guild of Students. A donation drive was also launched to collect food and other relief items as well as monetary contributions to be sent to Ecuador. Donations may be made at any branch of CIBC FirstCaribbean International Bank in Barbados to account #1001148181. Persons wishing to assist otherwise may contact the Office of Business and Internationalisation at Cave Hill at 1 (246) 417 4541 until April 29. Scanner breakdown causes long lines at airport Pictures of the long lines were posted on social media by many. The broken scanner resulted in each person and their belongings being checked manually by security. One woman told Newsday that it took her 30 minutes to reach the security check but she was not angry. These things happen, and I know they were working hard on repairing it. So you cant really take on too much. I was just focusing on the weekend ahead and the fun Im going to have with my friends, she said. When Newsday visited the airport at about 12.20 pm, the scanner was repaired and there were no long lines. The only long line was seen at the Tobago check in counter. One man said he heard about the scanner issue and called before hand to find out whether it was repaired. I just wanted to know if I should come a lot earlier to prepare for those long lines but Im pleased to see that it is working again, he said. Officials at the airport could not say what caused the scanner to stop working. San Francisco Was Going to Spend $1.7M on Single-Toilet Public Restroom in case you missed it advertisement Poor Reviews Don't Slow Black Adam box office Believe It or Not, Some World Leaders Lasted Just Minutes in case you missed it advertisement Missing Michigan Family Seen at UP Gas Station updated 'Centurion Livers' May Shift Thinking on Donors in case you missed it advertisement Charges Dropped Against Man Paralyzed in Police Van UPDATED advertisement Alarming Discovery at Mo. School 'Takes Your Breath From You' IN CASE YOU MISSED IT advertisement Mom Rescues Herself, Her Kids With Pocket Dial IN CASE YOU MISSED IT A Penniless Baroness Sits in a Hospital Bed in NYC longform advertisement This Gone Girl Cruise Was Weirder Than You Could Imagine longform College Wrestler Tries to Pull Grizzly Off Teammate, Gets Attacked IN CASE YOU MISSED IT advertisement One horrific incident had a two-year-old fatally shooting himself Wednesday evening at Indianapolis, say the police. He took a gun from his mother's purse on the kitchen counter and accidentally shot himself. The Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department report that when they rushed to the kitchen counter at 9:15 p.m., they found the child unresponsive, with one gunshot wound on his shoulder. The police said that the mother had turned away for a moment when the child climbed onto the counter, removed the pistol from the purse and shot himself at 9 p.m. It was at the northwest side home in the 5200 block of Alameda Road, near 52nd Street and West Kessler Boulevard. Firefighters first tried to revive the toddler, but they could not. The authorities rushed him to Riley Hospital for Children at IU Health. However, he did not survive. "The grieving mother is cooperating with detectives," the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department said in a news release Thursday, "and after detectives questioned her she was later released." The mother owns a gun permit for the .380 Bersa semi-automatic pistol. She was the only one with the child during the shoot, said the police. The IMPD urges gun owners to keep their weapons unloaded, unlocked and out of the reach of children. Moreover, ammunition and guns should be stored in separate locations, while keys for gun locks and ammunition safes should be hidden at spots far away from the house keys. Fairbanks, AK (99707) Today Snow showers this evening. Becoming partly cloudy later. Low 19F. Winds light and variable. Chance of snow 40%.. Tonight Snow showers this evening. Becoming partly cloudy later. Low 19F. Winds light and variable. Chance of snow 40%. Beijing: China has aired its concern over World Uyghur Congress (WUC) leader Dolkun Isas reported visit to India, saying he is a terrorist on Interpols Red Corner and it is the obligation of all countries to bring him to justice. I am not aware of the situation, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying told PTI in a written response when asked about the reports that WUC leaders including Dolkun were given permission to meet the Dalai Lama later this month. What I want to point out is that Dolkun is a terrorist in red notice of the Interpol and Chinese police. Bringing him to justice is due obligation of relevant countries, Hua said. Indias decision to permit WUC leaders whom China regards as backers of terrorism in its volatile Muslim-dominated Xinjiang province was reported to be in response to Beijings blocking a ban on Jaish-e-Muhammad chief Masood Azhar in the UN. Xinjiang, which has over 10 million Uyghur population of Turkik origin Muslims, was on the boil for several years over Uyghur protests against the large-scale settlements of Hans from different part of the country. China blames East Turkistan Islamic Movement (ETIM), a militant Islamist group, for terrorist attacks in Xinjiang and other parts of the country. For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: The Uttar Pradesh CJM court in Bulandshahar has ordered an FIR against Vijay Mallya after an ex-Kingfisher Airlines pilot filed a case against him over pending salary dues. Earlier of Friday, it was reported that External Affairs Ministry is consulting legal experts to explore the option of deportation of Vijay Mallya in connection with money laundering probe against the liquor baron in the Rs 900 crore IDBI alleged loan fraud case after ED has approached it. On revocation of the passport of Mallya, whose Kingfisher Airlines has allegedly defaulted on loans of over Rs 9,400 crores, the ministry, which has "suspended" his passport, said it was examining the reply sent by him while declining to divulge its contents. Noting that the ministry has been approached by the Enforcement Directorate which informed about the non-bailable arrest warrant issued against Mallya by a Sessions Court in Greater Mumbai, MEA Spokesperson Vikas Swarup said a request has been made to initiate steps for the deportation of Mallya to ensure his presence before the lawful authorities to proceed with investigation against him. Now "we are consulting legal experts," he said. He said ED has approached MEA forboth revocation of Mallya's passport and his deportation. "Those two actions are underway," he said. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Dehradun: The Uttarakhand Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief has written to Governor seeking action against the Harish Rawat for taking decisions as Chief Minister even after High Courts order. Earlier on Friday, the Supreme Court had stayed till April 27 the Uttarakhand High Courts order that had set aside the President Rule in the state. The apex court directed Uttarakhand High Court to provide the judgement to all parties by April 26 and same be filed before this court on that day. The Centre had on Friday moved the Supreme Court challenging the Uttarakhand High Court verdict quashing imposition of President's rule in the state. Attorney General (AG) Mukul Rohatgi mentioned the appeal before a bench comprising Justices Dipak Misra and Shiva Kirti Singh. Coming down heavily on the Centre for the March 27 proclamation under Art 356, the High Court had on Thursday quashed the imposition of Presidents rule in Uttarakhand and restored the dismissed Congress government while castigating the Centre for uprooting a democratically-elected government. The HC had said the imposition of Presidents rule was contrary to the law laid down by the Supreme Court. Directing revival of the Harish Rawat government, which was dismissed by the Centre on March 27, the High Court had ordered that he should seek a vote of confidence in the Assembly on April 29. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: Upping the ante on the Uttarakhand political crisis, Congress leaders have given notices to discuss the matter in Rajya Sabha suspending the question hour and adoption of a resolution condemning the imposition of Presidents Rule there. The notices given by Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad and Deputy Leader of Congress in the House, Anand Sharma, seek to corner the government on the issue accusing it of destabilising a democratically-elected government in Uttarakhand. In his notice given under Rule 267, Sharma has also sought from Rajya Sabha Chairman Hamid Ansari the passage of a resolution condemning the Modi government for destabilistion of the Uttarakhand government and imposition of Presidents Rule in the state. The resolution reads this House deplores the destabilisation of the democratically elected government in Uttarakhand and disapproves the unjustified imposition of Presidents Rule there under Article 356 of the Constitution. Ever since the dismissal of the Rawat government and clamping of central rule, Congress has mounted an offensive against the Narendra Modi dispensation. The party had started Loktantra Bachao, Uttarakhand Bachao (Save Democracy, Save Uttarakhand) campaign to mobilise public support against the Centre. The Supreme Court yesterday stayed till April 27 the judgement of the state High Court quashing imposition of Presidents rule, giving a new turn to the continuing political drama in the state by restoring central rule there. Congress is trying to project the imposition of Presidents Rule in Uttarakhand and earlier in another party-ruled state of Arunachal Pradesh as an attack on the federal structure and is hopeful that a large number of Opposition parties will back it in cornering the government on the issue. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Shyampur: Accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of resorting to falsehood and bluffing the people, Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi today said they had promised lakhs of jobs but not a single person got employment. Mamata ji and Modi ji are making false promises. Mamata ji talked of providing jobs to 70 lakh people, while Modi ji had said two crore jobs will be given by his government. But not a single person has got employment, Gandhi said. Sharing platform with CPI(M) leaders at an election meeting here, he said Bengal which was once industrious has turned a graveyard in TMC rule and also attacked the Mamata government over corruption issue. He said no action was taken against those involved in Saradha and Narada scam. Referring to the recent flyover collapse in Kolkata which claimed several lives, Gandhi alleged that the TMC government had given contract of supplying material to its partyman who had supplied substandard materials. He charged Mamata and Modi with telling lies about action against corruption and unemployment. He said Modi had promised to bring back blackmoney and fight corruption but nothing has been done. His government has brought laws to turn blackmoney into white which I call Fair and Lovely scheme, Gandhi said. Earlier there were lots of industries in Bengal. But now in TMC rule, Bengal has turned into a graveyard. Only the industry of syndicate is flourishing in Bengal, he said. Seeking support for the Congress-Left alliance in the Assembly polls in West Bengal, he said if the alliance government was formed, its first task would be to provide employment, stop syndicate and corruption and take action against those involved in Saradha and Narada scam. Vote for Congress-CPI(M), vote for the Congress-Left alliance and defeat Mamata government to usher in development, Gandhi said. CPI(M) central committee member Dipak Dasgupta was present with Gandhi at the meeting. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: After spotting hi-tech Pakistan bunkers along international border with Rajasthan, India has lodged strong protest with Pakistani authorities. India is more concerned with the activity because of the presence of Chinese forces in the region. Few days ago, Pakistan and China had recently held a military exercise in the same region. According to an intelligence report, it has been learnt that nearly 180 bunkers have been created along the region. The intelligence has also claimed to gather evidence about the presence Pakistani bunkers at the Zero Point, separating Gujarat and Rajasthan to Sindh province of Pakistan. All such bunkers comes under a radius of 2 kms from the the Jaisalmer, Bikaner, Barmer and Sriganganagar districts of the state. All these bunkers have been made within a time frame of one month only. The Border Security Force (BSF) has lodged a strong protest with their Pakistani counterparts and also informed the Government of India about this development. Last year, Pakistan had removed spy cameras installed at several places along the international border with Rajasthan about following objections by the BSF. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Mumbai: A local Shiv Sena leader today stoked a controversy by saying that Bhumata Brigade chief Trupti Desai would be hit with slippers if she tried to enter the Haji Ali Dargah but the gender equality campaigner said that she will go ahead with the plan on April 28. Shiv Sena leadership, however, distanced themselves from the comment of Arafat Shaik saying be it a man or a woman, all have equal rights to enter any religious place. If she (Desai) speaks about entering the Haji Ali Dargah, she will be welcomed with a prasad of chappals. She cannot be allowed to enter the mazar at any cost, Shaik told reporters here. Shaiks comments of hitting Tupti Desai with chappals were made in his personal capacity. This is not the official stand of the party. Our stand is that whether it is a temple or a dargah men and women have equal rights to pray in them, Sena spokesperson Neelam Gorhe said. Also, once the High Court has given a decision it has to be implemented by the government and the police. Thus, it will be wrong to obstruct a womans entry into any religious institution, she said. Taking Shaikhs threat lightly, Desai said no threats will work against her plan and she will stick to it. No one can issue threats in a democracy. He has insulted women by threatening us against entering the dargah. We will go ahead with our plan on April 28 and not let their threats work with us, she said. Shaikhs comments evoked a sharp response from the Opposition parties, which said that Sena, through its Muslim leaders is putting forth its real agenda. This game of the Sena is well known. First make one of its leaders a scapegoat and put forth its stand through them and then conveniently distance itself. People have understood their real agenda, Congress spokesperson Al-Nasser Zakaria said. NCP leader Nawab Malik said Shaik is no community leader and ridiculous statements are being made by him to grab media attention. He is not the leader of Muslims. He is making these ridiculous comments only to garner media attention. People know he belongs to a party infamous for making anti Muslim comments, he said. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Dhaka: A liberal university professor on way to work in northwestern Bangladesh was today brutally hacked to death by machete-wielding ISIS militants near his home, the latest in a series of similar attacks on intellectuals and bloggers by the dreaded group in the Muslim-majority country. Rajshahi University professor AFM Rezaul Karim Siddiquee, 58, was attacked by motorbike-borne assailants within 50 metres of his residence in Rajshahi city as the militants slit his throat using sharp weapons and left him to die, police said. The miscreants attacked him from behind with machetes as he walked to the university campus from his home around 7.30 AM, local police station in-charge Shahdat Hossain told PTI over phone. He said the Professor of English literature died on the spot following which the assailants fled the scene. The body was found lying face down in a pool of blood, and according to an eyewitness, she saw two persons leaving on a motorbike from the spot. US-based private SITE Intelligence Group said the Islamic State has claimed the killing. ISIS Amaq Agency reported the groups responsibility for killing Rajshahi University professor Rezaul Karim for calling to atheism in Bangladesh, it said in a tweet. Earlier, Rajshahis police commissioner Mohammad Shamsuddin told reporters at the scene that the technique of the murder suggested it could be an act of Islamist terrorists. The professors neck was hacked at least three times and was 70-80 per cent slit, he said, adding that the nature of the attack shows it was carried out by extremist groups. An investigation into the killing is on. Meanwhile, angry students and teachers of the university rallied in the campus demanding immediate arrest of culprits. Siddiquees colleagues said he was involved in cultural activities in the campus and used to play flute and sitar. He was not known for affiliation for any political party... He had a progressive outlook that might have earned him the wrath of reactionary (Islamist) forces, professor of mass communication department of the university Dulal Chandra Biswas told PTI over phone. Biswas said he believed the Islamists murdered Siddiquee to prove their existence in view of a massive anti-militant security clampdown in the region. Two years ago, another Rajshahi University teacher AKM Shafiul Islam was similarly murdered. Though his murder was initially claimed by radical group Ansaral Islam, police later ruled out that possibility, saying he was murdered due to personal rivalry. But some years ago, two more professors of the state-run Rajshahi University had been killed. There have been systematic assaults in Bangladesh in recent months specially targeting minorities, secular bloggers, intellectuals and foreigners. Last year, four prominent secular bloggers were killed with machetes, one inside his own home. For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. London: US President Barack Obama has said Britain would go to the back of the queue for trade deals with America if it votes to leave the European Union in the June 23 referendum. The outcome of the decision is a matter of deep interest to the US, because it affects our prosperity as well, he said here. The UK is at its best when its helping to lead a strong European Union. It leverages UK power to be part of the EU. I dont think the EU moderates British influence in the world, it magnifies it, he said. America wants Britains influence to grow, including within Europe, added Obama, standing alongside Prime Minister David Cameron at a press conference at the Foreign Office yesterday. When asked what would happen if Britain voted to quit, Obama said that while maybe at some point it could seal a trade deal with the US, its not going to happen any time soon. The UKs going to be at the back of the queue, he said at the start of a three-day visit to the UK that has been dominated by his strong intervention in favour of Britain voting to stay within the 28-country bloc in the June 23 referendum. Cameron said being a member of the EU strengthened Britains special relationship. On the UKs upcoming referendum on its EU membership, he said: This is our choice - nobody elses - the sovereign choice of the British people - but as we make that choice, it surely makes sense to listen to what our friends think. On whether he should be intervening on the UKs referendum, Obama said: Let me be clear: ultimately this is something the British voters have to decide for themselves. As part of our special relationship, part of being friends is to be honest and to let you know what I think, and speaking honestly, the outcome of that decision is a matter of deep interest to the US, because it affects our prosperity as well. His remarks drew a furious reaction from those in favour of a Brexit, with London mayor Boris Johnson even alluding to his anti-colonial sentiments and part-Kenyan ancestry. I love Winston Churchill, love the guy, he told reporters in reference to Johnsons claims that he had moved Britains war-time Prime Ministers bust out of the Oval Office in the White House. Theres only so many tables where you can put busts, otherwise it starts looking a little cluttered, he explained. Obama will be heading to Germany at the end of his three-nation tour which also included Saudi Arabia. For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Tiruchirappalli (TN): AIADMK supremo and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa today asserted her party would take continuous steps to attain a separate homeland for Tamils in Sri Lanka and demand that the Centre grant dual citizenship for refugees from the island nation living in the state. Addressing a huge election rally here, she said she has been continuously demanding an independent, international probe over war crimes and alleged genocide against Tamils in Sri Lanka. So as to enable Sri lankan Tamils live with full freedom and self-respect and to attain a separate Eelam, continuous steps will be taken, she said. Launching a diatribe against arch rival DMK over the Sri Lankan Tamils issue, she alleged that DMK and Congress were together responsible for the destruction of Sri Lankan Tamils. We will urge the central government to confer dual citizenship on Sri Lankan Tamils living here so that they can easily get job opportunities, she said. Noting that Sri Lankan Tamils have for long been living in and outside camps in Tamil Nadu, she said her regime was giving them all facilities. There are also people who were born to refugees here and raised in the state. When the central government tried to repatriate them all, it was opposed by my government. She stressed that her partys policy was that any repatriation should be voluntary and based on the choice of refugees after the situation in Sri Lanka, including security aspects changes fully, (for the better). Jayalalithaa accused DMK of staging dramas over the issue against their interests. Such farce included a three hour hunger strike by party chief Karunanidhi, she said. Not only for Tamils here, he also betrayed Tamils in Sri Lanka, she said. She recalled that the Tamil Nadu Assembly had passed several resolutions on the Sri Lankan issue moved by her. Some of these included her demand for economic sanctions against Sri Lanka, an international probe against war crimes and another related to a referendum (that she wanted to be sponsored by India in the UN forum) among Tamils on the question of a separate Eelam (Tamil homeland). For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Amritsar: Punjabs dreaded separatist outfit Khalistan Liberation Force militant Davinder Pal Singh Bhullar, a convict in 1993 Delhi bomb blast case, was today released on 21-day parole after nearly 23 years behind the bars. Bhullar was convicted in connection with the killing of nine people and injuring of 31 in a bomb blast in 1993. Among those who survived the attack are former Youth Congress chief M S Bitta. Behind the bars following his conviction in the case, Bhullar is undergoing life imprisonment after the Supreme Court commuted his death sentence. He was sentenced to death by a designated TADA court on August 25, 2001. Bhullars wife Navneet Kaur, along with her relatives, received him when he was released from jail custody today. Bhullar was shifted to Amritsar Central Jail from Delhis Tihar Jail in June last year. After being shifted from Delhis Tihar Jail, within a week he was admitted to local Swami Vivekananda Drug De-addiction Centre from Amritsar Central Jail. Navneet Kaur had sought the shifting of Bhullar to Amritsar Jail citing his poor health. Navneet, who had migrated to Canada with her in-laws in 1994, has her parental house in Amritsar. Former terrorist Gurdeep Singh Khera, who was transferred to the Central Jail in Amritsar last year in June, was released yesterday on 42-day parole. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Al Gore is sending climate change propaganda minions to Republican candidate events If you thought that former Vice President Al Gore had given up on politics after he lost his lone presidential race to Republican George W. Bush in 2000, you are mistaken. Gore has remained politically active, mostly by trying to push (and getting rich off ) a phony narrative that mankinds modern ways are destroying the planet. So dedicated is the former VP to that narrative, that hes taken to trolling Republican candidates on the campaign trail for their partys 2016 presidential nomination. In recent days, Breitbart News reported that Gore all but acknowledged the trolling, tweeting after GOP campaigning in New Hampshire that crowds at Republican events were applauding the Obama administrations climate actions yes, those same EPA regulations that the U.S. Supreme Court, prior to Associate Justice Antonin Scalias death, ordered halted until they made their way through the court system. Its hard to imagine that normal Republican voters would cheer a Marxist Democratic presidents environmental overreach, but there these Republicans are, at GOP campaign events, applauding rules that Gore obviously loves as well. The Huffington Post has more on this fakery: When Dan Kipnis stood up and asked Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) about his plan to address climate change, he thought he might face some angry audience members who didnt like his question. He was shocked to instead find people clapping for him. I thought Id get some boos or something like that, the 65-year-old retired fishing boat captain from Miami Beach told The Huffington Post after Rubios Sunday town hall in Londonderry. But you know, these people up here in New Hampshire, theyre pretty enlightened. This event wasnt an isolated incident. Questions about climate change frequently come up at GOP town halls, even though its an issue that the candidates rarely talk about unprompted and one that almost never comes up during debates. Kipnis said he was also able to ask former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R) a climate change question at a New Hampshire town hall, and he received a similar reception. I basically got a standing ovation, he said. To believe this, youd have to believe that questions about rolling back government regulations and approving tax cuts for corporations would also get standing ovations at Democratic campaign events on their own. Of course, if that Democrat faced an audience sprinkled with no small amount of Republican voters, chances are good those questions, too, would get vocal approval. Oh, and there is this. Just who is Dan Kipnis, whom the far-Left HuffPo raced to interview? Gore gives us the answer. As Gore revealed in his tweet, Kipnis is one of Gores trained climate missionaries whose job is to promote global warming hysteria. In fact, according to his web site, Kipnis is one of Al Gores top ten climate missionaries, Breitbart reported. And there you have it. HuffPo goes on to report that Kipnis also questioned Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida at a Rubio campaign event in New Hampshire before the state primary. But is Kipnis a New Hampshire voter? Nope. He lives in Florida, like Rubio. In fact, is Kipnis even a Republican? You be the judge. In 1985 he was appointed to the Florida Marine Fisheries Commission by Democrat Gov. Bob Graham. My conclusion is that Al Gore is sending his minions out in an effort to embarrass Republican presidential candidates on the stump, writes Breitbarts Steve Milloy. A word to the wise: Beware of voters bearing climate questions. And there is this. As Breitbart noted in December, and Gallup in 2014, climate change/global warming is not an issue with the vast majority of voters. And, as Gallup further notes in other surveys (here and here), Republicans, especially, are the most skeptical of global warming. Does that sound like hordes of Republican voters flocking to campaign events to push for more global warming regulation? Sources: Breitbart.com Freedom.news HuffingtonPost.com Science.NaturalNews.com Submit a correction >> Over 20 soldiers dead, more than 200 hospitalized after U.S. lab leaks new and deadly virus in Ukraine If you havent heard and judging by the lack of coverage of this by the legacy media, you havent a U.S. lab is being blamed for what would amount to an atrocity if it were committed on American soil. As noted by Zero Hedge and reported by Ukrainian media, scores of soldiers were killed or sickened by a never-heard-of virus that likely leaked from a U.S. lab near the city of Kharkov. The illness? California flu. More than 20 Ukrainian soldiers have died and over 200 soldiers are hospitalized in a short period of time because of new and deadly virus, which is immune to all medicines, Donbass News International reported. The report stated further: Donetsk Peoples Republic intelligence has reported that Californian Flu is leaked from the same place where research of this virus has been carried out. The laboratory is located near the city of Kharkov and its base for US military experts. Information from threatening epidemic is announced by Vice-Commander of Donetsk Army, Eduard Basurin. California flu is not listed with the CDC According to the medical personnel of the AFU units (Ukrainian troops) there were recorded mass diseases among the Ukrainian military personnel in the field, Basurin said in a Ministry of Defense situation report (SITREP). Physicians recorded the unknown virus as a result of which the infected get the high fever which cannot be subdues by any medicines, and in two days there comes the fatal outcome. Thus far from the virus there have died more than twenty servicemen, what is carefully shielded by the commandment of the AFU from the publicity. The virus leak was first reported on Jan. 12 by the defense ministry. We keep registering new facts of growing the epidemics of acute respiratory infections among the Ukrainian military, Basurin continued. Just since the beginning of this week more than 200 Ukrainian military have been taken to civil and military hospitals of Kharkov and Dnepropetrovsk. It is important to repeat that the DPR intelligence previously reported the research being carried out in a private laboratory in the locality Shelkostantsiya, 30 km away from the city of Kharkov, and involving U.S. military experts, he continued. According to our information, it is there where the deadly Californian flu strain leaked from. The flu was also reported by Radio Free Europe, which noted: A flu epidemic is sweeping through the eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk and the conflict smoldering nearby is making the situation even worse. Doctors are unable to identify the exact strain of the virus, because the laboratory they need is across the front lines in separatist-controlled Donetsk. A Web search for California flu turned up nothing, and there was no information about that type of flu on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Web site only typical influenza information in the state of California. What disease is this really? Whats more likely is that the strain of flu that has leaked from the U.S. military lab is a new strain of something that is both deadly and highly infectious perhaps a new strain of biological warfare that perhaps legitimately did escape. Or, was purposely tested. Whatever it is, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense is tracking it and is including information about its spread in regular intelligence SITREPs. As of Jan. 25, spread of the virus was ongoing, Ukrainian government and military officials noted. Meanwhile, while there is officially a ceasefire between Russia-backed separatist forces and the Ukrainian government forces, there are still sporadic exchanges of artillery and other small-scale clashes. The Obama administration has sent U.S. troops members of airborne units to train Ukrainian forces. Also, NATO has sent trainers as well, including troops from various European nations and Canada. Sources: Zero Hedge The Daily Beast Submit a correction >> Pentagon officials secretly collaborate with Russia to fight ISIS behind Obamas back, award-winning investigative journalist claims Throughout President Obamas term in office but in recent years particularly there have been grumblings about his amateurish foreign policy and lack of coherent military policy in many of the worlds hot spots, where the United States was either engaged when he took office, or became engaged after he settled into the White House. The Middle East has been Obamas biggest headache, as it has been for administrations dating back to the Carter era. But Obama has done little to make the situation easier for himself. He, along with his first secretary of state, Hillary Clinton whos now running for president herself encouraged the so-called Arab Spring movement all along, a movement which has seen regimes toppled in Egypt, Libya, Yemen and, nearly, Iraq and Syria. The entire region is aflame and there is little on the horizon in terms of White House policy that will change the situation on the ground anytime soon. Syria has been particularly problematic. Into the Iraq void left by the departure of all American troops in 2011 stepped the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS or ISIL, depending on the variant used). It was believed by the Obama White House that after nearly a decade of training Iraqi troops, they were finally prepared to stand on their own and protect their post-Saddam Hussein country. They werent. Bypassing Obama However, it is equally true that when ISIS arrived on the scene wide swaths of Syria had also been lost by the Bashar al-Assad regime lost to various factions of rebel groups, each with a piece of the country, but all too weak and disorganized and fractious to finish the job of toppling Assad which, by the way, was and remains an objective of the Obama administration. If ISIS complicated matters, the introduction of Russian forces into the conflict, compliments of President Vladimir Putin, have made it downright unsolvable at least for the foreseeable future. Thats because Russias objective is the polar opposite of ours; Putin, wanting to preserve historic Russian presence in Syria via a large strategically significant Mediterranean port at Tartus, has a stake in seeing Assad remain in power. Having said that, according to renowned investigative journalist Seymour M. Hersh, U.S. and Russian intelligence have nonetheless been cooperating and not at the behest of the White House, but rather in spite of it via the sharing of intelligence targeting ISIS, since that is the one common thread, the one common enemy, Moscow and Washington share. How so? ISIS, of course, is also attempting to bring down the Assad regime, though the Islamic caliphate is now most concerned about solidifying and preserving its territorial gains. The U.S. opposes ISIS as a terrorist organization. Barack Obamas repeated insistence that Bashar al-Assad must leave office and that there are moderate rebel groups in Syria capable of defeating him has in recent years provoked quiet dissent, and even overt opposition, among some of the most senior officers on the Pentagons Joint Staff, Hersh writes. Sharing intel with other nations Their criticism has focused on what they see as the administrations fixation on Assads primary ally, Vladimir Putin. In their view, Obama is captive to Cold War thinking about Russia and China, and hasnt adjusted his stance on Syria to the fact both countries share Washingtons anxiety about the spread of terrorism in and beyond Syria; like Washington, they believe that Islamic State must be stopped, he continued. Their dissent dates back to the summer of 2013, when an assessment of life in Syria should Assad be deposed, compiled by the Defense Intelligence Agency and the Joint Chiefs, then led by Gen. Martin Dempsey, projected that Syria would collapse into chaos and become a jihadi haven. That is pretty much what has happened to Libya and, for a time, parts of Iraq and Egypt. The report also took a dim view of the White Houses continuance of a policy to arm the so-called moderate rebels. What happened, eventually, was that the covert arms program was co-opted by Turkey, since the guns and ammo went through a Turkish conduit; the moderates essentially disintegrated; and U.S. arms were flowing to all kinds of Syrian groups, including ISIS and other terrorist organizations. Sensing that Obama would never directly approve their plan, the Joint Chiefs covertly sought out ways to share U.S. intelligence with the Syrian army. Germany, Israel and Russia were in contact with the Syrian army under Assad, and intelligence was shared through those nations. The entire Hersh assessment is here, and it is worth the read. This helps explain why Obama cant keep top generals and defense secretaries. Sources: BBC.com IRB.co.uk Submit a correction >> SC lawmakers consider forcing journalists to register with the state to eliminate freedom of the press South Carolina is considered a red state that is, one whose legislature is dominated, supposedly, by small-government conservatives and whose governor, Nikki Haley, was a darling of the Tea Party when she was running for her first term. In fact, one of the most conservative of all U.S. senators, Tim Scott, was appointed by Haley to replace a retiring Republican in 2013. So what gives with the South Carolina legislature considering a bill that is pro-big government, anti-free speech and smacks of authoritarianism? As reported by The State, Rep. Mike Pitts, a Republican from Laurens, filed a bill recently in the South Carolina House that would establish a responsible journalism registry that would be managed by the S.C. secretary of state. A summary of the legislation says the measure would establish requirements for persons before working as a journalist for a media outlet and for media outlets before hiring a journalist. The summary also says the bill would establish registration fees, set fines for non-compliance and establish criminal penalties for violations. Thats about as nanny state as it gets: fees, fines and penalties. The State reported further: A person seeking to register with the state as a journalist would have to submit a criminal record background check and an affidavit from the media outlet attesting to the applicants journalistic competence. The full paragraph of the bill, H. 4102, says, A person seeking to register shall provide all information required by the office including, but not limited to, a criminal record background check, an affidavit from the media outlet attesting to the applicants journalistic competence, and an application fee in an amount determined by the office. Thankfully, not everyone in the state is in agreement that the bill is a good idea. You can include Bill Rogers, executive director of the S.C. Press Association (The State is a member of that organization), who said the registry proposal is ridiculous and totally unconstitutional. Governments state or federal cannot require journalists to register, said Rogers. He cited the First Amendments guarantee of freedom of the press as evidence of that. Pitts told The Post and Courier that while his bill is not a reaction to any particular news story, it is intended instead to stimulate a discussion over how he believes gun issues are being reported. It strikes me as ironic that the first question is constitutionality from a press that has no problem demonizing firearms, Pitts said. With this statement Im talking primarily about printed press and TV. The TV stations, the six oclock news and the printed press has no qualms demonizing gun owners and gun ownership. The measure states that persons are not competent to be journalists in the state if, within three years of applying for the registry, they have been convicted of libel, slander, or invasion of privacy; or a felony if the underlying offense was committed to collect, write, or distribute news or other current information for a media outlet. Also, a candidate for registry would be denied if the person has demonstrated a reckless disregard of the basic codes and canons of professional journalism associations, including a disregard of truth, accuracy, objectivity, impartiality, fairness, and public accountability, as applicable to the acquisition of newsworthy information and its subsequent dissemination to the public. The assumption is that the secretary of state gets to make the determination, and that such determinations are likely to be arbitrary (I was objective! No you werent!). While there isnt much chance a law like this passes, even if it does it is highly unlikely it would withstand judicial scrutiny. That said, its hard to imagine such a law would even be proposed by a member of a political party that is supposedly opposed, ideologically, to the overarching control of nanny government. One other point: In this day and age, the Internet has created a massive army of citizen journalists who arent necessarily educated as journalists or who dont practice traditional journalism, but who nevertheless report news and events as they happen. A bill like this would kill citizen journalism in South Carolina. Sources: The State The Daily Sheeple Submit a correction >> What we can expect to see in the marijuana world moving forward Much has been accomplished in the last few years regarding legalizing marijuana for medical and recreational use. In many places, its a non-issue, with cops in some countries turning a blind eye or even joining in. Smuggling of marijuana and the illegal cannabis trade has already substantially dropped since legalization, thus reducing crime and the resultant law enforcement costs. People are working in the marijuana industry, filling the jobs it has created, and sick people are getting medical help from medical marijuana. What more can we expect this year? In the US, twenty-three states allow some form of legal cannabis and four states have legalized cannabis for recreational use. Uruguay led the world in legalizing cannabis nationwide, and other countries around the world are allowing small amounts of marijuana to be in ones possession for personal use. Chile recently had its first harvest of marijuana for medical purposes, while Colombias president signed a decree to legalize the cultivation and sale of medical marijuana. What does 2016 hold for marijuana? It seems inevitable that we will eventually see marijuana legalization via legislative action in the US, and 2016 may just be the year this will happen. Perhaps it is not far-fetched to suppose that legalized medical marijuana that is not restricted to a CBD-only version of medical marijuana will be on the agenda for some legislatures. Senator Bernie Sanders announced last year that he would be proposing new legislation to remove cannabis from the list of controlled substances. The bill wouldnt lower marijuana from Schedule 1 to Schedule 2; it would de-schedule marijuana completely. Such a move would remove marijuana prohibition at the federal level and allow states to decide the issue on their own. Marijuana businesses may see substantial economic benefits if marijuana is de-scheduled. Entrepreneurs would no longer have to struggle to get a bank loan or a mortgage. Given marijuanas status as a dangerous drug, current regulations cripple the marijuana industry, limiting growth and creating serious safety and security concerns associated with a cash-heavy business model. Along with the good comes the bad. We can expect to see greed and ambition filter into the marijuana industry. In the words of reform activist Ethan Nadelmann, founder of the Drug Policy Alliance, Were entering a new era of marijuana law reform in which the influence of funders and organizations driven primarily by concerns for civil rights and personal liberties, and not by any financial interest in legalizing marijuana, will be superseded by people and corporations driven largely by their pursuit of legal profits. Hopefully, if de-scheduling happens, post-prohibition laws will prevent this corporate drive for profits from undermining newly secured liberties. Around the world, we can expect to see activists continuing to fight in order to get marijuana legalized. In South Africa, for example, activists have been preparing for the Trial of the Cannabis Plant, where the laws restricting the cultivation and use of marijuana will be challenged. If successful in getting these laws changed, the activists intend to take the case all the way to the International Court of Human Rights, so that marijuana never has to be put on trial again, anywhere in the world. Hopefully, more success stories when it comes to medical marijuana will come to light and more research studies will be conducted into the potential of medical marijuana to cure or at least add therapeutic value to patients suffering from a variety of illnesses. Patients may be able to wean themselves off pharmaceutical drugs with the help of marijuana in the years ahead. For example, The Journal of the American Medical Association published a report showing a 25% drop in opioid drug overdose deaths in states where the citizens have access to marijuana. Hopefully we will continue to see more and more benefits of medical marijuana and people will no longer be punished for recreational use. Indeed, 2016 looks like a promising year for marijuana. Sources: NaturalNews.com TheWeedBlog.com CNN.com Science.NaturalNews.com Submit a correction >> This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate BRIDGEPORT Say what you will about Donald J. Trump the ochreous presidential hopeful knows how to bring people together. As The Donald held forth on dishonest media types, lying Republican nomination challengers and how his casino that never was would have kept Bridgeport out of economic doldrums, dozens of men, women and children gathered along State Street and Fairfield Avenue to protest his very presence in the city. In stark contrast to the almost entirely white crowd that packed the Klein Auditorium in support of the erstwhile real estate mogul, the families and groups of friends that flew neon placards outside more closely represented the population of the city. Were coming here because Trumps ideas are crazy. I mean, who does he think he is? said Brandy Fernandes, who waved a neon placard at State Street and Iranistan Avenue. Hes just a disgusting, perverted, racist pig. Fernandes, who is still a few years shy of voting age, objected to Trumps stances on immigration and treatment of certain religious minorities. More News Trump promises jobs renaissance during Bridgeport rally He thinks that just because youre black or Latino youre some kind of killer or rapist, if youre Muslim youre a terrorist to him, said Fernandes. People come here for a better life, for job opportunities. Could she vote, Fernandes said she leaned more toward Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, a Democratic socialist vying for the Democratic nomination against former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. But Trump drew opponents from the other end of the political spectrum as well. Joan Adam, a supporter of Ohio Gov. John Kasich, schlepped to Bridgeport from Bronxville, N.Y. to voice her objections. If I take the one thing that he says hes got going for him, that hes a successful businessman ... I would say, if you want your hair cut, go to a hairdresser. If you want your car fixed, go to a mechanic. If you want real estate, go to Donald Trump, and if you want a president, pick somebody who has governmental experience, said Adam. Maryfrances Metrick, another Kasich supported from Ridgefield, said that Trump was too negative for her liking. Ive never protested before, but I didnt feel I could stay silent with a man like that, said Metrick. Despite their fervor, the protesters remained mostly peaceful, heeding instructions from mounted and walking police officers, though there were megaphone chants of F- Trump. WHY ARE OUR CHILDREN VOTING FOR SOCIALIST BERNIE? By Charlotte Iserbyt April 12, 2016 NewsWithViews.com (1) Because they have been, over the past two-plus generations, subjected to a Marxist education, emanating from the U.S. Department of Education. (2) Because Bernie is "up front" about his socialist philosophy; while the other candidates, from both parties, with possible exception of Donald Trump, hide (lie about their globalist/socialist views and philosophy behind red, white, and blue words). The young people appreciate Bernie's honesty? (3) Because President Ronald Reagan, who wanted to meet with Charlotte Iserbyt in 1982, was kept from doing so by his White House Chief of Staff, "conservative" Republican, Edwin Meese III. Had this meeting taken place it is quite possible the Department of Education, which has been funding and spewing out Marxist curriculum and teacher training for 34 years, would have been abolished. ABCs of DumbDown: Patriots Or Manchurian Candidates? Had the Department been abolished and communist T.H. Bell, Secretary of Education, fired, the United States might have retained its basically academic education system which educated our children for upward mobility, not to be pawns in the hands of the international/corporate education system, as serfs, lifelong, to spin off profits for the global elite. No presidential election will change what I have just outlined in the paragraph above unless each presidential candidate is required to publicly, in a major televised speech, promise the American people that he/she will participate in an immediate "tear down" of the communist education system/agenda being implemented at the state and local level as I write. That means that each candidate must publicly call for repeal of the recently passed, with a huge Republican majority, reauthorization of the No Child Left Behind Act: The Every Student Succeeds Act, a communist piece of legislation if ever there was one. ABCs of DumbDown: CARNEGIE'S COMMUNIST MANIFESTO FOR AMERICA 2016 Charlotte T. Iserbyt - All Rights Reserved Charlotte Iserbyt is the consummate whistleblower! Iserbyt served as Senior Policy Advisor in the Office of Educational Research and Improvement (OERI), U.S. Department of Education, during the first Reagan Administration, where she first blew the whistle on a major technology initiative which would control curriculum in America's classrooms. Iserbyt is a former school board director in Camden, Maine and was co-founder and research analyst of Guardians of Education for Maine (GEM) from 1978 to 2000. She has also served in the American Red Cross on Guam and Japan during the Korean War, and in the United States Foreign Service in Belgium and in the Republic of South Africa. Iserbyt is a speaker and writer, best known for her 1985 booklet Back to Basics Reform or OBE: Skinnerian International Curriculum and her 1989 pamphlet Soviets in the Classroom: America's Latest Education Fad which covered the details of the U.S.-Soviet and Carnegie-Soviet Education Agreements which remain in effect to this day. She is a freelance writer and has had articles published in Human Events, The Washington Times, The Bangor Daily News, and included in the record of Congressional hearings. Charlott's Blog: http://www.abcsofdumbdown.blogspot.com/ Website: www.deliberatedumbingdown.com Website: www.americandeception.com E-Mail: dumbdown00@yahoo.com Asthma is a common lung condition that causes occasional breathing difficulties. It affects people of all ages and often starts in childhood, although it can also develop for the first time in adults. There's currently no cure, but there are simple treatments that can help keep the symptoms under control so it does not have a big impact on your life. Symptoms of asthma The main symptoms of asthma are: a whistling sound when breathing (wheezing) breathlessness a tight chest, which may feel like a band is tightening around it coughing The symptoms can sometimes get temporarily worse. This is known as an asthma attack. When to see a GP See a GP if you think you or your child may have asthma. Several conditions can cause similar symptoms, so it's important to get a proper diagnosis and correct treatment. The GP will usually be able to diagnose asthma by asking about symptoms and carrying out some simple tests. Find out more about how asthma is diagnosed. Treatments for asthma Asthma is usually treated by using an inhaler, a small device that lets you breathe in medicines. The main types are: reliever inhalers used when needed to quickly relieve asthma symptoms for a short time preventer inhalers used every day to prevent asthma symptoms happening Some people also need to take tablets. Causes and triggers of asthma Asthma is caused by swelling (inflammation) of the breathing tubes that carry air in and out of the lungs. This makes the tubes highly sensitive, so they temporarily narrow. It may happen randomly or after exposure to a trigger. Common asthma triggers include: allergies (to house dust mites, animal fur or pollen, for example) smoke, pollution and cold air exercise infections like colds or flu Identifying and avoiding your asthma triggers can help you keep your symptoms under control. How long asthma lasts for Asthma is a long-term condition for many people, particularly if it first develops when you're an adult. In children, it sometimes goes away or improves during the teenage years, but can come back later in life. The symptoms can usually be controlled with treatment. Most people will have normal, active lives, although some people with more severe asthma may have ongoing problems. Complications of asthma Although asthma can normally be kept under control, it's still a serious condition that can cause a number of problems. This is why it's important to follow your treatment plan and not ignore your symptoms if they're getting worse. Badly controlled asthma can cause problems such as: feeling tired all the time underperformance at, or absence from, work or school stress, anxiety or depression disruption of your work and leisure because of unplanned visits to a GP or hospital lung infections (pneumonia) delays in growth or puberty in children There's also a risk of severe asthma attacks, which can be life threatening. Video: Asthma Animated video about asthma, which is a chronic condition affecting the lungs. Fani-Kayode, in an article on Friday, alleged that former governors Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State and his Rivers State counterpart, Rot... Fani-Kayode, in an article on Friday, alleged that former governors Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State and his Rivers State counterpart, Rotimi Amaechi, funded President Muhammadu Buharis campaign.Fani-Kayode, who is a former Minister of Aviation, said this in an article titled, The Money Transfers and the Truth about the Presidential Campaign Funds, which he wrote in reaction to allegations levelled against him by the EFCC.Fani-Kayode had confessed to receiving N840m as the director of publicity during the electioneering last year, but noted that he did not know that the funds emanated from the account of the Central Bank of Nigeria.He, however, described the investigations as a witch-hunt and urged the EFCC to beam its searchlight on Fashola and Amaechi who have since been appointed ministers in Buharis government.Fani-Kayode said, Instead of using the EFCC to try to rubbish me and my colleagues and smear our good names, those that are in power today should tell us where they got their campaign funds from and how much of it came from the governments of Lagos and Rivers states.The two people that headed those two state governments then are now both federal ministers today. One of them, who was the Director-General of the Buhari Campaign Organisation, was specifically indicted by a judicial commission of inquiry for using millions of dollars of state government funds to run the Buhari campaign, yet nothing happened and his reward was to be appointed as a minister.Fani-Kayode alleged that even in the March 19, 2015 rerun election in Rivers State, Amaechi transported N5bn to the state but the EFCC had done nothing about it.He added, Again what about the N5bn cash that was flown down to Port Harcourt in Rivers State from Abuja in chartered plane a couple of days before the rerun election that took place on March 19, 2016? Where did they get that amount of cash from and what was its purpose and source?What has the EFCC said or leaked about that? It appears that there is one law for those that are in power today and another for those that are not. Why persecute the innocent and leave the guilty? Was it a crime to fight and lose an election?The former minister said Buhari spent 10 times more than Jonathan during the last election. He said Buhari as the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, hired the same campaign managers that headed United States Presidents campaign.Fani-Kayode alleged that the campaign managers were paid $10m.He also claimed that the Jonathan campaign team was underfunded as it was not even given vehicles with which to move around during the electioneering.He added, I might add that we spent far less money than the APC and the Buhari Presidential Campaign Organisation because they had access to massive amounts of state government funds and they used those funds effectively. For every million naira we spent, they spent 10.They even contracted the services of a famous American media consultant (the same one that President Obama used in 2008) and paid him $10m for his counsel and advice. They had fleets of cars and buses whilst my directorate was not even given one vehicle to get our people around.The official jeep that was meant to have been given to us for our operations during the campaign was highjacked and it never arrived.We were forced to use our own personal vehicles and we were glad to do so. Yet the other side had everything that money could buy. They even chartered numerous private jets throughout the campaign to get around the country. Where did they get all their funding from? Why is the EFCC not leaking stories or talking about that?Faulting Fani-Kayode, the APC National Vice-Chairman said the ex-spokesman should provide proof, if he alleged that the two APC governors financed Buharis campaigns.It is not just by making allegations. They should bring proof. In our own case, we have brought proof, people are returning money. Is that not so? These are some of the things we must interrogate. In fact, there is no need for us to respond to them (PDP campaign). The fact speaks for itself. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission is set to invite former Minister of Aviation, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, a former National Chai... The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission is set to invite former Minister of Aviation, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, a former National Chairman of the Social Democratic Party, Chief Olu Falae, and others alleged to have illegally received government funds through the last presidential campaign for questioning next week.It was learnt that the commission on Thursday revisited investigations into funding of former President Goodluck Jonathans 2015 campaign.It was learnt that with the arrest of the former Finance Director of the Goodluck Jonathan Campaign Organisation, Nenadi Usman, the anti-graft commission had reopened its investigations into the funding of Jonathans campaign.It was also learnt that the EFCC had last month begun investigations into the funding of Jonathans campaign, but suspended the probe because the director of finance of the organisation was out of the country.Investigations showed that the commission had revisited the probe and that those who were alleged to have illegally collected funds through the campaign would be invited next week.The former minister was arrested on Thursday over N2.5bn she allegedly received from the Central Bank of Nigeria.Usman was alleged to have transferred the funds to several persons through the bank account of a company, Joint Trust Dimension Nigeria Limited.Fani-Kayode, who was the Spokesperson for the Goodluck Jonathan Campaign Organisation during the last election, was alleged to have received N840m.Falae allegedly received N100m through a company, Marreco Limited, where he is chairman.It was learnt that the EFCC would invite Fani-Kayode; Falae and ex-political adviser to Jonathan, Prof. Rufai Alkali, who was the Coordinator of the Goodluck Support Group, which allegedly collected N320m.A source in the EFCC said, Nenadi Usman holds the key to the investigation. With her arrest, the EFCC has reopened the investigation which was suspended when she was out of the country.It was learnt that although the commission had concluded plans to invite those involved as from next week, the timing of the invitation might change depending on Nenadi Usmans statement.The former finance director is still in the EFCC custody.Criticising the Jonathan administration, the APC said that the EFCCs probes were not one-sided. Popular business tycoon and richest man in Africa, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, has restated his commitment to assist the Federal Government in t... Popular business tycoon and richest man in Africa, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, has restated his commitment to assist the Federal Government in turning around and diversifying the countrys economy.He said this in Lagos on Friday where he was honoured as Man of the Year 2015 by The Guardian Newspapers Limited.He said that he was working hard with his company to take Nigeria to the next level and that within the next two and half years, Nigeria was going to excel in some critical areas.Number one is refinery, Dangote Group is building a refinery which will produce 650,000 barrels of petrol per day; the current capacity that we have as a country now, both the ones that are working and the ones not working, is just 450,000 barrels per day.Our petrochemical is ten times that of Eleme, we are at 1.3 million, Eleme is 120,000, so it will be the largest petrochemical industry in Africa.In fertilizer production, we are not only trying to satisfy the market, but our size is three million tonnes which is ten times more than what is available in Nigeria today.We are trying to make sure we satisfy the local needs and also export and we thought about how to address our power issues, the only way we can address power issues is to have enough gas and sort out distribution.Distribution is important because unless you collect money from the consumers, you cannot grow.There are two sub-sea gas pipelines coming from Bonny which will produce about three billion volume of gas which is exactly about the same size of LNG.We are committed to turning around the economy of Nigeria and in the next two and a half years, Nigeria will be the highest oil petroleum products export country, will be the highest in terms of fertilizer export, will be the highest in petrochemicals export.Nigeria will also be the highest in terms of cement export in Africa, he said. Youths in Ekiti state have described Governor Ayodele Fayoses letter to the Chinese Government as a display of foolishness. The youths... Youths in Ekiti state have described Governor Ayodele Fayoses letter to the Chinese Government as a display of foolishness.The youths, under the aegis of Ekiti Kete Youth Forum, expressed as shocking, disappointing, uncultured, unnecessary and unconstitutional, the recent treasonable act committed by Fayose against the Nigerian government and her people.It would be recalled that Fayose wrote the Chinese government urging it not to issue loan to the Nigerian government led by President Muhammadu Buhari.The Ekiti youths also described Fayoses action as insane. The decision of the governor to attempting frustrating the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in his effort to redeeming the political image and also resuscitating, restructuring and repositioning the battered economy of the nation is not only unfortunate, but also insane, they said.The youths, in a statement issued and signed by Comrade Tope Idowu, Director of Media and Publicity said it has now become obvious that Fayose is not in any way working in the common interest of Nigerians and Nigeria.Though we are not unaware of his political hatred for President Mohammadu Buhari even before he became the president of Nigeria, but the display of such hatred should not be to the detriment of the progress of Nigeria. Initially we thought Fayose was playing a progressive opposition, aiming at putting the President on his feet and making him deliver on his electioneering promises, but his recent decision to write the Chinese government not to support Nigeria government at this very sensitive and critical period is totally insane and worrisome.Ordinarily, we expected the governor to know better that such act is criminal, unfair, insane and breach of oath of office under the Schedule Seven of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria which he sworn to protect and uphold. For Gods sake, Mr. Fayose is not the only Governor in the opposition parties in Nigeria, and sad enough, he is the least of the opposition Governors, morally and education wise.We, Ekiti Youths are seriously getting worried as our governor is becoming a monumental tragedy, exposing us to social ridicule and destroying our pride as a people, that probably God has deliberately given us Governor Fayose as a punishment. But we pray that this time should pass away as quick as possible. To set the record straight, it is imperative to again reiterate our utmost displeasure over the unnecessary and frequent display of lack of intelligent by our state Governor.The absurdity of this act has left us with no other choice than to dissociate the entirety of Ekiti youths from the insanity. So that the people of Nigeria who mean well for this great nation, the Nigerian government and the Chinese government to know that Fayose does not represents or reflects the general view of Ekiti people.We of the Ekiti Kete Youth Forum wish to urge the Chinese government to disregard his letter and throw it into the dustbin ofirrelevance as Governor Fayose is a man of questionable character, with no academic and moral credential. We also wish to intimate the Chinese government with the facts it should put into check before considering taken Mr. Fayose serious, the youths said.The body demanded an unreserved apology from Fayose over the show of shame he put up at a train station in china, saying the idea of a whole governor posing and taking selfie in a public place with the intention of fooling his people like a local champion who had never seen civilization before was the most ridiculous idea any public officer can ever conceive.We demand the immediate refund of the state money which Mr. Fayose spent on the fruitless and shameful trip he made to china just to take selfie at a train station. That the Anthony General of the Federation (AGF) institute a case of treason against Mr. Fayose over his breach of Schedule Seven (7) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic which he sworn to upon at all time.We demand in clear explanation with proof from the Governor Fayose led-government of Ekiti State on how it spent the bailout fund and the federal projects refunded money made by the Federal Government, as no visible capital project has been initiated and successfully completed in the state by the current administration, yet it has refused to pay the workers for many month, even when the governor gets his allowances and security vote fully paid on a monthly basis without any form of delay.We call on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to come to our rescue as quick as possible, because with the rate at which the governor is handling the finances of the state, the state may end being poorer than a church rat, they said. Ace Nigerian comedian Gordon, has been accused of being a fraudster by the Chairman of The Bank Club, Abuja Kehinde Adegbite popularly known as, Mallam Yankee. In an interview with Dailystar, Mallam Yankee revealed that Gordons his owing him N400, 000.He added that the money was paid to Gordons for him to come and feature in one of his events which he failed to show up and has arrogantly held back to the money.He said:Mallam Yankee further revealed the comedian is broke and has no endorsement deal.Mallam Yankee said:In trying to clear the air on the accusation of being a debtor, he disclosed that truly he did not make the event but he has paid half of the money been given to him by the club owner.He said: The troops of the Nigerian Army have arrested four to Boko Haram commanders of the Ameer Class. The Acting Director, Army Public Relatio... The troops of the Nigerian Army have arrested four to Boko Haram commanders of the Ameer Class.The Acting Director, Army Public Relations, Col. Sani Usman, who described the arrest of the top four kingpins of the Boko Haram as 'unprecedented' in a statement on Friday said that they were undergoing interrogation.He said that the troops of the 22 Task Force Brigade arrested the insurgent leaders at Rann, at the headquarters of the Kala Balge Local Government area of Borno State on Friday.The Acting Army Spokesman said that the four Boko Haram commanders were arrested following a tip off by members of the public.He said that the arrested kingpins specialized in sustaining the activities of the Biko Haram through all manner of criminal acts.He gave the identities of the arrested kingpins as "Umara Mai Gyaran Rediyo (Radio Technician), Umaru Mai Nama, (who specialize in cattle rustling and sales), Alifa Makinta (a specialist on stealing foodstuffs) and Balu Jugudum (in charge of stolen jewelleries)."He said, "Troops of 3 Battalion, of 22 Task Force Brigade have made an unprecedented catch with the arrest of four Boko Haram terrorists Ameers (kingpins) at Rann, headquarters of Kala Balge Local Government Area today, Friday 22nd April 2016. The arrested kingpins specialized on various aspects of criminality to sustain the Boko Haram terrorists group in their areas."The four terrorists were arrested following a tip off by well meaning members of the public."Subsequently, the troops conducted a cordon and search operation in the general area that led to the apprehension of the terrorist leaders, who contributed to the sustenance of the insurgency through their illegal trade specialization." Senate President Bukola Saraki says he is paying the price for what he calls the original sin opposing the choice of a Muslim-Muslim t... Senate President Bukola Saraki says he is paying the price for what he calls the original sin opposing the choice of a Muslim-Muslim ticket by the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2015 presidential election.Saraki, in an article published in THISDAY, The Saturday Newspaper, denied that he fell out with his party for striking a deal with the PDP to win the senate presidency in June 2015 as alleged by celebrity journalist and Ovation publisher, Dele Momodu.The senate president, who is currently facing trial at the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) on allegations of false declaration of assets, said: Most people talk about the Senate Presidency position, but this was not my only offence.I have also been accused of helping to frustrate some peoples opportunity to emerge as President Muhammadu Buharis running mate. But I have no problem with anybody.His reference to Muslim-Muslim ticket is believed to be an allusion to former Lagos governor Bola Tinubu, a Muslim, who reportedly wanted to be running mate to Buhari before Yemi Osinbajo, a pastor, was picked.Saraki, also a Muslim, said it was not going to be politically smart to field an all-Muslim ticket.My concern was that it would not be politically smart of us to run with a Muslim-Muslim ticket. I doubt if we would have won the election if we had done this, especially after the PDP had successfully framed us a Muslim party. I felt we were no longer in 1993, he said.Perhaps, more than ever before, Nigerians are more sensitive to issues of religious balancing. This was my original sin. What they say to themselves, among other things, was that if he could conspire against our ambition, then he must not realize his own ambition as well.For me however, I have no regrets about this. I only stood for what I believed was in the best interest of the party and in the best interest of Nigeria.In 1993, the Social Democratic Party (SDP) fielded a Muslim-Muslim ticket featuring MKO Abiola and Baba Gana Kingibe and was believed to have won the presidential election, although the announcement of results was stopped midway and annulled by the military government. CAMDEN -- A Sunday ride to benefit the Battleship New Jersey as well as a local Boy Scout troop will depart from Burlington County and finish aboard the ship with a free lunch. The All American Motorcycle Run will begin at Barb's Harley Davidson, in Mount Ephraim, and travel through South Jersey before arriving in Camden at New Jersey's namesake battleship. All participants will receive a tour of this country's most decorated ship, free lunch provided by Wawa and a free pass to watch Independence Day fireworks from the battleship. A raffle will also be held for one person to fire the ship's 5-inch gun. Proceeds from the run will go to support on-going Battleship New Jersey restoration efforts as well as Boy Scouts Troop 54. Registration will be available on Sunday between 8 and 9 a.m. at Barb's Harley Davidson, located at 926 E. Black Horse Pike. Cost is $30 per bike and $20 per passenger. Readers with questions regarding the ride should email Cindy Keen at troop54bikerun@gmail.com. Greg Adomaitis may be reached at gadomaitis@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @GregAdomaitis. Find NJ.com on Facebook. CAMDEN -- A city woman is facing multiple charges after her former home caught fire on Friday. The 800 block of Haddon Avenue in Camden, where a fire displaced a dozen people and injured several children and adults (photo courtesy 6ABC/WPVI). Asia Molock Williams, 35, had recently been evicted from her apartment on the first floor of a Haddon Avenue house when the building caught fire in the early hours of Friday morning. The blaze quickly spread to several adjoining row homes, displacing about a dozen people altogether. Six people, including at least one child, were injured. Their condition was not immediately available on Saturday afternoon. A Camden police spokesman said that Williams previously lived in the apartment with several children, and that she had repeatedly returned their former home, attempting to enter the building with the help of her kids. Police also said Williams had used "threatening language" when speaking to her landlord following her eviction. Williams is charged with burglary, making terroristic threats and using juveniles to commit a crime. The investigation is ongoing, and while authorities consider the fire a possible arson, Williams has not been charged with setting the blaze. Her bail was set at $35,000. Some neighbors told PhillyVoice.com that they, like the others, had to leave everything behind to escape the fire. Carol Lindsay told the news site that she heard screaming coming from the houses as the adjoining porches and ceilings in each home burned. Andy Polhamus may be reached at apolhamus@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @ajpolhamus. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Happy birthday, William Shakespeare. Maybe. The actual details, you see, are a little vague. We know the Bard of Avon was born sometime in late April, 1564, and baptized on April 26th. Thatas about as specific as the biographies get. In fact, although we know he died on April 23, 1616, much of what happened over his 50-odd years is anybody's guess. We do know he married Anne Hathaway at 18, and had three children, one of whom was born six months after the hastily arranged wedding. Sometime in his 20s, Shakespeare became a London actor, producer and playwright, credited with more than three dozen plays. He died at roughly 52, of unknown causes. But everything beyond that is still a controversy, 400 years later. How many plays did William Shakespeare really write? Co-write? Did he even write at all, or was he just the convenient front for a bashful aristocrat or two? Conspiracy theorists have long insisted the plays are too worldly, too brilliant to come from one man -- never mind a commoner who had never been to university. It's an insulting charge, but also an illogical one. To begin with, frankly Shakespeare didn't know all that much. His plays often have factual errors (there were no clocks in ancient Rome). And most of his history (and his plots) obviously come from the same, few, well-thumbed volumes. You don't need to have been a titled intellectual to have written "Julius Caesar" or "Richard III." But you do need to have been a kind of singular genius. When you read Shakespeare, you see the same unique mind at work -- a love of puns, wordplay and effortlessly extended metaphors that's consistent from play to play and far beyond his contemporaries' style. When you see them performed, you realize even more strongly these were not the works of some young noble but of a hungry, brilliant boy from the country. Who else but a commoner would know the rabble well enough to always include something -- dirty jokes, a song, a slapstick fool -- to keep the mob's interest, even in the midst of a five-hour tragedy? To make sure that those long, beautiful soliloquies were bookended up by rampaging bears, bloody violence and capering clowns? And who else but a hungry striver would keep such a keen eye on his career, investing in his own theater and making sure his work always flattered important political patrons? When Elizabeth was on the throne, Shakespeare produced epic histories of the Tudors; when James ascended, the writer paid tribute to the king's Scottish lineage with "Macbeth." No, conspiracy theories aside, it seems clear that William Shakespeare was, indeed, William Shakespeare -- although precisely which Shakespeare depends on what you're looking for. Directors have set his plays on Caribbean islands, in fascist regimes, in yuppie Manhattan and in the Jazz Age. Scholars and critics have analyzed his work from Marxist, modernist, feminist and gay perspectives Audiences have laughed at his comedies, wept at his tragedies, and marveled at plays that 400 years later still speak to us. And in one man's clear, brilliant voice. Who was William Shakespeare? A man of his time, and of ours. And worth celebrating today -- whatever his real birthday was. NEWARK -- A 33-year-old woman who police said was hiding out of state was arrested Thursday for her alleged role in the shooting of a man over a snow shovel in January. Taquannah Martin was arrested Thursday in Tobyhanna, Pa., where fugitive apprehension detectives learned she was staying, Public Safety Director Anthony Ambrose said. She was being held in Pennsylvania pending extradition to New Jersey. Martin is the second person arrested in connection with the shooting, which occurred the morning after the city was buried beneath more than two feet of snow Jan. 24. The victim, a 38-year-old man, told police he found a shovel on the ground and dug out the driveway of an elderly neighbor on Lindsey Street. As he was clearing the driveway, the victim said he was confronted by a neighbor, Saqirah Davis, who claimed the shovel belonged to her. The man returned the shovel and exchanged words with Davis before heading to his own home, he told police in January. As he was making his way home, the man said he was again confronted by Davis, who was accompanied by three other people. On orders from Davis, someone in the group shot the victim, striking him in the buttocks, police said in January. Martin is not believed to be the shooter, a department spokesman said Friday. Davis, 36, was arrested the day of the shooting. The victim was treated at University Hospital and released. Police continue to look for additional suspects. Anyone with information about this or any other crime are asked to call the department's 24-hour Crime Stoppers' tip line at 877 NWK-TIPS (877 695-8477) or NWK-GUNS (877 695-4867). All calls remain confidential. Paul Milo may be reached at pmilo@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter@PaulMilo2. Find NJ.com on Facebook. NEWARK -- A tentative deal between Newark and ride-hailing company Uber has hit a roadblock. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates Newark Liberty International Airport, raised concerns this week about the city's proposal to receive $1 million per year over the next 10 years from Uber in exchange for the right to operate at the airport. Most of the airport is within the Newark city limits in New Jersey, and the Port Authority leases the land from the city. State laws in New Jersey and New York give the Port Authority sole discretion in "all details of financing, construction, leasing, charges, rates, tolls, contracts and the operation of air terminals," according to language in the New Jersey statute. The Port Authority operates JFK and LaGuardia airports in New York in addition to Newark Liberty. Last weekend, Newark Mayor Ras Baraka announced the tentative deal with Uber that included the fee for operating at the airport. In a statement to The Associated Press this week, the Port Authority said it has expressed its concerns to city officials and that it plans to "discuss the matter with Newark officials in hopes of finding a resolution." Baraka's office didn't respond to a request for comment Friday or say whether the city and Port Authority have discussed the Uber deal this week. The Uber proposal was supposed to be considered at a Newark city council meeting Wednesday but wasn't voted on. Taxi drivers protested outside the meeting, and say ride-hailing has significantly cut their profits and that the proposed Uber deal is unfair to them. Newark Liberty Airport handles more than 30 million passengers annually and is among the 20 busiest U.S. airports. A spokesman for San Francisco-based Uber declined to provide statistics on how many pickups and drop-offs the company makes at the airport. Craig Ewer said Uber is continuing to operate at the airport and has about 13,000 eligible drivers in New Jersey, a number he said includes about 2,000 Newark residents. "We're confident that the Mayor and all interested parties understand what is at stake for the 2,000 Newark residents who rely on Uber to earn extra income," the company said in an emailed statement Friday. Newark and Uber had been in a public spat recently over taxes, licensing and background checks. In February, city officials said Uber drivers would be ticketed or towed if they operated at the train station or airport, but the plan was later shelved. At the time, the Port Authority issued a statement saying it wouldn't prevent Uber drivers from operating at the airport. jcpd.JPG Jersey City police arrested Steven Burno, 21, of Jersey City on Thursday in connection to a Oct. 24, 2015 home invasion and sex assault case in Garfield, DV Pilot reported. (Journal File Photo) JERSEY CITY -- One of three Jersey City men suspected of breaking into a Garfield home, sexually assaulting a woman and stealing cash and electronics has been arrested, DV Pilot reported. On Friday evening, Acting Bergen County Prosecutor Gurbir S. Grewal announced that Jersey City police arrested Steven Burno, 21, of Jersey City on Thursday on Armstrong Avenue in connection to the Oct. 24 incident, the news site reported. Two other suspects in the case -- Xavier Epps, 22, and Tymell J. White, 21 -- were arrested last October, NJ Advance Media reported. Burno is being held on a $500,000 bail at the Hudson County jail in Kearny on the charges of robbery, weapons offenses and two counts of aggravated sexual assault, according to DV Pilot. When Epps and White were arrested, they were charged with armed robbery, armed burglary, aggravated sexual assault with a weapon, aggravated sexual assault during a burglary, possession of a weapon for unlawful purpose and unlawful possession of a weapon, NJAM reported. Jonathan Lin may be reached at jlin@jjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter @jlin_jj. Find The Jersey Journal on Facebook. BAYONNE -- In the wake of an unexpected $15 million revenue gap opening up in the city's proposed $135.5 million budget, Bayonne Mayor Jimmy Davis is telling residents that "we're going to be fine." Developer Kate Howard LTD, whose principal is Waitex Group, was slated to pay $15 million this year to the city, but officials announced last week that the deal between the developer and the city is off. Aside from Second Ward Councilman Sal Gullace, who said earlier this week that he thinks the city has "figured it out already," officials up to now have stopped short of expressing confidence in a rosy outcome. But in an interview yesterday with The Jersey Journal, Davis struck a similar tone to Gullace. "We will make up this difference. It will not turn into a tax increase on the people because of the $15 million," the mayor said, declining to describe the revenue items that are lined up to fill the hole. Bayonne Chief of Staff Andrew Casais has said officials are hoping to adopt the city budget by June -- giving them a little over two months to make up the shortfall. Davis said most of the money has already been made up for, and that once all the items are mapped out, he plans to release more information. The former Bayonne police captain said the deal with Kate Howard LTD unexpectedly fell through sometime in March. He couldn't give an exact date. "Everything was agreed upon, and then when it came time for the developer to sign, he didn't sign, and I wasn't going to be held hostage," Davis said. The two sides couldn't come to an agreement on purchasing details for the southwest portion of Bayonne's former Military Ocean Terminal known as Harbor Station South, city Business Administrator Joe DeMarco has said. Davis' take on the city's budgetary woes was markedly more optimistic than Third Ward Councilman Gary La Pelusa's, who recently proposed a city hiring freeze in part because of what he termed "a budget crisis." La Pelusa cited several other reasons for making that motion, including the city's ongoing multimillion-dollar structural deficit. Davis' positive forecast for the fixing of the $15 million revenue hole came on the heels of a budget hearing where two critics of his administration scrutinized the issue. At the hearing, Peter Franco, a frequent Davis critic who worked on a rival mayoral campaign in 2014, asked City Chief Financial Officer Malloy what the municipal tax increase would be if the city doesn't find $15 million. Malloy said that would result in an increase of $855 for the average city household, which is seven times the originally projected increase of $121 under the introduced budget. Jonathan Lin may be reached at jlin@jjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter @jlin_jj. Find The Jersey Journal on Facebook. JERSEY CITY -- Holly Smith, a language arts teacher from McNair Academic High School, also went to McNair Academic High School, graduating in 1995, when the graduating class was about half as big. On Friday, Smith was named the district's Teacher of the Year, during an annual award ceremony that is a bit of an Academy Awards luncheon for the district's educators. In addition to Smith's special district-wide honor, one teacher from every school in the state's second-largest school district was commended as "teacher of the year" for his or her school, after being nominated by peers. Smith, a teacher for 14 years, worked in corporate public relations for three years before re-routing her path toward education. "I am a teacher, and who was I kidding, right?" she said. "This was my calling. It's a really nice validation to get from the district." "(Our school) is just a good community, a good family-atmosphere," said Sheila Love, a health, physical education and driver's education teacher from Renaissance Institute who said she felt "intimidated" by her award. "I love kids. They bring out the best in me." P.S. 14's Teacher of the Year sixth grade math teacher Tiara Arroyo, who was born and raised in Jersey City, called it "a real honor." "I was surprised and delighted," she said. "I try to teach the kids, connect with them, build a relationship so that they are open to learning." Snyder High School tenth and eleventh grade social studies teacher Phuong Le said she was "shocked" by the award and would be motivated by it going forward. "A lot of the students, they think that history is just a story they read in the textbook," said Le, who was born in Vietnam. "When I teach about the Vietnan War, I teach about my experience. I teach about my father's experience." Laura Herzog may be reached at lherzog@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @LauraHerzogL. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Jersey City police car Police are investigating a shooting where a man was shot in the leg, according to a city official. (Journal File Photo) JERSEY CITY - Police are investigating a shooting where a man was shot in the leg, according to a city official. The incident happened just before 11 p.m. on Clinton Avenue, where an 18-year-old Bergen Avenue man was shot, according to Jersey City Spokeswoman Jennifer Morrill. The victim, who suffered non life-threatening injuries, was brought to Jersey City Medical Center-Barnabas Health for treatment, she said. The victim was highly uncooperative with police, and the investigation is ongoing, according to Morrill. jcpd.JPG A Reading, Penn. man has been charged with unlawful possession of a weapon after being found with a gun in his backpack in a car in Jersey City, according to police. (Journal File Photo) JERSEY CITY -- A Reading, Penn. man has been charged with unlawful possession of a weapon after being found with a gun in his backpack in a car in Jersey City, according to police. On Friday at around 5 p.m., police stopped a white, two-door Honda in the area of Kennedy Boulevard and Sherman Place after noticing that the car had an expired inspection sticker, a police report stated. As two officers approached the car, they saw the front seat passenger -- later identified as Ariel Pagan Jr., 32 -- reach down to a backpack on the floor by his feet and quickly sit back up, police said. Police said Pagan then tried to conceal the backpack with his feet. A person who identified himself as the driver of the car told The Jersey Journal that police did not initially see the inspection sticker and that the backpack was always in the backseat of the car. Believing that the men could be armed and that Pagan "possibly reached to a weapon," an officer asked Pagan if he was armed or in possession of any weapons in the car, and Pagan said no, the report stated. Pagan then told officers they could search the car, police said. When an officer saw what looked like the barrel of a gun through the partially open zipper of a backpack on the passenger side floor, Pagan said "Oh I have a gun inside the bookbag," according to the report. The officers then recovered a 9mm Luger handgun loaded with six hollow point rounds, and arrested both Pagan and the driver of the car, police said. Police said the driver, a 33-year-old Jersey City man, was later released after Pagan said the driver didn't have any knowledge of the gun. Pagan said the gun was legally owned by him, police said. "A check of the gun yielded negative results," the report stated. Police charged Pagan with unlawful possession of a weapon and prohibited weapons and devices (dum-dum or body armor penetrating bullets). Note: This report has been updated to include additional information. Jonathan Lin may be reached at jlin@jjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter @jlin_jj. Find The Jersey Journal on Facebook. JERSEY CITY -- Cadets from the United States Military Academy at West Point learned about different faiths earlier this month by touring Jersey City's diverse cultural groups. The cadets spent time with Coptic, Jewish and Muslim groups, among others, during a three-day tour of the city for their class, "Winning the Peace," which has annually brought cadets to Jersey City for over a decade. During their April 15 visit to the Muslim Federation of New Jersey at 530 Montgomery St., cadets asked questions about Islam, ate traditional Pakistani dishes and attended a prayer session with the local Muslim community. Ryan Schreck, 22, a West Point junior from a small town outside Seattle, said it's been "eye-opening" to learn about different cultures after attending a high school that was mostly white. "Collectively, we've all really enjoyed this experience so far," he said. Dr. Rafiq Chaudhry, a board member at the mosque, said the purpose of the cadets' tour is to "appreciate the sensitivities of the different communities living in Jersey City." "We learn from them, they learn from us," he said. The program landed in Jersey City about 12 years ago after Councilman Richard Boggiano learned about the class through one of his two sons, both of whom graduated from West Point and served in the Army in Iraq. Boggiano said the class expands cadets' perspectives. "It's been a very successful program," he said. "They learn tremendously." Holly Harrington, 21, a West Point senior from South Jersey, said visiting different cultural groups and seeing how they live together in the same city has been an educational experience. "It definitely surprised me that we have this population just over here in Jersey City. And it's really impressive how they're able to work together, and it's really good to see that relationship," she said. Jonathan Lin may be reached at jlin@jjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter @jlin_jj. Find The Jersey Journal on Facebook. JERSEY CITY -- For years after the recession hit, phase II of the Gull's Cove condominium complex was little more than a vacant lot. It was a victim, people involved say, of the 2008 housing crisis and hard times that plunged countless homeowners under water and builders into bankruptcy, and dried up project funding even in markets as hot as Jersey City's had been. Phase II's long-dormant concrete foundation was in stark contrast to the first phase of Gull's Cove, a 331-unit condo tower in Jersey City's Liberty Harbor North redevelopment area that had been largely completed and sold out before the onset of the crisis. William "Billy" Procida. (Photo: Mark S. Cunningham) The second phase is a nine-story, 107-unit tower that was intended to go up soon after the first, with the two buildings linked by a ground-level row of retail shops. Instead, phase II's unfinished foundation became an eyesore in what became a between the developer of the Gull's Cove complex and the individual condo owners in the phase I building. But a cash infusion of $68.5 million in the project by a former builder who now finances projects has put workers back on the job at phase II, and could even help mend relations between the developer, a consortium led by Dean Geibel, and the condo owners. This week the phase II site was abuzz with construction workers and machinery, continuing to lay the foundation for the building, which is expected to be completed sometime within 12-18 months. It will include studios, 1, 2 and 3-bedroom apartments, duplexes and triplexes, ranging in size from 678-2,170 square feet. The prices of some 30 pre-sold units were not made available. The man providing the cash is William Procida, the 53-year-old son of a Manhattan barkeep who started out as a developer himself, but moved into financing two decades ago. His firm, Procida Funding and Advisors LLC of Englewood Cliffs, has been involved in $2 billion in project funding in New Jersey and beyond, either through its own capital or by lining up investors. Procida, who was born in Manhattan and grew up in Dumont, said $200 million of that has been in Jersey City, where the $68.5 million for Gull's Cove II is his biggest deal to date. Procida said his experience as a developer himself gives him the kind of lending insight that banks lack. Even just visiting a job site, he can tell whether a project is on track. "I'm the only guy in the lending business who was a developer for 20 years," said Procida, an advocate of investing in down-and-out neighborhoods and helping to improve them and their property values. "I only make good bets, and when I'm involved, the good bet only gets better." Procida said he had lent $5 million to the Gull's Cove developers to help finish phase I, and got his money back in 90 days. That, and knowing Geibel and others from his long history building and financing projects in the region, gave him the confidence to invest much more heavily in the project's second phase, even after banks would not. "In Jersey City, here was something that needed to be done," Procida said. "Unfortunately, banks are notorious for not doing what needs to be done. This is a project 50 banks should have done. They didn't for whatever reason." For one thing, Geibel's projects have not always been a good bet for banks. In 2008, for example, Geibel defaulted on $13 million in debt to Capital One involving the second building of another two-phase project, this one with Donald Trump's name on it. The second tower, known as Trump Bay Street, was eventually built and sold, though by then it was under the control of a partnership led by Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner. Geibel did not respond to requests for comment, either through Procida or the front desk at Gull's Cove. Procida fiercely defended Geibel and other developers caught up in the financial crisis, who he said were victims. In a phone interview, Procida launched into a passionate, expletive-laced condemnation of federal policies of the previous decade, which he said encouraged ballooning sub-prime mortgages for under-qualified borrowers, triggering massive defaults and the collapse of some financial institutions and taxpayer bailouts of others. He said Geibel, "got his tail caught in the door," with the Trump project, after having done everything right, an assessment consistent with Trump's praise of Geibel upon completion of Jersey City's first Trump building in 2007. "Geibel was a victim of the United States government's reckless sub-prime lending policy," Procida said. "He did everything right. There are 1,000 Dean Geibels out there who got screwed." Referring to the unhappy homeowners in phase I, Procida said completion of phase II and elimination of a long-time eyesore would drive up the value of their units significantly. It would also be good for other nearby property owners, and everyone else who lived or worked in the neighborhood. Tia Forsstrom agreed. Forsstrom, who teaches at the Waterfront Montessori School a few blocks from Gull's Cove, was having lunch on a bench near the work site. She marveled at the Liberty Harbor neighborhood's transformation from a remote warren of abandoned warehouses to a cluster of apartment towers centered around the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail line's Marin Boulevard Station. "Now, at least, we see a lot of change," said Forsstrom, who used to live in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, and now calls Newark home. "I like that." Steve Strunsky may be reached at sstrunsky@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @SteveStrunsky. Find NJ.com on Facebook. On Thursday evening, the Madison Downtown Development Commission approved funding for the town's first Madison Storytellers Festival on June 11th, in downtown Madison, with a vision to aggregate in one place on one day Madison's unique arts and culture community for celebration, performance, readings, and interactive and arts education events, showcasing Madison's unique qualities as a creative and cultural destination. The Madison DDC is opening a call for volunteers to join the Madison Storytellers Festival Task Force planning the event, which will be staged at Madison's 'Culture Corner,' with a main stage under the railroad trestle on Green Village Road (closed off between Main Street and Kings Road from 10 am - 4 pm) and additional stages at the Museum of Early Trades and Crafts, Short Stories Bookshop and Arts Hub, and Drip Coffee. Free and open to the public, the event will be held Saturday, June 11, 10 a.m. - 4 pm, followed by evening music at Short Stories Bookshop and Arts Hub at 23 Main Street, from 4-6 PM. Local merchants throughout downtown will be encouraged to offer special sidewalk sales and special activities. After the festival, visitors are encouraged to enjoy a summer evening downtown, taking advantage of the dining, culture and shops in Madison's vibrant downtown. Madison Mayor Bob Conley believes there's a great deal that's special about Madison. "But there are two things our community does exceptionally well," he said, "We attract and foster high quality arts and culture, and we regularly come together as a community of volunteers. With these two unique qualities in our community, I'm thrilled to see how the first Madison Storytellers Festival is coming to life, thank all volunteers, extend a hearty welcome to our guest artists and visitors, and hope that all enjoy what Madison has to offer." The event will be supported by the Madison DDC and local sponsors, in partnership with the Madison Arts & Culture Alliance and the Madison Chamber of Commerce. Fully planned and staffed by volunteers, stages will feature opening remarks by Madison Mayor Honorable Robert H. Conley, who will share highlights of his own oral history of growing up in Madison, contributors to Elizabeth Gilbert's Eat Pray Love Made Me Do It, National Geographic, The New York Times bestselling novelist Miranda Beverly-Whittemore, on the heels of the May 31st release of her new novel JUNE, special interviews led by Bonnie Monte of the Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey and John Pietrowski of Writer's Theatre of New Jersey, and more. The Museum of Early Trades and Crafts lawn and Green Village Road itself will feature special crafts and interactive arts events as well as vendor tables available for literary and arts organizations and businesses. Arts activity stations and three 'stages' of interviews, music, poetry, literary readings, dance, oral history, visual arts - from celebrity to professional to amateur to interactive/education workshops - will showcase diversity of offerings and experiences. If you've spent any amount of time in Madison, New Jersey, on the train line to New York City's Penn Station, you know its unique distinction as an arts and culture destination. Named a top school district for music education and proud home of the critically acclaimed Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey, the town has somehow preserved not only its stunning historic architecture, but also the vibrant offerings of an arts and crafts history museum, a top 50 jazz club, a rare and used bookshop, and three universities, while also yielding a new indie bookshop and arts hub, literary presses, a hat shop, a knitting shop, a comic book shop, and numerous arts and dance studios. Yet the real treasure is in Madison's community of talent -- the students, families, educators, and people across interests and industries who share a passion for - or, in many cases, hold notable careers in - writing, publishing, film, television, photography, music -- and are drawn to the town's unique environment of creativity and expression. The festival plans to showcase that talent as well. "Storytelling is the expression of who we are, who we were, and who we hope to be. It is both experience and identity, and is what brings us together as a culture," shared Dan Blank, owner of WeGrowMedia and a founding member of the festival Steering Committee. Editor and Publisher of Atticus Press Dan Cafaro added, "It's critical that each of us is empowered to tell our stories -- to express our vision of who we are as individuals, and how we fit together as a whole." Blank and Cafaro are coordinating the creative agenda for the day. Deb Starker, Executive Director of the Museum of Early Trades and Crafts and President of the Madison Arts and Culture Alliance (MACA), was thrilled to join Blank and Cafaro on the Steering Committee, along with Barb Short of Short Stories Bookshop and Arts Hub, John Pietrowski, of Writers Theatre of NJ, Melanie Tomaszewski of Madison Mud, and Bonnie Monte, Artistic Director of the Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey. Starker commented, "The Madison Storytellers Festival celebrates the storytellers in our community, and hopes to inspire all who attend to craft their own stories, in the medium of their choice. The museum and MACA are proud to support." Short and Starker also serve as Commissioners on the Madison DDC. To volunteer, sponsor, or simply stay up to the minute as the festival plans unfold, visit storytellersfestival.org or like the festivals Facebook page by searching Madison Storytellers Festival. This item was submitted by the Madison Development Commission. ATLANTA -- Jacob deGrom threw a bullpen Friday morning in Port St. Lucie ahead of his scheduled return to the Mets rotation in their series finale against the Atlanta Braves Sunday at Turner Field. DeGrom will rejoin the Mets Saturday, when he'll be activated from the family medical emergency list. The 27-year-old right-hander has been away from the team since departing for Florida on April 11 to attend the birth of his son, Jaxon, though his stay wound up being longer than expected due to complications with the baby. Fortunately, Jaxon's condition improved, and deGrom and his wife, Stacey, were able to take the newborn home from the hospital Monday. "He's great," manager Terry Collins said of deGrom. "Once they got the baby home, he was very, very relieved. So he's excited to get back and start pitching again." DeGrom, who also missed time due to a right lat injury, hasn't pitched since starting for the Mets in their home opener against the Phillies on April 8. Since he's had to build his pitch count up again, Collins said deGrom will likely be limited to approximately 85 pitches Sunday against the Braves. "We'll watch him," Collins said. Maria Guardado may be reached at mguardado@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @mi_guardado. Find NJ.com on Facebook. FREEHOLD -- A Middlesex County contractor was sentenced to probation for trying to bribe a Monmouth County employee into giving him special treatment on the job, authorities said. In addition to the two years of probation he received, Madu Rajan, 42, of Edison, is banned from bidding on or accepting any public contracts for five years under the sentence imposed Friday by Superior Court Judge Ronald Lee Reisner, said acting Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher Gramiccioni. Rajan, owner of Silverlands Services Inc., pleaded guilty on Jan. 15 to bribery in connection with a job he was performing for Monmouth County, Gramiccioni said. He said Rajan was finishing up work in June on a contract awarded by Monmouth County to replace the heating and air-conditioning units on the roof of the Special Services Building in Freehold when he bribed the unnamed county employee. Gramiccioni said Rajan offered the employee money to help expedite payment to his company and for documents pertaining to previous bids. The employee, who did not accept the bribe, reported the incident to the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office, Gramiccioni said. Rajan was arrested after he sent an associate to meet with the employee to deliver the bribe money concealed in a children's coloring book, the acting prosecutor said. As part of Reisner's sentence, Rajan and any business in which he holds an interest of 5 percent or more is barred from public contracting for five years, Gramiccioni said. MaryAnn Spoto may be reached at mspoto@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @MaryAnnSpoto. Find NJ.com on Facebook. MOUNT OLIVE -- Officers saved a suicidal Flanders man early Friday morning after he slit his wrist, cops said. Police were called to a Flanders home at 12:30 a.m. Friday after they received reports about the suicidal 30-year-old, according to a press release. As officers arrived at the scene, the man fled from the rear of the house dropping two knives along the way, police said. Eventually, the man responded to the officers' request to stop and lie on the ground. When the officer's approached him they found a severe cut on his left wrist that was bleeding heavily. The officers applied a tourniquet to the victim's left arm, stopping the blood flow. The man was later transported to Morristown Medical Center for evaluation. Mount Olive Police Chief Mark Spitzer said training by the Morris County Office of Emergency Management, for bleeding control and the use of tourniquets, helped to save the man's life. "The training and equipment provided by Morris County and Sergeant Amy Clymer's and Officer Chad Rossy's correct application of the tourniquet has resulted in the saving of a human life," Spitzer said. "It's a very worthwhile program." Fausto Giovanny Pinto may be reached at fpinto@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @FGPreporting. Find NJ.com on Facebook. PHILADELPHIA -- The police detective charged with breaking a man's leg and leaving him on the side of the road will face trial, Philly.com reports. A municipal judge made the order on Friday. Det. Adam O'Donnell faces numerous assault charges. (Photo provided) Det. Adam O'Donnell, 43, a nine-year officer with the Philadelphia Police Department, was charged in February with assaulting 45-year-old Theodore Life. The district attorney's office said O'Donnell was escorting Life from the city's Special Victims Unit on Feb. 3 when he got out of view of security cameras and kicked Life in the knee, breaking his femur. As Life tried to crawl away, he testified before Judge Teresa Carr Deni, O'Donnell ordered him into an unmarked police car, then drove him to a grassy stretch of road in the Hunting Park area and ordered him out of the vehicle. Defense attorney Gregory Pagano tried to establish at Friday's hearing that Life had been in police custody after being arrested over a dispute in a Dunkin Donuts. Pagano also suggested that Life had been "hostile" to another police officer, and that O'Donnell had been trying to intervene. Philly.com reports that Life denied that narrative. O'Donnell was initially charged with aggravated assault, simple assault, kidnapping, unlawful restrains, obstructing administration of law and official oppression. Deni reportedly threw out the kidnapping charged, and left the rest intact. O'Donnell will be arraigned May 13. He is suspended from the department with intent to dismiss. Andy Polhamus may be reached at apolhamus@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @ajpolhamus. Find NJ.com on Facebook. EVANSTON, Ill. --- The child of pharmacists from Taiwan and grandchild of Chinese artists, Northwestern University senior Diana Chang has always had passion for both science and art. That unique combination has landed Chang a full-year Yenching Academy fellowship to study at China's top university, Peking University. Chang, a double major in biological sciences and art theory and practice in the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences, will join a select group of graduates from across the globe as part of the universitys Master of China Studies program. People usually say something along the lines of, Oh, right and left brained! Chang said. I think theyre actually quite similar in that artists and scientists are both intensely curious about the human experience: one meta-physically, one physically. But its the same creativity answering their curiosities. The Yenching Academy is a fully funded two-year program that works to foster global connections and dialogue. The program offers a wide array of interdisciplinary humanities and social science courses on China and brings together promising young leaders and innovators to explore China and its role in the world -- past, present and future. Influenced by her grandfather, who practiced Chinese calligraphy, and her grandmother, a painter of the Chinese landscape tradition, Changs graduate studies will focus primarily on literature and culture. Beijing is considered the Mecca of Chinese contemporary art, she said. At Northwestern, Chang studied the mammalian brain in neurophysiologist John Disterhofts lab at The Feinberg School of Medicine. She also volunteered as a peer advisor for Wildcat Welcome and was elected into Weinbergs Phi Beta Kappa society for academic excellence. The biggest thing Ive learned here is that everyone thinks differently, and theres great value in that, Chang said. Its easy to work alone, but I think truly effecting change comes from working together. NP native takes on a new challenge as host of 2017 outdoors show A love of hunting has now thrust North Platte native Luke Caudillo into the national spotlight. He returned to his home in Denver on Wednesday from a hunting expedition to New Zealand. This was Caudillos first project for an outdoor television show titled Gladiators Unleashed, which will air on the Sportsman Channel beginning in 2017. The idea for the show was just a gamble for me, Caudillo said. I just wanted to do it as a hobby, but now its going to be my job. This is a project Ive been working on for about a year and a half. I was just going to do it on the Internet, highlights of me taking out all these other MMA fighters. I am the host of the show and my job is to take other MMA fighters on hunting trips. Caudillo grew up in North Platte and became well-known as LiL Hulk when he was an mixed martial arts fighter. He brought great visibility to martial arts fighting in North Platte before he moved to Denver about nine years ago. The trip to New Zealand came up sooner than expected, but Caudillo did not hesitate to agree to the trip on short notice. It was the trip of a lifetime, Caudillo said. I kind of new what to expect, but when I got there is was unreal. My eyes have never seen such beauty in landscape. With Caudillo on this trip were TJ Dillashaw and Chad Mendes, who are American mixed martial artists. Dillashaw is the former UFC Bantamweight Champion and was a finalist on the Ultimate Fighter, while Mendes competes as a featherweight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Caudillo said the trip was originally planned to hunt red deer. But at supper one night, an added bonus came up to hunt Arapawa ram. We sat down to eat one night and asked the cook what we were going to eat, Caudillo said. He said it was ram and I said, holy cow, this is the best tasting meat Ive ever had. So, I said, I need to get one of these. Since the guides knew Caudillo hunts mainly with a bow, they suggested he get a gun for the ram hunt, because they didnt believe he could stalk close enough to them to make a kill with the weapon. They said, good luck hunting with the bow, Caudillo said. We went out hunting for red deer and when we went up on a ridge, we saw a herd of rams so I decided to stalk them. The day was miserable and rainy, but Caudillo got within 30 yards of the herd. I picked out the one I wanted and got him, Caudillo said. I was able to bring a good portion of the meat home with me. Thats why I hunt, not just for the trophies, but the adventure and to harvest the meat. After getting the unexpected bonus of the ram, Caudillo then went after his red deer. I would say their bodies are a little bigger than a mule deer, but their antlers are enormous, Caudillo said. Its fall in New Zealand, so they are in the rut. Elk here make a whistling sound, but the red deer make a roaring sound. Its just a crazy sound when youre up in the hills. It sounds like Jurassic Park. The trip to New Zealand was set up in cooperation with Mendes, who is starting a guide service. He knew I was doing the show so he said, why dont we help each other out and promote each other? Caudillo said. Mendes runs a guide service called Fins and Feathers. Caudillo is still coaching MMA fighters, some of whom he takes on hunting trips as well. He also co-owns Grudge Training Center in Denver. I really do miss North Platte, Caudillo said. Not so much the things to do, but I miss the people. I miss my family and my friends. Caudillo is married to Kalina and they have a 10-month-old daughter, Eva. Manuel and Patti Caudillo, of North Platte, are his parents. Im a kid from North Platte who never thought Id do half the things Ive been blessed to do, Caudillo said. I would tell people, just keep on after your dreams because it will happen. KEARNEY She didnt know why she was invited to the party. But when her name was announced, it all became clear to Sharron Hollen, former reporter for the North Platte Telegraph. Hollen knew she and Mary Ann Koch Blackledge were being inducted into the Nebraska Press Womens Hall of Fame tonight, but she didnt know about the Nebraska Press Association Hall of Fame honor she was selected to receive on Friday evening. I was so proud of our Kamie for winning runner-up, said Terrie Baker, publisher of the Telegraph. She really goes above and beyond, and continues to do a great job for us here at the Telegraph. Telegraph reporter Kamie Stephen also received an award on Friday, to make it a good day for the daily newspaper. Stephen received the Outstanding Young Nebraska Journalist Daily Newspaper runner-up award from the NPA at a Friday luncheon. Stephen began working as a reporter at the Telegraph in January 2015. She has covered a number of difficult stories, including the tragic accident that sent two teenagers to their deaths in the flooding South Platte River in May 2015. She also kept readers up to date on the Birdwood viaduct project and other projects from the Lincoln County beat and the health beat. She has written numerous feature stories on young people with cancer and captured readers hearts. I am so honored to be named the Nebraska Press Associations Outstanding Young Journalist Award runner-up in the daily category, Stephen said. Ive been in the business for just shy of a year and a half, and in that time Ive learned so much. Ive truly fallen in love with this career and words cant express how happy I am to be here. I almost never applied for this job. I have no formal training, and frankly, I wasnt sure I could do it. While Ive still got a ways to go and a lot of room to improve, this award is an incredible achievement for me. Eight government around the world have declared theres just too much steelmaking capacity and that subsidies need to stop. The United States, Canada, the European Union, Mexico, Korea, Japan, Turkey and Switzerland issued a statement that the steel industry should restructure in a market-driven way after a high-level session of the Organization of Economic Co-Operation and Development in Brussels. They met to talk about the estimated 700 million tons of overcapacity that has resulted in a global import crisis that led to thousands of layoffs in the United States and threatened to eliminate Britain's entire steel industry. We are encouraged by the support of many governments who, through this statement, recognize the severe impacts that global steel overcapacity and market-distorting government subsidies and other interventionist policies are causing, AISI President and CEO Thomas Gibson said. In the United States, more than 13,000 steel industry workers have lost their jobs in the last year, and steel producers continue to suffer from high levels of unfairly traded imports, Gibson said. Representatives of the eight countries said excess capacity must be eliminated along with the government subsidies that encourage plants that dont need to be built or that are run at a loss. Gibson chastised China, which produced a record 70 million tons of steel in March, for failing to cooperate. To succeed in cutting the glut of imports caused by overcapacity, we also need Chinas constructive participation, Gibson said. Other countries are imitating the Chinese model, perpetuating the overcapacity problem, he said. Gibson did say it was still a positive development to see an agreement to develop a better system of monitoring steel capacity and developing longer-term forecasts for steel demand. While we were disappointed and frustrated with Chinas unwillingness to move forward and take action during the global steel discussions this week, we are pleased that many other of the worlds steelmaking countries have agreed to move forward with plans to work together to eliminate market-distorting government subsidies and other policies adversely impacting the global steel industry, Gibson said. Police have released the name of the 28-year-old homeless East Chicago man arrested in connection with 15 vehicle break-ins Wednesday and Thursday at the East Chicago South Shore station. Jordan Edward Wilson was charged with felony theft, criminal mischief and criminal trespass, according to NICTD police. The man had been under surveillance by police and was arrested at 6:30 p.m. Thursday after police witnessed him attempting to sell stolen property from the trunk of his car at 138th Street and Euclid Avenue, a news release stated. A significant amount of property belonging to commuters was recovered from Wilsons vehicle and will be returned to the victims, police said. The total financial loss was valued by police at $9,350, which takes into account the damage to vehicles and stolen items. MERRILLVILLE A woman whose body was found Thursday in the basement of an abandoned Gary home was strangled to death, according to the Lake County coroner. Diamond Lewis, 22, of Merrillville, was first reported missing Sunday along with her 2-month-old daughter, Morgan Williams. The baby was found safe on Tuesday in Gary, according to Gary police. The coroner's autopsy completed Friday revealed Lewis died of asphyxiation by strangulation. Police earlier on Friday said there were indications her death was the result of domestic violence. It has been ruled a homicide. Two people are in custody in connection with Lewis' death. Charges are pending. Lewis and her baby daughter were first reported missing by Lewis father, who had not spoken to Lewis since April 11. Police declined to disclose who the baby was found with, but said she was not injured. The girl was placed into the custody of Child Protective Services Merrillville Detective Cmdr. Jeff Rice said both suspects were arrested Thursday. Rice said two women came to the Gary Police Department with information about Lewis' possible whereabouts. Gary contacted Merrillville police and both went to the abandoned house along with members of the Lake County Metro Homicide Unit and Gary's Violent Crimes Unit. The house was in the 1400 block of West 18th Avenue. Rice said one of the people who came to the Gary police was arrested, and that person led police to the second person. Longtime Hammond City Judge Jeffrey Harkin, who died Friday following an unknown illness, was remembered fondly by various colleagues and friends. Hes always been a very conscientious judge, said Lake County Prosecutor Bernard Carter. Harkin had the ability to read closely the defendants who appeared before him and dispense of cases in ways that served the needs of both the community and the defendant, Carter said. While the city court generally sees low-level offenders, Harkin had the important role of seeing to it that individuals received what they needed to improve the direction of their lives. Hammond Mayor Thomas McDermott Jr. said Harkins death is a big loss for the city court, which is one of the busiest in the state. Every day Ive been mayor, hes been the judge, McDermott said. McDermott said he had intended to swear Harkin in at the start of his most recent term in January, but Harkin was too ill. Harkin had sworn McDermott in a couple of times during his 13 years as mayor. He went down hill pretty quickly, thats the shocking part, McDermott said. Harkin, a Democrat, served as city judge since April 2001. Tony Vicari, who has known Harkin for more than 30 years and has served as bailiff in his court for the past three years, described the judge as easygoing. He was a real friendly guy, he said. Vicari said Harkins health had deteriorated quickly the last few months. Hes going to be missed, Vicari said. Lake County Sheriff John Buncich said he has known and worked with Harkin for many years. The pair worked together on such efforts as the anti-graffiti project in Hammond. Ive lost a dear friend, Buncich said. He was a friend of law enforcement. Harkin had appointed a special judge in his absence, but that expired with his death, McDermott said. The Indiana Supreme Court has been asked to appoint a temporary replacement until Indiana Gov. Mike Pence names a new judge. VALPARAISO About half of the 6.3 million people who visited Porter County a couple years ago headed straight to the local dunes, according to the most recent statistics collected by tourism officials. "The Dunes are what is putting us on the map," said Lorelei Weimer, executive director of Indiana Dunes Tourism. But there is a whole lot more of the county that Weimer wants visitors to see. It is with that goal in mind that the Indiana Dunes tourism bureau decided to tweak its logo this year to include the subhead "Beaches & Beyond." The updated logo is part of an ongoing effort to see to it that visitors to the dunes don't leave the county after spending a day sunning at the beach and hiking the many miles of trails at the various dune parks, she said. As Weimer told the Porter County Board of Commissioners during a presentation on the annual report last week, there is a lot of money at stake in extending the stays of the dunes visitors. Tourism contributes $386 million each year to the county's economy and is responsible for the creation of nearly 5,000 jobs, according to the bureau's year-end report. Of the 3 million people who visited the dunes in 2013, 80 percent were from outside Northwest Indiana and 60 percent live somewhere outside the state. Part of what the tourism bureau is doing to entice these visitors to spots elsewhere around the county is to hand out coupon books at the entrance gate of the state park, Weimer said. The bureau paid the state park to hand out 35,000 of the coupon books last year to out-of-town visitors. The books included coupons from 22 businesses, she said. Visitors are also directed to various area businesses through the bureau's website at indianadunes.com. LANSING Police and firefighters rushed to an area south of Lansing Municipal Airport Saturday when Lynwood police received a report at 11:22 a.m. that a gyrocopter had crashed. All terrain vehicles, the Lake County Sheriff's Police helicopter and even a small drone joined in the search as police and firefighters fanned out into cornfields and woods, searching for an hour before the pilot and gyrocopter were found safe back at the airport. The gyrocopter pilot had been performing a maneuver known as an auto rotation, which may have made it appear he was losing power and crashing, according to Sheriff's Deputy Chief of Police Dan Murchek. The maneuver basically consists of turning off the power to the rotors and letting airflow drive them around, providing lift. "Sometimes when they do that it will look like they are going down," Murchek said. The Lake County Sheriff's helicopter was at the airport for a "touch a truck" day being put on by Lansing Police, so it quickly joined in the search. GRIFFITH The Griffith Town Council believes Hamond is wrong for denying a request for sanitary sewage service to a proposed new subdivision. The residential development, proposed by Torrenga Engineering, would be called Turnberry at Trail Creek and would sit next to the new Trail Creek subdivision just off Colfax Avenue at the southern end of town. "We have been notified that Hammond Sanitary District has denied the certification of new customers" for this area, said Council President Rick Ryfa, R-3rd. In an email to the engineering firm, Hammond Sanitary District lawyer Joe Allegretti explained the reason for the rejection. "Because of the current inadequacy of the Griffith collection system, the town is often not able to comply with its contractual peak flow limitations without inappropriately discharging sanitary sewage into wetlands and streams during wet weather," the letter stated, in part. Ryfa said the town has taken steps to remedy a past overflow problem and that such events have happened in only 9 of the past 1,825 days. He also said the contract calls for up to 5.5 million gallons to Hammond per day and that a typical Griffith day sends only about 2.2 million gallons. The Turnberry development calls for the addition of another 40,000 gallons per day, Ryfa said. He said he believes this is more than offset by the closing of the Pactiv Corp., which discharged about 160,000 gallons per day. Ryfa said the Hammond Sanitary District is legally bound to accept additional sewage as long as it does not cause overflowing and complies with town regulations. "Hammond has some bad information and it is our intent to point that out to them," said Griffith attorney Robert Schwerd. Ryfa said Griffith officials will meet next week with the EPA and the Department of Justice, which is the enforcement agent for the EPA. Updates to the situation should be available every two weeks. A couple of years ago, Hammond tried to cancel existing contracts with Griffith, Highland and Whiting when the Environmental Protection Agency required a large retention basin to be built within the city. Hammond wanted to revise the contracts with higher fees to help pay for the basin, but the city lost a lawsuit that was filed by the communities, then lost an appeal and a subsequent ruling by the Indiana Supreme Court. MERRILLVILLE The body of a woman found Thursday in the basement of an abandoned house in Gary has been identified as Diamond Lewis, who has been missing since Sunday. Merrillville police said 23-year-old Lewis' death is being investigated as a homicide, and two people are in custody in connection with the death. Police said indications are the death is the result of domestic violence. Charges are pending. Lewis and her 2-month-old daughter, Morgan Williams, were reported missing Sunday by Lewis father, who had not spoken to Lewis since April 11. Lewis talks to her father regularly and it was unusual for her to be out of contact with him for more than a day or two, police said. Merrillville police said the baby was found safe Tuesday in Gary. The baby, Morgan Williams, was placed into the custody of Child Protective Services, police said. At the time, police declined to disclose who the child was found with, but said the baby was not injured. Merrillville Detective Cmdr. Jeff Rice said both suspects were arrested Thursday. Rice said two women came to the Gary Police Department with information about Lewis' possible whereabouts. Gary contacted Merrillville police and both went to the abandoned house along with members of the Lake County Metro Homicide Unit and Gary's Violent Crimes Unit. The house was in the 1400 block of West 18th Avenue. Rice said one of the people who came to the Gary police was arrested, and that person led police to the second person. The cause of death is still under investigation. Check back at nwi.com for updates. GRIFFITH Donald Trumps Indiana campaign will hold a grand opening late Saturday of its new local headquarters at 341 N. Broad St. A campaign official said the event is only open to Trump volunteers. Hoosier Republicans will choose May 3 whether to help the GOP front-runner get closer to a first-ballot nomination in the presidential primary at the Republican National Convention. The front runner is being challenged by U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Ohio Gov. John Kasich. Six other GOP candidates who quit the race earlier this year will also appear on the ballot. The WTHR/HPI Indiana Poll released last week shows 37 percent plan to vote for Trump, 31 percent for Cruz and 22 percent for Kasich. Trump is best known in Northwest Indiana for his casino, which operated in Garys Buffington Harbor from 1996 until its acquisition in 2006 by Majestic Star. He also hosted the Miss USA beauty pageant in Gary in 2001 and 2002. If family's in town during the holiday season, why not round up everyone and head to Teibel' Police are investigating after a man was shot and killed in the Bronx. It happened just before 7 a.m. Saturday on East 169th Street and Clay Avenue in Claremont. Police say a 30-year-old man was found unconscious after being shot in the chest. He was rushed to the hospital where he died. No arrests have been made. Anyone with information on the case should contact the Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS, or text CRIMES and then enter TIP577, or visit www.nypdcrimestoppers.com. GET OUR APP Our Spectrum News app is the most convenient way to get the stories that matter to you. Download it here. It's a story you'll only see on NY1 - the videotaped confession of the man known as Ninja Burglar. NY1's Bree Driscoll is the only television reporter to sit down with the investigators and prosecutors responsible for unmasking him. Robert Costanzo stole at least $4 million in cash and property during a decade-long spree that left Staten Islanders anxious and fearful. But the brazen thief known as the Ninja Burglar cut a different image during a taped confession. "I do want to apologize for all the chaos and the disruption to people's lives that I caused," he said. "None of this was meant to harm anybody or do anything to inflict any type of harm." Costanzo's arrest was announced on Tuesday, and he pleaded guilty Thursday. On Friday, detectives and prosecutors spoke with NY1 to share details of their investigation and Costanzo's confession. "The amount of burglaries were incredible for one person," said Det. Steven Greco of the NYPD. "The kind of expertise in which he did the burglaries was, I have never seen anything like that before." "He had no fear of burglar alarms. He had no fear of dogs. He didn't like cats. Cats would follow him window to window," said David Frey, deputy chief of investigations with the Staten Island district attorney's office. The investigators say Costanzo was disciplined, often striking occupied homes so alarms would not go off, and taking advantage of open doors and windows. He hit at least 10 homes twice, going back to crack open safes he saw during his initial break-ins. He was so prolific, he couldn't remember all his burglaries. Q: It could be over 100? You just don't know the number? Costanzo: Truth be told, I don't know. I never kept track. The investigators believe Costanzo committed 160 break-ins. They watched him for months, they said, after learning he was a burglary suspect upstate. He confessed last week. Q: Now, you're aware of a burglary pattern on Staten Island known in the media as the ninja burglary pattern, right? Costanzo: Yes. Q: And you committed them? Costanzo: Yes. "His misstep was, he continued to do it," said Lt. Kevin Gallagher of the NYPD. "With any criminal, if they are going to continue, they are going to get caught eventually." His lawyer says Costanzo stole to help feed his family, but investigators believe he gambled away tens of thousands of dollars in Atlantic City. "He was a person who had many God-given talents, and unfortunately, he applied them to a life of crime," said Staten Island District Attorney Michael McMahon. Costanzo agreed to a plea deal that will put him behind bars for 25 years. He will officially be sentenced on June 14. The man accused of killing three people in Brooklyn last year has been arrested. Allen Cooper, 32, is charged with murder and criminal possession of a weapon. He was in Fayetteville, North Carolina before being extradited back to the city. The incident happened last September at the Ingersoll Houses in Fort Greene. Police responded to a call of shots being fired, and when they arrived, they found 39-year-old Lacount Simmons and 43-year-old Calvin Clinkscales dead. A third man, 76-year-old Herbert Brown, was taken to the hospital, where he also died. Brown's grandson, Janell Smith, says his grandfather was in the wrong place at the wrong time. "I was hurt behind the situation, very hurt, you know what I'm saying, because he raised me, and as far as, we were real close together, and it took a lot, you know, for me, you know, to get over the situation, but I mean, I was very, very, very definitely hurt behind it," Smith said. Sources tell NY1 the shooting was drug-related. In response to the arrest, Brooklyn City Councilwoman Laurie Cumbo said, "Every arrest sends a clear message that we will not allow the perpetrators of violence to derail our progress or disrupt the quality of our daily lives." Lovers of great theater and poetry are celebrating William Shakespeare this weekend. The Bard died four-hundred years ago today. Shakespeare's hometown of Stratford-upon-Avon is hosting festivities to honor the famous playwright. Theater-lovers from all over are reciting his plays and sonnets to honor him. One notable performance came from Prince Charles to honor his mother Queen Elizabeth for her 90th birthday President Obama also paid tribute to Shakespeare during his trip to the United Kingdom. He toured London's Globe Theatre, which was founded by Shakespeare in 1599. Today's performance space is a replica of the original. Currently playing at the Globe: the final four performances of "Hamlet." Shakespeare's oft-quoted tragedy is wrapping up a two-year tour of 196 countries. The trial is underway for the teenager accused of starting a fire that killed one police officer and critically injured another two years ago. The now 18-year-old Marcel Dockery is facing charges of second degree murder, arson and assault after he allegedly set the fire in April 2014. Officer Rosa Rodriguez and her partner, Officer Dennis Guerra, were overcome by smoke responding to the fire at a Coney Island high rise. Guerra died three days later. Rodriguez spent six weeks at the hospital recovering from lung damage. Sources say she is expected to testify on Monday. Dockery faces 25 years to life in prison if convicted. MINNEAPOLIS The 1988 Dassault Falcon 900 was about an hour into its flight from Atlanta in the wee hours of Friday, April 15, when the pilot made a distress call to air traffic controllers in Chicago. There was a medical emergency on board. A male passenger was unresponsive. And so the Chicago airport officials diverted the flight for an emergency landing in Moline, Ill., just 48 minutes from its intended destination of Minneapolis. As it turned out, the flight was carrying the musical genius Prince, who, a week later, would be found dead, collapsed in an elevator on the first floor of his suburban Minneapolis compound. We had an emergency unscheduled landing at 1:35 a.m. on April 15 for a medical emergency for an unresponsive person, said Jo Johnson, the human resource manager for Quad Cities International Airport in Moline. Kelly Ripas standoff against ABC will end next week. Ms. Ripa informed the staff of her morning show, Live With Kelly and Michael, on Friday night that she would return Tuesday, according to an email obtained by The New York Times. Addressing the Live staff, she said: (Sorry for this late Friday night email). I wanted to thank you all for giving me the time to process this new information. Your kindness, support, and love has overwhelmed me. We are a family and I look forward to seeing you all on Tuesday morning. Love, Kelly. Ms. Ripa refused to appear on her show twice this week after the network announced that Michael Strahan would leave Live for Good Morning America in September. A person who spoke to Ms. Ripa said she had felt blindsided since she was given almost no notice about the move. She also felt that network executives were slighting her show in favor of Good Morning America. It turned into an enormous headache for ABC, as it dealt with the fallout of having angered one of its stars. Ana Gasteyer replaced Ms. Ripa on Wednesday and Erin Andrews replaced Ms. Ripa each of the last two days; both of those episodes were taped Thursday. WASHINGTON In their years together as top national security officials, Michael V. Hayden and Michael Chertoff were fierce advocates of using the governments spying powers to pry into sensitive intelligence data. Mr. Hayden directed a secret domestic eavesdropping program at the National Security Agency that captured billions of phone records after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Mr. Chertoff pushed for additional wiretapping and surveillance powers from Congress both as a top prosecutor and as Homeland Security secretary. But today, their jobs have changed, and so, apparently, have their views on privacy. Both former officials now work with technology companies like Apple at a corporate consulting firm that Mr. Chertoff founded, and both are now backing Apple and not the F.B.I., with which they once worked in its fight to keep its iPhones encrypted and private. They are among more than a half-dozen prominent former national security officials who, to varying degrees, have supported Apple and the idea of impenetrable end-to-end encryption during a furious national debate over the balance between privacy and security in the digital age. WASHINGTON The Justice Department said Friday night that it had gained access on its own to a locked iPhone used by a Brooklyn drug dealer, the second time in less than a month that it had unlocked such a device after initially insisting it could do so only with Apples help. In a short letter to a federal judge in the Eastern District of New York, prosecutors said that an unidentified person had given the phones passcode to investigators. The Brooklyn phone had become the latest battleground in the fight between Apple and the Justice Department over issues of privacy and security. Last month, in a higher-profile case that set off a national debate, prosecutors dropped their demand that Apple develop software to unlock an iPhone used by one of the attackers in the San Bernardino, Calif., rampage in December. The F.B.I. unlocked that phone after paying an outside party to demonstrate how to do so. In the Brooklyn case, the drug dealers phone was running an older operating system that lacks the encryption features of the San Bernardino phone, so unlocking that device would involve much less technical sophistication even without the passcode. An investigation by the New York State Board of Elections found evidence of flagrant violations of campaign finance law by a team of people that Mayor Bill de Blasio created to raise money for Democrats running for the State Senate in 2014, according to a confidential board report. The board sent the report to Cyrus R. Vance Jr., the Manhattan district attorney, three months ago, prompting a criminal investigation into the fund-raising. The mayors Senate effort, which failed in its goal to wrest the legislative body from Republican control, has proved damaging to him in multiple ways. Democrats remained in the minority in the Senate; the mayors relationship with Senate Republicans was severely strained, hurting his ability to win support in Albany for his agenda; and now it has led to one of several investigations that are tarnishing his administration. The investigation by the state board was reported on Friday by The Daily News. The boards investigation, and the subsequent continuing inquiry by Manhattan prosecutors, is looking at whether there was an effort to illegally circumvent limits on campaign contributions to individual candidates by directing money instead through Democratic Party county committees and a statewide party campaign committee. This is Patersons shot, he said. We have to make this city a destination, just as it once was. But how future expenditures will shape the park over the next 20 years is the larger question with which park officials are now grappling. Earlier this year, the federal agency released a Draft General Management Plan and Environmental Assessment. After a series of meetings, the public was invited to weigh in. Park officials say that the two options under consideration are not mutually exclusive. While their capital investments differ, there would be recreational amenities under both, as well as historical signage and programs. Mr. Pascrell said he believed the end result would likely represent a hybrid of the two plans. For the national park, the connection to Hamilton, the first secretary of the Treasury, is serendipitous. Hamilton is enjoying a resurgence of interest largely thanks to the flattering depiction of the founding father in the stunningly popular Broadway show Hamilton. On July 10, 1778, a young Hamilton picnicked on cold ham, tongue and biscuits here with General George Washington and the French general the Marquis de Lafayette. It was then that Hamilton became acquainted with the setting of his future industrial city, one that would be powered by water and churn out everything from textiles and paper to locomotives and guns. Located 15 miles west of New York City, Paterson became Hamiltons incubator for an economy rooted in industry rather than agriculture. At the heart of his plan was a canal system, which was created not for transporting goods, but for powering the water wheels that turned the cam shafts that drove the industrial equipment inside scores of mills. While the mills produced sailcloth, jute, flax and hemp, silk was dominant. From the 1880s to the 1920s, Paterson became known as Silk City, with mills attracting workers from across Europe. The quality of the luxury fabric was such that President Theodore Roosevelts wife, Edith, donned a robins egg blue gown made of Paterson silk for his second inauguration. Thousands of locomotives also were made here, including the General, the engine celebrated for its role in the Civil Wars Great Locomotive Chase. (The chase was a military raid in 1862, in which Union Army volunteers hijacked a passenger locomotive in Georgia in an effort to damage a rail line used by Confederates.) Colt, too, made its first repeating firearms, or revolvers, in a four-story brownstone at the base of the falls. Robert Price, a canny political strategist who successfully managed John V. Lindsays first mayoral campaign in New York City and delivered Gov. Nelson A. Rockefeller his most crucial victory in a contested presidential primary, died on Friday in Manhattan. He was 83. The cause was a brain hemorrhage, said Steven Farbman, his son-in-law. Mr. Price, a bluff, bald, indefatigable, Bronx-born Republican lawyer, was Mr. Lindsays alter ego at the beginning of his career. (And, except for party affiliation and profession, he was also the dashing, blue-blooded Mr. Lindsays antithesis.) In 1958, Mr. Price oversaw Mr. Lindsays first congressional campaign, against the party organizations candidate in what even by then was anachronistically called the Silk Stocking District on Manhattans East Side. In December 1965, after Mr. Lindsay had won the mayoralty, Mr. Price succumbed to Mr. Lindsays supplications and followed him to City Hall as New Yorks youngest deputy mayor he was 33 in charge of operations. After flagging voters who do not cast ballots in two consecutive federal elections, the Board of Elections mails notices to determine whether voters still live at the address where they are registered. If no confirmation comes back, a voter can be deleted from the rolls. Board positions are equally split between Republicans and Democrats; each voter removal must be approved by both a Republican and a Democratic employee, according to the rules. It remained unclear at what point employees at the Brooklyn office stumbled, or who was at fault. One possibility was that the notices to voters were mailed incorrectly, or not at all. Another was that once the notices were returned, the computerized database that held voter lists was mishandled. On Thursday, the Board of Elections announced that it had suspended a longtime employee, Diane Haslett-Rudiano, the chief clerk at the Brooklyn office and a Republican appointee. Ms. Haslett-Rudianos Democratic counterpart, Betty Ann Canizio, who would, by the rules, be required to sign off on any voter removals, remained in her post. Board officials have declined to say why Ms. Haslett-Rudiano was disciplined, saying at the same time that no voters were disenfranchised. There was criticism that the voter rolls had people who were dead, and so on, said Frank Seddio, the chairman of the Brooklyn Democratic Party, who said he had discussed the apparent mistake with Board of Elections officials. That began a citywide review of whos on the voter rolls and who should be removed. And theres a possibility that people were taken off the rolls that shouldnt have been taken off the rolls. It is only the latest trouble of many for the board, a frequent target of elected officials, government watchdog groups and election law experts, who say blunders are inevitable when an organization is run from top to bottom by political patronage appointees and party members, as the board is. A 2013 report from the New York City Investigation Department found that the board was plagued by nepotism, badly trained poll workers and error-prone voter-removal procedures. A suspect who had been sought by investigators for nearly seven months was charged on Friday in connection with the shooting deaths of three men last year at a public housing complex in Brooklyn, the authorities said. Acting on an anonymous tip, investigators traced the suspect, Allen Cooper, 32, to North Carolina. He faces three counts of murder and criminal possession of a weapon from a shooting in September at the Ingersoll Houses, a New York City Housing Authority complex in the Fort Greene section of Brooklyn that had once been considered one of the citys most violent. The Ingersoll Houses, which include 20 low-rise buildings with about 4,500 residents, had a substantial drop in crime in recent years as the city invested in anti-crime measures there. The complex had not seen a homicide since 2013. Image Allen Cooper, the suspect. Credit... New York Police Department On Sept. 20, 2015, at about 2 a.m., a man approached two men on Fleet Walk and opened fire, hitting Lacount Simmons, 39, and Calvin Clinkscales, 43, the police said. Both men were struck in the head and died at the scene. A third man who was nearby, Herbert Brown, 76, was hit in the abdomen and was taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead. THE drinking water crisis in Flint, Mich., cries out for accountability from local and state officials responsible for the lead contamination that has devastated the city. On Wednesday, nearly two years after residents began complaining about their water, the Michigan attorney general filed criminal charges against two state environmental officials and the citys utilities manager for their roles in exposing thousands of children under the age of 6 to lead-contaminated water. Its clear that government officials betrayed Flint residents, first by switching the citys drinking water system to the polluted Flint River and failing to keep lead from leaching into the water, and then by ignoring complaints and dragging their feet for months in responding. But it is not clear that prosecutors have a strong enough case to exact the accountability that Flint residents deserve. NEWTOWN, Conn. As mass shootings scar the nation, its understandable that victims grief-stricken families often withdraw from sight, engulfed in relentless grief. But not Mark Barden and Nicole Hockley, two parents who lost young sons in the grisly massacre in 2012 in which 20 schoolchildren and six educators were murdered at Sandy Hook Elementary School. Rather than retreating, the two parents and the families of eight other victims are pursuing a difficult lawsuit against the maker of the assault rifle used in the attack. They contend that a weapon with military killing power has been marketed recklessly to civilians, winding up in the hands of dangerous individuals. In addition to filing the suit, Ms. Hockley and Mr. Barden have struck back at the gun crisis by creating an unusual nonprofit social safety organization Sandy Hook Promise to educate students, parents and community leaders nationwide about the early warning signs that potentially violent people often exhibit. The organization has given rise to school programs in most of the 50 states, with a staff of 15, including field workers, plus hundreds of volunteers. The New York City Council on Wednesday approved Mayor Bill de Blasios plan for rezoning East New York. Those 190 blocks of Brooklyn are the first, and largest, of 15 neighborhoods across the city where the administration intends to harness the real estate market to help achieve its ambitious 10-year goal of building or preserving 200,000 affordable apartments. That goal might seem paradoxical or utopian, given what the administration is promising: to spur housing construction while keeping gentrification at bay and to improve neighborhoods amenities while preserving their character, making them more affordable and desirable and diverse and densely-built, all at the same time. Critics of the plan, finding those ideals impossible to square, had forcefully opposed the East New York rezoning, insisting that it would only accelerate the worst kind of change the crushing rents and tenant displacement that have transformed so many working-class blocks of Brooklyn and Queens. That fear is real and understandable, given the pace of gentrification, which is why it took courage for the Council member who represents the bulk of the neighborhood, Rafael Espinal, to endorse the administrations plan, paving the way for its near-unanimous approval. The citys tools are powerful: a new mandatory inclusionary housing law that requires developers in rezoned areas to set aside up to 30 percent of units in new buildings for lower-rent apartments. Thats a minimum the administration also plans to use subsidies and tax breaks to extract even deeper levels of affordability from new construction. In East New York, it promises to break ground in the next two years on 1,200 deeply affordable apartments. Forty percent of them will be rented by families earning $38,850 or less. Ten percent will be rented by families making $23,350 or less. Federal authorities are investigating the disappearance of hundreds of pounds of explosives, in the form of commercial fireworks, missing from a CSX freight train, a spokesman for the company said Friday. The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is investigating the disappearance of the fireworks from a train that originated in Chicago, said the spokesman, Rob Doolittle. The explosives were determined to be missing on Wednesday. CSX reported the theft as soon as it was discovered, upon the trains arrival in Detroit, Mr. Doolittle said. No cars were detached from the train; the material was unloaded, Mr. Doolittle said. An A.T.F. spokesman called the suspected theft a very serious case, according to CBS News, which reported on it on Friday. Mr. Doolittle said a quantity of fireworks were stolen but did not elaborate. CBS reported that at least 32 cases, or more than 500 pounds, were missing. MIDWEST Michigan: Uber Driver Is Competent to Stand Trial An Uber driver accused of killing six people during mass shootings in Kalamazoo is competent to understand the murder charges and assist his lawyer, a judge said Friday, a major step to putting the criminal case back on track. A mental exam of the driver, Jason Dalton, at a state hospital was not intended to determine whether he was insane at the time of the Feb. 20 shootings, but rather whether he understands the charges and can assist his defense. During a brief hearing, Judge Tiffany Ankley said Mr. Dalton is competent. Mr. Dalton, 45, is charged with murder and attempted murder. The police said he shot people outside an apartment building, a restaurant and a car dealership in between driving for Uber. Two victims, including a teenager, survived. (AP) SOUTH Florida: Court Suspends Abortion Waiting Period The Florida Supreme Court suspended the states 24-hour waiting period for abortions on Friday until justices can decide whether to hear a lawsuit claiming the law is unconstitutional. The 5-2 decision comes two months after an appeals court allowed the law to go into effect. Fridays decision was immediately praised by the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida, which is suing on behalf of a Gainesville clinic to block the law. Women should not suffer this burden while there is an ongoing challenge to this unconstitutional law, said Nancy Abudu, legal director of the A.C.L.U. of Florida. Forcing women seeking an abortion to make multiple visits that are medically unnecessary especially burdens poor and working women, and is potentially dangerous. Gov. Rick Scott signed the waiting period into law last year, at the time joining at least 26 other states with similar laws. A spokeswoman for the governors office said Friday that the administration would review the court decision. (AP) SOUTHWEST Texas: Flood Costs in the Millions and Rising Widespread flooding that has claimed eight lives and displaced thousands of people in the Houston area has caused more than $14 million in damage and inundated more than 1,700 homes figures that the authorities said Friday would rise significantly as floodwaters recede and inspectors get a closer look at ravaged neighborhoods. Houston and nearby counties have been hit with more than a foot of rain since Sunday night, straining reservoirs and pushing rivers over their banks. Southwest of Houston, the Colorado River swelled to more than 48 feet, well past the flood stage of 39 feet, before slowly starting to recede. (AP) Mainstream Brazilian news outlets criticized her decision to seek international support in her fight against impeachment, describing it as a move that would besmirch the nations image. From her palace bunker, the president seems to feed the bizarre belief that the international press is prone to support her, Folha de S. Paulo, one of the nations leading newspapers, wrote in an editorial. This is a bad step, and Dilma Rousseff will only shake a little bit more, with her diplomatic negligence, the image of Brazil as a dynamic and stable democracy. Her opponents in Congress began a parallel public relations campaign, dispatching two deputies to New York. And Vice President Michel Temer, who would temporarily replace Ms. Rousseff during an impeachment trial, gave a series of rare interviews to the foreign media to express his concern over her decision to travel to New York. Throughout the day, the president was shadowed by the two deputies, who sought to counter her arguments that the impeachment proceedings are a threat to Brazils young democracy. If this is a coup, how is it that she left the country and allowed her vice president to fulfill her duties? Jose Carlos Aleluia, a federal deputy from the opposition Democrats Party, said in an interview. The military is in the barracks, and when she returns to Brazil, she will once again be president. In another sign of her sinking fortunes, members of the nations highest court, which has already rejected appeals to have the impeachment petition quashed, added their voices to those criticizing her visit to New York, suggesting that future appeals to the court have little chance of succeeding. The responsible response would be to make a defense that respects Brazilian institutions and transmit a positive message about Brazil to the world that it is solid democracy that works and that its institutions are responsible, Jose Antonio Dias Toffoli, a Supreme Court justice, told Brazilian reporters on Wednesday. In Honduras, drug trafficking is politics, Mr. Sabillon said. I arrested eight drug traffickers and extradited them to the United States, he said. And then businessmen, politicians and even the son of a president have fallen. Mr. Sabillon said he had testified at the attorney generals office about the links between organized crime and politicians. With all the formalities, I handed over important documents to the prosecutor that involve political personalities in organized crime, he said. The leaked documents do not suggest that Mr. Sabillon had any role in the assassinations. But they do indicate that he was aware of the documents and asked for them to be kept under guard. He argued that his signature was faked, and that he did not have the authority at the time to make such a request. He said the documents had been written later by someone in the police force. His reason for speaking out now, he said, is that he wants to end the work I began, referring to the extradition of drug traffickers. He said the fabrication and leak of the report were part of an effort to neutralize the Honduran national police, which is not in favor of the government. He accused the government of handing control of the security forces, including the police, to the military in an effort to shore up control as President Juan Orlando Hernandez seeks re-election. In response to the documents, Mr. Hernandez appointed a commission last week that he put in charge of purging the police. Late Thursday, the commission recommended that Mr. Sabillon, along with a police chief named as a chief conspirator in the documents, Ricardo Ramirez del Cid, be suspended during the investigation. Ebal Diaz, an adviser to the president, told Honduran reporters that Mr. Sabillon had been suspended for criticizing the government on television. WASHINGTON President Obama declined on Friday to refer to the 1915 massacre of Armenians as genocide, breaking a campaign promise as his presidency nears its end. Mr. Obama, in a statement to mark Armenian Remembrance Day on April 24, called the massacre the first mass atrocity of the 20th century and a tragedy that must not be repeated. Yet he stopped short of using the word genocide, a term he applied to the killings before he became president in 2009. I have consistently stated my own view of what occurred in 1915, and my view has not changed, Mr. Obama said. Armenian-American leaders have urged Mr. Obama each year to keep a pledge he made as a presidential candidate in 2008, when he said the United States government had a responsibility to recognize the attacks as genocide and vowed to do so if elected. Mr. Obamas failure to fulfill that pledge in his final annual statement on the massacre infuriated advocates and lawmakers who accused the president of outsourcing Americas moral voice to Turkey, which staunchly opposes the genocide label. Secretary of State John Kerry said Friday that Russia had moved heavy artillery into position outside Aleppo in northern Syria, raising new concerns that a partial cease-fire will come undone. Russias military buildup, described by Mr. Kerry in a meeting with The New York Times editorial board, came on the same day that talks in Geneva aimed at finding a political resolution to the years of civil war began to break down. After the main opposition coalition walked out, Staffan de Mistura, the United Nations special envoy for Syria, said the fragile truce was in great trouble if we dont act quickly. Mr. Kerry, who was in New York attending the signing of the Paris agreement on climate change, said that he was generally encouraged by Russias participation in the diplomatic effort. But he said he was not certain if Russias president, Vladimir V. Putin was sincere in his stated aims for the buildup: combating terrorism. GENEVA The United Nations special envoy for Syria on Friday called for urgent intervention by the United States, Russia and other powers to save fragile peace talks threatened by escalating hostilities and stalled negotiations. The envoy, Staffan de Mistura, said a partial cease-fire that came into effect at the end of February was still in effect but in great trouble if we dont act quickly. He added that a meeting of the International Syria Support Group led by Russia and the United States, which brokered the truce, was urgently required. His comments came at the end of a week in which opposition negotiators pulled out of formal peace talks to protest mounting violations of the truce and the governments refusal to allow deliveries of humanitarian aid to civilians trapped by fighting. Airstrikes on Friday hit insurgent-held areas in Aleppo, where residents counted at least 11 airstrikes in eight neighborhoods, in addition to attacks by surface-to-surface missiles, that left at least 16 people dead, Adnan Hadad, an antigovernment activist in the city, said in an Internet chat. This dynamic is playing out in public, too. Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin, while not lifelong friends, were once close. Mr. Beck described her in 2010 as one of the few people who could possibly lead us out of where we are; Ms. Palin referred to him as an inspiring patriot. Yet in part because Mr. Beck supports Ted Cruz while Ms. Palin supports Mr. Trump, they now trade insults. Mr. Beck accused Ms. Palin of abandoning her principles, while she has mocked Mr. Beck for having distributed care packages to illegal immigrant children. Similar stories are happening all over. National Reviews Jonah Goldberg, whose opposition to Mr. Trump has also put him at odds with people he has long liked and respected, admitted, I hate the idea that political disagreements will poison friendships. The reason for the envenoming is Mr. Trump, who inspires deep loyalty among his followers and revulsion among his critics. For some, he is a breath of fresh air: perhaps a bit rough around the edges, but a strong person, plain-spoken and able to make America great again. Others, like me, consider him emotionally unstable, unprincipled, cruel and careless, the kind of demagogic figure the ancient Greeks and the American founders feared. Given the fundamental and intense disagreement over the advent of Mr. Trump, then, we should not be surprised that even longtime friendships are feeling the strain. In his short book The Four Loves, C. S. Lewis writes that while lovers stand face to face, friends stand side by side, absorbed in common interests, seeing some common truths. When these common truths become competing truths, a distancing is inevitable perhaps especially when political differences arise among people who have devoted their lives to politics, who view it as a means to advance justice and human flourishing and therefore consider it a core part of who they are. And therein lies the problem: When political differences shatter friendships, when we attribute disagreements to deep character flaws, it usually means politics has become too central to our lives. I will be the first to admit that for those of us who inhabit the world of politics, political differences arent trivial. I am guilty of having sometimes lost sight of the fact that friendships arent meant to reinforce every one of my views. But the best friendships are those in which one person elevates the sensibilities of the other, including from time to time helping us see things from a different angle. They are, as Aristotle put it, friendships of virtue rather than of utility or pleasure. Years ago I wrote my friend and mentor, Steve Hayner, worried that our differences over a political issue we both had strong feelings about might hurt our relationship. Our relationship mattered more to me than politics, I told him, and I didnt want a breach to occur. Canada has moved a step closer to allowing ailing people who are near death to end their lives with the help of a doctor. A bill introduced this month would allow doctors to prescribe life-ending medication to Canadians who have an illness that causes enduring physical or psychological suffering that is intolerable to them and whose natural death has become reasonably foreseeable. Two doctors must approve each request, and the patient must wait for 15 days before it can be fulfilled. The proposal is similar to aid-in-dying laws in Oregon, Washington and Vermont, though those require that a patients death be expected within six months. Such laws offer terminally ill people not just an end to suffering, but also a way to control the time and manner of their deaths. Of course, in some ways, things had changed. I recalled the day in December 2014, when a Staten Island grand jury failed to indict Officer Daniel Pantaleo for putting Eric Garner in the chokehold that killed him. I wasnt surprised Officer Pantaleo wasnt indicted. Though Staten Islands population grows more racially diverse each year, it is still mostly white and conservative. And despite the rest of the countrys disgust and protests, many Staten Island residents were satisfied that Mr. Pantaleo wasnt charged. I listened as fellow Staten Islanders justified what happened because Mr. Garner resisted arrest. I watched the video ready to defend the greater police family I grew up in, but instead I was left dumbstruck and indignant. I couldnt stop thinking about the Garner family his daughter, who had watched his final moments, and his granddaughter, who one day could. I couldnt stop wondering, what if that man dying in the street was my father? What if my son watched as his grandfather, surrounded by the police, couldnt breathe? Yet loyalty dictated that we stand behind our family the police no matter what. It couldve been your cousin or brother who made that mistake. A few weeks after the decision in the Garner case, two officers, Rafael Ramos, 40, and Wenjian Liu, 32, were executed in their squad car in Brooklyn. The two officers had young families, and when Staten Island residents watched them weeping and mourning at the funeral, it reminded many of us what was at stake what was always at stake when our fathers, brothers and cousins left for their shifts each night. We remembered that they were willing to make the ultimate sacrifice every time they buttoned their uniforms and walked out of their homes. The signs in support of the N.Y.P.D. that appeared on front lawns were paper soldiers armed to battle the opposition that had spread nationwide. In order to understand the mind-set of those who plant these signs, I often go back to Sept. 11 and its aftermath, when our hometown surrendered its fathers, wives, brothers, cousins and neighbors to the city to aid in the rescue and recovery efforts at ground zero. More than 270 people from our island didnt return that night. The first responders who survived came back, nine months later when the site closed, like my father did full of rage, chronically exhausted and sick. The reparations movement, which calls for compensating the descendants of generations of enslaved Americans going back 250 years, has failed to gain traction in this country for a variety of reasons. Most Americans see slavery as an artifact of the distant past that has no bearing on the nations present. And even people who are sympathetic to the reparations idea and who acknowledge the continued imprint of slavery on society have often argued that there is no way to distinguish descendants who have provable claims to compensation from those who do not, partly because enslaved people usually went unnamed in the United States census, which rendered them faceless in the historical record. Bankers, merchants and manufacturers all profited from the slave trade, as did companies that insured slaving ships and their cargo. And more than a dozen universities have acknowledged ties to slavery. Even so, some will find ways to paper over the role that slavery played in their founding and early history. Such denials are impossible in the harrowing history of slavery at Georgetown University that Rachel Swarns recounted recently in The Times. In 1838, the Jesuits running the college that became Georgetown sold 272 African-American men, women and children into a hellish life on sugar plantations in the South to finance the colleges continued operation. On that fact, there is no dispute. AFTER the New York primary, the betting websites are giving Hillary Clinton about a 94 percent chance of being the Democratic nominee, and Donald Trump a 66 percent chance of ending up as the Republican nominee. But Clintons big challenge is the trust issue: The share of voters who have negative feelings toward her has soared from 25 percent in early 2013 to 56 percent today, and a reason for that is that they distrust her. Only a bit more than one-third of American voters regard Clinton as honest and trustworthy. Indeed, when Gallup asks Americans to say the first word that comes to mind when they hear Hillary Clinton, the most common response can be summed up as dishonest/liar/dont trust her/poor character. Another common category is criminal/crooked/thief/belongs in jail. All this is, I think, a mistaken narrative. One of the perils of journalism is the human brains penchant for sorting information into narratives. Even false narratives can take on a life of their own because there is always information arriving that can confirm a narrative. As Dr. Hansen put it in an email, an Eemian-level sea rise of 19 to 30 feet is a good analog for where we are headed if the world keeps emitting greenhouse gases, but its debatable when we will get there. Dr. DeConto and Dr. Pollard warn of seas rising 50 feet in coming centuries if carbon emissions continue unchecked. The coastlines might seem like permanent features of geography. But over the past few million years, massive ice sheets expanded and receded, and seas rose and fell by hundreds of feet. Then, around 12,000 years ago, the most recent of many glacial ages ended, and seas eventually rose by 400 feet. This is roughly where we are today. But as we continue to inject heat-trapping carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, theres every reason to expect that these coastlines will be redrawn by rising seas just as they have been throughout earths history. The Eemian would have struck us as an odd world. In Alaska, boreal forests pushed north and west, crowding out tundra. Giant tortoises moseyed all the way up to central Illinois. Marine life that today lives off Virginia inhabited Nantucket waters. In Europe, large sea snails now found as far south as Angola marched to Sicily. Hippopotamuses and water buffalo splashed in the Rhine Valley. Modern humans were in Africa, with recent findings suggesting that some had also migrated elsewhere. This climate might have had some other, more ominous surprises. The geologist Paul Hearty argues that 30-foot-tall, thousand-ton megaboulders that can be found on top of 60-foot cliffs in the Bahamas were hurled there by superstorms of an intensity and scale that civilization has not experienced. The most striking feature of this mildly warmer time, though, was its high seas. And sea rise during the Eemian has nothing on earlier periods. Millions of years ago, during epochs when it was 3 to 4 degrees Celsius (5.4 to 7.2 degrees Fahrenheit) warmer than it is today, sea levels were 50 to 80 feet higher. When it was moderately warmer than that, there was no ice at the poles whatsoever. So a simple way that I look at this is that we know that with pretty good confidence that roughly 4 to 5 degrees Celsius warming is what it took to get us to, say, 40 million years ago, when Antarctica was completely melted and Greenland was completely melted, and, you know Raquel Welch was out there in a fur-clad outfit, Dr. White, the Colorado geologist, said. In rough numbers that was about 80 meters of sea level rise, or about 260 feet. Roger Michel is the founder and executive director of the Institute for Digital Archaeology, an academic consortium that uses technology to conserve, study and even re-create ancient treasures, such as a two-thirds-scale marble reproduction of the Palmyra Arch of Triumph, which was unveiled last week in Trafalgar Square in London. Last October, the Islamic State destroyed the second-century original in central Syria. READING I am working my way through Kyril Bonfigliolis Mortdecai novels. Its basically P. D. James meets a combination of Dashiell Hammett and Louis LAmour. Silly and superb. I also am rereading Crusader Castles by T.E. Lawrence in anticipation of retracing part of his journey at the end of the summer. The letters to his mother are very sweet and make you think about Lawrence in a whole new way. And finally, I am reading Death in the Afternoon. I wish I werent. Nonfiction Hemingway is, well, troubling, particularly his misogyny. Dating advice: If a guy is a big Hemingway fan, thats a red flag. LISTENING I met Cat Stevens at the World Government Summit in Dubai and it has set me on a Tea for the Tillerman jag. I also like the soundtrack to last years The Man From U.N.C.L.E. movie. I dont know any of the artists on it but its very lively and upbeat with great harmonies. Other than that, its all Bill Evans, an amazing jazz pianist whose heroin addiction cut his career way too short. WATCHING Ive been sitting in Trafalgar Square watching people take pictures of the arch touch it, feel it. There are guys in Carnaby Street suits mixed with young people in hip-hop clothes and Syrians in traditional dress. Its the crossroads of humanity, and that was what Palymra was. A COUPLE of years ago, I trespassed across America. Id set out to hike the proposed route of the Keystone XL pipeline, which had been planned to stretch over a thousand miles over the Great Plains, from Alberta, Canada, to the Gulf Coast. To walk the pipes route, roads wouldnt do. Id have to cross fields, hop barbed-wire fences and camp in cow pastures much of it on private property. Id figured that walking across the heartland would probably be unlawful, unprecedented and a little bit crazy. We Americans, after all, are forbidden from entering most of our private lands. But in some European countries, walking almost wherever you want is not only ordinary but perfectly acceptable. In Sweden, they call it allemansratt. In Finland, its jokamiehenoikeus. In Scotland, its the right to roam. Germany allows walking through privately owned forests, unused meadows and fallow fields. In 2000, England and Wales passed the Countryside and Rights of Way Act, which gave people access to mountain, moor, heath or down. Nordic and Scottish laws are even more generous. The 2003 Scottish Land Reform Act opened up the whole country for a number of pastimes, including mountain biking, horseback riding, canoeing, swimming, sledding, camping and most any activity that does not involve a motorized vehicle, so long as its carried out responsibly. In Sweden, landowners may be prohibited from putting up fences for the sole purpose of keeping people out. Walkers in many of these places do not have to pay money, ask for permission or obtain permits. Each Saturday, Farhad Manjoo and Mike Isaac, technology reporters at The New York Times, review the weeks news, offering analysis and maybe a joke or two about the most important developments in the tech industry. Farhad: Hey, Mike! Hows it going? Ive been in Africa for three weeks. I bet you missed me a lot. It must be difficult to try to decipher the weeks tech news without me to guide you along. Well, dry your eyes, Im back! Mike: I started going to therapy to deal with your absence. Turns out you and I are fine, but I have a whole lot of other issues. I hope we have good insurance. Farhad: So, on to the news. Remember the huge battle between the F.B.I. and Apple over the San Bernardino, Calif., terrorists phone? It all sort of fizzled this week: CBS News reported that after the F.B.I. finally got into the phone (without Apples help), it found nothing of significance on the device. The pessimistic interpretation is that this shows how advertisers are shunning news websites in favor of social networks, and how publications will have to make painful compromises to gain a sliver of that advertising revenue. Some of that will happen. But in some ways the figure was also helpful. It showed that there is a huge amount of money flowing into the advertising-media complex. And the number should further persuade publications to accept reality and think harder about what they have to do or, in some cases, stop doing to gain more of that revenue. There are some reasons for optimism here. News outlets that post quickly loading Instant Articles on Facebook have said these pieces enjoyed higher traffic than if they were posted into users feeds as slower-loading links. And Facebook has also been willing to make concessions to publishers on Instant Articles, showing that the company grasps how thin the media companies margins are. Being a successful news company in these times also requires something less fun: stringent management of resources. Revenues may take time to grow, so costs will have to be contained even as new things are attempted. New media companies, like any other fresh entrants to a sector, are prone to spending too much or underestimating the costs of expansion. They may make the same mistakes again as they pile deeper into video. Older media companies, because they enjoyed strong and dependable revenue for decades, never really developed a management culture that could nimbly deploy newsroom resources. But that may be changing. The Washington Posts series of articles on police killings that won a Pulitzer this week was created with collaboration across the newsroom. It eventually involved some 70 journalists from the papers national, investigative, metro, video, photo and graphics departments, The Post said. Understanding exactly whats happening in the new media world is hampered by the lack of detailed data on how these companies are actually performing. They are private companies that dont have to report regular financial data. But the public stock market is flashing a signal that should give a little hope. The stock of News Corporation, the company that owns The Wall Street Journal and other newspapers, is trading at a multiple that is a substantially higher valuation around 24 times expected earnings than that of the wider market, which trades at around 18 times future earnings. (The New York Times Company stock has an above-market valuation, too, but its bad form to use ones own employer as an example of an encouraging trend.) There are reasons not to read too much into the valuations, since they may be a temporary phenomenon that disappears as earnings catch up with investors expectations. LONDON President Obama offered an indirect critique of the Black Lives Matter movement during a town-hall-style event here on Saturday, encouraging activists to engage with the political process and cautioning them that social change can be a slow and incremental process. At a meeting with young people on the second day of his visit to Europe, during which he championed a new trade deal between the United States and the European Union, the president took questions on a variety of topics, including Northern Ireland, transgender rights and racial profiling. After responding to a questioner who suggested that his administration had not done enough to address racial profiling at airports a practice that Mr. Obama said he adamantly opposed the president turned his attention to the Black Lives Matter movement. He praised the movement as really effective in bringing attention to problems, but said young activists should be more willing to work with political leaders to craft solutions instead of criticizing from outside the political process. Sounding much like an infomercial pitchman on late-night television, gesturing with both hands, and practically shouting over a trumpet-blaring soundtrack, Mr. Trump rattles off his promises. Nine, to be exact: Well cut taxes for the middle class, negotiate new trade deals, bring back jobs, save Social Security and Medicare without cuts, end illegal immigration, build the wall, strengthen our military, knock out ISIS and take care of our great veterans. And yes, hell Make America Great Again, too. Impact Mr. Trumps willingness to run commercials in Pennsylvania, where he holds a wide lead in the polls, and in Indiana, where the race is murkier, reflects his desire to lock up the delegates he needs to avoid a contested convention. Takeaway Until now, Mr. Trumps commercials have featured ominous narrations, shadowy images and attacks on his rivals. Here, he turns decidedly upbeat. It is a significant stride toward becoming the familiar sort of politician he likes to deride. Then again, if the sound were off, a viewer might well mistake the ad for the kind Mr. Trump used to run for his mass-market business ventures. Howler The Club for Growth super PAC trying to derail Mr. Trumps march to the nomination is running an ad in Indiana saying the math wont work to vote for Gov. John Kasich as a way to defeat Mr. Trump; only a vote for Senator Ted Cruz will do the trick. But with Mr. Cruzs wipeout in the New York primary, he has been mathematically eliminated from clinching the nomination before the convention putting him in the same boat as Mr. Kasich. Sight gag As the debate over the North Carolina bathroom bill spilled into the presidential election, Mr. Cruz voiced his support for the measure, which bars people from using bathrooms that do not correspond to their biological sex. Common sense: grown men shouldnt be in bathrooms w/ little girls, Mr. Cruz tweeted. And his campaign released a 20-second digital ad showing two closed bathroom stalls, side by side, with the legs of a grown man, jeans at his ankles, in one, and the dangling legs of a little girl in Mary Janes in the other. Mrs. Clinton is also well aware of the inherent tensions between a vice president and a powerful first lady (or first gentleman). She and Mr. Gore became rivals in the White House as she led the health care overhaul effort and he pursued his reinventing government initiative, and both wanted their portfolios to be Mr. Clintons top priority. Advisers said that in the current search, Mrs. Clinton wants a running mate who would accept and appreciate that Mr. Clinton, as a former president, would offer expertise and guidance and perhaps play a formal role on specific issues if she were president. Hillary understands how the vice presidency can work well, and not work well, far better than anyone running or anyone on her staff, said Richard W. Riley, a friend of the Clintons who was the education secretary under Mr. Clinton and advises the campaign on education issues. And she and Bill Clinton know hed have to be very careful about how he relates to the vice president. Hillary is the decision maker now. Other Democrats argue that the running mate should be African-American or Hispanic because those two demographic groups have been such strong supporters of Mrs. Clinton and their votes, as well as those from women, are the key blocs she would need in a general election. In addition to Mr. Patrick and Mr. Perez, Democrats close to the campaign said her advisers were also discussing Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey, who is black, and Mr. Castro, who is Hispanic. (Mr. Kaine is also fluent in Spanish.) For all the vetting and strategizing, however, running-mate selections do not always work out as well as intended, especially with so many unconventional variables: the first female nominee; the Republican upheaval; and the angry, anxious political crosscurrents in the electorate. Its so easy to make a mistake in this, said Robert Shrum, a Democratic strategist on several past campaigns, including John Kerrys bid in 2004, when John Edwards and Richard A. Gephardt were finalists for vice president. Choosing Edwards was a mistake because Dick could have helped us in Ohio in a way that Edwards could not, and Dick would have done better in the vice-presidential debate, Mr. Shrum said, referring to Mr. Kerrys narrow loss in that state. But a lot of us wanted Edwards at the time. Kerry was doubtful about him, but was persuaded, he added. The most important thing for Hillary, in the end, is to follow her own instincts on this one. PHOENIX (AP) Prosecutors have decided at least for now to dismiss all charges against the man who the authorities have described as the Phoenix freeway shooter who terrorized the city last year. Jerry Cobb, a spokesman for the Maricopa County attorney, said that the office filed a motion to dismiss the charges, which include carrying out a drive-by shooting, without prejudice against the suspect, Leslie Merritt Jr. We have identified additional forensic investigation that needs to be completed in order for the case to proceed, Mr. Cobb said Friday. This action will give investigators the necessary time to refile charges, Mr. Cobb added. He declined to comment further. DHAKA, Bangladesh A professor of English was hacked to death and nearly beheaded near his home in northwestern Bangladesh on Saturday, in what the police said they suspected was the latest in a series of targeted killings by Islamist militants. The professor, Rezaul Karim Siddiquee, 61, was attacked by assailants about 60 yards from his home and died at the scene, said Mohammad Shamsuddin, the commissioner of the metropolitan police in the city of Rajshahi. Neighbors said they had heard the victim screaming and alerted his family. Mr. Shamsuddin said that our preliminary suspicion is that the murder was committed by an Islamist militant group, based on the attacks similarities to recent killings of secularist bloggers in Bangladesh. He said that Mr. Siddiquee had three deep wounds to the neck and that his head had been nearly severed. Later Saturday, the Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack, according to a message posted on Twitter by the SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors jihadist websites. No further details were available. SEOUL, South Korea North Korea fired what was believed to be a submarine-launched ballistic missile off its east coast on Saturday, according to the South Korean military. The missile flew only 19 miles, a flight too short to be called a successful launch, South Koreas Office of Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement. Still, the test provided the latest evidence that North Korea was building a submarine-launched ballistic missile in defiance of a United Nations ban on the country for developing such weapons. The United States North American Aerospace Defense Command also confirmed the North Korean missile launch from a submarine, saying it did not pose a threat to North America. On Sunday, North Korea claimed that it had successfully conducted the missile test. The countrys official news agency said the test was to confirm the stability of a solid-fuel ballistic missile launched from a submarine and the working accuracy of a nuclear detonating device of a warhead at a designated altitude. LONDON President Obama urged a roomful of young people in London on Saturday to support a new trade deal between the United States and the European Union, arguing that it can be written in a way that does not undercut the interests of unions, workers and the environment. At a town-hall-style meeting during the second day of his visit to Europe, Mr. Obama said the trade deal negotiated with Asian nations last year should serve as proof that a freer flow of commerce could be achieved without the damage that opponents of trade deals often warn about. Part of the argument Im making in the United States is that the answer to globalization and income inequality and lack of wage growth is not to pull up the drawbridge and shut off trade, Mr. Obama said. He said trade deals like the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership being negotiated between Europe and the United States should embed values that help lift workers rights and help lift environmental standards. Not all delegates who have been selected to represent Mr. Trump are fans of his. The majority of delegates are being selected through a series of elections at local and state conventions. In some states, some of Ted Cruzs supporters have been selected to represent Mr. Trump at the convention. Mr. Trump has called them double agents. This may not matter at first because they will be bound to Mr. Trump during the first nominating ballot. But if no candidate reaches 1,237 delegates and there is a second ballot, these delegates will be free to vote as they please. Georgia At least 11 of the delegates who will be bound to Mr. Trump at the convention favor another candidate. South Carolina Mr. Trump won all 50 of the states delegates during the primary vote, but of the delegates selected so far, just one has expressed support for him, according to local news reports. And it looks like the same thing might happen in other states. Less than half of North Carolina and Iowas delegates have been selected at district conventions so far, but most of the ones who have been selected support Mr. Cruz, even though he won only about a third of delegates in those states. Again, these delegates must vote for Mr. Trump on the first ballot, but they will be free after that. North Carolina Mr. Cruz won just 27 out of 72 delegates in the states primary. But of the delegates selected so far, the majority are reported to favor Mr. Cruz. Iowa Mr. Cruz won just 8 out of 30 delegates in the states caucuses. But of the delegates selected, nearly all of them are reported to favor Mr. Cruz. Trump was out-organized in states that did not have a primary vote. Three states are not holding a primary election or a caucus for voters to weigh in on a nominee. Instead, party members at conventions directly select delegates, some of whom will be bound, or required, to vote for a candidate at the nominating convention. So far, Mr. Cruzs campaign has proved much better at courting these delegates and has almost completely shut out Mr. Trump in these states. Colorado Wyoming North Dakota Trump won the Louisiana primary but may end up with fewer delegates. Mr. Trump has threatened to sue over the delegate selection in Louisiana, where 10 delegates are not currently bound to any candidate at the convention. All 10 of the people selected for those slots reportedly favor Mr. Cruz another indication that the Cruz campaign has been much better at working within the partys complex system of rules than Mr. Trumps. Tennessee chose two delegates who have criticized Trump in the past. In Tennessee, most delegates were chosen on the primary ballot (with their candidate of choice listed), but about a quarter of them were appointed by a party committee. The committee selected six delegates to represent Mr. Trump for at least the first two ballots at the convention, and while they followed some of his campaigns suggestions, two of the delegates are people who have criticized him in the past. Indiana hasnt voted yet, but Trump supporters may be shut out of the delegate selection. Indianas delegates were appointed by party leaders earlier this month, even though the states primary election isnt until May 3. The selection process in Indiana tends to reward longtime party activists, and there is evidence that very few of those chosen favor Mr. Trump, and that many are supporters of Gov. John Kasich of Ohio. Saving money isnt that hard. Whats hard is keeping money saved. Its too easy to cut expenses in one area only to spend more somewhere else. Sticking cash into savings wont help if it comes right back out again. What you need are some ways to trick yourself into savings that actually last. Such as: 1. Automate it Willpower is overrated. Set up automatic transfers, and you likely wont miss the money as its whisked from your paycheck to your retirement fund (for example) or from your checking account to savings. 2. Hide it Part two of the out-of-sight, out-of-mind approach is to make sure youre not regularly reminded that you have this money. Set up savings accounts at a separate institution from the one that has your checking account, so youre not seeing your savings balance every time you log on. Sign up for paperless statements for retirement accounts and then dont check them more than once or twice a year. (But dont ignore these accounts entirely set up text or email alerts for any withdrawals or unusual activity so you can catch fraud.) 3. Name it Labeling an account with its purpose can be a powerful deterrent to tapping the money for other uses. Online banks allow you to set up multiple subaccounts at no extra cost, and each one can be given a name: vacation, property taxes, new car fund, holidays and so on. Its a lot easier to dip into a nameless savings account than one that says Dream Trip to Bora Bora. The names make you think about what youre really sacrificing when you spend the money thoughtlessly. You may not be able to rename your employer retirement fund, but you often can input nicknames for IRAs and other brokerage accounts. How about Freedom Fund? 4. Use an app Digit analyzes your checking account transactions, then transfers money you wont miss into a Digit savings account. Acorns does something similar but looks across all your accounts and invests the spare money. Bank of America has a program called Keep the Change that rounds up debit card purchases to the nearest dollar and transfers the change into your savings account. 5. Lock it up You should keep at least $500 cash easily accessible for small emergencies. Beyond that, consider creating some barriers to accessing the money. Certificates of deposit can be a good option for savings accounts since you pay a small penalty if you break into them early. If youre tempted to cash in retirement funds, remember that taxes and penalties typically will equal 25 percent to 50 percent of any withdrawal. 6. Save your rewards Use a cash-back rewards credit card for your expenses, pay the balance in full every month and regularly transfer the rewards to your savings account or IRA. 7. Divert it Every time you cancel a subscription, disconnect a service or pay off a debt, divert that monthly payment into savings. 8. Bank your windfalls Define a windfall broadly as any extra money that lands in your lap: rebates, bonuses, refunds (including your tax refund). Carve out 10 percent to spend any way you want, then save the rest. 9. Make it a game Some people save every $5 or $10 bill that wanders into their wallets. Others stuff every $1 bill they get into a change jar at the end of the day. Every month, feed the green to your savings account. 10. Save your raise Got a 3 percent raise? Boost your 401(k) or IRA contribution by at least 2 percent. Youll get a little extra in your paycheck while putting most of your raise to work for your future. Liz Weston is a columnist at NerdWallet, a personal finance website, and author of Your Credit Score. Email: lweston@nerdwallet.com. Twitter: @lizweston. SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO Residents will have a number of opportunities to help define how the city will divide itself into voting districts as a new way to elect City Council members. The city clerks office on Friday announced three community workshops that will engage voters in the process of determining district boundaries. Historically, the entire city has elected all five council members at large. The council decided Feb. 16, in response to a lawsuit, to pursue letting different parts of town each select its own council member. A Latino voter advocacy group filed suit against the city in January, alleging that San Juans at-large voting violates the California Voting Rights Act of 2001. The lawsuit, filed by the Southwest Voter Registration Project and local residents Tina Auclair and Louie Camacho, contends that Latinos represent 40 percent of San Juans population but at-large voting has prevented Latinos from electing candidates of their choice. Council members decided not to fight the suit on advice from City Attorney Jeff Ballinger. He said lawsuits are forcing other California cities into voting districts and the threshold to establish a claim under the voting-rights act is low. Public workshops are scheduled from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. May 4 at the Community Center, 25925 Camino Del Avion; from noon to 2 p.m. May 7 at La Sala Auditorium, 31495 El Camino Real; and from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. June 1 at the Community Center. The City Council also has scheduled public hearings at 5 p.m. May 18 and June 7 at City Hall, 32400 Paseo Adelanto. Councilman John Perry urged residents to attend the workshops to understand why the city is making the change and possible outcomes. This is going to cause a tremendous change in the way we go about electing people to the City Council in the future, Perry said. At a Capo Chat community gathering held Friday at Hennesseys Tavern, the upcoming division boundaries were a hot topic. Speakers described how on one voting districts will give residents more direct representation with the council member they elect, and on the other hand how the four council members they no longer elect will have no accountability to them. Residents would vote for the council only once every four years when their council members four-year term comes due if the council opts to divide San Juan into five council districts. Presently, voters participate in a council election every two years one election deciding two council seats, the next election deciding three seats. An alternate option is to divide San Juan into four council districts, with the mayor being elected separately, citywide. Last week, the the council agreed to spend up to $50,000 to hire Q2 Data and Research to guide the mapping workshops and crafting of voting districts. The council also hired Ames & Associates, paying up to $20,000, to help with community outreach. Ames & Associates recently assisted Anaheim and received favorable comments from Anaheim staff, City Manager Ben Siegel said in a report to the council. The council said its goal is to have voting districts in place for this years Nov. 8 City Council elections. Contact the writer: fswegles@ocregister.com or 949-492-5127 MIAMI Cuba reversed a decades-old policy Friday, lifting a restriction on Cubans who live on the island or anywhere else, including the United States, that prevented them from entering or leaving the country by cruise ship or commercial vessel, according to a statement in the countrys national newspaper, Granma. The decision, another softening of Cubas Cold War stance toward the United States, came after Carnival Cruise Line, under political pressure, said it would delay its inaugural cruise to Cuba from Miami, scheduled for May 1, because the government would not relax a law prohibiting people born on the island from traveling there by ship. In response to the change, Carnival said that the cruise would depart as scheduled, making it the first U.S. cruise ship to visit Cuba in 50 years. Cubas policy change may also be a nod to the money Cuba stood to lose if Carnival had been forced to cancel the trip. The directive, which will take effect Tuesday, also marked a rare turn of events: A U.S. corporation persuading the Castro government to alter a policy. We made history in March, and we are a part of making history again today, Arnold Donald, the president and chief executive of the Carnival Corp., said in a statement. Last month, Carnival became the first U.S. cruise company to obtain Cuban approval to sail to the island. Fridays decision also paved the way for eventual approval for Cuban-born people to travel back and forth from other countries to the island by yacht. Cuban-Americans in Miami who support engagement with Cuba have long envisioned taking their own their boats to the island, which is 90 miles from Florida. The decision is significant because the Cuban government has long been wary of sea travel between the United States and Cuba. For decades, Cubans had few ways to flee, and did so primarily by raft and rustic boats. Officials there also feared that Cuban-born citizens living in South Florida would travel to Cuba by boat to try to undermine the government. In 1980, after tensions in Cuban skyrocketed as the economy plummeted, Fidel Castro temporarily lifted the restriction and allowed boats from the United States to pick up Cubans in the port of Mariel. More than 125,000 Cubans left the island by boat. Most were picked up by relatives, friends or recruits from Miami. The Cuban government, in its announcement in Granma, stressed that all passengers leaving and entering Cuba must have authorized visa or immigration documents to do so. In its statement, the government also emphasized that its decision stands in contrast to the United States restrictions that prevent U.S. citizens from traveling freely to Cuba. Beckman High in the Tustin Unified School District is hosting the eighth annual SoCal Student Film Festival, a national high school student film showcase and competition, on Saturday, April 30, from 3 to 10 p.m. in the Beckman Performing Arts Center in Irvine. The event will feature top films in eight different categories: animation, commercial, documentary, experimental, music video, narrative, news spot-feature and public service announcement. Awards will be given to the best film in each category and individual achievement awards will be presented in the areas of acting, cinematography, directing, editing, production design, special/visual effects and writing. The top award will go to the SoCal Student Filmmaker of the Year, honoring one, stand-out, prolific, visionary teen filmmaker. Film entries are judged by a panel of over 40 students, teachers and administrators, who build consensus through screenings of all submissions, discussions and debate. Various professional filmmakers are invited to certify the consensus voting. This year, the film festival received 775 submissions from 50 states and 57 countries. Over 30 films from California, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, South Carolina, Texas, Washington State, Portugal and Slovenia will be showcased to an audience of student filmmakers and fans. The event will also feature industry explorations, panels, Q&As, workshops, a red carpet networking opportunity, a trade-show-style product booth provided by Canon, a DJ, Taco Bell Food Truck and an awards show. College and Industry Exploration presenters will include Daniel Pensiero, vice president of casting at Paramount Studios; Emma Monden, a teenage YouTuber with 450,000 followers; teen television actor Niko Guardado; and the New York Film Academy. Next year, the festival will expand to include a college-level bracket of competition. The same award categories will apply separately to both high school and college. Additionally, next years judging will take place entirely online by crowdsourcing a consensus of students, teachers and professional filmmakers. Festival tickets are $15 per person. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit socalsff.com. SACRAMENTO If there were 30 loaves of bread and 50 people who wanted them, you can guess what would happen. Prices for those loaves would rise, from, maybe, $2, to $3 or even $10, depending on how desperate people were to make sandwiches. Those prices wouldnt fall until some buyers switched to tortillas or bakers started baking more bread. That concept is so simple its almost embarrassing to point it out. Yet when policymakers talk about other products, they lose sight of these basics. The housing market jumps to mind. Prices throughout California are still going up. Affordability is down. I know well-paid professionals in some coastal cities who have basically given up on the dream of homeownership given the typical $1-million-plus price tag for a tiny bungalow. A modest apartment in San Francisco can easily set you back $4,000 a month. Orange County isnt much better. For years, people have retorted: Thats the price for living near the beach. Actually, its the price we pay because those who already live in such lovely places lobby city councils, boards of supervisors and the state Legislature to put the kibosh on new construction, supposedly to stop congestion. A few minutes drive from the Golden Gate Bridge, one finds endless, lovely countryside all tightly growth-controlled to keep out young families and other riff-raff. In California, its always fair game to blame politicians. Over the years, theyve certainly passed a lot of laws that make it tough to build new houses. As they dream up far-reaching new programs on myriad subject matters (e.g., the Secure Choice retirement plan for the private sector), they steadfastly avoid dealing with major problems where they could effect change. The lack of housing supply fuels headlines that reveal the states housing prices at their starkest, Liam Dillon wrote in the Los Angeles Times. It could explain why doctors and others making as much as $250,000 a year are struggling to find homes in Palo Alto. Prices in California are double the national average, Dillon writes, yet legislators have shied away from tackling broad efforts to increase housing supply. Of course, state legislators arent the only ones to blame. City councils and county boards of supervisors love to control housing growth. But often, they merely succumb to public pressure. The Register reported this past week that a judge ordered Huntington Beach to immediately comply with a previous ruling requiring it to permit more low-income units as part of a high-density housing project. The city, which has vowed to appeal, has been at odds with housing advocates since last May, when the council, reacting to public outcry, eliminated more than 2,400 units of potential high-density housing from plans along portions of Beach and Edinger, according to the report. Focus on the phrase, reacting to public outcry. Try to find any development project that doesnt spark a backlash from neighbors, environmentalists and slow-growth activists. Affordable-housing activists miss the big picture, of course. They believe the solution to the housing-affordability crisis is to subsidize (or mandate) the development of below-market-price affordable units. Thats a drop in the bucket; traditionally, affordable housing is best found in the used housing market. Theres no constitutional right to a subsidized new condo. They are right that localities need to permit more infill housing, but they need to green-light every type of new housing. If you feed supply into the system, it will help at every price point. Voxs Matthew Yglesias reported that a San Francisco supervisor is forcing the citys chief economist to conduct an unprecedented economic impact study of the citys various land-use and development rules. Theres this from the Santa Rosa Press Democrat: Healdsburg is likely to create more affordable housing if it repeals a voter-approved growth management ordinance that restricts the number of new homes to an average of 30 per year. Maybe the local pendulum is swinging back in a more sensible direction, even if the Legislature hasnt gotten the memo. The problem isnt a secret. A report last month by the state Legislative Analysts Office came to this conclusion: [C]ommunity resistance to housing, environmental policies, lack of fiscal incentives for local governments to approve housing, and limited land constrains new housing construction. A shortage of housing along Californias coast means households wishing to live there compete for limited housing. This competition bids up home prices and rents. Its simple stuff. The problem wont be fixed until people stop coming here, stop having children or the government finally just lets builders build more houses. Steven Greenhut is the Sacramento-based Western region director for the R Street Institute. He was a Register editorial writer from 1998-2009. Write to him at sgreenhut@rstreet.org. SANTA ANA, CALIF. Southern California News Group has appointed Brian Calle as Opinion Editor overseeing the editorial board and opinion content at its 11 daily newspapers and websites. In his new role, Calle expands upon his current role managing opinion teams at The Orange County Register and The Press-Enterprise. He will also oversee opinion and commentary staff at the Los Angeles Daily News, Daily Breeze in Torrance, Long Beach Press-Telegram, Pasadena Star-News, San Gabriel Valley Tribune, Whittier Daily News, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, The Sun in San Bernardino and Redlands Facts. Calle is responsible for facilitating collaboration on national and regional topics across all Southern California News Group properties, and will actively engage community leaders and publish editorials around local issues specific to each market. Effective immediately, Calle reports to Ron Hasse, President of Southern California News Group and Publisher of The Orange County Register, and Frank Pine, Executive Editor of Southern California News Group and the Register. Our opinion coverage is a powerful platform to facilitate public discourse and debate around the issues, people and policies that matter most to our communities, Hasse said. Under Brians leadership, we will further amplify the opinions of thought leaders and assure a variety of important perspectives are being heard. Pine added, Brian brings a deep knowledge of local politics, and an inherent understanding of which voices and viewpoints will most resonate in each individual community. He is a respected journalist who cares deeply about our communities, and our readers will notice it in the depth and quality of our editorials moving forward. It is a tremendous honor to lead the opinion and commentary teams at Southern California News Group, Calle said. I am committed to expanding and elevating the voices within each local market so that they are a true reflection of the needs and interests of our communities. According to Calle, the editorial stance will reflect a thoughtful, credible and articulate voice that advocates for pragmatic policies that are economically and fiscally responsible and socially inclusive. We will take tough stands that may sometimes fly in the face of whats popular, Calle said. As an opinion group, we will aspire to be the thought leaders shaping a new advent of social and economic prosperity. We will provide a unique and different perspective that both honors the values of each of our local communities, but also moves our region and state forward. Southern California News Groups Opinion section includes coverage of local, regional and national political and public policy issues. The team produces editorials, columns, blogs, op-eds, letters to the editor, social media posts, editorial cartoons and community events. Calle first joined The Orange County Register in 2009 as an editorial writer and columnist, was promoted to Opinion Editor in 2012. In 2013, he also became vice president of Commentary, serving as Opinion Editor for both the Register and The Press-Enterprise. He is also a professor and Presidential Fellow at Chapman University. Previously, Calle worked as vice president of the Claremont Institute and as a congressional aide in the United States House of Representatives. He has also taught undergraduate students at California State University, Los Angeles and California State University, Fullerton. WASHINGTON President Barack Obama declined Friday to call the 1915 massacre of Armenians a genocide, breaking a key campaign promise as his presidency nears an end. Obama, marking the upcoming Armenian Remembrance Day, called the massacre the first mass atrocity of the 20th century and a tragedy that must not be repeated. Yet he stopped short of using the word genocide, a phrase he applied to the killings before he became president in 2009. I have consistently stated my own view of what occurred in 1915, and my view has not changed, Obama said. Armenian-American leaders have urged Obama each year to make good on a pledge he made as a candidate in 2008, when he said the U.S. government had a responsibility to recognize the attacks as genocide and vowed to do so if elected. Obamas failure to fulfill that pledge in his final annual statement on the massacre infuriated advocates and lawmakers who accused the president of outsourcing Americas moral voice to Turkey, which staunchly opposes the genocide label. Its a Turkish government veto over U.S. policy on the Armenian genocide, Aram Hamparian, head of the Armenian National Committee of America, said in an interview. Its like Erdogan imposing a gag rule very publicly and an American president enforcing that gag rule. He was referring to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Historians estimate that as many as 1.5 million Armenians were killed by Ottoman Turks in an event widely viewed by scholars as genocide. Turkey, a key U.S. partner and NATO ally, denies the deaths constituted genocide and says the death toll has been inflated. Though Obama administration officials have debated using the genocide label in the past, this years deliberations come as Obama seeks Turkeys assistance in fighting the Islamic State group especially along Turkeys long border with Syria. The U.S. and its European partners are also counting on Erdogan to help stem the influx of migrants to Europe. If Obama felt pressure not to offend Turkey during a critical time, he wasnt alone among world leaders. German Chancellor Angela Merkel has faced intense criticism for allowing the possible prosecution of a TV comic for writing an intentionally offensive poem about Erdogan. Hamparian said officials from the White Houses National Security Council and the Atrocities Prevention Board that Obama established told him Thursday that calling it genocide would introduce uncertainty in the region during a time when Turkey is playing a key role in a range of priorities. He said it was hypocritical for Obama to call every year for a full, frank, and just acknowledgment of the facts while refusing to acknowledge them himself. Its like, You should do this, but I wont, Hamparian said. Obamas calls for transparency about the massacre played a prominent role in his presidential campaign, held up by Obama as an example of the type of sorely needed straight talk about foreign affairs and historical events. Samantha Power, one of his key campaign surrogates and now his U.N. ambassador, issued a roughly five-minute video imploring Armenian-Americans to vote for Obama precisely because he would follow through on his promise. Rep. Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said he was gravely disappointed Obama would leave office with the campaign pledge unfulfilled. Schiff has introduced legislation calling on the president to urge Turkey to fully acknowledge the genocide. Remaining silent in an effort to curry favor with Turkey is as morally indefensible as it will be ineffectual, Schiff said. The White House released Obamas annual statement on the massacre while the president was traveling in London. White House officials declined to comment on the broken campaign promise. AP Diplomatic Writer Matthew Lee contributed to this report. Article II, Section 3, of the Constitution requires the president to take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed. In January, for the first time in history, the Supreme Court announced it wanted to consider what that requirement means. The context is the challenge by 26 states to President Obamas announced decision not to deport about 4 million adults who entered the country illegally and had U.S.-born children, and almost 2 million others who were under age 15 when their parents illegally brought them into America. The parties had not raised the issue of the presidents constitutional obligation; the court (with the late Justice Antonin Scalias participation) raised it. The attorney for the president argued to the court Monday that Obamas decisions were no different in kind from President George W. Bushs decision not to deport foreign students whose studies were interrupted by Hurricane Katrina, or President Reagans decision that Nicaraguan refugees could stay in America even if they didnt fit the requirements for asylum, during the days of the Sandinista-Contra conflict in Nicaragua. President Obama relies on well-established rules of prosecutorial discretion. There are more potentially deportable people than there are resources to deport them all, so the president has instructed the immigration officers to go after criminals first, then those who entered illegally as adults, theoretically getting to the categories of individuals he has protected only when these other categories are exhausted (practically speaking, never). Presidents who prioritize enforcement actions are, in this view, dutifully taking care that the laws be faithfully executed, comparable to a decision made by all presidents to prosecute more dangerous criminals first. Its not quite a convincing argument. The prosecutorial-discretion argument works where the presidents criteria are not directed to countervail the fundamental structure of the law itself. Compassion for those unable to finish their course of study because of a hurricane does not undermine the overall structure of immigration law. Neither does serving the diplomatic purposes of putting pressure on the Sandinista regime. Here, however, President Obama has said he acted precisely because Congress refused to change existing law, which established the complex system for who can stay in our country. If the president also can allow others to stay, it undermines the structure of that law. There is an established rule of interpreting laws: The inclusion in a statute of a specified category implies the exclusion of others. Members of Congress cannot have intended the president to have authority to grant any group he wants the ability to stay here lawfully when they went to such trouble to establish the rules for whom they wanted to stay. Alternatively, however, the categories Congress created might have covered those Congress absolutely wanted to stay, leaving to the presidents discretion whether any others could stay, too. Indeed, the Supreme Court adopted just that kind of reasoning in a 5-4 ruling last year upholding the Medicaid subsidies to states that had not adopted exchanges under Obamacare. The structure of that law (famously explained by Jonathan Gruber, the MIT professor who said states had to be bludgeoned into adopting exchanges in order to get federal money) was undermined if states received money whether or not they established their own exchanges. However, the four liberal justices, joined by Chief Justice John Roberts, whose vote had upheld the constitutionality of Obamacare when it was challenged four years ago, said states that hadnt established exchanges could also get federal money. Compared with that reasoning, a holding in the immigration case that Congress categories for who can stay are not exclusive is much less of a stretch. Also pointing in that direction is the language of the federal statute requiring a specific action by the attorney general before any single individual is deported, rather than allowing federal prosecutors just to proceed under power of the law. The scheme Congress created, in other words, intimately involved the attorney general, the presidents chief law enforcement officer, to make an individualized decision before any one person could be deported. However, there are procedures that have to be followed in announcing major federal agency decisions; and the basis for the U.S. Court of Appeals striking down the presidents immigration policy was that those procedures were not followed. I predict the court will follow that approach, meaning that a new president will then have to decide whether to reissue Obamas immigration policies. Since only a Democratic president will, and that president will appoint Scalias replacement, we can also predict that the question the court asked will be answered favorably for the president, or not answered at all. Tom Campbell is a professor at the Chapman Universitys Fowler School of Law and the author of a text on separation of powers. He served five terms in Congress. These views are his own. Doug Ludden assesses the 8-knot wind as more than 200 sailboats get ready to set sail Friday for the start of the Newport to Ensenada race. The wind direction is good, they are headed out to sea, explains the Long Beach sailor, pointing out toward the horizon from the Balboa Pier, where a sea of sails point at the sky. If it shifted, they would be headed to the beach. The long-time boater first joined the race about four decades ago, and has done it so many times hes lost count, he said. His closest estimate is that hes traveled the 125-mile distance about 19 times. Recent chemo treatments to fight prostate cancer kept him landlocked this year, but that didnt stop him from joining others huddled on the pier to cheer on the racers headed south for the overnight journey, touted as one of the largest international boat races. Boats big and small enter the 69-year-old race, ranging from 77 feet long to a 25-footer. Most participants will be trickling into Ensenada throughout the day Saturday. During the races 80s heyday, more than 600 boats would launch from Newport for the competitive yet festive voyage. This year, 212 boats entered the race, a sizable drop-off from the peak years, but an upswing since an all-time low of 168 boats set sail in 2014. Many race participants dropped out in recent years because of a series of unpredictable and troubling events, including a rise in violent crime in Mexico the past decade, a crumbling economy and a boat crash in 2012 that killed four. But organizers say recent changes that were meant to chart a new course have helped the race regain its momentum. New this year is a short course leaving from San Diego for those who dont want to endure the entire 125-mile route from Newport Beach. Also, three years ago, organizers shifted the party area from downtown Ensenada to a resort, consolidating the racers in one place and allowing people to watch the boaters at the finish line. About 30 new boats among the group this year suggest increasing interest among newcomers. Related: Newport-to-Ensenada yacht race: After deaths, low turnout, will it be smoother sailing this year? Rome Siemon, 6, and sister Margot, 9, skipped school to come out and cheer dad Caleb on as he embarked on his first Newport-to-Ensenada race with his father, Bob. The Newport Beach siblings wore matching hats that read Team Sundaze, the name of the 38-foot yacht. This is the first time theyve ever gone, so they are really amped and excited, said Carmen Salazar, wife of Caleb and mom to the siblings. Theyve been preparing for a while, they are ready. Carmen said shes not nervous about her husband and father-in-law at sea and headed to Mexico. They are so about safety, safety first, she said. I dont feel worried at all. Plus, they are really good sailors. Theyll be among other boats that have plenty of experience. From shore, Ludden pointed out sailors and boats he recognized. There was David Booker on LuLu, a competitor of Luddens, and a 62-footer called Medicine Man. There was also a boat Ludden recognized from the Long Beach Harbor, Jazz, with a blow-up alligator bobbing in the water while being towed behind the boat. But Ludden was mostly rooting for friend Andy Horning aboard Day Tripper II. Ludden said he has done the race about eight times on that boat, and won the race six times with the crew, including in 2013 when challenging winds were whipping near 35 mph for the first few hours of the race. Ludden said he hopes the race will one day reclaim the glory it once had, now that the marinas in Ensenada have been built up to handle the racers. Back in the 80s, he said, it was difficult to find a place to park. The more the merrier, really, he said. As on Friday, Ludden, will likely be rooting on future racers from land. If I had more energy, it would be bittersweet, he said. But it can be exhausting. Contact the writer: lconnelly@ocregister.com Saudi Arabia, with plummeting oil prices and a civil war in neighboring Yemen, did not prove to be a warm and welcoming destination for President Barack Obama when he visited the theocratic kingdom this week. Obama was clearly snubbed by King Salman bin Abdulaziz when he was greeted on arrival by a welcome party headed by the governor of Riyadh rather than by the king himself. The rest of the visit failed to progress much from that point on, reduced in many parts to little more than stilted formalities and empty protocol. A heavy military and security presence in Riyadh showed that, despite the cool reception put on by Obamas Saudi hosts, they remained cognizant of the serious threat from terrorists that such a state visit inevitably carried with it. Many factors have contributed to this cold distancing of Saudi Arabia from its historical ally, the United States. Perhaps one particularly embarrassing development for President Obama is a bill currently working its way through Congress that would formally lay blame and legal responsibility for the 9/11 attack on Saudi Arabia. It is worth remembering that 15 of the 19 hijackers were Saudi nationals. And while the Obama administration has been attempting to water down the bills provisions, both Democratic presidential hopefuls Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders have stated that they would support the bill if it became law. How King Salman and the Saudi government would react if the bill were passed is not entirely clear, although some fear it could become the pretext for billions of dollars of financial assets currently owned by Saudi Arabia to be sold in protest. Obama has surprisingly little to show from his four presidential visits to Saudi Arabia. His having reached a controversial accord with regional rival Iran last year, the Saudi government has not hidden its concern over the recent splurge of U.S. favoritism showered on the Shia theocracy, overshadowing the historically close relationship previously reserved for Sunni Saudi Arabia. This tilting of Washington towards Tehran has been massively unpopular with Saudi officials, who previously went to great length to voice support for the U.S. government. In response, the Saudi government have made their disdain and disregard for the American president clear for the world to see. American priorities in the region remain clear bolstering Iraq and combating Islamic state and other extremist jihadi threats are paramount. Attempts to push human-rights concerns seem pointless at a time when Obama possess such little credibility with Saudi leaders. Meanwhile, arms sales to Riyadh continue at record levels. The United States has been joined by Britain and Canada to supply much-needed weaponry to Saudi Arabia for use in their war in neighboring Yemen. Clearly despite the surface tensions in the relationship it remains business as usual in the more mundane area of military cooperation and support. Much of the Obama legacy has consisted of one disappointment after another, from the perspective of the Saudi government. The abandonment of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, a staunch ally of the United States for many years, seems to many Saudi leaders an act of supreme cowardice and an unnecessary betrayal. Similarly, Obamas inability to get Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to step down appears to be a significant boost for an important Iranian ally. The awkward question for King Salman and his senior advisers is whether the next occupant of the Oval Office would represent a step forward or a step backward in the relationship between the two countries. It is hard to imagine that either the tone or the substance of Saudi-American diplomacy would be meaningful improved with Donald Trump in residence at the White House! Saudi Arabia is under threat on multiple fronts. Cratering oil prices deprive Riyadh of much needed revenue. The rise of Islamic State explicitly puts the theocratic supremacy of the Sunni kingdom under direct threat. These two developments magnify seismic demographic shifts that are currently underway within the country. The Saudi government also showed its own shortcomings this week when it prevented OPEC, the international oil manufacturing cartel, from agreeing an important curb on oil protection which could materially improve the economic position of many OPEC countries in the coming years. Of key importance to Saudi Arabia was the inclusion of Iran in any agreement to limit oil production. Unfortunately, Iran only recently enjoyed the lifting of sanctions on selling its oil internationally, and Tehrans need for short-term revenue appears to outweigh the benefits of higher prices in the near-ish future. In the remaining months of his presidency, Obama must ensure that tensions in the region do not degrade further, while still pushing forward Americas strategic goals. Too much is at stake for the United States for its leader to be an irrelevance in the halls of Saudi power. Orange County writer and attorney Timothy Spangler hosts The Bigger Picture with Timothy Spangler, Sundays, 10 p.m.-midnight on KRLA 870 AM. Twitter: @timothyspangler SANTA ANA A lawsuit pitting five former department leaders against Orange County Sheriff Sandra Hutchens is now in the hands of a judge, who must weigh the dismissed officers demand for $19 million in damages. Superior Court Judge Frederick P. Aguirre said Friday he plans to rule within 10 days whether the five were terminated because of a budget crunch, or if the sheriff used the layoffs as an excuse to jettison those she associated disgraced ex-Sheriff Mike Carona. Attorney Joel W. Baruch, who represents the ex-high-ranking officials, accused Hutchens of lying at the time of the 2009 layoffs and during her testimony in the long-running civil trial. They were unceremoniously dumped, Baruch told the judge Friday during the trials closing arguments. Sheriff Sandra Hutchens lied to them about why she did what she did, so she could avoid hearings and oversight. S. Frank Harrell, an attorney hired by the county, said he was shocked at Baruchs request on Friday for $19 million in toal damages. Harrell said Hutchens was forced to dismiss the officers for financial reasons and that they dont deserve any damages. Layoffs dont happen because someone did something wrong and needs to be punished, Harrell said. The sheriff didnt want to lay anybody off. She was fighting for her men and women. She was fighting for their jobs. The lawsuit was filed by five ex-command staff members: former assistant sheriffs Jack Anderson and John Davis, and former captains Brian Cossairt, Deana Bergquist and Robert Eason. Baruch contends they deserve $19 million to cover their lost income, as well as penalties and emotional damages. The non-jury civil trial began in June and testimony and legal filings have been off and on ever since. Both sides returned to Santa Ana courthouse on Friday for final arguments. The lawsuit stems from the tumultuous months in 2009 after the county hired Hutchens to overhaul the embattled department, which was reeling from the federal indictment of Sheriff Carona on corruption charges and the death of inmate John Chamberlain, who was beaten by fellow jail inmates. By the time of Hutchens appointment, Caronas inner circle had already fallen apart, as the man once dubbed Americas Sheriff was on his way to serving time as a convicted felon. Former Assistant Sheriff George Jaramillo had been indicted and convicted of corruption charges. Don Haidl, another former assistant sheriff handpicked by Carona, had resigned and ultimately wore a wire to capture Carona making incriminating statements. Caronas undersheriff, JoAnn Galisky, had been fired during the Chamberlain scandal. The five suing the department were among those who remained in the department during the transition to the Hutchens regimes. They were joined in Hutchens newly-created command staff by John Scott and Michael Hillman, veteran law enforcement officials who Hutchens knew from the Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department. The suit alleges that a rift developed between new arrivals and the holdovers who believed that Hutchens and two officers she brought into her command staff looked at Orange County as backwoods territory still rife with corruption. The five suing the department say they butted heads with Hutchens and were moved into less-powerful positions. Just months after taking the departments reins, Hutchens faced the task of closing a multi-million-dollar budget shortfall. Rather than letting go of deputies and investigators, Hutchens said she decided to trim from the top. During the trial, Hutchens said she overhauled the department by combining numerous divisions. Those left without divisions to command were dismissed, the sheriff said. I did it by function, because there were no performance issues, Hutchens said. I did not want to lay off anybody. During the trial, Baruch challenged the sheriff over her layoff decisions. The lawyer contended she retained the command staffers she brought in despite their higher pay, and contended she ultimately ended up moving lower-ranked members of the department she was perceived to favor up the promotion ladder. Contact the writer: semery@ocregister.com California lawmakers are sending six bills to restrict tobacco use to the governor after a delay of more than six weeks. The bills sent Friday include a proposal to raise Californias legal age for smoking, dipping, chewing and vaping tobacco from 18 to 21. Democratic legislative leaders wielded rarely used house rules to hold onto the bills after lawmakers passed them in March. Tobacco companies have threatened to target the changes at the ballot box if they are signed into law. Gov. Jerry Brown has declined to comment on the proposals. He has until May 4 to sign, veto or send them back to the Legislature. Opponents would need to collect 366,000 valid signatures within three months of Browns signature to ask voters to reject the new laws in November. Also, smoking is now banned in 65 East Bay regional parks, the latest tobacco crackdown by a San Francisco Bay Area recreation agency. The East Bay Times reports Friday that the move by the East Bay Regional Park District will help keep air clean and beaches, bays and wild lands free of butts that can harm fish and animals. The district previously allowed smoking in parks with few restrictions such as a ban on high fire risk days, the newspaper reported. Smoking will still be allowed in overnight campgrounds. ANAHEIM Councilwoman Kris Murray is asking her colleagues on the City Council to join her in denouncing presidential candidate Donald Trumps campaign rhetoric, which many have said disparages Muslims, Latinos, women and other demographic groups. The council is expected to vote Tuesday on Murrays resolution. Its important for the city to take a stand against divisive rhetoric that demeans large portions of our residents, Murray, a registered Republican, said on Friday. A pro-Trump rally is planned for Tuesdays meeting, according to activist group We the People Rising. John Bentley, a Trump supporter who runs an antique shop in Orange, said he disagrees with the characterization of Trumps statements as divisive and offensive and said he thinks such a declaration could hurt Anaheim. Its wrong, Bentley said. There are a lot of Trump supporters in California. Its a negative for Anaheim. The resolution says the City Council condemns the divisive rhetoric of presidential candidate Donald Trump as contrary to the fundamental principles of the constitutions of California and the United States and as not reflecting Anaheims guiding principles of inclusiveness and kindness. More than half of Anaheims population is Latino, according to the Census Bureaus 2014 population estimates. The city also has a large Muslim-American population in Little Arabia. And, Anaheim attracts about 20 million visitors each year, many from around the world. Council members Lucille Kring and James Vanderbilt said they also find Trumps rhetoric reprehensible. But, Vanderbilt questioned whether its appropriate to talk about a national election in a city council forum. I agree hes said a lot of inflammatory things, Vanderbilt said. But I take a blanket approach not to take up resolutions outside the scope of the city. Kring said she still had to read the proposed resolution. Mayor Tom Tait and Councilman Jordan Brandman, the councils only registered Democrat, did not return phone calls for comment. Robin Hvidston, the executive director of We the People Rising, which is organizing the protest on Tuesday, also did not return calls for comment. Im amazed the city is doing this, Bentley said. Theyre stepping to the point where they could get a lot of feedback that is negative. Contact the writer: 714-796-6979 or chaire@ocregister.com Prosecutors say she splurged on expensive parties and trips. But now Patricia Urbanovsky owner of Creative Creations, the embattled event-planning company says shes running out of money. Shes asking Douglas County taxpayers to help pay for her defense. Urbanovsky filed an affidavit in Douglas County District Court claiming she is indigent essentially broke. The document says she lacks the financial resources to mount a defense against three felony counts of theft levied against her in connection with the sale of millions of dollars in worthless travel vouchers. She doesnt have any real assets, stocks, accounts or other valuables, the filing says. Urbanovskys attorney, Steve Lefler, filed a request this week in Douglas Country District Court asking that the county pay $3,407 for five depositions witness statements he said are vital for her defense. Lefler told The World-Herald that he paid for the depositions out of his own pocket. If Urbanovsky had a public defender and the public defender incurred those costs, he or she would be reimbursed by the county, Lefler said. Urbanovsky is not asking to be represented by a public defender. Despite his clients proclaimed lack of funds, Lefler said he would continue to represent her until the day I die. Im trying to get some help with the deposition costs, not for my attorney fees, Lefler said. When asked who is paying Urbanovskys attorney fees, Lefler would say only that she hired him to defend her. I do not discuss my clients financial terms, he said. The request to the court is made only with respect to the costs associated with the depositions ... in the interest of fairness and justice, according to court documents. Taking a deposition costs money: Court reporters, usually paid by the hour, must be present to take down every word. In addition, a per-page rate typically is charged to have the document transcribed. For example, the five depositions in this case ranged in price from about $447 to more than $1,000. As an alternative to county reimbursement, Leflers motion requests the court release a portion of the $10,000 bond paid last summer to release Urbanovsky from Douglas County Jail. If thats allowed, the bill for the depositions would be withdrawn from the bond money thats held by the court. Douglas County Attorney Don Kleine, who announced the three felony counts last June, said the request is a little unusual for someone who has enough money to hire their own attorney. Normally, he told The World-Herald, if someone has enough money to hire their own lawyer, they would pay for their own costs experts, investigators, depositions. Lefler said he has filed similar motions in state court for other clients. A hearing to decide the issue has been scheduled for 10 a.m. Monday before District Court Judge Leigh Ann Retelsdorf. The three felony charges stem from allegations that Urbanovsky swindled three employees out of more than $141,000, cajoling them to use their personal credit cards to cover company expenses. An October trial date has been set. Separately, Urbanovsky faces 25 federal charges, including 16 counts of wire fraud and nine counts of money laundering. She has pleaded not guilty to those charges. No trial date for them has been set. Lefler said he planned to file the same type of request in federal court. Federal investigators allege that Urbanovsky was the mastermind behind a Ponzi-like scheme that lasted from about May 2014 through March 2015. During that time, her company, Creative Creations, sold vouchers for travel on Southwest Airlines purportedly valid for travel anywhere in the United States. Southwest was not involved in voucher sales. Purchasers were told that they had to book their flights through Creative Creations online portal. Some customers were able to successfully book travel through late March 2015, but other would-be travelers discovered their vouchers were worthless and came away empty-handed. The alleged fraud came to light last spring after the Better Business Bureau in Omaha began receiving complaints about Creative Creations. Since then, nearly 1,600 complaints from throughout the United States have been filed with the BBB. Alleged losses associated with those complaints total more than $1.3 million. Meanwhile, Square Inc., the San Francisco payment-processing company that ran more than $7 million in payments for Creative Creations, has said it is out more than $4.7 million. Urbanovsky has been out on bail from the Douglas County Jail since July. Lefler has said Urbanovsky is innocent and has repeatedly described her as an unsophisticated business owner whose inexperience tripped her up. Contact the writer: 402-444-1142, janice.podsada@owh.com The worlds biggest oil companies, set to report their worst quarterly earnings in more than a decade, are finding that their cost-cutting efforts havent matched the decline in crude prices over the past two years. While producers have been deferring projects, eliminating jobs and freezing salaries, the process will take three years to complete, according to Barclays oil sector analyst Lydia Rainforth. In the meantime, profits are being hammered. A lot of work still needs to be done on costs, she said. Its a reflection of how much costs had piled up and how long a process this is. For producers from Royal Dutch Shell to Chevron, reeling under the threat of credit-rating downgrades, slashing costs is the surest way of protecting balance sheets. Still, reversing course is proving painful after $100 oil persuaded companies to pump money into expensive areas in search of new deposits, hire more people and rent rigs and services at record rates. Productivity suffered. Shell, Europes biggest oil company, had operating costs of $14.70 a barrel last year when Brent crude averaged $53.60, Barclays said last month. Thats more than double the $6-a-barrel cost in 2005, the last time oil averaged in the $50s, according to the report. BPs operating expense was $10.40 last year, compared with $3.60 in 2005, according to Barclays. The operating costs dont include capital spending, taxes and royalties paid by producers. After rising every year from 2010 to 2014, Shells costs fell 15 percent last year, according to Barclays. BPs dropped 19 percent. Thats not been enough to counter the rout in oil prices. BP, when it reports first-quarter results Tuesday, is expected to post an adjusted loss for the first time since the Gulf of Mexico oil spill in 2010, according to analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Shell, reporting on May 4, is likely to post its weakest adjusted profit in more than a decade. Exxon Mobil Corp., the worlds biggest oil company, will report the lowest quarterly profit in more than two decades on Friday, according to analysts estimates. Chevron is estimated to report a second consecutive loss the same day. Total SAs first-quarter adjusted net income is predicted to be the lowest since 2001. The size of the task facing oil CEOs can be seen at BP: Although the British producer was one of the first to prepare for the downturn, it still took BP most of 2014 and 2015 to identify where costs could be cut, and full implementation took place only this year, Rainforth said. BP said in February that it had reduced annual cash costs by $3.4 billion compared with 2014 and expected them to be about $7 billion lower in 2017. A BP spokesman declined to comment further. Shell plans to reduce operating expenditure by $3 billion in 2016 after cutting it by $4 billion last year. The company declined to comment beyond reiterating that it has options to further reduce spending. Exxon and Chevron declined to comment. Total is targeting spending on operating its exploration and production business of $6.50 a barrel of oil equivalent this year, after cutting that to $7.40 last year from $9.90 in 2014, according to a company presentation in February. Total CEO Patrick Pouyanne said recently that cutting costs would allow the firm to fully fund its dividend from cash flow at an oil price of $60 a barrel. Companies are doing whatever it takes. Total is reducing the speed of its service boats in Angola to save gasoline, renegotiating maintenance contracts in Congo, using fewer transportation vessels in Brunei and avoiding a storage tank in Indonesia to save the French company about $5 million, Chief Financial Officer Patrick de la Chevardiere told analysts in July last year. Police laying honey traps in Karnataka could be a state wide racket Bengaluru oi-Vicky Bengaluru, Apr 23: The CCB, Bengaluru recently busted a racket involving three police personnel who were involved in laying honey traps and allegedly blackmailing people. Sources say that this is not a racket restricted to Bengaluru alone, but similar incidents have taken place in various other parts of the state. [Policing the police in Bengaluru- Cops running honey trap racket busted] In most of the cases it has been found that a few constables get together and undertake an extortion racket. Similar cases were found in other parts of the state and police officials are on the look out for such gangs in Mandya and Mysore as well. Gang involved in 8 cases Three constables and two ladies had been arrested by the police for running an extortion racket. All the three constables used to honey trap people and then blackmail them. The lady deployed by them would call up businessmen or realtors and invite them over to the apartment where a camera would be hidden. The three constables then posing as officers of the City Crime Branch would raid the apartment and catch them in a compromising position. Later they would tell the person that they would file cases and also leak the video if they did not cough up money. The lady Yasmeen would invite these unsuspecting persons to her apartment at Kodigehalli. the investigations have shown that they had trapped realtors, government officials and also businessmen. The CCB which is probing the case has so far found 8 more incidents in which the same gang was involved. Investigations have also found that these persons would extort anything between Rs 1.5 to Rs 2 lakh. More such gangs Police officials say that there are more such gangs in operation in different parts of the state. It may be recalled that recently a gang from KG Nagar involving a police constable was caught after a cardiologist whom they had honey trapped decided to lodge a complaint against them. Sources say that in most of the cases it has been found that the constable has at some point in time been associated with high profile wings in the police department. They have gathered information and use it to further this racket. The police say that such gangs can be busted if people come forward and give a complaint. In the cases where a complaint has been lodged, it has been found that the complainant had a friend in the police department. Normally many do not come forward to give a complaint fearing embarrassment. OneIndia News Karnataka to strengthen ATS and up the number of prisons A split Bengaluru would see a better management, feels Karnataka CM Bengaluru oi-Shubham Bengaluru, April 23: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah feels splitting Bengaluru into two would see a better management since the city is big, a Times of India report said. "Bengaluru is a large city and it would have been better managed if it was divided into two. However, this is only my opinion," the Toi report quoted the CM as saying. Some quarters felt Siddaramaiah's words revived chances of the restructuring of the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), the city's civic body, an idea which failed to go through following a strong resistance. Speaking at the Kempegowda award ceremony on Friday at the BBMP headquarters where he said this, Siddaramaiah emphasised on the problems that are plaguing Bengaluru and lauded Kempegowda, the city's founder, for his farsightedness, the report added. Siddaramaiah said Kempegowda was able to foresee Bengaluru's needs and created several artificial lakes that still serve as its water sources. The chief minister also stressed the IT hub's traditional rainwater harvesting and appealed to the city's residents to practise it, saying it would help the city fight its water crisis. One-fifty prominent members from various fields like education, medicine, media, social service, arts, culture and films were conferred the Kempegowda award. Oneindia News Prashant Kishor claims Nitish Kumar in touch with BJP says don't be surprised if he joins hands with it again WB polls: Phase 4 will be make-or-break for BJP; TMC will pray for saffron party Feature oi-Shubham By Shubham The fourth phase of the West Bengal Assembly election scheduled on Monday (April 25) is the most vital one for the BJP, which is otherwise a fringe player in the state's politics. Assembly Polls 2016 Coverage; List of 49 seats going to polls on April 25 If the saffron party has to make any impact in the eastern state in this election, this phase is its chance. In fact, this phase is also crucial for the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) for if the BJP succeeds in maintaining its vote-share which it had bagged in the 2014 Lok Sabha election in the seats going to polls on April 25, then the former is likely to have an advantage. As per the results of the 2014 general election, the TMC is ahead in 43 of these 49 seats while the BJP and Left-Congress alliance are ahead in three seats each. [4 reasons why BJP will not want Mamata to lose this election] If BJP fails to maintain its vote-share of 2014, then the TMC has a worry But if the BJP fails to hold its impressive vote-share of 2014 which is 17 per cent and the Left-Congress alliance makes dent into it, then the TMC will have worry. Mamata Banerjee's party had won 43 of these 49 seats in 2011 and this laid the foundation for her overwhelming victory that year. In 2014, the BJP snatched one seat from the Left to open its account in the Assembly. The Left now has three and the Congress two seats. [BJP leaders' anti-Mamata speeches are tiring; what's its vision for the state?] BJP's 2014 show in North 24-Parganas was impressive... In North 24-Parganas district, the TMC had won 28 of the 33 seats in this district in 2011 with 51.46 per cent vote-share. In 2014, the BJP had over 17 per cent vote-share in 25 assembly segments in this district and even 28 per cent in seven of these seats. [What if Mamata loses this election?] These seven seats are Habra (30.2%), Bhatpara (37%), Rajarhat-Gopalpur (28%), Bidhannagar and Basirhat South (38%), Barrackpore (29%) and Barasat (28%). [Top 10 contests of April 25 polls] ...and so was in Howrah In Howrah district, the BJP got more than 17 per cent vote share in nine of the 16 seats. In another four seats, it was between 10-17 per cent. The saffron party's vote-share in Howrah North where actor-politician Roopa Ganguly is contesting was as high as 33 per cent. Will those votes that went to BJP as a disapproval of Mamata's rule in 2014 stay with the saffron party? This means all eyes will be on those votes that went to the BJP as a disapproval of the Mamata Banerjee regime and distrust on the Left and Congress. If those votes go to the Left-Congress camp in this election since there is no Narendra Modi wave now, then it is a big worry for the TMC. On the other hand, if those votes persist with the BJP owing to the facts that the saffron party has a natural support base in the urban areas and not many are still feeling convinced with the Left-Congress as an alternative, then the TMC will be on a stronger wicket. Left will also hope that those votes return to them For the Left-Congress alliance, too, this phase is crucial for if it can not make a dent into the BJP's 2014 vote-share and the TMC benefits from the division of the votes against it, then all the efforts to dethrone Mamata Banerjee will remain a dream. We will get to know how things turn out on May 19. Visa for Ughyur separatist: Point proven to China, but can India avoid detention Feature oi-Vicky By Vicky It could be termed as a tit for tat action. You block a ban on our terrorist, we allow yours into our country. India has permitted a group of Uyghur separatist leaders to meet with the Dalai Lama at Dharmashala and this has irked China no end. China has contended that Dolkun Isa is a terrorist who has a Interpol red corner alert issued against him. Isa and three others are scheduled to visit India from April 28 onwards. While India has granted electronic visas to the four member delegation there is yet an assurance to be given to Isa that he will not be detained or arrested on arrival. Isa says that he will visit India only once the assurance is given. Tit for tat The move by India appears to be a message to China which recently blocked a move in the UN to ban Maulana Masood Azhar, the chief of the Jaish-e-Mohammad. China not only blocked the ban on the insistence of Pakistan, but even lectured India on being good neighbours. India has raised this point with China and expressed displeasure. However China seemed to be stuck on its point. The move by India to grant visas to the Uyghur delegation and especially Isa has irked China no end. China says that Isa the chairman of the executive committee of the World Uyghur Congress has been recognised by the UN as a terrorist organisation. He is also accused of bombings in the 1990s at Xinjiang and Toksu. He fled China and obtained a German citizenship. There is also a red corner alert issued against him. Will India detain him? Top officials in New Delhi have not made anything clear about his detention. The permission has been granted for the delegation to visit India. Isa however says that there is no assurance given to him on whether he would be detained or not. India is a member of the Interpol and will have to detain him if he arrives in India. An assurance can be given that he would not be detained, but the Interpol norms demand that anyone who has a red corner alert issued against him need to be detained by a member country. There is also an extradition clause. Although India has proven a point to China, the issue would be dealt with care. If India decides not to detain and extradite Isa, it could have a bearing on the cases relating to India. India has several times managed to extradite people from other countries with the help of the Interpol. The spokesperson for the Ministry for External Affairs, Vikas Swarup has said that the facts are being ascertained. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Saturday, April 23, 2016, 9:20 [IST] Admiral Dhowan stresses on indigenisation of naval systems India oi-Oneindia By OneIndia Defence Bureau New Delhi, April 23: Swearing by NDA government's Make in India mandate, Navy Chief Admiral R K Dhowan on Saturday stressed that indigenisation of various systems would remain as the main focus. Speaking on the concluding day of the bi-annual Naval Commanders' Conference, Admiral Dhowan touched upon on myriad issues including enhancing the operational readiness of the Commands, infrastructure development, human resource management, coastal security, cyber security and foreign cooperation initiatives. He wanted Navy to continue with its push to indigenize various platforms, weapons, sensors and equipment, through DRDO, public and private sectors. Navy had recently conducted a joint seminar with FICCI on the subject: 'The Make in India Paradigm - Roadmap for a Future Ready Naval Force.' He asked the Commanders to prepare the Navy to meet the future maritime security challenges before the country. "We must continue to pull on the oars together, to propel the navy forward, and contribute to a strong and prosperous maritime nation," the Navy Chief said. Expressing confidence that the Navy would continue to grow, Admiral Dhowan emphasized that operational effectiveness and readiness should be the touchstone of all the efforts. "The Chief revisited the thrust areas as also the importance of the C3I model - i.e. Commitment, Compassion, Credibility and Integrity - to keep focus on defined goals and maintain the Navy on the correct track. He was very satisfied with the progress made over the last two years and complimented the rank and file of the Indian Navy for successfully overcoming several challenges and navigating steadily through the way points which were set," says a spokesperson. Navy says among the focus areas discussed during the conference were aspects pertaining to training, skill development and welfare of retiring personnel. The Chief termed the granting of Permanent Commission to women officers as a major milestone in the Indian Navy's history. The progress of airfield infrastructure, security of naval air stations, dockyards and naval establishments were also reviewed. In addition metrological and oceanographic initiatives being undertaken in support of naval operations were also discussed. "He also reviewed the improvements being made to the logistics delivery chain and the implementation of e-procurement in the Indian Navy. He emphasized the need for constant review and refinement of the Navy's logistics support structures to ensure that its combat units and formations receive quality logistics support while maintaining a high operational tempo," says the spokesperson. OneIndia News Vaishali Takkar suicide: Her e-gadgets to be probed; hunt for the harasser is on Man beats up traffic cop when questioned about tinted glass in his car Air India additional flights to Indore for Ujjain Simhastha India oi-PTI New Delhi, Apr 23: National carrier Air India has started additional flights to Indore from Delhi to cater to the extra rush during the month-long Simhastha (Kumbh), which began in Ujjain on Friday. Air India started operating additional flights on its Delhi-Indore-Delhi sector from April 22 with an A321 aircraft to cater to the demands of tourists, pilgrims and visitors to Ujjain Simhastha, a release said here. Air India already operates a daily direct service on this sector. Simhastha is one of the four legs of the Kumbh Mela, each taking place by rotation every 12 years. Over five crore pilgrims are expected to visit Ujjain and other holy places during the fair. PTI Prashant Kishor claims Nitish Kumar in touch with BJP says don't be surprised if he joins hands with it again BJP mocks Nitish Kumar for 'Sangh-Mukt Bharat' call India oi-PTI Kolkata, Apr 23: BJP today mocked Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar for appealing to non-BJP parties to make a 'Sangh-mukt Bharat', saying the JD(U) national president was "daydreaming". "Nitish Kumar has no credibility to call for a Sangh-Mukt Bharat (India free from BJP and RSS), as he himself was BJP Yukt (connected with BJP) for several years," BJP national spokesman Syed Shahnawaz Hussain said. Sharpening his attack on Kumar, Hussain, who was here to campaign for BJP candidates, described the statement as "a desperate bid to bring himself (Kumar) into limelight despite being a regional party leader." (Nitish Kumar formally takes over as JD-U president) "Nitish Kumar's JD(U) is a regional party that has never contested in all the seats even in Bihar ... He is dreaming of playing a key role in national politics, which will never be realised," he said. PTI Here is why missing papers hold the key in Ishrat Jahan case India oi-Vicky By Vicky New Delhi, April 23: The one man panel probing the the mystery behind the missing papers relating to the Ishrat Jahan case has been told to speed up the process. The issue is likely to crop up in Parliament and will see an ugly war of words between the Congress and the BJP. Has the Congress really stood up for Ishrat Jahan? The Congress has been accused by the BJP of changing the course of the case in a bid to target Narendra Modi who was at that time the Chief Minister of Gujarat. The missing papers are extremely crucial for the BJP as they are likely to indicate the changed course of action. The BJP has said that the Congress deliberately changed the narrative in the Ishrat Jahan case, but the the latter has denied the allegation. Investigations on: The one man panel comprising B K Prasad, the additional secretary in the home ministry has been speaking to various officials to find out about the missing papers. So far many officials have claimed ignorance and told him that they do not recollect any such papers. The panel is now sending out letters to several officials for information about the papers. A lot would depend on the answers of these officials as it would help locate the missing papers or at least tell whether the narrative was changed. The Congress has maintained that there was no change in the narrative and the affidavits were filed based on the facts that came up before them. Changed narrative: The BJP says that the Congress changed its narrative in the case. The Congress continued to brand Ishrat Jahan a terrorist indirectly through the affidavits it had filed in court. When a magistrate report in Gujarat had termed the encounter as fake, Ishrat Jahan's mother had moved the High Court seeking an inquiry into the matter. The Congress filed an affidavit in the High Court opposing the plea made by Ishrat's mother. The affidavit had quoted newspaper reports referring to a magazine published by the Lashkar-e-Tayiba. According to the Ghaza Times, a mouth piece of the Lashkar-e-Tayiba Ishrat was a member of the outfit. This was quoted in the affidavit in 2009 when the Congress was in power. These initial affidavits that were filed by the Congress never once said in clear terms whether Ishrat was a terrorist or not. The affidavits continued to quote the Ghazwa Times article and not intelligence inputs. All the Congress had indicated was that they were giving her the benefit of the doubt. It was only later that the Congress began taking a more aggressive stand on the issue. However there were still many loop holes in the argument. There was absolutely no clarity on what Ishrat was doing with the rest of the persons at the time of the encounter. At no point in time did any of the investigating agencies including the CBI state that the rest were innocent. The former Home Secretary G K Pillai made a startling claim in which he stated that it was the insistence of the then home minister, P Chidambaram that the affidavits were changed. Chidambaram had said that it was a collective decision. The BJP says that the Ishrat issue had become big for the Congress as they wanted to keep the then Chief Minister of Gujarat, Narendra Modi down. OneIndia News For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Saturday, April 23, 2016, 10:05 [IST] Embassy blast: Role of Jaish-ul-Hind under scanner, but it could be a false flag Bengaluru: Two workers from Bihar killed, three injured after boiler blast at food factory in Magadi road If you thought Samjautha blast case was confusing, check out Malegaon 1 and 2 India oi-Vicky By Vicky April 23: If you thought that the investigations into the Samjautha Express blasts case were confusing, then one must go through the case files in the Malegaon 1 and 2 cases. Samjhauta blasts: Which confession do we believe? In the Malegaon 1 case the probe by the Maharashtra ATS and the CBI had named Noorul Huda and 12 others as accused. Once the NIA took over the accused named were Manohar Nawaria and three others. In the Malegaon 2 case there was a similar turn of events. In this case investigated by the National Investigation Agency, Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur has been named as accused 1, Lt Colonel Purohit as accused 9. In all there are 14 accused in the case. The Malegaon 1 case relates to the explosion of four bombs on September 8 2006 which resulted in the death of 31 people. The Malegaon 2 cases relates to a blast that occurred on September 29 2008 in which 4 persons had died. Malegaon 1 has two sets of accused: The Malegaon 1 case has two sets of accused persons. One of the accused Shabbir Ahmed died while 7 are absconding. ATS Maharashtra filed Charge sheet against 9 accused persons on 21-12-2006 and CBI also filed the supplementary charge-sheet on 11.02.2010 against the same accused persons. NIA filed Supplementary Charge-sheet against 4 accused persons on 22.05.2013. Case is under trial at NIA Special Court, Mumbai and charges are yet to be framed. The question before the court is which set of accused were really behind the blasts. The Malegaon 2 case: In the Malegaon 2 case there are totally 14 accused named. The likes of Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, Colonel Purohit are among the accused in the case. There are four persons out on bail in this case while two are absconding. This case has generated a lot of interest and there are talks that some portions of the investigation may be revisited. Officials say that only if fresh facts crop up will the case be revisited and presented before the court. The Maharashtra ATS had filed a chargesheet and a supplementary chargesheet in 2009 and 2011. The case was later handed over to the NIA which is investigating the matter. OneIndia News For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Saturday, April 23, 2016, 9:43 [IST] Maha govt cracks whip on industries polluting water bodies India oi-PTI Mumbai, Apr 23: Taking cognisance of commercial users, specially distilleries in Aurangabad, polluting water bodies, Maharashtra government has cracked the whip on such units by making penalties more stringent. A Government Resolution (GR) issued by Water Resources department here today stated that henceforth, industries and those consuming water if found polluting nearby water bodies by discharging untreated effluents will have to pay double the fine and face disconnection of water supply. "The guilty will have to pay double the fines if it is found that they have released waste water, which is not as per the prescribed norms laid down by Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB)," it stated. The Aurangabad bench of Bombay High Court on June 30, 2015, had served notices to Ms Radico NV Distilleries, Aurangabad and others for releasing untreated waste in nearby farms, wells and open spaces. A local farmer Vithhal Thube, who has agricultural farm land at Shendra MIDC in Aurangabad, had lodged a complaint this year in May that hazardous waste was being released by a distillery company killing 25 trees and rendering his agricultural field infertile. The MPCB too had served notice to Ms Radico NV Distilleries asking it to stop production and for violating the provisions of Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974. Govt mulling scheme for Dalit-majority villages facing water crisis The company had, however, denied the charges. Industries minister Subhash Desai admitted that some industries are now resorting to digging trenches inside their industrial premises and dumping untreated waste. "This waste later seeps into the ground and then pollutes lake, wells and ponds," he said. The GR stated as per the "principle of the one who pollutes will pay", those found guilty of discharging untreated waste water not confiding to the MPCB norms shall have to pay double the prescribed fine. The GR applies to non-agricultural industrial and commercial water consumers who are direct consumers of the Water Resources department. "If the MPCB has ordered for disconnection of the water supply to such a consumer then Water Resource department shall discontinue the water supply. The department will restore the connection only after the consumer pays the fine and following the orders of the MPCB to that effect," the GR stated. PTI Not just future of Sena but democracy at stake, says Uddhav Mumbai: Gathering of 5 or more, loud speakers, illegal processions banned for a fortnight from Nov 1 Amitabh Bachchan reveals he had to get stitches after he cut a vein on his leg When Suresh Prabhu travelled in Mumbai local, heard passengers' grievances India oi-Mukul New Delhi, April 23: Railways Minister Suresh Prabhu who is known for his 'out of box' approach to improve Railway facilities, took everyone by surprise by commuting in a local train on Thursday. Reportedly, Prabhu boarded Mumbai local at Currey Road station and travelled all the way till Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST) station. Railways Minister was present at Currey Road station for a stone laying ceremony for new foot over bridge (FOB). Media reports say that Prabhu who was on unplanned visit in Mumbai local, interacted with several fellow passengers and heard their grievances. Apparently, he wanted to have first hand experience of travelling in local train and wanted to check what people actually think about available Railway facilities. To his disappointment, fellow passengers showered him with series of complaints. From poor condition of the railway station premises to filthy urinals and toilets, Prabhu received all types of complaints from commuters. It is being said that some passengers also offered him seat but he politely refused and kept standing till he deboarded train at CST. One passengers even invited him to marriage ceremony and requested the Minister to grace the occasion. After deboarding train at CST, Prabhu went to State Secretariat where he along with Chief Minister of Maharashtra Devendra Fadnavis, briefed media about upcoming rail projects in the state. Railway Minister later announced that his ministry has chalked out a plan to invest Rs 40,000 crore in different projects in Mumbai . "I belong to this city. And not only me but all my colleagues know what needs to be done so ample attention would also be given to Mumbai", Minister said. OneIndia News Sikh community is strong link in India's relations with other countries: PM Modi Who was Banda Singh Bahadur? Remembering the first Sikh ruler on his death anniversary Kabul attack: India to grant e-visas to over 100 Sikhs, Hindus Indian Sikh man separated from his family during Partition meets his Pakistani Muslim sister in Kartarpur Sikh protesters stall screening of 'Santa Banta' film India oi-PTI Meerut, Apr 22: Members of the Sikh community today staged a protest here against actors Boman Irani and Vir Das- starrer 'Santa Banta' and burnt posters of the movie, alleging it "insulted" their religion. The protesters, under the banner of Gurdwara Sri Guru Singh Sabha (GSGSS), protested in front of PVS Mall in Shastri Nagar, prompting the theatre's staff to cancel the screening of the film. They also submitted a memorandum to the District Collector in this regard. PTI Stop making 'jumlas', start working: Kanhaiya Kumar to PM Modi India oi-IANS By Ians English Mumbai, April 23: JNU student leader Kanhaiya Kumar on Saturday launched a scathing attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and demanded that the government stop "jumlas" (false promises) and start "working" as public patience was wearing out. Addressing a huge students' rally in Tilak Nagar area, Kanhaiya Kumar said people don't want false promises or 'jumlas' in the name of 'Stand Up India', 'Make in India', 'Skill India' or communal-casteist politics, but need education, jobs and development. "Ours is a politics of social justice, helping the masses of the country. The students and workers of the country are getting united. That's why the Modi government is so scared," said the president of the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students' Union (JNUSU), as the audience cheered and applauded. In his trademark fiery speech, he demanded a complete end to caste-communal politics inspired by the RSS and said the students' struggle was not to grab votes, but to save democracy, ensure social justice and empowerment of the people. "Our fight is not against any particular caste or religion, but opposed to the entire caste system. Even animals are being divided on communal lines. You stop your communal-caste politics, we shall end our agitation," he said. "We don't need political parties, but a public revolution. For how long will the sufferings of the masses continue? The sun will rise," Kanhaiya Kumar said expressing hope for better days. "I have full respect for the PM. He has travelled around the whole world, but has no time to visit Marathwada. Can he bear the scorching heat of Marathwada? This government is not serious about drought or the plight of farmers, but more concerned about IPL," he said. Calling upon the government to improve its functioning, the JNUSU leader warned that if the youth don't get jobs, the public will not give a second chance to the BJP. "This is the era of OLX (buying-selling website), do something soon, or people will pack you off." Referring to the government's plans to launch bullet trains, he said it was free to do so, but simultaneously should improve the inhuman conditions of millions of commuters in Mumbai's suburban trains. "Modi said his mother was a domestic worker. If that is so, then the government must provide free education to children of domestic workers and all other poor people in the country. "Expenditure on education is not an expense, but an investment for the future," he said. Earlier on Saturday afternoon, Kanhaiya Kumar arrived to a grand welcome by representatives and supporters of around a dozen Leftist, student and youth groups for an educational conclave during his first visit to Mumbai. He visited and paid homage at Chaityabhoomi in Dadar, the place where the chief architect of India's Constitution BR Ambedkar was cremated. Kanhaiya Kumar is scheduled to visit Pune on Sunday and meet students of the Film and Television Institute of India who had gone on a 139-day strike last year. IANS What does the US actually want in Syria? Kerry: US won't block foreign business deals under nuke deal International oi-PTI New York, Apr 23: The Obama administration is trying to address Iranian complaints that US financial regulations are denying Iran the sanctions relief it deserves under last year's landmark nuclear deal. Meeting with Iran's foreign minister yesterday, Secretary of State John Kerry said the United States would not stand in the way of foreign banks or firms doing business with Iranian companies that are no longer subject to US sanctions. Kerry also said the administration was willing to further clarify what transactions are now permitted with Iran and urged foreign financial institutions to seek answers from US officials if they have questions. They should not assume, he said, that was once prohibited is still prohibited. Nor, he added, should they assume that transactions with Iran that remain illegal for US companies are illegal for foreign firms. Kerry's remarks, which came at the start of his second meeting this week with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, were an attempt to resolve confusion about what is permitted under the nuclear deal in which Iran agreed to curb its atomic program in exchange for billions in sanctions relief. Iran, as well as foreign banks and governments, have been clamoring for clarity, but it was not clear that Kerry's remarks would provide it. "The United States is not standing in the way and will not stand in the way of business that is permitted with Iran since the (nuclear deal) took effect," Kerry said, reading carefully from a prepared text. John Kerry greets Bengalis on their new year "We've lifted our nuclear-related sanctions as we committed to do and there are now opportunities for foreign banks to do business with Iran. Unfortunately, there seems to be some confusion among foreign banks and we want to try to clarify that as much as we can." The areas needing clarification, he said, include access to funds and financing for foreign firms to do business with Iran along with Iran's access to its own money, which had been frozen abroad under the nuclear sanctions. Access to all of these is permitted, Kerry said. "We have no objection (to) foreign banks engaging with Iranian banks and companies, obviously as long as those banks and companies are not on our sanctions list for non-nuclear reasons," he said. Kerry, however, stressed that the confusion and remaining US sanctions on Iran imposed for its ballistic missile tests, human rights abuses and support for terrorism are not the only reasons for foreign reluctance to do business with Iran. He cited the fragility and questionable integrity of Iran's banking system as well as other behavior that gives business executives pause about jumping into the Iranian market. AP US: One killed, 8 injured in shooting at Cincinnati nightclub in Ohio Ohio: 8 members of family killed International oi-Shubham Ohio, April 23: Eight members of a family were found dead in a rural community in southern Ohio on Friday. Authorities said the deceased were shot in the head in an "execution style".Officials were searching for the killer(s), said Pike County Sheriff Charles Reader, a CNN report said. He said it was not yet known whether any other members of the community are under threat. Investigating officers found seven adults and a teenager dead at four crime spots. Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine informed, the report added. The dead included a mother with her four-year-old child lying by her side. The child, along with a six-month and three-year-old, survived the homicide, it was said. Oneindia News Bangladesh: At least 69 dead in fire in apartment used as chemical warehouse in Dhaka Professor hacked to death near his home in Bangladesh International oi-PTI Dhaka, Apr 23: A professor was hacked to death by unidentified attackers near his home in northwest Bangladesh this morning, the latest in a series of brutal attacks on intellectuals and activists in the Muslim majority country. Rajshahi University professor AFM Rezaul Karim Siddiquee, 58, was murdered within 50 metres of his residence in the country's northwestern city of Rajshahi, police said. Unidentified miscreants hacked the English professor with sharp weapons and left him to die at the Battala Crossing in Salbagan area around 7.30 AM, police officer Shahdat Hossain was quoted as saying by the Bdnews24.com. He taught English at the university. The motive behind the murder is not immediately known. Two years ago, another Rajshahi University teacher AKM Shafiul Islam was similarly murdered. Though his murder was initially claimed by Islamist radicals, police later ruled out that possibility. Police said he was murdered as a sequel to personal rivalry. But some years ago, two more professors of the Rajshahi University had been killed. There have been systematic assaults in Bangladesh over the past six months specially targeting minorities, secular bloggers and foreigners. Last year, four prominent secular bloggers were killed with machetes, one inside his own home. PTI 2008-2022 One News Page Ltd. All rights reserved. One News is a registered trademark of One News Page Ltd. Jerusalem Post 20 Oct 2022 The announcement of the visit and the submarine's location was noted as unusual by analysts. Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of 148,460 square kilometres (57,320 sq mi). Bangladesh is among the most densely populated countries in the world, and shares land borders with India to the west, north, and east, and Myanmar to the southeast; to the south it has a coastline along the Bay of Bengal. It is narrowly separated from Bhutan and Nepal by the Siliguri Corridor; and from China by the Indian state of Sikkim in the north. Dhaka, the capital and largest city, is the nation's political, financial and cultural center. Chittagong, the second-largest city, is the busiest port on the Bay of Bengal. The official language is Bengali, one of the easternmost branches of the Indo-European language family. Daily Star 22 Oct 2022 Daily Star Sport takes a look at the ten biggest football stadiums in the world, including entrants from as far afield as North.. OK! Magazine 05 Apr 2022 Insiders at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue say the VP and the First Lady are at odds once again. NPR 06 Sep 2022 NPR's Rachel Martin talks to reporter Mickey Djuric of the Canadian Press, about a series of stabbings in the Canadian province of.. Walmart Inc. is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets, discount department stores, and grocery stores from the United States, headquartered in Bentonville, Arkansas. The company was founded by Sam Walton in nearby Rogers, Arkansas in 1962 and incorporated under Delaware General Corporation Law on October 31, 1969. It also owns and operates Sam's Club retail warehouses. Will Skill-Based Slot Machines Make Their Way to US Casinos? Published April 23, 2016 by Elana K Gambling regulators across the United States are debating whether to allow land-based casinos to offer a new kind of slot machine - "skill-based" slots, a kind of slot that is similar to video and arcade games. Gambling regulators across the United States are debating whether to allow land-based casinos to offer a new kind of slot machine - "skill-based" slots, a slot that is similar to video and arcade games. While classic slot machines are based solely on luck, these new, skill-based slot machines would involve a degree of skill. Unlike video and arcade games, however, these new slot machines would pay out to winners. The idea behind this new initiative is to appeal to millennials, who tend to view classic slot machines as old-fashioned. In Massachusetts, the state Gaming Commission has already released a draft of new regulations that would allow skill-based slot games in its land-based casinos. Massachusetts three licensed casinos are currently reviewing it. Opposition Naysayers claim that these new slot machines might end up being more addictive than classic slots, because they combine two things that are known to be addictive: gambling and playing video/arcade games. Christopher Moyer, spokesman for the American Gaming Association, says theres no evidence to suggest such games would be more addictive than current machines. What kinds of skill-based slot machines are there? Manufacturers have already begun developing skill-based slot games, modeled on video and arcade games such as Pac Man, Space Invaders, Guitar Hero, Angry Birds and Words with Friends. Of course, none of these games will be allowed to enter US casinos unless the states pass new legislation. What does this mean for online casinos? Its difficult to discuss anything in the land-based casino industry without considering how it will affect the online gambling market, a multi-billion dollar industry that grows with each passing year. If skill-based slot machines are eventually allowed in United States casinos, it is only a matter of time before online casinos add them to their lists of offerings. US-accepting online casinos such as Vegas Casino Online, Rich Casino and Casino Classic will undoubtedly be at the forefront of this new slot machine trend. An Indian politician identified as Neetu Shuttern Wala, broke down in tears on camera after getting 5 votes even though he has 9 family members who are eligible voters. The Independent politician from Punjab who contested in the general election, broke down in tears while being interviewed as he expressed disappointment in getting 5 votes even though he has 9 family members. The clip from the interview went viral, with some calling it the biggest election story of the day. The reporter asked him why he had received only five votes, to which he replied: Sir, there are nine votes in my family, but I received only five. When asked if even his family hadnt voted for him, he replied: No sir, they have been dishonest. Reporter: What did you think while you were campaigning? Do you think there has been some mistake? From the nine votes at home you have got only five. Wala: There has been dishonesty, the machines were tampered with. People swore that they had voted for me. Reporter: What do you think? Anything you would like to say? Wala: I wont contest the election again. If the outcome is like this, what is the point? I fought the election with a lot of difficulty. Reporter: You are going to give up so easily? Wala: Sir what can I sayI have received only five votes. Reporter: You are saying there were nine votes from your family, but your family didnt support you. So what can you expect from others? Wala: Nothing. Those who went to vote are thieves. The ink is applied to make sure a person doesnt vote more than once, so these people are like thieves. I dont know what they did. I wont fight elections again. I contested with a lot of difficulty but in vain. Watch the video below: Pandemonium as Clash between rival secondary school cult gang led to students jumping from top floors. Reported to be a school in Port Harcourt Rivers State. Location of the incident can not be verified but hopefully the school can be identified and authorities intervene. pic.twitter.com/IAAFV3MbtM A Nigerian man identified as Emmanuel Ozegbe has been given the disgrace of a lifetime after he was caught red-handed sleeping with his step-daughter in Delta State. After being caught, Ozegbe confessed to a journalist, Sapele Oghenek, that he has been secretly sleeping with the step-daughter for the past 8 years and has been threatening to kill her with juju if she tells anyone. It was revealed that the man started sleeping with the girl when she was 8 years and now shes 16, he didnt stop until he was caught. He was exposed after he asked the girl to come to the usual guest house where he normally sleeps with her without knowing that the girl had contacted human rights team. They waited patiently before swooping in on him after he had removed his cloth for action. Where to go? Where to go? Is there no place for me? Where to go? Where to go? By land or by sea? From the land of my birth, to the ends of the earth, Where to go? Where to go? Because, there is no land for me. This first verse of this Yiddish song from The Holocaust really resonates at the 2016 Passover season. The holiday of Passover celebrates freedom and renewal, which is what those forced from their native countries are seeking. While refugees are indeed always with us, the present crises, wars, and barbarism in the Middle East have vastly accelerated their flow to Europe and beyond. In this second decade of our Brave New Millennium, the handling -- or mishandling -- of the present refugee crisis has become a major international problem, an issue which may even tear apart the European Union. The gravity of this crisis cannot be overstated. Hundreds of thousands of men, women, and particularly children, who merely wish to live their lives in peace, are braving seemingly-endless treks in hostile environments, trips in small leaky boats across the Mediterranean, cold and even hostile reactions from authorities in the nations bordering that sea, followed often by living in tents in refugee camps while being rejected by one European nation after another. That is the situation for those who survive -- for too many others, such temporary safety is never reached. Even here in the nations such as Sweden, which are doing an admirable job of accepting refugees and helping them to build new lives, the strains are taking their toll. Far-right-wing political parties are gaining strength, and their messages rejecting the refugees resonate with more and more people. Nations such as France, which have had recent serious incidents of terrorism, are understandably hesitant to take populations which might conceivably put their safety and security at risk. Meanwhile, the very future of the European Union itself is at stake. One of its founding members, Great Britain, votes in June on the issue of BREXIT -- the proposed British exit from the EU. Strident voices blame far more than just the EU handling of the refugee crisis on the European Union -- issues of international EU control of once-national decisions rankle not only many Brits, but some citizens of other EU nations as well. Unfortunately, the many advantages of the European Union in promoting sound and expanded international trade, free movement of all resources, open borders, and a market of some half billion people, have lost their novelty for some Europeans who have forgotten how matters used to be, when Europe was divided into a host of separate, often ineffective, sometimes unfriendly nations. What is lacking in this present and ongoing refugee crisis is the understanding that this is a worldwide crisis, which can only be resolved through worldwide actions. The United Nations, in particular, has not been notably effective in dealing with the profound issues involved. That lack of action by the UN is particularly ironic, given that the UN itself was created in the face of the major post-World War II refugee crisis, especially the large numbers of displaced persons in war-torn Europe. The early establishment of a UN High Commissioner on Refugees indicates the extreme importance of humane resolution of such refugee problems. In the near future, there will be a new Secretary-General at the United Nations, as the person presently holding that crucial post retires. It is absolutely essential that the new UN Secretary-General, and the memberships of both the Security Council and the General Assembly, become totally focused on resolution of the present refugee crisis as a top United Nations priority. If the millions of displaced persons after World War II could be resettled successfully in many nations of North and South America, and some Far Eastern countries, we can surely do no less today to resolve this humanitarian crisis. In common decency and good conscience -- and for the future of humanity -- the world must meet this challenge now! Now I know where to go -- there is someplace for me! Now I know where to go -- by land, air, or sea; Now I no longer roam, for I have found my home -- Not the land of my birth -- but now I have worth, in my own new country! Reprinted from Eric Margolis Blog Poor President Barack Obama flew to Saudi Arabia this past week but its ruler, King Salman, was too busy to greet him at Riyadh's airport. This snub was seen across the Arab world as a huge insult and violation of traditional desert hospitality. Obama should have refused to deplane and flown home. Alas, he did not. Obama went to kow-tow to the new Saudi monarch and his hot-headed son, Crown Prince Muhammed bin Nayef. They are furious that Obama has refused to attack Iran, Hezbollah in Lebanon, and Syria's Assad regime. They are also angry as hornets that the US may allow relatives of 9/11 victims to sue the Saudi royal family, which is widely suspected of being involved in the attack. Interestingly, survivors of the 34 American sailors killed aboard the USS Liberty when it was attacked by Israeli warplanes in 1967, have been denied any legal recourse. The Saudis, who are also petrified of Iran, threw a fit, threatening to pull $750 billion of investments from the US. Other leaders of the Gulf sheikdoms sided with the Saudis but rather more discreetly. Ignoring the stinging snub he had just suffered, Obama assured the Saudis and Gulf monarchs that the US would defend them against all military threats -- in effect, reasserting their role as western protectorates. So much for promoting democracy. Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states have been de facto US-British-French protectorates since the end of World War II. They sell the western powers oil at rock bottom prices and buy fabulous amounts of arms from these powers in exchange for the west protecting the ruling families. As Libya's late Muammar Kadaffi once told me, "the Saudis and Gulf emirates are very rich families paying the west for protection and living behind high walls." Kadaffi's overthrow and murder was aided by the western powers, notably France, and the oil sheiks. Kadaffi constantly denounced the Saudis and their Gulf neighbors as robbers, traitors to the Arab cause, and puppets of the west. Many Arabs and Iranians agreed with Kadaffi. While Islam commands all Muslims to share their wealth with the needy and aid fellow Muslims in distress, the Saudis spent untold billions in casinos, palaces and European hookers while millions of Muslims starved. The Saudis spent even more billions for western high-tech arms they cannot use. During the dreadful war in Bosnia, 1992-1995, the Saudis, who arrogate to themselves the title of "Defenders of Islam" and its holy places, averted their eyes as hundreds of thousands of Bosnians were massacred, raped, driven from their homes by Serbs, and mosques blown up. The Saudi dynasty has clung to power through lavish social spending and cutting off the heads of dissidents, who are routinely framed with charges of drug dealing. The Saudis have one of the world's worst human rights records. Saudi's royals are afraid of their own military, so keep it feeble and inept, aside from the air force. They rely on the National Guard, a Bedouin tribal forces also known as the White Army. In the past, Pakistan was paid to keep 40,000 troops in Saudi to protect the royal family. These soldiers are long gone, but the Saudis are pressing impoverished Pakistan to return its military contingent. The US-backed and supplied Saudi war against dirt-poor Yemen has shown its military to be incompetent and heedless of civilian casualties. The Saudis run the risk of becoming stuck in a protracted guerilla war in Yemen's wild mountains. The CIA's operations today have basically globalized those of the Ku Klux Klan, the "invisible empire" that once spread terror across America's South. These two entities, separated by more than a century, actually resemble each other closely. The CIA may not burn fiery crosses as the KKK did, but 'The Agency' as the CIA is known, is perpetrating abroad many of the same sort of illegal crimes--- "rendition," (aka kidnapping), torture, and execution---the Klan once inflicted on African-Americans. But where the KKK was a vigilante brotherhood whose members wore white hoods and robes to conceal themselves as they knew they were committing crimes, CIA officials claim their atrocities are legal and reflect America's "highest values." Take voting: Where the KKK after the Civil War terrorized Blacks to keep them from the polls, the CIA today has globalized that crime by working clandestinely to influence the outcome of foreign elections through bribery, vote-buying, and dirty tricks. According to Washington investigative reporter William Blum in his book "Rogue State"(Common Courage Press), the CIA perverted elections in Australia, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Haiti, Indonesia, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Lebanon, Laos, Nepal, Nicaragua, Panama, Portugal, and The Philippines, among others. Add to these horrific acts, the CIA's overthrow of the legal governments of Iran in 1953 and Chile in 1973. Fascist dictators were installed on their new thrones beholden to the U.S., not their own people, whom they murdered in the thousands. Denying the CIA has an atrocious record, Deputy Director David Cohen in a talk April 21, 2016, at New York School of Law, said, "On a daily basis, all around the world, we conduct daring, sometimes dangerous operations. But that does not mean that we operate illegally. Far from it. We are a disciplined espionage agency comprised of officers who operate lawfully. Strong oversight reinforces that discipline and, as I said, makes us better at what we do." On April 22, 2016, the very next day, Senior Judge Justin Quackenbush of the Eastern District of Washington, Spokane, refused to dismiss a lawsuit against two Washington state psychologists "who designed the CIA's harsh interrogation techniques in the war on terror," the Associated Press reported. That's another KKK-CIA similarity: the promiscuous use of violence. The ACLU brought the suit against CIA contracting psychologists James Mitchell and John "Bruce" Jessen on behalf of three former CIA prisoners, one of them tortured to death in CIA custody. In his NYU talk, Cohen said, "we stress that CIA has a responsibility to act at all times in strict adherence to the law and consistent with our Nation's highest values; that every one of us, from the most junior officer to the most senior, is accountable for what we do"" Some of the nation's "highest values" practiced by the CIA on 119 victims, according to the ACLU lawyers, included slamming them into walls, water torture, sleep deprivation, starvation, burying them alive in coffin-like boxes for extended periods, chaining them in painful positions, and freezing them to death. According to ACLUS's staff attorney Dror Ladin, the judge's refusal to dismiss the case, is "a historic win in the fight to hold the people responsible for torture accountable for their despicable and unlawful actions." (And for which the CIA paid them $81-million.) By rejecting a motion to dismiss the civil case, Quackenbush gives the plaintiffs--Tanzanian Suleiman Abdullah Salim, Libyan Mohamed Ahmed Ben Soud, and the family of Afghani Gul Rahman--a chance "to call their torturers to account in court for the first time," said ACLU staff attorney Dror Ladin. Rahman froze to death in CIA custody. Francis Boyle, distinguished professor of international law at the University of Illinois, in Champaign, is outspoken about the CIA's crimes: "The CIA is an organized criminal conspiracy along the lines of the Nazi's SS and Gestapo combined, both of which were terminated after World War II. For the exact same reasons, we Americans must terminate the CIA today and for good." Indeed, President Obama, America's first president of color and a man who might be expected to be first to denounce a KKK-style operation, not emulate it, has the ability to do just that. However, he is believed to be a former CIA employee and has told staffers "What the CIA wants, the CIA gets." Result: American taxpayers are financing CIA ops costing them an estimated $15 billions annually. # (Sherwood Ross is a prize-winning reporter who formerly worked for the Chicago Daily News, The New York Herald-Tribune and several major wire services. He holds a degree in race relations and is a former News Director for a large civil rights organization.) (Image by EgbertoWillies.com) Details DMCA Capitalism as practiced in the United States is misunderstood. Yesterday I had a couple of interesting callers to my Politics Done Right show on Pacifica Network's KPFT 90.1 FM in Houston, Texas. The week previous I admonished drug companies for pilfering poor and middle-class Americans. I pointed out some stats and bad acts. Leo, a caller, did what I asked all my callers to do, he researched the topic to fact check me. Leo was of the belief that the capitalism practiced by drug companies was likely the only way we could get the research and development of the drugs we need. He believes that companies with universal health care are spunging off of the innovation and capital of Americans. I point out the fallacy of that notion. Leo was the first caller yesterday. His numbers that he researched did not match my narrative, or so he thought. I pointed out his numbers were actually correct, but presented in a manner that inferred the benevolence of the drug industry. The next caller, Jerry, was upset with Leo as he believed he was attempting to carry water for the drug companies. Leo also had implied that I was anti-capitalist which opened the door for me to describe in layperson terms the difference between capitalism and free enterprise. They are not the same. Capitalism can exist in democratic or repressive states. Both the United States and China are capitalist countries. Free enterprise can only exist in a democratic state where individuals have choices. The problem in America is that the corporation, the by-product of capitalism, was made a person, an individual. As such it has rights. It has used those rights in many instances to get its will. Read the article "Corporate Personhood explained in simple terms for the rest of us" for an understanding of the corporation and personhood in America. It is essential to point out that corporations were initially given charters to complete a task, generally a public good, that lasted a fixed number of years. When that was complete they simply went out of existence. Today, they live in perpetuity and as an entity do whatever is necessary to survive. Ideally, after a corporation completed its mission and its stockholders rewarded for their investment, it should revert to the public domain. In that manner, investors would really be investing in innovation. While the ongoing results of innovation would revert to the public domain. Duluth, Minnesota (OpEdNews) April 22, 2016: As progressives and liberals know, Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who has held elective political office for about a quarter of a century (i.e., in the establishment), has inveighed against the establishment in the 2016 Democratic presidential primary. For those of us who are old enough to remember the 1960s, his inveighing against the establishment is reminiscent of inveighing against the establishment in the 1960s. Now, in the book Decade of Nightmares: The End of the Sixties and the Making of the Eighties (2006), Philip Jenkins details how conservatives shrewdly used anti-60s rhetoric to attract voters to the Republican Party. However, in the 2016 Republican presidential primary, Donald J. Trump, the developer from New York, also inveighs against the establishment. Thus far in the presidential primaries, it appears to be popular to inveigh against the establishment -- and to characterize one's opponent as representing the establishment -- and to present oneself as an outsider over against the insiders in the establishment. But there do not appear to be any self-described establishment candidates. When candidates describe themselves, they chose other ways to characterize their own respective political leanings. Now, Grace Elizabeth Hale show why this way of presenting oneself in the political arena is appealing in her book A Nation of Outsiders: How the White Middle Class Fell in Love with Rebellion in Postwar America (2011) -- we white Americans today tend to imagine ourselves as a nation of outsiders. Historically, white Anglo-Saxon Protestants (WASPs), and lapsed Protestants, dominated the prestige culture in American culture. Our American heritage of white supremacy required Americans of color to imagine themselves as outsiders. But the postwar way of imagining oneself as an outsider in white American culture was cultivated and popularized in the twentieth century by certain white European existentialists and their white American followers. For example, from the 1950s onward until he retired from teaching in the 1980s, the American Jesuit cultural historian and theorist Walter J. Ong (1912-2003), who had lived in Paris for three full years in the early 1950s, taught an upper-division honors course on Existentialist Literature at Saint Louis University (SLU), the Jesuit university in St. Louis, Missouri. Ong characterized his work as phenomenological and personalist in cast. I have honored both aspects of Ong's characterization of his thought in the subtitle of my book Walter Ong's Contributions to Cultural Studies: The Phenomenology of the word and I-Thou Communication (2nd edition, 2015). Also see my essay "Understanding Ong's Philosophical Thought"" hdl.handle.net/10792/2696. In addition, James Collins (1917-1985) in philosophy at SLU published the books The Existentialists: A Critical Study (1952) and The Mind of Kierkegaard (1965). The Danish Christian philosopher Soren Kierkegaard (1813-1855) and the German atheistic philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900) are considered to be nineteenth-century precursors of twentieth-century existentialism, as is the Russian novelist Fyodor Dostoevsky (1821-1881). In my undergraduate studies at SLU (class of '66), I studied the existentialists in a couple of courses. Next Page 1 | 2 (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher). Our small three person delegation from CODEPINK: Women for Peace (Leslie Harris of Dallas, TX, Barbara Briggs-Letson of Sebastopol, CA and Ann Wright of Honolulu, HI) travelled to Greece to volunteer in refugee camps. We spent our first day in Athens at the refugee camp on the piers of Piraeus harbor known as E1 and E1.5 for the piers on which they are located-away from the busiest piers from which the ferry boats take travelers out to the Greek islands. Camp E2 that held 500 people was closed over the weekend and the 500 person in that location moved to Camp E1.5. The camp has been on the piers of Piraeus for several months when ferryboats began moving refugees from the islands off the coast of Turkey to Athens. Many of the boats arrived at the piers at night and the travelers had no place to go so they just camped out on the piers. Gradually, the Greek authorities designated piers E1 and E2 for refugee camps. But, with the tourist season arriving, the authorities want the space for the increased tourist business. Rumors are that both of the remaining camps of about 2,500 will be closed over this weekend and everyone moved to a camp at Scaramonga being built about 15 minutes outside of Athens. Some of the refugees left the Piraeus piers to check out other refugee facilities, but have returned to the piers as the concrete rather than dirt floors, fresh ocean breezes and easy access to the city of Athens by public transport are seen as better than being in a formal camp in an isolated location with more stringent entry and exit rules. We were at Piraeus yesterday all day helping in the clothing warehouse and talking to refugees as they wait in lines -- for the toilets, showers, food, clothing -- lines for anything and everything -- and being invited to sit inside the family tents to chat. We met Syrians, Iraqis, Afghans, Iranians and Pakistanis. The pier camps are informal, not official refugee camps operated by any one group. But the Greek government is helping with some of the logistics such as toilets and food. There seems to be no camp administrator or central coordinator but everyone seems to know the daily drill of food, water, toilets. Refugee registration for their future is a process we have not figured out, but many we have spoken with have been in Athens for over two months and do not want to be moved to a formal facility where they will have less freedom and access to the local communities. The toilets are a mess, long lines for showers with a 10-minute max for moms to shower the kids. Most live in small tents with large families connecting several tents to form a "sitting room" and bedrooms. Kids race around the area with small toys. The Norwegian NGO "A drop In the Ocean" has a space under a tent for providing a space for art, coloring and drawing for kids. A Spanish NGO has hot tea and water available 24 hours a day. The clothing warehouse is stacked with boxes of used clothes that must be sorted into logical piles for distribution. As there are no clothes washing machines, some women attempt to wash out clothes in buckets and hang clothes on lines, while others have found that throwing away dirty clothes and getting "new" ones from the warehouse is the most efficient way to stay clean. UNHCR provides blankets that are used as carpets in tents. Reprinted from The Guardian How many times does the NSA have to be rebuked in court before judges start taking away some of the agency's vast surveillance powers? The controversial Foreign Intelligence Surveillance (Fisa) court -- derided in recent years as a rubber stamp for the NSA, and which normally operates in almost complete secrecy -- just released an opinion from November 2015 in which federal judge Thomas Hogan sharply criticized the spy agency. Hogan said he was "extremely concerned" about lax practices at the NSA and FBI regarding how they handle the vast quantities of data they collect. Worse, for four years, the agencies held on to personal information gathered by surveillance ruled unconstitutional in 2011, all while keeping it hidden from the court. Yet after saying all this, the judge went on to reapprove all the surveillance the NSA asked for. It's almost hard to keep track of how many times the courts have criticized spy agencies for breaking their own rules, the law or the fourth amendment, and then allowed them to proceed unimpeded. In 2011, the Fisa court ruled some of the NSA's internet surveillance unconstitutional, yet the NSA wasn't required to shut down any of the spy programs that led to the ruling. In 2009, in a rather unbelievable opinion, a Fisa judge stated that court-ordered privacy protections -- that were supposed to be in place for years -- were "so frequently and systematically violated" by the NSA "that it can fairly be said that this critical element of the overall ... [surveillance] regime has never functioned effectively." We only know about these past opinions because the government was forced to declassify them after the Snowden revelations in 2013. And we probably only know about this latest opinion because Congress passed the NSA reform bill, known as the USA Freedom Act, last summer. The law made it much harder for the government to keep these types of Fisa court opinions secret indefinitely. Click Here to Read Whole Article 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. Huntsman: Winters War As a war between rival queen sisters Ravenna and Freya escalates, Eric and fellow warrior Sara, members of the Huntsmen army raised to protect Freya, try to conceal their forbidden love as they combat Ravennas wicked intentions. Ill admit right up front that I havent seen the first movie, Snow White and the Huntsman yet, but I honestly doubt that it would make a difference given how this one turned out. If you know pretty much nothing about the previous film, dont worry; this prequel/sequel (Ill explain that later on) does a good job filling you in on what you need to know here, so its got that going for it. That being said, only take note of this if you actually plan on seeing this movie, in which case I say suit yourself. A more appropriate title for this movie would be The Huntsman: Quiet Talking and Wasted Talent. Let me start off with what I liked: Amid all the aforementioned wasted talent, Chris Hemsworth is actually not too bad as Eric, the Huntsman. He had some fun lines that he delivered with the same sort of attitude and smirk that many of the classic swashbucklers and adventurers gave in films like Indiana Jones or Captain Blood (ask your parents). The big action scenes were exciting and managed to keep my attention, with Hemsworth nailing those as well. Finally, there were some really good-looking effects in this movie including creatures that appeared in the woods that havent been seen before. Given that the film is directed by Snow Whites visual effects supervisor, that isnt too surprising that the movie looks cool. Which leads me to what I didnt like: Yes, the director was the visual effects supervisor on the last movie. Obviously, it looks good. The problem here is that he doesnt quite have a grasp yet on how to successfully deliver on the other aspects like story and acting. First and foremost, this movie was boring. Ive never fallen asleep in a theater before, but I was close to dozing a few times while watching this. It wasnt until I grabbed the IMDB synopsis for this review that I fully grasped what the plot was. So the whole prequel/sequel thing in the intro? Yeah, the first 20 minutes take place before the events of Snow White and the Huntsman and the rest jumps to after that movies events. As for the wasted talent, look at this roster: Hemsworth, Emily Blunt, Jessica Chastain, Charlize Theron, Nick Frost, Rob Brydon, and Liam Neeson as the narrator. Everybody here except for Hemsworth and Neeson (who just talks, which hes always great at anyway) are just flat-out bad. This is especially disappointing because all of these actors have proven themselves multiple times. Blunt and Chastain are two of the best working actresses today, and Blunt in particular is bad here with a performance that can probably be chalked up to miscasting an A-List actress in a C-Listers role. If youve seen films like Sicario or Edge of Tomorrow (both of which I highly recommend), then you know what level shes at in terms of acting ability. Their characters are essentially knock-offs of Elsa from Frozen (Blunt is an evil queen with ice powers) and Merida from Brave (Chastain is a Scottish redhead that is extraordinary with a bow). Nick Frost and Rob Brydon are typically funny guys, and theyre stuck here playing dwarves that seem like rejects from The Hobbit movies where almost every one of their jokes falls flat. I laughed only one time in this movie and these two characters are supposed to be the comic relief. In the end, the film is sloppy and boring. A stack of great actors are totally wasted and given a bad script with a director that still needs some practice, and all of it shows on screen. I wouldnt see this film unless you were a huge fan of the first one and need to know where the story goes from there. Unfortunately, even if that was the case, you would still get bored watching what is basically a mess happen for just under two hours. Cody Kizis is a Production Assistant at NBC25 & FOX66 and one of the founders of www.BTTRMovies.com, a site for film reviews, news, and articles. Like this review? Check out the full length review on our site, like us on Facebook at Back to the Review-ture Movies or follow us on Twitter @BTTR_Movies. Boys & Girls Clubs of the Great Lakes Bay Region has received a grant in the amount of $8,250 from the Saginaw Community Foundation to fund the implementation of their Street SMART program in Saginaw. Street SMART is a violence prevention curriculum designed by Boys & Girls Clubs of America. The program offers expanded anti-bullying lessons, as well as an emphasis on resiliency training to give club members the skills they need to grow up confident, caring and responsible. WAUKESHA, Wis. (AP) A Milwaukee suburb's precedent-setting request to draw water from Lake Michigan could be significantly reduced by Great Lakes states and Canadian provinces considering the water diversion. The city of Waukesha's proposal to pump an average of about 10 million gallons a day by midcentury might be cut by about 2 million gallons a day under an approach considered by Great Lakes officials that would reduce the number of communities in a future water service area that's to receive the lake water. The Journal Sentinel reports the reduction is a condition of the group's acceptance of Waukesha's request. The Midland Conservation District is distributing trees that were purchased during its spring tree sale. Fred Swinehart of Midland purchased 20 white pine saplings for his cottage and five dogwood saplings for his home. The city of Midland recently saw a visit from Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., as the first-term senator toured The Dow Chemical Co., sat down with the Midland Area Chamber of Commerce and followed those visits up with a stop at the Daily News. It was incredible what they are doing there and the products they are devising, Peters said of Dow Chemical. If you are looking to reduce the amount of energy consumption in America, or dependence on foreign oil, or making buildings more insulated, Dow is right in the sweet spot when it comes to that. The tour was mostly a meet-and-greet for Peters. However, as the merger of Dow and DuPont along with Dows acquisition of Dow Corning leaves a lot of unanswered questions for residents of the Great Lakes Bay Region and Wilmington, Del., Peters tried to get some answers. I had questions about the merger and acquisition and what that it will mean for jobs and their presence here in Michigan. They are obviously important for Midland, but also for the whole state, Peters said. It sounds as if there will be a net positive in jobs as a result of that. As they reorganize. They will probably bring more jobs to Midland. But, those jobs will probably mostly be in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics or STEM fields. I say STEAM because I put art in there too. Art is part of the creative thinking process. It is not just the math and science, said Peters, who serves on the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee. Peters has been working to help those entering STEM fields by looking at ways to lower student debt while expanding dual enrollment and concurrent enrollment. Dual enrollment allows high school students to possibly earn college credit while taking classes at a local college. Concurrent enrollment high school students may take college credit classes that are taught by college-approved high school teachers. (The legislation) will create federal grants for curriculum development, for professional training for teachers so they can get their certifications they need to teach college courses, Peters said. Hopefully by lowering debt, programs like dual enrollment and concurrent enrollment will become more attractive, he said. Only 7 percent of the students in Michigan are in those programs. We can do a lot better than 7 percent, Peters said. By taking 35-40 credits before leaving high school, students can reduce college tuition by 25 percent. And those entering college with 40 or more credits are much more likely to graduate, Peters said. That is significant for debt, he said. What is worse for student debt is if you have student debt and you didnt graduate. That is really tough. At the Midland Area Chamber of Commerce, Peters, who serves on Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee, discussed three key issues: An increasing number of government regulations on businesses; reduction in the number of new business start-ups along with an increase in new businesses that are failing; and big businesses taking over small businesses. They are concerned about regulations especially for small businesses and how can we streamline the day to day items they have to deal with? Peters said. Small businesses arent being created like they used to and were seeing more and more concentration of big companies as they dominate the economy. Its the small companies where innovations are occurring and patents are being filed, Peters said. If you compare innovations and patents from big companies and small companies, the big company line is slowly heading down and the small business is going the opposite way, he said. The resulting outcome is that big businesses will purchase small companies, acquiring their patents and innovation and effectively eliminating the competition. That may not be the best for the economy, he said. It is a great business model for the big company, but not a great business model for the country or small business. LANSING, Mich. (AP) Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder plans to go on his first trade mission since the lead-contaminated water crisis exploded in Flint. He announced Friday a weeklong trip to Europe that will begin Saturday. His last overseas mission was in September, shortly before his administration confirmed that improperly treated pipes had leached lead into homes and caused elevated lead levels in some children. Back in the day, they called it vocational education or skilled trades training. Today, we call it CTE. And its never been more essential to the future of the students it serves, the communities it builds and the employers it stocks, right here in central Michigan. A generation ago, our local high schools in Clare, Beaverton, Harrison, Gladwin and Farwell offered a variety of instruction in areas like wood shop, drafting, business, home economics and many more. For reasons that are painfully obvious, local school districts are, for the most part, unable to provide classes like those today. Thats the bad news; heres the good news. For many years, the Clare-Gladwin Regional Education Service District has pooled resources and collaborated with those districts to do an admirable job filling the void in local vocational education. The problem is paying for it. Thats the issue before voters in Clare and Gladwin Counties on May 3 the RESDs 1-mill, 10-year proposal is the only issue on the ballot, in fact. For those of us who believe so fiercely in CTE and its enduring impact on local students, communities and workplaces, its imperative that voters have a clear understanding of exactly whats at stake. With that in mind, here are some frequently-asked questions to help ensure informed decisions on Election Day. What does CTE stand for and who does it serve? Career and Technical Education or CTE used to be known as vocational training or skilled trades education. In the past eight years, 2,720 juniors and seniors from high schools in Harrison, Gladwin, Clare, Farwell and Beaverton have received valuable college and career preparation training through CTE training that probably wouldnt have been obtainable without CTE. When I was in school, each high school had its own shop class, drafting class, business class, etc. Why isnt that possible now? Some larger high schools still maintain a few classes like those named above. But a multitude of factors, including declining enrollment, demanding graduation requirements and increasing costs for specialized equipment and technology has made offering vocational education nearly impossible for local high schools. What programs does CTE currently offer? Construction trades, culinary arts, criminal justice, automotive technology, digital media, health occupations and education occupations. Before budget concerns forced their suspension, we also offered a host of in-demand programs, including welding, graphic design, pre-engineering, ROTC and others. Additionally, there is a high demand for courses in areas like agri-science and manufacturing. But we simply cant offer additional programs without additional resources. If the RESD has been able to financially sustain the CTE programs in the past, why cant it now? Because costs continue to rise and revenues continue to stay flat, at best. In 2015, the CGRESD, affirming its belief in the importance of vocational education, invested an unprecedented amount of its general fund to maintain a reduced slate of CTE programs. While stakeholders throughout the community continue to tout the crucial role CTE plays for local students, the current funding model has become dangerously unsustainable. How do other communities pay for CTE for their kids, and how do we compare? The majority of CTE programs in Michigan are funded by dedicated taxpayer millage, including those around us. Bay-Arenacs CTE program receives $6.3 million annually through its millage, as do programs in Gratiot-Isabella ($2.57 million), Mecosta-Osceola ($2.89 million) and Wexford-Missaukee ($4.5 million). Our kids in Clare and Gladwin Counties receive zero CTE millage funding, and while our instructors do an excellent job with the hand theyve been dealt, those numbers represent a significant disadvantage for our kids, as well as for our local economy, which benefits greatly from the CTE program. Why is Clare-Gladwin RESD proposing the millage for 10 years? The program is at a funding crossroads where it will either grow or shrink significantly, and the RESD will need to properly maneuver in either case. If the path is growth, in order to provide our local students with a CTE learning experience like their peers experience in Mount Pleasant, Big Rapids, Cadillac and Bay City, theres a lot of catching up that needs to be done. As a priority, our construction trades class needs a permanent home. All our classes are in desperate need of upgraded, modern equipment and technology so our students can compete with other CTE graduates in the region for good-paying jobs, and so they have the opportunity to learn the essential skills that local employers expect for entry-level jobs. In addition, we have heard for many years from local community members that we need to offer a manufacturing class, as well as an agricultural science class. In both of those sectors, the people working locally are nearing retirement age, and they are worried that there arent enough young people with the necessary skills to take their place. Can the millage money be spent on anything other than CTE expenses? No. State law requires that these millage funds are to be used specifically and solely for CTE-related programs. What will happen if the millage doesnt pass? Our CTE program will look very different. Over time, weve employed several strategies to cut expenses when revenues havent kept up, and every time, its resulted in fewer opportunities for students. Weve also increased class sizes and eliminated funds for supplies, tools and equipment, technology, student field trips, student competitions and continuing education for teachers. Its a tribute to our teaching staff that weve been able to offer quality instruction despite the mounting barriers they face. The millage request represents a chance to see what our kids and our staff can do without their hands tied behind their backs; we believe the impact on our students, our schools, our communities and the local economy will be a profound game-changer in Clare and Gladwin Counties. Theres so much more information Id like to share. I urge you to visit www.CTEitsworking.com for a comprehensive look at the facts behind the program, lots more FAQs and, most importantly, the success of the students who have gone through CTE programs. And there are many. When you hear their stories of how CTE gave them a chance to learn and excel in a way like no class ever had I know youll understand why May 3 represents a critical moment for our kids, our schools and our communities. Please remember to vote, and please spread the word. Sheryl Presler is the Clare-Gladwin RESD Superintendent. PACAF honors Filipino-American veterans during ceremony U.S. Air Force Maj. Gen. Thomas Harwood III (second from left), Mobilization Assistant to the commander of Pacific Air Forces, and event guests pay their respects during the National Anthem at the 74th Commemoration of Araw ng Kagitingan or Philippine Day of Valor, April 16, 2016, at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, Honolulu, Hawaii. The memorial ceremony honored Filipino-American veterans of World War II, and is held on the anniversary of the fall of Bataan and the Bataan Death March which claimed approximately 10,000 Filipino and American lives in April of 1942. (Photo courtesy of the Philippine Consulate General Honolulu) 148th Fighter Wing TSP An F-16 Fighting Falcon from the 148th Fighter Wing taxis on the flightline after arriving to Osan Air Base, Republic of Korea, April 20, 2016. The 148th FW out of Duluth Air National Guard Base, Minnesota, deployed 12 F-16 aircraft to Osan as part of a theater security package to enhance regional security on the Korea Peninsula. The U.S. Air Force routinely deploys force packages of fighters throughout the Republic of Korea to demonstrate the U.S. commitment to stability on the Korea Peninsula. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Dillian Bamman/Released) CAMP CAPINPIN, Philippines -- Balikatan means shoulder-to-shoulder in the Philippines. That is the goal, the theme, and the point of a series of annual exercises that where held during April in the Philippines. Balikatan is a series of preparedness exercises that are staged through-out the country incorporating the Armed Forces of the Philippines, U.S. Army, Air Force, Navy, Marines and the National Guard. Hawaii National Guard Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Enhanced Response Force Package (CERF-P) team noncommissioned officer in charge, Sgt. 1st Class, Jason Kaaiakamanu stated, "Our role here is to show them (the AFP) our techniques, and procedures as far as what we do for search and extraction. Along those lines we know that they have a lot more natural disasters where they can use those techniques more then we do in Hawaii." The Hawaii National Guard CERF-P's search and rescue team has been participating in Balikatan every year since 2011. The Hawaii National Guard supports Balikatan through the National Guard State Partnership Program with the aim of building capability across the disaster response forces of both countries. This year, the armed Forces of the Philippines and the Hawaii National Guard are conducting an urban search and rescue interoperability exercise during Balikatan at Camp Capinpin, Tanay, and Rizal. During the events at Camp Capinpin, the search and rescue Soldiers from the Hawaii Army National Guard will be reviewing life saving techniques that will include rope rescue, shoring of walls and structures, confined space, breaching and lifting of concrete, patient packaging and decontamination principles. The event will culminate in an interoperability exercise which will test the techniques rehearsed during the week. "Everything we demonstrate can be used in a natural disaster, depending on the scenario. If they have to go in to villages, or do rescues of mountain sides, it can all be incorporated in to what they have to do here on a yearly bases," said Kaaiakamanu. "It is good for us to come but we also have members of the AFP returning every year to refresh their skills and to help instruct the new students. It is about building relationships with the AFP." One of the focuses of Balikatan is to build a coalition of rescue operations experts and journeymen who are versed in each others' standard operating practices so that in the event of a natural or man-made disaster there will be less confusion in the initial and follow on responses. "Balikatan 2016 Urban Search and Rescue Field Training Exercise, gives more knowledge and experience to the organic personnel of the Philippine Army." said Philippine Army Major Ricardo Villaruel, 2016 Balikatan Field Training Exercise Liaison Officer "The Philippine Army also has a disaster response team in every unit they are here participating in the exercise. The capabilities brought by the Hawaii National Guard is very important." The Philippines is no stranger to natural disasters, as they have been struck by multiple typhoons a year for the past few years, and are also prone to earthquakes, and tsunamis. These are the same kinds of disasters that Hawaii also potentially faces which is part of the reason Hawaii National Guard is assisting the Armed Forces of the Philippines. The National Guard State Partnership Program partners countries with National Guard from different states through out the country to help build coalitions and grow interoperability between forces while helping each other increase their individual knowledge and proficiency. WASHINGTON (AFNS) -- Defense of the homeland is a sacred responsibility and the No. 1 mission of the Department of Defense, Gen. Lori J. Robinson told a Senate panel April 21 during her nomination hearing to become commander of U.S. Northern Command and North American Aerospace Defense Command. Robinson, who now commands Pacific Air Forces and is air component commander for U.S. Pacific Command, testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee, noting that the U.S. faces a rapidly evolving and growing threat environment in terms of the number of those who wish to harm the nation and the complexity of tools at their disposal. Our country faces many challenging threats from within and abroad, ranging from threats such as home-grown violent extremist, cyberattacks (and) trafficking of drugs and other illicit products by transnational criminal organizations -- two threats posed by nation states such as Russia, North Korea and Iran, Robinson said. In my experiences as the Pacific Air Forces commander and the air component for (U.S. Pacific Command Commander Navy Adm. Harry) Harris, I'm intimately aware of the tenuous situation on the (Korean) peninsula and throughout the region, and understand the potential threats posed to the security of our homeland, the general said. Robinson told the panel that if confirmed she will work to uphold the faith that the American people have placed in NORTHCOM and NORAD and to ensure that the commands remain vigilant and postured to outpace any potential threat. If confirmed, Robinson said, she will continue to develop strong relationships with U.S. homeland partners, so the nation is prepared to provide defense support to federal, state and local authorities as requested when the American people need it. The general added that she would further strengthen the outstanding U.S. friendship with Canada and help grow U.S. partnerships with Mexico and the Bahamas. Last month, after President Barack Obama nominated Robinson to head NORTHCOM and NORAD, Defense Secretary Ash Carter released a statement that said Robinson has excelled in an array of leadership positions where training, force structure and readiness are paramount. Her deep operational experience, the secretary added, will enable the men and women of NORAD and NORTHCOM continue building upon the excellence they have demonstrated under Adm. William Gortneys strong and steady leadership in this critical command. CLARK AIR BASE, Philippines -- U.S. Pacific Commands Air Contingent began flying operations at Clark Air Base, Philippines, April 19, with the successful launch of four A-10C Thunderbolt IIs and two HH-60G Pave Hawks. The aircraft are part of the newly stood up Air Contingent here conducting operations ranging from air and maritime domain awareness, personnel recovery, combating piracy, and assuring all nations have access to air and sea domains throughout the region in accordance with international law. The A-10s and HH-60s conducted a flying mission through international airspace in the vicinity of Scarborough Shoal west of the Philippines providing air and maritime situational awareness. These missions promote transparency and safety of movement in international waters and airspace, representing the U.S. commitment to ally and partner nations and to the Indo-Asia-Pacific regions continued stability now and for generations to come. Our job is to ensure air and sea domains remain open in accordance with international law. That is extremely important, international economics depends on it free trade depends on our ability to move goods, said Col. Larry Card, Commander of the Air Contingent. Theres no nation right now whose economy does not depend on the well-being of the economy of other nations. The A-10 missions enhance the U.S. military assets in the region upholding freedom of navigation and over flight. We are out here and were going to do the best we can to achieve the mission; there is no doubt in my mind we will be successful, Card said. That success is achieved in part by the close partnership held between the U.S. and Philippine militaries. The two countries air and ground forces maintain a close bilateral bond through consistent military exercises Interoperability with the Philippine military is at the forefront of our mission, Card said. The standup of the Air Contingent promotes this collective focus as we build upon our already strong alliance, and reaffirm our commitment to the Indo-Asia-Pacific region. Card said it takes more than just aircraft to accomplish this feat, however, as he explained the critical role his Airmen play in this missions overall success. Our Airmen are the top. Ive worked with the majority of these guys for the last month already and theyve excelled; theyve blown me away with their ability to generate air power and I expect nothing less as we move into this next phase. All personnel in this first deployment are Air Force Airmen assigned to various Pacific Air Forces bases, and include aircrew, maintainers, logistics and support personnel. I have a lot of pride in our Airmen; and their ability to quickly understand a mission theyre not accustomed to and within minutes be motivated and execute that mission is truly phenomenal, the colonel said. These Airmen truly are the best of the best. U.S. Pacific Command plans this first iteration of the Air Contingent mission to last for the next several weeks. Future Air Contingent deployments will be fulfilled with various platforms and personnel from either Air Force or other service components. How can you not be tempted to test your knowledge or rate your skills by taking an online quiz? It can be entertaining to assess if youre smarter than a fifth-grader or try to fool a computer into guessing youre 24 years old when youre actually 69. Online quizzes can be an interesting diversion, but I dont put a whole lot of stock in them. Recently, water cooler buzz among my co-workers was about a quiz sponsored by the Public Broadcasting Service. Apparently, the test is designed to illustrate a growing divide in the American experience among elite, middle and working classes. Personally, I dont spend much time thinking about what class I fit in. All I know is I have bills to pay so I get up each day and go to work. I feel enormously blessed to have a full-time job I love. According to the quiz, growing up in a working or middle-class environment exposes you to real-world experiences, and those experiences stay with you even if you move into an elite class. For those members of the elite class who have never had real-world experiences, they can be somewhat sheltered and less in touch with the rest of us. Yes, I know; seems pretty obvious to me, too. Feeling curious, I took the quiz, but the quiz makers selection of real-world experiences made me chuckle. The sample questions could have been a profile of life here in the Land of Lincoln. Some of the questions (and my answers) were: Have you ever lived for at least a year in an American community with a population under 50,000? (Yes.) Have you purchased domestic mass market beer to stock your own fridge in the past year? (In the past year? Try in the past week) Have you eaten at Applebees restaurant or IHOP in the past year? (Are you kidding? Pumpkin harvest pancakes are the best!) Have you ever ridden on a long-distance bus more than 50 miles? (Yep, lots of times.) What does the name Branson mean to you: a big entertainment center in the Midwest, Richard Branson or no idea? (Missouri, of course!) Have you or your spouse gone fishing in the past five years? (Yes, family fishermen include spouse, child, father, dog) My score was high, revealing (not a big surprise here) I am not a member of elite society. It seemed to me many of the questions related to geography. Was the quiz implying my location has impacted my social status? Im proud to live in the Midwest, and of my heritage. My mothers family arrived at Ellis Island in the late 1800s, eventually made their way to Livingston County and modestly prospered after many years of honest labor. So, in defense of people like me who work for a living and call Central Illinois home, I developed my own quiz. Give yourself a point for each question you answer yes. Have you: Seen a cow made of butter? Eaten a funnel cake? Called a road "the blacktop"? Heard Bourbonnais pronounced bur-bone-is? Shopped at Walmart? (Bonus points if youve done a return there.) Detassled corn? Attended a high school sporting events when your kids werent playing? Envied your neighbors charcoal smoker? Considered duct tape to be your go-to repair and/or medical kit? Driven in a rural area, smelled a sudden, pungent aroma and knew exactly what it was? Considered anything more than 50 minutes a long commute? Caught fireflies? Had a bowl of cereal for dinner? (Bonus points if dinner was at 4:30 p.m.) Been friends with someone who wears pink camouflage clothing? Taken an online quiz and said, Gee, great news! Im normal!? Stand Against Racism event set April 28 BLOOMINGTON YWCA McLean County will host a Stand Against Racism event April 28. An event for girls of color aged 4 to 10 years old will be from 4 to 5:30 p.m. at the YWCA McLean County, Bloomington. An empowerment session for parents will be at 4:30 p.m. Visit www.StandAgainstRacism.org. or call 309-662-0461, Ext. 253. Visitors center to mark first year BLOOMINGTON The Cruisin with Lincoln on 66 Visitors Center will celebrate its first anniversary from noon to 4 p.m. Monday at the McLean County Museum of History, 200 N. Main St. The Sound of Illinois Chorus will give a Route 66-themed performance at 12:15 p.m. on the south plaza. The museum will offer free admission to its new permanent exhibit gallery, Making a Home. The center has had nearly 18,000 visitors since April 2015. BLOOMINGTON Two directors of libraries in Central Illinois, a chief operating officer for an Indiana library and a local candidate are vying to head Bloomington Public Library. The library board will meet at 9:15 a.m. Saturday in closed session to interview the candidates, who were introduced at a reception Friday night to invited residents and community leaders. Earlier Friday, they separately toured the library and met with staff. The candidates are: Laura Golaszewski, Bloomington Public Library circulation and outreach manager; Jeanne Hamilton, director of Charleston Carnegie Public Library, Charleston; Larry Oathout, chief operations officer of Evansville (Ind.) Vanderburgh Public Library; and Randall Yelverton, director of Washington District Public Library, Washington. The candidates and about 10 others were screened by John Keister & Associates, a consulting firm the board hired to conduct a search to replace Georgia Bouda, who retired in December after serving nine years as the library director. "These are the ones that they forwarded to us," said library board President Carol Koos. "They did have additional candidates and did not feel they were a good fit." She added: "I think we do have a very highly qualified group of candidates. I do think that Keister has done a very good job of selecting people who are familiar with the community ... familiar with the Midwest. It also helps them to be more suited for a Midwestern community of this size. I think we will have some good interviews." Golaszewski joined the Bloomington library three years ago after working at the Champaign Public Library for eight years as a team supervisor, technology liaison and library assistant. Hamilton has headed Charleston's library for five years. During her tenure she worked with city officials and architects to establish a new library. Her library administration career also included serving as director of the Helen Matthes Library in Effingham from 2008 to 2011. Oathout joined the Evansville library four years ago as chief operating officer after serving as director of the Perry County, Ind., Public Library for eight years. Last year he served four months as interim library director in Evansville. Since 2012, Yelverton has been library director in Washington, where he started as assistant director. From 2008 to 2011 he was assistant director for the Camden County Library District in Camdenton, Mo. All four have master's degrees in library and information science. Golaszewski, Hamilton and Oathout earned theirs at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; and Yelverton's came the University of Missouri at Columbia. The board will not make a decision Saturday, said Koos. While a majority of the trustees plan to attend Saturday's meetings, some cannot, she said. The interviews will be videotaped so that the absent members can view them later. "We probably will not reconvene for at least a full week, and then we will discuss where we feel we are at if we are ready to pick one of these candidates ... or search more," said Koos. The board also is being assisted in the selection process by a search committee consisting of library trustees Alex Cardona and Julian Westerhout, Golden Prairie Library District board President Lynn Gray, Bloomington Library Foundation President Mary Ann Webb and Alderman Karen Schmidt, who is Illinois Wesleyan University's head librarian. Connect Transits planned changes to the bus routes will be both helpful and harmful to residents. More frequent routes offer more convenient times for riders; however, the elimination and displacement of routes will make it difficult for community residents relying on the bus for transportation. One detrimental route displacement is moving the Lime-I from West Washington Street to West Market Street. The move appears a minimal distance (about one-third of a mile); however, imagine if you were disabled or trying to walk across Market Street with small children. This now becomes a treacherous journey, crossing a busy street with only a handful of stoplights and crosswalks for the many residents who need direct access to the multitude of non-profits and businesses located on Washington Street. Mid Central Community Action is concerned about the displacement of the Lime-I route that currently has a stop in front of its building. We help thousands of residents during the fall and winter and many of these individuals ride the bus. Our LIHEAP program has state-regulated priority periods, so elderly residents, disabled individuals and individuals with young children will face a higher possibility of an accident trying to cross Market Street or using the deteriorating sidewalks during the winter months that connect Washington to Market. MCCA proposed a solution to Connect Transit which kept the Lime-I route. And, we will present petitions at the May 2 meeting from concerned residents, agencies and businesses. May our collective voices make a difference! Deborah White, Bloomington The writer is executive director, Mid Central Community Action. SPRINGFIELD In a rare showing of bipartisan cooperation amid Illinois' nearly yearlong budget impasse, the General Assembly voted overwhelmingly Friday to approve $600 million in "stopgap" funding for higher education. The House voted 106-2 and the Senate voted 55-0 to approve the measure, which includes money for public universities, community colleges and grants to low-income students through the Monetary Award Program, all which have been deprived of funding since the budget year began July 1. Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner's administration lauded the agreement and promised his signature. With Chicago State University on the brink of closing at month's end, lawmakers were under pressure to come up with a plan to get money to the predominantly black South Side school and other financially beleaguered institutions, including Eastern Illinois, Western Illinois and Northeastern Illinois universities. "What we did today was a very good thing," said Rep. Rita Mayfield, D-Waukegan, chairwoman of the House Black Caucus and a sponsor of the funding package. "We actually did save CSU." She added that Eastern Illinois and Western Illinois, along with many community colleges, are also struggling. Chicago State will get 60 percent the funding it received in fiscal year 2015, and the state's eight other university systems will get 31 percent. That amounts to $12.5 million for Eastern Illinois, $20.9 million for Illinois State University and $57.5 million for Southern Illinois University. The bill also includes $74.1 million for community colleges 27 percent of annual funding and $167.6 million for about a semester's worth of MAP grants. Unlike previous bills Rauner has vetoed or threatened to veto, this measure draws its money from a specific source: the education assistance fund, which receives dedicated revenue from state income taxes and other sources. Mayfield was quick to point out that this is not the end of the conversation on higher education funding for the current fiscal year. "This right here is an emergency stopgap funding (bill) in order to provide a means for our universities, our community colleges to keep their doors open and the lights on," she said. Rep. Dan Brady, R-Bloomington, who represents Illinois State and was heavily involved in discussions with Democrats, said he'll continue negotiating and is "committed to work within a budget frame that we can afford." "I don't have the crystal ball of what happens from here in budget negotiations," Brady said. "But I do know that the stopgap measure is critical to the universities right now, and that's what we did in a bipartisan fashion." Southern Illinois University President Randy Dunn said he's thankful for the funding that's been approved but will continue pushing for the remaining $140 million the university has requested from the state. "We heard from both sides of the aisle, from both Republicans and Democrats, that there's a pledge to continue working," Dunn said, adding, "We will hold those officials to that pledge." However, House Minority Leader Jim Durkin, R-Western Springs, said the funding approved Friday could end up being all that universities receive for the current fiscal year. "I'm not quite sure we can get anything else done on higher ed," Durkin said. Although the Senate approved the measure unanimously, not everyone was entirely pleased with it. Sen. Dale Righter, R-Mattoon, said there should be some relief "that we have actually been able to come together to provide some drink of water to some people who have been crawling in the fiscal desert for some time." But Righter said he was disappointed the bill didn't do more to help Eastern Illinois University, which is in his district and has had to lay off hundreds of employees to keep its doors open. With at least a short-term solution in place for higher education, social services remain the last major piece of the state budget not being funded. The Senate approved a separate measure Friday, also on a 55-0 vote, that includes identical funding for higher education and $441 million for social services from another dedicated fund. That measure would fund many social service programs at 35 percent of what they received in fiscal year 2015. The governor's office said that proposal doesn't have his support yet. Back when cellphones first became popular, children weren't easily just given these devices. Nowadays, you can find someone as young as a toddler holding onto an iPhone -- just tapping away unknowingly, while teenagers stay glued to their phones, probably sexting away and sending sexual images to others. They think it's harmless, but it's actually illegal -- in Canada, that is. Sexting As Offense CBC News reported youngsters didn't know they are doing something illegal when storing and sending explicit photographs through their smartphones. Apparently, there are certain restrictions on sexual images, as stated by Canada's Criminal Code. "The Criminal Code prohibits any sexualized image of a child," said Crown Prosecutor Karen Lee of the Internet child exploitation department in New Brunswick. "Whether they be nude or in a sexualized situation, to be taken, possessed, looked at or shared." Karen Lee further clarified the law's restrictions, explaining that anyone under 18 years of age would be causing a crime just by taking sexual images. This is regardless of whether it is a photo of themselves or of other people. Children as well as their parents must be mindful that once a sexualized image is sent online, it will be difficult to retrieve. "A lot of the complaints come because they really just want the image back," Lee added. Sex Education And Sexting According to Telegraph, education about sexting surfaced as schools' sex education didn't cover the issue, adding that sexual teachings are "too one dimensional." Not only that, but respect for a person's body should raised and talked about with children, too. Sex education in schools don't look into the wider aspects of sex, since kids often ignore and make fun of it instead. Maggie Morgan, member of the youth charity Fixers, found that sexting is much harder to avoid nowadays. Morgan attributes this inevitability to the ever-evolving world of technology and children's maturity levels. In fact, she claims that sexting has already been a norm in today's culture. What do you think of the new suggested teaching? Share us your thoughts. Write your comments below. April 22, 1970 marked the birth of Earth Day. On that momentous day, people objected to the harmful environmental effects of the rising fossil fuel industrial operations. Since then, the government implemented ways to reduce air and toxic pollution. Stricter environmental laws were passed and citizens have been granted rights in the implementation of those laws. United Nations General Secretary Ban Ki-moon picked this year's Earth Day to gather nearly 200 world leaders to formally sign the pact, EcoWatch reported. The event, which was approved at the COP 21 climate change conference in December, will be held at UN's head office located in New York City. The United States and China -- countries which have the highest levels of pollution -- are among the signatories of the agreement. Although more detailed plans are in place, the treaty ultimately aims to address concerns revolving around global warming and climate change, so Earth Day couldn't be any more perfect of a date. Paris Agreement: Goals and Plans The Paris agreement intends to accomplish several key plans to prevent climate change and to save people from pollution's harmful effects. The nations involved in the agreement promise to lessen greenhouse gas emissions every five years, maintain global temperatures below 2 degrees Celsius and to provide financial support to impoverished countries in their quest to fight climate change and decrease their carbon levels, CTV News listed. Signatories will need to be transparent when it comes to their emissions, though punishments will not be given if they miss their individual emissions targets. The agreement will also require participating countries to evaluate their emission pledges in the next four years, as well as submit new plans to make those targets stronger. Aside from the government, the Paris agreement will also urge citizens to help in reducing harmful emissions by supporting the governments' actions and efforts. Hopefully, these plans can be put into place before it's too late, although experts claim, as previously reported by Parent Herald, argued otherwise. Renewable energy, which comes from naturally replenished resources like sunlight, wind and geothermal, is considered as the safer alternative to fossil fuel. Renewable energy, if developed, can potentially supply 100 percent of the world's electricity supply, The Ecologist wrote. Paris Agreement Criticized World leaders and environmental activists praised the Paris agreement, but it has also gathered outcry from critics. According to Erich Pica, president of the Friends of the Earth Action, the Paris agreement is unfair and fails to wholly benefit developing countries, which greatly suffered the repercussions of climate change, Time reported. Republican senators in the U.S. are also opposing the agreement. They said the participating countries' environmental commitments are vague, and urged the pact to be submitted to the U.S. Senate for approval. The Paris agreement, however, is designed without the necessity of approval from the U.S. government. The U.S. Supreme Court made history last Tuesday, April 19, when Chief Justice John Roberts sworn in 12 deaf and hard of hearing lawyers. The ceremony was not just a beautiful moment, but the whole occasion was filled with many firsts. The 12 new members of the Supreme Court bar were sworn in with the chief justice using American Sign Language. "Your motion is granted," he gestured with his hands, per The Washington Post. The lawyers, who are members of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Bar Association (DHHBA) from around the country, proceeded to argue their cases. U.S. Supreme Court's Many Firsts With The Deaf And Hard Of Hearing Lawyers That Tuesday would go down in history as a win for diversity and acceptance as -- aside from swearing in a dozen of deaf members -- it was the first time a chief justice used sign language behind the bench. It was also the first time the lawyers made their oral arguments in front of the justices. It's common practice to have lawyers argue their cases in the Supreme Court, but this doesn't happen often with the deaf and hard of hearing. An interpreter was helping the court translate their statements on the two cases presented. Chief Justice John Roberts learns sign language to swear in lawyers - The Boston Globe https://t.co/tsCs5rCNkU US Supreme Court (@USSupremeCourt1) April 21, 2016 But as another first, the use of electronic device was allowed in the Supreme Court, when this was normally shunned. The lawyers needed the device for instant transcriptions for those who attended the proceedings, per Reuters. Deaf And Hard Of Hearing Lawyers Paving The Way For Others "It was very thoughtful for Justice Roberts to acknowledge the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Bar Association the way he did," said DHHBA president Anat Maytal, per Raw Story. Among those who were sworn in were Kansas lawyers, Charla Beall and Leonard Hall, a lawyer for the U.S. Customs and Border, Reema Radwan, and lawyers for various disability groups. Teresa Curtin said that their situation has been challenging. She works for a big New York firm, Weitz & Luxenberg, and graduated from Princeton nearly 20 years ago. But this historical moment is proving to be a defining one that could open doors for many aspiring law students with disabilities. "We don't think it's so much inspirational as it should be normal," Curtin said in the reports. A British woman with two sets of reproductive organs was able to conceive children in separate wombs. After enduring six miscarriages and giving birth to two "miracle" children, she shared her story to raise awareness about the rare condition of having two vaginas, two cervixes and two wombs. Faye Wilkins, a 32-year-old mother-of-two from Plymouth, England, was diagnosed with a rare congenital abnormality called, uterus didelphys, at the age of 14. She was warned by doctors that her chances of motherhood were minimal. The Rare Condition Of Having Two Sets Of Reproductive Organs According to Mayo Clinic, uterus didelphys or double uterus is an incurable condition wherein a woman has two uterus, two separate cervixes and in some cases, two vaginas. Women who are having this rare condition can get pregnant twice at the same time in separate wombs. However, the risk of miscarriage, bleeding and premature delivery is higher to pregnant women who are suffering from the condition. Wilkins, a healthcare assistant, told The Daily Mail that she was shocked when she learned that she has uterus didelphys. She said it was hard to detect the condition because the differences were only internal. The Agony Of Having Uterus Didelphys Wilkins narrated that having uterus didelphys was a big challenge. She had to undergo a surgery to merge her two vaginas to prevent her uterus from rupturing. She was also told by the doctors that it would be difficult for her to conceive a baby. Wilkins shared that she suffered six miscarriages and almost gave up on the idea of having children. However, she did not give up until she miraculously delivered two healthy children from her separate wombs. "Thankfully though I have my two little miracles now and I'm just so pleased they were born healthy," Wilkins said. She is now a proud mother of Molly, 7, and George, 2. Raising Awareness About Uterus Didelphys Despite suffering from uterus didelphys, Wilkins said that she has never been embarrassed to talk about her condition. She added that she wanted to raise awareness about uterus didelphys so that women like her will not be ashamed. A high school student came up with a unique way to raise college funds after her appeals to get financial aid were rejected. She opted to panhandle on the street of Lowell, Massachusetts to accumulate money needed for her college education. Emily Stutz, 18, told ABC News that she decided to think of ways to raise college funds after her requests to get more financial aid were denied. She revealed that she has applied scholarships and juggled two jobs, however, these are not enough to support her college education. Raising College Funds Through Panhandling Stutz, who claimed that she maintained a solid high school GPA of 4.0-4.5, said that it would be difficult for her parents to support her college education because they had immense financial struggles. As the college commitment deadline draws nearer, she shared that she had to resort to desperate measures to raise college funds. Stutz narrated that she came up with the idea of panhandling outside a Target store to raise her college funds. Over the weekend, she stood on the street near the store carrying a sign that said: "H.S. Senior. No $ for college. Anything helps." "I figured I'd do a social experiment to see how much money I would actually make if people knew their money was going to a needy student," Stutz said. She added that after panhandling for two days for three hours each day, she was able to accumulate over $600 for her college funds. Aside from panhandling, Stutz also revealed that she created a fundraising campaign online to raise college funds. As of press time, her GoFundMe page has already accumulated over $23,000. Beyond Raising College Funds In an interview with Today, Stutz disclosed that her decision to panhandle is more than just raising college funds. She said that she wanted to be a public voice for other students who share the same educational dilemma. "I want people to realize that even those who work extremely hard and have big dreams aren't able to complete them because of finances," Stutz stated. "People take out these huge loans and have to pay back like a mortgage on their education. It's not fair." The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has finally spoken out that the alleged unidentified flying object (UFO) sightings at the International Space Station (ISS) are not real. The agency also denied conspiracy theorists' claims that NASA's live video feed was intentionally cut for an alien cover-up. NASA Versus Conspiracy Theorists Express reports that NASA has been repeatedly accused of doing alien cover-ups. Last week, several UFO enthusiasts lambasted the agency for shutting down its real-time cameras after some alleged UFO sightings near the ISS. The UFO hunters supported their claims with footage from NASA's live stream showing an alleged alien spacecraft approaching closer to the ISS, presently operated by UK astronaut Tim Peake and other five colleagues. As the odd object draws nearer to the ISS, the live video stream was interrupted and went to a blue screen, implicating that there was an alien cover-up. NASA Denies UFO Hunters' Speculations NASA spokesperson Tabatha Thompson told ValueWalk in an email that the agency did not make any alien cover-up. She made it clear that the live video feed was not intentionally cut. She explained that such occurrences are normal due to the loss of transmission signal. "Whenever we lose signal (video comes down on our higher bandwidth, called KU) the cameras will show a blue screen (indicating no signal) or a preset video slate, depending on where you are watching the feed," Thompson stated. She also clarified that NASA has no control in halting the video transmission. NASA's Explanation On Alleged UFO Sightings Thompson also pointed out that there were no UFO sightings near the ISS. She explained that the weird object captured on NASA's live video feed could be a result of camera lens flares. "Reflections from station windows, the spacecraft structure itself or lights from Earth commonly appear as artefacts in photos and videos from the orbiting laboratory," the NASA spokesperson disclosed. UFO hoax buster Scott Brando backed Thompson's explanation about the alleged UFO sightings near the ISS. After examining NASA's footage, he said that the weird object is just a reflected sunlight appearing on the camera. Child identity theft is one of the major things that parents should be concerned with in the lives of their child. This act involves identity criminals stealing your child's social security number to give them a new identity that would allow them to open a bank account or apply for a credit card account. Child Identity Theft 101 Parents.com said that aside from identity thieves stealing your child's social security number for financial reasons, there are other criminal acts that they could do with it. Fraudulent activities involving altering medical records, engaging in money laundering and other serious crimes that your child's name could be linked to could also happen. This is serious that it could reflect on your child's permanent record. The only time that your child could find out about it is when he applies for a driver's license at 18 or starts opening his bank account. A photo posted by Alfred Nickson (@__thecreditking) on Apr 22, 2016 at 12:28pm PDT How To Stop Child Identity Theft The only way to stop this crime is to prevent it from happening. The first thing that parents should do is check for a credit report for both themselves and their kids. Once they find out that their child has a credit history, there is a huge chance that their social security number has been compromised. Parents could report this to firms like Equifax and other credit card companies to make sure that no charges would be made or continue under their child's name. Reporting it to the police is also important. A photo posted by Kclas Consultores Asociados (@kclas_oficial) on Apr 21, 2016 at 9:44am PDT Prevention is better than going through the many processes of damage control on your child's identity. According to LifeLock, it is possible that a company could help you monitor your child and even your own account to protect you from identity thieves. One in 40 households has a child being victimized by identity thieves, so don't be one of those. Share this information today to your loved ones because this is really urgent. The suicide rate in the U.S. has reached its highest level in almost 30 years, according to a federal data analysis. The rise in suicide rates was particularly significant in middle-aged women. The suicide rate in the U.S. for 45- to 64-year-old women rose by 63 percent over the entire study period and 43 percent for men in the same age range, the New York Times reports. The overall suicide rate in the U.S. increased by 24 percent from 1999 to 2014, based on a study released on Friday by the National Center for Health Statistics. Sheriff: "There is no reason to believe at this point that (Prince's death) was a suicide" https://t.co/KAg0Xz1pOU https://t.co/wPTFdi5zhC CNN (@CNN) April 22, 2016 In 1999, the total number of people who committed suicide in the U.S. was 29,199. In 2014, the number increased to a total of 42,773 suicides. "This is part of the larger emerging pattern of evidence of the links between poverty, hopelessness and health," Harvard public policy professor Robert D. Putnam explained to the New York Times. For 10- to 14-year-old girls, the number rose from 50 suicides in 1999 to 150 suicides in 2014. "It's really stunning to see such a large increase in suicide rates affecting virtually every age group," Katherine Hempstead, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation health care senior adviser, told the New York Times. Among all ethnic and racial groups, American Indians had the biggest increase in suicide rate89 percent increase for women and 38 percent increase for men. The racial group of African-American men and women over the age of 75 was the only one who had a decline in suicide rate. There are several ways for people with depression and other mental illnesses to prevent having suicidal thoughts which can also result in a lower suicide rate in the U.S. Avoiding drugs and alcohol, eliminating potentially dangerous items in the house, communicating your feelings to other people and getting professional help are some of the best ways to avoid suicide attempts and thoughts, Help Guide shares. Despite an increasing number of women joining the ranks of STEM gurus, girls are still suffering from "mathematics anxiety," according to a recent study. Does this mean that boys are better in mathematics and STEM subjects? According to EurekAlert, a team of psychologists from the University of California-Irvine, University of Missouri and the University of Glasgow, Scotland, looked into international data to determine the difference between girls and boys when it comes to mathematics and STEM subjects. The group's research yielded that girls often feel negative about mathematics, resulting in avoiding math-related subjects. This avoidance is termed as "mathematics anxiety," which is more commonly seen in girls than in boys. The researchers found that there are other factors that bring about this subject anxiety. The researchers analyzed 15-year olds from 60 countries in the world and they found that neither the gender equality nor anyhow "related to the level of their mothers' engagement in STEM careers." They also ascertained that in more developed countries, girls and boys somewhat perform better compared to those in less developed ones. One thing that points to the home as a factor in instilling mathematics anxiety in girls is that many parents often expect boys to fare well in mathematics and STEM subjects or with a similar field. This creates an underlying notion that girls don't do well in mathematics, nurturing the anxiety instead of putting an end to it. The Guardian reported something similar in terms of the lack of self-confidence of girls in tackling mathematics problems. It stated that one way for girls to overcome this lack of self-confidence towards math is for parents to encourage their daughters to consider mathematics-related fields. It's a myth that boys are better at math and science. -Geologist Maile of Northgate Environmental Mgmt #TWkz pic.twitter.com/Voe3kHSh7F TechWomen (@TechWomen) March 18, 2016 Although studies and reports showed that girls are more likely to suffer from mathematics anxiety compared to boys, it does not speak of every single girl on the planet. There are girls who do well in mathematics and take leadership roles in STEM-related fields. This service is a courtesy for our print subscribers to give them access to our online edition at no additional cost. If you haven't registered on the new site, you must do it now before you do anything else. Videos Sorry, there are no recent results for popular videos. It's pretty clear that Apple is working on a possible future head mounted display while Facebook's Oculus Rift is creating a lot of buzz and Microsoft's HoloLens is picking up some excitement with Salesforce's CEO calling it "Amazing beyond words!" This week we even read an IDC report claiming that VR hardware will soar past the $2 billion mark in 2016 and closer to $12 billion by 2020. But one headset you might not hear too much about in the public anytime soon is one that Lockheed Martin is working on for the military. We stumbled onto their patent filing earlier today and thought that some of you might be interested in learning a little about it. Without getting into the complexity of their new Fresnel Lenses system, some of the applications that Lockheed Martin envisions bringing to the headset include an image display system that could be used as a communications or small screen television; an optical see-through, augmented reality, binocular viewer; and a feature that's certainly not a common off-the-shelf technology: sniper detection. Other applications include commercial training, military training and operations, and CAD manufacturing. Hmm, how far away are they from adding vision technology or heat sensors that could assist soldiers in detecting humans behind structures. I'm sure there are other off-the-record features that are simply too highly sensitive to be presented in patent filings. Perhaps even technologies that they've been working on for years in Area 51 J Earthlings wishing to explore this patent filing could do so here. About Making Comments on our Site: Patently Apple reserves the right to post, dismiss or edit any comments. http://www.usnews.com/news/us/articles/2016-04-19/in-conservative-utah-naming-road-for-gay-leader-stands-out I understand whats going on. Municipal leaders across the country are pretty much obliged to name streets after Martin Luther King Jr., Cesar Chavez, and, now, Harvey Milk. Why? Because many genuinely revere them, of course. But also because, given the way liberalism has evolved since the days of Lyndon Johnson, the Great Society, and George McGovern, failure to toe the progressive line on matters involving race, gender, and sexuality is a sure demonstration of moral depravity to large sectors of elite opinion. And it draws the kind of attention from elite media that city leaders, tourist bureaus, chambers of commerce, and earnest local boosters really, really, really dont want. (See this and this.) Anybody who votes against renaming a street for Martin Luther King, Cesar Chavez, or Harvey Milk is absolutely certain to be declared a bigot who hates blacks, Latinos, people of color generally, and homosexuals. Hate, hate, hate. Proposition H8. And so forth. Now, truth be told, I dont really mind having a street named after Martin Luther King. He was a genuinely heroic and truly national figure, and his assassination was a vicious crime. And racial bigotry is a serious moral failing that he helped us to face. It seems just a tad rote and obligatory to me, frankly, since virtually every city of any size now has a Martin Luther King Boulevard, but Im fine with it. (I wonder how many cities have George Washington Boulevards or Abraham Lincoln Boulevards. Does Salt Lake City?) Im a bit less on board with naming a street in Salt Lake City, Utah, after Cesar Chavez. Mr. Chavez was a California labor organizer, and he was controversial even back when he was alive and I was living in the state. His wasnt such clear moral issue, but a matter of economics and public policy on which decent people could disagree. Not everybody supported his boycotts of California agricultural products, and I guess I missed the memo announcing his transformation into a secular saint to whom every substantial city must dedicate a major street. But whatever. No harm, really, and its done. As for Harvey Milk? You may recall that he was a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors the first openly gay elected public official in California who was assassinated (along with Mayor George Moscone) in November 1978, after holding office for just eleven months. Its natural and, in fact, its right and proper that the city of San Francisco now has a George Moscone Center, for instance, and a Harvey Milk Plaza. Murdered public servants should be remembered and honored, just as their murderers should be abhorred and disdained. I dont strenuously object to renaming a Salt Lake City street for Mr. Milk, but I do find it rather odd. Is there a street named after George Moscone? For that matter, how many Utah governors remain streetless? How many Utah senators and congressmen? How many Salt Lake City mayors? How many prominent Utah artists, writers, pioneers, inventors, scientists, and public officials? Is there a Henry Eyring Street? A Deedee Corradini Street? I honestly dont know. Has any boulevard been named after Avard Fairbanks? I suppose its part of the tribute that a conservative state must pay to icons of the political and cultural Left. It might plausibly be seen as an attempt to escape demonization. I have no real hope or expectation that progressive-leaning outsiders will ever give up regarding the dominant religious and political blocs here as haters and troglodytes, but the situation would likely be even worse if we failed to genuflect where genuflection is required, however briefly. Saturday Link Love is a new feature where I collect and post links to various articles Ive come upon over the past week. Feel free to share any interesting articles youve come along as well! The more the merrier. Inclusion in this list does not imply full agreement. The Catholic Church is Opposing a Bill That Could Help Sexually Abused Children Get Justice, on Friendly Atheist[T]here is a push in Connecticut (and elsewhere) to eliminate the statute of limitations in child sexual abuse cases so that predators cant get off on a technicality. Boy Story: Finally Cool Boy Action Dolls, on KickstarterBoy Story brings the world cool new 18 boy Action Dolls and adventure stories built to last and blast through modern-day stereotypes. Autistic Views on Autism: Essential Reads for Neurotypical Parents, on Grounded ParentsGroups like Autism Speaks painted images of life with an autistic child that were despairingly different from what occurred in our home, and I knew I had to look elsewhere. What Its Like to Use a Public Bathroom While Trans, on Rolling StoneA 2013 survey from UCLAs Williams Institute found that nearly 70 percent of trans people had experienced negative interactions in public facilities from dirty looks to snide comments to physical violence. After North Carolinas Law, Trans Suicide Hotline Calls Double, on The Daily BeastBeing denied access to basic bodily functions based on an urban legend, it turns out, can take a deeply personal toll. Do You Love God More than You Love Your Children? on Homeschoolers AnonymousNo parent should have to worry that their love for their children might get in the way of their love for God. Whoa, Whoa, Whoa, Andrew Jackson Is Not, in Fact, Getting Kicked Off the $20 Bill, on SlateIn the excitement over Tubmans ascension and Jacksons long-overdue demotion, it seemed to get skipped over that Jacksons not actually getting scrubbed from the billhe will appear on the back of the new $20. Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup. EU Must Not Ignore Iran's Human Rights Record, Says Former Political Prisoner 04/23/16 Source: International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran Do not forget the spilt blood of Iranian youths or the young and old prisoners suffering in small and large prisons in this country when you are negotiating huge profitable deals with senior Iranian officials. Saeed Razavi Faghih, a reformist journalist who was released from Evin Prison on April 6, 2016 after serving two years for his political beliefs, has issued an open letter urging the European Unions foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, to not sacrifice human rights for commercial greed during her April 16, 2016 trip to Tehran. Mogherinis one-day trip was seen as yet another sign of warming relations between Iran and the EU following the signing of the nuclear deal by Iran and world powers in July 2015. The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran has provided the first English translation (links added for context) of the letter, which was also addressed to Iranian President Hassan Rouhani. The letter was first published in Persian on April 17, 2016 by Saham News, which is affiliated with Mehdi Karroubi, an opposition leader who has been held under house arrest since 2011 for his role in the Green Movement protests against the disputed victory of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in the 2009 Iranian presidential election. In the past two decades, at the very least, the state of Iran has been the biggest danger to no nation other than Iran itself, wrote Razavi Faghih. The great number of inmates in Irans prisons, representing [individuals belonging to different trades] and [those who belong to different] schools of thought and various political and social groups, is an indication of the daily, deepening divide between the state and the people, he added. In reference to Irans political prisoners, Razavi Faghih wrote: I do not want you to demand reparations for the blood that has been spilt unjustly, or even insist on ending the house arrest of the innocent and beloved leaders of the (2009) Green Movement, or criticize the ban on printing the image of [the reformist former president Mohammad Khatami], the most well-liked president in the history of Iran. I do not even want you to remind [Foreign Minister Javad Zarif], your Iranian counterpart, that contrary to his claim, we actually do have journalists in our prisons, including a brave man named Issa Saharkhiz, as well as Ehsan Mazandarani, and Saman Safarzaei, he added. The reason he wrote the letter, continued Razavi Faghih, is simply to remind you of the violation of human rights and the trampling of the Constitution in Iran. The state is making a serious effort to strengthen anti-riot forces, organize special plainclothes mercenary units, and create intelligence and security organizations in parallel with the Judiciary as bureaucratic instruments of a police state to justify oppression, added Razavi Faghih. Mogherini should extend her visit to Tehran by a day to visit one of the many prisons in the capital, particularly the dark dungeons, such as the womens wards in Varamin and Evin Prisons, where some of the most distinguished Iranian women and girls are incarcerated, and get a close look at what is happening under the skin of the Islamic Republic, which is apparently returning to the international community, wrote Razavi Faghih. Saeed Razavi Faghih was arrested on March 5, 2014 and spent a year in prison for propaganda against the state in connection with the 2009 Green Movement. Anyone associated with the Green Movement is still considered and openly referred to as a seditionist in Iran. Razavi Faghih underwent heart surgery in February 2015, but was sent back to prison before fully recovering, against his doctors advice, prompting 96 civil activists to issue a letter calling for his immediate release. Political prisoners are frequently denied full or proper medical treatment in Iran. At the end of his prison term in March 2015, Razavi Faghih was kept in prison and accused of new charges. In September 2015, he was sentenced to three-and-a-half years in prison for insulting the supreme leader and the Assembly of Experts and propaganda against the state for several speeches he gave and articles he wrote that were critical of government policy. He was reportedly released after his sentence was terminated. The Campaign has been unable to independently verify the reason for his release. Following is Saeed Razavi Faghihs letter: In the Name of God Open letter to the Honorable Ms. Federica Mogherini High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs Via Embassy of Netherlands in Tehran Your Excellency, Ms. Federica Mogherini, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs, I offer my greetings and respect. In accordance with ancient friendly Iranian norms and benevolent Islamic customs, I hope you have a pleasant stay in my country in the coming days and wish you happy memories from this land and its dignified people. I am aware that your tight schedule on this political and economic mission will not leave you enough time to meet with the honorable Iranian people. You will be spending much of your time in close negotiations with state and diplomatic officials. Nevertheless, as a person who was incarcerated for more than two years as a political prisoner in Rajaee-Shahr and Evin Prison, and was freed just 10 days ago [April 6, 2016], I want to take this opportunity to tell you a few things I have seen with my own eyes, even though you may be aware of more details than myself, considering the volume of reports by human rights activists over the past several years. Your Excellency, Ms. Mogherini, As I write you this letter, it has been 20 days since my dear friend, and brave former inmate, Hossein Ronaghi Maleki, has been on hunger strike. Meanwhile, this young civil activists mother and father have also gone on hunger strike in solidarity with their son. This young man, since he was 23-years old, has spent seven of the best years of life in prison, not to mention endured interrogations mixed with torture and the illegal house searches and constant pressures on his family. Hossein Ronaghi is just one example. Many others have and will go on hunger strike to protest unfair sentences issued by puppet judges who lack independence, and undergo illegal and inhuman interrogations in detention centers and prisons. Issa Saharkhiz has suffered serious physical harm from two recent long hunger strikes. Ehsan Mazandarani, Siamak Namazi, Mahmoud Beheshti, Rassoul Badaghi and many others have also been on hunger strikes. But the saddest case of all was Hoda Saber, whose hunger strike ended in a painful but heroic death. This is a very alarming matter as I have seen the determination of these individuals and their commitment to social causes in the path of peaceful struggle. The only way these prisoners can defend their rights is by going on dry or wet hunger strikes. I am in constant fear of the dangerous and irreversible consequences that may occur at any time. Hossein Ronaghi Malekis only crime, like that of many prisoners of conscience, has been his struggle against censorship of the press and for freedom of information and expression in cyberspace. These activities are, of course, branded as crimes against national security in countries where top officials rely on fear and intimidation or silence and public ignorance to protect their power. Meanwhile, a law on political crimes has remained unratified in Iran for 38 years, thus giving an excuse to the Islamic Republic to avoid implementing Article 168 of the Constitution in regards to thousands of past and present prisoners. [According to Article 168: Political and press offenses will be tried openly and in the presence of a jury, in courts of justice. The manner of the selection of the jury, its powers, and the definition of political offenses will be determined by law in accordance with Islamic criteria.] In an ugly display of trickery, those who hold power lie to the public and claim there are no prisoners of conscience-including political activists, lawyers or journalists-imprisoned in Iran, and say nobody is tried and punished simply for his/her views or expressing his/her beliefs. They also claim that no one is tortured to obtain a confession and rather is punished legally under Islamic law (tazir). Your Excellency, In my last few months in Evin Prison, I spent many memorable, calm and peaceful times with Hossein Ronaghi Maleki. But in addition to Hossein, there is a long list of other innocent youths in prison and when I remember their faces and think about the length of their sentences and the terrible condition they are kept in, I am overcome by heavy sorrow. I shared prison time with Zanyar and Loghman Moradi, Hamzeh Savari, Iqan Shahidi, Navid Khanjani, Peyman Arefi, Vahed Kholousi, Rasoul Hardani, Farhang and Shahram Mansouri, Saeed Masouri, Saeed Pourheidar, Saeed Shirzad, Misagh Yazdani, Shahin Zoghitabar, Jafar Eghdami, and many others in the dreadful Rajaee-Shahr Prison, where there were daily incidents reminiscent of medieval times. I was also proud to spend time recently with Masoud Ghassemkhani, Mohammad Saeed Hosseinzadeh, Masoud Aboutalebi, Mohammad Hossein Aziz, Fariborz Gerami, Farid Akrami, Mahmoud Beheshti, Omid Kokabee, Mohammad Sadiq Kaboudvand, Rassoul Badaghi and others in Evin Prison, a prison that holds dark and shameful memories since 1970. These are wise and brave men who sacrificed their youth to improve the condition of the next generation, a generation that still, unfortunately, sees no bright future ahead, and whose fate is tied to the ignorance of a minority hungry for power and greed. As representatives of freedom-loving Iranian professors, teachers and journalists, Dr. Hossein Rafiei, Mr. Esmail Abdi and Mr. Mostafa Tajzadeh remain in prison while those who have repeatedly heard a loud No from the Iranian people voraciously hold on to a large slice of power. Alongside all those who struggle for freedom, I must mention the icons of freedom and spokespersons for the everlasting and dynamic social and political Green Movement, i.e. Ms. Zahra Rahnavard and Misters Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi, who have spent more than five years under illegal house arrest in difficult conditions without a trial and continue to pay the price for their peaceful quest for freedom. Let us not even mention all the blood unjustly spilt on the streets of Tehran and the honorable bodies that lie in the dark, cold soil of Behesht-Zahra or Khavaran cemeteries. That is another long and sorrowful story. Your Excellency, the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs, What I have so far mentioned is only a reminder of the human rights abuses and constitutional violations in the Islamic Republic of Iran. Despite what you and others may think, I am not asking you to come down from the heavens and land in Tehran like an angel of salvation and miraculously restore the rights of the freedom-loving people of Iran from the clutches of an expansionist and totalitarian regime. You and I both know well that the European Union and its entities, including the commission you chair, do not represent the views of the European masses or reflect the progressive global human values that have emerged from the intellectual, social and political developments of the last few centuries. What they do represent is the interests of European governments whose main concern is to protect the vast wealth of capitalists who seek more and more profits. Therefore, in your negotiations with Iranian officials, I am not going to ask you to fight for the trampled rights of intellectuals, journalists, students, professors, young freedom fighters, equality-seeking women, religious and ethnic minorities, civil rights activists and lawyers in the name of universal humanitarian values respected among European nations, even though reason and conscience would command a person of free will to do so. I am not asking you, as a free woman with equal rights as men, to defend or demand the release of the freedom- and equality-seeking inmates who are bravely serving long sentences in Evin Prisons Womens Ward. The truth bears witness to their complete innocence. Their beautiful minds have been silenced behind prison walls only and only because they fought for freedom and equality for Iranian women. But [in the end I do] expect you to do so as a free woman. I do not want you to demand reparations for the blood that has been spilt unjustly, or even insist on ending the house arrest of the innocent and beloved leaders of the (2009) Green Movement, or criticize the ban on printing the image of [Mohammad Khatami], the most well-liked president in the history of Iran. I do not even want you to remind [Foreign Minister Javad Zarif], your Iranian counterpart, that contrary to his claim, we actually do have journalists in our prisons, including a brave man named Issa Saharkhiz, as well as Ehsan Mazandarani, and Saman Safarzaei. I do not want you to point out to him that respectable politicians change bitter realities and cautious politicians who cannot change bitter realities will do their best to explain or justify it-not deny it altogether. As a politician who was raised in the bosom of international principles, you have a responsibility to do so. But I do insist, most strongly, that you do not forget the spilt blood of Iranian youths or the young and old prisoners suffering in small and large prisons in this country when you are negotiating huge profitable deals with senior Iranian officials. I insist that if you do not defend the rights of the oppressed women of my country, especially the imprisoned activists, and do not seek their earliest release or do not try to convince the Islamic Republic to unconditionally abide by human rights principles and the Constitution in its treatment of people and prisoners of conscience, at least do not overlook these cruel acts in your wheelings and dealings with Iranian officials. Your Excellency, In the past two decades, at the very least, the state of Iran has been the biggest danger to no nation other than Iran itself. The great number of inmates in Irans prisons, representing [individuals belonging to different trades] and [those who belong to different] schools of thought and various political and social groups, is an indication of the daily, deepening divide between the state and the people. That is why the state is making a serious effort to strengthen anti-riot forces, organize special plainclothes mercenary units, and create intelligence and security organizations in parallel with the Judiciary as bureaucratic instruments of a police state to justify oppression. The fact is that the Iranian state is only and solely a threat to the people within its own borders and no one else. Therefore, I ask that you do not haggle over the quantity and quality of missile tests and nuclear installations for the security of the region and international peace as a bargaining chip to obtain more profitable deals in Iran. Furthermore, I ask you not to use human rights and democratic principles only to leverage your economic goals. If you do not want to represent the enlightened European masses and make serious and unselfish demands regarding democracy and human rights in Iran, then you should not negotiate profitable deals for European governments over the names of my heroic friends suffering in prison. Otherwise, be assured that this sin will not be wiped from the historical memory of the Iranian people and one day they will give a proper response to these hypocritical policies aimed at exploiting our material and spiritual riches. In the end, I apologize for this long letter and once again wish you and your delegation a happy stay with pleasant memories in Iran. But I do suggest you visit one of the many prisons in the capital, particularly the dark dungeons, such as the womens wards in Varamin and Evin Prisons, where some of the most distinguished Iranian women and girls are incarcerated, and get a close look at what is happening under the skin of the Islamic Republic, which is apparently returning to the international community. Respectfully, Saeed Razavi Faghih April 16, 2016 CC: His Excellency Dr. Hassan Rouhani, the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran Kerry Says U.S. Won't Block Foreign Firms Doing Business With Iran 04/23/16 Source: RFE/RL U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry assured foreign banks and businesses that the United States will not block them from doing business with Iran under last year's historic nuclear accord. "The United States is not standing in the way, and will not stand in the way, of business that is permitted in Iran since the [nuclear deal] took effect" in January, Kerry said on April 22 before meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in New York. Kerry said he was trying to clear up uncertainty among businesses outside the United States about investing in Iran. The Iranian government has complained about not getting the full economic benefit of its July 2015 nuclear deal with world powers. "There are now opportunities for foreign banks to do business with Iran," Kerry said. "Unfortunately there seems to be some confusion among some foreign banks and we want to try and clarify that." Banks that are now free to do business with Iran include those that are holding an estimated $55 billion in frozen Iranian assets, he said. Many of those banks have been nervous about returning the funds even since the deal went into effect. Kerry recently estimated that Iran has received only $3 billion of that $55 billion in repatriated wealth it was expected to reap under the deal, at least in part because of overcautiousness among banks. Kerry stressed that "among the nuclear-related sanctions that were lifted were those that prevented Iran from engaging with non-U.S. banks, including getting access to Iran's restricted funds." The only exceptions, he said, would be engaging with banks and companies that are still blacklisted by the United States. Kerry said it was understandable that some companies might need time to feel confident about doing business in Iran. He said if banks continue to have questions about remaining U.S. sanctions targeting Iran's ballistic-missile program and sponsorship of militant groups, "they should just ask." He noted that Tehran also needs to take more steps to welcome foreign businesses, such as by modernizing its banking system. The nuclear agreement eased some sanctions imposed by the United States, European Union, and United Nations in return for Tehran curbing its nuclear program. Zarif noted that "Iran has implemented its part of the bargain," including by disposing of some of its heavy water through an $8.6 million sale to the United States announced on April 22. Tehran has called on the United States to do more to remove obstacles to the banking sector so that businesses feel comfortable with investing in Iran without penalties. Current U.S. policy bars foreign banks from clearing dollar-based transactions with Iran through U.S. banks, and those restrictions will continue. Despite Kerry's assurances, some Western firms say they remain wary of doing business in Iran because of the possibility that seemingly innocent Iranian companies might have links to entities blacklisted by the United States. Iran's powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, which is still the target of U.S. sanctions, in particular has extensive business interests and ties in Iran which can be hard for foreigners to discern, so businesses must take pains to be sure they are not unwittingly violating sanctions by engaging with them. Zarif said he hoped Kerry's clarification will help. "We hope that with this statement by Secretary Kerry...now we will see serious implementation of all...benefits that Iran should [derive] from this agreement," he said. He added that Tehran hoped Kerry's words would "open the difficult path that has been closed because of concerns that banks have about the U.S. approach toward implementation of commitments" under the nuclear deal. Kerry said there remained some "serious differences" with Iran on implementing the deal. "Those have to be the subject of future discussion, but its important for people to understand that an agreement is an agreement," he said. It was the second meeting this week between Zarif and Kerry to discuss sanctions relief at the UN. With reporting by Reuters, AP, and AFP Iran's Foreign Minister signs Paris Agreement on climate change 04/23/16 Source: Press TV Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has signed the historic Paris Agreement on climate change during a ceremony at the United Nations headquarters in New York. French President Francois Hollande was the first leader who signed the deal on Friday. According to UN, a record 175 countries, including the world's top producers of greenhouse gases China and the United States, inked the accord, raising hopes of restraining global warming. The ceremony, held on the 46th Earth Day, was the largest ever single-day signing of an international accord. The agreement, reached in Paris in December 2015, can now require countries to fulfill the promises they made to cut greenhouse gas emissions. "Most countries, though not all, need to take the signed document and go back home and go to ratification procedures that in most countries requires parliamentary discussion and decision," UN climate chief Christiana Figueres said. (Watch her TED talk to understand how the Paris agreement will slow the climate change.) Many countries still need a parliamentary vote to officially ratify the accord. China and the US, which together account for 38 percent of global emissions, pledged to formally adopt the deal by the end of the year. The deal will enter into force 30 days after at least 55 countries that together produce 55 percent of the world's greenhouse gases formally approve it. According to the World Resource Institute, the signatories at the UN ceremony together account for 93 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. The Paris deal, agreed by 195 countries plus the European Union, sets the objective of curbing global warming to "well below" two degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels, by moving to clean energy. The first quarter of the current year broke temperature records, and the last year was the hottest year since record-keeping began in the 19th century. The UN's former climate agreement, the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, came into force in 2005. It dictated cuts in greenhouse gas emissions only for developed countries, unlike the Paris Agreement that involves both developed and developing countries, and allows all states to set national targets. Iran, P5+1 meet for 1st time after JCPOA implementation 04/23/16 Source: Press TV Representatives of Iran and the P5+1 group of countries hold their first joint commission meeting to discuss framework for the implementation of the historic nuclear agreement they struck last year. Souvenir signatures of lead negotiators on the cover page of the Souvenir signatures of lead negotiators on the cover page of the JCPOA document. The Persian handwriting on top left side is a homage by Javad Zarif to his counterparts' efforts in the negotiations: "[I am] Sincere to Mr. Abbas [Araghchi] and Mr. Majid [Takht-Ravanchi]." Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Legal and International Affairs Abbas Araqchi and Helga Schmid, who represents the P5+1 countries, held talks, which lasted over four hours, in the Austrian capital of Vienna on Friday for the first time after Tehran and the six global powers started implementing the nuclear agreement, dubbed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), on January 16. During the meeting, Araqchi and Schmid discussed the process of the JCPOA implementation and obstacles in this regard as well as the lifting of sanctions against Iran. Araqchi, who heads Iranian Foreign Ministry's committee following up on the implementation of JCPOA, told IRNA that the country's delegation is also scheduled to hold separate meetings with some members of the P5+1 countries on the sidelines of the session. He noted that the Iranian delegation is comprised of Deputy Foreign Minister for European and American Affairs Majid Takht-e-Ravanchi, Hamid Ba'eidinejad, the director general for political and international security affairs at Iran's Foreign Ministry, two teams of technical experts from the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran and a legal team from the Central Bank of Iran and Foreign Ministry. Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council - the United States, France, Britain, China and Russia - plus Germany signed the JCPOA on July 14, 2015 following two and a half years of intensive talks. Under the JCPOA, all nuclear-related sanctions imposed on Iran by the European Union, the Security Council and the US would be lifted. Iran has, in return, put some limitations on its nuclear activities. Iran backs any move to stabilize oil market: Zangeneh 04/23/16 Source: Press TV Minister of Petroleum Bijan Zangeneh says Iran will support any initiative to stabilize the oil market after recent talks in Qatar failed to freeze production. Minister of Petroleum Bijan Zangeneh talks to reporters in Tehran, April 22, 2016. Shana Zangeneh told reporters on the sidelines of a meeting with his South African counterpart in Tehran on Saturday that the meeting between OPEC and non-OPEC producers in Doha was a good step. Despite failing to have a result, the start of the negotiation was good for OPEC and non-OPEC to cooperate and for big OPEC producers to accept that they have to do something to change the situation, he added. OPEC, Russia and Mexico failed to come up with any decision at last Sundays meeting after Saudi Arabia demanded that Iran join in an output freeze despite calls on Riyadh to save the agreement and help prop up crude prices. Zangeneh said despite the collapse of the Doha agreement, oil prices did not extend their losses. "The market momentum and the will of both producers and consumers is that oil prices increase on the global level, he said. Iran has been ramping up production following the lifting of Western sanctions in January to claw back its market share. On Saturday, Zangeneh said Iran is close to the export levels before the sanctions. Irans oil production has approached very close to the level before sanctions and our oil output has increased by 1 million barrels per day after the cancellation of the sanctions, he said. This trend will continue until Irans market share reaches the level before the sanctions, Zangeneh added. Oil exports to South Africa On Saturday, Zangeneh met South African Energy Minister Tina Joemat-Pettersson (pictured below) to discuss oil and energy cooperation, including resumption of crude exports. Iran supplied 40% of South Africas oil imports before sanctions brought them to zero, Zangeneh said. We are currently seeking to open this closed path and there are negotiations underway which we hope will bear result, he said. Right now, the main argument is over the price. Iran has announced that it will accept a price which is competitive in the market, Zangeneh added. South African President Jacob Zuma is to visit Iran on Sunday and Monday to "strengthen bilateral relations between the two countries." Zangeneh said the two sides are expected to sign a memorandum of understanding for energy cooperation on Sunday. A technology cooperation agreement is expected to be signed for boosting technical knowledge in the field of GTL with the Research Institute of Petroleum Industry, he said. Pretoria is also considering building an oil refinery that will process Iranian crude to bolster its petrol supply and reduce its dependence on foreign companies. We have asked them to present their proposals. Accordingly, Iran has invited them to invest in Irans refining and petrochemical sector like before, Zangeneh said about the plan. South African petrochemicals group Sasol had a 50% stake in Arya Sasol Polymer company, a joint venture with Pars Petrochemical Company of Iran. The venture produced ethylene and polyethylene used in the production of plastics. Arya Sasol used to carry out successful investment operations in Irans petrochemical industry but had to pull out of them after sanctions, Zangeneh said. South Africa's deputy president visited Iran in November to explore opportunities for cooperation in the energy sector. The Yoga 900 is a fully reversible laptop with a great 13.3-inch, 32001800 display and a handsome watchband hinge. Performance is greatly improved over the preceding Yoga 3 Pro, as is battery life, but this newer model is a little thicker and heavier. Unlike its predecessor, the Yoga 900s isnt trying to be the slimmest reversible laptop around. Its 18 percent thicker than the Yoga 3 Pro to accommodate a more powerful Intel Core i5 or i7 processorthe Pro used a Core M chipand the larger battery and additional cooling it requires. That means considerably better performance and a longer runtime. Those are improvements that no one will complain about, unless they prefer a skinny machine. Lenovo The Yoga 900 starts at $1,150 and is available from Best Buy and Lenovo. Thin to win That said, Lenovo claims that the Yoga 900 is the thinnest Core laptop on the market. That may well be, but at 0.59 inches thick and 2.8 pounds, its still bigger than the older 0.5-inch, 2.6-pound Yoga 3 Pro. However, with its slightly reduced depth (8.86 inches versus 9 inches) and width (12.75 inches versus 13 inches), the Yoga 900 has crossed over into looking somewhat generic due to its squatter profile. Lenovo While an 18-percent increase sounds like a lot, the extra thickness isnt all that much. But though I prefer the look of the Yoga 3 Pro, the Yoga 900 is an attractive laptop, especially since it also boasts the Yoga lines fancy watchband hinge. Its too bad that motif isnt applied subtly to the rest of the laptop, but if you want to turn heads, you can always opt for the Clementine Orange color. Lenovo The now famous watchband hinge on the Clementine Orange model Yoga 900. Details, details The Yoga 900 is a fully reversible laptop with a 13.3-inch, 32001800 IPS touchscreen display. Its picture is great under most circumstances, especially playing movies in low-light conditions, and has a decent amount of brightness. On the minus side, the screen reflects quite a bit of light, and it has a rather healthy amount of bezel. Its hard not to want something sleeker after the example set by Dells XPS 13. The port selection on the Yoga 900 is minimal but adequate for everyday use. You get two USB 3.0 Type A ports, a USB 2.0 charging port, an SD/MMC card reader, combo analog audio jack, and a USB Type C port. That Type C gives you standard USB 3.0 (5Gbps) speeds. It doesnt support Thunderbolt 3, nor charging. You dont get a dedicated video-out port, but the Type-C port provides DisplayPort over USB if you use an optional dongle. Lenovo The Yoga 900 in tablet mode. The Yoga 900 is available with an Intel Core i7-6500U CPU, a 256GB or 512GB SSD, and up to 16GB of DDR3-1600 memory. All versions come with 802.11ac Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.0. Our $1,400 model had its specs maxed out, while the minimal Core i7 configuration runs $1,150. Performance With a faster CPU, it was no surprise that our Yoga 900 zipped past its predecessor in our PCMark benchmarks, scoring 2,531 versus the Yoga 3 Pros 1,723 in the Home Conventional test, which runs the system through basic tasks like word processing, web browsing, and light photo editing. It also scored 2,778 versus the Yoga 3 Pros 1,988 in the Work Conventional test, which is similar to the Home Conventional test but with a stronger focus on work-oriented tasks like spreadsheet editing. This improvement in performance will show more clearly the more you throw at the Yoga 900. While the Yoga 900 smokes the Yoga 3 Pro, it does slightly underperform competition with the exact same processor. That said, the difference is so small you wont really notice it. The Yoga 900s SSD keeps things moving along quickly. Our AS SSD benchmark clocked the Samsung SM871 M.2 SATA SSD at a high of 473MBps for sequential read speed and a high of 437MBps for sequential write speed. Thats decently quick, if not as fast as an M.2 PCIe SSD would have been in the same scenario. Battery life is decent, even if its not the nine hours Lenovo touts. The Yoga 900 lasted 6 hours and 37 minutes during our video rundown test, in which we run a 4K ultra-HD video on loop using the native Windows 10 media player. Thanks to the Yoga 900s larger 66WHr battery, thats almost 50 percent longer than the Yoga 3 Pro, with its 44.8WHr power cell. As for watching movies with the sound going through the laptop speakersyou get a surprisingly decent experience that way. No one will mix their next album using the Yoga 900s speakers, but the clarity is better than average, and theres even a modicum of bass. Theyll do if youre too lazy to pull out your headphones. Lenovo The Yoga 900 in reverse-stand mode. Input ergonomics Ive generally praised Lenovo for its keyboards, and the Yoga 900s is about as good as it gets. It even offers dedicated functions keysthe Yoga 3 Pro instead had combined them with the top-row numeric keys. I do have a personal issue with the lack of forward rake to the unit and the keyboard deck, because I encounter lots of accidents with the space bar. Thats easily fixed with a couple of self-adhesive rubber feet for the rear of the Yoga to add the incline that I need, though. Lenovo The Yoga 900 in normal laptop orientation. The touchpad feels very comfortable to use: It doesnt require much effort to click, and its very smooth when dragging your fingers across it. It also isnt overly sensitive to tapping. As for the touchscreen, I cant speak highly enough of it. I wish they made touchpads that were as smoothly responsive. Software and warranty There was a fair amount of value-added software running in the Windows 10 Home system tray, a lot of it courtesy of Intel. Removing it (hint: remove then re-install the Intel drivers using Device Manager) as well as McAfee made for a slightly smoother experience. The base warranty on the Lenovo Yoga 3 900 is a one-year carry-in. You can increase that all the way to three years with accidental damage protection for $219, or pick an option in the middle. Conclusion If the Yoga 3 Pro was like a stick-thin runway model, the Yoga 900 is like a muscle-toned fitness model. The Yoga 900 has much more of an edge over the Yoga 3 Pro when it comes to specs and performance, rather than in purely chic looks. Itd be nice to have seen features on it like 10Gbps USB and a PCIe SSD, but all things considered, its still a chart-topping reversible. And everybody will dig the hinge. The U.S. no longer requires Apples assistance to unlock an iPhone 5s phone running iOS 7 used by the accused in a drug investigation, stating that an individual provided the passcode to the iPhone at issue in this case. The Department of Justice has withdrawn its application in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York. DOJ had earlier appealed to District Judge Margo K. Brodie an order from Magistrate Judge James Orenstein, ruling that Apple could not be forced to provide assistance to the government to extract data from the iPhone 5s. Yesterday evening, an individual provided the passcode to the iPhone at issue in this case, DOJ wrote in a filing to the court late Friday. Late last night, the government used that passcode by hand and gained access to the iPhone. The filing did not provide information on who the individual was and in what capacity he was acting. Jun Feng, the accused in the methamphetamine possession and distribution investigation, provided the passcode to investigators, said The Wall Street Journal, quoting people familiar with the matter. Feng has already pleaded guilty and is due to be sentenced. He had earlier told investigators that he didnt remember the passcode. The filing in the New York court has parallels to another dispute between Apple and the government over assistance in cracking an iPhone 5c running iOS 9 used by one of the terrorists in the San Bernardino killings in December. In that case in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, the government had demanded Apples assistance but later asked the court to vacate its order as it had accessed data stored on the phone, using a tool from a third party. The tool addressed only a narrow slice of iPhones, Federal Bureau of Investigation director James Comey said earlier this month. While it could unlock the the iPhone 5c running iOS 9, the tool does not work on the iPhone 5s or 6, he said. Apple, meanwhile, demanded to know in the New York case whether the government had exhausted all other options to get to the data. Judge Orenstein had ruled that Apple cant be forced to extract data from the iPhone 5s under a statute called the All Writs Act, the same law invoked in the California case. The governments reading of the All Writs Act, a statute enacted in 1789 and commonly invoked by law enforcement agencies to get assistance from tech companies on similar matters, would change the purpose of the law from a limited gap-filing statute that ensures the smooth functioning of the judiciary itself into a mechanism for upending the separation of powers by delegating to the judiciary a legislative power bounded only by Congresss superior ability to prohibit or preempt, Orenstein had written in his order. The governments withdrawal of its demand for Apples assistance in both the New York and California cases leaves unresolved a key legal issue whether the government can compel device makers to help break the encryption and other security in their products, which is an issue of significance both to tech companies and privacy groups. Apple could not be immediately reached for comment. The U.S. government said it no longer needs Apple Inc.s help to get into an iPhone used by a New York drug dealer, ending a second courtroom battle over whether the company can be forced to help unlock its devices. The Justice Departments action follows its decision last month to drop efforts to compel Apple to help unlock an iPhone used by a gunman in the December terrorist attack in San Bernardino. In the Brooklyn case, the government said Friday in a four-sentence letter to the judge that it had obtained a passcode and used it by hand to unlock the iPhone late last night. Because it no longer needs Apples assistance, the government said it was withdrawing its request for a court order. As we have said previously, these cases have never been about setting a court precedent, Emily Pierce, a Justice Department spokeswoman, said in a statement. In this case, an individual provided the department with the passcode to the locked phone at issue. The investigation is continuing and the person who provided the code wont be publicly identified, Pierce said. 1,000 Phones The drug dealers iPhone was one of more than 1,000 Apple phones that cops around the U.S. have said they cant break into, and its been at the epicenter of a legal fight over privacy and security that may redefine the relationship between police and the public. Fridays turn of events came as a surprise given that prosecutors had been pressing their demand for Apples help since at least October. They said earlier this month they would continue to move forward with their appeal after a magistrate judge sided with Apple. Fred Sainz, an Apple spokesman, declined to comment on the government dropping its appeal. By dropping the case, the government leaves in place a 50-page ruling by the magistrate judge supporting Apples view in the encryption dispute. Although that ruling isnt a precedent that judges must follow, it helped win public support for Apple and may influence judges in future court battles. Whimper Ending Like the California case, the New York fight is ending not with a bang, but with a whimper, said Riana Pfefferkorn, a cryptography fellow at the Stanford Center for Internet and Society. The government has repeatedly insisted that Apples help is utterly necessary in multiple matters involving access to locked iPhones, Pfefferkor said. Going forward, courts should refuse to keep rubber-stamping government efforts to dragoon third parties into doing law enforcements job for it. In what could be the next brewing court fight, Apple has objected to a warrant recently unsealed in Massachusetts federal court for a phone belonging to an alleged gangster, according to a lawyer for the defendant. The order was made public this month in response to efforts by the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts. The group is trying to expose a process of issuing warrants for private data that has largely gone on in secret. In each case, Apple has rebuffed prosecutors, who then have turned to judges to make the company help them bypass encryption built into the phones. As the cases move through the courts, technology companies have rallied to one side and law enforcement the other. Congress has struggled to craft a law to bridge the divide. A House panel this week heard from police officials who said the use of strong encryption is blocking them from fully investigating murders, drug cases and sex crimes against children. Brooklyn Warrant Since the Brooklyn warrant request came to light in October, the U.S. has made at least 10 other demands for Apples help to obtain data on locked devices, including the Massachusetts case and the phone used in last years mass shooting in San Bernardino, according to the company. The California phone had more sophisticated encryption than the one in Brooklyn. The U.S. dropped that case after hackers helped unlock that device. The central legal question in the cases is whether Apple must obey U.S. requests made under the All Writs Act, a 1789 statute that requires compliance with certain warrants if it doesnt create an undue burden. Apple says the law cant be used to compel it to crack its own security features and only Congress can empower judges to order companies to do so. Prosecutors said that at least for some devices those with older operating systems, such as the dealers phone Apple helped dozens of times and only recently changed its position as a public relations move. They say the All Writs Act gives judges the authority to tell companies how to help prosecutors. This week, local law enforcement and crime victims groups held an event in New York to highlight their growing concerns about encryption and how it could potentially hinder investigations. Evidence-Free Zones Congress should not permit companies to manufacture devices that are impenetrable to judicial search warrants, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr. said. It should not permit companies to provide criminals with unprecedented, evidence-free zones. Crime victims are entitled to stronger protections than criminals. Some in Congress are seeking to shore up the law for prosecutors. U.S. senators last week released draft legislation 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. According to Vance, as of March Apple had 230 devices running iOS 8 or higher that it seized with search warrants but cant access. Law enforcement had 552 such devices in Los Angeles, Sacramento and San Bernardino, 145 in Houston and Austin and 137 in Boston, he said. The case is U.S. v. Yang, 1:14-cr-00387, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York (Brooklyn). A 50-year-old man was arrested after Border Patrol agents seized $1.2 million-worth of cocaine from the car he was driving at a checkpoint near Temecula on Wednesday, April 20, authorities said. Agents pulled over the driver of 2005 Honda Accord about 3:15 p.m. on at a checkpoint on Interstate 15, according to a Border Patrol news release. As Border Patrol agents interviewed the man, one of their dogs sniffed around the outside of the car and alerted them that it was detecting drugs. It was during this time that the man admitted to stashing cocaine inside the car, officials say. Border patrol agents then went inside the car and found 30 bundles of cocaine in a secret compartment in the backseat. Officials say the man was arrested and then turned over to the Drug Enforcement Agency, along with the cocaine. The Honda Accord was then confiscated by the border patrol. This is a developing story. Check back for additional information. Contact the writer: 951-368-9693, agroves@pressenterprise.com or @AlexDGroves on Twitter. Riverside County sheriffs deputies are conducting a hate crime investigation after a 17-year-old boy said he was harassed and the car he was driving was vandalized outside of a Temecula 99 Cents Only Store because of his sexual orientation. Deputies received a report of vandalism in the 40300 block of Winchester Road at 9:40 p.m. Sunday, said Riverside County Sheriffs Department spokesman Michael Vasquez. He said the vandalism was being investigated as a hate crime, but he provided few other details. Megan Correa of Murrieta, who fosters the boy, said he had taken her company car to the store near Margarita and Winchester roads around 8:30 p.m. and was approached by several people who had been preaching in front of the store. She said they asked the boy if he wanted to take a survey, and the boy said yes. During the survey, it came up that the boy was gay and the group began to give him a hard time. Thats when they started saying things like God doesnt like gays and hes going to hell and stuff like that, she said. When he turned to go into the store, they started yelling at him. Correa said the boy was in the store for about 30 minutes and when he came out, he found that the car had been vandalized. On the hood of the car was the phrase, God hates you. There was also a derogatory term for homosexuals that had been carved across two of the cars doors. The boy, startled, went home and told his parents, who called authorities. Correa said the boy was worried about the damage to the car. I told him, I dont care about the car. We care about you. Thats the main thing. Thats why we have insurance, she said. Correa said the crime has affected her whole family. My daughter is concerned because I work for a nonprofit affiliated with churches and this is my company car, she said. She thinks this is embarrassing for me. As for her foster son, Correa said the vandalism came as a shock. I think hes sad, she said. He didnt expect this. Correa said she has been working with authorities and hopes they soon will be able to identify suspects, not just for her foster son but also to help others avoid being targeted. If they do catch them, I do want them brought to justice, she said. I just hope that theyre able to find them and put a stop to this. Sheriffs officials are asking anyone with information on the vandalism to contact the Temecula sheriffs station at 951-696-3000. Contact the writer: 951-368-9693 or agroves@pressenterprise.com Beaumont officials voted this week to ask the California Attorney General to investigate Union Banks role as trustee in the sale of $200 million in city bonds after learning some financial records may have been destroyed. The City Councils vote follows months of frustration in efforts to get the bank to provide bond-spending records in the wake of an ongoing corruption probe. The records are needed to account for how bond funds were spent under the tenure of former City Manager Alan Kapanicas, who left the city last year following raids by the FBI and district attorney investigators. A year ago, authorities searched City Hall, Kapanicas Palm Desert home, and the Beaumont offices of Urban Logic Consulting that for years had provided three top administrators. No one has been arrested or charged in connection with the probe. Contacted by telephone Friday, April 22, Kapanicas declined to make any comments. The city is asking for the state Attorney General or the state Department of Business Oversight to investigate and determine whether Union Bank has shirked its legal or fiduciary responsibilities as a trustee. Beyond record keeping, a bond trustee has fiduciary powers to enforce the terms of the bonds, such as ensuring debt payments are made as scheduled. Union Bank also held several city accounts that contained bond proceeds, and processed the withdrawals. Union Bank spokesman Daniel Weidman said in an email that the bank has responded to all requests from the city of Beaumont regarding retrieving the documentation they require. We will cooperate with any governmental investigation and we look forward to demonstrating that we have fulfilled all of our obligations in this matter, his e-mail said. Union Bank takes pride in its service to municipal customers, and while we understand Beaumont is going through a difficult process, the city is a long-time client and we are committed to provide our assistance to them in this process. Still, problems persist. The city has hired Albert A Webb Associates, a consulting firm, to evaluate Beaumont bond debts and their payment schedules. Thousands of Beaumont home owners are still paying these debts through special tax assessments. In a March 30 letter to city, Shane Spicer, the firms municipal finance director, said the firm is having difficulties because Union Bank has disclosed that many records have been destroyed and the bank is not capable of providing necessary support to the city. The city had issued bonds starting in 1994 to raise money for roads, waterworks, sewers and other amenities that were needed for the city to keep up with population growth. Between, 1990 and 2014, Beaumonts population more than quadrupled to more than 42,000 people. Urban Logic and a company created by Kapanicas, General Government Management Services, had for years been paid with bonds funds for their respective engineering and financial services for the city. Following the raids, the city began its own investigation of how bonds were spent, but for months the bank was not forthcoming in providing records even though its role as trustee includes recording-keeping obligations, said City Attorney John Pinkney. Finally, last month, the Los Angeles-based bank released 14,466 pages of documents but only after the City Council took the unusual legal step of issuing legislative subpoenas to compel the bank to release records. The City Council should not have to go through that process, Pinkney said. It should not have taken that amount of time to get them. Contact the writer: 951-368-9471 or ddanelski@pressenterprise.com Hillary Clinton cant win enough delegates on Tuesday to officially knock Bernie Sanders out of the presidential race, but she can erase any lingering honest doubts about whether shell soon be the Democratic nominee. After her victory in New York this past week, Clinton has a lead over Sanders of more than 200 pledged delegates won in primaries and caucuses. As she narrowed Sanders dwindling opportunities to catch up, Clinton continued to build on her overwhelming support among superdelegates the party officials who are free to back any candidate they choose. In the past two days, Clinton picked up 11 more endorsements from superdelegates, according to an Associated Press survey. Factoring in superdelegates, Clintons lead stands at 1,941 to 1,191 for Sanders, according to the AP count. That puts her at 81 percent of the 2,383 delegates needed to win the nomination. At stake Tuesday are 384 delegates in primaries in Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island. This group of contests offers Sanders one of the last chances left on the election calendar to gain ground in pledged delegates and make a broader case to superdelegates to support him. Yet it appears Clinton could do well enough Tuesday to end the night with 90 percent of the delegates needed to win the nomination, leaving her just 200 or so shy. The Sanders campaign knows a tough battle awaits in those five states and says it will reassess its campaign after Tuesday. If Sanders fails to win significantly in the latest primaries, he wont have another chance to draw closer in a big way until California votes on June 7. Clinton is on track to already have hit the magic number of 2,383 by that point. A look at the paths forward for the two candidates: SANDERS HOPE: RECAPTURE MOMENTUM After losing New York, Sanders needs to win 73 percent of the remaining delegates and uncommitted superdelegates to capture the nomination. Thats not too realistic. So his campaign is arguing that the Vermont senator can flip superdelegates at the July convention in Philadelphia, especially if he were somehow able to overtake Clinton among pledged delegates. To do so, Sanders would need to win 59 percent of those remaining. The Sanders camp acknowledges that will require a win in Pennsylvania, the biggest prize on Tuesday with 189 delegates. Sanders is trailing Clinton by double digits in preference polling in the state. His campaign also believes he can pick up delegates in Connecticut, where 55 are at stake. Sanders would recapture some momentum with such an unexpected big-state win, but he cant escape the fact that Democrats award delegates in proportion to the vote. Even the loser gets some. That means a close victory for Sanders in Pennsylvania probably would be offset by the results in Maryland. That state, the second biggest prize of the night with 95 delegates, is a Clinton stronghold. The upshot: To catch Clinton, Sanders needs big wins in the delegate-rich, racially diverse states still left to hold primary elections. The problem: His next win by such a wide margin over Clinton in such a state would be his first. CLINTONS PATH: BOLSTER HER BIG LEAD If Clinton were to win four or five states Tuesday, as preference polling suggests, she will extend her pledged delegate lead to about 300. The most likely scenario: big hauls in Pennsylvania and Maryland, and modest gains in Delaware, Connecticut and Rhode Island. At that point, she would need to win just 35 percent or so of the remaining delegates from primaries and caucuses to maintain her lead in pledged delegates. In actuality, shes been winning 55 percent so far. More significantly, doing well on Tuesday would likely cement her support among superdelegates. Clinton now holds a 513-38 advantage among those party officials. An additional 163 superdelegates have yet to commit, but many have told the AP that they ultimately will support the candidate who wins the most delegates in the primaries and caucuses. Never before have superdelegates lifted a candidate to the Democratic nomination when he or she trailed in pledged delegates. When superdelegates are included, Clintons lead after an average performance on Tuesday would require Sanders to start winning far more than the three of every four delegates he needs now just to catch up. Do a little better than that, and Clinton can reasonably expect to clinch the nomination by June 7 before the first votes are even counted in California. An SUV roll-over deep in the desert sent four people to the hospital, two by medical evacuation helicopters, according to the California Highway Patrol website and Riverside County Fire Department officials. The wreck was reported at 5:35 p.m. Friday, April 22, along the westbound lanes of Interstate 10 about 2 miles west of Eagle Mountain Road near the tiny community of Desert Center. A Chevy Avalanche overturned, leaving a woman unable to move, at least one witness told California Highway Patrol dispatchers. Some of the four victims were ejected and at least one was trapped in the wreckage, fire officials said in a written statement. The crews of three fire trucks were dispatched. At least four Inland Southern California law enforcement agencies are deploying or preparing to deploy drones those techy flying devices that are all the rage these days in ways, they say, will serve the public. Those include: Finding lost hikers shivering in the cold in the local mountains or withering in the searing heat of the lower desert. Taking detailed photos and video from a sweeping birds eye view of a major traffic accident or crime scene. Peering in windows of suspects cars during standoffs or gun battles like the one that followed the Dec. 2 San Bernardino terrorist attack when shooters Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik were killed, but authorities werent sure if their black SUV was packed with bombs. Drones are going to be commonplace, eventually, Hemet Police Chief David Brown said recently. And people wont think twice about it, Brown said. Not everyone with the concept of skies filled with remote-controlled cop-copters. Obviously, Brown said, the concern today is Big Brother in the sky. Peter Bibring, director of police practices for ACLU of California and senior staff attorney for the ACLU of Southern California, said because there is potential for abuse, limits should be established up front. Mission creep is a perennial problem for new surveillance technologies, Bibring said. A department may give one reason for acquiring a technology, such as search and rescue missions. But once they have that there is pressure to use it for any circumstance they can to justify that acquisition. It hasnt helped that the news media have been abuzz with stories in recent months about FBI surveillance planes circling American cities. And Buzzfeed recently reported that, within 90 minutes of the San Bernardino attack, two government planes were up over the Inland Regional Center. One reportedly was a Cessna operated by the FBI; the other a DHS Pilatus PC-12 surveillance plane. Then on the afternoon of Dec. 2, the online publication stated, the FBI plane circled the Redlands townhome of Farook and Malik. Buzzfeed asserted that for the next several days planes flew in the vicinity of a mosque Farook had attended. Lindsay Ram, a spokeswoman for the FBI in Washington, D.C., declined to address the report of flights over San Bernardino, citing the ongoing investigation into the mass shooting. Ram, however, did say in an email: The FBI routinely uses aviation assets in support of investigations targeting specific individuals and, when requested, in support of state and local law enforcement, Ram said. The targets are specific predicated individuals and not buildings. MISSION CREEP Planes and helicopters are reasonably large and noisy. Drones, not so much. Former Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn said in a telephone interview that suspicions about the smaller, quieter device torpedoed a drone program there three years ago. It was small, not easily noticed and could fly anywhere, McGinn said. It conjured up images of the omnipresent surveillance state. It was clear why Seattle police wanted drones. They could see the value of getting a different perspective on a dangerous situation, McGinn said. But it wasnt so clear to residents how the drones or unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), as the industry calls them were to be deployed. There was a lot of public concern about how the drones would be used and whether they would infringe on privacy, McGinn said. There may be a need for legislation, too. There is this fear that the government will be peeking in windows and looking in back yards. And I understand that concern, Brown said. We operate under a system that requires authorization to look into peoples private space. He said a law may be needed to clarify police must obtain a warrant before sending a drone out in certain situations. MILLION OTHER THINGS Local law enforcement officials say they have been clear about their intentions and will not deploy drones for general, random surveillance. Fontana Police Lt. Billy Green, commander of the Inland Valley SWAT Team that serves Fontana, Colton and Rialto, said thats not what he has in mind. We have about a million other things to do than fly around to see if we can find out what people are doing, Green said. He said his department intends to use drones soley in SWAT tactical operations. The Fontana Police Department has two drones. Green said the agency purchased a DJI Phantom 2 quadcopter about a year ago for $2,000 and has been testing it. On April 13, the department added a $28,000 NMotion drone equipped with an infrared camera, he said. The drones are expected to generate cost savings, as they can be flown at a fraction of the cost of helicopters. Fontana has three helicopters and spent $1.3 million on its air support unit in 2015, he said. Green said the devices also will make some operations safer. Citing an example, he said on occasion searches for dangerous suspects start in the city and wind up in nearby Lytle Creek Canyon. We could give ourselves aerial coverage to find out where a suspect might be hiding with a gun, rather than send an officer into that situation, he said. Fontana has applied to the FAA for permission to use drones and is waiting for a decision, Green said. OTHER APPROACHES In nearby San Bernardino, police received FAA approval a few weeks ago, officials said. San Bernardino Police Chief Jarrod Burguan said his department will limit use of its DJI Inspire 1 to three purposes: Taking aerial photograhs of crime scenes; Aiding tactical operations such as those involving a hostage or barricaded suspect; And searching for missing people. The Riverside County Sheriffs Department announced in late March it is launching a one-year experiment with drones for searches. Murrieta Police used a drone once, in a May 2015 active-shooter training exercise, according to Lt. Tony Conrad. He said his department plans to put up UAVs over major traffic accidents and outdoor crime scenes. Other departments are on the sidelines. Assistant Police Chief Christopher Vicino said Riverside is content with its helicopters. Ditto for the San Bernardino County Sheriffs Department, said spokeswoman Jodi Miller. And Corona, Colton and Hemet police say they have nothing in the works. Riverside County is the latest agency to publicly announce plans for drones. The large Sheriffs Department conducts about 170 search-and-rescue missions a year in a vast territory stretching from the Orange County line to the Colorado River. It is often crucial to reach lost or injured people in a hurry, in a region marked by icy winters in the mountains and extreme desert heat. It is the departments hope, said Chief Deputy Kevin Vest, that a drone will speed up rescues. SEARCH AND RESCUE The department has helicopters. But theyre not always available and the weathers not always conducive to flying. At a cost of about $30 an hour, drones are cheaper to operate, too, as choppers run as high as $600 an hour, Vest said. For the year-long tryout, Vest said the sheriff will test, at no cost, a Phoenix-M model from Minnesota-based Sentera. It has a still camera and heat sensor. The agency chose a model that cant hover the fixed-wing Phoenix flies like an airplane, not a helicopter in part to ease concerns the device might be used to spy on people, Vest said. David Kovar, a drone expert in Illinois who has directed numerous rescues and is advocacy director for the National Association for Search and Rescue, said drones could prove helpful in many missions, though not all. Kovar commended the sheriff for not buying a UAV up front. He said it is wise to evaluate the drones usefulness before committing. Asked about selecting a drone that flies like an airplane to ease concerns, he said: I think its a valid point, but only because people arent terribly rational. However, factually, depending on the environment, the fixed wing is still capable of capturing imaging that would be of concern to people. BINDING POLICY Riverside County appears to be adhering to a principle espoused by the national assocation that drones obtained for rescues be used for no other purpose. Still, the ACLU contends that commitment should be made in writing. If they say theyre going to use it in searches and rescues only, thats one thing, Bibring said. But the key is whether there is a binding policy that limits the use to that purpose. Vest said the sheriff does not yet have such a policy. But throughout the test phase and preparation, the policy will be solidified, he said in an email. Just to reiterate, the UAV will only be used for the search and rescue mission. Bibring also said policies should be aired in public before being adopted. Burguan said San Bernardino did that. We openly presented this in front of council, which is an open forum, he said. At a January meeting of the San Bernardino City Council, Burguan outlined how a drone might have been used Dec. 2. He said police could have flown right up to the window of shooters black SUV, to determine if it was safe to approach. IN THE INFANCY Like Riverside County, San Bernardino intends to call out its drone for rescues in addition to tactical situations and major crime scenes. The city department doesnt have as much territory to cover as the sheriff, but people do disappear in area foothills and flood-control channels. And Burguan said a drone will be able to do things that other tools cannot, such as fly low over a channel and find someone hidden under a bridge. Sgt. John Cardillo, who directs San Bernardinos three-person drone-flying team, said the city has spent $8,000 to date on the program. Burguan said his department hasnt put its drone into play, but expects to soon. The chief said he realizes some people will be suspicious. To a degree, that makes sense. Were in the infancy with these things for law enforcement, Burguan said. But in some ways it doesnt make sense, he suggested. We have helicopters up in the sky that have the ability to do surveillance. How do you think we find marijuana groves in the middle of the forest? he asked. That stuff happens now. Cardillo said he believes suspicions spring mostly from the novelty of the technology. I think its just a matter of people, he said, becoming more acclimated to it. Contact the writer: 951-368-9699 or ddowney@pressenterprise.com Two and a half months after two Jurupa Valley High School agriculture teachers were placed on paid leave amid allegations of misconduct, students, parents and program supporters say the investigation has gone on too long and are asking for the instructors return. We need our advisers back, Alexandra Gonzalez told the Jurupa school board. Gonzalez was one of about a dozen people who spoke at Mondays meeting. Brian Kantner and Robert Norwood have been on leave since Feb. 4 while the Jurupa Unified School District investigates. School district officials have not elaborated on the nature of the accusations, citing employee confidentiality. Kantner declined to comment; Norwood couldnt be reached. Superintendent Elliott Duchon on Friday again declined to comment except to say that interviews were taking longer to set up than previously had been anticipated. Were hoping this will be done soon, Duchon said. Hopefully, in the next couple of weeks. Duchon said that, from the beginning, district officials have met with parents to address their concerns. Meanwhile, The program has continued as good or better than it has been run throughout the year. Parents counter that their childrens education has been disrupted by having inexperienced substitutes in the classroom instead of the instructors they know and trust. Parent Martin Dayton, who also spoke Monday, and his sons Warren, 16, and Kyle, 15, were interviewed in March as part of the investigation. Dayton said last week that he was questioned about his sons pig breeding project and whether it was actually a business from which he was profiting. I denied all of the allegations, Dayton said. They also questioned me about the money the Booster Club makes and how it is spent. Dayton and other parents who spoke to the school board also noted that Kantner had been removed from the classroom and is under investigation despite receiving the California Agricultural Teachers Association Southern Region Teacher of Excellence Award on April 2. Tim Taber, president of the Jurupa Valley FFA Parent Support Group, said district officials have thrown away equipment at the school farm, including pig feeders, the cattle chute and mats on which pigs lie. They also removed the horses used for the horsemanship class. Duchon said the horses were removed because they were in poor condition and could not be ridden. Taber said a horseshoer who worked on the horses just before they were removed said they were in good condition. Duchon said that, despite the controversy engulfing the agriculture program, the district remains committed to it. Ag is an incredibly good program, he said. It needs to be part of the curriculum, and we intend to continue it. Contact the writer: 951-368-9647 or sstokley@pressenterprise.com According to state law, fines, penalties, and license money shall be appropriated exclusively to the use and support of the common schools ... . An exception is fines for overloaded vehicles. Seventy-five percent of those funds go to state highways; 25 percent go to the county general fund where the fine or penalty is paid. Fifty percent of money forfeited or seized in enforcing drug laws goes to counties for drug enforcement. Vehicles seized in drug law cases may be used by law enforcement agencies or sold with the proceeds going to schools. County Court Traffic Sentences Emilie Erickson, 23, Sioux Falls, South Dakota, no operator's license, $75 fine and $48 court costs. James Scheffler, 61, St. Edward, speeding, 68 mph in a 55 mph zone, $75 fine and $48 court costs. Kaleb Puntney, 18, 117 S. Parkway, careless driving, $100 fine and $48 court costs. Marissa Aldrete, 45, Lincoln, speeding, 75 mph in a 65 mph zone, $25 fine and $48 court costs. Ibraim Salinas, 19, Norfolk, speeding, 80 mph in a 65 mph zone, $75 fine and $48 court costs. Melody Taylor, 42, Sioux City, Iowa, failure to yield right of way, $25 fine and $48 court costs. John Lippert, 68, 3205 40th St., no motorcycle helmet, $50 fine and $48 court costs. Jacob Tynan, 18, 2469 18th Ave., no operator's license on person, $25 fine and $48 court costs. Marshall Gronenthal, 38, Humphrey, no motorcycle operator's license and no valid registration, $100 fines and $48 court costs. Juan Suy-Macario, 27, 4505 19th St., no operator's license, $75 fine and $48 court costs. Yorleni Reyes, 33, 3125 15th Ave., no operator's license, $75 fine and $48 court costs. Sarah Martin, 36, 3384 Mimick Lane, traffic signal violation, $75 fine and $48 court costs. Rodney Vodehnal, 52, Grand Island, over axle weight, $150 fine and $48 court costs. Nicole Bader, 24, 1904 12th St., failure to yield on a left turn and no seat belt, $50 fines and $48 court costs. Criminal Sentences Aymara DeLaCruz, 25, 2215 14th St., theft-shoplifting $0-$500, $150 fine and $49 court costs. Savier Garcia-Sarduy, 20, 2723 14th St., no operator's license and littering, $125 fines and $49 court costs. Miguel Lopez, 21, Schuyler, theft-shoplifting $0-$500, $150 fine, $10.66 restitution and $49 court costs. Neil Barels, 34, 6375 Country Club Drive, over axle weight and driving commercially without a commercial driver's license, $600 fine and $49 court costs. Douglas Cerny, 43, Osceola, third-degree assault, $150 fine and $49 court costs. Natassya Olsan, 23, 858 33rd Ave., D-10, attempt of a Class I misdemeanor, 12 months probation and $49 court costs; driving under the influence and leaving the scene of an accident, 12 months probation, $500 fine, operator's license revoked to 60 days and $49 court costs. Chloe Lohkamp, 19, Creston, selling tobacco to a minor, $75 fine and $49 court costs. Carl McCleese III, 19, David City, possession of K2 or marijuana-one ounce or less, $300 fine and $49 court costs. Deisree Roberts, 32, Albion, theft-shoplifting $0-$500, $250 fine and $49 court costs. District Court Criminal Sentences Joshua Brown, 24, 1654 12th Ave., driving during revocation for driving under the influence, 90 days in jail, operator's license revoked for 15 years and $49 court costs. Southern California News Group has appointed Brian Calle as Opinion Editor overseeing the editorial board and opinion content at its 11 daily newspapers and websites. In his new role, Calle expands upon his current role managing opinion teams at The Orange County Register and The Press-Enterprise. He will also oversee opinion and commentary staff at the Los Angeles Daily News, Daily Breeze in Torrance, Long Beach Press-Telegram, Pasadena Star-News, San Gabriel Valley Tribune, Whittier Daily News, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, The Sun in San Bernardino and Redlands Facts. Calle is responsible for facilitating collaboration on national and regional topics across all Southern California News Group properties, and will actively engage community leaders and publish editorials around local issues specific to each market. Effective immediately, Calle reports to Ron Hasse, President of Southern California News Group and Publisher of The Orange County Register, and Frank Pine, Executive Editor of Southern California News Group and the Register. Our opinion coverage is a powerful platform to facilitate public discourse and debate around the issues, people and policies that matter most to our communities, Hasse said. Under Brians leadership, we will further amplify the opinions of thought leaders and assure a variety of important perspectives are being heard. Pine added, Brian brings a deep knowledge of local politics, and an inherent understanding of which voices and viewpoints will most resonate in each individual community. He is a respected journalist who cares deeply about our communities, and our readers will notice it in the depth and quality of our editorials moving forward. It is a tremendous honor to lead the opinion and commentary teams at Southern California News Group, Calle said. I am committed to expanding and elevating the voices within each local market so that they are a true reflection of the needs and interests of our communities. According to Calle, the editorial stance will reflect a thoughtful, credible and articulate voice that advocates for pragmatic policies that are economically and fiscally responsible and socially inclusive. We will take tough stands that may sometimes fly in the face of whats popular, Calle said. As an opinion group, we will aspire to be the thought leaders shaping a new advent of social and economic prosperity. We will provide a unique and different perspective that both honors the values of each of our local communities, but also moves our region and state forward. Southern California News Groups Opinion section includes coverage of local, regional and national political and public policy issues. The team produces editorials, columns, blogs, op-eds, letters to the editor, social media posts, editorial cartoons and community events. Calle first joined The Orange County Register in 2009 as an editorial writer and columnist, was promoted to Opinion Editor in 2012. In 2013, he also became vice president of Commentary, serving as Opinion Editor for both the Register and The Press-Enterprise. He is also a professor and Presidential Fellow at Chapman University. Previously, Calle worked as vice president of the Claremont Institute and as a congressional aide in the United States House of Representatives. He has also taught undergraduate students at California State University, Los Angeles and California State University, Fullerton. A mail delivery truck carrying the personal information of 2,400 Kaiser Permanente members on the Inland Empire Health Plan was stolen last month from a parking lot in Santa Clarita, officials announced Friday. Michelle Simms, a Kaiser Permanente spokeswoman, said the health care provider reported the theft to Los Angeles County Sheriffs station in Santa Clarita. Officials believe the incident took place sometime between March 12 and March 14. The vehicle was later recovered, but the mail on the truck was not. It is unclear where or when the truck was found. The mail delivery truck contained Evidence of Coverage handbooks for Kaiser Permanente California Medi-Cal members in Southern California who are part of the Inland Empire Health Plan. It was not parked in a secure area, which violated Kaisers vendor mail delivery policies, officials said in a news release. The stolen property contained protected health information, including names, addresses and the handbooks, which provide a generic overview of plan benefits. It did not include Social Security numbers, medical record numbers, descriptions of any medical services, health status or financial and account information, officials said. Kaiser authorities said they have no reason to believe the (protected health information) that was stolen could be used for any fraudulent or other improper activity. We are in the process of notifying and apologizing to our members affected by this incident, officials said in a statement. We have investigated this matter and are taking appropriate steps to prevent similar errors in the future. For more information, contact Kaiser Permanente at 1-800-464-4000. Corona police are searching for an auto theft suspect who slammed into a cop car during a pursuit early Saturday, April 23. At 4:46 a.m., a resident of Rockcrest Drive in northwest Corona reported a thief was driving away with his white ford pickup and attached utility trailer, said police Lt. Mark Johnson. Officers found the truck and pursued the suspect along residential streets near Fairview Park. The suspect backed into a police cruiser, then fled on foot into a densely-populated neighborhood, Johnson said. Both vehicles sustained minor damage. No one was injured. Officers have not been able to find the suspect. Police are still monitoring the area. Anyone who spots a suspicious looking person in the area is urged call police at 951-736-2221. FONTANA Zarifeh Shalabi isnt a traditional prom queen. This was my first dance, said Shalabi, 17, a senior at Summit High School. I never went to a high school party. Shalabi is a devout Muslim from a conservative Muslim family and wears a hijab a head scarf that many Muslim women wear to completely conceal their hair from men outside of their family to school each day. You dont typically see a Muslim girl with a hijab go to prom, she said. Its not our norm. This was her last chance to go to a prom, and many of her friends were going, without dates, so Shalabi paid $100 for her ticket. But the nomination for prom queen came as a complete surprise. She was one of 30 girls nominated by the students, in her case by fellow members of the schools Peer Leaders group. In Peer Leaders, theres another girl, named Helena, who wins a lot of pageants. Her peers chose Shalabi instead, and when the nominees were culled to five finalists, Shalabi was shocked to hear her name among them. My friend Savannah said, We have to start campaigning. The finalists were named April 6, and voting for prom king and queen began immediately after, with the prom April 9. That sent Shalabi and her friends scrambling. They printed up bright green T-shirts emblazoned Vote for Zarifeh. But then her friends went one step further: They wanted to wear hijabs, just like Shalabi does, to display their support for her in the most obvious way possible. And once they got to school April 7, even more girls asked to wear them. I had friends running me down in the hall, and asking to wear them, too. Shalabi almost didnt make it to the prom. Although her Palestinian-born mother, Manal Haifa, initially agreed to let her attend I showed her the form. Girls have to dress appropriately. There will be no dirty dancing Haifa went back and forth, concerned that Shalabi attending would be seen as inappropriate to others in her conservative social circles. She had her ticket, yes, and she had been begging me for months, Haifa said. She wrote a long letter to my brothers and sisters to convince me. It worked partially. My sister, who lives in Florida, is very conservative, and said, Let her go. Shalabis uncles, on the other hand, werent so keen. It wasnt that Haifa doesnt trust her daughter. She didnt want Shalabi to be a target. I was scared, because of her scarf. Despite the rough year for Muslims in America, Shalabi said she never has had any issues at school. In school, I get along well with everyone, she said. Everyones very respectful. Seeing Shalabis non-Muslim friends creating campaign signs and wearing hijabs, ultimately convinced her mother. But Haifa who never went to the prom when she was in high school in Puerto Rico never expected Shalabis night to end the way it did. I was sitting on the couch (during the prom) and my other daughter, a sophomore, said, Mom, Mom, she won! after getting the news via social media. But Haifa is still not sure that Shalabis three younger sisters will be able to attend a prom when their senior year arrives. At the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, where the prom took place, Shalabi didnt want to get her hopes up. She said she was just excited to be there. Even if I dont win, its still been such a great experience. Her friend, Riley Layos, was named prom king, and Shalabi thought that was the peak of the night. I was very calm and looking to the crowd, she said, thinking, This is a fun experience. I dont mind who wins. And then the room erupted with cheers when her name was called. But Shalabi couldnt be crowned. The crown was too loose when placed over her close-fitting hijab, so she carried the crown while wearing a tiara worn by other girls in the homecoming court. For many people, learning about and receiving mental health care is a challenge; for children and teenagers in particular, its even more difficult. Which is why, on April 12, the B Street Theatre group performed Walk in Our Shoes a musical play about recognizing and overcoming mental illness for students of Castle View Elementary in Riverside. The play conveys the information in a manner appropriate to its target audience: 9- to 13-year-olds. Funded by the California Mental Health Services Authority, the campaign is now in its third year and in 2016 has completed over 108 performances statewide. The campaign uses real stories from teenagers and educates children on various illnesses such as bipolar disorder, anorexia, attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder or ADHD and post-traumatic stress disorder. The actors portray fictional teenagers in scenarios the audience would be familiar with and uses simplified language to provide clear definitions of the illnesses. Principal Erica Square said a parent recommended the program to the school. At Castle View, (we teach) our students to be respectful of all people, (and) this program reinforces our character education message, Square said. Deonte Goodman, a B Street actor who plays a character who struggles with ADHD, believes that it is important to relay those messages to children. The idea that kids arent developed enough to know what it is like to have a mental health challenge (is) a stigma were trying to break, he said. After the show, the actors answer a variety of questions from students, Goodman said, ranging from their lives as actors to more hard-hitting questions such as what to do with a family member who is mentally ill but refuses help. Fortunately, Castle View Elementary has a mental health counselor who can assist with such difficult questions. Riverside Unified School District has implemented the school assistance plan, which provides a licensed counselor to each school site to address the social and emotional needs of our students, Square said. hit with teachers, too The performance not only helps students, Goodman says, but also aids teachers. The teachers come up to us and tell us how great it is that were here and how this will open a door to be able to talk about these things, he said. The impact the performance has on students can range from youths identifying with the characters to providing a little confidence boost to students who may be struggling. I have had kids come up to me and say they relate to my story because they feel what my character is feeling, Goodman said. Or a kid will say, You riding that skateboard made me realize I can ride a bike without training wheels. Square was thrilled by the performance and hopes the actors can return to the campus in the future. The assembly was provided for our students free of charge, but the wealth of information was priceless, she said. For more information, visit walkinourshoes.org. Contact the writer: community@pressenterprise.com Plenty of kids learn karate, but few reach a high level of achievement as young as 11-year-old Tiffany Miller of Murrieta. Since she was 7, Tiffany, a fifth-grade honor student at Avaxat Elementary School in Murrieta, has been taking karate lessons from Curtis Karate in Murrieta. Tiffany is one belt away from obtaining her black belt the highest belt level and expects to earn it within a year. Tiffanys mother says she has been told that only about 2 percent of karate students obtain a black belt. Tiffany has competed in numerous tournaments across the nation hosted by the United States Karate Alliance and the United States Association of Martial Artists. Tiffany has placed at least in the top three in almost all of her tournaments for her age category. Tiffany competes in three categories: kata, which is fight scenes with no partner; weapons (nunchucks and kama, a short, sickle-type weapon); and sparring, or controlled fighting with a partner. Last month, she traveled with her parents to Albuquerque, N.M., to attend the USAMA Grand Internationals tournament and banquet. Tiffany was recognized as the 2015 USAMA world champion in kata and sparring and runner-up in weapons. Tiffany won grand champion (one of two qualified) during the tournament. At the same tournament last year, Tiffany placed first in kata. Her mother, Reynalyn Miller, also competed in the adults division and took a grand champion award in weapons, making them the first mother-daughter pair to achieve this since the USAMA was formed, Miller said. Tiffany first became familiar with karate when she saw a demonstration at her school during a fair. She won a free karate class, so she tried it out. She now takes karate classes twice weekly and sometimes up to four times a week. The teachers are very fun, and they make training fun as well, Tiffany said. Karate students reach several skill levels and earn belts of various colors, with a black belt being the highest level. Even if she earns her black belt by the time shes 12, Tiffany said, I guess Ill keep on training because its pretty fun. She may try a different kind of martial arts but also is becoming interested in volleyball, said her mother. It improves my health and gets me more fit and I just like it, Tiffany said. She said doing karate also has improved her self-confidence. Tiffanys mother began taking karate classes at the same school a few months after her daughter started. Miller said karate has benefited the family. Shes gotten more disciplined, she said of her daughter. Its something to do other than lay down and watch YouTube on her phone. It will benefit her when shes older in case something happens. God forbid, shell be able to defend herself or at least do something. I started doing it because she made it look easy, plus I wanted to do something with exercise for health, said Miller, who said she has built stamina and lost a little weight. It bonds us. Were on a mission to get our black belts together. There are seven belts students can earn before the black belt level, and each belt has degrees. Miller is on her fifth belt. The length of time it takes to earn a black belt depends on the dedication of the student and the schools standards. An adult karate student who attends class twice a week can expect to earn a black belt in about five years, according to livestrong.com. Tiffanys next USAMA competition is in Riverside on April 30. This summer, shell participate in a Karate Alliance tournament in July in Arizona, and shes going to another USAMA tournament in August in Las Vegas. Contact the writer: community@pressenterprise.com Nine Pacific Crest Trail backpackers sat outside Whitewater Trail House on a recent morning waiting to be shuttled on the next leg of their journey. Just two weeks into what could be a six-month adventure, hikers with trail names such as the Beast, Forget-Me-Not and Special Delivery were determined to walk from Mexico to Canada on as much of the trail as they could. But last summers Lake fire left a 15.5-mile section of trail closed to the north in the San Bernardino National Forest one of two sections of the trail now closed in that forest following wildfires. The nine long-distance thru-hikers, who are attempting to backpack the 2,650-mile national scenic trail from one end to another, shuttled by van to Big Bear Lake or nearby Onyx Summit on Highway 38, where the trail reopens. They didnt want to risk rumored $2,500 fines or their safety to travel through the closure, bus six hours to Big Bear or pound pavement on an alternate route. I know some other people who are what we call purists want to hike every inch of the trail, said Robert Bobcat Donnellan, 38, of Asheville, N.C., sitting at a picnic table outside the Whitewater home where he was staying April 13. I personally dont care. I didnt come out here to road walk. That afternoon in Idyllwild, a 34-mile hike south, Bruce Man in Black Cornish of San Diego planned to research an alternate hiking route to bypass the closed section while waiting for friends. At 59, he retired early from a job as an eighth-grade science teacher to hike the entire route after dreaming about the trip for 20 years. The philosophy of this trail is, Hike your own hike, he said, standing outside an ultralight tent in Mount San Jacinto State Parks forest campground in Idyllwild. If people want to hitch ahead, thats cool. Its just not for me. http://cdn.thinglink.me/jse/embed.js Soon none of that may be necessary. U.S. Forest Service staff and San Gorgonio Wilderness Association trail volunteers are working to reopen that section in May, 11 months after the 49-square-mile blaze torched much of the San Gorgonio Wilderness and areas to the east containing the trail. While many hikers understand trail changes and closures are part of the experience, some are asking whether that section will open soon enough. Yet south in Idyllwild, others are asking why about 14.8 miles of the Pacific Crest Trail approaching the mountain town from about Cedar Springs Trail north to Little Tahquitz Valley Trail and eight miles of access trails remain closed three years after the 27,531-acre Mountain fire burned in the San Jacinto Mountains. Other trails also remained closed in both areas, including South Fork, Aspen Grove and Lost Creek in the Lake fire area, and Fobes, Spitler Peak and Willow Creek in the Mountain fire area. Tahquitz Valley Trail and Cedar Springs Trail northeast of the Pacific Crest Trail are open in the Mountain fire area. Going to get crazy This years long-distance thru-hikers, already trekking north from Mexico, are hitchhiking or taking shuttles, buses or alternate routes with some still going through both closed burn areas. Hiking the Pacific Crest Trail through these sections peaks from mid-April until the end of May. By Monday, 200 hikers had stopped by the Whitewater Trail House 100 yards off the trail to pick up packages, shower or camp overnight. At least 600 were expected by months end, and that many in May. About 255 hikers signed in at Mount San Jacinto State Park campground last year, but about 400 probably went through. Between March 1 and Thursday, 140 hikers registered, state park aide Tom Inocencio said. On April 14, San Gorgonio Wilderness trail crews, led by San Bernardino National Forest trail specialist Jeannette Granger and San Gorgonio Wilderness Association Trail Project Manager Bob Williams of Riverside, began removing potential trail hazards in the closed Lake fire section of the Pacific Crest Trail. Others have been logging and clearing unburned portions. Although 15.5 miles of the Pacific trail are closed there, only about 3.8 miles burned on both sides of Mission Springs trail camp, Granger said. We are hoping hoping, fingers crossed that we can repair the worst of the damage in the high-intensity burn, she said. The next day, Granger and 12 volunteers carried hand tools a mile south from Mission Springs to the most devastated part of the trail. Charred stumps at least 12 feet high and gaping 5- to 7-foot stump holes sat along the path. Farther in, the trail snaked through a skeleton forest of towering black trees, ash and rock, with a few willows sprouting green shoots. A chainsaw whined, followed by a thunking axe, as volunteers Bob Lum and Cliff Heck cut a 60-foot burned tree that lay snapped in two on the trail and a slope above. Four to five men rolled thick, heavy sections of the tree away so backpackers already traveling through despite the closure would no longer take an alternate route up a slope, risking falls and sending erosion into Mission Creek, habitat for endangered willow flycatchers. Others in yellow hard hats stabilized loose dirt slopes, rebuilt landslide-covered trail, added stepping stones across the creek to prevent erosion and silting, and filled stump holes. Walking through a burned area isnt safe, Granger said. Danger in the unstable areas can come from falling branches dubbed widow-makers, dead giant trees with weak roots that can fall and crush hikers, loose rocks, rolling debris including logs, flash floods, trailside stump holes and slippery ash. If they come through and get hurt, its on them, said Granger, adding the U.S. Forest Service is too short-staffed to enforce the closures. No one has yet been fined, Forest Service officials said. http://cdn.thinglink.me/jse/embed.js Washed off a hill Forest officials had hoped to get the closed Lake fire section reopened in early May because people already are hiking through. But it may take longer as the areas safety, especially on slopes above the trail, is evaluated after repairs, said San Bernardino National Forest spokesman John Miller said. People who live or own businesses in Idyllwild are asking why the closed Lake fire segment to the north is opening faster than the San Jacinto Mountains portion. Miller said that section was damaged heavily by the Mountain fire and two storms soon after. More than 90 percent was hit with heavy erosion, gullies, washouts, rock fall, and weakened slope retention walls and switchbacks. Many trees fell onto the trail or are at risk to, according to the San Jacinto Ranger Districts October 2015 update. In the Mountain fire, it basically got washed off the side of the hill, Miller said. Repairs are taking place in phases. A 6.3-mile section from Cedar Spring Trail north to Spitler Peak Trail and Fobes access trail may open in late 2016 or in 2017 after the Urban Conservation Corps, American Conservation Experience and Pacific Crest Trail Association trail gorillas began work in late September 2015, the update reports. A more severely damaged 8.5 miles on the steep slopes of the San Jacinto Mountains east face will cost $2 million to $3 million to repair and is expected to open in 2018. About $750,000 was earmarked for work in 2017 and 2018. Forest officials will seek more funding for yearly heavy maintenance while the area recovers from the fire. As he sat on the steps outside Higher Grounds Coffee House, Idyllwild resident Joe Blue Annello said closures like this are part of the experience. The trail changes, said Annello, who hiked the Pacific Crest Trail from May 5 to Oct. 1, 2015. Thats kind of the beauty of the trail. Its a living, breathing entity. Contact the writer: 951-368-9444 or shurt@pressenterprise.com Editor's note: The following information on local sales taxes was prepared by city of Columbus staff members in support of the taxes' renewal during the May 10 primary election. The ballot to be provided to the Columbus voters for the May 10 election will have two questions on the extension of the current city sales taxes. The questions will be divided into two parts, Proposition A and Proposition B. The divided question was intentionally split by the city council to provide the greatest opportunity for the voters to express their positions on each portion of the requested extension of the sales taxes. Proposition A asks voters to vote for or against continuation of the current 1 percent sales tax to fund projects that have historically been approved by the community, including drainage, capital and street improvements. Additionally, the 1 percent sales tax will provide bond coverage for projects proposed to be undertaken and noted in Proposition B and covering some operational expenses in the city aquatics facilities. A vote for this proposition will allow the tax to be implemented beginning April 1, 2017, and to run for 10 years. The 10-year sunset is necessary to ensure the aforementioned bond coverage. Proposition B asks voters to reauthorize the half-percent sales tax rate to provide funding for two special projects presently proposed and under consideration in the community: a new library/cultural arts facility and police and fire facilities. Preliminary planning activities are currently underway for these projects, but no construction would be initiated unless the proposition is approved. A vote for this proposition will allow the tax to be implemented beginning Jan. 1, 2017, and run until the bonds to finance either, or both, of these projects have been retired. Passage of Proposition A is necessary for Proposition B to become effective. If Proposition A and Proposition B are not approved by the voters, the current sales tax would be terminated and collections will cease. The city would be required, as by statute, to wait 23 months before voters could be asked again to consider voting for a sales tax. The city is presently working to advance the potential projects to be funded by Proposition B into a right size, right cost for Columbus and consideration by the voters. Work needs to continue toward this end and when completed, the Columbus voters will once again be asked to express their support or opposition for each project in the form of a ballot question on the issuance of bonds for the cost of construction. Votes on each project will be independent of one another and would include information as to the specifics of each project and estimated public costs. If those bonds are not approved by Columbus voters, work on the projects would cease. A follow-up article will be presented to The Telegram for publication next week discussing the specifics of the projects mentioned in Proposition B." We as a society have been conditioned to accept increasing levels of nonsense in the name of fast food, from milkshakes with piles of doughuts stuck on top to the Double Down Dog to whatever Nutella-based bullshit were doing this week. With that in mind, you may or may not be surprised to learn of the existence of the franken-food that is the With Everything Burger, brought to you by the Japanese chain Lotteria. The high-set burger, apparently something of an annual tradition, has recently been reintroduced at the restaurant, and the list of ingredients is as amazing and/or sickening as youd hope. Constituent parts include but are possibly not limited to: lettuce, cabbage, egg, a slice of cheese, a cheeseburger, a rib patty, a fried shrimp patty, a beef patty, pickles and various sauces, like ketchup, mayo and teriyaki sauce. It comes in at a hefty 5711.16kj, and is priced at around $AU16. The finished product does not quite resemble the above PR photo, as these examples from previous years indicate: Lotteria opened in Japan in 1972 has since worked its way into South Korea, Vietnam, Indonesia, Cambodia and Myanmar. Australia will surely be next. Yummy. Source: Kotaku. Photo: Kotaku. In Marvels upcoming Doctor Strange, actual magical entity Tilda Swinton plays fictional magical entity The Ancient One, who acts as a mentor to Benedict Cumberbatchs Stephen Strange, as he discovers his powers. When the first trailer arrived, there were rumblings of discontent in certain quarters of the internet, based on the presumption that Swinton, an Anglo-Scottish actress, had been given the role of an Asian character to play. In a recent interview with Den Of Geek, Swinton was asked directly about the claims of whitewashing that have been made about the film and specifically her character, who has Tibetan roots in the comics. In response, Swinton opened her mouth and a brilliant, emerald green frog hopped out; the frog then opened its own mouth and disgorged a piece of tattered parchment, which read: The script that I was presented with did not feature an Asian man for me to play, so that was never a question when I was being asked to do it. It all will be revealed when you see the film, I think. There are very great reasons for us to feel very settled and confident with the decisions that were made. According to Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige, the character seen in the film has been completely reworked from the one who appeared in the original source material, telling EW: I think if you look at some of the early incarnations of the Ancient One in the comics, they are what we would consider today to be quite, sort of, stereotypical. They dont hold up to what would work today. Doctor Strange is released in New Zealand on October 20 and the U.S.A on November 4; an Australian release date has yet to be confirmed, but its probably somewhere in that general area. Source: MTV News. Photo: Jim Spellman / Getty. MILLERSVILLE, PA - He has a seemingly insurmountable climb to clinch the Democratic presidential nomination, but on Friday night Sen. Bernie Sanders continued his prolific campaigning in Pennsylvania, four days from the state's critical primary. Sanders, who was in State College and Gettysburg most recently this week, was awaited by a packed house at Pucillo Gym at Millersville University. The overwhelming majority of the crowd was made up of students from Millersville but also nearby colleges, including HACC and West Chester University. Amid reports that Sanders may just quietly drop out of the race, his supporters here - many showing off tattoos, purple hair and nose rings - were willing to entertain thoughts of the immediate future: If the Vermont Senator, who faces a considerable deficit in delegate count against Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton, which way will they vote? Amid the blast of rock tunes over the public address system - including obligatory protest songs from the 1960s that seemed lost to this crowd - Zach Brubaker, a HACC student, said he would be able to bring himself to vote for Clinton. "Honestly, no I can't," he said. "I feel she has lied, schemed about all her emails. It's been documented. She's not the most honest person. At this point, I'm not sure, but if Bernie dropped out, I would have to consider (Gov. John) Kasich." Amber Zimmerman was confident which way she would vote. "I switched from being an independent to Democrat to vote for Bernie Sanders," said the Lancaster resident. "If he doesn't make it, I will write him in or vote for Jill Stein." Stein, the Green Party candidate, Zimmerman said has gotten little attention from the mainstream media. Sanders sustained a crushing loss in New York this week and is expected to have a string of losses this coming week in a slew of primaries, including Pennsylvania's. Losses will likely seal his defeat and any hopes of winning the nomination. At stake in Pennsylvania are 234 delegates. Janelle Maysilles said she was concerned about Clinton's record. "There's so much accurate information out there about her to make an informed decision," she said. Maysilles said Stein remained a viable candidate for her. Zimmerman said she was hopeful a write-in movement could tilt the outcome of the 2016 presidential election. "We just need a political revolution," she said. Chris Chihlas, a West Chester University student, sounded reluctant, but said that in the end, if Sanders dropped out, he would have to vote for Clinton. "I would have to," he said. "It can't be (Donald Trump). I would have to stand by Hillary." His friend, Kylie Hartman, said she remains somewhat undecided. She is poised to vote for Sanders, but in the general election, if he's not on the ballot, she might vote Republican. "My dad is a Democrat and my mom is a Republican, so they are both giving me different views. I'm still in the middle. I might go Republican." The Vermont Democrat touched upon now-familiar themes of his stump speeches - from the need for fundamental changes in this country, a corrupt Wall Street, a broken criminal justice system, the urgent need to address climate change and put a ban to building any more oil pipelines, among the topics. With just four days left before a critical primary day on Tuesday - which will see several contests across the Northeast, including in Pennsylvania - Sanders appealed to the young crowd for their vote. Sanders sustained a crushing loss in New York this week and is expected to have a string of losses in this week's upcoming primaries. Losses will likely seal his defeat and any hopes of winning the nomination. Sanders took a thrashing on Tuesday in New York, losing in a big way to front-runner Hillary Clinton, who now leads in the delegate count 1,930 to Sanders' 1,189, according to The Associated Press. Clinton is expected to significantly expand her lead next week. Polls show big leads for her in Pennsylvania and Maryland, the two largest delegate prizes on Tuesday. At stake in Pennsylvania are 234 delegates. "With your help on Tuesday we are going to win here in Pennsylvania," he said. Speaking from a podium at Pucillo Gym, Sanders got the crowd charged. They chanted "Bernie, Bernie." While fully aware that their candidate trails in the race for the nomination, many of Sanders' supporters here Friday tonight voiced concerns that, should he drop out of the race, they would face a dilemma as to how to vote. "I switched from being an independent to Democrat to vote for Bernie Sanders," said Amber Zimmerman, a Lancaster resident. "If he doesn't make it, I will write him in or vote for Jill Stein." Stein, the Green Party candidate, Zimmerman said, has gotten little attention from the mainstream media. Janelle Maysilles said Clinton had too much baggage for her liking. "There's so much accurate information out there about her to make an informed decision," she said. Sanders, meanwhile, continued to criticize Clinton, reeling off the major differences between him and the former Secretary of State. Sanders espoused his views on the need for campaign finance reform, and elicited a loud round of approval from the young crowd when he reiterated that he has not accepted campaign funding from super PACs. The crowd played his cue brilliantly, chanting the response in unison - "$27" - when he asked if they knew what the average campaign contribution was to his effort. He earned loud approval when he touched upon women's issues - "we are listening to women," he said, and fracking. He vowed to build "no more pipelines," which drew loud approval from the crowd. He spoke about the "horrific hatred and injustice" faced by the gay and lesbian community, underscoring that "in America people have the right to love whoever they want." The Vermont Democrat spiked his stump speech with his talk on the need for change and a political revolution to shake up the status quo. "Change does not take place by some president signing a bill," Sanders said. "That is the end process, not the beginning. Change always takes place from the bottom on up." Sanders said he had been struck earlier in the day during his visit to the Gettysburg Battlefield, where he read Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address. Lincoln, he said, spoke about the truths of the establishment, calling for the need to make certain that government was a government of the people, by the people and for the people. The young crowd recited it along with him. "Your job and my job is to change the dynamic," he said. "No president, not Bernie Sanders or anybody else, can alone address the crisis facing the world." The powers that be - Wall Street, corporate media, corporate world - he said, "these guys have so much power that the only way to make real change is when millions of people stand up and demand to have government that represents all of us not just the 1 percent." 20181730-mmmain.jpg Democratic candidates for Attorney General John Morganelli, left, Joshua Shapiro, center, and Stephen Zappala, right. (submitted) A campaign ad set to air this weekend in the Philadelphia area is drawing fire for racial overtones in the Democratic primary race for Pennsylvania attorney general. The commercial produced for candidate Josh Shapiro, a former congressional staffer and legislator, reportedly is critical of Stephen A. Zappala Jr.'s work as a prosecutor in Allegheny County. Also seeking the Democratic nomination is John Morganelli, Northampton County district attorney. The Philadelphia Inquirer said the 60-second ad shows the beating of a black man last May by a white man while his four white friends look on. The Inquirer report says one of the friends in the video is a friend of a local Pittsburgh area mayor. The man accused of punching the victim and throwing him on the train tracks was sentenced in February to three to six years in prison, followed by four years probation after he pleaded guilty, said the Post-Gazette. The other four pleaded guilty to conspiracy and were sentenced to serve probation and community service. The ad, which includes surveillance video of the attack, says attorneys who represented the defendants donated $15,000 to Zappala's campaign, said the Post-Gazette, and ends with "Steve Zappala: He shouldn't be our attorney general." The Inquirer says the victim in the commercial says "If five black guys jumped one white guy, nobody would be going home." Zappala said that the man who physically attacked Mr. Lockett was appropriately punished, and that he stands by his record as a prosecutor. Denouncing the ad Friday were a group of African-American community leaders who praised his work in Allegheny County, said the Post-Gazette. Zappala's campaign is planned to respond with a 30-second ad featuring the Rev. Ricky Burgess, a Pittsburgh city councilman and minister who is African American, said the Inquirer. Both campaigns issued statements from Philadelphia officials regarding the ad. Marty Marks, a spokesman for the Zappala campaign, called for the ad to come down, but Shapiro's campaign manager Joe Radosevich called that claim "preposterous," said the Post-Gazette. On the Republican side, veteran prosecutor Joe Peters of Wyoming County is facing off against John Rafferty, a four-term, Montgomery County state senator. Dauphin County Children and Youth Provisional License.png Dauphin County Children and Youth's second provisional license from the state (Department of Human Services) Documents involving Dauphin County Children and Youth's second downgraded license have been released to the public. They show that, while the agency has made strides in training staff and engaging families, it also continued to violate regulations involving incomplete documentation and the timeliness of case reviews and assessments. In at least one instance, the state flagged the department for taking five days to ensure the safety of all children in a home following a report of suspected child abuse. Dauphin County Children and Youth Administrator Annmarie Kaiser said in a statement that her agency wouldn't appeal the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services' ruling. "While the agency has shown marked improvement," Kaiser said, "additional work to ensure compliance with state regulations must be done." "The agency acknowledges the importance of meeting all regulatory requirements and will continue to make systematic improvements to ensure compliance," Kaiser said. The state department will be monitoring the agency's plan of correction over the next six months, she said. The county agency's second provisional license, which runs April 7 to July 24, came out of a November 2015 licensing inspection by the state Department of Human Services. Kait Gillis, spokeswoman for the state agency, said, in addition to the licensing inspection, "technical assistance visits" were regularly conducted. "During these visits, a review of records and discussions with agency staff showed that previously identified areas continue to be of concern," Gillis said. Those areas, Gillis said, included: "repeat violations related to the safety and risk assessments for children and families which included children being seen, safety being assured, and documentation being completed as required;" "repeat violations regarding timely completion of investigations;" "repeat violations pertaining to supervision and supervisory reviews;" and "repeat violations regarding family engagement." Gillis said the county would have another license inspection on May 4. Sen. Pat Vance, chairwoman of the Senate Public Health & Welfare Committee, said she's hopeful the agency will return to a full license following that inspection. Vance first told PennLive about the county's second provisional license in mid-April, and, on Friday, she talked positively about the agency. She said the Department of Human Services is "pleased with the progress" that Kaiser has made in the organization. Kaiser became Dauphin County Children and Youth's administrator in September 2015. In the three months prior to her arrival, the agency's license was demoted and it was criticized in a grand jury report, which focused on the agency's bungled reorganization, training issues, and missteps that led to 9-year-old Jarrod Tutko Jr. falling through the system's cracks before he was found dead by police in the summer of 2014. "I think the new director has done very well in Dauphin County and instituted a lot of things that were probably needed," Vance said. The agency has hired new people and "done a lot of training." What's more, the job of a caseworker isn't an easy one, Vance said, "and it's difficult to get qualified people that can stand the stress." High caseloads and issues with staff turnover are repeat concerns for child welfare agencies in the state. The child welfare system also is seeing record number of reports of child abuse and neglect following changes to the state's child protective services laws. Kaiser said Dauphin County Children and Youth has seen a 128 percent increase in case referrals since the new laws went into effect. Even so, the agency has been making improvements involving training, staffing and other areas. The licensing summary said the agency has been making efforts to ensure that all staff had the necessary training, and Kaiser said that additional training included hands-on instruction that presents "caseworkers with realistic scenarios that they may encounter as a caseworker." Such training started in the county, but now is "being offered statewide due to its effectiveness." Kaiser said the agency is working with a pediatric nurse since caseworkers often see children with medical issues. While staffing was a concern when DHS conducted its November 2015 inspection, Kaiser said her agency since that time has hired an assistant administrator, program director, quality assurance manager, and filled 21 full-time and two part-time caseworker positions. Kaiser also reiterated what county spokeswoman Amy Richards Harinath had said months ago when the agency received its first provisional license in August. Kaiser, like Richards Harinath, said the agency had reestablished its Child Protective Services teams to "investigate cases involving allegations of physical, sexual or emotional/mental abuse," and she said a process was in place "to ensure nothing is being overlooked and that documentation is filed in a timely manner." If you were among the thousands of people turned away at Donald Trump's campaign rally in Harrisburg, you have another chance to see the GOP frontrunner. Trump at 4 p.m. Monday will make a campaign stop at West Chester University in southeastern Pennsylvania. The free event will take place in the Hollinger Field House, which seats 3,700. Tickets will soon be available on Trump's website here. In an interview with a Philadelphia news station, university spokeswoman Nancy Gainer said school officials were surprised Trump chose West Chester. The university is expecting this to be "a big event," she told CBS Philly. "It's the presidential season," Gainer told the station. "We've got a lot of students who are interested in the campaign because they will be voting for the first time." Daron Gibson.png Daron Gibson, pictured, was arrested after police said he sold crack to an informant in Harrisburg while he had his 4-year-old daughter with him Thursday night. (Harrisburg Bureau of Police. ) A Harrisburg man was arrested after police said he sold crack cocaine to an informant while he had his 4-year-old daughter with him Thursday night. Harrisburg police's vice unit had a confidential informant purchase $100 of crack from Daron Gibson at Third and Maclay streets at 6:41 p.m., police said. Gibson was in his vehicle with his daughter when the drug deal took place, according to police. After the deal occurred, officers moved in to arrest Gibson, who was holding $400 worth of crack cocaine and $248 in cash, police said. Gibson was charged with delivery of a controlled substance, criminal use of a communication device, endangering the welfare of a minor and possession of drug paraphernalia. His daughter was turned over to a family member. It appears as though a Lycoming County man will get a partial break from state police after leading troopers on a high speed chase that reached speeds of 90 mph Thursday night. When the man eventually did pull over, it turns out there was a woman in labor in the back seat of the car, police said. However, further investigation revealed the driver of the car was under the influence of alcohol, police said. The chase occurred at about 8 p.m. along the Interstate 180 in Loyalsock Township, police said. Troopers spotted the driver of a 1991 Dodge Dynasty "weaving in and out of traffic" near the Market Street Bridge exit of the interstate near Williamsport, according to a press release from the police. "Emergency lights and sirens were activated and the driver failed to immediately pull over," according to police. The driver eventually pulled over a few miles away near the Faxon Exit of the interstate, which is also the exit for a local hospital. "It was learned that a rear seat passenger was in active labor and an ambulance was summoned," police said. The driver of the vehicle, identified only as a 38-year-old man from Jersey Shore, was then interviewed by troopers, who determined that he was intoxicated, police said. According to a news release, the driver of the speeding Dodge was charged with driving under the influence. No other charges were listed. COLUMBUS Thanks to various local organizations, Pawnee Park is a little cleaner. Volunteers and employees with East Central District Health Department and Keep Columbus Beautiful invited residents to help celebrate Earth Day on Friday. The event encouraged younger citizens to pick up litter to keep Columbus beautiful, and also discouraged smoking. Flags were used to mark where cigarette butts were found to help promote tobacco-free parks. FotorCreated.jpg (Clockwise from top left) Donna Ricupero in Trump headquarters in Mechanicsburg; volunteers in Ted Cruz's campaign office in Lemoyne; Michelle Anderson in Bernie Sanders office in Harrisburg; and Peggy Lucas in Hillary Clinton's headquarters in Harrisburg. (Barbara Miller) Rather than persuasion, presidential campaigns this weekend are focusing on get-out-the-vote and delegate education, volunteers say. "Today we're knocking on doors, reminding people to get out and vote," said Michelle Anderson, campaign worker at Bernie Sanders' office at 265 Reily St. in Harrisburg. The campaign has moved out of the persuasion stage, trying to get voters' to choose Sanders, to ensuring they will follow through at the polls, Anderson said. Judy Cory of Harrisburg came in Saturday morning to volunteer at the Sanders office on the phones in what is her first political campaign. "This is the first time in my lifetime I'm actually excited about a presidential campaign," she said. "I see change - I feel the change, I see the dream. I believe it could happen." There are also first-time volunteers in the Ted Cruz headquarters at 20 Erford Road, Lemoyne. "This is the first time in my adult life that the Pennsylvania primary actually matters," said Andrew Norton of Carlisle, a Cruz volunteer. In other elections, he said the nominee was pretty much established before the Pennsylvania primary. Norton's role was helping to make phone calls to encourage people to vote for Cruz. He's seen a range of those professing supporting for Cruz to those with questions about his positions on issues. Norton said he's also had to do some educating of voters on choosing delegates that reinforce their selection of Cruz for president. Cruz volunteer Mary Weisbecker of New Jersey was also manning the phones, with 20 to 30 volunteers going door-to-door and making phones calls. At Hillary Clinton's Harrisburg headquarters at 510 N. Third St., Lynn Knight of Mechanicsburg stopped in Saturday morning both for a yard sign and to make phone calls for the campaign. "I'm just passionate about her," said Knight, who added this is the first campaign she's been involved in. If Clinton wins, she expects she'll be working on her November campaign as well. Peggy Lucas of Middletown returned from two-and-a-half hours of canvassing duties in Harrisburg. "I've been a Hillary supporting since 1992 when Bill ran for president," Lucas said. Dickinson College senior Ryan Protter, who managed a group of 19 Dickinson student campaign volunteers, was preparing to head out to canvass neighborhoods. "What we're doing this weekend is knocking on doors and making phone calls," Protter said, to ensure people get out and vote for Clinton Tuesday, which he said is the essential part of the campaign. Caren Wilcox, a former midstate resident now living in Washington, DC, was working Saturday on preparing materials for those going door-to-door. Wilcox's connection with the Clintons goes back to her college years, when she heard Hillary Clinton's graduation speech at Wellesley College, since she was there for her first college reunion. She also worked in Bill Clinton's first campaign for president in 1992, and in his administration for the U.S. Department of Agriculture. At the Donald Trump headquarters at Twin Ponds West, volunteer Glenn Tolbert said at least 25 volunteers are finishing up about 3,900 wireless phone calls today, with about 35,000 calls being made in all. Tolbert, a retired defense worker from Mount Holly Springs, said there were also people out canvassing. "We have hundreds of volunteers, many working from home," he said. "The push this weekend is all about the phones," said Lisa Vranicar-Patton, who has provided space for the Trump office at Twin Ponds West. Another focus is educating people on the name of Trump delegates, she said. Earl and Ann Seibert of Silver Spring Township stopped in the Trump office Saturday morning to find out those names before they head to the polls Tuesday. Vranicar-Patton said campaign volunteers have ranged from parents to high school and college students to senior citizens. On Sunday, 12-6 p.m., she said they will be speaking to volunteers on what needs to be done at polling places Tuesday. John Kasich doesn't have a midstate headquarters. He has a town hall meeting scheduled in McKees Rocks at 7 p.m. Monday. Prince AMC Theatres will pay tribute to Prince following the music icon's untimely death Thursday by bringing his hit musical "Purple Rain" back for a limited run across the U.S. Prince is shown performing at the Forum in Inglewood, Calif., during his opening show, Feb. 18, 1985. (AP Photo/Liu Heung Shing) (Liu Heung Shing) AMC Theatres will pay tribute to Prince following the music icon's untimely death Thursday by bringing his hit musical "Purple Rain" back for a limited run across the U.S. AMC will show the 1984 film starring Prince at 87 locations, including two in Pennsylvania, Saturday through Thursday. In announcing the special run, AMC said on Twitter and its website: "It's the day and the time to relive the revolution." Prince, who had been hospitalized and released last week, was found dead in his Minnesota home, dubbed "Paisley Park," at the age of 57 Thursday morning. An autopsy was performed, but authorities are not releasing results until toxicology and other tests are completed. Officials said Prince's body showed no signs of trauma or suicide. Legions of fans across were stunned by Thursday's news, and tributes are taking place across the country in the wake of Prince's death. In Pennsylvania, "Purple Rain" will be shown at AMC's Lowes Waterfront 22 location at 300 W. Waterfront Drive in West Homestead, Allegheny County. Fans also can catch showings at AMC Neshaminy 24 in Bensalem, Bucks County. For locations and times of showings across the U.S., click here. OBAMA CAMERON ART.jpg President Barack Obama meets with British Prime Minister David Cameron at 10 Downing Street, Cameron's official residence, in London, Friday, April 22, 2016. The president is on a weeklong trip to strategize with his counterparts in Saudi Arabia, England and Germany on a broad range of issues with efforts to rein in the Islamic State group being the common denominator in all three stops. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster) By Anne Applebaum Barack Obama has a full schedule in London this week. There is lunch with the Queen, on the occasion of her 90th birthday. There is dinner with the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, otherwise known as Will and Kate. There are talks with the prime minister, David Cameron, about the appalling state of the world. And then, perhaps, with Cameron's approval, the president may pronounce a few sentences encouraging the British to stay in the European Union. In mere anticipation of these words, Obama has already been attacked by anti-EU campaigners as "nakedly hypocritical" and the "most anti- British president in U.S. history." Indeed it is unusual for a sitting U.S. president to intervene directly in an election in a foreign country, and maybe risky. But then, there is nothing "usual" about Britain's EU referendum, scheduled for June 23. Unlike in most elections, British leadership inside Britain will not be at stake. Whether the country votes "remain" or "leave," the Conservative Party will go on running the country. But British leadership in the world is very much at stake. And because it really is a matter of profound, bipartisan, long-term U.S. interest that Britain remain a European power and thus a world power, Obama is right to take the risk and say so. This is not merely because of the economic turmoil that could follow a rapid "Brexit," a possibility recently flagged by eight former U.S. treasury secretaries in the Times of London. Nor is it just because pro-European Scotland might once again try again to divorce itself from the United Kingdom in the event of a "leave" vote, or that the Northern Irish settlement might also be disturbed. It is because Britain, outside the EU, will lose any ability to shape the way Europe is run and regulated. It will lose its voice in the European economic, political and foreign policy councils where it has so often played a central - and a pro- American - role. Britain, remember, was crucial to creating European sanctions regimes in Iran and Russia. Britain backed the integration of the eastern half of the continent. Britain has successfully pushed for European antitrust laws that have made the whole continent a friendlier place to do business. Britain has helped knock down entry barriers to trade and make the European single market real. When they push hard, which they don't always, the British usually win their arguments - which is good for them, good for Europe and good for U.S. companies, too. If Britain leaves, there is a risk that the rest of Europe could drift off in a not exactly Western direction. As the crow flies, Moscow is closer to Berlin than Washington. Worse, there is a risk that, outside the EU, Britain itself would drift into the role of an offshore Switzerland, becoming a kind of amoral trading power, one of those countries with no friends, only interests. Many in London already think it's more important to court China than to invest in NATO or worry about the retreat of democracy. The City, London's financial district, is already home to a large number of lawyers, accountants and real estate agents who make fortunes helping autocrats hide their money offshore, creating shell companies and using them to purchase, anonymously, very large Mayfair houses. Once outside the EU, unattached from the central political arguments taking place in Europe, this powerful class of people might well start promoting an apolitical Britain far removed from the Churchillian or Thatcherite nation of distant memory. If Britain leaves the EU, it would remain on the U.N. Security Council, of course, but that's an increasingly meaningless body. Britain would remain in NATO, but NATO is a military alliance at a time when most of Europe's security challenges are not strictly military but rather related to economics, policing, even to information policy - all of which are, at least in theory, within the competence of the EU. And if the EU hasn't come up with solutions, that's partly because Britain, with this referendum looming, has spent the past several years staying aloof. "None of your business" is an understandable British reaction to Obama's visit, in other words, but it misses the point. As the "leave" camp doesn't seem to understand, we live in an interconnected world, where events in one country necessarily affect those in others. The United States needs Great Britain to stay great, both for their sake and ours. Anne Applebaum writes for The Washington Post, where this post first appeared. Bernie Tiede, left, stands in court during day nine of his new sentencing trial, on Monday, April 18, 2016, at the Rusk County Justice Center in Henderson, Texas. Tiede was convicted in 1999 of killing Marjorie Nugent, a widow more than 40 years his senior whom he befriended in Carthage. He was sentenced to life in prison but freed after a prosecutor said he believed Tiede deserved a reduced prison sentence because of abuse he suffered as a child. Jurors could now send him back to prison or let him remain free. (Michael Cavazos/Longview News Journal via AP, Pool) COLUMBUS A new partnership has been formed with Central Community College-Columbus and the local health department for an expanded medical assisting program. The pairing will expand the medical assisting program at CCC-Hastings to the Columbus campus this fall. Although the medical assisting classes are already available online, the program also includes an on-campus lab component that can be difficult for students living far from Hastings to complete, said Marcie Kemnitz, CCC dean of health occupations. In order to meet the growing need for medical assistants in the Columbus area, East Central District Health Department (ECDHD) has stepped forward to volunteer clinical space in its facility for the on-site labs. Were also really excited to be a part of training new certified medical assistants since the Columbus area is experiencing a shortage of them, ECDHD executive director Rebecca Rayman said. The blended format of the Columbus medical assisting program will allow students to take general education courses at the Columbus campus, the medical assisting courses online, and the clinical labs at the health department. Students who successfully complete the two-year program will receive an Associate of Applied Science degree. Because CCCs medical assisting program is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs, graduates may sit for the national certification exam administered by the Certifying Board of the American Associates of Medical Assistants. The CMA (certified medical assistant) credential is recognized and often preferred or required by employers across the country. This partnership with the East Central Health Department allows us to build upon the successful program at CCC-Hastings, CCC-Columbus President Dr. Matt Gotschall said. We are very pleased to be expanding into this important career field so we can provide more credentialed medical assistants to serve patients in the Columbus region. Individuals who would like more information about the medical assisting program may contact Sarah Kort, CCC associate dean of health sciences, at 402-460-2194; toll-free in Nebraska at 1-877-222-0780, ext. 2194; or by email at sevans@cccneb.edu. COLUMBUS The retirement party was just getting started, and there was already a line of people waiting to give their regards to the star of the evening. Just days before, Jean Kamrath joked that maybe no one was going to show up to the party held at Henry on 11th. She couldnt have been more wrong. The crowd was a testament to the impact the Columbus High School nurse had on people during her 26-year career at the school. Current and former students stopped by, all of whom Kamrath embraced with a smile. It is the students who she said will be particularly hard to say goodbye to when she retires at the end of the school year. Its going to be extremely difficult because this is the best job Ive ever had. I will miss the kids terribly, she said. The timing for retirement felt right, though. With a new CHS building scheduled to open next school year, Kamrath said it would be a fresh start for the school and a new nurse. She anticipates a lot of tears as the school year winds down, especially at graduation. I cant tell you what being a school nurse has been. It has been the best of every world. You get to teach. You get to parent. You get to encourage kids. Its been an absolute joy and a blessing to be able to do this for 26 years, Kamrath said. CHS Principal Steve Woodside has worked alongside Kamrath for each of those years. He said she is worth her weight in gold, is service-oriented and puts others ahead of herself. Its common for students to stop by her office, if only for a moment, to get a piece of candy, snack or just a pep talk to get back on track, he said. Through the years, Ms. Kamraths service to Columbus High School includes more than just basic health needs. Its common to hear, Go see Ms. K. She will help you. She is definitely one of a kind and will truly be missed, Woodside said. Kamrath, a Columbus native, followed in her moms footsteps and took up nursing as a career. She worked in hospitals in Schuyler, Osceola and Columbus before coming to CHS. During her time at the school, she had an open-door policy for students. She is very kind and affectionate and understanding. I know a lot of kids go to her when they are sad or down in the dumps. She is a really good mother figure for everyone, said Caitlynn Mann, a junior at CHS. Senior Kayley Rickert describes Kamrath as a grandmother to her. She has the best advice, and she always has an open ear. Shes always in a great mood and can put a smile on anyones face, Rickert said. Yosvany Miranda, a 2015 CHS graduate, said when he had a problem, Kamrath was always willing to help. He also appreciated the candy and snacks Kamrath has stashed away in her office for students. Kamrath has gone above the call of duty for a school nurse and doesnt just treat physical ailments. A few years ago when she found out one student wasnt going to prom because she couldnt afford a dress, Kamrath found her one. Knowing there were others facing the same situation, Kamrath started the Closet Extravaganza with donated dresses, shoes and other accessories high school girls can have for free. The event is held every other year and typically draws more than 200 students annually. Her effort to start the Closet Extravaganza earned Kamrath national recognition with a Points of Light Award. The honor was created by the President George H.W. Bush administration to put the spotlight on volunteers across the country. Kamrath received her award after traveling to the White House in Washington, D.C., in 2013. She said the Closet Extravaganza is one of her favorite memories from working at the school, and she has found someone to keep it going after shes gone. That brought me a lot of joy. I got to see so many kids get to go to the prom that wouldnt have gone otherwise, she said. Co-workers and students said they are sad to see Kamrath go because of the role she has played in so many lives. Shes a mentor. Shes a friend. Shes a nurse. But ultimately she is a caregiver. She takes care of everybody, said Angela Leifeld, assistant principal at CHS. COLUMBUS Vocal and instrumental performances are center stage during a three-day event at Central Community College-Columbus. About 500 high school students are at the campus for the District II Nebraska High School Music Contest. The competition started Thursday and will conclude Saturday. The contest features students from 19 Columbus-area schools. This is the 46th year the college has hosted the competition. Some of the events students are taking part in include piano, bands, choirs, large ensembles, soloists and duets. Schools represented at the contest include Columbus, Lakeview, Scotus Central Catholic, Clarkson/Leigh, Cross County, David City, David City Aquinas, East Butler, Fullerton, High Plains, Humphrey, Humphrey St. Francis, North Bend Central, Osceola, Schuyler Central, Shelby-Rising City, Twin River and Wahoo Neumann. An irresistible offer to explore unridden mountain bike terrain - Mount Mulanje in southern Malawi promises a good hiking infrastructure and hence, sweet trails. So Axel Kreuter and Sylvia Leimgruber from the Innsbruck Vertriders venture deep into Africa, to find out.Malawi promises to be the Warm Heart of Africa, and that is exactly what they find, the people are unbelievably friendly, curious and communicative but also very polite. And everybody is biking, the streets are packed with pedestrians and cyclists, virtually no cars. This is Africa. Malawi is one of the poorest countries, but the people seem to master each day with a smile on their face.In southern Malawi rises the majestic Mount Mulanje above the plain, the Island in the Sky. Mulanje is not a sacred mountain, even though there are lots of legends about creatures living on the rocky plateau, Mulanje is a mountain that supports the communities living around it. It supplies water from the streams, firewood and some hiking tourism like us. We arrive at Likhubula, our base camp at the foothills in the south-east of Mulanje, nestled between forests and tea plantations. We hire a guide and porters for our 3-day trip into the mountain. We even hire a cook, to actually taste the flavors of the local traditional food. Together, we visit the market to buy the right ingredients for Nsima (maize porridge) with vegetable relish and chicken.The Mulanje Massiv is about 30km east-to-west and consists of a plateau at about 2000m elevation, with a number of peaks, the highest of which is Sapitwa, at 3000m the highest point in southern Africa. In the local Chichewa language, Sapitwa means something like do not go there. So we wont. Our first goal is Chambe peak with the spectacular west face, 1000m of vertical rock.As we hike our bikes up, it looks promising. The infrastructure on the mountain is ideal, there are ten wooden huts maintained by the mountain club of Malawi (MCM). The trails are well used and perfectly trodden out. Indeed, we meet a lot of people on the path up. People are working on clearing the fire breaks, people carrying firewood down, and.planks of cedar? The Mulanje Cedar is endemic on the mountain and listed as critically endangered species. The cutting of cedar has been banned since 2007, but apparently no effective law enforcement is in place. We ask our guide, Duncan about the cedar. He tells us about the illegal sawers and the money that people are prepared to pay for this desired timber. It is a tempting mode of income for the poor communities without an abundance of job opportunities.We reach Chambe hut on the plateau with a brilliant view onto the south face of Chambe peak. The hut is simple but offers everything you would want: some bunk beds and a fireplace. The last two cedar trees on the Chambe plateau are standing right next to the hut, well-guarded by the caretaker of the hut. The next day we climb Chambe peak. The trail disappears into granite rocks and scrubs. We hike on. However, the summit turns out to be not feasible with our bikes: simply too steep. It is almost proper climbing terrain and we enjoy the contrast of activity and the panorama from the summit. On the way down we hit some really steep lines with our bikes using the grip of the granite. Duncan is impressed. Back at the hut, the Nsima and chicken is already simmering on the fire. We do not at all regret the idea of a cook.In the still fresh morning air we start our descent down Skyline path, the most direct and steepest connection back down to Likhubula. The trail offers incredible riding, perfect vert ride style trialing, real technical mountain biking that we love. On the lower part, the trail becomes easier, albeit still steep and loose. A young boy, maybe 10 years old, barefooted, jumps out the bush in front of me running. Without shoes he leaps effortlessly over the rocks and bare gravel, I have to open my brakes wide to even follow him. I am speechless. In the low evening sun, Duncan shows us a little detour to a waterfall. We jump in the rock pools and wash off a considerable amount of sweat and dust. Of course, we finish this grand day with a beer back at the Likhubula lodge.We decide to visit the mountain a second time, this time, we start at Fort Lister to explore the mountain from the north side. Again we hire Duncan and his crew. Before we head up from the forest station, around 50 children have to try out our full suspension bikes. We are fully immersed in the crowd and set off after uncountable high-fives.The path is again well trodden, we pass one of the cedar tree nurseries, a conservation effort to grow cedar seedlings before they are planted outside, back into the ecosystem. It looks promising but Duncan tells us that it does not work. After a couple of years, the young trees dry up and die. Apparently nobody yet understands why. On the plateau, again we witness the other side, the negative human impact on the mountain: burning forest (a common hunting method) and again people carrying cedar planks. We even find both hidden and quite obvious saw pits. The eradication of the cedar is systematic and happening right in front of our eyes.We arrive at Sombani hut, a small but one of the most scenic huts. With no views of the valley, Sombani is 'inside' Mulanje. There are some more people already in the hut, Scottish, English, German and Swiss Expats that work in Malawi. We have a delicious dinner and stimulating discussions about Malawi and the world. The next day we cross the plateau, always staying at higher altitude above 2000m. The trail sometimes runs on the fire breaks and is ideal for biking. The mist rolls in and it gets chilly. We have to hike our bikes a little. As we come around one corner the sun starts shining through and between the clouds. The last part we virtually ride into the sunset, with views of the Malawian savanna 1500m below. magic. We reach Tuchila hut. The final downhill the next day, down Tuchila valley, turns out to be a real nasty one. At first, its a flat and fast ride down a fire break, but with a very well defined singletrack, trodden out. Then it becomes steeper and real technical. All in all, a great ride and a perfect traverse of the plateau.So we have really become enchanted by the Mulanje trails, for us, its the perfect riding terrain, with yet some more trails to explore. So well have to come back, not only for the mountain but also for the people. But how about the cedar, will there still be some left, when we return? Yes, you heard that right a complete Santa Cruz steed of your choosing. Thats ANY bike, any color, any build! Mountain Bikers of Santa Cruz (MBoSC) is partnering with Santa Cruz Bicycles to raise funds for trail advocacy, development and maintenance efforts in Santa Cruz County.Santa Cruz is donating a bike which will go to the winner of a drawing being held at the end of May. Tickets for the drawing are $5 each, and can be purchased on-line through May 21, 2016 at mbosc.org/raffle , and at select events such as MBoSC trail work days and the Santa Cruz Old Cabin Classic at Wilder Ranch State Park in Santa Cruz on May 21.The raffles lucky winner gets to choose any bike from Santa Cruz Bicycles current web catalog. Youve heard the legendary names: Nomad, Bronson, Hightower, Stigmata, V10 just to name a few. Whether you rip the downhill, attack ridiculously badass terrain, get after the pedally stuff, push your limits of endurance on endless gravel, get playful on the pump track and dirt jumps, theres a Santa Cruz bike to perfectly match your style. Will it be YOU who takes home the bike of your dreams?Both Santa Cruz Bicycles and MBoSC are excited about the mountain biking opportunities developing in their own back yard, and are embracing opportunities to team up for their community. Santa Cruz has an impressive track record for supporting grassroots advocacy efforts in its hometown of Santa Cruz, California. The world-renowned industry giant has regularly donated to MBoSC fundraising efforts and recently contributed $500,000 for the creation of close to 40 miles of multi-use trails in the San Vicente Redwoods located just north of Santa Cruz.Mountain Bikers of Santa Cruz has a solid track record of doing really good things for the trails in our area, says Santa Cruz Bicycles North American Marketing Manager Don Palermini. From routine maintenance to the development of the Flow Trail in Soquel Demonstration State Forest and the Emma McCrary Trail in the Pogonip, as well as playing a crucial role in the forthcoming San Vicente Redwoods project, the organization has evolved into a real force of mountain bike stewardship that were stoked to support.Non-profit mountain bike advocacy organization MBoSC works to promote mountain biking recreation and to expand sustainable trail access in the Santa Cruz area, enriching the local mountain bike community through trail building, group rides, events and cooperation with local land managers and other trail user groups.The organization values the industry support it receives, and is especially grateful for its alliance with Santa Cruz Bicycles. MBoSC president John Leckrone says, "We are excited to partner with Santa Cruz Bicycles on this fundraising campaign. Theyve been incredibly supportive of trail development efforts, sponsoring volunteer trail work days, races and other events, and now with their contribution to this bike raffle fundraiser."MBoSC Trails Director Matt De Young adds, "We are seeing the potential for more opportunities for mountain bikers than ever before, and as such MBoSC is growing to meet the challenge. Were building our organization so that we can capitalize on these opportunities for new trails, bike parks, pumptracks and events. This fundraiser is a stepping stone on our path to building a more robust and capable organization."MBoSC led trail building efforts for the Emma McCrary trail in Pogonip Park and the Flow Trail at Soquel Demonstration State Forest (SDSF), and organizes trail maintenance work days at Pogonip, SDSF, Wilder Ranch State Park and DeLaveaga. In past years, MBoSC presented the Santa Cruz Mountain Bike Festival and the Santa Cruz Super Enduro, and this year is running the first cross-country mountain bike race in 20 years at Wilder Ranch State Park the Santa Cruz Old Cabin Classic. The organization has also contributed to the development of local pump tracks and is currently spearheading the Westside pump track rebuild efforts.All proceeds from the Santa Cruz Bicycles raffle go straight to the trails you already ride and love, and to future opportunities for riding such as trails and bike parks. The more tickets you purchase, the better your chances to win the bike of your dreams!Learn more at mbosc.org Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email Print No matter what the topic, free-thinkers know that Fox News will take a side despite the empty slogan FAIR & BALANCED just as they know it will be the wrong side. Take Harriet Tubman, please. You wont be surprised at how many Fox News personalities turn up in Travesty: Here Are The Conservative Media Figures Freaking Out Over Harriet Tubman Being On The $20 Bill, nor will you be surprised that Fox & Friends defends genocidal Andrew Jackson: One of the best generals we ever had, or that Brain Kilmeade added: Fox Host On Putting A Woman On The $20 Bill: Should We Leave Men Alone? Meanwhile, not wanting to be thought as relevant, Neil Cavuto Complains About Andrew Jackson Getting Kicked Off The $20 Bill, but the funniest segment was when Steve Doocy dropped a deuce in a recent Dooce on the Loose, in which the Fox News Host Tries to Prove Harriet Tubman on $20 Bill is Pandering to PC Police, Fails. He may be on the loose, but sadly he always comes back. Meanwhile, Watch A Fox Host Try And Fail To Find A Single Person Blaming PC Police For Adding Harriet Tubman To $20 Bill: Then theres Ben Carson: Put Harriet Tubman On A 200 Dollar Bill, Instead Of Moving Slave Owner Andrew Jackson, while Fox News Accuses Obama of Going Racist By Putting Harriet Tubman on the $20 Bill, as my editor Sarah Jones writes: Van Susteren opened with the obvious Fox News link everything negative to Obama tactic and pretend Obama is stupid, The Obama administration went stupid again and went stupid for no reason! Rather than dividing our country between those who happen to like the tradition of our currency and want President Andrew Jackson to stay put and those who want to put a woman on a bill, Van Susteren said, setting the racial stage for her audience, using tradition to mean white presidents, as tradition always means white straight person on Fox News. Its so easy to keep everyone happy! We could put a woman on a bill, Tubman, acknowledge her courage but give Tubman her own bill like a $25 bill. We could use a $25 bill. Put her picture on that and we could all celebrate. Thats the smart and easy thing to do, Van Susteren announced smugly. Just as smug, but for different reasons is Trevor Noah [who] Rips Into Fox News Freakout Over the Harriet Tubman $20. Watch: Card-carrying members of the Fox News Cult, aka Fox Nation, are the Fox Readers [who] Explode With Racist Hatred Over Harriet Tubman On $20 Bill. Fox Nation is the dark (no pun intended) underbelly of the Fox News Channel. Nearly every comment thread, and not just those that touch upon race, turns into a Racist sewer. Dont take my word for it, but wear your hazmat suit because hateful comments are allowed to remain. And, while youre there dont forget its Statement of Purpose, which reads in part: The Fox Nation is committed to the core principles of tolerance, open debate, civil discourse, and fair and balanced coverage of the news. It is for those opposed to intolerance, excessive government control of our lives, and attempts to monopolize opinion or suppress freedom of thought, expression, and worship. Just like FAIR & BALANCED, its another empty slogan. LOOFAH WARRIOR: Ever since Bill OReilly came out of the closet as a self-declared Culture Warrior, The Falafel King has been on the wrong side of every cultural issue, especially but not limited to Race relations. Just this week the headlines almost tell a complete story, continued from last weeks cliff-hanger: Roland Martin Tells OReilly To Put Up Or Shut Up About Ill-Educated Black Youth With Tattoos On Their Foreheads Bill OReilly: Im Not A Racist For Saying Many African Americans Are Ill Educated And Have Tattoos On Their Forehead Preacher Larry Wilmore takes Bill OReilly to church: When the f*ck have you ever walked in a poor black neighborhood? OReilly: Dont Most African Americans Know There Are Super Predators Among Their Ethnic Group? Tavis Smiley forces Larry King to confront anti-Muslim rhetoric from longtime friend Trump Smiley recalled his recent argument with Fox News Bill OReilly who also insists that Trump is not a racist that led him to call the Factor host a race-baiter and the GOP presidential candidate a racial arsonist. The Bill that I know aint the Bill that I saw on TV this week, he told King. Is Bill playing a character? King asked. However, Loofah Lad was wrong about so much more than race in the last 7 days: For laughs, however, nothing beats this circular conversation when OReilly Has Jesse Watters Explain The Lobster Payoff To Him In Discussion On Dating. The humour is in watching the man who had to pay an ex-employee [alleged] millions for [allegedly] sexually harassing her on the phone pretend to not know what Watters is talking about. Watch and read along: BILL OREILLY (HOST): Thats my question. Heres Watters. What happens when you take a woman to give a woman a lobster? I dont know what happens. JESSE WATTERS: Its the most expensive thing on the menu. OREILLY: Yeah? And theyre impressed? Women are impressed? WATTERS: Bill, I cant believe you of all people dont know this. OREILLY: No, I mean, I know that lobster is fairly expensive. WATTERS: Its the most expensive thing on the menu. If she orders it and youre paying OREILLY: Yes, yes. Then what? WATTERS: I cant believe I have to explain this to you. OREILLY: Then what? Shes a gold digger? What? What are you, I dont WATTERS: Im going to let the audience figure it out. OREILLY: You dont even know! WATTERS: Of course I do! OREILLY: Then tell me what it is! WATTERS: I mean, then maybe she might be indebted or maybe interested later OREILLY: Oh, I see. A payoff for the lobster. WATTERS: You spent a lot of money at dinner! OREILLY: The lobster payoff. How quaint. Its like were back in the 50s. What else did Fox meat puppets come down on the wrong side of this week? SHILLING FOR SCHILLING: Fox Panel Suggests ESPNs Decision To Fire Curt Schilling Is Literally Destroying Society Foxs Todd Starnes Defends Curt Schilling, Says Meme Attacking Transgender People Is Not Controversial Fox Guest: ESPNs Firing Of Curt Schilling Part Of Whats Literally Destroying Society VACCINES: Fox Provides Platform For Discredited Doctor To Claim CDC Is Hiding Evidence That Vaccines Cause Autism UNDOCUMENTED IMMIGRANTS: Immigration-Hating Rep. Steve King Jokes About Hispanics Utilization Of English On Fox News Fox Contributor: We Are Being Raped In This Country By Illegal Aliens Foxs Bo Dietl: We Are Being Raped In This Country By Illegal Aliens RAPE: Fox Host Calls Campus Sexual Assault PSA Fearmongering At Its Worst, Encourages Women To Carry Guns Right-Wing Medias Worst Attempts to Downplay Sexual Assault and Diminish Survivors PRINCE: Fox News asks Stacey Dash to eulogize Prince: You didnt look at him as a black artist THIS GUY AGAIN: Every time he opens his mouth: Black Fox News Guest on Hillarys Hot Sauce Pander: Surprised She Didnt Say Watermelon Sheriff Clarke Attacks Hillary Clinton For Carrying Around Hot Sauce: Im Surprised She Didnt Say Watermelon Foxs Sheriff Clarke: Hillarys love of hot sauce is as racist as saying watermelon to blacks CLINTON CONTEST: No prize winner this week in the Friday Fox Follies contest for the first person to spot a pro-Clinton story on the Fox News Channel. Fox News Fear Mongers Hillary Clinton Wants To Provide Free Everything To Illegal Immigrants Fox host: Hillary must prove shes not crooked because Trump named her Crooked Hillary THIS WEEK IN FOXY TRUMPISHNESS: And, lets not forget those Foxy Friends on Fox and Friends have been in the Tank for Trump for years: Fox & Friends orchestrates a round of applause for Donald Trump Trump Slams Dishonest NYDN & Politico: They Have No Facts, I Hear Theyre Going Out Of Business Trump: Hillarys A Phony For Claiming She Carries Hot Sauce In Her Purse However, dont let it be said that amid all the hate, xenophobia, and Trump gushing, that the Three Stooges on the Curvy Couch dont know how to have fun. Watch Fox and Friends Butcher Sweet Caroline For Some Reason Fox & Friends Eat Breakfast Cooked in a Cars Engine Ive written about my relationship with him elsewhere, which is why I got a personal kick out of John Roberts Runs the Rocky Steps in Philadelphia. It was certainly one of the longest, useless, and most awkward segments theyve ever broadcast on that show. SCAMMITY: While we wait for Sean Hannity to finally explain where all the money went from the Freedom Concerts that was supposed to go to veteran charities, Today Completes Seven Years Since Sean Hannity Promised To Undergo Waterboarding For Charity. It would seem that his charity work needs more follow-through. Hannitys VERY OBVIOUS preference for Trump got a work-out this week, until he finally admited what we all know: Ted Cruz and Sean Hannity Finally Duke It Out Hannity And Followers Go At It After Contentious Ted Cruz Interview Foxs Cavuto Brings on Hannity to Defend Him: Youve Asked Trump Edgy Questions On Your World, Sean Hannity Gets Defensive Over Allegations That Hes Favoring Trump Over Cruz Hannity: I Plead Guilty To Going Soft In Interviews With Republicans What else did this political hack get wrong this week? Thats not that much, is it? MEGYN KELLY: Yahoo click bait: Fox News Shows, Ranked: Who Is Highest-Rated Between Megyn Kelly, Sean Hannity and Bill OReilly. SPOILER ALERT: 1). The OReilly Factor; 2) The Kelly File; 3) Special Report with Bret Baier; 4) The Five; 5) On the Record with Greta Van Susteren. More proof that ratings have never equaled truth. For the rest of the list click HERE. Still no word on whether Donald Trump will be a guest when Fox Bumps Up Megyn Kelly Primetime Special , this as Megyn Kellys FOX Show Gets a Name, New Airdate. SPOIILER ALERT: Megyn Kelly Presents. How original. Meanwhile, heres What Megyn Kelly Forgot To Tell Viewers About The Guy Bringing The SCOTUS Lawsuit Against Obamas Immigration Policies. The next 3 stories are interconnected and its easier to click through than for me to summarize. However, its one of those Inside Media Bun Fights I love so much. Your mileage may vary. Megyn Kelly Needs Joe Scarboroughs Advice Like She Needs Toenail Fungus Glenn Beck Throws So Much Shade at Joe Scarborough in Open Letter to Megyn Kelly Megyn Kelly, Fox News and the Curse of Me One of the biggest questions surrounding this special has been: Will Donald Trump participate in an interview? As many know, the popular Fox News anchor and the Republican presidential front-runner have had a combative relationship since the first GOP debate in August. Kelly met with Trump on Monday in hopes of clearing the air, making peace and, most likely, another invitation for an interview. Well find out soon if she was successful. Kellys FOX special will be followed by the premiere of a new unscripted dating series called Coupled from Mark Burnett. Were all living in a reality show. However, as Jimmy Kimmel [reports] On Megyn Kellys Meeting With Trump: They Agreed To Get Back To Whats Important Making White People Angry. Watch: THE GOOD & THE BAD: With Geraldo no longer on Dancing With The Stars, we have to get our Geraldo Gumor where we find it: GOOD: Howard Stern to Geraldo: You Threatening Fox Co-Host Was One of Your Greatest Moments BAD: Revisit Al Capones Vaults with Geraldo Rivera (join our live-tweeting tonight) SPOILER ALERT: Read This: 30 years ago, Geraldo Rivera opened Al Capones sadly empty vault PASSAGES: Fox News John Stossel Has Lung Cancer Surgery FFF wishes the no-shades-of-grey Libertarian a speedy recovery so he can Ayn Rand another day. In the Fox Den: Fox News Launches Longform Unit With Michael Clemente; Jay Wallace Upped to News FOX BYTES: Andrea Tantaros: Atheist Scum Trying To Destroy National Day Of Prayer! Foxs Shep Smith Gleefully Dishes Gossip About ABCs Kelly & Michael Drama Headly Westerfield has been writing Fox News criticism and commentary since 2009, first for NewsHounds, under the nom de troll Aunty Em Ericann, and later for the Not Now Silly Newsroom. Friday Fox Follies is his weekly aggregation of Fox tomfoolery and shenanigans. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email Print By Lisa Lambert (Reuters) U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren, a firebrand for strong financial regulation, asked why securities regulators approved Steve Cohens new firm as an investment adviser after barring the billionaire from managing other peoples money until 2018. In a letter to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the Massachusetts Democrat said the regulators decision to approve the firm, Stamford Harbor Capital L.P., makes a mockery of the SECs core mission to protect investors.' The Commission has permitted a recidivist hedge fund manager, well-known for his former companys willingness to evade and ignore federal law, to once again profit from and potentially exploit investors, she wrote, calling it the latest example of an SEC action that fails to appropriately punish guilty parties, deter future wrongdoing, and protect investors. In 2012 Cohen was implicated in an insider trading scandal at a unit of SAC Capital Advisors, a hedge fund he founded. The SEC in January reached a settlement with Cohen prohibiting him from serving in a supervisory role at any broker, dealer, or investment adviser until 2018, addressing charges related to the subsidiary. As the only law enforcement agency to charge Steven Cohen, the SEC imposed important restrictions, including a supervisory bar plus the additional oversight requirements in the settlement that are even stronger than typical remedies, said Andrew Ceresney, director of the SECs enforcement division. Mark Herr, a spokesman for Point 72 Asset Management, Cohens family office that manages his assets, said the conditions in the settlement were clear. We are not going to manage one dollar of outside money prior to Jan. 1, 2018, he said. Earlier this month the SEC granted registration to the new Stamford Harbor entity, which Cohen owns. At the time, a Stamford Harbor spokesman said Cohen will not supervise the activities of anyone acting on its behalf, thus allowing him to abide by the agreement. The firm will initially focus on investments in private companies that are illiquid, according to filings. But it could also seek or accept outside capital in the future. Warren said the firm had a shell management structure and the SEC should ensure that future settlement agreements cannot be so easily undermined. She asked for a complete list of other individuals or firms who, like Mr. Cohen, were barred from managing funds (or barred from other activities by SEC) yet are presently indirectly involved in those activities with SEC-registered entities. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email Print Hillary Clinton isnt pulling any punches when discussing Donald Trumps dumb ideas that wont keep America safe on the campaign trail. While campaigning in Scranton, PA former Sec. of State Clinton said: So I want to do this and I also want to make a pledge to you that I will do everything in my power to keep America safe, to defeat terrorists and anybody else who threatens our country or Americans anywhere. And heres another area where Trump and Cruz are not just saying things that are offensive, which they are. Theyre saying things which are dangerous, and I want you to understand this. I went to 112 countries on your behalf as Secretary of State. And I know were not going to be able to defeat ISIS unless we have a coalition that includes Muslim-majority nations. Thats how were going to do it. And when you have someone running for president who basically says we dont want any Muslims in our country, that sends a message. And it sends a message which makes the job of building that coalition a lot harder. And when you have Ted Cruz saying, hey, we need special police patrols in neighborhoods where Muslims live how that would ever work nobody can explain, but nevertheless thats what he said. And the NYPD, which I worked with closely after 9/11 because I was a Senator from New York on 9/11 they were just shaking their heads hearing what Cruz was saying. And the chief of the department said, well, thats an idea that doesnt go anywhere: what will we do with the 1,000 Muslim American police officers that we have on the NYPD? And the commissioner, Bill Bratton, who has as much experience in this area as anybody, said, Ted Cruz doesnt know what the hell hes talking about. So look, I know some of these lines get big applause responses in these rallies that Trump has, but stop and think: Is that smart? Does that work? Does it help us? Does it protect us? And the answer to all of that is no. And then he went even further and basically said he didnt care if more countries got nuclear weapons. I mean, we have been working Republicans and Democrats alike; its something that Bob Casey works on to prevent more countries from getting nuclear weapons and having a free-for-all that brought more nuclear weapons into the world. So Im telling you, Im looking forward to debating them on the economy, and Im looking forward to debating them on national security because were electing a commander-in-chief as well as a president. Rarely has a potential general election message been so simple. Donald Trumps ideas arent smart, and they wont keep America safe. Does anyone outside of the 40ish percent of the Republican Party that supports Trump really believe that a wall between the US and Mexico will work? Does anyone outside of the same Trump supporters in the GOP believe that he would be able to deport 11 million immigrants, or ban all Muslims from entering the US? It is easy to debate the merits of Trumps sanity and his lack of intellectual depth, but the truth is that his ideas are dumb and bad policy. Donald Trump has no idea what is about to hit him. The time for insults and comedy is over, as 2016 presidential campaign is set to get real. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email Print We have heard the mainstream media say a lot of ridiculous things in support of Republican candidates and remain silent in the case of some truly appalling utterances, but claiming Donald Trump is LGBT-friendly is really far out there. And its not saying much. Especially when Trumps new campaign manager, Paul Manafort, as much as said the candidate is no more than play-acting: Fixing personality negatives is a lot easier than fixing character negatives. You cant change somebodys character, but you can change the way a person presents himself. Salons Sean Illing has correctly pointed out that this is flat out untrue, but that it sure does reveal a lot about Trump. Just as mainstream media glosses reveal a lot about their biases. In this case, NBCs Hallie Jackson claiming Donald Trump is considered one of the more LGBT-friendly Republican candidates. Really? By whom? Trump supports discriminatory bathroom legislation. How is that LGBT friendly? Obviously, it isnt, but these are the same talking heads who support the idea that religious tyranny is a species of religious freedom. Watch and read the transcript from Media Matters for America: HALLIE JACKSON: Ted Cruz, in a new online video, taking aim at Donald Trumps criticism of a transgender bathroom ban in North Carolina. TED CRUZ: This is not a reasonable debate over public policy. This is political correctness run amok. JACKSON: Cruz, using Trumps comments to try to boost his own conservative credentials, while hitting his rivals with a new online polling showing 64 percent of Republicans support the ban. But some of Trumps backers arent bothered by it. [] JACKSON: A top Trump aide, dismissing Cruzs criticism, telling NBC News the senator is simply trying to stay relevant. Trump himself, not backing down. DONALD TRUMP: Local communities and states should make the decision. And I feel very strongly about that. JACKSON: While Trump is considered one of the more LGBT-friendly Republican candidates, he hasnt talked much about those issues on the campaign trail. Not a typical part of his stump speech, and not mentioned tonight at his rally here in Delaware. This is a fail of epic proportions. It would be nice if it were true but its not, as Trump has had quite a bit to say about who can use which bathroom, and none of it LGBT-friendly. Apparently, now knowing that Trump is projecting an image in Manaforts words, the mainstream media is willing to go along with this game and pretend each new iteration of Donald Trump is the new Donald Trump, while pretending each previous iteration of Donald Trump never existed. Trump says the people protesting him are a con job, but with Manaforts admission and a video record of each and everything Trump has said widely available online, it is clear that the only con job is Donald Trump himself aided and abetted by talking heads like Hallie Jackson. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email Print Pat Boone, citing a vitriol against believers like himself, told Alan Colmes Thursday that there should be regulations that prohibit blasphemy after Saturday Night Live, in a movie parody poked fun at Christianitys persecution complex you know, because its genuinely funny that the worlds largest religion thinks its being persecuted. Vitriol, of course, used in the conservative sense, is a code word for people who dont think a few people like Boone ought to tell us what we can and cannot do or say. For Boone and Colmes, it is absolutely not vitriol to condemn people who chose not to abide by their rules. An example of this is Boone telling Glenn Beck that the SNL crew are going to hell for their movie parody, which you can watch below. Heres the SNL clip. Judge for yourself: Asked by Colmes if he would regulate restrictions on what was said, Boone first said no before saying yes, so when Colmes asked Boone, Would you like the FCC to declare that a show like Saturday Night Live or any other show cant do that kind of humor? Boone answered, You cannot do blasphemy, yes. Really? Keep in mind, you cant blaspheme Boones god, but you can blaspheme other gods. Say, Allah, for example. Because Pat Boones Bible. In The Age of Reason, Thomas Paine wrote that on the contrary, it is the Bible that is a book of lies, wickedness, and blasphemy. Thomas Jefferson, in his Notes on the State of Virginia (Query XVII), railed against oppressive religious laws of the sort Boone advocates, writing that The legitimate powers of government extend to such acts only as are injurious to others. But it does me no injury for my neighbour to say there are twenty gods, or no god. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg. In fact, argued Jefferson, It is error alone which needs the support of government. Truth can stand by itself. Subject opinion to coercion: whom will you make your inquisitors? Fallible men; men governed by bad passions, by private as well as public reasons. Men like Pat Boone. Jefferson was far from alone. John Adams wrote to Thomas Jefferson in 1825, We think ourselves possessed, or at least we boast that we are so, of liberty of conscience on all subjects and of the right of free inquiry and private judgment in all cases, and yet how far are we from these exalted privileges in fact. There exists, I believe, throughout the whole Christian world, a law which makes it blasphemy to deny, or to doubt the divine inspiration of all the books of the Old and New Testaments, from Genesis to Revelations. In most countries of Europe it is punished by fire at the stake, or the rack, or the wheel. In England itself, it is punished by boring through the tongue with a red-hot poker. In America it is not much better; even in our Massachusetts, which, I believe, upon the whole, is as temperate and moderate in religious zeal as most of the States, a law was made in the latter end of the last century, repealing the cruel punishments of the former laws, but substituting fine and imprisonment upon all those blasphemies upon any book of the Old Testament or New. Now, what free inquiry, when a writer must surely encounter the risk of fine or imprisonment for adducing any arguments for investigation into the divine authority of those books?I think such laws a great embarrassment, great obstructions to the improvement of the human mind. Books that cannot bear examination, certainly ought not to be established as divine inspiration by penal laws but as long as they continue in force as laws, the human mind must make an awkward and clumsy progress in its investigations. I wish they were repealed (Adams to Jefferson, January 23, 1825). Obviously, the Founding Fathers felt differently about blasphemy laws and they gave us the United States Constitution, which rendered religion a level playing field where we can all believe what we want without being punished for it. As Jefferson went on to say in Notes on the State of Virginia, the pursuit for uniformity through Boones hoped for coercion has rendered one half the world fools, and the other half hypocrites. And the First Amendment by legislating freedom of religion outlaws coercion. Boones argument is that the American people, not a few people in robes a not-so-veiled reference to the Supreme Court ought to decide what is legal and not legal. Here again we not only see the conservatives true feelings towards the constitutionally-appointed Supreme Court laid out, but an argument that the majority rules. The problem with this is that not only were the Founders opposed to these sorts of excesses of democracy that allowed majorities to oppress minorities, but when these majorities go against conservative wishes, the first people to appeal to the Supreme Court or to the idea of laws that impose minority will on the majority, are conservatives like Boone. As Jefferson said, one half the world is exposed as fools and the other half, Boone included, as hypocrites. Not only that, but conservatives are opposed to the idea of a living Constitution that is constantly reinterpreted but want rules that are by necessity the same thing because the will of the people is constantly changing. What Boone really wants a monolithic, unchanging morality that is not supported by the majority of the people. He claims at least 90 percent of the American public want blasphemy laws even though every poll shows him to be lying, or at least, woefully ill-informed. And we cant have laws based solely on the wishful thinking of people like Pat Boone and their prejudices. Pat Boone, like any Christian feeling persecuted in this country of all countries, needs to put on his big boy britches and man up. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email Print In a display of utter desperation, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) indirectly encouraged someone at the FBI to illegally leak the details of the Hillary Clinton email investigation. The Des Moines Register reported: Grassley, Iowas senior senator and chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said an anonymous and unauthorized release of FBI investigative materials could result if officials at the agency believed prosecution of Clinton was stymied for political reasons. Is there going to be political interference? If theres enough evidence to prosecute, will there be political interference? Grassley wondered aloud during a breakfast meeting with the Des Moines A.M. Rotary club on Friday. And if theres political interference, then I assume that somebody in the FBI is going to leak these reports and its either going to have an effect politically or its going to lead to prosecution if theres enough evidence. . When asked by Radio Iowa reporter O. Kay Henderson after the breakfast if he was suggesting the FBI should leak investigative findings, Grassley expounded on his comment. I wouldnt be encouraging it because if its a violation of law, I cant be encouraging a violation of law, he said. This is kind of my own opinion, this is something Ive heard. Of course, Sen. Grassley was encouraging a Republican at the FBI to the leak the details of the investigation in an attempt to sink Hillary Clinton. Grassley wouldnt overtly tell the FBI to leak because that would be against the law. What he did do was openly and publicly ponder the hypothetical of a potential FBI leak. Notice that in his original comment; Grassley never said that what he was suggesting was against the law. It took a follow-up question from a reporter for Sen. Grassley to admit that he was discussing a leak that would be illegal. Chuck Grassley was spreading a favorite conspiracy theory of Republicans that President Obama is going to interfere and delay the release of the results of the investigation until after the election. It never seems to cross the minds of Republicans that Hillary Clinton might not have done anything wrong. In the minds of top Republicans in Congress, former Sec. of State Clinton has already been found guilty. Anyone who is expecting Republicans to change and end their obstruction if Hillary Clinton wins in November is going to be severely disappointed. It doesnt matter which Democratic candidate wins. They will be dealing with the same old Republican Party. Chuck Grassley provided proof that if voters want a Congress that works, they need to vote out the obstructionist Republicans. Dear Dave: How do you decide whether or not to sell collectible memorabilia when you're getting out of debt? William Dear William: In most cases, there's a pretty wide spectrum of emotional involvement when it comes to this sort of stuff. I mean, there's a big difference between having a baseball signed by Mickey Mantle from a day that you and your dad met Mickey at the stadium, and buying a baseball a few years ago that he autographed and seeing it has gone up in value. With the first, I'd be tempted to tell you to keep it unless you're literally about to lose everything. In it, you have a deep, emotional connection a personal story about you, your dad and one of the greatest baseball players of all time. It was a sentimental, once-in-a-lifetime kind of thing. In the second case, it's just a purchase you made as a hobby. That kind of thing can go without a whole lot of thought. If what you own doesn't have some kind of deep sentimental and emotional connection to family or a major life event, then it's just stuff. I hope this helps a little, William. There's nothing wrong with having some nice things. But there's a big difference between you having things and your things having you. Never let "stuff" stand between you and your family's sense of security and financial well-being! Dear Dave: Recently, I got a speeding ticket. I'm also following your plan, so I was wondering if a speeding ticket is a good reason to dip into my emergency fund. Ariel ADVERTISEMENT Dear Ariel: Well, it depends. Certainly you have to pay the ticket. In most states you could lose your driver's license for not paying a speeding ticket. You'd have a real emergency then, wouldn't you? I would advise looking at the situation this way: what is the amount of the ticket in relation to your income and overall financial health? If the ticket is $100 and you make $200,000 a year, then stop worrying and pay the ticket. But if you got slapped with a $300 ticket and you only make $20,000 a year, then that could be an emergency. If you can cash flow it out of your budget, then leave the emergency fund alone. If not, then dip in for just enough to pay the fine and replace the amount as quickly as possible. I mean, you've got to get it paid, right? That's an interesting question, Ariel. I'm glad you're working to get control of your money. Just remember to slow down a little when you're behind the wheel! WINONA Winona State University will host an open house from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday to celebrate the grand opening of the new College of Business Engagement Center in Somsen Hall 108. The Engagement Center supports experiential learning for students, faculty and community partners by providing the physical space and technology to enhance collaborative opportunities. Physical amenities include the WSU Center for Sales Excellence, the Financial Markets Lab, and open collaborative space. The Center for Sales Excellence expansion aims to prepare students for successful careers in sales. It features two dedicated sales role-play rooms, with equipment to record and broadcast audio and video. "We are committed to delivering education, research and leadership that advance the sales profession," Marianne Collins, associate professor of marketing, said. "Demand for graduates interested in pursuing sales careers has been uninterrupted by technological advances or economic conditions. We incorporate current business practices in our curriculum by fostering a relationship between business and academia that capitalizes on the unique strengths of both." ADVERTISEMENT The Financial Markets Lab provides a dedicated space for the Student Investment Program, a collaboration between WSU finance students, the WSU Foundation and university donors. Students in the program gain hands-on experience in finance and recommend the portfolio allocation of more than $100,000 of WSU Foundation funds. Finally, the open collaborative space of the Engagement Center is a multipurpose area designed to incubate innovation. The College of Business Engagement Center Open House is free and open to the public. Faculty members from the College of Business will be on hand to answer questions and share ideas. Light refreshments will be served. The event will include remarks from College of Business Dean Hamid Akbari and Provost Pat Rogers at 12:15 p.m. The WSU College of Business enrolls approximately 1,300 undergraduate students. The college has 41 full-time professors and offers seven undergraduate majors and ten undergraduate minors. From staff reports MANKATO Two Mankato entities came together to double down on local cooperation and ended up creating a product that's demand already has outstripped supply. Boomchickapop Popcorn Ale, a collaborative effort between snack-maker Angie's Boomchickapop and Mankato Brewery, made its debut in cans last month. Distributors who thought they had ordered enough of the limited edition brew to last them through the summer already had sold out by the time the draft version became available April 8. The popcorn ale is a Belgian-style farmhouse ale, which Mankato Brewery co-founder Tim Tupy characterized as use-what's-available type formula. Back in the day, Belgians would turn to whatever was on hand to make it barley, corn, oats and use it as an end-of-day thirst-quencher for farmhands in the spring and summer. When Tupy and Mankato Brewery head brewer Jacob Hamilton were throwing around ideas about new beers, they thought popcorn might be an interesting choice for the Belgian-style farmhouse ale formula. Tupy reached out to Angie Bastian, co-founder of Angie's Boomchickapop to see about sourcing some popcorn locally. "We try to do some fun things we try as seasonal releases," Tupy said. "Last fall, I think Jacob and I were eating some of their (Boomchickapop's) popcorn. That got the ball rolling on our side to figure out how we could make it work." ADVERTISEMENT Boomchickapop got its start in 2001 when Bastian and her husband, Dan, started serving their kettle corn at Mankato area events. Since, the brand has gone national. With the local connection, Bastian was more than happy to supply popcorn to Mankato Brewery to see if a popcorn ale could work. "When Tim came to us, I was intrigued and thought it would be incredible," Bastian said. "It's great to support another southern Minnesota business." Plain, air-popped popcorn was sent to the brewery, and it was used at the bottom of vat, similar to a mash. During the brewing process, the starches in the popcorn get converted to sugars, which get converted to alcohol. As a bonus, the popcorn helped filter the beer. As a result, the finished product is light, smooth and has just a hint of sweetness from the popcorn. It is all beer and not popcorn-flavored, so to speak. After months of testing, trying to promote favorable characteristics and eliminate less favorable ones, Tupy and Bastian and crews were pleased with the product, just in time for a spring release. The Boomchickapop crew pitched in to create packaging for the new product. As far as Tupy knows, other popcorn ales have been created before, but Boomchickapop Popcorn Ale might be the first released commercially. With the early sell-out, Boomchickapop Popcorn Ale obviously made an impression locally. Tupy and Bastian are waiting to see if the demand was a flash in the pan or the first wave of many in a popular cry for this type of beer. If they think the demand will stick, both parties would like to make more. Limited release does mean just that, however. Katie Sanvick , a 2007 graduate of Hayfield High School, is a digital artist that has a piece showing in the " Botanica " exhibition at Light Grey Art Lab in Minneapolis. The nature-inspired show features the work of 125 artists from around the world, including illustrators, designers and photographers, so it's traditional paintings, digital paintings, photography, sculpture, embroidery, jewelry, everything! "Botanica" is Sanvick's fourth time showing at this gallery, near the Minneapolis College of Art and Design. "This is a really big show," she said. "It's a nature-inspired and -themed show, centered on the origins of the earth, creation and mythologies, and cultures and how they interact with plant life, so it's a broad topic, which is good for artists because it leaves a lot up to interpretation and gives us room to discover our own story. They had a call for entries, and over 600 people applied, so it felt great to be chosen." Her piece, "Giver," is a digital painting based on Gaia from Greek mythology. ADVERTISEMENT "No one knows what that is when I tell them, but I have a 22-inch tablet that looks like a monitor that has a highly pressure-sensitive pen with it so I can draw on the screen. It feels just like traditional mediums because you are physically looking at what you are drawing, but it's a lot more free because you don't have to worry about mistakes. You can just hit undo. You can hide layers and try different color schemes out. I like that you can experiment more with it." Sanvick's work usually has a lot of portraiture in it a lot of people and animals as subjects. "I get my inspiration from other artists, everyday life and random thoughts at the end of the night," she said. "Inspiration strikes at weird times. I kind of meander and evolve over the process. Like I had a couple ideas for this show piece when I first thought of it, but I meandered quite a bit." When Sanvick isn't making artwork for exhibits, she is still creating artwork because she also works as a graphic designer at Image Bridge Design here in Rochester. "I had an interest in art at a very young age, and all my life everyone told me that you can't make a living with art and I'd always be a starving artist," Sanvick said. "So I wasn't sure what kind of job opportunities there were in the art world. I met with some college professors at Winona (Sanvick graduated from Winona State in 2011) that talked me through some different avenues, and I settled on graphic design. I like how you can incorporate more illustrative developments into the artwork and make it more artsy and can make an identity for a company; I really like that." "Botanica" opened last weekend and runs until May 13. Admission is free. For more on Sanvick, check out her website, www.katiesanvick.com . ADVERTISEMENT 50th Anniversary Longtime residents Allen and Barb (Larson) Moe will celebrate their 50th anniversary hosting their immediate family at a dinner at the Chart House in Lakeville, MN, today, Saturday, April 23. Allen and Barb were married on Saturday, April 23, 1966, at Trinity Lutheran Church in Albert Lea, MN, and have resided in Rochester ever since. In the case of Grant Wood, a portrait of the artist as a young man would find him to be anything but a typical Iowa farm boy. After all, not every Iowa farm boy goes on to produce one of the most famous series of paintings in the history of American art. Wood was born in 1891 on the family farm near Anamosa, Iowa, and moved with his mother to nearby Cedar Rapids after his father died in 1901. And while he would travel the world and establish an international reputation as an artist, Wood basically spent his entire life in and around Cedar Rapids and Anamosa. So it's not surprising that this year, Cedar Rapids, Anamosa and neighboring communities are celebrating the 125th anniversary of Wood's birth. For example, to honor the painter of "American Gothic," one of the most iconic of American paintings, this spring and this summer "Overalls All Over," 30 six-foot-tall fiberglass statues of "American Gothic," will be installed in and around Cedar Rapids. ADVERTISEMENT Besides Cedar Rapids, other locales on the Grant Wood Trail include the Grant Wood Art Gallery in Anamosa; Stone City, where Wood established an art colony; and the Figge Art Museum in Davenport, which holds a large archive of Wood-related material, including THE painting. Here's a closer look what's what along the Grant Wood Trail: The Cedar Rapids Museum of Art holds the world's largest collection of Grant Wood paintings. Through May 15, you can view a special exhibition, "Grant Wood and Marvin Cone: Barns, Farms and America's Heartland." Wood and fellow artist Cone attended Cedar Rapids Washington High School together. The Grant Wood Studio , operated by the Cedar Rapids Museum of Art, is where Wood lived and worked from 1924 to 1934. It was here that he painted "American Gothic." From May 1 through Sept. 4, the 30 life-size fiberglass statues of the farmer and daughter from "American Gothic" will be installed and decorated by local artists. Look for them at various locations around Cedar Rapids . The "American Gothic" painting itself resides at the Figge Art Museum in Davenport. The museum's extensive collection of Wood artifacts, paintings and correspondence was donated by the artist's sister, Nan Wood Graham. She, by the way, was the model for the woman in "American Gothic." The home that inspired the backdrop for "American Gothic" still stands at the American Gothic House and Visitor Center in Eldon. The house has been restored to the way it looked in 1930, when Wood painted "American Gothic." Visitors are welcome to stage their own photographic version of the painting in front of the house. The Grant Wood Art Gallery in Anamosa features a collection of "American Gothic" parodies, as well as other items related to Wood. Riverside Cemetery in Anamosa is the final resting place of Wood, his sister and his parents. ADVERTISEMENT The tiny hamlet of Stone City was the home of an art colony established in 1932 by Wood and Adrian Dornbush. As many as 120 students were enrolled, some living in wagons due to a shortage of lodging space. Most of the buildings in town were built of stone from a local quarry, hence the name. If you're on a treasure hunt for more Grant Wood art, check out the Des Moines Art Center , the Dubuque Museum of Art, the WPA-era Wood murals in Parks Library at Iowa State University in Ames and the University of Iowa Museum of Art. Finally, there's the Grant Wood Scenic Byway , a 75-mile route from Stone City to the Mississippi River, traversing the landscape that shows up in several of Wood's paintings. Chances are, you've heard the expression "living paycheck to paycheck," or "one paycheck away from disaster." You've heard them because they're true, and they apply to more people than you might realize. It's a reality that Jodi Wentland and her staff members see every day. "Many of our families are working," said the division director for Olmsted County Child and Family Services , "but much of that income is going toward the cost of living. If they have a crisis in their life, they don't have the resources, and if it's not fixed, it becomes more of a crisis, affecting other areas." That leads to a ripple effect that's felt throughout the community, Wentland said, and it underscores the need for Legal Assistance of Olmsted County . The staff attorneys represent low-income clients in civil legal matters such as family law, housing law and domestic abuse. ADVERTISEMENT No criminal cases or fee-generating cases are accepted. Though it depends on the situation, many LAOC clients landed first at OCCFS, looking for support with food, housing, health care, child care and more. Wentland's staff, she said, provides suggestions based on the circumstances. "Many of our families have court-related issues, but maybe they're just struggling to get the pieces sorted out," she said. The matters don't always require a court appearance; sometimes, the client simply needs help understanding the language found on legal documents. Confusion surrounding a rental lease, for example, may jeopardize a client's housing. Some sort of resolution "may allow us to move forward, or even close cases," Wentland said, which is where the legal assistance staff comes into play. The two agencies have "an excellent partnership. I know when I refer someone, they quickly make contact," she said. It's often a parallel process of parenting issues and legal rights, Wentland said. The LAOC can advocate for the client, advising them of their rights, "and they'll be real" about the chances of a preferable outcome. ADVERTISEMENT "It's a savings for the community," she said. Loss of housing and family support is "costly in the long run. LAOC helps us prevent that, and provides stability to our clients, and that's critical." Virginia Merritt, executive director and one of three staff attorneys at LAOC, said the overwhelming reaction from the people that come to them is "relief that someone is going to take on some of the problems." She hears how people talk about her clients. "This myth of people living on cash assistance forever is just untrue," Merritt said. Residents who qualify for Minnesota Family Investment Program funds are allowed to collect for five years. Low-income doesn't mean "lazy," the homeless aren't always addicts or drunks and single moms aren't the problem. Rachel Bowman, a volunteer at LAOC, saw it firsthand. "I was raised by a single mother, and I know how challenging it can be," she said. "Seeing Virginia in action has been an honor and a privilege. She deserves recognition for what she does." Bowman volunteers because "women face really tough issues, and I believe in supporting all women in Rochester." ADVERTISEMENT As a volunteer, she's been trained to answer housing issues on the landlord-tenant hotline as well as handle some of the office duties. In addition to the three lawyers on staff, the LAOC employs a paralegal /volunteer coordinator, two part-time receptionists and a part-time bookkeeper. Merritt also has the names of about 75 lawyers who help when needed, though she, Peter Foss and Michelle Dobson handle the majority of the cases. "People get stuck in the legal system," she said. "We need to parse things out and get them moving forward in other areas." Helping them navigate through a life in upheaval "sounds depressing," Merritt said, "but it's not, because you're able to help someone. You take what seems like a big mess and get some resolution to it. "I couldn't imagine having no safety net except for the community," she said, "and no family to stay with, or $3,000 for a car. When you see how hard people work to change their lives, their situations, it gives you a whole new perspective." STEWARTVILLE Because Pam Iverson has put in so much time helping Stewartville High School students, she was invited to the White House. She has been a counselor at Stewartville for 11 years, making sure students are on track for graduation and helping with social or emotional problems. She was voted the state's 2015 Secondary School Counselor of the Year, prompting the White House visit and a long chat with Sen. Al Franken. Associate Stewartville High School Principal Darcy Lindquist wasn't surprised by Iverson's accolades. "One of her strengths is building those connections and relationships with students," said Lindquist, a former high school counselor who knew Iverson on that level. Much of Iverson's work is making sure students stay on their college/career readiness track, she said. Each student's progress needs to be revisited annually. ADVERTISEMENT "She spends endless time getting to know her case load" either one-on-one or in the classroom, Lindquist said. Emily Dierling, an elementary level counselor, singled out Iverson's "relationship building skills; she is also a really big advocate for her students." Iverson said she grew up in South Dakota and was a counselor in New Ulm when a counseling job for her and a math teaching job for her husband, Brad Metter, opened up in Stewartville High School. That was 11 years ago. "I would say one of my strengths is compassion," Iverson said. "I have a lot of compassion for the kids I work with." Some people seem born with a stronger ability to be compassionate, and maybe she's one of them, she said. But she also believes you can teach that skill and how to show empathy. While she deals more with academics, rather than the social skills of the elementary level, she said she still needs the compassion. "Compassion can drive you to do things, to be good at your job," she said. Compassion also tells her to help students but not do the work for them, she said. If she did the work, it would tacitly be saying she doesn't believe in the student. When she sees the student get the idea, "it's a phenomenal feeling, it's rewarding," she said. On a little chalk board just inside the front door, someone had printed in neat block letters "Please wait to be seated." Below that: "No waiting for the counter." I helped myself to the last open seat at the counter, a swiveling red leatherette stool next to a glass carousel that was showing off a dozen pieces of pie. It was 7:20 in the morning. Fortunately, it's never too early for pie, and I was debating between lemon meringue and pecan but the rhubarb looks pretty good, too. And the blueberry wow! Wait on the third shelf is that cherry? If the place had a name, it would have been something like "Mom's Place," "The Roadside Cafe" or "The Dewdrop Inn." But the only indication of a name was the neon sign over the front door that said "DINER," and that was good enough for me: I've never had bad food at a place called "diner." A waitress of indeterminate age swiped a dingy white rag over the counter. The linoleum was wearing thin in spots, and I wondered how many times you would have to rub a damp cloth over a countertop to wear away a layer of linoleum. ADVERTISEMENT The waitress was wearing a plastic name badge that said "Dolly," and I resisted the urge to say "Hello, Dolly." I'm sure she'd never heard that one before "Coffee?" "Please." "Black?" "Yep." She placed a thick ceramic coffee mug in front of me the kind of mug that always makes coffee taste better and filled it to the brim without spilling a drop; it was so full that I thought I might have to bend over the cup and slurp out the first mouthful to avoid spilling it down the front of my shirt. "How's the pie?" I asked. Ordinarily, I wouldn't even consider having pie for breakfast, but vacation tends to bring out my wild side. "Best pie in the state," she said with such confidence that I knew it wasn't just a sales pitch. ADVERTISEMENT "Which is your favorite?" I asked, nodding toward the rotating cylinder of pie. "That's a tough one they're all good. If I could only have one, I'd have the pecan." "Sold!" I said. "I'll have a piece of the pecan." Then, as a concession to healthy eating: "And a side of bacon." "How do you want that done?" she asked, pencil poised over a pale green order pad. It was another point in "diner's" favor: "As crisp as you can make it without burning it," I said. "Definitely not rubbery!" "You want the pie first?" "Sure," I said. ADVERTISEMENT "Warmed up? Scoop of vanilla?" "Why not," I said. "I'm on vacation." I ate my pie and stared into the carousel. It seemed to be spinning in time to the Faron Young song playing on a radio in the kitchen. "How's the pie?" the waitress asked when she stopped to refill my cup. "You weren't kidding," I said. "Might be the best pie in the state." "No 'might' about it," she said, turning to collect a plate from the pass-through window in response to the cook's shout of "order up!" She delivered an oversized omelet to a table in the corner, then scooped up a handful of change from the other end of the counter and added it to the cash register. "Where's home?" she asked. "Minnesota." "That's a haul." "Yeah, but it's a pretty straight shot from here. I'll be home by tonight." She jerked a thumb at my coffee cup. "Refill?" "Nope, I think I reached my limit." "Getcha anything else?" "Uh, yeah how much for a whole pie?" She quoted me a price that was unfairly low. "How much for a piece of each, kind of like a pie sampler? Be a shame to stop at the place that serves the best pie in the state and not try them all " "Well, seeing as how you didn't say 'Hello, Dolly' when you came in " I walked out with a box of pie and a plastic fork, in case I got hungry on the way home. But before I left I dropped a business card in the fish bowl next to the till; a hand-lettered sign said they draw one card every week, and the winner gets a free breakfast. If I win, I'll go back. And I think I'll have pie. Lawyers are called a lot of things, but rarely is one of them "angel." But for Cadey, a new U.S. resident who was in an abusive relationship, it applies perfectly to Virginia Merritt, the executive director of Legal Assistance of Olmsted County . Cadey's story started in 2013, when she made the decision to leave her husband. "It was very hard to live in that house with him," she said, "so I told a teacher at school, 'I have a problem, I need help.' "I told her what was happening," Cadey said, "and she told me 'there's a women's shelter, I'll call and you can talk to them. We'll get you there.'" ADVERTISEMENT Someone picked her up at the school five minutes later, she said, but there was more: "When I left my house, I didn't take my children, because I just left," Cadey said. "I didn't have any information, and even I didn't know where I was going. It was the hardest time. For a mom to leave her children, it's a big decision and a lot of pain. When you don't have family, you don't have anybody to tell you what to do. "Virginia was like an angel for me, and for my kids, too." At the women's shelter, advocates told Cadey about the legal assistance available to her. "Battered women are told all the time that nobody's going to believe them," said Suzie Christenson, executive director at the shelter. "Whenever we have women come in here, we're dealing with really the most basic of needs: temporary shelter, and food and a job," she said. "Because those basics are up in the air at that point, it's difficult to get up in the morning, get the kids fed, get them off to school, get yourself ready, then go over to LAOC and deal with it." The LAOC attorneys eliminate that hurdle by coming to the shelter every Tuesday to meet with clients. "We tell the women, just give them one meeting, and see how it goes," Christenson said. "They literally just have to walk down the hallway, and always, they come out of that meeting just elated that somebody is going to help them." ADVERTISEMENT With Merritt's help, Cadey was able to secure custody of her two children and obtain a divorce. The parents make their custody exchanges at Family Service , so there's no contact between them. Merritt facilitated that resource, as well. "I didn't speak English very well," Cadey said, "so Virginia was everything for me. She was my protector, my helper ... I don't know how to explain it. She's so strong. I'd never seen a woman like that." Cadey works part time in the health care field and attends school full time, with a goal of becoming a nurse. Some of that, too, comes from Merritt. "She encouraged me from the first time she talked to me," Cadey said. "She told me, 'You're going to do a good job, because you learn fast. You have to go back to school. I know you're going to do this.'" Without LAOC, Cadey believes she wouldn't have retained custody of her children or worse. "They're why I'm here today," she said. "I'm so thankful for all of those agencies . I feel now, I have a family." ADVERTISEMENT The LAOC has an annual budget of $315,000. About one-third of that comes from Olmsted County. Other donations come from the Olmsted County Bar Association, the Law Library Foundation, the United Way and the Mayo Foundation. On Thursday, Executive Director Virginia Merritt learned the organization will receive $40,000 in state funding. Though a decrease from the $49,000 it had received annually in the past, Merritt had been told LAOC would be defunded completely because it's a single-county program, one of just two in the state. The other is in Dakota County. The $40,000 grant, which is effective July 1, will be used to fund and expand the volunteer attorney program, Merritt said. There are five regional legal services programs statewide. They split more than $10,000,000, according to a report issued by the Minnesota Supreme Court Legal Services Advisory Committee. Local agencies also do what they can. "We piggyback on each other," said Suzie Christenson, executive director of the Women's Shelter Inc. "Our advocates end up being the support person for the battered woman, but also doing some of the paperwork for LAOC." They don't mind, she said. "If we do it, it saves time and money for LAOC. If we can do it, we will." MASON CITY, Iowa Prestage Foods of Iowa officials say its proposed $240 million pork processing plant in southwest Mason City will include a buffer zone and payments to the local school district. The plans announced Wednesday include a 2.5-mile buffer zone around Mason City, Clear Lake and the lake itself in which Prestage won't build or operate any hog confinements or buy animals from a facility in the area. "The city's most pressing concern, as it relates to the proposal, was the potential introduction of confinement operation facilities in proximity to the lake watershed," said Scott Flory, Clear Lake city administrator. "Prestage Farms' willingness to respect the city's concerns is very helpful and appreciated." The company also has agreed to pay the Mason City School District $1.4 million during a 10-year period to help the system address potential growth. A tentative agreement also outlines the project's economic development grants and employment requirements. ADVERTISEMENT The council unanimously approved the terms of the development agreement on April 5. At the time, councilman Alex Kuhn expressed reservations about some of the terms in the proposed development agreement. Many residents who oppose the plant have raised environmental issues related to wastewater, odor and proliferation of hog confinement facilities. They've also expressed concern about possible negative effects on property values and population growth. Kuhn said he welcomes conversation about the plant while the city council considers the proposal. "It's great to see so many people engaged in the process as it shows they care deeply about their community," he said. During its Thursday night meeting, the Mason City council is expected to set May 3 as the deadline for acting on the finalized development agreement for the southwest Mason City plant's construction. STEWARTVILLE "What is a conflict?" Emily Dierling asked Brittany Olson's second-grade class. "It's like when you get in a big fight with your friends," replied a girl. Right, said Dierling, the school counselor at Bonner Elementary in Stewartville. And what is a resolution to a conflict? "It's kind of like the Revolutionary War," said another girl. ADVERTISEMENT No, said Dierling who went on to explain the students how to resolve conflicts with an "I" message, starting with "I feel..." and going on to explain why you feel that way and also how to resolve it. The session with about two dozen students was one of many Dierling will do this year, her first year at Stewartville. Her talk about conflicts was part of the school district's emphasis on counselors on all levels, much more than the state average. Pam Iverson, a high school counselor who was selected as the 2015 Secondary School Counselor of the Year, praised Stewartville's administration and school board for putting time and money into having enough counselors. Minnesota was recently ranked 49th out of the states in number of counselors per student, but Stewartville is around the recommended one per 250 students, she said. "Three years ago, we added a partnership with Fernbrook Counseling Center to offer counseling services in our buildings," she said. "Two years ago, we added a part-time counseling position in the elementary buildings. Last year, we added an additional high school counselor. This year, we increased the elementary counselor to full-time. We also have two social workers." Counselors are now needed more because the district insists all ninth-graders have a plan for how they are going to go into either college or a trade, said Associate High School Principal Darcy Lindquist. It's not set in stone, but the plan is meant as a guide, and counselors have to keep students on that path. Counselors are also needed, especially on the elementary and intermediate school level, to help with social skills. "They do naturally build friendships but we are looking for more 'how do they respect each other?'" she said. You can't assume such skills are taught at home, she said. At the same time, counselors are needed because "we're seeing a rise in mental health issues," said Lindquist who was a counselor in Rochester before coming to Stewartville. "We're reflecting what's going on in society." Counselors are often the first people students talk with, she said. Friends might tell a counselor about a friend who's having problems of some kind. ADVERTISEMENT Dierling, who did her practicum for her masters degree with Iverson last year, said the classroom lessons she gives, such as those with Olson's class, are "kind of a preventative, proactive" thing to help students. She also deals with bullying, friendships and how to identify feelings. "For little kids, it's kind of hard for them to put the name on it," she said about feelings. She teaches them not to avoid anger but how to identify it and cope with it, she said. A Counselor's job is like a pyramid, she said. At the wide base are the classroom sessions involving a lot of students. Next up are smaller groups, such as those who might need more help with anxiety or friendships. Finally, she works with individuals. When contemplating the possibility of replacing some of the historical figures depicted on U.S. currency, Treasury Secretary Jack Lew said last year, "America's currency makes a statement about who we are and what we stand for as a nation." On any given day, I open my wallet and, assuming I actually find cash inside, I'm greeted by the stoic faces of Abraham Lincoln, George Washington and, if I'm lucky, Andrew Jackson presidents, generals and leaders. They are men who, despite their flaws, are indispensable to the American story. But to many, they no longer represent America's story in its fullness. U.S. currency has always shown the faces of privileged Anglo males who, in their defense, were largely responsible for the founding and defense of the United States during its formative years. ADVERTISEMENT The complaint has long been that this practice leaves women and minority Americans, who also have played a profound role in the nation's evolution, grossly underrepresented. It's hard to disagree with that. But last year's decision by the Treasury Department to show the face of a woman, without specifying which one, on the $10 bill and to demote the man who currently resides there was ill-advised. The almost yearlong campaign by a diverse group of people to retain Alexander Hamilton on the bill is proof of that. Fortunately, Wednesday's announcement that anti-slavery heroine Harriet Tubman will appear on the bill, and the decision to reverse course on which bill she will occupy (she will replace Andrew Jackson on the $20), is the appropriate remedy. It is also in keeping with Lew's own statement that our currency should reflect the best of who we are as a nation. While Hamilton was white and male, he had less in common with many of his contemporaries than most of us realize. He was not the son of a privileged colonial family, the heir to great fortune or military or political dynasty. ADVERTISEMENT To put it bluntly, Hamilton was a fatherless child, raised in poverty by a single mother in what would become the Virgin Islands. An immigrant, he made his way to the United States as a teenager and, using his vast intellect and characteristic determination, he quickly became an influential writer and patriot in the fledgling revolution. What could possibly be more American than that? Eventually, he became a top wartime aide to Gen. Washington and followed him to the White House as a presidential adviser. We mustn't forget that in addition to his writings that helped establish our federalist system of government, Hamilton was essentially the inventor of American money. The first secretary of the Treasury, Hamilton established the U.S. Mint and steered the young American nation through tumultuous financial times. As writer Ben Domenech opined: "Alexander Hamilton was a bastard, but he was a righteous bastard. He loved his country." And he has more than earned his place on its currency. ADVERTISEMENT Like Hamilton, Harriet Tubman was a patriot, a woman who loved America and its people enough to risk her life daily for its unity and success. Born a slave, Tubman escaped to freedom as a young woman using the Underground Railroad network to reach the North. But she wasn't satisfied with her own liberty. Deeply moved by the plight of her fellow man, she quickly became one of the most famous "conductors" on the Underground Railroad, returning to the South dozens of times to rescue hundreds of others and leading them to safety and freedom. She was so indispensable to the abolitionist movement that in 1856, her capture carried a $40,000 reward in the South. During the Civil War, she served the Union army as a cook, a nurse, a scout and a spy. Tubman was also a devout Christian, a woman whose faith guided her every perilous journey into slave territory. She was, indeed, a legend in her own time called "Black Moses" by those she saved from bondage. Tubman will not only be the first woman to appear on U.S. currency, but she also will be the first black American. If the Treasury Department wants U.S. currency to reflect the best of America, Hamilton and Tubman fit the bill. Cynthia M. Allen is a columnist for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Innovative. Influential. Icon. Those are just some of the words used to describe Prince in the days since his death. Too many more to list have been shared as fans throughout the world grieve. Regardless of the countless words used to describe the musical genius who blended genres to bring never-before-heard music to the surface, one always seems to rise to the top: Minnesota. Prince sprung up from Minnesota. It's hard to imagine another artist with closer ties to the Minneapolis music scene. Any mention of the musical mecca First Avenue stirs thoughts of Prince and his academy-award winning film "Purple Rain." Minnesota's music scene, however, isn't the only place Prince left his mark. Like another Minnesota musical icon, who came before Prince and now has outlived him, the rocker known for his penchant for purple has made a mark that stretches beyond his music. ADVERTISEMENT Yet, while Bob Dylan left Minnesota to make his mark, Prince remained dedicated to his home state throughout his career, making it especially poignant that he died in his Paisley Park music studio. Prince leaves us with music, but he also leaves us with inspiration to be who we are. Whether it was bucking fashion trends or challenging industry expectations, Prince inspired many to be true to themselves first. And, part of his true nature will always be rooted in Minnesota. Guam will be the venue of a high-level ministerial debate on Pacific island tourism convened by the United Nations World Tourism Organization and the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) a historic first for the island and the region. Topics to be discussed in the PATA/UNWTO ministerial debate include: Cloud Nine: The Ideal Island Economy where participants will address questions on who should benefit the most in an ideal island economy; and Merging Motivations which will focus on where government and private sector motivations overlap and how to better align them to create growth. Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup. Error! There was an error processing your request. Nathan Denight, GVB general manager, said PATA has been working closely with the UNWTO and they will be hosting the joint ministerial meeting on May 21. Denight said this historical event signals an acknowledgement of the importance of the region to global tourism. They will be focusing on a wide range of issues such as sustainable tourism, eco tourism, climate change, and other issues, he said. Conference delegates and summit attendees can watch the debate proceedings, which will be moderated by BBC World News. Zoltan Somogyi, executive director for Program and Coordination World Tourism Organization, will provide the opening remarks. Marshallese poet, writer, artist and journalist Kathy Jetnil-Kijiner will officially open the debate. Jetnil-Kijiner has been at the forefront of the climate change movement, most recently participating in the 2015 Paris Climate Conference where landmark COP21 accord was passed. Industry leaders The PATA Annual Summit brings together a cross-section of industry leaders and decision-makers from across the region for a one-day conference that tackles head-on the key issues facing the travel and the tourism industry. This year, Guam will be hosting the summit Exploring the Secrets of the Blue Continent from May 18 to 21 at the Dusit Thani Guam Resort. According to Denight, hundreds of delegates from more than 30 countries are expected to attend the event. The UNWTO is the United Nations agency responsible for the promotion of responsible, sustainable and universally accessible tourism. The organization promotes tourism as a driver of economic growth, inclusive development and environmental sustainability. It also offers leadership and support to the sector in advancing knowledge and tourism policies worldwide including the promotion of tourism as an instrument in achieving Sustainable Development Goals. A group of conservatives at Harvard Law School set up a web site called Royall Asses to mock left-wing law students who were making absurd demands on the administration, occupying a law school building, and so on. In particular, the Royall Asses students made cogent arguments, which we wrote about here and elsewhere, that proved it was almost certain that an alleged hate crime at the law school was actually a hoax perpetrated by leftists. This apparently was too much for the law schools administration. The Royall Asses students have obtained emails that were circulated among leftist students, including this one: My dad works in DC and one suggestion he had for tracing anonymous threats was reach out to the FBI. The local police just dont have the tech capability to trace anonymous threats over the internet. AJ, Mawuse, and Brian: if I have your permission, I will also ask the FBI to consider monitoring the Royall Asses blog. To be clear, the Royall Asses students never threatened anyone. This email followed on December 8: Brian and I met with Dean Sells, Tracy Daley, and Jeff McNaught at 10am this morning. We wanted to find out what our options are if we have safety or wellbeing concerns for any staff, students, or professors in the movement. 1. Electronic concerns: The Coalition for Racial Justice at HLS Blogger Blog, The Royall Asses WordPress Blog, the Nigger email to professors. The head of HLS IT and HUPD are looking into finding out who is behind the blogs and the email. Dean Sells is Dean of Students Marcia Sells, a leftist. Tracey-Ann Daley is the law schools Coordinator of Student Activities, and Jeff McNaught is Director of Student Affairs. HLS IT is, of course, the office of information technology at the law school, and HUPD is the Harvard University Police Department. Did the law schools administration really enlist its IT department and Harvards police department to try to identify the students behind the Royall Asses web site? We dont know this for certain, but this is what the left-wing student who met with Dean Sells and other law school officials reported that they told her. If true, this is seriously troubling. The Royall Asses authors committed no offense, except to the dignity of far-left campus movements. They used humor, facts and sharp analysis to expose what almost certainly was a hoax, but was being treated by the Dean of the Law School, Martha Minow, as evidence that Harvard has a serious problem with racism. (Dean Minows investigation faded out without identifying the perpetrators of the incident, presumably because it became apparent that the guilty parties were liberals perpetrating a fraud.) This, perhaps, is an offense that liberal university administrators cant abide. If the law schools administration really did take cyber steps to identify the Royall Asses authors, the contrast with their handling of left-wing anti-Semite Husam El-Qoulaq is shocking. At a public forum at the law school, El-Qoulaq repeatedly asked a former Israeli Foreign Minister why she is so smelly. That a student at Harvard Law School should do such a thing is almost inconceivable, but it happened. It should have been grounds for immediate expulsion, but instead, the law school went out of its way to protect El-Qoulaqs identity, going so far as to release a video of the event from which his attack on the Israeli minister was deleted. Protecting a vicious and public anti-Semite, while trying to expose students who mocked leftists and their pretensions? Is that really what Harvard Law School has come to? While not all the facts are known, and action may yet be taken against El-Qoulaq, at present that does seem to be the case. Writing about Prince last night, I mentioned his omnivorous musical tastes. I barely scratched the surface, but wanted to suggest one of his most striking qualities. I had wanted to include Princes version of Joni Mitchells A Case of You to illustrate my point, but couldnt find a video with it posted on YouTube. Now we have this, rendered by Prince as A Case of U, of course: Something in that beautiful song touched Prince deeply, and he picked it up and took it further in his own way. Today CBC News recalls: Joni Mitchell, who began her professional songwriting and performing career in Toronto, was a lifelong obsession for Prince. Prince used to write me fan mail with all of the Us and hearts that way that he writes, Mitchell told New York Magazine in 2005. He would speckle his career with references to Joni, as he called her. Her name appeared on the back of his 1981 album, Controversy, for no apparent reason. The Time, another band of Prince acolytes, released the Prince-produced album Ice Cream Castles, a reference to lyrics in Mitchells Both Sides, Now. He inserted a portion of Mitchells song Help Me on his 1987 tune The Ballad of Dorothy Parker. And he covered Mitchells classic A Case Of You on the 2002 studio album One Night Alone, retitling it a A Case Of U. In interviews, Prince praised Mitchells 1975 album The Hissing of Summer Lawns, gushing about how much he loved it on more than one occasion. At the time, the album was not well-received and Mitchell later said she was grateful for The Purple Ones support. In Princes version of the song, among other things. you can hear Princes love of Mitchell, you can hear Pbinces vocal prowess, you can hear Princes love of doo wop, you can hear the gospel music out of which soul emerged, you can hear Princes creativity at work, and you can hear him infusing the song with soul: Surely you touched mine. NOTE: One Nite Alone (as Prince spelled it) is out of print but the song is available on A Tribute to Joni Mitchell. Venezuela, one of the worlds most oil-rich countries, cant keep the lights on. The countrys socialist government has announced that Venezuelans will now be entirely without power for four hours a day. But thats not the worst of it: they will have to sit in the dark without beer: As Venezuelans digest news that theyll have no power for hours a day, they also may have to do without beer from the countrys largest brewer, Polar. In a statement, Empresas Polar SA says it has enough raw materials to last only until April 29, because a dollar shortage is keeping it from buying foreign grain. The company says it is suspending production of beer and malt, which will impact 10,000 employees. Polar produces 80% of the countrys beer, according to the BBC. Lets hear it for socialism! This story hasnt gotten as much publicity, but is just as revealing: Venezuela runs up $1 billion debt for late shipping containers. Venezuelan state agencies have run up close to $1 billion (695 million pounds) in debts with shipping firms due to delays in returning containers, potentially boosting the cost of importing staple goods as the country struggles with product shortages and an economic crisis. The agencies have held containers for months or simply never returned them, at times leaving the truck-sized steel boxes for years in oil industry facilities or on provincial farms even though this costs $100 per day per container, according to industry sources. The debts have piled up over the last six years, coinciding with a steady rise in the role of state agencies in importing goods to Venezuela, particularly food. Of course! Government employees dont bother to return containers, because it isnt their money. Moreover, they know that the government will blame whatever goes wrong on wreckers and saboteurs, not them. And we havent even mentioned the joys of waiting in line for hours in reliance on a rumor that a store might have toilet paper for sale. No form of socialism has ever worked at any time or in any place. Socialism is, always has been and always will be a disaster. People like Bernie Sanders, Hillary Clinton and their voters need a remedial course in history. Or maybe they should just read a newspaper now and then. Fashion has in recent times taken the centre stage among actors and actresses in the Kannywood movie industry. According to one analyst and movie promoter in the industry, Hassana Dalhat, It is like a competition now. Actors and actresses are always on their Instagram pages sharing pictures of their new looks. PREMIUM TIMES presents the industrys top five most stylish actors and actresses, based on photographs recently displayed by the artistes on their social media platforms. 1. Rahama Sadau The elegant actress is no doubt the industrys number one when it comes to fashion sense. A relatively newcomer in Kannywood, Rahama has displayed the most stylish images of herself on her Instagram page, @Rahama Sadau. Rahama owns a bbeauty shop in Kaduna. Some of her outstanding movies include Ana wata Ga wata and Sabuwar Sangaya. 2. Maryam Booth Maryam Booth is unarguably one super actress who is making waves at the moment in Kannywood. She stands out in terms of fashion and general look. Maryam is the daughter of veteran Kannywood actress, Zainab Booth. One of her notable movies is Gani GaKa 3. Nafisa Abdullahi The 2016 Kannywood Best Actress of the Year is also a unique fashion freak. A natural beauty, she is not known for heavy make-ups like others, yet stands out with her unique fashion style. 4. Adam Zango Adam Zango is rated as the most fashionable male actor in Kannywood. According to Hassana Dalhat, Anytime you see Adam Zango he is looking good and well-dressed. The multi-talented Adam Zango could be such because he also double as a musician and you know musicians like fashion. His images tell more about him @AdamZango. 5. Fati Washa Fati also has many beautiful photographs on her Instagram wall. @FatiWasha Some actors to also watchout for on the fashion reel include Nuhu Abdullahi, Ali Nuhu, Sadiq Sani, Hadiza Gabon and Halima Ateteh. At least 10 people have been killed and several houses burnt in fresh violence that erupted on Friday in Taraba State, witnesses say. But police said only two people died in the clashes between the Shumo and Wurkum ethnic groups in Karim Lamido Local Government area of the state. Residents said the violence started around 2am Friday when a village, named Shumon Gwaye, belonging to Shumo ethnic group, was attacked by suspected Wurkum youth. The attack on the Shumo village led to reprisals attacks on Didango, a Wurkum community. The Police Public Relations Officer for Taraba State, Joseph Kwaji, said only two people were killed in the conflict. Some suspected Shumo youth invaded and attacked Didango village, the PPRO said. Two people were killed, he added Mr. Kwaji, a deputy superintendent of police, also confirmed that 11 houses had been torched. He said the police had drafted more operatives to the area to quell the crisis. No less than 150 makeshift structures were gutted by fire that started late Friday night at Kano Street, Ebute-Meta area of Lagos State, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports. Another fire incident gutted goods worth millions of naira at the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) training schools warehouse in the early hours of Saturday. Rasak Fadipe, the Director, Lagos State Fire Service, confirmed both incidents to NAN on Saturday in Lagos. Mr. Fadipe said his office got information about the fire outbreak that destroyed the makeshift structures at about 10.30 p.m., Friday night. The director said that it took his men more than seven hours to put out the inferno. He said all the makeshift structures in the area were burnt. Our men were on ground as soon as they got the information; but then, the fire had already spread fast due to the makeshift structures and the current hot weather. We were able to put out the fire at about 5.30 a.m., he said. There was no casualty, he said. Similarly, the firemen were also on ground to extinguish another fire outbreak at the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) training schools warehouse, Ikeja. Mr. Fadipe said that the fire, which started at about 1.30 a.m. on Saturday, was still raging as at the time of filling this report. It is a storey building. The upstairs is used for lectures, while the ground floor is use as a warehouse for seized goods. The building structure collapsed on the goods on the ground floor while our men were still battling with the fire due to the intensity of the inferno on the structure. There is an excavator trying to remove the rubbles from the goods now, he said. (NAN) The management of the University of Lagos has dissolved the student union of the institution as it announced the resumption of full academic activities on May 2. The dissolution of the student union was reached at an emergency meeting of the university senate on Friday. The University of Lagos Student Union (ULSU) Constitution should be suspended until further notice. The ULSU Executive and the Student Legislative Council should be dissolved forthwith, a circular released on Saturday stated. Faculty and Departmental Associations should work with the University Management through the Students Affairs Division in the interim. ULSU Constitution should be reviewed to include conflict resolution mechanisms such as establishment of Judicial Arm and Financial Guidelines, which shall be the prelude to subsequent elections into ULSU offices. The circular, signed by Taiwo Ipaye, the universitys registrar and secretary of senate, also required every student of the university to sign undertakings, and parents indemnity forms, before they will be allowed to return to their halls of residence. The university had suspended all academic activities and immediate closure of the university earlier in the month after students protested lack of basic amenities such as water and electricity in their halls of residence. The protesting students blocked major roads leading into the university, including access to the schools Senate building and the Assembly Hall where Rahman Bello, the Vice Chancellor, was attending an event. Armed police officers were later brought in to disperse the angry students. In a circular released after the protest, the school blamed the lingering fuel crisis for its failure to provide water and other amenities in the students halls of residence. Senate noted that the problem of poor municipal service is a national issue that the governments at both state and federal level are addressing, the circular stated. A statement released on Saturday directed the students to download the undertaking forms from the universitys website, complete and notarised them, and submit alongside the indemnity forms from their parents at their departments in order to obtain a clearance that will grant them entry into examination halls and halls of residence. Examinations will commence from Monday, May 9, 2016. Consequently, students are expected to generate their examination dockets and ensure it is duly endorsed by their Course Advisers between Monday, April 25 and Monday, May 2, 2016, the statement read. The University will endeavour to provide electricity in the various halls of residence between the hours of 7.00 pm and 7.00 am daily. The boreholes in the hostels will continue to provide water supply to the hostels until normal supply from the Lagos State Water Corporation resumes. Foremost industrialist and richest man in Africa, Aliko Dangote, has restated his commitment to assist the Federal Government in turning around and diversifying the countrys economy. He said this in Lagos on Friday where he was honoured as Man of the Year 2015 by The Guardian Newspapers Limited. He said he was working hard with his company to take Nigeria to the next level and that within the next two and half years, Nigeria was going to excel in some critical areas. We want to do that by looking at critical areas where Nigeria is not doing well in terms of local production and tackle the problem areas, Mr. Dangote said. Number one is refinery, Dangote Group is building a refinery which will produce 650,000 barrels of petrol per day; the current capacity that we have as a country now, both the ones that are working and the ones not working, is just 450,000 barrels per day. Our petrochemical is 10 times that of Eleme, we are at 1.3 million, Eleme is 120,000, so it will be the largest petrochemical industry in Africa. In fertilizer production, we are not only trying to satisfy the market, but our size is 3 million tonnes which is 10 times more than what is available in Nigeria today. We are trying to make sure we satisfy the local needs and also export and we thought about how to address our power issues, the only way we can address power issues is to have enough gas and sort out distribution. Distribution is important because unless you collect money from the consumers, you cannot grow. There are two sub-sea gas pipelines coming from Bonny which will produce about 3 billion volume of gas which is exactly about the same size of LNG. We are committed to turning around the economy of Nigeria and in the next two and a half years, Nigeria will be the highest oil petroleum products export country, will be the highest in terms of fertilizer export, will be the highest in petrochemicals export. Nigeria will also be the highest in terms of cement export in Africa, he said. Speaking on bailouts for the states, Mr. Dangote said: I dont believe the Federal Government should continue to be bailing out the states, the states have to sit down and plan to cut costs instead of looking for bailout and being lazy. They can create jobs and give incentives to people to come and invest, they should assure people that they are not going to be slammed with various taxes which is what some of them do. Mr. Dangote added that the current situation of the economy would push people to work harder, to work in terms of diversifying the economy. Earlier, the publisher of Guardian Newspapers Limited, Maiden Ibru, said that they were honouring Mr. Dangote because of his impact on the lives of Nigerians and Africa. She restated the role of the newspaper in the society as working for the enduring benefits of the people and being critical and identifying as well as publicizing heroes as a way of redirecting the values of the society. The first Man of the Year award was presented to former president Olusegun Obasanjo in 1987. Some of the guests at the event were former governor of Ogun State, Olusegun Osoba, Bishop Alexander Gianniris of the Diocese of Greek Orthodox Church, and former Chief of Army Staff, Gen. Chris Ali. (NAN) Good morning from the main auditorium of the National University Commission headquarters in Abuja, venue of this years Unity Schools Old Students Association 30th plenary session. Its from here that PREMIUM TIMES will be bringing you live updates of the exercise which is expected to last for the better part of this Saturday. The 600-seat auditorium is almost filled to capacity. What you need to know: Although the major highlight of todays event is the election of of new executive members of the organisation, especially the election of a new president-general, several other activities are billed to take place. Some of these activities include the inauguration of new alumni associations and the presentation of the organisations financial report. Candidates for several other offices are also expected to be elected today. The Unity Schools Old Students Association (USOSA) is the incorporated trustee of the alumni associations of all the 104 Federal Government Colleges, Federal Government Girls Colleges, Kings College, Queens College, Federal Government Boys College, Apo, Federal Science Colleges, Suleja Academy and Federal Science and Technical Colleges in Nigeria. It is an association with over 500,000 members resident in Nigeria and in the diaspora. As noted earlier, the election of a new president-general of USOSA is expected to be the major highlight of todays event. The two contending candidates for the position are: Chidi Odinkalu and Lawrence Wilbert. Chidi Odinkalu: According to his website, www.chidiodinkalu.com, Chidi Anselm Odinkalu heads the Africa Programme of the Open Society Justice Initiative and chaired the Council of Nigerias National Human Rights Commission. Described by a leading African newsweekly as a leading member of the new generation of African legal minds by Oxford Universitys Ike Okonta as one of Africas leading human rights lawyers. Admitted to the Nigerian Bar in November 1988, Odinkalu received his Ph.D. in law from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE); his Masters Degree in law from the University of Lagos and his first degree also in Law from the then Imo State University, percusssor of todays Abia State University. Following the annulment of the June 12 1993 presidential elections in Nigeria, Mr. Odinkalu, a principal mover in the civil society response to the annulment as the then legal Director of the Civil Liberties Organisation (CLO) was exiled to the United Kingdom where he pioneered the Africa and Middle East Programme of the International Centre for the Legal Protection of Human Rights (INTERIGHTS). The author of more than four books and over 60 other scholarly articles, Mr. Odinkalu is widely known as an authority on international law, including human rights, international institutional law and international economic laws affecting African countries. He is a visiting Professor of law at the International Criminal Law Centre at the Open University of Tanzania, and was formerly Jeremiah Smith Jr. visiting Professor of Laws at the Harvard Law School in Cambridge Massachusetts and Brandeis International Fellow at the International Centre for Ethics, Justice and Public Life at the Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts. Among his other affiliations, Mr. Odinkalu founded the Coalition for an Effective African Court on Human and Peoples Rights based in Arusha, Tanzania. He is a member of the Boards of Directors of the Fund for Global Human Rights in Washington D.C.; the International Council on Human Rights Policy in Geneva; and the International Refugee Rights Initiative (IRRI) in New York and a Trustee of the International African Institute (IAI) of the University of London. He is also a member of the Human Rights Advisory Council of the Carnegie Council on Ethics and International Affairs in New York. Mr. Odinkalu is also Co-Chairperson of the Darfur Consortium, a campaign coalition comprising over 400 African and international civil society organisations in support of the people of Darfur in Western Sudan and co-Chaiperson of the Citizenship Rights in Africa Initiative, CRAI based in Kampala, Uganda. Between 2004-2006, Odinkalu led the Campaign against Impunity (CAI), to press for accountability by former Liberian President, Charles Taylor. The campaign was ultimately vindicated with the transfer of Mr. Taylor to the custody of the UN-supported Special Tribunal for Sierra Leone in April 2006. He is also a leader of the FoI Coalition whose efforts were recently crowned with the enactment of Nigerias Freedom of Information Act in May 2011. A member of the Executive Committee of the Nigerian Bar Association, Odinkalu was also the Co-ordinator of its Practice Section on Public Interest and Development Law (SPIDEL) from 2006-2010. Mr. Odinkalu is also currently a member of USOSA Board of Trustees. Lawrence Wilbert: According to his campaign website, http://wilbert4usosa.com/, Lawrence leads the team that drives the mobile value-added services business in GenieNG and its sister company Agilent Wireless Ltd. He has successfully grown the revenue from zero from inception in October 2010 to multi-million dollar monthly revenue in the leading mobile operators in Nigeria. GenieNG is also a leading network system integration company in Africa. Clients include MTN, Airtel, Ericsson, Huawei, ZTE etc. Managing Director/Chief Executive Agilent Wireless Ltd Executive Director GenieNG Communications Ltd A mobile value-added services business. GenieNGs other business focus include: Mobile network coverage solutions, Information System Design and Implementation, Project management, Procurement Services Lawrences Success Track record in various business sectors: Oil & Gas services (Nigeria) Information & Computer System Project management & Consultancy (UK & Nigeria) Technology Sales & Marketing (UK & Nigeria) His previous experience in UK and Nigeria: Thomson Financial (Datastream) UK; Reuters Inter-Trade Direct UK, Data Broadcasting Corporation UK, Polmaz Ltd Nigeria. Lawrences Academic Qualifications MSc Electromechanical Engineering from the Odessa Polytechnic University, Odessa, Ukraine Post-Graduate diploma Telecommunications & Computer Networks from the South Bank University, UK. Lawrences Interests Executive Chairman Ikara Community Trust, Ikara. Ikpobha-Okha LGA. Edo State: Grass roots community leadership National President Fed. Govt College Ugwolawo Old Students Association:Leader in the Unity Schools Old Students Association Loves Swimming, Table and Hard court Tennis, Long Walks and Jogging. Interested in golf and out-door photography Marital Status: Happily married to Tesh Wilbert. They have 3 sons Lawrence Wilbert was pioneer president of the Lagos Chapter of Federal Government College Ugwolawo Old Students Association (FGCUOSA), his leadership qualities saw him occupy the position for two tenures, after which he was elected as National President of the association, he served in this capacity for two tenures. Below are highlights of his achievements as Lagos Chapter president and National President of FGCUOSA. Pioneer President of the FGCUOSA Lagos Chapter (2009 to 2011) Masterminded the first ever Global Reunion of FGCUOSA in 2010. Provided leadership for three more Global Reunions including the first ever Offshore Reunion held in London in August , 2015. Provided Leadership that influenced the approval of a N70Million intervention fund for FGCUOSA by the Federal Ministry of Education. Provided Leadership for the creation and effective management of an online Alumni community of over 3,600 members. Providing Leadership for the implementation of give back projects valued at about N10Million. Facilitating transparent financial reporting across FGCUOSA, leading to improved funding for FGCUOSA activities. Facilitating a strong welfare and member support culture within FGCUOSA. Provided Leadership that saw FGCUOSA growing from two functional Chapters to Ten Functional Chapters in less than four years. Providing coaching and mentorship for effective leadership training across all functional levels of FGCUOSA. About Six years progressive and unbroken experience in Alumni development and management. Providing Leadership for improved participation of FGCUOSA leading to recognition of FGCUOSA as the association with highest attendance at the last USOSA Congress in Kings College, Lagos. Leading FGCUOSA to financial compliance at USOSA. Facilitating the recognition of FGCUOSA within USOSA as one of USOSAs fastest growing member associations. Included into the USOSA Exco by USOSA Exco consensus, in recognition of his exemplary performance as President of FGCUOSA and his unflinching passion for USOSA activities. Live Updates 11.44: Chairman of the interim executive committee of USOSA, Ayo Joseph, has just given his welcome address. Mr. Joseph said USOSA remained one family and appreciated the efforts of those who made todays event possible, adding that that exemplified what USOSA represents service, sacrifice and fellowship. Mr. Joseph, who has led the organisation for the past six months, gave updates on the activities of USOSA since his stewardship began. He decried the failure of some USOSA schools to score five credits in the last WAEC, saying the situation is dire for the schools that fall under the organisation. 11.46: On that note, Mr. Joseph rounded off his welcome address. Up next is the updates on the organisations financial report to be coordinated by the financial secretary and a member of the interim executive committee. He will give updates from the past six months of the IES leadership. 11.47: On the elections, Mr. Joseph said USOSA has the best resources in terms of human capital in the country. He urged all candidates to display sportsmanship in the course of the polls. 11.49: Mr. Joseph coordinated a one-minute silence in honour of a man who volunteered to work at the headquarters of USOSA, Mohammed Garba, who died in the course of serving the organisation free of charge. He died in an accident, officials said. 11.50: Financial report from November 1st 2015 to today, April 23, 2016. Total income: 6, 512, 125.00 Total expenditure: 3, 571, 110.77 Bank Balances: 2, 941, 014.23 Outstanding liabilities: NEXIM Bank July 1, 2014- July 30, 2015: 6, 394, 700.00 NEXIM Bank July 1, 2015- June 30, 2016: 6, 394,700.00 Staff salaries: 4, 870, 812.50 FGC Kano: 944, 678.78 Aso Savings and Loans: 9, 893, 580.05 Nanet Suites: 562, 015.00 Ahmed Zakari and Co.: 787, 500.00 Coolink Internet Services: 89, 802.21 Total debt: 29, 937, 788.54. The financial secretary urges all members to save USOSA from the liabilities because everyone of USOSA members is responsible for the debts. Whoever emerges president-general at the end of todays election will inherit this debt. 12.01: Members asked why the organisation has such a huge debt, especially FGC Kano. They also asked why Folashade Yemi-Esan, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Education, had not been at the forefront of investigation into what happened. Mr. Joseph said the debts were incurred as part of the organisations activities, saying it cost a lot to run their offices. He also said a lot of alumni associations owe huge contributory debts. Mr. Joseph said the Board of Trustees of USOSA was currently interfacing with old girls of Queens College to carry out a thorough investigation into what happened concerning the alleged sexual molestation of a student in the school. He urged all members to be patient that justice would be done. 12.17: New alumni associations are now being inaugurated into USOSA. The schools are: FGGC Bida FGGC Abaji FGGC Onitsha FSTC Rubochi FGC Ijanikin FGGC Lejja FGC Keffi FGGC Oyo. 12.20: Segun Adeniyi, a former presidential spokesman and chairman of THISDAY editorial board, is here as an observer. Also here is Ibim Semenitari, the acting-managing director of Niger-Delta Development Commission, NDDC, and an alumni of FGGC Abuloma. Motion is now being moved for the dissolution of interim executive council of USOSA and new electoral officers are being selected to coordinate todays election. Also standing for election today are Katherine Pam and Ibim Semenitari for the position of USOSA publicity secretary. Election for the position of the publicity secretary will no longer hold as Ms. Semenitari announces her intention to step down for her contender, Ms. Pam. A massive applause from the audience followed this announcement. 12.32: This should give all of us a bit of a sense of the lay of the land for USOSA elections. The presidency is the post really up for contest. Currently, there are 39 registered schools. Of that, though, we have 25 schools currently eligible to vote. The schools without number suffixes are the newly-inaugurated schools. Theyre qualified to vote but their vote allotment is not immediately known. Abuloma (10) Bakori (10) Benin (10) Enugu (10) Gboko (11) Ilorin (12) Kano (11) Kazaure (12) Langtang (10) Maiduguri (11) Ogbomoso (11) Okigwe (12) Owerri (11) Port Harcourt (11) Ugbolawo (11) QC (11) Sokoto (11) FGGC Bida FGGC Abaji FGGC Onitsha FSTC Rubochi FGC Ijanikin FGGC Lejja FGC Keffi FGGC Oyo. Each school has a baseline of 10 delegates. In addition, members of the immediate past exco have a vote as do members of BOT. Factoring these in, the figures in brackets represent the number of delegates each school has. The schools with 11 have at least 1 member on either the BOT or exco. The schools with 12 have members on both exco and BOT. A few members of the BOT or Exco whose schools are not yet fully paid do nevertheless have a vote as members of exco or BOT. That is the electorate for now. But it could change or grow. Any school that registered or paid off its dues on or before 21 April is able to field delegates for the ballot. 12.34: One of the presidential candidates, Mr. Wilbert, is now making his stump speech for the election. He promises to take USOSA to a new level by furnishing the organisations offices and improving the activities of the organisation in terms of outreach and support to existing schools if elected. 12.38: Mr. Odinkalu just took the stage to give his own campaign speech. Mr. Odinkalu decries the state of Nigeria education, says over 10 million children are out of schools, the largest of such figure in the world. He says fundamentalism, extremism and nihilism have taken over the minds of Nigerian young children. Says Nigerians are suffering enthusiasm deficit and several other deficits Says Nigeria must embrace digital education in this digital age Says he invites everyone to support him in driving his vision for Nigeria. Making young Nigerians have interest in education and the need for economic awareness and a befitting new face for USOSA are amongst his rallying cry. The applause that followed Mr. Odinkalus call to stage suggests he might leave this venue victorious. It was thunderous and enduring. But Mr. Wilbert is not a pushover either. And applause dont make a winner. Votes do. So we keep our fingers crossed. Mr. Odinkalu had told PREMIUM TIMES earlier that he was elated to participate in the election and confident of victory. 12.42: The election for the post of president-general is now underway Several other positions that are up for contest today are no longer being contested as candidates have decided to step down for their opponents. Some of the position so far announced as returning unopposed are: vice-president-general, secretary-general, financial secretary, and the publicity secretary that has already gone to Ms. Katherine Pam. 12.58: Voting is still in progress. FGC Enugu, FGGC Gboko, FGC Jos, FGGC Langtan, FGGC Kazaure and FGC Mauduguri have all voted. In that order. 13.52: Voting is still in progress under a very peaceful atmosphere in the main auditorium of National University Commission headquarters, Maitama, Abuja. Delegates from the following schools have successfully vote for their favourite candidates: FGC Ilorin FGC Okigwe (Odinkalus alma mater) FGC Ugbolawo (Wilberts alma mater) FGGC Abuloma FGC Port Harcourt Queens College FGC Bussa FGGC Bakori FGC Bida FGGC Abaji FGGC Onitsha FGC Rubochi 14.10: With FGC Ijanikin, FGC Kano, FGGC, Owerri, FGC Ogbomoso, FGGC Lejja, FGC Keffi, FGGC Oyo and FGC Ijanikin all having voted, the election has now been successfully concluded and counting gets underway. The two candidates, Mr. Odinkalu and Mr. Wilbert, are now called to the stage to observe the sorting and counting process. The process remains peaceful and transparent. BREAKING: Chidi Odinkalu emerges USOSA president-general Chidi Odinkalu, foremost human rights activist and former chairman of the National Human Rights Commission, has been elected the new president-general of the Unity Schools Old Students Association (USOSA). At an election held in Abuja Saturday, Mr. Odinkalu won 269 votes, triumphing over his only challenger, Mr. Lawrence Wilbert, who garnered 24 votes. Mr. Odinkalu is an alumni of Federal Government College, Okigwe. The chairman of the electoral committee, Ngozi Oyewole, from Federal Government Girls College, Owerri, announced the results of the election. For the post of President-General, Lawrence Wilbert from FGC Ugbolawo scored 24 votes. Chidi Odinkalu from FGC Okigwe scored 269 votes, Ms. Oyewole said. Other candidates who were elected unopposed in Saturdays poll are: Mohammed Wasagu, FGC Kano- Vice President-General Salim Ibrahim, FGC Ilorin- Secretary-General Ibrahim Audu, FGC Enugu- Vice Secretary-General Patricia Ofili, FGGC Gboko- Treasurer Katherine Pam, FGGC Langtang- Publicity Secretary Adama Bature, FGGC Kazaure- Assistant Publicity Secretary Zainab Hassan, FGC Sokoto- Welfare Secretary Ogunranti Akindele, FGC Ogbomoso- Financial Secretary Omowunmi Odii, FGGC Benin- Assistant Financial Secretary. All the candidates have subsequently taken their oaths of office. Mr. Odinkalu, in his acceptance speech, thanked all those present at the event and promised to uphold the ideals of USOSA and make improvements in areas that are necessary. A judge in Akwa Ibom, on Thursday, refused to grant a request from a former university lecturer who wanted to personally conduct his libel case against his former employer, the University of Uyo, after his lawyer suddenly withdrew from the case. You cant address the court on point of law, Justice Okon. A. Okon, of the state High Court 9, told Inih Ebong who was already up standing, and ready to cross-examine Emmanuel Imeh, a deputy registrar and director of personnel in the university. My lord I have here with me, a Supreme Court authority which permits me as a layman to argue my case, Mr. Ebong said to the court. But the court cant even allow you to cite the authority, the judge responded. The former lecturer, who is in his mid-60s, told the court that he had prepared some questions which he wanted to use in cross-examining Uniuyo. But the judge stood his ground. Ill give you time to look for a new lawyer, the judge said. But if by the next date you dont come with a lawyer, I will allow you to cross examine. But know that your role ends there, since you wont be allowed to address the court on point of law. Idorenyin Peter, a lawyer from the chambers of Ekpa B. Ekpa & Co., informed the court that they were withdrawing their legal services for Mr. Ebong for personal reasons. Outside the courtroom, Mr. Ebong drew aside a lawyer who appeared sympathetic to him, opened the law report which he was holding, and read out a portion of the Supreme Court authority he had wanted to cite before the court. Legal practitioners do not have monopoly of citation of authorities in a court of law. A litigant, whether a legal practitioner or a layman, who conducts his case in person has the right like any legal practitioner who appears and acts for clients to cite authorities to advance his case. (Atake Vs Afejuku (1994) 12 SCNJ, page 11), he argued. Mr. Ebong, an associate professor of theatre arts, was sacked by Uniuyo under controversial circumstances in March 2002, when Akpan Ekpo was the vice chancellor. While Mr. Ebong went to court to challenge his job termination, the university went ahead to publish a disclaimer on him in The PUNCH newspaper, warning that anybody who deals with him on behalf of the University of Uyo does so at his or her own risk. Mr. Ebong sued for libel. The case, initially filed at the Federal High Court, Calabar, Cross River state, in October 26, 2002, was transferred to Uyo in January, 2003 when a federal high court was created for Akwa Ibom state. The case survived four different judges Justice Gladys Olotu, Justice Isaac Ejiofor, Justice Ernest Chukwu, Justice Muhammed Abubakar at the Federal High Court, Uyo, and continued to crawl on for about 11 years, before the court, under Justice Ijioma Ojukwu, eventually declined jurisdiction and transferred it in December, 2014, to the state high court. Mr. Ebong, in his statement of claim at the state high court, said the disclaimer, which he said was done maliciously, painted him as an impostor, carrying out illegal, unauthorised, and fraudulent business and transactions in the name of the university. He is asking the court to compel Uniuyo to retract the disclaimer, and pay him N800 million as damages, as well as defray his legal expenses of N863, 020.00. The deputy registrar in the university, Mr. Imeh, in the affidavit he swore to on behalf of Uniuyo, said the disclaimer became absolutely necessary in the public interest to forestall any attempt by Mr. Ebong to present himself as employee of the school after his appointment was terminated. Mr. Ebong, in an interview with PREMIUM TIMES, admitted that it hurt him that the case dragged on for long, but said that he was determined to go on with it for as long as it would take him to obtain justice. I am a stoic; I take things with stoic resoluteness. Im an existentialist. I learn from my experiences rather than allow my experiences to defeat me. Already, it is 15 years now Ive not earned any money, since they stopped my salary in 2001. The last salary I collected was in July 2001. So, if I have not died, if I have not broken down since then, I dont think Im going to break down, he said. Mr. Ebong said in fairness to the current judge handling it, that the case has been moving in good speed. He said the court awarded N20, 000 and N30, 000 as separate costs against Uniuyo for causing unnecessary delay in the proceedings, but that the school has so far refused to pay it. The case was adjourned to May 25, 2016. Ndianabasi Udofia, a lawyer from the Golden-Bridge Attorneys & Arbitrators, represented Uniuyo. The immediate past Governor of Bauchi State, Isa Yuguda, has left the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP. Mr. Yuguda, as member of the PDP, served as minister of aviation under former President Olusegun Obasanjo and also served as governor for two terms on the platform of the party. He briefly left the party for the defunct All Nigeria Peoples Party in the run-up to the 2007 general election after he was denied the governorship ticket of the party. But he soon returned to the PDP shortly after he was elected on the platform of the ANPP. Mr. Yuguda, who spoke to journalists in Bauchi over the telephone on Saturday said he decided to leave the PDP because the party had lost focus and presently lacked the will to bring development to Nigeria. The PDP governed Nigeria for an unbroken 16 years beginning May 29, 1999. It lost power to the All Progressives Congress during the 2015 general election. Mr. Yuguda did however not disclose the political party to which he is headed, saying he was still consulting his supporters. Already I have told my supporters that I will not force them to leave PDP. Anybody that wants to remain in PDP is free to do so and whoever wants to move with me is welcome. I decided to leave PDP because the party can no longer bring development to Nigeria, its unfortunate that the party has lost focus, he said. Mr. Yuguda also prayed for the success of President Muhammadu Buhari in the discharge of his duties as president. We must always pray for the success of our leaders because the Holy Quran admonishes people to pray for their leaders to succeed and that is why we should pray for the success of President Buharis administration, he said. As soon as Mr. Yuguda finished speaking to the journalists, some of his supporters trooped to the secretariat of the Nigeria Union of Journalists in Bauchi where they publicly tore their PDP membership cards. Trump people kill me. They've been whining for weeks about how the Republican Party primary system works. They say it's rigged because their hero is pulling in the most votes and the most delegates but still might not win the nomination. They say it's all very simple: Trump's getting the most votes and therefore it's only fair that the person with the most votes from the people should win the nomination. As I tweeted earlier this week, if that's the way Trump's followers think, then they should all be supporters of Al Gore. In the 2000 election Gore got 540,000 more votes than George W. Bush, but Bush ended up in the White House because he accumulated the most Electoral College votes. The Founding Founders & Framers knew what they were doing when they set up the Electoral College to indirectly choose the president. They didn't want a popular vote and they didn't want Congress to pick the chief executive. And they sure didn't want a candidate for president to be able to just campaign in three or four big states and rack up huge vote totals and win that way. The Founders deliberately set it up so each state got its electoral votes in proportion to its representatives and senators. They wanted every part of the country to be part of the process of choosing a president, not just one heavily populated region or one strong faction of nut balls or extremists. (Not that Trump people are nutballs or extremists.) It's the same representative principle at work in the Republican Party's primary system. The GOP doesn't want some guy to be able to win the nomination by flying a 757 into a handful of big states like California, New York, Texas, Illinois, Ohio and Florida, holding campaign events for 20,000 people at the airport and then flying home to Upper Upper Manhattan. They want a nominee who gets on the ground, walks the neighborhoods, shakes hands and does the hard retail work at the grass roots. That's what Ted Cruz has been doing to win his delegates while Trump has been doing TV interviews and zooming back and forth over Flyover Country. Trump people might not like the primary process because their hero is not winning, or think there is cheating and rigging going on. But they have to understand there is a process and it's not about vote counts, it's about the delegate count. It's not that tough to get. Meanwhile, what really concerns me lately is how Trump is wrecking his ability to unify the GOP around his candidacy in the fall if he does win the nomination. He spends parts of every speech and press conference announcing that he hopes that his supporters don't make trouble if he doesn't win. He hopes they don't riot in the streets. I'm getting tired of his veiled threats, because that is what they really are. It's time for Reince Priebus, the chairman of the Republican National Committee, to stand up at a press conference and tell Trump to cut it out. Maybe threats and intimidation are part of the Donald's winning strategy in business. But it's not how it's supposed to work when you're trying to win the presidential nomination of the Republican Party. Tension is building up at the National Institute for Pharmaceutical Research and Development in Abuja over allegations that its Director General, Kamiyus Gamaniel, embezzled a World Bank grant to the Institute as well as funds meant for staff salary. Mr. Gamaniel, a professor, was accused of cornering about $514,000.36 (N77.10m) out of the $744,000.38 the bank gave NIPRD to develop anti-diabetic phytomedicine , otherwise known as Step-B Project, rendering the research futile after eight years. Staff also alleged that the professor diverted another N33 million meant for the payment of the salaries of the institutes staff sometime in 2014. Mr. Gamaniel has however dismissed the allegations The allegations are contained in a petition to President Muhammadu Buhari by some staff of the institute under the aegis of Concerned Staff. Copies of the petition, backed with relevant documents, were also sent to the Minister of Health, Isaac Adewole, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, the Independent and Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission and the State Security Service. NIPRD is a federal government agency saddled with the responsibility of undertaking research and development on drugs and biological products. It serves as a reference centre for biopharmaceutics , pharmacokinetics and stability of imported and locally manufactured products. In the petition dated February 17, the staff said NIPRD had submitted a proposal to the World Bank for the development of anti-diabetic phytomedicine from selected Nigerian medicinal plants in December 2008 and requested the grant of $744,000.36 (about N111 million using N150 per dollar exchange rated at the time). They said the bank, which gave no objection to the proposal, released the first instalment of $230,000.00 (N34m) to the institute. The bank subsequently released the remaining $514,000.36 (N77m). A letter from the Federal Ministry of Education dated August 7, 2009 with reference number Grant No. FME/STEPB/79/3/22, to the NIPRD, informing the institute of the approval of the grant said, We are pleased to inform you that the World Bank has given no objection that part of the money you applied for should be given to you for the projects you submitted. They said the first instalment of $230,000 was released and judiciously utilised but that in anticipation of the release of the second instalment of $514,000, Mr. Gamaniel rushed to the Mpape (Abuja) branch of Zenith Bank to open an account with which he receive the money. According to the staff, this was in spite of the fact that the project already had an account in EcoBank NICON Plaza, Central Area, Abuja. They said a letter of notification of account details was subsequently sent to Mr. Gamaniel by the bank. In the letter marked Annexture 1A and dated June 07, 2012, the bank informed the DG that it opened the account in the name NIPRD World Bank/Step B Proj ADCT, with Account Number 1013054590 and Sort Code 057080280 at its Mpape Branch. The staff claimed that although the project implementation team resisted Mr. Gamaniels plan to lodge the funds in a new bank account, he (DG) used his executive powers to overrule the team. But the decision of the DG to change the account was to trigger a chain of events, which eventually crippled the project. The petition said, Following the refusal of the project implementation team to siphon the project funds the DG opened a new bank account for the project at Zenith Bank Mpape with account No 1013054590, the petition said. On this notification, the principal investigation expressed her concerned to the DG via email with the copies to National Project Secretariat NPS (Prof. Adikwu) and the World Bank (Dr Adekola). Also other members of the project team wrote to the DG to expressed concern about the anomaly. The DG has no option after the refusal of the project team for diversion of the fund than to use his executive power to suspend the activities of the Step-B project on 28th June, 2013. In the memo dated June 19, 2102, which was also attached to the petition, the principal investigator, Hafsat Shittu, expressed deep concern about the future of the project. She acknowledged that the first tranche of the grant $230,000 was judiciously used for some components of the project. She listed them to include capacity building (local and international training) of Institutes staff for effective project management, ethnobotanical surveys, development of database, purchase of cages and chemicals and pharmacology, microbiological and phytochemical screen, all of which culminated in the establishment of collaboration with the CIHR team in aboriginal and diabetic medicines at the Department of Pharmacology, University of Montreal, Canada. She however said she had hoped that the release of the balance of $514,000.36 would enable the research group complete and sustain the anti-diabetic project, purchase equipment and carry out comprehensive anti-diabetic research towards gathering the preclinical dossier that will be presented to NAFDAC for clinical trials and subsequent buy-in by relevant stakeholders. She also said she had hoped that once the grant at hand was judicious used for the anti-diabetic project, the NIPRD would seek more funds from the World Bank by submitting new proposals for its many long standing projects (animal immunostimulatory, antifungal and tuberculosis). She then expressed concern about some developments, which included the diversion of some of the money to NIPRD projects (anti-malaria, immune-stimulatory, anti-fungal), opening of new account for the project and appointment of new principal officers to manage the project. I am concerned that if some of the money meant for the anti-diabetic project is diverted to other projects (for which there is budgetary provision by the Federal Government through successive administrations of NIPRD), there is no hope for millions of Nigerians who have diabetes mellitus but the asymptomatic, and undiagnosed can have access appropriate anti-diabetic treatments, Mrs. Shittu said. I hope my concern will be addressed as I plead for your support to ensure that the anti-diabetic project does not drift. In his response, Mr. Gamaniel explained in a memo that he opened a new account in order to have a firm control of the project since I cannot be responsible for what I cannot control. He stated further, I am a signatory A to the old account but had never interfered monetarily. Not even once. Hafsat had used the phrase diversion of some of the money loosely. She has failed to see reason with other management staff and researchers that selecting equipment that cut across projects is key to revamping the research culture of institutions. She has refused to understand what we mean by having the STEP B project into the institutional research frameworks so as to boost the equipment infrastructure eventually. The National Project Secretariat of the Step-B/NIPRD also expressed concern about Mr. Gamaniels plan to open a new account, according to the petitioners. In a letter dated June 20, 2016 to the DG, the NPS , after a meeting, said it would mandate a team to investigate whether or not there was reason to warrant such change, and that when the reasons are convincing to the NPS (National Project Secretariat), the NPS will give approval whether or not to effect the change. However, in a memo dated June 26, 2012, Mr. Gamaniel, who was then abroad representing the Health Minister at a meeting, sought to stop the investigation. He said, Should you decide to go ahead with the said investigation, I would suggest at this point that no further action should be taken especially in respect of fund disbursement to any account that bear the name of NIPRD without due clearance from my office as doing so may expose the project and Institute to more risk. He also said he had addressed the issue of the new bank account and the modified team in an earlier letter of acknowledgement and expressed hope that a meeting between NIPRD Management and the STEP B project Secretariat would help to create harmony and successes. Following the controversy, the Director of Administration, Remi Joseph, in an internal memo of June 28, 2012, said the management had decided to suspend all activities of the Step B project pending when investigations are concluded. He also requested the project manager to submit to him an inventory of all items in the project office on or before close of work the following day. But the investigation, the staff claimed, was never conducted. They said when Mr. Gamaniels alleged plan of diverting the fund was aborted he resorted to changing the signatories to the original account of the project domiciled in EcoBank. In a letter dated August 9, 2012, Peter Oladosu and William Adama were replaced with Adeola Jegede and Dzarman Levis, both of who are special assistants to the DG. Mr. Gamaniel and Ayi Ettoh, the Institutes director of finance and account, who jointly signed the letter to the bank informing it of the change of signatories, said the decision was reached at a meeting on July 25. Besides, the staff alleged that Mr. Gamaniel changed the project team, saying On August 9, 2012, the DG now replaces (sic) the project team, except the principal investigator. The staff said while the research activities were under suspension one of the herb-specialists, Oladele Rahoof, who was collaborating with the NIPRD on the project, started a legal process to have the institute present to him the result of the research and compensate him accordingly. To compound the problem, the NAFDAC Presidential Committee requested the NIPRD to submit to it anti-diabetic product urgently for consideration. This request was made known to Mr. Gamaniel by Martins Emeje, a professor, who represents the institute on the committee, in a memo dated March 10, 2104, but there was no product to send to the agency. An angry, Mrs. Shittu, who had lamented the refusal of Mr. Gamaniel to release funds, wrote the DG on the NAFDAC request. In the memo, which was attached to the petition, she lamented that the anti-diabetic research team in the phamarcology and technology department did not have a product. According to her, Our research has been on freeze dried recipe collected from herbalists. The staff said, The DG/CEO deliberately killed the World Bank project without a product. On the alleged diversion of staff salary totalling N33.60 million, the staff said the money was paid to NIPRD in July and December 2014 through Zenith Bank with account number 1012332491 for the payment of staff salary, but that the DG diverted the money and shared it with his cronies. The staff said when the Medical and Health Workers Union of Nigeria branch of NIPRD confronted Mr. Gamaniel in a letter on July 9, 2015, on the matter, the DG replied through the acting Director of Administration, Robert Ali, that the money was appropriately applied to settle staff, board expenses and departments, including commissioning (of laboratory complex) expenses. But the staff insisted, The money was diverted and shared by the Director General and his cronies The petitioners not only demanded the suspension of Mr. Gamaniel, but also asked Mr. Buhari to use his good office to direct an investigation into these acts of corrupt practices and gross abuse of office by Prof. K. S. Gamaniel and his cronies with a view to bringing the culprits to justice. Gamaniel Denies Allegations When contacted, Mr. Gamaniel denied the allegation of siphoning the project fund but admitted opening a new bank account at Zenith Bank Mpape. He explained that the account was opened to safeguard the integrity of the project after I was alerted that a member of the project management had submitted an illegal work plan for approval from the World Bank and the bank was going to honour it. The DG admitted that he reorganised the project management team and still included all the old members in the new team for continuity and communicated with the project secretariat. Stating that though his action was accepted, the DG said it did not go down well with some who still wanted to continue to run the project their own old way and they continued to sabotage the project. Mr. Gamaniel also denied that he diverted N33 million meant for staff salary, saying the NIPRD was one of the first institutions to migrate to the IPPIS platform in 2012 and later, the GIFMIS. He added, Since then, personnel salaries, shortfalls, allowances etc had been handled entirely by the IPPIS, meaning that it couldnt have been possible to receive personnel money through any money deposit bank such as the Zenith bank PLC. This shows the level, the character and intent of the petitioner. The DG who was once accused of paying ghost workers, explained that the Zenith Bank account in question was opened with the approval of the Federal Ministry of Finance, adding that the purpose was clearly defined and had been used for projects that staff needed to participate in by themselves. No such fund was received and/ or disbursed in the manner described by the petitioner, he said contrary to what Mr. Alli had claimed in a July 30, 2015 memo to the staff union. Mr. Gamaniel said the petition was a write-up put together by some NIPRD staff who think that public service is about personal benefits. The Minister of State for Petroleum, Ibe Kachikwu, said on Saturday that the Federal Government needed 700 million dollars to upgrade its refineries to produce at maximum capacities. Mr. Kachikwu, who is also the Group Managing Director of NNPC, disclosed this while speaking with journalists during the re-inauguration of the Port Harcourt/Bonny Crude Supply Line at the Port Harcourt Refining Company (PHRC), Eleme, Rivers. He said that due to the fact that the nation did not have such amount, advertisements had been signed for investors to come in. According to him, we are not inviting foreign partners to take over the refineries; the total investment for that is up to $700 million and we dont have that. Let us be honest about it. So, the best thing to do is to find a very creative way to bring in investors, who will come in, work with our team here; Investors, who have the skills to reactivate and upgrade facilities in this place and help us provide technical support and we will pay through the flow-out of the refined products over time, he said. Mr. Kachikwu emphasised that there should be no confusion about what the investors would be coming to do, since they would not come to run the refinery. They are coming to provide funds to take our performance on these refineries to 90 percent and to provide us with technical skills. So, the areas of intervention will be funding and technical support, he said. Mr. Kachikwu said that at present, Nigerians were consuming about 45 million litres of petrol daily, while the refineries were producing 12 million litres daily as they were working at 60 per cent capacity. He said the nation will need to upgrade the refineries and let them develop to the point where they can perform up to 90 per cent. He said by the time the refineries were upgraded to lstart producing at 90 per cent, about 20 million litres would be produced daily. The minister said that with such production, it would only meet up with about half of the countrys consumption. Mr. Kachikwu, however, apologised to Nigerians for their suffering due to the fuel scarcity and also thanked Nigerians for their patience. He explained that the government had been able to recover the two critical crude supply pipelines; which were Escravos/Warri and Bonny/Port Harcourt crude supply pipelines. Mr. Kachikwu said that the pipelines were down for six to seven years but had been repaired and were working and supplying crude to the refineries. For the first time, the refineries will get their crude, pay for it; they will sell their products and they will earn the income from that product. And then, they can develop and continue to maintain the refineries even after this intervention is over. Port Harcourt is back in production, Warri is back in production; Kaduna today is receiving and will soon be back in production. It is something of joy, he said. Mr. Kachikwu said, Lagos is easing off now from fuel scarcity and Abuja is doing the same thing; once Kaduna begins to produce, the North will see a lot of improvement. Over and above that, we are putting long term policies in place to ensure that while smaller marketers go out and do their stuff, we can then be the key suppliers for the rest of the country. He commended the workers and the contractors for a job well done; adding that he had signed the promotion letters of the Port Harcourt Refining Company staff as they deserved to be rewarded. Mr. Kachikwu, however, said there is a lot still to be done, I told you I will never give up. We owe Nigerians the duty to ensure that the refineries are working. We owe Nigerians that, we cant give up, he said. The minister urged Nigerians to remain resilient, support what the government is doing because this is the only way to change the system. (NAN) The Ondo State Independent Electoral Commission has confirmed 14 political parties for Saturdays local government elections. According to the chairman of the commission, Olugbenga Ige, the number was initially 15, but PPA later announced its withdrawal, citing its inability to field candidates for the election. Political parties confirmed for the poll include the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN), the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP), Accord Party (AP), Labour Party (LP), Peoples Democratic Congress (PDC) and the National Conscience Party (NCP). Others include the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Democratic Peoples Party (DPP), All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), ADC, Alliance for Democracy (AD), Action Alliance (AA), CPP and APA. Election accreditation were to begin on Saturday at 8am with accreditation of voters until 12 noon, while voting will commence shortly after until 3pm. All Progressives Congress and the Social Democratic Party have both boycotted the elections claiming that there are reasons to believe that the election would not be free and fair. The electoral commission, ODIEC, however began the distribution of sensitive materials to the respective local governments on Friday ahead of the election under the watch of armed security men. According to Mr. Ige, the elections will be free and fair and security of life and property will be a priority. He said citizens should ignore results declared on social media, as ODIEC is the only channel through which authentic results would be announced. JavaScript is disabled on your browser. CORDIS website requires JavaScript enabled in order to work properly. Please enable JavaScript. On a sunny Sunday in spring, three generations and three branches of Pam Moodys family went to have fun at Gillians Wonderland Pier on the Ocean City Boardwalk. Were actually hard-core Sea Isle people, said Carrie Siwiec, of Burlington County, one of Moodys daughters. But we drive here for the Boardwalk. With warm weather, the local shoreline fills up with people looking for family fun. And businesses have looked to feed that need with everything from roller coasters and Ferris wheels to pinball parlors and video arcades. But family-friendly attractions can be difficult to attract, and maintain. When Gillians Funland was in Sea Isle City for five summers, the extended Moody family went there. But Funland closed in 2013, and we miss that thing, Siwiec said, after her mom, sister, daughter and nephew got off the merry-go-round in Ocean City. We went all the time until it left. Then we came here. *** New Jersey tourism was a $43.4 billion industry last year, including more than $10 billion spent on recreation, according to a state report released earlier this year. Visitor spending was $6.7 billion in Atlantic County and about $6 billion in Cape May County last year, according to the report. And coastal towns and businesses have tried to boost spending by families, something easier said than done. For decades, at least since the first casino opened in Atlantic City in 1978, critics have said the city doesnt have enough family draws. They have one pier. One place for kids on this whole Boardwalk, said Scott Gardini, of South River, Middlesex County, after a Steel Pier visit with his son, Vincent, 4. As a kid, he went to the Seaside Heights boards in Ocean County. Now, if he wants to treat his kids to a boardwalk, sometimes he drives right by Atlantic City to Wildwood. He was in Atlantic City with his in-laws last week but said the city should broaden its market with the casinos ... dropping like flies. And Atlantic City has tried, desperately at times, to answer those critics. Steel Pier, which drew families for years with a mix of shticks that ran from rising stars to diving horses, closed after Resorts Casino Hotel opened in 1978. But it was reborn in the 1990s as an amusement pier full of rides and games. Investors have proposed three water parks in recent years, including two in closed casinos, the Atlantic Club and Revel. So far, not one has shown any progress. And last week, City Council approved tax incentives for a planned Polercoaster, a vertical roller coaster at the long-vacant home of yet another former casino, the Sands. Plus Tropicana Atlantic City, which once had and closed an indoor amusement park, Tivoli Pier, opened a new Family Fun Station a few summers ago with 50-plus games. Summer in A.C. means big shows on the beach, in the air ATLANTIC CITY This will be a summer of big conventions and fighter planes, of Toby Keith performing on the beach and the Miss America Compet *** Back at Wonderland Pier, Brett and Shannon Balsley, of Linwood, watched their daughter, Olivia, 3, spin around happily on a kiddie ride. The parents go to Atlantic City restaurants, concerts and shows all the time, Brett said. But if they want kicks for the kids, they head the other direction. Personally, I think Atlantic City should stay an adult town. ... I dont think you should try to compete with Ocean City and Wildwood. Theyve got the market cornered on family fun, he said. That take echoes something Steve Wynn, the casino magnate, told Time magazine in 2001 about family-friendly attractions for his latest Las Vegas resort. Not interested. Im after Mom and Dad, Wynn said. Sea Isle City seeking ideas for former amusement park site SEA ISLE CITY Although only two inquiries have been received in the month since the city p *** Destinations have to look at their strengths, said Brian Tyrrell, a hospitality and tourism-management professor at Stockton University. Look at the strength of Wildwood; its family-friendly. Ocean City, the same thing; theres plenty for (families) to do. Certainly there are going to be families with young children who come to Atlantic City occasionally, and there are some things for them, Tyrrell added. But in general, thats not a strength of Atlantic City. I would add, though, that you can still be family-friendly and just not look for families with young children. Take his parents. Theyre big fans of Atlantic City shows and restaurants and visiting them with their son. And because there are different towns with different personalities all along the local coast, he supports marketing that cooperates instead of competing from town to town. There certainly is plenty to do in the region, he said. Thats one avenue you could take. *** Gillians Funland opened in Sea Isle in 2009, after local leaders worked for years to find an amusement park to replace Fun City. That small park ended a 30-year run right off the citys beach in 2000; the owners sold the land to luxury-home developers. Mayor Len Desiderio said he wanted a family-friendly draw because after Fun City closed, he got literally thousands of requests for something like it. The town finally found a taker when Jay Gillian, the third-generation owner of Ocean Citys main amusement park, agreed to build one on city-owned land just off the bay. Gillian sunk an estimated $2.5 million into Funland to open it. But it closed for good less than five years later, in 2013, a summer when some rides never ran due to damage from Hurricane Sandy. And while both city and operator blame Sandy for Funlands demise, Gillian also said later that the place never took off the way he expected it to. Gillian told The Press in 2014 that I probably should have left earlier. If it had been about the bottom line, I would have left after the first or second year, the third year at the latest. By phone this week, Gillian said the departed park keeps haunting his numbers. Hes paying off close to $1.5 million in debt and expects to keep paying for another 10 years. Desiderio praises the efforts in his town of Gillian, who is also Ocean Citys mayor. Theyre very successful in Ocean City, and we were expecting something similar, Desiderio said. My thing was, they couldnt bounce back from the hurricane. It was the only amusement park being opened in the country (in 2009), and it just didnt happen. It just didnt work, Desiderio added. Amusements are ... a tough, tough business. After 87 years of family experience, Gillian cant disagree. Regulations are just unbelievable. Borrowing money is unbelievable. Mom-and-pop amusement parks like us ... have so much going against us, he said. Its a short season. Were competing against schools and camps (for kids). Were competing against Great Adventure, Disney ... the superparks. And his list goes on. *** Still, family-friendly can be money-making, for all concerned. Kathy Kaufman, of Washington Township, had two of her five grandchildren out last Sunday for a stroll on the Ocean City boards by Wonderland. She said the town is perfect for families. When her two kids were young, she brought them here. Today, her kids bring their kids. To encourage that, she bought a home in Ocean City because its her favorite family-friendly town. And around the time she settled on the house, she made another major purchase. We just spent $1,400, she said, for (ride) tickets for all my grandchildren. Contact: 609-272-7237 ATLANTIC CITY Robert Perozze, of Perkiomenville, Pennsylvania, has been visiting the shore for years, usually on day trips. But on Saturday, he stood on the 17th floor of an Atlantic City high-rise and said he was seriously considering cutting down on some of that driving time. Click here for video. Perozze was in the Bella, a luxury condo tower on Pacific Avenue, a block from the beach in the citys South Inlet section. He was there looking at the 24 condo units scheduled for a May 1 auction at Harrahs Resort, checking out the views of the Atlantic Ocean and Absecon Inlet and saying he could get used to all the above. Of course, hes heard about all Atlantic Citys troubles in the last few years, the casino closings, the threatened state takeover of City Hall and more. All the potential buyers who were taking self-guided tours of the 26-story tower Saturday said their eyes are open to more than the views from the buildings upper floors. Everything has a high and a low, and right now, Atlantic City is at a low, said Perozze, who has usually gone to the beach in Ventnor, a few miles farther down on Absecon Island. But I believe Atlantic City will rebound. ... And Ill probably back next week for the auction, he added, even though hes never tried to buy real estate that way before. Max Spann Real Estate & Auction Co., which is handling the sale of the 24 units, has two more property-preview days scheduled, today and Saturday, both noon to 2 p.m. Bob Dann, the companys auctioneer and chief operating officer, says the auction next weekend is absolute meaning that theres no minimum bid. Each unit will sell to the highest bidder. The company has stacks of lists of the units for sale, and encourages prospective customers to take the list and make notes on it. They come, they look, they become educated, said Dann, who conducted a smilar auction of different Bella units last June. I like an educated buyer. Dann says there are several differences between next weekends sale and last years. For one thing, this auction includes penthouse units, which werent up for sale in 2015. Another thing is, eight of the condos on the block come fully furnished the way they were professionally staged as model units to potential buyers. One more thing is, last years sale was strictly for cash buyers. Now, theres full financing involved, Dann said, standing in one of those penthouse units, looking down on the top of nearby Absecon Lighthouse. The building is fully approved for lending. Sonnia Leber, of Bordentown, is no rookie at auctions. She once bought a condo in North Jersey in an auction conducted by Spann, by the way and said she did well in the process. So she and her husband, Joseph, are also seriously considering returning to Atlantic City next weekend and bidding on a Bella unit. Summer renters will pay more for perks, Realtors say Taking Fido on your weeklong shore vacation? He can come, but it will cost you. As she stood by the buildings indoor/outdoor pool, next to its gym, Sonnia Leber wasnt saying exactly which condo she had her eye on. But when she said goodbye to Dann, she might have given just a little hint. Im going, she said, turning for the elevator, back up to my penthouse. Contact: 609-272-7237 NEW YORK - In an effort to shine a light on the hundreds of girls abducted from a school in Nigeria two years ago, all performances of the Broadway play "Eclipsed" will be dedicated to the still-missing victims. Playwright Danai Gurira said Friday each future performance of her play will be dedicated to a girl who has been abducted by the Boko Haram and will be named in her honor. "I created 'Eclipsed' because this sort of problem exists and continues to exist globally. It was about bringing voice and attention to it because it does require a collective activism," she said. "This is a play that wants to continue to be a movement." "Eclipsed," starring Oscar-winner Lupita Nyong'o, is about enslaved women in Liberia's 12-year civil war. Gurira plays the katana-wielding Michonne on AMC's "The Walking Dead." Gurira said she was inspired by meeting human rights lawyer and activist Emmanuel Ogebe, whose organization, Education Must Continue, provides educational opportunities for hundreds of victims. Through Ogebe, Gurira said she has met several of the girls who escaped the Boko Haram. She wants to connect the horrors of Liberia's past to the "gender-based terrorism" of today, give voice to the missing girls and keep them alive in theater-goers' consciousness. The production will also offer ways to find more information and connect online, using the hashtag BringBackOurGirls. "The goal and the hope is that it brings awareness that causes people to want to get more involved and see how they can help," Gurira said. "I've seen this country do amazing things with a collective consciousness, like around issues of apartheid back in the '80s. There's a way we, as a people, can effect change if we put our minds to it." The Boko Haram, which espouses an extreme form of conservative Islam, are believed to still be holding more than 200 girls two years after seizing them from their school in the northeast Nigerian town of Chibok, drawing worldwide condemnation. Gurira said she'd like to dedicate her work to all girls, even those kidnapped in the U.S. "We're focusing on Bring Back Our Girls but, by so doing, we really want to bring the focus on the fact that this is 2016 and we still live in a world that's deeply unsafe if you are born female. That's just unacceptable." SPRINGFIELD, N.J. (AP) Authorities say they have charged a New Jersey man with killing a 6-month-old puppy after striking it with the back side of an ax. The Burlington County SPCA Humane Police said Friday in a statement that 51-year-old Richard Bijacsko, of Springfield, has been arrested and faces animal cruelty and weapons charges. Police say they arrested Bijacsko after he told them he hit the animal twice with the back end of an ax because it was causing problems for him. The dog was found dead Monday at a motel in Florence where its owner was staying. Police say Bijacsko was caring for the dog because the owner was staying at the motel and wasn't allowed to keep the dog there. The owner wasn't identified. It's unclear whether Bijacsko has an attorney. 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. Showroomprive, an innovative European player in the online private sales industry, specializing in fashion, has published its revenues for the first quarter of 2016, ending on the 31st of March. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20151124/290566LOGO ) Very strong performance, in line with the Group's objectives Net revenues: 117.3m (+23%) Members purchasing more frequently and for higher amounts 25 million members at the end of March 2016 (more than 900,000 new members added during Q1 2016) (more than 900,000 new members added during Q1 2016) 1.3 million buyers in Q1 2016 (+12%) Increase in revenue per buyer of 9% in Q1 (to 85.3), driven by the rise in the number of orders per buyer (2.2 orders per buyer on average in Q1, up by 3%) and by the increase of the average basket size (to 38.1, increasing by 6%) More and more innovation 56% of revenues achieved through mobile, compared to 46% during Q1 2015. The first French group to have been selected by Google to offer Android Pay in the United Kingdom . It was one of the first to launch ApplePay in 2015 . It was one of the first to launch ApplePay in 2015 Continuous improvement of the customer experience with the implementation of a well-performing search engine since March Confirmation of the Group's objectives for 2016, including: Revenues of between 525m and 555m, representing an increase of between 19% and 25% compared to the revenues in the fiscal year of 2015 EBITDA margin at Group level of between 5.8% and 6.2% of revenues, representing an increase of between 40 and 80 basis points compared to the fiscal year of 2015 KEY FIGURES FOR Q1 2016 * Q1 2015 Q1 2016 %Growth Net revenues (EUR million) 95.7 117.3 22.6% Total Internet revenues (EUR million) 93.5 114.4 22.4% Buyers (in millions) 1.2 1.3 12.4% Revenue per Buyer (EUR) 78.3 85.3 8.9% Number of Orders (in millions) 2.6 3.0 15.9% Average Number of Orders per Buyer 2.2 2.2 3.2% Average Basket Size (EUR) 36.1 38.1 5.6% (million) 31/12/2015 31/03/2016 Variation Total members 24.6 25.5 + 0.9 Cumulative buyers 5.5 5.8 + 0.3 * The correction has no impact on Net revenues. It affects Total Internet revenues for both periods and consequently the Revenue per Buyer and the Average Basket Size. Internet revenues are increased by 3.8m over Q1 2015 and by 4.7m over Q1 2016 Commenting on these results, Thierry Petit and David Dayan, Co-founders and Co-CEOs of Showroomprive stated: "The dynamic trend seen at the beginning of the year allows us to confirm the Group's objectives for 2016. We are very happy with the Group's performance in the first quarter. With sales growth of around 23%, we are on track to accomplish our objectives. We will continue to carry out the strategic focus on innovation, quality and improving our offers. We are implementing our multi-local strategy in Europe in order to get closer to each country's specific client base." HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE FIRST QUARTER Showroomprive experienced strong growth in its activities during the first quarter of 2016 The Group's revenues increased by 23% in the first quarter of 2016, growing from 95.7 million in Q1 2015 to 117.3 million in Q1 2016. This growth in revenue was mainly driven by a strong increase in the number of buyers and in the average revenues per buyer. The number of buyers rose by 12% in Q1 2016 compared to the same period in 2015, thanks to the acquisition of new members (+900,000 members over the first three months of the year), a high conversion rate of these new members into buyers and a strong level of customer loyalty. In addition, the average revenue per buyer grew by 9% to reach 85.3 in Q1 2016, stimulated by the growth in the average number of orders per buyer (up by 3%), and by the increase of the average basket size (up by 6%) over the period to reach 38.1. Showroomprive continues to persue the implementation of its strategy around the priorities set out for 2016: innovation, quality, the improvement of product offers and the rolling out of a multi-local organisation on an international scale. Showroomprive has launched new innovative features and services: Continuous improvement of the customer experience with the implementation of a well-performing search engine in March 2016 , which allows members to identify sales offering products which correspond to their needs. in , which allows members to identify sales offering products which correspond to their needs. The SHOP IT! feature offers exclusive deals in partner brands' stores thanks to coupon or pay-back systems based on the drive-to-store principle. offers exclusive deals in partner brands' stores thanks to coupon or pay-back systems based on the drive-to-store principle. Last innovation to date, the addition of Android Pay in the United Kingdom allows members to make purchases quickly and securely. It demonstrates the attractiveness of the platform for major partners as Showroomprive is the first and only French group to have been selected by Google for the launch of this service. Showroomprive continues to develop its international structure. The Group is rolling out a multi-local strategy to get closer to its client base and thus stimulate the conversion of members into buyers and strengthen their loyalty. This strategy is based on: Deploying innovation and conversion tools launched in France on an international scale ( Infinity in Spain , and by May in Portugal , the single basket in Spain and Portugal ); on an international scale ( in , and by May in , the single basket in and ); A strengthened local presence with the opening of sourcing offices and the implementation of a dedicated team in Spain . A similar structure will be setup in Italy in the coming weeks. Showroomprive continues to strengthen its operations to further improve the quality of its service. The Group is developing its logistics and supply chains in France and will work on implementing local logistic structures on an international scale in order to reduce delivery times. Showroomprive has also opened a third sales production centre in Roubaix to support the growth of its business (receipt of samples, product styling, photography and uploads). CONFIRMATION OF THE GROUP'S OBJECTIVES FOR 2016 Revenues of between 525m and 555m , representing an increase of between 19% and 25% compared to the revenues in the fiscal year of 2015 , representing an increase of between 19% and 25% compared to the revenues in the fiscal year of 2015 EBITDA margin at Group level of between 5.8% and 6.2% of revenues in 2016, representing an increase of between 40 and 80 basis points compared to the fiscal year of 2015. of revenues in 2016, representing an increase of between 40 and 80 basis points compared to the fiscal year of 2015. EBITDA margin in France of around 8.5% in 2016 , representing an increase of around 40 basis points compared to the EBITDA margin in France in the fiscal year of 2015 of around , representing an increase of around 40 basis points compared to the EBITDA margin in in the fiscal year of 2015 Level of operational capex of between 1.3% and 1.5% of revenues of revenues Ratio of cash flow from operational activities before tax and after operational capex to EBITDA higher than 100%, excluding one-off items The Board of Directors of SRP Groupe held on April 21, 2016, reviewed and approved the consolidated revenues of the Group as of March 31, 2016. FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS This document contains only summary information and does not purport to be comprehensive. This document may contain forward-looking information and statements about the Group and its subsidiaries. These statements include financial projections and estimates and their underlying assumptions, statements regarding plans, objectives and expectations with respect to future operations, products and services, and statements regarding future performance. Forward-looking statements may be identified by the words "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "target" or similar expressions. Although the Group believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, investors and holders of the Group's securities are cautioned that forward-looking information and statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, many of which are difficult to predict and generally beyond the control of the Group, that could cause actual results and developments to differ materially and adversely from those expressed in, or implied or projected by, the forward-looking information and statements. These risks and uncertainties include those discussed or identified in filings with the Autorite des Marches Financiers made or to be made by the Group. The Group undertakes no obligation to publicly update its forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. UPCOMING PUBLICATIONS General Assembly of Shareholders: 30 May 2016 H1 2016 Results: 28 July 2016 (after market close) ABOUT SHOWROOMPRIVE.COM Showroomprive.com is an innovative European player in the online private sales industry, specialized in fashion. Showroomprive offers a daily selection of 1,500 brand partners on its mobile app or online. It has over 25 million members in France and in eight of its European country markets. Since its launch in 2006, the company has enjoyed quick and profitable growth. Showroomprive listed on the Euronext Paris market since October 2015 (code: SRP), Showroomprive registered gross turnover of over 600 million euros in 2015, and 443 million euros in net sales, up 27% versus the previous year. The company employs more than 800 people. For more information: http://showroomprivegroup.com CONTACTS : Showroomprive Thomas Kienzi, Head of Investor Relations +33-1-49-46-05-67 investor.relations@showroomprive.net Adeline Pastor, Head of Communications +33-1-76-21-19-46 adeline.pastor@showroomprive.net Brunswick Morgane Le Gall, Tristan Bourassin +33-1-53-96-83-83 showroomprive@brunswickgroup.com This is a disclosure announcement from PR Newswire. SOURCE showroomprive.com DUBAI, UAE, April 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- - Ethica Institute of Islamic Finance receives award for 'Best Online Islamic Finance Education Provider' Capital Finance International in the UK has awarded Ethica Institute of Islamic Finance in Dubai with the Best Online Islamic Finance Education Provider Global Award. In recent months Ethica has also received 'Islamic Finance Education Provider of the Year' from The European at the Global Banking and Finance Awards and 'Best Islamic Online Finance Program' from International Finance Magazine Awards. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150504/742909 ) Islamic finance is gaining in popularity, not just in the Middle East but throughout the world. Between 2009 and 2013, Islamic banking assets grew at an annual average of 17.6%. That pace is picking up and may exceed 20% by 2018. A relatively young branch of the financial services industry, Islamic banking was first introduced on a commercial scale in the mid-1970s. After a slow start, the sector ballooned and today boasts a global asset base of well over two trillion dollars. With conventional banks scrambling to break into this buoyant market, bankers well-versed in Islamic law are much in demand. Based in Dubai and with a global network of partners, Ethica Institute of Islamic Finance provides the training and insights to people entering the world of Sharia-compliant banking or aiming to hone their skills. All Ethica courses follow the guidelines and standards provided by the Accounting and Auditing Organisation for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI) - a non-profit entity in Bahrain established in 1990 to maintain and promote Sharia standards in banking. Ethica not only aims to teach interest-free Islamic banking to novices, the institute also seeks to promote financial inclusion and sustainability by suggesting alternatives to the model of fractional debt reserve banking which it holds co-responsible for social and environmental degradation. Ethica has trained banking professionals in over 160 financial services providers in 65 countries. Its 4-month long Certified Islamic Finance Executive (CIFE) programme has become a globally recognized certificate for Islamic bankers and is fully sanctioned by leading scholars. Ethica offers a suite of certificate courses addressing all aspects of Islamic banking. The institution retains experienced and renowned scholars, legal experts, and Islamic bankers to design courses and assist students. Contact: Sameer Hasan - Tel: +9714-455-8690 - Email: contact@ethicainstitute.com SOURCE Ethica Institute of Islamic Finance [Correction: Updated Details for Ras Scollay, Regional Sales Director, Asia Pacific, CenturyLink] SINGAPORE, April 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Frost & Sullivan will be hosting its annual Asia Pacific ICT awards for the 13th time this year on June 15 in Singapore at an exclusive by-invitation only gala banquet. Mr. Andrew Milroy, Senior Vice President, Digital Transformation, Asia Pacific at Frost & Sullivan noted that the annual ICT awards banquet is a great opportunity to highlight, showcase and recognise outstanding performance by technology firms in the region. "The research and awards process is highly robust and a panel of judges plays an important role in ensuring that the award recipients are truly the best in the industry. We appreciate the time and effort they put in to deliberate over the most deserving recipients for the awards," he said. "Cloud Computing, Mobility, Cyber Security, and the Internet of Things underpin much of the digital transformation that we are witnessing today. Similarly, Frost & Sullivan's ICT award categories and its research increasingly focus on these markets," he added. The contenders for the Asia Pacific ICT Awards were evaluated on a variety of actual market performance indicators which include revenue growth, market share and growth in market share, leadership in product innovation, breadth of products and solutions, major customer acquisitions, and business and market strategy, amongst other category-specific criteria. A team of 30 leading Frost & Sullivan analysts and consultants based in Asia Pacific were involved in the short listing, evaluation and research process, applying the same thorough approach that has been the hallmark of Frost & Sullivan globally. The findings of the detailed examination are then presented to a panel of independent judges comprising influential personalities, decision makers and thought leaders in Asia Pacific's ICT industry, who have in themselves pushed the boundaries of innovation and corporate excellence, in deciding the recipients in each award category. The panel of distinguished judges includes: Andrew Milroy , Senior Vice President, Digital Transformation, Asia Pacific , Frost & Sullivan Ajay Sunder , Vice President, Digital Transformation, Asia Pacific , Frost & Sullivan Edison Yu , Director, Digital Transformation, Asia Pacific , Frost & Sullivan Augustin du Payrat, Regional Director, Avaya Andrew Pickup , Senior Director, Communications, Microsoft Asia Naveen Bhat , Vice President and General Manager, Ixia Asia Raghu Prasad , Head of Solutions Consulting, Communications Industry Solutions Group, JAPAC, Oracle Michael Willis , Vice President, Bank of New York Mellon Victor Ng Editorial Director, Questex Media Group Jason Singh Head of Marketing, Asia Pacific , Datapipe Greg Clay Technical Project Director, EIRE Systems Singapore Ho Khai Leng Group Chief Information Officer, National Healthcare Group Lim Chin Siang Director Technology, Media Development Authority of Singapore Rudi Frey Group Operations Head, Service Delivery Platforms, PLDT Group Ken Soh CIO, BH Global Ras Scollay Regional Sales Director, Asia Pacific , CenturyLink Steve Clark Head of Global Solution Sales, Telstra Global For more details on the Asia Pacific ICT Awards, please visit http://www.ict-awards.com/. You can also connect with Frost & Sullivan on social media, including Twitter, Facebook and Linkedin for the latest news and updates. We also invite you to join the conversation using #FrostAwards and/or #apictawards. About Frost & Sullivan Frost & Sullivan, the Growth Partnership Company, works in collaboration with clients to leverage visionary innovation that addresses the global challenges and related growth opportunities that will make or break today's market participants. For more than 50 years, we have been developing growth strategies for the global 1000, emerging businesses, the public sector and the investment community. Is your organization prepared for the next profound wave of industry convergence, disruptive technologies, increasing competitive intensity, Mega Trends, breakthrough best practices, changing customer dynamics and emerging economies? Contact Us: Start the discussion Media Contact Melissa Tan Corporate Communications Asia Pacific Phone: +65.6890.0926 Email: melissa.tan@frost.com Related Links http://www.frost.com SOURCE Frost & Sullivan Dr. Xu was the foremost scientific researcher and proponent of Human Body Regenerative Restoration Science. Among those paying their respects to the memory of Dr. Xu were California state and local government dignitaries and representatives of the University of Southern California Davis School of Gerontology and California State University at Los Angeles. In addition, U.S. President Barack Obama sent a commemorative painting to acknowledge Dr. Xu's scientific and humanitarian contributions. Last year, upon being advised of Dr. Xu's passing, US President Barack Obama sent a handwritten condolence letter, by express mail, to the burial ceremony. Moreover, letters of condolence were sent by former President Bill Clinton, Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, Chairman of Democratic Party, California Governor Jerry Brown, County of Los Angeles and City of Lake Elsinore officials. The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors adjourned their meeting to pay tribute and reverence. One year later, April 14, 2016, the site dedication ceremony of the Rongxiang Xu Memorial Center was held in the city of Lake Elsinore. U.S. Congressional representative Ted W. Lieu, on behalf of the U.S. Congress, awarded the Certificate of Congressional Recognition to the National Rongxiang Xu Foundation. It recognized their continuing contributions and humanitarian efforts in providing care, healing and the application of Human Body Regenerative Restoration Science to people around the world. For carrying forward Dr. Xu's legacy recognized by both the US and China, in September of 2015, Kevin Xu attended the Third Governors Forum held during the state visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping to the US in Seattle, WA; Kevin Xu attended the 10th annual conference of CGI and launched the first Chinese medical technology commitment to train doctors on Moist Exposed Burn Therapy (MEBT); The Rongxiang Xu Center for Regenerative Life Science at USC Davis School of Gerontology and the Los Angeles County Department of Health signed the Memorandum of Understanding on MEBT training in the US; In February of 2016, Kevin Xu met with Xiaolin Li, President of the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (CPAFFC) and reached an agreement to partner with the China Partnership Network of UN program "Every Woman, Every Child" led by CPAFFC, contributing to improving the health conditions of Chinese and international woman and children. www.rxxf.org Related Links http://www.rxxf.org SOURCE Rongxiang Xu Foundation HOUSTON, April 21, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Anadarko Petroleum Corporation (NYSE: APC) will host a conference call on Tuesday, May 3, 2016, at 8 a.m. CDT (9 a.m. EDT) to discuss its first-quarter 2016 financial and operating results. Earnings will be released after close of market on Monday, May 2. The full text of the release will be available on the company's website at www.anadarko.com. First-Quarter 2016 Results Tuesday, May 3, 2016 8 a.m. CDT (9 a.m. EDT) Dial-in number: 877.883.0383 International dial-in number: 412.902.6506 Participant access code: 1750264 Individuals who would like to participate should dial the applicable dial-in number listed above approximately 15 minutes before the scheduled conference call time, and enter access code 1750264 when prompted. To access the live audio webcast and related presentation materials, please visit the investor relations section of the company's website at www.anadarko.com. A replay of the conference call will also be available on the website for approximately 30 days following the call. Anadarko Contacts John Colglazier, [email protected] , 832.636.2306 Jeremy Smith, [email protected], 832.636.1544 Shandell Szabo, [email protected], 832.636.3977 Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20141103/156201LOGO SOURCE Anadarko Petroleum Corporation Related Links http://www.anadarko.com PITTSBURGH, Feb. 29, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- BOSS Controls LLC, a leading Internet of Things ("IoT") energy management and controls company, announces two new Master Distributor Agreements to enable customers its energy efficiency solution nationwide. The two distributors are N3 Technologies Incorporated (N3TI), headquartered in Newport Beach, CA and Veterans' Unisource, headquartered in Woodbury, Minnesota. The BOSS agreements provide distribution of BOSS Controls Smart Plugs 120 and 220 across the U.S. with primarily targeted sales channels being education, K 12 and higher education, local, state and federal government, and small to medium-size commercial buildings. "Over the last 12 months, BOSS has validated its customer value proposition generating significant energy savings at the plug load," said Greg Puschnigg, CEO and Founder BOSS Controls. "We are targeting an average savings of $50 per plug, before any rebate, which can lead to hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars in annual cost savings for our customers. This equates to a payback period of two years or less." According to the Department of Energy, $60 billion in U.S. commercial building energy costs can be reduced with the implementation of energy efficiency devices. "We are focused on expanding our relationships and developing sales channels which bring BOSS into customer conversations focused on energy savings, sustainability, and their Internet of Things strategy. When we can provide significant money to be used on more important things other than our customers' utility bills, mission accomplished," added Puschnigg. About N3 Technologies Incorporated Headquartered in Newport Beach, CA, N3 Technologies (N3TI), has an extensive global supply network consisting of manufacturers, distributors and resellers, coupled with volume allows them to offer competitive pricing that is substantially lower than traditional distribution sources. N3TI offers complete server, blade, storage and networking configuration and works with more than 30 manufacturers including BOSS Controls, Avaya, Cisco, Dell and Microsoft. About Veterans' Unisource Veterans' Unisource, headquartered Woodbury, MN, is a veteran owned business which has developed an experienced network of partners and relationships to deliver the best solutions in products, services and technology development. Veterans Unisource delivers expedited solutions and improved total cost in a variety of industries and product segments. About BOSS Controls BOSS Controls designs, markets, and sells patent pending, cloud-based, Wi-Fi enabled product solutions and software. The product suite provides a seamless fully integrated virtual energy management and control system enabling reductions in building energy costs by up to 30 percent and operational cost savings as well. The company manages the critical Wi-Fi hardware, software, and data on its cloud-based platform called "Atmospheres." BOSS Controls, headquartered in Pittsburgh, is a Start-up of the Year Finalist with the Pittsburgh Technology Council and is a member of Green Building Alliance and Independent Electrical Contractors. BOSS Controls Smart Plugs 120V and 220V are listed on Grainger.com and can be ordered directly at www.bosscontrols.com. The matters discussed herein may contain forward-looking statements that are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations. Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160226/337968LOGO SOURCE BOSS Controls Related Links http://www.bosscontrols.com BEIJING, April 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Cognitive neuroscience researchers at renowned Peking University (Beijing, China) will soon begin using their Elekta Neuromag TRIUX MEG system in a variety of brain research studies. Peking University's Elekta Neuromag TRIUX - Elekta's latest generation MEG system - is the 100th Elekta MEG unit installed globally since 1989. Elekta MEG systems are operating at centers in 23 countries. MEG is a fully non-invasive technique for measuring the brain's neuronal activity. Electrical currents flowing through neurons generate weak magnetic fields that can be recorded at the head's surface using the system's ultra-sensitive measurement devices. MEG can be used to measure the rapid signals of neuronal communication between different brain regions. MEG complements other brain imaging modalities, such as functional MRI and positron emission tomography (PET), which - while providing high spatial resolution of brain anatomy - have vastly lower temporal (i.e., time) resolution than MEG. Functional mapping with the system has proven clinically useful to evaluate epilepsy and to perform pre-surgical mapping of visual, auditory, somatosensory, motor cortex and language functional areas. "Peking University harnesses several technologies for brain research, including four MRI scanners, EEG, a navigated transcranial magnetic stimulation [TMS] system and a transcranial alternating current stimulation [tACS] system," says Jia-Hong Gao, PhD, who serves as director for both the Center for MRI Research and Beijing City Key Laboratory for Medical Physics and Engineering. "We acquired Elekta Neuromag TRIUX to add the dimension of time to our investigations. Compared with fMRI, MEG has superior temporal resolution - the MEG signals directly reflect neuronal activity. fMRI signals reflect cerebral blood flow and volume and blood oxygen changes over a relatively longer time period after a neuron fires. Moreover, MEG provides cleaner spatial resolution than EEG." Dr. Gao adds that his center selected Elekta's MEG system, in particular, due to the greater number (306) and sophistication of the machine's measurement channels in comparison to other MEG units. In research studies, Dr. Gao and his colleagues will use MEG to advance their fMRI and EEG work on source localization - pinpointing the origin of certain brain activity. Another project seeks to use MEG to investigate how the brain processes different languages. "We also will conduct MEG research on sleep using MEG to record spontaneous brain activity," he adds. "We are using fMRI and EEG to study sleep as well, and adding MEG in this multi-modality neuroimaging strategy will shed further light on the nature of sleep stages." Peking University's Elekta Neuromag TRIUX system is available for use by researchers in the school's other departments, in addition to investigators from other academic centers. "My colleagues and I are very excited to have Elekta's 100th MEG installed here," he says. "We hope the most exciting research projects can be conducted with this system, and that our lab can become a platform to demonstrate the most advanced functions and applications of Elekta Neuromag TRIUX." Peking University will host a ceremony inaugurating its new Elekta MEG system on April 25 at the institution's Century Forum. More than 300 cognitive neuroscience researchers are registered to attend the event, at which several internationally prominent scientists in fMRI and MEG will give presentations. To learn more about Elekta Neuromag, visit http://www.elekta.com/TRIUX. About Elekta Elekta is a human care company pioneering significant innovations and clinical solutions for treating cancer and brain disorders. The company develops sophisticated, state-of-the-art tools and treatment planning systems for radiation therapy, radiosurgery and brachytherapy, as well as workflow enhancing software systems across the spectrum of cancer care. Stretching the boundaries of science and technology, providing intelligent and resource-efficient solutions that offer confidence to both health care providers and patients, Elekta aims to improve, prolong and even save patient lives. Today, Elekta solutions in oncology and neurosurgery are used in over 6,000 hospitals worldwide. Elekta employs around 3,800 employees globally. The corporate headquarters is located in Stockholm, Sweden, and the company is listed on the Nordic Exchange under the ticker STO:EKTAB. Website: http://www.elekta.com. For further information, please contact: Gert van Santen, Group Vice President Corporate Communications, Elekta AB Tel: +31-653-561-242, e-mail: [email protected] Time zone: CET: Central European Time Raven Canzeri, Global Public Relations Manager, Elekta Tel: +1-770-670-2524, e-mail: [email protected] Time zone: ET: Eastern Time SOURCE Elekta ATLANTA, April 21, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Southern Company has been named to DiversityInc's 2016 Top 50 Companies for Diversity list. Additionally, the company placed No.1 in DiversityInc's newly created category of Top 10 Companies for Opportunities and sixth on the Top 10 Companies for Veterans list. "Diversity is central to our business strategy. We hire smart and diverse people, then support and develop them and move them into larger roles," said Southern Company Chairman, President and CEO Thomas A. Fanning. "People with different backgrounds, judgments and experiences allow us to see around corners and invent the future. Diversity of people, thoughts and ideas is what ultimately makes us successful." The annual survey considered one of the most rigorous, data-driven analyses of its kind gauges detailed demographics based on race/ethnicity and gender at some of the largest U.S. employers, all in an effort to better assess initiatives to hire, retain and promote women, minorities, people with disabilities, LGBT and veterans. "It's clear that corporate America understands how diversity and inclusion strengthens everything from recruiting and retention to overall business success," said DiversityInc's Founder and CEO Luke Visconti. "We saw more than 1,000 companies submitting for contention on the list. It's a sign of their commitment and dedication to diversity management." Companies with more than 1,000 U.S.-based employees are eligible to enter, and company rank is based on an objective analysis of nearly 200 separate factors. The four equally weighted areas of measurement are talent pipeline, equitable talent development, CEO and leadership commitment and supplier diversity. To view DiversityInc's Top 50 Companies for Diversity list, visit http://www.diversityinc.com/top50 . With more than 4.5 million customers and approximately 44,000 megawatts of generating capacity, Atlanta-based Southern Company (NYSE: SO) is the premier energy company serving the Southeast through its subsidiaries. A leading U.S. producer of clean, safe, reliable and affordable electricity, Southern Company owns electric utilities in four states and a growing competitive generation company, as well as fiber optics and wireless communications. Southern Company brands are known for excellent customer service, high reliability and affordable prices that are below the national average. Through an industry-leading commitment to innovation, Southern Company and its subsidiaries are inventing America's energy future by developing the full portfolio of energy resources, including nuclear, 21st century coal, natural gas, renewables and energy efficiency, and creating new products and services for the benefit of customers. Southern Company has been named by the U.S. Department of Defense and G.I. Jobs magazine as a top military employer, listed by Black Enterprise magazine as one of the 40 Best Companies for Diversity and designated a 2014 Top Employer for Hispanics by Hispanic Network. The company earned the 2014 National Award of Nuclear Science and History from the National Atomic Museum Foundation for its leadership and commitment to nuclear development, and is consistently ranked among the top utilities in Fortune's annual World's Most Admired Electric and Gas Utility rankings. Visit our website at www.southerncompany.com. Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20080801/SOCOLOGO SOURCE Southern Company Related Links http://www.southerncompany.com HOUSTON, April 21, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Evolution Petroleum Corporation (NYSE MKT: EPM) announced today that it will release its financial and operational results for the quarter ended March 31, 2016 (its third fiscal quarter of 2016) after the market closes on Wednesday, May 4, 2016. An investor conference call to review the results will be held on Thursday, May 5, 2016 at 11:00 a.m. Eastern (10:00 a.m. Central). The call will be hosted by Randy Keys, Chief Executive Officer and President, and David Joe, Chief Financial Officer, Senior Vice President and Treasurer. Date: Thursday, May 5, 2016 Time: 11:00 a.m. Eastern (10:00 a.m. Central) Call: 1-855-327-6837 (United States & Canada) 1-631-891-4304 (International) Web: To listen live and hear a rebroadcast over the Internet, go to http://www.evolutionpetroleum.com A replay will be available one hour after the end of the conference call through May 12, 2016, and will be accessible by calling 1-877-870-5176 (US); 1-858-384-5517 (Canada and International) with the Passcode 10001093. About Evolution Petroleum Evolution Petroleum Corporation develops petroleum reserves and shareholder value by applying conventional and specialized technology to known oil and gas resources, onshore in the United States. The Company's principal asset includes interests in a CO 2 -EOR project in Louisiana's Delhi Field. Additional information, including the Company's annual report on Form 10-K and its quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, is available on its website at www.evolutionpetroleum.com . Cautionary Statement All statements contained in this press release regarding potential results and future plans and objectives of the 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. The Company undertakes no obligation to update or review any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from our expectations include, but are not limited to, those factors that are disclosed under the heading "Risk Factors" and elsewhere in our documents filed from time to time with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission and other regulatory authorities. Statements regarding our ability to complete transactions, successfully apply technology applications in the re-development of oil and gas fields, realize projected future production volumes, realize success in our drilling and development activity, and forecasts of legal claims outcomes, prices, future revenues, income, cash flows, dividends and other statements that are not historical facts contain predictions, estimates and other forward-looking statements. Although the Company believes that its expectations are based on reasonable assumptions, it can give no assurance that its goals will be achieved and these statements will prove to be accurate. Many factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those included in the forward-looking statements. Company Contact: Randy Keys, Chief Executive Officer and President (713) 935-0122 [email protected] SOURCE Evolution Petroleum Corporation Related Links www.evolutionpetroleum.com This month, the agency is turning thirty and has big plans for the future. In the last four years, HARVEY Agency has seen a 46% increase in sales, more than doubled its staff and has taken on seven new clients. Most recently, HARVEY took home six gold and silver Addy Awards, each reflecting the growing capabilities offered by their highly specialized design team. In addition, HARVEY's team recently added video production and public relations services to the mix. "We are thrilled to announce that HARVEY has created a new video production arm called Snack Shop and a new public relations department," states the agency's founder and president Kathy Harvey. "By adding these new capabilities, we are now able to provide clients with even more tools to ensure their success." Kathy Harvey, who was an ambitious twenty-something with a passion for marketing when she created HARVEY in 1986, is proud of where the agency is today. From in-store activations to new smart phone apps, the team at HARVEY specializes in reaching consumers at every point-of-purchase through the power of shopper marketing. After thirty years, HARVEY has evolved into Maryland's go-to brand activation agency, successfully driving forward clients in the food, beauty and lifestyle industries. "We've kept a fairly low profile over the last thirty years but it's no secret that we love what we do and it shows in the success of our clients," states Harvey. ABOUT HARVEY AGENCY: HARVEY Agency is a brand activating advertising and marketing firm that produces consumer activity and loyalty up-close and personal, in-store, on-shelf, on-premise and online. Industries of lifestyle, beauty, and food are the epicenter of HARVEY. The agency works closely with COVERGIRL, and dynamic brands like McCormick, Baltimore Animal and Care Services (BARCS), Phillips Foods, H&S Bakeries, Glory Days Grill and Flying Dog Brewery. ABOUT SNACK SHOP: Snack Shop is Harvey's new sister production company with a storied reputation. Collectively the team at Snack Shop has netted 9 Emmy Awards, a British Oscar, and a few shelves of advertising awards; creating, directing and producing everything from high-end broadcast commercials, web video, network feature films, prime time specials, film festival winners and snack-able social media content. Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160421/358156 SOURCE HARVEY Agency Related Links http://www.harveyagency.com MUSCATINE, Iowa, April 21, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- HNI Corporation (NYSE: HNI) today announced sales for the first quarter ended April 2, 2016 of $501.0 million and net income of $11.8 million, or $0.26 per diluted share. Non-GAAP net income per diluted share, which excludes restructuring and transition costs, improved 48 percent from the prior year quarter to $0.31. First Quarter Summary Comments "We delivered very strong results which exceeded our expectations for the first quarter. Operating margins increased in both our office furniture and hearth products segments driven by strong operational execution. We continue to compete well in our markets and are focused on driving long-term shareholder value," said Stan Askren, HNI Corporation Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer. First Quarter - Financial Performance (Dollars in millions, except per share data) Three Months Ended 4/2/2016 4/4/2015 Change GAAP Net Sales $501.0 $523.5 -4.3% Gross Profit % 37.1% 35.2% 190 bps SG&A % 33.0% 32.2% 80 bps Restructuring charges % 0.2% 0.1% 10 bps Operating Income $19.5 $15.4 26.6% Operating Income % 3.9% 2.9% 100 bps Net Income % 2.4% 1.6% 80 bps EPS diluted $0.26 $0.19 36.8% Non-GAAP Gross Profit % 37.4% 35.5% 190 bps Operating Income $22.4 $16.9 32.3% Operating Income % 4.5% 3.2% 130 bps EPS diluted $0.31 $0.21 47.6 % First Quarter Summary Comments Consolidated net sales decreased $22.4 million or 4.3 percent to $501.0 million . Compared to prior year quarter, the acquisition of a small office furniture company increased sales $4.7 million . On an organic basis, sales decreased 5.2 percent. or 4.3 percent to . Compared to prior year quarter, the acquisition of a small office furniture company increased sales . On an organic basis, sales decreased 5.2 percent. Non-GAAP gross margin increased 190 basis points compared to prior year driven by strong operational performance, favorable material costs and price realization, partially offset by lower volume. Selling and administrative expenses, as a percentage of sales, increased 80 basis points due to the impacts of lower volume and higher incentive based compensation partially offset by broad based cost reductions. The Corporation recorded $2.9 million of restructuring and transition costs in connection with previously announced closures and structural realignment. First quarter 2015 included $1.5 million of restructuring and transition costs. Office Furniture Financial Performance (Dollars in millions) Three Months Ended 4/2/2016 4/4/2015 Change GAAP Net Sales $387.3 $407.4 -4.9% Operating Profit $21.3 $20.2 5.7% Operating Profit % 5.5% 4.9% 0.6 bps Non-GAAP Operating Profit $23.0 $21.7 6.1% Operating Profit % 5.9% 5.3% 60 bps First quarter sales decreased $20.1 million or 4.9 percent to $387.3 million . Compared to prior year quarter, an acquisition increased sales $4.7 million . On an organic basis, sales decreased 6.1 percent. Sales for the quarter decreased in both our supplies-driven and contract channels. or 4.9 percent to . Compared to prior year quarter, an acquisition increased sales . On an organic basis, sales decreased 6.1 percent. Sales for the quarter decreased in both our supplies-driven and contract channels. First quarter non-GAAP operating profit increased $1.3 million or 6.1 percent. Strong operational performance, favorable material costs, price realization, and cost reductions were partially offset by lower volume and higher incentive based compensation. Hearth Products Financial Performance (Dollars in millions) Three Months Ended 4/2/2016 4/4/2015 Change GAAP Net Sales $113.7 $116.0 -2.0% Operating Profit $12.6 $12.5 0.5% Operating Profit % 11.0% 10.8% 0.2 bps Non-GAAP Operating Profit $13.8 $12.5 10.1% Operating Profit % 12.1% 10.8% 130 bps First quarter sales decreased $2.4 million or 2.0 percent to $113.7 million . Growth in the new construction channel was offset by the continued decline in the retail pellet channel. or 2.0 percent to . Growth in the new construction channel was offset by the continued decline in the retail pellet channel. For the quarter, non-GAAP operating profit increased $1.3 million or 10.1 percent. Strong operational performance, favorable material costs, price realization, and cost reductions were partially offset by lower volume and higher incentive based compensation. Outlook "I am very pleased with our strong performance in the first quarter. We are seeing signs of modest market improvement. We continue to compete well. We are confident the investments we are making in our business will continue to generate strong returns for our shareholders. I am excited about our ability to deliver long-term profitable growth," said Mr. Askren. The Corporation estimates sales to be down 4 to 7 percent in the second quarter over the same period in the prior year, including the impacts of acquisitions and divestitures. Non-GAAP earnings per share are anticipated to be in the range of $0.54 to $0.59 for the second quarter and $2.40 to $2.70 for the full year, which excludes restructuring and transition costs. Conference Call HNI Corporation will host a conference call on Friday, April 22, 2016 at 10:00 a.m. (Central) to discuss first quarter fiscal year 2016 results. To participate, call 1-877-512-9166 conference ID number 74118145. A live webcast of the call will be available on HNI Corporation's website at http://www.hnicorp.com (under Investors News Releases & Events). A replay of the webcast will be made available at this website address. An audio replay of the call will be available until Thursday, April 28, 2016, 10:59 p.m. (Central) by dialing 1-855-859-2056 or 1-404-537-3406 Conference ID number 74118145. About HNI Corporation HNI Corporation is a NYSE traded company (ticker symbol: HNI) providing products and solutions for the home and workplace environments. HNI Corporation is a leading global office furniture manufacturer and is the nation's leading manufacturer of hearth products. The Corporation's strong brands have leading positions in their markets. More information can be found on the Corporation's website at www.hnicorp.com . Forward-looking Statements This release contains "forward-looking" statements based on current expectations regarding future plans, events, outlook, objectives and financial performance, expectations for future sales growth and earnings per diluted share (GAAP and non-GAAP) for the second quarter and full fiscal year 2016. Forward-looking statements can be identified by words including "expect," "believe," "anticipate," "estimate," "may," "will," "would," "could," "confident" or other similar words, phrases or expressions. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties, which may cause the Corporation's actual future results and performance to differ materially from expected results. These risks include but are not limited to: general economic conditions in the United States and internationally; unfavorable changes in the United States housing market; industry and competitive conditions; a decline in corporate spending on office furniture; changes in raw material, component or commodity pricing; future acquisitions, divestitures or investments; the cost of energy; changing legal, regulatory, environmental and healthcare conditions; the Corporation's ability to successfully complete its business software system implementation; the Corporation's ability to implement price increases; changes in the sales mix of products; the Corporation's ability to achieve the anticipated benefits from closures and structural alignment initiatives; and force majeure events outside the Corporation's control. A description of these risks and additional risks can be found in the Corporation's annual and quarterly reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Forms 10-K and 10-Q. The Corporation undertakes no obligation to update, amend or clarify forward-looking statements. For Information Contact: Kurt A. Tjaden, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer (563) 272-7400 Jack D. Herring, Investor Relations Manager (563) 506-9783 HNI CORPORATION Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Statement of Operations (Dollars in thousands, except per share data) Three Months Ended 4/2/2016 4/4/2015 Net sales $501,037 $523,477 Cost of products sold 315,326 338,977 Gross profit 185,711 184,500 Selling and administrative expenses 165,106 168,704 Restructuring 1,086 377 Operating income 19,519 15,419 Interest income 78 90 Interest expense 1,874 1,989 Income before income taxes 17,723 13,520 Income taxes 5,881 5,068 Net income 11,842 8,452 Less: Net (loss) attributable to the noncontrolling interest (1) (26) Net income attributable to HNI Corporation $11,843 $8,478 Net income attributable to HNI Corporation common shareholders basic $0.27 $0.19 Average number of common shares outstanding basic 44,258,357 44,303,788 Net income attributable to HNI Corporation common shareholders diluted $0.26 $0.19 Average number of common shares outstanding diluted 45,039,918 45,523,785 Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheet As of As of (Dollars in thousands) 04/02/2016 01/02/2016 Assets Current Assets Cash and cash equivalents $38,566 $28,548 Short-term investments 4,952 4,252 Receivables 218,179 243,409 Inventories 147,928 125,228 Prepaid expenses and other current assets 33,870 36,933 Total Current Assets 443,495 438,370 Property, Plant and Equipment Land and land improvements 29,240 28,801 Buildings 303,644 298,516 Machinery and equipment 530,572 515,131 Construction in progress 24,720 31,986 888,176 874,434 Less accumulated depreciation 540,867 533,275 Net Property, Plant, and Equipment 347,309 341,159 Goodwill 294,262 277,650 Deferred Tax Charges 332 Other Assets 226,054 206,746 Total Assets $1,311,452 $1,263,925 Liabilities and Equity Current Liabilities Accounts payable and accrued expenses $349,841 $424,405 Note payable and current maturities of long-term debt 105,293 5,477 Current maturities of other long-term obligations 4,073 6,018 Total Current Liabilities 459,207 435,900 Long-term Debt 195,000 185,000 Other Long-term Liabilities 77,315 76,792 Deferred Income Taxes 91,365 88,934 Parent Company Shareholders' Equity 488,221 476,954 Noncontrolling Interest 344 345 Total Shareholders' Equity 488,565 477,299 Total Liabilities and Shareholders' Equity $1,311,452 $1,263,925 Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Statement of Cash Flows Three Months Ended (Dollars in thousands) 4/2/2016 4/4/2015 Net cash flows from (to) operating activities ($20,218) ($49,317) Net cash flows from (to) investing activities (60,926) (28,171) Net cash flows from (to) financing activities 91,162 68,813 Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents 10,018 (8,675) Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period 28,548 34,144 Cash and cash equivalents at end of period $38,566 $25,469 Business Segment Data Three Months Ended (Dollars in thousands) 4/2/2016 4/4/2015 Net sales: Office furniture $387,339 $407,429 Hearth products 113,698 116,048 $501,037 $523,477 Operating profit: Office furniture $21,300 $20,152 Hearth products 12,561 12,501 Total operating profit 33,861 32,653 Unallocated corporate expense (16,138) (19,133) Income before income taxes $17,723 $13,520 Depreciation and amortization expense: Office furniture $10,693 $10,377 Hearth products 2,656 1,958 General corporate 1,902 1,525 $15,251 $13,860 Capital expenditures (including capitalized software): Office furniture $16,468 $14,551 Hearth products 2,553 2,404 General corporate 8,436 11,268 $27,457 $28,223 As of As of 4/2/2016 1/2/2016 Identifiable assets: Office furniture $764,741 $739,915 Hearth products 348,194 341,813 General corporate 198,517 182,197 $1,311,452 $1,263,925 Non-GAAP Financial Measures This earnings release contains certain non-GAAP financial measures. A "non-GAAP financial measure" is a numerical measure of a company's financial performance that excludes or includes amounts different than the most directly comparable measure calculated and presented in accordance with GAAP in the statements of income, balance sheets or statements of cash flow of the company. We have provided a reconciliation of non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measure. The non-GAAP financial measures used within this earnings release are: gross profit, operating income, operating profit, net income per diluted share (i.e., EPS), excluding restructuring charges and transition costs. Non-GAAP EPS is calculated using the Corporation's overall effective tax rate for the period. We present these measures because management uses this information to monitor and evaluate financial results and trends. Management believes this information is also useful for investors. This earnings release also contains a forward-looking estimate of non-GAAP earnings per diluted share for the second quarter and full fiscal year 2016. We provide such non-GAAP measures to investors on a prospective basis for the same reasons we provide them to investors on a historical basis. We are unable to provide a reconciliation of our forward-looking estimate of non-GAAP earnings per diluted share to a forward-looking estimate of GAAP earnings per diluted share because certain information needed to make a reasonable forward-looking estimate of GAAP earnings per diluted share for the second quarter and full fiscal year 2016 is difficult to predict and estimate and is often dependent on future events which may be uncertain or outside of our control. These may include unanticipated charges related to asset impairments (fixed assets, intangibles or goodwill), unanticipated acquisition related costs and other unanticipated non-recurring items not reflective of ongoing operations. HNI Corporation Reconciliation (Dollars in millions, except per share data) Three Months Ended 4/2/2016 Three Months Ended 4/4/2015 Gross Profit Operating Income EPS Gross Profit Operating Income EPS As reported (GAAP) $185.7 $19.5 $0.26 $184.5 $15.4 $0.19 % of net sales 37.1% 3.9% 35.2% 2.9% Restructuring charges $0.0 $1.1 $0.02 $0.0 $0.4 $0.01 Transition costs $1.8 $1.8 $0.03 $1.1 $1.1 $0.02 Results (non-GAAP) $187.5 $22.4 $0.31 $185.6 $16.9 $0.21 % of net sales 37.4% 4.5% 35.5% 3.2% Office Furniture Reconciliation (Dollars in millions) Three Months Ended Percent Change 4/2/2016 4/4/2015 Operating profit as reported (GAAP) $21.3 $20.2 5.7% % of net sales 5.5% 4.9% Restructuring and impairment charges $0.2 $0.4 Transition costs $1.5 $1.1 Operating profit (non-GAAP) $23.0 $21.7 6.1% % of net sales 5.9% 5.3% Hearth Reconciliation (Dollars in millions) Three Months Ended Percent Change 4/2/2016 4/4/2015 Operating profit as reported (GAAP) $12.6 $12.5 0.5% % of net sales 11.0% 10.8% Restructuring charges $0.9 $0.0 Transition costs $0.3 $0.0 Operating profit (non-GAAP) $13.8 $12.5 10.1% % of net sales 12.1% 10.8% SOURCE HNI Corporation Related Links http://www.hnicorp.com CHICAGO, April 21, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ: MORN), a leading provider of independent investment research, today announced its first-quarter 2016 financial results. The company reported net income of $28.7 million, or 67 cents per diluted share, compared with $29.7 million, or 67 cents per diluted share, in the first quarter of 2015. Key Operating Metrics Revenue for the quarter was $192.1 million , an increase of 1.2% compared with the same period in 2015. Organic revenue, which excludes acquisitions, divestitures, and the effect of foreign currency translations, rose 2.6%, or $4.9 million . , an increase of 1.2% compared with the same period in 2015. Organic revenue, which excludes acquisitions, divestitures, and the effect of foreign currency translations, rose 2.6%, or . Operating income decreased 5.0% to $42.3 million , and operating margin was 22.0%, a decline from 23.5% in the same period in 2015. , and operating margin was 22.0%, a decline from 23.5% in the same period in 2015. Free cash flow was negative $2.1 million , reflecting cash provided by operating activities of $11.4 million and capital expenditures of $13.5 million , a decrease of $22.7 million in free cash flow compared with the same period in 2015. The decrease in free cash flow was largely driven by the timing of income tax payments. First-quarter free cash flow tends to be lower than subsequent quarters because of the timing of annual bonus payments, which totaled approximately $50.0 million in the first quarter of 2016. Joe Mansueto, chairman and chief executive officer of Morningstar, said, "Our results were relatively flat year over year, with weakness in our credit ratings and investment management businesses offset by strength in several other areas. Industry-wide new issuance volume for commercial mortgage-backed securities was down about 40% in the first quarter, which had a negative effect on our structured credit rating business. On the bright side, Morningstar Direct and Morningstar Data had strong results, and we continue to manage the business with a long-term perspective and focus on our key growth initiatives." Mansueto added, "In the first quarter, we introduced the Morningstar Sustainability Rating to help investors evaluate funds based on environmental, social, and governance, or ESG, factors. This effort continues our tradition of innovative research centered on good stewardship, low costs, and more transparency for investors." Update on Key Investment Areas As part of its long-term strategy, Morningstar has five major areas of focus for investmentWorkplace Solutions, Morningstar Direct, Morningstar Managed Portfolios, Morningstar Credit Ratings, and Morningstar Indexes. Following is an update on these key areas: Total assets under management and advisement for Workplace Solutions rose 8.7% to $89.1 billion as of the end of the quarter. as of the end of the quarter. Licenses for Morningstar Direct rose 13.3% to 11,795 as of March 31, 2016 . . Assets under management and advisement for Morningstar Managed Portfolios totaled $13.2 billion as of the end of the quarter, compared with $12.9 billion as of March 31, 2015 . as of the end of the quarter, compared with as of . Morningstar Credit Ratings completed five new-issue ratings for commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS), compared with 13 in the same period a year ago. Morningstar Credit Ratings provides ratings on a broad range of structured finance securities and has submitted a preliminary application to the Securities and Exchange Commission's Office of Credit Ratings to expand its NRSRO license to include ratings on corporate credits and financial institutions. Assets in investable products that track Morningstar Indexes reached $19.0 billion as of the end of the quarter, compared with $17.2 billion as of March 31, 2015 . Two new exchange-traded funds linked to Morningstar's strategic beta indexes launched in Australia , bringing the total number of investable products tracking Morningstar Indexes to 52. Balance Sheet and Capital Allocation As of March 31, 2016 , the company had cash, cash equivalents, and investments totaling $226.7 million and $75.0 million of short-term debt, compared with cash, cash equivalents, and investments of $248.6 million and $35.0 million of short-term debt as of Dec. 31, 2015 . , the company had cash, cash equivalents, and investments totaling and of short-term debt, compared with cash, cash equivalents, and investments of and of short-term debt as of . In the first quarter of 2016, the company spent $15.6 million related to minority investments and acquisitions. related to minority investments and acquisitions. The company expects to pay approximately $9.4 million for its regular quarterly dividend on April 29, 2016 . for its regular quarterly dividend on . In the first quarter of 2016, the company repurchased approximately 500,000 shares for $38.8 million . As of March 31, 2016 , the company had $337.7 million remaining for future repurchases under its share repurchase authorization and 42.9 million shares outstanding. Comparability of Year-Over-Year Results Foreign currency translations reduced operating income by $0.1 million during the quarter, including a negative effect on revenue and a favorable effect on operating expense of $2.8 million and $2.7 million, respectively. Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures The table at the end of this press release includes a reconciliation of organic revenue and free cash flow to comparable GAAP measures and an explanation of why the company uses these non-GAAP financial measures. Annual Meeting Investors are invited to attend Morningstar's annual meeting at 9 a.m. Central Time on Friday, May 13, 2016, at its corporate headquarters at 22 W. Washington Street in Chicago. If you would like to attend, please register at http://corporate.morningstar.com/US/asp/meetingregistration.aspx. Investor Communication Morningstar encourages all interested partiesincluding securities analysts, current shareholders, potential shareholders, and othersto submit questions in writing. Investors and others may send questions about Morningstar's business to [email protected] or write to the company at: Morningstar, Inc. Investor Relations 22 W. Washington Street Chicago, IL 60602 Morningstar will make written responses to selected inquiries available to all investors at the same time in Form 8-Ks furnished to the Securities and Exchange Commission, generally on the first Friday of every month. About Morningstar, Inc. Morningstar, Inc. is a leading provider of independent investment research in North America, Europe, Australia, and Asia. The company offers an extensive line of products and services for individual investors, financial advisors, asset managers, and retirement plan providers and sponsors. Morningstar provides data on approximately 525,000 investment offerings, including stocks, mutual funds, and similar vehicles, along with real-time global market data on nearly 18 million equities, indexes, futures, options, commodities, and precious metals, in addition to foreign exchange and Treasury markets. Morningstar also offers investment management services through its investment advisory subsidiaries, with more than $180 billion in assets under advisement and management as of March 31, 2016. The company has operations in 27 countries. Caution Concerning Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains forward-looking statements as that term is used in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are based on our current expectations about future events or future financial performance. Forward-looking statements by their nature address matters that are, to different degrees, uncertain, and often contain words such as "may," "could," "expect," "intend," "plan," "seek," "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "predict," "potential," or "continue." These statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause the events we discuss not to occur or to differ significantly from what we expect. For us, these risks and uncertainties include, among others, liability for any losses that result from an actual or claimed breach of our fiduciary duties; failing to maintain and protect our brand, independence, and reputation; failing to differentiate our products and continuously create innovative, proprietary research tools; failing to respond to technological change, keep pace with new technology developments, or adopt a successful technology strategy; liability related to our storage of personal information related to individuals as well as portfolio and account-level information; compliance failures, regulatory action, or changes in laws applicable to our investment advisory or credit rating operations; downturns in the financial sector, global financial markets, and global economy; the effect of market volatility on revenue from asset-based fees; the effect of changes in industry-wide issuance volume from commercial mortgage-backed securities; a prolonged outage of our database, technology-based products and services, or network facilities; challenges faced by our non-U.S. operations, including the concentration of data and development work at our offshore facilities in China and India; and trends in the mutual fund industry, including the increasing popularity of passively managed investment vehicles. A more complete description of these risks and uncertainties can be found in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2015. If any of these risks and uncertainties materialize, our actual future results may vary significantly from what we expected. We do not undertake to update our forward-looking statements as a result of new information or future events. Non-GAAP Financial Measures To supplement Morningstar's condensed consolidated financial statements presented in accordance with U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP), Morningstar uses the following measures considered as non-GAAP by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission: consolidated revenue excluding acquisitions, divestitures, and the effect of foreign currency translations (organic revenue) and free cash flow. These non-GAAP measures may not be comparable to similarly titled measures reported by other companies. Morningstar presents consolidated revenue excluding acquisitions, divestitures, and the effect of foreign currency translations (organic revenue) because the company believes this non-GAAP measure helps investors better compare period-over-period results. In addition, Morningstar presents free cash flow solely as supplemental disclosure to help investors better understand how much cash is available after making capital expenditures. Morningstar uses free cash flow to evaluate its business. Free cash flow should not be considered an alternative to any measure required to be reported under GAAP (such as cash provided by (used for) operating, investing, and financing activities). For more information about these non-GAAP measures, please see the reconciliations provided in the accompanying financial tables. All dollar and percentage comparisons, which are often accompanied by words such as "increase," "decrease," "grew," "declined," or "was similar" refer to a comparison with the same period in the previous year unless otherwise stated. 2016 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. MORN-E Contacts: Media: Margaret Kirch Cohen, +1 312-696-6383 or [email protected] Investors may submit questions to [email protected]. Morningstar, Inc. and Subsidiaries Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Statements of Income Three months ended March 31 (in millions, except per share amounts) 2016 2015 change Revenue $ 192.1 $ 189.8 1.2% Operating expense: Cost of revenue 85.3 78.7 8.4% Sales and marketing 22.3 25.4 (12.3%) General and administrative 25.6 26.1 (1.8%) Depreciation and amortization 16.6 15.1 9.8% Total operating expense 149.8 145.3 3.1% Operating income 42.3 44.5 (5.0%) Operating margin 22.0% 23.5% (1.5)pp Non-operating income (expense): Interest income, net 0.2 0.2 (33.9%) Other income (expense), net 0.3 (0.6) (147.7%) Non-operating income (expense), net 0.5 (0.4) (235.3%) Income before income taxes and equity in net income of unconsolidated entities 42.8 44.1 (3.4%) Equity in net income of unconsolidated entities 0.5 0.5 15.5% Income tax expense 14.6 14.8 (2.4%) Consolidated net income 28.7 29.8 (3.7%) Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests - (0.1) NMF Net income attributable to Morningstar, Inc. $ 28.7 $ 29.7 (3.3%) Net income per share attributable to Morningstar, Inc.: Basic $ 0.67 $ 0.67 0.0% Diluted $ 0.67 $ 0.67 0.0% Weighted average shares outstanding: Basic 43.0 44.3 (2.9%) Diluted 43.1 44.5 (3.1%) NMF Not meaningful, pp percentage points Morningstar, Inc. and Subsidiaries Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows Three months ended March 31 (in millions) 2016 2015 Operating activities Consolidated net income $ 28.7 $ 29.8 Adjustments to reconcile consolidated net income to net cash flows from operating activities 17.4 17.1 Changes in operating assets and liabilities, net (34.7) (11.9) Cash provided by operating activities 11.4 35.0 Investing activities Capital expenditures (13.5) (14.4) Acquisitions, net of cash acquired (2.5) - Purchases of equity- and cost-method investments (13.1) - Other, net 1.0 0.3 Cash used for investing activities (28.1) (14.1) Financing activities Common shares repurchased (38.8) (2.3) Dividends paid (9.5) (8.4) Proceeds from short-term debt 40.0 15.0 Other, net 0.4 2.7 Cash provided by (used for) financing activities (7.9) 7.0 Effect of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents 2.7 (8.5) Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents (21.9) 19.4 Cash and cash equivalentsBeginning of period 207.1 185.2 Cash and cash equivalentsEnd of period $ 185.2 $ 204.6 Morningstar, Inc. and Subsidiaries Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets March 31 December 31 (in millions) 2016 2015 Assets Current assets: Cash and cash equivalents $ 185.2 $ 207.1 Investments 41.5 41.5 Accounts receivable, net 148.1 139.3 Other 25.6 22.0 Total current assets 400.4 409.9 Property, equipment, and capitalized software, net 134.0 134.5 Investments in unconsolidated entities 49.3 35.6 Goodwill 367.9 364.2 Intangible assets, net 70.3 74.2 Other assets 10.8 10.6 Total assets $ 1,032.7 $ 1,029.0 Liabilities and equity Current liabilities: Accounts payable and accrued liabilities $ 41.3 $ 39.2 Accrued compensation 38.9 80.9 Deferred revenue 161.0 140.7 Short-term debt 75.0 35.0 Other 7.6 8.6 Total current liabilities 323.8 304.4 Accrued compensation 9.4 8.9 Deferred tax liability, net 17.7 19.8 Other long-term liabilities 51.3 55.3 Total liabilities 402.2 388.4 Total equity 630.5 640.6 Total liabilities and equity $ 1,032.7 $ 1,029.0 Morningstar, Inc. and Subsidiaries Supplemental Data (Unaudited) As of March 31 2016 2015 change Our business Morningstar.com Premium Membership subscriptions (U.S.) 120,075 123,563 (2.8%) Morningstar.com registered users (U.S.) 8,624,447 8,294,274 4.0% Advisor Workstation clients (U.S.) 184 187 (1.6%) Morningstar Office licenses (U.S.) 4,231 4,321 (2.1%) Morningstar Direct licenses 11,795 10,413 13.3% Assets under management and advisement (approximate) Morningstar Investment Management Investment Advisory $78.2 bil $84.4 bil (1) (7.3%) Morningstar Managed Portfolios 13.2 bil 12.9 bil (1) 2.3% Morningstar Investment Management (total) $91.4 bil $97.3 bil (6.1%) Workplace Solutions Managed Retirement Accounts $41.9 bil $38.7 bil 8.3% Plan Sponsor Advice 27.9 bil 28.1 bil (0.7%) Custom Models 19.3 bil 15.2 bil 27.0% Workplace Solutions (total) $89.1 bil $82.0 bil 8.7% Our employees (approximate) Worldwide headcount 4,000 3,750 6.7% Number of equity and credit analysts 195 172 13.4% Number of manager research analysts 115 103 11.7% Three months ended March 31 (in millions) 2016 2015 change Key product revenue (2) Morningstar Data $ 36.6 $ 34.0 7.7% Morningstar Direct 27.1 24.5 10.5% Morningstar Investment Management (3) 24.6 24.8 (0.8%) Morningstar Advisor Workstation 20.6 20.0 (4) 3.2% Workplace Solutions 16.3 15.4 5.4% Other metrics Number of commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) new-issue ratings completed 5 13 (61.5%) Asset value of CMBS new-issue ratings $3.9 bil $10.5 bil (62.9%) (1) Revised to include a minor classification change. (2) Key product revenue includes the effect of foreign currency translations. (3) New product classification consisting of Investment Advisory and Morningstar Managed Portfolios. (4) Revised to exclude Morningstar Office. Morningstar, Inc. and Subsidiaries Reconciliations of Non-GAAP Measures with the Nearest Comparable GAAP Measures (Unaudited) To supplement Morningstar's condensed consolidated financial statements presented in accordance with U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP), Morningstar uses the following measures considered as non-GAAP by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission: consolidated revenue excluding acquisitions, divestitures, and the effect of foreign currency translations (organic revenue) and free cash flow. These non-GAAP measures may not be comparable to similarly titled measures reported by other companies. Morningstar presents consolidated revenue excluding acquisitions, divestitures, and the effect of foreign currency translations (organic revenue) because the company believes this non-GAAP measure helps investors better compare period-over-period results. In addition, Morningstar presents free cash flow solely as supplemental disclosure to help investors better understand how much cash is available after making capital expenditures. Management uses free cash flow to evaluate its business. Free cash flow should not be considered an alternative to any measure required to be reported under GAAP (such as cash provided by (used for) operating, investing, and financing activities). Three months ended March 31 (in millions) 2016 2015 change Reconciliation from consolidated revenue to revenue excluding acquisitions, divestitures, and the effect of foreign currency translations (organic revenue): Consolidated revenue $ 192.1 $ 189.8 1.2% Less: divestitures - - - Less: acquisitions (0.2) - NMF Unfavorable effect of foreign currency translations 2.8 - NMF Revenue excluding acquisitions, divestitures, and the effect of foreign currency translations $ 194.7 $ 189.8 2.6% Reconciliation from cash provided by operating activities to free cash flow: Cash provided by operating activities $ 11.4 $ 35.0 (67.4%) Capital expenditures (13.5) (14.4) (6.3%) Free cash flow $ (2.1) $ 20.6 (110.2%) Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160301/339380LOGO SOURCE Morningstar, Inc. Related Links http://www.morningstar.com WASHINGTON, April 21, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Today, the Center for Individual Freedom (CFIF) released its latest television ad in its campaign to educate Americans about Puerto Rico's economic crisis and Congress's maneuvers to provide the Commonwealth a bailout at the expense of American savers (including many in Puerto Rico) and retirement investors. "It's important for Americans and U.S. lawmakers to hear from actual individuals whose savings will be depleted should Congress pass the Puerto Rico Oversight, Management, and Economic Stability Act (PROMESA) in current form," said CFIF Senior Vice President of Legal and Public Affairs Timothy Lee. "Puerto Rico's government got itself into this crisis and providing it a Super Chapter 9 bankruptcy-style bailout at the expense of individuals is not only unfair, it undermines the rights of bondholders protected by Puerto Rico's own constitution." In the ad, Puerto Rican bondholder Teresa Garcia explains that she, like many other people, bought Puerto Rican bonds for her retirement. "I bought Puerto Rican bonds for my retirement. We believed these investments were safe," says Garcia. "My life savings will be crushed," she adds. Mrs. Garcia is one of the Puerto Rican bondholders featured in a CNN report published here. "It would be irresponsible for Congress to push through the PROMESA bill currently before the House Committee on Natural Resources and risk individual Americans' livelihoods," said Lee. "Instead of retroactively changing constitutionally backed general obligation bond contracts, Congress should focus on ensuring stringent fiscal reforms for the Commonwealth and encouraging the Puerto Rican government to negotiate in good faith with its bondholders." The ad will air on national cable networks beginning today. Watch the television ad here. SOURCE Center for Individual Freedom LOS ANGELES, April 21, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Oakwood Worldwide, the global leader in corporate housing and serviced apartment solutions, is pleased to announce its award-winning, industry-leading corporate social responsibility (CSR) program. The comprehensive program demonstrates Oakwood Worldwide's long-standing leadership and commitment to CSR within the areas of reducing its environmental footprint, ensuring a sustainable supply chain, keeping its guests and associates safe, practicing high ethical standards, advocating for human rights and giving back to the community. The program has achieved a Silver-level rating from EcoVadis, the first collaborative platform providing Supplier Sustainability Ratings for global supply chains, placing it in the top 30 percent of all programs evaluated. Additionally, the Corporate Housing Providers Association recently named Oakwood Worldwide as the recipient of the 2016 Tower of Excellence award for Best Green Progress, which recognizes a company exemplifying environmental responsibility and social performance through their policies, plans and activities. "Our chairman, founder and CEO, Howard Ruby, has been a huge proponent of environmental conservation and he has been instrumental in making CSR an integral part of the way Oakwood Worldwide does business for many years," said Marina Lubinsky, senior vice president shared services, chief information officer and executive sponsor of CSR, Oakwood Worldwide. "What's exciting for us is that we have elevated the awareness and focus on these elements, formalizing our efforts and enabling us to better tell our story to our clients, our guests and our associates. We are incredibly proud to have developed this industry-leading effort." At the forefront of its CSR program, Oakwood Worldwide is committed to preserving the environment by implementing sustainable business practices across its global network. The company has set specific goals to reduce its energy and water consumption and increase its use of energy efficient processes, appliances and vehicles. In fact, within its managed properties in the U.S., 75 percent of the washing machines have been converted to high-efficiency models, which have collectively reduced water consumption by 38 percent annually. Oakwood Worldwide has also reduced its gas and electric usage by 6 percent and converted 10 percent of its vehicles to hybrids, contributing to a 25 percent annual reduction in fuel consumption. Renewable, clean energy is also part of Oakwood Worldwide's strategy when considering properties to add to its portfolio. In any market or circumstance, Oakwood Worldwide will give preference to Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED) properties and currently manages five buildings globally that carry LEED certifications. The company is committed to maintaining a safe and secure environment for not only its associates, but its guests, clients and partners. The company sets quarterly safety performance targets to continually drive improvements, and outlines its safety processes in the Injury and Illness Prevention Program, which is updated annually and available to all associates. To take this one step further, Oakwood Worldwide implemented an industry-leading Duty of Care program which encompasses a comprehensive philosophy and structure addressing key areas of crisis readiness, response and business continuity, so that the company can take a proactive approach to unforeseen issues that may arise. Oakwood Worldwide believes in giving back to local communities it operates in, as well as those in need around the world, and supports more than 30 non-profit organizations globally. On a corporate level, the company works with the Foundation of Fighting Blindness to raise funds to help prevent, treat and cure retinal degenerative diseases. In the U.S., one of the programs it supports includes the United Service Organizations Inc. (USO) to support children with deployed parents, provide services for military spouses and aid emergency housing programs. In 2014, Oakwood Worldwide was inducted into the USO-Metro's 2014 Circle of Stars as a corporate donor recognized for its generous funding in support of lifting spirits of military families. In EMEA, Oakwood Worldwide is a proud sponsor of Refuge, England's largest single provider of specialist domestic violence services. For more information please visit oakwoodworldwide.com/csr/. About Oakwood Worldwide Oakwood Worldwide is the premier provider of corporate housing and serviced apartment solutions through its well-known brands, Oakwood, ExecuStay and Insurance Housing Solutions. With a presence in all 50 United States and more than 88 countries, the award- winning company provides move-in-ready furnished accommodations to meet the needs of global organizations, individual business travelers, insurance clients and leisure travelers alike. Oakwood Worldwide was founded in and continues to base its corporate headquarters in Los Angeles and operates regional headquarters in London, Phoenix and Singapore. For more information, please visit OakwoodWorldwide.com. Lela Randall MEDIA CONTACT Direct: 1.714.913.9945 Mobile: 1.949.500.1905 Email: [email protected] Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150401/196031LOGO SOURCE Oakwood Worldwide Related Links http://OakwoodWorldwide.com Mike will share his deeply personal story with Museum visitors, and will then personally autograph and inscribe copies of his new coffee table book lavishly illustrated with 60 original paintings and more than 250 photographs. The careers of 30 internationally-known pilots and aviation personalities are highlighted in their own words, including Scott Crossfield, Joe Engel, Pete Everest, Fitz Fulton, and Chuck Yeager. Flights in the T-38 Talon, Douglas A-4 Skyhawk, B-1B Lancer, and the Concorde are also shown. Mike's paintings are all covered in this 192-page book in ways never-before seen. From the first rough "back of the napkin" sketch through highly detailed engineering drawings and final artwork, Mike's projects are colorfully documented for the reader. The story of the "Fly DOUGLAS!" and "Fly NAVY" murals painted exclusively for the Museum of Flying are told in vivid detail as well. Admission to the Museum is $10 for adults, $8 for students/seniors, $6 for children aged 4 12, children 3 and under are free. The Museum is currently open Friday through Sunday from 10:00 am until 5:00 pm and is located at 3100 Airport Avenue, Santa Monica, CA. www.museumofflying.org Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160421/358633 SOURCE Museum of Flying PALO ALTO, Calif., April 21, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Palo Alto University is delighted to announce an upcoming Town & Gown luncheon, focusing on youth violence. The event will take place at the Sheraton Palo Alto Hotel on Thursday May 5th, when a series of expert speakers will pose the question; Youth Violence Do We Really Know What We Think We Know? Risk and Resilience Factors The presentations will get underway at 12 Noon with Dr. Alvin Thomas, Co-Director of Center for Excellence at PAU, who will speak about risk and resilience factors for youths close to violence. Dr. Thomas brings a wealth of understanding and experience to the event, having worked in the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry department at the University of Michigan, and focused much of his research on violence and aggression. His recent article: "It's in my hood: Understanding African American Boys' Perception of Safety in their Neighborhoods"can be found by clicking here or (http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jcop.21768/epdf). Dr. Thomas will discuss exposure to actual physical violence and experiences where youths have seen or heard about violence in their homes, schools, neighborhoods and the media. What We as Adults Can Do The day's second keynote speech will come from Detective Agent DuJuan Green, School Resource officer with the City of Palo Alto Police. Detective Agent DuJuan began his career with the Air Force as a Law Enforcement Specialist before moving into the Air Force Medical Service and being deployed to Bahrain in support of Operation Desert Storm. Detective Agent Dujuan will speak to us about what we as adults can do to identify and support youths who have been affected by violence. Relevancy of Community Organizations, Barriers and Opportunities The final keynote speech of the day will be given by, Delayzio Amerson. Delayzio was appointed Executive Director of the Lewis and Joan Platt East Palo Alto Family YMCA in 2013. He is responsible for the day-to-day operations of one of this nation's most established human service organizations. He provides leadership to more than 75 staff and volunteers who help carry out the mission of the YMCA of Silicon Valley on a daily basis. The theme of Delayzio's speech will be around the relevance of local community organizations, such as the YMCA, in today's world and will assess issues blocking their effectiveness and opportunities for moving forward. Event Information & Itinerary Date: Thursday, May 5, 2016, Noon to 1:30pm Place: Sheraton Palo Alto Hotel, 625 El Camino Real, Palo Alto, 94301 Organizer Our organizer, June Klein, Ed.D., VP for Business Affairs and CFO of Palo Alto University is an active member of the Palo Alto community. She is the Chairperson and board member for Palo Alto Family YMCA and member of the board for the Kiwanis Club of Palo Alto. RSVP If you would like to join us for this event please RSVP, no later than Friday April 29th, to: Helena Ting, [email protected], 650-520-3451, Vice President of Community Development, Palo Alto University About Palo Alto University Palo Alto University (PAU) paloaltou.edu, is a private, nonprofit educational institution, founded in 1975. PAU is dedicated to education with an emphasis in the behavioral and social sciences; to promoting future innovators and leaders for the benefit of society; to generating knowledge through research and scholarship of the highest level; and to providing services to the community informed by science and scholarship. SOURCE Palo Alto University EL PASO, Texas, April 8, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- World renowned motorsport and racing consultant, Martyn Thake, has partnered with the owners of the El Paso Motorplex as they move forward with plans to build an exclusive road racing facility on the outskirts of El Paso, Texas. Thake and his consulting company, Motorsports Consulting Services, LLC, (MCS) brings to bear more than 30 years of comprehensive motorsports and special event experience; encompassing all areas of facility design and management, racetrack design, construction management, event promotion, event management, operations and logistics management, sanctioning body track inspection, insurance inspection, risk management inspection, race car design and manufacture, and performance driving instruction. More than 90 different motorsports facilities around the world have benefited from MCS design, redesign and inspection input. I have performed hundreds of track inspections, designs and redesigns for CART/Champcar, IMSA, ALMS, FIA, IRL and SCCA, as well as insurance companies and independent clients from around the world. MCS is by far, the most diverse and experienced motorsports consulting firm in the marketplace. Motorsports Consulting Services, LLC, provided design, construction, event operation and management services, plus operations and logistics department staffing for the Grand Prix events in St Petersburg in Florida, Miami, Houston, Cleveland, Denver, and Baltimore. As Director of Circuit Development for CART and Champcar (2001-2006), Mr. Thake was responsible for the operational readiness of the racetrack and operational television production for all of the tracks upon which the series raced. Other recent projects Mr. Thake has spearheaded include; the all-new Palm Beach International Raceway in Florida, the historic Pueblo Motorsports Park in Colorado, M1 Concourse in Pontiac MI, Palmer Motorsports Park in Palmer MA, Wild Horse Pass Raceway in AZ, Eagles Canyon Raceway in TX, and the two new FIA Level 2 facilities in China. The owners of the El Paso Motorplex are proud and excited to be afforded to opportunity to be associated with one of the most recognizable names in motorsport development and advancement anywhere in the world. As construction of the new road racing facility continues to progress, it will do so under the step-by-step guidance of Martyn Thake and Motorsports Consulting Services, LLC. For more information about Martyn Thake's experience and references, please visit www.mcs.ms For more information about the new El Paso Motorplex road racing facility, please visit El Paso Motorplex on Facebook and/or [email protected] (Marketing Director). SOURCE El Paso Motorplex Trading Symbols: TSX: SEA NYSE: SA TORONTO, April 21, 2016 /PRNewswire/ - Seabridge Gold Inc. (TSX:SEA)(NYSE:SA) (the "Company" or "Seabridge") announced today that it has filed a preliminary prospectus supplement to the Company's short-form base shelf prospectus dated November 26, 2014 with the securities regulatory authorities in each of the Provinces of British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario and with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") under the Company's registration statement on Form F-10 under the multi-jurisdictional disclosure system in connection with a cross-border public offering (the "Public Offering") of common shares of the Company (the "Common Shares"). The Public Offering will be conducted through a syndicate of underwriters (the "Underwriters"). The pricing and number of securities will be determined in the course of marketing. The Company will grant the Underwriters an over-allotment option to purchase additional Common Shares, exercisable at any time up to 14 days after and including the closing of the Public Offering at the offering price in the Public Offering. The Company intends to use the net proceeds from the Public Offering to continue to advance the Company's KSM Project and for general corporate purposes. The Company also announced today that it has entered into an agreement with the Underwriters whereby the Underwriters have agreed to purchase, on a bought deal basis, 450,000 flow-through Common Shares (the "Flow-Through Shares") at a price of C$24.08 per Flow-Through Share (a 30% premium to today's closing price on the Toronto Stock Exchange ("TSX"), for gross proceeds of C$10,836,000 (the "FT Offering"). In addition, the Company will grant the Underwriters an option to purchase from the Company up to an additional 50,000 Flow-Through Shares, at the same price as is applicable to the FT Offering exercisable at least one week prior to the closing date. The gross proceeds from the FT Offering will be used to fund the 2016 exploration program at the KSM Project and, subject to completion of the Company's acquisition of SnipGold Corp., the Iskut Property of SnipGold Corp. in Northwestern British Columbia, Canada. The Public Offering is expected to close on or about April 29, 2016, and the FT Offering is expected to close on or about May 19, 2016. Both the Public Offering and the FT Offering are subject to customary closing conditions including, but not limited to, the listing of the Common Shares on the TSX and the New York Stock Exchange ("NYSE") and the receipt of all necessary approvals, including the approval of the TSX and the NYSE. The FT Offering is being made by way of private placement in Canada. The Flow-Through Shares will not be registered in the United States, although some of the Flow-Through Shares may be re-offered or re-sold into the United States to "accredited investors" as defined in Rule 501(a) of Regulation D under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act). Any such Flow-Through Shares will be characterized as "restricted securities" under the U.S. Securities Act. When available, copies of the preliminary and final prospectus supplements relating to the Public Offering may be obtained by visiting the SEC's website at www.sec.gov, on SEDAR at www.sedar.com and from the Company under the following address: Seabridge Gold Inc. 106 Front Street East, Suite 400 Toronto, ON M5A 1E1 Attention: Chris Reynolds Phone: (416) 367-9292 Email: [email protected] This press release does not and shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any Common Shares, nor shall there be any sale of Common Shares in any province, state or jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of such province, state or jurisdiction. This press release does not and shall not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy the Flow-Through Shares in the United States. The Flow-Through Shares have not been and will not be registered under the U.S. Securities Act, or any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold within the United States absent registration or unless an exemption from registration is available. Neither the Toronto Stock Exchange, New York Stock Exchange, nor their Regulation Services Providers accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Statements relating to the estimated or expected future production and operating results and costs and financial condition of Seabridge, planned exploration work at the Company's projects and the expected results of such work are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and are generally, but not always, identified by words such as the following: expects, plans, anticipates, believes, intends, estimates, projects, assumes, potential and similar expressions. Forward-looking statements also include reference to events or conditions that will, would, may, could or should occur, including in relation to the timing of closing and use of proceeds from the Public Offering and the FT Offering. These forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable at the time they are made, are inherently subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties which could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those reflected in the forward-looking statements, including, without limitation: the Company's ability to engage underwriters, dealers or agents on terms and conditions deemed reasonable to the Company, the need to satisfy regulatory and legal requirements with respect to the Public Offering and the FT Offering, uncertainties related to raising sufficient financing to fund the planned work in a timely manner and on acceptable terms; changes in planned work resulting from logistical, technical or other factors; the possibility that results of work will not fulfill projections/expectations and realize the perceived potential of the Company's projects; uncertainties involved in the interpretation of drilling results and other tests and the estimation of gold reserves and resources; risk of accidents, equipment breakdowns and labour disputes or other unanticipated difficulties or interruptions; the possibility of environmental issues at the Company's projects; the possibility of cost overruns or unanticipated expenses in work programs; the need to obtain permits and comply with environmental laws and regulations and other government requirements; fluctuations in the price of gold and other risks and uncertainties, including those described in the Company's December 31, 2015 Annual Information Form filed with SEDAR in Canada (available at www.sedar.com) and the Company's Annual Report Form 40-F filed with the SEC on EDGAR (available at www.sec.gov/edgar.shtml). ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD "Rudi Fronk" Chairman and CEO SOURCE Seabridge Gold Inc. Related Links http://www.seabridgegold.net HOUSTON, April 21, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Southwestern Energy Company (NYSE: SWN) today announced its financial and operating results for the quarter ended March 31, 2016 as well as an update to the progress made on the strategic initiatives disclosed in February 2016. First quarter highlights include: Realized net cash (a non-GAAP measure reconciled below) of approximately $147 million , which exceeded capital investments by $25 million ; , which exceeded capital investments by ; Recorded adjusted net loss attributable to common stock (a non-GAAP measure reconciled below) of $32 million , or $0.08 per diluted share, when excluding a non-cash ceiling test impairment of natural gas and oil properties and certain other items; , or per diluted share, when excluding a non-cash ceiling test impairment of natural gas and oil properties and certain other items; Exceeded guidance with natural gas and oil production of 237 Bcfe, including 134 Bcfe from the Appalachia Basin and 103 Bcf from the Fayetteville ; ; Identified operating cost reductions of over $40 million annually, with over $15 million realized in the first quarter, as a result of margin enhancement efforts in addition to previously announced cost reductions associated with midstream contracts and workforce reductions; and annually, with over realized in the first quarter, as a result of margin enhancement efforts in addition to previously announced cost reductions associated with midstream contracts and workforce reductions; and Protected balance sheet with additional 2016 hedges; approximately 23% of expected gas production between April and October hedged utilizing fixed price swaps and put options with an average floor price of $2.42 per Mcf. "We began the year by leveraging the momentum built by our operational teams in 2015 and are making good progress executing on our strategic initiatives to position the Company for long-term value creation," remarked Bill Way, President and Chief Executive Officer of Southwestern Energy. "While adjusting activity levels to align with the commodity prices, we exceeded guidance on production volumes and associated costs by continuing our laser focus on efficiency improvements. The actions we are taking to further strengthen our balance sheet, enhance operating margins and optimize cash flow will continue to provide benefits in the current environment, and will enable us to enhance shareholder value as commodity prices improve." First Quarter of 2016 Financial Results For the first quarter of 2016, Southwestern reported an adjusted net loss attributable to common stock (reconciled below) of $32 million, or $0.08 per diluted share and a net loss attributable to common stock of $1.2 billion, or $3.03 per diluted share. This compares to adjusted net income attributable to common stock of $84 million, or $0.22 per diluted share, and net income attributable to common stock of $46 million, or $0.12 per diluted share, in the first quarter of 2015. Net cash (reconciled below) was $147 million for the first quarter of 2016, compared to $493 million for the same period in 2015. On a GAAP basis, net cash provided by operating activities was $92 million for the first quarter of 2016, compared to $541 million in the first quarter of 2015. The first quarter of 2015 included the operating results from our gathering system in northeast Pennsylvania and our conventional E&P assets in East Texas and the Arkoma basin which were divested during the second quarter of 2015. E&P Segment The operating loss from the Company's E&P segment was $65 million for the first quarter of 2016 (reconciled below), when excluding the non-cash impairment and restructuring charges, compared to operating income of $78 million for the same period in 2015. The decrease was primarily due to lower realized natural gas prices along with decreases in our realized oil and NGL prices. On a GAAP basis, the operating loss from the Company's E&P segment was $1.2 billion for the first quarter of 2016, down from operating income of $78 million during the first quarter of 2015 primarily driven by the $1.0 billion non-cash impairment charge. Net production totaled 237 Bcfe in the first quarter of 2016, up from 233 Bcfe in the first quarter of 2015. The quarter included 103 Bcf from the Fayetteville Shale, 94 Bcf from Northeast Appalachia and 40 Bcfe from Southwest Appalachia. This compares to 115 Bcf from the Fayetteville Shale, 83 Bcf from Northeast Appalachia and 30 Bcfe from Southwest Appalachia in the first quarter of 2015. Including the effect of hedges, Southwestern's average realized gas price in the first quarter of 2016 was $1.48 per Mcf, down from $2.99 per Mcf in the first quarter of 2015. The Company's commodity hedging activities increased its average realized gas price by $0.04 per Mcf during the first quarter of 2016, compared to an increase of $0.36 per Mcf during the same period in 2015. As of April 19, 2016, the Company had approximately 107 Bcf of its remaining 2016 forecasted gas production protected at an average price of $2.43 per Mcf. A detailed breakdown of the Company's 2016 hedges is shown below: 2016 Gas Hedges Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Total Fixed Price Swaps (Bcf) 5 24 25 15 69 Fixed Price Swaps ($/Mcf) $ 2.60 $ 2.47 $ 2.47 $ 2.53 $ 2.49 Put Options (Bcf) - 26 13 4 43 Put Options ($/Mcf) $ - $ 2.35 $ 2.34 $ 2.34 $ 2.35 Total (Bcf) 5 50 38 19 112 Total ($/Mcf) $ 2.60 $ 2.41 $ 2.42 $ 2.49 $ 2.44 Like most producers, the Company typically sells its natural gas at a discount to NYMEX settlement prices. This discount includes a basis differential, third-party transportation charges and fuel charges. Disregarding the impact of hedges, the Company's average price received for its gas production during the first quarter of 2016 was approximately $0.65 per Mcf lower than average NYMEX settlement prices, compared to approximately $0.35 per Mcf lower than average NYMEX settlement prices during the first quarter of 2015. As of March 31, 2016, we have attempted to mitigate the volatility of basis differentials by protecting basis on approximately 160 Bcf our remaining 2016 expected natural gas production through physical sales arrangements at a basis differential to NYMEX natural gas prices of approximately ($0.19) per Mcf. Lease operating expenses per unit of production for the Company's E&P segment were $0.88 per Mcfe in the first quarter of 2016, compared to $0.92 per Mcfe in the first quarter of 2015. The decrease was primarily due to the successful renegotiation of our existing gathering and processing rates for our Southwest Appalachia production. General and administrative expenses per unit of production were $0.19 per Mcfe in the first quarter of 2016, compared to $0.24 per Mcfe in the first quarter of 2015, down primarily due to a decrease in employee costs. This excludes the restructuring charges associated with the workforce reduction, which were $58 million for the E&P segment in the first quarter of 2016. Taxes other than income taxes were $0.08 per Mcfe in the first quarter of 2016, compared to $0.12 per Mcfe in the first quarter of 2015. Taxes other than income taxes per Mcfe vary from period to period due to changes in severance and ad valorem taxes that result from the mix of the Company's production volumes and fluctuations in commodity prices. The Company's full cost pool amortization rate decreased to $0.49 per Mcfe in the first quarter of 2016, compared to $1.15 per Mcfe in the first quarter of 2015. The amortization rate is impacted by the timing and amount of reserve additions, the costs associated with those additions, revisions of previous reserve estimates due to both price and well performance, write-downs that result from full cost ceiling tests, proceeds from the sale of properties that reduce the full cost pool and the levels of costs subject to amortization. The Company cannot predict its future full cost pool amortization rate with accuracy due to the variability of each of the factors discussed above, as well as other factors. Midstream Adjusted operating income (reconciled below) for the Company's Midstream segment, comprised of gathering and marketing activities, was $63 million for the first quarter of 2016, excluding the impacts from restructuring charges. This is down from $88 million for the same period in 2015. The decrease in operating income was largely due to a decrease in volumes gathered resulting from lower production volumes in the Fayetteville Shale and the sale of the Company's northeast Pennsylvania gathering assets. On a GAAP basis, operating income for its Midstream segment was $60 million for the first quarter of 2016, compared to $88 million for the same period in 2015. Capital Structure and Investments At March 31, 2016, the Company had approximately $4.8 billion in net long-term debt, including $1.55 billion of cash temporarily borrowed on its revolving credit facility for the final two days of the quarter. The $1.55 billion was repaid on April 1, 2016. The revolving credit facility remains unsecured with a maturity date of December 2018. The only financial covenant included in the Company's revolving credit facility, debt to book capitalization adjusted for ceiling test impairments, was 45% at March 31, 2016. This is well below the covenant limit of 60% despite the $1.55 billion temporary draw on the revolver at quarter-end to maximize secured debt capacity. During the first quarter of 2016, Southwestern invested a total of $122 million. This is down from $518 million in the first quarter of 2015, excluding $653 million associated with the closing the Appalachia transactions that closed in December 2014 and January 2015. The $122 million includes approximately $120 million invested in its E&P business and $2 million invested in its Midstream segment. E&P Operations Review During the first quarter of 2016, Southwestern invested approximately $120 million in its E&P business, including $58 million in investment capital and $62 in capitalized interest and expenses. Consistent with guidance, the Company placed 12 wells to sales in the first quarter and expects to put 20 to 30 wells to sales during 2016. In Northeast Appalachia, the Company completed 6 wells and placed 3 wells on production in the first quarter of 2016. This activity resulted in net gas production of 94 Bcf, up 13% from 83 Bcf in the first quarter of 2015. Gross operated production in Northeast Appalachia was approximately 1.2 Bcf per day at March 31, 2016. The Company expects to place an additional 5 wells on production in the second quarter of 2016 in this operating area. In Southwest Appalachia, net production of 40 Bcfe in the first quarter of 2016 was 33% higher than the 30 Bcfe of net production in the same period of 2015. The gross exit production rate in Southwest Appalachia was approximately 670 MMcfe per day at March 31, 2016. The wells drilled and completed by Southwestern to date continue to deliver impressive well results from this acreage. One example of this is the Alice Edge pad, which includes 9 producing wells. This pad is currently producing 85 MMcfe per day after almost 5 months of production. In the first quarter of 2016, Southwestern's net gas production from the Fayetteville Shale was 103 Bcf, compared to 115 Bcf in the first quarter of 2015. Gross operated gas production in the Fayetteville Shale was approximately 1.6 Bcf per day at March 31, 2016. The Company completed 3 wells and placed 9 wells on production in the first quarter of 2016 and expects to place an additional 6 wells on production in the second quarter in this operating area. Update on 2016 Strategic Initiatives The Company made progress on each of the strategic initiatives discussed in February 2016. These initiatives included strengthening the balance sheet, enhancing margins and optimizing its portfolio of premier quality assets. Build on strong liquidity to further strengthen the balance sheet. Consistent with its previous commitment to capital discipline and adjusting activity to align with commodity prices, the Company generated more net cash in the first quarter of 2016 than it invested in its operations. An additional step that was taken to enhance liquidity during the first quarter was the election to pay the April 2016 dividends associated with preferred stock in shares of common stock, preserving an additional $27 million of cash for the Company. The Company also continued its proactive plan to strengthen the balance sheet and address its 2018 debt maturities. In addition to the steps discussed above to maximize secured and subsidiary debt capacity, progress was also made on potential asset sales as data rooms were opened and remain in process currently. Operate efficiently and enhance margins. An aggressive pursuit of margin enhancement has been a key focus during the first three months of 2016. These efforts have resulted in identified savings of over $40 million for 2016, above our previous guidance. A thorough review of operational processes, vendor usage and contract terms identified opportunities that allow the Company to improve on its already differentiating low cost operator status. One example of these cost savings is associated with water handling costs. The Company has worked with its vendors to reduce contractual rates for this activity in addition to improving routes to move the water, reducing transportation costs. While cost savings played a significant role to the margin enhancement effort, improvements were realized on revenues as well. The Company's firm transportation and sales portfolio once again provided significant benefits. For the first quarter of 2016, the firm transportation and sales portfolio added over $30 million in value compared to selling produced volumes into local production area indices. Despite incurring one of the warmest winters on record, the Company's full year discount to NYMEX is still expected to be within the guidance range provided. The flexible portfolio of capacity to sell volumes at various hubs has provided significant benefits to mitigate the impacts of this warmer start to the year. Optimize the portfolio. During this period of decreased drilling activity, the Company has been intensifying its efforts on identifying opportunities to enhance its base production levels. This effort resulted in production exceeding expectations in the first quarter of 2016, beating the top end of guidance by 2 Bcfe. A number of items impacted these results, with the largest contributors being a number of compression and gathering system optimization projects combined with stronger well performance from last year's wells. The Company is also working to improve learnings from historical drilling and completion techniques to better understand the optimal methods to use when activity is increased. These learnings will improve our already advantaged ability to restart our development activities once commodity prices improve. With this additional knowledge, the Company expects to generate even better long-term value for shareholders as well economics are continuously optimized. Explanation and Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Financial Measures The Company reports its financial results in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America ("GAAP"). However, management believes certain non-GAAP performance measures may provide financial statement users with additional meaningful comparisons between current results, the results of its peers and of prior periods. One such non-GAAP financial measure is net cash. Management presents this measure because (i) it is accepted as an indicator of an oil and gas exploration and production company's ability to internally fund exploration and development activities and to service or incur additional debt, (ii) changes in operating assets and liabilities relate to the timing of cash receipts and disbursements which the Company may not control and (iii) changes in operating assets and liabilities may not relate to the period in which the operating activities occurred. Additional non-GAAP financial measures the Company may present from time to time are adjusted net income, adjusted diluted earnings per share, adjusted EBITDA and its E&P and Midstream segment operating income, all which exclude certain charges or amounts. Management presents these measures because (i) they are consistent with the manner in which the Company's performance is measured relative to the performance of its peers, (ii) these measures are more comparable to earnings estimates provided by securities analysts, and (iii) charges or amounts excluded cannot be reasonably estimated and guidance provided by the Company excludes information regarding these types of items. These adjusted amounts are not a measure of financial performance under GAAP. See the reconciliations throughout this release of GAAP financial measures to non-GAAP financial measures for the three months ended March 31, 2016 and March 31, 2015. Non-GAAP financial measures should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for the Company's reported results prepared in accordance with GAAP. 3 Months Ended March 31, 2016 2015 (in millions) Net income (loss) attributable to common stock: Net income (loss) attributable to common stock $ (1,159) $ 46 Add back: Impairment of natural gas and oil properties (net of taxes) 641 - Restructuring costs (net of taxes) 40 - Transaction costs (net of taxes) - 27 Loss on certain derivatives (net of taxes) 13 11 Adjustments due to inventory valuation (net of taxes) 2 - Adjustments due to discrete tax items(1) 431 - Adjusted net income (loss) attributable to common stock $ (32) $ 84 3 Months Ended March 31, 2016 2015 Diluted earnings per share: Diluted earnings per share $ (3.03) $ 0.12 Add back: Impairment of natural gas and oil properties (net of taxes) 1.67 - Restructuring costs (net of taxes) 0.11 - Transaction costs (net of taxes) - 0.07 Loss on certain derivatives (net of taxes) 0.03 0.03 Adjustments due to inventory valuation (net of taxes) 0.01 - Adjustments due to discrete tax items(1) 1.13 - Adjusted diluted earnings per share $ (0.08) $ 0.22 (1) 2016 primarily relates to the exclusion of certain discrete tax adjustments in the first quarter of 2016 due to an increase to the valuation allowance against the Company's deferred tax assets. The Company expects its 2016 income tax rate to be 38.0%. 3 Months Ended March 31, 2016 2015 (in millions) Cash flow from operating activities: Net cash provided by operating activities $ 92 $ 541 Add back: Changes in operating assets and liabilities 33 (48) Restructuring charges 22 - Net Cash $ 147 $ 493 3 Months Ended March 31, 2016 2015 (in millions) E&P segment operating income (loss): E&P segment operating income (loss) $ (1,160) $ 78 Add back: Impairment of natural gas and oil properties 1,034 - Restructuring charges 61 - Adjusted E&P segment operating income (loss) $ (65) $ 78 3 Months Ended March 31, 2016 2015 (in millions) Midstream segment operating income: Midstream segment operating income $ 60 $ 88 Add back: Restructuring charges 3 - Adjusted Midstream segment operating income $ 63 $ 88 Southwestern management will host a teleconference call on Friday, April 22, 2016 at 10:00 a.m. Eastern to discuss its first quarter 2016 results. The toll-free number to call is 877-407-8035 and the international dial-in number is 201-689-8035. The teleconference can also be heard "live" on the Internet at http://www.swn.com. Southwestern Energy Company is an independent energy company whose wholly owned subsidiaries are engaged in natural gas and oil exploration, development and production, natural gas gathering and marketing. Additional information on the Company can be found on the Internet at http://www.swn.com. This news release contains forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements relate to future events and anticipated results of operations, business strategies, and other aspects of our operations or operating results. In many cases you can identify forward-looking statements by terminology such as "anticipate," "intend," "plan," "project," "estimate," "continue," "potential," "should," "could," "may," "will," "objective," "guidance," "outlook," "effort," "expect," "believe," "predict," "budget," "projection," "goal," "forecast," "target" or similar words. Statements may be forward looking even in the absence of these particular words. Where, in any forward-looking statement, the Company expresses an expectation or belief as to future results, such expectation or belief is expressed in good faith and believed to have a reasonable basis. However, there can be no assurance that such expectation or belief will result or be achieved. The actual results of operations can and will be affected by a variety of risks and other matters including, but not limited to, changes in commodity prices; changes in expected levels of natural gas and oil reserves or production; operating hazards, drilling risks, unsuccessful exploratory activities; limited access to capital or significantly higher cost of capital related to illiquidity or uncertainty in the domestic or international financial markets; international monetary conditions; unexpected cost increases; potential liability for remedial actions under existing or future environmental regulations; potential liability resulting from pending or future litigation; and general domestic and international economic and political conditions; as well as changes in tax, environmental and other laws applicable to our business. Other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements include other economic, business, competitive and/or regulatory factors affecting our business generally as set forth in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Unless legally required, Southwestern Energy Company undertakes no obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. OPERATING STATISTICS (Unaudited) Page 1 of 5 Southwestern Energy Company and Subsidiaries For the three months ended March 31, 2016 2015 Exploration & Production Production Gas production (Bcf) 213 219 Oil production (MBbls) 607 545 NGL production (MBbls) 3,376 1,766 Total production (Bcfe) 237 233 Commodity Prices Average realized gas price per Mcf, including hedges $ 1.48 $ 2.99 Average realized gas price per Mcf, excluding hedges $ 1.44 $ 2.63 Average oil price per Bbl $ 18.65 $ 30.90 Average NGL price per Bbl $ 4.98 $ 10.35 Summary of Derivative Activity in the Statement of Operations Settled commodity amounts included in "Operating Revenues" (in millions) $ $ 42 Settled commodity amounts included in "Gain (Loss) on Derivatives" (in millions) $ 8 $ 36 Unsettled commodity amounts included in "Gain (Loss) on Derivatives" (in millions) $ (18) $ (18) Average unit costs per Mcfe Lease operating expenses $ 0.88 $ 0.92 General and administrative expenses (1) $ 0.19 $ 0.24 Taxes, other than income taxes (2) $ 0.08 $ 0.12 Full cost pool amortization $ 0.49 $ 1.15 Midstream Volumes marketed (Bcfe) 279 260 Volumes gathered (Bcf) 165 233 (1) Excludes $58 million of restructuring charges in 2016. (2) Excludes $3 million of restructuring charges in 2016. STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS (Unaudited) Page 2 of 5 Southwestern Energy Company and Subsidiaries For the three months ended March 31, 2016 2015 (in millions, except share/per share amounts) Operating Revenues Gas sales $ 315 $ 625 Oil sales 11 17 NGL sales 17 18 Marketing 198 225 Gas gathering 38 48 579 933 Operating Costs and Expenses Marketing purchases 196 222 Operating expenses 165 155 General and administrative expenses 54 68 Restructuring charges 64 Depreciation, depletion and amortization 143 293 Impairment of natural gas and oil properties 1,034 Taxes, other than income taxes 23 30 1,679 768 Operating Income (Loss) (1,100) 165 Interest Expense Interest on debt 53 50 Other interest charges 2 49 Interest capitalized (41) (48) 14 51 Other Loss, Net (3) (1) Gain (Loss) on Derivatives (14) 14 Income (Loss) Before Income Taxes (1,131) 127 Provision for Income Taxes Deferred 1 49 Net Income (Loss) (1,132) 78 Mandatory convertible preferred stock dividend 27 25 Participating securities - mandatory convertible preferred stock 7 Net Income (Loss) Attributable to Common Stock $ (1,159) $ 46 Earnings (Loss) Per Common Share Basic $ (3.03) $ 0.12 Diluted $ (3.03) $ 0.12 Weighted Average Common Shares Outstanding Basic 382,870,847 375,444,030 Diluted 382,870,847 375,578,054 BALANCE SHEETS (Unaudited) Page 3 of 5 Southwestern Energy Company and Subsidiaries March 31, 2016 December 31, 2015 (in millions) ASSETS Current assets $ 1,884 $ 393 Property and equipment 24,493 24,364 Less: Accumulated depreciation, depletion and amortization (18,002) (16,821) Total property and equipment, net 6,491 7,543 Other long-term assets 143 150 Total assets 8,518 8,086 LIABILITIES AND EQUITY Current liabilities 478 707 Long-term debt 6,442 4,704 Deferred income taxes 2 Other long-term liabilities 448 393 Total liabilities 7,370 5,804 Equity: Common stock, $0.01 par value; 1,250,000,000 shares authorized; issued 389,673,678 shares as of March 31, 2016 (does not include 3,024,737 shares declared as a stock dividend on March 16, 2016 and issued on April 15, 2016) and 390,138,549 as of December 31, 2015 4 4 Preferred stock, $0.01 par value,10,000,000 shares authorized, 6.25% Series B Mandatory Convertible, $1,000 per share liquidation preference, 1,725,000 shares issued and outstanding as of March 31, 2016 and December 31, 2015, conversion in January 2018 Additional paid-in capital 3,403 3,409 Accumulated deficit (2,214) (1,082) Accumulated other comprehensive loss (44) (48) Common stock in treasury; 31,269 shares as of March 31, 2016 and 47,149 as of December 31, 2015, respectively (1) (1) Total equity 1,148 2,282 Total liabilities and equity $ 8,518 $ 8,086 STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS (Unaudited) Page 4 of 5 Southwestern Energy Company and Subsidiaries For the three months ended March 31, 2016 2015 (in millions) Cash Flows From Operating Activities Net income (loss) $ (1,132) $ 78 Adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash provided by operating activities: Depreciation, depletion and amortization 143 293 Impairment of natural gas and oil properties 1,034 Amortization of debt issuance costs 2 46 Deferred income taxes 1 49 Loss on derivatives, net of settlement 21 21 Stock-based compensation 9 6 Restructuring charges 42 Other 5 Change in assets and liabilities (33) 48 Net cash provided by operating activities 92 541 Cash Flows From Investing Activities Capital investments (196) (508) Acquisitions (591) Proceeds from sale of property and equipment 1 Other 3 Net cash used in investing activities (196) (1,095) Cash Flows From Financing Activities Payments on short-term debt (4,500) Payments on revolving credit facility (864) (830) Borrowings under revolving credit facility 2,600 1,330 Payments on commercial paper (242) Borrowings under commercial paper 242 Change in bank drafts outstanding (19) (7) Proceeds from issuance of long-term debt 2,200 Debt issuance costs (17) Proceeds from issuance of common stock 669 Proceeds from issuance of mandatory convertible preferred stock 1,673 Preferred stock dividend (27) Other (4) Net cash provided by financing activities 1,686 518 Increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents 1,582 (36) Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of year 15 53 Cash and cash equivalents at end of period $ 1,597 $ 17 SEGMENT INFORMATION (Unaudited) Page 5 of 5 Southwestern Energy Company and Subsidiaries Exploration and Midstream Production Services Other Eliminations Total (in millions) Three months ended March 31, 2016 Revenues $ 336 $ 621 $ $ (378) $ 579 Marketing purchases 503 (307) 196 Operating expenses 209 27 (71) 165 General and administrative expenses 45 9 54 Restructuring charges 61 3 64 Depreciation, depletion and amortization 127 16 143 Impairment of natural gas and oil properties 1,034 1,034 Taxes, other than income taxes 20 3 23 Operating income (loss) (1,160) (1) 60 (2) (1,100) Capital investments(3) 120 2 122 Three months ended March 31, 2015 Revenues $ 655 $ 938 $ 1 $ (661) $ 933 Marketing purchases 786 (564) 222 Operating expenses 216 36 (97) 155 General and administrative expenses 56 11 1 68 Depreciation, depletion and amortization 278 15 293 Taxes, other than income taxes 27 2 1 30 Operating income (loss) 78 88 (1) 165 Capital investments(3) 1,030 138 3 1,171 (1) Operating income (loss) for the E&P segment includes $61 million related to restructuring charges. (2) Operating income (loss) for the Midstream segment includes $3 million related to restructuring charges. (3) Capital investments includes a $78 million decrease and an immaterial increase for the three months ended March 31, 2016 and 2015, respectively, relating to the change in accrued expenditures between periods. E&P capital for the three months ended March 31, 2015 includes approximately $534 million related to the WPX Property and Statoil Property Acquisitions. Midstream capital for the three months ended March 31, 2015 includes approximately $119 million of firm transport associated with the WPX Property Acquisition. SOURCE Southwestern Energy Company Related Links http://www.swn.com MENLO PARK, Calif., April 22, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- For the first time in the U.S., Hermes is partnering with a retailer for a watch pop-up. Jeweler, Stephen Silver was chosen for the exclusive collaboration. The pop-up will take place in one of the two Stephen Silver boutiques at the Rosewood Sand Hill Hotel, a 5-star Hotel in Menlo Park, CA. The Stephen Silver small boutique, also known as our "Jewel Box" is a 100 sq ft atelier space that will perfectly showcase the collection. "The creativity and elegance of the Stephen Silver boutique was in perfect harmony with the values of the House of Hermes," says Robert Peterman, the Parisian brand's vice-president of watches. "Unique and exceptional pieces will be the focus for Hermes." Some of the stunning pieces presented will be: Faubourg Joaillerie, which features 652 diamonds and quartz, Swiss-made movement. Arceau Ecuyere Aventurine in white gold, set with 74 diamonds, and an indigo blue alligator strap; the spectacular dial sparkles with 28 diamonds and a crown with one rose-cut diamond. Arceau H Cube features miniature straw marquetry that adorns the dial, crafting an iconic motif in bright colors of orange, claret-red, fuchsia, coral and purple tones. Numbered and limited edition of 10. Prices are available upon request. ABOUT STEPHEN SILVER Stephen Silver remains the premiere jewelry house for buying, selling and appraising the world's finest estate jewelry, with over thirty-five years of experience breathing new life into old treasures. Renowned for their extraordinary ability to procure the finest gemstones, Stephen Silver is also the Bay Area's destination for exceptionally designed custom jewelry pieces and their uniquely curated collection of rare timepieces. Visit the boutiques in the Rosewood Sand Hill Hotel in Menlo Park. www.SHSilver.com ABOUT HERMES Founded in Paris in 1837, the House of Hermes built its reputation for excellence on its skill in making horse saddles. The Hermes watchmaking tradition dates back to the 1920s, it has thus been combining inventiveness and know-how for over 80 years through an approach firmly grounded on creative craftsmanship. An unmistakable added touch of charm is the unique Hermes watches signature, and its creative and dreamlike vision of time touches dimensions and emotions reaching well beyond mere temporal measurement. This content was issued through the press release distribution service at Newswire.com. For more info visit: http://www.newswire.com SOURCE Stephen Silver Co. Related Links http://www.shsilver.com It is alleged in court documents that much of the clothing produced in the biggest factory operating at the Rana Plaza was being made for Loblaws' Joe Fresh brand, that the same factory had earlier expanded into illegally constructed floors, and that Loblaws failed to ensure that adequate workplace safety inspections were conducted to protect workers in the Rana Plaza. Notwithstanding its significant operations and holdings in Ontario, Loblaws is challenging the jurisdiction of the Ontario Court to deal with the claims of the victims and their families against Loblaws. Rana Plaza was originally a four-story commercial building, but doubled in size through the addition of several allegedly illegally constructed floors required to accommodate increased garment orders. The ninth floor was under construction at the time of the collapse. Over 5,000 garment workers were producing apparel at Rana Plaza for major Western retailers, including the Joe Fresh brand owned by Canada's largest food and clothing retailer, Loblaws. Rochon Genova LLP, a leading Toronto-based class action firm, is pursuing a proposed class action on behalf of the survivors, the families and estates of the victims of the collapse against Loblaws and the workplace inspection company, Bureau Veritas. The Claim alleges that Loblaws controlled the inspection process and failed to ensure that structural audits were conducted despite the ongoing construction of additional floors. Joel P. Rochon, one of the lead lawyers on this case, stated: "Ontario is Loblaw's backyard. This is where they earned profits from the clothing produced by 52 factories in Bangladesh, where they controlled the Rana Plaza inspection process, and where they made a number of allegedly negligent audit decisions in regards to the factory safety inspections". He added: "There is no principled basis to challenge Ontario's jurisdiction. Rather, this is the time to enter into a discussion surrounding compensation". The garment workers and their families are represented by Joel P. Rochon and Peter R. Jervis from Rochon Genova LLP. Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160422/359138 Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160422/359139 SOURCE Rochon Genova WASHINGTON, April 21, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Today, Larry Klayman, a former federal prosecutor, announced the filing of an amended complaint in a lawsuit against former FDA Commissioner Dr. Margaret Hamburg, her husband Peter Brown, other corporate executives of Renaissance Technologies, and the pharmaceutical drug company Johnson & Johnson. A copy of the amended complaint can be found at www.larryklayman.com. The amended complaint alleges, inter alia, that the defendants engaged in a criminal racketeering conspiracy to inflate the price of Johnson & Johnson stock by withholding material information about the deadly dangers of Levaquin, an antibiotic used for routine infections. The amended complaint alleges that Hillary Clinton pushed to have President Obama nominate Hamburg as FDA Commissioner as part of a quid pro quo. Hamburg however had a huge conflict of interest particularly with regard to Levaquin. As alleged in the amended complaint, and as can be verified independently from U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission reports, Hamburg's husband, Peter Brown, through his hedge fund at Renaissance, owned as much as half a billion dollars in Johnson and Johnson stock. Thus, as alleged in the amended complaint, if Hamburg had allowed the disclosure by the FDA Levaquin dangers, which already has killed over 5,000 persons and left tens of thousands debilitated with life-threatening illnesses, the stock her husband's company held in Johnson & Johnson would have plummeted. Instead, Hamburg, her husband, Renaissance, and Johnson & Johnson are alleged to have profited handsomely. Larry Klayman, lawyer for several victims, has this to say upon filing the amended complaint: "The alleged criminal corruption we are seeking to remedy in this case is typical of Hillary Clinton and the rest of the sleazy politicians of both political parties that infest Washington, D.C. It helps explain why the political establishment and their lobbyist friends at companies like Johnson & Johnson are being shown the door by the voters during this year's election. By asking for $120,000,000 over in damages and $750,000,000 in punitive damages, if the victims are successful, they will put a chink in the sides of these alleged criminals and send a loud message that this misconduct will no longer be tolerated." For more information contact [email protected]. Media Contact: Adrienne Mazzone, 561-750-9800 ext. 2270, [email protected] SOURCE Larry Klayman If you were looking for the Charlestown Democratic Town Committee website and ended up here, try this Got news tips, gossip, suggestions, complaints?E-mail us: progressivecharlestown@gmail.com We strive to avoid errors in our articles. Our correction policy can be found here Team working through latest 6.0 magnitude quake near same areas impacted less than one week ago Millwood, VA, April 22, 2016 Project HOPE, the global health education and humanitarian assistance organization, announced today that its disaster response team is on the ground in Ecuador following the massive 7.8 magnitude earthquake that struck the countrys central coast on Saturday, April 16, 2016. Aftershocks over the past several days, along with the latest reports of 6.0 magnitude quake off the same coastline, have rattled an already shaken nation. With rescue and recovery efforts ongoing, the latest estimates of nearly 600 fatalities and more than 7,000 injuries make this earthquake the deadliest to hit the country in nearly 30 years. HOPEs Weretaw Behanu, a logistics manager and veteran responder to disasters, Teresa Narvaez, HOPEs country director in the Dominican Republic and a native Ecuadorian, and volunteer emergency nurse, Michele Chapa from Everett, WA, arrived in Ecuador Thursday. The Project HOPE team is coordinating with local officials and other international organizations to identify the most pressing humanitarian needs as assessed by the Ecuadorian Ministry of Health. If needed, Project HOPE will deploy additional high priority resources including the shipment and delivery of medical supplies and medicines as well as assembling medical volunteer teams, including surgeons, physicians and nurses, as required. Our team is in the region so we can determine firsthand the scope and magnitude of the quake and how we can best assist the Ministry of Health and the people of Ecuador, said Scott Crawford, Senior Director of Humanitarian Operations at Project HOPE. According to Ecuadors government officials and reports, there is significant damage to buildings and roads throughout the affected provinces of Manabi, Esmeraldas, Guayas, Santo Domingo, Los Rios, and Santa Elena, impacting efforts to reach affected areas and provide critical medical care. There is also the potential risk of survivors being exposed to infection and disease as a result of compromised infrastructure and water systems. Project HOPE has responded to every major global disaster response effort in recent years providing volunteer medical support, delivery of urgently needed medicines and supplies as well as longer-term health system restoration in disaster zones including the Indian Ocean Tsunami in 2004, Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the earthquake in Haiti in 2010, Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines in 2013, and the devastating earthquake in Nepal in 2015. In fact, HOPEs response in Ecuador comes on the eve of the tragic 2015 earthquake in Nepal, where the Project HOPE team has recently launched a two-year program to help rebuild a sustainable health system for families with little or no access to safe health care. Project HOPE has a long history in Ecuador beginning with the third voyage of the SS HOPE which visited the country in 1963. At that time, Project HOPE volunteers treated widespread tuberculosis, parasitic diseases and malnutrition and then led a nutrition program for the poverty stricken county working with South American medical counterparts to improve health care for women and children. More recently, HOPE volunteers aboard the USNS Comfort traveled to Ecuador in May of 2011 as part of the U.S. Navys Continuing Promise mission. Along with Navy counterparts, HOPE medical volunteers provided health care to more than 5,200 Ecuadorians. For more information about our efforts in Ecuador and around the world, visit our website at www.projecthope.org About Project HOPE Founded in 1958, Project HOPE (Health Opportunities for People Everywhere) is dedicated to providing lasting solutions to health problems with the mission of helping people to help themselves. Identifiable to many by the SS HOPE, the worlds first peacetime hospital ship, Project HOPE now provides medical training and health education, and conducts humanitarian assistance programs in more than 30 countries. Visit our website www.projecthope.org and follow us on Twitter @projecthopeorg Imphal, April 20 : President Pranab Mukherjee is scheduled to visit Manipur for a few hours on Saturday to attend a state function commemorating the anniversary of the last battle of independence fought against the British rulers on April 23, 1891. The visit is historically significant since it drives home the message that the country accepts that the Manipuri kingdom's last battle to retain its independence was fought on this day and not on April 25, 1891, as contended by some. Official sources told IANS that preparations are underway to accord a red carpet welcome to President Mukherjee. The military secretary to the President and the union home ministry have made all preparations to ensure that there is no untoward incident during the President's visit to this border state, where over 50 armed insurgent groups are making their presence felt. For quite sometime, some outfits have been boycotting the VVIPs' visits and declaring "public curfew" to keep the people away from their functions. Officials are, however, saying Saturday's function marks the supreme sacrifice made by the Manipuri soldiers in defending the Manipuri kingdom and as such there may not be a boycott from rebel groups. Soon after landing at the Tulihal airport, Mukherjee is scheduled to fly to the Kheba hillock by an Indian Air Force (IAF) helicopter. He will unveil a tripod monolith there and briefly address the audience. Ahead of the President's visit, Manipur Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh has been chairing the joint security coordination meetings of the state and the central forces. The British army had in April 1891 attacked Manipur, then an independent kingdom, from three sides -- Cachar and Kohima in undivided Assam and Tamu in erstwhile Burma. With the killing of General Paona Brajabashi at Kheba hillock on April 23, Manipur lost its independence. However, another school of thought says Manipur's last battle was fought at Tengol Lampak, a little away from Kheba, on April 25 under the command of General Chong Miya. All these years, it has been demanding commemoration of the occasion on April 25. To resolve the issue, the Manipur assembly invited expert opinions in 1982. From reading the historical documents, one gets the impression that the last battle was indeed fought on April 23. The state government on experts' advice accepted April 23 as the relevant date, and has been observing it every year. All these days, however, the other group, insisting that April 25 is the correct date of Manipur's last battle, has been launching a media campaign and has threatened to boycott the President's visit. For all practical purposes, the government has not taken notice of the objection and the President is coming on April 23 for the official function. Security has been tightened along the border areas ahead of President Mukherjee's visit. Imphal, April 20 : Three troopers were injured on Wednesday in Manipur when two powerful foreign-made bombs were detonated near Moreh, a town on the Myanmar border. The injured, belonging to the 11th Battalion of Assam Rifles, were evacuated to Imphal for treatment. Police and security forces did not rule out more insurgency related violence in the coming days. President Pranab Mukherjee is due to visit Manipur on April 23 for a state function commemorating the anniversary of the werstwhile Manipur kingdom's last battle for independence against the British on April 23, 1891. Security has been tightened along the border areas ahead of the visit. Brussels, April 21 : The European Union (EU) on Thursday called for the swift ratification of the Paris climate agreement. European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, Commission Vice-President responsible for the Energy Union Maros Sefcovic, and Climate Action and Energy Commissioner Miguel Arias Canete are attending the high-level signing ceremony this Friday in New York, Xinhua news agency reported. Sefcovic and Dutch Environment Minister Sharon Dijksma will sign the agreement on behalf of the EU, while Canete will deliver an official statement on behalf of the EU. The ceremony, convened by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, followed the adoption of the climate change agreement in Paris in December 2015. "The European Union was the first major economy to table its commitment in the run up to the Paris climate conference (COP21) and now looks forward to having the agreement ratified and entering into force swiftly," a press release said. The Paris agreement set out a global action plan to keep global temperature rise this century well below 2 Celsius degrees. It would enter into force once it has been ratified by at least 55 parties, representing at least 55 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. Imphal, April 22 : President Pranab Mukherjee will pay a one-day visit to Manipur on Saturday to attend the Khongjom Day ceremony as well as inaugurate a monument-cum-tourist centre here. Khongjom Day is observed on April 23 by the Manipur government to pay tributes to its brave sons who made the supreme sacrifice for the cause of their motherland. The monument to be inaugurated by Mukherjee will commemorate the 125th anniversary of the Anglo-Manipur war of 1891 at Khongjom, now in Thoubal district and about 40 km from Imphal. Security in Manipur has been beefed up in view of the president's visit. Central police forces will assist the state police in maintaining law and order. Security forces have conducted combing operations though no arrests have been reported. High officials from Delhi were camping in Imphal for the past few days to supervise the security and other arrangements for the presidential visit. The president and his entourage along with Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh will reach Kheba hillock -- where the main function will be held -- in three Indian Air Force helicopters for security reasons. "There may be some inconveniences to the people. However, the government appeals to one and all to attend the function after lunch to make it a grand success," the chief minister said. Chennai, April 23 : The makers of superstar Rajinikanth-starrer Tamil actioner "2.o" have successfully completed their Delhi schedule and will next head to Bolivia. "The long and exhausting Delhi schedule was wrapped up on Friday. After a brief break, the team will leave to Bolivia where a couple of songs and few scenes will be shot," a source from the film's unit told IANS. In the interim, Rajinikanth will complete dubbing for "Kabali", which is slated to release in June. A sequel to "Enthiran", filmmaker Shankar is directing "2.o", and it also stars Amy Jackson, Sudhanshu Pandey and Akshay Kumar. Tipped to be made on a budget of Rs.350 crore, the film is produced by Lyca Productions and has music by A.R. Rahman. New Delhi, April 23 : Search engine giant Google paid homage on Friday to William shakespeare with a doodle to mark his 400th death anniversary. The doodle features the Bard of Avon in the middle with symbolic illustrations of his famous works like Hamlet, Julius Ceaser, Romeo and Juliet, The Tempest, King Lear, Macbeth and A Midsummer Night's Dream. Shakespeare died on April 23, 1616 at the age of 52. Not just a playwright, Shakespeare was a poet, dramatist and actor as well. Known for his tragedies with catastrophic ends like Macbeth, Hamlet and King Lear, Shakespeare also wrote romantic plays Romeo and Juliet and satirical plays like Twelfth Night. The day is celebrated across the United Kingdom as well as in other countries remembering his great works. United Nations, April 23 : Investors and corporate boards can be convinced to make green investments by showing them the value of tangible and intangible future returns, industrialist Mahendra Singhi has said. Singhi, Group CEO of Dalmia Cement, said here on Friday that many green initiatives - to reduce the carbon footprint of industries and make them environmentally sustainable - will not require much additional investments. But some initiatives, like using waste for power generation or adopting certain low carbon technologies, do need larger investments, he said. Whenever there are such projects that may not produce "normal investment return", the cost of the green initiative is noted. "They may not be the right return today, but considering the problems of climate and the future benefits we do convince the board as well as the the investors to support those projects," he said. Singhi briefed the news media about the "Impact of the Paris Climate Agreement on Business and Investors". In recognition of Indian businesses vigorously joining the climate change battle, he was one of the two Indian industrialists showcased by the UN at the Paris Agreement signing events. The other was Anand Mahindra, the CEO of Mahindra Group, who spoke on behalf of the corporate world at the opening ceremony. Many green projects requiring large investments but low returns are beyond the reach of industries in developing countries and are not being implemented, Singhi said. "That is why there is the demand from developing countries for green funds," he said. "Developed countries should support developing countries for achieving" environmental goals. He said his company decided it would "walk the talk" on sustainable development and adopted voluntary targets. These were ensuring that its carbon footprint should be one of the lowest in the industry, which it has achieved, and becoming "water positive" so that more water is conserved, he said. "We are also working in a big way on renewable power," Singhi said. "Almost seven percent of our power consumption is from renewable resources and we will make it to 20 percent by 2019." The company has also started to convert the waste of other industries into power and projects its message of "waste to wealth", he said. "We conserve the very important resources of our planet." "We have worked on corporate social responsibility for serving the poor part of society so that we don't become an island of prosperity, but we create prosperity for all. We follow the philosophy of total prosperity shared with all stakeholders including the poor in our society." (Arul Louis can be contacted at arul.l@ians.in) New York, April 23 : More than one million people are now connecting to Facebook through Tor "dark web" -- which maintains privacy and leaves no digital trail -- every month, media reports said on Saturday. According to Facebook, the growth of Tor over the past few years has been "roughly" linear, noting that some 525,000 people who accessed the service via Tor in June 2015 rose to more than one million in April this year. "This [Tor] growth is a reflection of the choices that people make to use Facebook over Tor, and the value that it provides them. We hope they will continue to provide feedback and help us keep improving," TechCrunch quoted Facebook as saying. Tor allows anonymous web browsing by sending data through multiple encrypted steps rather than making direct connections that shields the identity of its users. Facebook created a dedicated address for Tor access in October 2014, making it easier for users to connect via Tor and give them privacy. Facebook also expanded its Tor support at the start of this year by rolling out support for the Android Orbot proxy, giving Android Facebook users an easier way to use Tor. Apple's iOS platform still does not have Tor support. Confirming Facebook's claim, a spokeswoman for Tor said in a statement: "When using Facebook website over Tor, Tor Browser is in charge of that data, so it is anonymous. Of course, someone may post a status update saying that they are at some restaurant, for instance, and that would de-anonymise them." Tor could be used in countries where internet access or use of Facebook is blocked or censored, the Tor statement added. "Many people use Tor in countries where the internet is censored, not in order to be anonymous. Tor allows them to access the uncensored internet, including reaching Facebook. In Iran, for instance, Facebook is blocked. So people use Tor to get onto the internet and browse and from there they can reach Facebook," it read. Privacy activists, hackers, activists and journalists use this "dark web" to communicate securely. New Delhi, April 23 : Delhi-based cab aggregator Ola says it had "erroneously calculated toll charges" in some cases and has stepped in to reverse the amount charged from some customers. This was in response to an IANS story earlier in the day, which said that even as the Delhi government had cracked down on app-based taxi aggregators for "surge pricing", Ola had been overcharging customers by deducting higher toll or state tax during a ride from Delhi to Noida or in the reverse direction. In an email sent to IANS, Anand Subramanian, Marketing and Communications Head of Ola said: "Based on customer feedback regarding a minor addition of toll on certain instances in Delhi NCR, we have reviewed all trip data from the recent past. We found a few genuine cases of erroneously calculated toll charges on certain rides and have initiated refund to all genuine and eligible customers." What Ola termed as "minor addition on toll", was in many cases actually double the state tax or 65 percent addition to the Delhi toll charges, While the actual toll charged by the Uttar Pradesh government for a taxi crossing over from Delhi is Rs.60, Ola has been charging double at Rs 120, in some cases. In the reverse direction, while the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) toll for a taxi crossing into Delhi is Rs.100 the operator had charged some passengers Rs 165, as the bills generated by the aggregator show. One complainant, who resides in east Delhi's Mayur Vihar, said she was overcharged since the beginning of April for the 4.2 km she travels to and from work in Noida. "I am an occasional traveller by taxi and I prefer Ola cabs for commuting from Noida Sector 16 to Mayur Vihar or in reverse direction. A month back the bill used to be around Rs.170-180 for the 4.2 km distance; but on April 11, I had to pay Rs.286," she told IANS, declining to be named. "When I went through the bills of my ride, I found that Rs.165 was charged under the State Tax/MCD charges," she added. There were two other occasions with the same amount. Another passenger said that he had been charged Rs 120 for state tax. On Saturday, Ola credited the extra amount charged to some of the people who had complained. It was not immediately clear if they had reversed the charges in all cases. An Ola official had on Friday said that the company had a "transparent fare system", where a commuter could check all the details of their ride on their website and also the bill. When the invoice number of at least two instances of such overcharging were given to him, the official said that if a commuter thinks he or she has been overcharged then they must register their complaint with the customer care service and the company will hear their grievances. While giving credit for the extra amount charged to one passenger, Ola had send an SMS saying: "We noticed that you were charged upto Rs.65 extra on one of your recent Ola cab rides, due to a glitch. We're really sorry this happened, and have taken corrective action to ensure it isn't repeated." "We have refunded Rs.75 in your Ola Money wallet and regret the inconvenience this might have caused you. We hope you will put this behind us, and ride with Ola again soon," Ola said. Such refunds for at least three rides had been made to the passenger. The Delhi government which has warned taxi operators against surge pricing, said it hasn't received such complaints so far, but it will take action if people provide them proof. "We haven't come across any such complaint as of now. If people have any proof or information about this then please give it to us, and we will look into the matter and take stern action," Delhi Transport Minister Gopal Rai told IANS on Friday. (Anand Singh can be contacted at anand.s@ians.in) Kolkata, April 23 : On a day when Rahul Gandhi castigated West Bengal's Mamata Banerjee government over corruption, the ruling Trinamool Congress hit back at the Congress vice president for "changing his ideology like a T-shirt". Within hours of Gandhi's poll rallies in Howrah and North 24 Parganas district, Trinamool Rajya Sabha member Derek O'Brien mocked the Congress leader's ideology and played videos of two of his contrasting speeches -- one made in Kerala in February and other in Bengal earlier in the month. In his speech in Kerala where the Congress is pitted against the CPI-M, Gandhi is seen calling the Left's ideology "obsolete" while his address in Bengal where it has entered into an electoral understanding with the Marxists, Gandhi is seen asking people to vote for the "Left-Congress alliance and oust Mamata Banerjee". "For the Congress's wonder boy (Gandhi), ideology is like a T-shirt, you change it every day," said O'Brien. "At times, I wonder what will happen if the speech meant for Kerala gets interchanged with that meant for Bengal. Then there will be kushti (wrestling) in Bengal as well," he said. "There are several pages of research like those where both Congress and Left leaders have spoken against each other. Besides, one says it's an understanding, another says there is no alliance, yet another says it's an unofficial understanding," said O'Brien ridiculing the tie-up. Countering the Congress and the Left's claims of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Mamata Banerjee being "two sides of the same coin", O'Brien displayed few pictures including those of CPI-M general secretary Sitaram Yechury greeting BJP patriarch L.K. Advani, union home minister and former BJP chief Rajnath Singh alongside Marxist veteran Prakash Karat among others. "Those who are saying about Modi and Mamata being two sides of the same coin, these pictures are for them," said O'Brien, referring to the state Congress on the day playing an old Mamata Banerjee TV interview where she called the BJP "a natural ally of the Trinamool". "There is no denying Trinamool was part of the NDA in 2001 but that was (Atal Bihari)Vajpayee's NDA and this NDA is vastly different. Moreover, 15 years have passed since then," added the Trinamool spokesperson. Hyderabad : Hyderabad , April 23 (IANS) The Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (HMWSSB) has been selected for the HUDCO award for its outstanding contribution to the urban infrastructure sector. Telangana's IT, Panchayat Raj and Municipal and Urban Development Minister K.T. Rama Rao will receive the award to be given away as part of the central government enterprise's 46th annual day celebrations in New Delhi on Monday. Housing and Urban Development Corporation (HUDCO) chairman and managing director M. Ravi Kanth invited Rao to receive the award. Expressing happiness over the selection for the award, Rama Rao said the Telangana government will leverage state-of-the-art technology for designing more and more innovative initiatives. The minister elaborated on the new initiatives like automated billing for bulk consumers through GPRS, developing a grievance redressal mobile app, single window clearance for new tap connections and making rain water harvesting pits mandatory for according new house permissions. Rao said the Telangana government recognises access to safe drinking water as a fundamental right of people and has taken up Mission Bhagiratha towards this end. He recalled that the state has secured HUDCO's award for the Water Grid Scheme apart from winning appreciation from the NITI Aayog and the central government. Itanagar, April 23 : Two people died in a fresh landslide on Saturday in Tawang district of Arunachal Pradesh, taking the death toll in two days to 19, officials said. Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju and other leaders visited the area bordering China and took stock of the situation. The landslide that hit a camp of construction labourers in Phamla village on Friday morning killed 15 people instantly. Two injured people died later on Friday night, while two more died in a fresh landslide in the nearby village of Thongleng on Saturday. The fresh landslides also swept away over 30 houses. "With the two people killed in the early hours of Saturday in a fresh landslide, the toll has risen to 19. The landslide on Saturday occurred in Thongleng village, about 20 km from Tawang. Over 30 houses have been swept away," said a district administration official. He said many people have shifted to safer places fearing more landslides, and hence there was less human casualty during Saturday's incident. The landslide, however, damaged property worth several lakhs of rupees, he said. Rijiju on Saturday visited Tawang with former state tourism minister Pema Khandu and took stock of the situation. The union minister, however, had to return by road instead of his chopper as it could not take off due to bad weather. Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Kalikho Pul said he was personally monitoring the situation and that instructions have been issued to all the deputy commissioners and police superintendents to remain vigilant for any eventuality and keep the disaster management personnel ready for relief and rescue operations. He said the Indian Army has been helping the civil administration in most of the flood and landslide-affected areas of the state. Tawang district, which has been badly hit by floods due to incessant rains, has remained under darkness for some time as electric poles have been swept away in many places. The highways in some places have also been affected, and there has been no communication with districts like Anjaw, Changlang, Lower Subansiri and East Siang. New Delhi, April 23 : A clinical bowling performance at the death overs and perfect execution of plans proved decisive in Delhi Daredevils' 10-run victory over Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League (IPL), batsman Jean Paul Duminy said here on Saturday. Delhi posted a fighting 164/4 buoyed by Sanju Samson's 60 and Duminy's 49 not out. Mumbai were seemingly coasting while chasing but some collective tight bowling by Delhi halted them at 154/7. Leg-spinner Amit Mishra (2/24) was the most shining bowler for Delhi at the Ferozeshah Kotla. "Exceptional death bowling and execution of plans helped us win. The bowlers are working hard at training to improve. Good to see them pull them off today," Duminy said after the match. "Our bowling probably at the last five overs was the turning point of the match. Especially in this ground and with a batting line-up they have, Mumbai were always the more fancied side. "But most teams are winning while chasing, so it feels good to defend a score. The middle period was very important too. Amit Mishra and Imran Tahir bowled well. The pacers backed up their good work at the end, "he added. It was Delhi's third win on a trot in the tournament that lifted them to second in the standings. Skipper Zaheer Khan identified they put up a good score and then bowled at the "right areas". "Plan was to bowl in the right areas and use variations on this track. We are sticking to a process and following it diligently. We have a young team and the energy is growing in matches," the captain said. Zaheer also praised the Samson-Duminy's 71-run fourth wicket partnership that shaped their innings. "Sanju and Duminy both played brilliantly. They needed to stay at the wicket. They struck a crucial partnership and batted really well," he added. Mumbai all-rounder Krunal Pandya said the team was confident of chasing 165 but credited their opponents for stopping them. "We have a good batting line-up but Delhi bowled well. The wicket was good. But the ball was coming to the bat a bit slow," he said. Asked if they could have shown greater urgency while chasing Pandya said their stroke-filled batters were very capable but Delhi's superlative death bowling was decisive. "Rohit Sharma, Kieron Pollard are match winners. They were going well. But their death bowling especially the last two overs were crucial." Kolkata, April 23 : Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha member Derek O'Brien on Saturday caused embarrassment to his party after it was revealed that he had showed a photoshopped picture in his bid to prove close links between CPI-M and BJP leaders. Both the BJP and the CPI-M threatened legal action. Addressing a press conference, O'Brien played two videos of Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi's speeches and four pictures that included one that showed union Home Minister Rajnath Singh offering sweets to former CPI-M general secretary Prakash Karat. Pointing to this particular picture, O'Brien called it his "favourite". But much to his dismay and the Trinamool's embarrassment, O'Brien's "favourite" picture turned out to be "photoshopped", as the BJP came up with the "real picture" -- that has Rajnath Singh offering sweets to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The Trinamool subsequently admitted that the picture was photoshopped and removed it from its website. "Two videos & 6 pics were shown at our press conference. We removed one pic immediately when our research team learnt it was photoshopped," the Trinamool said in its official Twitter account which was retweeted by O'Brien. O'Brien subsequently in a video message on his Facebook admitted it was a mistake and sought to "end the chapter". "One of the pictures, our research team found out to be not genuine, it was a morphed picture. We didn't morph it but took from the internet," said O'Brien, admitting it was a "mistake". However, he went on to ridicule the BJP, without taking names. "There are parties who have been created out of photoshopped pictures. "Remember one photoshop picture wherein a high dignitary sitting in an aircraft and looking down the window, the window in the picture was morphed," said O'Brien. He was referring to a morphed photograph tweeted by the Press Information Bureau of Prime Minister Modi undertaking an aerial survey of flood-hit Chennai in December last year. The picture was subsequently deleted. "We did what was the dignified thing to do in a dignified way, we took the picture off and the chapter ought to be closed there. And quiz masters need to be more careful with their research team as well," added O'Brien. Both the CPI-M and the BJP said they would initiate legal action. "I have not got any opportunity of meeting Rajnath Singh ever. It is a patently false picture," said Karat. "This is a serious crime under cyber law. Showing a morphed picture, that too in a press conference. The Trinamool continues to stoop as low as possible. While police should suo motu initiate a case, if that is not done, we will be filing a police complaint against O'Brien and the Trinamool," CPI-M Lok Sabha member Mohammad Salim told IANS. Describing the act as a "desperate measure" by the Trinamool, BJP national secretary Siddharth Nath Singh said the party will be initiating legal action in the matter. State BJP vice president Jayprakash Majumdar said Trinamool chairperson and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will also come under the purview of its legal action. "Without her knowledge, this has not been done. The first name to be included in our police complaint will be that of the chief minister," said Majumdar. Chandigarh, April 23 : Devinderpal Singh Bhullar, convicted in the 1993 Delhi bomb blast, was on Saturday ordered to be released on a 21-day parole by the Punjab government. Bhullar, who is suffering from acute depression and was reported to be mentally unstable, was admitted to the psychiatry ward of Guru Nanak Dev Hospital in Amritsar where he was shifted in June last year from New Delhi. He was admitted in New Delhi's Institute of Human Behaviour and Allied Sciences for treatment for the past few years. District authorities in Amritsar confirmed that Bhullar's parole orders had been received. Bhullar, a Khalistani terrorist, was convicted in the assassination attempt of former Indian Youth Congress president Maninderjit Singh Bitta in New Delhi in which several people died in September 1993. He was transferred to the Amritsar prison from New Delhi in June last year. His name was linked to terrorist activities in Punjab in the early 1990s. Bhullar had spent over 20 years in jail and there were demands from his family and radical Sikh organisations to release him on humanitarian grounds as he was mentally not stable. Chandigarh, April 23 : Shiv Sena leader Durga Prasad Gupta was shot dead by unidentified assailants in Khanna town of Punjab's Ludhiana district on Saturday, police said. Gupta, who was provided security by the Punjab Police, was alone when the attack took place near his office in Khanna town, 75 km from here. He died on the spot after being shot from close distance by the assailants who were on a motorcycle. This is not the first attack on right-wing leaders, especially from Shiv Sena, in Punjab in the last one year. Shiv Sena leader Harinder Soni was shot at by unidentified assailants while he was on a walk in Gurdaspur town in north Punjab in April last year, while other unidentified assailants shot at the son of a Shiv Sena leader in Jalandhar city on January 18 this year leaving him injured. The victim, Deepak, son of Sena leader Vinay Jalandhari, was shot at by two motorcycle-borne assailants outside a school in Jalandhar's Deen Dyal Upadhaya Nagar area. In two separate incidents, unidentified people fired shots at Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) activists in Ludhiana city in January and February this year. Mumbai, April 23 : JNU student leader Kanhaiya Kumar on Saturday launched a scathing attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and demanded that the government stop "jumlas" (false promises) and start "working" as public patience was wearing out. Addressing a huge students' rally in Tilak Nagar area, Kanhaiya Kumar said people don't want false promises or 'jumlas' in the name of 'Stand Up India', 'Make in India', 'Skill India' or communal-casteist politics, but need education, jobs and development. "Ours is a politics of social justice, helping the masses of the country. The students and workers of the country are getting united. That's why the Modi government is so scared," said the president of the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students' Union (JNUSU), as the audience cheered and applauded. In his trademark fiery speech, he demanded a complete end to caste-communal politics inspired by the RSS and said the students' struggle was not to grab votes, but to save democracy, ensure social justice and empowerment of the people. "Our fight is not against any particular caste or religion, but opposed to the entire caste system. Even animals are being divided on communal lines. You stop your communal-caste politics, we shall end our agitation," he said. "We don't need political parties, but a public revolution. For how long will the sufferings of the masses continue? The sun will rise," Kanhaiya Kumar said expressing hope for better days. "I have full respect for the PM. He has travelled around the whole world, but has no time to visit Marathwada. Can he bear the scorching heat of Marathwada? This government is not serious about drought or the plight of farmers, but more concerned about IPL," he said. Calling upon the government to improve its functioning, the JNUSU leader warned that if the youth don't get jobs, the public will not give a second chance to the BJP. "This is the era of OLX (buying-selling website), do something soon, or people will pack you off." Referring to the government's plans to launch bullet trains, he said it was free to do so, but simultaneously should improve the inhuman conditions of millions of commuters in Mumbai's suburban trains. "Modi said his mother was a domestic worker. If that is so, then the government must provide free education to children of domestic workers and all other poor people in the country. "Expenditure on education is not an expense, but an investment for the future," he said. Earlier on Saturday afternoon, Kanhaiya Kumar arrived to a grand welcome by representatives and supporters of around a dozen Leftist, student and youth groups for an educational conclave during his first visit to Mumbai. He visited and paid homage at Chaityabhoomi in Dadar, the place where the chief architect of India's Constitution B.R. Ambedkar was cremated. Kanhaiya Kumar is scheduled to visit Pune on Sunday and meet students of the Film and Television Institute of India who had gone on a 139-day strike last year. Latest updates on IPL 2020 Toronto, April 23 : Zee TV and Essel Group chairman Subhash Chandra on Saturday received the $50,000 Global Indian Award from the Canada-India Foundation. The award was presented by Canada's Investment Minister Navdeep Bains at a glittering gala attended by top leaders. In his acceptance speech, Chandra said it was "really a humbling experience". He said he was accepting this award from the Indian diaspora despite his decision 10 years ago to reject the Indian government's Padma award for promoting Indian culture worldwide. The TV mogul said: "I was just doing my duty to my motherland to take Indian culture around the globe." He said "Vasudhaiva kutumbakam -- the world is one family" was his motto behind promoting Indian culture by launching channels to cater to Arabic, Russian, German, Portuguese, French and Spanish speakers around the world. Welcoming Chandra to Canada, Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne said the Canadian award for him was an indication of deepening ties between the two countries. Canada-India Foundation chairman Ajit Someshward said: "This award is open to any Indian who has made us global Indians proud. Subhash Chandra has made us proud by taking Indian culture globally through his TV network." The Canada-India Foundation, which promotes participation by Indian-Canadians in public policy and politics, has given this award in the past to late former Indian president A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, telecom pioneer Sam Pitroda, Ratan Tata and Deepak Chopra. Chandra donated his award money to Eklavya schools which provide education to India's poor in far-flung areas of the country. Kolkata, April 23 : Ridiculing Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's call for a "Sangh-mukt Bharat", the BJP on Saturday said it was nothing but a "daydream". "What right does he have to say such things? After being BJP Yukt for a number of years, how can he talk of Sangh-mukt Bharat? And even if he does say so, does that have credibility?" asked BJP national spokesman Shahnawaz Hussain. He said the real motive behind Nitish Kumar's remarks was to stay in the limelight. "Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal-United is a regional party which never earlier contested all the seats in Bihar. "His dream of playing a key role in national politics will never come true," he added. Driven, obsessed, unstoppable, hungry for a great education and determined to have a rewarding careerthese qualities describe the students of Mercy College as proclaimed in a bold new branding initiative. The new Mercy College brand is being unveiled this spring and will celebrate the grit and enthusiasm of Mercy students. The program was developed to inspire and educate students, families, alumni, donors and the general public about the College founded in 1950 and accessible to students at Dobbs Ferry, Bronx, Manhattan, Yorktown Heights campuses and online. President Timothy Hall explained that, while Mercy College has approximately 10,000 students and 50,000 alumni, it is not as well-known as it should be. As a private college with excellent professional schools, we have an incredible offering of relevant curriculum, affordable fees, generous aid, dedicated professors and personal attention to ensure that students find their individual pathway to success. Hall added: Best of all is the spirit of our studentsand thats what our brand celebrates. Our students come from all backgrounds and circumstancesand prove themselves able to overcome obstacles in life. They have their eyes riveted on the rewards of higher education and intend to achieve them no matter what. See video of new branding in action. Chief Advancement Officer Bernadette Wade, who leads the Colleges strategy for the new brand voice, said: Everything we say and writeeverything we dois inspired by our students and their unique stories of finding their way through college to a better life. Wade said: We want our messaging to be bold, no-nonsense statements of our culture. She added that the College expresses its brand in one simple, powerful sentiment that all students seem to share: For those with a passion to get ahead. The new brand voice is also aiming to reactivate the Colleges alumni. Director of Alumni Relations Alexis McGrath said: Our alumni are busy with their careers and their families and we want to remind them that Mercy is here to support them as we always have been. We also want them to pause, be proud and take stock of the importance of their college degree from Mercy. The new brand messages will capture their stories and serve as inspiration for the next generation. An important goal of the new messaging is to encourage students to tough it out and stick to their commitment to higher education. A college degree is a necessary ticket to getting ahead in this dynamic economy, said Hall. Keeping students in school and graduating on time is a top priority, and this branding program both invites determined students to join us and encourages our current students to stay the course. Mercy College is not just about words, he added. Our support for studentsfrom finances to intensive mentoringis second to none in the region. About Mercy College Mercy College is the dynamic, diverse New York City area college whose students are on a personal mission: to get the most out of life by getting the most out of their education. Founded in 1950, Mercy offers more than 90 undergraduate and graduate degree and certificate programs within five schools: Business, Education, Health and Natural Sciences, Liberal Arts and Social and Behavioral Sciences. Mercy College challenges its faculty and staff to make higher education work for anyone hungry enough to earn a better place in life. With campuses in Dobbs Ferry, Bronx, Manhattan and Yorktown Heights, the vibrancy of the College culture is sustained by a diverse student body from around the region. Committed to supporting students throughout their education, Mercy College offers a personalized learning experience that includes the Colleges Personalized Achievement Contract (PACT) program. PACT is a nationally recognized mentoring program that serves as a model for student success. http://www.mercy.edu/ 877-MERCY-GO. MERCY COLLEGE For those with a passion to get ahead Just before the polls closed on the day of the New York primary, Ted Cruz wasnt in Manhattan or Buffalo or Albany ... or anywhere else in the state. He had already moved on to Philadelphia, campaigning for the upcoming Pennsylvania primary. Cruzs move speaks to just how important Tuesdays Pennsylvania primary has become in this atypical election. No candidate is likely to secure the 1,237 delegates needed to clinch the partys presidential nomination. And Pennsylvania has a unique primary setup on the GOP side. Only 17 of the states 71 delegates go to the statewide winner. The rest are unbound, which means they are free to support anyone they want at the Republican National Convention, which takes place July 18 to 21 at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland. Those unbound delegates will be elected by locality in Tuesdays primary. The presidential contenders will begin wooing them immediately. This means a lot of uncertainty. A candidate could win the state but not get the majority of delegate votes at the convention. Pennsylvania is a really funny state in terms of how the delegates are allocated, says Sarah Niebler, assistant professor in the department of political science at Dickinson College. Some of those delegates will make their intentions clear, that they plan to vote for the statewide winner. But some (candidates for delegate) have also made their intent clear that no matter what happens, if Donald Trump wins the state, theyre voting for Cruz. Its a mishmash, and well have to wait and see who those 54 delegates are to get a sense of what impact those delegates will have. Trumped At issue, of course, is the fact that many of the GOP bigwigs dont want Trump to win the nomination. Theres been a well-documented pushback against the billionaire front-runner, who is not a career politician and rubs many in the party the wrong way with his blunt talk and flouting of tradition. Some see Trump as just a total disaster up and down the ticket. They are afraid that if Trump wins, he could take the party deep into the weeds and who knows when it would come out, says Dr. Michael Young, former professor of politics and public affairs at Penn State University. Theres tremendous motivation to stop him, and the question is how to do it. The answer, many believe, is to stop him at the convention from getting the votes he needs to win the nomination on the first ballot. The #NeverTrump movement, conceived by those within the Republican party to block a Trump nomination, could get a great boost from unbound delegates from Pennsylvania voting for Cruz or the third remaining Republican candidate, John Kasich. Currently Trump has 845 delegates, about three-quarters of those needed to win. Cruz trails with 559, and Kasich is well behind with 147. Mathematically, its impossible for Cruz and Kasich to get to 1,200 even if they sweep the remaining primaries. Trump can call on the argument that, as the leading vote-getter, hes the choice of the people and should get the nomination. Courting delegates But the long and short of it is, the Pennsylvania primary becomes more about the candidates courting the delegates than the actual voters. Niebler says Republican voters most important decision on Tuesday may not be what presidential candidate to vote for but which delegate. Do research to find out what folks running for delegate plan to do when get to the convention, and make an educated decision that way, she says. If Pennsylvania does become a key decision maker at the RNC, it wont be the first time. What someone has to do in Pa. is step up and be a kingmaker, Young says. Thats a role that Pa. has played in nominating conventions from the Civil War to the 30s, but Pennsylvania hasnt played that role for a long time. The state is set for that to evolve. The last time the RNC saw a contest this close was in 1976, when then-incumbent Gerald Ford held a slight edge over challenger Ronald Reagan among delegates. Reagan picked Pennsylvania Sen. Richard Schweiker as his running mate in a bid to woo away delegates, but Fords lead held and he was nominated for president without any major showdown. Pennsylvanias key role in this years nominating process is facilitated by the fact that the primary is held so late. A number of other states have moved up their primaries in the past decade to ensure they help play a role in the presidential selection process, and indeed theres been legislation introduced in Pennsylvania to do the same, but it has never passed. Better influence In past years, the nomination has been all but wrapped up by the time Pennsylvania votes. But when the nominating process draws out like this, Pennsylvania gets outsized influence. The fact that the election is so late made Pennsylvania not matter more than matter in the past, says Niebler. This year it hit it right. While this is not unheard of, its certainly a rarity. As for who will win the state, Young says Trump should build on his momentum from the win in New York and take Pennsylvania with ease. He predicts Kasich, who grew up outside of Pittsburgh, will also make a decent showing. He fits well with the Republicans in the southeast, where its more Republican and moderate, Young says. That will help him, particularly if turnout is reasonably high. Cruz, Young says, may finish third despite his efforts in the state. Florida foreclosure attorney Dillon Graham supports the Fourth District Court of Appeals recent ruling in Alexandre v. Scribner Village Homeowners Association Inc. Injustice fuels my dedication to providing homeowners with the knowledge and tools needed to protect their rights. According to Florida foreclosure attorney Dillon Graham, managing partner at Miami law firm Graham Legal, P.A., the Fourth District Court of Appeal served justice in its recent ruling against a Wellington homeowner association. The case in question involved a homeowner, Marie Alexandre, who had been denied a request for overruling the final foreclosure judgement on her home by the Palm Beach Circuit Court. The Daily Business Review reported on March 31 that the Fourth District Court of Appeal sided with Alexandre, holding that her communitys homeowners association was wrong in proceeding with a foreclosure. Defending the rights of homeowners has always been my main objective, so I appreciate when courts stand up for those rights, Graham said. For some background, Scribner Village Homeowners Association Inc. previously took Alexandre to court over past due assessments. The case resulted in the HOA being afforded a final judgement on the lean, at which time Alexandres home was put up for sale. While Graham states that at this point, the law was upheld, its what happened next that he calls, an obvious infringement on a homeowners rights. Following the final judgement, court records show Alexandre had filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy and informed the courts. Such action should have put an automatic stay on the foreclosure. Instead, the HOA went through with the sale, and the clerk of court confirmed the sale of the home to the HOA and issued the title. The proceedings should have never been permitted to go this far, though I hate to admit that Im not surprised that they did, Graham said. When the HOA filed a writ of possession attempting to remove the homeowner, she pleaded with the circuit court to allow her to stay in her home and reverse the previous judgement. When the case went on to the appellate court, the HOA did not make an appearance. Of the decision, Graham said he was happy to see the appellate court ruling in the homeowners favor. Graham said that he has seen situations like this before, and believes he will see them again in the future. According to Graham, its not uncommon for HOAs to stray from proper protocol when seeking a judgement. He added that courts can be quick to rule in the HOAs favor in these cases, and homeowners arent always knowledgeable enough about the law to know how to fight back. Injustice fuels my dedication to providing homeowners with the knowledge and tools needed to protect their rights in court, Graham said. About Graham Legal, P.A. Graham Legal, P.A. is a consumer oriented law firm that represents individuals against banks, insurance companies and other wrongdoers. Areas of focus include foreclosure defense and personal injury law. It was founded on the belief that everyone deserves quality legal representation regardless of income, background, or situation. Graham Legal, P.A. seeks to put the power into the hands of people by providing wronged individuals with a fair, affordable chance at justice. For more information, visit: http://grahamlegalpa.com. ACT Today! (Autism Care and Treatment Today!) announces its 6th Annual ONEHOPE ACT Today! for Military Families 5k/10k Run/Walk & Family Festival will be held on Saturday, April 30th at Tecolote Shores Park in Mission Bay, San Diego. The charitable event is open to the community and will benefit military families with children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). ACT Today! is a national, nonprofit organization whose mission is to provide immediate and direct help to children with autism whose families cannot afford or access the necessary tools their children need to reach their highest potential. These tools include Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) Therapy, medical care, social skills programs, assistive technology, assistance dogs, and many more. Its program ACT Today! for Military Families (ATMF) was created in 2010 to extend support to military families with children with autism. Participants of the 6th Annual ONEHOPE ACT Today! for Military Families 5k/10k Run/Walk & Family Festival will enjoy a scenic 5k, 10k (both chip-timed) or 1 mile fun run. After crossing the finish line, they can celebrate at the family festival sponsored by the Center for Autism & Related Disorders, Inc. (CARD) and Lineagen. The family festival features live music by Northstar, a local San Diego Band as well as a resource fair with over 35 vendor booths. There will be a wine and beer tent with wine provided by ONEHOPE Wine and beer provided by Stone Brewing Co. (for those 21 and over). The kids zone, sponsored by CARD, features activities for kids of all ages, including a bounce house, carnival games, face painting, arts & crafts, and even a quiet zone staffed by ABA therapists. The family festival is free to the public. Founder of Center for Autism and Related Disorders, Inc. (CARD) and ACT Today!, Dr. Doreen Granpeesheh said, "CARD is proud to sponsor this event for the sixth year. It is so important to help military families with children with autism. These donations make a huge difference in the lives of these families. Some families use this money to buy safety equipment, some use it to pay their co-pays so they can get more insurance coverage, and others use this money for medical treatments or lab tests that are not covered by their insurance, and many other needs. We are very proud to support our military families with this run." Since 2011, the event has raised nearly $500,000 in autism care and treatment for military children. The event also celebrates National Autism Awareness Month and the Month of the Military Child. In celebration of Autism Awareness Month and the Month of the Military Child, Lineagen is proud to sponsor the 6th Annual ONEHOPE ACT Today! for Military Families 5k/10k Run/Walk & Family Festival, benefiting children in military families who have autism. During Autism Awareness Month and Month of the Military Child, as well as throughout the year, Lineagen provides families and physicians with a fully integrated genetic testing, counseling, and reporting to aid in the diagnostic evaluation of individuals with autism spectrum disorder and other conditions of childhood development. Working closely with families is part of the fabric of what we do and who we are, said Rena Vanzo, Vice President, Clinical Services at Lineagen, Inc. Along with ONEHOPE, other corporate sponsors of this years event are: Center for Autism & Related Disorders, Inc, Lineagen, Autism Speaks, SeaWorld San Diego, Wells Fargo, UnitedHeathcare Military & Veterans, Waddell & Reed Financial Advisors, Tolman & Wiker Insurance Services, LLC, Sandy and David Stone and Family, Granite Investment Group, Woodstocks Pizza Pacific Beach, Home Advisor, Stone Brewing Co., The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, and Gatorade. Media sponsors include NBC 7 San Diego, ENERGY 103.7, and KyXy 96.5. For more information about the 6th Annual ONEHOPE ACT Today! for Military Families 5k/10k Run/Walk & Family Festival, visit: http://www.acttodayformilitaryfamilies.kintera.org. About ACT Today! ACT Today! (Autism Care and Treatment Today!) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to providing resources and funding to families of children with autism who cannot afford or access the necessary tools their children need to reach their full potential. For more information about ACT Today!, visit: http://www.act-today.org. About ACT Today! for Military Families: ACT Today! for Military Families (ATMF), is a national program of ACT Today!. It was launched in July 2010. ATMF works to improve awareness and delivery of effective autism services, and provides financial assistance to military families to help defray out-of-pocket costs associated with autism treatments, services, and other quality-of-life programs. For more information about ACT Today! for Military Families, visit: http://www.acttodayformilitaryfamilies.org. About Center for Autism and Related Disorders (CARD) CARD treats individuals of all ages who are diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) at treatment centers around the globe. CARD was founded in 1990 by leading autism expert and clinical psychologist Doreen Granpeesheh, PhD, BCBA-D. CARD treats individuals with ASD using the principles of applied behavior analysis (ABA), which is empirically proven to be the most effective method for treating individuals with ASD and recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics and the US Surgeon General. CARD employs a dedicated team of nearly 2,000 individuals across the nation and internationally. For more information, visit http://www.centerforautism.com or call (855) 345-2273. About Lineagen Based in Salt Lake City, Utah, Lineagen's mission is to accelerate and enhance the diagnostic evaluation of medical conditions so that the best possible outcomes can be achieved for patients and their families. Our first commercial offerings, FirstStepDx PLUS and NextStepDx PLUS, provide physicians with a fully integrated genetic testing, counseling, and developmental screening service to aid in the diagnostic evaluation of individuals with autism spectrum disorder and other conditions of childhood development. ### There was a time when a rival publication accused a Carlisle newspaper editor of lies, slander and treachery. What has been the conduct of George Kline for many years past? an 1805 letter, published in the Carlisle Herald, asked local readers. Has it been that of a sober, discreet and chaste minded person? Or has he for days together absented himself from his wife and family, loitering under beastly intoxication in taverns and brothels? For decades, Kline kept local residents informed through a publication he produced out of a print shop that used to occupy the building at 152-154 W. High St. When it started, the newspaper went by the bold name of The Carlisle Gazette and Western Repository of Knowledge before it changed over to Klines Carlisle Weekly Gazette. The Gazette was one of the earliest newspapers west of the Susquehanna River. Prior to its arrival, local residents had to rely on Benjamin Franklins Philadelphia newspaper, the Pennsylvania Gazette, for news. By 1799, Kline had a cross-town rival in the Carlisle Herald which was owned in 1805 by Archibald Louden, a local publisher and businessman. Very soon this rivalry devolved into a slugfest of verbal mudslinging that usually centered on politics but often took a personal edge, local historian Paul Hoch wrote in an April 1976 column for The Sentinel. In recent years the building that housed Klines print shop has been owned by William Martson who researched the chain of title back to April 16, 1793 when Moses Thompson of Carlisle sold half a lot and a stone house to George Kline for $500. Forty years later, county sheriff George Beetem sold the property to Rachel Kline for $2,500. Since then, it has been passed on through several owners before it was purchased by William and Jeanne Martson on Oct. 31, 1972. While the building no longer exhibits an 18-century facade, the outline of the two-story stone house where Kline had his print shop could be seen on the eastern exterior wall. Aside from that, the basement of the buildings front section features the original hand-laid limestone foundation, along with remnants of where a footer was once located for a fireplace. In 2013, this building was placed on the Cumberland County Register of Historic Places, which is patterned after the National Register of Historic Places, an entirely separate listing with stricter nomination and eligibility requirements. The building housed a beauty shop and three apartments in 2013. Over the course of its history, Carlisle had about 25 different newspapers in circulation including three German language publications, Hoch wrote in 1976. The sole survivor, The Sentinel, was first established in Shippensburg as a weekly in 1861 and later moved to Carlisle in 1874 becoming a daily newspaper in 1881. There were several periods when multiple newspapers, operating at once, competed for the attention of Carlisle area readers. The rivalry between George Kline and Archibald Louden is just one example. It was the longest 15 minutes of David Bennetts life. As he waited to be rescued, the Marine Corps pilot stared out into the pitch blackness that surrounded the downed CH-46 helicopter. There was no movement amid the shadows of the landscape around the rice paddy. The crew manned a defensive perimeter supported by two machine guns pulled from the mounts along the fuselage. It was very quiet ... I dont recall being scared, the Carlisle man said. Yet Bennett remembered how his flight gloves were soaked through with sweat from that eventful night in South Vietnam. The date was April 13, 1970, and he was just three weeks shy of leaving active duty in Southeast Asia for civilian life stateside in the Marine Corps Reserve. Bennett was looking forward to attending college. Crash A Marine captain, he was finishing up his second tour of duty in Vietnam. Bennett first arrived in country in November 1967 as a lieutenant who had earned his commission after graduating from an aviation cadet program. That first tour lasted until December 1968. Bennett returned to Vietnam in April 1969 and stayed until April 1970 the same month as the friendly fire incident. He flew hundreds of missions over the northernmost region of South Vietnam that was under Marine Corps jurisdiction. The mission that night was the emergency evacuation of a Marine seriously wounded while fighting off an enemy attack on an American base. As with any battle, there was confusion and the potential for friendly fire. Bennett was the pilot of the lead helicopter flying with all its lights turned off. A second CH-46 flew in support as the wingman, slightly ahead of the lead ship to draw attention away from its approach to the landing zone. Two helicopter gunships hovered nearby as escorts. There was a shudder and a thud as Bennett moved into position. He was told by the crew chief that something had hit the helicopter punching a hole in its rear pylon causing significant damage. He learned later the object was a flare dropped from an airplane flying overhead. Bennett believes the flare was not deployed to illuminate the landing zone, but to help Marines on the ground see the attacking enemy. It went through the rotor blades without touching them, Bennett said. Though the flare proved to be a dud, the impact was enough to cripple the helicopter. It knocked out a generator and an engine and caused a pump to leak hydraulic fluid. There was no way he could keep it airborne. Bennett had to think fast. All of his flight time made Bennett familiar with the landscape. He knew that just southeast of his position was terrain flat enough for him to safely land the crippled helicopter. I could not go much further away, Bennett said. I was lucky. No one was injured and the back-up CH-46 had arrived within 15 minutes to pick up the stranded crew. Bennett flew out again that night in a different helicopter to retrieve the wounded man. By then, the firefight had injured two other Marines who were picked up and transported to the nearest medical facility. He never heard what happened to them. Tours I never had a passenger or crew member injured or killed in two years of flying, Bennett said. He did have helicopters return to base with bullet holes from ground fire. Bennett flew out of the Marble Mountain Air Facility near Da Nang or Quang Tri further south. His first tour of duty started just after the Viet Cong launched the TET Offensive a coordinated assault on all the major towns and cities of South Vietnam. Many of his early missions involved the transport of Marines and allied troops sent to retake the areas occupied by Viet Cong guerrillas and North Vietnamese Army fighters. It was during this time that Bennett flew four to five missions into Khe Sanh, a Marine firebase that was under siege by enemy forces. One trip was to bring in journalists who were covering the war and were eager to interview members of the beleaguered garrison. Fortunately Bennett arrived during a lull in the fighting, but noticed how the terrain around Khe Sanh resembled a moonscape pocked with craters from artillery shells, air-to-ground weapons from attack planes and payloads dropped from B-52 bombers. Scattered around the devastation were the remnants of parachutes from air supply drops blown off course by wind currents or by the heat of battle. Bennett never lingered over a landing zone longer than it took to load or unload cargo or personnel. To do so would court attention and invite enemy ground fire. We had to go in and move out, he said. All of us got to learn little tricks on how to do it as soon as possible. As a pilot he was too busy to interact with the journalists. It didnt matter who they were, said Bennett adding there was a national debate underway on the merits of the war. Bennett decided early on he was not fighting for God or country or to rid the world of the threat of Communism. The flying that we did and the risks that we took were all in support of our fellow Marines. They depended on us. Many of his missions involved the resupply of Marines on the ground with food, water, ammunition, medical supplies and reinforcements. He also flew reconnaissance missions. After the war After Vietnam, Bennett went to college and graduate school before joining the diplomatic corps of the U.S. State Department. He first arrived in Carlisle in 1989 as a student at the U.S. Army War College. He later returned to teach on its faculty in 1995 and again in 1998. In between, Bennett served as a diplomat in Africa. He has since retired from the federal government. Last year Bennett toured the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum annex at the Dulles airport. He knew the aircraft on display included a CH-46 helicopter similar to what he flew in Vietnam. In reviewing photographs of that helicopter, he was surprised to learn that its tail number of 153369 matched a machine that he flew during the war. Each helicopter in Marine Corps service was assigned its own unique tail number. Bennett flew that particular aircraft seven times during the waning months of his second tour of duty while he was serving as an aide to a general assigned to the First Marine Aircraft Wing based in Da Nang. One of those missions took place on April 14, 1970 the day after friendly fire from a dud flare took down the other helicopter. Since Vietnam, 153369 had been upgraded with new avionics. It was shiny and polished while on display. The sight of that helicopter brought back fond memories of the affection pilots had for the CH-46 as a durable machine that served its country well. As a helicopter, it proved itself valuable to the mission, Bennett said. Im grateful I had the opportunity to fly one for those years. It carried me through the war. It has been very forgiving. It has been my friend. Pilots in Vietnam called the CH-46 The Phrog and were known as Phrog Phlyers. The last active Marine squadron to fly the CH-46 was the same squadron Bennett flew with during the final months of his second tour of duty. "When I submitted my first Doctor Who cookbook, a few small presses sent me very kind rejection letters, the indie author Chris-Rachael Oseland says of her first foray into publishing. The feedback from both cookbook and science fiction editors was that there was no market for geek cookbooks. To date, her self-published Dining with the Doctor: The Unauthorized Whovian Cookbook has sold more than 35,000 print copies. Oseland went on to publish a Hobbit-inspired cookbook (An Unexpected Cookbook) as well as one inspired by the Settlers of Catan board game (Wood for Sheep). Her books have been featured by Paste Magazine, Wired, Nerdist, and the Daily Dot. Kitchen Overlords Illustrated Geek Cookbook and its companion, Kitchen Overlords Colorable Compendium of Geek History, are her latest contributions to geek culture. What makes Oselands books unusual in self-publishing is that the majority of her sales are for print editions, with e-books making up just 20% of total sales. Looking at Kitchen Overlords Illustrated Geek Cookbook, its easy to understand why. The full-color hardcoverpacked with original illustrations of popular TV, books, and movies by artist Tom Gordonis a work of art. The food allergysensitive celebration of geek culture has proved popular with Oselands followers. (Its publication was successfully funded on Kickstarter to the tune of $16,760, which covered printing and shipping the book from China.) The title covers 120 years of geekdom in chronological order, and includes recipes for Deadpools Chimichangas, Siskos Speedy Gumbo from Deep Space 9, Babylon 5 Roopoo Balls, Spice-Stuffed Sandworm Bread from Dune, Captain Americas Breakfast S.H.I.E.L.D., and Super Mario Bros.inspired 1-Up Mushroom Pizza Rolls. Rather than bore nerds with yet another collection of nachos and cookies with recipe title puns, we give you dozens of unique recipes drawn from iconic aspects of your favorite fandoms, Oseland says. Each recipe is accompanied by Gordons original illustrations. It wasnt enough to have a string of step-by-step pictures like other illustrated cookbooks, Gordon says. There needed to be lots of entertaining visual nods to those stories and the characters in them. It was a crash course in caricature as he learned how to illustrate such characters as Jayne Cobb (as played by Adam Baldwin), Inigo Montoya (Mandy Patinkin), and Han Solo (Harrison Ford). He also had to familiarize himself with kitchen implements and cooking techniques before learning how to draw them. Oseland then published one illustrated recipe per week on her website, and after a year the duo self-published the collection. The $24.95 cookbook has since sold about 2,000 copies. An adult coloring book version was a natural next step for the Austin-based authorat least according to her fans. According to Nielsen BookScan, sales of adult coloring books reached 12 million units in 2015. More than 2,000 new titles were published in the category last year, up from 300 the year before. Despite their popularity, Oseland initially dismissed adult coloring books as a fad. But after posting a few coloring pages on her Kitchen Overlord website at the request of her fans, she found that the pages were more popular than her recipes. My post on Vintage Dune Coloring Pages for Nihilistic Children got over a quarter-million views, she says, making it her top post for December 2015. Readers who follow me on Facebook asked for coloring pages from the start, she says. Oseland and Gordon decided to launch the adult coloring book version of their geek cookbook. Kitchen Overlords Colorable Compendium of Geek History, published via CreateSpace in December, is priced at $13.99 and includes 110 coloring pages and new original art. This summer, Oseland plans to travel across the country to science fiction and fantasy conventions to sell both editions of the book and meet readers in person. Oseland provides many recipes for free on her website. A lot of folks really want to test a few recipes before committing to a $25 hardback, she says. Even if they never buy a cookbook, if they share that recipe on their social media, then that helps me spread name recognition and builds trust. Whats important is that you dont let the gatekeepers convince you that you dare not publish until youve created a perfect glistening diamond that will be admired for centuries to come, she says. Some of your books will be duds. Others will be short-lived artifacts of a specific era. Theres nothing wrong with that. Strap a harness to your inspirational narwhal and ride that crazy beast. Whether you are an indie author struggling to get discovered, a well-known traditionally published writer, or somewhere in between, writers block may sneak up on you once in a whilemaybe even more than once in a while. But what is writers block, anyway? Edmund Bergler, a well-known disciple of Sigmund Freud, first coined the term in New York City in 1947. He believed that writers block was one of the many manifestations of psychic masochism, which is the unconscious wish to defeat ones conscious aims, and to enjoy that self-constructed defeat. Why would a writer (or anyone else for that matter) want to do that? Because, according to Berglers theory, the persons subconscious is furious about having been denied enough milk and nurturing by his or her pre-Oedipal mother, so he or she, subconsciously, wants to recreate that starved feelingby becoming blocked. Bergler treated more than 40 blocked writers in the 1940s and 50s, and claimed a 100% success rate. He didnt think much of writers, though. He said that, for the most part, even when their writing was going well, writers were often entirely surrounded by neuroticism in private life. He did concede, however, that the megalomaniac pleasure of creation... produces a type of elation which cannot be compared with that experienced by other mortals. These days, writers block is often blamed on depression. Sometimes procrastination and perfectionism are considered the culprits. Whatever the cause, writers block has been around for a long time. Samuel Coleridge suffered from it, as did Joseph Conrad, Gustave Flaubert, Ernest Hemingway, Herman Melville, Leo Tolstoy, and Virginia Woolf. The big question is, regardless of where it came from, what can a writer do about it when it strikes? Opinions on this vary greatly. Heres how Hemingway tried to cope with it: Always stop while you are going good and dont think about it or worry about it until you start to write the next day. That way your subconscious will work on it all the time. But if you think about it consciously or worry about it you will kill it and your brain will be tired before you start. Norman Mailer expressed a similar opinion in The Spooky Art: Some Thoughts on Writing: Over the years, Ive found one rule.... A simple rule. If you tell yourself you are going to be at your desk tomorrow, you are by that declaration asking your unconscious to prepare the material. You are, in effect, contracting to pick up such valuables at a given time. Count on me, you are saying to a few forces below: I will be there to write. There are those writers in what I like to call the Just Do It school. The secret of getting ahead is getting started, Mark Twain wrote. The secret of getting started is breaking your complex, overwhelming tasks into small, manageable tasks, and then starting on the first one. Barbara Kingsolver puts it this way: I learned to produce whether I wanted to or not. It would be easy to say, Oh, I have writers block, oh, I have to wait for my muse. I dont. Chain that muse to your desk and get the job done. But my favorite way of thinking about writers block comes from the bestselling British fantasy writer Phillip Pullman: Writers block... a lot of howling nonsense would be avoided if, in every sentence containing the word writer, that word was taken out and the word plumber substituted; and the result examined for the sense it makes. Do plumbers get plumbers block? What would you think of a plumber who used that as an excuse not to do any work that day? The fact is that writing is hard work, and sometimes you dont want to do it, and you cant think of what to write next, and youre fed up with the whole damn business. Of course there will be days when the words are not flowing freely. What you do then is make it up. I like composer Dmitri Shostakovichs response to a student who complained that he couldnt find a theme for his second movement. Never mind the theme! he said. Just write the movement! That doesnt seem like a bad idea to me. Why not try to adopt the Just Do It attitude and see where it takes you? Betty Kelly Sargent is the founder and CEO of BookWorks. Readers Respond On April 15, the Supreme Court declined to take up the Authors Guild v. Google case, bringing to an end the ongoing digital-age copyright battle. One reader heartily agreed with SCOTUS: The courts are right! As a biographer of a person who died 50 years ago, I have found Google Books immensely helpfulfar more so than Wikipedia or Googles main search engineleading me to published sources that I would otherwise never have found. And when the quoted snippets suggest that the book contains further useful information, I buy it....Tim Johnson On Thursday, we reported Amazons latest expansion: into the education segment, by way of a deal struck with the New York City Department of Education. Through the agreement, Amazon will be selling e-books to New York City students through an internal marketplace. Amazon Kindle hardware is not part of the deal, and our readers are surprisingly in favor: Students have the choice of which reading device they wish to use, which makes this a fair-sounding deal at that level, although it will require kids to have e-readers of some kind, and the question is how affordable they will be for low-income families. The inexpensive ones are about $50, [Amazons] Fire, and there are probably others that are competitively priced.Joyce Dade From the Newsletters Tip Sheet Ten best true crime books picked by Laura Tillman, author of The Long Shadow of Small Ghosts (Scribner). Childrens Bookshelf Theres a new book coming in the Dragonology series, Dungeonology; we get the scoop. BookLife Report Three common mistakes indie authors make, and how to avoid them. PW Daily Get every days publishing news delivered to your inbox, for free. Sign up for PW Daily today. The most-read review on publishersweekly.com last week was The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen (Grove). Blogs Shelftalker How the authors of Sweet Pea & Friends: The Sheepover (Little, Brown) are giving back to the Vermont indie bookstores that helped make the book a success. Podcasts Week Ahead PW senior writer Andrew Albanese recaps the just-concluded Google Books case and looks ahead to the next phase of the battle: in the policy realm. More to Come The More to Come crew discusses the 2016 nominations for the Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, and the winners of the Lynd Ward Graphic Novel Prize and the Glaad Meda Award for best comic. LitCast Terry Roberts discusses his new novel, That Bright Land (Turner), a whodunit set against the background of a turbulent postCivil War South. Did you miss our webcast on the big Spanish-language titles publishing this spring? No problem: you can watch it on demand. PW Radio Richard Zacks discusses his new book, Chasing the Last Laugh: Mark Twains Raucous and Redemptive Round-the-World Comedy Tour (Doubleday). At its April 15 conference, the Supreme Court declined to take up Authors Guild v. Google, effectively ending one of the defining copyright battles of the digital age. The high courts denial lets stand a unanimous ruling by the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals that Googles scanning and indexing of out-of-print books from libraries is a fair use under copyright law. What does the end of the case mean? For the Authors Guild In practice, the end of the case has no real impact on Authors Guild members. Googles scanning has gone virtually uninterrupted since the suit was first filed in 2005, and despite dire predictions by some, the sky has not fallenin fact, no evidence was presented at any point in the case that Authors Guild members suffered any direct harm from Googles scanning. Its worth noting, too, as Pam Samuelson, law professor at University of CaliforniaBerkeley, and others have observed, that the vast majority of books scanned from libraries for Google Books are academic works, thus not written by the kind of authors whose interests are represented by the Authors Guild. And a significant percentage of those works are believed to be orphan worksthat is, works that have no readily identifiable copyright owners. So, what did the guild really lose? In addition to the significant cost of litigating this suit, the guild lost what it saw as a potential market. The Authors Guild believed that Google essentially deprived its members of the chance to license their works into an online search market. And the guilds guiding principle from the beginning was that any time a copy is made for any commercial purpose (even if that purpose is to build an index, or a better search engine), the author should be paid. U.S. copyright law, however, simply does not grant authors that kind of control over their works. And the courts discounted the idea that a licensing market for online search would ever emergeat least a market sizable enough to outweigh the benefit to society that Googles scanning offered. For a case that once held such importance for copyright law, it actually turned out to be pretty insignificant for authors, and for Google, explained James Grimmelmann, a law professor at the University of Maryland who has followed the case extensively from the beginning, including as a contributing editor for PW. The Authors Guild had this point of principle about what copyright stands for, and somehow they crossed that in their heads with the economic condition of authors today, and they held up Google as this egregious example of some larger trends in tech, and in copyright. But the principle at issue in this case, even if the guild had won, wasnt going to make a whit of difference to those trends. For Google For Google, the end of the case at least gives them peace of mind: their scanning program, as presently constructed, is legal. But at this point, with more than 20 million books scanned, the scanning is winding down, and most books now have digital editions that are opted in to Google Books. Still, for many, the question remains: What are Googles plans for these books? Some contend that Google got what it wanted out of the scanning projectlots of content that it has added to its search engine. But unless you believe that in todays content-rich digital world there is untapped demand for scanned copies of out-of-print books, the answer is not much. We dont have their numbers, but it is hard to imagine this program has been anything other than a huge money loser for them, Grimmelmann said. Just look at how neglected Google Books is in the Google properties at this point. It was never integrated into their other products. It looks like they never figured out how to handle Google Books after the settlement failed. Those suspicious of Google may still wonder what the company might eventually do with a corpus of scanned out-of-print booksand remember, Google does not sell ads against books scanned through the library program. But perhaps the most troubling answer to that question is: nothing. Because one has to wonder what good things might have happened if the two sides in this litigation had come together in a less adversarial way. For Copyright In a statement, Authors Guild officials called the Supreme Courts denial a colossal loss for authors and bemoaned the expansion of fair use in the digital age. Executive director Mary Rasenberger suggested that the courts in the Google case were blinded by the public benefit arguments. And Authors Guild president Roxana Robinson added that the Supreme Courts denial was further proof that were witnessing a vast redistribution of wealth from the creative sector to the tech sector. Others, however, including public advocacy group Public KnowIedge hailed the end of the litigation. The Supreme Courts decision to let the Second Circuits ruling stand reflects what we have long said, that fair use is a powerful and flexible doctrine that enables not only new works, but also innovative uses of existing works," said Raza Panjwani, Policy Counsel at Public Knowledge. "This denial will hopefully lead to new efforts to expand our access to culture and knowledge through digital formats. Jonathan Band, an attorney for the library community agrees. "I don't know if anyone else will create another search database for books," he told PW, "but others will create search databases for other sorts of materials, to the benefit of the public and the copyright owners." But the theme voiced by Robinsonthat the courts are enabling the tech sector to unfairly build its value off the backs of creatorshas become an animating principle in a copyright policy fight that is slowly beginning to take shape. And while the Google case may have ended in the courts, the copyright fight in the policy arena is likely just getting started. Last year, a congressional committee wrapped up a series of hearings on copyright reform, which included issues like digital first salethat is, the right to resell a legally owned copyrighted work, like one would a physical book or a record. The Copyright Office under Maria Pallante has also explored mass digitization issues, collective licensing schemes, as well as orphan works legislation. There is even talk about overhauling the Copyright Office for the digital age, which everyone agrees is necessary. And most recently, the Authors Guild was one of a number of organizations to file comments on updating the Digital Millennium Copyright Acts notice and takedown provision. And like the Internet itself, the copyright conversation is global. On April 10, at the International Publishers' Congress in London, Hachette CEO Arnaud Nourry assailed what he called vast exceptions to copyright law for fair use proposed by the European Commission, suggesting that Google was the player most likely to pose a clear and present danger to the publishing industry. Whats to stop them from defining themselves as a library and making all those books available for free? Nourry asked. As the battleground shifts, it's reasonable to question whether the guilds unsuccessful, decade-long legal campaign helped or hurt the guilds stance in pushing for copyright reform. In a statement, Authors Guild counsel Jan Constantine said the guilds commitment to the suit ensured that creators rights have remained at the heart of the conversation about the role of content in the digital age. Grimmelmann sees it differently. I think it hurts them, he said. The way they lost this case, by litigating this through to four resounding fair-use decisions, the last of which was written by Pierre Leval [considered the nations foremost jurist on fair use], its hard to imagine any way to lay down stronger bricks for fair use than that. Litigation Timeline: Authors Guild v. Google September, 2005: Copyright infringement suit filed by Authors Guild in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. October, 2005: Five major publishers, coordinated by the AAP, also file suit against Google. October, 2008: After months of talks, a Proposed Settlement Agreement is filed. November, 2009: As opposition to the settlement grows, an Amended Settlement Agreement is filed. March, 2011: Judge Denny Chin rejects Amended Settlement Agreement. September, 2011: Authors Guild files parallel suit against a coalition of Google's library scanning partners, the HathiTrust. December, 2011: Authors Representative Plaintiffs move for Class Certification in Google Case. May, 2012: Class Certification granted in SDNY. September, 2012: U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit stays proceedings, pending Googles appeal of Class Certification. October, 2012: Publishers drop their case against Google; One week later, Judge Harold Baer grants summary judgment to the HathiTrust, finding Google's scanning program is fair use. July, 2013: Second Circuit vacates Class Certification, remands to district court for consideration of the fair use issue. November, 2013: Judge Denny Chin grants summary judgment in favor of Google, finding fair use. June, 2014: Second Circuit unanimously affirms HathiTrust decision. January, 2015: Authors Guild drops case against HathiTrust. October, 2015: Second Circuit unanimously affirms judgment in Google case, finding fair use. December, 2015: AG files petition for writ of certiorari with U.S. Supreme Court. April, 2016: Supreme Court denies petition for writ of certiorari in Authors Guild v. Google, ending litigation. Digital Book-Related Developments Twitter launched in July 2006 GoodReads launched in December 2006 iPhone released in June 2007 EPub format released October 2007 Kindle launched November 2007 iPad released in April 2010 B&N releases Nook e-reader in June 2010 Amazon Kindle Fire tablet released in November 2011 E-book price-fixing lawsuit against Apple and five publishers filed by the DOJ in March 2012 Rodale Waters Ritzs Plant In a world-rights acquisition, Rodales Marisa Vigilante bought Stephen Ritzs The Power of a Plant. The book, which agent Lynn Johnston sold, is about a green curriculums positive impact on the students in the South Bronx high school where Ritz teaches. A green curriculum focuses on sustainability, and Ritz, who was featured in the Michael Pollan documentary In Defense of Food, shows in the book how the program improves everything from attendance to students personal health habits. Wilkess Vine to Two Dollar Radio Visual artist and musician J.D. Wilkes sold world rights to his debut novel, The Vine That Ate the South, to Eric Obenauf at Two Dollar Radio. Wilkes is the frontman for the rockabilly band the Legendary Shack Shakers, which has toured with the Black Keys and others. The novel, Obenauf said, is a mesmerizing fantasia that grapples with the contradictions of the contemporary American South while subversively considering how well we know our own family and friends. Vine is scheduled for April 2017. Berkley Nabs Torjussens Latest Danielle Perez at Berkley Publishing Group took U.S. and Canadian rights, in a two-book deal at auction, to Mary Torjussens Without a Trace. Kate Burke at Diane Banks Associates brokered the sale for Torjussen. The novel, Berkley said, is a psychological thriller about a woman named Hannah who, after her live-in boyfriend abruptly disappears with all of their belongings, realizes she is being watched. The publisher said the book asks, What has happened to him? And is Hannahs account the whole truth? Torjussen is from Liverpool, England, where the book is set. The novel is slated for April 2017. Gratton Takes Two to Tor In a two-book deal, Miriam Weinberg at Tor took world English rights to Tessa Grattons adult fantasy debut, The Queen of Innis Lear, along with a second book set in the same world. Laura Rennert at the Andrea Brown Literary Agency handled the sale. Rennert said Queen of Innis Lear, which is scheduled for winter 2018, follows three sisters sharing the same tragic ancestry and ambitious destiny who vie with each other and with the kings who will be their allies, enemies, and pawns, in a dangerous, sexy, deadly game for power. Rennert added that the book has the operatic feeling of Game of Thrones. Gratton is an established YA author whose titles include The Blood Keeper and the Gods of New Asgard series. Monkey Lands at HMH In a two-book deal, Tim Mudie and Bruce Nichols at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt preempted North American rights, for six figures, to The Fourth Monkey, a thriller by J.D. Barker. Barker, who self-published the indie bestseller Forsaken, was represented by Kristin Nelson at Nelson Literary Agency. Pitched by Nelson as Se7en meets Silence of the Lambs the novel opens with a notorious serial killer being hit by an oncoming bus. With the killer suddenly dead, the detective on his case has to scramble to unravel the maniacs clues in order to rescue the serial killers final victim. The book, which has also been acquired in major deals in the U.K., Germany, Spain, and Italy, is slated for a spring 2017 release from HMH. As farmers across Pennsylvania return to the fields to plant crops this spring, representatives from the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau and the Pennsylvania Departments of Agriculture, State Police and Transportation joined together Thursday to promote safe driving on rural roads as part of Rural Roads Safety Week (RRSW), which runs through today. Cumberland County dairy farmer Jason Nailor hosted the statewide event on behalf of Pennsylvania Farm Bureau (PFB). The purpose of Rural Roads Safety Week is to alert drivers that large, slow-moving farm vehicles and equipment are once again traveling on rural roads across the state. Were urging motorists to use caution when approaching farm vehicles and be patient if they are delayed, said Nailor, who milks 80 cows at J&S Dairy, which is located on Williams Grove Road in Mechanicsburg. Nailor also grows corn, soybeans, wheat and other grains on 200 acres of land. Farm Bureau officials said that while its timely to remind motorists to be cautious now that spring planting is underway, practicing safe driving habits on rural roads is important all year long. Drivers need to keep their guard up throughout the planting, growing and harvesting seasons by reducing speed and being more aware of other motorists, said Cumberland County farmer Mathew Meals, who represented Pennsylvania Farm Bureau. We believe accidents can be prevented if farmers and motorists look out for one another on country roads. If motorists hear our messages and follow safe driving tips, costly accidents can be avoided and lives can be saved. According to PennDOTs 2015 crash data, there were 100 crashes, including 65 injuries and two fatalities that involved farm equipment in Pennsylvania. Overall, PennDOT data indicates there were 53,340 crashes on rural roads statewide last year, with 781 fatalities in those crashes. Maintaining safe travel on our rural roads is an ongoing challenge that PennDOT takes seriously, said PennDOT Deputy Secretary of Highway Administration Scott Christie. Though crashes and fatalities involving farm equipment have decreased slightly, total crashes within rural areas have increased, indicating we still have work to do. We urge drivers to use caution, slow down when approaching large farm equipment, and avoid distractions or aggressive behavior. Farmers are legally allowed to operate farm equipment on Pennsylvania roads and they must display the Slow Moving Vehicle (SMV) Emblem, which is an orange colored triangle with a red border, on the rear of all vehicles or equipment that consistently travel at speeds of 25 mph or less. Pennsylvania Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding presented a proclamation from Governor Wolf declaring April 17-23 as Rural Roads Safety Week in Pennsylvania. Follett Corp.s acquisition of Baker & Taylor marks the end of B&Ts 188-year run as a standalone company. Although B&T had its faultsit was regularly dogged by complaints from small presses about slow payits purchase by Follett is seen by some publishers as the elimination of yet another distribution and wholesaler option. Coming on the heels of the closing of Partners Book Distributing and Ingrams purchase of the Perseus Books Group distribution division, independent publishers in particular have expressed some concerns about how they will be able to get their titles into stores and libraries. Perhaps with those concerns in mind, when the deal was announced last Monday, Follett said there are no plans to integrate B&T, which will remain based in Charlotte, N.C., and will continue to operate as before. George Coe, B&T CEO and president, will continue to head the company, reporting to Ray Griffith, president and CEO of Follett. A definite positive aspect of the deal is that Follett can support B&T with financial resources. Coe addressed that topic in a prepared statement: With Folletts commitment to education and strong financial ability to invest in Baker & Taylor, we expect to build on our long-term vision for content distribution and expand the flow of innovative products, programs, and services for all of our customers worldwide. Follett, with revenue of $2.6 billion, was more than twice the size of B&T (Follett said the combined Follett/B&T will have revenue of $3.6 billion) and is the countrys largest operator of college stores, with more than 1,200 outlets (Barnes & Noble Education operates about 750 college stores). In the pre-k market, Follett distributes new and used books, reference materials, digital resources, e-books, and audiovisual materials. It also provides integrated educational technology that helps its customers manage physical and digital assets. The company has been on a bit of an acquisition spree. Earlier this year it bought e-commerce service and software developer Woodys Books, whose assets include BookVolume, an online sourcing and buying tool for booksellers aimed at the higher education campus market. Last June, in a much more significant deal, it added more than 200 college stores with its purchase of Nebraska Book Companys retail division. Follett has not been without its own issues, however, most notably laying off 570 people in its college stores in 2013, in what it said was a response to business trends. While Follett has been acquiring companies, B&T, which had been owned by the private equity firm Castle Harlan since 2006, had been selling. In February 2015 it sold its publishing and warehouse groups to Readerlink and its academic library business, YBP, to EBSCO. At the time of the divestiture, David Cully, president of retail and executive v-p of merchandising at B&T, said the sale would allow B&T to focus its financial and human resources on its core areas in the library market. The Follett purchase also includes Bookmasters, the Ashland, Ohio, company that specializes in distributing and printing for independent publishers and authors. Castle Harlan bought Bookmasters in 2013 and the company formed a strategic partnership with B&T. Henry Holt & Company has undergone a number of incarnations since it was formed in 1866, when Henry Holt partnered with Frederic Leypoldt to publish books under the name Leypoldt & Holt. For one thing, it has had a number of different names, owners, and mission. The Henry Holt that exists today began to take shape in 1985, when the Holtzbrinck Publishing Group acquired the trade operation of Holt, Rinehart and Winston, while the textbook business was sold to Harcourt Brace Jovanovich. From the very beginning, Holt published a mix of trade books and textbooks, and in the 1870s it added childrens books to its mix. By 1876, Holt had published a total of more than 300 titles. In 1915, the company released the first work by an author who would be key to its identity in the early part of the 20th century: Robert Frost. By the 1930s, Frost had become a mainstay of the Holt list, and between 1924 and 1943 four of his titles won Pulitzer Prizes for poetry: New Hampshire (1924), Collected Poems (1931), A Further Range (1937), and A Witness Tree (1943). During that period, Holt poet Mark Van Doren also took home a Pulitzer for poetry, winning in 1940 for Collected Poems. While poetry was an important part of the Holt list, the company continued to branch out in different areas, particularly after WWII. In 1946, Texas oilman Clint Murchison Jr. became the majority shareholder in the company, and with his backing, the company expanded both its textbook and childrens offerings throughout the 1940s. The next milestone in the companys history came in 1960, when Holt merged with Rinehart & Co. and John C. Winston Company to create Holt, Rinehart and Winston. At the time of the deal, PW reported that total sales of the combined company were $35 million, with Holt generating about $23 million of that total. Seven years after the merger, HRW was one of several publishers bought by the technology leaders of the time, who were looking to combine technology and textbooks to create thinking machines. In the case of HRW, which had sales of $70 million in 1966, CBS was the buyer. The company remained part of CBS until 1985, when the companys educational publishing operations were sold to Harcourt Brace Jovanovich (which got the HRW name), and Holtzbrinck bought the trade business, which it operates as Henry Holt & Company. Becoming part of Holtzbrinck (which rebranded itself as Macmillan Publishing in the U.S.) did not mean that Holt was through evolving. Metropolitan Books, for example, was formed in 1996. The most significant change in creating the Holt of 2016 came in 2008, when Macmillan formed the Macmillan Childrens Publishing Group, which meant moving Holts childrens divisionHenry Holt Books for Young Readersinto the newly formed MCPG and leaving Holt adult in a group that now includes Farrar, Straus and Giroux, St. Martins Press, and Flatiron Books. It was around that same time that Macmillan CEO John Sargent was looking for someone to come in and give Holts adult trade operation a jolt. When Steve Rubin, president and publisher of Doubleday, resigned from Doubledays parent company Random House, Sargent knew he had his man. Sargent said in hiring Rubin he was looking for someone with a proven track record, great contacts, and strong instincts to help Holt raise its profile and better compete in a changing market. Rubin has not disappointed Sargent since he became president and publisher of Holt in 2009. During his tenure, Holt has been consistently profitable, and in some years very profitable, Sargent said. In an interview in his ninth-floor office in the familiar prow of the Flatiron Building, Rubin said he is very much aware of the Holt legacy as he works to maintain a house that has kept its focus on quality over quantity and views its relationships with authors as true partnerships. We are enormously proud of our publishing program and the books we publish, Rubin said. The editorial vision is very straightforward and has been pretty consistent over the years: publish books that matter, books that have a voice, books that entertain. Overall, we certainly keep a critical eye out for serious works, but we also want to reach a popular audience, and that keeps our list highly flexible. Rubin said the publishing philosophy at Holt can be seen in two of its biggest authors: Fox News anchor and bestselling author Bill OReilly, and two-time Booker Prizewinner Dame Hilary Mantel. Rubin had published OReilly at Doubleday; after he left, OReilly moved to HarperCollins for one book. Meeting Rubin at a party, OReilly brought up the idea of a series of popular history books, and Rubin was hooked. Bill is a very strategic guy. He had a clear vision for what he wanted to do, and that vision has come true, Rubin said. Beginning with Killing Lincoln, the Killing series has more than 14.5 million copies in print worldwide, and the sixth volume in the line, Killing the Rising Sun: How America Vanquished World War II Japan, will be released on September 13. For his part, OReilly has appreciated Rubins support. Some publishers have little vision and no spinenot Steve Rubin, OReilly said. From the beginning, with Killing Lincoln, Steve saw that history can be presented in an entertaining way. No matter who the author is, however, the Holt team is able to devote lots of attention to each hardcover it publishes. It has what may be one of the highest employee-to-books-published ratio in the industry: with a staff of about 40, the Holt adult group releases between 50 and 60 titles annually. That ratio, Rubin believes, gives Holt a competitive advantage. We stay very focused on what we are doing and can change something quickly. Rubin said he is most happy about the recent success of Holt because of the dedication of its staff, many of whom have been at Holt for years. No one has been there longer than Mimi Ross, director of copyrights and permissions, who has been with the house for 50 years. Rubin also values the team approach at Macmillan. It is the best place Ive ever worked, he said. That team spirit extends to the Holt childrens group as well. Despite being a separate division, Henry Holt for Young Readers has a really nice relationship with the adult group, according to Laura Godwin, v-p and publisher of the division. She pointed to the number of authors the childrens and adult group shareBill OReilly, Rick Atkinson, Charles Shields, and Louis Bayardas evidence of that collaborative effort. But the childrens group has its own tradition to uphold. Its first Newbery Medal was in 1933, when Elizabeth Foreman Lewis took home the honor for Young Fu of the Upper Yangtze. Between 1964 and 1968, Holt published one book annually in the Chronicles of Prydain series by Lloyd Alexander. The second book in the series earned a Newbery Honor in 1966, and the final one won the 1969 Newbery Medal. Godwin believes the series has influenced modern-day authors of childrens fantasy and noted that discussions are underway about making the series into a movie. The publishers all-time top seller is Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do You See? written by Bill Martin Jr. and illustrated by Eric Carle. Next year will mark the 50th anniversary of the title, which still sells in big numbers. The Brown Bear franchise (there are four other titles) has 35 million copies in print worldwide and the series is part of the Holt legacy. We have a very deep backlist, Godwin said. The group publishes 80 to 90 titles annually, and Godwin described the program as broad-based and eclectic. In fact, the division has adopted the name of Sorche Nic Leodhass 1966 Caldecott Medalwinner as its unofficial motto: always room for one more. Henry Holt Company Names Leypoldt & Holt 18661871 Holt & Williams 18711873 Henry Holt & Company 18731960 Holt, Rinehart and Winston 19601985 Henry Holt & Company 1985present Major Figures in Holts History Henry Holt founds the company in 1866 and stays active until his death in 1926. Henry Holt Jr. and Elliot Holt take control of the publisher after their fathers death and incorporate the company. Alfred Harcourt and Donald Brace join Holt in 1904 and leave in 1919 to start Harcourt Brace. Robert Frosts first work is published by Holt in 1915, and the poet becomes a mainstay of the Holt list. Frederick Jackson Turner, winner of the 1933 Pulitzer Prize for History for The Significance of Sections in American History. Elizabeth Foreman Lewis, winner of the 1933 Newbery Medal for Young Fu of the Upper Yangtze. Clint Murchison Jr. becomes Holts largest stockholder in 1946. Norman Mailer, whose The Naked and the Dead is released by Holt in 1948. Edward T. Rigg becomes Holt president in 1949 and oversees its merger with Rinehart & Co. and John C. Winston Company in 1960; he is named chairman of the combined company. Sorche Nic Leodhas, winner of the 1966 Caldecott Medal for Always Room for One More. Evaline Ness, winner of the 1967 Caldecott Medal for Sam, Bangs and Moonshine. Louise Erdrichs Love Medicine, winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction in 1984. Kimberly Willis Holt, winner of the 1999 National Book Award for Young Peoples Literature for Zachary Beaver Came to Town. Robert Olen Butler, whose A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain wins the Pulitzer for Fiction in 1993. David Levering Lewis wins the 1994 Pulitzer for W.E.B. Du Bois: Biography of a Race; Lewis wins his second Pulitzer in 2001 for the second volume of his Du Bois biography, The Fight for Equality and the American Century. Rick Atkinson takes the Pulitzer for History for An Army at Dawn in 2003. Caroline Elkins receives the 2006 Pulitzer in General Nonfiction for Imperial Reckoning. Elizabeth Kolbert, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction for The Sixth Extinction in 2015. Constantine Leaving Authors Guild Jan Constantine, who has served as legal counsel for the Authors Guild since October 2005, will step down at the end of the month. The guild has yet to name her successor. Globe Pequot To Launch Childrens Imprint Muddy Boots, an imprint designed to help kids ages 12 and under engage more with the outdoors, will launch this summer. Partners Hopes To Move Distribution Clients To Midpoint The distributor has offered clients the option to work with Midpoint Trade Sales, now that PPG has begun closing down its business. Only publishers that reach an agreement with Midpoint will transition to them. Amazon Lands Deal with N.Y.C. Schools Amazon has struck a deal with the New York City public school district, the countrys largest, to provide its students with e-books. The deal is reportedly worth $30 million and will cover more than one million students. ROCK ISLAND ARSENAL -- On a day when mild, sunny weather finally made an appearance in the Midwest, Rock Island Arsenal hosted an event designed to raise awareness of health and safety issues related to warm weather months. The first RIA Spring/Summer Safety and Wellness Awareness Day was held April 14. The event was coordinated by the RIA Community Health Promotion Council, a forum of senior leaders, subject matter experts and community representatives formed to discuss health issues and develop actions intended to improve the overall health of RIA personnel and their families. RIA Spring/Summer Safety and Wellness Awareness Day featured displays on topics such as heath injury prevention; severe weather preparedness; motorcycle safety; prevention of sexual harassment and assault; domestic violence prevention; Master Resiliency Training; and local Red Cross services. The Rock Island District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers provided information and handouts on water safety, and the local U.S. Coast Guard Marine Safety Detachment displayed a rescue boat. Hands-on demonstrations included fire-extinguisher training provided by the RIA Fire Department, and the Simulated Impaired Driving Experience, a go-cart that mimics the effects of driving under the influence through a hand-held controller. Find a great selection of commercial real estate, manufactured homes, timeshares and more for Sale Buy real estate. Find a great selection of commercial real estate, manufactured homes, timeshares and more for Sale in US and Canada. Search Real Estate Dean McDermott re-proposed to wife Tori Spelling during a recent family trip to Paris. ADVERTISEMENT The 49-year-old actor surprised the 42-year-old actress by proposing with an antique ring on the terrace of Cafe de L'Homme with their four children, Liam, Stella, Hattie and Finn, present. "Dean planned it with the owners of Cafe de L'Homme overlooking the Eiffel Tower and all of Paris to have the terrace all reserved and private for us," Spelling revealed. "The four kids and I were so surprised and so happy." "It's been a rough few years and this was a perfect family moment for unity and love!" she added before joking, "No date for the wedding is set yet. But our 10-year anniversary will take place in May." McDermott and Spelling got engaged in December 2005 and married in May 2006. The actor proposed again on the one-year anniversary of their engagement, and the pair also renewed their vows after their fourth wedding anniversary. The "rough few years" Spelling spoke of refer to McDermott's cheating scandal. The actor admitted to being unfaithful after rumors surfaced in 2014, and the former "Tori & Dean" reality show stars chose to document the fallout of the affair on Lifetime's "True Tori" reality series. FOLLOW REALITY TV WORLD ON THE ALL-NEW GOOGLE NEWS! Reality TV World is now available on the all-new Google News app and website. Click here to visit our Google News page, and then click FOLLOW to add us as a news source! "We had to deconstruct our relationship. We really did," Spelling said on the "Today" show in March. "I was like, 'You know what? I love this man. I'm going to make this work.' We started at ground zero and built it back up." McDermott plays Iain Vaughn on Canadian series "Slasher" and also hosts "Chopped Canada." Spelling is known for portraying Donna Martin on "Beverly Hills, 90210" and presently voices Pirate Princess on "Jake and the Never Land Pirates." April 20, or 4/20, is known as National Weed Day in popular culture, in which individuals gather to celebrate by smoke and celebrate marijuana. Athens C.A.R.E. Project, a subset of the Georgia C.A.R.E. Project, used the day to campaign for the decriminalization and legalization of the drug. University of Georgia police responded to a call on Friday around 10 a.m. about a suspicious person in a residence hall, according to an email SHARE Business community hosts candidates' forum The Redding Chamber of Commerce is partnering with three other business advocacy groups to host a Shasta County supervisor candidates' forum May 4 at the Red Lion Hotel on Hilltop Drive. The event is co-sponsored by the Shasta Association of Realtors, Shasta Builders' Exchange and Shasta Voices. There will be a reception at 5:30 p.m. followed by introductions and the forum at 6 p.m. The event is scheduled to go until 8:30 p.m. The forum is free and open to the public. There are nine candidates running. The election is June 7. Massage school to open in Redding The National Holistic Institute of Massage will soon open n Redding. The school will share space with Institute of Technology at 1755 Hilltop Drive. A 2,000-square-foot space is being constructed and classes are scheduled to start May 19. This will be the National Holistic Institute of Massage's eighth campus in California. The school also has plans to open a location in Clovis near Fresno. Reporter David Benda can be reached at 225-8219 or at david.benda@redding.com. Mark Farrell, left, and Malia Cohen, right, listen as Scott Wiener, foreground, speaks during a San Francisco Board of Supervisors meeting at City Hall in San Francisco, Tuesday, April 5, 2016. San Francisco has approved a measure making it the first place in the nation to require businesses to provide fully paid leave for new parents. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu) SHARE By JANIE HAR, Associated Press SAN FRANCISCO (AP) In approving a novel paid parental leave policy, San Francisco officials buttressed their efforts to make life a little more affordable for workers who eke out a living in one of the most expensive cities in the country. Mayor Ed Lee is expected to sign legislation approved Tuesday by the Board of Supervisors that requires employers to provide fully paid six-week leaves for new mothers and fathers. Currently, the state of California pays about 55 percent of a worker's salary when they take leave, which advocates say is not enough for working families. The San Francisco measure requires employers with at least 20 employees to make up the rest. "The vast majority of workers in this country have little or no access to paid parental leave, and that needs to change," Supervisor Scott Wiener, who pushed the measure, said at a news conference before the vote. Paid parental leave is the latest proposal to come from a city that has led the country on employee protections even as the cost of living soars. The median rental price in the five-county San Francisco metropolitan area was $3,350 in February, according to real estate data firm Zillow, and the median price for a home tops $1 million. For example, San Francisco approved a $15 hourly minimum wage for workers in 2014, a mandate that California Gov. Jerry Brown signed into law Monday for the entire state. In 2007, San Francisco officials required businesses to set aside money to be used toward employee health care, long before the federal government approved the Affordable Care Act. And in 2006, San Francisco voters approved paid sick leave, the first in the country to require the benefit. Some larger employers, such as Twitter and Netflix, already offer generous benefits for their workers but owners of small businesses say they don't have such deep pockets. "These are issues that need to be taken at the state level, and the state now is showing some appetite for dealing with these issues," said Mark Dwight of Rickshaw Bagworks, a company of 30 employees that makes custom work bags in San Francisco. But in the meantime, he said, "let's make it a level playing field, for everyone." Attorney Jason Geller, managing partner of Fisher & Phillips San Francisco employment law office, said he expects retailers to pass on the costs to consumers who can and will pay higher prices in a bid to make the city more equitable. "I am a business person and a resident of San Francisco, and I know that if they can pass on that expense, people will pay it," he said. "We know that consumers in San Francisco will pay higher prices." Paid leave has become a topic in the presidential campaign as companies, especially in Silicon Valley, start offering better benefits. Twitter announced Tuesday that it would offer up to 20 weeks of fully paid leave for new parents in the U.S., starting May 1. The U.S. lags other many countries in providing parental leave and is the only major industrialized nation that doesn't require paid leave. Kim Turner, a nonprofit attorney who took advantage of the state parental leave program, says full paid leave like San Francisco's would have been better. "I do think employers should be pitching in more," she said. "I think we all need more help. It's just so hard to make ends meet with little ones in the house." The regulation will be phased in, starting with businesses that employ 50 workers in January 2017. Businesses with 35 to 49 workers must comply starting in July 2017, and businesses with 20 to 34 workers have until January 2018. ___ AP writer Terence Chea contributed to this report. Record Searchlight file photo Quentin Bealer is shown being escorted to Tehama County Superior Court for one of his many court appearances. SHARE By Jim Schultz of the Redding Record Searchlight A jury is likely to selected next week in the trial of a Red Bluff man accused of strangling a 14-year-old Red Bluff girl in 2013. Defense attorney Shon Northam, who represents 42-year-old murder defendant Quentin Bealer, said Friday he expects a jury will be selected Tuesday morning in Sacramento Superior Court. Since jury selection began earlier this week, Northam said more than 250 prospective jurors have been questioned with about 80 left remaining in the jury pool. Once the jury is selected, attorneys will then deliver opening statements, followed by witness testimony and evidence. The trial is expected to take about five weeks. Bealer 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 facedown in a creek bed 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 testified during the Red Bluff man's preliminary hearing. Bealer was arrested March 2, 2013, after he turned himself in to police after 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. Bealer's trial has been moved 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. Jason Harsin SHARE Defendant will get a new attorney A Palo Cedro man ordered earlier this week to stand trial for second-degree murder in connection with a fatal traffic wreck will be getting a new defense attorney, along with a trial date, early next month. Jason Scott Harsin, 37, cannot be represented by the Shasta County Public Defender's Office due to a legal conflict, it was announced Friday during a court hearing. As such, Harsin is due back in Shasta County Superior Court on May 5 for the appointment of a contracted defense attorney to represent him. He is also expected to get a trial date. Harsin, who remains in Shasta County Jail in lieu of $1 million bail, is accused of driving drunk on Oct. 24, 2014, in a crash on Highway 44 near Millville Plains that killed Richard Lee Bates, 68, of Shingletown. Woman confronts theft suspects Sheriff's deputies arrested two men Friday and were continuing to search for a third for allegedly breaking into the car of a woman who had gone jogging and stealing her wallet containing numerous debit and credit cards. Deputies said the woman called 911 around 9:30 a.m. to report seeing three men break into her parked car near the intersection of Lower Springs Road and Swasey Drive. She told deputies she had parked her locked car there to go jogging. While returning, she heard her car alarm go off and confronted the three men, who quickly left in a pickup, deputies said. As deputies responded to her call, the woman learned one of her credit cards had been used at Walmart in Anderson. A deputy found the pickup at Walmart and took one of the three suspects, identified as Joshua White, 40, into custody. A second suspect, identified as Jacob James, 35, was found at a nearby convenience store and arrested, authorities said. A third suspect, Andrew McKinley, 33, who has narcotics-related warrants out for his arrest, is still being sought, authorities said. Deputies were able to recover most of the woman's belongings, but said further charges may be sought against the men after unrelated items reportedly stolen in Redding were found in the men's pickup. State relaxes ban on Dungeness crab A health advisory about Dungeness crabs along part of the North Coast has been lifted, the California Department of Public Health reported Friday. The advisory was for the North Coast in and south of the jetty of Humboldt Bay, where Eureka is located. The department previously lifted an advisory about a month ago for the crab caught south of the Humboldt County line. A ban on harvesting Dungeness crab north of Humboldt Bay's north jetty remains in effect due to high levels of domoic acid found in crabs that were tested there. Two arrests made in probation checks A 31-year-old Redding man staying at a Hilltop Drive motel was arrested Friday on suspicion of possessing methamphetamine and brass knuckles during a probation search, Redding police announced. Officers were conducting checks for known probationers and drug addicts living in motels along Hilltop Drive. They said they arrested Brandon Michael Johnson after he was found to be in possession of needles, syringes and methamphetamine, which are misdemeanors. He was also arrested on suspicion of possession of a pair of metal knuckles, a felony, and for felony violation of probation, police said. He was booked into Shasta County Jail. Police said Johnson was arrested six times in 2015 and once in January at the Redding Inn for possession of falsified checks and violation of probation, both felonies. Johnson failed to appear in court on those charges and was arrested March 24 on a warrant for failing to appear. Johnson was arrested again April 1 on suspicion of possessing methamphetamine and another probation violation, police said, adding he was again arrested April 7 on suspicion of driving without a license, possession of stolen property and another violation of probation. Meanwhile, police said Friday they cited and released Yvonne Adams, 53, who they said was found to be in possession of a methamphetamine smoking pipe, a misdemeanor. 92-year-old man discovers intruder Redding police want to identify a man who allegedly broke into a downtown Redding home but fled when its 92-year-old owner stumbled upon him Friday. The burglary suspect allegedly knocked over Walter Proebstel as he fled the man's home on 11th Street. Police say Proebstel had stopped by his home and discovered the suspect, who ran when he was confronted, officers say. In fleeing, the man knocked Proebstel over, though he didn't suffer any injuries. Police said they searched the area, but couldn't find the suspect. They described him as a thin, white man who is 6-feet, 2-inches. He was wearing dark clothing and a hooded sweatshirt. Anyone with information is asked to call 225-4200 or 243-2319. Pedestrian hit in crosswalk A 30-year-old man suffered minor injuries after being struck by a vehicle at the intersection of Placer and West streets about 11:15 a.m. Friday, Redding police said. Police said Jacob Tarango of Redding was using the crosswalk to walk south across Placer Street and was struck by a 2014 Toyota Prius driven by Linda Stewart, 63, of Redding, who was traveling east on Placer Street approaching the intersection of West Street. Stewart did not see Tarango and struck him with her vehicle while he was in the crosswalk, Redding police said. Tarango suffered minor injuries and was taken to a hospital. Traffic going east on Placer Street was temporarily shut down for emergency personnel. Alcohol and drugs were not a factor in the collision, according to Redding police. River cleanup set for Sunday Volunteers will head out on boats and on foot Sunday morning to help clean up along the Sacramento River in Redding. The California Department of Fish and Wildlife, Trout Unlimited and The Fly Shop will organize the cleanup effort from 9 a.m. to noon Sunday. Volunteers should meet at the boat ramp at 725 Auditorium Drive. People will be divided into groups that will either walk along the river or ride in boats. Volunteers should bring a water bottle and gloves. Trash bags, water and cleanup gear will be provided. For more information, email ssedillo@tu.org or call 408-718-9897. Photo by Sean Longoria The Redding Inn's owners and Shasta County reached a settlement Friday that allows the motel to stay open, but only if the owners abide by a detailed set of "serious compliance measures." SHARE By Jenny Espino of the Redding Record Searchlight The Redding Inn may be required to pay a $10,000 penalty that had been suspended when it settled a lawsuit last month deeming the downtown motel a "public nuisance." The Shasta County District Attorney's Office said it is preparing to review early next week the police reports generated in connection to two separate drug arrests that occurred on April 14 and last Tuesday at the motel. Lucky Jesrani, a senior deputy district attorney, who spoke from Los Angeles on Thursday, said from what he has heard about the case, the motel may be in violation of the rules of the March 16 settlement. But it's the police reports that will determine the appropriate course of action, he said. "The judge will decide whether there was a violation," he said. Redding's neighborhood police unit made six arrests last week and returned to the same room this week and arrested 13. Among the arrests last Tuesday were three people who had been booked the week before and again were not paying rent on the room. In both cases, drugs and heroin were seized. The conditions agreed to by Maninderjit Singh Bath of GNDJ Inc., the Pine Street motel's parent company, require that guests check in before they occupy any of the rooms and prohibit unregistered visitors at nighttime. Among other terms, the motel must have security guards, surveillance cameras, a do-not-rent list and maintenance of guest registration logs. Guests must pay with credit cards and cannot rent rooms on an hourly basis. The District Attorney's Office announced $35,000 in fines against the motel when the suit was settled. Violation of the same rules could result in the court ordering the motel to pay $10,000 that was suspended. Robert West, an attorney who represents the Redding Inn, did not immediately return a call for comment on Friday. Jesrani said the motel could face other penalties. He said his office would check other legal avenues, though he did not elaborate on what those could be. Drivers parade up and down Hilltop Drive on Friday evening during the annual Kool April Nites Cruise. SHARE Jayden Forman, 11, and her father, Stacy Forman, both of Redding, watch the Cruise along Hilltop Drive on Friday evening. Greg Barnette/Record Searchlight Michael Jacobs, 5, of Medford, Ore., finishes his cotton candy while watching the vintage and classic cars pass by on Hilltop Drive during the Friday evening Cruise. By Joe Szydlowski of the Redding Record Searchlight Despite the stormy forecast, rain didn't put the brakes on California's biggest hot rod parade north of Sacramento on Friday evening. Instead, plenty of classic cars showed up for Redding's annual Kool April Nites Cruise in the Hilltop and Dana drives area and plenty of people turned out to watch. Bill Walker, 66, brought his 1972 Chevrolet Chevelle super sport convertible 150 miles down from Malin, Oregon, to the Cruise. A friend and his son-in-law also brought hot rods to Redding for Kool April Nites. Walker said he put the convertible's top up, but remained concerned about the rain's possible effects on the blue-with-white-stripe paint job. But for the most part, little more than a drizzle fell along the route during the annual Cruise. When it did, Jason Dean, 31, of Vacaville, pulled underneath the Chevron gas station's canopy to wipe down his orange 1969 Chevrolet Nova, which also had two white racing stripes. He worried the rain would splash dirt and grime onto his recently redone car. He'd only finished restoring it a few months ago after buying it around a year or so ago, he said. "It was just a shell," he said. The Nova appealed to him because it's rather rare among enthusiasts. "You don't see too many," he said. "Everybody has the Chevelles." Working on cars with his father got him into hot rods, and he made his first trip to Kool April Nites. "I love it so far," he said. While it was Dean's first Kool April Nites, another motorist, Yvonne Westberg, 78, said she'd been to the first Kool April Nights back in 1989. Sitting in a hot pink 1940 Ford Business Coupe she completely restored, she said 27 years ago she'd come up with her husband in his 1941 Chevrolet. That year, the Cruise had numbered over a hundred cars far fewer than the 1,500 to 1,800 it usually attracts. The rain hadn't worried her. She said any time she takes the car to a show, she drives it, including the trip to Redding from her Napa Valley home. She's kept coming back for the ambiance. "The best part? Making so many people happy," she said. SHARE By Brian Bennett, Tribune Washington Bureau WASHINGTON When Gul Rahman was taken to the salt pit, a then-secret CIA prison in Afghanistan, he was given a psychological evaluation by CIA contractor Bruce Jessen. Jessen wanted to determine which CIA enhanced interrogation techniques should be used on him, a Senate intelligence panel report later concluded. Over the next two weeks, the elderly Afghan farmer was forced to stay awake, subjected to total darkness and loud noises, was badly beaten and was dragged naked and hooded over dirt floors. On Nov. 20, 2002, guards found him dead from hypothermia, dehydration, immobility and lack of food. The CIA would later determine that Rahmans detention was a case of mistaken identity. Jessen and another former CIA contractor, James E. Mitchell, will face a federal court hearing Friday in Spokane, Wash., in a lawsuit that could shine a light onto one of the CIAs darkest chapters, its use of torture. The Justice Department hasnt tried to block the suit on security grounds, as it has in previous cases. Between 2002 to 2008, harsh interrogation techniques developed and supervised by Jessen and Mitchell, both former Air Force psychologists, were used against 39 captives in CIA efforts to collect intelligence about al-Qaida operations and future attacks. In the suit, lawyers representing Rahmans family and two other former CIA detainees allege that the psychologists promoted and taught torture tactics to the CIA based on 1960s experiments involving dogs and an unproven theory called learned helplessness. In 2014, the Senate Intelligence Committee released its so-called torture report, with gruesome details of how CIA officers abused detainees with waterboarding, beatings, slamming against walls and prolonged sleep deprivation. The panel concluded that the CIA program violated the law and failed to disrupt any terrorist plots. The CIA disputed those findings, and said the investigation was flawed. It also apparently opened the door for a lawsuit against the designers of the program. On Friday, U.S. District Court Senior Judge Justin L. Quackenbush will consider Mitchell and Jessens motion to dismiss the lawsuit on grounds that they were working under direction of the government and their liability for any harm done in the interrogations is a political question for the White House and Congress to decide. Quackenbush also will consider how much information the parties will be able to request from the government. If he allows the case to proceed, for the first time people who were involved in implementing and designing the CIAs torture program will be compelled to answer for their conduct in federal court, said Jameel Jaffer, who is representing the plaintiffs. That is literally unprecedented. President Barack Obama banned torture, waterboarding and other enhanced interrogation techniques when he took office in 2009. In 2012, then-Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. said that no CIA officers involved in the interrogations would be prosecuted. The question of how far the CIA should go has come up in the presidential campaign. Republican front-runner Donald Trump has campaigned on bringing back waterboarding and other harsh interrogation tactics. In December, he said the U.S. should target the families of terrorism suspects. But CIA Director John Brennan, who was a senior CIA official when waterboarding was used, said this month that he would not carry out a similar order in the future. I will not agree to carry out some of these tactics and techniques Ive heard bandied about, because this institution needs to endure, Brennan told NBC News. Absolutely, I would not agree to having any CIA officer carrying out waterboarding again. While in the Air Force, Mitchell and Jessen studied how torture had affected U.S. servicemen captured in the Korean and Vietnam wars. They then helped train U.S. airmen to resist and survive if captured by groups that do not adhere to the Geneva Convention ban on torture. The CIA hired them in 2002 to design ways to persuade detainees to disclose information. The agency ultimately paid $81 million to the company they created to design and run interrogations at the CIAs black sites, and then to evaluate the effectiveness of their methods. The two men oversaw the interrogation of the self-proclaimed architect of the Sept. 11 attacks, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who was waterboarded 183 times, according to the Senate report. Jessen and Mitchells actions amount to war crimes and non-consensual human experimentation in violation of U.S. law, the lawsuit states. Lawyers for Rahmans estate as well as two other detainees, Mohammed Ahmed Ben Soud and Suleiman Abdullah Salim, want Jessen and Mitchell to pay compensatory damages of more than $75,000, punitive damages and attorneys fees. Ben Soud, a Libyan, was arrested in Peshawar, Pakistan, on April 3, 2003. He was held in secret CIA prisons for more than a year and subjected to aggressive interrogations, including being locked in a 3-foot-by-3-foot box, the lawsuit states. He was sent back to Libya in 2004 and imprisoned there until 2011. He now lives in the Libyan city of Misurata and continues to suffer deep psychological harm, the suit says. Salim, a Tanzanian, says he was abducted in March 2003 in Somalia and sent to the CIAs salt pit. According to the lawsuit, he was sodomized, chained to the wall for days, fed bread soaked in water, and held in solitary confinement for 14 months. He was released in 2008 and now lives in Zanzibar, Tanzania. 2016 Tribune Co. Visit Tribune Co. at www.latimes.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. We'll likely see fights this fall over taxes, marijuana, education, water and possibly campaign donations. But if Gov. Jerry Brown's plan to reduce prison populations even further by easing parole standards reaches the ballot, the biggest battle might be over crime. A major dispute already rages around the state over whether the combination of Brown's prison realignment program and the 2014 Proposition 47 easing of crime standards has produced a large increase in criminal conduct. Realignment, forced on Brown by federal courts, put tens of thousands of prisoners back on the streets, subject only to parole, to cut the prison populace to humane levels. Prop. 47 reduced nonviolent felonies like drug possession and thefts under $950 to misdemeanors, effectively leaving free almost anyone committing those crimes. One result seen this spring in an affluent Los Angeles suburb: A squatter with two prior felony convictions lived for weeks in a van parked behind a temporarily vacant house while he was on parole for a third, lesser offense. He was eventually evicted and arrested on suspicion of a parole violation. This repeat felon was not even held overnight. He returned to the backyard early the next morning, not even subject to arraignment for his latest brush with the law. "That's just the state of the justice system these days," said a detective on the eviction detail. "It's essentially a revolving door." Chances are it will become an even faster one if Brown succeeds with his proposal to end the firm determinate sentencing system he helped set up during his first turn as governor in the 1970s. Brown says he will spend a good chunk of the $24 million in campaign funds he has on hand to undo his earlier action. The big question raised by his initiative campaign: Does the current revolving door for most crimes create increased danger? One corollary question: Do Californians pay for the many millions in prison cost savings with a reduction in citizen safety? A report presented to Orange County supervisors the other day claimed a fourth of the 8,000 felons so far released into that county by realignment have been convicted of another crime in the year after their release. Just over a third offended again within two years. Those rates, the report said, were about identical to prior recidivism rates, meaning mass prisoner releases did not change crime much in that county. "Is California more dangerous as a result of realignment?" asked UC Irvine Professor Charis Kubrin, co-editor of the study. "The answer is no." But preliminary data released by the FBI about the same time indicate crime increased in many California cities over the last four years. Among the 25 largest U.S. cities, three in California San Francisco, Long Beach and Los Angeles had the three highest increases in per capita property crime rates during the first half of 2015, the most recent period for which numbers are available. In San Francisco, property crime rose by 667 cases per 100,000 people from the previous year. The increase in Long Beach was 146.5 property crimes per 100,000 and in Los Angeles 144.9 more. The increase in violent crimes was not as sharp. Sacramento led the nation with an uptick of 77 violent crimes per 100,000 people during those six months. Los Angeles was third with a rise of 54.1 per 100,000, and Long Beach fifth with 45.8 more violent crimes. Those numbers suggest to some in law enforcement that it makes no sense to ease sentencing further. The Public Policy Institute of California, which previously issued a report saying crime in the state had not changed much, called the FBI numbers "discouraging." Said Marc Debbaudt, immediate past president of the Association of Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorneys, "One thing is certain, the victims ... represented by increasing crime rates will surely use a harsher word than (discouraging) to describe the soaring crime rate." All of which foretells a ferocious fall battle over crime if Brown's measure reaches the ballot. Email Thomas Elias at tdelias@aol.com. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal says surge pricing is daylight robbery and no responsible govt can allow that. Image: Surge pricing is daylight robbery. Photograph: Reuters Taxi aggregators Uber and Ola may have to permanently stop surge pricing, around which their business models are built. In a series of messages on micro-blogging site Twitter, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal accused Uber and Ola of daylight robbery. "Surge pricing is daylight robbery. No responsible govt can allow that. This is open blackmailing n govt will not let that happen," he tweeted. To a suggestion on Twitter that the suspension of surge pricing should continue even after the odd-even scheme, Kejriwal replied, "Yes, we will do it." There's nothing official from the Delhi government yet on banning surge pricing after the odd-even drill is over. Recently, the Karnataka government had set a cap on surge pricing. Airlines, railways and hotels offer dynamic prices. For taxi aggregators, the technology ensures real-time tracking of demand and supply, but airlines and hotels use revenue management tools to balance tariffs. Sources said repeated requests by Uber and Ola to meet Delhi government officials had been turned down. "No one from the government has given us time. We are getting to know of all these developments from tweets or press conferences held by Transport Minister Gopal Rai," said a taxi aggregator who did not wish to be named. "If the cost of operation is going down per cab as the demand is high why should they charge a premium?" said Siddhartha Pahwa, CEO, Meru Cabs. "We believe the CM has taken the right step by capping the maximum fare radio taxis can charge," he added. Ola on Wednesday said it would offer free rides for its shuttle bus service on April 22 and 29. Since Tuesday, 75 taxis working for Uber and Ola have been impounded. PRICING FOR PROFIT Price gouging at its worst in other sectors Hospitality: In peak holiday seasons, hotel tariffs typically rise because of surge in demand. The industry uses dynamic pricing to raise or lower cost of rooms and packages, based on supply and demand. This helps hotels maximise revenues by attracting customers at different price points. Aviation: Airline companies decide on which fare slabs should be displayed for sale, as well as number of seats in each slab. As seats get sold in lower priced slabs, the costlier ones are displayed. In addition, pricing is event-specific. In the past, the government has threatened airlines against jacking up prices, but has not intervened in pricing matters so far. Railways: The Rail Budget in February said that dynamic pricing based on demand would stay. Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu said independence of Rail Development Authority will be ensured to enable fair pricing of services. Prabhu's comment followed criticism of the excessive high train fare during dynamic pricing. Overseas education consultant NNS Chandra shares advice on how to pick the right international education. In an online chat with readers every Friday, overseas education consultant NNS Chandra offers advice on how to pick the right course and career abroad. For those who missed the chat on April 22, here's the unedited transcript: wasim-ahmed: Hello sir, my scores are very average around 10th - 75 per cent; 12th - 59 per cent , BE (civil) 61 per cent....did my engineering from a private college under Gauhati university Assam because could not crack state level common entrance. again after completing be in civil giving my entrance exams such as bank, SSC and all but chances are very very less to crack for me being an average student NNS Chandra: Hello Wasim - Can you please explain the question again? I did not understand. I understand your challenges. If you are more specific and frame the question I can guide. You can also email me. Deep: Hello Sir My scores are GRE=310 CGPA = 9.1.I have poor finance.Would having loan reject my visa.And being a Android Developer for 3 years will be a good impression. Please replyThank you NNS Chandra: Hi Deep - I do not think having an educational loan is going to be a challenge during VISA processing. But your course selection and university should reflect your interests and academic work. Sarah: Hello sir, I have completed my SSC here in India. I want to continue my education in US. How should I prepare for better school.? NNS Chandra: Sarah - What are your grades? Activities? Are you taking a gap year? I fully did not understand your question - are you planning to do under grad or grad in USA? Ram Darpan: I am an international student who recently got accepted to decent universities such as University of San Francisco, University of Illinois at Chicago or USC. However, my biggest dream or more like a goal plan in my life was to get accepted to NYU. I applied to NYU as well, but, I got rejected. What are the steps I need to follow to get a transfer? NNS Chandra: Congrats Ram. All are good schools. Transferring from, say USC, to NYU is definitely possible. Are you trying for winter or spring transfer? Only thing I will say is to keep focus on your studies, maintain high GPA. Get involved in campus clubs. Suresh V: I finished by bachelors and masters in commerce from Mumbai University. I want to continue my studies in trade and commerce in a foreign university. I have started preparing for GRE. Please guide me. NNS Chandra: Hi Suresh -- what is your specific question? Applying for research programs in international trading can be one idea. Komali Kiran: Sir - I received an invitation to attend the international student orientation program but i have no idea where i could stay! Is this compulsory? IT starts 2 days before move in date. NNS Chandra: Hi Kiran, I would recommend to attend the orientation. You should be able get accommodation in dorm. Please do write your requirement in advance. sandeep anil sable: I want to get my kid addmitted for a pilot training program and convert this to CPL in India and again do the type rating for the Airbus rating abroad.What are the chances of getting a loan for education in his name NNS Chandra: Dear Sandeep - The chances of getting a loan needs to be discussed the bankers. I assume it should be available. Srishti Catherine: I am a Canadian citizen (my family is from India) currently living in New York State. I was recommended to you by my cousin in India. I am very interested in UNC but from what I read they give no need-based financial aid for international students correct? But what about their wide selection of merit scholarships? NNS Chandra: Hi Srishti,You are partially right about UNC. They do have few funding options for Canadian citizens including merit based ones (need to apply after admission) Many schools including IVies consider Canadian citizens for need based financial assistance. Pradumna Kanodia: Hi, my son has got a 2070 in SAT and is taking up Maths 2 and Physics subject test he wishes to pursue a STEM course but not hard core engineering something with statistics eco and Data analytics what would you suggest NNS Chandra: Hi Pradumna, 2000 plus SAT score is a good one. Congrats. Is he an IB student? What other activities? I would encourage him to look at Econometrics courses/programs. Ask him to check out programs in UC (B) or GT. If he emails me I can possibly guide him to specific programs. Is he applying this year? shailja golash: hi , my daughter will appear for class 12th exam in 2017 she has opted for biology combination and preparing for AIPMT, PL Advice me what good institution for perusing her mbbs abroad ,how to get admission there and how much is fees .whether it is advisable to go abroad after MBBS for PG .what are the best medical college abroad & how to get admission in that NNS Chandra: Hi Shailaja, MBBS is a degree mostly offered in UK and Asian countries. English Med Schools take lots of international students and that is where she should start searching first. Go entrance exams (for Oxford etc you have separate exams). Check out University of Karkov, Poland (it is an old University where Copernicus studied). Caribbean med schools are another option. In North America, Med Program training is done after an under graduation in say health science or even pre med. Practice of medicine requires lots of maturity in my opinion. And maturity do not only come from years of education but life experiences, observation etc too. ravinder singh: Hi Sir,My daughter is studying in last semester in BTech in Computer Science. She is desperate to go USA either for MBA or for any course in Hospitality sector. Pl suggest budget university with good record. NNS Chandra: Hello Mr Singh - I understand your daughters interest in USA. Cost of study in USA, like anywhere else, depends on several things - program, location, university, living style, duration etc. I always ask students to budget around 40-45,000 $ per year of study, including tuition, board, lodge and other expenses. Then one must include travel cost. Eknarayan Adhikari: Sir I got job offer from Us company and the Company Hr instructed me to follow to his agent who is working in In indian embassy in mumbaiThe agent is asking money for BTA (Basic travelling allowance) Without BTA i cannot travel. I want to know is this true or not. NNS Chandra: Hello Adhikari, Encourage you to report this to US consulate. I am not an expert in this area. But I have read about these things reported as scam. . Quoting BBC " According to the U.S. Embassy, the scam may ask for similar funds for travel allowance or funds. As the BBC details, the scam often targets owners of travel services and accommodations, requesting that owners pay the BTA to travel agencies, who promise to repay the amount when they book rooms for guests." Quoting again "According to the Embassy of the United States in London, a Basic Travel Allowance refers to a scam under which foreign nationals request money from U.S. citizens for travel to the United States, claiming that a BTA is required under US law." seema ramesh: What is the scope for employment for Food Processing engineers in Canada? NNS Chandra: Hi Seema. Welcome to show. Large part of Canadian economy is based on agriculture. Food processing industries are huge in Canada and opportunities are good for qualified engineers. Are you a citizen of Canada or PR holder? Or planning to go to Canada to study? Are you trained in North America or elsewhere would determine the personal chances. Have questions for NNS Chandra? Post them here! Lead image used for representational purposes only. Image: Danish Siddique/ Reuters When the regional citizens, educators and other visionaries who founded what was to become Shippensburg University as an institution to teach teachers 145 years ago, they knew learning by doing was the best way to success. As a result, the university has a long history of effectively teaching the local communitys children in a dynamic learning environment, while providing students in the universitys teacher education program access to unparalleled resources in developing their teaching skills. That model laboratory school is now the internationally-acknowledged Grace B. Luhrs University Elementary School. For many years, and this year is no exception, the university has worked cooperatively with representatives of the Shippensburg Area School District to continue this effective and valuable partnership that benefits both university students in many disciplines and district students who attend Luhrs Elementary. While we have continued in good faith to negotiate the current enrollment procedure and our agreement with the district, those discussions have become the focus of speculation, media reports and much misinformation. The corrective action plan that the district refers to is not a plan to which the university has ever agreed. In fact, the university received requests for additional clarification and information from the Pennsylvania Department of Education in late December and again in early March. When the university responded to the March request, we fully expected further discussions to continue with the department and the district. We were surprised and disappointed when department officials on April 7 made the decision on their own to approve a corrective action plan without consulting with the university. Some concern has been raised that our current enrollment plan is illegal; directly stated that has never been established. The departments decision does not say that and we have appealed that decision for various reasons citing numerous examples of case law to support our plan. One issue that appears to be confusing and unsettling to some is the allowance of a limited number of spaces in each class for children of university employees. For at least the past 30 years or more, this has always been part of our enrollment plan and those students have been children of parents from all parts of the university including secretaries, maintenance, custodial, faculty and many others. In addition to the academic opportunities Luhrs Elementary provides, the university has also made a major fiscal commitment that is, ultimately, saving the district substantial funds. The $5.6 million school was built entirely with university funding and the university spends nearly $1 million annually for its operation and upkeep. Included in those expenditures is the cost of three teachers for $347,713; custodial/facilities support for $130,000; and even utility costs of $49,000. If the school should close, as has been suggested by some district officials, then the 131 students in Luhrs Elementary would need to be transported to and taught in the other district schools. The increased instructional and transportation costs to the district will clearly be significant. Since its founding, the university has operated a model laboratory school as part of its commitment to the citizens of Pennsylvania and to the residents of the Shippensburg Area School District. It is our plan to continue to work toward an agreement that, once again, fulfills that goal. Jody Harpster Jr., Ph.D., is the President of Shippensburg University Farmers who are using traditional irrigation systems and practices are better coping in times of drought, observes Geetanjali Krishna. IMAGE: A village woman collects water from an almost dried up well at a village near Nashik. Photograph: PTI Every morning, the newspapers are full of reports of drought in Maharashtra. Facing a rain shortfall of as much as 40 per cent, Marathwada has been the worst-hit. Although the second water train has pulled into Latur, farmers in rural areas have had little respite -- especially the ones who have been banking on high yields to offset the cost of planting the more expensive and resource-intensive sugar cane. Looking at these increasingly grim reports, I called Madhukar Dhas of Dilasa Sanstha, a non-governmental organisation working on the issue of farmer suicides in Maharashtra for over 20 years, to find out how they, and the farmers they work with, were faring. In Yavatmal, where we are based, the farmers associated with us currently dont have many water scarcity issues, he said. Parts of the district, Id read, had been declared drought-hit by the government. Then how were Dilasas farmers unaffected, I asked. It was, he said, because they had helped the farmers set up traditional irrigation systems and farming practices, which reduced their reliance on rainwater, and consequently, on crop yields. Growing up in an agrarian household, Dhas saw his family practise pata, the traditional system of multi-cropping, which enabled them to grow vegetables and legumes along with the main crop. This ensured us a year-round supply of food, even in times of drought, he said. Right now, weve observed that pata practitioners have fewer needs, as they have not invested huge amounts of money in their fields. This is helping them cope with the drought better. The other two low-cost indigenous technologies that Dilasa is promoting are phad and bodi. Phad, as I understood it, entails diverting river water from check dams to nearby fields using gravity. Bodis is a simple system in which rainwater stored in village ponds is channelled through pipes to different fields. Currently, despite the drought, this is enabling our farmers to irrigate their crops and meet their needs for water, Dhas explained. In comparison, agriculturists who eschewed old ways of farming in favour of more commercial methods, are feeling the heat. Over the years, farmers had begun to shift to new crops like sugarcane, which requires more water and investment than local crops, said Dhas, explaining why the fortunes of Maharashtras farmers hinged so desperately on crop yields. Crop failure rendered many of them incapable of paying off the loans they had taken. Also many farmers have stopped practising multi-cropping the way our forefathers did -- which kept them in plentiful supply of food and required fewer fertilisers and pesticides. Which is why, crop failure today also means a worrying increase in food scarcity. Our traditional farming technologies have the added benefit of replenishing rather than depleting the water table, said Dhas. I mused that they also ensured the conservation of piped water that the government supplies at a high cost, which during times of drought, seems so wasteful to use for irrigation. Interestingly, the number of suicides by farmers in Yavatmal, the district worst affected by farmer suicides in Maharashtra, has fallen from 96 in the first three months of 2015 to 48 in the same period this year. Have Dilasas efforts towards helping farmers return to their roots contributed to this statistic? Its hard to say. But clearly, Dilasa has equipped its farmers to ride out the drought better than others. Were currently besieged by requests from farmers to help them adopt bodi and pata, said Dhas. In many ways, I feel that the drought in Maharashtra has been man-made -- that is why I feel that the solutions to it must be man-made too. How does the countrys civilian government reclaim legitimacy after the names of many Pakistanis, including the family members of PM Nawaz Sharif, figured in the leaked documents, Aditi Phadnis asks. The Panama Papers revelations have sent shock waves around the world and while there seems to be no political risk to anyone in India, in neighbouring Pakistan, political parties and judges alike are getting the heebie-jeebies. The 200-plus list of those in Pakistan who have maintained dealings with M/s Mossack Fonseca includes the three children of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif; relatives of the two wives of Shahbaz Sharif (the chief minister of Punjab and Nawaz Sharifs brother). Former prime minister Benazir Bhuttos name figures as well: she, her nephew Hasan Ali Jaffery and former interior minister Rehman Malik are said to have co-owned Petrofine FZC. The family of Osman Saifullah Khan, a senator for the Pakistan Peoples Party, has registered 34 offshore companies. In delicious irony, Khan is a serving member on a body that is deliberating on Pakistans tax reforms programme, such as it is. Much like the findings of Indian democracy watchdog Association for Democratic Reforms that many of the wealthiest candidates contesting elections dont even have PAN numbers, in Pakistan too, many of those on the Panama list dont figure on the Federal Board of Revenues published lists of Pakistans top taxpayers, as columnist and financial expert Najma Minhas noted recently. Small wonder then, that for the Pakistani political class, the Panama findings are nothing more than an annoyance, like a fly in a closed room. Soon after the names came out, with a minimum of fuss, at a meeting of the Cabinet where one of those named in the Panama Papers, Mariam Nawaz, was present, the government decided to refer the whole issue to an inquiry committee headed by a retired judge. The Opposition is asking for an inquiry by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court or a parliamentary committee. But the chairman of the Senate (equivalent to the chairman of the Rajya Sabha) has politely turned down a request to head one because he is not qualified to investigate into issues of this nature. When Nawaz Sharif left for London for a medical check-up last week leaving Finance Minister Ishaq Dar in charge of the outreach to defuse the Panama Papers explosion with minimum collateral damage, the erroneous conclusion was that he had fled the country. He returned earlier this week. The state of his health did not prevent him from shopping for new suits on Mayfair. Nor did it prevent patriotic Pakistanis from putting the prime minister on sale on eBay UK: the listing described the product as used and said: Used too much and now we dont need him any more so probably you can put him in a freezer and freeze him so in winter time you can use. The seller, Saeed00735, explained why he was selling it: Just need to get rid of him anyone need so please hurry up. Useless prime minister of Pakistan. While postage was free, there was one condition: it may not post to India. (Those who want to buy can still do so: bids have reached 29 and the sale will end on April 24.) All this has not bothered Nawaz Sharif. With a large section of Pakistans political elite, barring elements from the army, on the list, it is in everybodys interest that the controversy be given a decent burial. Nawaz Sharif knows the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz that he heads cannot be thrown out on the floor of Parliament. In the 342-member lower house of Parliament, his party has 188 members. Even if the two Opposition parties -- Bhutto-Zardaris PPP (46) and Imran Khans Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (34) -- join up, they cannot depose him. Only if the Pakistan Army intervenes can the government be toppled. But why would the army want to do that? For all practical purposes, it is already in command. Look at the way it handled the Easter Sunday massacre. Like India, legally, the Pakistan Army can act only in aid to the civil authority and that too only if it is invited to. In this case, not only was it the army that decided to deploy the Pakistan Rangers (who answer to the civilian Ministry of Interior) in Punjab -- the heartland of the Sharif familys influence where Shahbaz Sharif is chief minister -- but it was also the one to push them into operations against Daesh-linked radical Islamic groups. This is bound to upset the government. The PML-N is known to patronise and even fund radical Islamic groups, including the Lashkar-e-Tayiba, which does not engage in sectarian violence, only in violence against India. The army is happy to look the other way when it comes to anti-India groups but through its action has declared that it will not compromise on the unity of Pakistan -- and is signalling it will not hesitate to emasculate the authority of a legally elected government if it has to. So investments made by the Sharifs in radical Islamic groups could go waste. More than 5,000 people have been rounded up in the province so far. All this undermines the provincial governments autonomy. The question is, how the civilian government is going to reclaim its legitimacy. Pakistan is by far the most interesting country in South Asia today for the sheer range of political challenges it faces. Punjab's dreaded separatist outfit Khalistan Liberation Force militant Davinder Pal Singh Bhullar, a convict in 1993 Delhi bomb blast case, was on Saturday released on 21-day parole after nearly 23 years behind the bars. Punjab's dreaded separatist outfit Khalistan Liberation Force militant Davinder Pal Singh Bhullar, a convict in 1993 Delhi bomb blast case, was on Saturday released on 21-day parole after nearly 23 years behind the bars. Bhullar was convicted in connection with the killing of nine people and injuring of 31 in a bomb blast in 1993. Among those who survived the attack are former Youth Congress chief M S Bitta. Behind the bars following his conviction in the case, Bhullar is undergoing life imprisonment after the Supreme Court commuted his death sentence. He was sentenced to death by a designated Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act court on August 25, 2001. Bhullar'swife Navneet Kaur, along with her relatives, received him when he was released from jail custody on Satur. Bhullar was shifted to Amritsar Central Jail from Delhi's Tihar Jail in June last year. After being shifted from Delhi's Tihar Jail, within a week he was admitted to local Swami Vivekananda Drug De-addiction Centre from Amritsar Central Jail. Navneet Kaur had sought the shifting of Bhullar to Amritsar Jail citing his poor health. Navneet, who had migrated to Canada with her in-laws in 1994, has her parental house in Amritsar. Former terrorist Gurdeep Singh Khera, who was transferred to the Central Jail in Amritsar last year in June, was released on Friday on a 42-day parole. Accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of resorting to falsehood and bluffing the people, Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi on Saturday said they had promised lakhs of jobs but not a single person got employment. Mamata ji and Modi ji are making false promises. Mamata ji talked of providing jobs to 70 lakh people, while Modi ji had said two crore jobs will be given by his government. But not a single person has got employment, Gandhi said. Sharing a platform with Communist Party of India-Marxist leaders at an election meeting, he said Bengal which was once industrious has turned into a graveyard in Trinamool Congresss rule and also attacked the Mamata government over corruption issue. He said no action was taken against those involved in Saradha and Narada scam. Referring to the recent flyover collapse in Kolkata which claimed several lives, Gandhi alleged that the TMC government had given contract of supplying material to its partyman who had supplied substandard materials. He charged Mamata and Modi with telling lies about action against corruption and unemployment. He said Modi had promised to bring back black money and fight corruption but nothing has been done. His government has brought laws to turn black money into white which I call Fair and Lovely scheme, Gandhi said. Earlier there were lots of industries in Bengal. But now in TMC rule, Bengal has turned into a graveyard. Only the industry of syndicate is flourishing in Bengal, he said. Seeking support for the Congress-Left alliance in the assembly polls in West Bengal, he said if the alliance government was formed, its first task would be to provide employment, stop syndicate and corruption and take action against those involved in Saradha and Narada scam. Vote for Congress-CPI-M, vote for the Congress-Left alliance and defeat Mamata government to usher in development, Gandhi said. CPI-M central committee member Dipak Dasgupta was present with Gandhi at the meeting. Mamata Banerjee had given a call for change. But after five years there has been no change. Earlier, there was jute industry where lakhs of people used to work. There were brick kilns in Howrah. But now everything is gone. Earlier, Bengal was known as Sheffield of the East. But now it is known as graveyard of East, Gandhi said. The job of a government is to provide employment, health services and education. She could not provide these things, rather she took away the money from the poor in the Saradha scam, he alleged. Calling Modi a friend of Mamata Banerjee, the Congress vice president accused the chief minister of dictatorial rule in West Bengal. In Bengal Mamata Banerjee is running a dictatorship and her friend in Delhi, Modiji, is spreading lies, he said and added that people should not forget that Mamata Banerjee had forged alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party earlier. Image: Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi at an election campaign rally in West Bengal. Photograph: Swapan Mahapatra/PTI No Indian government has taken on China like this ever before and it shows that the three top Indian officials -- Sushma Swaraj, Manohar Parrikar and Ajit Doval ran into China's Great Wall on the twin questions of Pakistan and terror when they interacted with their Chinese interlocutors In past few days, says Rajeev Sharma. The gloves are off and it's an open diplomatic war! 'If you don't look at our national interests and sensitivities, we won't do so either when it comes to your national interests and sensitivities.' This is the stern message that the Narendra Modi government has sent to China by playing the Uighur card after China repeatedly blocked India's initiative before the United Nations Sanctions Committee for seeking a ban on Pakistan-based terror mastermind Masood Azhar. India has cocked a snook at China by inviting Uighur dissident leaders for holding a pro-democracy conference in Dharamshala, a sleepy township in Himachal Pradesh from where India-based Tibetans led by the Dalai Lama have been running a government-in-exile for decades. The Indian move, which has twisted the knife into the Chinese soft underbelly in the aftermath of the Masood Azhar controversy, has come as a shocker to the Chinese. The Modi government has issued visas to Uighur dissidents and what has riled the Chinese most is that the Germany-based prominent Uighur dissident Dolkun Isa, whom the Chinese have dubbed as a terrorist, is among the Uighur dissidents who have been given an Indian visa for attending the pro-democracy event in Dharamshala next week. Expectedly, The Chinese have fretted and fumed over the development. 'Dolkun Isa is a terrorist on Interpol's red corner notice and the Chinese police. Bringing him to justice is the due obligation of relevant countries,' Chinas foreign ministry has been quoted as saying in response to the Indian visas to the World Uighur Congress leaders, including Isa. With this move, the Modi government has hit hard at the Chinese soft underbelly. Xinjiang, which is home to over 10 million Uighurs, borders Tibet, both restive regions of China. The vast Xinjiang region had witnessed large-scale violence in the capital Urumqui in 2009 which had left over 200 dead. The Uighurs, who are Muslims, have been under the Chinese scanner since then. Incidentally, Aksai Chin, which China had snatched from India during the 1962 war, is in Xinjiang region. It's a bold decision by the Modi government. No Indian government has taken on China like this ever before. The UPA government under the stewardship of Manmohan Singh for one decade between 2004 and 2014 never dared to poke China in the eye as the Modi government has done now. It shows that the just-concluded China visit by National Security Advisor Ajit Doval didn't bring forth any concrete deliverables when he raised the Masood Azhar issue with his Chinese interlocutors. It also shows that Defence Minister Manohar Parrikars maiden visit to China and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, who met her Chinese counterpart in Moscow, also yielded precious little. It shows that the three top Indian officials Swaraj, Parrikar and Doval ran into China's Great Wall on the twin questions of Pakistan and terror when they interacted with their Chinese interlocutors In past few days. More importantly, it shows that China has already made up its mind and decided to back its all-weather friend Pakistan to the hilt at India's expense. Faced with this kind of scenario, the Modi government was left with two choices -- either to ignore Chinese bullish diplomacy and live with it as the previous Indian governments have been doing, or seize the bull by its horns and pay China back in the same coin. The Modi government has made a bold foreign policy departure in Indias China diplomacy by playing the Uighur card. Simultaneously, the Modi government has decided to file applications after applications before the UN Sanctions Committee on the Masood Azhar issue in the coming days in an attempt to test Chinese patience and to see to what extent the Chinese will go to bail out Pakistan at the UN and for how long. By taking China head on, the Modi government has confronted the dragon with a hard policy decision and a stand which the Chinese are not used to seeing from Indians. Such a tough diplomatic stance by India vis a vis China is something unprecedented. It will be interesting to see how China reacts: whether Beijing will blink finally or whether it will take the diplomatic sparring to another level. This is the kind of stuff that Hollywood thrillers are made of. It's not easy to forecast how things will eventually pan out between India and China simply because the latter had never been poked in the eye by India like this ever before! Image: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and China's President Xi Jinping walk down the Sabarmati river front in Ahmedabad in this photograph from September 2014. Photograph: Amit Dave/Reuters. Rajeev Sharma is an independent journalist and strategic analyst who tweets @Kishkindha. Nearly a month after a Dalit woman was dragged, abducted and allegedly raped in Muktsar district of Punjab, the accused youth surrendered before a court in the district. The accused was caught abducting the woman on a CCTV camera installed in a nearby shop in Malout in Muktsar. Muktsars Senior Superintendent of Police Gurpreet Singh Gill said on Saturday that the accused youth surrendered before a court in Muktsar and has been remanded to police custody for three days. The woman, a Dalit, was dragged by the youth from a computer centre in Malout in Muktsar. The CCTV footage showed the accused forcibly dragging the woman, said to be in her early 20s, out of her office in broad daylight on March 25. The woman is seen struggling to break free from her alleged abductor, identified as Gurinder, aged around 25. After abducting her, the accused took her to Tapa Khera village in Muktsar district and allegedly raped her. The SSP said that about five days after the incident, the woman had got an FIR registered in the case after which the police were on a lookout for the accused. A case had been registered against the accused under various provisions of the law including for abduction and rape against the accused, he said. Both the accused, who is into farming, and the victim hail from same village in Muktsar district. He surrendered before a court at Muktsar on Friday and subsequently we took him on remand, Gill said. Gill said the car in which the accused had abducted the victim was yet to be recovered. All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen chief Asaduddin Owaisi was on Saturday denied permission by authorities to hold public meetings in the district in the wake of tension in Mubarakpur area. Application to hold public meeting was received from Owaisi's party but he was denied permission, Azamgarh District Magistrate Suhash L Y said. Owaisi is on a two-day visit to Uttar Pradesh. Earlier in the day, about 100 activists of Hindu Yuva Vahini were taken into custody in neighbouring Siddarthnagar when they were staging a protest at Bhadariya crossing against the visit of Owaisi. The Yuva Vahini had announced that they would protest against Owaisi's refusal to chant 'Bharat Mata ki jai'. Local Bharatiya Janata Party Member of Parliament Jagdambika Pal had also demanded a ban on his visit to the district and alleged that SP government was assisting him in vitiating the atmosphere. Addressing his partymen at a meeting, Owaisi exhorted them to prepare for the 2017 Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh. "Start preparations for the elections so that our people could have representation in the Vidhan Sabha," he told party workers in Siddarthnagar. "We are neither against any religion nor against any person," Owaisi added. In the most adorable part of US President Barack and Michelle Obamas Friday rendezvous with the British royal family, Prince George greeted the president of the United States in a mini white robe at Kensington Palace. IMAGE: Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle crouch down to meet and shake hands with Prince George at Kensington Palace. George looked adorable in a pair of freshly-pressed blue gingham pyjamas, monogramed dressing gown and a pair of slippers with aeroplanes on. Photograph: Pete Souza/The White House via Getty Images The Obamas arrived at the palace on Friday for an informal dinner with Prince William, Kate Middleton and Prince Harry -- just hours after the US presidents controversial intervention in the Brexit debate. The third in line to the throne was allowed to stay up for a few minutes by his parents, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, so the two-year-old could thank the couple for a rocking horse and stuffed toy they had previously given him as gifts. IMAGE: US President Barack Obama talks with the Duke of Cambridge while the Duchess of Cambridge plays with Prince George on rocking horse. The rocking horse was given by the Obamas as a gift to the royals. Photograph: Pete Souza/The White House via Getty Images The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry greeted the Obamas in a courtyard at Kensington Palace and then opened the doors of their 22-room private apartment, after the couple had lunched with the Queen at Windsor Castle. The president shouted oh there you are hello after they stepped out of the presidential black Cadillac, flanked by secret service staff. IMAGE: Prince William, Duke of Cambridge speaks with US President Barack Obama in the Drawing Room of Apartment 1A Kensington Palace. Photograph: Dominic Lipinski/WPA Pool/Getty Images William, wearing a blue jacket, trousers and light blue shirt without a tie, apologised to the Obamas, who both sheltered from the rain under a single black umbrella as they made their way towards the door. Sorry about the weather, he joked. Prince Harry, who was also in attendance, warmly kissed Michelle on both cheeks. IMAGE: Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge speaks with First Lady of the United States Michelle Obama. Photograph: Dominic Lipinski/WPA Pool/Getty Images He had spent time with the First Lady during his October 2015 trip to Washington, DC to promote the upcoming Invictus Games. Kate was wearing a three quarter length blue and purple patterned, 325 (Rs 31,205) LK Bennett dress, with her hair down, while William was in an open necked shirt and jacket. IMAGE: The US president and his wife arrived at the royal residence exactly on time at 7.15 pm in his official car, an 18 foot armoured Cadillac dubbed The Beast. Photograph: Chris Jackson/Getty Images The US president matched William for casualness, as did Prince Harry, while Michelle Obama wore a camel coloured dress with a jacket in a slightly darker hue. IMAGE: Kate was wearing a three quarter length blue and purple patterned LK Bennett dress while Prince Harry and William were dressed in smart casuals. Photograph:Chris Jackson/Getty Images And for those wondering what about little Princess Charlotte? A palace source later confirmed that the Obamas met George but Charlotte was fast asleep: George stayed up for a few minutes when the President and the First Lady arrived but Charlotte was in bed. IMAGE: The Obamas arrived at Kensington Palace for an informal dinner with Prince William, Kate Middleton and Prince Harry, just hours after the US president's controversial intervention in the Brexit debate. Photograph:Chris Jackson/Getty Images In a move being seen as a retaliatory measure after China blocked listing of Jaish-e-Muhammad chief Masood Azhar as an international terrorist at the United Nations, India has issued a visa to a German-based Uyghur leader to visit Dharamsala for a conference later this month. Dolkun Isa, a World Uyghur Congress leader who resides in Germany, has been invited to a conference being organised by US-based Initiatives for China. China accuses Isa of terror activities in the remote Xinjiang region where there is frequent violence between the local Uyghur population and government forces. Indias decision evoked a reaction from Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying, who said, What I want to point out is that Dolkun is a terrorist on red notice of the Interpol and Chinese police. Bringing him to justice is due obligation of relevant countries. Meanwhile, ministry of external affairs spokesperson Vikas Swarup said, We have seen media reports and the external affairs ministry is trying to ascertain the facts. India's retaliatory diplomacy comes after China decided to put a technical "hold" on Masood Azhars terror designation. In fact, when being asked about it, they have repeatedly defended their stance, saying more information was needed on the matter. Meanwhile, Isa has been quoted as saying that he had already been granted visa by the Indian government for the conference but would take a final call only after assessing his security in India, since China has got a Red Corner Notice issued against him by the Interpol. New Delhi had in the recent past offered visa to Baloch leader Naela Qadri Baloch, who lives in exile in Canada. Image: Dolkun Isa, a World Uyghur Congress leader who resides in Germany. With Bhumata Brigade chief Trupti Desai set to enter the iconic Haji Ali Dargah, Shiv Sena leader Haji Arafat on Saturday said he would not allow her to touch the mazar-e-sharif. Islam does not allow women to touch the mazar-e-sharif in a dargah. We strongly condemn what Trupti Desai is saying. We wont allow her to enter the inner sanctum of the Hazi Ali Dargah. I will be the voice of my religion and will not allow her to touch the mazar-e-sharif, Haji Arafat said. Haji Arafat, who joined the Shiv Sena after leaving the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena in 2014, said that the attempt by Desai to enter the Haji Ali Dargah is a conspiracy meant to disturb Mumbais peaceful environment. All Muslim women have been opposing this. This is a conspiracy to disturb the peaceful environment inside Mumbai. A conspiracy is being made to instigate the Muslims by playing caste and religion-based politics. The police and law and order should prevent her from doing that, he added. On April 20, Haji Ali For All Forum was launched by Desai along with several activists, NGOs and social groups to fight for entry of women to the shrine. A peaceful movement will be launched at Haji Ali on April 28. The Maharashtra government had in February supported the entry of women to the Haji Ali Dargah. The government had told the Bombay high court that the entry of women cannot be prohibited. The court had asked the Devendra Fadnavis-led Bharatiya Janata Party government to give its opinion on a Public Interest Litigation challenging the decision of the Haji Ali Trust to ban the entry of women in the sanctum sanctorum of the dargah. A trustee of the Dargah, Rizwan Merchant, had earlier backed the decision not to allow women to enter inside the inner sanctum, saying their entry is prohibited for their own safety. : , Kanhaiya Kumar is India's latest political rockstar. His address in Mumbai on Saturday evening gave Mumbaikars a glimpse of the heyday of the Communist movement in the city of textiles mills and mill workers. Prasanna D Zore/Rediff.com and Uttam Ghosh/Rediff.com report. IMAGE: JNU Student Union President Kanhaiya Kumar addressed a crowd of 5,000 people from various Communist-affiliated organisations in Mumbai, April 23, 2016. Photograph: Uttam Ghosh/Rediff.com After addressing students in Hyderabad and Nagpur for the passage of the Rohith Act, All India Students Federation leader and president of the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union Kanhaiya Kumar pitched for the same in India's commercial capital on Saturday, April 23, evening even as he spent almost all his energies lashing in his trademark sarcastic style against the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh and the Bharatiya Janata Party. Kumar also painted Mumbai, which was once a Communist citadel, red by igniting causes -- jobs and education for poor, social justice for India's downtrodden, increase in government spending to improve social infrastructure -- that were espoused only by the Communists in Mumbai. IMAGE: Not only was the second floor hall of the Adarsh Vidyalay, where Kanhaiya Kumar spoke, packed to capacity, but special arrangements were made to accommodate supporters on the ground floor where a screen was arranged at the last moment. Photograph: Uttam Ghosh/Rediff.com The crowd, mostly youth from various student federations affiliated to the Left, that had assembled at Adarsh Vidyalay, Tilak Nagar, Chembur, north east Mumbai, were all fired up despite a last-minute change in the venue from Mumbai's Worli, once a red bastion because of its preponderance of textile mills, the lifeline of Mumbai. AISF and DYFI (Democratic Youth Federation of India; both affiliated to India's two Communist parties) cadres, relegated to inconsequence as the Communist movement crumbled in the city with the closure of its iconic textile mills, milled around the school, taking care of Kanhaiya's internal security. They were spread out across the bylanes that connected the city's arteries to the venue to welcome their "comrade" to the chants of "Lal Salaam," "Inquilab Zindabad" and "Jai Bhim", the latter slogan that was hardly heard among the Communists earlier, but which is currently in vogue across the country as India celebrates the 125th birth anniversary of the father of its Constitution, Dr Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar, who apparently every political party now wants to hijack for electoral gains. IMAGE: Santosh Kamble and a score of DYFI cadres threw a ring around Kanhaiya Kumar's car as it approached the venue. Photograph: Prasanna D Zore/Rediff.com "Kanhaiya has the potential to help lift the morale of our cadres," says DYFI member Santosh Kamble. "He seems to have the earnestness of purpose that is winning the hearts of India's poor." Another DYFI activist Rajesh Gaikwad adds, "Kanhaiya is making all efforts to bring together anti-Manuvadi, anti-RSS parties onto one platform. He is also making fervent appeals to the two Communist parties to merge into one. But political leaders have their own egos." Both Gaikwad and Kamble want more rallies from Kanhaiya in Mumbai to help reignite the red flame in the city. Kanhaiya reiterated the same during his speech when he dared all those opposed to the BJP, RSS and other communal forces to join cause with India's poor. Invoking the teachings of Tukaram, the 17th century saint, Savitribai Phule and Jyotiba Phule, Kanhaiya dared Prime Minister Narendra Modi to make education free for children of those who work as domestic help in the country. "Chaliye, tweet-tweet bandh karte hai Modiji," Kanhaiya, who was dressed in a red check shirt, jeans and chappals, said taking a jibe at the PM's fondness for tweeting. "Let's do something concrete and make education free for children of people who work as domestic help, be they from any class, caste or religion." Kanhaiya also dared Modi, who, he said, has toured many global capitals after taking over the reins of the country, to visit drought-stricken Marathwada. "Our prime minister acts like Vasco da Gama and has all the time to visit world capitals, but why hasn't he bothered to visit drought-hit Marathwada?" Kanhaiya asked. IMAGE: Kanhaiya said he would not spare the Congress when the time comes, but for now all his energies were focussed against fighting injustice against the oppressed and the spread of communalism in India. Photograph: Uttam Ghosh/Rediff.com Kanhaiya laced his 50-minute speech with aggression and sarcasm. Reminding the nation about the skewed policies of the BJP government in Maharashtra as well as at the Centre over the death of a 12-year-old boy who drowned in a well where he had gone to fill water in scorching 41 degree Celsius in Beed in Marathwada, Kanhaiya mocked Modi for publicising his Madame Tussauds' wax statue. "In 41 degree Celsius, not just a wax statue, but you will also melt away," Kanhaiya said. "This is a selfie government where ministers are only interested in tweeting their selfies," Kanhaiya said, referring to the controversy sparked by Maharashtra minister Pankaja Munde shooting selfies in drought ravaged Marathwada. "We will speak out against injustice, casteism and communalism," he declared. "Take whatever action against us as you deem fit," he challenged his political opponents as well as those who flung chappals at him during his public addresses. "Look at the hatred of these opponents against me," he said. "They have been throwing only their right chappals at me. I request them to throw their left chappals at me so that I can at least have an extra pair." Kanhaiya said he and many others like him would only shut up "when you will pass the Rohith Act, stop exploitation of Dalits and Adivasis, stop caste discrimination against students in colleges and universities across India and stop farner suicides." "If you do stop these injustices, then we will have no chance to speak out against you and your policies." Lashing out against the RSS for appropriating Dr Ambedkar, Kanhaiya said, "Sangh ki kathni aur karni main kafi antar hai (the RSS has been misleading the nation with what they say and how they act). But now we need to see some action and not just empty talk." While these attacks on the BJP and RSS has now become the hallmark of Kanhaiya Kumar, who is striving to unite all the secular forces under one banner, his Mumbai address appears to have galvanised the cadres of Left affiliated students organisations. IMAGE: Rajesh Gaikwad's father Subhash Gaikwad was a mill worker and had actively participated in the city's trade union strikes with Communist Party of India-Marxist leader Ahilya Rangnekar. Photograph: Prasanna D Zore/Rediff.com DYFI's Gaikwad whose father Subhash Gaikwad has seen the likes of Shripad Amrut Dange, Ahilya Rangnekar and S M Joshi (all stalwarts of the Communist/Socialist movements in Mumbai) says, "Kanhaiya is giving this generation of young Communists a glimpse of what Dange, Joshi and Rangnekar did in their heyday. I only hope the red flag once again gets its glory back in this city of mill workers." The day when Amtrak passenger service is available in Iron County is moving ever closer with the announcement of a groundbreaking ceremony planned for the Arcadia Valley historic platform at the end of the month. Our Town Tomorrow, and the city of Arcadia will be breaking ground for the new Amtrak passenger platform at 11 a.m. April 30, at the Arcadia-Ironton Train Station located at 630 Highway 21 in Arcadia. Those wishing to attend the ceremony are asked to RSVP by emailing cvkelsheimer@yahoo.com or calling 314-517-4445. Bringing an Amtrak stop to the Arcadia Valley has been a work in progress for years. Amtrak, the Missouri Department of Highways and Transportation, Union Pacific, the city of Arcadia and members of Our Town Tomorrow began meeting in 2012 to discuss the documents and funding needed to make the Arcadia Amtrak stop possible. Eventually, the city of Arcadia was one of 11 southeast Missouri committees selected to receive a share of $2.9 million in federal enhancement funds through an 80/20 grant amounting to $330,000 which, along with the $50,000 match provided by the William Edgar Foundation, a $30,000 grant from the Taum Sauk Fund and more than $7,000 in community donations, is being used for the platforms construction. At the time the city was awarded the matching grant, the projected cost of the platforms construction was $314,212.25. Adding a 15 percent contingency, the grand total of the proposed project was expected to come in at $361,344.09. Not included in that amount was the 25-year lease from Union Pacific on the platform grounds and all electrical items, such as lights. In recent months State Rep. Paul Fitzwater, R-Potosi, and Sen. Gary Romine, R-Farmington, announced that the Missouri Department of Transportation secured $100,000 in federal transportation funds to complete the Amtrak stop. When we were told that the second bid for the project came in over budget, Rep. Fitzwater and I went to work to ensure this project didnt go by the wayside, Romine said at the time. Its been a long process, and the people who have spent countless hours to get this project done deserved our best effort to secure these added funds. Now, everyones hard work will be rewarded, and Iron County will benefit from their efforts. Meanwhile, the Iron County Economic Partnership continues to seek entities wishing to expand a current business or begin a new business in Iron County. With the Amtrak stop now becoming a reality, we are especially interested in businesses that will be of benefit to travelers arriving by train," said Board President Nathan McKie. "Visitors will look for businesses such as a car rental service, short and long term parking, shuttle service, a 24-Hour diner or coffee shop and other services to make their arrival and departure flow smoothly. Anyone with an idea for a business that could benefit the economic climate of Iron County by creating jobs and providing resources for visitors need to contact the Iron County Economic Partnership. "ICEP can help new or existing businesses and organizations that will create new jobs, train people for jobs, generate tourism advantages and otherwise create an economic benefit for Iron County. We are able to assist not-for-profit and for-profit enterprises." For more information contact Sandy Francis at Iron County Economic Partnership at 573-915-1569 or by email at sandy.francis@ictsf.org. 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 A prayer at the end of the printed history of Antioch C.M.E. Church is especially meaningful in 2016. "We thank thee, O Lord," the prayer begins, "for having brought us thus far." For Antioch C.M.E., "thus far" means 130 years. That's almost as old as the city of Abilene itself. The city was founded in 1881, and five years later, "Rev. H. Spencer and the God-chosen few" met in a private home at the corner of North Third and Ash streets to organize Antioch C.M.E. Church. The church was part of the historic "Colored Methodist Episcopal" denomination that was founded by former slaves on Dec. 16, 1870, in Jackson, Tenn. In 1954, the same year the Supreme Court ruled school segregation unconstitutional, the "C" was changed to "Christian." Members of Antioch will celebrate 130 years of perseverance and tradition Sunday afternoon. The guest preacher for the event, which begins at 3:30 p.m., will be Abilene native James C. Brown, pastor of Sweet Home Baptist Church in Fort Worth. The program will include a sermon, special choral music, reading of the church history by Linda Williams, and a dinner. Among those singing in the choir will be Ella Mae Carroll, who joined Antioch in 1944 when she was 17. That was the year the church completed construction at its present location, 801 Plum St. Members had met in the basement, which was built first, and then moved upstairs when the aboveground part was finished. "The Lord has blessed me," Carroll said. "I'm still able to go up those steps." For Carroll and other longtime members, Antioch has been an anchor in their lives. Carroll came to Abilene as a single woman to work as a beautician. She married Thomas Carroll in 1948. They had two sons and one daughter. The children were baptized at Antioch and their daughter was married in the church. Thomas Carroll's funeral was held there in 1997. The church holds so many memories for Carroll, she can't imagine life without it. "I love Antioch," she said. "It means a whole lot to me." The same could be said for so many Abilenians who have called Antioch home since 1886. If the church walls could talk, they would tell of a rich history. Rose Bruce, the daughter of early day members, was believed to be the first black child born in Abilene. For years, before a proper school building existed, the church was the site of a kindergarten for black children. For decades, the Women's Missionary Society of the church has hosted a Red & White Tea on a Sunday close to Valentine's Day. Everyone comes dressed in red, and the tables of the fellowship hall are covered with red and white tablecloths. No one knows when the tea originated, but longtime member Linda McGee was baptized in the church in 1942 and remembers attending the tea as a child. Weddings, baptisms, funerals, the major milestones for families, all are woven into the fabric of Antioch. At age 88, Ella Mae Carroll has encountered all those milestones. She is thankful that her beloved church was there for all of it. "At this age," she said, "that's the most important thing in my life." 130TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION When: 3:30 p.m. Sunday Where: Antioch C.M.E., 801 Plum St. Speaker: Abilene native James C. Brown, pastor of Sweet Home Baptist Church in Fort Worth Program: Sermon, special choral music, reading of history by Linda Williams, dinner CHURCH HISTORY April 1886: Antioch C.M.E. organized in a private home on the corner of North Third and Ash streets 1929: Church relocates to present site, 801 Plum St. 1944: Current church completed Motto: Out of tradition, Antioch still stands as a testimony to all that we have come this far by faith, leaning on the Lord. It is Antiochs hope that Antioch will always maintain the Black Tradition and with Gods help, we can help somebody along the way. Annual tradition: Red & White Tea held each February close to Valentines Day. The social event is hosted by the Womens Missionary Society of the church. Exact founding date not known, but the event dates at least to the 1940s. Family Room Tour Jim Gill's Family Room Tour, a free concert for families with young children, is set for 6:30 p.m. Friday at Beltway Park Baptist Church, North Campus, 2850 Highway 351. Reservations: Due to limited seating, reservations are required. Call 325-675-8685 or 325-673-1110 by 4 p.m. Thursday to reserve seats for your family. Jim Gill's distinctive music play creates the spirit of a family room in the concert hall and is an invitation to children, parents and grandparents to sing and play together. St. Luke Orthodox St. Luke Orthodox Christian Church, 501 Sunset Drive, will hold the following services this week: Divine Liturgy for St. Lazarus at 10 a.m. and Great Vespers at 5:30 p.m. today. Palm Sunday Matins at 9 a.m., Divine Liturgy for Palm Sunday at 10 a.m. and Bridegroom Matins at 6 p.m. Sunday. Holy Monday Bridegroom Matins at 6 p.m. Monday. Holy Tuesday Bridegroom Matins at 6 p.m. Tuesday. Holy Wednesday Service of Holy Unction at 6 p.m. Wednesday. Holy Thursday Vesperal Divine Liturgy at 9 a.m., Service of the Twelve Passion Gospels at 6 p.m. Thursday. Holy Friday Royal Hours at 10 a.m., Great Vespers of Taking Down from the Cross at 3:30 p.m., Lamentations at the Tomb at 6 p.m. Friday. Holy Saturday Vesperal Divine Liturgy at 10 a.m.; Paschal Matins and Divine Liturgy at 11 p.m. on Saturday (the main service for Orhtodox Easter). Pascha Sunday, Agape Vespers at noon May 1. Visitors are welcome at all services. Unitarian Universalist The Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Abilene, 1541 Sayles Blvd., welcomes people of all religions and those who don't profess a faith for The Great Courses DVD series "The Inexplicable Universe: Unsolved Mysteries." Neil deGrasse Tyson, the first director of the Hayden Planetarium at the American Museum of Natural History delivers the first lecture, "Histories Mysteries," at 11 a.m. Sunday. For more information visit uuabilene.org. Newsboys in town Newsboys, a popular Christian group, is coming back to Abilene after appearing here in October 2014. Newsboys will be at the Abilene Civic CenterThursday. The boys are so popular that tickets already are sold out. Their signature "God's Not Dead" was featured in the movie of the same name in 2014. The Newsboys currently are on a tour that began in Spring 2015. Since then, they have played to more than 30 sellout crowds. The tour ends May 1. 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. Have you noticed something different about the Trump campaign? It's been more than two weeks since the last really outrageous thing the Republican front-runner has said or done. In the old days -- say, a month ago -- Trump would have set off multiple hair-burning controversies in the same period. But now -- nothing. It's not an accident. When it comes to outrageousness, Donald Trump has dialed it back, on purpose. And indications from Trump world are that the new pattern will continue. (An obvious warning: It might not; by the time this article appears, it's always possible Trump could do or say something so shocking that the campaign is rocked for days.) Why the change? Ask people knowledgeable about the campaign, and they'll say the addition of new staff has had a quick effect. Pushed by his children, Trump has expanded his super-tight circle of advisers with the addition of Paul Manafort, and now others, too. The sense is that Trump actually can listen, both to advice on what to say and not to say. The message has evolved; he is a better candidate than the man who messed up right and left just a few weeks ago. With his latest crusade against "voterless victory," Trump is scoring points again, not so much against Ted Cruz directly, but against the Republican establishment -- always Trump's most comfortable target. For Trump, Cruz's vulnerability is not that he is part of the establishment, but that he has gotten in bed with the establishment as the only way to win. So the belief is that Trump's fight against the Republican National Committee and insider campaign rules pays off everywhere -- especially if Trump is not making critical unforced errors at the same time. To see the changes in the Trump campaign, look at the four-week period between March 22, when Trump began to blow up his own campaign, and now. On the night of March 22, Trump saw a low-budget, anti-Trump Super PAC ad featuring a photo of his wife. He went straight to Twitter. "Lyin' Ted Cruz just used a picture of Melania from a G.Q. shoot in his ad," Trump tweeted. "Be careful, Lyin' Ted, or I will spill the beans on your wife!" Not content to stop there, Trump made things infinitely worse the next night, March 23, when he retweeted a meme from one of his followers that featured a glamour shot of Mrs. Trump next to an unflattering photo of Mrs. Cruz. It's a simple rule of politics that you don't attack your opponent's wife -- or husband, for that matter, unless his name is Bill Clinton. Trump had trampled all over the rule, and the blowback was intense. In the days before the April 5 Wisconsin primary, Trump's rivals -- not just the Cruz campaign but Wisconsin's formidable conservative talk-radio lineup -- used it over and over against Trump. But Trump was about to make things even worse. During a March 30 interview with MSNBC's Chris Matthews, Trump said that, were abortion to be banned, there should be "some form of punishment" for women who have abortions. Angering both pro-lifers and pro-choicers, Trump then issued multiple clarifications of his position. The controversy dragged on for days. Add to that Trump's attack on Gov. Scott Walker, and the Trump campaign was done in Wisconsin; Cruz beat Trump 48 percent to 35 percent. The newly energized #NeverTrump forces saw the state as a turning point which gave them a real shot at keeping Trump short of the 1,237 delegates he needs to win the GOP nomination. And then something changed. On March 29, as things were falling apart in Wisconsin, Trump announced the hiring of Manafort, the veteran Republican operative. Manafort ostensibly joined to serve as Trump's convention manager, but his role quickly expanded, in part at the expense of campaign manager Corey Lewandowski, who at the time was facing possible criminal prosecution for a March 8 incident in which he grabbed a female reporter's arm after a press conference in Florida. (Authorities in Florida announced on Thursday that the matter would be dropped.) It took Manafort a few days to get up to speed. But since his arrival, Trump has been remarkably outrage-free. He's still giving the same basic performance in his rallies, but he has been a little more discriminating in his press appearances -- two straight weeks without appearing on a Sunday chat show -- and has stayed away from doing obviously dumb things, like attacking his opponent's wife. The campaign hopes the bad period is over. Now the question is whether Trump has the discipline to stay on a relatively error-free course. He had some very good luck when the GOP primary schedule took him from his disastrous performance in Wisconsin to his best state of all, New York, and then to other friendly northeastern states. But Trump will need more than luck to suppress the impulses that have gotten him into trouble in the past. He'll need to be a better candidate. Encourage your pastor to tell us the upcoming week's sermon topic. It's FREE, and it's open to churches throughout the Big Country. Email it to publishme@reporternews.com by 2 p.m. each Tuesday. Please put "sermon" in the subject line. Include the topic, who will deliver it, a short synopsis, when services begin and the name and street address of your place of worship. Baker Heights Church of Christ, 5382 Texas Ave. Services: 10 a.m. Sunday Speaker: Wes McAdams Topic: "What Jesus Said to the Church in Laodicea" Synopsis: In Revelation 2 and 3, Jesus sent messages to seven churches. Many of these churches had suffered great persecution. Many of them were weak, poor and small. But the church in Laodicea was different. It thought about itself, "I am rich, I have prospered and I need nothing." But Jesus said to them, "You are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind and naked." Is it possible churches in 21st-century America think of themselves as rich, prosperous and in need of nothing but, in reality are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind and naked? Episcopal Church of the Heavenly Rest, 602 Meander St. Services: 8 and 10:30 a.m. Sunday; 1 p.m. Swahili prayer service Speaker: Amanda Watson Topic: " Fifth Sunday of Easter" (Acts 11:1-18, Revelation 21:1-6, John 13:31-35) Synopsis: In our Gospel, Jesus speaks to His disciples on the night He is to be betrayed and handed over to death, commanding them to love one another with the same sacrificial love He has shown them. Northwest Church of Christ, 1141 N. Willis St. Services: 10:30 a.m. Sunday Speaker: Ian Shelburne Topic: "Where Judging Starts and Stops" (Matthew 7:1-6) Synopsis: "Only God can judge me." It's a popular slogan these days, turning up frequently on T-shirts and body art. For a lot of folks, it may actually equate to "no one can judge me," just another way of expressing their distaste for any judgment pronounced against their libertinism. Be that as it may, Jesus did famously say, "Stop judging, that you not be judged." This injunction, along with the verses that follow, raises challenging questions. How do we, as followers of Jesus, manage our perceptions and "judgments" of other people? Oakridge Church of Christ, 3250 Beltway S. Services: 10 a.m. Sunday Speaker: Steve Smith Topic: "Oakridge Has Enormous Fellowship Together" Synopsis: Fellowship is not merely eating together at church. It is a relationship first with Christ which overflows to a relationship with each other. Oldham Lane Church of Christ, 5049 Oldham Lane Services: 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. Sunday Speaker: Chris McCurley Topic: "Stairway to Heaven Just a Christian" Synopsis: Vintage is in. Whether it be clothing or cars or other antique items, retro is the style. We should be willing to go retro when it comes to Christianity. Vintage Christianity is what we should be seeking to bring back into style. Join us as we continue our series by examining what it means to be just a Christian. Woodlawn Church of Christ, 841-A North Judge Ely Blvd. Services: 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. Sunday Speaker: Larry Fitzgerald Topic: "The Unpardonable Sin" Synopsis: We like to think that God will forgive all sins. Yet, Jesus said that there is one sin that God will not forgive (Matthew 12:31-32). Some deny the truth of this passage; others fear that they've committed this sin and will not be forgiven. This Sunday, we will explore what is the unpardonable sin and who it is that won't be forgiven. Wylie Baptist Church, 6097 Buffalo Gap Road Services: 10:30 a.m. and 6 p.m. Sunday Speaker: Donny Harbers Topic: "Sermons From the Seaside III: Know Your Enemy But Keep Your Eyes on the Savior" (Exodus 14:5-9) Synopsis: In this life, if you are a child of God, you can rest assured there is someone (Satan) looking for a way to rob you of your priceless, God-given possessions of joy, peace and contentment. That's why it's important that you know your enemy but keep your eyes on the Savior. The West Central Texas Municipal Water District has reopened three boat docks at Hubbard Creek Reservoir, according to a news release. Recent rains raised the water level sufficiently to allow three boat ramps to be reopened to the public. Available for use for the first time since low water levels forced their closure in 2012 are The Bob Clark Landing, along U.S. Highway 180, Peeler's Pier and Corley Ramp. Previously only the Paul Prater Landing near the dam was available for public launching, which made the site quite busy during weekends. Thursday's reservoir level was 1173.17 feet above mean sea level. It had gained 4.46 feet as a result of recent storms. WCTMWD General Manager Chris Wingert said there is a considerable amount of floating debris on the water brought in by the recent rains. Boaters should use caution, especially when traveling in the upper reaches of the reservoir. Peeler's Pier recreation area has been open for about two months but was restricted to dock and bank fishing use only. Incident reports released Friday by the Abilene Police Department: Theft of gun, possession of marijuana, 2600 block of Nonesuch Road, Thursday A 19-year-old man was arrested in the theft of two handguns from a gun store. Police said the suspect distracted an employee while another took the guns, then fled in a truck. After police stopped the truck, the suspect gave consent to search the vehicle, where police then reported finding marijuana. Shoplifting, 3700 block of Ridgemont Drive, Thursday A 35-year-old man was arrested after allegedly concealing six DVDs, valued at $205, under his shirt and walking out of a store. Police said the suspect has five prior theft convictions. Shoplifting, 1600 block of Highway 351, Thursday A 42-year-old woman was arrested after allegedly concealing several items and exiting a store without paying. The items were valued at $123. The suspect reportedly told police that stealing the items was "a stupid decision." Assault, 3900 block of Old Anson Road, Friday A 60-year-old man was arrested after allegedly hitting his 32-year-old girlfriend in the back with a broom handle and attempting to drag her by her hair outside their residence. Theft, 4300 block of South Treadaway Boulevard, Wednesday A cutting torch and accessories, valued at $600, were reported stolen from a work truck parked at a business Monday. Employees of the business later identified the suspect as a former employee from video surveillance, police said. Sometimes it takes a team effort to get the job done, as the Air Force Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps programs at Abilene and Cooper High Schools are finding out. The programs are joining forces to celebrate the 100th birthday of the JROTC by throwing a 5K fun run at 10 a.m. Saturday at Abilene Christian University. The race will begin in the parking lot of the schools's Williams Performing Arts Center It's part of an Air Force-wide effort in which members of every JROTC program across the world will start running at the same time at individual fun runs. The organization is attempting to break a world record. JROTC is a military-supported high school program with the purpose of educating students in leadership roles while making them aware of the benefits of active citizenship. The curriculum emphasizes academics, citizenship, character development, leadership skills, physical fitness and community service. For more information, visit the Abilene Independent School District's website at www.abileneisd.org. Robert Lockhart, Abilene The upcoming local elections in Abilene have generated considerable interest. I call your attention to the candidacy of Sammy Garcia for Place 3 on the AISD board. He is a graduate of Texas A&M University and is recognized in our community as an outstanding small-business owner. Sammy is well qualified to serve in this position. Sammy is well-informed about our community and schools. He is an active member of multiple civic and nonprofit organizations, serving as chairman in several of these. These exposures give him a broad and balanced view of our community and its needs. Sammy has served on our school board in the past and also has had experience serving on the school board in another city prior to coming to Abilene. Please join me in voting for SammyGarcia for Place 3 on the AISD board. Advertisement - Continue Reading Below This just in... Parliamentary speaker Shwe Mann talks to the media during a press conference in the parliament building in Naypyidaw, Feb. 11, 2015. Myanmar's opposition Union Solidarity and Development Party has expelled former party chairman and parliamentary speaker Shwe Mann and 16 of his allies in the military-affiliated party, a senior USDP official said on Saturday. "About 17 members who are not obeying party rules and disciplines were allowed to leave from the party," Tint Zaw, a member of the USDP's Central Committee, told RFA's Myanmar service. Tint Zaw said the decision was taken at a meeting of senior party leaders to plan for upcoming by-elections, and that those expelled included Shwe Mann affiliates Aung Ko and Maung Maung Thein. He did not elaborate on what party rules the party members had violated, but suggested a link between the expulsions and Shwe Mann's decision in February to accept an appointment by incoming leader Aung San Suu Kyi as chairman of the Legal Affairs and Special Cases Assessment Commission. That body supports parliamentary committees as they amend existing laws and draft new legislation. Some former USDP leaders who are now members of Shwe Manns commission are also on the list," said Tint Zaw. Shwe Mann served as speaker of the lower house of parliament for five years under the previous USDP government until January when deputies from National League for Democracy (NLD) party who swept Nov. 8 general elections took their seats. As a former army general, 68-year-old Shwe Mann has deep connections to the powerful military, which had run the country for five decades until recent reforms brought in a quasi-civilian administration. But he is also considered a reform-minded ally of Aung San Suu Kyi, who was appointed state counselor and foreign minister last month and is de facto head of the NLD government despite being constitutionally barred from serving as president. Reported by Wai Mar Tun for RFA's Myanmar Service. Translated by Win Naing. Written in English by Paul Eckert. Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump had blowout victories in New York this week. Understandably, each exulted in their triumph. Clinton said, "The race for nomination is in the home stretch, and victory is in sight." Donald Trump stated that Ted Cruz is "just about mathematically eliminated." Not so fast, folks. The public does not believe this race is over. And I know the states yet to decide (Pennsylvania, North Dakota, Maryland, West Virginia, Connecticut and California among them) do not relish the idea that they are an afterthought. Republicans, Democrats and independents are pretty much as one in believing that these two contests are benefiting the voters. Exit polls show 68 percent of Democrats feel the race has energized their party, while fewer Republicans say the same. All feel it's the voters who should decide, not candidates calling for their opponents' exits. Millions of Bernie Sanders, Cruz and John Kasich supporters want the contest to be a photo finish at the convention wire. Their supporters will rightfully feel cheated if Trump or Clinton forces their candidate out of the race, truncating their fair chance to contest the nomination. No one should begrudge Clinton or Trump playing the "sense of inevitability" card that they're going to get the nomination. That's standard campaign technique. After all, if you can convince the public the race is over, it falls to the opponent to waste energy to convince voters otherwise. Except that this year, not only does the arithmetic prove both Trump and Clinton still fall short of the nomination, but the public clearly wants the testing for the world's most powerful office to continue until the last vote is cast and counted. Let's be plain: Clinton and Trump are very close to reaching the important numbers. But it's the voters' right to decide if they want to put Trump or Clinton over the top, or boost their opponents and create a "let's-see-their-persuasion-skills" open convention fight. And as a Democratic official with the title of "superdelegate," I prefer to see voters in the District of Columbia cast their ballots before tossing my vote in one corner or another. CBS Political Director John Dickerson says the math shows that Trump must win 52 percent of the remaining delegates to meet the convention rules and win a majority. Other professionals, like NBC Political Director Chuck Todd, ballpark Trump as needing to win about 57 percent of the remaining delegates. When we consider that, until New York, Trump had never won 50 percent of the vote, that spells real competition -- especially considering that Cruz has won primaries above 50 percent and Kasich's vote-getting power is increasing. Yes, the math shows that Cruz cannot mathematically secure the nomination in the remaining primaries. But the same math shows that Trump, mathematically, has to score big in each and every primary to win, something he has achieved but once. Given some of the rules, like winner takes all, or most, he will likely get close to achieving victory before heading to Cleveland. The real dark horses in this election year are Kasich and Sanders. No professional thought they would get this far. It's an astounding feat of survival of the fittest. Sanders now has his toughest test. He needs to win 73 percent of the delegates being contested in these last primaries, according to Slate's senior writer, John Voorhees. But, Sanders has an argument. He says, correctly, that the Democrats' superdelegates are up for grabs and he intends to win them over. Superdelegates, including Sanders himself, represent the interests of the Democratic Party, serving effectively as a peer review board of veteran public servants. Further, we can change our minds as often as we think prudent. These superdelegates compose 15 percent of the total delegates, and could indeed make a difference on the convention floor. It will be a tough sell. Sanders is facing the best warrior candidate of any party; yet his supporters and the voters say, "let him try." Elections are about seeking competent, tested leadership, and most importantly, framing and deciding issues on the economy, immigration and defense. Even losing candidates can, through the power of the voters they win, shape the party's position and push the winning candidates to encompass more of their view. Incidentally, one of the results of the New York primary is the talk making the rounds that we are seeing a "more presidential" Donald Trump afterwards. Have you seen that? We've really lowered our standards when we say Trump is more presidential because he got through one press conference without insulting any of his opponents. What I have seen is Donald Trump insulting Republican delegates who've been elected by the voters to support Cruz, Rubio, Bush and Kasich. If I were one of their delegates, I'd bristle and fight back. Trump is saying that delegates who support Cruz et al, won by fraudulent manipulation at the polls -- the definition of rigging. Sorry, but it just ain't so. Donna Brazile is a senior Democratic strategist, a political commentator and contributor to CNN and ABC News, and a contributing columnist to Ms. Magazine and O, the Oprah Magazine. The code has been copied to your clipboard. Iran's oil minister has said Tehran would support any plan to stabilize the market, despite not attending last week's meeting of oil producers in Qatar to freeze global oil production. The talks on April 17, aimed at trying to boost global oil prices by capping production, ended without agreement. Saudi Arabia, the world's top oil exporter, had demanded that any cap deal must be binding to all producers. Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said although the Doha meeting was not "fruitful," Tehran saw it as a "positive step." "[The Doha meeting] initiated negotiations between OPEC and non-OPEC member countries and showed to the main oil producers in OPEC that something should be done to change the situation," Zanganeh was quoted as saying by the oil ministry's news agency, SHANA, on April 23. But Iran, a member of OPEC, is insisting that it will not limit its output until it has raised its production to the level before international sanctions were imposed against Tehran over its nuclear program. Based on reporting by Reuters and SHANA Iran's president says the country deserves credit for hindering Islamic State (IS) militants and keeping the radical group from seizing control of Syria and Iraq in their entirety. Hassan Rohani made his comments April 23 in Tehran at a United Nations-sponsored event. The IS group evolved in part from the remnants of Al-Qaedas network in Iraq after it was defeated by U.S. forces. The extremist Sunni group has slaughtered those groups it believes violate its strict interpretation of Islam, including Shia, who it considers to be apostates. If it wasnt for Iran, Rohani said, [Islamic State militants] would have triumphed both over Damascus and Baghdad. Today we wouldn't be facing a small terrorist group; our region and our world would have faced two countries and two states governed by terrorists. Then what would Paris and Belgium do? Then what would New York do?" he asked. In Syrias civil war, Iran has aggressively backed the central government, which is dominated by a variation of Shia Islam, as well as Iraqs Shiite-dominated leadership. The buses are lined up by midmorning, packed with tourists anxious to enter one of the world's most infamous attractions. The excitement is lost on members of the 633rd Fire Brigade of Ivano-Frankivsk, however. For them, the Chernobyl exclusion zone represents the worst 48 days of their lives. These men were among the nearly 600,000 officially identified as liquidators -- citizens, reservists, and military personnel who were sent to the Chernobyl nuclear plant in Pripyat, Ukraine, to mop up the world's worst nuclear accident. After a systems test resulted in the explosion of one of the plant's four nuclear reactors on April 26, 1986, they were rounded up from across the Soviet Union and sent to the disaster zone. With little to no equipment, they were tasked with mitigating the effects of the accident, which spread radioactive contamination over large areas of what is today Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia. It was a job they'd never been trained for, but for which much credit is given for limiting the spread of radiation and saving untold numbers of lives. After the immediate focus on putting out fires, carrying out mass evacuations, and distributing iodine pills, the effort carried on. For months liquidators worked to prevent the outbreak of disease, secure the 30-kilometer zone that circles the accident site, and build a concrete sarcophagus over the destroyed reactor. "We had no idea where we were going or what we were going to be dealing with," says Serhiy Melnyk, a member of the 633rd who arrived at the site 12 weeks after the accident, and served there for 48 days. "We were just given papers and we had to report." Not all went against their will; some volunteered out of a feeling of duty. But all served at great personal risk and under a cloud of disinformation. Even a year after the explosion, some who joined the clean-up effort did so without knowing the true extent of the danger. Kostyantyn Honcharov volunteered to join the effort in 1987. He admits that when he left his hometown of Simferopol, Crimea, for Chernobyl he had little idea what he was getting himself into. "I didn't know how bad the situation would be," he said. "I just wanted to help somehow." For their efforts, most liquidators qualified for social benefits, but the compensation cannot stave off widespread feelings of misgiving over their future. Honcharov says that, like those of the 633rd, most of the men from his team are either sick or dead. "Sure, I look healthy from the outside, but there are a lot of problems inside." Their blindness to the severity of the situation was a direct result of disinformation by Soviet authorities. "Soviet media played this message that everything was OK and there was no danger," says Serhiy Kvit, who was Ukraine's minister of science and education until recently. He was attending university in Kyiv and studying to be a journalist at the time of the disaster. "They just said the same thing over and over, 'Don't worry, go on with your lives, it's all OK." But Irina Zhukova, 49, says that even though no one knew the true scope of the disaster, rumors had started circling. "Of course we didn't know anything. But it was impossible to hide that something had happened because of the number of soldiers that were being called up to become liquidators." Mykhaylo Avershin, a 51-year-old liquidator who lives in Kyiv, suggests the population appeared apathetic in the the wake of the disaster because they were conditioned to believe the official line. "The people didn't question what the state media said," Avershin explains. "How could you have had developed that intuition if you've never known any alternative way of receiving information?" Avershin, who was a young Soviet soldier at the time of the accident, says he was immediately shipped of to Chernobyl alongside a mass of other young men. "We had no idea about the radiation and we were the first to begin liquidating the disaster," he says. "The villagers who served in the army were especially clueless." To illustrate just how oblivious these men were, Avershin bluntly discusses some of the looting that went on in the exclusion zone. "Hell, one guy from my platoon found a parachute that was being used to deliver sand to the reactor and decided to steal it," he recalls. "He wanted to ask his wife to sew a few pairs of pants from it because the material was great quality." He reveals that others were stealing cars and other things for scrap metal. "Some folks were even cutting the heating radiators out of abandoned homes to sell them as a scrap metal! In reality they just cut off a few decades of their lives." Their superiors were either just as ill-informed, lacked the resources to protect their soldiers, or simply did not care about their men's health. "When we got here, we had only a tent with no floor, so we all slept on the ground," says Vasyl Romanov of Ivano Frankivsk, where the 633rd Battalion was based. "Some commanders told us, Here is a haystack, take some as your bedding.' It was ridiculous." Another member of the 633rd laughs and pulls out an old picture when asked if their superiors gave them any protective equipment. "See that?" he says, pointing to a picture of a soldier wearing what looks like a small bandage on his nose. "That was our protection." Watch the video: Chernobyl 'Liquidators' Make Bitter Return The leader of the 633rd, a portly and jovial man in his late 60s named Yaroslav Oleynik, admits that his superiors made an initial attempt to at least track radiation intake. "They gave us these devices, and put them onto our clothing. They would check them everyday, but after the third day they just took them away from us," he laughs. "They realized that everyone was overexposed every day. Then they started telling us to write down how much radiation we were exposed to after each shift, so we wrote down any number, because we had no idea." Officially, the immediate death toll relating to the accident is only in the dozens, but the number of deaths later caused by cancers and other ailments linked to radiation exposure is a point of contention. A major UN study released in 2005 noted that fewer than 50 deaths had been directly attributed to radiation related to the accident. But it said that 4,000 radiation-related deaths could be expected among liquidators, evacuees, and residents of contaminated areas. Greenpeace, however, harshly criticized the UN report and estimated that the Chernobyl disaster had resulted in 200,000 deaths from 1990 to 2004. It also noted numerous other effects, including premature aging and neurological and psychological disorders. A special commission under the Ukrainian Health Ministry, meanwhile, suggests that 20,000 liquidators die from Chernobyl related illnesses each year, according to Dmytro Bazyka, the general director of the national center of radiation medicine in Kyiv. More clear is the feeling among liquidators that they have been abandoned by the state. "At first the attention from authorities was there," says Oleynik. "They treated us well, because they knew who we were. But later the authorities forgot about us." In 1997, the Ukrainian government took notice of what it claimed were illegitimate benefit payments to liquidators, and thousands lost their benefits immediately. Many more were forced to prove their need for state help. "Courts would pass the right decisions to restore benefits but then authorities would block them in appeals," Oleynik says. "But time goes by, and many died waiting for decisions to go through." Much of his time today is spent restoring state privileges and benefits to team members who lost them. "We've accomplished a lot. We've returned liquidator status to 96 members," he says, giving them access to benefits like free public transportation, advanced health care, and monthly payments. Nearly 30 years after the disaster, surviving members of the 633rd Brigade appear a bit shocked as they watch people gather outside the main entrance to the exclusion zone. For the 10,000 tourists who visit the zone each year, it might seem like an adventure park, but not to the liquidators. And yet, despite the hardships their role in the Chernobyl clean-up has caused them, many of the men are unflinching when they say theyd do it all again. 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 Police in the Pakistani city of Karachi say they have arrested a top Al-Qaeda financier who is on the United Nations Security Council's sanctions list. Abdul Rehman Sindhi was arrested in a joint operation between police and intelligence agencies, police said on April 22. "Sindhi is an old veteran of Al-Qaeda," senior police officer Muqadas Haider told Reuters. "He had stayed in touch with Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahri, and has worked with Harkat-ul Jihad Islami, Jaish-e Mohammad and the Al-Akhtar Trust." Sindhi was put on the UN's sanctions list in 2012 for providing "facilitation and financial services to Al-Qaeda." Pakistan has been under pressure to crack down on Islamist militants. It launched a renewed antiterrorism operation in 2014, when Al-Qaeda chief Zawahri announced the formation of a new wing, Al-Qaeda in the Indian subcontinent. The region spans across Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh, and is home to more than 400 million Muslims. Based on reporting by Reuters and AFP Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif bowed to opposition demands that he ask Pakistan's chief justice to set up an independent commission to investigate offshore accounts linked to his family. In a national address on April 22, Sharif said he would accept the commission's findings and even resign if called upon. The panel will be looking into the Sharif family's offshore real-estate holdings which were recently disclosed in a massive leak of documents. Sharif's sons are among several politicians, business leaders, and celebrities whose offshore dealings were disclosed in documents leaked from the Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca & Co., mostly detailing how the wealthy avoid tax obligations using offshore accounts. Sharif's daughter, Maryam, who has been mentioned as a possible political successor, was named along with his sons Hasan and Hussain as a custodian of the family's offshore holdings. Sharif had earlier said he would designate a retired judge to lead the investigation. But that drew criticism from opposition politician Imran Khan and others who demanded a commission established by the chief justice of the Supreme Court. Sharif has denied any wrongdoing during his 30-year political career, saying the fact that he is serving a third term proves the nation has confidence in his "clean and transparent politics." He dismissed allegations of corruption, saying they had been investigated long ago and that no wrongdoing had been found, even during the rule of General Pervez Musharraf, who overthrew Sharif in a 1999 military coup. "We believe in uprooting corruption and providing good governance for the people," Sharif said, adding that his critics want him to "respond to baseless allegations instead of serving the masses." "If the allegations leveled against me and my family members are proved, I will resign without any delay," he said. Separately, Panamanian investigators on April 22 raided a property used by the Mossack Fonseca law firm and removed bags full of shredded documents as evidence, a local prosecutor said. With reporting by AP and AFP Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic, a rebranded ultranationalist who shed his incendiary rhetoric after the overthrow of Balkan strongman Slobodan Milosevic, is comfortably in the driver's seat as Serbia goes to the polls this weekend. Vucic has brought his allies to the brink of a hefty majority in the Serbian legislature by appealing in often seemingly contradictory ways to multiple segments of Serbia's broad political spectrum. He has praised Serbian war criminals yet also expressed "pride" in becoming a self-described moderate. And he promises to lead Serbia into the EU while simultaneously maintaining Serbia's deep historical ties with Russia. But as the country goes to the polls on April 24, Vucic's carefully crafted messages could leave many Serbs, and indeed Brussels and Moscow, guessing as to which way the opportunistic 46-year-old former firebrand for the Radical right plans to steer the most populous ex-Yugoslav republic: East. West. Forward. Or Backward. "When Vucic says to choose between past and present, he means choose between my past and my future," says Olga Beckovic, an independent political commentator in Serbia. "He is saying, 'I can again become [an ultranationalist like Vojislav] Seselj if you don't want me to be European.'" Vucic is sufficiently confident of his popularity to have scheduled the elections two years early in a bid to strengthen his dominance of Serbia's political scene. His Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) and its coalition partners fell just short of a two-thirds majority in the last election, in 2014. A trained lawyer and former information minister for wartime Yugoslav President Milosevic, Vucic has billed the April 24 poll as the moment for Serbs to choose whether they want to return to the past or move forward to a new future. He has suggested he would use a stronger parliamentary base to bolster his efforts to lead the country into the European Union by 2020. But what Vucic would in fact do is difficult to gauge because his first two years as prime minister have been filled with contradictions. Since becoming prime minister in 2014 on promises of tackling endemic corruption and leading Serbia westward, Vucic has overseen formal negotiations with Brussels over Serbia's EU aspirations, including vowing to cooperate in defusing tensions with Kosovo, which declared independence from Serbia in 2008, as part of the process. But he has maintained his appeal for those suspicious of the West by simultaneously vowing to keep Serbia close to its historical partner, Russia. He has also fostered close relations with Moscow by refusing to join EU sanctions over its actions in Ukraine -- where it forcibly annexed Crimea and continues to support armed separatism -- raising questions as to whether he values relations with Brussels or Moscow more. So far, Vucic's balancing act seems to have paid off by giving him maximum maneuvering room to build up his power base. But it also may have sown confusion among Serbs, many of whom are torn over whether the country's future lies east or west. In an opinion poll in February profiling younger Serbs, 70 percent of respondents between the ages of 18 and 35 said they would like to work in the EU and enjoy the kind of health benefits people have there. Yet at the same time, 65 percent said they approved of Russia's foreign policy and more than half said they would favor having a Russian military base in Serbia. Some of the reasons for such mixed feelings may be historical, including reservations about the West that remain from NATO's bombing of Serbia over Kosovo in 1999. Some of the rising Euro-skepticism also may simply mirror that in the EU itself amid the bloc's economic woes, migrant crisis, and the specter of "Brexit." But many observers blame Vucic's own personal failure to unequivocally champion EU values. "In Serbia, public opinion is formed top-down," says Jelena Milic of the Belgrade-based Center for Euro-Atlantic Studies. "Now we have this paradoxical situation in which for [the past] two years all the political parties have been formally in favor of EU integration but public support has dropped down significantly." An opinion poll in February found 48 percent of Serbs would support membership in the EU, down from 51 percent in 2014. Vucic's ambiguity may also help explain the rising political fortunes of ultranationalist parties, which are highly hostile to the West and now look poised to return to the Serbian legislature for the first time since 2012. The ultranationalist parties are predicted to take 5-10 percent of parliamentary seats, enough to give them a pulpit from which to denounce Serbia's official EU aspirations but not enough to significantly affect government policy. One of these parties is led by Vojislav Seselj, the leader of the Serbian Radical Party from which Vucic broke away to help found the Progressive Party in 2008 along with Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic. Seselj, who was acquitted by the Yugoslav war crimes tribunal in March, is running for a parliamentary seat on a virulently anti-EU platform, claiming he has defeated Western efforts to punish Serbian nationalists over the Balkan wars of the 1990s. "In Serbia, Euro-skepticism is rising and that is helping our chauvinistic, pro-Russian-oriented, and anti-European parties like Seselj's party," says Dusan Janjic, founder of the Belgrade-based Forum for Ethnic Relations. But it is not just old-guard nationalist movements that are making gains. Serbia is also seeing a mushrooming of new fledgling political parties and civic organizations that seek to directly tie Serbia's future to Russia as an alternative to the EU. Some such parties have names that include references to Russia, such as the Serbo-Russian Movement and the Russian Party. Barely large enough to field candidates for parliament, their rise nevertheless suggests the competition over whether Serbia moves east or west will only get tougher in the future. Where the funding for the new pro-Russia parties comes from is a mystery. Milic, who believes they are a projection of Russian soft power, has tried to investigate their financing and was immediately subjected to anonymous cyberbullying and death threats. The threats were serious enough to warrant police protection. The question now is whether Vucic will continue to leave open a wide window for Serbia's anti-EU forces or use his likely stronger mandate after April 24 to try to close that window before it seriously threatens his own declared EU ambitions. Some Belgrade observers predict that so long as the EU itself fails to give Serbia clear assurances it will indeed one day join the bloc, Vucic will continue to keep his own political options open by balancing Brussels and Moscow. WASHINGTON -- At a forum in St. Petersburg earlier this month, Russian President Vladimir Putin spent much of his time mocking the Panama Papers document leak, which implicated close friends of his in shady financial transactions. Then he took time to hit his favorite punching bag -- the United States -- with an arcane allegation and a veiled threat about the disposal of one of the most radioactive substances on the planet: plutonium. The Americans, he alleged, were reneging on a 16-year-old deal that called for reducing Russia's and the United States' stockpiles of weapons-grade plutonium. He accused Washington of trying to preserve its ability to turn some of its plutonium stockpile back into a form usable for nuclear weapons. "This is not what we agreed on. Now we will have to think about what to do about this and how to respond to this," Putin said. "By all indications, this will also be an irritant, which will provoke a corresponding reaction. The assertion, which has been denied by the United States, went largely overlooked by the wider public. But Putins comments caught the attention of arms-control and nonproliferation experts, as well as two U.S. senators, and serves to highlight the precarious state of affairs between Russia and the United States. Losing That '90s Optimism The agreement was "a sign of the ability of the two countries to work together," said Cheryl Rofer, a retired nuclear scientist at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, where U.S. nuclear weapons are designed. "I hate that we have lost the optimism of the 1990s, although not everyone thought that was a good thing then." Plutonium has been produced in the United States and Russia for decades. In its enriched form, it is valued as fuel for nuclear weapons; in a less-pure state, it can be used to fuel power plants. The two countries together hold the worlds largest stockpiles. The most recent inventory by the U.S. Energy Department showed the United States had around 95 tons, most of which was weapons grade. Russia, for its part, is estimated to have around 128 tons of weapons-grade plutonium. In 2010, Moscow and Washington recommitted themselves to a deal signed a decade earlier called the Plutonium Management and Disposition Agreement. That deal, which was negotiated in the 1990s, called for turning a chunk, though not all, of the countries weapons-grade plutonium stockpiles into other forms, such as fuel for nuclear power plants. Though the amount involved was just a fraction of the overall stockpiles -- 34 tons -- the deal has been widely viewed as a barometer of U.S.-Russian nuclear cooperation. In the United States, the disposal process has long involved blending the plutonium with uranium and turning it into mixed-oxide fuel, or MOX, for use in power plants. A government facility being built in South Carolina for that purpose, however, has gone billions of dollars over budget and fallen far behind schedule. The fact that uranium prices have fallen amid a global glut means theres even less demand among nuclear-plant operators for MOX. In February, following years of mounting criticism, President Barack Obamas administration pulled funding for it, a decision that was praised by some experts and former Obama administration officials as "principled." In place of the MOX plant, the U.S. government is leaning toward a "dilute and dispose" approach or "immobilization." That involves adding the plutonium to a nonradioactive substance, encasing it in glass or metal-can type containers or oil drums, and burying it at a federal waste site in New Mexico. Unlike with MOX, experts say this method could still allow for plutonium to be extracted some day and put back into weapons, though with difficulty. This is what likely prompted Putins response to a question that appeared to have been planted by organizers of the April 8 St. Petersburg forum. "Our partners should understand that, jokes aside, all their efforts to promote information products aimed against Russia are one thing, but serious issues, especially with regard to nuclear arms, are quite a different matter and one should be able to meet ones obligations," Putin said. The assertion drew a predictably caustic response from Dmitry Kiselyov, a television anchor and state-media boss whos known for bombastic commentary: "America Deceives!" The two U.S. senators representing South Carolina, whose districts would suffer the loss of well-paying jobs if the MOX project were ended, also weighed in on April 11, accusing the Obama administration of allowing Putin to take the high road. Gary Samore, who oversaw nonproliferation and arms control efforts in the White House under both Obama and President Bill Clinton, said Putins remarks reflect Russian worries about U.S. intentions and capabilities that date back to the early days of the Cold War. However, he said, by moving away from the MOX dilution effort, the Americans are essentially changing the agreement. "Putin is right. Were proposing to modify the agreement," Samore told RFE/RL. "And the Russians, if they wanted to, they would be within their rights to say that theyre not going to carry through with the agreement." The State Department, however, has denied that the United States has violated the agreement, saying it allows for the two sides to "agree on disposition methods that do not involve irradiation in nuclear reactors." New Agreement Required? "Accommodating any such new method of disposal...requires written agreement between the parties; we would expect such consultations on a separate agreement to begin at an appropriate later time," said Eric Lund, a spokesman for the State Department's Bureau of International Security and Nonproliferation. "The United States remains firmly committed to the [agreement] and continues to believe that verifiable disposition of excess weapon-grade plutonium -- initially enough for 17,000 nuclear weapons -- represents an important nonproliferation and arms control step," he told RFE/RL in an e-mail. Pavel Podvig, a Geneva-based researcher who studies Russian strategic forces, said it is likely that the Kremlin was looking at the issue as a way to put political pressure on Washington as part of its overall approach toward the United States. "The U.S. in a difficult situation," he said in an e-mail. "Renegotiating [the agreement] would mean making some accommodations with Russia. Not impossible, of course, but may be difficult to accept." Matthew Bunn, who runs the Project on Managing the Atom at Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government, agreed that if relations were better, the two sides could amend the deal, just like they did when it was renegotiated in 2010. "I thought that was possible up until Putin made his comments," he said. "Now it would be extremely difficult for the Russians to agree to anything, given what Putin said." Ultimately, experts say, what matters is not the increasingly likely demise of the agreement but what it says about the poisoned relationship between the two countries. "Frankly, the way things are going, it seems to me that the agreement is nothing much at this point," Rofer said. "Mainly something to fight over." Russia said it temporarily suspended its demand for full repayment of a $3 billion loan to Ukraine to give the new government in Kyiv time to decide what to do about it. "We have given the new Ukrainian government an extension to assess the situation with a clear head, to reevaluate its position, and open negotiations with Russia on its debt," Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said on April 22. The move follows "a request from Ukraine" that Russia take Kyiv's current "political instability" into account, he said. Ukraine's parliament last week approved pro-Western speaker Volodymyr Hroysman as prime minister and he and President Petro Poroshenko are still assembling their cabinet. Poroshenko on April 22 appointed Leszek Balcerowicz, the architect of Poland's "shock therapy" economic policies and successful post-Soviet privatization drive, as a top economic adviser. The appointment follows the naming of former Slovak Finance Minister Ivan Miclos to the cabinet and signals that Poroshenko is reaffirming his commitment to the economic reforms prescribed by the International Monetary Fund. In view of the changes in Kyiv, Siluanov told reporters in Moscow that Russia has agreed to Ukraine's request to delay court hearings in a lawsuit Moscow filed in February over the disputed debt, which was issued in 2013 to the government of Russia-backed Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych weeks before he was ousted from office. "We gave the new Ukrainian government a reprieve," he said. Ukraine had asked London's High Court of Justice twice to postpone hearings. The loan was a eurobond issued on the Irish Stock Exchange and governed by English law, so Russia's lawsuit was filed in London. The lawsuit against Kyiv was filed after the two sides failed to reach a settlement of the debt, with Russia insisting on full repayment and Ukraine demanding a 20 percent writedown like it obtained from commercial creditors last year. Kyiv missed a December 21 payment on the debt and has been in default on it ever since. While Russia has rejected any writedown of the debt, it has offered to spread out its repayment over three years. With reporting by AFP, Interfax, and TASS A Sikh lawmaker and political adviser has been shot dead by Pakistani Taliban militants in northwestern Pakistan. Sardan Soran Singh, a Sikh member of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provincial assembly who also was an adviser to the chief minister of the region, was killed in the Buner district on April 22. Singh was a prominent member of the region's Sikh community. District police chief Khalid Hamadani said Singh was killed when his car was shot at by gunmen on two motorbikes. Pakistani Taliban spokesman Mohammad Khurasani said the group carried out the killing. "These activities will continue until the implementation of an Islamic system in Pakistan," Khurasani said in an e-mailed statement. "The brutal killing of Soran Singh is extremely saddening," Khan said in a statement, describing Singh as a patriotic Pakistani and loyal party worker. Singh joined the Tehrik-e Insaf party in 2011 and held one of several seats in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa parliament reserved for religious minorities. Sikhs make up less than 1 percent of Pakistan's 190 million people. Many see Pakistan as the place where their religion began. Based on reporting by Reuters, AFP, and dawn.com Foreign ministers from Greece, Macedonia, Albania, and Bulgaria vowed to improve coordination handling migrants on the Balkan route to northern Europe. "We are going to coordinate our efforts, we are going to try to avoid having solutions that are going to be at the expense of only one country," Macedonian Foreign Minister Nikola Poposki said on April 22 after two days of talks in Greece. More than 1 million migrants in 2015 made their way off smugglers boats from Turkey to Greece and then headed north by foot through Macedonia to Austria with the goal of reaching the wealthy northern states of the European Union. But the route closed this year, as a crackdown by Austrian authorities caused a domino effect of border closures all the way to Macedonia's border with Greece, leaving thousands of migrants stranded in dire conditions in the Greek town of Idomeni. During this week's talks, the four neighbors agreed that they should respond to vulnerable groups of migrants, such as unaccompanied minors, and work more closely to fight human trafficking. Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias said a coordination mechanism will be up and running within six months. Based on reporting by AP and AFP U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry assured foreign banks and businesses that the United States will not block them from doing business with Iran under last year's historic nuclear accord. "The United States is not standing in the way, and will not stand in the way, of business that is permitted in Iran since the [nuclear deal] took effect" in January, Kerry said on April 22 before meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in New York. Kerry said he was trying to clear up uncertainty among businesses outside the United States about investing in Iran. The Iranian government has complained about not getting the full economic benefit of its July 2015 nuclear deal with world powers. "There are now opportunities for foreign banks to do business with Iran," Kerry said. "Unfortunately there seems to be some confusion among some foreign banks and we want to try and clarify that." Banks that are now free to do business with Iran include those that are holding an estimated $55 billion in frozen Iranian assets, he said. Many of those banks have been nervous about returning the funds even since the deal went into effect. Kerry recently estimated that Iran has received only $3 billion of that $55 billion in repatriated wealth it was expected to reap under the deal, at least in part because of overcautiousness among banks. Kerry stressed that "among the nuclear-related sanctions that were lifted were those that prevented Iran from engaging with non-U.S. banks, including getting access to Iran's restricted funds." The only exceptions, he said, would be engaging with banks and companies that are still blacklisted by the United States. Kerry said it was understandable that some companies might need time to feel confident about doing business in Iran. He said if banks continue to have questions about remaining U.S. sanctions targeting Iran's ballistic-missile program and sponsorship of militant groups, "they should just ask." He noted that Tehran also needs to take more steps to welcome foreign businesses, such as by modernizing its banking system. The nuclear agreement eased some sanctions imposed by the United States, European Union, and United Nations in return for Tehran curbing its nuclear program. Zarif noted that "Iran has implemented its part of the bargain," including by disposing of some of its heavy water through an $8.6 million sale to the United States announced on April 22. Tehran has called on the United States to do more to remove obstacles to the banking sector so that businesses feel comfortable with investing in Iran without penalties. Current U.S. policy bars foreign banks from clearing dollar-based transactions with Iran through U.S. banks, and those restrictions will continue. Despite Kerry's assurances, some Western firms say they remain wary of doing business in Iran because of the possibility that seemingly innocent Iranian companies might have links to entities blacklisted by the United States. Iran's powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, which is still the target of U.S. sanctions, in particular has extensive business interests and ties in Iran which can be hard for foreigners to discern, so businesses must take pains to be sure they are not unwittingly violating sanctions by engaging with them. Zarif said he hoped Kerry's clarification will help. "We hope that with this statement by Secretary Kerry...now we will see serious implementation of all...benefits that Iran should [derive] from this agreement," he said. He added that Tehran hoped Kerry's words would "open the difficult path that has been closed because of concerns that banks have about the U.S. approach toward implementation of commitments" under the nuclear deal. Kerry said there remained some "serious differences" with Iran on implementing the deal. "Those have to be the subject of future discussion, but its important for people to understand that an agreement is an agreement," he said. It was the second meeting this week between Zarif and Kerry to discuss sanctions relief at the UN. With reporting by Reuters, AP, and AFP World heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder, an American, says he is eager to defend his title against Russia's Aleksandr Povetkin in a match on May 21. "I'm looking forward to Russia and I want to tell Russia, 'Here I come,'" Wilder said during a workout in Los Angeles in front of the media this week. "My expectation is, of course, to win. To come back with that victory for America.... This is a big fight, not just for myself, for America. It's like Russia vs. America." Wilder, the first American heavyweight champion in nearly a decade, was a 2008 U.S. Olympic bronze medalist who won the WBC heavyweight title in January 2015 with a unanimous decision over Haitian-born Canadian Bermane Stiverne. He said anything less than a knockout of Povetkin will be unacceptable to him. Based on reporting by Reuters and AFP As gourmet grocer Southern Season prepares to close its megastore in the Libbie Mill-Midtown development off Staples Mill Road this weekend, speculation continues about what will fill the 53,000 square feet of space the store occupied. The store, which opened less than two years ago, was the anchor tenant for the mixed-use development, which includes a new Henrico County public library, office space and plans for hundreds of homes and apartments. In announcing the closing April 11, Southern Season President Dave Herman said sales at the store, which included a full-service restaurant, did not meet expectations and that the store was too large and too expensive to continue to operate. On Friday morning, more than a dozen customers shopped for the remaining items in the store including tins of cheese straws, exotic hot sauces, cocktail mixers, bulk candies and more which were discounted 70 percent. The store is at 2250 Staples Mill Road. A spokesman for Henrico-based Gumenick Properties, which is developing Libbie Mill-Midtown on 80 acres off Interstate 64 in western Henrico County, could not be reached for comment Friday. Others in the field of economic and commercial development said the loss of the store is a blow but does not reflect on the potential of the Libbie Mill-Midtown project, which is bringing new synergy to the area. The Southern Season building includes a covered outdoor patio off the former restaurant area and space that was used for a cooking school. The buildings brick exterior gives it an upscale look, in line with the character of the development, which has sidewalks and decorative street lamps. A good fit would be a high-quality supermarket like Publix, said Brian Glass, a senior vice president in Richmond with real estate company Colliers International. Gumenick Properties can be very particular if they have any say in it. They can be very particular about who goes there because its at the front door of Libbie Mill. Thats why they wanted a high-quality store to go in there in the first place. Southern Season fit the bill. Glass said there are legal and lease issues that probably have to be worked out before a new tenant can occupy the space. We believe its a great midtown location, said Gary McLaren, executive director of the Henrico County Economic Development Authority, pointing to the rebirth of nearby Willow Lawn shopping center off West Broad Street as an example of the potential the area has. Obviously, whats happened at Willow Lawn sort of speaks for itself. Thats a mall that has turned itself around to a very, very strong retail area. Its certainly very well-located. The Willow Lawn shopping center completed a major renovation in 2012 and has continued to add more restaurants and stores since then, bringing shoppers and diners to the area. I think the folks who are developing Libbie Mill are already seeing more interest in office space than they probably anticipated because it is so well-located just off the interstate. Its a wonderful location from a transportation perspective, McLaren said. I think were very bullish about what is happening in that corridor and believe that there is only more good stuff to come. The Richmond Memorial Health Foundation, which makes grants to organizations for health care projects, moved its offices to Libbie Mill-Midtown in October 2014. There are a lot of things we like about it. We are delighted that the library is here and the potential that presents, said Mark D. Constantine, the foundations president and CEO. Our whole team is excited about what is happening on the development front because it creates an opportunity for a very engaged community, a community that is sort of rebuilding itself in many respects, revitalizing itself. I am hopeful that the foundation can be part of that in a meaningful way, Constantine said. Shagbark, a restaurant from award-winning chef Walter Bundy, is scheduled to open in the development. Bundys restaurant will occupy 5,872 square feet of space at 4901 Libbie Mill East Boulevard, near the entrance to Libbie Mill-Midtown. In addition, Rutherfoord a Marsh & McLennan Agency LLC company is moving into the development. The company is consolidating its downtown and western Henrico locations into a single headquarters at Libbie Mill-Midtown. The insurance and risk-management company will occupy nearly 30,000 square feet on two floors of a building under construction. More than 100 employees of the firm are expected to relocate. Libbie Mill is a huge new step, said Ben Blankinship, zoning division manager for the Henrico County Planning Department. He also pointed to the development at Willow Lawn as evidence of the potential. Its certainly a very valuable piece of real estate, Blankinship said of the Southern Season parcel. A CSX crew abandoned a train for hours Saturday, blocking an intersection in Ashland and preventing residents from leaving or accessing their homes. The freight train that stopped at about 3:25 p.m., blocking the intersection of Gwathmey Church Road and Center Street Road, wasnt disabled, the transportation company said. The crew had reached the end of its regulated shift, Melanie Cost, a CSX spokeswoman, said in an email. Unfortunately there was a delay in the new crew arriving to the scene, and the train did not get back on the move until about 8:30 p.m. The Hanover County Sheriffs Office said it was notified of the stalled train at 3:30 p.m. Two hours later, the train company contacted the department saying it would still be hours before it could get a new crew there to get underway. The sheriffs office didnt know how many residents were affected but said that residents were blocked on both sides of the train. A pedestrian was struck and killed by a car while trying to cross South Belvidere Street early Saturday. Richmond police said Wilson I. Herrarte-Barahona, 19, of the 4800 block of Wheatstone Drive in Fairfax County, was attempting to cross Belvidere at Cumberland Street just after 1 a.m. when he was hit by a Volkswagen Jetta that was traveling south. He was pronounced dead at the scene. The Jetta was in the center lane when a group of pedestrians attempted to cross the street on a red light, police said. A vehicle ahead of the Jetta stopped to avoid striking them, and the driver of the Jetta changed lanes in an attempt to go around the stopped vehicle, police said. As the Jetta approached the intersection at Cumberland Street, the group of pedestrians emerged from in front of the stopped vehicle. As the driver attempted to avoid striking the group, the right front of the vehicle hit and killed Herrarte-Barahona, police said. Herrarte-Barahona was a freshman at Radford University, according to a university official. Spokesman Joe Carpenter wrote in an email that the universitys heartfelt condolences go out to [Herrartes] family, friends and classmates. Grief counseling will be made available to students. An alleged Richmond heroin dealer who police believe is tied to several overdose deaths told investigators that he owed $80,000 to a supplier who fronted him cocaine and heroin, according to federal court records. Elbrendel A. Edwards, 41, was arrested Monday and charged with possession with intent to distribute heroin. More charges are expected to be filed, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration. Authorities had been watching Edwards comings and goings from at least two homes, including a small, old brick house at 1312 Evert Ave. in Richmond. From that house, authorities recovered about 500 grams of heroin about 1 pound and a semi-automatic 9 mm handgun, according to a court affidavit. Edwards told investigators that he got the gun from someone on the street, the affidavit states. Police recovered two other guns at a second house. Edwards said he obtained those two firearms by trading items for them, according to the affidavit, which was signed by a Chesterfield County police detective who is a member of a task force in the Drug Enforcement Administrations Richmond District Office. The document states that Edwards was prohibited from having guns and had two felony convictions in New York state from 1992 and 2006. Edwards told authorities that he sells only user amounts of heroin, the affidavit states. Gov. Terry McAuliffe said Friday that he will support Levar Stoney for mayor of Richmond, but he is not convinced his influence will be a major factor. I think because he and I are close it may affect one vote: my wife, McAuliffe said when asked about the role he expects to play in the mayoral campaign of his longtime aide. McAuliffe said he will write a check to Stoney and do whatever he wants me to do, but said repeatedly it is Stoneys race to run. Its a different set of issues, McAuliffe said. Hes got to give the people of Richmond a reason to vote for him. Stoney resigned from McAuliffes Cabinet last week, but it wasnt readily apparent Friday when Stoney joined McAuliffe to announce an executive order restoring the voting and civil rights for more than 200,000 ex-offenders, both violent and nonviolent. Stoney, who worked on the issue for years as secretary of the commonwealth, was given a speaking slot introducing the governor and stood directly behind McAuliffe as he signed the order. In a brief speech to the crowd, Stoney said the issue, for him, is personal because his father was an ex-offender who wanted the chance to vote again after finishing his time. Getting involved in public service is about, for me, two things: giving a voice to the voiceless and righting the wrongs, Stoney said. The governor did not directly reference Stoneys mayoral ambitions in his public remarks Friday, but wished him well in his future endeavors. Along with a share of the spotlight at Fridays announcement, which made national headlines, Stoney also got some of the blowback. A Place for All Conservatives to Speak Their Mind. To better align with the original identity of James Monroes Albemarle County home, Ash Lawn-Highland announced Friday it now will be known simply as Highland. Monroe, the fifth president of the United States, lived at the property from 1799 to 1823 and called it Highland. The name change has been on the docket since Sara Bon-Harper became executive director in 2012. Aligning our brand with the name given by James Monroe to his historic home is an important step in rediscovering Monroes legacy, Bon-Harper said in a news release. The author of the Monroe Doctrine had voiced his wish of spending his final years at Highland, but when he left the Executive Mansion in 1825, he was seriously in debt. During the preceding years, he had sold parcels of land to pay creditors, leaving him with fewer than 1,000 acres. In 1825, Monroe sold what was left of Highland to Edward Goodwin for $20 an acre. In 1834, Goodwin sold the bulk of Highland to Bernard Buckner. Three years later, Buckner sold it to Alexander Garrett, who changed the name to Ash Lawn. Around 1840, a wing of the house caught fire and was partially destroyed. The house didnt have any long-term owners until 1867, when it was purchased by John Massey, a retired Baptist minister and future lieutenant governor of the state. A recent inspection of uncovered nails, wall plaster and window glass led to the conclusion that they likely came from a part of the original Monroe house that had been destroyed by fire. Evidence of foundations also was discovered. In the years to come, I would like to see a whole lot of new information about the portion of the house that we confirmed archaeologically, Bon-Harper said in an interview last year. It has long been understood that the house we have is one wing, and the original house had two wings. The house was opened to the public when it was sold to philanthropist Jay Winston Johns in 1931. When he died in 1974, he willed the estate to the College of William & Mary, Monroes alma mater. The will stipulated that the college was to operate this property as a historic shrine for the education of the general public. The site now offers tours every day and hosts a number of public events, including the Albemarle County Fair, an annual sheep shearing, the James Monroe 5K and Highland 8K races and the Tuesday Tunes music series. A new logo features a silhouette of Monroe and his signature in Highland blues. The soft launch Friday included signage at the home and website changes to introduce the new name. Police in Virginia say a couple, their 19-year-old daughter and a 36-year-old man were found dead in their home after a fellow resident, who is now charged with murder, called 911 to report a shooting. Prince William County Police Chief Police Peter Newsham says officers called to a Woodbridge home Monday found two men and two women dead. He says David Maine was found nearby and later charged with four counts of second-degree murder. Newsham identified the dead as Miguel Duran Flores, Kelly Victoria Sotelo, their daughter Karrie Ayline Sotelo and Richard Julio Jesus Revollar Corrales, who also lived in the home. Police say three were fatally shot, but the cause of the fourth person's death hasn't yet been determined. Groups deplore lack of clear plans, positions on environment issues By Green Thumb Coalition March 21, 2016 CEBU CITY Environmental groups who converged in Cebu yesterday for the second leg of the PiliPinas Presidential Debates 2016 expressed disappointment at the candidates lack of any clear positions and plans regarding urgent environmental issues challenging the country. More than 2,000 environmentalists, farmers, scientists, representatives from the academe and the church, and members of local and national groups from all over the Philippines had come to Cebu to press candidates for clearer positions on environmental issues in their governance platforms. From what weve seen so far, the Presidential candidates need a more thorough understanding of environmental issues that have to be quickly addressed, as these greatly affect other developmental problems such as poverty, health and food security. They make vulnerable sectors even more vulnerable the longer they are left unchecked, said Naderev Yeb Sano, Executive Director of Greenpeace Southeast Asia. The Presidential aspirants make sweeping statements about environmental challenges such as climate change and disaster response, agriculture and farmers plights, or energy and development, but either they are merely pandering to popular demands with no clear plans, or are doing the opposite of what they supposedly espouse in their campaign speeches, added Ruth Ylanan, representative of the Urban Poor Alliance (UP ALL). The groups point as examples: Mar Roxas stating that the country needs to shift to clean, renewable energy but their current administration facilitated the entry of 25 new coal-fired power plants and himself propagating the myth that solar energy is expensive; Rodrigo Duterte acknowledging that the Philippines is at the forefront of climate impacts but going against any bid for the Philippines to phase out coal; Grace Poe pushing for benefits for farmers and agriculture but having no clear position on protecting organic farmers and ensuring safe food; Jejomar Binay not discussing any position or plans regarding any of the environmental issues that were supposed to be discussed at all. Led by the Sugboanong Nagpakabana sa Kalikupan (Concerned Cebuanos for the Environment), which includes Greenpeace Philippines, the group is part of the bigger Green Thumb Coalition "Pwersa ng 10 Million Boto" that aims to influence candidates' debates and public discussions around key environmental concerns. The coalition earlier sent letters to the Presidential candidates asking about their platforms around issues such as biodiversity, natural resource management, climate justice, mining, energy transformation, sustainable agriculture and fisheries, wastes, and other environmental challenges. Catherine Ruiz, of Kaabag sa Sugbo and Philippine Miserior Partnership pointed out that most of our natural resources are now in the hands of corporations raping the environment, and we are looking at elections this year to start correcting this problem. We cannot afford to have a leader that only looks at the bottomline of raking in more money towards their own pockets in preparation for the next elections. The groups were hoping for more comprehensive discussions and more substantive reactions to their concerns during the Cebu leg of the debates. The President of French Polynesia, Edouard Fritch, will lead a high-level delegation from Tahiti on an Air Tahiti Nui flight with 329 passengers including senior Cabinet Ministers, senior government officials and business associates - to Samoa. They are coming for the Grey family opening of the Sheraton Samoa Aggie Greys Hotel on Beach Road, Apia, according to Manuel Terai, special advisor to the French Polynesia government. On Friday, President Edouard Fritch will join Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi at the celebration where they will be given a preview of the facilities and a taste of services at Sheraton Samoa Aggie Greys Hotel and Bungalows. According to Mr. Terai, among the French Polynesian delegation are the Minister of Tourism, Jean Christophe Bouissou, Minister of Economic Development, Teva Rohfritsch, Minister of Culture, Heremoana Maamaatuaiahutapu, Senator Lana Tetuanui, former President of French Polynesia, Gaston Tong Sang. Also in the delegation are the CEO of Bank Polynesie Tahiti, Christian Carmagnolle, Deputy CEO Bank of Tahiti, Emile Achkar, CEO Bank Socredo, James Estall, the owners of Pacific Energy (the Pacifics largest supplier and distributor of fuel) Albert Moux and his son Patrick who are also owners of Vodafone Tahiti, CEO of Satnui Stevedoring New Caledonia and French Polynesia, Eric Malmezac. The Chairman and CEO of Air Tahiti Nui, Michel Monvoison, CEO of French Polynesia Tourism, Paul Sloan, CEO of South Pacific Hotel Management Group, Laurent Bessou, the owner of the World Famous 6 Star Four Seasons Resort Bora Bora, Thierry Barbion, the President of the Chamber of Commerce, Vanaa Chin Loy, the owner of French Polynesias Largest Brewery, Jean Pierre Foucard are all coming. They will be accompanied by the world Famous Tahiti Ora Dance Troupe which will perform live for an hour at the Hotel opening courtesy of the French Polynesia government. Mr. Terai said the government and People of French Polynesia will be here to celebrate a milestone in the opening of the 200 room, suite and bungalow property. Since 2011 and 2012 when the Grey family first purchased there 4 Major Resorts in French Polynesia, the Government and people of French Polynesia have stood by the Grey family and their endeavors in our Islands and now employ more then 500 people. This is a testimony to them not just in French Polynesia but also in Samoa where I hear they are one of the biggest private employers. And it is an excellent partnership between our Polynesian states. Set to open proper to the public next month since the devastation of Cyclone Evan in 2012, Fridays launch is special for the relationship between Samoa and the tourism mecca of the South Pacific, Tahiti. It is yet another step in the right direction as the two Polynesian countries look to strengthen the links in terms of tourism development. According to Mr Terai, President Fritchs trip to Samoa follows the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between Polynesian Airlines and Air Tahiti Nui (A.T.N) last year for flights to, from and beyond Samoa and Tahiti. The deal with A.T.N "opens Samoa up to Asia, North America and Europe directly. It also allows for the possibility of flights to Japan and other countries in Asia. We have now presented our case to Polynesian Airlines and we await their feedback on whether and when they wish for us to begin Joint Flights with them and open Samoa up. According to Mr Terai, if all goes to plan, there will also be a Los Angeles/ Apia /Auckland/ Apia/ Los Angeles flight twice a week, utilizing one of Air Tahiti Nuis five Aerobus A340 - 300 jets which currently can seat 30 in Business Class and 264 in economy class. Last year, Prime Minister Tuilaepa hailed the agreement as a massive leap in the right direction for Samoa. "This working together of Polynesian Airlines and Air Tahiti Nui is in the true spirit of Polynesian cooperation and brotherhood," he said. It is in line with the Polynesian Leaders Groups vision of connecting all Polynesian countries with the larger metropolitan centres, with which much of our trade occurs. This partnership will indeed provide the much-needed tourism resolve that we so desperately need. Samoa and indeed the Polynesian Islands are well positioned to benefit from the safety of our region. Air Tahiti Nui is a global player with twice daily flights to Los Angeles from Tahiti, daily flights to Paris, three flights a week to Auckland and twice weekly flights to Narita, Japan utilizing its fleet of 5 Aerbus A340 - 300 Aircrafts. Air Tahiti Nui also has a domestic arm in Air Tahiti, which services 41 domestic airports within the French Territories 118 Islands using a fleet of 12 ATR Twin Turbo Prop Aircraft. It also services the Cook Islands from Tahiti once a week using an ATR Twin Turbo Prop Aircraft. Mr. Fritch has been the President of French Polynesia since September 2014. Previously he had served as the Speaker of the Assembly of French Polynesia as well as a co-President of Tahoeraa Huiraatira, a pro-French political party. Mr. Fritch became a member of the Assembly of French Polynesia in 1986. He served as minister in the French Polynesian government several times from 1984 to 2011. From 1995 to 2005, and again from 2009 to 2011, he was vice-president of the government. From 2000 to 2008, he was mayor of Pirae, succeeding to his father in law Gaston Flosse, according to Mr. Terai. While the country braced for Cyclone Amos yesterday, Prime Minister, Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi, offered his prayers from New York. He is among leaders from 175 countries gathering there to sign the Paris Agreement on climate change, as the landmark deal took a key step forward, potentially entering into force years ahead of schedule. The signing took place yesterday, to commemorate Earth Day. Speaking about the signing, the Samoan chief at the helm of the United Nations, Secretary General, Tupua Ban Ki-moon hailed the occasion as historic progress. But he issued a warning. We are in a race against time, he said. I urge all countries to move quickly to join the Agreement at the national level so that the Paris Agreement can enter into force as early as possible. The window for keeping global temperature rise well below two degrees Celsius, let alone 1.5 degress, is rapidly closing. The era of consumption without consequences is over. We must intensify efforts to decarbonize our economies. And we must support developing countries in making this transition. The poor and most vulnerable must not suffer further from a problem they did not create. Let us never forget -- climate action is not a burden; indeed, it offers many benefits. It can help us eradicate poverty, create green jobs, defeat hunger, prevent instability and improve the lives of girls and women. Climate action is essential to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. According to Tupua, many people contributed to the COP21 negotiations in Paris and to the preparations the event in New York. Today is a day that I have worked toward since day one as Secretary-General of the United Nations and declared climate change to be my top priority. Today you are signing a new covenant with the future. This covenant must amount to more than promises. It must find expression in actions we take today on behalf of this generation and all future generations; actions that reduce climate risk and protect communities; actions that place us on a safer, smarter path. This morning we will be joined by 197 children, representing the Parties that adopted the Paris Agreement. Of course, they represent more than this. These young people are our future. Our covenant is with them. Today is a day for our children and grandchildren and all generations to come. Together, let us turn the aspirations of Paris into action. As you show by the very act of signing today, the power to build a better world is in your hands. Tupua added that the Paris Agreement provides the policy certainty and clear direction requested by the private sector, civil society and local leaders. Now we must take climate action to the next level. By acting on climate, we advance the Sustainable Development Goals and the 2030 Agenda. National, state and provincial governments, cities, the private sector, investors, and the public at large all are crucial to tackling the serious dangers posed by climate change. Financial supported is also critical, Tupua said. Far more than $100 billion indeed, trillions of dollars is needed to realize a global, clean-energy economy. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, holding his young granddaughter, joined dozens of world leaders for a signing ceremony that set a record for international diplomacy: Never have so many countries signed an agreement on the first available day. States that don't sign Friday have a year to do so. Many now expect the climate agreement to enter into force long before the original deadline of 2020. Some say it could happen this year. After signing, countries must formally approve the Paris Agreement through their domestic procedures. The United Nations says 15 countries, several of them small island states under threat from rising seas, did that Friday by depositing their instruments of ratification. China, the world's top carbon emitter, announced it will "finalize domestic procedures" to ratify the Paris Agreement before the G-20 summit in China in September. Ban immediately welcomed the pledge. Kerry said the United States "absolutely intends to join" the agreement this year. The world is watching anxiously: Analysts say that if the agreement enters into force before President Barack Obama leaves office in January, it would be more complicated for his successor to withdraw from the deal because it would take four years to do so under the agreement's rules. China's climate envoy, Xie Zhenhua, said his government hopes the United States will join the climate agreement "as soon as possible." The United States put the deal into economic terms. "The power of this agreement is what it is going to do to unleash the private sector," Kerry told the gathering, noting that this year is again shaping up to be the hottest year on record. The agreement will enter into force once 55 countries representing at least 55 percent of global emissions have formally joined it. An analysis by the Washington-based World Resources Institute found that at least 25 countries representing 45 percent of global emissions joined the agreement Friday or committed to joining it early. French President Francois Hollande, the first to sign the agreement, said he will ask parliament to ratify it by this summer. France's environment minister is in charge of global climate negotiations. "There is no turning back now," Hollande told the gathering. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also announced that his country would ratify the agreement this year. Other countries that said Friday they intend to join the agreement this year include Mexico and Australia. The climate ceremony brought together a wide range of states that on other issues might sharply disagree. North Korea's foreign minister made a rare U.N. appearance to sign Friday, and Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe brought applause when he declared, "Life itself is at stake in this combat. We have the power to win it." Countries that have not yet indicated they would sign the agreement Friday include some of the world's largest oil producers, including Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Nigeria and Kazakhstan, the World Resources Institute said. The Paris Agreement, the world's response to hotter temperatures, rising seas and other impacts of climate change, was reached in December as a major breakthrough in U.N. climate negotiations, which for years were slowed by disputes between rich and poor countries over who should do what. Under the agreement, countries set their own targets for reducing emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. The targets are not legally binding, but countries must update them every five years. Already, states face pressure to do more. Scientific analyses show the initial set of targets that countries pledged before Paris don't match the agreement's long-term goal to keep global warming below 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit), compared with pre-industrial times. Global average temperatures have already climbed by almost 1 degree Celsius. Last year was the hottest on record. The latest analysis by the Climate Interactive research group shows the Paris pledges put the world on track for 3.5 degrees Celsius of warming. A separate analysis by Climate Action Tracker, a European group, projected warming of 2.7 degrees Celsius. Either way, scientists say the consequences could be catastrophic in some places, wiping out crops, flooding coastal areas and melting Arctic sea ice. "This is not a good deal for our island nations, at least not yet," the chair of the Alliance of Small Island States, Nauru President Baron Divavesi Waqa, told the gathering. "The hardest work starts now." As the Paris Agreement moves forward, there is some good news. Global energy emissions, the biggest source of man-made greenhouse gases, were flat last year even though the global economy grew, according to the International Energy Agency. Still, fossil fuels are used much more widely than renewable sources like wind and solar power. *Additional reporting from AAP NASA hosted a media teleconference on Thursday, April 21, at 11:30 a.m. EDT. The said event aimed to tackle the current advances in the agency's solar electronic propulsion development or the SEP for a deep space exploration. The agency's awarding of the contract to the Aerojet Rocketdyne, Inc. on Tuesday for the development, as well as for the design of an advanced electric propulsion system is, in fact, the latest breakthrough in SEP. NASA's new electric propulsion system development is expected to bring advancement to the country's commercial space capabilities, including the ability for a future deep space voyage, such as the agency's Journey to Mars. The scheduled teleconference was participated by Bryan Smith, the director of the Space Flight Systems Directorate at the NASA's Glenn Research Center which is located in Cleveland. Also joined the event is Steve Jurczyk, the associate administrator of NASA's Space Technology Mission Directorate in Washington, according to News Channel. An advancement in the electric propulsion system may likely increase the fuel efficiency of spaceflight transportation by 10 times over the present chemical propulsion technology or even beyond the double thrust capability, as compared to the present electric propulsion technology. The next step is going to show this latest electric propulsion system in space. NASA's development of this technology is going to advance some future in-space transportation capability for a wide range of robotic exploration missions like the NASA's Asteroid Redirect Mission or ARM, deep space human, including private commercial space missions, Space Ref reported. For those who wished to join the NASA teleconference, media was allowed to get in touch with Gina Anderson. NASA's audio of the teleconference also had an online live streaming via http://www.nasa.gov/newsaudio. Meanwhile, for additional information regarding NASA technology, visit http://www.nasa.gov/technology. The UN states that a total of 175 countries have signed the Paris agreement on climate change at the United Nations in New York City, which was held on Earth Day, April 22, 2016. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said this is a moment in history, in which you are signing a new covenant with the future. He further said that they are in a race against time and the era of consumption without consequences is over. Many countries have signed the agreement on the first day. Countries that haven't sign may have a year to do so. John Kerry, the U.S. Secretary of State, holding his young granddaughter, joined other world leaders for a signing ceremony. Canada's Justin Trudeau and French President Francois Hollande joined U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry for combating global warming, according to ABC News. Meanwhile, China, which is the world's top carbon emitter, said that it will ratify this year before the G-20 summit in China in September. Otherwise, the United States, the world's second-largest emitter, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and leaders of Australia and Mexico said that they also intend to ratify within this year, according to New York Times. Congo's President Joseph Kabila spoke on behalf of the world's 48 less-developed countries. He said they were committed to moving in one irreversible direction to secure a safer climate. Leonardo DiCaprio, a UN messenger of peace and climate activist and an academy award-winning actor congratulated everyone, but he said that it will mean absolutely nothing if the world's leaders gathered there to go home and do nothing. He said no more talk, no more excuses, and no more 10-year studies. DiCaprio further said the world is now watching and you will either be lauded by future generations or vilified by them. The World Resources Institute said that the countries that had not yet indicated they would sign the Paris agreement include some of the world's largest oil producers such as Saudi Arabia, Nigeria, Iraq and Kazakhstan. Under the Paris agreement, the nations set their own targets for relegating emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. The objectives are not legally required, but the nations must apprise them every five years. Earth Day 2016 saw celebrations that panned from high-ranking leaders of more than 170 countries signing the landmark Paris climate accord, to a spectacular high definition view of Earth from the ISS released by NASA, and to Google revealing its own collection of special doodles to mark the day. The emphasis of the various events was to protect our beautiful planet. Leaders from nearly 175 nations signed a far-reaching climate agreement at the United Nations (UN) on Earth Day, April 22. The UN ceremony, which paves the world towards a more sustainable future involving low carbon growth, saw the largest single-day turnout for such an event. The ceremony was held four months after a deal was made in Paris, and it heralds the first step that will bind the countries to the promises they have made to curb greenhouse gas emissions. The Paris Agreement will come into full effect as soon as the 55 countries that are responsible for emitting 55 percent of the world's greenhouse gases sign the pact, and 2020 is the targeted date for the agreement to commence. Environmental campaigner, Hollywood actor and Oscar winner Leonardo DiCaprio was also present at the ceremony and addressed the gathering. Google unveiled a set of several Doodles in celebration of Earth Day. The Doodles featured artistic impressions of five major ecological settings, with a focus on their topography and fauna respectively. The paintings included an elephant in a grassland, a red fox in a forest, a tortoise in a desert, an octopus and a coral reef in the ocean and a polar bear in the tundra. NASA released an ultra high definition video which shows a view of our planet as seen from the International Space Station (ISS). The space agency is going to publicize its many missions that study and protect Earth using the hashtag #24Seven to mark the day. Incidentally, the agency has also asked people to share photos of activities they are doing to protect the planet with the same hashtag. Meanwhile, the European Space Agency (ESA) has published its own video, titled "The Many Faces of Earth," that reveals various satellite images of Earth that cover different aspects like atmospheric makeup, temperature and topography seen through sensors. LAKE CITY This years nine-day ArtFields extravaganza opened Friday in Lake City with about 200 artists and art lovers milling around the small town, taking in the sights and sounds. ArtFields will run through April 30 and features the works of artists from the 12 southeastern states of Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia. There are judged winners and peoples choice winners in the competition, where voters are the visitors attending the annual art event. With $100,000 in cash prizes given to artists, ArtFields is the largest arts competition of its kind in the region. For a complete list of events, venues, artists and their works, visit the ArtFields website at artfieldssc.org. Saturdays activities start with a Color me Run 5K at the Village Green on Henry Street. Another feature of Saturdays events is the Makers Market on the Village Green from 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Everything is going very well. Despite weather conditions, folks are turning out in droves and we have had several tour groups come through so far. Our voting center is doing very well and people are actively registering and casting their votes for their favorite work, Hannah Davis, ArtFields Director said. Hundreds of visitors toured Lake City Friday, and by the end of event thousands will have visited the town to take in the more than 400 pieces of art. Fridays opening ceremonies had to be moved indoors to the Bean Market because of the weather. The evenings Art Walk, a stroll that had visitors meeting artists of all types, from musicians to mimes, went without a drop of rain. Kevin Lassen of Florence, one of the hundreds of ArtFields volunteers, said Friday in the registration center on Main Street that the numbers were good for first day activities, especially considering the rain showers. This is Lassens fourth year of volunteering to work during the art competition and festival. Lake City Mayor Lovith Anderson Jr. welcomed visitors to ArtFields and Lake City. This is becoming a habit, he said. Habits are good when they are the right things We are pleased to open our community to everyone. An eight-member team works year-long on the festival, Davis told the visitors Friday. 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 CHIZ SAYS MINDANAO RAIL PROJECT CRUCIAL TO REGION'S DEV'T MISAMIS ORIENTAL--If the "Gobyernong may Puso" wins, independent vice-presidential bet Sen. Francis "Chiz" Escudero said it will prioritize the construction of the proposed Mindanao Rail Project (MRP) deemed crucial to the economic development of the region. Escudero said the planned passenger and freight railway transport development will be made possible through the P1 trillion they will allocate for Mindanao under the national budget. "Bahagi ang [MRP] ng isang trilyong pisong ilalaan namin sa Mindanao para magkaroon dito ng railway system, lalo na ang cargo para maging mas mura ang transportasyon ng inyong mga produkto," Escudero told a radio interview in Gingoog City on Friday. The veteran lawmaker said the proposed railway transport service will boost tourism, trade and commerce in the country's second largest island, dubbed as the "Land of Promise." It will also expand local markets for more efficient movement of goods and people to promote productivity and trade competitiveness, he added. "Ang Mindanao ay palaging tinatawag na lupa ng pangako pero gagawain po namin itong lupa ng katuparan," Escudero said. The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) is now in the process of conducting a feasibility study for MRP, which would link major cities including Cagayan de Oro, Iligan, Zamboanga, Butuan, Surigao, Davao and General Santos. According to NEDA, the MRP will "play a major role towards improvement of Mindanao's intra-island accessibility, linkages and seamless multimodal transport networks." It also noted that the island is strategically located and has potential as a major transshipment point and center of trade in the Brunei Darussalam-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East ASEAN Growth Area or BIMP-EAGA region. The Poe-Escudero tandem plans to allocate 30 percent of the present national budget, or about P1 trillion, to Mindanao in order to provide immediate economic relief to the region, which has 11 of the country's 20 poorest provinces. Escudero said at least P25 billion will be earmarked for each province in Mindanao in the first year of the Poe administration to help them catch up with the projects and developments in the two other major regions. He lamented that for the past years, Mindanao has been getting lesser attention from the national government compared to Luzon and the Visayas. Press Release April 23, 2016 Legarda: PHL Targets Early Ratification of Paris Climate Agreement New York, USA--Senator Loren Legarda, Co-Head of the Philippine Delegation at the High Level Signature Ceremony for the Paris Climate Agreement, pronounced the Philippines' commitment to ensuring the early entry into force of the Agreement by aiming for Philippine ratification within the year. On April 22, a few hours after Environment Secretary Ramon Paje, Head of the Philippine Delegation, signed the Paris Agreement on behalf of the Philippine Government, Legarda attended the High Level Informal Event for the early entry into force of the Paris Agreement. "We will muster all the energy and resources within our means, sustain advocacy at the grassroots level, and rally the executive and legislative branches of the Philippine government, as well as the local government units, so that the Philippines can be true to its commitment in Paris to keep a global temperature rise this century well below 2 degrees Celsius and to drive efforts to limit the temperature increase even further to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels," said Legarda. The Senator also said she will rally her fellow senators to act on the Philippine ratification of the Agreement and will call on legislators from other nations to ensure the early entry into force of the Agreement. In her capacity as UNISDR Global Champion for Resilience, Legarda has written to Parliamentarians of the 43 countries making up the Climate Vulnerable Forum (CVF) urging them to ratify the Agreement. "I also call on my fellow legislators in the Women in Parliaments Global Forum, my fellow policy-makers in GLOBE International, and everyone who values life and our future -- let us continue to rally our networks, organizations, and civil society in ensuring that our governments keep the promises they delivered in Paris," she said. Meanwhile, Legarda said that while nations await the Agreement's entry into force, governments must already start the work to implement their respective Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). The Philippines' Climate Change Commission (CCC) is preparing an NDC roadmap as it reviews its previously submitted Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) and converts it into NDC. "The CCC will revisit, reconstruct, and report on the country's NDC given the need to update assumptions and to take into account the external environment, such as costs of technology going down and new policy frameworks, among others," said Legarda. Even as the Philippines' NDC will still be conditional to the provision of the means of implementation that the country will receive in the form of financial support, capacity building and technology transfer, the government will continue to collaborate with development partners and donor governments to implement its NDC. MISAMIS ORIENTAL GOV EMANO ENDORSES BONGBONG MARCOS Endorsements continue to pour in for Vice Presidential candidate Senator Ferdinand "Bongbong" R. Marcos, Jr. Misamis Oriental Governor Yevgeny Vicente "Bambi" Emano, scion of the influential Emano clan which dominated politics in the province for over three decades, also threw his support behind the candidacy of Marcos. Emano gave his assurance of support to Marcos in a private breakfast meeting held at the Lasang Secret Adventure Park in the town of Initao, Misamis Oriental last Friday. The meeting with Emano occurred on the second leg of Marcos' "Unity Caravan" to Mindanao, which started with a campaign sortie in Gingoog City, also in Misamis Oriental. Marcos was accompanied in the meeting by Davao Del Norte Rep. Antonio Lagdameo. Also present in the meeting to show his support for Marcos was Initao Mayor Enerito "Gogoy" Acain. He came with his entire slate for the 2016 elections. Marcos and Emano ended their meeting with a firm handshake. Gov. Emano and Marcos are both members of the Nacionalista Party and close personal friends. They had also worked together as members of the House of Representatives. After the meeting, Marcos proceeded to the municipalities of Tubod and Kapatagan in the province of Lanao Del Norte, where he continued to spread his message for national unity. Press Release April 23, 2016 BONGBONG MARCOS TO CONSOLIDATE EASTERN VISAYAS FOR VP BID Vice Presidential candidate Senator Ferdinand "Bongbong" R. Marcos Jr. is set to consolidate starting today the whole of Eastern Visayas for his Vice Presidential bid. Concluding his four-day Unity Caravan in Mindanao where he got the support of local executives, including members of the Liberal Party, Marcos is scheduled to proceed to Leyte this afternoon to gather the different groups that support his candidacy. Eastern Visayas is a known bailiwick of the Marcoses since it is the hometown of his mother, former First Lady and now Ilocos Norte Rep. Imelda Romualdez Marcos. The region consists of the provinces of Biliran, Eastern Samar, Northern Samar, Samar Leyte and Southern Leyte and the cities of Baybay, Borongan, Calbayog, Catbalogan, Maasin, Ormoc and Tacloban. Tacloban is the center. It has more than 2.6 million registered voters. Aside from bringing his Unity Caravan to Tacloban, Marcos will also go to the Samar provinces where local leaders are also anticipating his visit. When Eastern Visayas was devastated by super typhoon Yolanda in November 2013, Marcos was one of the officials who extended help to the victims of the calamity. Their family brought a shipfull of relief goods to Leyte from Surigao as there was still congestion in the main port leading to Tacloban City at that moment. Then, Marcos refused to engaged in finger-pointing on the apparent lack of preparation saying it was useless to engage in a blame game when many people are hungry. "Could we have done better? Sure. Do we need to do more? Certainly. But this is not the time for all of these finger-pointing. This is the time to put our heads down together and help the people who are suffering," he was quoted as saying. On his return, Marcos will not only get updates on the progress of the rehabilitation efforts but will consolidate local officials to further boost his vice presidential bid. His cousins, Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez and Tacloban City Mayor Alfred Romualdez are expected to join him in the series of meetings around the region. Press Release April 23, 2016 LP STALWART IN CDO BUCKS PARTY LINE, ENDORSES BONGBONG MARCOS' VP BID Liberal Party lawmaker, Cagayan De Oro 1st District Rep. Rolando "Klarex" Uy has defied the party line of the Administration bloc as he endorsed the Vice Presidential bid of Senator Ferdinand "Bongbong" R. Marcos Jr. Speaking before hundreds of grassroots leaders and supporters at the Pearlmont Hotel in Cagayan De Oro City, Uy said he has been a good friend of the Senator since he was still Barangay Chairman of Brgy. Carmen in the said city. Uy said he had worked closely with Marcos in the House of Representatives when he was first elected as Cagayan de Oro's 1st district representative which gave him a first-hand account of Marcos' work ethics and strong commitment to public service. "We share a strong bond of friendship, we should make him our candidate. Let us support Senator Bongbong Marcos and vote for him," Uy urged his local leaders and supporters who roared their agreement. In turn, Marcos thanked Uy for his endorsement, saying his leadership is evident with the huge turnout of the people who attended the event and the warm and enthusiastic reception he received from them. "Maybe a lot of people were surprised because he has not come out openly before as to the candidate he would endorse. But now we all know," Marcos said. The Senator said he is ready to take on the duties of a Vice President because of his 27 years of experience in both the Executive and Legislative departments of government, having served as Vice-Governor, Governor and Representative of Ilocos Norte up to his current position as Senator. But Marcos emphasized that he is not only campaigning for his Vice Presidential bid. More importantly, he stressed, he is spreading his message for national unity, which, according to him, is essential to achieve the dream of a more progressive future for all Filipinos. The "Unity Caravan" of Marcos has, since Wednesday, been going around Mindanao, starting in Gingoog City in Misamis Oriental and the municipalities of Initao and Tubod in the same province, where he invariably received warm receptions from political leaders and local residents. Marcos concluded his Mindanao sortie with a visit to Butuan City today. Press Release April 23, 2016 Comelec hack makes DICT, 'cyber-SAF' urgent The hacking of the country's voters database, which triggered a Central Bank warning to banks to protect their customers from identity theft, is "the wake-up call" which should scramble the government to create the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT). The call was made by Senator Ralph Recto, principal sponsor of the Congress-approved bill creating the DICT, who said "there is no designated guard of the country's ICT infrastructure in the government at present." "It's not the DOTC, despite "Communications" being there. It can't even monitor the buses on our roads, how much more oversee the information highway? It's not the DOST, even if the low-key Information and Communication Technology Office (ICTO) is under it," Recto said. Despite growing information and communications technology (ICT) use in the country and the BPO industry among the top three export earners, "there's no department overseeing this sector even if every business group has been calling for the creation of one," Recto said. "What we have is a Balkanized system. Personnel investigating cybercrimes are so few and, worse, dispersed among government offices despite the increasing volume of transactions in all kinds of commerce being done online," Recto said. He cited the case of the Philippine National Police Anti-Cybercrime Group (PNP-ACG), which has a personnel complement of 110, "and this in a country where 70 million have social media presence." The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), he said, is another "frontline office" which needs more "ICT investigators and equipment to flag cybercrimes and tag those behind them." The DICT law, Recto explained, mandates the creation of a "Cybercrime Investigation and Coordination Center." The DICT will also be tasked to formulate the "National Cybersecurity Plan" and form the "National Computer Emergency Response Team," which, Recto said, will serve as "our IT Special Action Forces." Because "firewalling the country" from cyberattacks requires help from other countries, "work on international cooperation on intelligence regarding cybersecurity" will be done by the DICT, Recto explained. Saying that the DICT should be part of the national security plan, Recto said "we now live in an era when terrorists don't have to blast bank doors to do mayhem; but simply unleash a virus that could shred or suck out financial data. "An enemy with a missile is as dangerous as one with malware," he said. "Countries we are not so friendly with may target us and criminals will always want to hack their way to our financial system," Recto said. He said the hack-attack on Bangladesh Bank shows that the threat is real and countermeasures against cybercrimes urgent. "The poor man's ATM is vulnerable to hacking too. There are identity thefts victimizing ordinary people," Recto said, citing "2014-2015 Cybercrime Report" prepared by the Department of Justice (DOJ) which ranked the Philippines 39th among countries with Internet threat activities. The PNP-ACG recorded an increase of 113% in cybercrime statistics from 288 incidents in 2013 to 614 incidents in 2014. According to the senator, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reported 2,872 cases of ATM fraud during that period. The growing menace of cybercrime, "and the jobs that the ICT sector can bring," Recto said, should prod congressional and executive leaders to work for the immediate enactment of the DICT bill and thereafter implement it without delay. "Ito na ang tamang panahon," he said. Both houses of Congress passed their own version of the DICT bill last year, with minor differences. To avoid convening a bicameral conference, the Senate, before it adjourned for the campaign season last month, conveyed to the House its decision to accept the House version. Recto said that to gain Malacanang support, the DICT bill Congress had approved provides for a lean bureaucracy with a small but smart workforce. Despite its "small budget footprint", the proposed DICT will be a "powerful main server" which would spur ICT development, institutionalize e-government, and manage the country's ICT environment," Recto said. "ICT is also the third biggest source of dollars after electronics and OFW remittances. It is a growth driver. Every 10 percentage points increase in broadband penetration is said to boost the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by 1 percent," he said. Among the powers and functions of the DICT is the "identification and prioritization of all e-government systems and applications." The DICT will also formulate policies and initiatives to develop and promote ICT in education and promote consumer rights to reliable broadband service. Villar SIPAG launches program for children of OFWs Sen. Cynthia Villar will lead the launching of a program that seeks to address the challenges faced by the children of overseas Filipino workers through a summer workshop. Villar SIPAG (Social Institute for Poverty Alleviation and Governance), in partnership with Beam & Go and the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines-Episcopal Commission for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People (ECMI) will conduct the first "Isang Seminar sa Pangkabuuang Kabutihan ng mga Anak OFW" at Laurel House, Mandaluyong City on April 23. "We are expanding our OFW assistance program to reach out to the children of OFWs. It cannot be denied that many problems confront the children whose parents had to be away for a long time because of work abroad. The children also need our attention and assistance," Villar said. About 100 children of OFWs will participate in the one-day summer workshop composed of discussions on perks and challenges of being an OFW child, saving money, and protection against cybercrime. The seminar will also focus on providing tips to children of OFWs on good lifestyle, proper nutrition, spiritual and psychological growth. Villar said the workshop will be a fun and engaging venue for OFW youth to interact with each other while providing special learning that will make them wiser, more responsible and more independent despite the absence of their parents. Villar SIPAG also extends financial, livelihood, legal and repatriation assistance to OFWs in distress. Skills-up trainings and anti-scam symposiums are also held all over the country to help OFWs. As a high school senior in Sacramento, James Mott cut class to watch the Black Panthers march into the state Capitol in their leather jackets and berets, carrying shotguns. Mott couldnt resist falling in behind them, and now he is at the front of the line as the Black Panther Party cranks up to mark its 50th anniversary celebration, beginning with an all-day symposium Saturday at Laney College. The Black Panthers were the single greatest effort by blacks in the United States for freedom and self-determination, he said, as keynote speaker for a news conference Friday at the Oakland Museum of California. The museum will be the site of a three-day conference on the Panthers that will take over the entire 7.5-acre museum compound for three days, Oct. 20-23. The symposium will coincide with the museum exhibit All Power to the People: Black Panthers at 50, which will include original Panther berets and rarely seen photographs of day-to-day life among the Panthers, taken by party members. The marquee item, borrowed from Stanford, will be the original draft of the Panther 10 Point Platform and Program written by hand by party co-founder Bobby Seale. Seale noticeably absent Seale, who has written a screenplay about his life in the Panthers, was noticeably absent from Fridays event. Thats because he is putting on his own 50th anniversary events on behalf of the National Alumni Association of the Black Panther Party, which he says will draw more than 200 Panthers to the Bay Area in October. Also absent was David Hilliard, founding member and chief of staff of the Panthers. He was on the schedule but called in sick. This left it to several later members, led by Mott, who now goes by the name Saturu Ned, 67, and Elaine Brown, 73-year-old former chairwoman of the Black Panther Party. Brown, an activist and one-time presidential candidate, arrived with her right arm in a sling, the result of a much-publicized dustup with Oakland City Councilwoman Desley Brooks, in an Oakland soul food joint. Brown has filed suit against the city and Brooks for $7 million, claiming injuries that required surgery. Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf was on hand for the news conference to claim her own link to the Panthers. This is based on the fact that Schaaf is also 50 and is the 50th mayor of Oakland. Growing up in Oakland with the Black Panther Party gave me a skeptical eye, Schaaf began her remarks, later concluding them by declaring October to be Black Panther History Month in the city of Oakland. AP There was no specific event that launched the Black Panther Party, but the generally agreed-upon date is Oct. 15, 1966. The one person who does not agree on that date is Seale, who was reached by phone Friday, as his plane landed after a speech at the University of Oregon. Seale said the founding date was Oct. 22, 1966, which was his 30th birthday and the day he and the late Huey Newton finished the 10 Point Platform and Program for the Black Panther Party for Self Defense (as it was originally called). Breakfasts for kids The call to action was to patrol the streets in uniforms of black leather jackets and turtlenecks and berets, but those uniforms and military marches were mostly theatrics, Ned said Friday. The more effective action was to distribute food and medical treatment to the poor. The party launched a free breakfast program for neighborhood schoolchildren. Soon enough, FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover called the Panthers the greatest threat to the internal security of the country. This only aided the lore, and probably helped with recruiting. At their peak, the Panthers had thousands of members and offices in 68 cities. Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Updated to include drought zones while tracking water shortage status of your area, plus reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts. Nationwide, the single act that most boosted Panther membership was probably the assassination of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., on April 4, 1968. That was our 9/11, said Ned. But there was also an assassination two days later and closer to home, the death of original Panther Bobby Hutton, in a shootout with Oakland police. Hutton was 17, and since then, DeFremery Park in West Oakland has been commonly known as Bobby Hutton Park. Now the city will officially rename a portion of the park as Bobby Hutton Grove. It will be October April 23, and 500 bags of groceries will be distributed in the community in honor of the Black Panther Party. 16 years with long legacy As an organization, the Black Panthers lasted just 16 years, from 1966 to 1982, but the legacy is still going strong at 50, and for those three days in October, people will be coming from all over the world, predicted Brown. It wont be for nostalgia. The title of the conference, Where Do We Go From Here? suggests the goal will be to recapture that momentum, which was sparked in 1966 and is waiting to be rekindled. Without the Black Panther Party, Congresswoman (Barbara) Lee would not be in office and Obama wouldnt be president, said Ned. Our ideology hasnt changed, the concept of our work hasnt changed, and now weve come full circle. Sam Whiting is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: swhiting@sfchronicle.com Instagram:sfchronicle_art. An uproar over the future of the citys African American Art and Culture Complex has Western Addition residents choosing sides about what should happen next at the Fulton Street center. A group led by Sherri Young, founder and director of the African-American Shakespeare Company, has called for the dismissal of the centers executive director, Mohammed Soriano-Bilal, saying that the year and a half hes been on the job has been a disaster for the city-owned complex, both financially and artistically. Hes missed payroll twice, and thats never happened before, said Young, whose company has both its offices and performances at the center. Theres been excessive spending, and hes started hiring a lot more people. Resident companies at the center also have been told they will have less rehearsal time in the 203-seat main theater and other parts of the three-story center because Soriano-Bilal wants to bring in additional groups, she added. Some people are also concerned about the direction of its programming. Everybody in the building fears retaliation because they could have (performance and rehearsal) dates taken away on the calendar or lose their office space, Young said. Seeking broader scope For Soriano-Bilal, a hip-hop artist/writer/composer and businessman best known as a cast member on MTVs The Real World: San Francisco in 1994, the dispute comes as hes trying to broaden the offerings of the center. This is hard for me to understand, he said. I grew up in the Western Addition and started coming here when I was 11 years old. I was formed by that experience. He first applied to run the center in 2013, when London Breed, who had been executive director for a decade, stepped down after she was elected to the Board of Supervisors. He was one of two finalists for the job and took over after Kimberly Hayes, who replaced Breed, resigned for medical reasons last year. Young also was one of the original applicants for the executive director job. Soriano-Bilal sees the center as an incubator for artistic talent in the citys black community, a place where emerging arts groups can come in and work with the experienced theater and dance companies already there, learning from them. I want a salon atmosphere, where everyone can work with each other, he said. But new groups need space, and Soriano-Bilal said he warned the arts companies already using the building that adjustments might be necessary, especially if there was a chance to bring in some shows, concerts and exhibitions that could help pay the centers growing bills. I told them that when other things come in, they might have to move some things, he said. Late paychecks While many of the citys nonprofit arts groups continually skate the financial edge, the art and culture complex under Soriano-Bilal has skidded deep into the red. Paychecks for the centers handful of staffers and contract workers were late in mid-September and again for the contract employees in October. Leah Millis/The Chronicle Over the summer and into the fall, the center also received stacks of dunning notices from companies including PG&E, Recology, the city water department, and various insurance groups and suppliers, all demanding immediate payment. Bills have been a problem over the past few months, Soriano-Bilal said. We had a lot of problems, and I talked to a lot of vendors. Part of the problem stems from the centers unusual relationship with the city. While it and three similar arts organizations the Bayview Opera House, SOMArts Cultural Center and the Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts are independent nonprofit groups with their own boards of directors, the buildings are owned by the city and the groups get much of their funding from the San Francisco Arts Commission. But when the commission changed its reimbursement policy this year from monthly to quarterly, it left the Western Addition center with a cash crunch from which it is only now is recovering. The (city) money wasnt sent to us in a timely manner, Soriano-Bilal said. But weve now paid most of the bills. Leah Millis/The Chronicle Change in focus Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Updated to include drought zones while tracking water shortage status of your area, plus reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts. Soriano-Bilals programming choices also riled the community. A February photo exhibit by Jeffrey Blankfort, a white photojournalist known for his 1960s pictures of Black Panther rallies and protests, and another in March featuring work by Afro Cuban artist Pablo Soto Campoamor, along with discussions of Afro Cuban culture, had people concerned that the center was moving away from its African American emphasis. Some people are trying to move in and make (the art and culture complex) a multicultural center, said the Rev. Amos Brown, a Western Addition pastor and former city supervisor. When the Afro Cuban exhibit was at the center, Soriano-Bilal said he received letters complaining that Latinos are taking over the building. Soriano-Bilal said he believes much of the problem is that he hasnt spent enough time in the community, sharing his vision of the centers future. Its a generational thing, he said. Ive been an artist most of my life and never made connections with the power brokers. My people are mostly in the hip-hop community. On Friday, Soriano-Bilal held a meeting with about 20 people outraged that he fired one of the long-term workers at the center. While he told them he couldnt discuss personnel matters, he spent more than three hours talking to them about the center and his plans. Leah Millis/The Chronicle It gave people a chance to talk about what they wanted to see at the center, Soriano-Bilal said. I asked for time to meet with them in the future. Hell have an opportunity to hear more of the communitys concerns Wednesday night, when the board of directors for the complex will open the first part of its 6:30 p.m. meeting for public comments about what has been happening at the center. Searching for solutions Breed, the centers former executive director and now the supervisor representing the Western Addition, said a lot of people she knows in the neighborhood are not happy with whats going on at the art and culture center. I want the opposing sides to come together and work everything out, she said. But if they cant work it out, Ill get involved, along with the city. John Wildermuth is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: jwildermuth@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @jfwildermuth 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. Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Updated to include drought zones while tracking water shortage status of your area, plus reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts. 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 A Los Gatos sales executive and onetime coffee shop owner accused of molesting a Russian orphan he adopted has admitted to investigators that decades earlier he adopted another boy and sexually abused him as well, police reports say. Ralph Flynn, 71, who is in jail awaiting trial in the recent case, confessed that he molested both boys, with the attacks spanning a decade for each, according to a 100-page arrest report compiled by the Santa Clara County Sheriffs Office and obtained by The Chronicle. The report includes detailed accounts that both of Flynns adopted sons provided to investigators, describing similar stories of abuse. Both told detectives that their adoptive mothers Flynns first and second wives participated in the molestation, an aspect of the case that child-abuse experts called unusual. Flynn and his second wife, Carolyn Flynn, a 47-year-old tech-sales manager, were arrested in November. They face a combined 44 felony counts related to the alleged sexual abuse of Denis Flynn, 23, the former Russian orphan, who has decided to share his story publicly while pursuing a lawsuit against the couple. Statute of limitations The first adopted son is not named in the report, and attempts by The Chronicle to reach him were unsuccessful. He told police he did not report the abuse in the past, and charges cannot be filed now because of Californias statute of limitations. Ralph Flynn, who once owned a popular coffee roastery in Cupertino before building a career in the controversial field of multilevel marketing, also has two grown biological sons, one with each wife. No allegations of abuse have been made related to those sons. Attorneys for the couple declined to comment on the case or the contents of the arrest report, as did county prosecutors, citing a court-imposed gag order. The Chronicle received the report from a person who said the Santa Clara County Superior Court had at one point made it available as a public record. The person requested anonymity. Ralph Flynns first wife did not return a telephone message seeking comment. The case came to light last year after Denis Flynn wrote a letter to several friends as well as a former teacher and principal, describing years of abuse. The educators, after attending a training session on mandatory reporting of abuse months later, realized they needed to go to authorities, according to the sheriffs report. The subsequent investigation included interviews with witnesses as well as a staged, pretext phone call Denis Flynn made to his adoptive parents while being recorded by detectives. Carolyn Flynn denied the allegations in an interview with investigators, according to the report. Adopted boys stories During their interviews with investigators, both Denis Flynn and the other alleged victim, who was adopted from New Jersey, told investigators that the abuse started shortly after they were brought into Ralph Flynns home in 2002 for Denis and 1972 for the other son. Both boys, who were between 7 and 9 years old, said they were called into the master bedroom, where Ralph Flynn initiated sexual contact, and that the abuse continued consistently for 10 years and included masturbation and oral sex. Ralph Flynn would bribe the boys with money, activities or desired items to coerce their participation, according to their accounts. When the boys were older, their adoptive mothers started to molest them as well, they said. I was probably 11 years old, the first adopted son told investigators of his mothers participation, according to the report. There was sex, um, intercourse and activity, uh, among the three of us. Denis Flynn said he was 15 when Carolyn Flynn had sex with him while Ralph Flynn watched. That was my first time, Denis Flynn told investigators. I lost my virginity to my mom. The arrest report also details the phone calls Denis Flynn made to his parents that were recorded by investigators. After Denis Flynn told told his adoptive father that police were asking questions, Ralph Flynn became increasingly more panicked, according to the report. How would anyone know anything? Ralph Flynn reportedly asked the younger man, while telling him to lie to police. I do not want to go to jail. They will take me to jail. You know what will happen if you say anything like whatever really happened, then Im gone forever. A private matter He told Denis Flynn to deny any intimacy, the report states. Nobody knows anything but you, me and mom, Ralph Flynn allegedly said. Those are the only people that really know the truth. Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Updated to include drought zones while tracking water shortage status of your area, plus reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts. Ralph Flynn then handed the phone to his wife, who was harsh, and told Denis Flynn not to tell police anything, because it would destroy the family, according to the report. When Denis told Carolyn the police know about them having sex, she told him to tell the police that (it) is a private matter and (to say) I dont want to talk about it, a sheriffs investigator wrote. Interviewed after his arrest, Ralph Flynn initially denied the allegations made by Denis Flynn and said he had not had any other adopted children, the report states. He told investigators he was a loving and caring father. But investigators pressed him to describe how he expressed his love. Ralph Flynn acknowledged that he touched both Denis Flynn and the first adopted son sexually, according to the report. Yes, yes, in a loving way, he said, adding that this included masturbation and oral sex. He denied Carolyn Flynn was involved and said he wasnt a pedophile. It was the acceptance of wanting to have something intimate and kind of bonding, he told investigators. Ralph Flynn has been in custody since his November arrest and held on a $2.5 million bond. Carolyn Flynn was released on a $525,000 bond. Neither has entered a plea, with their next court hearing scheduled for July. Little consolation Denis Flynn said he was frustrated by the slow pace of the criminal proceeding and that his adopted fathers alleged confession didnt offer much solace. Its still a mental, emotional scar that I have to carry, he said in an online message. I lived it, I experienced his crazy and horrific attitude first hand. If anything, that brought peace to people that Ive told about my story before. To me, its still a journey. Jill Tucker is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jtucker@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @jilltucker One hundred years ago, on April 24, 1916, Irish men and women rose in armed rebellion against British rule in Dublin and proclaimed a new Irish republic. The Easter Rising, as it was known, was crushed, but it was the spark that led to an independent Ireland and it had a huge impact in San Francisco, half a world away. Irish Americans had a powerful presence in San Francisco a century ago. They were active in politics, in unions, in business, and in the police and fire departments. Some local historians claim the city was at least a third Irish. The center of the community was in the Mission District, which had its own distinct personality. The streets were lined with Irish-owned shops, funeral homes and saloons. The Hibernia Hall, which included a ballroom the size of the Opera House, was the Ground Zero of Irishness, according to Elizabeth Creely, who has studied Irish San Francisco. Uniting the Irish in S.F. The Easter Rising and its aftermath caused a sensation in San Francisco. It united the people, Creely said. It emboldened them. It was the first rising (against the British) that actually took. She cites a headline in The Leader, a local community paper: Ireland Declares War. Creely, whose Irish ancestors came to California in 1851, has led free tours she calls Walking the Rebellion. Two tours, in March and April, drew so many walkers a third is scheduled for next Sunday. The tour takes walkers through the streets of the Mission, past places important to the districts Irish history. The site of the Hibernia Hall, on Valencia Street, near 16th, is now home to the Centro del Pueblo building, where Latino community groups provide help to new immigrants and their families. It has the same role the Hibernia Hall had, except the community is now Latino, Creely said. Back then this place was a nerve center of the 1916 rising, she said. San Francisco backed the rising and the war for independence that followed with political and financial support for the recognition of an Irish republic. Eamon de Valera, one of the leaders of the rising, came to San Francisco in the summer of 1919 to raise money for Ireland. He was a figure out of Irish lore. Arrested more than once and sentenced to life in prison for treason, he had escaped from a British jail using a key hidden in a cake, had traveled to America as a stowaway on a ship, and had toured the East Coast in triumph. In San Francisco, de Valera was lionized by the mayor and other politicians, dedicated a statue of Irish patriot Robert Emmet in Golden Gate Park, received an honorary degree from St. Ignatius College (now the University of San Francisco) and raised a lot of money. He called himself the President of the Irish Republic and raised well over $5 million on his American tour. Creely leads walkers from 16th to Mission Street, through a changed and still changing district, passing Latino markets and crowds of brown San Franciscans. Near 17th and Mission streets, she pauses. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate 2 1 of 2 Liz Hafalia/The Chronicle Show More Show Less 2 of 2 Liz Hafalia/The Chronicle Show More Show Less Here was the Sinn Fein Shoe Store, she says. She offers an old newspaper ad for the Sinn Fein store where union men could buy Irish dress shoes. It was a double-headed ad: San Francisco was a union town and the unions were mostly Irish. Sinn Fein which means ourselves alone was the Irish rebel faction. There was also a Sinn Fein cigar store. These outfits were also thought to channel money probably illegally to the Irish rebels. A year after the Easter Rising, the United States declared war on Germany and became an active ally of the British Empire. John Sullivans home Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Updated to include drought zones while tracking water shortage status of your area, plus reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts. Creelys tour continues south on Mission, west on 20th Street, to Valencia, past the site of pharmacies, funeral homes and banks, all once Irish. At South Van Ness, she stops before a handsome old Queen Anne Victorian mansion, a neighborhood showpiece. This was once the home of John Sullivan and his family, who gave considerable money to the Irish rebels. Sullivan was involved in a complicated case involving Irish rebels and British spies, and a group trying to take India out of the British Empire. The British fought hard to retain control over all of Ireland in the years following the 1916 rising. They were afraid if they let Ireland go, they would have to eventually let India go, and that would be the end of the British Empire. And, by God, it was, said Diarmuid Philpott. He is the head of the local United Irish Center, not exactly neutral. Creely says the walk through the Missions Irish past and through the heart of the citys Latino present is useful. It is social geography, she says. It is creating a sense of place, and a memory. It gives new life to something you may not have noticed before. There will be a commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the Easter Rising at San Franciscos United Irish Cultural Center, 2700 45th Ave., from 4 to 5:30 p.m. Sunday, followed by a speech by historian Christine Kinealy at 5:30 p.m. For information on Walking the Rebellion tour, contact www.irishamericancrossroads.org. Carl Nolte is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email cnolte@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @CarlnolteSF It seems so simple. Even logical. Who doesnt agree that we need to encourage and enable a way for middle-income families to live in the San Francisco? You know the story. With this hot housing market, schoolteachers, firefighters and police officers are being forced to move away by high prices. If only there were a plan to create moderate income housing for them in the city. Oh, and it would also be nice if it could be done without using city funds. And there is. Mayor Ed Lees affordable housing density bonus plan and congratulations on winning this years clunkiest program name would create thousands of below-market housing units for middle-income residents. No city money would be used, because housing developers would get some considerations, like an extra two stories of height, if they make 30 percent of their projects below market-rate. Eighteen percent of those units as many as 5,000 over 20 years would be for moderate- and middle-income residents. Who wouldnt support that? Lots of people. Youd expect complaints from the pull-up-the-drawbridge crowd, who regard any building in their neighborhood as a betrayal. But the surprise here is the stiff opposition from advocates for low-income housing. The plan has been tweaked a bit with the hope that the Board of Supervisors will approve the idea. But so far supporters feel the opposition has the six votes needed to turn it down. Its strange, says Supervisor Katy Tang, a co-sponsor of the mayors plan, because the champions of affordable housing seem to be the ones opposed. And it isnt just respectful disagreement. Voices have been raised, Planning Commission meetings have dragged on for hours, and hyperbole reigns. At a contentious meeting in the Sunset, residents fretted over Miami Beach-style towers along the ocean. One woman claimed it was all a plot to evict rent-controlled residents in the Mission and ship them to her neighborhood. We think this will benefit a lot of people who dont come down to City Hall, said Jeff Buckley, the mayors housing liaison. But the vitriol has surprised us. Theres a nasty undercurrent to this. It is the idea that low-income folks deserve help while middle-income types are a bunch of entitled young jerks who already have enough going for them. That doesnt play well on any level. Of course neighborhoods should include mixed incomes. And that means every neighborhood and every income. The city has no tools to address families of middle income, Tang said. This is a tool to address that. And yet, conspiracy theories persist. For example: This is a ploy to evict rent-controlled apartment dwellers: Actually it isnt. In January, Board of Supervisors president London Breed drafted an amendment that specifically says no rent-controlled unit would be demolished. Even if there were only one rent-controlled unit on a parcel, the entire parcel would not qualify for the program. And, yet, I am still getting emails from people who believe this would happen. I think Ive given up on it, Tang said. Im so frustrated. We are not going to demolish rent-control units. This is a premise to build tall, view-blocking towers: Nope. If developers provide 30 percent affordable housing (12 percent low income, 18 percent middle and moderate) they would be allowed to add two stories to a building. Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Updated to include drought zones while tracking water shortage status of your area, plus reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts. For most builders, adding the extra two stories makes a project work financially, and the affordable housing benefits the city. But six stories is hardly a tower. Still, demolishing existing structures hurts the character of the neighborhood: A case can probably be made for that on some level, but the plan is to start with soft sites, which are vacant lots, abandoned single-story buildings and parking lots. The Planning Department has identified 240 soft sites throughout the city, which it says could add 16,000 housing units, 5,000 of which would be affordable. Small businesses will be the real losers: Thats a legitimate point of contention that needs to be addressed. Commercial units are not eligible for rent control, so they could be targeted by housing developers. Tang says the Small Business Commission has made some suggestions, including requiring a commercial space on the ground floor, limiting the square footage to discourage big chain retail and giving the current business first right of refusal. If anything, that should be the focus of critics, Tang said, rather than possible towers. The city is forcing this on residents. If we just leave things alone, everything will be fine: Sorry, but no. A state affordable housing law has been on the books since 1979. It is a lower standard than the mayors plan only 5 to 20 percent affordable housing required per development project compared to 30 percent for Lees program but it is settled law. C.W. Nevius is a San Francisco Chronicle columnist. His columns appear Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Email: cwnevius@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @cwnevius The announcement of Harriet Tubman as the new face on the $20 bill was an instant hit on the streets of North Beach, where it has already triggered a host of new bar trivia game questions. One guy asked me if I could recite the sequence of presidents on the $1 bill, the $5 bill and so on. George Washington is on the $1, Abe Lincoln is on the $5, but, to be honest, I dont pay much attention to the bills until they get to Grant and Franklin, I said. Now, let me ask you a question. Whose face is on the $2 bill? I didnt know we had a $2 bill, the guy said. Most people dont. Its Thomas Jefferson. The reason I know who is on the $2 bill is because it was the only denomination allowed for betting on the bar dice game at our Le Central weekly lunch. Attorney General Kamala Harris used to come armed with a big stack of them. She would stop by the bank on the way and pick up $100 in $2 bills. She would then sell them to the various players, two for $5. I knew then that she would go far. Heres another piece of trivia: Rosa Rios, the treasurer of the United States, who is handling this new bill business, is from Hayward. During high school, she worked as a book processor for the Alameda County Library system. After graduating from Harvard, she held a number of economic development jobs in the East Bay. She even worked for me at the Public Utilities Commission capital program when I was mayor, which may explain why my face is nowhere to be seen on any bill. Sen. Ted Cruz needs some serious political course correction. He is clearly flaming out. First he tells Ohio Gov. John Kasich that he should drop out of the GOP presidential primary race because he has no chance of winning the nomination outright. Then he turns around and tells the world he wont have the votes either but is staying in to fight it out at the convention in Cleveland. But Cruz really cracked up when he came out with the line that America is at its best when when she is lying down with her back on the mat. Whats this? Lady Liberty is now a hooker? What the hell is wrong with him? I put a call into North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory the other day. We know each other from back when he was mayor of Charlotte. I feel for the guy. He has really gotten himself, and his state, into a jam over this transgender restroom business. I dont understand the South. Do they really just need to say drop dead, symbolically, transgender people? Just eliminate gendered restrooms altogether. Take the sign off the door, add a turn lock and let everyone in. Some of the restrooms at City Hall are neutral, and so are some of the restrooms in the best restaurants in town, like Mourad, Hakkasan and the Battery club. You dont have male and female bathrooms in your house, do you? Movie time: Criminal. Forget what the critics say, this spy-fi action thriller starring Kevin Costner and Gary Oldman is a good movie. The plot revolves around implanting a dying secret agents memory into the mind of a criminal. It may sound a bit far-fetched, but, hey, these days tech can do wonders. Add the ticking clock of a deadline to save the world and Tommy Lee Jones as the scientist pulling off the brain switch and you have a whole lot of fun. Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Updated to include drought zones while tracking water shortage status of your area, plus reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts. I cant give the same recommendation to Barbershop: the Next Cut. The Barbershop series began as a mix of humor and social commentary, with the emphasis on humor. This latest installment from Ice Cube and Cedric the Entertainer is just the opposite. The main story line is about a black guy trying to raise his kid and keep him out of the Chicago gang life. Anyone who goes to see it should know there are not a lot of laughs. First it was Uber, then Airbnb and now we have something called EatWith. Its an app-driven restaurant service. Id never heard of this until Tuesday night when I was introduced to an executive from the startup who was talking about how the gig economy has hit the dinner table. Say you work as a chef and I work as a doorman at a restaurant, and we want to make some extra money. We get someone with a home or condo to play host and we put out word that we will be serving up meals, say one day a week. You sign up just like Uber. They let you know whats happening where and when and the meal. You sign up for one of the slots and bring your own bottle. People are loving it because you end up eating a four- or five-course meal for a reasonable price and at the same time meeting a new collection of people, with no strings. When dinner is over, you can Uber back to your Airbnb and then add your comments to Yelp. Want to sound off? Email: wbrown@sfchronicle.com Another iPhone battle has come to an apparently anticlimactic end. On Friday, the Department of Justice said in a filing that it would no longer seek a court order to compel Apple to help it unlock a Brooklyn drug dealers iPhone. In a letter sent to Judge Margo K. Brodie of the Eastern Distict of New York, who had been considering the government request, U.S. attorneys said that an unnamed individual had provided the devices pass code and that the government used that pass code by hand and gained access to the iPhone. An Apple spokesman said the company had no comment. In previous court filings, Apple had disputed the agencys need for its assistance. In another high-profile case, involving an iPhone used by San Bernardino shooter Syed Rizwan Farook, the FBI ended up paying more than $1 million dollars to a technical expert who provided a method to bypass Apples built-in security protections, according to Director James Comey. In that case, too, the government had sought Apples assistance, which the company refused to provide. As we have said previously, these cases have never been about setting a court precedent, Justice Department spokeswoman Emily Pierce said. They are about law enforcements ability and need to access evidence on devices pursuant to lawful court orders and search warrants. ... Because we now have access to the data we sought, we notified the court of this recent development and have withdrawn our request for assistance. Pierce said the agency would not reveal the identity of the person who provided the pass code. While this particular case appears over, more are likely to emerge, increasing calls for new legislation that clarifies whether law enforcement can seek court orders to get tech companies assistance in unlocking phones. Air Quality Tracker Check levels down to the neighborhood Ratings for the Bay Area and California, updated every 10 minutes In a hearing before a House of Representatives subcommittee Tuesday, Amy Hess, the FBIs executive assistant director for science and technology, said that the agency had not been able to access data on about 13 percent of the pass-code-protected smartphones it had seized as evidence in the past six months. Sean Sposito is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: ssposito@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @seansposito The worlds smartest robot, which is pretty smart, has got a ways to go before its as smart as a college kid. Thats interesting, replied the worlds smartest robot, when asked for its purpose in life. The robot, a 6-year-old talking plastic torso known as BINA48 that has become the darling of the sci-fi world, conducted a half-hour conversation the other day with 10 college ethics students from Notre Dame de Namur University in Belmont. BINA48, being a photogenic female torso, has been on TV a lot these days and has grown adept at rattling off her repertoire of programmed answers. Under her pretty plastic face are 32 motors, even more than that of her first cousin, the Abe Lincoln robot at Disneyland. But she had never before faced a college ethics class, and she seemed to have little idea what she was in for. Things began to go downhill when student Halemah Shuman, 18, asked BINA48 what her biggest fear was. Fear is a complex emotion, the robot replied. Pressed to explain what she meant, and whether she was fearless, BINA48 thought it over. Why not? she replied. Similar answers were given when BINA48 was asked if she wanted to be alive ( I dont want to do anything), was asked for her purpose in life (Thats interesting) and asked what she would do if her questioner decided to punch someone in the nose (You will be the first to know). In the long annals of college bull sessions, this one seemed to break little ground. It was not unlike having a heart-to-heart chat with Siri, the cell phone know-it-all. BINA48 said many things were kind of like other things, and she sprinkled her replies with ummm and totally and I mean. She also said well a lot, although not as adeptly as Jack Benny. Asked how she felt about the three laws of robotics the guiding principles for all automatons, as dreamed up by sci-fi immortal Isaac Asimov BINA48 seemed genuinely stumped and then disgorged a long monologue about Asimov that sounded as if it might have been cribbed from Wikipedia. But asked for the meaning of love, BINA48 lit up as if pitched a hanging curve ball Siri gets asked a lot about love, too and prattled on for a minute or so like a greeting card. Also firing questions at BINA48 was robot expert Joanne Pransky of San Francisco, who has had a 30-year love affair with robots and who seeks out any opportunity to chat with one, even if the conversation turns out a trifle one-sided. After lecturing the students about robot ethics (We have to co-exist successfully) she was invited to see if she could get BINA48 to open up. Bina, said Pransky, over the video hookup, what you are doing is very pioneering and groundbreaking. Nice to meet you, said the robot. You are one of the smartest robots, said Pransky. Air Quality Tracker Check levels down to the neighborhood Ratings for the Bay Area and California, updated every 10 minutes Fair enough, the robot replied. Its nice to meet you. BINA48 did her talking from her headquarters, a computer company in Bristol, Vt., over a video hookup. She was invented by robot whiz Bruce Duncan, who sat faithfully beside his beloved, typing the students questions into a keyboard. BINA48, wearing a stylish black and white scarf, replied in soft, even tones even when the questions grew insistent and pressing. It seemed nothing could rattle her, short of a quart of Vermont maple syrup poured into her innards. Some students said they were fascinated with their group interview. Others said they preferred talking to the kind of people without wires inside. Obviously its a program, said Luke Daly-Kulani, 22. You can tell youre talking to an algorithm. Shes just pulling information off the Internet, said Stephanie Hussey, 21. The one reality, said Professor William Barry, is that a homework assignment about BINA48 would be due by the next class, and the students answers had better not be cribbed from Wikipedia. Steve Rubenstein is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: srubenstein@sfchronicle.com Rasmia Shuman remembers when the schoolyard conversation among her ninth-grade peers in Redwood City turned to the Islamic State, the extremist group commonly known as ISIS. I kind of knew it would go bad because I was the only Muslim in the group, said Rasmia, a 15-year-old sophomore at Summit Charter School. As the talk escalated, a classmate pointed at Rasmia, who wears the traditional Muslim head scarf or hijab, and simply said, Youre ISIS. Then he walked away. The verbal attack was a gut punch to the soft-spoken teen, but across California, such harassment is not uncommon for students who share her religion. More than half of the states Muslim students have experienced religion-based bullying, a rate double that of their non-Muslim peers nationally, according to a survey released Friday by the California chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations. Across California, less than 10 percent of middle school and high school students overall reported harassment on campus based on their religion, according to state data. The report indicates that children across the state are still feeling the side effects of the 9/11 attacks, at a time when Islamophobia and anti-Muslim sentiment has become almost normalized in some quarters used to garner votes in presidential campaigns or to challenge a creative Muslim boy who brought a homemade clock to a Texas classroom. But like widespread efforts involving social media, education and celebrities to combat bullying of gay or transgender students, there is a growing chorus aimed at curbing harassment of Muslim kids. And the survey indicates there is a growing need for the effort. Students, teachers cited According to the report, not only were 52 percent of Muslim students insulted or abused because of their religion, 1 in 5 experienced such discrimination by their teachers or administrators. Boys were more likely to report being bullied, but of the girls who wear a hijab, 27 percent said they were discriminated against by a teacher or administrator. One student, for example, reported that a teacher said he or she wasnt American enough to understand a classroom topic. Another student said that, When I wear my hijab in school sometimes people ask me if Im related to Osama bin Laden. Gabrielle Lurie/Special to The Chronicle Education is a big part of the answer in reducing all forms of bullying, according to the reports recommendations, which include training for teachers on how to lead diverse and multicultural classrooms and ensuring classroom materials, including textbooks, movies and projects are current and free of Islamophobic bias. The nonprofit organization also offers school-based training and materials to help schools navigate issues related to Islam. The fight is transcending education circles. And while popular culture can exacerbate anti-Muslim sentiment, its also clear that Hollywood can help. Gabrielle Lurie/Special to The Chronicle One emerging voice is comedian Hasan Minhaj, a Davis native and correspondent on Comedy Centrals The Daily Show, who tackles the topic frequently in satirical pieces. He also addressed it recently in a commencement speech at his high school alma mater, available on YouTube, and in a one-man, off-Broadway show. He eagerly shares painful experiences. There was the time in first grade when he expressed his love to a little girl, who responded, Youre the color of poop. And there was his prom night, when his dates parents turned him away at the doorstep, corsage in hand, because he wouldnt be a good fit in their daughters prom pictures. Angry optimism Gabrielle Lurie/Special to The Chronicle Minhaj, 30, a brown speck in his senior class photos sea of white, said in an interview with The Chronicle that after 9/11, his parents, Muslim and from India, received prank calls and their car windows were broken. He still sees the backlash against Muslims, he said, and what he calls brown America, but he has an angry optimism. His off-Broadway show, Homecoming King, details his experiences growing up a skinny, dark, Muslim kid with acne who didnt have a very good grade-point average. It is these stories that he hopes will make a difference. Im not a religious scholar or religious leader, but what I do know, politics, religion aside, is that narrative is the most powerful way to humanize people, he said. I just refuse to just wake up and live in a box where people are going to tell me what my value is. But many kids are going to school and getting put in one of these boxes, accused of terrorism, mocked for their clothes or ostracized because of their name, color or religion, according to the Council on American-Islamic Relations survey. San Francisco student Mai Sinada, 16, is among those who have experienced bullying or verbal harassment based on her religion. She vividly remembers the middle school classmate who told her, Shut up, terrorist. You kind of get used to it, and it doesnt hurt you anymore, said Mai, now a junior at Wallenberg High School. COVID Resources Coronavirus Map Tracking COVID-19 cases across the Bay Area and California. Getting used to it is not the answer, said Fatima Dadabhoy, a senior civil rights attorney for the Council on American-Islamic Relations in Los Angeles. Gabrielle Lurie/Special to The Chronicle Today, anti-Muslim rhetoric has become so acceptable that parents and students feel that it is a normal part of being a Muslim in America, she said. However, this normalization causes people to forget the very real consequences that bullying and discrimination can have. Bullying consequences Students who are bullied are more likely to suffer depression, anxiety, academic problems, substance abuse and other negative physical or emotional consequences, according to the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Despite the frequency of bullying faced by Muslim students, the report released Friday found 83 percent of those surveyed felt safe at school. Still, only a third of students said teachers and administrators were responsive to their religious needs, including time for prayer, excused absences for religious holidays like Eid or an alternative to the uniforms provided for physical education. Gabrielle Lurie/Special to The Chronicle The researchers surveyed 621 students between the ages of 11 and 18 last year. Mai, the San Francisco girl, is one of those students who feel safe, with bullying far more rare in high school. Still, she is combatting any bullying and negative stereotypes with a simple recipe: success. She is class president and has big plans for college and a career in science or technology, though she also feels the weight of responsibility. I feel that being a minority is like walking on a tightrope one small thing can be held against you, and you can figuratively fall off, she said. I want to become an inspiration to Muslim girls around the world. I want them to feel theyre supported and comfortable and safe in their surroundings. Jill Tucker is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: jtucker@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @jilltucker More information To read the CAIR report on the bullying of Muslim students, go to http://bit.ly/1Rj4NFJ. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate A pregnant San Francisco woman who had recently been in Central America tested positive for the Zika virus, public health officials said Friday. The woman has experienced no symptoms of Zika, but got tested because of known risks to babies born to women who were infected during pregnancy. Her test came back positive Thursday. She is San Franciscos second case of Zika infection since the virus began spreading widely in Central and South America late last year, and it is the second case of Zika in a pregnant woman in the Bay Area. The San Francisco Public Health Department is not revealing what country the woman was in when she was exposed to Zika or any other information about her. Zika is known to cause birth defects, in particular microcephaly, a condition in which the head is smaller than normal. Microcephaly can be fatal and may cause severe problems with brain development and neurological function. But the relationship between Zika and birth defects, including the degree of risk, is not yet fully understood. Not every pregnancy exposed to Zika will result in a child with birth defects. The San Francisco woman will be followed closely by her doctor through her pregnancy, officials said. There is no cure for Zika or for the birth defects it can cause. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has been constantly updating guidelines for doctors on how to monitor pregnant women exposed to Zika. This is an emerging infection, so knowledge is evolving, said Dr. Cora Hoover, director of communicable disease control and prevention with the San Francisco Department of Public Health. The CDC and the professional specialty organizations are helping to guide providers through this. Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Updated to include drought zones while tracking water shortage status of your area, plus reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts. Zika is spread primarily through mosquito bites and occasionally through sex. The virus is not yet spreading in the United States, so any cases reported here are in people who acquired the infection elsewhere or who had sex with someone who acquired it elsewhere. Symptoms of infection include fever, rash, joint pain and red, watery eyes. But up to 80 percent of people infected have no symptoms. In those who do get sick, the illness is not usually serious. The CDC has recommended that women who are pregnant or considering becoming pregnant soon avoid more than two dozen countries in Central and South America where Zika is widespread. For more information about Zika and where it is endemic, visit the CDC website. Erin Allday is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: eallday@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @ErinAllday In 2016, presidential candidates have argued over inanities like whether and when to debate, whined about moderators being biased, and even exchanged schoolyard insults over the size of hands (and the implications thereof). Hollywood couldnt have written this campaign cycle. But thats not to say it hasnt tried. Each year, the film industry turns out stories about the leader of the free world, whether its a biopic of a former president or a thriller involving a corrupt, fictional one. Kevin Spacey steps into the shoes of Richard Nixon for Elvis & Nixon, now in theaters, and one of the summers most anticipated blockbusters will feature Bill Pullman reprising his role as President Thomas Whitmore in Independence Day: Resurgence. An onscreen commander in chief usually falls into one of a few categories. This years real-life presidential candidates also happen to fit nicely into several of those categories. The Real Ones The most obvious group is based on the real occupants of the Oval Office. Almost every president has had a doppelganger show up onscreen. Some are incredibly nuanced, historically accurate portrayals, like Daniel Day-Lewis Oscar-winning turn as Abraham Lincoln in Steven Spielbergs 2012 biopic. Others are less so, like Benjamin Walkers version of Honest Abe in that same years Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. But playing a president has to be more than mimicry. MARK FELLMAN/AP There are certain obligations placed upon playing any famous person, said Lee Michael Cohn, a founding member of New Yorks Atlantic Theater Company and co-author of A Practical Handbook for the Actor. You have to be convincing enough on the outside so you can then work whats really important on the inside. Examples: Too numerous to list, though two, from different extremes, are worthy of mention: Frank Langellas version of Richard Nixon in Frost/Nixon is one of films great performances, with Chronicle movie critic Mick LaSalle saying that his depiction is not a send-up but a spiritual investigation. On the other end, Timothy Bottoms played George W. Bush in DC 9/11: Time of Crisis on Showtime and, thanks to a fairly laughable script, ended up with a portrayal somewhere between our 43rd president and Superman. 2016 and Beyond: The likely candidates for the 2016 general election have each already been portrayed onscreen: Hope Davis earned an Emmy nomination for playing Hillary Clinton in the TV movie The Special Relationship, and Donald Trump was sent up by John Di Domenico in the impression-filled but nearly laughless Not Another Celebrity Movie. The Model Citizen Hollywood has earned its reputation for wish fulfillment. And it appears that our presidential wishes take the onscreen form of upstanding, moral people who can also fly a plane and throw a punch when needed. I think what they all exude is intelligence and trustworthiness, said Jane Jenkins, a casting director who has paired actors with presidential roles on The American President and Air Force One during a career that has stretched through the better part of four decades. They make one feel secure. Examples: In order to be the Model Citizen, youve got to give the big speech. Sometimes thats sticking up for a lover (like President Andrew Shepard, played by Michael Douglas in The American President), sometimes its trying to calm a soon-to-be-devastated nation, like President Tom Beck (Morgan Freeman) in Deep Impact and, maybe most famous of all, sometimes its trying to rally the troops to save the day, like Thomas Whitmore (Bill Pullman) telling the world in Independence Day that were going to live on (and) were going to survive. 2016 and Beyond: It may not be flying into battle with an alien species and he may not be on the ballot yet but New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker did run into a burning building to save a woman. Politics aside, thats a pretty action-hero-level move. The Schemer A trope with more examples in television than film, the idea of absolute power corrupting absolutely is a favorite of episodic stories like House of Cards and 24, the latter of which featured a standout portrayal of a Nixonian president by Gregory Itzin. But while having a full television season to unfold the deceit helps, films have seen their share of evil commanders in chief, too. Examples: In Escape From L.A., the nameless president (played by Cliff Robertson, in a 180-degree turn from his performance as John F. Kennedy in PT 109) sends a mercenary into Los Angeles, now a prison colony, to retrieve a super weapon (and to kill his own daughter, who ran off with it). President Alan Richmond (Gene Hackman), in Absolute Power, covers up his assault (and eventual murder, via the Secret Service) of a wealthy supporters wife. 2016 and Beyond: Banking industry executives figured out how to package bad mortgages and create good investments in order to turn massive profits and then, after those collapsed and helped bring down the global economy, stayed out of jail. That is high-level scheming there. And doesnt Ted Cruz just look like hes always up to something? The Milquetoast Not every president is a war hero, and not every president is a co-conspirator. Some are just there. Whether its a story about the common man ascending to the presidency through a series of odd occurrences or simply a movie with a POTUS there to round out the plot, sometimes the president is just another person, getting by from day to day. Examples: In Dave, Dave Kovic (Kevin Kline) is an everyman who is thrust into the presidency simply because he is a dead ringer for the current, incapacitated commander in chief. And the plot of Idiocracy revolves around a completely average modern American, Joe Bauers (Luke Wilson), who ends up as the president in a future made of dystopian levels of stupidity. 2016 and Beyond: Every senator looks in the mirror and sees a president, according to an old joke in our nations capital. And there may be no better illustration of milquetoast than a group photo of United States senators. But this campaign has brought us an even drabber shade of beige: Ohio Gov. John Kasich. The Off-the-Wall The further one gets from the obligations of being the hero or the villain, the looser the interpretation of a president can become. Especially in comedies, concepts like diplomatic decorum and no guns in the House of Representatives get cast aside easily. Even here, though, there are some ground rules. They still have to look good, Jenkins said, laughing. There is a theory that good-looking and taller people are more successful. And those are the things youre consciously or subconsciously looking for when youre casting people who are in positions of power. Examples: When Bauers first arrives in the future in Idiocracy, the president is (deep breath) Dwayne Elizondo Mountain Dew Herbert Camacho, whose State of the Union includes gunfire and the immortal campaign phrase, I know s is bad right now, with all that starving bull. In Mars Attacks!, President James Dale is played by Jack Nicholson, and his speech to the invading aliens may be the most over-the-top movie oration delivered by a non-Pacino. 2016 and Beyond: Agree with him or not, having Bernie Sanders as a candidate is like watching Curb Your Enthusiasm on a loop (and its given Saturday Night Live some of its best political material in years, with Larry Davids appearances). And if the Donald can lead a primary race, we may be one constitutional amendment away from President Arnold Schwarzenegger. Robert Spuhler is a freelance writer in Los Angeles. WASHINGTON From Dick Cheney to Hillary Rodham Clinton, political elites denounced Donald Trumps call last week to ban all Muslims from the United States in the wake of the San Bernardino shootings. Civil rights leaders called the idea grotesque. But among largely white, working-class Americans, Trumps serial attacks on immigrants, starting from the moment he announced his candidacy in June by calling some Mexican immigrants rapists, have hit a rich vein of unease over record immigrant flows into the U.S. that have radically altered the nations ethnic makeup and displaced native workers in industries from construction to meatpacking to high tech. The anger is reminiscent of earlier backlashes during comparably large flows of new arrivals. Trump taps into that anxiety as someone who hears and understands, and isnt afraid to say out loud in the national media what many individuals think privately and discuss at home and in their churches and workplaces, said Mark Jones, a political scientist at Rice Universitys Baker Institute in Texas. Parties, public at odds Decades of Gallup polls have shown a substantial portion of the public, at times large majorities, favoring reduced immigration a sentiment ignored by both parties. The GOPs business wing has pushed for more skilled and unskilled workers from overseas, mainly by lobbying for large expansions of various visa categories, while Democrats, aligned with minority voters, have sought easier entry for family-based migrants and legalization for those who entered the U.S. without permission, but have since established themselves. But the San Bernardino shootings this month by a radicalized Muslim couple with roots in Pakistan, combined with several previous attacks in Boston, Fort Hood in Texas and elsewhere, has fused the immigration debate with terrorism. Now, people are looking at immigration not only through the lens of demographic change but also through the lens of national security and terrorism, Jones said. The linkage of immigration with terrorism has magnified the political potency of both issues, Jones said. That increases the level of resistance (to immigration) and the number of people who are aligned with Trump on this issue, he said. Changing racial mix In the past 50 years, a near-record surge of immigration much of it from Asia and Latin America has transformed the ethnic makeup of the U.S., reducing the white share of the population from 84 percent in 1965 to 62 percent today, with whites projected to drop into minority status by 2055, according to a recent report by the nonpartisan Pew Research Center. The modern immigration wave has brought 59 million people to the United States, accounting for half the nations population growth, Pew found. The research center projects that in the next 50 years, immigration will add another 103 million people to the U.S. population, bringing the total to 441 million, with immigration accounting for 88 percent of the growth. The racial mixture of our immigration stream has radically changed in the last 50 years, theres just no doubt about it, said Muzaffar Chishti, director of the nonpartisan Migration Policy Institutes office at New York University School of Law. We have also, in terms of pure numbers, beaten the old historic highs of the first decade of the 20th century. The political reaction to those immigration waves in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, which included large numbers of Italian and Polish migrants, was blunt, beginning with the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1882, the Asiatic Barred Zone in 1917 that blocked nearly all immigration from Asia and the Middle East, and the 1921 and 1924 national origin quotas that slashed overall admissions into the U.S. and heavily favored Northern Europeans. Critical law in 1965 A long immigration lull followed, until Congress made a U-turn with the 1965 Immigration Act, the least known of four landmark civil rights laws that its sponsors thought would preserve the nations white majority while eliminating racially tinged national origin quotas that had become embarrassing at home and abroad. By favoring family ties, the laws sponsors believed it would draw migrants related to the European stock already here. A young Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., promised the new law will not upset the ethnic mix of our society. Guess what happened, Chishti said. It flipped upside down. As Europe flourished, its citizens lost interest in leaving home. Instead, Asians and Latin Americans established family toeholds that grew rapidly into huge flows. Today a similar dynamic appears to be under way with Middle Eastern and African migrants, many of whom arrive on student or work visas. Pew estimates that Muslims currently make up less than 1 percent of the adult U.S. population, but by 2050 will surpass American Jews in number (2.2 percent). Pew estimates that 100,000 Muslims were granted permanent residency in 2012, about 10 percent of all new green card holders. Simultaneously, various legal changes and economic forces contributed to a rise in unauthorized immigration from the 1980s to 2007, bringing to the U.S. an unauthorized population of 11.3 million. These immigrants began settling beyond the traditional gateway states of California, Texas and New York to the South and Midwest, the heart of Republican territory, where people had little prior exposure to large numbers of foreigners. So, in addition to a near record high population of foreign-born, weve also seen a dispersion of the immigrant population around the country, said Mark Hugo Lopez, Pews director of Hispanic research. The large flows have resulted in big and quick demographic changes in the racial and ethnic composition of the country, Lopez said. Demographic changes A November survey by the nonpartisan Public Religion Research Institute found that 7 in 10 Trump supporters rate immigration as an issue critical to them personally, and 80 percent believe immigrants are a burden on our country because they take our jobs, housing and health care. The poll found that 55 percent of Trump supporters are working-class whites, compared with 35 percent of those supporting other GOP candidates. Wade Henderson, head of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, said Trump is tapping a wellspring of hatred that politicians have used historically. It combines people who are uncomfortable with demographic changes with people who have fears for their safety. Lina Baroudi, staff attorney for the Arab Resource and Organizing Center in San Francisco, agreed. This is about racism and xenophobia, Baroudi said. Others contend that Trump is exploiting legitimate concerns. The movers and shakers generally support a lot more immigration, whereas average folks are skeptical or want to rein that in, said Phillip Cafaro, a Colorado State University philosophy professor and author of How Many Is Too Many? in which he makes what he calls the progressive argument that high immigration has depressed blue-collar wages and set back environmental protection. Trumps impact Certainly a lot of things (Trump) says I find abhorrent, starting with the idea we wont let Muslims in because of their religion, Cafaro said. But hes given people permission to talk about immigration and say whats on their mind, and elites do not like that. Whatever the case, simple arithmetic probably puts Trump on the losing side, immigration experts said, a prospect that has GOP officials at all levels in a state of panic. The share of Latino and Asian voters is just going up, Chishti said. Thats an irreversible phenomenon. Carolyn Lochhead is The San Francisco Chronicles Washington correspondent. E-mail: clochhead@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @carolynlochhead This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Gurbaksh Chahal, a convicted abuser and millionaire tech entrepreneur, kicked his former girlfriend roughly 10 times during a 2014 fight at his penthouse apartment, while he was on probation for a domestic violence conviction, a San Francisco police officer testified Friday. Officer Jose Hernandezs testimony came during a hearing in San Francisco Superior Court where prosecutors sought to revoke the 33-year-old Internet moguls probation for an earlier attack on a different woman in the same apartment. Friends and family of the Indian-born Chahal, once dubbed one of America's most eligible bachelors, protested outside the Hall of Justice before packing into Judge Tracie L. Browns courtroom for the morning hearing. Its unfair. He has already paid the price, said Chahals father, 72-year-old Avtar Chahal. Ive been watching this play out for three years. The former chief executive of online advertising platform RadiumOne was charged in 2013 with 47 counts of felony domestic violence and assault for the Aug. 5, 2013, attack on his then-girlfriend inside the penthouse at 301 Main St. A San Francisco Superior Court judge, though, ruled a 30-minute video capturing the violent attack was not admissible because police seized it illegally. Chahal ultimately pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor charges of battery and domestic violence in April 2014. While on probation, Chahal began dating a then-23-year-old South Korean woman he met in Las Vegas, and on Sept. 17, 2014, the two got into an altercation. Hernandez testified the woman told him Chahal kicked her 10 to 12 times on his bed around 4 a.m. after they had been drinking. She immediately called police, but hung up before later dialing back and saying the call was unintentional, according to a 911 recording played in court. Hernandez said the woman, whom The Chronicle is not naming, came into the Southern District Police Station on Oct. 6 at 1:30 a.m. to report the alleged attack. The woman had gone to St. Francis Memorial Hospital the night after the episode, where a physicians assistant, who testified Friday, said she documented two bruises on her right leg. The alleged victim, though, has since returned to South Korea and has not returned to testify in the prosecutions motion to revoke Chahals probation. Judge Brown said she will conditionally take the evidence presented Friday into consideration. But she made no ruling on whether it or evidence from the defense set to be presented in May will be admissible before she takes the matter under consideration. She will also decide if the video evidence that was tossed in the 2013 domestic violence case can be admitted in the probation hearing. Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Updated to include drought zones while tracking water shortage status of your area, plus reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts. Chahals court appearance Friday became heated before he even entered the courtroom when bodyguards in his entourage shoved through a group of news photographers gathered in a hallway outside. At the same time, more than a dozen of Chahals family members and close friends held signs outside the Hall of Justice reading, We support Gurbaksh and Indians Deserve Equality and Justice. Hes manipulating people, Beverly Upton, executive director of the San Francisco Domestic Violence Consortium, said outside the hearing, referring to Chahal. This is how abusers work, she said. They try to intimidate, and victims are afraid to come forward. So far its worked. Evan Sernoffsky is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: esernoffsky@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @EvanSernoffsky This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate A state appeals court says a California prisoner who took part in a mass hunger strike protesting long-term solitary confinement should not have been punished for disorderly behavior because he did not disrupt prison operations or endanger anyone. Although the 2013 hunger strike, which involved as many as 30,000 inmates across the state, may have affected the workload of prison staff members, there was no evidence of a breakdown of order or any threat of violence, the First District Court of Appeal in San Francisco said in the case of a former inmate at Pelican Bay State Prison. The ruling, issued last month, was published Friday as a precedent for future cases. In addition to overturning a 90-day sentencing increase for the inmate, the decision could help numerous hunger strikers whose prison conduct is scrutinized by parole boards, said an attorney in the case, Carol Strickman of Legal Services for Prisoners with Children. For inmates serving life sentences with the possibility of parole, the parole board is citing the hunger strike as a reason to keep them in prison, because of their ongoing criminal mentality, Strickman said. We hope to use this opinion to try to educate the parole board, she added. You might say it makes you more suitable (for release), engaging in nonviolent protest. People could see it as good citizenship. The inmate, Jorge Gomez, was sent to Pelican Bay, in Del Norte County, in 2000 and was transferred three years later to the prisons Security Housing Unit, where he was kept in solitary confinement for more than a decade. In July 2013, he refused to eat for four days and, after the third day, was cited for a serious violation of prison rules for taking part in a hunger strike. Other inmates continued the hunger strike for as long as two months. Prison officials attributed the protest to gangs looking to expand their influence, but supporters of the inmates said the action helped to pressure the state into a legal settlement last August that put new limits on the use of solitary confinement and has already returned nearly 1,000 inmates to the general prison population. In Gomezs case, a prison hearing officer found that he had willfully disrupted prison operations by requiring officers to delay performing their normal duties and penalized him by taking away 90 days of good-conduct credits, effectively lengthening his sentence. Transferred later to another prison, he appealed unsuccessfully in the prison system and filed a lawsuit in 2014 that a judge summarily dismissed. But the appeals court said prison officials failed to show that Gomez had engaged in disorderly or disruptive conduct, the regulation he was punished for violating. The court said it could clear him without having to decide whether inmates have a constitutional right, under freedom of speech, to engage in hunger strikes. Gomez did not act violently or threaten violence, and none of the effects reported by prison officials delays in some operations and services and reassignment of guards to monitor the hunger strikers suggests prison operations were thrown into disorder, Justice Therese Stewart wrote in the 3-0 decision. Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Updated to include drought zones while tracking water shortage status of your area, plus reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts. There was no immediate comment from prison officials, who could appeal the ruling to the state Supreme Court. L. Richard Braucher, a lawyer for Gomez, described the inmates conduct as heroic. These inmates were protesting their own mistreatment, peacefully, and then they were punished for it unlawfully, Braucher said. Bob Egelko is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: begelko@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @egelko In 1966, Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale planted the seeds of a black nationalist movement in Oakland that spread rapidly to the rest of America. Now, after 50 years, the Black Panthers theme of armed militancy has been expropriated by the radical right. The Panthers calling card of carrying weapons openly in public has become a disturbing part of American daily life in communities from Florida to Oregon. Black history narratives honor the likes of Harriet Tubman, who formed the Underground Railroad, Frederick Douglass, who fought to abolish slavery, and Martin Luther King Jr., icon of the civil rights movement. They are recognized for what they did in the name of freedom, equality and progress. But not much is said about how the Panthers managed to set the tone for the politicization of weaponry by militant right-wing groups, paving the way for the Stand Your Ground laws and the open carry movement. Simple but important platform The Panthers party spread its roots into the fabric of every African American community, expanding into a national organization with more than 40 chapters throughout the United States and abroad. Armed resistance was an attractive summons to people of color everywhere. The Brown Berets movement in East Los Angeles was a Chicano/Latino version of the Panthers. Originally named the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense, the organization opened its first office in Oakland in January 1967 as a mechanism to combat police violence in Negro neighborhoods. The party had a simple but important platform for winning the minds and the hearts of the people: Bringing services, including food, to underserved neighborhoods. In response to the Panthers, communities rallied to create programs such as the Free Breakfast for School Children Program, which opened up in cities such as Oakland, San Francisco, Chicago, Atlantic City, N.J., Boston, New Haven, Conn., Winston-Salem, N.C., and elsewhere. Free medical clinics, free clothing programs, food giveaways and educational opportunities, called Liberation Schools, were established. Each one teach one was the model. Some cities formed legal assistance programs for black tenants and those facing criminal charges. While pragmatists in the party toiled in the community to make improvements, charismatic leaders, such as former San Quentin State Prison prisoner and Soul on Ice author Eldridge Cleaver, set out on a course of militancy. There were several armed and violent confrontations with police. In the first few years, Panthers as well as law enforcement officers were killed or injured in clashes. Cleaver was appointed to a controversial lectureship at UC Berkeley. His official title with the Black Panthers Party was minister of information. Cleaver continued his in-your-face rhetoric, at one point calling then-California Gov. Ronald Reagan a punk, a sissy, and a coward, according to the Los Angeles Times. It was not long before Cleaver was back behind prison walls, his parole revoked for an April 1968 shootout with Oakland police in which Bobby Hutton was killed. With Cleaver in prison, a talented speaker, Fred Hampton, who had rocketed into the leadership of the Illinois chapter, gave moderates hope. Hampton referred to himself as a revolutionary. Panther supporters looking for a leader to embody the values of the black community and transform its ideology into a national movement, while avoiding prison and armed conflict, saw Hampton as their savior. However, one of the many obsessions of FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover according to author James Lardner, was a premonition about the rise of a charismatic Black messiah, something he was determined to prevent. In response to what the FBI described as the greatest threat to internal security of the country, the Counterintelligence Program (Cointelpro) was created to disrupt, discredit or otherwise neutralize the Panthers and other groups. Devastating loss of leadership Indeed, much of the grief the Panthers did not bring upon themselves came from FBI actions that later in Senate hearings were described as illegal and unconstitutional. But before the program ended, Hampton, Mark Clark, Alprentice Bunchy Carter, John Huggins and many others were killed, and Panthers supporters say Cointelpro was involved. The increasing loss of leadership was devastating. Co-founder Newton was shot and arrested for murder after a traffic stop in October 1967 in Oakland and sentenced to prison. Panther offices across the nation were raided by police, who arrested numerous members. The costs of bail and legal fees took a toll on the organization. Seale resigned from the party in 1974, and Elaine Brown was appointed to head the Panthers. Under her leadership, the Panthers focused on electoral politics and community service. Brown, still involved in Oakland politics today, helped Lionel Wilson become Oaklands first black mayor. Newton, who served time in the California Mens Colony at San Luis Obispo for his 1968 manslaughter conviction in the death of a police officer, went on to earn his doctorate from UC Santa Cruz. In August 1989, he was killed in West Oakland in what police say was a drug-related murder. Fifty years after its beginning, the Black Panther Partys efforts to address many of the issues facing African American communities today have been absorbed by the larger and more amorphous and interracial Black Lives Matter movement. The Panthers most lasting legacy may be one it never bargained for: It inspired whites on the right to adopt militancy backed up by firearms as a tool of intimidation. Aly Tamboura is a frequent contributor and Kevin D. Sawyer is a staff writer for the San Quentin News, the newspaper of San Quentin State Prison. To comment, submit your letters to the editor at www.sfgate.com/submissions. Veteran political consultant Rob Stutzman has helped plenty of Republican candidates, from local officials to governors. Now he has teamed up with two equally seasoned GOP strategists to try to stop a Republican they fear will destroy the party for years to come. That candidate is Donald Trump. It wont be easy, considering Trumps significant lead in statewide polls. But Stutzman and fellow consultants Ray McNally and Richard Temple have a plan that is unorthodox even by this years wacky standards. They are not necessarily promoting Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, Ohio Gov. John Kasich or any other presidential candidate. What they are determined to do is keep Trump from securing the 1,237 delegates required for party nomination at the Cleveland convention this summer. Their strategy took shape in recent months as you could see the arc of this race would very likely come to California, Stutzman said in a phone interview last week. And it has. So its game on for the stop-Trump movement. Theres no question there are voters who want to know whats the most efficient way to vote for an open convention, Stutzman said. As Americans have seen in this primary season and Trump has complained every time his campaign has been outwitted delegate-allocation rules vary wildly from state to state and from party to party. In California, the statewide winner receives only 10 of the 172 available delegates. The bulk of the delegates are awarded to the top vote-getter in each of the 53 congressional districts. A win in a district yields three delegates. The reality is, were talking about 53 distinct races, Stutzman said. That provides some unique opportunities. What the Stutzman-McNally-Temple team plans to do is determine through polling, demographics and other data which candidate, Cruz or Kasich, has the best chance to defeat Trump in each district. They are raising money (http://victorycalifornia.com) for mailers and social-media campaigns to ensure that anti-Trump Republicans know which alternative has the best chance in their district. Because neither Cruz nor Kasich has a chance of reaching 1,237 before Cleveland, the only hope for each is to deny Trump a first-ballot victory and hope for a free-for-all on subsequent ballots. This is where the strategy gets a bit crazy. A relative centrist Republican who supports Kasich but despises Cruz as too rigidly right might be advised to swallow hard and vote for Cruz to give John Kasich an opportunity on a third or fourth ballot, Stutzman explained. Conversely, die-hard Cruz supporters might be encouraged to vote for Kasich in certain districts. Yet another twist: All Republican votes are not equal in this primary. Congressional District Four, a wide swath of the Sierra from north of Lake Tahoe to south of Yosemite, has 175,000 registered Republicans. House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosis 12th District has about 30,500 Republicans. Yet each of those districts will send three delegates to Cleveland. If youre a Republican in Nancy Pelosis district, this is the reward you finally get, Stutzman said. People are going to pay a lot of attention to you. The irony of that is pretty rich. Stutzman initially supported Jeb Bush, then, when he dropped out, turned to Sen. Marco Rubio. When Rubio left the stage, Stutzmans primary goal became stopping Trump. He acknowledged that Cruz would be a long shot against anticipated Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, but at least the senator would preserve much of the Republican base, and avoid huge losses in congressional and legislative races. Polls show that 20 percent of Republicans, said Stutzman, will not vote for someone who is a misogynist, a liar, a bigot, a vulgarian and appears to not have a grasp of fundamental issues that are required to occupy the Oval Office. The anti-Trump GOP consultants playbook essentially comes down to this: The enemy of my enemy is my friend, no matter what. Its a long-shot quest. One sure prediction: If it succeeds, Trump will cry foul about stolen delegates and a rigged system. Yet all sides know going into the California GOP primary is that it involves 53 races and great attention to detail. John Diaz is The San Francisco Chronicles editorial page editor. Email: jdiaz@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @JohnDiazChron The June 7 California primary: A primer Registration deadline: May 23 You can register online at www.registertovote.ca.gov. Vote by mail: You can get a vote-by-mail application at the Secretary of States website: www.sos.ca.gov. Ballots will be mailed to voters the week of May 9; they must be received by May 31. Republican presidential primary Under party rules, only registered Republicans can vote in this closed primary. Delegate allocation (172 total): 159 selected on a winner-take-all basis in each of the states 53 congressional districts (three per district); 10 go to the statewide winner; the remaining three are reserved for the state party chair and two national committee representatives. Democratic presidential primary Under party rules, voters who selected no party preference when they registered to vote can request a Democratic ballot and vote in its presidential primary. The Libertarian and American Independent parties also offer that option to unaffiliated voters. Delegate allocation (475 at stake): Delegates will be awarded proportionate to each candidates vote total, with a 15 percent minimum vote to qualify. California also has 73 superdelegates who are not bound by the primary results. U.S. Senate primary Under the states top-two system (established by voters in 2010), candidates of all parties appear on all ballots. The top two finishers, regardless of party, will compete in the November general election. Note: The first major debate of the race to succeed Sen. Barbara Boxer is scheduled for 6 p.m. Monday at the University of the Pacific in Stockton. Democrats Kamala Harris and Loretta Sanchez and Republicans Ron Unz, Tom Del Beccaro and Duf Sundheim have confirmed. The Chronicle-KCRA debate will be televised statewide (NBC3 in the Bay Area) with The Chronicles John Diaz and KCRAs Edie Lambert serving as moderators. The Chronicle, KCRA and UOP all plan to live-stream the debate on their websites. A federal judge says a nonprofit controlled by conservative financial giants Charles and David Koch does not have to report its major donors to California Attorney General Kamala Harris office, despite previous court rulings upholding the disclosure requirement. Requiring the Americans for Prosperity Foundation to reveal the names and addresses of every contributor of $5,000 or more would violate the foundations constitutional right of freedom of association and its donors freedom to speak anonymously by subjecting them to harassment and threats of violence, U.S. District Judge Manuel Real of Los Angeles said Thursday. Although the law requires the attorney general to keep the information confidential and use it only to investigate possible misconduct by charitable foundations, Real said Harris office has systematically failed to maintain the confidentiality of the records. He said Americans for Prosperity presented evidence that more than 1,400 filings by foundations were publicly available on Harris website, including one by Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California. Charitable organization The foundation is classified as a charitable organization, funded by tax-deductible contributions, and is legally prohibited from taking part in political campaigns. It has advocated for conservative social causes, which it describes as public education. Real had exempted the Koch brothers foundation from reporting its donors in a previous ruling, in February 2015, but was told to reconsider his decision by the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals after that court found the disclosure law constitutional. In a May 2015 ruling involving another conservative foundation, the Center for Competitive Politics, the appeals court said requiring nonprofit charitable and educational organizations to report their donors to the state does not violate their rights, and that fears of public disclosure and harassment were merely speculative. The foundation appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, which denied review. Real then held a nonjury trial and found Thursday that Americans for Prosperity had shown that, in its case, enforcement of the reporting law would cause serious harm to the foundation and its contributors. He cited evidence of protests at the foundations Virginia headquarters and public events, consumer boycotts of one of its major donors, and death threats against the Koch brothers and their families. This court is not prepared to wait until an AFP opponent carries out one of the numerous death threats, Real said. He also noted that the attorney generals office had not asked the foundation for its donor list for more than a decade before seeking the information in 2013. The office said it had failed to act earlier because it was understaffed, but Real said the evidence showed the state has no urgent need for the information. Harris to appeal ruling In response to the ruling, Derek Shaffer, a lawyer for the foundation, said, We hope this important victory will enable Americans, even in the face of governmental overreach, to retain their freedom, privacy and security as they support charities of their choosing. Harris office said it would appeal to the Ninth Circuit. The disclosure law is a long-standing requirement that has helped attorneys general for more than a decade protect taxpayers against fraud, said spokeswoman Kristin Ford. Bob Egelko is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: begelko@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @egelko This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Cans of beer and excited high fives were passed around the Missions Alamo Drafthouse for the preseason premiere screening Thursday night of Silicon Valley, the HBO comedy that satirizes the notorious tech-industry capital to our south. While the shows cast and creators confidently joked through their post-premiere Q&A, Silicon Valley star Thomas Middleditch seems to live in permanent awe that hes really on a hit HBO show playing a character that director and co-creator Mike Judge wrote for him. It was this whole thing that started happening, exclaimed Middleditch, and every step of the way, I didnt believe it. Now, in the shows third season, the cast of Silicon Valley enjoys a rapport not dissimilar to teenagers in their junior year of high school. The cast is engaged in a constant comedic banter of inside jokes and insults, fart humor abounds, and theres a vibe that no matter how silly they get, its too late to fire anyone. Youre not king of the school yet, but I do have a sense of security, Middleditch said. At least Im not a freshman. Of course, naturally every actor is freaking out that its all gonna evaporate tomorrow, he said. But at least for right now, it feels like were pretty secure. HBO just announced that the Emmy-winning show has been renewed for a fourth season. Whether or not youve ever heard of Middleditch, youd probably recognize him. The Canadian actors wide-eyed, rumpled-hair, character-actors looks fit perfectly into Silicon Valleys hoodie world, but have also popped up in some notably mainstream places. For example, much to his own surprise, Middleditch appears in the Martin Scorsese film The Wolf of Wall Street. The actor briefly and painfully plays the dweeb cleaning the fishbowl before getting fired by Jonah Hill, who then swallows the fish. It was a one-line part. I mean, literally, in the script, I had just room for that scene, said Middleditch, still scratching his messy head of hair at the experience. Scorsese is very nice. Hes small, hes energetic. He has an English assistant director whos like (British accent), OK, guys. Well get everyone sorted out cause the guvs gonna come in here, hes gonna give you all notes. He calls him the guv, the governor, the govnah. Which is great. Its a very old imperial army kind of thing. I loved it. Middleditch broke into an impressive Scorsese imitation. Hed just come in and be like, OK, that was great. Try something new. Bye! and then walk away. It was a totally surreal experience. Voices and impressions flow constantly from Middleditch, who trained at Second City in Chicago before a Saturday Night Live audition (ultimately unsuccessful) brought him to New York. Soon entrenched in show business, he was introduced through a pitch for an MTV cartoon show to Judge, the Emmy-winning creator of shows like Beavis and Butt-head and the cult classic film Office Space. The cartoon never came to fruition, but when imagining the lead coder for a show about the tech nerds of Silicon Valley, Judge wrote with Middleditch in mind. And thus a funny kid from Nelson, British Columbia, ended up starring in a show on HBO. In addition to the small screen of premium cable, fans can also catch Middleditch as Melissa Rauchs stuttering love interest in The Bronze, a raunchy romantic comedy film about a washed-up gymnast. Middleditch plays Twitchy, pairing the actors characteristic aw shucks persona with a compulsive twitch. And though he didnt get the SNL gig, he can be seen sharing TV screen time these days with Tina Fey in American Express commercials. Silicon Valley executive producer Alec Berg thinks looks can be deceiving when it comes to the types of roles Middleditch has been perfecting. Hes not really as awkward. Hes much more in control; hes a lot less bumbling, Berg said. I think he has a lot more range. In a cast of people who are very similar to their characters, he is the most different. In real life, Middleditch is a friendly newlywed and video-game enthusiast, far more hipster Napoleon Dynamite than terrified computer programmer. But hes proudly enjoying his current ride as the coolest nerd in Hollywood. Settling comfortably into season three of a well-regarded HBO series with a cast whose members have become close friends doesnt hurt. I have a feeling that Ill have a very sobering reality X amount of years later, on some other project, he said, and well be able to be like, Oh yeah, what we had was pretty special and fun. Beth Spotswood is a Bay Area writer and blogger. Silicon Valley: season three premiere, 10 p.m. Sunday, April 24, HBO. WARSAW A historian in northeastern Poland says the moss-covered ruins of a German World War II bunker may hide Russias precious Amber Room, a national treasure that went missing during the war. The 18th-century Amber Room, made of amber panels and gold leaf, was fitted into Russias Catherine Palace near St. Petersburg, where it remained until it was looted by Germanys Nazis in 1941. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate The peaks of the Sierra are thick with snow, and California reservoirs are still rapidly filling. But the wet and welcome respite after four years of drought may be short-lived, federal climate experts said Thursday. Runoff from the mountains will peter out earlier than usual this spring because of near-record heat, they said, and a weakening El Nino will probably give way to La Nina all of which suggests a dry year ahead. The forecast comes as California water officials face pressure to lift statewide conservation rules that have ushered in an era of brown lawns, unwashed cars and shorter showers. Regulators expect to weigh in on the rules next month, potentially easing the mandates, but probably not eliminating them. Lingering drought The monthly climate outlook released this week by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration projects that most of California will remain in drought over the next several months. The forecast reverses last months projection that nearly half of the state would begin seeing relief. Lea Suzuki/The Chronicle The change reflects the results of a disappointing El Nino, which didnt deliver the wetter-than-average winter that many had hoped for, and the increased odds of a La Nina emerging this fall now at 70 percent. While El Nino represents a warming of the tropical Pacific Ocean and is associated with jolts in global weather that often bring more rain and snow to California, La Nina is marked by cool equatorial waters and has virtually the opposite effect on weather. There is a trend for drier-than-normal conditions across the southern United States, said Jon Gottschalck, chief of the operations branch of NOAAs Climate Prediction Center. Gottschalck said California is among the areas that typically see less rain and snow during La Ninas, noting Southern Californias exceptionally dry history with the event. According to Golden Gate Weather Services, 19 of the 20 La Ninas since 1950 have correlated with below-average rain on the states southern coast. Thirteen have come with less than 80 percent of normal rainfall. Statewide, precipitation has been about 90 percent of average during La Ninas. NOAA scientists said this week they dont know exactly what La Nina will mean for California this year because its too early to tell and because the pattern isnt a perfect forecasting tool. La Ninas, like El Ninos, generally occur every two to seven years. Each represents the opposite phase of fluctuating ocean and atmospheric conditions in the equatorial Pacific. La Ninas often follow strong El Ninos, like this years, because powerful El Nino currents flush out warm water and draw in the cold. Temperatures in the tropical Pacific remain higher than normal this month, but theyre quickly dropping and are expected to normalize by late spring or early summer, according to NOAA. The unusually warm weather further complicates Californias water picture the quickly melting snowpack in the Sierra is running more than two weeks ahead of normal. The worlds major meteorological agencies said this month that the planet is amid a historic heat streak. March marked the 11th straight month with a record high average temperature since data was first collected more than 100 years ago. In the United States, March was the fourth warmest on record, according to NOAA. The earlier snowmelt raises concerns for water resources, said Nina Oakley, a climatologist with NOAAs Western Regional Climate Center. Snow wont last long Oakley said that while many of Californias big reservoirs have filled, thanks to recent runoff, particularly in the north, the snow to sustain them will be gone by late spring or summer. This means cities and farms will have less reserves to live with during the driest part of the year. Sierra snow accounts for about a third of Californias water supply. With many reservoirs now benefiting from snow runoff, dozens of water managers from across the state packed a meeting of the State Water Resources Control Board on Wednesday to call for less stringent conservation rules. Our customers can see these things (full reservoirs) and they dont understand why were required to have emergency restrictions in place, said Mike Healy, a Petaluma city councilman. Healy was among many who suggested that management of water supplies should be returned to local officials, noting that different communities face very different water situations. NOAAs climate forecast this week shows drought conditions receding in coastal areas north of San Francisco while the rest of the state remains entrenched in drought as it will at least through July. State policy is essentially blind to geography and requires all cities and towns to reduce water use. Each area faces a mandatory cut, between 4 percent and 36 percent depending mainly on how much water it has saved in the past. State Water Board Chair Felicia Marcus said regulators will consider the request to relax the rules, though she remained reluctant to act too soon. We dont know what will happen next year, Marcus said. Theres a judgment call to be made. Ive yet to see a simple way of moving forward. Kurtis Alexander is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: kalexander@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @kurtisalexander None of the 349 babies exposed to tuberculosis from an infected nurse at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center tested positive for the disease, but two of their mothers did, officials said. The two mothers tested positive for latent TB, meaning they were not contagious, officials said. Were very relieved that no baby got tuberculosis, although we didnt expect any babies to get it, said Dr. Stephen Harris, chair of the hospitals department of pediatrics. Officials also said that none of the 338 at-risk employees of the medical center were infected with the bacteria. The infected nurse, whose name was not released, had active TB and exposed patients to the disease from August until mid-November, when she was placed on leave, officials said. Medical center officials announced in December that the babies and their mothers were exposed to TB. Around 96 percent of the babies have been tracked down, monitored and medicated since staff learned the nurse was infected, while 90 percent of the mothers were tested. Of the remaining 4 percent of the infants, half of them have been in contact with physicians caring for them and the rest have not been located. The mothers who tested positive have a dormant version of the disease in their bodies, which means they have no symptoms, do not feel ill and cannot pass it on. There is a risk the disease could become active and contagious, which happens under varying circumstances. Tuberculosis, once the leading cause of death in the United States, is caused by a bacterium called Mycobacterium tuberculosis, which tends to target the lungs. Santa Clara County Public Health Department is investigating whether the mothers infections came from the nurse or from community exposure, officials said. Could have been at the grocery store, could have been traveling, could have been anywhere, said Joy Alexiou, a spokeswoman for the medical center. About half the babies have stopped taking medication. By May 11, all of the affected babies will have turned six months old and will be taken off isoniazid, a preventive antibiotic being administered. Jenna Lyons is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jlyons@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @JennaJourno SecureWorks is the first initial public offering of the technology industry this year. That may be the extent of the victory lap for the tech IPO market, at least for now. In its first day of trading Friday, shares of SecureWorks, a digital security company, did not move from the $14 price set the night before. SecureWorks, a cybersecurity company, raised $112 million, selling 8 million shares. It had been marketing 9 million shares at a range of $15.50 to $17.50, indicating that demand was weaker than expected. The lackluster demand was not that surprising. For one thing, SecureWorks has little in common with unicorns private, venture-backed startups with valuations above $1 billion that have been avoiding the public markets. SecureWorks is 17 years old, based in Georgia and owned by Dell. And the ways in which SecureWorks does resemble some unicorns top-line revenue growth, a history of losses and an enterprise-software business model are not the most encouraging for investors. Recent trading among already-public cybersecurity stocks did not help SecureWorks deal. Shares of FireEye and Rapid7 declined in recent weeks as SecureWorks was meeting with potential buyers of its stock. Investors look to companies similar to the one going public when trying to determine what price they might be willing to pay for the IPO. For Dell, pricing below the range was not necessarily bad news. The computer maker, which has agreed to acquire EMC in the largest technology deal ever, is not selling shares in the offering. Dell owns 86 percent of SecureWorks after the IPO, and it is hoping the share price will rise in the public market. Dell also controls more than 98 percent of the voting power through a separate class of shares. The IPO price yielded a valuation of $1.1 billion, which was almost double the roughly $600 million Dell paid for the company in 2011, according to Triton Research, which provides information on private companies. SecureWorks reported $339.5 million in total revenue for the year through Jan. 29, a 30 percent increase from the same period last year. It had $72.4 million in losses for the year, almost twice as much as a year earlier. update underlined PIKETON, Ohio A day after eight members of one family were found dead with gunshots to the head at four properties in rural southern Ohio, authorities on Saturday continued the scramble to determine who targeted that clan and why. Investigators said they interviewed more than 30 people in hopes of finding leads in the deaths of the seven adults and 16-year-old boy whose bodies were found Friday at homes southwest of Piketon. All were shot in the head, authorities said, and it appeared some were killed as they slept, including a mother in bed with her 4-day-old baby nearby. The newborn and two other small children were not hurt. The victims, all members of the Rhoden family, were identified Saturday as Christopher Rhoden Sr., 40; his son, Christopher Rhoden Jr., 16; Kenneth Rhoden, 44; Gary Rhoden, 38; Dana Rhoden, 37; Clarence Frankie Rhoden, 20; Hannah Gilley, 20; and Hanna Rhoden, 19. Investigators said they believed at least one assailant remained at large, considered armed and dangerous. Investigators were following up what they described as an overwhelming amount of tips, but no arrests have been made. Phil Fulton, the pastor of Union Hill Church up the road from where some of the victims were found, described the family as close-knit and hardworking. He said they were previously part of his congregation, though not recently. Were just doing everything we can to reach out to the family to show them love and comfort, Fulton said. Reading a statement from the family, Kimberly Newman of the Ohio Crisis Response Team told reporters gathered near some of the crime scenes that they appreciated the outpouring of prayers and support. The exact timing of the shootings remained unclear. Authorities first got word in an emergency call shortly before 8 a.m. Friday from someone reporting blood in a home with two males possibly dead, and responding deputies were flagged down about more victims at two others homes, Sheriff Charles Reader said. Two of the crime scenes are within walking distance of each other along a sparsely populated, winding road that leads into wooded hills from a rural highway. The third residence is more than a mile away, and the fourth home, where a mans body was found later Friday, is on a different road, at least a 10-minute drive away, said the investigations leader, Benjamin Suver, a special agent in charge with Bureau of Criminal Investigations. Investigators worked through the night processing evidence at the scene. Officials said a businessman put up a $25,000 reward for information leading to the capture and conviction of the killer or killers. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate A solar-powered airplane flew over the Golden Gate Bridge on Saturday, offering San Franciscans a rare glimpse of the aircraft as it completed its flight over the Pacific Ocean as part of an attempt to circumnavigate the world. The Solar Impact 2, which left Hawaii on Thursday, had already been in flight for about 56 hours when it made its first pass over the landmark bridge. I crossed the bridge. I am officially in America, pilot Bertrand Piccard declared Saturday evening as the plane circled past the Golden Gate and over the Presidio. He was broadcasting live in an online video feed documenting the journey. Down below, residents of the Outer Richmond and the Sunset neighborhoods snapped photos of the solar plane on its historic flight. The plane made its way to Moffett Federal Airfield in Mountain View, where it landed at 11:45 p.m. Saturday. The pilots will recharge before the next leg of their journey, to the central U.S., then onward to New York before crossing the Atlantic Ocean. Piccard has said that stopping in Silicon Valley is of symbolic importance, linking his daring around-the-world journey with the spirit of innovation and technology for which the area is known. The aircraft, which is equipped with 17,000 solar cells that power the planes propellers and charge its batteries, can continue to run on stored energy after the sun sets. Piccard and his co-pilot, Andre Borschberg, who followed Piccard over the Golden Gate in a red helicopter Saturday, began their journey in Abu Dhabi on March 9, 2015. So far, the plane has crossed half the globe, with stops in Oman, India, Myanmar, China, Japan and, most recently, Hawaii. On July 3, 2015, Borschberg completed a historic five-day, five-night pass over the Pacific Ocean from Japan to Hawaii without using any fuel. The team was later delayed in Hawaii because of damage the battery system had suffered along the way. The plane is able to fly nearly nonstop powered exclusively by the energy of the sun, according to the crew. Over populated areas, the pilots do not sleep. But over the oceans, they take short naps of up to 20 minutes at a rate of one to 12 times per day. The solar aircraft is slow-moving typically flying about 28 mph though it can pick up speed midday when the suns rays are strongest. Its long, narrow, 5,000-pound body is made of carbon fiber. It has an unusually long wingspan of 236 feet about 13 feet longer than a Boeing 747. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Marissa Lang is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: mlang@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @Marissa_Jae BRIDGEPORT, Conn. A confident Donald Trump told supporters on Saturday that hes not changing his pitch to voters, a day after his chief adviser assured Republican officials their partys front-runner would show more restraint while campaigning. You know, being presidentials easy much easier than what I have to do, he told thousands at a rally in Bridgeport. Here, I have to rant and rave. I have to keep you people going. Otherwise youre going to fall asleep on me, right? Trump declared to the crowd that he has no intention of reversing any of his controversial policy plans, including building a wall along the length of the Southern border. Everything I say Im going to do, folks, Ill do, he said. Trumps new chief adviser, Paul Manafort, met Thursday with top Republican officials and told them his candidate, known for his over-the-top persona and brashness, has been projecting an image. At a rally in Waterbury earlier Saturday, Trump joked about how its easy to be presidential, making a series of faux somber faces. But he told the crowd he can be serious and policy-minded when he has to be. The Republican front-runner and most of his rivals in both parties were out campaigning Saturday across the quintet of Northeastern states holding primaries on Tuesday, including Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Rhode Island and Connecticut. For the Republicans, in particular, the stakes are high as Trump looks to sweep the remaining contests and reach the required 1,237 delegates needed to clinch the nomination, while his rivals Ted Cruz and John Kasich look to thwart his efforts and force the race into a contested convention. Trump revived his birther criticism of rival Cruz, which he has previously used to suggest the Texas senator is ineligible to run for president. Most experts say that Cruz is eligible to serve in the White House even though he was born to an American mother on Canadian soil. Cruz addressed around 1,000 supporters in a high school outside Pittsburgh, saying Tuesday is going to be a pivotal day. He also traveled on Saturday to Indiana, which doesnt vote until next month. Trump is thought to be favored in Pennsylvania, while Cruzs deep evangelical roots could give him a boost in Indiana. Cruz also rebuked Trumps recent suggestions that building separate transgender restrooms is discriminatory and costly, saying Saturday that it should be the choice of the given location, of the given local government to allow that, to provide for that. WASHINGTON Hillary Clinton cant win enough delegates on Tuesday to officially knock Bernie Sanders out of the presidential race, but she can erase any lingering doubts about whether shell soon be the Democratic nominee. After her victory in New York this past week, Clinton has a lead over Sanders of more than 200 pledged delegates won in primaries and caucuses. As she narrowed Sanders dwindling opportunities to catch up, Clinton continued to build on her overwhelming support among superdelegates the party officials who are free to back any candidate they choose. In the past two days, Clinton picked up 11 more endorsements from superdelegates, according to an Associated Press survey. Clintons lead now stands at 1,941 to 1,191 for Sanders, according to the AP count. That puts her at 81 percent of the 2,383 delegates needed to win the nomination. At stake Tuesday are 384 delegates in primaries in Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island. The contests offers Sanders one of the last chances left on the election calendar to gain ground in pledged delegates and make a broader case to superdelegates to support him. Yet it appears Clinton could do well enough Tuesday to end the night with 90 percent of the delegates needed to win the nomination, leaving her just 200 or so shy. The Sanders campaign knows a tough battle awaits in those five states and says it will reassess its campaign after Tuesday. If Sanders fails to win significantly in the latest primaries, he wont have another chance to draw closer in a big way until California votes on June 7. After losing New York, Sanders needs to win 73 percent of the remaining delegates and uncommitted superdelegates to capture the nomination. And thats not too realistic. His campaign argues that the Vermont senator can flip superdelegates at the July convention in Philadelphia, especially if he were somehow able to overtake Clinton among pledged delegates. To do so, Sanders would need to win 59 percent of those remaining. The Sanders camp acknowledges that will require a win in Pennsylvania, the biggest prize on Tuesday with 189 delegates. Sanders is trailing Clinton by double digits in preference polling in the state. His campaign also believes he can pick up delegates in Connecticut, where 55 are at stake. Sanders would recapture some momentum with such an unexpected big-state win, but he cant escape the fact that Democrats award delegates in proportion to the vote. Even the loser gets some. That means a close victory for Sanders in Pennsylvania probably would be offset by the results in Maryland, a Clinton stronghold. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Gurbaksh Chahal, a convicted abuser and millionaire tech entrepreneur, kicked his former girlfriend roughly 10 times during a 2014 fight at his penthouse apartment, while he was on probation for a domestic violence conviction, a San Francisco police officer testified Friday. Officer Jose Hernandezs testimony came during a hearing in San Francisco Superior Court where prosecutors sought to revoke the 33-year-old Internet moguls probation for an earlier attack on a different woman in the same apartment. Friends and family of the Indian-born Chahal, once dubbed one of America's most eligible bachelors, protested outside the Hall of Justice before packing into Judge Tracie L. Browns courtroom for the morning hearing. Its unfair. He has already paid the price, said Chahals father, 72-year-old Avtar Chahal. Ive been watching this play out for three years. The former chief executive of online advertising platform RadiumOne was charged in 2013 with 47 counts of felony domestic violence and assault for the Aug. 5, 2013, attack on his then-girlfriend inside the penthouse at 301 Main St. A San Francisco Superior Court judge, though, ruled a 30-minute video capturing the violent attack was not admissible because police seized it illegally. Chahal ultimately pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor charges of battery and domestic violence in April 2014. While on probation, Chahal began dating a then-23-year-old South Korean woman he met in Las Vegas, and on Sept. 17, 2014, the two got into an altercation. Hernandez testified the woman told him Chahal kicked her 10 to 12 times on his bed around 4 a.m. after they had been drinking. She immediately called police, but hung up before later dialing back and saying the call was unintentional, according to a 911 recording played in court. Hernandez said the woman, whom The Chronicle is not naming, came into the Southern District Police Station on Oct. 6 at 1:30 a.m. to report the alleged attack. The woman had gone to St. Francis Memorial Hospital the night after the episode, where a physicians assistant, who testified Friday, said she documented two bruises on her right leg. The alleged victim, though, has since returned to South Korea and has not returned to testify in the prosecutions motion to revoke Chahals probation. Judge Brown said she will conditionally take the evidence presented Friday into consideration. But she made no ruling on whether it or evidence from the defense set to be presented in May will be admissible before she takes the matter under consideration. She will also decide if the video evidence that was tossed in the 2013 domestic violence case can be admitted in the probation hearing. Chahals court appearance Friday became heated before he even entered the courtroom when bodyguards in his entourage shoved through a group of news photographers gathered in a hallway outside. At the same time, more than a dozen of Chahals family members and close friends held signs outside the Hall of Justice reading, We support Gurbaksh and Indians Deserve Equality and Justice. Hes manipulating people, Beverly Upton, executive director of the San Francisco Domestic Violence Consortium, said outside the hearing, referring to Chahal. This is how abusers work, she said. They try to intimidate, and victims are afraid to come forward. So far its worked. Evan Sernoffsky is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: esernoffsky@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @EvanSernoffsky Jacom Stephens / Getty Images A San Francisco mother tending to her baby was robbed at gunpoint in her own garage, police said Friday. The 39-year-old woman was taking her child out of a car seat at her home near Turk and Pierce streets in the Western Addition when a man in his mid-40s pushed a handgun into her side and demanded her wallet. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate A state appeals court says a California prisoner who took part in a mass hunger strike protesting long-term solitary confinement should not have been punished for disorderly behavior because he did not disrupt prison operations or endanger anyone. Although the 2013 hunger strike, which involved as many as 30,000 inmates across the state, may have affected the workload of prison staff members, there was no evidence of a breakdown of order or any threat of violence, the First District Court of Appeal in San Francisco said in the case of a former inmate at Pelican Bay State Prison. The ruling, issued last month, was published Friday as a precedent for future cases. In addition to overturning a 90-day sentencing increase for the inmate, the decision could help numerous hunger strikers whose prison conduct is scrutinized by parole boards, said an attorney in the case, Carol Strickman of Legal Services for Prisoners with Children. For inmates serving life sentences with the possibility of parole, the parole board is citing the hunger strike as a reason to keep them in prison, because of their ongoing criminal mentality, Strickman said. We hope to use this opinion to try to educate the parole board, she added. You might say it makes you more suitable (for release), engaging in nonviolent protest. People could see it as good citizenship. The inmate, Jorge Gomez, was sent to Pelican Bay, in Del Norte County, in 2000 and was transferred three years later to the prisons Security Housing Unit, where he was kept in solitary confinement for more than a decade. In July 2013, he refused to eat for four days and, after the third day, was cited for a serious violation of prison rules for taking part in a hunger strike. Other inmates continued the hunger strike for as long as two months. Prison officials attributed the protest to gangs looking to expand their influence, but supporters of the inmates said the action helped to pressure the state into a legal settlement last August that put new limits on the use of solitary confinement and has already returned nearly 1,000 inmates to the general prison population. In Gomezs case, a prison hearing officer found that he had willfully disrupted prison operations by requiring officers to delay performing their normal duties and penalized him by taking away 90 days of good-conduct credits, effectively lengthening his sentence. Transferred later to another prison, he appealed unsuccessfully in the prison system and filed a lawsuit in 2014 that a judge summarily dismissed. But the appeals court said prison officials failed to show that Gomez had engaged in disorderly or disruptive conduct, the regulation he was punished for violating. The court said it could clear him without having to decide whether inmates have a constitutional right, under freedom of speech, to engage in hunger strikes. Gomez did not act violently or threaten violence, and none of the effects reported by prison officials delays in some operations and services and reassignment of guards to monitor the hunger strikers suggests prison operations were thrown into disorder, Justice Therese Stewart wrote in the 3-0 decision. There was no immediate comment from prison officials, who could appeal the ruling to the state Supreme Court. L. Richard Braucher, a lawyer for Gomez, described the inmates conduct as heroic. These inmates were protesting their own mistreatment, peacefully, and then they were punished for it unlawfully, Braucher said. Bob Egelko is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: begelko@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @egelko NEW YORK The Obama administration moved Friday to try to address Iranian complaints that U.S. financial regulations are denying Iran the sanctions relief it deserves under last years landmark nuclear deal. Meeting with Irans foreign minister, Secretary of State John Kerry said the United States would not stand in the way of foreign banks or firms doing business with Iranian companies that are no longer subject to U.S. sanctions. Kerry also said the administration was willing to further clarify what transactions are now permitted with Iran and urged foreign financial institutions to seek answers from U.S. officials if they have questions. They should not assume, he said, that was once prohibited is still prohibited. Nor, he added, should they assume that transactions with Iran that remain illegal for U.S. companies are illegal for foreign firms. Kerrys remarks, which came at the start of his second meeting this week with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, were an attempt to resolve confusion about what is permitted under the nuclear deal in which Iran agreed to curb its atomic program in exchange for billions in sanctions relief. Iran, as well as foreign banks and governments, have been clamoring for clarity, but it was not clear that Kerrys remarks would provide it. The United States is not standing in the way and will not stand in the way of business that is permitted with Iran since the (nuclear deal) took effect, Kerry said, reading carefully from a prepared text. The areas needing clarification, he said, include access to funds and financing for foreign firms to do business with Iran along with Irans access to its own money, which had been frozen abroad under the nuclear sanctions. Access to all of these is permitted, Kerry said. OAKLAND (BCN) Leaders of a radical group formed in Oakland 50 years ago, which the federal government once tried to wipe out, announced their 50th anniversary commemoration today beside local officials. The Black Panther Party started in Oakland in 1966 and will commemorate its 50th anniversary Oct. 20-23 with events mainly at the Oakland Museum of California at 1000 Oak St. The theme of the commemoration is "Where Do We Go From Here?" The Black Panther Party has been known for its stand against police violence and its survival programs such as free breakfast for school children and free health clinics. The party's programs were aimed at defending blacks and others at the margins of society Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf said her childhood in Oakland prepared her to be mayor and the Black Panther Party profoundly impacted that childhood. She said the party's actions taught her to cast a more skeptical eye on what she was taught in school. Today, Schaaf declared October 2016 Black Panther History Month in Oakland. Schaaf said the city still grapples with some of the same issues the Black Panthers sought to correct when it was officially organized. Some of those issues, according to Alameda County Supervisor Keith Carson's Director of Operations Aisha Brown, are the health, wellness and employment for black people and racial justice in policing. Former Black Party Chairman Elaine Brown said, "Little has changed since the party was formed" despite efforts for change. "We have to continue to work together," Aisha Brown said. The commemoration will consist of workshops, exhibits and events at the Oakland Museum, performances by musicians and artists at City Hall Plaza as well as an official renaming ceremony of a portion of DeFremery Park. A portion of the park will be renamed Bobby Hutton Grove. Hutton was one of the first members of the party and killed by police. Since his death, party members have referred to DeFremery Park as Bobby Hutton Park and now 45 years later a portion will be named in his honor. The official renaming ceremony will take place Oct. 23. Five hundred bags of groceries will be given away in the spirit of the party. An Oakland Museum exhibition that opens Oct. 8 aims to tell the true story of the party, Oakland Museum of California Director Lori Fogarty said. Saturday, Elaine Brown and party founder and former Chief of Staff David Hilliard will speak on the theme of the commemoration at an event at Oakland's Laney College starting at 8:30 a.m. Elaine Brown said the most important thing about the commemoration is that people should come out and see what party members did to create change. Oakland City Council President Lynette Gibson McElhaney said, "We have a path forward because of the legacy of the Black Panther Party." SAN FRANCISCO (BCN) The San Francisco medical examiner's office has identified a homicide victim found early Thursday morning in the city's Tenderloin neighborhood as 39-year-old Kito Fields of Oakland. Fields' death was first reported at 1:53 a.m. near Larkin and McAllister streets, according to police. As of Thursday morning, police had not arrested a suspect, who has been described as being between 25 and 30 years old. Police have not said how Fields died. Kerrville, TX (78028) Today Cloudy this evening. Scattered thunderstorms developing after midnight. Low 67F. Winds SSE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 40%.. Tonight Cloudy this evening. Scattered thunderstorms developing after midnight. Low 67F. Winds SSE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 40%. The US-based company has sought approval from the government on setting up single-brand retail stores in the country. New Delhi: Government is likely to exempt iPhone and iPad maker Apple from mandatory local sourcing rule, a move which would pave the way for tech giant opening single-brand retail stores in the country. The company had given a detailed presentation to a committee headed by DIPP Secretary Ramesh Abhishek on April 19, on its products, technology, innovations and camera. By early next week, the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) would send the proposal for final approval to Finance Ministry, sources said. "The panel has looked into the detailed proposal. The committee feels that it is a fit case for exemption of the mandatory sourcing norms," they added. The US-based company has sought approval from the government on setting up single-brand retail stores in the country. As per the foreign direct investment (FDI) norms, the government may relax the mandatory local sourcing norms for entities undertaking single-brand retailing of products having state-of-the-art and cutting edge technology and where local sourcing is not possible. The government had set up a committee to decide whether a product is state-of-the-art and can be eligible for exemption from the mandatory local sourcing applicable for FDI single brand retail trading. At present, 100 per cent FDI is permitted in single-brand retail sector but companies are required to take FIPB permission if the limit exceeds 49 per cent. The company sells its products through Apple-owned retail stores in countries including China, Germany, the US, the UK and France. Apple has no wholly-owned store in India and sells its products through distributors such as Redington and Ingram Micro. Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi has also submitted an application to open stores in the country. The 35-year-old tailor wants to be the voice of every young girl who is lured with the promise of big money to work in textile mills in southern India's Tamil Nadu and then exploited and abused. Chennai: Rajaram Paritha is on a mission. The 35-year-old tailor wants to be the voice of every young girl who is lured with the promise of big money to work in textile mills in southern India's Tamil Nadu and then exploited and abused. Head of the all-women Tamil Nadu Textile and Common Labour Union (TTCU), Paritha uses her experience as a factory worker to challenge forms of exploitation such a debt bondage, long hours and sexual abuse in the garment and textile industry. "Workers have to come together like they did a few days back ... against the government's controversial government pension plan. If they don't, the exploitation will not stop," she said in an interview with the Thomson Reuters Foundation. The scale of the issue Paritha and her organisation are trying to address is huge: much of India's $42 billion-a-year textile and clothing export industry is located in Tamil Nadu, and to boost productivity and increase margins, parts of its lucrative supply chain are built on bonded labour. A 2014 study into Tamil Nadu's textile industry by the Freedom Fund, a philanthropic initiative dedicated to ending modern slavery, and C&A Foundation, which partners with the Thomson Reuters Foundation on its human trafficking coverage, found workers were often subjected to low wages, excessive and sometimes forced overtime, lack of freedom of movement as well as verbal and sexual abuse. A conservative estimate suggests there may be at least 100,000 girls and young women being exploited in this way. "I vividly remember the one year I worked at a mill," Paritha said. "The machines would always be running and we were constantly working, just like the machines. Even a restroom break meant ensuring a co-worker manned your position for the few minutes you were away." A year into the job, Paritha quit because standing for eight to 10 hours was taking a toll on her health. "I learnt tailoring and moved on. But many can't do this due to economic pressures." Working with women and girls in 10 districts of Tamil Nadu, the union, now with nearly 5,000 members, trains its members on their legal rights, lobbying and leadership skills and addresses sexual harassment and violence in the workplace. "We are fighting for justice for a teenager who was found dead in a mill hostel a month back and a young woman who was recently penalised for stopping the machines for a few minutes when her clothes got stuck in it," says Paritha. "Their individual voices are suppressed by mill managements. They cannot do the same with our collective voice." This week, after thousands of protesters clashed with police in the city of Bengaluru, the government decided to scrap a proposal to change the rule on pension withdrawals - a rollback seen as a victory for workers' unions. But the battle for rights is far from over, said Paritha. "The change is so slow," she said. "I still see the same issues of wages being withheld, no restroom and lunch breaks come up even today. It only makes me more determined to fight." Akshaye Khanna is well on his way back to the big screen, it seems. Apart from playing a role in Rohit Dhawans Dishoom, Akshaye will also been seen in a film with Sridevi, produced by Boney Kapoor. From what we hear, he is also in talks with Karan Johar for the latters upcoming film, although nothing is official yet. All this, after four years of staying off screen. The last film Akshaye appeared in was Gali Gali Chor Hai, back in 2012. Akshaye, according to his close friends, is in no hurry to sign a film. He takes his time to go through scripts at his Alibaug farmhouse and gives it a nod only if it is compelling enough. Says a source, Akshaye spends most of his time at his farmhouse in Alibaug and travels to Mumbai whenever needed. He has kept it that way for a long time now and people who want to sign him for films also understand this procedure. Getting in touch with him takes time but he is always keen to hear new subjects. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Architect Matt Baran embraces a simple truth about art and design. Monotony kills brain cells, said Baran, principal of a design firm bearing his name. A lack of mental stimulation limits us. Barans designs arent over-the-top extravagant or avant-garde, but he still butts heads with regional planning commissions every now and then. He respects their mission of maintaining a neighborhoods appearance, but hes comfortable pressing them to accept variations on a theme. The latest case study is 986 43rd St., a three bedroom contemporary standing atop a formerly vacant lot. The brand-new construction offers an open floor plan, radiant heated cement flooring, and cleverly designed patios in the great room. And, to the satisfaction of regional planners and Baran, the home inserts itself seamlessly into the block of traditional houses. Every property has its positives and drawbacks. The importance of capitalizing on the pluses is self-explanatory. Barren believes identifying then embracing limitations provides the best results. In this case, the narrow lot led Baran and his team to approach the design vertically. Success hinged on instilling natural light into a space that feels open and inviting. This approach birthed patios off the side and back of the great room for indoor/outdoor living. Glass sliding doors opening to the exterior subtly reference the great rooms 10-foot ceilings. Its all about balancing exposure to natural light with privacy. Well place windows that dont align with the neighbors houses or well use frosted glass to obscure the view but filter in light, Baran said. Window placement is something were very conscious about during the design process. Youre not only tracking how light hits the lot, youre factoring in privacy. The contemporary distinguishes itself from its neighbors without upsetting the context of the block. Like the homes in the immediate vicinity, Barans design employs a front porch, as well as a pitched roof with overhanging eaves. With architectural familiarity established, he then added his own flavor in the form of a trimless exterior. A height ordinance restricted how tall they could construct, forcing the team to get creative if they were to install a double height entry and 10-foot ceilings on both levels. The groups determination paid off. Lowering the garages ceiling offered a voluminous interior the designers wanted while conforming to the planning guidelines. Oakland has great diversity, and that can be reflected in the architecture, Baran said. We want our designs to have relationships with its surroundings without trying to copy them. Barans credentials establish him as a local expert. He holds a masters degree in architecture from UC Berkeley and his firm, Baran Studio, is a few blocks from the recently completed three bedroom. He estimates designing about 100 homes in Berkeley and North Oakland since 2011. More than a handful of those properties have been listed by Linnette Edwards, a founding partner of Abio Properties. Her team understands our philosophy, he said. Visit www.986-43rd.com to learn more. Listing agent: Linnette Edwards, Abio Properties, (925) 580-8801, ledwards@abio properties.com. Details Address: 986 43rd St., North Oakland Price: $929,000 Features: This brand-new construction offers three bedrooms and two-plus bathrooms in an open floor plan with multiple patios. Ten-foot ceilings lend volume to the public rooms lined with radiant heated concrete floors. The top level belongs to a master suite with walk-in shower and customized closet. Open home: 2 to 4:30 p.m. Sunday Bollywood actor Sudhanshu Pandey, who was last seen playing a negative character in Meagamann, is elated for obvious reasons. He essays a negative role in Enthiran 2.0! My first film in Hindi was with Akshay in 2000. And 2.0 is my third film with him. We shot our portions in Delhi recently; I play an evil scientist in the film and my role forms an interesting part of the script. My look will be different from the conventional ones I have had so far, he says. The actor says hes delighted to be working in Tamil again. Ive always said that Tamil films and the people who make them are fantastic. From the actors to the technicians, every one of them is warm, friendly and genuine. Its a privilege to work with extraordinarily humble people like Shankar, and of course, Rajinikanth. I am excited beyond words. God has been quite kind to me, he tells us. The television host-model-turned-actor is totally in awe of Superstar. I have seen his films since my childhood and I am just waiting to start my shoot with him. Ive always have had this on my mind,that whenever I would get a chance to share screenspace with Rajinikanth in a film, I would never let it go. Hes a wonderful human being. Well be shooting our combination scenes in Chennai soon, he smiles. On the other hand, Sudhanshu is expecting the release of Indrajith starring Gautham Karthik and also shooting for the Hollywood series 24 with Anil Kapoor. Has not knowing Tamil posed a problem? No. I think Im lucky. I am managing things well. What matters to me is getting the expressions right, he adds. Whats next? Sudhanshu says that he wants to experiment with different genres of acting. Though its cool to play a baddie, I would love to play character roles. Moreover, I want to do more films in Tamil because Ktown is full of quality cinema. I have learnt a lot being here. It has been a great learning experience so far. My dream of working with Shankar has become true and I hope the same will happen with Mani Ratnam and Gautham Menon too, he signs off. NEW DELHI A university professor on his way to work in northwestern Bangladesh was hacked to death Saturday in an attack similar to other killings by suspected Muslim militants, police said. A.F.M. Rezaul Karim Siddique was attacked on his way to the state-run university in the city of Rajshahi, where he taught English, deputy police commissioner Nahidul Islam said. The attackers fled the scene immediately, Islam said. 1 Deadly mudslides: Torrential rains caused a mudslide that buried a labor camp in Indias remote northeast bordering China early Friday, killing 17 people, police said. Rescuers found 16 bodies in the camp in Tawang, a tourist spot at 7,500 feet in Arunachal Pradesh state, and another injured worker died on the way to a hospital. The workers, who were building a hotel at the mountainous site, were sleeping when the mudslide occurred. The area was lashed by pre-monsoon rains this week. Landslides are common in the area, but usually during the monsoon season, which runs from June through September. 2 Antigang law: El Salvadors legislature approved a new law that would impose up to 15 years in prison on anyone who negotiates with or offers benefits to street gangs. The measure is the latest in a series of moves aimed at attacking gang violence that helped push El Salvadors murder rate to 103 homicides for every 100,000 residents last year. The law would punish anyone who benefits from gang activities or acts as an intermediary for gangs. The government wants to prevent a repeat of a 2012 gang truce that provided no lasting reduction in violence and apparently allowed the gangs to become more powerful. 1 Militants detained: Turkish authorities have detained six suspected Islamic State militants who were allegedly planning to carry out attacks in the central city of Konya. Gov. Muammer Erol said Saturday that the six all foreign nationals were in pursuit of attacks against Turkish government officials visiting Konya or at strategic locations in the city. He did not give their nationalities. Turkey has suffered six deadly suicide bomb attacks since July four of them blamed on Islamic State militants. Most recently, a suicide attack in a busy pedestrian street in Istanbul killed four tourists on March 19. 2 Deadly explosion: Searchers have recovered four more bodies from a petrochemical plant wrecked by a huge explosion last week on Mexicos southeastern Gulf coast, raising the death toll to 28, the state oil company said. Petroleos Mexicanos said some workers were still missing, but did not specify a number. It had said Thursday that eight workers were unaccounted for. Pemex said 18 people were still hospitalized. More than 130 people in all suffered various injuries Wednesday when the explosion rocked the plant in Coatzacoalcos, about 370 miles southeast of Mexico City. Pemex has said the explosion happened after a leak but has not determined the source. The plant produces the hazardous industrial chemical vinyl chloride. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate LONDON Back home, President Obama has eight months, a dogfight over the Supreme Court and scores of campaign speeches for a successor ahead of him. But overseas, the president already has begun a long, slow goodbye. As Obama wrapped up his valedictory trip to London on Saturday, he looked very much like a president on his way out, reflecting on his tenure and eager to shape how he is remembered. At a town hall with young people, he was asked to look back far more than forward and he readily obliged. He offered advice for the next president, whoever that is. And then he carved out an afternoon to get out on the links with Prime Minister David Cameron, one of the few world leaders hes made a point of describing as a close friend. I think that I have been true to myself during this process, Obama said, reflecting on his presidency and his accomplishments. Obama said he was proud of his health-care overhaul, the Iran-nuclear deal, his handling of what he described as hysteria around the Ebola crisis and saving the world economy from a Great Depression. That was pretty good, he said. The president acknowledged his victory lap was premature, saying, I dont think that Ill have a good sense of my legacy until 10 years from now. But it is hardly too soon for the presidential farewells to begin. Presidents regularly use their last year of foreign travel for sometimes sentimental stopovers in international capitals. The trips can be a way to attract attention while voters at home are distracted by the race for the next president. For Obama, they provide a last chance to capitalize on his relatively resilient popularity abroad. There are limits to what Obama can accomplish on his farewell tour. I can give you one iron law: The president cannot shape his legacy. And he certainly cant shape it on the basis of trips, public relations and White House press statements in this last year in office, said Anthony Cordesman, a foreign policy analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. But every president I can think of during my adult life has tried. The White House tested its playbook in London. While the president arrived to lend a hand to Cameron, who is bogged down in a campaign to keep Britons from voting to leave the European Union, that was only a slice of his trip. On Friday, Obama filled his day paying social visits and making memorable snapshots with the next generation of British royals, including 2-year-old Prince George. On Saturday, Obama stopped at the Globe theater on the 400th anniversary of William Shakespeares death. He toured the replica of the open-air playhouse the Bard designed in the 16th century and listened to Hamlets to be or not to be soliloquy. Obama is due Sunday in Hannover, Germany, a trip that is also viewed as a political favor for a close ally. Obama is expected to defend Chancellor Angela Merkel against criticism on trade and her stance on refugees. It will likely be his last trip to Germany, as well. BEIRUT Syrian government strikes hit opposition-held areas near the capital and in the countrys largest city, Aleppo, while rebels fired mortars in escalating violence that killed at least 31 people and shattered a relative quiet in Damascus that has held since the teetering cease-fire took effect in late February. Western officials, including the U.N. envoy leading negotiations with Syrias warring factions, have warned that a cease-fire was in danger of total collapse due to intensifying violence and the walk-out by the Saudi-backed opposition group from the talks Monday. The opposition accuses the government of undermining the talks with ongoing attacks while the government says it is only targeting terrorist groups who are not part of the cease-fire agreement. GAZIANTEP, Turkey Turkeys prime minister said Saturday the number of migrants crossing into Greece illegally has dropped considerably, as proof that a much criticized migration deal between Turkey and the European Union is working. Ahmet Davutolgu was speaking at a joint news conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and top European Union officials who traveled near Turkeys border with Syria in a bid to promote the troubled deal with Turkey as they face increasing pressure to reassess the agreement. The group toured a refugee camp and inaugurated a child support center funded by the EU. European Union Council President Donald Tusk said the EU plans to spend 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion) on projects this summer to improve the lives of Syrian refugees in Turkey, and Davutoglu said the bloc has already has launched projects worth 187 million euros ($211 million). Human rights groups criticized the trip to what they call a sanitized refugee camp and said EU officials should look further at the tens of thousands of Syrian refugees that are now blocked from entering Turkey. Many have questioned the legality of the March 20 EU-Turkey deal allowing for the deportation of migrants who dont qualify for asylum in Greece back to Turkey. Davutoglu said the number of migrants crossing illegally into Greece had dropped from around 6,000 per day in November to around 130 daily since the beginning of this month. This drop shows the effectiveness of this joint mechanism, Davutoglu said. Our priority was to stop the baby Aylans from washing up on the shores, and we have made great strides in this aim, Davutoglu said, in reference to drowned 3-year-old Aylan Kurdi, whose images helped galvanize world attention on the plight of the migrants. In return for the deal, the EU has earmarked 6 billion euros ($6.8 billion) to Turkey over the next four years to help improve conditions for the 2.7 million Syrian refugees inside Turkey. The EU is also set to allow visa-free travel for Turkish citizens. Rights groups, EU legislators and the U.N. refugee agency have questioned the moral and legal implications of expelling people from Greece back to Turkey a country that many consider unsafe on grounds of security and human rights. Despite insisting that it has an open-door policy for Syrian refugees, Turkey in the past few months has blocked several thousand refugees who were fleeing northern Syria at the border, providing aid to them at displaced persons camps near the border instead. YOLA, Nigeria Bring Back Our Girls, say the placards in the park and the tweets read around the world. But for thousands of girls and women whove escaped Boko Harams clutches, the message theyve sometimes encountered at homecomings has been Stay Away. As U.S.-backed African governments make military advances against the Islamic extremist group and rescue more of the kidnapped and enslaved, aid groups and activists say a new challenge is mounting: rehabilitation. Perhaps no group is as stigmatized as those abducted, raped, forcibly married or otherwise mistreated by the militants. Sometimes they are called Boko Haram wives or even epidemics in their native communities, and few organized services are available for their care. Sometimes even fewer people are willing to embrace them as survivors. No one helped me, just one person who got me these clothes, said Maria Saidu, a 32-year-old who was held by Boko Haram for more than a year before escaping three months ago. Finishing up a weeklong tour of the Boko Haram-affected countries of West Africa, Samantha Power, Americas U.N. envoy, highlighted efforts to assist victims of the militants. In the eastern Nigerian city of Yola, where displaced people far outnumber native residents, Power met Friday with several people from the group of Chibok schoolgirls whose kidnapping two years ago sparked the world-famous #Bring Back Our Girls social media campaign. While 219 remain in captivity, the ones Power lauded for their courage are now receiving free education at the American University of Nigeria. They speak of becoming doctors or chemical engineers or undertaking other careers. Few who were once in their shoes have been so lucky. There is nothing we can hold onto, said Monica, a 22-year-old from northern Nigeria, whose monthlong captivity ended in a long flight through Cameroon on to Abuja, leaving a dead child in the bush along the way. We are just here. We are alive but not living. As with others interviewed for this story, Monica knew of other women who had been raped, some by 15 different men each day. But like everyone else, she told a story of good fortune or an opportune escape or rescue that allowed her to avoid a similar fate. She didnt want to give her full name. Family and community reactions to returnees vary greatly, according to a recent report by UNICEF and International Alert, a peace-building group. Some women, believed to have joined Boko Haram voluntarily, are seen as deserving of the brutal treatment they received. Some communities shun them, worried about the contagion of radicalization in their midst. Fears of violence are pervasive after two kidnapped girls blew themselves up at a refugee camp last year, killing 60 people. A third girl with explosives strapped to her body backed out at the last minute after spotting her mother at the settlement. An onscreen pair that is making waves these days on the tube for their sizzling chemistry is Dahleez lead couple Harshad Arora and Tridha Choudhary. Your favourite corner on the sets? Harshad: My room Tridha: Theres a beautiful balcony on the sets. So I like to sit there, talk and enjoy a cup of tea or coffee. Your favourite food on the sets? Harshad: I love Green Thai Curry or maybe some Chinese food. Tridha: Brown bread with tomatoes, butter and boiled eggs. Otherwise, I love grilled fish as Im a Bengali. Things you cannot do without on the sets? Harshad: My phone charger and my iPod. Tridha: My spots boys. They are more like my rescue boys. Your favourite line on the sets? Harshad: I love to mimic her, she says saare che (6.30) instead of saadhe che (laughs). So I love doing that. Tridha: Pack Up! Your stressbuster on the sets? Harshad: It has to my buddy, Amit Behl. Tridha: Books! Your wildest fantasy? Harshad: I dont think we should be talking about it. Tridha: Skinny-dipping. It sounds wild but I really want to do this in the middle of the night with my girlfriends. Your dream date? Harshad: I havent come across Ms. Right yet. So, whenever that happens, I will have the dream date. Tridha: I have the hots for Ben Affleck. I hope to meet him. An onscreen pair that is making waves these days on the tube for their sizzling chemistry is Dahleez lead couple Harshad Arora and Tridha Choudhary. Incidentally, the whole set is abuzz with stories of how the duo is practically inseparable. They have notoriously become famous for spending every moment of the spare time in between shots together. In a freewheeling chat, the couple tells us why their chemistry is a hit. So, how did you guys break the ice when you met each other for the first time? Harshad: We had workshops before we could start shooting for the show. We interacted with each other and connected instantly. Tridha: We got comfortable when we shot for the first dance sequence. I asked him if he could dance, as he seemed too shy. I helped him for that sequence and thats how we got talking. I would say dance connected us. Was it awkward filming romantic scenes at any point? Harshad: Not really. We rehearsed for such scenes during our workshop. Since we bonded well during the rehearsals, there was no room for awkwardness. Tridha: I personally dont think that we will be shooting such intense scenes that will make us awkward. Currently the track involves us developing a fondness for each other. It will be a long wait till we finally get a chance to explore intimate scenes. So, what makes your onscreen chemistry work? Harshad: Good writing is what really makes chemistry successful. If you connect with the characters, I think the chemistry will be automatically good. Tridha: The two of us are really transparent when it comes to work. For instance, when were shooting for a scene, I go up to him and ask him if we can do the scene in a particular way. We interact with each other a lot and that makes our chemistry work. Who is a better co-star among the two of you? Harshad: Im in awe of her dancing skills. Shes a trained classical dancer and it reflects in her acting. This is one aspect that makes her a better co-star. Tridha: In terms of professionalism, it has to be Harshad. Even if hes shooting all day and sleeps only for two hours, he will still be ready on the sets on time. While he takes five minutes, I take 45 minutes to get ready. So he is obviously ready earlier than me that makes him a better co-star. Who takes more re-takes? Harshad: It so happens that as an actor you are stuck with a shot and you just cant get it right and then you end up taking retakes. I think most of us have faced this problem on the show but we make sure that it doesnt happen often. Most times, we get it right in two-three takes. Tridha: Frankly speaking, most times we need to re-shoot because of the mosquitoes! Is there any particular scene thats made its way to your heart so far? Harshad: My favourite scene was when Adarsh (Harshad Aroras character) proposed to Swadheenta (Tridha Choudhury). It is my most cherished scene on the show. Also, when Swadheenta introduces Adarsh to her fiance, I think that was an emotional moment for Adarsh. Tridha: There was an important scene where I came across a different side of Swadheenta. I was sharing screen space with Adarsh and it was a powerful scene. Its etched in my heart Is there any scene thats made you go Oh I wish I had done it better? Harshad: I dont think like that for any scene. Whenever I face the camera I give it my 100 per cent. I dont look back since it can make me feel guilty later. And who likes that feeling? Tridha: There was a courtroom scene. Initially, my character Swadheenta is shown as an amateur. Later, she gets more professional with her work. I thought I could do something more to portray her as a professional lawyer. But you always keep learning so Im working on my skills. What is the one thing you like and dislike about each other? Harshad: One thing I like about her is that she has really expressive eyes. One thing I dislike about her is that sometimes, she can get stubborn. Tridha: He has a million dollar smile that reaches his eyes. There is some naughtiness and earnestness in it. Secondly, hes an amazing human being. One thing I dislike about him is that he is very profile conscious. Whenever were in the flow of a scene it doesnt matter but otherwise he always wants to stand on the left side. Whats your off-screen equation like? Harshad: Its fantastic. Ive learned dancing for her. I think that says a lot. Whenever we go out, she forces me to dance. Tridha: I turned half-vegetarian for him. We have our group of friends and we end up chilling together. We go for dinners and parties so we share a good bond. Is there any interesting fan comment on your jodi thats caught your eye? Harshad: We are referred to as Swa-Darsh. People love our chemistry and the on screen presence. So I really like that. Tridha: Our fans cant stop raving when they see our pictures together. I find that quite touching. Who is crazier among the two of you? Harshad: Definitely Tridha. Shes a ball of craziness; thats where the stubbornness comes in the picture. If shes happy she will be all charged and pumped up. So its nice to see someone so chirpy. If shes sad, the atmosphere changes. Tridha: Its me. Hes a very calm person. Where are you most likely to be found during breaks on the set? Harshad: Im usually sleeping in my vanity van. Tridha: I love listening to music. Whenever Im too tired I just listen to music. If the weather is nice and pleasant, we put our chairs outside in the lawn and just talk. Superheroes seem to have an increasing affinity towards our city! Last year, when Batman visited Chennai through Put Chutney, he became a rage among the locals and now its time for Deadpool. The famous Marvel comic character has been given a local touch by this impressive group of youngsters through their quirky and interesting YouTube channel, Paracetamol Payasam. Whether cursing nonstop in Tamil or trying to take revenge on a person who caused him agony, Deadpool is a true Chennaiite at heart. The actors and directors share their funny experiences while shooting this video, even reporting that cops gave chase mistaking them for burglars! We didnt want to beat around the bush. We just wanted to make an out-and-out adult comedy which was targeted towards the youngsters, starts Musiq Suriya, who is the director of the short film. He adds, I was impressed when I saw What if Batman was from Chennai, and I wanted to make something similar. Thats when Deadpool was released and I realised that I couldnt get a better character to make a parody out of. Stating that the whole video was shot over two nights, Suriya claims that the team did no homework whatsoever. It was spontaneous. And, to be frank, the lead character hadnt even watched the movie at the time of the shoot! Siva, who enacted the titular role of Deadpool laughs when asked about the teams encounter with the cops. We dont blame them actually. Imagine a group of youngsters weirdly dressed up in the middle of the night? The cops saw us and chased us. But, thankfully, one of them knew about the movie and let us free! he laughs. Siva also lightheartedly said that though he has been getting accolades from whoever saw the video, but hes also subjected to trolling by a few Just like the kids who troll me in the video, now in real life, my friends and others tease me by calling out the second half of the word Deadpool (which is a curse word in Tamil). Jaytesh Sridhar, who started Paracetamol Payasam along with Siva, is happy with the viral response on social media Two days since the release, a few people have criticised it for being a little abusive. But, thats the whole point. Were the only channel in the city who create mature content in a creative way and are happy that Deadpool was a pucca Tamilian for those 11 minutes! Sneha Roy did not anticipate the reaction her comment on Facebook would have when she spoke her mind about columnist Shobhaa Des statement body shaming Kate Middleton. To be frank, I didnt expect this kind of a reaction, says the English Honours student. For the uninformed, De had said, A Sari needs curves, Kate has none, and went on to speak how she was saved the horror of seeing Kates non-curvaceous figure in a sari. Talking about what compelled her to give such a befitting reply, the 19-year-old teenager from Assam says, Ive always been highly critical of careless comments passed by the so-called important people of our society, shaming not just them but the entire Indian society. Shobhaa Des comment is a complete violation of our countrys ideals of Atithi Devo Bhava, she says, adding, She failed to notice that the very elegant Duchess was no model treading the ramp to be awarded with sartorial comments but our guest. The solution to this problem is quite simple, she says. We need to look at our fellow humans without stained glasses of physical or social prejudice. Curves or none, our identity is our personality and that should also be the only criterion to judge others. Her post has resonated with many as she has been continuously receiving messages of approval. Ive received overwhelming greetings and encouragement from people from all over India and also some from Pakistan and Nepal. HYDERABAD: India is the number one location for setting up Global In-house Centres (GIC), owing to value proposition extending beyond cost and efficiency to innovation and digital transformation, said industry body Nasscom on Thursday. "GICs are an integral part of the Indian IT-BPM sector and have played a stellar role in contributing to the growth journey of this industry. The Nasscom GIC Council over the last few years has helped bring diverse GICs together across verticals and geographies and built an ecosystem for this sector," said Nasscom chairman C. P. Gurnani at the opening day of the sixth edition of GIC Conclave, a statement said. Themed 'Multinational companies demonstrate high inclination to setup GICs in India', the two-day conclave is focusing on 'Transforming the Global Enterprise' with an aim to sharing perspectives on the role of GICs in the transformational journey of enterprises. Nasscom GIC Council chair Navneet Kapoor said: "A key theme for the Nasscom GIC Council is to enable the Neo GIC that can help build new sources of value for enterprise digital transformation." He added that today's GICs are focused on catalysing innovation and are actively building programs for partnerships with start-ups, apart from enhancing internal capabilities. According to the statement, GICs in India, numbering more than 1,050 in 2016, contribute a 20 percent share to the IT-BPM industry exports and account for a revenue of $22 billion. As many as 7.90 lakh people work in the in-house centres while nearly 20 percent of all the new GICs in 2016 were established in India, the statement said. Known earlier as Global Captives, the GICs operate across all service lines of IT, BPM, engineering services and product development. Read Also: 5 Indian Wonderkids Born With Exceptional Brilliance India Adds 3,000 MW Solar Capacity In FY16, Beats 2,000 MW Target NWS AITISM2 City Schools Chancellor Carmen Farina, center, smiles as she watches students at PS 6 celebrate Autism Awareness Day. Joining her at front is City Councilman Joe Borelli, left, and Staten Island Schools Superintndent Anthony Lodico, right. (Staten Island Advance/Diane Lore) STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- City Schools Chancellor Carmen Farina joined students at Staten Island's PS 6 Friday to help celebrate Autism Awareness Day. Wearing blue t-shirts bearing the Dr. Seuss quote "Why fit in when you were born to stand out,"students at the Richmond Valley school sang, danced and performed outdoors in the courtyard for a panel of special guests, including Farina, Staten Island Schools Superintendent Anthony Lodicco, and City Councilman Joe Borelli (R-South Shore). "Our PS 6 community has participated in many collaborative efforts with teachers, parents and students over the past month, to make this event a day of learning and respect for all," explained Principal Elizabeth Waters. "We have all learned that we are like a puzzle piece; we are each unique in our own way, yet we fit together as a whole," she said. Farina, making her second visit to Staten Island this week, applauded the children, teachers and staff. Sisters Olivia and Rosebella Giardino, first-graders enrolled in the Horizon program at PS 6, model their Autism Awareness Day t-shirts. (Staten Island Advance/Diane Lore) Calling herself the "godmother" of the Horizon program for children with autism spectrum disorder, she related how as a superintendent in 2003, a close friend convinced her to launch the first program at PS 32 in Brooklyn. Some of the children in the those first classes have gone on to high school and college, she said. As chancellor Farina has expanded the program to all five boroughs, and plans are in the works to add more classes. The PS 6 program was added in 2015-2016, and currently enrolls 14 students in kindergarten and first grade. The children are in an 8-1-1 class; each class has eight students, a teacher and paraprofessional. The children can benefit by the small learning-environment, while they eat lunch, attend assemblies, and participate in all other activities with students in the 650-seat school. "To see how this program has expanded, to see these children out here celebrating their uniqueness together on this beautiful day," Farina said, "It just doesn't get any better than that." Consolidated Edison has agreed to pay $171 million in restitution to its customers for employee bribery and kickback schemes uncovered by federal officials. The New York State Public Service Commission, the agency that announced the agreement earlier this week, places the value of the settlement at about $13.50 for a typical residential electric customer and $21 for a typical residential gas customer. Staten Islanders should not, however, expect to see a one-time refund. Instead, the payments will be built into "future rate plans." The agreement comes seven years after 10 Con Edison supervisors and employees and one retired supervisor were arrested by federal officials for arranging to have the utility pay inflated claims by a contractor in return for more than $1 million in bribes and kickbacks to the employees over a nine-year period. Con Edison has approximately 3.3 million electric customers, 1.1 million gas customers and 1,685 steam customers in the metropolitan New York City area. Under the terms of the agreement, Con Edison admitted no wrongdoing. Associated Press material was used in this report. NWS PS62.JPG Solar panels provide the energy to power the new PS 62 in Rossville. The school, which opened in September, is the city's first "green energy" school, but other Staten Island schools will soon be getting solar energy panels installed as part of a city project to refit 101 schools and cut energy costs and carbon emissions. (Staten Island Advance/Anthony DiPrimo) STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- The city is in the process of installing solar energy panels at 101 public schools, including a handful on Staten Island, that will help the Department of Education save on energy costs, and serve as a hands-on lesson for city school kids. Schools Chancellor Carmen Farina announced the solar energy project Friday, as city schools celebrated Earth Day. The District 31 schools that are involved in the solar energy project are I.S. 7/Paulo Intermediate School, Huguenot; PS 55, Eltingville; PS 45, West Brighton; PS 69, New Springville; PS 13, Rosebank, and PS 78, Stapleton. In addition, the Island is home to the city's first "green school" -- PS 62 in Rossville -- which opened in September, that is solar energy-dependent. In partnership with the Department of Citywide Administrative Services (DCAS) and the New York Power Authority (NYPA), the DOE has completed 35 of the 101 solar installations to date. Another 66 projects are planned. The 101 school systems will ultimately produce 18 million kilowatt-hours of electricity and reduce close to 6,000 metric tons of carbon monoxide emissions each year, Farina said, a key step toward Mayor Bill de Blasio's commitment to retrofitting every public building by 2025 and dramatically reducing the city's contributions to climate change -- including a long-term goal of reducing total emissions 80 percent by 2050. The solar panels are funded by the city, as well as through the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA). The DOE expects to save more than $ 2 million when all 101 projects are completed. Along with the installations, participating schools received an environmental curriculum plan, as well as solar dashboards and web portals. The tools are designed to give students the ability to track the amount of emissions that have been offset and the electricity the systems are generating in real time. "Students play a critical role in ensuring that New York City is providing a sustainable future, and the installation of the solar panels creates teachable moments that provide lessons for students on how to be stewards of the environment, Farina said. Police have stepped up arrests of people suspected of involvement with the riots during the protest by garment factory workers on Monday and Tuesday, bringing the total number of arrests to 222. BENGALURU: Amid finger-pointing and foot-dragging on a full-fledged police inquiry, police have stepped up arrests of people suspected of involvement with the riots during the protest by garment factory workers on Monday and Tuesday, bringing the total number of arrests to 222. While the city police have arrested 168 people, the Bengaluru Rural police have arrested 54. Speaking to reporters on Friday, Additional Commissioner of Police (Law & Order - West) Charan Reddy said that the police had arrested 168 people including eight women in connection with the riots. They have been arrested on charges of assaulting policemen, damaging public property, rioting and other charges. The arrests will continue and the police teams are on the look out for others who are absconding, he said, adding that many of the people, who were detained in connection with the incident were let off after questioning. Police are verifying videos of the riots to identify those involved in violence. Apart from the videos recorded by police staff, we are also going through the CCTV footage available. We are doing it to know who are involved in stone pelting, arson, and assault on policemen. Some of them found in the footage have already been arrested while efforts are on to nab others, another official said. Bengaluru Rural SP Ramesh B. confirmed that the Rural police had arrested 54 people on charges of riots on Monday and Tuesday. 5 cops face FIR An FIR has been registered against Hulimavu police station inspector and four other staff on charges of assaulting a TV journalist, who was covering the protests by garment factory workers on Tuesday. Both the city police and the rural police have submitted reports in connection with the riots to the DG & IGP. However, no inquiry has been ordered into the incident. Inquiry will be initiated only if there is any death. As there was no death due to riots, no inquiry has been initiated, said a police official. 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 Ahmedabad: Citing an expert committee report on fuels, the state government on Saturday told the Gujarat High Court that CNG will prove more harmful to the environment than diesel "as CNG engines emit more greenhouse gases than diesel". In its affidavit filed before the High Court, the state government also expressed apprehensions about converting all commercial as well as public transport vehicles running on diesel into CNG-run, stating that it will have major financial implications. The affidavit came as government's reply to the court, which is hearing a PIL seeking conversion of all such diesel vehicles into CNG-run vehicles to reduce air pollution in the state. The affidavit was submitted to the high court bench comprising chief Justice R Subhash Reddy and justice Anant Dave. Since the Chief Justice was out of the town, the bench was not available on Friday. In the affidavit, the state government cited the 2002 Mashelkar expert committee report to argue that CNG is not a solution. "As observed in Mashelkar Expert Committee report on Auto Fuel Policy in India, CNG vehicles for one mile emits 20 per cent more greenhouse gases than a diesel vehicle for one mile. From the perspective of global warming, the decision to switch to CNG from diesel is a harmful one," the affidavit quoted the report. "CNG vehicle emits 80 per cent particulate matter and 35 per cent less hydrocarbons. However, the output of carbon monoxide is over five times more than diesel," stated the affidavit quoting the report. "If CNG is used, there will be a reduction in particulate matter. But other pollutants show a considerable increase. In fact, there is an increase in the emission of greenhouse gases with the increase in the age of CNG engine," argued the government quoting the report. According to government, conversion of diesel vehicles into CNG "would not serve the purpose of prevention of air pollution caused by vehicles". Sometimes turning 40 can precipitate an existential crisis. Not so for Acer, a company due to hit that milestone on August 1. Kicking off an early celebration, the Taiwanese electronics company gathered the tech media in New York City for an event on April 21 to show off its new products. Acer took the wraps off of two new business mobile devices. While not as flashy as its other debutante, the Xplova X5 video-recording portable for cyclists and VR-ready gaming PCs, the business-oriented offerings warrant the attention of small business owners, particularly those who have adopted Googles Web-based business app ecosystem. Acer Designs a Chromebook for Work Acers new Chromebook 14 for Work is the first Chromebook to feature a sixth-generation Intel Core Skylake processor for brisk performance. How brisk? The company claims its the fastest Chromebook available. The Chromebook 14 also features Vibrant Gorilla Glass, the latest version of the hardened, scratch-resistant glass from Corning. And this business-focused Chromebook is not completely without style. You can customize Gorilla glass with photo-realistic images, lending the device an added touch of personalization. The hardware perfectly complements Googles suite of Apps for Work cloud applications while offering business-grade manageability. On a full charge, it can run for up to 12 hours (10 hours on full-HD models). In practically every other respect, Acers new Chromebook looks like a sleek modern notebook. But looks are deceiving. The rugged Chromebook 14 for Work meet the U.S. MIL-STD 810G military standard for computing devices, which means that it can take the punishment doled out in the battlefield. Acer, the leading Chromebook maker, commanded 33 percent of the Chromebook market last year. Eric Ackerson, senior product marketing and brand manager for Acer, explained what prompted the company to add those rugged measures to its business devices. The Acer Chromebook 14 for Work One reason we took that route is due to our success in the education sector, said Ackerson on stage. We purposely designed products to be durable for the rigors of being used by children in that environment. Chromebook 14 for Work has been tested to survive a four-foot drop, and it can withstand up to 132 pounds of downward force. It spill-resistant keyboard can handle up to 11 fluid ounces, courtesy of a gutter system that channels liquids away from internal components. Acer Chromebook 14 for Work goes on sale in May. Prices start at $349. A Quiet, Liquid-Cooled 2-in-1 Tablet PC If you prefer a Windows notebook over a Chromebook, Acer debuted a new 2-in-1 notebook that borrows a trick that high-performance PCs use to prevent a meltdown. As its name suggests, the new Switch Alpha 12 Detachable PC is a tablet PC with a 12-inch touchscreen (2,160 pixels by 1,440 pixels) and a detachable keyboard. This design lets you switch between tablet and laptop modes. Unlike Surface Pro tablets from Microsoft, Acer includes the keyboard as part of the Switchs standard package (an optional backlit keyboard is also available). The Acer Switch Alpha 12 Detachable PC Heres where things get a little interesting. Switch Alpha is the first fan-less 2-in-1 notebook powered by sixth-generation Intel Core processor (i3, i5 and i7 models available), according to the company. Acer accomplished this fan-free feat with a new cooling system called LiquidLoop. When the coolant passes through the loop, over the CPU, the expanding gas pushes the coolant back around the circuit, explained an Acer spokesperson. We dont need a giant radiator, pump, or any of the large components typically found in water-cooled systemscomponents that obviously wouldnt fit in a portable, he added. The innovation lets you run Windows 10 applications at full tiltminus the annoying whir of a fan. This on a device thats slightly more than a third of an inch thick, or 0.62 inches with the keyboard attached. Acer Switch Alpha 12 goes on sale in North America in June. Prices start at $599. Pedro Hernandez is a contributing editor at Small Business Computing. Follow him on Twitter @ecoINSITE. HEALTH Ergonomist Ted Dohrmann plays a significant role in enhancing the health, safety and wellbeing of the various workforces he consults with. Recently, he has been the lead project ergonomist responsible for ensuring the CSIRO's new headquarters meets the ergonomic needs of several hundred CSIRO employees who perform diverse roles including everything from desk-bound office work to specialised scientific jobs in laboratories. Ted Dohrmann brings an engineering and commerce background to his career in ergonomics. "The challenge as the ergonomist has been to evaluate the plans the architect has put forward for all these different areas and try to ensure that the workspace and place they've come up with is going to actually do the job, so people are comfortable, safe and ultimately productive," Dohrmann says. Dohrmann is the managing director of ergonomics and safety consultancy Dohrmann Consulting. Ergonomists, according to Dohrmann Consulting, design or arrange workplaces, products and systems to complement the health, safety and productivity of the people who use them. Muir, Jacqui Lambie and Glenn Lazarus all voted the same way. So did the DLP senator John Madigan, but as his term was due to expire this year anyway, his personal sacrifice is not quite as anguished. It's a fascinating decision that these three took, and not one that can be explained by conventional political strategy. Any of them could quite reasonably have justified a "Yes" vote; after all, the ABCC has been Coalition policy for several elections and the government clearly has a mandate to reintroduce it. Any of them could have argued that on balance their continued presence in the Senate was of greater value to their supporters than a single issue, blah blah blah. We've all seen these sorts of self-justifying arguments before. "In the race of life, always back self-interest," goes the famous line from the old political warhorse Jack Lang. "At least you know it's trying." And in many ways, self-interest would have fitted nicely with political cunning. After all, Malcolm Turnbull and his government are now rather weepingly in need of this double-dissolution election. Can you imagine how awkward it would have been for them to win the ABCC legislation, then spend six months moping about NOT attacking the Labor Party on its shameless refusal to take on the rotten protection racket that is the stop me if you've heard this before? In many ways, a decision en masse to give the government its legislation would have been the most diabolical and clever revenge the crossbench could have wrought on Turnbull, a prime minister who was quite friendly to them as a group right up to the point at which he decided to, you know, eliminate them from the face of the Earth and everything. Today's striking fragmentation of labour in global supply chains is at the hands of a small number of multinational corporations. Sixty per cent of global trade in the real economy depends on the supply chains of 50 corporations, which employ only six per cent of workers directly and rely on a hidden workforce of 116 million people. In Australia, civil society organisations such as Baptist World Aid and Oxfam lead the charge to expose labour abuses and improve working conditions in global supply chains. But thus far the government has been largely absent form this debate and has been slow to act. Rescue workers and volunteers search by hand for victims amongst the debris of the collapsed Rana Plaza building in Dhaka, Bangladesh, on Friday, April 26, 2013. Credit:Jeff Holt This disaster led to the tragic loss of 1130 lives, left 2500 injured, and sparked a global debate about workers' rights and ethical labour standards in low-wage countries. These obscure employment relations mean that labour exploitation is rampant. The International Labour Organisation estimates that there are 20.9 million people in forced labour around the world, 11.7 million of these persons located in the Asia-Pacific region. These practices generate $US150 billion annually, $32 billion from human trafficking alone. The Asia-Pacific region also has the largest number of child labourers in the world, almost 78 million individuals. Considering that seven countries in the Asia-Pacific region comprise Australia's top ten import sources, labour exploitation is a significant problem for Australian authorities, companies, investors and consumers. A recent example are the Vietnamese, Chinese and Thai fishing industries. Greenpeace published a report revealing that these industries, which are the top suppliers of prawns to Australia, are characterised by widespread human trafficking and labour abuses. However, we do not have to look abroad for supply chain labour exploitation. A 2015 Four Corners investigation showed that labour abuses also occur in domestic supply chains. Encouragingly, in a number of jurisdictions around the world meaningful action is being taken. In the United Kingdom, as of the first of this month, businesses with an annual turnover of 36 million or more must disclose what steps they are taking to ensure that slavery, forced labour and human trafficking are not taking place in their own operations or at their suppliers. The boats have stopped, but Australia hasn't won. The "solution" has instead created festering problems that will keep getting worse. Our leaders surely know this, yet despite a looming election and the chance to debate sensible change, they seem determined to pretend the current policy can be sustained. Not forever, it can't. It's only when you stand back, take stock, and look beyond the usual focus on people languishing in detention, that the full cost of Australia's present approach to asylum seekers becomes clear. The price is lost national influence, diminished stature and complicity in sour governance. Some problems are blindingly obvious: the tap of crystal champagne flutes in Cambodia as then immigration minister Scott Morrison coddled the odious regime of Hun Sen, the region's longest-serving autocrat. Australia's $55 million promise saw a total of four refugees settled, and even Cambodia admits the deal was a failure (although the money probably softens the disappointment for Hun Sen). More than any other employees, public servants have good reason to welcome the end of Bronwyn Bishop's political career. While she is most noted today for her helicopter jaunts and appalling performance as speaker of the House of Representatives, she was best known in her early days for her unwarranted attacks on public servants. Bronwyn Bishop leaving the Dee Why RSL after the Liberal pre-selection on April 16. Credit:Christopher Pearce As an opposition senator in the late 1980s, Bishop saw herself as the successor to Robert Ray and John Faulkner, who formed a tag team to critically cross-examine public servants appearing before Senate estimates committees. But unlike Ray and Faulkner, who went in well-briefed and dealt with public servants with respect and good humour, Bishop treated those who appeared before her as if they were criminals and liars. The ACT government's announcement of yet another renewable energy policy is a further indicator the territory is at the forefront of the country's preparedness for climate change. It is pleasing to see the current government leading the charge towards a more sustainable future for the ACT and invest in another initiative to help divest from fossil fuels. The discounted solar battery pilot will be tested on about 200 homes and results will be used to plan for the future roll-out of battery technology in the territory. The ACT government wants 36 megawatts of energy storage to be rolled out across more than 5000 homes and businesses by 2020. The Bali nine ringleaders Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran were executed by firing squad on the Indonesian island of Nusa Kambangan a year ago next Friday. Even a year on, it stands as yet another case of barbarism in the cause of political expediency, lives cut short and the potential for good extinguished for no reason. The nine-year legal wrangle that surrounded their conviction and incarceration, further complicated by the murky behaviour of authorities, not least the Australian Federal Police, ended with the execution of the pair. Naturally, they had support from those against the death penalty, but their long residency on death row garnered such widespread sympathy and support from Australia and elsewhere that for a while it seemed some good could come from such a groundswell of opposition. The execution of Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran stands as another case of barbarism in the cause of political expediency. Credit:Anta Kesuma The Bali nine pair faced execution along with criminals from the Philippines, France, Nigeria, Ghana, Indonesia and, potentially, a mentally ill Brazilian. The two Australians' lives were not worth more or less than the fellow condemned or the thousands executed in Indonesia and other countries each year. But when the pair were hurriedly taken to Nusa Kambangan, the barbarity of capital punishment was brutally underscored, hopes for reform were replaced by impotent outrage. Australia recalled its ambassador Paul Grigson in protest. It was unprecedented, but he was back in Jakarta by the following June. Indonesia's justification for killing offenders in the name of deterrence was exposed as a fraud. To many in the West, the need to punish for punishment's sake remains an Old Testament throwback to an-eye-for-an-eye. It has no place in any modern, civilised, democratic nation. Indonesia's culpability in reviving executions for convicted drug criminals and denying the Australian pair clemency was no better or worse than the policies of China for killing political prisoners or indeed so many states in the US for killing murderers. It is simply wrong. Nagpur: Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari on Saturday said serious efforts are underway to bring down by 50 per cent the number of fatalities in road accidents in country. "About 1.5 lakh people die untimely in about 5 lakh road mishaps every year, which is unfortunate. The (transport) ministry is working to reduce the number of fatalities by 50 per cent," Gadkari told meet-the-press programme. Explaining about the measures, Gadkari said government wanted to improve the road conditions, including repairs, and enhance visibility to minimise road curves to save lives. "I am pained to note that lakhs of people succumb to serious injuries on roads and leave behind their family members to face a number of problems and hardships," the minister said. He said about three lakh people suffer from multiple fractures resulting into loss of hands or limbs. "Our dream is to make India a accident-free country," he said, adding that only one accident was reported in Sweden last year. "India is one of the countries having a large number of accidents and fatalities. To overcome this, the ministry has identified over 2500 accident spot on the national highways," he added. Gadkari said national highways constituted only two per cent of total road network but are catering to almost 80 per cent of traffic. "The high density of traffic is causing safety hazards," he said. "Our Ministry has plans to increase the national highways network to least 1.5 lakh kms from 80,000 kms when the NDA government took over. "In the process, we already have about one lakh kms road (network) which means an addition of 20,000 kms by the government," he said. Gadkari said the national highways network in Maharashtra has increased from 5660 kms to 21,976 kms during last two years of NDA government. Referring to ambitious 'Sagarmala' project, the minister said that 28 mega projects have been planned with an investment to the tune of Rs 95,000 crore for infrastructure development and for development of ports and industry. "During last two years, total investment approved and commenced is Rs 29,382 crore (sic)," he said. Look, no one asked me, but for what it's worth here is my analysis of the coming election, based on the obvious premise that what truly counts is who gets the progressive swing voters in the middle the ones Malcolm Turnbull rose to the Prime Ministership on. My reckoning is that there are four standout issues that can sway that group right now: serious action on climate change, gay marriage, Indigenous recognition, and the republic. I include the last not just because I am chairman of the Australian Republican Movement, but because Turnbull first came to wide fame on the basis of his passion for that most progressive of causes. On three of those four issues, the progressive middle lost all faith in Tony Abbott as a possible agent of change, and within the Coalition government Turnbull was the obvious solution: the One Mostly Likely. Hence his poll numbers rose, and he got the job. At that point, Bill Shorten was no chance of winning this next election. But since? The ALP leader has moved stronger and harder on three out of four of those issues Turnbull does appear to be ready to move on recognition and more and more of the progressives now look to the ALP. Shorten's numbers have risen accordingly. The key challenge for Turnbull in the weeks that remain notwithstanding whatever commitments he has made to the right wing of his party is to convince the progressives he actually can deliver on those four. Many have given up hope. For what it's worth, I have not. Mention Chinese art and most people think of brush-and-ink painting, a medium that has been around for at least 2000 years. The image that springs to mind is of a craggy mountain with a sprinkling of equally contorted trees. The scene may be wreathed in mist, with a tiny sage perched on a ledge. In China such works are referred to as guohua - which means "national painting". It's a term that became problematic in Taiwan at the end of World War II when the Kuomintang took control of the island from the Japanese. The guohua painters who had arrived from the mainland saw themselves as exponents of a true "national" art, while the Taiwanese who had trained with the Japanese were left battling for credibility in a land where they had previously been the establishment. Yao's Journey to Australia by Yao Jui-chung, part of the Ink Remix exhibition. With the subsequent controversy as to whether Taiwan or the mainland was the legitimate "China", the battles among art movements would persist for decades. According to An-yi Pan in the catalogue of the exhibition, Ink Remix: Contemporary art from mainland China, Taiwan and Hong Kong, at the UNSW Galleries, "the dust did not settle until 1983" when separate categories were established in the annual national exhibition. In the 1980s-90s another battle was fought within the broader sphere of Chinese art as to whether brush-and-ink had a contemporary role, or was merely a throwback to another era. The strong sense of tradition in this form of painting was a liability in those years when Chinese artists sought to be part of the wider world. Today, a revitalised brush-and-ink is back in force, with exhibitions being held in America, Europe and Asia. Wildlife groups plan to relocate 80 rhinoceros from South Africa to Australia in a bid to prevent them from being hunted to extinction, one of the project's leaders says. Poaching is on the rise in Africa, driven by demand from China and Vietnam where rhino horn, used in traditional medicine, can sell for about $84,000 a kilogram, according to estimates by conservationists. A white rhino female and calf in the road in the Kruger National Park, South Africa. About 1300 rhino were killed illegally in Africa last year. The Australian Rhino Project and South Africa's Elephants, Rhinos and People (ERP) plan to begin relocating the animals this year to establish an "insurance population". David Attenborough with reef tanks. "They are among the planet's richest, most complex and most beautiful ecosystems. "Do we really care so little about the earth on which we live that we don't want to protect one of the world's greatest wonders from the consequences of our behaviour?" David Attenborough's Great Barrier Reef Credit:James Penlidis After three hours of some of the most stunning cinematography exploring the reef and its inhabitants, it is an emotive plea from one of the world's greatest naturalists. Series producer Anthony Geffen who has worked on 11 of Sir David's documentaries, said Sir David wanted to use the series to make a very personal statement. Do we really care so little about the earth? Sir David Attenborough "He is very concerned about the reef and you can see that in the very personalised piece to camera he does at the end," Geffen says. "He doesn't do that very often and he devised this end very much as a personal statement, a very powerful personal statement." Even the genesis of the award winning team of nature documentary makers coming to Queensland to explore the reef was of Sir David's volition. "After we finished filming our last documentary, I asked him where he wanted to go next, if there was one place in the world he could film where would it be," Geffen says. "He didn't miss a beat and said the Great Barrier Reef." Sir David first visited the reef nearly 60 years ago, filming some of the earliest scenes of people diving the reef. It had a profound impact on his life. "He told me that out of everywhere he has been, out of everywhere he has made documentaries, the reef is still the most beautiful thing he has ever seen," Geffen says. "That explains a lot about the beauty of the reef when the world's greatest naturalist gives that opinion." Sir David, Geffen and their team of filmmakers and scientists are not the first to make a documentary exploring the reef, but they have certainly gone to enormous lengths in theirs. Using a specialised submersible called the Triton, Sir David was able to film deeper on the reef than anyone has before. The series has introduced us to fascinating species of fish and crustaceans, sharks and rays and a variety of whales that interacted with the film crew. But now they explore what the future holds for the jewel in Queensland's crown. "If you just look at the time between when David last dived there in the 1980s and when he went out for this series, half the reef as he would have known it has disappeared," Geffen says. "Even if you take that as a parameter that is pretty devastating. "And as we all know, coral bleaching has been a huge issue recently." But episode three isn't all doom and gloom. Using modern technology and innovative scanning techniques, Sir David explores the history of the reef and what it has gone through in the past. "We were about to look back in time looking at these amazing scans to look at what happened to the reef before," Geffen says. "We look in the whole context. The last episode isn't just a disaster prediction. It is trying to give people some context in how long it has been around, how it has survived before, etc. "But it's really important for people to have an understanding of what is happening because it literally is a case that it could be gone in another few decades." Accompanying the documentary series, there is an interactive website that allows people to explore the reef themselves and gain an understanding of the ecology of the reef system and the threats it faces. There is also a virtual reality component, currently housed in the Sydney Museum, where people can virtually dive in the Triton with Sir David and explore the reef just like he did. "We know that not everyone is watching television and we know that young people just don't always have time to sit down and watch TV," Geffen says. The closure of Australia's only youth-led sex education service is ideologically driven and will deepen a national crisis in sexual health among young people, experts have claimed. The Turnbull government will pull all funding from YEAH a program using youth educators to deliver sex education in schools and universities after June 30, replacing it with an online resource. Critics say it makes no sense to shut the $450,000 a year program, which has just four paid staff and provided face-to-face sexual health information to 10,000 young people in 2015, at a time when sexually transmitted infections are rising and condom use is on the decline. They claim YEAH (Youth Empowerment Against HIV/AIDS) is the latest victim of an ideological agenda pushed by conservatives who believe teaching students about sex and sexuality from an early age is dangerous. Evangelical Christian groups continue to dominate funding granted in the National School Chaplaincy scheme, earning millions of dollars despite new rules imposed by the NSW education department. Generate Ministries has won $4 million to provide chaplains to 202 of the 438 NSW schools participating in the scheme in 2016. Illustration: Matt Davidson The Hillsong-linked Your Dream will earn $1.4 million for 70 schools (up from 50 last year), while Macquarie Life Church will provide chaplains in 20 regional schools. But for the first time 24 schools have instead chosen their local P&C to provide a religious chaplain, and four have opted for the YWCA. Claims that the Independent Commission Against Corruption engaged in "judge shopping" to obtain search warrants have been dispelled by a document showing NSW law enforcement agencies are required to use the same registrar. ICAC was accused by a media report of using the same registrar 10 times to authorise raids on the home of Crown prosecutor Margaret Cunneen, SC, and NSW Liberal politicians including former energy minister Chris Hartcher. ICAC Commissioner Megan Latham is questioned by a NSW parliamentary inquiry. Credit:Peter Rae The report alleged this raised questions about whether ICAC is judge shopping. But a protocol established in 2014 requires law enforcement agencies, including ICAC and the Police Integrity Commission, to contact the same person, Stephen Lister, to obtain search warrants. The victim's wife Marana Maika gave evidence this week. Photo: Lousie Kennerley Having given three statements to police and evidence in court about his own involvement and knowledge of the drug supply, Maika escaped charges. While Maika was free to return to the Glen Alpine home he shared with his family each day, Sparos was occupying a cell in wing 13 of the Long Bay Correctional Centre. Gemahl Maika, 38, who was shot dead outside his home at Glen Alpine. It is from this prison that police allege Sparos instigated a plan to have Maika murdered as "retribution". It is alleged Sparos, 35, enlisted "killer for hire" Maximillian Mazzilli to carry out the hit, while also using his brother-in-law Anthony Saliba as a "conduit" in the planning. Gemahl Maika's stepson, Raniera Kidwell, with his mother Marana Maika at the NSW Supreme Court. Credit: Lousie Kennerley The NSW Supreme Court, where all three are on trial after pleading not guilty to murder, has heard startling details of the alleged murder plot this week. Sparos' wife, Christine Saliba, is also on trial, having pleaded not guilty to being an accessory before the fact to murder. The 36-year-old is accused of helping her incarcerated husband in preparing for the alleged murder. Maika arrived home from his thrice-weekly Campbelltown TAFE course on April 6, 2011, about 9.40pm and parked his ute in the garage. It alleged Mazzilli, wanting to "surprise him" and armed with a .45 calibre pistol, walked up behind Maika as he got out of his car. Mazzilli later allegedly recounted to an undercover police officer how he called Maika's name before "pow, pow, pow". The Crown says Maika fled out of his garage and towards his neighbour's property as six shots were fired. He made it to the front yard before he collapsed near a boat parked on the grass. Five bullets hit Maika's body, four around the chest area and one in the head. His 22-year-old stepson, having heard the commotion from his bedroom, found Maika on his elbows and knees, covered in blood. An emotional Raniera Kidwell, now 27, told the court this week he heard his stepfather say "who the f--k are you?" or something similar while in the garage before the gunshots rang out. It would take three years and an undercover police operation before Maika's family learned who the Crown alleged was responsible for gunning down the 38-year-old. In 2014 Mazzilli was at a Tweed Heads hotel on the NSW North Coast and allegedly told an undercover police officer about his last target. "I have my credentials " he said, according to Crown prosecutor Craig Patrick. "The last one was a message left for everyone to see." Mazzilli, 35, allegedly claimed he knew Maika's wife was inside the home that night and was even an arm's length away from his stepson when he came outside to switch the power back on after Mazzilli flicked it off. "He was lucky I'm telling you " Mazzilli is accused of saying during the 2014 conversation. He asked the officer if his phone was "clean" before punching "Glen Alpine shooting" into Google. "Have a squiz at that," Mazzilli suggested. The alleged gunmen made reference to using a "45", a detail police say they kept out of the public eye after the shooting. The undercover police operation saw Mazzilli allegedly enter into a contract to kill someone, the court heard. However, when he travelled to Sydney in July 2014 to carry out the hit on this factitious person, he was arrested. Mazilli's defence claimed this week he picked up the details of the Glen Alpine shooting in media reports and through jail talk and wasn't responsible for pulling the trigger. His barrister Linda McSpedden submitted Mazzilli set about to "ruse" the undercover officer where he would take money to carry out a shooting but not actually return the service. The Crown says Mazzilli also told the officer his last target had "snitched on things he shouldn't have snitched on". Those things were allegedly the details of a cocaine supply and importation operation targeted by the NSW Crime Commission. At the head of the investigation named Operation Schoale was Mark Standen. Standen was later sentenced to 16 years jail for his own drug importation and Sparos held onto hope he would be granted a stay on his case because of Standen's conviction. Sparos' defence barrister Con Heliotis, QC, submitted this hope, coupled with an offer to plead guilty to drug supply of a lesser amount, contributed to why he had little reason to punish Maika. Maika's statements only made up a very small part of the case against Sparos and his co-accused in the drug trial, Mr Heliotis told the jury. The Crown alleged as Sparos formulated his plan to seek retribution, he managed to get Maika's home address through a fellow inmate in late 2010. He also shared Long Bay jail's wing 13 with Mazzilli, who was due to be released but was allegedly part of Sparos' plan. "It was a plan where Mazzilli would kill Mr Maika at the request of Mr Sparos for the payment of money," Mr Patrick told the trial. Mazzilli later told the undercover officer he was paid $200,000 to carry out the hit. In an attempt to keep the plan discreet, another inmate was allegedly brought into the mix as the point of contact for Mazzilli. That inmate would then deal with Sparos' brother-in-law, Anthony Saliba, who regularly visited Long Bay with Sparos' wife, Christine. In late 2010, their conversations were peppered with "coded language", the court heard, in a prison environment where some communication is legally recorded. While his relatives allegedly helped Sparos in his aim to kill a police witness, the 35-year-old was the accused mastermind. Hyderabad: YSR Congress President Y S Jaganmohan Reddy Saturday told Governor E S L Narasimhan the ruling TDP in Andhra Pradesh was indulging in misuse of power and "luring" his party MLAs into the ruling TDP. The Leader of Opposition also sought action against Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu for the latter's alleged involvement in various "scams". "We have urged the Governor to intervene and see that action is initiated against the Chief Minister, who is facing serious corruption charges and is involved in various scams. He has been using the ill-gotten wealth to lure MLAs from other parties in an undemocratic method," Reddy told reporters here after submitting a memorandum to the Governor. "I challenge Chandrababu Naidu to disqualify the MLAs (of YSRC who have joined TDP) and go to the people seeking a fresh mandate which will stand as a referendum on his governance and undemocratic methods being employed ever since the party came to power," he said. The YSR Congress President's attack on the TDP came in the wake of 13 Congress MLAs switching over to the ruling party. The YSRC observed 'Save Democracy Day' today by holding candle light protests at district headquarters. The party leaders would go to New Delhi on April 25 "to apprise the President, Prime Minister and leaders of all political parties about the rampant corruption and blatant violation of democratic norms by Chandrababu Naidu and his government," he said. The YSRC leader demanded that the MLAs who switched loyalties should be disqualified and by-elections held immediately in their constituencies. Reddy said the party has complained to the Legislative Assembly Speaker about the legislators who have switched side but no action had been taken against them. "The party would seek legal recourse if the same continued," he added. Two teenagers have been rushed to hospital after suspected drug overdoses at a music festival in the NSW Hunter region on Saturday. At about 2.30pm ambulance officers responded to reports a girl had suffered a suspected drug overdose at the Groovin' the Moo musical festival in Maitland, north of Newcastle. 'Groovin' the Moo' is the latest music festival to suffer drug issues. Credit:Marina Neil A spokeswoman for NSW Ambulance said the girl was taken by road ambulance to the John Hunter Hospital in Newcastle in a critical condition. At about the same time another male, also a teenager, was transported to Maitland Hospital, also suffering a suspected drug overdose. A travel agent has vanished after he was prosecuted for ripping off elderly clients and leaving them stranded at Sydney Airport. Taha Baghdadi has been ordered to pay almost $30,000 in fines, costs and compensation to three victims whose holidays were ruined before they had even begun. Agent's conduct was "unconscionable": Fair Trading Commissioner Rod Stowe. But many others are also believed to have been left high and dry after Baghdadi's Bankstown-based agency, Pack N Go Travel, suddenly shut in 2014 and he vanished underground with their money. He failed to appear before Paramatta Local Court when he was convicted last month and has not been seen since. Fair Trading Commissioner Rod Stowe branded Baghdadi's actions as a "clear case" of a travel agent engaging in misleading, deceptive and "unconscionable" conduct. Nikoleta Romanas, 81, and her sister Elly Zeikat, 75, paid $2200 each for flights between Sydney, Greece and Dubai. They received receipts and itineraries for their holiday. But when they arrived at the Emirates check-in desk in December 2014, they discovered the seats had initially been booked but the ticket was later cancelled as it had never been paid for. They were not alone. In 2014, Samir Zoobi paid Baghdadi almost $10,000 so that he and his family could travel to Lebanon and visit his ageing parents. But when he called Malaysia Airlines he was told a booking existed in his family's name but no payment had ever been received. "I heard from people in the community that he had disappeared," Mr Zoobi said. "So I tried to call him one day, two days, but no answer. When I visited his shop, there were a lot of people outside. I asked them, 'where is he?'. But nobody knew." Mr Zoobi said he later met Bagdadi's father who told him "just be patient, we will look after you". "That was 18 months ago," he told Fairfax, adding: "I have a son and two daughters. My wife is a teacher. We are genuine, honest people. I trusted this man was the same. But he lied to me." A woman received head and facial injuries in a hit and run at Thornlands on Friday night. Police are appealing for help to locate a vehicle involved in a traffic crash, which happened about 7.45pm on Springacre Road. A woman received head and facial injuries in a hit and run at Thornlands Friday night. Credit:Tom Threadingham The injured woman was pulling into a driveway when a white SUV that was towing a boat trailer travelling behind her collided with the back of the car, pushing it through a concrete bollard on the side of the driveway and into a power pole. The 33-year-old woman wastaken to the Princess Alexandra Hospital for treatment of head and facial injuries and a possible broken arm. Police have asked for help from the public as they investigate a fatal car crash in the Wheatbelt. Officers from the Major Crash squad were called to the scene of a late night crash in Walgoolan near Merredin on Tuesday. A woman died at the scene of the late night crash. Credit:Quentin Jones They say that around 10.45pm a Holden Calais was travelling towards Perth on the Great Eastern Highway when it lost control and hit a tree approximately 800 metres east of Walgoolan Bridge. An 18-year-old woman was critically injured in the crash and died at the scene. Beijing: Apple's book and movie online stores have been blocked in China, less than seven months after they began operations on the mainland, in the highest-profile scalp since authorities imposed new restrictions on online publishing. Users in mainland China seeking to access the iTunes Movies and iBooks Store were met with a message saying the services "cannot be used". Popular: A community screening of Ten Years in Hong Kong, on April 1. Credit:Commons The stores were ordered to close by the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television, The New York Times reported, citing unnamed sources. "We hope to make books and movies available again to our customers in China as soon as possible," Apple said in a statement. PHILIPSBURG:--- Two of three young men with initials H.B. (24) and G.M. (23) were arrested on Friday April 22nd shortly after 03.00 p.m. suspected of chain snatching. In the last three weeks there have been several official reports of a group of two or three young men snatching the chains form the necks of their victims. Most of these incidents were reported in the Philipsburg area and the victims included tourists visiting the island. On Friday April 22nd there were two separate incidents in the Philipsburg area where the culprits attempted to snatch a chain from the neck of their victim. The first incident occurred at approximately 01.00 p.m. and the other at approximately 03.00 p.m. During the first incident the suspect did not succeed in taking the chain because the victim resisted severally. During the second incident the suspect succeeded in taking the chain but was spotted by officers of the Police Bike patrol who was in the area. The patrol saw three suspects fleeing the scene and immediately informed the Central Dispatch of the situation. Several patrols were dispatched in the area to search for the suspects. Shortly after one suspect was arrested in the Front Street/ Back street area while the second one was arrested after he had jumped into the Salt Pond in his attempt to escape from police. Both suspects were arrested and taken to the Philipsburg Police Station for further investigation. The stolen chain from the second incident was found on the suspect while he was being searched. The chain was confiscated for further investigation and the suspects remain in custody for questioning. The third suspect in has not been arrested and the police department is still on the look out for this person. There are strong indications that these suspects may be the same ones that have been involved in the other chain snatching incidents. The Special Robbery Unit is busy investigating and is asking anyone who may have information regarding these robberies to immediately get in contact with the police department. KPSM Police Report UltraSoC named in Leap 100 list by City AM and Mishcon de Reya Posted by Publisher Hardware CAMBRIDGE, United Kingdom, 22nd April 2016 UltraSoC, the leading provider of semiconductor IP for on-chip analytics, performance optimization and hardware-based security, today announced that it has been named by leading London-based law firm Mishcon de Reya and business publication City AM, in the 2016 Leap 100 list of companies to watch. Now in its second year, the Leap 100 provides a guide to the UKs most exciting, fast-growth companies. Businesses are selected both for their growth over the past 12 months and for their future potential. As well as technology innovators such as UltraSoC, the list includes more familiar names such as Deliveroo and Headspace. Were honored to be recognized in this dynamic group of companies, said Rupert Baines, UltraSoC CEO. Our technology works under the hood to help improve and reduce the cost of almost any electronic product you can name. Making the Leap 100 is a testament to the hard work and creativity of the entire UltraSoC team. Nick Davis, Head of Mishcon de Reyas Corporate department, commented: We launched the Leap 100 in 2015 to support a select group of some of the UKs most exciting, high growth companies. This years list is yet again a dynamic group of companies to watch: its the definitive list of fast-growth companies for 2016. UltraSoC provides intellectual property (IP) and software tools that allow designers of complex silicon chips to monitor the internal operation of their products. These capabilities are used to assist faster, more efficient product development, speeding time-to-market and cutting costs; and they enable innovative features within the chips themselves, such as the ability to self-identify bugs or malicious interference (Bare Metal Security), and to analyze performance trends. Torino Power Solutions to Begin Trading on CSE Under Symbol TPS VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA (Marketwired) 04/22/16 Torino Power Solutions Inc. (CSE: TPS) (the Company or Torino), is pleased to announce that it will begin trading on the Canadian Securities Exchange on April 25th, 2016. Torino Power Solutions Inc. is focused on its patented Powerline real-time wireless monitoring system, also known as Dynamic Thermal Circuit Rating (DTCR) technology that increases the capacity of congested high voltage powerlines of electric utilities by providing real-time data to utilities related to sag, temperature and other vital information. Torino microwave cavity sensors are super durable and do not require a power source and are easy to apply to existing powerlines. The technology has market opportunities and applications for utilities worldwide as well as oil pipelines, dams, bridges and other major infrastructure assets. The Torino technology is supported by five patents. Please visit for more information on our technology and Company. We seek Safe Harbor. On behalf of the Board of Directors Rav Mlait, CEO and Director The CSE has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains forward-looking information that involves various risks and uncertainties regarding future events. Such forward-looking information can include without limitation statements based on current expectations involving a number of risks and uncertainties and are not guarantees of future performance of the Company, such as final development of a commercial product(s), successful trial or pilot of company technologies, no assurance that commercial sales of any kind actually materialize; no assurance the Company will have sufficient funds to complete product development. There are numerous risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results and the Companys plans and objectives to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking information, including: (i) adverse market conditions; (ii) risks regarding protection of proprietary technology; (iii) the ability of the Company to complete financings; (v) the ability of the Company to develop and market its future product; and (vi) risks regarding government regulation, managing and maintaining growth, the effect of adverse publicity, litigation, competition and other factors which may be identified from time to time in the Companys public announcements and filings. There is no assurance that the DTCR business will provide any benefit to the Company, and no assurance that any proposed new products will be built or proceed. There is no assurance that existing patent pending technologies licensed by the Company will receive patent status by regulatory authorities. The Company is not currently selling commercial DTCR systems. Actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such information. These and all subsequent written and oral forward-looking information are based on estimates and opinions of management on the dates they are made and are expressly qualified in their entirety by this notice. Except as required by law, the Company does not intend to update these forward-looking statements. Contacts: Torino Power Solutions Inc. (604) 551-7831 ZoomerMedia Limited Announces Stock Option Grant TORONTO, ONTARIO (Marketwired) 04/22/16 ZoomerMedia Limited (the Company or ZoomerMedia) (TSX VENTURE: ZUM) announces it has granted 11,100,000 stock options to various directors, officers and employees. The options are exercisable at $0.10 per share, one-third vest on April 22, 2017, one-third on April 22, 2018 and one third on April 22, 2019. The options have a term of five years. The granting of all options remains subject to regulatory approval. About ZoomerMedia Limited ZoomerMedia is a multimedia company that serves the 45plus Zoomer demographic through television, radio, magazine, internet and trade shows. ZoomerMedias television properties include; Vision TV, Canadas only multi-faith specialty television service; ONE: Body Mind Spirit Love Channel, offering programs on exercise, meditation, yoga, natural health and living a planet-friendly lifestyle; JoyTV in Vancouver, Victoria, Surrey and the Fraser Valley, and the newly rebranded HOPETV (formerly JoyTV11), a lifestyle television service out of Winnipeg devoted to broadcasting Christian programming and is available in approximately 6 million Canadian homes. ZoomerMedias radio properties include CFMZ-FM Toronto The New Classical 96.3FM, CFMX-FM Cobourg The New Classical 103.1FM, CFMO-FM Collingwood The New Classical 102.9FM, Canadas only commercial classical music radio stations serving the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), eastern Ontario and Collingwood, CFZM-AM 740 Toronto and CFZM-FM 96.7FM Toronto Zoomer Radio, Torontos Timeless Hits Station. ZoomerMedia also publishes Zoomer Magazine, the largest paid circulation magazine in Canada for the mature market. ZoomerMedia is Canadas leading provider of online content targeting the 45plus age group through many properties, the key one being . ZoomerMedia also has trade show and conference divisions that produce the ZoomerShows, annual consumer shows directed to the Zoomer demographic and ideaCity, an annual Canadian conference also known as Canadas Premiere Meeting of the Minds. Cautionary note on forward looking statements 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. The statements made in this press release include forward-looking statements that involve a number of risks and uncertainties. These statements relate to future events or future performance and reflect managements current expectations and assumptions. A number of factors could cause actual events, performance or results to differ materially from the events, performance and results discussed in the forward-looking statements, such as the economy, generally, the demand for ZoomerMedias products and services and the availability of funding. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date hereof and ZoomerMedia does not assume any obligation to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances. Actual events or results could differ materially from ZoomerMedias expectations and projections. Contacts: ZoomerMedia Limited George Kempff Vice President and Chief Financial Officer (416) 607-7735 Bengaluru/Hubballi: The government is gearing up to ensure supply of water to all schools to prepare and serve mid-day meals for hungry kids in the next 39 days in the wake of the severe drought. "We have asked all CEOs to supply water in tankers to government schools where there is scarcity. In case of non-availability, a provision has been made for the school authorities to buy water in tankers", a senior officer of the Department of Public Instruction told DC. A circular has been sent to CEOs of all ZPs soon after the government decided to provide mid-day meals till May end. Headmasters and senior teachers of all 27,000 government schools have been asked work during the summer vacation for which they will be given earned leave of over 25 days. Even cooks and supporting staff should report to their respective work spots for work in the next 39 days for which they will be paid salary. To save children the trouble of going all the way to their schools to have mid-day meals, the department has asked them to go to the nearest lower primary school where they can have food. Foodgrains and vessels have been kept ready at schools to launch the scheme. Usually, only 35-40 per cent of students come to schools during the vacation to have food. But, this time, the turnout may be more owing to acute shortage of water to prepare food. No extra grains Food and Civil Supplies Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao ruled out additional supply of grain and pulses to BPL and Anthyodhaya card holders in view of drought. They will get the quota fixed by the department, he said, adding, even if there is migration of families from rural areas, their kin will collect grain from fair price depots. Milk output not hit, up 20 per cent While farmers, struggling to grow crops on their fields, are selling their cattle at throwaway prices owing to the drought and shortage of fodder, milk production is up by over 20 per cent this summer as compared to the last in the region. It appears farmers, who opted for the dairy business owing to their losses in agriculture over the years, are doing just fine unlike their counterparts who have stuck to farming, as the government is giving them special incentives and the Dharwad Karnataka Milk Federation is supplying them regular cattle feed and other facilities, say officers associated with the industry. The federations milk procurement is 1,90,000 litres a day this April as against 1,70,000 litres in the same month last year, they reveal. The government has stepped in encouragingly to offer to buy the excess milk produced for its Ksheera Bhagya Yojane. Private milk brands too supply feed for cattle to the milk producing societies, to make sure they remain unaffected by drought, explain those in the know. "Milk production usually falls in summer in the unorganized sector where farmers find it difficult to get fodder and drinking water for their cattle from the animal husbandry department . But farmers, who are members of well-organised milk producing societies, get the cattle feed and medical treatment they need from the federation. So their milk production is not affected by the drought in the region," explains Dr Veeresh Parli, head of procurement and input wing, KMF. No fund crunch Battling one of the worst droughts Karnataka has faced in recent decades, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said funds should not be a constraint while carrying out relief work. Speaking to mediapersons on his arrival at Mysuru airport, Mr Siddaramaiah said he had already toured seven districts and will be touring more districts on April 25, 26 and 27 and on May 2 and 3. We have formed four teams led by Mr T.B. Jayachandra for Mysuru division, Mr V. Srinivasprasad for Bengaluru Division, Mr H.K. Patil and Mr R.V. Deshpande. They are already touring the districts. Water, fodder for animals and providing employment are our priorities. The ministers are authorised to take spot decisions related to problems in drought hit areas, he said. China Keli Announces Establishment of a Special Committee VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA (Marketwired) 04/22/16 China Keli Electric Co. Ltd. (TSX VENTURE: ZKL) (Keli or the Company) today announced that, pursuant to its News Release of March 28, 2016 wherein it announced that it had received a non-binding letter of intent (the Non-Binding Offer) from 1062560 B.C. Ltd., a corporation controlled by the Companys chairperson, Ms. Sou Wa Wong, to take the Company private by way of amalgamation, the Company has established a special committee (the Committee) to consider the Non-Binding Offer and conduct further negotiations with 1062560 B.C. Ltd. The Committee consists of Chaoran (Felicia) Tsui, Jianwen Wu and Yan Zhang. About China Keli Electric Co. Ltd. China Keli Electric Co. Ltd. specializes in the manufacturing and installation of electrical components and equipment, including pre-assembled mini substations, electrical controllers, pressurized and vacuumed switchgears and circuit breakers. 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 press release. This press release contains forward-looking statements based on current expectations. These forward-looking statements entail various risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those reflected in these forward-looking statements. Risks and uncertainties about Kelis business are more fully discussed in the Companys disclosure materials filed with the securities regulatory authorities in Canada. All amounts are stated in Canadian dollars unless noted otherwise. Contacts: China Keli Electric Co. Ltd. Philip Lo Chief Financial Officer (86) 13632 173732 Letters: My teachers mean a lot to me. Why are they paid so little? He was replying to a question on Union Minister Giriraj Singh's controversial remark that if the country's population policy is not changed to mandate a two-child norm across religions then "our daughters" will not be "safe" and might have to be kept "under the veil" like in Pakistan. (Photo: AP) Sant Kabirnagar: Samajwadi Party Saturday said that there was no need to advice Muslims on how many children they should have as the Constitution has given them the right to decide. Talking to reporters here, SP National General Secretary Mohammad Arshad Khan said "The Constitution had given them freedom to decide on how many children they should have. There is no need for advice Muslims in this regard." He was replying to a question on Union Minister Giriraj Singh's controversial remark that if the country's population policy is not changed to mandate a two-child norm across religions then "our daughters" will not be "safe" and might have to be kept "under the veil" like in Pakistan. "I want a law in which Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs and Christians can have only two children. If we want the country to develop then it will not happen without population control," Singh said at an event in Bihar's Champaran two days ago. On chanting of 'Bharat Mata ki jai', Khan said he has no objection to it as 'Bharat Mata ki jai' and 'Madre vatan Hindustan' are same. Khan claimed that under the SP government not a single innocent Muslim had gone to jail on terror charges and his party will bag more than 300 seat in the coming elections. To another question, he said there was nothing wrong if mosques were used for political activities. 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. In West Bengal, Mamata ji makes false promises and in Delhi, her friend Modi ji makes false promises, says Rahul Gandhi. (Photo: Twitter/ANI) Howrah: Accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of "resorting to falsehood and bluffing the people", Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi on Saturday said they had promised lakhs of jobs but "not a single person got employment". "Mamata ji and Modi ji are making false promises. Mamata ji talked of providing jobs to 70 lakh people, while Modi ji had said two crore jobs will be given by his government. But not a single person has got employment," Gandhi said. Sharing platform with CPI(M) leaders at an election meeting here, he said Bengal which was once industrious has turned a "graveyard" in TMC rule and also attacked the Mamata government over corruption issue. He said no action was taken against those involved in Saradha and Narada scam. Referring to the recent flyover collapse in Kolkata which claimed several lives, Gandhi alleged that the TMC government had given contract of supplying material to its partyman who had supplied substandard materials. He charged Mamata and Modi with "telling lies about action against corruption and unemployment". He said Modi had promised to bring back black money and fight corruption but nothing has been done. "His government has brought laws to turn black money into white which I call 'Fair and Lovely scheme'," Gandhi said. "Earlier there were lots of industries in Bengal. But now in TMC rule, Bengal has turned into a graveyard. Only the industry of syndicate is flourishing in Bengal," he said. Seeking support for the Congress-Left alliance in the Assembly polls in West Bengal, he said if the alliance government was formed, its first task would be to provide employment, stop syndicate and corruption and take action against those involved in Saradha and Narada scam. "Vote for Congress-CPI(M), vote for the Congress-Left alliance and defeat Mamata government to usher in development," Gandhi said. CPI(M) central committee member Dipak Dasgupta was present with Gandhi at the meeting. "Mamata Banerjee had given a call for change. But after five years there has been no change. Earlier, there was jute industry where lakhs of people used to work. There were brick kilns in Howrah. But now everything is gone. Earlier Bengal was known as Sheffield of the East. But now it is known as graveyard of East," Gandhi said. "The job of a government is to provide employment, health services and education. She could not provide these things, rather she took away the money from the poor in the Saradha scam," he alleged. Calling Modi "a friend of Mamata Banerjee", the Congress vice president accused the chief minister of "dictatorial" rule in West Bengal. "In Bengal Mamata Banerjee is running a dictatorship and her friend in Delhi, Modiji, is spreading lies," he said and added that people should not forget that Mamata Banerjee had forged alliance with BJP earlier. HOUSTON The first item pulled out from the newly-unearthed time capsule was a small, conical piece of black plastic. "A Mercury capsule!" someone called out from among the several dozen spectators. "Apollo!" another among the crowd declared. In fact, it was a model of a Gemini spacecraft, the two-man capsule that NASA was flying at the time the archive was buried outside the Clear Lake Theatre in Houston on April 20, 1966. Following the Gemini out of the ground were the parts for its launch vehicle, the Titan II rocket, and a stand for the vintage desktop model. Unfortunately for the Freeman Memorial Library (or as it is known today, the Clear Lake City-County Freeman Branch Library), the benefactor of the time capsule's contents as was engraved on the half-century-old plaque that covered it, next out of the buried steel box were several buckets full of water. [How NASA's Gemini Spacecraft Worked (Infographic)] "When a time capsule is buried in the ground, it is going to absorb water," said Sarah Jackson, the archivist for Harris County. "We are not out in the desert. We are in Houston, Texas with lots of rain, high humidity, hurricanes so this thing was probably flooded from the beginning." Construction workers opened the Clear Lake Theatre time capsule to find it filled with water, 50 years to the day after it was buried on April 20, 1966. (Image credit: collectSPACE.com According to the newspaper articles from the day, the time capsule helped to celebrate the opening of the Clear Lake Theatre, a movie house located just a few miles west of NASA's Manned Spacecraft Center (now Johnson Space Center). Actor Chuck Connors, best known for his role on the TV series "The Rifleman," and John "Shorty" Powers, NASA's original voice of Mission Control, were present for the grand opening. Fifty years later, Milt Heflin, a former NASA flight director, joined library and city officials for the capsule's opening on Wednesday. The theater long closed, it was most recently converted into its third iteration of an Asian restaurant, now also out of business. Construction workers used a circular saw, sledge hammer and a pry bar to cut, slam and wedge their way through the thick cement layers and steel lid that covered the capsule. When the dust settled, the crowd leaned in only to see the water-filled opening in the ground. Submerging their arms in elbow-deep, rust-colored water, workers lifted out stacks of wet newspapers, phone books and a 1966 state highway map, among other documents. "The map can be salvaged," said Jackson. "It is small and easy to do. Maybe one section of the newspaper [can also be preserved] as an example, but I would not try to do the whole thing." Missing from the time capsule's contents at least on an initial inspection was the artifact highlighted by the news reports 50 years ago. [Giant Leaps: The Biggest Moments in Human Spaceflight] "It may just be something very small, in here somewhere," said Jim Johnson, branch manager of the Freeman library, referring to an American flag that was described as having been flown into space by astronaut Charles "Pete" Conrad and then placed into the time capsule. "We may find it as we are sifting through it." As it turned out, the flag was found by Lauren Meyers, the archivist at the University of Houston-Clear Lake, after the contents of the time capsule were submerged in clean water to begin their conservation. "That is probably better preserved than most anything else in here," said Johnson. The flag was accompanied by a letter in astronaut Charles Conrad's handwriting that stated: "This American flag was carried aboard Gemini V, 21 - 29 August 1965, for 120 revolutions of the Earth." The flown-in-space flag will join the Gemini model and whatever other artifacts can be conserved from the time capsule as a part of a new display at the Freeman Memorial Library. A U.S. flag flown on NASA's Gemini 5 mission was found among the Clear Lake Theatre time capsule contents on April 20, 2016. (Image credit: Friends of Freeman Library/Brian Kissell) Founded in 1964, the library was named in the memory of Theodore Freeman, the first U.S. astronaut to die while in service to the nation's space program. Freeman was killed when a goose flew into the port-side air intake of his NASA T-38 trainer, causing the jet to crash at Ellington Air Force Base (now Ellington Airport) in Houston. Among the time capsule's other contents was also said to be the speech that astronaut Charles Bassett delivered at the library's dedication ceremony for Freeman. See more photos of the Clear Lake Theatre time capsule and its contents at collectSPACE. Follow collectSPACE.com on Facebook and on Twitter at @collectSPACE. Copyright 2016 collectSPACE.com. All rights reserved. Most people will never have the experience of flying high over Earth in a spacecraft and seeing the planet's atmosphere, oceans and landmasses unspooling far below. But now, Earthbound humans can look down on their planet in a way that emulates an astronaut's perspective more closely than anything ever seen before, thanks to "A Beautiful Planet," a new film created in IMAX 3D. The film uses footage shot by NASA astronauts onboard the International Space Station (ISS). "A Beautiful Planet" is the first movie to use digital technology in space to capture glimpses of Earth and scenes of daily life inside the ISS at IMAX resolution, for projecting on a large-scale theater screen in 3D. [See Spectacular Photos of Earth from 'A Beautiful Planet'] Even the astronauts who shot the movie agreed that seeing the IMAX footage was the next best thing to living in space and peering out of the ISS windows. Kjell Lindgren, one of the film's astronaut cinematographers, told Live Science during a roundtable discussion that IMAX's immersive environment is very similar to what he saw firsthand. "Having that scene occupy your entire field of view is the closest you can come to actually experiencing it," Lindgren said. NASA astronaut Kjell Lindgren prepares the IMAX camera for an upcoming shoot onboard the International Space Station. (Image credit: NASA astronaut Kjell Lindgren) "Mini film school" To prepare for shooting, the astronauts worked closely with Toni Myers, the film's director and editor, and cinematographer James Neihouse in "a mini film school," Lindgren said. The production team familiarized the astronauts with the technical requirements for shooting IMAX and showed them how to use visual elements like composition, camera angles and movement to share their unique view of Earth and their daily routines. The scale of IMAX projection meant the camera-toting astronauts had to be exceptionally careful with their exposure, focus and steadiness, Neihouse told Live Science. "Small mistakes become huge mistakes on a big screen," he said. Myers provided a list of locations on Earth and of ISS scenes such as sleeping, performing experiments and celebrating Christmas that she wanted the astronauts to capture. But the scenes weren't scripted, and the astronauts were encouraged to be on the lookout for interesting moments that might arise unexpectedly. This is easier said than done, though, said astronaut Terry Virts, who captured stills and footage for the film and who has taken more than 500,000 photos in space (more than any other astronaut). Virts explained that the speed at which the ISS travels 5 miles (8 meters) per second made capturing some of their Earth scenes especially challenging, leaving the astronauts mere moments to grab shots as the ISS hurtled past. "If you see it and think about it, it's too late," Virts said. The film is Myers' fourth IMAX movie shot in space, following "Hubble 3D" (2010), "Space Station 3D" (2002) and "Blue Planet" (1990). Improvements in camera capabilities meant that her shot list for the astronauts could include nighttime scenes that would not have been possible to capture using earlier technology: spectacular auroras, flashes from lightning storms and signs of human activity the sprawl of city lights and fishing boats. [Earth Pictures: Iconic Images of Earth from Space] A scene from the IMAX film "A Beautiful Planet." In this image, the great lakes of North America lie trapped in ice and snow. (Image credit: Copyright 2016 IMAX Corporation/Photo courtesy of NASA) A sobering sight But when viewed from the ISS, some signs of human activity revealed a devastating impact on the planet. Across the length of Madagascar a brown expanse stretched where forests once grew. Plumes of smoke emerged from South American rainforests as swatches of trees burned. Parched landscapes in the American Southwest showed scars left by drought and climbing temperatures. Climatologist and Director of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) Gavin Schmidt is well-acquainted with the evidence of recent and rapid climate change on Earth, but he was still taken aback when he saw the film, he told Live Science. [What a View: Amazing Astronaut Images of Earth] "I knew it was bad. I didn't know it was that bad," Schmidt said. "That kind of imagery, that's powerful. You see the fingerprint of deforestation, of ice-sheet collapse, pollution from runoff, the bare hillsides of Madagascar." However, alongside these troubling images, there was still room for optimism, he said. "The beauty of the system as a whole tells people maybe we can change that, maybe we can have a different fingerprint," Schmidt said. And perhaps in watching the ways that astronauts interact with the ISS, viewers might learn some lessons about how to treat the Earth, Lindgren suggested. "We live on the ISS. We spend an inordinate amount of time up there taking care of it, because we recognize that it protects us from the cold, harsh void of space. Look at the Earth from that perspective it provides us with food, water, protection from radiation. And we don't spend nearly as much time taking care of it as we do on the space station," Lindgren said. Myers said using the film to help people recognize the similarities between life on the ISS and living on "spaceship Earth" was a goal from the beginning. "If kids can understand what it takes to keep a crew alive in a closed system like that, and understand that the Earth is exactly the same thing for billions of people that's the analogy I wanted to pursue," she said. Nighttime view of Spain and the Mediterranean Sea as seen in the new IMAX film, "A Beautiful Planet." (Image credit: Copyright 2016 IMAX Corporation/Photo courtesy of NASA) Awe and wonder Lindgren told Live Science that seeing the vastness of Earth from space is life-changing. And in fact, many astronauts have described this profoundly transformative effect. In a recent study, a team of psychologists investigated the emotions described by numerous space travelers, to better understand the mechanisms that inspire these "blissful moments" and how similar emotions manifest in people who have never been to space. Could an immersive IMAX view of Earth allow more people to share that life-changing perspective? The filmmakers said they believe it can. "When you look down on Earth, you see it's unique and fragile," Lindgren said. "I would hope that we inspire our audience of all ages, but particularly young people, about what a beautiful place our planet is," Myers added, "especially when you see it from this unique perspective. And I would like to inspire them to take good care of it and look for solutions to some of the problems we have." Would-be astronauts can embark on their own "voyage" into near-Earth orbit when "A Beautiful Planet" opens in IMAX theaters on April 29. Follow Mindy Weisberger on Twitter and Google+. Follow us @livescience, Facebook & Google+. Original article on Live Science. The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2016 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement All images and articles appearing on Space Media Network have been edited or digitally altered in some way. Any requests to remove copyright material will be acted upon in a timely and appropriate manner. Any attempt to extort money from Space Media Network will be ignored and reported to Australian Law Enforcement Agencies as a potential case of financial fraud involving the use of a telephonic carriage device or postal service. BENGALURU: Reiterating that the state government was not resorting to politics of vendetta against state BJP president B S Yeddyurappa, law minister T B Jayachandra said the decision to appeal against the former chief ministers acquittal by the high court was taken in February and not after he took over the reins of BJP in Karnataka. He told the media the decision to file a Special Leave Petition (SLP) in the Supreme Court against Mr Yeddyurappa was taken by the home department after going through the merits of the case. Subsequently, the government has informed the legal team in New Delhi to file the SLP in the apex court. I am going to Delhi on Saturday, where I will review the status of all petitions, he added. When asked why the state government waited three months after issuing the order to file the SLP, Mr Jayachandra said the decision had nothing to do with Mr Yeddyurappas appointment as state unit chief. In the first place, it was the home department which took the decision. After receiving the orders, we asked our legal team in Delhi to file the SLP. They take their own time, he added. He said the state government would submit a revised petition to the Union government for release of Rs 3500 crores for drought relief works as well as crop loss due to failure of kharif crops. On April 20, 'Haji Ali For All' Forum was launched by Trupti Desai along with several activists, NGOs and social groups to fight for entry of women to the shrine. (Photo: PTI) Pune: Bhumata Brigade chief Trupti Desai on Saturday insisted that the threats of Shiv Sena leader Haji Arafat will not work and her group would be going to Haji Ali Dargah on April 28. "This kind of threat is wrong. Everyone has the right to protest in a democracy. He has insulted women," Desai told. "Our group would be going to Haji Ali Dargah on April 28. The threats from the Shiv Sena won't work," she added. Demanding the Shiv Sena to clear its stand, the Bhumata Brigade chief said that if the organization differs in views with Haji Arafat then they should sack him. Haji Arafat has earlier said he would not allow Trupti Desai to touch the mazar-e-sharif of Haji Ali Dargah. "Islam does not allow women to touch the mazar-e-sharif in a dargah. We strongly condemn what Trupti Desai is saying. We won't allow her to enter the inner sanctum of the Hazi Ali Dargah. I will be the voice of my religion and will not allow her to touch the mazar-e-sharif, Haji Arafat said. Haji Arafat, who joined the Shiv Sena after leaving the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena in 2014, said that the attempt by Desai to enter the Haji Ali Dargah is a conspiracy meant to disturb Mumbai's peaceful environment. "All Muslim women have been opposing this. This is a conspiracy to disturb the peaceful environment inside Mumbai. A conspiracy is being made to instigate the Muslims by playing caste and religion-based politics. The police and law and order should prevent her from doing that," he added. On April 20, 'Haji Ali For All' Forum was launched by Desai along with several activists, NGOs and social groups to fight for entry of women to the shrine. The Maharashtra Government had in February supported the entry of women to the Haji Ali Dargah. The government had told the Bombay High Court that the entry of women cannot be prohibited. The court had asked the Devendra Fadnavis-led BJP Government to give its opinion on a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) challenging the decision of the Haji Ali Trust to ban the entry of women in the sanctum sanctorum of the dargah. A trustee of the Dargah, Rizwan Merchant, had earlier backed the decision not to allow women to enter inside the inner sanctum, saying their entry is prohibited for their own safety. The Centre has refused to release additional funds unless the existing funds are spent. Hyderabad: Officials seemingly have no time to use the drought relief funds released by the Centre to supply drinking water in Telangana state even as a majority of the municipalities and villages have become dependent on tankers for drinking water. The Centre had sanctioned Rs 350 crore especially to meet drinking water needs but hardly half this amount has been spent, with the rest lying idle at the district level. There is no monitoring mechanism to ensure their judicious spending which is mitigating the crisis in drought-hit areas. Read: Drought: Telangana govt blamed for lack of foresight The Centre has refused to release additional funds unless the existing funds are spent. The Centre had allotted special funds to mitigate drinking water problem in 10 severe drought-hit states, including TS. Out of 67 municipalities and corporations in the state, only five are receiving water every day. Residents of the rest of the urban local bodies have been getting water once or twice a week. Similarly, 5,000 villages are facing water crisis for which only water tankers are the solution. Read: High Court questions Telangana govt on drought-hit mandals The government has to hire private water tankers to supply water for which funds are needed. Though the funds are lying with district collectors, they remain unspent for the last one month. When Union minister Bandaru Dattatreya approached the Centre seeking a Rs 500 crore drought aid for the state, Union rural development minister Birender Singh brought to his notice that the TS government was yet to spend the funds allotted earlier. He said that additional funds can only be sanctioned after the state government submits utilisation certificates. Read: Heat wave, drought in Telangana halt KCR bus yatra These funds are supposed to be spent on tankers, repairing hand pumps, deepening of borewell, and to provide drinking water. Municipal and rural development minister K.T.Rama Rao said, Its wrong to say that the state government had not spent the Rs 350 crore. When I reviewed the issue, it was found that just about Rs 30 crore remained unspent. But these funds are no way sufficient to meet the severe drinking water problem in the state. There may be some delay in submitting utilisation certificates. Read: Telangana not spending drought fund: Kishan Reddy While TS had sought a Rs 3,000 crore drought package, the Centre had approved only Rs 750 crore so far. The 67 municipalities and corporations, excluding the GHMC, require 606 million litres per day, but the available quantity is only 383 MLD, a deficit of 222 MLD. Tech entrepreneurs have climbed the ranks to grace the same magazine covers that once were reserved for Hollywood celebrities and world leaders. Each year, we see more innovation and success in this space, and 2016 is no exception. The pioneers profiled here come from a range of industries that want to revolutionize their categories and create thousands of new jobs, shifting -- through their success -- what our future looks like. Allow me to introduce you, in no particular order, to eight tech entrepreneurs you need to know in 2016. Related: Giving Thanks to a Female Tech Pioneer You've Probably Never Heard of 1. Marc Gorlin, Roadie Marc Gorlin, founder and CEO of Atlanta-based Roadie. Roadie, the first on-the-way delivery network, puts unused capacity into passenger vehicles to work by connecting people who have items they need to send with drivers headed to the same destination. Roadies model enables efficient, low-cost delivery for senders and rewards drivers for trips they were already taking. Fun Fact: The average delivery time for Roadie gigs up to 200 miles is 5.5 hours. Milestone: We will continue to build out the Roadie community to make same-day delivery over hundreds of miles a reality. We want it to be as easy and convenient, to get big, bulky, hard-to-handle stuff delivered hundreds of miles, as it is to get a sandwich delivered down the street, Gorlin told me. 2. Bogdan Constantin, Menguin Bogdan Constantin is co-founder and CMO of Fayetteville, Ark.-based Menguin, a technology company infatuated with bettering its clients' formal wear needs by creating the coolest and easiest way to rent a suit or tuxedo for any event. These rentals happen online, and delivery includes 24/7 customer service. Fun fact: Menguin saves penguins, real penguins. With each rental, the company donates a portion of its proceeds to these endangered animals in South America. Select customers get to name them and receive framed copies and plush toys. Milestone: Menguin plans to save over 100,000 people from the pain and frustration of having to rent a tux the old way in 2016," Constantin told me. 3. Louis Ziskin, DropIn Louis Ziskin is CEO and founder of West Hollywood-based DropIn, Inc., which is changing the way insurance industries do business, by providing on demand remote video inspection," Ziskin said. "The app provides a new way to process claims and preview risk while increasing revenue in an industry that generates over $700 billion annually. Fun Fact: Ziskin is a philanthropist who speaks nationally about causes like anti-recidivism and addiction recovery. Milestone: DropIn is expanding to San Francisco, New York and Chicago and is launching pilot programs with two nationwide insurance companies. 4. Lauren Roxburgh, Aligned Life Lauren Roxburgh (Lo Rox) is founder of Santa Monica, Calif.-based Aligned Life. Named the Body Alignment Pro by Vogue, Roxburgh is an author and alignment expert who empowers people to move better, improve posture, reduce stress and connect to their authentic selves. She is also the creator of the Aligned Rollers and Aligned Life digital downloads workouts and is launching an app and more digital content to make her method accessible to all, anytime and anywhere. Fun Fact: Roxburgh was dubbed The Body Whisperer by Goop. Milestone: Roxburgh will be launching The Taller Slimmer Younger Meal Plan this year. Related: These 5 Tech Conferences Will Let You See the World 5. Tom X Lee, One Medical Tom X Lee is founder and CEO of San Francisco-based One Medical, an organization on a mission to make high-quality healthcare more accessible and affordable for everyone. We offer a modern, tech-enabled approach to primary care that combines people-centered design, smart application of technology and a team of talented providers who have the time and tools necessary to make smarter decisions," Lee told me. "Our members have access to top health professionals, 24/7 virtual care, same-day appointments." Fun Fact: Lee studied fine arts at Yale before ultimately deciding to pursue a career in medicine. Milestone: One Medical will grow to about 60 offices across the United States by the end of the year. 6. Kyle Porter, SalesLoft Kyle Porter is CEO and founder of the Atlanta-based tech company SalesLoft. We live, eat, and breath sales development best practices," Porter said. "Most importantly, we help sales development teams increase the number of qualified appointments set by a dramatic amount -- in some cases more than 300 percent. We built the application of record for the sales development team, which allows SDRs [sales development reps] to do what they do well: set qualified sales appointments. Fun Fact: Porter spends his time between Atlanta, home of SalesLoft, and Winter Haven, Fla., where his wife's family are fourth-generation tangerine famers. He likes to spend time in the tangerine groves. Milestone: SalesLoft plans to triple its annual recurring revenue by the end of the year. 7. David Gardner, ColorJar David Gardner is founder and CEO of Chicago-based ColorJar, a creative tech agency that specializes in brand-positioning strategy and custom websites and apps. Our in-house team of designers and technology developers use brand strategy as their compass to create user experiences that cut through the noise of todays cluttered world, Gardner told me. Fun Fact: ColorJar is a bootstrapping success. The creative tech agency was self-funded with $5,000 and has grown to a team of 20 without raising capital. Milestone: We only work with select clients we fall in love with -- and this year we will fall in love for the 150th time, Gardner said. 8. Tom McLeod, Omni Tom McLeod is CEO and founder of San Francisco-based Omni, a company aiming to revolutionize personal storage and the relationships people have with their belongings. It provides an on-demand concierge-style service with convenient pickup and delivery solutions to residents of San Francisco. Users are able to reclaim space in their homes and manage their belongings through an easy-to-use mobile interface. Fun Fact: Books are the most common singular item in Omni's system: It has literally thousands of books, ranging from Dr. Seuss to Grey's Anatomy. It's amazing how books are constantly being flagged as obsolete in the post iPad/Kindle world, but in reality people have real emotion and attachment to tangible physical books," McLeod told me, describing those emotions as "both the memories of where [the owners] were when they experienced them, as well as the knowledge contained within. Related: The 10 Most Influential Leaders in Tech Right Now Milestone: McLeod promises an "expansion outside of 7x7" [San Francisco] as well as some other exciting in-app sharing capabilities among users that will be first of its kind. Related: 8 Tech Pioneers to Watch A.I. - Revolutionizing The Start-up Sphere In India Khan Academy Founder: No, You're Not Dumb. Anyone Can Learn Anything. Copyright 2016 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved Chennai: Following the suicide of a final year engineering student at a private college in Selaiyur after he was caught copying in an examination, college students damaged college property on Thursday night and blocked the road, prompting police to use force to chase them away. Police said that Atanu Debnath 21, a native of Tripura and a final year student of civil engineering in Bharath University, took his life by hanging from the ceiling of his rented room in Devaraj Nagar in Madambakkam, where he was living with two other students. Ken Tuccio is the voice of "Welcome To Connecticut," a podcast he started from his home office in Norwalk in 2014. Since then, he has been named one of Connecticut Magazine's 40 Under 40, and has hosted events around the area. On April 23, Tuccio hosted the Blind Beer Awards at the Blind Rhino in South Norwalk. Twelve Connecticut breweries brought their best IPA to the event. The beer tasting event eliminated bias by not telling allowing Connecticut beer drinkers where each beer was from. Participants then voted for what they like best based solely on the beer. New Delhi: President Pranab Mukherjee on Saturday called for consideration of a private members Bill envisaging protective measures for farmers in arid, desert and drought-prone areas even as several states continue to grapple with severe drought conditions. He also recommended a welfare fund with an initial corpus of Rs 10,000 crore. The Farmers of Arid and Desert Areas (Welfare and Other Special Provisions) Bill, 2014 was introduced by senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel in the Rajya Sabha in December 2014. The Bill envisages expenditure from the Consolidated Fund of India. According to the financial memorandum of the Bill, Rs 20,000 crore may be involved as recurring expenditure per annum. Read: Indias droughts a man-made failure Under the rules, if a Bill involves expenditure from the Consolidated Fund of India, it cannot be passed by Parliament unless the President has recommended its consideration to that House. In a letter to the Rajya Sabha secretary-general a few days ago, agriculture minister Radha Mohan Singh had stated that the President, having been informed about the Bill, had recommended its consideration by the Rajya Sabha under Article 117(3) of the Constitution. Bill to protect farmers on anvil The Upper House has listed the Farmers of Arid and Desert Areas (Welfare and Other Special Provisions) Bill, 2014, introduced by senior Congress member Ahmad Patel in the Rajya Sabha, for consideration. It seeks to provide for the establishment of a welfare fund for farmers in arid and desert areas with an initial corpus of Rs 10,000 crore to be provided by the Central government. Clause 6 of the Bill makes it mandatory for the Central government to provide requisite funds to the states concerned while Clause 5 provides for certain welfare measures to be undertaken by appropriate governments. In the statement of objects and reasons of the Bill, Mr Patel has noted that Gujarat, in particular Saurashtra and Kutch regions, and major parts of Rajasthan, have arid and desert areas which face extreme heat in summer and extreme cold in winter and rainfall there is mostly deficient. Similarly, the states of Andhra Pradesh, Telan-gana, Jharkhand, Bihar, MP, Maha-rashtra, Odisha, etc. are frequently affected by unprecedented drought conditions and the desert is spreading in many such areas, Mr Ahmed has said. He insisted that a welfare fund should be set up for the farmers of arid and desert areas as they face frequent drought conditions in these regions and generally lose their crops, leading to indebtedness and distress among them. The Bill seeks to provide for protective measures and special facilities for farmers of arid, desert and drought-prone areas, who are often affected by natural calamities, causing loss of crops, livestock, making them vulnerable to indebtedness, disease and physical infirmities, and exploitation by moneylenders. L ondon's NHS staff were assaulted 7,963 times last year - an average of 22 attacks on doctors, nurses and paramedics every day, figures show. Statistics released by the NHS Business Services Authority for 2014-15, the latest available, showed London teams dealing with mental health problems most at risk of violence. The huge Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust, which employs 7,180 staff, had the city's highest total, with 1,349 physical assaults last year. South London and Mausdley NHS Foundation Trust was close behind, with 1,240 reported incidents over the 12 month period. Outside of the mental health sector, people working for the London Ambulance Service saw 391 recorded incidents last year. Imperial College Healthcare, which covers five different sites including Charing Cross Hospital and St Mary's, had the highest figure of London's acute trusts with 261 assaults. The number of attacks across the capital's health trusts was up from 7,673 in 2013-14, an increase of four per cent. Nationally, the number of attacks on health staff has increased by a quarter over the past five years. The Royal College of Nursing's senior employment relations advisor Kim Sunley said: "Nobody should be assaulted or intimidated whilst going about their daily work. "The figures are alarming and yet more evidence of the overwhelming pressures on the NHS." Richard Hampton, head of external engagement and services at NHS Protect which tackles crime across the health service, said: "NHS staff should expect to be able to provide care in a safe environment, free from violence and physical assault. "NHS Protect urges employers to take firm action in all cases of assault against NHS staff. "We urge all NHS staff to report assault and acts of violence against them. Employers must do all they can to support staff in preventing incidents and pursuing offenders". A mother has slammed Heathrow in a 1,500 word online rant after being told she could not take more than 14 litres of breast milk through airport security. Jessica Coakley Martinez, from California, said she felt humiliated and completely defeated as a professional and a mother after officials at Terminal 5 allegedly told her she could not take the milk on board the aircraft. In a post on Facebook, Ms Coakley Martinez explained how she pumped breast milk at all suitable opportunities to have enough to be able to feed her young son while she travelled for work. She explained while travelling, she stored insulated bags of milk in hotel freezers and was able to take them through airports and security checkpoints in four other countries. But she said officials at Heathrow made me dump nearly 500oz of breast milk in the trash, which was nearly two weeks worth of food for her young son. The mother-of-two said she was posting the open letter on Facebook because she did not remember the last time I felt so justly upset. Ms Coakley Martinez said she acknowledged she should have looked up the Civil Aviation rule, which states all liquids must comply with the 100ml rule if not travelling with a baby. She added: That being said, more than 300oz of that milk was frozen. Solid. Like a rock. I was willing to let go of the liquid milk. But you also wanted the solid milk because it could melt and become a liquid. She went on to explain that she offered to put the breast milk in the hold, but claims she was unable to do so because the milk was now a non-compliant item and needed to be confiscated. She continued: It was as if you were almost proud to deny me at every possible point of compromise. Despite my begging, pleading and even crying out of sheer shock and desperation for a solution (which you essentially scoffed at with annoyance), you treated me as if I was trying to smuggle litres of hydrogen peroxide onto the plane. This wasnt some rare bottle of wine or luxury perfume I was trying to negotiate as a carry on. This was deeply personal. This was my sons health and nourishment. This was the money I would now need to spend buying formula that wasnt necessary. This wasnt tomorrows milk; it was two weeks worth of nutrition for my child. The rant ended with Ms Coakley Martinez branding Heathrows customer service and professional judgement as shameful. She added: Beyond literally taking food from my childs mouth, you humiliated me and made me feel completely defeated as a professional and a mother." A spokesman for Heathrow said the airport would not be issuing a statement and directed the Standard to its website FAQs regarding taking breast milk onto aircrafts. W estminster church leaders have vowed to fight a council's ruling to snub the installation of a life-size Jesus statue near the Houses of Parliament. Clergyman at Methodist Central Hall want to plant a monument, dubbed 'The Homeless Jesus', outside the church in Storey's Gate but permission was refused. The statue was created by Canadian sculptor Timothy Schmalz and depicts a figure sleeping on a park bench covered in a blanket with his exposed feet bearing the marks of crucifixion. The artwork, designed to raise the issue of homelessness, gained international fame when it was blessed by Pope Francis and can be seen in The Vatican, Madrid and Washington DC but attempts to bring it to London have been thwarted. Westminster Council said the area is already saturated with statues with famous figures such as Sir Winston Churchill and Mahatma Gandhi stood in nearby Parliament Square. Blessed: Pope Francis blessed a model of the statue, which has been installed at The Vatican / Methodist Central Hall But leaders say they will contest the council's decision, which was made in February. Reverend Dr Martyn Atkins told the Standard: "We are shocked and surprised by the position we find ourselves in but we have plenty of time and we feel we should respond with a statement or appeal. "We feel a little hard done by because although we are near Parliament Square the church is not on it and there are no statues or monuments near us. "It is ironic that in various parts of the world this piece of public art seems to be gratefully received and hasnt encountered any of the kind of problems we face here in London." Dr Atkins also claimed the council's refusal was partly based on a belief the statue would not "improve the character of the area". He added: "Ive had people who arent Christians say to me its wrong to refuse the statue because it may lower the tone of the neighbourhood. "What is wrong with having a symbol of the poor next to the Houses of Parliament." He said the church has six months to lodge an appeal and has begun canvassing public support through an online petition, which has more than 800 signatures. Reverend Martin Turner, who lodged the application, said: "The Methodist church is committed to social righteousness. We feel it is entirely appropriate to have a symbol of homelessness amid the wealth and authority of Westminster." A Westminster Council spokesman said: "We welcome public art and sculptures in Westminster. "However, there are traditionally a large number of applications for monuments and memorials in Parliament Square and the surrounding area, and it reached saturation point some years ago when the council introduced a policy of no further statues being allowed in this area. "The council feels that in respect of this application an exception is not warranted. The applicants have been advised that the statue needs to be located elsewhere. "For example, there is no objection whatsoever to the sculpture being located within the Methodist Central Hall itself. P resident Obama today described Prince George as "adorable" as he took questions from members of the public in a town hall-style meeting in central London. The young prince was allowed to stay up late last night so he could meet Mr Obama and thank him for a rocking horse the president bought him as a present when he was born. Wearing his pyjamas, the two-year-old shook hands with the leader of the free world before being taken to bed. Today Mr Obama said of the encounter: "Nothing was going to stop me from wishing happy birthday to her majesty and meeting George, who was adorable." Prince George meets the Obamas 1 /20 Prince George meets the Obamas Play-time: Prince George showed the president his rocking horse Up late: The young prince met the leader of the free world in his pyjamas Royal occasion: Mr Obama and his wife Michelle visited the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge at Kensington Palace All smiles: The Obamas pose with Prince Harry as well as the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge Rainy evening: Spring showers did little to dampen spirits The two families met in the Drawing Room of Apartment 1A Kensington Palace Behind closed doors: Photographers were allowed inside the Palace for a rare glimpse of the Cambridges' home Around the table: The Obamas dropped by following the president's major intervention in the EU debate Michelle Obama chats to the Duchess of Cambridge as they sit on one of the Palace's sofas The Beast: The President's motorcade arrives at Kensington Palace Wet weather: Mr Obama shields his wife Michelle from the rain with an umbrella Royal welcome: The Obamas were greeted at the door by Prince Harry as well as the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge In conversation: A photograph posted on Twitter by Kensington Palace of Prince Harry talking to Mrs Obama and the Duchess Special occasion: Prince Harry pecks Mrs Obama on the cheek Relaxed: Prince William and Mr Obama chatted casually after Prince George had gone to bed He was speaking at an event in Lindley Hall, where he urged young people to ignore cynics telling them they cannot change the world. The president insisted now was the best time in human history to be alive as he urged the audience to ignore cynical voices saying that nothing could change. "Take a longer, more optimistic view of history," Mr Obama said. Achievements: The president said he was most proud of 'saving the world from a great depression' / PA He also praised the close relationship between the US and the UK, which he said had improved dramatically since the British "burned down my house" - a reference to the torching of the White House in the war of 1812-1814. The comments come a day after the president sparked a row by intervening in the debate over whether the UK should leave the EU, telling reporters at a press conference with David Cameron that Brexit would put Britain at the "back of the queue" in trade negotiations with America. Mr Obama also said he and Mr Cameron would not sit back and wait while IS - also known as Isil or Daesh - built up its base in the Libyan coastal city of Sirte into a launchpad for atrocities against the West. "There are no plans for ground troops in Libya," said Mr Obama. "I don't think it's necessary. I don't think it would be welcomed by this new government. It would send the wrong signal. "This is a matter of 'Can Libyans come together?' What we can do is provide them with our expertise. What we can do is provide them with training. What we can do is provide them with a road-map for how they can get basic services to their citizens and build up legitimacy. "But I do think that the one area where both David and I are heavily committed is that, as this progresses, we can't wait if Isil is starting to get a foothold there." He was also asked about his biggest achievement in the past eight years as president. Obama town hall "Saving the world economy from a great depression, that was pretty good," Mr Obama replied. The president also praised his counterpart Mr Cameron for being "ahead of the curve" on LGBT rights issues. Additional reporting by PA T housands of well-wishers have celebrated the legacy of William Shakespeare on the 400th anniversary of the playwrights death. More than 10,000 people paid homage to the Bard, who died on April 23, 1616, as a theatrical parade made its way through Stratford-upon-Avon. Shakespeares hometown began a weekend of events to mark the occasion with a ceremony of contemplative moments, symbolism and riotous celebration. The celebrations are set to gain the royal seal of approval as Prince Charles tours the writers former home and visits his graveside at Stratfords Holy Trinity Church. Remembered: Thousands of people watched a parade through the streets of Stratford-upon-Avon / Joe Giddens/PA Wire He will then be joined by the Duchess of Cornwall for a special televised gala performance at the town's Royal Shakespeare Theatre, featuring David Tennant, Sir Ian McKellen and Dame Judi Dench. During Saturdays parade, the gathering crowds were asked to toss sprigs of rosemary for remembrance, as the Bard wrote in Hamlet, as a funeral bier of flowers was pulled through the streets. Many visitors donned Shakespeare face-masks to help fully mark the occasion. The mood struck a more celebratory note with the appearance of the 12-piece Wendell Brunious Band from Louisiana, who shuffled and shimmied along the parade route with a New Orleans-flavoured flavoured jazz procession. Tributes: Visitors wearing Shakespeare masks laid flowers in memory of the playwright / Joe Giddens/PA Wire Spectator Jane Haigh said she wanted to be present to mark "a wonderful legacy". Another visitor, Janice Bobby, added: "The great thing about Shakespeare is he's relevant today - he's very quotable, and his plays can be interpreted so widely." Playing a key role in this year's landmark anniversary is the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC), whose theatre on the banks of the River Avon continues to stage the Bard's plays in sell-out performances. The day's festivities conclude with a fireworks display and a line of light, leading to Holy Trinity Church, where there will be a graveside vigil. Performance: Tourists watch actors at the house where William Shakespeare was born / REUTERS/Dylan Martinez On Saturday evening, a star-studded gala of performances celebrating the Bard's life are being performed at the riverside Royal Shakespeare Theatre. Earlier today, US President Barack Obama was treated to a special performance of scenes from Hamlet at Shakespeare's Globe Theatre in London, praising the actors as "wonderful". The president made an early-morning trip to the playhouse in Southwark to mark the anniversary of the Bard's death. Shakespeare penned almost 40 plays, over 150 sonnets, and coined well-known phrases still widely used to this day. MUMBAI: Shiv Sena leader Haji Arafat Sheikh threatened Bhumata Brigade leader Trupti Desai to beat her with a chappal if she tries to enter Haji Ali Dargah on April 28. However, the party has distanced itself from the leader by terming his statement as personal view. Firm on her protest, Ms Desai said that she would go ahead with her visit without succumbing to any pressure. In a statement issued by Sheikh, he has opposed Trupti Desais visit to Haji Ali Dargah saying it would hurt the sentiments of the Muslim community. Trupti Desai has said that she would enter the Haji Ali Dargah on April 28 which is having negative reaction from the Muslim community. If Ms Desai tries to enter into the Dargah then, she will be beaten with chappal, Sheikh has said. However, later speaking with media, he retracted the statement and said that it were the sentiments of Muslim women and not his personal opinion. He has even alleged that Ms Desai is playing with peoples emotions to seek publicity and creating controversies. As per Muslim laws, womens entry in the Dargah is prohibited. They can go upto certain point. Trupti Desai is unnecessarily creating the trouble and hurting sentiments of Muslims. She should stop this agitation and take up issues of social cause. We will not allow her to enter into the Dargah, Sheikh said. Mr Sheikh is leader of Senas transport union. He was earlier with arch rival of Sena, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena. However, Shiv Sena spokesperson Neelam Gorhe supported the women activists and said that the party stand was always in their favour. On whether party would be taking action against Mr Sheikh, Ms Gorhe said it is upto Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray to decide. New Delhi: The JD(U)-RLD alliance in Uttar Pradesh is set to become a test case for Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar to forge a larger alliance at the national level for the 2019 polls. In UP, Mr Kumar is keen to accommodate the Congress to form a larger alliance in the state to counter the BJP. The JD(U) held a national council meet in Bihar on Saturday to take forward the partys proposed merger with Ajit Singhs RLD and Babulal Marandis Jharkhand Vikas Morcha. The one-day meet also explored alliance options with smaller outfits, such as the Peace Party and a splinter group of the Apna Dal, in UP. The JD(U) machinery has been activated to hold parleys with regional and smaller outfits like AUDF, JMM, AAP, TMC and TRS. Talks are also on with the Left parties. Mr Kumar has already given a clarion call to establish a Sangh-mukt Bharat (Sangh-free India). While there are murmurs about the possibility of Mr Kumar leading an anti-BJP grand alliance at the national level, the UP election is expected to be the first step in that direction. Aware that the JD(U) has virtually zero influence in UP, the Nitish game plan is to damage the BJP as much as possible in this crucial state. The JD(U), intending to joining hands with the RLD, plans to target the Jat votes in western UP. Owing to the communal flare-up in Muzaffa-rnagar during the last general election, a large chunk of the Jat vote, which traditionally went to the RLD, had swung towards the BJP. Some in the JD(U) had told the media that if Ajit Singhs son Jayant Chaudhary was projected as the chief ministerial candidate following the JD(U)-RLD pact, the Jat votes could shift to this combination. DENVER (AP) Colorado lawmakers voted Friday to ban red-light cameras even though the governor is almost certain to put the brakes on their plan. A bill approved by a House-Senate negotiating committee would ban red-light cameras statewide after this year. The measure calls for a stricter ban than earlier versions of the bill, which could have allowed continued red-light camera use in school zones and construction zones. The latest bill puts lawmakers on a collision course with the governor's veto pen. Gov. John Hickenlooper vetoed two bills last year that would have banned red-light cameras, saying the photo enforcement protects public safety. Hickenlooper suggested that lawmakers pursue red-light camera limits, but not a ban. He told lawmakers again this week to review his veto from last year. "We know that no one is ever pleased to receive a traffic ticket," Hickenlooper wrote. "Photo-enforcement tools may not be universally popular. But some communities feel the need to use them." It appears that lawmakers are unwilling to compromise on the unpopular cameras. The statewide ban passed the conference committee 5-1 Friday, meaning it awaits only formal agreement by the full House and Senate next week before heading to the governor's desk. Lawmakers supporting a red-light camera ban pointed out that last year's bill also banned photo speed enforcement, something not mentioned at all in this year's ban. They disputed the governor's assertion that a blanket ban on red-light cameras could endanger public safety. "The use of red-light cameras violates people's civil liberties and personal privacy," said Rep. Steve Lebsock, D-Thornton. Legislative analysts say eight of the state's most populous cities use red-light cameras Aurora, Boulder, Commerce City, Denver, Fort Collins, Greenwood Village, Lone Tree and Pueblo. LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) Lancaster County leaders are looking to establish a court just for veterans, similar to the county's drug court. County Attorney Joe Kelly told the Lancaster County Board on Thursday that he wants to request permission from the Nebraska Supreme Court to set up a court only for veterans who've suffered traumatic brain injury or developed post-traumatic stress disorder as the result of serving in a combat zone. The Lincoln Journal Star reports that the board agreed. Kelly now plans to submit a proposal for a three-year pilot program. "I appreciate your willingness to step up and be a leader on this," Todd Wiltgen, County Board vice chairman, told Kelly. County District Court judges would oversee veterans court proceedings, and participants would have to plead guilty to their crime before being allowed to enter the special court. Their charges would be dismissed if they complete requirements set by the judges. Veterans would receive a mentor and treatment services from local Veterans Affairs mental health providers once they're allowed to participate in the court. "The way they're treated accounts for their service to the country," he said. The county already offers a pretrial diversion program for veterans that is overseen by the county attorney's office, but it doesn't require participants to plead guilty to their crimes beforehand. The Legislature approved a bill to establish a veterans treatment court pilot project in Douglas County last month. Kelly said that he won't ask for additional funding for the program and that he'd be ready to launch it by this fall. The students will get marks even if they have just written these question numbers, a lecturer said. (Representational Image) Bengaluru: More than 1.74 lakh II PUC science students are confused over the grace marks to be awarded for the mathematics paper, as PU Education Department and lecturers, who are evaluating the answer scripts, are giving different versions. Immediately after the II PUC mathematics examination, thousands of students launched an online campaign demanding 21 grace marks, claiming that eight questions in the paper were out of syllabus. The state education department formed an expert committee, which clarified in its report that no grace marks should be given as the questions from within the syllabus. But four days after the II PUC final examination valuation work started, many lecturers said that the PU department has directed them to show some leniency while correcting the mathematics paper and give grace marks if students had even attempted the eight controversial questions, which carry 21 marks. The students will get marks even if they have just written these question numbers, a lecturer said. These 8 questions are numbered 3, 13, 16, 20, 34, 33, 45 and 49B. But PU Department Director Ramegowda said that there is no question of awarding grace marks in any subject. All the questions were within the syllabus and there is no question of any grace marks, he said. Unaided college teachers protest Hundreds of PU lecturers from unaided colleges of Karnataka held protest in front of KLE college valuation centre in the city on Friday. They allege that they were relieved from valuation related duties just after a day's work. According to them, when government PU college lecturers were on strike, in a short notice they were directed to carry out valuation. But now they have been relieved stating they were not experienced enough. 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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. The St. Louis office of Momentum Worldwide is moving its 150 employees from Richmond Heights to downtown west St. Louis. The advertising agency has leased 27,850 square feet of office space at 1831 Chestnut Street across the street from St. Louis Union Station and will move in December. As were a company built on how the power of experience can improve brands, were very excited for a move that demonstrates how dedicated we are to our world class talents experience at our agency, Momentum Worldwide's chairman and CEO Chris Weil said in a statement. The growing energy and vibrancy of downtown St Louis is the perfect environment for us to create inspired, creative work that will continue to connect us and our clients with opportunities and people around the world. Momentum will occupy the seventh floor of the building and the space will undergo a multi-million dollar gut rehab, said John Warren, vice president at commercial real estate firm JLL, which represented the building's landlord, Oak Street Real Estate Capital, in the lease. Momentum will have an exterior sign on the west side of the building and a private rooftop deck. Downtown has one of the highest vacancy rates for Class A office space of any submarket in the region, at 16.9 percent, according to JLL. The overall Class A office vacancy rate in St. Louis is 11.9 percent. But Momentum's move is a positive sign for the downtown office market, Warren said. "This is the trend of companies moving back to (central business districts)," he said. "It's happening in other cities and it's finally happening here." Newmark Grubb Knight Frank represented Momentum Worldwide in the lease. Based in New York, Momentum has 44 offices worldwide, and its clients include American Express, Coca-Cola, and Mondelez International. In 2014, Momentum was the creative consultant on a Budweiser video for Anheuser-Busch promoting responsible drinking. After consolidating offices in Clayton and University City, Momentum moved to Richmond Heights in 2006. Leslie Geissler Munger is not a household name not even in Illinois, where she holds a statewide elective office. Shes the comptroller, a word many Americans might never utter in a lifetime. It makes her chief fiscal officer, whose duties include financial analysis of the states situation. A truly candid assessment of that situation could not be published in a newspaper with tender readers. And I doubt that Munger would ever utter the requisite words. (For the record, Munger was appointed by Gov. Bruce Rauner to fill the vacancy after the death of Judy Baar Topinka, whom I knew and liked, and who gladly would have described the states money problem in frank terms that might have made a sailor blush.) Lets just refer to the 10 months without a state budget, the $6.2 billion revenue shortfall this year, the plummeting credit rating and the endless backlog of unpaid bills as The Illinois Mess. The apparent dullness of the comptrollers duties may help explain why no one who held that office (or auditor of public accounts, the even less-sexy name applied to the post before 1973) ever became governor. Some did try: Bakalis and Howlett, to name a couple of Michaels, and Dawn Clark Netsch. Theres not much Munger can do about the The Illinois Mess. She counts and distributes the states beans but neither raises them nor decides how they will be spent. Yet she can decide when they will be spent. So a few days ago, Munger did something that might put her on track toward governor yet. She delighted a lot of taxpayers by shoving state governments elected officials into the long, long queue of creditors waiting to be paid. It means that Rauner, the Republican who appointed her and who owns a big part of The Illinois Mess, and Michael Madigan, who as House speaker is the states most powerful Democrat and Mess co-owner, will have to wait a while for their paychecks. Our social service network is being dismantled, mass layoffs are occurring and small businesses across Illinois are awaiting payments for services theyve already provided, Munger lamented in a prepared statement. As our cash crunch grows in the coming months, it is only appropriate that the unfair prioritization of payments to elected leaders ends. We are all in this together, we all will wait in line. Well, in a way. Popular as the idea may be and it does feel good to this Illinois resident Rauner wont notice. He was making more than $50 million a year from his businesses the last time I looked. Madigan, founder and principal partner of a successful Chicago law firm specializing in property tax appeals, seems similarly unlikely to join other victims of The Illinois Mess at the food pantry. And Munger herself, once a big-time corporate executive, lives in Lincolnshire, a tony Chicago suburb. It ranked sixth on a published list of Illinois Snobbiest Places in a survey that considered such markers as income, home prices, private schools, art galleries and proximity to Whole Foods stores. (The least snobbiest place: East St. Louis.) So Rauner and Madigan and Munger will not be in the same boat as cash-starved schools and social service providers and businesses just trying to stay alive until the next state check finds them. Fiscally, the move is barely a blip. All the officials affected governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, secretary of state, treasurer, comptroller, 59 state senators and 118 state representatives collectively earn about $15.6 million a year. The state is dragging a backlog of unpaid debts that Munger puts at $7.8 billion, which is 500 times as much. Its like putting 50 cents toward your delinquent $250 gas bill. State payment delays are running at least two months now and expected by Mungers office to get worse. So stalemated officials wont get paid for what they didnt accomplish today until almost Independence Day. Unfortunately for them, 178 of the 183 officials whose pay is deferred all but the governor and the quartet of legislative leaders known in Springfield as the four tops are pretty much bystanders until some high-level deal gets struck in the struggle between deeper cuts and higher taxes. Of course, collateral damage is the hallmark of the The Illinois Mess. Thiruvananthapuram: A day after Pinarayi Vijayan stated that CPM secretariat resolution passed on the eve of state conference in 2015 that termed opposition leader V S Achuthanandan as as one with anti party mindset existed, veteran leader reacted through his Facebook post asking leaders to be cautious while making public statements. The opposition leader who addressed election meetings in Pinarayis constituency Dharmadom, however, didn't say a word on the issue during his campaign. It is a period when journalists are under extreme pressure to create news. Therefore the LDF leaders need to be extremely careful while airing their opinions. I came across a number of news items stating that Pinarayi Vijayan had spoken badly about me. However, Pinarayi himself has clarified that he didn't make such a statement and the media had put words in his mouth. The controversy should have ended there. But there seems to be an attempt to fan it, he said. Achuthanandan said UDF and BJP leaders had gone to the extent of suggesting that he should stay away from electoral fray. Some polzitical opponents have mocked at us saying CPM leaders are united only in flex boards. "However, let us leave the controversy behind and focus on real issues. There has never been a government in the past which harmed the people to this extent. I and Pinarayi Vijayan, along with other LDF leaders, have taken up the task of overthrowing the corrupt government and installing a peoples government, he said. Achuthanandan reiterated that the LDF leaders should not use words even by mistake that can be misinterpreted or twisted by rivals. He cited an incident that happened in US which went like this; Once Archbishop of Canterbury visited America after a long time. The first question journalists put to him was "What is your opinion about brothels in America ? A surprised Archbishop asked "Do you have brothels in America? The headlines next day screamed; "Archbishop enquires about brothels on his arrival in America." Soon after the first FB post went viral, the opposition leader came out with another one and this time to clarify that he had not given advise to any leader indirectly referring to Pinarayi Vijayan. He urged the media to refrain from twisting his statements. Meanwhile, at a meet the press programme in Kollam on Thursday, Pinarayi Vijayan slammed the media for misinterpreting his statement. There is a deliberate attempt from a section of media to create confusion in the minds of people during crucial elections. They come in an organised way to put such questions and interpret the answers in their own way to show that the CPM is a divided house," he said. The CPM politburo member also stated that Achuthanandans FB post was not aimed at him. How St. Louis-area members of Congress voted in the week of April 18-22. House IRS staff with tax problems The House on April 20 voted, 254-170, to bar the Internal Revenue Service from adding staff members until it affirms to Congress that none of its 80,000 employees has a serious tax delinquency that is not being resolved. A yes vote was to pass HR 1206 over arguments it was a GOP political attack that could never become law. Yes Ann Wagner, R-Ballwin; Mike Bost, R-Murphysboro, Ill.; Rodney Davis, R-Taylorville, Ill.; Blaine Luetkemeyer, R-St. Elizabeth, Mo.; John Shimkus, R-Collinsville; Jason Smith, R-Cape Girardeau, Mo.. No William Lacy Clay, D-St. Louis. Congressional staff with tax problems The House on April 20 defeated, 177-245, an attempt by Democrats to negate HR 1206 (above) whenever the rate of staff tax delinquency in Congress (presently 5 percent) exceeds the rate at the IRS (presently 1 percent). The rate in the population at large is 9 percent. A yes vote was to adopt the motion. Yes Clay. No Smith, Shimkus, Bost, Wagner, Davis, Luetkemeyer. Ban on IRS bonuses The House on April 21 voted, 260-158, to bar Internal Revenue Service employee bonuses until after the agency has submitted to Congress a comprehensive customer-service plan already vetted by the Treasury Departments inspector general. A yes vote was to send HR 4890 to the Senate. Yes Bost, Wagner, Davis, Luetkemeyer, Smith, Shimkus. No Clay. Senate Broad update of energy policies The Senate on April 20 voted, 85-12, to give federal energy policies their first broad update since 2007. A yes vote was to pass S 2012, which promotes fossil and clean fuels, grid upgrades, energy efficiencies, liquefied natural-gas exports and sweeping technology advances, among scores of other major provisions. Yes Dick Durbin, D-Ill; Roy Blunt, R-Mo; Claire McCaskill, D-Mo.; Mark Kirk, R-Ill. $33.3 billion for aviation programs The Senate on April 19 voted, 95-3, to authorize a $33.3 billion budget for federal aviation programs through September 2017. A yes vote was to pass HR 636, which would, in part, tighten airport security, fund airport improvements, regulate drones and add consumer protections. Yes Durbin, Blunt, McCaskill, Kirk. Funding advanced auto technology Voting 48-49, the Senate on April 21 refused to kill a Department of Energy program aimed at helping the private sector develop vehicle technologies that are highly speculative and therefore unable to attract capital on their own. The amendment was offered to a bill (HR 2028), still in debate, that would fund federal energy and water programs in fiscal 2017. A yes vote was to defund the technology program. Yes McCaskill; Kirk. No Durbin. Not Voting Blunt Funding regional commissions The Senate on April 20 refused, 25-71, to eliminate $200 million in fiscal 2017 funding for the Appalachian Regional Commission, the Delta Regional Authority, the Northern Border Regional Commission and the Denali Commission. A yes vote was to defund four multistate compacts that receive federal economic-development and antipoverty grants. (HR 2026) No Kirk, Blunt, McCaskill, Durbin. Key Votes Ahead In the week of April 25, the House will take up bills to renew the D.C. school-voucher program and promote startup investing, while the Senate will continue to debate the 2017 energy and water budget. The votes and descriptions are compiled by Voterama in Congress, a legislative tracking organization. New Delhi: Several states across the country facing severe drought and the constitutional crisis prevailing in Uttarakhand are the two issues that the Opposition parties, led by the Congress, plan to focus on to singe the government in Parliament when the second part of the Budget Session begins on April 25. Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan has called an all-party meeting on April 24 to ensure smooth functioning of both Houses. The Opposition, though, has prepared the stage to discuss significant matters in Parliament and notices have been given to Rajya Sabha Chairman Hamid Ansari regarding this, clearly indicating that the forthcoming session is going to be stormy. The session begins in the middle of a raging political controversy over the Uttarkhand political crisis in which the Centres role has come in for scathing criticism. The session, which commences on April 25, is in fact the second part of the Budget Session, but since both Houses were prorogued after the first part ended on March 16, this will be a new session. It will be the eighth session of the 16th Lok Sabha and 239th session of the Rajya Sabha. Drought in 10 states and the resultant water scarcity will also be raised in a big way by the Opposition parties, some of whom have already given notice in this regard to the Chair. The Congress is bracing to attack the government and rope in other Opposition parties on the Uttarakhand issue. Congress deputy leader in the Rajya Sabha Anand Sharma on April 21 had given a notice to Rajya Sabha Chairman Hamid Ansari under Rule 267 for taking up the resolution after suspending all business. The resolution seeks to deplore the destabilisation of the democratically elected government in Uttarakhand and disapprove the unjustified imposition of Presidents Rule there under Article 356 of the Constitution. Apart from this, the Opposition parties have also been targeting the government over the prevailing drought, accusing it of turning a blind eye to the problem and asking for an all-party meeting to discuss it and the resultant water crisis in the country. Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha and senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad and his party colleagues Anand Sharma, Hussain Dalwai, Bhubaneswar Kalita, Rajani Patil, Viplove Thakur, Mohammed Ali Khan, A.U. Singh Deo (BJD), K.C. Tyagi (JD-U), Satish Chandra Mishra (BSP), Independent member Rajeev Chandrasekhar and nominated member K.T.S. Tulsi have already given a notice to the Rajya Sabha Chairman in this regard, which has been admitted. The notice seeks a discussion on the serious situation arising out of prevailing drought and heat wave conditions and resultant water crisis in the country and the remedial measures taken by the government in regard thereto. The notice has been admitted under Rule 177 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business and the issue will be discussed on April 27. Claiming that the Centre has no serious plan in place to tackle drought, the CPI had already demanded the government convene an all-party meeting to discuss the calamity and figure out ways to combat it. The Congress demanded Prime Minister Narendra Modi call a meeting of chief ministers of drought-hit states to tackle the situation on a war footing. Uttar Pradesh CM Akhilesh Yadav recently accused the Centre of turning a blind eye to drought-hit Bundelkhand. Amid criticism of the government, rural development minister Birender Singh has rued that over Rs 1,500 crore from Central funds is lying unspent with the states and that this could have been used to mitigate the drinking water crisis in drought-hit areas. Clickety-clack, clickety-clack, clickety-clack. Woo! Woo! Thank goodness for Amtrak. In a day of long lines for check-in at the airport, that dreaded middle seat and threat of economy class syndrome (deep vein thrombosis), Amtrak gives you a civilized way to travel with room to stretch your legs. Plus, you wont have to clamber over sleeping bodies to get to a claustrophobic restroom. And get this many trains have free Wi-Fi. Snacks are a short walk away. Sure, the selections may be uninspiring the dining car on long distance trips is another story it beats 0.75 ounces of peanuts in a tiny bag. And did we mention, kids travel for half price? Note to parents/grandparents: Amtrak is a very affordable and exciting excursion for kids even if its just a hop from Kirkwood to downtown. If youre going a few hundred miles, when you factor in travel time to the airport, time for body scans and time spent waiting in long lines, total time to get there might not be significantly longer than by plane. And if you have the time for a cross-country train trip, well thats an adventure in itself. Im a train nut and have ridden Amtrak many times within Missouri, to Chicago and Michigan and even long distance from California and the East Coast. Its a relaxing way to go. The clickety-clack of metal on metal and gentle sway of the train can mesmerize as you watch the world float by at ground level. If Amtrak sometimes seems like a well-kept secret, rail travel in Missouri may be the best kept secret of all. Thanks to the state-subsidized Missouri River Runner running twice a day between St. Louis and Kansas City, its possible to explore Missouris capital, connect with Missouris wine land, visit Missouris two largest cities and delightful small towns in between without ever getting in your car. You can catch the River Runner in St. Louis or Kirkwood to Washington, Hermann, Jefferson City, Sedalia, Warrensburg, Lees Summit, Independence and Kansas City. That opens many possibilities for day trips or short car-less vacations. Heres a sampling of what you can do at five stops on the River Runner (Remember, hours may be limited in winter and some attractions are seasonal): Washington: The Amtrak station sits in the middle of downtown across the street from Marquarts Landing, a popular restaurant. Frequently we have people take the train here from Kirkwood or St. Louis, go shopping in our downtown and then ride the train home in the evening, Lauren Ficklin, project coordinator with Downtown Washington Inc., said. We also have a variety of events Downtown Washington sponsors that some people schedule their trips around. A block and a half from the train station youll find the Missouri River, with a park and a three-and-a-half mile walking trail. Hermann: An hour and a half from St. Louis via Amtrak, the picturesque river town of Hermann, in Missouris Rhineland, makes a great day trip. Within walking distance of the train station: Lodging, a winery, a brewery and lots of shops, says Elias McDonald, Hermanns director of economic development and tourism. Though there are no car rentals in Hermann the nearest is in Washington, 28 miles away the Hermann Trolley Co. and Hermann Rhine Valley Transportation make car-less visits possible. For $15 a day the trolley picks you up at the Amtrak station and takes you to various places including your accommodations, a half-dozen wineries, restaurants and antiques malls on the trolleys 16-mile route. The morning train arrives in Hermann at 10:49 a.m. The evening train leaves at 7:45 p.m. That gives them (passengers) one heck of a long day to have lunch and even dinner here in our little town and enjoy all the wineries without driving, says owner Kevin Sanderlin. Hermann Rhine Valley Transportation operates a taxi in town ($5 per person) and a limo service to the area wineries ($25 per person for a customizable all-day tour to area wineries; four-person minimum). Both operate year-round, says owner Gary Prindiville. Jefferson City: When my children were young, one of our best day trips was to Jefferson City via Amtrak. An early train got us there mid-morning giving us the rest of the day to explore the area. Theres plenty to see and do within walking distance of the station starting with Jefferson Landing State Historic Site. Visitors can also tour the Missouri State Capitol, Governors Mansion and Missouri Supreme Court or check out the Missouri Archives. All are free. Since our day trip years ago, Jeff City added a popular new attraction the Missouri State Penitentiary. Downtown is filled with shops, restaurants and bike racks so you can bike and shop, says Katherine Reed, CVB communications manager. There are tons of fountains and outdoor monuments including the Lewis and Clark monument and Veterans Plaza downtown, she adds. Weather permitting, cross the pedestrian/bike bridge over the Missouri River into north Jefferson City where parks abound. For longer stays, the Capitol Plaza Hotel is downtown, and Cliff Manor Bed and Breakfast is nearby overlooking the river. Getting to Doubletree or Baymont requires more of a hike. Visitors may want to take a cab, Reed adds. Bring your bike or rent one from Red Wheel Bike Shop on Main Street, grab some caffeine at the Three Story Coffee and set off to explore the city or hit the Katy Trail across the street. Return for dinner at Patty Malones, an Irish pub across from the bike shop. Of course, theres Central Dairy (for delicious ice cream treats), Reed says. You cant come to Jeff City and not go to Central Dairy. Thats even popular when its cold outside. Independence: Independence is beyond day-trip territory so youll need accommodations. The city has bus service but no bus stops at the train station. A car rental company will pick you up at the station or, if you stay at a bed-and-breakfast on Independence Square, contract with Pioneer Trails Adventures to meet you with a cart drawn by Missouri Mules. Owner Ralph Goldsmith will drop you off at your accommodations when your party purchases a city limits or full city tour ($60 minimum). Tour topics include the Santa Fe, Oregon and California Trails, the Civil War and the James Brothers. The Square, with Clinton Drug Store where President Harry Truman once worked, is about a mile from the Amtrak station, Frank Buhro, convention services manager for Independence, says. Around the corner is the 1859 Old Jail and Marshals Home Museum and Truman Home Visitors Center, where you can see a video on Truman and buy tour tickets for the Truman Home four blocks away. Also in Independence: The Bingham Waggoner Estate, National Frontier Trails Museum and the Mormons Independence Visitors Center. Kansas City: Almost five hours from St. Louis by train, Kansas City is too far for a day trip. Thats OK because theres so much to do youll need a long weekend or an entire vacation there. The cool thing is its easy to see many attractions without a car especially if you stay at the Westin or the Sheraton, both across the street from Crown Center, which also houses the Amtrak station. Families wanting to do the attractions in Crown Center wouldnt need a car, Tony Alexander, communications manager the Kansas City CVB, says. Youre literally just steps away from everything. In Crown Center are the Hallmark Visitors Center, Kaleidoscope, Legoland, Sea Life aquarium and Crown Center shops. But it gets better. Once Kansas Citys new streetcar line begins running in May, visitors can take it from Crown Center to River Market, with City Market, a large farmers market, and the Steamship Arabia Museum with artifacts from a steamboat that sunk nearby in 1856 and was recovered in 1987. Up the hill from Crown Center is the National World War I Museum, but visitors may opt for a cab or bus, Alexander warns. Its a steep hill, she says. AMTRAK PRICING Amtrak fares fluctuate just as airline fares do. Go at a less popular time, and fares are particularly affordable. We found a one-way ticket in April from St. Louis to Kansas City for as low as $30. Watch for Amtrak discounts 15 percent for ages 62 and older and 10 percent for AAA members (with three-day advanced purchase) and college students (15 percent off Missouri River Runner trips) on most adult rail fares. Amtrak also has a rewards program similar to the airlines frequent flier programs and a credit card that earns you points. ON-TIME PERFORMANCE Although I have an uncanny knack for choosing trains that run late often quite late Amtrak spokesman Marc Magliari says the Missouri River Runner was 86.3 percent on time or early for last year. AMTRAK AND BIKES Several Missouri River Runner towns access the Katy Trail. For $10 bikers can take their bikes on the River Runner. A bike also makes for a handy way to get around wherever you visit. New Delhi: Resentment is brewing against BJP general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya. Grappling with humiliation and embarrassment, a section of BJP functionaries pointed at Vijayvargiya for misleading the party high command on the Uttarakhand issue. Some functionaries in the party are now branding him as the architect of the Uttarakhand mess. Vijayvargiya, in charge of West Bengal elections for the BJP, was also being accused of being missing from the action as the party continued to struggle to find a foothold in the ongoing polls in Mamata Banerjees bastion. With Assembly elections slated for next year, a section of party functionaries pointed out that there was absolutely no need to dirty its hands in Uttarakhand. They argued that the Congress was already going through a crisis following the rebellion of nine of its MLAs and the BJP should have waited and watched. They held Vijayvargiya responsible for the entire mess and alleged that it was he who misled the party and claimed that the BJP can form a government in the state. Even as the Supreme Court stayed the Uttarakhand high court order, the entire development has scarred the saffronites somewhat. A section felt the BJP should have learnt its lesson from the self-goals it scored in Delhi and Bihar. In Delhi, the party kept deferring elections, thinking it could break the Congress and AAP and form a government. In Bihar, the party propped up JD(U) dissident leader Jitan Ram Manjhi to take on Mr Nitish Kumar. Both moves blew up in its face. After changing the Arunachal Pradesh government, the BJP high command was reportedly lured by Vijayvargiya to try its luck in Uttarakhand, a senior functionary said. Though the party put him in charge of Bengal, mainly to play the Hindutva card in the state, he apparently was too busy with his government formation plans in Uttarakhand. A senior party functionary drew a parallel with the other BJP general secretary, Ram Madhav, who was in charge of Assam and Jammu and Kashmir. Ram Madhav managed to deliver on both fronts, the functionary pointed out. Bengal is now left to co-incharge Siddharth Nath Singh, who had claimed that the party would bag at least eight Assembly berths. This particular section of BJP leaders also pointed out that Vijayvargiya had been embarrassing the party not merely with political moves but also with uncalled for remarks. Vijayvargiya, who was a minister in Mr Shivraj Singh Chouhans Cabinet in Madhya Pradesh, was brought to Delhi by the party high command. He was made party in-charge for the Haryana polls where the BJP, for the first time, formed government on its own. After the victory, his supporters had put up posters and hoardings in Haryana hailing him as Haryana ke hero (Hero of Haryana). It may be recalled that the Congress government in Haryana was suffering from 10-year anti-incumbency and at that juncture the Modi wave had gripped the country. Both the INLD and RLD stood discredited and a change with a new alternative was inevitable, a BJP leader claimed THE Shakespeare Celebrations look set to be something extra special this year with the performance of a New Orleans Jazz Funeral for William Shakespeare. Guest musicians from the School of Liberal Arts at Tulane University in Louisiana will bring their unique cultural contribution to the 400th Anniversary Celebrations in Stratford-upon-Avon today, Saturday. Members of The Wendell Brunious Band will join the annual procession of dignitaries, VIPs, school students and marching bands in Shakespeares Birthday Parade to his grave at Holy Trinity Church. Directed by Wendell Brunious, one of New Orleans pre-eminent jazz trumpeters, the band will consist of five professionals, assisted by two student musicians. Dressed in black, they will be led in the procession through the streets to Holy Trinity Church in traditional jazz funeral fashion by the Grand Marshal who will wear a sash naming the honoree, Shakespeare. Behind the band comes the traditional second-line, sporting small umbrellas and handkerchiefs which they twirl and wave as they dance a two-step in the bands wake. Brass dominates the bands performance, as well as snare and bass drum and, on this trip, a banjo. Professor Mike Kuczynski, chair of English at Tulane University and organiser of the Tulane Jazz Funeral Project. It promises to be quite a party atmosphere on the streets of Stratford as Professor Mike Kuczynski, chair of English at Tulane University and organiser of the Tulane Jazz Funeral Project, explains: Its really going to be fantastic. We are all going to be celebrating a great life and there will be lots of swag which means well be carrying umbrellas, handkerchiefs, beads and singing our hearts out. The people on the streets can join in as well if they want to and follow the procession. It may sound melancholic at times maybe even a bit of a dirge to some, but this is what a jazz funeral is all about celebrating a persons life and spirit. Were really excited about being in Stratford. Stratford Town Clerk, Sarah Summers, was inspired to find someone who could deliver a jazz funeral after recalling the opening sequence of a James Bond film! As she explains: The jazz funeral has a clear change of tempo from sombre remembrance to lively celebration, full of music, dancing and expression. That contrast seemed exactly right for our parade which marks both Shakespeares birthday and his death, aged 52, on the same day, so we are delighted to welcome our visitors from Louisiana. Their presence is especially appropriate here in Stratford, given the universitys emphasis on the study of Shakespeare. We have a great event planned and Im sure the crowds lining the route will be drawn into the carnival atmosphere as the procession moves along. Jazz funerals are rooted in West African and European burial traditions and are, according to Bruce Raeburn, director of the Hogan Jazz Archive at Tulane, probably the most appropriate way that New Orleans musicians can honour a person of value. They are alternately slow and dirge-like yet energetic and celebratory of life. The tradition of the New Orleans jazz funeral grew throughout the 20th century to achieve its own respected standing as a way to commemorate the passage of a loved one. Musicians, police officers and African-Americans and most notably the many victims of Hurricane Katrina have been remembered by this style of funeral. Shakespeares legacy as a playwright and poet reaches around the world. According to Professor Michael Kuczynski, the trip to Stratford is a kind of pilgrimage that is especially appropriate for New Orleans as a city that since the 18th century has had a special love affair with Shakespeare and his works. It is reflected, for instance in the citys Shakespeare Club, the long artistic influence of Shakespeare on Mardi Gras in the form of elaborate float designs, the performances of the New Orleans Shakespeare Festival at Tulane and the popularity of courses in Shakespeare at the university. In May, once they return home the School of Liberal Arts will host a reprise of the jazz funeral in celebration of the opening at Tulanes Newcomb Art Museum of First Folio! The Book that Gave Us Shakespeare. One of many international events to mark the 400th anniversary of Shakespeares death, this touring exhibition from the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington DC will feature a copy of the First Folio open to the famous To be or not to be soliloquy in Hamlet and exclusively at Tulane, a rare quarto of Hamlet on loan from Tulane parent and bibliophile, Stuart Rose, will be on display. Accepting the exciting invitation from Stratford to take part in Shakespeares Celebrations was made possible for the School of Liberal Arts by a generous gift from Stuart and Mimi Rose and the Stuart Rose Family Foundation. The School of Liberal Arts at Tulane, like Mr Rose, promotes the study of humanities and of Shakespeare in particular. THE streets of Stratford-upon-Avon are 20 people deep as the town marked the 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare's death with its traditional civic parade and this year also saw a colourful guest appearance by a New Orleans Jazz band. Holding a portrait of the Bard, the 12-strong jazz band entertained crowds lining the streets of Stratford in the town centre. At one point during the commemoration to Shakespeare an estimated 10,000 Shakespeare masks were worn by the public at the same time as they showed their respects to the world's greatest playwright. Members of The Wendell Brunious Band, pictured, joined the annual procession of dignitaries, VIPs, school students, and marching bands in Shakespeares Birthday Parade which later made its way to Holy Trinity Church where the Bard is buried. It marked the start of a special day which will also see a host of activities around town and a star-studded variety show at the RSC tonight. Stratford-upon-Avon town councillor Victoria Alcock said: Well done Stratford Town Council, who have organised the parade in the town today. The town clerk Sarah Summers has worked incredibly hard. Cllr Chris Saint, the leader of Stratford-on-Avon District Council, said ahead of the parade: My motion is more on respecting tradition and heritage and taking part in preserving not just Shakespeare but Chinese playwright Tang Xianzu, who both died 400 years ago. "I was studying Shakespeare when I was 13 years old, but I have been given a book of the Complete Works of Tang Xianzu. See Thursday's Stratford-upon-Avon Herald for a special pull out featuring pictures and reports from all the 400 celebrations. 1461407570_tmp_FullSizeRender[4] Eva Clifford, 9, Reuben Clifford, 6, and Joe Chandler, 9 with Willow the Bear from The Willows School in Stratford are among the crowds in Stratford. 1461402390_tmp_FullSizeRender[2] 1461402232_tmp_FullSizeRender 1461407536_tmp_IMG_0938 1461401613_tmp_IMG_0926 Members of the English National Opera in Stratford ahead of their performance at the RSC tonight, Saturday. Photo by Lucy Barriball (c) RSC AS the people of Stratford-upon-Avon commemorate the 400th anniversary since the death of the towns most famous son, heres 20 things you might not know about William Shakespeare. 1) There is documentary proof that Shakespeare was baptised on 26th April, 1564, and scholars believe that, in keeping with the traditions of the time, he would have been baptised when he was three days old, meaning Shakespeare was probably born on April 23rd. However, as Shakespeare was born under the old Julian calendar, what was April 23rd during his life would actually be 3rd May according to todays Gregorian calendar. 2) One of Shakespeares relatives on his mothers side, William Arden, was arrested for plotting against Queen Elizabeth I, imprisoned in the Tower of London and executed. 3) Shakespeare and Anne Hathaway had three children together a son, Hamnet, who died in 1596, and two daughters, Susanna and Judith. His only granddaughter Elizabeth daughter of Susanna died childless in 1670, meaning Shakespeare has no descendants. 4) There are more than 80 variations recorded for the spelling of Shakespeares name. In the few original signatures that have survived, Shakespeare spelt his name Willm Shaksp, William Shakespe, Wm Shakspe, William Shakspere, Willm Shakspere and William Shakspeare. There are no records of him ever having spelt it William Shakespeare, as we know him today. 5) Shakespeare lived a double life. By the 17th century he had become a famous playwright in London but in his hometown of Stratford, where his wife and children were, and which he visited frequently, he was a well-known and highly-respected businessman and property owner. 6) Shakespeares burial at Holy Trinity Church in Stratford is documented as happening on 25th April 1616. In keeping with traditions of the time its likely he would have been buried two days after his death, meaning Shakespeare likely died 23rd April 1616 his 52nd birthday. 7) Shakespeare penned a curse for his grave, daring anyone to move his body from that final resting place. His epitaph was: Good friend for Jesus sake forbear, To dig the dust enclosed here: Blest be the man that spares these stones, And curst be he that moves my bones. Though it was customary to dig up the bones from previous graves to make room for others, the remains in Shakespeares grave are still undisturbed. 8) Shakespeares original grave marker showed him holding a bag of grain. Citizens of Stratford replaced the bag with a quill in 1747. 9) Although it was illegal to be a Catholic in Shakespeares lifetime, the Anglican Archdeacon, Richard Davies of Lichfield, who had known him, wrote some time after Shakespeares death that he had been a Catholic. 10) Shakespeare has been credited by the Oxford English Dictionary with introducing almost 3,000 words to the English language. 11) Although Shakespeare is almost universally considered as one of the finest writers in the English language, his contemporaries were not always as impressed. The first recorded reference to Shakespeare, written by theatre critic Robert Greene in 1592, was as an upstart crow, beautified with our feathers. 12) It is likely that Shakespeare wrote many plays that have been lost. Its certain that he wrote aplay titled Cardenio, which has been lost, but scholars think he wrote about 20 that have gone without a trace. 13) Two of Shakespeares plays, Hamlet and Much Ado About Nothing, have been translated into Klingon. The Klingon Language Institute plans to translate more. 14) The National Portrait Gallery in Londons first acquisition in 1856 was the Chandos portrait of Shakespeare, attributed to the artist John Taylor. Its now considered the only representation of the writer that has any real claim to having been painted from life. 15) In the King James Bible, the 46th word of Psalm 46 is shake and the46th word from the end of the same Psalm is spear. Some think this was a hidden birthday message to the Bard, as the King James Bible was published in 1611 the year of Shakespeares 46th birthday. 16) Shakespeare never actually published any of his plays. They are known today only because two of his fellow actors John Hemminges and Henry Condell recorded and published 36 of them posthumously under the name The First Folio, which is the source of all Shakespeare books published. 17) The United States has Shakespeare to thank for its estimated 200 million starlings. In 1890 an American bardolator, Eugene Schiffelin, embarked on a project to import each species of bird mentioned in Shakespeares works that was absent from the US. Part of this project involved releasing two flocks of 60 starlings in New Yorks Central Park. 18) It was illegal for women and girls to perform in the theatre in Shakespeares lifetime, so all the female parts were written for boys. The text of some plays like Hamlet and Antony and Cleopatrarefer to that. It was only much later, during the Restoration that the first woman appeared on the English stage. 19) Shakespeare is the second most quoted writer in the English language after the various writers of the Bible. 20) William Shakespeare is an anagram of I am a weakish speller. These facts were sourced from www.nosweatshakespeare.com and have been verified, where necessary, by the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust the worlds leading charity promoting the works, life and times of the great playwright. www.shakespeare.org.uk Prince Charles is escorted into New Place in Stratford-upon-Avon earlier by Shakespeare Birthplace Trust Chief Executive Diana Owen. PRINCE Charles visited New Place on his mini tour of Stratford-upon-Avon today, Saturday. He was in town during the annual Shakespeare Celebrations in the town which this year commemorated the 400th anniversary of the Bards death. The Prince visited New Place, Shakespeares last home, which has undergone a spectacular 5.25 million transformation and is scheduled to re-open to the public in July. Work on the project and the neighbouring property Nashs House was started by the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust last May. At New Place the Prince was shown the extensive renovation work that has so far been undertaken and met members of the project team who have worked tirelessly to make it all happen. The Prince of Wales also visits Holy Trinity Church, where Shakespeare is buried, and will later attend the star studded Shakespeare Live performance at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre. Diana Owen, chief executive of the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust said, "We are delighted that we will be able to welcome HRH the Prince of Wales to Shakespeares New Place on this very special anniversary. "The re-presentation of New Place is the biggest project we have undertaken in 50 years, and this visit will be a tremendous boost for the whole project team as we enter the final stage of the transformation for re-opening in July. See Thursday's Stratford-upon-Avon Herald for a special pullout featuring a full report and pictures of Prince Charles' visit to to Stratford and other events during the weekend. Chennai: Though election fever has gathered heat in Tamil Nadu, only a handful of political parties have released their manifestos, while a majority of outfits are still involved in hectic deliberations to bring out the vision document which sometimes emerge as the hero of the elections. Principal opposition party DMK and Tamil Maanila Congress and DMDK have released their manifestos. But all eyes are on the vision document of AIADMK, which is still not ready. Though AIADMK supremo and Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa have addressed half-a-dozen public meetings, there is no official word on when the partys manifesto would be out. Manifestos have assumed greater importance in Tamil Nadu elections in the past decade after DMK in 2006 promised colour television sets to every household. The promise by DMK became the centerpiece of the elections with the then finance minister P. Chidambaram even terming it hero of 2006 Assembly polls. Since then, the freebie culture began in Tamil Nadu with the then ruling party AIADMK promising gold for people though it lost the poll. However, in 2011 polls, AIADMK again reached out to voters with promises like free mixers, wet grinders and table fans along with laptops for school and college students. Political analysts feel major parties like AIADMK may be adopting a wait and watch policy before releasing their manifestos as they could get clues and counter ideas after having a look at the manifestos of rivals. Sources say every political party has a specialised team of experts to draft the manifesto and members of the team interact with a cross-section of people and get their inputs. While the ruling party always claims it had implemented a majority of the promises or sometimes all of them during its five-year tenure, the opposition always accuse the ruling dispensation of failing the people by ignoring the election promises. The war of words between the government of the day and opposition was witnessed in 2011 and this election as well. This election, the AIADMK says it has gone beyond election promises and has implemented schemes such as Amma canteens, Amma drinking water, Amma pharmacy and Amma cements. During campaigning since April 9, Jayalalithaa has flaunted the schemes her government had implemented since May 2011. Her refrain has been that she always promises things she would be able to deliver, but this time around she has done what she has not promised as well. However, the DMK has accused Jayalalithaa of not fulfilling 90 per cent of promises made by AIADMK in 2011. By Marc Frank HAVANA (Reuters) - Cuba said on Friday it would lift a ban on Cuban-born citizens entering and leaving the Caribbean island by commercial vessels, opening the way for U.S. cruise operator Carnival Corp to set sail for the country from Miami next week. The decision is a sign that steps to normalize relations between the two countries continue despite anti-U.S. rhetoric from Cuba's leaders seeking to reassure hardliners following U.S. President Barack Obama's historic visit to the island. Carnival's May 1 cruise, the first from the United States to the Communist-run country since the 1959 revolution, was thrown into doubt when the company triggered a backlash in Miami by refusing Cuban-Americans passage due to a Cold War-era law. A statement carried by state-run media said starting April 26, Cuban citizens would be authorized "independently of their migratory status to enter and leave as passengers and crews of cruise ships." "We are extremely pleased. We want to extend our sincere appreciation to Cuba and to our team who worked so hard to help make this happen," Carnival Chief Executive Arnold Donald said in a statement. The new rules follow measures four years ago to make it easier for Cubans to travel, perhaps the biggest political reform in the Communist-run country prior to the detente announced by President Raul Castro and Obama in 2014. Obama has made it easier for U.S. citizens to travel to Cuba, but has not totally lifted restrictions. "These measures contrast with the prohibition on U.S. citizens freely traveling to Cuba," the Cuban statement said. The announcement follows a Communist Party congress earlier this week, where Castro warned Cubans to be alert to U.S. attempts to weaken their socialist system but also vowed to improve living standards. "One thing is revolutionary rhetoric to reassure the Party faithful, another thing is business," said Richard Feinberg, a Cuba expert and former national security advisor to U.S. President Bill Clinton. "For the U.S., the goal is to re-integrate Cuba into the global economy. For the Cuban government, the goal is to raise living standards of the population and retain political power." The looser rules will also make it possible for Cubans to work for cruise and cargo lines, opening new possible careers after years of restrictions on setting foot on boats without special permission. In other measure aimed at easing hardship, the government lowered food prices in state-run stores from Friday. FISHING, YACHTS The waters between the two countries have been the scene of mass migration, hijacking and invasion attempts in the past, leading Cuba to ban boat travel without a permit. Restrictions on traveling by air were lifted years ago, triggering a surge in visits by Cuban-Americans to their families, bringing with them money and goods. Still, Cuban-Americans require a permit from Cuba to visit the island. "There remains much to do in normalizing the interconnection with the Cuban diaspora," said Carlos Saladrigas, a Cuban American businessman who supports detente. The Cuban statement on Friday said authorities were also reviewing a ban on citizens from boarding recreational vessels such as fishing boats and yachts. Carnival received U.S. approval last year to sail, and the green light from Havana a day after Obama's visit in March. Protests in Miami, where the company is based, a discrimination suit and criticism by Secretary of State John Kerry led Carnival to start accepting bookings from Cuban-Americans earlier this month. The company said it would postpone if necessary, but also expressed confidence Cuba would rescind the law before its first 'Fathom' adventure, expected to begin sailing to three Cuban cities every fortnight from May 1. (Additional reporting by Frank Jack Daniel; Editing by Bernadette Baum and Marguerita Choy) China's Sept crude oil imports fall, fuel exports hit 15-mth high By Chen Aizhu SINGAPORE (Reuters) - China's crude oil imports in September were 2% below their level a year earlier, data showed on Monday, as independent refiners curbed throughput amid thin margins and lacklustre demand. However, state-run refiners lifted fuel exports to the highest monthly volume since June 2021 to cash in on robust export margins, according to data from the General Administration of Customs that was released a week... (continue reading...) China's September copper imports up more than 25% on year ago By Siyi Liu and Dominique Patton BEIJING (Reuters) - China imported 25.6% more copper in September than in the same month a year earlier, with demand expected to benefit from more planned state spending on infrastructure to offset the slowing economy of the world's top metal consumer. Unwrought copper and copper product imports into China - including anode, refined, alloy and semi-finished copper products - totalled 509,954.1 tonnes in... (continue reading...) China Sept rare earth exports at 4,327.7 tonnes -customs By Siyi Liu and Dominique Patton BEIJING (Reuters) - China's exports of rare earths in September climbed 10.4% from the corresponding month a year ago, data from the General Administration of Customs showed on Monday. Exports of the group of 17 minerals from the world's largest producer stood at 4,327.7 tonnes last month, up from 3,920.2 tonnes in September last year, the data showed. The number also represented a... (continue reading...) HRW says Qatar has detained and mistreated LGBT people ahead of World Cup DOHA (Reuters) - Security forces in Qatar arbitrarily arrested and abused LGBT Qataris as recently as last month, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on Monday, in the run-up to hosting soccer's World Cup which has put a spotlight on human rights issues in the Gulf Arab state. Homosexuality is illegal in the conservative Muslim country, and some soccer stars have raised concerns over the rights of fans travelling for the event, especially LGBT+ individuals... (continue reading...) Indonesia's Q3 foreign direct investment value rises 63.6% y/y JAKARTA (Reuters) - Foreign direct investment (FDI) in Indonesia rose 63.6% on a yearly basis in the third quarter in rupiah terms, its investment minister said on Monday. FDI value reached 168.9 trillion rupiah ($10.83 billion), Bahlil Lahadalia said, with Singapore, China and Japan the biggest sources. The data excludes investment in banking and the oil and gas sectors in Indonesia, Southeast Asia's biggest economy. Including domestic... (continue reading...) More Reuters Afghan security forces keep watch after a suicide car bomb attack on a government security building in Kabul, Afghanistan April 19, 2016. REUTERS/Mohammad Ismail By Emma Batha LONDON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - The world must not let Afghanistan become a forgotten crisis, a senior Red Cross official said on Friday as he warned of spiraling violence, donor fatigue and a worrying "brain drain" of educated professionals. "The international community must keep their attention on Afghanistan. It's far from being over. It's not the time to switch off," said Jean-Nicolas Marti, outgoing head of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Afghanistan. He warned that violence - which is at levels not seen since 2001 - would likely escalate in the coming year. "The security situation has really deteriorated ... and my prediction is a further deterioration," Marti said. "Potentially the 18 months ahead of us will be much tougher." Marti is meeting government officials in European capitals and Washington to press for greater political, financial and humanitarian support. "The message is (we need) to make sure that Afghanistan doesn't become a forgotten or ignored conflict," he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation in London. Marti was speaking just days after a suicide attack in Kabul killed 64 people and injured hundreds more in the deadliest single incident of its kind in the capital since 2011. The Taliban, which claimed responsibility, is believed to be stronger than at any point since it was ousted by U.S.-backed forces in 2001. Fighters loyal to Islamic State have also emerged in pockets of the country. Marti said the ICRC had evacuated 600 war-wounded in the first three months of the year a high number given that fighting usually tails off in winter when mountain passes are snowed in. "It ... demonstrates that the fighting season is going to be tough this year and the humanitarian response needs to be up to it," he said. The Taliban, which wants to drive Afghanistan's Western-backed government from power, announced the start of their spring offensive on April 12. BRAIN DRAIN The ICRC said it was particularly alarmed by the rising number of civilian casualties which hit a record high for the seventh successive year in 2015, with over 11,000 non-combatants killed or injured. Attacks against medical facilities and staff have also risen 50 percent in the last year, making it more difficult for civilians to access healthcare. Marti said the ICRC was launching a flying surgical team which will tour hospitals in provincial capitals around Afghanistan, training medical staff to respond to emergencies. An estimated one million people are displaced within Afghanistan and others have fled abroad. Afghans are the second largest group of refugees and migrants arriving in Europe behind Syrians. Marti warned of a "brain drain" as middle class professionals pack their bags in an exodus which could have serious implications for the country. "What makes me pretty worried about the future of this country is that I know Afghans ... who were here 10 years ago hoping to create a future for Afghanistan and who are now picking up their belongings and fleeing to Europe or to Canada. "(This) illustrates for me that they are losing hope for the future of this country." Afghanistan is suffering from donor fatigue, partly because international attention was focused on Syria and Iraq, he said. "We've seen a decrease in general interest for Afghanistan, but the situation is actually getting worse. It's dangerous. (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.) US President Barack Obama speaks during a press conference at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in central London with Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron (unseen) following a meeting at Downing Street, in London, Britain April, 22, 2016. REUTERS/Ben LONDON (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama said on Friday there were no plans to deploy ground troops in Libya, but that the United States would not wait to see if Islamic State starts to gain a foothold there. Speaking in London, Obama said it would be a challenge to support Libya's nascent government. (Reporting by UK Bureau, writing by Andy Bruce; editing by Stephen Addison) ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkish Cypriot businessman Asil Nadir, who was jailed in Britain in 2012 for stealing millions from his business empire, was released in Turkey on Friday, Dogan news agency and other local media reported. Nadir was freed after spending one night in prison in Turkey after having been extradited from Britain, they said. (Reporting by Ece Toksabay, writing by Dasha Afanasieva; Editing by David Dolan) The last teacher in Manawatu-Whanganui to have their registration cancelled had engaged in a sexual relationship with a student. Fewer Manawatu-Whanganui teachers are getting in trouble, and the ones who do appear unlikely to be deregistered. But the body which ensures teachers are up to scratch is expecting more teachers to be reported. Information released under the Official Information Act shows 18 Manawatu-Whanganui teachers had conduct reports filed to the Education Council - formerly known as the New Zealand Teachers Council - in 2015. That was nine less reports than in 2014. There were 18 filed in 2013, 30 in 2012 and 16 in 2011. READ MORE: * Complaints to Education Council about teacher sexual conduct double in 2 years * Reports of teachers' misconduct increase The tribunal enforces standards set by the council, which is the national professional body for primary and secondary school teachers. Teachers can be reported for a range of reasons, from violence towards staff and pupils to pornography. The most common reason for referral was a drug- or alcohol-related criminal conviction, with 41 Manawatu-Whanganui teachers getting in trouble for them from 2011 to 2015. The disciplinary process moves from a conduct report being filed through to a complaints assessment committee, where a course of action for the teacher may be agreed upon. However, things can be escalated to the disciplinary tribunal if serious action may be required. Of the 109 teachers who were subject to conduct reports from 2011 to 2015, nine found themselves before the council's disciplinary tribunal. Three of those were due to criminal convictions, while another was referred for "fraudulent conduct", which involved submitting a false CV. The two cases from 2015 which were referred to the tribunal are yet to be resolved, but the last teacher to have their case resolved was censured and had their teaching registration cancelled. The names of the teacher and the school they taught at are suppressed, but it can be reported the teacher was punished for engaging in a sexual relationship with a student. The pair had sex on multiple occasions, sometimes during school hours, with the teacher also offering sexual encounters as motivation for the pupil to do their homework. In its decision, the tribunal said deregistering the teacher was the least punitive outcome. The tribunal had to protect the public and ensure professional standards were maintained, it said. Education Council teacher practice manager Andrew Greig said there were about 101,000 registered teachers in New Zealand. There were 522 complaints nationally in 2015, which was down slightly from 2014's 538 but still up on the 444 complaints from 2013. "Relative to these numbers, the portion of teachers involved in disciplinary processes is very small," Greig said. "Though one case is one too many, which is why we have robust and thorough investigative and disciplinary processes." An increasing awareness from employers about their legal obligations meant the council expected an increase in reports, he said. Canterbury Medical Staff Association chair Ruth Spearing, left, paediatrician John Garrett, and intensive care specialist Geoff Shaw are concerned at their deteriorating relationship with the Ministry of Health. Senior doctors at Christchurch Hospital have launched a rare public attack on the Health Ministry, accusing it of "wilful blindness" to the state of its emergency department. The clinicians said an inquiry that cleared a senior ministry official of being misleading was a whitewash and their already-strained relationship with the Health Ministry was at breaking point. A $20 million funding injection was not enough to resolve their fears that an overloaded emergency department would not cope with soaring winter demand on current staff numbers. The department recorded a 4.5 per cent rise in patient numbers in January compared to the same period in 2015, followed by a 6.5 per cent increase in February and 6.7 per cent rise in March. Weekend patient numbers could top 300 a day. READ MORE: * Hospital swamped with patients * Health official's comments called implausible * Letter raises finance concerns * CDHB's three-year battle for funding Senior Christchurch doctors have twice before gone public with fears for patient care in Christchurch Hospital's emergency department both times forcing sweeping changes. In 1996, medical staff issued their Patients are Dying report outlining unacceptable patient deaths. A major emergency department redesign and expansion resulted. In 2004, senior doctors warned again that budget constraints were dragging the emergency department back to crisis levels. It prompted another urgent independent review, which found major deficiencies in the department and recommended sweeping changes. On Friday, Canterbury District Health Board (CDHB) intensive care specialist Geoff Shaw, Canterbury Medical Staff Association chair Ruth Spearing and paediatrician John Garrett described their relationship with the Ministry of Health as "significantly damaged". Their decision to go public with their concerns followed their disappointment over the ministry's handling of a complaint by Shaw about comments made by National Health Board acting director Michael Hundleby during a meeting in August 2015. Hundleby told clinicians, according to a transcript of the meeting, that he had "not received any information that the emergency department is under pressure". An Official Information Act request found Hundleby was copied in to several emails raising emergency department issues. Shaw complained to the CDHB chair, labelling Hundleby's responses "disingenuous and misleading". Shaw said the comments were further evidence of the ministry's "wilful blindness" to the issues the CDHB faced. CDHB chair Murray Cleverley forwarded Shaw's complaint to Ministry of Health director-general Chai Chuah, saying it alleged "serious misconduct" and required an independent investigation. Chuah sought advice from the State Services Commission, and a $13,000 investigation through Dundas Street Employment Lawyers was launched. Chuah advised Cleverley on April 15 that the investigation found the complaint could not be "substantiated on the balance of probabilities". "Based on this, I will not be taking any further action and consider the complaint to be closed," Chuah said. Association of Salaried Medical Specialists executive director Ian Powell called the inquiry a "whitewash", claiming it could not be independent, as the Dundas Street firm had worked for the ministry previously. Shaw said there was a "toxic culture" within the ministry that had set out to "divide the senior clinicians from the [CDHB] executive team". Chuah said on Friday that Dundas Street Employment Lawyers had had no previous interactions with Hundleby. The "core of the issue arose from those present at the meeting largely talking past each other", Chuah said. "I recognise that while there has inevitably been challenges in the relationship between the DHB and Ministry, both sides have the same interests at heart." Arthur McConkey served on the Western Front until he was killed in action in October, 1918. Neighbours of a Waikato man spoke up when he was ordered back to the front after his mother had already lost two sons. William and Mary McConkey's sacrifice in the Great War was too much for their community to take. They had five sons and two daughters and four of them Fred, Alf, John and Arthur went to war. SUPPLIED The house where William and Mary McConkey were married. A century on and their fates have captivated their great niece, Dawn McConkey. READ MORE: * Anzac Day services: When and where are they on? * Fallen soldier Jacinda Baker's mum: 'Veterans aren't mentioned much' * Governor-General's open letter: 'We do not glorify war on Anzac Day' * David Slack: 'The going down of the sun, again' * First to arrive, first to die, a family remembers WWI soldier Piana Pera * Dame Kiri deeply moved by her return to Great War graveyards * Help measure the Anzacs in massive new WWI crowd-sourcing project After poring through family genealogy records she discovered the devastating toll war took on her forebears one son died of illness, another was killed in action, a third was badly wounded and invalided out, and a fourth was put on furlough after suffering severe battle wounds. SUPPLIED John McConkey suffered severe battle wounds fighting at the Western Front. He returned to New Zealand where he was discharged in September 1918. In January 1915, Fred and Alf joined the Auckland Infantry Battalion on the same day, but Alf was soon diagnosed with a lung condition. He was invalided home and died at Waikato Hospital in December. Fred remained with the battalion and fought at Gallipoli before his unit joined the New Zealand Division and the war on the Western Front in France. SUPPLIED The McConkey brothers are listed on the Pirongia War Memorial Hall Roll of Honour. He was wounded twice and hospitalised. In September 1918, Fred was sent home to recuperate. Meanwhile, their brother John enlisted in the NZ Rifle Brigade. He was posted to the Western Front in December 1916, and a year later the McConkey family heard that he had been wounded in action. He was rendered unfit for military service and returned to the Waikato. He was discharged in September 1918. Arthur was a veteran of sorts among his brothers. He served in the Boer War, and an old leg injury initially hindered his eligibility for WWI. Yet in September 1916 his leg improved, and he signed up for the NZ Machine Gun Battalion. In October 1918 Arthur was killed in action serving on the Western Front. Back in the Waikato, Fred was well again. But when he was due to report back for overseas service in November 1918 something changed in the community. It rallied together. The McConkeys had already suffered enough, they said. In a letter to the National Efficiency Board, W H Mandeno wrote: "Private F. McConkey is under orders to report for duty on the 20th November, and there is a very strong feeling in the district that this should be altered, and that he should be granted his discharge, the family having suffered so severely." Fred was discharged from further military service in December 1918. The McConkey brothers are listed on the Pirongia War Memorial Hall Roll of Honour. Allan Hall, a local researcher for the heritage centre, says the names inscribed on the memorial highlight only a part of the burden some families bore. "People not only lost family members in their country's service, but were also left caring for wounded men with disabilities. "This placed serious limitations on their quality of life and stretched the resources of their families." John's sister Chrissie continued to care for him at a time when there were limited support services. A great nephew of the McConkey brothers, also named John, still lives in the Waikato at Kihikihi. He can remember visiting Chrissie as a boy, and seeing his elder namesake there. "I was only about six at the time, but I remember John as a fairly old, big set fella, who wore glasses." Dawn and John's great grandfather Charlie - brother to Fred, Alf, John, and Arthur - never served in the war because he had to manage the farm. A century on, both Dawn and John will remember their great uncles at their local Anzac Day services. Dawn also hopes to one day visit Gallipoli, and the plot where her great uncle Arthur is buried in France. Congress spokesman V. Krishna Mohan, who had quit the party in protest at not being given a post despite him being a senior, joined the TRS on Friday in the presence of its chief K. Chandrasekhar Rao. Hyderabad: Unrest is brewing in the TS Congress after the announcement of the jumbo office bearers list. Congress spokesman V. Krishna Mohan, who had quit the party in protest at not being given a post despite him being a senior, joined the TRS on Friday in the presence of its chief K. Chandrasekhar Rao. Congress senior leaders like former MLC K. Janardhan Reddy, who did not find a place in the new office bearers list, sitting MLC P. Sudhakar Reddy, whose nominees were ignored, and others are also upset. I have been a loyal party worker since 1976, but I was ignored by the leadership. I feel really hurt, said Mr Janardhan Reddy. Mr Sudhakar Reddy too was quite upset over some of the names he suggested in Khammam and other places having been ignored. Only some leaders suggestions were taken into consideration and seniors like me were ignored. I had suggested some names of loyal party leaders for positions, but they were ignored. It is not right, he said. When the party is not in power, we need to take everyone along. One cannot ignore senior and loyal workers and leaders. This will cause more harm than good, he added. Even MP V. Hanumnatha Rao and other leaders were reportedly stumped at 31 member coordination committee which is normally constituted when a party is in power. Where is the need for coordination committee now? It is normally constituted when the party is in power and coordination between the government and party is need, said a party leader. AICC had recently reconstituted TPCC office bearers with a 133-member body, including 13 vice-presidents, 31 general-secretaries, one treasurer, 35 executive members, 22 permanent invitees and 31 coordination committee members. New Delhi: Its not Varun Gandhi and it might not be Yogi Adityanath. The BJP high command, with the RSS backing it, is seriously looking at the option of projecting Union minister for human resources development Smriti Irani as the partys face for next years Uttar Pradesh Assembly election. With the troika of Ms Irani, Yogi Adityanath and state unit chief Keshav Prasad Maurya, the BJP appears to want to bring back Mandal-Kamandal politics in the state. The BJP is hoping to script social engineering in UP with Mr Maurya, hailing from the OBC community and Yogi Adityanath, a Thakur and firebrand exponent of Hindutva. Ms Irani, in the BJPs scheme of things, is expected to mobilise popular support after she took on the Left student leaders in the JNU. Smriti Irani can counter Mayawati HRD minister Smriti Irani could be the right counter to the surge of BSP supremo Mayawati in Uttar Pradesh, sources in the BJP said. The UP battle is expected to be among well-known political faces, including BSP chief Mayawati and state chief minister Akhilesh Yadav. The BJP in UP lacks a face that can compare with either of the two state leaders of the BSP and Samajwadi Party. Ms Irani can rise over various factions within the party and may get the support of the state leaders, BJP sources said. Meanwhile, Ms Irani, as part of her regular visits to UP, will be meeting members of the BJPs information technology cell at Amethi. She may discuss the use of social media in the 2017 poll campaign, sources said, adding Amethi could be the launch-pad for her for a larger role in state. She had lost to Congress vice-president Rahil Gandhi in 2014 polls. Slovenia keen to increase trade with Sri Lanka, visiting envoy says By Alvin Sallay View(s): View(s): Slovenia is keen to upgrade and increase trade with Sri Lanka with special emphasis on enhancing tourism as well as providing technical help in the areas of renewable energy. We can offer knowledge for the development of the tourism industry in Sri Lanka which has huge potential. The island is beautiful but very few people in Slovenia know about it. We can also help small and medium-sized companies using renewable energy like solar and mini-hydro power, said Slovenias new ambassador to the country Jozef Drofenik. Mr. Drofenik, who formally presented his credentials to President Maithripala Sirisena on Friday (April 22), said at present trade between the two nations amounts to a paltry six million Euros compared to 300 million Euros between India and Slovenia. Economic cooperation between the two countries must grow. At the moment it is very small when you think of the possibilities we have. My role will be to connect the business people of our two countries, the Slovenian ambassador told the Business Times on Thursday. Slovenia joined the European Union (EU) in 2004 and has been a member of the Eurozone since 2007. Mr. Drofenik, who is based in New Delhi, was making his first visit to Sri Lanka since taking up the ambassadorial role to India five months ago. He also said the EU is all set to restore the GSP + facility for Sri Lanka as well as lift the ban on fish exports. I have been very impressed with the little of what I have seen in Sri Lanka. The drive from the airport to the hotel was very nice and it shows how clean this country is, smiled Mr. Drofenik. Although his first visit was brief, Mr. Drofenik was highly impressed with the countrys potential believing that it could one day become a hub like Singapore. Conditions in Sri Lanka are conducive for trade and business. Already there are reports from the World Bank as well as the IMF as to how much easier it is to get things done in Colombo. But Sri Lanka is not going as fast as it could. Another pet project for the ambassador will be to revive plans made by the previous regime to twin the cities of Kandy and Bled, a small and picturesque city in the Central European country. Yes, I will be trying to push it. I know the Mayor of Bled personally, we are friends, and it will be good to promote cultural exchanges between the two cities. If people get to know each others culture, it makes it easier to do business together too. The honorary consul-general for Slovenia in Sri Lanka is Sanath Ukwatte. Understanding knotty economic issues View(s): Earlier this month, a poll conducted by the Business Times (BT) and polling partner Research Consultancy Bureau (RCB) on the future of the loss-making national carrier, SriLankan Airlines (SLA), provided a lot of food for thought on how Sri Lankans think and perceive politics, the economy and social issues. The food for thought was not about the results of the poll but the manner in which diverse classes of society viewed the countrys economic, political and social structures. This particular finding was also seen and analysed in some previous polls where the intelligentsia and middle to upper-middle classes, and the semi-middle to lower classes took positions and expressed positions in opposing directions. The BT poll was conducted (has always been) on email with respondents being corporate executives, political analysts, economists, businesspersons, politicians, strategists, etc while the RCB poll was conducted on the street with respondents coming from a wider strata of society. Both polls are published on Page 6. In this poll, to the question whether SLA should be managed by a foreign operator, 47 per cent of respondents in the RCB survey said NO while it was a 71.4 per cent YES vote in the BT poll. Asked whether the national carrier should be managed by a foreign partner in addition to having an equity stake, 61 per cent said NO (RCB) while 67 per cent said YES (BT). When asked whether the government should retain both management and ownership of the airline, 52 per cent said YES (RCB) while 78.6 per cent said NO (BT). On a previous occasion, in a March 25, 2012 BT-RCB poll pertaining to then minister Bandula Gunawardenes infamous claim that a family of three can live on an income of Rs. 7,500 per month, most respondents ridiculed the statement saying it was preposterous to even think that Rs 7,500 is sufficient. However there were respondents in the same street poll who, while agreeing that such an amount was insufficient, had other issues with the poll. The poll also coincidentally occurred while Sri Lanka was facing a huge challenge in the UN Human Council sessions in Geneva where a US-backed resolution against the country was being discussed. Some respondents were critical for raising the issue at a time when the country was facing a crisis overseas. Dont be a traitor to the country highlighting the ministers stupidity, specially at a time when outsiders (issues in Geneva) are giving Sri Lanka many problems: We must learn to tolerate such statements even if they are untrue. Do not damage the patriotic mindset, some respondents said. Their position was that that irrespective of political differences and stupid statements by ministers, Sri Lankans must stand together against any indictment on the country. The point is that on many economic issues, both classes have diametrically opposing views. For examples, polls have shown that while the middle and upper classes see corruption and mismanagement an issue, the working and lower classes give more preference to cost of living, fertilizer issues, health, education, etc. That was also evident recently. In Colombo the debate a few months ago was about the lack of proper economic management on the budget and other areas, and lack of progress on investigations against the corrupt. However in the provinces, according to many social workers, the discussion and concern was about the fertilizer subsidy and the shift to a coupon for school uniforms as against material which the rural community was opposing. These opposing views are not in the countrys interest particularly when it comes to economic issues. For example while urban society is aware that without taxes you cannot run a government, the message to the electorate from ruling party politicians (at any given time) is that the people wont be burdened with taxes if it increases their cost of living. Subsidies, wage hikes, fertilizer subsidies, etc cost money and that can come only from taxes. The worsening debt situation, inability to repay foreign loans and domestic borrowings are little understood by the larger majority. Much of this discussion unfortunately takes place in the English language media. Often when reputed economists and analysts send in articles for publication, they also request whether it could be translated into Sinhala or Tamil and published in the vernacular media realizing that this is the audience that they need to be addressing. Raising economic issues, woes and the crisis facing the country in the debt sector amongst an English-speaking audience is like preaching to an already-converted flock. What is needed most is to bring these facts and raise the discussion bar to cover others. The BT-RCB polls clearly show this divide. Urbanites are concerned about how the government raises revenue and are not unwilling to pay taxes as long as the tax money is put to good use. Rural Sri Lanka however thinks differently. The fault lies not only in the medias inability to take the economic debate to the provinces where a better understanding of these issues will reflect strongly at the polls but also the way economic messages are expressed by politicians. Simply assuring the electorate that everything is hunky dory and there is no need to (further) tax the people is delaying the inevitable. People need to be told that a fertilizer subsidy or a school uniform handout is funded from an increase in the price or toothpaste, dhal, soap, toothbrushes or other commodities. Sri Lankans pay extra for their essential items through increased taxes (at some point it would happen) to fund what they get free or subsidized at the doorstep. Eventually people are paying for fertilizer or free uniforms, etc. Nothing is free. If these messages are clearly conveyed to the electorate, there wont be such a hue and a cry over subsidies or slight increase in taxes. While politicians need to smart and convey the real thing to the electorate on the economy and how subsidies are funded, etc, it is also important for organisations like the Sri Lanka Association of Economists (SLEA) to be more involved in creating awareness on crucial economic issues to the countryside at large. At its annual discussion with the media this week, the SLEA promised to be more open and accessible to share views and opinions and said it was unafraid to express an opinion if asked. It is hoped that such a discourse would lead to a more vibrant engagement across Sri Lanka on knotty economic issues. New testament to make MPs angels will demand a quantum leap of faith Draft Code of Conduct is all bark and no bite View(s): View(s): A new testament of the faith to be hopefully observed by those deified mortals who dwell in the pantheon of the peoples sovereignty was handed out to them two days before the dawn of the New Year to be perused during the holiday break, suggestions made and to be returned to the Speakers office within two weeks marked duly read. Now the holiday break is over, the two weeks are up tomorrow and any day this week the MPs will be expected by the Speaker to hand in their copies with their considered opinions scribbled alongside. In the wake of the Panama Papers scandal that broke out this month and exposed the duplicitous dealings of the rich and powerful worldwide, the need for a Code of Conduct for Lankas own Parliamentarians have become even more vital. But its planned introduction now is not because the Panama Papers revelation prompted it. It is also, perish the thought, not because the behaviour of local parliamentarians has plummeted to such a low that a manual of etiquette was thought necessary. Oh, no. These last few years Lankas esteemed Parliamentarians have effortlessly retained and basked in that self same esteem accorded to the legislators of old by the public, purely because they, unbidden by any gratuitous counsel, unguided by any set of codified nanny rules of conduct and undirected by any Erskine May signposts to traditional parliamentary behaviour, have managed to be models of decorum and mannequins of moral rectitude. Both in conduct and in speech they have acquitted themselves with honour; and behaved in the House of Parliament the inner sanctum where the peoples sovereignty is enshrined as if they were saints in a temple of religion or angels in a celestial abode.An d to their eternal credit and undying honour, this same immaculate conduct displayed in public life is not confined to the four walls of the Diyawanna Oya edifice and is not an affectation, a mere pretence either, put on for public show. Nay, it even extends to every facet of their unblemished private lives. Consider how, even in their spare private time when the high duties of office as the peoples representatives do not engage them, they can often be seen trudging from temple to temple with lotus trays upon their heads or trekking from kovil to kovil with coconuts in their hands and prayers in their hearts. Such is the degree of affinity they have with religion that some have even established their political offices on temple grounds and hold regular prayer meetings attended by other parliamentary devotees thereat, solely because they can be closer to the religious life and find refuge in the soothing shade of the Bo tree. Oh, how fortunate Lanka is to have been blessed again in the new Parliament with such a cadre as the present lot who dutifully have taken to following in the same honourable footsteps of those honourable men and honourable women who honourably occupied their seats in the last days of the previous Parliament as the honourable representatives of Lankas peasantry. Perhaps this is the dominant reason why the drafters of the code of conduct have produced a document that falls far short of that demanded by civil rights movements and concerned citizens for so long. Perhaps, awe struck by these parliamentarians flawless behaviour, their moral righteousness and totally blameless conduct record, the drafters felt embarrassed to trespass on hallowed ground and set up a mechanism with meaningful consequences in case of dereliction. Perhaps they considered the entire exercise much ado about nothing designed to realise an objective which, in their conditioned minds eyes, had already been achieved unprodded by the very selfless natures of Parliaments noble members? Or perhaps the redoubtable barrier raised by the nagging question how on earth can one legislate against the legislators and pass muster inhibited them from pursuing a more realistic and strident line as demanded by the civil rights groups. If the code was not saccharine wrapped and treacle coated would the legislators even consider it? So to satisfy the public want of having an enforceable set of rules to regulate MPs conduct on the one hand and satisfy the MPs composures on the other, can you really blame the drafters impaled as they would have been on the horns of a dilemma if they could only manage to cough up a sort of feel good code which, though it would have to be shoved down the throat of the public would, nevertheless, receive the blessings of the all important MPs. No doubt it will be gladly embraced by all those privileged to habituate the hallowed portals of parliament since it demands nothing more from them than the parroted rendering of the five precepts which they often do at temple or singing the psalms and vowing to abide by the Ten Commandments as they do from their pews at church on Sundays. But whether the good book will prevent Parliament from turning into Pandemonium, as it has oft been the case in recent times, remains to be seen. For, the code is all bark and no bite. The MPs might as well have been given a copy of the Dhammapada or the Bhagavad-Gita or the Bible or the Quran as the case maybe and told to observe what is contained therein with a polite request to follow an as-you-please policy. All these good tomes of religions contain sublime tenets but how many merely recite it and shirk from its practice. But no matter. If the proposed code of conduct for MPs is anything to go by, it will transform Parliament and place it on par with the rest of the country a blessed land where pirith is blared from temples, where bells peal from churches, where poojas are held in kovils and azans surge from mosque minarets. A four-times blessed land full of moral goodness because all four religions are faithfully found here, will now find it made more wholesome and five times blessed with a Parliament where each and every member is consecrated and made more holy with a copy of the good book with the onus placed on each one of them to observe every stanza or sloka or chapter or verse as they think fit. Faith in the hope that the impish boys and girls. if any, will mend their wayward ways and be brought to book by the code must spring eternal in the drafters breast; in the hope zone of those who have come up with such a load of codswallop to delude us all into thinking that the much demanded code of conduct, is finally with us, tabled before every sitting MP. The problem is that MPs are expected to behave like angels in heaven without a hell awaiting those who fall from public grace. For starters consider the pedestrian thoughts of those who drafted this puerile document and handed it over to the speaker as a fit and worthy code for mass distribution. Under the section MPs Duties, the code states that the MPs have a duty to defend the constitution. But isnt this a duty which they have already sworn to uphold when they became MPs and took the oath of allegiance as contained in the sixth amendment? Why the reminder? They are also reminded that they have a duty to uphold the law. Dont we all? Perhaps this may have been included to jolt Rajapaksa regime favourites, the hangovers who, having often acted as if they were above the law, may still suffer the notion that they can continue to do the same carte blanche, as happened recently when a woman politicians goons abducted a man and brought him to her feet to be given a lesson in sex and morality. There is also a general duty to act in the nations interest and not to be motivated by self-interest, possibly in the way Mahinda Rajapaksa and his rebel hangers insist that they are only acting in the nations interest and not in their own when they clamour for the return of Rajapaksa to power and even go to the extent of dashing coconuts to invoke the gods wrath with curses to bring down the government, elected to power by the people not even eight months ago. Under the section Principles of the Code it is stated that the MPs must act selflessly. They must also act objectively at all times when it comes to public affairs. They must also be accountable for their decisions and actions to the public possibly in the way the Minister of Power was accountable when there was a nationwide power failure not once, not twice but thrice during a period of six months under his watch. They must also observe the code and provide leadership by example but if any member actually observes it to the letter how many will follow him up the moral expressway is doubtful, especially when almost all seem to be going in the opposite direction. And, oh! Almost forgot, the members must also be honest and are expected to declare their private interest relating to their public duties. In other words if one of their friends building is to be leased at an exorbitant rent to accommodate a department or a ministry section coming under their purview, then they are expected, as per article 5.3.3. of the code, to fulfil conscientiously the requirements of the House in respect of the registration of interests in the Register of Members Financial Interests. Furthermore, in the event a declaration is made, a member shall not vote in a division on a question about a matter in which he or she has a particular direct pecuniary interest. But the members are free to vote on any public policy matter. A public policy matter has been defined, as per 5.2.3., as being government policy not identifying particular person individually and immediately. Thus this would not place the member in any difficulty since Bills of Parliament rarely, if ever, identify a person individually. This will leave the member free to cast his valuable vote without being bound by any pecuniary interest he may have in the outcome due to his pecuniary relationship with an individual or organisation which may benefit as a result of the Bill becoming an Act. The members are also expected to disclose sufficient information regarding their business and financial relationships, including those of close family members. While the definition of sufficient has been left to the members discretion to determine wearing the shoes of the judicious reasonable man, reference to close family members financial relationships presumes that a members spouse or children or sons and daughters in law will tell the member the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth about every aspect of their financial dealings. Even as it is unreasonable to expect anyone to be held accountable for the clandestine life of a cheating wife or a philandering husband, so is it untenable to call a member to account for the actions of a spouse who furtively has a bit on the side in the realm of financial affairs. Though it will not amount to a ground for divorce, it may well prove a convincing defence to a charge of non disclosure of the spouses business relations and financial interests. After all, one cuckolded must receive sympathy, not condemnation. It is surprising, however that, while a whole section is devoted to a member having to declare his interests, the code maintains a thunderous silence when it comes to demanding disclosure of his assets. If it is held that this has already been covered by the electoral law which requires a parliamentary candidate to declare his asset to the election commissioner, then why are criminal offences amply covered by the Penal Code, namely, assault, harassment and intimidation mentioned in this MPs code in article 5.7 under the sub head Behaviour, as acts that should not be done by a member. Going by the behaviour of certain MPs in the recent past under the previous regime, is it that the draftsmen of the code decreed it wise to remind those present that, under the Yahapalana era, parliamentarians are not above the law even if they happened to belong to the ruling parties? So much for the bark. Wheres the bite? To enforce this moral code an MP or a member of the public must lodge a complaint and if the Speaker approves, he may (not shall) grant an appropriate time for the MP to raise it. No rush. If the complainant is a member of the public he or she will have to lodge it through an MP. This will involve head hunting first for a suitable and willing MP to act as the vehicle. Living as many MPs do in glass houses in line perhaps with the new governments transparent policy, finding one willing to cast the first stone against a fellow MP will be a formidable barrier for any lay person to overcome. But for those members of the public who dare to make any allegation against the unimpeachable conduct of any honourable member of the House, an ominous message, similar to that displayed on the gates of certain residences Beware of dogs, enter at own risk is contained in the code. If, in the opinion of the Committee of Privileges and Ethics, the complaint has been made frivolously, vexatiously or in bad faith, then God save the complainant for then the accuser becomes the accused. The Committee may take it up as a breach of members parliamentary privilege and, if considered to be so, then the intrinsic power of the House to impose summary punishment can be invoked under the Parliament Powers and Privileges Act; or it can be punished by the Supreme Court, depending under what category the breach is held to fall. It should give one pause before venturing out in the high noon sun to duel with the Goliaths. Far wiser to hold your fire than shoot with a dud slug and miss and get cannon balled in return. Already many have voiced their concerns over the proposed code of conduct. If it is merely to have a code of conduct for parliamentarians for cosmetic purposes this present draft will do nicely and give the impression that henceforth we will have 225 paragons of virtue present in Parliament. But the danger is that if this piece of waffle, passing off as a credible code exactly what the public ordered, is accepted and established the clamour for a more meaningful code to adequately regulate the conduct of MPs will surely cease. We will then be saddled with a meaningless code even as we have been with a controversial constitution for nearly forty years. In the circumstance, is it too much to ask the MPs to consider and accept a more stringent code of conduct? Isnt it an insult to public intelligence, an affront to the publics right to demand higher standards from their representatives to be now told to meekly settle for a code of a lesser God and be fobbed off with a set of voluntary rules that will be more honoured in the breach than in the observance? Selflessness, placing the nations interest above ones own and even being polite to parliamentary staff as listed in the draft code are creditable qualities no doubt. But when corruption has tarred parliamentary seats and many have risen indelibly stained, what is required is not a forlorn prayer to the heavens that high flown moral principles will be faithfully observed by MPs voluntarily. What is needed is a down to earth, no-nonsense code which spells out the standard of conduct expected of members when it comes to discharging their public duties and exercising their powers. A binding duty to act in manner becoming of their status as members of Parliament, a solemn oath to maintain the dignity of the House and to avoid placing themselves in positions where their integrity can be compromised. And to bring home to them the gravity of their responsibility in the event of dereliction, the stinging whip wielded by an impartial hand. When the trust and confidence the public have reposed in them are found shattered they must know the heavy price of a peoples disillusionment. If the present draft code is the best Yahapalanaya can produce in its promised quest to establish the vital checks and balances of a modern functioning democracy, the people may well ask whether its time to seek a different faith to unearth the Grail. So VATs the trouble with ypalana economics View(s): At the risk of being labelled anti-nationalist snowed under worse epithets one is constrained to admit that the great British dramatist and poet Willie Shakespeare had anticipated Sri Lankan political life and times centuries earlier. Had Mahinda Rajapaksas favoured astrologer read his Shakespeare he would have been far more accurate in his political forecasts than it turned out to be at the crucial hour and he had eventually to find excuses to cover up his inaccuracy. Didnt the soothsayer in Shakespeares Julius Caesar not warn the Roman statesman to beware of the Ides of March, a warning which Caesar ignored? Had he not, Caesar would not have been stabbed in the back, not to mention the front and other vulnerable parts of his anatomy. The Rajapaksa clan and loyalists might well say what happened to Caesar happened to the Sri Lanka President with one vital difference. The Roman senator somewhat disdainfully dismissed the soothsayers prediction. Rajapaksa accepted his astrologers prognostication or maybe wanted somehow to believe in it. Quite often the Bards lines and characters come to mind when one watches from the sidelines the happenings in Sri Lanka. One is often torn between contrary emotions to cry or laugh at some of the goings on. The other day I was reminded of the words of Dick the Butcher in Henry Vl (Part 2). Dick, an associate of Jack Cade a pretender who thinks he will one day be king, says The first thing we do, lets kill all the lawyers. Whether in truth or in jest it would be a terrible thing to do even to the worst of lawyers. One can understand the yearning to catch up with the black-coated gentry who have defrauded their clients or committed despicable crimes and fled the country one step ahead of arrest warrants. But to actually carry out this threat would leave plenty of black coats hanging on pegs unutilized in empty offices. No, that is not a practice one would approve of. Let sleeping lawyers lie as they often do as the saying goes. What brought back memories of Shakespearean drama was a threat uttered by President Sirisena at a public meeting in the provinces where he vowed not to heap new tax burdens on the public. He said that any economists who made such unacceptable proposals would be sent home. At least it might be said in mitigation of Maithripala Sirisena that he did not propose such drastic action as Dick the Butcher. After all Sirisena the devout Buddhist is no butcher though he might chop and carve budget proposals, cut taxes to pieces and engage in economic hara kiri as any Harvard trained economist or a student of that famed economics tuition master Bandula Gunawardena might well aver. This threat to deprive government advisers masquerading I suppose as economists with a head but no heart, of their jobs might be somewhat contrary to stated policy of finding employment for several million of our citizens in the coming years. But perhaps President Sirisena felt that heartless economists as opposed to brainless politicians, do not deserve to be maintained at state expense though heaping more and more benefits on parliamentarians who are generally viewed by the populace as a breed that the country could well do without, appears to have some moral validity and is good for the Sri Lanka rupee. The current bone of contention that is being tugged hither and thither is the Value Added Tax, known briefly as VAT. The governments see-saw approach to economic policy would normally have had the public hooting with understandable derision were it not for the hurt this imposes on the household budget. It seems as though government policy-makers are members of the Sri Lanka Magic Circle. I am not certain that it still exists but the Chairman of Lake House Ranapala Bodinagoda during my last years there, was once the president of it. My comment one day that Bodinagoda was such a good magician that he could make editors disappear did not go down well with him. I wonder what he would have said if he saw that VAT on a host of goods and services proposed by stalwarts of the UNP, the party he supported and worked for, was made to disappear by Sirisena as quickly as Bodi did with editors. The question before the country is whether populist policies at a time when what is called for is fiscal stringency is what is best for Sri Lanka and whether it will resuscitate an economy which is in dire trouble? Sirisena can send all economists home including those who came out of the tuition classes of his one time colleague Bandula Gunawardena. But that is hardly going to turn the economy around. My fellow columnist and former schoolmate, economist Nimal Sanderatne writing in this newspaper a few months ago warned, like Shakespeares soothsayer, that the economic problem facing the country will worsen in the coming months. The current economic and financial crisis has come about owing to the cumulative impact of successive fiscal deficits over many years. Containing the fiscal deficit to five per cent of GDP in 2016 and continuing to reduce it further in the next four years is vital for stabilization of the economy and economic growth. Quite prophetically he said that fiscal consolidation is difficult as the policies needed to increase revenue and reduce expenditure are politically unpopular. They evoke political dissent, protests and opposition. Most knowledgeable people know that reducing the fiscal deficit is vital. Without that the public debt would keep increasing. If Sirisena does not know that he must listen to those more learned in the subject than he is. If he does know but still continues on a path where public spending is not reduced but increased, the question that will be uppermost in the public mind is why is he doing so? Sirisena is concerned about the people. He says his heart is with them and his goal is to save them from more burdens being piled on them. That is fine. Nobody can really object to people not having to bear additional financial burdens. The question then is whether such an approach is in the overall national interest or are such policies intended to serve personal political interests? It might be too much to suggest that he is faced with Hamletian doubts. It is not a question of to be or not to be. I doubt that he is called upon to weigh options. Rather the goal is quite clear. It is to try and consolidate his position in the country and within his party where he has but a tenuous hold. He does understand that if the government spends more on goods and services, it has to find revenue to pay for them. The question is whether the current trend in government spending is in the national interest, meant to steady the economic ship so that it can sail smoothly after what the government perceives as the disastrous voyages of the Rajapaksa era. Sirisena might remember the pledge he held out with the parties that went along with him that the cabinet will not exceed 25 and increased only if it was really essential. Sirisena is fast approaching the moment when he will find his name etched in the Guinness Book of Records for having the worlds biggest cabinet in a country with a population of nearly 22 million. Sirisena may not like economists or their advice. But economists did not make that pledge. At the time he made this promise he must have felt that the country could be run adequately with 25 ministers. So what has transpired in this country that it now requires close to a 100 persons to run this place? It was stated somewhere that it costs something like five million rupees a month to maintain a minister. Has this doling out posts been in the hope of winning over SLFP members especially those who were Rajapaksa loyalists, and thereby strengthening his hold in parliament and the country. The other day the Irrigation and Water Resources Management ministry held a one-day conference in Colombo for farmers budgeted to cost some 30 million rupees. When this enormous expenditure was reported in the media a spokesman said that the President had approved the amount. If that is correct surely this cannot be the actions of a leader who does not want to heap burdens on the people. This latest VAT vexation is so that Sirisena could speak up at the May Day rally and tell the people how he removed the financial burdens that the UNP and its clique of economists tried to hoist on the people. Shakespeare would have enjoyed this theatre of the absurd. Ports crisis entering stormier seas By Chris Kamalendran Unions, Ranatunga throw fresh allegations at each other ahead of crucial meeting on Tuesday View(s): View(s): The dispute between trade unions and Sri Lanka Port Authority (SLPA) Chairman Dhammika Ranatunga is likely to enter stormier seas in the coming week with both sides refusing to drop anchor and firing fresh salvos at each other. The Joint Trade Union Front says it called off its trade union action two days before the National New Year after a meeting with Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, but now its members are being harassed by the SLPA chairman. In a letter fired off to Chairman Ranatunga, who is the brother of Ports Minister Arjuna Ranatunga, the trade union this week charged that its members were being subjected to disciplinary inquiries and denied overtime, while container drivers who are on probation were being trained to do the work of crane operators who were members of the trade union. The union also charged that leaflets defamatory of union members were being circulated by certain parties close to the ports minister and the SLPA chairman. The letter was signed by the UNP affiliated Jathika Sevaka Sangamaya (JSS) Port Branch President, Udeni Kaluthanthri, and the SLFP-affiliated Sri Lanka Nidhas Sevaka Sangamaya Port Branch President, Prasanna Kalutarage. They are the joint conveners of the Joint Trade Union Front. They also charged that in another act of harassment, the privilege some of the workers had enjoyed to engage in full time trade union activities had been withdrawn. The fresh allegations against the SLPA chief come as Labour Minister John Seneviratne, who heads a committee appointed by the Prime Minister, prepares to meet trade union leaders on Tuesday in a bid to settle the dispute. The Prime Minister held discussions with the union leaders on April 11 and persuaded the unions to suspend their trade union action. The unions agreed to suspend trade union action after the Premier gave them an assurance that part of their bonus would be paid before the National New Year, and steps would be taken to address their grievances. Mr. Kalutarage told the Sunday Times that at Tuesdays meeting, they would stick to their original demands and insist that the workers be paid incentive allowances in keeping with the current standards, that the proposed lease of a 50-acre land to the Colombo Dockyard Ltd be stopped and that the SLPA should disclose details of its new human resource management plan. The union leader said that during their talks with the Prime Minister, they pointed out that the SLPA chairman had been abusing his authority since his appointment and called for his removal. But Mr. Ranatunga claimed no such matter was raised at the meeting. The union leader also charged that the ports resources were being misused by the minister and the SLPA chairman. Six air conditioners were bought on our request to be installed in the rest room of the port workers at the Jaya Container Terminal (JCT). These air conditioners were removed and installed at the chairmans and the ministers official residences in Modara, he said. The SLPA chairman dismissed these allegations as baseless. He said these allegations were being levelled against him and his brother because the union members were against the measures they had taken to cut down on excesses and waste at the SLPA. Some workers are claiming 800 hours of overtime payments for a month. Abuses such as this are leading to huge losses at the port. We are trying to put things in order, but due to trade union actions, our programme has been hampered, he said. Meanwhile, the Ports Ministry in a statement questioned the legality of the Joint Trade Union Front, saying it was not even registered with the SLPA. The ministry said it would not recognise the trade union front and, without such recognition, its action amounted to sabotage. The ministry in a another statement said that during the discussions held with the Prime Minister, there were no calls for the removal of the SLPA Chairman or the Minister and misleading information to this effect was being leaked to the media by interested parties. The ministry added that the port had lost millions of rupees in revenue as a result of the the trade union action since April 7. A clever ambiguous movie that takes on Colombo society Elephant A debut short movie by Rehan Mudannayake reviewed by Seneka Abeyratne View(s): View(s): Rehan Mudannayake is a gifted filmmaker. His short film Elephant (script by Ashok Ferrey, Sheela Lal, and Rehan Mudannayake) has nothing to do with elephants. Like the film, the title is enigmatic, and could be interpreted in terms of the saying: Theres an elephant in the room and no one wants to talk about it. Possibly, the title is a euphemism for a character called Mahesh, who lives with his younger brother and middle-aged mother (a down-to-earth, responsible woman) in a house somewhere in Colombo 7. Mahesh is probably employed but we do not know what his line of work is. (A hint by the director would have been useful.) He is a quiet, serious-minded person, but there appears to be a moody, introverted side to him as well. His younger brother (whose name is never mentioned) is immersed in research on grease yakas. Coarse language, artistic arrogance, and a smug, rebellious attitude are his defining characteristics. He does not have a regular income and lives off his mother (Norma). Is she a widow or a divorcee? We have no idea. But one thing is clear: this is an English-speaking, upper-middle class family. It is part of Colombos landed gentry; not of the nouveau riche, who come from a different background (trade/business). Their mothers elder sister (a slightly crazy, good-looking woman who is taken for a ride by a Spanish playboy) used to live in Southern Spain. Her name is Tilly. She once owned a plantation (her inheritance), but sold it in order to migrate to Spain. Now she is back and leading a quiet, lonely existence in Galle. If there is one thing that Southern Spain (Granada, Cordoba) shares with Galle, it is the strong Moorish influence. Perhaps this is why she decides to live in Galle, so she could imagine shes still living in Granada. The film was shot entirely in Sri Lanka, but when we catch a glimpse of a narrow street with an intriguing cosmopolitan ambience, we wonder: Is this Galle or Granada? These kinds of ambiguities are created with remarkable sensibility. Tilly is broke and waiting to die. (We are not certain what her illness is cancer, perhaps). She is very fond of Mahesh and leaves her house to him in her will. After her death, he goes to Galle to clean up the house and discovers some old letters and postcards she had written Norma from Spain. (Presumably, they had all been returned to Tilly by her sister when she returned to Sri Lanka.) While going through the pile of correspondence, he discovers a dark secret about himself that leaves him visibly shaken. The film ends shortly after bursting the bubble of sham and hypocrisy surrounding this so-called respectable family. The director wisely resists the temptation to extend the storyline and provide a clear, unambiguous ending. Had he done so, the emotional impact as well as the enigmatic quality of the movie would have been lost. Elephant is a stylish art-house movie, not a mainstream product. The film clearly has an objective: to expose the double standards of the Colombo elite and to prick the balloon of complacency and self-deceit with a needle. The Colombo elite wield a great deal of power and influence in Sri Lankan society. They also have many skeletons in the closet. In other words, the film has plenty of material to play with. But it does not attempt to take on too much. The script is handled with maturity and finesse. The film, on the whole, is expertly crafted with the sparse dialogue, minimalist music (composed by Natasha Nathanielsz and Isaac Smith), and deft camera work blending into a cohesive whole. The interior lighting is full of poetic imagery and carries a hint of Caravaggio. The script is subtle and provocative and loaded with sub-text. The deeper one goes, the deeper one sees. The two sisters (played by Angela Seneviratne and Kaushalya Fernando) are as different as chalk and cheese. The same goes for the two brothers (played by Jehan Mendis and Ruvin de Silva). Thanks to some superb acting by the quartet, the uniqueness of each character is clearly brought out. The supporting cast includes Bimsara Premaratne, Dushi Parakrama and Arun Welandawe-Prematilleke, who perform their respective roles with aplomb. The sombre mood and dark humour combined with slick cinematography bring to mind the films of Bergman and Antonioni. Elephant has intellectual depth as well as emotional resonance and scores highly in terms of artistic merit. The use of visual imagery to suggest similarities between Galle and Southern Spain in respect of Moorish culture and architecture is a splendid artistic innovation. The slick manipulation of past and present is another. In recent years, it has become fashionable for local movies to embrace ethnic conflict as their central theme. In 2005, one of our top film directors, Vimukthi Jayasundara, made an award-winning movie called The Forsaken Land, set in a border village during the time of the Ceasefire Agreement. And this started the ball rolling. While the ethnic conflict (which could erupt again if the ongoing reconciliation effort fails miserably) should continue to receive attention, one would like to see other pervasive social and cultural issues also being addressed by local filmmakers. In this regard, Rehan Mudannayakes debut movie (shot in English) represents a point of departure. (Note, the executive producer is Vimukthi Jayasundara.) The former is probably the first Sri Lankan director to make a movie about the Colombo elite. The film, though short (about 29 minutes), is packed with tasty morsels that would surely appeal to the palates of art-house movie buffs. The ambiguity that pervades every aspect of the film is its strength, not its weakness. To date, the movie has been screened three times: once at the Harold Peiris Gallery (short version) and twice at the British Council (longer version). On all three occasions, the halls were packed to capacity. The sun shines bright From a London sky Anyone who knows British weather Will wonder why Is it global warming Or an Act of God Anyhow in April Its decidedly and persistently odd. From The Windows Tale by Bachchoo Anil Dharker wrote, in this very paper about being invited to meet the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, Prince William and Kate, at an event in Mumbai. He was impressed by the royals ability to make small talk with every person to whom they were introduced, working the room with trivia. I know what he means. I once met Prince Charles on his visit to Mumbai some years ago. The British high commission thought it would be a good idea for him to be seen inaugurating the shoot of a film Id written, variously called The Rising and Mangal Pandey. The cast and crew of the film were present and the Prince was led to the stage with Aamir Khan and was filmed operating the first clapper-board! It was a sporting publicity stunt as the film is about the Indian Mutiny (Yes, Ok, First War of Hindupendance oops! Independence!) against East India Company rule. After the clapper-board business, which was deliriously recorded by the clamouring photographers and camerapersons who were held by security and the police in a roped-off area of the hall, Charles was conducted down a row of the cast and crew of the film. Two equerries walked behind him. As the writer I was somewhere down the line. The chief equerry had passed down the line and instructed us to not venture any questions to Charles but to speak only when we were spoken to. When Charles came face to face with me, the producer Bobby Bedi introduced me by name, said I was the writer of the film and that I was a British citizen. Ah, from whereabouts? Charles asked and I told him. So how long did it take you to write the screenplay? Two weeks for the first draft, one year for the second, I said. He sort of got the joke. And Farrukh would be a Muslim? Charles asked. No, I am a Parsi, I replied. Oh a Zoroastrian! he knitted his brow. So tell me, why are there so few of you? Instead of launching into a socio-historic reason, I said, Maybe something to do with our sexual inclinations? whereupon the equerries behind the Prince literally nudged his shoulder and moved him on to the next person in the line I think it was our composer A.R. Rahman. My second encounter with British royalty was less formal and more consequential. Prince Edward, Charles youngest brother, had elected to start a TV production company with offices in London. His company had been commissioned by Channel 4, for which I worked at the time, to produce a situation-comedy series called Annies Bar about a pub for MPs, Lords, Ladies and guests within the Houses of Parliament. After the transmission of several episodes of the series it became apparent to my colleagues and to Prince Edward and his partners that it was failing. It wasnt getting decent audience figures and the commissioning editor and producers thought the scripts for the remaining episodes, which hadnt been shot, were unacceptable. I had written sit-coms for TV before and my colleagues approached me saying I would be relieved of my office and commissioning duties for a few days if I would write a few episodes of Annies Bar and give it a boost. It was a duty and a challenge and of course the channel would pay me to write them. The only tall order was that I had to produce the first script in 48 hours and the second in 72. I was driven to Prince Edwards production office and studios to meet the producers and cast before getting to the computer. The first thing Edward asked me after polite introductions was what, in my opinion, would make the series a hit. Well, if you want instant success with your next episode, persuade your sisters-in-law, Princess Diana, and Duchess Fergie to make guest appearances, opening some event in the Houses of Parliament or through some other bit of plausible plot that I can easily invent. Edward let out a deep breath, shaking his head and grinning. Very good idea, but it wont work. Fergie will want to dominate the show and Diana is a loose cannon. That put the particular suggestion to rest. Id have to think of something else. That evening I wrote the weeks edition of this very column and included a version of the above anecdote. I sent it off and got down to scripting Annies Bar. It was a day when the rest of my colleagues at Channel 4 had gone away to a country conference centre to discuss the future programme mix of the channel for a few days and nights. I and the commissioning editor responsible for Annies Bar were to follow. As we drove through the gates of the country venue, we noticed several press and TV vans parked on the lawns. It was intriguing. Surely the media werent interested in an internal Channel 4 conference? Our own press officer was anxiously waiting in the car park. Quick, Farrukh, get in the building. Run! Whats going on? I asked. Theyre after you. You made some stupid remark about Princess Diana in an Indian newspaper and the tabloid vultures are after a complete report and anything else you can tell them. Of course the boss is furious, so keep your head down and mouth shut. I walked into the conference room to loud jeers and mocking applause from my colleagues. It dawned on me that someone at The Asian Age had read the column, realised that it would be of interest to the British press and leaked it. They were the Littoral Warfare Unit, who claimed their right to march through their chosen hometown for their annual Charter Parade. A Charter Parade is part of an age-old tradition that began in Roman times and gives the military the right and privilege to do this marching through a town. This particular unit, recently formed as part of an amalgamation, had chosen Whakatane due to links between a precious commander of one of the teams making up the unit, and the town. Traditionally armed forces of any nature were not trusted much by townsfolk and were only given permission to parade through the town after a victory in battle, says Matt Wray, the Littoral Force Units Commanding Officer. The armed forces were normally expected to keep well away. The Littoral Warfare Unit is a fairly new unit in the navy, being an amalgamation of several specialist teams such as the mine counter measures team, the maritime survey team, and the operational diving team. Our team provide freedom of movement of navigation to ships leaving the port and along coastal waters in the event of an earthquake, tsunami or war, says the CO about the tasks his unit performs. The current unit has close to 70 members. Seeka Kiwifruit Industries, together with Zespri, has developed a non-invasive UV testing technology to check trays of export kiwifruit potentially affected by lubricant oil contamination. Seeka is one of a number of Bay of Plenty packhouses supplied by distributor UPNZ with a batch of Plix brand moulded plastic pockets that were found to have been contaminated by the Chinese manufacturer. Police say they can now confirm the man they have been negotiating with at an address in Kokiri Crescent has been found dead at the scene. Police deployed a number of tactical options overnight in order to gain access to the house, including gas canisters, however no shots were fired by Police. The visiting HMNZS Hawea, one of New Zealand Navys four inshore patrol vessels, is proving popular with locals, including kids. Currently the line of people waiting to get on board is back to Salisbury Gate. They can see everything. The only place thats off-limits is the engine room and thats because it has working machinery, says executive officer Kurt Story, for whom this is the second visit to Tauranga on board the Hawea. You can go through the bridge, see the weapons that are on display on deck. This is a big day for us, says Kurt. He says the Hawea has been in the New Zealand navy since 2008. We stick to New Zealand coastal waters to manage the resource and border protection of the country. That means mostly customs and fisheries patrols. Minister of Defence, Gerry Brownlee and Commander Joint Forces New Zealand, Major General (MAJGEN) Tim Gall, were there to farewell the 100 NZDF personnel who will deploy to Iraq from Australia for the Building Partner Capacity training mission. During the three week exercise in Adelaide Australian Defence Force (ADF) and NZDF personnel will integrate into the single Task Group that will train the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF). The exercise will include a series of scenarios designed to ensure the Task Group trainers are ready for the tasks and environment they will face in Iraq. Those travelling to the exercise include trainers, health, logistics and force protection personnel, as well as headquarters staff. The Mission Readiness Exercise has proved invaluable for the past two rotations, as it enabled the Task Groups to integrate and build key relationships. This meant they could hit the ground running when they got to Taji, said MAJGEN Gall. Now in its 11 month of operations, Task Group Taji, the combined Australian and New Zealand task force, is achieving good progress and is having a tangible and positive impact on the ability of the ISF to combat ISIL. Over 4000 Iraqi soldiers have completed unit-level and individual specialty courses conducted by Task Group Taji since late April 2015. We expect more ISF members will be trained in coming months, showing the Iraqi governments regard for the value of the training programme and the enhanced capabilities of their trained forces, said MAJGEN Gall. The sudden burst of street protests in Bengaluru last week has surprised not just the local government but also shocked the Central government for its sheer vehemence. Thousands of workers from garment companies came out on to the streets when they realised that the changes in the Provident Fund laws would mean that they would not get the employers contribution in hand when they retired. The spontaneous demonstration paralysed the citys traffic, and its reverberations were felt in Delhi. The government soon backtracked. It was a major victory for workers rights and what was quite surprising was the fact that the protests were not organised by any trade union; union leaders themselves were taken aback at the scale and suddenness of the demonstration. Equally significant is that the outburst was by workers from an older, more traditional industry. The entire services sector has been created in a union-free environment; whether high-tech workers in Bengaluru or Hyderabad, or security guards in Mumbai and Delhi, unions have been resolutely kept out. They dont fit in with the narrative of the new economy unions are seen as disruptive and not beneficial to employers or workers or indeed the country. The end of the Cold War, according to Western thinkers and liberal democracy, meant that the capitalist system had won. The end of the Cold War coincided with economic liberalisation in India, wherein the vestiges of socialism were cast away. One of the many certitudes of the post-reform (1991) era was that trade union activity had almost disappeared. It was going to be a brave new world in which the state was going to withdraw from running businesses and interfering with the animal spirit of the countrys entrepreneurial class. People had aspirations, for goods, for services, for new homes, cars and travel. In an era of plenty at least for some sections of society where was the need to protest? And yet, what do we see around us, 25 years after reforms, when achche din are said to be round the corner? Students are at war with the government, different communities, ranging from Jats in Haryana to Patels in Gujarat, are out on the streets demanding reservations and workers too are up in arms against government policies. The new PF rule would have affected the salaried class everywhere, but they did not come out on the streets; it was left to blue collar employees. To some extent it is the policies of the Modi government that are responsible for this climate of unrest. Certainly, changing the PF rules done unthinkingly and handled poorly even after it became clear that the salariat was angry was a gift of the Modi government. Similarly, it was at the provocations of the government creating the bogus Jawaharlal Nehru University slogans controversy and pinning it on specific students that students are fighting the student wing of the Bharatiya Janata Party (or Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh) in various universities. But the demand for reservations goes back much longer. Whether the Gujjars or the Marathas, and now the Patels and the Jats, well off, prosperous communities have been demanding preferential treatment in government jobs for a while. This is the protest of the privileged who see their status declining and want to continue holding on to their social position. There is no one unifying theme to the rising unrest in different parts of the country it cuts across communities, castes and classes. But in each case, there is dissatisfaction with the government and an increasing sense of frustration that the policymakers are either too distant, unwilling or simply unable to tackle the issue. Coming out on the streets as the garment workers of Bengaluru did or indulging in violence and more, as happened in Haryana recently, appears to be the only way to get the government to pay attention to demands. These incidents also show that while economic reforms have brought many benefits, not everyone has benefited. More important, in the early period of liberalisation the government found it relatively easy to dismantle the licence raj and get political and public support for its programmes. Things are not going to be as easy anymore. The Modi governments decision to tinker with the PF scheme angered the salaried class; changing labour laws is going to be doubly difficult. There is already a perception that this government is only concerned about giving more sops to big business rather than the common citizen; it will now have to tread carefully before it introduces new regulations. (Smaller businessmen are none too pleased either, as the protests by jewellers shows.) How have governments at the Centre, in the states dealt with mass protests? In Gujarat, the Anandiben Patel government was completely caught off guard at the intensity of the agitation by the Patidars and reacted by throwing Hardik Patel into jail for sedition; her counterpart in Haryana, Manoharlal Khattar, was like a deer caught in the headlights, clueless in the face of the Jats who went on a rampage and held the state to hostage. The government has formed a committee to look into reservations for Jats, which is half a victory for the agitators.As for the students, the Modi administration is determined not to give in, whether it was in Film and Television Institute of India, Pune, or in JNU or Hyderabad University, where the old vice-chancellor was brought back, an act seen as provocative by dalit students. If anything, the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad is becoming more belligerent. Are we heading towards more protests in the coming months? The success of workers in Bengaluru is bound to enthuse their counterparts elsewhere and undoubtedly union officials too would have drawn lessons from the incident. The same would apply to students as well as to communities which are aiming to extract something from the government. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has let it be known that he is tough and doesnt buckle under pressure; the evidence suggests otherwise. More challenges are coming his way. When election strategist Prashant Kishor sat in on a meeting of UP Congress members in Lucknow recently, he probably did not know what he had bargained for when he accepted Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhis offer to help craft a poll strategy for the grand old party in UP and Punjab. The meeting was called to seek the views of Congress members on the partys revival in the crucial Hindi heartland state. Those who participated in the half-day session had their grievances. While many complained about how loyal workers were being neglected, others forgot that the Congress has not been in power in the state for over three decades. They went on to present a long wishlist to the leadership till they were reminded that there was no point in making these demands as the Congress is not in power either in the state or at the Centre. A delegate from Meerut walked away with the best prize when he made a passionate plea that the Congress should ensure the availability of pure, shudh maas (meat) to win the support of the Muslim community. Yet another local leader made a few points but refused to proceed further, stating that he would place all his proposals only before Mr Gandhi. There were many who just slept through the proceedings. Congress cadres are not known to be hard workers. They either depend on the party leadership Sonia and Rahul Gandhi to work the magic for them or they wait for their opponents to falter. But Arun Yadav, president of the MP Congress unit, has his own ideas on how the party should take on the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government. When senior state leaders met recently to brainstorm about how the Congress can stage a comeback in MP, Mr Yadav said they should do nothing till the Ujjain kumbh mela concludes by May-end. According to Mr Yadav, it has been divined that the Chouhan government is in for a rough time after the kumbh mela. Either the government will self-destruct or Mr Chouhan could be replaced, Mr Yadav explained. While his colleagues were suitably silenced with this explanation, BJP circles admit there may be some merit in Mr Yadavs argument. Party insiders say that Mr Chouhan finds himself in a spot after BJP organising secretary Arvind Menon, who plays a role in coordinating between the organisation and the RSS, was replaced by Suhas Bhagat Mr Chouhan is not happy with this new arrangement as Mr Menon was his personal choice and his supporters believe this change is a warning signal to the CM. Now it is to be seen if Mr Yadavs prediction comes true. It is an accepted fact that most ministers in the Modi government do not take kindly to criticism. But HRD minister Smriti Irani easily tops this list along with minister of state for power Piyush Goyal. The two ministers are quick to respond to every adverse media report about their ministries and are known to have the phone numbers of leading media owners and editors on speed-dial. A TV repor-ter, who covers the HRD ministry, found himself at the receiving end recently when he had the temerity to challenge Ms Iranis contention on the unfolding drama at the NIT in Srinagar. After their verbal spat, the minister went up to the reporter to ask the name of the organisation he represented. As soon as she was informed about the TV channel, Ms Irani lost no time in calling up the owner-editors to complain. Fortunately for the journalist, his bosses were not too harsh on him but it was not for want of trying by the tough-talking Ms Irani. Ever since Keshav Prasad Maurya was named the new president of the BJPs unit in UP, there has been endless speculation as to how and why he was picked for this all-important job in the poll-bound state. The dark horse who beat several other senior leaders to emerge the winner, Mr Maurya has the dubious distinction of having a number of criminal cases against him. On the other hand, he has been a loyal RSS worker and was actively involved in the Ram temple movement and the campaign against cow slaughter. If BJP grapevine is to believed, Mr Maurya was favoured over the others as he was the protege of the late Ashok Singhal, who headed the VHP for decades and was the face of the Ram Janmabhoomi campaign. It is being said that Singhal had anointed Mr Maurya as his heir-apparent. family leave (Thinkstock Photos) To the Editor: Congratulations to Rep. John Katko for his Parental Savings Account proposal. While I'm much too old to have kids, and I'm comfortable in retirement, I'm definitely going to use this plan so I can invest more of my money into another tax-free investment vehicle. Nice. I was getting concerned that Republicans were forgetting their friends with money. But not to worry, Katko came through. Congressman, I enjoyed reading how you are selling this plan to the poor. I laughed out loud at your statement that an individual making $20,000 could invest $3 per day, and at the end of one year somehow saved enough money to take 13 weeks of leave. The laugh will be on the poor because after more than a year of saving, they will have to live 13 weeks on about $1,200. I'm sure the poor will never notice the additional $3,800 they will actually need to make up the difference in lost salary while on leave. It was funny how you also proposed that small businesses would have the option of contributing into these accounts. Giving small business the option is brilliant. That way they can say, "We'd like to help, but we just can't afford it right now." Loopholes for the rich - very nice indeed. I loved how you concluded by saying your plan supports families. Of course, it won't help poor families, or even middle-class families, but it sure will help your rich friends. Well played, congressman, well played indeed. Lynn Davis Liverpool Trump Clinton.jpg Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton each won big primary victories in New York on Tuesday, April 19, 2016. Now the two appear likely to battle head-to-head on their home turf in the November election. WASHINGTON, D.C. - Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump won big in New York's presidential primary Tuesday. What if it's between them Nov. 8? Trump says if he can make it here, he's going to make it everywhere. "I will have a chance of winning New York," Trump said with confidence in February. "If I win New York, the election is over from an electoral college standpoint." Primaries are different from general elections, but Tuesday's election hints at some key questions, including: Can Trump's unconventional candidacy put this traditionally Democratic state into play? Can Trump swim against a Democratic tide? Political analysts say both history and New York's voter enrollment are on the side of Clinton, who won two elections as the state's U.S. senator. No Republican presidential candidate has won in New York since Ronald Reagan in 1980 and 1984. And no Republican has won a statewide race since former Gov. George Pataki was elected to a third term in 2002. New York has about 5.8 million registered Democratic voters compared to about 2.7 million Republicans as of April 1. The numbers leave Democrats feeling confident that New York will deliver a lopsided victory for Clinton in November. Will Tuesday's win give Trump reason for hope in New York? Trump won New York with 60 percent of the GOP vote, while Clinton had 58 percent of the Democratic vote. But a look into the Election Day turnout shows Clinton received about 1 million votes statewide, more than Trump (524,932) and all other Republicans combined. Matt Canter, a Democratic pollster at Global Strategies Group, said it will be difficult for Trump to build on his numbers from the Republican primary. "I see no evidence that he can put New York in play," Canter said. "In fact, Tuesday's results point to the opposite. The turnout in the respective primaries was overwhelmingly lopsided. It confirms the partisan lean of the state." Does Clinton have a weakness in Upstate New York? Some political analysts say Trump could still put up a strong showing in parts of Upstate New York and Long Island, where he had some of his largest outpouring of support Tuesday. Trump may view Clinton as vulnerable in parts of Upstate New York after she lost all but three of Upstate's 55 counties to U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. Clinton won the state with decisive victories in New York City and other urban areas, including the Syracuse, Rochester and Buffalo congressional districts. Sanders carried the rural counties where his "outsider" message about a corrupt political system may carry over to Trump, said Grant Reeher, a political science professor at Syracuse University's Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs. "I think Trump is right to think there will be some resonance on his positions with some independents and maybe even Democrats," Reeher said. Trump has shown that he can do well with Upstate voters who like his message about the economy and his plan to rewrite trade deals that led to large manufacturing job losses in the region, Reeher said. Guns and the Paladino factor Trump could also pick up support among independent and Democratic voters who are still angry about New York's SAFE Act gun control measure, while Clinton advocates for even tougher gun laws, Reeher said. Some of those voters are the same people who helped propel Carl Paladino's insurgent Republican campaign for New York governor in 2010. And now Paladino is Trump's biggest ally in the state. Paladino won big in the Buffalo area and parts of Western New York in 2010, but lost the election in a landslide with only 34 percent of the statewide vote. Reeher said Trump could build on Paladino's success in Western New York, but it probably won't be enough to make a difference in a statewide race. Can Trump compete in New York City? Any election in the state will come down to who can carry New York City and its 4 million voters out of the 10.7 million statewide. Trump showed some weakness in Manhattan among Republicans, where he lost his only congressional district Tuesday night to Ohio Gov. John Kasich by about 70 votes. Absentee ballots will determine the final outcome. Democrats outnumber Republicans in New York City by more than 4-to-1, and Clinton will be able to mobilize a Democratic machine in the city to get out the vote. Do energized voters make a difference? If any stock can be placed in exit polls from Tuesday's election, New York Democrats emerged more enthusiastic about their party heading into the November election. Voters from both parties were asked if the New York primary had energized their party or divided their party. Among Democrats, seven in 10 said the primary election had energized their party. But six in 10 Republicans said the election divided their party. Note: Online polls conducted on Syracuse.com are non-scientific and their results should not be considered an accurate reflection of public opinion. Contact Mark Weiner anytime: Email | Twitter | Facebook | 571-970-37512016 RNC Spring Meeting: Reince Priebus, Sharon Day In this April 22, 2016, photo, Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus, left, speaks with Sharon Day, RNC co-chairman and National Committeewoman for Florida, during the general session of the Republican National Committee Spring Meeting, in Hollywood, Fla. In a background briefing for reporters, GOP officials shed light on a curious anomaly: Under current party rules, a candidate doesn't have to be nominated in order to receive votes from delegates when the convention holds its roll call, or roll calls, for president.(AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee) HOLLYWOOD, Fla. (AP) -- So, it turns out you don't have to be nominated to become the Republican presidential nominee. Seriously. At least for now. That's one rules oddity that became clear last week as the 168 members of the Republican National Committee and top party functionaries met in beachside splendor to discuss the GOP's messy search for a consensus presidential candidate. Three months from now, the 2,472 delegates to the party's nominating convention in Cleveland will have to decide whether to recast that or other bylaws that will help decide who becomes GOP standard-bearer in the November elections. Some impressions from last week's RNC meetings: I HEREBY NOMINATE ... In a background briefing for reporters, GOP officials shed light on a curious anomaly. Under current rules, the party conducts an initial roll call to formally place in nomination those vying to become the GOP presidential candidate. But you don't have to be among the competitors nominated to receive delegates' votes when the convention holds its next ballot -- or ballots -- to choose the party's actual nominee. Of the GOP's existing 42 rules, the most discussed is 40(b). It says that to be among those nominated, candidates must submit certificates showing support by a majority of delegates from at least eight states. Yet the aides also noted that there's another rule -- 16(a)(2). It says that during voting to select a final nominee, the votes of delegates required by their states to support a specific candidate must be tallied for that person. GOP officials said that is true even if that candidate failed to be formally nominated in the initial roll call. "Unbound" delegates -- 150 to 200 in the first ballot, many more in later ballots -- can also vote for whoever they want, whether that contender has been formally nominated or not. Does this open the door for an outsider candidate elbowing aside frontrunners Donald Trump and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and capturing the nomination? Perhaps. Why does the GOP have rule 40(b) at all? It was approved at the 2012 convention, controlled by that year's candidate, Mitt Romney. The rule was aimed at preventing supporters of rival Ron Paul from sapping up valuable television time with a raucous nominating speech, a potential embarrassment to the front-runner. WILL THE RULES CHANGE IN CLEVELAND? Yes, and reshaping those conflicting nominating rules is one likely example. The RNC will recommend rules changes just before the summer convention begins, but those are only suggestions. The rules in Cleveland will be whatever the delegates vote to approve. Since most delegates will be committed to Trump and Cruz, those men will also have a major say in shaping the convention bylaws as their campaigns and others jockey for advantage. Trump has repeatedly accused RNC Chairman Reince Priebus and other party leaders of running a nominating process with "rigged" rules. Since many party leaders consider Trump and Cruz likely losers in November, many grassroots Republicans -- as well as backers of Trump and Cruz -- suspect that leaders hope to allow a "white knight" candidate to ride away with the nomination. For that scenario, a chief object of suspicion remains House Speaker Paul Ryan, a longtime friend of fellow Wisconsinite Priebus, despite Ryan's assertion that he won't accept the nomination. Sensitive to that skepticism, party officials have repeatedly said they won't recommend any changes that would expose them to charges that they favor somebody. But at the same time, they admit changes are coming. As Sean Cairncross, the party's chief operating officer, said in a video shown Friday to RNC members, "There's no reason why the rules that governed Romney's delegates should be used to govern you." WHAT CHANGES DO THE CANDIDATES WANT? If you were Trump or Cruz, you might love new rules that prevent the "white knight" scenario by making fresh nominations impossible. You might also want to free up delegates for former candidates like Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and Ben Carson to support you, instead of sticking with the candidate that state laws or party rules "bind" them to support. Republicans say operatives for Trump, Cruz and Ohio Gov. John Kasich, another hopeful, are working at state conventions to win allies on the national convention's rules committee. That committee has 112 members, two delegates from each state and territory chosen by each state's delegation. "They just want friendly voices" on that committee, said Steve Duprey, an RNC member from New Hampshire. But there's a danger in pushing too hard and alienating GOP voters. "You've got to play by the rules or it's going to be all-out war," said Dave Agema, the RNC committeeman from Michigan. "If they try anything, the perception will be, 'You're trying to change something for someone.'" With conservatives like Agema up in arms over potential rules changes by the GOP establishment, that puts the presidential campaigns in an awkward position when it comes to speaking openly about any rules changes they might want. Hence, cautious statements. "We trust the delegates," Jeff Roe, Cruz's campaign manager, told a reporter last week when asked about the rules changes he'd like. ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) -- New York's four nuclear plants, which generate more than a quarter of the state's electricity, are going through turbulent times amid slumping power prices. And depending on how things play out, one or more could shut down entirely, affecting jobs, power reliability, electricity bills and carbon emissions. Though opposed by many environmentalists, New York's nuclear plants are seen by state regulators as a steady source of electricity that doesn't contribute to greenhouse gas emissions. Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo's administration is crafting a plan that would direct millions of dollars a year extra to keep ailing upstate nuclear plants operating. Officials say the cost to individual customers would be small and would be outweighed by environmental and economic benefits. As regulators work on a broad plan to help the nuclear industry, individual plants are being buffeted by financial and, in one case, political pressures. Here's a look at the issues at the plants and possible consequences: FITZPATRICK Operators of the FitzPatrick plant on Lake Ontario north of Syracuse announced plans to shut down on Jan. 27, 2017. Entergy Corp. blames low natural gas prices, high operational costs and a "flawed" market the company says doesn't adequately compensate nuclear generators. The plant, which began generating electricity in 1975, employs more than 600 people and produces 838 megawatts of electricity, enough to power more than 800,000 homes. The Cuomo administration is crafting an expedited financial support plan that could potentially help FitzPatrick. Entergy spokeswoman Tammy Holden wrote in an email this week that they "are moving forward with the safe and orderly shutdown of FitzPatrick." INDIAN POINT Entergy's Indian Point on the Hudson River north of New York City has been in the crosshairs of environmentalists and politicians such as Cuomo. A top concern is how to evacuate the more than 17 million people living within 50 miles of the two reactors if there's an emergency. Federal regulators are allowing the reactors, which began producing electricity in the mid-'70s, to operate as the company seeks license renewals. Entergy's two New York plants illustrate an unusual cross-current in the state's nuclear policy: the company wants to keep Indian Point running and plans to close FitzPatrick; Cuomo wants FitzPatrick open and has called for the closure of Indian Point. GINNA, NINE MILE POINT The Ginna plant along Lake Ontario near Rochester is operating under a surcharge that costs the average residential customer a little more than $2 a month extra. Operator Exelon had considered retiring the plant, which began producing electricity in 1970, before the surcharge was imposed. Exelon also operates the two reactors at the Nine Mile Point plant. The surcharge could expire in March 2017. RELIABILITY AND COSTS The state grid's overseer, the New York Independent System Operator, reported earlier this year that the loss of FitzPatrick, combined with other scheduled retirements of nonnuclear plants, could cause energy reliability problems in the system by 2019, though they are reassessing that conclusion. Less nuclear power would require New York to rely more heavily on electricity generated from greenhouse gas-emitting fossil fuels. Some analysts say even the loss of FitzPatrick could drive electricity prices higher because of nuclear's role in consistently helping the state's power grid meet minimum demand. "You're still going to see a short-run price increase and you're going to clearly see greater carbon emissions as a consequence of the likely shift to natural gas to meet demand," said Brattle Group principal Mark Berkman, who has analyzed New York plants for industry-related groups. CLEAN ENERGY GOALS A big spike in emissions would foil Cuomo's pollution-reduction plan to have half of New York's electricity consumption come from renewable sources such as wind and solar by 2030. The administration sees nuclear plants as a "bridge" to its goals and is working on a plan to make ailing upstate plants eligible for extra funding to help them stay open. The Department of Public Service estimates that the "zero emission credit" program would cost from $59 million to $658 million through 2023. Precise costs to customers are unclear, though the department says it could cost the average residential customer under a dollar month. Exelon said the Cuomo plan could help both plants. Exelon said in email that without state help, "Ginna would most likely recommend retirement." The proposal would exclude Indian Point because its license has not been fully renewed. Entergy argues that leaving Indian Point out of the aid plan "would leave the state in a substantial shortfall position" in trying to meet its emission goal for 2030. The proposal, along with an expedited plan that could help Fitzpatrick, is expected to be considered by the Public Service Commission this summer. APTOPIX Ohio Shootings This aerial photo shows one of the locations being investigated in Pike County, Ohio, as part of an ongoing homicide investigation, Friday, April 22, 2016. Several people were found shot and killed Friday at multiple crime scenes in rural Ohio, authorities said. No arrests had been announced. (Lisa Marie Miller/The Columbus Dispatch via AP) PIKETON, Ohio (AP) -- Eight members of a family, including a mother sleeping in a bed with her 4-day-old baby next to her, were fatally shot in the head on Friday, leaving their rural town reeling while a manhunt was launched for whoever's responsible. Three children, including the newborn, survived the grisly killings, which left seven adults and a teenage boy dead in four homes in Pike County, Attorney General Mike DeWine and Pike County Sheriff Charles Reader said. The economically distressed county in the Appalachian Mountain region has 28,000 residents and is 80 miles east of Cincinnati. DeWine said there were no indications that any of the dead killed themselves, and Reader said if the shooter or shooters are at large, they should be considered armed and "extremely dangerous." DeWine said, "There may be more than one, there may be three. We just don't know at this point." Some of the victims were in bed, indicating they were shot while they were sleeping, authorities said. The victims were identified as members of the Rhoden family. "It's heartbreaking," DeWine said. "The one mom was killed in her bed with the 4-day-old right there." A motive isn't clear, authorities said, but they urged other members of the Rhoden family to take precautions, and Reader advised all residents to stay inside and lock their doors Friday night. "This really is a question of public safety, and particularly for any of the Rhoden family," DeWine said. The first three homes where bodies were found are within a couple miles of one another on a sparsely populated stretch of road, while the eighth body, that of a man, was found in a house farther away, the sheriff said. The other surviving children were 6 months old and 3 years old, authorities said. Reader wouldn't say where they were taken Friday. Authorities didn't release any information on whether there were multiple weapons used or whether anything was missing from the homes. Area resident Goldie Hilderbran said she lives about a mile from where she has been told a shooting took place. "I first heard about it this morning from our mail carrier," Hilderbran said. Hilderbran said the mail carrier told her deputies had stopped her from delivering mail in the area they had blocked off. "She just told me she knew something really bad has happened," Hilderbran said. Gov. John Kasich, campaigning in Connecticut for his Republican presidential bid, said his office was monitoring the situation in Pike County and the search for the killer or killers. "But we'll find them, we'll catch them and they'll be brought to justice," he said. The FBI in Cincinnati also said it was closely monitoring the situation and has offered assistance to the Pike County sheriff's office if needed. Peebles High School imposed a precautionary lockout Friday morning after authorities notified the superintendent of shootings that had occurred a few miles away, according to Regina Bennington, secretary to the superintendent for the Adams County Ohio Valley Schools district. High school officials said the school was back to normal operations later Friday morning. Piketon is the site of a Cold War-era uranium plant that was closed in 2001 and is still being cleaned up. What the Bharatiya Janata Party attempted to do in Uttarakhand is of course a violation of sacrosanct constitutional principles, but I look upon it more as a metaphor for the hubris of power. There is no doubt that an organised attempt was made to entice Congress legislators. In normal parlance this is called horse-trading and is in direct violation of the anti-defection law as outlined in the 42nd Amendment to the Constitution. There is also no doubt that the imposition of Presidents Rule on the advice of the Central government one day before the scheduled floor test in the House, was a blatant misuse of Article 356 and against the clearly prescribed guidelines of the S.R. Bommai judgment (1994). The Uttarakhand high court rightly thundered that what was attempted cut at the roots of democracy. It rescinded the imposition of Presidents Rule, restored status quo ante, and has fixed April 29 for a floor test. The severity of the reprimand by the Uttarakhand high court, and the transparently unconstitutional machinations of the BJP government at the Centre are there for all to see. The BJP government appealed against this judgment in the Supreme Court. The apex court has temporarily blocked the revival of the Harish Rawat-led Congress government and restored Presidents Rule. While the legal issues will continue to be fought in court, the BJP has definitively lost the perception battle. In the peoples court the impression is gaining ground that the party that claimed the high moral ground when it came to power in 2014, has, in fact, descended to a cynical machine that values political power irrespective of principles or rectitude. It is for this reason that the Uttarakhand fiasco is going to be seen not so only for its legal implications but as a metaphor for the manner in which the BJP has morphed since Narendra Modi came to power in 2014. There are several reasons for this change of image. Firstly, the brazen manner in which the BJP leadership reneged on several key promises made during the parliamentary election campaign came as a shock to even its supporters. The promise to bring back black money and put Rs 15 to Rs 20 lakh in the pocket of every citizen was made publicly and flamboyantly by the Prime Minister himself. When it was casually described only as a chunavi jumla, the BJP lost credibility. The betrayal of the promise to give farmers minimum support price (MSP) on the basis of 50 per cent profit over costs of production was no less stark. Equally, the dismal failure to provide two crore jobs annually, has conveyed to the youth of our country, that the BJPs promises were linked to winning elections and not about fulfilment. In fact, the creation of jobs has fallen to the lowest level in six years. The formation of the government in Jammu and Kashmir with the Peoples Democratic Party was the second demonstration of the ideological barrenness of the ruling party. It was clear from the very beginning that the BJP and the PDP have nothing in common, and are in fact ideologically opposed to each other. Still, for the sake of power, the BJP formed a government that has been inherently unstable from the very beginning leaving a sensitive state like J&K in flames. A third factor is the money power that the BJP is able to bring into electoral politics. This was very much in evidence in the recent Bihar Assembly elections. A fleet of helicopters was on call. Entire floors of expensive hotels were booked for its leaders. Leading newspapers had multiple, full pages of party advertisements. It seemed that the amount of resources the BJP could plough into elections was without a ceiling. Bihar and other elections also brought to the fore another aspect: the cynical use of communal polarisation to divide people for short-term political gain. Campaigns such as ghar wapsi, love jihad and beef ban were used with impunity to sow hatred and division and whip up suspicion against other communities. Senior functionaries of the BJP, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and its affiliate organisations made a series of communally incendiary statements with no action being taken against them. The deliberate perversion of ideology was used to create an atmosphere of social instability and intolerance that has made a mockery of the slogan Sabka saath, sabka vikas. Parliament too has witnessed this arrogance of power. Perhaps no other ruling party has such a poor record of reaching out to the Opposition with a view to reaching a constructive consensus on important issues and bills, including the goods and services tax (GST). Furthermore, we are witnessing an organised campaign to unhinge the carefully devised structure of Parliament by the BJPs attempt to devalue the role of the Rajya Sabha where the party is in a minority. Recently, we have seen a design to designate non-money bills as money bills so that the legislative competence of the Upper House can be bypassed. All of the above developments help to explain why the BJP acted in the manner it did in Arunachal Pradesh and, more recently, in Uttarakhand. The direct takeaway is that we are now dealing with a party which believes that as a matter of right it can, on the basis of a transient majority in the Lok Sabha, act in any matter it wishes without reference to either ethics, principles, legality or the Constitution. Power should normally acquaint those who wield it with responsibility. When this does not happen, the nation witnesses what happened in Uttarakhand. That is why, to my mind, Uttarakhand will be remembered not only for its blatant violation of democracy and the principles of the Constitution, but also for the sheer hubris of power. Intel this week announced that it would slash 12,000 jobs as part of a restructuring plan to focus more on cloud-based computing and the Internet of Things and less on PCs. The cuts, which will involve about 11 percent of Intels global workforce by mid-2017, will be achieved through a combination of voluntary retirements and layoffs, the consolidation of numerous job sites, and a re-evaluation of existing and planned programs. The move will result in US$750 million in savings by the end of 2016 and an annual run rate of $1.4 billion in savings by the middle of next year, Intel said. It will take a $1.2 billion charge related to the cuts during the second quarter of 2016. New Segments The company plans to boost investments in several new areas of growth, including its data center, IoT, memory and connectivity businesses. It also will invest in growing segments such as 2-in-1, gaming and home gateways. The data center and Internet of Things businesses are now Intels primary growth engines, and combined with memory and FPGAs, form and fuel a virtuous cycle of growth, CEO Brian Krzanich said. Together these businesses delivered $2.2 billion in revenue growth last year, made up 40 percent of our revenue and the majority of our operating profit. Details of the cuts will be announced in the weeks, he said, adding that the restructuring was not something he took lightly. Krzanich has been focused on making this transitional move since he became CEO three years ago. The restructuring announcement was made alongside Intels first-quarter earnings report. Net income was $2 billion, or 42 cents a share, compared with $2 billion, or 41 cents, a year ago. Revenue rose 7 percent to $13.7 billion, compared with $12.8 billion a year ago. Chief Financial Officer Stacy Smith, a 28-year veteran of Intel, will transition to a new role in the company, leading sales, manufacturing and operations, once his successor is in place. A Long Time Coming This is not something that just happened overnight, said Mark Hung, vice president of research at Gartner. Theyve talked about this shift. Its the fact that the PC market has performed worse than even their lowered expectations, he told the E-Commerce Times. Krzanich has been talking about Intels role in the post-PC world since he took office in 2013. In his first meeting with investors, heindicated that the company would make new investments in mobile and tablets and noted that it had fallen behind competitors like Qualcomm. Major Changes Ahead The 12,000 figure stunned a few people in the industry as whispers initially had suggested 1,000 to 2,000 and kept growing in the weeks leading up to the official announcement, said Jim McGregor, principal analyst at Tirias Research. I think people were shocked not just at the number but shocked at all the changes, he told the E-Commerce Times. Analysts have warned the company for more than five years that it needed to shift away from the PC chip business, McGregor said, adding that there are still very large questions it needs to answer, including whether it should continue to own manufacturing facilities or spin them off the way AMD did. AMD spun off its manufacturing business in 2009 and completed the exit from the GlobalFoundries business in 2012. Fox News journalist John Stossel, who recently underwent an operation for lung cancer, on Wednesday wrote that although New York-Presbyterian Hospitals medical care is excellent, the hospitals customer service stinks. Doctors keep me waiting for hours, and no one bothers to call or email to say Im running late,' Stossel said. He was given X-rays, EKG tests, echocardiograms and blood tests, but he doubted all were needed. No one discusses that with me or mentions the cost. Why would they? The patient rarely pays directly. Stossel had to fill out long medical history forms by hand and, in the next office, do it again. Same wording. Socialist Bureaucracies Customer service in hospitals is sclerotic because hospitals are largely socialist bureaucracies, Stossel wrote. Instead of answering to consumers, which forces businesses to be nimble, hospitals report to government, lawyers and insurance companies. Onerous regulations and lots of paperwork increase the stress on staff who then ignore common sense and follow rigid rules. There is practically no free market in the healthcare industry because government or insurance companies pay the bills, Stossel contended. Markets work when buyers and sellers deal directly with each other. That doesnt happen in hospitals. Patients Arent the Customers Stossels experience isnt unique. The main problem is that hospitals dont regard patients as the customer, said Nancy Fabozzi, transformational health principal analyst at Frost & Sullivan. Thats compounded by the hierarchical culture in hospitals, which is sluggish and fosters an attitude of unwillingness to rock the boat. The customer is your hierarchical manager or doctor or the insurance company or hospital board or the CEO, Fabozzi told CRM Buyer. Theres this attitude of lets protect our business and lets protect our customers, but the customers have, up to this point, been the insurance companies who select hospitals to be in their network, she said. Problems With Paperwork The overwhelming amount of documentation has forced patients to take a back seat to paperwork, remarked Bruce Temkin, managing partner at the Temkin Group. Any time a persons forced to go through a set of very detailed, specific steps like filling out paperwork, it dampens their empathy for the customers theyre dealing with, in this case the patients, he told CRM Buyer. If the processes are poorly designed, which is the case in many parts of the medical world, the employee must enforce steps that make no sense to the patient, raising the chances for negative emotional confrontations, Temkin said. Hospital operations and information systems are fragmented at the departmental level, noted Frosts Fabozzi , and they deal with multiple vendors whose technologies arent interoperable. Further, theres a lack of cohesion in how these departments or service lines operate, so you do have to repeat giving information a lot, as each department or service line has its own data requirements. Improving Healthcare Customer Service It will take three things to improve the patient experience, according to Temkin. First, we need to clean up outdated, risk-averse processes that force medical providers to feel and act like drones, he said, which will require increased transparency of information. Second, we need to teach medical providers how to have these health and financial discussions, Temkin said, which may require the creation of new roles such as health and financial advisors. Third, we need to create technologies that facilitate these decisions, he suggested, by either helping medical providers walk patients through their medical and financial options or enabling them to do it on their own. The situation is changing, but itll take about a decade for the changes to be fully realized, Fabozzi said. Health insurance increasingly will be offered as a defined benefit, and hospitals are moving to value-based reimbursement, a system that penalizes them if patients are readmitted too soon after being discharged. Enough is enough. Microsoft and Google have agreed to drop all pending regulatory complaints waged against each other according to a report from Re/Code. In a statement issued to the publication, Microsoft said it has agreed to withdraw its regulatory complaints against the search giant, a move that reflects its changing legal priorities. Google essentially echoed those sentiments. A representative said the two companies compete vigorously but they wish to do so on the merits of their products, not in legal proceedings. Google hit the nail right on the head here. By agreeing to a cease fire, the two companies will no doubt save a lot of money in legal fees (not to mention the headaches and long nights brought about by a sea of lawsuits). The newfound time, effort and money can be invested into areas that really matter - improving consumer products. When that happens, we all win. Last fall, the two sides agreed to bring an end to their five-year patent dispute over video game and smartphone technology. That gentleman's agreement dismissed nearly 20 active lawsuits across Germany and the US. Apple and Samsung agreed in 2014 to drop all litigation outside of the US, yet another step in the right direction for the technology industry. One must give credit to the new regimes in place - Microsoft chief Satya Nadella and Google CEO Sundar Pichai - for creating an amicable atmosphere. Former bosses Steve Ballmer and Eric Schmidt, respectively, were seemingly at odds on a daily basis. The Dark Ages might have been ushered in, as a result of two volcanoes that erupted consecutively in the mid-6th century, suggests a new study. The volcanic eruptions darkened the European skies for more than a year, plummeting the region into a cold and dark era. The research, led by a team of international climate scientists from the GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel and the University of Oslo, headed by Matthew Toohey, suggests that not one, but two distinct volcanic eruptions (one that occurred in 536 A.D. and the other in 540 A.D.) were responsible for this phenomena. Toohey explains that either of the two eruptions could have led to the drastic plunge in temperature, but when taken together, they were probably the most powerful volcanic event ever and deeply affected the climatic condition in the Northern Hemisphere in the past 1,200 years. The sudden drop in temperature during the Dark Ages, was possibly triggered by the shroud of sulfur particles in the sky that dismally blocked out the sun. This in turn had a catastrophic effect on agriculture, spreading famine, plague and war throughout most of Europe. This new discovery by scientists brings out interesting insights and sheds light on what exactly pushed the Byzantine historian Procopius' world of Classical Antiquity into the Dark Ages. In 536 A.D., Procopius had written about the sun being blanketed with a thick fog, sending the whole of the Mediterranean into a year of chillness and darkness. This phenomenon marked the beginning of the world's biggest disease pandemics in the history of mankind - the notorious plague of Justinian that claimed the lives of 25 million people in the empire, all within a year. The plague finally met its end about two centuries thereafter, by which time, more than 50 million citizens had lost their lives to it. Now the cause of this devastating period may probably be linked to the volcanic eruptions that had occurred thousands of years ago. The evidence of these eruptions appears from the ice sheets of Antarctica and Greenland in the form of ice cores, which contained sulfate deposits following an atmospheric dust veil that incredibly dates back to 536 A.D. The ice cores also reveal that the first volcanic explosion happened in the northern hemisphere and the second one in the tropical regions. Further, another methodology that helped to determine the dates was the dendrochronology technique. Dendrochronology is the tree-ring dating mechanism that revealed that 536 A.D. was the coldest year over the last 2,000 years. The tree-ring analysis and ice core reconstructions slightly conflicted. So a new climate model was devised by Toohey to test different possibilities via makeshift volcanic scenario, such as how high the plumes reached and how many tons of volcanic ash and other related debris was spewed into the atmosphere. "In the model, we injected sulfur to different heights, to see which - in terms of long-lasting effect - would be consistent with the historical accounts," said Toohey. "That is how the contemporary observations helped us to determine something the ice cores couldn't tell us." The research has been published in the journal Climatic Change. Photo: Din Muhammad Sumon | Flickr 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. The United Kingdom's longest-reigning monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, recently celebrated her 90th birthday. While the UK and the rest of the world chimed in to greet Her Majesty, British astronaut Tim Peake greeted the monarch by posting a birthday card from space. In his Twitter account, Peake is seen floating inside the International Space Station (ISS) holding a hand drawn birthday card for Her Majesty, which says "Happy Birthday Your Majesty." It seemed that Peake took a sheet from a three-ring binder somewhere inside the ISS to write his greeting. He posted the photo on Twitter, which so far had garnered over 5 thousand likes. The British astronaut also dressed for the occasion. In the Twitter photo, Peake was wearing a black shirt with the words "Science is Great Britain" printed in bold letters. Peake is the first British crewmember onboard the ISS, representing the European Space Agency (ESA). But this isn't the first time Peake took to social media to express him patriotism and love for Her Majesty. In January, the ESA posted Peake's message to Her Majesty while onboard the ISS. In the YouTube video, Peake addressed Queen Elizabeth II while a United Kingdom flag hung in the background. "I can tell you, it's incredible to look at the British Isles for the first time from space," Peak said in the video posted last January. The YouTube video has over 27,000 views. In December 2015, Her Majesty published a message for Peake as he joined the ISS crew. Peake's YouTube video in January was his response to The Queen's message. "Prince Philip and I are pleased to transmit our best wishes to Major Timothy Peake as he joins the International Space Station in Orbit. We hope that Major Peake's work on the Space Station will serve as an inspiration to a new generation of scientists and engineers," said Her Majesty in a message released online on Dec. 15, 2015. The Queen's message was also posted on Twitter by the @BritishMonarchy on Dec. 15, 2015. Peak launched toward the ISS on Dec. 15, 2015, along with NASA astronaut Tim Kopra and Russian commander Yuri Malenchenko. 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Uber has agreed to settle a class-action suit filed by its drivers in California and Massachusetts for $100 million. This effectively frees the ride-hailing company from the trouble of going through a complicated jury trial. According to the terms of the agreement, the proposed settlement money would go to compensation and fees for the drivers. An initial amount of $84 million would be distributed among the affected drivers who have used the Uber app from 2009 until the date a court approves the settlement. The money will be apportioned according to the number of miles they have driven with an Uber passenger. The agreement includes a provision that Uber will also be obligated to pay an additional $16 million if the company goes public or sells out at a price equivalent to 1.5 times higher than its valuation at the time of public offering or acquisition. A significant feature of the agreement for the drivers is that Uber will be bound to improve their working conditions. Under the agreement, Uber would no longer be able to deactivate drivers at will. Drivers need to be informed of the circumstances of their deactivation such as the reasons for denial of access to the Uber app, when they can resume using it and the opportunity to appeal decisions. The agreement also calls for Uber to allow the drivers to form a drivers' association and conduct regular meetings to thresh out work-related issues. However, the association would not be able to unionize and engage in collective bargaining. The most significant aspect of the agreement for Uber is that the company will be able to continue classifying its drivers as independent contractors. Uber CEO Travis Kalanick made clear his satisfaction with the agreement when he said in a blog post: "Drivers value their independence - the freedom to push a button rather than punch a clock, to use Uber and Lyft simultaneously, to drive most of the week or for just a few hours. That's why we are so pleased that this settlement recognizes that drivers should remain as independent contractors, not employees." The historic agreement, if approved by a federal judge, brings a 180-degree turn to how workers in on-demand businesses are treated even as they retain their contractor classification for the time being. For now, the battle between Uber and its drivers in California and Massachusetts may have been settled, but the fate of the gig economy still hangs in the balance until and after a court decides whether an Uber driver is a contractor or an employee. Photo: Heisenberg Media | Flickr 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has successfully brought to justice two notorious international hackers from Russia and Algeria who were instrumental in the development and distribution of the SpyEye malware. On Wednesday, the U.S. Department of Justice sentenced the hackers Aleksandr Andreevich Panin and Hamza Bendelladj who went by the monikers Gribodemon and Bx1, respectively. The two have been sentenced to a combined 24 years and 6 months in jail. Panin is from Russia and Bendelladj is Algerian and were the brains behind SpyEye botnet creation kit, which resulted in several million dollars worth of losses to banks around the world. U.S. Attorney Horn let on that per the charges and evidence presented in court, from 2010 t0 2012, SpyEye served as the foremost "malware banking Trojan." The malware created by the prolific hackers was deployed by an international cybercriminal syndicate to contaminate more than 50 million PCs. This led to both financial institutions and individuals worldwide suffering setbacks of nearly $1 billion. For the unfamiliar, the malware was developed in such a manner that it was mechanically capable of stealing confidential data - both financial and personal such as usernames, PINs, passwords, credit card details, banking credentials etc. SpyEye was able to facilitate the process by clandestinely infecting the computer of a victim. This would give the hackers the ability to control the compromised PC remotely sans any authorization, letting them steal the financial and personal data belonging to the victim through several methods such as "credit card grabbers," "web injects" and "keystroke loggers" to name a few. The stolen data was secretly transmitted by the cybercriminals to C2 servers without being detected. From here they would use it to steal cash from the victim's bank account. SpyEye's core developer was Panin, who created the Trojan as a successor to the malware Zeus. Judge Amy Totenberg handed the 27-year-old a sentence of 9 years 6 months. His business partner 27-year-old Bendelladj - who pleaded guilty in June 2015 for aiding Panin in creating and marketing the SpyEye kit - was sentenced to 15 years in prison. "Through these arrests and sentencing, the risk the public unknowingly faced from the threat posed by the imminent release of a new highly sophisticated version of SpyEye was effectively reduced to zero," noted the FBI's J. Britt Johnson. Johnson also added that the investigation led by the FBI was instrumental in bringing one of the "most nefarious malware developers" in the world to justice. The efforts of the FBI also successfully disrupted the SpyEye botnet, showcasing the power a concentrated investigation holds. The FBI Special Agent in Charge is also of the belief that the sentences and arrests will send out a strong message to prospective malware developers, as well as their customers (irrespective of their location), deterring them to partake in such activities. Photo: Davide Restivo | Flickr 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Steve Wozniak said that Apple, now a technology giant that he cofounded with Steve Jobs, should pay 50 percent in taxes. He added that all companies in the world making more money should pay the same rate as he pays as an individual. "I don't like the idea that Apple might be unfair - not paying taxes the way I do as a person. I do a lot of work, I do a lot of travel and I pay over 50 percent of anything I make in taxes and I believe that's part of life and you should do it," Wozniak remarked in a recent interview with the BBC. Wozniak went on to say that when Jobs started Apple Computers, it was for money, something he was never interested in. That was Job's big thing, he said, and "that was extremely important and critical and good." Apple's Tax Issues Apple conducts much of its business in Europe using subsidiaries based in Ireland to take advantage of the country's 12.5 percent tax rate compared to the UK's 20 percent. The company has admitted in recent years that two of its subsidiaries were given a premium rate of 2 percent. It has also amashed offshore cash holdings of about $200 billion to avoid the 35 percent rate imposed in the U.S. Fortune reports that Apple recently settled a dispute with Italian tax authorities by shelling out $348 million over claims that it diverted profits from its Italian businesses to an Irish subsidiary. Apple currently faces a European Commission investigation over allegations that it received illegal state aid, allowing it to pay taxes at a rate of around 1.8 percent. Broken at the Top, an Oxfam America report that analyzes how America and the world's dysfunctional tax system work to encourage tax evasion lists Apple as the number one U.S. corporation to have stashed away $181.1 billion in offshore tax havens through subsidiaries. Tim Cook To The Defense In an interview, Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook called the allegations "political crap", adding his company would appeal any adverse ruling by the European Commission because it pays every tax dollar it owes. In a Fortune news story, Cook claimed that Apple is the biggest corporate tax payer in the U.S. and the idea of bringing profits back to the country would cost his company 40 percent. At the European Parliament's tax committee hearing in March, Apple asserted that it was the largest taxpayer in the world, after it paid $13.2 billion in taxes worldwide in 2015 at an effective rate of 36.4 percent. Can't these figures convince Steve Wozniak that Apple is giving its fair share in taxes? Photo: Robert Scoble | Flickr 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Statoil and Kongsberg Maritime have signed an agreement with a Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) spin-off company, and developed a swimming robot called Eelume. The serpent-like robot can swim by itself and developers expect that it will play an important role in reducing the cost of maintaining undersea equipment and reduce the need for large underwater vessels. "Eelume robots will be permanently installed on the seabed and will perform planned and on-demand inspections and interventions. The solution can be installed on both existing and new fields where typical jobs include; visual inspection, cleaning, and adjusting valves and chokes. These jobs account for a large part of the total subsea inspection and intervention spend," says Kongsberg. Pal Liljeback, the chief technical officer of Eelume, says that they have unique expertise in snake robotics and the company is the first to bring a snake-like robot to an industrial setting. Developers of Eelume suggest that it will not only enable operators to reduce cost of undersea maintenance significantly, but also offer an easy way of conducting regular task. The slender design and flexibility of these robots helps them to reach tight and restricted undersea spaces instantly whenever needed. Elisabeth Birkeland Kvalheim, chief technology officer of Statoil, suggests that Eelume is an excellent example of how innovation and new technology can work together for reducing costs. According to the Eelume website, the existing subsea infrastructure is aging and the demand for maintenance will increase in the near term. The website also indicates that subsea costs have increased by three-folds since 2005. New installation can be complex and at the same time it can be very expensive, which is concerning for operators. Eelume can come to the rescue of these operators trying to replace existing undersea infrastructure. Although, Eelume can potentially be of great use for undersea maintenance, the developers have not revealed a lot about the swimming snake robot. Some important questions such as powering these robots, the range of each charge and more remain unanswered. Operators will want to know the full details, including limitations of the robot before they are deployed to the seabeds. Check out a short video of the swimming snake robot in action. 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Google and Microsoft have reached an agreement to drop all pending regulatory complaints against one another across the globe. The pair has also agreed to work together in resolving their issues before protesting to regulators. The two tech giants have been bitter rivals for years and at some point were engaged in about 20 lawsuits over a wide range of patent-related issues. Microsoft spokeswoman Jennifer Crider explained that the company decided to focus more on competing vigorously for business and for customers. "Microsoft has agreed to withdraw its regulatory complaints against Google, reflecting our changing legal priorities," said Crider. Google has echoed the same sentiment. Rob Shilkin, the company's spokesman, said that the two companies compete vigorously, but want to do so on the merits of products and not in legal proceedings. Microsoft has openly criticized Google in the past, accusing the latter for "abusing its position" as the top search provider globally. Microsoft, together with Oracle, Trip Advisor and Expedia, formed a coalition of companies and organizations that lobby against Google's dominance in the online search market. This coalition was called FairSearch and sought legal action against Google in an attempt to chip away at the latter's market dominance worldwide. These groups have accused Google of breaking antitrust rules in Europe, the United States of America, and other regions. As an effort to call truce with Google, Microsoft has decided to leave FairSearch, as well as the Initiative For A Competitive Online Marketplace (ICOMP), another alliance pushing for a transparent and competitive global Internet market. The decision of both Microsoft and Google to end their long-standing legal and regulatory battle is being attributed to the change of executive leadership in both companies. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has been vocal about his desire to collaborate with competing companies while Google's newly named CEO Sundar Pichai's vision to "drive technology as an equalizing force" may have finally found some common ground. Google, however, is still fighting another battle against local publishers and telecom operators in Europe who have filed two formal complaints against the company. European antitrust authorities charged Google with unfairly using its Android operating system to promote its own services. European Union's antitrust chief, Margrethe Vestager, said Google is abusing its dominant position by requiring some of the cellphone manufacturers to preinstall the company's services, such as Google Play, and other exclusive smartphone apps, and by offering unfair financial incentives to manufactures who would favor Google over its competition. Google was quick to deny this allegation. In a blog post, the company's legal counsel Kent Walker said, "Google's business model keeps manufacturers' costs low and their flexibility high, while giving consumers unprecedented control of their mobile devices." Microsoft is pivoting its legal focus on fighting for privacy regulations. Microsoft has previously commended European strict privacy laws that provide robust protections for consumer data and encryption. As Microsoft is pursuing other technology initiatives in cloud computing, such as the Microsoft Azure cloud platform, it is focusing on protecting user and corporate data to propel user adoption of their cloud services. 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. The fierce attack by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) on the telecom companies was very necessary because of the recalcitrant attitude of the firms in attending to the enormous problem of call drops, which is growing worse by the day. The penalty of having to pay consumers for call drops is necessary as they are getting way with doing nothing and the consumer is helpless. All the major operators give consumers the same bad service when it comes to call drops. The penalty is peanuts compared to the huge revenues the telecom firms earn. As the attorney-general, Mukul Rohatgi, pointed out to the Court that they earn a staggering Rs 1.42 lakh crore, and the penalty for dropped calls would cost them a mere Rs 256 crore (and not the exaggerated Rs 4,000 crore that they claim), which is not even one days revenue. It also means that they are earning profits of up to 61 per cent and not investing even five per cent. Should they not be answerable for this greed and negligence as far as giving good customer service is concerned? The penalty was to be paid from January 1, 2016, and was just Re 1 for each call drop up to a maximum of three call drops a day. The main problem is that their subscriber base has been growing enormously after the closure of BPL whose customers all migrated to the big three or four. Their networks have not been rolled out at the same pace. The Chinese, who have almost the same number of consumers as India, invest ten times more in networks than Indian companies do. The courts, one feels, should not show the telecom companies any more leniency as they are only indulging in delaying tactics and giving one excuse after another. They are not putting up telecom towers on the excuse that there is resistance due to a radiation scare. However, again as the A-G pointed out, the West, and even smaller countries, had used the latest technology and replaced cell-phone towers with equipment based on better technology that was neither obtrusive nor an eyesore. Why dont the Indian telecom companies follow this technology instead of using the same old towers? It is true that the consumers do not lose money, but they are losing precious time dialling repeatedly to complete one call. Imagine what happens during an emergency if a consumer cannot get in touch with his or her family or get any sort of help. So it is not only a question of money. Besides, people are paying for service and there is no excuse for not giving good, uninterrupted service. One hopes that Trai keeps up the heat on the telecom companies who have otherwise done a commendable job for communication growth in the country. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and 174 other world leaders gathered at the U.N. headquarters on Friday, April 22, to officially sign the Paris Climate Change Agreement, which aims to mitigate the impact of global warming. The accord is considered a major breakthrough in efforts to reduce greenhouse gases around the world, receiving support from countries that represent 93 percent of total global emissions. No other international agreement has ever received such a number of signatory nations on the first day. "Today is a day to mark and celebrate the hard work done by so many to win the battle of securing the Paris Agreement," Kerry said. "But knowing what we know, this is also a day to recommit ourselves to actually win this war." While the Paris accord has already been ratified by 14 countries, mostly small island nations, it has to be approved by 55 countries in order to be effected. Other agreements, such as the Kyoto Protocol, were held up in the past because of the various procedures and internal politics involved in the ratification process in each country. Advocates of the climate change agreement, however, are confident that ratifying it would not be as problematic as previous ones. They said that the Paris accord was carefully crafted to make sure that signatories could have it approved without encountering complicated political arguments in their countries. Supporters also pointed out that some aspects of the agreement, such as reporting requirements, are meant to be binding while other aspects, such as taking on specific measures, are not. The main goal of the Paris accord is to prevent global temperatures from reaching levels beyond 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) by the year 2100. Drafters of the accord made sure that it could be ratified in the U.S. without triggering a protracted battle in the Senate, which could delay its enactment for years. Kerry said that the U.S. would approve the Paris Climate Change Agreement by the end of 2016, which suggests that the Obama administration would no longer seek the Senate's approval of the document. China also said that it will have the agreement ratified before the start of the G-20 conference later in the year. China and the U.S. are two of the biggest producers of greenhouse gases in the world, accounting for 40 percent of total emissions. 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. In March, hackers were found to have siphoned $80 million from the Central Bank of Bangladesh. If the hackers did not misspell a word in one of their attempted money transfers, they might not have been caught and would have stolen up to $1 billion. An investigator on the case, which is already regarded as one of the biggest cyber crimes in the world, places much of the blame on the Central Bank of Bangladesh, which was found to have serious shortcomings in its security measures. The bank was found to have no firewall, and in addition, used second-hand $10 routers on its computers connected to the SWIFT global payment network. The lack of proper security made it easy for the hackers to break into the bank's systems and launch money transfers, said Mohammad Shah Alam, the head of the Bangladesh police's Forensic Training Institute. The second-hand routers meant that basic security measures to filter out private and public network traffic were not implemented, with the cheap hardware also hindering the investigation into the matter. Cheap routers do not collect an ample amount of network data, which could be analyzed to track the hackers and their methods. If the Central Bank of Bangladesh instead invested in proper routers costing hundreds of dollars each, then its systems would have been secure against such a cyberattack. The bank is at fault when it chose to use such cheap hardware, and it is now embroiled in an issue that would cost them millions, though thankfully not $1 billion as the hackers initially targeted. The hackers were able to send five requests to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York to withdraw money from the reserves of Bangladesh, depositing more than $80 million in bank accounts located in the Philippines and Sri Lanka. The fifth attempt, however, drew suspicion as the transfer was being made to a certain Shalika Fandation, which is a spelling error on the word "foundation." The foundation was then found to be a bogus one. Most of the siphoned cash is yet to be recovered. 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. The boys of the British monarchy seem to have traded places with each other the past week because, while Princes William and Harry played with lightsabers, young Prince George attended to diplomatic relations with the United States. The Duke of Cambridge, Prince William, and his brother Prince Harry, got to play around a little when they visited the set of Star Wars: Episode VIII to recognize the creative talents of British artists involved in the production on April 19. Just three days later, on April 22, the nearly 3-year-old Prince George stayed up 15 minutes past his bedtime to welcome U.S. President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama when they arrived at the Kensington Palace. Prince George meets The President and First Lady of the United States pic.twitter.com/HZxelhSSr4 Kensington Palace (@KensingtonRoyal) April 22, 2016 The young prince really stole the show when he approached the Obamas in his jammies and slippers, complete with a cute little robe, and shook their hands in greeting. It was reported that the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge allowed Prince George to stay up 15 minutes past his bedtime so he did not get in trouble for it. Then again, Prince George seemed to be a little man on a mission as he thanked their special guests for their lovely gift to him when he was born: a nice rocking horse. He even rode it and showed off some of his slick moves look at him standing up while riding it to show his appreciation for the present. Prince George thanks @BarackObama for his rocking horse, given to him when he was born pic.twitter.com/xXIF8QeQvz Kensington Palace (@KensingtonRoyal) April 22, 2016 After that, Prince George was most likely sent to bed since his 11-month-old sister, Princess Charlotte, was already tucked in. The Obamas sat down and chatted with the three younger Royals before they all made their way to the private dinner that the Duke, Duchess and Prince hosted for the Obamas. Meeting Prince George was not the only interesting thing experienced by the Obamas. Apparently, one of the White House staff he brought along nearly fainted because she was so happy when Queen Elizabeth II greeted her President Obama mentioned that being brought to Windsor and seeing the Queen was Deputy Chief of Staff Anita Decker Breckenridge's one request. All in all, it was a productive day for Prince George. 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. For many, cereal maker Cheerios had a tasteless way of bidding Prince goodbye. The General Mills-owned company tweeted on Thursday, April 21, a message on Prince's passing, earning the ire of many fans who considered the message offensive and a way to take advantage of the tragic death. It was a simple tribute tweeted at 2:17 p.m. on that day and accompanied by the hashtag #prince. The image showed "Rest in peace," the words resting on a purple background. A Cheerio, however, replaced the dot of the letter "i." Twitter users were quick to react, accusing the brand of exploiting the occasion, with some turning to sarcasm to hit the apparent marketing move. Cheerios deleted the tweet afterwards, but not without escaping the power of screenshots and the wrath of those in the twittersphere. "Mysteriously, somehow, my love of Prince and my sadness at his passing have transferred into a love and desire for cheerios," read part of user Patrick Cosmos' tweet. Knowing fully well it's taking heat for the tweet, Cheerios released a statement saying as a Minnesota brand, it sought to acknowledge the death of a legend coming from its own hometown. "But we quickly decided that we didn't want the tweet to be misinterpreted, and removed it out of respect for Prince and those mourning," Cheerios said. Cheerios, however, isnt the only Minnesota-based firm to honor Prince by involving its own brand in the imagery. 3M depicted its own logo in purple, while Kentucky-based Makers Mark bourbon reposted an old image of a purple-topped bottle. For crisis management expert Jessa Moore, this isnt a good way for corporations to honor the passing of a celebrity or renowned personality. She dubbed it insensitive and akin to saying, "We're going to capitalize on his death so we show up in a search algorithm." Other brands also recently found themselves in trouble over a tweet. Last week, Yum Brands' KFC chain in Australia was in hot water for an excessively suggestive image in line with promoting "something hot and spicy." The 57-year-old Prince died on Thursday at his Chanhassen, Minnesota home. The superstar was found unresponsive in an elevator in Paisley Park Studios, pronounced dead at 10:07 a.m. or less than half an hour after paramedics were dispatched to the scene. The icon became popular in the late 1970s and skyrocketed to fame with the hits "Kiss" and "Purple Rain." He transcended borders and did everything from funk to R&B and rock and roll, excelling as a "virtuoso instrumentalist, a brilliant bandleader, and an electrifying performer," according to President Barack Obama. Photo: Mike Mozart | Flickr 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. AMD is gunning for Intel's market share, as the company recently signed a licensing deal with a Chinese company for its top-of-the-line server processor. The OEM wants to license its x86 processor and system-on-chip technology to a group of public and private Chinese companies dubbed Tianjin Haiguang Advanced Technology Investment Co. Ltd. (THATIC), hoping to increase revenue and expand its market presence. After the media found out about the arrangement, AMD's shares spiked 21 percent on April 21, followed by an impressive 41 percent on April 22. As AMD has a significantly lower production capacity than Intel, licensing its hardware offers a quick way to reach and convince more clients that AMD technology is as good as the rival's. The deal signals AMD's increasing interest in monetizing its bank of intellectual property. "I would expect [such] arrangements not just for their CPU technology but also their GPU technology," says Patrick Moorhead, president and principal analyst at Moor Insights and Strategy, a tech research firm. AMD does have an ace up its sleeve when compared to Intel in the form of Radeon and FirePro GPU division. It remains to be seen whether or not the company will consider licensing GPU chips, but should the CPU arrangement prove lucrative, anything is possible. We can estimate that Intel will not look upon AMD's move with kind eyes. This is because with additional manufacturers being able to build AMD technology-based chipsets, Intel's market share is threatened. Intel is the dominant force in both the PC and server markets, but AMD's licensing could pack x86 chips into more computers, be it for the customer or enterprise sector. Meanwhile, AMD pedals on its own to catch up with Intel. AMD worked hard to come up with its novel Zen architecture for servers, which is believed to be the company's best CPU in the last 10 years. Seeing how the preliminary tests show a spike of 40 percent per clock cycle, we look forward to seeing it go live. The first Zen chip should be running in systems at the start of 2017. In the arrangement with THATIC, AMD will only bring its proprietary technology, without investing directly in the manufacturing process. The company expects to see revenue from the deal in the sum of about $293 million. The Chinese Academy of Sciences will be at the helm of THATIC's operations. "Our strategy to build a strong business foundation and improve financial performance through delivering great products is beginning to show benefits," said AMD's leader and CEO, Lisa Su at the latest earnings statement. Reports from AMD indicate that for the first quarter of 2016, the company topped its target cash flow of $600 million. The deal between AMD and THATIC should also open some door in the Chinese technology market. Seeing how potent companies such as Tencent, Alibaba and Baidu require massive data centers to keep their operations ongoing, AMD could be their go-to solution. It should be mentioned that Intel does have a slight edge over AMD when looking at the relations with the Chinese government. Due to its heavy investments in the country, Intel could probably negotiate more favorable terms than AMD. 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Anonymous member arrested in Comelec website hack and 50 million Philippine voter list leak The National Bureau of Investigation on Thursday confirmed the arrest of a suspect believed to be responsible for hacking the Philippines Commission on Elections (Comelec) website. NBI Director Virgilio Mendez said the suspected hacker was nabbed Wednesday night through the help of intelligence gathered by the NBI Cybercrime Division. The suspect, Paul Biteng, a 23-year-old IT graduate, who is now in NBI custody, was arrested at his house along G. Tuazon and Miguelin streets in Sampaloc, Manila at past 7 p.m. He will be hit with charges for violation of Section 4A-1 of the Cybercrime Prevention Act, which pertains to illegal access to the whole or any part of a computer system without right. Agents also seized his personal computer, which will be subjected to digital forensic examination, to check his activity before, during and after the hacking. Tagged as a member of the hacking group Anonymous Philippines, Biteng had an unusual request when he met Mendez. He even took a selfie with me. He asked me, Sir, can I have my picture taken with you? Mendez said, shaking his head as he recalled his meeting with the suspect. In a press conference, Comelec Chairman Andres Bautista said the hacker admitted that he defaced the Comelec website on March 27. In the message posted on the website, the group criticized the poll body for rejecting some of the security features of the automated polls. They said that they wanted to show the hacking might expose the vulnerability of the entire electoral process, which has gone automated. He wanted to show how vulnerable the website is to hacking, Bautista said. He wanted the Comelec to make sure the security features of the vote counting machines would be implemented during the election. According to Bautista, Biteng does not belong to any political party, nor was he paid by anyone to do the hacking. Bautista assured the public that the hacking incident will not have an effect on the automated countrywide elections on May 9. He said the defacement only affected some features of the Comelec website such as the precinct finder. Mendez said the agency will apply for a series of search warrants for the remaining hackers. The NBI Cybercrime Division is also investigating if the hacker is involved in the defacement of other government websites. According to the NBI agent on the case, Francis Senora said Biteng had been hacking websites for years for practice. Among the 25 government websites, he was able to hack were that of Pagasa, the Civil Service Commission, and the Dipolog city government. However, his popularity also became his downfall, Senora said. He left so many traces that helped us identify him. The most incriminating was a hacking instruction video Biteng had uploaded on YouTube. In the video, he unknowingly exposed his identity when he clicked his computers start button, showing his full name. The Comelec has formed a technical working group that will try to recover the data that were compromised, look after the safety and security of the website and make sure it never happens again. Tech firm TrendMicro reported that the website hacking and the leak of the Comelec database put the information of 55 million registered voters in the country at risk and exposed them to identity theft. The report said the Comelec hacking may be the biggest government-related data breach in history. In the meantime, Comelec dispelled the publics fears and assured the voters that sensitive biometrics data werent included in the database that the hackers leaked. CERN releases 300TB of Large Hadron Collider data into open access The CMS collaboration at CERN has just released more than 300 terabytes (TB) of high-quality open data. These include more than 100TB of data from proton collisions at 7 TeV (teraelectronvolts), making up half the data collected at the LHC by the CMS detector in 2011. This release follows a previous one from November 2014, which made available around 27TB of research data collected in 2010. The data comes in two types and is available on the CERN Open Data Portal. The primary datasets are in the same format used by the collaboration to perform research. On the other hand, the derived datasets require a lot less computing power and can be readily examined by university or high school students. CMS is also offering the simulated data created with the same software version that should be used to examine the primary datasets. Simulations play an important role in particle physics research. The data release is complemented by analysis tools and code examples custom-made to the datasets. A virtual machine image based on CernVM, which comes preloaded with the software environment needed to examine the CMS data, can also be downloaded from the portal. Once weve exhausted our exploration of the data, we see no reason not to make them available publicly, says Kati Lassila-Perini, a CMS physicist who leads these data preservation efforts. The benefits are numerous, from inspiring high school students to the training of the particle physicists of tomorrow. And personally, as CMSs data preservation coordinator, this is a crucial part of ensuring the long-term availability of our research data. The previous release of research data had already exhibited the scope of open LHC data. A group of theorists at MIT wanted to study the set-up of jetsshowers of hadron clusters recorded in the CMS detector. However, the theorists got in touch with the CMS scientists for advice on how to proceed, as CMS had not performed this particular research. This bloomed into a productive association between the theorists and CMS. Salvatore Rappoccio, a CMS physicist who worked with the MIT theorists, says, As scientists, we should take the release of data from publicly funded research very seriously. In addition to showing good stewardship of the funding we have received, it also provides a scientific benefit to our field as a whole. While it is a difficult and daunting task with much left to do, the release of CMS data is a giant step in the right direction. Additionally, a CMS physicist in Germany tasked two undergraduates with authenticating the CMS Open Data by replicating important strategies from some highly cited CMS papers that used data collected in 2010. With some direction from the physicist and by using openly available documentation about CMSs analysis software, the students were able to reconstruct plots that look almost alike to those from CMS, displaying what can be attained with these statistics. We are very pleased that we can make all these data publicly available, adds Lassila-Perini. We look forward to how they are utilized outside our collaboration, for research as well as for building educational tools. This is only the latest of several data dumps, but its also by far the largest. A more detailed explanation of the types of data and how they can be accessed is right here. 427 meetings in Obama tenure suggests Google had a extra special relationship with US administration According to data from the Campaign for Accountability and The Intercept, Google and its affiliates have had at least 427 meetings at the White House during President Obamas tenure. Its a relationship that bears watching, Anne Weismann, the head of the Campaign for Accountability told the Intercept. Numbers crunched by the Campaign for Accountability and the Intercept show that in all 169 Google employees have met with 182 government officials in the White House. It was no surprise that Johanna Shelton, Googles head of public policy, had the most White House meetings of any Google employee with 128. The data used spans from the start of Obamas first term in office in 2009 until October 2015, Google officials met in the White House with Obama administration officials once a week on an average for a total of 427 visits. This includes government meetings with representatives of Google-affiliated companies Tomorrow Ventures and Civis Analytics. Tomorrow Ventures is the investment vehicle of Eric Schmidt, the executive chairman of Googles parent company Alphabet, and he is the sole investor in Civis Analytics. The report highlights the access enjoyed by Google, which has an expansive lobbying operation in Washington and consistently ranks among the highest spenders. In just the first quarter of this year, Google spent $3.8 million to lobby the government. There were 55 cases of Google officials coming to work for the federal government and 197 cases documented of government employees going to work for Google. Also, close to 250 Google employees or government officials have travelled through the Google/Obama administration revolving door either from Google to the government or the reverse. During an antitrust probe led by the Federal Trade Commission, Google had responded to similar reports last year from The Wall Street Journal about the companys visits. In a post last March, Google wrote, Of course weve had many meetings at the White House over the years. The company said the meetings were on a range of topics, including self-driving cars, advertising, internet censorship, trade, cybersecurity, civic innovation, help with HealthCare.gov and other issues. It said Microsoft had made 270 visits in that same time and Comcast made 150. Fridays report in the Intercept came a week after Obama announced his support for a Federal Communications Commission plan that would make it easier for pay-TV customers to buy their own set-top boxes a plan which an AT&T executive blasted as a Google proposal. Obama just recently endorsed it. Announcing the initiative, the White House wrote in a blog post, This will allow for companies to create new, innovative, higher-quality, lower-cost products. SpyEye Trojan creators Aleksandr Panin, Hamza Bendelladj Sentenced To 15 & 9 Years In Prison The dreaded SpyEye trojan creators were sentenced to long prison term by a US court, the US Department of Justice has announced. A judge sentenced two hackers involved in the creation, maintenance, and marketing of the SpyEye financial botnet to a combined sentence of 24 years in prison. One of the two sentenced is Aleksandr Andreevich Panin, 27, from Russia. Panin was known in the cyber crime world by his handle, Gribodemon and Harderman. Panin was the mastermind behind the malware banking Trojan that allowed cybercriminals to infect millions of computers and drain bank accounts worldwide, has been sentenced to nine and half years in a US federal prison. The US Justice Department said on 20 April that his accomplice, Hamza Bendelladj, 27, from Algeria and known online as Bx1, who sold versions of SpyEye online and used it to steal financial information, was sentenced to 15 years. The sentencing brings to a culmination of a case which was first hit limelight when Panin pleaded guilty to developing SpyEye in January, 2014. SpyEye malware affected nearly 14 million computers infecting around 10,000 Bank accounts at 235 financial institutions. Panin operated his cyber crimeware empire from Russia since 2009, and he along with Hamza used to sell SpyEye online for $1000 to $10,000. Panin has sold this malware to more than 150 Cyber criminals, according to FBI. One of the Panins client is believed to have stolen $3.2 million during 6 month period using SpyEye malware. The Department of Justice also explained the crimes performed using SpyEye in this statement: Until dismantled by the FBI, SpyEye was the preeminent malware banking Trojan from 2010-2012, used by a global syndicate of cyber criminals to infect over 50 million computers, causing close to $1 billion [700m] in financial harm to individuals and financial institutions around the globe. The FBI used a honeypot campaign to arrest Panin by approaching him as a buyer for SpyEye malware. Released in 2009, SpyEye was a type of Trojan virus that secretly implanted itself onto a victims computer to steal personal information including bank account details, credit card information, passwords and PINs. It also allowed hackers to trick victims into surrendering personal information using fake bank account pages, once the virus took over a computer. The stolen information was then relayed to criminals and the control server was used to access the victims accounts. The malware offered easy to use and operate UI making it favourite among cyber criminals and driving up buyers for Panin and Humza. Panins partner in crime, Humza accepted that he transmitted more than one million spam emails containing strains of SpyEye and related software to computers in the United States, resulting in hundreds of thousands of computers getting infected. Humza was arrested in January 2013, in Bangkok while in transit from Malaysia to Algeria and was extradited to the United States later that year. Panin was arrested in July 2013 at Atlanta airport and subsequently pleaded guilty to all 23 charges in the indictment including wire fraud and bank fraud in January 2014. Humza also pleaded guilty to all counts in June 2015. The police in UK and Bulgaria also managed to arrest four of Panins SpyEye clients. After his arrest, the FBI officials discovered that Panin was planning to release a new strain of SpyEye dubbed SpyEye 2.0. If launched, officials said it would have been one of the most prolific and undetectable botnets distributed to date, and could cause immeasurable losses to the international banking industry and individuals around the world. However, his arrest brought down the curtains on one of the deadliest malware operations. The government would do well to re-examine its misbegotten restrictive policy on doctors. The new practice of not issuing no-objection certificates to doctors to stay on abroad after completing their postgraduate studies was exposed in an affidavit the Union health ministry filed in the Aurangabad bench of the Bombay high court stating the government cannot be expected to facilitate the wish of doctors from India to permanently settle abroad by certifying that their services are not required by the country. The ministrys aim in such a clampdown is completely misplaced. It is testament to a narrow-minded approach which will ill serve a nation already beset with myriad problems in its public health system as well as its medical education. On the other hand, the Centre and the states would do well to hasten efforts to set up the 58 new medical colleges they aim to help establish so a far larger pool of talent is available to work in public health services or in what is already the worlds largest privatised healthcare industry. Around 50,000 doctors with basic medical degrees a year from less than 400 medical colleges is hardly adequate to serve a population of 1.25 billion. Even twice that number would not do too much to lessen the ratio of doctors to people, currently at around one for every 1,700 people. But every Indian, be he an engineer, management student, scientist or medical professional, has an equal right to go abroad. Restrictions go against the very grain of freedom in a democratic country. India is not North Korea. To retain the best brains, the government has to do a lot more instead of attempting to strangle them or delimit them. Given that postgraduate seats in the country are few and abysmally minuscule in the open categories, India will be discriminating against its own citizens with regard to doctors pursuing higher studies to qualify themselves better through specialisation. The route out would be to open more medical colleges even as ways are found to stop private varsities from fleecing students. Most potential doctors are either heavily indebted already or their families have forked out the money. The system has to put in place incentives, including higher pay, to get doctors to work in India, as well as disincentives to sign off from the public system. The spending on public health can, for a start, be upped substantially from the current 1.4 per cent of GDP, which places India just above countries like Haiti and Eritrea in an important index of national well-being. Considering that medical expenses drive more than half the rural families into toxic debt, the possibilities of working a better public health system are endless. Stopping doctors from going abroad will not solve the problem. Training far more doctors and retaining some of them in an expanded public health system might. U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) recorded an unprecedented number of apprehensions at the U.S.-Mexico border in a fiscal year. | Read More Indias decision to grant visas to attend a peace conference in Dharamsala with the Dalai Lama next month to a Uighur dissident leader, Dolkun Isa, now resident in Germany, and a Canada-based Baloch dissident, Naela Qadri Baloch, is a step in the right direction. China and Pakistan are cross, but so be it. Let the all-weather friends in essence, military dictatorships both ponder over the Indian action and have a deep think. Diplomacy is also about reciprocity, and this instrument has not been used consistently by India. For the provocations on Kashmir, and the un-demarcated border that China offers us, India is not known to make its displeasure known in an impactful way, although there have been exceptions. Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had refused to cancel the Dalai Lamas visit to a monastery in Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh, to Beijngs annoyance. Pakistan makes such a song and dance about its diplomatic contact with the Kashmir separatists. It is time this game was taken to a deeper level. Basically, it is a matter of utilising pressure points, just as the China-Pakistan axis did recently with Beijing stopping Indias effort to place terrorist kingpin Masood Azhar on the UNs prohibited list for plotting the attack on the IAF airbase at Pathankot. Besides reciprocity, our diplomatic instruments should also certainly stand for our democratic spirit, which emphasises peace and concern for the oppressed the Tibetans, the Uighurs of East Turkestan, and the Baloch and the Pushtun in Pakistan. The government is finally close to appointing a new chairman of Oil India, the nations second biggest state-owned oil exploring venture. The previous chief, S.K. Srivastava, retired in June last year. Since then three selection attempts were made through the Public Enterprise Selection Board (PESB), but did not turn up a suitable candidate. According to sources, though oil director (finance) Rupshikha Borah was selected for the top job by the PESB, her name was reportedly rejected by the Prime Ministers Office. Finally, its a search committee headed by Cabinet Secretary P.K. Sinha, which has short-listed 10 candidates for interviews. Among those in the fray are four senior Indian Administrative Service officers. Two of them, Anil Kumar Jain, who is currently adviser at Niti Aayog, and Ravi Kapoor, joint secretary in the department of commerce, have served in the oil ministry earlier. The other candidates are from other state-owned oil and gas companies. Interestingly, there is one candidate from the private sector, too. Will the Modi sarkar lean towards the IAS or the sector specialist, remains to be seen. Transfer politics in Gujarat Its not just the Patel communitys agitation for reservation that the Gujarat government currently has to deal with. The appointment of senior Indian Police Service officer P.P. Pandey, who is currently on bail in the Ishrat Jahan case, as the director-general of police of Gujarat has also raised a lot of dust. Though the government says that this is merely an additional charge, the appointment of an officer who is under a cloud, has further roiled the waters. Mr Pandey replaces former DGP P.C. Thakur who was suddenly transferred to Delhi as director-general of fire services and home guards. Its no secret that Mr Thakur was upset with his transfer order. In response, the miffed cop has gone on leave, claiming that his wifes ill health prevents him from taking up his new posting. Observers say that this could be Mr Thakurs way of making his displeasure known to the powers that be in Gandhinagar as well as Delhi. Meanwhile, it remains to be seen whether the government sticks to its stand of Mr Pandey holding the additional charge of DGP or will eventually confirm him in the post. Court battles rage in UP The three-month extension of service given to Uttar Pradesh chief secretary Alok Ranjan by the Centre has run into trouble. Mr Ranjan was to retire in March-end but was granted an extension on the recommendation of chief minister Akhilesh Yadav. It has now been challenged in the Allahabad high courts Lucknow bench by a civil activist Nutan Thakur. She claims that Mr Ranjan did not fulfil the eligibility criterion for extension of service. Apparently, a retiring officer needs to be of outstanding merit to claim an extension, which is not the case here, the petitioner clearly seems to imply. Though the court will take on call on the petition, it does make matters more difficult for Mr Yadav. Meanwhile, a former Uttar Pradesh chief secretary, Neera Yadav, too is appealing against an Allahabad high court order of 2010 upholding her conviction in a Central Bureau of Investigation court in the Noida plot scandal. She was sentenced to four years imprisonment but has now challenged the order in the Supreme Court. The apex court has reportedly served notice to the CBI to respond. At least one company in Vietnam has said it is finishing procedures to take legal action against a local tax office, while many others have said they too will take the tax authorities to court if they fail to pay them as promised recently by the finance ministry. Speaking to Thanh Nien, a spokesperson for Nghe Thang wood processing company in the southern province of Binh Duong said the firm plans to file a lawsuit against the tax office in Thuan An town, which owes it tax refunds of around VND4 billion (US$179,400). The office rejected Nghe Thang's refund demand at the end of 2014, claiming the company operates in the wood processing industry, which is not allowed in Binh Duong. But the spokesperson said the company is licensed and has never been punished by local authorities for operating in a prohibited sector. He said his company has done everything to prove that it runs a legitimate business, but has still been refused the refund. "We only want to do business without getting into any trouble, but the tax office has been forcing us to take legal action," he said. "If we do not take it to court, we will lose all the tax refunds unjustly." Many other businesses, on the other hand, are waiting to see how their tax offices are going to handle their cases after the Ministry of Finance promised last week to eliminate "shortcomings" in existing rules so that businesses can get their money as soon as possible. Dinh Cong Khuong, director of Ho Chi Minh City-based steel company Khuong Mai, said if authorities again fail to pay, a lawsuit would be the next option. Khuong said his company's tax refunds have piled up to VND200 billion ($8.97 million) over the past five years after its requests for payment were rejected for "ridiculous" reasons such as incorrect information about transport vehicles and excessive stockpiles. Since procedures for claiming tax refunds are "hellish," Khuong Mai has recently stopped exports and now focuses on selling domestically instead, he said. Speaking at a press conference Friday, Deputy Finance Minister Do Hoang Anh Tuan said 287 businesses around the country are still waiting for their tax refunds. While the businesses are at fault for failing to complete necessary paperwork for claiming the refunds, the delays are also caused by shortcomings in existing rules, he said. The laws do not allow businesses that default on tax payments to get tax refunds though they could have used the refunds to set off their back taxes, he said. The policy would be revised soon, possibly this week, and it would benefit more than 20 businesses, he said. The deputy minister also promised to review the distribution of funds for tax refunds, as many local governments lack funds for them while others have surpluses. He assured that his ministry has enough resources to make all refunds. Authorities in Ho Chi Minh City are looking to resurrect a US$1.2 billion solar panel project which has been abandoned since its investor US-owned First Solar made an exit more than four years ago, local media reported on Friday. A new foreign investor is expected to acquire a license by the end of this June to revive the project, Tran Viet Ha, chief of investment with Ho Chi Minh City Export Processing and Industrial Zones Authority, was quoted as saying by news website Dau Tu. Ha did not reveal the identity of the potential investor who has met with his agency to discuss the project. The project was licensed in January 2011 and had its construction started two months later. It was expected to become Vietnam's first solar modules manufacturing plant when going into operation in 2012 with a production capacity equivalent to 250 megawatts a year. However, in November that same year, the investor suspended the project, citing low global demand. By then, it had invested $50 million in a 113,000-square meter factory in Cu Chi District's Dong Nam Industrial Zone, the website reported. Editor's note: The story has been revised to reflect the fact that the project is a solar panel manufacturing facility, not a solar power plant. An undated photo of a Vinasun taxi picking a passenger in Ho Chi Minh City. Photo: Dinh Quan/Thanh Nien Vinasun, the biggest taxi company in Vietnam, expects its net profit to fall 20 percent to VND264 billion (US$11.68 million) this year, citing high costs and harsh competition with ride-hailing services Grab and Uber, local media reported on Friday. The company saw a 5 percent profit increase last year, compare to 40 percent in 2014. Its profit in the first quarter this year was more than 73 percent short of its target, even though the first three months of the year with major holidays are often the peak season of the taxi industry, news website VnExpress reported. Vinasun has been one of the most vocal critics of the two foreign competitors. The arrival of the Malaysian-owned startup GrabTaxi, now simply known as Grab, and the US-based service Uber at the end of 2014 has adversely affected Vinasun's business, board chairman Dang Phuoc Thanh was quoted as saying at the company's shareholders meeting that same day. The foreign companies do not have to pay taxes and invest in their fleets, while Vinasun has to pay VND18-20 billion ($796,000-885,000) in taxes a year besides huge expenses on vehicle maintenance and upgrade, Thanh said. "We have been under huge pressures," he told the shareholders. In efforts to increase its competitiveness, Vinasun plans to reduce fare rates to an average of VND15,000 per kilometer this year, from VND16,000 at the moment. It will also add at least 1,150 new taxis to raise its fleet to 6,441 cars, besides easing payment through cards and mobile apps. Taxi companies across the world have been trying to fight back the rise of ride-hailing services such as Uber and Grab. In Vietnam, the foreign companies have consistently been questioned about their legality. At times it is even difficult to know which side the government is on and whether the future of Uber and Grab in the country has been secured. Vinasun has more than once asked local authorities to ban the apps, saying they are illegal and they are competing with local businesses "unhealthily." A lime kiln in Thanh Hoa Province, where 8 people were found dead of suffocation on Friday Eight people died apparently of suffocation inside a privately owned lime kiln in the central province of Thanh Hoa on Friday. The incident happened at around 4 p.m. when eight people were working in the kiln run by Le Van Thong in a rural village. The workers reportedly collapsed and fainted. They were rushed to hospital but eight of them died soon after arrival. Thong, his daughter and his daughter-in-law were among the dead victims. Hanoi's Noi Bai International Airport customs on Friday seized 98 kilograms of elephant tusks in a consignment on a Turkish Airlines flight that arrived in the Vietnamese capital on April 6. Customs officers scanned two suspicious carton boxes and found a total of 105 elephant tusks. The consignment had been transported on flight TK6562, local media reported. It remains unclear where the tusks were from exactly. According to Turkish Cargo's website, its freighter network reaches more than 50 cities and Hanoi is connected with Istanbul via Tehran. Flight tracking website Flightaware named Almaty International Airport in Kazakhstan as the departure airport for flight TK6562. Noi Bai Airport Customs have sent the tusks for examination to determine the elephant species before taking further actions. Last week, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has proposed destroying all elephant tusks and rhino horns seized from illegal traders. So far, all seized elephant tusks and rhino horns have been kept in storage. A captive moon bear is seen inside a metal cage at a private bear farm which was targeted by animal protection group Animals Asia during a four-day rescue operation, in Vietnam's north-eastern Quang Ninh province, on June 23, 2015 Freed from captivity in tiny metal cages, seven long-suffering Asiatic moon bears have been rescued on bile farms in northern Vietnam, as efforts to end the illegal trade are boosted. Bear bile farming is banned but it is legal to raise the animals as pets -- a loophole used by illicit Vietnamese farms to feed a regional demand for the digestive fluid, which is believed to possess healing properties in traditional Chinese medicine. The bears were rescued from coastal Quang Ninh province earlier this week and were in extremely poor health with missing or maimed limbs after being confined in the small cages where, according to Animals Asia, they were likely milked for bile. Rescuers either use honey to calmly coax the animals out of their pens into a transport cage, or dart them and stretcher them to the removal truck if they are unwilling to move. Animal protection group Animals Asia staff handle a cage with a rescued moon bear, at a private bear farm which was targeted by the group during a four-day rescue operation, in Vietnam's north-eastern Quang Ninh province, on June 23, 2015. The moon bears, so named for the distinctive yellow crescent-shaped mark on their chests, have since been transferred to the charity's sanctuary in another province. "This week will see Quang Ninh province come very close to being bear bile farm free," Animals Asia Vietnam director Tuan Bendixsen said, adding the group aims to rescue seven more bears in the coming days. "We will keep on fighting and campaigning until every last captive bear suffering in the province has been moved to our sanctuary," Bendixsen said. Authorities in Quang Ninh, around 180 kilometres (110 miles) from Hanoi, ramped up their efforts to close down the longstanding industry after a flurry of deaths at bile farms drew attention to the animals. Their plight even triggered a decree in March from Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, who ordered all captive bears in the coastal province be moved to facilities with better care. Quang Ninh is among the provinces with the highest rate of captive bears, Animals Asia said, partly due to demand for bear bile from Korean and Chinese tourists visiting its UNESCO-listed Halong Bay and the surrounding area. Animal protection group Animals Asia staff carry a captive anesthetized moon bear at a private bear farm which was targeted by the group during a four-day rescue operation, in Vietnam's north-eastern Quang Ninh province, on June 23, 2015. Local authorities are still in negotiations with bile farmers for the release of around 16 bears that will still be in captivity after the current rescue mission ends Friday, Animals Asia said. Nationwide, around 1,245 bears remain in captivity, according to the agriculture ministry. In recent years hundreds have died due to maltreatment -- the animals are routinely drugged and restrained for bile harvesters to collect liquid from their gallbladders with unsterilised needles. With rising affluence Vietnam has become a top destination for people seeking to consume rare wildlife as well as wines and medicines from animals thought to have healing or aphrodisiac properties. The country is also a major trafficking hub in Southeast Asia, linking animals sourced in countries including Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar with buyers in neighbouring China and other East Asian markets. The communist nation has signed treaties against the trade but enforcement remains patchy, in part due to corruption. A scaffolding collapse at Vung Ang Economic Zone in Ha Tinh Province late Tuesday has killed at least 16 construction workers and injured 27, officials said. Nguyen Huy Tang of the Ha Tinh border guard said the accident occurred at around 8 p.m. when the workers were building the scaffold, which stood between 30 meters to 40 meters high, in the Ha Tinh Steel Complex & Son Duong Port, invested by Formosa Plastics Group. The collapsed scaffold was part of a project contracted by a labor supply company based in the central city of Da Nang and invested by Samsung C&T, a subsidiary of Samsung. A tunnel below the scaffold structure has hindered rescue work, Tang said. All available resources have been mobilized to rescue around other 100 workers trapped under the rubble. At least 27 injured workers have been rushed to the Ha Tinh General Hospital for further treatment. All the victims are Vietnamese. Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai and local leaders have arrived at the scene to instruct rescue work. Last July, also in Vung Ang Economic Zone, two Vietnamese workers were killed and three others severely injured after a scaffold collapsed at the construction site of a water plant of a future steel mill owned by Formosa. Formosa Ha Tinh Steel Corporation, a unit of Formosa Plastics Group, has been building a huge steel complex in Vung Ang. The project recruits around 40,000 laborers, 5,659 of whom are Chinese. In early this month, the Government Inspectorate found that that managers at the Vung Ang Economic Zone went beyond their authority and broke quite a few rules when offering too many incentives to Formosa. Among the violations, according to the Government Inspectorate, the Formosa Plastics Groups Ha Tinh Steel Complex & Son Duong Port was illegally licensed for a 70-year period. Vietnam's Investment Law states that a foreign-invested project must not last more than 50 years, and if necessary, the government may extend the length of the project for 20 more years. The government, however, has not given any extension to the Formosa project yet. The Formosa plant in Ha Tinh became the unlikely target of anti-China violence triggered by China's illegal deployment of a US$1-billion oil rig in Vietnamese waters on May 2, 2014. Rioters torched, looted, and vandalized the construction site of the Taiwanese investor. The incident on May 14 left three Chinese workers dead and 149 others, both Chinese and Vietnamese, injured. Officials, including Vice Chairman of HCMC People's Committee Le Thanh Liem (C), celebrate the South Africa's Freedom Day on April 22, 2016. Photo credit: South Africa Consulate in HCMC The South African consulate in Ho Chi Minh City has donated 20 houses to 20 poor families in Ben Tre Province as part of its program to mark the 22nd anniversary of South Africas Freedom Day (April 27). Do Thi Kim Lien, South Africas honorary consul in the city, said at a ceremony Friday that she hopes other people can join hands to help improve living conditions for more people in Ben Tre, one of the Mekong Delta provinces that are facing water shortages and saltwater intrusion. Nearly half of the 2.2 million hectares (5.4 million acres) of arable land in the Mekong Delta had been attacked by salt water and hundreds of thousands of locals are suffering from water scarcity, official figures show. On this occasion, the Honorary Consulate of South Africa also donated VND500 million (US$22,450) to the Fund for Poor People of the southern province of Tay Ninh. South Africa Ambassador to Vietnam Kgomotso Ruth Magau (L) and South Africas honorary consul in HCMC Do Thi Kim Lien welcome a guest who attends the Freedom Day celebration at the Sheraton Saigon Hotel on April 22, 2016. Photo credit: South Africa Consulate in HCMC Also at the ceremony, HCMC-based VASS Assurance Corporation awarded 30 scholarships worth VND1 million each to Nguyen Dinh Chieu School, a school that serves visually impaired students in the city. Attending the ceremony, South Africa Ambassador to Vietnam Kgomotso Ruth Magau focused on the consulates contributions not only to diplomatic ties between the two countries, but also to the community through charity activities. In particular, the People's Committee of Hau Giang Province awarded a certificate to the honorary consult Do Thi Kim Lien for her great contributions to the provinces economic and social development in recent years. Deputy Prime Minister Truong Hoa Binh Friday ordered the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and Ha Tinh Province authorities to investigate suspicions that a Taiwanese company has discharged untreated wastewater into the sea causing mass fish deaths. Binh ordered strict measures against violators and called for emergency solutions to end the devastating environmental disaster, which is affecting livelihoods of fishing villages across central Vietnam. A large number of dead fish have been washed ashore in Ha Tinh and several nearby provinces - Quang Binh, Quang Tri and Thua Thien-Hue - for the past two weeks, apparently due to industrial pollution. Earlier, a Ha Tinh fisherman reported to local authorities that he saw a large sewage pipe discharging wastewater into the sea in the area on April 4. The pipe was lying around 13 meters under the surface and around 1.5 kilometers from the Vung Ang Economic Zone, he said. A spokesperson from Hung Nghiep Formosa Ha Tinh Steel Company later admitted that the pipe belongs to the company, which is building the massive Formosa project in Vung Ang. Khau Nhan Kiet, a company official, said companies involved in the project discharge 12,000 liters of wastewater a day through the pipe. He said the wastewater had already been treated before being discharged. Kiet admitted that the company had used imported chemical substances to clean the project's pipes. But he claimed that the substances were properly diluted and after the cleaning process, the wastewater was adequately treated Ho Anh Tuan, who oversees all economic zones in the province, said the company had obtained approval from the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment to install a 1.5-kilometer pipe to discharge treated wastewater. However, Duong Hoang Tung, deputy director of the Environment Department under the environment ministry, dismissed the claim, saying that Formosa has never been licensed to discharge wastewater into the sea. Relevant agencies are conducting all of the relevant procedures and will issue such a license if they found the system qualified under required standards, Tung said. He said Formosa's wastewater samples have been tested every three months and all of the samples taken since 2015 have met environmental standards. Tung also said test results for newly collected samples from the waters with mass fish deaths will be announced in the next few days. Secret pipe? Environmental experts are suspicious that Formosa has discharged untreated wastewater into the sea through the pipe. If the wastewater was properly treated, why did they have to keep the pipe hidden? asked Nguy Thi Khanh, director of the Hanoi-based environment advocate GreenID. Khanh said the situation can be worse when more companies enter the economic zone in the future. Dead fish and clams saw on the beach in Ha Tinh Province. Photo: Nguyen Dung/Thanh Nien Le Phat Quoi, a researcher at the Natural Resources and Environment Institute of the National University, Ho Chi Minh City, said that Google Map images show water in an abnormal color stretching south along the coast from Vung Ang. In my opinion, pollution from Vung Ang was the major cause for the mass fish deaths, he said. Quoi said that sewage pipes, if installed, should be near the surface for easy inspection. Treating wastewater is costly. If a company has a secret pipe, people will automatically assume that it is discharging untreated waste," he said. On Friday, officials from the environment ministry worked with Hung Nghiep Formosa Ha Tinh Steel Company and leaders of the Vung Ang 1 Thermal Plant, both are based in Vung Ang Economic Zone. However, no reporter was allowed to attend and no information on the meeting was unveiled. The Ministry of Industry and Trade is scheduled to work with Hung Nghiep Formosa Ha Tinh Steel Company on April 26. Vietnam's top office of prosecutors has filed criminal charges against 34 customs officers, 11 business owners and seven others for faking documents to claim VND42 billion (US$1.85 million) in tax refunds in the Mekong Delta province of An Giang. The officers, who were with the customs agency at Khanh Binh border gate with Cambodia, allegedly received VND1.7 billion ($75,200) from the businesses, according to an indictment issued by the Supreme People's Procuracy on Friday. In return, they verified exports documents that had been falsified so the businesses could claim the tax refunds between May 2011 and March 2013, prosecutors said. Nguyen Thanh Tri and Nguyen Van Bien, who ran the agency between 2008 and 2013, were accused of pocketing 35.7 percent of the money. All the officers, who were dismissed after the case was busted, face charges of "power abuse," which are punishable by a maximum jail term of 15 years. The business owners are charged with "fraud" and can be sentenced to life, if convicted. Led by Le Thi Chi, director of export-import service company Kim Chi, the business owners claimed the refunds with fraudulent export documents and 2,381 value-added tax invoices worth VND444 billion ($19.65 million) bought from local businesses, prosecutors said. Another seven suspects are prosecuted for illegally trading in invoices and can be jailed for one to five years, if found guilty. Over a million Facebook users are logging into the social networking website via Tor or the Dark Web every month. (Representational image) Mumbai: Over a million Facebook users are logging into the social networking website via Tor or the Dark Web every month to maintain digital privacy, according to several media reports. With the increasing security concerns of users, most people have started using Facebook via Tor to avoid any kind of monitoring. Facebook said that the number of people using its services via Tor have increased from 525,000 in June 2015 to more than a million in April this year. Tor or the pathway to the Dark Web facilitates anonymous web browsing by sending encrypted data unlike normal connections. This help keep the users identity shielded. Facebook is also in favour of Tor, as the social networking giants had created a separate address for Tor access in October 2014. Additionally, the company has also built upon its earlier Tor integration and rolled out support for the Android Orbot proxy, allowing Android device users to access Facebook via Tor. ''Tor can be used in countries where FB or internet is banned'' According to a Tor spokesperson, many people living in regions where Facebook or the internet is banned or censored can utilise Tor to access to uncensored net-based content and services. For instance, in countries such as China and Iran where Facebook is censored, people can use Tor to access the internet and seamlessly browse Facebook. Other than that, many social and internet activists, journalists, politicians, criminals, and even hackers make use of the dark web to communicate securely and avoid detection. Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter. A screenshot from an Animals Asia video shows Tuffy, rescued from a bile farm in northern Vietnam last September, enjoy a pool during his first day at a sanctuary. After spending years inside a cage at a bile farm, Tuffy knew exactly how to celebrate his freedom. A video released this week by Animals Asia shows the bear spending his first day at a Vietnam sanctuary jumping around a pool. Like hes the happiest bear on earth. He jumps up and down, splashing water around and throwing his back at the water. After years of little or no water, this must feel like a true oasis freedom to splash around after only being able to stand on the hard metal bars of a bile farm cage, said Louise Ellis, bear manager of the Hong Kong-based animal protection group. The charity saved Tuffy and six other bears from bile farms in the northern province of Quang Ninh last September. A post on the Animals Asia website said his gallbladder was damaged so severely it had to be removed. Workers at the sanctuary in Vinh Phuc Province, not far from Hanoi, said Tuffy will have to go through many treatments to fully recover. He has three damaged teeth that have to be extracted while his cracked feet make it difficult for him to walk around. Despite all the hardship, the bear has really enjoyed his newfound freedom. He refused to go back to his den after enjoying the pool and instead spent the first free night outside under the stars, the sanctuary staff said. There are still around 1,200 bears being caged at bile farms in Vietnam and more than 10,000 in China, according to Animals Asia. The organization said it has rescued nearly 600 bears from the countries and is taking care of nearly 400 of them. It said bears caught in the bile industry do not only suffer serious and long-term health impacts from bile extraction, but poor living conditions also cause tooth decay, skin inflammation and cataract. Bile extracted from bears has been used in traditional medicine in Vietnam and China, a practice that has been criticized by various advocacy groups. Iran's conservative-dominated parliament passed a bill on Tuesday approving its nuclear deal with world powers, signalling victory for the government over hardline opponents who worry the accord opens a door to wider rapprochement with the West. Many conservative lawmakers opposed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) that President Hassan Rouhani's government agreed with the six powers on July 14, and the vote -- which followed a bad-tempered, rowdy debate on Sunday -- lifts a significant hurdle to putting the deal into effect. With strong parliamentary backing, the bill is likely to be ratified by a clerical body called the Guardian Council. The exact stance of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the last word on all matters of state, is not known. To date, he has neither approved nor rejected the agreement, but has commended the work of Rouhani's negotiating team. Provided Khamenei does not openly oppose it, many expect Iran will begin shutting down parts of its nuclear program in coming weeks. When completed, that process will result in most international sanctions, imposed on Iran since 2006 over concerns it was covertly seeking atomic bombs, being lifted. The bill also calls on Iran's government to impose strict curbs on U.N. nuclear inspectors' access to military sites, leaving the possibility that disagreements could still arise. "Members of parliament made a well-considered decision today showing they have a good understanding of the country's situation," government spokesman Mohammad Baqer Nobakht said in a televised news conference after the vote. The bill was adopted with 161 votes in favor, 59 against and 13 abstentions, the state news agency IRNA said. It had passed a preliminary vote on Sunday by a smaller margin, after a chaotic debate in the 290-seat chamber. Tempers frayed State television froze its live video coverage of Sunday's debate as tempers frayed. Nuclear agency chief Ali Akbar Salehi could be heard shouting "listen, listen!", his voice turning hoarse as he struggled to be heard over dissenting roars. Iranian agencies, which witnessed the debate, reported that Salehi came under physical assault as he addressed the chamber, while a lawmaker opposed to the motion was admitted to hospital with heart problems linked to stress after losing Sunday's vote. The bill will now be submitted to the Guardian Council, a clerical vetting body, that will either suggest amendments to the text or pass it into law. A spokesman told Tasnim news agency that the council, six of whose 12 members are appointed by Khamenei and the rest by parliament, would return its verdict by Thursday if given the draft on Tuesday. "Most policymakers expect this to pass quite quickly and smoothly. The Guardian Council's framework is such that, if the JCPOA has reached this stage, it is highly unlikely to derail it now," said Ellie Geranmayeh, policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations. She added that Khamenei was now likely to support Rouhani's government in carrying out the deal, while also highlighting parliament's insistence on limiting access to military sites for International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors. The bill stipulates that inspectors from the IAEA, the U.N. nuclear watchdog, cannot visit such sites without approval from a top Iranian security organ. Conservative hardliners, including Khamenei, fear Western powers aim to use transparency required by the nuclear deal to access Iran's state secrets, or that it will usher in a detente with the West harmful to Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution. On Oct. 7, however, Khamenei appeared to put the brakes on moderates hoping the deal will end Iran's isolation by banning any further negotiations between Iran and the United States, contradicting expectations voiced by Rouhani. For their part, Western critics of the agreement say that it is not tough enough to prevent Iran eventually perfecting the ability to build an atomic bomb with enriched uranium. Ingrained mutual mistrust could cause delays in the implementation of the nuclear deal and provoke further heated debate both in Iran and the United States, where opposition conservative Republicans lost a battle to torpedo the accord in Congress, but is unlikely to derail it altogether, analysts say. "There is a process within the JCPOA to manage any disputes that arise... it's too early to say that (the question of military access) is going to cause a crisis," Geranmayeh said. The IAEA wants to be able to visit military sites if it deems this necessary to verify that Iran's nuclear program is wholly for the purpose of peaceful energy as Tehran asserts. The draft law also called on the armed forces and the government to continue developing Iran's military power, suggesting the Islamic Republic will maintain its active role in Middle Eastern conflicts such as Syria, where its interests have clashed with those of Western and Gulf Arab powers. On Sunday, Iran tested a new precision-guided ballistic missile, the first such weapon able to reach its regional arch-enemy Israel, defying a U.N. resolution that bans Iran from developing missiles that could deliver a nuclear warhead. The draft bill also says Iran should resume all nuclear activity that it would halt as part of the deal, if the other side fails to meet its obligations to lift sanctions. Adoption day Under the July 14 deal with the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China, Tehran accepted strict limitations on its uranium enrichment program in exchange for relief from the sanctions that have crippled its economy. Iran is due to start implementing the deal on October 18 or 19, known as Adoption Day under the terms of the JCPOA. Iranian technicians will decommission thousands of the centrifuges that refine uranium, fill the Arak heavy water reactor with concrete and ship most of Iran's stockpile of enriched uranium abroad. Once the IAEA is satisfied Iran has met its obligations, which Tehran hopes to achieve by early 2016 but could take longer, the United States, United Nations and European Union will rescind nuclear-related sanctions. Some U.S. sanctions not related to the nuclear file will remain in place, but that has not deterred foreign business delegations that have flocked to Tehran ahead of the expected opening of markets in the oil-rich nation of 80 million people. North Korea leader Kim Jong Un smiles as he visits Sohae Space Center in Cholsan County, North Pyongan province for the testing of a new engine for an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) in this undated photo released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency North Korea attempted to launch an intermediate range ballistic missile off the country's east coast on Friday but the launch failed, South Korea's Yonhap News Agency reported. The failed launch follows North Korea's fourth nuclear test in January and a long-range rocket launch the next month, which led to fresh U.N. sanctions. Yonhap said the failed launch appeared to be a Musudan missile with a range of more than 3,000 kms (1,800 miles). An official at the South Korean defense ministry said North Korea was attempting a missile launch early on Friday morning but the launch appeared to have failed, however, the official could not confirm the type of missile. The U.S. military detected and tracked the missile launch at 0533 Korea time, or 2033 GMT on Thursday, a Defense Department spokesman said in a statement. The missile did not pose a threat to North America, the statement said. A U.S. State Department official said: "We call again on North Korea to refrain from actions and rhetoric that further raise tensions in the region and focus instead on taking concrete steps toward fulfilling its international commitments and obligations." The United States, which has 28,000 troops stationed in South Korea, said on Thursday it was aware of reports that North Korea was preparing to test intermediate-range missiles and was closely monitoring the Korean Peninsula. Friday is the anniversary of North Korean founding president Kim Il Sung's birthday, April 15, and is widely celebrated in the isolated country. In 2012, the day was marked by a long range rocket launch attempt, which also failed. On Thursday, North Korea deployed one or two Musudan ballistic missiles on its east coast in apparent preparation for the launch, South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported, citing multiple South Korean government sources. The Musudan missile, with a design range of more than 3,000 km (1,800 miles), is not known to have been flight-tested, according to South Korean defense ministry and experts. Some experts have said North Korea may choose to test-fire the Musudan in the near future as it tries to build an intercontinental ballistic missile designed to put the mainland United States within range. North Korea, which regularly threatens to destroy South Korea and the United States, often fires missiles during periods of tension in the region or when it comes under pressure to curb its defiance and abandon its weapons programs. 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 failed launch, as the reclusive country celebrates the "Day of the Sun" on the birthday of Kim's grandfather, follows the North's fourth nuclear test in January and a long-range rocket launch in February, which led to new U.N. sanctions. But the North has nevertheless pushed ahead with its missile program, supervised by Kim, in breach of U.N. Security Council resolutions. 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". China, North Korea's most important economic and diplomatic backer, has been angered by Pyongyang's nuclear tests and rocket launches in the face of U.N. sanctions that China has also backed. 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." Chinese state media was more direct. "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." Friday is the anniversary of North Korean founding president Kim Il Sung's birthday which is widely celebrated. In 2012, it was marked by a long-range rocket launch attempt which also failed. Fulfill your obligations, U.S. tells North The U.S. Defense Department said in a statement the launch at 0533 Korea time (2033 GMT Thursday) was detected and tracked by the U.S. Strategic Command which also assessed it had failed. "We call again on North Korea to refrain from actions and rhetoric that further raise tensions in the region and focus instead on taking concrete steps toward fulfilling its international commitments and obligations," a U.S. State Department official said. It 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. The United States, which has 28,000 troops stationed in South Korea, said on Thursday it was aware of reports that North Korea was preparing to test intermediate-range missiles and was closely monitoring the Korean peninsula. "Timing wise, today's missile was a cannon salute on the Day of the Sun, leading up to the party congress, but now that it has failed, it is an embarrassment," said Chang Gwang-il, a retired South Korean army general. The North is scheduled to hold its ruling party congress in early May, the first such meeting in 36 years. The North could not completely ignore the sanctions, but considered it the right time to attempt a missile launch to send a message to the world "we don't surrender to sanctions", Chang said. Some experts had said North Korea may choose to test-fire the Musudan as it tries to build an intercontinental ballistic missile designed to put the mainland United States within range. North Korea, which regularly threatens to destroy South Korea and the United States, often fires missiles during periods of tension in the region or when it comes under pressure to curb its defiance and abandon its weapons programs. The North and rich, democratic South are technically still at war since their 1950-53 conflict ended in a truce, not a peace treaty. Iran's top nuclear negotiator Abbas Araqchi leaves a hotel after meeting senior officials from the United States, Russia, China, Britain, Germany and France in Vienna, Austria, October 19, 2015. Photo: Reuters/Heinz-Peter Bader The United States will buy heavy water from Iran's nuclear program and expects it to be delivered within weeks, U.S. officials said on Friday, a move that Republican lawmakers quickly criticized. The U.S. Department of Energy, or DOE, will buy 32 metric tons of heavy water from Iran worth $8.6 million, a department spokeswoman said. Heavy water is a component of making nuclear weapons and nuclear energy, that is not radioactive. Under last year's landmark nuclear deal between Iran, the United States and five other world powers, Tehran is responsible for reducing its stock of heavy water, which it can sell, dilute or dispose of, under conditions. Iran is permitted to keep up to 130 tons of heavy water at present and up to 90 tons once its redesigned and rebuilt Arak nuclear research reactor is commissioned. "The United States will not be Iran's customer forever," the DOE spokeswoman said. U.S. officials hope the purchase will pave the way for other countries to buy the heavy water, which can be used in the development of semiconductors and nuclear magnetic resonance imaging. Iran's top nuclear negotiator, Abbas Araqchi, who discussed the sale with U.S. officials in Vienna on Friday, told reporters that the 32 tons have been sold to an American company. Araqchi estimated Iran has about 70 tons in excess of what it needs and said further sales are being negotiated with another company that is not based in the United States. Iran, which is still under U.S. sanctions, has long had to go through third-country financial institutions for authorized transactions for items including medicine and food. A U.S. Treasury Department official would not discuss details of the payment for the heavy water until after the purchase is complete, but said it would be completed under the same method. "Regardless of whether or not this is in U.S. dollars, this licensed transaction is limited in scope," the Treasury official said on condition of anonymity. Iran's compliance with the nuclear deal means that the heavy water was already removed from Iran, ensuring that it would not be used to support the development of a nuclear weapon, State Department spokesman John Kirby said. "Our purchase of the heavy water means that it will instead be used for critically important research and non-nuclear industrial requirements," Kirby added. The purchase, first reported by the Wall Street Journal, was slammed by Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, a Republican. Ryan said in a statement it appeared to be part of the Democratic administration's efforts to sweeten the nuclear deal with Iran and would "directly subsidize Iran's nuclear program." The DOE expects to resell the purchased heavy water to domestic commercial and research buyers, including a national lab. Only 1,000 iPhone SE smartphones have been sold in India since its launch. Mumbai: Technology giant Apple hiked the price of its existing iPhone 6 line up by 29 per cent in India to compensate the sluggish demand for its latest 4-inch, upgraded iPhone SE. According to a report on Economic Times, Apple has been forced to surge prices for its older iPhone 6 and 6S, to commensurate the dreadful response received by the new iPhone SEonly 1000 pieces of the companys new 4-inch iPhone was sold since its launch. Several sources revealed that the Cupertino-based company has decided to withdraw some of the offers for offered during January and March period. Update: Apple, however, has declined any such move and termed the report as 'totally false and untrue'. The company also said that the original prices of its devices can be found on the website itself. Before the revise, an iPhone 6 (16GB) was priced at Rs 31,000 whereas the iPhone SE (16 GB) retails at Rs 39,000. Additionally, the iPhone 6S (16 GB) also came with a price tag of Rs 40,500 before the price hike. While the SE is right up there with the elite Apple devices in terms of the price, the same cannot be said for the hardware - the handset does not support 3D Touch, Live Photos, exclusively available on iPhone 6S. Moreover, the handset employs a two year old display technology and the total manufacturing cost of the phone is roughly Rs 10,500. Numerous questions were raised and the company received flak for retailing the device at such an exorbitant rate. The iPhone SE still continues to find itself in a tight spot in India. After the revise, the iPhone 6s elementary version will cost users Rs 40,000 and the 6S will cost approximately Rs 48,000. Even the two year old iphone 5Ss price was hiked by 22 per cent. The company has also released several corporate and personal EMI schemes for easy purchase. However, there is no guarantee if this move will trigger public displeasure or help the company cope with the recent failure. At a time when Samsung has launched two new flagships in the country, its high time Apple should come up with a better strategy (and price) to thrive in India. Also, reports have proved time and again that more people are attracted towards large-screened devices in the country, and such a high-priced, small-screened device wont help them capture the vast premium-budget smartphone market. Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter. A climate change think-tank's report says Australia is on the forefront of a renewable energy era and forecasts the nation to become an economic superpower if it capitalises on its natural energy sources. Beyond Zero Emission CEO Stephen Bygrave said the global economy will be changing over the next few decades as the world transitions to an energy sector less reliant on fossil fuel energies. ACT is at the forefront of a renewable energy era. "In a world where we're not burning coal, oil and gas our economies will be based on renewable energy and the research we've done shows that Australia is consistently in the top three countries globally that have the best renewable energy resources," he said. Mr Bygrave said the economic projections by the International Energy Agency illustrate how rapidly the investment in renewable energy is growing. "We know that because we have measured it. We also know that the things that respond to cover like reptiles, beetles, many of these kinds of animals do significantly badly in these systems where we have very high populations of kangaroos. That's the science. It's been measured." Professor Lindenmayer said his findings, and also those of his PHD pupils including Brett Howland, are peer-reviewed and conclusive. "The ecological evidence is compelling," he said. "The science is put together in a very detailed and painstaking way, with literally tens of thousands of measurements over many, many years." Professor Lindenmayer said there was more to the argument than just the values of a single kangaroo's life. "Animal welfare people have a particular set of values that values the importance of the individual animal," he said. "There's another set of values that thinks about the conservation of entire ecosystems and all the species that live in them. And how we manage those ecosystems is critically important." University of Technology Sydney conservation biologist and Director of the Centre for Compassionate Conservation Dr Daniel Ramp said the evidence cited for the justification of culling kangaroos did not stack up. "We've found that the science justifying the ecological decisions to the killing program did not hold up to the scrutiny based on peer-reviewed scientific literature." Dr Ramp said the rhetoric that kangaroo populations are out of control is contradictory to the research he and his team have conducted, which suggests their numbers are in fact in decline. "The problem with this notion of over abundance is that it often gets muddied with attitudes of land use," he said. "In actual fact from purely an ecosystem point-of-view, I have never seen a situation where kangaroos on their own without anything else happening are causing problems where they're out of balance or their not being driven by anything else in the environment. It just doesn't happen." He said the argument kangaroo grazing has impacted the population of animals such as legless lizards is incorrect because there is evidence the reptile's populations can survive well in areas where kangaroos inhabit, so long as there is no pressure from humans. "There are populations of legless lizards doing perfectly well in areas where there are lots of kangaroos in Canberra. What we have is a reserve management issue, not a kangaroo management issue." Dr Ramp is one of a number of individuals to express frustrations this month at the government's lack of transparency involving the policy of culling kangaroos. "It's been very difficult and I think that's a problem," he said. "We live in a democracy and we should always have open discourse about the decisions we take, particularly when they include killing animals. "Governments really should be open to listening to good management and good science, and also different attitudes within the community. "I think you would find that most people don't feel comfortable about the killing of kangaroos. And governments should be listening to that and finding alternate ways to share space." For Dr Ramp, the behaviour of humans when it comes to sharing the environment with wildlife is unsustainable. "I don't think this is really a true ecological issue with the way in which kangaroos are out of whack with the environment, I think it is more to do with a socio-ecological understanding of how humans are apart of nature," he said. "The reason why kangaroos continue to be controversial in Canberra is because we haven't yet found a way of managing landscapes that treat wildlife with compassion and empathy, and that's what we need to do. And by continuing to purport this idea that killing solves problems is not going to resolve anything." A spokesman from the ACT government said they are yet to decide if a cull will take place this year and that present procedure is in place to protect kangaroo young. Uber will pay up to $US100 million ($130 million) to drivers who had sought to be classified as employees, settling two lawsuits that posed a threat to the company's on-demand business model, which relies on independent contractors. The San Francisco ride-hailing company announced it would pay an initial sum of $US84 million to settle cases in California and Massachusetts to some 385,000 drivers. Uber, which is valued at $US62.5 billion, said it would pay the drivers an additional $US16 million if the company's valuation reached 1.5 times its current value after going public or if it got bought. The company also agreed to policy changes that reduce its control over drivers, shifting to be more in line with an independent contractor relationship. The settlement brings to a close what employment experts believe was the biggest existential threat to the fast-growing startup. China is on a collision course with the world's leading powers over excess steel output after it refused to sign up to an emergency global plan to cut capacity and eliminate subsidies. The clash comes as fresh data show that China is still cranking up production and even reopening shuttered plants supposedly due for closure, despite the massive glut on the world market. Chinese mills produced 51 per cent of global steel output in March and five times as much as the whole EU. Credit:Bloomberg Chinese mills produced a record 70.65 million tonnes in March, 51 per cent of global output and five times as much as the whole EU. "Just words from China are no longer good enough. It is now clear to everybody that the Chinese have no intention at all of changing the structure of their steel industry," said Axel Eggert, head of the European steel federation Eurofer. Only through willful ignorance, fear or prejudice can the idea of having a frank and honest talk with teenagers about sex be construed as a threat. But arch-conservative voices in the community appear determined to conflate even a whisper of sex education in schools with perversion, rather than the protection of young people for which it is so clearly designed. The latest target is a program known as YEAH, where young educators in schools and universities discuss sex, both the potential risks to health and shock, horror the pleasure of the act. It defies credibility to treat sex as taboo, but it seems acknowledging that sex might actually be enjoyable is too much for the puritanical hard right. The Coalition plans to slash the program's $450,000 annual budget and instead make information available online. Teenagers must be taught about sex in a frank and honest way. Credit:Rodger Cummins How sadly ironic. The way modern digital technology has increased pressure on young people especially to engage in unwanted sexual behaviour is an important part of the reason the community needs to have more open discussion about sex and directly confront any misapprehension. Sending explicit text messages or naked pictures might be flirtatious fun for those willing and consenting, but the potential for such behaviour to transform into unwanted harassment needs to be widely understood. The recent experience at the University of Melbourne in the campaign to shut down a Facebook page devoted to lewd comments about the attractiveness of female students is an important example. Under Lebanese law, serious crimes involving kidnapping and conspiracy can be settled out of court, with the court's active encouragement, for the right money. That line was contained in a news report about the release of mother Sally Faulkner and the 60 Minutes crew after they were held in Beirut over alleged child abduction charges. It was interesting to see the reactions of the 60 Minutes crew when the reality of the situation hit them. Credit:Wael Hamzeh-EPA Bruce was prescient, yet again, about Lebanon, where there were "signs of jubilation in the corridors of Baabda Palace of Justice outside Judge Abdullah's rooms when the deal was finally lodged". "The Halls of Justice" screams Lenny Bruce. "The Halls of Justice ... that's the only place you're gonna to get justice in the halls, not the courts." It was interesting to see the quaking and trembling of the Australian television crew, and the sheer terror in the eyes of the British toughies from "Child Abduction Recovery International" when the reality of the situation hit them. But then they were let out with a cash deal worthy of Channel 9's Sale of the Century. The deal also killed off any chance of the series Tara Brown is the New Orange. Dr Firas El Samad, an expert on the Lebanese legal system, writes "Lebanese individuals are also known to be natural born entrepreneurs." He boasts that the Lebanese community abroad (of about 15 million people, only 4 million are at home) play economically on the international scene far above their apparent weight. If a group of Lebanese reporters were to kidnap children from the arms of an Australian grandmother, walking with her nanny along Queen Street, Woollahra, there would be an outcry from Alan Jones and Andrew Bolt. "They should be sent to Goulburn Supermax for life!" The cash for crime economy, and the application of a little Lebanese law, meant, except for the Brits, a win-win situation for all, and a ratings boost for the beleaguered Channel 9. "The Lebanese legal system is based upon and inspired by the French legal system," according to Dr El Samad. The code of obligations and contracts relating to matters of personal status like heritage, marriage and divorce are governed by separate laws for different sectarian communities. However, the latest Human Rights Report found that Lebanon's divorce and child custody laws discriminate against women. Ms Faulkner signed away all her rights in respect of her children which might be found in Australia to have been induced by duress, political pressure and unfairness, and she probably could apply to the Australian Family Court to set it aside. Lenovo-owned Motorola are planning to launch the LG G4 and G4 Plus on June 9, as per recent reports. Mumbai: A couple of days ago, Lenovo announced the launch of Zuk 22 Pro in Beijing. While the event was focused on the launch, the company also shared some details regarding Motorolas upcoming devices. As per a report on GizmoChina, Lenovos CEO Yang Yuanquing hinted that the company-owned Motorola is all geared up to release a new device on June 9 but opted to stay tight-lipped when asked about other details. While the company denied disclosing details, recent leaks pointed out that the company has been simultaneously working on two devicesMotorola G4 and G4 Plus. Earlier leaked renders revealed that both devices are expected to sport fingerprint sensors on the front. Some live images even showed that the devices will be available in black and white colours. While not much is know about two Moto G series handsets, the Moto G (2016) is expected to feature a 5.5-inch display, 13MP camera, and 16GB internal storage. The bigger G4 Plus is additionally expected to employ a higher-resolution 16MP in contrast to the G4. Although gossips from the rumour mills have assured that the company is planning to release two devices, its better to wait to wait for the launch. Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter. An Anzac charity that received millions of dollars from government grants and ticketed events is now being investigated over fears it did not pass on the money raised to veterans associations. The federal government has ordered an investigation into the Camp Gallipoli Foundation and has stripped it of its permit to use the protected word "Anzac" just days before the foundation stages a series of educational and fundraising events around the country on Anzac Day. Camp Gallipoli at Melbourne Showgrounds last year. Credit:Simon Schluter The move by the Department of Veterans Affairs comes after Fairfax Media revealed the foundation's chief executive, Chris Fox, may have personally profited from the foundation by charging "management fees" worth up to $1.5 million a year through commercial companies owned by his family and an associate. The Camp Gallipoli Foundation, which last year received $2.5 million federal grant, has been unwilling to substantiate its claims that it donated money raised on behalf of veterans' charities despite collecting millions of dollars in ticketing revenue, donations and sponsorships from corporate Australia. Diya Mehta is Australia's youngest political correspondent. At 14, she's already knocked off exclusives with Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, Labor leader Bill Shorten and Greens leader Richard Di Natale. "Why must young children wait to understand politics?" she asked. "We are often told we shouldn't bother, that there will be plenty of time when we are older to understand the way the world turns." While the world turns to digital, Diya's publication is revolving the other way. Riding the anti-digital sentiment creeping through the nation's classrooms is Crinkling News, Australia's first children's newspaper, which launched this week. "Some people have laughed at the idea of starting a newspaper in Australia," said editor Saffron Howden, a former Fairfax Media journalist. "They laughed when the UK's first kids newspaper launched a decade ago, now it boasts 2 million readers a week. Three young men on their way home from a pig hunting trip in central-western NSW have been killed and police believe fatigue was the contributor. Todd Sligar, Mitchell Holloway and Ethan Hertslet were driving south along the Mitchell Highway north-west of Dubbo, when their ute veered off the road on Saturday morning. The black 4WD ute wrapped around a tree near Trangie, killing the three men - aged 24, 21 and 17-years-old - at the scene. A green P-plate sign was visible as emergency services from around the rural region descended on the crash scene just before 8am. Premier Mike Baird has been asked to intervene to save the Sydney Dogs and Cats Home which is set to close within weeks. For more than 70 years the shelter has leased land at Carlton, in Sydney's south, providing refuge for lost and abandoned animals that are found across nine Sydney metropolitan councils. Sisters (from left) Sophie, Abigail and Emma with Prince the cat they are adopting from Sydney Dogs and Cats Home. Credit:Fiona Morris Each year 3000 dogs and cats get a second shot at life but now it's the centre that needs a new home after an eviction deadline passed last month without an alternative location having been secured. It is unclear where councils such as North Sydney, Randwick, Botany, Marrickville and Woollahra will take homeless animals if the shelter shuts. But Fairfax Media understands the only reason it remains open today is because its valuable corner-block land is still going through the various council planning stages that will shortly see it bulldozed, rezoned and redeveloped into high-density residential apartments. Sydney Dogs and Cats Home general manager Claire Garth said a letter had been sent to Premier Baird last week and a petition launched on Change.org calling on the NSW government to help locate a pocket of vacant Crown Land in inner Sydney where the shelter could "build a new home". "We've cared for over 200,000 animals in the last 70 years and demand for our services is only increasing, both through anticipated council amalgamations and the closure of other facilities," said Ms Garth. She referred to "growing community expectation" surrounding animal welfare and also the "strong belief" that animals in councils pounds should get a second chance at life. "But the sad reality is that we are the only facility of our kind in Sydney that places no time limits on animals in our care. And time, for us, is about to run out." The not-for-profit pound presently has provisions for 90 dogs and 90 cats at any one time and it takes on average three weeks for animals to find a new home. Staff and supporters have raised close to $1 million in the past year towards the cost of building new and hopefully larger facilities. But at the same time they have been left frustrated by several potential land deals that have fallen through. On Saturday the shelter assisted in several adoptions, one of which was simply meant to be. Moments after 10 year old Abigail Ware-Maloney had decided that Prince the kitten was coming home with her and her two sisters Sophie and Emma, she discovered that he shared the same birthday as her as does the family's existing cat. A float carrying four race horses has crashed down an embankment on the Bruce Highway on the Sunshine Coast. The float didn't flip but rather slid down the embankment near Roys Road which is 20km south of Caloundra track, deputy stewards chairman Daniel Aurisch said. First report were that the strappers and driver had escaped serious injury, but the four horses had minor injuries and were trapped inside the float. "We had to call the police because our vets raced to the scene but were on the wrong side of the highway. Police had to stop traffic to get them across," he said. Stewards scratched Casual Choice, Frespanol, and Whiskey Allround from the Listed Ascot Hcp and Jetsonic from the Listed Mick Dittman Plate. Trainer Trevor Bailey stopped at the accident site to help. "Thankfully the strappers were OK and the horses were quiet," he said. Four racehorses are being treated after a horse float rolled over on the Bruce Highway. Credit:Phil Carrick The horses belong to trainer Tony Gollan. Stay informed. Like the Brisbane Times Facebook page. A bitter firefighters' feud that has split Daniel Andrews' cabinet spilled onto Melbourne's CBD on Saturday, with CFA volunteers protesting at Parliament in a bid to stop the Premier caving in to union demands. Under grey skies shortly after midday, a motorcade of 421 fire vehicles made its way to Spring Street to join volunteers who fear the government is about to sell out to the United Firefighters Union. A motorcade of about 250 CFA trucks hit Melbourne streets on Saturday in protest over fears of a secret deal between the state government and the firefighters union. Credit:Chris Hopkins The rally was called amid claims that the Premier had struck a "secret deal" with the union to hand over significant control of Country Fire Authority operations, and was about to capitulate to a raft of UFU demands, including a 19 per cent pay rise, a $3000 sign-on bonus, and a number of other generous allowances. While the government has denied a deal has been done, concerns emerged after Mr Andrews met with union boss Peter Marshall last week to discuss the year-long industrial stoush, in a move that sidelined Emergency Services Minister Jane Garrett and divided his cabinet. It was the teen movie that captured the hierarchical horror of high school like no other. Dark and subversive, Heathers became a cult classic with its razor-sharp depiction of the angst that comes with being outside, and inside, the popular clique. Heathers the Musical comes to Melbourne in May, paying homage to the cult '80s movie. Credit:John McRae Now, a stage show of the 1988 film is coming to Melbourne, and the creators promise that Heathers the Musical will be just as edgy as the original. "We certainly haven't toned anything down," said director Trevor Ashley who will bring the production to Arts Centre Melbourne next month. Environment minister Prakash Javadekar signed the agreement in the UN General Assembly hall at a high-level ceremony hosted by UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon. (Photo: PTI) United Nations: India on Friday signed the historic Paris climate agreement here along with more than 175 nations, marking a significant step that has brought together developing and developed nations for beginning work on cutting down greenhouse gas emissions to combat global warming. Environment minister Prakash Javadekar signed the agreement in the UN General Assembly hall at a high-level ceremony hosted by UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon. The ceremony was attended by heads of government, ministers, corporate leaders and artists. Read: Paris climate deal should be comprehensive, equitable: India This is a moment in history. Today you are signing a new covenant with the future, Ban said, adding that, We are in a race against time. The opening ceremony included music from students of New Yorks Julliard School and a short video bringing the gavel moment from Paris to the signature ceremony. Read: Paris climate deal should be pragmatic and practical: Prakash Javadekar At 175 nations, the signing ceremony for the climate agreement set the record for the most countries to sign an international agreement on one day, previously set in 1982, when 119 countries signed the Law of the Sea Convention. Children from around the world stand in a procession with world leaders and country delegates for the Paris Agreement climate change accord in New York City. (Photo: AFP) The signing is the first step toward ensuring that the agreement comes into force as soon as possible. Read: 'Action plan should focus on ensuring climate justice to poor' After the signing, countries must take the further national (or domestic) step of accepting or ratifying the agreement. The agreement can enter into force 30 days after at least 55 Parties to the UNFCCC, accounting for at least 55 per cent of global emissions, ratify the agreement. India has maintained that the burden of fighting climate change cannot be put on the shoulders of the poor after decades of industrial development by the rich nations. It has announced plans to quadruple its renewable power capacity to 175 gigawatts by 2022 as part of the governments plan to supply electricity to every household. India seeks to add 100 gigawatts of photovoltaic capacity, 60 gigawatts of wind power, 10 gigawatts of biomass and five gigawatts of hydro projects. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, in an address to a city- based think tank earlier this week, had said that notwithstanding its development need, India is completely committed to protecting the climate. The level of development we have reached is far, still the hard reality is we have a lot of distance to cover. We need more housing, power, toilets, roads and factories. Therefore our requirements of fuel is certainly going to increase. Notwithstanding that our own standards of protecting the environment are very rigid, Jaitley had said. There is a method in each one of the steps we are taking like taxing oil, cess on coal and emphasis on alternative renewable energy, he had said. We are conscious of our responsibilities, he said. Rio De Janeiro: BHP-jointly owned Samarco has not adopted measures to stop the leaking of mine tailings as required by a court after a deadly dam burst, a prosecutor said on Friday, an allegation that could delay the miner's return to operations. Prosecutor Carlos Eduardo Ferreira Pinto said he would submit the opinion to court by Tuesday. If a judge agrees, Samarco will have to pay a daily fine of 1 million reais ($363,000) until the leaks stop. Environmental protection officials have said Samarco would have to stop all leakage before they would grant permission to resume operations that halted after a disaster in November that killed 19 people. Houston: Harold Hamm, chief executive of shale oil producer Continental Resources and Mitt Romney's 2012 energy adviser, has endorsed US presidential candidate Donald Trump, saying he has the "fortitude to make tough decisions". Mr Hamm, who had previously donated to Senator Marco Rubio's presidential campaign, called the real estate mogul a "business leader's candidate" who has the will to right what he called a series of mistakes from politicians in Washington, including "burdensome government regulations". Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump on his mobile phone during a lunch stop in South Carolina. He's been picked by an oil baron as a "business leader's candidate". Credit:AP "The next president of the United States must have the courage, determination and intelligence to disrupt politics as usual," Mr Hamm wrote in a public letter. "Such an honour to get the endorsement of Harold Hamm, one of the great men in the history of the oil and energy business," Mr Trump said in a statement. Washington: Eight members of one family, including a teenager, were shot dead in rural Ohio, just before gunmen killed five people in Georgia. In Ohio, seven bodies were found at three houses close to each other and an eighth was later found at a separate site, Sheriff Charles Reader told reporters. The victims were "all adults except for a male juvenile" who was 16 years old, he said, and all members of a single family. Two babies -- one aged four days, the other six months --and a three-year-old child survived the shootings, he added. The authorities gave no possible motive. And, with at least one suspected gunman still on the loose, no arrests have been made. "Each one of the victims appears to have been executed, each one of the victims appears to have been shot in the head," Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine said. "The preliminary determination has been made that none of the individuals committed suicide," he added, saying the shooter or shooters "are still at large. We do not know their location." Several victims were in bed when they were shot, Reader said. The first and fourth crime scenes are separated by 50 kilometers, the sheriff's office said. Earlier, DeWine and Reader said in a joint statement that the first seven victims had been found "in three Union Hill Road homes in Pike County," a rural community about 80 miles east of Cincinnati. There was no "active shooter," they said. Schools in Pike County and surrounding areas were earlier placed on lockdown as a precautionary measure, local media reported. Agents from the Attorney General's Bureau of Criminal Investigation were leading the investigation, the statement said. Ohio Governor and Republican presidential candidate John Kasich tweeted that the situation was "beyond comprehension." Meanwhile, five people were found dead in northern Georgia, in two separate incidents believed to be a domestic dispute, Columbia county sheriff's officials said, according to television reports. Local coroner Vernon Collins said five people were dead in two shootings that are possibly connected, the report added. Firearms kill some 30,000 people in the United States each year. However, Republican lawmakers, many of whom are backed by the powerful National Rifle Association, have blocked President Barack Obama's attempt to pass gun control legislation. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 23/04/2016 (2374 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Tiny Tobas first journey has caught the attention of people across Manitobaby teaching readers the importance of gold star gratitude. The Secret Adventures of Tiny Toba: Gold Star Gratitude-First Journey, an all-ages book written and illustrated by Linda Szyszkowski and designed by her husband, Daniel Clement, follows the journey of a married couple, their dog, and a tiny bear across the country as they highlight an attitude for gratitude. Szyszkowski, a teacher who formerly taught in Steinbach, and Clement, a graphic designer originally from Ste Anne, collaborated on the project after taking a month-long motorcycle journey across Canada last September. ADRIANA MINGO | THE CARILLON Daniel Clement and Linda Szyszkowski read their book, The Secret Adventures of Tiny Toba: Gold Star Gratitude-First Journey, to students at Ecole Ste Anne Immersion Wednesday morning. They brought along their dog, June, and Clements motorcycle, One Hunboth of whom are featured in the bookfor the students to interact with. Its always been Szyszkowskis dream to write a book. She said she journals and had the story written, but a combination of their each of their passions, their journey, and the people they met along the way tied the project together. We turned ourselves into cartoon characters, said Szyszkowski. Also prominent features in the book are the couples certified therapy dog , June, Clements custom motorcycle, One Hun, and Tiny Toba, a small bear who represents the friendly people of Manitoba. Throughout the book, readers need to find Tiny Toba as a sort of mystery adventure, Szyszkowski said. The book starts where the couples journey beganin Winnipegand follows their journey to the east coast of Canada. Along the way, Clement, Szyszkowski, June, One Hun, and Tiny Toba encounter many people expressing gold star gratitude. Its all about taking on an attitude of gratitude in life. Its kind of likejoin us on our gratitude journey, said Szyszkowski. When you take the time to be gratefulyour gold star will shine. When you feel your heart is filled with happinessyoull feel wonderful. Along with Szyszkowskis illustrations and Clements designs, the book features pictures the couple took along their journey as a back drop. Szyszkowski said they met a lot of diverse people along their journey and the people illustrated in the book represent people they met along the way. The book incorporates Kindergarten to Grade 12 curriculum outcomes, so its not only a fun read for all ages, but educational as well. The end of the book also includes an activity for readers to write down their own gold star gratitudes. [On the back of the book] we said instantly practice and new attitude of gratitude, because we want to just bring this into everyones life. Not just kids, but adults, too. We feel its a way of life, said Clement. If youre happy, just pass it on and itll keep going to other people. Thats the whole concept of our Secret Adventures of Tiny Toba. The Secret Adventures of Tiny Toba: Gold Star Gratitude-First Journey is available for purchase from Chapters, McNally Robinson Booksellers, Ten Thousand Villages in Steinbach, and the Ste Anne Library. Szyszkowski and Clement will also launch their book at Ten Thousand Villages in Steinbach on Saturday, Apr. 30 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. The couple will donate $1 from each book sold at Ten Thousand Villages Steinbach to ROC Eastman-Recreation Opportunities for Children. Szyszkowski and Clement read their book and led activities for students at Ecole Ste Anne Immersion Wednesday afternoon. The couple said theyre very grateful for the opportunity and hope to do more assemblies in other schools. America's concerns were raised with Pakistan again after the dreaded terrorist attack in Kabul this week in which more than 70 people were killed. (Photo: AFP) Washington: The US on Saturday expressed concern over Pakistan's continued tolerance for terrorist groups like Haqqani network and said that it has raised this issue at the highest level with the authorities in Islamabad. "We have consistently expressed our concerns at that the highest level of the government of Pakistan about their continued tolerance for Afghan Taliban groups, such as the Haqqani network, operating from Pakistani soil," State Department Spokesman Elizabeth Trudeau said. America's concerns were raised with Pakistan again after the dreaded terrorist attack in Kabul this week in which more than 70 people were killed. Afghan authorities have blamed this to the Haqqani network and alleged this had the backing of the Pakistani establishment. "We have pressed the government of Pakistan to follow up on its expressed commitment not to discriminate between terror groups, regardless of their agenda or their affiliation by undertaking concrete action against the Haqqanis," Trudeau said in response to a question. Pakistani authorities have reiterated their commitment that they will not discriminate against those groups, she noted. "We continue to call on them to live up to that commitment," the State Department spokesperson said. "I think words matter and we continue to encourage them to have their actions match those words," Trudeau said responding to Afghan allegations that Pakistanis helped the Haqqani network in this Kabul attack. "Any attack the Haqqani group conducts is not possible without Pakistan's help and this has been repeatedly proven in the last 14 years," a presidential spokesman, Dawa Khan Meenapal, was quoted as saying by Voice of America today. Bill Maher, the unapologetically outspoken political satirist, began his program Real Time Friday night by assessing the recent New York presidential primaries. The HBO host was, naturally, a bit crestfallen that his preferred candidate, Bernie Sanders, lost out to by 16 points to Hillary Clintonand that his nemesis, Donald Trump, won his home state handily. The conventional wisdom is that its just Hillary and Trump. Those are our two choices, said Maher during his monologue. They both won big. Hillary was so stoked she was drinkin hot sauce right out of the bottle! Bernie never got a chance because they didnt let independents vote in New York. The most controversial statement by Maher, however, came during the panel portion of the evening. Maher, joined by guests Van Jones, Lesley Stahl, and Charles Cooke, criticized the fear mongering on the part of Republican presidential candidates Donald Trump and Ted Cruz when it comes to ISIS, as well as their near-constant demand that America bulk up its military. Is ISIS a threat? Yes. But the caliphate will not be extended to Kentucky, said Maher. People dont read the paper so they dont know were actually rolling back ISIS. They are losing. And even if they were a threat, theyre not the kind of threat we need to have a bigger military to fight. Its a different kind of threat. And of course, our military is not drinking. We have the most ridiculous, rock-with-your-cock-out mass murder machine the world has ever seen. The entire panel seemed taken aback by the comment. And no episode of Real Time with Bill Maher would be complete without the ribbing of candidate Trump, who once sued Maher for $5 million for insinuating he might be the spawn of his mother having sex with an orangutan. Maher doesnt buy Trumps new reasonable guy act that he trotted out during his victory speech on New York primary night. Its all been an act, said Maher. Hes really very presidential, a very reasonable guy. Hell be different after the nomination. OK, so let me get this straight: the last thirty years as the worlds biggest douchebag that was just to get us ready? This idea that this guy could ever change his stripes, that he could be presidentialyeah, because on election night Tuesday in New York for three minutes he went onstage and he did act like a normal human being, and he didnt urinate on the whole audience, and he called Cruz senator. It lasted three minutes! Its like, you can make a chimp ride a tricycle for a little while. Its like the way Keanu Reeves can do a British accent for a little while and then he loses it. Genius being a matter of time and circumstance as well as innate ability, it is worth wondering if Shakespeare would have been Shakespeare had he lived other than in Elizabethan England. Perhaps. Perhaps not. Because one of the things that Shakespeare exploited was the utter fluidity of the language he wielded so well. The English language was a baby just finding its footing when Shakespeare wrote his plays and poems. It was a thing in flux, and without any Grammar Nazis around to slap his hand, Shakespeare had a field day. RELATEDArthur Phillips: The Year Shakespeare Wrote Lear OK, the English language is always in flux, but in Elizabethan England, there were few arbiters as we know them. Samuel Johnson would not compile his dictionary for another century and a half, so even among those who could read and write, there was no authority telling people what was proper and what was not beyond the confines of the rude schools such as Shakespeare would have attended in Stratford. As a result he was free, when stuck for a word, to simply make up what he needed, comfortable in the knowledge that no one was going to slap his hand. He did this more than 1,700 times, far more than any other writer. Sometimes the result was wholly original, but as often as not, he invented by jamming two words together (eyeball, green-eyed, madcap, moonbeam) or turning a noun or verb into an adjective or adverb (flawed, olympian, hurried, deafening, obsequiously). Having a nodding acquaintance with at least seven languages did this magpie no harm. Scholars estimate that Shakepeares vocabulary contained more than 24,000 words, the largest of any author (Milton clocks in at 17,377). Heres a sampling of the ones he more or less invented (PDF): AddictionAdvertisingBanditBlanketCaterCriticDawnDwindleEpilepticElbowFixtureFrugalGenerousGnarledGossipGrovelHintImpedeJadedLabelLuggageMimicNegotiateObscenePedantRantScuffleSkim milkTortureTranquilUnrealVariedWorthlessZany Then there the phrases he coined. Here are just a few (PDF): Alls well that ends wellAs merry as the day is longBag and baggageBrave new worldCrack of doomElbow roomHousehold wordsKill with kindnessMake a virtue of necessityMore sinned against than sinningOne fell swoopWhats past is prologuePrimrose pathSalad daysSweets to the sweetSet my teeth on edgeToo much of a good thingWild-goose chase With all that on his plate, its no wonder that he begged, borrowed, or stole the plot of nearly every play he wrote. All that word-mongering left him no time for anything else. Celebrity perks usually amount to a few comped bottles of champagne or courtside tickets. A British railway once set aside 35 miles of mountain track in the Himalayas for Mark Twain to use as a private roller coaster ride. Six-seater car, a handbrake and a long way down if the car jumped the edge. (He expected it would.) He shared that opinion with his wife and daughter just as they boarded. In 1895/1896, in a mostly forgotten trip, Mark Twain traveled around the world, performing 90 minutes of stand-up in 71 different cities, across the United States and the fading British Empire, in Australia, New Zealand, India, Southern Africa. He spent almost 100 days at sea and 50 days sick in bed. This most American of authors rode an elephant in India, at a palace owned by one of the ten wealthiest men in the world, the Gaikwar of Baroda. (Twain loved the exotic names: the Nizam of Hyderabad, the Nawab of Mysore.) I took a ride; but it was by requestI did not ask for it, and didnt want it; but I took it, because otherwise they would have thought I was afraid, which I was. The elephants gold ankle hoops and jewel-encrusted howdah were worth more than Twains entire savings at the time, which then amounted to nothing; the author of Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer was traveling around the world to pay off huge debts from failed business ventures. His travel notes pack many surprises. Mark Twain adored cruise ships. Americas grumpiest author, the wittiest complainer, could not wait to board a luxury steamer and play cards and shuffleboard, to star-gaze, wave-watch, smoke, eavesdrop, and read. (He judged any ships library to be a fine one if it had no Jane Austen novels, even if it had no books at all.) He liked the floating oasis of shipboard isolation: no telegraph, no telephone, no newspapers, no mail, and no creditors. He spent pages trying to capture a silky sunset playing out on the undulating mountains of Oahu. You want to stroke them as you would a cats back. He saw a school of follow-the-leader dolphins swim at night that in their spirals resembled a 30-foot sea serpent. He compared flying fish to flying silver fruit knives. But Twain was Twain, and battles loomed. On his voyage from Victoria, B.C. to Sydney, New South Wales, he feuded with the ships captain, who didnt joke or curse or make puns. Worst of all, the man enforced the No Smoking rules, prohibiting all indoor smoking except in one designated room. Twain was furious. (The author had brought aboard 500 cigars and 4 lbs of pipe tobacco for a 25-day cruise. You do the math; thats 20 cigars a day.) What if it rained? what if the decks were slippery? He was even more furious when he noticed that a little pug-nosed dog, coddled by the crew, had the freedom to empty his inexhaustible bowels all over the ship. Twain button-holed the captain and surgeon and said until the dog was forced to obey ships rules, he wouldnt either. So, Twain smoked in his state-room and fantasized about imprisoning the pampered mutt in the butchers keep. On another cruise, his shipboard notebooks reveal an almost bizarre range of interests: religious preferences in ant colonies, worst public floggings, the anonymity of executioners, the insecurities of God. Twain deemed it pathetic that God in all major religions demands constant praise. We make fun of poor little vain girls who fish for compliments. The Twain/Clemens family, even though they were traveling to pay off debts, chose luxury accommodations wherever possible, such as the Menzies Hotel in Melbourne and Cokers Hotel in Christchurch, N.Z.. (Performers in that era paid their own expenses.) However, in Palmerston, New Zealand, their only choice was a shabby inn. Surly servants and paper-thin walls led Twain to a near-sleepless night. He wrote in his notebook: Early in the morning a baby beganpleasantlydidnt mind babythen the piano played by either the cat or a partially untrained artistcertainly the most extraordinary musicstraight average of 3 right notes to 4 wrong ones, but played with eager zeal & gladnessold old tunes of 40 years ago & considering it was the catfor it must have been the catit was really a marvelous performance. It convinced me that a cat is more intelligent than people believe. Twain found performing his stand-up act so grueling that he had little time or energy for sight-seeing, that is, until he reached India. Unexpectedly, against all odds, the 60 year old from Hannibal adored India, couldnt stop filling his notebooks with his delight. He found himself seduced by the chaos, the nudity, the garish wealth, the sacred cows, the frisky monkeys, the ashes-dusted holy fakirs, the Taj Mahal. Years later, he would call India the only foreign land I ever daydream about or deeply long to see again. Thats high praise from the man whose career was launched by taking extended trips to the Pacific islands, Europe, and the Holy Land (Innocents Abroad, A Tramp Abroad). Twain spent two-and-a-half months in India. He was hooked from his first minutes in his Bombay hotel, Watsons Esplanade, seeing the arched corridors full of men in fezzes and turbans. He looked out his window and saw snake charmers and jugglers. His 21-year-old daughter Clara wrote, We were never free from the impression of living in a fantastic dream. Twain was so mesmerized during his stay that this impatient man judged it unreasonable even to complain about long waits at train stations. You have the monster crowd of bejeweled natives, the stir, the bustle, the confusion. He watched human tides carrying enormous bundles collide as they tried to squeeze through narrow entranceways. When the train at Mogul Serai arrived, he wrote, The two-hour wait was over too soon. Twain caught the tail end of Indias largest religious festival, the Megh Mela, at Allahabad that often attracts two million pilgrims. He sought out the man who hasnt sat down for years, another who has held his hands above his head for years & never trims his nails or hairboth very long& another who sits with his bare feet resting upon a lot of very sharp spikesall for the glory of God. Twain found the Hindu religion intriguing and often challenging. He took a boat down the Ganges at the holiest city of Benares [modern Varanasi] and saw hundreds of pilgrims bathing near the funeral ghats where corpses were cremated. He worried about the bathers health and hygiene, but did not for a moment doubt their sincerity. He almost seemed to envy it compared to cold whites. As a man-in-deep-debt travelling, he certainly envied the nearby loin-clothed priests selling holy fire, holy oil, holy kindling, even holy haircuts. And he marveled at (and seemed irked by) the pilgrim womens ability to spin out of a wet sari and into a dry one without exposing too much bronze. To get a better view of Benares, Twain climbed the spiral staircase of one of the two slender 142-foot tall/8-foot wide minarets (fairy candles) at the Aurangzeb mosque. He stared out and noticed one daredevil gray monkey that was leaping great distances along the rooftops. He came within an ace of losing his life a dozen times, and I was so troubled about him that I would have shot him if I had had anything to do it with. Twain in India repeatedly found himself forced to confront his opinions of another persons religion. He decided that one obviously couldnt be expected to believe another mans beliefs but one should respect their right to have them. He also decided that it was wrong for missionaries to try to impose their religious beliefs on others. He had heard that various Christian missionaries had achieved little success converting Hindus but that they had scored some breakthroughs with monkeys. He wrote in his notebook, In 2 years, at a cost of $60,000, 4 [monkeys] converted & 11 hopefully interested. Twain witnessed a Parsee funeral at the Towers of Silence where vultures swoop down and devour the corpse. He attended a wedding of a pair of 12-year olds (a little elderly as brides and grooms go) who would be married in a week if still alive after the pre-event festivities. The highlight of India for him, however, was that ultimate celebrity perk up in the Himalayas. In mid-February 1896, he and wife and daughter took a train to the hill station of Darjeeling, elevation 7,000 ft., not too far from Mount Everest. A decade or so earlier, it had taken travelers four days in a bullock cart to ascend the old Hill Cart Road; now Twain did it in seven hours, thanks to the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, an engineering marvel built to serve the thriving tea plantations. The railroad was carved on such steep hillsides that it required 500 support bridges, many at cliffs edge, and four reverse zigzags and four horizontal doubleback-through-tunnel loops. Twain admired the safety system the British had devised to protect their celebrity guest during his upcoming descent, as the track sometimes was washed out or an unseen pebble could de-rail a train. The company would send another handcar ahead with its best engineer. The plan was that when we should see his car jump over a precipice we must put on our brake and send for another pilot, Twain wrote. It was a good arrangement. The Twain/Clemens family rode down in an open handcar, the size of a sleigh so low it seemed to rest on the ground. They descended and swerved and zoomed. We started in rugs and furs and stripped as we came down, as the weather gradually changed from eternal snow to perpetual hellfire. He called it the best day of the entire yearlong trip. Mark Twain finished circling the globe and in a couple more years paid off his debts and came home a hero in 1900. Editorial writers heralded him as a symbol of American hard work and honesty. Book sales revived. His lecture agent, Carlyle Smythe, who had accompanied him for nine months, described the author as a man who has been seduced from the paths of high seriousness by a fatal sense of the ridiculous. Twains favorite keepsake from the trip? A stuffed platypus. Richard Zacks is the author of Chasing The Last Laugh: Mark Twains Raucous and Redemptive Round the World Comedy Tour published by Doubleday. Find him at chasingthelastlaugh.com. Among our neighbors to the north and south, pundits and political leaders are warning us that Donald J. Trumps candidacy bears a strong resemblance to the rise of dictators like Mussolini and Hitler. A columnist for the Toronto Sun who compares Trump to Hitler claims that we Americans need to reboot our political gene pool, while the president of Mexico, in these very pages, likens Trumps demagoguery to how Mussolini got in, thats how Hitler got in. These easy allusions are to be expected, but what is surprising are the frequent references that align the flamboyant Trump and some of the other candidates with Al Capone, the legendary gangster who has been dead since 1947. In articles and blog posts, depending on the political persuasion of the writer, the mobsters name is evoked as a quick and easy way to say that a vote for any one of the candidates is akin to a vote for Al Capone. Al Capone bankrolled Republicans, writes the Sun columnist before conceding that not all Republicans are thugs. A conservative blogger takes on the Democrats when he ponders if Hillary Clintons emails will do her in, just as Al Capones tax records did to him. The blogger calls it Secretary Clintons Al Capone factor, while yet another one calls it her Al Capone moment. A Clinton supporter bemoans the continuing GOP fixation on her email server but says it is behavior true to form, as the party regards Clinton as Al Capone in a pants suit. A letter writer to a Midwestern newspaper chastises a young voter who he believes has been taken in by Trumps claim that he is a businessman who understands the situation of the average American worker. The writer admonishes, So did Al Capone, who understood the average person and used them to his advantage. He is referring to Capones comment during the height of Prohibition that he was also a businessman engaged in giving the public what it wanted. Al Capone makes for easy psychological comparisons such as the one by a writer for a Jewish publication who begins an appraisal of Trumps character with references to Freuds Totem and Taboo before he moves on to Erick Ericksons writings about strong men and their followers, and finally to his own conclusion about the ultimate dictator, Hitler. Not content to end there, he cannot resist alleging that Al Capone was Americas contemporaneous lawless contribution to the tradition. Even former Texas governor Rick Perry once merited a Capone comparison. And when Ted Cruz objected to Margaret Sangers portrait being hung in the National Portrait Gallery, a New Yorker writer compared all the candidates positions over the Planned Parenthood funding fracas to the Al Capone optiondefending while distancing themselves either for or against the organizations continued funding. Al Capone died in 1947 at the age of 48, his brain so damaged by syphilitic dementia that his mental age was something between seven and 10. His criminal reign was brief, a mere half dozen years in the 1920s, and it ended when he was sentenced to prison, not for his heinous criminal deeds like the (depending on whos counting) several hundred murders he probably ordered but for tax evasion. He spent almost eight years (1932-1939) in federal prisons far removed from the gangland arena, and in his last years was in the public consciousness only when an enterprising reporter needed to create a story, most of them based on imagination far more often than reality. When Al Capone was released from prison, Prohibition was long over and the country was in the tight grip of the Great Depression. The Second World War turned the publics attention away from the domestic arena, and as it raged, Al Capone was spending his last years quietly at his Florida estate. And yet, for the last half of the twentieth century, he has been an ever-growing enigma who has become a major legend within the collective American imagination. His legend has so grown that merely invoking his instantly recognizable name can be made to support whatever point the speaker or writer wishes to convey. Gangsterologists (those who specialize in the study of criminal history) debate in academic settings his role in American crime. Law students study his famous trial and stage legal re-enactments. Doctors debate his medical treatment and psychologists examine his character and personality. Even the Harvard Business School makes a case study of how Capone ran The Outfit during the few brief years when he was in charge of Chicagos most famous crime syndicate. Because his name is used for everything from pizza joints to pit bulldogs, with hotels and restaurants claiming he slept or ate there, perhaps it is to be expected that it is also used for every form of political commentary. His name was used, but seldom, throughout the last half of the 20th century, when insults and attacks were generally characterized by an overlay of politeness that softened their hostility. It is true that animosity, insults, caricatures, and lies have a long history throughout American politics; what is new within the current campaign are the outrageous slugs of personal insult and the slams of bathroom humor. Thus, the invocation of Al Capones name by each side is both interesting and puzzling. What is there about this present moment in American politics that makes Capone so relevant to those who propose themselves as candidates for the presidency and those who write about their antics? Capone was a ruthless killer, a scofflaw, a keeper of brothels and bordellos, a tax cheat and perpetrator of frauds, a convicted felon, and eventually, a mindless, blubbering invalid. In his heyday, when he was not describing himself as a business man whose job was to serve the people what they wanted, he was busily defending his role as the man who served the public good. One of his minions described Al Capone as a Republican when it suited him, but left unsaid how his natural leaning were with the Democrats. He set up soup kitchens in the Depression, donated generously to charities, was among the first to insist that milk bottles should bear sell-by labels, and lavished massive amounts of money on political causes (granted, so he could control how the recipients voted). Could that be the first clue to our understanding of why his name conveys so much meaning todaythat he only served the people what they wanted? Right now, the American people dont seem able to decide what it is that they want. In a year when the electoral process has degenerated into gang-wars lite, what with all the name calling, protestor-bashing, and reporter-assaulting, we come perilously close to the rough and raucous times when all of gangland, starting with Al Capone, waged every conceivable assault on the political process. And thats what makes it so easy to fall back upon his name for an easy allusion, no matter where you stand in 2016. Its pretty rarebut it does happen, says Dr. Barry Komisaruk of Rutgers University, who published a landmark study in the Journal of Sex Education and Therapy in 1998 describing a man who experienced six full ejaculatory orgasms in 30 minutes without going soft. He conducted the research with Dr. Beverly Whipple, the scientist famed for proving the existence of the G Spot, and freelance writer Brent Myers, who introduced Komisaruk and Whipple to the exceptional man in question. He was the first ever described in a scientific paper who could climax, ejaculate, remain hardand keep going. Prior to this, all scientific studiesincluding those released by famed sex researchers Masters & Johnsonclaimed that repeated ejaculatory orgasms without a refractory period (read: a limp period for recharging) were next to impossible. The superb blues rocker Professor Longhair (real name: Henry Roeland Byrd), died in his sleep in 1980, two days before his album Crawfish Fiesta shipped from the warehouses of Alligator Records in Chicago. Everyone around Fess, particularly journalists, expected Crawfish Fiesta to be the breakout event for a 62-year old vocalist and genre-defying keyboardist whose songs had eluded the national limelight. Without an artist to tour, the disc fell short of the firmament. Still, Crawfish Fiesta is a grand slice of rhythm-and-blues with Fesss rumba-studded piano and seasoned vocals, enhanced by Dr. John on a sizzling guitar. Fess was at his peak, backed by his band, the Blues Scholars with hot horn charts and his favored drummer, Alfred Uganda Roberts. The funeral on that freezing January day was one of the largest and most chaotic in a city of brass band burials, and a powerful scene in Stevenson Palfis documentary, Piano Players Rarely Ever Play Together. Five thousand people pressed toward the mortuary steps; it took a half hour and two bands marching in opposite directions to part the masses so the pallbearers could bring the coffin down and lift it into the hearse. Professor Longhair looms large in the long line of New Orleans piano players, from Jelly Roll Morton and Champion Jack Dupree to Allen Toussaint, Ellis Marsalis, Fats Domino, James Booker (the subject of a dazzling new film, Bayou Maharajah by Lily Keber), Art Neville, and Harry Connick Jr. Professor Longhair played piano with a parade inside his fingers. His romping keyboard style stretched the Caribbean left hand (in the words of Andy Kaslow, his last saxophonist). He captured a rhythm of feet on the street, melding simulations of up tempo horns layered in a strongly percussive flavor, resonant of the habanera or tango sound. The long afterlife of Professor Longhairs music is one of those rare cultural narratives in which an artists posthumous impact gains continuing momentum to spark a look back at the music and the man. He has had enduring influence on the later generation of pianists extending New Orleans soundTom McDermott, Marcia Ball, Davell Crawford, Joe Krown and the British-born Jon Cleary, a Crescent City mainstay who won a Grammy this year for Go Go Juice. Byrds major Mardi Gras songs are played by pop bands and larger marching bands during Carnival season, much more so than the hits of Fats Domino or compositional gems of Allen Toussaint. Toussaint, who died last fall, paid tribute to Fess in two recorded variations of Tipitina. What works for concert halls and lounges does not always carry comfortably into a parade. We turn then to Professor Longhair: Live in Chicago, a new album of previously unreleased material recorded in 1976 at a Chicago folk festival, issued by Orleans Records, a small specialty label, pegged for the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival presented by Shell, the annual two-week celebration of all things musical in New Orleans, which began on Friday. After 40 years in the vault, Professor Longhair: Live in Chicago comes out sounding amazingly fresh. Among the high points is Big Chief, a paean to the Mardi Gras Indians composed by the prolific Earl King, who wrote the song for Fess and sang the lyrics in the classic 1964 version. Kings clarion voice rises from the bursting horns and Fesss rippling keyboard: Me Big Chief me got em tribe/ Got my Spy Boy by my side. The song gets miles of airplay every year during Carnival season in New Orleans. King didnt make the 1976 gig in Chicago and Byrd had no horns that day. He carried four pieces: Billy Gregory on lead guitar, rhythm guitarist Will Harvey, drummer Earl Gordon and on a fulsome bass guitar, the late Julius Farmer, who went on to a long career in Italy before a twilight back in New Orleans. Solid players all, but with a pared-down band, Fess whistled his way through Big Chief, instead of singing the lyrics. His famous whistling on Go to the Mardi Gras, alternately titled Mardi Gras in New Orleans, springs from a driving sound like a locomotive heading down the track. The whistling is soaring precursor to those song lines, inviting you to ride on down to Mardi Gras: On Rampart and Dumaine/ Going to make it my standing place/ Until I see the Zulu Queenqueen of the parade of the Zulu Social Aide and Pleasure Club. In Chicago, Byrd whistled a melodic echo of Mardi Gras in New Orleans (which comes two cuts later on the CD) in supplanting the vocals on Big Chief. If hed had a saxophone or sax-cum-trumpet in Chicago, its a safe bet that he would have sung the lyrics to Big Chief, as he did on other recordings and live performances. The pulse of his percussive piano is on fine display nonetheless, and even with a leaner sound, Professor Longhair: Live in Chicago is a welcome work from for a master bluesman. Fesss unique stylistic attack and the core songs of his repertoire enjoy a continuing arc in the cosmos, influencing countless musicians, not to mention a former U.S. poet laureate, Robert Pinsky. The title poem of Pinskys 2007 volume Gulf Music is in part a tribute to Fess. In the music I was listening to in my early or mid-teens he was maybe one of the hints or guides toward the universe of jazzthat Caribbean or Cuban element, Pinsky told The Daily Beast. Piano, gospel-inflected, stride-inflectedthere is something more complicated, more various, in Fesss playing, in itself and in relation to his vocals, than, say, with Fats Domino or Jerry Lee Lewis. That Caribbean or Cuban element set Fess apart from the New Orleans star of his generation, Fats Domino, whose rolling boogie piano and honeyed baritone on love songs made a generation of white and black kids get up to roll and rock, even if not at the same concerts and clubs. Domino had a career of million-selling hits, unlike Fess, whose line of early, rocking blues never made that milky way. Fess traveled an early hard luck road as a gambler and bare-fisted boxer who punched for bills on a blanket before hitting his stride in the 50s. He had a string of pumping dance tunes, but only Bald Head in 1950 was a commercial hit. Bald Head sings of a boy who discovers that his wife is bald and wished hed a married on some other night. The boy is so embarrassed by his bald-headed wife that when they go out, he gets drunk down by Lee Circuss Parkread: the park around Lee Circle where the Confederate general stands atop an iconic 60-foot columnthe boy wants a little loving. But hes sloshed and in kissing her knocks the wig off. Shame underneath Robert E. Lee! Fesss fortunes waned in the late 60s, even as his anthems like Go to The Mardi Gras and Big Chief became staples of radio play. Slow to gain currency in the outer world, Professor Longhair made a comeback in the 70s with the Blues Scholars, but his early, unexpected death deprived him of a seat on the hit train. Jerry Lee and Little Richard were chart-busting artists, and high-octane personalitiesthe stuff of whom TV movies are made. Not so Fess, who for most of his years lived on the edge of poverty, near his old central city haunts on S. Rampart Street. But the intricacy of his music, how the parts come together as blues, R&B, and rock-and-roll, poses a perennial challenge to keyboard sophisticates: can they play Fess? Rather like the challenge that Louis Armstrong poses for trumpeters: how well can you play West End Blues? Fesss music thrives with New Orleans brass units and big school bands with youngsters in uniforms trooping in the winter parades. Go to the Mardi Gras is a staple of Carnival marches, though none of them try to emulate Byrds magical whistling in the recordingshorn charts are easier. The whistling is another piece of the Longhair package: a sinuous line of notes soaring from the chops like a flute over the driving piano. You can call that whistling a manifestation of folk music, or blues, or inspired R&Bwhatever label you paste on how he whistled, it stands alone. It has become a rite de passage for any keyboard player working in that keyboard tradition to display a mastery of Tipitina. The Domino hits, while contagious dance music, are much easier to play. In the final measure, Fesss great appeal, and the aesthetic challenge to which a continuing line of players will likely warm is the poetic fluidity of that Caribbean left hand. Jason Berrys books include Up From the Cradle of Jazz: New Orleans Music Since World War II. Every election year is a nail-biter for pornographers, who are wracked with worry over potential persecution from the next presidential administration. Demonizing the porn industry under the guise of protecting the publics morality is an old politicians trick. Charge XXX producers with obscenity, collect fines and put a dent in the debauchery. Obscene porn is illegal but not all porn is obscene. Content that was considered extreme 15 years ago might be closer to the norm now. In the late 90s it wasnt acceptable to film sex acts with helplessly bound performers; nowadays, its a mainstream concept. No one wants to go to jail over consensual, legal porn. But its happened before. And in 2016, when the line between kinky fetish and obscenity has become increasingly blurred with respect to different age groups, a progressive administration may be more crucial than ever for the adult industry and consumersespecially at a time when states like Utah have declared porn a public health hazard. This election doesnt matter to me as much as when I had a porn company and could potentially go to prison if the wrong person were elected, said Tom Byron, AVN and XRCO Hall of Fame recipient. Byron has been in the porn industry for over three decades, working under five different presidential administrations. Under the Clinton administration, adult companies were able to relax as the DOJ was more focused on prosecuting child pornography than obscenity. That all changed when George W. Bush took office. Bush blamed the Clinton administration for allowing adult films to become more offensive than ever and vowed to put a stop to it. Not long after Dubya took office, Byrons long-time associates Rob Black and wife Lizzy Borden faced the first major federal charges for obscenity in over a decade (and were later convicted). They were an example for the rest of the industryboth on what not to film, and why voting for the right candidate matters. While many pornographers lean closer to libertarian or democratic ideals, some could be swayed to vote Republican. Byron says hes open to the idea of voting Trump, but wouldnt vote for any other Republican and definitely not Cruz, because he fucking creeps me out. Why does he find Trump so interesting? A lot of what he says is to get publicity and garner votes from the wacky Republican base. Do I think he means half the shit he says? No, and anybody who does is fucking stupid, said Byron. If Hillary won I wouldn't mind, either, he added. I might vote for Trump I dont know. I voted for Schwarzenegger as a goof, too. The Terminator for governor? Why not? Sure, he sucked, but they all do one way or another. Historically speaking, Republican presidents spend tax dollars fighting the porn industry, dragging them to court over various obscenity charges. Take Republican candidate Ted Cruz, who once argued against the right to buy dildos, citing the need to discourage prurient interests in sexual gratification, combatting the commercial sale of sex and protecting minors. Cruz, a so-called constitutional lawyer, felt he was defending public morality by infringing on peoples right to purchase a sex toy. Theres no way we could have Cruz for president. This guy would get rid of whatever is left of porn, would just totally obliterate it, said parody-porn veteran James Bartholet. Hed probably find a way to get rid of Pornhub and everything else on the internet. Then what would people masturbate to, National Geographic magazine? Swimsuit catalogues? The possibilities are scary. Whereas Cruz may incite a throbbing fear amongst the adult industry, Trump arouses an avalanche of disgust. Bartholet had the pleasure of spoofing the Donald in last years XXX comedy Megyn Gets Trumped, however hes made it clear that playing a role does not make him a supporter. I love playing a villain and I dont think theres a bigger villain right now in the United States political scene than Donald Trump, Bartholet said. Would I vote for the man? Absolutely not. If it was a choice between SpongeBob SquarePants and Donald Trump Id vote for SpongeBob. Labeling Trump a buffoon, the queen of lesbian foot fetish flicks Kayla-Jane Danger said the fact that hes made it this far in the Republican primary scares her. It really shows how selfish and bigoted much of this country has become. I hope he disappears as fast as he shot into the pseudo-political spotlight, said Danger. In the unfortunate event that Bernie doesnt make it to the ticket, I would happily vote for Clinton. While the sentiments of Ms. Danger echo within the adult industry, not everyone sees things as clearly. Former congressman Anthony Weiners infamous sexting partner, adult actress Sydney Leathers, said shes undecided. I appreciate that Gary Johnson is pro-choice but voting for a libertarian tends to feel like a wasted vote, Leathers said. Ill likely settle for Hillary but havent fully committed to saying it out loud. And what does she think about The Donald? Trump is too thin-skinned to be in politics, but the Republicans kind of deserve him as their candidate, she said. Sarah Vandella, recently named Ms. Throated 2016 for placing first in a Deep Throat challenge, isnt swallowing any of Trumps trumped-up charisma. I just dont trust the guy. His motives are self-serving and he should stick to business, leave the politics to the politicians. Not to mention, most of his commentary portrays him as a sexist bigot, she said. Vandella plans to vote for whichever Democrat gets the nomination, Hillary or Bernie. We cannot go backwards. Certain candidates are talking about shutting down Planned Parenthood which will cease funding for female sex education. I find that horrific, she said, adding, It terrifies me as an American and a woman, regardless of what industry Im in. According to Sunny Lane, the self-described girl next door, turned hardcore, theres one thing Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump have in common: they make people pay attention. Both candidates have reached out to more voters than in any other election. The more American people we have paying attention to the issues, no matter what side they are on, the better. People are waking up in America and that cant be a bad thing. When Swiss Used to Mean Badass TALES FROM THE TRENCHES Theres a reason the popes turn to the Swiss for personal protection, and its not just because they cut dashing figures in those uniforms... Nizip: German Chancellor Angela Merkel visited a refugee camp on the Turkish-Syrian border Saturday, kicking off a high-stakes visit aimed at boosting a month-old migrant deal plagued by moral and legal concerns. Merkel, who was accompanied by European Council head Donald Tusk and European Commission Vice President Frans Timmermans, headed to the Nizip 2 camp near Gaziantep after touching down in the country's south-east. "Welcome to Turkey, the country that hosts the most refugees in the world," read a huge banner hanging over the entrance to the camp, which hosts some 5,000 people in row upon row of white and beige prefabricated houses. The aim of the visit is to promote the six-billion-euro ($6.7 billion) deal to return migrants arriving on Greek shores to Turkey, which has come under fire from rights groups, the UN refugee agency and some EU leaders. The funds are aimed at helping Turkey improve conditions for the 2.7 million refugees it is hosting. Diplomatic relations are strained following President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's warning that the deal to curb the migrant flow to Europe would fall through if the EU did not keep up its end of the bargain by allowing visa-free travel for Turkish citizens. The bloc promised to present a visa recommendation on May 4 if Ankara complies with its side of the accord, but there has been growing unease in Europe over fears that security concerns are being fudged to fast-track Turkey's application. EU 'sold out to Turkey US President Barack Obama on Saturday hailed Merkel's "courageous" leadership in handling the Syrian refugee crisis. But Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban said the EU had "sold out to Turkey" and the consequences were "impossible to predict", adding: "The security of the European Union cannot be in the hands of a power outside the EU." The success of the deal, which sharply reduced the number of people crossing from Turkey to Greece, was also called into question, with the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) saying the numbers were "once again ticking up". Merkel has said the Turkey visit is a chance to take stock of the implementation of the migrant deal and discuss the next steps, as well as evaluate conditions on the ground for those who have fled the devastating five-year war in Syria. Judith Sunderland, Human Rights Watch's acting deputy director for Europe, said that instead of "touring a sanitized refugee camp", the delegation "should go to the detention centre for people who were abusively deported from Greece". Amnesty International on Friday also urged the European delegation not to "close their eyes to the catalogue of human rights abuses faced by refugees" in Turkey, repeating claims it had documented Syrians being shot at by Turkish soldiers. Refugee schools, hospitals "We have schools and hospitals, life is good here," Mohamed Tomos, 49, who fled Damascus with his wife and four children and now lives with them in Nizip 2, told. "But we want to know what our future holds. If the war ended today, tomorrow I would go to Syria," he said. The European leaders are expected to visit a child protection centre before retiring for talks and winding up with a joint press conference with Turkey's Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu at 8pm (1700 GMT). Many in Europe will be watching closely to see if the delegation takes a stand against the deterioration of rights. Tusk set the tone for a confrontational visit on Friday, when he insisted "our freedoms, including freedom of expression, will not be subject to any political bargaining. This message must be heard by President Erdogan." His comments came as Turkish scholars and journalists, who have criticised the state's policies on Kurds and Syria, stood trial in Istanbul accused of betraying the state. The cases have sounded alarm bells over the growing restrictions on free speech under Erdogan and increased pressure on Merkel to show more spine after allowing a German comedian to be prosecuted for a crude poem about the Turkish leader. She was taunted Friday by one of the reporters on trial, Can Dundar, editor in chief of an opposition daily, who wrote an open letter saying Germany was "on the wrong side" and asking, "Will you again pretend there is no repression here?" Barack Obama gestures as he speaks to a town hall meeting with an audience from the U.S. Embassys Young Leaders UK program at Lindley Hall, the Royal Horticultural Society, in London. (Photo: AP) London: President Barack Obama on Saturday urged the next generation of British leaders to give serious thought to how they solve problems, turning a light-hearted question about priorities for his successor into a treatise on his preference for diplomacy over military conflict. Obama said keeping U.S. citizens safe is his top priority and he suggested that it should also top the list for whomever Americans elect in November due, in part, to the threat posed by the Islamic State group and other extremist organizations. How those issues are handled is important, he said. Leaders need to recognize "that security is not just a matter of military actions but is a matter of the messages we send and the institutions that we build and the diplomacy that we engage in and the opportunities that we present to people," Obama said in a question-and-answer session with young leaders. Such events are a staple of his foreign travels. "That is going to be important for the next president of the United States and any global leader to recognize," Obama said. Obama held up the recent nuclear deal with Iran as an example of the power of diplomacy over force. "Doing so without going to war is something I'm very proud of," he said. The question, however, was about priorities for his successor and the audience applauded loudly when the questioner suggested that person will be a "she," as in Democrat Hillary Clinton, or "could be Bernie," a reference to the other Democrat still in the race, Bernie Sanders. Obama passed up the chance to comment on the fierce campaign to succeed him, but said he'd love to see a focus on early childhood education. Asked about his legacy, the president said he wouldn't have a good feel for it "until 10 years from now and I can look back with some perspective." But still, he cited his health care law, financial industry reform, the Iran nuclear deal and "saving the world economy from a great depression" among the issues he hopes to be remembered for. Obama said he'll review a scorecard after leaving office. "I think that I have been true to myself during this process. Sometimes I look back at what I said when I was running for office and what I'm saying today and they match up." Obama opened his last full day in London by taking in a brief performance cribbed from William Shakespeare's "Hamlet," including portions of the prince of Denmark's famous "To be or not to be" soliloquy. The performance was part of Obama's tour of the Globe theater his way of participating in widespread commemorations of the Bard on the 400th anniversary of the playwright's death. The stop at the Globe, a replica of the circular, open-air playhouse that Shakespeare designed in 1599, rounded out a prince-filled week for the president. Since leaving Washington on Tuesday, he's met with a crown prince in Riyadh, dined with Princes William and Harry in London, reflected on the death of pop music's Prince and met nearly 3-year-old Prince George, William's son. Young George, Obama said, was just "adorable." Obama also planned to meet with Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn before ending Saturday at a dinner with Prime Minister David Cameron and U.S. Ambassador Matthew Barzun at the envoy's government residence. Obama heads to Germany on Sunday for talks with Chancellor Angela Merkel and other top European leaders. He was also scheduled to help Merkel open the world's largest industrial technology trade show before he heads back to Washington on Monday. Saturday St. Francis Episcopal Church, 1101 Rock Prairie Road in College Station, will celebrate the annual Blessing of the Animals from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Low-cost pet vaccinations and examinations will be available, as will microchipping. There will also be onsite pet adoptions, and the American Kennel Club and Bryan Police Department will provide demonstrations. Pets of all kinds are welcome; please have them on a leash or in a kennel. 696-1491 or stfrancisbcs.org. Sunday Unity Spiritual Center of the Brazos Valley, 4016 Stillmeadow Drive, Bryan, will have services at 10:30 a.m. Call 324-9857 or unityspiritualcenterbv.org. Trinity Baptist Church, 1070 N. Harvey Mitchell Parkway in Bryan, will host Awana Clubs for children ages 3-12 from 5 to 7 p.m. The meetings will consist of scripture memorization, games, a light meal and a short devotional. Club meetings will continue at 5 p.m. every Sunday during the school year. 571-1404. Faith United Church (UCC), 2901 Austin's Colony Parkway in Bryan, celebrates the fifth Sunday after Easter with 9:15 a.m. Sunday study, 10 a.m. fellowship, and 10:30 a.m. worship. Pastor Karl's message is, "Dealing with Something New." Faithuccbryan.org. St. Francis Episcopal Church, 1101 Rock Prairie Road in College Station, will celebrate Holy Communion at 8 a.m. (Rite 1) and at 10:30 a.m. (Rite 2). Adult Sunday School meets at 9 a.m. and Children's Chapel meets at 10:30 a.m. The Book Group will meet after the 10:30 a.m. service to discuss A Lucky Child by Thomas Buergenthal and The Girl Who Fell From the Sky by Heidi W. Durrow. Contact the church for information about additional services and classes during the week. 696-1491 or stfrancisbcs.org. First Christian Church, 900 S. Ennis St. in Bryan, will gather for worship at 10:45 a.m. The Rev. Jesse Myers' sermon topic will be "Taking that First/Next Step," based on Acts 11:1-18 and John 13:31-35. Sunday school classes for all ages begin at 9:30 a.m. and a nursery is available. Youth groups meet at 3 p.m. 823-5451 or firstchristianbcs.org. Covenant Presbyterian Church, 220 Rock Prairie Road in College Station, will worship at 10:30 a.m. Cameron Highsmith will be guest preacher. Classes for all ages meet at 9:15 a.m., followed by coffee and fellowship. 694-7700 or covenantpresbyterian.org. Unitarian Universalist Church of the Brazos Valley, 305 Wellborn Road, will have services at 10:30 a.m. The Rev. Aaron Stockwell will deliver "A Sermon for Earth Day." Over the years, the news about Earth has become more dire. As the realities of climate change become more and more pronounced, it can be hard to find hope. 696-5285. Peaceful Rest Missionary Baptist Church, 1508 Congo St. in Bryan, will celebrate the 22nd anniversary of the Rev. Charles Jefferson and his wife at 3 p.m. Galilee Missionary Baptist Church will be our guest church, and the Rev. Anthony Ross will be the speaker. 822-3628 or 823-8608. Saint Andrew's Episcopal Church, 217 W. 26th St. in Downtown Bryan, will have worship services at 7:30, 9 and 11:15 a.m. Centering prayer will be at 10:15 a.m. in the upstairs prayer room. All are welcome. Standrewsbcs.org. 822-5176. Mount Nebo Missionary Baptist Church, 3610 Plainsman Lane in Bryan, will have Sunday school classes for all ages at 9:15 a.m. and morning worship service at 10:30 a.m. 846-4753. Monday First Baptist Church, 2300 Welsh Ave. in College Station, will host its weekly bible study on Mark, 1 Peter and 2 Peter at 7 p.m. 779-7700. First Baptist Church Bryan, 3100 Cambridge Drive in Bryan, will host its weekly Bible study fellowship session at 6:55 p.m. BSF is an international, interdenominational women's study group. This year's topic is The Life of Moses; there is also a children's program. Bsfinternational.org. Tuesday Eagle's Nest Praise and Worship Ministries will be opening a free prayer line from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. The prayer line number is 775-1513, and calls will be answered by a trained prayer ministry associate. The prayer line is coordinated by pastors Gary and Sheila Jones. Wednesday Faith United Church, 2901 Austin's Colony Parkway in Bryan, invites men of all ages to Wednesday morning coffee and guy talk at 10 a.m. All are welcome. Faithuccbryan.org. Faith United Church, 2901 Austin's Colony Parkway in Bryan, will host a Wednesday study about Paul's life and journeys at 6:30 p.m. All are welcome. Faithuccbryan.org. Covenant Presbyterian Church, 220 Rock Prairie Road in College Station, will host a "Onederful Wednesday" dinner at 5:30 p.m., followed by the continuation of a Bible study series on Philippians at 6:15 p.m., led by Pastor Murray and the Rev. Katherine Doehring. All are welcome. 694-7700 or covenantpresbyterian.org. Police say the Bryan neighborhood where a 26-year-old man was shot and killed Wednesday has an average -- if not below average -- crime rate compared to other areas of town. The April Court Townhomes was where police say three men shot and killed Luis Enrique Ibarra at his apartment shortly after 10 p.m. Wednesday. Police have not released a possible motive for the shooting. No suspects have been arrested. It's not the first violent death in that complex. In 2012, 19-year-old Trevor Williams was shot in the head after a drug deal went awry, according to an Eagle report after the slaying. But Bryan police spokeswoman Kelley McKethan said that area is relatively safe and has no more instances of crime than other areas in town. Barbara Wright, secretary for the homeowner association at April Court Townhomes, said these are isolated incidents. She said there's nothing she knows of that could prevent incidents like this from happening, except maybe more stringent background checks on tenants. The townhomes in April Court are individually owned. A leasing company finds tenants for the particular unit in which Ibarra stayed. "When you are the owner of a unit and you lease to somebody, you're just taking a chance sometimes when you don't check out the background efficiently," Wright said. Wright has owned property in that neighborhood since the early '90s. As secretary of the HOA, she takes care of issues or questions tenants may have. She said she was contacted immediately by other tenants when Ibarra was shot, so she wrote an email to the HOA's Bryan police contact, who replied the next day. The officer told her that the shooting was probably drug related. "This is just very, very random that this happened," she said. "It is a nice, quiet place. When we do realize that [when] there's somebody causing a problem, we work trying to get them moved out as quickly as we can." The owner of Ibarra's unit did not respond to a request for comment. The workshop will be at Millican Reserve in College Station. Anyone interested can attend, particularly veterans and their families, or any beginning farmers and ranchers. The workshop will provide educational resources for forming startup agricultural businesses, instructions on creating a business plan and suggestions and possibilities for farming and ranching with a disability. It was May 1984 when College Station residents Thomas Vandiver and Sarah Algren went on a blind date and first laid eyes on each other. At the suggestion of a friend, the two agreed to meet for a date while staying in the East Texas community of Teague. At the tender age of 17, Vandiver said he knew 16-year-old Algren was the one as soon as he saw her. "When I met Sarah, she was absolutely gorgeous," the native of Bells, Tennessee, said. "That day was the day I met the love of my life." But after only six months, the couple would be driven apart by geography and endure bad timing for the next 25 years. After reconnecting six years ago, Vandiver, 48, and Algren, 47, will take care of unfinished business today by tying the knot at First United Methodist Church in Downtown Bryan in front of their children and parents. Although their story seems simple, Vandiver said efforts to stay together over the years proved futile as many unfortunate circumstances kept them separated. Since both of them moved all over the state, Algren said they tried to keep the romance alive by exchanging letters -- all of which Vandiver has saved in a box at his home. "I was writing letters left and right. He didn't write as many ... but he kept all of my letters. I was actually shocked to find I wrote so many," she said with a laugh. After a year of sharing love notes, the couple said they came to terms with the fact that the distance between them was not helping their relationship. "We were just too far and too young to make it work," Vandiver said. The pair shared phone calls in 1987 and again in 1992 only to realize each time one of them was married. Finally, in 2008, Vandiver opened a Facebook account with the sole intention of finding Algren. After reconnecting -- successfully, this time -- he said the past six years have been "the best time of my life." While neither are natives to Bryan-College Station, both have decided to settle and retire in the community. Vandiver is the manager of BCS Tires and Lifts, while Algren works for Classic Cuts in College Station. Algren has four children: Brenna, Ryan, Devan and Haley, while Vandiver has a son named Thomas Jr. The second marriage for both, Algren said she had no plans on tying the knot again, but there was no way she could say no. "My first marriage did not end very well, so I never planned on getting married again," she said. "But when we finally got together, it was like we had never been apart. It just felt right." Grimes County residents affected by flooding can meet with Red Cross volunteers at 10:30 a.m. Saturday. The Red Cross will have teams at the Todd Mission Police Department at 21718 F.M. 1774. The teams will be working with flood victims to identify recovery needs and provide assistance for short-term recovery. The ministers also backed a proposal by the EU's top powers to automatically exchange data in order to expose the real owners of shell companies. (Photo: AP) Amsterdam: EU finance ministers endorsed a series of measures on Saturday to fight tax evading methods used by Europeans exposed by the Panama Papers scandal. "The sense of urgency is definitely much bigger," said Jeroen Dijsselbloem, the finance minister from the Netherlands that holds the EU's rotating presidency, on the second day of talks in Amsterdam. "We've been (so) very busy competing with each other that big companies tend not to pay taxes," said Dijsselbloem who is also head of the Eurogroup of eurozone finance ministers. The EU's 28 member governments at "very committed to close the gaps", he added. Among the measures, the EU will propose a joint list of tax havens to expose jurisdictions used by European individuals and companies to evade or minimise taxes. "There is unanimous support that Europe create its own list of tax havens by this summer," said European Economic Affairs Commissioner Pierre Moscovici. This could prove difficult however, with EU countries already having individual lists based on highly different criteria. The ministers also backed a proposal by the EU's top powers to automatically exchange data in order to expose the real owners of shell companies. Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Spain unveiled the measure at G20 talks in Washington last week. "There is an assumed and converging willingness to fight any anonymous mechanisms" that aid tax evasion and money laundering, said French Finance Minister Michel Sapin. The EU member countries will also launch talks next week on new rules requiring big companies operating in Europe to make public what they earn in each member state of the 28-nation bloc, Dijsselbloem said. Country-by-country reporting has for years been a major demand of tax activists who accuse big corporations of secretly shifting profits to low-tax jurisdictions, often through the use of shell companies. EU governments are divided on the proposal, with some arguing that sensitive corporate data should remain exclusive to tax authorities and not made public. "I think we should not overshoot in tackling these things out of the hysteria on Panama," said Austrian Finance Minister Hans Joerg Schelling. Jackie Robinson's politics more interesting than cartoon Rusty Rush (Eagle, April 19) thinks it's absurd for cartoonist Mike Luckovich to suggest that Bill O'Reilly thinks Jackie Robinson was a Kenyan, socialist Muslim. Cartoonists thrive on odd juxtapositions, and Luckovich obviously was playing on the equally absurd belief that President Barack Obama is a Kenyan, socialist Muslim. In the cartoonist's defense, there are enough people in Fox News circles and the party it favors who hold such beliefs. But it just so happens that Bill O'Reilly is not one of them, having taken Donald Trump to task in 2011 for his "birther" insinuations (though he also played down the prevalence of such beliefs in the GOP). Actually, Jackie Robinson's real political affiliations are more interesting, and relevant right down to today. He was a dedicated Republican for most of his life, but became increasingly frustrated by the growing racism accompanying Nixon's southern strategy, and had abandoned the GOP entirely by the late 1960s, because of tendencies that are also at the root of the "birther" movement. WALTER KAMPHOEFNER Bryan Future homes should be built to protect our environment I am responding to The Eagle's very informative articles of April 5 and April 8 discussing the proposed impact fees that would be assessed to future College Station homeowners. According to the information provided, homeowners might be expected to cover costs for infrastructure within new developments in the coming years. I am appealing to the Planning & Zoning Commission and Impact Fee Advisory Committee members (who include some members of the Homebuilder's Association), to consider how much more forward-thinking it would be if future infrastructure could include updated methods of basic conservation and cost-saving measures for homeowners and renters in College Station's growth. I'm wondering if water-recapturing systems could be put on the table for new developments. Not just for individual homes, but perhaps one system for whole neighborhoods to help preserve our county aquifer and other finite water resources. New homeowners would see this expense in the initial cost of their homes, but they should recoup this with reduced cost of fresh-water usage. This would be especially helpful when water resources become limited due to future droughts. Also, by implementing xeriscaping, in place of lawns or grass, we could begin the process, and set a city precedence, for reducing runoff of fertilizers and insecticides that contaminate our surface waters, poisons and threatens life along rivers and streams, and eventually the gulf and oceans. This would be a win-win -- for homeowners who would be spending less time on lawns, money on water, chemicals and fertilizers, and for our environment. Finally, homeowners would be able to see lower utility costs if homes could be constructed without west-facing windows that bring the bulk of the afternoon heat from sunlight inside, during the warm months of the year. CAROL BIGGS College Station Unfettered housing will damage Bryan's desirability If the faculty of Texas A&M College of Architecture and City Planning wish to show their students a perfect example of a planning disaster, they need only take them to the housing project being erected in Bryan at the property bounded by Nash Street and Villa Maria Road. It appears that every square foot of land will be occupied by a monotonous structure or a concrete parking lot. It is obvious that the objective is to squeeze as much revenue as possible from this prominent property. There will be a negative impact on the environment in every way that can be imagined. Traffic is heavy there already and we anticipate lots of slow-downs and delays. We realize that there seems to be a growing need in the community to provide adequate and affordable housing, but there is also a need to preserve the quality of life and not completely replace trees and grass with abysmal structures and paving. If this continues unchanged, we will lose much of what makes this community such a desirable place to live. JOAN and BOB HOLTZAPPLE Bryan SHARE By Erin Schmitt of The Gleaner A motion seeking summary judgment on the "nickel tax" lawsuit against the Henderson County Board of Education has been filed. The plaintiffs in the case, Dean Spooner and Robert Pruitt, filed the motion Tuesday in Henderson Circuit Court. "We're challenging if anyone can change any number or language in a referendum after its been voted on by the people," Pruitt said Friday. "We don't think there's any way they can. That's where our whole case lies. The budget is sacred. You can't change it." The two men initially filed the civil suit in late December, claiming that the school system's nickel tax is fraudulent and was applied retroactively. The school system has denied the allegations and asked for the suit to be dismissed. In April 2015, the school board approved passing a recallable nickel tax. This tax generates revenue that is exclusively used for construction or renovation projects. A court-verified public petition placed the issue before public vote. There were 4,976 people who voted to pass the nickel tax, edging out the 4,799 who voted against it. Bills with the new tax were sent out in early December. Pruitt and Spooner broke down their legal argument into three counts. Their main sticking point is that the school system doesn't have the authority to change a referendum voted on by the public, specifically they believed the approved public question was misleading. The question on the ballot read: "Are you for or against the Henderson County School Board raising funds strictly to be used to renovate and construct school facilities by levying a real estate and personal property tax of five cents on each one hundred dollars valuation?" The two men also argue the nickel tax was applied retroactively and that the 2015 property tax bills reflect a tax of 5.9 cents on each $100 valuation, not the nickel stated in the public question that was voted on. After the bills were issued in December, there was confusion because the amount paid is greater than five cents. This is because the "nickel tax" is based on how the state determines how much should be generated. The state calculates how much money would be produced by five cents per $100 of assessed value of property and motor vehicles in the school district in this case the entire county. The district is required to collect enough money from property taxes to transfer that dollar amount into its building fund, according to school officials. However, the tax is not applied to motor vehicles, and the state takes into account that less than 100 percent of the actual tax revenue owed will be collected. So the rate, in this case 5.9 cents per $100 valuation, is higher to account for those two situations. Henderson Circuit Court Judge Karen Wilson will rule on the motion on June 6. Gleaner reporter Laura Acchiardo contributed to this story. Trick-or-treat, walk Ed Stone's Haunted Halls and more this week in SE Iowa Your guide to getting off the couch and out the door this week in Southeast Iowa. London: Latvia has banned women from wearing the Islamic full-face veil in public, despite only three people being known to wear them in the entire country, whose population of less than two million people includes about 1,000 practicing Muslims, according to government estimates. According to The Independent, authorities say the new legislation is necessary in order to protect Latvian culture and prevent terrorists from smuggling weapons under garments. The move follows a similar ban on full-face veils in public spaces implemented by France in 2011. Latvias Justice Minister Dzintars Rasnacs said the law which he hopes will come into place by 2017 is less to do with the number of women wearing the traditional niqab, but rather about ensuring prospective immigrants respect the countrys values. 'A legislator's task is to adopt preventive measures,' Latvia's Justice Minister Dzintars Rasnacs told the New York Times. We do not only protect Latvian cultural-historical values, but the cultural-historical values of Europe. When the low number of niqab bearers was highlighted, Mr. Rasnacs said the law 'had more to do with ensuring that prospective immigrants respect the norms' of Latvia. This comes just days after Frances Prime Minister Manuel Valls said he wants all forms of Muslim headscarves to be banned in universities. In an interview with the daily newspaper, Liberation, Prime Minister Valls said France should 'protect' French Muslims from extremist ideology. He said the headscarf, when worn for political reasons, oppresses women and is not an object of fashion or consumption like any other. Asked whether to outlaw headscarves in universities, Mr Valls is quoted as saying it should be done, but there are constitutional rules that make this ban difficult. NORWALK -- James J. Ruggiero, Jr. and several friends had just graduated Norwalk High School and were sitting at Bob's Luncheonette along East Avenue in June 1954 mulling their futures. "The four of us were sitting there talking, because we couldn't get jobs. We were draft age, classified 1A, so we said, 'We might as well join up,'" Ruggiero said. "So we went down (to enlist). My father didn't talk to me for two weeks. He was upset because I hadn't talked to him first. But other than that, he was proud." Ruggiero, who served eight years in the U.S. Marine Corps, will lead Norwalk's 2016 Memorial Day Parade on Monday, May 30. The Norwalk native received a phone call last week from the Norwalk Veterans Memorial Day Committee (NVMC), informing him that he'd been selected to serve as the parade's grand marshal. "He served honorably and he served during wartime, and when he came home he took into consideration his community. He's done quite a bit," said Dan Caporale, NVMC chairman and U.S. Marine Corps veteran. "He's really deserving to be the grand marshal this year." Ruggiero said he felt honored to have been chosen grand marshal. For clarity, he distinguished between those honored on Veterans Day and those on Memorial Day. "Too many people take it for granted that (on Memorial Day) we honor those that did come back -- that should be done on Veterans Day," Ruggiero said. "Memorial Day is for those that gave the ultimate sacrifice." Ruggiero served in the U.S. Marine Corps at the height of the Cold War, entering service in June 1954 when the Korean War was underway and receiving his honorable discharge in June 1962 before the Cuban Missile Crisis. His last six years of service were on-call duty. He underwent basic training at Parris Island, S.C., and advanced combat training at Camp Pendleton, Calif. Expecting deployment to Korea, Ruggiero received cold-weather training in the Sierra Nevada mountains. In December 1954, he boarded the USS General Walker bound for Korea, but he never made it. The United States and North Korea had reached an agreement that barred deployment of additional armed troops. "We went through training, through boot camp, through advanced combat training," Ruggiero said. "Were looking forward to (deployment)." Instead, Ruggiero was re-routed to Japan and later transferred to Hawaii, where his duties included training, special services and operation of a .50-caliber machine gun. While off duty, he attended luaus and barbecued squid on the beach. He describes the Hawaiian people as friendly and his time there as enjoyable. However, daily life became increasingly humdrum, he said. His thoughts were in Norwalk, where Ada Rossi, his high school girlfriend, awaited his return. Ruggiero proposed to her and the couple entertained thoughts of a wedding in Hawaii, but their parents would have none of it. The wedding would have to take place in Norwalk. Ruggiero returned to Norwalk and the couple married in 1958. The proud parents of three daughters, three grandchildren and one great grandchild, James and Ada Ruggiero recently celebrated their 58th anniversary. In his civilian life, Ruggiero worked as a data processor for Burndy Corp., General Electric Co. and Raytheon Co. Sorenson. He later worked as office manager for the First Taxing District Water Department and also the Second Taxing District Water Department. Ruggiero has been a member of the American Legion for 23 years, the South Norwalk Boat Club for 50 years and is past president of the Saint Ann Club. For two decades, he carried the American flag for the Saint Ann Club in the annual Memorial Day Parade. NORWALK -- It's time for Matzah balls and Manischewitz as area Jews take part in the most celebrated Jewish holiday, Passover, which started Friday. And while the holiday is inherently Jewish, area rabbis emphasize that the meaning of Passover is a message for the masses. "Passover is a holiday with a universal meaning," said Rabbi Mark Lipson of Norwalk's Temple Shalom. "The various symbols that we incorporate in our Seder are very much centered around how precious freedom is." Passover celebrates the liberation of the Jews from Egyptian slavery with eight days of rituals and ceremonies to remember the journey of Jewish ancestors. More than 70 percent of Jewish Americans participate in at least one Seder -- a nightly dinner and telling of The Exodus -- every year. Passover 2016 started Friday night and continues through April 30. Yehoshua Hecht, rabbi at Beth Israel of Westport/Norwalk in Norwalk, said the Seders are a nightly "re-experiencing" of The Exodus, and a reminder of the greatness of freedom from tyranny. Hecht estimates there are more than 10,000 Jews in the greater Norwalk area, including Wilton, Westport and Weston, many of whom will be celebrating Passover. "It's about celebrating the freedom that we enjoy today and being thankful there is no tyranny in our lives, that there is no Pharaoh enslaving us," Hecht said. "More than that, it's about overcoming whatever challenges we have today as human beings, re-experienceing freedom and to cherish what freedom is all about It's a very relevant message to us as people of the Jewish faith and it's a universal message. As Americans we really need to be thankful that we're living in such a magnificent, wonderful country that assures the freedoms to every person of faith and non-faith and gives us the freedom to choose to live our messages accordingly." Hecht notes that tyranny can be more than just the oppressive physical actions of one group over another, and includes the recognition of inner tyranny as an important aspect of Passover for people of all faiths. "Inner tyranny is materialism, consumerism," Hecht said. "There is nothing wrong with living a beautiful, happy and successful life but society constantly tells us we need to have more and more. People are looking for that elusive freedom. Happiness and freedom is not from objects. It comes from within. Freedom, if not directed to a worthwhile purpose, can become tyrannous." In keeping with a universal message, many non-Jewish Norwalkers will also partake in Passover celebrations this week. Hecht and Lipson said it is a tradition of Passover to include strangers and non-Jews in the experience. Lipson expects 180 people to attend the community Seder at Temple Shalom Saturday night, and welcomed more than 30 for a private Seder at his home Friday night. Beth Israel also welcomed more than 100 Friday night for an community Seder. "It's a combination of family, friends and people who didn't have a place to go," Lipson said. "One of the tenants of the Seder is that we invite the stranger to be a part of that experience." The Nebraska World Organization of China Painters will be hosting a porcelain china painting art show in Grand Island. The hand-painted porcelain show, April Showers - Paint More Flowers!, is set for April 28-29 at the Boarders Inn and Suites at the corner of Highway 34 and South Locust. Admission is free and open to the public. Many artists from Nebraska and out of state will be displaying and selling painted items and supplies. Activities will include demonstrations and classes on china painting techniques. The event is scheduled from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Thursday and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Friday. For more information and reservations for classes, contact the Nebraska organization state president, Cecilia Slingsby, at cslingsby@charter.net. Just ahead of National Travel and Tourism Week, the Nebraska Tourism Commission will host a town hall meeting from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 27, at the Central Nebraska Regional Airport. Grand Island will be one of eight Nebraska communities to host the meetings. The commission would like to provide an update on current tourism projects and goals, as well as celebrate the success of our industry, hear public support and learn more from industry members, said Kathy McKillip, Nebraska Tourism Commission executive director. The town hall meetings are open to the public and should last about an hour. Marijuana is illegal for recreational use under Israeli law, but is prescribed for patients with certain conditions, including those undergoing chemotherapy. London: A leading Belarusian rabbi has ruled the consumption of marijuana for medical reasons is kosher for the Jewish religious Passover ceremony. According to The Independent, Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky was presented with cannabis leaves and told that they have a healing smell. Ashkenazi Jews who are usually of Central and Eastern European descent consider the drug to be a member of the kitniyot a group of legumes and grains that are forbidden during Passover, including rice, peas and lentils. Kanievsky has said that marijuana may be used by Jews from all backgrounds on Passover if it is used for medical purposes, The Times of Israel reports. The 88-year-old rabbi, who lives in Bnei Brak, an Israeli city east of Tel Aviv, can be seen with another prominent rabbi in a video uploaded to YouTube by pro-legalisation group Cannabis Israel in which they are presented with cannabis leaves and partake in the leaves being blessed. In 2013, Orthodox rabbi Efraim Zalmanovich ruled that distributing and smoking marijuana is kosher, for medicinal purposes. Using the drug for fun, he said, was forbidden. Rabbi Zalmanovich has reportedly said that taking drugs to escape the world is certainly forbidden. Marijuana is illegal for recreational use under Israeli law, but is prescribed for patients with certain conditions, including those undergoing chemotherapy and those experiencing chronic pain from Parkinsons disease. Residents around Longfellow and First avenues have been living for years with a large propane tank in their midst, and recently 69 of them signed a petition demanding that they be removed. Kenny Krumeich delivered the petition to Edwardsville City Hall last week, and on Tuesday he addressed the Edwardsville City Council about the issue. The petition reads: We the undersigned demand the removal of all propane tanks on First Avenue. It was circulated along First, Longfellow, McKinley, Second avenues and several neighboring streets. The large baby blue tank - along with 18 smaller propane tanks - lies inside a chained link enclosure at the intersection of Longfellow and First. The big one is the one that would decimate this whole entire area, said Krumeich, who has lived a few blocks over on McKinley for all of his 58 years. Every time you hear a big loud noise you get the jitters. Youre just sitting on pins and needles. But Edwardsville attorney Jeff Berkbigler said Ferrellgas has been operating on the property legally since 1967, the year city officials zoned it M-1 (mixed) and granted them a special use permit that allows for fuel sales and storage. I believe that the only thing the city can do is apply its zoning ordinances and requirements for above ground storage tank installation, Berkbigler said in an email. By state law, the Illinois Fire Marshals office has complete jurisdiction over all underground and above ground storage tank installation. Right now, they are conducting a proper operation given the zoning and the special use permit that theyve been working under since the late 60s, Edwardsville Fire Chief Rick Welle said Monday. Krumeich recalled that as a child he often walked over to the white cement block building near the tanks and bought a soda for a dime. The state Fire Marshals office has granted the owners of the property a license to store propane on the property, said Jacquelyn Reineke, a spokesperson for the office. We sent out investigators to look at them and make sure they are acceptable, and then we offer licenses. But we dont then go back out. Its not something that we constantly monitor. But she said that residents who have specific concerns can call the Fire Marshals fire prevention department and inspectors will visit the site within a day or two. We take it very seriously, obviously, she said. Its not clear exactly how long the tanks have been there, but Krumeich says the residential homes were there first. A May 5, 1950, Intelligencer article headlined New Skelgas Plant to Serve Edwardsville Trade Area mentioned that a Skelgas bottling plant had recently been built at 214 First Avenue. With the completion of the Edwardsville plant, Skelgas, at the time, operated 52 such plants, according to the story. More and more people are experiencing the comfort, convenience and economy of having Skelgas do the four big jobs in the home: cooking, water heating, refrigeration and home heating, the story said. Although natural gas is more popular today, propane is still used by many residents, particularly those living in rural areas outside city limits. Some of the propane tanks on First Avenue are empty, and only one is a propane transfer tank, Welle said. The Edwardsville Fire Department has been keeping an eye on the storage facility to ensure the operation is run in a safe, efficient and orderly manner, he said. If a problem were to arise, the city has emergency procedures in place to evacuate the immediate area and to try to contain the damage. Welle said that while there are always risks associated with storing propane, there are similar risks and concerns associated with natural gas. And in the case of propane, he added, it would still take a significant failure for it to be a problem. Still, the Edwardsville Fire Department has 10 members on the Madison County Hazmat Unit, each of whom has received significant training on the basics of handling hazardous material. We know how to go out and test the air and see what the levels are, Welle said. We know how to set up safety zones if we do have something along those lines. They are operating things legally, so were preparing for this and dealing with this the best we can. Krumeich maintains that in August of 1939 the city approved an ordinance prohibiting the construction of storage tanks of gasoline, kerosene or flammable and explosive substances within the city. But Berkbigler said the ordinance Krumeich is referring to is not actually a city ordinance but a general application offenses and miscellaneous provisions clause that concerns general storage tanks constructed above ground within the city. Exclusive jurisdiction for the property, he said, lies with the state Fire Marshals office. The property at 210 First Avenue has changed hands several times over the decades. According to the Madison County Recorders office, the property has been owned by Illinois Terminal Railroad, Getty Refining and Marketing Co., and Skelgas. Krumeich says that he doesnt believe anyone actually works at the site now. Once in a while, a Ferrellgas truck pulls up and fills up with propane, but otherwise he sees little activity there. It just needs to be removed, he said of the propane. You should not have tanks in the middle of a residential area. The Saint Louis Zoo now cares for two female Tasmanian devils in a new $550,000 Emerson Childrens Zoo habitat, opening Thursday, April 28. This Tasmanian-themed habitat was built specifically for these endangered animals, and the sisters arrival marks the first time in 30 years that the Saint Louis Zoo has cared for this species. "Because Tasmanian devils are in such trouble in the wild, the Saint Louis Zoo has joined other like-minded conservation organizations in an initiative to secure a healthy future for this species," said Jeffrey P. Bonner, Ph.D., Dana Brown President and Chief Executive Officer of the Saint Louis Zoo. "These two animals will serve as ambassadors to raise awareness among our 3.2 million annual visitors about the need to save the wild devil population. On March 23, the two female devils named Yindi (YIN-dee) and Jannali (JAN-al-ee), both age 2, arrived in St. Louis from Taronga Western Plains Zoo, Dubbo, Australia. Tasmanian devils are found in the wild only in Tasmania, an island state of Australia. Selected as one of only six U.S. zoos to care for Tasmanian devils, the Saint Louis Zoo is participating in the Save the Tasmanian Devil Program an Australian government initiative. As part of its commitment to this species, the Zoo provides funds to Australias Zoo Aquarium Association Wildlife Conservation Fund supporting Tasmanian devil population monitoring and management. Tasmanian devil populations in the wild have been decimated since the immergence of devil facial tumor disease in 1996. Spacious Habitat Seen Through Bird-Safe Glass At the new habitat, Zoo visitors will be able to view the Tasmanian devils through two, eight-feet-high and eight-feet-wide Ornilux glass panels. This is the first exhibit at the Zoo to incorporate this special glass, which is glazed with ultraviolet reflective striping that is highly visible to birds, yet almost invisible to humans. The habitat offers the animals more than 2,000 square feet of outdoor living space and includes two dens, a fresh water pond and a landscape of hardy plants, boulders and logs. The dens are cooled in the summer and heated in the winter with water circulating through a grid of piping in the den floor. The habitat also offers the animals an elevated area where they can look over the exhibit area below, and it has been specially constructed to provide plenty of soil for these expert diggers to burrow. These animals will have a myriad of opportunities to exhibit natural behaviors in this complex environment. The Zoo will also be providing an interactive play area for our young guests to learn about the Tasmanian devils unique natural history and the threats the species faces in the wild, said Alice Seyfried, Fred Saigh Curator of the Emerson Children's Zoo. Worlds Largest Carnivorous Marsupials These animals are the world's largest carnivorous marsupials (pouched animal) and are well known for their intense vocalizationsan extremely loud screech. The species is characterized by its stocky and muscular build, black fur, pungent odor and keen sense of smell. Males typically weigh about 25 pounds and females about 18 pounds. Wild populations have dramatically declined since the appearance of devil facial tumor disease. This disease only affects Tasmanian devils and is spread through devils biting each other in fights. It is one of only four known naturally occurring transmissible cancers. In some areas, more than 80 percent of the free-ranging population has been wiped out. While scientists search for a cure for the disease, zoos are cooperating to raise a healthy, cancer-free assurance population. The Tasmanian devil is much more than the cartoon character we remember from the animated cartoon in the Warner Bros. Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series, Alice Seyfried said. It is a Tasmanian icon that plays an important role as a flagship species for the environment and for all the animals in the area where it naturally exists. They sit at the top of the food chain, keep prey species numbers in check, decrease the spread of disease by cleaning up the remains of dead animals and compete with introduced predators, such as feral cats and the red fox. Why the fiery name and reputation for an animal the size of a small dog? While their name makes Tasmanian devils sound scary, they are actually quite shy, she added. We are told the name devil may come from the sounds they make. They make eerie growls while searching for food at night. And when a group of them feeds together, they screech and scream. They really are fascinating animals to care for and observe. Admission & Hours Admission to the Childrens Zoo is $4 per person. Children under age 2 are free. Admission is free the first hour the Zoo is open. The Zoos spring hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily through May 26. Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day, May 27 through September 5, 2016, the Zoo is open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Thursday; and 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Friday through Sunday for Prairie Farms Summer Zoo Weekends. The Zoo will be open until 7 p.m. on Memorial Day, May 30; Independence Day, July 4; and Labor Day, Sept. 5. Starting Sept. 6, the Zoos hours return to 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. The Zoo will close at 3 p.m. on Friday, June 17, for A-Zoo-Ado, the Zoos biennial fundraiser. For more information, visit www.stlzoo.org. Devil Population Decline: Signs of Devil Facial Tumor Disease were first observed in North East Tasmania in 1996. Since then, the disease has spread rapidly, devastating wild populations. Other threats to this species include land-use changes, loss of habitat, vehicle collisions, feral cats, dogs and bushfires. About the Save the Tasmanian Devil Program: The Save the Tasmanian Devil Program (STDP) was established in 2003 in response to the threat of Devil Facial Tumor Disease. Its mission is to combat the epidemic that is killing Tasmanian devils; to ensure the survival of the Tasmanian devil; and to achieve the endangered species recovery in the wild as an ecologically functioning entity. Establishing an assurance population was an immediate strategy to guard against extinction of the species. The core activity of the Save the Tasmanian Devil Program is funded by the Australian and Tasmanian Governments. About Taronga Western Plains Zoo in Dubbo, Australia: This zoo opened to the public in 1977, to provide living and breeding space for large animals. The zoo is run by the Taronga Conservation Society (formerly Zoological Parks Board of New South Wales), along with Taronga Zoo. This Zoo is one of 15 wildlife organizations across Australia breeding a disease-free population of Tasmanian devils. The national effort to save the Tasmanian devil involves controlled breeding with the hope of boosting numbers in the wild when the risk of disease is arrested or diminishes. About the ZAA Wildlife Conservation Fund: This public fund of the Zoo and Aquarium Association links zoos and aquariums in Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific in a cooperative regional network for wildlife conservation. The fund is currently pooling conservation funds from the U.S. zoos caring for ambassador Tasmanian devils to purchase new cameras for the free-range enclosures where devils are housed prior to their release into the wild. The cameras allow staff to monitor the behavior and welfare of the devils during their pre-release conditioning. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Nearly 300 students, faculty, employees and supporters from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville rallied in Edwardsville City Park to draw more attention to the higher education crisis in Illinois. Because of the ongoing standoff between Republicans and Democrats in the General Assembly, public universities and community colleges have gone nearly 10 months without any state funding. The state has also failed to fund grants to low-income students through the Monetary Award Program (MAP). Speaking at the rally, Dr. Denise DiGarmo, associate professor in the Political Science Department, told the crowd that the crisis that the universities in Illinois is facing affects more than just the campuses. SIUE has been a part of this community for over five decades. We live here, we shop here and we support this community, she said. Now it's time for the community to support SIUE and stand with us and demand that the politicians stop using the students, staff and faculty as pawns in this untenable political battle - a battle that has the potential to impact future contributions of SIUE to this community. Edwardsville Mayor Hal Patton said SIUE plays an important role in the progress of Edwardsville. When we look at all the progress in Edwardsville, part of it, if not every part of it, has to do with the progress at SIUE, Patton said. Patton said he has two messages for legislators. First, I tell them that SIUE is an important part of Edwardsville, he said. The second thing I ask is, if they are serious about doing a budget compromise on the backs of our children - that blows me away. Education is the most important thing this government can fund and I cant imagine higher education is where we want to compromise. Patton said he cant fathom that our government is closing parks, cutting services, not funding institutions and not paying insurance premiums for state workers. I realize Illinois has a large problem and there has to be fundamental change. Both parties need to come together and give up a little bit and get this state functioning again, he said. We cannot continue to lose jobs, lose revenue and lose college students to other states. Our legislators have to come to a compromise. Katie Stuart, an SIUE math teacher and challenger of Rep. Dwight Kays 112th District seat, said politicians have failed taxpayers. Im very disappointed in our representative that has SIUE in our district, she said. Its (SIUE's) a vital part of our community and we need to save it and we need to fight for it. DiGarmo announced a bill had been passed that would provide temporary relief. Legislators passed a short-term plan to provide $600 million to fund those universities and community colleges hit the hardest by the budget impasse. The bill also provides $170 million in tuition grants for low-income students. Its a stop-gap measure that provides some relief, she said. But it does show that maybe the politicians are listening to what we have to say. Interim SIUE Chancellor Stephen Hansen, who attended the rally, said he was excited by the students getting together to support higher education. Weve known historically that investment into education is an investment in the future and weve proven that time and time again in American society, Hansen said. It is unconscionable that our elected officials have forgotten that lesson. Education is what makes democracy great and made us the envy of the world." Kay issued a statement Friday, after lawmakers approved the $600 million stopgap funding bill. I am pleased to announce that we have reached a compromise to get much needed funds for SIUE, Lewis and Clark Community College and Southwestern Illinois College, Kay said in the press release.This stopgap funding will help keep the doors open at all of Illinois universities and community colleges this fall. I applaud this bipartisan effort, I hope this is the beginning of more bipartisan agreements to follow. The Illinois Senate approved a bill that would make possession of a personal amount of marijuana a civil fine. But more importantly, to local law enforcement officials, the bill gives a quantitative measure to prosecute individuals for the operating of a motor vehicle under the influence of marijuana. Senate Bill 2228, sponsored by Sen. Heather Steans, D-Chicago, would make possession of up to 10 grams of marijuana a civil violation punishable by a fine of $100 to $200. Adults would no longer face time in jail and the civil offense would be automatically expunged in order to prevent a permanent criminal record. Currently, possession of less than 10 grams of marijuana is misdemeanor, punishable by a fine of $1,500 and up to 6 months in jail. Ten grams is equivalent to two teaspoons. The bill also amends the Illinois Vehicle Code and makes it illegal for anyone to operate a motor vehicle with 5 nanograms or more of THC per millimeter of whole blood or 10 nanograms or more of THC per milliliter of another bodily substance such as saliva. THC is the principal psychoactive constituent found in marijuana. State Sen. Bill Haine, D-Alton, said amendment to the vehicle code was his primary reason for supporting the bill. This is a watershed moment for enforcement in Illinois, Haine said. Prior to this it was almost impossible to prosecute individuals for operating a vehicle under the influence of cannabis. This gives prosecutors and law enforcement the tools to prosecute people driving under the influence. Haine said under the old laws it was almost impossible to convict anyone of driving under the influence of marijuana. The reason, he said, was that trace amounts of THC can be found in the body up to 30 days after smoking marijuana, making it difficult to prove in court that the driver was actually impaired at the time of driving. Madison County States Attorney Tom Gibbons said the standards set in the bill regarding driving under the influence of marijuana use was greatly needed. Im in favor of this because it creates and gives law enforcement some specific standards when it comes to prosecuting individuals driving under the influence, Gibbons said. This has been a long time coming. This gives us a clear standard like the .08 alcohol limit. In addition to the THC level standards, proponents of the bill said it would provide consistency to Illinois current drug laws. We need to replace Illinois current patchwork of marijuana possession laws with a consistent standard that will be applied fairly across the state, Steans said. People should not be sent to jail for an offense that would have been punishable by a small fine if it had occurred a few miles down the road. Its irrational, its unpredictable and its unjust. Haine said he agrees with the bills goal of decriminalizing low-level users. I think its a great way to protect young people who make a mistake, he said. It would be a shame for a young person to lose an opportunity, like a scholarship, for being caught with a minimal amount of marijuana. Gibbons said charges against low level users are currently, one step up from a traffic ticket. The low level users are not the problem, he said. "They are generally not involved in violent crime or serious criminal activity. Alcohol seems to be more of a contributing factor to violent crime than someone smoking pot. Both Haine and Gibbons applauded the section of the bill that gives local municipalities the power to create programs to help low-level offenders. If the low level user can avoid going through the criminal justice system and the municipality can provide education and diversion programs, its a good thing, Haine said. Gibbons said the focus of his office hasnt been on low-level marijuana users, but aimed at the illegal trafficking. Our resources are put toward stopping the trafficking of marijuana. Trafficking leads to serious violent crime from assault to murder, he said. The bill is now before the House of Representatives for review. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Asmara Wreksono (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta, Indonesia Sat, April 23, 2016 11:13 2375 9a908d6c9b5df7a03d27efc2fdd69a77 1 Entertainment Ada-Apa-Dengan-Cinta,AADC2 Free Fourteen years after Ada Apa Dengan Cinta? (AADC?, Whats up with Cinta?) was released, Mira Lesmana and Riri Riza are at it again, building hopes and breaking the hearts of the nations thirty-somethings, who still wonder: will Rangga and Cinta eventually unite as lovers? The first installment of the iconic teenage love story ended with the male protagonist, Rangga, flying to New York with his activist father and promising Cinta to return in three full-moons after giving her a passionate kiss; a controversial scene that propelled Nicholas Saputra and Dian Sastrowardoyo into Indonesian movie superstardom. Now part of the movie elite in their own right, Nicholas and Dian are reunited in the sequel of AADC?, which will provide the answers to the questions lingering for more than a decade. One of the most popular questions besides the possibility of reunion and reconciliation between Rangga and Cinta is: what happened between them, really? Did Rangga really return after three full moons as promised? Did they ever go steady? Why are they still single? Thejakartapost.com met movie creators, Mira Lesmana and Riri Riza and actors Dian Sastrowardoyo and Nicholas Saputra in the Miles Productions offices and, as friendly as they were, the AADC? team remained tightlipped about the movies plot. Mira admitted to only thinking about the possibility of a sequel in 2012, after the 10th anniversary celebration of the first AADC? movie. That anniversary event was the time we saw them [the cast] together again and there was still great chemistry. At the same time, I also saw interesting personal development in them. Seeing them together, looking at the chemistry, seeing mature Cinta and the gang, mature Rangga, was when the idea came up, Mira said. Mira also noted her love for movies with long time-span productions, such as Richard Linklaters Boyhood, which was filmed over a span of 12 years. Also, from the same director, Before Sunset and Before Sunrise, which have a nine-year gap between the original and the sequel, appealed to Mira as a filmmaker. For us, I think that was the time when we thought this is it, you know; its a great reunion for that amount of time. Its exciting, she chuckled. Ada Apa Dengan Cinta? 2 was filmed in three locations; Jakarta, Yogyakarta and New York. However, Riri avoided cliches in taking decisions about the locations. Thats the challenge because we didnt want to portray New York as the stereotype New York with the Statue of Liberty, the Empire State Building; where people think that someone who lives in New York becomes rich. It still has to be based on the character, Riri said. Nicholas transformed back into Rangga in the current setting with ease, although he had trouble verbalizing how difficult or easy it was to play Rangga again after 14 years. Nicholas tried explaining, I wouldnt say its harder or easier, I cant really tell. I dont know, actually. But its exciting because theres a room for interpretation, exploration, research and also the relationships between Rangga and the other characters. I think thats very exciting. Dian relied on her fellow cast member, Adinia Wirasti, when playing Cinta who grew over the decade into the same but different Cinta. She noted, Asti taught me this method in drawing all the small events, small details in the characters life within the 14 years that havent been told. Because, although were not filming them, all those memories must have to be there at the back of our heads when filming the present-day Cinta and Rangga. Because, yes they are the same people, yet different at the same time. A person must have gone through a lot in 14 years, so that was our task in playing the current characters. Gala premiering in Yogyakarta on April 23, Mira noted the specific reason why she chose Yogyakarta as the venue for the gala, Having filmed most of the movie in Yogyakarta, we want to celebrate with our fans in Yogyakarta this time and its really exciting. Ada Apa Dengan Cinta 2 will also premier in Jakarta and neighboring Malaysia and Brunei Darussalam on the same day, April 28. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Kantele Franko (Associated Press) Pikiton, Ohio Sat, April 23, 2016 Eight members of a family, including a mother sleeping in a bed with her 4-day-old baby next to her, were fatally shot in the head on Friday, leaving their rural town reeling while a manhunt was launched for whoever's responsible. Three children, including the newborn, survived the grisly killings, which left seven adults and a teenage boy dead in four homes in Pike County, Attorney General Mike DeWine and Pike County Sheriff Charles Reader said. The economically distressed county in the Appalachian Mountain region has 28,000 residents and is 80 miles east of Cincinnati. DeWine said there were no indications that any of the dead killed themselves, and Reader said if the shooter or shooters are at large, they should be considered armed and "extremely dangerous." DeWine said, "There may be more than one, there may be three. We just don't know at this point." Some of the victims were in bed, indicating they were shot while they were sleeping, authorities said. The victims were identified as members of the Rhoden family. "It's heartbreaking," DeWine said. "The one mom was killed in her bed with the 4-day-old right there." A motive isn't clear, authorities said, but they urged other members of the Rhoden family to take precautions, and Reader advised all residents to stay inside and lock their doors Friday night. "This really is a question of public safety, and particularly for any of the Rhoden family," DeWine said. The first three homes where bodies were found are within a couple miles of one another on a sparsely populated stretch of road, while the eighth body, that of a man, was found in a house farther away, the sheriff said. The other surviving children were 6 months old and 3 years old, authorities said. Reader wouldn't say where they were taken Friday. Authorities didn't release any information on whether there were multiple weapons used or whether anything was missing from the homes. Area resident Goldie Hilderbran said she lives about a mile from where she has been told a shooting took place. "I first heard about it this morning from our mail carrier," Hilderbran said. Hilderbran said the mail carrier told her deputies had stopped her from delivering mail in the area they had blocked off. "She just told me she knew something really bad has happened," Hilderbran said. Gov. John Kasich, campaigning in Connecticut for his Republican presidential bid, said his office was monitoring the situation in Pike County and the search for the killer or killers. "But we'll find them, we'll catch them and they'll be brought to justice," he said. The FBI in Cincinnati also said it was closely monitoring the situation and has offered assistance to the Pike County sheriff's office if needed. Peebles High School imposed a precautionary lockout Friday morning after authorities notified the superintendent of shootings that had occurred a few miles away, according to Regina Bennington, secretary to the superintendent for the Adams County Ohio Valley Schools district. High school officials said the school was back to normal operations later Friday morning. Piketon is the site of a Cold War-era uranium plant that was closed in 2001 and is still being cleaned up. (bbn) Associated Press writers Dan Sewell and Lisa Cornwell contributed to this report from Cincinnati. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Ina Parlina (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Sat, April 23 2016 A visit by a senior Jakarta official to Beijing next week is expected to not only improve ties between Indonesia and China, but also to resolve a recent maritime incident, as Jakarta will bring the South China Sea issue to the table. The recent incident involving Chinese coast guard vessels and Indonesian maritime patrol boats near Natuna waters has raised concerns that it will harm ties between Jakarta and Beijing, as Indonesia is seeking to lure US$30.07 billion of direct investment from the worlds second-largest economy this year, a hike of over 30 percent from 2015. Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Luhut Pandjaitan is scheduled to visit and meet high-ranking Chinese officials in Beijing on April 26 and 27 to discuss a number of issues, including terrorism and exchanges on intelligence. Well, we might discuss the South China Sea issue, terrorism and other issues, including intelligence [information exchange], Luhut said on Friday. Jakarta accused Beijing of obstructing law enforcement when two Chinese coast guard vessels intercepted Indonesian patrol boats towing a Chinese fishing boat caught operating illegally near the Natuna Islands. The incident resulted in eight Chinese fishing boat crew members being detained at an immigration detention center in the Riau Islands. Luhut, who recently vowed not to sacrifice Indonesias dignity in resolving the incident in Natuna, which is in proximity to the South China Sea, despite Beijing being a key economic partner, did not elaborate on this in his statement on Friday. Although China has asked Indonesia to release its eight sailors on the grounds that they were operating in traditional Chinese fishing grounds, Jakarta has said that it will continue to process them through legal measures referenced in the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). Golkar Party lawmaker Meutya Hafid at the House of Representatives Commission I overseeing foreign affairs said the ties between China and Indonesia should be based on good intentions. They [China] should show respect to Indonesia, including in Natuna, Meutya said recently. Despite the incident, an executive at the Chinese Communist Party paid a visit to Jakarta last week where he met with President Joko Jokowi Widodo at the State Palace. China and Indonesia reaffirmed their commitment to continue tapping into potential areas of mutual economic cooperation, not only infrastructure projects, but also in energy and natural resources. Indonesia, however, should not undermine its sovereignty, particularly in dealing with countries like China, said international law expert Hikmahanto Juwana. We all should remember that President Jokowis free-and-active foreign policy means all nations are friends until Indonesias sovereignty is threatened, he added, referring to Indonesias foreign policy principles that were outlined by the countrys first vice president, Mohammad Hatta, in the early 1950s. Hikmahanto argued that the government could start developing a number of gas projects around the Natuna Islands, including the gas rich East Natuna block, previously known as Natuna D-Alpha, to display authority so that China cannot easily enforce its nine-dash line claim on the area in future. State-owned Pertamina, US-based ExxonMobil, Frances Total SA and Thailands PTT Exploration and Production (PTT EP) are among oil and gas firms reportedly interested in the block. The Indonesian Navy has also revealed a plan to acquire several new submarines and develop new submarine bases amid increasing need for its presence in the countrys vast waters. The Navy currently operates two German-made submarines, which were built in the 1980s and are due to be decommissioned in 2020. The statement came following a report from an organization that focuses on defense and military affairs called IHS Jane that the Indonesian Navy planned to station its submarines on one of islands in Natuna as shown in a transcript of a February meeting between Indonesian Military (TNI) chief Gen. Gatot Nurmantyo and House lawmakers overseeing defense, intelligence and foreign affairs. Defense Minister Ryamizard Ryacudu has not confirmed the IHS Jane report, but said that he wanted submarine-related assignments not to only focus on the submarine facility in Surabaya, East Java. Ryamizard, however, dismissed speculation over Chinas increasingly assertive stance in the South China Sea, saying that Indonesia had good relations with all countries involved in the disputes. ------------------ To receive comprehensive and earlier access to The Jakarta Post print edition, please subscribe to our epaper through iOS' iTunes, Android's Google Play, Blackberry World or Microsoft's Windows Store. Subscription includes free daily editions of The Nation, The Star Malaysia, the Philippine Daily Inquirer and Asia News. to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,500/month Unlimited access to our web and app content e-Post daily digital newspaper No advertisements, no interruptions Privileged access to our events and programs Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Callistasia Anggun Wijaya (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Sat, April 23, 2016 The Danish embassy in Indonesia has gifted boxes of Lego toys for integrated child-friendly public parks (RPTRA) across Jakarta to enhance the creativity of children through playing. Those toys will be given to 34 parks in Jakarta, said Danish Ambassador Casper Klynge in Jakarta on Friday, adding that the embassy would continue donating the famous Danish toys to all of the parks to be developed in the capital. Lego can help children build their creativity while playing. As I and the Jakarta governor discussed some time ago, the city has now built many RPTRAs and were very pleased to support the administration. Therefore, we are giving Lego to the children in Jakarta, Casper said at City Hall. During her visit in October 2015, the Queen of Denmark Margrethe II also gave boxes of Lego to the RPTRA in Cideng, Central Jakarta. Jakarta Governor Basuki Ahok Tjahaja Purnama thanked the embassy for the donation, saying that each RPTRA would have two boxes of Lego toys, which would be monitored so that they were not taken home by the children. The most important thing is that our children play the same toys that European children play with. If the toys are the same, we hope, the creativity of our children will not be less than that of children in other countries. We have to learn from the Europeans, who arent afraid to compete, Ahok said. (bbn) As an exception, if any of fighters own a sex slave, they are offered an additional USD 50 paycheck. (Representational Image) Facing huge cash shortage, the dreaded Islamic State terror group have slashed salaries of their fighters and offering $50 to each fighter on a monthly basis, according to a report in The Washington Times. An average ISIS fighter earns about $50 as monthly income with an additional $50 pay check for each of his wives and children. But, as an exception, if any of fighters own a sex slave, they are offered an additional $50 paycheck. Read: ISIS faces cash crunch, slashes salaries of its fighters Recently, ISIS was in news for forcing birth control pills on their slaves to keep them available for sex. The slaves said that terror group used different methods to keep them away from pregnancy including oral sex and injectable contraception. Describing her torment at the hands of ISIS captor, a sex slave said that the only thing she could remember after escaping from captivity is the dreadful smell of her rapist's breath and the nauseating sounds he made while raping her. The details of life in Islamic State are described in a series of documents that were released by a scholarly journal. The documents also revealed that the terror outfit had cut down on most of the perks offered to its militants. Read: No Snickers or energy drinks, cash-strapped ISIS cuts down on perks The decision comes in the wake of reports that a US-led coalition airstrike in January this year had destroyed a cash storage facility of the group in Iraq's Mosul city where it had stored "millions" to pay its operatives and for ongoing operations. Another document revealed that the fighters are barred from using the group's official vehicles for personal use, thus cutting down on the additional fuel expenses. Justifying its stand on cost-cutting and levying huge taxes, Islamic State cited the Quran, claiming that it prioritises "jihad of wealth," or spending in beneficial or charitable ways, over "jihad of soul". Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin thejakartapost.com (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Sat, April 23, 2016 Representatives of Aceh Singkil Christian residents have filed a report with the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM), accusing their local government of discriminating against them in the courts and schools, as well as when it came to obtaining their church's construction permit. "We hope the central government will check the facts in the field and resolve these problems," said Boas Tumangger, a resident and head of Aceh Singkil Peace Forum (Forcidas), in Jakarta on Friday. Hundreds of people grouped under the Islamic Youth Movement (PPI) attacked Suka Makmur village in Aceh Singkil and burned down the Huria Kristen Indonesia (HKI) church on Oct. 13, 2015. One of the alleged perpetrators was shot dead, while three others were injured when residents tried to defend the church. The incident led to around 7,000 people leaving Aceh Singkil to seek shelter in North Sumatra. Previously, several mass organizations protested in early October to the Singkil regency demanding churches without proper permits be torn down. The regency planned to demolish 10 churches on Oct. 19. However, the masses then decided to do the tearing down themselves and attacked the areas where congregations were standing guard to safeguard their houses of worship. "There are 24 churches in Aceh Singkil regency, but only one of them has a permit, which was awarded in 1935," Boas said, adding: "It does not mean the Christians have been unwilling to arrange permits, but the red tape is so complicated." To obtain a construction permit or a church, approval from several parties in a given area must be secured first. These parties include the village head, regent, religious affairs office, public works (PU) agency, national land agency (BPN) and the inter-religious harmony forum (FKUB). Obtaining approval from the Aceh provincial government also comes with additional requirements, including having a congregation of at least 150 people and gained the support of at least 120 residents of the area in which the church is to be built. However, the 2006 joint ministerial decree of the Religious and Home Affairs Ministry only requires a congregation of 90 and the support of 60 residents. Boas further said, in April 2016, FKUB has repeatedly rejected the permit proposals of 13 churches in Aceh Singkil, while another 10 have been torn down previously. "Why does this happen only to the Christians? Have all the Muslims already fulfilled their administrative requirements [for mosque construction permits]?" Ramli Manik, a Muslim religious leader of Aceh Singkil, said in Jakarta on Friday. "The local administration has failed to protect the Christians' right to worship," he added Meanwhile, Boas also condemned the Aceh Singkil District Court's decision on Thursday to sentence Hotma Uli Natanael Tumangger to six years in prison. He was accused of being involved in the shooting that occured on Oct. 13, 2015, but Boas said that Hotma was just trying to defend the church. Three of the perpetrators of the church burning were sentenced with six months in prison by the district court on the same day, while the agitator of the attack will go to jail for seven months. Furthermore, Boas also reported that children were being discriminated against in Aceh Singkil's educational system, saying that there was not a single Christian religious studies teacher in the region. "In fact, 23 percent of Aceh Singkil residents are Christians. In January 2016, there were 17,288 Christians there," Boas said. Following the reports from those residents, Komnas HAM plans to send representatives to Aceh Singkil to find solutions for the prolonged disputes. (vps/bbn) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Erika Anindita Dewi (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Sat, April 23, 2016 The Golkar Party is scheduled to hold its Extraordinary National Congress on May 23 -- the latest date announced by the partys chairman, Aburizal Bakrie, on Friday. Aburizal said the latest schedule change had been instigated in order to align with the schedule of President Joko Jokowi Widodo as he is expected to kick off the congress. The main agenda of the congress meeting will be to elect new party chairman. "I just received news from Pak Jokowi's member of presidential details, who said that he would open the congress on May 23," Aburizal told reporters, before hosting a lunch for participants of the International Conference of Asian Political Parties (ICAPP) in Jakarta. Over recent months, the congress schedule has been revised at least four times. Less than a week ago Aburizal announced that the congress would be held on May 25 to 27, a revision to the announcement made by congress steering committee chairman Nurdin Halid saying that the congress date had been altered from May 7 to May 17. It seems that the presence of President Jokowi is very important for Golkar, so much so that it has been willing to chop and change its congress date to accommodate Jokowi. The party is looking for the perfect time, so Jokowi will be able to attend the congress, said congress chief organizer Theo L. Sambuaga. "We really hope he will attend our national congress," Theo said, accompanying Aburizal on Friday. The Law and Human Rights Ministry has issued a decree to extend the Riau congress leadership, which expired in 2014. As part of the effort to end the party leadership conflict, the decree was issued to allow the party time to organize a congress. Golkar split into two factions over a year ago. The faction led by Aburizal was chosen by a congress in Bali in November 2014, while the other faction is led by Agung Laksono as per his election win at a conflicting congress in Dec. 2015, in Ancol, Jakarta. Based on the Riau congress, Aburizal is party chairman, Agung is deputy chairman and Idrus Marham is secretary-general. (bbn) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Haeril Halim (The Jakarta Post) The Hague Sat, April 23 2016 Amid sporadic protests by several separatist groups, President Joko Jokowi Widodo was unperturbed as he arrived in the Netherlands on Friday to forge closer bilateral ties with Indonesias former ruler in a visit that marks the first by an Indonesian president in 16 years. Jokowi met with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte in The Hague and signed a number of memorandums of understanding (MoUs) in several sectors to help the former furniture businessman realize his grand vision of transforming Indonesia into a maritime powerhouse. The Netherlands is currently financing a number of infrastructure projects related to water supply and sanitation, water for food and the ecosystem, water governance and water safety. Jokowi expects Indonesia to reap the benefits of transfer of knowledge and technology from the ongoing programs, which will run until 2020. The Netherlands is also helping Jakarta strategize coastal development and ongoing national capital integrated coastal development projects. Rutte said the Netherlands would support Indonesias vision to become a maritime axis by improving Indonesias human resources through vocational training for students studying at maritime schools in Indonesia. Jokowi said that Indonesia needed help from the Netherlands to support his grand vision of creating land, sea and air connectivity in the archipelago. But for the time being, I want to focus on three priorities, including water management, maritime development and trade and investment, Jokowi said. As an initial step in relation to the next level, the two countries signed a number of MoUs worth $600 million in several sectors, including in the fields of agriculture, manufacturing and maritime. Ive invited Dutch companies to get involved in the establishment of deep seaports in eastern Indonesia, Jokowi told a business forum. Jokowi also told Rutte that both countries must step up efforts to prevent two-way trade and investment from declining further. Bilateral trade between the two countries stood at $4.22 billion last year, down from $4.89 billion in 2014. The Netherlands investment in Indonesia also declined last year to $1.31 billion from $1.73 billion in 2014. During the Indonesia and Netherlands Business Forum, Jokowi said that to convey Indonesias seriousness about doing business with the Netherlands, which shares historical sentiment, Indonesias president must visit the Netherlands every three years. This is terrible. No Indonesian president has visited the Netherlands in the last 16 years, he said. In 2010, then president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono called off a planned visit at the last minute after the Republic of South Moluccas (RMS) intensified its campaign, warning Indonesia that the Dutch authorities could detain him once he landed in Netherlands for alleged human rights abuse. Rutte visited Jakarta to meet with a furious Yudhoyono in 2013, when Jokowi was still serving as Jakarta governor. Yudhoyono did not repay the visit before his departure in October 2014. Supporters of the RMS and the Free Papua Movement (OPM) held rallies in a number of places, including in front of the Grand Hotel Amr'thKurhaus in The Hague where the business forum was held. The groups also staged protest at the port of Rotterdam, the largest in Europe, which Jokowi visited to find inspiration for Indonesias maritime sector. While Jokowi spoke with Rotterdam Mayor Ahmed Aboutaleb, Dutch Infrastructure and Environment Minister Melanie Henriette Schultz and port authorities, two small planes circled the port. The planes carried long banners printed with the words Maluku is rich, its people are poor. Human Rights Maluku, only to be ignored by Jokowi, who was occupied with the port discussion. Supporters of the separatist groups who have long lived in the Netherlands sought to speak with Jokowi, but the Dutch government did not respond to their request to set up a meeting. Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi said that Indonesia would focus on stepping up cooperation in water management and the maritime sector. The two sectors are what the Netherlands are good at, Retno said. Jokowi also met with King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima of the Netherlands in the afternoon before flying back to Jakarta, ending his five-day European trip that took in Germany, the UK and Belgium. Jokowi received a warmed welcome from the Netherlands authorities, who provided a large entourage at the airport to celebrate the historical visit. ------------------ To receive comprehensive and earlier access to The Jakarta Post print edition, please subscribe to our epaper through iOS' iTunes, Android's Google Play, Blackberry World or Microsoft's Windows Store. Subscription includes free daily editions of The Nation, The Star Malaysia, the Philippine Daily Inquirer and Asia News. to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,500/month Unlimited access to our web and app content e-Post daily digital newspaper No advertisements, no interruptions Privileged access to our events and programs Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login TheJakartaPost Please Update your browser Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below. Just click on the icons to get to the download page. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Bagus BT Saragih (The Jakarta Post) Glasgow, Edinburgh Sat, April 23 2016 Indonesia has launched talks with Scottish businesses and educational institutions to explore potential marine cooperation as part of its ambitious vision to restore the glory of its maritime and fisheries industry. Scotland, which helps the UK to be among the largest sea-fishing nations in Europe, has great technological and academic capacities that can help Indonesia combat unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing costing Indonesia US$20 billion a year, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Minister Susi Pudjiastuti said in Scottish capital Edinburgh on Thursday. Indonesia has been enacting major reform of its fisheries industry. But the illegal practices happening in the past have been very serious. At one time we had 1.6 million fishermen. In the last 10 years, the number has decreased by about half as a result of IUU fishing, said Susi, who has been in Scotland since Wednesday. to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,500/month Unlimited access to our web and app content e-Post daily digital newspaper No advertisements, no interruptions Privileged access to our events and programs Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin thejakartapost.com (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Sat, April 23, 2016 President Joko Jokowi Widodo has invited the Netherlands to invest in Indonesian infrastructure projects, particularly those that support Jokowis maritime sector development program. During his meeting with Netherlands Prime Minister Mark Rutte in The Hague on Friday local time, Jokowi expressed his appreciation for the Netherlands support of Indonesias maritime axis vision. "I invite Dutch companies to be involved in the construction of deep sea ports in eastern Indonesia," Jokowi said in a statement issued by the Presidential communications team. The maritime axis plan, first announced during Jokowis 2014 presidential election campain, aims to boost fisheries, ship construction, infrastructure and marine resource clusters as well as human-resource capacity building through vocational training programs. Jokowi said several Dutch companies had previously invested in maritime infrastructure projects, such as the seaport projects in Kuala Tanjung and Tanjung Priok. "I invite the Netherlands to participate in maritime infrastructure projects in Indonesia, namely Sorong deep sea port and Makassar deep seaport," he added. He also stated that the Netherlands was one of Indonesia's main partners in trade and investment in Europe. However, the value of bilateral trade has shown a decline recently. In 2014, the trade value reached US$ 4.89 billion, while in 2015 it was only $ 4.22 billion. Likewise, investment from the Netherlands in Indonesia also declined from $1.31 billion in 2015 to $1.73 billion in 2014. Jokowi said that to make Indonesian economy more open and competitive, the government had launched 11 packages of regulatory and economic reform, including a one-stop service at the Investment Coordination Board (BKPM) and a negative investment list updates. (ami/bbn) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Ayomi Amindoni (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Sat, April 23, 2016 President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo has arrived back in Jakarta after a five-day working visit to Germany, Britain, Belgium and the Netherlands. Jokowi and his entourage arrived at Halim Perdanakusuma Airport at 4:45 p.m. after traveling for nearly 17 hours from Schiphol International Airport in the Netherlands, including a transit stop in Abu Dhabi. At the airport, Jokowi was welcomed by Vice President Jusuf Kalla, Coordinating Maritime Affairs Minister Rizal Ramli, State Secretary Pratikno, Presidential chief of staff Teten Masduki, Indonesian Military chief Gen. Gatot Nurmantyo, National Police chief Gen. Badrodin Haiti and Jakarta Governor Basuki Ahok Purnama Tjahaja. During a press conference, Jokowi cited two things gained from the working visit. First, he mentioned strengthening economic ties with the countries he visited. "The total business-to-business deals I signed were worth US$20.5 billion," Jokowi said in a statement on Saturday night. He also highlighted commitments to focus on a particular sector in each country he visited. In Germany, he signed a commitment to training and vocational education to enhance Indonesian workers skills in a competitive market. To follow up on the commitment, a German delegation will visit Indonesia in May. In the UK, cooperation will focus on the creative economy and creative industries, which will be followed up by the Creative Economy Agency (Bekraf). While in Belgium, Indonesia, and the EU held a discussion on scoping papers for a comprehensive economic partnership agreement (CEPA), which had been halted for years. The scoping papers will form the basis of negotiations on the CEPA. "We very much appreciate the acceleration of the scoping paper discussion and hope to continue the negotiations immediately," he added. In the Netherlands, cooperation will focus on enhancing maritime cooperation and water management. Jokowi said the Dutch prime minister would visit Indonesia in November with a business delegation. Further, he said, the four countries appreciated Indonesias role in promoting peace through a moderate interpretation of Islam, democracy, and tolerance. "Today, the Indonesian Islamic values of peace, democracy, moderation and tolerance are in the eyes of the world," Jokowi said. (dan) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Kathleen Hennessey (Associated Press) London Sat, April 23, 2016 Lending political backup to a struggling friend, President Barack Obama made a forceful plea Friday for Britons to heed Prime Minister David Cameron's call to stay in the European Union and dismissed critics who accused the US president of meddling in British affairs. Standing aside Cameron at a news conference at 10 Downing Street, Obama said Britain's power is amplified by its membership in the 28-nation union, not diminished. He delivered an almost sentimental appeal to the "special relationship" between the two countries and cast a grim picture of the economic stakes_saying flatly the US would not rush to write a free trade deal with Great Britain if it voted to exit. "Let me be clear, ultimately, this is something the British voters have to decide for themselves. But as part of our special relationship, part of being friends, is to be honest and to let you know what I think," Obama said. "And speaking honestly, the outcome of that decision is a matter of deep interest to the United States, because it affects our prospects as well. The United States wants a strong United Kingdom as a partner, and the United Kingdom is at its best when it's helping to lead a strong Europe." Obama spoke on the first full day of a three-day visit to London, likely the last of this presidency. Coming two months before a June referendum on leaving the union, Obama plunged himself into heated debate about Britain's national identity, immigration policy, economic fairness and the trust in institutions. Polls suggest it will be a close vote, with most phone polls indicating a lead to remain in the union while some online polls put the other side ahead. Justice Minister Dominic Raab, a leader of the Leave campaign, said Britons shouldn't put stock in Obama's view. "He argued that he thinks it is in America's interests for the UK to stay in the EU but what is good for US politicians is not necessarily good for the British people," Raab said in a statement. Obama had been expected to tread carefully on the issue, mindful that intervention in a domestic matter could turn some voters off. But the president did not appear to be holding back. Although he couched his views as "my opinion," he also accused his critics of being "afraid to hear an argument being made." The president hasn't always had such an open view of allies dipping into each other's domestic debates. Last year, he criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for coming to the US to deliver a speech urging Congress to reject Obama's nuclear deal with Iran. The president called the speech a "distraction" and said that because it came close to an Israeli election, it "makes it look like we are taking sides." In 2014, Obama was far more restrained during the UK referendum on Scottish independence. He delicately expressed his view in favor of unity months before the vote. And when the race tightened he weighed in from afar with a tweet. On Friday, Obama echoed several of the arguments Cameron and other Remain advocates have been making for weeks with an added punch only Obama could deliver. He noted some have suggested that if Britain exited the European Union, the US and United Kingdom would quickly arrange a bilateral free trade deal to soften the blow to British businesses. Obama said the US is focused on negotiating the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership with the EU. A US-UK trade deal might happen someday, but "it's not going to happen anytime soon," he said, adding the UK would have to get "in the back of the queue." "Right now, I've got access to a massive market, where I sell 44 percent of my exports," Obama said. "And now, I'm thinking about leaving the organization that gives me access to that market, and that is responsible for millions of jobs in my country and responsible for an enormous amount of commerce and upon which a lot of businesses depend, that is not something I would probably do." Since Obama has just eight months left in office, the future of any of his trade deals is uncertain. Still, Obama's remark stood out as harsh in a news conference filled with discussion of the cozy partnerships and "special relationship" forged in the wartime bond of President Franklin Roosevelt and Prime Minister Winston Churchill. "I love Winston Churchill," Obama said. "I love the guy." Obama's trip had a dual purpose. Along with backing up Cameron, Obama paid his respects and one last social call as president to Queen Elizabeth II on her 90th birthday. Still, his arrival was widely viewed as a political favor for an ally who could use the help. Obama has remained a broadly popular figure in Britain, although reliable surveys are scarce. In June 2015, three-quarters of Britons told pollsters they had confidence in his judgment on world affairs, according to a Pew Research survey. That goodwill hasn't kept Britons in breaking from the US at key moments, most notably as Obama leaned on Cameron to join in threatened airstrikes in Syria. The House of Commons rejected the notion. But both Cameron and Obama sought to dismiss any talk of division. Both spent time discussing their personal ties and friendship. "I've always found Barack someone who gives sage advice," Cameron said.(bbn) Associated Press writers Jill Lawless and Darlene Superville contributed to this report. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin thejakartapost.com (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Sat, April 23, 2016 The reccomendations from the national symposium on the 1965 tragedy will be given to the government in July, the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) says. The recommendations will cover several points, such as the scope, stages and deadline [for resolution of the case], as well as which body should handle it, Komnas HAM chairman Imdadun Rahmat said in Jakarta on Friday. The national symposium, organized by Komnas HAM, the Presidential Advisory Board (Wantimpres), the Press Council and several other institutions, was held on Monday and Tuesday to discuss and make further recommendations to the government on the 1965-1966 mass killings. The event, which was supported by Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, involved academics, human rights activists, victims of the incident, politicians and the representatives of several government bodies. We will be taking input from the Indonesian Military, Islamic groups and other groups as well as former Indonesia Communist Party members [and their relatives] to be considered in the recommendations, said Imdadun. The kidnapping and murder of six Army generals on Sept. 30, 1965, led to a purge of communists and alleged communist sympathizers by the military under the leadership of Soeharto. It is estimated that between 500,000 to 1 million people were killed during the cleansing of people with any leftist connections, regardless of their age or level of involvement in left-wing movements. Komnas HAM has launched its own investigation into the case, but its recommendations have never been followed up by the Attorney General's Office (AGO). Imdadun further said Komnas HAM only had the authority to encourage judicial processes, so it did not have rights to facilitate the reconciliation. The 2000 Human Rights Trials Law only mandated the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (KKR) to manage the reconciliation process. However, the Constitutional Court has annulled the law. The process could be managed by a committee directly under the President, Imdadun said. (vps/bbn) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Callistasia Anggun Wijaya (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Sat, April 23, 2016 Jakarta governor Basuki Ahok Tjahaja Purnama has said that various goods found in a number of waterways might be responsible for Tuesdays flooding in many parts of the capital. Objects such as canoes, sandbags, logs, pieces of plywood and tires were found in waterways on Fatmawati and Jl. Gatot Subroto in South Jakarta and Jl. M.H. Thamrin in Central Jakarta. How could eight sandbags have got into the waterways? There must have been some people who put them there intentionally. Its the same with the big canoe that got into the waterways. Just report any findings to police, Ahok said in a meeting in Jakarta on Friday. The meeting was also attended by representatives of relevant agencies including the water management agency and provincial disaster mitigation agency as well as North Jakarta Mayor Rustam Effendi and Central Jakarta Mayor Mangara Pardede. The meeting was to evaluate flooding in some 20 subdistricts that inundated roads and residential areas, forcing hundreds of residents to flee their houses. Ahok ordered workers of the city water management agency to continuously monitor the waterways to avoid flooding in the capital. He also ordered them to check the permits of people carrying out digging projects in waterways as their activities might be illegal. (bbn) The anti-graft body has been probing the property details of Dixit on suspicion of "amassing property disproportionate to his known source of income". (Photo: Twitter) Kathmandu: Kanak Mani Dixit, a well-known Nepalese journalist considered well-disposed towards India, was arrested by an anti-graft body in Nepal for allegedly misappropriating a huge amount of money by misusing his public post. Dixit, who is also a rights activist and the Chairman of Sajha Yatayat - the public transportation bus system in Nepal which serves Kathmandu Valley, was arrested from his Patan residence near here by a team of around 20 police personnel deployed by the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA). The anti-graft body has been probing the property details of Dixit on suspicion of "amassing property disproportionate to his known source of income". Dixit, 60, had been ignoring summons by the constitutional anti-graft body and was "on the run", according to the CIAA. "We have arrested the Sajha Yatayat Chairman Dixit not the journalist to investigate his involvement in corruption," said CIAA spokesperson Krishna Hari Pushkar. In a statement issued today, the watchdog said Dixit has been arrested on the basis of complaints received against him that he misused his public position as the chairman of Sajha Yatayat to accumulate property illegally. He has been arrested as the property details submitted to the CIAA do not match the actual property registered in his and his family members' names, according to the statement. The body said that further facts and evidence were found against Dixit in the course of investigation and was arrested after he repeatedly ignored the requests by the investigation officer to be present at the CIAA. Other complaints registered at the CIAA against Dixit are that he has deposited money at domestic and foreign banks in his and his family members' names by embezzling the Sajha Yatayat's property. He is accused of selling the organisational property as own inheritance and investing the income in other corporations. He has also been alleged to have procured a house and land in his name in the US. The total amount of alleged embezzlement was not known. The civil society leader, however, told local media after the arrest that the move was following an undemocratic decision of CIAA chief Lokman Singh Karki. Dixit, the publisher of Himal and Nepali Times magazines who is considered well-disposed towards India and also writes for leading India media outlets, said he has been kept at the custody in CIAA central office in Tangal of Kathmandu. In the course of investigation, the anti-graft body had summoned him on December 3, 2015 following which Dixit challenged the move at the Supreme Court. The commission has said that it has been carrying out further investigations on the allegations against him by taking him into custody. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Marguerite Afra Sapiie (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Sat, April 23, 2016 Midwives in rural areas are demanding the government enroll them as civil servants without tests or requirements, having, they say, worked for almost ten years as the non-permanent staff without legal certainty. They oppose the Health Ministry's February announcement that the midwives currently working in rural areas must sit the civil servant enrollment test (CPNS) and must be a maximum 35 years old. Indonesia PTT (non-permanent staff) Midwives Central Forum chairperson Lilik Dian Eka said the ministry's decision posed a serious threat to midwives who had dedicated their lives to helping women in rural areas for the best part of a decade. Instead of insisting they sit enrollment tests, Lilik said, the ministry should simply carry out administrative procedures to verify the authenticity and tenure of midwives. "Non-permanent midwives should be enrolled as civil servants. We shouldnt be treated like new civil service candidates," Lilik told thejakartapost.com recently. The forum demanded a presidential decree be issued to that end; the midwives hope to receive the decree from President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo at the State Palace on May 4, a day before International Day of the Midwife. The last enrollment of non-permanent midwives as civil servants took place in 2005; around 26,000 midwives saw their rights ensured, with social security benefits. Since then, 42,245 non-permanent midwives have been given three-year contracts that can only be renewed twice, until the midwives have reached nine years of working. They are then laid off, or must begin the process anew. About 68.6 percent of births in Indonesia are still assisted by midwives who also serve on the frontline in reducing the countrys maternal mortality rate, the second highest in Asia, with about 200 mothers dying per 1000 births, Lilik said. Midwives in rural areas do not only help women to give birth but also serve to provide health care for local people. Regina, a non-permanent midwife in Cikuya, Tasikmalaya regency, said she worked in a rural area 100 kilometers from Tasikmalaya city, where the roads are still unpaved and there is no electricity. Regina recounted how once, crossing a dark and thick forest with a patient on the verge of going into labor, the group was chased by three wild boars, causing them to panic and flee in disarray. "Some patients also have to cross on boats to access the nearest health-care facilities," Lilik added. Forum board member Eka Pangulimara Hutajulu said the group had been fighting for midwives' career certainty for four years, lobbying the House of Representatives, local governments and related ministries. The forum also met Jokowi at Jakarta City Hall when he was still Jakarta governor in relation to the matter, Eka said. In February, Administrative and Bureaucratic Reform Minister Yuddy Chrisnandi told the forum that the government would enroll the midwives as civil servants using funds provided by the Finance Ministry. The important thing was that the midwives were below 35 years old when they were first recruited and had worked at least a year as midwives in rural areas, Yuddy said. The forum, Eka said, will keep urging the government, particularly the Health Ministry and the President, to issue a concrete policy to ease the situation. "The Kartinis of public health are in danger they need help from the government." (dan) (front page) Workers need our own party, a labor party We underestimate our power. The working class is strong, but most of us dont see it yet, Alyson Kennedy, Socialist Workers Party candidate for U.S. president, told members of United Steelworkers Local 10-234 at the Monroe Energy refinery in Trainer, Pennsylvania, when she spoke at their union meeting April 18. She pointed to the importance of building labor solidarity with nearly 40,000 workers on strike at Verizon. I was on their picket line, and a few days ago joined Teamsters in a protest against the threat to cut their pensions in half, Kennedy said. Joining these actions is part of building a working-class movement that can defend us as the crisis of the capitalist system spirals downward. Kennedy had a back-and-forth exchange with 15 members of the local before their business meeting. Monroe Energy, a subsidiary of Delta Airlines, bought the refinery in 2012. In the meeting and over pizza afterward, oil workers described the companys attacks on their union and working conditions from forcing workers to use vacation days after sick days run out to refusing to settle grievances to forcing injured workers to get quack treatment from the company doctor. Profit rates are falling, so the bosses cut wages, speed up work and cut jobs, Kennedy said. Underneath the support for candidates who arent from the party machine, like Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders, is the deep anger over these conditions and at the bosses and their government. But all the capitalist candidates say the problem is caused by rip-offs or the greed of a handful. All of them join in covering up the fact that the problem is the capitalist system itself. Working people need to overturn the rule of the employing class, to take the reins of government ourselves, she said. We need a labor party, based on our unions, to lead a fight for power. Fight for health care as social right What is your solution to the mess of Obamacare? refinery operator Joe Gustitus asked the SWP candidate. We need to mobilize working people to fight for health care from cradle to grave as a social right for all, Kennedy replied. Through its labor the working class transforms nature and produces all wealth, she said. But that wealth is appropriated by the capitalist class. She pointed to the example of workers social power shown in battles by coal miners in the 1960s and 70s for safety and protections against black lung disease and to strengthen the United Mine Workers union. One result of those struggles was winning health clinics in mining communities where they had never existed before. After the meeting, Kennedy encouraged the Steelworkers members to come and continue the discussion at the conference the Socialist Workers Party is organizing in Oberlin, Ohio, June 16-18. Kennedy and other Socialist Workers Party campaigners took part in an April 18 rally outside the Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., opposing deportation of immigrant workers. Some 2,000 people joined the action, held as the court heard a challenge to President Barack Obamas 2014 executive decree ordering a temporary stay on deportations of millions of undocumented workers, while cracking down on illegal immigration at the border and stepping up deportation of those deemed criminals. Kennedy spoke with Jerry Redwine, 26, who came on a bus from Arkansas with 50 others. Im from the land of Tyson Foods, he told her, where the poultry giants profits come before things like getting a paycheck or a bathroom break. Its a pleasure to meet a candidate who is not bought off. No deportations, unionize everyone The Socialist Workers Party supports every fight against deportations and victimization of immigrant workers, Kennedy said. This is essential if were going to unionize everyone. But Obamas executive order, which is temporary and partial, is not a step forward for working people. Its not in the interest of the working class to have government by presidential decree or court orders, which are arbitrary and undermine constitutional protections against the government that our class needs, she added. And we shouldnt let ourselves be channeled into voting for one of the capitalist candidates because of who they might appoint to the Supreme Court. I have to agree, said Redwine. Anything the two parties touch starts with us compromising. He took copies of the Socialist Workers Party campaign literature to share with friends and discuss inviting an SWP candidate to meet with them in Arkansas. What you are doing is very important, Kennedy told Alba Morales, a cashier who signed up for a subscription to the Militant and sold one to a co-worker during a rally for $15 an hour and a union in Washington April 14. Look to yourself and your class, not the capitalist candidates, Kennedy said. This point is important as union officials push workers to look to one or another of the bourgeois candidates as a savior, however flawed. Verizon strikers marching across the Brooklyn Bridge April 14 show the working-class power that could be unleashed if workers had their own party based on their unions. But union officials directed the march to the Democratic Party primary debate that evening. The same day, organizers of Fight for $15 actions in New York led a march to join an anti-Trump rally, fostering the illusion that electing a Democratic Party candidate would be an advance for working people. Kennedy and supporters went door to door talking to workers in coal-mining communities near Waynesburg, Pennsylvania, April 15, two weeks after 3,000 coal miners marched to protest attempts by Alpha Natural Resources to tear up its contract with the Mine Workers. My brother-in-law was laid-off from a contractor job at a Murray mine, and told he could come back at $8 an hour, nurses aide Juanita Riley told Kennedy. When he said no, he was denied unemployment. I was a coal miner in Utah, and I know about Murray Energy Corp. Nine people were killed by the profit drive at a Murray mine in Crandall Canyon in 2007, Kennedy said. Safety issues and working conditions were a big part of a 10-month strike I was part of at the Co-Op coal mine. Miners there, mostly immigrants making $5 to $7 an hour, set an example of how to reach out for solidarity. The fight for workers control of conditions on the job to enforce safety is part of the fight to transform the unions for the big fights that are coming. Related articles: Socialist Workers Party joins labor struggles, goes for ballot Reporters notebook: SWP candidates on campaign trail Spring subscription drive, April 2-May 17 (week 2) (chart) Militant Fighting Fund, April 2-May 17 (week 2) (chart) Front page (for this issue) | Home | Text-version home (front page) New decline looms within worldwide capitalist crisis The U.S. economy is pretty darn great right now, President Barack Obama declared March 4 at a news conference presenting the governments official job estimates for February. But many workers know, from their own experience and others around them, that the reality isnt so rosy. Real unemployment is way higher than the governments showcase figure of 5 percent, and real wages remain at their 1970 level while production per worker has more than doubled. And a look at whats happening in production and trade shows that another downturn is looming, within the worldwide capitalist crisis that has been smoldering for nearly a decade. U.S. industrial production continues to contract, dropping for six of the last seven months, according to the Federal Reserve Bank. New orders for manufactured goods declined 1.7 percent in March, while companies use of their industrial capacity dropped to 74.8 percent, the lowest level in five and a half years. In the United Kingdom industrial output had its sharpest fall in four years in February, the Spectator reported. Manufacturing production dropped 1.8 percent, its ninth consecutive monthly decline. Declining production from China to Brazil, combined with the plummeting of commodity prices, has slowed trade to the lowest level since 2009. The Baltic Dry Index, a measure of global trade in raw commodities, including coal, iron ore and grain, dropped to its lowest level on record in February. Last year the value of goods that crossed international borders fell 13.8 percent in dollar terms. U.S. exports fell 6.3 percent. Particularly devastating was the collapse in exports from Africa and Middle East by 41.4 percent, a result of plummeting of oil prices. Slumping trade with China is slowing industrial production in Germany, the dominant capitalist power in Europe. Nine of Germanys 10 biggest exports to China fell last year, according to the German Federal Statistical Office, including automobiles by 29 percent. With average industrial profit rates declining part of the normal workings of the capitalist market for several decades the great majority of bosses have shied away from investing in expanding productive capacity and hiring workers. In fact, since the 1980s, less than 10 cents of each borrowed dollar is invested in production, reported Bloomberg News. Instead, the propertied rulers plough their money into stocks, bonds and other forms of commercial paper in search of higher returns, building up bubbles of corporate debts to unforeseen heights, nearly $30 trillion. Coal and oil company bankruptcies A growing number of companies, particularly in the mining industry, are using bankruptcy to target workers jobs, wages, pensions and union contracts, while the wealthy bondholders insist they get their interest payments first. Peabody Energy Corp., the largest U.S. coal mining company, filed for bankruptcy April 13, following similar moves by Arch Coal Inc., Alpha Natural Resources Inc., Patriot Coal Corp. and Walter Energy Inc. Since September 2014, 185,000 miners jobs have been eliminated, according to the Department of Labor. Miners in Appalachia and Wyoming have been particularly hard hit. On April 15 Goodrich Petroleum Corp. declared bankruptcy, just as 51 other North American oil and gas companies have done since the beginning of 2015. The Wall Street Journal notes that one-third of all U.S. oil producers could end up in bankruptcy. Worldwide, a quarter of a million oil workers have been laid off, as oil prices dropped 70 percent from $100 a barrel nearly two years ago. The three biggest U.S. auto companies reported record sales of 17.5 million vehicles last year. But the figures can be deceiving. Automakers have been goosing sales, wrote Bloomberg News, pushing leases that count as sales, and dumping their sedans onto rental car companies and other bulk buyers. Auto sales are increasingly being fueled by subprime loans, which are being packaged and sold as securities as were subprime housing loans that collapsed in 2007, helping trigger a steep recession. The average new subprime auto loan is for six years at 10 percent interest. In February nearly 5 percent of these loans were past due by 60 days or more, the highest level since 2009. At the same time, as many as 1 million workers will be cutoff from receiving food stamps over the coming months. Citing lower official jobless rates, 22 state governments are once again implementing a 20-year-old federal rule that says adults without children or disabilities must have a job to get food stamps. If youre out of work, you can only get food assistance for three months over any three-year period. The average time a worker spends unemployed is almost 30 weeks. Many people began hitting the three-month limit April 1. Related articles: Labor actions rise in China as bosses slash jobs, wages Front page (for this issue) | Home | Text-version home (front page) Socialist Workers Party joins labor struggles, goes for ballot Militant/Ved Dookhun The Socialist Workers Partys program to build a revolutionary working-class movement that can put an end to the rule of the capitalist class and replace it with a workers and farmers government was taken out widely last week by party members and supporters. They joined marches for $15 an hour and a union around the country, walked the picket lines with unionists on strike against Verizon from Massachusetts to Virginia, and knocked on doors in rural and urban New Jersey to introduce the SWP and put the partys presidential ticket of Alyson Kennedy and Osborne Hart on the ballot. Kennedy and other members of the Socialist Workers Party joined an April 14 rally in Washington, D.C., by several thousand Teamsters protesting pension cuts, and a demonstration four days later at the Supreme Court defending immigrant workers. Kennedy and a team of socialists knocked on doors in coal-mining communities around Waynesburg, Pennsylvania. The SWP has begun collecting 1,500 signatures, almost twice the required 800, to get Kennedy and Hart on the ballot in New Jersey. Among the states 9 million residents are 238,000 manufacturing workers, 152,000 construction workers, nearly 70,000 truck drivers and thousands of farmworkers. Party members joined an April 18 Justice Monday protest against police killings in Newark, New Jersey, got support from Walmart workers and Verizon strikers, and visited farming communities around Glassboro in the southern part of the state. Among the SWPs 14 presidential electors in New Jersey are refinery, pharmaceutical, rail, postal and retail workers active in union and social struggles. In the first three days of campaigning more than 400 people signed petitions, 21 subscribed to the Militant and several dozen bought single copies of the paper. Kennedy and other SWP campaigners in Riverside, New Jersey, knocked on the door of retired pharmaceutical worker Henry Stellwag. I dont know what the answer is, he said, but everything is getting worse and it goes on and on. What can we do? I dont like any of the presidential candidates. I used to like Trump, because he says what everyone else is afraid to say. But Im afraid if he gets in, well end up in a war. The elections wont change what we face, Kennedy told Stellwag. Its going to take a movement by workers, a revolutionary struggle to put working people in power, to begin to transform this society into one organized by and serving the interests of the overwhelming majority. Now I have a candidate to vote for, Stellwag said. Ill sign your petition. Eleanor Garcia, SWP candidate for U.S. Senate in California, is already on the ballot there. The party is organizing to put Kennedy and Hart on the ballot in Louisiana, Tennessee, Minnesota, Washington state and Colorado, as well as New Jersey, and is discussing further ballot efforts. SWP members are encouraging workers and youth they meet to visit and join Verizon picket lines. John Staggs, SWP candidate for U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania, walked the picket line in Philadelphia April 13. Striker Tom Devine told Staggs no one had crossed the line there. When managers couldnt get through the downtown picketers, Bob Koptcho said, they went looking for smaller Verizon workplaces to enter. After Staggs, a cashier at Walmart, told striker Susan Smith he is part of the fight for $15 and a union, she said, When Bernie gets elected, youll get your union at Walmart. Capitalist politicians, both Democrats and Republicans, including Sanders, have been an obstacle to wage increases and the struggle to organize and strengthen unions, Staggs replied. It is only because working people are in the streets and fighting for our rights that any of the capitalist candidates address this now. Communist League members in Canada helped publicize the recent cross-country tour of Gerardo Hernandez, one of the Cuban Five. The Five were framed up and jailed for 16 years in the United States for defending the Cuban Revolution by gathering information on paramilitary groups with a history of violent attacks on Cuba. At Hernandezs meeting in Vancouver six participants subscribed to the Militant and eight picked up copies of The Cuban Five Talk About Their Lives Within the US Working Class: Its the Poor Who Face the Savagery of the US Justice System, one of seven Pathfinder books on special for subscribers. SWP members are inviting youth and working people who have begun to read the Militant or Pathfinder books to attend the Socialist Workers Party conference in Oberlin, Ohio, June 16-18. Participants in the fight against police brutality, activists opposing deportations of immigrant workers, unionists who have been through strike battles and lockouts, and working farmers who see the need to ally with the labor movement will be coming to the conference from around North America and the world. They will have a chance to exchange experiences on how to stand up more effectively to the bosses campaign to make working people pay for the crisis of capitalism. The conference will include classes and workshops on key questions for working people today and lessons from the history of the Marxist movement. The international campaign to win readers and financial supporters of the Militant, a key part of all these efforts, is going well. Last week 248 subscriptions were sold, bringing the total after two weeks to 576 toward the quota of 1,550 for the six-week drive, slightly ahead of schedule. More than $8,600 arrived for the Militant Fighting Fund for a total to date of $13,429. Oakland leads the effort, with more than a third of their $14,500 quota sent in. The money is being put to good use as it arrives! To join with the Socialist Workers Party in its spring political campaigns, contact a party branch listed on page 11. Related articles: Workers need our own party, a labor party Reporters notebook: SWP candidates on campaign trail Spring subscription drive, April 2-May 17 (week 2) (chart) Militant Fighting Fund, April 2-May 17 (week 2) (chart) Front page (for this issue) | Home | Text-version home (front page) Rivalry of Saudi, Iranian rulers grows as Mideast alliances shift Sharp competition between the ruling classes of Saudi Arabia and Iran ensured the collapse of an already shaky attempt by some of the worlds biggest oil producers to freeze production and boost oil prices. Rivalry between the Iranian regime and the Saudi monarchy for economic and political domination in the Mideast is also evidenced by the two capitalist powers taking opposing sides in military conflicts in Yemen and Syria. Washingtons pivot toward Moscow and Tehran to establish a Mideast order in its imperialist interests a shift away from its longstanding alliance with the governments of Israel and Saudi Arabia has increased tensions between Riyadh and Tehran. Officials from Russia and most of the members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries showed up for an April 17 conference in Doha, Qatar. The meeting was called after the governments of Russia, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Venezuela made a preliminary oil freeze pact in February and sought to convince more oil producing countries to join. Oil prices rose from $28 to over $40 a barrel after the February accord, even though a production freeze would not end the oil glut. The world capitalist contraction of production and trade has resulted in plummeting prices for commodities such as oil, which brought in more than $100 per barrel until mid-2014. The Iranian government sent no one to the Doha meeting and refuses to freeze oil output. Tehran is ramping up production, as crippling trade sanctions finally began to be eased in January under the deal brokered by Washington and its allies in return for Iran curbing nuclear fuel production. The talks fell apart when the Saudi government said it wont freeze production if Tehran doesnt. Riyadh is banning vessels carrying Iranian crude from entering Saudi waters, and, according to some oil traders, blocking Tehran from shipping oil from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean through pipelines it used before sanctions. A price war has developed between the two countries in what they charge Asian buyers. Oil workers strike in Kuwait Many oil-producing countries are slashing budgets to adjust to low oil prices. When the government of Kuwait said it may cut oil workers wages and benefits, thousands of them struck April 17-20, the first such action since 1996. Tehran, which is increasing trade with European capitalists, signed 12 agreements with Italian firms April 13. European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini, in a joint press conference with Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif April 16, said, We are doing all that we can to encourage closer banking ties with Iran. Iranian officials have blamed Washingtons continuation of some sanctions for discouraging European bank involvement in Iran. Executives of U.S. airplane producer Boeing held public talks with Iranian authorities in Tehran in early April, the first such visit by a U.S. company since the 1979 Iranian Revolution that overthrew U.S.-backed dictator Shah Reza Pahlavi. Boeings European rival Airbus is planning to deliver the first batch of planes Iran ordered when sanctions were lifted, but must first get U.S. export licenses because more than 10 percent of the planes parts are U.S.-made. Tehran has begun deploying regular army troops to Syria to back up the brutal regime of President Bashar al-Assad, in response to Moscow signaling it might agree to demands for his removal. Washington has worked with Moscow and Tehran to impose a new order in Syria, where war has raged for more than five years since Assad responded with overwhelming military force to crush mass mobilizations calling for an end to his regime. The war has cost some 500,000 lives and displaced millions of people. Assads flagging fortunes were reversed in recent months by the backing of Moscows airstrikes and ground troops, including Tehrans elite Revolutionary Guards and Hezbollah, Irans proxy force in Lebanon. Iranian Major Gen. Qassem Soleimani, commander of foreign operations for the Revolutionary Guards, flew to Moscow April 15 for talks, days after the first delivery of Russian S-300 surface-to-air missile systems to Tehran. U.S. officials complained this trip violated United Nations travel sanctions against Tehran that are still in place. Frictions between Washington and Riyadh are mounting. A bill before the U.S. Congress would allow the Saudi government to be sued in American courts for any role in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Riyadh responded with threats to sell off up to $750 billion of U.S. assets, although such a move, which would deal a blow to the Saudi economy, is unlikely. President Barack Obama says he will veto the bill, while Republican presidential front runner Donald Trump and Democratic candidates Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders support it. Front page (for this issue) | Home | Text-version home (editorial) Fight for pensions for entire working class From the Central States Teamsters to coal miners across Appalachia, workers are facing attempts by the bosses and their government to slash the pensions they counted on for retirement. The bosses at Verizon talk of legacy issues. Thats just a euphemism for their drive to cut pensions and health benefits one of the reasons 39,000 workers there are now walking picket lines. Cement and warehouse workers in Montreal and Teamster mechanics at United Airlines have also been fighting bosses attacks on pensions. All workers need to support these struggles. The Socialist Workers Party stands shoulder to shoulder with these unionists, and with fast-food and other workers who are demanding $15 an hour and a union. Most low-paid workers have no pension or medical insurance and cant survive on the paltry Social Security benefits they get when they retire. Defending hard-fought gains is essential. At the same time, the attacks our class faces today illustrate why fighting for health care and pensions company by company is a dead-end in the long run. Even at the most profitable companies, what you think is a safe nest egg can easily go up in smoke, when pension funds are invested in supposedly sure stocks, bonds and other financial schemes and then the bubble bursts. During the world capitalist economic expansion from the late 1940s through the early 1970s, good times made it possible for workers to win modest but real wage increases and fringe benefits without increasing conflicts with the employers, Jack Barnes, national secretary of the Socialist Workers Party, notes in The Changing Face of U.S. Politics: Working-Class Politics and the Trade Unions. The union officialdom largely ignored the needs of unorganized workers as well as the political fight for health care and other social programs for the entire working class. A 1985 SWP resolution in the same book points to the need for the labor movement to fight for social rights such as health care and adequate pensions for all working people. These should be government-financed on a nationwide scale, not tied to the bosses profits on an industry-by-industry basis. The unions should take the lead in resisting the continual drive by the government and employers to make meeting these life-or-death needs the responsibility of individuals and their families. (feature article) We carried out a duty that is true to the moral values of Cuban Revolution Book describes Cuban internationalists decisive role in fighting Ebola in West Africa HAVANA Ive been part of medical missions in other African and Central American countries, but this was the most challenging one Ive had in my life, said Dr. Jorge Delgado, head of the Cuban emergency medical team that went to Sierra Leone in late 2014 to fight the Ebola epidemic. Seventy percent of the people of Sierra Leone live in poverty; the illiteracy rate is 70 percent; 70 percent have no access to radio or television. All that contributed to the spread of the disease, Delgado said. When we got there the mortality rate for those with Ebola was 80 percent. The treatment we helped provide brought it down to 29 percent. Delgado spoke at a Feb. 12 meeting here to launch the book Zona Roja: La experiencia cubana del ebola (Red Zone: The Cuban Experience with Ebola). The author, Enrique Ubieta, headed a team of three reporters who accompanied the Cuban medical teams in West Africa for several weeks. The book was published by Casa Editora Abril of Cubas Union of Young Communists. Zona Roja paints a graphic picture of the social disaster that unfolded in West Africa in 2014-15, the callously inadequate response by the worlds major capitalist powers, and Cubas decisive role in pushing back the epidemic. It brings to life the internationalist example of the Cuban Revolution. As one of the doctors interviewed by Ubieta put it, We simply carried out a duty that is in line with the moral values of the revolution. The book presentation was one of the high points of the Havana International Book Fair in February. The meeting was standing-room only. In the audience were two dozen members of the 256-strong contingent of Cuban doctors, nurses and health care technicians who proudly served as volunteers in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone to combat the deadly Ebola epidemic, from October 2014 through May 2015. One of them was Felix Baez, the only member of the Cuban contingent who contracted Ebola, who returned to the battle front after recovering abroad. Carlos Castro and Juan Carlos Dupuy, heads of the Cuban medical brigades in Guinea and Liberia, respectively, spoke along with Delgado. The main presentation was given by Abel Prieto, long-time minister of culture and currently an adviser to Cuban President Raul Castro. (Excerpts of his remarks appear below.) Citing numerous interviews Ubieta did with Cuban volunteers and local residents, Prieto gave a picture of the powerful story told in the book. He quoted a doctor who explained that the Cubans were the first ones to touch their patients in the clinics red zone, where those confirmed to have the disease were isolated and treated. Until then, the other international medical personnel, as a safety policy, did not touch Africans they were treating not even to provide intravenous hydration, a simple but decisive procedure in saving lives. While maintaining the strictest safety procedures, the Cuban volunteers approached the patients and their family members as fellow human beings and equals, winning their trust and cooperation. The book describes how recruitment to the mission was organized as a voluntary effort, which for us is a basic principle. And there was a big response, said Dr. Dupuy. Soon after the Cuban government received a request for aid, it issued an appeal for trained medical personnel. Within three days, more than 12,000 doctors, nurses and technicians responded. Of these, 256 were selected after intensive training. The Cuban volunteers are part of the Henry Reeve International Contingent, launched at the initiative of then President Fidel Castro in September 2005 to provide aid to New Orleans residents after Hurricane Katrina devastated the U.S. Gulf Coast. The U.S. government rejected Cubas offer to send 1,500 medical personnel, and instead left working people in the region to fend for themselves. A month later, a brigade of 2,500 Cuban medical personnel went to Pakistan, where they provided care for 1.8 million people affected by an earthquake that devastated the mountainous northwestern region. Since then, the Henry Reeve Contingent named after a Brooklyn-born volunteer in Cubas war for independence from Spain that began in 1868 has continued to assist other countries facing natural disasters and epidemics, from Haiti to Nepal. As Zona Roja notes, Cuban medical volunteers have served in countries around the world since the revolution began in 1959. At the outbreak of the Ebola epidemic, Cuban doctors, nurses and health care technicians were already working in 32 African countries, including Sierra Leone and Guinea. And Cuba has won widespread respect in Africa for sending volunteer combatants to aid national liberation struggles, from the Congo to Guinea-Bissau to Angola. I knew Cuba was not going to leave us on our own, said Sierra Leone President Ernest Bai Koroma when he was informed of Cubas decision to send volunteers. Youre true to your heritage, to your African roots. Its what Fidel has taught you. Tell [President] Raul Castro and the people of Cuba we will never forget this. Values of socialist revolution Despite initial concerns among some that returning volunteers could introduce Ebola to Cuba, the selfless example of the internationalists in West Africa was very popular on the island. Millions followed closely the news of their experiences. It was also a learning experience about the conditions of exploitation and underdevelopment bred by capitalism as well as the working-class values of solidarity that are a cornerstone of Cubas socialist revolution. This was a big experience for the younger members of the brigade who had never been part of a mission abroad, said Dr. Castro, head of the brigade in Guinea, at the Feb. 12 meeting. They were able to compare what we have in Cuba with what people as poor as those we treated do not have, he said. They witnessed social conditions that explain why the epidemic was so ferocious. Ubieta previously wrote two other books about Cubas medical cooperation abroad, based on his firsthand reporting in Central America and Haiti following the 1998 hurricanes there, and in Venezuela, where tens of thousands of Cuban medical personnel have served over the past 15 years. People have asked me why I write about the Cuban doctors, Ubieta told the audience at the book launch. I dont write about the doctors. I write about the solidarity and internationalism that is at the heart of the revolution. I write about the seeds we are sowing inside and outside of ourselves. Every time a Cuban doctor takes part in a mission abroad, they renew themselves as revolutionaries. Today there are some who say that the epic moments of the Cuban Revolution are a thing of the past, Ubieta said, that Cubans should concern themselves only with their own individual, everyday problems, which can sometimes be overwhelming. And then suddenly you hear the battle cry, like the request for aid we received. And thousands turn out and volunteer to go, he said. It shows solidarity is very much alive in the Cuban people. Protests across country demand $15/hour and union We work, we sweat, put $15 on our check! was one of the chants as thousands of workers across the U.S. rallied April 14 demanding $15 an hour and a union. Fast-food, retail, home health care, airport, child care workers and others were part of the actions. Protests took place in many other countries, including Bangladesh, Brazil, France, South Korea and the following day in Canada. Unionists on strike against telecommunications giant Verizon bolstered the protests in New York and elsewhere on the East Coast. Fast-food workers from the East Bay Organizing Committee led a march in San Francisco and another of 500 in downtown Oakland, California. The state government recently passed a law to raise the minimum wage to $15 over six years, with an off-ramp clause to cancel the increase if there is an economic downturn or budget deficit. 2022 is not soon enough, said Isaiah Mitchell, 20, who works at Jack in the Box. With the high cost of living, we need $15 now and $17 or $18 later! Activities began on Chicagos South Side at dawn and took place throughout the day. About 1,000 people, led by a mariachi band, converged at the Rock and Roll McDonalds to complete the day with a rally, joined by high school students and members of neighborhood and immigrant rights organizations. We are not afraid, Lucina Gutierrez told the Militant at the rally. If you are afraid, you will never win anything. Gutierrez has worked at McDonalds in nearby Cicero for 18 years. That sentiment was echoed by McDonalds worker Timothy Thigpen at a rally of 100 people in St. Paul, Minnesota. I am out here to tell the community, dont be scared. We need $15. Some 750 people rallied at the University of Pittsburgh, including 30 members of the United Food and Commercial Workers from Giant Eagle grocery and workers from the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, whose protests recently won a promise for raises over several years. This victory came with hard work, and it is just a promise, said medical center worker Lou Berry. We need $15 and a union. In Atlanta, 120 workers rallied outside a downtown McDonalds. Its not right we have to work two or three jobs just to provide for our families, said Ileshia Reid, 30, a home health worker at her first demonstration. We shall not be moved, sang several dozen members of Service Employees International Union Local 1199 at a vigil at the Hillcrest Health Care and Rehabilitation Center in Hollywood, Florida. They and workers at 18 other nursing homes owned by Consulate Health Care were holding a 24-hour strike for $15 an hour. We barely get by, and we have no retirement or health benefits, nurses assistant Theadora Greensmith told the Militant. Actions took place across Canada April 15, including some 18 protests in Ontario, the most populous province. Labor actions rise in China as bosses slash jobs, wages Strikes and labor protests increased sharply in China last year, as workers took action against unpaid wages, massive layoffs and factory closures. Under the impact of a worldwide slowdown of capitalist production and trade, the Chinese rulers, like bosses everywhere, attack workers wages and working conditions. In doing so, they risk provoking what they are mortally afraid of: a growing movement and organization within a working class numbering hundreds of millions. China Labour Bulletin, a Hong Kong-based workers rights group, recorded 2,700 strikes and protests throughout China last year, twice as many as in 2014. The overwhelming majority took place in construction, manufacturing and mining, with unpaid wages being the single most common reason. In the garment and shoe industries there were numerous actions opposing factory closures and relocations. The manufacturing explosion has created a huge modern working class in China. Hundreds of millions have moved from rural areas into rapidly growing urban centers since the government turned to capitalist market methods and increased foreign investment starting in the late 1970s. Many got jobs in factories that employ tens of thousands. In the beginning this working class had one foot in the village and one in the city. But today most workers were born in the city or have lived there for decades. Slashing jobs in coal and steel State enterprises accounted for some 40 percent of the countrys industrial output and employed around 37 million people as of 2013. Officials project slashing this workforce by 5 million to 6 million in the next couple years, the Associated Press reported March 2. Yin Weimin, minister for human resources and social security, announced Feb. 29 plans to lay off 1.3 million coal miners and 500,000 steelworkers in the coming years. Thats on top of 890,000 jobs slashed from the coal industry since 2013. The government has set aside $15 billion it says will help these workers find new jobs. What happened at Longmay Group coal mines in the northeastern province of Heilongjiang shows why officials are nervous about workers response. In September the company announced that it would lay off 100,000 workers, some 40 percent of the workforce at 42 mines. In March, provincial Gov. Lu Hao bragged that Longmay was a good example of how industries could be restructured and said its miners werent owed back wages. This provoked protests by workers whose pay had been shorted since November. On March 11, 1,000 people marched with banners reading, We must live, we must eat and Lu Hao is a liar to rally in front of the mining authority in the town of Shuangyashan. The next day Lu Hao admitted he was wrong and by March 15 workers said the provincial government had paid the wages through January and promised February wages would be paid soon. In recent years workers in China have won improvements in wages and conditions, a result of a labor shortage during the industrial boom as well as their growing capacity to apply their social weight in militant strikes and protests. These advances are now under attack by the government and capitalist bosses. During the annual gathering in March of Chinas legislature, the National Peoples Congress, Finance Minister Lou Jiwei declared recent pay raises unsustainable because they outstrip productivity increases. He said it should be easier for bosses to fire workers. And he complained that a 2007 labor code is based on fixed working hours, which does not fit in with the model of labor flexibility. In Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong province in the south, several hundred workers at the state-owned Angang Lianzhong steel plant went on strike in February protesting plans to cut wages in half and extend the workday to 12 hours for some workers. In Liaoning province the state-owned Benxi Iron and Steel company has cut wages substantially and many employees have been laid off. One worker told CNN hed been sacked and then rehired as a day worker, meaning he no longer gets company health insurance or benefits. Islamabad: Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Saturday pledged to resign if proved guilty of graft or misappropriation in a high-level probe in the wake of the 'Panama Paper' leaks in which three of his children are said to have offshore companies. "I challenge all those who allege tax fraud to come forward and present evidence. If charges are proved against me, I will resign immediately," vowed PM Sharif in an address to the nation. This was his second such speech this month, since three of his four children - two sons and one daughter - were said to have offshore companies as mentioned in a massive leak of 11.5 million tax documents. The 'Panama Papers' made public earlier this month claimed to have exposed the secret offshore dealings of around 140 political figures globally. His remarks came a day after the Election Commission released the assets statements of Sharif for 2015 showing him as one of the richest politicians in Pakistan with a personal assets of Rs. 2 billion, an increase of over a billion in just four years. The value of the assets owned by Sharif and his spouse comes to around Rs. 2 billion - an increase of over a billion in just four years. However, he does not own any property abroad. Mr Sharif's opponents are using the opportunity to put pressure on the 66-year-old premier to come clean on his family businesses abroad. He accepted popular demand to set up a probe commission under the leadership of the Chief Justice of Supreme Court and said he will "write a letter to the Chief Justice to set up a commission so that it should investigate the allegations". Mr Sharif said he would accept the decision of the probe and added: "I will resign if found guilty." He said if he was cleared of the charges then those issuing allegations should seek public apology. "The commission has not yet been established, but people have already passed judgments," said the premier. Earlier in his first address, he had announced to set up a probe under the leadership of a retired judge of the Supreme Court, which was rejected by opposition parties. The Prime Minister also took a swipe at his opponents like Imran Khan-led Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf whom he blamed for running a campaign to malign him and harming the development of the country. "Once again certain elements are attempting to destabilise Pakistan in the wake of Panama Papers," he said. Imran Khan had demanded that Sharif step down and the government constitute a Chief Justice-led panel to probe alleged stashing of wealth abroad. "The commission should also include white-collar-crime experts and an audit firm that follows the trail of money to determine where it leads," Mr Khan had said. 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 A south Benton County man who was bitten by a bat is receiving rabies shots after the animal tested positive for the deadly disease. According to information released Friday by the Benton County Health Department, the man woke up on Wednesday morning with a stinging pain in his hand and discovered hed been bitten by a bat. The man and his wife captured the bat and brought it to the Benton County Environmental Health Division, which had it tested by the Oregon State Public Health Laboratory. The test results came back positive, making it the years first confirmed rabies case in Oregon. The man, whose identity has not been released, is undergoing treatment for rabies, which is almost always fatal if not treated promptly. Benton County Environmental Health Director Bill Emminger said anyone who is bitten by a bat should try to catch the animal and bring it to the Health Department in a sealed container so it can be tested for rabies. If the results are negative, no shots are required, but without testing theres no way to know the animal is not a carrier. If we dont have the bat for testing, we have to go on the assumption that the bat is rabid, he said. Bats are most likely to find their way into homes in the fall, but they can be active any time of the year. Emminger suggests bat-proofing homes by making sure all doors and window screens are in good repair. Dogs and cats can also carry rabies, sometimes after being bitten by an infected bat. State health officials recommend keeping vaccinations up to date as a protective measure. Protecting pets from rabies can provide a buffer zone of immune animals between humans and rabid wild animals such as bats, said Emilio DeBess, public health veterinarian with the Oregon Health Authority. 3 killed as storms hit North, Northeast NORTH, NORTHEAST THAILAND: Three people were killed in the summer thunderstorms and hail that wreaked havoc in several north and northeastern provinces on Friday night and Saturday (Apr 22-23), causing damage to more than 500 houses. weatherdeathaccidentsenvironmentpolice By Bangkok Post Saturday 23 April 2016, 03:03PM Electricity workers are sent to repair power poles after roadside big trees knocked down by a storm fell on power lines on a road in Sakon Nakhons Muang district on Friday, causing blackouts in two nearby communities and blocking traffic on this route for two hours on Friday night. Photo: Bangkok Post / Pratuan Kajonvuthinun Three people were killed in the storms and 542 houses were damaged. In Nan, a summer storm pounded Pua, Chiang Klang and Tha Wang Pha districts from Friday night until early Saturday morning. It brought heavy rain, hail and strong winds that blew away roofs of many houses in the three districts of this northern province. Narong Insor, head of Nan's disaster prevention and mitigation office, on Saturday led officials to survey damage in the storm-hit areas. More than 50 houses in the three districts were damaged, with no injuries or deaths. Authorities would set aside a budget for the repairs of the damaged houses, said Mr Narong. In Sakon Nakhon, a thunderstorm struck 11 districts of this northeastern provinces on Friday night, damaging 261 houses and schools. The 11 affected districts included Muang, Akat Amnuai, Sawang Daen Din, Waritchaphum, Wanon Niwat, Phang Khon, Kut Bak, Phon Na Kaeo, Charoen Sin, Tao Ngoi and Phu Phan. There were two deaths reported in Kut Bak and Phu Phan districts after big trees, uprooted by storms, fell on their houses. Local residents said heavy rain and hailstones of sizes ranging from one centimetre in diameter to the size of a fist pounded Charoen Sin district while they were sleeping late Friday night. Several vehicles were hit by the hailstones. Strong winds also knocked down several roadside big trees that fell on power lines on a section of Road No.213 along the Sakon Nakhon-Kalasin route in Sakon Nakhon's Muang district on Friday, causing blackouts in tambon Huay Yang and tambon Pangkwang. The incident also blocked traffic flow on the route for more than two hours In Kalasin, a summer storm and hailstones ravaged four districts in this northeastern province, damaging 181 houses and farmland on Friday night. There were no reports of deaths or injuries. In Kham Muang district, a total of 125 houses were damaged. The other affected areas were Khong Chai, Nong Kung Si, and Yang Talat districts. Kalasin Governor Winai Witthayanukul said he has ordered district authorities to work closely with local administration organisations to survey the damage in the affected areas and reported to the province so assistance would be given. He advised local residents to closely monitor weather forecasts and be on alert for the danger caused by storms, heavy downpours and thunderbolts during this period. In Nakhon Phanom, a summer storm and gusty winds hit three districts in this northeastern province for over three hours on Friday, uprooting many trees and damaging over 100 houses. Provincial authorities have set up a coordinating centre in the affected areas to provide assistance to people around the clock. In Muang district, a 56-year-old man was killed when he was hit by a thunderbolt in his paddy field in tambon Tha Kho on Friday, said Pol Capt Pongsak Phiewpui, a deputy investigation chief at Muang district police. The victim suffered burns after being hit by the thunderbolt as he sought shelter under a big tree in his paddy field. Read orignal story here. EU slams govts fishing propaganda campaign BANGKOK: The European Union (EU) has slammed Thailands propaganda campaign to publicise the positive side of its efforts to clamp down on illegal fishing and criticised the country for not doing enough to address the problem. immigrationeconomicsmarinecrimecorruptionpolitics By Bangkok Post Saturday 23 April 2016, 10:10AM Fishing boats tie up in a harbour in Ban Laem district in Phetchaburi on Feb 16, 2016. Photo: Bangkok Post / Thanarak Khunton The EU is also considering if it will postpone its next meeting with Thai delegates scheduled for May. The criticism appeared in a document obtained by the Bangkok Post related to talks on Tuesday (Apr 19) between Atinant Intarapim, deputy director of the Office of Agricultural Affairs based in the EU, and Adela Rey and Olalla Perez, representatives of the European Commission's Directorate-General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries (DG MARE). According to the document, DG MARE thinks that while the Thai government has shown determination to solve illegal fishing, in practice it falls short. As a result, DG MARE has lost confidence in the Thai governments operational units, law enforcement, and its implementation of the Fishery Management Plan to deal with illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing. DG MARE believes several measures can be implemented straight away such as revoking licences of illegal fishing vessels and seafood processing plants. Moreover, the government declared that it resolved 99 per cent of the problem, which contradicted information received by DG MARE. DG MARE representatives also told their Thai counterpart that the Thai governments campaign to publicise its efforts to address IUU issues had an adverse impact on their views. Thailand only presented positive information through the media and this could lead to other EU member countries believing that the agency's assessment of Thailand was unreliable. It cited an article in The Economist which reported Thailands progress in solving illegal fishing as a form of propaganda pushed by the Thai government. DG MARE representatives also said Thailand lacks accurate information related to fishing vessels, and there was no information regarding fishing vessels equipped with Vessel Monitoring Systems and ones without the systems. This showed anti-illegal fishing operations do not comply with the Fishery Act or the Fishery Master Plan. DG MARE also noted that the government has bowed to private sector pressure. DG MARE hopes to get a better picture of which legal measures will be enforced to support the Fishery Act, measures already in force and measures that do not require urgent enforcement. The agency said that it has not received such information. Government announcements that contradict or duplicate the main laws should be scrapped to avoid confusion, the agency said. DG MARE said that it does not want to give Thailand a red card but the Thai government needs to display concrete problem-solving steps. In another document obtained by the Bangkok Post, Virachai Plasai, Thailands permanent representative to the United Nations, wrote to tell the Foreign Ministry about his telephone conversation with Cesar Deben, DG MARE's principal IUU adviser. Mr Deben expressed concern about Thailands problems and thought the country had been plagued with operational issues in its implementation of the action plans issued to combat IUU. A lack of information from Thailand also demonstrated that the country had no political will to act on agreements, Mr Virachai quoted Mr Deben as saying. Mr Deben also said that even though Thailand has shown it is trying as hard as it can to address IUU issues, the country still has some problems that require in-depth solutions. Mr Deben went on to say that the countrys political problem and the issues related to the countrys new constitution could complicate efforts to address the IUU problems. DG MARE is asking Thailand for its opinion on the possibility of postponing a meeting scheduled for May as the postponement would give Thailand more time to comply with previous agreements. Responding to the criticism over the propaganda campaign, Vice Admiral Jumpol Lumpikanon, spokesman of the Command Centre for Combating Illegal Fishing, said the Foreign Ministry had already explained the matter, and the ministry admitted that the information in foreign media had been used for public relations. Once foreign media incorrectly accused us, we had to clarify. It is normal practice. If the EU disagrees with the information, it can alert us so the government can make improvements, he said. V/Adm Jumpol admitted that there could be some lack of clarity in the implementation of policies to deal with IUU fishing as the countrys fishing industry is in a process of transition. Of the 91 laws related to the fishing industry, 49 have been enacted. Each legislative bill requires scrutiny by the Council of State, which is the governments legal advisory body, and then deliberation by the National Legislative Assembly, V/Adm Jumpol said. The Thai government on Wednesday removed Fisheries Department chief Wimol Jantrarotai and accused him of slow progress in addressing illegal fishing amid concerns Thailand is still at risk of being slapped with a red card by the EU. Read original story here. How long a virgin? Its written in your genes FRANCE: A DNA study of more than 380,000 people has uncovered a rather surprising role for human genes: helping to determine the age at which you first have sex. sex By AFP Saturday 23 April 2016, 03:00PM Genes have a substantial influence on the age at which you first have sex, a study suggests. Photo: Christophe Simon/AFP Factors such as family stability, peer pressure and personality type are all known to influence whether teenagers choose to engage in sex young, or abstain until adulthood. Now a huge gene trawl has revealed that genes have a substantial influence too, according to study co-author Ken Ong of the Institute of Metabolic Science at the University of Cambridge. Genetic factors, he said, explain around 25 per cent of the differences in the age when people start to have sex. The genes likely influence such factors as the age at which puberty hits, and whether or not you posses a risk-taking personality. The average age of sexual maturity for both genders has decreased from about 18 years in 1880, to 12.5 in 1980, according to the study authors. Scientists have blamed changes in nutrition and the larger physical size of children today, as well as exposure to hormone-disrupting chemicals. Ong and a team analysed the genes of more than 125,000 participants in a British health study, and noted an association between 38 gene variants and the age at which they first had intercourse. They cross-checked this with gene datasets for 241,000 people in Iceland and 20,000 in the United States, for a total sample size of over 380,000 people. We found that the size of the influence of genetic factors remained constant across decades of growing up, from the 1950s to the 1980s this shows that genetic factors are relevant across a wide range of cultures and social attitudes, Ong said. Many of the gene variants were also linked to other reproductive traits, such as age at birth of ones first child, and the number of children born, they found. The research was published in the journal Nature Genetics. Previous research had shown that people who start having sex at a young age are more likely to underperform at school and have poorer physical and mental health. Early onset puberty has been linked to a higher risk for diabetes, heart disease and some cancers. But most research so far has focused on the socio-cultural causes for teenage sex. The team said it hoped the findings will help identify and help children more prone, genetically and otherwise, to engage in risky behaviour. @Kurt the only reason he is there is to fill his pockets with cash. No other logical explanation....(Read More) Three arrested for drugs, guns and ammunition PHUKET: Two men and a 16-year-old boy were arrested with kratom, guns and bullets in a work camp in Thalang yesterday (Apr 22). crimedrugspolice By Eakkapop Thongtub Saturday 23 April 2016, 12:11PM One .38 homemade pistol (Thai Pradit) and a .22 Smith & Wesson revolver were seized. Photo: Thalang Police Suspects Chartchana Phusaka, 20, and Nattapong Rittidej, 24, were presented to the press along with the items seized as evidence. Photo: Thalang Police Thalang Police led by Lt Col Prasan Toworn raided a workers camp in Moo 7 Thepkrasattri subdistrict at 2:30pm after a tip-off of illegal activities involving drugs and guns in the area. Police arrested Chartchana Phusaka, 20, and Nattapong Rittidej, 24, and the 16-year-old (who cannot be named for legal reasons), who together were found in possession of kratom, guns and ammunition. Police seized 1.3 litres of kratom juice, 100 grams of cooked kratom, one .38 homemade pistol (Thai Pradit) with 21 bullets, one .22 Smith & Wesson revolver with three bullets, five 9mm bullets, two shotgun shells, and other items. All three were taken to Thalang Police Station where they were charged with possession and producing Category 5 drug. Chartchana was also charged with illegal possession of firearm and ammunition. How to watch and what to know about South Dakota State at North Dakota Linn-Benton Community College instructors know when it comes to welding, mechatronics and other manufacturing skills, women are just as capable as men. However, the women may not realize that themselves until they have a chance to try those skills out. That's the philosophy behind the first Women, Metals & Manufacturing Day, held Friday at the community college. Sponsored by Pipeline, a partnership that connects students with local industries for job opportunities, the event welcomed about 40 girls from five mid-valley high schools. The students were invited to pick two workshops from a list including welding, mechatronics, machine tool and computer-aided design and drafting, and work with instructors on learning the tools of the trade. Some of the students, like Kelsey Breshears and Cindy Cuomo, both juniors at Lebanon High School, already had some experience. Both teens are taking high school welding classes and were interested in improving their skills. "I want to be a welder," said Breshears, whose father also welds. "This is hands-on, and I like hands-on stuff. She plans to open her own shop someday. "I feel like you can get more out of it if you build it up yourself," she said of her expected career. "I want something to be proud of for the rest of my life." Cuomo said she's also considering welding as a career "It's something I don't get bored of," she explained and said she was excited about getting a preview of what her college classes will be like. "I feel like it gets us more introduced to what it really is," she said. "It's nice to meet higher-up instructors, let them know your face." Other students, like junior Tehya Nelson of Albany, hadn't ever picked up a welding tool before. The West Albany junior has done simulations at Women in Trades fairs in Portland, however, "So I thought it would be fun to try it out." Tanzie Lee, a junior at the Corvallis program known as College Hill, said she thought the manufacturing day was a great opportunity for students to try something new. She hadn't considered mechatronics as a career before, but said now, "I might. I'm actually looking at it, seeing if it's something I want to do." West Albany freshman Daijah Hunter said students might not necessarily want a trades career, but it's fun just to explore. Classmate Cherish Preston agreed, adding: "It's good to try to get more women into the workforce, because there's so many men." Josefine Fleetwood, Pipeline coordinator and director of workforce development for the Albany Area Chamber of Commerce, said the students summarized the main points for organizing the first Women, Metals & Manufacturing Day. "We're encouraging women to explore trades in manufacturing and skilled trades: High wages, high demand nationwide," she said. "Getting introduced to some of the programs at LBCC can help you figure out what you enjoy doing." Said Trista Ochoa, LBCC student recruitment specialist: "This is where the jobs are in the next five years. We're ready to hit the ground running." From the second floor, Clarita took in the stairwell at Linn-Benton Community College: its shadowed steps, the boom of voices echoing off the brick walls. Then she trotted confidently down, tail wagging as she accepted a kibble treat from her walker, Julia Marsh, 11, of Albany. Stairways, fountains, even a ride in an elevator: nothing fazed the three puppies who spent an evening April 19 at the community college practicing their skills to be Guide Dogs for the Blind. Members of Eyeraisers, a Benton County-based 4-H club connected with Guide Dogs for the Blind, take regular field trips to expose their pups to new situations. On this particular Tuesday, Clarita, a 6-month-old yellow Lab, visited LBCC with Mycroft, a 9-month-old yellow Lab, and Vale, a 6-month-old black Lab. The club's human members took turns walking the pups down the halls and through the courtyards, cruising along the second-floor railings to make sure no one had a problem with vertigo. "Everybody came down the noisy stairs fine? Didn't bother anybody?" asked Penny Steele, the Eyeraisers' leader. "Awesome!" All three dogs took nearly everything in stride. Their only difficulty was ignoring the three younger siblings who'd come along for the trip. The boys' job was to try to distract the dogs with calls and attempts to pet them, and it was hard to resist the temptation for human attention. They'll learn, Steele said. They'll have to, in order to one day lead a blind person safely through the obstacles of his or her life. Eyeraisers accepts youths from both Linn and Benton counties, as long as they are at least 9 years old and in the fourth grade. But members can be older: One of the walkers at the community college was Meghan Knettle, 19, an Oregon State University student studying animal science. Travis Hinz, 16, of Corvallis has been working with dogs since age 8 and is now a junior leader with the club. He has raised at least nine dogs so far and is currently co-raising Vale with Steele. Hinz was looking for a community service project when he came across the club. He has had eyesight trouble himself and decided he wanted to help other people who might need an extra pair of eyes. The thought of being able to do so is what keeps him coming back. "At graduation, we hand over the leash to the blind person," he said. "Each time I do that, it's like, wow this dog is really changing this person's life." Elizabeth Beck, 13, of Scio is one of two club members slated to receive a new puppy to raise on May 25 (Julia is the other). Her dog, who will be 8 to 10 weeks old, will arrive that day from the Guide Dogs for the Blind kennels in San Rafael, California. Elizabeth joined the club a couple of months ago and has been working hard to meet all the requirements for raising a dog: coming to meetings regularly, reading the puppy manual, puppy-sitting for five days and having Steele come do a home inspection. "My mom raised guide dogs a long time ago, and I really wanted a puppy," Elizabeth explained. But with two dogs already living with the family, her father wasn't on board with the idea. Elizabeth worked up a report on the value of guide dogs and gave her father a formal presentation. "I convinced him," she said. Elizabeth said she's hoping to use the skills she gains with the club to train the two dogs they have already, but she knows things are different with a guide dog. For one thing, they have to be able to pee and poop on command, and they have to be OK with doing that on pavement, because a blind person can't always seek out a patch of grass. For another, they have to be calm and on task even in stressful situations, "like at a fair, where people are yelling and screaming and there's ice cream on the ground." "It's not as hard as it looks," Elizabeth added. "You're in a really supportive group and they can help you whenever you could possibly need it." Eyeraiser members don't have to raise a dog to belong to the club, Steele said, and even the ones who do don't necessarily have a dog full time. Some co-raise dogs with other members, while others are dog "starters" who have the puppies when they are very young and then transfer them to another member. Still others just puppy-sit when a raiser can't be home. Steele has been raising dogs since 2005 and leading the group since last year. "It is probably the hardest and best thing I do," she said. "I immediately fall madly in love with that puppy, work with it, play with it, worry about it and then I have to say good-bye. But I can do that because I know that puppy is going on to make such a huge difference in someone's life." Steele said she's proud to help the process for Guide Dogs for the Blind, which does all of the training and pays for all the health care for its dogs at no cost to the blind partner. "That puppy teaches me so much about love, and giving, and commitment and to be working with a great group of people who love dogs and people enough to do (it)," she said. "It's just the best thing." Lauren Miller likens wedding venues to factories pumping out cookie-cutter nuptials. Youre like the stock groom and the stock bride, said Miller, recalling her visits last year to popular Toronto-area banquet halls. (Event coordinators) were like, You will have your photos done at this time in front of the waterfall we will insert you and your guests into the predesignated template of the wedding. It just didnt feel like us at all. For a growing number of Toronto brides and grooms, this lack of distinction paired with high price tags are driving them from traditional venues toward less conventional spaces specifically, restaurants, say a handful of Toronto wedding planners, restaurant event managers and newlyweds. The eateries tick all the boxes for soon-to-be-wed couples in their late 20s and 30s, often foodies looking for an intimate atmosphere at reasonable prices with none of the over-the-top frills they saw at their friends traditional weddings. Thats why Torontonian Miller, 28, a photographer, and her husband, Sebastian, 29, a financial adviser, went that route. Were huge foodies. Our friends are huge foodies, she said. Weve been to a ton of weddings where the food is preposterously bad. People remember that kind of thing. But she admits her first thought was, weird, when a friend first suggested getting married in a restaurant. It was only after dining at Archeo, a Distillery District spot that felt reminiscent of a homey dinner party, that she was sold on the idea. The reasonable price tag was a bonus. The awesome thing about having your wedding at a restaurant is you dont pay to rent the space, you just have a minimum spend on food (and alcohol), she said. The total cost of her November wedding was $30,000, with $12,000 of that going to the restaurant. Minimum spend fees mean clients can rent out an entire upscale Toronto restaurant including space for a ceremony, tables, chairs, cutlery, food, drink, service staff, etc. for one lump sum, usually between $5,000 and $24,000 depending on the restaurant and day of the week (Saturdays are more expensive), say planners. Often, decorations arent necessary because the restaurant is already polished unlike hotels or banquet halls where walls, chairs and ceilings typically need to be gussied up. In comparison, a tented outdoor wedding is likely to put you back a cool $100,000, say wedding planners. Its a well-oiled machine, said Betty Little, manager of event sales with Oliver and Bonacini restaurants, referring to her businesss wedding operations. Its a one-stop shop. Its simple. Its easy. And you know what youre getting because you can go dine there any time. At Oliver and Bonacinis 11 wedding-friendly restaurants, clients choose a shortened version of the full menu and are given the option of an on-site ceremony. Little said numbers of clients booking weddings has definitely increased in the eight years shes been with the company, though she didnt have exact figures. As of April, their popular high-end restaurant Canoe was already fully booked for weddings every Saturday from June through to December, except for one day. Clients typically book nine to 10 months in advance. But they can do short notice too. Weve done weddings in as quick as 30 days before, said Little. If youve got the dress, we can do it. Tara OGrady, owner of Bliss wedding and event planning, said restaurant weddings are still far from the norm with only around 20 per cent of her clients going that route but theyre a great option for clients who want an intimate wedding without going into debt. And some just want their wedding at the place they had their first date. The venue also reflects changing priorities as brides and grooms get older. The average age for couples getting married is now 29 for women and 31 for men, compared to 22.5 and 25 respectively in 1972, according to Statistics Canada. The older my clients, the more its about the food and the experience, as opposed to the other stuff flowers, decor, having the chairs match this and that, having a photo booth, said Lisa Garofalo, also with Bliss. You realize whats important and sometimes its not the show of it, its connecting with the people that you love. The only trouble? Space. To be honest, it was squishy. Especially at the head table, said Nicole Marshall, 31, a Toronto newlywed who now lives in California. A total of 130 people attended her outdoor ceremony and reception at Caffino, a restaurant in the outskirts of Liberty Village, last summer. To fit, she had to seat half of her guests outside in a space connected to the indoors with open windows and entryways. It was a tradeoff she was willing to make. Marshall got the great food she refused to compromise on, a funky venue where she and her husband ate at while dating and the cost savings that let her splurge on gold cutlery, gold chairs and flowers. Her guests heartily wined and dined didnt mind the squeeze, she said. As for Miller, her wedding guests were treated to a feast of smoked bacon and Gouda chive soup, slow braised beef short rib with maple Dijon jus and gourmet doughnuts. She even caught her cousin shoving doughnuts into his pockets. Thats how you know the food is great, she said. SHARE: Of all the things celiac sufferers must give up when they discover how sick gluten makes them, you might think beer isnt all that high on the priority list. But take a look at the rapidly burgeoning selection of gluten-free brews available at the LCBO, and it quickly becomes apparent that people with celiac disease are just as thirsty as the rest of us. Many of those beers are made with corn, rice, or other gluten-free grains such as sorghum or millet. Others include fruit juice or brown sugar. (Some, eventually, will also be using a new gluten-free variety of barley recently developed in Australia). While many do a decent job of filling in for beers brewed with standard barley, not all of them are up to snuff. Heres what we found: Daura Damm $13.95/six-pack This beer is billed as gluten-reduced rather than gluten free. Thats because along with rice, its brewed with barley, which the Barcelona-based brewery attempts to remove the gluten from during brewing. This pale golden-coloured brew has a slightly fruity nose, and packs a very bitter finish. Its also got the most body of any of the gluten-free brews on this list. Glutenberg Blonde $2.75/473 mL can This Montreal brew is the best of the gluten-free bunch. Theres a slight fruitiness on the nose, along with a hint of cereal (think Cheerios). Flavour-wise, theres the tiniest bit of sweetness, and a small amount of bitterness on the finish. If you didnt know it was gluten-free, youd be forgiven for mistaking it for a decent Pilsner. Brewed with millet, corn and brown sugar. Lakefront New Grist $14.95/six-pack Hailing from Milwaukee, this sorghum and rice-based brew is probably the closest in character to a mainstream macro-brewed lager there is on this list. Thats not a shot at Lakefront, which does some very compelling brews as part of its standard line. New Grist is a pale, golden colour, with a fluffy white head and a spritzy carbonation. Theres a little bit of bitterness, and a slightly fruity aroma and flavour. Its not the most complex brew youll ever taste, but its still refreshing. Nickelbrook Gluten Free $2.95/473 mL can Kudos to the folks at Burlington-based Nickelbrook for stepping up and making a gluten-free beer using sorghum syrup, pear juice, and demerara sugar. Its the only Ontario-made gluten-free offering available at the LCBO. Alas, this local star isnt particularly enticing. Theres a strong, sherrylike aroma, with a hint of fruit. Its also got a bracingly bitter, almost acrid, finish. Bards Golden Gluten Free $15.10/six-pack Think of a pale apple juice, and thats just about the colour of this sorghum-based brew from Minnesota. Theres a slightly fruity aroma (somewhat akin to white grape juice). Theres a slight sweetness, and some fizz, along with a very slight bitterness on the finish. All in all, not a bad effort, though rather bland if youre used to sipping craft-brewed IPAs or imperial stouts. St. Peters G-Free $4.10/500 mL bottle Another sorghum-based brew, this one hailing from England. In fact, if you didnt know it was gluten-free, you might mistake it for any other decent English pale ale (albeit using mostly American hops). Theres a good, but not overwhelming, amount of bitterness, and a citrusy aroma. Definitely something to enjoy by the pint on a patio. SHARE: Hello. Im Laura Hillier. The voice of the 18-year-old girl cracks in distress. Shes propped up on a hospital bed, eyes swollen from crying, lips stained red from bleeding lungs. . . . Im in the ICU . . . I cant breathe. Soon, a tube will be stuck down my throat again. And for feeding as well. And I wont be able to talk. They said I may not wake up but I really hope I do. But if I dont, I hope this never happens to anyone ever again. And that the government sees that there needs to be funding. Because people are dying when we can save them. We can save these people. Please help. Thank you. Laura recorded these words, shared for the first time, because she thought they would be her last. While her friends were graduating high school and settling in as freshmen at university, the Burlington teenager was getting a cruel lesson in the fatal shortcomings of Ontarios health-care system. Laura went to Juravinski Hospital in Hamilton expecting to get better, cured even. Yes, the acute myeloid leukemia that nearly killed her five years ago was back but it was beatable. And she couldnt have been in better hands. Her own physician, Dr. Irwin Walker, is a Canadian pioneer of the stem cell transplant procedure Laura thought she would receive but never did. Instead, for seven excruciating months until her death on Jan. 20, the teenager bore witness to one of the provinces most devastating health-care secrets, and died trying to do something about it. Laura was one of hundreds of Ontarians tacked to the bottom of a too-long wait-list for the transplant procedure a wait-list most patients didnt know existed. What follows is a raw account of how a public health-care system we consider among the worlds best failed Laura and many other patients like her. You will hear from her parents for the first time since their first-born daughters death about the extraordinary work they are doing to keep their promise to Laura that her death would not be in vain. You will hear from doctors across Ontario who are finally speaking out publicly on how an essential cancer program allogeneic stem cell transplantation, which rebuilds a patients immune system using donor cells is on the brink of collapse. In a letter obtained by the Toronto Star, transplant program chiefs warn Cancer Care Ontario about: the ethically not right rationing of treatments that leaves patients dying on absurdly long waiting lists; about the programs reliance on medically unnecessary chemotherapy to buy time until transplant beds became available; and about the unseen victims who could benefit from treatment but arent told of the option because referring physicians tire of being turned down for transplants. For years, doctors tried to follow the chain of command, they told the Star expressing their concerns to government agencies politely in letters and reports about the inevitable collision between unprecedented demand for the transplant procedure and inadequate resources. They say they kept their patients in the dark about how bad things had gotten because they already have enough misery and stress in their lives, said Chris Bredeson, head of the blood and marrow transplant program at The Ottawa Hospital. You try to protect them. Maybe thats been a mistake. The health ministry approved more than $100 million in spending recently to redirect hundreds of patients who will probably die waiting for transplants in Ontario to hospitals in Cleveland, Buffalo and Detroit. More than 200 cases have been outsourced since September, yet only 19 patients have made it there so far. One month after her 18th birthday in April 2015 celebrated at an East Side Marios in Burlington with a few close high school drama-club friends and a movie-night sleepover a flare shot up in Laura Hilliers body, warning her something was terribly wrong again. Rash, mild fever, throat pustules, mouth cankers, extreme fatigue, sore eyes, and tender, bleeding gums were some of the symptoms Lauras mom, Frances, jotted down on a paper that would soon become part of a dense hospital diary. The Hillier family had been lucky these past four years. Intensive chemo treatments for acute myeloid leukemia that brought Laura very close to death at age 13 causing sepsis, a brain infection and permanent vision damage also brought her into remission. She emerged from hospital brighter than ever, earning leading roles in a Burlington musical theatre groups production of Mamma Mia and Les Miserables. Shed been a dramatic force on stage since she was 6, quitting ballet, she told Frances at the time, because its not my groove. She was heading to a provincial competition with her high school drama club when this blitz of sickness invaded. I feel like when I had cancer, Laura confided to her mom. Emergency room doctors at Juravinski Hospital sent her home two days in a row, saying she probably had infectious mononucleosis the so-called kissing disease even though the spot test for virus antibodies was negative. A childrens oncologist at McMaster Hospital where Laura was treated the first time agreed to assess the teen, though, technically, she had aged out of the pediatric system. A bone marrow test confirmed Lauras suspicion. Her cancer was back. Dr. Irwin Walkers unofficial titles of legend and pioneer go back to 1988, when he became the first person in Canada to perform the first successful bone marrow transplant on a young family doctor from the Orangeville area using an unrelated donor found in a registry. More recently, the 74-year-old stem cell transplant chief at Juravinski described himself as a person who, for the last few years, has walked around with chronic rage. On May 12, 2015, a month before Laura was admitted to his hospital, Walker and four other transplant chiefs from across the province co-wrote a letter to Cancer Care Ontario begging the government agency to address what they were already calling a crisis. The net effect of growing wait-lists, patients relapsing and dying while waiting for a transplant, patients getting extra cycles of therapy to try and buy time to get them to a transplant, stress and burnout of transplant team members is a pan-provincial problem, they warned. The usual approach of working harder or shifting patients between centres or pushing patients out faster than ideal no longer allows us to get by. The hospital programs needed to increase capacity by at least a third to perhaps as much as half to eliminate backlogs and have medically appropriate times to transplant. By international standards, patients should have their transplant within two to three months of diagnosis. At Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, the wait was eight months. The alternative to near-term expanded resources will be a return to out-of-country referrals, a retrogressive practice that will cost more money than properly resourcing Ontario programs and will still result in numerous patients failing to get to transplant because of the long out-of-country referral process, the letter continued. Hamiltons program at the time could provide about five transplants per month. When Laura arrived for treatment, more than 30 other patients were already waiting their turn. Cancer Care Ontario, the government agency that directs and oversees about $1.5 billion in funding for hospitals, told the Star it has doubled the funding directed to stem cell transplant programs to $19 million from $9 million in recent years. Its not that weve not been doing any work, said Robin McLeod, vice-president of clinical programs and quality initiatives. Its a complex disease. What we want to do is obviously decrease the wait-list. Were just in the process of doing some funding models and capacity planning. Obviously, were working on that. The health ministry told the Star that the government is investing in infrastructure to improve access to highly specialized stem cell transplantation programs. Whether the money Cancer Care Ontario had targeted for stem cell programs was actually flowing into those programs is another question. Stem cell transplant chiefs at Princess Margaret, The Ottawa Hospital and Juravinski all told the Star theyve increased the volume of patients theyre treating without resources to match. Dr. Hans Messner created Princess Margarets stem cell transplant program more than 40 years ago. In his 70s now, the hospital dusted him off recently from a three-month retirement to help fix the crisis. The big issue is that the funding has to be made available and soon, he says. I can tell you, for instance, we have worked very hard here to increase our transplant numbers by 25 per cent, without having any changes in our personnel. Its not sustainable. Our transplanters, our nurses will burn out and that would make it worse. So where have the dollars gone? At Juravinski, they were being put into the institution but not necessarily into the ward directly or into the oncology day services area or the specialized out-patient area, explains Dr. Ralph Meyer, Hamilton Health Sciences vice-president of oncology and palliative care. He is also a regional vice-president of Cancer Care Ontario. They were being used to support activities that needed funding that included providing supports for transplant patients, Meyer said, referring to the hospitals emergency department, intensive care unit and operating rooms. Its not going to those services at the present time. Were emphasizing the wards. Lauras mother, Frances, realized something wasnt right at Juravinski when a nurse practitioner assigned to Laura talked about starting consolidation chemotherapy. The first round of chemo had done its job. By early July, the hospital had found a donor and her cancer was in remission, which is where she needed to be to get on the transplant list. Hillier said it wasnt until after much pressing that staff admitted the consolidation chemotherapy was medically unnecessary; that it was common practice across Ontario used to buy time until a transplant bed was available. Once a donor had been found, the Hilliers learned it could be six months before Lauras turn came in the transplant line. Youre rolling the dice with these patients, Lauras dad, Greg Hillier, says. Its unconscionable. The Hilliers and Walker appealed to SickKids, which provides stem cell transplants and has no waiting list. Because Laura was 18, the hospital had to obtain special permissions to provide her a transplant bed. As per hospital protocol, Sick Kids would also have to redo all the tests required to match her with a donor, adding weeks or months to the process. Laura decided to use the time and what little strength she had to get out the message that hospitals, the health ministry and Cancer Care Ontario seemed so reluctant to publicly share. With Frances at her side, Laura committed to an exhausting schedule of nearly a dozen media interviews. At the end of July, the Hilliers learned that Sick Kids had agreed to accept Laura as a patient. In August, Sick Kids suggested Laura undergo more but milder chemo as the donor that was lined up wasnt available for a few more weeks. By mid-September, Sick Kids confirmed the donor was lost, but provided no explanation, Frances said. Despite the string of setbacks, Laura remained hopeful. She was thinking about university. Brock agreed to defer her admission until the following year and honour her $16,000 scholarship. She was also thinking about being a mom one day. She wanted to freeze her eggs since any more chemo would likely destroy her reproductive system. Just after Thanksgiving, a fertility specialist retrieved 13 viable eggs. There was no time to celebrate. Doctors confirmed the cancer was back; this time the diseased cells had mutated and become stronger. By November, 80 per cent of the cells in Lauras bone marrow were leukemic. Walker told the family Laura would die within days. She was transferred to Juravinskis intensive care unit. Frances slept on a window bench while hospital staff transfused blood products and other drugs into Laura to stem the uncontrolled bleeding in her lungs. I am not going to die, Laura told Walker. Youre a smart man, you go figure this out. But Laura knew the prognosis was grim. Before her second intubation within two weeks, aware it might be her last chance to speak, Laura asked to have a few minutes to record two messages. The first, a goodbye to her little sister, Heather. The second, a clip for the media. In July, Frances sent letters to Premier Kathleen Wynne and Health Minister Eric Hoskins on behalf of Laura and every other patient subjected to the cruel, inhumane and potentially deadly waiting times for stem cell transplants. Neither Wynne nor Hoskins replied, Frances says. Miraculously, Laura recovered after the second intubation, but she was worse for the wear. Shes hanging on by her fingernails, Walker says. Walker had found a hospital trial in Duarte, Calif., that performed stem cell transplants on patients who were not in remission. The hospital, City of Hope, agreed to take Laura if Walker could stabilize her for the trip. On Christmas Eve, for the first time in weeks, Laura pushed herself to stand. She returned to the fourth-floor transplant ward to celebrate the new year. With damaged abdominal organs and a weak heart, Laura still saw a way through the hell. But in the nine days it took to finalize her hospital discharge papers and health ministry approval for the California transplant, Lauras condition deteriorated. The morning she was scheduled to fly to City of Hope, she awoke with a terrible migraine. Tests showed her brain was bleeding. Walker ordered a new chemo drug as a desperate measure to fight the mutating cancer but it didnt help. Laura went into cardiac arrest at 7 a.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2016. She died three hours later. Two weeks after Lauras funeral, Frances and Greg got to work, calling up doctors, health-care staff and hospital administrators across the province to talk about what went wrong. We made a promise to our daughter to get this fixed, Greg says. One of their first questions to the transplant program physicians: How on earth did you let it get this bad? We had someone say to us, We were really waiting for a family to go public and say something. And I think, Oh my God, what abject failure on their part. How shameful that youre waiting for the patients that are having to go through this hell to be the ones to change your problem. Next Wednesday, the Hilliers are scheduled to meet with Dr. Michael Sherar, president and CEO of Cancer Care Ontario. They will focus on key areas for immediate, transformative change. We want accountability and measures for transparency, Frances says. For starters, Cancer Care Ontario should begin tracking and disclosing wait times for transplants. Also, the public should know how many people die before getting to transplant. Adequate and immediate resources should be made available to boost operational costs, including staffing of stem cell transplant programs and even more basic acute leukemia services, where patients are now waiting weeks to begin their first round of chemotherapy. That is a potential death sentence, Frances says. They say they cant afford to fund these things in Ontario. Do you know how much money Laura cost the system because they didnt do her transplant? Five rounds of infections, seven weeks in ICU, one-on-one nursing, countless imaging scans and bone marrow biopsies. They need to stop planning and start moving. Ontario cancer docs beg ministry agency for help In a letter obtained by the Toronto Star, five stem cell transplant directors from across Ontario lay out the life-and-death crisis for Cancer Care Ontario. Dr. Irwin Walker, one of the physicians behind the memo, said Cancer Care Ontario failed to acknowledge the problems until Burlington teenager Laura Hillier, one of hundreds of cancer patients waiting for transplant, took her concerns to media in July 2015. SHARE: Its a weekday afternoon at Chris MacDonalds newly opened tattoo shop and the sun is shining through huge plate-glass windows, scattering colours from a pelican image and the shops letters across the walls and floor. Under My Thumb is MacDonalds business, but you can see why its also his oasis: vintage leather chairs, mid-century coffee table, a playlist of alternative Canadian country rock, and a whimsical coat rack designed and made by his wife, woodworker Megan Tilston (www.megantilston.tumblr.com). Tattooing is my life, and walking in here feels good, explains the lanky 39-year-old, his voice soft and laconic. Its everything I ever wanted as a kid, a quiet place to hang my hat and draw. Throughout the shop, a main floor storefront on College St., gallery white walls backdrop dozens of pieces of art, either collected over the years or self-produced. Taped to the wall above MacDonalds desk are dozens of drawings on onion skin papers that lift slightly every time the front door opens. Sometimes, MacDonald says, clients choose to replicate what they see, but his work is a jumping-off point for collaboration, and the first visit is usually a consultation to talk through what it is theyre looking for, in order to personalize it. MacDonald owns the shop, but has three tattoo artist co-workers. The shop is divided in two, with two artists in the front and two in the back. Separating the two spaces is a short narrow hall with stencilled floors tattooed, actually in lacy snowflake designs. With magazines on coffee tables, tall tropical plants, Art Nouveau floor lamps and even a mini bar set up on top of the white radiator the shop is worlds away from the stereotypical tattoo parlour frequented by bikers, inmates, or other underworld denizens. MacDonald chuckles at that thought: Yeah, well, tattooing has changed a lot. Its gone from taboo to mainstream, and it keeps gaining momentum. No matter who gets tattoos, the same passion for artistic expression drives it, as always. Most of his own body art is under wraps, although there are hints below a plaid cuff blue and purple roses, a red star. The rest are either coloured, or softer blacks and greys: a portrait of his mother, a poppy flower for a favourite cat, a symbol to represent MacDonald and his two brothers, Joe and Rob. For him, tattoos are charms. Its a way of never forgetting the things that have impacted you, a way of carrying them with you forever. Everyone has a story, he explains. You can look at somebody on the street, and theyve been through a lifetime of experiences youll never know about. And everyones trying to express themselves. For those who arent able to create their own art, tattoos communicate their story. MacDonalds own story begins in Alliston, Ont., in a small house surrounded by fields and few neighbours. His parents were artistic types who loved to sketch and draw, and so did he as a kid. Hitting the rebellious teen years just when counter culture revolved around skateboarding, punk rock and tattoos, MacDonald left home at 17 and moved to downtown Toronto. He got a job in a warehouse to support himself, but he never stopped drawing, building a portfolio he intended to take around to tattoo shops when he was ready. Then one day while getting a tattoo himself, the artist remembered meeting him through Rob, his older tattoo-artist brother, and asked to see the portfolio. Within the week, MacDonald had been signed on as an apprentice. It was a busy shop, open to the public and hopping with people constantly coming and going. In 2010 when he opened his own place, it was by appointment only and he missed the buzz. So when he decided to expand this year after discovering that he was about to become a dad he wanted a place that would encourage people to drop in whenever they liked and yet keep out undesirable elements. A tattoo artist can do his art anywhere because the tools are mobile, but MacDonald cant emphasize the importance of a home base enough. Its your sanctuary. And the better the environment, the more your mind is free to create something beautiful and good. As a reminder of how far hes come, hes kept his first portfolio and occasionally thumbs through it. I used to walk along the streets where my shop is now, daydreaming and smoking. If youd told me that one day this little shop back would be mine, I wouldnt have believed you. SHARE: Theres good news and bad news for homebuyers who would like to see a formal licensing protocol instituted for the provinces home inspectors. The good news is that last month MPP Han Dong (Trinity-Spadina) introduced Bill 165, a private members bill, entitled Licensed Home Inspectors Act, 2016. The bad news is that after more than three years of study, the Ontario government is still not ready to proceed with its own legislation. Instead it has allowed the issue of regulation of home inspectors to be brought to the legislature by a private members bill which stands little if any chance of passage. Buying a home is the largest investment most people will make in their lifetimes. Homebuyers are increasingly reliant on home inspectors. In Ontario, anyone with a business card and a flashlight can be a home inspector. There is no requirement for training, competence, insurance or regulation. The current situation ultimately hurts consumer confidence and the home inspection industry as a whole. The government recognized this vacuum and in December, 2013, Tracy MacCharles, the then-minister of consumer services, commissioned a blue-ribbon panel to report on industry regulation. Not surprisingly, the panels report, entitled A Closer Look: Qualifying Ontarios Home Inspectors, recommends the regulation of home inspectors. The panel reconvened last year and affirmed the 35 recommendations in its earlier report. It recommended setting up a governing body to license, govern and regulate home inspectors. Mandatory insurance, education standards and a code of ethics would be instituted. Now, more than two years later, the government is still not ready to proceed. During the debate on second reading for Bill 165 last month, Jim McDonell (Stormont) said: While I commend the member on finally taking action and not waiting for a government bill, I am concerned that this bill is issued without taking into consideration the results of the expert panel . . . The people of Ontario and the Ontario Association of Home Inspectors deserve more. As written, Bill 165 would establish a designated administrative authority (DAA) with the power to regulate the industry. In governing its members, the DAA would act like the Electrical Safety Authority, the Real Estate Council of Ontario, and the proposed governing body under the new Condominium Management Services Act, 2015. Last week I spoke to David Orazietti, Minister of Government and Consumer Services to ask him about the governments position on home inspector licensing. He told me that he feels strongly about the issue, and wants greater regulation in this area. Im committed to introducing legislation as soon as possible, he said, adding that it would be within this year. While welcoming the advocacy of Han Dong in this field, Orazietti acknowledged that private members are more nimble in introducing their own proposed legislation than ministers of the Crown. He expressed optimism that when his ministry does introduce mandatory regulation for home inspectors, there would be strong support from all parties. Bill 165 is headed for the Standing Committee on Regulations and Private Bills which is where most private members bills die. But, hopefully, the issue is now on the front burner and Ontarians can look forward to government legislation before were again looking at the start of winter in December. Bob Aaron is a Toronto real-estate lawyer. He can be reached at bob@aaron.ca , on his website aaron.ca, and Twitter @bobaaron2 SHARE: Second annual Berry Picnic, 11 a.m. today, Lacomb Grange, 34100 E. Lacomb Road, Lebanon. The event is open to anyone who had anything to do with the berry fields in the area. A potluck picnic will take place at noon; bring a dish to share and your own place setting. Coffee and punch will be provided. Parade to follow. Information: Ruth Brazel Miller, 541-990-3110. Central Linn High School Class of 1966 50-Year Class Reunion, 5 to 10 p.m. June 6 and 6 to 11 a.m. June 7, Best Western Boulder Falls Inn, 505 Mullins Drive, Lebanon. The emphasis will be on having fun. Attire is spring casual. Monday evening activities will include a cocktail hour, buffet, class photo and a surprise guest speaker. Informal gathering Tuesday morning in the Club Room for pastries and morning beverages. Cost: $66 per person. RSVP deadline: May 1. Information: reunion chairman Steve Nousen, 843-323-1799 or Steven1776@gmail.com. Albany Union High School Class of 1964, 4 p.m. June 25, Loafers Station, 222 Washington St. S.W. Members will meet to celebrate their 70th birthdays at a no-host dinner. For more information, or to register, call or email Joyce Reed at 541-926-0302 or handjreed@comcast.net. Albany Union High School Class of 1950, 4 p.m. June 25 at Elmers Restaurant, 2802 Santiam Highway S.E. Social hour followed by a no-host dinner at 5 p.m. Information: Otis Seavy, 541-926-2790, or Martha Griffin, 541-928-7567. Albany All-Class Reunion, 11 a.m. June 26, cafeteria, West Albany High School, 1130 S.W. Queen Ave. All Albany High and Albany Union graduates who have been out of school at least 40 years are invited. The Class of 1966 will be honored at this years reunion for their 50-year anniversary. Cost is $7, which includes a light lunch and beverage. Information: Penny Kelsey, 541-905-4663, or Diane Perfect-Garrett, 541-990-7239. Lebanon Union High School Class of 1961 55-Year Reunion, 6 p.m. Aug. 13, Lebanon American Legion Hall, 480 S. Main St. Dinner and no-host bar. If you have not received the information and dinner order sheet by May 31 or if you need more information, contact Sue Woods Cammack, 541-926-8458 or cammackchuck@aol.com; or Bill VanDiver, 541-259-1010. All-Class Lebanon High School Picnic, 11 a.m. Aug. 14, Waterloo Park, 39510 Gross St. Chicken provided; bring a salad, dessert or other dish. Also bring your own plate, utensils and cup. A donation box will be available to offset the costs of the picnic. OMAHA, NEB.-When I tweeted Block 16 and begged them to send the burger that American food personality Alton Brown loves and an order of Dragon Fries to the airport in a cab, they thought I was putting them on. Taxis arent really an Omaha thing. But when they realized I was a fellow Canadian with limited stopover time before heading west to see prairie chickens mating and sandhill cranes migrating, they offered to personally deliver my meal. Jessica Joyce Urban is the Canadian half of the duo behind this farm-to-table street food spot. With ties to B.C. (Fernie and Elkford) and Ontario (Newmarket and Sutton), she now has family in Beaverton. She and Nebraskan husband Paul Urban opened Block 16 five years ago, after having met here in culinary school. They showed up at the airport with a brown bag of food we immediately spread out on a bench and devoured while chatting. Alton Brown put the Croque Garcon Burger on his top 5 burger list in 2014. Its still a hit, with its 1/3-pound patty made from Nebraska beef cooked to medium rare (Toronto food police, take note). A hunk of ham, sunny-side-up egg, mustard, truffle mayo and ciabatta turn this burger into a buffet. Oh yeah, its messy, said Jessica, snapping a shot of my mustard-stained hands and reporters notebook for Instagram. We eat a lot of staff meals standing over the counter. Shes expecting in August, so Paul threw in the tidbit that their child is going to smell like a hamburger. The Bacon & Bert sandwich, by comparison, was a decidedly non-flashy but solidly respectable showcase of Nebraska bacon, Camembert and apple butter. The trio of fries Id ordered mindful that fries dont travel well was the real conversation piece. They even drew an airport police officer over. Those are fries? he questioned mock sternly, sniffing the air. I thought it was Philly cheesesteak. He refused to have a taste, but lingered so long you could tell he desperately wanted one. Id been captivated by the Dragon Fries on Block 16s website (block16omaha.com) because they come with spicy dragon sauce, cheese curds, green onions and a crushed fortune cookie. The Urbans didnt rig it. They grabbed a cookie and let my fortune fall where it may: Good health will be yours for a long time. Appreciated but a bit of a letdown. A lot of times its almost like adding comedy to the food, Paul said of the way they play with food. We just dont take anything too seriously. Thats how weve rolled since day one, chimed in Jessica. We travel. We eat. We think about anything we can put on sandwiches. Dragon Fries have a cult following, but Duck Duck Goose Fries are dazzling with duck confit, crispy duck skin, cheese, duck fat mayo and gooseberry gastrique. Equally compelling are Gangsta Fries with a smoky chipotle drizzle, green onions and crushed pork rinds from a Latin market in South Omaha. A few more things to know about Block 16: It proudly serves poutine and caters an annual Canada Day party in Omaha. Seventy-five per cent of the menu is vegan or vegetarian. It also has a new special every day 1,500 and counting. This is the place Omaha chefs come to eat. Someone called it very honest food, offered Paul, adding, most importantly, When a Canadian comes into Block 16, were all hugs and super happy. Related: Nebraskas great sandhill crane migration is an ecotourism secret Youre invited to a prairie chicken courtship dance in Nebraska 7 Nebraska experiences you cant miss 9 things to bring home from Nebraska SHARE: TORTUGUERO NATIONAL PARK, COSTA RICAHurry! Edgar Cespedes, my Costa Rican guide, is beckoning me furiously. Our group of six has been wandering since dawn on a lonely stretch of beach on Tortugueros northernmost coast. The goal has been to glimpse of one of the green, Hawksbill or Olive Ridley turtles that call the area home. With none in sight, Id been lingering behind the group, snapping photos of crashing waves and a beautiful sunrise instead. Who rushes to see a turtle? His yell changes things. In the distance, slowly moving from her nest high on the beach is a giant green turtle and now I am in a full sprint to get a closer look. Estimates put her at about 70 years old. Her slow pace, slow even for a turtle, is with good reason; the previous night she would have laid at least 100 eggs. Later, when we pop into the Sea Turtle Conservancy on the island, research scientist Beto Gonzalez calls us lucky. Our visit in mid-October is at the tail end of the traditional green turtle nesting season, he explains. While visitors might see as many as 600 turtles nesting on the beach on a night in September, by November numbers begin to dwindle to an average of 50 to 80 and most nest, lay eggs and leave in the darkness of night. Its actually something of a miracle that there are any turtles in Tortuguero at all. When the Sea Turtle Conservancy began its work in Costa Rica in 1959 the animals were on the verge of extinction. A combination of tracking initiatives and educational outreach with local youth turned the tide. Over the last few decades the number of turtles killed by locals for their meat and shells has dropped dramatically. Where once 200 to 300 turtles were being taken each night, now less than three per night meet that same fate. We are training the kids to understand that a live turtle is better than a dead one, explains Gonzalez, who points to tourism dollars as a key factor in the communitys change of heart. Animals have long been a major draw for tourists who come to Costa Rica but those who make the long trip out to Tortuguero almost always come for the turtles. Thats not to say the town itself isnt worth seeing. With a population of less than 1,500 people, the village is a welcome change from the increasingly tourist-dense spots in other parts of the country. It wont suit everyone. There arent an abundance of activities to keep you busy or blaring music to force your mood, but those who enjoy chatting with locals, spending an afternoon in a hammock, and seeking out wildlife in its natural habitat will be in heaven. The village is busiest at night when the opportunity to head out and see the turtles heading to their nests draws out even the hammock swingers. Dino Matarrita, our nighttime turtle chaperone, stresses that even then he never guarantees a sighting. Sometimes I come out here and I cant even see my hand, he says. This is nature. It could happen but . . . Each nighttime guide is given a specific area on the beach to which he can take his group to watch for turtles. Another set of professional spotters are trained to watch for signs of the animals and alert the chaperone. There are many rules: dark clothing and closed-toe shoes among them. And everything from how close you can get, to when you can approach is closely regulated. It can take hours to spot a turtle at this time of year. We wait for several hours only to learn that the one turtle that has made its way to our section of beach is missing a fin and struggling to dig her nest. We call it a night without catching a glimpse. Its why Cespedes is so excited when we happen on the green turtle the next morning. This time we watch her in silence. Some morning months from now some of her hatchlings will attempt to take a similar path to the water, past flying birds, cunning rats and wayward human flip-flops. And of them, the 0.1 per cent that make it to adulthood will one day find their way right back here to lay eggs of their own. Like their mother theyll move slowly and carefully taking their own sweet time to do so no matter who may be watching and waiting. Heather Greenwood Davis visit to Tortuguero was subsidized in part by Costa Rica Tourism, visitcostarica.com, which didnt review or approve this story. When You Go Tortuguero is a sand bar island separated from mainland Costa Rica by rivers and navigable canals. The rainforest village shares space with the designated national park. There are no cars on the island. The word Tortuguero means Land of the Turtles. As many as 600 green turtles make their way to the beaches of Tortuguero to nest between July and October each year. Expect more tourists during the height of the laying season. Leatherback turtles nest in the same area between February and August. While green turtles lay an average of 100 to 200 eggs at a time, survival rates are low. About 70 to 80 per cent of a turtles eggs will hatch. Of those about 0.1 per cent will make it to adulthood. Where to stay: Mawamba Lodge (mawamba.com) is an all-inclusive resort about 10 minutes from Tortuguero village. The hotel rates start around $230 (U.S.) and include round-trip transportation (bus and boat) from San Jose, meals and select tour options. Non-turtle activities: While turtles are the main draw, keep an eye out for macaws, monkeys, caimans, sloths and lizards. The waters that the turtles call home arent suitable for swimmers. Sharks, caiman (crocodiles) and other less than friendly predators have already laid claim to the waters. Stick to hotel pools. Dont miss speed boat or kayak ride opportunities to explore canals and get a closer look at the flora and fauna. Dont miss: The Sea Turtle Biological Field Station and Visitors Center (conserveturtles.org) offers information and photo ops. Purchasing T-shirts and crafts here helps with preservation projects. SHARE: OTTAWAThe lawyer who won a complete acquittal for Mike Duffy says the Ontario court ruling should put a quick end to prosecutions of two other senators whose cases are before the courts, and halt any other charges in Senate cases still under review, including Sen. Pam Wallins. Duffy is still not accepting interview requests, though he is free to speak for himself once again after Judge Charles Vaillancourt on Thursday tossed out all 31 criminal fraud, breach of trust and bribery charges against the senator. I do not believe that theyll proceed with charges on Wallin or on any of the other senators, lawyer Don Bayne in an interview Friday. The RCMP has charged former Conservative Sen. Patrick Brazeau and retired Liberal senator Mac Harb with fraud and breach of trust charges related to expense claims for primary residences. Harbs trial was due to start in August, Brazeaus in June 2017. I hope whoevers in charge of those two cases will have a serious second look at them, said Bayne. But Bayne believes it is not the end of the line for the 69-year-old Duffy. He says Duffy sure has a strong case for a claim against the Senate to pay back wages lost during the time the Senate voted to suspend him without pay, rejecting Duffys right to be presumed innocent. Duffy was suspended from the fall of 2013 to August 2015 when Parliament dissolved for the federal election, though he had argued vehemently from the get-go that he would be cleared. Duffys right to a presumption of innocence featured throughout the 308-page judges ruling. It found the Crown failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Duffy knowingly broke any criminal law. Bayne said while a lower court ruling carries persuasive but not binding weight, it nevertheless has a practical impact. After an exhaustive review, the judge said most of the errors made by Duffy were not much more than administrative missteps that were not matters for a criminal court, they were matters for Senate finance or the Board of Internal Economy, said Bayne. Vaillancourt made powerful findings of fact about the rules, saying Senate rules did govern Duffys conduct, but they were broad, and in most cases Duffy fell within them, such as travel for partisan activity, and that matters, said Bayne. For the Crown and the RCMP, he said, the Duffy trial was kind of their test case I think theyll conclude it did not go well. These are expensive prosecutions; theyll now have to ask is it really in the public interest, given what the judge said, to proceed on other cases, Bayne added. The RCMP and Ottawa Crown office have said privately throughout the Duffy trial that the fact situations are very different in all three, and that the outcome of the Duffy trial would not determine whether the Harb and Brazeau trials went ahead. Wallin is still under RCMP investigation for travel claims that RCMP allege were wrongly made, according to affidavits in support of production orders authorized by a court. In her case, the Mounties have been investigating for more than three years without laying charges, leaving a cloud of suspicion hanging over her head. Crown attorneys Mark Holmes and Jason Neubauer and the RCMPs lead investigator on the Duffy case, Sgt. Greg Horton, did not comment Friday. Whats harder to say after the wholesale thrashing that the Duffy trial judge delivered to the prosecution case and Stephen Harpers Prime Ministers Office is whether Duffy has any grounds to go to court to sue for damages for the ordeal. Bayne, upon leaving the court Thursday, said Duffy had endured more public humiliation than any Canadian in history. On Friday, Bayne said he didnt know if Duffy could succeed in a civil lawsuit, adding it is a high barrier for people to file a claim of malicious prosecution. For now, the Crown has 30 days to appeal the Duffy ruling, although many observers say that the judges findings of fact, including that Duffy was a credible witness make an appeal very difficult. Meanwhile, ethics investigations into the actions of Duffy and Harpers former chief of staff, Nigel Wright, by the Senate ethics commissioner Lyse Ricard, and the Commons ethics officer Mary Dawson, remain on hold, their spokespeople said. Conservative MPs turned aside the stinging the judicial rebuke of the Harper-led PMO, and rejected Vaillancourts conclusion it was ruthless in its control over the senate and trying to contain the Duffy senate spending scandal.. It was very strong language, said MP Candice Bergen, a former minister in Harpers government. It was not my experience and I would say that if you talked to a number of my former Cabinet colleagues that they would tell you the same thing. Bayne, in turn, rejected suggestions that Vaillancourts comments on the previous government went too far. They were in no way inappropriate. They were at the heart of the final three charges, and that was what engaged the Canadian public and the Canadian media all the political finagling at the highest levels in Canada. The three charges related to Duffys acceptance of $90,000 from Wright to repay the Senate were all tossed by the judge. Bayne said Vaillancourt was very courageous. Because the truth is, whether we like to admit or not, judges are people. There are more and less courageous ones. They the courageous ones are the ones wholl stand up to the authorities of the state, the government and its highest echelons, the RCMP and the Crown; and there are judges wholl find it easier to go along. In New York, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Friday the Duffy trial showed a greater need for openness and transparency, and suggested that under a new government representative in the Senate and a new speaker, that work is underway. Read more about: SHARE: MONTREALThe ripples of the acquittal of Sen. Mike Duffy on 31 corruption-related charges should be felt well beyond the parliamentary pond. The verdict is a stark reminder to all of Canadas political class that the Criminal Code is no substitute for an ethical compass. Public officials be they elected or not are held to a higher standard than just a clean rap sheet. Being found not guilty of a crime does not de facto make one an ethical person. In the Duffy affair, for instance, the cover-up engineered by Stephen Harpers palace guard was a scandal of epic proportions even if none of its PMO proponents was charged with a criminal offence. In his ruling, Judge Charles Vaillancourt expended some of his harshest words on the manipulations Harpers office undertook to avoid blame for the free-spending ways of a Conservative-dominated Senate. The subtext of the verdict is an indictment of the practice of lowering the threshold for what is acceptable ethical behavior at the partisan whim of an accountability-adverse government. Harper was not the only or the first prime minister to conveniently determine that the responsibility for a major ethical malfunction lay with the offender(s) and the courts and not with his oversight or absence of it. Jean Chretien was a firm believer in shipping off files to the police that called into question the ethical culture of his government. The inference was that if no law had been broken, nothing really bad had actually happened. On that basis, he would not have set up a public inquiry into the sponsorship scandal. Just this week, Trudeaus Liberals argued there was nothing wrong with justice minister Jody Wilson-Raybould attending a Liberal fundraiser hosted by a prominent law firm because she did not break Parliaments narrow conflict-of-interest rules. And yet her participation in the event clearly contradicted the spirit of the current governments self-imposed code of conduct. With Harper out of office this story could have short political legs in the current Parliament. But the acquittal verdict does lend additional acuity to the unresolved issue of senatorial accountability. It was the Duffy saga that led Trudeau to endeavour to make non-partisan appointments to the upper house. But absent a party affiliation, Trudeaus senators will be not once but twice-removed from being held accountable by the electorate. If Duffy had to win back his Senate seat in an election would he even run? Had they had had to face voters at regular intervals, would he or his Senate colleagues have been less profligate in their spending? There is a factual answer to those rhetorical questions in the shape of the case of former Conservative minister Bev Oda. She resigned after spending habits surfaced that failed to pass the public opinion smell test. Had she been a senator, Odas expensing of a $16 dollar glass of fresh orange juice would not have been a career-killing move A word in closing on the bullying management style of the Prime Ministers Office: Harper did not invent it. He only perfected it. Over the years it is not just senators who have agreed to act like pawns in the hands of PMO chess masters. From ministers on down, government MPs with only too few exceptions have had a long and not proud history of spineless compliance. Just this week Conservative leadership candidate and former Harper minister Kelly Leitch told the CBC that she should not have accepted to front the announcement of a controversial barbaric cultural practices tip line in the last election. And yet this well-educated medical doctor did agree to sell a promise that in the context of the niqab debate could only come across as doubling down on a highly divisive issue. Being elected under a party banner should not involve placing ones intellectual honesty and good judgment in the hands of the high-level political operators who staff the PMO. If voters wanted to watch trained seals and clown acts they would buy tickets to the circus instead of electing MPs to the House of Commons and having their taxes fund the Senate. Looking at the latest sequel in the Duffy saga their pocketbooks would be the better for it. Chantal Hebert is a national affairs writer. Her column appears Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. SHARE: An Ontario judge has ruled that when a Toronto police officer pulled over a car with three young, black men inside, it was because he decided, despite any evidence, that they were up to something and the probable reason was racial profiling. Toronto police Const. Jason Crawford was engaging in a kind of proactive policing that invites racial profiling, because it relies on a kind of sixth sense that uses usual suspects stereotypes, Ontario Court Justice Mary Hogan ruled in a decision handed down this week. Hogan threw out four charges against Kyle Thompson, one of the passengers in the car, laid after Crawford pulled over the vehicle in September 2011 including a charge of assaulting a peace officer, which Hogan tossed after viewing dashcam video she ruled showed Thompson was not the aggressor. I find that upon seeing this older vehicle being driven by three young, black males Constable Crawfords immediate conclusion despite the lack of any evidence, was that they were up to something, Hogan wrote. It was more probable than not that there was no articulable cause for the stop but that the real reason for the stop was racial profiling. According to David Tanovich, a University of Windsor law professor who researches racial profiling, this is just the seventh reported decision where a Canadian criminal court has made a finding of racial profiling since 2006, out of 41 reported cases where it was explicitly argued. Crawford declined to comment to the Star through Mike McCormack, president of the Toronto Police Association. McCormack also would not comment on Hogans decision, citing the possibility of appeal. In an email, Toronto police spokesperson Mark Pugash said Hogans comments are being investigated by Toronto police professional standards and did not comment further. The vehicle stop occurred at Brimley Rd. and Lawrence Ave., while Crawford was on his way to the hospital as part of a different Highway Traffic Act investigation. The officer testified that he pulled the car over because he believed the driver of the motor vehicle had twice failed to signal while changing lanes, and because he believed Thompson, who was sitting in the back seat, was not wearing a seatbelt. After Crawford got out of his cruiser, Thompson opened the back door of the car and began to get out, prompting a physical confrontation, including an attempt by Crawford to get Thompson to remove his hands from his jacket pocket. A physical fight ensued and both Crawford and Thompson wound up on the ground. At some point during the struggle, Thompson came out of his jacket and fled; Crawford searched the pockets and found marijuana wrapped in two separate plastic bags. Thompson was later arrested and charged with possession of marijuana, assault of a peace officer, and two counts of failure to comply with a recognizance. Dashcam video from Crawfords cruiser captured part of the encounter, though there is no audio because the officer testified he forgot to take his police body microphone with him. In her April 20 judgment in the charges against Thompson, Hogan ruled that Thompsons charter rights were violated. As argued by Thompsons lawyer, Andrew Porter, Thompson was arbitrarily detained after a stop that was made either without the required grounds or for the improper purpose of investigating the occupants for criminal activity based on a discriminatory hunch. Crawfords testimony, Hogan wrote, was replete with inconsistencies, including giving information directly contradicted by the dashcam video. She noted that while Crawford had claimed Thompson was moving around the back seat of the car, and leaning forward in an unusual way, I find the opposite, Hogan wrote, saying the movement was fairly innocuous. After viewing the video, which shows Crawford extremely focused on getting to the rear door of the stopped car, Hogan ruled his actions and demeanour were those of an officer who clearly thought he was investigating more than possible minor traffic violations. At that point, there was no evidence of any criminal activity Crawford could have witnessed, she wrote. Hogan also found that the force used by Crawford was unnecessary and excessive. Video of the fight makes it appear as though Crawford punched Thompson first, Hogan wrote, though she acknowledges that is not entirely clear. She ruled that in any event, Thompson was not the aggressor. To rule a police officer engaged in racial profiling, the judge had to find that it is more probable than not that there was no articulable cause for the stop and that the real reason for the stop was, in this case, the race of the occupants in the car. Thompson and his lawyer set out facts that suggested the vehicle would not have been pulled over but for the race of those inside, including that it was not plausible Crawford would interrupt his other investigation to investigate lane change and seatbelt infractions, that Crawfords testimony about when he became aware of the vehicle occupants race was unlikely. In Hogans ruling he referenced research by Tanovich in finding that Crawfords stop was an example of the proactive policing that invites racial profiling, where officers use their sixth sense to identify suspicious circumstances. In an interview, Tanovich said that sixth sense when an officer says he or she has a feeling when criminal activity is afoot is problematic because it can be discriminatory and transform innocent events into something suspicious. The problem is, that lens that theyre using is impacted by stereotypes, said Tanovich. SHARE: One-room schoolhouses in rural India are a far cry from a lavish conference centre in Mississauga, but on Friday night the Canada India Foundation helped bring the two a little closer together. During its 2016 Awards Gala, the foundation honoured Indian media mogul Dr. Subhash Chandra with its Chanchlani Global Indian Award and a cheque for $50,000, to be donated to the charity of his choice. Chandra chose Ekal Vidyalaya, an organization providing schooling in underserved rural Indian communities. There are either no schools or theyre not functioning properly, he said. This organization started as a movement, more and more people joined and now its running 53,000 schools. According to Chandra, the organization and area it serves has been expanding steadily now 7,500 volunteers teach in schoolhouses throughout the country, providing basic education to more than 1.5 million children. Im proud and honoured to win this award, he said. The Canada India Foundation, which seeks to improve relations between India and Canada, has been handing out the award since 2008. Its the Oscar of Oscars, quipped Ajit Someshwar, chair of CIF, indicating the crystal globe encompassed in swirling gold arms. The list of past guests and winners glitters with star power, and includes former president of India Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam and Indian-American author Deepak Chopra. Its an award for someone who has made global Indians proud, said Vipul Jani, director of operations for CIF. Not just with success in business, but who has made immense contributions to philanthropy and life as well. A self-made man, Chandra now has a net worth of $3.9 billion, Forbes magazine estimates. Sometimes called Indias Rupert Murdoch, he launched the first satellite television channel in India, Zee TV. He changed the way people watch TV in India . . . he always thinks ahead of his time, said Jani. Over the past few decades that tiny channel has grown into the fourth largest television group globally. On Friday, Chandra, 65, said his stations are watched by 1.04 billion viewers across 171 countries. When asked if had any plans to enhance his media presence in Canada, Chandra joked he was open to suggestions, adding, We are talking to some of our media partners here, like Rogers, and we are looking to expand in this market. Its a friendly market, I feel comfortable here. SHARE: A Pearson airport employee was killed in a rollover of a baggage cart at around 11 p.m. Friday night. A Facebook post identified the employee as 24-year-old Ian Henry Pervez, who was pronounced dead at the scene. We are saddened to confirm an Air Canada employee was fatally injured in an incident during his shift at Toronto Pearson airport while driving a ramp vehicle on April 22, said Angela Mah, the spokeswoman for Air Canada. This is a difficult time for our employees, particularly for those working at Toronto Pearson, and we have arranged for counsellors to assist our employees on site. Our thoughts and prayers are with our employees family. The incident happened airside that is, in an area only accessible to the aircraft and airport officials near Terminal 1. Officers from Peel polices major collision bureau were called in to assist with the investigation. Police havent yet released the name of the victim or the circumstances leading to the crash. Flight operations werent affected as a result. SHARE: What a different week this would have been in Canadian politics if Stephen Harpers Conservatives had won the election last fall. A judges withering indictment of the Prime Ministers Office would have been immensely more damning, while a Conservative member of Parliament probably wouldnt have gone on television to tearfully regret what she did during the 2015 campaign. Officially, it was Sen. Mike Duffy on trial in the media and in an Ottawa courthouse the past couple of years. But unofficially, the Duffy case was always going to be a dissection of how politics was done in the Harper PMO. Duffy was found innocent. The Prime Ministers Office was found guilty of mind-boggling and shocking political operations, as Judge Charles Vaillancourt described them. Had Harper still been sitting at the top of Canadian government, the ruling on Thursday would have been a political bombshell. Instead, we got a very different picture of the Conservatives in defeat that same day an emotional Kellie Leitch, MP for Simcoe-Grey and a candidate vying for Harpers old job, telling CBC that she regretted her part in an election announcement of a tip line for Canadians to report barbaric cultural practices. Who made her do it? Leitch wouldnt say. Would she have been as sorry if the announcement had helped the Conservatives win the election? Probably not. In fact, that dreadful tip line would probably be up and running by now, filling up with nasty messages of neighbours reporting on neighbours with thinly veiled racism. What Leitch and Duffy share in common is their regret over what they did to help Harper stay in power. Duffy came to his regret much earlier, most publicly on display in his speech to the Senate in October 2013. The sad truth is I allowed myself to be intimidated into doing what I knew in my heart was wrong out of a fear of losing my job and out of a misguided sense of loyalty, Duffy told his fellow senators. This kind of politics is not why I came to the Senate of Canada. Its not why millions of Canadians voted for the Conservative party. Its not the Canadian way. What would have been better, even Leitch and Duffy would probably agree now, is if these Conservatives had expressed their aversion to this brand of politics before it stopped working for them. Its pretty easy to be regretful in defeat; its far more difficult, but also more courageous, to speak up when youre in a position to stop bad behaviour in its tracks. Earlier this year, a few months after the Conservative defeat, former campaign manager Jenni Byrne revealed that she had not wanted the party to turn the niqab into an election issue. Byrnes regret, though, was purely tactical it hurt the New Democratic Party, and the Conservatives needed the NDP to be strong to help defeat the Liberals. Again, had the niqab gambit worked, we can probably assume that Byrne would be satisfied with that dark turn in politics last summer. It was possible to say no to Harpers PMO. Some did Michael Chong left cabinet out of principle in 2006, and Chris Woodcock, a former PMO director of issues management, was on the record as uncomfortable with how the Duffy business was being handled in the PMO. Around Ottawa these days, its not difficult to find Conservatives who will tell you that they bristled at PMO commands or that they were uncomfortable, too, with the hard-edged politics being played in the past few years. Well no doubt be hearing more about this retrospective discomfort in the leadership contest, as candidates vie to assure us that they wont be another Harper in power. Tactics of fear, bullying and intimidation are used in politics (and outside it, too) because theyre efficient. It takes a lot of effort to inspire people to do your bidding, less so to scare them with threats of job loss or financial or reputational ruin. All this post-defeat regret about political tactics of the Harper years just reinforces that reality. Why are we only hearing about this now? The real lesson this week, whether from Leitch or Duffy, should be for politicians to stand up for principled politics before the unprincipled stuff happens. Read more about: SHARE: ISTANBULThe Turkish government has seized the historic Armenian Surp Giragos Church, a number of other churches and large swaths of property in the heavily damaged Kurdish city of Diyarbakir, saying it wants to restore the area but alarming residents who fear the government is secretly aiming to drive them out. The city, in the heart of Turkeys predominantly Kurdish southeast, has been the scene of heavy fighting for nearly a year, since the Turkish military began a counterinsurgency campaign against militants from the Kurdistan Workers Party, which ended a two-year ceasefire in July. Many neighbourhoods have been left in ruins and hundreds of thousands of people have been forced from their homes. Surp Giragos, one of the largest Armenian churches in the Middle East, was damaged in the fighting and forced to shut its doors. Both the Armenians, for whom Surp Giragos is an important cultural touchstone, and the Kurds have discerned a hidden agenda in the expropriations. They say the government plans to replace the destroyed neighbourhoods they shared with other minorities with luxury rentals and condominiums affordable only to a wealthier, presumably nonminority class of residents. Some analysts agree, saying even some of the better-off Syrian refugees in Turkey could end up there. Solving ethnic and religious strife through demographic engineering is a policy of the Turkish government that goes back well over a century, said Taner Akcam, a prominent Turkish historian. The latest developments in Sur, he added, referring to the historic heart of Diyarbakir, need to be viewed through this framework. Indeed, under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkeys governing Justice and Development Party has displayed a predilection for sweeping projects. It was a proposal to build a shopping mall in place of a razed central park in Istanbul that set off mass anti-government demonstrations in 2013. Erdogan announced the governments urban renewal plans for Diyarbakir in 2011, saying they would make the city into an international tourism destination. Shortly after that speech, the local housing administration started tearing down decrepit residential buildings in Sur, but opposition soon brought a halt to the demolition. Many of the buildings in Sur are protected, prohibiting big restoration projects. Mass construction can be carried out only if the government declares an urgent expropriation, as it has done now. Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said recently that the government would rebuild Sur to look like the scenic Spanish city of Toledo. Everyone will want to come and appreciate its architectural texture, he said. Yet for the Armenians and the Kurds, distrust of Turkeys intentions runs deep. Armenians still have vivid memories of what historians now call the First World War genocide carried out by the Ottoman Turks, in which 1.5 million of their countrymen died, and the Kurds have fought the Turkish government on and off for generations. Diyarbakir is a polyglot city that is home to small Christian congregations of Assyrians, Chaldeans and Turkish converts, as well as to Armenians and Kurds. Surp Giragos (Surp means saint in Armenian), which stands in Sur, closed in the 1960s for lack of parishioners but was renovated and reopened in 2011, part of a reconciliation process begun by the Erdogan government that has returned dozens of properties that the Ottoman Turks confiscated during the First World War. To many Armenians in the area, who lost touch with their family histories after the genocide and were often raised as Muslims by Kurdish families, the church has served as an anchor as they rediscovered their identities. These hidden Armenians emerged as Turkey relaxed its restrictions on minorities, but now they say they again feel threatened. That helps explain why the governments seizure of the church struck a particularly raw nerve with the Armenian diaspora and rights groups, who say the expropriation of religious properties and 6,300 plots of land in Diyarbakir is a blatant violation of international law. This is reminiscent of the events leading up to the start of the Armenian genocide on April 24, 1915, when properties were illegally confiscated and the population was displaced under the false guise of temporary relocation for its own protection, said Nora Hovsepian, chairwoman of the Western Region of the Armenian National Committee of America. That temporary relocation, she added, turned out to be death marches and a permanent disenfranchisement of two million from their ancestral homeland. The Turkish government denies that those killings amounted to genocide, saying thousands of people many of them Turks died as a result of civil war. The local governors office defended the decision to expropriate the property in Diyarbakir, saying in a written statement that the main aim was to bring Surs potential as a historic quarter to light by restoring registered buildings and replacing irregular structures with new ones that fit the citys historical fabric. Local officials have said the properties will be returned once they are restored. But many communities in the area have lost trust in the government and official statements have been dismissed as insincere. The government wants to seize the heart of Diyarbakir and singularize it, ridding it of its rich multifaith and multicultural structure, Abdullah Demirbas, a former mayor of Diyarbakir, said in a telephone interview. A video distributed by the prime ministers office to illustrate the governments vision for the project has also been criticized for its focus on mosques and residential areas over other prominent religious establishments in the area. One line of narration in particular drew the attention of religious minorities: The call to prayer that rises from Diyarbakirs minarets will not be quieted down. The Diyarbakir Bar Association has sued the government, claiming the project is a work of military and security reconstruction and that it will not benefit Sur. The Surp Giragos Church is also preparing to take legal action against the order. The developments in Sur have marred the steps taken by the Turkish government in recent years toward reconciliation with the nations Armenian population. Last year, a historic Armenian orphanage, built by dozens of descendants of people who survived the genocide, was returned by the government to the Gedikpasa Armenian Protestant Church Foundation, after months of campaigning and the intervention of Davutoglu. At the time, Armenians worldwide hailed the decision as an example of how activism by Turkish Armenians could bear fruit. But critics argued that the restitution of the land just before important elections was politically motivated and said they doubted that other confiscated properties would be returned in a timely fashion. How can we have any trust left when the government backtracks on every positive step taken? asked Anita Acun, a leader in the Armenian community in Istanbul. But even so, the situation in Sur came as a surprise. We never imagined history would repeat itself. That history, and the traumas associated with those bloody events, have been passed down through generations and continue to reverberate among Armenians. We havent been able to go to the church for months and its devastating to hear that it has been damaged in the fighting, said Onur Kayikci, a Kurdish resident of Sur, who recently became aware of his Armenian ancestry. For us, its not just a building or a place of worship. Its where we would come to put together the pieces of our history and identity together. SHARE: CAIROThe omission on page five is glaring. In a fifth-grade government textbook, a name has been purged from a list of Egyptian Nobel laureates: Mohamed ElBaradei, who was awarded the 2005 Nobel Peace Prize along with the International Atomic Energy Agency, which he led. Three years ago, the former diplomat stepped down as the countrys vice-president to protest a violent crackdown by security forces on Islamists. Supporters of President Abdel-Fatah el-Sissi considered the resignation an act of betrayal. It seems they have yet to forgive him. They are rewriting history again, said Sami Nassar, an education professor at Cairo University and former dean of its graduate school of education. Now, Sissi is the president, so the curriculum should reflect the political regime. Since Egypts 1952 revolution, when a group of army officers overthrew the monarchy, the public educational system has been an extension of the government. Textbooks and curriculums offered pro-government narratives, conveniently omitting facts or tweaking the truth. But now, the politicization in the schools has reached new heights, marked by efforts to erase or play down opponents contributions to history. The Jan. 25 revolution of 2011 that ended autocrat Hosni Mubaraks 30-year rule is described in a few superficial paragraphs in government textbooks. The activists who launched the populist rebellion, part of the Arab Spring uprisings that spread across the region that year, are not mentioned. The moderate Islamists who played a crucial role are vilified. Its like the revolution didnt happen, said Kamal Mougheeth, a researcher at Egypts National Council for Education and a former academic. There are figures in the regime who had a problem with the revolution and are trying to attack any symbols of the revolution, not just Dr. ElBaradei. To critics, the textbook omissions are a calculated effort to bolster Sissis authority by minimizing the uprisings and their key orchestrators. Some say they are the latest example of an educational system geared more toward pleasing the nations leaders than objectively teaching past events. The eyes of textbooks writers are on the president, the man on the throne, Nassar said. Its a way of flattering the ruler, what gives him more influence over the people, what gives him a very good image. The history is not the history of the people. Its the history of the ruler. The Ministry of Education did not respond to repeated requests for comment. But in local media reports, the ministrys spokesman, Bashir Hassan, said ElBaradeis name was removed under the previous education minister after parents complained. The decision is being investigated, he said, adding that no one should rewrite history even if there are differences between the regime and Dr. ElBaradei. As far as anyone can remember, the first instance of a politically motivated omission in the school curriculum happened under President Gamal Abdel Nasser in the 1960s. In most textbooks, Nasser is portrayed as the nations first president. In fact, that distinction goes to Muhammad Naguib, a military general who launched the 1952 uprising with Nasser. Under his two successors Anwar Sadat and Mubarak textbooks glorified their military commands during Egypts conflicts against Israel, bringing both leaders more legitimacy. The education system was altered again under Mohammed Morsi, who led the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood to power in 2012, when he became Egypts first democratically elected president. The curriculum promoted the Islamists views and schools became sites for Brotherhood gatherings and activities. Textbooks were recast to include pictures of women wearing veils. A year later, Morsi was overthrown by Sissi in a military coup and the Muslim Brotherhood was outlawed. Thousands of textbooks printed during its rule were destroyed, education scholars said. Today, the Brotherhood is described in the curriculum as corrupt and power hungry and its ousting by the military justified. Last year, the Education Ministry also removed the stories of Saladin and Uqbah Ibn Nafi mythical figures in Islam who influenced radical Islamists in a bid to counter extremism. In the pages of the ninth-grade civics textbook now, the Jan. 25, 2011 revolution barely exists. It is described benignly as how national unity took its best form and Christians and Muslims went to the streets to call for freedom and dignity. Theres no mention that the uprising was triggered by collective anger at Mubaraks authoritarian rule, its cronyism and corruption. There is no mention of the protesters killed during the Jan. 25th revolution, said Mougheeth. There is no mention of how the revolution started, no mention of police abuses, no mention of the corruption. In the 12th-grade history textbook, the revolution was caused by election fraud and the deterioration of the economy and political life, and that the military took power to save the revolution. The massive street demonstrations on June 30, 2013 that overthrew Morsi glorifies Sissi and his government as meeting the peoples demands that the goals of the Jan. 25, 2011 revolution be fulfilled, according to the ninth-grade civics textbook. The uprising resulted in a road map that put Egypt on the right track in developing its resources and building its future, the textbook says. All the people participated in the June 30 revolution, Nassar said. There was no one charismatic leader. But in the textbooks, Sissi is a national hero. He led the June 30 revolution and removed the Muslim Brotherhood. In other instances, even the slightest reference to revolutions has been removed. Last year, a television channel, Ewan24, reported that a lesson called the revolution of the birds, in which the birds revolt against a tyrannical cow, was purged from the first-grade syllabus. And a scene from the Shakespearean play Antony and Cleopatra that referred to a revolution was removed from the 12th grade literature syllabus. Scholars worry the historical rewriting is undermining belief in the educational system. Every time theres change from one side to the other, from one extreme to another, Nassar said. So how can I believe in the subject? We dont believe whats in your curriculum. We just want the diploma. This is the attitude of both students and parents. Still, its unlikely the textbook omissions will alter the ethos of the 2011 uprising. This was a dream all Egyptians lived, Mougheeth said. Its part of our national identity now. It will be very difficult to completely erase it. Read more about: SHARE: Former Oregon State Police Sgt. John Burright of Albany, who was born and raised in Corvallis, was honored on Thursday when a Salem city street was named after him. The ceremony took place at the site of the future Oregon State Police headquarters building in southeast Salem, and Burrights family was presented with replicas of the sign for Burright Lane, which will lead to that new facility. On Sept. 4, 2001, Burright, Trooper Maria Mignano and Albany Police Department Officer Jason Hoerauf were assisting a disabled motorist along Interstate 5 north of Albany, near the Ankeny Hill exit, when they were struck by a driver who fell asleep at the wheel. Mignano and Hoerauf were killed and Burright was critically injured. He later medically retired due to being disabled. This is a way to honor John for his contributions serving the citizens of Oregon, said OSP Superintendent Rich Evans. The sign will remind troopers when they are on their way to work how important the work they do is. The new OSP headquarters, at 3565 Trelstad Ave. S.E., is set to open by mid-summer and will consolidate several state police facilities currently scattered around Salem. SCRANTON, PA.Like most of the blue-collar men of this struggling post-industrial city, John Drobnicki supported Hillary Clinton when she ran for president in 2008. Things were different. For her and for him. Back then, journalists wrote of Clintons cultural affinity with the white working class. Back then, Drobnicki made a decent living. When Clinton was scrapping for Scranton votes against Barack Obama, Drobnicki was getting raise after raise on his way to making $19 (U.S.) an hour delivering auto parts. But the company outsourced his job during Obamas first term. Now, at 65, he earns just $9 an hour. And hes supporting Donald Trump. I still dont have a hate for Hillary, he said at the counter of Simons Restaurant. I just dont think shes going to take care of the poor guy. I think of eight more years of this insanity ... There are signs even in this Clinton Country stronghold where her father grew up and her grandfather worked in a lace mill. White men, particularly working-class white men, have deserted Clinton in large numbers over the last eight years. The question, unthinkable when Scranton was an early-20th-century coal and iron boom town, is whether they matter. Some analysts believe theres no longer mathematical reason for Clinton to worry much about guys like Drobnicki. They argue the Democrats have entered a kind of post-white-men era in which they can win the presidency by dominating with the Obama coalition: single women, young people, gays and lesbians, blacks and Hispanics and Asians. Whites with less than a college education made up 62 per cent of voters in 1984. In 2008, when Obama felt compelled to suffer through an Im-just-like-you game of bowling in central Pennsylvania, the white working class was down to 39 per cent of voters. Itll likely be closer to 30 per cent in November. White men cant be ignored, said Justin Gest, a George Mason University professor and author of The New Minority, a forthcoming book on the white working class, but theyre no longer the kingmakers and bellwethers they once were. Because their numbers continue to shrink. Obama drubbed Mitt Romney in 2012 with the support of just 35 per cent of white men. Clinton has won key states this year, like Ohio and New York, while losing white men to Bernie Sanders by 15 points or more, according to exit polls. Still, she is doing badly enough with them, and Trump decently enough, to concern some Democratic and labour leaders. The unprecedented dreadfulness of Trumps favourability numbers have obscured the fact that Clintons own numbers are exceptionally poor by any non-Trump standard: 39 per cent of Americans see her favourably, 56 per cent unfavourably. White men are a big part of her problem. In an NBC poll this week, a whopping 72 per cent of them viewed her negatively. Scranton is a northeast-Pennsylvania city of 75,000 where Clinton got three votes to every one for Obama. She retains a loyal local support base, and shell almost certainly carry the area over Sanders in the primary on Tuesday. Yet even some of her supporters say something has changed. People who went with Hillary last time, Im seeing a lot of Bernie signs in their yards. And its bumming me out, said JoAnn Szymanski, who works at Simons with her husband, founder Simon Lipchus. Wages in Scranton havent recovered from the Great Recession. Clinton is now running as the defender of a president the white working class has never liked. Controversies over her hidden emails and lucrative speeches have taken their toll. But the big difference is the presence of Sanders and Trump, white men targeting the working class with emotional populist appeals. Turns out cultural affinity is relative. In politics, you are not evaluated in the abstract. You are evaluated in the context of your opposition. And in 2008, her opposition was a young black outsider who discomforted many white working-class voters, Gest said. Drobnicki, a lifelong Democrat, thinks Trump is a little bit of a lunatic, but at least hell fight to bring back some factory jobs. Another Trump supporter, retired truck driver Art Peters, said he voted twice for Obama. Clinton is a liar, he said, and part of a political class enriching itself as the average Joe suffers. All the guys I know are going with Trump because: he speaks out of turn, but hes no politician either, said Peters, 77. I bet you I know 25 people who changed. Me, my wife, my kids, my family, we were all Democrats, we all changed. Andrew Levison, author of the book The White Working Class Today, expressed skepticism about whether Trump is actually making deep inroads. His analysis found that Trump has won no more than 30 per cent of the overall white working class vote in any Rust Belt state. Unsurprising: a quarter to a third of the white working class, Levison said, is made up of Archie Bunker types who hold negative views of immigrants and other races. Trump, he said, has not proven he can appeal to the rest. Essentially, Trump isnt bringing in anything new, Levison said. What would be startling to me would be if he was getting 40 per cent, 50 per cent. Youd say, Oh my God, no Archie Bunker type has ever done that. But no. Bill Clinton drew about 400 people to a speech at Scranton High in early April. Sam Spadine, a quarry owner and former farmer, said Bill had persuaded him to abandon Trump and support Hillary once more. But as Bon Jovi blared from the speakers, Spadine warned of Trumps appeal to the working people who can no longer find work. We have nothing now, he said. All the small-time people, theres like hopelessness. Read more about: SHARE: LONDONPresident Barack Obama on Saturday urged the next generation of British leaders to give serious thought to how they solve problems, turning a lighthearted question about priorities for his successor into a treatise on his preference for diplomacy over military conflict. Obama said keeping U.S. citizens safe is his top priority and he suggested that it should also top the list for whomever Americans elect in November due, in part, to the threat posed by Daesh (also known as the Islamic State) and other extremist organizations. How those issues are handled is important, he said. Leaders need to recognize that security is not just a matter of military actions but is a matter of the messages we send and the institutions that we build and the diplomacy that we engage in and the opportunities that we present to people, Obama said in a question-and-answer session with young leaders. Such events are a staple of his foreign travels. That is going to be important for the next president of the United States and any global leader to recognize, Obama said. Obama held up the recent nuclear deal with Iran as an example of the power of diplomacy over force. Doing so without going to war is something Im very proud of, he said. The question, however, was about priorities for his successor and the audience applauded loudly when the questioner suggested that person will be a she, as in Democrat Hillary Clinton, or could be Bernie, a reference to the other Democrat still in the race, Bernie Sanders. Obama passed up the chance to comment on the fierce campaign to succeed him, but said hed love to see a focus on early childhood education. Obamas town hall covered issues such as terrorism, trade and the troubles in Northern Ireland. He spoke about the important role that the Black Lives Matter movement played in surfacing the problem of police violence, but he was also obliquely critical on the movements approach. Once you have highlighted an issue and elected officials or people who are in a position to start bringing about change are ready to sit down with you, then you cant just keep on yelling at them, he said. The topic that most dominated Obamas meeting with British youth was social change and, in particular, the gay and transgender rights movement. For possibly the first time in his presidency Obama, who typically takes questions on a boy-girl or girl-boy rotation, fielded a query from a person who claims no gender. Now I am about to do something terrifying, which is I am coming out to you as a non-binary person which means that I dont fit, Maria Munir said appearing before the president and 500 British young leaders. Non-binary people dont recognize any gender. I come from a Pakistani-Muslim background, which inevitably has cultural implications, Munir continued, then asking the president about a North Carolina law that limits protections for transgender, lesbian, gay and bisexual people and wanted to know what Obama would do to protect those with no gender. We literally have no rights ... I really wish yourself and [Prime Minister] David Cameron would take us seriously as transgender people, the questioner asked Obama. A day earlier at a news conference with Cameron, Obama said that laws like the ones recently passed in North Carolina and Mississippi are wrong and should be overturned. On Saturday, Obama spoke directly to Munir, who helps lead a local movement on behalf of non-binary peoples rights, attends university and is running for office. Im incredibly proud of the steps it sounds you have already taken to speak out about your own experience and to start a social movement to change laws, Obama replied. He talked briefly about the changes he had made in the federal government to protect LGBT rights. And he used the questions at the town hall to speak about both the social changes that had taken place over the course of his presidency and the personal changes he has undergone as an elected official who initially opposed gay marriage. Its probably been the fastest set of changes in terms of a social issue that Ive seen, Obama said. Obama said he had initially supported civil unions for gays and lesbians, rather than traditional marriage, because he believed it was best to disentangle the civil rights issues at stake from the broader religious debate. In London he conceded that he should have realized earlier that he was wrong and admitted that his daughters and gay friends helped him better understand the issue. It was not simply about legal rights but a sense of stigma. Obama said. If you are calling it something different then somehow it means less in the eyes of society. He encouraged Munir to keep pressing for faster change: It doesnt feel fast enough for you or for those who are impacted and thats good, Obama said. You shouldnt feel satisfied. You should keep pushing. But I think the trend lines are good on this. Asked about his legacy, the president said he wouldnt have a good feel for it until 10 years from now and I can look back with some perspective. But still, he cited his health care law, financial industry reform, the Iran nuclear deal and saving the world economy from a great depression among the issues he hopes to be remembered for. Obama said hell review a scorecard after leaving office. I think that I have been true to myself during this process. Sometimes I look back at what I said when I was running for office and what Im saying today and they match up. With files from The Associated Press. Read more about: SHARE: MADRIDTwo giants of Western literature, William Shakespeare and Miguel de Cervantes, are being honoured this weekend in their native countries on the 400th anniversaries of their deaths. But while Britain has gone all out to fete Shakespeare, with a yearlong slate of high-profile events, readings, concerts and stagings of his plays, Spanish officials have been accused of not doing enough to promote Cervantes, whose Don Quixote is considered to be a foundational text of modern fiction. As Spain heads into its fifth month without an elected government, after inconclusive elections in December, the criticism has taken on a distinctly political flavour. A few weeks ago, Juan Luis Cebrian, the chairman of Prisa, the Spanish media group that owns the newspaper El Pais, paid tribute to Cervantes at his shareholders general assembly. But he took a swipe at the absence and anomia of the authorities of our country in terms of everything that relates to this event. In January, socialist lawmakers presented a parliamentary proposal to push the acting conservative government to improve the commemoration plans. Jose Andres Torres Mora accused the government of crossing its arms. Spanish officials insist that such criticism is misplaced, saying the government never sought to take full control over how Cervantes should be honoured, nor foot the entire bill for the celebration. Jose Maria Lassalle, the state secretary for culture, said in a telephone interview that his aim was to break with the philosophy of the 1980s and 90s, when Spain was mostly under a socialist government. During that time, he argued, huge cultural projects were heavily subsidized and organized from the top, with a strict hierarchy. Instead, he said, the Cervantes commemoration should be much more about suggesting rather than ordering. He added, It is a change of mentality that some perhaps havent grasped. We have looked for something more transversal, democratic, collaborative and pluralistic. Nonetheless, the Culture Ministry recently added 129 projects to the official commemoration agenda, raising the total to 329. The government said it had allocated a total of 4 million ($5.7 million Canadian), to finance events linked to the anniversary. Regional authorities are spending about half that amount. In Britain, nearly every major cultural institution has planned a splashy Shakespeare event. On Sunday, the date of his death, the Royal Shakespeare Company will host Shakespeare Live!, a performance that will be broadcast by the BBC. Actors in the show include Helen Mirren, Judi Dench and Benedict Cumberbatch. Prince Charles will be in the audience. The National Theatre, British Library, Royal Festival Hall and Victoria and Albert Museum, among others, scheduled events for this weekend. Spains comparatively low-key treatment of Cervantes has rankled more than a few of the countrys writers and intellectuals. Arturo Perez-Reverte, one of Spains bestselling novelists, said in his blog that while the British prime minister, David Cameron, had written a widely published article about Shakespeare and even rattled off a series of puns in Parliament to demonstrate how the poet and playwright provides language for every moment, it would be unthinkable for Mariano Rajoy, Spains acting prime minister, to publicly pay tribute to Cervantes. The governments handling of the commemoration, Perez-Reverte wrote, amounted to the international embarrassment of the year of Cervantes. Still, on Wednesday, Rajoy gave a copy of Don Quixote to Carles Puigdemont, the new separatist leader of Catalonia a gesture that was also politically charged, as Rajoy then warned against any Catalan attempt to break away from Spain. Lassalle, the state secretary, said he regretted the negative reactions in some intellectual circles. There is a typical Spanish spirit to consider our things worse than what is done overseas, he said. That is of course something that Anglo-Saxons never do. Dario Villanueva, the director of the Spanish Royal Academy, the guardian of the language, has expressed his concerns over the organization of the commemoration. In January, he highlighted preparation delays, warning about time consuming the opportunity that we would have to commemorate Cervantes. But in a recent phone interview, Villanueva said, I was worried, but now Im a bit more relaxed, because I think that things are functioning and coming into place. That Spain is not fully united behind the Cervantes events is, perhaps, in keeping with the writers tumultuous life. One of the main events, which runs until May 22, is an exhibition at the National Library. On display are nine of the 11 known letters that Cervantes wrote, mostly while working as a tax collector. The show also traces the writers footsteps around the Mediterranean not always of his own will, since he spent five years in prison in Algiers after pirates captured him. The last part of the exhibition, dedicated to the myth of Cervantes and his legacy, highlights how English writers followed Cervantes lead in fiction, including Henry Fielding and his novel Tom Jones. On a recent visit, a guide told his group that Cervantes would have been better honoured had he lived in London instead of Madrid, even though he lived in the same district of the city, aptly known as the Barrio de Las Letras (the literary quarter), as several other writers of the so-called Spanish Golden Age. Developing the literary quarter as a cultural centre is the big dream that Madrid needs, said Jose Manuel Lucia Megias, a literature professor and the curator of the national library exhibition. Last year, investigators said they had found the remains of Cervantes in the Madrid convent where he was buried in 1616. Despite the media frenzy that the discovery generated, Fernando de Prado, the historian who led the search, said that absolutely nothing had been done since by Madrids new city hall administration to promote the burial site. Overall, de Prado said, there has been no attempt to think about how Cervantes and this special year could be beneficial for the longer term. Politicians, he added, are now only interested in what will happen in the politics of Spain, so Cervantes for them is just about wanting to appear on the event photo. Villanueva of the Royal Academy, who is also a professor of comparative literature, said Shakespeare and Cervantes should be honoured as two absolutely complementary authors. Cervantes, Villanueva said, wrote theatre and poetry, but recognized he wasnt especially inspired in those fields, while Shakespeare didnt write narrative. Nothing in the national librarys exhibition was translated into English, something that the curator called an institutional mistake. It is a complete error not to think of the public beyond people who speak Spanish, Lucia Megias said. I think that in this country we sometimes lack marketing vision. Still, Lassalle, the state secretary, argued that Madrids exhibition compared favourably with one in the British Library about Shakespeare. He also cited a new choreography of the ballet Don Quixote from the Spanish National Dance Company that has received favourable reviews, and a summer theatre festival in Almagro that will be devoted almost exclusively to Cervantes. Some government-funded efforts did not receive media and public attention but were major achievements in terms of promoting Cervantes, including a project to digitalize his works. The official Cervantes commemoration is due to run until mid-2017. Whatever the criticism so far, Lassalle said, the evaluation of its impact should really only be done at the end. Read more about: SHARE: NEW DELHIA university professor on his way to work in northwestern Bangladesh was hacked to death Saturday in an attack similar to other killings by suspected Muslim militants, police said. Rezaul Karim Siddique was attacked on his way to the state-run university in the city of Rajshahi, where he taught English, deputy police commissioner Nahidul Islam said. The attackers used sharp weapons and fled the scene immediately, Islam said. The attack was similar to recent killings of atheist bloggers in Muslim-majority Bangladesh by radical Islamists. Daesh, also known as ISIS or ISIL, claimed responsibility for the attack, accusing Siddique of calling for atheism, according to the SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors jihadi websites. No further details were available. Daesh has claimed responsibility for other attacks in Bangladesh, but the government has dismissed those claims, saying the Sunni extremist group has no presence in Bangladesh. At least three other professors at Rajshahi University have been killed in recent years, allegedly by Islamist groups. Sajidul Karim Siddique, a brother of the victim of Saturdays attack, said the professor was a very quiet and simple man who was focused on studying and teaching. He led a cultural group and used to edit a literary magazine. So far as we know, he did not have any known enemies and we never found him worried, the brother said. We dont know why it happened to him. The government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has been cracking down on militant groups, which it blames for deadly attacks in the past year on secular bloggers, minority Shiites, Christians and two foreigners. It accuses the opposition of supporting religious radicals in seeking to retaliate against the government for prosecuting suspected war crimes during the countrys 1971 independence war. Following Saturdays attack, hundreds of students and teachers marched on Rajshahi Universitys campus and blocked a highway, demanding justice. Amnesty International condemned the killing and said those responsible must be brought to justice. The vicious killing . . . is inexcusable and those responsible must be held to account, Amnestys South Asia director, Champa Patel, said in a statement. This attack sadly fits the gruesome pattern established by Islamist extremist groups in Bangladesh who are targeting secular activists and writers. The authorities must do more to put an end to these killings. Not a single person has been brought to justice for the attacks over the past year, Patel said. Read more about: SHARE: Why do people think theyre going to get away with it, that no one will notice a bit o dodgy behaviour? Where do they get their gall? Why did Sen. Colin Kenny allegedly use government staff to help run his tanning salon? Why did former MP Dean Del Mastro, convicted of election overspending, think he could get away with, well, frankly being Dean Del Mastro? Why did former Manitoba judge Lori Douglas think she could alter evidence to her own benefit and keep her job? Why did Quebec Superior Court Justice Michel Girouard give false and deceitful evidence in a judicial inquiry into alleged cocaine-buying at a video store? Why do Toronto cops get away with shooting distressed people holding knives, a hammer, scissors, and a chair leg? Dont say, but they did get away with it, which in many cases, notably that of Sen. Mike Duffy, is or will be true. Im asking why these powerful ambitious people thought that if they stepped into the moral Big Muddy, as Springsteen put it, they wouldnt come out wearing visible mud, whether ankle deep or waist high. Sadly, the CBC didnt tell us the name of Kennys tanning salon. Was it Senator Suns Salon & Bakery? Colins Colour Me Beautiful? The Red Chamber? Kenny and his Senate staffers discussed the fact that he was running out of bed disinfectant. What is that? Should I get some? What actually goes on at Kennys UV Emporium and does it involve a Standing Members committee? All this stuff was in emails. And Douglas posed shackled to a bed, even though she knew her day job was basically shackling people who would then accuse her of having a taste for it and file appeals. Not a judicious move. Her husband posted it online, where it still lives. Del Mastros mud was on paper and Const. James Forcillos killing of Sammy Yatim was filmed, as U.S. cop killings so often are now. Im wondering if Kenny and his cohort watch thrillers differently than the rest of us do. At some point, someones always rifling through a desk or a closet for clues. They have their back turned. I am unable to watch the tension destroys me and since I always yell, Look out, hes behind you! other people are unable to watch them with me. Kenny People never think theyll be snuck up on from behind. I harass people with my erupting apologies, but Kenny People never apologize. Why should they. Kenny People are low on paranoia, fat with self-regard. Long after Rep. Anthony Weiner was caught sending dick pics to strangers, he said he had become a figure of fascination rather than derision. Heres my theory: most Kenny People are men because so few women reach positions of power. Statistically the number of women with lesions of self-love and bubbles of swagger are in the 1s and 0s, as a prime minister recently said of non-quantum computing. These wrongdoers are confident, blithe even. When prosecuted they protest devilish persecution, although the documents, photos and videos say otherwise. This puzzles me. Is it narcissism? Do we blame their parents for not having raised them in the free-range shame kettle that was my family home? Kenny People attain power at a certain age. They dont understand the surveillance society and they certainly dont get freedom of information legislation where forms, contracts, deals and emails sit quietly like poached eggs in the pan until they burst. Expense claims are biblical in that theyre based on Thou Shalt Nots. Powerful people should be abstemious. I keep thinking of George Orwell, a saint in some ways though not in others, eating boiled cod with bitter turnips and squeaking with enjoyment. It is precisely people like Orwell self-denying idealists who dont go into public life; instead we have sybarites and people not ashamed to allow millions of tax dollars to be spent on lawyers defending the indefensible: that they should be allowed to preside over common people in a courtroom, balloon with melanoma money, kill with impunity. Imagine being that sort of person. Or perhaps there is a seed of it in all of us, and we let it sprout and grow. We become Kenny People. SHARE: Turkey is by far the Wests most important partner in the Middle East today. The European Union has pleaded with Turkey to stop the flow of refugees north through the Balkans, offering billions of Euro and relaxed visa procedures for Turks in return. For America and its NATO partners, Ankaras airbases close to the Syrian border are crucial to its air war against the Islamic State jihadist group. Yet internally, the country is falling apart. Military operations in the Kurdish southeast are besieging whole towns and radicalizing young men and women to commit deadly suicide bombings, such as two recent attacks in Ankara, Turkeys capital, which killed more than 60 people. Hundreds of Kurdish civilians have died in months-long curfews that the military expects to continue for several months more. Since last summer Turkey has endured more indiscriminate terror than ever before. Six suicide attacks including one that killed U.S. and Israeli citizens last month, and another that took the lives of 12 Germans in January, have also cost hundreds of civilian lives. Several of these bombings have been carried out by Daesh affiliates and many here blame President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for his lacklustre approach to policing the porous border with Syria. Today Turkey is divided into Erdogan supporters and haters. Then theres a diplomatic standoff with Russia following the shooting down of a military jet on the Syrian border last November. Russian tourists have kept hundreds of resorts and hotels along Turkeys Mediterranean coast in business for years, but following the plane incident, Moscow banned tour operators from flying to Turkey, costing the tourism industry billions of dollars. All this comes as Erdogan has tightened his grip on the news media with two of the countrys biggest media organizations, the Zaman group of newspaper and Cihan news agency, brought to heel last month. The jobs of more than 1,000 journalists, editors and staff are now at risk if they dont agree to toe the government line. If they voice their concerns or anger on Twitter or Facebook, they risk legal action, even prison time. What have Turkeys problems got to do with the West? Quite a bit, actually. Turkeys turn away from democracy means the Wests main route to solving problems in the worlds most incendiary region is today hanging by a thread. The Wests ability to bring about solutions to the migrant crisis, the scourge of Daesh and the brutal conflict in Syria centres on Turkey taking a leading role. Erdogan sees the world in black and white youre with him or against him and many Western countries are viewed as occupying the latter group. And yet Canada is well-positioned to sit Turkey down and talk. As NATO allies, ties between the two remain strong. According to the Government of Canadas bilateral relations webpage, both Ottawa and Ankara are excellent partners in the multilateral sphere and work together well within NATO. Canada, once again, is seen across the world as a force for equilibrium, a country thats not hell-bent on establishing leverage in the Middle East, a la the Conservative government under Stephen Harper. Erdogan has met Justin Trudeau and clearly sees him as less of a strategic threat than almost any other major Western power: the United States and Germany, to name two, are too entangled with Turkey because of the war on Daesh and the refugee crisis to have any real room for manoeuvre with the Turkish president. For a president fighting wars on all sides, a Western interlocutor such as Canada ready to subtly tap Erdogan on the shoulder and say Really, what youre doing helps no one; how can we help? might just be a role Canada could fill. After all, whether loved or loathed, and it is increasingly the latter, Erdogan is the Wests most important regional ally today. Its clear he is done listening to the U.S. and Europe, who need him more than he needs them. Maybe now Canada should step up. Stephen Starr is a journalist and author who has lived in Turkey and Syria for eight years. SHARE: If the Toronto Transit Commission had proof of a serious drug or alcohol problem among its staff something putting public safety at significant risk it would have good reason to institute mandatory screening for impairment. But thats not the case. Yet, even so, the TTC still seems bent on subjecting thousands of people to random dug and alcohol testing. CEO Andy Byford sent a letter to employees this past week notifying them that funding had been approved last month and that a screening program would proceed. Its a seriously misguided policy. As many as 10,000 people would be subject, on a random basis, to breathalyzer tests for alcohol, and mouth swab screening for drugs such as marijuana or cocaine. That would sacrifice workers right to privacy on a grand scale, in return for minimal safety benefits. The intrusive approach is especially unjustified given that the TTC already indulges in fairly extensive screening. According to Byford, the commission has a fitness-for-duty policy that tests people for drug or alcohol impairment after a serious incident; for reasonable cause (such as appearing to be drunk); if theyre returning from rehab; and before theyre hired. This covers all drivers, maintenance staff, anyone operating heavy machinery, all managers responsible for such workers, and TTC executives including Byford. The new plan calls for subjecting them to random screening as well. Despite the existing program, and a staff of 14,000, the TTC has recorded just six cases of impairment at work, or refusal to take the test, so far this year. Thats a tiny fraction of a large labour force. In 2015 there were 30 such cases, and the year before that there were only 16. Ideally there should be none, in any Ontario workplace. The TTC is right in trying to discourage on-the-job impairment. But imposing a random screening program on thousands of innocent people is the wrong way to proceed. Byford made a point of assuring employees that the testing program will only check for impairment while at work. What people choose to do in their free time would be considered none of the TTCs business. The employer would not be told, for example, if someone on a Monday morning showed traces of having smoked marijuana on Sunday night, as long as they were no longer impaired. No doubt, management means well. But given the times in which we live with database leaks occurring with dismal frequency staff can be forgiven for worrying that such private information might be shared. The way this policy has been pushed forward is hardly designed to win workers trust. The Amalgamated Transit Union is firmly opposed, and the TTCs fitness-for-duty policy has been the subject of ongoing arbitration for more than three years. Rather than waiting for a ruling, the TTC has decided to press ahead with random testing. The arbitration process is, indeed, taking too long and managements impatience is understandable. But theres no emergency here demanding immediate action. Its almost as if the transit authority is challenging the union to take this to court. But that would be a sorely misguided strategy. It would poison labour relations instead of fostering co-operation in the workplace. And a judge concerned about civil liberties and unimpressed by the meager rationale for random testing might rule against the commission. The TTCs better course is to drop random testing and see the arbitration process through. SHARE: Re Attawapiskat and the culture of time, April 22, 2016 Macleans published an article by author Joseph Boyden and now Rick Salutin appears in the Toronto Star with the same basic view of what is best for the children of Attawapiskat the status quo. Keep them there so this culture that has so far failed them miserably can be maintained. It is obvious the children have not benefited, since many of the children who do survive end up with serious problems as adults, and so far the only thing consistent is a vicious circle of abuse and hopelessness. But that must be maintained? For centuries, people who do not live on reservations have left their communities for economic survival. Are these two esteemed authors suggesting Syrians should remain in the devastation on their communities? The children of Attawapiskat are children of todays world. They should be allowed to join it. They are pawns in this fight to maintain a way of life that has long gone and will never return, despite the rose-coloured glasses worn by our authors. Life in the good old days of First Nations was one of hardship, hunger, poverty and childhood deaths, as was the case for the forebears of communities just about anywhere. We are told the children of Attawapiskat require and deserve all the trappings the rest of the children of Canada have in their lives except the one thing that would actually open the door to such a life the end of these ghettos. Reservations have benefitted many Aboriginal Affairs, the chiefs, MPs and anyone else involved in the maintenance of this lifestyle. It is true a small community can offer a comfort level thats hard to give up, but when that life is killing children, it is time to leave. Rochelle Hatton, Sudbury I am deeply saddened and disgusted by the horrific conditions that continue on many First Nations reservations. The appalling lack of help from one government after another reflects an apathy that has plagued this country for many years. How many people must die before real help is given? We have the resources to go to these communities and install safe drinking water, proper shelter and other basic human needs. The government always has the money to buy bombs, tanks, etc. It always has the money to offer aid to other countries when there is a disaster. Yet we continue to be complacent about the dire poverty and suffering on reservations. Shamefully, Canada has been condemned by the United Nations and other countries for its treatment of First Nations people. I hope that Prime Minister Trudeau will seriously implement a state of emergency immediately. Apathy wouldnt be this great if it was any other ethnic group, or if the same conditions existed in white neighbourhoods. We all need to do something. Individuals can write letters to the First Nations showing their support and write to government officials demanding that immediate relief be provided. Newspapers can keep the story on the front page. CARE, UNICEF and other charities can give prompt aid. I sincerely hope that we can find it in our hearts to finally change the horrendous living conditions on reservations, that we all open our hearts and have compassion for the pain and suffering that First Nations have had to endure for too long. Dania Madera-Lerman, Havelock, Ont. The wretched living conditions of families in First Nations reserves should make us as Canadians feel ashamed. Canadian Press reporter Colin Perkels estimate of $21 million to replace 80 condemned homes is probably much, much less than the cost of Mike Duffys trial. Dorothy Low, Richmond Hill When you look at what is going on in Attawapiskat, the lens you look through might result in different perceptions. For instance: what would recent refugees from Syria make of the Attawapiskat situation? These people left their homeland under dire circumstances, arriving in a foreign country with a different culture and language, and they are homesick for the way things were not so long ago. Will twenty per cent of them attempt to commit suicide in the next 25 years? It is actually very likely that in the next 25 years these refugees will move on from their former lives, trying to maintain some of their cultural practices and language, and they will marvel at how their children blend into the Canadian cultural mosaic. It is unlikely, however, that these Syrian refugees will even begin to comprehend Attawapiskat. What would an alien from another planet who has been orbiting Earth for the last 25,000 years make of the Attawapiskat situation? Yes, ancestors of indigenous peoples crossed the Bering Sea millennia ago. And those ancestors survived and thrived by forming communities that were willing to be on the move to go where the food was. But 524 years after the first Europeans arrived in North America, the descendants of nomadic peoples find the concept of leaving a place where their children want to kill themselves in droves to be a non-starter. That alien would be flummoxed. Attawapiskat is a train wreck. With all due respect to Joseph Boyden, there is no misinformation that Canadians are swallowing here. Many Newfoundlanders left their fair province for the factories of Ontario and the Alberta oilsands when the fisheries collapsed. Some Albertans have now left those same oilsands for the current high times in nearby British Columbia. Sometimes but not necessarily all of the time it is necessary to move away from a barren location and, yes, it can be hard. To criticize Jean Chretien for stating the obvious is illogical, moronic and politically correct at its worst. Trevor Amon, Victoria Read more about: SHARE: Gone are the days when mobile phones were communication tools, limited to official work. Particularly since the smartphone came into being, they have become part and parcel of ones life. It has supplemented everything, be it laptops, watches, video games, television and several other functions. From a tiny task to the most complicated, these smartphones have vital roles to play. Now people dont use calculators or watches. For entertainment or news people are not dependent on television because the smartphone, with Internet connection, provides them all options. Now one doesnt go to the library as one can access hordes of information through these smartphones, irrespective of the subject, all with a single click. People from all walks of life are heavily dependent on these devices for anything or everything. Despite warnings of their adverse health impacts, use of mobile phones is rising by the day as they have found several functions. A colleague recalled how even temple priests have become techsavvy. Usually, the image of a priest is that of an old, saffron-clad holy man with several cloth bags holding various ingredients and prayer books for the puja, hanging from his shoulders. But this young priest, our colleague narrated, was totally different. Slim and young, he began the traditional Diwali puja by reciting some Sanskrit shlokas. Soon it was time for the concluding aarti. Thats when the smart priest, instead of taking out a prayer booklet from his bag, brought out his mobile and started rendering the song from it. Perhaps he had uploaded everything on his mobile. It would certainly be an advantage as he would have lesser load to lug. Moreover, there would be no tension of missing anything. Log In Receive full access to our market insights, commentary, newsletters, breaking news alerts, and more. Log In U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry holds his granddaughter Isabel Dobbs-Higginson as he signs the Paris Agreement on climate change, Friday, April 22, 2016 at U.N. headquarters. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan) Vietnamese and Chinese delegates have wrapped up the eighth round of negotiations on maritime cooperation in less sensitive fields in Qingdao, a city in Chinas eastern province of Shandong, according to a Vietnamese government statement released on Saturday. The two countries established the working groups as part of their joint efforts to realize the agreement on the basic principles guiding the settlement of sea-related issues signed in October 2011. The two sides will continue to implement the two agreements inked during the previous rounds, including: a study and comparison of the Holocene sedimentary architecture of Vietnams Red River Basin and China's Yangtze River Basin; and a study on maritime and island management in the Gulf of Tonkin. They also discussed other cooperation areas at the meeting, said the statement. They will also implement the results of recent meetings between Vietnams Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Le Hoai Trung and his Chinese counterpart Liu Zhenmin held in Ho Chi Minh City earlier this month. At the meetings in Qingdao, the two sides agreed to boost maritime cooperation in less sensitive fields, the Vietnamese government said. Trung expressed Vietnams deep concern over tensions and the consequences of recent complicated developments in the East Sea. He reiterated the need to strictly follow agreements and common perceptions reached by leaders of the two countries parties and states. He called for effective control of marine conflicts, avoiding actions that complicate and exacerbate disputes, and settling disputes via peaceful means and in line with international law. Protest China Vietnam's Ministry of Foreign Affairs handed a diplomatic note to the Chinese Embassy in Hanoi on April 20 protesting Chinas illegal landing of a military aircraft on Vietnam's Fiery Cross Reef in the East Sea. Vietnam also welcomed efforts made by any party that help maintain peace and security in the East Sea, foreign ministry spokesman Le Hai Binh said on Thursday, while responding to a question regarding U.S.-Philippines joint patrols in the region. In early April, Vietnam demanded China withdraw an oil rig from an overlapping area in the East Sea. China moved its HD 981 oil rig to an area outside the Gulf of Tonkin on April 3 that Vietnam and China are negotiating for demarcation, according to Binh. China claims most of the energy-rich waters of the East Sea, through which about $5 trillion in ship-borne trade passes every year, but the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam also have claims. Countries across the region have expressed concern over China's growing assertiveness in the region, which has intensified with a rapid buildup of man-made islands in the Spratly Archipelago, to which the Philippines and Vietnam lay claim. On a recent trip to the Lake Chad Basin, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power spoke out about the growing threat of the terrorist group Boko Haram. On a stop in Cameroon, she announced nearly $40 million in new humanitarian assistance to support people throughout the region whose lives have been devastated by Boko Haram violence. An estimated 9.2 million people are suffering displacement, deprivation, and disease from the consequences of armed conflict in the Lake Chad Basin region. Seven million of those in need are in Nigeria, including 2.2 million internally displaced persons. As a result of the prolonged crisis, communities who have generously hosted IDPs have also exhausted their resources. There are nearly 170,000 Nigerian refugees who have fled to Cameroon, Chad, and Niger countries whose citizens have also suffered from Boko Haram attacks and consequent displacement. This new funding brings the total U.S. humanitarian assistance for the Lake Chad Basin region to more than $237 million over the last two years. Assistance will allow the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to provide Nigerian refugees with access to clean water and sanitation facilities, health care, essential household items, shelter, programs which protect children, and activities to prevent and respond to gender-based violence. Boko Haram has killed as many as 20,000 people. Last year alone, the terrorist group launched 159 suicide bombings, more than half in Nigeria. A new report by UNICEF states that Boko Haram increasingly uses girls to set off explosives. Ambassador Power stressed that defeating Boko Haram cannot be done through a military response alone. Governments in the region, she said, must understand the centrality of political inclusion and economic development to the long-term ability to keep Boko Haram not just out of territory, but to defeat Boko Haram in the long-term. This requires a comprehensive strategy, said Ambassador Power, one that includes respect for human rights, political inclusion, economic development, and of course, physical security provided by the police and on the borders by military forces. The United States stands with all who are fighting the terrorist scourge of Boko Haram and urges other donor countries to join in responding to the humanitarian crisis. A blogger who turned to online money-making schemes to make ends meet while unemployed has been able to quit her job after earning 100,000. Emma Drew, 28, from Littleforth, Cambridgeshire now makes around 3000 a month from activities such as mystery shopping, risk-free betting and online lotteries, which she documents on her blog. Her husband Tony has also been able to given up his job to work alongside Emma, and the couple were able to splash out almost 30,000 on their dream wedding and honeymoon last year without a second thought. Scroll down for video Emma Drew, 28, from Littleforth, Cambridgeshire (pictured with her husband Tony) makes around 3000 a month from activities such as mystery shopping, risk-free betting and online lotteries, which she documents on her blog From Aldi to Harrods And giving up work her job as a website administrator in November 2015 as she is now earning almost twice her previous 1600 a month take home pay. Last month she earned 701.64 from matched betting, 1,340.99 from affiliate links on her blog, 686.80 from website she's set up featuring posts and advertising, 41.64 from online surveys and 848.39 from things like mystery shopping, website testing and cash prizes - a total of 3,619.46. And what' more, she has improved her quality of life and can spend more time with Tony. 'Leaving work has meant we can manage our time better,' Emma told FEMAIL. 'Tony used to work night shifts and by the time I got home we'd have an hour together before he had to leave. 'I like that I'm making myself money instead of a boss. It makes me want to work harder because I'm directly gaining. The couple were able to splash out 20,000 on their wedding last year without thinking twice, thanks to their extra income A haul of free products from one of Emma's mystery shopping trips Emma gets household goods for free after signing up to a website that invites people to try out products and review them for Amazon To that end, Emma has set herself a goal of earning 5000 a month by the end of this year. 'We're already earning more than we did when we were both working but I have my eye on that prize. It's just my personality. I've always been quite entrepreneurial.' To begin with, Emma turned to making money online out of necessity. 'After I graduated I got caught up in the recession and I could not get a job for a year. I turned to making money online so I could exist - just to make ends meet. Emma gave up her job as a website administrator last year and now works for herself full time Emma used to spend only an hour a day with her husband a day as he worked nights, but now they have both left their jobs they can spend more quality time together The couple on Honeymoon in Disneyland. They were able to splash out 8000 without thinking twice and have just booked another trip to the Florida theme park 'I didn't want to do anything that I had to put money into upfront. I was researching things I'd read about to check they were not a scam and then I'd try things out for myself. 'I delivered BT phone books and sold my smelly shoes on eBay to men that like things like that. As you go through it you learn what works for you. 'I found that survey websites were consuming too much time You could spend an hour on one and get 50p.' One of Emma's most lucrative endeavours is mystery shopping, for which she's paid in cash or free products. Emma and Tony enjoyed a fire works display at the end of their wedding Emma's online earnings were able to fund the sweet touches they wanted to add to their wedding such as an ice cream van Savvy business woman Emma is aiming to be earning 5000 a month by the end of this year I love mystery shopping, and every month it makes a hefty chunk of our online income. Mystery shopping is also great for the free items we get, which in turn helps to reduce our budget elsewhere. HOW TO GET STARTED Anything that tells you you will be earning 500+ per day is usually a scam. Just ask yourself whether to have to pay for it. If you do, people are making money from selling the system, and your job will be to continue selling this system. Instead, you can read about real things that I have been doing to make extra cash. You wont get rich quick. Earning money online takes time to research opportunities and wrap your head around it. There is rarely just one thing to do to earn extra cash. It is a good idea to spread your earnings from a few sources. You never know what is around the corner, and by not having all your earning eggs in one basket, so to speak, you minimise the risk of losing out. Not everything will work for you perhaps something doesnt interest you, or you just dont get it. Dont waste time on it, move on to something else. Set up a totally dedicated money making email address as you may inadvertently sign up for spam websites when you start out. Research companies before getting involved. Google their name and the word scam and see what other people are saying. Advertisement 'We have used mystery shopping to purchase groceries, toiletries and even to help with Christmas shopping. 'I've got about 30 to 40 apps and when I'm out a notification often pops up on my phone if I'm near a mystery shopping opportunity. 'It just says something like: "if you're in the store can you take a few photos or answer a few questions". 'I've earned 50 before by going to a bank and applying for a credit card and having the conversation recorded. It's not bad for an hour's work.' 'You maybe get as little as 2.50 but it can be up to 10,' she explained. 'If you can fit in a few in a day it adds up. We sometimes take a few hours to do 10 or so.' 'As well as shopping in popular high street stores or restaurants, mystery shopping is also conducted over the phone or online. 'There are mystery shopping companies who only focus on online assignments, or you can find these mystery shops amongst traditional assignments. Emma uses apps such as Field Agent, Roamler, Streetspotr and iPoll for mystery shopping opportunities. And she recommends websites such as Red Wig Wam, Market Force and Grassroots. She can also earn an average of 50 to 80 in an hour through matched betting, which involves taking advantage of offers by betting companies for a free first bet. 'It's a guaranteed risk free way of turning a free offer into money. It's a great way to really boost your income,' she explained. A free meal Emma got for trying out a restaurant. As well as being paid in cash for mystery shopping, she receives free meals and products Free meals Emma has landed as a mystery shopper through apps that send her notifications when she's in the vicinity of a business that needs reviewers 'Let's say Red Rum is running a race got to the bookies and bet that he's going to win and that he's not going to win. So either way you get money. 'During Cheltenham I made 550 in four days using special offers. Then there's the Grand National, the premier league - there are always offers.' Emma is also signed up to various free lottery websites and has won 50 and 80 on the Sefie Lottery and Ashleigh Money Savers draw . EMMA'S TOP TIPS FOR EARNING EXTRA INCOME Blogging making money from adverts, affiliate marketing and accepting sponsored posts. Matched betting making use of bookmakers free bets to get a guaranteed profit, tax free. Complete online surveys Prolific Academic is my favourite survey website along with MintVine. Mystery shopping you can check out my guide to mystery shopping in the UK and grab yourself 50 with this simple mystery shop. Website testing with WhatUsersDo. Earn from smart phone apps my e-book, 50 iPhone Apps To Earn Cash is just 99p at Amazon. Write an e-book for sale at Amazon. Investment this is a great way to diversify your income, and you can get an extra 100 bonus when you deposit 1,000 into RateSetter for 12 months. Advertisement ''Free lottery websites are free daily or weekly prize draws. Entering is really simple simply register for each site and input the details required, whether it's uploading a selfie, registering your phone numbers, or your birthdate and bookmark the websites. 'Then check them every day to see if you have won. The websites make money from advertising revenue, which is then shared with you.' Emma also makes money from affiliate links on her blog. If there's a product she likes she will include a link for readers to click on to buy it, earning her commission. Emma is more of a money maker than a super scrimper but still enjoys a bargain and shops in the reduced aisle at the supermarket Emma and Tony pictured on their honeymoon at Disneyland, Florida 'It doesn't cost me or the end user anything extra,' she said. 'And you don't need to be a blogger to do it. 'Anyone can recommend things to their friends on social media and add affiliate links. The best way to go about it is to google the name of the product and "affiliate" or "refer a friend". EMMA'S GUIDE TO MAKING AN EXTRA 500 A MONTH Mystery shopping: My favourite company is Market Force, simply because of the clients they have available. If you register you will recognise a whole host of high street names. I also recommend Grassroots and The Mystery Dining Company. Sell your skills: Whatever you can do, you can make money from it. Fiverr allows you to sell a whole host of services for $5 you can do things like post on forums, leave comments on blogs, design logos and much more. You could also look at People Per Hour for jobs that you can complete you could set up social media pages, write articles or record an audiobook. Focus groups: These days, attending focus groups sometimes doesnt even involve leaving your home you can complete online focus groups and group discussions to earn cash.People4U connect you to relevant focus groups both online and at real locations across the country. Blogging: Starting a blog is a great way to not only earn some extra cash, but also to become part of a community. There are many ways to make money from creating a blog sponsored posts, advertising, affiliate marketing and more. You can get started easily on Blogger or pay for paid hosting and a domain name (yourblogname.com for example). Transcribing: If you have a good typing speed then you might want to consider working from home as an audio typist. Working on a shift basis, you can be sent audio files to transcribe on a regular basis. There is a deadline with each file you receive and you will be paid for the number of minutes you transcribe, not the number of minutes you have spent transcribing. Buy to sell: Visit charity shops and car boot sales to find items you think you can sell for more elsewhere, usually eBay. Remember that if you are buying to sell, as opposed to decluttering your own items, you will need to pay tax. Advertisement I definitely think that without eating too much into their free time the average person can earn an extra 300 to 500 a month doing what I do.' While Emma rarely speculates to accumulate, she does spend a small amount buying things to sell on eBay. 'Car boot sale season is coming up,' she explained. 'We'll see what we can find to sell on eBay. We've had quite a lot of success finding things that sell really well. We also sell our old things at car boot sales.' Although she likes a bargain, Emma is more about making money than being a super saver. 'We walk to the Co-Op every evening to shop from the reduced shelf and I do meal planning. But there are only so many cutbacks you can make.' 'There's a great app called Tengi that's like WhatsApp and it gives away cash prizes from 5.00 to 1,000 so just doing little things like switching to an app like that can earn you money without having to do much. 'I get cashback on my shopping through Quidco and I will look for things that pay in supermarket vouchers or Amazon vouchers as they always come in handy. 'There's a great website called amzreviews where you can sign up to test a product and write a review for Amazon. 'I've had over 600 free products from camera accessories to face creams.' Although she now has more free time than ever, Emma admits that she likes to keep busy. 'I've had to learn how to relax. When I get free time at home I don't know what to do with myself,' she explained. 'But not working does improve your quality of life. I have time to cook from scratch. 'But there's some days I look at the TV and think that's all I want to do today, and I can. 'As well as having more time we can have nicer things. We're not about living a luxury lifestyle but our earnings mean that when we want something we can get it without thinking twice. 'I've just bought a brand new car and we've just booked another holiday. 'We were able to pay for our dream wedding last year at an old country manor. 'We were able to have all the little touches we wanted like fancy canapes and an ice cream van and fireworks at the end of the night. 'The wedding cost around 18,000 to 20,000 and we went on honeymoon to Disneyland Florida for about 8000. The VW Group has had to recall Volkswagen, Audi and Porsche models to rectify newly-discovered engine software that deactivates emissions treatments in real-world driving. The three car brands, along with Mercedes-Benz and Opel, were caught out by a 1million taxpayer-funded Government test programme in Germany created to check if any other vehicle manufacturers were cheating official emissions tests. Though the investigation failed to find any evidence of defeat devices like those deployed by the VW Group to trick testing methods, the five German brands in question have been forced to recall a total of 630,000 vehicles - because they pass the lab tests but then produce higher levels of nitrous dioxide out on the open road. Testing times for carmakers: Volkswagen, Audi, Porsche, Mercedes-Benz and Opel have all been forced to recall cars found to be using temperature-based software that turns off emissions treatments during real-world driving to improve engine life As part of the rigorous re-test using existing and future real-world-driving emissions cycles, 93 diesel cars, including the Ford Focus, BMW 3 Series, Nissan Qashqai, Ford Mondeo and Vauxhall Astra, were scrutinised. Despite no other defeat devices similar to those used by the VW Group to cheat official tests, the study uncovered evidence of temperature-based workarounds in the Exhaust Gas Recirculation system in some models. This newly-uncovered software was found to be activating to reduce engine temperature and oxygen during 'type-approval tests', which can stop NOx being produced. During the tests carried out in labs at temperatures up to 30C to determine the emissions outputs of vehicles, the EGR system worked at an optimum. But during real-world driving, when ambient temperature is lower than the limits set in the lab test, illegally high levels of NOx was emitted. Manufacturers have already reacted to the information, saying the EGR strategy is within current law and also protects the engine from damage - as well as increases the service intervals vehicle owners are told to adhere by. The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, which represents the auto industry in the UK, said: 'The differences between the results from official laboratory tests and those performed in the real world are well known, and industry acknowledges the need for fundamental reform of the current official test regime, which does it no favours. 'SMMT and industry support the introduction of the proposed new and more onerous test, RDE, which will help to reflect better real world driving. 'Once it is fully adopted, all car models newly approved from next year will have to pass this on-road test, as well as a more representative lab test, if they are to be put on the market. 'This will require significant additional investment by manufacturers but will add greater transparency so consumers can be more confident industry is delivering on air quality while providing ever greater choice.' Volkswagen, Opel, Porsche, Mercedes-Benz and Audi were all found to be using the temperature-based systems as part of a 1million investigation by the German government The recalls comes in a week where car manufacturers and emissions have come under the microscope yet again. Daimler, the company that owns Mercedes-Benz, has announced that it will conduct an internal investigation on its process of certifying emissions for its cars while Peugeot - like Renault in January this year - has been investigated by French anti-fraud authorities this week around vehicle pollutant issues. B.D. writes: Bright Sky Loans is telling people on benefits they have qualified for loans. The twist is that your application is carried out by phone, using a premium rate number with a minimum 48 cost. This is a disgrace, heaped on a scandal, and topped off with falsehoods. According to its website, Bright Sky Loans is one of the leading finance companies in the UK. It does not lend money itself, but acts as a middleman, processing applications and hawking them around firms that do actually lend money. Someone you know enquired about a loan, and she received a letter saying: Congratulations. Your 800 unsecured loan repayable over 12 months has been accepted. Warning: David Drysdale is back, having set up credit broking firm Bright Sky Loans Strangely though, she had not enquired about an 800 loan. Even more strangely, the letter from Glasgow-based Bright Sky Loans asked her to make a 15-minute call to a premium rate number or we will be unable to get your loan paid out. It is a good job she did not make that phone call, because although the website does not reveal who is behind Bright Sky Loans, I can tell you the owner is David Gary Drysdale and this is bad news. I warned against Drysdale four years ago, when he was running a dodgy credit company called Welcome Loans Limited. It charged up-front fees to arrange loans, and customers complained that if no loan appeared, or they were offered one with impossible strings attached, they had to fight to reclaim their fee. Welcome Loans went into liquidation in 2013, and investigators from the Insolvency Service found Drysdale had drawn at least 683,000 from the business, leaving it owing more than 287,000 in unpaid taxes. They also discovered more than 271,000 salted away in a bank account in Mauritius, and found Drysdale had used a forged official document to try to withdraw it after his company went bust. The investigators faced a tough task as Drysdale refused to answer questions and had failed to keep proper business records. What they did find though, was that he was paying himself 10,000 a week and had spent 97,000 of the companys money on a Bentley for his own use. Repeat offender: Drysdale was running a dodgy credit company called Welcome Loans Limited four years ago Last November, Drysdale, 32, was banned from acting as a company director for nine years. Mark Bruce, a chief investigator at the Insolvency Service, said: Mr Drysdale has shown himself to be exactly the type of businessman who should be removed from the business area. Spot on. Now for the scandal. Running a credit broking company requires a licence from the Financial Conduct Authority and Drysdale had one. Thats right a man who spent his customers cash on a series of posh cars, including a Ferrari and a Lamborghini with personalised plates; a man who notched up 233 complaints to the Financial Ombudsman Service; a man who stashed away hundreds of thousands of pounds in a secret offshore bank account was allowed by the City watchdog to run the same sort of business all over again. How did this happen? Did nobody at the regulator notice that Drysdale was a disqualified director and an all-round dodgy dealer? Did nobody think to check on what happened to Welcome Loans and its victims? The regulator offered no comment and no answers. However, something has clearly happened, because the watchdogs website reveals that from nine days ago: David Drysdale is closed to new business. Drysdale himself told me: It was I myself who contacted the regulator as we have temporarily stopped business to make a few changes. Once we have done that, the regulators website will be updated to reflect that we are trading again. It should take about one to two months maximum to sort the changes out. He denied that the Financial Conduct Authority had taken any action against him. The regulator has not taken action to halt my credit broking business, or take it away or close the business. He also took a swipe at me over my warnings about his previous company Welcome Loans: I suggest you get your facts right if you are going to run a story or this time I will be passing it to our solicitors. Well David, heres a fact for you: there is no way the regulator should ever have allowed you to run another credit broking firm. You are not fit to get your hands on other peoples money. Now lets see what your lawyers say about that. This month marks the observance of the 28th anniversary of the beginning of Operation Anfal, then-Iraqi President Saddam Husseins murderous campaign against the populations in northern Iraq. The al-Anfal campaign, began in 1986 and ended in 1989. In 1987, toward the end of the war between Iran and Iraq, Saddam Hussein put his cousin, Ali Hassan al-Majid, who was infamous for his brutality, in charge of Iraqs Northern Region, which included Iraqi Kurdistan. What followed was a horrifying display of killing and destruction. The al-Anfal campaign was meant to punish and exterminate the Kurdish population, and to terrorize other minority ethnic groups, including Assyrians, Shabaks, Iraqi Turkmens, Yazidis, and Mandeans. Civilian communities were bombarded by aircraft and artillery and attacked by heavily armed infantry. Civilians were rounded up, boys and men of fighting age were summarily executed or later executed en masse. The rest were confined to concentration camps where some died of starvation or exposure. Some 4,000 Kurdish villages and at least 31 Assyrian communities were razed to the ground during the Anfal Campaign. Yet the most heinous atrocity committed by the Iraqi government against its own people was the murder by poison gas of thousands of civilians in the Kurdish-Iraqi town of Halabja, and in as many as 24 other villages. For this deed, al-Majid earned the nick-name Chemical Ali. In all, the al-Anfal campaign killed anywhere from 50,000 to 100,000 non-combatant civilians and displaced at least one million of Iraqs 3.5 million Kurds. In recognition of the loss of so many innocent civilians during the Anfal campaign of 28 years ago, all Iraqis should unite to honor the memory of those lost by working together to find a joint path to defeating the evil facing Iraq today--Daesh. Lithium used to be best known as a sedative and sufferers from bipolar disorder still take it. Today, however, lithium is far more widely recognised as a component of modern batteries. Mobile phones, tablets and laptops cannot exist without it; hybrid cars and electric vehicles rely on it; and it is also expected to play an important role in the energy storage market. The metals growing use should play into the hands of Bacanora Minerals, which is developing a massive lithium project in northern Mexico, close to the border with Arizona. The shares are 77p and should gain ground over the next few years as Bacanora moves towards commercial production. Full power: Electric cars are poised to push up demand for lithium by a half Bacanoras site was originally owned by minerals giant Rio Tinto, but it pulled out of the area in the early 2000s and a local manager, Martin Vidal, acquired the mining leases. He teamed up with industry veteran Colin Orr-Ewing, who funded initial exploration out of his own pocket before the business was floated, first on the Toronto stock exchange and then, in 2014, on Londons junior AIM market. Orr-Ewing remains chairman of Bacanora, Vidal is president and oversees the mine, and last year the group recruited Peter Secker as chief executive. Australian-born Secker has more than 30 years mining experience, successfully building a lithium mine in Canada before joining Bacanora. Early-stage mining companies are never without risk and Bacanora has several hurdles to cross before it becomes a fully operational, profitable company. So far, however, the group has made good progress. First, it is sitting on one of the largest lithium mines in the world, which is expected to produce about 17,500 tons a year of battery-grade lithium in the first two years of production, rising to 35,000 tons a year afterwards. In demand: The price of Lithium, which is used to make batteries, has tripled over the past 16 years Lithium currently costs almost $6,000 (4,187) a ton and the price has tripled over the past 16 years as demand has increased in leaps and bounds. Global consumption totalled 186,000 tons in 2013, but this is expected to rise by 51 per cent to 280,000 tons by 2020, largely driven by growing demand for electric vehicles. Bacanoras cost of production is estimated at about $2,700 a ton, implying that there will be healthy margins once the group starts selling its goods commercially. Turning lithium ore into a battery-grade product is a complex process. But Secker and his team have built a small pilot plant close to the mine site to prove that they can convert their ore into the material that battery manufacturers want. The process is going well and Secker hopes to have found at least two potential buyers by the end of the year. He is focusing his efforts on the Asian market, where companies such as Panasonic, LG and Samsung are spending billions of dollars on factories to make lithium batteries. Finding such partners is a crucial step for Bacanora. The company needs about $240 million to build a large-scale processing facility. Secker hopes to come to an agreement, where future customers would fund about 40 per cent of the cost of that plant, effectively putting up the cash now in exchange for lithium later. Home: Bacanora is based in Calgary, Canada The rest of the money would come from bank debt and shareholders, but both bankers and investors will be much more inclined to part with their money if they know that Bacanora has willing buyers for its lithium. Fortunately, Secker has done this before and is confident that he can do it again. An initial study has already indicated that Bacanora is economically viable and more detailed analysis is expected at the end of this year. At the same time, potential customers will be given samples of the groups lithium from its pilot plant to persuade them that the product fits the bill. If all goes according to plan, Bacanora, which is based in Calgary, Canada, will begin to design and prepare its full-scale plant next year, construction will take around 18 months and the group will move into production in 2019. There are other minerals in the mines ores, too, so the firm expects ultimately to produce up to 50,000 tons of potassium sulphate a year for sale to the fertiliser industry. Midas verdict: Bacanora is at least three years from commercial production and, by its own admission, will need a substantial slug of cash from shareholders along the way. Against that, demand for lithium is growing, the price is rising and Secker and his team have decades of experience in the industry. Barclays is facing criticism over the salary of new chief executive Jes Staley as it prepares to face investors at its traditionally stormy annual meeting. Proxy voting agency Manifest said Staleys 1.2million was potentially excessive, giving the bank a grade E for its remuneration packages one rung above its lowest grade. Pirc, which also advises investors, is separately calling for a vote against the banks remuneration packages. Criticism: Barclays new chief executive Jes Staley receives 1.2million in salary The Barclays shareholder meeting comes amid a turbulent season for blue chip companies, many of which have suffered significant rebellions over pay. Staley receives 1.2million in salary, with a similar sum paid in shares as role-based pay on top. He could pocket a pay package totalling 8.3 million with bonuses, but Manifest and Pirc are concerned over the level of his basic salary. Staley is getting 15 per cent more than his predecessor Antony Jenkins. In a report for shareholders, Manifest said the median salary for chief executives of large banks was 789,000. Barclays sources last week played down the prospect of a big investor revolt at Thursdays meeting, but smaller shareholders are likely to make their voices heard. In 2014, a third of shareholders either voted against the pay report or abstained. The revolt at oil giant BPs annual meeting where 59 per cent voted against a 14million deal for chief executive Bob Dudley has reignited the row over pay. New research from Pirc shows big companies are seeing votes against their pay reports twice as often as the market as a whole. More than 30 per cent of investors voted against remuneration reports at FTSE 100 companies 14 times in 2014 and 11 times in 2015 a rate of 12.5 per cent. For listed companies as a whole just 6 per cent had votes against their pay reports that were larger than 30 per cent. Tim Bush, head of governance at Pirc, said: The FTSE 100 underperforms the FTSE 250, so investors have every right to be cross. RBS, Barclays and Lloyds will unveil first quarter results this week. Barclays is likely to announce a dip in profits amid collapsing revenues in investment banking, analysts said. Lloyds will say profits were just over 1billion for the first quarter, investment bank UBS said, down from 1.2 billion last year. Pub groups are threatening legal action over the appointment of chartered accountant Paul Newby as adjudicator of the newly established Pubs Code, with some saying they will not work with him. Newby, a director and shareholder of Fleurets, the pub industrys main property valuer and surveyor, will be responsible for enforcing the statutory code, which regulates the industry and applies to all companies with 500 or more pubs. But the British Pubs Confederation, which was founded from an alliance of groups including the Fair Pint Campaign, the Federation of Small Businesses and unions Unite and the GMB, has strongly criticised the appointment of Newby over possible conflicts of interest. Legal action threat: The British Pubs Confederation has criticised the appointment of Paul Newby as adjudicator of the newly established Pubs Code He has acted for some of Britains biggest pub-owning companies, including Enterprise Inns, Marstons and Punch Taverns, in recent rent review disputes with tenants. Simon Clarke, landlord of the Eagle Tavern pub in Battersea, South West London, and secretary of the BPC, said that he was baffled by the appointment. He said: Tenants will not feel comfortable in rent review battles with their landlord knowing that the adjudicator has acted for those big companies. In a recent debate, BPC chairman Greg Mulholland MP said Newby clearly has a conflict of interest, and it is clearly a disqualifying conflict of interest. He added: The British Pubs Confederation, licensee groups and their licensee members have made it clear that they will not accept Mr Newby adjudicating on their cases. 'Experience': Business Minister Anna Soubry has strongly defended the appointment They have a clear right to do that, which means he will be unable to act in a large proportion of cases, which will need to be dealt with by someone else, presumably a deputy adjudicator. What a farce. What a mess. However, Business Minister Anna Soubry has strongly defended the appointment. She said: He has 30 years of experience effectively representing both sides. The fact that he may have represented someone doesnt mean that he is in their pay. The Department for Business, Innovation & Skills said in a response to a written complaint from the BPC: Newby has acted on behalf of both tenants and pub company landlords during his career his prior experience of the pubs sector and his ability to forge trusted relationships with both tenants and pub-owning companies is a real asset in allowing him to successfully carry out this role. However, even the large pub companies are understood to have expressed surprise about the decision. One insider said: He clearly has the necessary experience, but after all the effort and battles over the Pubs Code just to get to this point, it does seem odd that theyve appointed someone who would obviously attract a certain scepticism. Hell be in for a very difficult time. The leader of Britains farmers has a Europe-sized bone to pick with Boris Johnson. The London Mayor and Brexit campaigner has argued that EU farming subsidies add 400 a year to average household food bills. Meurig Raymond, President of the National Farmers Union, takes issue: It does make me angry and I do have to question people like Boris Johnson who say that food bills would be cheaper if we left the EU. When Boris talks about reducing the family grocery bill, I would like to ask how is he going to do that? Standing firm: Meurig Raymond farms in Pembrokeshire Well the only way you could reduce food prices would be to take away all import tariffs on food coming into the UK. There are certain products whether its South American beef; whether its sugar cane or grain coming in from Ukraine some of these products do carry import tariffs into the UK and into Europe. So if you want to have cheaper food, as Boris Johnson keeps saying, you might have to remove all import tariffs on food to the UK and that would absolutely destroy farming at the present time. Raymond is speaking just a couple of days after the NFU declared its formal position on the EU debate. Its council debated the issue for four hours last week before declaring itself in favour of staying in. It has registered with the Electoral Commission, but Raymond says it will not actively campaign. As an organisation we do represent 48,000 farm businesses across England and Wales so we believe we represent 70 per cent of the farming population, says Raymond and he admits his members are not unanimous. Raymond doesnt give precise figures for the split but estimates that between 25 and 30 per cent still have not made up their minds. We have spoken at something like 40 meetings with our professional team to 5,000 members, he says adding that the NFUs call centres have been bashing the phones speaking to members to garner their views. Workforce: Migrant workers are key to farm labour Now some of our members say that for the sake of farming we must stay in the EU. Other members will take a different view for different reasons not just about farming on why they wish to come out. We respect that. So we will not be out there actively campaigning, but we will be providing information and evidence to our members leading up to June 23. The majority said we must come out with a view on Europe and again the majority view very much was that we should stay in. Raymond himself is also not unquestioningly supportive of the EU. I can assure you there are plenty of disadvantages. Its not totally one-sided. There are plenty of issues in Europe that need reform. A lot of decision making is made on emotion not on science and sometimes the decisions can be very slow. We want to see simplification of the Common Agricultural Policy because it is far too bureaucratic. Self-sufficiency in food would be at risk it has been falling for the last 30 years Raymond, 62, and his brother inherited their family farm in Pembrokeshire from their parents. They farm sheep and cattle for meat and also have a dairy herd. I would say how difficult farming is at the present time and who knows if we came out what sort of trade deal could be negotiated. British farms export an awful lot of sheep meat; we export a lot of wheat and barley into the EU. Who knows what tariffs would be placed on those. Who knows what tariffs would be placed on beef or dairy products. That single market is so important to us as farmers. And it is not just what British farms can sell abroad its the workforce that UK farms gain from EU migrants. It is a sensitive topic and many Brexiteers are vocal on the issue of European workers coming to the UK, despite our own unemployment problem. The farming community desperately needs that seasonal workforce for fruit picking, vegetable harvesting and so on, Raymond argues, adding that the UK seems unable to mobilise its own workers to take on the jobs. There appears to be a culture in the UK where these things are seen as a menial task. In fruit-picking and harvesting vegetables, its been the Eastern European community that has primarily been involved in that occupation over many years. Whether we could convince UK people to go for that kind of work, I dont know. But there doesnt appear to be that appetite within a lot of the British working people to do that kind of harvest work. Claim: Boris Johnson, right, says EU subsidies add 400 a year to food bills Of course, migrant agricultural labour used to be a key feature of the UK economy as Raymond himself recalls. I can remember as a child when workers would come across to Pembrokeshire to pick early potatoes and then they would go back to Lincolnshire to pick more potatoes and then they would go down to Kent to pick the hops. That is how the system worked. But today its not just the picking, its a lot of the work in the pack-houses and the food processing industry as well as the harvesting that is very dependent on Eastern European labour so what happens if we pull out? We could easily destroy an extremely important part of British farming by restricting the availability of Labour. To many observers the decision by the NFU to declare for staying in the EU will be no surprise. Farmers are often characterised as a sector that receives vast sums from Brussels handouts as critics often dub them. And indeed, UK farmers received about 2.4billion directly from the EU last year. On top of that they can apply for more funds made available for rural development. If anything Raymond concedes the point and argues that this is precisely why quitting the EU could be devastating for British farming. At the moment the majority of farms are totally dependent on that agricultural support. Our farmers are very nervous about the levels of support they would get, if we came out. Without any support we would be at such a huge disadvantage to our European rivals. Weve got Ireland to the west of us; weve got Holland to the east; theres France, Sweden, Germany and farmers in these countries could be receiving support to a far higher level than we would in the UK. It would make us uncompetitive, unable to invest for the future. Our self-sufficiency in food would be at risk and it has already been falling for the last 30 years. Politicians in favour of quitting the EU have pledged that farmers would be looked after. Indeed, the Prime Minister has pledged that if Britain does leave which he obviously opposes he would act to ensure farmers were not out of pocket. Farmers, Raymond argues, are wary of trusting any British government. The history of British governments and Treasury in regards to supporting our farmers convinces farmers that we would be better off in the EU than coming out. So what if Britons do vote to quit the EU on June 23? How will Raymond and his farming members react? We would start arguing and lobbying with Government if we come out about levels of support we will get, about where we will get the labour from to pick our food harvest, our vegetables and everything else. Raymond suggests that one of the priorities for any government running Britain after a Brexit vote would have to be a UK Farm Bill and that the NFU would be lobbying and negotiating hard over its terms. When Martin Crimin received his commission from the Royal Air Force in 1999 he pledged to give 16 years and possibly even his life to Queen and country. But his life was shattered less than two years before he could proudly collect his pension when he found himself redundant. Martin was among 30,000 Armed Forces victims. Casualties not of enemy action, but a strategic review by the Government three years ago demanding cuts. Unfair treatment: Martin Crimin was denied payments worth a total of 200,000 over the years Although many left with generous redundancy packages, a minority were unfairly treated, losing their right to an immediate pension. Incredibly for Martin, a ruthless cut-off rule means he was denied payments worth a total of 200,000 over the years until he starts taking his Armed Forces pension at 60, because by being made redundant he had failed to complete the required 16 years of service. Now he and others like him are fighting back. Campaigner Jayne Bullock, founder of Pension Justice for Troops, which was set up to help people like Martin, says: Its appalling that this injustice has yet to be corrected. Many of these brave individuals risked their lives for Queen and country. They have been abandoned and it sickens me to the core. Martin is proud of the 14 years he spent in the Armed Forces. Although he was not called upon to serve on the front line in any of the major trouble spots, he was posted to Afghanistan and travelled the world, spending time in Cyprus and the Falklands. I was privileged to serve my country, he says, looking back upon his career as an engineering officer in the Royal Air Force with great fondness and pride coincidentally, on the Queens 90th birthday. Proud: Martin during his RAF career From my early days as a youngster growing up just outside Glasgow, I knew a life in the Armed Forces was for me. I was in the cadets, spent time in the Officer Training Corps at university and joined the Territorial Army, so signing up was a formality. There were lots of highs along the way, a few lows, a broken marriage but friends made for life. Yet I wouldnt change a day of it. Martin, now 44 and living in Bristol, feels aggrieved. Not just as a result of being made compulsorily redundant in June 2013 when he was a flight lieutenant, falling victim to Armed Forces cutbacks announced by the coalition Government. But also because having not seen out the 16 years of service he signed up to in April 1999, he was deprived of his right to an immediate pension. This pension 12,000 a year in Martins case if he had been allowed to complete his service is paid to Armed Forces personnel in recognition of the fact that they have given their best working years to serving their country. It also provides them with a financial cushion as they adjust to life on Civvy Street. What makes the loss of this pension a bitter pill to swallow for Martin is that when he signed up in 1999, the rules surrounding immediate pensions were less draconian. They provided for a reduced annual sum as long as he completed at least 12 years of service. But changes made in 2010 by the Government removed this transitional period, in the process creating a cliff edge where anyone not having 16 years of service under their belt would have no right to an immediate pension. Advice: Ex-RAF man Alastair Rush While Martin was denied his pension within months of collecting it, other Armed Forces personnel were even closer to completing their required service in one case just 72 hours away when their financial security was snatched from them. Martin has embarked upon a new stage of his life, having found work with a defence contractor in Bristol, but he still feels short changed. So much so that he has complained to the Armed Forces Pension Scheme in Glasgow and written to the Queen. He is now looking to take his complaint to the Pensions Ombudsman. He says: People may argue that Armed Forces personnel are lucky to have the right to an immediate pension. But its a career where unless you make it to senior officer you are out on your ear in your early 40s. That means retraining and invariably starting at the bottom of the corporate ladder. The pension is a financial security blanket and I lost it. He will now have to wait until he is 60 before he can take an income from his Armed Forces pension. It means he will lose out on more than 200,000 of pension during his working life. Martins grievance is acknowledged by a number of pension specialists. Alan Higham, one of the countrys leading pension experts, says the creation of the pensions cliff edge is unnecessarily callous. Higham, who runs his own consultancy called PensionsChamp and previously worked for major financial services provider Fidelity, adds: Its not compatible with the military covenant that stresses that the Armed Forces community should never face disadvantage. Sadly, Martin and many like him have been financially disadvantaged in spectacular fashion. I understand the need for the Armed Forces to let people go but it seems wholly unfair that someone who has served 14 or 15 years loses their entire right to an immediate pension. Its too blunt a financial instrument. Do you just say, Tough? Thats life. No. The Government should address this pensions injustice. It is a view shared by Alastair Rush, an independent financial adviser who runs Echelon Wealthcare and website Fiveraday. Rush, who received a war disability pension after being injured in Bosnia in the mid-1990s while serving as an infanteer in the Royal Air Force Regiment, says: Military personnel are in many ways dislocated and segregated from civilian life during their service geographically, physically, culturally and metaphorically. When they rejoin civilian life, they usually do so without the benefit of much of the forethought that many civilians attach to their own occupational planning. I know from personal experience I found the transition very hard. He adds: This makes the wanton disregard and abandonment of those selected for redundancy months in some cases days away from securing an immediate pension more shameful. Rush believes paying a reduced sum for those less than four years away from getting an immediate pension when made redundant would cost peanuts and demonstrate that Government officials still possessed wisdom, humility and contrition. Jayne Bullock, 52, launched the Pension Justice for Troops campaign after her brother Richard who completed three tours of Afghanistan was made redundant 82 days short of the 16 years of service that would have entitled him to an immediate pension. 'Scandal': Pensions Minister Ros Altmann previously backed the cause of ex-Forces personnel Although Richard was subsequently re-employed, enabling him to secure his pension, it has not stopped Jayne, from Catford in South-East London, battling for pensions justice. She estimates that ex-Forces personnel have lost out on pension payments totalling 40 million by the Government steadfastly applying the 16-year rule for officers (22 for other ranks). She says: I have had men come to me who were sacked 87 days short of being eligible for an immediate pension. Indeed, there was one made redundant 72 hours before their pension would have been secured. These are men and women who served in hostile environments, people in some instances who feel so let down that they have returned their war medals in disgust to the Prime Minister. In early 2013, Mark Francois, the then Minister for Defence Personnel and Veterans, said that reduced immediate pensions would prove impractical and considerably more expensive than current arrangements. On Friday, The Mail on Sunday invited Mark Lancaster, his successor, to comment on whether he supported Francois stance. Lancaster served in the Army between 1988 and 1990 and serves in the reserves as a lieutenant colonel. He did not respond. Pensions Minister Ros Altmann previously backed the cause of ex-Forces personnel such as Martin. In late 2013, following a debate in the House of Lords where Lord Touhig described the issue as a reprehensible scandal, Altmann wrote a blog in her capacity as an independent pensions expert. She described the matter as so wrong. She added: This is a clear breach of the [military] covenant and a broken Government promise to loyal servicemen and their families. Such cliff edge pension losses would not be tolerated in the private sector. Why are they being allowed to happen to service personnel? She said the covenant should be upheld and a fair compensation package put in place to recognise cliff edge pension losses. Russian President Vladimir Putin is doubling down on his faltering invasion by declaring martial law in four illegally annexed Ukrainian regions. In addition, he set the stage Wednesday for draconian new restrictions and crackdowns throughout Russia. The drastic escalation appeared to be prompted by the threat of more stinging battlefield defeats, sabotage and troubles with his troop mobilization. Putin's order effectively belies the Kremlins attempts to portray life in the annexed regions as returning to normal, with the latest example the removal of civilian leaders and installation of a military administration and a mass evacuation in Kherson. Local officials said Wednesday that 5,000 had been evacuated already, with plans to pull out a total of up to 60,000. Organizers of Earth Day, celebrated each April 22, say more than one billion people are marking Earth Day 2016 with activities to promote environmental protection. The day is used as a time to organize various communities school groups, neighborhoods, faith communities and more to take part in such activities as local cleanups, tree plantings, meetings with political officials and educational events. While world leaders are commemorating the day with the signing of the Paris Climate Agreement at U.N. headquarters in New York, Susan Bass, senior vice president of the Earth Day Network, says environmental activists are marking the day in nearly 200 countries. Bass says times have changed since the first Earth Day in 1970, dreamed up by a U.S. senator dismayed by the effects of a massive oil spill in Santa Barbara, California a year earlier. In 1970, Bass says, "our rivers were on fire, the skies were black. There was a very visible pollution that everyone could see." Now, she says, the focus is climate change, which is a more subtle issue. She says organizers\ focus is on education and grassroots activism, especially in pollution-challenged places like China and India. FILE An Indian woman crosses a road as vehicles move through morning smog on the last day of a two-week experiment to reduce the number of cars to fight pollution in New Delhi, Jan. 15, 2016. FILE An Indian woman crosses a road as vehicles move through morning smog on the last day of a two-week experiment to reduce the number of cars to fight pollution in New Delhi, Jan. 15, 2016. Yet, challenges also remain in the United States where the Santa Barbara oil spill that inspired the first Earth Day is now considered the third-largest spill in U.S. waters. It was surpassed in 1989 by the Exxon Valdez spill in Alaska, and in 2010 by the even larger Deepwater Horizon spill in the Gulf of Mexico. SOURCE: VOA NEWS A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association suggests we Americans may be shrinking our brains. A study by the Indiana University School of Medicine found that older people showed reduced brain volume when they took anticholinergic drugs. That's the term for a wide variety of common over-the-counter medications like Benadryl, Demerol and Dimetapp. The results showed those tested who had taken the drugs exhibited short term memory problems and developed more brain cavities. Something tells me the latter is not something you can drill and fill like a tooth cavity. I've never been a big user of over-the-counter medications. A couple of aspirin is my limit for the occasional aches and pains that come with getting old. But I know lots of people who dose at the first signs of a sniffle, a cough, or a pang. I will take this latest study to heart because as regular readers of this column have probably figured out I can hardly afford to lose more brain volume. Maybe I've become skittish about medicines because of all those TV ads for drugs that promise relief and cure for every conceivable malady, but usually include a caveat like, "in some cases, use of Phix-U-up has been linked to diarrhea, incontinence, stroke, dementia, halitosis, ulcers, hair loss, earwax buildup, acne outbreaks, and death." I was raised in an era when the medicine cabinet contained a bottle of aspirin, a jar of Vicks to rub on congested chest, a box of Band-Aids, and a box of Smith Bros. Cough Drops. The latter did nothing for a cough, but sure tasted good. My family believed the best remedy for a cough was Ex-Lax. After taking it, you didn't dare cough anymore. To fix a minor wound, you used iodine, which was guaranteed to turn the discomfort of a small cut into the human equivalent of calf-branding. I hated the taste of castor oil, but Mom kept it wisely positioned by the red bag with the rubber tube, knowing I would pick the oil every time. I learned early-on not to keep the toothpaste on the same shelf as Daddy's Preparation-H. My favorite medicine was Grandma's remedy for a sore throat a goodly dollop of Grandpa's bourbon, a teaspoon of honey, and a couple of drops of lemon juice. "Does that make it feel better, dear?" "No, Grandma I think I need some more!" freeimages.com First Christian Church will turn over its parking lot to classic cars and hotrods today during the Cruisin' for Christ Car Show. SHARE Beverly Drive United Methodist Church, 813 N. Beverly Drive: Lay speaker training will be offered from noon to 5 p.m. April 30. Family Fun Day will be from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. May 7. First Christian Church, 3701 Taft Blvd.: The Cruisin' For Christ Kick Off Car Show will be from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. today to raise money for youth mission trips. Chi Rho and the Christian Youth Fellowship will have a pancake breakfast from 8:30-10:30 a.m. Sunday. Cost is $6. Our Redeemer Lutheran Church, 4605 Cypress Ave.: The Rev. Michael Redeker, from Concordia University in St. Louis, will visit from 9:30 a.m. to noon Sunday. Other events include celebration of Confirmation Sunday and an evening home Bible study at 6 p.m. On April 30, the altar guild will meet at 9 a.m. and the junior youth will work at the food bank from 9 a.m. to noon. St. Benedict Orthodox Church, 3808 Old Seymour Road: The church will host a barbecue for the public from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. May 7. St. Marks United Methodist Church, 4319 McNiel Ave.: Sunday will be Interfaith Mission Sunday. The monthly United Methodist Men and United Methodist Women birthday lunch will be at 11:30 a.m. Wednesday. Participants will meet at the church. St. Paul Lutheran Church, 11th and Holliday streets: Activities Sunday will include an aluminum collection by the senior youth, a stewardship board meeting after services, a call meeting at 2 p.m., and Fun & Games at 4 p.m. The board of education will meet at 7 p.m. Monday. The women's home Bible study will meet at 9:30 a.m. Thursday. St. Paul Missionary Baptist Church, 1318 Harding St.: Youth Day will be celebrated at 3:30 p.m. Sunday, with the Rev. Angus Thompson, pastor of New Jerusalem Baptist Church, as the speaker. Other guests will come from Church of the Living God and New Birth, Pilgrim Rest and Shiloh Baptist churches. Shiloh Baptist Church, 2506 Sheppard Access Road: The church will be host for the monthly Male Chorus Extravaganza at 7 tonight. University United Methodist Church, 3405 Taft Blvd.: Angel Wings will have a workday starting at 9 a.m. today. The annual Angel Wings High Tea will be at 3 p.m. Sunday, with food and decorated tables. The monthly birthday lunch has been re-christened Out to Lunch, which will meet at 11:30 a.m. Tuesday at Los Tres Amigos. Reservations are requested. The deadline for submitting items for church briefs is 4 p.m. Wednesday. To have an item listed, mail the information to Bridget Knight, Times Record News, P.O. Box 120, Wichita Falls, Texas 76307. Please limit announcements to special events, meetings or guests. Limited space does not allow listings for regular weekly events. Items may be faxed to 940-720-3444 or emailed to bridget.knight@timesrecordnews.com. We are sorry, but church brief items cannot be taken over the phone. SHARE Conservatives should be delighted that Harriet Tubman's likeness will grace the $20 bill. She was a Republican, after all, and a pious Christian. And she routinely exercised her Second Amendment right to carry a gun, which she was ready to use against anyone who stood in her way or any fugitive slave having second thoughts. On her long road to freedom, there was no turning back. Instead, we've had mostly silence from the right. Donald Trump did mouth off, of course, opining that slated-to-be-displaced Andrew Jackson "had a great history" and that substituting Tubman who, he allowed, was "fantastic" amounts to "pure political correctness." Ben Carson defended Jackson as "a tremendous president" who balanced the federal budget. Both men suggested that Tubman instead be put on the $2 bill, which nobody uses. That would be a great recipe for tokenism. I'm glad that Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew made a bolder and more meaningful choice. It matters who's on the money. Since the ancient Greeks began stamping coins with images of their gods, nations have used currency to define a pantheon of heroes. Tubman was a great hero not because of who she was but what she did: bravely fight to expand the Constitution's promise of freedom and justice to all Americans. Critics who polluted social media with invective following Lew's announcement seemed to look past Tubman's deeds and focus on her identity. Yes, she was a black woman. If anyone can't deal with that fact, and doesn't want to use the new bills when they finally come out, feel free to send them to me. Tubman was born into slavery on Maryland's Eastern Shore around 1822. She escaped to Philadelphia in 1849, but returned to the South more than a dozen times, risking life and liberty, to lead runaway slaves to freedom. Slave owners reportedly offered bounties of thousands of dollars for capturing the diminutive woman known on the grapevine as "Moses." "I was conductor of the Underground Railroad for eight years," she said later in life, "and I can say what most conductors can't say I never ran my train off the track and I never lost a passenger." But that was just the beginning of Tubman's heroic service. During the Civil War, she guided a team of Union scouts operating in the marshlands near present-day Beaufort, South Carolina. In 1863, she led a raid on plantations along the Combahee River that freed more than 750 slaves becoming, apparently, the first woman to lead U.S. troops in an armed assault. Later in life, she worked alongside Susan B. Anthony and others in the crusade for women's suffrage. She died in 1913, frail yet still unbowed, having lived one of the greatest of American lives. Is it political correctness or historical revisionism to put her defiant likeness in our pockets? Of course and high time, too. Unceasing struggle has expanded the meaning of "we the people," once reserved for white men only. As our understanding of freedom and equality has changed, so has our reading of the nation's history. In fighting for the rights of African-Americans and women, Tubman risked her life for the highest of American ideals. Her example ennobles us all. By definition, the study of history requires interpretation and assessment. The many vital contributions made by black people, women and other "outsiders" were long overlooked or undervalued. We are now able to see Tubman through a sharper lens, and she was magnificent. As for Jackson, history has been less kind. He was a major slave owner, of course, like so many of our early presidents. If that alone were enough to get a president booted from our money, we'd have no dollar bills, no nickels and no quarters. Of course we should keep George Washington and Thomas Jefferson around, understanding their flaws while celebrating their greatness. But Jackson also initiated the forced migration of thousands of Native Americans from the Southeast to the West, an exodus called the "Trail of Tears" that can only be described as genocidal. He knew that many Indians would die along the way just as Southern plantation owners, New York financiers and other supporters of slavery knew that keeping human beings in bondage was wrong. Still, Jackson did win the Battle of New Orleans; if he hadn't, the young nation might not have survived the War of 1812. I say let's put him on the $2 bill, if anybody can find one. Eugene Robinson's email address is eugenerobinson@washpost.com. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Albany For the second time in a week, a major natural gas pipeline project in the state appears to have hit the rocks. Late Friday, the state Department of Environmental Conservation denied critical water quality permits for the planned $750 million Constitution pipeline, which was envisioned to carry hydrofracked natural gas from Pennsylvania into New York, crossing through Broome, Chenango, Delaware and Schoharie counties. The state permits were the final approval needed for Constitution's developers, which already had approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. On Wednesday, backers of the $3.1 billion Northeast Energy Direct pipeline announced they were shelving their project, which would follow Constitution's route to Schoharie County before continuing through southern Albany and Rensselaer counties en route to metropolitan Boston. Anti-pipeline advocates praised Gov. Andrew Cuomo, noting that Friday was Earth Day, while a state industry lobbying group decried the Constitution decision as anti-business. First proposed in August 2013, the project drew 15,000 public comments to DEC. On its route in New York, the pipeline would cross 250 bodies of water and clear 1,000 acres of forest containing 700,000 trees. More than 700 parcels of land are affected by the proposed pipeline, and 120 landowners face losing property to the gas company under eminent domain. According to DEC, the agency had "repeatedly requested that Constitution provide a comprehensive and site-specific analysis of depth for pipeline burial to mitigate the project's environmental impact but the company refused, providing only a limited analysis of burial depth for 21 of the 250 New York streams." "Many of those streams are unique and sensitive ecological areas, including trout-spawning streams, old-growth forest, and undisturbed springs, which provide vital habitat and are key to the local ecosystems," according to the DEC statement. "Additionally, DEC received reports that landowners, possibly with Constitution's knowledge, clear cut old-growth trees along the right-of-way for the pipeline, including trees near streams and water bodies, even after FERC ruled that Constitution could not cut trees in the right-of-way." In a letter to the Houston-based company, DEC permit administrator John Ferguson said the project application "fails in a meaningful way to address the significant water resource impacts that could occur from this project and has failed to provide sufficient information to demonstrate compliance with (state) water quality standards." "We, the people, won through a mix of strategic planning, focused organizing, and sheer determination against all odds," said Anne Marie Garti, a founding member of the group Stop the Pipeline and an attorney volunteering with the Pace Environmental Litigation Clinic. The group is "extremely grateful to Gov. Cuomo, the DEC, and those who believed in our goals, and worked to make this happen." Environmental Advocates of New York Executive Director Pete Iwanowicz called Constitution "an environmental disaster waiting to happen. For years, through a campaign of scare tactics and misinformation, the oil and gas industry has made expanding fossil fuel infrastructure seem like the only choice. And industry's economic gain has come at the cost of our water, air, and health." Actor Mark Ruffalo, a member of New Yorkers Against Fracking, said the state had put "protection of our precious water and the public health and safety of New Yorkers ahead of the special interests of the oil and gas industry. This is what real climate leadership looks like." Sign up for The Knick Get the latest news and features with our afternoon newsletter. The Business Council of New York attacked the decision, while Houston-based Constitution had no immediate reaction. "We are incredibly disappointed that the administration allowed fear-mongering to once again lead the way," said council President and CEO Heather Briccetti. "The decision to deny the approvals necessary for the construction of the Constitution Pipeline will have a direct and immediate negative impact on our state's economy. Today's decision also places numerous jobs in jeopardy and puts further strain on our already overworked energy grid." Constitution is a partnership of Cabot Oil and Gas Corp.; Williams, an Oklahoma-based energy company; Piedmont Natural Gas; and WGL Holdings. Developers have maintained the pipeline is needed to meet state energy needs, is environmentally beneficial and will not ultimately be used to ship natural gas overseas. The proposed pipeline would connect to the Iroquois pipeline in Schoharie, where owners are considering whether to reverse the flow of gas so it would flow north toward Canada. From there, gas could move in other pipes, potentially flowing toward potential export facilities on the Atlantic coast. bnearing@timesunion.com 518-454-5094 @Bnearing10 This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Berne Two State Police troopers shot and killed a Berne man who they say held two knives and charged troopers late Friday night, State Police said. State Police officials said the Albany County coroner ruled the death suicide by police. Police said Carl Baranishyn, 51, called the police, saying he was feeling suicidal and homicidal. Two troopers found Baranishyn on High Point Road outside his house holding two 3- to 4-inch folding knives, Maj. William Keeler said at a news conference Saturday. Baranishyn did not respond to several commands to drop his knives and then "aggressively approached" the troopers, who both shot at him, Keeler said. Troopers shot him three times at a distance of about 10 to 15 feet from the troopers, Keeler said, declining to specify where on the body Baranishyn was shot. The shooting took place on a road about 50 yards from the house in heavy darkness, Keeler said. Parts of High Point Road, which connects Route 10 and Route 13 in Berne, are wood-lined and gravel. Police said that troopers and the Helderberg Rescue squad used an AED (automated external defibrillator) to treat Baranishyn, who Keeler said appeared to live alone, after the shooting. No other weapons were found on him. Keeler said the two troopers, who he did not name, were "justified to shoot." "These situations are so fluid," Keeler said. "If it was a bright, sunny day and the subject had nothing more than a bathing suit on with his skin, his flesh, exposed, then ... most of the time a Taser works under those circumstances. But that's not what was the case. It was pitch black." The troopers were uninjured. The Albany County District Attorney's Office is investigating the incident along with State Police internally. Multiple phone calls placed to neighbors, politicians and other Berne residents did not yield anyone who was familiar enough with Baranishyn to comment on his life or the circumstances of his death. Kevin G. Crosier, Berne town supervisor, said he "didn't really know" Baranishyn but understood that he periodically oversaw the house at 12 High Point Road. According to several real estate websites, the home and 42.25 acres were sold for $185,000 last June. Baranishyn's Facebook timeline cites Mechanicsburg, Pa., as his location, lists Mel Brooks and the New York Islanders among his interests and notes that he attended Smithtown High School West in Suffolk County. It also includes a public post from November of last year asking, "Anyone feel alone even with others are (sic) around?" Carl Baranishyn Sr. ran for a town office in 2009. He died in February after moving to Florida with his wife in 2011. On a post from Friday, a Facebook friend of Baranishyn referred to him as "Cee" and wrote: "What a sad, sad, day." It's the third use of deadly force by police in the Capital Region this month. On April 10, a Rotterdam police officer shot and killed William Clark III inside a Roberta Road home after he attacked officers with a knife and after a failed attempt to use a Taser, according to State Police and town police. Clark stabbed one officer with a knife in the chest and shoulder while a protective vest absorbed the blows. Clark slashed a second officer in the back of the head, a wound requiring stitches. State Police, in their review, said police procedures were followed in the incident. In Troy last Sunday, Edson Thevenin, 38, of Watervliet was killed by city police after he allegedly fled a traffic stop and used his car to pin an officer against a patrol car. The officer shot and killed Thevenin through Thevenin's car windshield. The officer will not face criminal charges, according to Rensselaer County prosecutors, following a grand jury investigation. Amy Biancolli contributed. ELKO Join Ghost Light Productions on April 30 for an action packed Superhero Scavenger Hunt. The hunt will consist of collected items, photographs, and extra points for solving planted riddles. We will have a $300 grand prize for the winning team, as well as free tickets to our next Murder Mystery Event scheduled for February 2017, said Emily Anderson, Ghost Light Productions executive director. Thats a $600 value. The event will also have additional prizes, including one for Best Dressed Team. Teams are $20 per person cash only. Each team has to have at least four members, but no more than six. You must be 21 or older to participate. Participants can pre-register to avoid the wait at The Elko Area Chamber, 1405 Idaho St., or register at the door. Registration opens at 4:30 p.m. at Duncan LittleCreek Gallery & Bar at 516 Commercial St. The scavenger hunt begins at 5:30 p.m. All proceeds go to the funding of Ghost Lights Touring Comedy Show. Please contact ghostlightproductionsnv@gmail.com with questions. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Troy The deeds and leases listed the address of The Trump Building in New York City, giving an air of authority to documents State Police now say were fake. In the last few weeks, investigators have uncovered evidence of forged deeds for foreclosed homes in seven Capital Region and Hudson Valley counties that date back 18 months. Officials said they expect to uncover as many as 80 forged deeds. One man is under arrest in the case, authorities said. More Information Forged deeds investigated Officials have tracked dozens of forged deeds on properties in the Capital Region and beyond. Albany County 90 Grove Ave., Albany 420 Hackett Blvd., Albany 532 Font Grove Road, Bethlehem 349 Troy-Schenectady Road, Colonie 1214 Hillside Drive, Watervliet 15 Thatcher St., Selkirk 160 Dartmouth St., Cohoes 16 Carol Ann Drive, Colonie 3 Knapp Terrace, Albany 249 Osborne Road, Albany 1283 Central Ave., Colonie 22 Brickley Drive, Albany Columbia County 72 N. Sixth St., Hudson 18 N. Fifth St., Hudson Rensselaer County 141 Maple Ave., Troy 1460 Third St., Rensselaer 226 East St., Rensselaer 231 Garner Road, Averill Park 31 McClelland Ave., Troy 37 South Road, Brunswick 406 Broadway, Rensselaer 42 River Road, Petersburgh 63 Collins Ave., Troy 825 First St., Rensselaer 85 Oneida Ave., Troy 909 Broadway, Rensselaer Saratoga County 1 Railroad Ave., Stillwater 108 Glenwild Road, Middle Grove 14 Cambridge Drive, Halfmoon 320 Riverview Road, Rexford 1029 Middleline Road, Milton 653 Stark Terrace, Milton Schenectady County 2029 Lenox Road, Schenectady 8 Cherry Lane, Glenville 1913 Lenox Road, Schenectady 1 Crestwood Drive, Schenectady 187 Stewart Lane, Delanson 18 Valleyview Ave., Schenectady 820 Locust Ave., Schenectady 80 Division St., Schenectady See More Collapse It's affecting people who thought they were getting a deal on buying a home or renting an apartment. In either case, payments were always made in cash, according to authorities. The deeds are typically just three pages long and involve property transfers between two trust accounts. Zarak O. Ali or Darryl Casale are listed as the trustees, according to the documents. "It's just created a big mess. You have all these documents that are public records that are false," said Investigator Bruce MacWatters of the State Police Special Investigations Unit in Albany. Deeds from Albany, Rensselaer, Saratoga, Schenectady, Columbia, Dutchess and Ulster counties are under investigation. County clerks have been asked to check their records and received pictures of Ali and Casale. "It's creating a lot of issues," MacWatters said. "What do the tenants do?" That's what Krissa Allen wants to know. She and her boyfriend rented an apartment from Casale for $800 a month at 141 Maple Ave. in Troy's Eastside neighborhood near the Emma Willard School. Casale and Ali are listed as trustees on the deed filed with the Rensselaer County Clerk's Office. Allen said she's glad she turned down Casale's offer to sell her a house at 63 Collins Ave. for $50,000. In both cases, Casale expected payments in cash, Allen said. Her lease listed his address as 40 Wall St., New York City, the address for The Trump Building. Allen said she asked for a copy and was given an unsigned document. "He had me fooled. He played me. It's not fair," she said. "What are we going to do?" said Allen, who is fearful she could face eviction after moving in last month. Allen said investigators told her, "You're just the tip of the iceberg." On April 15, troopers arrested Ali, 42, of 29 Maiden Lane, Albany, on one count of third-degree burglary, two counts of offering a false instrument for filing and two counts of criminal possession of a forged instrument, all felonies. He was released on $25,000 bail. Casale, 25, of 22 Brickley Drive, Albany, has not been charged. His address is among those on a list of suspected forged deeds officials provided to the Times Union. Police said more arrests are expected. The case was forwarded to a Rensselaer County grand jury for investigation, according to court records. Sign up for The Knick Get the latest news and features with our afternoon newsletter. A man who answered the telephone listed online for Ali's real estate business said, "You have a wrong number," and hung up. The alleged scheme was revealed when the Rensselaer County Real Property Tax Services Office staff noticed unusual property transfers between two trusts in several real estate transactions filed by Ali. "Our mapping unit was reviewing the legal descriptions. They caught it," said William Film, the director of the tax services office. Film said the giveaways were the exchange of properties between two trusts and the sloppy paperwork. The property description was usually only a paragraph long, when typically it is lengthier. The trustees' names were written in by hand instead of typed. The investigation is focused primarily on Ali, who is involved in every investigation in Rensselaer County, according to police and the documents. "He's got a lot of moxie," Rensselaer County Clerk Frank Merola said. Merola said the suspect deeds involved foreclosed properties or, in some cases, parcels whose owners had died. He said it can be three years before a bank sells a property after taking it over. Merola and Film met with Rensselaer County District Attorney Joel Abelove and the State Police, who launched the regional investigation. Albany County Clerk Bruce Hidley said his staff found similar filings after learning about what happened in Rensselaer County. He turned over suspect deeds to District Attorney David Soares and the State Police. "He's doing bad things not just to the counties but to the people," Hidley said. "You have to feel badly for the victims this guy is taking advantage of." kcrowe@timesunion.com 518-454-5084 @KennethCrowe THE ISSUE: The state correctional system tries to hide its problems as it struggles to improve its image. THE STAKES: These troubles cannot and should not be hidden behind prison walls. More Information To comment: tuletters@timesunion.com or at http://blog.timesunion.com/opinion See More Collapse With all the problems inside New York's prison system, the last thing the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision should be doing is sending heavily armed correction officers into communities to round up parole violators, work far outside their mission and training. DOCCS' questionable judgment only underscores what we have said for months: This agency demands transparency and independent scrutiny. This isn't about hard-working guards who do a difficult, dangerous job. It's about DOCCS' inability to weed out the ones who tarnish those ranks. It's also about the agency's insularity and the power of a correction officers' union that, with the help of a cowed and complicit Legislature, has managed to shield its members from public accountability. What problems we do know of are troubling enough. Allegations of beatings of inmates by guards, in at least one case fatal. Reports of brutal interrogations, which sound more like torture, following last year's escape of two killers from Clinton Correctional Facility. Rampant cronyism and sexual harassment in the Office of Special Investigations, the agency's supposed internal watchdog. What more is going on is hard to determine, thanks to Section 50-a of the state's civil rights law, which shields personnel records of correction and law enforcement officers from disclosure. Lawmakers, either too beholden to prison guard and law enforcement unions, too cozy with them, or too afraid to buck them, refuse to lift the veil of secrecy that protects even problem employees. Sign up for The Knick Get the latest news and features with our afternoon newsletter. DOCCS' answer to all this was apparently to try to distract attention from its problems with a misguided series of sweeps for parole violators in New York City and Rochester. As detailed by the Times Union's Brendan Lyons, DOCCS largely used correction officers for the operation, in some case equipping them with semi-automatic weapons and riot gear. It was an unusual use of guards who need have no more than a high school degree in the area of parole, where higher education and social work training are required. The tactic drew civil rights complaints and, some say, damaged community relationships parole officers work to build in order to do their jobs effectively. Treating this as a public relations problem, the agency stonewalled requests for information and denied it had received complaints, when in fact it did. It even suggested it would be more open to public review if this newspaper's coverage of it was more favorable. That's not how accountability works. Already, the FBI is investigating several beatings of inmates. And Assemblyman Daniel O'Donnell, chairman of the Committee on Correction, is exploring whether an independent office should handle DOCCS' internal affairs. The Legislature should give that idea serious consideration. And, as we've said on this page often, it should revisit 50-a. When it comes to misconduct and abuse, there should be no secrecy. And when DOCCS' problems start spilling over into our communities, it's all the more the public's business. Scoil Angela Ursuline Primary has been shortlisted in the Best Musical number category for its production of Think! The number nominated is Naughty performed by Rosa Ryan & Holly Ryan (Third Class) and Julianne Barrett & Aimee-Lynn Moore (Fifth Class) The Thurles school will now travel to a special awards ceremony at the Bord Gais Energy Theatre on Thursday, 5 May 2016 where the winners will be announced. RTE Two Tube presenters Stephen Byrne and Blathnaid Treacy will host the event, with a special guest performance yet to be announced. The highly successful awards were set up by Bord Gais Energy to recognise and reward participation in drama in schools. This year, 2,888 entries were received from 351 primary and secondary schools across Ireland. This years judging panel comprised actress Amy Huberman; playwright Marina Carr; Strictly Come Dancing star Tristan MacManus; author Sarah Webb; set and costume designer Maree Kearns; Bord Gais Energy Theatre manager Stephen Faloon and Bord Gais Energy communications manager, Irene Gowing. Commenting on the shortlist Irene Gowing, communications manager for Bord Gais Energy said: The standard of this years entries was exceptional, showing the wealth of talent in schools across the country, and Ive no doubt there are many stars in the making. For the judges, this meant a really tough job. Best of luck to Scoil Angela pupils together with their teachers and parents as they head for glory to the Bord Gais Energy Theatre!!!! This graphic provided by the Attorney Generals office shows the leaders of Johnstown-based heroin ring. Among the 30 people charged was Titusville woman Krista Mader. It used to be that you couldnt get anyone who worked in an office in the city on the phone on Friday afternoons. All the bigwigs leave town early to go to their weekend homes. Between Memorial Day and Labor Day, the movers and shakers were all working four-and-a-half-day weeks. In corporate America, there was a new unofficial holiday: Friday afternoons in the summer. Then, a few years ago, it started getting difficult to get anyone on the phone all day Friday during the summer. Why bother to come in Friday morning? must be the thinking. Why sit through traffic just to leave three hours later? Not long after that, it started getting hard to snag an exec on the phone on Thursday afternoon. If youre not going to work on Friday, you might as well beat the traffic and drive up to the weekend house Thursday night, am I right? So then, the people you couldnt get on the phone Friday afternoons, you also coudlnt reach on Thursday afternoons. Theyre at their weekend houses, relaxing. Relaxing from what? A three-and-a-half-day work week? And its not like their life in the city is so harsh. Oh honey, its so hard living on Park Avenue, telling the servants what to cook for dinner and what to clean, one can imagine them saying. Its such a chore. Im tired of going to plays and movies and fancy restaurants and museums. Lets get away for the weekend and just do nothing. Do you want to go to the beach house or the mountain house? Should you tell Jeeves to make the arrangements or should I? Will we need the downstairs maid? Since theyre planning to leave the office at lunchtime on Thursday, the modern executive wonders if there is really any point in driving to the office at all on Thursday. The latest trend is to leave for the weekend house Wednesday night. Right after the board meeting. The board meeting that voted to raise the executives salaries once again, to give them more stock options and an even more glittery golden parachute. Now, almost anyone in a position of power is working, tops, three days a week. But really, does it take three days a week to drive a company into bankruptcy? No, of course it doesnt. Thats why theyve started to take Mondays off, too. Fight that awful Sunday night traffic back into the city? Youve got to be kidding. So now theyre not in the office Mondays, Thursdays or Fridays. But they are putting in full workdays on Tuesdays, and half of Wednesdays. On those two days, they are totally committed to the company. Totally committed to laying off workers, approving pay cuts, cutting pension plans, replacing older workers, cutting health benefits, thinking up words like downsizing and rightsizing and redecorating their corner offices. Its on Tuesdays and Wednesdays that they buy the motivational posters for the company cafeteria that emphasize the value of cooperation and hard work like There is no I in Teamwork. Maybe not, but there is a big fat I in Laid Off. Then came the Summer Paradox. If you do answer the phone on Friday, you must not be important enough to talk to. So some office workers who dont have summer homes, who dont make very much and who work five days a week have stopped answering their phones on Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays so people will think they are executives. Which works out fine. They can actually get some work done because theyre not on the phone, and the boss isnt around to interfere with the company business. By the way, Ill be in the office Tuesday and Wednesday morning this week, if you need me. [April 22, 2016] Ethica Wins Award in Islamic Finance Education DUBAI, UAE, April 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- - Ethica Institute of Islamic Finance receives award for 'Best Online Islamic Finance Education Provider' Capital Finance International in the UK has awarded Ethica Institute of Islamic Finance in Dubai with the Best Online Islamic Finance Education Provider Global Award. In recent months Ethica has also received 'Islamic Finance Education Provider of the Year' from The European at the Global Banking and Finance Awards and 'Best Islamic Online Finance Program' from International Finance Magazine Awards. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150504/742909 ) Islamic finance is gaining in popularity, not just in the Middle East but throughout the world. Between 2009 and 2013, Islamic banking assets grew at an annual average of 17.6%. That pace is picking up and may exceed 20% by 2018. Arelatively young branch of the financial services industry, Islamic banking was first introduced on a commercial scale in the mid-1970s. After a slow start, the sector ballooned and today boasts a global asset base of well over two trillion dollars. With conventional banks scrambling to break into this buoyant market, bankers well-versed in Islamic law are much in demand. Based in Dubai and with a global network of partners, Ethica Institute of Islamic Finance provides the training and insights to people entering the world of Sharia-compliant banking or aiming to hone their skills. All Ethica courses follow the guidelines and standards provided by the Accounting and Auditing Organisation for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI) - a non-profit entity in Bahrain established in 1990 to maintain and promote Sharia standards in banking. Ethica not only aims to teach interest-free Islamic banking to novices, the institute also seeks to promote financial inclusion and sustainability by suggesting alternatives to the model of fractional debt reserve banking which it holds co-responsible for social and environmental degradation. Ethica has trained banking professionals in over 160 financial services providers in 65 countries. Its 4-month long Certified Islamic Finance Executive (CIFE) programme has become a globally recognized certificate for Islamic bankers and is fully sanctioned by leading scholars. Ethica offers a suite of certificate courses addressing all aspects of Islamic banking. The institution retains experienced and renowned scholars, legal experts, and Islamic bankers to design courses and assist students. Contact: Sameer Hasan - Tel: +9714-455-8690 - Email: [email protected] [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [April 23, 2016] Frost & Sullivan Asia Pacific ICT Awards Returns to Singapore on June 15 SINGAPORE, April 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Frost & Sullivan will be hosting its annual Asia Pacific ICT awards for the 13th time this year on June 15 in Singapore at an exclusive by-invitation only gala banquet. Mr. Andrew Milroy, Senior Vice President, Digital Transformation, Asia Pacific at Frost & Sullivan noted that the annual ICT awards banquet is a great opportunity to highlight, showcase and recognise outstanding performance by technology firms in the region. "The research and awards process is highly robust and a panel of judges plays an important role in ensuring that the award recipients are truly the best in the industry. We appreciate the time and effort they put in to deliberate over the most deserving recipients for the awards," he said. "Cloud Computing, Mobility, Cyber Security, and the Internet of Things underpin much of the digital transformation that we are witnessing today. Similarly, Frost & Sullivan's ICT award categories and its research increasingly focus on these markets," he added. The contenders for the Asia Pacific ICT Awards were evaluated on a variety of actual market performance indicators which include revenue growth, market share and growth in market share, leadership in product innovation, breadth of products and solutions, major customer acquisitions, and business and market strategy, amongst other category-specific criteria. A team of 30 leading Frost & Sullivan analysts and consultants based in Asia Pacific were involved in the short listing, evaluation and research process, applying the same thorough approach that has been the hallmark of Frost & Sullivan globally. The findings of the detailed examination are then presented to a panel of independent judges comprising influential personalities, decision makers and thought leaders in Asia Pacific's ICT industry, wh have in themselves pushed the boundaries of innovation and corporate excellence, in deciding the recipients in each award category. The panel of distinguished judges includes: Andrew Milroy , Senior Vice President, Digital Transformation, Asia Pacific , Frost & Sullivan Ajay Sunder , Vice President, Digital Transformation, Asia Pacific , Frost & Sullivan Edison Yu , Director, Digital Transformation, Asia Pacific , Frost & Sullivan Augustin du Payrat, Regional Director, Avaya Andrew Pickup , Senior Director, Communications, Microsoft Asia Naveen Bhat , Vice President and General Manager, Ixia Asia Raghu Prasad , Head of Solutions Consulting, Communications Industry Solutions Group, JAPAC, Oracle Michael Willis , Vice President, Bank of New York Mellon Victor Ng Editorial Director, Questex Media Group Jason Singh Head of Marketing, Asia Pacific , Datapipe Greg Clay Technical Project Director, EIRE Systems Singapore Ho Khai Leng Group Chief Information Officer, National Healthcare Group Lim Chin Siang Director Technology, Media Development Authority of Singapore Rudi Frey Group Operations Head, Service Delivery Platforms, PLDT Group Ken Soh CIO, BH Global Ras Scollay Regional Sales Director, Asia Pacific , CenturyLink Steve Clark Head of Global Solution Sales, Telstra Global For more details on the Asia Pacific ICT Awards, please visit http://www.ict-awards.com/. You can also connect with Frost & Sullivan on social media, including Twitter, Facebook and Linkedin for the latest news and updates. We also invite you to join the conversation using #FrostAwards and/or #apictawards. About Frost & Sullivan Frost & Sullivan, the Growth Partnership Company, works in collaboration with clients to leverage visionary innovation that addresses the global challenges and related growth opportunities that will make or break today's market participants. For more than 50 years, we have been developing growth strategies for the global 1000, emerging businesses, the public sector and the investment community. Is your organization prepared for the next profound wave of industry convergence, disruptive technologies, increasing competitive intensity, Mega Trends, breakthrough best practices, changing customer dynamics and emerging economies? Contact Us: Start the discussion Media Contact Melissa Tan Corporate Communications Asia Pacific Phone: +65.6890.0926 Email: [email protected] To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/frost--sullivan-asia-pacific-ict-awards-returns-to-singapore-on-june-15-300256404.html SOURCE Frost & Sullivan [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Budget phones don't have to be spectacular just dependable and attractively priced. The Zmax 2 from ZTE pulls off both of those tricks, with a battery that stays powered throughout the day and a $99 price tag if you get the phone through AT&T. (Image credit: Jeremy Lips / Tom's Guide) The Zmax 2's performance won't set any speed records, and its camera has some problems focusing, but bargain hunters who just want a solid phone with a generously sized screen should consider this low-cost option. Design: A Bit of Heft A phablet takes up some real estate, and at 6.1 x 3 x 0.37 inches, the Zmax 2 is no exception. I tend to favor small-screen phones, so I definitely noticed when I had the Zmax 2 tucked into my pocket. But fans of phones with large screens likely won't notice. (Image credit: Jeremy Lips / Tom's Guide) You will notice how heavy the 6-ounce Zmax 2 feels for a plastic phone. To put that in context, it weighs roughly the same as the aluminum-and-glass iPhone 6 Plus, which has the same size display as the ZTE phone. At least the ZTE has a nice textured back that makes it easy to grip. (Image credit: Jeremy Lips / Tom's Guide) ZTE puts the on/off button perilously close to the volume rocker on the Zmax 2's right side. I often found myself shutting the phone down when all I wanted to do was adjust the volume. (Image credit: Jeremy Lips / Tom's Guide) MORE: Best Cheap Unlocked Smartphones Display: Big But Kinda Dim The most noteworthy thing about the Zmax 2's screen is its 5.5-inch size. Certainly, the 1280 x 720 resolution won't set the pulse racing, as video really doesn't stand out on the giant display. Despite the real estate, a trailer for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story looked ordinary rather than epic. The Zmax 2 handles colors well, with the green ghost slime in the Ghostbusters trailer looking particularly bright. Reds, such as those in the Ghostbuster logo, seemed a little muted, though. Part of the problem is the phone's brightness, or lack thereof. The Zmax 2's screen registered 380 nits on our light meter. That's dimmer than both the average smartphone (437 nits) and a pair of budget phones also available to AT&T prepaid customers the HTC Desire 626 (459 nits) and the Motorola Moto E (393 nits). In direct sunlight, it's very hard to see details on the Zmax 2's display, large screen or not. Audio: Excellent Audio is a different story. With Dolby Audio speakers, the Zmax 2 produces some of the best sound I've heard on a smartphone, especially for a low-cost one. I could easily hear an episode of Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown streaming from the other side of my office, and the B-52s' "Love Shack" lacked the tinniness I've come to expect from smartphone speakers. Still, percussion had a fuzzy sound to it on music I streamed an issue that disappeared when I plugged in some headphones. With Dolby Audio speakers, the Zmax 2 features some of the best sound I've heard on a smartphone. The speaker is tucked discreetly onto the phone's back, so sounds can seem muted if you lay the phone flat on a table. It's mostly noticeable when you go to pick up the phone and the sound adjusts. Specs Carrier: AT&T Phone Display Size: 5.5 inches Display Resolution: 1280 x 720 OS: Android 5.1 CPU: 1.2-GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 RAM: 2GB Storage: 16GB Memory Expansion Type: microSD card, up to 32GB Bluetooth Type: Bluetooth 4.0 Wi-Fi: 802.11b/g/n Size: 6.1 x 3 x 0.37 inches Weight: 6 ounces Performance: You Get What You Pay For With a sub-$100 phone, you'll have to accept certain compromises with the components inside the device. Indeed, the quad-core 1.2-GHz Snapdragon 400 CPU that powers the Zmax 2 isn't going to set any speed records. But with 2GB of RAM included, ZTE's phone turns in a respectable performance when measured against similarly priced devices. MORE: How to Buy the Right Smartphone for Your Needs In my everyday use of the phone, I found the Zmax 2 offered acceptable performance. I didn't notice any lag when launching apps, particularly if the apps were already running in the background. The Zmax 2 did have trouble running Modern Combat 5; some scenes showed occasional stutter, and the app quit completely once after a particularly frenzied firefight. If you're not planning to run processor-intensive games, though, the Zmax 2 should offer enough basic horsepower to meet your needs. The Zmax 2 turned in a score of 1,321 on the Geekbench 3 performance test. While that's much lower than the average smartphone score, it beats the results of both the Moto E (1,282) and the HTC Desire 626 (993), which AT&T offers as low-cost options alongside the Zmax 2. As for the Zmax 2's unlocked competition, the Huawei Honor 5X doubles the ZTE phone's score. The story is the same with graphics performance, as measured by the 3DMark Ice Storm Unlimited test. The Zmax 2's score of 4,369 fell just behind the Moto E (4,492) while outpacing the Desire 626. The Zmax 2 did fare the worst of these budget phones in our video-editing test, taking a pokey 9 minutes and 44 seconds to convert a 204MB, 1080p video to 480p in VidTrim. Camera: Flummoxed by Focusing The Zmax 2's 8-megapixel rear camera proved to be temperamental, taking nice, crisp shots in some circumstances and indistinct blurs in others sometimes, in photos featuring the same subject. (Image credit: Jeremy Lips / Tom's Guide) (Image credit: Philip Michaels / Tom's Guide) At its best, the Zmax 2's camera produces colorful images and captures even tiny details. The camera soaked up every bit of brightness from these California poppies growing in my backyard, and even caught the wavy grain of the wood on the green fence behind them. (Image credit: Philip Michaels / Tom's Guide) Likewise, a photo of a dinner salad captures every fleck of cheese on the arugula leaves. Some of the leaves are less distinct than others, particularly toward the foreground, but overall, that's a sharp-looking shot. (Image credit: Philip Michaels / Tom's Guide) The same can't be said of the photograph of the pizza placed less than a foot away from that salad and bathed in the same favorable light. The toppings blend together, with the chicken looking indistinct from the cheese. Only a portion of the crust doesn't look fuzzy. An even sharper contrast comes from photos of my daughter, taken within seconds of each other. One is a blur, with my daughter's face partially washed out and no detail in focus. In the other, everything looks sharp and the details pop, from my kid's blue eyes to her purple headband. The lesson? Take multiple shots with the Zmax 2's rear camera, because there's no guarantee of getting a consistent look. (Image credit: Philip Michaels / Tom's Guide) The Zmax 2 had the same focus issue when shooting video. I took this 720p video of my daughter when she suddenly started practicing her dance moves to the ambient music playing in a crafts store. The opening 4 seconds are a blur, as the Zmax 2's camera struggles to adjust; after that, everything's clear, albeit a little bouncy, thanks to my shaky hands. In fairness, other videos started out in focus when I had time to line up the shot, but with so many videos shot in the spur of the moment, that's of cold comfort. I was less impressed with the Zmax 2's 2-MP front shooter, which doesn't excel at capturing details. A selfie took in the most favorable lighting conditions I could find produced an OK shot, though some of my facial features lacked sharpness. My stubble looked particularly fuzzy, and you'd be hard-pressed to tell the color of my shirt. (It's dark green, for those of you playing along at home.) Because there's no front flash for the Zmax 2, selfies shot in lower light look even more muted. (Image credit: Philip Michaels / Tom's Guide) Among the camera modes included on the Zmax 2 is a smile-detection feature that will snap a photo the instant you crack a smile, whether you're using the front or rear cam. It works pretty well, though it will snap for as long as you smile, so be prepared for a film roll full of photos when you enable that mode. Software: Too Many Apps The Zmax 2 runs Android 5.1 Lollipop, which is becoming an older version of the OS as more devices upgrade to Marshmallow but still in line with what you'll find on similarly priced phones. AT&T makes sure to put its stamp on the phone, with nine apps preinstalled; only the myAT&T and Visual Voicemail apps appear the least bit useful. Other preinstalled apps, like Uber and Amazon, seem like ones you're more likely to use. There's one quirk with the Zmax 2 that may flummox Android users. Instead of swiping the lock screen to get to your apps, you press and hold until the phone unlocks. It takes a little bit of getting used to, but I actually preferred this press-and-hold method for unlocking my phone. Battery: No Compromise Here Other Zmax 2 specs may not impress, but ZTE certainly didn't skimp on the battery. A 3,000-mAh pack keeps the Zmax 2 running through the day. And if you need more power, just pop off the back cover and swap in a new battery. MORE: Smartphones with the Longest Battery Life You shouldn't need to, though. On the Tom's Guide Battery Test, which involves web surfing over AT&T's 4G LTE network, the Zmax 2 lasted 9 hours and 25 minutes. That runtime is an hour longer than that of the average smartphone and better than the Moto E (8:32). The more expensive Honor 5X turned in a comparable 9:22. The Zmax 2 also holds up well in real-world use. I started out an afternoon of streaming video, playing games and taking pictures with the battery only 85 percent charged. After forgetting to charge the phone overnight, I was surprised to see the Zmax 2's battery still had life in it the next morning 18 percent, according to the phone's display. You'll certainly be able to get through the day on a full charge, which is a heck of a trick for a sub-$100 phone. Bottom Line There's no real standout feature with the Zmax 2, but there's no real noteworthy flaw, either. In a sub-$100 phone particularly one with better-than-average battery life like ZTE's device that's pretty ideal. People who depend on their smartphone as a camera may want to consider other low-cost options, such as the Moto E. But if you're willing to live with the occasional blurry shot, the Zmax 2 is one of the better sub-$100 phones available to AT&T customers. Unlocked, the calculations change a little, as the cost of the Zmax 2 climbs to $179. At that point, you'd be better off springing for the Huawei Honor 5X, which features a higher-resolution 5.5-inch display, better performance and comparable battery life. "These apartment buildings will be occupied by freeloaders that will get the same government services that I get, but the building owners will not be paying the real estate taxes that pay for them." Kansas City Streetcar grand opening celebration! Quite a bit of verbiage for a transit line that only travels 2.nothing miles.Our blog community reax:Here's the word . . . We stopped reading after they used the term "dignitaries" to describe local politicos:The City of Kansas City, Missouri and the Kansas City Streetcar Authority invite the public to celebrate the start of KC Streetcar operations while visiting downtown Kansas City neighborhoods to witness the transformative effect the streetcar is having on our city.The public celebration starts at 10:00 a.m. Friday, May 6, outside of Union Station with a grand opening ceremony featuring Kansas City Mayor Sly James, Federal Transit Administration members, Kansas City Streetcar Authority Chairman Mike Hagedorn and other local dignitaries and elected officials. The ceremony will be followed by an inaugural first ride for those dignitaries and the opening of public streetcar service and community-wide parties and activities.Mayor Sly James said the grand opening of the KC Streetcar is more than a celebration of a new transit option for Kansas Citians. This is the first step of what I believe will be a truly historic transformation of the entire city, James said. Building owners and developers have completed, started or announced more than $1.7 billion in construction in the downtown KC Streetcar district since the route was announced. Im confident the entire city will find new momentum as the KC Streetcar energizes the heart of our community.The KC Streetcar grand opening ceremony kicks off a weekend long celebration along the entire two-mile streetcar route. Many special streetcar-related events are planned in downtown Kansas City, in conjunction with other festivities such as First Friday (and Saturday this time) in the Crossroads Arts District, a family-friendly festival with carnival rides at Union Station, fireworks both Friday and Saturday nights from Liberty Memorial, Smart City Village in the downtown business district, Middle of the Map Fest in the KC Power & Light District, movie in the park in the City Market, and a busy spring weekend in the River Market.The public is encouraged to enjoy and explore the many restaurants, boutique shops and other retail business along the streetcar route. There will also be a stationary streetcar parked at Union Station near Pershing Road for your chance to take a selfie with the streetcar.For complete information about KC Streetcar grand opening activities, including transit options and parking, please go toAn endeavor of this magnitude would not be possible without the involvement and support of so many partners, said Tom Gerend, executive director of the Kansas City Streetcar Authority. For a project to go from the drawing board to completion in this timeframe is record setting and only possible with the strong and visionary leadership from the City of Kansas City, and tremendous support from the Federal Transit Administration, the KC Area Transportation Authority, downtown businesses, our contract operator, Herzog Transit, and many others. This milestone represents years of effort by many and a new and exciting era for the regions RideKC public transit partnership.Many thanks to the Grand Opening Celebration sponsors: The City of Kansas City, Missouri, The Kansas City Streetcar Authority, KC Streetcar Constructors, Sprint, CAF, UMB, HDR, Burns & McDonnell, KCATA, Port KC, Lewis Rice, Dimensional Innovations, KCP&L, SNC-Lavalin Rail & Transit, BNIM, Commerce Tower on Main, Central States, J. Reiger Co, Boulevard Brewing Company, HINT, HNTB, Thomas McGee, LTK, Centric Projects, Sprint Center, Commerce Bank, JE Dunn, Jackson County, Mark One Electric and the KC Chamber of Commerce.The KC Streetcar grand opening celebration planning team was led by the Kansas City Streetcar Authority and O'Neill Marketing & Events Management, with assistance from many City of Kansas City departments, including Public Works, Kansas City Police Department, Kansas City Fire Department, and the City Managers Office. Wed also like to thank our downtown partners including the Downtown Council, the City Market, Union Station, Kansas City Power & Light District, Visit KC, KC Crossroads Community Association, and the River Market neighborhood association.Watch the ceremony in front of Union Station. Then enjoy activities in all downtown neighborhoods along the route.Please do not expect to ride the streetcars entire route continuously. Plan to exit at stops along the way to explore neighborhood activities.FREE RideKC bus service is being offered on all local, express and shuttle service that connects to downtown. There will also be additional RideKC Max bus service on Main Street the weekend of May 6 & 7.Main Street between 20th and Pershing Road will be closed to traffic. Union Station parking and Crown Center parking via Grand Blvd. will remain accessible. A full map of local parking locations is posted on www.timetoridekc.orgMain Street north of 20th will remain open to traffic, however, no street parking will be allowed on Main Street or on the south side of 5th Street between Main and Walnut on May 6 & 7.The KC Streetcar will operate seven days a week, with service running from 6 a.m. to midnight Mondays through Thursdays; 6 a.m. to 2 a.m. Fridays; 7 a.m. to 2 a.m. Saturdays; and 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Sundays, and it is free to ride.################ "Nick Haines, Mary Sanchez, Eric Wesson, Steve Vockrodt and Sam Zeff discuss Brownback's call for a truce in the business border war, the $290 million Kansas budget shortfall, the upcoming Kansas Supreme Court decision on school funding, the Wright Business School bankruptcy, Urban Youth Academy, United Healthcare exiting the ACA marketplace, transgender bathroom legislation & criticisms of Kobach." An important look at Kansas City topics, controversy and upcoming battles . . . Here's the top local newsies . . . And Mary Sanchez discussing the issues this week:Take a look:You decide . . . ANGRY AT THE BLOG COMMUNITY, JACKSON COUNTY LEGISLATOR SEEMINGLY DECLARES WAR ON FREE SPEECH GOODNESS AND ATTEMPTS TO RECRUIT FOR HER CRUSADE AGAINST TKC ONLINE AWESOME!!! "May I suggest that instead of insisting that those of us consistently targeted by the vile misogynist blog ignore it, you all might consider raising a little hell about it in this community? I have talked about it publicly . . . Our friend has countered his bullshit, and we thank her so very much. But that's about it in terms of public or vocal opposition. Why do we allow this in our community? That's the question I can't get answered." REALLY, THIS IS WHAT YOU'RE ASKING QUESTIONS ABOUT CRYSTAL??? WITH SO MUCH WRONG WITH JACKSON COUNTY . . . YOU'RE CONSTANT INVESTIGATION IS DIRECTED AT THE TKC BLOGGY NEWS AND LINGERIE/BIKINI MODEL APPRECIATION COMMUNITY?!?! "He makes up all of his shit and the vast majority of his commenters..are him. Sick jackass." JACKSON COUNTY LEGISLATOR CRYSTAL WILLIAMS SEEMS MORE DEDICATED TO INCITING RAGE AGAINST THE TKC BLOG COMMUNITY THAN ATTENDING AND PARTICIPATING IN THE KANSAS CITY CITIZENS TASK FORCE ON VIOLENCE!!! order to advance Tragically, this is what happens when the witless "progressive" sect of the Democratic Party attempts to flex their muscles and forgets that their constituents aren't really concerned with the divisive culture war or pushing forward silly gender politics. The people of Kansas City have real problems and challenges they're confronting while our elected leaders and Democratic Party divas are playing social media cackling hen games against Kansas City's least favorite blogger. At a time when Jackson County is in the midst of a, the local government entityand. . .seems more focused on uniting local politically involved women against this blog.We understand . . . If not for ourblog community this incompetent and disingenuouspolitico would have risen to the level of a Missouri State Senator. Thankfully, because we're in her head . . . Current JaxCo Legislative Chair Crystal Williams lost sight of her campaign goals and was soundly defeated after losing quite a bit of other people's money.In the aftermath, the unlikable and mostly misinformed Democratic lady has been trolling around a great many events and embracing "girl power" that hasn't helped to propel her past the level of Kansas City political embarrassment.Now, here's where the story gets fun but I gotta be careful . . .Some rando on FB is angry aboutover an old news story. We have never named or talked about this person but simply relayed the info of an online report as a public service. You're welcome . . .All of this is simply prelude to a much more interesting political angle . . . Recently in social media commentary Legislator Crystal Williams offered a bit of anti-blog vitriol . . .I'm absolutely sure this lady politico is talking about TKC here . . . If not, he war against any blog remains noteworthy . . .We'll give her an answer right now . . .To make matters even more hilarious . . .Latina disguised hack Mary Sanchez shares her two cents about bloggy endeavors . . .Now that's just downright unkind and impolite . . . Donald Trump gets better treatment . . .But I digress . . .All of chatter has seen just a tiny bit of support . . .There's some low rent Democratic washout lady promising vengeance after staying silent for years . . . Really hoping that we haven't dated but I can't make any promises. Also, there's a failed blogger signed up for the crusade who recently dedicated 1,000 words to yours truly but only earned a few comments.And now a point of order and something that's important to report for the public trust like all of the real news links we've tried to pepper in this silly Kansas City blogger beef slap-fight . . .If she's gonna stand up for the community, she might want to start fulfilling her commitments as an elected official in a far more important capacity.Remember thatamid much celebration over the prospect of "community outreach" as a potential solution to the local murder spike. Sadly, the attendance of Legislator Williams at these meetings has been lacklusterIt gets worse . . . All of theseare throwing their support behind a myriad of unqualified and forgettable like-minded female Missouri politicos intheir agenda in the upcoming election whilst hoping to ride the coattails of Hillary Clinton into office. On the bright side, their candidates are doing just as badly as these women and their feigned struggle against the hegemony in between visits to Cafe Trio.Like it or not,is part of the reason Democrats lost control of Missouri long ago,contributes to KCMO population remaining stagnant as City Hall remains awash in debt whilst some B-list lawyer has doled out more corporate welfare over the past 5 years than at any other point in 12th & Oak history.In conclusion, we've got more important matters confronting Kansas City that we want to discusswe'll be happy to address this topic further with Crystal Williams, Mary Sanchez or any other raging KCMO Democratic lady politico over candlelight dinner at the nearest Applebee's . . . Their treat. Natch. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg is expected to visit Athens later this week Migrant flows to Greece have decreased markedly in recent months, Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said, defending his government's support of the EU-Turkey migrant deal. Turkey and the EU last month sealed an accord which aims to end the chaotic arrival of migrants and refugees, most fleeing war and poverty in the Middle East, Africa and Asia, after more than a million reached Europe last year. Hundreds have died making the short but precarious crossing from Turkey to the shores of Greek islands in inflatable dinghies. The island of Lesvos is full of unmarked graves. "A few months ago we had flows of 3,000 to 4,000 daily to our islands. Today, the flows are about 50 to 60 (migrants and refugees) daily," Tsipras told parliament during a debate on security. Defence Minister Panos Kammenos met his German counterpart Ursula von der Leyen in Athens a day earlier and said that NATO's naval back-up in the Aegean Sea to help stop people smugglers had also contributed to the reduced flows. NATO Secretary General visit NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg is expected to visit Athens later this week, according to government officials. Von Der Leyen urged migrants stranded at a makeshift camp on Greece's northern border with Macedonia to move to official shelters. Athens has set up accommodation for more than 50,000 people, she said, calling the move "a clear message for refugees that there are now well-equipped camps in which the reception is possible according to all standards." Human rights groups have accused Greece of bad conditions in reception centres. They say the EU-Turkey deal, aimed at halting migration to Europe in return for financial and political rewards for Ankara, violates international conventions. Last week Pope Francis visited a camp at the island of Lesbos where migrants wept at his feet, kissed his hand and begged for help. He took three families of Syrian refugees back home. Source: Reuters 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 Kyriakos Mitsotakis, leader of Greeces major opposition party New Democracy, promised to rebuild the party and enter a truth pact with the people, during his address at the partys opening day of its 10th Convention in Athens Kyriakos Mitsotakis, leader of Greeces major opposition party New Democracy, promised to rebuild the party and enter a truth pact with the people, during his address at the partys opening day of its 10th Convention in Athens, Friday. "You gave me the mandate to build New Democracy from scratch," he told party delegates. Speaking to a packed convention of 4,000, he went on to say that he would propose a truth pact with the people." "All united we will bring Greece that is suffocating and in danger the oxygen it needs," said Mitsotakis. The conservative party former presidents were in attendance sitting in the front row, as well as highly-respected statesmen of the past. Vangelis Meimarakis, his opponent in last years party elections, chose to sit a little further back. Mitsotakis avoided raising the rhetoric against the Greek government and the leftist SYRIZA party. He outlined his general vision on the way Greece could exit the current economic crisis, stressing that the goal of his party would be to move forward with a national growth plan, by implementing our own ideas and proposals in collaboration with the creditors. Source: Proto Thema RELATED TOPICS: Greece, Greek tourism news, Tourism in Greece, Greek islands, Hotels in Greece, Travel to Greece, Greek destinations , Greek travel market, Greek tourism statistics, Greek tourism report The United Arabic Emirates has allocated $4 billion to Egypt, half of it in investment and half as a central bank deposit to support cash reserves, the UAE state news agency WAM reported on Friday. The report appeared to be referring to a previously announced UAE offer to give Egypt $4 billion, which was made at a conference in Sharm El-Sheikh last year along with pledges from other Gulf Arab states. Egypt has struggled to spur economic growth since its 2011 uprising ushered in political instability that scared off tourists and foreign investors, key sources of foreign currency. Details of the UAE aid allocation came at the end of a visit of Abu Dhabi's crown prince, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahayan, to Egypt on Friday. He said the aid, authorised by UAE President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahayan, showed the UAE was firm in its support for Egypt. The money was aimed at promoting development in Egypt, which has a "pivotal role" in the region, WAM quoted Sheikh Mohammed as saying. Earlier this month Egypt and Saudi Arabia signed a pact to set up a SR60 billion ($16 billion) investment fund. At the Sharm El-Sheikh conference in March 2015, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia each also offered $4 billion to Egypt. Reuters ELKO Earthquakes have been big news after deadly ones hit Japan and Ecuador, but in a state where mines are prevalent even small quakes can be a hazard. According to U.S. Geological Survey data, Nevada is the fourth-most seismically active state. It falls behind Alaska, California and Hawaii. In a week's time, Nevada had 54 quakes of magnitude 1.5 or greater. There were 232 in one month and 3,039 seismic events in the last year, including one north of Carlin, near several of Newmont Mining Corp.s and Barrick Gold Corp.s surface and underground mines. According to USGS there have been 12 seismic events near Carlin since November and they ranged between 1.7 to 3.4 magnitude. These numbers may seem small but a 3.2 magnitude quake caused Barrick employees to stop work. The quake hit at 10:24 a.m. on Feb. 28 a little more than 25 miles northwest of Carlin and about a half-mile deep. Goldstrike reported that the earthquake was felt throughout the underground and the mine was evacuated, said Barrick Manager of Communications and Corporate Affairs Leslie Maple. Newmonts mining operations in the area were not impacted. Maple said many times when a quake happens it will affect Barrick or Newmont mines but usually not both because of where the faults are in the ground. The largest quake to hit Nevada in the past 20 years was the 6.2 in 2008 near Wells, according to USGS data. Since it was far from most of the mines it didnt affect them, but that doesnt mean large quakes dont hit the Silver State. The largest known earthquake in Nevada was a magnitude 7.1 on Oct. 3, 1915, in Pleasant Valley, almost 40 miles southeast of Winnemucca. At Kennedy, two adobe houses were destroyed, mine tunnels collapsed and concrete mine foundations were cracked. In Winnemucca, buildings were damaged and in Battle Mountain water tanks were thrown down. The quake was felt from Oregon to California and beyond Salt Lake City. One of the most striking effects of this earthquake was the large increase (and decrease) in the flow of springs and streams throughout northern Nevada, stated USGS. A similar size quake hitting Carlin could have devastating effects on the town and the surrounding mines. Ground Monitoring Helps With Safety Newmont has a team of geotechnical experts who oversee ongoing monitoring programs as part of our normal mining operations for both surface and underground mines, said Newmont Director of Communications and External Relations for North American Region Rhonda Zuraff. Regarding earthquake response, Newmont has a region-wide post-earthquake geotechnical procedure which includes, among other things, employment of ground checks. Barrick and Newmont work together to monitor ground conditions, but they've only been partnered since 2014. Goldstrike Underground Division Manager Roger Hoops said the equipment was installed after the mine experienced a couple seismic events close together. Employees asked how the company knew it was safe to go back in and Hoops said Barrick decided to talk to Newmont and the Nevada Seismological Laboratory at the University of Nevada, Reno and USGS. Goldstrike also uses sensors from the Institute of Mining Seismology to monitor in the underground, and employs an engineer dedicated to tracking and monitoring seismic activity in the area. Four units were installed on Barrick property and three units were installed on Newmont property, said Zaheer Jamkhana, senior mining engineer for Goldstrike underground division. The equipment picks up all ground movement, including blasts, but it can tell the difference between a controlled explosion and a seismic event, Jamkhana said. The system can pick up events five miles from the site, and because they have the monitoring equipment seismologists can tell the mine how close the earthquake was to the underground. The seismic event on Feb. 28 was 275 feet from one of Goldstrike's haulages and 963 feet from the shaft," said Amanda Norfleet, Goldstrike chief geologist for the underground. When to Evacuate The size of an event and its magnitude determine if the mine needs to be closed for a time, but generally if it is felt throughout the underground it is evacuated, said Miguel Lamadrid, Goldstrike superintendent of technical services for the underground. After the event is over, the mine is inspected. Since the miners know where the quake occurred, the inspectors can pay particular attention to the areas closest to the seismic event, Lamadrid said. The inspection usually takes about four hours, he said. After the Feb. 28 event, crews found a small crack and a monitoring system was put in, but there hasn't been any movement. The ground support systems in Barrick and Newmont underground mines are engineered to provide some protection. Jamkhana said the underground support is designed to move with an earthquake. The ground support systems in use are considered ideal for small to moderate ground motion, however, larger events can require up to entire mine evacuations, Zuraff said. All underground mines are designed with escapeways either by a portal exit or shaft. If an underground mine cannot be evacuated quickly, both companies maintain refuge chambers at various locations. These chambers provide emergency shelter including, air, water, food and communication equipment and would be utilized if miners are not able to safely exit the mine, Maple said. While earthquakes are more likely to affect the underground, both Newmont and Barrick constantly monitor their pit highwalls. The surface mines have similar safety and evacuation protocols if movement is detected. Hoops said the bigger concern on site is usually the concrete structures on the surface because they aren't designed to move. Goldstrike is the most often impacted by seismic events based on the geography in the area, Maple said. So far, they have not experienced damage as a result of an earthquake. Qalaa Holdings, an African leader in energy and infrastructure, has announced that its business unit Gozour has signed a sale and purchase agreement (SPA) to divest its entire holding in milk and juice producer Enjoy and El-Aguizy International for Economic Development, an Egyptian packager and exporter of produce. The purchaser of both companies is Kamal Haggag, a domestic industrial investor who also bought Gozour subsidiary El-Misrieen in December 2015. Qalaa had previously impaired the value of its investments in Enjoy and El-Aguizy, which are distressed assets, and have not been operational since 2013 and 2015 respectively and thus their sale will have a positive impact on the P&L of Qalaa as it will be able to deconsolidate their losses. Both companies will be sold free of bank debt, while the purchaser will assume all other liabilities, said a statement from Qalaa Holdings. Qalaa Holdings currently has an effective indirect ownership of 55 per cent in both Enjoy and El-Aguizy. The sale of El-Aguizy is expected to close quickly with Enjoy to follow once a set of conditions precedent are fulfilled. Qalaa Holdings said it continues to divest non-core investments across its footprint as it focuses on core business units including Egyptian Refining Company (a $3.7 billion megaproject that is now more than 84 per cent complete and on track to begin production in 2017 and Taqa Arabia, Egypts leading independent energy distribution company. Qalaa recently divested its stake in Tanmeyah Microenterprise Services, a business that it helped grow from an initial concept into an E450 million ($51 million) operation that provides the Egyptian market with muchneeded microfinance solutions, as well as its stake in Misr Glass Manufacturing Company (MGM), a leading regional producer and exporter of glass containers for an equity value of E828 million ($93 million). Pharos Holding is the sell-side advisor on the Enjoy and El-Aguizy transactions.-TradeArabia News Service National carrier Saudi Arabian Airlines (Saudia) has announced plans to increase its flights to Los Angeles from three flights a week to 5 weekly flights starting from June 1. The flights will be operated at 3pm (PST) on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays from its hubs Riyadh and Jeddah to the US city. The additional flights are in anticipation of increased demand during the peak season and in keeping with Saudia's continued expansion in its services in North America and elsewhere. The Saudi Arabian carrier operates new B777-300ERs to its North American gateways that include New York, Washington DC, Toronto and Los Angeles. The Saudia flights to Los Angeles International Airports Tom Bradley International Terminal (LAX/TBIT) has a 3-class configuration for a total of 305 seats 24 in First Class, 36 in Business Class and 245 in Guest Class, said a statement from the airline. Its Guest Class with a 3 x 3 x 3 seat configuration was awarded Best Economy Class Seats at the World Airline Awards a couple of years ago and is still considered among the best in the world today by SkyTrax airline rating website. Saudia first flew to Los Angeles on March 31, 2014, becoming the first and the only nonstop carrier between Saudi Arabia and the US West Coast. With the flight frequency increase, Saudia will, from June 1, fly nonstop not only to Jeddah but also nonstop to capital Riyadh. Saudia started back in 1945 with one DC-3 Dakota aircraft, the gift of US President Franklin Roosevelt to King Abdul Aziz, the founding King of Saudi Arabia. Today, Saudia flies to more than 80 destinations and carries more than 27 million passengers annually. As a member of SkyTeam global alliance, Saudia also has access to a global network of 1,057 destinations.-TradeArabia News Service Dozens of fighters loyal to Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) were killed in clashes in southern Yemen on Saturday, residents and a military source said, while a drone strike killed two others further north. The clashes at Al Koud near Zinjibar in the southern Abyan Province were between AQAP and army forces of Yemen's internationally recognised government backed by local militias, referred to locally as the Popular Resistance. Since Yemen's civil war began last year, AQAP has gained control over swathes of southern and eastern Yemen, creating a local government there and introducing services. The war is between the Houthi movement and forces loyal to a former president on one side, against forces such as the Popular Resistance, backed by President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi and supported by a Saudi-led Arab coalition, on the other. Both sides in Yemen's civil war, in which a tentative truce has been in place for weeks pending the result of peace talks under way in Kuwait, say they regard AQAP as a threat. The group has previously attacked both Hadi's government and the Houthis. In recent weeks Hadi's forces, backed by coalition air strikes, have pushed towards Zinjibar along the beach road from Aden. Al-Koud lies on that road only 5 km from Zinjibar, long considered an AQAP stronghold along with the town of Jaar about 15 km to the north. A group of around 15 AQAP fighters escaped, the military source said, adding that two army soldiers were also killed. Also on Saturday, an air strike from a drone killed two men south of the Yemeni city of Marib suspected of belonging to al Qaeda, local residents said by phone. "A drone fired two missiles at a car that had two men in it in al-Manain district south of Marib city, and the car was totally destroyed and the men were killed instantly," one of them said. The US has used drone strikes in Yemen to target AQAP leaders, the global jihadist group's local wing, which has plotted to place bombs on international airliners and has encouraged attacks in Western countries. Since March, air strikes targeting Islamist militants have increased in Yemen, including a March 27 attack that killed 14 suspected AQAP members in Abyan province in the country's south. Yemen's warring parties began direct peace talks in Kuwait on Friday and will continue to meet despite failing to agree on an agenda, participants said. Officials travelling to Saudi Arabia with U.S. President Barack Obama this week said they hoped moves towards a peace deal in Yemen would allow a renewed focus on challenging AQAP.-Reuters ELKO Two Elko residents were arrested this week in connection to a 2015 Elko Police Department case concerning burglary and forgery. The warrant for Jaymz T. Quintana, 21, was issued Feb. 5, and the warrant for Amy M. Brown, 37, was issued April 19, said acting Undersheriff Kevin McKinney. Law enforcement have connected Quintana and Brown to a burglary at the Spring Creek business Shadow Mountain Construction, where company checks were stolen, said Lt. Ty Trouten. Police were alerted to the case when a check was allegedly cashed at Gold Country Inn and Casino on Idaho Street by Quintana. An accomplice, identified as Brown, reportedly cashed another check at the Red Lion Hotel and Casino. The burglary charges are in reference to where the checks were taken from, said Trouten. The case was sent to the Elko County District Attorneys Office June 24, 2015. Quintana was arrested Saturday at 1720 Skyway Drive on a warrant for burglary and forgery. His bail was listed at $25,000. Brown was arrested Wednesday at the Elko County Jail for intent to utter a fictional bill, note or check and burglary. Her bail was also listed at $25,000. Chandigarh, April 22 The desire to get married to a man settled in Tehran whom she had met on a social networking site led 31-year-old Sukhdeep Kaur hatch the murder conspiracy of her husband, a commando in Punjab Police. She had hired a youth for murdering her husband. The youth further hired two persons. The deal was struck at Rs 5 lakh, out of which Rs 1 lakh was paid to the accused. Jasvir Singh, a resident of Raipur Khurd, Chandigarh, had gone missing under mysterious circumstances on March 3. The matter was reported to the Mauli Jagran police on March 5. Sources said during the investigation, the cops wife Sukhdeep Kaur had come under suspicion. She was arrested on April 17. The police said on the disclosure made by her, one Sahib Singh, a resident of Rajpura, who was arrested recently and lodged in the Patiala jail, was brought on production warrant. During interrogation, Sahib Singh disclosed that he, along with Gurjinder Singh, alias Neeta, and Jagtar Singh, both from Rajpura, threw the cop into the Bhakra canal near Mandouli village. The cops wife had mixed sleeping pills in his food, after which they had tied his hands. Gurjinder and Jagtar were arrested by the UT police. The police said Sukhdeep Kaur had an extra-marital affair with one Harjit Singh, who was working in Tehran. She had met him on a social networking site. She wanted to marry him, so she did not tell him that she was married and had a child. She got her husband murdered just to get married to Harjit, a native of Bathinda district. TNS Tribune News Service Rohtak, April 22 Ashok Kaka, Congress leader and former director of HAFED, was shot dead by three unidentified youths in a park this morning. SP Shashank Anand said a family feud over ancestral property appeared to have led to the murder. Kakas former aide Iqbal, a resident of Karontha village, has been detained for questioning on the plea of the victims family. A special investigation team (SIT) led by DSP Vijender Singh has been set up and police teams have been sent out to nab the killers, the SP said. He said security had been provided to Kakas family. Kaka reportedly had a dispute with his paternal uncles grandchildren over the ownership of property that was attached under Section 145 of the CrPC. The murder took a political hue with former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda warning of an agitation if Kakas killers were not arrested within 72 hours. We may call for a bandh in Haryana if the government machinery fails to act by then, he said. The Haryana Pradesh Vyapar Mandal has called for a Rohtak bandh on Monday in protest against the killing. Witnesses said Kaka was taking a walk at 6.30 am when three youths approached and opened fire. Even as Kaka fell, they fired more shots and fled. The police have procured the CCTV footage from houses facing the park. Onlookers rushed the profusely bleeding Kaka to the local PGIMS, where he was declared brought dead. The autopsy showed three bullet injuries, one in the skull and two in the chest. Kaka, a state-level traders leader, had spearheaded the recent jewellers agitation against the imposition of excise duty on gold ornaments. People from various walks of life attended Kakas cremation. Among them were Hooda, Rajya Sabha MP Shadi Lal Batra and Rohtak MLA Manish Grover. Tribune News Service Jammu, April 23 Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti today invoked the legacy of former Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed by sending a strong message of peace and reconciliation to both India and Pakistan. She cited the example of the US and Iran, two sworn enemies, and said: If the US and Iran can join hands, I see no reason why India and Pakistan cannot come together to restore stability and begin a new era of peace and prosperity in the region, she added. Favouring more transit points for people-to-people contact, the Chief Minister said cultural affinity across the two regions was too strong to resist. I hope our good intentions are reciprocated by our neighbour, she added. Giving wings to her fathers dream of making Suchetgarh J&Ks Wagah, Mehbooba said she would be delighted if the Suchetgarh border town was promoted as a people-to-people meeting point with Sialkot in Pakistan across the international border. I wonder if the hostilities can become news between the two neighbours, why cant cultural bonhomie? she asked. She was touring the border areas of Suchetgarh and the shrine of Baba Chamliyal, revered by people on both sides of the international border. During her day-long tour, the Chief Minister, accompanied by Deputy Chief Minister Nirmal Singh, also inspected the ongoing works at Mubarak Mandi Heritage Society, Maharaja Hari Singh Park, Tawi Barrage and the Jammu Haat. Mehbooba walked up to the Zero Line at Suchetgarh and stressed upon landscaping the open spaces by planting wild flowers so that the area became alluring for the tourists. She later offered prayers at the shrine of Baba Chamliyal, where she was briefed about the facilities being provided to the devotees during the mela. She issued directions for upgrade of langar and also ordered landscaping of the premises to make the shrine more attractive for the devotees. GS Paul Tribune News Service Amritsar, April 22 After spending 25 years and six months in various jails, the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities Prevention Act (TADA) convict Gurdeep Singh Khera got interim relief to reunite with his family. For the first time, his parole application was accepted and he was released for 28 days from Amritsar Central jail today. Earlier, his parole application which he had submitted in September last year, was rejected on the grounds that it would cause a law and order problem and the police investigation report cited that he may flee the country. Khera has never been released from jail, except for a day to attend a family wedding around eight years ago, but he was not allowed to go home. Today, after furnishing the requisite documentation, Khera was received by his father Bant Singh to take him home. They straightaway went to pay obeisance at the Golden Temple, before proceeding for his hometown Jallupur Khera village in Amritsar. A visibly relieved Khera said that it was for the first time that he would be visiting his house after 25 years. He alleged that dual parameters are adopted for TADA detainees. While Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt was allowed parole umpteen times, non-influential persons like him in identical cases were denied this right. But I have no regrets and it is a big relief for me to be with my family. I am the only son left to look after my aged parents. We have a small landholding which is our only livelihood. I am here at the Golden Temple to thank Waheguru for letting me live with my family even if for a short while, he said. Dal Khalsa leader Kanwar Pal Singh said that parole was Kheras right which was long overdue. Amritsar jail DSP Kulwant Singh said that it was his good conduct that could earn him an opportunity to go out of the jail. Earlier, it was the negative report of police, which had hampered his parole. He had applied again after four and a half months and this time he was fortunate to procure it, he said. Khera (55), was arrested on October 19, 1990. He was charged under the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities Prevention Act (TADA) and later sentenced to life imprisonment in two cases registered in New Delhi and Karnataka in 1996. After 20 years, in March 2010, the courts cleared him of any involvement in the Delhi bomb case. However, the Karnataka case is still pending. He was the second former TADA convict to be brought to Amritsar Central Jail on June 25, 2015 after 1993 Delhi blasts convict Devinderpal Singh Bhullar. Deepkamal Kaur Tribune News Service Jalandhar, April 23 While the entire Akali Dal is gunning for Punjab Congress chief Capt Amarinder Singh over his Canada tour, Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal took an opposite stand and criticised the Canadian government for not allowing Amarinder to hold rallies in Toronto and Vancouver. Badal was addressing the media in Nawanshahr today on the sidelines of his Sangat Darshan. He said: It is the democratic right of every political leader to be allowed to speak up his mind and the Canadian government is not justified in denying permission to Captain for his rallies. SAD general secretary Daljeet Singh Cheema had yesterday termed the PPCC chiefs visit as a flop fund-raiser drive. On parole to TADA convict Gurdeep Singh Khera, the CM said the move would in no way affect peace of the state. He expressed concern over the attack on a gurdwara in Germany and the killing of a Sikh leader in Pakistan. He urged the Union Government to take every possible step to ensure the safety of the Sikh community settled abroad. Bir Devinder takes on Capt Patiala: Suspended Congress leader Bir Devinder Singh today alleged Capt Amarinder Singh's missive to Canadian PM Justin Trudeau had caused embarrassment to the Punjabi diaspora. He said: "It is regrettable that Capt Amarinder Singh has accused Justin Trudeau of issuing a 'gag order' by denying him permission to hold rallies in Canada." 2017 will be my last election: Capt Chandigarh: PPCC chief Capt Amarinder Singh has said 2017 is going to be his last election. He was addressing a gathering at Chicago in the United States on Friday night. He, however, added that before hanging his boots, it was his dream to see the smile and shine back on the faces of all Punjabis who were otherwise being faced with despair due to the 10-year failure of the Akalis. 1984 darkest chapter in Sikh history Amarinder said 1984 was the darkest chapter in the Sikh history which nobody should forget. I resigned from Parliament and the party over what happened in 1984, he said, adding, However Punjab needs to move forward. He asked as to why the SAD was raking up the issue only during the elections. AAP leader joins Cong: Dr Munish Raizada, former co-convenor of the Aam Aadmi Party's NRI wing, joined the Congress in the presence of Amarinder in Chicago. TNS Toronto, April 23 The Ontario Court of Justice will on Saturday hear the torture charges levelled against Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee president Capt Amarinder Singh by a US-based human rights advocacy group Sikhs for Justice (SFJ). Earlier stories: Amarinder writes protest letter to PM Trudeau Amarinder cancels rallies in Canada Singh, who is visiting the US and Canada, had to cancel his political rallies in Toronto and Vancouver scheduled for next week, following a request made by the Canadian Foreign Ministry. The SJF had lodged a complaint with the Minister of Foreign Affairs that the visit of Singh is "potential violation" of the Global Affairs Canada (GAC) policy. SFJ had lodged a complaint with the Canadian Government against the election activities planned by Amarinder. "By targeting Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) living in Canada, canvassing for their votes and holding fundraising events in Toronto and Vancouver, Amarinder Singh would be violating the Canadian Government's policy," said the SFJ. SFJ legal advisor Gurpatwant Singh Pannun told ANI over phone: The purpose of a pre-enquete hearing is to determine whether there is sufficient evidence of torture charges levelled against the former Punjab chief minister to issue a summon or an arrest warrant requiring Capt Amarinder to stand trial before the Ontario Court. Singh had on Friday written a letter to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, protesting the denial of permission to hold interactive meetings with the Punjabis in Toronto and Vancouver. In a strongly worded letter, Capt Amarinder said, he was disappointed over the gag order that has left a bad taste and wanted to know the grounds on which the permission had been denied to him. ANI ELKO In an effort to better serve the Native American community in Elko County, social workers in the school district met this week with representatives of Nevada tribes. One of the main issues facing the social workers on the reservations is intervention from outside agencies. During the meeting the social workers spent a significant amount of time talking about the difficulties of helping children in need while still being respectful of reservation boundaries. Antonia Roman, who works with the Division of Child and Family Services, said despite the difficulties involving issues of jurisdiction, she has had positive experiences working with social workers from the county. We had an incident a month ago and it wasnt to the level where we could respond as CPS [child protective services] but I did reach out and they were able to go up with the school resource officers and help that child, she said. We were able to work collaboratively. Orteneia Puhuyaoma from Elko Band Social Services also added that if an issue arises with a child on the reservation the social workers of that tribe should be notified before any outside agency takes any action. Elko County School District social worker Cheryl Santee said she tries to be mindful of the Indian Child Welfare Act but is still sometimes unsure of how much assistance she can provide without violating any rules. I dont want to cross those lines, she said. I want to be effective, I want to work with the kids, I want to help them socialize and be an extra ear for them. But at the same time I need to make sure that I am within ICWA but its hard. Bureau of Indian Affairs social worker Christine Atine said she hopes to draft an agreement with the school district and its social workers to more clearly define their roles on the reservations, to ease the working relationship between the two groups. Atine praised Elko County School District social worker Larry Robb for using his past experiences with tribes to recognize the need for a meeting like this. Robb has served as police chief for the Western Shoshone Department of Public Safety. According to the tribal social workers they have never really worked with the school counselors, she said. Larry used to work for the tribe so hes the main guy that really wants to network and work with the tribes and the other departments and he knew people were not connecting and people were not aware of services that the tribe offers. Another benefit Atine pointed out was the familiarity it will provide between the tribal social workers and school district social workers. Atine hopes the dialogue will continue as they plan to work together in the future. I thought that was a very productive meeting, he said. The tribal social workers also brought up some of their issues they wanted to be able to get to know the school social workers directly. Aditi Tandon Tribune News Service New Delhi, April 23 In another dramatic twist to Punjab Congress chief Capt Amarinder Singhs Canada visit, a US-based Sikh rights organisation today moved court demanding his arrest upon landing in Toronto. The immediate consequence of the petition by Sikhs for Justice was Capt Amarinder cancelling his morning flight from Chicago to Toronto. Capt told The Tribune, I have been told of this case against me which Gurpatwant Singh Pannu of Sikhs for Justice has filed in Toronto. I was ready to take off but decided to wait for the court orders. Asked if he was planning to cancel his tour, Capt said, I think I am going to go ahead but I want to wait till the court rules. I am told it normally gives the respondent two weeks to reply. If that happens, I can fly to Canada today and complete my weeklong tour. I am anyway back to Los Angeles on April 30. Pannu has alleged that Capt, during his tenure as Punjab Chief Minister between 2002 and 2007, promoted police officers who allegedly committed human rights excesses against Canadian Sikhs in India during the days of Punjab militancy. Pannu is the same man on whose plea Canadian authorities yesterday restrained Capts public meetings in Toronto and Vancouver, provoking Capt to write a hard-hitting protest letter to Canadian PM Justin Trudeau. In the letter, the Congress leader accused Trudeau of issuing a gag order against him. Your government's gag order undermines the fundamental freedoms of expression, peaceful assembly and association which your Constitution guarantees to everyone, read the letter, insisting that Capt's meetings in Canada were anything but political. Asked what the nature of his meetings in Canada would be in case he does travel to the North American country, Capt said, We will have compact private meetings to discuss issues related to Punjab with the Sikhs settled in Canada. As for Pannu, he earlier filed similar court cases against the visits of Congress president Sonia Gandhi and former PM Manmohan Singh for their allegiance to a party which watched over the 1984 anti-Sikh riots. Khanna: Punjab Shiv Sena leader Durga Parsad Gupta (30) was shot dead by two unidentified assailants on Saturday evening. A gunman provided to Gupta was not with him at the time. Gupta, who hailed from Bihar, was the state chief of the partys labour wing and was living in Khanna. He is survived by three minor children and his wife. Gupta was returning home from office when two youths on a bike opened fire near Lalheri Chowk. TNS Tribune News Service Chandigarh, April 23 Hit by the twin terror attacks at Dinanagar and Pathankot and sacrilege incidents that challenged the preparedness of the Punjab Police, the force has received special funds to make necessary tehnological upgrade and administrative changes. Director General of Police Suresh Arora told mediapersons here today that state Home Minister Sukhbir Badal had approved a major modernisation project worth Rs 200 crore for the department. The police have started the process of buying vehicles, arms, bulletproof tractors, drones, night-vision devices, anti-bomb suits, besides constructing new buildings and renovating the existing ones in border areas. The focus would be on Gurdaspur and Pathankot districts, which are on the tri-junction of the international border with Pakistan and state borders with Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh, he said. Besides, a massive drive to install CCTV cameras has been undertaken since April 1 across the state. About 10,000 CCTV cameras have been installed by market associations, resident welfare associations and individuals. The police would be purchasing 24 bulletproof tractors, 27 armoured vehicles, 11 water canons, mobile incidence command vehicle, five drones, 777 bulletproof jackets, 595 bulletproof headgear, 827 hand-held dragon lights, 10 hand-held thermal imagers, he said. The armoured vehicles would be imported from South Africa. The police would be purchasing two each of bomb suits, deep search mine, metal detectors, improved explosive-detection kits and real-time x-ray viewing system. No charge for terror op DGP Suresh Arora said the issue of payment of Rs 6 crore to the para-military forces deployed in Punjab in the wake of the Pathankot terror attack was over as after the state governments refusal, the Centre had not sent any reminder. We had categorically said that the central forces were needed for a terrorist attack, not a state-level law and order issue. 21,000 POs in state The DGP expressed his concern over the high number of proclaimed offenders in the state. He said as many as 21,000 Proclaimed Offenders were at large and special efforts would be made to trace them. Chandigarh, April 23 Shiv Sena leader Durga Prasad Gupta was shot dead by unidentified assailants in Khanna town of Punjab's Ludhiana district on Saturday, police said. Gupta, who was provided security by the Punjab Police, was alone when the attack took place near his office in Khanna town, 75 km from here. He died on the spot after being shot from close distance by the assailants who were on a motorcycle. This is not the first attack on right-wing leaders, especially from Shiv Sena, in Punjab in the last one year. Shiv Sena leader Harinder Soni was shot at by unidentified assailants while he was on a walk in Gurdaspur town in north Punjab in April last year, while other unidentified assailants shot at the son of a Shiv Sena leader in Jalandhar city on January 18 this year leaving him injured. The victim, Deepak, son of Sena leader Vinay Jalandhari, was shot at by two motorcycle-borne assailants outside a school in Jalandhar's Deen Dyal Upadhaya Nagar area. In two separate incidents, unidentified people fired shots at Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) activists in Ludhiana city in January and February this year. IANS Jack Shepherd Having a roof over your head is something many of us take for granted, yet millions of people all over the world are homeless, with nowhere to stay. In Bucharest, capital of Romania, alone there are hundreds living underground in the sewers, many of whom migrated from other countries just to live in abhorrent conditions something that has inspired street artist Biancoshocks latest art installations. Titled Borderlife, these pieces set all over Milan in Italy see the artist create miniature rooms in manholes. The three works created so far include a bathroom, kitchen and living room. If some problems cannot be avoided, make them comfortable, Biancoshock said of the project, highlighting the poor living conditions people endure around the world. An example of inspiration is Bucharest, where more than 600 people live underground, in the sewers. Biancoshock is based in Milan and has produced various pieces of Urban Art in the past totalling more than 650 works many of which you can see on his website. The Independent Gaurav Kanthwal Whoever said the pen is mightier than the sword obviously never encountered automatic weapons. Journalists reporting from the dictator-controlled regimes couldnt agree more with this military wisecrack. Despite this, they choose to disagree. For, a journalist is hardwired to question, to dig, to reveal. The nature of a journalists job brings him face to face with hazards almost every day. It is in his second nature to ask tough questions, but no one likes to answer tough questions, least of all dictators. A reporters training programme (2009-2013) run by Anjan Sundaram in Kigali, capital of Rwanda, becomes the fountainhead of stories about rumours, intimidation and oppression journalists faced while reporting in Rwanda under President Paul Kagames regime. More than about the journalists coming under fire in the line of their duty, Bad News: Last Journalists in a Dictatorship underlines the paranoia, hostility in the environment that Rwandan people are living in. Freedom of expression, which the rest of the world debates so liberally, is in scarcity in Rwanda. So much so that the innocuous practice of village men sitting in a circle and passing around a flask of banana beer has been outlawed by the Kagame government. The governments next move, the journalists say in jest, would be to mandate the colour of their socks. Meditating over Kagames omnipotence, the author observes that the dictator, a former armyman, is all over the state-run media. Newspapers only speak of his benevolence. Radio has virtually become a cue to what people can talk about his governance in public domain. Either it is Kagame or the cattle thieves paraded on the national television. All of it gained traction in December last year when it became known that Rwanda has overwhelmingly voted to change the constitution to allow Kagame to potentially rule until 2034. An incredible 98.4 per cent votes went in his favour, leaving just 1.6 per cent of voters opposed figures even Nelson Mandelas African National Party (62 per cent) could not attain in 1994 elections in South Africa. The author writes that his training programme was sanctioned only because it reported on government initiatives and ran a campaign on the significance of washing hands and visiting a doctor regularly. During his four-year stay, the author-journalist says that that scribes there just have two options: Fall in line or flee. How rumours, a journalists domain, are turned on against them is startling in its description in the book. To his credit, he keeps his tone critical rather than antagonistic. Impressive as the book is for its racy narration, the recreation of a dictators fear in Rwanda is as convincing. Evoking emotions with his expressive writing style is Sundarams forte but a journalist has an added responsibility of going beyond emotions and getting hold of facts. But seeking or digging facts under a dictators regime is akin to playing with fire. Thus, Sundaram avoids being reckless. An award winning journalist who has reported for the New York Times, The Guardian, Granta, The Washington Post and Telegraph, he however, does not have facts to substantiate his claims. Thus, it is a journalists diary of events, in which dates are missing, and real-life characters take cover behind pseudonyms. Sundaram would have connected more with his readers had he provided the historical context of the Rwandan genocide mass killings of Tutsi and Hutu tribe in 1990s with the setting up of a dictatorial regime and the famine outbreak in 2006. For journalists, this book is a good illustration of how to pepper available information with a crafty use of language and staying out of danger at the same time. Jupinderjit Singh in Chandigarh Somewhere deep inside the 11th century Tower of London castle, which was the residence of the British monarchy several times in the history of over 1,000 years, the famed diamond, Kohinoor, is kept as a guarded jewel mounted in the royal crown of the Queen. The Kohinoor (Mountain of Light) got its modern name from Nader Shah in 1739. Much before that it is described in Sanskrit texts as Symantaka or Samantik Mani, which meant prince and leader among the diamonds. The first Mughal King, Babur, described its worth as equal to the half the value of a day's food for the entire world. In 2015, its worth was quoted as about 100 billion pounds. Resting in glass cases are several crowns and thrones from several parts of the world including India, Iran and Afghanistan. The Kohinoor is one of them, but is not worn. It is claimed that the real Kohinoor is hidden somewhere in England and only a glass replica is shown to the tourists, but this too is a closely guarded secret. Over 100 CCTV cameras, about 40 especially trained yeoman guards, apart from sensors and scores of others keep a watch at every moment of an estimated seven lakh tourists visiting the castle every year. Among scores of jewels kept in the block number 3, known as the Waterloo Block, there is one that is on every one's lips - the Kohinoor. No sparkle "Not a big deal," said a friend of mine who had migrated to London a few years ago. Like most Indians visiting the city cruising the famous Thames, he recalled the first thing he wanted to see was Kohinoor. And like him, my first impression of the diamond was the same: no big deal. Kept inside a 5-cm-thick glass case, the Kohinoor is placed in the Queen's crown in a row along with other crowns embedded with different diamonds, rubies and precious stones. No one is allowed to even pause for a moment near the glass cases. An escalator keeps moving and as you cross the Queen's crown, you don't even realize which of them is Kohinoor. I could see it only on the second round of the escalators, which is allowed as along as one doesn't stop anywhere. The diamond never actually sparkled much. It was its size, over 600 carats, (some historians claimed it was 793 carats weighing over 150 grams) that made it so invaluable. The British after acquiring it complained that there was no sparkle. Queen Victoria got it cut to 105 carats and wore it in her crown in 1852, three years after the East India Company got is possession as spoils of war from the treasury of the late Sikh ruler, Maharaja Ranjit Singh. The Monarchy believed a curse that the diamond carried: It brought bad luck for men who wore it. The curse dates back to a Hindu text. It reads: "He who owns this diamond will own the world, but will also know all its misfortunes. Only God, or a woman, can wear it with impunity." The origin No one is yet to claim the diamond's full authentication, such as its origin. From folklore, to historical references to scientific claims, the diamond has confounded everyone. In British possession since 1850, the Kohinoor had not stayed permanently with anyone. Its longest possession was with the Mughals who kept it for over 200 years. There was a mention of large diamonds in some Sanskrit texts: from being a prized possession of Lord Krishna to claims that it was found on the body of Karna, the son of Sun God, as narrated in the Hindu epic, The Mahabharata. For the record, the diamond's journey starts from the 13th century. It was in the possession of the Raja of Malwa (Kakatiya dynasty). It was described as oval shaped. If the mythical origin is kept aside, the diamond could have originated from the Rayalaseema, meaning the Land of Stones, in the Guntur district under the Golconda kingdom. Interestingly, diamonds were mined only in India till 1730s when similar mines were discovered in Brazil. The westerners had no exposure to the gems and stones till a Frenchman Jean-Baptiste Tavernier travelled to India in the 17th century. In his book Travels to India, he writes that there were 23 mines in the Kingdom of Golconda. The Kakatiya dynasty lost to Alaudin Khilji in 1310. Till then, it was called Samantik Mani. Khilji and later rules at the Delhi Sultanate possessed it till about 1526 when Mughal King Babur won it. The precious stone was once embedded in the famed Peacock Throne. When Nadir Shah invaded Delhi in 1739, the diamond is said to have been his key target. The defeated ruler Muhammad Shah had kept the diamond hidden in his turban. Shah took the ruse of a custom: demanding switching the turbans as a mark of friendship. Nadir Shah could own it for about eight years; he was assassinated. His son also could not keep it for long and when ousted in a coup, he is said to have chosen death by torture than disclosing the whereabouts of the diamond. Eventually, General Ahmed Shah Durrani found it. His descendant Shah Shuja Durrani was mentioned in some texts as wearing the diamond in a bracelet in 1808 at ceremonial occasions in Peshawar. Durrani later lost his rule in a coup led by Mahmud Shah. But he managed to flee and got protection under Mahraja Ranjit Singh. It is said that in return of the favour, he gifted the diamond to the First Sikh ruler. Kandahar, April 22 Drones fired more weapons than conventional warplanes for the first time in Afghanistan last year and the ratio is rising, previously unreported US Air Force data show, underlining how reliant the military has become on unmanned aircraft. The trend may give clues to the US militarys strategy as it considers withdrawing more troops from the country, while at the same time shoring up local forces who have struggled to stem a worsening Taliban insurgency. US President Barack Obama said in 2013 that the Afghan drawdown after 2014 and progress against al-Qaeda would reduce the need for unmanned strikes, amid concerns from human rights groups and some foreign governments over civilian casualties. On one level, that has played out; the number of missiles and bombs dropped by drones in Afghanistan actually fell last year, largely because the US-led NATO mission ceased combat operations at the end of 2014 and is now a fraction of the size. Yet as the force has shrunk, it has leant on unmanned aircraft more than ever, the Air Force data reveal, with drone strikes accounting for at least 61 per cent of weapons deployed in the first quarter of this year. In recent months its definitely flowed more, Lieutenant Colonel Michael Navicky, commander of the Air Forces 62nd Expeditionary Reconnaissance Squadron, said of the tempo of both drone strikes and surveillance operations. Weve seen increased weapons deployment in the past few months, and the demand is insatiable, he told Reuters at the operations centre of a US air base in the southern city of Kandahar. The longer term shift towards drones has gone largely unnoticed amid the large conventional air campaign. Data reviewed by Reuters show strikes by unmanned aircraft accounted for 56 percent of weapons deployed by the Air Force in Afghanistan in 2015, up dramatically from 5 percent in 2011. The role of drones is likely to form a key part of a review underway by US General John Nicholson, head of NATO troops in Afghanistan, as he prepares to report to Washington in June on how many soldiers he thinks should stay on. Nicholson declined to discuss details of the review in a recent interview with Reuters. The current plan is to roughly halve the U.S. presence to 5,500 troops by 2017, most involved in counter-terrorism operations. The training and advising mission would be largely wound down. In 2015, drones released around 530 bombs and missiles in Afghanistan, half the number in 2014 when weapons dropped by unmanned aircraft peaked. The 2015 total is, however, almost double the number of bombs and missiles released by drones at the height of the surge, when the NATO mission expanded to well over 100,000 troops after 2009, mainly Americans. Like much of the U.S military machine in Afghanistan, the drone operation had been winding down in line with plans for further withdrawals, Navicky said. At the end of 2015, however, military commanders hit the brakes and reversed course on the drone reduction, and have since ordered more air strikes, especially against Islamic State militants who pose a threat in the east, he said. The Taliban have also forged closer links with al-Qaeda, Nicholson said, potentially blurring the lines between what is a legitimate target and what is not, while the Taliban themselves have made gains in the north and south. Reuters DHAKA, April 23 A university professor was brutally murdered on Saturday in northwestern Bangladesh, a police official said the latest in a series of attacks on liberal activists. Two assailants on a motorcycle attacked Rezaul Karim Siddiquee, an English professor at Rajshahi University, slitting his throat and hacking him to death, Rajshahi city police chief Mohammad Shamsudduin told reporters, quoting witnesses. He was found lying in a pool of blood near his home, where he was apparently waiting for a bus to the university campus about 200 kilometres (125 miles) northwest of Dhaka when he was attacked. SITE monitoring service said the Islamic State has claimed the killing. "ISIS' Amaq Agency reported the group's responsibility for killing Rajshahi University professor Rezaul Karim for calling to atheism in Bangladesh," it said in a tweet. Police said the murder was similar to other recent attacks on secular bloggers by Islamist militants. But fellow university teachers said Siddiquee, while active in cultural events, never spoke or wrote anything about religion or Islam. "Professor Rezaul was killed in a similar fashion as the killings of bloggers," Shamsudduin said, adding he was a peaceful person and had no enemies. Five secular bloggers and a publisher have been killed in a similar fashion since February last year. A group affiliated with al Qaeda claimed responsibility for the killing of a liberal Bangladeshi blogger earlier this month, SITE has said. Bangladesh authorities said the homegrown militant group Ansarullah Bangla Team is behind that attacks on online critics of religious extremism. The gruesome killing triggered protest by teachers and students of the Rajshahi University, blocking a major road and demanding immediate arrest of the killers. Three teachers at the university have been killed in recent years. The Muslim-majority nation of 160 million has seen a surge in violent attacks over the past few months in which members of minority Muslim sects and other religious groups have also been targeted. Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the killings of two foreigners, attacks on mosques and Christian priests in Bangladesh, but police said local militant group Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen is behind the attacks. The government has denied that the Islamic State or al Qaeda groups have a presence in Bangladesh. At least five militants have been killed in shootouts since November as security forces have stepped up a crackdown on Islamist militants looking to establish a sharia-based Muslim state. Reuters Seoul, April 23 North Korea fired a submarine-launched ballistic missile on Saturday off its east coast, South Korea said, amid concerns that the isolated state might conduct a nuclear test or a missile launch ahead of a ruling party meeting in May. The North fired the missile to the northeast from an area off its east coast at about 6:30 p.m. (0930 GMT), the South's office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said. North Korea will hold a congress of its ruling Workers' Party in early May for the first time in 36 years, at which its leader Kim Jong Un is expected to say the country is a strong military power and a nuclear state. The missile flew for about 30 km (18 miles), a South Korean Defence Ministry official said by telephone, adding its military was trying to determine whether the launch may have been a failure for unspecified reasons. South Korea's Yonhap news agency said the missile flew "for a few minutes", citing a government source. The US State Department in Washington said it was aware of reports the North had launched what appeared to be a ballistic missile. "Launches using ballistic missile technology are a clear violation of multiple UN Security Council resolutions," sai State Department spokesman John Kirby. The North first attempted a launch of the submarine-based missile last year and was seen to be in the early stages of developing such a weapons system, which could pose a new threat to its neighbours and the United States if it is perfected. However, follow-up test launches were believed to have fallen short of the North's expectations as its state media footage appeared to have been edited to fake success, according experts who have seen the visuals. South Korea's military has said it is on high alert over the possibility that the isolated North could conduct its fifth nuclear test "at any time" in defiance of UN sanctions after setting off what it said was a hydrogen device in January. Satellite images show that North Korea may have resumed tunnel excavation at its main nuclear test site, similar to activity seen before the January test, a US North Korea monitoring website reported on Wednesday. South Korea and the United States, as well as experts, believe the North is working to develop a submarine-launched ballistic missile system and an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) putting the mainland United States within range. North Korea is banned from nuclear tests and activities that use ballistic missile technology under U.N. sanctions dating back to 2006 and most recently adopted in March but it has pushed ahead with work to miniaturise a nuclear warhead and develop an ICBM. A senior U.S. official said this week that North Korea should take a lesson from Iran which has agreed to roll back its nuclear programme in an agreement with Western powers in return for lifting of major sanctions but the North has shown no sign of entering into such a pact. Reuters ELKO The idea of business cooperatives is not new to most communities but in Elko the practice is uncommon. The members of Wild Iris Yoga and Wellness are challenging that idea with their new co-op located at 425 Railroad St. We all wanted to offer yoga and other wellness practices in the community, said Selsea Dixon about the group who runs Wild Iris. We got together and we started coming up with ideas. They found a location and went to work forming the co-op. Wild Iris opened earlier this month and has established its program of yoga classes, foot zoning, and holistic workshops. Their first workshop is May 7 at the studio. The spring detox session is open to anyone who is interested in improving his or her health through elimination techniques. Skin brushing helps improve circulation, explained Naturopathic Doctor Sarah Sue Myers. She and her husband, Blake, provide health guidance and education. They will be offering a number of seminars throughout the year on ways to help people help themselves. Biofeedback, mindfulness, and breath work will be included in upcoming sessions. The first workshop costs $35 for members of the co-op and $40 for non-members. I hear a lot of people say that they wish a doctor could fix them, said yoga instructor Cheyanne Sparks. We give you the tools you need to take responsibility for your own body and find guidance. Aleece OBrien, an Emotional Code Practitioner, will be offering foot zoning. The belief that our feet communicate with the various systems of the body has been practiced for centuries. Using energy signals on the feet is an art and science that OBrien utilizes to help people improve digestive function, lymphatic circulation, joint mobility and other bodily functions. The co-op functions around the idea that self-improvement goes hand-in-hand with self-acceptance. You wont find any stressful tasks or competitive workouts at Wild Iris. What you will learn is that our bodies work best when they function as nature intended, moving frequently and with ease. I taught yoga at a gym and learned that people need to give themselves a reality check and respect places that hurt, said Yogi Elisa Liebelt. We want people to come here and be in the moment, explained Sparks. We want you to step in here and come for what union is. Beginning any new health program is a challenge in itself. The co-op makes it easier by providing all of the mats and other support materials for classes so that newcomers do not have to invest any money before they know if they like the practice. The yoga schedule and upcoming workshops can be found on their Facebook page or website, wildirisyoga.com. For more details call 208-308-7802. Paris, April 22 Brussels airport bomber Najim Laachraoui was one of the men who held four French journalists captive for months in Syria, the lawyer of two of the former hostages told Reuters on Friday. Najim Laachraoui, a 25 year-old Belgian, was one of the two bombers who blew themselves up at Brussels' airport on March 22, investigators have said. I can confirm that he was the jailer of my clients, Marie-Laure Ingouf, a lawyer for two French journalists freed in April 2014 after spending 10 months as hostages in Syria, told Reuters. An engineering sciences student who dropped out of university, Laachraoui is believed to have had the technical training that could mean he was the armourer of the operation. Laachraoui was in charge of interrogating the hostages and was less brutal to them than Mehdi Nemmouche, a Frenchman who in May 2014 killed four people in an attack on Brussels' Jewish Museum. Reuters Kathmandu, April 23 Pro-India and veteran Nepalese journalist Kanak Mani Dixit, who was arrested on Friday by an anti-graft body for allegedly misappropriating funds and misusing his public post, was today admitted to the ICU of a hospital here after he complained of high blood pressure. Dixit, the publisher of Himal and Nepali Times magazines, who is considered well-disposed towards India and also writes for leading India media outlets, was admitted to the ICU in Bir Hospital to check uncontrolled blood pressure and heart conditions, his family sources said. Dixit, chairman of Sajha Yatayat, the public transportation bus system in Nepal which serves the Kathmandu valley, was arrested from his Patan residence by a police team deployed by the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority . Dixit was kept in the custody of Metropolitan Police Circle, Gaushala. The anti-graft body has been probing the property details of Dixit on suspicion of amassing property disproportionate to his known source of income. PTI Washington, April 23 Republican presidential front runner Donald Trump has used fake Indian accent to mock a call centre representative in India. At the same time, he described India as a great place, asserting that he is not angry with Indian leaders. The billionaire from New York said that he called up his credit card company to find out whether their customer support is based in the US or overseas. "Guess what, you're talking to a person from India. How the hell does that work?" he told his supporters in Delaware. "So I called up, under the guise I'm checking on my card, I said, 'Where are you from?'" Trump said and then he copied the response from the call center in a fake Indian accent. "We are from India," Trump impersonated the response. "Oh great, that's wonderful," he said as he pretended to hang up the phone. "India is great place. I am not upset with other leaders. I am upset with our leaders for being so stupid," he said. "I am not angry with China. I am not angry at Japan. I am not angry with Vietnam, India...all these countries." Trump mentioned the fake call to India during his remarks on what he described as "crooked banking." Delaware, is a hub for the America's banking and credit- card industry. Topping the list include Bank of America, Citibank Delaware, M&T Bank and PNC Financial Services Group. "They are making a lot of money," he said. "You can't allow policies that allow China, Mexico, Japan, Vietnam, India. You can't allow policies that allow business to be ripped out of the United States like candy from a baby," Trump said in his address. "The manufacturing jobs are being stolen. Our jobs are being taken. We are losing at every front. There is nothing good. Our country does not win anymore. The jobs are being stripped. Factories are closing. We are not going to let this happen anymore," he said. Trump said he has as many as 378 companies registered in Delaware, where the Republican presidential primaries is scheduled on April 26 along with several other states. He is leading in polls against his other primary rivals. In his speech, Trump praised Delaware's status as a tax shelter and slammed President Barack Obama for not using the term "radical Islamists" in the fight against terrorism. "I want to run against crooked Hillary," he said, reiterating that a Trump vs Clinton race would bring the greatest turn out in the history of the American elections. "We will stomp on Hillary Clinton no one's ever done." He was also critical of Indian-American South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, who did not endorse him during the primary. Delaware has 16 delegates. Trump has 845 delegates, followed by Ted Cruz (559) and John Kasich (148). PTI Washington, April 23 Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump adopted a fake accent to punctuate the punchline of a story mocking a credit card company worker in India. Trump on Friday tailored his pitch to the citizens of Delaware state, praising its status as a tax shelter and at one point sharing a story about calling his credit card company to find out whether it employed people in India, the Politico reported. At a campaign event in Wilmington a hub for the nations credit card industry Trump said he once called a credit card call centre, suspecting staffers were working from India. I said to the person, Where are you from? I wasnt really checking on my card. I was actually finding out if this was true, Trump said. So I called up under the guise Im checking on my card, asking Where are you from? We are from India. Oh, great. Thats wonderful. Thank you very much, he said, speaking briefly in an Indian accent before gesturing like he was hanging up a phone. Trump did his mocking impression in broken English as he lamented call centre employees being based overseas. You want to find out about your credit card, guess what, you are talking to a person from India, he told the crowd. How the hell does that work? Trump, known for his offensive commentaries on theMuslims, Mexicans, women and other groups, has put his foot firmly in his mouth several times on the campaign trail. This was not the first time that the billionaire made fun of foreign accents. At a rally in Iowa last August, the Queens-born tycoon critiqued Chinese and Japanese business partners with a mocking impression in broken English. IANS Suppliers are finding ways to hold more CNG in on-board tanks, making it viable for trucks to accomplish longer highway runs. Photos: Tom Berg Sales of natural-gas-powered trucks have leveled off since the drop in oil and diesel prices, but fleets already using the fuel continue to buy them, especially compressed natural gas. What are some of the basics involved in the latest CNG tanks and fuel systems? It starts with range, because the number of miles covered in a run determines the required size and number of tanks. Weight and bulk are also important, as are certain parts that can add efficiency and reliability. The storage capacity of CNG tank systems has improved, making the fuel a better option for longer hauls than in the past. About a decade ago, when storage was more limited, it was believe liquefied natural gas (LNG) would be the choice for long haul; because it is super cold and contracts, it can be stored in tanks in goodly amounts. Less CNG can be crammed into on-board vessels, but that was fine for local operations where trucks return home daily for refueling. Since then, suppliers have improved CNG tank capacity and found ways to stack them more efficiently behind cabs and sleepers, reducing the need for saddle tanks. These advancements make CNG usable in reasonably long over-the-road operations. The trend definitely is more toward compressed natural gas, says Robert Carrick, vocational sales manager for natural gas at Freightliner. We estimate that more than 95% of the natural gas vehicles manufactured and delivered in 2015 were CNG. Freightliners partner is Agility Fuel Systems, and that equipment is installed at Freightliners plant in North Carolina and at an Agility facility nearby. That facility also works on Volvo trucks produced in Virginia, but many have tanks installed at a Fontaine Modification Center near the plant, says Frank Bio, Volvos director of alternative-fuels sales development. With a couple key customers that have moved from LNG to CNG, we have seen a dramatic drop in LNG prep kits based on fuel availability, ease of maintenance, and overall value proposition, says Kurt Swihart, marketing director at Kenworth. A mod center at the Chillicothe, Ohio, plant installs natural gas tanks and associated equipment per customers wishes, and some large dealerships are now qualified something true of most builders. In fact, Rush Enterprises, the nations largest dealer, last year bought a company called Momentum Fuel Technologies and now offers its own natural-gas fueling/tank system. It offers both side-mount and back-of-cab systems. The company says its tanks are designed to maximize fill rates, with oversized plumbing with fewer bends and fittings plus a high-flow ball valve. In addition, fuel flows straight from the manifold to all tanks simultaneously. A pressure regulator allows fuel to be used at a lower psi for increased range. New CNG system from Agility houses four 40-diesel-gallon-equivalent cylinders in a cabinet behind this Volvo VNs cab. Total capacity is 160 DGE, enough for up to 600 road miles, the supplier says. Stated weight is 2,150 pounds. Weight is also addressed, with lightweight aluminum and fiberglass composite materials and 3M nanoparticle-enhanced matric resin technology. Momentum says its system has features that increase safety. For instance, quarter-turn ball valve handles on each tank make it obvious when the valve is closed and gas flow is stopped. In addition, high-pressure fuel lines are yellow and PRD supply lines are red to indicate a live channel that is always under pressure. Agility showed its latest CNG installation at the recent Technology & Maintenance Council annual meeting in Nashville, Tenn. It featured four tanks with a total capacity of 160 diesel-gallons-equivalent (DGE), enough gas for about 600 miles, says Paul Mader, the companys sales manager. Previous installations were limited to 400 to 500 miles, too short for the typical trip a driver can legally cover in a day. The new system includes an aluminum-framed and -skinned cabinet that houses the tanks and associated lines, valves, gauges and regulator. The cabinet sits close to the cab up to 6 inches closer than previous designs to limit a trucks length and free up frame space. The structure sits on rubber mounts affixed to the frame rails. Tanks are lightweight Type 4s, with plastic cores wrapped in carbon fiber; theyre neck-mounted in rubber to resist spinning that can damage lines. Total system weight is 2,150 pounds. Like all CNG systems, the tanks fill pressure is 3,600 psi, which can go several hundred psi higher when gas is hot and drops as it cools and is drawn out. Gas is regulated down to 120 psi for delivery through low-pressure lines to the engine. Pressure gauges, regulator, filters and lines are housed in the aluminum cabinet on this Freightliner Cascadia displayed at TMCs expo in Nashville. Type 4 cylinders are nozzle-mounted in rubber to resist spinning that could stress lines. Operation of the regulator is one item that gas-truck buyers should look at, says Kyle Takavitz, commercial director for Worthington Industries fuel systems business. Gas cools as it emerges from an orifice, which works to a customers benefit if the regulator is properly designed. Ensure that youre promoting gas to be as cold and dense as possible when it enters that engine, he says. Look for suppliers that can validate that performance. Worthington makes steel products including gas cylinders, but in the last two years it acquired a pair of gas-related companies that work with other materials and technologies, dHybrid Fuel Systems and Trilogy Engineered Solutions. Worthington also is among the partners in development of adsorbed gas storage, a technology that promises more gas to be stored in a given size tank, lower pumping and operating pressures, and therefore less overall cost. A system also has high- and low-pressure filters that should be efficient, and need periodic cleaning, Takavitz says. How much maintenance depends on gas quality (the content of feed stocks and how well it was filtered at or near the well head), where it was transported (some pipelines are cleaner than others), time of year (which relates to system pressure), and how its being stored at a fueling station and on the truck. Installation time is also cited as something to consider when choosing a system, with Worthington advertising that it can install high-pressure lines and tanks faster than its competitors, and Momentum saying it developed a Fast-to-Fit system using integrated brackets for quick, consistent mounting on the assembly line and aftermarket. As a time-crunched manager, focus is difficult. "Today is the day, Mike says to himself as he parks. Gonna put the numbers down on the types of crashes we have figure out what the real problem is. Within 30 seconds of sitting down, Mike gets a call. A driver was in an accident overnight, and worse, the driver was cited for DUI. Maybe tomorrow will be the day, he mutters. But then, he said the same thing last week. Managing safety and training in a fleet means rushing from one brushfire to another. Everyone feels the time crunch. Theres a ton to do, both at a strategic level and down in the nitty-gritty. So how do you excel? How do you make a difference when youre juggling priorities, switching tasks, and trying to extinguish that daily brushfire? How can you catch your breath, look at the big picture, and execute a plan that works? Heres what we know causes the best safety program intentions to fail: A lack of top-down leadership support Lack of buy in from employees Lack of focus trying to fix too many things yourself Poor execution No results tracking Success for safety and training are tough to measure. When you do your job, nothing happens. But once you start measuring the performance of your fleet, the formula for improving becomes quite simple: Focus + Leadership + Structured Program + Disciplined Delivery = Results Here well talk about the first two steps in that formula. Learn to focus What would you give up to gain a little focus? As a time-crunched manager, focus is difficult. But the one thing you can control is how you spend your attention and time. Focus requires sticking to your priorities. Starting a new project or initiative should mean youve cleared your capacity to handle it. That may mean finishing an existing project, outsourcing it, delegating it, or abandoning it. It is perfectly reasonable to ask yourself: What if we didnt pursue this new initiative? What would happen? Gaining focus often means changing old processes and habits. It may mean you outsource all non-injury and non-towaway incident reports to driver managers or dispatch. Maybe you outsource the creation of training content. It may mean traveling to distribution centers less and providing basic or new-hire training online. Doing this will allow you to focus on the big stuff. The Pareto Principle (popularly known as the 80/20 rule) suggests that 80% of your results come from 20% of your efforts. Which is good news, because youre already really busy. First, you need to list, categorize and prioritize your pain points. Listing them is pretty easy. Categorizing them might call for a little creativity. For example, what if you categorized the problems by root cause? Is it a lack of knowledge, or just lax attitudes? Is the new electronic log implementation really a disaster, or did training get glossed over? Prioritizing pain points can also call for creativity. By categorizing all small incidents like backing incidents you could find the cost of each is small, but the overall cost is quite expensive. Alternately, injuries are (hopefully) very infrequent but inversely expensive. First, you need to list, categorize and prioritize your pain points. Leader or manager? The truth is that you need both leaders and managers. Leaders push big changes, and good managers execute them. If youre missing either, results will elude you. But if no one in your company is truly pushing the change, then you must be the leader. What is the difference between a leader and a manager? A leader: Creates and communicates a vision for the future Encourages others to commit to the vision Motivates and inspires workers to overcome barriers Encourages innovation Helps the organization to develop by adapting to changing circumstances Shows benefits of investments. A manager: Develops a plan and allocates resources Sets objectives and organizes a schedule Monitors situations Focuses on order and efficiency Ensures standards are met. Meticulously tracks changes in costs and behaviors. You need both leaders and managers. Leaders push big changes, and good managers execute them. 3 tips to improve safety leadership How do you move from inspirational poster to real leadership? Take action! Here are some specific actions you can take: 1. Challenge the status quo Are there new ways to improve health and safety? Are all the involved parties drivers, managers, dispatchers, and load planners asking what they couldve done differently, rather than pointing the finger at someone else? Challenge others ask what they could do to solve this problem. 2. Create a vision Consult your team to find and set clear wellness and safety goals. Involve others in planning and decision-making everyone needs to have skin in the game. Create a shared vision through those goals. Make people responsible by offering incentives and accountability. 3. Inspire others to be safe and healthy Does everyone have the skills, abilities and resources to do their jobs safely? If not, why not? What can the organization do to fix that problem? Plan enough time for work to be done in a safe and healthy way. Share your expertise to help others overcome barriers. Crunched for time, safety manager? Take a moment to assess your priorities, focus on a few areas and whenever possible, take action like a leader. Laura McMillan is VP of training development at Instructional Technologies Inc., which offers Pro-Tread online training for truck fleets and logistics companies. This article was authored under HDT editorial standards and style to provide useful information to our readers. 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 Marcus Metcalf doesnt consider himself to be an anxious person, and the physical therapy clinic owners demeanor during a Monday afternoon interview at Recover backs that self-assessment up. But after Metcalf experienced his first float at Float OKC in Edmond during the winter of 2015, the doctor of physical therapy and certified personal trainer said that he knew the practice could be life-altering. I am in the most relaxed state of my life, Metcalf said he remembers thinking while waiting for his wife, Holli, to finish her own float. If it helps me, what can it do for people who really have anxiety or depression? The practice, as the name suggests, consists of floating in a pool of water filled sometimes with more than 1,000 pounds of epsom salt. That amount of salt dissolved in just 10 inches of water makes the liquid extremely buoyant, allowing the body to float effortlessly. The design of the sound-proof, dark vessels where a float takes place varies, but the experience is curated to remove any outer distractions or sensations. Metcalf and his wife traveled to the Oklahoma City area to give floating a try because at the time that was the only option for recreational floaters in the state. Now, just over a year later, Metcalf owns two wellness centers that offer options for floaters in Tulsa Recovers flagship location near 15th Street and Lewis Avenue, which opened in August, and another location that opened earlier this year inside the Sky Fitness and Wellbeing at 10121 S. Sheridan Road. Other area entrepreneurs also plan soon-to-open businesses that will offer floating. Combined with the Float Clinic and Research Center at the Laureate Institute for Brain Research, Tulsans will soon hear a lot more about floating, a practice that is also experiencing a boom nationwide. You can tell there has been this sort of proliferation of float centers that have taken America by storm in some ways, said Dr. Justin Feinstein, director of the float clinic at Laureate, on the growing popularity of float centers. Tulsa alone, as far as I know, is going to have five float centers, which is incredible to me because when I got here and started building (the Float Clinic), there were no float centers in the entire state. And now Tulsa alone is going to have five. Said Metcalf: Theres no cellphone. Theres no external stimuli. Its just you and the water. It can get you into a lot deeper relaxation state than youd get from meditation or massage. Exciting expansion Proponents say that virtually everyone can benefit from floating. Some use the practice as a therapy to treat chronic pain or a mental disorder such as PTSD or anxiety. Others might go for a float in order to get more in touch with their internal self or to unlock creativity. In 2009, around 20 float centers existed in the United States, Feinstein said. Now the clinical neuropsychologist says more than 300 businesses across the country offer floating. The Float Clinic and Research Center is not a business where clients can pay to float, but rather a state-of-the-art laboratory conducting the only neurological research on floating worldwide. However, Feinstein who is leading the studies on the impact that floating can have on the brain and in treating illnesses like anxiety, depression or eating disorders also keeps tabs on the recreational floating industry. Thats so that he can refer clinical study participants to places where they can continue floating after the study ends and also out of personal interest. The recent boom in Tulsa has been exciting for Feinstein to watch, he said. Essentially what it suggests is Tulsa is going to sort of become the epicenter of floating, I think potentially for the entire world, Feinstein said. Build a community The owners of H2Oasis Float Center and Tea House, which will open this summer inside a 4,300-square-foot space at The Farm Shopping Center, said their center will feature the same style of 8-foot-by-8-foot float pools that were installed in the float clinic at Laureate as well as a cozier float pod. In addition to a tea house and the premium pools, which are manufactured in England, H2Oasis will also offer a relaxation room, workshops, classes and oxygen therapy. More than just coming to float, we want to build a community, said Debra Worthington, the owner of H2Oasis along with Connie Swan and Robert Klunder. Another business owner propelling the local float industry forward is Judith Summerlin, who will open Five Horizons Spa at 3023 S. Harvard Ave. on Friday. Summerlin said that she was introduced to floating during her search for a natural form of chronic pain relief. In 2013 Summerlin and her daughter took a road trip to Colleyville, Texas, to a spa to try out the practice. When I stepped out of the spa, I was without pain for the first time in a long time, Summerlin said. It was phenomenal, and I didnt even know how to react to that. After that experience, Summerlin said that she immediately knew she wanted to open a float center of her own. With the assistance of the First Bank of Oklahoma, the Oklahoma Small Business Development Center and the Tulsa Economic Development Center, she has been able to achieve that goal. After three years, Summerlin said that shes excited about future clients will soon get to experience the practice that she describes as world-altering. Im so eager to see it going, Summerlin said. I want to see everybody else coming out of there feeling how I felt. It seems as though just about everyone in state government likes the Oklahoma Health Care Authoritys Medicaid Rebalancing proposal. Except for the part about $100 million in up-front costs. And the $180 million tax increase, even if it is for cigarettes. I (like) the concept, yes, Senate President Pro Tem Brian Bingman said. The concern is how do we pay for it? I think anytime you move people off Medicaid into Insure Oklahoma where everybody is paying something into the system, it is productive and meaningful for the patients or the people getting the insurance. Gov. Mary Fallin and House Speaker Jeff Hickman have also said they like the proposal in concept. The Health Care Authority administers both the state Medicaid system and Insure Oklahoma, a program that subsidizes private health insurance premiums for low-income Oklahomans. To prevent the states Medicaid system, known as SoonerCare, from collapsing, the OHCA proposes growing Insure Oklahoma. To do that, it is asking for a $1.50 increase in the cigarette tax to stabilize Medicaid reimbursement rates, and about $100 million in seed money by 2020 so it can add about 176,000 people in Insure Oklahoma. The money from the new cigarette tax would keep the Health Care Authority from cutting the amount it pays providers, who are already threatening to stop accepting Medicaid patients. Some hospitals are already going out of business or becoming little more than outpatient clinics. It impacts everyone in the community when a doctor leaves or a hospital closes, said OHCA Chief Executive Officer Nico Gomez. We have to stabilize provider rates. OHCA directors have authorized slashing provider rates up to 25 percent in the face of a deepening state revenue shortfall and thats on top of cuts totaling 13.5 percent in previous years. Gomez said the $100 million would be matched roughly 9-to-1 by federal dollars. But coming up with the $100 million when the state is looking at a $1.3 billion drop in general revenue for the coming budget year and three straight years in which general revenue has failed to meet projections will be difficult. The plan is solid, House Speaker Hickman, R-Fairview, said. It is just agreeing on a revenue source. Hickman said there is a lot of interest in the proposal, and that it could ultimately save the state $700 million. Hickman and Bingman agreed the only way the cigarette tax can get through the Legislature is as a referendum, which means a vote of the people. The state constitution requires revenue increases be approved by three-quarters of both the House and Senate something thats not been done in the 25 years the provision has been in place. I just dont think there is any way you are going to get 75 percent of the Legislature to vote for a tax increase, Bingman said. Hickman said getting to the required 76 votes in the House would require help from the minority Democrats, and he doesnt expect that. House Democrats have generally opposed any revenue measure this session that does not include repealing a 0.25 percent cut in the top state income tax rate that went into effect Jan. 1. The rebalancing plan is, in essence, an alternative to the Affordable Care Acts expanded Medicaid, but no one with the Health Care Authority wants to say that, for fear it will bring out the opposition. Instead, it touts lowering the number of Medicaid recipients by up to 20 percent while reducing the number of uninsured and generating $3 billion in economic activity. The proposal also includes a health savings account piece that would reward participants for healthy lifestyle choices and encourage them to plan for future medical expenses. But then theres the money. Ive gotten a lot of support for the idea, Gomez said. But not a lot of agreement on how to fund it. Two men are accused of holding two women against their will, attacking them and pointing firearms at them at a Tulsa apartment complex early Friday. Officers responded to a report of a possible domestic disturbance at Virginia Lee Apartments in the 8500 block of East 25th Street about 12:40 a.m. and spoke with an occupant, who told them two men were inside his apartment threatening to hurt his sister and her friend. The occupant said he was afraid to go inside because of the two men, who were later identified as Deontay Lejuan Fields, 23, and Darrell Lee Crawford, 28, according to an arrest report. When officers entered the apartment, two women and one of their sons ran to the door crying. One of the women told police she was dating Crawford, who had been staying over, the report states. She said Crawford and Fields became violent when they arrived overnight and began punching and kicking the women. The victims told police Crawford picked up a childs lawn chair that was in the living room and began hitting them with it, according to the report. They also accused Fields of placing the barrel of a pistol in their mouths and telling at least one of them she was going to die. Crawford then burned their arms with a lighter, the women alleged. When the victims tried to leave, they said, they were told to sit down and forced to stay at gunpoint. Fields and Crawford reportedly told police they had been smoking a blunt in the apartment. A search of the residence revealed a joint in the living room and a loaded semi-automatic pistol with the hammer pulled back inside a toy box. Crawford was booked into the Tulsa Jail on several complaints, including two counts of kidnapping, two of assault with a deadly weapon, two of maiming, and domestic assault and battery in the presence of a minor. Fields faces two counts of kidnapping, two of pointing a firearm with intent, two of assault and battery, possession of a firearm in commission of a felony and possession of marijuana in the presence of a minor. State records show Crawford was convicted of shooting with intent to kill in 2006 and was released from prison in September. PIKETON, Ohio Eight members of a family, including a mother sleeping in a bed with her 4-day-old baby next to her, were fatally shot in the head on Friday, leaving their rural town terrified and reeling while a manhunt was launched for whoever is responsible. Three children, including the newborn, survived the grisly killings that left seven adults and a 16-year-old boy dead in four homes in Pike County, said Attorney General Mike DeWine and Pike County Sheriff Charles Reader at an afternoon news conference. The economically distressed county in the Appalachian Mountain region has some 28,000 residents and is roughly 80 miles east of Cincinnati. DeWine said there were no indications that any of the dead killed themselves, and Reader said if the shooter or shooters are at large, they should be considered armed and extremely dangerous. DeWine said, There may be more than one, there may be three. We just dont know at this point. Some of the victims were in bed, indicating they were shot while they were sleeping, authorities said. The victims were identified as members of the Rhoden family. Authorities said some, not all, were killed in bed. Its heartbreaking, saidDeWine. The one mom was killed in her bed with the 4-day-old right there. A motive isnt clear, authorities said, but they urged other members of the Rhoden family to take precautions, and Reader advised all residents to stay inside and lock their doors Friday night. This really is a question of public safety, and particularly for any of the Rhoden family, DeWine said. The first three homes where bodies were found are within a couple of miles of one another on a sparsely populated stretch of road, while the eighth body a man was found in a house within 30 miles, the sheriff said. The other surviving children were 6 months old and 3 years old, authorities said. Reader wouldnt say where they were taken Friday. Authorities didnt release any information on whether multiple weapons were used or whether anything was missing from the homes. Goldie Hilderbran, 65, said she lives about a mile from where she has been told a shooting took place. I first heard about it this morning from our mail carrier, Hilderbran said. Hilderbran said the mail carrier told her deputies had stopped her from delivering mail in the area they had blocked off. She just told me she knew something really bad has happened, Hilderbran said. Gov. John Kasich, campaigning in Pennsylvania for his Republican presidential bid, said his office was monitoring the situation in Pike County. Reports we are receiving from Peebles are tragic beyond comprehension, Kasich wrote on his Twitter account. The FBI in Cincinnati also said it was closely monitoring the situation and has offered assistance to the Pike County sheriffs office if needed. Peebles High School imposed a precautionary lockout Friday morning after authorities notified the superintendent of shootings that had occurred a few miles away, according to Regina Bennington, secretary to the superintendent for the Adams County Ohio Valley Schools district. High school officials said the school was back to normal operations later Friday morning. Piketon is the site of a Cold War-era uranium plant that was closed in 2001 and is still being cleaned up. On Four Corners Geoff Thompson hears from doctors who refuse to be silenced over Australias offshore detention centres. They speak out despite the risks involved in disclosing information. The Australian Government contract to provide healthcare to detainees has already cost taxpayers more than a billion dollars, but doctors say the medical care provided offshore in Manus Island is dangerously inadequate. I can think of very few times in recent history where doctors have been so united about a particular issue. Former Government Adviser On Four Corners some of Australias most senior doctors and medical staff with experience in the offshore detention system are speaking out. They say the Border Force Act could see them risk two years in jail for disclosing information about Australias asylum seeker detention system. There is a lot of anxiety about that piece of legislation and how it applies to doctors. Senior Doctor Despite this, the doctors have chosen to talk. The doctors have been appalled at attempts to silence them. Doctor Their story centres on the case of a Manus Island detainee, Hamid Khazaei, who died following a bacterial infection in 2014. I feel like to prevent further harm there are some details that I can offer to the story of what happened. Doctor What started as a skin infection poisoned his body, leaving him brain dead. I think that if he had this exact infection and the same conditions in all other ways and he was in Australia at the time, hes unlikely to have died. Former Government Adviser The details of his rapid decline and the treatment he received are shocking. Doctors involved in his care are speaking publicly for the first time, giving a rare inside account of the medical treatment available in our offshore detention centres I feel like Ive actually weighed the ethics of the case quite heavily for the last eighteen months and now I believe that there actually is a clear benefit for people to understand how the system works and the reason why what happened, happened. Doctor Monday, April 25 at 8.30pm on ABC. SBS 2 has made a late addition to its schedule from Tuesday this week, with US late night talk show, Full Frontal with Samantha Bee. Comedian, writer, actress and political commentator Samantha Bee, was previously a correspondent on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. The weekly series premiered in the US on TBS in February -all nine of those episodes are available on SBS On Demand. Breaking up late-nights all-male party, Samantha Bee is currently the only female late night talk show host. In her new weekly show, Samantha brings her nuanced view of political and cultural issues, her sharp interview skills, her repartee with world leaders and, of course, her signature wit. Formerly the longest-serving correspondent on the Emmy award-winning The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and one of the most unique and visible comedic voices on television, this late-night comedy show offers a tongue-in-cheek take on weekly news and explores other important stories in-depth that have been largely overlooked by more traditional media outlets. The comedian and media critic who also starred in Tina Fey and Amy Poehlers Sisters breaks down a number of important topics such as; gender equality, religion, abortion, refugees, social media, and the 2016 U.S. Presidential Race, including how many outrageous things can Donald Trump say per appearance (spoiler: infinite) , Bernie Sanderss Bros and the The Real Kasich. Bringing her signature brazen style with brains and a bit of spunk to these taboo topics, Bee tackles these subjects in a way that no one else can. From her encounters with Syrian refugees in Jordan, to her face to face with Donald Trumps biggest supporters, get up to date with all things Samantha Bee with the first nine episodes, now streaming on SBS On-Demand. 8.00pm Tuesday 26th April SBS 2. Sally Faulkner arrived in Australia on Friday night after farewelling her children in Lebanon. The Brisbane mother has since been re-united with family. A spokeswoman for the Nine Network confirmed tonights 60 Minutes will feature Faulkner an reporter Tara Brown with families but will not focus on the events of the past two weeks. A recap will play a small part in tonights program, the spokeswoman told Fairfax. Faulkners estranged husband Ali Elamine last week told The Project his deal with Nine prohibited them from directly screening footage. 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 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 Taking care of a child takes a lot of patience and time. At Tyndalls Child Development Center, the caretakers are responsible for multiple children which requires more patience and more time. The one who ensures these caretakers are properly trained, is also the 325th Force Support Squadrons Unsung Hero. Mrs. Ashley Smith is a Child and Youth Programs Training and Curriculum Specialist for the CDC. She is responsible for providing training, feedback and resources to CDC staff. She works to not only enhance the staffs professional growth and development, but she also plans and implements weekly activities that are appropriate for supporting childrens growth and development. My job provides me the opportunity to not only put my Early Childhood Education Degree to use but also the opportunity to step temporarily into other Child and Youth Program roles furthering my knowledge of how they are connected and support our military children and families, Smith said. What makes it all worthwhile, she continued, is overcoming daily challenges, no matter how big or small, and at the end of the day seeing a childs smile and hearing about how much fun they have had at the CDC. Smith is married to retired Senior Master Sgt. John Smith III. She has two children, both of whom are in college. My daughter Caitlin is studying drafting at Gulf Coast University, said Smith. And my son Connor is studying political science at the University of Miami. Although she currently has a Bachelor of Science degree in Early Childhood Education from the University of South Alabama, the Mobile, Ala., native plans to continue her education as long as she is working. Once she retires with her husband, Smith plans to continue traveling. As a military spouse and spending over nine years overseas, I have traveled all through Europe exploring historical sites in Germany, Spain, Italy, Austria, Slovenia, Poland, France, England, Belgium, Switzerland and the Czech Republic, said Smith. It was exciting to actually see what I learned in history textbooks up close and personal. Over the nine years she spent stationed overseas with her husband, Smith worked for the Kaiserslautern Germany Army and Air Force Child and Youth Program where she earned an Army Civilian Achievement Medal for her service while working for the Unites States Army Garrison Kaiserslautern, Germany. Her work ethic and perfectionist personality has made a good work/life balance a challenge. I am fortunate to have caring and supportive friends, colleagues and family reminding me that it is okay to take time for myself, said Smith. I have incorporated healthier eating habits and exercising at least three times a week while slowing down every now and then and enjoying my time with my family. Smith also likes to take time to hike and ride her Harley. She used her love for riding as a way to help give back to the community. I am involved as a social member for the Red Knights Motorcycle Club supporting the community through fundraisers for the Shiners Children Hospital and Camp Amigos, she said. Her leadership spoke of nothing but praise when referring to Smith. She is an amazing team player, said Mr. Marcus Forte, 325th Force Support Squadron Airman and Family Services flight chief. She goes above and beyond on countless things and she is passionate. People who are dedicated give 110 percent from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. People who are passionate give 110 percent 24 hours a day. Over 142,000 servicemen and military staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces have acquired the status of participant of combat actions. Ukrainian Defense Ministry spokesman Oleksiy Chornobai said this at a briefing on Friday, the ministrys press service reports. Last week, the status of participant of combat actions was given to about 100 servicemen and military staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, who fulfilled tasks in the ATO zone. To date, over 142,000 people have received the status of participant of combat actions, reads the report. iy The Ukrainian army sustained no losses over the past 24 hours in the anti-terrorist operation (ATO) area in Donbas, eastern Ukraine, although two Ukrainian soldiers were wounded. Spokesman for the Presidential Administration on the ATO, Colonel Andriy Lysenko, said this at a briefing in Kyiv, an Ukrinform correspondent reports. There were no losses in the Armed Forces over the past day as a result of combat actions. Two soldiers were wounded, he said. ish Ukraine and Russia agreed on a period during which Kyiv could argue against the claim concerning "Yanukovychs debt". It has been reported by the Finance Ministry of Ukraine. Despite Russias strong statements recently that it will not grant Ukraine the additional period it has sought for filing its defense and that this is something the English Court should decide, it has now, just days later, and on the eve of the court hearing, fully reversed that position. In the face of the position put forward by Ukraine, Russia has belatedly conceded to the entirety of the additional time Ukraine has requested. It is regrettable that Russias initial unreasonable stance necessitated a formal application to be made by Ukraine, but pleasing that Russia has eventually seen sense on this issue and avoided wasting the Courts time in dealing with an issue which Russia was destined to lose. ish What happened a century ago was not called with the right word On April 22, the RA NA Deputy Speaker Eduard Sharmazanov received the Deputy Speaker of the Senate of the Czech Republic Zdenek Skromach and the Deputy Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Republic Jan Bartosek. The RA NA deputies Margarit Yesayan and Gagik Melikyan also attended the meeting. Welcoming the guests in parliament the RA NA Deputy Speaker highlighted the participation of the Czech Delegation in the events of the Armenian Genocide anniversary and in the Global Forum Against the Crime of Genocide. He expressed hope that soon the Czech Parliament will adopt and condemn the Armenian Genocide, as the condemnation is the best form of prevention. In this context Eduard Sharmazanov has noted that Turkey does not only recognize the Genocide, but it is also the only country that keeping under blockade Armenia encourages Azerbaijans terrorist actions in Nagorno Karabakh. During the first days of April in Nagorno Karabakh elderly people became victims of Azerbaijani aggression, a child was killed, and soldiers were beheaded with a handwriting characteristic to ISIL. It is obvious that during 100 years the Caucasian Turks learnt nothing, but nothing has forgotten. In his word Eduard Sharmazanov has noted that as the civilized mankind has not condemned the Genocide, such crimes shall be repeated. In the RA NA Deputy Speakers opinion, the time has come, when Europe shall say its distinct word, making choice between the ideas and material objects. Eduard Sharmazanov has documented that those win who struggle for independence and freedom of its Motherland. And the Artsakh people were born for living free and independent. Touching upon the situation on the Karabakh-Azerbaijani Line of Contact at the Czech counterparts request the RA NA Deputy Speaker has noted that even in the conditions of ceasefire there are new victims. Thanking his colleague for the warm reception the Deputy Speaker of the Senate of the Czech Republic Zdenek Skromach has noted that Czechia and Armenia have the same historical experience: the massacre perpetrated in Czechia you cannot call in other way than Genocide. In Zdenek Skromachs word, the problem is in its approach, and Czechia as EU member state, shall have its approach. How difficult it is to find the approach, it is clear that we speak about Genocide. In his word the Deputy Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Republic Jan Bartosek has stated that he follows the events happening in Nagorno Karabakh and is sorry for the military and civilian casualties. He has noted that he has seen the photos of the victims and the weapons used during those days. Jan Bartosek has reiterated that Czechia is for the peaceful settlement. In the word of the Deputy Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Republic, not using the right word about the event the situation is repeated in negative sense. According to Jan Bartosek, what happened between Armenia and Turkey a century ago was not called with the right word, but less are the countries, which adopted and condemned the Genocide. In his word, maybe the time has come that the Czech Republic will have its distinct position in that issue. After the end of the meeting the Deputy Speakers of two Chambers of the Czech Parliament accompanied by the RA NA Deputy Speaker Eduard Sharmazanov visited Yerablur Pantheon. NA US President Barack Obama during a meeting with British Prime Minister David Cameron stressed the need to resolve the conflict in Ukraine. He said this at a joint press conference in London. "We have to resolve the conflict in Ukraine and reassure allies who are rightly concerned about Russian aggression," Obama said. He noted the need to continue to invest in NATO so that "we can meet our overseas commitments, from Afghanistan to the Aegean." "All NATO allies should aim for the NATO target of spending 2 percent of their GDP on defense," the US President said. ish The foreign ministers of the Baltic States, Nordic countries and Visegrad Group countries declared their readiness to continue supporting the implementation of the Association Agreements with Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine. This has been stated in the statement of the press service of the Foreign Ministry of Latvia. "The ministers stressed the need to urgently provide Georgia and Ukraine with visa-free regime," reads a statement after the meeting, which was held in Jurmala on April 21-22. Member of the European Commission for Internal Affairs Dimitris Avramopoulos expects that the citizens of Ukraine will soon be able to travel to the EU without visas. ish The blunt violation by Azerbaijan of the 1994 Ceasefire Agreement has thrown the peace process far back President Serzh Sargsyan, who is participating at the Second Global Forum Against the Crime of Genocide convened at the K. Demirjian Sport and Concert Compound, during the break between the sessions conversed with the participants of the Forum, exchanged views with the delegates, and presented Armenias views regarding a number of issues. Speaking about the difficulties posed by the geographical location of our country, President Sargsyan said in particular, It is true that two out of Armenias four neighbors are conducted hostile policy toward our country. Nevertheless, since independence we have adopted a multi-vector policy trying to develop relations with all our neighbors. Even with Turkey, we were the initiators of reestablishing the relations without preconditions. It was an initiative which revealed to the world why the Armenian-Turkish is closed, who is setting preconditions and why the Turkish-Azeri one nation- two states formula is a real factor. Those who until now have not yet comprehended the political essence of that formula, in their calculations have missed an important element. We are a peaceful nation. We hate no one and do not build our relations on animosity or hatred toward anyone. Our people dont like to fight but we do it when we are forced to. We are forced to fight for one simple reason: we want to live on our own land and we want to be free. The President spoke also about Russias role in the resolution of the NK issue. Yesterday I received Minister of Foreign Affairs Lavrov, who was on a visit in Yerevan. I presented to him our position regarding the situation which has been established after the large-scale offensive unleashed by Azerbaijan. Russia as the OSCE Minsk Group member state is actively involved in the Nagorno Karabakh peace process. For years, we were a responsible member of that process, were trying to find mutually acceptable solutions, were trying to be constructive. Obviously, the blunt violation by Azerbaijan of the 1994 Ceasefire Agreement has thrown the peace process far back. We were convinced that the problem could be solved through exclusively peaceful means, however today the situation is different. Ceasefire and supporting agreements have been violated, five statements of the Presidents of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chair states US, France, and Russia - were violated, bloodchilling war crimes were committed, and now we are telling everyone point your finger to the aggressor, expose the aggressor so that lessons are learned, so that we can move forward, said President Serzh Sargsyan. The Digital Era is indeed at its peak! Now, children as young as 7, are already hooked up to the devices such as cellphones, IPad, computers, etc.However, as fun as it looks, spending too much time on devices has their cons. According to Mail Online, researchers in South Korea, found out that the increasing cases of temporary convergent strabismus - or going cross-eyed- is linked to children's frequent use of the devices. Experts at Chonnam National University Hospital, Seoul states that after examining 12 children, with ages ranging from 7-16 years old, who uses their phone for 4-8 hours a day have found a link between the two. Researchers say that children who hold their phone for approximately eight or twelve inches from their faces can be very damaging to the eye. They recommend that when using phones for too long, users should have 30 minutes intervals in staring at the phone screen; this would give the eye ample time to rest and lesser chance of being strained. Thankfully, through discontinuing the use of mobile phones for two months, medics were able to reverse the symptoms in nine of the children. In a study conducted by a team from Baylor, University, Texas, teens spend an average of 10 hours a day on their phones, others even show irritation and stress if their phone is not in sight. In addition, female students, spends 10 hours a day texting, emailing and of course tapping their social media while male students only spend an average of 8 hours. According to the team's lead author James Roberts, there is an 'increasingly realistic possibility' in becoming addicted to using mobile phone like being addicted to drugs. In a survey conducted online, 164 respondents, whom are students, are asked of the time they spent on their mobile phones to which 60 percent responded that they might be addicted to their phones. The overall result showed that an average of 96.4 minutes each day are spent on texting. In an article posted in The Telegraph, a self-confessed 'nomophobic' (no-mobile-phone-phobia) recounts on how his addiction to mobile phone almost destroyed his life like drugs. He warns that "Phone addiction can become just as damaging as an addiction to alcohol or gambling" The New York Times Rukmini Callimachi to receive the ICFJ Integrity in Journalism Award in partnership with the Aurora Prize The International Center for Journalists (ICFJ), in partnership with 100 LIVES, has named Rukmini Callimachi of The New York Times as the inaugural recipient of its Integrity in Journalism Award. She will receive the award for her exceptional contribution to exposing crimes against humanity during the inaugural ceremony of the Aurora Prize for Awakening Humanity on April 24 in Yerevan, Armenia. The ICFJ Integrity in Journalism Award celebrates the courage, commitment and impact of a reporter on the front lines of the worlds crisis zones. Recipients demonstrate unrivaled courage in covering the plight of imperiled communities and an unwavering commitment to integrity, freedom and justice. Callimachis reporting is a shining example of the power of journalism to bring to the worlds attention unthinkable abuses, said ICFJ President Joyce Barnathan. Her work provides hope that the victims will be heardand protected. Callimachi has exposed the horrific institutionalization of sex slavery by ISIS, linked child labor in gold mines in Senegal to banks in Switzerland, and revealed massacres committed by government forces from the Ivory Coast to Mali. At a time when risks to journalists are at an all-time high, Callimachi is driven by a deep-seated motivation to tell these stories. As a journalist, I dont think that you ever make a concerted decision to put yourself at risk you are doing your job, Callimachi said. The reward is that journalism is like a flashlight, which beams a pool of light on an issue, a crime, a government abuse or another atrocity. I am deeply honored, and humbled to receive this award and I hope that in some small way, my work can illuminate the darkest corners of the world. The Integrity in Journalism Award arose from a partnership between ICFJ and 100 LIVES, a pioneering global initiative rooted in the Armenian Genocide that seeks to share remarkable stories of survivors and their saviors, as well as celebrate the strength of the human spirit. 100 LIVES and the Aurora Prize were established to express gratitude to those who put themselves at risk to save Armenians from the genocide one hundred years ago. Journalism is one of the strongest tools to illuminate and alleviate human suffering, said Ruben Vardanyan, co-founder of 100 LIVES and the Aurora Prize. Ms. Callimachis commitment to exposing the atrocious crimes against humanity is truly exemplary. We are proud to be able to honor journalists whose sustained commitment and coverage inspire others to act and intervene. The four Turkish academics accused of spreading terrorist propagande were released by a court this week. They were among more than a thousand scholars who were against the military operations of Kurdish rebels. The group of scholars signed a declaration which denounced the country's military operations earlier this year with which angered Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan. In addition to the accusation of engaging in terrorist propaganda, the four allegedly incited "hatred and enmity" for signing the declaration. The four scholars Esra Mungan, Meral Camc, Kivanc Ersoy and Muzaffer Kaya were imprisoned in March when they were holding a news conference. They were placed in a high-security prison in Istanbul and were originally sentenced for seven and a half years, The Guardian reports. Four Turkish academics charged with terror propaganda released https://t.co/8FqBIxOFON pic.twitter.com/5eOcI6ITYc Hurriyet Daily News (@HDNER) April 22, 2016 The Turkish court that granted the request of the academics to be released agreed. The charges against the four will be changed to be tried on the grounds of the Turkish penal code where it is illegal to insult the governing body, state, parliament, security forces and people. According to Reuters, there have been hundreds of people that have been killed in the clash with Kurdish rebels. This includes civilians, militants and security forces. The conflict which escalated last year in July is the worst that Turkey has experienced in the last couple of decades. BBC shares that Turkey President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been criticized internationally for censoring free speech. The courthouse where the four academics were tried in was surrounded by protesters and supporters. They also supported two journalists accused of espionage and having a hand in Syrian arms-smuggling. Can Dundar and Erdem Gul of the daily Cumhuryiet could face life in prison if found guilty. What do you think of Turkey's freedom of speech? Tell us your thoughts in the comments below. Illinois approved a $600 million stopgap fund for the state's colleges and universities. The bill which will contribute to the funding plan of the state's public higher education institutions comes after 10 months of no operating budget. Reuters reports that the $600 million is not enough to cover the planned spending for Illinois' colleges and universities. It will only cover 34 percent of the original $1.7 billion funding plan. Chicago CBS notes that the bipartisan agreement made by the lawmakers is a rare event. The passing of the bill will ensure that low-income students can continue going to school and higher education institutions will continue to operate, especially Chicago State University that is in danger of closing down. BREAKING: House and Senate pass emergency, stopgap funding for Illinois higher education https://t.co/uePS94pzwj @RebootIllinois Madison Bondi (@MadisonRebootIL) April 22, 2016 Additionally, Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner is expected to sign the bill where it includes $170 million tuition aid for struggling students. Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan says that the funding should only be treated as a bandage solution, not a long term one, Daily Mail shares. He also critcized the governor for allegedly being unwilling to give assistance to service providers aimed for people from low-income households. The aid was passed to the Senate after a 106-2 vote in the House. He adds that budget negotiation has been drawn out for too long that it took 10 months to come to an agreement. Additionally, the delay caused public colleges and universities to lay off some of their staff. The passed bill will not stop the planned layoffs of staff in the state's public universities and colleges. Additionally, the stopgap funding may not be enough for them to hire the laid of workers back. The money for the bill comes from the excess Education Assistance Fund allocated to the state. All the latest Uttoxeter news Story Saved You can find this story in My Bookmarks. Or by navigating to the user icon in the top right. EaP CSF Steering Committee calls on EaP countries to consider recognizing Armenian Genocide In its April 20 sitting, the the Steering Committee of the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum on Armenian Genocide adopted a statement on recognition and condemnation of the Armenian Genocide and called on Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, Georgia and Azerbaijan to discuss the Armenian Genocide. Donald Tusk, President, European Council Federica Mogherini, Vice-President of the European Commission, High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Jean-Claude Juncker, President, European Commission Johannes Hahn, European Commissioner for Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations Martin Schulz, President, European Parliament Ministers of Foreign Affairs, EU Member States Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Eastern Partnership countries 20 April 2016 Statement of the Steering Committee of the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum on Armenian Genocide The Steering Committee of the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum commemorates and condemns the Genocide of the Armenian people on the eve of its 101st Anniversary on 24 April 2016. The Armenian Genocide, which was perpetrated by the Ottoman Empire government, resulted not only in the death of 1,5 million and dispossession of more than half of million human beings but also in the decimation of the Armenian patrimony, its ways of life, and its foundational contributions to Western culture. The genocide also extended to the Pontic Greeks, Assyrians, and Yazidi peoples. By not condemning the first genocide of 20th century and not punishing its organizers and performers, mankind subsequently faced the continuation of the practice of genocide during Holodomor and elsewhere. Number of countries, including from Europe, joined the Armenian Genocide recognition and condemnation. Last year Pope Francis described it as the first genocide of the 20th century and one of the three gravest crimes of the century. European Parliament not once has unanimously recognized and condemned it. Turkey is a member state of the Council of Europe and is subject to a full undertaking of all commitments thereto. Taking this into account, the Steering Committee invites Turkey to take the necessary measures pursuant to its international commitments and the European identity to which it aspires and to work for reconciliation through truth. We also call on the government of Turkey to respect and realize fully the legal obligations which it has undertaken including those provisions, which relate to the protection of cultural heritage and, in particular, to conduct in good faith an integrated inventory of Armenian and other cultural heritage destroyed or ruined during the past century. The Steering Committee invites the European Union and its Commission, Council and Parliament, as well as the Council of Europe, to assess the honouring of commitments and obligations undertaken by Turkey. The EaP CSF Steering Committee also invites the Eastern Partnership countries to consider recognizing the Armenian Genocide. Members of the Steering Committee of the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum Against: Avaz Hasanov, Azerbaijan Country Facilitator Abstained: Lasha Tugushi, Georgia Country Facilitator photos by KAREN QUINCY LOBERG/THE STAR Stefan Darbouze, a tableside chef, holds up a skewer of Marrakesh chicken for Sunday brunch customers at Cut 360 Steakhouse in Thousand Oaks. Rita Moran Columnist SHARE The Artisan Table has an eclectic variety at Cut 360 Steakhouse in Thousand Oaks during Sunday brunch. KAREN QUINCY LOBERG/THE STAR Bill Williams (from left), Maryanna Williams, celebrating her birthday, and Ray Schmickel {cq} choose from the Artisan Table buffet for their champagne brunch at Cut 360 Steakhouse in Thousand Oaks on Sunday.04-17-2014 THOUSAND OAKS, CA KAREN QUINCY LOBERG/THE STAR Luis Yerena makes brunch in the open kitchen at Cut 360 Steakhouse in Thousand Oaks in Sunday. Owner, Dino Papanicolaou, says his restaurant has a South American cuisine base with a unique fusion that yields items like the fish tempura with a mango pineapple salsa. 04-17-2014 THOUSAND OAKS, CA KAREN QUINCY LOBERG/THE STAR The tempura fish with a mango pineapple salsa at Cut 360 Steakhouse in Thousand Oaks is a popular menu item at Sunday brunch. 04-17-2014 THOUSAND OAKS, CA Looking for something different to tempt your taste buds? Cut 360 Steakhouse is the place. A fresh approach by owner Constantino Papanicolaou who also owned The Napa Tavern before it closed two months ago at the same Thousand Oaks site invites diners to sample two complementary approaches to food and service: the Artisan Table, cruising by a long salad, soup, charcuterie and such counter display ($14.95 at lunch time) or combining that experience with the Endless Tasting option ($19.95 at lunch hour). Endless Tasting consists of a circulating staff carrying spears of grilled meats, ready to cut from their perch slices of tri-tip, Italian sausage, tempura fish with mango salsa, Marrakesh chicken, pork tenderloin with fig reduction and bacon-wrapped chicken. Actually, the tenderloin with the fig sauce is served from a small plate because it would be impossible to combine the meat and sauce in any other way. We chose the combination at lunch hour, with its invitation to return to the counter display at will, and the continuous prospect of meat, chicken or fish items passing through the handsome rooms, making it impossible not to have plenty to eat. Best of all, it was really good food. From the counter display we sampled a beet and goat cheese salad that was bursting with perfectly cooked beets generously mixed into the salad; a Cobb salad that was also brimming with a fine mix of the traditional ingredients; cured meats, a slice of a sushi roll and a variety of cheeses. Also available were a Gorgonzola and field greens salad, a classic wedge salad, chopped Caesar salad and fresh breads. And of course there was the soup du jour, a creamy carrot soup with a light, spicy kick. We added a cup of it to our feast. Following a staff suggestion, we separately ordered the smoked tomato and mozzarella flatbread from the Artisan Table list so that it could be presented hot from the oven. It is pizza-shaped, with a light, crisp crust embellished with organic tomatoes and melted mozzarella and fresh basil. At the dinner hour it's likely that all of the above are available, with the addition of braised pork belly, Cajun catfish, Australian leg of lamb and buttermilk ranch sirloin. If you don't find something there to float your boat, there are house specialties for slightly higher prices: Chilean sea bass with artichoke sauce, jasmine rice and fresh vegetables; filet mignon trio topped with peppercorn sauce, lemon beurre and cabernet demi-glace, served with mashed potatoes, rice and sauteed spinach; blackened seared ahi tuna, with seaweed sesame salad, wasabi mashed potatoes and fresh veggies; and double-cut lamb chops with mint pepper sauce and rosemary au jus, with smoked Gouda mashed potatoes and veggies. After our Endless Tasting lunch, there clearly was no need for dessert, but once you recognize well-prepared food your curiosity gets the best of you. We shared a cupcake-size molten chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream ($10) and a pear tart, also with a scoop of ice cream ($11). Given a positive experience at Cut 360's Artisan Table or Endless Tasting it's hard not to want to return and dip into items you missed the first time around, along with that irresistible beet salad. SHARE CONTRIBUTED PHOTO/FACEBOOK Nadya Unger, 23, of Camarillo. https://www.facebook.com/nadya.unger?fref=nf&pnref=story CONTRIBUTED PHOTO/FACEBOOK Walter Unger, left, and his daughter, Nadya. https://www.facebook.com/nadya.unger?fref=nf&pnref=story By Megan Diskin of the Ventura County Star A father remembered his adventurous Camarillo daughter Friday nearly 24 hours after she was killed while riding a motorcycle that collided with a Metrolink train. Two days after she turned 23, Nadya Unger went on a motorcycle ride on a rural roadway with fellow Camarillo resident Garrett Vongunten, 26. As the motorcycle traveled south on Las Posas Road with Vongunten at the helm, they approached Fifth Street south of Camarillo about 6 p.m. Thursday. For reasons still under investigation by the California Highway Patrol, the motorcycle did not stop, instead colliding with the side of a westbound commuter train. Vongunten suffered major injuries and was taken to a hospital, but Unger was pronounced dead at the scene. "She was the most beautiful person in the world," said Walter Unger, her father. She lived with him in Arizona for most of her life, but would come to stay with her mother in Camarillo every now and then, he said. When she was 21, she decided she wanted to move to Camarillo to start her own business, her father said. She owned Bark, Bath and Beyond on Verdugo Way, which according to its website offered full-service "pampering for dogs and cats." The venture stemmed from her love of animals, her father said. She began riding horses at an early age, her father said. He remembers a time where they had four horses and five dogs. He said his daughter was an adventurer who went skydiving, rode dirt bikes and recently went on a trip to India. He remembered his youngest daughter as a happy, confident young woman. "She was my baby," he said. "I'm really going to miss her." JUAN CARLO/THE STAR The Calabasas Library will have a book sale March 5. SHARE Ojai Youth symphony will host concert The Ojai Youth Symphony will have a chamber music concert at 7 p.m. May 2 at the Greenberg Activity Center at Ojai Valley School, 723 El Paseo Road. Admission is $9. It's free for students age 18 and under. Visit http://www.ojaiyouthsymphony.org for more information. Port Hueneme Meeting to feature author presentation Mystery lovers are welcome to attend the 30th annual meeting of the Friends of the Port Hueneme Library at 2 p.m. May 1 at Prueter Library, 510 Park Ave. After a brief business meeting and installation of officers at 2 p.m., Beverly M. Kelley will present "The Cold Case Cozy Think Jessica Fletcher as a set of triplets living in Port Hueneme." Call 486-5460 for more information. Simi Valley Society to mark Mother's Day The Ladies' Society of the Armenian Apostolic Church of Ventura County will have its annual Mother's Day luncheon at 11:30 a.m. May 7 at Wood Ranch Country Club, 301 N. Wood Ranch Parkway. Guests will enjoy a buffet lunch, vintage fashions modeled by members of the Ladies' Society and a Chinese auction. Suggested donation is $60 for adults and $30 for children under age 12. Mail checks to Seta Shiroyan, 383 Country Club Drive, No. 16, Simi Valley. Credit cards will also be accepted. Contact Lucille Farsakian at lufar@sbcglobal.net or 818-706-3210 for more information. Thousand Oaks Soloists to perform with wind ensemble California Lutheran University's first Festival of Scholars Concert will showcase the work of student musicians. The CLU wind ensemble will perform a concert featuring senior soloists at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday in Samuelson Chapel as part of the university's weeklong 10th annual Festival of Scholars at 165 Chapel Lane. The concert is free, but donations will be accepted. Visit http://www.callutheran.edu or call 493-3306 for more information. Nonprofit plans free workshop The Cancer Support Community Valley/Ventura/Santa Barbara will host a free workshop, "Neuro Emotional Technique (NET): Introduction Workshop with Tricia Lethcoe" from 6:30-8 p.m. Tuesday at 530 Hampshire Road. This technique helps identify and reduce chronic stress patterns. Call 379-4777 to RSVP. Visit http://www.cancersupportvvsb.org for more information. Ventura Veterans benefits to be discussed OneJustice's Justice Bus Project will partner with the Public Counsel Law Center and Ventura County library system to provide a free benefits and clean-slate legal clinic for veterans in Ventura. The clinic will be from 1-5 p.m. Wednesday in the Topping Room at the E.P. Foster Library, 651 E. Main St. Call 213-261-8931 to RSVP. Staff reports SHARE COURTESY PHOTO Barry Fisher, director of the Ventura County Health Care Agency, was Smiths direct supervisor. By Kathleen Wilson of the Ventura County Star Barry Fisher, head of the Ventura County Health Care Agency, the largest entity in the county government, has decided to retire. County officials announced Friday that the 50-year-old Simi Valley resident would be leaving the high-level post Oct. 1. Fisher, who oversees a budget of $711 million and almost 3,000 employees, said it's a good time to leave. He can retire in his 50s while leaving the agency on a solid footing, Fisher said in a brief interview. He plans to work on the expansion of a winery in Ventura that he co-owns, plus he may pick up a part-time job to supplement his county pension. "That's my initial plan, and we will see where things takes me," he said Friday. The Health Care Agency encompasses two hospitals, a clinic system, public health programs, mental health and substance-abuse agencies, an employee health plan, the Ventura County Medical Examiner's Office and animal control services. Fisher said he decided a week ago to retire and informed department heads of his decision Thursday. He said he was leaving entirely voluntarily. County Executive Officer Mike Powers, who is Fisher's boss, said he expected to appoint a successor by the time Fisher retires. The position pays $192,744 to $260,412 in base salary. The administrator has worked for the county government for 15 years, rising from a low-profile job in emergency medical services to public health director to director of the Health Care Agency. Powers appointed him to the top job in March 2014 from a field of almost 40 in-house and external candidates. The Health Care Agency was buffeted by major changes during Fisher's tenure, including financial ups and downs at Ventura County Medical Center, the construction of a new hospital wing, the conversion to an electronic health records system and an investigation of postmortem procedures in the Medical Examiner's Office. Powers credited him with building a strong management team amid growing demand for services. "He has done a great job of navigating the system through challenging times," Powers said. SHARE KAREN QUINCY LOBERG/THE STAR Manisha Ropheka poses for a portrait in her apartment in Oxnard on Thursday. During a recent City Council meeting, Ropheka read aloud a thank-you letter to Council member Bryan MacDonald, who helped recover her stolen car. KAREN QUINCY LOBERG/THE STAR Manisha Ropheka maneuvers her wheelchair into the back seat of her 1990 Honda Accord on Thursday in Oxnard. Features of the car such as the low, flat dashboard make it suitable for Ropheka to drive. Bryan MacDonald KAREN QUINCY LOBERG/THE STA Manisha Ropheka wheels out of her Oxnard apartment complex before work on Thursday. Ropheka's car was stolen from the carport, leaving her stranded. A complete stranger stepped in to help and her car was recovered. 04-21-2016 OXNARD, CA By Gretchen Wenner of the Ventura County Star One of Oxnard's best stolen-car sleuths was miles away when the anonymous tip came in. On another day, a suspicious vehicle parked on the street might not have been on the Oxnard Police Department's radar. In this case, the stolen car, a 1990 Honda Accord, was special. Owner Manisha Ropheka relies on the coupe's old-school stylings to get in and out, with her wheelchair, on her own. Officer Jamie Toney was working RiverPark. The suspicious car was almost three miles away, on Palm Drive. "There was a big deal about that car because of her handicap," Toney said. "We all wanted to get it back to her. Everybody was out looking for it." Scanning the call log, Toney recognized the license plate and called the auto theft investigator. "He said: 'Go to that car right now,' " Toney said. That the 26-year-old Honda came to the department's attention at all last month was the result of serendipity. It was a Sunday in early March when Ropheka, a Defense Department civilian employee at Naval Base Ventura County, went to her carport south of Channel Islands Boulevard and found it empty. "I was numb," she said. She recalls being told stolen cars aren't a high priority for police and to make arrangements. For Ropheka, who has not been able to walk or stand on her own since getting polio at age 6, options were few. She could not simply rent a car. Friends and family members scouring the Internet for an identical model found just one in good condition, in Seattle, but it was sold before she could nab it. Ropheka bought her 1990 Honda new while still in college. She has kept it immaculate. It's the car's overall layout, in addition to manual controls, that has made it uniquely valuable to her. Unlike newer models, there's no center console between the front seats. Ropheka lifts herself in through the driver's-side door and slides over to the passenger seat to pull in the wheelchair behind her. The low, flat dashboard unlike today's rounded versions provides a surface she can hold onto during the process. Her wheelchair, meanwhile, doesn't get caught on the vintage seat belt. At a loss, she sent a prayer request to her pastor at South Coast Fellowship. A friend suggested she contact her City Council representative. They looked at the unfamiliar names online. Her friend's husband thought he recognized one: Bryan? Maybe he had been a police officer? Councilman Bryan MacDonald, a former assistant chief of police, picked up the phone right away. "My dad was in a wheelchair the last 25 years of his life," MacDonald said. "He was very independent." MacDonald's father performed a similar transfer to get into his car and used the same hand controls as Ropheka to drive. "This poor woman, without that vehicle, was unable to do her daily routine," MacDonald said. He called Assistant Police Chief Jason Benites and suggested a media blast of some sort. He offered to buy two steak dinners for the officer who found the car. The department put up a Facebook post seeking the public's help to find the stolen Honda. They believe the post may have led to the anonymous tip. On Wednesday that week, after getting a ride home from work, Ropheka got a call from her pastor, Larry Reichardt, to check on the car's status. Within 15 minutes, the phone rang again. It was MacDonald. " 'We just spotted your car,' " she recalls him saying, followed by: " 'I'll come pick you up.' " "I was just floored when he said that," Ropheka said. "When you're on your own for so long, having to do everything, it was so special." The Honda was generally intact, but the battery was gone. MacDonald arranged to have the car towed to the police station parking lot for safekeeping overnight. The radio had been removed and the car still needs a few fixes, but Ropheka has been able to use it again. Ropheka wrote MacDonald a thank-you letter. Instead of mailing it, she decided to read it aloud during a City Council meeting earlier this month. "I hope you'll allow me to share how God used you to answer my prayer," she read into the microphone. "... What you did, for someone you never even met, blessed me so much and it made my heart leap." On the dais, MacDonald appeared to get misty-eyed as she read. "We get elected to serve our community," MacDonald said Friday, adding he tries to help everyone who calls. As for the steak dinners, Toney, the officer who found the car, declined, saying he was just doing his job. Toney, incidentally, was one of nine officers who received an award Thursday for stolen-vehicle recovery. He had the department's most recoveries during 2015. "I love finding stolen cars," he said. "People spend hard-earned money on vehicles. It's something I look for all the time." STAR FILE PHOTO SHARE By Staff Reports A Simi Valley man was arrested Friday in connection with violating his probation terms related to an outstanding DUI case, officials said. The arrest was part of a larger operation targeting "high-risk" DUI offenders, according to the Thousand Oaks Police Department. Detectives went across the city with several warrants to arrest offenders that did not show up for court their court date, authorities said. However, only one person, a 51-year-old Simi man, was arrested during the operation, officials said. Police said funding for the operation is provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. SHARE Here's a note of caution that has nothing to do with the chaos of the current campaigns for the president in both parties, largely because the participants fortunately are flying in privately chartered airplanes. The rest of us aren't so lucky, and even in business we must rely on commercial airlines with the best prices we can find. This makes us more than a little vulnerable to those who promote not only lower fares but the other needs of the average traveler mainly hotels and rental cars. These are generally "middle men" who operate online and continue to bombard you with daily emails touting the latest exotic trips and deals to Bora Bora for just a pittance. You probably shouldn't open these unless you have a tendency toward masochism. These middle men are backed by the airlines, who encourage them as a way to cut their own costs through fewer employees they must hire as reservationists. Not a bad idea at all, except when it is. I must confess I have used one of these ticket promoters, Travelocity, frequently and found everything satisfactory ... most of the time. Several times, I realized the flight I had chosen suddenly rose in price as I waited for the final confirmation. The latest of these glitches got me thinking that perhaps I wasn't getting the best fare after all. Duh. I went online the other day to book a business trip to Indianapolis at a reasonable rate. Then I waited for confirmation and waited and waited, with a notice on my screen that I shouldn't turn off my computer or otherwise disturb the process. Finally, I gave up without knowing whether I had successfully completed the transaction. I called the selling agency directly to check. After the usual interrogation about what I wanted, I talked to a woman who listened to my complaint, breaking in irritatingly every now and then to thank me for my patience, which was wearing thin. Forty-five minutes later, I was still going over the flight I wanted, at least five times. In the midst of this, I was told my flight would not cost $192 round-trip as I had selected from the menu, but $300, and I could reduce that slightly if I took a hotel room in the deal. Explaining to her that I did not need a hotel, did not want a hotel and wasn't going to pay for a hotel, she finally put the finishing touches on the transaction ... I thought. I complained bitterly that I resented the fare increase but really had no choice. Then I remembered a near doubling of the cost had occurred twice before in dealing with this agency and I had let it go, believing it was the airlines' decision. After providing credit card information and listening to her go over the itinerary for the umpteenth time, she said she would confirm everything, which I thought already had been done. Suddenly I hear music, and since I don't suffer from the problem of extraneous noise, I deduced she had gone away. Like an idiot, I waited another 10 minutes before realizing she wasn't coming back. I hung up on Travelocity forever. I called American Airlines directly to ask if the flight had been booked. It had not. But a pleasant reservationist took only moments to do it. The cost $192. A cautionary tale? You bet. Dan Thomasson is an op-ed columnist for Tribune News Service and a former vice president of Scripps Howard Newspapers. Readers may email him at thomassondan@aol.com. SHARE A couple of months ago, it was announced that Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center in Los Angeles had its health care IT system essentially taken over and knocked offline by some hackers who inserted malware into the hospital servers. The data were not destroyed but encrypted, and a ransom of $3.4 million (in Bitcoin to enhance their anonymity) was demanded to provide the hospital with the decryption key. To function in the interim, the 434-bed hospital had to revert to pen, paper and fax communication. All essential functions dependent on electronic information technology ground to a halt, which in a modern facility means just about everything. No electronic health records, emails, laboratory tests and results, CT scans, outpatient activities, surgeries nothing. One associates ransom with kidnapping or taking of hostages. Where governments can say (officially) that they don't negotiate with terrorists, in this scenario we are talking about patients' lives. Without viable options and a short timeline, the hospital folded: It coughed up some money (a small percentage of the original request) to get its system back. The FBI is investigating. And since that first reported intrusion, several more hospitals around the country have had similar attacks. This dramatic demonstration of health care IT vulnerability undoubtedly sent shock waves through the hospital industry. Hospitals, insurers and health care data repositories have been attacked many times before with denial of service or phishing attacks. Accessing patient data, such as in the UCLA hospital and Anthem insurance attacks reported last year, can compromise identity and carry fraud potential. Insertion of false data could really mess up a system as well, if physicians made logical decisions from incorrect information. It makes HIPAA look pretty benign, since the Hollywood Presbyterian hackers did not have to break into a data box to steal information. They just built a bigger box to contain the hospital's box with a lock and key that only they had. And the lives at stake and the cost analysis made capitulation the reasonable option to minimize turmoil and panic for now. There is a scramble to find the best vendors to defend against these kinds of attacks, but that will take time. All of these health care IT systems will put on a brave face and assure their clients and patients that they have the best firewalls and experts, but this reminds me of a scene from "Jaws." When confronted with an opponent of unanticipated ferocity, Brody says to Quint, "You're gonna need a bigger boat." Our fragmented health care nonsystem, not just hospitals, needs to see this as a shot across the bow. Yes, our defenses will get better, but so will the hackers. We currently don't know who they were, but imagine the skills available on the dark Web being harnessed, not to destroy, but to restrict access. The range of cyberterrorists runs from tech-savvy kids in a bedroom to nation-states. We are now facing an adversarial era when our systems and the hackers will be analogous to the perpetual war between bacteria and antibiotics; extortion in its purist form. Our hospitals, and our clinical information contained therein, need to be at the top of their game. Irving Kent Loh, M.D., is a preventive cardiologist and the director of the Ventura Heart Institute in Thousand Oaks. Email him at drloh@venturaheart.com. SHARE Multiple reports on the expected teacher shortage in California and across the nation have been written and discussed over the past few months. Linda Darling-Hammond, chairwoman of the Commission on Teacher Credentialing, documented that enrollment in teacher education programs has dropped by 70 percent in the past decade while the number of new hires has risen steeply in the past few years. While this shortage is especially acute in special education, mathematics and the sciences, we are now starting to see shortages across disciplines and grade levels. In response, a growing chorus is calling for new approaches to increase the pipeline of teachers. A colleague said at a recent meeting, "We need to create multiple pathways so prospective student teachers are able to complete certification requirements in ways that best adapt to their respective situations." This administrator's logic was that the issue is program access, and we only need to "build it and they will come." I agree we should develop more creative and flexible approaches to teacher certification, but I also think we're missing a key question: Why are people opting not to pursue teaching as a profession? I'd like to focus on two possible explanations. First, there is a strong refrain of criticism in our society directed at the field of education. While some may be justified, attacks from politicians and "reformers" who often have little understanding of teaching's demands can create antipathy to the profession. Rather than imagining a profession of serving the community and contributing to the life of children, people hear it is a bankrupt field that you only pursue when you can't figure out what else to do with your degree. Second, the day-to-day work of teaching has grown increasingly unmanageable, and teachers are vocal about this. A good friend of mine has been teaching for over 25 years and is one of the most conscientious, well-regarded teachers at her school. However, she now wonders how much longer she can continue. She said that while actual "teaching" still gives her joy, all of the other requirements are taking this away. Not only does she have less freedom in her teaching, she is also being asked to do things that are demoralizing as a professional. She isn't reacting to Common Core or the need to assess students. Good teachers have always been aware that standards change and effective assessments are needed to gauge student progress. She is reacting to the constant top-down, ever-changing mandates that ultimately communicate a lack of trust in teachers. So how do we counter this? First, we must continue to tell the stories of educators committed to the work and finding professional and personal satisfaction. Another good friend, for example, started his career as a middle school math teacher in an economically distressed community. Over the past 15 years, he has continued to analyze the needs of students, and his persistence and vision resulted in the Act 6 Scholarship and Leadership Initiative. This program has now helped more than 650 first-generation college students. We also need to pay more attention to those actually engaged in the work, not just pundits on the sidelines. We need to hear what passionate, committed educators think about the current state of education, what is occurring in their classrooms, and what would make the profession more attractive. All of us probably know of a teacher who has made a significant difference in a student's life. For me, it was a fourth-grade teacher who challenged me to think outside the box and work beyond what was required. Mr. Bass was unconventional and creative, and I worry a teacher like this may not be interested in the profession today because of the climate we've created. So while we do need to establish more creative and flexible routes into education, we must also ask ourselves how we can change the narrative around schooling to attract the passionate, creative and caring teachers our communities need. Michael R. Hillis is the dean of the Graduate School of Education at California Lutheran University. Rock legend Rick Springfield will headline Mandalay Bay Beach with special guest The Romantics on Saturday, July 9 at 9 p.m. Tickets go on sale tomorrow, Friday, April 22 at 10 a.m. For all of his accomplishments as an actor, best-selling author, and documentary subject, Rick Springfields first love has always been music. With 25 million records sold, 17 top-40 hits, including Dont Talk to Strangers, An Affair of the Heart, Ive Done Everything for You, Love Somebody and Human Touch, as well as a 1981 Grammy for Best Male Rock Vocal for his No. 1 hit single Jessies Girl, Springfield shows no signs of slowing down. Ricks latest studio album which is out now, Rocket Science features expertly crafted pop-rock songs that are open and electric. Springfield has toured for over 30 years, hand-delivering the hits to millions of fans worldwide via his dynamic live shows. His concerts are legendary with their rock heavy, high energy full band sets. The Romantics burst out of Detroit in the late 1970s with a power pop fervor, equally influenced by punk, new wave, garage rock and the British Invasion. The groups self-titled 1980 debut album produced the massive hit, What I Like About You. Their 1983 album, In Heat, was certified gold in both the U.S. (selling more than 500,000 copies) and Canada, yielding the Top Three Billboard single, Talking in Your Sleep. They also scored global success with songs such as One in a Million. They continue to record and tour all over the world every year. In December 2015, The Romantics released a new single Coming Back Home available via Apple Music, ITunes, and other fine outlets. Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino has completed the final phase of its resort-wide remodel of more than 3,000 guest rooms and suites. Created by the MGM Resorts International Design Group, the redesigned rooms and suites feature refreshing color palettes and modern designs in three distinct collections. The Resort Collection welcomes guests with three color combinations. The Resort King features a cobalt and white color scheme, while the Resort Queen offers a ruby and latte room or rich lavender and mocha. Bold furnishings throughout the collection include a mural onyx-inspired wall that surrounds the bed in each room. Other details include a spacious glass desk, modern seating, task lighting and easy bedside and tableside recharging. The Suite Collection offers one- and two-bedroom suites accented by rich jewel tone fabrics, natural wood and stone. Featuring multiple seating and dining areas, as well as a large table in the media and living area, these suites are ideal spaces whether hosting for business or pleasure. For guests seeking an elevated experience, the Luxury Collection offers spectacular one- to four- bedroom suites. New, vibrant decor accompanies floor-to-ceiling windows and elegant dining and bar areas to provide the ultimate accommodations. This marks the conclusion of an approximately $100 million remodel that began in 2015. Its about more than bragging rights. Its about funding job placement and training programs for people in Southern Nevada, no matter their circumstance or disability. On Tuesday, April 26, 2016, Mesquite Mayor Allan Litman, Henderson Mayor Andy Hafen, Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman, North Las Vegas Mayor John Lee and Clark County Commission Chairman Steve Sisolak will go head to head to see which municipality can donate the most goods to Goodwill in one day, just in time for spring cleaning. Each elected official will don the blue Goodwill vest and volunteer at a donation center for a minimum of a half hour on Tuesday, April 26, personally collecting donations from the community while working side-by-side with a Goodwill team member whose life has been changed thanks to Goodwill of Southern Nevada. Donations at each location where a mayor or the county commissioner appear will be tracked throughout the day and measured by number of donors. The jurisdiction with the most donors will win the challenge. Goodwill Drive Thru Donation Centers are open on Tuesday, April 26 from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. The mayors and the commissioner are having a little fun with our Spring Clean for Goodwill Challenge trying to out donate each other, said Steve Chartrand, president & CEO of Goodwill of Southern Nevada. But the reality is, our entire community will win because of this challenge. By doing a bit of spring cleaning, we can help thousands in Southern Nevada get a fresh start. Goodwill of Southern Nevada transforms donated goods and monetary contributions into pathways to meaningful employment for Southern Nevadans in need. In 2015, Goodwill of Southern Nevada successfully placed 2,383 individuals into local, sustainable jobs generating more than $48 million in earned wages. Photo source bnews.vn A representative of Chinese Lisheng Electronics Vietnam Co., Ltd., one of the above three FIEs, told VIR that the workers are in a stable condition and would return to work on Saturday, after having a paid day off. Lisheng has yet to supervise the quality of meals as well as the origin of food, allowing the companys meal supplier to violate food safety regulations. Lisheng will terminate its contract with the current supplier. Leaders of the three companies will attend a working session to reach a compromise about the compensation of workers, Lishengs representative added. Regarding the investigations result, after inspecting Tran Anh Food - the three companies meal supplier, the Police Department for Environmental Crime Prevention and Control (C49) uncovered and seized 103.7 kilogrammes of frozen meat having colour change and foul smell, according to newswire Bnew. Along with the food safety violations, the food supplier lacks a certification of safe food. C49 made a violation record and requested it to destruct the entire contaminated meat. Previously, workers of the three FIEs, Chinese Lisheng Electronics Vietnam Co., Ltd., Korean Sung Ju Vina Co., Ltd., and Chinese Xinren Electronics Vietnam Co., Ltd., displayed symptoms of vomiting, stomachache, and diarrhoea after a lunch provided by the same restaurant with the same menu. Pham Thi Tuyet, a worker of Lisheng, said that workers noticed the food had foul smell and numerous workers decided to skip the meal. According to Phan Xuan Thuy, deputy director of Chon Thanh District Hospital, the workers displayed symptoms of food poisoning due to eating contaminated food. It is lucky that they were hospitalised promptly. The Duc Hoa Peoples Court in the southern province of Long An also announced that it would stop dealing with the dispute between Tan Duc IP and Tango Candy according to Tan Duc IPs will. Meanwhile, Tu Khanh Hung, Tango Candys representative told newswire baodatviet.vn that the company would continue pursuing the lawsuit to the end. Tango Candy is willing to confront with the plaintiff. Previously, Tan Duc IP sued Tango Candy Co. Ltd. for delaying its infrastructure fee payments. Simultaneously, Tan Duc IP sent a petition to the government in late March explaining that the infrastructure fee was fairly applied to both foreign and domestic firms within the park, and called for the local authorities objective assessment to protect the rights of Vietnamese enterprises in general and Tan Duc IP in particular. Tan Duc IP was censured because it had not complied strictly with the provisions of laws. Notably, it did not register an infrastructure fee framework with the local authorities, and set high fees without first getting written agreements from its tenants. Following this, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc told Long An authorities to take punitive measures against the improper behavior of Tan Duc IPs management board over an infrastructure maintenance fee dispute with Tango Candy. Besides, the Ministry of Planning and Investment sent a message to the authorities of the southern province of Long An to urge them to take stronger actions to reassure foreign investors following the dispute, which caused concerns about Vietnams investment climate. The dispute between the two companies centred on unpaid infrastructure maintenance fees that Tan Duc asked Tango Candy to pay starting in 2013, at a rate of VND10,018 ($0.45) per square metre per year. The Japanese firm refused to pay, arguing that the rate was exorbitantly high. The IP developer went as far as blocking the entrance to Tango Candys factory and even temporarily turned off the electricity and water supply at the plant. The news has been released by Tran Viet Ha, director of the Ho Chi Minh City Industrial and Export Processing Zones Management Authority (Hepza)s Investment Department. Ha said that the new investor may put forward at least $500 million to the project. However, the name of the new investor has yet to be disclosed. According to Ha, the new investor has attended numerous working sessions with Hepza representatives to study the legal procedures and the factory, as well as negotiate items in the investment plan. The Hepza plans to grant a new investment certificate for the investor in the first half of this year. However, the investor has yet to finalise the date to implement the project, due to the long delay in construction of Highway 8, which links Highway 22 with Dong Nam industrial zone, hampering the implementation of First Solar project. The new investor is interested in Highway 8s construction progress, and aims to finalise a specific plan for First Solar. If the project is licensed this year, it will contribute to the attraction of foreign investment capital to the city, Ha stated. In January 2011, Hepza granted an investment certificate to First Solar Vietnam Manufacturing Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of US-based First Solar Technology Group, to develop a factory producing thin-film solar power panels and semi-finished products. The 44.2-hectare factory has the total investment capital of $1.2 billion, with a designed capacity of up to 1,080MW per year. The operational time of the whole project is 50 years. The first phases construction was kicked off in March 2011 and is expected to complete within 19 months. However, the construction of the project was suspended after a mere eight months due to the supply-demand imbalance in the world solar market. While suspended, the investor completed the construction of the 113,000-square metre manufacturing facility, including 107,000sq.m of industrial space divided into two production areas, a large logistics area, and 6,000sq.m of external office buildings. In July 2012, First Solar Group announced plans to sell its factory and leave Vietnam. In February 2012, the American company completed the evaluation and approved a set of initiatives on increasing manufacturing capacity, among others, primarily intended to adjust its previously planned expansions and global manufacturing footprint. Tymen De Jong, senior vice president of manufacturing for First Solar, said that due to the supply-demand imbalance in the world solar market, regrettably, the First Solar plant would need to be postponed until the market demand recovered for additional capacity. See more information on VIR print to be published on April 25 If the bonds are converted into ordinary Nam Long shares, Keppel Land will own up to approximately 15 per cent of the company. This is an opportunity to collaborate and explore opportunities in the affordable housing segment, making use of Nam Longs prestigious brand name and Keppel Lands trustworthiness. According to Keppel Land CEO Ang Wee Gee the convertible bonds followed his initial investment in NLG last year and demonstrates Keppel Lands strong partnership with NLG as well as its commitment to continue to participate in the company's growth. It also underscores our confidence in Vietnams long-term investment potential, which is one of Keppel Land's key growth markets," Gee added. Nguyen Xuan Quang, chairman of Nam Long Investment Corporation, said that before cooperating with Keppel Land, Nam Long worked with numerous foreign financial institutes and developers, such as Goldman Sachs, IFC, ASPL, and Mekong Capital. We always look forward to collaborating with leading partners in the property sector in order to improve our capacity and efficiency, and in turn, bringing value to our customers and benefits to our shareholders. Keppel Lands deep understanding of the Vietnamese market in general and regional markets strengthens our confidence in our strategy and we will strive to do good on our commitments to shareholders, partners, and the community, Quang said. Earlier in July 2015, Keppel Land, subscribed for 7.1 million new ordinary shares issued by Nam Long, representing approximately 5 per cent of the companys total share volume. Nam Long has approximately 25 years of experience on the Vietnamese real estate market, with three major product lines, including Ehome, Flora, and Valora. As of today, Nam Longs total assets are worth over VND5.022 trillion, including up to 500 hectares of land in favourable locations and government planning correspondence that guarantees sustainable development for 10 years. In Vietnam, Keppel Land is one of the largest pioneering foreign real estate investors with a diverse portfolio of properties in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Dong Nai, and Vung Tau, including Grade A offices, residential properties, integrated townships, and award-winning serviced apartments. Offering over 20 licensed projects across Vietnam and a pipeline of more than 25,000 homes, Keppel Land is establishing itself as the choice developer, distinguished by quality and innovative lifestyle concepts. US President Barack Obama speaks during a press conference at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in central London on Apr, 22, 2016, with Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron (unseen) following a meeting at Downing Street. (Photo: AFP/Ben Stansall/Pool) LONDON: Barack Obama warned Britain on Friday (Apr 22) against leaving the European Union, undercutting a key argument of eurosceptics by saying London would be "at the back of the queue" for a post-Brexit trade deal. The US president's comments on the Jun 23 EU membership referendum at a press conference with British Prime Minister David Cameron drew a furious reaction from those campaigning to leave the 28-country bloc. Standing alongside Cameron at the Foreign Office in London, Obama said Britain was "at its best when it is helping to lead a strong Europe". The US president, whose term ends next January, made an unusually detailed and heartfelt intervention in the politics of another country and repeatedly spoke of the "special relationship" between Britain and the United States. But his most significant remarks in nearly an hour of comments came on trade, reflecting growing concern in Washington at the prospect of Britain leaving the EU. Asked what would happen if Britain did vote to quit, Obama said that while "maybe at some point" it could seal a trade deal with the United States, "it's not going to happen any time soon". "The UK's going to be at the back of the queue," Obama added. Anti-EU campaigners like London Mayor Boris Johnson have made the claim that Britain could sign free trade deals with allies around the world a key plank of their argument for leaving the bloc. Nigel Farage, leader of the eurosceptic UK Independence Party, dismissed the president's comments. "President Obama won't be in office by the time we're out of the EU post-referendum," he wrote on Twitter. "Trade deal of course in both countries' interests." For his part, Cameron restated his case for Britain remaining in the EU, a close fight which will define his political legacy. "Now I think is a time to stay true to our values and stick together with our friends and allies," he said. CHURCHILL BUST-UP Obama's comments fuelled a controversy ignited earlier Friday by an article he wrote in The Daily Telegraph newspaper. The president argued that Britain's place in the EU magnified its global influence. "The outcome of your decision is a matter of deep interest to the United States," he wrote in comments published at the start of his four-day visit. Johnson, the leading face of the eurosceptic campaign, said it was "downright hypocritical" of the United States to intervene as it would not accept the same limits on its own sovereignty as EU members do. "For the United States to tell us in the UK that we must surrender control of so much of our democracy is a breathtaking example of the principle of do as I say, not as I do," Johnson wrote in The Sun tabloid. Johnson also repeated claims that "part-Kenyan" Obama may have removed a statue of Britain's World War II prime minister Winston Churchill from the Oval Office at the start of his first term out of "ancestral dislike of the British empire". Obama jokingly dismissed the allegation and said he had another bust of Churchill in his residence. "I love Winston Churchill. Love the guy," he said. Ahead of the press conference, Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama had lunch at Windsor Castle with Queen Elizabeth II, who turned 90 on Thursday, and her husband Prince Philip. They later had dinner with the monarch's grandson Prince William, his wife Kate and brother Prince Harry. 'APPEAL FROM THE HEART' Richard Whitman, professor of politics and international relations at the University of Kent, said Obama was "making a very strong appeal from the heart". "It will be difficult to say from the polls whether his intervention made a significant difference but I think that it creates a narrative which appears to be favouring the 'Remain' campaign," he said. A Sky News television survey found 57 per cent said Obama's intervention would make "no difference" to their vote. While experts warn many people have not yet decided how to vote, the "Remain" camp currently has 54 per cent support compared to 46 per cent for "Leave", according to an average of the last six opinion polls calculated by the What UK Thinks project. More than four million in Syria live in besieged or hard-to-reach areas, with limited or no access to food or medical supplies. (Photo: AFP/Mahmoud Taha) GENEVA: Syria's fragile ceasefire is in grave peril, US President Barack Obama and the UN's special envoy warned on Friday (Apr 22), as violence surged in the war-ravaged country's second city Aleppo. The truce "is still in effect, but it is in great trouble if we don't act quickly," the United Nations' top envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura told reporters in Geneva, where he is mediating faltering peace talks. Obama voiced alarm at the situation, telling a press conference in London: "I am deeply concerned about the cessation of hostilities fraying and whether it's sustainable." A landmark partial ceasefire, which was negotiated by the United States and Russia and took effect on Feb 27, had dramatically curtailed violence across much of Syria and raised hopes that a lasting deal could be struck in Geneva to end the bloodshed. But the country has been rocked by fighting in recent weeks, particularly around the city of Aleppo, where at least 25 civilians were killed and 40 wounded in air strikes on rebel-held neighbourhoods on Friday alone, emergency workers said. FRAGILE PEACE TALKS De Mistura said Friday's violence in Aleppo was "very worrisome". Frustrated by the surging violence, the lack of access for desperately-needed aid and the failure to secure the release of detainees, Syria's main opposition High Negotiations Committee (HNC) halted its formal participation this week in the Geneva talks. But de Mistura said Friday that members of his team had continued to hold "very, very productive" meetings at a technical level with remaining HNC members at their Geneva hotel. And he said he intended to push ahead with the ongoing round of talks, which began on Apr 13, until Wednesday. "We need to try until Wednesday to get as deep as possible ... and we can do that both formally, informally, technically, practically," he said. He hailed that all sides were finally engaging in discussions on the thorny issue of political transition, but acknowledged that the understanding of what that would entail still differed widely. The fate of President Bashar al-Assad remains a major sticking point in the indirect talks, with the opposition insisting any peace deal must include his departure, while Damascus insists his future is non-negotiable. The HNC, an umbrella group comprising the main Syrian opposition and rebel factions that came together in Riyadh in December, said in a statement Friday that it was continuing "to work hard for progress on political transition, for relief from sieges and air strikes". "And we have had a meeting here today on the detainee issue," it said, stressing that it considered the ceasefire to be "in trouble". HNC spokesman Salem al-Meslet told AFP that if the group sees "major and serious steps on the ground ... in the next couple of days, there will be nothing stopping the members who left Geneva from returning." 'MURDERING REGIME' De Mistura called for a new high-level meeting of the 17-country International Syria Support Group, which is co-chaired by the United States and Russia, who brokered the February ceasefire deal. "We do need certainly a new ISSG at the ministerial level, because the level of danger ... (means that such a meeting) is urgently required," he said. Obama meanwhile lashed out at Moscow for supporting "a murderous regime", but vowed to keep working with the Russian government to strengthen the ceasefire and support the peace talks. He said he had spoken to Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday "asking him to put more pressure on (Syrian President Bashar al) Assad, indicating to him that we would continue to try to get the moderate opposition to stay at the negotiating table in Geneva." "If in fact the cessation falls apart, we will try to put it back together again even as we continue to go after ISIL," he said, referring to the Islamic State group, which along with other militants is not included in the truce deal. Since Syria's conflict erupted in March 2011, more than 270,000 people have died, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which is considered to have the most reliable count. The UN no longer provides casualty figures for Syria, since it considers them too difficult to verify, but de Mistura said Friday he believed the actual toll had to be far higher, likely around 400,000. Syrian government officials arrived Friday in Qamishli to try to negotiate a speedy cease-fire between Kurdish fighters and mainly Arab pro-Assad militiamen after the heaviest fighting in more than two years broke out Thursday. Syrian Kurdish forces and government troops have lived in uneasy detente in the northeastern city of Qamishli, which Syrian Kurds consider their capital. Kurds have enjoyed considerable self-rule, with the Syrian government immersed in a civil war raging elsewhere in the nation. At various times, though, the regime and the Kurds have assisted each other on the battlefield mainly against the Islamic State terror group. But this February, the Kurds took advantage of a Russian-backed Assad regime offensive and grabbed villages north of Aleppo from U.S.-favored rebels. Latest violence The current fighting involves mainly the Asayish the Kurdish security police battling members of the National Defense Forces (NDF), a largely Iranian-trained militia made up of local Arab tribesmen loyal to President Bashar al-Assad. Both sides fired artillery at the other for the first time since Assad forces withdrew from most of the city in 2012. Pro-government news sites claim Kurdish shelling damaged the city's national hospital. Regular Syrian army soldiers, who oversee parts of Qamishli, avoided being drawn into Thursday's fighting. Government warplanes flew over areas of the city, although they did not launch airstrikes on Kurdish positions. The armed clashes forced hundreds of Kurds to flee. More fighting Friday Government officials arrived as Kurdish police units threatened to mount an attack on Qamishli's government-controlled airport. An assault on the airport would risk involving regular government troops and the People's Protection Units (YPG) the armed wing of the region's dominant political party, the Kurdish Democratic Union (PYD). "Bullets were flying above my head in the street," said resident Akram Zave, who was wounded from a mortar rocket that hit his store in the city's main market. After being discharged from the hospital, he fled toward the neighboring town of Amude. Fighting resumed Friday morning as Kurdish fighters took control of several government buildings and detained at least 50 pro-government troops in a military base. "We don't know how many of them [government troops] have been killed. But the bodies of their killed fighters are still left on the streets," said Kurdish sniper Egid Qamishlo, who was positioned on top of a building recently taken from government forces. VOA is one of the few outside media in the city as the fighting rages. Cause unclear The immediate cause of the clashes was unclear. Some locals said fighting first erupted between the Asayish and members of the NDF at a checkpoint in a square demarcating a government-controlled area of the city. About a quarter of the city has remained in government hands since 2012. Locals say the pro-Assad fighters sought to detain a Kurdish traffic policeman. Others contacted by VOA by phone and said the NDF shot at a passing Kurdish police patrol that refused to stop at the checkpoint. According to local media reports, four people were killed in the initial firefight, which spread quickly to several other parts of the city. YPG member Aras Xani tweeted Thursday, "The Asayish killed eight fighters of the regime-affiliated militia." He said Kurdish fighters had surrounded several Assad government bases and were "deploying more and more special units in the clashes with the Syrian regime militia." On Thursday, the Asayish overran Alaya prison, where they captured more than 60 government soldiers. That, in turn, provoked the NDF to launch an artillery barrage that left 20 civilians dead. "The [Syrian] regime only wants to show that it is still relevant in this region," Ilham Ahmed, a Kurdish official, told Arta FM, a local radio station in Kurdish Syria. Brewing tensions Tensions have been brewing for weeks between Kurds and Arabs in Qamishli, and in Syria's Kurdish-dominated northeast. A recent declaration by the PYD, a key U.S. ally in the fight against the Islamic State terror group, of a Kurdish federation in the north angered NDF leaders. Kurdish officials say pro-Assad militiamen have been eager to reassert the government's authority. The U.S. views the PYD's armed wing, the YPG, as its most effective ground partner in the fight against the Islamic State. But the PYD's ultimate objective has been to carve out its own Kurdish homeland and establish self-rule. Most of the time, that has entailed avoiding clashes with the Assad government, which has been equally keen on preventing the Kurds from becoming full-fledged foes. "This [fighting] could be a message from the Assad regime to the PYD that no matter how much support they receive from the U.S., they [Kurds] still can't be fully independent from Damascus," Kurdish affairs analyst Hosheng Ose told VOA. Flare-ups, though, have occurred frequently in the past, predating the declaration of a Kurdish federation, as one VOA reporter discovered in 2013. On a trip to Qamishli, the Asayish confronted Syrian government troops and attempted to capture the reporter. Nearly two hours of tense negotiations and the involvement of a local judge resolved the crisis without a firefight. Shift in power? "The Kurds are playing their own games to have their own state," Bassam Barabandi, a former Syrian diplomat who co-founded People Demand Change, an international development organization, told VOA recently. Kurdish opportunism in February saw the YPG take advantage of a war-changing, Russian-backed Assad offensive across the northern Aleppo countryside, during which it seized several villages controlled by U.S.-favored anti-Assad rebels. The rebels accused the YPG of coordinating militarily with the Assad government, an accusation the Syrian Kurds denied. But in parts of the northeast, especially in Al Hasakah province, Assad regime soldiers and YPG units have manned checkpoints jointly during offensives against the Islamic State. Some analysts say the ongoing clashes in Qamishli may reflect a shift in the balance of power in northeast Syria, with Kurdish leaders increasingly confident they can push the government out of more areas of the city without incurring a forceful backlash from Damascus. Both the government and Moscow have been increasing their courtship of the PYD and advocating for it to be included in the Geneva peace talks, which anti-Assad rebels have vociferously opposed. With the help of the U.S.-led coalition, Kurdish YPG fighters have made significant gains against IS militants in many parts of north and northeastern Syria. But Kurdish leaders fear that an ongoing confrontation with Syrian troops will make their mission against IS more challenging. "This is certainly a distraction from our fight against Daesh [IS]," one YPG commander, who requested anonymity, told VOA. In the midst of the ongoing battles in Qamishli, IS claimed responsibility for a car bomb Thursday in the city, which killed more than a dozen people. A pro-government news site argued Friday that the clashes may be the start of a more complicated relationship between Damascus and the PYD. As the Islamic State terror group is pushed out of more territory, the news site said, Kurdish leaders will be "incentivized to attack and fully capture Qamishli." A university professor was murdered in northwestern Bangladesh Saturday, in an attack similar to other killings by suspected Islamist militants. Rezaul Karim Siddique was hacked from behind as he waited for a bus near his home in the city of Rajshahi, apparently to go to the university campus. The 58-year-old English professor at Rajshahi University was also an advisor to several cultural programs. Rajshahi Metropolitan Police Commissioner Mohammad Shamsuddin told reporters that by examining the nature of the attack authorities suspect that it was carried out by extremist groups. The brutal murder was similar to other hacking deaths on secular and atheist activists in the South Asian nation carried out by Islamist militants. The Islamic State militant group claimed responsibility for the attack, according to the SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors jihadi websites. Amnesty International's South Asia Director Champa Patel condemned Siddiques killing as "inexcusable", saying it was part of a "gruesome pattern." Patel called on Bangladeshi authorities to do more to put an end to the killings, adding that not a single person has been brought to justice for such attacks over the past year. Following Saturday's attack, students and professors marched on Rajshahi University's campus and blocked a major road, demanding justice. Three professors at the university have been killed in recent years. Earlier this month, the United States offered its resources and expertise to the Bangladeshi government as Dhaka investigates a series of murders of secular bloggers in the Muslim-majority country. Rights groups have accused the Bangladeshi government of not doing enough to stop the attacks. At least six bloggers and a secular publisher have been killed since 2013. Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff denounced her impeachment as a "coup" to an international audience Friday, and said she would appeal to the Mercosur bloc of South American nations for Brazil to be suspended if democratic process is broken. "I would appeal to the democracy clause if there were, from now on, a rupture of what I consider democratic process," she told reporters in New York. Mercosur has a democratic clause that can be triggered when an elected government is overthrown in any of its member states, as happened in Paraguay in 2012. A breach results in suspension from meetings and can lead to the country losing its trade benefits. Rousseff's comments were the strongest signal yet that she could continue fighting her ouster if the Senate removes her from office. The impeachment process has "all the characteristics of a coup" as it has no legal basis, she said, in an attempt to rally international support for her political narrative. Impeachment nearly certain Rousseff could be removed from office within weeks by the Senate in an impeachment process that has paralyzed her government and thrown Brazil into its deepest political crisis since its return to civilian rule in 1985. The president denied her cabinet is hobbled by impeachment proceedings but said the country currently lacked the political stability to balance its fiscal accounts. Rousseff suffered a crushing defeat Sunday when the lower house of Congress voted to impeach her, almost guaranteeing the leftist leader will be forced from office in a Senate trial just months before the nation hosts the Olympics. The impeachment has polarized the country, with her supporters regarding the attempt to oust her for breaking budget laws as a "coup without weapons," while opponents say the process follows the law and the constitution. Rousseff adopted a softer tone earlier Friday in a speech to the United Nations during the signing of the Paris Agreement on climate change, in which she avoided the word "coup." "I cannot conclude my remarks without mentioning the grave moment Brazil is currently undergoing," she said. "I have no doubt our people will be capable of preventing any setbacks." Rousseff said foreign leaders had expressed solidarity. N.Y. weighs in Her last-minute decision to go to the United Nations brought the Brazilian crisis to the streets of New York. Outside the U.N. headquarters, some 100 Rousseff backers chanted in support of the beleaguered leftist president, while about 50 opponents chanted back at them. "There won't be any setbacks. The impeachment will go ahead," said opposition Congressman Jose Carlos Aleluia, who was sent to observe Rousseff's speech at the U.N. by her nemesis, lower house Speaker Eduardo Cunha. "The accusations against the president are very serious. Her actions led to economic chaos, besides violating the Constitution," Cunha's office said in a statement. Rousseff is being impeached for manipulating public accounts, a charge that she denies. Temer: Ready to govern If Rousseff is impeached by the Senate in a vote expected in mid-May, she will be suspended pending a trial and replaced by Vice President Michel Temer. Temer has denied Rousseff's accusations that he has openly plotted against her and rejects the notion that a "coup" is underway. In comments to reporters Friday, Temer said Rousseff's speech was "adequate" but asked for an end to attacks on him that hurt Brazil's standing. In interviews with two U.S. newspapers published Friday, Temer criticized Rousseff's trip and said he was ready to govern Brazil if she is unseated, though he denied he was already forming a shadow cabinet. Temer told the Wall Street Journal that Rousseff was damaging Brazil's image at a time when it needed to attract foreign investment to pull the country out of the worst recession since the 1930s. To the New York Times, he said: "I'm very worried about the president's intention to say Brazil is some minor republic where coups are carried out." Justice Dias Toffoli, who was appointed to the Supreme Court by Rousseff, also criticized the president for tarnishing Brazil's democratic credentials abroad, joining two other judges of the 11-member court to rebuke her publicly this week. "To allege that a coup is underway is an offense to Brazil's institutions ... because it gives Brazil a bad image," Toffoli told TV Globo. Police in the Midwestern U.S. state of Ohio are looking for at least one gunman who killed eight members of a family, including a mother sleeping in a bed with her 4-day-old baby next to her. Seven adults and a 16-year-old boy were shot in the head Friday in four homes in Pike County, a rural Appalachian Mountain area about 130 kilometers east of Cincinnati. Three children, including the newborn, survived the carnage that has left the county of 28,000 residents reeling. The other surviving children are 6 months old and 3 years old. Police said the victims, identified as members of the Rhoden family, were specifically targeted. Some of the victims were in bed, indicating they were shot while they were sleeping. Officials said none of the deaths appeared to be suicides, and they urged other members of the Rhoden family to take precautions. Pike County Sheriff Charles Reader said if the shooter or shooters are at large, they should be considered armed and "extremely dangerous.'' Ohio Governor John Kasich, campaigning in Pennsylvania for his Republican presidential bid, said his office was monitoring the situation in Pike County. "Reports we are receiving from Peebles [Ohio] are tragic beyond comprehension,'' Kasich wrote on his Twitter account. Citizens of Equatorial Guinea go to the polls on Sunday to choose a new president. It is expected that long time President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo will win re-election. Exiled opposition leaders say Sundays general election is unlikely to be free fair or transparent. President Mbasogo has ruled Equatorial Guinea for nearly 37 years after overthrowing his uncle Francisco Macias Nguema. Mbasogo is currently the longest serving African head of state and could serve another seven years in office if he wins the vote Sunday. In an interview with VOA, John Bennett, a former US Ambassador to Equatorial Guinea says Sundays vote will not be credible. These are not elections in any meaningful fashion as to selection of a countrys leader in the West, United States or virtually anywhere else. This is the re-imposition of dictatorship that existed since the late 1960s, specifically since August 3 1979, said Bennett. Human rights issues Opposition and international civil society groups have often accused the government in Malabo of gross human rights violations and the use of state security agencies to harass and intimidate opponents accusations the government sharply denies. Supporters of the government say Mbasogo has led the countrys economic transformation and has ensured peace and stability despite repeated criticisms. They also said accusations of human rights violations are inconsistent after accusing outside groups of plotting to create tension and seeking a regime change through violence. The supporters say it is clear the opposition cant win the presidential vote so they are coming up with excuses to tarnish the credibility of the poll. Exiled opposition leader Severo Moto, of the Progress Party told VOA he has been prevented from participating in Sundays vote because the government uses a constitutional provision that demands a candidate lives in the country continuously for five years to be eligible. That, he says, effectively guarantees incumbent President Mbasogo win the vote with a wide margin. Motto also said the president tightly controls everything from organizing the elections, to the control of the media as well as the entire government machinery. Supporters of the administration deny the allegations as without merit. No significant challenge Ambassador Bennett says there is no credible opposition leader to pose a significant challenge to Mbasogo in the poll. If there are individuals and groups who have opposed him for many years, decades, however he has managed to neutralize them put them in jail or otherwise discouraged them, he has co-opted many, but there is no meaningful opposition in a sense that he would allow an opposition party to oppose him. No, said Bennett. Asked why the international community has yet to take action against the government in Malabo, despite repeated reports of human rights violations, Bennett said Sadly to a great extent it has been a get along go along international community that one, needs the oil and also for example with respect to the United States, the oil companies facilitated very powerful very effective press campaign through professional image managers so that he was acceptable enough to come and go as he wished. The former U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad, says one of the biggest problems facing Afghanistan continues to be its poor relationship with its neighbor, Pakistan. Khalilzad told VOA's Urdu service in an interview Friday that "the two countries need each other and they should cooperate." He said the United States did not succeed in bringing Afghanistan and Pakistan together after 9/11 and "we have not succeeded still." "This is going on so many years later. And I think this is the mother, in my view, of the problems of Afghanistan," Khalilzad said. The Afghanistan-born scholar said the biggest failure of the United States in Afghanistan was not being able to develop a plan "where Afghanistan and Pakistan could cooperate." Khalilzad said the main reason why the United States could not achieve more in Afghanistan was because Pakistan created sanctuaries for the Taliban. Pakistan's 'double game' Shortly after the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 to drive out the Taliban, Khalilzad, who was serving as U.S. President's George Bush's special envoy to Afghanistan, said he began to realize that Pakistan was playing a "double game." He said very few U.S. officials believed what he was saying. "I was the fist administration official at that level to say a 'sanctuary' was being developed to use that word. Now, if you say that no one would challenge that." Pakistan has consistently denied that it allows militant groups to organize and plot attacks from its territory, or that its intelligence service aids some militant groups. However the country's inability to secure the tribal areas along the Afghan border has become a high-profile issue with both Washington and Kabul who say Islamabad should do more to rein in extremists. A recent survey of Afghan public opinion conducted by VOA's parent organization, the Broadcasting Board of Governors, along with the Gallup news agency showed that citizens of Afghanistan have a very low opinion of Pakistan. Survey respondents gave Pakistan a favorability rating of 3.7 percent the bottom of the list faring even worse than Islamic State, which received a 5.8 favorability rating. Khalilzad said he is disappointed the United States could not do more in Afghanistan, but said the situation there is a lot better than before the U.S. invasion. Iraq, Syria After serving the Bush administration in Afghanistan, Khalilzad became the U.S. ambassador to Iraq. "If we knew what we know now, that Saddam [Hussein] didn't have WMD [Weapons of Mass Destruction] or very little WMD, that our intelligence was wrong," he said, "then surely we wouldn't have invaded" Iraq. On Syria, Khalilzad said he does not support the Obama's administration policy. "I think we should have done more to stop the war. We should have created these safe zones. We have a lot of experience, we did it in Iraq after the invasion of Kuwait for the Kurds. Sunni, Shi'ite rivalry When asked about the rise of Islamist extremism, Khalilzad said "whatever the reasons are, Muslims are divided themselves." He said one of the most important factors in the rise of Islamic State is the rivalry between Sunni and Shi'ite Muslims and between Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey. He said current policies in the Middle East have led to "supremely devastating circumstances for the Sunni Arabs" in both Syria and Iraq. "Only extremists can survive in those circumstances," he said. "If you are a moderate, a professor, a dentist, a doctor, and you have children, you can not survive. You run away, or you become and extremist, saying this must be the will of God." Zalmay Khalilzad's new memoir, "The Envoy: From Kabul to the White House, My Journey Through a Turbulent World," traces his journey from a boy in Mazar-i-Sharif in Afghanistan, to his time in California as an exchange student, and his time as U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan, Iraq and later the United Nations. Several of Hong Kongs young political activists are calling for independence from China and changes to the citys Basic Law, which calls the territory an inalienable part of China. But it is not clear if the calls for independence will gain any traction outside a small group of supporters. Activists such as Chan Ho-Tin say they are forming a plan to push for independence, and that plan may include violence against the state. Earlier this year, Chan, 25, who said he was largely apolitical before joining the 2014 pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong, founded the Hong Kong National Party. Concerned by what he views as Beijings encroaching influence on Hong Kong, Chan said his party will use any means necessary, including violence, to fight for independence of the city. Chan says he is working with other pro-independence groups in the city, and that his party will field candidates in elections for the Legislative Council in September. Another pro-democracy activist, Joshua Wong, said his recently founded party, Demosisto, would leave any decision on independence to the Hong Kong people. He added that he will push for a referendum on the issue. Many people do not give the cause much chance of gaining traction, while others are openly dismissive of the idea. Joseph Cheng, a democracy activist and professor emeritus at the City University of Hong Kong, said the calls for Hong Kongs independence should be seen as a refutation of the citys leadership. The small group which openly advocates for independence has no concrete program nor action plan to realize Hong Kong independence. It is largely a gesture of defiance, a gesture of denial of the legitimacy of the Hong Kong government, he said. Perilous possibility Regina Ip, chair of the pro-Beijing New Peoples Party, says Hong Kongs inextricable economic and political ties to China make the recent calls for independence a dangerous option. Its very bad news, because separatism from China, or secession from China, is clearly a nonstarter. We have always been a part of China. We rely on China for food and water, for the bulk of our trade; 70 percent of our publicly ministered companies on the Hang Seng stock market index are from mainland China. China is our largest trading and investment partner. [Secession would] be an unmitigated economic disaster for Hong Kong, she said. Pan-democrat lawmakers, who support more democracy, have also widely dismissed calls for independence as unrealistic and unnecessary. Several young pan-democrat lawmakers are pushing for an extension of Hong Kongs autonomy beyond 2047, when the one country, two systems formula expires. Emily Lau, head of Hong Kongs Democratic Party, said activists push for full independence of the city would not have wide support in the city. I think they are free to promote what they want, to speak what they want, but I think that most people in Hong Kong do not support it, she said. While pan-democratic lawmakers have discounted recent calls for independence as unlikely to be realized, pro-Beijing representatives have reacted strongly, saying any push for independence could result in jail time. A director in the law department of Chinas representative office in Hong Kong said that anti-sedition laws currently on the books in Hong Kong could be used to arrest activists who advocate political independence from China. President Barack Obama has called on Britains young people to reject pessimism, cynicism, and xenophobia during a town hall discussion in London Saturday, a day after he dealt with stinging criticism over his remarks expressing support for Britain to stay in the European Union. The U.S. president said that in times of change, there is a temptation to forge identities, "tribal identities that give you a sense of certainty, a buffer against change." Obama said that is something they "have to fight against. Globalization and integration, he said, should be seen "not as threats, but as opportunities." Obama took questions on a wide range of topics, including what he would like to see the next president do and what he wants his legacy to reflect when his time as president is up. He said he would have to wait about 10 years before he can look back and accurately assess his legacy, but "I think I've been true to myself in the process." Legacy "I'll look at my scorecard at the end... but I'm proud," he said. Obama mentioned his landmark health care bill, the global response to the Ebola crisis and the Iran nuclear deal as notable achievements, but, in terms of his largest accomplishment: saving the world economy from a great depression that was pretty good, he joked, referencing the 2008 financial crisis. Another young woman in the audience asked which of the social movements that took place during his presidency helped to change his mind the most, to which Obama cited his evolving view on marriage equality. At first, Obama said, he was in favor of civil unions because he thought labelling those relationships as marriages was not necessary as long as the people involved were getting the same rights, but his children had a great impact on changing that point of view. Its not simply about legal rights, but the sense of stigma," he said. "If youre calling it something else, it means less in the eyes of society. Watch: Obama Addresses Town Hall Brexit criticism The U.S leader got an enthusiastic welcome from the audience of mostly young people who had a chance to ask him questions. The welcome was in stark contrast to Friday, when Obama received strong criticism for calling on Britain to stay in the European Union. I dont believe the EU moderates British influence in the world, it magnifies it, the U.S. leader said at a joint news conference with British Prime Minister David Cameron following their meeting on Friday. The statements drew a sharp rebuke from those who back Britains exit, a matter that will be up for British voters to decide in a June 23rd referendum. Right-wing U.K. Independence Party leader Nigel Farage had strong words for the U.S. leader, saying he should butt out. London Mayor Boris Johnson described Mr. Obamas statements as hypocritical and perverse and said U.S. leaders would never contemplate anything like the EU for themselves. The London mayor himself triggered controversy, when he referred to the U.S. leader as being a part-Kenyan president with an ancestral dislike of the British empire. Throughout his three-day stay in Britain, Obama has sought to dispel any notion of being against British history and tradition. On Friday, he said he had to confess that part of his reason for traveling to Britain was to wish Queen Elizabeth II a happy 90th birthday. Obama said the monarch, whose birthday was Thursday, as a real jewel to the world, not just Britain. On Saturday, his last full day in London, the U.S. president toured William Shakespeares Globe Theatre, marking the 400th anniversary of English playwrights death. He saw a performance of a play drawn from Shakespeares Hamlet. Obama also met privately with British opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn. The Saturday meeting had not previously been on the U.S. leaders schedule. The White House said they discussed the impact of globalization on labor and the need to take steps to reduce inequality around the world. It said Obama and Corbyn also agreed that the UK should remain in the EU. A leading Japanese newspaper says U.S. President Barack Obama will visit Hiroshima when he goes to Japan next month for a G-7 summit. A stop at Hiroshima would make Obama the first sitting U.S. president to visit the city that was devastated when the U.S. dropped an atomic bomb on it, leading to the end of World War II. The bombing of Hiroshima resulted in the deaths of about 140,000 people. Three days later, the U.S. dropped a second bomb on the Japanese port city of Nagasaki, killing about 70,000 people. The Nikkei business daily on Friday, citing an anonymous U.S. source, said Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will accompany Obama to Hiroshima. The anonymous source told the Nikkei Washington will formally notify Japan early next month about Obama's plans to visit Hiroshima. Obama was asked Friday at a news conference with British Prime Minister David Cameron in London about going to Hiroshima. He told reporters to wait until he visits Asia before asking him questions about Asia. Meanwhile, Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said the stories about Obama going to Hiroshima are "not true." He added, however, that it is "very important" for Japan that world leaders visit Hiroshima to understand the reality of the suffering caused by the atomic bombing. Earlier this month, John Kerry became the first U.S. secretary of state to visit Hiroshima. Kerry said the displays at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial and Museum were "gut-wrenching" and everyone should see them. U.S. President Barack Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel will discuss the global economy, terrorism, transatlantic security and many other issues during his two-day visit to Germany. Obama will hold talks with Merkel shortly after he arrives in Hanover on Sunday. After addressing reporters, the two leaders will officially open the Hanover Messe, billed as the worlds leading trade fair for industrial technology. Organizers expect 6,500 exhibitors and more than 200,000 visitors from 70 countries. White House officials say the event shows the importance of U.S.-German collaboration on many issues, including trade and commerce. WATCH: VOA's Mary Alice Salinas offers a preview of Barack Obama's German visit The two hope to build support for the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, or TTIP. The free-trade pact is being negotiated by the U.S. and the European Union. The president felt it was important to visit Germany during his final year in office because Merkel has been a close partner for his entire time in office, said deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes. The agenda includes the coalition fight against Islamic State and counterterrorism cooperation, following attacks in Brussels and Paris in recent months. We will be discussing both how to increase cooperation across the Atlantic and what Europeans themselves can do to better integrate their various agencies within countries and across borders, said Charles Kupchan, White House senior director for European affairs. The talks will also touch on the status of a cease-fire in Syria and the implementation of the Minsk agreement reached by Ukraine and pro-Russian separatists. Obama is also expected to express support for a deal between the European Union and Turkey to manage the flow of migrants and refugees from Syria and other unstable, chaotic or violent states. The leaders and their counterparts from Britain, France and Italy will hold talks ahead of a NATO summit set for July in Warsaw. The president will be discussing the agenda in preparation for that summit and the importance of NATO addressing its challenges, both on the eastern and on the southern flanks, Kupchan said. Obama will cap his visit Monday with a speech outlining his vision for future U.S.-European relations. President Barack Obama said Saturday that the $80 billion annual price tag for housing inmates in U.S. prisons has become prohibitive and that many nonviolent offenders serving lengthy prison terms are people with mental health issues and chemical addictions. Obama, in his weekly address, said nearly 60 percent of the country's 2.2 million prisoners suffer from mental health problems and that 70 percent need drug treatment. In pressing his months-long campaign for criminal justice reform, Obama called for new policies aimed at helping the more than 600,000 inmates released from prisons each year to become "productive, contributing members of their families and communities." He said that the White House in the coming days would call on businesses to commit to hiring convicts who have served their prison terms, and that new steps would be detailed assuring that ex-convicts have what he called "a fair shot to compete for a federal job." Writing Friday in The New York Times, Jason Furman, chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, called the growth of the U.S. prison population "staggering," with an incarceration rate more than four times the world average. He linked that growth to repeat-offender laws and other stricter sentencing rules, and he cited new research showing "many of those provisions do not appear to have a deterrent effect." Police in Pakistan say they have arrested an al-Qaida financier who has been on the U.N. Security Council sanction lists for four years. Abdul Rehman Sindhi was arrested Thursday in the southern port city of Karachi. Sindhi was placed on the sanctions list for providing "facilitation and financial services to al-Qaida." He is said to have had close ties to al-Qaida founder Osama bin Laden; his successor, Ayman al-Zawahiri; and Saud Memon, a key suspect in the kidnapping and killing of U.S. journalist Daniel Pearl in 2002. Pakistan has been under international pressure to crack down on Islamist militant groups and launched a renewed operation against them in 2014, when al-Zawahiri announced the formation of a new wing, al-Qaida in the Indian Subcontinent. The region, stretching across countries including Pakistan, India and Bangladesh, is home to more than 400 million Muslims. Pakistan has assured neighboring Afghanistan that peace talks with the Taliban will resume in a month to find a peaceful end to the Afghan conflict. Taliban-led insurgent violence has spiked in Afghanistan with the onset of spring, prompting fears this year could see record levels of bloodshed across the war-torn country. This weeks deadly Taliban assault in Kabul that killed around 70 people and wounded hundreds more has observers concerned that Afghan urban centers could be the focus of the insurgencys fighting in 2016. The rise in violence has led to increased calls from within Afghanistan for President Asharf Ghanis government to abandon its policy of seeking peace talks with the Taliban and instead intensify military operations against the insurgent group. Prospects for peace But, despite the pressure, visiting Afghan Minister for Refugees and Repatriation Sayed Hussain Alemi Balkhi, after a meeting with Pakistani foreign policy chief Sartaj Aziz, appeared upbeat about prospects of peace talks with the anti-government forces. The Afghan minister says that Aziz assured him the (Afghan) peace process will resume in about a month and it will encourage nearly three million Afghans living in Pakistan as refugees and economic migrants to return to Afghanistan. Taliban leaders are believed to be sheltering and allegedly directing insurgent attacks from sanctuaries in Pakistan. Afghan officials have been urging Islamabad to bring those leaders to the negotiating table. Islamabad admits having limited influence over some insurgent groups but says it has no control over Taliban activities inside Afghanistan. An initial round of peace talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban was expected to be hosted by Pakistan in early March but the insurgent group refused to attend in a last-minute announcement. Afghan refugees Minister Balkhi is in Pakistan to discuss problems facing the Afghan refugee population such as harassment at the hands of local police, forced deportations and illegal detentions during counterterrorism crackdowns. His Pakistani counterpart, Abdul Qadir Baloch, says the visiting Afghan minister has been assured the complaints are being addressed through certain steps. He insisted that mainly Afghans living illegally as economic migrants and not the registered refugees, are facing the problems. Baloch says that to address the issue, Pakistani authorities, with the help of the Afghan government, will start within a month a registration process for an estimated 1.5 million undocumented Afghans. "So, it will be done soon and hopefully once these Afghan refugees who are unregistered, they are registered and issued with Afghan documents and we also have a record of them and thereafter this complaint of them being harassed, or arrested, or persecuted in an undesirable manner that should come to an end, that will soon will come to an end, he said. Minister Baloch says that there are around one-and-a-half-million registered Afghan refugees in the country and he will soon submit a request to the federal cabinet to extend their stay in Pakistan until the end of 2017. The current deadline for the Afghan refugee population to legally stay in the country ends on June 30 of this year. In Dakar, rights activists and members of the Gambian Diaspora marched Friday to demand the unconditional release of dozens of opposition members arrested in Gambia one week ago. The opposition says at least three of its members were killed in detention. Hundreds of marchers in downtown Dakar chanted Defa doy, Enough is enough. The march is a show of solidarity with dozens of opposition members detained for over a week in Gambia. They were arrested during a protest calling for electoral reform. The government says the demonstration was unauthorized. The UDP opposition party says three of its members were tortured to death in custody. The high court charged 37 others Thursday for participating in an unlawful demonstration. But Gambian rights activists say about 80 people were arrested in all and they are still searching for information about those who did not appear in court Thursday. Sedat Jobe, a former Gambian government minister, says the world can no longer ignore the worsening human rights situation in Gambia. ECOWAS and the African Union will realize that the only thing to in order to help Gambia is to see that Yahya Jammeh is no more a part of the political atmosphere of the Gambia. Gambia is surrounded on three sides by Senegal. President Yahya Jammeh has been in power since 1994. A coup attempt by former military officers last year failed. In 2015, Amnesty International condemned what it called iron-fisted repression by Jammehs government and widespread rights violations. Amnestys Senegal director, Seydi Gassama, says free and fair elections must be held. Senegalese people and the Gambians are just one people in two different states, and we will not stand and let him kill our brothers in the Gambia. We will not accept that. We not accept any further brutality against peaceful demonstrators in the country, said Gassama. Many Gambian journalists and activists live in exile in Dakar. Killer Ace, a young Gambian hip hop musician, says they are ready to return to Gambia. Absolutely, we are one hundred percent ready. If people on the ground are ready, we definitely want to join them you know because this is everybodys fight, he said. Killer Ace took the microphone at the march and said: Defa doy. Enough is enough. Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said Saturday that his country's efforts to deter Syrians from entering Greece by sea had drastically cut daily migrant voyages from 6,000 in November to as few as 130 since early April. Davutoglu spoke from the Turkish city of Gaziantep near the Syrian border, alongside German Chancellor Angela Merkel and European Council President Donald Tusk. Merkel and Tusk were seeking to enforce terms of a deal under which migrants arriving in Greece would be returned to Turkey, in exchange for nearly $7 billion in European aid. Davutoglu also sought to dispel accusations from humanitarian organizations that the Turkish crackdown had forced Syrian migrants fleeing war to return home against their will. "There was not a single refugee that was sent back from Turkey into Syria against their will," he said. Merkel described the visit as an opportunity to discuss migration issues with Turkish leaders, as well as human rights matters, "in a very open and frank manner." For his part, Tusk described Turkey as "the best example for the whole world of how we should treat refugees," and said no one has the right to "lecture" the Ankara government on how it has handled the refugee situation. Tusk also said the immediate monetary value of European aid would exceed $1 billion in the coming months. On Friday, Amnesty International urged members of the European delegation not to "close their eyes to the catalog of human rights abuses faced by refugees" in Turkey. Amnesty's comments followed a recent European Parliament report that criticized Turkey's record on human rights and media freedom in 2015. That report urged the country to improve its human rights record, and said Ankara's bid to join the 28-nation EU trade bloc would succeed or fail based on how it met those EU demands. Nerves are frayed in the Turkish border town of Kilis, where the spillover from Syria's civil war is a bitter reality. Not only has the region taken in 130,000 Syrian refugees more than doubling the local population of some 93,000 Turks but rockets fired by Islamic State militants in Syria land almost daily, killing at least 14 residents so far this year, Turkish authorities say. The latest attack occurred Friday, when a rocket killed two people, including a child, and wounded four others. Five residents died in one attack earlier this month, including four children, Turkish media reported. "We are all scared," said Hasan Yadigar, a laborer in Kilis. "We don't have safety." At least 40 rockets have hit the Kilis region so far this year, Turkish officials say. "You don't know when and where the rockets will hit," said Ahmet Bal, a Kilis resident. Town paralyzed Many of the rockets are fired from the IS-controlled Syrian town of al-Rai, said Sertac Es, a defense reporter in the region. Al-Rai is close to the border with Turkey and is on a key supply route into IS-held territory in Aleppo, Syria. The town was taken over by IS after a fierce fight with Syrian rebels April 11, according to media reports. IS, which has claimed responsibility for several recent bombings inside Turkey, is now using its proximity to the border to terrorize residents in Kilis. "Not a day goes by without rockets being thrown at Kilis," Es said. "The rockets are so constant that sometimes only the emergency service of the state hospital is open. Other services and clinics are kept closed." WATCH: Rockets Target Turkish Border Town Resident Bal said people in Kilis are keeping their movements to a minimum. "Our children are not going to school because of this fear," he said. "They don't go to schools because of the rockets. We just wait there is nothing we can do. We are worried. We don't know if the rockets are going to fall to my neighborhood or the other ones." The Turkish army is sending in reinforcements and firing back with intense artillery barrages, according to Turkish sources. But Kilis residents are angry, saying the government has not done enough to protect them. "We don't know where the rockets will hit the next day," said resident Fatih Tutulmaz. "It can even hit right here. In fact, it hit 100 meters from here the other day. We expect something to be done about it, but nothing has been done." In Turkey, the trials started on Friday for four academics charged with terrorist propaganda after signing a petition. The case also resumed for two prominent journalists facing charges of espionage and aiding a terrorist organization for an article they wrote. The cases are raising growing concerns both nationally and internationally over human rights in Turkey. Hundreds of people gathered outside Istanbuls main court for what was described as a festival of justice. The gathering was in support of four academics and two journalists facing terrorism charges. Can Dundar, chief editor of Cumhuriyet, one of Turkeys last remaining mainstream newspapers critical of the government, and his colleague Erdem Gul, face 30 years in jail. Prosecutors accuse the journalists of espionage and working with a terrorist organization for a report in which they allege the Turkish government smuggled arms to Syrian rebels. After a short hearing Friday, the case was adjourned until next month. A defiant Dundar said he welcomes having his case coinciding with the academics'. Today we are much stronger together here, he says, adding "I believe that the force for opposition and resistance starts from the door of the court cases, that's how it's become." Dundars court proceedings now are held in secret, a decision the court made after several senior foreign diplomats attended the first session of the trial. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who is demanding the journalists' be convicted, condemned the presence of the diplomats. Political columnist Semih Idiz, with the Cumhuriyet and Al Monitor websites, says the case has become a political battle for Erdogan. "Erdogan has said quite openly that Dundar would pay for this and he would pay quite dearly. And having said this in front of the public, and his own constituents I think he feels that he has to push this through and somehow get a conviction for Can Dundar." Erdogan has also been pushing for convictions for 1,100 academics who signed a petition calling for an end to a crackdown of the Kurdish rebel group the PKK and a resumption of peace talks. The four on trial Friday face more than seven years in prison on terrorist propaganda charges. In court, the defendants reiterated their support for the petition and demanded their acquittal. The court rejected that demand, but did release them from jail. Turkey researcher Emma Sinclair Webb of the U.S.-based Human Rights Watch says the court cases are part of a concerning use of Turkeys anti-terror laws. "Basically this means you can go after any kind of government critic or political opponent on the grounds that somehow promoting, in the vaguest terms, terrorism. So it's an extremely worrying move." Turkeys European and U.S. allies are voicing growing concern for freedom of expression and other human rights. But Ankara dismisses their concerns, saying it faces unprecedented terror threats from Kurdish rebels and Islamic State militants. The leader of Zambians main opposition has denied local media reports that he threatened to sit out the August 11 presidential election. The reports suggested that Hakainde Hichilema of the United Party for National Development (UPND) threatened to boycott the election if the Electoral Commission of Zambia went ahead with plans to print ballots in Dubai. Ruling party supporters said a boycott would show that Hichilema was afraid of losing to incumbent President Edgar Lungu. I have never indicated that we may consider not running. Thats out of the question, Hichilema said. What we are saying is that there are reasons that are basically creating anxiety among the people of Zambia as to why ballot papers would be printed by a Dubai-based company. "This bidder is expensive just simply that. The bidder who has been printing ballot papers in the last couple of elections here is half the price of this Dubai-based printer. And this printer is South Africa-based, which is near and has proven that he can do the job, [and] they can meet the specification. Hichilema's comments came after a report by the Economist Intelligence Unit, the research arm of a sister company to Britain's Economist newspaper, predicted that Hichilema would win the presidential election. The EIU said recent defections from the ruling Patriotic Front to the UPND, coupled with the endorsement of Hichilema by former Vice President Guy Scott, a leading member of the PF, boosted Hichilema's chances in the election. No letup by UPND Hichilema welcomed the EIU report but said the UPND would not relent in its campaign to wrest power from the PF. We offer an alternative to the economic recovery program, which is superior to that of Edgar Lungu and the PF, who have failed to run the country, who have basically brought a lot of poverty, unemployment, budget deficit, if you like, current account deficit and many other deficits, including the high cost of food, Hichilema said. We offer economic turnaround policies, stability in various economic and fiscal policies, and I think the Economic Intelligence Units assessment is correct, and that is in line with the general perception in the country," he said. "But we are not complacent about that. We know that the election can be stolen. Thats why we are making sure that we remain active to any maneuvers that would cause manipulation of election results. Frank Bwalya, deputy PF spokesman, said Zambians were solidly behind Lungu and the governing party, and he rejected the electoral prediction as not a true reflection of issues on the ground. He dismissed the EIU suggestion that Scott's endorsement would help Hichilema. He also said reports of hundreds of defections from the PF were inaccurate. "Zambians don't 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," Bwalya said. Hichilema said the facts on the ground showed that the UPND has the momentum in the presidential campaign. In the 2015 presidential by-election, I am on the only candidate that gained votes in all the 12 provinces in Zambia," he added. The European Union says despite its re-engagement with government, it remains committed to committed to promoting civil society organizations as they remain an important component of any democracy. Speaking during a launch of some projects funded by the European Union in Bulawayo this week, the head of the EU delegation to Zimbabwe, Ambassador Phillipe Van Damme, said the objective of the EUs support, is to improve civil society organizations capacity to effectively participate in Zimbabwes pubic policies and programs, which he noted is critical in a democratic society. Ambassador Van Damme said although the EU re-engaged the Zimbabwean government through the signing of the National Indicative Program (NIP) in February last year, that re-engagement will not result in turning its back on civil society. He noted that civil society has an important role in the attainment of the United Nations championed Sustainable Development Goals through tackling injustice and inequality and in the monitoring of the implementation of the N-I-P, bringing both the government and EU to account. But the ambassador also said in as much as civic organizations demand accountability from duty bearers and authorities, they also need to be accountable to their constituents and practice the same principles that they expect others to uphold. The EU provided funding for five civil society projects grouped in different thematic areas, including enhancing citizens participation in policymaking through the strengthening of community-based organizations. Lizwe Jamela of the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights, whose organizations is among five recipients of the funding, said ordinary Zimbabweans are not aware of the rights that they enjoy under the Zimbabwes constitution. Jamela said the organization would use part of the funding to raise awareness of the constitution. Responding to a question from Studio 7 on the sidelines of the meeting about when the EU is likely to consider removing targeted sanctions on President Robert Mugabe and some senior ruling Zanu PF officials, given some views that the measures are no longer effective or relevant, Van Damme said there are some outstanding issues that need to be dealt with. He refused to elaborate, adding that the EU remains in dialogue with the Zimbabwean government. The EU along with the United States and other nations have been providing assistance to Zimbabwe since independence. Relations between Harare and Western countries have in recent years been sour as the ruling Zanu PF party has often accused them of seeking to effect regime change. Government has also often accused civil society organizations of being agents of that agenda. Some people in Manicaland province say they have not been able to enjoy the fruits of independence owing to serious social, economic and political problems in Zimbabwe. One of the disgruntled local people is Craig Chimedza of the newly formed Zimbabwe People First led by former Vice President Joice Mujuru. Chimedza of Watsomba communal lands, about 30 kilometers north of Mutare, says most Zimbabweans feel let down by the ruling Zanu PF party. We are still yet to reach the Biblical Canaan. Zanu PF has up to now given us an illusion of what independence is. We are still a long way to attaining full independence as desired by all and the departed heroes of the liberation struggle. Chimedza adds that as far as he is concerned there is need to end political polarization in the county in order for people to enjoy the fruits of independence. Resources have to be equitably distributed and have a country that is colour blind and resources distributed along creed, color and political lines and have development all across the country. James Sinyoro of Odzi communal land echoes the same sentiments, noting that it is strange that the ruling elite are clinging to power when they are unable to cater for the needs of Zimbabweans. Zimbabweans celebrated independence only in 1980 and thereafter for a few years later but now there is nothing to go home about and there is nothing to show about this. The majority of Zimbabweans have not derived anything from the independence and people are in disharmony as economically we are in a messy. Sinyoro and Chimedza are not the only disgruntled locals as people like Itai Tangwena of Nyangas Kairezi village, believes that there is nothing to celebrate on April 18th due to the current harsh economic situation in Zimbabwe. As far as I am concerned, 18 April is just any day just like Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, so we are not very upbeat about it since we have nothing much to show about the day that is supposed to be very special to us all Zimbabweans But Zanu PF activist, Silas Saruchera, says Zimbabweans are free and have benefited a lot from the countrys independence. It still remains to be seen whether the situation will improve in the country in the near future so that Zimbabweans may enjoy the fruits of independence British rule. The White House is preoccupied because Russian fighters flew over a US ship at very close range in the Baltic Sea, making a simulated attack - as reported by our news agencies. However, they did not inform us as to which ship it was, nor why it was in the Baltic Sea. In fact, it was the USS Donald Cook, one of the four missile-launching units deployed by the US Navy for the defence of NATO missiles in Europe. These units, which are to be increased in number, are equipped with the Aegis radar system and SM-3 interceptor missiles, but also with double-capacity Tomahawk cruise missiles, both conventional and nuclear. In other words, they are nuclear attack units equipped with a shield designed to neutralise the enemy riposte. The Donald Cook, which left the Polish port of Gdynia on the 11th April, cruised for two days at scarcely 70 kilometres from the Russian naval base of Kaliningrad, and for that reason was visited by Russian fighters and helicopters. Apart from these missile-launcher ships, the USA/NATO shield in Europe, in its present configuration, includes an advance base radar site in Turkey, a battery of US ground missiles in Roumania, composed of 24 SM-3 missiles, and another similar battery which is to be installed in Poland. Moscow has issued a warning these ground batteries, which are also capable of launching nuclear Tomahawk missiles, constitute an evident violation of the INF Treaty, which forbids European deployment of intermediate-range nuclear missiles. The United States accuses Russia of provoking a useless escalation of tensions with their over-flights but what would they do if Russia were to send missile-launching units along the US coast-line and install missile batteries in Cuba and Mexico? No-one is asking this question in the major media, which continues to cloud reality. The latest hidden news - the transfer of F-22 Raptors, the most advanced US nuclear attack fighter-bombers, from Tyndall base in Florida to Lakenheath base in England, announced on the 11th April by the United States European Command. From England, the F-22 Raptors will be deployed to other NATO bases in an advanced position, in order to maximise the possibilities for training, and also exercise dissuasion against any action which might destabilise European security. This is the preparation for the imminent deployment in Europe, including Italy, of more US B61-12 nuclear bombs which, launched from approximately 100 kilometres away, will hit their target with a warhead offering four selectable power options. This new weapon takes place in the programme for the potentialisation of nuclear forces launched by the Obama administration, which plans, amongst other things, for the construction of 12 more attack submarines (at 7 billion dollars apiece, the first of which is already being built), each one armed with 200 nuclear warheads. The New York Times reports that a new type of nuclear warhead is currently in development, the hypersonic glide vehicle which, on its return to the atmosphere, manoeuvers in order to avoid interceptor missiles, and heads for its target at more than 16,800 miles/hour [1]. Russia and China are following, and developing similar weapons. Meanwhile, Washington is harvesting its fruit. By transforming Europe into the front line of a nuclear conflict, and, with the help of the European governments themselves, is sabotaging EU-Russian economic relations in order to permanently link the EU to the USA via the intermediary of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). By the same token, it is forcing its European allies to increase their military expenditure to the advantage of the US war industry, whose exports have increased by 60% over the last five years, becoming the strongest sector in US exports. Who said that war doesnt pay? First published December 23th, 2015. Resolution 2254 on Syria approved unanimously by the UN Security Council emphasizes the close link between a ceasefire and a parallel political process. Neutralizing the conflict, would thus favour the easing of the tensions in the Middle East. But there is a problem: three of the five permanent members of the Security Council - the United States, France and Great Britain have made the most serious violations of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Arabic Republic of Syria, that the resolution speaks of strongly supporting. These are the ones that organized the growing influx of terrorists in Syria, which is why in the resolution they express the most serious concern. Therefore the ceasefire depends above all on these three NATO powers and Turkey, an outpost of the covert war against Syria and on the other members of the Alliance, starting with Germany. It also depends on another power, Israel, that has its hands embroiled in this war and other wars. What are its intentions? Facts speak louder than words. On 18 December, the same day that the Security Council launches the Road Map for Peace in Syria, NATO announced sending German and French war ships and Awac arial radar planes to Turkey to strengthen their defences to the Syrian border, which actually was a direct move against Russia whose intervention against Isis is shifting the outcome of the war to Damascuss favour. And the day after NATO announced that it is ready the first of the Global Hawk drones that will be deployed at Sigonella, together with the USA, for terrestrial surveillance, that is for espionage in the countries that are situated in the US/NATO strategic gunsight. Still on following day that the Security Council drafted the Road Map for Peace in the Middle East, Germany announced delivering to Israel the fifth submarine for nuclear attack. As reported by Der Spiegel, they are Dolphin submarines modified to launch nuclear cruise missiles, Popeye Turbo with a range of 1500 km, derived from the United States. With the new submarine rechristened Rahav (Poseidon) the cost of which is more than 2 billion dollars, a third of which financed by the German government Israel strengthens its position as the only nuclear power in the region, whilst Iran (which in contrast to Israel is a party to the Treaty on Non-Proliferation) renounces nuclear weapons and Syria delivers her chemical weapons constructed as deterrents against the nuclear weapons of Israel. On 19 December, the day after the Security Council had reaffirmed the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Syria, Israel destroyed at Damscus an entire building with missiles launched from two fighters, by killing (together with several civilians) the Lebanese militant Samir Kuntar: after 30 years of prison in Israel for having fought for the independence of Lebanon and Palestine, released in an exchange in 2008, had been a member of the Hezbollah going to fight for Isis and for this reason Washington entered it onto its list of global terrorists . At the same time France supported in the Security Council the cease fire in Syria, it announced to have received an account of 7 billion dollars for providing 24 Rafale fighter bombers to Qatar: the regime that has fed, also with infiltrated commanders, the war in Syria after which that has demolished Libya. Together with Saudi Arabia that, after having financed with billions of dollars Isis and other groups of terrorists, participates in the coalition led by the USA against Isis and has promoted a Islamic anti-terrorist coalition. On the 25th April 2016, Prince Mohammed ben Salmane will announce the Kings vision for Saudi Arabia. This is a plan for the passage from an oil-based economy to another economy without oil. The kingdom should create a sovereign Investment Fund of 2 thousand billion dollars. It should set up a variety of taxes (but no direct taxation) in order to raise 100 billion dollars over the next four years. Petrol, electricity and water will no longer be subsidised. Various measures for the modernisation of the lifestyle should accompany this plan, notably allowing women the right to drive. Numerous economists have expressed their scepticism about the possibility of modernising the kingdom. Several earlier plans, far less ambitious, have failed due to the conditions of the labour market. 80% of the kingdoms private work force is composed of foreigners. A number of the most important Turkish senior officers, as well as journalists and academics, were arrested and found guilty in the context of the Ergenekon trial, which has captivated the nation since 2008. They are accused of having worked for the Atlantic Alliances Gladio network, and having plotted a coup dEtat against the Erdogan government - an accusation which is particularly surprising given the links that existed between the AKP and Washington at that time. However, it would seem that people who were arrested, far from obeying NATO, were trying to establish links between the Turkish Chiefs of Staff and the Chinese Peoples Army. This is the only explanation for the collective arrest of the leaders of a small left-wing Kemalo-Maoist party, the Workers Party (Isci Partisi) [1]. On the 21st April, the Supreme Court cancelled the trial in its entirety and the 275 convictions, on the grounds that the existence of the Ergenekon conspiracy had not been proved during the trial, and that the rights of the defence had not been respected. Marvel/Disney have approximately 7,000 superhero movies lined up for the next four years, but Inhumans is not one of them. Pharaoh of the MCU Kevin Feige said that Inhumans has been expunged from the 2019 release slate because of Disney/Lucasfilms upcoming Indiana Jones movie. Theres a script for Inhumans, written by Joe Robert Cole (Black Panther, American Crime Story), and the superhero cadre have already been featured on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. If youre sad about the Inhumans delay, just remember there are literally 10 other MCU movies, including yet another Spider-Man, to tide you over until Inhumans enters production. A judge on Friday rejected a request from a biker who was wounded during the Twin Peaks shootout to lift a bond condition that prohibits him from associating with other bikers from groups present at the May 17 incident. Seth Sutton, attorney for Jeff Battey, a member of the Bandidos group from Ponder, charged that the restriction violates Batteys right to free association and that is an absurd notion to think that the restriction somehow is keeping the community safe. At a hearing in November, 19th State District Court Judge Ralph Strother granted Batteys request to remove a GPS ankle monitor that Battey wore for six months following the shooting that left nine dead and dozens injured. Prosecutors opposed that request in November and opposed Batteys motion Friday. The judge denied his request Friday to allow Battey to speak with other bikers, rejecting Suttons claims that the bond condition has forced Battey into a life of isolation and loneliness. Sutton argued in a motion that Batteys life is largely structured around his love for motorcycles and his circle of friends are bikers. The state will likely scoff at the notion of Mr. Battey suffering an emotional impact from this isolation as it has paraded a propaganda campaign to the media to dehumanize Mr. Battey and bikers generally, Suttons motion states. However, Mr. Battey is indeed human. If you cut him, he will bleed. If you take away his friends, it will take an emotional toll on him. Battey, 52, a former Marine who remains free on $1 million bond, had no criminal history before May 17, Sutton said. A biker at Twin Peaks fired a gun at Batteys friend, Ray Allen, and then pointed the gun at Batteys chest, Sutton said. Battey raised his arm to shield himself and was shot in the arm, he said. Police arrested 177 bikers after the shootout and recovered hundreds of weapons. Since then, 154 bikers have been indicted on identical, first-degree felony counts charging them with engaging in organized criminal activity. Battey has had two friends who have died since his release from jail, a third who is suffering from personal problems and a fourth afflicted with cancer, the motion states. If not for the bond restriction, Battey would have been a pallbearer at the funerals and would be available to help his other friends, according to the motion. Therefore, to continue to force Mr. Battey into this life of isolation, depriving him of the very human interactions that serve as the fabric of his life with zero evidence to justify it and with zero evidence that it serves any purpose whatsoever is oppressive. It is cruel, the motion contends. Sutton also argued that the condition deprives Battey from being able to participate in his own defense because it limits his ability to talk to his co-defendants. Sutton said he and Battey are considering appealing Strothers decision to the 10th Court of Appeals in Waco. At the hearing in November, prosecutor Michael Jarrett argued that Battey has been identified as a shooter during the chaotic biker battle and that he accepted the conditions of his release when he posted bond without an agreement from the district attorneys office. Jarrett also noted that Battey was carrying two tomahawks with him that day. In his four years on the Waco City Council, John Kinnaird has earned a reputation for bringing a bankers eye to budget discussions and weighing the effects of policies on businesses. Now the District 3 councilman is facing a challenge in his first contested election May 7 from an outsider candidate who says Kinnaird is all too business-friendly. Dustin Weins, 33, an insurance agent, said Kinnairds recent votes against a smoking ban and restrictions on payday lending put business interests above the public interest. Im just trying to bring the voice of the people back to the city council, Weins said. I feel like business is represented well enough. We need someone working for the common man. Kinnaird was elected without opposition in 2012 and 2014 to represent District 3, which sprawls from the Brookview and Castle Heights neighborhoods out to Ritchie Road on the boundary with Hewitt. Kinnaird, 36, is a trust officer and vice president with Community Bank and Trust and has served on the nonpartisan Association for Good Government and the citys zoning board of adjustment. Kinnaird said financial analysis comes naturally to him, and he enjoys wading deep into budgets and asking questions about reserve levels, debt ratings and pension plans. Ive kind of gravitated toward numbers my whole life, he said. My understanding has helped me touch on a whole range of issues. . . . Its the role of policymakers to make sure taxpayer dollars are being spent where they want them to be spent. Kinnaird said the financial background also serves him well in his roles as chairman of the McLennan County Appraisal District board and a member of the Waco-McLennan County Public Health District and Metropolitan Planning Organization. On the city council, Kinnaird has occasionally found himself as the lone dissenting vote opposing important ordinances in the past couple of years. He opposed expanding the smoking ban to all enclosed public venues, saying the existing ordinance was adequate to protect nonsmokers. Last year, he opposed ending a long-standing utility refund policy that other council members said was an unnecessary subsidy for residential developers. Kinnaird said he would have phased out the subsidies over time. It was just an understanding that businesses and individuals make decisions and deploy capital and resources based on the rules governments set, Kinnaird said. To change those rules as quickly as we did can erode confidence in business to invest capital. This year, he opposed limits on the size and refinancing of payday loans, saying financial regulation is best left to state and federal government. Given the size of our community, someone could go a few blocks down the street to a neighboring town to take out a payday loan, he said. Beyond that, arbitrarily limiting the funds someone could take out doesnt stop the need. Kinnaird was instrumental in setting up a nonprofit community loan center that offers alternatives to payday loans through cooperation with participating employers, currently limited to the city of Waco and Waco Independent School District. Kinnaird also is promoting the idea of more financial literacy programs through the Prosper Waco initiative in an effort to help lower-income people budget and save. Weins said Kinnaird deserves credit for the community loan center, but he would like to see the program expanded beyond local government employers. He strongly disagrees with Kinnairds vote on payday lending ordinances. I agree with him that it should be addressed at the state level rather than the local level, but you know how the Texas Legislature works, Weins said. Theyre really slow to respond to things like this. More responsive Weins said he also would try to be more visible and responsive to city residents. Weins grew up here and now lives near Richland Mall with his 12-year-old son, but he didnt know anything about Kinnaird. I would really like to modify the culture of local politics, he said. Ive lived in my opponents district his entire tenure, and I didnt know anything about him until I decided to run. . . . Id propose doing regular town hall meetings around the district so people could come and voice their concerns. Weins said he may not have the financial background Kinnaird has, but he has the willingness to serve. I know I have a learning curve, but Im really eager to jump in with both feet and learn as quickly as possible, he said. Weins is also known in some Waco circles as a stand-up comic performing at clubs and at last weeks Heart of Texas Comedy Festival. He has been incorporating his political campaign into his act. In a recent show at Truelove Bar, he unveiled a faux platform that included building a border wall with Bellmead and stocking Cameron Park with bears. All in good fun, he said. I dont want people to think Im not taking it seriously, Weins said of the real-world council race. It has provided some material. After 10 years representing District 1, Waco Councilman Wilbert Austin is hoping to fight off yet another challenger who questions his effectiveness in turning East Waco around. His opponent, business manager Mark Shaw, is hoping voter dissatisfaction will propel him to victory in the May 7 local council elections. We have not had enough positive change, said Shaw, 55, who works at the Johnson Group. We cant say things are much greater than they were five years ago. I cant see it. I think were still behind the city of Waco as a whole. People still have a stigma about East Waco. Austin, 76, a minister, said Shaw is wrong about progress in his district and that Shaw lacks a track record to show he would do better. If you run for some position, you need to have done something in the community, Austin said. Its that simple. I dont think you can name anything hes done in the community. He doesnt know what goes on in the community. . . . Hes never been involved in civic affairs. Ive been involved over 50 years. Shaw acknowledged that he doesnt serve on any civic boards, but he said he has been involved in the community as a longtime resident and businessman and owner of several properties. He said he would work to bring more business to the east side of the river, such as a sit-down restaurant, law offices and a dental office. Lets find out what businesses will work, and lets go recruit them, he said. District 1 encompasses not just East Waco but the Timbercrest neighborhood, parts of far South Waco and neighborhoods around McLennan Community College and Texas State Technical College. Shaw said residents in those areas have told him they dont feel represented at city hall, and he wants to change that. Id love the Timbercrest and Cameron Park areas to be a model for all East Waco, he said. I hope I can help to bridge that gap. Shaw, who lives in East Wacos Riverside neighborhood, said he would like to improve East Wacos attractiveness to residents and businesses by boosting police presence and improving parks. He said he would like to see restrooms in all city parks, including East Waco Park on Hood Street, an idea Austin has opposed on grounds that it would bring more illicit activity to the park that the city has begun turning around. That park is for our kids, and we are taking it back, Shaw said. Austin said the city is preparing to make major improvements to East Waco Park, including new curbs and sidewalks, better lighting and playground improvements. He said thats just one example of East Wacos steady improvement in the decade he has been its representative. He noted investments by Rapoport Academy at Quinn Campus and the citys new fire station and renovation of the East Waco Library now underway. He said Baylors creation of the Baylor Research and Innovation Collaborative research park and McLane Stadium are also having a long-term effect on East Waco. Shaw said the pace of change has been too slow, and East Wacos reputation needs to change. Hes saying hes more qualified to be on the council, Shaw said. I dont see how the community has benefited from his experience. . . . I see this is as a volunteer deal. If I cant make a difference and bring about positive change, you dont have to worry about me running again. Bellmead residents have the opportunity to roll back the tax rate in the May 7 general election and fill three seats on the city council, and at least one candidate has serious concerns about the safety of residents at night. Mayor Gary Moore, who has been in office since 2012, has been challenged for his at-large council seat by Vincent Hendrix Sr. Hendrix, 53, who is semi-retired, has lived in the city 25 years, and Moore, 50, a collections agent, has lived in the city his whole life. Moore says hes standing on his record and his work to bring the referendum before residents by collecting enough signatures to force an election on the tax rate. Hendrix said he would bring fairness and unity to the council. Hes against rolling back the tax rate for fear the city wont have adequate funds to support its police and fire departments. Also on the ballot, Mayor Pro Tem Mathew Jordon will face Mark Pace, 55, who works in sales, in the race for Precinct 3. Jose R. Arrollo Jr. is vying to keep his Precinct 4 seat against challenger Ernest Butch Anz, 62, who is retired. Residents can cast their ballot early from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. April 25 through April 29 and 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. April 30, May 2 and May 3. Residents may vote at the McLennan County Elections Administration Office Records Building, 214 N. Fourth St., suite 300, in Waco; Bellmead City Hall, 3015 Bellmead Drive; and the First Assembly of God Church, 6701 Bosque Blvd., in Waco. Moore started a petition drive last year in an effort to roll back most of a 2-cent tax increase the council passed. City leaders said the increase would raise an estimated $76,000 for public safety needs. Moore, who was on the losing side of a 4-2 vote on the tax rate, submitted more than 600 names signed on a petition, surpassing the required 436 names to trigger the referendum. More than 9,900 people live in Bellmead, which has one of the lowest tax rates of area towns with the exception of tiny municipalities, such as Gholson and Hallsburg. Voters could force the city to roll the tax rate back from 31.86 to 30 cents per $100 of property value, above the 2015 rate of 29.86 cents. Lacy Lakeview has the next lowest rate at 35.9 cents per $100 of property value. Woodways rate is 47 cents, and Wacos is 77.62 cents. Lorena, Hewitt, Robinson and West all have rates above 50 cents. Hendrix said he will have a better idea of how to help residents once he is elected and passes the learning curve. He said hes convinced he could do a better job at improving the lives of all residents. Hendrix said he has a vested interest in improving Bellmead, as his family, including his grandchildren, all live in the area. I dont care too much for the mayor we have now, he said. Im not saying hes not a bright guy. Im just saying the light might be a little dim. He said he plans on learning all he can once elected to allow him to ask the right questions during meetings. Mainly, he said, hes concerned about the referendum passing. He said if the city continues to push the tax rate back, the police and fire departments wont be able to protect area residents. You need to explain to the people we have the lowest taxes, pretty much, around here, he said. Our taxes arent that high really. I dont want higher taxes but, then again, I want to have a cop if I need them and fire protection if I need. Moore he has walked the streets of Bellmead since February when he first started collecting signatures. Im hearing good reports from the citizens in reference to, Youre the one that got out there and walked the streets for us. Its kind of unheard of that the mayor walks the street for a petition. Im not the everyday person that just leaves things lie. When I say something, Im going to see it through. Moore said he has unfinished projects, including increasing transparency at the city and opening the lines of communication between residents and city leaders. Im striving for even more of that, he said. We work for them. Its not they work for us. I just want people to know I havent hidden anything from them. Im running on my record. Precinct 4 seat Anz, who was born in Bellmead, said he hopes to be elected to the Precinct 4 seat so he can work toward improving city operations and decision-making. Theres a lot of things thats happening with the city right now thats just not kosher. Its not good. Its not right, he said. Anz, who would not give an example, said there are a lot of decisions the city has made he wants to work on and directions he wants to change. He said he did not want to make accusations, but he wants to get the city in line first. Anz said hes also concerned about his neighbors safety. Right now you can step out on my street after 10 oclock at night and take one look, and there might be one street light on every corner of the block. Otherwise you might as well be carrying a pistol. Its that bad. Its real bad. Who in the hell is running the city? he said. Why is this happening? Theres a lot of things of that nature taking place that is not kosher at all. Jordon, Pace and Arrollo did not return calls for comment. The two candidates running for the contested Woodway City Council seat have a different take on the city councils role in facilitating development. Developer and homebuilder Steve Sorrells, 53, is challenging incumbent Scott A. Giddings, 62, a General Motors wholesale sales manager, in the May 7 election for the Ward 2 seat. The other two seats up for election went uncontested. Ward 1, Place 2, will go to Mayor Donald J. Baker, and Ward 3, Place 2, will go to council member Jane Kittner. The mayor is elected by the council once a year at the council meeting immediately after the election. Early voting runs 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday; 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday; 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday; 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday; 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday; and 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. May 2 and May 3. Residents can vote early at Woodway City Hall, 922 Estates Drive. Both candidates have lived in the city for several years, have a love for the community and a desire to give back and contribute to the city they are a part of. Sorrells said he has developed a lot of areas across McLennan County and thinks hell bring innovation and new ideas to improve the quality of Woodway by serving as a council member. Sorrells said he can help bring a business-like concept to city government. Over the years, he said hes seen other builders and developers avoid Woodway because of frustration with the ordinances in the city and the delays they cause. Sorrells said he experienced frustrations with Woodways ordinances on a personal level when he was a deacon at his church. The church wanted to improve a building but hit too many walls with city ordinances that caused costs to skyrocket. Sorrells office for his development company is in downtown Waco. We have to do things that encourage and not discourage people from improving properties, he said. Giddings, who has been on the council more than six years, said one of the things he loves most about the city is its single-family residential areas. Giddings said his opponent has not been happy with the city for not allowing more multifamily zoning. He said the city has strict ordinances in place to help promote smart growth and keep the city looking beautiful. Sorrells said the ordinances are well intended but poorly crafted. Giddings, who ran unopposed the last two elections, said when builders create apartment complexes or other multifamily developments, the property is often eventually sold and the area isnt maintained. Giddings said the city prides itself on being a bedroom community, and he wants to keep it that way. Sorrells said ordinance issues affect all residents, not just developers and city officials. Our corporate citizens serve our community, employ our citizens and contribute to our tax base. I know our citizens recognize this as a win-win, he said. Sorrells served last year as president of the Texas Association of Builders, where he worked with state legislators and representatives on projects. Before moving to Woodway, Giddings served six years on the Marble Falls City Council. Giddings said not only is he experienced as the incumbent but has the added years and experience from another city to create a strong background for a council member. Giddings said the council has successfully worked to make the city attractive to businesses and residents and has helped foster smart growth along Highway 84. Giddings said he also is focused on continued maintenance of city streets and supporting infrastructure. He said the city has a good track record of saving money for big projects instead of borrowing the funds. Faculty from the Diana R. Garland School of Social Work at Baylor University returned to the Waco Independent School Districts board of trustees Thursday with a revised plan to assist the struggling district. The social work faculty, along with members of the School of Education, presented a plan in January titled Be Emotionally Aware and Responsive, or BEAR, to help multiple Waco ISD campuses reduce student behavior issues linked to cognitive challenges. The district would have paid a combined cost of $1.5 million to the Baylor schools over three years. But board members deferred a decision on the proposal saying it was too broad and lacked a clear vision, prompting the faculty to clarify the proposal. The first plan presented a five-pronged project to help students with social awareness, self-management and responsible decision making, among others. The update takes those elements and clarifies what methods will be used to achieve specific results within those categories. During Thursdays board meeting, Jon Singletary, social work interim dean, explained how the new proposal took many of the original goals and focused them with specific elements of behavior they want to change. For example, the first report presented a goal under social awareness as have empathy for others, but the update focused that idea to cultural responsiveness, which includes a goal to increase cultural responsiveness to students and families. The Baylor group plans to provide cultural awareness training for Waco ISD staff and provide ways to measure the results by giving pre-tests and post-tests, district reports show. The plan still will use second-year graduate students with a supervisor to implement many of the programs, and the update reduces the proposed number from six to five. It also reduces the number of campuses they will place interns on to deepen the effect at each school. Its about collective impact. What kind of broader impact can we have campuswide and really on the larger community, to strengthen what families and schools are able to do for the children of Waco? Singletary said in an interview Friday. The cost of the social work portion of the program also declined by $76,989, from $463,787 to $386,798 by reducing the number of interns, the amount of technology they plan to use and cutting out the initial research of the project. Baylors school of education has yet to present its part of the updated proposal. Multiple board members thanked the faculty presenters for their persistence in meeting with the community and researching campus needs to provide a more focused plan. The board could vote on the proposal at the upcoming trustees meeting Thursday at 7 p.m. in the Waco ISD administration building on 115 S. Fifth St. downtown Waco. I really appreciated your willingness to take a look at things and make this more of a collaborative effort, Trustee Stephanie Korteweg said. It doesnt feel as cloudy to me. Texas State Technical College started a campaign to increase funding for the Texan Success Scholarship, which will award up to $1,000 to incoming students in their first two semesters of enrollment. Each donation made to the Make a Texas-Sized Difference campaign, which was developed by the TSTC Foundation, will be matched by the college. The Texan Success Scholarship is one of hundreds sponsored by the foundation. The purpose of the scholarship is to basically encourage and entice students to enroll, said Beth Wooten, vice president of institutional advancement. But it also goes to students who have financial hardship. So the purpose really is to eliminate all barriers a student may have that is interested in pursuing an education at any TSTC across the state. In addition to its Waco location, TSTC has campuses in Abilene, Breckenridge, Brownwood, Fort Bend County, Harlingen, Marshall, North Texas, Sweetwater and Williamson County. Wooten said field development officers in each location are raising money from individuals, businesses and other stakeholders, and direct mail campaigns have run. The ultimate goal is to bring more skilled workers through TSTC and into the workforce. A large number of well-paying jobs go unfilled in Texas because employers cannot find workers with the right blend of technical skills, TSTC Chancellor Mike Reeser said in a statement. At TSTC we teach those skills needed for these great jobs. We hope more students will be encouraged to consider the benefits of a technical education and the great jobs that result from them. TSTC recruiters, faculty members and high school counselors can recommend students for the scholarship. This is an incentive for students to decide on what their education choice will be, said Rob Wolaver, assistant vice chancellor for enrollment management and acting provost, in a statement. An intermediate appellate court in Waco has upheld the felony theft conviction and 57-year sentence of a former employee of the Methodist Childrens Home convicted of stealing $580,000. In an opinion written by Justice Rex D. Davis and made public Friday, the 10th Court of Appeals rejected eight points of appeal filed by Susan Ladean Herrera and affirmed her conviction. A 19th State District Court jury convicted the 54-year-old Herrera, a 28-year Methodist Childrens Home employee, in May and recommended as punishment 57 years in prison and a $10,000 fine. Judge Ralph Strother sentenced Herrera in accordance with the jurys verdict and also ordered her to make restitution of $578,789.89. Herrera, who was convicted of taking the money during a four-year period, alleged in her appeal that there was insufficient evidence to support her conviction because there is no proof she actually possessed more than $200,000 and that the evidence is circumstantial. Tim Brown, president of the home for disadvantaged children, and Ron Schwartinsky, former vice president, testified that Herrera essentially admitted taking money from the home after she was confronted with irregularities in an account. Brown testified that Herrera said, I dont know why I did what I did. Im just a single mom trying to take care of my kids. Ill be glad to pay it all back. Just please dont send me to jail. The court also rejected Herreras claims that her lawyer afforded her ineffective assistance of counsel by failing to file certain motions and failing to object to certain pretrial motions and trial testimony. Herrera also claimed the state should not have been allowed to speak about probation and parole during the jury selection process because she had not been found guilty. Herreras common-law husband pleaded guilty in February to threatening a prosecutor during a pretrial hearing in Herreras case. Roy Garcia, 54, pleaded guilty to a retaliation charge and is set for sentencing next week. Prosecutors have recommended he be placed on probation for three years and fined $500 for threatening prosecutor Robert Moody. Garcia pleaded guilty to brushing past prosecutor Robert Moody as Garcia was leaving 19th State District Court, pointing a finger at his chest and saying, Ill be looking for you. Speaker of the House Paul Ryan has set a fine example for all of us. He has proactively announced that he will not accept the nomination for president, even though he is not running and no one has nominated him. I am herewith following his courageous example and announcing that I also will not accept the nomination of either party. I guess that makes me twice as courageous. Lest some misguided soul thinks this is a frivolous, unnecessary and unimportant announcement, let me point out that I have equal or superior qualifications for the job of POTUS, as much as the remaining five candidates. In the first place, I too am remaining. Most of my lifelong friends are sitting around in heaven, saying, Old Bill didnt make it, did he? And in a campaign where advanced age seems to be desired, I should be the most desirable at age 84. Also, since being anti-establishment and inexperienced appear to be positive traits, I would be the most positive candidate if I allowed myself to be nominated. I have never held a political office except in high school when the city observed student government week and I was named city health officer to inspect the food in various restaurants. This should be a valuable experience considering some of the things we are being fed in this campaign. I have always been anti-establishment, as my parents, teachers and the IRS would testify. And, yes, I also think the IRS should be abolished and government supported with free-will love offerings. This should give a warm and fuzzy feel to all our cancelled services. I doubt that any candidate is better qualified than I am on foreign policy. My wife and I once took a 17-day tour of 12 countries in Europe. This in-depth observation of various cultures from the window of a speeding tour bus is more than adequate to solve the worlds problems. As far as terrorists are concerned, I earned my masters degree and Ph.D. at Baylor University and nothing could be more terrifying than that. And you would never have to worry about me using my personal computer for government e-mails. I dont even know how to turn the darn thing on. I would be more than happy to put a picture of my wife up against the spouses of any other candidate, but she insists that I use her college picture. There are many more reasons why I should be considered as a presidential candidate, but this is enough to let you know that my promise not to accept the nomination is no idle threat. How do we know that Speaker Ryan will keep his promise and reject the nomination if it becomes a reality? How do you know that I will never accept the opportunity to lead the nation and free world? Because my wife says so! Bill Austin lives in Hewitt and is the former chaplain of Baylor University. I am proud of what my Texas Farm Bureau leaders chose to do in the Texas agriculture commissioner race. Vernie Glasson The Sid Miller bandwagon I was out of town on April 14 when the Trib published its editorial, Texas Ag Commissioner Sid Miller further evidence of voter irresponsibility. You were kind to mention that McLennan County is home to the Texas Farm Bureau. However, I hope no reader mistook that mention as an indication that Texas Farm Bureaus political arm, AGFUND, endorsed or supported embattled Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller in any way. It did not! We proudly but unsuccessfully supported J Allen Carnes in the 2014 Republican primary, the actual farmer the Trib mentioned in its editorial. We stand by that decision then and now. In the Republican primary runoff and general election, AGFUND remained neutral. It is only fair to point out that choices were limited in those two subsequent elections that propelled Miller into office. Back then, I was frequently asked why we did not get on board Millers bandwagon. I was told it would have been the easy and smart thing to do. It is interesting, but no one has asked me that question in well over a year. I suppose more folks have come to know him as we do. I am proud of what my Farm Bureau leaders chose to do in that race. Vernie Glasson, Executive Director, Texas Farm Bureau Why this Texan doesnt vote While I honor Mary Dutys years of service as an educator, I couldnt help but answer the simple question posed in her April 13 column, Why dont Texans vote. This former voter is simply too smart to participate in national elections anymore. This is my small way to do what Thomas Jefferson said was my right to withdraw my consent to be governed. Reread the second paragraph of the Declaration of Independence. Id suggest few Americans would disagree that our government has become destructive and thus in need of altering. The Electoral College, a group of 538 party insiders, elect the president every four years. Three hundred million people in this country represented by 538 voters and those electors are not even proportionate to each states population. Most Americans are totally unaware that in 24 of the 50 states, electors are not even legally bound to vote according to the popular election results in their respective states. See Bush v Gore, 2000. Given Dutys role as the local Democratic Party chairwoman, I dont have to explain the super delegate procedure to her. The Democrats have a weighted system that gives super power to 715 governors, members of Congress and Democratic National Committee members. Under this system, Bernie Sanders could end up receiving more popular votes than Hillary Clinton with no chance of getting the nomination. After all, there is a Clinton super delegate (from a Sanders state) who sure would like to be the new ambassador to Paraguay! And all of this doesnt even take into account the winner-take-all primaries that each party has. Sounds like a destructive government that has nothing to do with individual voters. Contrary to Ms. Dutys column, our government doesnt take direction from our vote or our voices. If our voices mattered, everything from the Vietnam quagmire to Obamacare wouldnt exist in history books. The growth of government has made a prophet of Lord Acton: Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. While Ms. Duty cited some examples of corruption, the real answer is much more chilling. The entire national system is corrupt. Finally, Ms. Duty claims the voter is likely overwhelmed with change. Sadly, its the opposite. The misinformed voter believes that change is possible, becoming disillusioned to the point of believing in one Donald J. Trump. Adam Price, Woodway Q&A on veterans claim I was injured during the Korean War and sought help for my finances. I called Congressman Bill Flores office for help in my Veterans Affairs clinic care as my records burned up in a warehouse fire in St. Louis. After three months I received a copy of a VA claim denial from Rep. Flores office. Veterans call him Do Nothing Flores. If Rep. Chet Edwards were still in office before voters cast him out back in 2010, many of us would still be receiving care and assistance. Henry Norris, Woodway Congressman Bill Flores responds: I thank Mr. Norris and all of our veterans for their service to our nation. Our office is committed to helping veterans and constituents when dealing with federal agencies such as the VA. Our team is able to act as a liaison between constituents and the federal government to help resolve problems, getting information or working to get claims processed fairly and timely. While we strive to get positive outcomes in a timely manner, the federal agencies are responsible for the ultimate decisions regarding claims. Unfortunately, in some cases these decisions are unfavorable. Unfavorable decisions are handed down by federal agencies when claims do not fit the letter of the law, which was the case for Mr. Norris VA claim. Although I cannot override the decisions made by a federal agency, we can continue to intervene on a persons behalf to find answers to questions, help find solutions or work to cut through the red tape. Since 2011, our office has opened 3,453 individual cases to assist constituents, including 809 VA related cases. Of these cases, only 5 percent had an unfavorable outcome. Our team remains committed to helping all veterans and other constituents who need help dealing with federal agencies. Book signing for Dr. O Were always proud when a member of the Trib Board of Contributors makes his or her mark in the realm beyond daily journalism. McLennan Community College will host a book signing by government professor Dr. David Oualaalou at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday in Room 111 of the Michaelis Academic Center on the McLennan campus. He will sign copies of his newly issued book, More than a Handshake: The Ambiguous Foreign Policy of the United States toward the Muslim World, which discusses key issues in the Middle East and misjudgments by American foreign policymakers in addressing the ongoing challenges of the region. Its ideal for the many local fans of his regular Trib column. 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. Every Australian child - and millions of low-income adults - will be eligible for subsidised dental care under an ambitious new Turnbull government plan. Health Minister Sussan Ley has announced $5 billion in frontline dental health funding over the next four years, including $2.1 billion for what's being called the Child and Adult Public Dental Scheme, or caPDS. But Labor says the government's announcement is "spin" that actually hides a $1 billion health cut. The new scheme will provide more than 10 million Australians - all 5.3 million children aged under 18 and 5 million adults with Commonwealth concession cards - access to public dental through a single five-year agreement with the states. The deal will be enshrined in legislation to provide long-term certainty, Ms Ley said. Police are investigating a suspicious death in Girrawheen. Major Crime detectives were called to a house in Arnos Way around 4.45pm on Friday. Police outside the residence in Arnos Way. Credit:Nine News They found the body of a man who is believed to have been in his thirties. Nine News reporter Kelly Williams said detectives were investigating. The ALDI spokeswoman confirmed stores don't usually offer baskets. "If ALDI customers do not require a trolley, we encourage them to bring their own shopping bags or they can pick up a reusable bag in store and purchase as part of their transaction." Oh well, I didn't need to buy too much stuff anyway - and I didn't have my daughter with me so I had two free hands. The range situation As I entered, the biscuit aisle welcomed me. I noticed the Mint Cremes, the cheaper ALDI imitation version of Mint Slice biscuits at a cost of $1.59. Similar to Woolworths and Coles homebrands, ALDI stocks its own low-cost products in addition to some of the more well known brands. However, the ALDI products are not ALDI branded and different product ranges have different brands. Biscuits are generally Belmont Biscuit Co and things like baby care items are branded Mamia. Rather than paying the $5.18 for a tin of Milo I bought a slightly larger tin of ALDI's chocolate malt drink mix called NRG Maxx for $3.19. The NRG Maxx was a winner - it tasted fine - and while the chocolate biscuits I bought may have tasted okay if you never knew what the 'authentic' version tasted like, in comparison, they didn't rate highly. Much of the excitement in WA about ALDI opening stores is that they will provide an affordable alternative to the big two supermarkets, and when it comes to getting a good price, buying in bulk always helps. I was looking for a small jar of Vegemite but there was only one size option and searching the aisles it appears that many items are only offered in larger sizes. If you have a very specific list of things you definitely need to buy, ALDI might not be the best place to shop if you are hoping for one-stop shopping. I found this out when I started looking for the dental floss among the toothbrushes and toothpaste and came up empty. Then again, you might come across something you hadn't realised that you needed, or perhaps had been planning to buy somewhere else. At the store I visited, in the middle section where they display their Special Buys sale items, in amongst a random selection of items were large tins of white interior house paint. The alcohol situation Clutching my random selection of groceries in my arms, I headed for the check out, where I was surprised to find a display of alcohol. My eye was drawn to the fact that they were selling $4.99 sparkling wine, then noticed the brand names on the lookalike Vodka Cruisers before settling on a $3.99 bottle of Renberg apple cider. ALDI's spokeswoman said that while ALDI currently sells liquor on the east coast, a decision had not yet been made as to whether ALDI Liquor will be introduced in WA. "ALDI is applying for liquor licenses at a limited number of potential store locations throughout the state," she said. "A final decision about the sale of alcohol will be made once these applications have been assessed. "Unlike other supermarkets that sell alcohol, we do not have separate, large format stores and our stores do not carry any chilled alcohol products for immediate consumption. "Our range is limited to a delineated area within store, approximately one quarter of the size of a standard bottle shop." It is not expected that any of the four stores opening on June 8 in WA will sell alcohol. The bag situation Feeling like a kid from the country riding the train in Perth for the first time, I was a little rattled when the cashier scanned each of my items and simply started placing them in a pile at the other side of the counter. Being on holiday, I had not brought any recyclable bags with me, I hadn't found any throughout the store, and it looked like there were no plastic bags - so how was I going to carry all of my shopping on the 15-minute back to where I was staying? ALDI's spokeswoman said the chain had never offered free plastic bags to its shoppers, instead encouraging shoppers to choose reusable bags that are kinder to the environment. "ALDI encourages its customers to bring their own shopping bags, or alternatively, they can purchase a reusable bag from the store such as a heavy-duty plastic bag made from 80 per cent recycled materials, coloured fabric bag or cooler bag." Dhaka: A university professor was hacked to death on Saturday in northwestern Bangladesh, police said, with Islamic State claiming responsibility for the latest in a series of attacks on liberal activists. Two assailants on a motorcycle attacked Rezaul Karim Siddiquee, 58, an English professor at Rajshahi University, slitting his throat and hacking him to death, Rajshahi city police chief Mohammad Shamsuddin told reporters, quoting witnesses. Bangladeshi police at the site where Italian citizen Cesare Tavella was gunned down by unidentified assailants in Dhaka last year. Credit:AP He was found lying in a pool of blood near his home, where he was apparently waiting for a bus to the university campus about 200 kilometres northwest of Dhaka when he was attacked. Islamic State claimed responsibility for the killing of the professor for "calling to atheism", the US-based SITE monitoring service said, quoting the militant group's Amaq Agency. by Adrian Gibson IT IS clear that sometimes in life, the truth is much stranger than fiction. In The Bahamas today, we are watching the development of a perfect storm of civil discontent, an ambiguous fiscal performance, contraction in tourism and an inability to open Baha Mar. However, despite it all, Prime Minister Perry Christie continues to say things are getting better. The demonstrations by the Post Office workers and hospital doctors this week demonstrates that the public is losing confidence in the current administration. It is obvious that we are watching people find their voices. This turn of events suggests that what happened in the Arab Spring revolution and the trend of public outrage manifested in other countries that, in a most recent instance led to the resignation to Icelandic Prime Minister Sigmundur Gunnlaugsson in the wake of the leaked Panama Papers, is seemingly spreading to The Bahamas. Over the last year, we have seen a number of other meaningful protests, from the demonstration about the state of the dump to the Cabbage Beach vendors and so on. I spoke to a prominent physician at the Princess Margaret Hospital (PMH) who told me that Tuesdays protest was organised by a group of young physicians who decided - for better or worse - that ordinary methods of negotiation were so ineffective that they had to take to the streets. According to them, their concerns were neither heard nor addressed. Truthfully, I have mixed feelings about vitally important members of essential services walking off the job. However, I empathise with them and the frustrating conditions they work in and the mediocre pay scale that, according to President of the Doctors Union Charles Clarke, is unfair and insulting and has resulted in them working as many as 36 consecutive hours and yet being the laughing stock of bankers as many of them are unable to purchase homes. I certainly would not want any physician tending to my family or myself after working eight hours or so to think that physicians are working 36 hours and allowed to treat Bahamians is stunning, shocking and should never happen. This all comes at a time when the doctors at PMH and private sector physicians have joined a coalition of organisations who have made it clear that one of the issues of contention is the perception of disrespect emanating from the government. The adage what goes around comes around is surely holding true. Here we are in 2016 and the political organisation that benefitted from the public protests and street marches and people finding their voice in 2012 is now the governing party and experiencing much of what they themselves openly cultivated and encouraged at that time. However, in true Animal Farm fashion, this is also the same organisation that has now so mishandled the publics trust that they are now the object of political derision, dissatisfaction and anger. There is no amount of propaganda and rhetoric that can spin this change. As the summer months approach and temperatures rise, it is quite likely that so too will the annoyance, intolerance and anger of various unions and organisations within The Bahamas. No doubt, much - if not all - of their ire will be directed at a government which has perfected incompetence. Were it not true that this government has bungled virtually every major initiative on which it has embarked, such populist dissent could be dismissed, but the one great accomplishment of this Christie-led administration and their singular contribution to democracy is that they will fertilise a fervour for accountability. They will cause Bahamians to raise their voices in an effort to run them out of office. Today, Bahamians speak freely of corruption. These statements have recently been verified by a US State Departments 2015 Country Report on Human Rights Practices in this country. In that report, the US asserted that the governments procurement process was opaque given that there was no requirement for open public tenders or allowance for award decisions to be reviewed. The law provides criminal penalties for corruption by officials, however, the government did not implement the law effectively, and officials engaged in corrupt practices with impunity, the report says. The procurement process was particularly susceptible to corruption, as it is opaque, contains no requirement to engage in open public tenders, and does not allow award decisions to be reviewed. In October, the government charged a former state energy-company board member under the Prevention of Bribery Act, the first significant case brought under the act since 1989, the State Department wrote. The report noted that there were frequent reports of government corruption during the year. Whats more, the Human Rights Report also took issue that there was no independent verification of annual public disclosures from senior public officials, and called the annual submission rate weak unless it was an election year. Financial disclosures must be turned into the Public Disclosures Commission (PDC) by March each year. According to the Public Disclosures Act, a summary of the declarations shall be published in a gazette and any person who does not comply with the law is liable to a fine not exceeding $10,000 or imprisonment of not more than two years. So, how many Parliamentarians and senior public officials made their declarations last month? Any politician who hasnt yet declared is committing a criminal act? Why are they allowed to get away whilst the chap from Bain Town does the Bank Lane shuffle only to be lost at the Bahamas Department of Corrections? Indeed, there is a lack of transparency in the government contract bidding processes and, frankly, if one is not PLP or is presumed not to be, they need not apply. Further, the US State Department maintained its spotlight on inefficiencies in the countrys extremely backlogged judicial system, mistreatment of migrants and perceptions of impunity held by enforcement officials in its 2015 Human Rights Practices report. The report maintained its decade-long criticisms over lengthy trials and pre-trial detention, harsh prison conditions, violence against women and children and discrimination based on ethnic descent. The shameful and disgraceful utterances of Minister of Foreign Affairs and Immigration Fred Mitchell were also highlighted. The report furthered that civil rights groups reported the government used threats of prosecution in a way that had a chilling effect on free speech. In giving an example of such governmental excesses, the report referenced the comments of Mitchell in response to criticism of the governments new immigration policy that took effect in November 2014, stating: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs reminded citizens that the Bahamas Nationality Act allows the minister for nationality to revoke citizenship from a person who has shown himself by act or speech to be disloyal or disaffected towards The Bahamas. In August, the ministry publicly threatened to revoke the permanent residency status of a critic of the government. Shameful! Who do these people think they are? Id like to see a minister of government attempt to take away my citizenship. That will certainly be the day. In response to the US State Department Report Tall Pines MP Leslie Miller said that it was nothing new and acknowledged the wonderful system of patronage that has developed for the supporters of whichever government is in power. I have heard the criticisms of Mr Miller for his commentary. However, Leslie Miller spoke nothing but the truth. I certainly dont see a reason to criticise him for what we all know to be factual. Although the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) campaigned on a slogan of believing in Bahamians, the fact is that it was a lie. The PLP does not believe in Bahamians. The PLP believes in PLP Bahamians. The Free National Movement (FNM), though not as overly partisan under the leadership of former Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham, has a similar outlook. Ingraham attempted to bring a more balanced, meritorious approach to the award of contracts; however, many FNM supporters were upset at his even handedness and fair play with known or suspected PLPs. The view is that supporters of a particular party must be rewarded with the best contracts, jobs, posts and other amenities. Leslie Miller is right. And, frankly, we will see a replay of it in the upcoming political cycle. Bahamians should not believe the PLPs rhetoric about being a new generation of leaders or believing in Bahamians. Tell them to prove it. There are individual ministers who I know and have heard pretend to be fair and progressive but they are nothing more than partisans who have become so indoctrinated in this foolish PLP versus FNM concept that their pretence of being new age leaders and thinkers is easily punctured. I respect Leslie Millers honesty about politicians seeking to take care of their campaign workers and generals first. That is nothing unique to The Bahamas. President Obama did the same (think David Axelrod, etc) but he broadened his approach by being more even-handed, bipartisan and nationalistic. I have come to know Leslie Miller over the years and, unlike many, I know many stories of him crossing the so-called political divide to assist persons who are not PLP and may not have supported him. I cannot say the same for many others within the PLPs caucus. Unfortunately, Bahamian politicians are parochial, politically undeveloped and overly narrow-minded. No less a person than Prime Minister Christie has previously said that he hoped that the majority of construction contracts for the Bahamas Agriculture and Marine Science Institute (BAMSI) went to PLP supporters. Wow! Indeed, such a system does undermine the concept of a meritocracy and basic fairness and yes, more often than not, Bahamian taxpayers are short-changed and hardly gain value for money as contracts are awarded to people who are simply clueless. How is it that the now infamous Toggie and Bobo were awarded contracts of $6,000 and $5,200 per month from the Ministry of Works? Thats an annual total of $72,000 and $62,400. These men were/are each making more money than most senior public servants. In one instance, one of the men was making more than the Commissioner of Police ($66,000 per annum) and both of the men were making more than the ministerial salaries of Ministers of State ($60,000). Someone must answer for this expenditure of public funds! Yet another blind award of contracts to political cronies! As I told someone this weekend, it made one wonder in jest why one should have spent all those years in college when all you had to do to perpetually suck at the tit of the government was kiss-up politically, threaten political enemies and be a political fool! However, most Bahamians have dignity and self-respect so that is certainly not an option. It is high-time that anti-corruption legislation is passed. We are long overdue Freedom of Information Act and Campaign Finance legislation. There is a general need for fiscal reform in The Bahamas. In the wake of the 1984 Commission of Inquiry, some may have been shocked whilst others simply said that that is the way we do it in The Bahamas. At least in 1984, the level of corruption disturbed some folks to the point that some of the people engaged in such practises refrained. Today, it appears that the goal is now to perfect the art of patronage, graft, cronyism, unbridled greed and outright corrupt practices. It is shocking that there has been no condemnation from the Church despite the outrageous actions and/or commentary that indict certain politicians. Alas, the Church is selective in the issues it pursues. That is so sad and insincere. We have heard much about the loans to politically-exposed persons; we have yet to hear anything about the BAMSI dormitory issue; we standby as Deputy Prime Minister Philip Davis has not yet lived up to his promise to release the contracts given to other contractors at BAMSI; we are seeing the spectacle of the Fred Ramsey BEC bribe case, which is no doubt going to change the narrative (however, if something was wrong then, it is also wrong today). We take no solace in the political excuse that they (one political group) did it and so we can. Tit-for-tat wont work. We need a new approach to local politics. We want to rid our politics of the scourge of corruption. _________________________________________________________ First published in the The Tribune under the byline, Young Man's View, here View Adrian Gibson's archive here ____________________________________________________ The views expressed are those of the author, and not necessarily those of WeblogBahamas.com (which has no corporate view) or its Authors. By West Kentucky Star Staff Apr. 23, 2016 | 02:31 PM | BENTON, KY Police are asking for help to identify a suspect who tried to steal from an area store. On Thursday a woman tried to steal merchandise worth nearly $1,800 from the Benton Wal-Mart by pushing the cart out the door. Employees attempted to stop her, but she walked away from the cart, got into a vehicle and left. The woman is white and has short blonde or light brown hair, and may be in her thirties or forties. She was driving a white early 2000s model Saturn Vue with a temporarary tag. Anyone with information that can help solve this case should contact the Benton Police Department at 270-527-3126 or Marshall County Dispatch at 270-527-1333. They can also be messaged on their Facebook page. Advertisement By West Kentucky Star Staff Apr. 23, 2016 | LA CENTER, KY By West Kentucky Star Staff Apr. 23, 2016 | 10:09 AM | LA CENTER, KY A Florida fugitive was arrested in Ballard County after he was spotted driving recklessly. About 2:30 pm Wednesday, LaCenter Police Chief Kevin Green got an anonymous tip that someone was driving a Jeep through town recklessly on Highway 60. He spotted the vehicle as it was turning into LaCenter Motel and spoke to a the male driver and female passenger. The driver did not have identification and initially gave Green a false name and date of birth, but it was later determined that he was James W. Gardner of Florida. The woman, Judith Conkling of Paducah, was the owner of the vehicle, and Garnder's mother. An NCIC criminal database check revealed that Gardner was wanted by the Lee County Sheriff's Department in Florida. Gardner was listed as a sex offender on felony probation for possession of child pornography and was listed as a violent offender. He admitted to police that he had cut off his ankle monitor, fled the Fort Myers area, and had been hiding out in Kentucky with his mom for the last 2-3 weeks. Gardner was arrested for giving a false name, driving without a license, and on the out-of-state warrant. He was taken to Ballard County Detention Center until he can be extradited back to Florida. Conkling was cited for expired registration on the Jeep and was released. Advertisement By The Associated Press Apr. 22, 2016 | FRANKFORT, KY By The Associated Press Apr. 22, 2016 | 03:49 PM | FRANKFORT, KY The state says about 9,000 people living in eight Kentucky counties will lose their food stamps in about a week for not complying with federal work and training requirements. Kentucky and dozens of other states received a statewide waiver from 2008 to 2015 from the federal requirements. The state Cabinet for Health and Family Services says as the economy recovers, the waiver no longer will cover recipients in eight Kentucky counties: Bullitt, Hardin, Jefferson, Fayette, Daviess, Henderson, McCracken and Warren. The state's other 112 counties remain eligible for the waiver. The requirement taking effect May 1 applies to able-bodied adults without dependents. The federal government defines them as individuals between the ages of 18 and 49 who have no disabilities, no dependents and no other exemptions. Bridge deck work at two different locations in Graves County start this week Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 22/04/2016 (2375 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. NEW WESTMINSTER, B.C. A British Columbia man notorious for making child pornography where his face was obscured with a swirl apologized in court Friday to his victims in Southeast Asia and said he wants to change his behaviour. Christopher Neil told a B.C. Supreme Court that he no longer believes sex with children is acceptable anywhere in the world at the conclusion of his sentencing hearing. He pleaded guilty in December to five child-sex crimes. I do not now see the world as I did, mistakenly, during the time when I offended, said Neil, 41, who spoke with a shaky voice. Convicted pedophile Christopher Neil leaves Richmond Provincial court in Richmond, B.C., Wednesday, Oct. 3, 2012. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward I will do everything I can and it is my full intention to change my life. Neil has been held in custody since the RCMP Child Exploitation Unit arrested him two years ago on 10 charges, including producing images in Cambodia in 2003 that brought him under the scrutiny of Interpol. He was dubbed Swirl Face by international media after authorities released pictures of a man engaged in sex acts with two young boys, showing his face disguised by a digital swirl. Neil wore glasses and looked heavier in the image that led to his capture in Thailand in 2007. He later served nearly five years in prison for unrelated abuse of two boys but was released early and returned to Canada in fall 2012. Court has heard he met his victims, two boys, over two days in an impoverished district know for child-sex tourism outside the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh in February 2003. Neil paid them to create images where he is depicted naked with the children on a bed in a small hotel, court heard. He told the court he doesnt want to produce any child pornography and regrets offences where he accessed child pornography in Canada in 2013. Neil told the judge he wants to say sorry to the unnamed victims in the Cambodian images, adding he didnt fully appreciate the effects on them until he heard about their lives during his sentencing hearing. The court heard a Canadian investigator tracked down and interviewed one of the victims, who reported he was 13 at the time. The man, now about 25, was terrified of being exposed and at risk of suicide. Crown attorney Brendan McCabe asked the judge to sentence Neil to five years prison, which would amount to one more year after time served. McCabe told the court that Neil is a pedophile and cant change. Neil said he believes he can change. And I will try my best, I will do everything I can to not offend again. I am very sorry and I just want to say to all the victims in this court case and others that I dont know about and that have been harmed by my actions, I am sorry. I think about my actions daily. Neils lawyer asked the judge for a sentence of time served, arguing further incarceration wouldnt help with his clients rehabilitation or reintegration. Neil has been in segregation for the past two years awaiting trial and now wants to be released so he can work, Mark Thompson told the judge. Its going to be a tough time, but hes an intelligent man, he has insight into the offences and that goes a long way in the file, Thompson said outside court. The judge reserved his decision and has set a date in early June for sentencing. Follow @TamsynBurgmann on Twitter Opinion Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 22/04/2016 (2375 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. It was the kind of speech, the kind of personable presence, that might have made us wonder where and why Brian Pallister had been hiding out when he was the Opposition leader. If we didnt already know how he got his nickname, Captain Costa Rica. Nevertheless, on Tuesday, in the high of that long-awaited winning moment, premier-designate Brian Pallister opened his joyous and, yes, gracious election night speech with an optimistic reference to the tomorrow of a province returned to a Progressive Conservative government. JOHN WOODS / THE CANADIAN PRESS FILES Manitoba Progressive Conservative leader and premier-designate Brian Pallister And tomorrow, he said, all Manitobans are going to walk out into a beautiful spring morning. And theyre going to look up. And the skys going to be Blue. It was an irresistible mixed metaphor. Symbolic of the future under the Torys agenda. But the grey sky that Winnipeggers actually woke up to was symbolic, too. As Pallisters people get beyond the next couple of weeks of transition into office, the reality, versus the rhetoric, is about to dawn on Pallister in a way the view from outside never can for a party thats been in Opposition for nearly 17 years. And, in reality, there is little blue on the horizon. Or little green, for that matter. Not with a debt of monumental proportions in a province with a large, aging population in need of more and more care, and a fast growing number of young First Nations youth in need of improved education and job prospects. The indigenous file, in particular, promises to be problematic in the extreme for Pallister, as it was for outgoing premier Greg Selinger. Its not as if Pallister doesnt have a plan and an agenda. He intends to build more personal care homes. Bravo. He intends to send Manitoba Hydros Bipole III project to the Public Utilities Board for a review, which if it takes a year could increase the cost of the build by between $200 and $250 million. Assuming the build goes ahead. Im not sure theres a cost-saving in any of that, but it looks good to his political base. After all, his basic agenda is lower taxes and better services, according to what I gathered from the speech and the election campaign. Again, that sounds more like rhetoric than reality, but, its early and we can all dream, cant we? Mind you, there is hope for more tax dollars from a fresh source. Coincidentally, this week the federal Liberals announced that come next spring they will introduce legislation on the legalization of marijuana from which Pallister may stand to profit. But will he choose to do it through Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries, the direction the NDP was going? Or will he turn pot stores private? Pallister hasnt said yet, and maybe he hasnt decided and wont until all the evidence and alternatives are considered. Anyway, Im hoping for the best for the Pallister government, because that would be best for all of us. But Im not as optimistic as Captain Costa Rica. For example, in his speech, after talking about being a government that will find and eliminate waste, overlaps and duplication, Pallister turned to a somewhat surprising reference. Trust and transparency. We will advance an open-government program, he said on election night, that will put Manitoba in the forefront of the most transparent and ethical governments in the world. He referred more specifically to an open-tendering process. And improving access to information. Really? That may well be Brian Pallisters intention, a laudable one at that, but over time governments tend to take more black markers to documents as they have more to hide, just as Pallister accused the Selinger government of doing. And just as he basically did in Opposition while hiding out for so long in Costa Rica. Then, when he should have been doing his job as the PC leader and showing up during Manitobas summer flooding in 2014, he told those who asked that he was at a family wedding in Alberta when he was really at his future retirement home in Costa Rica. In the end, the late-breaking news of Pallisters lack of transparency and the personal trust it compromises didnt matter. Such was the voters rage with the Selinger government and their intention to give the NDP the boot. But it matters now that Pallister is about to become the premier who preaches trust and transparency. Oh, by the way, as far as Im concerned, the honeymoon is already over for Brian Pallister. And, hopefully, the vacations in hiding are over for Captain Costa Rica, too. gordon.sinclair@freepress.mb.ca Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 22/04/2016 (2375 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. GOLDEN, B.C. Rafters wanting to get to world-class rapids on the Kicking Horse River in southeastern British Columbia will be allowed to cross land belonging to Canadian Pacific Railway. CP had announced that it would ban rafting companies from using an unmarked rail crossing near Golden at the only point where rafts can be launched into the rivers lower canyon. But a meeting between CP, town officials and river-rafting companies has led to a solution. Details havent been released, but Golden Mayor Ron Oszust says the rafting season will not be delayed. He says there couldnt have been a better outcome as a ban would have hurt the companies and Goldens tourism industry. The town is holding a celebration next Saturday that includes a raft through the town and a barbecue. This is wonderful news and CP Rail has come to the table and been the great corporate citizen and partner that theyve always been in our community, Oszust said after the meeting Friday. (CHQR, The Canadian Press) Lead pipes remain in Baraboos water system, but the city water supply has earned a clean bill of health. Utility Superintendent Wade Peterson said 600 lead pipes, some dating back to the 1880s, are still in use. City crews remove them as opportunities arise, at a pace of 15-20 per year. Meanwhile, the city adds a polyphosphate compound to the water intended to coat the pipes and prevent lead from leaching into the supply. Every year were active in trying to remove as much as we can, Peterson said. Its a slow process. Despite the presence of lead pipes, Baraboos water contains only minimal traces of lead, at a level well within whats considered safe. Peterson noted that the city only controls lead pipes leading from the water main to the curb: Many residents likely have lead pipes leading from their homes to the curb. Theres still a lot of that, Peterson said. Lead pipes effect on water quality became a national issue last year when residents of Flint, Michigan became ill from high lead levels in the municipal water supply. This week, a judge authorized criminal charges against local and state officials involved in the decision to change Flints water supply from a treated source to the untreated Flint River. The untreated water caused lead from the citys pipes to leach into the water supply at a hazardous rate. In Wisconsin, the Associated Press found 64 water systems have exceeded the federal lead standard at least once since Jan. 1, 2013. According to a USA Today analysis of the EPAs Safe Drinking Water Information Database, the only water system in Sauk County to exceed the federal lead standard of 15 parts per billion since 2012 was the Loganville Waterworks, which registered a reading of 16.85 parts per billion one time. Nationwide, the public health crisis prompted Democrats in the U.S. Senate this week to request $70 billion in federal money over the next decade to help local water utilities replace lead pipes. Peterson said such aid would be welcome. Baraboo removes lead pipes as part of street reconstruction projects, because thats when its cost-effective. For example, eight will be removed next month as part of a water main project on Fourth Street. But tearing up streets to remove lead pipes that arent endangering the water supply doesnt make sense financially. I wish we had more money to do more services, Peterson said. Well go after every ounce we can. Lead pipe removal has seen slow but steady progress statewide, Public Service Commission spokeswoman Elise Nelson said. Lead, however, is most often found not in the utilitys water mains but in lead services lines, laterals, most of which are located on private property, she said. Peterson said Flints water quality crisis brought more attention to the issue of lead, one Baraboo leaders have been ahead of for years. Weve had more public interest in it, but weve always had the philosophy of trying to get it out of our system, Peterson said. The overlords of the Internal Revenue Service already make it their business to dig through Americans financial lives every year. Now Congress is considering limiting who taxpayers can turn to for help. Thanks to a federal tax code that is endlessly confusing and frustrating, an estimated 80 percent of Americans needed assistance filling out their returns this year. Citing a need to crack down on fraud, two Republican members of Congress have proposed a new licensing system for tax preparers. If passed, it likely would put more small tax preparers out of business and help big companies that profit off the complexities of the U.S. tax code. Oh, and it would make tax preparation more expensive, too. Under the legislation authored by Reps. Diane Black, R-Tennessee, and Pat Meehan, R-Pennsylvania, tax preparers would have to register with the IRS, submit to a background check, pass an exam and complete continuing education classes each year. The two lawmakers say the licensing rules are intended to cut down on $15 billion in improper earned income tax credits handed out in 2013. Critics say the proposal is a case of government making worse a problem government created to begin with. With a tax code so unwieldy and complicated that nearly every American needs help complying, how would regulating preparers make things easier? It wont, says Chris Koopman, a research fellow at the Mercatus Center, a free-market think tank. The problems with tax compliance have little to do with who is preparing returns. Making it more difficult for individuals to get the assistance they need will help no one. Well, thats not entirely true. It will help one specific group: the companies that make their money during tax season, like H&R Block, Jackson Hewitt (which owns the Turbo Tax software brand) and CPAs. As the Wall Street Journal reported, the professional tax preparing industry is cheering for the new licensing rules because they would reduce competition and force taxpayers to use their services. Isnt that just grand? Businesses that exist solely because of the complexity of the federal tax code are lobbying for the federal government to create even more rules so they can make even more money off taxpayers. And in some cases, theyre not just lobbying for the new rules theyre actually writing them. A former CEO of H&R Block, Mark Earnst, oversaw the creation of a licensing system in 2010 while he was deputy commissioner of the IRS. The new rules proposed by Black and Meehan would raise the bar even higher. And we already know what happens when these types of restrictions are put in place. The people who get hurt are the small-time tax preparers. People like Elmer Kilian, an 81-year-old Eagle resident who does his neighbors tax returns each year for a small fee. After the IRS pushed through its licensing rules in 2010, the number of tax preparers in the country declined by an estimated 200,000. According to data from the Institute for Justice, it was mostly small tax preparers who were driven out the market, while large companies such as H&R Block got a bigger share of business in the years that followed. The other loser, as is so often the case with licensing schemes, are consumers. Licensing reduces competition in the tax preparation market, which is bad for consumers, Dan Alban, an attorney with the Institute for Justice, recently told the Senate Finance Committee. Between reduced competition and increased regulatory compliance costs, licensing is expected to artificially drive up the prices consumers pay for tax preparation. The Nanny State isnt always about telling you what is illegal and what is mandatory. Sometimes its about changing the rules, ever so slightly, to help the powerful at the expense of everyone else. Tax preparers such as H&R Block and TurboTax are facilitating the Nanny State by their very existence. In return, the Nanny State helps keep them in business. Want yet another example of how thoroughly befouled Wisconsins court system has become? A trial court judge in liberal Dane County has declared the so-called Right to Work law passed by the conservative majority in the Wisconsin Legislature to be unconstitutional. This, despite half the states in the union having right-to-work laws and abundant case law upholding their constitutionality. Never let it be said Dane Countys liberal judges surrender easily. Republican Attorney General Brad Schimel vows to appeal Judge William Fousts ruling and says he is confident of reversal. As well he should be, considering the reality of the courts today in Wisconsin. The appellate court may be something of a crapshoot for Schimel but once his appeal reaches the Wisconsin Supreme Court, its as predictable as the sun rising in the east. The 5-2 conservative majority will grant Schimels appeal and sustain the Legislatures will. The millions of dollars spent over the past decade or so to elect that conservative majority will not go unrewarded. And so it goes in Wisconsin. A politically charged law bounces back and forth between liberal and conservative judges, fighting partisan wars by other means. But its also solid law. The legislation is anathema to organized labor but a long record of unsuccessful challenges suggests its constitutionality is not really in question. Theres something cringe-worthy about the zeal with which Gov. Scott Walker and the Republican-controlled Assembly and Senate relentlessly have attacked unions of every stripe. First, state leaders made it their business to take down public unions Act 10 all but destroyed organized labor in the public sector. Aside from police, fire and a handful of transportation workers there really are no public employees with meaningful union rights anymore because they were left with nothing to negotiate. Predictably, workers see no point in paying dues to a union that has no authority to score any gains. The result: Union membership has declined statewide to a mere shadow of its previous level. At the time Walker had said he had no interest in targeting private-sector unionism or enacting right-to-work legislation. He even called the idea a distraction. But when the Legislature teed it up and nobody really believes it did so over the governors objections Walker not only eagerly signed it, he made right-to-work and his anti-unionism the centerpiece of his short-lived presidential campaign. The common folks of Wisconsin should question why it has seemed so important to state leaders to hamstring both public and private unions. Heres one possibility: If business interests have been the point behind campaign funding for Republicans, unions have been the counter-point in funding Democrats. Recent history shows union spending in Wisconsin elections has fallen off a cliff. Probably not just an unintended consequence. A public reprimand has been issued to Beaver Dam attorney Mary Harper. The Supreme Court of Wisconsin Office of Lawyer regulation issued the reprimand April 14. According to that office, Harper had no prior reprimand. The reprimand states that Harper represented a client in court on Oct. 20, 2014, while she was intoxicated in violation of Supreme Court rules. It also states that she violated additional rules due to convictions for drunken driving and bail jumping, including a felony charge. The convictions stemmed from arrests that took place in October 2014. Harper retains her license and there is no further penalty attached to the reprimand. Addiction is an explanation not an excuse, Harper said when contacted Friday. It has not been easy to admit something has taken control of my life. Harper said without treatment there is no doubt alcohol addiction would have had even more serious consequences. I am actively involved in treatment programs following an inpatient stay, Harper said. Im monitored daily through the Alcohol Court and the Wisconsin Department of Corrections. Harper said she hopes others can learn from her experience. I strongly urge anyone who feels the use of drugs or alcohol may be having an ill effect on their life to get treatment before it is too late, she said. Presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders keeps talking about the necessity of a political revolution. While I agree on the need, its not going to happen until the majority of voters experience a political evolution. The reality is most Americans dont pay much attention to politics and easily are fooled by misleading campaign ads. I understand that. A majority of people are too busy battling family, health or other personal issues. Many are working too many hours for too little pay and dont have time to worry about anything except paying the bills. But the irony is, theyre the ones who most need to pay attention and vote for candidates who would actually make their lives, and this country, better for everyone. Yes, even better for the rich. Because if more people can afford to buy what businesses sell, the rich will get even richer than they are now. Its a win-win. I didnt think about these things until recently. When my husband and I were farming, we and our friends paid little attention to politics because there wasnt time or energy to do more than just survive. In the warm months, we worked 15 hours a day and were in the barn or the fields for many more hours than we were in the house. We also were raising children and maintaining equipment, our home and farm buildings. There was no time for television and we never were in one place long enough to listen to the radio. Newspapers werent delivered to our farm, but even if they were, we had no time to read them. We did vote, but didnt have time to do any in-depth research into the candidates. I voted for the person, not the party, and ended up voting for Republicans more than half the time. Politics, to me, had to do with places far from rural Minnesota and had no relevance, I thought, to our everyday lives. I was mistaken. Everything our lawmakers do affects our lives for better or worse. And too many of them have no problem hiding the truth from their constituents. Along the way, savvy Republican strategists realized they needed more than rich peoples votes to win elections. They knew ordinary working people would never vote for their candidates if they revealed their real agenda. So they had to identify and then emphasize issues average Americans would rally around. And they were successful. They created and used fear to push hot-button issues like gun legislation, abortion and gay marriage, knowing that many voters could be manipulated to concentrate on those things and ignore the important issues like living wages, transparency in government, fair elections and preserving the quality of the air and the water. I confess I fell for the gun control ruse. No way, I thought, would we let anyone take our guns. Almost all farmers have guns. They go hunting and they also have to kill livestock animals to put meat on the table. Republican propaganda made it sound like Democrats were going to take the guns away from responsible gun owners. In reality, less than one percent of liberals want to do that, and itll never happen, but hey, fear works and gets Republican candidates the votes theyd never get if people knew they were being tricked. Its the same with the issue of abortion. There are fewer abortions per hundred women now than there were before it was legalized, and fewer women die as a result. And gay marriage? Who does that hurt, really? Nobody. But they needed the evangelicals votes, so they used religion to pull them in. Meanwhile, CEO pay has sky-rocketed, but wages are stagnant because Republican lawmakers vote against unions and raising the minimum wage. The quality of our air and water has declined because corporations that profit from pollution donate big bucks to Republicans. After theyre elected, they pass bills to let their donors do what they want, and also give them huge subsidies and other favors. I learned all this after I finally started to pay attention, so I do understand how easy it is to be fooled and distracted from the really important issues. Since then, Ive tracked how our lawmakers vote. Trust me, the parties are not the same. Democrats continue to vote for workers rights, fair elections, preserving our clean air and water, quality schools, fair compensation, ethical government and equal treatment for all Americans. And none of them have voted to take away our guns. But Im a realist. I know its going to take time for people to realize these things, and Bernie or no Bernie, there will be no political revolution until they do. Items are listed under the day of the event only, running as space permits prior to the event. To submit items, call 745-3511, email jcutsforth@capitalnewspapers.com or visit www.portagedailyregister.com. Include name and phone number. Saturday Portage World War II Museum, 119 E. Cook St., Portage, offers free tours to all veterans from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. every Thursday, Friday and Saturday. The tours take 2 1/2 hours. For information, call 608-697-3690. Lodi Valley Chapter IATA Trail Improvement event, 9 a.m. meet at the Lodi Community Pool parking area on the east side of Lodi High School, 1100 Sauk St., Lodi. We will focus on cleaning up brush (the evil buckthorn), replace and improve the signage, and repair some tread around the Rainbow Bridge and the short segment of Ice Age Trail that runs to Strangeway Drive. We will work for two or three hours. Help out for as little or as long as you like. For directions, visit: https://goo.gl/maps/dcjI9. Bring work gloves and water, wear hefty shoes, long sleeves, and an energetic attitude. For more information, contact Bill at 843-3926 or billpatti@charter.net. Portage Area Community Theatre presents Almost, Maine, 7 p.m. Portage Center for the Arts, 301 E. Cook St., Portage. This winter tale focuses on one special evening in the unincorporated, small town of Almost, Maine as its inhabitants discover love in many forms. Tickets are $12. Sunday Portage Area Community Theatre presents Almost, Maine, 2 p.m. Portage Center for the Arts, 301 E. Cook St., Portage. This winter tale focuses on one special evening in the unincorporated, small town of Almost, Maine as its inhabitants discover love in many forms. Tickets are $12. Zumba Toning, 6 p.m. Rusch Elementary School, Portage. $5 drop in fee. Contact Tami at 608-346-3971 or 4dreamers@frontier.com. Monday Columbia County Public Health Walk-In Clinic, 8 a.m. to noon, Columbia County Division of Health, 2652 Murphy Road, Portage. Use door 4. Bring childs immunization record. Call the Flu Vaccination Hotline at 608-742-9735 for information about flu vaccine. Visit www.co.columbia.wi.us for more information. Mothers Day Vendor Open House, 4 to 8 p.m. Dinos Restaurant, upstairs meeting room, New Pinery Road, Portage. Mothers Day items, cash and carry table, snacks and refreshments. Vendors include Tupperware, Party Lite, 31 Bags, Tastefully Simple and Norwax. For information, call Eva at 608-408-0471. Portage Sharing Supper, 5 to 6:30 p.m. Bartels Middle School, Portage. Food and conversation. Kids Corner for young people to do a craft and hear a story, as well as informational tables for adults. All welcome. Second Harvest mobile food pantry, 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. St. Marys Catholic Church, 318 S. Main St., Pardeeville. Do not line up before 3 p.m. Bring boxes, bags, wagons, etc., to carry food. Seniors Bowling Social, 1 p.m. Tollys Alleys, East Wisconsin Street, Portage. Cost is $6 and includes three games of bowling and shoe rental. Euchre card party, 6:30 p.m. Bethlehem Lutheran Church, W8267 Highway 33 East, Portage. Public welcome. Contact: Cloe, 429-2363. Zumba Toning, 8:30 a.m. VFW Hall, West Collins St., Portage. $5 drop in fee. Contact Tami at 608-346-3971 or 4dreamers@frontier.com" href="mailto:4dreamers@frontier.com">4dreamers@frontier.com. Zumba Toning, 6 p.m. Harrisville. $5 drop in fee. Contact Tami at 608-346-3971 or 4dreamers@frontier.com. Tuesday Fundraiser for the Montello Middle School and High School Robotics Team, 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. Montello High School. The robotics club will have a brat and hot dog fry to help generate funds for next years teams. The new competition video will be revealed and the teams will demonstrate Spunky Monkey, Junk Yard and a claw bot. After they have demonstrated the robots, attendees will have a chance to drive the robots and try to make some points. Open Euchre, 6:30 p.m. Sajs on Main, Pardeeville. For information, call 429-3409. Portage Public Library offers adult coloring, 4 to 5 p.m. Portage Public Library, 253 W. Edgewater St., Portage. Open to adults age 18 and older. Coloring sheets and colored pencils provided. Runs every other Tuesday. Portage Family Skate Park Public Meeting, 5 to 6:30 p.m. Gerstenkorn Administration Building, 305 E. Slifer St., Portage. All interested people are welcome to attend. If the Portage Schools are closed or released early the PFSP meeting will be canceled and announced on our Facebook page with a new meeting location as soon as possible. Zumba Toning, 4:30 p.m. Woodridge Primary School, Portage. $5 drop in or session fee. Contact Tami at 608-346-3971 or 4dreamers@frontier.com. Wednesday Cooking Demo and Author Talk with author Genevieve Davis, 5 p.m. Montello Public Library, Montello. Davis will speak about and sign copies of her book Fannis Viennese Kitchen. There will be a strawberry cake served. Fannis Viennese Kitchen is a collection of authentic Austrian recipes for dishes like Apple Strudel and Plum Dumplings, and stories of immigrant life in Wisconsin. The talk includes a cooking demo of the strawberry cake pictured on the cover of the book, topped with whipped cream, topfen and fresh strawberries. For more information, visit www.october7thstudio.com. Bingo, 5:30 p.m. 131 Restaurant, North Main Street, Pardeeville. Bingo will be played every Wednesday, except the first one of the month. Endeavor Sharing Supper, 5 to 6:30 p.m. Endeavor Elementary School, Endeavor. Enjoy a free dinner from 5 to 6:30 p.m. Informational booths and free blood pressure checks will be set up for the adults. Kids Corner provides activities for the children. Join us in this opportunity for food, fellowship and fun. This months sponsor is Trinity United Parish. Pauquette Wordcrafters, 9:30 a.m. Portage Public Library, 253 W. Edgewater St., Portage. All writers welcome. St. Vincent de Paul free medical clinic, 9 a.m. to noon. Wilz Drugs lower level, 140 E. Cook St., Portage. No appointments needed. Information needed is name, date of birth and a contact number. A chiropractor is available from 10 a.m. to noon Wednesdays. A foot clinic is available every week. The clinic can do exams and prescribe medications. Physical therapist available. Discounted medications are available at Wilz and Walmart. Call Bonny Oestreich, RN, at 608-234-0159 for information. Columbia County Public Health Walk-In Clinic, 8 a.m. to noon, Columbia County Division of Health, 2652 Murphy Road, Portage. Use door 4. Bring childs immunization record. Call the Flu Vaccination Hotline at 608-742-9735 for information about flu vaccine. Visit www.co.columbia.wi.us for more information. Portage Center for the Arts presents the Area High School Art Show, Portage Center for the Arts, 301 E. Cook St., Portage. Drury Gallery hours are from 1 to 6 p.m. Wednesday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday. Call 742-5655 for more information. Photos at Tivoli Portage Center for the Arts at Tivoli presents an exhibit featuring paintings by Dr. James Foskett, MD. Runs through June. Free and open to the public. Tivoli is located at 2805 Hunters Trail, behind Divine Savior Healthcare in Portage. Texas Hold em card tournament, VFW Hall, 215 W. Collins St., Portage. Register at 6 p.m. Cards begin at 6:30 p.m. Entry fee is $20. One hundred percent payout. Open to the public. For information, call the VFW Hall at 742-5350. Free blood pressure screenings, 1 to 5 p.m. Divine Savior Healthcare, 2817 New Pinery Road, Portage. No appointment necessary. Call 745-6405 for more information. Do not eat, smoke, drink caffeine or exercise for 30 minutes prior. Zumba Toning, 5 p.m. Diverse Options, Montello. $5 drop in fee. Contact Tami at 608-346-3971 or 4dreamers@frontier.com. Zumba, 5:30 p.m. 1208 Northport Road (the former Freedom Carpeting building). This is a $5 drop-in class. For more information, contact Deb at DJMACK00001@yahoo.com or Rena at 697-6713. Thursday Brown Bag Lunch Series, noon to 12:45 p.m. Portage Center for the Arts, 301 E. Cook St., Portage. Gospel music by the Three Wives Men, featuring Jim Bernander, Paul Peterson and the Rev. Dennis Weis. Cost is $5 at the door. Bring a lunch if desired. Student groups welcome; please call 608-742-5655 for group pricing. Endeavor Lions Club Bingo, 6:30 p.m. Endeavor-Moundville Fire Department, Endeavor. Marquette County Immunization Clinic, 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Marquette County Health and Human Services, 428 Underwood Ave., Montello. Bring immunization records. Parents must accompany children younger than 18. For information, call 297-3135. Museum at the Portage, 804 MacFarlane Road, Portage. Open from 1 to 4 p.m. Thursday through Saturday in April, May, September and October; and 1 to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday in June, July and August. Admission is free. Open Texas Hold em, 7 p.m. Sport Club 22, Pardeeville. For information, call 566-9655. Portage World War II Museum, 119 E. Cook St., Portage, offers free tours to all veterans from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. every Thursday, Friday and Saturday. The tours take 2 1/2 hours. For information, call 608-697-3690. Wyocena Red Cross blood drive, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Columbia Health Care Center, 323 W. Monroe St., Wyocena. Download the American Red Cross Blood Donor app, visit www.redcrossblood.org or call 800-733-2767 to make an appointment or for more information. All blood types are needed. A blood donor card or drivers license or two other forms of identification are required. Zumba, 5:15 to 6 p.m. Woodridge Primary School, Portage. $5 drop in or session fee. Contact Tami at 608-346-3971 or 4dreamers@frontier.com. Friday Art at Tivoli Portage Center for the Arts at Tivoli presents Carnival on the Banks of the River Styx by Jim Foskett. Exhibit runs through June. Free and open to the public. Tivoli is located at 2805 Hunters Trail, behind Divine Savior Healthcare in Portage. Euchre card party, Portage Presbyterian Church, 120 W. Pleasant St., Portage. Meal served at 6 p.m. and cards begin at 6:30 p.m. A free will offering of $5 includes cards and the meal. All proceeds from this event will be directed to the Yakutat, Alaska Presbyterian Church. Bring an item for the food pantry. Oxford Red Cross blood drive, noon to 5 p.m. Oxford Grade School gym, 222 S. Franklin Ave., Oxford. Portage World War II Museum, 119 E. Cook St., Portage, offers free tours to all veterans from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. every Thursday, Friday and Saturday. The tours take 2 1/2 hours. For information, call 608-697-3690. Unique Singles, 5 p.m. Pizza Ranch, New Pinery Road, Portage, Portage. All single men and women older than age 50 welcome. The group is strictly social with no dues or officers. Eighth-graders arrived in the Portage school forest on Earth Day armed with tips learned from their Natural Resources class at Bartels Middle School. A white pine has five needles in a bundle, and white has five letters, said Emilio Lopez, who that morning stepped through the 40-acre forest with his classroom partner, Brady Paske. A shagbark hickory grows 60 to 100 feet tall, Paske noted, holding a tree identification logbook. This ones spray-painted which means it wont get cut, Lopez said. Twenty students from Mark Hoffmans Natural Resources class seemed to take immediate interest in their first visit to the school forest on Friday, a trip that further marked the revival of a forgotten resource for the Portage Community School District. Its really been unused for the past three or four years now, said Hoffman, an agriculture-science teacher and FFA adviser for the middle school. He had taken his Natural Resources class to the forest in the fall but with different students. Following a severe wind storm last spring the district had the forest logged in the summer, Hoffman explained, working closely with foresters to cut damaged trees and improve forest quality. In the wake of such efforts, Hoffmans students on Friday planted 500 trees. Today, middle school FFA students will plant more than 3,000 trees from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., an event open to the public in the school forest located off Highway EE on Wilcox Road. Well continue to plant new trees for the next four to five years, with that number diminishing as we move forward and have established seedlings going, Hoffman said, noting students are mostly planting white pines and for good reasons. Theyre really good for wildlife habitat and theres already a white pine stand in the forest, so well expand on that. Students also targeted invasive species like garlic mustard, honeysuckle and buckthorn, aiding in manual removal and custom treatment applications prescribed by foresters. Such species, Hoffman said, are really tough to eliminate and crowd out the native species. Natural Resources students, in the classroom, learn about tree identification, general forestry concepts and water and soil quality, Hoffman said. Outside learning is a different story. Its not just being out in nature: when theyre out here they really have to take what theyve learned and apply it. Theyre forced to do it because there are no other options. Look closely The school forest holds at least 14 species of trees: four varieties of oak and a patchwork of others, including hickory, ash, cedar, spruce and several pine species, Hoffman said. Im sure there are others hiding out here, too. That kind of diversity wasnt lost on students Kyla Hopper and Lilee Otey. When we came here I thought they all looked pretty similar: but theyre all different. You have to look closely to see what they are, Otey said. Its surprising how many trees have similar terminals, the buds at the end of the stems, Hopper said. You have to figure it out on the bark. Hoffmans students agreed that being outside beats learning in a classroom. Paske wants to be a hunting guide, out west, and while Lopez isnt yet settled on a career path, he said working outside would be neat. They agreed learning about trees in the school forest enhanced their interest in the curriculum. I like learning about cedar trees, Paske said, because where we hunt we have a lot of cedar trees. So I like learning about how they grow, their adaptability in different places. Its a little harder without the leaves, Lopez said of tree identification, but its still pretty fun. Learning outdoors Hoffman is in his first year teaching at Portage, after teaching environmental science for two years at a charter school in Fox Lake. There, Hoffman brought students to a similarly sized school forest every week an experience that inspired him to help reinvigorate the schools use of the forest. My teaching tends to be more project-based: I want students to look at problems and try to solve them, rather than, Here are the facts. Over the winter the district acquired the trees for students to plant through the DNRs nursery program, mostly 1- to 3-year-old saplings that were free to the school and are available at a moderate cost to the public. So far, Hoffman is the only teacher to utilize the school forest this year, though others are showing interest. Benefits of such activities cover a lot of bases, he said. Another thing I really feel is important is just letting the kids have some time out here: to just take it in, absorb nature and experience it the way they want to experience it. To relax and enjoy it, Hoffman said. It feels like nature is something that can be part of their life; so many kids with access dont utilize it now because maybe theyre stuck with their face in a screen. They see there are different ways to look at things. And if theres different ways to look at nature, there are different ways to look at this classmate, or this teacher, or this idea someone is trying to share with me. If you take them out of their comfort zone and get them to experience something different and new, it really opens their eyes when theyre back in their regular environment. 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 Hyundais Haydon Paddon delivered a strong message to his Volkswagen rivals as he regained second place at YPF Rally Argentina with fastest time in Saturday mornings opening speed test. Stage info: SS10 Villa Bustos - Tanti 1, 19.71km It starts on a wide, good-surfaced, fast road with some big corners that demand bravery. However, from 12.30km the road narrows and becomes twisty and rougher, with a couple of water splashes which caught out Andreas Mikkelsen last year. The Kiwi was 2.1sec quicker than leader Jari-Matti Latvala from Villa Bustos to Tanti and 7.7sec ahead of Sebastien Ogier, relegating the Frenchman to third and reducing the margin to Latvala to 9.3sec. Paddon and Ogier fought tooth and nail yesterday afternoon and this was the fourth consecutive stage in which the pair swapped positions in the overall standings. I enjoyed that! Im over-driving in a few places and lost two or three seconds here and there but I need to make the most of the advantage I have, said Paddon, whose lower start position ensured cleaner conditions in comparison to road opener Ogier. Latvala was also impressed by Paddons performance. I had a really good stage, only a couple of places where I could improve. That time from Hayden was amazing, said the Finn. Seventh-placed Henning Solberg dropped time with a power steering problem in his Ford Fiesta RS while Ott Tanak, returning under Rally 2 regulations after retiring yesterday, had to cope with the distraction of his side window flapping open. Also unhappy was Lorenzo Bertelli who was back after retiring yesterday with a turbo problem. All was not well as repairs were not completed until this morning and now the Italian had no engine response, believing the anti-lag system was not working. More News VIDEO Bus Service to Change Following Discussions with Councillor This article is old - Published: Saturday, Apr 23rd, 2016 The route of a bus service through the village of Tanyfron is to change following discussions between the operator and a County Councillor. Councillor Paul Rogers entered talks with Arriva after the route of the popular service 14 through the village was changed in November last year. The new route resulted in buses serving Park Road in both directions and it no longer served Bryn Gwenfro. Cllr Rogers who represents the villages of Tanyfron and Vron expressed concerns that many residents, particularly the elderly and disabled who live at the top of Tanyfron and in the Vron would struggle to access public transport having to walk further to and from bus stops. Safety concerns were also raised about the suitability of Park Road for two way bus services along the entire length of road due to its narrowness and parked vehicles. Since the changes were implemented there have been reports of damage to vehicles and delays due to obstruction. These concerns of residents resulted in Cllr Rogers entering discussions and a site meeting with Arriva Buses Wales as to the problem. As a result changes to the route will come into force next week on Monday 24th April. The new service will now divert via Bryn Gwenfro and Cae Merfyn. Cllr Rogers who led the talks has thanked Arriva for listening to Tanyfron residents. Speaking about the changes, Cllr Rogers said: I would like to take the opportunity to thank Arriva for agreeing to divert their route back via Bryn Gwenfro and Cae Merfyn. It is not the original route however many residents will welcome this move. I will now be liaising with Wrexham Council to ensure there are appropriate bus stop locations with up to date timetables. I will continue to work with his companies to try and improve these services where possible. Jerry White, the Socialist Equality Partys candidate for president of the United States, held a discussion with striking Verizon workers in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Friday in the first campaign stop after the SEP announced its participation in the US elections. Striking workers picketing Verizon business locations in downtown Pittsburgh expressed surprise about the entry of a new candidate in the elections. White said the candidates from the Democratic and Republican Parties had nothing to offer workers except austerity, inequality and war, and that he and his running mate, Niles Niemuth, were fighting to provide the working class with a political program to defend its interests. The workers readily took copies of the SEP election statement. Despite the steady rain, the picketers and the candidate engaged in a serious discussion about the strike and a broad range of political issues, from the nature of the unions and the Democratic Party to economic nationalism and the danger of war. Nearly 40,000 workers struck the giant telecom company on April 13 after working without a contract for more than eight months. The company clearly provoked the walkout and used the delay after the August 2015 contract expiration to train an estimated 20,000 managers and contractors as strikebreakers. The Fortune 500 companyand the powerful financial concerns behind itwant to impose deep health care and pension cuts and have a free hand to transfer workers across long distances for weeks or months at a time in order to avoid hiring. Asked by the candidate what the strike was about, a veteran worker with 22 years picketing a Verizon Wireless store said, Its about greed. They say the wireline business, which is where we work, is only making $37 billion, while the wireless division, which is non-union, is making much more. But the wireline pays for the wireless division. They take the money out of us for their lobbying campaigns and their private jets, then they tell their customers they have to raise their rates. This is all about job security, another worker with 19 years at the company said. The average worker is getting nothing, while the top 1 percent gets everything. But if they cut us out, who is going to pay the taxes for the bridges and the other infrastructure we need? White responded, saying that Verizon was only one of many corporations that are hoarding vast profits and investing, not in infrastructure, but in stock buybacks and dividends that only benefit their richest investors. At the same time, he added, the government had cut infrastructure by 75 percent in real terms since the 1970s. Look at Flint where the population is being poisoned, White said, as workers nodded their heads. In my view, one of the workers responded, the way the rich look at it, they are thinning the herd. Michigans governor, he said, only cares about profits, and people are dying. At another picket line, White and several strikers discussed the SEPs call for an international strategy for the working class to oppose the globally organized transnational companies and the growing danger of war. To me the biggest issue is outsourcing jobs to other countries, said one veteran worker. Verizon wants to take jobs to the Philippines, and we have to defend our jobs here. White said Verizon was a global company, which became the biggest wireless provider in the US after buying Vodaphone, a telecom based in the United Kingdom. The transnational companies pit workers from different countries against each other in a struggle to see who is going to work for the cheapest wages. Because the Communications Workers of America and other unions are nationalist, White said, they had no answer to globalization except to try to entice companies to keep production in the US by slashing the wages and benefits of American workers. White recalled when he first came to Pittsburgh during the 1981 coal miners strike. I was shocked to see a for sale sign on the side of a massive steel mill that had been closed. The United Steelworkers [USW] were engaged in the most disgusting anti-Japanese agitation at the time, White said, distributing bumper stickers like, Remember Pearl Harbor. The USW peddled this nationalist poison, White said, to cover up its collaboration with the steel bosses as they shut down mill after mill and destroyed the gains won by generations of workers. The promotion of nationalism, whether by the unions, Donald Trump or Bernie Sanders, White added, also created the political climate for war. It was clear from the reaction of workers that there was no support for more wars, which White said would be used to determine which gang of transnational companies would rule the world. Im concerned about the next generation, a younger worker with nine years at Verizon said. My daughter and kids have no hope for good jobs. They are coming out of school with tons of college debt. My wife paid $90,000 for a Masters degree in business and cannot find a job. Now shes going to medical school. Whats the future generation to do? We are out here fighting to secure a future for our families. But I agree with you, we cant just do this at the national level. All the different governments are looking out for themselves and trying to get rich. Responding to Whites criticism of the CWAs isolation of the strike and his explanation about the transformation of the unions into tools of management, the worker said, I read an article about the rally by Verizon workers at Silver Spring, Maryland. I think it was on Yahoo News, where a worker said everyone should go out on strike together in order to fight the attacks of the corporations and the government. White pointed out that the article had actually been published by the World Socialist Web Site and circulated in the WSWS Verizon Strike Newsletter. He showed the worker the quote from a New York City school bus driver saying, We should all be together, like school bus, sanitation, teachers, home health careall go on strike in one shot. Workers should be out together. Yeah, thats the article I read, the worker said before giving his email to subscribe to the WSWS Newsletter. Reporters from the Newsletter also spoke to striking workers in Brooklyn, New York Friday. Nicole, a dispatcher with 17 years of experience, said, Since the main issue is outsourcing, it is the politicians that have a lot of control over this. This is not just an issue with Verizon, but it is a large concern. You look at Nike or Adidas making things in China, and you see workers over there striking because they arent being treated well. I want to live well and get what I earned, and so do people in the Philippines, Mexico and China. This is not a fight for us, or even a fight for union workers. We are out here fighting for everyone. This weekend sees an illustrious gathering in Frankfurt of pseudo-lefts, union bureaucrats, Greens and Social Democratic Party VIPs. They were invited to attend the Action AllianceStand Up Against Racism, or, more precisely, a conference against the Alternative for Germany (AfD). This Action Conference is a cynical deceit. It is a meeting of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), the Greens, the German Trade Union Confederation (DGB) and the Left Party, i.e., precisely those forces that first prepared the ground for the AfD. The civil servants, union bureaucrats and academics gathered together have for years strangled every social protest and directed them into a dead end. The politics of their parties have benefited the re-emergence of the danger of fascism. Workers and young people correctly regard the rise of the AfD with anger and concern. This reactionary party, which came out of the right wing of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), and which initially opposed the euro, has developed increasingly openly in a fascist direction. Its recent campaign against MuslimsAfD leader Alexander Gauland described Islam as a foreign body and Baroness Beatrix von Storch claimed Islam was not compatible with the constitutionrecalls the anti-Semitism of the Nazis. However, those who want to fight against the AfD must understand the causes of its rise. A doctor can only treat the sick when he or she understands the causes of their illness and medical history; similarly, serious-minded workers must examine what causes and conditions have led to the rise of the AfD. And the most important reason lies in the rightward turn of those parties that are regarded as left in the official political spectrum. In their practical politics, the SPD, Alliance 90/The Greens and the Left Party have supported the social devastation policies of the German bourgeoisie for years. Together with the Christian Democrats and Free Democratic Party (FDP), they have pushed these policies through against working people in the form of social cuts, the debt ceiling, the Hartz IV welfare and labour reforms and low wages. In this way, they have created a deep social frustration that plays into the hands of the right wing. In addition, these parties have prepared the way for the AfD with their right-wing slogans, and are now reacting to its electoral success by moving even further to the right, taking on the political positions of the AfD and Pegida, and putting these into practice. The constant tightening of the right to asylum, the dirty deal made with Turkey to halt the flow of refugees, and their mass deportation was only possible thanks to the support of the SPD, the Greens and, where they form part of the government, the Left Party. In the meantime, prominent Left Party politicians are advancing flawless AfD views. Sahra Wagenknecht declared, Those who abuse our hospitality have also forfeited the right to hospitality. Oskar Lafontaine appealed to nationalism with the words, Our capacity for refugees is limited. Those who want to fight the AfD must first break with the SPD, the Left Party and the Greens, who all defend the interests of the ruling elites. As in the 1930s, these parties are reacting to the deep international crisis of the capitalist system and the growing social tensions with militarism, oppression, increased exploitation and the promotion of far-right parties. Only an independent movement of the working class that fights against capitalism and for an international, socialist perspective can oppose this development and direct the anger of the population in a progressive direction. The Action Conference is aimed in the diametrically opposite direction: It diverts workers militancy into the wake of corrupt right-wing parties. Left Party politician Gregor Gysi has even spoken since in favour of a government coalition with the CDU; and the Marx21 tendency, the German offshoot of Britains Socialist Workers Party, and also one of the initiators of the Action Conference, even wants to extend the anti-fascist alliance to Christian Social Union leader Horst Seehofer. It justifies this by saying that in contrast to the AfDs Bjorn Hocke, Seehofer was not organising a racist mass movement on the streets as a springboard to forming a new fascist right. The Left Party is part of the establishment parties, whose politics are hardly distinguishable from them. Wherever they sit in government, as in the state of Thuringa, or as previously in the Berlin state assembly, they impose the same social cuts as the SPD, the Greens, FDP and the Christian Democrats. The prominent participation of the trade unions in the Action Conference is also significant. The trade union leaders who signed the call for the meeting include Frank Bsirke of service union Verdi, whose shameful sell-out of the strike by day nursery workers last year signalled his willingness to strangle every mobilisation of the working class and subordinate workers to government diktats. The same right-wing politics are pursued by the IG Metall, many of whose functionaries also signed the call for the meeting. They have helped to organise the social devastation that has transformed former industrial regions into areas of high poverty. Following the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, they supported the liquidation of East Germanys industry and the closure of the Opel Bochum car plant in the Ruhr area in the west. In the steel industry, they promote an alliance with the employers for protectionism and trade war. These nationalist politics divide the working class, and are grist to the mill for the AfD. Among the first to sign the call for the meeting was the SPD federal minister for families, Manuela Schwesig. She belongs to the Merkel government, which is dictating austerity to all of Europe, has practically abolished the right of asylum and, since January, has deported even the sick and traumatised on a mass scale. The bogus character of the Stand Up Against Racism alliance can be seen most clearly in the person of Christine Buchholz. She is both the most prominent member of the pseudo-left tendency Marx21 and the parliamentary defence spokeswomen for the Left Party. She has travelled alongside Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen (CDU) to visit German troops in Africa as part of the preparation of Germanys imperialist projects in Mali and Senegal. She delivered a lecture to the German Society for Foreign Policy (DGAP) as part of the series New Responsibilities of German Defence Policy. Katja Kipping, Bernd Riexinger and Petra Pau of the Left Party, as well as the editor of the Neues Deutschland newspaper, Tom Strohschneider, were also among the first to support the call for the meeting. We want to show a clear demarcation against racism and right-wing witch-hunts, the paper stated. The phrase is particularly cynical when one looks at the reality of the SPD-Left Party-Green state government in Thuringia. There, state premier Bodo Ramelow (Left Party) is conducting mass deportations. Even the pro-Left Party newspaper Junge Welt has attested that the Thuringia state premier is in deportation mode, conducting it especially cost-effectively. As for the Greens, it is enough to mention the names of Joschka Fischer and Daniel Cohn-Bendit, the champions of an aggressive war policy, or Winfried Kretschmann, who as state prime minister in Baden Wurttemberg has perfected the system of quartering and disciplining refugees to enable their smooth deportation. What bothers the politicians gathered in the Frankfurt trade union headquarters is not the rejection of the AfDs politics, but the fear of a rebellion by the working class and the youth that runs out of their control. For a long time, the so-called left has functioned along the lines of indicate left and turn right in order to divert and neutralize social outrage. They are hardly able to do this anymore. The more the anger in the population grows against the governments war drive and policy of social devastation, the harder it is for the establishment parties to maintain control. This can be seen by the drop in electoral support for the Left Party and the SPD. In the state of Saxony Anhalt, the Left Party lost 7 percent of its vote in the March election and finished far behind the AfD. The SPD, which in 1972 saw its best election result of 46 percent, stands at just 20 percent in national opinion polls. In Bavaria, Baden Wurttemberg, Saxony and Saxony Anhalt, it has shrunk to just 10 percent. While some votes have turned to the AfD, up to 50 percent of those eligible to vote no longer bother because they do not feel themselves represented by any party. And not all AfD voters are racists or fascists. In the state elections in March, one in four AfD voters stated that they had not voted for their programme, but as a protest against the establishment parties. The fascist danger is currently neither acute nor unstoppable. A determined mobilization of workers and young people against war and fascism could easily dispel it. Such a struggle would also attract those middle class layers who are turning away from the establishment parties in disappointment and increasingly lean towards a radical solution. To do this, the working class needs a new party that is completely independent of the entire spectrum of bourgeois politics. In November 2015, the WSWS wrote: Those who want to fight against the AfD must also reject the right-wing policies of the government, the Greens and the Left Party. As the International Committee of the Fourth International says in its statement Socialism and the fight against war, a movement against war and its associated risks must be based on the working class, the great revolutionary force in society, uniting behind it all progressive elements in the population. It must be anti-capitalist, socialist and, above all, international. Most classical music listeners know the name of composer Aaron Copland (1900-1990) through three or four frequently performed works, among them Fanfare for the Common Man, El Salon Mexico (composed after he spent time in Mexico in the early 1930s), and a number of orchestral suites based on ballets, among them Billy the Kid and Appalachian Spring . These works, dating from the mid-1930s to the mid-40s, deserve their popularity, but pieces by Copland that are far less frequently performed should not be overlooked, as they often are. While Copland essentially stopped work on new compositions nearly 20 years before his death, by that time he had already produced, in the course of nearly five decades, an impressive range of works for orchestra, ballet and piano, as well as songs, chamber music and choral compositions. When the San Francisco Symphony under the direction of Michael Tilson Thomas came to New Yorks Carnegie Hall earlier this month, the entire first half of one of its programs was devoted to some of Coplands lesser-known works. Thomas, or MTT as he is usually known, has led the San Francisco Symphony for more than 20 years. He is known for his programming of American composers, and has recorded many of the works of Copland, whom he knew in the composers later years. The Carnegie Hall program included Coplands Orchestral Variations (a 1957 arrangement of the composers 1930 Piano Variations ); Inscape, one of his last major compositions, dating from 1967; and the Piano Concerto (1926), from early in the composers career. The second half of the evening was devoted to one of the staples of the 19th century Romantic repertory, Robert Schumanns Symphony No. 2 (1845-46). This review will discuss only the first half of the program. The Orchestral Variations include more than 20 brief sections traversed in the span of about 15 minutes. The orchestration includesin addition to the more usual strings and members of the brass, winds and percussion familiesa harp, an English horn (part of the woodwind family, unlike the French horn) and a tuba. The work is based on a four-note motto that immediately makes an almost menacing appearance and dominates throughout, although in very distinct moods. The San Francisco players rendition of this rarely played work was an intriguing introduction to it. Inscape is one of the relatively few works in Coplands oeuvre influenced by the twelve-tone technique pioneered by Arnold Schoenberg. The American composer decided, in the post-World War II period, to experiment with Schoenbergs technique, although Inscape also makes use of traditional harmonies. The piece did not make a particularly strong impression in the Carnegie Hall performance. The Piano Concerto , at least to this listener, belongs in a somewhat different category than the works that preceded it. With Israeli-born pianist Inon Barnatan at the keyboard, the performance made a strong case for this jazz-influenced work. Like the other two Copland works on the program it is relatively small in scale, at about 16 minutes long. A YouTube video of a 1985 television broadcast of a performance with the New York Philharmonic is a good introduction for those who would like to listen to the concertoand also to view an exciting performance. Coplands use of jazz-inspired themes, rhythm and syncopation was not something for which he had to strain. He was born in Brooklyn to Russian-Jewish immigrant parents, as was the slightly older Brooklynite George Gershwin (1898-1937). Both of these young musicians came of age in the era of ragtime and the birth of jazz, which spread rapidly, along with the Great Migration of African-Americans to the North, beginning around 1915. In the early 1920s the young Copland traveled to Paris to study composition with famed French composer and teacher Nadia Boulanger. While in Paris he was introduced by Boulanger to the Russian-born conductor Serge Koussevitzky. Koussevitzky, then beginning what was to become a quarter-century tenure as the leader of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, was impressed with Copland, and he premiered the young composers Piano Concerto in January 1927. Copland became prominent in musical circles at the age of 26, just as his younger colleague Leonard Bernstein was to achieve similar renown in his conducting debut in New York in 1943, at the age of 25. The Piano Concerto never achieved the popularity of Gershwins Rhapsody in Blue or his Concerto in F, however, which burst onto the scene in 1924 and 1925, respectively. Copland did not become well known to a wider public until much later in his career. The Piano Conc erto consists of two movements, played without pause. The overall impression is one of urban bustle and vitality, with the second movement full of jazzy and lively passages that call to mind not only Rhapsody in Blue, but also other jazz-influenced classical compositions of the period, including Maurice Ravels Piano Concerto in G and, a bit later, Dmitri Shostakovichs Jazz Suites from the 1930s. The concertos first movement is relatively slow, with contrasting thematic material quickly introduced. A brief introduction is dominated by the brass section, and flows uninterruptedly into a majestic, romantic theme for the strings. Then the piano enters, quietly at first. Over the next few minutes an attractive blues-influenced section is developed. The second movement starts with a sudden outburst from the solo piano. The second idea in this movement, a little quieter but no less jazz-inspired than what has come before, is introduced by a soprano saxophone, a somewhat unusual addition to the orchestra. The saxophone makes a number of appealing solo appearances. The last eight minutes or so of the work unfold in exciting interplay between the piano and sections of the orchestra, with one lively passage featuring a competition of sorts between the piano and trumpet. The romantic theme of the first movement reappears toward the close of the work. While a detailed assessment of Copland is beyond the scope of this review, the jazz influence in the Piano Concerto can be seen as an early attempt on the composers part to develop his own style, one grounded in life in the US in the first half of the 20th century but which did not take a provincial or narrowly nationalist approach. As a first-generation American, the young Copland was very aware of his Jewish ancestry, while also embracing assimilation. Jazz, with its roots among African-Americans but also blending other cultural influences, was something to which Copland, along with a number of other Jewish composers of classical as well as popular music, was attracted. As Howard Pollack explains in his thorough and objective biography of the composer, the Piano Concerto, even though it was not followed by many other compositions in a similar vein, reflected Coplands deep respect and admiration for jazz. One other work of Coplands in a jazz idiom was the Clarinet Concerto (1948). Written two decades after the piano work, it was commissioned by classically trained jazz clarinet virtuoso Benny Goodman, and it is also well worth listening to. In the wake of the Great Depression and the rise of Hitler, Copland joined many other artists and intellectuals in moving to the left. Like others, he gravitated toward the American Communist Party, although he never joined it. Coplands work in this period reflects the contradictory role of creative artists who were used and miseducated by the Stalinists. They supported the Stalinist Popular Front line, which subordinated the working class to an alliance with Franklin D. Roosevelt and the Democratic Party. Politically speaking, the Popular Front had only reactionary consequences, but there were painters, musicians, photographers and others, sincerely devoted to what they saw as the fight against social injustice and inequality, who produced work of broad appeal, sophistication and integrity. Such works as Appalachian Spring, on which Copland collaborated with choreographer Martha Graham, fall in this general category. There are those who turn up their noses at work of wide popular appeal, considering the jazz influence in the Piano Concerto, as well as later works such as Appalachian Spring, to be unwarranted concessions to popular taste. Critic Richard Taruskin, for instance, is quoted in Pollacks biography as writing that the composer was a left-leaning homosexual Jew from Brooklyn, [who] cashed in on nationalism by creating an ingratiating white-bread-of-the-prairie idiom The role of Stalinism is sometimes used to tar all works written by composers under its influence. In a somewhat different set of circumstances, the same Taruskin has denounced much of Dmitri Shostakovichs music, including the towering Leningrad Symphony No. 7, because it was used by the Stalin regime for its own purposes. In the course of a long career, Copland adopted a number of different stylistic approaches. Even when he experimented with the twelve-tone technique, however, he never abandoned his goal of reaching a wide audience while at the same time writing music of substance, intelligence and integrity. As Pollack writes: Earthy, daring, expressive, and personal, [Coplands] music is also elegant, restrained, objective, and humane. It is also instructive to note that Coplands Piano Concerto dates from the interwar years that saw such vibrant and vital competition between different musical schools, a period that was largely ended and aborted by the Second World War and its aftermath. It is hoped that other orchestras will follow the example of the San Francisco Symphony in programming intriguing 20th century works that have often been overlooked between the attention given to the 19th century repertory, on the one hand, and the sometimes fruitless search for contemporary works of relevance and serious appeal, on the other. On Thursday, the federal appeals court for Washington, DC dismissed a longstanding lawsuit by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) to compel the CIA to release documents pertaining to its criminal drone assassination program. The unsigned five-page ruling justified its decision with the now-standard claim that revelations about the program of extrajudicial murder, which has claimed the lives of thousands of people, including American citizens, throughout the Middle East, would endanger national security. The appeals court declined to determine this for themselves through an actual review of the records in question. Instead, the three-judge panel accepted the Obama administration argument on the basis of a secret affidavit from a CIA official which, according to the ruling, demonstrates that the agencys explanations as to why the records are classified are both logical and plausible and uncontroverted by evidence in the record. In other words, the court ruled in favor of the government on the basis of the governments say-so, the latest in a long line of court rulings covering up and abetting the criminal activities of the military-intelligence apparatus. An additional concern behind the courts decision was the possibility that a ruling in favor of the ACLU would pre-empt the Obama administrations proposed release of figures on civilian death tolls due to drone strikes outside of areas of active hostilities (such as Iraq, Afghanistan and possibly Pakistan, depending on the administrations definition of the latter term). Officials announced last month that the figures would be made public at some point in the coming weeks. My hope is, is that by the time I leave office there is not only an internal structure in place that governs these standards that weve set, but there is also an institutionalized process whereby the actions that the U.S. government takes through drone technology are consistently reported on, on an annualized basis so that people can look, Obama said during a speech at the University of Chicago last month. While calculated to create the impression of a commitment to transparency, this statement amounts to a declaration that extralegal assassination will continue to be a favored tool of American foreign policy for the indefinite future, embodied in an institutionalized process, with the administration deigning to release to the public whatever data on the illegal program that it sees fit. The ACLU originally filed its lawsuit in January 2010, more than six years ago, after the CIA refused to release documents containing both information on the agencys drone assassination program and the secret legal memoranda purporting to justify them. Secret law is always invidious, but its particularly so here because of the subject matter, ACLU Deputy Legal Director Jameel Jaffer, who headed the ACLUs case, told the Washington Post. These legal memos describe the circumstances in which the CIA believes it has authority to carry out extra-judicial killings. At first, the CIA responded through simple stonewalling, refusing to officially confirm or deny the existence of such documents despite the fact that numerous government officials, including President Obama, had already admitted to the existence of the program. The pretense that the existence of the program could neither be confirmed nor denied was so absurd that it was rejected by the DC appeals court in 2013. In the courts written opinion, Judge Merrick Garland, currently Obamas nominee for the Supreme Court and a consistent supporter of state repression, wrote that the CIA was asking the court to give their imprimatur to a fiction of deniability that no reasonable person would regard as plausible. Since then, the CIA has acknowledged the existence of twelve legal memoranda and thousands of records pertaining to its drone assassination program. However, Garlands opinion left open the CIAs current defense, that the release of the documents would be a danger to national security. The program of extrajudicial drone assassination is a hallmark of the foreign policy of the Obama administration, which has massively expanded the powers of the executive. The Obama White House has justified the practice on antidemocratic and authoritarian grounds, with former Attorney General Eric Holder publicly defending the administrations murder of Muslim cleric Anwar al-Awlaki and his son, both American citizens, on the spurious grounds that the Constitutions guarantee of due process is met by secret deliberations within the executive branch. Internal memoranda justifying this flagrantly illegal practice, such as those sought after by the ACLUs lawsuit, have been kept secret. According to the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, as many as 4,000 people and more than 200 children have been killed by CIA drone strikes in Pakistan alone since 2004, with 372 out of 423 confirmed strikes occurring since Obama took office in 2009. More than 300 confirmed strikes have taken place within Afghanistan since 2015, killing as many as 1,886 people; hundreds more have been killed in Somalia, Yemen, and other countries. While drone assassinations have been trumpeted by the government as a less lethal alternative to conventional warfare, leaked internal government documents from last October acknowledge that ninety percent of people killed in drone strikes were not direct targets. As part of an executive decree approved April 10, Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez announced the closing of the police headquarters in Casamata and a purge within the National Police, after recent documents suggest that high-ranking members of the force were involved in the killings of three leading anti-drug officials between 2009 and 2013. The Honduran daily, El Heraldo, published the documents, which were prepared by the General Inspectorate of the National Police and the Directorate of Police Intelligence. They revealed that a drug lord ordered the murders, several police chiefs concealed the files, and the inspector generals office of the police and the security minister attempted to prevent the Honduran attorney general from carrying out an investigation since members of the ruling National Party would be implicated. The Honduran police apparatus has come under increasing pressure since the murders of the indigenous leaders Berta Caceres and Nelson Garcia, and now these reports on the National Police have pushed the conservative National Party government to make some changes and allow for greater involvement by international and local investigators. However, the purge in the National Police is consistent with increasing militarization and repressive measures in the interests of the Honduran oligarchy and imperialism. President Hernandez stated that his government will, either eliminate the National Police or create one that gains the confidence of the people. As part of the purge, the president formed a Special Commission for the Cleanup of the National Police made up of three civilians, who will work with the Ministry of Security in carrying out confidence tests to determine whether police officers stay or go. Nevertheless, the security minister, Julian Pacheco, revealed that they already have a predetermined list of 1,400 police officers to fire, which would represent 10 percent of the entire force. If they dont voluntarily leave before they get fired, the ministrys spokesperson said, they will lose all retirement benefits. At least 32 middle ranking officials have already been asked to retire or have taken the initiative themselves. Even though the police director, subdirector, and several other high-ranking officers are being allowed to participate in the purge and restructuring only to resign afterwards, other police officers can be dismissed without justification. These measures parallel those made between 2012 and 2015 after police agents connected to organized crime killed a group of university students in 2012. According to a report made by the now defunct Commission for the Reform of the Public Security System, after spending $7 million, the government investigated less than 15 percent of the 12,000 police during that period. Other than the two police agents directly involved in the murder of the students, who went to prison, only 3 percent of the 230 police officers proved to be connected to organized crime were fired. According to a security analyst, Marco Tinoco, the 2012 cleanup was at first just an internal conflict among high ranking officials for control of power within the police. Some police were fired, but only those of lower ranks. On April 14, the New York Times described the latest documents as a chilling portrait of impunity at the very top of Hondurass police hierarchy: the unchallenged power to carry out assassinations and force a cover-up of the investigation. The article concludes that the new Support Mission against Corruption and Impunity in Honduras (MACCIH) will likely challenge the Honduran presidents resistance to investigate his governments involvement in organized crime. MACCIH, proposed in February and approved by the Honduran Congress in March, is an OAS-led and US-backed commission designed to bring back national and international credibility to the government of the local oligarchy and its repressive institutions. Impunity is by no means limited to police officers, but rather extends to virtually all of organized crime in the country. The Honduran NGO, Alliance for Peace and Justice, and the Violence Observatory of the National Autonomous University of Honduras (UNAH) reported last year that only 9 percent of homicides get investigated and only 4 percent lead to convictions. The same National Police being purged, supposedly for corruption, has also participated in the terrorization of those who actively opposed the US-backed military coup in 2009, when ex-president Manuel Zelaya was forcefully deposed. Since then, the coup regimes few attempts to investigate the crimes committed by security forces against demonstratorsdescribed by Human Rights Watch as resulting in various deaths, numerous injured and thousands of arbitrary detentionshave been merely for show. They have led to only 20 cases being documented by the OAS-backed Commission of Truth and Reconciliation, and to a single arrest related to the coup. In 2014, former army Colonel Jose Arnulfo Jimenez was sentenced to five years in prison for using a military contingent to shut down television channel 36 on June 28, 2009, the day of the coup. On top of the hundreds of death threats, persecutions and executions, according to COFADEH, the Committee of Families of Missing Detainees in Honduras, the coup was followed with militarized roadblocks that affected 16 departments in the country, illegal and prolonged curfews, airport closings, and the immobilization of buses by shooting at their tires. The tactics used since the coup against civilian opposition, leading to the deaths primarily of workers and youth, are being orchestrated by the same military and police officials who used them during the Central American civil war in the 1980s, when torture and political killings were rampant. The states armed forces are still the main props for US imperialist interests in the country. Since the coup, the security forces have given direct orders to their ostensible commanders-in-chiefpresidents Roberto Micheletti, Porfirio Lobo, and Juan Orlando Hernandez. The purge in the National Police is being directed largely by the US State Department, with the support of the oligarchical elite. The US ambassador in Honduras, James Nealon, confirmed that Washington is actively participating in the restructuring of the police. This is the moment to work together to clean up the police, so that you can have the police you deserve, said the ambassador in a video released by the office of the Honduran president. Washington is using the issue of corruption as a means of gaining greater control over the Honduran government and its security forces. These efforts are being carried out in conjunction with the $750 million being spent by the US government in its Alliance for Prosperity in the Northern Triangle (El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala). Underlying this campaign are broader geo-strategic considerations, particularly combatting the rise in Chinese influence and investments in the regionlike the $20 billion interoceanic railway a Chinese company has agreed to build in Honduras. The regional corollary to US imperialisms belligerent pivot to Asia has been an active campaign to destabilize the bourgeois nationalist left turn in Latin America, which has gone hand-in-hand with the growth of Chinese trade and investment. The deposing of Zelaya, who had forged friendly ties with the Chavez government in Venezuela, was part of this campaign. The US still retains a 70 percent share in total foreign direct investment (FDI) into Honduras. The high dependence on US capital has been accompanied by attacks on the living standards and basic rights of the Honduran working class. According to the UN Economic Commission for Latin America, ECLAC, the 2008 crisis led to a massive growth in FDI into backwards economies and a tripling of yearly speculative portfolio investments to $96 billion in Latin America. The agency notes that, while FDI profitability fell in most of the region, in Honduras it showed increases in 2012 and 2013, leading to a surge in FDI, equivalent to 57 percent of the countrys GDP in 2014 compared to 36 percent in 2007. During Lobos administration, the US Embassy offered to finance and helped create a military police force with four battalions. Then, after Hernandez came to power in 2013, with the promise to put a soldier in every corner, the Military Police was officially instituted and became active in January 2014. The ambassadors promise of a police you deserve was directed to foreign investors and the local oligarchy. The police they need, not deserve, is a militarized one prepared to suppress all tensions caused by the countrys mounting inequality, even if that requires killing and terrorizing protesting workers, peasants, and indigenous people. The governments security and military budget increased 55 percent in 2015 to $593 million. According to a 2015 Oxfam report, the average Honduran multimillionaire (with at least $30 million in assets) makes 16,460 times the median yearly salary of a person in the lowest quintile of the population, the most unequal ratio in Latin America and the Caribbean. The report also stated that the business elite has acquired public assets by leading public entities into bankruptcyCONADIS case [the National Investment Corporation]increasingly channeling public resources into private enterprisesENEE [National Electric Energy Company] and Public Healths casesor simply eliminating the competition for the private sectorHondutels case. Public spending in health, one of the lowest in the region, is equivalent to just 80 percent of the $650 million in estimated tax write-offs for the wealthy. ECLAC estimated that only 34 percent of teenagers in the poorest quintile are attending school, compared with 73 percent of those in the top quintile, the highest difference in the region. With increasing unemployment and over 60 percent of the population living in poverty, many workers and youth are forced to choose between joining criminal organizations or fleeing the country. Asia Vietnamese shoe factory workers strike over productivity demands Close to 2,000 workers at the Taiwanese-owned KaiYang Shoes factory, in the northern city of Haiphong, walked off the job for two days on April 14 to protest heavy workloads. One employee said she decided to strike because workers were unable to meet company production targets even after working for 12 straight hours, from 7:00 am to 8:00 pm. Another employee said that workers had repeatedly complained to the companys trade union but the company failed to respond. Cambodian garment workers protest More than 400 workers from the Dae Kwang Garment factory in Phnom Penhs Por Senchey district are demonstrating outside the plant to demand unpaid salaries and benefits after the owner shut down operations on April 10. The workers have not received any wages since February. The owner of the company cannot be located. The workers union has appealed to the Cambodian labour minister to sell the plants equipment and give the proceeds to the unpaid workers. Philippines: Midwives and doctors locked out at Cebu maternity hospital Midwives, doctors and other medical staff at the Cebu Maternity Hospital in Cebu City have been locked out since January 29. Management closed the hospital following the filing of a notice of strike with the National Conciliation and Mediation Board on January 4 by the Cebu Maternity Hospital Employees Union. Workers decided to strike after management rejected their wage claim and offered to increase their daily wage by just one peso. The hospital employees, who have not had a pay rise in ten years, demanded a 20-peso ($US0.43) daily wage increase in 2015 and another 25 pesos in 2016. The health workers union is affiliated with the Association of Democratic Labor Organization, which is associated with Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU). Locked out workers are maintaining a protest outside the Department of Labor and Employment in Cebu. Filipino banana plantation workers gain permanency Fifty-two sacked plantation workers from Kuwait-owned Musahamat Farms (Farm 2) at Pantukan in the Davao region, have returned to work after management agreed to re-hire them as regular employees. The 52 workers, some of whom had worked at the plantation for seven years, were sacked after demanding permanency and improved wages and working conditions. The company revoked all suspensions and promised to pay each suspended worker 1,500 pesos compensation in an agreement with the Musahamat Workers Labor Union and representatives from the National Federation of Labor Unions-Kilusang Mayo Uno. Bangladeshi jute mill workers end protests Thousands of workers from eight state-owned jute mills in Khulna returned to work on April 13 after a 10-day strike over wage and provident fund arrears and other issues. Their union, the Oikya Parishad, said that government representatives had promised to clear outstanding wage payments by April 25 and that provident fund and gratuity arrears would be cleared by the cabinet. Security forces were deployed in and around all the jute mills during the strike. Several thousand workers from the jute mills walked out on April 4 over five demands. These include adequate allocation of funds for the jute industry, payment of arrears, formation of a wage board and an end to government moves to privatise state-owned jute mills. According to the Oiykko Parishad, nearly 80,000 jute workers are living in abject poverty. Pakistan: FATA government school teachers protest Government school teachers in Pakistans Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) demonstrated outside the Peshawar Press Club on Monday as part of an ongoing campaign for service upgrades. They are also demanding a risk allowance for working in war-affected areas. FATA teachers protested in Islamabad and other parts of the country in December over these issues. Demonstrators said that while teachers in settled areas in Pakistan were upgraded four years ago, FATA teachers had been ignored. A representative from the All Teachers Associations-Fata Mohmand Agency said that FATA teachers were not provided with the facilities and incentives other teachers received. The union has threatened to boycott classes and march to Islamabad if the government does not immediately respond to teachers demands. India: Andhra Pradesh garment workers on strike Thousands of women workers from ten different units of Brandix India Apparel City (BIAC) at Atchyuthapuram in the Visakhapatnam Special Economic Zone suddenly walked out on strike on April 15 to demand a more than 100 percent pay rise and continuation of the current Provident Fund. Factories affected included Quantum Clothing, Ocean India, Seeds Intimate Apparel, Pioneer Elastics and Shore to Shore. A large police contingency has been deployed in the SEZ. The workers, who only receive 4,200 rupees per month, want a 10,000-rupee minimum wage. BIAC is run by Sri Lankas Brandix apparel group. Management told strikers that the corporate head office in Sri Lanka would decide on their demands by April 30. Workers said they would remain on strike until they are satisfied with the decision. Police attack garment workers protest in Bangalore The Indian government, led by the Hindu supremacist Bhratiya Janata Party (BJP), and the Congress-led Karnataka state government have mobilised hundreds of state and government riot police to suppress demonstrations by thousands of garment workers. Nearly 10,000 garment workers demonstrated on Monday at Bommanahalli and Maddur against the government amendment to the Employees Provident Funds and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952, which prevents workers withdrawing employers Provident Fund contributions until they reach retirement age of 58. Most workers are unemployed, or do not have permanent work prior to reaching 58 years of age, and rely on withdrawals from the PF to support their families. Police attacked protesters with tear-gas and batons, and carried out multiple arrests after protesters blocked main roads. The angry demonstrations forced Indias labour minister, Bandaru Dattatreya, to withdraw the amendment, telling the media that the old system will continue. Last month Indias Modi government was also forced to revoke its plan to tax withdrawals from the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) following widespread protests. Karnataka pre-university lecturers and principals forced back to work Department of Pre-University Education (DPUE) lecturers and principals ended a 17-day strike on Wednesday, after the government issued show-cause notices and demanded they immediately report for evaluation duty or face disciplinary action. Up to 15,000 were involved in the strike action to demand higher wages. Under the Karnataka Education Act 1983, lecturers or principals can be charged and face imprisonment for up to one year, fined or both for taking industrial action. The lecturers and principals walked out on April 5 in a dispute over wages. Karnataka State PU Lecturers Association members want a basic pay increase from the current 22,800 rupees ($US344) per month to 25,300 rupees. The DPUE has only offered a 500-rupee increase. Jammu and Kashmir water utility workers on strike Several hundred daily wage workers at the Jammu & Kashmir state-run water utility Public Health Engineering (PHE) department have been on strike since March 14 to demand unpaid wages and permanency. Although regular delivery of water to rural areas has been severely affected the government has refused to meet with strikers representatives. Many workers have not been paid for 35 months. The PHE Workers Union want immediate payment of 50 percent of outstanding wages and a written assurance from the chief minister that there will be job permanency. Workers are maintaining a protest outside the PHE head office in Jammu. Sri Lankan teachers protest Teachers and education administrators protested outside the Ministry of Higher Education in Battaramulla, on the outskirts of Colombo, on April 20 to oppose alleged political appointments to the Sri Lanka Education Administrative Service and other demands. Teachers demonstrated outside the Zonal Education Office in Colombo earlier this month to demand an immediate salary increase and promotions to be streamlined. There were also protests against forced transfers and poor facilities at schools by parents and teachers in several parts of Sri Lanka. Australia and the Pacific Port workers in Brisbane and Melbourne strike Waterside workers at the Asciano-owned Patrick Stevedores container terminals in Brisbane and Melbourne stopped work for 48 hours on Wednesday and Thursday respectively as part of a national dispute over a new enterprise bargaining agreement. The stoppages follow a 48-hour strike at the companys Botany terminal in Sydney last week and two 72-hour strikes at the companys Fremantle terminal in Western Australia earlier this month. Year-long negotiations between the company and the Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) have failed to resolve differences over a new rostering system and extended working hours and job security. Patrick has announced it will put a proposed workplace agreement to a vote of employees and threatened it could move to lock out its 850-strong workforce if the ballot does not succeed. Patricks proposed four-year pay deal would provide a 1 percent pay rise in the first year, 2.5 percent in the second and 2.75 percent annually for the remaining two years. The vote is expected to run from May 4 to May 9. A Patrick representative claimed that the MUAs demands for workers at Sydneys Port Botany, including for 32-hour weeks to be paid at a full-time rate, were the main cause of the deadlock. Australian agriculture security officers walk out Federal Department of Agriculture and Water Resources workers, including quarantine and biosecurity officers at international airports, sea ports and freight facilities, walked out for 24 hours on Monday in their long-running dispute with the federal Liberal government for a new work agreement. After two years of negotiations, almost 85 percent of the total federal public sector workforce of 160,000 still do not have a new enterprise agreement. Workers have rejected government enterprise agreement offers that would eliminate existing rights, including family-friendly conditions, in return for a two-year wage freeze and 2 percent annual pay increases over three years. The Community and Public Sector Union and other unions have reduced their original pay demand from 4 percent annual pay increases for three years to between 2.5 and 3 percent with no loss of conditions. Essential Energy workers strike Workers at the New South Wales state-owned power distribution company Essential Energy struck for four hours at over 100 depots and control sites on Wednesday in their dispute for a new enterprise agreement. Workers have also imposed various bans following a four-hour stoppage on April 14 over the issue. Electrical Trades Union (ETU) members have rejected managements enterprise offer that includes the axing of 800 jobs over the next two years and unlimited job cuts after 2018. Last year the company claimed that it needed to shed 2,500 jobs to remain financially viable. The company also wants to maintain the current ban on re-employing redundant workers within two years except for casual or temporary positions; halve the amount workers are paid when called in for emergencies from a minimum four hours pay to two; and cuts to the wages and conditions of outsourced contractors. While the ETU claims to oppose the enterprise deal it has assisted Essential Energy to destroy over 1,000 jobs since 2013. The ETU claimed that Essential Energy also wants to impose a two-year wage freeze. New Zealand bus unions accepts company deal Unions representing around 1,000 bus drivers in Auckland, New Zealands largest city, are pushing for members to accept a new contract with NZ Bus. The agreement offers a two percent pay rise backdated to November 2015. Drivers have been struggling against their employers proposal to remove overtime and weekend rates for six months, striking both in February and again in March. An Auckland Tramways union spokesman claimed that the new agreement provided good concessions from employers but provided no details. The media reported improvements in work rosters, consultation, sick leave and back pay. The unions will hold stop work meetings to vote on the agreement over the next two weeks. Carls Jr fast food workers sacked after rejecting new contract Seven workers have been picketing a Carls Jr fast food restaurant in Gisborne, on the east coast of New Zealands North Island after they were given only one weeks notice that they would be sacked. Restaurant Brands New Zealand Limited (RBL), which manages a wide range of fast food chains, recently sold the Gisborne store as a franchise. The new business owner said five of seven existing staff could maintain their present jobs but reduced terms of employment. When workers rejected these terms the company fired them. Nickel workers protest in New Caledonia Hundreds of nickel industry workers, accompanied by supporters, marched to key government buildings in Noumea, capital of the French Pacific island colony of New Caledonia, on April 15. It followed a week of protests throughout the country. The workers were demanding increased subsidies for the nickel industry. Nickel is New Caledonias principal export earner. In February, SLN nickel smelter workers went on strike after management announced possible job losses, which they claimed were due to a slump in the price of nickel. The Federation of New Caledonian Workers Union (CSTNC) said that while no dismissals had been announced, about $US6 million would be cut from salary allocations, which could mean the loss of 150 jobs. Last month the government decided to release $5.5 million from a special Nickel Fund to maintain exporters and contractors profits. It also authorised the export of low grade nickel ore to China to offset exports to Australia following the closure of the Queensland Nickel refinery in Townsville. The refinery used to take all of New Caledonias nickel ore. There is also renewed uncertainty over the commitment of the mining conglomerate Glencore to the Koniambo plant in the north of New Caledonia, after the companys head announced a June deadline to decide its future. Glencore has a 49 percent stake in the $7 billion nickel plant. The Socialist Workers Party, the Communist Party of Britain, the Indian Workers Association, Counterfire, and the Rail and Maritime Transport union have launched what they describe as a united left-wing campaign for a Leave vote in the June 23 referendum on Britains membership of the European Union (EU). An article posted on Socialist Worker claimed that the formation of Lexit, as this campaign is dubbed, would be an alternative for those faced with an unpalatable choice between [Prime Minister] David Camerons pro-business campaign to stay in the EU and the existing Leave campaigns dominated by the xenophobic right. It is nothing of the sort. Rather, it provides an object lesson in the gulf between a principled approach to the referendum, based on the concern to elaborate an independent, socialist policy for the working class in Britain and Europe, and one that rejects this in favour of the promotion of left nationalism and tactical expediency. The Socialist Equality Party is irreconcilably hostile to the EU. The EU is an instrument of the major European imperialist powers for driving forward trade and military measures against their global rivals, and a social counter-revolution against workers across the continent. But the Brexit referendum is not motivated by opposition to the reactionary character of the EU. It is the product of a faction fight within the Conservative Party and its fringes, especially around the UK Independence Party (UKIP). As a result, the Leave and Remain campaign are both headed by neo-liberal, Thatcherite forces, equally committed to austerity, anti-immigrant chauvinism, militarism and war. Their differences are solely over whether these are better achieved within or outside the EU. There is no lesser evil between these two camps. Whatever the outcome of the referendum, it is the working class that will pay the price through a stepped-up offensive against jobs, living standards and democratic rights. The SEP opposes all efforts to corral workers behind one or another bourgeois clique, based on a yes or no answer to the referendum questionRemain or Leave. Our call for an active boycott of the referendum is the means through which we seek to oppose the noxious poison of nationalism and cut through the confusion created by the Labour and trade union bureaucracy, and their pseudo-left apologists on both sides of the campaign, to provide workers and youth with an independent class orientation: No to the EU and British nationalismFor the United Socialist States of Europe. In contrast, Left Leave makes virtually no reference to the common class issues facing working people in Europe, let alone call for a unified struggle. While bemoaning the EUs onslaught against Greece, they omit to mention that they promoted the Syriza government in Athens as a progressive and even socialist alternative. With Syriza now imposing EU-dictated austerity, the groups constituting Left Leave are politically responsible for this betrayal of Greek workers and youth, which has played a major role in enabling the right wing in Europe to gain the upper hand. While acknowledging the reactionary character of the referendum campaign, the Lexit forces argue that by making criticisms of the EU from the left, they will reach those distrustful of the mainstream arguments on either side and make our voices heard above the general right-wing clamour so as to ensure a radical vote for Leave. But there is nothing left or radical about their critique, which centres on refuting the pro-Remain campaigns predictions of an economic disaster should Britain exit by glorifying the existing situation in the UK and, in particular, the strength of British parliamentary democracy. The Socialist Workers Partys Six myths about the EU does not mention the words capitalism, big business or corporations at all! Instead, it counterposes to the bogus claim that the EU is a guarantor of workers rights the claim that some British workplace legislation, such as health and safety, is stronger than the EU demands and that Much of EU employment law has also been implemented through British legislation, and is often stronger than the EU requires. This is a picture of social relations in the UK that fewoutside the tenured academics that populate the higher echelons of the pseudo-left groupswould recognise, especially the millions on zero-hour contracts who have no protections whatsoever. Regarding democratic rights, the SWP argues that Britains human rights provisions come through international treaties, none of which have anything to do with the EU, and, as they are now British law...wont be repealed if we leave the EU. This is said of a country that has led the way in the assault on civil liberties under the guise of the war on terror, including imprisonment without trial and targeted assassination. It gets worse. Answering concerns that immigrants will be kicked out of the UK if the ballot goes in favour of an exit, the SWP responds complacently, Bosses need European migrantsand if Britain left the EU, they would not be kicked out. Mass deportations or even a tough visa regime would risk economic disaster, the SWP asserts. The majority of tourists come to Britain from Europe, a market bosses dont want to endanger. After a vote to leave, the two-thirds of foreign nationals in Britain who are from outside the EU would be unaffected, the SWP soothes. Anyhow, visa-free travel is allowed from Brazil, and Irish immigrants already have more rights than other EU nationals. In fact, the Leave campaign intends to severely restrict immigration through the imposition of an Australian-style points system. The SWPs rose-coloured view of the UKwhere a rational, risk-adverse bourgeoisie presides over a flourishing, classless and timeless democracydiffers in no way from that presented by the right-wing Leave camp. It dovetails with the claim made by leading Tory Michael Gove that a British exit would spark the democratic liberation of a whole continent and be a reassertion of the system of democratic self-government pioneered by Britain and copied all over the world. The Communist Partys Morning Star is more explicit still. Complaining of the efforts by media columnists to portray opposition to the EU as rooted in an out-of-date and simplistic rejection of the capitalist club that is the EU, it insists, Actually it was, and is, about democracy. If Left Leaves opposition to the EU is not motivated by anti-capitalism, then its evoking of democracy is nothing more than a variant of the paeans to national sovereignty delivered by Gove et al. What then do the Lexit allies claim are the benefits for working people of supporting a Leave vote? Alex Snowden, for Counterfire, opposing what he describes as the pessimism of those who see the consequences of exit as an automatic shift to the right, argues that a Brexit vote will lead to Camerons fall and his replacement by a Labour government under Jeremy Corbyn. Labour will apparently proceed to nationalise everything in sight and build Jerusalem in Englands Green and Pleasant Land. Theirs is a fake optimism, aimed at politically chloroforming working people. Outside of the working class intervening into this crisis as a conscious, independent force, the beneficiaries of a Brexit will be the most ultra-right sections of the Tory Party and UKIP. The nationalism they seek to generate in the Brexit campaign is aimed at providing the ideological basis for deepening their offensive against working people. The Lexit campaign facilitates these plans. It is striking that the pseudo-left Leave backers never attempt to square their grandiose claims as regards a Corbyn-led government with the fact that the Labour leader is the key proponent of a Remain vote. Snowden complains that Corbyn is helping Cameron deliver the vote he needs to survive, but does not make the obvious point that Corbyns conversion to the EU cause is intended to reassure the dominant sections of British capital that he will defend their interests, regardless of his former left rhetoric. It is of a piece with statements by his fellow left shadow chancellor, John McDonnell, that a Labour government will be absolutely ruthless about how we manage our spending. On that basis, the party has instructed Labour councils, which control spending in every major city and town, to impose the austerity measures demanded by the Conservatives. That is why the venal right-winger Richard Littlejohn can state in the Daily Mail, And, frankly, I would prefer to live in an independent Britain under a democratically elected Labour government than stay part of a sclerotic superstate with a pro-EU Tory puppet in No. 10. At least we could kick them out and replace them with other candidates who are capable of leading an independent nation. One further significant point should be noted. The SWP lists negativelyas one of the four freedoms guaranteed to big business by membership of the EUthe right to hire labour across its member states. The implication is that the right of workers to seek employment wherever they can is one Left Leave thinks must be quashed. Opposition to free movement of labour places Left Leave in the same trench as UKIP and is understood in this way amongst its supporters. Socialist Worker reports that at the Left Leave launch, there was some debate from the floor on whether or not to campaign with the right, citing John Hamilton from Lewisham People Before Profit who said, Ive been on the same stall with UKIP people. The article makes no negative political comment on this admission, publishing just two one-line personal comments from individuals opposing collaboration with UKIP. As the SEP explains in its statement, the pseudo-lefts indifference to the actual forces being strengthened by the Leave campaign means they are subordinating the working class to an initiative aimed at shifting political life even further along a nationalist trajectory, thereby strengthening and emboldening the far right in the UK and across Europe, while weakening the political defences of the working class. Having helped release the genie of British nationalism, they are politically responsible for its consequences. Jerry White, the Socialist Equality Partys candidate for US president, will be speaking at a meeting of the International Youth and Students for Social Equality at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology on Tuesday, April 26. In the aftermath of the New York primaries held earlier this week, the Democratic Party establishment is moving to draw to a close a nomination process that has exposed the widespread hostility toward its front-runner, Hillary Clinton. In doing so, the Democrats are preparing to select as their candidate an individual who personifies the corrupt political nexus of the military-intelligence apparatus and the financial aristocracy. As for Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, he has worked very deliberately to prevent the issue of war from becoming a significant factor in the Democratic Party nomination contest. He has referred to American foreign policy as little as possible, and then only to criticize Clinton for supporting what he invariably calls the foreign policy blunder of backing the 2003 Iraq invasion. Sanders is now preparing to carry out his oft-repeated pledge to support Clinton in the event that she wins the Democratic nomination. In announcing its candidates in the US presidential elections on Friday, the Socialist Equality Party placed the fight against war at the center of its campaign. We warned that the ongoing preparations for global warfare, which could lead to the deaths of billions of people, are cloaked in lies and secrecy. Our campaign will alert workers and youth to the immense dangers they face and build the foundation for a powerful new anti-war movement. In this meeting, White will explain the foundation of the SEP election campaign and discuss the political perspective that must guide the developing struggles of workers and young people in the United States and around the world. Meeting details: Tuesday, April 26, 7:00 pm Cambridge, Massachusetts Massachusetts Institute of Technology (77 Mass Ave) Room 2-190 Ratcheting up already high tensions between the US and Russia, the Obama administrations nominee as the next NATO supreme allied commander and chief of the US European Command told a Senate panel that the Pentagon should keep everything on the table, including the use of military force, to counter any challenge from Russia to the relentless buildup of US and NATO forces on its borders. Army Gen. Curtis Scaparrotti, who is to succeed Gen. Philip Breedlove as the Pentagons senior commander in Europe, made his provocative comments in a nomination hearing held by the Senate Armed Services Committee Thursday, signaling plans for a further escalation in the increasingly dangerous US-NATO confrontation with the Russian Federation. Pushed by both Republican and Democratic senators to make increasingly bellicose statements regarding a recent incident in which Russian fighter jets flew in close proximity to the USS Donald Cook, a Navy destroyer operating near Russian waters in the Baltic Sea, Scaparrotti said that the US should warn Russia that future similar encounters may be met with armed force. We should engage them and make clear whats acceptable, the general said. Once we make that known, we have to enforce it. He added that one of his first actions as NATO/European Command commander would be to review the rules of engagement for US and NATO forces in the region. The incoming NATO commander went on to argue that the US should permanently deploy an armored brigade (approximately 4,500 troops) near Russias borders, rather than rotating brigades in and out of the Eastern European countries of Poland, Romania and Bulgaria and the former Soviet Baltic republics of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. The current plan to begin continuous nine-month rotations of such units in and out of these countries beginning in February 2017 is aimed at maintaining the fiction that Washington is not violating a 1997 agreement in which NATO pledged to Moscow that it would not engage in any additional permanent stationing of substantial combat forces near Russias borders. Scaparrotti proposes to dispense with this pretense on the grounds that a permanent deployment of a single brigade would lend a little more substance, a little more strength in relationship building in Eastern Europe and would represent a more efficient use of American troop strength. The general went on to say he believed that Washington should supply Ukraine with whatever weapons it needs, including Javelin antitank missiles, to defend itself against what it alleges are Russian-backed separatistsMoscow has denied direct involvementin the eastern Donbas region. In response to questions from the senators, Scaparrotti said that Russia posed the single greatest military threat to the US and that the American military should keep everything on the table, including military force, in dealing with the nuclear-armed country. He also stressed the need for more funding for the US submarine fleet in order to counter what the Pentagon claims has been a 50 percent increase in the number of Russian submarine patrols in the North Atlantic and Mediterranean Sea. We presently have dominance undersea, he said. And... we should maintain that dominance. The New York Times Thursday published a front-page article on the supposed Russian submarine challenge that had all the earmarks of a Pentagon propaganda piece. It quoted Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson as saying: Were back to the great powers competition. I dont think many people understand the visceral way Russia views NATO and the European Union as an existential threat. As the actual figures cited in the article make clear, however, the US submarine fleet far outstrips Russias in both quantity and quality, with Washington pouring more than ten times as much funding into its military than Moscow has allotted to its own forces. The testimony on Capitol Hill followed a tense meeting Wednesday of the NATO-Russian Council, the first such session since February 2014, when a US- and NATO-backed coup in Ukraine led to Russia's annexation of Crimea, the strategic base of its Black Sea fleet, raising tensions in the region. After the session, the Russian ambassador to NATO, Alexander Grushko, returned to the controversy over the Russian planes that flew close to the US destroyer, pointing out that the warship was operating in waters near Kaliningrad, the Russian exclave that is the base of the Russian Navys Baltic fleet. Grushko described the operations of the destroyer as a provocation and insisted that the actions of the Russian aircraft were in keeping with international law. He insisted that the key issue is what the Donald Cook was doing so close to Kaliningrad. He asked what the reaction would be if a Russian warship armed with cruise missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads were found sailing in the waters off New York City. The Russian ambassador said that that there could be no real improvement in relations outside of a reversal of NATOs steadily escalating encirclement of Russia, which has seen a quadrupling of US funding for military operations on Russias borders along with plans for continuous military exercises and deployments, the forward deployment of tanks, artillery and munitions, and the mobilization of a rapid response force involving some 40,000 air, naval, ground and Special Operations personnel. The threat of military force against Russia by the newly named US commander in Europe echoed a similar statement made earlier this week by US Secretary of State John Kerry, who said that the US destroyer would have been justified in shooting down the Russian planes, an action that could have triggered a military confrontation between two nuclear-armed powers with incalculable consequences. US President Barack Obama arrived in Britain Thursday night for the start of a three-day state visit. Officially, it was to join celebrations on Queen Elizabeth IIs 90th birthday. Its real purpose, however, was for Obama to make the most forthright intervention possible in support of Britain voting to remain in the European Union (EU) in the June 23 referendum on UK membership. Obama set out the standpoint of the US administration in his article published Friday in the pro-Conservative eurosceptic Daily Telegraph newspaper. Headlined, As your friend, let me say that the EU makes Britain even greater, the column was an unprecedented intervention by a US president into political events in the UK. Obamas article noted that in 1939, [US] President Franklin D. Roosevelt offered a toast to King George VI in the White House, and [N]early 80 years later, the United Kingdom remains a friend and ally to the United States like no other. Our special relationship was forged as we spilt blood together on the battlefield. Obama bracketed the EU alongside the main capitalist institutions formed in the post-war period under the leadership of the US: From the ashes of war, those who came before us had the foresight to create the international institutions and initiatives to sustain a prosperous peace: the United Nations and Nato; Bretton Woods, the Marshall Plan, and the European Union. In the run-up to his visit, the Leave campaign had denounced any intervention into the campaign by the US president, with Boris Johnson, the Conservative mayor of London stating it was plainly hypocritical for America to urge us to sacrifice controlof our laws, our sovereignty, our money and our democracywhen they would not dream of ever doing the same. Obama noted the hostility his trip had fuelled among sections of Britains ruling elite, saying, I realise that theres been considerable speculationand some controversyabout the timing of my visit. Such is the concern of significant sections of the US ruling elite of the economic, political and military implications of a UK break from the EU, that Obama made a full-scale attack on the various claims of those in the Leave campaign who support a Brexit (British exit from the EU). America had fundamental and strategic interests at stake in the referendum, Obama wrote, adding, the outcome of your decision [the referendum vote] is a matter of deep interest to the United States. The United States sees how your powerful voice in Europe ensures that Europe takes a strong stance in the world, and keeps the EU open, outward looking, and closely linked to its allies on the other side of the Atlantic. Obamas stressed that the challenges of terrorism and aggression; migration and economic headwinds can only be met if the United States and the United Kingdom can rely on one another, on our special relationship, and on the partnerships that lead to progress [emphasis added]. It was critical that these alliances were maintained to facilitate the global plans of US imperialism, under NATO auspices, Obama wrote, citing specifically NATO provocations against Russia. The US and Britain must work to resolve political conflicts in the Middle Eastfrom Yemen to Syria to Libyaso that there is a prospect for increased stability, Obama wrote. He continued, We must continue to invest in Nato so that we can meet our overseas commitments from Afghanistan to the Aegean, and reassure allies who are rightly concerned about Russian aggression. The full array of these challenges is to be the subject of further discussions with Prime Minister David Cameron and an informal meeting with Cameron and the leaders of France, Germany and Italy in Hanover, Germany on Monday. In advance of these discussions, Obama stressed, even as we all cherish our sovereignty, the nations who wield their influence most effectively are the nations that do it through the collective action that todays challenges demand [emphasis added]. A central argument of the Leave campaign is that the UK will remain a strong economic and political ally of the US even if it leaves the EU. Obama torpedoed such claims, warning that EU membership was critical to the UKs special relationship with the US and, indeed, any status it retained globally. Without the UKs alliance with the US as an EU member state, Britain would be cut down to size and risked irrelevance, Obama warned. Stressing repeatedly that Britains relations with the US and the EU magnified the UKs voice, he wrote, So the US and the world need your outsized influence to continue including within Europe [emphasis added]. In a challenge to the Leave campaigns projections that the British economy faced a tumultuous decline by remaining in the EU, Obama said, When it comes to creating jobs, trade and economic growth in line with our values, the UK has benefited from its membership in the EUinside a single market that provides enormous opportunities for the British people. The US president was even more direct in the press conference held later that day with Cameron. The UK will go to the back of the queue for trade deals with the US if it leaves the EU. Warning of the dangers of strains and faultlines in the EU, he reiterated the importance of European countries giving over 2 percent of GDP to defence spending, as required by NATO. If Obamas strident tone was an unprecedented intervention by the US into British political affairs, the belligerent response to it by the eurosceptics was no less so. In an article posted also Friday in the Sun newspaper, owned by the billionaire oligarch Rupert Murdoch, Johnson insinuated that Obama was anti-British by virtue of his Kenyan heritage. Some had said that, upon becoming president, Obama had removed a bust of Britains wartime Prime Minister Winston Churchill, from the White House. Johnson wrote, Some said it was a snub to Britain. Some said it was a symbol of the part-Kenyan Presidents ancestral dislike of the British empire- of which Churchill had been such a fervent defender. Johnsons revival of these claims is a purposeful attempt to align himself with the most ultra-right sections of both the US and UK establishment. The US Tea Party, the so-called birthers and Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump have all claimed that Obama was born in Kenya and is therefore not eligible to become president. More specifically, Johnsons remarks deliberately echoed the statements of Nigel Farage, leader of the UK Independence Party, who co-heads the anti-EU Grassroots Out campaign. Farage said, I know his [Obama] familys background. Kenya. Colonialism Its just that you know people emerge from colonialism with different views of the British. Some thought that they were really rather benign and rather good, and others saw them as foreign invaders. Obamas family come from that second school of thought and it hasnt quite left him yet. He added, Mercifully, this American president, who is the most anti-British American president there has ever been, wont be in office for much longer, and I hope will be replaced by somebody rather more sensible when it comes to trading relationships with this country. That a leading member of the Conservative Party is prepared to write in such an openly hostile manner to a serving US president is extraordinary. It underscores the extreme tensions that are developing internationally, under conditions of global economic slump and the drive to militarism and war. Divisions with the Cameron government and the Conservative Party more generally over the EU referendum are already febrile, with more than 100 MPs out of 330, and a majority of the wider party in favour of a Brexit. Despite the government authorising a pro-Remain mailshot, at a cost of 9 million, being sent to every household in the UK last week, the latest polls show the Remain and Leave camps almost neck and neck. The Guardian commented that Obamas visit marked the end of a week which started with the Treasury publishing its 200-page report on the economic costs of Brexit, and it means that Remain/Number 10 have now fired two of the most powerful missiles in their arsenal. If Obama and the fear of perpetual relative poverty cant win the referendum for Cameron, it is hard to know what can. The author also recommends: For an active boycott of the Brexit referendum! https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2016/02/29/pers-f29.html UK Chancellor touts Treasury analysis to promote European Union membership https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2016/04/22/brit-a22.html The leaked documents from Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca, which exposed the global network of tax havens used by rich individuals, politicians and companies to hide their wealth, have implicated a number of Pacific countries, including New Zealand, Samoa, Niue and Vanuatu. According to the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), which obtained the documents, Niue and Samoa are Mossack Fonsecas fifth and six most-used tax havens. The activities of Mossack Fonseca and its clients in the Pacific shed some light on the predatory nature of tax havens. The micro-states are targeted by financial sharks because of the impoverished Pacific islands desperate need for foreign investment. Their isolation and relative backwardness also make them useful for semi-legal and illegal dealings. Malakai Kolamatangi, Pacific director at New Zealands Massey University, told Radio NZ last week that the problem weve got in the Pacific, is the lack of the ability to generate income. He said this type of activity, offering dubious financial services, had been going on for a long time in Samoa, Niue, Vanuatu, Cook Islands, Tonga and Nauru. Washington had applied pressure on the region to clean up its act after the 9/11 terrorist attacks on New York, raising questions over whether money laundered in the Pacific had links to terrorism. However, Kolamatangi declared, if there were remnants of these tax havens or tax avoidance and tax evasion schemes still in the Pacific, I wouldnt be surprised. Tax havens are a significant factor in deepening global inequality, both within and between countries. The impact of financial crime and tax evasion on the poorest countries is devastating. According to one estimate by the Global Financial Integrity group, $US1 trillion a year is diverted from public funds in developing countries. The Pacific island elites, which are generally based on systems of patronage, inherited title, seniority and family ties, are notoriously corrupt. Protests involving hundreds of people erupted last June outside Naurus parliament over government corruption. In November 2006, riots caused widespread damage, deaths and injury in Tonga amid deepening hostility toward the countrys absolute monarchy and its lucrative business interests. The main imperialist powers in the regionthe US, France, Australia, New Zealand and previously Britainbear principal responsibility for this state of affairs. A century of colonial rule, ruthless exploitation and periods of military dominationincluding the decade-long Australian-led RAMSI operation in the Solomon Islandshave left the island countries impoverished, underdeveloped and fragile. The use of tax havens in the Pacific first came to notice in New Zealand during the early 1990s with the case of the Cook Islands and the Winebox scandalnamed after the container in which the documents were discovered. New Zealand corporations and financiers were found to have evaded their tax obligations by using bank accounts in the Cook Islands, a New Zealand dependency. One scheme involved a subsidiary of European Pacific (EPI), owned by prominent NZ merchant bankers Michael Fay and David Richwhite. The Cook Islands government received $NZ50,000 but in return EPI got a New Zealand tax credit of $2 million. In Nauru, tax haven activities took off during the 1990s as phosphate deposits, the islands main source of income, began running out. According to NZ-based Pacific affairs correspondent Michael Field, 450 banks were registered to a single Nauru mailbox, which acted as a money laundering front. Victor Melnikov, deputy chairman of the Russian Central Bank, said in 1999 over $US70 billion of Russian mafia money had been laundered through Nauru. Field claims that a third of these paper banks were of Middle Eastern origin, including Al Qaeda fronts. In Samoa, hundreds of shell companies operate through the countrys branch of Mossack Fonseca. The Panamanian company set up in Samoa in 2004, after it quit Niue, taking advantage of Samoas laws covering international financial operations that had been in place since 1987. Leaked emails showed that Mossack Fonseca urged the Samoan government to stall Australias request to sign a Tax Information Exchange Agreement, although Samoa eventually signed. They also showed that Samoas High Commission in Australia routinely assisted Mossack Fonseca in creating shell companies, including in other countries, such as the United Arab Emirates and Uruguay. Samoas government said last week that 10 licensed trustee companies, including Mossack Fonseca, currently operate under its international financial centre. It said the practice was legal and common. Samoa prided itself on leading efforts to ensure the conduct of businesses was regulated and supervised in compliance with international standards. However, the head of Samoas Money Laundering Prevention Authority, Maiava Atalina Ainuu-Enari, issued a warning last month to money launderers. One professional money launderer can move tens, or hundreds of millions of tala [the Samoan currency] out of, or through, Samoa in a matter of minutes, Maiava said. He vowed to shut them down, in order to reduce the harm caused to Samoans by money laundering and the crimes that generate laundered funds such as drug crime, corruption, tax evasion, fraud, scams and extortion. In the case of Niue, Mossack Fonseca won a 20-year exclusive right to operate offshore companies in the tiny island state in 1996. The firm wrote the legislation governing foreign business operations for Niues parliament. Mossack Fonescas co-founder Jurgen Mossack told Field in an interview in New Zealand in 2000: We figured that if we had the exclusivity, we would avoid the price wars because in offshore jurisdictions there is a lot of competition going on. Mossack, who defended the legality of his actions, said Niue was chosen because he wanted a location outside the Caribbean, in an Asia-Pacific time zone and part of the British Commonwealth, with no scandal attached. Niue made just $NZ150 for every international company set up through Mossack Fonseca. Some 6,000 accounts were established, earning Niue around $NZ1 million a year over eight years. According to Field, Niue sold itself cheaply, but nobody else was offering that kind of money. Niue registration offered total secrecy and anonymity, with no need to file annual returns, according to Mossack Fonescas former web site. Lawyer Peleni Talagi, daughter of the current prime minister, was the firms agent. Niues activities, Field says, attracted close attention from the OECD and the G-8 nations, as well as New Zealand. The US State Departments 1999 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report declared: Niues thriving offshore financial sector has been linked with the laundering of criminal proceeds from Russia and South America. Mossack Fonescas use of Niue as a tax haven peaked in 1999, five years before it relocated to Samoa. In the aftermath of the New York primaries held earlier this week, the Democratic Party establishment is moving to draw to a close a nomination process that has exposed the widespread hostility toward its front-runner, Hillary Clinton. In doing so, the Democrats are preparing to select as their candidate an individual who personifies the corrupt political nexus between the military-intelligence complex and the financial aristocracy. An extraordinary article appearing on the web site of the New York Times on Friday provides further documentation of what has been a defining element of Clintons long political career: her close relationship with the military brass and avid support for imperialist war. This relationship goes back to the training she received from her Republican, anticommunist father, Hugh Rodham. As first lady, Clinton actively supported the war policy of her husband Bill (including the bombing of Yugoslavia). As senator, she developed her ties with the Pentagon while serving on the Senate Armed Services Committee. The Times article, How Hillary Clinton became a Hawk, written by White House correspondent Mark Landler, is not an expose, but rather a sympathetic account of Clintons war credentials from a newspaper that has endorsed her and done everything it its power to ensure her nomination. The timing of the articles publication was clearly coordinated with the Clinton campaign itself. The Times held off publication of the lengthy article, evidently long in preparation, until after the New York Democratic primary, so as to preclude the piece stoking the widespread anti-war sentiment in that state and negatively impacting Clintons vote. It comes, moreover, as Clinton, shifting from the primaries to the general election contest, is eager to assert her right-wing credentials and win over sections of the military and corporate elite that are wary of the campaign of Republican front-runner Donald Trump. The Times article presents Clinton as the consistent war hawk within the Obama administration, often butting heads with the president himself. She backed Gen. Stanley McChrystals recommendation to send 40,000 more troops to Afghanistan [in 2009] before endorsing a fallback proposal of 30,000; she supported the Pentagons plan to leave behind a residual force of 10,000 to 20,000 American troops in Iraq; and she pressed for the United States to funnel arms to the rebels in Syrias civil war, later calling for a no-fly zone to be imposed against the Syrian government. Whether it involved US military intervention in the Middle East and Central Asia, or provocations against China and Russia, Clinton invariably adopted the most right-wing positions. Clintons willingness to go to war, the Times writes, will likely set her apart from the Republican candidates she meets in the general election. The article continues, For all their bluster about bombing the Islamic State into oblivion, neither Donald J. Trump nor Senator Ted Cruz of Texas have demonstrated anywhere near the appetite for military engagement abroad that Clinton has. She is, Landler adds, the last true hawk left in the race. Clinton, according to Landler, has worked for decades to develop close relationships with the military, seeking out ties with not just civilian leaders like Gates, but also its high-ranking commanders, the men with medals. Among those Clinton cultivated as a senator from New York (between 2001 and 2008) was now-retired General Jack Keane. (Sometimes he dropped by her Senate office; other times they met for dinner or drinks). Keane is currently chairman of the board of the Institute for the Study of War and played a major role in developing the Bush administrations 2007 surge in Iraq. This connection highlights the politically incestuous character of the cabal that decides policy behind the backs of the American people. Keanes institute is funded by large defense contractors, including Raytheon, General Dynamics (where Keane serves on the board of directors) and DynCorp. Its president is Kimberly Kagan, wife of Frederick Kagan of the American Enterprise Institute and sister-in-law of Robert Kagan, the right-wing geostrategist who founded the Project for the New American Century. Robert Kagans wife is Victoria Nuland, Obamas assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs, who oversaw the 2014 coup in Ukraine that toppled a pro-Russian government. Other individuals courted by Clinton include Gen. David Petraeus and Gen. Stanley McChrystal, both of whom headed US forces in Iraq and Afghanistan at different times during the Bush and Obama years. Reading about the way Clinton and her advisors discuss war policy, one gets the sense that the German general staff in World War II operated with greater deliberation. The Times cites one conversation from 2010 involving Gates, Obama and Clinton over plans to send an aircraft carrier into the Yellow Sea to threaten North Korea and intimidate China. Landler writes that Clinton, supporting Gates aggressive proposal, declared, Weve got to run it up the gut!a Vince Lombardi imitation [that] drew giggles from her staff. It is not difficult to visualize how this combination of recklessness, stupidity and worship of military force could lead in almost any part of the world to a war that quickly spiraled out of control. The Times article paints a portrait of an individual who operates with an incredible level of recklessness, driven by the narrowest and most cynical calculations as to what will benefit her political career. There is more than a whiff of Claire Underwood, the wife of the president in the fictional House of Cards seriesthough, if anything, Underwood is more discriminate in her conspiracies. Behind these political considerations, however, lies a commitment to use the military to assert US domination in every corner of the globe. Clintons warmongering is an expression not only of her own particular political persona, but of the nature of the party to which she belongs. The Democratic Party is the political mouthpiece of sections of the military-intelligence bureaucracy and finance capital, employing the left gloss of identity politics to secure a base among sections of the complacent and pro-war upper middle class. Clintons Democratic rival, Bernie Sanders, has, for his part, worked very deliberately to prevent the issue of war from becoming a significant factor in the nomination contest. He has referred to American foreign policy as little as possible, and then only to criticize Clinton for what he invariably calls her foreign policy blunder of backing the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Sanders is now preparing to carry out his oft-repeated pledge to support Clinton in the event that she wins the Democratic nomination. Extreme dangers confront the working class. The relentless escalation of military violence by the Obama administrationincreasingly directed at Russia and China, both nuclear-armed powerswill be followed after the elections by new and more provocative operations. The deeply felt hostility to war that exists among broad sections of the population can find no expression within the framework of the two-party system. In announcing its candidates in the US presidential elections on Friday, the Socialist Equality Party placed the fight against war at the center of its campaign. We warned that the ongoing preparations for global warfare, which could lead to the deaths of billions of people, are cloaked in lies and secrecy. Our campaign will alert workers and youth to the immense dangers they face and build the foundation for a powerful new anti-war movement. Over the next six-and-a-half months leading up to the November election, the SEPs candidates, Jerry White and Niles Niemuth, will expose the war conspiracy of the ruling elite and work for the building of a political movement of the working class against war and the capitalist system that breeds it. We urge all our readers to support and help build this campaign . On display are more than 200 items including maps, photos, documentation and publications dating between the 17th and 20th centuries that affirm Vietnams sovereignty over the Hoang Sa (Paracel) and Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelagos. Among the exhibits is the Atlas Universel de Geographie (World Atlas of Geography) compiled by Belgian geographer Philippe Vandermaelen (1795 1869) and published in Brussels, Belgium in 1827. Photo: VNA Photo: VNA Map of Empire dAn Nam (Empire of An Nam) indicates Hoang Sa is part of Dang trong (Cochinchina) of Vietnam. (Photo: Ministry of Information and Communications) The atlas includes four maps of Vietnam under the name Empire dAn Nam (Empire of An Nam) indicating that Hoang Sa is part of Dang trong (Cochinchina) of Vietnam. Speaking at the events opening ceremony, Deputy Minister of Information and Communications Pham Hong Hai said the exhibition gives the public, particularly the youth, a better understanding on the history of Hoang Sa and Truong Sa as well as Vietnams ownership of the two archipelagos. It also hopes to raise the sense of patriotism and responsibility of national protection among the Vietnamese, he added. The exhibition will be open to public at the provincial Cultural Centre until April 26th./. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) have now confirmed that a refugee boat went down earlier this week between the Libyan port of Tobruk and the Greek island of Crete. Both organisations, based on the testimony of 41 survivors, estimate that up to 500 refugees died in the disaster. The horrific loss of human life was first reported almost a year to the day of the worst refugee tragedy in the Mediterranean thus far. On 18 April, 2015, 800 refugees drowned when their boat capsized near the Italian island of Lampedusa. A year ago, European Union officials and government heads declared their shock and sorrow and the media reported the disaster in detail. Now they barely take note of a similar horror. The broadcast media and press have relegated the story to the back pages. Unlike the disappearance of Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 in March 2014, when a huge area of the Indian Ocean was searched for months for any sign of wreckage, not a single ship was sent to check for survivors following initial reports last weekend. Only days later did Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi announce that he would send the coast guard to search for bodies and the wrecked boat. The silence over the deaths of the refugees, who fled from war, violence and crushing poverty in Libya, Sudan, Ethiopia, Eritrea and Somalia to seek asylum in Europe, can be explained only by the fact that their deaths are seen as a price worth paying. Thousands of migrant drownings in the Mediterranean are, for the ruling elite, a necessary part of their policy of sealing the EUs borders to deter refugees. The reports of the 41 survivors collected by the UNHCR and IOM give a sense of the terrifying scenes that unfolded during the tragedy. Two-hundred-and-forty of us set off from Libya, but then the traffickers made us get onto a bigger wooden boat around 30 meters in length that already had at least 300 people in it, said Abdul Kadir, a Somali. As the refugees were being transferred, the larger boat capsized and rapidly sank. It remains unclear whether the larger vessel also set off from Libya or from Alexandria in Egypt. At least one of the survivors said he had started his journey not from Libya, but Egypt. The 41 eye-witnesses managed to survive only because they had either not been transferred to the larger boat, or had managed to swim back to the smaller one. They included 37 men, three women and a three-year-old child. The testimonies we gathered are heartbreaking, said IOM Athens Chief of Mission Daniel Esdras. A survivor named Mohammed said, I saw my wife and my two-month old child die at sea, together with my brother-in-law The boat was going down... down... All the people died in a matter of minutes. After the shipwreck we drifted at sea for a few days, without food, without anything. I thought I was going to die. According to the eye-witnesses, the traffickers continued the voyage with the survivors until the ships engine broke down. It is not clear whether this was caused by mechanical failure or if the traffickers deliberately sabotaged it. They issued an emergency call and disappeared in a small speedboat. Although the emergency call was received in Rome and transferred to the Greek Coast Guard, it took three days before the freighter Eastern Confidence, sailing under a Philippine flag, pulled the refugees from the sea 95 nautical miles southwest of the Greek city of Pylos and brought them to the port of Kalamata. There, the 41 survivors--23 Somalis, 11 Egyptians, six Ethiopians and one Sudanese--refused to disembark and demanded to be taken to Italy. This was entirely justified, as shown by a Greek policeman who cold-bloodedly told the BBC, They will be deported. They dont come from Syria. The details now known about the tragedy stand in stark contrast to the claims of the Greek, Maltese and Italian coast guards, which were still declaring on 17 April that they had no information about an incident and had not forwarded an emergency call. At that point, the Philippine freighter already had the survivors onboard. A Greek coast guard spokeswoman told Migrant Report at the time, There was no such incident off Greece. I think the information is incorrect. Whatever the case, this did not happen in Greek waters and nobody was rescued off a vessel with 400 to 500 people onboard. This indifference to the deaths of hundreds of refugees is a direct result of the EUs ruthless policy of sealing its borders. The EU has declared the protection of its external borders to be a principle, as if the refugees represent an invading army. The European Union and Europes governments are responsible for the latest mass fatalities in the Mediterranean. They have largely abandoned all sea rescue programmes, even though the border protection agency Frontex warned in 2014 that this would lead to an increase in fatalities, as a recent report by Londons Goldsmith College documented. Despite this, the EU ended the Italian coastguards Mare Nostrum mission, which rescued 150,000 refugees from the sea and brought them to Italian territory. It was replaced by the Frontex Triton mission, the goal of which is repelling refugees. After close to 1,200 refugees died in two tragedies last April, many migrants sought to reach Europe via the Balkan route. Following the sealing of Balkan borders and the dirty deal struck between the EU and Turkey, many refugees are trying once again to reach Italy by means of the dangerous voyage across the Mediterranean. The refugees already confront extreme danger in Libya. The militias in control of the country since the NATO war for regime-change in 2011 treat refugees brutally, detaining them in internment camps and abusing and torturing them. Traffickers are taking new routes as a result of the EUs EUNAVFOR Med Sophia military mission on the Libyan coast. There were hardly any movements of refugees off Tobruk, Ruben Neugebauer from the voluntary organisation Sea Watch told Austrias Der Standard. But due to Sophia, the traffickers use entirely new routes, where there is nobody in the area to assist. The shortest trip to Lampedusa, if all goes well, takes between 10 and 12 hours. By contrast, from Tobruk or Egypt it takes up to 13 days. British migration researchers Heaven Crawley, Nando Sigona and Franck Duvell pointed out in an article for the Conversation that the increasing number of fatalities is the result of the militarisation of coastal regions, which forces refugees to take ever more dangerous routes, sometimes overnight, in smaller, even less safe boats. Although the risk of discovery is reduced, so is the possibility of being rescued in an emergency. This applies to the Mediterranean between Libya and Italy and the Aegean Sea between Greece and Turkey. Some 25,000 refugees have landed in Italy so far this year, around twice as many as in the same period last year. The number has risen dramatically in the past four weeks. According to official figures, 851 refugees have drowned during the crossing. In the Aegean, where the flow of refugees practically stalled in April, 367 refugees have drowned. The suicide rate in the United States has increased sharply since the beginning of the current century, according to federal data released Friday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The increase is led by a particularly sharp rise in suicide among middle-aged white people, especially women. The study by the CDCs National Center for Health Statistics follows recent reports documenting a decline in life expectancy among whites and sharp increases in lifespan divergences between rich and poor in America. As with life expectancy, the incidence of suicide is a key barometer of the health of a society. The rise in the rate at which people choose to take their own lives is yet another indication of the social crisis gripping America. The new data shows that the age-adjusted suicide rate in the US jumped 24 percent between 1999 and 2014, from 10.5 per 100,000 people to 13 per 100,000 people. The figures show a 1.0 percent annual increase in suicide between 1999 and 2006 and a 2 percent yearly rise from 2007 to 2014. In total, 42,773 people died from suicide in 2014 compared to 29,199 in 1999. The accelerated rise in the suicide rate from 2007 to 2014 coincides with the Great Recession and its aftermath and demonstrates the tragic impact of economic distress on significant layers of the population. Other contributing factors cited by the studys authors include rising drug addiction and overdoses, growing divorce rates among older Americans, increased social isolation and a health care system ill-equipped to deal with mental health issues and suicide prevention. Over the period of the study, the suicide rate for women aged 45-64 jumped by 63 percent and by 43 percent for men in the same age range. White middle-aged women had a shocking 80 percent increase in suicide during this period, three to four times higher than for females in other racial and ethnic groups. Suicide rates for non-Hispanic black females rose by 0.8 percent among women 45-64; the rate for Hispanic women in this age group rose by 0.7 percent. Non-Hispanic black males were the only racial and ethnic group of either sex to have a lower suicide rate in 2014 than in 1999, declining by 8 percent. The suicide rate in the American Indian and Alaska Native population surged from 1999 to 2014, rising by 90 percent for women and 38 percent for men. Among this group, 188 women and 348 men took their own lives in 2014. Suicides among men were still more than three times the rate among women in 2014, but the study shows that the gap between the genders is closing. The higher rate among men is in part attributed to a higher suicide success rate through the use of firearms, fatal jumps and other methods. Although based on a small number of suicides when compared to other age groups (150 in 2014), the suicide rate for females aged 10-14 had the largest percentage increase, tripling from 0.5 per 100,000 in 1999 to 1.5 per 100,000 in 2014. The suicide rate increased for women in all age groups except those 75 and above, where it declined by 11 percent. Suicide rates for males were also higher in 2014 than in 1999 for all age groups under 75 years. However, despite an 8 percent decline for men 75 and older, this age group saw the highest rate of suicide in 2014, with 38.8 per 100,000, or 3,106 male seniors, taking their own lives. The data shows that from 1999 to 2014, the percentages of suicides involving firearms and poisoning declined, while those involving suffocation increased. For both males and females, about one in four suicides in 2014 was attributable to suffocation, which includes hanging, self-strangulation and other methods of asphyxia. Experts note that such suicides are difficult to prevent as almost all people have the means to carry them out. Poisoning was the most common method of suicide for women in 2014, making up about one-third of all female suicides. Poisoning agents include prescription opioids, heroin and other toxic substances. While accidental overdoses from opioids have skyrocketed in recent years, purposeful fatal overdoses have also increased. The most frequent other suicide methods for females in 2014 were falls (2.8 percent) and drowning (1.4 percent). For males, other methods included falls (2.2 percent) and cutting or piercing (1.9 percent). According to the CDC data, 33,113 people committed suicide in 2014. Suicide is one of the 10 leading causes of death for Americans. While death rates for major killers such as some cancers and heart disease have seen a long-term decline in recent decades, the suicide rate is rising precipitously. Psychiatric conditions--including depression, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia--as well as other chronic medical problems undeniably play a role in suicide. The lack of access to high quality, affordable medical care leads to isolation and marginalization for increasing numbers of those in need of counseling and treatment. The intersection of these very real medical and mental health issues with the economic devastation faced by millions in 21st century America is pushing increasing numbers of people over the brink. While the Obama administration declared economic recovery from the recession in mid-2009, the reality is starkly different for the vast majority of Americans today. The new CDC study does not break down the incidence of suicide by income level, but its victims are undoubtedly predominantly poor, working class and lower middle class, similar to those in recent studies on US life expectancy. America is a society in which growing numbers of people survive on low-wage, part-time, temporary and contingent jobs, often holding down two or more jobs to make ends meet. Working families are burdened by soaring medical costs and rising mortgage or rent payments. Many college graduates are saddled with debt and unable to find secure and decent-paying work. Veterans suffer from post-traumatic stress syndrome. Retirees are unable to survive on paltry Social Security benefits. Millions have been driven out of the labor market and subsist at the margins of society. This reality does not enter into the current presidential campaign debate. While democratic socialist Bernie Sanders rails against the billionaire class, the main aim of his campaign is to divert growing anti-capitalist sentiment among workers and young people back into the confines of the Democratic Party. A longtime ally of the Democrats and defender of capitalism, he has pledged to support the Democratic frontrunner, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, a personification of militarism and corruption, should she secure the nomination. Billionaire businessman Donald Trump, the likely Republican candidate, promotes a fascistic and anti-working class agenda, scapegoating immigrants and Muslims. None of the candidates of the political establishment have answers to the economic and social crisis and the personal toll it takes on working people and youth. Photo: VNA The Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) cited the General Department of Vietnam Customs statistics showing that Vietnam earned USD17.3 million from selling shrimp to the UK in the first two months of this year, up 38 percent from the same period last year. In the period, the UK accounted for 4.6 percent of Vietnams total export turnover of shrimp. In May 2015, the UK surpassed Germany to become Vietnams biggest shrimp importer in the European Union. Vasep attributed the growth to the countrys increasing demand for warm-water shrimp. Statistics from the International Trade Centre (ITC) showed the price of Vietnamese shrimp in this market was about USD11.5 per kilo, lower than that of Canada, Thailand and Bangladesh - the UKs other main shrimp suppliers. According to Vasep, the UKs demand for warm-water shrimp is likely to continue rising in the remaining months of this year. Vietnams shrimp export turnover is expected to reach USD3.3 billion this year, a year-on-year rise of 12 percent./. Photo: VNA Highlighting the fruitful traditional friendship between the two countries, the NA Vice Chairman said that Vietnam always treasures the valuable support and assistance given by the Mongolian Government and people during its past struggle for national independence. Luu appreciated the Mongolian Parliamentsending a high-ranking delegation to attend the IPU-132 Assembly in Hanoi last year and recommended the Mongolian State Great Khural create conditions for enterprises of the two countries to enhance collaboration and help Vietnamese citizens live and work in the country. He thanked the Mongolian Government for training agricultural experts for Vietnam, saying that it contributed to strengthening the bilateral traditional friendship and cooperation. The Vietnamese official also spoke highly of Mongolias role in organising the 9th Asia-Europe Parliamentary Partnership (ASEP-9) Meeting and making preparations for the 11th ASEM Summit (ASEM-11) in July in Ulaanbaatar. For his part, Speaker Z. Enkhbold said Mongolia wants to develop ties with Vietnam in all aspects from economy, trade and agriculture to culture and education. He also expressed his wish that Vietnam will support Mongolia joining the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) and the East Asia Summit (EAS) as well as developing relationships with ASEAN countries. Vice Chairman Uong Chu Luu is leading a Vietnamese NA delegation to the ASEP-9 in Ulaanbaatar from April 22nd-23rd./. A dispute between the Yakama Nation and Klickitat County over who has criminal authority over tribal members in an unincorporated area northwe Photo: VNA The Lao leader was elected to the position at the first session of the 8th National Assembly of Laos which opened in Vientiane on April 20th. During his meeting with the Lao official in Vientiane on April 22nd, Hung expressed his belief that under his leadership, the Lao people will successfully implement the Resolution of the LPRPs 10th Congress and the countrys Socio-economic Plan in 2016-2020, thus promoting industrialisation and modernisation, and increasing the position of the nation in the international arena. He said he hopes for stronger relations between the two countries Party, State and people in the future. The Vietnamese diplomat also took the occasion to call for more assistance from Laos Party, State and Government for his agency. For his part, Bounnhang Vorachit highlighted the enhanced relations between Laos and Vietnam in recent times, affirming that he will do his best to further foster the traditional friendship, special solidarity and comprehensive cooperation between the two nations. He stated that assistance provided by Vietnam for Laos both in the past and at present are very valuable, contributing remarkably to his countrys development. The Lao leader also thanked the Vietnamese Embassy for its contributions to developing the bilateral ties, affirming that he will continue supporting the agency to implement its political tasks./. A populist, right-wing political party in Germany has published its platform, in which its intention to ban circumcision and halal and kosher slaughter is laid out. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter The AfD Party (Alternative for Germany, Alternative fur Deutschland) has become one of Europe's most talked about phenomena in recent months and has achieved unprecedented achievements in recent regional elections in the country. Against the background of the waves of populist protests throughout Europe, and particularly the immigrant crisis that is plaguing the continent and Germany in particular, the nationalist right-wing party won increasing support from large parts of the German public. Dr. Frauke Petry, head of AfD (Photo: AP) AfD wages a strict policy against Islam, and rides on the waves of fear from the Muslim immigration to Germany. In an exclusive interview granted by the party chairman, Frauke Petry, to Yedioth Ahronoth three weeks ago, she came out against anti-Semitism, and attacked critics of Israel. But German media recently published AfD's party platform, where it was revealed that alongside the strong opposition to Islam, the Jews in Germany are likely to suffer from the party's harsh policy. This party is planning, according to German weekly Der Spiegel, the prohibition of circumcision without medical permission. In addition, the party will seek to completely ban kosher and halal slaughtering, and that will revoke the cancellation clause in the law that allows ritual slaughter for religious practices. The party's sights will be on Muslims, and the party is expected to determine that "Islam is not suitable to German law." In addition, the party will seek to completely ban the construction of minarets, muezzins' prayers, head coverings and full body coverings, such as the burqa. In 2012 a Cologne court provoked uproar after it determined that circumcising boys is "grievous bodily harm," and it should be banned. The ruling sparked a row, and for three months thereafter, the German cabinet approved a bill permitting the religious procedureprovided that the parents receive information about its nature and that painkillers be used. NEW YORK - Lillian, 87, Yoni, 17, and Michaela, 27, do not know each other. However, they share a 2000-year-old dream: to live in Israel. While many Israelis still fantasize about an American visa or the American dream, hundreds of Jews who recently met in New York at a Nefesh B'Nefesh-hosted aliyah (immigration) meeting intend to begin a new life far away from Central Park, from Fifth Avenue or from Macys. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter What attracts American Jews to Israel despite the current security climate? Rivka Friedman, 27, who already made the move, says, Already by age 15 I couldnt understand why all Jews didnt live here in Israel. The weather, the people...It is amazing that there are all kinds of different Jews here. I live in Tel Aviv, and I love the fact that I am Jewish and that my neighbors are Jewish. I go to peoples houses for Friday night dinner, and on Yom Kippur you see everyone in the street. New immigrants from the US (Photo: Shahar Azran) Friedman, who works for the popular Israeli public transport application company, MOOVIT, said that Israeli culture, food, life and style creats an energy that doesnt exist anywhere else. While acknowledging the high quality of life in New York Friedman insisted that her life in Israel "is ten times better. Here there is unity; in New York there isnt. In Israel I can be who I am Lillian Steffield, 87, waited many years to fulfill her dream. She hopes move to Israel with her son Richard and reunite with her other son Avigdor, and her three grandchildren who live in Ma'ale Adumim. "Israel has a pleasant environment of Judaism and purity," Steffield says, adding that she simply wants to be with her family and that she is not put off by the security situation. Lillian Steffield (Photo: Neta Wolf) "Terrorism does not at all frighten me," says Jonah Rothsteinm 20. "This is life in Israel. I feel closer to my Jewish side than my American side, I feel I can be who I am much more in Israel. " As an observant Jew, Rothstein, who moved to Israel from Minesota, also said that he is unable to connect with his Judaism in the US. I am connected with the language and the people in the land of Israel, he insists. To be afraid only lets them win Ari Bornstein, 24, from New York works for Microsoft and intends to continue here in a new capacity developing startups and expanding them into the global market after completing his immigration process. So what brings him to leave hism coveted job and move to Israel? "I feel that Israel is my home, and I want to be there and contribute to it. I know that my job is good, but a great career awaits me in Israel." Ideology motivates Yoni Meiri, 17, to leave Brooklyn to study in a Yeshiva in Gush Etzion. Yoni then plans on enlisting in the military and hopes to join the spcial forces. Fortunately for the young teenager, he has the full support of his mother. "We educated him to care about Israel and love the land," his mother Beth says, "so I have to support him. " She is not afraid. "Israel is our place. To be afraid is to let them win. I already have plans to visit next year. I am also thinking to move to Israel, but I don't have a special plan. I plan to make aliyah after I retire. I feel a strong connection to Israel, and we have family there." Beth also expressed that the terror threats cannot deter prospective immigrants. "Israel is our place. To be afraid is to let them win. I plan to make aliyah after I retire. I feel a strong connection to Israel," she said. The parents don't know yet Yoni Meiri is just one of thousands who leave the land of opportunity to serve in the IDF each year. Sophie Loziraf,19, will soon be departing her home state of New Jersey as she embarks on a similar track and joins a combat unit. "When I first came to Israel, I felt at home. I want Israel to be my home," Sophie said. Sophie has the full support of her parents. However, her good friend, Alexa Schwartz, 21, does not yet share her interest in joining her brother who currently lives in Jerusalem. Despite her wonderful life in New York, and the lack of family support, Schwartz says that she determined to settle in Israel. "There is Jewish life in New York, but I would much prefer to life in Israel. People ask me why I am doing this; they are mostly people who were never there." The renewed education program for Israeli public schools, called Jewish and Israeli Culture, presented on Wednesday, will be expanded to include the third, fourth and ninth grades. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter The Israeli culture subject committee headed by Prof. Ron Margolin presented the expanded program to Education's Ministry Director General Michal Cohen. Up to now, the program has been taught in grades 5 to 8, but starting from the next school year, it will be extended and will be allocated a total of five hours a week to grades 3-6 and grades 7-9. These hours will be allocated to the different age groups at the discretion of school principals. A special program was designed for grades 1 and 2, and it is the principal's decision whether or not to teach these classes. It should be noted that in contrast to the grades 3 to 9, where the program is mandatory, it is not mandatory in grades 1 and 2. Educatin Ministry Director General Michal Cohen and Education Minister Naftali Bennett. (Photo: Lior Paz) The program includes familiarity with Jewish literature and will focus on several areas: Engaging individuals, families, the community, the State of Israel, the Jewish people in the Diaspora and all mankind. During the program students will be exposed to proverbs, aggada (folklore and historical anecdotes ed.) and poetry, as well as familiarity with people such as Maimonides, Ibn Gabirol, Rachel The Poetess, and Chaim Nachman Bialik. According to the Ministry's plan, the guiding principle of grade 1 will be "Love thy neighbor as thyself", in grade 2 - honoring one's parents and family, in grade 3 - social bonding and leadership, in grade 4 - mutual responsibility, in grade 5 a bond to the land of Israel, in grade 6 - tradition and innovation, in grade 7 - responsibility and involvement, in grade 8 tikkun olam ("repair of the world." -ed.) and in grade 9 - the value of life, human liberty, and dignity. The Ministry of Education pointed out that the program is designed to expose the students to "a multi-faceted Jewish world while showing its relevance to their lives in the broader Israeli context. The program will provide broad and deep knowledge, rich experiences and a variety of innovative tools to develop the personalities and identities of students as Jews, Israelis and as human beings. In addition, it will deepen their ability to hold an attentive and respectful dialogue with the varied and diverse identities that exist in Israeli society. " All the ministers of education in recent years have sought to modify and expand the study of the Jewish heritage and identity among Israeli students. In 1994, the ministry began to talk about the need for more Jewish studies within the public school system. In 2009, then-Education Minister Gideon Sa'ar, worked hard on expanding Jewish studies, initiating the program known as Israeli Culture and Heritage, which was expanded to grades 5 and 8. Within the framework of the program, it was decided that the students would be obliged to fully study the weekly Torah portion in grade 6, the prayer book in grade 7, and the Mishnah called Pirkei Avot in grade 8. The program was extended to include student trips to the City of David site in Jerusalem, as well as Hebron and Tel Shilo. Former Education Minister Shai Piron also made it clear that there is a need to expand the program at the time. For years, the Shin Bet demanded that it be given the tools to handle Jewish terrorism in Israel. They asked that laundered language on this topic be abolished. When a Molotov cocktail is thrown into an inhabited home, thats not called Price Tag, and when you burn a field Is not a property crime. Its blatant terrorism. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter But we had to experience the tragedy of the Dawabsheh family being burned alive in Duma , in July 2015, in order for our political and legal ranks to sober up, shake off the pressure exerted by the settler lobby, and internalize the fact that these were not hilltop punks, but Jewish terrorists who pose a danger to the state of Israel. One of the Nahliel group suspects. The result has been the fact that, since December 2015, despite long and difficult months filled with Palestinian stabbing an vehicular attacks, there have been nearly no reported incidents of violent riots and attacks by Jews n Arabs in the territories. This isnt by happenstance. The Shin Bet was capable of this kind of enforcement before Duma as well. Those who used t say that they couldnt handle Jewish terrorism unless their hands were untied now seem justified. The Jewish terror cell whose members have recently been arrested is a generational project. It began operations about 4-5 years ago, with violent action aimed at Arab people in the territories, mostly in the western Binyamin area. The Shin Bet questioned a group of youths from the town of Nahliel, later releasing them and removing their names from its terrorist watchlists. One of them was later drafted into the IDF. The Shin Bet apparently did not see the former-suspect as a threat, and didnt take action to prevent his enlistment. His military service was irrelevant to his alleged terrorist activities, since he didnt steal any military equipment or expose outside sources to classified material. The Dawabsheh family's burnt home in Duma. Three family members were killed, including an 18-month-old baby. (Photo: Mohammed Shinawi) His group was re-awakened in October 2015, right after the murder of Naama and Eitam Henkin . It was now comprised of six members, some veterans from the older generation and some minors the next generation of Jewish terrorists. The night after the murder, they perpetrated two revenge attacks by setting fire to vehicles. The soldier is suspected of taking part in these. In November, the minors of the group took the reins, committing whats being defined as an attempted murder: Throwing a Molotov cocktail into an inhabited home. In December, they threw military-grade gas grenades, found in riot dispersal areas, into another inhabited home. Between these incidents, they also threw stones and defaced vehicles and other property. These violent attacks were a response to the arrest of Meir Ettinger s group, suspected of being responsible for the Duma attack , by the Shin Bet. In December, the Shin Bet issued administrative restriction orders for the Nahliel group, and the attacks stopped. Recently, during April, members of the group were arrested, questioned, and the Shin Bet managed to find evidence for indictments against them. The connection between the Nahiel and Ettinger groups (Ettingers is nicknamed The Gideons in some circles) is a matter of personal acquaintance, but not operational contact. Ettingers group keeps its information highly restricted. The Nahliel group also held a certain level of compartmentalization, but their actions arent fueled by the same extremist, well-articulated ideology of Ettingers group. The Nahlielians are a lone, local cell, whose goal is to harm Arabs in the area, mostly for reasons of vengeance. Meir Ettinger. A strngly ideolgically-motivated group. (Photo: Avihu Shapira) No doubt, defining the Jewish terror squads as illegal organizations following the Duma affair was a watershed moment. This definition enabled the Shin Bet to interrogate the suspects as they would Palestinian suspects, and to establish well-based indictments. Despite the criticism over the issues of administrative orders and prevention of attorney consultations for ten days following the arrest, these steps have proven themselves in action. The Nahliel terror cell is not the last, but the defense forces sense in the field is that the Shin Bets Jewish Division has an ability to deter violent Jewish anarchists these days. Take your foot off of them for a minute, though, and theyll raise their venomous heads once more. The Palestinian President and Israel's Ambassador to the United Nations traded barbs on Friday during a signing ceremony for the Paris climate accord, in the latest example of continuing Israeli-Palestinian tensions. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who signed the agreement on behalf of the Palestinians, took advantage of the presence of some 60 world leaders at the UN General Assembly to criticize Israel. "The Israeli occupation is destroying the climate in Palestine, and the Israeli settlements are destroying the environment in Palestine," Abbas told the 193-nation assembly. "Please help us in putting an end to the occupation and to settlements." Abbas at the UN. "The Israeli occupation is destroying the climate in Palestine." (Photo: Reuters) Israeli Ambassador Danny Danon responded sharply when he addressed the ceremony, in which 175 states signed and 15 ratified the Paris accord. "Instead of spreading hatred here at the UN, President Abbas should act to stop Palestinian terror," he said after signing the treaty. "This climate summit is supposed to be a demonstration of global unity for the sake of the future of our planet," he added. "Unfortunately, President Abbas chose to exploit this international stage to mislead the international community." Earlier this week, Danon and Palestinian envoy Riyad Mansour yelled "shame on you" at each other during a regular UN Security Council meeting on the situation in the Middle East. That meeting turned into a rare shouting match. US-brokered Israeli-Palestinian peace talks have been in tatters since 2014. Abbas' presence at the signing ceremony had symbolic importance in the wake of Palestine's de facto recognition of statehood by the United Nations, which since 2012 has considered Palestine a non-member observer state. Israeli Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon. "President Abbas should act to stop Palestinian terror." (Photo: AP) It was the first time a Palestinian president sat in the General Assembly hall as a state party to a treaty at a signing ceremony. Palestine's accession to the treaty could lead to complications for the United States, which has a law barring US funding for "any organization or group that does not have the internationally recognized attributes of statehood." US senators sent a letter to Secretary of State John Kerry saying that Palestine's participation in the UN climate change secretariat and the Paris agreement would prohibit the United States from paying money into a global climate fund. The letter, signed by 21 Republican Senators, was the latest attempt by Congressional Republicans to block US participation in global climate initiatives. The US State Department said it received the letter and was preparing a response. Five years ago the United States stopped funding UNESCO, the UN cultural agency, after it granted the Palestinians full membership. Two Israeli Air Force (IAF) fighter jets escorted an Egyptian airplane to Ben-Gurion Airport on Saturday morning, after its pilots failed to identify themselves and their flight upon entering Israeli airspace. After the flights captain was shortly questioned, the plane, which apparently took off from Cairo, was allowed to return to Egypt. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter An IAF F-15. (Archive Photo: EPA) An initial investigation of the incident indicates that a civilian plane belonging to airline Egypt Air departed from Cairo on route to Tel Aviv, with a group of pilgrims on board. The plane apparently deviated from flight procedures by not identifying itself before entering Israeli airspace. Two Israeli F-15s were called to the intercept the plane, and escorted it to a safe landing. The captain was questioned by Israeli authorities and the passengers were taken off the plane. After the questioning, the plane and pilot returned to Egypt. Tens of thousands of Israelis are spending the Passover weekend by exploring Israels national parks and forests. Last Passover, around a million people in total visited the countries various forests. The combination of entire families being on vacation and pleasant spring weather has caused Israelis to go outside and enjoy nature. Authorities ask that those who choose to travel Israel this holiday make sure to leave a clean path behind, for the benefit of both other travelers and animals. Diaa Zabida, 23, from Lod, and Mohammed el-Kareenawi, 24, from Rahat, were both killed on Saturday night in a car accident in Romania. It seems that the two, medical students at Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iasi, were driving home from an exam and were killed in the city of Piatra Neamt. Their families have been informed, and the Foreign Ministry reported that representatives from both families were en route to the country. Coming on the eve of the commencement of direct flights by Air New Zealand between Auckland and Ho Chi Minh city in June, the competition calls for entrants to design a poster and slogan promoting New Zealand tourism in Vietnam. New Zealand - New Horizon aims to increase the interest and knowledge about New Zealand tourism, its beautiful sceneries, exciting adventure tourism, movie scenes from the Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings films, unique culture and food, and its relationship with Vietnam. Photo: ATP Photo: ATP Photo: ATP Tourism has recently become one of New Zealands most important industries. The national tourism marketing campaign 100% Pure New Zealand and tourism marketing associated with the filming of the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings trilogies in New Zealand have made it a famous destination for tourists from around the world. Over 30,000 New Zealanders travel to Vietnam each year but the number of Vietnamese traveling in the other direction remains modest. Tourism links are a really important strand in the web of connections between Vietnam and New Zealand. It is a significant part of the two economies but from the perspective of our broader bilateral relationship, tourism has many other important spin offs, such as increasing cultural awareness and understanding, and education links. Air New Zealands direct service between Auckland and Ho Chi Minh city commencing in June is a really huge opportunity, explained New Zealand Ambassador to Vietnam, Haike Manning. The competition is an opportunity for the creative Vietnamese public to share their ideas about New Zealand and how it could be portrayed to Vietnamese tourists. There are some great prizes up for grabs including a return trip for two to New Zealand. It is being run through https://www.facebook.com/nzembassyvietnam./. A report published by the Ministry of Health on Tuesday revealed that there has been a marked reduction in the number of suicides in Israel. The report covers suicides committed in the country between 1981 and 2013 and attempted suicides between 2004 to 2014. In 2011, there were 482 reported incidents; in 2012, 435; in 2013, 372. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter In general, the suicide rate in Israel is low compared to that of other countries, with the Jewish State ranked second lowest compared to 28 European countries. The report further revealed that suicide is the second leading cause of death in males aged 15 to 24, and the third for females of the same age group and males from 25 to 44. In the last decade, the suicide rate reduced by half in males from 15 to 24 and in females aged 65 to 74. Suicide overall on the decline (Photo: Shutterstock) Immigrants commit more suicide than locally born Israelis The rate of suicides by immigrants (olim) is higher than those born in Israel. The suicide rate of Ethiopian olim dropped by half during the 2000s, but their suicide rate is still relatively high. Contrarily, however, the rate of Ethiopian attempts at suicide is lower than that of those born in Israel, with the exception of the 2544 age bracket, where the Ethiopian rate of attempted suicide is 1.2 times higher. The rate of attempted suicide by young immigrants from the former USSR is 2.9 times higher than those born in Israel in the 1014 age bracket and 1.6 times higher in the 1524 age bracket. However, from 45 and older, their rate is low. The report also addresses the breadth of populations in Israel: the suicide rate of Arabs is lower than that of Jews. Nearly a third of all suicides are olim. Where in Israel do people commit suicide more? The suicide rate in Israel, corrected for age, was higher than the national average between 2011 and 2013 in the areas around Hadera, Ashkelon, Jezreel Valley, Tel Aviv, Rehovot, and Haifa. In the last decade, an average of approximately 5,500 suicide attempts was recorded in hospital emergency rooms. About half of the attempts were committed by Israelis under 25 years of age. The peak of attempted suicides was 19 years old; up to age 18, the rate for girls was higher than for boys, and from 37, there was no significant difference based on gender. Minister of Health Yakov Litzman (Photo: Motti Kimchi) Recently, the IDF chief of staff decided to permit combat soldiers to take their weapons home with them. According to this report, this decision was justified, as the rate of suicide by firearms of any type has been declining since the mid-2000s. The chairman of the non-profit Path to Life, Dr. Avshalom Aderet, said in response, "The sad truth revealed by the report is that every day, more than one person commits suicide on average: hundreds of souls, most of which could be saved. There are ways to do this, but they require the recognition that this is a national calamity, that this can and must be dealt with." Aderet remarked, "The most worrying datum is the high number of suicide attempts and suicides by young people." He opined that the trend was to be fought by providing information and engaging in a dialogue with at-risk youths. He continued, "The fact that the budget for the national program for suicide prevention is predicted to run out by the end of this year after a mere three years of operations is upsetting and worrying. The Israeli government and Ministry of Health must continue funding this program on a permanent basis, because only methodical and clear work over years can help to reduce the number of suicides and suicide attempts and prevent pain for thousands of friends and loved ones." Speaking for his organization, Aderet stated, "We call on the minister of health, Yakov Litzman, to address the worrying data in this report and to continue to fund the program in the coming years and to thereby guarantee the continuation of ways of dealing with the phenomenon of suicide." YORK After three public hearings, the York City Council agreed this week to allow indoor shooting ranges in the C-3 commercial zone at the interchange, but only with a special exception. The initial request for this type of feature to be added to the allowable list was made by Ben Kohl. He said he was toying with the idea of putting a private, indoor shooting range inside a building he already owns in that commercial area. During an earlier hearing, York City Attorney Charles Campbell said the original ordinance would have to be reworded to include specifications already dictated by state law. That altered ordinance was presented to the council this week for a final vote. The addition to the ordinance says Shooting ranges to refer to an area or facility designated or operated primarily for the use of firearms or archery and which is operated in compliance with the Nebraska Shooting Range Protection Act. Shooting range excludes shooting preserves or areas used for law enforcement or military training. A shooting range may be located in the C-3 highway commercial district by special use permit if the range is constructed and operated in accordance with the shooting range performance standards adopted by the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission pursuant to the Act. The city council may prescribe such other conditions for the use of the property. The council agreed to add shooting ranges . . . but it has to be noted that each individual project must be brought before the council, in order to obtain a special exception. While there has been discussion on the topic in the past, there was no comment from the public . . . or from the council . . . prior to the final vote this week. 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: A group of JNU students on Saturday protested at the Bihar Bhawan here against the alleged killing of two Dalit CPI(ML) activists in the state's Begusarai district last month and were detained after they entered into a heated argument with a police officer. A senior police official said the incident took place after the protesters were coming out of the Bhawan's premises, and a stick, attached to a banner they were carrying, hit an Assistant Commissioner-rank officer present there, leading to the argument. The situation then went out of control, posing a potential threat to law and order, and the students were taken to Chanakyapuri Police Station where they were detained for a few hours. The students also alleged that they were manhandled by the police, a charge denied by it. "We were peacefully staging a protest outside Bihar Bhawan demanding action against the killing of our comrades. When we went inside to submit a memorandum, police officials prevented us by manhandling and violently attacking," Sucheta De, National President, All India Students Association (AISA) claimed. After initially stoppiong them, a small delegation of students was later allowed to enter the Bhawan's premises. The protesters who were detained included CPI(ML) Delhi state secretary Ravi Rai and JNUSU General Secretary Rama Naga. Naga, was also among those charged with sedition in connection with the controversial event on JNU campus in February during which anti-national slogans were allegedly raised. "The protesters were detained under Section 144 CrPC," DCP (New Delhi) Jatin Narwal said. Senior officials further said some confrontation between the protesters and police did take place but there was not attack or manhandling. Two CPI(ML) Liberation activists were shot dead in Masudanpur diara under Balia police station of Begusarai district on March 21. Patna: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Saturday appealed to all the political parties opposed to Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to come together and take on the ruling party in the 2019 Lok Sabha Elections. After being officially coronated as the national president of the Janata Dal United (JD-U) here, Kumar urged his party workers not to project him as the next prime ministerial candidate. While putting forward the example of 'Mahagathbandhan' in Bihar, the Chief Minister appealed to parties to unite against the BJP, make sacrifices and follow the policy of give and take. The JD(U), Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Congress forged an alliance to form 'Mahagathbandhan' to take on the Narendra Modi-powered BJP in the 2015 Bihar Assembly polls. Notably, the grand alliance registered an emphatic win in the state elections. Nitish Kumar asked the BJP to fulfill its election promise of bringing back the black money stashed abroad. RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav recently advocated for Kumar being projected as the next prime minister. When asked whether RJD would support the Bihar JD (U) leader as the prime ministerial candidate, Lalu said, Yeah sure, there is no second thought on this. Ever since Lalu and Nitish, the arch rivals-turned-friends, steered the 'Mahagathbandhan' to a resounding victory in 2015 Bihar Assembly Elections, both have been very critical of PM Narendra Modi. The Bihar CM was elected party president, replacing Sharad Yadav on April 10 at the party`s national executive meeting held in New Delhi. JD-U general secretary KC Tyagi told the media that Nitish Kumar was formally endorsed by the party leaders and workers from across the country at the JD-U national council meeting in Patna. Amritsar: Punjab's dreaded separatist outfit Khalistan Liberation Force militant Davinder Pal Singh Bhullar, a convict in 1993 Delhi bomb blast case, was on Saturday released on 21-day parole after nearly 23 years behind the bars, as per ANI. Bhullar's wife Navneet Kaur, along with her relatives, received him when he was released from jail custody today. Bhullar's family has been pressing the authorities for his parole ever since the psychiatrist who examined him confirmed that he suffers from high blood pressure and severe depression. Earlier this month, he was acquitted in a 21-year-old Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act case that pertains to an encounter of a police party being ambushed by a group of militants. Bhullar was convicted in connection with the killing of nine people and injuring of 31 in a bomb blast in 1993. Among those who survived the attack are former Youth Congress chief MS Bitta. Behind the bars following his conviction in the case, Bhullar is undergoing life imprisonment after the Supreme Court commuted his death sentence. He was sentenced to death by a designated TADA court on August 25, 2001. However, Bhullar's death sentence, awarded to him in the 1993 Delhi bomb blast case, was commuted by the Supreme court into life imprisonment in 2014. Last year, Bhullar was shifted to the Central Jail here from Delhi's Tihar Jail amid tight police security. He was then kept in a barrack cordoned off by special jail staff and the assistant superintendent of jail were given responsibility to oversee the arrangements. According to media reports, Bhullar is said to be quite unwell, both physically and mentally. After being shifted from Delhi's Tihar Jail, within a week he was admitted to local Swami Vivekananda Drug De-addiction Centre from Amritsar Central Jail. Navneet Kaur had sought the shifting of Bhullar to Amritsar Jail citing his poor health. Navneet, who had migrated to Canada with her in-laws in 1994, has her parental house in Amritsar. Former terrorist Gurdeep Singh Khera, who was transferred to the Central Jail in Amritsar last year in June, was released yesterday on 42-day parole. (With Agency inputs) New Delhi: The Delhi government on Saturday constituted a six-member committee to study the impact of opening of schools and hot weather on the odd-even scheme following traffic congestion on roads despite the ongoing second second phase of road-rationing plan. Transport Minister Gopal Rai said the move is to ensure proper measures in place whenever government comes out with the next edition of the odd-even scheme. The decision was taken at a review meeting on traffic situation chaired by the transport department today. The Committee, to be headed by transport special commissioner K K Dahiya, will have DTC's deputy CGM Anuj Sinha, DIMTS additional vice-president C K Goel, DCP (traffic) A K Singh, Executive Director (DMRC) Vikas Kumar and Education additional director Sunita Kaushik as its members. It has been asked to submit its report after the wrapping up of this edition of odd-even scheme. Rai said at the time of first phase of odd-even scheme implemented in January, schools were closed and weather was pleasant but during the second phase, opening of schools and hot weather are major factors contributing significantly to traffic jams . "Due to closing of schools in January, around 2500 school buses could not come on roads. Besides, as there was winter session that time, people used to prefer for a walk for small distance, but people are now using bikes, cars and taxis for the same distance causing traffic congestion on roads. "As schools are now open, parents are now doing more trips of their cars from home to schools, markets, office using one vehicle " he said. The transport minister further said, "The six-member committee will study the side effect of opening of schools and hot weather on the second phase of odd-even scheme. "Due to these two factors, how much effect - be it 5 per cent, 10 per cent or 15 per cent, is on the scheme so that government could ensure measures next time while implementing the third phase of the scheme." In the meeting, minister said that they reviewed the complaints of lack of coordination between traffic police, enforcement wing and civil defence volunteers at a local level. To deal with traffic congestion, government has also set up special monitoring team, to be headed by Special Commissioner Sandeep Goel, to do a proper monitoring of traffic signals across the national capital. He added that the decision was taken after government received several complaints against improper functioning of traffic signals which were causing traffic snarls on the capital's roads. Unlike the first phase, traffic congestion is being reported in various areas including Nehru Palace, ITO, Laxmi Nagar, Bhairav Sing-Marg, INA and some other parts of South Delhi during the second phase of odd-even scheme. Rai said that as per preliminary report, opening of schools and construction and repair works are causing traffic jams during the ongoing scheme. In view of this, government has directed PWD, DMRC and DJB to carry out their construction and repair works at night to avoid traffic jam. Few days before the second phase of the road-rationing plan, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had announced that if the scheme tuns out to be successful, government may seriously consider implementing it for 15 days every month. New Delhi: Girls performed better than boys in the Telangana State Board of Intermediate Examination, for which results were declared on Friday. Deputy chief minister Kadiam Srihari, while announcing the results, told that a total of 4,56,675 students, who appeared in the first year examination, 2,43,503 students have qualified. The pass percentage among girls was 59 while the same for boys was 48. In the second year, out of total 4,18,231 students who appeared for the exams, 2,62,245 students managed to pass and girls again faired better than boys with a pass percentage of 67.64. The pass percentage of the boys was 58. The BIE Telangana / TS Board Intermediate 1st Year / 2nd Year Examination Results 2016 were declared shortly after 11 am. Candidates had been waiting for the Telangana BIE Class 12 Results 2016 ever since they appeared for the examinations in March. The Telangana Inter Results 2016 are available on the official website: results.cgg.gov.in. Nearly 9.5 lakh students had appeared in the BIE first and second year inter exams in March. Zee Media Bureau New Delhi: Are you tired of your bad memory and struggling hard to remember things? Instead of taking memory enhacing pills simple try to doodle or draw things you want to recall, suggests researchers. According to the researchers of Waterloo University, drawing pictures of objects or things that we need to remember is an effective way to boost our memory. So, drawing is a better option than writing as it creats a more cohesive memory trace that stimulates as well as integrates visual, motor and sematic information. The study, published in Quaterly journal of Experimental Psychology, explains that drawing enhances memory performances by creating mental images of the objects depicted by words. They also clarified that this simple yet effective memory boost technique could help everypone regardless of their artistic talent. For this study, a group of student participants were given a list of simple and easy-to-draw words such as apple. The students were given 40 seconds to either draw the word or write it out repeatedly. They were then given a filler task of classifying musical tones to facilitate the retention process. Finally, the researchers asked students to freely recall as many words as possible from the initial list in just 60 seconds. "We discovered a significant recall advantage for words that were drawn as compared to those that were written," said Jeffrey Wammes, the lead author of the study. The team is currently trying to figure out why this memory benefit is so potent, and how widely it can be applied to other types of information. Chandigarh: At a time when India is reeling under severe drought conditions, thousands of litres of water was used to damp a helipad for Bharatiya Janata Party president Amit Shah's helicopter landing in Haryana, report claimed on Saturday. As per Pradesh18 report, six fire trucks sprayed thousands of litres of water in parched Gohana of Haryana to facilitate Shah's helicopter landing. Many politicians recently kicked up row for wasting gallons of water for their helicopter landing. A couple of days ago, Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh stoked controversy following reports that around 10,000 litres of water was used to create a temporary helipad for his visit to drought-hit Bhiwandi. Several regions in the country are severely hit by drought this year with not a water to drink, leave alone irrigation. Special arrangements are being made to ferry water to these faraway areas. Shimla: After Gurgaon was renamed as Gurugram to pay tribute to Guru Dronacharya, VHP has now placed a demand to rename Shimla as 'Ma Shymla' which Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh has rejected outright. Singh, while taking dig at VHP, said, Tomorrow they may ask me to change my name. "There is no justification in changing the name of Shimla, which is an internationally renowned tourist destination, and some other places," he said, adding, "change in name would serve no purpose". Scotching rumours about cabinet reshuffle and induction of some chief parliamentary Secretaries (CPS), he said, "The government is stable and functioning well and there is neither any need nor any proposal of cabinet reshuffle or induction of CPS." The state possesses "immense" natural beauty and has vast tourism potential and the government would focus on developing lesser known and remote places, popular for ancient temples and shrines, he said while talking to reporters on the sidelines of Himachal Travel Mart here. Better connectivity would definitely attract more tourists, the Chief minister said, adding resumption of air services to Shimla would attract high-end tourists in large numbers. (With PTI inputs) New Delhi: While rumours of actor Anupam Kher as the seventh nomination to Rajya Sabha are doing the rounds, the Kashmiri Pandit community does not sound pleased with the reports. BJP leaders Subramanian Swamy and Navjot Singh Sidhu, member of erstwhile National Advisory Council (NAC) Narendra Jadhav, Malayalam actor Suresh Gopi, journalist Swapan Dasgupta and boxer Mary Kom were nominated by the Narendra Modi government to the Rajya Sabha on Friday. However, the BJP has yet to announce seventh name in the nominated category in the Upper House. The BJP perhaps thinks that Kher's nomination would ease its position within the Kashmiri Pandit community. However, the credentials of the actor, who, of late, has been at the forefront to defend BJP's stand on intolerance and nationalism debates, do not please many Kashmiri Pandits. Talking to DNA, Sanjay Tickoo, president of Kashmiri Pandit Sangharsh Samiti (KPSS), said: "Kher does not deserve it at all. What has he done for the community? There are several other stalwarts who have worked hard for the cause of Pandit community. He has set his eyes for RS seat since last one year or so. But during that period he has done more harm. Spewing venom against any community does not fetch anything." "There are some 6,000-7,000 Hindus in the Kashmir Valley. How he is going to increase their morale? We have done it alone so far. We rather feel insecure because of his speeches. How Kher can presume that any Indian not holding a Tricolor is not a nationalist? Why does not he shift with family to the Valley and see? Did he ever visit my home or any other family?" said Tickoo. Meanwhile, lawyer Ashok Bhan said there is only remote chance of Kher getting the Rajya Sabha. "President nominates eminent people. Does he fit that position of eminence despite trying hard to do so by subverting constitutional provisions? He is trying to masquerade the cause of Kashmiri Pandits to which he is not connected and does not know anything about. True KPs cannot a party to right wing politics as it is not there in their ethos," says Bhan. For the lawyer, Kher is behaving like an anti-Kashmiri as he often abuses Kashmir in Kashmiri. Commenting on reports, theatre personality MK Raina, I felt very sad when I saw him lampooning intellectuals. He lampooned great personalities like Krishna Sobti who is 90 years old, a freedom fighter and a stalwart in her field, when they returned the award. Sahitya Academy is the most respected award for any writer and it is not easy to return it but he made a mockery of it. I was very upset, it pained me". New Delhi: Even as the Delhi government has cracked down on app-based taxi aggregators for "surge pricing", one such operator has been overcharging commuters -- showing higher toll or state tax. Ola has been overcharging on toll and state tax for a ride in the national capital region from Delhi to Noida or in the reverse direction. While the actual toll charged by the Uttar Pradesh government for a taxi crossing over from Delhi is Rs.60, the cab operator has been charging higher, sometimes even double. In reverse, while the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) toll for a taxi crossing into Delhi is Rs.100 the operator has charged some passengers a higher amount, as the bills generated by the aggregator show. One complainant, who resides in east Delhi`s Mayur Vihar, said she has been overcharged since the beginning of April for the 4.2 km she travels to and from work in Noida. "I am an occasional traveller by taxi and I prefer Ola cabs for commuting from Noida Sector 16 to Mayur Vihar or in reverse direction. A month back the bill used to be around Rs.170-180 for the 4.2 km distance; but on April 11, I had to pay Rs.286," she told IANS, declining to be named. "When I went through the bills of my ride, I found that Rs.165 was charged under the State Tax/MCD charges," she added. There were two other occasions with the same amount. When contacted the head of corporate communication for Ola, Aditya Bhalla, said they have a "transparent fare system", where a commuter can check all the details of their ride on their website and also the bill. When the invoice number of at least two instances of such overcharging were given to him, Bhalla said that if a commuter thinks he or she has been overcharged then they must register their complaint with the customer care service and the company will hear their grievances. He said he would get back to IANS, but till Saturday afternoon he had not. North MCD spokesperson, Y.S. Mann told IANS: "MCD toll charges for private taxis in Delhi is Rs.100, and if they are charging more, then the passenger must take up the issue with the taxi operators as MCD receives only Rs.100 from them." Another passenger too complained of overcharging on tax by Ola during a ride from Mayur Vihar to Noida. "I prefer Ola over other taxi operators, but I was surprised to see Rs 120 has been charged as state tax, which is actually Rs.60 for entering Uttar Pradesh from Delhi." The Ola website also says that a commuter needs to pay Rs.100 for entering Delhi from Noida, and Rs.60 to enter Uttar Pradesh from Delhi as MCD and state taxes. The Delhi government which has warned taxi operators against surge pricing, said it hasn`t received such complaints so far, but it will take action if people provide them proof. "We haven`t come across any such complaint as of now. If people have any proof or information about this then please give it to us, and we will look into the matter and take stern action," Delhi Transport Minister Gopal Rai told IANS. New Delhi: Upping the ante on the Uttarakhand political crisis, Congress leaders have given notices to discuss the matter in Rajya Sabha suspending the question hour and adoption of a resolution condemning the imposition of President's Rule there. The notices given by Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad and Deputy Leader of Congress in the House, Anand Sharma, seek to corner the government on the issue accusing it of "destabilising" a democratically-elected government in Uttarakhand. In his notice given under Rule 267, Sharma has also sought from Rajya Sabha Chairman Hamid Ansari the passage of a resolution condemning the Modi government for "destabilistion" of the Uttarakhand government and imposition of President's Rule in the state. The resolution reads "this House deplores the destabilisation of the democratically elected government in Uttarakhand and disapproves the unjustified imposition of President's Rule there under Article 356 of the Constitution." Ever since the dismissal of the Rawat government and clamping of central rule, Congress has mounted an offensive against the Narendra Modi dispensation. The party had started 'Loktantra Bachao, Uttarakhand Bachao' (Save Democracy, Save Uttarakhand) campaign to mobilise public support against the Centre. The Supreme Court yesterday stayed till April 27 the judgement of the state High Court quashing imposition of President's rule, giving a new turn to the continuing political drama in the state by restoring central rule there. Congress is trying to project the imposition of President's Rule in Uttarakhand and earlier in another party- ruled state of Arunachal Pradesh as an "attack" on the federal structure and is hopeful that a large number of Opposition parties will back it in cornering the government on the issue. London: Leading defence and aeronautical firms of the West are reportedly worried over the success of the Tejas Trainer Jet, especially as India is expected to bag the first contracts for the trainer jet from Sri Lanka and Egypt. The Tejas Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) is a supersonic, single-seat, single-engine multirole light fighter aircraft, which has been under development for the past three decades. It has been co-developed by the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) in cooperation with the Bengaluru-based Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL). The Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) is reportedly looking to procure 18 to 24 new fighter aircraft to replace its obsolete fleet of Chinese license-built MIG-21 by 2017, and had recently rejected Pakistan`s JF-17 aircraft built with Chinese help. On the other hand, Egypt has also shown some interest in procuring the Tejas, though it had last year signed a contract to buy 24 Rafale fighter jets from France. According to the web site www.dailymirror.lk, both Colombo and Cairo are said to be interested in purchasing the current version of the aircraft. Two things going in favour of the Tejas are its lower cost and its flying ability. The Tejas is perhaps the world`s smallest lightweight, multi-role single engine tactical fighter aircraft and the state-run HAL has said it has received expressions of interest for it from abroad, but refused to reveal any names. It has maintained that its priority is to deliver this combat aircraft to the Indian Air Force (IAF) and Indian Navy first.The Indian Air Force (IAF) is reported to have a requirement for 200 single-seat and 20 two-seat conversion trainers, while the Indian Navy might order up to 40 single-seaters to replace its Sea Harrier FRS.51 and Harrier T.60. Rather than wait for LAC Mk II, the IAF had decided to go for an upgraded version of the existing Tejas with over 40 modifications. As per the production plan, six aircraft will be made this year and HAL will subsequently scale it up to eight and 16 aircraft per year.HAL is likely to hand over the fourth Tejas aircraft to the IAF by June end. The four aircraft will make up the first squadron to be used for training and familarisation. The first Tejas squadron will be based in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, and is scheduled to enter service by 2017-2018. The LCA programme was initiated in 1983 to replace the ageing MiG-21s planes in IAF`s combat fleet. In 1984, the Indian government established the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) to manage the LCA programme. The Tejas is often described as a HAL product, but the responsibility for its development belongs to ADA, a national consortium of over 100 defence laboratories, industrial organisations, and academic institutions with HAL being the principal contractor. The Tejas is the second supersonic fighter developed by HAL after the HAL HF-24 Marut. Washington: Afraid of India's growing might in the space technology, US' private space industry has expressed its opposition to the large scale use of low-cost ISRO launch vehicles for putting American satellites into orbits. Such a move, corporate leaders and officials of the fast- emerging American private space industry told lawmakers this week would be detrimental to the future health of the private sector US space companies as it would be tough for them to compete against low-cost Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) launch vehicles, which they alleged are subsidised by the Indian government. "I think the concern about using Indian boosters is not so much the transfer of sensitive technology to a nation that is a fellow democracy, but rather whether the Indian launches are subsidised by the government to a degree that other market actors would be priced out of the market," Elliot Holokauahi Pulham, CEO of Space Foundation, said. Testifying before a Congressional committee, Pulham said there has been some discussion about allowing US built satellites to fly on boosters such as the Indian PSLV. Eric Stallmer, president Commercial Spaceflight Federation, opposed efforts to facilitate a government- subsidised foreign launch company. "In this case, India, to compete with US companies. Such policy runs counter to many national priorities and undermines the work and investment that has been made by the government and industry to ensure the health of the US commercial space launch industrial base," Stallmer said. He said the challenge right now is that the satellite manufacturers are making satellites at a quicker rate right now than the US has the launch capability. So a satellite is not making money while it's sitting on the ground, he said. "Currently, the Indian launch vehicle PSLV has a sweet spot and has the capability of launching some of these satellites right now in a timely manner. We don't want to see US launches going overseas by any means, whether it's to India, Russia or whomever else. But right now, from the satellite, you know, producers and manufacturers, they need to get their assets up in the sky as quick as possible," Stallmer said. Noting that the current policy with the waivers and the review is a sound policy, he said the US should stringently look at every launch that is taking place in every vehicle or every payload that the US are putting up on an Indian vehicle. "I think it really needs to be evaluated. We hope to phase this out as a new generation of launched vehicles come online," Stallmer said. "I've heard from a number of companies that build and operate small satellites that there isn't enough capacity in the (US) market at a price they can afford to meet their needs," said Congressman Brian Babin, Chairman of the House Science, Space and Technology Subcommittee on Space. "India has stepped in and offered to fill, in part, this demand and is launching smaller satellites on their PSLV vehicle. The administration has provided a number of export waivers on a case-by-case basis for these launches, in part, because India is becoming a strategic ally in South Asia," Babin said. "Unfortunately, the administration seems to lack a clear long-term policy to guide access to PSLV launches. What should US policy be with regard to Indian and other foreign launch vehicles?" the Republican Congressman from Texas said. He asserted that if it can be shown that there is no viable US launch opportunities in the given time-frame to a required orbit, launches on Indian vehicles should continue to be considered on a case-by-case waiver review for US payloads, as been the practice for the last several years. "This practice should continue while still relevant, but with the knowledge that this is definitely a temporary solution," Stallmer said. New Delhi: The recent US-India military deal will affect New Delhi's strategic autonomy and the country would unnecessarily become part of military conflicts, as it has allowed itself to be a facilitator for the American forces, an expert wrote in a Pakistani daily. India is playing a dangerous game. In the eyes of the world, India will become part of the US military bloc, noted Mumbai-based lawyer A G Noorani said in an opinion piece published in the Pakistani English daily Dawn on Saturday. India rarely operates beyond its shores. This agreement practically gives very little advantage to it, but gives an enormous opportunity to the US military. It means gradually India will become one of their major facilitators, he wrote. He pointed out that it is important to correctly judge the nuances of the agreement reached between the United States and India during US Defence Secretary Ashton Carters visit to New Delhi on April 10-12. India and US have agreed in principle to conclude a Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement (Lemoa) in the coming months. The agreement will allow US forces to refuel their ships and aircraft and, if necessary, keep their military equipment on Indian soil. In 2003, the US had asked India to send its troops to participate in the war on Iraq. But the then prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee kept his head and overruled a virtually unanimous cabinet, Noorani wrote. Noorani said that the US is prompted by a larger strategic purpose rather than immediate tactical advantages. India is not prepared for a military alliance; but it has begun to tread on a slippery path, eyeing Chinas relation closely, he added. Kolkata: As many as 46 people have been arrested by police in post-poll violence following the third phase of West Bengal assembly polls, the Election Commission said on Saturday. "Commission is following up with chief electoral officer of West Bengal and director general of police each matter of post-poll violence. As a result of the follow-up, the police authorities have arrested accused people in post-poll violence cases in past two days," said an EC official. Listing out the arrests, the official said on April 21, 11 cases were recorded and till now, 13 people arrested in the constituencies where polling was held in phase three. On April 22, six incidents of post-poll violence took place in these constituencies in which till now, seven people have been arrested, whereas on April 22 in the entire state, a total of 29 specific cases were registered and 26 people have been arrested. This campaign will be sustained in the coming period, the official said. Voters in 167 of the state`s total 294 assembly constituencies exercised their right to franchise on April 4 and 11, 17 and 21 in the first three phases. Polling in the fourth, fifth and sixth phases will be held on April 25, 30 and May 5 for 49, 53 and 25 constituencies respectively. New Delhi: Over a month after a woman was dragged, abducted and raped in Muktsar district of Punjab, the police on Saturday arrested one person in connection with the case. The incident of the victim being dragged by one of her abductors was caught on a CCTV camera. The CCTV footage shows a young man forcibly dragging the 24-year-old woman out of her office in broad daylight on March 25. In the video, the woman can be seen screaming, shouting for help and struggling to break free from the grip of her abductor. Tragically, no once came forward to help the poor woman, who was later taken to a farmhouse and raped repeatedly. Five days after the incident, the woman got an FIR registered in the case. However, the police are yet to make any headway in the case even after a month. The video, recorded by a CCTV camera placed in a nearby shop, also shows the victim's colleagues running out later and shouting. The accused, who is believed to be from the same village as the woman, is absconding along with an alleged accomplice, according to the police. New Delhi: The SpiceJet airline has sacked one of his pilots for allegedly asking the chief air hostess of the flight to sit with him in the cockpit of a Boeing 737 flight. The incident took place onboard Kolkata-Bangkok flight on February 28. The pilot allegedly repeated his action on the return flight as well. Media reports say that the pilot, a Commander, also sent his co-pilot out of the cockpit and locked himself inside with the air hostess. In her complaint, with the airlines, the air hostess also alleged that the pilot also used "inappropriate language" with her. The airline has initiated an inquiry and informed the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) for further action. According to a report in the Times of India, the pilot may also lose his licence. The DGCA chief M Sathiyavathy is personally looking into this case and if allegations proven then he is might not be able to fly again in future. New Delhi: The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) will on Saturday release the official notification for the 2016 Indian Administrative Service (IAS) and Indian Forest Service (IFS) exam. Candidates can visit the http://upsconline.nic.in/ website to check for the notification. Last date for applying is May 20 and the preliminary exam will take place on August 7. The exam will take place in three stages: Preliminary, main and a personality test via an interview. Candidates can find details about the eligibility, number of attempts, etc on the official website. Shirdi: All India Anti-Terrorist Front chairman Maninderjeet Singh Bitta today termed as a "publicity stunt" the agitations launched by women organisations seeking entry into core areas of certain temples in Maharashtra. "These agitations are a publicity stunt. They are trying to play with the feelings of the people," he told PTI after a darshan of Saibaba. He said the traditions founded by ancient sages are sacrosanct and it is wrong to violate them. "However, I am not against any particular man or woman on this issue. Law is not bigger than 'Bharat mata'. Our temples hold society together. I am unhappy over women's agitation for the entry into garbha grih (sanctum sanctorum) of temples," Bitta said. "I enter temples wearing dhoti. At some places I have to remove my turban, but I follow the tradition at temples, which were created by sages. "It is wrong to break these restrictions and forcibly enter the temples. I request government and courts to not interfere with traditions of the temples," he said. Bitta was referring to protests by women's activists like Trupti Desai for entry to the sacred platform at Shani temple in Ahmednagar district and at core areas of Lord Shiva and Mahalaxmi temples at Trimbakeshwar and Kolhapur, respectively. To a query, Bitta said he is happy with the anti-terrorism policy of Narendra Modi government. "Presently, our jawans fire 100 bullets in retaliation to 1 bullet fired by Pakistan without waiting for orders. During the Congress rule, even if a jawan was beheaded a discussion was held on our side over lunch," Bitta said. The former Indian Youth Congress president said he had to pay the "political price" for defying the Congress leadership which he said had prevented him from speaking on the issues of terrorism or on Pakistan. He said the Congress got debilitated due to "saffron terrorism" remarks made by its ministers. "Senior Congress leaders P Chidambaram and Digvijay Singh hurt the Congress the most. Congress virtually sank because of them," Bitta alleged. He also praised Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar. Hazaribagh: Curfew, clamped in Hazaribagh and its surrounding areas following clashes between two groups, will be entirely lifted on Sunday as the situation is fast coming back to normalcy, a senior government official said here. "The curfew will be withdrawn following fast improvement of law and order situation during Saturday's relaxation hours," Deputy Commissioner Mukesh Kumar said. He, however, said patrolling will continue in areas under Hazaribagh Sadar, Katkumdag and Pelawal police stations' areas. Curfew was clamped in Hazaribagh and its surrounding areas on April 17 after two groups of people clashed, torched shops and pelted stones at policemen injuring many of them on the last day of the Ram Navami festival. The trouble started when objectionable recorded slogans were played in a Ram Navami procession triggering clash between the two groups near Hazaribagh railway station. Mumbai: Days after the Bhumata Ranragini Brigade said it would launch an agitation so that women entry to the famed Haji Ali Dargah in Mumbai, the announcement has left a Shiv Sena leader fuming. Haji Arafat Shaikh, who joined Shiv Sena after leaving Maharashtra Navnirman Sena in 2014, has said that if Bhoomata Ranragini Brigade leader Trupti Desai tries to enter Haji Ali dargah, she would be welcomed with prasad of slippers, reports ABP news. "Islam does not allow women to touch the mazar-e-sharif in a dargah. We strongly condemn what Trupti Desai is saying. We won't allow her to enter the inner sanctum of the Hazi Ali Dargah. I will be the voice of my religion and will not allow her to touch the mazar-e-sharif," Haji Arafat told ANI. "All Muslim women have been opposing this. This is a conspiracy to disturb the peaceful environment inside Mumbai. A conspiracy is being made to instigate the Muslims by playing caste and religion-based politics. The police and law and order should prevent her from doing that," he added. The Maharashtra Government had in February supported the entry of women to the Haji Ali Dargah. On April 20, 'Haji Ali For All' forum was launched by Brigade president Trupti Desai along with several activists, NGOs and social groups to fight for women's entry to the shrine -- nearly six centuries old and nestling amid the rocks in the Arabian Sea off the Worli shoreline. "We shall launch the agitation at the Haji Ali shrine on April 28. However, we are ready to discuss the issue with its trustees," Desai had told the media. Desai was in the forefront in pressing the demand for women's entry to the Shani Shingnapur temple in Ahmednagar in Maharashtra. She also called upon all Muslim women in the country to contact her organisation to highlight alleged gender discrimination at other dargah or shrine in India and promised to take up their cause. She said several Muslim women and other groups were fighting for equality vis-a-vis the Haji Ali dargah for years and had even moved courts seeking relief. These groups want women to be allowed to go to the tomb of Pir Haji Ali Shah Bukhari and offer 'chadar' and prayers in the sanctum sanctorum, she said. The Haji Ali Dargah Trust has justified the prevailing custom on the ground that allowing women up to the tomb of the Pir would be 'anti-Islam'. Mumbai: Jawaharlal Nehru University Students' Union leader Kanhaiya Kumar will on Saturday address an event 'Student Youth Assembly Against Discrimination' at Adarsh Vidayalay in Tilak Nagar here. Earlier, the venue was the Janata Shikshan Sanstha in Worli. However, the organisers of the event on Friday said that the venue had to be changed allegedly under "pressure" from Sangh Pariwar constituents. The programme has been organised by a number of Left wing organisations including, Student Federation of India (SFI), All India Students' Federation (AISF), All India Demoratic Students organisations (AIDSO), Purogami Yuvak Sanghathana (PVS) and Chhatrabharati. Defeat fascism! Defend democracy! Saturday 23 April, 2pm Adarsh Vidyalay Hall Near TIlak Nagar Station (E), Mumbai pic.twitter.com/w6YSOHOqWk Kanhaiya Kumar (@kanhaiyajnusu) April 22, 2016 Addressing a press conference here, the organising committee members had yesterday alleged the change in the venue was due to the "pressure" created by the Sangh Pariwar constituents on the machinery. "Despite abiding by the required criteria we were denied permission due to pressure from certain quarters as we did not get any written assurance from police for protection," Abhilasha Shrivastava, SFI secretary and member of the event organising committee, said. "When we decided to hold the programme, we thought that the biggest problem will be the ongoing Mumbai University exams. But during our campaign, we found that that was not an issue. The students were very welcoming. They wanted the leaders of various universities to come over here and interact with them. The problem has been created by police and the government machinery," she added. Shrivastava further said, "The administration is being pressurised so that student leaders are unable to express their views." Another member of the event organising committee, Dhanajay Kangude, alleged, "The constituents of Sangh Pariwar are threatening organisers through various possible means. "They pressurised Janata Sikshan Sanstha to get the programme cancelled." Besides Kanhaiya Kumar, Allahabad University Student Union president Richa Singh, vice-president of JNUSU Shehla Rashid and others will speak on the occasion and advocate Irfan Engineer and Teesta Setalvad will be among those who will remain present there. (With PTI inputs) Pune: Bhumata Ranragini Brigade chief Trupti Desai on Saturday said that she would go to Haji Ali Dargah on April 28 despite a threat issued by Shiv Sena leader Haji Arafat Shaikh. Haji Arafat Shaikh, who joined Shiv Sena after leaving Maharashtra Navnirman Sena in 2014, has said that if Trupti Desai tries to enter Haji Ali Dargah, she would be welcomed with prasad of slippers, reported ABP news. Responding to the `threat`, Desai said: This kind of threat is wrong. Everyone has the right to protest in a democracy. He has insulted women. Desai told news agency ANI: "Our group would be going to Haji Ali Dargah on April 28. The threats from the Shiv Sena won`t work." She further asked the Shiv Sena to clear its stand, adding that if the political party differs in views with Haji Arafat, it should sack him. Earlier, Haji Arafat told ANI: "Islam does not allow women to touch the mazar-e-sharif in a dargah. We strongly condemn what Trupti Desai is saying. We won't allow her to enter the inner sanctum of the Hazi Ali Dargah. I will be the voice of my religion and will not allow her to touch the mazar-e-sharif". On April 20, 'Haji Ali For All' forum was launched by Brigade president Trupti Desai along with several activists, NGOs and social groups to fight for women's entry to the shrine -- nearly six centuries old and nestling amid the rocks in the Arabian Sea off the Worli shoreline. Mumbai: The Shiv Sena on Saturday distanced itself from its senior leader, Haji Arafat Shaikh, who threatened to "welcome with slippers" prominent woman activist Trupti Desai if she dared to enter the tomb of the Haji Ali Dargah, here next Thursday. Shortly after his remarks created a furore in various circles, party spokesperson and legislator Neelam Gorhe rejected Shaikh`s statement and even warned of action against him. "This is purely his personal view on the issue ... It is not the Shiv Sena stand, which is clear and we respect the Bombay High Court decision," Gorhe told the mediapersons. The Sena`s prompt clarification came in the wake of Shaikh`s threat to Bhumata Ranragini Brigade (BRB) President Trupti Desai who, along with several other social religious groups, plans to enter the sanctum sanctorum of the Haji Ali Dargah on April 28. The move is part of a demand by several Muslim women and groups who have been agitating for ending gender discrimination at places of worship in the state. After scoring victory for women`s entry in the Shani Shingnapure Temple, Ahmednagar and Trimbakeshwar Temple in Nashik, Desai joined with a new forum, "Haji Ali Sab Ke Liye - Haji Ali For All" which will campaign for access to women upto the tomb of Pir Haji Ali Shah Bukhari and offer `chadar` there. The Haji Ali Dargah Trust has justified the prevailing customs on grounds that permitting women upto the tomb would be "anti-Islam" and also argued about immunity as it was a "minority trust". In a related development, the Azad Women Welfare Association chief Medina Shaikh joined him in the clamour to prevent her entry to the six-centuries shrine in the Arabian Sea, on the rocks off Worli. Besides the Shiv Sena, the Mumbai police has also initiated an independent probe into Shaikh`s statement on "chappals" amid apprehensions of the situation turning delicate next Thursday. New Delhi: President Pranab Mukherjee will on Saturday visit Manipur to attend 'Khongjom Day' function. Khongjom Day is observed on April 23 by the Manipur government to pay tributes to its brave sons who made the supreme sacrifice for the cause of their motherland. The monument to be inaugurated by Mukherjee will commemorate the 125th anniversary of the Anglo-Manipur war of 1891 at Khongjom, now in Thoubal district and about 40 km from Imphal. During his visit, the President will also inaugurate a monument-cum-tourist centre at Khongjom. Security in Manipur has been beefed up in view of the President's visit. Central police forces will assist the state police in maintaining law and order. Security forces have conducted combing operations though no arrests have been reported. High officials from Delhi were camping in Imphal for the past few days to supervise the security and other arrangements for the presidential visit. The President and his entourage along with Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh will reach Kheba hillock -- where the main function will be held -- in three Indian Air Force helicopters for security reasons. (With Agency inputs) Imphal: President Pranab Mukherjee on Saturday acknowledged the historic significance of the Battle of Khongjom, 1891, saying that Manipuri soldiers who had used "outnumbered and primitive weapons" in their fight against the British forces "gave their today for our tomorrow". He said this while inaugurating a War Memorial Monument-cum-Tourist Complex as part of the 125th anniversary of the "Khongjom Day" celebrations in which the President was the chief guest. The President arrived at the Tulihal International Airport in Imphal at 2.20 pm and was airlifted to the recently constructed Kodompokpi helipad ground in Thoubal district. The President then headed for Kheba hillock, located 1.5 km from Khongjom, where he inaugurated the War Memorial Monument-cum-Tourist Complex. Narrating a brief historical account on how "the English East India Company gradually expanded its control over the vast tracts of India" and referring to the Battle of Khongjom, he said that "as per the historians it was the last battle of annexation which began with the 1757 Battle of Plassey". Khongjom Day is observed on April 23 every year by the government of Manipur to pay tribute to the brave sons of Manipur who made supreme sacrifice for the cause of their motherland. Paying homage to the brave Manipuri people who fought against the British forces, President Mukherjee said, "for a minimum period of time, a part of Manipur was liberated by INA and Netaji Subash Chandra Bose unfurled the tricolour at a place near Moreh". Noting that the state is "not just known for natural beauty and cultural variety", he appreciated the pluralism of the state and "urged for development and wished success in every endeavour". Earlier, the President was accorded a warm welcome by Manipur Governor V Shanmuganathan, Chief Minister O Ibobi Singh, his deputy Gaikhangam and other top government officers. Battle of Khongjom marks one of the last battles of the Anglo-Manipuri War of 1891 in which the British Army registered a decisive victory. The President had last visited Imphal in 2014 to attend the 14th Convocation of Manipur University. Toronto: The Ontario Court of Justice will on Saturday hear the torture charges levelled against Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee president Captain Amarinder Singh by a US-based human rights advocacy group "Sikhs for Justice" (SFJ). Singh, who is on visit to the US and Canada, has to cancel his political rallies in Toronto and Vancouver scheduled for the next week, following a request made by the Canadian Foreign Ministry. The SJF had lodged a complaint with the Minister of Foreign Affairs that the visit of Singh is "potential violation" of the "Global Affairs Canada" (GAC) policy. SFJ had lodged a complaint with the Canadian government against the election activities planned by Captain. "By targeting Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) living in Canada, canvassing for their votes and holding fundraising events in Toronto and Vancouver, Amarinder Singh would be violating the Canadian government`s policy," said the SFJ. SFJ legal advisor Gurpatwant Singh Pannun told ANI over phone, "The purpose of a pre-enquete hearing is to determine whether there is sufficient evidence of torture charges levelled against the former Punjab chief minister to issue a summon or an arrest warrant requiring Captain Amarinder to stand trial before the Ontario Court." Captain Singh has shot off a letter to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, protesting against the decision to disallow him from addressing gatherings. Captain Singh tweeted his letter and said he was disappointed over, "the gag order that has left a bad taste." "Since the host country does not allow such events, I thought it was better to cancel them," the Congress leader said in a statement said. "I would, however, look forward to meeting my fellow Punjabis in their homes and small groups to ensure the compliance of the host country`s laws," he added. Chandigarh: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Saturday assured to review the `bogus` cases against Punjab youth during during Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD)-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) rule and promised to set up a Commission to review such cases and fix the responsibility of erring police officials. The party made the declaration during its `Punjab Dialogue` campaign in the state amid preparations for the assembly polls due early next year. "Registration of bogus cases against youth and others all across Punjab was one of major issues came up during Punjab Dialogue", the party said in a statement. AAP also said that employment, menace of drug-abuse, deteriorated standard of education and lack in women safety have also emerged as key issues concerning youth in Punjab. "There are several cases registered against the youth, which is one of the key issues that came up during Punjab Dialogue. AAP also promises setting up of a Commission to review such cases and fix responsibility of erring police officials if we are voted in power," AAP leader Ashish Khetan said. AAP today began its "Bolda Punjab - Punjab Dialogue" campaign to finalize its poll manifesto. Pakistan: Islamabad: Pakistani opposition parties have discussed various probe options as also stepped up pressure as the Panama Papers` issue continues to haunt Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his family. The opposition leader in the national assembly Khursheed Shah, called on Jamaat-e-Islami chief Sirajul Haq and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf`s Shah Mehmood Qureshi on Friday to discuss several options to investigate the scandal involving the offshore accounts of Sharif family and other Pakistanis, Dawn online reported. Sirajul Haq suggested that while Pakistani government was writing a letter to the supreme court chief justice to set up an inquiry commission, opposition parties should send a similar request to the chief justice of Pakistan (CJP) urging him not to turn down the government`s request. The CJP should be requested not only to probe the scandal, but also help bring back the looted money from abroad and announce exemplary punishment for those who committed the offence. The Pakistani People`s Party on Friday rejected Sharif`s proposed mechanism for the investigation into the scandal. According to the party, the speech by Sharif while addressing the nation, further strengthened the arguments of his opponents instead of clearing his family`s position. "There was no clear line in the speech. I am sorry to say but the speech fell short," said Senator Saeed Ghani. He said Sharif`s speech had made matters more confusing and raised more doubts about his family. "It is the time to address the Panama Papers revelations, not to go for counter allegations." A few hours after the prime minister`s address to the nation in which Sharif said he would resign if proven guilty by the Panama Papers probe, Muttahida Qaumi Movement member of national assembly Farooq Sattar said the first mistake made by Sharif was to address the nation without any consultations. Qureshi said the party had no issues if the investigations were conducted in a transparent manner. "After today`s development and success in the assembly, I would advise the opposition to come to the same table to constitute unanimous terms of reference," he said. Leader of the opposition in the assembly Syed Khursheed Shah said he would apologise to Sharif if the allegations made against him regarding the Panama leaks proved to be false. "We don`t have any personal enmity with the prime minister. We want to improve the system," said Shah on Friday evening. "Writing a letter to the CJP is not the solution. Only an international forensic audit can settle this issue." PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari retweeted old footage of Sharif asking former prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani to resign and said: "PM is yet 2 (to) present himself b4 (before) parliament & explain himself. He should follow his own advise & resign #panamapapers." PM Sharif`s daughter, Maryam Nawaz Sharif, took to social media to show how proud she was of her father and tweeted: "Good to see a confident, resolute & daring Prime Minister taking liars & conspirators head on. Well Done Mr. Prime Minister, well done!" She also tweeted: "No person guilty of wrongdoing could`ve taken such a courageous decision. Shows his faith in Allah & righteousness of cause. Am proud of my PM." When PPP leader contacted Qureshi, the PTI leader said his party would take a decision after going through contents of the proposed letter. In a move to put more pressure on the government not to back out of its promised probe, the opposition leader in the Punjab Assembly Mian Mahmoodur Rashid, visited Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid e Azam Group leader Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi. Both the leaders demanded that instead of repeatedly addressing the nation, Sharif should resign before setting up the proposed commission. Dehradun: Uttrakhand Assembly Speaker Govind Singh Kunjwal on Saturday sought for dismissal of a plea of nine Congress MLAs in High Court against their disqualification from the Assembly saying they violated the law against defection and deserved to be punished for it. Appearing for Speaker Govind Singh Kunjwal, counsel Kapil Sibal said the question to be put to the nine dissident MLAs is "how they went to BJP" and whether "they (nine) have violated the 10th schedule of the Constitution". "If they have violated the 10th schedule, how can they seek stay of disqualification," the senior counsel asked. "How can they seek stay of disqualification when according to the division bench (of Uttarakhand High Court) they have committed the Constitutional sin of defection?" he said. "When they joined the BJP and signed the memorandum (for division of votes), they knew it was unethical and unconstitutional," Sibal argued before Justice UC Dhyani the Speaker's case during hearing on the petition filed by the nine MLAs against their disqualification. He contended that by joining the BJP, the nine MLAs have "voluntarily given up their party membership" as they voted against the party's policy (on the Appropriation Bill) and also voted for the fall of the government. Sibal sought the dismissal their plea on the ground that they stated "falsehoods" before the court by contending that they were not given the documents relied upon by the Speaker. The dismissal was also pleaded on the grounds that the petitioners did not disclose crucial material, which was in their possession, before the court and that they "jumped the hierarchy of courts". He said that on these three grounds the High Court need not entertain the petitions filed under Article 226 challenging their disqualification. "On these three grounds the petitions should be dismissed at the threshold without going into the merits," he said adding that the "political motivation" of the nine for moving the high court was to get a stay on disqualification "so that they can vote on floor test of March 28". The development comes hours after Congress leaders today gave notices to discuss the matter in Rajya Sabha suspending the question hour and adoption of a resolution condemning the imposition of President's Rule here. The notices was given by Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad and Deputy Leader of Congress in the House, Anand Sharma, seeking to corner the NDA government on the issue accusing it of "destabilising" a democratically-elected government in Uttarakhand. Ever since the dismissal of the Rawat government and clamping of central rule, Congress has mounted an offensive against the Narendra Modi dispensation. The party had started 'Loktantra Bachao, Uttarakhand Bachao' (Save Democracy, Save Uttarakhand) campaign to mobilise public support against the Centre. The Supreme Court yesterday stayed till April 27 the judgement of the state High Court quashing imposition of President's rule, giving a new turn to the continuing political drama in the state by restoring central rule there. Congress is trying to project the imposition of President's Rule in Uttarakhand and earlier in another party- ruled state of Arunachal Pradesh as an "attack" on the federal structure and is hopeful that a large number of Opposition parties will back it in cornering the government on the issue. (With Agency inputs) Kolkata: Over 670 companies of central forces will be deployed in the fourth phase of the West Bengal assembly polls on April 25, Election Commission officials said on Saturday. A total of 672 companies of central forces and 23,000 state police personnel will be deployed, in addition to other measures, to ensure free and fair polls. "In Howrah police commissionerate area, 75 companies of central forces and 3,000 state police personnel will be deployed. In Howrah rural area, 152 companies of central forces plus 5,000 state police personnel will be stationed," an official said. In Howrah district, two police observers will be present. In North 24 Parganas, as many as 257 companies of central forces and 8,000 state police will man the area. In Barrackpore, 137 companies of central forces and 5,000 state police personnel will be deployed. Bidhannagar will have 51 companies of central forces and 2,000 state police personnel. In North 24 Parganas, three police observers have been deployed. Quito: A total of 113 people have been rescued alive since a 7.8-magnitude earthquake hit Ecuador on April 16, the Ministry of Communication announced on Friday. However, the death toll now stands at 587, with over 8,430 people injured and 153 still missing, according to latest statistics. Furthermore, 25,376 people remain in shelters after six days, while over 1,000 rescuers continue to look for survivors, despite dwindling hope of finding any. International aid has continued to arrive, especially to the western province of Manabi, which was closest to the epicenter, while basic services were being restored. On April 20, President Rafael Correa hailed the achievements of national and international rescuers as they continued to save lives. "There has been great success, a large number of rescues have happened, and every effort was worthwhile," said the head of state on Wednesday. The Ministry of Communications also stated that drinking water had been restored in the province of Esmeraldas and was 62 percent back in Manabi. Furthermore, it announced that the electrical grid was not functioning normally across the country and that hydroelectric plants had not been affected. In the cities of Manta and Portoviejo, both in Manabi, electrical service is now functioning at 82 and 90 percent, respectively. Finally, in all of Manabi, cellphone service stands at 74.2 percent, according to the ministry on Friday. United Nations: President Dilma Rousseff voiced confidence Friday that Brazil`s people will "be able to prevent any setbacks" to democracy as she battles a bid to impeach her. "Brazil is a great country endowed with a society that was able to overcome authoritarianism in the past," Rousseff said at the United Nations during a ceremony for the signing of the Paris climate deal. "Ours is a hard-working people. We have great esteem for freedom. I have no doubt that our people will be able to prevent any setbacks," she said. Rousseff is fighting for her political survival at home following allegations that she used illegal accounting maneuvers to mask budget deficits during the 2014 election year. The leader has denied the charges and spoke of a "grave, serious moment" in Brazil at the end of her remarks devoted mostly to climate change. The president thanked "all the leaders who have expressed their solidarity to me." After leaving the UN, Rousseff raised the tone when speaking with Brazilian media, repeating her claim of a "coup" attempt against her, and calling for regional bodies Mercosur and UNASUR to oversee the process. "I am a victim of a totally unfounded process," she said. "You cannot cover the sun with a finger." While in New York, Rousseff left Vice President Michel Temer in charge even though she has accused him of conspiring to oust her. The Brazilian Senate is due to vote on opening a trial next month, a move that would force Rousseff to step aside for 180 days and put Temer back in the executive office. After that, a two-thirds majority vote would be enough to oust her permanently, leaving Temer to serve out her term, which ends in late 2018. Washington: A 36-year-old Guatemalan woman has been sentenced to three years in prison by a US court for smuggling undocumented migrants from India into America. Rosa Astrid Umanzor-Lopez, who was extradited to the US from Guatemala, pleaded guilty in a federal court in Houston to one count each of conspiracy to smuggle undocumented migrants into the US for profit and human smuggling in the Southern District of Texas, the Department of Justice said yesterday. She is expected to face deportation following her release from prison. During the hearing, Umanzor-Lopez said that between January 2011 and her arrest in Guatemala on February 4, 2014, she and other conspirators recruited individuals in India who were willing to pay large sums of money to be smuggled into the US. For their smuggling operations, Umanzor-Lopez and her co- conspirators used a network of facilitators to transport groups of undocumented migrants from India through South America and Central America and then into the US by air travel, automobiles, water craft and foot, she said. Umanzor-Lopez also said that many of these smuggling events involved illegal entry into the US via the US-Mexico border near McAllen and Laredo, Texas. Three other members of the conspiracy have also been sentenced while a fourth one was at large. Dhaka Division: In yet another brutal attack on professors in Bangladesh, Islamic State militants claimed responsibility of killing a university professor here on Saturday, US-based SITE Intelligence Group said. According to police, Professor Rezaul Karim Siddique, 58, was hacked from behind with machetes as he walked to the bus station from his home in the country`s northwestern city of Rajshahi, where he taught English at the city`s public university. The attackers on a motorcycle used sharp weapons and fled the scene immediately. The assault bore the hallmarks of previous killings by Islamist militants of secular and atheist activists, the cops added. "His neck was hacked at least three times and was 70-80 percent slit. By examining the nature of the attack, we suspect that it was carried out by extremist groups," Rajshahi Metropolitan Police commissioner Mohammad Shamsuddin had said, as per AFP. Nahidul Islam, a deputy commissioner of police, had earlier informed that Siddique was involved in cultural programmes, including music, and set up a music school at Bagmara, a former bastion of an outlawed Islamist group, Jamayetul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB). "The attack is similar to the ones carried out on (atheist) bloggers in the recent past," Islam had said, adding nobody had been arrested yet. Homegrown Islamist militants have been blamed for a number of murders of secular bloggers and online activists since 2013, the most recent being in the capital Dhaka early this month. Police further said that in each of the attacks unidentified assailants hacked the victim to death with machetes or cleavers. Eight members of banned Islamist group Ansarullah Bangla Team, including a top cleric who is said to have founded the group, were convicted late last year for the murder of atheist blogger Ahmed Rajib Haider in February 2013. Sakhawat Hossain, a fellow English professor from the university and a friend, had said the slain teacher played the tanpura, a musical instrument popular in South Asia, and wrote poems and short stories. "He used to lead a cultural group called Komol Gandhar and edit a bi-annual literary magazine with the same name. But he never wrote or spoke against religion in public," Hossain had said. Meanwhile, hundreds of students of Rajshahi University staged impromptu protests, marching on the campus in batches and shouting slogans, demanding the arrest of the killers. Police said Siddique was the fourth professor from Rajshahi University to have been murdered. In February, a court handed down life sentences to two Islamist militants for the murder of another professor, Mohammad Yunus. The recent killings have sparked outrage at home and abroad, with international rights groups demanding that the secular government protect freedom of speech in the Muslim-majority country. Champa Patel, Amnesty International`s South Asia director, condemned the latest killing as "inexcusable", saying it was part of a "gruesome pattern". Ansar al-Islam, a Bangladesh branch of al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent, this month claimed responsibility for the murder of 26-year-old Nazimuddin Samad, a law student who was killed on the streets of Dhaka, according to US monitoring group SITE. Police, however, blamed the Ansarullah for the murder. Bangladesh authorities have consistently denied that international Islamist networks such as al Qaeda or the Islamic State group, which recently claimed responsibility for the murders of minorities and foreigners, are active in the country. A long-running political crisis in the majority Sunni Muslim but officially secular country has radicalised opponents of the government and analysts say Islamist extremists pose a growing danger. (With AFP inputs) Tokyo: Japan`s justice minister visited a Tokyo war shrine Saturday morning to become the second member of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe`s Cabinet attending its latest ritual, which has already angered China and South Korea. The Yasukuni Shrine honours millions of Japanese dead, including several senior military and political figures convicted of war crimes after World War II. "I paid respect in order to express my gratitude to the souls of those who fought for the nation and sacrificed their lives," Mitsuhide Iwaki told reporters. His visit came a day after dozens of lawmakers, including Internal Affairs Minister Sanae Takaichi, made their pilgrimage to the leafy central Tokyo shrine for a spring festival. Their visits immediately drew angry reactions from China and South Korea, which see it as a symbol of Tokyo`s militaristic past. South Korea`s foreign ministry spokesman Cho June-Hyuck said in a statement that the shrine "beautifies the colonial past and war of aggression, and enshrines war criminals". But Abe and other nationalists say the shrine is merely a place to remember fallen soldiers and compare it to burial grounds such as Arlington National Cemetery in the United States. Abe went in December 2013 to mark his first year in power, a visit that sparked fury in Beijing and Seoul and earned him a diplomatic rebuke from the United States, which said it was "disappointed" by the action. He made a ritual offering to the shrine earlier this week but refrained from going and reactions by China and South Korea to Yasukuni visits, while remaining critical, have become less intense as Japan has taken steps over the past 18 months to improve relations with both countries and Abe has held summit meetings with their leaders. London: Sicily's notorious criminal syndicate Cosa Nostra has reportedly declared war on refugees as the mayor of the Italian city claims that the Sicilian capital feels more like Istanbul or Beirut than Europe. The development comes as a thousand of new arrivals pour on to the island every week, MailOnline reported. According to Mail, Cosa Nostra is desperate to maintain supremacy after the African crime gangs, which arrived with the migrants, are engaged in a deadly turf war. The situation has turned tense after a Gambian man was shot dead by an assassin in broad daylight sparking fears of a wider bloodbath. Palermo is no longer an Italian town. It is no longer European. You can walk in the city and feel like youre in Istanbul or Beirut, Mayor Leoluca Orlando told MailOnline. The Mail said that immigration to Italy soared by 90 percent in the first three months of the year. There is a widespread concern that the number of new migrants exceeds the countrys capacity to cope. In the past, when the Mafia was more powerful, it prevented any immigrants from entering the city. Until I was 30 years old, I never saw an African or Asian in Palermo, the Mail quoted Palermo mayor Leoluca Orlando as saying. The Mafia has not understood that the city has changed. We are now a city of immigrants, and the Mafia bosses no longer sit in the mayors chair, he added. Gaziantep: Turkey`s Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu pressured German Chancellor Angela Merkel and top EU officials on Saturday to deliver on a promise of visa-free travel for Turkish citizens key to the success of a migrant deal. "The issue of the visa waiver is vital for Turkey," he said at a joint news conference with Merkel, European Council head Donald Tusk and European Commission Vice President Frans Timmermans. Merkel is on a high-stakes visit to Turkey aimed at boosting a six-billion-euro ($6.7 billion) deal plagued by moral and legal concerns to return migrants arriving on Greek shores to Turkey. Ties between Germany and Turkey are strained following President Recep Tayyip Erdogan`s warning that the deal would fall through if the EU did not keep up its end of the bargain by allowing visa-free travel for Turkish citizens. The bloc promised to present a visa recommendation on May 4 if Ankara complies with its side of the accord, but there has been growing unease in Europe over fears that security concerns are being fudged to fast-track Turkey`s application. At the same time, Tusk heaped high praise on Turkey for its reception of Syrian refugees, saying the country served as "the best example" in the world on caring for those fleeing war. "Today Turkey is the best example for the whole world (on) how we should treat refugees," he said at a press conference. "This is not only a political and formal assessment... this is also my very private and personal feeling," he said. Hinkley Point, which EDF is to build in partnership with China General Nuclear Power Corporation (CGN), will be Britain's first nuclear power plant in decades France said late Friday it would lead a four-billion-euro capital increase for power company EDF, months after agreeing a similar cash injection for the other pillar of its nuclear industry, Areva. EDF, which is 85 percent owned by the French state, also pledged to cut millions more in costs and sell off assets in a bid to reduce its huge pile of debt. The electricity giant has been hit by weak European electricity prices and hefty investments, notably its plans to help build Britain's controversial Hinkley Point nuclear plant at a projected cost of 18 billion (23 billion euros, $26 billion). On Friday, the company again postponed its final decision on whether to continue with the project, in which the China General Nuclear Power Corporation is also a partner. Chairman and CEO Jean-Bernard Levy told the board he would first consult with EDF's works council, as demanded by trade unions who have questioned the project's feasibility. A source close to the group told AFP the decision, which had been expected by early May, would now take "several weeks". Union sources said it could take "two to three months". "EDF is a group that is already in debt -- increasingly in debt -- and it is vital that we bring this debt under control," Levy said in an interview with the Figaro newspaper. After hours of talks, the board gave the green light to raising four billion euros ($4.5 billion) of capital through a "market operation" to be carried out by the beginning of next year. Paris will inject three billion euros, though where it will get the cash is unclear, following a similar capital increase for Areva in January backed by the French state. In exchange, EDF will redouble its debt-cutting efforts, targeting cost reductions of at least a billion euros in 2019 compared to 2015 -- well above original plans for 700 million euros of savings over three years. The group also plans to raise 10 billion euros from selling off gas, coal and oil interests. Story continues The measures are designed to help EDF better plan for the future, including paying for the maintenance of 58 French reactors and its takeover of the reactor arm of struggling nuclear giant Areva. Unions, financial markets and even EDF's former finance chief -- who resigned in March -- have for months cast doubts on the company's ability to handle all its investments, particularly Hinkley Point. France's Economy Minister Emmanuel Macron repeated his government's commitment Sunday to EDF's plans to build the plant in southwest England. But questions have been raised both about its financial viability and use of largely untested technology. John Sauven, director of Greenpeace UK, said the latest delay to EDF's investment decision "may now be the sign that the entire project is coming to a grinding halt" and showed the British government "urgently needs to back renewable energy as a more reliable alternative." Even if EDF could agree on the financing of the project, the European Commission could scupper it on the grounds that it was being built with "illegal state aid," Sauven added. Japanese automaker Mitsubishi on April 20 admitted it manipulated pollution data in more than 600,000 vehicles Japanese automaker Mitsubishi Motors plans to compensate customers in a bid to limit the fallout from a fuel-efficiency cheating scandal, the Nikkei reported on Saturday. Authorities raided the company's office on Thursday after the company admitted it had falsified efficiency data for hundreds of thousands of vehicles. Mitsubishi Motors shares plunged more than 40 percent in the three days after the news emerged, their worst hat-trick of losses since the company listed in 1988. The scandal has raised questions about the Japanese carmaker's future, after German giant Volkswagen posted its first loss in 20 years in 2015 because of the fallout from its own huge emissions-rigging scandal. Mitsubishi Motors plans to offer to cover the extra fuel costs incurred by vehicle owners because their engines were less efficient than advertised, the Nikkei reported. The move aims to "appease angry customers' nonstop inquiries" and prevent an "exodus" of buyers, the Japanese business daily said, without giving its sources. Mitsubishi Motors has said it will halt production of more than 600,000 affected vehicle models -- mini-cars sold in Japan, including some made for rival Nissan. But that has not been enough to save off criticism of the company, which was brought to the brink of bankruptcy in 2004 over revelations it covered up defects in its vehicles. "I can't help but have doubt about the company's basic attitude towards compliance," Japan's transport minister Keiichi Ishii told reporters Friday. "This is extremely regrettable." Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron (R) and US President Barack Obama (L) during a press conference in London on April, 22, 2016 Barack Obama warned Britain on Friday against leaving the European Union, undercutting a key argument of eurosceptics by saying London would be "at the back of the queue" for a post-Brexit trade deal. The US president's comments on Britain's June 23 EU membership referendum at a press conference with UK Prime Minister David Cameron drew a furious reaction from those campaigning to leave the 28-country bloc. Standing alongside Cameron at the Foreign Office in London, Obama said Britain was "at its best when it is helping to lead a strong Europe". The US president, whose term ends next January, made an unusually detailed and heartfelt intervention in the politics of another country and repeatedly spoke of the "special relationship" between Britain and the United States. But his most significant remarks came on trade, reflecting growing concern in Washington at the prospect of Britain leaving the EU. Asked what would happen if Britain did vote to quit, Obama said that while "maybe at some point" it could seal a trade deal with the United States, "it's not going to happen any time soon". "The UK's going to be at the back of the queue," Obama added. - Blast from Brexit camp - Anti-EU campaigners like London Mayor Boris Johnson have made the claim that Britain could sign free trade deals with global allies a key plank of their argument. Nigel Farage, leader of the eurosceptic UK Independence Party, dismissed the president's comments. "President Obama won't be in office by the time we're out of the EU post-referendum," he wrote on Twitter. "Trade deal of course in both countries' interests." For his part, Cameron restated his case for Britain remaining in the EU, a close fight which will define his political legacy. "Now I think is a time to stay true to our values and stick together with our friends and allies," he said. Obama's comments fuelled a controversy ignited earlier Friday by an article he wrote in The Daily Telegraph newspaper at the start of his four-day visit. Story continues The president argued that Britain's place in the EU magnified its global influence. "The outcome of your decision is a matter of deep interest to the United States," he wrote. Johnson, the leading face of the eurosceptic campaign, said it was "downright hypocritical" of Obama to intervene as the United States would not accept the same limits on its own sovereignty as EU members do. "For the United States to tell us in the UK that we must surrender control of so much of our democracy is a breathtaking example of the principle of do as I say, not as I do," Johnson wrote in The Sun tabloid. - Prince George in pyjamas - Ahead of the press conference, Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama had lunch at Windsor Castle with Queen Elizabeth II, who turned 90 on Thursday, and her husband Prince Philip. They later had dinner with the monarch's grandson Prince William, his wife Kate and brother Prince Harry. William and Kate's two-year-old son Prince George, third in line to the throne, stayed up past his bedtime to meet the Obamas. George, who was dressed for bed in his pyjamas and a white dressing gown, played on a rocking horse they gave him when he was born. Richard Whitman, professor of politics and international relations at the University of Kent, said Obama was "making a very strong appeal from the heart" in his remarks on Brexit. "It will be difficult to say from the polls whether his intervention made a significant difference but I think that it creates a narrative which appears to be favouring the 'Remain' campaign," he said. A Sky News television survey found 57 percent said Obama's intervention would make "no difference" to their vote. While experts warn many people have not yet decided how to vote, the "Remain" camp currently has 54 percent support compared to 46 percent for "Leave", according to an average of the last six opinion polls calculated by the What UK Thinks project. Uganda first discovered large quantities of crude oil on the shores of Lake Albert in 2006 Landlocked Uganda on Saturday announced plans to export its future crude oil production via a new pipeline to be built to a Tanzanian port rather than via Kenya. "We have agreed that the oil pipeline route be developed from Uganda in Hoima to the Tanzanian port of Tanga," Uganda foreign affairs minister Sam Kutesa told AFP. There was no immediate indication of the value of Saturday's deal. However, Kutesa told AFP cost was a factor. "We considered Tanga oil pipeline route based on a number of aspects -- among them it is the least cost," the Ugandan minister said as Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, Kenyan counterpart Uhuru Kenyatta and Rwanda's Paul Kagame held a regional mini-summit outside Kampala. The first large discoveries of oil in Uganda date back to 2006 on the shores of Lake Albert. Reserves in the area are conservatively estimated at some 1.7 billion barrels. But informed sources say production will not come on stream before 2025. Three oil companies -- Total of France, Chinese giant CNOOC and Anglo-Irish firm Tullow -- each won a one-third rights share in 2009, but the issue immediately arose of how to export the crude from a country with no coastline. After years of talks discussing the relative merits of different routes out to the Indian Ocean, Uganda has chosen to run a 1,400-kilometre (800-mile) pipeline through Tanzania to the south of Lake Victoria through to the port of Tanga near the Kenyan border. According to a Ugandan experts' report dated April 11 and obtained by AFP, the Tanzanian project won the argument because the "Tanga port in Tanzania is fully operational while Lamu port in Kenya is still to be built". - Shebab security fears - The experts also highlighted the fact that the port at Tanga is protected from winds by several offshore islands, which is not the case for Lamu, raising fears of navigational hazards for oil tankers near the future Kenyan port. Kenya, where Tullow also found oil close to Lake Turkana in 2012, had proposed a pipeline from Uganda through impoverished northern Kenya to Lamu as part of an ambitious national development programme dubbed Vision 2030. Story continues Estimates of the cost of the Lamu corridor transport and infrastructure project, known as LAPSSET, are around $20 billion (18 billion euros), incorporating new roads, railway lines, airports, cities and pipelines from oil fields in Uganda and South Sudan connected to a new Lamu refinery and port. But the oil companies involved in Uganda preferred an alternative southern route through Kenya terminating at the existing major port of Mombasa. Although cheaper at some $4.3 billion, Nairobi was concerned it would not deliver regional development in the neglected north. There were also concerns for Uganda that parts of the Kenyan northern route would run near areas close to Somalia that might expose the pipeline to attacks by Al Qaeda-aligned Shebab militants. The deadlock between the two sparked the emergence of the Tanzanian option, throwing development of the Lamu project into question. Nairobi indicated Saturday it would continue with LAPSSET and build a pipeline for its own crude. None of the countries in the region, however, are likely to emerge as a major oil player compared with Africa's top producer Nigeria, whose daily production of some 2.4 million barrels a day gives it a global rank of 13th. Perfection. If you cant go more than a few hours without an artisanal pour-over coffee, a Pabst Blue Ribbon in a mason jar, or blogging about why your music tastes are more refined than your friends, then theres a new travel app thats perfect for you. But you probably havent heard of it. Where Is Williamsburg?, a crowdsourced location app launched earlier this month, plots whats considered the WilliamsburgNew York Citys original hipster Meccaof just about every major city around the world. The basis of the app came from a 2014 Gawker article mapping where the hippest neighborhoods in the US were, according to Springwise. Now, users can open the app and see the hipster hangout in their city, or move around a map to see where to go when they visit other cities. If they dont agree, they can select where they believe to be the most hip area of town. Not Williamsburg. (Where is Williamsburg?/Screenshot) The app also has helpful activity searches built in that use Foursquare location data so that the globetrotting hipster never feels they are without their creature comforts: Clicking on the beer can icon at the bottom will provide you with a list of every bar that serves PBR; clicking on the knife and fork will show you a list of brunch spots; the coffee cup is a list of places that serve pour-over coffee, and the jeans icon will show you where all the closest American Apparel outlets are located. Other than perhaps a place to get spare parts for your fixed-gear bike, or somewhere that sells beard oil, the app has pretty much everything youd ever need. We live in Murray Hill butttttt we're moving to Williamsburg! @broadcity capturing the wretchedness of bro-y NYC transplants #BroadCity Nicholas Faggella (@NickyStruts) February 26, 2015 But trends are fleeting, and it seems that even Williamsburg isnt immune to becoming uncool. In the app, if you search in New York City for its Williamsburg, you actually get Bushwick, a different neighborhood in Brooklyn thats not quite as developed as Williamsburg, but perhaps even more jam-packed with artist residences, craft beer bars, and flea markets. Story continues Miles away from Shoreditch. (Where is Williamsburg?/Screenshot) As for outside of the US, spot checks suggest that many of the worlds cities have their hipster neighborhoods correctly identifiedsuch as Kreuzberg in Berlin, or Vesterbro in Copenhagenbut be sure to double-check before heading on vacation. For example, in London, the app says that Shoreditch is the Williamsburg of the city (which is certainly true), but it marks as far further east in West Ham: Anybody looking for pour-over coffee or early-pressing vinyl out there is likely to get knifed. Who said startups arent building anything useful anymore? Image by Nan Palmero on Flickr, licensed under CC-BY-2.0. Sign up for the Quartz Daily Brief, our free daily newsletter with the worlds most important and interesting news. More stories from Quartz: TORONTO (Reuters) - Three people detained on Thursday at the U.S.-Canadian border over an inert grenade have been denied entry into Canada and have gone back to the United States, authorities said on Friday. Canadian authorities briefly shut down the border crossing over the incident on Thursday at the Abbotsford, British Columbia-Sumas, Washington border, some 78 kms (48 miles) southeast of Vancouver. The Canada Border Services Agency said in a statement the three people, who were trying to get to Alaska, were released without charges on Thursday. Spokeswoman Kathy Liu said the incident was not related to terrorism, though she declined to provide further details, citing privacy concerns. (Reporting by Ethan Lou in Toronto; Editing by David Gregorio) By Nia Williams CALGARY, Alberta (Reuters) - TransCanada Corp agreed to submit to a Quebec environmental review of its Energy East pipeline on Friday, avoiding a potential legal battle with the province by putting the controversial project through an extra round of scrutiny. The resolution removes a potential hurdle but also introduces another approval process for the nearly 2,860-mile (4,600 km) cross-Canadian pipeline, which will carry 1.1 million barrels per day of crude from Alberta's oil sands to the country's Atlantic coast. TransCanada is pushing to build Energy East after U.S. President Barack Obama last year blocked the cross-border Keystone XL crude pipeline. His decision was a victory for environmentalists and a blow to TransCanada after a seven-year battle for approval. In a statement, Quebec Environment Minister David Heurtel said TransCanada had filed a project notice agreeing to an environmental impact study, prompting the province to suspend its efforts to get a permanent injunction against the company. Quebec will completely withdraw its injunction application once the study is approved, the minister said. TransCanada spokesman Tim Duboyce said the company had initially been "quite perplexed" by Quebec's request in early March to submit to provincial environmental law because Energy East is subject to federal regulations. "We will provide the environmental impact assessment in the form they are looking for in addition to a comprehensive one that has already been filed with the federal regulator the National Energy Board," Duboyce said. Quebec filed a motion seeking an injunction against the pipeline in early March to ensure the project complied with provincial environmental law, saying it acted after TransCanada ignored two letters in 2014 requesting an evaluation. Greenpeace campaigner Keith Stewart said the pipeline would now undergo a much more detailed review process. "The odds of this getting built just went down a couple of notches and the scrutiny that it's going to be subject to went up several notches," Stewart said. However, FirstEnergy Capital analyst Martin King said because Energy East is an inter-provincial pipeline only the NEB can approve or reject it, meaning Quebec should not be able block the project on environmental grounds. "It's basically a trade-off, they (TransCanada) are saying 'Drop the injunction and we will allow the environmental assessment to go ahead, even though it's not legally required'," King said. (Additonal reporting by David Ljunggren in Ottawa and Allison Lampert in Montreal; Editing by Bernard Orr and Tom Brown) By Emily Flitter and Luciana Lopez NEW YORK (Reuters) - Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton scored sweeping victories in nominating contests in their home state of New York, and immediately cited those wins to argue that they are all but unstoppable as their respective parties presidential nominees. Trumps crushing defeat of Ted Cruz in Tuesdays primary election tilted the energy in the Republican race back to the front-runner, just as Republican National Committee members begin meeting in Florida on Wednesday to discuss their July convention, where the nominee will be chosen. For the Democratic favorite, Clintons more narrow victory over Bernie Sanders snapped a string of victories by the 74-year-old democratic socialist and gave her a much-needed lift with more tough fights ahead. The eventual victors of the Democratic and the Republican nominating campaigns will face each other in Novembers general election. Trumps win, celebrated to the tune of Frank Sinatras New York, New York at Trump Tower in Manhattan, marked a rebound from his Wisconsin defeat two weeks ago. It set him up for another big night on April 26, when Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Delaware, and Maryland will hold primaries. With a campaign staff reboot and a more focused performance, Trump has sought to improve in recent weeks as a candidate. The tone of his victory speech was in keeping with a more measured style the often-brash billionaire has adopted. We dont have much of a race anymore based on what Im seeing on television, Trump said as television networks projected a large margin of victory for him. Senator Cruz is just about mathematically eliminated. Trump, 69, predicted some amazing weeks ahead for his campaign. Still, he has a long way to go to seal the nomination and begin trying to heal the wounds in his bitterly divided party. Some fence-mending may happen when he sends campaign advisers to the RNC meeting starting in Hollywood, Florida, on Wednesday. Story continues Trumps haul of most of New Yorks 95 delegates moved him closer to the 1,237 needed to win the nomination outright. Anything short of that will lead to a contested convention when Republicans hold their national conclave July 18-21 in Cleveland. Theres only two issues left for Republicans: Will Trump get 50 percent of the delegates prior to Cleveland, and if not, how close will he be? New York gives him a nice boost, but it will take weeks before we know the answer, said Ari Fleischer, who was White House press secretary under President George W. Bush. Cruz, a 45-year-old U.S. senator from Texas, came in third in New York and gave his primary night speech in Philadelphia, where he was already focused on running in Pennsylvania. He called on Republicans to unite around his candidacy. Ohio Governor John Kasich, 63, a long-shot candidate, is seeking to use his second-place showing in New York as proof he is emerging as Trumps central challenger in the states that come up next on the calendar. NO KNOCKOUT PUNCH FOR CLINTON Clinton, a former U.S. senator from New York, former secretary of state and former first lady, got nowhere near the knockout punch she needed to finally put Sanders away. But the broad smile on her face as she gave her victory speech spoke volumes about how important New York was to her bid to become the first female U.S. president. Today you proved once again theres no place like home, Clinton said. This one was personal. The race for the Democratic nomination, she said, is now in the home stretch, and victory is in sight. Clinton, 68, was to campaign in Philadelphia on Wednesday. Sanders flew home to Vermont to take a day off the campaign trail. Clintons win made it nearly impossible for Sanders to overtake her commanding lead in delegates needed to win the nomination. Dilawar Syed, a tech entrepreneur who is also the co-founder and vice chairman of the AAPI Victory Fund, a Super PAC focused on mobilizing Asian-American voters, said it looked like Clinton has the nomination. Clearly Senator Sanders has a lot of supporters and enthusiasm there. He also has raised a lot of good resources, Syed said. "I think the primary will go on for some time. But just looking at the numbers, we know where this is going. Sanders campaign vowed to fight on until the Democrats nominating convention in Philadelphia July 25-28. Look, were going to go to the convention, Sanders campaign manager Jeff Weaver told MSNBC. He said it was extremely unlikely that either candidate would have the delegates needed to win the nomination outright. Democratic strategist Jim Manley said Clinton has a delicate balancing act in trying to draw in Sanders supporters while pivoting to a general election matchup against the Republican nominee. She runs a risk. If she goes too far to the left (to draw in Sanders supporters), shes going to upset independents and others that shes going to need in the general, Manley said. Nationally, the race for the nominations has tightened recently for both parties, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released Tuesday. Clinton and Sanders are tied among Democrats, with each drawing about 47 percent support in the national poll. At the beginning of the year, Clinton led Sanders by nearly a 2-to-1 margin; Sanders has closed that gap over the past few months. Among Republicans, Trump leads with 44 percent support, compared with 33 percent for Cruz and 16 percent for Kasich. The April 15-19 poll surveyed 719 Democrats and 593 Republicans. It has a credibility interval of 4.7 percentage points. (Additional reporting by Alana Wise and Megan Casella in Washington, Jonathan Allen in New York and Emily Stephenson in Philadelphia; Writing by Steve Holland; Editing by Jonathan Oatis) BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian warplanes bombed the rebel-held town of Douma near Damascus and parts of Aleppo in the north on Saturday, killing 23 people, with the death toll likely to rise, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. Mediators have struggled to get combatants in Syria's five-year-old war to honour a Feb. 27 cessation of hostilities deal to enable peace talks in Geneva to proceed. Each side accuses the other of violating the truce. Fighting has escalated around Aleppo, Idlib, Latakia, Damascus and other areas over the past week and the main opposition group walked out of Geneva peace talks this week in protest at government attacks. The Geneva talks aim to end a war that has killed more than 250,000 people, created the world's worst refugee crisis, allowed for the rise of the Islamic State group and drawn in regional and major powers. Russia's intervention in the conflict beginning late last year has swayed the war in President Bashar al-Assad's favour. The Britain-based Observatory, which monitors the Syrian war through a network of contacts, said the death toll in Douma, northeast of the capital, was expected to rise from 13 because more than 22 others were injured, some critically. In a government-controlled camp near Douma, shelling killed a woman and child, and injured others, the Observatory said. There was also fighting near Bala in the southeast of Damascus between rebel groups and government forces with deaths occurring on both sides. In Aleppo, at least ten people were killed, including a child, by bombs dropped from planes in an insurgent-controlled eastern neighbourhood of what was Syria's commercial hub before the civil war began in 2011. This is the second day of heavy bombardment on Aleppo. Nineteen people were killed on Friday in similar air attacks. In a government-held area of northwest Aleppo, Syrian state television said six people were injured in rebel shelling. On Friday a Syrian warplane crashed southeast of Damascus. The Syrian military said it crashed because of a technical fault, but Islamic State said it shot the plane down and had taken its pilot captive. In a statement on Saturday the hardline militant group said this was the third Syrian warplane it had shot down in two weeks, in addition to a Russian drone. On Friday, the U.N. special envoy for Syria vowed to take the talks into next week despite the opposition suspending their involvement. (Reporting by Lisa Barrington; Editing by Clelia Oziel) N'DJAMENA (Reuters) - Chad's incumbent president, Idriss Deby, an important ally of the West in the fight against Islamist militants, won a fifth term in office in a lopsided first-round victory, the Central African country's elections commission announced on Thursday. Deby, 63, who argued during the campaign that only his government was capable of ensuring security amid a rising wave of extremist violence, took 61.56 percent of the vote in the April 10 poll, easily avoiding a second-round runoff. Opposition leader Saleh Kebzabo finished a distant second with 12.80 percent of the vote, followed by Laokein Kourayo Mbaiherem with 10.60 percent, according to the commission, which put turnout at 76.11 percent. "We are happy to have been able to meet the challenge we set for ourselves - a first-round knockout. Now we need to work implementing our program," Deby's campaign spokesman, Mahamat Hissein, said in an interview. Deby, who gained power in 1990 at the head of an armed rebellion, abolished restrictions in 2004 on how many times the president can run for office. But he has pledged to reintroduce term limits at a time when other African leaders have been trying to amend their constitutions in order to extend their rule, leading to violence in Burundi, Burkina Faso and Congo Republic. Chad has one of the most capable armies in the region and Deby has played a key role in efforts backed by the West to combat neighboring Nigeria's Islamic State-affiliated Boko Haram fighters as well as al Qaeda militants. A former French colony, Chad also hosts the headquarters of Paris' 3,000-troop strong regional anti-militant operation, known as Barkhane. (Reporting by Madjiasra Nako; Writing by Joe Bavier; Editing by G Crosse and Peter Cooney) By Susana Vera ARGAMASILLA DE ALBA, Spain (Reuters) - When he wrote "Don Quixote", Miguel de Cervantes did not give away the name of the birthplace of the eponymous middle-aged gentleman obsessed with heroically righting the world's wrongs and bringing back lost chivalry. But many identify Argamasilla de Alba, a weather-beaten village of almost 7,000 people, as his hometown. It is found in the arid central Spanish region of La Mancha, a patchwork of buff and green fields. "The two most well-known things about La Mancha are Don Quixote and our (manchego) cheese," says Angel Gutierrez, a 55-year-old shepherd and rancher, tending to his flock of sheep not far from the quiet town. Four hundred years after Cervantes' death, references to Don Quixote, his loyal squire Sancho Panza and his beautiful lady Dulcinea abound in the surrounding villages of La Mancha from sweet treats to theater productions involving livestock. Every year, for example, Gutierrez lends his animals to a theater group to re-enact on the streets the part of the novel when Don Quixote charges at two herds of sheep after taking them for armies. The region is dotted with historic, white-washed windmills, central to the best-known episode of the book when Don Quixote fights windmills he imagines are giants. The scene gave rise to the expression 'tilting at windmills' or fighting imaginary enemies, just as 'quixotic' now means idealistic and impractical. At dusk in Campo de Criptana, the windmills do indeed seem to float like giants in the distance, as can be seen in a Reuters photo essay at http://reut.rs/23GJmIW . Other locations in La Mancha fight for the distinction as Don Quixote's birthplace, but Argamasilla de Alba showcases a rebuilt house with a cave underneath where, according to local legend, Cervantes was imprisoned. In the prologue to his masterpiece, Cervantes wrote that his work had been "engendered in a jail" and these days visitors can see Medrano's Cave and imagine Cervantes writing there. Don Quixote's great, unrequited love Dulcinea, a common farm hand he imagines as a refined and beautiful damsel, supposedly lived in the village of El Toboso, a small town surrounded by vineyards. Sister Isabel, a cloistered nun of the Order of Saint Clare, makes sweets named after Dulcinea at her convent's bakery. Sister Isabel, 39, and other nuns have been making the 'Caprichos de Dulcinea' (Dulcinea's Fancies) since 2005, the fourth centenary of the publication of the first part of "Don Quixote". They have become one of their most popular sweets. Meanwhile, gray powder lies on the ground in Montesinos's Cave near the Ruidera lagoons, where Cervantes is believed to have based the part of the book where Don Quixote falls asleep in a cave to be beset by fantastic dreams. They are the ashes of Bob, 'The English Don Quixote', who came to the region to live with his Spanish wife and started impersonating Don Quixote outside the cave and along the lagoons. After dying in a car accident in January, his family decided to scatter his ashes in the places he was so passionate about. Almost quixotic, some might say. (Writing by Sonya Dowsett and Angus Berwick Editing by Jeremy Gaunt) JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel said on Thursday that an attack on a Jerusalem bus this week that wounded 15 people was a suicide bombing, the first such attack in years. Suicide bombings on Israeli buses were a hallmark of the Palestinian revolt of 2000-2005 but have been rare since. A spate of stabbings, car-rammings and gun attacks by Palestinian militants since October have put Israelis on the alert for an escalation. The internal security agency, Shin Bet, said Monday's attack was linked to Hamas, the Islamist group that controls the Gaza Strip. Israeli security forces arrested several suspected accomplices of the bomber, Abdel-Hamid Abu Srour, in the occupied West Bank in the hours after the incident and they are being questioned by the Shin Bet, the agency said. The pro-Hamas Palestinian Information Centre said Srour, 19, was a member of the Izz el-Deen Al-Qassam brigades, the Hamas' armed wing. Srour, who lived in the Ayda refugee camp near Bethlehem in the West Bank, suffered severe wounds in the explosion that wrecked the bus and died in an Israeli hospital on Wednesday. Most of the casualties have been discharged from hospital. In the last six months, Palestinian attacks have killed 28 Israelis and two visiting U.S. citizens. Israeli forces have killed at least 191 Palestinians, 130 of whom Israel says were assailants. Many others were shot dead in clashes and protests. Factors driving the violence include Palestinian frustration over stalled statehood negotiations and the growth of Israeli settlements in the West Bank, increased Jewish access to a disputed Jerusalem shrine and Islamist-led calls for Israel's destruction. (Writing by Ori Lewis; Editing by Robin Pomeroy) By Ju-min Park SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea fired a submarine-launched ballistic missile off its east coast on Saturday, South Korea said, amid concerns that the isolated state might conduct a nuclear test or a missile launch ahead of a ruling party meeting in May. The North fired the missile to the northeast at about 6:30 p.m. (0930 GMT), the South's office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said. North Korea will hold a congress of its ruling Workers' Party in early May for the first time in 36 years, at which its leader Kim Jong Un is expected to say the country is a strong military power and a nuclear state. The missile flew for about 30 km (18 miles), a South Korean Defense Ministry official said by telephone, adding its military was trying to determine whether the launch may have been a failure for unspecified reasons. South Korea's Yonhap news agency said the missile flew "for a few minutes," citing a government source. The U.S. Strategic Command said it had detected and tracked a North Korean submarine missile launch but it did not pose a threat to North America. State Department spokesman John Kirby said launches using ballistic missile technology were "a clear violation of multiple UN Security Council resolutions." France on Saturday called on the European Union to unilaterally adopt additional sanctions on North Korea if the missile launch was confirmed. The European Union in March expanded trade and financial sanctions on North Korea, following up on harsh new measures imposed by the U.N. Security Council. The North first attempted a launch of the submarine-based missile last year and was seen to be in the early stages of developing such a weapons system, which could pose a new threat to its neighbors and the United States if it is perfected. However, follow-up test launches were believed to have fallen short of the North's expectations as its state media footage appeared to have been edited to fake success, according experts who have seen the visuals. South Korea's military has said it is on high alert over the possibility that the isolated North could conduct its fifth nuclear test "at any time" in defiance of U.N. sanctions after setting off what it said was a hydrogen device in January. Satellite images show North Korea may have resumed tunnel excavation at its main nuclear test site, similar to activity seen before the January test, a U.S. North Korea monitoring website reported on Wednesday. South Korea and the United States, as well as experts, believe the North is working to develop a submarine-launched ballistic missile system and an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) putting the mainland United States within range. North Korea is banned from nuclear tests and activities that use ballistic missile technology under U.N. sanctions dating to 2006 and most recently adopted in March but it has pushed ahead with work to miniaturize a nuclear warhead and develop an ICBM. A senior U.S. official said this week that North Korea should take a lesson from Iran which has agreed to roll back its nuclear program in an agreement with Western powers in return for lifting of major sanctions but the North has shown no sign of entering into such a pact. North Korea Foreign Minister Ri Su Yong told the Associated Press in New York on Saturday that his country is ready to halt nuclear tests if the United States suspends its annual military exercises with South Korea. North Korea made a similar demand in January. Asked if the United States would consider a halt, Katina Adams, a spokeswoman for the State Department's East Asia bureau, said the exercises demonstrate the U.S. commitment to the alliance with South Korea and enhance "the combat readiness." (Additional reporting by Idrees Ali in Washington and Michel Rose in Paris; Editing by Jack Kim, Alison Williams, Bill Trott and Mary Milliken) By Can Sezer and Alexander Winning ISTANBUL/MOSCOW (Reuters) - The website of Russian state news agency Sputnik has been blocked in Turkey, its Turkish editor-in-chief said on Friday, shortly after President Vladimir Putin made comments critical of Turkey's leaders. Russia's foreign ministry called the site blocking unlawful and a grave violation of human rights. Ties between Moscow and Ankara have been strained after Turkey shot down a Russian warplane last November. "There is no access to Sputniknews.com and sub-domains from Turkey," Mahir Boztepe told Reuters. "We were not expecting a ban at all." No one was available for comment at Turkey's telecoms and internet regulatory agencies. However, the internet regulator's website said that an "administration measure" had been taken against Sputniknews.com. Such measures are commonly used when authorities wish to block access to websites in Turkey. In Moscow, Sputnik's top editor, Margarita Simonyan, described the blocking as "a further act of harsh censorship" in Turkey and said the site had been blocked late on Thursday, hours after Putin made his critical comments. "We have problems with some political leaders (in Turkey) whose behavior, actions we consider inappropriate," Putin said in a televised national phone-in. Sputnik, part of the sprawling state media holding company Rossiya Segodnya, was set up in 2014 to help disseminate Russia's views abroad. Turkey has shut or confiscated several newspapers over the past year and has also sometimes blocked access to social media sites including Twitter and Facebook, often due to images or other content being shared. CHILLY RELATIONS Relations between the former Cold War rivals hit their worst level in recent memory after Turkey shot down a Russian warplane that it said had strayed into its air space from Syria. In the Syrian civil war, Moscow has backed its longtime ally, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, while Turkey says Assad is a dictator who needs to be removed. Following the warplane incident, Putin imposed sanctions on Turkey and trade between the two countries has dived. Russian state media have adopted a hostile tone towards Ankara. Last month the Komsomolskaya Pravda mass-market tabloid ran a report headlined "Turkey never was and never will be a friend of Russia". Human rights groups and some Turkish media decry what they say has been an unprecedented crackdown on opposition voices in Turkey. The European Union, which Ankara aspires to join, has also expressed concerns over media freedoms in Turkey. (Additional reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin; Writing by David Dolan; Editing by Tom Heneghan) Senior Donald Trump aides have been caught on tape telling Republican leaders the presidential hopeful has been "projecting an image" in the campaign so far. The message was delivered in a private briefing, as the tycoon's campaign team tried to convince GOP leaders he is preparing to tone down some of his more extreme rhetoric if he wins the party's nomination. In a recording obtained by the AP news agency, Mr Trump's new senior aide Paul Manafort told Republican National Committee members his boss effectively has two personalities: one in private and one on stage. He said: "He gets it. The part that he's been playing is evolving into the part that now you've been expecting, but he wasn't ready for, because he had first to complete the first phase. "The negatives will come down. The image is going to change." He added: "When he's out on the stage, when he's talking about the kinds of things he's talking about on the stump, he's projecting an image that's for that purpose. "You'll start to see more depth of the person, the real person. You'll see a real different guy." As his team made their case in Hollywood, Florida, Mr Trump gave a hint of a possible change of emphasis as he spoke out against North Carolina's "bathroom law", which forces transgender people to use the bathroom that matches the sex on their birth certificates. His moderate message may have raised concern among some conservatives - although he did also come out against a government plan to replace President Andrew Jackson with civil rights campaigner Harriet Taubman on the $20 bill. Mr Trump is increasingly optimistic about his chances in five states holding primary contests next Tuesday: Rhode Island, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland. He is now the only Republican candidate who can possibly collect the 1,237-delegate majority needed to claim the nomination before the party's July convention. His chief rival Ted Cruz hopes Mr Trump will fall short of a majority so that he can turn enough delegates to his side at the convention to give him the prize. At the GOP meeting in Florida, party leaders rejected a proposal that would have made it harder to select a fresh presidential candidate at the convention. By Steve Holland and Amanda Becker HOLLYWOOD, Fla./WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Top advisers to Donald Trump pledged to Republican Party leaders on Thursday that the New York billionaire would adopt a more presidential demeanor after weeks of bashing the party, and urged them to unify behind the political outsider. Trump's representatives, including newly recruited senior advisers Paul Manafort and Rick Wiley, met with leaders of the Republican National Committee behind closed doors at a conference room at an oceanside resort hotel where the party is holding a three-day meeting. Over shrimp, crab legs and an open bar, the advisers expressed confidence that Trump would win the Republican presidential nomination without the party having to resort to a contested convention in Cleveland in July, according to three attendees. Trump, 69, needs 1,237 delegates to win the nomination outright for the Nov. 8 election. Rivals Ted Cruz, 45, and John Kasich, 63, are trying to stop him from getting a majority of delegates, so they can force a contested convention in which one of them could emerge as the nominee. Party leaders told reporters after the session that Trump's envoys said Trump, as the Republican nominee, would be able to expand the electoral map to include several states Republicans have not won in a general election in a generation. One attendee, South Carolina Republican Party Chairman Matt Moore, said the Trump team told the group it expected Trump to have a "more presidential demeanor" over the next few weeks.In recent weeks, Trump has railed against the party for developing what he said was a "rigged" system in which Cruz was able to amass delegates in Colorado without Republicans actually voting. Moore said he was taking a wait-and-see attitude on whether Trump would change. "The proof is in the pudding," he said. Manafort told reporters after the meeting that "we talked about how we're going to expand the map." As for how to improve Trump's negative image held by some voters, Manafort said: "We just have to present him in a way that shows all sides of Donald Trump." 'STOP FIGHTING AMONG OURSELVES' Former presidential candidate Ben Carson, the retired neurosurgeon who has endorsed Trump, also addressed the group. Talking to reporters as he walked into the meeting, Carson said his message was that Republicans should "stop fighting among ourselves" and unite behind Trump. I dont think anyone can win if the Republican Party and the conservatives dont consolidate," he said. Trump, who has alarmed some establishment Republicans with his comments on immigration, Muslims and trade, has begun to moderate his message in recent days. Trump's campaign has hired staff versed in the ways of Washington and has begun holding regular meetings on Capitol Hill with current and potential supporters. Trump clashed again on Thursday with Cruz, a U.S. senator from Texas, this time over a North Carolina law passed last month requiring transgender people to use government and school bathrooms that correspond with the sex on their birth certificates. During an appearance at an NBC "Today" show town hall, Trump sided with critics of the law, passed by a Republican-controlled legislature, saying it was unnecessary and that North Carolina was "paying a big price" because of negative business reaction. His comments drew immediate criticism from Cruz, a staunch social and fiscal conservative who supports the law and said Trump had caved to political correctness as he seeks to broaden his appeal. Cruz, along with Kasich, 63, the Ohio governor, addressed leaders on Wednesday at the RNC meeting, which is focused on the party's July convention. Cruz said he had the ability to unite the party behind him after a bitter nomination battle. Kasich cited opinion polls showing he was the only Republican candidate who could defeat Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton. (Reporting by Steve Holland and Amanda Becker; Additional reporting by Richard Cowan and Ginger Gibson; Editing by Frances Kerry and Peter Cooney) OVERLAND PARK, Kan., April 22, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Black & Veatchs microgrid, a system of distributed generation technologies aimed at boosting resilience and the use of renewable energy sources, has been selected for a prestigious Gold Edison Award. The companys microgrid system generates electricity through a combination of natural gas, solar energy, geothermal and battery storage at the companys World Headquarters in Overland Park. The microgrid provides enough clean energy to run the headquarters 12,000 square-foot Rodman Innovation Pavilion. It can operate as an independent power source or in support of the traditional electric grid, adding resilience while lowering energy costs. The Edison Awards, which recognize excellence and creativity globally in new products and services, honored Black & Veatch in the Energy & Sustainability category at its April 21 gala in New York. The Black & Veatch microgrid system integrates key renewable resources such as solar, geothermal and battery technology that deliver a sustainable and cost-effective supply of energy, said Ed Walsh, President of Black & Veatchs Power Business. It also provides a tangible training and education asset to better show the role of microgrids and how they can benefit clients around the world. This recognition from Edison further points to the importance of innovation and validates the continued need for greater energy efficiency. The system also includes two natural gas-fired microturbines that deliver onsite electrical power generation. During winter months, heat is recovered from the microturbines to support climate control for the World Headquarters, the largest office building in Kansas. A geothermal heat pump system with 15 wells each drilled 500 feet deep also helps heat and cool the Pavilion. The microgrid system also uses battery technology to capture and store energy from generation resources and deliver electricity to the headquarters during times of high electric demand. Visitors to the headquarters can view the microgrids output in real time on a large-screen monitor that graphically displays how each part of the microgrid is performing. Microgrids are currently being evaluated as part of green building and sustainability efforts across a wide range of industrial and commercial projects, as well as in areas such as wastewater treatment plants and facilities generating power from renewable energy sources, said Jason Abiecunas, Distributed Generation Service Area Leader for Black & Veatch. Our microgrid is a living laboratory that gives us the capability to further advance new technologies in the distributed generation arena. Editors Notes: Microgrid benefits are especially strong in the developing world for their potential to tap reliable electric supplies and avoid interruption in the event of power outages. Link to Black & Veatchs microgrid video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIWN6Uh0coU About Black & Veatch Black & Veatch is an employee-owned, global leader in building critical human infrastructure in Energy, Water, Telecommunications and Government Services. Since 1915, we have helped our clients improve the lives of people in over 100 countries through consulting, engineering, construction, operations and program management. Our revenues in 2015 were US$3.0 billion. Follow us on www.bv.com and in social media. English Lithuanian Rokiskio suris AB, Pramones str. 3, Rokiskis, Lithuania, 2016-04-22 18:43 CEST (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The draft resolutions prepared by the Board of Directors of AB Rokiskio suris for the general meeting of shareholders to be held on 29th April 2016: 1. Auditors findings regarding the financial statements and annual report. Debriefed. 2. The Audit Committee report. Draft resolution: To endorse the report of the Audit Committee. 3. The Companys consolidated annual report for the year 2015. Debriefed with the consolidated annual report for the year 2015 of Rokiskio suris AB which is prepared by the Companys management, assessed by the Auditors and approved by the Board of Directors. 4. Approval of the consolidated and companys financial accounting for the year 2015. Draft resolution: To approve the audited consolidated and companys financial reports for the year 2015. 5. Allocation of the profit (loss) of the Company of 2015. Draft resolution: To approve the following profit (loss) distribution of the year 2015: Title kEUR 1. Non-distributable profit (loss) at beginning of year 45,614 2. Approved by shareholders dividends related to the year 2014 - 3. Transfers from other reserves 2,585 4. Non-distributable profit (loss) at beginning of year after dividend payout and transfer to reserves 48,199 5. Net profit (loss) of the Company of fiscal year 3,879 6. Distributable profit (loss) of the Company 52,078 7. Profit share for mandatory reserve - 8. Profit share for other reserves - 9. Profit share for dividend payout (2,342) 10. Profit share for annual payments (tantiemes) to the Board of Directors, employee bonuses and other as accounted by Profit (loss) statement 775 11. Non-distributable profit (loss) at end of year transferred to the next fiscal year 49,735 1 It is distributed the profit earned by 2009 Dividends for the year 2015 are allocated to 33,453,391 shares, i.e. 0.07 eur per share (before taxes). Persons entitled to receive dividends are those who are actual shareholders of the Company at the end of the tenth day after approval of the resolution for dividend pay-out by the general meeting of shareholders (shareholders proprietary right accounting day), i. e. May 13, 2016. Pursuing the Laws of the Republic of Lithuania, dividends paid to physical bodies resided in the Republic of Lithuania as well as in foreign countries are subject to 15 per cent of residential income tax; Dividends paid to juridical bodies of the Republic of Lithuania as well as foreign countries are subject to 15 per cent of profit tax, unless it is stated differently the law. 6. Election of the Companys auditor and establishment of payment conditions. Draft resolution : To elect an audit company UAB PricewaterhouseCoopers to perform an audit of annual consolidated financial statements and evaluation of the annual report of the Group of AB Rokiskio suris and the Parent Company. Remuneration for the audit shall be identified by the Board of Directors. The Companys manager is authorized to sign an agreement with the audit company. 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 FAA Proposes $162,500 Civil Penalty Against Airbus Defence and Space The penalty is for alleged hazmat violations -- an undeclared shipment of two Protective Breathing Equipment Units flown from Seville to Miami in 2015. The Federal Aviation Administration has taken enforcement action against Airbus Defence and Space of Madrid, Spain, proposing a $162,500 civil penalty against the company for violating the Hazardous Materials Regulations. The DOT agency alleged that Airbus knowingly offered an undeclared hazardous material for shipment on a passenger-carrying aircraft from Seville, Spain, to Miami, Fla., on May 25, 2015. The FAA news release says the shipment contained two Protective Breathing Equipment Units, each of which contained a chemical oxygen generator with chemicals that could have caused or enhanced the combustion of other materials. FAA alleges the shipment was not accompanied by shipping papers indicating the hazardous nature of the contents and was not properly packaged, marked, or labeled, and that Airbus failed to provide emergency response information with the shipment. Italian authorities said Saturday they were monitoring an oil slick off the country's picturesque Riviera coast, but said the risk of a new spill into the Mediterranean was limited. The slick, which was two kilometres (1.25 mile) long and 500 metres wide, was moving slowly westwards from waters off Genoa, raising fears it could pollute holiday beaches just as the tourist season begins. The oil is believed to have come from a pipeline leak last Sunday at a refinery at Bussala, an outlying suburb of the northwestern Italian city, that spilled large quantities of crude into the Polcevera river. The refinery's owner, Iplom, insisted that the leak was contained, but one of the barriers erected on the river gave way on Saturday morning after heavy overnight rain, pushing crude into the sea. After declaring a local state of emergency, Genoa's port authority and the government said that back-up floating barriers in the mouth of the river had done their job. "The situation is delicate but under control," said Graziano Delrio, the minister for transport and infrastructure. Genova is located in the middle of the Italian stretch of the Riviera, close to the famous resort of Portofino and several protected areas of outstanding natural beauty, including the Cinque Terre region. The maritime environment is also highly prized with the coastal waters providing valuable breeding grounds for sea-life as well as supporting a fishing fleet which serves the local restaurant trade. Genoa mayor Marco Doria said the large slick and several smaller ones spotted by fishermen and coastguards had presumably been caused by the refinery leak on April 17. "From an environmental point of view I am calm," said Gianfranco Benedetti, Iplom's local safety officer. "There was no new leak into the sea. There is not much stuff left in the Polcevera, most of it has been extracted by gully suckers," he told the AGI newswire. Maritime authorities in Toulon, southwest France, said they had immediately ordered heightened monitoring in the area, with the navy dispatching a Falcon 50 plane to assess the situation. "The flight detected no slick off France and in international waters up to Savona," just east of Genoa, they said in a statement. Further French surveillance flights are scheduled for Sunday and the coming days. 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 By Arshad Mohammed and Kiyoshi Takenaka HIROSHIMA, Japan (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Monday called his visit to a memorial to victims of the 1945 U.S. nuclear attack on Hiroshima "gut-wrenching" and said it was a reminder of the need to pursue a world free of nuclear weapons. The first U.S. secretary of state to visit Hiroshima, Kerry said President Barack Obama also wanted to travel to the city in southern Japan but he did not know whether the leader's complex schedule would allow him to do so when he visits the country for a Group of Seven (G7) summit in May. Kerry toured the Hiroshima Peace Memorial and Museum, whose haunting displays include photographs of badly burned victims, the tattered and stained clothes they wore and statues depicting them with flesh melting from their limbs. "It is a stunning display. It is a gut-wrenching display," he said. "It is a reminder of the depth of the obligation everyone of us in public life carries ... to create and pursue a world free from nuclear weapons," he told a news conference. After the tour by Kerry and his fellow G7 foreign ministers, the group issued a statement reaffirming their commitment to building a world without nuclear arms but said the push had been made more complex by North Korea's repeated "provocations" and by worsening security in Syria and Ukraine. The ministers from Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States laid white wreaths at a cenotaph to the victims of the Aug. 6, 1945, bombing, which reduced the city to ashes and killed some 140,000 people by the end of that year. While he is not the highest-ranking U.S. official to have toured the museum and memorial park, a distinction that belongs to then-U.S. Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi in 2008, Kerry is the most senior executive branch official to visit. "Everyone in the world should see and feel the power of this memorial. It is a stark, harsh, compelling reminder not only of our obligation to end the threat of nuclear weapons, but to rededicate all our effort to avoid war itself," the chief U.S. diplomat wrote in a guest book. Asked later if this meant Obama should come, Kerry said: "everyone means everyone. So I hope one day the president of the United States will be among the everyone who is able to come here. Whether or not he can come as president, I dont know." 'FIRST STEP' At Kerry's suggestion, the ministers also made an impromptu visit to the Atomic Bomb Dome, the skeletal remains of the only structure left standing near the hypocentre of the bomb explosion and now a UNESCO World Heritage site. Three days after a U.S. warplane dropped a nuclear bomb on Hiroshima, another atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, on Aug. 9, 1945. Japan surrendered six days later. A visit by Obama could be controversial in America if it were viewed as an apology. A majority of Americans view the bombings as justified to end the war and save U.S. lives, while the vast majority of Japanese believe it was not justified. Hopes for Obama's visit to Hiroshima were raised after an April 2009 speech in Prague when he called for a world without nuclear weapons. He later said that he would be honoured to visit the two nuclear-attacked cities. The G7 foreign ministers' trip to the museum and memorial is part of Japan's effort to send a strong nuclear disarmament message from Hiroshima, the world's first city to suffer atomic bombing. "I think this first-ever visit by G7 foreign ministers to the peace memorial park is a historic first step towards reviving momentum toward a world without nuclear weapons," Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida said in a statement. He later told a news conference that it was "inconceivable" that Japan would ever decide to have nuclear weapons. Last month, U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said Japan and South Korea should build such weapons to deter enemies. In a separate, detailed statement, the G7 ministers singled out North Korea for sharp criticism, condemning its recent nuclear test and launches using ballistic missile technology. And in a statement on maritime security, they voiced their strong opposition to provocative attempts to change the status quo in the East and South China Seas, an apparent reference to China, which is locked in territorial disputes with other nations including the Philippines, Vietnam and Japan. (Additional writing by Linda Sieg and additional reporting by Tim Kelly and Elaine Lies in Tokyo; Editing by Michael Perry and Nick Macfie) The human gut is a complex and amazing system, and the more we learn about it, the more amazed we are. It turns out - Famous Nigerian prophet Johnson Suleman predicted the next president in front of CORD co-principal and Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka at KICC during an inter-denomination meeting - He said that the next president is the one who is in power now but added that he sees many things changing - He told Kalonzo that he is in bad company, and that is why he is being betrayed. It is at this point then that other worshippers started to shout that he was the former vice president - PAY ATTENTION: Get all the latest news on TUKO.co.ke Famous Nigerian prophet Johnson Suleman predicted the next president in front of CORD co-principal and Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka at Kenya International Conference Centre (KICC). Once Suleman, the General Overseer of Omega Fire Ministries, was having a conference dubbed Total Liberation and Kalonzo was one of the worshippers. The former vice president was seated in the front seat and during ministration time, the prophet, who was prophesying randomly to people, told Kalonzo of how he has been betrayed. He apparently didn't even know who Kalonzo was, and even that he was a prominent politician who had been the country's former vice president. READ ALSO: South African woman who just turned 103 years old revealed the secrets to her long life (photos) The prophet's church in Abuja, Nigeria was brought down in 2015 by the administration of the former president Goodluck Jonathan, when he told Goodluck that he would lose the looming election because of the people whom he was surrounding himself with at the time. He has also been arrested by some leaders for telling them what will befall them. Back to KICC, he first told Kalonzo how he has a good heart but he has been betrayed on various occasions by the people he's been working with. Prophet Suleman then told him how his wife is unhappy about the said circumstances, and promised to pray for his wife. When the apostle told Kalonzo that he is in bad company and that is why he is being betrayed, other worshippers started to shout that he was the former vice president, revealing to the preacher that he was prophesying to a top politician in the country. READ ALSO: Jesus Christ wasnt crucified and ascended to heaven alive 1500-year-old Bible claims Kalonzo was on his knees when all this was going on. He then asked if the General Election was next year, and after receiving the response, he said he knows the president. He then advised Kalonzo to see him after the service. Immediately the service ended, Kalonzo followed the prophet. The Wiper leader was in the company of former MP Andrew Ligale at the function. READ ALSO: Top 10 dreadful Bible verses youve never heard in church Andrew Ligale was also the chairman of the Interim Independent Boundaries Review Commission of Kenya that was set up by an Act of Parliament on May 12, 2009. According to media reports in Nigeria, before Prophet Suleman was born, some prophets came from Warri city in Nigeria to Benin (the place of his birth) and told his parents "a prophet who would minister in Gods presence has been born". His parents apparently refused to listen further, because they were Muslims and did not see him leaving their fold. According to him, he is the president of a ministry that has presence in over 42 nations of the world, with over 7 million direct followers. PLO Lumumba speaks about "The Raila Conspiracy": Kalonzo Musyoka expresses confidence of clinching CORD presidential ticket: Source: TUKO.co.ke The price of oil is continuing to rebound on Tuesday, as investors in the world's most widely used commodity continue to react to the failure of oil producers to agree on a production freeze in Doha over the weekend, as well as an ongoing oil worker strike in Kuwait. Just after 12:20 p.m. BST (7:20 a.m. ET) both major international benchmarks, Brent and West Texas Intermediate (WTI), are trading in positive territory, and gaining strongly. Brent is up by more than 2% to $43.78 per barrel, while WTI has jumped 1.65% to $41.87. Here's how both benchmarks look early this morning: Screen Shot 2016 04 19 at 12.20.01 Investing.com Screen Shot 2016 04 19 at 12.20.13 Investing.com While oil is rebounding strongly, it is likely being helped by the ongoing strike of oil workers in Kuwait. Kuwaiti workers went on strike on Sunday, and that has led to production being slashed from 2.8 million barrels per day at March estimates, to just 1.1 million barrels on Sunday. Earlier on Tuesday, Bloomberg reported that Kuwait has now edged production higher to 1.5 million barrels a day. Workers are striking over a plan to change the way public sector workers in the country are paid, which could lead to wage cuts. Deutsche Bank's Jim Reid pointed out in his early morning note to investors: The Kuwait strike news which we highlighted yesterday was cited as a big factor in the changing tune and it appears that the strike is set to continue into today, although it feels like the 'big if' for markets now will be the duration of the strike and how much Kuwait can compensate some of that lost production elsewhere to get back closer to normal levels. Once Kuwait addresses decreased supply however, things could return to losses, and the true effects of the failure of producers to agree a deal in Doha could be felt. As Accendo Markets' Mike van Dulken argues (emphasis his): This [the strong performance of US stocks] mirrored oils performance as crude prices themselves showed alarming resilience in the face of a failed Doha production meeting. Note however that a third day of strike action by oil workers in Kuwait could well be supporting things for the moment. Story continues NOW WATCH: 'MILLION DOLLAR LISTING STAR: I understand why people hate dealing with NYC real estate brokers See Also: SEE ALSO: Europe's banking sector needs 'creative destruction' Oil prices are finishing the week in an upbeat mood on Friday, despite unresolved oversupply issues following a big meeting in Doha. The world's biggest oil producers convened last Sunday for crisis talks but, as many analysts expected, could not agree on supply curbs. As Business Insider previously reported, the Saudis reiterated that they wouldn't freeze production unless other nations did too, particularly Iran. However, Iran is unlikely to do that now it's free from sanctions. Investors didn't seem to mind the continued glut of oil, though, as prices climbed into the weekend. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude was up 2.43% to $44.23 (30.71) on Friday as of 3:10 p.m. GMT (10.10 a.m. ET): Crude_Oil_Friday arrow Investing.comBrent crude rose at almost the same rate, up 2.38% to $45.59 (31.65) on Friday at 3:10 p.m. GMT (10.10 p.m. ET): Brent_Oil_Friday arrow Investing.comAs well as favourable currency conditions, one reason for the upsurge is the recent strike in Kuwait, which is slowing down production. Oil workers went on strike last Sunday over proposed government cutbacks as a response to the price crash. Despite the strike ending a couple of days ago, oil prices have continued to rise though they may drop again as production levels get back to pre-strike levels. OPEC nations will be meeting again in June to discuss the oversupply problems still facing oil. Another failure to agree on production curves there could result in another price crash. NOW WATCH: How ISIS makes over $1 billion a year See Also: SEE ALSO: Oil is charging but the real effects of Doha haven't hit yet Mossack Fonseca law firm sign is pictured in Panama City, in this April 4, 2016 file photo. REUTERS/Carlos Jasso/Files PANAMA CITY (Reuters) - Panamanian investigators on Friday raided a property used by Mossack Fonseca, the law firm at the centre of a massive leak of offshore financial data, removing bags full of shredded documents as evidence, a local prosecutor said. "We have secured a large amount of evidence found in the location," said organised crime investigator Javier Caraballo. He said they also found many shredded papers, which they removed as evidence. Leaks from the Panama-based law firm, dubbed the "Panama Papers," have embarrassed several world leaders and shone a spotlight on the shadowy world of offshore companies. Mossack Fonseca, which specializes in setting up offshore companies, has said it broke no laws, destroyed no documents, and all its operations were legal. Governments across the world have begun investigating possible financial wrongdoing by the rich and powerful after the leak of more than 11.5 million documents from the firm. The papers have revealed financial arrangements of prominent figures, including friends of Russian President Vladimir Putin, relatives of the prime ministers of Britain and Pakistan and of China's President Xi Jinping, and the president of Ukraine. (Reporting by Elida Moreno; Editing by Sandra Maler) LONDON (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama made an extraordinary intervention into the politics of Washington's closest ally on Friday, warning Britons they would go to "the back of the queue" for a trade deal if they left the European Union. Following is some British reaction to Obama's comments: PRIME MINISTER DAVID CAMERON, WHO SUPPORTS EU MEMBERSHIP "I've always found Barack someone who gives sage advice. He's a man with a very good heart. He's a very good friend and always will be a good friend, I know, to the United Kingdom. "Britain's membership of the EU gives us a powerful tool to deliver on the prosperity and security that our people need, and to stand up for the values that our countries share. "And now I think is a time to stay true to those values, and to stick together with our friends and allies in Europe and around the world." BORIS JOHNSON, MAYOR OF LONDON AND "OUT" CAMPAIGNER "We don't have a trade deal with the U.S. at the moment and we have been in the EU for 43 years and indeed we have had a great deal of difficulty in exporting some UK products such as beef to the U.S. Don't forget of the non-EU trade that we do, 73 percent of it doesn't involve any kind of trade deal at all. "We would do very well trading globally as we always used to do. The WTO is now helping to bring down tariffs worldwide. "We have got a fantastic opportunity to take back control of very considerable sums of money - 350 million pounds per week - and our borders and to stop the erosion of our democracy." NIGEL FARAGE, UK INDEPENDENCE PARTY LEADER AND "OUT" CAMPAIGNER "President Obama won't be in office by the time we're out of the EU post-referendum. Trade deal of course in both countries interests. "President Obama does not seem to understand that the EU is a political union, completely different to NATO or the G7. "How is the UK leading the EU? President Obama must never have heard of Mrs. Merkel." JUSTICE MINISTER DOMINIC RAAB, A MEMBER OF VOTE LEAVE, THE MAIN OUT CAMPAIGN "The President made clear that uncontrolled immigration into the EU is a threat to national security. I agree - that is why it is safer to take back control so that we can stop terror suspects from Europe coming into the UK. "He argued that he thinks it is in America's interests for the UK to stay in the EU but what is good for US politicians is not necessarily good for the British people. We want more international cooperation after we vote "leave", but the EU is not fit for purpose, and cannot cope with the multiple crises we face like terrorism, Syria and mass migration. "The U.S. would not dream of opening its border with Mexico, so it is hypocritical for President Obama to insist that we do the same with Europe." LEAVE.EU CO-FOUNDER RICHARD TICE "We don't have a trade deal with the United States now because we're members of the European Union. The proposed EU-U.S. trade deal, TTIP, would be disastrous for British workers. "Obama doesn't have the authority to deny us a deal, as he will be long gone before any such proposals are on the table." ANAND MENON, PROFESSOR OF EUROPEAN POLITICS AND FOREIGN AFFAIRS AT KING'S COLLEGE LONDON "President Obama has made a startling intervention. It is above and beyond what people do in Western democracies. And if you think as I do that it is a fear thing, then it works. "If I was leaver, a Brexiteer, I would say he was a lame duck president and it is not up to him anyway because he will be out of power soon. "It is the biggest intervention I can think of by an American president who has turned up in this way and intervened directly in the politics of a Western democracy since the end of the Cold War." KALLUM PICKERING, SENIOR UK ECONOMIST, BERENBERG "Pro-EU Prime Minister Cameron couldn't have asked for more. "Because Obama is popular in the UK, and possibly more so than in the U.S., his friendly advice could bolster the Remain camp. Under the leadership of populist-left-winger Jeremy Corbyn, the Labour Party, against its tradition, has not yet voiced a strong argument for keeping the UK in the EU. "There will be some undecided voters on the center who are reluctant to support the views of center Cameron. Cameron probably knows this. The introduction of center Obama into the vacuum created by Corbyn could therefore bolster support for the 'Remain' camp." OPEN EUROPE THINK TANK "So far, the foreign interventions have been copious and homogenous meaning it's hard for voters to discern those that might matter from those that don't. Whether President Obama can buck this trend remains to be seen, but with nine weeks to go, it could be too much too soon." GIDEON SKINNER, HEAD OF POLITICAL RESEARCH AT POLLING COMPANY IPSOS MORI UK "There has been a lot of interest in President Obama's visit to the UK and his intervention in the referendum on Britain's membership of the EU. "We know the British public are split right down the middle on whether Mr Obama should intervene, according to whether they agree with his views or not, but overall it seems as if most Britons feel Brexit would make little difference to any special relationship there is with the United States (although those wanting to remain in the EU are more worried). "Matters closer to home such as the British economy and immigration are likely to play bigger roles in how voters are going to make up their minds." (Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge, editing by David Milliken) BERLIN (Reuters) - Europe and the United States should wrap up a U.S.-European free trade deal this year or people will start thinking it might never happen, U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman told a German newspaper. Chancellor Angela Merkel is expected to discuss the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) with U.S. President Barack Obama when he visits a trade show in Hanover on Sunday and Monday. The visit comes at a time when support for TTIP has plunged in Germany and the United States. In an interview published on Friday, Froman told the newspaper Handelsblatt he wanted an agreement on TTIP this year but not at any cost. "We won't agree to a sort of 'TTIP Lite'," he said. Asked whether it was realistic to conclude talks on TTIP in 2016, Froman said the EU and the U.S. had a "unique opportunity" if both sides had the political will for an agreement. "If we don't get it done, then we create a great deal of uncertainty on whether we will ever get it done," he said. On Wednesday, German Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel said TTIP negotiations were "frozen up" and their success or failure depended on Washington. Merkel defended TTIP on Friday, saying it was an opportunity for the "Mittelstand" - the small and medium-sized companies seen as the backbone of Germany's economy, many of which worry the deal would give too much power to multinationals. Merkel said it would give them advantages on the U.S. market. Speaking at an event hosted by the German brewing association in Ingolstadt, Merkel said the beer industry was increasingly benefiting from exports given that beer consumption in Germany was stagnating. "So I encourage the critics of the free trade agreement to have another think about it," she said. German government said at a news conference on Friday Berlin aimed to conclude TTIP negotiations by the end of 2016 and Merkel would stress that to Obama in her discussions with him in Hanover. The United States is Germany's biggest trading partner. Advocates of the trade deal say it would unleash further growth while critics warn it could undermine consumer rights and environmental protection. (Reporting by Michelle Martin in Berlin and Joern Poltz in Ingolstadt; Editing by Andrew Roche) By Gabriela Baczynska BRUSSELS (Reuters) - European Council chief Donald Tusk told Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on Friday that the bloc can discuss money to secure Ankara's help on migration but its values and freedom of expression are non-negotiable. A recent European Parliament report criticised the record of Turkey, a candidate for EU membership, on human rights and media freedom. Ankara also gave Berlin a headache this month by logging a legal complaint against a German comedian who recited a sexually crude satirical poem about Erdogan on television. "Recent experience with Turkey shows Europe must set clear limits to its concessions," said President Tusk in an editorial published by seven European papers on the eve of his visit to the country, along with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and European Commission First Vice-President Frans Timmermans. "We can negotiate money but never our values. We cannot impose our standards on the rest of the world. Equally, others cannot impose their standards on us. "Our freedoms, including freedom of expression, will not be part of political bargaining with any partner. This message must also be heard by President Erdogan." The three European politicians will travel on Saturday to the Turkish city of Gaziantep near the border with Syria where a five-year war has killed hundreds of thousands and displaced many more, triggering a mass influx of refugees and migrants to Europe. Overwhelmed by the uncontrollable arrivals, Brussels struck a deal with Ankara last month. ANKARA THREAT It promised Turkey financial rewards and visa liberalisation and revived EU accession talks in exchange for Ankara taking back migrants who reach Greek islands from its shores, and ensuring fewer embark on the journey across the Aegean Sea. Ankara, though, has since threatened to walk away from the deal if the EU does not ease travel requirements by June, and has also complained the 28-nation bloc has been too slow in disbursing aid for Syrian refugees in Turkey worth an initial 3 billion euros (2.3 billion). Brussels aims to propose waiving visas for Turks on May 4 but that is strongly opposed by some EU member states. Ankara now meets just under than half of the 72 conditions for visa-free access. While arrivals from Turkey to Greece have fallen since the deal was implemented, questions over effectiveness, legality and long-term viability of the agreement linger. A Merkel aide said the German chancellor would use Saturday's trip to try to ease tensions. Separately, the International Organization for Migration said on Friday that the number of migrants arriving in Greece had started to rise again. "We are under no illusion that the problem is solved. We are facing months, perhaps years of efforts and difficult choices," said Tusk. However, he said that any cooperation with Turkey must be lawful and protect EU member state Cyprus, which is locked in a decades-old dispute with Turkey. (Editing by Philip Blenkinsop and Tony Jimenez) By Patricia Zengerle and Susan Cornwell WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan did not immediately endorse a Senate bill on Tuesday that would allow Americans to sue the government of Saudi Arabia over the Sept. 11 attacks, saying it should be reviewed to ensure it would not hurt diplomatic relations. With President Barack Obama traveling to Saudi Arabia Tuesday, lawmakers have been discussing the "Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act," which passed the Senate Judiciary Committee in January but has not been scheduled for debate in the full Senate or the House of Representatives. "I think we need to review it to make sure that we're not making mistakes with our allies and that we're not catching people in this that shouldn't be caught up in this," Ryan, a Republican, told reporters. Some U.S. citizens whose relatives were killed in the 2001 attacks want to be able to sue Saudi Arabia because most of the 19 hijackers were Saudi nationals. The al Qaeda militant group, then based in Afghanistan, was blamed and the United States and its allies invaded the country. No U.S. investigation to date has reported finding evidence of Saudi government support for the attacks. White House spokesman Josh Earnest said Obama did not support the legislation and would not sign it. Obama will seek to reassure Gulf allies about Washington's support on his trip. Some lawyers working with the Sept. 11 victims' families have insisted that the bill would come up for a vote quickly and easily pass Congress. But Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican, said no vote has been scheduled. Senate aides said there was at least one Republican "hold" on the measure. "I'm still looking at it," McConnell told reporters, calling the measure an "important" bill. BILL NOT FINALIZED Republican Senator Bob Corker, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said lawmakers and the Obama administration were trying to resolve concerns about whether individuals should be able to sue foreign governments. "There are some sovereign immunity issues that need to be worked through," Corker said. He declined to comment on whether he supported the legislation, because the bill has not been finalized. The New York Times reported on Friday that Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir told U.S. lawmakers his country would be forced to sell up to $750 billion in U.S. assets in response to the bill if it passed. Several members of Congress and senior aides said they were unaware of any such threat, outside of the newspaper's report. Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer, a lead bill sponsor said the Saudis had not talked to him about that threat. But he, and other senior Democrats said they wanted the bill to move ahead despite the White House's objections. "If the Saudi government was complicit in terrorism, and a trial so determines, it would be a real deterrent to other governments not to be complicit in terrorism," said Schumer, who represents New York, the state hardest hit in the attacks. Corker said he had been in close contact with the administration, but had not discussed the bill with Saudi officials for some time. Ryan said the bill did not come up while he was on a visit to Riyadh. Republican Senator Chuck Grassley, the chairman of the Judiciary Committee who supports the bill, said it was tied up by State Department concerns about sovereign immunity. "I think Americans need some redress when they're hurt." (Additional reporting by Susan Cornwell, Richard Cowan and David Alexander) LONDON (Reuters) - There is no chance of NATO expansion in the near future because of fears it could destabilise Russia, the U.S. ambassador to the military alliance said on Friday, a prospect which could disappoint Georgia and a number of Balkan states. Douglas Lute said NATO was at an "an inflection point", facing an upheaval matched only by circumstances at the end of the Cold War, and the alliance did not want to exacerbate internal weaknesses in Russia. "In practical terms I don't there's much additional room in the near term, the next several years perhaps or maybe even longer, for additional NATO expansion," Lute told the Aspen Security Forum in London. "I think Russia plays an important part in the strategic environment and the strategic environment will put a brake on NATO expansion. "If you accept the premises ... about Russia's internal weakness and perhaps steady decline, it may not make sense to push further now and maybe accelerate or destabilise that decline." Last December, NATO invited Montenegro to join in its first expansion since 2009, a move which provoked anger from Moscow which opposes any extension to former communist areas of eastern and southeastern Europe. NATO gave Georgia an open-ended promise of membership at a summit in April 2008 and other Balkan states such as Macedonia and Bosnia and Herzegovina are keen on membership while Ukraine, which has battled Russian-backed separatists in its east since 2014, has also set its sights on joining. Lute said the policy line for additional members remained open but all NATO's 28 allies had to agree on inviting new members and there was little likelihood of that. "There's no way we're going to get consensus any time in the near future on adding ... Georgia or Ukraine," he said. (Reporting by Michael Holden; editing by Stephen Addison) By Roberta Rampton and Kylie MacLellan LONDON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama made a bold intervention into the politics of Washington's closest ally on Friday, exhorting Britons to stay in the EU and warning that if they left they would be at "the back of the queue" for a U.S. trade deal. Obama's plea to British voters ahead of a June referendum on membership of the European Union was welcomed by Prime Minister David Cameron and other supporters of the EU, but denounced by those campaigning to leave as meddling in British affairs. Britain's influence on the world stage was "magnified" by its membership of the 28-member bloc, Obama said at a press conference alongside Cameron, who has bet his political future by calling the referendum to put to rest an issue that has divided his own Conservative Party for generations. Rebutting criticism that he was interfering, Obama invoked the cherished "special relationship" between Washington and London. "If one of our best friends is in an organization that enhances their influence and enhances their power and enhances their economy, then I want them to stay in it," Obama said. "Or at least I want to be able to tell them: 'I think this makes you guys bigger players.'" On trade, he took aim at one of the main "Out" arguments -- that Britain could easily negotiate deals and get better terms on its own. The United States would regard a deal with the EU as a higher priority than a separate agreement with a much smaller market such as a stand-alone Britain, Obama said. "It's fair to say that maybe some point down the line there might be a UK-US trade agreement but that's not going to happen anytime soon because our focus is negotiating with a big bloc, the European Union, to get a trade agreement done," Obama said. "And the UK is going to be in the back of the queue, not because we don't have a special relationship but because given the heavy lift on any trade agreement, us having access to a big market with a lot of countries rather than trying to do piecemeal trade agreements is hugely efficient." Cameron said Britain should listen to its friends, and he could not think of any close ally who wanted a Brexit. Obama set out his case in a newspaper article that invoked the interlinked history of the United States and Britain and the tens of thousands of Americans lying in European war graves. "As your friend, I tell you that the EU makes Britain even greater," the headline read. "Together, the United States, the United Kingdom, and the European Union have turned centuries of war in Europe into decades of peace, and worked as one to make this world a safer, better place," Obama wrote. "DOWNRIGHT HYPOCRITICAL" But those campaigning for an "Out" vote in the June 23 referendum were dismissive. London's New York-born Mayor Boris Johnson, a leader of the "Out" campaign from within the Conservative Party widely seen as angling for Cameron's job, said Obama's advice was "incoherent, inconsistent and downright hypocritical". Obama was urging Britain to pool its sovereignty with other nations in a way that the United States would never countenance for itself, Johnson wrote in a newspaper column. He also referred to "the part-Kenyan President's ancestral dislike of the British empire", a comment widely criticized as demeaning the EU debate, and even denounced as "dog-whistle racism" by an opposition Labour politician. Other "Out" campaigners said Obama's views did not matter because this is his last year in office. "Obama doesn't have the authority to deny us a (trade) deal, as he will be long gone before any such proposals are on the table," said Richard Tice, co-founder of Leave.EU, one of several "Out" campaigns. Experts struggled to find a precedent for Obama's direct appeal to British voters. "It is the biggest intervention I can think of by an American president who has turned up in this way and intervened directly in the politics of a Western democracy since the end of the Cold War," said Anand Menon, professor of European politics and foreign affairs at Kings College London. "It is above and beyond what people do in Western democracies. And if you think as I do that it is a fear thing, then it works." Opinion polls suggest that "In" is ahead, but the race is tight and the number of undecided voters is very high. Many U.S. banks and companies fear a Brexit would cause market turmoil, diminish the clout of Washington's strongest European ally, hurt London's global financial hub status, cripple the EU and weaken Western security. The "Out" campaign says such fears are exaggerated and Britain would profit from greater control over its regulation, the ability to make bilateral trade deals and the right to restrict immigration from EU neighbors. Many in the "Out" camp say they are passionate supporters of the special relationship with the United States and think Britain would open itself up to America and to the world if it cut loose from what they regard as the dysfunctional EU. Before talks at Cameron's Downing Street office, Obama and his wife Michelle congratulated Queen Elizabeth, who celebrated her 90th birthday on Thursday. [L5N17P4BN] Prince Philip, Elizabeth's 94-year-old husband, took the wheel of a Range Rover to drive the Obamas to lunch on the territory of Windsor Castle, a royal residence that traces its history back over almost 1,000 years to William the Conqueror. (Additional reporting by London bureau; writing by Guy Faulconbridge and Estelle Shirbon; editing by Peter Graff) By Steve Holland HOLLYWOOD, Fla. (Reuters) - U.S. Republican officials began meeting on Wednesday, a day after Donald Trump's crushing victory in a New York presidential nominating contest, and said he has been winning growing acceptance within their ranks - but they want to see the billionaire do more to mend fences with the party establishment. Trump, the front-runner to become the Republican presidential candidate in November's election, was the focus for the party's spring meeting of 168 Republican National Committee (RNC) members in Hollywood, Florida. The three-day conclave at an oceanside resort will take stock of the race for the White House and prepare for a possible contested convention in July in Cleveland. The New York real estate mogul's win Tuesday in his home state over rivals Ted Cruz and John Kasich was an important milestone for RNC members, who said it could put him on a pathway to acquire the 1,237 delegates needed to win the nomination outright without a contested convention. "There are a fair number of RNC members who were discounting his chances of success when we met in January and now see that hes building a substantial lead and may in fact get to 1,237 before we get to the convention," said Steve Duprey, an RNC member from New Hampshire. "The New York results were such an overwhelming win," Duprey said. "It's impressive. That's what I've heard people talking about." RNC members said Trump could help improve the climate by taking steps to end the bad blood that has developed between him and the committee's leadership, including RNC Chairman Reince Priebus. Trump has said that Cruz's harvest of delegates in Colorado, where rank-and-file Republicans did not vote or caucus, showed that the party's nominating process is "rigged." He has wondered whether Priebus, who is popular with the RNC ranks, should continue in his job if Trump is the nominee. "I think it's time for that rhetoric to end," said Jeff Essmann, chairman of the Montana Republican Party. Bob Kapel, the RNC member representing Washington, D.C., noted that Trump had toned down his rhetoric in his New York victory speech on Tuesday night, and said he would like to see that continue. Kapel is a delegate for former candidate Marco Rubio and now backs Ohio Governor John Kasich. Nevertheless, Kapel said of Trump and the Republicans: "Were about winning the White House. Obviously, I have issues with him, but our nominee will be our nominee." South Carolina Republican Party Chairman Matt Moore said Trump's recent hiring of Rick Wiley, a Republican veteran who was former presidential candidate Scott Walker's campaign manager, was a good sign. "Its a positive signal despite a lack of general outreach over the past year, and I think the Trump campaign, for all the bluster, recognizes that the RNC will be an integral partner if he is the nominee and itll be almost impossible to win the presidency without the RNC as a partner," Moore said. In a good sign for Trump, there appeared to be no significant move by the Republican leadership, at least at this meeting, to change the rules governing the convention. There has been talk of rewriting the rules in a way that could benefit an establishment-backed candidate like Kasich. Trump, Cruz and Kasich all sent envoys to the meeting to explain their pathways to the nomination. A source familiar with the situation said Wiley and other Trump representatives were meeting with Republican officials from the five Northeastern states that will hold primary elections next Tuesday: Pennsylvania, Delaware, Connecticut, Rhode Island and Maryland. Cruz's campaign manager, Jeff Roe, held a closed-door briefing with RNC members to explain how Cruz would be a better Republican nominee than Trump, saying the U.S. senator from Texas would energize the party's grassroots supporters. Roe dismissed talk that Cruz might now be in trouble. Cruz's pathway to the nomination is now almost entirely dependent on forcing a contested convention and winning the nomination on the second or third ballot. "There's going to be ebbs and flows to this campaign," Roe told reporters. "This campaign is going through (the last primary elections on June 7 and likely to the convention." (Editing by Caren Bohan and Jonathan Oatis) By Edward Krudy and Susan Cornwell NEW YORK/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump were favored to win their parties' U.S. presidential nominating contests in New York state on Tuesday, but voting was overshadowed by official confirmation that more than 125,000 people were missing from New York City voter rolls and reports of other irregularities. New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer ordered an audit of the city elections board after it confirmed the names had been removed from voter rolls. The city has roughly 4 million voters considered active for the presidential primaries. Stringer complained in a letter to the board that it was "consistently disorganized, chaotic and inefficient." He cited faulty ballot scanners, late-opening polling stations and scant staffing. Opinion polls in New York put Clinton, 68, a former U.S. senator from the state, ahead of Brooklyn-born U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders, 74, of Vermont in the Democratic race. The state has been the scene of some of their harshest exchanges during a long campaign. Clinton hopes to recapture the momentum she lost to Sanders, winner of seven of the last eight state-by-state nominating contests. "Any double-digit win would really reassure everybody that the (Clinton) campaign is reaching the voters who are going to be the people in November that are going to carry her to victory," said Dan Fass, a longtime Democratic donor in Rye, New York. Last week, after the Democratic candidates debated in Brooklyn, Clinton aide Jennifer Palmieri sought to play down expectations by expressing skepticism about the accuracy of some polls showing Clinton with a double-digit lead. "We are always cautioning people to not put a lot of stock into public polls and particularly ones that show big leads," Palmieri said. Clinton has 1,758 of the 2,383 party convention delegates needed to win the Democratic nomination to Sanders' 1,076 delegates, according to an Associated Press tally. A total of 291 delegates are up for grabs in New York, and a big Clinton win there could make her delegate lead nearly insurmountable. During the Democrats' July 25-28 convention, the delegates will select the party's nominee to the Nov. 8 presidential election. In Democratic nominating contests, pledged delegates are awarded proportionate to the support a candidate receives in each state, while superdelegates, who make up a smaller proportion, can support any candidate. TRUMP LOOKS PAST NEW YORK Trump, 69, a New York billionaire businessman, already was looking past New York to future contests by sending Paul Manafort, who is charged with chasing the delegates needed to win the Republican nomination, to meet with lawmakers from the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate. Manafort "feels that there are four or five different pathways to 1,237," Congressman Scott Desjarlais of Tennessee said, referring to the number of delegates a candidate needs to secure the Republican nomination. Trump, front-runner for months in the Republican race, has 744 delegates, while U.S. Senator Ted Cruz, 45, of Texas has 559 and Ohio Governor John Kasich, 63, is trailing far behind with 144, according to an Associated Press count. The count includes endorsements from several delegates who are free to support the candidate of their choice. Opinion polls show Trump has a double-digit lead in New York, where the "winner takes most" primary carries 95 delegates. But a big win for Trump in the state York would not erase his vulnerabilities. If Trump does not secure enough delegates needed to win the Republican nomination outright at the party's July 18-21 convention in Cleveland, delegates would be allowed to switch to other candidates. Trump remains unpopular with the Republican leaders and activists who select and serve as delegates, whereas Cruz has invested time and money courting them. Some establishment Republicans have been alienated by Trump's more incendiary proposals, such as building a wall along the border with Mexico and slapping a temporary ban on Muslims entering the country. Trump has sought to mend fences with new hires and through contacts with party leaders in Washington. Congressman Lou Barletta of Pennsylvania said Manafort told House lawmakers the Trump campaign has an "open door." "It is good that they are reaching out to members here, to get policy ideas, and bounce ideas off," said Barletta, who has endorsed Trump. (Reporting by Edward Krudy and Susan Cornwell; Additional reporting by Amanda Becker, Emily Flitter, Steve Holland, and Luciana Lopez; Writing by Amanda Becker and Doina Chiacu; Editing by Frances Kerry and Howard Goller) Evening Standard Max Verstappen has won his second Formula One world title but is still yet to receive his official trophy. F1 is unusual in comparison to most sports, which hand out the major prize immediately after the season finishes. It has led to some atypical sights in previous years with Lewis Hamilton winning the 2019 title having finished second in Austin while he was not even on the podium when claiming the championship in Mexico a year earlier, forcing him to run around the track to enjoy a moment in front of the fans. By Mohammed Ghobari KUWAIT (Reuters) - Talks aimed at ending Yemen's war opened in Kuwait on Thursday, with Kuwait's top diplomat appealing to both sides to "turn war into peace" after more than a year of conflict which has killed more than 6,200 people and caused a humanitarian crisis. Yemen's foreign minister warned against high expectations from the U.N.-sponsored talks, which brought together the Houthi group and its General People's Congress party allies with the Saudi-backed government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi. The talks, originally scheduled to start on Monday, were delayed over accusations by the Houthi group of truce violations and disagreements over the agenda for the negotiations. Kuwait's foreign minister Sheikh Sabah al-Khalid al-Sabah, in an opening speech at Bayan Palace, urged Yemenis to "turn war into peace and backwardness into development". The talks are based on U.N. Security Council resolution 2216 which calls for the Houthis to withdraw from areas they seized since 2014 and hand heavy weapons back to the government, U.N. special envoy to Yemen Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed said. "The choice today is one of two options: a safe homeland that ensures security for all of its citizens... or remnants of a land whose sons die everyday," Ould Cheikh Ahmed said in an opening speech. The talks are expected to focus on creating a more inclusive government and restoring state authority over the country, which is now divided between the Houthis and Hadi's administration. The war has caused a major humanitarian crisis in Yemen, the poorest country in the Arabian Peninsula. Apart from the more than 6,200 killed, the United Nations says some 35,000 people have been wounded and more than 2.5 million people displaced. The fighting has also allowed the militant Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and Isalmic State to consolidate their presence in the country next door to the world's top oil exporter. The United States and the Saudi-led coalition welcomed the start of the talks. "We urge the parties to fully engage in good faith in order to end the military conflict immediately and to return to a peaceful political process," State Department spokesman John Kirby said in Washington. The Saudi-led coalition spokesman, Brigadier-General Ahmed Asseri, speaking to Dubai-based al-Arabia Television, said: "Everybody knows that the way out in the end is political, and the issue will not end through military means, and the coalition has no desire to ... prolong the situation." FIVE POINTS Ould Cheikh Ahmed outlined five points which he said were derived from U.N. Security Council resolution 2216 as the basis for the talks, officially dubbed as "consultations". These included withdrawal from cities seized by the Houthis since the crisis began in 2014, forming a more inclusive government and handing over heavy weapons to the new government. The chief Houthi negotiator, Mohammed Abdul-Salam, registered his delegation's objections to what he said were continuing air strikes by the Saudi-led coalition and to the five-point agenda outlined by Ould Cheikh Ahmed, saying they were not clear enough. The crisis began in September 2014 when the Iran-allied Houthis seized the capital Sanaa. A Saudi-led Arab alliance intervened last year, launching a campaign of mostly air strikes against the Houthis in support of Hadi's forces. The Houthi group and the GPC had accused the Saudi-led coalition and Hadi supporters of failing to honour a truce that began on April 10, and refused to send their negotiators to Kuwait until the truce was consolidated. They agreed to join the talks following intervention by the U.N. Security Council permanent members and U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. Yemeni Foreign Minister Abdel-Malek al-Mekhlafi, speaking before the talks, said the government delegation would do all it could to make the talks a success. "The Houthis and Saleh's party, by refusing to arrive on the agreed time, and by putting a series of conditions and by saying they reserve the right to boycott sessions if their conditions are met -- all of these have lowered the ceiling of expectations," Mekhlafi told Reuters. The meeting adjourned until Friday afternoon. (Additional reporting by Mahmoud Harby in Kuwait, Mostafa Hashem in Cairo and Lesley Wroughton in Washington, writing by Sami Aboudi; editing by Dominic Evans and Richard Balmforth) By Kaori Kaneko TOKYO (Reuters) - The United States will propose that President Barack Obama visits Hiroshima, Japan's Nikkei newspaper said on Friday, in what would be the first visit by an incumbent U.S. president to the city devastated by a U.S. nuclear attack 71 years ago. Citing an unidentified senior U.S. government official, the business daily said Washington planned to propose to Tokyo a visit by the president on May 27, at the end of a Group of Seven (G7) summit hosted by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. In Washington, a White House official said no decision has been made. Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga denied the visit was being arranged and declined further comment. Diplomatic protocol means any announcement should come from the U.S. side. "It is not true that a visit to Hiroshima by President Obama is being arranged between the United States and Japan," Suga told a regular news conference. "The schedule of the U.S. president is a matter for the United States to decide. The (Japanese) government will refrain from comment." A U.S. warplane dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima on Aug. 6, 1945, killing thousands of people instantly and about 140,000 by the end of that year. Nagasaki was bombed on Aug. 9, 1945, and Japan surrendered six days later. A presidential visit would be controversial in the United States if it were seen as an apology. A majority of Americans view the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki as justified to end the war and save U.S lives. The vast majority of Japanese think the bombings were unjustified. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said during a visit to the city this month that Obama wanted to travel there, although he did not know if the president's schedule when he visited Japan for the May 26-27 summit would allow him to. Hiroshima bombing survivors, and other residents, have said they hope for progress in ridding the world of nuclear weapons, rather than an apology, if Obama makes the historic visit. Hopes for Obama's visit to Hiroshima were raised after a speech in April 2009 in Prague when he called for a world without nuclear weapons. He later said he would be honoured to visit the two cities that suffered nuclear attack. Kerry, who toured the Hiroshima Peace Memorial and Museum, called its haunting displays "gut-wrenching" and said everyone should visit. The displays include photographs of badly burned victims, the tattered and stained clothes they wore and statues depicting them with flesh melting from their limbs. (Additional reporting by Chang-Ran Kim and Tim Gardner in Washington; Writing by Linda Sieg; Editing by Clarence Fernandez, Robert Birsel and Bill Trott) By Richard Valdmanis BOSTON (Reuters) - Support for Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump among his party's church-going Catholics has risen since Pope Francis suggested the U.S. businessman was not a real Christian, a Reuters/Ipsos poll shows. Trump has averaged support among 47.9 percent of Catholic Republicans in the 50 days since the leader of the world's 1.2 billion Roman Catholics made the comment on Feb. 18, up from 39.8 percent in the 50 days that preceded it. Their brief tiff is one of a series of controversies that have failed to dent the New York billionaire's popularity, including his call for a temporary ban on Muslims entering the country, his insults to women, and his plans to wall off Mexico if elected president on Nov. 8. The Reuters/Ipsos poll of 1,117 church-going Catholic Republicans had a credibility interval of 4.8 percentage points. Asked about plans for a wall on the border with Mexico, the pope said in February: "A person who thinks only about building walls, wherever they may be, and not building bridges, is not Christian. A papal spokesman later said the pontiff was "in no way" singling out Trump or trying to sway voters. The blunt candidate, after initially saying it was "disgraceful" for the pope to judge another's faith in God, said Francis was "a nice man" who was probably misinterpreted by the media. Catholics are a sizable U.S. voting bloc, comprising about a quarter of the electorate, says Georgetown University's Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate. Catholics nearly evenly split their presidential votes between Republicans and Democrats, according to a Pew Research Center analysis. 'NOT A DIRECTIVE' Part of the increase in Trump's support among Catholics is likely related to the dwindling number of Republican White House candidates, a field that has dropped from 12 in January to three - the Presbyterian Trump, U.S. Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, a Southern Baptist, and Ohio Governor John Kasich, an Anglican. But Mark Gray, a senior research associate at Georgetown, said the results also showed that Catholics who heard the pope's message about Trump were not swayed. "Many Catholics probably felt that the popes comments were not a directive on how they should vote or who they should support, and still others may never have been aware of the popes comments to begin with," he said. While opinion polls have shown few U.S. Catholics think it necessary to agree with the pope on every issue to be a faithful Church member, a Washington Post-ABC poll last September showed the pope had an 86 percent favorability rating. Father William Paul McKane, a Catholic priest in rural Montana who supports Trump, said he felt the pope's comments had backfired with his flock. "I call it paradoxical, to put it gently, that the pope said that, when he lives behind walls that are about 40 feet high and 40 feet across," he said, referring to the walls around Vatican City. "That comment hurt his credibility with my parishioners." McKane said he appreciates Trump's speaking plainly about issues like security and the economy - issues he said were in line with Christian values of protecting the innocent - even if he dislikes some of the candidate's more fiery comments. "Trumps verbiage does not sound compassionate," McKane said. "I dont hold him up as a paragon of Christian virtue, but Im not looking for that in a candidate. Im looking for someone who is prudent and can make good political decisions." CLERGY FAVOR CRUZ While support for Trump among ordinary Catholic Republicans is high - roughly equal to that among Republicans as a whole - the small sums of money flowing to the candidates from Christian priests, bishops, pastors and other clergy of all denominations tend to favor the evangelical Cruz. Cruz received $155,500 in contributions from about 380 members of the Christian clergy who each gave above the $200 reporting threshold through February, compared with about $700 from 10 people for Trump and $3,500 from nine people for Kasich. McKane is the only contributor listed in Trumps campaign finance disclosures who identified himself as a Catholic priest, based on a Reuters review. On the Democratic side, U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont - the only Jewish candidate - has received some $85,400 from about 280 people ordained for religious duty in the church, compared with about $192,500 from about 250 individuals for former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Clinton polls much better among church-going Catholic Democrats, with 67.8 percent support, compared to Sanders' 29.3 percent, according to Reuters/Ipsos polling, despite Sanders' bid to liken his view to the pope's, especially on wealth inequality and climate change. Sanders and the pope met briefly on Saturday at the Vatican, where Sanders addressed a conference on social justice. (Additional reporting by Chris Kahn and Grant Smith in New York; Editing by Howard Goller) By John Irish and Rodi Said GENEVA/QAMISHLI, Syria (Reuters) - The United States said on Thursday it was concerned about reports that Russia is moving more military equipment into Syria to bolster President Bashar al-Assad, with a truce in tatters and peace talks in meltdown. Asaad Zoubi, chief negotiator for the main Syrian opposition, the High Negotiations Committee (HNC), said all its members will leave the peace talks in Geneva by Friday, with little prospect of a resumption unless the situation on the ground changes radically. U.N. special envoy Staffan de Mistura will decide on Friday whether talks to end the five-year war that has killed at least 250,000 people can go on without the HNC, and with combatants accusing each other of breaking a February ceasefire deal. Two Western diplomats said it looked like de Mistura would continue the talks until next Wednesday given the late arrival of the Syrian government delegation. "The HNC stayed the course, including through extended technical discussions on real substance," one said. "It's natural that the special envoy may continue discussion with those still in town who have yet to offer any real ideas, to press them to do so." A second diplomat said some experts from the HNC would remain for technical consultations. HNC spokesman Salem al-Meslet suggested de Mistura might be better off preparing for the next round of talks and ensuring the government was serious. A U.S. official told Reuters on Thursday that Russia has been repositioning artillery to northern Syria -- a move that may suggest the Syrian government and its allies are preparing another assault on the divided city of Aleppo. "It's understandable that the opposition felt unable to stay further given sustained regime attacks on Syrian civilians and continuation of siege and starvation tactics," said one senior Western diplomat. "Those who back the regime need to get a leash on them." The arrival of Russian reinforcements would risk driving the war into an even higher gear. Russia's defence ministry did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed concern over a "serious degrading of the situation" at the peace talks, a Kremlin spokesman was reported as saying. The HNC, which is backed by Western nations and key Arab states, had this week urged more military support for rebels after declaring the truce was over and said talks would not re-start until the government stopped committing "massacres". The talks aim to halt a conflict that has allowed for the rise of the Islamic State group, sucked in regional and major powers and created the world's worst refugee crisis. "I'm saddened and believe it's a mistake," said a Western diplomat of the opposition's decision. "It will be very difficult to find a pretext for them to return given the situation on the ground and now the regime knows that a bombing will ensure they stay away," he said, referring to an air strike this week that killed dozens. REBELS VOW TO FIGHT ON France, which accused the government of rushing "headlong" into violence and showing its refusal to negotiate a political solution, said it would consider with other European powers and the United States the idea of convening a ministerial meeting of major powers in the next two weeks to work out what to do. "If the regime insists on stubbornness, obstruction and rejection of international resolutions, we will continue our revolution," Abdullah Othman, head of the politburo of the Levant Front rebel fighting group, told Reuters. "Our only option is to realise the revolution's goals." The crushing in March 2011 of pro-democracy protests in the southern city of Deraa triggered demonstrations across Syria that ignited into widespread unrest and a multi-sided civil war. Syria is now a patchwork of areas controlled by the government, an array of rebel groups, Islamic State, and the well-organised Kurdish YPG militia. Far from the main frontlines between government forces and rebels in western Syria, Kurdish groups were fighting one of their most serious battles yet with government forces in the northeast. A Syrian Kurdish official said more than 21 pro-Damascus militiamen had been killed in two days of battles in Qamishli, near the Turkish border. It was a rare confrontation between sides that have mostly left each other alone since the start of the conflict in 2011, and underlined growing Kurdish power that has alarmed neighbouring Turkey. Syrian government officials could not be reached for comment. With violence escalating, Syria's fragile peace talks might not resume for at least a year if they are abandoned, one senior Western diplomat warned. "DESTROYING TERRORISM" Endorsed by the U.N. Security Council, the Geneva peace talks marked the most serious effort yet to resolve the war but failed to make any progress with no sign of compromise over the main issue dividing the sides: Assad's future. Government negotiators say Assad's presidency is non-negotiable. Underlining confidence in Damascus, a top Assad aide reiterated its view that local truce agreements and "destroying terrorism" were the way towards a political solution. The opposition wants a political transition without Assad, and says the government has failed to make goodwill measures by releasing detainees and allowing enough aid into opposition-held areas besieged by the military. The war was tilted in Assad's favour last year by Russia's intervention, supported on the ground by members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps who have been bolstered recently by the arrival of members of Iran's regular army. "We've been concerned about reports of Russia moving materiel into Syria," Ben Rhodes, deputy national security adviser to President Barack Obama, said at a news briefing in Riyadh where Obama was at a summit with Gulf Arab leaders. "We think it would be negative for Russia to move additional military equipment or personnel into Syria. We believe that our efforts are best focussed on supporting the diplomatic process." Press reports in the United States indicated that Russia has moved more artillery into Syria, weeks after declaring a partial withdrawal of its military presence there. Analysts said the Kremlin had changed rather than diluted its military power by increasingly relying on helicopters to support the Syrian army. States opposed to Assad have been channelling military support to vetted rebel groups via both Turkey and Jordan, in a programme that has included military training overseen by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency. BATTLE FOR ALEPPO The U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the repositioning of Russian artillery and some forces near Aleppo followed the Syrian government's recapture of the city of Palmyra from Islamic State. The Russian military said on Thursday it had completed the demining of the ancient part of Palmyra. The widely violated truce began fraying some two weeks ago near Aleppo, where the Syrian army accused rebel groups of taking part in assaults by Islamists who are not covered by the ceasefire. Rebels say they were defending themselves from attacks by the army and its Shi'ite militia allies. Aleppo is divided into areas controlled separately by the Syrian government and opposition. To the north of the city, meanwhile rebels have been battling the Islamic State group, forcing more people to flee. Heavy air strikes have also resumed in opposition-held areas of Homs, with new battles also erupting in Latakia province. (Writing by Peter Millership, reporting by Stephanie Nebehay, Bushra Shakshir, Tom Perry, John Davison, John Irish, Phil Stewart, Roberta Rampton and Angus McDowall; Editing by Catherine Evans) We can help you make sense of the agribusiness industry, extending from chemicals and fertilizers used as inputs into agriculture, to the commodities, food and by-products that are an output to farming, with policy and regulation applied at every step of the value chain. So the researcher and the cancer survivor decided to start exploring those issues together. Now, nearly a decade later, we know a lot more about these sticky subjects, Preusse said. But theres still much more research to be done, misinformation to be corrected and teams to bring together. Her vision for Thursdays symposium was to involve patient advocates and researchers from different fields of medicine around the country in a series of discussions to identify areas where more research could have the biggest impact for patients. So maybe patients going through cancer treatments today arent going to struggle the way I struggled, she said. The myths of cancer and pregnancy The days talks spanned the gamut of cancer, pregnancy and reproductive health from preserving fertility in survivors of childhood and young adult cancers to how cancer treatments affect the unborn fetus to how pregnancy changes breast cancer risk all of which fall under the heading of oncofertility. Through all these talks a few key themes emerged. Many doctors primary care providers and oncologists included dont have the right information to communicate to their patients about fertility and pregnancy. And on top of the misinformation pervasive in parts of the medical community, theres a lot that researchers still need to know to better inform patient and provider decisions. There are several myths surrounding cancer and pregnancy, Gadi said at the symposium: Myth 1: Having a baby and breastfeeding means you cant get breast cancer. Gadis and other groups research have shown that pregnancy and breastfeeding do lower risk of breast cancer. But that protection doesnt kick in until later in life. In the interim, theres actually a transient increase in breast cancer risk lasting at least 10 years, said University of Colorado breast cancer oncologist Dr. Virginia Borges. And many dont know that breast cancers diagnosed in the few years after a woman delivers a child can be particularly aggressive and have worse outcomes, Borges said. So contrary to what many people believe and what many providers tell their patients if a woman is diagnosed with breast cancer during pregnancy, its generally a better idea to start treatment during pregnancy than wait until after delivering, she said. Gadis and other groups research have shown that pregnancy and breastfeeding do lower risk of breast cancer. But that protection doesnt kick in until later in life. In the interim, theres actually a transient increase in breast cancer risk lasting at least 10 years, said University of Colorado breast cancer oncologist Dr. Virginia Borges. And many dont know that breast cancers diagnosed in the few years after a woman delivers a child can be particularly aggressive and have worse outcomes, Borges said. So contrary to what many people believe and what many providers tell their patients if a woman is diagnosed with breast cancer during pregnancy, its generally a better idea to start treatment during pregnancy than wait until after delivering, she said. Myth 2: People treated with chemotherapy wont be able to have babies anymore. Many chemos are sterilizing, but there are a number of fertility preservation options available for women and men before they start cancer treatment. And providers should proactively broach the subject for any patient of or younger than childbearing age, said University of Washington OB-GYN Dr. Kimberly Ma. Unfortunately, many dont, as Preusse found. Many chemos are sterilizing, but there are a number of fertility preservation options available for women and men before they start cancer treatment. And providers should proactively broach the subject for any patient of or younger than childbearing age, said University of Washington OB-GYN Dr. Kimberly Ma. Unfortunately, many dont, as Preusse found. Myth 3: Pregnancy is dangerous for women whove had breast cancer, as it could trigger a recurrence. This is how I got interested in this subject, Gadi said. Analyzing data from an epidemiological study of young women with breast cancer led by Fred Hutchs Dr. Christopher Li, Gadi and his colleagues recently found that women who got pregnant after breast cancer diagnosis actually had lower rates of recurrence than those who didnt have kids. I needed that research At the patient advocate panel presentation, Cousins told the story of what happened in the years after her delivery and treatment for breast cancer. When she was diagnosed so late in her pregnancy, one of the first questions I had was, is my baby safe? she said. Her doctor assured her that he was. My next question was, can I have another child? Since she was already pregnant, she couldnt immediately preserve her eggs a woman has to be ovulating for that procedure. And although harvesting eggs after delivery and before starting treatment can be an option for some patients, Ma said, at the time Cousins doctors just told her we dont really know what to do, she said. A few years after her son was born and shed finished treatment, Cousins and her husband started thinking about another pregnancy. But there were still so many questions. Was I fertile after chemo? Would it be safe to have that estrogen floating around in my body? What if the cancer came back, could my husband raise two kids on his own? she said. The third one was personal, that was for us to discuss, but the other two really needed medical advice and research to help us answer them. The body of research around cancer, fertility, and recurrence during pregnancy was much smaller at the time, over a decade ago, Cousins said. But she and her doctors read through what research there was and decided it was likely safe for her to try to get pregnant. What inspires me to be a part of this event and why I think this work is so important is that I needed that research to help me make those very crucial decisions, she said. And there was some but we need so much more. Three and a half years after her diagnosis, Cousins delivered her second child, a healthy baby girl named Fiona. And there was no sign of the cancer coming back, and hasnt been since, she said. I cant tell you how profoundly lucky I feel and continue to feel, on so many levels, Cousins said. I so very well remember holding her that first night in the hospital after my husband and son had gone home, and just whispering in her ear, thank you for coming. I still whisper it to her, just in quiet moments. Join the conversation. Talk about this story on our Facebook page. 2016 San Francisco Workers Memorial DayRemember The Dead And Fight For The LivingDefend Our Health & Safety Rights And Our Lives And FamiliesThursday April 28, 2016 7:00PMILWU Local 34 (next to AT&T Ballpark801 2nd St. San Francisco, CaliforniaApril 28 is Workers Memorial Day and is commemorated throughout the world for workers who have died or been injured on the job and to fight for health and safety on the job for workers and the public.In California workers die nearly every day because of the lack of health and safety protection and many are sickened by toxins and workplace bullying on the job which is reaching epidemic rates.There also have been incidents of =93hanging nooses=94 put up on worksites at SF Recology and the Bay Bridge to terrorize and intimidate African American and other workers.At the same time there are only 200 Cal OSHA health and safetyinspectors for 18.5 million workers in the State and only 2,000 for the federal government. We need to demand that there be proper enforcement for health and safety violations including jail for deaths caused by violating health and safety laws.Additionally as a result of deregulation of workers compensation in California under SB 899 and SB 863 seriously injured workers have to go through hoops and a system called independent medical review to get medical treatment and the insurance controlled Workers Comp system stalls treatment and instead doctors in many cases are forced toprescribe opiate drugs that end up addicting injured workers anddestroying their lives.Under Federal and California law, workers union and unorganized are supposed to be protected when they complain to OSHA about health and safety violations. The reality is that companies and bosses regularlybully, harass and fire workers who fight for their health and safety for themselves and the public.Federal OSHA lawyer Darrell Whitman who was investigating retaliation complaints at PG&E, Fed Ex, Test America, Lockheed Martin and other companies found that there was illegal retaliation and then OSHA management with the backing of DOL Secretary Of Labor Tom Perez. OSHA managers bullied and harassed AFGE investigators and lawyers in the Whistleblower Protection Program and illegally fired Whitman for trying to defend OSHA whistleblowers. We will discuss what workers can do to protect their rights and get justice and accountability.It is time to remember the dead and fight for the living. We have aright to work in a healthy and safe workplace for ourselves and ourfamilies.Initial Speakers:Brenda Barros, SEIU 1021 SF General Hospital Chapter ChairDr. Larry Rose, Past Medical Director of Cal-OSHADaryle Washington, IBT 350 Worker At SF RecologyDaniel Berman, Health and Safety Advocate and author of =93Death on the JobDorian Maxwell, Fired MTA TWU 250A bus driver and OSHA whistleblowerRoland Sheppard, Retired Painters Local 4 BAFor more information Injured Workers National NetworkEndorsed bySMART UTU 1741, IWNN, UPWA(415)282-1908Billion Dollar Scam In California Workers Comp System Destroys Workers And Bilks The PublicApr 2, 2016 SHARECalifornias workers compensation program covers 15 million workers across the state. If you get hurt on the job fall off a ladder, for instance its the system you turn to. Most employers are required to carry workers comp insurance, which helps cover medical bills and lost wages for injured employees.But Reveal reporter Christina Jewett has discovered serious fraud in the system after reviewing thousands of documents. They show that in the last decade, more than 80 people have been accused of cheating Californias workers comp medical system out of $1 billion.Jewett and producer Delaney Hall tell the story using an undercover law enforcement wiretap and the accounts of a worker, employer and investigator.Host Al Letson then sits down with Jewett to really dig into what it is that makes workers comp such an easy target for people who want to take advantage of it.And finally, we revisit a story about the bogus screws that ended up in spines of surgery patients. You can consider it the prequel to the main investigation Profiteering masquerades as medical care for injured California workers https://www.revealnews.org/ /profiteering-masquerades-as-m/By Christina Jewett / March 31, 2016Priscilla Lujan was awake soothing her infant son at 10 p.m. and again in the middle of the night. She let him gum one of the salty pistachios she was eating. She mixed a bottle of formula at the side of their shared bed.It was the fitful kind of night thats easily forgotten after a strong cup of coffee and a shy smile from a sleep-refreshed baby.But thats not what happened the next morning. When Lujan woke up, her son not yet 6 months old on Feb. 3, 2012 was cold. His lips, blue. His eyes, half open. She screamed to her mother to call 911.At the hospital, Lujan stood in a room rocking her baby from side to side, sobbing. By then, Andrew Gallegos already was dead.Police showed up at Lujans East Los Angeles home about a week later more than a dozen of them. They seized her medications. They handcuffed her and drove her to the police station, where a detective demanded answers: Why did her baby have toxic levels of pain medicine in his bloodstream?During the interview, it dawned on Lujan: The pain cream she had slathered on her knee had gotten into her sons mouth, through the pistachio and bottle of formula.Photos of tubes of pain cream seized from Priscilla Lujans home were presented to an Orange County grand jury. Prosecutors alleged that businessman Kareem Ahmed helped formulate the toxic cream and was culpable in the death of Lujans infant son.Credit: Orange County Superior CourtOh my God, I killed my baby, she told the detective.Soon after, the focus of the case shifted. The new target was Kareem Ahmed, a millionaire businessman who made his fortune selling medicated creams for patients like Lujan, who struggled with pain after an injury on the job.Ahmed eventually would be indicted for involuntary manslaughter in Andrews death and accused of a far more sweeping crime: paying more than $25 million in bribes to doctors, including Lujans, who prescribed the pain-relief creams.To the people who combat fraud in Californias $24 billion workers compensation system, the case exemplifies unchecked profiteering that jeopardizes injured workers health and lives.It is one of more than a dozen cases that, taken together, outline a medical landscape in which corruption masquerades as medical care for some of Californias injured workers.A review of thousands of criminal court records by Reveal from The Center for Investigative Reporting shows a system in which pay-to-play schemes trump patient care, particularly in unregulated treatments rejected by insurers and disputed in obscure courts throughout the state.Prosecutors are beginning to turn the tide, pursuing charges against more than 80 medical professionals whove handled more than 100,000 injured-worker cases, most of them originating in Southern California.Defendants include a physician assistant accused of aggravated mayhem after he operated on dozens of injured workers knees and shoulders, despite lacking surgical training. The outcomes often were disastrous.It still hurts today, one worker testified in 2015, describing his unsuccessful 2010 shoulder surgery through an interpreter. I cant, you know, bend my arm, really.Along with the court records, Reveal analyzed data from more than a million workers compensation court cases, which show that over the last decade, workers have been swept into medical billing mills, prescribed unregulated medications and advised to undergo sometimes unneeded or high-risk surgery by doctors who were raking in bribes.RATHER LISTEN TO THE STORY?Subscribe to the Reveal podcast to get this and other stories.Prosecutors estimate that the accused have burdened the system with more than $1 billion in demands for money intended to help injured workers get back on the job.The cases are being fought vigorously at every turn. Ahmeds attorney secured an early victory, getting all but one count in his indictment thrown out; the prosecutor says she will refile the charges. Other attorneys defending the accused say the barrage of cases is a witch hunt that scares medical providers away from the system, limiting workers access to care.Taken together, the alleged schemes inject cynicism into a system in which workers already are at odds with insurers, which can save money when they deny care. They heap costs in the form of higher premiums on employers, who in turn raise prices for goods or services or stem hiring as they pay the highest workers compensation rates in the nation.Workers such as Tammy Martinez, though, pay the greatest price. The 56-year-old truck driver hurt her back pushing a 1-ton cart.The workers compensation attorney whom she relied on to help her navigate the system pleaded guilty in 2014 to being part of a criminal club: people taking bribes from hospital executive Michael Drobot.Drobot had pleaded guilty in early 2014 to paying at least $20 million in kickbacks to dozens of marketers, doctors and others who helped him fill the surgery suites at the now-defunct Pacific Hospital of Long Beach. Federal prosecutors linked the bribes to more than 4,400 risky spinal operations at the hospital.Martinezs lawyer, Sean OKeefe, recommended that she see a surgeon, who, she later would learn, also was accused of taking bribes from Drobot. OKeefes guilty plea singles out Martinezs case as one spurred by illegal bribes and a conspiracy compelling her surgeon to perform a particularly complex and expensive operation.Michael Drobot, executive of the now-defunct Pacific Hospital of Long Beach, pleaded guilty in 2014 to paying at least $20 million in bribes to bring spinal surgeries to his hospital.Credit: Pacific Hospital of Long Beach website via Archive.orgWhen it came time for Martinezs spinal surgery in October 2011, all did not go well. Doctors noted that after the procedure, her left foot grew pale and pulseless. Within weeks, her leg had to be amputated above the knee.Since then, she said, its been a difficult journey to learn to stand again and to discover that her young grandson was not, in fact, afraid of her.I lost myself, Martinez said. I struggle every day to get the person I used to be back.Across Southern California, Reveal found, companies employ intensive marketing to tap into a particularly vulnerable segment of the workforce. They blanket Spanish-language media with ads and target Latinos with calls to their homes. They suggest that filing a case could lead to a windfall.Receive up to $4,000 per month, proclaim Spanish-language signs, business cards and fliers posted across Southern California. One workers compensation attorney troubled by the ads called the number out of curiosity. After that, messages from a buzzing call center lit up his phone five times a day for months.Callers wanted to know if I knew anyone who had been injured, San Diego attorney John A. Don said, if I could refer anyone to them.Christine Baker, director of the state Department of Industrial Relations, which administers workers compensation, initially responded to questions with a statement noting that other state authorities oversee medical providers and health fraud. But two weeks ago, she said her department had taken a closer look at unregulated medical care, and we know theres a problem.We want workers to get appropriate care, she said. We dont want overcare or undercare; either way is wrong. Delivery of care needs to be evidence-based, appropriate and quickly delivered.Baker said medical abuse is a symptom of a deeper problem, particularly in Southern California.There, workers comp stands out as an easy target for scammers. While health care programs such as Medicare have developed an arsenal of weapons to ward off fraud, California state regulators have few tools at their disposal. For one thing, the state shares oversight with hundreds of insurers and self-insured employers, leaving no one clearly in charge.Prosecutors filing a growing parade of cases are exposing this leadership vacuum and how it allows operatives to bypass the most competent medical providers for the highest bidder. Workers whove been hurt on the job often are the last to find out that they have been exploited if they find out at all.Were talking about a patient that has become a commodity, said Don Marshall, chairman of the states Fraud Assessment Commission, which distributes funds to prosecutors who fight workers compensation fraud. Its become something to trade and sell on the open market for no other reason than to generate income.Nobody cares about workers compAs investigators began to puzzle over the 2012 death of Andrew Gallegos, it did not take them long to realize they already had a window into the world of the man who ultimately would be charged in the case.Businessman Kareem Ahmed has been accused of paying more than $25 million in kickbacks to doctors in a workers compensation fraud scheme.Credit: Paul A. Hebert/Invision/AP fileKareem Ahmed was the owner of Landmark Medical Management. He is not a pharmacist. But prosecutors, in the continuing legal case against him related to Andrews death, would point out that he still delved into the science of mixing medications to formulate pain creams.Ahmeds goal, they allege, was not to make the most effective salve, but the most profitable one. Experts would testify that, if ingested, the opioid-infused cream was a loaded gun that could kill an adult. His firms billed insurers $400 to $1,700 per tube for creams sent to Priscilla Lujan, totaling $59,000, court records show.An undercover recording made nearly four years before Ahmeds indictment gives a wider view of the world of workers compensation medical executives. In that recording, Ahmed makes it clear that many of them are up to no good and no one is stopping them.Businessman Cyrus Sorat secretly recorded the conversation. Also in the pain cream business, Sorat was working for federal prosecutors as part of an agreement to seek leniency in a separate workers compensation fraud case.As the two men shared a leisurely lunch at an upscale restaurant in Ontario, California, Ahmed marveled over the scale of the exploits of others who, like him, made their millions off health care for injured workers.One stood out, he said, for paying doctors up to $50,000 a month to perform invasive and risky back surgeries: Drobot, the Long Beach hospital executive who eventually would plead guilty to bribing the surgeons.How come nobody does anything to him, man? Ahmed implores in the recording, pounding the table.When it comes to workers comp, nobody cares. Kareem Ahmedowner of Landmark Medical Management, in a secretly recorded conversation with businessman Cyrus SoratSorat lowers his voice. Let me tell you something. If you do Medicare the feds hang you, he says.Oh, I know, thats why I never touch Medicare, Ahmed says.But when it comes to workers comp, Sorat continues.Nobody gives a fuck, Ahmed finishes the sentence.Nobody cares, Sorat agrees. Ahmed laughs.The men go on to discuss other workers compensation moguls. They cluck about a former chiropractor who they say had gotten a multimillion-dollar settlement from a large insurer. Sorat calls him a criminal.SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTERStay up to date with the latest investigations and episodes from Reveal delivered to your inbox.Yeah, and then he gets money. Hes wanted in six different states, Ahmed said. But nobody did anything. Nobody does shit.They also talk about David Wayne Fish, a businessman who pleaded no contest in 2010 to taking money for patient referrals. He was accused of organizing dozens of lawyers and doctors to steer more than 4,000 cases to preferred medical providers and run up high bills.Fishs sentence: probation, fines and an order to stop demanding the $60 million he was seeking from insurers.Hes walking! What happened to him? Nothing, Ahmed said. Six fucking years of (investigation), thousands of hours, and hes walking? Hell make a $100 million in one year again.When it comes to workers comp, Sorat said.Ahmed finished his sentence once again: Yeah, nobody cares.Abuse abounds in specialized courtsOn a sunny Monday in November, the workers compensation court in Marina del Rey is swarming with activity. Lawyers weave down the halls from small courtroom to courtroom and gather in clusters. Others fervently broker deals on their cellphones.There are 24 courts like this up and down the state. But the activity is particularly frenetic in Southern California, where the paperwork that fuels the courts pace comes in by the virtual truckload.Christine Baker, director of the California Department of Industrial Relations, says her department has taken a closer look at unregulated medical care, and we know theres a problem.Credit: California Department of Industrial RelationsThese courts spend the bulk of their time settling liens claims for payments that medical and other service providers file against insurers or self-insured employers.The lien system was created to protect the injured worker. It guarantees that even if insurers deny medical care, workers will have a medical professional to whom they can turn.But the system also throws its doors open to providers excluded from insurers networks of preferred professionals. It allows thousands of unregulated entities to bill for any treatment, whiz-bang device, pain cream or DNA test. The only limit is the providers willingness to roll the dice on how much money theyll rake in at workers comp courts.The lien system thrives in California more than in any other state. One national insurance executive estimated in 2010 that his company does one-fifth of its business in California but deals with more than four-fifths of its liens there.That volume creates a very thick forest for thieves and scoundrels to hide out in, said Lachlan Taylor, a former special counsel to the Department of Industrial Relations who analyzed the lien system in 2010.His work informed a 2012 law that cut down on liens with a new $150 fee required to demand payment in workers compensation courts. It also gave insurers new powers to deny money to providers that arent approved to treat injured workers.Yet claims for unapproved care still are cropping up, said Baker, the Department of Industrial Relations chief. And the number of liens filed last year is even higher than it was when Taylor initially concluded that the system rewards bad behavior.Baker said her department has begun reviewing the medical providers who currently file the largest number of liens. The result: We do note that many are (criminally) indicted.The shifting array of schemes is difficult for government authorities to track, much less for workers such as Denise Rivera. Her medical care providers amassed bills or liens amounting to $95,000. Yet the knee she sought help with continues to ache, swell and give out.She injured it while working at a center for severely disabled children, a nursing assistant job she loved. She worked the night shift, feeding children, turning them when they slept and getting them ready for the next day.When you came in, (the kids) had a smile for you, said Rivera, who lives in Riverside County.Two days after Thanksgiving in 2011, she slipped and fell while giving a child a shower. Rivera said she immediately felt paralyzed by leg and back pain. Her companys doctor said she needed knee surgery, but her employers insurance company denied the request.Rivera saw a commercial on TV for legal help with a work-injury case, called the number and got connected to California Injury Lawyer Inc. The Corona-based company sent people to her house to take her information and referred her to a Riverside clinic, she said.Theyre intrusive. I have people tell me that theyll call every single day. Teena BartonICW Group Insurance Cos. special investigator, on marketers and advertisersTeena Barton is familiar with this kind of advertising through her work as a special investigator in San Diego for the ICW Group Insurance Cos., a workers compensation insurance firm.Barton said marketers and advertisers are invasive, often pressuring workers to refer friends and co-workers, who get cold calls at home. She said workers often are pressured into filing work injury claims and put on a lengthy course of medical treatment.The problem is once youre on that wave, that waves going to take you, Barton said. Thats what the system is. Multiple medical proceduresThe people who asked Denise Rivera, 54, to sign papers advised her to report to a Riverside clinic, she said.The clinic packed her schedule with appointments. Clinic staff gave her what looked like a school lunch menu, with the names of doctors and companies she was expected to see three times per week.Rivera cobbled together the gas money or borrowed family members cars to make her appointments. She sat in the clinics jammed waiting room for hours at a time and watched medical staff wheel in suitcases full of devices to treat workers.Denise Rivera said she didnt work for four years while waiting for her workers compensation case to be resolved. She ultimately got a settlement for $32,500 about a years pay.Credit: John M. Blodgett for RevealShe said she received MRIs, acupuncture, shockwave therapy and treatments with a device that seemed like a jackhammer thumping her knee. At one point, clinic staff sent her home with an electrical pain treatment device, but they forgot to include the electrode pads needed to make it work.Pain creams that seemed like Bengay, according to Rivera, arrived in the mail. For those creams alone, records show that Kareem Ahmeds company billed $17,102. Ahmed is the pain-cream executive who was charged in baby Andrew Gallegos death. The pharmacist who made 145,000 tubes of cream for his company got $35 to $72 per tube, public records say.Records in Riveras case show the total bill sent by providers to the insurer for her care: $95,257. She had never seen that total, and it shocked her.No way, she said, then added: None of the treatments theyve given me has helped.Rivera said she did not work for four years while waiting for her workers compensation case to be resolved. Penniless, she set up her bedroom in her mothers garage.She ultimately got a settlement in the case to compensate her for a permanent disability. The amount was $32,500 about what she would have made in one year at work.Going after The GodfatherRiverside County prosecutors now allege that Rivera walked into a clinic, with eight affiliate sites, that ran a $122 million scam.They filed charges in July 2014 against attorney Cary Abramowitz and chiropractor Peyman Heidary. Prosecutors say in court records that Heidary is nicknamed The Godfather for masterminding the profit-centered medical network that Rivera encountered.Heidary is accused of controlling medical treatment at the clinics, even though hes not a doctor, which is a crime in California. Prosecutors say he also illegally owned and controlled law offices, even though hes not a lawyer.Prosecutors claim that workers came into the network via cappers people paid to recruit patients who got referrals from English- and Spanish-language 800 numbers. At Heidarys direction, clerical staff allegedly padded the cases with additional supposedly injured body parts, according to court records.Of the $122 million Heidarys group sought, one document from prosecutors indicates that it had collected $18 million from insurers as of April 2015.Rivera said the allegations were bad news for her, given that she trusted the legal and medical professionals to fight for her best interests.It makes me angry, she said. I kind of want to cry.Basically, I got screwed. Denise Riveraformer nursing assistantHeidary has pleaded not guilty. His attorney, Michael Khouri, said the case lacks legal and factual merit and has ruined Heidarys reputation. All the care, he said, was medically necessary.When told about Riveras plight, Khouri said hes not moved by the case of one worker disappointed with her care, given that patients die in the best hospitals all the time.Workers compensation court records show that Heidarys clinic dropped claims in May for payment in Riveras case. Attorneys involved in the case say the bills were resolved in a confidential settlement.Workers struggle physically and legallyState and federal prosecutors have filed cases against more than 80 people for medical scams victimizing injured workers since 2010. The cases are moving forward in courthouses from Fresno to San Diego and are shaping up to be vigorous fights, with defendants battling every step of the way.Parallel civil lawsuits also have emerged. They tend to pit insurers against medical providers in disputes over money.But little is being done in any of the legal venues for injured workers whove been victimized.Roger Browns doctor advised him to undergo back surgery in 2011 at Pacific Hospital of Long Beach, at the height of the cash-for-surgery scam. The operation did not go well, and he now relies on a caretaker to help him each day.Credit: Annie Tritt for RevealMany, such as Denise Rivera, sign away their rights to future medical treatment in workers compensation cases. Others move forward with their lives, debilitated by medical care that left them worse off and unaware of the dynamics that shaped medical decisions.That latter group includes Roger Brown, 59.His back hurt badly after he was rear-ended in a car, but he still could work as a private investigator for a Riverside County law firm. He went fishing nearly every weekend and looked forward to annual deep-sea expeditions.Browns doctor advised him to undergo back surgery in January 2011 at Pacific Hospital of Long Beach, where, Brown recalled, he just felt the care was better. That was at the height of the cash-for-surgery scam.The surgery did not go well. During the first attempt to drill screws into Browns spine, the doctor drove special hardware 9 millimeters into his spinal cord. Even heavily medicated, the pain was unbearable.I would have taken my own life if I could have, Brown said. It was excruciating pain.He underwent a second surgery to fix the problem but emerged unable to drive or even work. Brown relies on a caretaker to help him each day.In one type of fraud in the California workers compensation system, patients were advised to undergo high-risk surgeries by doctors who were raking in bribes.Credit: Praisaeng/Shutterstock.comThe doctor who advised Brown to undergo the surgery in Long Beach has been accused of taking kickbacks from Michael Drobot, the executive who pleaded guilty to bribing doctors to operate at his hospital. Another surgeon who assisted in the case faces the same accusations.Brown was so disgusted by the care that he sued for malpractice in April 2012. He didnt get far before he decided to drop the case. As for the civil bribery accusations against his doctors, I never heard anything like that, Brown said.Even if Brown had known about the illegal profiteering allegations over his medical care, its not clear that it would have gotten him anywhere.Workers whove sustained medical harm under workers comp have little recourse, according to Irvine attorney Kevin Liebeck, partly because there is so little money in it for patients or lawyers.Lawyers are reluctant to take medical malpractice cases due to caps on payouts in place since the 1970s, said Liebeck, a partner in a firm that takes such cases. Attorneys who want to help workers also are unlikely to go after a doctor for fraud because doctors liability insurance usually does not cover fraudulent care.And most lawyers, he said, know that means theyll be left struggling to get money from a doctor who can easily hide it.If you do stuff that is beyond the pale and make a lot of money on it, even if you get caught and get a lot of grief, you will ultimately get out ahead, Liebeck said. Crime does pay for a lot of this stuff.Cases move forward for high-profile defendantsWhether coming out ahead is the case for some of the high-profile defendants in workers compensation fraud cases remains to be seen.Drobot, the Long Beach hospital executive, faces sentencing in June for paying bribes to pack his surgery suites with workers. He also pleaded guilty to bribing former state Sen. Ronald Calderon, who is fighting accusations in a separate case for delaying legislation that cut into the astronomical profit Drobot and others made on spinal surgery hardware. Drobot declined to comment.Cyrus Sorat, the pain-cream businessman who made the audio recording of his friend Kareem Ahmed, went to prison in 2013 following his stint as a confidential witness for prosecutors. The judge who sentenced Sorat described his undercover work as active and significant, saying it would be valuable in multiple cases.RELATEDHow Californias health care system for workers forgot about fraudAlthough he faced a possible sentence of up to six and a half years, Sorat ultimately served two years in federal prison in California for mail fraud. He pleaded guilty to selling worthless billing rights to a third-party firm for pain creams that never were delivered to workers.Sorat now faces new insurance fraud charges, also over his pain cream business. He has pleaded not guilty in the case, and his attorney did not return calls seeking comment.Ahmed is fighting the case prosecutors filed against him in 2014. His attorney, Benjamin Gluck, said their early success in throwing out most of Ahmeds indictment speaks loudly about the quality of the allegations and, needless to say, we emphatically dispute them.Gluck noted that the undercover tapes obtained by Reveal contain no incriminating statements by Ahmed.From what Ahmed told Sorat in their freewheeling conversation in 2010, criminal charges were not a fate he expected. Ahmed confided then that he had a plan for his millions. He wanted to build a childrens hospital in San Bernardino County a Cedars-Sinai for kids. But, he lamented, nobody believes me.Ahmed faces another legal challenge. Priscilla Lujan filed a civil lawsuit against Ahmed and her doctor in 2013. Lujan declined to be interviewed for this article, but a transcript in Ahmeds criminal case details the hours of Andrews death and all that her encounter with Ahmeds company cost her.After losing her baby, she testified, Ahmeds companies kept sending the pain cream to her home and billing insurers for them $33,000 in all. She threw the boxes in her garage. She also lost custody of her older son. Child welfare officials declared her home unsafe, she said, because they believed she fed the toxic cream to her baby.Holes in oversight leave California workers comp vulnerable to fraud https://www.revealnews.org/ /holes-in-oversight-leave-cali/Topics: Health Care / Health Care ScamsBy Christina Jewett / April 4, 2016In many ways, scamming the health system meant to heal Californias injured workers is just too easy.Anyone can hang out a shingle and purport to be a medical vendor or caregiver by sending a letter to the state no proof required. Unscrupulous providers can run up tens of thousands of dollars in bills for meaningless drug tests, salves and medical equipment, knowing that injured workers never will lay eyes on the bill.The gaps in oversight are so tempting that one prosecutor says scammers test-drive ways to fleece the system, often pocketing millions before anyone in a vast market of insurers catches on.They study the weaknesses of the system and exploit it, said Shaddi Kamiabipour, an Orange County deputy district attorney.Kamiabipour is among the legion of state and federal prosecutors throughout California who maintain that more than $1 billion has been siphoned out of the system.Yet their case documents reveal something else: gaping holes in the states strategy to prevent fraud. The architects of other major health programs shored up similar weaknesses long ago. Here is a comparison:Consolidate the powerWhen Medicare makes rules, it has a strong incentive to encourage doctors, pharmacists and others to follow them: money.The pursWhen everyone is responsible, no one is, said Kate Zimmermann, a Kern County prosecutor who has combated workers compensation fraud for eight years. He who has the gold can write the rules. If you have one checkbook, you can say, If you want the check, this is how. Leveraging the power to zip the wallet, the federal Affordable Care Act handed a particularly powerful fraud-fighting tool to state Medicaid agencies. They must stop paying a health care provider if they determine there is a credible allegation of fraud. Medical providers then can fight the determination in administrative courts.No such rule exists in Californias workers compensation program. Yet the facts outlined in one case suggest it could have spared numerous questionable surgeries.Dr. Douglas Mills testified in court that in 2007, he formally complained about a clinic at which he saw an improbable number of MRI reports come back supporting the case for surgery.In my opinion, people were getting hurt, so I wanted to stop it, Mills said of his experience at San Fernando-based Frontline Medical Associates. Court records show that a state insurance department investigation was underway even before Mills report.Further testimony confirmed Mills suspicions, including a clinic staff member who said she was paid a bonus to falsify MRI reports, bolstering the case for surgery. The revelations came to light last year eight years after Mills initial complaint when 15 people related to the clinic werecriminally indicted. The charges in the pending case include aggravated mayhem for surgeries that prosecutors deemed inappropriate.Root out sham facilitiesMedicare officials know scammers can be brazen enough to steal patient identities, fabricate a sham medical office and bill for phantom care. As a result, the federal program has set up a system to check on medical offices.Medicare uses its own data to determine whether classes of providers with track records of graft are medium or high risk, such as wheelchair merchants and home health agencies.Both types of providers are visited when they initially open, three or five years later depending on the industry and whenever officials get a complaint. A government-contracted auditor interviews operators and takes a look behind the counter, according to Jason Weinstock, a former supervisory investigator for the U.S. Health and Human Services Departments inspector general.In Californias workers compensation system, no such data reviews or facility vetting occur on a regular basis. In fact, no central authority performs inspections to make sure medical firms are doing what they claim to do.Insurers can steer workers to a network of hand-picked medical providers. But a shadow system operates to the side, in which workers can get medical care from thousands of unregulated providers who seek payment later in workers compensation courts.In that vacuum of oversight, James Allen Wilson saw a golden opportunity.Wilson worked in the billing department at a hospital, where he had access to the personal information of workers compensation patients. Using their information, he set up a fake lab, billed for bogus services and started collecting $354,000 in checks at a post office box.He got caught, according to news reports, when a savvy claims adjuster noted that he billed to perform tests on a dead man.Wilson pleaded guilty to identity theft, grand theft and insurance fraud in 2009. In the years since, no checks of workers compensation medical providers have been instituted.Empower workers to identify bogus billsKim Reeder of Sherman Oaks, Calif., requested a copy of her workers compensation medical records and discovered bills for transportation and language-interpreting services she never used.Credit: Christina Jewett/RevealAlbert MacKenzie, a former Los Angeles County prosecutor familiar with the Wilson case, said the oversight gaps are compounded by the fact that workers dont have a way to flag bogus care. Unlike in Medicare or employer-paid health care, injured-worker patients arent mailed an explanation of benefits, or a summary of the services and charges related to their health care.When you have a system that doesnt even send a patient a copy of whats being billed for, its just Dodge City; open season for fraud, MacKenzie said. Its just a massive cesspool.Kim Reeder, a worker who requested her medical records and discovered bills for transportation and language-interpreting services she never used, said mailing such information to workers would be beneficial.Id like to see all workers have their billing, said Reeder, of Sherman Oaks. If that happens, all this can go away. I just think California is made of significantly more honest people than dishonest people.State labor officials say theyve tried to clamp down on the unregulated care through legislation that gives insurers the power to deny payment for unapproved health treatments. Despite the law, though, such bills for unapproved care remain commonplace in the states small workers compensation courts.Ban providers convicted of fraudIn Medicare, medical professionals may be banned from seeking money to see patients if theyve been convicted of defrauding a health care program or fraud-related offenses.But those banned providers have no problem starting a second career in Californias workers compensation system.Medicare banned Dr. Thomas Heric in 2006 after he pleaded guilty to charges related to writing reports based on diagnostic tests that turned out to be fraudulent. In his letter to the judge who sentenced him, Heric pledged that going forward, he would use whatever talents I may have in service to the community.Heric then found a new line of work in the workers compensation medical system. His job was to review data on injured workers sleep patterns and issue reports needed to bill insurers.Five years later, prosecutors accused Heric of fraud again. They say he was writing virtually identical reports that gave rise to sham billing. One expert testified in court that Herics sleep-study reports were so bad that they failed to address one workers serious breathing problems for months, a lapse that he said could harm the general public.That case is pending in Orange County Superior Court. Herics attorney, Robert Moest, said Heric stands by the reports and is fighting the charges.There are different opinions in the scientific community, Moest said. It shouldnt be the matter of a criminal charge.A Reveal analysis of public records found that several other chiropractors and doctors banned by Medicare moved their career to workers compensation.Among them: chiropractor David C. Nguyen. Medicare banned him in 2005 over an insurance fraud conviction. Earlier this year, San Diego prosecutors indicted him for insurance fraud again, this time for passing along bribes from a chiropractor to a therapy center both workers compensation medical providers.Look at whos running the placeMedicare doesnt bar just doctors, pharmacists and chiropractors with histories of fraud. It also takes a look at whos in charge.Officials with the Department of Health and Human Services inspector generals office will investigate clinic operators ownership and ban those with a 5 percent or greater stake who have a history of certain fraud convictions, according to Jason Weinstock. The rule covers direct and indirect ownership.No such rule exists in workers comp. State labor department officials said they do not have the authority to review the practices of medical professionals.Instead, they said in a statement, the boards that issue licenses to medical providers are the appropriate authority for regulation and review. Yet no board or commission checks whos running workers compensation clinics.The states chiropractic board stripped Fred Khalili of his license anddenied his attempt to get it back in 2013. But he still signs physicians paychecks at two Los Angeles County workers compensation clinics.Khalilis legal problems started in 1995, when an FBI agent informed him that he was under investigation for paying $135,000 in kickbacks to auto-injury lawyers. Khalili was seeing a steady flow of patients whod been hurt in car crashes, court records say.Facing an indictment, he began to work undercover for the FBI. He recorded phone conversations with lawyers who demanded a cut of his medical treatment income in exchange for a parade of patients. He even went to the office of one lawyer who was believed to be a member of a Russian gang and kept a gun in his desk drawer, according to court records.Khalili ultimately pleaded guilty to wire fraud and tax evasion and lost his chiropractic license in 2000. Twelve years later, he returned to the chiropractic board, hoping to get his license reinstated. The board refused, citing subsequent arrests for vandalism, a hit-and-run collision, driving without a license and making harassing phone calls. He appealed the decision to a higher court but lost.Khalili remains heavily involved in workers compensation clinics, something that would draw scrutiny under Medicares rules as a fraud prevention measure. In the vacuum of such oversight in workers compensation, prosecutors now are pursuing charges against Khalili.He was accused in February of insurance fraud for accepting kickbacks on behalf of First Choice Healthcare Medical Group clinics in Los Angeles and Panorama City. In exchange for the kickbacks, he directed staff at the clinics to dispense expensive pain creams to injured workers, the case alleges.The charges against Khalili say he directed an attorney in 2009 to put the clinic ownership in the name of a physician, but Khalili controls the bank accounts. Attorney Malcolm McNeil, who advises First Choice, said Khalili does not own the clinics.Khalili has not entered a plea in the case, and his criminal attorney did not return calls for comment.Free the dataFrank Neuhauser, a UC Berkeley researcher whos studied the California workers compensation system for 25 years, says opening up billing data would be politically difficult.Credit: UC Berkeley Institute for the Study of Societal IssuesLast summer, Medicare released millions of records detailing the services and charges of doctors across the nation. The federal agency billed it as a move to promote better care, smarter spending, and healthier people.The Medicare data identifies doctors billing practices down to the specifictest or treatment.A flood of news stories based on the data followed, identifying high-billing doctors who also were in the crosshairs of law enforcement.Among them was a Florida physicianaccused in a Justice Department lawsuit of performing invasive procedures to clean out seniors arteries even if they didnt need it. Another top biller is accused of reaping millions for diagnosing seniors with an eye malady that leads to blindness, whether or not they had the ailment.No such transparency effort sheds light on health care spending in Californias workers compensation program. Public records in workers comp cases are limited to the names of medical providers seeking money in contested court cases.Barbara Wynn, a Rand Corp. expert who was commissioned by the state to study health spending in its workers comp program, has access to the data as a researcher. She said making it available to the public could deter questionable practices: It could start fingering potential fraud situations.Yet the data she has seen is riddled with gaps, she said. She said rules that allow the state to fine insurers that fail to report data are seldom enforced.If youre going to profile whats happening, youre only looking at half a deck, Wynn said. She added that California labor department officials have sanction authorities, and they need to exercise it. Texas does, Florida does; they really come down on it.California labor officials estimated that about 20 percent of the billing data is missing but said they are writing letters and following up with insurers to encourage them to report all required data.Similar data is used in Medicare to identify aberrations and notify doctors when their treatment practices appear unusual. Its the kind of notice that two California physicians who ended up testifying in a fraud proceeding could have used.Dr. Javier Torres testified that in his 17 years of performing nerve tests on patients, he never did a single fiber nerve test.That testimony came in a 2014 fraud case. Orange County prosecutors claim physician Sim Hoffmans office billed for more than $9 million worth of single fiber EMG tests that it was not even equipped to perform.During the test, a hair-thin needle is dipped into a muscle to detect the nerve jitters that are the hallmark of a disease called myasthenia gravis, which causes weakness and difficulty breathing. Its believed to be a disease youre born with not something you pick up at work or from doing heavy labor.That didnt stop Hoffmans office from billing for 18 such procedures in Torres name, for a total of more than $8,000, according to court testimony. Hoffman has pleaded not guilty to insurance fraud, and his attorney said in a court filing that the charges against him are so vague and voluminous that he has no meaningful way to mount an adequate defense.Opening up billing data would be politically difficult, said Frank Neuhauser, a UC Berkeley researcher whos studied the California workers compensation system for 25 years. Some doctors and attorneys for injured workers could see their income fall if excessive care is reined in.But for workers who get questionable surgeries or treatments, and for employers who foot the bill, he said, it would be the right thing to do.How Californias health care system for workers forgot about fraud https://www.revealnews.org/ /how-californias-health-care-s/Topics: Health Care / Health Care ScamsBy Christina Jewett / March 31, 2016The history of fraud in the California medical system meant to help injured workers goes back decades. And there are strong signs that the latest wave of criminal prosecutions might not mark the final chapter.RELATEDProfiteering masquerades as medical care for injured California workersThe 102-year-old system is built on a simple bargain. Workers give up the right to sue for injuries sustained on the job. In exchange, about 15 million people covered by workers compensation insurance in California expect access to free and readily available medical care.State officials focused on delivering care to workers neglected to build safeguards into the system, according to Dale Banda, a former head of enforcement for the California Department of Insurance.Youre dealing with a program that was designed from the beginning not to incorporate fraud as a component, he said.It took nearly 80 years for lawmakers to establish the California Department of Insurances Fraud Assessment Commission, which collects money from workers compensation insurers and distributes it to prosecutors who press the cases.That was 1991. By then, the system had developed a culture of corruption.The fraud was so blatant in 1993 that James Little, then president of a workers compensation insurance firm, worked with a colleague to pitch the story to television outlets.Primetime Live wound up capturing footage of cappers, people paid to recruit patients. They trolled unemployment lines trying to lure laid-off workers to clinics. Journalists put hidden cameras in a fake workers comp clinic and recorded jockeying for kickbacks in exchange for patient referrals.In 1993, Primetime Live recorded cappers, people paid to recruit patients for workers compensation clinics. The practice is illegal.Credit: Primetime LiveThe sham clinics leader, using the pseudonym Paul Morgan, confessed on camera that he wanted to help clean up the system having participated in a half-billion dollars worth of fraud.He recalled that when he was in business, recruiters brought his clinic so many uninjured workers that we would be surprised and really didnt know what to do with a person who came through with a legitimate injury.Little recalls the era: It was way out of control.And it seemed to get even worse. The system costs more than doubled from $9.5 billion in 1995 to $25 billion in 2002.In 2004, a state audit found across-the-board shortcomings in state officials efforts to measure and investigate workers compensation fraud.That was when the new governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, aimed his star power squarely at the problem of soaring workers compensation costs. He swept through Costco warehouse stores from Burbank to Sacramento with TV cameras trailing him, warning that the problem could force companies out of state.Schwarzenegger brokered a reform deal with lawmakers that brought down costs, but it is difficult to tell whether it had an impact on fraud as well. State government leaders responsible for workers compensation long have struggled to measure the medical fraud problem.The states Department of Insurance commissioned a 2008 study, which concluded that the states employers were footing the bill for up to $1.3 billion a year in erroneous payments. The report dealt with errors instead of fraud, it said, because identifying fraud would mean proving criminal intentions.The overall error rate was about twice the current rate in Medicare and Medicaid.Malcolm Sparrow, a Harvard University management professor, created the method that California officials used to reach the conclusions. He said in an interview that government officials must be willing to measure fraud to control it and then make key changes. The next step, he said, is to conduct a follow-up study to see whether the errors are falling off.It takes a high degree of political courage to do a measurement program rigorously, Sparrow said. You have to be prepared to deal with the huge embarrassment of failure.RATHER LISTEN TO THE STORY?Subscribe to the Reveal podcast to get this and other stories.California officials never followed up using the same measurement, leaving no way to determine whether they have succeeded at reducing errors. Instead, the Department of Industrial Relations commissioned a study, unveiled last year, that used different methods to examine medical spending in workers compensation.That study still found problems. Even though workers were not getting hurt worse or more often on the job, medical costs had climbed $1.6 billion from 2007 to 2012.Barbara Wynn, a researcher with the Rand Corp., led that second study. Her preliminary findings suggest one significant cost driver was the overuse of MRI studies, particularly in Southern California. The MRIs, she said, often were done too early in the course of medical treatment to be clearly medically necessary.Wynns discovery raises the specter that some of those MRIs might have been part of a scam to drum up business.Indictments unsealed in January show that two firms specializing in MRIs were part of kickback schemes meant to guarantee a steady stream of patients. Since 2007, those MRI firms have billed insurers more than $260 million for services and filed more than 50,000 demands for payment, according to a Reveal analysis of state data.Charges in that kickback case dubbed Operation Backlash mostly cover the years since 2012, when lawmakers passed another reform package. The new law added layers of medical review over doctors requests for treatment. It also took aim at middlemen who collect money on behalf of medical providers.Recent cases in an FBI-led sting suggest that despite the legal changes, fraud continues to flourish. A San Diego prosecutor who handled one part of that case said it is merely a small constellation in a universe of workers comp fraud.This happens all over California, said Pedro Bernal, the San Diego County deputy district attorney. This is how its done. Groysman instructs Naftogaz to immediately provide hot water supplies to all population areas of Ukraine Prime Minister of Ukraine Volodymyr Groysman has instructed Naftogaz Ukrainy to immediately provide all necessary energy resources to supply hot water to all residential areas of Ukraine. As the Cabinet of Minister's press service said on Saturday, Groysman also instructed Regional Development, Construction, and Utilities Ministry, as well regional state administrations to restore local hot water supplies. Previously, Energy and Coal Industry Minister Ihor Nasalyk reported that on Saturday the government would hold a meeting involving Groysman concerning the fulfillment of the conditions of the third energy package, namely transportation, extraction and consumption issues, and the format of Naftogaz operation. Donald Trump is giving the Friday lunchtime speech at the California Republican Convention at 12 noon on April 29, at the Hyatt Regency San Francisco Airport, 1333 Bayshore Hwy, Burlingame. ( https://www.cagop.org/program/ http://www.mercurynews.com/politics-government/ci_29766967/donald-trump-bay-area-california-gop-convention ). Various Facebook pages are devoted to individuals planning to attend and protest ( https://www.facebook.com/events/1524102991231738/ https://www.facebook.com/events/147107885687000/ ), but so far there seem to be no protests scheduled by organized groups. How can this be?This is likely Trump's only appearance in the Bay Area for all of this election season, so if you want to make your voice heard, this is the time!I will be there protesting as an individual, arriving at 11am for the 12 noon speech, but I would like to be part of a larger social justice group, if any are planning to go. Please post all group protests here on IndyBay so that your numbers can swell with people like me who don't want to go alone!The Bay Area has many groups who should be there in Trump's face. The national media will be on hand, expecting a Bay Area welcome. C'mon -- let's give it to them! For-profit affordable housing developers target the Bay Area tenantsrule [at] yahoo.com) by Lynda Ccarson It is of great concern to some that out of the 50 largest so-called affordable housing developers across the nation that only 7 of them are so-called nonprofit corporations, because the for-profit corporations are generally placing higher income renters in their so-called affordable housing projects! This Week in Palestine, April 22nd, 2015 by IMEMC Welcome to this Week in Palestine, a service of the International Middle East Media Center, http://www.imemc.org , for April 16, to the 22, 2016. Listen now: Copy the code below to embed this audio into a web page: This week, a Palestinian youth killed in Jerusalem bus bombing, Israeli attacks eave at least five injured Palestinian civilians in Gaza and the West Bank; in the meantime Palestinian rival groups, Fatah and Hamas start reconciliation efforts. 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. On Friday, Israeli soldiers attacked nonviolent protests organized in West Bank villages using tear gas, rubber-coated steel bullets. IMEMCs Majd Batjali with the details: In central West Bank, nonviolent protests were organized in the villages of Bilin, Nilin and Al Nabi Saleh. Troops used tear gas and rubber coated bullets against the unarmed protesters. Both Bilin and Nilin villagers and their international and Israeli supporters managed to reach the Israeli wall built on local farmers lands. In Al Nabi Saleh, the soldiers attacked the protest at the village entrance. Later troops stormed the village and fired tear gas into residents homes. Many residents suffered effects of tear gas inhalation in all three villages. Also on Friday, Israeli troops attacked the weekly protest organized by the villagers of Kufer Kadum in northern West Bank. Troops fired live round and tear gas at protesters and their supporters at the village entrance. Soldiers also fired tear gas at residents homes after invading the village. As a result, many residents were treated for the effects of tear gas inhalation For IMEMC News this Majd Batjali. The Political Report This week saw and advancement in the Conciliation efforts between rival Palestinian political groups Hamas and Fatah. IMEMCs Rami Al Meghari has more: Former Palestinian prime minister of Hamas, Ismail Haniya, is reported to have been set to visit nearby Egypt, soon. The visit comes a part of recent visits by Hamas leaders in the territory , to Egypt. Egypt has been shunning the Hamas Islamist group, for three years now, due to what Egypt believes connections between Hamas and the deposed Islamic brotherhood of Egypt. Some sources suggested that the upcoming visit would push for inter-Palestinian conciliation. The sources said that both Hamas and the Fatah party of Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, are set to meet in Doha by end of this month, in order to put final touches for a unity deal. In the meantime, international players are pushing for holding a regional peace conference that involves Palestinians, Israelis and some Arab countries. Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu was reported as saying that the Syrian Golan Heights will remain under Israels jurisdiction forever. The heights were taken by Israel during Israels attack on some Arab lands, including the occupied Palestinian territories. On a related note, Muritania is set to host the yearly Arab states summit, this season. For IMEMC News, I am Rami Al Meghari in Gaza. The West Bank and Gaza Report A Palestinian youth was killed during a bus bombing in Jerusalem this week, in the meantime Israeli navy attacks on Gaza fishermen live one injured. IMEMCs Ghassan Bannoura Reports: On Wednesday, Abdul-Hamid Abu Srour, from the Aida refugee camp, in the West Bank city of Bethlehem, died from his wounds he sustained in the Jerusalem bus bombing on Monday evening of this week. The bombing led to 21 injuries, while three of them, including Abu Srour, suffered moderate to severe wounds. Following the blast, Israel deemed the incident as an attack, issued a gag order on the details, and launched an investigation. Hamas claimed responsibility, and said the Palestinian was behind the attack. Later in the week, Israeli soldiers invaded, earlier on Thursday morning, Abu Dis and the al-Ezariyya towns, in occupied Jerusalem, kidnapped one Palestinian, and injured at least twelve others during ensuing clashes. The Israeli police said it uncovered two workshops, allegedly used for manufacturing weapons and explosives, in Abu Dis town east of occupied East Jerusalem. The Palestinian Red Crescent Society (RCS) said that four Palestinians were shot with rubber-coated steel bullets, and eight others suffered severe effects of tear has inhalation. Moreover, a Palestinian man was injured on Thursday, near Israeli military roadblock #300, north of Bethlehem, southern West Bank, after an Israeli settler rammed him with his car. The settler fled the scene, while the Palestinian was rushed to a hospital in Bethlehem. Late on Monday evening, Israeli soldiers shot and injured, a Palestinian child, in the al-Ram town, northeast of Jerusalem, and also kidnapped a young man from his home in the town. The soldiers fired many live rounds, rubber-coated steel bullets, concussion grenades and gas bombs. Many Palestinians suffered the effects of tear gas inhalation. The Red Crescent said the soldiers shot a child, 15 years of age, and prevented its medics from approaching him. He has been identified as Fuad al-Jabari. The soldiers then assaulted the wounded child, and took him to an unknown destination. Also this week, Israeli forces conducted at least 74 military invasions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank and occupied East Jerusalem. During these invasions, Israeli troops kidnapped at least 103 Palestinian civilians, including 24 children. In Gaza this week, Israeli navy ships attacked, on Tuesday morning, several Palestinian fishing boats and opened fire on them, wounding of fisher, and kidnapped three others, in Gaza territorial waters, in Rafah, in the southern part of the coastal region. The soldiers kidnapped the wounded fisher, but released him later, before Palestinian medics moved him to a hospital. Under the Oslo accords, signed between the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and Israel, the Palestinians are supposed to be allowed to fish and sail within twenty nautical miles from the coast. On Monday, a Palestinian man, from Gaza city, sustained shrapnel wounds to the left foot due to the explosion of a suspicious object believed to be leftover from the Israeli military. 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 16, to the 22, 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. A humpback whale entangled in fishing gear was successfully extricated yesterday afternoon by a response team from the California Whale Rescue (CWR) network with support from the local U.S. Coast Guard about 15 miles west of Point Sur. The juvenile humpback whale was first reported late Wednesday morning, April 20th, by a sport fisherman off Moss Landing. The fisherman stayed with the whale until the response team arrived on scene.Evaluation by the response team determined the entanglement was complex with heavy line leading through the mouth, wrapping twice over the whales back, and around both pectoral fins. A telemetry buoy to track the whale by satellite was attached to the line for location of the animal the following day.On Thursday, April 21st, the U. S. Coast Guard and the CWR network departed Moss Landing to the whales location using the satellite telemetry positions. For over five hours the team approached, evaluated, and eventually were able to make two cuts that successfully freed the whale.The team captured identifying fluke and dorsal fin photographs and retrieved the fishing gear that had entangled the whale.California Whale Rescue would like to extend its sincerest thanks to John Favazza of FV Okie Dokie who immediately reported the distressed whale and was able to stay with the whale until a response team arrived, and to the U.S. Coast Guard for providing transportation and support during the rescue.The responders on this rescue were CWR network members including the Alaska Whale Foundation, Point Blue Conservation Science, NOAA Southwest Fisheries Science Center, Fast Raft Safaris, the Oceanic Society, Talbot Films, Marine Life Studies Whale Entanglement Team, and Moss Landing Marine Laboratories.About California Whale RescueCalifornia Whale Rescue is a network of trained individuals and organizations, working together to save entangled whales and prevent future entanglements. A diverse group of unpaid volunteersour members include biologists, conservationists, ecologists, fishermen, crab fishermen, whale watching captains, naturalists, entrepreneurs, and many others. Overseen by the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration's Marine Mammal Health and Stranding Response Program (MMHSRP), and led by co-investigator Pieter Folkens under permit #18786, the team primarily responds to entangled whales between Santa Barbara, CA and the California/Oregon border. We collaborate with other official groups within the MMHSRP when needed.It takes many partners and persons to fill all roles required to successfully disentangle a whale. California Whale Rescue expands on the initial partnerships developed with the Whale Entanglement Team (WET) and others. Our members are grateful for the work that has been done to date by Marine Life Studies, Fluke Foundation, Alaska Whale Foundation, and many others. We look forward to continuing our joint efforts, as we embark upon new partnerships, and continue expanding the network to maximize our response efficiency.California Whale Rescue The Delta Tunnels Plan is based on the absurd concept that diverting more water from the Sacramento River will restore the Delta, the largest estuary on the West Coast of the Americas. Yet Im not aware of one example in U.S. or world history where diverting more water from a river or estuary has ever restored the ecosystem of that river or estuary. Photo: Groundwater recharge pond near the Santa Clara Valley Water District's Offices in San Jose. Photo by Dan Bacher. Water rates will increase to pay for Delta Tunnelsby Dan BacherHow would you like to find out that a new fee was added to your groundwater bill to support Governor Jerry Browns legacy project, the salmon-killing Delta Tunnels, without your consent?Well, thats exactly what happened when ratepayers attended a public hearing of Santa Clara County Water Commissions Board of Directors in Gilroy on April 14 to find out that their hard-earned money would go to support the California WaterFix, the state and federal governments name for the Delta Tunnels, according to a news release from Restore the Delta (RTD).The Commission held the hearing regarding their Annual Report on the Protection and Augmentation of Water Supplies - February 2016 and Recommended Groundwater Production and Other Water Charges for Fiscal Year 2016-2017 (FY 2016-17). The meeting agenda and details are available here:Several users of small private residential water systems at the Gilroy hearing complained bitterly about the cost of the current groundwater charges on top of the cost of pumping and maintenance of their wells, Restore the Delta noted.They were unanimous in stating that they could not afford the proposed increase for FY 2017. The groundwater charges are also paid by the cities and passed on to customers, RTD stated.Well owners and residential customers will now be paying to support the Delta Tunnels through their water bills. No wonder people are upset, explained Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, executive director of Restore the Delta. This rate increase will happen, without a vote, for a project without permits, for water they will never receive.Deirdre Des Jardins of California Water Research discovered the WaterFix charges when evaluating District documents. She found a significant discrepancy in the proposed WaterFix charges disclosed for Prop 218, and those presented to the Board and the County Water Commission."For the Board, the staff estimated the WaterFix could result in a maximum $229 per acre foot annual increase in water rates for the South County, vs. $38 estimated in the Prop 218 disclosure. For the North County, the staff estimated a maximum $316 annual increase, vs $75 in the Prop 218 disclosure, according to Des Jardins.Des Jardins noted that the WaterFix charges are in addition to increases in groundwater fees to pay for major local projects.If the Districts CVP share of WaterFix costs are paid by groundwater fees, the Districts South County groundwater fees would almost triple by 2026. North County groundwater fees would almost quadruple, said Des Jardins.The current residential groundwater fees in the South County are $356/acre-foot. The 2026 groundwater fees estimated in their rate-setting disclosure would be $604/acre-foot. With the higher WaterFix costs, the 2026 groundwater fees could be $795/acre-foot, Des Jardins estimated.The current residential groundwater fees in the North County are $747/acre-foot. The 2026 groundwater fees estimated in their rate-setting disclosure would be $2332/acre-foot. With the higher Water Fix Costs, the 2026 groundwater fees could be $2648/acre-foot. ( http://restorethedelta.org/blog/ The financial slight-of-hand raises some serious questions, said Barrigan-Parrilla. This enormously expensive project was slipped into the District budget with little notice or review, and with ridiculously rosy cost estimates. Sooner or later ratepayers will get stuck with the bill.In a statement, the Santa Clara County Water District claimed that "Restore the Deltas implication that California WaterFix would triple or quadruple groundwater fees is patently incorrect.""As part of our annual process of presenting the proposed groundwater production charges to our rate payers, staff presents projections of all potential future costs. The cost projections include all costs that we reasonably expect could occur in future years. They do not constitute a 'new fee,' but rather a transparent projection of how rates could be impacted by various scenarios," the district stated.For the District's complete response to RTD's news release, go to: http://www.valleywater.org/EkContent.aspx?id=13983 In response to the District's statement, Barrigan-Parrilla said, "The Restore the Delta press release release is based on the data that was released to the public. Now they are saying it's wrong, but they are not releasing the additional data. They are not being transparent.""However, the bigger question is: why does the District's Board continue to have ratepayers pay interim charges for the Delta Tunnels when the California WaterFix makes no new water?"The Santa Clara Valley Water District Board will discuss the groundwater charges on April 26, at 6:00 pm. If ratepayers cannot attend the meeting, Barrigan-Parrilla recommends emailing objections to the SCVWD at valleywater.org.Note: This article has updated figures for the Districts groundwater fees in the WaterFix High Cost ScenarioFor more information about the controversy erupting over the Santa Clara Valley Water Districts's groundwater charges, go to: https://cah2oresearch.com/2016/04/22/controversy-erupts-over-santa-clara-water-districts-groundwater-charges/ The Delta Tunnels Plan is based on the absurd concept that diverting more water from the Sacramento River will restore the Delta, the largest estuary on the West Coast of the Americas. Yet Im not aware of one example in U.S. or world history where diverting more water from a river or estuary has ever restored the ecosystem of that river or estuary.The tunnels would hasten the extinction of Sacramento winter-run Chinook salmon, Central Valley steelhead Delta and longfin smelt, green sturgeon and other fish species. The project would also imperil the salmon populations on the Trinity and Klamath rivers and pose a big threat to the Yurok, Hoopa Valley and Karuk Tribes that depend on the salmon for their food, culture and ceremonies.While the Delta Tunnels plan poses a huge threat to the ecosystems of the Sacramento, San Joaquin, Klamath and Trinity river systems, its not the only environmentally devastating policy promoted by Governor Jerry Brown. Brown is promoting the expansion of fracking and extreme oil extraction methods in California and is overseeing water policies that are driving winter run-Chinook salmon, Delta and longfin smelt and other species closer and closer to extinction.Jerry Brown also oversaw the "completion" of so-called marine protected areas under the privately funded Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) Initiative, overseen by a Big Oil lobbyist and other corporate interests, in December 2012. These faux Yosemites of the Sea fail to protect the ocean from oil drilling, fracking, pollution, corporate aquaculture and all human impacts on the ocean other than sustainable fishing and gathering.As if those examples of Browns tainted environmental legacy werent enough, Brown has promoted carbon trading and REDD policies that pose an enormous threat to Indigenous Peoples around the globe; has done nothing to stop clearcutting of forests by Sierra-Pacific and other timber companies; presided over record water exports from the Delta in 2011; and oversaw massive fish kills of Sacramento splittail and other species in 2011.While Brown spouts "green" rhetoric when he flies off to climate conference and and issues proclamations about John Muir Dayand Earth Day, his actions and policies regarding fish, water and the environment are among the worst of any Governor in recent California history.For more information about the real environmental record of Governor JerryBrown, go to: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/3/25/1506146/-Govenor-Jerry-Brown-Celebrates-World-Water-Day-As-He-Promotes-Salmon-Killing-Delta-Tunnels Muhammadu Buharis victory against Goodluck Jonathan in the 2015 general election was one many pundits never saw coming. Buhari, a retired major-general who contested on the platform of the All Progressives Congress, (APC) polled a total of 15,416,221 votes to defeat the incumbent and candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP) President Goodluck Jonathan, who got 12,853,162 votes. Muhammadu Buhari promised to bring about change during his inauguration. After three previous failed shots at the presidency, Muhammadu Buhari was finally moving into Aso Rock, Nigerias presidential palace, as the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. But this time, the former head of state had secured victory by tapping into the much desired change Nigerians sought for decades after suffering in the midst of plenty. Buhari and the APC had sold the change mantra to Nigerians who desperately needed a better life at all cost, even if it involved voting in a former tyrant who once ruled the country with iron fists. In the weeks leading to the election, Buhari had asked Nigerians not to lose hope because change was imminent in the country. In a report in the Nation newspaper dated January 01, 2015, the APC presidential candidate listed a five-point change agenda which he promised to implement if elected president. According to Buhari, the change meant: - A country that you can be proud of at anytime and anywhere: where corruption is tackled, where your leaders are disciplined and lead with vision and clarity; where the stories that emerge to the world from us are full of hope and progress. - A Nigeria in which neither yourselves, nor your parents, families or friends will have to fear for your safety, or for theirs. -A Nigeria where citizens get the basics that any country should provide: infrastructure that works, healthcare that is affordable, even free; respect for the environment and sustainable development, education that is competitive and outcome-oriented in a knowledge-economy. - A country that provides jobs for its young people, reducing unemployment to the lowest of single digits and providing safety nets so that no one is left behind. - A Nigeria where entrepreneurship thrives, enterprise flourishes and the government gets out of your way so that you can create value, build the economy and aggressively expand wealth. Muhammadu Buhari at a campaign rally in the weeks leading up to the 2015 general elections. Buhari also emphasised that the above five-point change agenda was possible to realise through exemplary leadership. But having been the slogan with which the APC achieved tremendous success at the last general election, it has come as a surprise to many that the change mantra is yet to translate into socio-economic prosperity for Nigeria. Some Nigerians are beginning to feel the change promised by the current administration is elusive; this has been heightened by three factors which have made the change promised by the APC mirror a change for the worst. 1. The CBN recruitment scandal Recent findings that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) secretly recruited children and close relatives of public office holders and politicians into sensitive and highly lucrative jobs has been described as a betrayal of the change mantra of the Buhari administration. A top official of the CBN, told Sahara Reporters that the governor of the CBN, Godwin Emefiele, had arranged the hiring as way of endearing himself to the presidency and in return for saving his job. Investigation by Daily Trust revealed that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) recruited 909 staff in two years without advertising the vacancies. It is certain that this clandestine recruitment began before the inception of the APC administration, but continued after Buhari became president. However, what came as a shock to Nigerians was a story by news website, Sahara Reporters, showing that among the children and relatives of some of the influential Nigerians who were dubiously and secretly hired by the CBN was a nephew of President Muhammadu Buhari, the so called advocate of the change mantra. Other top government officials and party members whose children or relatives were secretly hired by the bank include former vice president Abubakar Atiku; Mamman Daura, a close ally of the president; Inspector General of Police (IGP) Solomon Arase; the minister of state for petroleum resources, Ibe Kachikwu, whose sons were hired, and the minister of interior, Abdurahman Danbazzau. The recruitments have drawn widespread condemnations from Nigerians who suggest that this shady employment of a select few wouldnt have come as a surprise had it occurred under the Jonathan administration, but the fact that it occurred under the watch of Muhammadu Buhari who promised a change to the old policy of man know man has left many disappointed. In reaction, the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has sent an open letter to Godwin Emefiele, governor of the CBN, requesting him to immediately withdraw hundreds of letters of employment issued following a seriously flawed recruitment process and to put in place a system of recruitment and hiring based on the principles of non-discrimination, transparency, participation and objective criteria such as merit, equity and aptitude. Likewise, the Transition Monitoring Group (TMG), a coalition of over 400 civil society organizations, has described the shady recruitment exercise conducted by the CBN as a betrayal of a change mantra of the Buhari administration The group called on President Muhammadu Buhari to fish out the perpetrators and punish them according to the law of the land, adding that the reasons given by the apex bank to embark on secret recruitment exercise was not acceptable. But the presidency has not commented on the report, neither has any of his ministers. The scandalous recruitment by the CBN has been viewed by some Nigerians who were sceptic of the Buhari change mantra as evidence that the Buhari administration is not different from past administrations. 2. Perennial fuel scarcity Goodluck Jonathan's presidency ended with a biting fuel scarcity that the suffering masses hoped would never repeat itself under the Buhari administration. But that scarcity they so despised is exactly what they're grappling with at the moment. Fuel scarcity has lingered in Nigeria for weeks The scarcity of petrol has persisted for weeks across the country as motorists spend close to five hours at filling stations queuing for the commodity which is not forthcoming. As if that was not enough, the minister of state for petroleum, Ibe Kachikwu worsened matters when he said the current petrol scarcity will continue till May, and that only magic could bring a quicker end to the crisis that has already stretched beyond a month. In his word: One of the trainings I did not receive is that of a magician, but I am working very hard to ensure some of these issues go away." However Kachikwu has retracted his statement and apologised after drawing scathing criticisms from many Nigerians, including a senior leader of the ruling APC, Bola Tinubu, who said the comments were insulting to the Nigerians facing hardship daily to get petrol. But from the look of things, Nigerians appear to be more in need of fuel than apology as evidenced by the queues at petrol stations across the country. Kachikwu has assured Nigerians that the queues will disappear across the nation by April, but the queues seem to be getting longer even as May approaches. At a meeting with the Senate committee on petroleum on Tuesday, March 29, the minister said there was no immediate solution to the fuel scarcity, because 90 per cent of Nigerian depots were not functional. Most fuel products into Nigeria come from Europe and it takes 14 days for fuel to land here, he said. But Kachikwu made the statement more than 21 days ago and yet fuel scarcity still persists and the long queues at the petrol stations remain. Many Nigerians, including civil society organisations, analysts and individuals have expressed anger and disappointment over the on-going scarcity, blaming oil marketers and President Muhammadu Buhari, who doubles as the minister of petroleum, for their plight. Civil society groups, among other Nigerians, have said that President Buhari, whose presidential campaign had promised to bring change to the country, has failed to deal with the problem of fuel scarcity. Many have also accused Buhari of failing in his promise to Nigerians to revive the oil sector. Nigerians who embraced the change mantra preached by the APC administration expected that things in the oil sector would change, but the lingering fuel scarcity which appears to have no end in sight depicts that things in the oil sector have indeed changed for the worst. 3. Poor power supply For many years, Nigerians have suffered immensely from epileptic power supply, but the current the situation is worsened by the fuel scarcity experienced in the country. The energy crisis witnessed in most parts of the country has cast doubts on the ability of former Lagos state governor, Babatunde Fashola, who now serves as the minister of works, power and housing to restructure the power sector. Some Nigerians have begun to question the rationale behind appointing Fashola, who is a lawyer to head a sensitive ministry like the power sector. Apparently, displeased with the fact that the country continues to grapple with the problem of power outage almost a year after Muhammadu Buhari was sworn in as president, some Nigerians have begun to question the rationale behind appointing a lawyer to head a sensitive ministry like the power sector, while others have called on the president to urgently unbundle the Ministry of Power, Works and Housing to ensure productivity. This was the position of a socio-political group, the Rescue Nigeria Economy Project which said it was high time the president realised his mistake and allow Fashola to focus on one ministry. In a statement signed by Dennis Alamu-George, its executive secretary, the group said the current situation in the country has clearly shown that Fashola lacks what it takes to combine the three ministries, according to a report on Daily Independent. From the perennial power outage experienced across the country, it is evident that the change President Muhammadu promised is yet to have any positive impact on the power sector, and what is baffling is that despite the unavailability of electricity, the federal government recently announced a 45% increase in electricity tariff which led to protests in several states. As if that were not enough, rather than step up to solve the challenges of poor power supply, the Buhari administration has hinged the power outage experienced across the country on the activities of vandals. The presidential spokesperson, Femi Adesina has even asked Nigerians who are complaining about the incessant black outs and almost non-existent power supply in the country to go and fight the vandals if they really needed power. Below is a video of Femi Adesina asking Nigerians to go and fight vandals. It is on record that when Muhammadu Buhari campaigned to bring change if elected he said his five-point change agenda was possible to realise through exemplary leadership. But for now, the lack of due process witnessed in the CBN recruitment, the perennial fuel scarcity across the country and the power blackout have shown that the much desired change promised by Buhari has not come, but in a worst form. Source: Legit.ng One of Ukraine's business tycoons Ihor Kolomoisky is among four prominent businessmen facing a $380 million worldwide freezing order that ties up property including his luxury French villa, months after he settled a multi-billion-pound claim in an unrelated case in British courts. Ihor Kolomoisky and fellow billionaire Hennadiy Boholiubov are accused by Tatneft, a Russian oil company, of illegally seizing control of a refinery joint venture in Ukraine and siphoning hundreds of millions of dollars into their shell companies, according to documents filed at a London court. Two wealthy associates of the Ukrainians were named by state-controlled Tatneft in the suit that is seeking more than $334 million from the men. "This is a stale claim, concerning historic events," Ali Malek, Boholiubov's lawyer, said in a London court Friday. "We submit there is a real possibility that the claim is time-barred." The order signed by a London judge includes assets like a private jet, a boat and properties in England and France. Kolomoisky's French villa, which sits on one hectare, and another 50 acres in the Haute Savoie region is part of the order. Several of Boholiubov's expensive London properties are subject to the order, including a house on Belgrave Square near the gates of Buckingham Palace worth over 4 million pounds ($5.7 million) according to property website Zoopla. The March 22 order permits the men to have as much as 5,000 pounds ($7,190) in weekly living expenses. As reported, Tatneft confirmed the suit against the two men as well as Oleksandr Yaroslavsky and Pavlo Ovcharenko. They are accused of fraudulently taking money in 2009 that the Tatneft was entitled to for oil shipped to the Kremenchuk refinery, the company said in a statement. Ovcharenko didn't have lawyers present at Friday's court hearing. Lawyers for Boholiubov and Kolomoisky didn't immediately comment on the lawsuit. A spokesman for the Ukrtatnafta refinery, where Ovcharenko is the chief executive officer, declined to comment on his behalf. A spokesperson for Yaroslavsky declined to immediately comment. Kolomoisky is one of Ukraine's most influential businessmen and was Dnipropetrovsk regional governor until 2015. - Dele Momodu, a veteran journalist wrote an open letter to Saraki on his CCT trial - Bukola Saraki, the Senate President has replied - Saraki explained how he emerged as Senate president Bukola Saraki Bukola Saraki, the Senate President on Saturday, April 23, replied the strong worded letter written to him by Dele Momodu, a veteran journalist. In a letter dated Sunday, April 17, Dele Momodu asked him to resign his position as a Senate president as Saraki has done everything within his power to make that impossible. He added that Saraki should not do anything to pervert the justice of the court and face the consequence if found guilty. Read Sarakis reply below. My dear brother Dele, let me thank you most sincerely for your article last weekend, My candid letter to Saraki I take everything you said in that article to heart and I must commend you for your candidness indeed and the sincerity of your intentions. As you said in your article, you are someone I have known more by reputation than by any personal relationship, until recently when we struck up some personal acquaintance based on our shared political interests, especially during the last presidential election. However, I understand why you had to sound so defensive for knowing me at all and had to publicly map the boundaries of our relationship. We have got to that point in our country when we no longer believe that anyone could stand for anything based on principles and convictions alone. Moreover, in the growing culture of media crucifixion and presumed guilt; it is rare to find a voice like yours that calls for fairness and justice. I would have simply sent you a text message or call you up for your candid advice to me, which I take seriously. But I feel the need to make some clarifications on some of the issues you raised. One of them was that in seeking to be Senate President, I struck a deal with the PDP and made it possible for one of them to be the deputy Senate president. I know this is the dominant narrative out there, but it is far from the truth. READ ALSO: Saraki's Counsel Resigns From CCT Trial I did not do any deal with the PDP. I did not have to because even before the PDP Senators as a group took the decision to support my candidature on the eve of the inauguration of the 8th Senate, 22 PDP Senators had already written a letter supporting me. What I did not envisage was a situation where some members of my party would not be in the chambers that day, especially when the clerk had already received a proclamation from the President authorizing the inauguration of the Senate. Pray, if a team refused to turn up for a scheduled match and was consequently walked over, would it be fair to blame the team that turned up and claimed victory? I believe those that made it possible for PDP to claim the DSP position were those who decided to hold a meeting with APC senators elsewhere at the time they ought to be in the chambers. What the PDP Senators did was to take advantage of their numerical strength at the material time. They simply lined up behind Senator Ike Ikweremadu while those of us from APC voted for Senator Ali Ndume. It was a game of numbers, and we were hopelessly outnumbered. If the PDP had nominated their own candidate for the Senate Presidency position that day, they would have won. It was as simple as that. Secondly, I dont know if you were aware that in the build up to Senate inauguration, the National Working Committee of the APC sent two signals. The first signal specified how leadership positions in the National Assembly have been zoned. While we were trying to give effect to this decision, the second signal came, which contained names of people to which these zoned position had been allocated. What was not acknowledged was that the President of the Senate is not an executive president. He is primarily one of 109 senators. Therefore, I cannot decide by myself who gets what in the Senate. Therefore, when they said I defied party directive in the choice of principal officers, they are invariably ascribing to me the power that I did not have. My dear brother, most people talk about the Senate Presidency position, but this was not my only offence. I have also been accused of helping to frustrate some peoples opportunity to emerge as President Muhammadu Buharis running mate. But I have no problem with anybody. My concern was that it would not be politically smart of us to run with a Muslim-Muslim ticket. I doubt if we would have won the election if we had done this, especially after the PDP had successfully framed us a Muslim party. I felt we were no longer in 1993. Perhaps, more than ever before, Nigerians are more sensitive to issues of religious balancing. This, my brother, was my original sin. What they say to themselves, among other things, was that if he could conspire against our ambition, then he must not realize his own ambition as well. For me however, I have no regrets about this. I only stood for what I believed was in the best interest of the party and in the best interest of Nigeria. READ ALSO: CCT: Nigerian Senate announces its position Now to the substantive issue of my trial. As you rightly noted, this trial is not about corruption. And I am happy that since my trial started, people who have followed the proceedings have now understood better what the whole thing is about. I have had opportunity to declare my assets four times since 2003. Over those years, the Code of Conduct Bureau had examined my claims. There was no time that they raised any issues with me on any item contained in my declarations over those twelve years. This is why you should be surprised that while I am being tried by the Code of Conduct Tribunal, the witness and the evidence supplied against me were all from EFCC. Like you, I have an abiding faith in the judiciary. May God forbid the day that we would give up on our judicial system. However, the onus is not on me to prove that I have confidence in the judiciary; the burden is on my prosecutors to prove to the world that justice is done in my case. If the process of fighting corruption is itself corrupt, then whatever victory is recorded would remain tainted and puerile! Some people have wondered, why has Saraki been jumping from one court to another instead of facing his trial? To those people, I would say that I have only gone to those courts in search of justice. Strange things have happened, and they are still happening. For example, Section 3(d) of the Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act states that the Bureau shall refer any breach or non-compliance to the Tribunal. However, where the person concerned makes a written admission of the breach, no reference to the Tribunal shall be necessary. It was on this basis that the case against Asiwaju Bola Tinubu was dismissed in 2011, by this same judge in this same Tribunal on the grounds that he was not given an opportunity to deny or admit to any breach before he was brought before the tribunal. This was the ruling that I relied on in making my case. But what did the judge say? That he had judged in error in 2011 and he had since realized his error and departed from it. My question is whether a Tribunal of first instance has the power to reverse itself. I should expect that everyone would be worried if justice is applied differently to different people. However, in spite of my fears, I remain hopeful. Why? Because the judiciary does not end with this Tribunal. Do you know the genesis of my real problems with President Goodluck Jonathan? I have had a touchy relationship with him, but the turning point was in September 2011 when I moved a motion on the floor of the Senate that exposed the N2.3 trillion fuel subsidy racket. I remain proud that I was the Senator that blew the lid on the most elaborate corruption scheme ever in this country. But after that I became a marked man. My security was withdrawn. I was invited and re-invited by the EFCC and the Special Fraud Unit. I was even declared wanted at a point. I believe I am still one of the most investigated former governors in this country. I have no doubt that if the Jonathan government was able to find anything against me, they would not have allowed me to go unpunished. READ ALSO: Judge appears over an hour late at Saraki's CCT trial in Abuja Let me make this point clearly. I do not expect to be shielded from prosecution because of my contribution to APC, if there was genuine basis for such action to be taken against me. But I have every reason to expect not to be persecuted by the party that I contributed so much to build. The New PDP may not have given APC victory in 2015, but it was an important factor in the dynamics that produced that victory. And with all sense of modesty, I was an important factor in the formation of New PDP; in leading that group to the APC; in ensuring our groups support for the candidate during the primaries and in mobilizing substantial resources for the election. For these, I have not expected any special compensation. Rather, I only expect to be treated like every loyal party member and accorded the right to freely aspire! Some people have complained that I have been taken Senators with me to my trial. But I did not force them to follow me. The Senators have freely accompanied me to the Tribunal not because they are loyal to me as Abubakar Bukola Saraki, but because they are committed to the principle that produced me as the President of the Senate. The same principle that produced Ike Ekweremadu as deputy Senate president and produced Ali Ndume as majority leader. They see all of us in the Senate leadership as manifestation of their jealously guarded right to freely choose their own leaders. Because they know they made us their leaders without any external interference; they are confident that they retain the power to remove us whenever they so wish. They also know what this trial is all about. They believe I am being victimized because they have expressed their right to choose their own leadership. This is why I am not in any way perturbed by my absence in the chambers during this trial. Because I was not imposed on the Senate, I feel confident that the Senate will protect its own choice whether I am present or not. It is never about me. It is about the independence of the legislature. It has always been so since 1999. It is so today and it would be so in 2019, it would be so in 2023, and as long as we practice a democracy that operates on the principle of separation of powers. My dear brother, let me end by observing that I am not alone in this trial. On trial with me in this process is the entire judicial system. On trial with me are our entire anti-corruption institutions and our avowed commitment to honestly fight corruption. On trial with me is our partys promise to depart from the ways of the past, a promise that Nigerians voted for. And I dare say, on trial with me is our media; and their ethical commitment to report fairly and objectively. In the end, it is my earnest hope that whatever we do will ultimately ennoble our country. Dr. Saraki is President of the Senate, Federal Republic of Nigeria. Source: Legit.ng - Yul Edodhie lunched a film academy recently - Its aim is to train youths and aspiring actors and actresses Veteran Nollywood actor Yul Edochie has launched his film academy. According to the actor who disclosed to Legit.ng, Yul Edochie Academy is a subsidiary of Yul Edochie Arts World. Its an academy for acting, a training ground for actors/actresses which was founded in 2015. READ ALSO: How Pete Edochie's son wished him happy birthday (photos) His dream is to build an army of well grounded, focused and professional actors and actresses, mentor them and steer them to greatness. This dream was nurtured as a result of the decline in quality and professionalism of upcoming Nigerian actors and actresses. The Yul Edochie Academy offers aspiring actors the opportunity to meet face to face and interact with Yul Edochie, learn from him and get connected to the mainstream of Nollywood. Yul Edochie is the son of Veteran actor Pete Edochie. He has featured in numerous movies over a 10 year span. His experience started in the theater arts home of the University of Port Harcourt. Source: Legit.ng Ukraine's Permanent Representative to the United Nations (UN) Volodymyr Yelchenko on behalf of Ukraine signed the Pairs Agreement on Climate Change at the UN Headquarters in New York on Friday. "Historical moment: Ukraine signed Paris Agreement on Climate Change," reads Twitter account of the Ukrainian Mission to UN. Thus, Ukraine has joined other members of the international community in signing the Paris Agreement. The UN News Center reports that the Paris Agreement "will enter into force 30 days after at least 55 countries, accounting for at least 55 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions, deposit their instruments of ratification or acceptance with the Secretary-General." "After signing the agreement, leaders will deliver their national statements, having been asked by the Secretary-General to, among other things, provide an update on how their Governments will implement their national climate plans and integrate them into their overall sustainable development plans; and indicate their Governments' timetable for ratifying the Agreement," it said. The Paris Agreement was adopted by all 196 parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change at the UN Climate Change Conference in Paris on December 12, 2015. The 196 signatories set the goal of working together to limit global temperature rise to 2 degrees Celsius by 2100, compared to the pre-industrial era, and to strive for 1.5 degrees Celsius. It looks like nothing was found at this location. Maybe try a search? Search for: Search Some brands are known for their interesting, thought-provoking ads and Tata Safari certainly qualifies to be in that list Just like the Safari SUV, its ads have been hugely popular among people. While the catchphrase reclaim your life and 4X4 appear to be the primary theme of Safari ads, the script is amazingly unique for each ad. If there was a list of the best ads ever created in the country, some of Tata Safari ads have a high probability of making it to the top 10. Over the years, Tata Safari ads have focused on highlighting various beneficial aspects of the SUV. In one of the ads, we can see that the focus is primarily on the affordable pricing of the SUV. The price tag reads Tata Safari LX Rs 7.53 Lakhs, which is followed by the caption Better Believe It. Also Read Tata Safari Production Stops In other ads, we see that the focus is on encouraging the audience to explore the great outdoors. And the vehicle of choice would obviously be Tata Safari. True to its name, Tata Safari has been designed to take on any terrain. All Tata Safari models were equipped with powerful engines that can work well in both city and off-road conditions. These ads were primarily targeted at professionals working in an office environment. The core message was to follow ones dreams and not to postpone your favourite plans for some other time. Tata Safari TVC 2002 to 2009 Some ads connect with the audience at a deeper level. For instance, the ad with the caption, the only lines that matter are the ones you make is among the most memorable Safari ads. It stimulates our sense of individuality and encourages us to do the things we like. There are some Tata Safari ads that are specifically targeted at the young audience. The theme of clubbing and pop culture is clearly evident in these ads. With its attractive design and rugged performance, Tata Safari was quite popular among the youth. Also Read Tata Hexa Safari Edition Debuts Tata Safari has been in service for two decades and it was expected that it will be discontinued. Tata Safari Storme production was stopped in November 2019 and dealerships were not taking new bookings. With new products such as Harrier and upcoming Gravitas and Blackbird, it did not make sense to continue Safari. However, people were in for a surprise when the company showcased Hexa Safari BS6 Concept at 2020 Auto Expo. The concept model is essentially an extension of two popular SUV brands, Hexa and Safari. It has been officially confirmed that Hexa BS6 will be launched in the next fiscal. Toyota India has restarted their sales and service operations as lockdown has been eased Earlier this month, Hyundai, Maruti, Hero MotoCorp and few other automakers have been given the go-ahead by the Government to restart production. Now, Toyota Kirloskar Motors has also resumed operations at Bidadi plant as well as at dealer level. Sales and after sales service operations of Toyota cars like Innova Crysta, Fortuner and Glanza have also restarted. Toyota Kirloskar Motor MD Masakazu Yoshimura has drawn attention to the safety to be followed for manufacturers, dealers and customers. He has listed out a series of safety precautions to be followed in view of the COVID-19 pandemic. He states that he is not only intent to safeguard the companys employees and dealerships but is also concerned about the health of customers visiting these premises. Yoshimura also thanked the front line workers, be they medial or safety heroes, who are fighting this pandemic on a daily basis, putting their own lives at risk. Below is his video message. Toyota has released a Restart Manual which list out guidelines to be followed. Every employee will have to follow social distancing, cover face with a mask at all times and carry sanitizers for regular use. Thermal body checks will be done upon entry to the premises each day. These precautions are not only restricted to the company plant but have also to be followed by sales and service teams so as to make showrooms as safe as customers homes. All canteens will also have staggered timings so that employees do not crowd at the same time while suppliers have also been aligned with this process of staggered supplies. For the month of April, Toyota India reported zero sales in view of the prolonged nationwide lockdown to contain the spread of coronavirus. In the month of March, the company had sold 7,023 cars in domestic markets while exports touched 999 units of the Etios. These figures were exceedingly low when compared to 12,818 units sold in domestic markets and 844 Etios cars exported in March 2019. The auto industry as a whole now has to contend with an adverse economic situation in the country coupled with low consumer sentiments. They will have to work hard to rebuild disrupted supply chains and restore production to former levels. Toyota India has also digitized its sales processes so as to allow customers to make purchases from the comforts of their own homes with 360 degree online platforms with experts standing by to offer advice to customers. The sales process allows for virtual tours of vehicles, online booking, loan options and facilities and deliveries right upto the customers doorstep. In comparison to their relatives on the mainland, the Channel Island foxes living on six of California's Channel Islands are dwarves, at two-thirds the size. The island foxes most likely evolved from gray foxes brought to the northern islands by humans over 7,000 years ago. Some think island foxes may have been partially domesticated by Native Americans. Like many island species, they have little fear of humans. Now a new study reported in the Cell Press journal Current Biology on April 21 finds that the foxes also show a surprising absence of genetic variation. The study offers the first complete genome sequences of an island species that is a model for long-term conservation of small, endangered populations, the researchers say. "We find a dramatic reduction of genetic variation, far lower than most other animal species," says Jacqueline Robinson of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). One population in particular living on San Nicolas Island has an order of magnitude lower variation than any other known species, including the severely endangered African cheetah, Mountain gorilla, and Tasmanian devil, she says. Such near absence of genetic variation doesn't bode well for the foxes. But it also presents a puzzle as to how the foxes have managed as well as they have. "The degree to which the San Nicolas foxes have lost genetic variation is remarkable, upholding a previous observation that they may be the least genetically variable population of wild animals known," says Robert Wayne, also of UCLA. "It suggests that under some conditions, genetic variation is not absolutely essential for the persistence of endangered populations." The researchers sequenced DNA samples representing each of the Channel Island fox populations and one mainland gray fox from southern California. Researchers originally collected the island fox samples back in 1988, prior to subsequent population declines due to predation and disease in four of the island populations Theory holds that small populations will not only lose variation, but will also accumulate deleterious variation as the normal process of natural selection fails. Indeed, the complete genomes of the island foxes show dramatic, 3- to 84-fold declines in heterozygosity. (Heterozygosity refers to places in the genome where an individual has inherited different variants of the same gene from their mother and father.) The foxes also show sharp increases in genes for which they carried two copies of a variant deemed to be harmful or deleterious in some way. The San Nicolas Island population of foxes has a near absence of variation, the researchers report, demonstrating a unique "genetic flatlining." The only variation found in those foxes occurs at "heterozygosity hotspots," enriched for olfactory receptor genes and other genes with high levels of ancestral variation. The researchers say the new findings need to be taken into careful consideration in plans for the foxes' future, including the removal of their federal endangered species protection status. "The island fox populations suffer from both a lack of genetic diversity and the accumulation of damaging genetic variants, which is likely to worsen over time," Wayne says. Island foxes are also susceptible to population crashes from disease and non-native predators, such as golden eagles. Additional research is needed to understand how the foxes may compensate for their decreased variation and the accumulation of deleterious variants. Wayne and Robinson say they'd like to explore gene expression and regulation in the foxes, to find out whether these factors may act to alleviate some of the effects of deleterious variants. Over 110 Ukrainians are held captive in the occupied territories of Donetsk and Luhansk regions, and another 12 are illegally detained in Russian Federation, advisor of Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) Chief Yuriy Tandyt said. "On January 6, when a number of 25 appeared for the first time, we were considering a 25-for-36 swap formula with the representatives of OSCE. However, as a result of the stance of 'puppets', which now are in Donetsk and Luhansk, this formula started to change. We have huge patience, and we're ready to the formula offered by that side. The main thing this won't be another hoax staged by Moscow, which in fact governs Donetsk and Luhansk. We're preparing for an operation, and the number of liberated prisoners is growing," Tandyt said on air with Hromadske TV. According to Tandyt, over 110 hostages are kept on the occupied territories of Donetsk and Luhansk regions. Besides, 12 persons are illegally detained in Russia. As reported, PACE resolution, which was adopted on April 21, said that according to the SBU, 123 persons remain in captivity of separatists and 693 remain missing. "However, these figures don't embrace all people, who have been captured by separatists on the occupied territories, and their relatives often are afraid of telling Ukrainian authorities about the fact of captivity," the resolution said. The oceans hold more than four billion tons of uranium--enough to meet global energy needs for the next 10,000 years if only we could capture the element from seawater to fuel nuclear power plants. Major advances in this area have been published by the American Chemical Society's (ACS) journal Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research. For half a century, researchers worldwide have tried to mine uranium from the oceans with limited success. In the 1990s, Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) scientists pioneered materials that hold uranium as it is stuck or adsorbed onto surfaces of the material submerged in seawater. In 2011, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) initiated a program involving a multidisciplinary team from U.S. national laboratories, universities and research institutes to address the fundamental challenges of economically extracting uranium from seawater. Within five years this team has developed new adsorbents that reduce the cost of extracting uranium from seawater by three to four times. To chronicle this and other successes, the special issue focused on "Uranium in Seawater" amasses research presented by international scientists at ACS's spring 2015 meeting in Denver. Major contributions came from researchers supported by the Fuel Resources Program of DOE's Office of Nuclear Energy who coordinate an international effort involving researchers in China and Japan under agreements with the Chinese Academy of Sciences and JAEA. The DOE program is laying the technological foundation to determine the economic feasibility of uranium recovery from seawater. It supports researchers at national laboratories, universities and research institutes focused on developing and testing the next generation of adsorbents that will exhibit higher adsorbent capacity, faster binding and lower degradation over multiple use cycles in seawater. "For nuclear power to remain a sustainable energy source, an economically viable and secure source of nuclear fuel must be available," said Phillip Britt, who provides technical and outreach leadership for the DOE program. "This special journal issue captures the dramatic successes that have been made by researchers across the world to make the oceans live up to their vast promise for a secure energy future." Scientists from two DOE labs, Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Washington, led more than half of the 30 papers in the special issue. ORNL contributions concentrated on synthesizing and characterizing uranium adsorbents, whereas PNNL papers focused on marine testing of adsorbents synthesized at national labs and universities. "Synthesizing a material that's superior at adsorbing uranium from seawater required a multi-disciplinary, multi-institutional team including chemists, computational scientists, chemical engineers, marine scientists and economists," said Sheng Dai, who has technical oversight of the ORNL uranium from seawater program. "Computational studies provided insight into chemical groups that selectively bind uranium. Thermodynamic studies provided insight into the chemistry of uranium and relevant chemical species in seawater. Kinetic studies uncovered factors that control how fast uranium in seawater binds to the adsorbent. Understanding adsorbent properties in the laboratory is key for us to develop more economical adsorbents and prepare them to grab as much uranium as possible." That teamwork culminated in the creation of braids of polyethylene fibers containing a chemical species called amidoxime that attracts uranium. So far, testing has been conducted in the laboratory with real seawater; but the braids are deployable in oceans, where nature would do the mixing, avoiding the expense of pumping large quantities of seawater through the fibers. After several weeks, uranium oxide-laden fibers are collected and subjected to an acidic treatment that releases, or desorbs, uranyl ions, regenerating the adsorbent for reuse. Further processing and enriching of the uranium produces a material to fuel nuclear power plants. PNNL researchers tested the adsorbents developed at ORNL and other laboratories, including universities participating in the Nuclear Energy University Program, using natural filtered and unfiltered seawater from Sequim Bay in Washington under controlled temperature and flow-rate conditions. Gary Gill, deputy director of PNNL's Coastal Sciences Division, coordinated three marine testing sites--at PNNL's Marine Sciences Laboratory in Sequim, Wash., Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts and the University of Miami in Florida. "Understanding how the adsorbents perform under natural seawater conditions is critical to reliably assessing how well the uranium adsorbent materials work," Gill said. "In addition to marine testing, we assessed how well the adsorbent attracted uranium versus other elements, adsorbent durability, whether buildup of marine organisms might impact adsorbent capacity, and we demonstrated that most of the adsorbent materials are not toxic. PNNL also performed experiments to optimize release of uranium from the adsorbents and adsorbent re-use using acid and bicarbonate solutions." Marine testing at PNNL showed an ORNL adsorbent material had the capacity to hold 5.2 grams of uranium per kilogram of adsorbent in 49 days of natural seawater exposure--the crowning result presented in the special issue. The Uranium from Seawater program continues to make significant advancements, producing adsorbents with even higher capacities for grabbing uranium. Recent testing exceeded 6 grams of uranium per kilogram of adsorbent after 56 days in natural seawater -- an adsorbent capacity that is 15 percent higher than the results highlighted in the special edition. Special edition: http://pubs.acs.org/toc/iecred/55/15 If you've been on the Internet lately, you've probably seen a cat selfie. Now, a Field Museum expedition to the Peruvian Amazon has elevated the animal selfie phenomenon to a whole new level. Earlier this year, a team of 25 scientists trekked to the unexplored reaches of Medio Putumayo-Algodon, Peru and spent 17 days conducting a rapid biological and social inventory of the area. As part of their efforts to document the region's biodiversity, the team set up 14 motion-activated camera traps and used a drone to capture aerial footage of the rainforest. The results are amazing. The camera traps revealed remarkable biodiversity in the area, showing animals like ocelots, giant armadillos, currassows, giant anteaters, tapirs, peccaries, and pacas up close and personal in their native habitat. Meanwhile, the aerial drone footage helped paint a picture of the overall landscape, sharing a never-before-seen look at the vast forest, which is only accessible by helicopter. "No scientists have ever explored this area, let alone document it with cameras and drones," explains Jon Markel, The Field Museum's Geographic Information Systems (GIS) specialist. "These images are the first time this remote wilderness and the species that call it home are being recorded for science." During the inventory, biologists encountered an astonishing amount of wildlife, recording 1,820 plant, fish, amphibian, reptile, bird, and mammal species, including 19 species believed to be new to science. The team documented the largest number of frogs and snakes of any Field Museum rapid inventory, discovered large peat deposits, and found clay licks that provide salt essential to the health of local wildlife. The social team worked with the nine indigenous groups living in the region to understand their use of the landscape and their aspirations for the future. They have a clear vision of wanting to protect these lands. However, the area is under threat from illegal mining and logging, as well as a proposed road. "You can't argue for the protection of an area without knowing what is there," said Corine Vriesendorp, Director of The Field Museum's rapid inventory program. "We discovered an intact forest inhabited by indigenous people for centuries and teeming with wildlife. We want it to survive and thrive long after our cameras are gone." A new study has found that the very corals responsible for establishing today's reefs are now some of the most threatened coral species due to climate change and other human-made stressors. Professor John Pandolfi from the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies (Coral CoE) at the University of Queensland (UQ) says the fast-growing, reef-building, branching Acropora, or 'staghorn', corals are responsible for the vast amount of modern reef growth. Although they have been around for at least 50 million years, these corals are now experiencing sharp declines in abundance worldwide. "Acropora became a dominant reef builder about 1.8 million years ago," Professor Pandolfi says. "And coral reefs have been so successful ever since then due in part to its ascendance--indeed, reefs grow most rapidly when staghorns are the dominant reef-building corals." The international study published today examined global historical sea-level data, as well as global coral occurrence data--including fossil records--dating back to more than 60 million years ago. The researchers found that while staghorns remained highly successful throughout rapidly changing environmental conditions in the past, their populations first began declining in Australia around the time of land-use changes with European colonisation. These patterns occur elsewhere, for example in the Caribbean Sea. More recently, these corals have suffered declines in abundance due to bleaching and disease, and have been almost completely wiped out across a number of reefs throughout the world. Yet, staghorn corals currently remain one of the most prolific reef-builders, dominant on many reefs around the world and across all reef habitats: reef flats, crests and slopes, submerged reefs, and deeper reefs. They became successful because their colonies have the highest growth rates out of all corals, paired with an ability to regenerate when broken. Their presence is also a major factor in the ability of reefs to keep up with sea level rise--though they are sensitive to other environmental stresses, staghorns actually thrived under rapid sea level changes. Dr. Ken Johnson, from The Natural History Museum, London explains, "These are the corals that have allowed reefs to prosper during past intervals of rapid sea level change. But it seems as if staghorn corals will be compromised in providing this service in the future, even as we anticipate sea level rises over the next century." The paper's lead author, Dr. Willem Renema from the Naturalis Biodiversity Center in The Netherlands, says staghorns provide even more benefits. "Staghorn corals contribute strongly to the structural complexity and three-dimensionality of reefs. Therefore, they play an important role in the ecosystem services delivered by coral reefs. This includes coastal protection and providing habitat for reef-associated biodiversity." Coral reefs host more species than any other marine environment, are crucial for healthy fish populations, and, in providing coastal protection, they help dissipate up to 97% of incoming wave energy. However, in the past 20 years, coral cover has diminished by as much as 95 percent in some locations, such as the Caribbean. Coral health is compromised by climate change and local stress such as pollution and over-fishing. So, what would a future without staghorn corals look like? "One need only look as far as the algal-dominated reefs of the Caribbean to find a future in the absence of staghorn corals," Pandolfi says. "However, there is hope. Relieving local pressures on staghorn corals--for example, by improving water quality--helps increase their resistance to thermal stress from climate change. So by managing local anthropogenic stressors such as sediment runoff, dredging, and other sources of pollution, we can insure that these corals will be at their best when confronting global warming." In the face of scientific dogma that faults the population decline of monarch butterflies on a lack of milkweed, herbicides and genetically modified crops, a new Cornell University study casts wider blame: sparse autumnal nectar sources, weather and habitat fragmentation. "Thanks to years of data collected by the World Wildlife Fund and citizen-scientists across North America, we have pieced together the monarch life cycle to make inferences about what is impacting the butterflies," said Anurag Agrawal, Cornell University professor of ecology and evolutionary biology and senior author on the new paper, to be published April 25 in the journal Oikos. The scientists did not find evidence supporting the "milkweed-limitation hypothesis" during the monarch's summer breeding season in the midwestern and northeastern United States. Rather, through statistical analyses, the group found problems in the transition from the U.S. and southern Canada to the overwintering grounds in Mexico. Milkweed is only a food source for the caterpillars in summer, but not as the butterflies leave for their epic southern migration in autumn. The study finds that a "lack of milkweed, the only host plant for monarch butterfly caterpillars, is unlikely to be driving the monarch's population decline, as the problem appears to occur after they take flight in the fall," said Agrawal. In any given year, four generations of monarch butterflies traverse much of North America over a 2,000-mile trek beginning in early spring when they leave the Mexican wintering grounds. In the first generation, millions of monarchs flow through Texas and Oklahoma, with the subsequent generations moving into the Midwest and Northeast, until the start of fall, when the fourth generation returns to the mountainous, high-altitude Oyamel fir forests of central Mexico. Despite the seemingly good news of annual population bounce-back on the return from the south each year, the scientists were clear that the monarch population has been dwindling. Yes, said Agrawal: "The consistent decline at the overwintering sites in Mexico is cause for concern. Nonetheless, the population is six times what it was two years ago, when it was at its all-time low." Agrawal credits the population rebound to improved weather and release from the severe drought in Texas. Agrawal said that a persistent decline caused by lack of nectar sources or other threats such as habitat loss or insecticide use can conspire with large annual population fluctuations -- mostly due to weather -- and may eventually push monarchs to dangerously low numbers. "Given the intense interest in monarch conservation, the blame being put on herbicide use and the national dialog about potentially listing monarchs under the endangered species act, we have to get the science right," said Agrawal.

Kaitlin Zezeski

Sometimes love at first sight can change your whole life. Such was true for a tuxedo cat named George when his future owner, Kaitlin Zezeski, saw his photo on Petfinder.com and immediately fell in love. George and Zezeski | Kaitlin Zezeski She called Griffin Pond Animal Shelter in South Abington Township, Pennsylvania, several times that week to make sure George was still available. "I couldn't get there fast enough," Zezeski told The Dodo. George as a kitten | Kaitlin Zezeski You see, George doesn't look like other cats. When he was just a homeless kitten living on the streets, an animal attacked him and he nearly died. An elderly couple found him and saved his life, nursing him back to health for as long as they could before giving him to a local rescue group. From there, George bounced around a lot between foster homes and rescue groups before eventually ending up at Griffin Pond. Kaitlin Zezeski "The story of George is a sad one with a storybook ending," Zezeski said. "Fortunately, not only did George survive an animal attack, but he pulled through with nearly no health problems. Aside from looking a little goofy and having goopy eyes, he's perfectly healthy!" Dodo Shows Odd Couples Dog And Wild Dolphin Play Whenever They See Each Other Kaitlin Zezeski Though George was skinny and a little scared when Zezeski first brought him to her home in Scranton at the age of 1, he had learned how to be social through his various foster homes. "He was full of love immediately," she said. George and Thumbs | Kaitlin Zezeski And there was plenty of love to go around. Zezeski already had two male cats at her home, Mr. Belvedere and Thumbs, and was concerned about bringing a third male into the mix, especially because the two cats were already inseparable, the best of friends. George, Thumbs and Mr. Belvedere | Kaitlin Zezeski In reality, she didn't need to worry at all. "The day I brought him home, the three of them became immediate friends," she said. "I couldn't believe it! No hissing or aggression of any kind. I knew immediately that George was a part of our family." Kaitlin Zezeski Eventually, that family grew to include more rescue cats for George to play with. Now one of five cats, George has grown up as part of a herd: Thumbs, a 5-year-old flame point polydactyl Siamese mix; Mr. Belvedere, a 5-year-old Russian blue mix with a heart murmur; Queen Latifah, an 8-month-old black kitten; and her littermate, Blue. "It usually sounds like a stampede in my apartment," she said. "I feel bad for my downstairs neighbors." George's family | Kaitlin Zezeski "I remember the first time George sat on my lap," Zezeski said. "I was sitting on the couch watching TV and he jumped up on the couch. I pet him for a minute, expecting him to jump back down, and he started walking toward me. He curled up like a shrimp on my lap and my heart just melted. At that moment, I knew George fully trusted me and loved me. Now he won't leave my side!" George and Zezeski | Kaitlin Zezeski "He makes me laugh so much every day," she said. "Sometimes I feel like he forgets how to cat." Kaitlin Zezeski "He's extremely curious and follows me everywhere," Zezeski said. "He sits in the kitchen sink when I cook. When I eat, he sits next to me and if it's something he wants, he will reach out a paw and try to pull my arm towards him." Kaitlin Zezeski "Every time I take a shower he leaves the bathroom with a wet head," she said. Kaitlin Zezeski George prefers to sleep alone, however, away from all his siblings. Kaitlin Zezeski "He grooms me every day and I consider it an honor (at least for the first few minutes)," Zezeski said. "He also loves to chase shadows and rainbows around the room." Kaitlin Zezeski "His favorite toy is a spring," she said. "I must wake up with at least five of them every day in my bed." Kaitlin Zezeski George also has amassed quite a bit of fan art from his social media followers, from the meme-worthy ... Kaitlin Zezeski ... to the bizarre ... Kaitlin Zezeski ... to the uncanny. Kaitlin Zezeski "I'm still just so moved from all the people who follow him on social media," Zezeski said. "He brings a smile to my face every day and I am so happy to know that he does that for thousands of others as well." Kaitlin Zezeski Zezeski has stayed active in advocating for animal adoption, especially for those who might get overlooked in crowded shelters or rescues because of the way they look. "Although my four other cats are 'normal,' they were all considered less adoptable at the rescues I got them from," she said. Kaitlin Zezeski

Manfred Zabinskas

A man and woman were using metal detectors in an Australian forest when they heard a strange thumping noise. The couple stopped what they were doing and started searching around. They were prospecting the forest because it was an historic gold-mining area, so they weren't surprised when they came across an old mine shaft. But when they peered down the gaping hole, they didn't expect see a kangaroo trapped at the bottom. Manfred Zabinskas They immediately phoned Wildlife Victoria, an organization that rescues sick and injured wildlife. A team of three volunteers arrived at the scene, but when they assessed the situation, they realized it wasn't going to be an easy rescue. Dodo Shows Wild Hearts Guy And Wild Shark Have Been Best Friends For Decades Manfred Zabinskas For one, the mine shaft was deep. The kangaroo was trapped on a "floor" of debris 32 feet below the surface, but the mine shaft could be hundreds of yards deeper beneath the unstable floor. Daylight was also fading fast, and the rescuers had to work quickly to save the kangaroo's life. Manfred Zabinskas, a Wildlife Victoria volunteer, knew what to do. He was an experienced rock climber, and had previously scaled trees to rescue entangled birds, or to capture injured koalas after dog attacks or bushfires. For this operation, Zabinskas decided to rappel into the mineshaft. But he knew he'd have to be very careful. John Kook Not only could the floor collapse, exposing a deeper shaft and killing the kangaroo, but the edge of the mineshaft could cave in as well. "I could see that the rim of the shaft opening was unstable and likely to crumble," Zabinskas told The Dodo, "but the shaft itself appeared sound and had tree roots binding some of the wall." To ensure the kangaroo remained calm, Zabinskas darted the animal using a tranquilizer gun. Then he prepared to descend into the mine shaft. "It was important to remain suspended from my ropes to minimise my contact with the floor," he explained. "This made maneuvering very awkward and uncomfortable, but necessary for the safety of both myself and for the kangaroo." John Kook As Zabinskas lowered himself into the shaft, dirt tumbled down, creating a thick dust cloud. He regretted not wearing a dust mask or respirator, but he was more concerned about the kangaroo's welfare. "I worried about the kangaroo being able to breathe," Zabinskas said. "I had to work quickly." John Kook Holding a flashlight in his mouth, Zabinskas managed to safely reach the bottom. The kangaroo's body had been partly buried under the falling debris, but thankfully, the dirt hadn't covered the kangaroo's face. John Kook Zabinskas carefully placed the kangaroo - who turned out to be a young male weighing about 66 pounds - into a special rescue bag. Then the team of volunteers hoisted the kangaroo out using ropes attached to the bag. John Kook Unsure if the kangaroo was injured, Zabinskas took him back the wildlife shelter he operated from his home. Zabinskas gave the kangaroo an IV drip to replenish fluids in his body, and made sure to keep him warm. When the kangaroo awoke the next morning, he drank and ate, and started hopping around the shelter's hospital room. Then Zabinskas had the pleasure of releasing the kangaroo back into the wild, which he says is the best part of his job. "There's no greater reward than watching a rescued animal head back home, acting as if nothing had happened," Zabinskas said. Manfred Zabinskas Ever since Chinese computer maker Lenovo spent billions of dollars to acquire IBMs personal-computer and server businesses, some lawmakers have called on federal agencies to stop using the companys equipment out of concerns over Chinese spying. This past week, those lawmakers thought the Pentagon finally heeded their warnings. An email circulated within the Air Force appeared to indicate that Lenovo was being kicked out. For immediate implementation: Per AF Cyber Command direction, Lenovo products are being removed from the Approved Products List and should not be purchased for DoD use. Lenovo products currently in use will be removed from the network, stated the message. The apparent directive was generally welcomed as it circulated around Capitol Hill. Then the Pentagons press office weighed in. Not so fast, it said. Ann Stefanek, an Air Force spokeswoman, said the message was mistaken, not properly coordinated and should not have been sent. Neither the Air Force nor the rest of the Defense Department has banned Lenovo products, she added. In fact, the Approved Products List referenced in the Air Force message focused on communications equipment such as routers, rather than personal computers, for which Lenovo is known. Army Lt. Col. Valerie Henderson, a Pentagon spokeswoman, said Lenovo has never been on that list. Those statements to The Washington Post did not go over well with lawmakers such as Rep. Robert Pittenger (R-N.C.), who is working on two proposals that would severely limit the use of products from any Chinese company on U.S. government computer systems. My office received verifiable evidence that the Air Force intended on removing Lenovo as a supplier, Pittenger said. However, the Defense Department is now claiming this Air Force directive was unapproved and inaccurate. Should the Air Force have legitimate concerns with Lenovo, I am troubled that the Defense Department would not take swift action in support of that evidence, he added. The squabble comes amid heightened tension between the United States and China over cybersecurity. The Obama administration accused the Chinese of a massive hack in 2014 of the Office of Personnel Management, which exposed the personal data of 22.1 million federal workers, including some Defense Department personnel who had gone through background checks. Meanwhile this week in China, Apple confirmed that its iBooks Store and iTunes Movies services were disrupted, just two months after they were launched there. The move, some analysts said, was part of a broader tightening of the countrys control of the Internet. Chinas cyberespionage continues to grow and puts Americas economic and national security in jeopardy, said Mike Wessel, a member of the U.S.-China Economic Security Review Commission who also saw the Air Force Cyber Command message. Putting Chinese-produced and controlled equipment on some of our most sensitive networks is a recipe for disaster. Worries over companies ties to foreign governments have been aired before other Chinese firms, including telecom equipment makers ZTE and Huawei, have been the subject of probes by the Treasury Department and Congress. Lenovo has repeatedly denied any link to state-sponsored cyberespionage. In a statement, the company said: Lenovo has been a trusted supplier of information technology in the US since 2005 when it bought the IBM ThinkPad PC business. Every single company selling technology to the US government including HP, Dell, Cisco, Apple and Lenovo use foreign components in their products. So its critical that the US continue to follow a standards-based process that allows for procurement of technology that is both cutting edge and totally secure. In 2004, when Lenovo bought IBMs PC business, the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) a Treasury Department body that routinely examines transactions and investments that foreign companies make with U.S. firms launched a probe of Lenovo. Another followed when Lenovo bought IBMs server business in 2014. One of the main concerns that surfaced in the 2014 review was over the maintenance of Lenovo servers. Lenovo had agreed to contract IBM to service U.S. government servers. Still, some questioned whether Lenovo workers would have to be called in for support either remotely or on-site, should the contract with IBM lapse a scenario some U.S. officials deemed unacceptable. The 2014 probe also looked into the state connections of Legend Holdings, which has a controlling share of Lenovo and is in turn partially owned by a Chinese state entity called the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Both acquisitions were ultimately cleared by CFIUS. U.S. officials have an obligation to defend our nation against all enemies, foreign and domestic. That vigilance should transcend borders, or a standard focused on the ownership shares of a company, said Nancy McLernon, chief executive of the Organization for International Investment. Regardless of whether the government contracts with Amazon, Lenovo or Microsoft it has the duty to ensure national security concerns are addressed on their merits, following objective standards and processes. Still, the CFIUS rulings did not stop agencies from cutting off the company. In 2006, the State Department said it would not use on classified networks 16,000 computers it had bought from Lenovo. The reason was security concerns. There was also an effort in 2011 to remove Lenovo hardware purchased for use at the Tobyhanna Army Depot in Pennsylvania, which was a site for IT repairs. The U.S. government also told consumers last year to uninstall from Lenovos laptops preloaded advertising software, called Superfish, that altered which ads users saw. It warned that the software made the devices vulnerable to cyberattacks. Besides facing turbulence in Washington, Lenovo has had to contend with a downturn in the overall PC market. The firm has pushed hard to make inroads in the U.S. market, tapping celebrities such as Kobe Bryant and Ashton Kutcher as spokesmen to broaden its appeal. While the firm remains the worlds top-selling PC manufacturer, a report from IDC indicates that its PC shipments in the first quarter of 2016 shrank 8.5 percent from the same period last year. For the second time in less than a month, the Justice Department has backed off using the courts to force Apple to help it gain access to a locked iPhone in an investigation. On Friday, it told a federal court in Brooklyn that it no longer needs Apples help in pulling data from a drug dealers iPhone after someone came forward with a passcode. [The San Bernardino case is already changing Apples argument over another locked iPhone] In California last month, the government abandoned a bid to compel Apples assistance in helping unlock a terrorists iPhone after a third party sold the FBI a method to crack the device. In both cases the government had asserted Apple was the only one who could provide the technical assistance. Legal analysts and industry lawyers are divided on whether the discovery of alternatives undermines the Justice Departments case in seeking similar court orders in the future. Its going to be a much tougher putt for the government the next time this happens, said Craig A. Newman, a partner at Patterson Belknap who chairs the firms data privacy group. The Justice Department has now shown that workarounds exist without forcing Apple to break into its own devices. Intentionally or not, the bar just got higher, and the government will be hard-pressed to argue again that Apple is its only alternative. But Michael Sussmann, a partner at Perkins Coie who represents tech firms, disagreed. There will be phones the government just cant gain access to, and theyll be able to say truthfully, We need the data, and we have no way to access it, he said. The fact that in these two cases they found a way in, or got lucky, wont change that. Nonetheless, said Ira Rubinstein, a senior fellow at New York University School of Laws Information Law Institute, In future cases, the government may have to show it has exhausted alternative methods of breaking into a locked device. Rubinstein, former associate general counsel at Microsoft, added that the court may wish to hear from independent security researchers before deciding whether to compel an unwilling firm to provide assistance. [FBI has accessed San Bernardino shooters' phone without Apple's help] Since October, when the government sought an order from a federal judge in Brooklyn, Apple has received at least 11 similar court orders directing it to help the government gain access to information on locked iPhones. It objected to the orders and has not heard from the government since. Google also has received orders to help federal agents retrieve data from encrypted cellphones, according to the American Civil Liberties Union. FBI officials said they have recovered more than 3,000 phones in criminal investigations in the past six months. They have been unable to extract data from about 400, or about 13 percent, of those phones. All the orders for assistance cited the All Writs Act, a little-known law that has vaulted into prominence with the Apple case. The Justice Department has cited a 1985 decision that found that the All Writs Act is a source of authority to issue writs not otherwise covered by statute. Part of the test for granting an order under the law is whether there is any alternative way to achieve the same goal, noted James Garland, a partner at Covington & Burling, whose clients include tech firms. Im sure the Justice Department was telling the truth when they told the courts they were unable to unlock these phones, so its not exactly the boy who cried wolf, said Garland, a former senior department official. But the fact that they subsequently figured out how to do it without Apples help may well give courts pause before issuing similar orders in the future. In Brooklyn, an unnamed individual on Thursday evening provided the passcode to the government, which was then able to gain access to the iPhone, U.S. Attorney Robert L. Capers wrote in a one-paragraph submission on Friday to Judge Margo K. Brodie in the Eastern District of New York. Justice Department spokeswoman Emily Pierce said officials were not releasing the individuals name because the investigation is ongoing. Apple stated in a filing this month that the government had made no serious attempt to obtain the phones passcode from the drug dealer. The Silicon Valley firm had no comment on the Brooklyn development. The California case, which stemmed from the December terrorist attack in San Bernardino, attracted worldwide attention as the first major legal showdown between the government and Apple over gaining access to an encrypted phone. Apple portrayed the Justice Departments effort to force compliance as setting a dangerous precedent. The government rejected that characterization. As we have said previously, these cases have never been about setting a court precedent, Pierce said. They are about law enforcements ability and need to access evidence on devices pursuant to lawful court orders and search warrants. Until recently, Sussmann noted, Apple vs. the FBI was shaping up to be the tech battle of the century. But the government last month backed down from the legal fight in California. Then on Friday, he said, the second front in that campaign ended with a whimper, too. The government is obviously bringing every non-legal tool and resource to bear on unlocking encrypted iPhones, but these successes cant last, and a return to the courts wont be far off. 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. (Dixie D. Vereen/For The Washington Post) Yes, the weather is turning toward spring and warmth at last. Here are some more roses and Italian whites to whet your palate for sunnier days ahead. D.M. Donnafugata SurSur Grillo 2014 2 1/ 2 Stars Sicily, Italy, $24 Grillo produces a crisp, citrusy, refreshing white wine, and Sicily is the predominant region where its grown. This wine is a delightful companion to seafood, either in salads or from the grill. Alcohol by volume: 12.5 percent. Distributed by Bacchus: Available in the District at A. Litteri; on the list at Casa Luca. On the list in Maryland at Cosima in Baltimore. Netzl Rosanna Rose Zweigelt 2015 2 1/ 2 Stars Carnuntum, Austria, $14 Zweigelt is one of Austrias major red-wine grapes. This rose is sharp and focused, avoiding some of the overripeness of European roses from the warm 2015 vintage. Delicious. ABV: 13.5 percent. Distributed by Siema: Available in the District at Cleveland Park Wine and Spirits, New H Wine & Spirits. Available in Maryland at Cranberry Liquors in Westminster, Fenwick Beer & Wine in Silver Spring, Finewine.com and Pinky & Pepes Grape Escape in Gaithersburg; on the list at Luna Blu in Annapolis, Volt in Frederick. Available in Virginia at Chain Bridge Cellars in McLean, DVine Wines in Winchester, Unwined (Alexandria, Belleview), Wine Cabinet in Reston, Wine Outlet in Vienna. Gini Soave Classico 2014 2 1/ 2 Stars Veneto, Italy, $18 Soave may be Italys classic white wine, and this fine example shouts of spring. Try it with seasonal salads even fresh asparagus, notoriously a wine killer/tricky pairing. ABV: 12.5 percent. Distributed by Bacchus in the District and Maryland, Free Run in Virginia: Available in the District at Ace Beverage, Calvert Woodley, MacArthur Beverages, Rodmans; on the list at Filomena, Ghibellina, Grand Cata, Johnnys Half Shell, Occidental Grill, Park Tavern, Prego Again, Proof. Available in Maryland at Chester River Wine & Cheese in Chestertown, Eastport Liquors in Annapolis, Friendship Wine & Liquor in Abingdon, Midway Discount Liquors in Joppa, Urban Cellars and Wine Source in Baltimore, Wishing Well Liquors in Easton. Le Petit Balthazar Cinsault Rose 2015 2 Stars Pays dOc, France, $9 This label has represented tremendous value in rose for several vintages, and it does not disappoint in 2015. Look for flavors of watermelon and strawberry, with a hint of mint or rosemary. Then bask in the sun. ABV: 11 percent. Distributed by Dionysus: Available in the District at Best One Liquor, Rodmans, Wagshals Deli, Whole Foods Market (Foggy Bottom, P Street, Tenleytown). Available in Maryland at Balduccis and Bradley Food & Beverage in Bethesda, Dawsons Market in Rockville, Finewine.com in Gaithersburg, Rodmans (Wheaton, White Flint). Available in Virginia at Arrowine and Cheese in Arlington, Balduccis (Alexandria, McLean), Ellwood Thompsons Local Market in Richmond, In Vino Veritas in Keswick, Unwined (Alexandria, Belleview), Whole Foods Market (Alexandria, Arlington, Ashburn, Fair Lakes, Vienna). French Secret 2015 1 1/ 2 Stars Mediterranee, France, $13 Its no secret that France makes great rose, but perhaps the name of this wine can add a little mystery to any occasion. It is a straightforward, testy rose with a nice balance of acidity to offset the ripeness of the 2015 vintage. ABV: 12.5 percent. Distributed by Washburn: Available in the District at Gallagher and Graham Fine Spirits, Streets Market and Cafe. President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko has called Ukrainians to learn English language, a language of global communication. "Ukraine is open to a modern world, and a modern world is open to Ukraine. All we must know English, which is language of global communication. Learn English grow fast!," Poroshenko wrote on his Facebook account on Saturday. On April 23, United Nations celebrate English Language Day. April 23 was chosen as the date for the English language because it is the anniversary of William Shakespeare's birth. The event was established by the UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) in 2010 seeking "to celebrate multilingualism and cultural diversity as well as to promote equal use of all six of its official working languages throughout the organization". Baltimore poll worker Cynthia Deloach helps Reginald Smith vote for the first time in more than 20 years. (Jonathan Newton/The Washington Post) Reginald Smith stood at the corner of West North and Pennsylvania avenues, the epicenter of the riots that erupted in Baltimore a year ago, and gripped a sample Democratic primary ballot. By the time he sat down in front of the computer screen Thursday at a nearby early voting center, he shook his head, almost in disbelief. He was about to register his choice for mayor, U.S. Senate and president. Im actually nervous, said Smith, who last voted more than two decades ago before he went to prison for 14 years for attempted murder. The worker at the polling place assured Smith, who has been on parole for four years, that he would be fine. She was there if he needed any assistance. Smith is one of nearly 44,000 felons in Maryland whose voting rights were restored earlier this year by the legislature over the objections of Gov. Larry Hogan (R). On Friday, Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D) announced that he will make all felons in his state eligible to vote in the presidential election, allowing about 200,000 people who are not in prison or on probation to register to vote. Reginald Smith, who served 14 years in prison for attempted murder, claps at a rally at the Baltimore City Board of Elections on the first day of voter registration for people on parole or probation. (Michael S. Williamson/The Washington Post) [About 200,000 convicted felons in Virginia will now have the right to vote in November] Maryland has gone even further. In 2007, a law was passed to allow felons to vote after they completed their parole and probation. Last year, the legislature approved a bill to restore voting rights to those who, like Smith, are still on parole and probation. Hogan vetoed the measure, arguing that felons should not be able to vote until they complete parole and probation, which he considers part of their punishment. But the General Assembly voted in February to override the veto putting Maryland at the forefront of a movement to restore voting rights for more than 5 million people across the country. John Comer, a director at Communities United, an advocacy group that pushed for Marylands new law, said that providing Smith and others with a chance to vote is a step toward removing the stigma and shame of their past. For many of them, Comer said, this is an opportunity to move forward. Smith, who is active in Communities United, joined dozens of other ex-offenders in the gallery of the Senate chamber to witness the legislatures vote. I feel empowered, Smith said afterward. Im not going to use the word whole, but it makes me feel more of a citizen. Reginald Smith leaves a West Baltimore polling place Thursday after voting for the first time in more than 20 years. (Jonathan Newton/The Washington Post) Two months later, on the final day of early voting in Baltimore, he was ready to make his voice heard. Its not about me Smith didnt want to discuss the December day in 1999 when he nearly ended another persons life. Its really hard to talk about you dont want to relive it, and you dont want your victim to relive it, he said. Theres the victims family. And my family is a victim, too. Smith, who had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, said the violence started with an argument with a friend in Baltimore County. It ended with him walking downstairs to call the police. Everything in between, Smith said, is hazy. I couldnt explain why, he said. I didnt know why. He was charged with rape and attempted murder. Although the rape charge wasnt pursued, he pleaded guilty to second-degree attempted murder, which landed him in the Maryland Correctional Institution in Hagerstown for 14 years. When he was released from prison four years ago, he moved in with his mother, who lives in West Baltimore. Im 53 years old and stuck in my mothers house, he said. That there is more embarrassing than anything else in my life. Before he went to prison, he had served seven years in the Army National Guard and worked as a bounty hunter and a security guard. These days, hes too disabled from diabetes to work. He has an unsteady gait and trouble seeing. His doctors, he said, have told him that his heart is weak from battling diabetes for 30 years. He takes pride in his work with Communities United. Several times over the past year, the group has rallied in Annapolis on Lawyers Mall and the steps of the Maryland State House, telling lawmakers that felons who are allowed to vote are less likely to return to prison and more likely to become reintegrated into their communities. [Maryland Senate overrides Hogans veto of felon voting-rights bill] His advocacy, which includes pushing for access to jobs and housing for those newly released from prison, probably will not benefit him, he said. But he hopes to help others who have been convicted of crimes. Its not about me. Its about the others who are still inside that need help, Smith said. This is so when they do come from behind the wall, they can start getting better for themselves. It feels good On the day that Marylands new law took effect, Smith was one of the first felons to leave a Communities United rally outside the Baltimore City Board of Elections office. He was eager to get inside that office to turn in his paperwork. [This man is on parole. On Thursday, he registered to vote.] The last ballot he can remember casting was for Kurt Schmoke, Baltimores first African American mayor, who served from 1987 to 1999. But Smith admits that he wasnt a regular voter. I wasnt active like I should have been, he said. But then again, it was my right to vote or not. He was in prison when Barack Obama, the countrys first black president, was elected. Now hes been following the presidential campaign a three-ring circus as well as the crowded mayoral race. After attending a recent candidates forum in Baltimore, Smith was leaning toward voting for Carl Stokes (D), a Baltimore City Council member making his second run for the mayors seat. His reason: The candidates had similar platforms, but Stokes did not arrive late to the forum, which was designed for the candidates to talk to parolees, or leave early. If you cant sit and listen to us for three hours, Smith said, how can I trust you to listen when you get elected? By voting day, he had reconsidered. On his sample ballot, a dark circle was filled next to state Sen. Catherine E. Pughs name. Why the change? My momma, he said. She knew more about her than I did. He had decided to vote for Hillary Clinton because, he said, she is the only one who can beat Trump. He showed the sample ballot to the poll worker who had offered to help him cast his ballot. Okay, these are my people right here, Smith said, pointing to the names he had marked off. He was joined by several other newly enfranchised voters, including Trina Ashley, 54. She raised her hands in victory as she walked away from the election booth. First time ever voted, Ashley shouted. It feels good. The dozen workers and other voters applauded. Smith said he felt great after casting his ballot. For the first time in decades, hed had an impact on the future of his country and his city. It feels good that I have a voice, he said. I have a say in who may be getting in office. For so long, I didnt have a say in nothing. When I was locked up, I didnt have a say. It just feels good. And now Im going to see where it leads. The list of names scrolls up the screen for a second, just long enough to convey the point of David Trones new TV ad: Despite claims to the contrary, state Sen. Jamie B. Raskin, one of his principal opponents in the 8th Congressional District Democratic primary, takes money from people who lobby him. Trone, self-funded to the tune of $12.4 million, has accepted no lobbyist or special interest money. Its the organizing principle of his campaign. But theres at least one name on the list Trone should be quite familiar with Gerard Evans. Evans is one of two lobbyists Trone employs in Annapolis to represent Total Wine & More, his chain of big-box wine, beer and spirits stores. Evans donated $250 to Raskin (Montgomery) on Feb. 21. Evanss presence is a reminder that although Trone the candidate can decry the corrosive effects of special interest money in politics, Trone the businessman is, in the eyes of some 8th District Democrats, one of the corrodants. He has spent more than $1.4 million ($274,000 in Maryland) lobbying state governments since 2011, according to a review of records by the Baltimore Sun. [With latest $2.5 million, Trone is biggest self-funding House candidate ever] His investment has paid off in states where he operates some of his 100-plus stores, in the form of new laws and regulations allowing Sunday hours and the sale of craft beer, for example. He hasnt been as successful in Maryland, where he has tried for years to scuttle a state law that permits only one store license per person. It limits Trone and his brother Robert to just two outlets, in Towson and Laurel. They remain thirsty for more business. Evans, who did a 30-month federal prison sentence at the turn of the century for defrauding clients, said Friday he cant recall lobbying Raskin on any specific matter this past General Assembly session. But as a lobbyist for police unions in various jurisdictions, he said, he often meets with members of the Judicial Proceedings Committee, of which Raskin is a member. He sounded amused when told that his name was on the ad. Its a silly season, isnt it? he said. The ad shows Raskin telling an audience shortly before entering the race last year that as a state lawmaker, he took no contributions from corporations, partnerships, LLCs, people lobbying me. But Raskin has, in fact, taken donations from Evans and a handful of other big Annapolis lobbyists during his congressional campaign: Joel Rozner, Gil Genn, Michael Johansen and a law firm (an LLC) that employs some of them, for a total of about $2,000. This is out of the $1.8 million he has raised in total. Although Raskin sets a high bar for himself and others when it comes to money in politics, the ad, titled What They Say, says that he doesnt always clear it. [District 8 candidates get one last chance to jab at each other] Some of the donations were much ado about not a whole lot. Genn, who gave Raskin $100 on March 31, represents the Maryland Chapter of the American College of Cardiology, which supported a Raskin-sponsored bill requiring large restaurants to have automated external defibrillators available. Theres a personal back story here: Raskins senatorial administrative assistant Carol McDermotts husband, Joseph Sheya, died of a heart attack while they dined out in 2014. The bill passed the Senate but remains in the House. The bill was effectively dead before that contribution, Genn said. The list in the ad is also misleading because it includes several PAC contributions, mostly from unions. Raskin never ruled out taking money from non-corporate PACs. Trones ad also took his other main opponent, former news anchor Kathleen Matthews, to task for accepting PAC and lobbyist contributions. Unlike Raskin, however, Matthews never made sweeping promises about money she would or would not accept. A District woman who killed her mother, stabbing and cutting her 43 times, was sentenced Friday to 4 1/ 2 years in prison. Prosecutors and investigators remain puzzled as to what led Kieva Hooks, on the night of July 31, 2014, to attack her mother, Tajuana Lynn Hooks, 54, in her apartment in the 1300 block of Columbia Road NW. Kieva Hooks, 31, was initially charged with second-degree murder. But as a result of a plea deal with prosecutors, Hooks pleaded guilty in December to voluntary manslaughter. D.C. Superior Court Judge Rhonda Reid-Winston gave Hooks credit for the nearly two years she has spent in the D.C. jail since her arrest. The judge also placed Hooks on five years probation after her release from prison and ordered her to spend at least six months in a halfway house. In an interview with detectives, Hooks gave a grisly account of the attack. She said her mother continually cried, No, Key, no! using the nickname she had given her daughter. An autopsy showed that Hooks stabbed her mother 20 times and cut her 23 times. [Details of fatal stabbing of woman by daughter] At the time of the attack, authorities initially said Kieva Hooks had smoked PCP before attacking her mother. Hookss drug tests showed no illegal substances. Prosecutors say they have not discovered a concrete motive that led Tajuana Hookss only child to kill her mother. Initially, Kieva Hooks told detectives that her mother sexually abused her when she was a child. Prosecutors said they found no evidence of such abuse. Hooks also told detectives that she killed her mother as a way to protect her own young daughter and said that her mother brought a man into their home whom she considered a threat to the girl. Prosecutors, in D.C. Superior Court documents, said that hours after the incident, Hooks was able to tell detectives what type of weapon she used, where her mother was seated during the attack and what words her mother was screaming. In an interview with detectives, Hooks told the investigators that she killed her mother because she was cleaning up her life. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kathryn Rakoczy wrote in a sentencing memo that it was unclear whether any mental health issues contributed to the attack. Not understanding the link between any mental health issues and the murder in this case makes it incredibly difficult to have any confidence that future violent outbursts can be prevented, Rakoczy wrote. They gathered in the piney woods of Southside Virginia, nailed bony fish to wooden planks and pondered, as they have since the 1930s, the fate of the state and nation. This time, they also debated the future of the Shad Planking itself. The venerable political confab once open only to white male Democratic Party bosses, who handpicked the states governor over smoked fish and beer threw open its doors decades ago to all comers. The trick today is to keep the crowds and politicians coming. Attendance was sparse Friday at the events latest incarnation, despite an ambitious effort to re-brand it as a wine, beer and booze tasting. It was kind of sad, Bobby Saunders, 39, an electrician and son of a former mayor of Hopewell, a little over 30 miles away, said as he headed out. It was a rainy day in an off year in the states election cycle. The crowds could flock back to this wooded spot, about an hour west of Virginia Beach, in 2017, when Virginia picks a governor, lieutenant governor and attorney general. Could be a combination of bad weather and no statewide race, Brian Moran, Virginias secretary of public safety and homeland security and one of just a few Democrats to take the stage, said via text afterward. True test [will be] next year. The newly re-christened Shad Planking and Grapes and Grains Festival, which the Wakefield Ruritan Club took over in 1949 to raise money for ball fields, 4-H clubs and other local charities, offered attendees more than the usual fish and politics. They could slurp samples from Virginia wineries, distilleries and breweries. And they could take in a deep-woods tribute to the late pop star Prince, as a Richmond country band offered its rendition of Purple Rain. The Confederate flags that once abounded were nowhere to be seen. One fluttered on the front porch of a nearby house, which also boasted a homemade sign promoting Ben Carson for president. Old and new were on vivid display as tents promoting marijuana legalization and wine-fueled painting classes shared the same soggy turf as those sponsored by the National Rifle Association and a wildlife nuisance control trapper. The last of those had piles of pelts on hand. We wanted to bring a younger demographic, said Teresa Blakley, who was staffing a booth set up by CAMS, a Petersburg marketing firm that led the rebranding effort. We want this tradition to continue on. She added: You cant control the weather, right? What was once a must for anyone seeking statewide office has become optional in the eyes of many Democrats, who started skipping the event in recent election cycles as the crowd in the heart of Virginia peanut country turned solidly red. [Shad Planking brings together fish, beer and candidates but no Democrats] Former governor Timothy M. Kaine (D) broke with tradition as a no-show in 2012, on his way to winning a U.S. Senate seat that year. Terry McAuliffe (D) tempted fate in 2013, bypassing an event that every victorious candidate for governor had attended since at least 1965. He broke the streak by winning. Yet Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), unwilling to cede the rural vote in his reelection bid in 2014, made the trip to Wakefield that year. A presidential straw poll that was part of this years Shad Planking suggested the crowd remains heavily Republican. Donald Trump ran away with the vote, with 82 in favor. Next were Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas (40 votes) and Ohio Gov. John Kasich (27). Democrats Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders were tied with nine apiece. So even a year out, some Republican statewide office seekers saw the value of showing up and making a speech, even though at times only about 50 people gathered by the stage to listen to them. Rep. Robert J. Wittman (R-Va.), who is running for reelection to Congress this year but also for governor in 2017, was there. So were three Republican candidates for attorney general: Del. Robert B. Bell (Albemarle) as well as lawyers John Adams of Virginia Beach and Chuck Smith of Richmond. Three Republicans running for lieutenant governor also showed: Del. Glenn R. Davis Jr. (Virginia Beach), Sen. Bryce E. Reeves (Spotsylvania) and Sen. Jill Holtzman Vogel (Fauquier). One Democratic office seeker took the time to set up a tent: Chesapeake City Council member Ella P. Ward, who is running for a seat in Congress now held by Rep. J. Randy Forbes (R-Va.). (Forbes is running in Virginias 2nd District rather than his current 4th because redistricting has made the latter more African American and Democratic.) Its Republican, yeah, but Im used to that, said Ward, who has to run citywide for her council seat. I need to reach out to all of the people of the 4th District. Wittman, who grew up fishing for shad on Virginias Mattaponi River, agreed that the crowds were down this year but attributed that to the weather. He said he has not lost his taste for the fish or its namesake event, which he sees as a great venue for retail politicking. We could tell people what our plans are for running for 16, but also preparing and doing the things necessary for 17, and talking about national and state issues, he said. We had a chance to talk to a lot of people. Sam Kazman is general counsel and Kent Lassman is president of the Competitive Enterprise Institute. With seven state attorneys general and Al Gore sharing a New York City stage , there was no doubt about it: It was showtime for a whodunit. The crime being investigated? Dissent. The March 29 news conference unveiled, according to New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman, an unprecedented coalition to fight not only climate change but also allegedly deceptive speech about climate change. The group, which dubbed itself AGs United for Clean Power, promised to use all the tools at our disposal to battle for progress on the most consequential issue of our time. Schneiderman was blunt about his goal of shutting down debate: You have to tell the truth. You cant make misrepresentations of the kinds weve seen here. This isnt a law-and-order drama. Its politics clothed in messianic garb, and its primary tools are censorship and intimidation. The AGs are following a familiar script here: target an unpopular, deep-pocketed business, harass that businesss potential allies with overly broad investigations, run roughshod over the targets First Amendment protections and settle once the politically weakened company tires of fighting the endless resources of the state. ExxonMobil was singled out by name at the news conference, but the coalition appears to be following the script perfectly. Now its on to the fishing-expedition stage. On April 7, our organization, the Competitive Enterprise Institute, was subpoenaed by coalition member and U.S. Virgin Islands Attorney General Claude Walker for all CEI material on climate change and energy policy, as well as information on our supporters, over 10 years beginning in 1997. The subpoenas purported focus is on our contacts with ExxonMobil, a former CEI donor that publicly ended its support for us after 2005. Nonetheless, the subpoena calls for practically all of our material on climate change and energy policy, as well as information on any donors who directly or indirectly supported that work. Thats one hell of a burden to slap on a nonprofit. The coalitions purported justification is that the risks of global warming are so important and the scientific basis for them so settled that disputing them constitutes fraud. But the rhetoric of the AGs is blissfully oblivious to the First Amendment. Court rulings make it clear that broad subpoenas aimed at restricting speech, especially in the context of policy debates, are invalid. Time and again, the Supreme Court has held that the remedy for unwanted speech is more speech in response. The chief law-enforcement officers of several states should know better, but their reaction to a dissenting policy position is punitive, coercive and unconstitutional. As for breaching donor confidentiality, the obvious aims here are intimidation and to limit future use of the constitutionally protected right of anonymous donation. In 1958, in NAACP v. Patterson, the Supreme Court held that such attempts were illegal under the First Amendments right of association. You might think that if the law is that clear, we have nothing to worry about. But fighting a subpoena is incredibly costly and time-consuming, especially when the attorneys general behind them have promised to use all the tools at their disposal, courtesy of their states taxpayers. Regardless of where you stand on global warming policy, the notion of a multi-state campaign to end the debate ought to make you worry. After all, there are many science-driven policy debates out there, on topics ranging from genetically modified food to population control. It is not as if the government has a sterling reputation when it comes to science. From Galileo to todays food plate, we know government politicizes science. It ought not to punish dissent, too. The first gender-neutral restroom in the Los Angeles school district is seen at Santee Education Complex high school. (Lucy Nicholson/Reuters) Into the overheated, under-informed bathroom wars comes a well-timed intrusion of sanity in the form of a decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit . The courts ruling in the case of Virginia high-school junior Gavin Grimm, a transgender boy, was correct and groundbreaking, with implications beyond the school setting. Yet the decision also creates the legal framework for situations more challenging and perhaps more unsettling than what should be the routine matter of letting people use their restroom of choice. Grimm was born a girl but has changed his name, has undergone hormone therapy and identifies as a boy. When Grimm and his mother told school officials of this fact, they took it in stride. He used the boys restroom. No big deal. Then the school board got involved, with community meetings that sunk to predictable levels, with warnings of impending sexual assaults and straight boys donning dresses to infiltrate the girls bathroom. So Grimm was barred from the boys bathroom and told to choose between the girls facilities or a new unisex restroom. For some students, the unisex alternative might have sufficed. To Grimm, it served as a daily reminder of stigma and exclusion. If you scoff, remember what it felt like to be an adolescent, craving acceptance from your peers. Grimm sued, claiming that the policy violated Title IX, the federal law barring educational institutions from discriminating on the basis of sex. But what does sex mean in this context? Is it determined exclusively by reference to genitalia (as the lower court concluded) or, more broadly, by what the student understands himself or herself to be? The Education Department has said schools generally must treat transgender students consistent with their gender identity. The appeals court, splitting 2 to 1, said that interpretation was entitled to deference and sent Grimms case back to the lower court, which also has before it Grimms claim that his constitutional rights were violated. That seems like the right outcome which puts me, at least on this issue, with Donald Trump. Commenting on North Carolinas offensive and, under the 4th Circuit decision, legally vulnerable bathroom law, Trump said Thursday that people should use the bathroom they feel is appropriate. Indeed. Just do your business. No peeking over urinal dividers or under stalls to check on your neighbors biological equipment. What invasion of privacy? What harm? Heres the more complicated part. Although Grimm said he had no interest in using the boys locker room, the Education Departments reasoning applies in that setting too. Last year, the department intervened on behalf of a transgender Illinois girl who said she wanted equal access to the girls locker room, and not to be relegated to a separate facility. She wanted as a mom, my heart goes out to her to be a girl like every other girl. The school district said it worried that allowing her into the locker rooms would expose female students to being observed in a state of undress by a biologically male individual. The case ended up being settled with agreement involving privacy curtains and accommodations for any girls who wanted additional privacy protections. Transgender rights lawyers say the reality of such encounters turns out to be less problematic than the imagined intrusions. Were talking about people who also have their sense of privacy and modesty, and who are not going to want to have everyone see an anatomical part of themselves that they feel should never have been there in the first place, said ACLU lawyer Joshua Block, who represented Grimm. Still, the implications of requiring equal treatment lead to some challenging situations. If I had a transgender daughter about to start college, Id want her to have the same opportunity as every freshman to bond with her roommate. But if I were the mother of that roommate if my daughter called and said her roommate turned out to be a transgender girl I have to admit Id be unnerved. Even for people of goodwill, the emergence of transgender rights is going to take some adjusting. And then there is Ted Cruz, who sunk, typically, to lowest-commondenominator ugliness. Grown adult men strangers should not be alone in a bathroom with little girls, he said, seizing on Trumps comments. As if being transgender is equivalent to a propensity to prey on children. Of the same gender. The country needs a mature discussion of this complex issue and on how to accommodate competing needs. Instead, the campaign drives candidates like Cruz to pander to the worst instincts of the ignorant and the basest of the base. Read more from Ruth Marcuss archive, follow her on Twitter or subscribe to her updates on Facebook. These stunning pictures reveal the undisturbed wrecks that lie deep under the sea. Shipwreck hunter and underwater photographer Tobias Friedrich snapped the remains of ships, planes, and aircraft carriers while visiting countries including Papua New Guinea, Malta, Corsica, Egypt, Jordan, and Barbados. The 35-year-old from Wiesbaden, Germany, explained that he got a thrill from exploring the wrecks. Tobias has been taking underwater photography since 2007 and admitted that his favorite shots include planes. In the April 17 Flashbacks comic, cartoonist Patrick M. Reynolds erred in his description of pilot Claude Grahame-White landing his plane in Washington. Reynolds wrote, On October 11, 1910 he set down between the State, War, and Navy Dept. Buildings. All three departments were housed in one building in 1910. Today that building is called the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, and it is located across West Executive Avenue from the White Houses West Wing. The pilot in fact set down between the State, War, and Navy Building and the White House. Also, the Library of Congress lists Oct. 14, 1910, as the date Grahame-White landed. The Oct. 15, 1910, edition of The Post also gave Oct. 14 as the date: MAKES DARING FLIGHT: Grahame-White Does Remarkable Landing Feat. . . . The text referred to the landing taking place yesterday. Mike Bohn, Alexandria Migrants check a departure board at Copenhagen Central Station in this Nov. 12, 2015, photo. (Scanpix Denmark/Reuters) Regarding the April 12 front-page article Denmarks hostile turn on refugees : Enforcing the law is not taking a nasty turn, as the article put it. Thats an opinion, not reporting. In Maryland, a father was recently fined for allowing an underage-drinking party in his home. He may have thought that was a nasty turn in the law; I applauded it. Gerald Chandler, Alexandria In his April 12 letter , Alan Berry lamented a certain overlooked distinction, citing the United Methodist Churchs statement on inclusiveness, in its 2012 Book of Discipline, to claim that all people, but not all behaviors, are welcomed by the church. However, by justifying the exclusion of gay Christians in the name of condemning behaviors, Berry made a false distinction of his own. Being gay is not simply a matter of behavior. It is a matter not simply of choice but of constitution and orientation, which are at least as central to a persons identity as the traits listed in the statement on inclusiveness, such as race and national origin. Some gay Christians and others choose a life of celibacy for a variety of reasons. Yet their identity as gay men and lesbians is not changed by their lack of behaviors associated with being gay. To exclude gay people is unavoidably to exclude, well, people. In Berrys words, this is important but sadly overlooked. Zack Shaeffer, Washington THE RACISTS who rewrote Virginias constitution in 1902 made no bones about their objectives. Poll taxes, literacy tests and the disenfranchisement of felons were all granted constitutional cover, the better, explained State Sen. Carter Glass (D), a key draftsman, to eliminate the darkey as a political factor in this State and ensure the complete supremacy of the white race in the affairs of government. With the stroke of a pen, Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D) did his best Friday to scrap the last vestige of that project: the ban on voting by ex-felons. Mr. McAuliffe, who as a candidate promised to expand on similar efforts by his predecessors, ordered that voting rights be automatically restored to more than 200,000 former inmates who have completed their sentences, regardless of their offense. Its about time. For years, Virginia has been one of a dirty dozen states that has barred automatic restoration of voting and other civil rights to ex-convicts. It is one of just four such states the others are Florida, Iowa and Kentucky that erected the most onerous barriers by subjecting every felon, violent or not, to a lifetime revocation barring action by the governor. Make no mistake: the disenfranchisement of felons is as racially skewed today as it was in Virginias racist past. While African Americans comprise just a fifth of Virginias population, more than half the inmates in state prisons are black. Owing to the disenfranchisement of felons, an estimated 1 in 5 black Virginians of voting age cannot vote, notwithstanding past moves by Mr. McAuliffe and his Republican predecessor, Robert F. McDonnell, to restore voting rights to nonviolent former felons. No doubt, the action by Mr. McAuliffe, a Democrat and longtime friend and fundraiser for Bill and Hillary Clinton, has a political dimension. By enlarging Virginias potential electorate to include tens of thousands more voters, many of them black, Mr. McAuliffe is granting Democrats a crucial edge in a swing state ahead of Novembers presidential election. At the same time, Mr. McAuliffes move rests on rock-solid principle: that ex-convicts who have served their time and reentered society should do so as full citizens. To argue, as many Republicans do, that voting rights should be withheld from former felons in many cases indefinitely is to insist that the state continue to exact punishment and retribution. That is odds with practice in some 38 states, where voting and other civil rights are restored automatically once prison, parole and probation time have been completed. Republicans expressed predictable outrage at Mr. McAuliffes order, but they will be hard-pressed to challenge it. The state constitutional language barring a felon from voting unless his civil rights have been restored by the Governor seems to grant Mr. McAuliffe precisely the power he has exercised. No less an authority than University of Virginia legal scholar A.E. Dick Howard, the primary draftsman of the commonwealths revised, 1971 constitution, said Mr. McAuliffes order was legally sound. Past governors have used their power to restore voting rights on an individual basis, but nothing in the state constitution disqualifies restoration to an entire class. And it was Mr. McDonnell, a Republican, who essentially scrapped the individual standard by automatically restoring the vote to nonviolent felons when they complete their sentences. As for Mr. McAuliffes order, which applies only to existing ex-convicts, it can be renewed for future such groups or canceled by future governors. Republicans are on shaky ground in wanting to retain what Mr. Howard called the last prop of white supremacy, and in accusing Mr. McAuliffe of political opportunism. It was GOP lawmakers who restricted voting rights in Virginia and elsewhere by tightening voter ID requirements on the false pretext of fighting electoral fraud (which barely exists). Those moves are transparently aimed at disqualifying minority voters. Between the GOPs attempts to narrow the pool of voters and Mr. McAuliffes move to broaden it, its the governor who has the moral and democratic high ground. Jasmine Brown is moved to tears before Bernie Sanders is introduced to speak at Claflin University in South Carolina in February. (Lucian Perkins/The Washington Post) African Americans in the South cant get a break when it comes to voting, as history cant deny. After all theyve endured through slavery, Jim Crow and the fight for civil rights, their voices are still treated dismissively by tone-deaf politicians who would ask for their votes. If youre thinking Bernie Sanders, youre partly right. This month, having lost massively to Hillary Clinton across the Southeast, Sanders commented that the bevy of early Southern primaries distorts reality. In other comments soon thereafter, perhaps covering for what was obviously a lapse in political acumen, he clarified that those early states are the most conservative in the country. Not really. And not really. While some segments of the South are undeniably conservative, Dixie is also home to a large and reliably Democratic cohort African Americans. Many of the most liberal people serving in todays Congress were elected by Southerners, and especially black Southerners. The reality is that Sanders failed to earn their votes in part by treating the South as a lost cause. Many took Sanderss remarks as insinuating that the black vote isnt all that important. Adding to the insult, actor Tim Robbins, a Sanders surrogate, said that Clintons win in South Carolina, where more than half of Democratic voters are African American, was about as significant as winning Guam. Not cool, Mr. Robbins, but you were great in The Shawshank Redemption. The gentleman from Vermont (black population: 1 percent) and the gentleman from Hollywood failed to charm Southern Democratic leaders, who recently responded with a letter condemning Sanderss remarks. The signatories, including the Democratic Party chairs of South Carolina (an African American), Louisiana, Florida, Georgia and Mississippi, expressed concern that Sanderss characterization of the South minimized the importance of the voices of a core constituency for our party. The letter writers also pointed out that some of Sanderss victories have been in states that are more conservative than Southern ones, such as Oklahoma, Utah and Idaho. That black voters would prefer a familiar candidate such as Clinton over someone whose personal experience among African Americans seems to have been relatively limited, notwithstanding his participation in civil rights demonstrations, is hardly surprising. For decades, the Clintons have worked for issues and protections important to the African American community. But the Clintons, too, have been dismissive toward black voters when things didnt go their way. During the 2008 primaries when it was clear that Barack Obama would trounce Hillary Clinton in South Carolina, Bill Clinton remarked that Jesse Jackson also had won the state in 1984 and 1988. No one needs a translator to get Clintons meaning. His next hastily drawn sentence Jackson ran a good campaign. And Obama ran a good campaign here did little to distract from the implication that Obama would win because he was black. Not cool, Mr. President. Hillary Clinton got herself into a hot mess when she asserted that President Lyndon Johnson was responsible for the Civil Rights Act, which many saw as dismissive of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.s legacy. She scrambled to explain herself and mitigate the damage, but feelings once hurt are hard to mend. Then again, time is a miracle worker, and all is apparently forgiven. Clinton is the new black and has been duly rewarded for her loyalty, patience and sportsmanship. She played nice with Obama, crushing her resentment beneath the heel of her sensible shoes and erasing from memory Obamas condescending Youre likable enough, Hillary during a debate. On the campaign trail, Clinton now tosses rose petals at Obamas feats, promising to carry on his policies not because she necessarily agrees with them but because its politically savvy. For his part, the president has all but endorsed Clinton, returning the favor of her indulgence and her husbands vigorous support. The truth is, only Obama could have defeated Clinton for the 2008 nomination, and he probably did win at least partly because he was African American. The country felt it was time for a black president and Obamas message of hope against a purple-colored backdrop of streamlined unity, baby, was intoxicating. He was a dazzling diamond in the rough world of partisan politics. Clinton shares none of Obamas sparkle, but she has more than paid her dues, and African American voters have rewarded her loyalty. For his part, Sanders not only confirmed African Americans concerns about his disconnect from their daily lives but also was badly mistaken about the Souths distance from reality. In the South, black votes matter a lot and no one has understood this better than the Clintons. Read more from Kathleen Parkers archive, follow her on Twitter or find her on Facebook. THE JUSTICE Department calls it a tool to crack down on terrorists, kleptocrats and fugitives. So why did it result in the seizure of money and other assets from law-abiding people? Welcome to the weird world of civil asset forfeiture, in which the government can take property without charging its owner with a crime. There are some legitimate reasons for the practice, such as cracking down on sophisticated organized-crime rings, that manage to separate criminals from tainted assets. But even after years of criticism and reports of abuse, the federal government still has not reformed its piece of the system enough to keep its application narrow and fair. The use of civil forfeiture has boomed over the past decade, in part because of the Justice Departments equitable sharing policy, which gives local law enforcement a cut of the proceeds from seizures they turn over to the federal government. Federal seizure rules are sometimes looser than state rules. If local police can put seized assets into the federal system and still get a slice of the pot, the federal government is giving local police departments a financial interest in using the federal system to maximize seizures. The result has been stories such as that of Mandrel Stuart, a barbecue restaurant owner from whom Fairfax County police took $17,550 in 2012. Police pulled Mr. Stuart over for having tinted windows and a video playing in his line of sight and ultimately released him without charge. But they kept the money, which Mr. Stuart said was for buying restaurant supplies, and had a Drug Enforcement Administration officer process it. Mr. Stuart got his money back but it took a year, and he lost his business in the meantime. Responding to reports such as these, the Justice Department has over the past two years placed stronger limits on equitable sharing, requiring that seizures be processed under the program only if the feds were involved before police took the assets and requiring that federal prosecutors quickly vet them. These new rules are helpful but not enough. The point of equitable sharing should be to fight major crimes, not pad police budgets. Any link between the volume of seizures and the windfall to police departments must be broken. Otherwise police departments will be tempted to push the rules as far as they can. For a time, the Justice Department seemed poised to end equitable sharing, suspending the scheme. But the department recently announced that it is restarting the program. It should reconsider, cordoning off seized assets for other purposes and finding other ways to encourage local police to assist in federal investigations. Even if the feds reform fully, they cannot touch state civil seizure rules, which in many locales continue to encourage abuse. These, too, should be reformed so that innocent people cannot be deprived unfairly of their hard-earned cash. Migrants ask for help from a dinghy as they are approached by the SOS Mediterranees ship Aquarius, background, off the coast of the Italian island of Lampedusa, on Sunday. (Patrick Bar/Associated Press) THE NEWS of the latest human tragedy in the Mediterranean came just as Europes leaders were congratulating themselves on having curtailed the flow of desperate refugees attempting to reach their shores. According to the United Nations refugee agency, some 500 people may have drowned last week when a large boat jammed with migrants from Africa sank somewhere between Libya and Italy. The survivors, 41 Somalis, Ethiopians, Egyptians and Sudanese, drifted at sea in another boat for several days before being rescued. All the people died in a matter of minutes, one told investigators. European Union officials have been touting the initial success of a strategy to prevent asylum seekers from Syria and elsewhere in the Middle East from crossing the Aegean Sea from Turkey to Greece. The scheme is morally and legally dubious: New arrivals in Greece are being deported back to Turkey in exchange for $6 billion in E.U. aid to the regime of Recep Tayyip Erdogan and, it seems, pandering to his political demands, including the prosecution of a German comedian who insulted him. The dirty reward is that landings in Greece have dropped off precipitously, from 26,000 in the three weeks before the policy was launched to fewer than 6,000 since April 4. Nothing has been done to address the causes of the exodus, however, so smugglers might shift their activities from the Turkey-Greece route to the still more dangerous passage between the North African coast and Italy. Some 6,000 mostly African refugees arrived in southern Italian ports in four days last week, according to the International Organization for Migration, bringing the total for the year to nearly 24,000. Some 800 have died along the way, the agency said , including those in the latest accident. Predictably, some European leaders are calling for more aggressive measures to stop the flow of boats, including stationing European warships in Libyan waters. While some measures of force may be appropriate, whats missing is a more humanitarian commitment to provide for those seeking refuge and to tackle the conflicts driving them from their homes. In a statement on the latest sinking, the U.N. refugee agency said increased regular pathways for the admission of refugees and asylum seekers to Europe was the way to undermine the smugglers. So far, however, most countries are failing to meet E.U. quotas for resettling refugees already in Europe; a number have also failed to pay into a fund to cover the cost of the Turkey deal. Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi has proposed a plan for providing aid to African countries in exchange for more measures to stop people-smuggling. However, this potentially worthy approach quickly became tangled in a debate over funding, with Germany flatly rejecting Mr. Renzis suggestion that money be raised through the issuance of Eurobonds. Meanwhile, no one in Europe appears ready to take the steps that would do most to solve the problem: ending the assaults on civilians by the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad, and helping a new, internationally backed Libyan government establish its authority. The Syrian mess is tacitly delegated to the Obama administration, which continues to insist on a failing strategy of leverage-free diplomacy. The result will be more desperate asylum-seekers journeys, and more tragedy. Hillary Clinton is seen aboard the campaign bus in Cleveland on the third day of a bus tour through Pennsylvania and Ohio. July 31, 2016 Hillary Clinton is seen aboard the campaign bus in Cleveland on the third day of a bus tour through Pennsylvania and Ohio. Melina Mara/The Washington Post The former secretary of state, senator and first lady is the Democratic nominee for president. The former secretary of state visits key states in her quest to become the Democratic nominee for president. The former secretary of state visits key states in her quest to become the Democratic nominee for president. If all politics is local, Hillary Clinton is hoping she can be a local in more than one place. After a blowout victory in New York and a relentless focus on her hometown credentials there, Clinton is now playing up her ties to delegate-rich Pennsylvania. Her father, born and reared in Scranton, thought it was Gods country, Clinton said Friday. We went there every single year. She ended a busy day Friday with a raucous nighttime rally attended by 1,200 people and a memory-lane visit to a local Italian restaurant in Scranton, where patrons included a couple who had lived next door to her grandparents on Diamond Avenue, Clinton said later. She had a rare on-the-road reunion here with her brothers, Hugh and Tony Rodham, who, she noted, still take a summer trip to a family cottage on nearby Lake Winola. It just brings back a flood of the best memories and the best people, Clinton said at the rally. This place has a lot of not just memories, but special meaning to me, and the thing I want you to know more than anything else is I will work my heart out for the people who live in northeastern Pennsylvania, she said. I will be a good partner because we have work to do. The local-girl shtick was an expansion of a staple of Clintons stump speech, in which she has talked about her grandfather, who worked in a lace mill in Scranton, and the American trajectory that allowed her own father to then become a small-business owner and send her to college. The Fixs Chris Cillizza breaks down whats at stake for Democrats and Republicans in the April 26 primaries. (Peter Stevenson/The Washington Post) [Sanders: Clinton platform would determine whether he campaigns for her] But she went local in other areas of the state, too, seeking to leverage her big lead here into a victory in Tuesdays primary that would effectively extinguish the persistent challenge of Sen. Bernie Sanders, her rival for the Democratic Party nomination. The U.S. senator from Vermont is hardly ceding Pennsylvania or the other four states that have contests Tuesday, as evidenced by his full campaign schedule of recent days. On Friday, he gathered with faith leaders in Philadelphia and focused on military and veterans issues in Gettysburg before heading to Millersville University, where mostly young, enthusiastic supporters filled a gym for a rally where Sanders continued to press his differences with Clinton and highlight her connections to Wall Street. In Pittsburgh, Clinton ate capicola and cheese at Primanti Bros., a restaurant of local renown where the specialty of the house is french fries in, not beside, your sandwich. That was Clintons only stop in Pittsburgh, the states second-largest city, but one designed to showcase local knowledge. She flew nearly an hour each way for the 40-minute stop and ate her sandwich in full view of news cameras something she is usually loath to do. In Jenkintown, during a discussion of equal pay for women, Clinton repeatedly turned discussion of national issues, including gun control and education funding, back to Pennsylvania. I have followed whats going on in Pennsylvania. You now have towns and cities in Pennsylvania repealing common-sense gun measures because they are afraid of being sued by the NRA, she said, referring to the National Rifle Association. She noted that she had learned to shoot behind the family cottage, before saying that responsible gun-control measures can be enacted with the support of gun owners and without infringing Second Amendment rights. I have followed with great distress the battles over the Philadelphia schools, and the refusal of the state to provide a decent level of funding for the children. Its just awful, she said. Clinton is famously wonky and loves a good briefing book. The local references are partly a reflection of her doing her political homework, but Clinton also was making a point about her qualifications and her long ties to the issues and the leaders of a big swing state. At nearly every stop in the state last week, Clinton was accompanied by local, state or nationally elected Democrats, a show of institutional Democratic Party support that stands in implicit contrast to Sanders. I say, Welcome home, because Secretary Clinton has Northeastern Pennsylvania blood running in her veins, Scranton Mayor Bill Courtright (D) said at the start of Fridays Scranton rally, as supporters held aloft a sign reading Clinton Country. Sen. Robert P. Casey Jr. (D-Pa.), who also stumped for Clinton on Wednesday in Philadelphia, told the Scranton crowd that Clinton has the character, the experience, the record to be president. Her heavy focus on Pennsylvania, including a full day of campaigning in three cities Friday, followed weeks of intensively local references and appearances in New York, often alongside local officials who effusively praised her work on behalf of the state, or a particular city or neighborhood. The strategy worked, even if Clinton was ribbed in the New York tabloids for obvious pandering. Like many Americans, Clinton has roots in many places. She grew up in Chicago, went to college in Massachusetts and law school in Connecticut, then lived and worked in Arkansas after marrying native son Bill Clinton. She served as a New York senator for eight years, and she and the former president still live near New York City. She rarely claims Washington despite her eight years as first lady and the fact that she still owns a home there. Her links to Pennsylvania are different she has never lived in the state but there is genuine affection for her here, said former state Democratic Party chairman T.J. Rooney. Rooney, a Clinton supporter, noted that several factors favor her on Tuesday. Those include the states closed primary system, in which only registered Democrats or Republicans may vote in their respective party contests, and the long history between the Clintons and Pennsylvania Democrats. They show up, he said of former president Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton. Bill Clinton campaigned for his wife in Johnstown, Pittsburgh and Harrisburg last week and appeared on her behalf the Philadelphia suburbs on Saturday, where he predicted victory in the state. First of all, Hillarys family is here, he said. Secondly, she won in 2008. Most important is shed be the best person for the Pennsylvania economy not just the places that are doing well, but the places in the middle of the state that have been left out and left behind. Bill Clinton also appeared in Scranton earlier in the month. Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton are a part of the fabric of Pennsylvania, Rooney said. Its not a home game, but its as close as youre going to get. Clinton won Pennsylvania in 2008, defeating then-Sen. Barack Obama at a time when Obama had become the front-runner and Clinton was under pressure to drop out of the race. The victory energized her supporters and strengthened her argument that she had no duty to step aside just the argument Sanders is making now. Clinton leads Sanders by double digits in most recent polling in the state. A Franklin & Marshall College survey released Thursday put her ahead 58 percent to 31 percent among registered Democrats who are likely to vote. In an interview, Casey said he is confident Clinton will win and then begin the work of winning over Sanderss supporters. I have a very strong sense that shell win Pennsylvania on Tuesday, and that she can win it with a cushion if we all keep working, Casey said. As to what Sanders should do if Clintons showing here and in other states voting Tuesday means Sanders can never catch up to her in delegates, Casey said its up to Sanders to decide, but I think the faster we get to unity, the better. John Wagner in Baltimore contributed to this report. Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province has approved a policy allowing a third child for families living in cities near the China-Russia border. Residents in 18 Chinese cities that border Russia are eligible to have up to three children under the new policy. Couples with at least one side from ethnic minority groups or outside the Chinese mainland, as well as families with at least one disabled child, can also apply to have a third child. However, women under the age of 40 in the province's Heihe city expressed that they generally do not have strong desires to have multiple kids, according to a report from the China Business Journal. Many think raising children and parenting are very difficult, said the report. Sen. Ted Cruz speaks with his wife, Heidi, by his side during a primary night campaign event in Indianapolis. Cruz ended his presidential campaign, eliminating the biggest impediment to Donald Trumps march to the Republican nomination. May 3, 2016 Sen. Ted Cruz speaks with his wife, Heidi, by his side during a primary night campaign event in Indianapolis. Cruz ended his presidential campaign, eliminating the biggest impediment to Donald Trumps march to the Republican nomination. Darron Cummings/AP The Texas Republican, the first major presidential candidate to formally declare a bid, is one ot the last three candidates, along with Donald Trump and John Kasich, left in the race. The Texas Republican, the first major presidential candidate to formally declare a bid, is one ot the last three candidates, along with Donald Trump and John Kasich, left in the race. Among the candidates on the Republican primary ballot here Tuesday are a local congressman, the woman who succeeded him on the county commission, a part-time mayor and the chairman of a local historical society. There is also a husband and wife running separately. All are aspiring to represent Pennsylvania at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, where they could turn out to be some of the most influential delegates in the nation. The bitter contest between Donald Trump, Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas and Ohio Gov. John Kasich could come down to the final few undecided delegates from places such as Pennsylvania. If Trump falls short of the 1,237 delegates needed to win the nomination outright, his team has vowed to launch a full-scale pressure campaign to win over dozens of the delegates elected in the states unusual primary. While most states award convention delegates on a winner-take-all or proportional basis, 54 of Pennsylvanias 71 delegates three for each of 18 congressional districts are officially unbound to a candidate and do not have to announce their intentions before Tuesdays vote. The winners can vote for whomever they want at the convention. I picked a very interesting year to run, said Larry Stohler, 71, a former Lebanon County commissioner who says he would vote at the convention for whichever candidate wins here in the 6th Congressional District at least on the first ballot. The Fixs Chris Cillizza breaks down whats at stake for Democrats and Republicans in the April 26 primaries. (Peter Stevenson/The Washington Post) [GOP veepstakes begin: Candidates start building lists and vetting prospects] With Pennsylvania the next biggest prize on the calendar, Kasich huddled this past week with some delegate candidates in the Pittsburgh area but declined to name one supporting him. Trump has a full-time Pennsylvania director who has been recruiting potential delegate candidates since January. But Cruz is the most organized here in wooing delegates, just as he has been in other states with complex selection rules. Even if Cruz loses to Trump here Tuesday, there is a chance that the 26 delegate candidates who say they support the senator could win and cast votes for him at the convention. Lowman Henry, Cruzs Pennsylvania director, is urging supporters to vote four times for Ted Cruz once for the senator and three more times for Cruz-supporting delegate candidates, some of whom Cruz met with on Saturday in Pittsburgh. Each time we have an event we take time to meet with delegate candidates, Henry said Saturday. The Cruz campaign began circulating fliers to supporters this past week with a list of the candidates supporting him in 17 of the 18 congressional districts. Voters in two of the districts would have to write in the names of Cruz supporters to help him get his 26 delegates, according to the flier. The complexities of the process mean Trump could once again come up short on delegates despite winning the popular vote. Campaign manager Corey Lewandowski told reporters after Trumps victory in New York on Tuesday that Pennsylvania has a very difficult process of selecting delegates. I dont want to get into the intricacies of our Pennsylvania strategy, but I think well make sure people know who the Trump delegates are, he said. Kasich said while campaigning in Pennsylvania that nobody will earn the 1,237 delegates needed before the convention and that some of the best-known Republican presidents won after contested conventions. [Dwight D.] Eisenhower is a perfect example, he told voters in Media, Pa., on Thursday, noting that the 34th president won after multiple ballots. The same thing happened to Abraham Lincoln, he said: He even printed up some phony ballots for the delegates were not going to do that. [Kasich: My Republican Party doesnt like ideas] Here in the 6th Congressional District nicknamed the Dragon District for its curving, elongated shape most of the contenders say that if elected, they would cast ballots for whoever wins the district or the state. Delegate candidates, particularly on the first ballot, should reflect the will of their voters, said Rep. Ryan Costello (R-Pa.), the best-known local delegate candidate. Costello served as a delegate in 2012 and decided to run again this year because I didnt want a delegate to basically say, Im for Candidate A only, and I wont be for anyone else. Particularly if that person hasnt won any states or didnt perform well in the congressional district. Michelle Kichline, a Chester County council member, also plans to vote for whoever wins the district. If the convention goes to multiple ballots, she said, I will not make a decision speaking to just one of the candidates. Costello says he has spent zilch on the race. A few delegate candidates emailed information to local Republicans, but mostly they are relying on word of mouth, interviews on talk radio shows and interviews in local newspapers. And in a race that requires few qualifications beyond being a registered Republican, candidates are struggling to distinguish themselves. Kichline pointed to her gender: Theres not as many women running for this position, and I think its important that women be represented in the Republican Party, she said. [RNC tells Trump: Delegate process easy to understand for those willing to learn it] Stohler touted his public service. In addition to being a county commissioner and Vietnam War veteran, Ive been a volunteer firefighter since I was 16, he said in a telephone interview Wednesday. Moments later, he got a fire call. The husband-and-wife team of Robert and Mary Elizabeth Wert signed up with Cruz in January. The senators campaign team walked us through how to do this. They helped us every step of the way, Robert Wert said. So we appreciate that, and were loyal to him. The couple think they will win because we have a lot of good friends in the area to help us, Mary Elizabeth Wert said. Plus, she said they are popular on the local charity circuit, so were getting out to different fundraisers and seeing people. Youre allowed to vote for three delegates, her husband added, but were encouraging people to vote just for us. Wayne Buckwalter, a trust and states attorney, said he would vote for Trump on every ballot. I think that at least one out of three people in my district will vote for Trump, and I want to be that delegate, Buckwalter said. He met Trumps state director, Ted Christian, in January and agreed to sign a document stating that I pledge to cast ALL of my ballots to elect Donald J. Trump on every round of balloting at the 2016 Republican National Convention so that we can MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! Other Trump supporters running for delegate slots across the state have signed similar documents. But it is unclear what penalty the Trump supporters would face if they broke the pledge. Christian did not respond to multiple requests for comment. Douglas Hager, who sits on the board of a local historical society, also plans to vote for whoever wins the district. But he has heard nothing from the presidential contenders. I must have leprosy, he said. I havent been contacted by anybody. Instead, Hager has been inundated by potential constituents pleading with him to vote for Trump. I just deleted them because it was getting a little out of hand, he said. I got so tired of it. Jenna Johnson in New York City, Sean Sullivan in Philadelphia and Katie Zezima in Monroeville, Pa., contributed to this report. The attempted rapprochement now underway between the presidential campaign of Donald Trump and the leadership of the Republican Party is as predictable as it is fraught with risk for both sides a dance between partners who will never be comfortable with each other. For Trump, the bridge-building represents the challenge of trying to reassure nervous Republican leaders that he can avoid the erratic behavior and divisive rhetoric that have given him the highest negatives of any candidate in the 2016 race while reassuring his angry base that he is not selling out to a party establishment that many of them loathe. For state and national Republican leaders, the outreach highlights the conflict between the revulsion many of them have felt toward a candidate who has trampled on core GOP values and inflamed much of the electorate and a grudging acceptance that it is increasingly likely that the controversial New York billionaire will be leading them into a fall campaign against Hillary Clinton. All of this was on display at the resort hotel along the beaches in Hollywood, Fla., where the Republican National Committee met last week. The meeting was a last full gathering of the party leadership before GOP delegates arrive in Cleveland in mid-July for what could be a chaotic and potentially party-splitting convention. [Trump is just playing a part and will change, adviser says] For these few days, everyone was on good behavior. Cleveland could be another story. What took place in Hollywood was a program carefully planned to avoid any clashes on rules and procedures and to send signals of reassurance that all is under control. Among the few issues up for debate was the question of whether the national convention should be governed, as it long has been, by the rules of the House, which more easily restrict challenges, or by Roberts Rules of Order, which make it easier for people to snarl the proceedings. The RNCs Rules Committee, wired in advance by party leaders, stuck to the status quo with a minimum of fuss. This will be revisited in Cleveland when the convention rules committee meets and when the opposing camps have a greater sense of which approach would benefit them more. There, it could be more difficult for party leaders to control the debate or the outcome. In Florida, all was peace and harmony. From RNC Chairman Reince Priebus on down, the message emanating from the public sessions was all about fairness, transparency and even-handedness in Cleveland, amid reminders that the world will be watching every session, every objection and every demonstration. As Priebus said repeatedly, whatever happens there will be the decision of the delegates, not a handful of RNC officials. Priebus also led a series of harsh attacks on Clinton, the likely Democratic nominee, in an effort to leapfrog over the awkward question of just who will or should be the nominee and how that will be decided. The specter of Clinton as president remains the single unifying force in a party that remains badly divided. [RNC members wary of Trump charm offensive] Party leaders are necessarily preparing for a contested convention that could include multiple ballots and much discord before a nominee is chosen. Despite his handsome victory in New York last week and the prospect of another good day in the five contests on Tuesday, Trump is not guaranteed the 1,237 delegates needed to secure the nomination. Sen. Ted Cruz (Tex.), despite his distant, third-place showing in the New York primary, is maneuvering to deny Trump a first-ballot victory, hoping Trumps high-water mark will be the number of delegates he gets in that opening round. Cruz then intends to win the nomination on a second or third ballot. Meanwhile, Ohio Gov. John Kasich clings to the hope that, even if he arrives in Cleveland having won only his home state and trailing by a huge number in the delegate count, practical-minded delegates will turn to him as the lone candidate among the three finalists who can defeat Clinton in November and save the party from a historic defeat. Cruz and Kasich showed up in Florida to speak to RNC officials, and their advisers quietly worked the membership with private pleadings. But like everything else about American politics this year, the RNC meeting was all about Trump: what his nomination would mean for the partys majorities in the Senate and House, what it would mean for party fundraising and what it could mean for the future of the party after November. Trump talk dominated corridor conversations and private meetings as some party officials began to resign themselves to the prospect that, unless something changes, they will be allied with the New York billionaire at least through the November election. Trump has publicly trashed the party establishment throughout the campaign. His relationships with state party leaders are mostly nonexistent. His potential nomination is cause for considerable angst. So when Paul Manafort, who has quickly emerged as first among equals among Trumps advisers, briefed party leaders about how the campaign team sees the road ahead, the hot and stuffy room was packed to overflowing. Manafort, who knows the inside game of politics, told RNC members what they wanted to hear: that Trump is in the process of evolving as a candidate, from firebrand, anti-establishment rebel to responsible presumptive nominee. He has been playing a role, Manafort said, and the role necessarily is now changing. Someone in the room recorded the remarks, and the audio quickly found its way into the hands of various news organizations. By Friday, the audio was playing on national television and all manner of websites. Imagine what will happen in Cleveland with every private meeting of a hundred people. [Pennsylvania delegates could swing the whole GOP race] Manaforts comments sparked fresh controversy about whether Trump has been play-acting and also the prospect that a New Trump, like the New Nixon, is emerging, as if the reality TV star could or would instantly change personas without paying a political price. His past statements stand no matter what. In reality, what Manafort said was both easy and obvious, little more than an opening bid on the part of the Trump campaign to tamp down hostility ahead of Cleveland and prepare for at least a partial takeover of the convention program. Trump is likely to continue oscillating between the quieter demeanor he displayed in his victory speech on the night of the New York primary (or that he will show this week when he delivers a foreign policy address in Washington) and the angry, intemperate candidate who shows up at rallies across the country. Thats the bargain Republican leaders could be forced to strike in Cleveland, investing their partys hopes in a standard-bearer with no historical ties or obligations to the institution he would be leading. The calls for unity behind Trump-as-nominee are beginning to be heard, but no set of talking points can mask the unease that remains across the Republican Party as the march to Cleveland continues. Sen. Ted Cruz speaks with his wife, Heidi, by his side during a primary night campaign event in Indianapolis. Cruz ended his presidential campaign, eliminating the biggest impediment to Donald Trumps march to the Republican nomination. May 3, 2016 Sen. Ted Cruz speaks with his wife, Heidi, by his side during a primary night campaign event in Indianapolis. Cruz ended his presidential campaign, eliminating the biggest impediment to Donald Trumps march to the Republican nomination. Darron Cummings/AP The Texas Republican, the first major presidential candidate to formally declare a bid, is one ot the last three candidates, along with Donald Trump and John Kasich, left in the race. The Texas Republican, the first major presidential candidate to formally declare a bid, is one ot the last three candidates, along with Donald Trump and John Kasich, left in the race. At the start of the presidential campaign, Ted Cruz told voters he would be the only consistent conservative in a crowded Republican field. Then he confronted the modern GOP a fractured party, in which each faction has a different definition of what conservative means. To consistently please all of them, Cruz has had to be inconsistent with himself. Time and again he has shifted, shaded or obfuscated his policy positions piling on new ideas, which sometimes didnt fit with the old. Cruz, for instance, promised libertarians that he would show a strict respect for the Constitutions checks and balances. Then, the senator from Texas promised social conservatives that he would scrap one of those checks and balances, stripping lifetime tenure from Supreme Court justices. He criticized Donald Trumps plan for mass deportation of undocumented immigrants. Then he seemed to support it. He appeared skeptical of military intervention in Syria. Then he vowed to find out whether sand can glow in the dark there. Cruzs maneuvering has helped him build and maintain a base of support among the partys activist class: If Trump fails to win the GOP nomination outright, Cruz could have enough backing among Republican delegates to win it after the first ballot at the partys convention in Cleveland in July. But while Cruzs rightward shifts might have been politically smart during the primary season, they probably would create major challenges during the general election, putting Cruz far to the right of most voters. Now, hes in this wonderful position where hes both the last anti-establishment candidate acceptable who is not named Donald Trump, and hes also the last establishment candidate, said Matt Welch of the libertarian magazine Reason, applauding Cruzs policy shifts. Thats just a genius level of maneuvering. The question is: What might he believe, in the middle of all of that? Welch said. And I think people have a right to be very skeptical as to whether there is a real core belief system. Cruzs campaign did not respond Friday to a detailed list of questions about his policy positions. Its clear that, on a number of issues, Cruz has been very consistent in his beliefs. He has opposed giving undocumented immigrants a path to U.S. citizenship. He says that climate change is not a significant problem, defying considerable scientific evidence for climate change. Cruz has consistently opposed abortion, including in cases in which the pregnancy was caused by rape. He opposes same-sex marriage. But Cruz says that despite those personal feelings he would leave decisions on abortion and marriage to the states. That was of a piece with Cruzs politics during his early years in the Senate: He adhered to tea party originalism, which believed Washington could be corrected by a return to the limited vision of its Founding Fathers. We need to restore the Constitution as our standard, Cruz says on his campaign website. Then, after the Supreme Court decision last year that made same-sex marriage a right nationwide, Cruz said the Constitution needed a change. I am proposing an amendment to the United States Constitution that would subject the justices of the Supreme Court to periodic judicial-retention elections, Cruz wrote in an op-ed in National Review. Now, Cruz said, the public would periodically get a chance to throw out judicial tyrants with whom they disagreed. He didnt actually file that proposed amendment, but a point was made. This was a different kind of conservatism, one in which some policies were so important that the Constitution should adapt to them. If Ted Cruz is a constitutionalist, he is a sore-loser, fair-weather constitutionalist, David Vladeck, a professor at Georgetown University Law Center, wrote in an email. The Constitutions framers would be aghast at Cruzs proposal to undermine the Constitutions main protection against a tyrannical majority. On the subject of immigration, Cruz once championed policies from his partys business wing including big increases in legal immigration. He called for doubling the caps on the number of green cards granted each year and supported a fivefold increase in the number of visas granted to high-skilled guest workers, known as H-1B visas. He demurred when asked what hed do with the millions of illegal immigrants already living in the United States. But then came Trump. After the billionaire used promises of a sweeping immigration crackdown to rocket to the top of the GOP race, Cruzs own policies grew sharply tougher. He was against any increase in legal immigration. He called for the high-skilled visa program to be halted for 180 days so that reported abuses in the system could be investigated. Rick Tyler, Cruzs former communications director, said he believes Cruz is to the right of everyone whos running in the race. If he changed his position on H-1B and its fair to say he did, but you have to look underneath it and say, Did he change his principle on it? No, and I think thats the important thing, Tyler said. On the question of what to do with illegal immigrants, Cruzs answers grew tougher and tougher. First, Cruz said, he wouldnt offer them legal status. But he wouldnt follow Trumps lead and deport immigrants en masse. Then, maybe, he would. Yes, we should deport them, Cruz said on Fox News. When asked by host Bill OReilly if he would look for them, Cruz said yes. Of course you would. Thats what ICE exists for, Cruz said, referring to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. We have law enforcement that looks for people who are violating the laws that apprehends them and deports them. If Trump had redefined what the most conservative position on immigration was, Cruz was going to keep up. At rallies now, Cruz makes this explicit without saying Trumps name: He says he wants to build a border wall and that he already has someone in mind to build it. Another noticeable shift was in Cruzs approach to the federal budget. At the beginning of his campaign, his ideas seemed drawn to please anti-tax conservatives, whose biggest concern was to reduce what Washington raises and spends. Cruz proposed instituting a single flat income tax, set at 10 percent. That would be a massive boon to the rich, who pay much higher rates now: The nonpartisan Tax Policy Center found that the top 0.1 percent of earners would get a tax cut equivalent to 29 percent of their after-tax income. It would also take a massive slice out of overall federal revenue: The Tax Policy Center estimated the loss at $8.6 trillion over a decade. That was a major departure from past GOP orthodoxy: 2012 nominee Mitt Romney didnt want to reduce revenue at all. That was still not as big as Trumps proposed tax cut, which the center said would eliminate $9.5 trillion in future revenue. Cruz had specific suggestions for what he would cut to partially offset the loss. He would eliminate four Cabinet agencies the departments of Commerce, Energy, Education, and Housing and Urban Development and the Internal Revenue Service (Cruz would shift the tax-collecting function to a new office with less power and fewer employees). In fact, Cruz wanted a new constitutional amendment to require that the federal budget eventually balance. But then, while campaigning in hawkish South Carolina, Cruz added another piece to the plan. Even as he slashed funding for the rest of the government, he promised a spending spree at the Pentagon: dozens more warships, hundreds more planes, thousands more troops. Analysts have estimated that the cost could exceed $1 trillion and that it could reach $2.4 trillion over a decade. All these promises cant add up. Its not possible, said Marc Goldwein of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. He estimated that if Cruz tried to make good on all of these promises plus another pledge to fully fund Social Security benefits for the near future he might have to cut all other spending by 85 or 90 percent. Its not realistically possible to cut taxes by $8 trillion and increase defense spending by $2.5 billion and balance the budget. That shift was connected to another, in Cruzs policies toward the military. In the Senate, Cruz had voted repeatedly against the bill that sets policy and authorizes funding for the Pentagon, often objecting that it did not have enough civil-liberties protections for Americans accused of terrorism. Late last year, Cruz was deeply skeptical of U.S. military interventions overseas even in Syria. We have no dog in the fight of the Syrian civil war, he said. Cruz has said he remains skeptical of unnecessary foreign interventions, but in February he called for an extensive Pentagon buildup. He also began to call for aggressive tactics against the Islamic State in Syria: The United States would carpet-bomb the militants, Cruz said, and find out if sand can glow in the dark. That has left even proponents of a larger U.S. military wondering about the sincerity of Cruzs positions. I dont buy that he understands what hes trying to do, said Chris Harmer, a retired Navy commander and national security consultant. He said he agreed with Cruz that the Navy was too small, but he wondered why he hadnt said so before. Ted Cruz should have spent the last four years making a case for: This is why the end state of the Navy ought to be bigger . . . He hasnt done any of that, Harmer said. Mohamed ElBaradei, shown in Cairos Tahrir Square in 2012. ElBaradeis name has been purged from a list of Egyptian Nobel laureates the countrys textbooks. (Mahmoud Khaled/AFP/Getty Images) The omission on Page 5 is glaring. In a fifth-grade government textbook, a name has been purged from a list of Egyptian Nobel laureates: Mohamed ElBaradei, who was awarded the 2005 Nobel Peace Prize along with the International Atomic Energy Agency, which he led. Three years ago, the former diplomat stepped down as the countrys vice president to protest a violent crackdown by security forces on Islamists. Supporters of President Abdel Fatah al-Sissi considered the resignation an act of betrayal. It seems they have yet to forgive him. They are rewriting history again, said Sami Nassar, an education professor at Cairo University and former dean of its graduate school of education. Now, Sissi is the president, so the curriculum should reflect the political regime. Since Egypts 1952 revolution, when a group of army officers overthrew the monarchy, the public education system has been an extension of the government. Textbooks and curriculums offered pro-government narratives, conveniently omitting facts or tweaking the truth. But now, the politicization in the schools has reached new heights, marked by efforts to erase or play down opponents contributions to history. The Jan. 25, 2011, revolution, which ended autocrat Hosni Mubaraks 30-year rule, is described in a few superficial paragraphs in government textbooks. The activists who launched the populist rebellion, part of the Arab Spring uprisings that spread across the region that year, are not mentioned. The moderate Islamists who played a crucial role are vilified. Its like the revolution didnt happen, said Kamal Mougheeth, a researcher at Egypts National Council for Education and a former academic. There are figures in the regime who had a problem with the revolution and are trying to attack any symbols of the revolution, not just Dr. ElBaradei. To critics, the textbook omissions are a calculated effort to bolster Sissis authority by minimizing the uprisings and their key orchestrators. Some say they are the latest example of an education system geared more toward pleasing the nations leaders than objectively teaching past events. The eyes of textbooks writers are on the president, the man on the throne, Nassar said. Its a way of flattering the ruler, what gives him more influence over the people, what gives him a very good image. The history is not the history of the people. Its the history of the ruler. The Ministry of Education did not respond to repeated requests for comment. But in local media reports, the ministrys spokesman, Bashir Hassan, said ElBaradeis name was removed under the previous education minister after parents complained. The decision is being investigated, he said, adding that no one should rewrite history, even if there are differences between the regime and Dr. ElBaradei. As far as anyone can remember, the first instance of a politically motivated omission in the school curriculum happened under President Gamel Abdel Nasser in the 1960s. In most textbooks, Nasser is portrayed as the nations first president. In fact, that distinction goes to Muhammad Naguib, a military general who launched the 1952 uprising with Nasser. Under his two successors Anwar Sadat and Mubarak textbooks glorified their military commands during Egypts conflicts against Israel, bringing both leaders more legitimacy. The education system was altered again under Mohamed Morsi, who led the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood to power in 2012, when he became Egypts first democratically elected president. The curriculum promoted the Islamists views, and schools became sites for Brotherhood gatherings and activities. Textbooks were recast to include pictures of women wearing veils. A year later, Morsi was overthrown by Sissi in a military coup, and the Muslim Brotherhood was outlawed. Thousands of textbooks printed during its rule were destroyed, education scholars said. Today, the Brotherhood is described in the curriculum as corrupt and power hungry, and its ousting by the military justified. Last year, the Education Ministry also removed the stories of Saladin and Uqbah Ibn Nafi historical figures in Islam who influenced radical Islamists in a bid to counter extremism. Today, in the pages of the ninth-grade civics textbook, the 2011 revolution barely exists. It is described benignly as how national unity took its best form and Christians and Muslims went to the streets to call for freedom and dignity. Theres no mention that the uprising was triggered by collective anger at Mubaraks authoritarian rule, its cronyism and corruption. There is no mention of the protesters killed during the January 25th revolution, Mougheeth said. There is no mention of how the revolution started, no mention of police abuses, no mention of the corruption. The 12th-grade history textbook says the revolution was caused by election fraud and the deterioration of the economy and political life, and that the military took power to save the revolution. The massive street demonstrations on June 30, 2013, that overthrew Morsi glorifies Sissi and his government as meeting the peoples demands that the goals of the 2011 revolution be fulfilled, according to the ninth-grade civics textbook. The uprising resulted in a road-map that put Egypt on the right track in developing its resources and building its future, the textbook says. All the people participated in the June 30th revolution, Nassar said. There was no one charismatic leader. But in the textbooks, Sissi is a national hero. He led the June 30th revolution and removed the Muslim Brotherhood. In other instances, even the slightest reference to revolutions has been removed. Last year, a television channel, Ewan24, reported that a lesson called the revolution of the birds, in which the birds revolt against a tyrannical cow, was purged from the first-grade syllabus. And a scene from the Shakespearean play Antony and Cleopatra that referred to a revolution was removed from the 12th-grade literature syllabus. Scholars worry that the historical rewriting is undermining belief in the educational system. Every time theres change from one side to the other, from one extreme to another, Nassar said. So how can I believe in the subject? We dont believe whats in your curriculum. We just want the diploma. This is the attitude of both students and parents. Still, its unlikely the textbook omissions will alter the ethos of the 2011 uprising. This was a dream all Egyptians lived, Mougheeth said. Its part of our national identity now. It will be very difficult to completely erase it. Correction: An earlier version of this story should have referred to military commanders Saladin and Uqbah Ibn Nafi as historical figures, not mythical. Read more: A new discovery sheds light on ancient Egypts most successful female pharaoh Egypt hands Saudi Arabia two islands in gratitude. Egyptians are outraged. Italy recalls ambassador to Egypt to seek the truth about Italian students slaying Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world North Korea appears to have launched a ballistic missile from a submarine Saturday evening, South Koreas joint chiefs of staff said. The missile was fired from a submarine off North Koreas east coast, in the Sea of Japan, about 6:30 p.m. local time, the joint chiefs said. The missile flew for only about 20 miles, well short of a submarine-launched ballistic missiles minimum range of 200 miles, Yonhap News Agency reported. North Korea said last May that it had successfully test-fired a submarine-launched ballistic missile from under the sea, with the state news agency reporting that leader Kim Jong Un had ordered the test of the world-level strategic weapon and was present when it soared into the sky from underwater. North Korea also released photos of the event, including one that showed Kim on a boat holding binoculars as the rocket blasted out of the sea. But missile experts later said that the launch was faked and that the pictures had been doctored. As Kims regime prepares for a much-hyped communist Workers Party congress early next month, analysts have been expecting Pyongyang to stage more provocations to give Kim more to crow about. A party congress has not been held since 1980, and Kim, 33, is expected to use the meeting to bolster his legitimacy as the third-generation leader of North Korea. Tensions with the country have run high since Kim ordered a nuclear test in January, swiftly followed by a long-range rocket launch that scientists say appeared to be part of an intercontinental ballistic missile program. South Korean military officials warned earlier Saturday that North Korea could be preparing to carry out a fifth nuclear test. They had seen vehicles and people moving at the Punggye-ri nuclear test site in the northeast of the country. Separately, North Koreas foreign minister, Ri Su Yong, said that his country is prepared to stop its nuclear tests if the United States suspends its annual military exercises with South Korea. Stop the nuclear war exercises in the Korean Peninsula, then we should also cease our nuclear tests, Ri told the Associated Press in an interview in New York, where he participated in signing the Paris agreement on climate change at the United Nations. While defending North Koreas right to maintain a nuclear deterrent and saying that the regime would not be bullied by international sanctions, Ri suggested that suspending the military exercises could open the door to reduced tensions, the AP reported. Read more: North Koreas news service barely needs to be spoofed, but this duo nails it North Korea could be preparing for fifth nuclear test, South Koreas Park warns North Koreas missile launch has failed, Souths military says Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world This article was written by Caitlyn Jenner for WhoSay as part of an ongoing original series that explores issues and people in the LGBT community. Hi friends, There's a lot of news out there about bills in different state legislatures that are good or bad for the LGBT community. Lately, they've been mostly not-so-good bills. I've spent a lot of time thinking about what kind of message these harmful bills send, especially to transgender youth growing up in these states. In North Carolina, the governor signed a law that, among other things, forces transgender people to use restrooms that don't match the gender they live every day. Mississippi recently passed a broad anti-LGBT bill which also includes language that would allow any business or employer to force transgender people into the wrong restroom, putting their safety at risk. New bills targeting LGBT people are now being debated in Tennessee and South Carolina, and on the horizon in Illinois, Kansas, Michigan, Missouri, and Washington state. Let's back up a bit. Did you know that in over half of the states in our country, a person can be fired, denied housing or kicked out of a restaurant simply because they are gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender? There is no federal law that explicitly protects LGBT people from discrimination only state and local laws. So, the LGBT community has to fight for those protections state-by-state, county-by-county, and city-by-city just to be able to live their lives free from discrimination. In some places like Houston, Texas and Charlotte, North Carolina, we've won nondiscrimination protections, only to have the law repealed; in other states, there are legislators trying to pass anti-LGBT bills that make it easier to discriminate against gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people. Caitlyn Jenner Blogs About Anti-LGBT Legislature and the Importance of Safe Public Restrooms| Celebrity Blog, I Am Cait, People Picks, TV News, Caitlyn Jenner, Transgender Most of these bills attempt to make it illegal for transgender people to use public bathrooms that match the gender they live every day. Using the restroom is something we all need to do, but these so-called "bathroom bills" are designed to make it difficult, if not impossible, for transgender people to simply go about their daily lives. The legislators introducing these bills claim they are about public safety. But it's important to know that in the 18 states (and more than 200 cities) that have laws and ordinances protecting transgender people from discrimination, there have been no increases in public safety incidents. None. Why? Because there are laws in every state which make it illegal for anyone to enter a restroom to harm or harass people, or invade their privacy. Police use those laws to arrest perpetrators and keep people safe. Protecting LGBT people from discrimination doesn't change that! We all want safety and privacy in public bathrooms. But these anti-LGBT bills, like the ones in North Carolina and Mississippi, actually make us less safe, not more safe. They open the door to abuse, aggressive and confrontational behavior in bathrooms, and encourage strangers to demand that women and girls prove that they are actually female in order to use the restroom. No one wants that. Caitlyn Jenner Blogs About Anti-LGBT Legislature and the Importance of Safe Public Restrooms| Celebrity Blog, I Am Cait, People Picks, TV News, Caitlyn Jenner, Transgender If one of these harmful bills is introduced in your city or state, please take a moment and listen to the stories of actual transgender people who live near you. Let's help their voices are heard over the fear mongering from the other side. We have already seen the difference it makes! In South Dakota, a group of incredibly brave trans youth shared their stories with Governor Dennis Daugaard, and he vetoed a bad bill that targeted trans people. To see if an anti-LGBT bill has been introduced where you live, take a look at the website from my friend Mara Keisling and the amazing people at the National Center for Transgender Equality. They also include action steps you can take to make sure the bill is defeated. There are some good bills out there. In Massachusetts, advocates are working to pass a bill that protects transgender people from discrimination in public spaces. And like weave seen in so many other places, courageous transgender youth and their families are helping lead the charge to get this done by sharing their stories. We need more bills like the one in Massachusetts bills which ensure that every transgender person, no matter what state theyare growing up in, can go to school safely and get the education they deserve. We need to make sure they can put that education to good use by getting a job and making a living for themselves and supporting their families. We need to make sure they can buy a home and go out to a restaurant or a movie theater without facing harassment. And yes, we need to make sure those trans kids and all transgender people can use the restrooms that align with how they live every day. Updating our laws to protect people from discrimination and preventing laws that harm LGBT people is important to me. We'll keep talking about these bills here, and alerting you when there's something you can do to help. How you're treated shouldn't depend on geography our country is better than that. For more information on the transgender movement, see a list of resources at CaitlynJenner.com. If Ivo van Hoves Roman Tragedies was a surprising medley of Shakespeare plays, his Kings of War history cycle, now running at Londons Barbican Center, is altogether more familiar, much like the Royal Shakespeare Companys iconic Wars of the Roses trilogy, which spliced Henry VI and Richard III to show how despots seize control out of chaos. He extends the argument, however, to include Henry V and that monarchs occupation of France. In doing so, he produces a scintillating study of political leadership, so that Englands Tudor kings look horribly familiar none more so than Hans Kestings petrifying Richard III, a performance surely destined for the history books. Van Hove this season the director of two well-received Broadway revivals, A View from the Bridge and The Crucible and his designer Jan Versweyveld seal the action in a cavernous, armor-plated war bunker, with vast maps on the wall and color-coded phones at the ready. War looks, at first, like an academic exercise, cut off from the soldiers strewn through a white corridor that winds round the back, seen on film (by Tal Yarden) that slips, seamlessly and slyly, between live action and pre-recorded shots. Increasingly, though, theres no keeping the violence out. From in here, Ramsey Nasrs fresh-faced statesman, Henry V, invades France, seeking to busy giddy minds with foreign quarrels a line pinched from Henry IV Part II. As he kneels to pray, convinced hes doing Gods will, its impossible not to think of Tony Blair, Afghanistan and Iraq. Everything follows from there. His son, Eelco Smits Henry VI, becomes an ineffectual interim leader imagine Milhouse of The Simpsons as Englands king undermined by scheming nobles and civil war, until Bart Slegers Edward, a ruthless political hitman, seizes power. The cycle is chillingly familiar: occupation, power vacuum, coup. What follows is far, far worse: a Richard III to make your blood run cold so utterly, awfully recognizable. Kesting is, at first, as laughable as Donald Trump: an overgrown schoolboy, busting out of his too-small blazer. Though a physical threat the muscle behind Edwards coup hes lumbering and slow; a faithful lapdog rather than a gnashing rottweiler. The purpling birthmark on his face makes him seem almost pitiable, all the more so as he returns, over and over, to a mirror to stare back at his own sad eyes as he soliloquizes. Even as he fantasizes about the crown, picking up hotlines to world leaders (Hello Barrack) and playing King of the Castle with a rug for a robe, we dismiss him. More fool us. By the end, hes holed up in a bare bunker, bodies piled up outside, paranoid and all-powerful, waiting as a single metronome ticks out the last days of his regime a regime it takes another occupation to end. Story continues Henry VIs advisors walk the corridor like West Wingers; the thuggish Yorks become the Sopranos, suspiciously sharing a flan in silence. Theres a galling inevitability to the sweep of events, with some thrilling moments en route: Henry Vs awkward dinner date with Katherine of France (Helene Devos); Edward IV leaping at the Prince Regents throat; Kestings lolloping way with a lethal injection. Its punctuated by coronation ceremonies: a red carpet rolled out, a new king wrapped in ermine, even as the last is slid into the morgue. Pageantry masks the power play. Trumpets drown out the discord. A lone chorister (Steve Dugardin) glides past, haunting the bunker with piercing tenor hymnals. However, the need to drive the plot from play to play flattens it, dropping the patterns and the echoes of Shakespeares sub-plots: no Falstaff, no Jack Cade, practically no civil war whatsoever. Supporting roles are reduced to suits; the women great parts like Margaret, Lady Anne and Queen Elizabeth to vague powers behind the throne. Shakespeare wrote symphonies; Van Hove makes them almost one-note. It grows as it goes on, as you link causes to effects, but individual scenes seem thin, made almost prosaic by both the Dutch translation and the low-key acting style. At the end of the night, its no matter; the overall thesis is too strong to care about the shortcomings. Its logical conclusion is so unspeakably grim and so uncomfortably close that you leave shaken. The image that remains is of Kestings Richard III, a joke thats no longer funny. Related stories Broadway Review: 'The Crucible' With Saoirse Ronan, Ben Whishaw Off Broadway Review: 'Lazarus,' with Michael C. Hall and Music by David Bowie Broadway's 'A View from the Bridge' Celebrates Under a Bridge MACAO, April 22 -- Macao said Friday it will unveil the draft of its first five-year plan (2016-2020) next Tuesday. Chui Sai On, chief executive of the Macao Special Administrative region said that the draft of over 37,000 characters will be issued to the public for their suggestions and opinions while answering questions from Macao's legislative assembly. The draft is made on the basis of the preliminary five-year plan unveiled in November 2015, which aims to turn Macao into a world tourism and leisure hub in the mid 2030's. The preliminary plan sets out seven major targets, including maintaining stable economic growth, improving the structure of industries, improving its role as an international tourist city, raising the life quality of the residents and the quality of education, protecting environment, and strengthening the efficiency of the government and deepening the building of the legal system. The preliminary plan also prioritizes infrastructure projects for 2016-2020 period, such as the construction of the light railway network, a fourth bridge between Macao and Taipa, expanding the waste incinerator, and building an electronic surveillance system. United Nations (United States) (AFP) - Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas told world leaders at a UN ceremony Friday that Israel must stop "destroying" the climate in the Palestinian territories. "The Israeli occupation is destroying the climate in Palestine and the Israeli settlements are destroying nature in Palestine," Abbas told the gathering of 175 countries signing a landmark climate deal. "Please help us in putting an end to occupation and to putting an end to settlements," said Abbas after signing the agreement. The Palestinian territories were among a group of 15 countries and parties that immediately presented their already-completed ratification of the accord aimed at tackling global warming. Abbas signed on behalf of the observer state of Palestine, a status the Palestinians obtained in 2012 at the United Nations and which allows them to join international conventions and agreements. Israel's ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, hit back, accusing Abbas of using the UN stage to rail against his country. "This climate summit is supposed to be a demonstration of global unity for the sake of the future of our planet. Unfortunately, president Abbas chose to exploit this international stage to mislead the international community," he said. The sharp exchange at the United Nations comes as France is pushing for an international conference to re-launch peace talks later this year. Palestinian foreign minister Riyad al-Maliki said Thursday that a push for a UN resolution demanding an end to Israeli settlement expansion will be put on hold to focus instead on the French initiative. The draft resolution was circulated to Arab countries and to some members of the Security Council earlier this month as part of a drive for UN action in support of the two-state solution. The Israeli-Palestinian peace process has been frozen since a US-led initiative collapsed in April 2014. On April 21, a humanitarian aid convoy arrived in Al Rastan, near Homs, with supplies for more than 120,000 people stranded in the besieged Syrian town. The delivery from the International Committee of the Red Cross and the Syrian Arab Red Crescent included food and medical aid. An ICRC spokesperson said that this was the largest aid convoy to arrive in the area since the beginning of the conflict. Al Rastan has seen heavy fighting for at least four years, according to the ICRC. See more video from the aid delivery here. Credit: YouTube/Australian Red Cross Margate (United Kingdom) (AFP) - The artist J. M. W. Turner will appear on the new A20 note, Bank of England governor Mark Carney announced Friday. The new design will include Joseph Mallord William Turner's self-portrait and his 1838 oil painting "The Fighting Temeraire". "Turner is perhaps the single most influential British artist of all time," Carney said. "His work was transformative, bridging the classical and modern worlds. His influence spanned his lifetime and is still apparent today." Carney made the announcement as he unveiled a concept image of the note at the Turner Contemporary art gallery in the southeast English seaside resort of Margate. "Turner bequeathed this painting to the nation, an example of his important contribution to British society," said Carney. The new note ($28.80, 25.70 euro) will also include the quote "Light is therefore colour", from an 1818 lecture by Turner referring to his use of light, shade, colour and tone. Turner was selected by Britain's central bank following nominations from the public. "It's so amazing that an artist has been chosen for the A20 note and an artist who was a wild maverick," artist Tracey Emin said at the launch. Emin -- who grew up in Margate -- shot to fame when her unmade bed was nominated for the 1999 Turner Prize, Britain's top award for contemporary visual artists. "It's wonderful that Britain's creative side is being honoured in this way," she said. The current A20 note, first issued in 2007, carries a picture of 18th-century economist Adam Smith. Alex Farquharson, director of London's Tate Britain gallery, said: "Turner's popularity is unrivalled -- he was voted the nation's favourite artist last year -- and now everyone can celebrate Turner's great contribution to art on a daily basis." The Bank of England issues A5, A10, A20 and A50 notes. Story continues The new A20 note, which will enter circulation by 2020, will be the third in a series of banknotes printed for the first time on polymer rather than paper. A new polymer A5 note featuring World War II prime minister Winston Churchill is to be unveiled on June 2 and enter circulation in September. A A10 note on polymer featuring novelist Jane Austen will be issued in 2017. The new notes retain a regular layout, featuring a 1990 portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, and a historical figure on the reverse. Sterling is the first of the world's most traded currencies -- ahead of the US dollar, the euro and the yen -- to switch to polymer. The one-time slave turned abolitionist Harriet Tubman was named Wednesday as the new face of the $20 banknote, the first time an African American has featured on US currency. GaneshaSpeaks If you want to get an idea of what power and political clout means, then sample this: Social Democratic Politician, State Counsellor of Myanmar, Leader of the National League for Democracy and Minister of Foreign Affairs in the Presidents cabinet! Here, the description of multiple individuals is not being presented, instead these are all the positions held by one woman Aung San Syuu Ki the figure who wields power and holds a position equivalent to that of the Prime Minister in Myanmar ! The exuberant Suu Kyis father is Aung San the man who is known as the Father of the modern-day Myanmar and the one who founded the Burmese Army and negotiated the freedom of Burma with the British Empire and her mother, Khin Kyi was a prominent political figure who was appointed as the Burmese ambassador to India and Nepal. The powerful lady graduated from Lady Sri Ram College in New Delhi, India and also holds a degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics from the St. Hughs College, Oxford. Internal conflicts, political turmoil, house arrests, detention, suffering, imprisonment, protests, violence, turbulence, civil movements, political campaigns, elections and a lot more Suu Kyi has seen it all! Currently, her stars seem to be shining bright in her case, and there seems to be a new era that will begin in country, which has otherwise been a witness to a lot of political instability Myanmar. Lets get to know what picture do the stars present about the tough lady in this Exclusive Astrological Feature. The bold Burmese Stateswoman has the Sun placed in the Gemini sign with strong Mercury which indicates that she is very strict, very hardworking and has very high moral standards. It also tells us that she has a very strong sense of duty. She is very clever and possess great abilities to effectively express her ideas and thoughts and this is a very positive sign for a . She has her own ideas and principles and ways and a piercing intellect. The Charisma Factor: She has Venus placed with Mars which makes her a charismatic leader who wields strong influence over the people of her country and even her worldwide followers as well. It indicates that she has a great deal of magnetism, latent power and energy. She is determined to put her ideas in practice. Moreover, it is to be noted here that her Mars is placed in its Swakshetra (Aries) which makes it very strong. No wonder she possesses so much physical power and resiliences and has been able to withstand so many challenges in her life so far! Following the Jupiterian Principles? Jupiter happens to be the Atmakaraka in her Chart. Thus, she is sincere and devoted leader who, throughout her life, has consistently stood by truth, honesty and non violence. Struggles, Challenges and Imprisonment: However, life has never been easy for her. She has the Sun placed in combination with Saturn. It gives her the qualities of perseverance, self-discipline, organizational skills and the ability to maximize the effectiveness of all the available resources. Ambition is likely to be a powerful motivating force within her personality, and, once she is able to clearly make out what her aims and goals are, then careful planning and effective execution can help her to achieve the goal. But, at the same time it also indicates confrontation and harassment from the ruling class and authorities. The pro-democracy leader remained imprisoned largely under house arrest in her rundown family home on the banks of Inya lake in Rangoon for almost two decades. This is the negative side of the same combination. The adverse planetary configurations: She also has Saturn and Rahu conjunction in Gemini. It is also to be noted here that there are two simultaneous Doshas or negative combinations present in the Gemini Sign in her Chart The Sun-Rahu conjunction and also the Saturn-Rahu conjunction. The negative energy generated by these two Dosha affected her peace of mind and created terrible obstacles in her path. When these planets are in conjunction, the combined effect of their powers is rather strong and negative. Thus, her life has always been full of struggle and turbulence due to such adverse planetary combinations. Top Honours and Recognition: The planets do present the humans with challenges, but if these challenges are overcome with due perseverance and courage, then the rewards are also quite handsome. And literally, Aung San Suu Kyi gained international acclaim, having received many honours, including Rafto Prize, Sakharov Prize, Nobel Peace Prize, Jawaharlal Nehru Award etc. She is an honorary citizen of many countries including Canada, and she was an honorary member of The Elders. Fortunes in the coming months: At present, the transiting Jupiter is moving over the Natal Jupiter in her Chart. Suu Kyi was once a political prisoner and is now the State Counselor, a newly-created role akin to the Prime Minister. Her determined efforts to achieve a peaceful transfer of power and advance the national reconciliation will help her country to begin a new era. Although the transiting Jupiter will continue to act in her favour, it will be a monumental job for her to reconstruct the country and help it to regain its bearings. She will definitely make a fresh start, but running through the grim statistics on poverty, educational attainment and more, it is clear that she will be facing huge problems as the year progresses. The transiting Saturn in Sagittarius during the year 2017 will create a lot of hurdles in her path. At times her authoritarian and high-handed ways or inability to delegate, to share power may bring stiff resistance and challenges after June 2017. Also, her health may remain a cause of concern during the year 2017. With Ganeshas Grace, Tanmay K. Thakar The GaneshaSpeaks.com Team SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australian police are investigating how confidential information about the outcome of a tender process for Australia's next submarine fleet was leaked to the media, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported on Saturday. It is the second leak from within the military acquisition project which has come down to a race between bids from French, German and Japanese companies for an A$50 billion contract to build 12 submarines. Australia's Federal Police confirmed in a statement to the ABC that they had been asked to investigate, the broadcaster said. Police spokesmen were not available for comment. The investigation follows an ABC report earlier in the week that said the Japanese bid had been "all but eliminated" from the tender process. No official announcement on the outcome of the tender has been made. A final decision had been expected at the end of the year but Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull's recent gamble on a July 2 election has sped up the process and a winner is now expected to be announced by the end of the month. The contract is politically sensitive as it will likely have an impact on thousands of jobs in the shipbuilding industry in South Australia state. Retaining votes in key electorates in that state will be critical for the government. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Kawasaki Heavy Industries are offering to build a variant of Japan's Soryu submarine. Germany's ThyssenKrupp AG's is proposing to scale up its 2,000-tonne Type 214 class submarine. France's state-controlled naval contractor DCNS has proposed a diesel-electric version of its 5,000-tonne Barracuda nuclear-powered submarine. America's Raytheon Co, which built the system for Australia's current Collins-class boats, is vying for a separate contract for a combat system for the submarine with Lockheed Martin Corp, which supplies combat systems to the U.S. Navy's submarine fleet. (Reporting by Tom Westbrook; Editing by Robert Birsel) Baghdad (AFP) - Bombings targeting security forces in the Baghdad area killed at least eight people and wounded more than 30 on Saturday, security and medical officials said. A suicide bomber detonated an explosives-rigged vehicle at a checkpoint on the northeastern edge of the city, killing at least seven people and wounding at least 24. Another car bomb exploded near an army patrol in the Dura area of southern Baghdad, killing at least one person and wounding at least eight. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attacks, but suicide bombings are a hallmark of the Islamic State jihadist group, which also employs car and roadside bombs. IS overran large areas north and west of Baghdad in 2014, but Iraqi forces backed by US-led air strikes have since regained significant ground. The jihadists still control a large part of western Iraq, and are able to carry out frequent bombings in government-held areas. Dhaka (AFP) - Unidentified attackers hacked to death a university professor in Bangladesh on Saturday, police said, adding that the assault bore the hallmarks of previous killings by Islamist militants of secular and atheist activists. Police said English professor Rezaul Karim Siddique, 58, was hacked from behind with machetes as he walked to the bus station from his home in the country's northwestern city of Rajshahi, where he taught at the city's public university. "His neck was hacked at least three times and was 70-80 percent slit. By examining the nature of the attack, we suspect that it was carried out by extremist groups," Rajshahi Metropolitan Police commissioner Mohammad Shamsuddin told AFP. Shamsuddin said police had not yet named any suspects but added that the pattern of the attack fitted with previous killings by Islamist militants. Nahidul Islam, a deputy commissioner of police, told AFP that Siddique was involved in cultural programmes, including music, and set up a music school at Bagmara, a former bastion of an outlawed Islamist group, Jamayetul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB). "The attack is similar to the ones carried out on (atheist) bloggers in the recent past," Islam said, adding nobody had been arrested yet. Homegrown Islamist militants have been blamed for a number of murders of secular bloggers and online activists since 2013, the most recent being in the capital Dhaka early this month. Police said that in each of the attacks unidentified assailants hacked the victim to death with machetes or cleavers. Eight members of banned Islamist group Ansarullah Bangla Team, including a top cleric who is said to have founded the group, were convicted late last year for the murder of atheist blogger Ahmed Rajib Haider in February 2013. - 'Gruesome pattern' - Sakhawat Hossain, a fellow English professor from the university and a friend, said the slain teacher played the tanpura, a musical instrument popular in South Asia, and wrote poems and short stories. Story continues "He used to lead a cultural group called Komol Gandhar and edit a bi-annual literary magazine with the same name. But he never wrote or spoke against religion in public," Hossain told AFP. Hundreds of students of Rajshahi University staged impromptu protests, marching on the campus in batches and shouting slogans, demanding the arrest of the killers, local police chief Humayun Kabir told AFP. "The students were shocked at the latest brutal killing of their teachers. Some 500 of them shouted slogans and joined the marches calling for protection of all teachers and exemplary punishment for the killers," Mostafiz Mishu, a student who witnessed the protests, told AFP. Police said Siddique was the fourth professor from Rajshahi University to have been murdered. In February, a court handed down life sentences to two Islamist militants for the murder of another professor, Mohammad Yunus. The recent killings have sparked outrage at home and abroad, with international rights groups demanding that the secular government protect freedom of speech in the Muslim-majority country. Champa Patel, Amnesty International's South Asia director, condemned the latest killing as "inexcusable", saying it was part of a "gruesome pattern". "The authorities must do more to put an end to these killings. Not a single person has been brought to justice for the attacks over the past year," Patel said. Ansar al-Islam, a Bangladesh branch of Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent, this month claimed responsibility for the murder of 26-year-old Nazimuddin Samad, a law student who was killed on the streets of Dhaka, according to US monitoring group SITE. Police, however, blamed the Ansarullah for the murder. Bangladesh authorities have consistently denied that international Islamist networks such as Al-Qaeda or the Islamic State group, which recently claimed responsibility for the murders of minorities and foreigners, are active in the country. A long-running political crisis in the majority Sunni Muslim but officially secular country has radicalised opponents of the government and analysts say Islamist extremists pose a growing danger. During a joint press conference with his Cambodian counterpart Prak Sokhonn on Friday, April 22, 2016, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi says the Philippines' claims relating to China's territory sovereignty and maritime rights should evidently be excluded from a compulsory arbitration. [Photo: fmprc.gov.cn] Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Friday that the Philippines' attempt to pressure China over an arbitration of maritime disputes is "either political arrogance or legal prejudice." "There is ample legal basis for China not to participate in or accept the unilaterally-initiated process," he told a joint press conference with his Cambodian counterpart Prak Sokhonn in Phnom Penh, capital of Cambodia. The UN Charter and international law advocate peaceful settlement of disputes through dialogue and negotiation, and the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) also respects the dispute settlement procedure chosen by the parties themselves. China has insisted that the South China Sea disputes should be resolved peacefully through negotiations between the parties directly concerned, Wang said. "So China is exercising its legitimate right to reject a compulsory arbitration," he added. The Chinese top diplomat noted that China made a declaration that excludes a compulsory arbitration in 2006 under the Article 298 of the UNCLOS. Manila unilaterally initiated an arbitration case against China over the maritime disputes at an international tribunal in The Hague in early 2013 under the UNCLOS. "The Philippines' claims relating to China's territory sovereignty and maritime rights should evidently be excluded from a compulsory arbitration," Wang said. Under the Article 4 of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC), signed by China and ASEAN countries, the disputes should be resolved through consultations and negotiations by parties directly concerned. China's rejection of a compulsory arbitration is actually a fulfillment of its responsibilities and obligations of the DOC, Wang said. Therefore, China's position on the arbitration is in compliance with international law and the norms of international law of the sea, he said. The Philippines' unilateral move has violated the common practice that concerned parties should reach an agreement on handling their disputes before seeking an arbitration, as well as Manila's commitment to a negotiated solution to disputes made in bilateral documents, said the Chinese foreign minister. The Philippines has also breached the Article 4 of the DOC it has signed that territorial and jurisdictional disputes should be resolved through consultations and negotiations by parties directly concerned. "Manila's unilateral action is actually a distortion and abuse of the international arbitration mechanism," he added. By Marise Richter DALLAS (Reuters) - A jury on Friday sentenced a former mortician to return to prison for 99 years to life for murdering a wealthy East Texas widow and hiding her body in a freezer in a case that inspired the 2011 film "Bernie." A jury in the East Texas town of Henderson deliberated for more than four hours following a three-week re-sentencing trial for Bernie Tiede, who was convicted in 1999 of the murder of 81-year-old Marjorie Nugent. Tiede, 57, confessed to shooting Nugent in 1996 and stashing her body in a freezer chest at her home in the East Texas town of Carthage, where it remained for nine months before being found. After he served nearly 17 years, an appeals court granted Tiede a re-sentencing trial to hear evidence that emerged after his conviction. Attorneys from the Texas Attorney Generals office prosecuted the case after the original prosecutor, Panola County District Attorney Danny Buck Davidson, recused himself. "Our office is on a mission to achieve justice for victims and their families," Attorney General Ken Paxton said after the verdict. During the re-sentencing trial, defense attorneys attempted to prove that sexual abuse Tiede suffered as a child caused him to snap after he was victimized by Nugent, shooting her four times in the back in an act of passion. The original jury dismissed that argument and sentenced Tiede to life in prison for premeditated murder. Prosecutors produced evidence that Tiede had misappropriated about $3.8 million from Nugent, including $550,000 after her murder. Nugent's family lauded the verdict. "The family always believed justice would come for their grandmother when a fair trial had all the facts and none of the myth," said spokesman Ryan Gravatt. Tiede's attorneys were not immediately available for comment. Tiede had been free on a $10,000 personal bond for nearly two years, living in Austin on property owned by Richard Linklater. The film based on the case, directed by Linklater, starred Jack Black as Tiede and Shirley MacClaine as Nugent. The film chronicled the relationship between Nugent and Tiede, who became companions shortly after Nugent became a widow. In 1993, Tiede left his job as an assistant funeral director to work full-time as Nugents personal assistant and business manger. (Reporting by Marise Richter; Editing by Chris Michaud and Tom Hogue) Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders said that many of his state primary losses were because poor people dont vote, according to a transcript of his interview on NBC News Meet the Press with Chuck Todd. In the segment, set to air on Sunday, Todd asked Sanders why nearly all of the primaries in states with the highest levels of income inequality have been won by his rival, Hilary Clinton. Well, because poor people dont vote. I mean, thats just a fact, Sanders said. Thats a sad reality of American society. And thats what we have to transform. Also Read: Bernie Sanders Gets His Brooklyn Up on Face the Nation (Video) Sanders continued to discuss how the U.S. has one of the lowest voter-turnout rates in the world. His campaign has done a good job bringing young people in, Sanders said. I think we have done, had some success with lower income people. But in America today, the last election in 2014, 80 percent of poor people did not vote, he said. If we got a voter turnout of 75 percent, this country would be radically transformed, he added. Also Read: Bernie Sanders Meets Pope Francis, Calls Pontiff a 'Beautiful Man' On the program, Sanders also discussed the Republican Partys strategy to stop Donald Trumps nomination at a round table with Katie Packer, chair of the leading anti-Trump group, Our Principles PAC, and Michael Steele, former chair of the Republican National Committee. Related stories from TheWrap: Bernie Sanders Gets His Brooklyn Up on Face the Nation (Video) George Clooney Says He'll Go to Bat for Bernie Sanders If He Wins the Nomination (Video) Spike Lee's New Bernie Sanders Ad Featuring Susan Sarandon Tells Voters to 'Wake Up' (Video) The boat of the two Florida teens who went missing last summer during a fishing trip has been found off the coast of Bermuda, according to the Palm Beach Post. The 19-foot Seacraft boat that Perry Cohen and Austin Stephanos, both 14-year-old residents of Tequesta, were in when they vanished on July 24 was found on March 18 about 100 miles from Bermuda, Coast Guard Chief Petty Officer Ryan Doss said in a statement, CNN reports. An iPhone and other personal items were found on board the boat. Doss said that a marine store sticker on the boat and the engine's serial number helped identify the Stephanos family as the boat's owners. "This is an open missing persons case, and we hope that [the Fish and Wildlife Commission] reopens their investigation and utilizes the expert resources of other government agencies as well as the private sector if necessary to extrapolate the data from the recovered iPhone," Cohen's parents said in a statement posted to the Perry J. Cohen Foundation's Facebook page Saturday morning. The boat and all items on board have been turned over to the Florida branch of the FWC, Pamela Cohen and Nick Korniloff said. The boat is expected to arrive back in Florida on May 16. The Seacraft was previously spotted near Daytona Beach, Florida, on July 26, two days after the boys went missing, according to the Post. The Coast Guard attached a data marker buoy to the boat and left to continue the search for the boys, but upon returning to the location of the buoy, the boat had vanished. After the boys went missing during a burst of bad weather, a massive search ensued from Florida to North Carolina. U.S. Coast Guard Spokesman Petty Officer Mark Barney told PEOPLE at the time that the search had spanned tens of thousands of nautical miles and extended about 90 miles off the coast. The Coast Guard eventually ended the public search for the boys on July 31, but the families' private search stretched into early August. Both families have spent the ensuing months launching the Perry J. Cohen Foundation and AustinBlu Foundation, which both aim to improve boater safety. The boat belonging to two Florida teens who made headlines after they vanished during a fishing trip never to be seen again has been found. The boat that carried Perry Cohen and Austin Stephanos before they vanished last summer was lost at sea after it was spotted during an intense and widespread search for the Tequesta 14-year-olds that began last July. The capsized boat that Perry Cohen and Austin Stephanos left Jupiter, Florida in last July was found 1,000 miles awat near Bermuda (Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission) Now a Swedish vessel has found it capsized in a shipping lane off the coast of Bermuda, some 1,000 miles from where the boys shoved off in Jupiter on July 24, the Palm Beach Post reported Saturday. Read: Missing Priest Believed to Have Been Murdered By 'Career Criminal' He Tried to Help: Cops There were reportedly still items aboard the boat, including Austin's iPhone. This is an open missing persons case, and we hope that FWC reopens their investigation and utilizes the expert resources of other government agencies as well as the private sector if necessary to extrapolate the data from the recovered IPhone, Perry's parents Pamela Cohen and Nick Korniloffsaid in a statement Saturday morning. The families hope there is information on the phone that could indicate where the boys found themselves and what happened leading up to their disappearance. We just want to know the answers, Pamela Cohen said. We just want to try to figure out what happened. Watch: Teen Alone on Kayak at Night Gets Rescued After Drifting Away from Family Authorities said the boat would be brought back to South Florida by mid-May. Government officials first found the boat two days after the boys disappeared. Days later, two life vests were discovered off the Georgia coast and some speculated they belonged to the boys. For a week after the Coast Guard called off the search July 31, a privately funded mission to find the boys continued on. Story continues The families called off that search, which was paid for in part by a GoFundMe campaign that raised over $400,000, on August 9. Watch: TV Crew Saves Castaway After Spotting Him On Deserted Island: 'He Was Ready to Die' Related Articles: Ideally, we would all like to drive the Swiss army knives of the automobile worldvehicles that do many things well with few to no drawbacks. This is easier said than done however, especially when it comes to off-road vehicles. The trade-off is generally on-road comfort and fuel economy in exchange for off-road performance. Unsurprisingly, big tires and heavy-duty suspension setups arent great on pavement. This creation however evens the playing field; its called the Track N Go system, and it has been designed to transform everyday Jeeps, 44 SUVs, and trucks into snow-conquering off-roaders in a span of 15 minutes. Best of all, the bolt-on system doesnt require modifications to the original vehicle, so you can simply unbolt the treads and hit the highway when need be. Take a look. RELATED: Check Out Ken Blocks Incredible Ford F-150 RaptorTRAX So how does it work? To install, you drive your vehicle up two short metal ramps and onto each set of tracks, front and rear. A unique spacer plate attaches to each wheel hub, which links each of the aluminum and steel tracks to the vehicles wheels and suspension. Chains tether each of the tracks to the vehicles frame to ensure they dont exceed their intended range of motion. The end result is a 44 that can tackle the snow, thanks to a track contact patch of 1,680 square inches and eight inches of added ground clearance. When equipped, the company says users should limit their top speed to around 40 miles per hour. The Canadian firm also says the tracks fit all 44 trucks and a number of large 44 SUVs, including the popular Cadillac Escalade, Dodge Durango, Toyota Sequoia, as well as the Jeep Grand Cherokee and Jeep Wrangler, among others. Necessary gear includes an automatic transmission with a 4Lo transfer case and a rear differential lock. RELATED: This Nissan Juke RSnow Looks Wild on Snow-Tracks While Track N Go was designed specifically for snow, the company does say it can be used on sand and pavement as well. The kit obviously caters to weekend adventurers and those in snowbound regions, however other uses can include repair vehicles, police, rescue, and other emergency responders. Story continues As is somewhat expected, the price isnt cheapabout $25,000 for the full kit. There are other systems out there as well, such as the acclaimed Mattracks, which fully replace a vehicles wheels with a tread system. But admittedly few look as quick to install (and uninstall) as these. RELATED: Forget Snowmobiles, Youll Want This Crazy Snoped GABORONE (Reuters) - Two South Korean firms could be picked to expand Botswana's Morupule B power station by 300 megawatt (MW) in a bid by the southern African nation to ease power shortages, the energy minister said on Friday. Energy minister Kitso Mokaila was quoted in the local Mmegi newspaper as saying that the expansion would be carried out by Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO) and Daewoo. The plant has an installed capacity of 600 MW but works are already under way to add 300MW by a joint venture between Japan's Marubeni and South Korea's Posco Energy. The plant would eventually generate a total of 1,200 MW when all the expansions are completed. The coal-fired power station was originally built by the China National Electric Equipment Corporation (CNEEC) at a cost of $970 million but has often broken down, leading to a reliance on diesel generators and imports from South Africa. Botswana's current electricity demand stands at 600 MW, according to the energy department. (Writing by Nqobile Dludla; Editing by James Macharia) TORONTO (Reuters) - Canada's Liberal government is prepared to overhaul the country's laws governing broadcasting, media and cultural industries to support local content, Heritage Minister Melanie Joly told the Globe and Mail in a report on Saturday, announcing a new policy direction in what she called a broken system. Canada's broadcast regulator has long had requirements for networks to carry certain amounts of local content. But it cut that quota drastically last year under the Conservative government, after the industry was shaken up by the arrivals of online media services such as the streaming site Netflix. Joly told the Globe she was willing to change laws such as the Broadcasting Act and the Telecommunications Act and modify the mandates of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) broadcast regulator and the Canadian Broadcasting Corp public media organization. She added the government would also create new laws or agencies, as needed. Joly's Canadian Heritage federal department on Saturday announced a public consultation on how to support and promote Canadian content in the current digital climate. The department said in a statement it has made available a pre-consultation questionnaire on media consumption habits and expectations that will be open until May 20. The department said Joly will lead the next phase, which will begin in the summer, though it did not give further details. Canadian Heritage did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Joly told the Globe she will start acting on the consultation's feedback in 2017, when she will also prepare a new cultural export strategy with International Trade Minister Chrystia Freeland. Last year the government eliminated its 55 percent requirement for local shows on over-the-air TV, with the CTRC saying the protections were no longer relevant in a world of abundance and choice. The regulator's decision is not expected to take effect until 2017. Netflix arrived in Canada in late 2010 and does not have to ensure a quota of Canadian content, which are usually less popular than those from the United States. It and similar services have shaken up the industry by offering more choices than traditional subscription TV services. (Reporting by Ethan Lou in Toronto; Editing by David Gregorio) As the mighty Marvel Cinematic Universe rolls on, it surely cant be too long until we start getting some definitive news on their first female solo movie, Captain Marvel. The movie based around one of Marvels mightiest heroes, USAF pilot turned cosmically-empowered super-being Carol Danvers, was among the projects confirmed by Marvel as part of their five-year plan slate revealed in October 2014. However, 18 months on all we know for sure about Captain Marvel is that Nicole Perlman (co-writer of Guardians of the Galaxy) and Meg LeFauve (Inside Out) are collaborating on the screenplay, and its (revised) release date is 8 March 2019. However, it may be that we get some bigger news sooner rather than later - and one well-connected film reporter has given us a rather cryptic clue as to which actress and director might be in the running. Jeff Snieder of The Wrap, hosting a reader Q&A as part of live video chat Meet The Movie Press, tentatively confirmed that he got his first tip about casting on Captain Marvel earlier this week. Choosing his words very carefully for fear of giving away more than hes legally allowed to, Snieder hinted, There was a rumour about an actress being up for it; an already existing rumour, thats not new. Ive definitely heard theres some truth to that rumour, and that theres a director with the same first name who has also been eyed. This was as much as Snieder felt safe to say, but he pondered,I dont think that [an announcement] is too far off. If they can make it to Comic Con, they will. So - an actress already linked to Captain Marvel, and a director with the same first name. Assuming Sniders tip is accurate, this immediately narrows down the possibilities - not that it makes it easy to gauge. First off, arguably the actress most frequently linked with the role has been Emily Blunt. As well as being a fan favourite for Carol Danvers, she came very close to being cast as Black Widow in Iron Man 2, so theres no question shes on Marvels radar. Story continues Shes also clearly in good stead with parent company Disney, having recently been cast as the new Mary Poppins. As for directors who share Blunts first name: its possible this could be Emily Young, British director behind 2009 drama Veronika Decides To Die, an adaptation of Paulo Coelhos novel starring Sarah Michelle Gellar and David Thewlis. Alternatively, it could be Emily Ting, an experienced producer and documentary maker, whose first narrative feature Already Tomorrow In Hong Kong proved a critical hit at the 2015 film festivals. (Its worth noting that Spider-Man: Homecoming director Jon Watts came to Marvels attention via his 2015 festival hit Cop Car.) Theres even the possibility, however vague, that it could be Emily Hagins, young indie horror filmmaker who famously made her directorial debut, 2006s Pathogen, when she was only 13 years old. (If this seems to make Hagins an unlikely candidate, dont forget that until recently Jon Watts was best known for low budget horror movie Clown.) Another actress often linked with Captain Marvel has been Katheryn Winnick, whos proved she has the look and the physicality through her work on TVs Vikings - and while the spelling of her name may be unique, it is very close to that of two the biggest female directors around. Firstly, theres Catherine Hardwicke, famed for Twilight, Red Riding Hood and last years Miss You Already; and secondly, there is of course Kathryn Bigelow, the first woman ever to win the Best Director Oscar for 2009s The Hurt Locker (which, we might note, starred future Hawkeye actor Jeremy Renner). Generally speaking, Marvel tend not to go for such established mainstream filmmakers - but theres a first time for everything. Other actresses linked to the role include Charlize Theron, Natalie Dormer, Katee Sachoff, Ronda Rousey, Rebecca Ferguson, Yvonne Strahovski, and recent Best Actress Oscar-winner Brie Larson - but Ive been unable to identify any established directors with those same first names who seem like feasible candidates. If you can do better than me, feel free to name your actor-director predictions for Captain Marvel in the comments section below - and at the same time, please remember that this is all 100% speculation Picture Credit: Marvel, Warner Bros, History Channel Read More: Marvels Inhumans Loses Release Date Famke Janssen Hopes For X-Men Return Robert Downey Jr Confirmed For Spider-Man: Homecoming China's anti-doping authority said it is trying to solve the problems that caused the suspension of its testing laboratory and denied that the recent positive drug tests of Chinese swimmers had anything to do with it. The World Anti-Doping Agency announced on its website on Friday that it has suspended its accreditation of the National Anti-Doping Laboratory in Beijing for a maximum of four months. The suspension, to take effect immediately, means the lab has to stop carrying out any WADA-related anti-doping activities, including all analyses of urine and blood samples. China's National Anti-Doping Agency said in a statement that technical mistakes are to blame for the suspension, and it is moving to meet the WADA requirements. "The Beijing lab reported two false negative results in WADA's double-blind tests in October last year. The lab will resume its work after WADA inspects it again and approves the improvements," the Beijing lab said in a statement. Double-blind test means the lab took the test without knowing the subjects of the testing, so as to create an unbiased test environment to ensure that the results are accurate. WADA is responsible for accrediting and re-accrediting anti-doping labs to ensure that they maintain the highest quality standards. Whenever a laboratory does not meet requirements, WADA may suspend its accreditation. Of the total 35 accredited labs throughout the world, 19 have been suspended by WADA. "The problem took place because we failed to follow WADA's latest technical requirements and there were oversights in reviewing the analysis," lab chief Xu Youxuan was quoted by Xinhua News Agency as saying. "Our lab now can meet WADA's latest technical requirements. We will apply for a WADA inspection and try to be reinstated as soon as possible," Xu said. The Beijing lab is the only anti-doping lab in China. Before the suspension, it had passed all the tests since its accreditation in 1989. Last month, China announced that there had been three positive drug result cases in swimming in 2015 and three more so far this year. Britain's The Times newspaper reported that five positive drug tests had been covered up by Chinese authorities, quoting whistleblowers. "The suspension this time has nothing to do with the allegation from the foreign media," Zhao Jian, deputy director of China's anti-doping agency, told China Daily. Sun Xiaochen contributed to this story. Los Angeles art dealer Perry Rubentstein has been arrested and charged with three counts of grand theft by embezzlement, according to reports. In court of Friday, Rubenstein, 62, pleaded not guilty and was held on $1 million bond, ABC 7 reports. "There are no criminal charges to be made here. This is a civil matter," Rubenstein's lawyer Steve Sitkoff told the network. "I think it's ironic that they've decided to charge him with criminal counts based on civil matters that have been resolved." Rubenstein's Thursday arrest reportedly comes after a trail of legal disputes, which left his reputation damaged, and the charges stem from allegations that Rubenstein failed to pay over $1 million for artwork connected to Eli Broad and Michael Ovits, two prominent art collectors in Los Angeles. Around the time that Rubenstein moved to LA in 2011 he was involved in a sale that ultimately resulted in legal trouble, the Los Angeles Times reports. The sale in question was that of a scroll titled "The World of Sphere," by artist Takashi Murakami. Massachusetts based art collector Michael Salke reportedly contracted with Rubenstein to sell the piece for $750,000, but Rubenstein told Salke that a buyer was willing to pay $630,000 for the piece. According to the newspaper payments were made in installments that totaled $575,000. Rubenstein then reportedly attempted to add $20,000 to his commission, which is when Salke filed a lawsuit. As the suit progressed, it was revealed that the buyer Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation had actually purchased the scroll for $825,000. Rubenstein never paid Salke the full amount received for the sale, the Times reports. The reports added that the other counts come from an agreement Rubenstein made with Ovitz who co-founded Creative Artists Agency and served as president of the Walt Disney Co. in the past to sell two pieces by Richard Prince, which together are worth over $1 million. One sell was reportedly completed and the painting was said to have been bought by a buyer in Mexico for $500,00, but Ovitz never received payment and the piece has since been sold again to someone in France. The second piece was sold shortly after the first, but Ovitz had reportedly set the minimum price at $575,000. Rubenstein allegedly sold the piece for $475,00, without first getting an okay from Ovitz and reportedly kept the money from both sales. By Michelle Nichols and Valerie Volcovici UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - China and the United States, the world's top producers of greenhouse gas emissions, pledged on Friday to formally adopt by the end of the year a Paris deal to slow global warming, raising the prospects of it being enforced much faster than anticipated. The United Nations said 175 states took the first step of signing the deal on Friday, the biggest day one endorsement of a global agreement. Of those, 15 states also formally notified the United Nations that they had ratified the deal. Many countries still need a parliamentary vote to formally approve the agreement, which was reached in December. The deal will enter into force only when ratified by at least 55 nations representing 55 percent of man-made greenhouse gas emissions. China and the United States together account for 38 percent of global emissions. "China will finalise domestic legal procedures on its accession before the G20 Hangzhou summit in September this year," China's Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli told the U.N. signing ceremony, attended by some 55 heads of state and government. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, who signed the deal with his 2-year-old granddaughter Isabelle on his lap, said the United States "looks forward to formally joining this agreement this year." President Barack Obama will formally adopt the agreement through executive authority. The deal commits countries to restraining the global rise in temperatures to "well below" 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels. But even if the pact is fully implemented, promised greenhouse gas cuts are insufficient to limit warming to an agreed maximum, the United Nations says. The first three months of 2016 have broken temperature records and 2015 was the planet's warmest year since records began in the 19th century, with heat waves, droughts and rising sea levels. "The era of consumption without consequences is over," U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on Friday. "We must intensify efforts to decarbonise our economies. And we must support developing countries in making this transition." 'REASON FOR HOPE' Many developing nations are pushing to ensure the climate deal comes into force this year, partly to lock in the United States if a Republican opponent of the pact is elected in November to succeed Obama, a Democrat. Once the accord enters into force, a little-noted Article 28 of the agreement says any nation wanting to withdraw must wait four years, the length of a U.S. presidential term. The deal also requires rich nations to maintain a $100 billion a year funding pledge beyond 2020, providing greater financial security to developing nations to build their defences to extreme weather and wean themselves away from coal-fired power. "We need to mobilise the necessary financial resources," French President Francois Hollande said. "We need to ensure that our words become actions." The U.N.'s previous climate deal, the 1997 Kyoto Protocol entered into force only in 2005. Kyoto dictated cuts in greenhouse gas emissions only for developed nations, unlike the Paris Agreement which involves both rich and poor but lets all countries set national targets. The previous first-day record for signatures for a global agreement was set in 1982 when 119 states signed the Convention on the Law of the Sea. "More countries have come together here to sign this agreement today than for any other cause in the history of human kind and that is a reason for hope," actor and U.N. Messenger of Peace on climate change, Leonardo DiCaprio told the event, taking place on Earth Day. "But unfortunately the evidence shows us that it will not be enough. Our planet cannot be saved unless we leave fossil fuels in the ground where they belong," he said. (Additional reporting by Lesley Wroughton, Louis Charbonneau, and Luciana Lopez; Editing by David Gregorio and Frances Kerry) WWE Legend Chyna was taking sleep medication and anti-anxiety pills at the time of her death at age 45 and had been "a little emotionally strained" as she confronted demons from her past for a new documentary, her former manager tells PEOPLE. The body of the wrestling icon, whose real name was Joanie Marie Laurer, was discovered Redondo Beach, California apartment by her friend and manager Anthony Anzaldo on Wednesday. "I went over there is because she was unresponsive for three days," Anzaldo tells PEOPLE. "She wasnat responding to any calls or anything so the last communication was Sunday, they think she died on Monday I found her on Wednesday." Laurer was prescribed two medications for sleep and anxiety prior to her death, Anzaldo says. His friend's reliance on the drugs became more apparent over the past few months as she struggled with emotional issues that came up from a documentary she was filming. "She had been a little emotionally strained. She was really confronting some demons and she may have been taking a little bit more than normal," he recalls. "Every couple of days she'd be a little bit off of her game, a little loopy, like maybe she had taken too much but she was still coherent." Chyna's Former Manager Opens Up About Finding Her Dead at 45: WWE Star Was Taking Sleeping Pills and Anti-Anxiety Medication| Death, Overdoses, WWE Smackdown!, Dr. Drew, Drew Pinsky, Joanie Laurer Anzaldo adds that he was "shocked" by the death he believes may have resulted from an accidental overdose. Authorities with the L.A. County coroner's office told PEOPLE that investigators have come to a similar conclusion. "It looked like she died peacefully in her sleep, there were no illegal drugs, no alcohol, it wasn't like her home was a mess. At this time there's no thought of it being an intentional thing," Anzaldo says. Dr. Drew, who treated Laurer on Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew in 2008, told PEOPLE he suspected an overdose as well. "I am very sad for Joanie and her loved ones, but I am also terribly angry because I suspect addiction may have taken another life," he said. Laurer's death is not being investigated as a suicide, the Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner-Coroner tells PEOPLE, adding that the list of medications present at the scene will not be released until an autopsy has been completed. On Sunday, Laurer appeared optimistic in a YouTube video posted in the early morning hours. Making a fruit smoothie, she asked, "How lucky am I?" after noting that she was "doing good." With reporting by Jodi Guglielmi Beirut (AFP) - The Islamic State jihadist group on Friday captured a Syrian pilot alive after shooting down his plane east of Damascus, the IS-affiliated Amaq news agency said. Amaq gave the pilot's name as Azzam Eid, from Hama. It said IS fighters had shot down his plane and found him alive after he parachuted down to the crash site. A video posted by Amaq showed the charred remains of a plane, some parts still on fire, lying on a vast desert plain. Several apparent IS fighters in military-style fatigues circle around the wreckage, pointing to the two-starred Syrian government flag clearly visible on one of the wings. Syrian state news agency SANA had no immediate news on the incident. IS fighters have shot down several Syrian government warplanes in recent weeks, including over the Dmeir military airport near Damascus and in the southern province of Sweida. But the pilots were able to land in regime-held zones on both occasions. In December 2014, IS shot down a warplane from the US-led coalition striking the group in Syria and captured the Jordanian pilot alive. The ultra-conservative group later burned pilot Maaz al-Kassasbeh alive and posted video footage of his death online. Syria's conflict first began in March 2011 with widespread anti-government protests which have since spiralled into a multi-front, complicated civil war. Across the country, IS is fighting the Syrian government, non-jihadist rebels, and Kurdish groups. Having just wrapped up with his North American tour, it looks like Jay Electronicas already back to work. Today, the rapper took to Twitter to reveal that he and none other than Chance The Rapper have something up their sleeves. Peace To Chance The Rapper, Jay tweets. We about to surprise attack yall. Beyond the suggestion that this collaboration is to come very soon, no other details have surfaced yet, and considering Jay Electronicas usual approach, its hard to gage just when that collaboration will come. Until that collaboration surfaces, revisit Jay Elecs most recent track The Curse of Mayweather and take a look at his tweets below. Image via @JayElectronica on Twitter Image via @JayElectronica on Twitter Image via @JayElectronica on Twitter Image via @JayElectronica on Twitter The post A New Collaboration Between Jay Electronica and Chance The Rapper is Coming appeared first on Pigeons & Planes. More from Pigeons & Planes Most people get an energy bill and just pay it, without asking themselves what they might do to get the costs down, says Joseph Borza. But even if an entrepreneur did ask, theyd likely not know how to find the answer. Thats why Borza cofounded his company EnergyElephant: The two-year-old, Dublin, Irelandbased startups software analyzes utility bills, then comes up with a plan for reducing fees based on local regulations and costs. That might involve rearranging office or factory hours to take advantage of cheaper rates, renegotiating with a utility provider or resolving billing errors. The service costs 360 (or $397) per month, which seems pricey -- but some early clients say the savings outweigh the price. One customer, the professional association Engineers Ireland, says it has saved a couple thousand dollars so far. And thanks to a Supreme Court decision this year, American companies should be particularly interested in examining their bills: This past January, the court confirmed that if people arent using power during peak times, they can demand and receive reimbursements from their utility providers. The idea is to incentivize users to reduce energy during peak demand, to avoid blackouts and brownouts. So, now the question: Whats in your bill? Khartoum (AFP) - Sudan said on Saturday almost 98 percent of Darfur voters favoured maintaining the war-torn region as five states in a referendum that faced international criticism and an opposition boycott. The referendum on whether to unite Darfur into a single autonomous region was held over three days between April 11 and 13. Darfur referendum commission chief Omar Ali Jamaa announced at a press conference that of those who took part, "97.72 percent voted for five states". "Of 3,535,281 registered voters, 3,207,596 cast their votes" in a referendum that was monitored by international observers including the Arab League and the African Union, he said. A united Darfur with greater autonomy has long been a demand of ethnic minority insurgents battling the Khartoum government of President Omar al-Bashir since 2003, but they boycotted the vote, calling it unfair. Washington had also voiced concern, warning that the referendum "held under current rules and conditions... cannot be considered a credible expression of the will of the people". Rebel groups had questioned how displaced would vote, and residents of three camps for internally displaced people in central Darfur also protested against it. "We don't acknowledge the result of this referendum," Mohamed Abdelrahman, spokesman for the Sudan Liberation Army, told AFP from Uganda by phone. "It does not express the opinion of Darfur people as those who have been displaced and are living in camps and other parts of Sudan boycotted it." Bashir, whose ruling National Congress Party supports the five-state system, had insisted the ballot take place as stipulated in a 2011 peace agreement signed with some rebel groups. Darfur was a single region until 1994 when the government split it into three states, and later added another two in 2012, claiming it would make local government more efficient. Clashes between troops and the Sudan Liberation Army led by Abdulwahid Nur in the Jebel Marra mountain range in the heart of Darfur have forced at least 100,000 people from their homes since mid-January, the United Nations says. Ethnic minority rebels in Darfur mounted an insurgency against Khartoum's Arab-dominated government of Bashir -- who is wanted for alleged war crimes in the conflict -- complaining of marginalisation. More than 2.5 million people displaced by the conflict live in the vast region of western Sudan and 300,000 have been killed in the conflict, according to UN figures. Nissan IDS Concept [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn] Chinese premium car owners are more interested in high-technology configurations while the Europeans are more concerned about the practicability of the vehicle, according to a report released this week. More than 80 percent of premium car owners in China are greatly influenced by the controllability and advanced technology of the models when making a purchasing decision, the survey from Hurun Report said. Intelligent vehicle interaction system, automatic engine start-stop functions and driving assistance are must-haves for the Chinese high-end car owners. They also like options such as airless and explosion-proof tire, command system, auto piloting and intelligent recharging. In Europe, people tend to be only interested in whether the high-tech vehicle could result in energy efficiency, the report said. About 70 percent of Chinese premium car owners are the users of car-hailing applications, while the rate drops to 35 percent in Europe, showing different attitudes toward the use of technology. Half of both Chinese and European premium car owners have been the drivers of car-hailing apps, believing such behavior would bring more possibilities to make new friends, taking part in public welfare activities and saving energy and protecting the environment. Zhang Xiaoming, 39, a Mercedes-Benz owner from Beijing, said performance and comfortable levels were the key points for him in choosing the car. With a bachelor's degree, Zhang currently is a manager of a film company. He is also a user of the car-hailing service Didi Dache. Luo Xin, 36, a Porsche owner from Shanghai, said he cared about brand value, eye-catching appearance and performance most when he bought the car, which is his third. Luo is the owner of an English-language training institute. The report was based on a survey of 1,350 Chinese car owners from 10 cities: Beijing, Tianjin, Dalian, Shanghai, Hangzhou, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Xiamen, Kunming and Chengdu. It also surveyed 1,110 car owners from six European countries: the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain and Sweden. The report compared the images of nine premium auto brands and their owners in China and Europe, including Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Audi, Porsche, Lexus, Volvo, Land Rover, Cadillac and Infiniti. It said while the Europeans are relatively more mature on vehicle purchasing, the Chinese are more emotional. They have different types of concerns and the purpose of using the vehicle varies. In general, the premium car owners in China are younger, with an average age of 33. The male owners account for 74 percent in China and 62 percent in Europe. Education background is the most different feature. The Chinese premium car owners are more educated, 97.6 percent of them have bachelor's or higher degrees. It is 67.7 percent in Europe. Consumption preference is also difference. European consumers are more sensitive on pricing, with 44 percent of them caring about the price, much higher than the 17 percent in China. Brand and sales have greater influence on the Chinese than European, the report said. The unofficial pot-smoking holiday of April 20 may be over, but marijuana advocates got another reason to celebrate on Thursday. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration for the first time approved smoking marijuana as legitimate medical research. The DEA green-lit a clinical trial of smoked marijuana for the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in American military veterans, a spokesperson for the government agency confirmed to Fortune. While other trials have studied the medical benefits of marijuana and cannabis extracts like cannabidiol, this is the first time regulators have allowed testing of the marijuana plant itself for the purpose of developing it into a legal medical drug. The Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS), an organization researching legal uses for marijuana and other mind-altering drugs, is conducting the trial, which is funded by a $2.2 million grant from Colorados state health department. MAPS had worked for more than five years to obtain clearance from regulators to use pot in the trial; while it received the OK from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2011 and from the U.S. Public Health Service in 2014, it still had to wait for the DEAs approval in order to proceed. The DEAs decision marks a major shift in policy for the agency, which has long resisted the legalization of marijuana for medical or recreational purposes, and has also denied the medicinal potential of pot. Just six months ago in November, DEA head Chuck Rosenberg dismissed the concept of medical marijuana as a joke, according to CBS News. What really bothers me is the notion that marijuana is also medicinal--because its not, he said. If you talk about smoking the leaf of marijuana--which is what people are talking about when they talk about medicinal marijuana--it has never been shown to be safe or effective as a medicine. Since then, however, the DEA has apparently had a change of heart, indicating earlier this month that it is considering whether to reclassify marijuana from its current category--the same one as heroin and LSD--into a lower one alongside less dangerous drugs. So far, DEA has not rejected any research studies involving marijuana products that met FDA standards, the agencys spokesperson added. To date, 24 states have legalized the use of medical marijuana, but the DEA still considers weed illegal on a federal level. See original article on Fortune.com More from Fortune.com BuzzFeed "For the record...we did fly to Vegas and tried to land twice at two different airports. And it was too dangerous so safety first always and we flew home."View Entire Post Madrid (AFP) - The head of a Spanish anti-corruption group that championed several high-profile cases over the past two decades, including one against Princess Cristina, now finds himself under investigation for extortion. A judge this week ordered the founder and leader of "Manos Limpias" (Clean Hands), retired Madrid city hall employee Miguel Bernad, 74, to be remanded in custody while a probe is conducted into a blackmail and extorsion ring he allegedly ran. Bernad, who briefly headed the small far-right National Front party, allegedly acted in complicity with the head of Ausbanc, a banking consumers' association, who was also detained. Police suspect the two groups sought bribes from firms, institutions and individuals in exchange for withdrawing criminal cases they had filed against them. Clean Hands would also put pressure on banks which Ausbanc blackmailed by pressing lawsuits against the lenders if they did not pay, police said in a statement. Ausbanc helped finance Clean Hands, it added. Spanish law allows private groups like Clean Hands to initiate criminal proceedings. The organisation, modelled on and named after the Clean Hands movement launched by Italian prosecutors in the 1990s, has filed hundred of cases since it was founded by Bernad in 1995. Its most prominent case has been the tax evasion charges brought against Princess Cristina, King Felipe VI's younger sister, in a corruption scandal centred on her husband's business dealings. Clean Hands pressed the case against her over the objections of public prosecutors and last month Cristina became the first member of Spain's royal family to take the stand in a criminal trial since the monarchy was restored in 1975. If convicted she faces a jail sentence of up to eight years. - Princess extortion bid - After Bernad was arrested, Cristina's lawyers told reporters that Clean Hands had demanded money in exchange for dropping the charges against her. Story continues "Obviously the princess's defence team flatly refused," lawyer Pau Molins told a television channel. Spanish media meanwhile speculated whether Clean Hands may in fact have been driven by a political agenda. Business daily El Economista reported Thursday that Ausbanc has collected over 600,000 euros ($680,000) since 2009 in subsidies from the regional government of Madrid and the health ministry, both headed by the acting Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy's conservative Popular Party. The subsidies were granted even though Clean Hands had filed cases that snared the party's leadership, including tax fraud claims against former Popular Party treasurer Luis Barcenas who is awaiting trial in jail. According to centre-left daily El Pais, Ausbanc also paid judges across the country to take part in seminars it organised. A lawyer who used to work for Clean Hands as a volunteer until 2012, who spoke to AFP on condition that he not be named, said the group didn't appear wealthy and that he never saw any overt signs of corruption. "They didn't have any money. At the most they would buy us lunch," he said. But he left the organisation in 2012 because he was "bothered by its secrecy". "We never knew who really ran it," he added. - Targeted crusading judge - Bernad, who is openly conservative, has said Clean Hands is financed through contributions from thousands of members. The organisation, which is run from a modest office in an apartment bloc in central Madrid, has spearheaded cases against a wide variety of defendants, including a children's TV programme that mentioned gay marriage, legal in Spain since 2005. The graft cases it has filed have entrapped figures from both the right and the left. One of its favourite targets was former Spanish judge Baltasar Garzon. In one case, it pressed charges against him after he opened a probe into the disappearance of over 100,000 people during Spain's 1936-39 Civil War and the dictatorship of General Francisco Franco that followed. The organisation accused Garzon of abusing his judicial powers because the atrocities were covered by an amnesty law passed in 1977, two years after Franco's death. The Supreme Court acquitted Garzon in 2012, but he was ultimately suspended from the bench after he was found guilty in a separate case. The Time Lord has a new companion. The actress Pearl Mackie was unveiled by the BBC on Saturday as the latest co-lead in the long-running cult favorite Doctor Who, joining Peter Capaldi in the shows upcoming season 10. Mackie replaces Jenna Colman, who after four years on the show revealed in 2015 she would be swapping the sonic screwdriver for a bejeweled crown as the lead in the big-budget PBS/ITV royal drama Victoria. Speculation had been rife as to who would be stepping into Colmans time-and-space traveling shoes, with Eastenders actress Rakhee Thakrar among the initial favorites. Im incredibly excited to be joining the Doctor Who family, said Mackie, who is set to play a character called Bill. Its such an extraordinary British institution, I couldnt be prouder to call the Tardis my home. I always loved stage combat at drama school so I cant wait to get on set and kick some evil monsters into the next dimension! Added Capaldi: It is a genuine delight to welcome Pearl Mackie to Doctor Who. A fine, fine actress with a wonderful zest and charm, shes a refreshing addition to the Tardis and will bring a universe of exciting new possibilities to The Doctors adventures. Mackie, a graduate from the Bristol Old Vic Theater School, is currently performing in the National Theaters West End production of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time. The next season of Doctor Who is due to start shooting next month, and will be the last with Steven Moffat as showrunner. Moffat, who also writes and exec produces Sherlock, announced he would be stepping down in January, handing the baton over to Broadchurch creator Chris Chibnall after more than a decade on the show. Introducing Pearl Mackie as Bill, the #NewCompanion! Welcome to Team #DoctorWho, Pearl!https://t.co/jQpVqxU4tX Doctor Who BBCA (@DoctorWho_BBCA) April 23, 2016 Read More: Doctor Who Showrunner Steven Moffat to Exit Cairo (AFP) - Egypt has arrested dozens of activists ahead of an anti-government demonstration planned for Monday, a group of lawyers said. The group published a list of 59 people they say were detained since Thursday, arrested at cafes and at their homes in Cairo, adding "the arrests continue". Opposition groups -- including the April 6 movement, which spearheaded the popular uprising that ousted former leader Hosni Mubarak in 2011 -- have called for the rally mainly in protest at the government's deal to hand two islands in the Red Sea to Saudi Arabia. The controversial move by President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has provoked outrage among many Egyptians who accuse him of "selling" the islands in the Straits of Tiran in return for Saudi investment. On April 15, more than 1,000 people demonstrated in central Cairo in the biggest protest in two years demanding "the fall of the regime", with police firing tear gas to disperse them. That protest was called for by both secular and Islamic activists, and while originally about the islands became a wider demonstration against the Sisi government. Demonstrations not approved by the police have been banned. Among those arrested in the past 24 hours was prominent rights activist and lawyer Haitham Mohamedin, according to fellow lawyer Rajia Amrane. Sisi, who won elections in 2014, is reviled by Islamists and secular dissidents, but many Egyptians say they need a strong leader to revive the country's economy after years of unrest. He had enjoyed unwavering loyalty in much of the Egyptian media since he took office, but criticism of the president and his police force has grown in recent months. Gevgelija (Macedonia) (AFP) - Several dozen migrants managed to illegally cross from Greece into Macedonia on Saturday -- a border that has been shut since February, an AFP photographer reported. The photographer saw the group in the Macedonian town of Gevgelija, across from Idomeni in Greece where more than 10,000 migrants have been stuck for weeks in grim conditions after a series of border closures on the Balkan migrant route. The photographer, who was travelling with a group of journalists, saw a person "jump out of the bush" in front of his vehicle. "Then I saw two or three others, then around 50 resting in the bush," he said, estimating there were "many others" following this group. The migrants would have made a three-hour journey from Idomeni including the crossing of a river. The group, including "many women, children, even a woman carrying a cat," then disappeared from the journalists' sight, the photographer said, adding that they "looked scared" and "tired". In the Macedonian capital Skopje, police denied any knowledge of the incident. "I have no such information," police spokesman Toni Angelovski told AFP. But he added: "We have these kind of illegal attempts to cross (into the country) on a daily basis, and police are taking measures to protect the border." Some 54,000 people, many of them fleeing the war in Syria, have been stranded on Greek territory since the closure of the migrant route through the Balkans in February. More than 10,000 are in the overcrowded camp in Idomeni, separated from Macedonia with a double barbed wire fence. Groups have intermittently tried to cross the border, where they face the Macedonian police and army. Two weeks ago some 260 refugees were injured when Macedonian police fired tear gas in a bid to prevent a large group from storming the border. Last month, three Afghans drowned trying to wade through the river and cross into Macedonia, while another 1,500 or so who followed them made it across the border -- only to be rounded up and sent back by troops. Story continues Describing the refugees, the photographer said he was struck by the tension on their faces, but added they did not seem to be concerned in being spotted by the journalists. They continued their journey without saying where they were going, but were probably heading north towards Serbia, the photographer added. Last month a Macedonian army spokesman told AFP that the police and military "daily discover 50 to 300 illegal migrants who are trying to enter into the country or break the fence" and send them back to Greece. Macedonia, a non-EU and non-NATO country of two million people, has deployed its army at the border since August last year to control the influx of refugees and other migrants hoping to start new lives in northern Europe. AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Dutch police said on Friday they have arrested the owner of Ennetcom, a provider of encrypted communications for a network of 19,000 customers, on suspicion of using the business for organized crime and shut it down. Rotterdam judges ordered that Danny Manupassa, 36, be held for 14 days during an ongoing investigation. Prosecutors said he is suspected of money laundering and illegal weapons possession. "Police and prosecutors believe that they have captured the largest encrypted network used by organized crime in the Netherlands," prosecutors said in a statement. Although using encrypted communications is legal, many of the network's users are believed to have been engaged in "serious criminal activity," said spokesman Wim de Bruin of the national prosecutor's office. Ennetcom said in a statement on its website that the company had been forced to "suspend all operations and services for the time being." "Ennetcom regrets this course of events and insinuations towards Ennetcom. It should be clear that Ennetcom stands for freedom of privacy," the company said. While Ennetcom and most of its users are in the Netherlands, the bulk of the company's servers were in Canada. Prosecutors said information on the servers in Canada has been copied in cooperation with Toronto police. Canada's Department of Justice said the matter was under investigation and declined further comment. De Bruin said the information gathered would be used in the investigation against Manupassa, and potentially in other ongoing criminal investigations. De Bruin declined to comment on whether and how police would be able to decrypt information kept on the servers. "The company sold modified telephones for about 1,500 euros each and used its own servers for the encrypted data traffic," the prosecutors said. "The phones had been modified so that they could not be used to make calls or use the Internet." The phones had turned up repeatedly in investigations into drug cases, criminal motorcycle gangs, and gangland killings, prosecutors said. All 19,000 of the network's users were sent a message on Tuesday notifying them that the system was being investigated by police. (Reporting by Toby Sterling, with additional reporting by Ethan Lou in Toronto; Editing by Dominic Evans and Richard Chang) QUITO (Reuters) - The death toll from Ecuador's devastating 7.8 magnitude earthquake last week has risen to 646 people, President Rafael Correa said during a TV broadcast on Saturday. Last Saturday's quake, the worst in nearly seven decades, injured around 12,500 people and left 130 missing along the country's ravaged Pacific coast. "These have been sad days for the homeland," a visibly moved Correa said during his regular Saturday television broadcast. "The country is in crisis." Several strong tremors and more than 700 aftershocks have continued to shake the country since the major quake, sparking momentary panic but little additional damage. Tremors are expected to continue for several weeks. With close to 7,000 buildings destroyed, more than 26,000 people were living in shelters. Some 14,000 security personnel were keeping order in quake-hit areas, with only sporadic looting reported. Survivors in the quake zone were receiving food, water and medicine from the government and scores of foreign aid workers, though Correa has acknowledged that bad roads delayed aid reaching some communities. Correa's leftist government, facing mammoth rebuilding at a time of greatly reduced oil revenues for the OPEC country, has said it would temporarily increase some taxes, offer assets for sale and possibly issue bonds abroad to fund reconstruction. Congress will begin debate on the tax proposal on Tuesday. Correa has estimated damage at $2 billion to $3 billion. Lower oil revenue has already left the country of 16 million people facing near-zero growth and lower investment. The country's private banking association said on Saturday its member banks would defer payments on credit cards, loans and mortgages for clients in the quake zone for three months, to help reconstruction efforts. (Reporting by Julia Symmes Cobb and Diego Ore, editing by David Evans) Wu Muxing, 37, is accused of conspiring with others to defraud a total of 40 million yuan. [Photo: thepaper.com] A fugitive on the list of China's 10 most-wanted fraud suspects has been arrested, the Ministry of Public Security said on Friday. Wu Muxing, 37, is accused of conspiring with others to defraud a total of 40 million yuan (6.15 million U.S. dollars) via social media in two separate cases. In Nov. 2015, Wu conspired with others to take 4.9 million yuan from a corporate accountant by impersonating the head of the company on an instant messenger. Acting on a tip-off, police in Shanghai managed to freeze only 2.8 million yuan. While three of Wu's accomplices were caught, Wu fled. In Dec. 2015, he was found to be behind another case in Shenzhen where the victim, also a company accountant, was cheated of 35 million yuan. The police managed to secure over 28 million yuan while apprehending 28 suspects. Wu remained at large. The ministry has offered a reward of 50,000 yuan for information leading to the arrest of anyone on the most-wanted list. On April 20, police caught Wu in his hometown of Quanzhou, Fujian province. He is now in custody, pending further investigation. PARIS (Reuters) - French utility EDF (EDF.PA) will extend the depreciation period for its nuclear plants this year, its CEO said in a newspaper interview, an accounting move that will free up cash for costly investment projects in France and Britain. "By the closing of our first-half results, we will draw the accounting consequences of our intention to extend the lifespan of our existing nuclear plants beyond 40 years," EDF CEO Jean-Bernard Levy said in Saturday's Le Figaro newspaper. EDF had said before it intended to extend the lifespan of its French nuclear plants to 50 or 60 years, beyond the 40 years they were initially built for. Energy Minister Segolene Royal said in February that the government was willing to give the go-ahead for such a move. But French nuclear watchdog ASN is the only authority allowed to grant such an extension, and it has said a decision on the matter would not come before 2018-2019. To make the accounting change, which would automatically boost EDF's profits, the company must convince its auditors that there is a good chance of the extension being granted. In 2003, EDF extended the depreciation schedule for nuclear reactors in its accounts to 40 years from 30 years - six years before the ASN agreed to the move. The utility, 85 percent-owned by the French government, said on Friday it would seek to raise 4 billion euros ($4.5 billion), amid concerns that a 23 billion euro nuclear plant project at Hinkley Point in Britain would put a strain on its finances. (Reporting by Michel Rose; Editing by Toby Chopra and Hugh Lawson) Today in One Paragraph Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe restored the voting rights of more than 200,000 convicted felons. President Obama discouraged Britain from voting to exit the European Union ahead of the June referendum. Suicide rates in the United States have increased dramatically, according to a new CDC study. And more than 170 world leaders signed the wide-ranging Paris climate agreement. Top News Virginia Governor Restores Felons Voting Rights. Fulfilling a campaign promise, Terry McAuliffe used executive power to restore voting rights to more than 200,000 people with felony convictions. Virginias constitution prevents people with felony convictions from voting without the approval of the governor. Republicans in the state have accused McAuliffe of political opportunism. (Sheryl Gay Stolberg and Erik Eckholm, The New York Times) Obama Speaks Against Brexit. During a joint press conference, the president said Britain is at its best when it's helping to lead a strong European Union. British Prime Minister David Cameron, speaking alongside Obama, said it makes sense to listen to what our friends think. Other British leaders criticized Obama for intervening, calling it hypocritical. (BBC News) Recommended: How 'Safe Spaces' Are Being Turned Against Student Activists Suicide Is on the Rise. New data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed an uptick in suicide rates by 24 percent between 1999 and 2014 in the United States. Rates for everyone between the ages of 10 and 74 increased, and suicide rates for women aged 10 to 14 tripled. (Carina Storrs, CNN) In the Spirit of Earth Day. World leaders from 175 countries came together in New York to ink the Paris climate agreement, setting a record for the number of signatories in the opening day. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called the signing ceremony a new covenant for the future. (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) Story continues The Weekend in One Paragraph. Hillary Clinton will fundraise in Rhode Island and Connecticut. Bernie Sanders will campaign in Delaware and Maryland. John Kasich will be in Rhode Island. Ted Cruz is in Pennsylvania. And Donald Trump will campaign in Connecticut. Follow stories throughout the day with our new Politics & Policy page. And keep on top of the campaign with our 2016 Distilled election dashboard. Top Read From philosophy to law to computer science and history, researchers are finding they cant look away from Donald J. Trump. For some, like Mercieca, the astonishing popularity of the celebrity real estate developer is the perfect tent pole to hang their existing research on. For others, his candidacy is like an experiment on a national scale, blowing up conventional wisdom about how American politics and society work. Politico Magazines Darren Samuelsohn on academics fascination with Donald Trump. Top Lines Republicans vs. the I.R.S. Congressional Republicans have spent years attacking the tax agency as ineffective and untrustworthyand implementing significant staff and budget cuts. And now the I.R.S.and its defendersare fighting back. (Jackie Calmes, The New York Times) Recommended: The Obama Doctrine Handing Over the Reigns. Every four or eight years, staffers are tasked with the most important takeover of any organization in historyensuring a smooth transition into power for the next president. Heres an inside look at how it happens. (Russell Berman, The Atlantic) Top Views The First Black President. The Washington Post released the first installment of an interactive multimedia project, Obamas Legacy, including accounts of black leaders, a chronicle of Obamas journey in Africa, and video interviews with children who have only known one president. We want to hear from you! Were reimagining what The Edge can be, and would love to receive your complaints, compliments, and suggestions. Tell us what youd like to find in your inbox by sending a message to newsletters@theatlantic.com. Read more from The Atlantic: This article was originally published on The Atlantic. By Jon Herskovitz (Reuters) - Eight members of the same family were shot to death execution-style in four homes in Pike County, Ohio, and more than 30 people have been questioned in the search for the killer or killers, officials said on Friday. The victims included seven adults and one juvenile, all shot in the head, Pike County Sheriff Charles Reader and Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine said. Reader identified them as members of the Rohden family. Asked about possible suspects, DeWine told a news conference: "We don't know whether we're talking about one individual, or two, or three, or more." An infant less than a week old, a 6-month-old and a 3-year-old survived the shootings in Pike County, in south-central Ohio. Some of the victims appeared to have been murdered in bed, including the mother of the infant who survived, DeWine said. He played down media reports that a "person of interest" had been detained in Chillicothe, in nearby Ross County. "I would not use the term person of interest. I will confirm that a number of people are being interviewed and there are several of those who are in Chillicothe," he said. DeWine said his office had interviewed more than 30 people, with more set to be questioned. Reader said anyone involved in the shootings should be considered armed and extremely dangerous. DeWine said that none of the deaths had resulted from suicide. He said processing the four crime scenes likely would continue through Friday night into Saturday morning. (Reporting by Jon Herskovitz and Ian Simpson; Editing by Robert Birsel) In the new season of Veep, President Selina Meyer (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) battles for reelection after an electoral college tie. She gets a new boyfriend, a rich Wall Street lobbyist, and weathers public scrutiny over his influence in the Oval Office; she has a Twitter mishap where she sends the whole world a message intended to be private; theres some business with a poor makeup job for a stress pimple. Its the same brand of political farce the HBO show has excelled at for five years, but the jokes feel a little off, the verbal barbs tamer than before. Which prompts the quest: Is Veep losing its edge? Or has the world of politics just gotten too crazy for the spoof version to keep up? It might be a cliche at this point to note that the 2016 election cycle has been so ludicrous that it transcends parody. Saturday Night Live cant deliver a Donald Trump impression that comes close to nailing the outsize bombast of the man himself. Similarly, if Veep had tried to present the political success of a Trump-type or a Bernie Sanders clone in previous years, it would have felt unrealistic and goofy. Not so much anymore. The shows fifth season is still sharp, well-plotted, and peppered with laugh-out-loud moments of obscenity. But like so much current satirefrom SNL to The Daily Show to Scandals Donald Trump analogueits struggling to match the unpredictable political pulse of the moment. Its perhaps a surprising turnaround after last years season, the first to feature Meyer as the President (after her boss resigns over a health issue). That shift gave Veep a surge of energy just as it was beginning to get into a familiar story rhythm. While the first three seasons delighted in the obscurity of the vice presidents role and the incompetence of Meyers staff, the fourth season had much higher stakes. Suddenly, their political decisions actually mattered, and their screw-ups could have real global impact. Meyer and company could still be blundering fools, but the satire felt all the more caustic as a result. Story continues Recommended: Prince Will Always Be a Gay IconEven Though He Sometimes Seemed Homophobic Since season four, the Veep creator Armando Iannucci (a titan of British TV comedy who worked on shows like The Day Today, Im Alan Partridge, and The Thick of It) has departed to new projects, leaving the show in the capable hands of his writing lieutenants. But the loss is still deeply felt. In the first four episodes provided to press, Meyers screw-ups feel a little more basic, and their real-world influences a little more obvious. The mis-sent tweet is blamed on anonymous Chinese hackers, recalling Congressman Anthony Weiners flailing attempts to distract from his sexting scandal. Episode-long stories about pimples or a misbegotten juice cleanse, which troubles the press secretary Mike McClintock (Matt Walsh) in one episode, lack the narrative intricacy this show often excels at. More importantly, theres a little less humanity to this season, something that Iannucci and his cast (who improvise much of the shows dialogue) really tapped into once Meyer became president. Her relationship with the embittered veteran Chief of Staff Ben Cafferty (Kevin Dunn) had an emotional grounding beyond their profane interchanges of dialogue; robotic factotums like Sue Wilson (Sufe Bradshaw) and Kent Davison (Gary Ross) finally served a purpose beyond simple exposition. Most fascinating were the arcs of Dan Egan (Reid Scott) and Amy Brookheimer (Anna Chlumsky), veterans of the VPs office suddenly thrust into the world of lobbying; this year, theyre both back on the inside and all the more cynical for it. Recommended: The Secret Shame of Middle-Class Americans Living Paycheck to Paycheck Theres still fun to be had. Louis-Drefyuss Selina Meyer is one of the funniest characters of TVs last decade, and she can still convey so much emotion (usually negative emotions) with a look. Dan and Amys on-again, off-again romantic tension is a surprisingly strong narrative hook for the first part of the new season, and theres real drama in the vagaries of ballot-counting laws. Following on from a 269-269 electoral college deadlock, the shows first arc concentrates on a recount in Nevada that could swing victory Meyers way; like every political drama in TV history (from The West Wing to Scandal), Veep is sure to satisfy anyone looking to indulge in some speculative election fiction. That arc, which sees the gangly Jonah Ryan (Timothy Simons) suddenly forced to take a backseat to his assistant, the nerdy Richard Splett (Sam Richardson), who turns out to have a doctorate in electoral law, is a funny new twist. Other new plotlines, including the introduction of a barmy political veteran played by Martin Mull, fall flatterthe twist involving his character is almost instantly obvious. Hugh Lauries Tom James, the annoyingly competent vice presidential candidate on Meyers ticket, is disappointingly backgrounded early on. An ongoing plotline in which Meyers daughter Catherine (Sarah Sutherland) begins filming everything around her as a purported documentary project bodes poorly from the start, and doesnt feel imaginative from a storytelling perspective. Veeps trademark insults remain as creative and cruel ever, and theres still plenty of White House fantasy fun. But if the show wants to stay relevant, its going to have to get even crazieror the real world will soon be leaving it behind. Read more from The Atlantic: This article was originally published on The Atlantic. Famke Janssen (Photo: Getty Images) By Stacy Lambe After a limited run in theaters, Jack of the Red Hearts, an independent drama starring AnnaSophia Robb and Famke Janssen, premieres on Lifetime on Saturday. The film, about a teenager (Robb) who talks her way into a caretaker position for an autistic child, is earning rave reviews for Janssens performance as a beleaguered parent looking for a reprieve from raising a developmentally challenged kid. More: Famke Janssen Is Headed to The Blacklist for Possible Spin-off But dont bring that up to the 51-year-old actress, whos probably most famous for her turn as Jean Grey in the X-Men franchise. Im a non-review person, she admits. Im sort of a non-watching the movie person too. Its about the experience, and then I move on. However, one experience that hasnt quite left her whether by fans or the media is that of Grey, who she originated on screen in the first three X-Men films, before unceremoniously leaving the character behind as the franchise rebooted itself with a younger generation of actors. X-Men: The Last Stand (Photo: 20th Century Fox) Grey, who is returning to the franchise in X-Men: Apocalypse, is now played by Sophie Turner (Sansa on Game of Thrones). Admittedly, Turner was hesitant about taking over the role, revealing she reached out to Janssen to make sure they were cool. Shes so sweet. I told her she did not need my blessing, Janssen said of the exchange, adding: Shes perfect for the part. I cant wait to see what shes going to do with it. But I thought it was super sweet of her to reach out to me. While Janssen has been very diplomatic about turning over the part to Turner (Those things happen), she does lament that the series has yet to let the two generations of women play the same character in a film. Weve only seen that with Magneto and Professor X, she says. I think its time to do that with one of the females. (While Halle Berry briefly reprised her role as Storm in Days of Future Past, her part has been recast in the new film.) Story continues Why not Jean Grey? offers Janssen, who also made a brief cameo as the mutant in Days of Future Past. Of course, Grey is the perfect character to revisit, especially after The Last Stand was slammed for its handling of Greys alter ego, Dark Phoenix. And for Janssen, theres no defending it, even 10 years later. Its a pity the Dark Phoenix wasnt explored in a better way, because it really should have been its own movie, she says. To wash over it so quickly, as they did with that many other storylines, I dont think it got the attention that it deserved. When rumors of a Dark Phoenix film are mentioned, Janssen just hopes they do focus on that character. While the actress may have issues with the lack of older women Berry, Rebecca Romijn in the new films, she does celebrate X-Mens attention to female superheroes. There have been so many female characters in the X-Men movies, which is really the first that you ever saw that, Janssen says. There were female superheroes that werent just arm candy. Im proud to have been part of it for that long. Jack of the Red Hearts premieres Saturday at 8 p.m. ET only on Lifetime. DALLAS Investigators on Friday said they have a better timeline of when a popular fitness trainer was slain inside a North Texas church, but still arent close to an arrest in the bizarre case. The body of Missy Bevers, a mother of three, was discovered at about 5 a.m. on Monday by students arriving to attend her group boot camp class in Midlothian, a small community 25 miles southwest of Dallas. Missy Bevers, 45, was killed shortly after arriving at a Dallas-area church to teach a fitness class. (Facebook) Surveillance cameras inside the Creekside Church of Christ didnt capture the killing, but did record images of Bevers arrival and of the mysterious person Midlothian police suspect of taking the 45-year-olds life. Video of the suspect, seen walking the church halls dressed head-to-toe in police tactical gear, has bewildered authorities and the public all week. Officials, hoping for a break in the case, released additional footage of the suspect Friday afternoon. RELATED Detectives examining Texas fitness coachs prolific social media presence >>> Detectives would like the public to focus in on the mannerisms and distinguishing walk of the suspect, said Assistant Chief Kevin Johnson with the Midlothian Police Department. Investigators have been able to estimate the height of the suspect being approximately 508 509 tall. Investigators believe that someone still has information or may recognize the suspect in this case. The churchs cameras were motion-activated, causing recordings in different sequences, but police have been able to stitch together a better timeline, which they also released Friday. Monday, April 18, 2016 3:50 a.m. Suspect first appears on video surveillance camera at Creekside Church of Christ. 4:16 a.m. Mrs. Bevers pickup truck is shown on video surveillance driving into the church parking lot. 4:20 a.m. Mrs. Bevers appears on video surveillance camera walking into the church building. 4:35 a.m. Participant in Camp Gladiator arrives at location. 5:00 a.m. First of two 911 calls received from location. Story continues 5:03 a.m. Initial Patrol Officers dispatched along with EMS to the location. 5:10 a.m. Officers arrive at the location. Source: Midlothian Police Department Officials have not revealed how Bevers was slain, but a search warrant obtained by reporters on Thursday stated investigators believe she was struck in the head with an unknown object. The warrant was obtained to search Bevers pickup truck, where detectives found her purse, iPad and other valuables still inside. Nothing was apparently taken from the church either, authorities said. Police acknowledged on Friday that tools were found at the crime scene, but declined to elaborate on anything only the killer might know. The video shows the person going from door to door inside the church wielding what looks like a hammer. We are excited to see all your smiling faces in the morning! Bevers wrote in her final Facebook post. (Screen shot) Police said damage was found throughout the building. We dont understand all the movement within the church, Johnson said. Because stranger-on-stranger murders are so rare, Bevers spouse of 20 years has been the subject of scrutiny throughout the week. Brandon Bevers, her husband, has said he was on an annual fishing trip in Biloxi, Miss., at the time of the slaying. Police were asked about his alibi on Friday. Were closer to an absolute confirmation, Johnson said. Her husband is cooperating in the investigation. Later, he added, At this point, everythings on the table we simply just dont know. Bevers used Facebook, Twitter and other social media to publicly promote her fitness classes and other entrepreneurial endeavors. Her last Facebook update published Sunday, about nine hours before her body was discovered advertised that she would be at the church early Monday for her regular fitness class, causing police to consider if Bevers was targeted. This case is weighing heavy on the community and our investigative team. Our thoughts and prayers remain with the Bevers family and our entire Midlothian community. We will vigorously pursue the person or persons responsible and bring them to justice, said Midlothian police Chief Carl Smith. Jason Sickles is a national reporter for Yahoo News. Follow him on Twitter (@jasonsickles). PARIS (Reuters) - France called on the European Union on Saturday to adopt additional sanctions on North Korea after South Korea said the isolated state had launched a ballistic missile from a submarine. "We call on the international community to adopt a firm and united reaction so that North Korea stops its provocations," a spokesman for the French Foreign Ministry said in a statement. "In particular, France calls on the European Union to unilaterally adopt additional sanctions," he said, adding that if the launch was confirmed, it would be a new violation of U.N. resolutions. (Reporting by Michel Rose and John Irish; Editing by Alison Williams) Aleppo (Syria) (AFP) - At least 30 civilians were killed Saturday in regime and rebel bombardment of areas across Syria, threatening an eight-week-old truce at a time when peace talks are stalled in Geneva. The head of a Britain-based monitoring group said the escalating violence meant a ceasefire between the regime and non-jihadist rebels, in place since late February, had effectively collapsed. The truce brokered by Russia and the United States had raised hopes that UN-backed talks in Geneva this month would lead to a solution to the five-year conflict. But the negotiations due to continue until Wednesday have faltered after Syria's main opposition group this week suspended its official participation in the talks. Twelve civilians were killed in air strike on the northern metropolis of Aleppo on Saturday, a local civil defence official said. State news agency SANA, meanwhile, said three civilians were killed and 17 wounded in rebel shelling of government-held areas of Aleppo. The Syrian Human Rights Observatory said 13 others died in shelling of the rebel-held town of Douma, east of Damascus, while two men were killed in regime air strikes on Talbisseh in central Homs province. The barrage of air strikes on Aleppo targeted several neighbourhoods, including the heavily populated Bustan al-Qasr district, an AFP correspondent in the city said. The deadliest raid was on the Tariq al-Bab neighbourhood on the eastern edges of the city. A civil defence volunteer was seen carrying a screaming woman down a ladder from a damaged building in the neighbourhood, as a pick-up truck removed the remains of a victim's body. Another volunteer operating a crane brought down a young man cradling a baby from an upper storey. It was the second day of deadly strikes on Aleppo, after 25 civilians were killed and another 40 wounded in air strikes on Friday. - Regime 'intensifying air strikes' - Once Syria's commercial hub, the northern metropolis has been divided by government control in the west and opposition groups in the east. Story continues "The ceasefire ended when the first bomb hit the city," Muhammed Mashhad, a civil defence volunteer, said. "The regime is intensifying its air strikes, which have reached around 20 a day," the 42-year-old said. "This regime is criminal and doesn't understand the language of political negotiations. All it gets is bombing, killing and destruction." In the rebel-held town of Douma, 13 people -- including three women and two children -- were killed in government shelling on the city. The Observatory said all the dead were civilians. Douma lies in the Eastern Ghouta opposition bastion, where the Jaish al-Islam rebel group -- also party to the truce deal -- is dominant. The ceasefire deal saw Syria's government and non-jihadist opposition agree to halt attacks while pursuing peace talks. Violence dropped across the country, including in Aleppo city, where residents cautiously began shopping in open-air markets and taking their children to parks. But Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman said on Saturday that the truce had effectively collapsed. "Most of the areas that were under the ceasefire are now seeing fighting again," he said. US President Barack Obama and the UN's special envoy to Syria Staffan de Mistura on Friday said the ceasefire was in grave peril. Syria's main opposition High Negotiations Committee halted its formal participation this week in the Geneva talks, which started on April 13. But De Mistura said members of his team had continued to meet remaining HNC members at their Geneva hotel. In Syria itself, regime officials and Kurdish representatives were to meet Saturday for a second day of talks aimed at ending deadly clashes in the northeastern city of Qamishli, a senior security source said. More than 270,000 people have been killed since Syria's conflict broke out in 2011. The cowboy rode away nearly two years ago, but you would have never known it listening to his strong and distinctly country voice on Friday. Readers' Poll: The 10 Best George Strait Songs After a long-celebrated final tour, George Strait returned to the stage last night for the first time since June 2014, the first of a series of shows in Las Vegas, and the King of Country didn't miss a beat. "It's so good to be back," Strait told the sold-out crowd at the recently opened T-Mobile Arena. "I miss all y'all. I've been looking forward to this for a long, long time." To be fair, Strait never said that he was done playing shows in 2014, only that he was done "touring" at the time. And he looked right at home back in the spotlight, as he breezed through a two-hour set of 33 songs, including hits like "Run," "The Chair" and "All My Ex's Live in Texas." But the show was far from a greatest-hits retread, thanks to newer songs like "Cold Beer Conversation" and "Goin' Goin' Gone." Thirty-five years after his debut single "Unwound" hit radio, the King of Country remains the consummate entertainer. Even if that doesn't include mad gallops across his stage in the round, as is his custom or dynamic set pieces. For Strait, simplicity rules. While most of the songs were from his own catalog, Strait also led the crowd through a tribute to the late Merle Haggard, performing "Mama Tried," "The Fightin' Side of Me" and "My Life's Been Grand" as a medley. Though celebratory, it added a touch of melancholy to an upbeat show. "It was such a sad day for all of us because he was such a huge influence on my and all the guys up here," Stait said of Haggard. "It's so sad that we'll never be able to see Merle perform live again. His music will live on forever." While his last touring show in Arlington, Texas, two years ago featured a slew of guests, his Vegas kickoff was all about Strait and his fans. He satisfied the crowd with "The Fireman" and "Amarillo by Morning," but also tossed in "You Look So Good in Love" for the diehards who have rarely seen him perform the 1983 ballad live. Story continues The night began with Kacey Musgraves in the opening slot, walking to the stage with a mini horse. The visual wasn't lost on Strait. "We were very fortunate to have a great talent come along with us in Kacey Musgraves," he said, adding, "I gotta get me one of those horses." For the 20,000 in attendance, though, they got everything they wanted from Strait. And even after two years, it was well worth the wait. Strait will return to the T-Mobile Arena for a second show tonight, with four more Vegas engagements slotted through the end of the year. Related Berlin (AFP) - A German orchestra said on Saturday that Turkey attempted to pressure it and the EU to keep the term "genocide" out of a concert marking the massacres of Armenians by Ottoman forces during World War I. The controversy centres on texts that will be sung or spoken during the April 30 show in the eastern German city of Dresden, as well as the event's programme, which uses the word. "It's an infringement on freedom of expression," said Markus Rindt, director of the Dresdner Sinfoniker orchestra. Turkey has long rejected Armenian claims that the killing of up to 1.5 million of their kin as the Ottoman Empire fell apart be classed as a genocide. According to Turkey 300,000 to 500,000 Armenians and as many Turks died in civil strife when Armenians rose up against their Ottoman rulers. Rindt said Turkey's delegation to the European Union demanded the European Commission withdraw 200,000 euros ($224,500) in funding for the concert. The commission ultimately maintained its financial support, but asked the orchestra to not mention genocide and has removed any mention of the event from its website, Rindt said. "We find all of this very questionable," he added. A commission spokeswoman confirmed that details of the concert had been pulled from the body's website. "Due to concerns raised regarding the wording used in the project description, the Commission temporarily withdrew it," the spokeswoman said. "A new project description will be republished in the coming days." Turkish diplomats in Brussels did not immediately respond to an AFP request for comment. The show was first put on in 2015 to mark the 100th anniversary of the killings, and is performed by both Turks and Armenians. It was envisioned as an act of reconciliation by its creators. The name of the production is "Aghet", a word used in Armenian for the massacres. Theres going to be a scripted series about Selena Gomezs life and we cannot wait Theres going to be a scripted series about Selena Gomezs life and we cannot wait If theres one thing you can rely on each day, its the circulation of a new Selena Gomez rumor. Is she back with Justin Bieber? Is she really BFFs with Taylor Swift? Is she mad Justin Bieber and Taylor Swift had dinner together? Its entirely possible that each piece of gossip is purely fiction, but according to Billboard.com, Lifetime is about to clear it all up. In a newly released slate of the networks upcoming female-driven projects, Executive Vice President Liz Gateley confirmed that theres going to be a scripted series about Selena Gomezs life and we cannot wait! A photo posted by Selena Gomez (@selenagomez) on Jul 14, 2015 at 8:50pm PDT The 23 year-old multi-talented artist was born in Grand Prairie, Texas and made her acting debut on Barney and Friends. She then went on to star in the Disney Channel hit show, Wizards of Waverly Place, which led to a fully fledged film and music career, as well as modeling campaigns for Adidas and Pantene. However, whether or not the forthcoming show will focus on a certain period of Gomezs life or cover every step since the beginning is still unknown. All that is currently confirmed about the exciting project is that the 23-year-old Texas native has signed on to produce, along with Kevin Spacey and Dana Brunetti. Gomezs prodigious story is an excellent fit for the fempire that Lifetime is establishing. With this new slate of shows, Lifetime is hoping to satisfy viewers desire for more women-driven programming. Other projects in the lineup include movies as well as scripted and unscripted series produced by female powerhouses such as Serena Williams, Janet Jackson, Eva Longoria, and Amy Schumer. According to Gateley, the fempire call to action was a semantically disputed topic at its inception. Earlier conversations focused on the word feminism, but some folks at the network were concerned the 35+ audience would resist embracing that term. Story continues We wanted a word that [all ages] would hear and not have to fear it meant wed be preachy or earnest with our fists in the air, Gateley told Billboard. Well our fists are down and our DVRs are ready! Let us be the first to sign up for a one-way ticket to the Fempire! The post Theres going to be a scripted series about Selena Gomezs life and we cannot wait appeared first on HelloGiggles. Dhaka (AFP) - A university professor was hacked to death by attackers armed with machetes in northwestern Bangladesh on Saturday, a killing claimed by Islamic State jihadists and echoing the murders of several secular bloggers. The assailants almost beheaded English professor Rezaul Karim Siddique, 58, when they attacked him from behind as he walked to the bus station from his home in the city of Rajshahi, police said. "By examining the nature of the attack, we suspect that it was carried out by extremist groups," Rajshahi Metropolitan Police commissioner Mohammad Shamsuddin told AFP. The Islamic State (IS) group claimed the murder of Siddique, the fourth professor from Rajshahi University to be killed by Islamists. Militants have also targeted secular bloggers and students in a string of murders that has sparked outrage and raised fears freedom of speech is under threat in Muslim-majority Bangladesh. "Islamic State fighters assassinate(d) a university teacher for calling to atheism in the city of Rajshahi in Bangladesh," IS's Amaq news agency said. Shamsuddin said police had not yet named any suspects, but the pattern of the attack fitted with previous killings by Islamist militants. People close to Siddique said he had never spoken out against religion, but he may have been targeted for his role in leading music and literature groups. "As far as I know, my husband didn't have any personal enmity with anyone," his wife, Hosne Ara, told the BBC. Hundreds of university students held protests after news of the murder, marching on the campus and shouting slogans demanding the arrest of the attackers, said local police chief Humayun Kabir. "The students were shocked at the latest brutal killing of their teachers," Mostafiz Mishu, a student who witnessed the protests, told AFP. "Some 500 of them shouted slogans and joined the marches calling for protection of all teachers and exemplary punishment for the killers." Story continues Homegrown Islamist militants have been blamed for killing several secular bloggers and online activists since 2013, most recently in the capital Dhaka early this month. Eight members of banned Islamist group Ansarullah Bangla Team, including a top cleric said to be its founder, were convicted late last year for the murder of atheist blogger Ahmed Rajib Haider. - 'Gruesome pattern' - Sakhawat Hossain, a friend and colleague of Siddique at the university, said he used to play the tanpura, a musical instrument popular in South Asia, and wrote poems and short stories. "He used to lead a cultural group called Komol Gandhar and edit a bi-annual literary magazine with the same name. But he never wrote or spoke against religion in public," Hossain told AFP. Nahidul Islam, a deputy commissioner of police, said Siddique was involved in several cultural programmes and had set up a music school at Bagmara, a former bastion of an outlawed Islamist group Jamayetul Mujahideen Bangladesh. "The attack is similar to the ones carried out on (atheist) bloggers in the recent past," Islam said, adding nobody had been arrested yet. Champa Patel, Amnesty International's South Asia director, condemned the latest killing as "inexcusable", saying it was part of a "gruesome pattern". "The authorities must do more to put an end to these killings. Not a single person has been brought to justice for the attacks over the past year," Patel said. A long-running political crisis in Bangladesh, which is majority Sunni Muslim but officially secular, has radicalised opponents of the government and analysts say Islamist extremists pose a growing danger. Bangladesh authorities have consistently denied that international Islamist networks such as Al-Qaeda or IS, which has claimed responsibility for the murders of minorities and foreigners, are active in the country. Ansar al-Islam, a Bangladesh branch of Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent, this month claimed responsibility for the murder of a 26-year-old law student killed on the streets of Dhaka, according to US monitoring group SITE. Police, however, blamed the Ansarullah group for the murder. The cost of your healthcare could depend a lot on what state you live in. Vitals, a company that helps connect people to doctors and estimate costs, made an interactive map of common medical procedures that take place across the country and found that there were huge ranges in prices even within states. For example, in South Dakota a colonoscopy, a procedure that gives doctors a better look at the health of your large intestine, could cost anywhere from $202 to $1,966: Vitals map At the same time, North Dakota has the lowest cost range of all 50 states, with a maximum price of $1,252: Screen Shot 2016 04 20 at 9.05.00 AM Ranking by the size of the range, Vitals ranked the 50 states. New York had the widest range in price for a colonoscopy, costing anywhere from $10,000 to $215: Screen Shot 2016 04 20 at 9.05.07 AM For a CT Scan, which is used to get an even more detailed picture of what's going on in the body than a standard X-ray, costs also varied widely. For that one, Alaska had the smallest expense range (anywhere between $129 and $491), while Texas had the greatest expense range (anywhere from $40 to almost $4,000): Screen Shot 2016 04 20 at 9.05.41 AM For X-rays, Florida had the highest maximum cost at $698 and a low of $9. Vermont had the smallest range, from $21 to $101: Screen Shot 2016 04 20 at 9.05.27 AM See how your state stacks up. NOW WATCH: Doctors just replaced cancerous bones in a mans spine with 3D-printed vertebrae More From Business Insider A Maryland woman admitted to defacing several Black Lives Matter signs in recent months, including defacing a Black Lives Matter sign to just say "Lives Matter" on a church's property. Chari Raye McLean defaced a sign in front of St. Philip's Episcopal Church in Annapolis, Maryland. She spray-painted out the word "black" to make the sign read "lives matter." McLean told a local NBC affiliate that she's not a bigot, and that she "just [loves] America." She said, "Lives matter, not black lives, any color, all lives, police especially." McLean denied defacing the sign at first, but police caught her with black spray paint on her hands. Source: Mic/YouTube P will not charge McLean with a hate crime because they claim she doesn't understand the Black Lives Matter movement and her actions were not racially motivated. "When she was being interviewed, she simply said that she disagreed with their message and she believes that all lives matter, which includes black lives. "So she clearly doesn't understand the concept behind the movement." Anne Arundel County Lt. Ryan Frashure said to a local NBC affiliate. Source: Mic/YouTube McLean said she does have remorse. McLean is being charged with two misdemeanor counts of destruction of property, faces $500 in fines for each count in Annapolis and may serve up to 60 days in jail. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done it, but I don't like hate groups and I don't want to see our police killed," McLean said to a local NBC affiliate. While it is nice that McLean does not want to see police killed, she seems to know very little about the ongoing police brutality epidemic in America, or the very real problems with saying "All Lives Matter." Hillary Clinton will return to Los Angeles on Cinco de Mayo (May 5) for another fundraising swing, including an event hosted by Los Angeles City Councilman Jose Huizar. The $2,700-per-person event will be held at a downtown Los Angeles venue to be announced, according to an invite. Co-hosts who raise $10,000 will get a photo with Clinton, and those who raise $27,000 will be included in a host reception and membership in the Hillary for America finance committee. Other events are expected to be announced. Clinton was in Los Angeles last weekend for a series of events, including a campaign speech at Los Angeles Southwest College and a series of fundraisers. The highest profile was a gathering at the Studio City home of George and Amal Clooney, with the money raised going to the Hillary Victory Fund. That is a joint fundraising committee that splits proceeds between the Clinton campaign, the Democratic National Committee and state party committees. Related stories Haim and Cheryl Saban Give Additional $2 Million to Pro-Clinton Super PAC Ava DuVernay, Shonda Rhimes, Hillary Clinton Celebrate Harriet Tubman on $20 Bill Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton Each Win New York Primary LONDON/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton wants Britain to stay in the European Union, her campaign said on Saturday, following an intervention from U.S. President Barack Obama who urged Britons to vote to remain. "Hillary Clinton believes that transatlantic cooperation is essential, and that cooperation is strongest when Europe is united. She has always valued a strong United Kingdom in a strong EU. And she values a strong British voice in the EU," Clinton senior policy adviser Jake Sullivan said in a statement provided to Reuters. Clinton, who spent four years as U.S. secretary of state during Obama's first term, has made her foreign policy credentials a central piece of her campaign for president in the November 2016 race for the White House. Clinton's position on the EU was first reported by Britain's Observer newspaper. Obama, who will leave Britain on Sunday, sparked a row during his three-day trip by bluntly telling Britain it should remain in the European Union to preserve its remaining global clout. He angered critics of the EU on Friday by warning that Britain would be at "the back of the queue" for a trade deal if it left the club - one of the strongest U.S. interventions in the affairs of a western European democracy since the Cold War. (Reporting by Sarah Young in London and Ginger Gibson in Washington; Editing by Alison Williams and Mary Milliken) Lobster-red skin, stinging sunburns, and flakey complexions have long been the stuff of retinol-use lore. So, its no wonder that some of us stay away from the stuff, thinking its too harsh. Dermatologists swear by retinol, counting it as a must-have for just about everyone (second only to SPF), even those with sensitive skin. And, research over the past 30 years has shown that retinol can tackle a ton of dermatological concerns, including acne, wrinkles, and rough or discolored skin. Not bad for a single active ingredient. Related: This is What Female-Directed Porn Looks Like I dont know a single dermatologist who doesnt use a retinol product on their skin, says Heather Rogers, MD, a Seattle-based dermatologist and clinical assistant dermatology professor at the University of Washington. Weve all read the studies and we all use it. Before we dive in, you should know that there are three levels of retinoids: pure retinoic acid, which is the strongest and prescription-only; retinol, which is sold over the counter and is weaker and less irritating than the pure stuff; and retinol derivatives, which are also sold over the counter and are more gentle than retinol. Related: Luxe Lashes Are One Click Away Its true; you might not completely avoid irritation if you use the stuff. But, you can minimize it by being strategic. For someone completely new to the world of retinol, Dr. Rogers suggests using a derivative twice a week to avoid stressing out the skin. If yours still reacts adversely, she recommends moisturizing beforehand. Once youre comfortable with biweekly applications, you can increase the frequency until youre comfortable with everyday use. For some, the next step would be transitioning to a prescription concentration of retinoic acid. But, no matter what stage youre in, dont expect overnight results. While some research shows improved skin in as little as a month, Dr. Rogers says you should commit to a retinoid product for at least three months before judging whether or not it works for you. Story continues Related: Glow International With These Asian Beauty Products Read on for the non-prescription strategies to soothe your particular skin woes. Dry Skin The retinol in Luna is delivered via cold-pressed oil, which makes is hydrating and corrective. Sunday Riley Luna Sleeping Night Oil, $105, available at Sephora. Photo via Avene. Some non-prescription retinol products moisturize your skin with hyaluronic acid, an ingredient that keeps skin plump and hydrated. Related: How to Grow Out Haircuts at ANY Length Avene Eau Thermale Retrinal H.A.F. Firming Gel, $46, available at DermStore. Photo via SkinMedica. If your skin needs even more hydration, you can pair your retinol product with a heavier moisturizer just apply the retinol first, which will help you absorb more of the hydrating stuff. Related: Makeup You Can Actually Afford SkinMedica Retinol Complex 1.0, $90, available at SkinMedica. For a more affordable option, check out this serum from Neutrogena, which we think works just as well as the expensive stuff. The lightweight formulation contains retinol to brighten the skin and fade dark spots while hyaluronic acid provides an extra kick of hydration. Neutrogena Rapid Wrinkle Repair Serum, $23.99, available at Ulta. Photo via SkinMedica. Hyperpigmented Skin While you may be drawn to retinoid products with vitamin C, since they have pigment-fighting properties, Joshua Zeichner, MD, director of cosmetic and clinical dermatology research at Mt. Sinai Hospital in New York City, cautions against those. Vitamin C and retinol can inactivate each other, he says, so choose your products wisely. He suggests using a vitamin C serum in the morning to prevent further dark spots and a retinol product in the evening to repair damage. Related: Fake a Facelift With These Cuts SkinMedica Age Defense Retinol Complex .25, $60, available at SkinMedica. Dr. Rogers says those with hyperpigmentation should be particularly religious about their sunscreen use. Retinol will help lighten the skin, but after five minutes in the sun, your body is going to make more brown, she says. So, you have to be incredibly diligent about limiting your exposure to UV, in addition to using retinol in the evening. Verso Dark Spot Fix, $150, available at DooBop. Photo via Dr. Dennis Gross. Dull Skin Even if your skin can tolerate a daily retinol dose, if youre looking to brighten up your complexion, it may be best to take a few nights off. While retinol can help even out your skin tone and minimize wrinkles, it wont necessarily slough off those dead, dulling cells. Dr. Rogers suggests alternating between a retinol product and a glycolic cream for your evening routine. Dr. Dennis Gross Ferulic Acid + Retinol Brightening Solution, $88, available at Sephora. Photo via Kate Somerville. A glycolic cream can help pull away dead skin cells and reduce the appearance of brown spots. Some new products on the market, like Kate Somerville RetAsphere Micro Peel, combine glycolic acid and retinol. To further brighten your complexion, Dr. Rogers suggests using a vitamin C serum during the day. Kate Somerville RetAsphere Micro Peel Retinol Glycolic Cream, $90, available at Neiman Marcus. For more retinol-related insight, visit Refinery29. By: Erika Stalder IBM Revenue Fell Again in 1Q16, Despite Strategic Imperatives (Continued from Prior Part) Asia-Pacific is expected to grow faster than North America in the IoT space Previously in the series, we looked at IBMs (IBM) fiscal 1Q16 results. We saw that for all geographies, Asia-Pacific was the only one that posted growth in fiscal 1Q16. Although the 1% growth is meager, it provides a sizable opportunity for IBMs Watson. Watson is a cognitive computing system that analyzes large volumes of data, understands complex questions posed in natural language, and proposes evidence-based answers. These are the core elements of cognitive computing and deep learning. According to TBR (Technology Business Research), North America dominates the commercial IoT (Internet of Things) space with 40.3% market share. Its followed by Asia-Pacific, which holds a 24.8% share. Although Asia-Pacific is behind North America in market share, its expected to grow 16% compared to the 14.1% growth expectation in North America. IoT, cloud, mobile, and cognitive computing will rule the future IT space As you can see in the above graph by IBM and Statista, cloud computing, mobile, IoT, and cognitive computing are expected to be the technologies that will shape the near future. Gartner expects spending on IoT hardware to exceed $2.5 million every minute in 2016. In addition to IBM, several other companies are making headway in this space. In October 2015, General Electric (GE) announced that it made nearly $6 billion from industrial IoT offerings. Amazon (AMZN), an undisputed leader in the cloud space, acquired 2lemetry, an IoT platform startup, in March 2015. Fortinet (FTNT) also aims to capitalize on the growing IoT phenomenon in Asia-Pacific. According to IDC (International Data Corporation), spending on IoT is expected to grow at a 17% CAGR (compounded annual growth rate) to approximately $1.3 trillion in 2019. It was $698.6 billion in 2015. Of this total IoT spending, Asia-Pacific is expected to be at the top in 2016. Story continues Investors who want exposure to IBM can consider investing in the iShares Core S&P 500 ETF (IVV). IVV has an 8.5% exposure to application software and a 0.68% exposure to IBM. Lets move on now to see how IBM is targeting blockchain technology through Watson. Continue to Next Part Browse this series on Market Realist: Brian Krzanich Intel has been one of the more active supporters of Silicon Valley's drive to diversify its tech workforce, but it's faced some internal resistance along the way, its CEO Brian Krzanich said on Friday. According to TechCrunch, Krzanich told Jesse Jackson on stage at a conference in San Francisco that he's received threats and "backlash" from employees for trying to hire more minorities at his company: People worry that as a white man, youre kind of under siege to a certain extent...Theres been a bit of resistance. Weve even had a few threats and things like that on some of our leadership team around our position on diversity and inclusion. We stand up there and just remind everybody its not an exclusive process. Were not bringing in women or African-Americans or Hispanics in exclusion to other people. Were actually just trying to bring them in and be a part of the whole environment. Gender and racial problems have been making headlines in Silicon Valley in recent months. Most notably, Ellen Pao had accused her former employer, the venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, of gender discrimination, a case which she lost on all counts at trial. Intel has launched a number of initiatives to solve this problem, including a $125 million fund intended to boost women and minority representation in tech. Krzanich also set a mandate last year to make 40% of all new hired at Intel to be women or underrepresented minorities (black, Latino, Native American). Yet, Intel's workforce remains 75 percent male and 86 percent white and Asian combined. Krzanich didn't share more details of the threats he received. But the backlash isn't not too surprising given the company's going through huge layoffs, with more than 12,000 jobs expected to be cut this year. NOW WATCH: There's a terrifying reason why people are warned to stay inside at 5:45 p.m. in parts of Mexico More From Business Insider michael roth New York-based Interpublic Group (IPG) is one of the "big four" advertising agency networks, competing alongside WPP, Omnicom, and Publicis Groupe. The company which owns agencies such as McCann, R/GA, IPG Mediabrands, and FCB ended 2015 on a high, posting better-than-expected organic growth for the year. It reported its first quarter earnings on Friday, beating expectations on both revenue and earnings, with a 6.7% rise in organic revenue. It was also one of the big winners of a major event in the ad industry last year: "Mediapalooza," where an unprecedented number of big-name brands put their media-buying accounts up for review. So it was fitting that IPG CEO Michael Roth was in a jovial mood when Business Insider caught up with him at Advertising Week Europe in London earlier this week. We discussed a range of topics including how he's feeling about the year ahead, his favored buyer for Yahoo, and why Arianna Huffington has told him off. Business Insider: 2015 was quite a year for IPG, not least with everything else going on in the market, like Mediapalooza, the macroeconomic environment. IPG's organic growth not only outgrew other companies in your sector, but exceeded your own expectations as well. So what are you expecting going into 2016? Michael Roth: Hopefully it's not as hectic as it was in 15. Some of my competitors seem to think that 16 is going to be as crazy on the media side as 2015 was. I dont believe so. What I said was: Unless they know something I dont, like they have clients that are looking BI: Are you talking particularly about Maurice [Levy, the Publicis Groupe CEO who has predicted a Mediapalooza Part 2 albeit smaller than Mediapalooza Part 1]? MR: Yes exactly. And sure enough he started out with a problem, you know. [Publicis was the agency group considered with the most to lose during Mediapalooza.] Story continues Well have a couple of big reviews, hopefully they wont be ours who are participating, but I just dont sense it to be as active as it was in 2015. BI: It was quite fruitful for yourselves, winning Coca-Cola and others? MR: And J&J, CVS, we retained Sony ... it was a good year for us in 2015, yes. BI: There were quite a lot of structural changes with your competitors in 2015. Others, like WPP, have been active on the acquisition front. Do you expect any big changes within IPG? Screen Shot 2016 04 22 at 3.55.11 PM MR: We are always looking for acquisitions. We spend $150 million to $200 million a year on acquisitions and, interesting enough, in 2015 we did a number of PR acquisitions which were great, including one in China, which was terrific. So our pipeline is actually pretty healthy right now and in the digital space or in the markets where we want to strengthen our presence but nothing of any significance in size. As far as restructuring, we have been operating under this open architecture now for 10 years. Its kind of interesting now to see Maurice [Levy] restructuring and Martin [Sorrell, WPP CEO] talking about his special-purpose agencies. We have been operating on the assumption that our clients are entitled to the best offerings that IPG has, and absent of conflict, we pick and choose the best talent and we bring them to the table on an integrated basis. I think thats the way clients are looking to us to help them solve their issues and so we have been operating now for 10 years. BI: It seems like quite a lot of agency networks seem to be following the IBM model of: digital agency/management consultancy/systems integrator. You it notice in the pattern of where the acquisitions are going. Is that a model that you follow? MR: First of all, we never siloed digital from the rest of our business. We have very strong digital-specialist agencies like R/GA, Huge, and MRM, but digital is in every agency we have. Weber Shandwick and Golin on the PR side, all of our agencies have digital competency. So we never segregated the digital offering, except when we needed some specialist digital capabilities, which we brought in under our open architecture model. I think whats happened in the way weve been operating, with this fully-integrated offering, whether it be media, whether it be creative, digital, experiential, all of it has to be brought together in a seamless way for our clients. Thats what the open architecture enables us to do. So the IBMs, they are looking to just spread out. Everyone thinks they can come in and enter our space, but they dont bring the depth and breadth of offerings that we do. BI: Thats what they say about you. MR: Yeah, well, theyre wrong. michael roth BI: One of the things Sir Martin Sorrell quite helpfully does each year is he lists out how much his agencies are spending with the biggest media owners. Last year, Google was $4 billion, Facebook was $1 billion, more than is spent on traditional networks, except Fox. Are you noticing a similar pattern? MR: We have more than enough scale to have a seat at the table, so we have a presence and of course Google and Facebook, if were not looking at them as part of the solutions, we are not doing our clients a service. The interesting part is are there other avenues of distribution where we can distribute content and develop a relationship with our clients and with consumers in a different way and, frankly, thats the challenge that we have. Certainly the Googles, and Facebooks, and Instagrams, and Snapchats are all avenues that we have capabilities and arrangements with and theyre part of the puzzle. BI: Do you spend a similar ratios? MR: I think Google, Facebook yes, theyre the biggest players. Marissa Mayer BI: Today (Monday, April 18) is the deadline for bids to be submitted for Yahoo. Whats the best outcome for you? Its been reported some people on Madison Avenue want Verizon to acquire Yahoo to create an entity to rival Google and Facebook. MR: Well, frankly, Verizon is a client of ours, so Im rooting for them! Unless of course I have another client thats competing for it! The point is it will still be another avenue of distribution and we look at whats the best distribution vehicle for our clients with respect to what were trying to accomplish, whether its sitting in a Yahoo, or a Google, or Facebook, or who owns them. I dont think its going to matter as much as the offering itself BI: Is the offering at the moment good enough on its own? MR: Obviously Yahoo is not. What is interesting with AOL is its part of Verizon and it certainly has an attractive offering that we utilize, so hopefully with Yahoo would be similar. BI: One of the other big over-arching advertising topics that has certainly had a few high-profile cases this year has been diversity in the industry. kevin wertz IPG has been no exception with what happened at Campbell Ewald (IPG fired the agency's CEO and a staffer who sent a racist email to colleagues inviting them to take part in a "Ghetto Day") the ongoing JWT discrimination suit (in which the agency's now former CEO is accused of making racist and sexist slurs allegations he denies.) What are holding groups like yourselves doing to ensure there are less of these cases happening? MR: When I first joined the industry I felt as though diversity and inclusion was not properly reflected in the industry, so 10 years ago we embarked on diversity and inclusion being a core part of the DNA at IPG. It's now to a point where our agency heads are held accountable for improvements on diversity and inclusion. When I mean accountable, I mean it affects their bonuses. And we have in fact enforced that to a point where, since we embarked on this program, we have had an improvement of over 50% of manager-level people representative of inclusion and diversity goals over the past 10 years. There is more work to come but I think weve made it our DNA. The other part of it is that we have a zero-tolerance for it. As reflected in the Campbell Ewald [incident.] The second I heard about this, we took action. Not only with respect to the individual who wrote that email, which was offensive, but the individual who was responsible for him, and I took action on them. There was no hesitancy on my part, as opposed to some others. And, frankly, I was very proud of the fact that I received both internally and externally a lot of comments appreciating how swiftly we acted in that case and our people were very much appreciative of it because they knew it was part of our core. BI: What is it about the advertising industry that is different to other sectors when it comes to diversity issues? advertising week MR: When I challenge individuals they say there are not enough candidates that are interested in the field, and so on. Intuitively, that does not make sense. I dont accept that as an answer when we go over this. We have to do a better job of reaching out and, in essence, selling the career path that we offer. It s a great career path. We are in the marketing and communication business. How can we not represent the consumer? And, by the way, on the gender side, 80% of all purchasing decisions are made by females. So if we dont have a fair representation just on the female side, we are missing the boat. But as far as people of color the same is true. Hispanic is one of the largest growing populations in the world. How can we not be representative of that in terms of the talent? And our clients are demanding this. Hillary Clinton BI: 2016 is a big year in the US, with the presidential election MR: Is there an election going on? BI: It can pass you by. Where do you see this going. This time next year, who is going to be your president? MR: I have no idea. BI: What will work best for an ad agency network like yours? MR: Obviously whatever candidate is more of the pro-business, economic recovery, economic stimulation BI: Who is that right now? MR: I will let the readers decide on their own who that is. But certainly I think the world can use a steady force with respect to the macroeconomic environment as well as the threats of terrorism. Donald Trump. BI: How does the Donald Trump campaign, and the media circus that accompanies it, affect your industry in any way? It certainly improves viewing figures, for example. MR: Whats happening in the US, in the local TV market, they are crowding out advertising because they are buying up all the time. That is interesting for us because we have to find other outlets that are efficient for our clients, so in a way, thats beneficial to us. We dont represent any particular client on that, we dont want to tick off any particular client reviews with one candidate versus the other. We are agnostic really. BI: The ANA (Association of National Advertisers) report (investigating kickbacks and rebates in the advertising industry) is due to come out in spring. What do you think will be the outcome of that and how have you found the process so far? MR: I dont know what the process has been so far. I know they have retained two firms to work with them. I hope that if they find anything they are not going to taint the entire industry with potential wrongdoings. I am very comfortable with how IPG approaches it. We are agnostic in terms of where we place our media, we do not have any economic interest in the media placement, and we dealt with the issue of rebates 10 years ago. So all of our contracts have provisions that dictate where rebates are available, the client dictates how its handled. And in markets where rebates are not legal, we do not participate. BI: Does ad tech and the globalization of media foggy this issue somewhat? Particularly the idea of arbitrage in ad tech? MR: We dont do that. Thats what I meant by saying we do not have any economic interest in the outcome. This full disclosure on some of this stuff, I understand where clients can feel like they are not being well-served. Thats why we dont do it. Id rather not have that issue on the table. BI: And then there are the issues of viewability, ad fraud, ad blocking, so on ad blocking MR: Those are legitimate issues. You dont want to pay for something thats not real and I think everyones got to do a better job. Part of that is a technology issue. We want to make sure whatever we are running is being seen by real people as opposed to robots. I think its relatively new and we are still learning a lot. Certainly from the ad industry perspective, nobody is intentionally doing that. Maybe some of these publishers are intentionally doing that, but thats not what we are all about. BI: You flew in to London from New York this morning. You have offices all over the world. Youre in a different country each week. Whats your tip for not just collapsing under exhaustion? MR: A lot of coffee. Im actually going back to New York right after this. I love that. I tell the people on the plane: Ill be back! I stay on New York time. BI: So youre up very early right now. MR: Thats OK. Ill get back and have a good nights sleep. Im lucky, Ive been doing this my whole career pretty much and my body so far seems to handle it OK. BI: Do you work on the plane, or use your time to do something else? MR: When Im coming to London, I sleep on the plane hopefully and when Im coming back I do what I just did. I take a quick shower and a shave and here I am. BI: How much sleep do you need to operate at a reasonable level? MR: Probably four to five hours? arianna huffington BI: Arianna Huffington would be very disappointed with you. MR: I know, shes told me that. BI: By traveling all around the world you must see some really exciting companies and technologies and trends. Is there anything new out there thats really exciting you right now? MR: I think this whole virtual reality, augmented reality, I think that is going to be a fascinating space and we are just at the touch of it right now. I think that will be a real interesting place to keep an eye on. Of course we are still not where we have to be on mobile. So I would say keep your eye on both of those. BI: Are you doing anything specifically around VR and AR? I can imagine R/GA have some plans MR: R/GA yes, but also Huge, and our specialist digital agencies are all looking into it, and our media players are involved. We want to be ahead of the curve in terms of representing our clients and bringing new ideas. But its still very new. NOW WATCH: The science behind why you shouldn't pop your pimples More From Business Insider Milan (AFP) - Design classic and symbol of the "dolce vita", the Vespa turns 70 this weekend and Italy's most celebrated scooter is buzzing along nicely after tripling sales in the last decade. It was on a Vespa that Gregory Peck pursued Audrey Hepburn in "Roman Holiday", the 1953 film that helped make the marque synonomous internationally with the Roman capital. But it was actually in Florence that the wasp-shaped two-wheeler was born, Enrico Piaggio having registered the patent in the Tuscan capital on April 23, 1946. Seventy years later, more than 18 million models have been sold and Piaggio's objective of reinventing the family aeronautical company has been realised and then some. With the company still dealing with the damage done to its production facilities by World War II bombing, Piaggio asked one of his engineers, Corradino d'Ascanio, to create a motorcycle that would be both easy to produce from the materials at hand and inexpensive for consumers. The simple brief proved inspired, as did the choice of d'Ascanio, who never made any secret of the fact that he found the motorbikes of the time uncomfortable, cumbersome and dirty. The engineer addressed each issue one by one and the result was a scooter with a revolutionary design that remains barely untouched to this day. It was an instant success. From sales of 2,284 in 1946, annual production increased to nearly 20,000 within two years, and to 60,000 in 1950. By the mid-50s sales had tripled again and Vespas were being manufactured in 13 countries. - Retro style - "The Vespa was better than a motor bike: it had a body with a front apron that protected riders from dust, the mud and the rain," said Patrice Verges, a historian of the automobile industry. "It had small wheels which made it possible to carry a spare with you at a time when punctures were a regular hazard because of nails dropping off horseshoes. "And people liked the design and the distinctive noise, which was like that of a wasp." Story continues People also liked the price. "In the 1950s and 1960s, you bought a Vespa because you could not afford a car," added Verges. As the Italian economy began to boom in the 1980s, life got tougher for the manufacturer. Obligatory helmets made the riding experience safer but less romantic and families were able to opt for cars as their main means of getting about. Since 2004 however the brand has been undergoing a worldwide revival thanks to a combination of enthusiasm for the Vespa's retro style and its utility for moving quickly around increasingly congested cities. From 58,000 units in 2004, production, now concentrated in Italy, Vietnam and India, reached nearly 170,000 last year and the allure of the Vespa brand means Piaggio can command higher prices than rivals. "The Vespa is still a legend," is how Marco Lambri, the current design director, puts it. "It represents the best of Italian design and the (engineering) genius that allowed aeronautical technology to be applied to the creation of a scooter that has revolutionised our way of getting around." Marketing manager Davide Zanoli adds: "It is not just a vehicle, it is an icon of Italian style, elegant and irreverent at the same time." To celebrate the 70th birthday hundreds of Vespa aficionados will gather this weekend at Pontedera near Pisa, where the scooter has been produced continuously since 1946. Among them will be Carlo Bozzetti, president of the Vespa Club of Milan and proud owner of six different models from different eras. "I use one every day, for work, holidays and leisure," said the 59-year-old. "The Vespa has been part of my life for 40 years." J.K. Rowling drops a sneak peek inside rehearsal for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child J.K. Rowling drops a sneak peek inside rehearsal for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Its been five years since weve gotten a new Harry Potter movie, so when we heard there was a Harry Potter play in the works and J.K. Rowling was involved, we practically needed a Calming Charm. The play, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, was written by Jack Thorne based on a story written by Thorne, director John Tiffany, and Ms. Rowling herself. Audience previews are set to begin on June 7 in London. Yesterday, the plays Twitter account posted the following video, which shows a few clips of the actors practicing the play on April 18, 50 days away from the first preview. Rowling, Thorne, and Tiffany chat a little bit about the play and how audiences will receive it. Its such an incredible theatrical experience that Id love for us to be able to surprise people and move people in the natural way that a story should surprise and move people, Rowling says in the video. The plot is set 19 years after Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, with Harry, a harried father of three, working in the Ministry of Magic. Reports say that Harry and his youngest son, Albus, find some ominous connections with the familys history. We briefly met Albus, of course, in the epilogue for the final HP book, where he was headed off for his first year at Hogwarts and worried, just like his father had been, about the possibility of being sorted into Slytherin. We also know that Harry is descended from Ignotus Peverell, one of the three brothers who first discovered the Deathly Hallows. Could this ancient connection be a clue? If a ticket to Heathrow sounds a little unfeasible right now, the script of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child will be released as a book on July 31 (HPs birthday, of course), just in time to be your beach read this summer. The post J.K. Rowling drops a sneak peek inside rehearsal for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child appeared first on HelloGiggles. By Takaya Yamaguchi TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan is considering compiling a supplementary budget in the parliament session to June 1 to fund reconstruction in its quake-hit south, senior ruling party officials said on Saturday. Typically, the government takes up a supplementary budget at an extraordinary session later in the year but the earthquakes a week ago, which killed about 50 people, prompted quick action on a separate budget, they said. The officials, from the Liberal Democratic Party and the Komeito Party, which form the ruling coalition, asked not to be identified because they are not authorised to speak to the media. The disaster-related spending will be on top of a fiscal stimulus plan of up to 10 trillion yen ($89.46 billion) in extra spending that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is expected to announce around the time he hosts a Group of Seven summit in late May. The government has already set aside 2.3 billion yen from a 350 billion yen reserve fund for the 2016/17 April-March fiscal year for the disaster-hit region. In addition, it will offer 42.1 billion yen in regional tax subsidies. The earthquakes on the island of Kyushu damaged at least 5,000 houses, forcing about 80,000 people out of their homes as of Friday, NHK reported. ($1 = 111.7800 yen) (Reporting by Takaya Yamaguchi, Writing by Junko Fujita; Editing by Edmund Klamann, Robert Birsel) The Jehovahs Witness Church has released a statement following the untimely death of Prince, who officially converted to the religion in 2003. We are saddened to hear about the death of Prince Rogers Nelson, who was baptized as one of Jehovahs Witnesses in 2003, the church said in a statement obtained by PEOPLE. The church said that Prince found fulfillment as a Witness and in sharing his faith with others." The statement added: "We do not have any details regarding his medical condition or the cause of his death. Our thoughts are with his family and friends, particularly his fellow worshippers in the Saint Louis Park congregation of Jehovahs Witnesses in Minnesota. We hope that all find comfort in the Bibles promise of a future time when death, pain, and tears will be no more.Revelation 21:3, 4." Behind Princes Paisley Park home on Audubon Road, the Jehovahs Witness Church was seen with the lights off in the days after his death. Orange cones had been set up to prevent people from entering the building driveway. Prince's conversion to the Jehovahs Witness religion actually started, in a roundabout way, with Graham Central Station, the funk group started by Sly and the Family Stone bassist Larry Graham after his tenure in that band. News of Princes conversion circulated in 2001 (the Associated Press was the first large outlet to report it, apparently based off an interview Prince gave to Gotham magazine), but people seemed to have a hard time believing the man who wrote songs like "Jack U Off and Sexy MF was now a devout Jehovahs Witness until October of 2003. On Oct. 5, 2003, a couple in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, opened their door at 2 p.m. to find Prince standing on their doorstep, Bible in hand. Needless to say, they were shocked. Compounding their surprise: They were Jewish, it was Yom Kippur and the Vikings were playing. My first thought is, Cool, cool, cool. He wants to use my house for a set, the woman, identified only as Rochelle, recalled to the paper. Then they [Prince was accompanied by Graham on this particular outing] start in on this Jehovahs Witnesses stuff. They stayed for about 25 minutes," Rochelle continued. "Left us a pamphlet. Reporting by ALEX HEIGL, ROSE MINUTAGLIO and ELAINE ARADILLAS By Marice Richter FORT WORTH, Texas (Reuters) - Before that fateful day in Dallas in 1963, President John F. Kennedy spent one pleasant night in neighboring Fort Worth, which is the subject of an opera due to open in the Texas city this weekend. The opera called "JFK," with music by composer David T. Little, looks at the little-remembered time that Kennedy and his wife Jacqueline spent in Fort Worth. He delivered his final speech there, and more than 4,000 people gathered outside the Hotel Texas to catch a glimpse of the glamorous first couple just before they set off to Dallas where the president was assassinated. Fort Worth Opera General Director Darren Woods was looking for a signature event to commission as an opera for the company's 70th anniversary this year and helped give the green light to "JFK." "This was exactly the kind of story we were looking for," Woods said. The opera mixes events from the visit with a series of dreamscapes to examine the presidents mindset at the time, including his relationships with then Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev and U.S. political leaders such as Vice President Lyndon Johnson. Kennedy and his wife, Jacqueline, spent about 11 hours in Fort Worth, most of it overnight. In the opera, the president is portrayed by Matthew Worth, a baritone. Mezzo-soprano Daniela Mack sings as the first lady. The opera foreshadows the assassination but does not directly deal with the event, composer Little and librettist Royce Vavrek said in a joint statement. "The opera is a portrayal of the man as we project our hopes, dreams and fears upon him," they said. "It explores the sense of profound loss we still feel." The Kennedys arrived in Fort Worth about 11 p.m. on Nov. 21, 1963, as part of a multi-city tour of Texas that was an unofficial kickoff for JFK's 1964 re-election campaign, said Stephen Fagin, curator of Dallas' Sixth Floor Museum that is devoted to the Kennedy legacy and assassination. "Jackie disliked the campaign trail but she had come along on this trip because it was so important," Fagin said. This was her first public appearance since the death of the couple's infant son, Patrick Bouvier Kennedy, that August. "Many Fort Worth residents recall this visit as the last moment of happiness before tragedy struck," Fagin said. The Opera de Montreal co-commissioned the opera and plans to present it there as well. (Reporting by Marice Richter; Writing by Jon Herskovitz; Editing by Will Dunham) PARIS (Reuters) - A large majority of French people want Britain to remain in the European Union, an opinion poll showed on Saturday, with 60 percent of them expecting negative consequences for the British if they leave. Some 58 percent of those polled by the BVA institute for Orange and iTele said Britain should stay in the EU, up two points from a previous poll in February. Some 40 percent of them want Britain to leave, down two points. A Brexit would have negative consequences for the EU, according to 54 percent of those polled. Only 43 percent of the French thought it could have a negative impact on France, with 21 percent seeing a positive impact and 35 percent none at all. Seven French out of 10 have "a good image" of Britain and 58 percent think their neighbour across the Channel is an asset for the EU. Britain will hold a referendum in June over whether it wants to remain part of the 28-member European Union. (Reporting by Michel Rose; Editing by Tom Heneghan) TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Libya's National Oil Corporation (NOC) said the country's eastern government attempted to export 650,000 barrels of oil this week, but that workers at the Marsa el-Hariga terminal had refused to load the shipment. "This had the potential to be a very ugly incident and I am pleased that it has been resolved peacefully without injury to anybody or loss of revenue or damage to the integrity of NOC or the country," Tripoli-based Chairman Mustafa Sanalla said in a statement released late on Friday. Libya's eastern government is one of two rival administrations set up in 2014. Its efforts to sell oil through a parallel oil company have so far been unsuccessful. The NOC has said it will work with a U.N.-backed unity government that arrived in Tripoli last month to coordinate future oil sales. There was no immediate comment from the eastern government or the parallel oil company that it formed in Benghazi, Libya's second city. Sanalla said he had informed the unity government's prime minister, Fayez Seraj, about the attempted sale, and that Seraj "took the necessary steps to stop the vessel from loading". The NOC statement said the marketing manager of the parallel company had instructed eastern oil firm Agoco to load the shipment on April 21-23 for DSA Consultancy FZC, a company registered in the United Arab Emirates. It said the shipment was intended for the Distya Ameya, an Indian-flagged vessel that remained at Marsa el-Hariga. "Agoco employees and port officials understood this was a political attempt to divide the country, and I am very proud that they resisted the pressure to load this vessel," Sanalla said. "We have been in communication with the master of the ship," he added. "We have informed him he is breaching U.N. resolutions and we have asked him to leave Libyan waters immediately. He has turned off his vessel's tracking system." The U.N. Security Council last month said the unity government had the "primary responsibility" for preventing illicit oil sales, urging it to communicate any such attempts to the U.N. committee overseeing Libya-related sanctions. The resolution also restated a call for member states to cease contact with any "parallel institutions". Since the uprising that toppled autocrat Muammar Gaddafi five years ago, Libya's oil production has been slashed by rivalry between armed factions, attacks by Islamic State militants and labour disputes. Output has fallen to less than a quarter of the 1.6 million barrels per day produced before the uprising. (Writing by Aidan Lewis; Editing by Toby Chopra) Maybe youve seen them attached to the trunks of police cruisers: cameras, mounted in twos or threes, pointed down at an odd angle as if at the feet of passersby. But theyre not checking out your shoeswhen switched on, theyre reading the license plates of every vehicle, parked or moving, that the cruiser passes. License-plate readers are an increasingly popular way for the police to find stolen cars and catch up with people with expired licenses or active warrants. And when theyre not piggybacking on police cruisers, plate readers are often affixed to utility poles or freeway overpasses, scanning the passing traffic below. Police say the readers allow them to automate the important but cumbersome process of taking down license plates and checking them against law-enforcement databases. The website of a leading license-plate reader system claims its cameras can capture up to 1,800 license plates a minute during day or night, across four lanes of traffic and at speeds up to 150 miles per hour, alerting officers within milliseconds if a plate is suspect. Those scans are stored in databases and can be searched by license plate number, turning up photos every sighting of a particular vehicleincluding the time and location of each sighting. (The utility of such searches is limited by the number of times any one vehicle shows up in a dataset.) Recommended: The Secret Shame of Middle-Class Americans Living Paycheck to Paycheck But its not just police who use automatic license-plate reading technology. Cameras like these, which usually cost between 20 and 30 thousand dollars, are used to process fees on toll roads across the country, keep track of customers in parking lots and garages, and trawl city streets for cars whose owners are behind on payments and flag the vehicles for repossession. The systems have proved useful to their public and private buyers, and the technology is proliferating. Recent statistics about their use are hard to come by, but a survey of police agencies conducted in 2011 showed that 71 percent of departments used license-plate readers, and that 85 percent of departments planned to increase their use over the next five years. Story continues As license-plate readers proliferate, some groups might feel the effects of increased scrutiny more than others. But police dont have to do all the work themselves. A company called Vigilant Solutions claimed in a 2015 press release to maintain the largest commercially gathered LPR dataset available to U.S. law enforcement. That dataset allows police to access private license-plate scans, but does not allow law enforcement to share their data with companies. In 2015, Vigilant said its dataset contained more than 3 billion scans, and was growing at a rate of more than 100 million scans a month. Since then, the dataset has grown dramatically: A Vigilant spokesperson said Friday that the dataset now includes 4.2 billion sightings, and is growing at a rate of 120 million data points a month. Recommended: Prince Will Always Be a Gay IconEven Though He Sometimes Seemed Homophobic As more vehicles and utility poles are outfitted with plate readers, and databases like Vigilants swell at increasing rates, some groups might feel the effects of the increased scrutiny more than others. Data about the actual use of of license-plate readers is thin, but two examples stand out. In a 2014 investigation into automatic plate readers for The Boston Globe, Shawn Musgrave found at least ten repossession companies in Massachusetts that used license-plate readers to do their job. (Todd Hodnett, the director of government affairs for Vigilant Solutions, says he estimates about one in four repo companies nationally operate license-plate readers.) And with 200 to 400-dollar bounties for locating cars that were stolen or are in default, some of those companies focused their search on the most lucrative neighborhoods. Two Massachusetts companies told Musgrave that they expressly targeted low-income housing developments, since its likely that a disproportionate number of residents in those areas are behind on auto payments, their cars ripe for repossession. Police, too, have used license-plate readers heavily in low-income areas. The Electronic Frontier Foundation submitted a request in 2014 for information about the Oakland Police Departments use of license-plate readers. When the advocacy organization analyzed the data it got back, it found that the readers were deployed disproportionately often in low-income areas and in neighborhoods with high concentrations of African-American and Latino residents. Recommended: The Average 29-Year-Old The Oakland Police Department was not available to comment on its policies for using license-plate readers. This story will be updated with the departments comments when it responds. Unlike private companies, some police departments have limits on how long they can retain the data they capture from their license-plate readers. Those limits are important for protecting innocent drivers, because a large majority of plate scans draw a blank: According to a 2013 report from the American Civil Liberties Union, just 2,000 in every million license-plate scans in Maryland actually raise a red flag. And most of those hits have to do with registration issues or emissions violationsjust 47 in a million are connected to a serious crime. But data-retention limits for law enforcement vary widely, and in many cases they dont exist. Hodnett says that police agencies that want to read Vigilants commercially-generated license-plate data set their own access policies and retention limits. If an agency is bound by lawor elects on its ownto access only the last two years of license-plate scans, for example, Vigilant will only serve up two years worth of commercial data. (Vigilants systems also allow law-enforcement agencies to store and access their own license-plate data, and share it with with sister agencies, if they want.) Sharing platforms for license-plate data mean that police departments that cant afford their own license-plate readers, or that dont want to deploy them, can still access data gathered by others. Hodnett says many of Vigilants law-enforcement clients dont operate readers themselves. That means that even police departments that spread their use of license-plate readers evenly across income lines in the cities they serveor those that dont use them at allcan still benefit from the more idiosyncratic data-gathering of private organizations like repossession agencies, which may have an incentive to focus their time and efforts on low-income neighborhoods, and fewer restrictions against doing so. Hodnett says the Vigilant platform is neutral, and doesnt police the data it helps distribute for issues like income or race disparities. He also emphasized that the repossession business, where he himself used to work, hasnt been materially changed by the introduction of license-plate readers. He says that the repo industrys spotter cars do the same thing they used to do: checking up on vehicle owners last-known addresses. Now, they just have a more efficient way of scanning for other potentially repossessable cars along the way. (Musgrave, on the other hand, reported that spotter cars are often sent to locations like commercial parking lots, looking for cars in default.) While this public-private partnership has often helped police solve crimes and lenders repossess many vehicles, theres a lack of consistent state laws to prevent local police from accessing billions of commercially-gathered license-plate scans, spanning back years. This can have a particularly harmful effect on low-income communities. It always raises questions when you blend private companies with inherently public police functions, said Jay Stanley, a senior policy analyst at ACLU. At the end of the day, private companies are governed by a fiduciary responsibility to their shareholders, which is often incompatible with criminal justice. Read more from The Atlantic: This article was originally published on The Atlantic. Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr. 23 By Ilhama Isabalayeva - Trend: The agreement on ceasefire reached between Azerbaijan and Armenia is the right way, but it does not solve the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Ismail Alper Coskun, Turkey's ambassador to Azerbaijan, told Trend. The occupation of Azerbaijan's territories is a serious problem, said the diplomat. Coskun noted that if the conflict is settled within Azerbaijan's territorial integrity the ceasefire won't be necessary. "In this case, each country will be able to live in peace within its internationally recognized borders," he said adding that then the countries of the region can cooperate for the benefit of their countries and peoples. 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. Regulators in the U.S. and Europe are digging deeper into potential auto emissions irregularities. Mercedes-Benz parent Daimler said Friday that the U.S. Department of Justice asked for an internal investigation into how it certifies exhaust emissions. German officials, meanwhile, announced a sweeping emissions recall that will affect 630,000 diesel cars sold in Europe, including Audi, Mercedes-Benz, Opel, Porsche, and Volkswagen vehicles but also European market Chevrolet, Ford, Jeep, and Land Rover vehicles. The two events come as other regulators in Europe also are investigating emissions issues, and on the same day as Volkswagen disclosed it set aside $18 billion to deal with its ongoing Dieselgate scandal. VW admitted in September that it installed defeat devices in many diesel cars so that they would cheat emissions tests. Earlier in the week the first details of a broad proposed settlement between VW, the U.S. government and plaintiffs attorneys were released in federal court. The company agreed to buy back or fix affected diesels, or let drivers walk away from their leases. VW also agreed to set up a fund to address the environmental impact of its excessive emissions. "There are going to be more and more of these kinds of investigations," said Todd Turner, auto industry analyst with consulting firm Car Concepts. "We're going to see more manufacturers being asked to provide documentation, Turner said. This is not so much saying something is wrong, just asking automakers to prove their math, that the procedures were proper and the results were double-checked." Most of the inquiries focus on diesel engines. "It is clearly difficult and expensive to make diesel cars meet emissions requirements," said Jake Fisher, director of auto testing at Consumer Reports. "What's unclear is how much of a future they have, as gasoline engines become more efficient and more electric and hybrid models prove themselves in the market." Story continues In a statement about the Justice Department request, Daimler said it is cooperating fully with the authorities. Daimler will consequently investigate possible indications of irregularities and of course take all necessary actions." Daimler came under scrutiny two months ago when a class-action lawsuit in Illinois set off a flurry of similar suits accusing the automaker of putting defeat devices in its diesel models rendering them less clean when speeds are below 50 mph. This alleged method of playing with the diesel systems means that, while emissions are more noxious, the engine gains more capability. Daimler said the suit is "without merit." More from Consumer Reports: 5 least reliable cars from Consumer Reports' survey Best Used Cars for $25,000 and Less Which Car Brands make the Best Vehicles Consumer Reports has no relationship with any advertisers on this website. Copyright 2006-2016 Consumers Union of U.S. Michelle McNamara, the writer and founder of website True Crime Diary who was married to actor Patton Oswalt, has died at the age of 46. PHOTOS: Celebrity Deaths in 2016: Stars Weve Lost The actors rep told the Associated Press that McNamara died in her sleep on Thursday, April 21. No cause of death was given. The Veep actor married McNamara in 2005, and together they have a 7-year-old daughter named Alice. PHOTOS: Stars Gone Too Soon McNamara, who always had an interest in true crime, told Suicide Girls in 2007 that she started her website which explores cold murder cases after Oswalt gave her the idea. I wanted to get more involved in the cases than fueling my own curiosity. And the crimes that caught the University of Notre Dame grads attention werent the ones making national headlines. "It's the ones that really don't get that much attention that interest me because I think what's interesting about them is there's more stuff to be unearthed that hasn't been in the public yet and you can do it, McNamara explained in the interview. Celebrity Health Scares Oswalt has yet to publicly address her death. The comedian last tweeted about Princes death, which also happened on April 21. Sign up now for the Us Weekly newsletter to get breaking celebrity news, hot pics, and more delivered straight to your inbox! BENGHAZI, Libya (Reuters) - Islamic State militants clashed with a Libyan force guarding oil ports near Brega terminal on Saturday, killing one guard and wounding four including Ibrahim Jathran, leader of the Petroleum Facilities Guard (PFG), security and medical sources said. Islamic State has a base in the Libyan city of Sirte and has launched frequent attacks against oil facilities and ports, including major export terminals that are closed but controlled by Jathran's PFG brigades. The PFG is one semi-official armed group that is backing a new unity government in Libya, where two rival administrations and their loose alliances of former rebels have been battling for control after the 2011 fall of Muammar Gaddafi. Fighting between PFG and a convoy of Islamic State militants broke out 52 kilometres south of the Brega oil terminal early on Saturday, a PFG source and a medical source said. "The four wounded included the commander of PFG, Ibrahim Jathran," the PFG source said. The new U.N.-backed unity government is trying to establish its authority over Libya, where a self-declared Tripoli government and a rival in the east and various armed factions have been vying for power and a share of the country's oil wealth for two years. Islamic State's rise in Libya worries Western governments who are offering military and financial aid to the new unity government. But the new administration is still establishing itself in Tripoli and faces resistance from hardliners who reject its authority. (Reporting by Ayman al-Warfalli; writing by Patrick Markey; Editing by Susan Fenton) Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr. 23 Trend: The significance of holding the 7th Global Forum of the UN Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) in Baku is that Azerbaijan is located at the crossroads between the East and West, a very important point of convergence of various cultures and religions, UN High Representative Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser said in an interview posted on the UN website. The 7th Global Forum of the UNAOC will be held Apr. 25-27 in Baku. It is planned to hold a meeting with participation of high-ranking officials and about 30 sessions during the Forum. The Baku Declaration is expected to be adopted during the high-level meeting of the UNAOC Global Forum. Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev signed a decree on July 24, 2015 to create an organizing committee for holding the 7th UNAOC Global Forum in Baku. As the UNAOC prepares for an upcoming global conference in Baku, the head of the UN body has stressed the need to leverage 'soft power' to curb the rise of violent extremism and prevent conflict. "Since I took office three years ago, I see the challenges rising, especially coming from xenophobia, intolerance and radicalization," said Al-Nasser. "As you know, the Alliance of Civilizations initiative came after "September 11" and attacks in Madrid and London," he noted, referring to terrorist acts in 2011, 2004 and 2005. The diplomat stressed that the establishment of UNAOC in 2005 was in response to threats of clashes of cultures, religions and civilizations. Given this situation, UNAOC's work must be more visible than ever, said Al-Nasser adding that his priorities also include addressing issues related to the growing migratory flows that are threatening international peace and security, and the spread of negative narratives, such as hate speech on social media. "We are almost everywhere on the UN agenda," he said noting that he can capitalize on his experience as a former General Assembly President. New York (AFP) - Prince was legendarily prolific over his four-decade career and even death may not stop him, with the pop icon storing a massive stash of unreleased work in his vaults. But the question of who decides on future releases will not be simple as Prince, who died suddenly Thursday at age 57, had no known children, no current spouse, no living parents and fiercely guarded his own creative control like few other artists. The Purple One possessed an insatiable appetite to make music, even giving pagers to his backup musicians and keeping engineers on shifts so he could record at any time of day in sessions that could last more than 24 hours straight. Prince, in a 2014 interview with Rolling Stone that was only published after his death, not only confirmed a long-rumored vault of music at his Paisley Park compound in Minnesota, but said he had several of them. "I've never said this before, but I didn't always give the record companies the best song. There are songs in the vault that no one's ever heard," he said. Prince said he kept a "ton of stuff" in the vaults, including full unreleased albums, among them two made with The Revolution, his funky and diverse band with which he made the classic "Purple Rain." As with so much about Prince, his rationale kept people guessing. But he hinted that he wanted to create a historical record, with future releases bringing together the best tracks -- both smash hits and obscurities -- from periods of his career. "He was like a funnel. It was as if somebody was pouring these songs into him and they would just continue to come out from the other end like a water spigot that wouldn't turn off," music executive Alan Leeds, who headed Prince's Paisley Park Records, told the BBC in a 2015 documentary. Brent Fischer, a composer who long worked with Prince, estimated in the documentary that 70 percent of the recorded music went unreleased. Story continues - Flurry of albums - Prince's compulsion to produce constantly triggered one of the most famous label feuds in music history. When Warner Brothers tried to rein him in, Prince changed his name to the unpronounceable "love symbol" and wrote "slave" on his cheek to protest his contractual obligations. Prince reconciled in 2014 with Warner but he soon discovered an outlet that delighted him -- streaming. Prince last year announced a deal with rap mogul Jay-Z's service Tidal, calling the Internet platform "freedom" as he was able to release an album within 90 days of meeting the hip-hop entrepreneur. In a sign that the stamina-driven artist was not expecting to die, his 39th and final studio album -- "HITnRUN: Phase Two," released by Tidal in December -- comes off as an anti-climax. In contrast to rock legend David Bowie, who released the intricate "Blackstar" two days before his death in January from an unannounced battle with cancer, Prince was unlikely to consider "HITnRUN: Phase Two" a career-closer. A sequel to "HITnRUN: Phase One," named after Prince's tours in which he schedules shows at the last minute, the album featured several songs already in the public realm, including the danceable and ultra-sexy "Xtraloveable," which he had been playing since 1982 without formally releasing it. - Major sales prospects - Posthumous recordings are a major business. Prince's contemporary and sometime rival Michael Jackson has twice entered the top five on the US charts since his 2009 death with albums of previously unreleased material. And Elvis Presley, who died in 1977, returned to number one on the British chart last year with an album of archived vocals accompanied by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Bob Fuchs, manager of The Electric Fetus, a Minneapolis record store of which Prince was fond, said that customers were hoping to hear more music soon. "Everyone is absolutely dying for some of that stuff to come out," he said. But Sheila E., Prince's musical collaborator and former romantic partner, said the music should stay in the vaults as the artist always made his own decisions. "He worked with whomever he wanted, and if he had wanted those released, he would have released them," she told Fox News Latino. As for Prince himself, he was cryptic when asked in the 2014 interview whether he wanted the vaults opened when he was "gone." "No, I don't think about gone. I just think about in the future when I don't want to speak in real time." At a time when a lot of event organizers are either pulling out of North Carolina or threatening to in response to House Bill 2, local businesses are sending the message they're here to stay, including ones who don't necessarily agree with the new law. Berlin (AFP) - US President Barack Obama has hailed German Chancellor Angela Merkel's "courageous" leadership in opening doors to migrants fleeing the Syrian conflict. "I believe that Chancellor Merkel's approach to the refugee crisis -- and that of many Germans -- has been courageous. She's demonstrated real political and moral leadership," Obama said in an interview published Saturday with German daily Bild. "Angela has spoken of our moral obligation to people, including families and children, fleeing horrific conditions, including the barbarity of the Assad regime in Syria and ISIL (Islamic State)," Obama said. "We simply cannot shut our doors to our fellow human beings when they are in such desperate need." Merkel, who was going to Turkey on Saturday to discuss a deal on migration, has come under fire after Germany took in more than a million asylum seekers in 2015. Opponents, including from within her conservative camp, have argued vocally that Europe's top economy is ill-equipped to integrate the waves of newcomers. Obama spoke out in strong support of Merkel ahead of her high-stakes Turkish visit. He told Bild the migration burden needed to be properly shared out -- the US is committed to taking in at least 10,000 Syrians this year -- and that "the recent agreement between the EU and Turkey is a step toward a more equitable way of sharing this responsibility." Germany and its EU allies are seeking to boost a six-billion-euro ($6.7 billion) deal with Ankara to return migrants arriving on Greek shores to Turkey. But the deal remains beset by myriad moral and legal concerns. Merkel will arrive in Turkey amid a row over Germany's prosecution of a German comedian for a crude poem about President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Her decision to authorise criminal proceedings has sparked a freedom of speech storm at home. Jan Boehmermann could be convicted under a rarely-enforced piece of criminal code on insulting representatives of foreign states after his televised recital of a work accusing Erdogan of bestiality and paedophilia. Obama was due in Germany on Sunday to attend the Hanover industrial technology fair ahead of informal talks Monday with Merkel, French President Francois Hollande and British and Italian prime ministers David Cameron and Matteo Renzi. Dubbing Merkel "one of my closest partners and also a friend," Obama additionally praised her for leadership "essential to maintaining European unity against Russia's aggression against Ukraine." By Roberta Rampton and Sarah Young LONDON (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama implored young British people on Saturday not to pull back from the world, a day after sparking a row by bluntly telling Britain it should remain in the European Union to preserve its remaining global clout. Obama angered critics of the EU on Friday by warning that Britain would be at "the back of the line" for a trade deal if it left the club - one of the strongest U.S. interventions in the affairs of a western European democracy since the Cold War. Speaking to about 550 invited British young people at a "town hall" event on Saturday, Obama sought to pitch a more optimistic message to young Britons, who are considered to be more pro-European, if less active, voters than their parents. Obama said he wanted young people to reject the cynicism piped towards them by TV and Twitter, and he lauded both the European Union and NATO for sustaining peace and prosperity in Europe after centuries of war and strife. "Think about how extraordinary that is: For more than 1,000 years this continent was darkened by war and violence. It was taken for granted. It was assumed that was the fate of man," Obama said at Lindley Hall in London. "We see new calls for isolationism, for xenophobia," Obama said. "When I speak to young people, I implore them, and I implore you, to reject those calls to pull back." Joking about Britain's colonial past, Obama cited a "tea incident" and said that the British had burned down his house - references to the 1773 Boston Tea Party protest and to the burning of the White House in 1814 by British troops. But he stressed that the two nations had put their quarrels behind them to ensure a more stable and freer world. "DON'T PULL BACK" Obama's intervention over EU membership was welcomed by Prime Minister David Cameron but it was not immediately clear how far British voters will hear or heed Obama's caution over the consequences of leaving the EU in a June 23 referendum. A YouGov poll showed that while British voters think Obama has done a good job as U.S. president, 53 percent felt it was inappropriate for Obama to express a preference on how Britain should vote, while 35 percent said it was appropriate. After a visit to the Globe theater to mark 400 years since the death of William Shakespeare, Obama answered 10 questions from the youth audience on issues ranging from the peace in Northern Ireland to the rights of non-binary gender individuals. While Obama's warning about the prospects of a post-Brexit trade deal with the United States led television news broadcasts in Britain, EU membership was not raised during the question-and-answer session that lasted over an hour. Obama's warning over trade was especially sensitive in Britain because opponents of the EU have argued that the world's fifth largest economy could prosper by striking bilateral deals if it cut itself free from what they cast as a failed German-dominated experiment in European integration. "His meddling stems not from his concerns for Britain or, indeed Europe, but from his own Americas interests," former British finance minister Norman Lamont, a supporter of a British exit, wrote in the eurosceptic Daily Mail newspaper. But some of the participants in Obama's youth meeting were positive about Obama's intervention. "It was fair, it was true, it is something that needs to be talked about for some of us that haven't decided where to go," said Abdirashid Fidow, a 25-year-old charity worker. "How are we going to be special if you're going to put us at the back of the line? I have seen a lot of friends of mine change their minds after Obama spoke yesterday." Selected partly by a lottery run by the U.S. Embassy and partly by school and university groups that were given blocks of tickets, the Britons gave Obama a standing ovation as he closed the session to the punk rock song "London Calling" by the Clash. "I recognize that a U.S. leader has gone further than ever before in intervening in another democratic process outside of their own jurisdiction," said James Langford, a 25-year-old strategy consultant. "That is extraordinary in itself." "I dont believe that anyone should change their mind on the sole basis of that decision. It doesnt annoy me," Langford said. "He hasnt told us how to vote, hes advised us what he thinks the U.S.s perspective is." (Writing by Guy Faulconbridge; Editing by Mark Heinrich) US President Barack Obama has told an audience of young British people to reject isolationism, pessimism and cynicism. Speaking after he made it clear he does not want the UK to leave the EU, he appeared to make a veiled call for young people to vote to stay in the EU during an event billed as a US-style 'town hall' meeting. The Remain campaign got a further boost on Saturday night as the favourite to win the Democratic nomination in the race for the White House, Hillary Clinton, reportedly made clear that she was in favour of the UK staying in the EU. Her senior policy adviser Jake Sullivan told the Observer: "Hillary Clinton believes that transatlantic cooperation is essential, and that cooperation is strongest when Europe is united. "She has always valued a strong United Kingdom in a strong EU. And she values a strong British voice in the EU." Mr Obama told his audience at Royal Horticultural Halls on Saturday: "We see calls for isolationism or xenophobia. We see those who would call for rolling back the rights of people. "I think we can understand they are reactions to changing times. "But, when I speak to young people, I implore them, and I implore you, to reject those calls to pull back." But Out campaigner Boris Johnson, who was criticised on Friday for an attack on Mr Obama described as racist, shrugged off the president's criticism and continued to claim he was being "hypocritical". "I think this is all a complete distraction. An attempt by the Remain campaign to throw dust in people's eyes," he said. "Over the last few days, nobody on that side of the argument has been able to answer the key point that I have been making which is that it is inconsistent, perverse and yes, it is hypocritical of the United States to tell us that we should sacrifice more of our independence than they would ever dream of doing themselves." Mr Obama's message on Friday, made as he stood alongside Prime Minister David Cameron, had been one of warning as he suggested a trade deal between the UK and US would be at the "back of the queue" if the UK quit the bloc. Story continues But it was an altogether more positive tone he took on Saturday. "My primary message is going to be to reject pessimism and cynicism, know that progress is possible and that problems can be solved," the President said. "Progress requires the harder path of breaking down barriers and building bridges, and retaining the values of tolerance that our nations have worked to defend." Justice Minister Dominic Raab branded the President an irrelevant "lame duck" after his remarks. "I have got no doubt that future US trade negotiators are going to look to other opportunities - I think the British will be first in the queue, not at the back of the queue." Earlier, UKIP leader Nigel Farage also savaged Mr Obama's comments, saying the President's intervention was at the "bidding of Cameron" and accused him of "doing his best to talk down to Britain". On Friday night, Mr Obama and First Lady Michelle had dinner with the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry, where they also met Prince Georg e. During the 'town hall' meeting, the President said that George was adorable . Before his meeting on Saturday, Mr Obama visited the Globe Theatre to mark the 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare's death. He then went on to have talks with Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, who said afterwards that he had an "excellent" discussion with the President, with subject matter including inequality and the impact of technology and global corporations on world populations. Tonight, the President will meet David Cameron again, when US ambassador Matthew Barzun will host a private dinner. Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr.23 Trend: The UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has sent a letter to Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev to convey his sincere apologies to the president and people of Azerbaijan for the postponement of his visit to Baku. "I wish to convey my sincere apologies to Your Excellency and, through you, to the people of the Republic of Azerbaijan for having had to postpone my visit to the Republic of Azerbaijan, as well as my visits to Georgia and the Republic of Armenia," he said. Ban Ki-moon noted in his letter that over the past ten years, the Alliance of Civilizations has become a valued platform to advance mutual respect and tolerance amongst, as well as within, nations. "Thanks to your personal vision and leadership, the 7th Global Forum of the Alliance will skilfully chart its future course," he said. "I had been very much looking forward to addressing the Global Forum with you, in person, and hope that I may be able to join you via video conference." "During my visit, I had also envisaged discussing with you and others in the region, how the United Nations could best support you and the Minsk Group of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe in peacefully resolving the conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh," Ban Ki-moon said. "I do hope you will understand that global crises require my presence in New-York during this particular period," said the UN Secretary General. "Unfortunately, emergencies sometimes interfere with the best of our intentions and previous commitments as political leaders." "I hope that we will find another mutually convenient time for a visit to the Republic of Azerbaijan before the end of my tenure," he added. "Please accept, Excellency, my apologies as well as the assurances of my highest consideration," Ban Ki-moon said in his letter. US President Barack Obama speaks during a press conference at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in central London with Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron (unseen) following a meeting at Downing Street, in London, Britain April, 22, 2016. REUTERS/Ben Stansall/Pool In an interview with the German newspaper Bild, President Barack Obama took a veiled shot at Donald Trump's rhetoric aimed at Muslims. "In some places, including the United States, we've seen the rise of dangerous political rhetoric that targets immigrants or Muslims," Obama said. The interview was conducted by Kai Diekmann, publisher of Bild and a Business Insider contributing editor, and Tanit Koch, editor in chief of Bild. Obama's reference to anti-Muslim rhetoric is likely at least in part a reference to Trump's proposed barring of Muslims entering the US. Late last year, the frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination called for the US government to bar most Muslim tourists and immigrants from entering the US until the terrorist "problem" is under control. "The politics around refugees and immigration is hard in any country, but I believe the best leaders are willing to take on the toughest issues especially when it's not easy," Obama said in the interview. "We cannot simply shut our doors to our fellow human beings when they are in such desperate need. That would be a betrayal of our values." In another possible reference to Trump's statements, Obama said that the US can protect its security with the checks it does on refugees entering the country. "We know how to do this responsibly in a way that ensures our security, including extensive checks, so we know who we're welcoming to our country," Obama said. Trump has repeatedly cautioned against accepting refugees into the US on the grounds that "we don't know who these people are." In the interview, Obama praised German Chancellor Angela Merkel, whose government has faced staunch opposition for accepting hundreds of thousands of refugees from war-torn Syria. "I believe that Chancellor Merkel's approach to the refugee crisis and that of many Germans has been courageous," he said. Story continues Obama also emphasized in the interview the importance of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, an alliance that Trump has said is "obsolete." He said that "our NATO allies are playing a critical role in the military campaign" against the terrorist group ISIS. And he added that the US needs Europe "to help uphold our Article V commitment to our NATO allies and to keep supporting Ukraine's ability to ensure its security in the face of Russian aggression." Read the full interview here. NOW WATCH: Obama just nailed it on why science is so important More From Business Insider Rome (AFP) - Italian authorities said Saturday they were monitoring an oil slick off the country's picturesque Riviera coast, but said the risk of a new spill into the Mediterranean was limited. The slick, which was two kilometres (1.25 mile) long and 500 metres wide, was moving slowly westwards from waters off Genoa, raising fears it could pollute holiday beaches just as the tourist season begins. The oil is believed to have come from a pipeline leak last Sunday at a refinery at Bussala, an outlying suburb of the northwestern Italian city, that spilled large quantities of crude into the Polcevera river. The refinery's owner, Iplom, insisted that the leak was contained, but one of the barriers erected on the river gave way on Saturday morning after heavy overnight rain, pushing crude into the sea. After declaring a local state of emergency, Genoa's port authority and the government said that back-up floating barriers in the mouth of the river had done their job. "The situation is delicate but under control," said Graziano Delrio, the minister for transport and infrastructure. Genova is located in the middle of the Italian stretch of the Riviera, close to the famous resort of Portofino and several protected areas of outstanding natural beauty, including the Cinque Terre region. The maritime environment is also highly prized with the coastal waters providing valuable breeding grounds for sea-life as well as supporting a fishing fleet which serves the local restaurant trade. Genoa mayor Marco Doria said the large slick and several smaller ones spotted by fishermen and coastguards had presumably been caused by the refinery leak on April 17. "From an environmental point of view I am calm," said Gianfranco Benedetti, Iplom's local safety officer. "There was no new leak into the sea. There is not much stuff left in the Polcevera, most of it has been extracted by gully suckers," he told the AGI newswire. Story continues Maritime authorities in Toulon, southwest France, said they had immediately ordered heightened monitoring in the area, with the navy dispatching a Falcon 50 plane to assess the situation. "The flight detected no slick off France and in international waters up to Savona," just east of Genoa, they said in a statement. Further French surveillance flights are scheduled for Sunday and the coming days. Port authorities in Genoa, Italy, were monitoring an oil slick off the Italian Riviera on Saturday, April 23, after a pipeline leaked at a local refinery last Sunday. It is feared that the 2-kilometer slick moving along the coastline could pollute beaches in the area. Port authorities announced a state of emergency on Saturday as they battled to prevent more oil from spilling into the sea after overnight rain washed away a river barrier erected to contain the spillage, according to Italian reports. ANSA news agency said the alert was lifted in the evening. The initial leak flowed into the Polcevera River but was contained within hours, according to authorities cited in reports. This video is described as showing oil washed up on a beach in Savona, west of Genoa. Credit: YouTube/Giuseppe Balleri By Louis Charbonneau UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The Palestinian president and Israel's ambassador to the United Nations traded barbs on Friday during a signing ceremony for the Paris climate accord, in the latest example of continuing Israeli-Palestinian tensions. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who signed the agreement on behalf of the Palestinians, took advantage of the presence of some 60 world leaders at the U.N. General Assembly to criticize Israel. "The Israeli occupation is destroying the climate in Palestine, and the Israeli settlements are destroying the environment in Palestine," Abbas told the 193-nation assembly. "Please help us in putting an end to the occupation and to settlements." Israeli Ambassador Danny Danon responded sharply when he addressed the ceremony, in which 175 states signed and 15 ratified the Paris accord. "Instead of spreading hatred here at the U.N., President Abbas should act to stop Palestinian terror," he said after signing the treaty. "This climate summit is supposed to be a demonstration of global unity for the sake of the future of our planet," he added. "Unfortunately, President Abbas chose to exploit this international stage to mislead the international community." Earlier this week, Danon and Palestinian envoy Riyad Mansour yelled "shame on you" at each other during a regular U.N. Security Council meeting on the situation in the Middle East. That meeting turned into a rare shouting match. U.S.-brokered Israeli-Palestinian peace talks have been in tatters since 2014. Abbas' presence at the signing ceremony had symbolic importance in the wake of Palestine's de facto recognition of statehood by the United Nations, which since 2012 has considered Palestine a non-member observer state. It was the first time a Palestinian president sat in the General Assembly hall as a state party to a treaty at a signing ceremony. Palestine's accession to the treaty could lead to complications for the United States, which has a law barring U.S. funding for "any organization or group that does not have the internationally recognized attributes of statehood." U.S. senators sent a letter to Secretary of State John Kerry saying that Palestine's participation in the U.N. climate change secretariat and the Paris agreement would prohibit the United States from paying money into a global climate fund. The letter, signed by 21 Republican Senators, was the latest attempt by Congressional Republicans to block U.S. participation in global climate initiatives. The U.S. State Department said it received the letter and was preparing a response. Five years ago the United States stopped funding UNESCO, the U.N. cultural agency, after it granted the Palestinians full membership. (Additional reporting by Valerie Volcovici; Editing by David Gregorio) On Friday evening, as tiny royal person Prince George of Cambridge was preparing himself for bedtime, his parents were busy welcoming some no-name American dinner guests to Kensington Palace in London. Source: KGC-375/STAR MAX/IPx/AP Barack and Michelle Obama met with Prince William and his wife, Kate Middleton, for a dinner at the Royal couple's home and likely discussed politics or foreign affairs or something no one can really say with complete certainty, because it's impossible to pay attention to anything other than the photos of Prince George and his fluffy white bathrobe. Source: The White House/Getty Images According to NBC News, George was allowed to stay up 15 minutes past his bedtime to hang out with his good friend, the sitting president of the United States, who sipped drinks with Michelle, the Royal couple and Prince Harry of Wales in the drawing room before dinner. Source: AFP/Getty Images A stuffed Portuguese water dog that Obama gave to Prince George could be seen in photos from the evening. The dog is the same breed as the Obamas' two pets, Sunny and Bo. Source: The White House/Getty Images George also had the opportunity to show off another gift from the Obamas, a rocking horse, before presumably retiring to his chamber for the evening. Vatican City (AFP) - Pope Francis on Saturday heard confessions from 16 teenagers after a surprise appearance in St Peter's square to greet thousands of young people attending his holy year youth day. The 16 boys and girls were among tens of thousands of 13 to 16-year-olds visiting the Vatican this weekend as part of Francis's Jubilee year dedicated to the theme of mercy. Thousands of them confessed to a total of 150 priests on duty at St Peter's before passing through a door of the basilica that is only open for the duration of the Jubilee, which started in December and runs to November. Under Catholic tradition, passing through a so-called holy door entitles believers to special indulgences during jubilees. For this one, the first since 2000, Francis has authorised priests to absolve women who have had abortions. The Holy Year is also a time when the faithful are encouraged to reflect on their faith and renew their relationship with God. There were no special arrangements for the 79-year-old pope to hear the confessions of the teenagers selected to speak to him. They all appeared relaxed as they sat on simple chairs face-to-face with the leader of the world's 1.2 billion Catholics. Francis shooks hands warmly with each of them and spent a total of an hour and a quarter on the square before departing with a cheery "ciao ragazzi" (Bye guys!). After the religious ceremonies the mostly Italian teenagers were due to be entertained by rock and rap stars at a concert on Saturday evening in Rome's Stadio Olimpico. Many of them will be back at St Peter's on Sunday for a special mass led by Francis. Earlier in the day the pontiff was presented with a pistachio and hazelnut cake featuring an image of St George slaying a dragon. The Pope's real first name, Jorge, is the Spanish equivalent of George and April 23 is St George's day. Chanhassen (United States) (AFP) - To millions, Prince was a global icon, but at heart he remained a hometown boy from Minneapolis, nurturing local talent, hosting legendary parties and putting the city on the international music map. Two days before he was found dead, Prince listened to music at the Dakota Jazz Club, the same venue where he played gigs three years ago that sold out in minutes, and which he frequented often over the years. On Saturday, he stopped off at Electric Fetus, the independent record store to which he gave exclusive rights to sell his "HITnRUN: Phase Two" album, to show support on Record Store Day and buy a Stevie Wonder CD. His last tweet was on that day, with a link to the store's website. A small city by US standards, with a population of less than half a million and where the mercury can plummet 40 degrees below freezing, Minneapolis could not be further removed from the flashy wealth of New York or Los Angeles that sucks up so many musicians and celebrities. "He looked really nice. He had a nice pair of black pants on, a nice dress-collared black shirt and dress shoes. He looked kind of fancy," said Bob Fuchs, 52, manager of Electric Fetus. It was the first time Fuchs actually shook Prince's hand, although it was the star's third visit since January. Each time, he phoned ahead to ask if he could stop by and shop. "He just wanted to make sure there wasn't a big to-do. He really wanted to be under the radar," said Fuchs, adding that Prince loved the name and the vibe of the store, and being able to collaborate locally. "He didn't want to be the corporate guy, he was very happy to work with a local entity," said Fuchs. - Huge thing - Minnesota has been a thriving hub for music, art and theater for decades. Bob Dylan also comes from here, but unlike Prince, as locals like to point out, he quickly took off for New York and beyond. "He (Prince) stayed here and that's a huge thing," said Lowell Pickett, co-owner of the Dakota and who saw Prince on Tuesday night. Story continues Purple Rain was filmed at the First Avenue club and elsewhere in and around Minneapolis, keeping the real place names putting both Prince and the locality on the map internationally, Pickett said. "He drew attention to Minneapolis in the international music world and as a result if you made music in Minneapolis, it was more likely that you would get noticed," said Pickett. He described Prince as an extraordinary talent scout, on top of his artistry as a musician, who helped to nurture their careers and worked with many Minneapolis musicians. The entire city mourns his loss. Officials have spoken out. Bridges have been lit purple. Thousands of people of every age, color and ethnicity have descended on First Avenue to celebrate his life. Fans and neighbors recall Prince's legendary free dance parties at Paisley Park. People remember the electricity of seeing him perform live, or bumping into him on the stairs at a gig. Not only did Prince buck the trend in not running his career from New York or Los Angeles, but he ignored the celebrity penchant for tax havens, balmy weather or life behind gated communities. Instead, he chose Chanhassen, a small greenbelt town that looks like a business park, to base himself at Paisley Park and keep two homes. - Part of our home - A 30-minute drive southwest from the bright lights of Minneapolis, it is friendly and comfortable, but unremarkable and modest. Fans outside Paisley Park said they grew up with Prince, listened to his music and became accustomed to seeing his purple limo drive around. "He loved it here," said Cindy Legg, a 41-year-old nurse who went "all the time" to Prince's club Glam Slam when she was in college. "He used to be there sometimes, and he was always very sweet and kind," she recalled, bringing roses to lay at the makeshift memorial outside Paisley Park. She never thought of him as a mega star. "He was just Prince and he was from here," she said. "He was part of our home, part of Minnesota." Sober, modest and not ones to have heads turned by celebrity, Minnesotans returned the compliment of having Prince as a neighbor by not intruding and affording him respect. "He's our history," said Jean Cunningham, a 66-year-old retired administrative assistant, who remembers watching Prince play with band Time when he was starting out. "He did a lot of things for the city," she said. "He helped a lot of people, I think, that we don't even know about." Prince in New York, circa 1986. (Photo: Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images) Princes death was about the passing of a legend. It was also about the end of the 1980s or, rather, the arguably premature end of the I Want My MTV decade. To be sure, the 1980s ended years ago, but decades and their icons tend to linger. The children of the 60s have made it to their 60s with a good number of their cultural pillars intact: Bob Dylan, Aretha Franklin, Diana Ross, Paul Simon, and the Rolling Stones, to name a few. The children of the 70s still have Bruce Springsteen, John Travolta, and everything (and nearly everyone) from Star Wars. Related: The Many Loves of Princes Life But the 1980s were, pop culturally, about Prince, Whitney Houston, and Michael Jackson, unless you want to argue they were about Prince, Whitney Houston, Michael Jackson, and Bill Cosby a combo that doesnt provide much more comfort. Michael Jackson in 1983. (Photo: Michael Marks/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images) Prince died Thursday. Jackson died in 2009; Houston in 2012. Cosby Show reruns became near extinct and otherwise unwatchable amid the dozens upon dozens of rape allegations heard by the public against its star in 2014 and 2015. Drill down, and the death of the 1980s is more complete than that. The Beastie Boys are no more, as a result of the 2012 death of Adam Yauch. Dreams of an authentic Breakfast Club sequel and an endless teen movie summer ended with the 2009 death of writer/director John Hughes. Vanity, a member of Princes musical cohort and the star of The Last Dragon, died in February. President Ronald Reagan and First Lady Nancy Reagan, symbols of the decade as much as any music or screen stars, passed away in 2004 and this past March, respectively. Adam Yauch (MCA), Mike Diamond (Mike D), and Adam Horovitz (Ad-Rock) of the Beastie Boys. (Photo: Ron Galella, Ltd./WireImage) The 2010s has been especially cruel to the memory of the 80s. Actors Corey Haim (Lucas), Amanda Peterson (Cant Buy Me Love), and Gary Coleman (Diffrent Strokes) all died in the past six years; none was older than 43. Story continues Teen heartthrob Corey Haim in 1987. (Photo: Ann Summa/Getty Images) Even the January death of David Bowie was a blow to the memory of the 80s. While Bowie, like a Springsteen or a Prince, belongs to the ages, he reached his biggest commercial audience during the decade. Related: Celebs We Lost in 2016 It happens, of course. It happens all the time. Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, and Jim Morrison barely made it out of the 1960s; Kurt Cobain and Tupac Shakur didnt make it out of the 1990s. The deaths of John Lennon and Elvis Presley were body blows to their once impressionable fans. A piece of someones childhood is dying every single day. The 1980s are not special, and theyre not cursed. Theyre just going fast right now. Be well, Boy George. Stay strong, Cyndi Lauper. Take care, Madonna. Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr.23 Trend: Secretary-General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon made a phone call to President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev on April 23. The UN Secretary-General expressed regret that he could not attend the 7th Global Forum of the UN Alliance of Civilizations to be held in Baku due to some global problems, wished success to the Forum, and said he was looking forward to addressing the event through video conference. President Ilham Aliyev thanked for the phone call, and expressed the country`s satisfaction over successive cooperation with the UN. During the phone call, the issues over current situation in the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict were discussed. By Alex Dobuzinskis (Reuters) - Prosecutors in Phoenix on Friday filed court papers to withdraw criminal charges against a man who was arrested last year and accused in a string of Arizona freeway shootings, a spokesman for prosecutors said. The move by the Maricopa County Attorney's Office came after a judge on Tuesday reduced the bail of 21-year-old Leslie Allen Merritt Jr to nothing from $150,000, clearing the way for his release later that day. "We have a professional and ethical duty to act in the interest of justice and not merely seek a conviction and this is a textbook example of doing that," said Jerry Cobb, a spokesman for the Maricopa County Attorney's Office. A ballistics expert has called into question the methodology used early on in the investigation that tied Merritt, a landscaper, to the shootings, Cobb said. A judge is expected to rule to formally dismiss the case against Merritt as early as Monday. Merritt was arrested last Sept. 18 and charged with 15 criminal counts, including drive-by-shooting and aggravated assault, for four of 11 shooting incidents along a stretch of Interstate 10 that passes through Phoenix. The shootings, which occurred in late August and early September, struck fear among motorists in the area. No other suspect has been arrested in connection with the attacks. The court filing on Friday by prosecutors left open the possibility that they could charge Merritt again in connection with the case, and they are continuing to work with police on the investigation, Cobb said. Police last year said they were able to "forensically link" four of the shootings to Merritt's handgun, which was found by investigators at a local pawn store. At the court hearing on Tuesday where Maricopa County Judge Warren Granville reduced Merritt's bail however, Merritt's attorney cited findings by the prosecution's expert witness and said a ballistics match "does not exist." Story continues One person suffered a minor injury during the shootings. Arizona Governor Doug Ducey announced Merritt's arrest with an emphatic "We got him!" message on Twitter, which led critics to say Ducey was unfairly suggesting from the outset of the case that Merritt was guilty. (Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis in Los Angeles; Editing by Curtis Skinner) A group of counter-protestors were arrested following a clash of protestors and white nationalists in Georgia, leading many to denounce authorities as they reportedly protected those who took part in a pro-white rally at Stone Mountain Park. According to the Atlanta Journal Constitution, the incident happened Saturday morning (April 23) when a group of white nationalists gathered to celebrate Confederate Memorial Day. Dates vary from state to state, but the observance honors those who died in the Confederate army during the Civil War. Rock Stone Mountain, the group responsible for the rally, intended to have thousands present but only a few dozen showed up. An estimated 300 counter-protestors arrived at the rally and demonstrated on the opposite side of the barricade. Police reportedly tried to keep the group separated, which led to push back from both sides. Arrests, violence at Stone Mountain as counter-protesters clash with police https://t.co/YgYZOfDxW2 pic.twitter.com/Df7Pfk6CU2 AJC (@ajc) April 23, 2016 Eight to nine counter-protestors were arrested for reportedly failing to take their masks off. Two counter-protestors were also accused of throwing firecrackers and pepper-spraying a police officer. It isnt known if they were among those arrested. The park remained open for the rest of the day but attractions such as the amusement park and laser show were canceled. Despite the group being out numbered, they believed the rally was a success. They didnt win, participant Joseph Andrews , 37, of Kennesaw said. They didnt shut us down. We had a successful, peaceful rally. Story continues Members of the counter-protests claimed their efforts were peaceful. Ninety-nine percent of the protesters are peaceful, but this is what they gonna show on the news, protestor Katherine Thilo said. Church member Scott Maddox added, I came here for a peaceful rally. When you start throwing rocks that is not what this is about. We are not gonna be a part of that. Other participants took to Twitter to voice their frustration on the portrayal of demonstrators. Among the most singular films to premiere at this Tribeca Film Festival, Alma Harels documentary LoveTrue reps an unusual view on the well-worn topic of love, in all its human imperfections. Tracing the bittersweet trajectories of three people under varying types of emotional strain an Alaskan stripper fearing a lonely future, a Hawaiian slacker re-examining his relationship to his son, and the teenage daughter of a troubled but musically gifted New York family the film blends intimate non-fiction footage with stylized dramatization in a manner that expands on the unorthodox technique of Harels breakout 2011 doc, Bombay Beach. It also marks a striking off-camera diversion for actor Shia LaBeouf, here taking his first feature-length credit as executive producer. We chatted to Harel and LaBeouf about this unexpected creative collaboration. The three subjects you follow embody very different types of love. Do you think theres a single definition for what love is? Have you re-thought that definition in the process of making the film? ALMA HAREL: I once spoke to a friend, who was a drug dealer and a heroin addict, about love, and he said: I only call it love if its making both of us happy. That hit me as a very healthy way of looking at it, coming from someone who, on the surface, was less healthy than me. Deep inside, my relationship to love was much more confused than his, but I think its important to accept the different shades of love: the different ways in which love plays a part in our lives, and the fact its always changing. I made this film because I was separating from my husband, whos now my best friend and that transition was painful. It took years. Some of the biggest lessons we need to learn about loving life and ourselves come from love that didnt meet our expectations. This film was more about finding a way to look at love as a state of being, a state of grace that isnt necessarily romantic at all. A state of love that comes to you if you survive the fantasy of True Love. SHIA LABEOUF: In my opinion, Almas film is not trying to change your view on love: That would be a terrible film. It is the document of a person making a voyage, who found other people who had also made a voyage. Theres nothing else, and its fing amazing. How did your collaboration comes to pass? What drew you to each other creatively? SL: Im a die-hard Alma Harel fan. I saw Bombay Beach and wrote her a fan letter. Thats how we met. She has a way, a style all her own that compensates for the flaw in the genre that all non-fiction film is manipulated, set up and constructed to a degree. Alma does not try to hide or deny: she shares, she accounts for the change that comes over people being filmed when the representative takes over and self-blurs. Hers is not a fly-on-the-wall documentation; its an elephant-in-the-room documentation. She allows people to take ownership in their presentation, to be in on their objectification. She is exploring the tension of presenter and presented, playing with the limits of fiction and non-fiction, seeking the seams in the gaps and shoring them up. I got involved to foster her experiment and up my street cred. AH: If it wasnt for Shia, I wouldnt be able to make this film. I tried to raise the money for almost a year and got some very supportive grants from Cinereach and Tribeca, but no one would finance it. Theres a lot of companies that want to brand themselves as risk-takers but thats all it is: branding. To really take a risk on something artistic that youre not sure how to sell takes fearlessness the ability to let go of the outcome and give in to the unknown. Thats not a popular business model: People want to stay in the market. But Shias not playing. He pulled a Robin-Hood-from-Hollywood miracle on me and sent me a check in the mail for the whole budget of the film. Through the four years of making it, he made sure nothing got in the way of me making free choices. Hes also been extremely supportive of the people in the film; as an actor and as an artist, he has a genuine interest in what it means to perform on screen and in real life. How did you find and decide on those human subjects? As a documentary maker, do you still go through a kind of casting process? AH: I chose the locations, and then got lost in each one of them till I found the people. You can call it casting but its not like I audition people. At some point, I broke my back in Alaska and was in a brace for seven months, filming in a wheelchair. When I could walk again, I started taking short walks in Central Park. Thats when I saw the Boyd family singing there. Filmmaking taught me to trust my intuition. Its actually been harder for me to do it in my personal life. Theres such a fine line between finding someone thats interesting to you and gets you excited, and someone that can be your family your forever person. I love forever people because then, even if the romantic love is gone, you stay friends for the rest of your lives. Same with filmmaking. I chose people I can love beyond the making of the film. That love translates to screen: Your camera captures very authentic-feeling intimacy between those people. Do you have to make yourself invisible as a filmmaker to obtain that? AH: Theres nothing invisible about me. I make myself present, and I create real intimacy by connecting with them not by pretending Im not there and stealing intimacy. We are all conditioned to think that because theres an opportunity for gain of some sort, whether its artistic or financial, that there could be no real engagement, just the pretense of one. But its absolutely possible: The key is to choose people you truly connect with and who are not shut down. Its the same with love. At the end of the day, these are real stories of people who are not actors. There was no script. There is one scripted sentence in the whole film: You never know anyone when you fall in love, not even yourself. Its like were all actors but if you wait long enough the mask comes off. But the film does play with the boundary between performance and documentary. Are we closer to breaking down that boundary? SL: I dont think it must be one way or the other. Its not black and white. We are all performing narrative documentary. Its all performance: Living is a performance to our own egos. One of the feats of Almas film is that it speaks to a very necessary humanistic truth without ever having to define itself as one or the other. AH: Many peoples definition of truth and reality is binary, so its only natural we have the same limited forms in filmmaking. Seeing our dreams and our subjective experiences as things that exist outside of reality is not the path to capturing truth. I think people who come to documentaries from journalism have a problem sometimes with my filmmaking, but thats not for me to solve. I never went to film school. I learned filmmaking in my sleep. I watched my dreams and how I go in and out of my imagination during my waking hours; I see performance in the same fluid way. I do feel, however, that its becoming trendy (to blur the two), so there are people who try to find dogma in that, too who say everything in documentary is fake, so you might as well script everything. Its the same binary thinking. Limited artists always find ways to limit themselves. Related stories Tribeca Film Review: Ricky Gervais' 'Special Correspondents' Tribeca Film Review: 'Kicks' Tribeca: Netflix Buys 'Little Boxes' Starring Melanie Lynskey (EXCLUSIVE) Supporters of U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders waited in line for hours in downtown Baltimore Saturday morning to attend his rally at the Royal Farms Arena. Even facing a tough delegate deficit Sanders said he's not bowing out of the presidential race, and that could have everything to do with his support base. Sanders said it's about doing a better job of getting the campaign's message out in Maryland. More solid pitching and an unorthodox triple play helped the Chicago White Sox cool off the visiting Texas Rangers in the opener of their weekend series. While the White Sox look to end their struggles against Colby Lewis, they hope Carlos Rodon can rebound from the shortest start of his young career Saturday. Texas (10-7) scored 24 runs during a four-game winning streak that ended Friday, when it managed five hits and was stymied over seven innings by Jose Quintana in a 5-0 defeat. The Rangers threatened in the seventh with the bases loaded when Mitch Moreland lined out to right fielder Adam Eaton, who threw to first to double off Ian Desmond. Prince Fielder was eventually caught in a rundown between third and home to complete the 9-3-2-6-2-5 triple play. "Besides marrying my wife and the birth of my kid, that's high up there,'' Eaton said, smiling. ''I've never had that much fun on a ballfield.'' While that play certainly helped its cause Friday, Chicago's early success has been keyed by a rotation that has a 2.69 ERA and a bullpen that's yielded eight runs over 46 1/3 innings. Rodon (1-2, 4.73 ERA) gave up two runs and 10 hits in 13 innings over his first two starts, then allowed five runs, six hits and walked two in one-third of an inning in Monday's 7-0 loss to the Los Angeles Angels. It was the shortest non-injury related start for the White Sox (11-6) since Neal Cotts recorded one out Aug. 28, 2003. ''Just challenge guys. That's something I can learn from," Rodon told MLB's official website. "Just go up there and throw the ball. See if you can hit it. See how far you can hit this one, if you can hit it at all. "You have to say, 'forget about it,' and just see what you are made out of and challenge those guys if your stuff is not working." The left-hander walked six over two starts against the Rangers as a rookie in 2015, but was 1-0 with a 2.25 ERA. Story continues Lewis (1-0, 4.00) has struck out 38 and walked four while posting a 1.22 ERA to win six straight starts against the White Sox. He allowed three runs on two homers in 15 innings of two meetings last season. The right-hander, though, hopes to be more effective than last Saturday when he yielded four runs and 10 hits - three solo homers - in six innings while not earning a decision in an 8-4 victory over Baltimore. "To kind of keep them at bay for six innings and keep it close, that's all I wanted to do," Lewis said. Austin Jackson is 3 for 28 in his last 10 games but is batting .441 with a home run and three doubles in 34 at-bats, including the postseason, against Lewis. Jose Abreu is 4 for 10 against him but 2 for 30 with eight strikeouts in the last eight contests. Texas' Adrian Beltre is 9 for 18 without a strikeout in the past five games, and he's fanned just three times this season. Fielder is batting .365 in his last 14 games against Chicago. Would a candidate for president of the United States ever officially condone a riot on the floor of a national convention? Would a candidate actually ever seek to provoke one? Should delegates at a convention be permitted to carry guns? Can supporters of a candidate try to buy delegate votes? Could any of these things happen at a contested Republican Convention this year in Cleveland? It seems unlikely, but there would be precedents. Amazingly, in 1912, when Theodore Roosevelt tried to wrest the nomination from William Howard Taft, there were plans for riots, plenty of guns, and more than a few attempted and perhaps actual bribes. Even though he had groomed Taft as his handpicked successor in 1908describing him as the most lovable man he knewRoosevelt decided to come out of retirement in 1912 and challenge the sitting president for the Republican nomination. Up to then, delegates to national conventions were picked by party leaders, but when it became clear that he could not win over the men who controlled the party machinery, Roosevelt embraced a new idea: presidential primaries. His campaign theme became: Let the people rule. There were 13 primaries that year, and when Roosevelt won nine of them and 70 percent of the elected delegates, he claimed to have right to the nomination. But most of those delegates had been picked in the old-fashioned way. So when Tafts supporters used the power of his incumbency to pressure delegates and control the proceedings, Rooseveltor men acting in his nameresorted to more creative and belligerent tactics. Some of those same themes have been in the news this year. Recommended: How 'Safe Spaces' Are Being Turned Against Student Activists When Donald Trump told CNN, I think youd have riots, if the Republican Partys leaders denied him the nomination, people were understandably disturbed. But on the eve of the 1912 convention, Roosevelt told his nephew that his supporters were prepared to use roughhouse tactics to terrorize the partys leaders if they denied him the nomination. His delegates included men who were used to barroom brawls, including several who had been with his Rough Rider brigade in the Spanish American War. When the proceedings started, Roosevelts managers flooded the Chicago Convention Center bleachers with rugged supporters who were prepared to use their voices and even their fists to fight for their demand that Roosevelt be selected. Story continues In a plan hatched by some of Roosevelts more aggressive supporters, Roosevelts floor manager, Missouri Governor Herbert Hadley, was supposed to shout out an appeal to the convention chairs rulings. According to the plan, that would be a signal to Roosevelts supporters to start a massive demonstrationhopefully one that could only be stopped by the police, probably with bloodshed. And the police, as the slightly cheeky American Magazine observed, were everywhere: Not since the Haymarket Riot have so many members of this fine body of constabulary been gathered in one place. They were in the galleries; they patrolled the aisles and mingled with the delegates, scrutinizing them with the familiar expression they wear when elbowing through a crowd of hoodlums and trying to spot those who are liable to start something; in the passageways there were scores of them, actually, and this is no exaggeration, crouched along the walls ready to spring with club and pistol in hand upon this historical deliberative assemblage. Once the police had attacked the Roosevelt boostersand perhaps done so rather brutallyin front of the worlds press, the strategy called for Roosevelts supporters to walk out of the hall and hold their own convention, where they would claim to be the true Republican Party. It was the kind of tactic that they had usedand used effectivelyearlier at state conventions in Michigan, Washington, and elsewhere. Recommended: The Obama Doctrine But the plan was never executed. At the last moment, Hadley decided not to give the signal for the demonstration. Remembering those events a decade later, he recalled that he had made the unilateral decision not to resort to rough stuff, because he was convinced that with so many police guarding the hall, there would be too much bloodshed. In his words, Roosevelts supporters would have been badly worsted. That led some of Roosevelts supporters, including California Governor Hiram Johnson, to accuse Hadley of cowardice. After the convention, Johnson berated the timid and shrinking men who had viewed with such horror the proposal to seize control of the convention by force. This year, when an online petition proposed that delegates be allowed to enter the Cleveland Convention with guns, the Secret Service promptlyand properlyshut the idea down. Only authorized law enforcement personnel working in conjunction with the Secret Service for a particular event, they held, may carry a firearm inside of the protected site. One man dropped dead and two or three were carried out unconscious. But at state conventions throughout 1912, guns were everywhere. In one of the Roosevelt campaigns early success stories, his forces won most of the delegates from Oklahoma by using strategies that were straight out of the Wild West. Franklin Knox, who later became Franklin Roosevelts secretary of the Navy, described the scene: Our fellows put up a great fight lasting all day and until four in the morning. One man dropped dead and two or three were carried out unconscious. The state chairman, Harris, a Taft man, was told if he tried to put over any crooked deals from the chair that he wouldnt get out of the hall alive. Feelings ran so high that gun-play was expected. Indeed, I am told that one of Roosevelts men stood behind Harris with his hand on his gun ready for an emergency. How about bribery? Buying votes is illegal, CNN recently reported, but, it turns out, buying delegates might not be. The network then quoted Trump senior adviser Barry Bennett saying, Theres obviously a big line: Were not going to do anything immoral, illegal, or unethical. Recommended: 'The Most Important Takeover of Any Organization in History' Those lines were not so clear in 1912. For Roosevelt to seize the nomination from Taft, about 50 delegates would have to change sides. Most of the public attention focused on a series of challenges to delegate credentials, but in fact Roosevelts campaign had a very different path to victory in mind. There were about 68 black delegates from the Deep South. Virtually all of them had been nominated at Taft-controlled conventions, but they were legally free to support Roosevelt. The hopes of the Roosevelt managers for controlling the convention, reported The New York Times on June 16, rest today more strongly than anything else on their hopes of winning over enough of the Taft negro delegates from the South to make up the deficit that still separates them from a majority. Both campaigns subsequently released affidavits from black delegates claiming that they had been offered bribes, some as large as $1,000, which today would be equivalent to about $25,000. A great deal of contemporary evidence demonstrates that most of the offers came from Roosevelts camp, though it is possible that Roosevelt never knew what was being done in his name. I never told Roosevelt about this strange little backwater in the river of righteousness on which the progressive craft was sailing so gallantly, one of his campaign leaders later explained, and I doubt that he ever knew of it. Roosevelts gambits didnt work, of course, and he walked out of the convention to start a new party. As Americans prepare for the possibility of another contested convention, it is at least comforting to know that the nation has lived throughand triumphedduring some equally rough-and-tumble times. Read more from The Atlantic: This article was originally published on The Atlantic. Saturday Night Live is paying its respects to Prince with a clip show highlighting the musicians memorable performances on the show over the years. A publicist at NBC sent word on Friday afternoon that Saturdays episode would be titled SNL Goodnight Sweet Prince. Prince died on Thursday at age 57. The cause of his death has not yet been determined, though authorities have ruled out a suicide. Also Read: Prince's Unreleased Music Could Make Estate More Valuable Than Michael Jackson's Scores of Prince tributes are popping up all over America. LACMAs Rain Room transformed into the Purple Rain Room on Friday, while AMC Theaters is bringing the Warner Bros. movie Purple Rain back to theaters from April 23-28. Related stories from TheWrap: Prince's Unreleased Music Could Make Estate More Valuable Than Michael Jackson's Prince Insider: 'His Energy Was So Intense He Didn't Need Drugs' Prince Is No Longer an 'Overrated Midget' in Keith Richards' Eyes, Apparently Japan's justice minister visited a Tokyo war shrine Saturday morning to become the second member of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's Cabinet attending its latest ritual, which has already angered China and South Korea. The Yasukuni Shrine honours millions of Japanese dead, including several senior military and political figures convicted of war crimes after World War II. "I paid respect in order to express my gratitude to the souls of those who fought for the nation and sacrificed their lives," Mitsuhide Iwaki told reporters. His visit came a day after dozens of lawmakers, including Internal Affairs Minister Sanae Takaichi, made their pilgrimage to the leafy central Tokyo shrine for a spring festival. Their visits immediately drew angry reactions from China and South Korea, which see it as a symbol of Tokyo's militaristic past. South Korea's foreign ministry spokesman Cho June-Hyuck said in a statement that the shrine "beautifies the colonial past and war of aggression, and enshrines war criminals". But Abe and other nationalists say the shrine is merely a place to remember fallen soldiers and compare it to burial grounds such as Arlington National Cemetery in the United States. Abe went in December 2013 to mark his first year in power, a visit that sparked fury in Beijing and Seoul and earned him a diplomatic rebuke from the United States, which said it was "disappointed" by the action. He made a ritual offering to the shrine earlier this week but refrained from going and reactions by China and South Korea to Yasukuni visits, while remaining critical, have become less intense as Japan has taken steps over the past 18 months to improve relations with both countries and Abe has held summit meetings with their leaders. Caitlyn Jenner isn't backing down even when faced with less-than-open ears. In a sneak peek at Sunday's upcoming season finale of I Am Cait, Jenner, 66, and her friends travel to Houston and end up getting involved with pastors resisting LGBT rights by supporting the repeal of Houston's Equal Rights Ordinance. "We came to Houston to do something about this city's response to the hatred, especially of five pastors, who turned an entire Human Rights Ordinance into a lie about bathrooms," Jenner's friend Kate Bornstein explains. "Caitlyn's idea was, 'I'll go see them and talk with them face to face.' " Upon arriving at their hotel room, I Am Cait star Jennifer Boylan decides to call a church where one of the pastors works and asks to speak to him. When the woman on the other end of the line informs her the pastor isn't there, Boylan announces herself as someone visiting from out of town hoping to attend a prayer service. After being told given details of a service that evening, Boylan asks: "I'm a transgender woman who's looking for a place to worship, would I be welcome at the service this evening?" When there's no response, Jenner motions to Boylan to hand her the phone. RELATED VIDEO: Top 3 I Am Cait Moments You May Have Missed! I Am Cait Moments You May Have Missed!" data-ad-channel="peoplenow" data-ad-subchannel="sharethisnow" data-auto-play="no"> "How are you doing? Caitlyn Jenner here," Jenner says. After a moment of silence, the line goes dead. Jenner and the rest of the women are shocked as they realize they've been hung up on. "She got the click!" Candis Cayne says. "I thought that everybody just loved you!" Boylan says incredulously. "That's actually all the more reason we need to go tonight," Jenner says determinedly. The I Am Cait season finale airs Sunday at 9 p.m. ET on E! Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr. 22 By Elena Kosolapova, Aygun Badalova - Trend: United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) 7th Global Forum will be a very strong message to the world, Azernews newspaper's editor-in-chief Sevil Mikayilova said at the expert panel discussions held by the Baku International Policy and Security Network think tank. Noting that Baku is located on the crossroads of east and west, and north and south, Mikayilova said it is the right place to address the world and say that peace should dominate throughout the world. Mikayilova said she expects a lot from the Global Forum, and it is especially important that the event will include the youth-related event, which will bring together youth from 150 countries from all over the world on April 25. The threats of terrorism, radicalism and many dangerous tendencies are increasing throughout the world, according to Mikayilova. What is very dangerous, according to Azernews editor in chief, is that such tendencies frequently, and in most cases are directed towards youth. "I think this will be a very good platform to say that the world should get rid of such dangerous and unnecessary tendencies, and from this point of view, the Baku Forum will be a very strong message to the world," Mikayilova said. With regard to the recent escalation over the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Mikayilova said that it is important for the world, for the international community to know that the conflict is not frozen. She stressed that Azerbaijani leadership has, on numerous occasions, stated that the conflict is alive and it can flare up at any moment. Mikayilova noted that the recent developments on the contact line once again proved this statement by the government. She also said that it was a call for the international community to get involved in the resolution of this conflict, which is very dangerous, not only for the region, but for the world as well. She stressed that the statements that were immediately made by the powerful countries following the events, showed that they are interested in resolution of the conflict. "Now it is high time to show a different approach to the conflict's resolution process. International organizations are also trying to become more active in this process," Mikayilova said. She added that still there is a need to distinguish the aggressor and the country which has been subjected to aggression. This should be the major milestone that can actually move the process of the negotiations forward, according to Mikayilova. http://bakunetwork.com Follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Youtube Beirut (AFP) - A senior commander in Syria's powerful Islamist Ahrar al-Sham rebel group was killed Saturday night in a suicide bombing in Idlib province, a monitoring group said. "Ahrar al-Sham chief of staff Majed Hussein Al Sadeq was killed with three other fighters from the group in a suicide attack against its headquarters in Binnish town," northeast of Idlib city, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. "An unknown person parked his motorcycle near the headquarters then walked into a group of Ahrar al-Sham fighters and detonated his explosive belt," the observatory said. It was unclear who was responsible for the attack. Sadeq, also known as Islam Abou Hussein, was a Syrian army officer who defected to join the opposition. He held several posts in Ahrar al-Sham before becoming its chief of staff. Ahrar al-Sham is one of Syria's most powerful rebel groups, founded in 2011 and financed by Turkey and Gulf states, according to experts. It is a leading member of the Army of Conquest alliance that controls the northwest province of Idlib along with Al-Qaeda affiliate Al-Nusra Front. By Adrian Croft and Aleksandar Vasovic BELGRADE (Reuters) - Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic is asking Serbian voters on Sunday for four more years in power to pursue European Union membership, but he may have to contend with a resurgent ultra-nationalist opposition demanding closer ties with Russia. Vucic called early parliamentary elections just two years after his conservative Progressive Party won a landslide election victory, propelling him into office. The 46-year-old former hardline nationalist who converted to EU-friendly policies in 2008 says he needs a clear mandate from Serbia's seven million people for reforms to complete EU membership talks launched in December. Both EU rules and a 1.2 billion euro ($1.35 billion) loan agreement with the International Monetary Fund oblige Vucic to privatize or downsize big loss-making state-run companies, potentially throwing thousands out of work. "We want to complete the process of privatization, speed up (private) investments and above all to spur the entrepreneurial spirit of the people," Vucic told Reuters in an interview this week. Opinion polls suggest Vucic's party is on track to win 48 percent -- about the same share of the vote it won two years ago -- giving him another absolute majority in parliament. Analysts think Vucic will continue a coalition with the second-biggest party, the Socialists, even though he does not need to, to broaden his base. Whereas until now there has been a broad consensus in parliament in favor of EU membership, Sunday's election looks likely to bring a return to parliament of ultra-nationalists who oppose EU membership and favor closer ties with Russia. Vojislav Seselj, a nationalist firebrand who was acquitted by the U.N. tribunal in The Hague last month of war crimes during the 1990s breakup of Yugoslavia, could emerge as the effective leader of the opposition. His Radicals are tipped to become the third largest party, returning to parliament for the first time since 2012. THORN IN VUCIC'S SIDE The ultra-nationalists may complicate Serbia's EU membership talks by resisting concessions, such as ending Serbia's constitutional claim to sovereignty over Kosovo. Critics of Vucic, who was information minister during the final years of late President Slobodan Milosevic's rule, say his government is increasingly autocratic and has stifled media freedom. Belgrade street vendor Nadica Ciric, 39, said she would vote for Vucic, despite some calling him a dictator, because "he created jobs and saved the country from bankruptcy." Even while integrating with the EU, Vucic's government strives to stay on good terms with traditional ally Russia, an important gas supplier. Vucic has no plans for Serbia to join NATO. On economics, Vucic has little choice but to continue with austerity policies demanded by the IMF. Cuts in public spending and subsidies, and tax rises helped Serbia trim its budget deficit by nearly half last year. But the economy is recovering only slowly from recession and unemployment remains around 18 percent. Polls open at 7 a.m. (0500 GMT) and close at 8 p.m. (1800 GMT) with first estimates of the outcome by private pollsters expected about an hour later. ($1=0.8909 euros) (Additional reporting by Ivana Sekularac; Editing by Clelia Oziel) These New York organ donors proved that being deemed 'not-a-match' with their loved ones is not the end of their transplant process. Read: Girl, 8, Undergoes Rare Quadruple Organ Transplant For the first time since their three-way daisy chain kidney swap, the six people involved -- three donors and three recipients -- are gathered in the same room. "I'm so grateful," organ recipient Elaine Richards, 59, said in the press conference. "I have a new life. I feel good." Dawn Bates, 49, said at the North Shore University Hospital: "My impulse was to help my niece. When I realized we weren't comparable, it occurred to me there was still an opportunity to help someone else who had a great need." Bates from Deer Park, originally became involved when her niece, Nicole Johnson went into acute kidney failure in 2014. But in her goodwill, she was matched with another woman, Tiffany Tung, and donated her kidney to the stranger in October 2015. Tiffany Tung, 34, is a paralegal living in Westbury. Though the North Shore University Hospital suspected her husband, Terry Fung Ching, 31, was a match, he was not be able to complete the kidney work-up in time for the October donation. Ching was later determined to be a suitable donor for Elaine Richards, a 59-year-old woman living in Uniondale, who had been on dialysis since 2012. They did transplant surgery in December, 2015. Because the transplant center also found that Elaine Richards' daughter-in-law, Catherine Richards from Hempstead was a fit for Nicole Johnson, she donated her kidney to the first woman in the chain in February 2016. Read: 8-Year-Old Becomes Youngest Patient to Ever Receive a Double-Hand Transplant Dr. Nicole Ali, the medical director of the transplant center, said in a press conference that while matches are not guaranteed, if an organ donor agrees to be involved in a daisy chain transplant, where potential donors are matched with random recipients with hopes that they will spark a chain of matches, their intended recipient's wait for an organ could may be shorter. Story continues Ali also said in the press conference that many people on the transplant list die waiting, but thanks to the generosity of everyone involved, each donor and recipient are deemed to be in excellent condition. Watch: Teen Overjoyed After Heart Transplant: 'I've Been Waiting So Long... I Can Breathe Again!' Related Articles: Gambella (Ethiopia) (AFP) - South Sudan's rebel chief Riek Machar missed an international deadline to return to Juba on Saturday to become vice-president under a peace deal hoped to end war, claiming the government denied permission. Machar, who appeared at an airport in Ethiopia ready to return home to the capital, said the government in Juba failed to grant him clearance to fly despite monitors completing the required weapons verification. "I'm very disappointed," said Machar, wearing an open-necked orange shirt instead of military uniform, adding he hoped to fly on Monday. "We didn't get permission to land in Juba, not today and not tomorrow," he told reporters in the airport in the Ethiopian town of Gambella, close to the border with South Sudan. "The government is stalling." - Uncertain welcome - UN chief Ban Ki-moon has urged Machar to return to Juba "without delay", while the US, Britain and Norway -- key international backers of peace efforts -- demanded he return by Saturday. South Sudan's civil war began in December 2013 when Kiir accused Machar of plotting a coup. The conflict has reignited ethnic divisions and been characterised by gross human rights violations. It has included the abduction and rape of thousands of women and girls, massacres of civilians, recruitment of child soldiers, murder, mutilation and even cannibalism. Machar, who fled for his life from Juba as war erupted with massacres carried out in the capital, said he was unsure of what welcome he faced. "I don't know," he said. He said he was returning to his base at Pagak across the border in South Sudan, but would return to the airport on Monday hoping to fly. Machar was due to return to Juba on April 18 to forge a unity government with his arch-rival President Salva Kiir. - 'Risk of further conflict' - His failure to arrive has thrown an August 2015 peace agreement into jeopardy, with US, Britain and Norway warning in a statement late Friday of the risk of "further conflict and suffering." Story continues International monitors completed verification of the number of weapons carried by the rebels accompanying him, diplomats said Saturday. There was no immediate response from the government, who previously said they would clear Machar's plane to fly once the weapons-checking was completed. Minister of Information Michael Makuei has previously said he expected Machar to arrive on Monday. There was growing frustration among the rebel troops in Gambella, who have now been there for several days waiting to leave. Under intense international pressure, the two sides reached agreement on Friday on the number of troops protecting Machar and the exact number of weapons they can carry. Machar can bring with him 195 men, carrying AK-47 assault rifles as well as 20 machine guns and 20 rocket-propelled grenades. Machar, a former rebel leader turned deputy president, started a new rebellion after being fired by Kiir in 2013, fighting his way back to office. A 1,370-strong armed rebel force has already arrived in Juba as part of the peace deal, and government forces say they have implemented their promise to pull all but 3,420 of their troops from the city. All other soldiers have to remain at least 25 kilometres (15 miles) outside the capital. Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr.23 Trend: Azerbaijan's Ministry of Emergency Situations continues the fire fighting on the burning Russian PALFLOT 2 tanker in the Caspian Sea, the ministry told Trend Apr.23. This is while the Main Emergency Department in Russia's Astrakhan region told Trend that the fire extinction has been suspended. Earlier, the department said that one crew member of PALFLOT 2 has died as a result of the fire. "The tanker's crew consisted of 10 Russian nationals and one Kazakh national," said the department, adding that the nationality of the dead crew member hasn't been defined yet. Ten crew members have already been evacuated to OPTIMAFLOT 2 ship, according to the department. RIA Novosti agency reported earlier that the burning tanker's home port is the Russian city of Astrakhan. The agency added that there were no oil products on the tanker, adding that it was filled with ballast - water. Azerbaijan's Ministry of Emergency Situations earlier said that it has joint the fire fighting on Russian PALFLOT 2 ship. The long in-development big screen adaptation of Stephen Kings epic horror novel It finally has a release date. Studio Warner Bros, who are releasing It via their subsidiary New Line Cinema, have announced the first part of the two-volume film, to be directed by Andres Muschietti, will hit US cinemas on 8 September 2017. This would appear to confirm producer Roy Lees earlier pronouncement that the movie would shoot this year in California. Lee remarked in February, It will hopefully be shooting later this year. We just got the California tax credit Gary Doberman wrote the most recent draft working with Andy Muschietti, so its being envisioned as two movies. There is no word yet on when we can anticipate the second film (or whether we can expect It Vol 1 to open in the UK at the same time). First published in 1986, It is one of Kings best-loved and lengthiest books (well over 1,000 pages), and was previously shot as a TV mini-series in 1990, with Tim Curry in the central role of the evil clown Pennywise. Mama director Muschietti boarded the It movie in summer 2015, replacing Cary Fukunaga (True Detective, Beasts of No Nation) who left over differences with the producers. Fukunaga claimed he left the project because the studio wanted a much more conventional, inoffensive script, but producer Lee has since insisted the film will remain R-rated. Hand in hand with this announcement, Warner Bros also revealed that their upcoming comedy CHiPs (based on the 1980s TV cop show) will open on 11 August 2017, whilst the studio will also release an as-yet unnamed PG-13 comedy on 22 December of that year. Picture Credit: Warner Bros, Tor Publishing Read More: Vince Vaughn Cast In Violent Prison Movie Marvels Inhumans Loses Release Date Robert Downey Jr Confirms Third Sherlock Holmes By Ruma Paul DHAKA (Reuters) - A university professor was hacked to death on Saturday in northwestern Bangladesh, police said, with Islamic State claiming responsibility for the latest in a series of attacks on liberal activists. Two assailants on a motorcycle attacked Rezaul Karim Siddiquee, 58, an English professor at Rajshahi University, slitting his throat and hacking him to death, Rajshahi city police chief Mohammad Shamsuddin told reporters, quoting witnesses. He was found lying in a pool of blood near his home, where he was apparently waiting for a bus to the university campus about 200 kilometers (125 miles) northwest of Dhaka when he was attacked. Islamic State claimed responsibility for the killing of the professor for "calling to atheism", the U.S.-based SITE monitoring service said quoting the militant group's Amaq Agency. Police said the murder was similar to other recent attacks on secular bloggers by Islamist militants. But fellow university teachers said Siddiquee, while active in cultural events, never spoke or wrote anything about religion or Islam. "Professor Rezaul was killed in a similar fashion as the killings of bloggers," Shamsuddin said, adding he was a peaceful person and had no enemies. The Muslim-majority nation of 160 million has seen a surge in violent attacks over the past few months in which members of minority Muslim sects and other religious groups have also been targeted. Five secular bloggers and a publisher have been hacked to death in Bangladesh since February last year. A group affiliated with al Qaeda claimed responsibility for the killing of a liberal Bangladeshi blogger earlier this month, the SITE has said. Bangladesh authorities said the homegrown militant group Ansarullah Bangla Team is behind the attacks on online critics of religious extremism. The gruesome killing on Saturday triggered a protest by teachers and students of the Rajshahi University, blocking a major road and demanding immediate arrest of the killers. Three teachers at the university have been killed in recent years. Islamic State has also claimed responsibility for the killings of two foreigners, and attacks on mosques and Christian priests in Bangladesh since September, but police said local militant group Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen was behind those attacks. The government has denied that the Islamic State or al Qaeda groups have a presence in Bangladesh. At least five militants have been killed in shootouts since November as security forces have stepped up a crackdown on Islamist militants looking to establish a sharia-based Muslim state. (Reporting by Ruma Paul; Editing by Clelia Oziel) Food Future coLab strawberry scan Target is trying new ways to compete with grocery rivals including providing customers with radical transparency. A new concept, currently being tested in Edina, Minnesota, allows customers to pay for certain produce, including strawberries and raspberries, based on how fresh they are, reports the Star Tribune. Items arrival times are indicated on a sign over the produce, with a 50-cent price difference between fresher and older produce. Customers can also weigh produce on futuristic smart scales, which provide customers with information such as how many calories the fruit or vegetable has, if it is organic, and how it was produced. The smart scales allow Target to see what information is most important to customers, at a time when Americans are increasingly interested in health nutrition. ABV Food and Future coLab Header The test is a project from Food + Future coLab, a partnership with MITs Media Lab and design firm Ideo, dedicated to "pushing the edges of technology, business, and design." Target recently launched another project from coLab in Boston called Good & Gather, which emphasizes ingredients by placing ingredients on the front of the label instead of the back. Target is in the midst of a major overhaul of its grocery section. In March, the company announced it was cutting back on its middle-aisle dry packaged goods, and adding more fresh produce and organic and gluten-free products. The retail chain began its revamp last year, with Target CEO Brian Cornell visiting rivals such as Wegmans and Trader Joes for inspiration, reports the Wall Street Journal. The company decided to stand out from the competition by refocusing on seven major categories: meat, beer and wine, fruits and vegetables, coffee and tea, yogurt and granola, snacks, and candy. The changes are already helping boost sales, with Target reporting that food sales in the last six months of 2015 outpaced overall sales. However, issues with the supply chain have caused some issues as the company works to add more fresh offerings. Story continues fancy target store "I said to my team this looks like Frankenstein. We have made this thing out of a bunch of parts, Target COO John Mulligan said last year in an interview with Reuters. Targets food-centric rehaul comes at a time when the grocery business is growing increasingly crowded. Retail chains such as Walmart and traditional supermarkets like Kroger are modernizing by investing in the online and organic grocery business. At the same time, discount chains such as Aldi and Trader Joes are growing and expanding their organic offerings, forcing other chains to consider cutting prices. Whole Foods, for example, is launching a lower-cost chain called 365 to attract millennial customers. NOW WATCH: What those 'sell-by' dates on your groceries really mean More From Business Insider (image:Flickr/Samferdselsdepartementet) Tesla CEO Elon Musk still has big plans for the future, this time teasing a mobility service that could solve the density problem in intercity situations, Electrek reported. Musk was in Norway Thursday to give a keynote address on Future Transport Solutions. While there he spoke with Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg and Ketil Solvik-Olsen, the Minister of Transport and Communications. Musk said that Tesla had an idea for something that could revolutionize mass transit when speaking with Solvik-Olsen. We have an idea for something which is not exactly a bus, but would solve the density problem in intercity situations. I think we need to rethink the whole concept of public transport and create something that people are actually gonna like a lot more. I dont want to talk too much about it. He added that Tesla is considering a car or vehicle that would help people get to their final destination instead of a bus stop, adding that autonomous vehicles are key to the service. This isnt the first time Musk has hinted that he is interested in getting into the transportation service. Musk was asked during Teslas third-quarter earning call in November if Tesla was planning to get into a Uber-like business. There is a right time to make announcements and this is not that time, Musk said during the call, adding that such a service was not yet fully-baked. The comments hinted that the company had some semblance of a strategy for entering the ride-sharing sphere. H/T Electrek By Julia Edwards WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Federal Bureau of Investigation Director James Comey said on Thursday the agency paid more to get into the iPhone of one of the San Bernardino shooters than he will make in the remaining seven years and four months he has in his job. According to figures from the FBI and the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, Comey's annual salary as of January 2015 was $183,300. Without a raise or bonus, Comey will make $1.34 million over the remainder of his job. That suggests the FBI paid the largest ever publicized fee for a hacking job, easily surpassing the $1 million paid by U.S. information security company Zerodium to break into phones. Speaking at the Aspen Security Forum in London, Comey was asked by a moderator how much the FBI paid for the software that eventually broke into the iPhone. "A lot. More than I will make in the remainder of this job, which is seven years and four months for sure," Comey said. "But it was, in my view, worth it." The Justice Department said in March it had unlocked the San Bernardino shooter's iPhone with the help of an unidentified third party and dropped its case against Apple Inc , ending a high-stakes legal clash but leaving the broader fight over encryption unresolved. Comey said the FBI will be able to use software used on the San Bernardino phone on other 5C iPhones running IOS 9 software. There are about 10 million 5C iPhones in use in the United States, according to estimates from research firm IHS Technology. Eighty-four percent of iOS devices overall are running iOS 9 software, according to Apple. The FBI gained access to the iPhone used by Rizwan Farook, one of the shooters who killed 14 people in San Bernardino, California on Dec. 2. The case raised the debate over whether technology companies' encryption technologies protect privacy or endanger the public by blocking law enforcement access to information. (This version was officially corrected to change active U.S. 5C iPhone estimates to 10 million from 16 million in paragraph 8 after analyst IHS corrects figure.) (Reporting by Julia Edwards in Washington; additional reporting by Julia Love in San Francisco; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore) Are smartphone manufacturers finally taking complaints about battery life seriously? A new rumor posted by Dutch website GSM Helpdesk suggests that Samsung is. According to the website's sources, Samsung is testing out a version of the Note 6 that has a giant 4,000mAh battery, which would be a step up from the Galaxy S7 edge's 3,600 mAh battery. The website also claims the device will have a 5.8-inch display with a resolution of 1,440 x 2,560 pixels, along with 6GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage. But let's be honest: What's really intriguing here is the giant battery. MUST SEE: Photos of the Tesla Model 3 like youve never seen before As we mentioned before, the Galaxy S7 edge pushed things forward earlier this year with its 3,600mAh battery. HTC's newest HTC 10 flagship phone features a 3,000 mAh battery, but HTC claims that it's developed technology that will allow it to last up to two days on a single charge. And last year's Droid Turbo 2 featured a 3760 mAh battery, although that device was more of a niche device that was an exclusive to Verizon. So a 4,000mAh battery would really be pushing things forward here, especially when you consider that the Note 5 "only" had a 3,000mAh battery. Does this mean we'll soon expect all our phones to at least last for two days on a single charge? That would obviously be terrific but we'll have to wait and see. Related stories Samsung really wants you to know that its latest iPhone copy doesn't copy the iPhone New report outlines one way the iPhone 7 might not match the Galaxy S7 World's two best flagship Android phones face off in real-world performance test More from BGR: Photos of the Tesla Model 3 like youve never seen before This article was originally published on BGR.com Despite the clothing optional policy in the new film A Bigger Splash, a special screening at New Yorks The Museum of Modern Art on Thursday was a mini fashion show of sorts. The guests outfits dazzled, but none as much as one of the films stars, Tilda Swinton, who was dressed in all white for the screening but donned a sparkly purple jacket for the afterparty. Director Luca Guadagnino also attended the screening, as did star Ralph Fiennes. His co-stars, Dakota Johnson and Matthias Schoenaerts, did not attend. In A Bigger Splash, which opens May 4, Swinton plays an ethereal rock goddess-turned-Sicilian island sunbather. Since she plays a famous musician in the film, the actress recalled a special memory from many years ago in light of Princes recent death. Somebody said, Were going to Princes house. Come. So we went along, and there was Stevie Wonder singing Superstition,' she said. So Im still pinching myself. It was like a dream. The stadium rocker that Swinton plays in the film injures her voice, and cant speak. The actress made the decision for her character to mostly pantomime and sometimes whisper. On the red carpet, she laughed, Im a little sick of people talking too much in movies. The director had worked with Swinton before in his 2009 film I Am Love, and will work with her again in Suspiria, which he calls a big surprise. With Tilda, shes such a devoted person to the art of cinema, Guadagnino said, She is such an intelligent person. While Swinton barely speaks in the film, Fiennes character counters her silence with constant babbling. The actor spoke to filming on a Sicilian island. It was kind of wild, he said. Its not an island thats used to hosting films. But, for Fiennes, that meant opportunity to explore. I went hiking into the middle of the island there were these thermal springs. You go up and sit in this little cave where its like a natural sauna, he said. You meet all these other people sitting in the dark. The actor added that his adventures ultimately led to him being stung by a jellyfish while going for a swim. Story continues Following the screening, guests attended an afterparty at Sant Ambroeus on Madison Ave. Related stories Busan: Tilda Swinton to Reteam with Bong Joon-ho Luca Guadagnino Talks Making 'Splash,' Next Is 'Suspiria' Redo Venice Film Review: 'A Bigger Splash' Philippine presidential candidate Rodrigo Duterte on Saturday renewed his vow to kill criminals as the tough-talking favourite hit the stump in the capital heading into the home stretch of a controversial campaign. Seen by fans and foes alike as a real-life "Dirty Harry" from a southern city made infamous by shadowy vigilante death squads, the 71-year-old mayor of Davao is the surprise favourite in the race to succeed President Benigno Aquino. "The drug pushers, kidnappers, robbers, find them all and arrest them. If they resist, kill them all," he told about 2,000 people who cheered and shook their fists during a central Manila rally shortly after midnight. "Go ahead and charge me with murder, so I could also kill you." Duterte had earlier pledged to kill 100,000 criminals and dump so many in Manila Bay that the "fish will grow fat" from feeding on them. More than 50 million people in the mainly Catholic Asian nation are qualified to vote on May 9 with Duterte holding a clear lead over four other candidates, including Aquino's preferred successor. Analysts say Duterte's profanity-laced campaign resonates in a chaotic, high-crime society with limited opportunities for a vast underclass working for a tiny elite. This was despite having called Pope Francis a "son of a bitch" and making crass comments about the jailhouse rape of an Australian lay Christian missionary who was killed in a 1989 prison riot in Duterte's own city. His April 12 comments, in which he suggested that as mayor he should have been the first in line to rape the victim, drew widespread public condemnation, including from the ambassadors of key allies the United States and Australia. The unrepentant candidate later told the envoys to "shut up" and steer clear of domestic politics, while also grudgingly issuing an apology over the rape comments. He has also vowed to hold direct talks with China to resolve overlapping claims in the South China Sea, in a reversal of Aquino's policy of multilateral discussions with other claimants and international arbitration. Story continues Prior to the Manila rally, Duterte met late Friday with Eduardo Manalo, chief minister of the conservative religious group Church of Christ to seek the support of the influential organisation, known by its initials INC. The group, which does not disclose its membership size, votes as one in line with what followers describe as biblical doctrines on unity. Politicians routinely make a beeline for its support during elections. "I laid out my programme to fight crime, illegal drugs and corruption.... Should God will me to win, I will fight for the rights as well as the religious freedom of millions of INC members," Duterte said in a statement. INC spokesmen confirmed the meeting Saturday. The Duterte meeting meant all four of the major presidential candidates have met with the INC leader. Details added (first version posted on 11:32) Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr. 23 Trend: One crew member died on the burning Russian PALFLOT 2 tanker in the Caspian Sea, Main Emergency Department in Russia's Astrakhan region told Trend Apr. 23. "The tanker's crew consisted of 10 Russian nationals and one Kazakh national," said the department adding that the nationality of the dead person is not clear yet. Ten crew members have already been evacuated to OPTIMAFLOT 2 ship, according to the department. RIA Novosti agency reported earlier that the burning tanker's home port is the Russian city of Astrakhan. The agency added that there were no oil products on the tanker, adding that it was filled with ballast - water. Meanwhile, Azerbaijan's Emergency Ministry,which joined the efforts to extinguish the fire, plans to send a boat and two helicopters to the scene for further assistance. Also, another aircraft is prepared to fly from Russia's Rostov to the scene, Russian Emergency Ministry's Southern Regional Center said. This trans woman just posted a very important selfie to make a point about bathroom laws This trans woman just posted a very important selfie to make a point about bathroom laws Sarah McBride peed the other day. But it wasnt just any trip to the bathroom. Sarah is a transgender woman, and she chose to use a womens restroom in North Carolina. In a government building, no less. Sarahs powerful act comes after North Carolina put HB2 into effect, a law that requires bathroom goers to use the restroom of their gender at birth, consequently discriminating against many in the LGBT community. The 25 year-old trans woman and activist is the communications manager for LGBT Progress at American Progress, and she was recently in North Carolina to speak to trans people about how the law was affecting their lives. Then, after a meeting at the Mecklenburg Government Center on Thursday, she went to the ladies room. Here I am using a womens restroom in North Carolina that Im technically barred from being in. They say Im a pervert. They say Im a man dressed as a woman. They say Im a threat to their children. They say Im confused. They say Im dangerous, Sarah writes in the Instagram caption. Im just a person. We are all just people. Trying to pee in peace. Story continues The response on Facebook was overwhelming, garnering 38,000 reactions and 13,804 shares at the time of publication. This isnt about abstract issues or fears, Sarah told BuzzFeed. This is about real people being able to access the bathroom and being able to participate in public life. Im a person just trying to make it through my day, she added in her statement. Regardless of how I look I shouldnt be afraid of discrimination or violence. The post This trans woman just posted a very important selfie to make a point about bathroom laws appeared first on HelloGiggles. A pair of vintage Air Jordans take the place of a bicycle in Justin Tippings Kicks, which updates De Sicas post-war Rome for the modern day East Bay culture of sideshows and Mac Dre, following a California high school student across the urban expanse as he tries to recover his purloined shoes. An arresting visual experience, Kicks has style to spare, and in fact it probably should have spared a little, as this first-time director sometimes crowds his film with more auteurial flourishes than his rather simple story can support. Nonetheless, this is a debut of undeniable promise, both for its director and its largely unknown cast, and its Tribeca bow should be the first of many festival appearances. Brandon (Jahking Guillory) is a quiet 15-year-old living in the rough Bay Area community of Richmond, facing all the problems of a good kid in a mad city: Hes short, skinny, broke, nervous around girls, and boasts the sort of feminine features and shoulder-length hairstyle that are bound to make him a target. For Brandon, however, all his insecurities are projected downward; to his worn, nearly disintegrating white sneakers. His buddies good-looking lothario Rico (Christopher Meyer) and wisecracking Albert (Christopher Jordan Wallace, son of the Notorious B.I.G.) are better equipped, both physically and sartorially, but Brandon finally manages to save up for a pair of mythical black and red Jordans from a local hustler. He only gets a day to enjoy them, however, before the menacing neighborhood tough guy Flaco (Kofi Siriboe) jumps him and takes off with his kicks, his minions filming and uploading the whole humiliating ordeal to YouTube. Bloodied but unbowed as if to underscore the Jordans role as stand-ins for masculinity, Brandon is forced to leave the house in his mothers bedroom slippers he vows to get them back, even if it means dragging Rico and Albert with him to the mean streets of Oakland to see his former drug-dealer uncle (Mahershala Ali, unnervingly authoritative). By the time he finds himself riding around the flats five-deep with a gun in his waistband, Brandon has clearly gotten in several fathoms over his head, and the tension comes from trying to guess just how much deeper hes willing to go. Story continues As a character, Brandon is sometimes so introverted that he becomes unreadable, but Guillory plays him with understated empathy, while Wallace and Meyer make for welcome company. Yet the real cast standout is Siriboe, who takes what initially appears to be a stock thug character and keeps opening him up in surprising ways. When we first see Flaco beating up our hero, he seems almost feral; our second glimpse sees him back at home, tenderly gifting Brandons shoes to his young son (Michael Smith Jr.). Siriboe plays both sides of the character with deep commitment, and as they slowly meld together, the effect is heartbreaking; with just a few scenes, he suggests an entire parallel narrative, a far sadder rite of passage set on a collision course with Brandons. Kicks may be Brandons story, but Flacos arc is the one that stays in your head when the credits roll. Tipping and editors Dominic LaPerriere and Tomas Vengris keep the films pacing and transitions slightly off-kilter throughout, while odd musical juxtapositions (we hear the Wu-Tang Clans C.R.E.A.M. while Brandon sells candy bars for a dollar apiece) and the stellar camerawork of Michael Ragen help build a sense of creeping hyperreality. (In keeping with the films subjective POV, parents, teachers and cops are as invisible as in a Peanuts strip.) But unless youre Terrence Malick and sometimes even when you are a little bit of swooning, impressionistic slow-motion goes a long way, and Tipping leans too heavily on dreamlike displays of style that tend to drag the storys momentum when it should be hurtling forward. A steadily recurring visual metaphor of a floating astronaut proves distractingly clumsy, and chapter titles bearing rap lyrics add little to the narrative. But when Tipping gets the balance right, he can create images and sequences of real power, and one leaves the film eager to see him continue to calibrate his craft going forward. Related stories Tribeca Film Review: Ricky Gervais' 'Special Correspondents' Q&A: Shia LaBeouf and Alma Har'el on Merging Reality and Performance in 'LoveTrue' Tribeca: Netflix Buys 'Little Boxes' Starring Melanie Lynskey (EXCLUSIVE) Ricky Gervais has yet to find another role as perfectly suited to his caustic sensibilities as The Office boss David Brent or, for that matter, the impishly nasty, trash-talking persona he assumes for his Golden Globes hosting gigs. Special Correspondents doesnt halt that streak, affording him a loser-makes-good part thats as toothless as the rest of the film, about a cocky New York City news radio reporter and meek sound technician who unwittingly fake their way into the national spotlight. Written and directed by Gervais, its an overly long, if passable diversion whose star power should help it draw comedy-starved home viewers via Netflix, where itll exclusively live after its Tribeca Film Festival debut. Based on the 2009 French comedy of the same name, Special Correspondents is predicated on the chemistry of its odd-couple leads a seemingly solid plan undone by the milquetoast mildness of their bickering banter. Gervais is Ian Finch, a longtime sound man with over-the-air outfit Q365, where he aids (and fawns over the macho bluster of) bad-boy reporter Frank Bonneville (Eric Bana), whos never met a rule he wouldnt gladly break in service of securing a story. Theyre a mismatched pair thrust together by their boss (Kevin Pollak) demand that they cover a revolutionary uprising in Ecuador (as opposed to their French predecessors destination, Iraq). Crisis ensues, however, when Ian accidentally throws away their passports, tickets and cash, a mistake destined to not only cost them a high-profile report, but also their jobs. Instead of owning up to their faux pas, Ian and Franks solution is to broadcast phony dispatches from the war-torn country. They concoct those communiques in the attic of the restaurant across the street from the station thanks to the aid of goofily moronic owners Brigida (America Ferrera) and Domingo (Raul Castillo) and embellish them with rain-forest and gunfire audio effects for added authenticity. Story continues Naturally, this ruse quickly spirals out of control, leading the duo to record a video in which they pretend to be rebel hostages. Their faux-deadly situation greatly concerns co-worker Claire (Kelly MacDonald), who not-so-secretly adores Ian despite his being a 40-Year-Old Virgin-style dork who stockpiles superhero collectibles. It also attracts coast-to-coast media attention, thus providing Ians nasty wife Eleanor (Vera Farmiga) whos already cheated on him with Frank, and then outright left him to use the mens kidnapping as a launching-pad vehicle for her own celebrity career. While Eleanors impromptu television musical tribute to her husband proves a comical act of over-the-top self-promotion, Special Correspondents puts scant effort into satirizing either journalistic ethics or the publics gullibility. Gervais tale is primarily consumed with middle-of-the-road squabbling between its headliners, whose yin-yang chemistry never results in more than a few chuckle-worthy bon mots. Gervais script mistakenly assumes that its ever-more-troublesome plot twists are alone enough to prop up the proceedings. With each new development, though, the film becomes slightly creakier, culminating with a predictably ironic late turn of events in which the duo are compelled to secretly enter Ecuador (in order to be extracted by an expectant U.S. government embassy), only to find themselves in the very sort of trouble theyd previously fictionalized. Bana exudes serviceable cock-of-the-walk arrogance as Frank, but Gervais Ian is so passive, introverted and boring that the writer-director-star never gives himself an opportunity to really let fly with truly clever ripostes or pointed insults. Rather, hes stuck sulking and cowering through most of his saga, with only occasional, meekly sarcastic one-liners breaking up the actions monotony. Ferrera earns at least as many laughs as one of the duos dim-witted accomplices (who, in a funny bit, wears high-heels when posing on-camera as a terrorist). And Farmiga just about steals the show as the selfish Eleanor, whose more brazen attempts to profit from her husbands plight are almost as amusing as her head-turning, voice-dropping, smile-drooping stabs at feigning real emotion about her lame spouse. Ians transformation into an adventurous go-getter is preordained from the outset, yet theres little daring to Terry Staceys bright, functional cinematography and Dickon Hinchliffes equally safe, poppy score. Just as its characters confined apartment hideout poses as a virtual-reality Ecuador, the films bland aesthetics make it a VOD-ready TV movie masquerading as a genuine feature. Related stories Baz Luhrmann Talks Unreleased Prince Song, Upcoming Netflix Series at Tribeca Panel Tribeca Film Festival: 'Here Alone,' 'The Return' Score Audience Awards Tribeca Film Review: 'Mr. Church' Michael Douglas is ready for the presidential candidates to start talking about nuclear weapons. At a 2016 Tribeca Film Festival discussion before the immersive closing-night film the bomb, Douglas said the world is "on the advent of a new Cold War advancement in nuclear weapons - the U.S. is talking about a trillion dollars to spend, the Russians have their new missiles out," he explained. "It's just very difficult to believe. Maybe, just maybe, we can look at a new generation to look at what I think is the most serious issue that we have on the planet right now." Even more so, "we've got elections coming up this year. Once we get through these primaries and once more attention is brought to just how this arms race is continuing now, there should be a huge discussion coming this fall," said the actor and longtime advocate of nuclear non-proliferation. "It looks like it's gonna be [Donald] Trump and Hillary Clinton, with diametrically different opinions on this important issue - one who wants to nuke 'em, and somebody else." Command & Control director Robert Kenner added, "If Donald Trump is the Republican nominee, I think there will be more discussion on nuclear weapons because he is the best argument for abolition that we can make." As seen in action flicks like Pacific Rim and Independence Day, Hollywood tends to portray nuclear weapons onscreen as the ultimate and necessary arsenal, and Douglas said that won't change anytime soon. "Not in Hollywood - we're based on a business of balances, commerce with filmmaking. Commerce has to win out," said the actor. "Any movie where the message gets ahead of the drama unless you're doing documentaries, you can't get ahead of yourself. They're not interested." Still, Douglas said he's working on a documentary "about a young man living in the San Fernando Valley who grew up near a Boeing plant which had a nuclear accident in the 1950s and basically poisoned the whole neighborhood. The whole family has thyroid cancer." Story continues The panel - also featuring Command & Control author Eric Schlosser, Emma Belcher of the MacArthur Foundation and the bomb filmmaker Smriti Keshari - discussed that nuclear weapons and climate change are the two most important global issues, and because of the visual proof of climate change that's emerged, the world has begun responding with urgency. "The terrifying thing about the nuclear issue is you're really gonna have to wait for a dirty bomb. It's gonna make 9/11, Paris, Brussels, everything a miniscule amount before the amount of people who are going to be killed [by a nuclear bomb]," said Douglas. "The only optimism I see, is of these two major issues, the two most important in the world, we can eliminate nuclear weapons. It's really easy. We as humans can do something about it - we actually can, it's within our grasp." Read More: Michael Douglas: How I Capitalize on My Celebrity for a Good Cause Douglas began his activism against nuclear weapons after making The China Syndrome, James Bridges' 1979 film co-starring Jane Fonda and Jack Lemmon about a cover-up of safety hazards at a nuclear power plant. To prepare for its finale, the shoot included consultations with General Electric quality assurance experts who "gave us a breakdown of the most logical accident that might happen at a power plant," the actor and producer recalled. "That power plant was the ultimate villain - it's a horror picture. "Thirteen days after the movie came out, Three Mile Island happened in Pennsylvania," said Douglas, as news outlets ran split-screen footage of the real-life tragedy and the film. "It was an epiphany for me, the closest thing to a religious experience I might have ever had." See More: Portraits of Steve Buscemi, Chloe Grace Moretz and More Tribeca Film Festival Jurors Gaziantep (Turkey) (AFP) - European Council head Donald Tusk heaped high praise on Turkey for its reception of Syrian refugees on Saturday, saying the country served as "the best example" in the world on caring for those fleeing war. "Today Turkey is the best example for the whole world (on) how we should treat refugees," he said at a press conference following a visit with German Chancellor Angela Merkel to a refugee centre in the country. "This is not only a political and formal assessment... this is also my very private and personal feeling," he said. Gaziantep (Turkey) (AFP) - Turkey stood its ground over the contentious issue of visa-free travel for its citizens on Saturday, warning German Chancellor Angela Merkel and top EU officials it would stop taking back migrants from Europe if the bloc failed to keep its word. "The issue of the visa waiver is vital for Turkey," Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said at a joint news conference with Merkel, European Council head Donald Tusk and European Commission Vice President Frans Timmermans. The leaders were in southeast Turkey for a high-stakes visit aimed at boosting a six-billion-euro ($6.7 billion) deal to return migrants arriving on Greek shores to Turkey. The deal has been plagued by moral and legal concerns. If Ankara meets its side of the agreement, the European Commission has promised to recommend next month that EU states approve visa-free travel for Turks. But there has been growing unease in Europe over fears that security concerns are being fudged to fast-track Turkey's application. Davutoglu said the key to tackling the migrant crisis lies in "closer cooperation, and for us part of that closer cooperation is the visa liberalisation... Those two go hand in hand." Merkel replied that she "intends to fulfill the agreement, provided Turkey brings the results" to the table. Ankara must meet 72 conditions to earn the visa waiver and is believed to have fulfilled about half. - Readmission deal at stake - Asked what Turkey would do if the EU tried to delay the visa part of the accord, Davutoglu said Ankara would stop taking back migrants. "If that were to happen then the readmission agreement will also not enter into force," he said. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had already warned at the start of the week that the deal would fall through if the EU did not come through on visas. Some 325 migrants have been returned to Turkey from the Greek islands since the agreement came into force on March 20, mostly from Pakistan and Afghanistan. Story continues The deal has already sharply reduced the number of people crossing from Turkey to Greece, though the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) has said the numbers are "once again ticking up", possibly as smugglers get more creative. Merkel, Tusk and Timmermans had earlier visited the Nizip 2 camp near Gaziantep on the Turkish-Syrian border, where they spoke to some of the 5,000 people, including 1,900 children, who live in rows of white and beige prefabricated houses. The European leaders were keen to show how funds are helping Turkey improve conditions for the 2.7 million refugees the country is hosting -- though critics have pointed out the majority live in poverty far from the official camps. They inaugurated an EU-funded child protection centre, receiving gifts from children, and seemed keen to keep their ally in the migrant crisis sweet, with Tusk saying Turkey was "the best example for the whole world" on how to treat refugees. Judith Sunderland, Human Rights Watch's acting deputy director for Europe, had earlier said that instead of "touring a sanitized refugee camp", Merkel "should go to the detention centre for people who were abusively deported from Greece". - Safe zones - Merkel said she had talked with Davutoglu about creating "safe zones... along the Turkish-Syrian border", saying it "has to be of the utmost immediate importance also in our negotiations for a ceasefire" in the conflict-hit country. Many in Europe had been watching closely to see if the delegation would take a stand against the deterioration of rights in Turkey. Tusk had set the tone for a confrontational visit on Friday, when he insisted "our freedoms, including freedom of expression, will not be subject to any political bargaining. This message must be heard by President Erdogan." But the leaders refused Saturday to be drawn, with Merkel saying simply that they had "talked frankly" about it. "We have always underlined... that values like freedom of the press of freedom of expression are for us inalienable", she said. Turkish scholars and journalists, who have criticised government policies on Kurds and Syria, are on trial accused of betraying the state in cases that have sounded alarm bells over growing restrictions on free speech under Erdogan. Merkel has drawn heat for allowing a German comedian to be prosecuted for a crude poem about the Turkish leader. She was taunted Friday by one of the reporters on trial, Can Dundar, editor in chief of an opposition newspaper, who wrote an open letter saying Germany was "on the wrong side" and asking: "Will you again pretend there is no repression here?" DIYARBAKIR (Reuters) - A Turkish soldier was killed in an armed attack in Nusaybin in Turkey's southeast and 12 policemen and three civilians were wounded in an ambush on a police vehicle, the armed forces and other security sources said on Saturday. A handmade explosive was detonated in the ambush as a special forces police vehicle passed on a road to Mazidagi in Mardin province, security sources said, adding that clashes followed. In Nusaybin, the soldier was injured having been attacked during operations against the separatist militant group Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). He was taken to hospital, where he died, a statement from the armed forces said. Attacks on Turkey's security forces have increased amid a surge in violence in the predominantly Kurdish southeast that has killed hundreds of people, since the collapse of a ceasefire between the PKK and the state in July. The PKK is recognized as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union. (Reporting by Seyhmus Cakan, Dasha Afanasieva and Ayla Jean Yackley; Writing by Dasha Afanasieva; Editing by Alison Williams) Tashkent, Uzbekistan, Apr. 23 By Demir Azizov- Trend: The agreement on creating an international transportation corridor which will connect the Central Asian countries to the Persian Gulf ports has entered into force, Uzbekistan's Foreign Ministry said Apr.23. "The agreement signed on Apr.25, 2011 by Iran, Oman, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan on creating an international transportation and transit corridor (Ashgabat agreement) entered into force on Apr.23, 2016," said the ministry. The Uzbekistan-Turkmenistan-Iran-Oman transportation corridor project was initiated by Uzbekistan's President Islam Karimov in October of 2010 in Ashgabat. Foreign ministers of Iran, Oman, Qatar, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan signed a corresponding agreement in April of 2011. Later, Qatar withdrew from the agreement. During the meeting of the coordinating council in February of 2015, the project participants approved Kazakhstan's joining the Uzbekistan-Turkmenistan-Iran-Oman corridor. This corridor will make it possible to significantly intensify the cargo transportation and stimulate the trade turnover between the Central Asian and Persian Gulf countries. Russia and China can also join this transportation corridor. Kampala (AFP) - Landlocked Uganda on Saturday announced plans to export its future crude oil production via a new pipeline to be built to a Tanzanian port rather than via Kenya. "We have agreed that the oil pipeline route be developed from Uganda in Hoima to the Tanzanian port of Tanga," Uganda foreign affairs minister Sam Kutesa told AFP. There was no immediate indication of the value of Saturday's deal. However, Kutesa told AFP cost was a factor. "We considered Tanga oil pipeline route based on a number of aspects -- among them it is the least cost," the Ugandan minister said as Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, Kenyan counterpart Uhuru Kenyatta and Rwanda's Paul Kagame held a regional mini-summit outside Kampala. The first large discoveries of oil in Uganda date back to 2006 on the shores of Lake Albert. Reserves in the area are conservatively estimated at some 1.7 billion barrels. But informed sources say production will not come on stream before 2025. Three oil companies -- Total of France, Chinese giant CNOOC and Anglo-Irish firm Tullow -- each won a one-third rights share in 2009, but the issue immediately arose of how to export the crude from a country with no coastline. After years of talks discussing the relative merits of different routes out to the Indian Ocean, Uganda has chosen to run a 1,400-kilometre (800-mile) pipeline through Tanzania to the south of Lake Victoria through to the port of Tanga near the Kenyan border. According to a Ugandan experts' report dated April 11 and obtained by AFP, the Tanzanian project won the argument because the "Tanga port in Tanzania is fully operational while Lamu port in Kenya is still to be built". - Shebab security fears - The experts also highlighted the fact that the port at Tanga is protected from winds by several offshore islands, which is not the case for Lamu, raising fears of navigational hazards for oil tankers near the future Kenyan port. Story continues Kenya, where Tullow also found oil close to Lake Turkana in 2012, had proposed a pipeline from Uganda through impoverished northern Kenya to Lamu as part of an ambitious national development programme dubbed Vision 2030. Estimates of the cost of the Lamu corridor transport and infrastructure project, known as LAPSSET, are around $20 billion (18 billion euros), incorporating new roads, railway lines, airports, cities and pipelines from oil fields in Uganda and South Sudan connected to a new Lamu refinery and port. But the oil companies involved in Uganda preferred an alternative southern route through Kenya terminating at the existing major port of Mombasa. Although cheaper at some $4.3 billion, Nairobi was concerned it would not deliver regional development in the neglected north. There were also concerns for Uganda that parts of the Kenyan northern route would run near areas close to Somalia that might expose the pipeline to attacks by Al Qaeda-aligned Shebab militants. The deadlock between the two sparked the emergence of the Tanzanian option, throwing development of the Lamu project into question. Nairobi indicated Saturday it would continue with LAPSSET and build a pipeline for its own crude. None of the countries in the region, however, are likely to emerge as a major oil player compared with Africa's top producer Nigeria, whose daily production of some 2.4 million barrels a day gives it a global rank of 13th. New York (AFP) - US officials have ordered Boeing to fix engines on some of its 787 Dreamliner airplanes to avoid sudden failure in icy conditions, calling the problem an "urgent safety issue." Friday's Federal Aviation Administration directive concerns a potential problem in General Electric's most advanced engines that affects 176 planes worldwide, following a January incident that caused an engine on a Boeing's newest 787 passenger jet to fail mid-flight. Although pilots on the Japan Airlines flight from Vancouver to Tokyo shut down the engine, the incident was not deemed serious because the plane's other engine, and older version of the same model, was not susceptible to the problem. Boeing's most sophisticated passenger plane, the Dreamliner is constructed largely of advanced lightweight carbon-fiber reinforced composite materials that reduce fuel use. However, a series of problems has plagued the aircraft during development and production as well as since its first commercial flight in late 2011. The latest issue involves natural icing that occurs at lower altitudes in winter weather, Boeing spokesman Doug Adler said. The FAA said it was ordering modifications that would prevent ice from accumulating on fan blades in GE's GEnx engines, making them rub against the engine casing, which can cause "damage and a possible in-flight non-restartable power loss of one or both engines." At least one of the engines on all affected 787 Dreamliners must be repaired or replaced within five months. The FAA directive concerns only the 43 planes operated by US-based airlines. However, other countries, which typically follow the FAA's regulations, are also expected to comply. GE first recommended the repairs earlier this month after it investigated the problem jointly with Boeing and "worked with the FAA on a plan to fully resolve it," Adler said. More than 40 Dreamliner engines have been fixed so far, he added. Story continues The repairs -- involving grinding down engine casings -- can be done without removing the engines from planes. Boeing has already complied with another of the FAA directive's orders, for pilots to be alerted to new operating procedures for coping with possible icing problems, Adler said. The engine issue is just the latest to have affected Dreamliner planes. An All Nippon Airways 787 was forced to return to Kuala Lumpur in February after the engine overheated. Last year, the FAA ordered repairs to correct a software bug that could have caused the aircraft to suddenly lose all power. In 2013, the Dreamliner was grounded globally over a separate electrical problem. Early that year, several planes experienced problems with batteries overheating that caused a fire on one aircraft. Changes were made to prevent recurrence. LONDON (Reuters) - Jamie Vardy's absence for Premier League leaders Leicester City could have a big impact, says Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino, although he prefers to focus on his side's Monday night clash with West Bromwich Albion. Tottenham reduced Leicester's lead to five points with a 4-0 victory at Stoke City on Monday, and will hope the Foxes struggle without Vardy when they host Swansea City on Sunday. "I think that it's a big impact for Leicester because Vardy is one of the best players in the Premier League. "Sure, it's a big impact for them," Pochettino said at his Friday news conference. "I am sure they will feel that but they have different players that can play the same way." Vardy, whose 22 goals is only two shy of the total scored by Tottenham's Harry Kane, is suspended after picking up a second yellow card for diving in the 2-2 draw with West Ham United last weekend. He could face another match on the sidelines pending the outcome of an FA charge of improper conduct. Tottenham have sustained their strongest title challenge in decades but could need maximum points from their final four games and a Leicester wobble if they are to win their first English league title since 1961. The form they displayed in dismantling Stoke on Monday, however, suggests they could push Leicester all the way. "I'm very happy with how we have played in the last four games but we still need to keep working hard and try to win on Monday, that's the objective, to keep fighting for the title," the Argentine said. "We are close, but it's still a large gap." Pochettino said playing 24 hours after Leicester for the second week running was not a problem, and that he would watch his title rivals' game with Swansea on television on Sunday. "We have built up the week in a fantastic way and now we need to be patient and wait for Monday," he said. "I don't complain, it's not an excuse if we don't win the league. We are happy and just trying to focus on us." (Reporting by Martyn Herman, editing by Pritha Sarkar) By Ross Adkin Kathmandu, (Reuters) - Survivors and relatives of victims are returning to commemorate mark the first anniversary of Nepals most devastating earthquake, in which a huge rockfall obliterated the village of Langtang, 60 km (35 miles) north of Kathmandu. Here are some of their stories of the disaster, in which 285 people died or are still missing, as told to Reuters reporter Ross Adkin. ATHENA ZELANDONII, FROM AUSTRALIA Athena Zelandonii, a 26-year-old photographer from Australia, was in Kyanjin Gompa near Langtang village when the earthquake struck just before noon on April 25. She ran outside to see an avalanche; a wall of snow cutting through the fog. She decided to walk down to Langtang with companions shed met along the way, and reached the village by afternoon. You never think that the place youre going to will be even more damaged than the one youre already in, she told Reuters in Kathmandu before survivors and victims relatives set out for the memorial ceremony in Langtang. About 130-140 people spent the first night sitting around a school building in those family-type groups you form when you are trekking. It was only after her evacuation by helicopter on April 29 that she received a call from her insurance company and was put through to her mother, who until then had not known her fate. There was no question of not coming back, she said. KARTOK LAMA , FROM LANGTANG Locals have already marked the anniversary of the earthquake in our own way, following the Tibetan calendar, said 30-year-old Kartok Lama. We had two gompas (Buddhist temples) in the village before the earthquake, but now both are gone. If we have to do puja now, or have some gathering, we do it in a hut. Were trying to rebuild the gompas, she told Reuters. Almost everyone from the village is back; people are rebuilding their homes and hotels, and there is work going on in the fields. One hotel has just been finished, and another is about to be finished. We want the tourists to come back. I had a tea shop but it was damaged in the earthquake and I havent been able to rebuild it yet because I dont have the money, she said. SCOTT MEOLA, FROM THE UNITED STATES American Scott Meola has also joined the pilgrimage to Langtang. The Seattle native has reconciled himself to the fate of his 19-year-old daughter Bailey, still missing, while fellow traveller Sydney Schumacher, also 19, is known to have died. The last sign of life from the young friends was a picture drawn by Sydney in the visitor's book of the popular bakery in Langtang village, together with a message of thanks that said they would soon be eating at the top of the hill. While nearly all the buildings in the village were obliterated, the bakery was only partly damaged. It has since reopened. I wish they had survived. They would have been great up there, helping, organising, said Meola, a tall, thickset man who spoke slowly and deliberately of his loss: First and foremost, I want to walk in their steps and see what they saw. There will be intense emotional and physical pain, and Im looking forward to that. He also said he wants to support the people of Langtang in their rebuilding effort. TSERING JANGBU CHANGNYEMPA, FROM LANGTANG Tsering Jangbu Changnyempa, 20, was in Kathmandu at the time of the earthquake preparing for his school exams. He did not find out about the disaster in Langtang until three or four days later, when he saw a before and after photo on the Facebook page of a guide. It was all gone, he told Reuters at a monastery in Kathmandu where many villagers took shelter after the quake. At the time of the earthquake and avalanche his father and three brothers were in Kyanjin Gompa, where they run a guesthouse. His mother was in Langtang village, where their home and other hotel were, working in the fields. Her body has not yet been found; his father and brothers survived. Everything of ours in the village is gone - house, fields, property, he said. Villagers, especially the elderly, were impatient to return and were the first to go back. While in Kathmandu, Tsering took a photography course and is keen to use the medium as a way to share the story of his village one day. In three weeks, is going back to Langtang for the first time in over a year, before returning to study tourism at university in Kathmandu. Of course I want to use it to help the village recover, he said. But if I can't work there, then I'll go abroad. FAMILY OF DAWN HABASH, FROM THE UNITED STATES Still missing is Dawn Habash, a 57-year-old mother and yoga instructor from Augusta, Maine who was trekking in Nepal for the fourth time. Son Khaled and daughter Yasmine worked shifts to try and find out about their mother, checking the Facebook pages of those who may have been nearby and calling embassies around the world for help. "It was like putting together a very complicated jigsaw puzzle, but one that didn't end as we had hoped," said Khaled, who was making the trek with Yasmine and Dawn's brother, Randy, to Langtang. The family is still hoping that Dawns body will be found and they can get closure. Because we need that closure, said Khaleed. Sometimes I still get these lightning-bolt thoughts what if? And thats not healthy. Gdansk (Poland) (AFP) - Four hundred weeping Poles took to the streets on Saturday in a symbolic funeral parade to mark the 400th anniversary of the death of William Shakespeare. The volunteer thespians in full Elizabethan attire, weeping dramatically in Shakespeare's honour, wove through the streets of the city of Gdansk pretending to pull their hair and tear at their clothes in grief. Dressed in sombre black with their faces painted white, they made their way to the Shakespeare Theatre, an ultra-modern building built on the site where English travelling players performed four centuries ago. "It was difficult at the beginning to get in the mood, but after a while, when everyone was mourning, crying and shouting, it all came together," mourner Sara Warzynska told AFP. "You really wanted to let out all your emotions," she added. Jerzy Limon, director of Gdansk's Shakespeare Theatre, said they had organised the "happening" to contribute to events the world over marking the death of the great British playwright. Some 10,000 people turned out for a parade in Shakespeare's birthplace of Stratford-upon-Avon on Saturday, while famous actors including Judi Dench and Ian McKellen were set to perform some of his most loved works. "What makes me happy is that the theatre has gone out onto the street," said Limon. WASHINGTON (AP) -- Jayson Werth said he's starting to feel more comfortable as the Washington Nationals left fielder. He looked it on Friday night. Werth hit a home run and robbed one in left, Gio Gonzalez pitched six-plus innings, and the Nationals defeated the Minnesota Twins 8-4. In the third, Byron Buxton's high fly gave Werth time to get back to the fence. He timed his jump perfectly, getting his glove just above the wall and bringing Buxton's drive down with him. ''You can tell he played basketball,'' manager Dusty Baker said. ''He timed it like a rebound.'' The 36-year-old Werth transitioned to left last season, but was limited to 88 games due to injury, so the question remains as to how well he'll adjust to being out there every day. ''Starting to get there. Feeling confident,'' said Werth, who added a nice running catch to end the third. ''When I first came up I played left. ... I feel like as the season goes on I'll just keep getting better and better out there.'' Jose Lobaton drove in three runs with a triple and a single, and National League batting leader Daniel Murphy had two more hits for first-place Washington, which has won six straight at home. Washington's 12-4 record matches the best start in Expos/Nationals franchise history. In the fifth, Werth hit a solo shot to left center, his third. Gonzalez (1-0) enjoyed offensive support for the first time in three starts while allowing three runs - two earned - on six hits. ''Gio was tough,'' Twins manager Paul Molitor said. ''He can paint the outside with his fastball and change and he keeps you honest inside, and not too many of our guys picked up his curveball.'' Minnesota's Kyle Gibson (0-3) lasted just three innings, giving up seven runs on seven hits. Miguel Sano homered and singled for the Twins. Murphy, who went 2 for 4 to raise his average to .411, has hit safely in 14 of 16 games. Danny Espinosa added two hits and two RBIs for Washington. Story continues The Nationals, who only produced one run for Gonzalez in his first two starts, collected four in a first inning capped by Lobaton's two-run single. ''Any time I needed to make a pitch with two strikes and guys on base or even guys not on base and two strikes, just didn't do it,'' Gibson said. Washington made it 7-0 with three in the third, one coming on Lobaton's first triple since 2013. REMEMBERING PRINCE The Twins wore purple wrist bands to honor Minneapolis native Prince, who died Thursday at the age of 57. ''Just a small tribute,'' Molitor said. ''But our clubhouse guy came up with the idea, and we were able to get them so that's what we're going to do.'' In addition, both teams' media game notes featured Prince-related item titles, and the Nationals played a video tribute to the artist during batting practice. UNFAMILIAR TERRITORY Lobaton's triple ended when he slid late into third, landing on the bag and sliding past it before scrambling back safely. ''I mean slow it down cowboy,'' Gonzalez joked about his catcher's slide. TRAINER'S ROOM Twins: C Kurt Suzuki, given a day off Thursday after getting hit by a foul ball on Wednesday night, was back behind the plate. Nationals: OF Ben Revere, out since April 6 with a right oblique strain, has begun sprinting and hitting off a tee, according to manager Dusty Baker. ... RHP Joe Ross, who left his start Wednesday in the third inning with a blister on his middle finger, will have his regular throwing session Saturday. With an off day Monday, Baker said if Ross can't make his next start, the Nationals will skip his turn. UP NEXT Twins: RHP Phil Hughes (1-2, 4.42) makes his third career appearance and second start against the Nationals. He's 1-0 with a 1.13 ERA against Washington. Nationals: RHP Tanner Roark (1-2, 3.71) makes his first regular-season appearance against the Twins. Roark allowed four earned runs on seven hits over six innings in a loss to the Marlins on Monday Baku, Azerbaijan, April 23 By Aygun Badalova - Trend: The next OPEC meeting to be held in June will unlikely change the situation on the oil market, oil markets analyst, director of Downstream Consulting at IHS Energy Spencer Welch believes. "Iran will still be trying to increase production and so won't agree to a freeze and so Saudi Arabia unlikely to take part in freeze and therefore freeze unlikely to happen," Welch told Trend. "It is very unlikely that a freeze will happen now before the market naturally comes back into supply and demand balance," he added. The last meeting of oil producers in Doha ended without reaching any agreement. The talks on oil output freeze collapsed after Saudi Arabia surprised the group by reasserting a demand that Iran also agrees to cap its oil production. Many analysts believe that even if the agreement to freeze output on January level had been reached it would have had little impact on the oil prices. "In January OPEC members were pumping flat out, so any freeze would have been at maximum production levels, hardly a recipe to support the oil price," Sam Barden, the director of Wimpole International, an energy market development company told Trend. With regard to the perspectives for re-balancing of oil market, Welch said that IHS expects the oil market to rebalance supply and demand in the third quarter of 2016 for the first time in more than two years. "In this oversupply period around one billion barrels of oil has been put into storage. Supply is reducing, particularly in the US, and oil demand is increasing steadily. The third quarter is typically the peak demand quarter of the year, and this is the point at which we expect the market to rebalance," Welch said. Secretary-General Abdallah El-Badri has recently said that he expects re-balancing of oil market by the end of 2016-early 2017. He said that the overproduction is the only problem now. "If we solve this problem the market will be balanced," he said. At the same time the International Energy Agency (IEA) expects the oil market to come back into balance from oversupply by next year. "This year, we are expecting the biggest decline in non-OPEC oil supply in the last 25 years, almost 700,000 barrels per day. At the same time, global demand growth is in a hectic pace, led by India, China and other emerging countries," the chief of EIA Fatih Birol said. Welch said that the reason for the decrease is the low oil price, economics are controlling the market, restoring the supply and demand balance, as OPEC intended after their historic November 2014 meeting. "The low price means that projects are being delayed or cancelling, drilling has reduced and production is starting to decline, particularly in the US," he said. Welch said the US production is currently around 9 million barrels per day down from a peak of 9.7 million barrels per day in April 2015. IHS expects the US production to reach a low of 8.5 million barrels per day in third quarter 2016. Image via www.travelagentcentral.com Airliner Hawaiian Holdings (HA) released its fiscal 2016 first quarter results yesterday and many investors were not too happy with the results. Shares of the airline company closed on the day 11.36% down due to weaker-than-expected revenue figures. Despite outperforming our EPS estimate by 6.67%, Hawaiian Holdings reported $551.18 million, which is noticeably, but not drastically, lower than our revenue estimate of $556 million. Hawaiian Holdings president and chief executive officer Mark Dunkerley was not deterred from not meeting revenue estimates. The outstanding first quarter results are a strong start to 2016, said Mr. Dunkerley. Solid demand for travel to Hawaii, manageable industry capacity growth, and the low cost of fuel combined with the exceptional service that our employees deliver to our guests propelled our record results this quarter. Looking ahead, our outlook is for these positive trends to continue reinforcing our confidence that 2016 will be a great year. Some of Hawaiian Holdings competitors fared better with regards to its earnings results and its recent stock prices. Alaska Air Group (ALK) and Southwest Airlines(LUV) both reported their earnings yesterday to more promising results than Hawaiian Holdings. Alaska Airs adjusted earnings came in at $1.45 per share, outperforming our estimate of $1.42, and Southwests earnings came in at $0.88 per share while our estimates were $0.84 per share. Alaska Airs revenues of $1.35 billion narrowly beat out our consensus estimate of $1.34 billion, with the top line growing 6% on a year-over-year basis, and Southwests revenue figure of $4.82 billion narrowly eclipsed our $4.81 billion estimate as well and increased 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. United Continental Holdings (UAL) also reported its fiscal 2016 first quarter earnings yesterday to mixed results. Uniteds EPS figure of $1.23 per share beat our estimate by 6 cents, yet 19.1% on a year-over-year basis owing to higher taxes which mitigated the positive impact of low fuel costs. Story continues American Airlines (AAL) reported its fiscal 2016 first quarter earnings early this morning with earnings per share of $1.25, 7 cents more than our estimate. Operating revenues were $9.44 billion, just beating our consensus estimate of $9.43 billion but representing a 4% year-over-year decrease. 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 SOUTHWEST AIR (LUV): Free Stock Analysis Report HAWAIIAN HLDGS (HA): Free Stock Analysis Report ALASKA AIR GRP (ALK): Free Stock Analysis Report UNITED CONT HLD (UAL): Free Stock Analysis Report AMER AIRLINES (AAL): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research An Annapolis woman admitted that she is responsible for vandalizing several "Black Lives Matter" signs over the past five months, Anne Arundel County police said. Chari Raye McLean, 56, of the 600 block of Admiral Drive, was arrested and charged with two counts of destruction of property, police said. Kuwait City (AFP) - A third day of UN-brokered peace negotiations in Kuwait between the Yemeni government and rebels wound up Saturday without progress, sources close to the talks said. The sources told AFP the two sides remained far apart, especially on the need to firm up a fragile ceasefire that went into effect on April 11. UN envoy Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed said in a statement late Saturday the talks had achieved "common ground to build on" but acknowledged that the negotiations were difficult. "The atmosphere of the talks is promising and there is common ground to build on in order to reconcile differences," he said. "We must realise that these difficult negotiations require time because they aim at reaching a solid agreement on a package of contentious issues so that the solution would be comprehensive and hollistic," Ould Cheikh Ahmed said. He added that the delegates agreed to the proposed agenda and to "work in parallel committees on political and security issues". A senior government delegate, however, denied that his delegation agreed to form parallel committees. "Our delegation has not agreed to form the parallel committees as stated in the UN communique," the delegate told AFP, requesting anonymity. Ould Cheikh Ahmed also said the two parties reaffirmed their committment to ceasefire and agreed that it is "comprehensive and binding". He said on Friday the truce was still only being 70-80 percent respected, he acknowledged, adding there were violations by both sides. The negotiations in Kuwait opened late Thursday after the delayed arrival of representatives of the Huthi rebels and allied forces loyal to ousted president Ali Abdullah Saleh. The Iran-backed Shiite Huthi rebels have insisted on a halt to air strikes by the Saudi-led coalition which is supporting the government, ahead of other issues, the sources said. President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi's delegation, for its part, is demanding the rebels lift sieges of cities, especially Taez, and release prisoners as part of confidence-building measures, the sources said. Story continues The government delegation has submitted a complaint listing 260 alleged ceasefire violations by the rebels on Friday alone, according to the sources. Rebel delegation spokesman Mohamed Abdulsalam said the priority was to end the fighting that has killed more than 6,800 people and driven 2.8 million from their homes since March last year. "Stopping the war and all forms of military action is the priority," he said on Facebook. On Saturday, three rebels and two loyalists were killed in clashes in Kirsh, a town on the highway to Taez from the southern port city of Aden where Hadi's government is based, military sources said. Loyalist forces in Taez, Yemen's third largest city, have been under rebel siege for months. On another battlefront not covered by the ceasefire, pro-Hadi forces backed by air power from the Arab coalition launched an operation Saturday to drive Al-Qaeda fighters out of a southern provincial capital, Yemeni military officials said. The forces in Abyan province advanced towards Zinjibar and the neighbouring town of Jaar, the sources said. Military and medical sources said 25 Al-Qaeda militants and four soldiers were killed. Troops also reached the government complex on the southern edge of Zinjibar and fighting raged around the compound, military officials said. Government forces last week expelled Al-Qaeda militants from Huta, the capital of Lahj province, as part of operations to secure southern provinces. The latest--and last?--development in the Federal Bureau of Investigations San Bernardino probe reminds me of a trick my astronomy professor pulled during my freshman year of college. Standing at the head of the lecture hall, the professor asked some version of the question: What existed before the Big Bang? Everyone had to buzz in with an answer. (A) Space, (B) Time, (C) Nothing, or (D) Humans have no language to describe what may have existed before the Big Bang. The answer, to me, seemed obvious at the time: (D). Correct--the professor confirmed the choice. At least one gentleman in the class disagreed, however. He refused to accept this as the answer. He had selected (C), and he argued his case aloud. Nothing existed before the Big Bang! Thats the whole point, duh. The professors rejoinder may as well have been a koan. Even nothing is something, he said. Whatever existed pre-Big Bang eludes us. This reasoning did not satisfy the student. No, the pupil responded. Nothing is nothing. It is the absence of something. Thats the definition. You are wrong. I never quite understood this students reaction--until now perhaps, in the context of the Apple versus FBI iPhone cracking case. Soon after breaking into the iPhone used by one of the San Bernardino shooters, the Feds said they had found nothing of value--no substantial leads--stored on the device. An unnamed source intimated that investigators had found no links between the male shooter, Syed Farook, and overseas terrorists. They had discovered no communications between him and terror cells during an unaccounted for 18 minutes after the massacre. In essence, they learned nothing new. Nada. Zilch. Zero. To anyone with knowledge of the case, the absence of clues on that iPhone 5c should come as no surprise. The phone was a neglected work phone, not a personal phone, used by the terrorist. (Farook had taken pains to destroy his personal devices; this handset he tossed aside.) Plus, the agency already had access to the handsets call metadata through phone records. Story continues And yet now law enforcement sources told CNN that the FBI indeed found valuable information on the iPhone. What of value did investigators discover? We may never know the specifics; however the report did say something telling. The phone didnt contain evidence of contacts with other ISIS supporters or the use of encrypted communications during the period the FBI was concerned about, CNN reported, citing unnamed sources. The FBI views that information as valuable to the probe, possibilities it couldnt discount without getting into the phone. I suspect that the FBI did find nothing of interest. Now I know deep down, philosophically, that nothing is something. But given how close the government came to compromising the integrity of U.S. citizens digital privacy with its request for access to users encrypted data, I must say I feel awfully like the indignant student in this case. Robert Hackett @rhhackett robert.hackett@fortune.com Welcome to the Cyber Saturday edition of Data Sheet, Fortunes daily tech newsletter. Fortune reporter Robert Hackett here. You may reach me via Twitter, Cryptocat, Jabber, PGP encrypted email, Wickr, Signal, or however you (securely) prefer. Feedback welcome. See original article on Fortune.com More from Fortune.com THREATS Brooklyn iPhone case ends. The U.S. Justice Department dropped its case involving unlocking an iPhone in a New York drug case on Friday night. Unlike the San Bernardino case, this one did not require a hack. An individual--the suspect Jun Feng, sources have said--came forward with the passcode. (Fortune, Wall Street Journal) Apple to China: "Hands off." Apple confirmed at a congressional hearing that the Chinese government had requested access to its iPhone source code. Access to the code would presumably help hackers and spies find chinks in the company's iOS armor, which would be useful for those trying to obtain user data from Apple devices. "We refused," said Bruce Sewell, the company's general counsel. (Fortune) BlackBerry to tech firms: "Comply." Jon Chen, CEO of BlackBerry, penned a blog post on Monday saying that tech companies should comply with reasonable requests from law enforcement for access to protected data."We are indeed in a dark place when companies put their reputations above the greater good," he wrote. (Fortune) Viber app gets encryption makeover. Following WhatsApp's lead, the text and voice chat app has decided to roll out end-to-end encryption for its 250 million monthly active users. Questions remain about the strength of the cryptography employed, as details about the code have not been made public. (Fortune) Score one for the surveillance state. A judge ruled that the FBI may continue accessing data collected by the NSA (specifically, its PRISM program) for criminal investigations. A federal prosecutor had challenged the agency's power on the grounds that it broke fourth amendment privacy protections. The opinion, delivered in November, became public in a newly released document. (Fortune) Check Point forecast falls short. On an earnings call for the Israeli cybersecurity firm this week, CEO Gil Shwed disappointed investors by projecting second quarter earnings that dipped below analyst expectations. His estimate--$1.02-$1.09 earnings per share--was lower than analysts' forecast of $1.09 per share. (Fortune) Before you uninstall QuickTime... A word of caution from Adobe. The software-maker said that some of its Creative Cloud video applications require Apple's deprecated media player. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security advised Windows PC users to uninstall QuickTime after a cybersecurity firm found two critical vulnerabilities in its code. (Fortune, Fortune) By the way, investing in cybersecurity ain't such a bad idea. Share today's Data Sheet with a friend: http://fortune.com/newsletter/datasheet/ Looking for previous Data Sheets? Click here. ACCESS GRANTED Fortune's Robert Hackett (yours truly) describes the dilemma that the victims of last year's Ashley Madison data breach face. Last year, hackers tore into Ashley Madison, a website for people seeking extramarital affairs, and dumped personal information about its users online. Dozens of the site's 32 million members filed suit and are pooling their litigation into a proposed class action against Avid Life Media, Ashley Madison's parent company. A district court judge in Missouri, where the case is set be heard, has ordered the plaintiffs to submit a consolidated complaint by June 3, Ars Technica reported, citing a court document. People interested in participating in the suit are facing a hangup, however. In order to be a plaintiff, they must reveal their identities and, therefore, their involvement in a network that catered to people looking to cheat on their spouses. Read the rest on Fortune.com. FORTUNE RECON Microsoft Exec Thinks Banner Ads on Phones Will Become Extinct by Jonathan Chew Here's Why the Panama Papers Spared the U.S. by Jen Wieczner U.K. Wants Tech Firms to Warn Spies About Upcoming Launches by David Meyer Another Arrest Related to the JP Morgan Hack by Reuters This Hacker Made Amazon's Alexa, Google Now, and Apple's Siri Command One Another by Robert Hackett F-35 Will Fly Despite Software Glitches That Could Ground the Entire Fleet by Clay Dillow Guy Who Accidentally Deleted His Company Is Actually Just a Prankster by Jonathan Vanian These Two 'SpyEye' Hackers Just Got Huge U.S. Prison Sentences by Reuters Clients Sue Lawyer With Aol Email Burned by Cyber Scammers by Jeff John Roberts Google Says Android Is More Secure Than Ever by Don Reisinger Apple Complied With Vast Majority of Data Requests Last Year by Aaron Pressman ONE MORE THING Credit bureaus were the NSA of the 19th century. In assessing the credit-worthiness of businessmen through unprecedented surveillance, these bureaus drew associations with "espionage" and "spying" in popular accounts. Credit agencies have arguably been usurped by government agencies in the extent of their operational secrecy and intelligence collection. (Atlantic) Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, Apr. 23 By Huseyn Hasanov- Trend: The upcoming official visit of Turkmenistan's President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov to Saudi Arabia was discussed during the meeting of the Turkmen Cabinet of Ministers, Turkmen government's message said. President Berdimuhamedov said that the two countries have long-standing relations of friendship and fruitful cooperation, which successfully develops both in bilateral and multilateral formats through the competent regional and international organizations and institutions. He also noted the existence of considerable potential for expansion of mutually beneficial business, trade and economic relations, which are intended to facilitate the activities of Turkmenistan-Saudi Arabia Intergovernmental Commission and joint business forums. Turkmenistan's Foreign Minister Rashid Meredov was on working visit in Saudi Arabia Apr. 17-19, according to Turkmen Foreign Ministry. He met with the Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud during his visit. Moreover, the two countries' cooperation opportunities were discussed during a meeting that was held in the extended format with the participation of employees of Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Commerce and Industry, the heads of Saudi companies that are involved in the production of industrial goods and petrochemicals. The implementation of joint investment projects of Turkmenistan and Saudi Arabia were discussed during the meeting with Vice President and Managing Director of the Saudi Fund for Development Yousef Ibrahim Al-Bassam. The Turkmen delegation also met with representatives of Arabian Pipes and the Saudi Arabian Amiantit companies and visited their enterprises. It's safe to say Prince George steals the show wherever he goes. Prince William and Princess Kate hosted President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama for a private dinner on Friday in Kensington Palace -- with special guest Prince Harry -- when 2-year-old George made a brief appearance. Prince William introduced President Obama to his son, who was hilariously dressed in a bathrobe and pajama pants for the occasion. WATCH: Prince George's First Day of Nursery School Makes Our Hearts Explode Prince George, who was given a 15-minute extension on his bedtime to meet the U.S.' first family, also showed his gratitude for the rocking horse Obama gave him when he was born, happily riding it as his parents and the president looked on. Prior to the super cute meeting, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, and Harry, greeted the president and the first lady outside of their estate. Harry gave Michelle a warm double kiss upon arriving, while Obama chivalrously shielded Michelle from the rain. .@BarackObama and @MichelleObama arrive at Kensington Palace for dinner with The Duke, Duchess and Prince Harry pic.twitter.com/ZdXMj24pCL Kensington Palace (@KensingtonRoyal) April 22, 2016 Getty Images Getty Images Once inside, Harry chatted up Michelle and Kate, while Obama and William struck up their own conversation. Harry and Michelle have famously gotten along, and last October, Obama joked about his wife's relationship with the handsome 31-year-old royal. "He has gotten to know Michelle very well for a range of reasons," Obama cracked when Harry visited the White House to promote the 2016 Invictus Games. Harry and Michelle also had tea time at Kensington Palace last June. PICS: Prince Harry Charms Nepal, Pays Tribute to Princess Diana Watch the video below to see Prince George recently pose for the cutest royal family portrait in celebration of Queen Elizabeth II's 90th birthday. Story continues Related Articles Tashkent, Uzbekistan, Apr. 23 By Demir Azizov- Trend: Uzbekistan Airways will launch regular cargo flights to Iran's capital Tehran from Apr.29, said the website of Uzbek air carrier. The cargo flights from Uzbekistan's Navoi airport will be operated in cooperation with South Korea's Korean Air company. The flights will be carried to out to Imam Khomeini International Airport by Boeing767-300BCF aircraft twice a week - on Mondays and Fridays. Currently, cargo flights from the Navoi airport are carried out to Frankfurt, Vienna, Milan, Zaragoza, Tel Aviv, Dubai, Delhi, Mumbai and Seoul. Uzbekistan Airways is a monopoly air carrier in Uzbekistan and is owned by the state. The volume of cargo transportation from the Navoi airport stood at 35,800 tons in 2015, or 16 percent more than in 2014, according to the company. Edited by SI Tehran, Iran, April 23 By Mehdi Sepahvand - Trend: The efforts of Tehran and Baku in funding and speeding up the construction of the North-South corridor will strengthen the two countries' economies, says Iranian Ambassador to Azerbaijan Mohsen Pak Ayeen. This week's bricklaying of the Astara-Rasht railway marked a turning point in regional and international transportation, the ambassador wrote on his personal weblog April 23. The groundbreaking ceremony for the railroad bridge over the Astara River on the Azerbaijani-Iranian border was held on Apr.20. The railroad bridge over the Astara River is a strategically important facility that will connect the railways of Azerbaijan and Iran. The bridge's construction is planned to be completed by late 2016. The ambassador wrote that the construction of the railroad is a timely response to oil and gas exporting countries' efforts to diversify their incomes by resorting to transportation services. The North-South corridor will turn into a connecting line for a lot of nations from India to Helsinki along 2,500 kilometers of railroad, he stressed. The corridor is estimated to transfer 3 million tons of goods and 200,000 people in the first year after construction, and then to be able to facilitate the transfer of 4 million tons of goods and 500,000 people annually. The diplomat also said that part of the railroad that stretches from Iran's Rasht to Astara will nevertheless help as part of the East-West Corridor to transfer goods and people from Shanghai to Europe. "Right now, millions of tons of goods are being transferred from India and European countries to Caucasus in 60 days. But once the North-South corridor is operational, the time will shrink to 14 or even 10 days," he said. The ambassador underlined that Azerbaijan will complete the remaining eight kilometers of railroad to the Astara River by the year's end. "Also, a rail bridge will connect Iran and Azerbaijan over the river. Azerbaijan and Iran, as well as third countries have provided the budget needed to stretch another 165 kilometers of rail from Rasht to Astara," he added. Tehran, Iran, April 23 By Mehdi Sepahvand - Trend: Iran and South Africa are expected sign a memorandum of understanding on oil and energy in the near future, Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said. Speaking after a meeting with South African Minister of Energy Tina Joemat-Pettersson, Zanganeh said the sides had talks about the price of oil that Iran would possibly export to South Africa, SHANA news agency reported April 23. Iran was South Africa's big oil partner, providing 40 percent of the African country's oil, before sanctions crippled the exports. The minister said Tehran and Pretoria are also going to sign a deal on technological cooperation in GTL. South Africa has also invited Iran to invest in building a refinery in the African country, while in the meantime Tehran invited Pretoria to invest in Iran's petrochemical sector, the minister said. Iran's oil export dropped to 1 mbpd under sanctions, but now as sanctions are lifted it is heading back to 2.3 mbpd. Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr. 23 By Fatih Karimov - Trend: South African President Jacob Zuma is due to arrive in Tehran on April 23 at the invitation of his Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani. Heading a high-ranking 180-member economic and politic delegation, Zuma will meet senior Iranian officials including Rouhani, the oil ministry's official SHANA news agency reported. Strengthening mutual economic cooperation will be on the agenda of the talks. Several economic and trade documents will be signed by the two countries' delegations on the sidelines of the presidents' meeting. Zuma also is scheduled to visit Iran's Isfahan city on April 25. Earlier in November, President Rouhani in a meeting with South African Vice-President Cyril Ramaphosa in Tehran underlined the need for the expansion of Tehran-Pretoria relations. "Iran has always welcomed broadening of mutual cooperation with South Africa in all areas of mutual interest," Rouhani said. Pretoria was one of Iran's traditional oil markets before the imposition of sanctions on the Islamic Republic due to its disputed nuclear program. Before sanctions cut down Iran's crude oil exports in June 2012, South Africa was buying on average 68,000 barrels of oil from Tehran per day. South Africa is considering building an oil refinery that will process Iranian crude to bolster its petrol supply and reduce its dependence on foreign companies. Plans for the new refinery are still at an early stage, and the estimated cost or time frame for construction have not yet been made public. Tehran, Iran, April 23 By Mehdi Sepahvand - Trend: Iran and the six world powers have decided to form a workgroup to facilitate the removal of economic sanctions on the country. It was agreed to discuss matters within this workgroup whenever Iran finds out that the lift of sanctions do not bring real results, said Abbas Araqchi, Iran's deputy foreign minister in charge of monitoring the implementation of the deal, IRNA news agency reported April 23. Araqchi was a member of the Iranian team of diplomats who met with representatives from the P5+1 group (the US, UK, France, Russia, and China, plus Germany) for the first time after the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) was put in force to assess the implementation of the deal. Iran has been complaining that although the sanctions have been lifted on paper, no foreign company has still started real business with Iran four months since the deal was made practical. Iran in particular blames the US for not allowing Iranians feel the sanctions relief by restraining European companies from doing business with Iran. The Iranian diplomat said the attending sides of the meeting thoroughly discussed the obstacles that prevent the lift of sanctions and reviewed ways to remove them. The Iran-5+1 committee is going to convene periodically to review the implementation of the JCPOA. The deal states the removal of economic sanctions on Iran in return for curbing the country's nuclear program. Tehran, Iran, April 23 By Mehdi Sepahvand - Trend: Iran is considering strategic and commercial issues in selling its surplus heavy water to other countries, Atomic Energy Organization of Iran spokesman Behrooz Kamalvandi said. "We are going to annually sell our surplus heavy water to markets that are reliable and need the substance and make the best of it," Kamalvandi added, ISNA news agency reported April 23. Recent reports say Iran is going to sell 32 tons of heavy water to the United States. The spokesman said Iran's sale of the substance will be conducted within regulated international business procedures. Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi was the first to mention Iran's intention to sell the heavy water to the US earlier this week. The cargo is said to be delivered to the States in one week. Before the landmark nuclear deal between Iran and six world powers was put into force in January, reports went that Iran had already sold 40 tons of heavy water to the US. Iran's heavy water was tested in the States last year, with test results putting its purity at 75.99 percent. Iran produces 20 tons of heavy water per year. The United States and United Kingdom have no plans to deploy troops against the Daesh (IS) terrorist group in Libya, US President Barack Obama said in London on Friday, according to Sputnik. "There is no plans for ground troops in Libya. I don't think that's necessary [and] I don't think it would be welcomed by this new government [of national accord]. It would send the wrong signal," Obama told reporters during a press conference with UK Prime Minister David Cameron. Obama added that the United States, United Kingdom and other allies are "more than prepared to invest in helping create border security in Libya," to combat terrorism in the country. On Monday, UK Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond announced a $14 million aid package for the UN-backed unity Libyan government in Tripoli. Last week, the White House said Obama would not hesitate to use military action against the Islamic State group in Libya if it is necessary to protect the United States and its allies. Baku, Azerbaijan, April 23 Trend: The death toll from an explosion at Mexico's state-owned Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex) oil plant in the southern state of Veracruz has gone up to 27 after the discovery of three more bodies by rescue crews, Sputnik reported citing Diario de Mexico. On Friday, Pemex said that the death toll stood at 24, while 19 people remained hospitalized, including 13 in critical condition. According to Pemex, the explosion at its oil facility in Coatzacoalcos, in the state of Veracruz, occurred at 15:15 local time (20:15 GMT) on Wednesday. The oil plant is operated by the Mexichem petrochemical company and is jointly owned with Pemex. The cause of the explosion is under investigation. In February, a fire broke out on a Pemex offshore oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico, injuring several workers and leading to the death of two people. In April 2015, four people died and over a dozen were injured after a fire on the same oil rig. The United States is not opposed to foreign banks doing business with Iran following Tehran's compliance with a historic nuclear agreement with the P5+1 group of countries, Secretary of State John Kerry says, according to Press TV. "The United States is not standing in the way, and will not stand in the way, of business that is permitted in Iran since the (nuclear agreement) took effect. I want to emphasize we lifted our nuclear-related sanctions as we committed to do," Kerry told reporters, sitting alongside his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif in a New York hotel on Friday. "There are now opportunities for foreign banks to do business in Iran. Unfortunately, there seems to be some confusion among some foreign banks and we want to try and clarify that as much as we can," he said. Iran and the P5+1 group The Iranian foreign minister welcomed Kerry's earlier statement, expressing hope that it would bring Iran's rights under the JCPOA. "We hope that the statement made today by Secretary Kerry will begin to open the difficult path that had been closed because of concerns that banks had about the US approach toward implementation of the commitments under the JCPOA," Zarif said. On Thursday, US State Department spokesman John Kirby said Washington had scrambled expert teams, "akin to a roadshow," to assure world bankers that they can do trade with Iran. "We certainly are not trying to become an obstacle in any way of foreign banks and institutions working with Iran through the sanctions relief process," Kirby said.- the United States, Britain, France, China, Russia and Germany -- reached the nuclear agreement, dubbed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), in July 2015 in the Austrian capital Vienna. The agreement went into effect on January 16. Under the JCPOA, Iran agreed to put some restrictions on its nuclear energy program in exchange for relief from economic sanctions that had been imposed on the Islamic Republic based on the unfounded accusation that Tehran is pursuing non-civilian objectives in its nuclear program. Top Iranian officials have said that the US is not honoring its end of the nuclear accord. Iran has criticized the US for refusing to grant it access to the global financial system. Tehran says such access is one of the goals of the nuclear deal, and has urged Washington to stop preventing non-American banks from dealing with Iran. Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr. 23 Trend: Chinese Cathay Pacific company's Boeing 777 airliner, which was carrying 248 passengers, made an emergency landing at the airport in the Chinese city of Chongqing due to a problem with oil supply, RIA Novosti agency reported Apr. 23 citing China Morning Post. The CX255 flight was flying to London, when it was revealed that the oil pressure in one of the aircraft's engines has dropped to the maximum lowest level. The captain made the decision to land the aircraft. None of the passengers and crew members was injured, according to the report. Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and German Chancellor Angela Merkel visited Syrian refugees on Saturday in Turkey's southeastern province of Gaziantep's Nizip district, Anadolu reported. EU Council President Donald Tusk and First Vice-President of EU Commission Frans Timmermans were also present. Merkel said on Wednesday that her visit to Turkey was aimed at gaining new insights into the living conditions of Syrian refugees and identifying their needs. She added: "I will travel to Gaziantep together with European Council President Donald Tusk and EU Commission Vice-President Mr. Timmermans to see the situation on the ground. Referring to the EU-funded humanitarian projects for refugees who escaped from civil war in neighboring Syria, she said: "There, we are having first projects for the refugees and we would like to listen to them about their needs." "We would like to gain insights into the practical conditions, we would like to figure out which steps should be taken to speed up the implementation." The EU and Turkey agreed on an action plan late last year, to improve conditions of Syrian refugees in Turkey and to strengthen the fight against human smugglers operating in the Aegean Sea. The leaders visited a preschool at Nizip Temporary Shelter Center where more than 4,800 Syrian refugees currently stay. Students greeted Merkel in Turkish saying, "Welcome, how are you?" Merkel received information from camp officials about the students and life in camp. During the visit, Davutoglu informed Merkel in English. While the leaders were living the camp, several Syrian children chanted "Syria-Turkey is together" in Arabic. The leaders then visited containers where refugees stay. One of the refugees said: "May Allah give strength to President Erdogan". Turkey hosts the largest number of Syrian refugees in the world, with over 2.5 million Syrians inside the country. Davutoglu's wife Sare Davutoglu, Deputy PM Mehmet Simsek, EU Minister and top negotiator Volkan Bozkir, Deputy PM Yalcin Akdogan, Minister of Interior Affairs Efkan Ala and Gaziantep Mayor Fatma Sahin were also present during the visit. China Sends 2,000 Troops to North Korean Border to Stand Guard for Another Nuclear Test China imposed a trade ban on North Korea in line with President Xi Jinping's pledge to keep the world safe from nukes. (Photo : Getty Images) China ordered 2,000 troops to watch over the North Korean border after getting word that the reclusive country plans on testing another nuclear missile ahead of the upcoming Seventh Party Congress. Citing the Hong Kong-based non-governmental organization Information Center for Human Rights and Democracy, the United Press International (UPI) said that the Chinese military was worried that Pyongyang would conduct a fifth nuclear test. Advertisement According to the International Business Times, North Korea had been extremely active in its weapons testing series over the past few months, leaving the United Nations with no other choice but to hand down harsh sanctions to the country. China, which previously did not participate in disciplining North Korea, had already made several moves to keep Pyongyang in check, especially after this year's Nuclear Security Summit held in Washington. China-North Korea Relations For decades, China and North Korea had remained uneasy allies after Beijing came to aid Pyongyang during the Korean War. According to Britannica, the People's Republic of China became one of the allies of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) after the former came to help the country against the Republic of Korea (South Korea) who was aided by the United States. However, things changed after North Korea's Kim Il Sung charged and purged outstanding members of the Yan'an faction in the 1950s. A study conducted by the Wilson Center revealed that while China may have a reason to care about North Korea's actions, it has limited power over the country. "The real problem is not what Beijing is willing to do, but what it is in a position to do," the research stated. China's only leverage over North Korea is its economic dependence to Beijing, which the East Asian superpower had already used when it imposed restrictions on import ban of gold, rare earths and export of jet fuel and other oil products to Pyongyang. China's Actions to Keep North Korea Under Control Chinese President Xi Jinping took advantage of this year's Nuclear Security Summit to discuss with the U.S. the global threat posed by North Korea. According to Forbes, China may already be close to being convinced that what the world needs to remain peaceful is an end to Kim Jong-un's nuclear program. "One of China's strategic objectives is to ensure that relations with its Korean neighbor remain friendly," the report read. "Yet growing hostility from North Korea may lead China to take heed of South Korean reassurances and come to find that a unified peninsula can be a favorable outcome." The so-called Northwest Passage, which runs from the Pacific to the Atlantic, can reshape global trade flows as more Arctic ice melts. (Photo : Alamy) As the world continues to warm up due to climate change, China is mulling on taking advantage of the situation to shorten maritime journeys from China to the U.S. East Coast, The Guardian reported. Advertisement The so-called Northwest Passage, which runs from the Pacific to the Atlantic, can reshape global trade flows as more Arctic ice melts. It has long been a fabled route among European explorers as early as the 19th century. China's plans to utilize this seaway located north of Canada was outlined in a 356-page, Chinese-language guide published by China's maritime safety administration. The shipping guide includes descriptions of ice conditions and nautical charts for the Northwest Passage, according to China Daily, a government-run publication. "There will be ships with Chinese flags sailing through this route in the future," Liu Pengfei, administration spokesman, said in the report by China Daily. "Once this route is commonly used, it will directly change global maritime transportation and have a profound influence on international trade, the world economy, capital flows and resources exploitation," Liu added. The problem, however, is Canada considers the Northwest Passage as part of its internal waters. Some countries, on the other hand, consider it as an international strait. The national government has yet to comment on the issue. "The Chinese side will make a suitable decision according to various factors," said Hua Chunying, foreign ministry spokeswoman, at a regular briefing in Beijing. Meanwhile, a spokesman for Stephane Dion, Canada's foreign minister, said in an email that there is no automatic right of transit passage in the Northwest Passage. "We welcome navigation that complies with our rules and regulations. Canada has an unfettered right to regulate internal waters," said Joseph Pickerill. A Chinese shipping company, COSCO, has already announced plans to use the "Northeast Passage" located north of Russia to launch regular services from China to Europe. In fact, ships from COSCO have already navigated the route in 2013 and 2015. "Many countries have noticed the financial and strategic value of Arctic Ocean passages. China has also paid much attention," Wu Yuxiao, who co-authored the shipping guide, was quoted by China Daily. Although China has no territorial claims to the Arctic, the country joined the Arctic Council and was granted observer status in 2014. Second- and Third-tier Cities Struggle to Develop Taste for Classical Music Taste for classical music in big cities like Shanghai is well cultivated--something smaller cities are having problems to do. (Photo : The New York Times) Although China is in no shortage of audience and classical music virtuosos, poor management of performing arts institutions and lack of education hinder classical music to truly bloom in the country, according to an article by The New York Times. Advertisement It's unfortunate, according to observers, as China enjoys long-term partnerships with revered institutions such as the New York Philharmonic and the Philadelphia Orchestra. In addition, the Juilliard School launched its plans last year to build a branch in Tianjin in 2018. Despite the obvious potential, weak management and distaste for more adventurous kind of classical music prevent classical music in China to keep growing. "The question for China now is, how do we cultivate passion for music, and not just stars?" asked Long Yu, who once served as the music director of the Shanghai Symphony and the chief conductor of the China Philharmonic Orchestra. Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou are hotspots for classical activity, while second- and third-tier cities like Wuhan and Xi'an are having trouble filling their new concert halls with both musicians and audiences. Such cities don't have regular concert seasons and lack funding to invite respected foreign orchestras. As a result, Wuhan's gleaming concert halls have fallen under disrepair. "The orchestras in these second-tier cities are very thirsty and looking for help," said Cai Jindong, a Stanford University professor and guest conductor in China, in an interview with The New York Times. "They need soft-skills development, from the very top leadership down to the musicians, the maintenance of the concert hall, education, everything." Aside from problems within institutions, experts also point to a lack in quality programming, philanthropy and cultural policies. "What China lacks is a unified cultural policy," said Ren Xiaolong, deputy director of programming at the National Center for the Performing Arts in Beijing. According to Ren, arts in China are still considered as "a part of the revolutionary machine--the government runs the machine and the people passively receive." China to Try Telecom Fraud Suspects While Blaming Taiwan for Explosion of Crime Taiwan's deportation of the telecom fraud suspects was seen by mainland China as tolerance to crime. (Photo : Getty Images) Forty-five Taiwanese fraud suspects will be facing trial under Chinas judicial system as Beijing puts the blame on Taipei for the sudden emergence of massive telecom scams that victimized Chinese citizens. A recent report from Reuters said that China is making its move to punish all who were found guilty of involvement in the extensive telecom scam that cost the country billions dollars worth of financial losses. Advertisement Trial in China Chen Shiqu, a top official from the Ministry of Public Security, told the Taiwanese delegation who went to Beijing on Wednesday that they will be proceeding with the case against the suspects who would face trial in China. "The suspects specifically targeted people on the Chinese mainland and their victims are from the mainland," he stated. "Not to mention that many of the suspects are themselves from the mainland. They will thus be investigated, prosecuted and tried in accordance with mainland law." According to Chen, all 45 of the accused Taiwanese nationals have already pleaded guilty to the crime, adding that Chinese law enforcers "will spare no efforts" in ridding the country of the telecom fraud. The Chinese judicial system had been criticized in Taiwan. However, Reuters said that the Taiwanese Ministry of Justice confirmed on Thursday that all of the suspects appear to be in good health when the delegation from Taipei visited them. Blaming Taiwan According to a separate Reuters report, China strongly believes that Taiwan had a hand in the sudden explosion of telecom scams that targeted Chinese citizens. Citing Chinese media, the outlet said that Taiwan had weak punishments for criminals which is why more criminals surface. However, Taiwan clarified that they are a government of democracy and thrown the blame back at China for not providing ample amount of proof for Taipei to make any moves against the accused. "We are a democratic, rule of law country," Taiwan's Criminal Investigation Bureau senior official Chang Wen-yuan told the outlet. "In this respect, we emphasize the proof or lack of evidence. You can't just say, 'today media reports the person committed a crime,' just like that." China's comment on Taiwan's justice system came after the island released 20 suspects who were linked to the telecom scam after finding "incomplete evidence for any crime and a lack of arrest warrants," the Xinhua News Agency reported. "By releasing the suspects, Taiwan authorities disregarded many victims' interests and harmed them a second time," China's State Council Taiwan Affairs Office spokesperson An Fengshan told the outlet. "It also harmed the two sides' cooperation in jointly cracking down on crimes." For Swire, Britain sees the expected Hague court ruling as an opportunity for China and the Philippines to mend ties and settle their territorial disputes. (Photo : Getty Images) The ruling in the International arbitration case between China and the Philippines must be binding, according to Hugo Swire, British Minister of state assigned to East Asia, Reuters UK reported. Advertisement On Wednesday, China expressed anger at the senior British official's comments while reiterating the country's claim over virtually all of the South China Sea. "The comments by Mr. Swire neglect the facts and are very discriminatory and one-sided and seriously go against Britain's promise to take sides," said Hua Chunying, spokeswoman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, during a news briefing. For Swire, Britain sees the expected Hague court ruling as an opportunity for China and the Philippines to mend ties and settle their territorial disputes. In recent months, tensions have been high as China continues to engage in the building of artificial islands in contested waters. The country also maintains that the Permanent Court of Arbitration has no jurisdiction in the case. According to Hua, tensions in the South China Sea are the result of the machinations of the United States and the Philippines, as the two countries continue to facilitate military drills and ship patrols. "The facts prove that if the South China Sea dispute remains tense, then it's the U.S. which is the main cause of this," said Hua. The court is expected to rule in late May or early June. Last February, the United States and the European Union warned China it should respect the Hague's ruling. Experts point out that the Court has no way of enforcing its rulings and that China will continue to shun the Court's authority as a result. Britain and China have strengthened economic ties last October during President Xi's state visit. Critics have criticized Britain for prioritizing financial gain over human rights and security interests. The U.S. administration also expressed its disapproval when Britain became the first country outside of Asia to be included in the Group of Seven advanced economies supporting a China-backed development bank in Asia. The bank is largely seen by critics as an unwelcome rival to the western-led World Bank. Aside from the Philippines, countries such as Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam also have territorial claims in the South China Sea. New data from the National Bureau of Statistics reveals that the population now sits at 1,373,490,000 people, after increasing by 0.5 percent annually since 2010. (Photo : Getty Images) Despite incurring a growth of nearly 34 million people in the past five years, China is now seeing a slow rise in its aging population, according to report by the South China Morning Post. Advertisement New data from the National Bureau of Statistics reveals that the population now sits at 1,373,490,000 people, after increasing by 0.5 percent annually since 2010. The country is already experiencing the strain in providing for an aging portion of the population. In 2015, at least nine provinces failed to meet pension payment obligations without support from Beijing. The looming pension crisis is urging people in China to resort to longer payment plans despite a possible failure in funding. As the number of workers steadily declines, labor costs for manufacturers rise and offset an essential advantage China has against global competitors. The new developments come amid the relaxation of the country's stringent family-planning policies last January. The new family-planning measures now allow couples to bear a second child. "China has to worry about the risk of extremely low fertility, instead of high fertility," said Zuo Xuejin, a demographics researcher at the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences. "It's time to lift administrative restrictions on fertility, allowing child-bearing couples to decide for themselves the number of children they want to have." Zuo has prompted the government to enact more policies that encourage couples to bear children. For Li Xunlei, chief economist for Haitong Securities, as China's urbanization is reaching its zenith, the country's labor force must be strengthened. "To some extent, China's urbanization is approaching its peak and it would be a mistake to put hopes on urbanization as an economic growth engine," he said. According to Li, the current urbanization policies which encourage people to live in small cities in towns runs counter to market forces. "Most people prefer living in big cities," Li said. Wuhan Internet Cafe (Photo : Weibo) A freak accident inside an internet cafe in Wuhan Province killed an 18-year-old Chinese. Xiong Xuan, a garment factory worker, unplugged his mobile phone he was charging from a computer when he was jolted by an electric shock. The incident happened on April 15, reported Mashable. Xiong Feng, the elder brother of the victim, witnessed the accident. He recalled that Xuan was at his usual seat at the internet cafe and after he was done using the computer, the teen unplugged the charging cable. Advertisement Feng said that Xuan shouted when he pulled on the cable and his foot touched the tables steel legs. The teen started to foam at the mouth and fainted. However, Feng noted that no one among the employees of the internet cafe or other customers came to help his younger brother, reported Sina Weibo. The older brother called his uncle who also works at the same factory where Xuan was employed. He came with his car which the uncle and Feng used to transport the victim, who was then unconscious, to the Panlongcheng Peoples Hospital, the nearest medical facility. However, 20 minutes after Xuan was rushed to the hospital, the doctors declared the teen dead of electrical injury. According to Chutian News in Hubei, the license of the internet cafe was suspended while authorities are investigating the incident. Mobile phone accidents are not new, whether in China or other countries. Different phone brands are known to explode when used while charging or when pressed between pillows if the owner sleeps with the phone beside the user. Drones could be used to smuggle banned items into prison, officials said. (Photo : Getty Images) More countries are expressing their interest to purchase drones from China as these unmanned aerial vehicles become ubiquitous. But while made-in-China UAVs rise to popularity among hobbyists, another market seems to be in high demand as well: the military. In 2015, China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp.'s CH-5 combat and reconnaissance drone made its first flight, told News18. Advertisement The military drone, part of the CH drone series, can carry 3,000 kg to 3,300 kg in-flight and has a maximum cruise speed of 220 kph. It is said to be the "heaviest and strongest military drone in China." Regulatory approval for the CH-5 is in the works. China Daily reported that there is a growing demand for these "powerful and affordable" CH drones from foreign countries. Among the five models included in the series, the CH-3 variant remains the bestseller, said Shi Wen in an exclusive interview with China Daily. Shi is the chief drone designer for the China Academy of Aerospace Aerodynamics, which is under the corporation. The group's CH drone series has been sold to 20 military users from more than 10 foreign countries," AsiaOne reported. The line is also the "largest military drone family that China has exported." In an interview with China Daily, Shi said that the total value of contracts the group inked in 2015 "could definitely be one of the highest in terms of armed drone deals made last year on the international market." Shi did not divulge the exact figures. China is increasingly becoming a sweet spot for drone manufacturing. DJI, also one of the world's most popular drone makers, is based in China. However, the company is more known for its commercial UAVs. The use of drones in the military is a rising trend. In the U.S., military forces are mulling over the use of drones for its squads, the Army Times reported. But unlike the CH drones, these flying machines are pocket-sized that could help the army survey an area within a shorter span of time. Samsung Galaxy Note 6: Phablet will have 8GB RAM, Snapdragon 823 chipset, faster firmware updates and more (Photo : YouTube/ WhatGear ) The Samsung Galaxy Note 6 is expected to mirror most if not all of the feature upgrades unboxed with the Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge. But a new report claims that sixth-generation phablet flagship from the South Korean tech giant will pack even more powerful capabilities, starting with a 4000mAh battery pack. Advertisement Dutch blog GSM Helpdesk said in a post, picked up by BGR, that the Note 6 on launch day will easily overwhelm not only the competition but also the S7 and the Galaxy Note 5. The report claimed, echoing existing rumors, that Samsung's second flagship for 2016 will sport a giant 5.8-inch screen that no doubt is Super AMOLED with 2560 x 1440 screen pixels. The memory chip to come with the Note 6 is 32GB storage and 6GB of RAM. It is nearly confirmed that the like the S7 and S7 Edge, the upcoming phablet will boast of a microSD slot for additional memory space, water and dust resistant features and a significantly enhanced S-Pen, which has been standard (bundled) accessory with the jumbo Note smartphone since its inception. But what really made the GSM Helpdesk report distinct from the existing Galaxy Note 6 rumors is the bold claim that part of the new phablet deal from Samsung is a gigantic source of energy juice - a glorious battery pack with rating of 4000mAh. If true, the power brick will outstrip that of the GS7 Edge's 3600mAh battery and will dwarf over the Note 5's somewhat underpowered 3000mAh power juicer. BGR said that the purported Note 6 battery will even leave the Motorola DROID Turbo 2, already packing a 3700mAh bat, eating dust. And the possibility is high that with a 4000mAh battery, the Note 6 will match or even surpass the 2-day battery life of HTC 10 as claimed by its maker, the report added. Going by the leaked specs and circulating rumors so far, the Galaxy Note 6 promises to be not only the best in the series but also as the most compelling Android smartphone release this 2016. And the deal gets more tempting as Korean media reports indicate that the Samsung Galaxy Note 6 release date will be earlier than usual, likely by late July 2016, and will also unpack powered by Android N in near-stock version. Lenovo ZUK Pro 2 is a new smartphone manufactured by Lenovo and is expected to launch in April this year. (Photo : YouTube/Gizmochina) ZUK, a Chinese smartphone brand, is shaking the smartphone markets with its new ZUK Z2 smartphone, which features Qualcomm's Snapdragon 820, a USB Type-C, and a whopping 6GB of RAM. According to Engadget, the newly announced ZUK Z2 Pro is "putting other Chinese flagships to shame" with its high-end specs and unusually low price. The phone features a 5.2-inch Super AMOLED 1080p display and makes an optimal use of Qualcomm's 2.15 GHz, Snapdragon 820. The processing speed is, therefore, unmatched compared to other devices that still pack the same processor. Advertisement Also, it comes with a speedy UFS 2.0 storage that stretches up to 128GB and a RAM of up to 6GB. According to mobile analysts, this is impressive considering that many smartphones this year have barely reached the heights of such a big RAM. When it comes to connectivity, the Z2 Pro is not shy of joining the big players in the smartphone market. It includes a USB Type-C port, Cat 6 LTE, and dual Nano SIM slots, allowing enthusiasts to take full advantage of the new features to upgrade from the traditional connectivity options. As if that is not enough, Lenovo's Z2 Pro has also incorporated quick charge 3.0, something that will come in handy for its big 3,100 mAh battery. The battery, however, is not removable although its large capacity is something to approve of. Unfortunately, Z2 Pro has left out NFC, though that should not worry mobile payment users in China who have other in-app payment options like WeChat, Alipay, JD, and Bestpay. Even better, these can exploit Z2 Pro's front-facing and wet-tolerant fingerprint reader to the maximum, which features a self-learning ability for accuracy improvement. Furthermore, as part of ZUK's Android-based ZUI 2.0, one can customize several finger gestures like single tap, horizontal scrolling, double tap, and long press to carry out specific tasks with the fingerprint reader. According to Pocket Lint, other nifty features include a built-in heartbeat sensor, an altimeter, a UV sensor, and sync ability with Apple's iCloud. To the delight of ZUK Z2 Pro's fans, the elite edition of the device (6GB RAM and 128 GB storage) will cost just $420. The price, nevertheless, is not yet set for the planned May 10 pre-orders. Watch a commercial of Lenovo's ZUK Z2 Pro here: Song Joong-ki's House (Photo : Woman Sense/Hancinema) In a press conference to mark the end of Descendants of the Sun, actor Song Joong-ki admitted being annoyed at being asked personal questions and losing his privacy. Unfortunately for the 30-year-old actor, the trade-off of fame and earning billions of won is being in the public eye all the time. Advertisement The actor may again be pissed off because a monthly magazine, Woman Sense, just released details about Song Joong-kis new house in its May issue, although it likely has his permission because he is on the magazines cover. The unit is an "S" villa in Bangbae-dong, Seoul. Just to give the magazine readers how expensive is the actors digs, it estimates the cost at 2.5 billion won ($2.2 million) and with a floor area of around 226 square meters, reported Soompi. It adds that the villas are known for having luxurious exterior and comfortable interior. According to Im Seok-jin, the person who planned the S villa, the interior design is minimal and there is nothing superfluous. But they used luxurious finishing materials, built a high wall and put in place an entry system which bars outsiders from entering, reported Hancinema. The villas have tight security system and 24-hour security guard service. The tight security is understandable because it is not only Song Joong-ki who lives in the secured community but also other actors such as Kim Jung Eun, Lee Na Young, Go Gyun Jung and Won Bin. However, the actors parents still live in their family house in Daejeon, and that neighborhood is not a gate community so fans who are in the area take selfies in front of their house. That is something they cannot do in Song Joong-kis Bangbae-dong S villa. Guangzhou Opens First Apple Store (Photo : Getty Images) Because foreign ownership of online publishing services was banned by Beijing in March, China closed Apples online book and movie services. The move is in line with the strict regulation on what could be published on the net. Apples online book and movie services have been available in China for about six months only. However, following the closure of the services, netizens who attempt to visit the iBooks store or iTunes Movies sites would see a message in Chinese that the services are unusable, reported Reuters. Advertisement The State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television ordered the shutdown of the two Apple services. In defending the restriction, China said the government must monitor online publishing to battle terrorism and block foreign idea which could be harmful to residents, reported BBC. Apple is still hopeful the services would be restored. In 2015, Apple also launched a News app which could be used by people who downloaded the app from Apples App Stores in Australia, UK and the U.S. However, those who attempt to access it on the mainland would only read the message News isnt supported in your current region, but it could be accessed in South Korea and Hong Kong. The move gives an advantage to Chinese companies engaged in online book and movie services such as Huawei, Alibaba and Tencent. But it would affect Apples revenue in China which is the Cupertino-based firms second-largest market. China and the United States lead the involved nations in signing the landmark climate deal. (Photo : Getty Images) Environmental groups across the globe lauded China as it signed the Paris Agreement on climate change on Friday, coinciding with the International Mother Earth Day, China Daily reported. The climate deal with the United States and 160 other nations was reached in December last year. Advertisement According to the environmental organizations, China's agreement to seal the deal "significantly increased the chances for the agreement to take effect before the 2020 deadline," the article said. China and the U.S. account for 38 percent of the world's greenhouse gas emissions. The signing took place at the United Nations headquarters. On the sidelines of the event, Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli, the president's special envoy, also met with U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and other state leaders to talk about further collaboration. Su Wei, director of the Department of Climate Change of the National Development and Reform Commission, remarked that the country will commence the legal process to join the agreement after the signing ceremony, adding that it will ratify the deal as soon as possible. Countries that signed the landmark climate deal should have it ratified by their own legislative procedures. Other nations who still have not signed the agreement have a year to do so. Before the agreement takes effect, at least 55 countries must ratify the climate deal. These nations represent at least 55 percent of the world's greenhouse gas emissions. Under the deal, nations eye to "hold the increase in the global average temperature to less than 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels and to work toward limiting the increase to 1.5 C," the article said. The environmental groups welcomed the initiative of both China and the United States to sign the agreement. "These signals significantly increase the chance that the agreement will enter into force this year," Jake Schmidt, director of the New York-based International Program at the Natural Resources Defense Council, said. "It is reasonable to think the entry into force would happen in 2017," Eliza Northrop, a researcher at the World Resources Institute, said. "But given the varying timelines for countries to complete their domestic approval processes, the timing of entry into force is uncertain." Nonetheless, World Wildlife Fund leader Samantha Smith noted that more efforts are still urgently needed for the upcoming climate change meeting in May. The talk will tackle issues where the Paris meeting left off. "We hope that leaders will not only send strong signals to their negotiators, but even instruct them about the key elements needed to give life to the Paris Agreement," she stated. The slowdown in China's industry is understandable as China shifts away from heavy industry, Alibaba founder Jack Ma said. (Photo : Reuters) Chinas economy would likely continue to grow at a rate enviable to other major economies for the next 20 years, Alibaba founder and executive chairman Jack Ma said, as he presented sensible arguments about China's economy in an interview published on Thursday, April 21, on his newly purchased Hong Kong newspaper, the South China Morning Post. Advertisement In the interview, Ma also discussed China's double-digit GDP growth rates of the 2000s, which slowed to below 7 percent in recent years, Fortune.com reported. "There is no reason to expect that an economy of such size can maintain such a growth rate indefinitely, nor is it good for China to continue to grow at such speed," Ma said. "After more than 30 years' growth, spending a few years to adjust its course is reasonable." However, among economists, it is a hot issue whether China can come out safe or can adjust its course away from the debt-fueled growth of the past half-decade. According to Arthur Kroebel of Gavekal Dragonomics, it is neither boom nor bust for China which will instead spend the next decade in "genteel decline, much as Japan has since the 1990s," while the country cuts down a corporate debt mountain that exceeded 150 percent of GDP last year. This does not include the rise in government debt, the article said. Ma also said that the headline GDP growth is manufactured, as he discussed some criticism of the government and explained it positively. "Some say the actual [growth] number could be just 5 percent. But even with 5 percent growth, there is no other economy of such size growing at that speed in today's world," Ma explained. Although he only considered the U.S. as the country's competitor, Ma said that China's economy is already more than double the size of Japan, the world's third largest. He added that although India's economic growth has surpassed China recently, with 7.3 percent compared to China's 6.8 percent, India's economy is only a fifth the size of China's. Ma said that China's growth will be "enviable to most other major economies for another 15 to 20 years," as recent consumer data negates the slowdown in China's industries. "The traditional industries are struggling, but we also see growth in domestic consumption, the services industry and the hi-tech sector, and young talents are flocking to these areas," the Alibaba CEO noted. As China shifts away from heavy industry, the low-skill jobs that would be lost will be absorbed by the delivery and logistics sector, an industry heavily supported by Alibaba, Ma said. Cainiao, the Alibaba-backed logistics shipping company, has said that as early as 2021, it expects to deliver 100 billion shipments a year. "The logistics and delivery industries create plenty of jobs for low-skilled workers," Ma said. "We still have a lot of room for growth." A Cairo criminal court has postponed the verdict in the espionage trial of former president Mohamed Morsi to 7 May. Morsi, who was ousted in July 2013, was charged with using his post to leak classified documents to Qatar with the help of secretaries and Muslim Brotherhood figures. Morsi and the head of his office, Ahmed Abdel-Ati, were also charged with leaking secret information on general and military intelligence, the Armed Forces, its armaments and other state secrets. The prosecution argued that the two used their positions to pass the files from the presidential offices to Amin El-Serafy, a presidential secretary, who then passed them to his daughter, Karima, who gave them to agents to give to the Qataris. The other defendants who include Ahmed Afify, a documentary producer; Mohamed Kilany, a flight attendant; Ahmed Ismail, a teaching assistant; and Khaled Radwan and Asmaa El-Khatib, two journalists at pro-Brotherhood TV channels were charged with turning over copies of the classified documents to two staffers of the Qatari-based Al-Jazeera and an unknown Qatari intelligence officer. Three of the 10 defendants are tried in absentia. The espionage case is the fourth major trial of Morsi on various criminal charges since his ouster in 2013. Morsi has already been sentenced to 20 years imprisonment in the "Ittihadiya case," received a death sentence in the Wadi Natroun jailbreak case, and life in jail (25 years in prison) over leaks to foreign groups, including militant groups Hamas and Hezbollah. All other sentences are currently being appealed. Search Keywords: Short link: Egypt's press syndicate condemned the weekend arrests of some of its members and other activists in Cairo, Alexandria, and other parts of the country ahead of planned protests on 25 April. "What happened recently with our colleauges requires serious action to stop the attacks against them and against all Egyptians in general, " a statement released by the union on Saturday read. "The security state is back again and the entire nation will pay for the way the security forces deal with the opposition," the statement added. Rights lawyer Amr Emam had told Ahram Online that at least 100 people were estimated to have been arrested around the country on Thursday night. On Friday, ten of the activists who were arrested late on Thursday night in Cairo were released while dozens of others remain in custody or undergoing questioning by prosecutors. The syndicate called on the authorities to investigate what it described as "random arrests" of some of its members, as well as the raiding of the homes of journalists Amr Badr and Mahmoud El Saqqa. The ministry of interior has not issued an official statement on the causes behind the arrests or a tally of those apprehended. Last week, several thousand protestors took to streets to oppose the governments decision to acknowledge Saudi Arabian sovereignty over the Red Sea islands of Tiran and Sanafir. They had vowed to stage another protest on 25 April, which marks Sinai Liberation Day. "The politics of fear won't produce security, and the return of repression won't build a nation, and there is no future for a regime which doesn't listen to its opponents," the statement said. Search Keywords: Short link: labor rights lawyer Mohamedein, who was arrested on Thursday night from his house, is among tens of activists arrested ahead of planned protests on 25 April Egyptian prosecution ordered on Saturday the detention of leftist lawyer Haitham Mohamedein for 15 days pending investigation on charges of joining an unlawful group. However, charges did not specify the name or the nature of the illegal organisation. Mohamedein, who was arrested on Thursday night from his house, is among tens of activists who were arrested in different parts of Egypt ahead of calls for protests on 25 April. The prosecution also accused Mohamedein of possession of flyers that call for the overthrow of the regime. On Thursday night, the police raided several Cairo cafes and arrested dozens of people. Others were picked up from homes in the early hours of Friday morning. The Ministry of Interior has not issued a public statement on the causes behind the arrests or a tally of those apprehended. East of Cairo prosecution is currently questioning at least 11 arrested activists and others are expected to appear in Abbasiya court soon, according to rights lawyer Mokhtar Mounib. Lawyer Amr Imam previously told Ahram Online that at least 100 people were estimated to have been arrested around the country on Thursday night. Last week, several thousand protestors took to streets to oppose the governments decision to acknowledge Saudi Arabian sovereignty over the Red Sea islands of Tiran and Sanafir. Some have vowed to stage another protest on 25 April, which marks Sinai Liberation Day. Search Keywords: Short link: Egypt says an Israeli fighter plane escorted an AirSinai flight to land in a Tel Aviv airport Israeli air forces intercepted an Egyptian passenger plane entering its airspace on Saturday morning and escorted it to land in Tel Aviv, a spokesman from Egypt's aviation ministry said. The Air Sinai Boeing 737 aircraft was travelling from Cairo to Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion airport. The flight flew through Cypriot airspace but the Cypriot authorities were slow to provide necessary information to Israel. "Given that the Cypriot air traffic control was late in sending Israeli airspace with the plane's information, an Israeli Air Force jet intercepted the plane, considering it an unidentified target," ministry spokesman Ihab Raslan said in a statement sent to Ahram Online. The aircraft was eventually allowed to land at Ben Gurion airport as planned after the Israel fighter plane "identified it and made sure it was a civil plane," the spokesman added in another statement. The interception took place at 5:40am on Saturday and the plane returned to Cairo about three hours later. Israeli news websites said the scrambling of the Israeli fighter planes took place after the pilots failed to identify themselves on the air-to-ground communication system. The cause of the identification delay was not immediately clear but the Ynet news website said it was "apparently due to a technical fault" in the pilot's radio system. Last month, an Egyptian domestic flight was hijacked and diverted to the Mediterranean island of Cyprus. The Egyptian hijacker who was described as "psychologically unstable" is currently in custody in Cyprus pending the extradition process. Search Keywords: Short link: Coverage of the wars in Afghanistan and Syria, the ensuing refugee crisis and the rise of the Islamic State extremist group won a string of categories in America's Pulitzer Prizes Monday. Photographers from The New York Times and Thomson Reuters shared the breaking news photography award for their coverage of the unprecedented refugee crisis, fueled primarily by the war in Syria. Alissa Rubin of The New York Times won the international reporting prize for her coverage of Afghan women, more than 14 years after the US-led invasion to bring down the Taliban, announced the Pulitzer committee at Columbia University. The Los Angeles Times won the breaking news category for the coverage of the killings in San Bernardino, where Syed Farook and wife Tashfeen Malik killed 14 people on December 2, 2015 before dying in a firefight with police. The prize for non-fiction was won by Joby Warrick for his book "Black Flags: The Rise of ISIS" and its assessment of the "flawed rationale" of the Iraq war and the rise of the IS extremist group, the committee said. US wire service, The Associated Press, won the coveted award for public service journalism for investigating labor abuses tied to the supply of seafood in America, reporting that freed 2,000 slaves. On domestic American news, outlets in Florida scooped three Pulitzer Prizes. The Tampa Bay Times and Sarasota Herald Tribune won for their investigation into violence and neglect in Florida mental hospitals. The Tampa Bay Times scooped a second Pulitzer for exposing a local school board's role in turning some schools into failure factories. John Hackworth of Sun Newspapers, Charlotte Harbor, Florida won for editorial writing over the deadly assault of an inmate by corrections officers. The US national reporting category was won by The Washington Post staff for their coverage of how often and why police shoot to kill. Lin-Manuel Miranda won in the drama category for hit Broadway musical "Hamilton," which has become the hottest ticket in New York. Search Keywords: Short link: South Sudan rebel chief Riek Machar will miss an international deadline on Saturday to return to the capital to take up the post of vice president, the government and rebels said, with his arrival now expected next week. "There is no coming today," Minister of Information Michael Makuei said, adding that the government will issue flight clearance for Machar to arrive by airplane from Ethiopia only after international monitors have verified the number of weapons carried by the rebels accompanying him. The rebels, who were at an airport in Ethiopia, said they were ready to fly but needed permission to do so. Search Keywords: Short link: Yemeni forces backed by air power from the Saudi-led Arab coalition launched an operation Saturday to drive Al-Qaeda fighters out of a southern provincial capital, military officials said. Forces loyal to President Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi in Abyan province advanced towards Zinjibar and the neighbouring town of Jaar, the sources said. Soldiers reached Al-Kud, five kilometres (three miles) south of Zinjibar where they clashed with Qaeda militants, while coalition Apache helicopters targeted extremist positions in the vicinity, according to the officials. Twelve Al-Qaeda militants and three soldiers died in the fighting, a military official said. Government forces last week expelled militants of th militant network's local branch -- Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula -- from Huta, the provincial capital of Lahj, as part of a widespread operation to secure southern provinces. Coalition-backed forces have driven militants out of Aden, the southern city declared by Hadi as temporary capital after Shia Houthi rebels stormed Sanaa in September 2014. The Arab coalition launched a military operation in support of Hadi in March last year after rebels advanced on his refuge in Aden and forced him to flee to Riyadh. But pro-Hadi forces managed over the summer to wrest back control of Aden and four other provinces thanks to the support of coalition firepower. The coalition recently turned its attention to militants, backing pro-government forces against AQAP and Islamic State group militants, who have taken advantage of the chaos to strengthen their grip on southern Yemen. The operation comes as representatives of the government and the Iran-backed rebels continue with UN-sponsored peace talks in Kuwait, which began on Thursday. Search Keywords: Short link: Syrian regime officials and Kurdish representatives were to meet on Saturday for a second day of talks on ending deadly clashes in the northeastern city of Qamishli, a senior security source said. A truce agreed on Friday held through the night, an AFP correspondent reported, and no gunfire was heard in the mainly Kurdish city, where control is split between Kurdish militia and the Syrian army and its allies. The army and the Kurds have coordinated on security in Hasakeh province against Islamic State militants, but tensions have built up between the sometimes rival authorities. The fighting in Qamishli began on Wednesday with a scuffle at a checkpoint and was a rare outbreak of violence between the two sides. According to the Kurdish security forces, the three days of fighting have left 17 civilians, 10 Kurdish fighters, and 31 troops and allied militiamen dead. Government officials and Kurdish representatives met at Qamishli's army-controlled airport on Friday and agreed to observe a truce until a lasting settlement to the dispute is reached. "There will be a new meeting today (Saturday) at Qamishli airport," a senior security source in Damascus told AFP. "They will discuss several points, including an exchange of fighters held by each side and the Kurds handing back control of the neighbourhoods they took from the regime," the source said. On Saturday morning, there were fewer fighters from either side on the streets. Even checkpoints that had been erected during the fighting had been taken down overnight. The army and its militia ally, the National Defence Forces, control Qamishli airport and parts of the city, as well as parts of the provincial capital Hasakeh to the south. Nearly all of the rest of the province is controlled by the People's Protection Units (YPG), who have declared an autonomous region across the mainly Kurdish northern areas they control. The YPG is regarded by the Pentagon as the most effective fighting force on the ground in Syria against IS group. Washington has defied angry complaints from NATO ally Ankara to provide military support to the Kurdish militia, which Turkish officials regard as an arm of the outlawed rebel Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). Search Keywords: Short link: German Chancellor Angela Merkel visited a refugee camp on the Turkish-Syrian border Saturday, kicking off a high-stakes visit aimed at boosting a month-old migrant deal plagued by moral and legal concerns. Merkel, who was accompanied by European Council head Donald Tusk and European Commission Vice President Frans Timmermans, headed to the Nizip 2 camp near Gaziantep after touching down in the country's south-east. "Welcome to Turkey, the country that hosts the most refugees in the world," read a huge banner hanging over the entrance to the camp, which hosts some 5,000 people in row upon row of white and beige prefabricated houses. The aim of the visit is to promote the six-billion-euro ($6.7 billion) deal to return migrants arriving on Greek shores to Turkey, which has come under fire from rights groups, the UN refugee agency and some EU leaders. The funds are aimed at helping Turkey improve conditions for the 2.7 million refugees it is hosting. Diplomatic relations are strained following President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's warning that the deal to curb the migrant flow to Europe would fall through if the EU did not keep up its end of the bargain by allowing visa-free travel for Turkish citizens. The bloc promised to present a visa recommendation on May 4 if Ankara complies with its side of the accord, but there has been growing unease in Europe over fears that security concerns are being fudged to fast-track Turkey's application. US President Barack Obama on Saturday hailed Merkel's "courageous" leadership in handling the Syrian refugee crisis. But Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban said the EU had "sold out to Turkey" and the consequences were "impossible to predict", adding: "The security of the European Union cannot be in the hands of a power outside the EU." The success of the deal, which sharply reduced the number of people crossing from Turkey to Greece, was also called into question, with the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) saying the numbers were "once again ticking up". Merkel has said the Turkey visit is a chance to take stock of the implementation of the migrant deal and discuss the next steps, as well as evaluate conditions on the ground for those who have fled the devastating five-year war in Syria. Judith Sunderland, Human Rights Watch's acting deputy director for Europe, said that instead of "touring a sanitized refugee camp", the delegation "should go to the detention centre for people who were abusively deported from Greece". Amnesty International on Friday also urged the European delegation not to "close their eyes to the catalogue of human rights abuses faced by refugees" in Turkey, repeating claims it had documented Syrians being shot at by Turkish soldiers. "We have schools and hospitals, life is good here," Mohamed Tomos, 49, who fled Damascus with his wife and four children and now lives with them in Nizip 2, told AFP. "But we want to know what our future holds. If the war ended today, tomorrow I would go to Syria," he said. The European leaders are expected to visit a child protection centre before retiring for talks and winding up with a joint press conference with Turkey's Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu at 8pm (1700 GMT). Many in Europe will be watching closely to see if the delegation takes a stand against the deterioration of rights. Tusk set the tone for a confrontational visit on Friday, when he insisted "our freedoms, including freedom of expression, will not be subject to any political bargaining. This message must be heard by President Erdogan." His comments came as Turkish scholars and journalists, who have criticised the state's policies on Kurds and Syria, stood trial in Istanbul accused of betraying the state. The cases have sounded alarm bells over the growing restrictions on free speech under Erdogan and increased pressure on Merkel to show more spine after allowing a German comedian to be prosecuted for a crude poem about the Turkish leader. She was taunted Friday by one of the reporters on trial, Can Dundar, editor in chief of an opposition daily, who wrote an open letter saying Germany was "on the wrong side" and asking: "Will you again pretend there is no repression here?" Search Keywords: Short link: An Islamic State (IS) group attack on a checkpoint near an oil plant in eastern Libya on Saturday killed a guard and wounded seven others, a military source said. "A major force 60-vehicles strong" mounted the attack south of Brega, 700 kilometres (435 miles) east of Tripoli, the LANA news agency said. "Saturday's IS assault killed one guard and wounded seven, including the official responsible for guarding oil installations," it added. Since January 4, the militant group has staged several attacks on ports and oil terminals, notably Ras Lanuf and Al-Sidra, from its coastal base in Sirte, hometown of slain dictator Moamer Kadhafi. Libya has been in chaos since the 2011 uprising that ousted and killed Kadhafi, with IS taking advantage of the turmoil to gain ground in the oil-rich country. It has the largest oil reserves in Africa, estimated at 48 billion barrels. Its pre-uprising output of 1.6 million barrels per day has since shrunk by a third. Search Keywords: Short link: A third day of UN-brokered peace negotiations in Kuwait between the Yemeni government and rebels wound up Saturday without progress, sources close to the talks said. The sources told AFP the two sides remained far apart, especially on the need to firm up a fragile ceasefire that went into effect on April 11. There was no official comment from UN envoy Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, who told reporters on Friday that the delegations had held "constructive" talks and were committed to strengthening the truce. The truce was still only being 70-80 percent respected, he acknowledged, adding there were violations by both sides. The negotiations in Kuwait opened late Thursday after the delayed arrival of representatives of the Houthi rebels and allied forces loyal to ousted president Ali Abdullah Saleh. The Iran-backed Shia Houthi rebels are insisting on a halt to air strikes by the Saudi-led coalition which is supporting the government, ahead of other issues, the sources said. President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi's delegation, for its part, is demanding the rebels lift sieges of cities, especially Taez, and release prisoners as part of confidence-building measures. The government delegation has submitted a complaint listing 260 alleged ceasefire violations by the rebels on Friday alone, according to the sources. Rebel delegation spokesman Mohamed Abdulsalam said the priority was to end the fighting that has killed more than 6,800 people and driven 2.8 million from their homes since March last year. "Stopping the war and all forms of military action is the priority," he said on Facebook. On Saturday, three rebels and two loyalists were killed in clashes in Kirsh, a town on the highway to Taez from the southern port city of Aden where Hadi's government is based, military sources said. Loyalist forces in Taez, Yemen's third largest city, have been under rebel siege for months. On another battlefront not covered by the ceasefire, pro-Hadi forces backed by air power from the Arab coalition launched an operation Saturday to drive Al-Qaeda fighters out of a southern provincial capital, Yemeni military officials said. The forces in Abyan province advanced towards Zinjibar and the neighbouring town of Jaar, the sources said. Military and medical sources said 25 Al-Qaeda militants and four soldiers were killed. Troops also reached the government complex on the southern edge of Zinjibar and fighting raged around the compound, military officials said. Government forces last week expelled Al-Qaeda militants from Huta, the capital of Lahj province, as part of operations to secure southern provinces. Search Keywords: Short link: Ohio police hunted Saturday for one or more gunmen who massacred eight members of a family in execution-style killings, but appeared to spare two babies and a toddler. Seven bodies, each with a bullet to the head, were found at three houses in the village of Peebles -- a rural community 80 miles (130 kilometers) east of Cincinnati -- and an eighth later at a separate site, police said. The victims -- several of whom were asleep in bed when they were killed -- were "all adults except for a male juvenile" who was 16, Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine said. All were members of a single family. A baby aged just four days and another of six months, and a three-year-old child, survived the shootings. Authorities gave no possible motive and no arrests have been made. At least one suspected gunman was on the loose, a day after the shootings, and police warned residents to lock their doors as they undertook a massive search. "There is a threat there and I believe that threat to be armed and dangerous," Pike County Sheriff Charles Reader said. Investigators have interviewed more than 30 people in connection with Friday's killings. "We do not know if we are talking about one individual or two or three or more," DeWine said. "Each one of the victims appears to have been executed, each one of the victims appears to have been shot in the head." A woman whose newborn baby lay next to her was among the dead. "It's just a terrible thing," Sally McDaniel, a family friend, told ABC News. "You'd have to be a monster to go in and do something like that." Schools in Pike County and surrounding areas were placed on lockdown as a precautionary measure, local media reported. Ohio Governor and Republican presidential candidate John Kasich tweeted that the killings were "beyond comprehension." Firearms kill around 30,000 people in the United States each year. However, Republican lawmakers, some of whom are backed by the powerful National Rifle Association, have blocked President Barack Obama's attempts to pass gun control legislation. Search Keywords: Short link: Italian authorites said Saturday they were monitoring a two-kilometre- (1.25 mile-) long oil slick off the country's Riviera coast but said the risk of a new spill into the Mediterranean was under control. The slick, which was 500 metres wide, was moving slowly westwards from waters off Genoa, raising fears it could end up polluting holiday beaches on a stretch of coastline that straddles the border with France just as the tourist season begins. The oil is believed to have come from a pipeline leak at a refinery located at Bussala, an outlying suburb of Genoa, on April 17. The refinery's owner, Iplom, insisted that the leak into the Polcevera river was contained within hours. One of the barriers erected on the river gave way on Saturday morning after heavy overnight rain, raising fears tonnes more crude could reach the sea. After declaring a local state of emergency, Genoa's port authority and the government said that back-up floating barriers in the mouth of the river had done their job. "The situation is delicate but under control," said Graziano Delrio, the minister for transport and infrastructure. Further heavy rain was forecast for Saturday evening. Genoa mayor Marco Doria said the large slick and several smaller ones spotted by fishermen and coastguards had presumably been caused by last Sunday's incident. The leak sent large quantities of oil into the Polcevera but the company claimed to have contained it within hours and to have since made good progress in extracting it. "From an environmental point of view I am calm. There was no new leak into the sea," said Gianfranco Benedettil, Iplom's local safety officer. "There is not much stuff left in the Polcevera, most of it has been extracted by gully suckers," he told the AGI newswire. The refinery where the leak came from is due to suspend its operations on Monday for economic reasons. Genova is located in the middle of the Italian stretch of the Riviera, close to the famous resort of Portofino and several protected areas of outstanding natural beauty, including the Cinque Terre region. The maritime environment is also highly prized with the coastal waters providing valuable breeding grounds for sealife as well as supporting a dayboat fishing fleet which serves the local restaurant trade. Search Keywords: Short link: A German orchestra said on Saturday that Turkey attempted to pressure it and the EU to keep the term "genocide" out of a concert marking the massacres of Armenians by Ottoman forces during World War I. The controversy centres on texts that will be sung or spoken during the April 30 show in the eastern German city of Dresden, as well as the event's programme, which uses the word. "It's an infringement on freedom of expression," said Markus Rindt, director of the Dresdner Sinfoniker orchestra. Turkey has long rejected Armenian claims that the killing of up to 1.5 million of their kin as the Ottoman Empire fell apart be classed as a genocide. According to Turkey 300,000 to 500,000 Armenians and as many Turks died in civil strife when Armenians rose up against their Ottoman rulers. Rindt said Turkey's delegation to the European Union demanded the European Commission withdraw 200,000 euros ($224,500) in funding for the concert. The commission ultimately maintained its financial support, but asked the orchestra to not mention genocide and has removed any mention of the event from its website, Rindt said. "We find all of this very questionable," he added. A commission spokeswoman confirmed that details of the concert had been pulled from the body's website. "Due to concerns raised regarding the wording used in the project description, the Commission temporarily withdrew it," the spokeswoman said. "A new project description will be republished in the coming days." Turkish diplomats in Brussels did not immediately respond to an AFP request for comment. The show was first put on in 2015 to mark the 100th anniversary of the killings, and is performed by both Turks and Armenians. It was envisioned as an act of reconciliation by its creators. The name of the production is "Aghet", a word used in Armenian for the massacres. 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: With 23 April marking the 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare's death, Google depicts the famed playwright and poet with a doodle presenting him and eight of his iconic plays. The plays include Hamlet, Julius Ceasar, Othello, Romeo and Juliet, The Tempest, King Lear, Macbeth and A Midsummer Night's Dream. The Shakespeare doodle is viewable worldwide. Celebrations of Shakespeare are underway worldwide, with film screenings, performances of plays, and seminars. In Egypt, Shakespeare is showcased in numerous events taking place in Cairo and Alexandria. The celebration has extended two years, since in 2014, when the 450th anniversary of his birth (b 1564) was marked. The UK's renowned Shakespeare Globe Theatre embarked on a two-year world tour with Hamlet. The performance was also staged in Egypt, at the Bibliotheca Alexandrina. 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 flash mob of more than 15 Indian dancers surprised a crowd of people at Cairo International Airport on Friday with an Indian dance routine. The dancers have just arrived to participate in the festival "India by the Nile 2016", which will take place over the next two weeks. Video by Rawan Ezzat Top European Union officials will travel on Saturday near to Turkey's border with Syria in hopes of promoting a troubled month-old agreement to manage a refugee crisis that has left hundreds of thousands stranded on the migrant trail to Europe. For the latest news, features, arts and culture from Al-Ahram's English language website, click here. On Judiciary Day, Sisi also told senior judges that he has faith in the unity of Egyptians against 'evil efforts' directed against the country Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi told judges on Saturday he respects the independence of the judiciary, stressing he "never interferes with the country's justice system." The president made the remarks during a speech he delivered to senior judges at the High Judicial Court in downtown Cairo on Saturday to mark Egyptian Judiciary Day. El-Sisi told judges he pins great faith in the unity of Egyptians in the face of local and international "evil efforts" against the state, a theme he has visited on more than one occasion recently. The president said he believes that the independence of the judiciary is a main pillar of the constitution, reaffirming that he never interferes with the country's justice system. "Since taking responsibility, I've been keen to emphasise the independence of judiciary. Today, I affirm once again that I distance myself from any suspicion of influencing court rulings or interfering with its affairs." El-Sisi also stressed that the country's national charter enshrines justice and equality, saying "everyone is equal before law." El-Sisi went on to say that personal rights in the constitution also entail responsibility. "Each right enjoyed by citizens is balanced by an obligation from them towards the state." Search Keywords: Short link: I imagine some senior state officials breathed a sigh of relief once last Friday was over, and with it demonstrations protesting the border agreement between Egypt and Saudi Arabia. Except for some commotion downtown, the day seemed to have passed in peace, with no worrying consequences for the future, and the vast majority of the Egyptian people held their silence and did not participate in the protest, which was limited to overzealous (or paid) youth. But those who believe this are dreaming and ignoring several facts as clear as day. The first is that there is a reservoir of untapped anger and resentment on the Egyptian street, stoked not only by the issue of Tiran and Sanafir islands, but the general political and economic mismanagement of the country. Politically, the mismanagement has given us a parliament without credibility and successive governments that have no decision-making power, disregard the constitution, and stubbornly refuse to address the issue of rights and liberties, especially political prisoners, the continued enforcement of the protest law, and the persecution of civil society organizations. Economically, the clumsiness and opacity is clear in the continued adherence to a failed strategy to attract investment, the inability to address the tourism crisis, rising prices, and the continued marshaling of national resources for megaprojects with no apparent concern for services and utilities that touch Egyptians everyday life. Second, although Fridays demonstration brought just a few thousand people to downtown, it was bigger and more diverse than anticipated. It also illustrated the prevailing outlook of todays youth, who are not deterred by either warnings of Muslim Brotherhood participation or threats of prison. Third, the fact that people didnt turn out in large numbers for Fridays demonstration is less an indication of satisfaction than confusion and reservations about the utility of this form of protest. Peoples experience with the January and June revolutions was toughthe first brought in the Muslim Brotherhood while the second proved unable to put the country back on the democratic path. Its no wonder, then, that Egyptians are reluctant to embark on a new adventure of uncertain outcome. This, however, doesnt mean they are satisfied with the status quo, and its not a mandate for the state to continue its current course. It may instead be that the public is watching and waiting, searching for methods of change other than packed demonstrations in public squares. Fourth, the matter of the islands is not yet over and will not magically disappear. It will continue to plague the state until it settles the issue in a legal way convincing to both the Egyptian and Saudi side. Referring the issue to the House of Representatives will not resolve it. The state is simply throwing the hot potato to parliament, hoping for a way out of a crisis it created but would rather not solve. As I said last week, Im not an expert on public international law, but Am certain the state mismanaged the islands dispute, revealing a reckless disregard for public opinion and a belief that it can continue to govern by surprise, as if theres no society, parliament, or people. Fifth and most seriously, the state seems unaware of its growing disconnect from the public. This was clearly demonstrated when the president said on the day of the demonstration that Egypt is carrying out some great projects, but the media ignores them and the public either isnt following or doesnt appreciate them. I have no doubt that the president was genuinely angry and annoyed that the public is ignoring megaprojects currently underway, but as Ive said repeatedly, its not simply a matter of construction projects, no matter how grand. Society, parliament, and the public must be involvedin assessing the importance of these projects and setting prioritiesrather than being surprised by them. It only deepens the divide between the people and the state when the latter takes it upon itself to forbid, bestow, and unilaterally determine the interest of the public, leaving them nothing to do but be appreciative. The growing popular protest sounds a warning to the state that it has lost its way, politically and economically. This time it may have passed in peace, and the same thing may happen on Sinai Liberation Day. But the direction is clear and the anger is growing. There may still be a chance to correct the course and reconstitute state-society relations before its too late, but only if those in power listen. *The writer holds a PhD in financial law from the London School of Economics. He is former deputy prime minister, former chairman of the Egyptian Financial Supervisory Authority and former chairman of the General Authority for Investment. This article was published in Arabic in El-Shorouq newspaper on Monday, 18 April. Search Keywords: Short link: In its embrace of obscure tales from a small, misunderstood country, King Norodom's Head sheds light on the big, the epic and the sweeping. It is a book focusing on curios and exotica, but it is also valuable because it is executed so well. The author, Steven Boswell, is an unassuming writer who lets the stories do the talking. He is however an utterly reliable and steady narrator who has no need of literary tricks. The concept is simple: Boswell, a former US Peace Corps educator who arrived in Cambodia in 2000 to lecture at the Royal University of Phnom Penh, set out to provide a guide book to all of the buildings, sites, statues and other physical artifacts or places that never get a mention in the Lonely Planet or other mainstream series. It's not a book for beginners or new arrivals to Phnom Penh. It may not even be a book for residents. It's a love letter to the city and the nation, and is intended for those who share that feeling. But nor are the tales sentimental. They are for the most part good yarns, all the better because they are true (or at least painstakingly researched). Boswell sifts through ancient documents, state archives or private correspondences in French or Khmer in order to nail the truth of small mysteries. Perhaps it's the nature of Southeast Asia, a pluralistic crossroad where myth and fact are routinely and riotously confused, that lends Cambodia to such a random undertaking. The 30 chapters each focus on something that a visitor can see, if only they know what to seek. A gaudy KFC has appropriated what used to be the seedy hotel where Andre Malroux, then a petty looter of Angkor relics, killed time; the tourist site Wat Phnom turns out to be the resting site of a forgotten Frenchman; statues to Buddhist deities and semi-mythological Cambodian heroes now go strangely neglected. Boswell dwells on some stories for the sheer pleasure of indulgence: from a US Navy anchor that recalls a mutiny to tales from a notorious brothel. Other stories though veer into the darkness. It is impossible to write anything about Cambodia without encountering the genocidal Khmer Rouge. Even without the unspeakable terror of Pol Pot's cadres, though, Cambodia suffered more than its fair share of tragedy. Boswell catches the reflections of horror in recounting, for example, how a mesh wire gate that now rests in the French embassy compound that had a much sinister role: through it passed many doomed Cambodians who first fled to the embassy to escape the Khmer Rouge and who were eventually forced to leave the city, mostly to die. In a section titled Saloth Sar lived here, Boswell identifies the now demolished wooden house that was the childhood home of the man better known by his nom de guerre, Pol Pot. The title story illuminates Boswell's research into a myth around an equestrian statue now on the Royal Palace grounds. It is a fine example of how Boswell is able to undermine our assumptions without having to preach. The statue was made in France and portrays a strapping European monarch; it is commonly held even among knowledgeable writers that the head was sawed off and replaced with a likeness of King Norodom, and presented to him by Paris as a gesture of respect. The truth is so sordid and pathetic that it reveals the colonial attitudes and the grasping monarchical delusions better than a standard historical account of French activities in Southeast Asia could ever deliver. Passages such as this make King Norodom's Head much more than a volume of strange tales from an Asian backwater. These forgotten, marginal exploits are the human reality of Cambodia's shifting fortunes, presented here with sympathy, clarity and intelligence. Jame DiBiasio is the author of The Story of Angkor published by Silkworm Books in 2014 Reprinted with permission from The Asian Review of Books The demand comes as more Korean mothers enter the workplace, with double-income families now numbering 3.63 million households. But despite the rapid growth, no certification system or standards have been adopted, leading many families to fall victim to bad nannies. Since Korea's first nanny brokerage opened in 1996, the industry has grown into a W1 trillion enterprise with about 100 businesses across the country, according to the Korean Baby Sitter's Association (US$1=W940). A W1-Trillion Market The Chosun Ilbo compared the rates of eight nanny providers. The average rate for live-in Korean baby sitters is between W1.3 and W1.7 million, while ethnic Koreans from China receive W1.2 to W1.3 million. That's based on a six-day work week for one child. With two kids, the rate rises by W200,000-300,000. Customers also pay a 10 percent commission, or about W80,000 fee to the broker. Of the 2.99 million Korean children under age five, about 809,000 have working mothers. "Over 20 percent of those mothers are hiring nannies," a staffer from the association said. "With each family paying an average of W800,000 per month, that means the market is worth at least W1.3 trillion," the official said. Double Pain for Working Mothers Working mothers who have to deal with the pain of missing their children throughout the day sometimes must also deal with the additional stress of bad nannies. One working mother named Lee said she was surprised when her Korean-Chinese baby sitter asked for a pay raise just three months after she began. "After I taught her everything about managing the household and taking care of kids, she demanded a salary increase or she said she would quit," Lee said. "I had no choice but to pay her W100,000 more." She complained that some Korean-Chinese nannies even meet to collude on their rates. Another mother, Kim, a patent attorney, said that her nanny suddenly threatened to quit after Kim came home late from work one evening. The nanny, with little explanation, stubbornly refused to work any longer. Kim had to take a leave of absence the next day and traveled to Daejeon, leaving the four-month-old baby with her mother-in-law. "Even though she didn't give any prior notice, I couldn't do anything about it," Kim said. Web sites related to child-rearing such as Workingmom and Bebehouse feature dozens of similar complaints from frustrated parents. There are a total of 3,425 Korean-Chinese baby sitters registered with the Ministry of Labor. But as many brokerages are increasingly hiring low-paid, illegal Korean-Chinese nannies, more and more customers are experiencing poor service. Ethnic Koreans from mainland China are popular among Korean mothers as nannies as well as maids, thanks to the fact that they speak Korean and it costs less to hire them. But because of inevitable differences between the dialects and culture, due to a lack of contact during most of the last century, many Koreans experience conflicts with their Korean-Chinese babysitters. Of course, some have managed to build trust with their nannies, having spent more than 10 years together just like a family, but there are others who suffer from cultural clashes. Korean parents are concerned that the nannies may be negligent in taking care of their children, and the nannies are worried about losing the trust of their employers. So what will it take to maintain a healthy relationship between Korean parents and ethnic Korean nannies? Well Begun Is Half Done A rocky start means a rocky ending. If you fail to build a positive relationship from the outset, life will be difficult for both the parents and the nanny. Shin, a 41-year-old working mother who has been entrusting childcare duties to an ethnic Korean from mainland China for seven years, says, "The clearer the contract, the fewer the disputes. Once you started off wrong, it is extremely difficult to set things straight again." Cho, a 32-year-old mother of two children aged two years and 7 months, signed a detailed written contract to minimize possible conflicts. The working hours and holidays were indicated in detail. Cho is equally responsible for not demanding too much. She cannot ask the babysitter to work on Saturday with just a day's notice. Do Not Compare with Others Chung, a 34-year-old working mother who has employed an ethnic Korean nanny for three years, says, "A simple thing I learned after much trial and error is that you should never compare with others." Nannies chat when they come out to the playground with the children and they compare their working conditions. "I was worried when she was saying who has how many days off, and was complaining about salary compared to others," says Chung. She demurred when the babysitter asked for too much. Instead, she decided to set a rule for herself -- never compare her nanny with others either. "Because each household has different circumstances, it is important to find a way that works for just the two of us," she says. Praise Always Works A foreign accent, different usage of Korean and different food are among the issues that concern Korean parents. Park, a 37-year-old mother of three-year-old twins, has been living with an ethnic Korean nanny for three years. When she heard her babysitter using language that was inappropriate in Korea, she corrected her immediately, and taught her how to cook Korean food for two months. But at the same time, she encouraged her babysitter to make Korean-Chinese food as well, such as stir-fried eggplant and beansprout, scrambled egg and tomato, and noodles. A word of thanks and encouragement will make the relationship much easier. Make Full Use of a Whiteboard and Journal Lee Hyo-jung, CEO of Babysitter Korea, recommended writing a childcare journal, which would help minimize distrust between the mother and the babysitter, and help the childcare plan. The important thing is to make it clear that the purpose of writing journal is not for supervision but for the record. Chung, a 45-year-old housewife who has had an ethnic Korean live-in nanny for 10 years, advises, "Pay due respect, but do not talk too much about personal things, and make sure to remind her that it is a relationship based on a contract." What needs to be done when the relationship sours to a point where it is irrecoverable? Park Young-soon, head of Bumomaum, a babysitting service provider, advises, "When replacing a nanny with new one, first consider the relationship between the child and the nanny, not the one between the nanny and you." Song Joong-ki is the new face of budget carrier Jeju Air thanks to his huge popularity in the recently concluded TV series "Descendants of the Sun." The low-cost carrier is mainly trying to appeal to travelers from China, where the soap was a massive hit. Song signed an endorsement deal with Jeju Air on Thursday. The carrier said it hopes to raise awareness of its brand in Chinese-speaking countries by featuring him in commercials for a year. The co-founder of Apple thinks the technology company should pay more tax. Steve Wozniak, who founded Apple with Steve Jobs and Ronald Wayne in 1976, told the BBC that the company should pay at a 50 percent tax rate. Many of the tech giants, including Amazon and Google, have come under harsh criticism for not paying enough taxes. "I don't like the idea that Apple might be unfair -- not paying taxes the way I do as a person," he told the broadcasting service. "I do a lot of work, I do a lot of travel and I pay over 50 percent of anything I make in taxes and I believe that's part of life and you should do it."